The Times-Picayune 04-15-2026

Amazon to buyGlobalstarfor $11.6B

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL and JERRYDICOLO Staff writers

Amazon is acquiring Louisiana satellite communications company Globalstar in anearly$12 billion deal that will allow thee-commerce gianttoexpandits space-

based mobile phone services In anews release Tuesday,Amazon said it planned to useGlobalstar’ssatellitenetwork and technology as part of Amazon Leo, a project that will enable smartphone users to connect directly to anetwork of thousands of satellites for voice and data service. Amazon

also announced adeal with Apple to bring the servicetoiPhones starting in 2028. Globalstar currently powers theemergency SOS feature on Apple’siPhones Globalstarshareholders will receive$90 ashare or comparable Amazon shares for atotal purchasepriceofaround $11.6billion.

In thepast month, thecompany’s stock price has increased nearly 35%. The deal is expected to close in 2027, pending regulatory approval.

It’s notclear howthe deal will impact Globalstar’snearly 400 employees worldwide or itsheadquarters in Covington, where roughly half of the workforce is based.

GNO Inc. President and CEO Michael Hecht said there is reason to think the company will remain based on the northshore.

“According to Jay (Monroe), Globalstar is going to be a

See GLOBALSTAR, page 6A

Globalstar Chair Jay Monroe, who bought the company in the1990s, movedthe companytoCovington from California in 2010.

BY BLAKEPATERSON Staff writer

powertoPSC

Voterswould decide whether theNew Orleans City Council continues to have say over Entergy NewOrleans and the Sewerage &Water Board under abill proposed by anorthshore lawmaker House Bill 744, by state Rep. Mark Wright, R-Covington, would place aproposition on the November ballot asking voters to amend the state constitution to give the Louisiana Public Service Commission the powertoregulatepublicutilities in New Orleans.

BY BENMYERS Staff writer

House Bill 573, sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Hilferty,also opens the door to City Hall taking over thedrainage system, though it doesn’tlay out aprocess for doing so.

The bill, which is backed by Mayor Helena Moreno and some council mem-

State lawmakers on Wednesdaywill consider abill thatgives the New Orleans City Council sweepingpowers over the Sewerage &Water Board, including theabilitytoremake the utility’s governing board andexercise broad authority over itsfunding, budgetsand operations.

bers but opposed by theS&WB’sleadership, is set forahearing before the House Committee on Municipal Affairs on Wednesday afternoonafter thefull House adjourns. Moreno is expected to testify at thehearing. Moreno hassaidthe S&WBis“the top example of agovernance disaster” and that thebill would give her more control over an agency that hasstruggled

NOPD spices up recruiting effort with hotsauce

Custom labels link to websitefor career seekers

BYDOUG MacCASH

become aNew Orleans police officer

Earlier this year,the New OrleansPoliceDepartment began distributing 500 bottles of CrystalHot Saucewith custom labelsthat link to a website where career seekers can findout how to become apolice officer.The bottles have been distributed to Lil’ Dizzy’s, Mother’s, Domilise’s and New Orleans Hamburger &Seafood Co.

Baumer Foods, the company that hasproduced Crystalfor morethan acentury,offers customlabels for businesses, individuals celebrating special events and now NOPD. The NOPD pepper sauce bottles are marked with adiagonal blue sash,decorated with acentral whitestarand the web address, joinnopd. org. AQRcode on the back of the bottleisframed with the words “Get Behind the Badge,

Apply Today.” The keytothe concept is that the spicy condiment captures thespirit of what people love about living here.

“You look at the bottle of hot sauce andyou immediately thinkofNew Orleans,” NOPD community engagementofficer Sgt. Shannon Brewer said. “It’s inviting, comfortable, like comfort food.”

ä See NOPD, page 6A

NewOrleans is one of only afew cities in the U.S. with regulatory powerover their utilities when there is already astate regulator in place, such as the Public Service Commission. Under the citycharter,the City Council exercises that power,regulatingelectricproviderEntergyNew Orleans and natural gas supplier Delta Utilities with the help of ateam of advisers. Though theSewerage &Water Board, astate-created agency,has its own board and regulations enshrined in state law,the council hassomepower over rate setting andthe mayor appointsmostofthe board members.

To succeed at thepolls,the proposition

is

PHOTO PROVIDED By NEWORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT

The NewOrleans Police Department

reaching out forcareer seekers, as theyreach out for hot sauce.

Democrats seek to overturn new loan rules

WASHINGTON Democrats in Congress are trying to overturn the Trump administration’s changes to a popular student loan forgiveness program, with lawmakers saying the changes are political and could leave some borrowers without the relief they were pledged.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program cancels loans for qualified public service workers after they’ve made a decade’s worth of payments. It has long been open to those who go to work for the government, public schools, fire and police departments, public hospitals and nonprofits But last fall, President Donald Trump’s administration wrote a new rule that will empower Education Secretary Linda McMahon to kick employers out of the program if she decides their work has a “substantial illegal purpose.”

Set to take effect in July the vaguely phrased rule is targeted at employers who support undocumented immigrants or transgender youth, potentially affecting borrowers who work at schools, public hospitals and legal aid groups.

On Tuesday Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Cory Booker of New Jersey introduced a resolution to overturn the rule. A similar measure was brought forward in the House by another trio of Democrats: Joe Courtney of Connecticut, Alma Adams of North Carolina and Scott Peters of California. The lawmakers called the rule “a clear attempt to intimidate and punish certain organizations.”

While the Democrats’ measure may get a vote, it’s unlikely to pass.

Fla. doctor faces manslaughter charge

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla. — A grand jury indicted a Florida doctor on a manslaughter charge for allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen during a 2024 surgery.

The prosecutor for the 1st Judicial Circuit on Monday announced the charge of seconddegree manslaughter against Dr Thomas Shaknovsky Prosecutors said that during an Aug. 21, 2024, surgery, which was scheduled to be a laparoscopic splenectomy, Shaknovsky removed the victim’s liver instead of his spleen That resulted in “catastrophic blood loss and the patient’s death on the operating table,” law enforcement officials wrote in a press release, The patient was a 70-year-old man from Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

Fl orida s usp ended Shaknovsky’s medical license after the surgery Records show he voluntarily surrendered his medical license in Alabama after regulators moved to revoke his license

Haiti mayor appeals for help after gang attack

PORT-AU-PRINCE,Haiti The mayor of a commune in southern Haiti appealed for central government help on Tuesday after a gang attack left seven people dead.

A police station in Seguin, in the commune of Marigot, was also set on fire in the incident overnight on Monday as armed men expand their reach into new territory

Marigot Mayor René Danneau criticized the authorities for not responding quickly enough

“We are asking the prime minister to take all necessary measures,” he told Radiotélévision Caraïbes.

Danneau said the victims were young men who worked alongside police and gathered information for them to help protect the population.

Gang violence has largely been centered in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and in rural territory north of it. It was not immediately clear which gang was responsible for the attack on the community of Seguin.

More than 5,500 people were reported killed across Haiti between March 2025 and January this year, with more than 2,600 injured, according to the latest U.N. statistics. Gang violence also has displaced more than 1.4 million people in a country of nearly 12 million.

Super Typhoon pounds U.S. islands

BY JOHN SEEWER, KATHY MCCORMACK and JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press

A super typhoon steadily battered a pair of remote U.S. islands in the Pacific Ocean with ferocious winds and relentless rains, shredding tin roofs and forcing residents to take cover from flying tree limbs.

Super Typhoon Sinlaku pounded the Northern Mariana Islands for hours before daybreak Wednesday slowing just to inflict more damage across the islands of Tinian and Saipan, home to nearly 50,000 people.

“I’m guessing anything that was made of wood and tin did not survive this,” said Glen Hunter, who grew up on Saipan and watched at least three tin roofs fly past his yard.

Hunter, who has weathered numerous typhoons, told The Associated Press this felt like the strongest yet. Rain was seeping into every crevice of his concrete home, he said.

“It was a losing battle because the rain was coming through everywhere,” he said early Wednes-

day “Every house is just flooded with water, no matter what type of structure you’re in.”

The tropical typhoon — the strongest on Earth this year — was packing sustained winds of up to 150 mph when it made landfall on the islands, the National Weather Service said.

Tropical force winds and torrential rainfall also led to flash flooding on Guam, a U.S. territory to the south with several U.S. military installations and about 170,000 residents, the weather service said.

While wind gusts did slow a bit on the Mariana Islands early Wednesday and the storm started

tracking to the north, the conditions did not improve right away, the weather service reported. As the sun came up, the amount of damage remained unclear because conditions remained unsafe outside, said Ed Propst, a former lawmaker in Saipan who works in the governor’s office.

He said he heard “banging and clanging through the night.”

“We haven’t heard of any — knock on wood — deaths so far,” he said, attributing that to residents heeding warnings to take shelter if they weren’t in a concrete home.

The monster storm slowed to a crawl as it approached the islands.

Irish government survives confidence vote 92-78

Coalition was criticized for handling of fuel protests

BY BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press

LONDON — The Irish government survived a confidence vote Tuesday over how it handled a week of disruptive fuel protests that blocked access to oil supplies, caused gas pumps to run dry and created massive traffic jams.

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin defended his coalition government by saying it had acted to end the “destructive blockade which threatened to cause much deeper damage.”

The 92-78 vote in support of the government preserved his leadership. If the confidence vote failed, his government would have been forced to resign and Parliament would have either elected a new prime minister or called a general election.

Protests began April 7 with slow-moving convoys clogging roadways. They grew as word spread on social media as truckers, farmers and taxi and bus operators blocked key infrastructure and the main thoroughfare in the capital, Dublin.

Demonstrators called for price caps or tax cuts to alleviate soaring fuel costs they said would drive people out of business.

After the vote, a crowd of protesters gathered outside the Dáil, the parliament building in Dublin, chanted “sell out” and “get them out.”

Opposition politicians blasted Martin for failing to respond sooner to the protests, criticized the aid package he offered as insufficient and said the government was failing to tackle the broader cost-of-living crisis in Ireland.

Sinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald said it was brazen of the coalition to bring the confidence vote after abandoning struggling, hardworking people.

“Beyond your bubble people see a government out of touch,” McDonald said.

“It is your own arrogance, your lack of judgment, your lack of any empathy that has left people with no conclusion other than this: Your time is up.”

Social Democrats, Labour, People Be-

fore Profit, Aontu, The Green Party and Independent Ireland supported the vote against the government.

The protests reflect the deep concern voters around the world have about liv-

ing expenses since the inflation spikes that followed the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The war in Iran has exacerbated fears after gas and diesel prices have risen steeply Cost of living was the top issue for Irish voters in 2024 that put Martin and Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris back into a power-sharing government shored up with help of several independents.

Martin defended the tax cuts the government was offering as the largest in Europe to help cope with fuel prices that have soared after the U.S.-Israel war on Iran led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital channel for the world’s oil.

“The basic core claim that we are doing nothing and are falling behind other countries is simply untrue,” Martin said.

Martin led a motion to support his coalition made up mainly of the centerright Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael parties ahead of a no-confidence vote brought by Sinn Fein, the largest opposition party.

One of Martin’s junior ministers, Michael Healy-Rae, an independent from Kerry surprised his peers by saying he would vote against the government and resign because it had let down the people.

“I’ve always looked at myself as a gauge of the people of rural Ireland,” he said. “When I met tractor men, lorry men, farmers and when they were telling me how unhappy they were the leader of the country should have listened.”

Martin said the government can learn from the protests, but defended the response by police and military to clear roadblocks at the country’s sole oil refinery at Whitegate in County Cork and at several depots. They caused more than a third of gas pumps to run dry

“We had to clear Whitegate and the ports because we export about 90% of everything we make in this country,” Martin said. “The ports are the lifeblood of economy and if the ports were blockaded for any length of time, people would have lost jobs, part-time production would have ceased, and it would have been very, very serious.”

The demonstrations were tolerated until the weekend, when police used pepper spray in clashes with some protesters and an army truck knocked down a log barricade at the Galway port. Some protesters said they achieved their goal in getting the government to compromise.

“This is not going to be an easy night for anyone across Tinian or Saipan. This is going to be a loud night,” said Landon Aydlett, a meteorologist with the weather service. Many people “will wake up to a different island,” he said during a Facebook video broadcast.

Saipan is the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands as well as its capital, known for its resorts, snorkeling and golf.

Mayor Ramon “RB” Jose Blas Camacho said late Tuesday that the heavy rain and wind around Saipan made it tough to reach people needing to be rescued.

“Objects are just flying left and right,” he said.

The worst of the storm hit during darkness and was expected to continue until at least sunrise Wednesday, the weather service said. While it’s expected to weaken slightly over the next few days, Sinlaku was crossing the islands as a Category 4 typhoon.

President Donald Trump approved emergency disaster declarations ahead of the latest storm for Guam and the Mariana Islands. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it was coordinating support across multiple agencies, dispatching nearly 100 FEMA staff as well as other personnel.

Justice Department files to vacate convictions of extremist groups leaders

BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Justice Department on Tuesday asked a federal appeals court to throw out the seditious conspiracy convictions of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders who were sentenced to prison terms for leading members of the far-right extremist groups in attacking the U.S. Capitol to keep President Donald Trump in the White House over five years ago. Trump commuted the prison sentences of several Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders last January in a sweeping act of clemency for all 1,500-plus defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.

“The government’s motion to vacate in this case is consistent with its practice of moving the Supreme Court to vacate convictions in cases where the government has decided in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of a criminal case is in the interests of justice — motions that the Supreme Court routinely grants,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing signed by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

The request by the Justice Department would go a step further and erase the convictions for the extremist group leaders, including Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes. In court filings, prosecutors asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to vacate the convictions so that the government can permanently dismiss the indictments.

Sinlaku batters Tinian, Saipan in Pacific Ocean

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By PETER MORRISON

Cyclists ride past tractors blocking O’Connell Street on the fifth day of the National Fuel Protest in Dublin, Ireland, on April 11.

PHOTO PROVIDED By GLEN HUNTER

High winds reached 150 mph during a super typhoon on Tuesday in the island of Saipan. Super Typhoon Sinlaku battered the remote Northern Mariana Islands before slowing over the islands of Tinian and Saipan.

Houseresignationsaffectlawmakers’agenda

Johnsontries to navigate government funding, otherlegislation

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON Twomembers of Congress resigned Tuesday,creating more headaches for U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scaliseas they started to move asheaf of “must-pass” legislation through a Congress.

Right off the bat, Johnson, RBenton, and Scalise,R-Jefferson, want to reauthorize government surveillance power in abill with whicha groupofRepublicans have serious problems. That authorization expires April 20. Also expectedtopop up this week or next are bills addressing an end to the “militaryaction” against Iran. Plus, the WarPowers Act requires Congress to step

in after 60 days of conflict to decide whether to continue military action. That deadline is at theend of the month.

Congress also needs to fund Department of Homeland Security andend the partial government shutdownthathit its 60th day Wednesday. Each of those votesare going to require aunified GOP vote if Republican positionsare to prevail.

U.S. Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, submitted their resignations, effective immediately,asthe House reconvened Tuesday afternoon after two weeksoff for Easter and Passover. Colleagues from both partiesthreatenedboth representatives with expulsion votes this week over multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. Both denied theallegations. As the toptwo officials in the U.S.

House, Johnson and Scalisecan lose no morethan one tothree Republican members, depending on attendance, for the GOPmajority to win aparty-line vote.

Republicans hold 217 seats, plus an independent who votes with them, whileDemocrats sit in 214. Three of thepositionsare vacant.

Johnson was setTuesday night to swearinRepublicanClayton Fuller,who was elected lastweek to replaceGeorgiaRep.Marjorie Taylor Greene, who quit after runinswithPresident Donald Trump. By Friday —the day after Democrat Analilia Mejia is expected to win the special election to replace Mikie Sherrill, who was elected governor of New Jersey —the numbersgoback to the 217 plus 1 to 214. The likely topoflist is the reauthorization of international surveillance powers in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expires next week.

Some Republicans want to add

Attorney:Man sufferingmental crisis in attack on

BY OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO The man accused of trying to killOpenAI CEOSam Altman by throwing aMolotovcocktail at his San Francisco home was experiencing amental health crisis and has been overcharged by prosecutors,his public defender said Tuesday. Daniel Moreno-Gama made his first court appearance on state charges Tuesday,wearing an orange jail uniform and with disheveled hair.The 20-year-old, whose attorney said is autistic, kept his gaze down during the brief hearing and softly answered “yes” when asked by ajudge whether he agreed to continuehis arraignment.San Francisco JudgeKenneth Wine ordered him held without bail and set his arraignment for

May 5.

OpenAI

Authoritiessay MorenoGama, of Spring, Texas, hurledthe incendiary device at Altman’shome Friday, setting an exterior gate on fire beforefleeing on foot. Less than an hour later, Moreno-Gama wenttoOpenAI’sheadquarters about 3 miles away and threatened to burndown the building, they said. They saidhetraveled to thecity from Texas. No one was injuredat Altman’s home or the company’soffices. San Francisco Deputy Public Defender DiamondWard called the case a“property crime,atbest,” and said that prosecutors arepursuing highercharges to curry favor for Altman Moreno-Gama also faces federal charges.

“It is unfairand is unjust for the SanFrancisco districtattorney and the fed-

founder

eral government to fear monger and to exploit the mental illness of avulnerable, young manbyturning avandalism case intoanattemptedmurder,life exposure case to gain support of abillionaire, andtoget politicalpointsatthe expense of truejusticefor everyone involved,” Ward said.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins disputedthathewas overcharged,saying MorenoGamacarried out a“targeted attack on Mr.Altman” and that prosecutors had evidence to back up thecharges. She said prosecutors would act the same whether thevictim was a“billionaire or aCEO or anyaverageSan Franciscan.”

“Regardlessofa victim’s status,theyall deservejustice and they all deserve safety,”she said.

restrictions on the surveillance techniques. Others want to tack on other legislative ideas. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., for instance, wants to includethe SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote.

These ideas,ifincluded,could create enough opponents to kill theeffort. Johnson wants only the “clean”FISAreauthorizationin thebill.

TheHouse RulesCommitteewas scheduledtomeetTuesdaynight to markupthe bill. Should Johnson’s backers on the committee succeed in sidelining amendments, the bill could come up for avote by the end of the week.

Similarly,House and Senate leadership wantonly the U.S. Department of Homeland Security included in funding bill.

Democrats refusedtofund Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigrationand CustomsEnforcement andCustoms and Border Protection until stricter standards

are placed on federal agents when rounding up illegal immigrants.

The Senate approved abill that would temporarily fund other Homeland Security agencies, such as Transportation Security Administration and the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency, but not ICEand CPB.

The House is holding off on that vote until they see the Senate’sreconciliation bill that would include funding ICE andCPB forthree years. Using the reconciliation procedureswould allow theappropriations to pass on by simple majority, meaningthe Republicans could approve without any Democratic support.

“Republicanshavebeen forced to do this thehardway,” said Senate MajorityLeader JohnThune, R-S.D Senate Republicans were briefed on the strategy during alunch meeting Tuesday

Email Mark Ballardat mballard@theadvocate.com.

SCANTO WATCH VIDEOTOUR &BUY TICKETS 3-BED OM 2-BATHHOME

SupportGaudanse’sPerforming Arts Programs,Sustainability for Creators andPerformers, and Wellness-based Arts Practices

Festin’the NOLA way

French QuarterFestival,April16-19,isthisweekend,and LCMC Healthisproud to be theofficial healthcarepartner.Throughoutthe festival,we’ll be on handwith first aid stations stockedwith essentials like bandagesand sunscreen,aswellasour mobile Nursing Nest—offering moms a private, comfortable space. As youexplorethe festival,keep an eye out forour hearticonat foodand beverage booths to easilyspothealthier menu options.We’re alsoexcited to support the festival in newwaysthis year as the proudsponsor of itsfirst-ever5K, happeningSaturday morning before thefestbegins. And don’t missour marchingkrewe,HeartBeat,bringing all the 80s vibesto theopening dayparade!Learn moreatfrenchquarterfest.org Official healthcarepartner of FrenchQuarterFestival

Johnson

Universities in La. may seek new accreditor

BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer

As higher education bureaucracy comes under scrutiny nationally, Louisiana’s public universities might soon be allowed to seek alternatives to the accreditor that has evaluated institutions in the state for over a century

The potential change comes as some conservative leaders like President Donald Trump and Gov. Jeff Landry criticize excess spending in higher education and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Some administrators say, however, that the problems with accreditation lie less with DEI and more with the inefficiency of a geography-based system.

Senate Bill 304 would permit public universities to break with their longstanding accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The bill follows the recommendations of a task force Landry created last year to review accreditation in the state and consider membership in the newly founded Commission for Public Higher Education.

At the time he created the task force, Landry said CPHE could

be “an alternative to the outof-touch accreditation system” and that “this task force will ensure Louisiana’s public universities move away from DEIdriven mandates and toward a system rooted in merit-based achievement.”

That alarmed some faculty and higher education advocates, who feared it would impose a political agenda on the accreditation process.

Now, as the Legislature considers SB304, supporters are talking less about political motives. Instead, they say the current system of regional accreditors is obsolete — and that accreditors need to focus more on how universities can operate efficiently

Cameron Howell, senior adviser at the newly founded commission, urged the public to review its educational standards, which he says are in line with common higher education practices.

“I think what you’ll see is a small-C conservative approach to achieve efficiencies, to lower costs and to make for a process that is less burdensome,” he said.

“That, I don’t think, is about politics,” he added.

Some state and federal leaders say it might no longer make sense to have regional accreditors Instead, they argue the organizations should be focused on the type of institution — in this case, public universities.

“We moved from geography, ev-

last year, she said during Tuesday’s hearing before the panel.

erybody being SACS, to having a broader ability if they are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education,” said Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed.

Why does accreditation matter?

Accreditation is the process of evaluating schools to ensure they meet acceptable education standards. Universities that are not accredited by an approved organization cannot receive federal financial aid dollars.

The Southern Association of Colleges accredits 41 institutions in Louisiana and hundreds more throughout the South, according to February 2026 organizational data. LSU has held continuous accreditation from the organization since 1913.

The association did not respond to a request for comment.

Though the bill under consideration in the Legislature does not mention the Commission for Public Higher Education specifically, it comes up frequently when the bill is discussed. Landry’s task force also recommended Louisiana join and gain a board seat on the organization.

The commission was launched in 2025 by institutions in six Southern states: the State Uni-

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

Long-simmering frustrations with how Louisiana courts treat women convicted of harming their abusers boiled over Tuesday after a Senate committee watered down a proposal to give more lenient sentences in such cases.

“We all know this isn’t far enough,” state Sen Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, said of her own measure, Senate Bill 91, after she removed a provision to let judges resentence some victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.

But that idea has run into opposition from critics who say it could overwhelm courts with meritless claims from offenders trying to take advantage of resentencing opportunities.

In its original form, SB91 also would have lowered the maximum prison sentences allowed in cases where abuse played a “substantial contributing factor in causing the defendant to commit the offense.”

Mizell — who has tried to pass similar legislation during previous legislative sessions — knew the proposal would not pass the Senate’s Judiciary C Committee given the opposition she faced

Instead, Mizell amended her bill so that it would make abuse victims who receive life sentences eligible for clemency immediately; normally, lifers must serve 15 years before they can apply, according to Mizell’s amendment.

The clemency process allows offenders to have their sentences commuted with the approval of the governor and the Board of Pardons and Parole.

While some victims’ advocates appreciated the clemency provision, they said it fell far short of what was needed to help victims wronged by the criminal justice system. Critics accused the state of failing to protect women from systemic violence and human trafficking — and then punishing them for actions that were a direct result of that abuse.

“The truth of the matter is there are domestic violence victims who will die in prison in Louisiana because they had the audacity to defend themselves against somebody who was terrorizing them,” Mariah Wineski, executive director of the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, told the Judiciary C Committee.

The bill would also require courts to consider an offender’s status as a victim when determining whether to suspend sentences or grant probation.

And it would direct courts to order presentence investigations for offenses committed against abusers.

Carlotta Lepingwell, director of the Criminal Justice Clinic at Tulane University, who noted she was not speaking on behalf of the school, worried that provision could do more harm than good. The court would have to weigh statements obtained through the presentence investigation from the abuser or the abuser’s family, she said, in which case the abuser would be deemed a victim.

Zach Daniels, who directs the Louisiana District Attorney’s Association, challenged Lepingwell’s characterization of presentence investigations and said requiring judges to consider whether crimes were connected to the offender’s victimization was a step forward.

“I think it’s unfair for one side simply to say unless we get everything we want, we want nothing to pass, and I believe that’s the tenor of the discussion here,” he said.

Mary Kate Andrepont, who directs the governor’s Office of Human Trafficking Prevention, said the Governor’s Office

versity System of Florida, the University System of Georgia, the University of North Carolina System, the University of South Carolina System, the Texas A&M University System and the University of Tennessee System.

Florida Gov Ron DeSantis heralded the commission when it was unveiled in June last year as “an alternative that will break the ideological stronghold” and end “the activist-controlled accreditation monopoly.”

The organization itself does not claim a political ideology Howell said its standards adhere to conventional norms in the higher education sector

He said the commission’s goal is to save universities money in the accreditation process and maximize efficiency, which he argued the commission can achieve by specializing in working with public institutions.

“Having a regional approach to something made sense operationally and economically,” Howell said. “We work in a world now where travel and communication are easier to bridge over long distances and where we can go about devising accreditation on the basis of public mission.”

Higher education standards

Trump made overhauling higher education bureaucracy a focus of his Education Department, issuing an executive order in April 2025 that urged increased competition

approved of Mizell’s amended SB91 as an appropriate compromise.

Andrepont said the state has been tracking prosecutions brought under human trafficking statutes over the last two years.

In 2024, there were 46 human trafficking arrests and two convictions, she said 2025 saw 69 such arrests, according to Andrepont, who said she did not yet

in the accreditation sphere, prioritization of intellectual diversity among faculty and lower costs for students.

Louisiana’s accreditation reform will align with both Trump and Landry’s interests, Reed said. SB304 “was a result of the governor’s executive order saying we want to support the Trump administration’s interest in broadening competition around accreditors,” Reed said.

Though sometimes juxtaposed politically, SACS and CPHE do not contain references to politics in their accreditation standards (in CPHE’s case, draft accreditation standards, as the commission is not yet formally recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. They share criteria on institutional integrity, sound finances and a commitment to “continuous improvement.” Both include references to academic freedom though CPHE goes a step further to include a standard for “intellectual diversity.”

The proposed law mandates that universities must be accredited through an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, so Louisiana’s institutions would need to maintain their SACS accreditation for the time being even if it passes.

CPHE plans to finalize its application by summer 2027, Howell said, with the timeline for approval then set by the U.S. Department of Education.

have conviction data but believed prosecution rates had jumped significantly

Last year, Louisiana service providers reported serving about 2,900 human trafficking victims, she said, adding that some victims may have been counted more than once, especially if they interacted with multiple service providers.

Senate President Pro Tempore Regina Barrow,

a Democrat from Baton Rouge who along with Mizell has worked on women’s protection issues, expressed dismay after hearing those numbers.

“I’ve heard the stories. I’ve listened to them, and many of them are serving their time because they were protecting themselves, because they decided ‘no more,’” she said. “I think we are really far behind.”

Diplomats try to arrange a second round of U.S.-Iran talks

American blockade of Iranian ports enacted

BY MUNIR AHMED and SAM METZ

Associated Press

ISLAMABAD Diplomats worked through back channels on Tuesday to arrange a new round of talks between the United States and Iran after Washington enacted its blockade of Iranian ports, while Tehran threatened to retaliate by striking targets across the warweary region.

U.S. President Donald Trump said a second round of talks could happen “over the next two days,” telling the New York Post the negotiations could be held again in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres concurred, saying it’s “highly probable” that talks will restart. He cited a meeting he had with Pakistan’s deputy prime minister Ishaq Dar Meanwhile in Washington, the first direct talks in decades between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the U.S. concluded on a productive note, according to the U.S. State Department.

Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter said the two countries are “on the same side of the equation” in “liberating Lebanon” from the militant Hezbollah group. Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad called the meeting “constructive” but urged an end to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. Since March, that war has displaced more than 1 million people in Lebanon Israel and Lebanon have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Lebanon remains deeply divided over diplomatic engagement with Israel.

First round failed to end conflict

Last weekend in Pakistan, an initial round of talks aimed at permanently ending the U.S.-Iran conflict failed to produce an agreement. The White House said Iran’s nuclear ambitions were a central sticking point.

A U.S. official said Tuesday that fresh talks with Iran were still under discussion and that nothing

A man sits on Tuesday next to charred cars and

building was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike the previous

central Beirut, Lebanon.

has been scheduled. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss sensitive negotiations.

Muhammad Aurangzeb, Pakistan’s finance minister told The Associated Press that “our leadership is not giving up” on efforts to help the U.S. and Iran end the conflict

“We’ll keep at it,” Aurangzeb said Tuesday

The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,100 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. service members have also been killed.

Tankers turned around

The blockade is intended to pressure Iran, which has exported millions of barrels of oil, mostly to Asia, since the war began on Feb. 28. Much of it has likely been carried by so-called dark transits that evade sanctions and oversight, providing cash flow that’s been vital to keeping Iran running.

U.S. Central Command said Tuesday no ships made it past the blockade in the first 24 hours, while six merchant vessels complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around and re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman.

Tankers approaching the strait on Monday turned around shortly after the blockade took effect, though one reversed course again and transited the waterway

The tanker Rich Starry had been waiting off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, according to shipping data firm Lloyd’s List, which cited data from the energy cargotracking firm Vortexa. It was not immediately clear whether the tanker had earlier docked in Iran. Yet it was listed by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control as linked to Iranian shipping.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Chinese tankers will not be allowed passage through the strait. “So they’re not going to be able to get their oil,” he told reporters Tuesday In rare public criticism seemingly directed at Trump Chinese President Xi Jinping said nations should “oppose the world’s retrogression to the law of the jungle.” Xi said nations should work to “jointly safeguard genuine multilateralism.”

Israel, Lebanon conclude talks

The Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington were “productive,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement, adding that “all sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who facilitated the talks, had downplayed expectations for any immediate agreement.

Leiter the Israeli ambassador to the U.S, said after the talks that both countries saw eye-to-eye in several areas.

Sheinbaum pushes back over migrant deaths, Cuba

Mexican president taking a firmer stance

BY MEGAN JANETSKY and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press

MEXICO CITY The Mexican government on Tuesday protested the deaths of its citizens in U.S. immigration custody as President Claudia Sheinbaum pushes back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies on multiple fronts.

The progressive Mexican leader has walked a careful line with Trump for more than a year, addressing provocations with a measured tone and meeting U.S. requests to crack down on criminal cartels more so than her predecessors, in an effort to offset threats of tariffs and U.S. military action against the gangs. But in the wake of mounting deaths of Mexican citizens in custody of immigration officials and the Trump administration’s decision to impose an energy blockade on Cuba a key Mexican ally Sheinbaum has taken a harder line.

Mexican consulates to visit detention centers daily

She said her government would raise the deaths in detention centers to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and was considering appealing to the United Nations. Her government already said it would support lawsuits in the U.S. filed by detainees over poor conditions.

“We are going to defend Mexicans at every level,” Sheinbaum said, adding that “there are many Mexicans whose only crime is not having papers.”

The moves by Sheinbaum’s government come on top of mounting disapproval in the U.S. of Trump’s immigration enforcement. About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say Trump has “gone too far” in sending federal immigration agents into American cities, according to a February AP-NORC poll.

Divide over Cuba

Shifting geopolitics in the region, and the mounting deaths in ICE facilities, have also opened the door for Sheinbaum to take a firmer stance.

“We’ve seen the president raise her tone,” said Palmira Tapia, an analyst for Mexico’s Center for Economic Research and Teaching. “There’s been a shift, and we’ve seen Sheinbaum be more vocal than before.”

Deaths in ICE custody

Sheinbaum’s latest rebuke came on Tuesday, a day after 49-year-old Mexican citizen Alejandro Cabrera Clemente died in a detention center in Louisiana of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency the 15th death of a Mexican citizen in U.S. custody in little over a year

Mexico’s government quickly called the deaths “unacceptable” and the ICE detention centers “incompatible with human rights standards and the protection of life.”

During a Tuesday news briefing Sheinbaum added she requested investigations into the deaths of the 15 migrants, and instructed

The main point of contention between the two governments has been Cuba. Solidarity with the U.S. adversary has been a cornerstone of Mexico’s political ethos since the Cuban revolution, which Fidel Castro, Ernesto “Che” Guevara and a group of exiles famously planned while in Mexico City It’s a particular sticking point with her progressive Morena party, whose founder ushered Sheinbaum into office.

The relationship hit a hurdle in late January, when Trump announced he would slap tariffs on any country that sends oil to Cuba. The move directly impacted Mexico, which for years has shipped oil to Cuba.

While Sheinbaum reluctantly paused oil shipments to Cuba, she has continued to challenge the Trump administration’s push for regime change.

“Mexico has every right to send fuel, whether for humanitarian or commercial reasons,” Sheinbaum said earlier this week.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By HASSANAMMAR

wreckage where a

Wednesday in

Sheinbaum

with water main breaks, billing issues and other problems in recent years.

S&WB Governance Committee

Chair Courtney Scrubbs, however has said the proposal would create a “model too easily altered by shifting political priorities,” which could weaken the S&WB’s already precarious financial standing

The bill comes at a sensitive moment for the agency and its executive director, Randy Hayman who has faced withering criticism from Moreno and council members for a range of issues, including at a council committee meeting on Tuesday over sewage leaks in New Orleans East.

The board, then led by former Mayor LaToya Cantrell, hired Hayman in July from the top job at the Philadelphia Water Department. Moreno has said Hayman should not have been appointed to the permanent role and that the S&WB should have instead picked an interim leader HB573, in its latest form, gives the council the right to approve the board’s executive director In a statement Tuesday expressing support for Hayman’s leadership, the S&WB called attention to an S&P Global report highlighting Hayman’s “successful track record in securing funding for aging infrastructure in similarly challenged metropolitan systems.”

“We believe this experience will be instrumental in maintaining public confidence and continued support for the system’s financial needs,” the report said.

The bill could eventually lead

GLOBALSTAR

Continued from page 1A

wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon, which means they are going to continue to operate as they do today,” Hecht said. “So there should be no change in the near term in terms of employment and location, which are the two questions on anybody’s mind when something like this happens.”

Globalstar and Monroe did not respond to a request for comment

The deal represents a crowning achievement for the company, which got its start as a provider of satellite communications but faced ups and downs as it sought to invest the billions of dollars in satellite launches and other technology needed to keep it competitive. While its control of portions of wireless spectrum was long seen as a valuable asset, in recent years, as Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service expanded rapidly, Globalstar re-emerged as a potential partner for tech giants looking to

UTILITIES

Continued from page 1A

would need to win approval from a majority of voters both statewide and within Orleans Parish. If approved, the move would shift more control of city affairs to state leaders. It comes at the same time the city is defending itself against state efforts to shrink its judicial system. The proposal is also at odds with a measure Mayor Helena Moreno is backing, House Bill 573, that would give the City Council more control over the S&WB than it presently exercises. Moreno and some council members have said those changes are necessary to avoid having to petition lawmakers in Baton Rouge every time they want to make reforms to the utility, which has struggled with aging infrastructure and other problems. Wright, who didn’t re-

NOPD

Continued from page 1A

The bottles, which debuted during Carnival, weren’t just meant for locals; they were intended to capture the interest of visitors, too. Recruitment officer Sgt. Kurt Eischen explained that savvy travelers seek out places where locals dine.

“It’s like that old saying, ‘Eat where the police eat,’”

perpetually underfunded.

“My initial reaction is it goes pretty far in that it would empower the City Council to actually provide oversight. But again, with that comes a parallel responsibility to make sure that the entity is adequately funded,” said BGR Executive Director Rebecca Mowbray

A conflict of interest?

But Mowbray said the amended bill also poses new questions. For one thing, she said the new draft muddles the authority of the city charter to establish the S&WB governing board And even without a recomposed board, the bill gives the council more power than the existing board even has, Mowbray said, noting that the council could oversee the hiring of all board employees.

Mowbray also said the council could potentially give itself both governance and regulatory power, which could potentially cause a conflict of interest.

City Council President JP Morrell skewered Scrubbs’ letter in an April 10 interview with Newell Normand on WWL-AM, saying “it was as obviously an effort by people who support the current executive director to try and protect his position.”

Latest problem emerges Hayman was in the hot seat again on Thursday as council Vice President Matthew Willard and District E council member Jason Hughes quizzed S&WB officials about efforts to remediate sewage the leaks into the Dwyer Canal in New Orleans East. The S&WB acknowledged the leaks this year after activists and residents brought the problem to council members.

to a dramatic makeover for how New Orleans manages its water systems. It authorizes the council to pass ordinances creating a new governing board, and to give itself authority to regulate rates and fees, operating and capital budgets, internal policies, contracts and the hiring of the executive director and staff.

The council currently has limited power to approve the S&WB’s rate requests, but the bill potentially gives the council the ability to set and regulate rates on its own.

The bill also says the governing board composition “may” be set by the city charter, which currently mirrors state law in making the mayor the board’s president. Charter amendments require council and voter approval.

compete in the space.

Globalstar CEO Paul Jacobs said in a statement that the acquisition comes after decades of work building a company focused on innovation and operational excellence.

“We have long believed low Earth orbit satellite constellations offer the most effective path to truly connect users and devices anywhere and anytime,” said Jacobs, a longtime Silicon Valley tech leader who took the helm of Globalstar in 2023. “For more than 30 years, Globalstar has executed on this vision.”

Globalstar became a target for Amazon as the tech giant looked to build a satellite communications business that can compete with Starlink and its network of 10,000 satellites.

Amazon has about 3,000 satellites in orbit, while Globalstar will give it an additional 180 or so.

Though there’s still a long way for Amazon to go in closing the gap with Starlink, Globalstar has the infrastructure and know-how the company needs, said Tulane University professor Peter Ricchiuti, who follows the company

spond to multiple requests for comment, filed the legislation as he’s campaigning for an open seat on the five-member Public Service Commission. He’s one of five Republicans that will face off in the May primary for the District 1 seat, which represents a sliver of New Orleans in addition to surrounding parishes.

A spokesperson for Council President JP Morrell, who chairs the council’s Utility Committee, said “the New Orleans City Council will continue to work in partnership with state lawmakers while preserving the regulatory powers vested in us by the Charter and our constituents.”

District A council member Aimee McCarron said in a statement that the council is one of the most progressive and effective regulators in the country simultaneously controlling costs while advancing proconsumer energy policies,” pointing to efforts like net

he said It’s hoped the hot sauce recruitment link might compel some visitors to make the city home.

“It says we’re hiring,” Eischen said. “We’d like to see more applicants outside of New Orleans.” Brewer and Eischen said it was too soon to tell if the hot sauce connection has inspired any applications.

Hiring has been an issue for the NOPD since the pandemic. The total number of commissioned officers has

Amendments laying out details to the bill were posted to the Legislature’s website on Wednesday

The initial version, which was considered a placeholder, gave the council the ability to override state laws. The amended bill clarifies that the council cannot contradict any existing laws. Other than expressing support for Hayman, the S&WB didn’t comment on other proposed amendments.

The bill potentially consolidates responsibility for both funding and operations with the council, which already controls water rates but has no say over the S&WB operations. The Bureau of Governmental Research, a local nonprofit public policy watchdog, has long identified the misalignment of accountability as one reason the S&WB is

“Transactions

around the world already recognize: Louisiana is a place where businesses can launch, grow and succeed.”

SUSAN BOURGEOIS, Louisiana Economic Development secretary

“If Amazon is serious about going after Starklink, it’s a lot easier for them to buy Globalstar than to start from scratch,” Ricchiuti said. The deal comes as the race among commercial aerospace companies has taken on a new intensity under President Donald Trump, with companies moving fast to partner, increase its ability to launch into space and look for new opportunities.

Globalstar has been in the sector since the 1990s, when semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm and defense contractor Loral partnered to create a satellite communications service that went bankrupt a few years later

metering, which compensates residents for solar energy they add to the grid.

“All of these advantages come because we have regulatory authority and losing that would be a loss for New Orleans consumers,” McCarron said.

The proposal, which was slated to appear in committee on Monday but was deferred, has a long way to go before crossing the finish line. To make it onto the ballot, HB744 will need twothirds support from lawmakers in both the House and Senate, as well as Gov. Jeff Landry’s signature.

Shifting regulatory control to the Public Service Commission would likely result in higher bills for New Orleans residents, said Jackson Voss, government affairs and policy coordinator at The Alliance for Affordable Energy a ratepayer advocacy group.

Voss said that City Council members are “much more active regulators” than the

lingered at around 900 since 2023, down from more than 1,100 before 2020. The department has upped starting salaries, added enlistment bonuses and contracted with local advertising agency Brand Society to help pepper the ranks with new recruits.

The agency hopes to increase its staffing to 1,200. Email Doug MacCash at dmaccash@theadvocate. com.

“There’s going to be a lot to figure out here,” Mowbray said.

The bill also specifies that the city’s drinking water, sewer and drainage systems are “a state entity separate and apart” from the city of New Orleans, but it modifies an existing stipulation that the S&WB is responsible for all the city’s drainage operations. The bill says this will continue to be the case “unless otherwise provided by the parish governing authority or other law to the contrary.”

Before the bill was amended, Scrubbs wrote an 11-page letter to lawmakers saying that giving the council too much power creates political uncertainty that could ultimately weaken the utility’s finances and cause lower bond ratings.

In 2004, Denver-based private equity firm Thermo Capital Partners purchased Globalstar’s assets A few years later, Monroe, Thermo’s managing partner at the time and a Tulane graduate, moved its headquarters to Covington to take advantage of lower operating costs and Louisiana’s digital interactive media incentives and tax credits.

The move was celebrated as a major economic development win for the state.

Monroe has served as Globalstar’s chair since 2004 and was CEO from 2005 until 2020.

In 2022, Globalstar caught the attention of the larger tech, telecommunications and aerospace industries when it partnered with Apple on the emergency SOS deal.

“I have to hand it to Jay Monroe,” Ricchiuti said. “He really stuck with the company and never wavered in his vision.”

The deal comes as Louisiana officials are trying to make the state, which has a long history of aerospace activity, attractive to a new generation of companies that build, launch and service rockets

Public Service Commission, which he said results in more favorable rates for residents and stronger standards around the use of renewable energy Entergy New Orleans declined to comment. Delta Utilities and the S&WB did not immediately return requests for comment.

John Young, the former Jefferson Parish president who is running in the Republican primary for the seat against Wright, said in

The S&WB has hired contractors to identify faults in its pipes and to test the canal’s water quality Recent tests have shown the presence of fecal coliform bacteria, which officials say will dissipate as repairs are made over the next several months. The S&WB also recently posted signs along the canal warning passerby not to come into contact with it.

“I believe we had our first meeting to talk about the issues at the Dwyer Canal in January, and we just put signage up? That’s a problem,” Willard said.

Michael Pellet, the community activist who initially identified the leaks, said in an interview the S&WB has recently made consistent efforts to address the problem and communicate with residents.

“We are not confident that the issues are 100% remedied, but we do believe there has been significant progress,” Pellet said.

Email Ben Myers at bmyers@ theadvocate.com.

and the payloads like satellites that they carry into space.

State lawmakers in recent days have approved a series of financial incentives and legal protections that would benefit aerospace companies. Contractors at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where rocket components for NASA have been built since the 1960s, are celebrating the successful Artemis II mission, which splashed down last week after traveling to the far side of the moon. Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois said Globalstar “made the strategic decision to relocate from California to Louisiana and found the workforce, infrastructure and cost advantages necessary to scale into a globally competitive enterprise.”

“Transactions of this magnitude reinforce what investors and companies around the world already recognize: Louisiana is a place where businesses can launch, grow and succeed,” she said.

Email Jerry DiColo at jdicolo@ theadvocate.com.

an interview that he’s not opposed to the bill, but that he thinks there are some legal and operational issues that need to be fleshed out first.

“I just think there are more questions than answers at this point,” particularly for ratepayers, he said.

State Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, R-New Orleans, who is also running in the primary, in a statement said the discussion must center ratepayers.

“Ultimately the question

should be what delivers the best results for ratepayers: lower costs, reliable service, and accountable oversight,” she said.

Wayne Cooper, another Republican candidate, said any decision about shifting regulatory oversight “should be made by city officials and the hardworking people of New Orleans.”

Email Blake Paterson at bpaterson@theadvocate. com.

STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

New Orleans City Council member Jason Hughes makes clear his constituents’ concerns about the safety and quality of their drinking water as he and other members of the City Council hold a meeting with Sewerage & Water Board officials on Tuesday.

Audibelis NOW Offering...

• That’s Right...No Co-Pay!NoExamFee! No AdjustmentFee! If youhavethiscard, youmay qualifyfor free hearing aids! Call today to verifyyour benefits

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Walt Disney Co. begins layoffs of 1,000

NEW YORK

— The Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday began layoffs expected to lead to 1,000 job cuts across the company

Josh D’Amaro, who in February succeeded Bob Iger as chief executive, announced broader layoffs following a move in January to consolidate Disney’s marketing division. The cuts are expected to fall across the Burbank Californiabased company’s traditional television businesses, including ESPN, as well as its movie studio. Employees in product and technology and in certain corporate functions will also be affected

“Over the past several months, we have looked at ways in which we can streamline our operations in various parts of the company to ensure we deliver the world-class creativity and innovation our fans value and expect from Disney,”

D’Amaro said in a memo to employees obtained by The Associated Press. “Given the fastmoving pace of our industries, this requires us to constantly assess how to foster a more agile and technologically-enabled workforce to meet tomorrow’s needs.”

Disney last went through a round of layoffs soon after Iger returned for a second spell as chief executive office in 2022. The company cut around 8,000 jobs then. As of late 2025, Disney had about 230,000 employees.

D’Amaro, who previously oversaw Disney’s lucrative parks division, has been at the company since 1998.

Hundreds of 7-Elevens expected to close NEW YORK Convenience chain

7-Eleven expects to close hundreds of its locations this year

According to earnings filings published last week, 7-Eleven’s North American operator plans to close 645 stores in the 2026 fiscal year — outpacing the 205 locations it forecasts it will open during that same time.

Seven & i Holdings Co., the Japan-based parent of the convenience chain, noted that these closures “include the conversion to wholesale fuel stores.” Financial documents show that 7-Eleven Inc. has steadily opened new wholesale fuel stores in North America over recent years, which accounted for more than 900 locations as of December 2025.

The company did not immediately explain the closures or specify which locations could be impacted.

Pittsburgh paper says it has a buyer NEW YORK Barely two weeks before it was due to shut down, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said Tuesday it had found a last-minute buyer a successful nonprofit journalism operation that has agreed to keep the struggling newspaper open.

The resolution to a monthslong worry in western Pennsylvania about the paper’s shutdown comes at a difficult moment for the American newspaper industry, which has shed jobs, resources and sometimes entire companies due to the upending of the traditional revenue model by the internet at the beginning of this century

The Post-Gazette dates its ancestry to 1786, the first newspaper to open west of the Allegheny Mountains, and its closure would have left Pittsburgh as the nation’s largest community without a city-based paper

The Post-Gazette’s owners, Block Communications, said the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, which publishes the digital Baltimore Banner, had agreed to buy its assets. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The Post-Gazette said the new owners would continue to print the newspaper on two days, Thursday and Sunday, and would operate a website on the other days. The newspaper had been due to close on May 3.

BUSINESS

NOLA.COM/BIZ

Markets rally as oil prices ease

BY STAN CHOE AP business writer

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks rallied to the edge of an all-time high Tuesday, and oil prices eased as hopes climbed that the United States and Iran may try again on talks to end their war and avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy

The S&P 500 added 1.2% to its leap from the day before, and the index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts is just 0.2% below its record set in January

The Dow Jones Industrial Aver-

age rose 317 points, or 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 2%. They followed gains for stock markets worldwide as diplomats worked through back channels to arrange a new round of talks between the United States and Iran. If talks succeed and the war ends up being only a temporary setback for the global economy, rather than a new normal of very high oil prices and inflation, investors can turn their attention back to what matters most for stock prices: How much money are companies making?

Positive trends there had stock markets worldwide doing well before the war began, and analysts see continued growth ahead, for

now at least. Lower oil prices help bring down costs for all kinds of businesses, and the price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in June fell 4.6% to settle at $94.79 Tuesday

While that’s still above its roughly $70 price from before the war began in late February, it’s well below the $119 peak it has hit when worries about the war have been at their heights. To be sure, hope has often swung quickly into doubt since the war began, which has caused extreme and sudden reversals in financial markets. Much of the stress has been due to the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that’s the main avenue for crude oil produced in

the Persian Gulf area to reach customers worldwide. Blockages there have kept oil off the global market, which has in turn driven up its price. The IMF on Tuesday also downgraded its forecast for global economic growth to 3.1% this year from the 3.3% it had forecast

China’s exports grew in slowdown

Iran war raises uncertainty but demand for renewable energy could strengthen

BY CHAN HO-HIM AP business writer

HONG KONG China’s exports grew 2.5% in March from a year ago, significantly slowing from the previous two months as uncertainties rose from the Iran war and its impact on energy prices and global demand. The March export data released by China’s customs agency Tuesday missed analysts’ estimates and was sharply down from the 21.8% export growth recorded for January and February

Imports last month surged 27.8%, up from the 19.8% year-on-year increase in the first two months of this year

Technology-related exports including a jump in shipments of semiconductors from China on the global artificial intelligence boom have powered its robust exports in early 2026, but economists say impacts from the prolonged Iran war could affect overall global demand for Chinese exports this year

“China’s exports have decelerated as the Iran war starts to affect global demand and supply chains,” said Gary Ng, a senior economist for Asia Pacific at French bank Natixis.

Despite the significant rebound in China’s export growth in January and February external demand is likely to weaken due to the war’s energy shock, Bank of America economists led by Helen Qiao wrote in a recent research note.

The risks will “arise from a persistent global slowdown in overall demand if the conflict lasts longer than currently expected,” they wrote.

But economists, including those from Bank of America, also noted that the energy supply disruptions could further strengthen global demand for China’s renewable energy technologies such as solar cells, wind turbines and electric vehicles, while enduring semiconductor demand on the AI frenzy is expected to help export momentum.

“Despite the energy price shock, exports should stay solid in the coming quarters, thanks to strong demand for semiconductors and green technologies,” wrote Zichun Huang, a China economist at Capital Economics in a note Tuesday

The late timing of the Lunar New Year which fell in mid-February, probably also negatively impacted China’s export data last month with some holiday-related disruptions spilling over, Huang added.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s elevated tariffs on Chinese exports and tensions between Washington and Beijing have also been straining China’s shipments to the U.S.

over the past months, with China stepping up its exports to other regions including Europe, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

Analysts are also closely watching Trump’s planned visit to Beijing in May to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping following a delay due to the Iran war China’s exports to the U.S. fell 26.5% yearon-year in March, widening from a 11% drop in January and February, while those to the European Union and Southeast Asia rose 8.6% and 6.9%, respectively

Chinese leaders have set an annual economic growth target for 2026 of 4.5% to 5%, the lowest since 1991. China met its “around 5%” economic growth target for 2025 on strong exports with a record high $1.2 trillion trade surplus — and analysts say exports likely will continue to be a key driver for maintaining economic expansion this year as a prolonged property sector slump in China weighed on domestic demand and investments.

Some economists believe China has so far been relatively well-positioned in shielding itself from the impacts from the Iran war, which has sent fuel prices surging and is threatening worsening global inflation. China’s vast oil reserves and diversified energy sources mean it’s less affected by the fallout from the war, including shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for energy transport, they said.

Some of the biggest banks see ‘resilient’ U.S. economy Rising energy prices still a concern

BY KEN SWEET AP business writer

NEW YORK

The nation’s biggest banks posted another quarter of strong profits, helped by a resilient economy and a flurry of dealmaking for their investment banking units.

But the strong profits were clouded by the bank’s outlook for 2026, as bank executives warned how high oil prices were starting to negatively impact the consumer and further geopolitical uncertainty could hamper economic growth as the year progresses.

“There is an increasingly complex set of risks,” Jamie Dimon, CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase, said in a statement, referencing to wars, energy prices and trade wars as some of the current risks in the global economy In response, the bank slightly lowered its full-year profit forecast.

Dimon further called these tensions as “significant and they reinforce why we prepare the firm for a wide range of environments.”

This quarter, it was the investment banks at all of the major banks that drove revenue to Wall Street during the first three months of the year JPMorgan reported a 30% jump in investment banking fees, while Citigroup reported a 12% rise in advisory fees.

The rise in markets and investment banking fees was not a surprise. Markets have been intensely volatile in the first three months of the year, and those swings of volatility are great for the professional trading desks stationed at all the major banks. Further, many companies are pursuing mergers, acquisitions or going public which has provided another stream of revenue for Wall Street.

However, bank executives warned that the extreme swings could have downstream impacts to the U.S. economy, particular-

ly energy prices. In a call with reporters, Wells Fargo Chief Financial Officer Mike Santomassimo said the bank was seeing customers was spending 30% to 40% more toward gas on their debit cards, while cutting back on discretionary purchases. CEO Charlie Scharf added to those comments in a call with investors, saying higher energy prices were putting pressure on some of its lower income customers. While Dimon described the economy was “resilient” he also said, “the impact of higher oil prices will likely take some time to materialize” in the economy if it lingers. The American consumer also continues to spend more on their credit cards as well as add to their balances on those accounts. JPMorgan said credit card loans were up 7% from a year ago, while Citigroup also saw its credit card loans rise by a lesser 2%. JPMorgan posted a profit of $16.49 billion, up 13%

FILE PHOTO By BEN CURTIS

ASSOCIATEDPRESS

Acrane offloads apieceof wreckage from asalvagevesselonto a flatbed truck near the wreckagesiteof amidair collision between an AmericanAirlines jet and aBlack Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National AirportonFeb.5,inArlington, Va

Houseapproves aviation safety bill basedonmidaircollision

BY JOSH FUNK AP transportation writer

An aviation safety bill seeking to address lessons learned from last year’s midair collision of ajet with an Army helicopter near the nation’scapitalwas approved by the House Tuesday,but key senators and the families of the 67 victims think the bill still needs to be strengthened.

The House bill, called the Alert Act, has the backing of key industry groups, but lawmakers will now have to trytofind acompromise that will satisfy the Senate.

The National Transportation Safety Boardrecentlysaid that the legislation, since amended, now addresses its recommendation to require allaircraftflyingaround busy airports to have key locator systems that let pilots know more precisely where other aircraft are.

The NTSB has been recommending the new technology systems since 2008, and Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy has said such a system would have prevented the collision of the American Airlinesjet and Army Black Hawk helicopter that sent both aircraft plunging into the icy Potomac River Twokey House committees unanimously advanced the bill last month. The bill was brought up for afull House voteunder rules that didn’tallow any amendments. But victims’ families said before the vote they want to make sure the bill has strict timelines to guarantee the reforms willbe completed. And they worry the House bill would allow military flights to continue flying without broadcasting their locations on routine training flights and not just secret missions.

“January 29,2025made clear what is at stake. The 67 lives lost thatday shouldbe honored with an improved systemthatprevents this from happening again,” the main families group said Tuesday in anew statement.

“And the flying public should not have to wait longer than necessary for those protections to be in place.”

Sponsored by Republican Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri and Democrat Rep. Rick Larsen of Washington, thelegislation easily got the

two-thirdssupport it needed to advance to theSenate. It passed 396-10. Separate legislation,the ROTOR Act,that the Senate crafted came up one voteshort in theHouse.Sens. TedCruz of Texas, aRepublican, and MariaCantwell of Washington,aDemocrat,have also said that theAlert Actstill needs improvement.

“A warning to mycolleagues in the House:the Alert Act would not deliver the safety measures necessary to prevent another midair collision, as it lacks thecritical improvements our aviation system needs,” Cruz, the Texas Republican, postedonX ahead of the voteonTuesday

Earlier this year,the NTSB’s Homendysharply criticized the original version of the bill as a“watered down” measure that wouldn’t do enough to prevent future tragedies.But the boardsaid the revised version would now address the shortcomings their investigation identified and requirethe Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Department andthe military to takeneeded actions.

Democratic Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, whose Virginia district lost anumber of constituentsinthe crash, said it’simportant toget this bill right and address all 50 of therecommendations theNTSBmadeinits final report.

“Itwasn’tjustone issuethat led to this crash. It was acombination of systemic problems that made ournational airspace unsafe,” Subramanyam said during debate.

National Transportation Safety Board members at a hearing in late January were deeply troubled over years of ignored warnings about helicopter traffic dangers andother problems, long before thecollision.

Everyone aboard the American Airlinesjet, flying from Wichita, Kansas,and the helicopter died when the two aircraft collided. It was the deadliest plane crashon U.S. soil since 2001, and the victims included 28 members of the figure skating community

Ahelicopter route in the approach path of aReagan National Airport runway didn’t ensure enough separation between helicopters and planes

landing on theairport’ssecondary runway, and the route wasn’t reviewed regularly, theboard said. Thepoor design of that route was akey factor in the crash, along with air traffic controllers relying too much on pilots to see and avoid other aircraft

The bill nowrequires planes to have AutomaticDependent Surveillance-Broadcast In systems that can receivedataabout thelocations of other aircraft. Proponents of such systems said they would have alerted the pilots of an American Airlines jet sooner to the impending collision with the Black Hawk helicopter.Mostplanes already have thecomplementary ADS-B Out systemsthat broadcast theirlocations

In addition, the House bill requires the next generation of collisionavoidance systems to be installedalongside ADS-BInsystems, so pilotswill be able to receive alerts aboutnearbytraffic andnot justsee it on a display.The AirLine Pilots Association expressed concerns that the approach could delayinstallation of therequired locator systems becausethe new collision avoidance systemhas not yet been fully certified.

Timand Sheri Lilley, whose son was the co-pilot of the airliner in the crash, said it’scrucial that anylegislation “reflects therisks in today’soperating environment and ensures pilots have the information andtechnology theyneed to identify developing situations earlier.”

The NTSB cited systemic weaknesses and years of ignoredwarnings as themain causes of thecrash, but Homendy has saidthat if both theplane and theBlack Hawk had been equipped with ADS-BInand the systems hadbeen turned on,the collisionwould have been prevented. The Army’s policy at the time of thecrash mandated that its helicopters fly without thatsystem on to conceal their locations, although the helicopter involved in this crashwas on atraining flight,not asensitivemission.

The Lilleys and the other familieswant to make sure there is stronger oversight of anyexemptionsthatlet the military fly withoutlocator systems turnedonto conceal their locations.

BY KIRSTEN GRIESHABER and HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press

BERLIN Ukraine and Germany arestarting work on plans for the joint productionofadvanced drones andother battle-tested defense systems, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday,asKyiv looks to scale up itsmore than fouryear fight against Russia’s all-out invasion.

“Wehave proposed to Germany abilateral drone deal covering varioustypes of drones, missiles,software and moderndefense systems.Our teamsare starting concrete work,” Zelenskyy said at ajoint news conference with Chancellor Friedrich Merz during avisit to Berlin.

Merz said thatGermany’s commitment to supporting Kyiv’swar effort is “a very clear signal” to Russia.

“Wewill not waver in our efforts to defend Ukraine,” he said.

U.S.-leddiplomatic efforts to endRussia’swar on itsneighbor have recently petered outasthe Iran war grips theTrump administration’sattention, although Tammy Bruce, the deputy U.S. ambassador to theUnited Nations, toldthe U.N. Security Councilon Monday that Washington “will continue to push for anegotiated and durable end” to the war

Russia hasoccupied about 20% of Ukraine so far.That includes the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014.

Production funding Ukraine has the capacity to producetwice as much

military equipment as it’s currentlydeploying, but lacksfunding to stepup production,according to Zelenskyy “Wesimplydon’t have enough money,” he said.

Akey to unlocking that potential lies in obtaining a promised loan of 90 billion euros($106 billion) fromthe European Union, which had been held up by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, but his impending departure from office after a weekend election could now free up the money Ukraine needs those funds “urgently,” Merz said.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who accompanied Zelenskyy to Berlin, said Germany and Ukraine agreed adefense package valued at $4.7 billion. The agreement is “a massive boost” forUkraine’s airdefense against Russian barrages, Fedorov said on X, allowing Kyiv to buy “several hundred” American-made Patriot missiles.

After Berlin, Zelenskyy was due to visitNorway, another important financial and military ally,while defense leadersfromthe 50plus partnernationswho regularly gather to coordinate weapons aidfor Kyiv will hold an online meeting Wednesday,Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said.

Ukrainiantroop shortfall

Kyiv is heavily reliant on U.S. intelligence for targeting inside Russia and needs more sophisticated American-made airdefense systems to stopRussianmissile attacks on its power grid. If the Iran war drags on,itcould erodevitalU.S support for Kyiv,Zelenskyy fears.

Furthermore, the Ukrainian armyisshort-handed,facing around 200,000 troopdesertions anddraft-

dodging by around 2million people, Fedorov said in January Germanywill help Kyiv facilitate the return home of Ukrainianmen of military age, Merz said. “Weneed rapid, tangible progress here,” he said. Domestically developed unmanned platforms are playing avital role in holding back Russia’s invasion. Ukraine makes air and sea drones, missiles thathave reached around 1,000 miles into Russia, as well as battlefield robots that help make up for its troop shortage. Ukraine has been approached about security cooperation, especially battletested drone production, by eight Middle East and Gulf countries, as well as Turkey, Iraqand countriesin Southeast Asia and Africa, Zelenskyy said on Monday Battlefieldsuccesses

Despite its handicaps, Western analysts and officials say Ukraine has in recentmonthsrecorded battlefield successes against Russia’sbigger army, disrupting aspring offensive started by Russia amid improving weather, as fields dry out and new foliageontreelines offers morecover Meanwhile,the longrange drones andmissiles that Kyiv designs and produces are repeatedly strikingoil facilities andmanufacturing plants deep inside Russia. Ukraine “is in amuch better place than it has been at anystage in this horrific war,”Finnish President Alexander Stubb said at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Monday Ukraine“is on topfrom amilitary perspective,” Stubb said, noting that last monthUkraine fired more drones and missiles at Russia than vice versa.

Camp Mystic official testifies deaths haven’t been reported

Medical officer hasn’t formally disclosed deaths

BY JIM VERTUNO Associated Press

AUSTIN,Texas The medical officer for the Texas summer camp where 27 girls were killed in a flood last year testified Tuesday she still has not officially reported the deaths to the state health agency that regulates camps and is reviewing its application to reopen this summer.

Mary Liz Eastland, a member of the family that owns and operates Camp Mystic, was questioned in a legal fight between the camp operators and families of victims who have filed lawsuits and want the camp to preserve damaged areas as evidence. The hearing over the past two days has produced the most extensive details from camp operators of what happened in the July 4 predawn flood on the Guadalupe River, and the delayed decisions to evacuate until it was too late.

While the deaths of 25 campers and two teenage counselors at the all-girls Christian camp have been widely reported and are not in question, the Texas administrative code requires camps to report deaths to state health regulators within 24 hours.

“I did not think of this requirement in the moments happening after the flood,” Eastland said, adding she also had not done so leading up to camp’s March 31 application to reopen.

Eastland could not recall exactly when she learned campers had died, saying it could have been a day, or several days, after the flood. Richard Eastland, her fatherin-law, also was killed.

When pressed if she should formally report the deaths now with the camp license pending, Mary Liz Eastland said, “I guess so.” It was unclear if the failure to report would affect the camp’s license application. A copy of the camp’s application includes lists of camp officers and flood plain maps.

PHOTO By MIKAyLA COMPTON

AUSTINAMERICAN-STATESMAN

Will and CiCi Steward, who lost their 8-year-old daughter Cile Steward in the July 4 flood, listen to testimony from camp director Edward Eastland as they attend a hearing on a suit against Camp Mystic in the 459th State District Court in Austin on Tuesday.

Operators are also required to submit a detailed safety plan, but that is shielded from public view

State regulators will visit the camp during the license review

The agency has also said it is reviewing hundreds of complaints filed against the camp and has invited the Texas Rangers investigative unit to help. State lawmakers also are conducting a separate investigation of the flood.

“DSHS will consider any findings from the inspection and investigation when making the determination on the renewal application,”

the agency said Tuesday

The camp’s plan to reopen part of the campus this summer and host nearly 900 girls has outraged families of the girls killed The family of 8-year-old Cile Steward, the only camper still missing, filed the lawsuit that prompted this week’s hearing

The Steward family has said the camp should not be allowed to reopen under the continued leadership of the Eastland family Separately, Texas Lt Gov. Dan Patrick has said no license should be issued until all the investigations are complete.

Mary Liz Eastland’s testimony came after her husband Edward Eastland spent hours under ques-

tioning Monday and Tuesday about missed weather warnings, the delayed decision to evacuate, and desperate attempts to save children as the water ripped through the camp with enough force to create rapids that swirled around the cabins.

He tearfully described grabbing two girls and another who jumped on his back before they were all washed away

“A genuine hero testified today,” said Mikal Watts, one of the attorneys for the Eastlands. “He told a gripping story of saving lives in an unprecedented tsunami. I am proud to represent Edward Eastland and his family.”

Mary Liz Eastland recounted her steps that night when she and her children left their house to join her mother-in-law She described water pouring into the house and breaking a window to escape. The family was able to get to higher ground.

She also described what she saw at sunrise when she went toward the river bank, “seeing girls in trees.” She and other staff gathered survivors for a head count, checking names against cabin rosters. “I had to figure out who we had and didn’t have at that point,” she said.

Appeals court orders judge to end contempt investigation of flights

Court rules judge abused his discretion

BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press

WASHINGTON A federal judge must end his “intrusive” contempt investigation of the Trump administration for failing to comply with an order over flights carrying Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador last year, a divided appeals court panel ruled Tuesday

Chief Judge James Boasberg abused his discretion in forging ahead with criminal contempt proceedings stemming from the March 2025 deportation flights according to the majority opinion by a three-judge panel from U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The ruling is the latest twist in a yearlong legal saga that has became a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign. The White House has portrayed Boasberg as a biased judge who overstepped his authority

Trump’s administration has a “clear and indisputable” right to the termination of the contempt proceedings, Circuit Judge Neomi Rao wrote in the court’s majority opinion.

“The legal error at the heart of these criminal contempt proceedings demonstrates why further investigation by the district court is an abuse of discretion,” Rao wrote. “Criminal contempt is available only for the violation of an order that is clear and specific. (Boasberg’s March 2025 order) did not clearly and specifically bar the government from transferring plaintiffs into Salvadoran custody.”

Lawyers for the deported migrants will ask the full circuit court to review the panel’s decision, according to plaintiffs’ attorney Lee Gelernt of the American Civil Liberties Union. Gelernt said the majority opinion is “a blow to the rule of law.”

“Our system is built on the executive branch, including the president, respecting court orders In this case there is no longer any question that the Trump administration willfully violated the court’s order,” Gelernt said in a statement.

Rao was nominated by Trump, a Republican Boasberg, chief judge of the district court in Washington, D.C., was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama.

On March 15, 2025, Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order barring the administration from transferring a group of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador under an 18th-century law After the order was entered, two planeloads of migrants protected by the order departed from the U.S. on their way to El Salvador, where they were locked up in one of the world’s most violent prisons. The administration said then- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was responsible for the transfer decision.

Boasberg has said the Trump administration may have acted in bad faith by trying to rush Venezuelan migrants out of the country in defiance of his order

He said he gave the administration “ample opportunity to rectify or explain their actions” but concluded that “none of their responses has been satisfactory.”

Last year, the Justice Department filed a misconduct complaint accusing Boasberg of making improper public comments about Trump and his administration. Trump has called for impeaching Boasberg. In a rare rebuke, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts publicly rejected calls for Boasberg’s impeachment.

The case is assigned to Rao and Circuit Judges Justin Walker and J. Michelle Childs. Walker, also a Trump nominee, wrote a separate opinion concurring with Rao’s. Childs, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, dissented from the majority

NOLA.COM | Wednesday, april 15, 2026 1Bn

Height waiver OK’d for Omni hotel

27-story tower would be nearly triple existing standard

BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer

Plans for a new “headquarters”

hotel for the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center secured a key approval Tuesday, when the City Planning Commission endorsed a proposal that would allow the hotel to be nearly three times taller than allowed under existing city regulations.

Caesar parade founder Carnesi dies at 88

Krewe would roll for 40 years in Metairie

BY DOUG MacCASH Staff writer

Robert Harold “Bob” Carnesi, captain of Metairie’s fondly remembered Caesar parade, died of complications from COVID infection and pneumonia on April 10 at East Jefferson Hospital. He was 88 years old. Carnesi’s daughter Robyn Oubre said that her father loved to tell the story of the founding of the Krewe of Caesar Carnesi was attending a New Orleans Jazz basketball game in the late 1970s with a handful of friends who were fellow Jefferson Parish residents. The topic turned to Carnival, and all agreed that “what we need is a good parade in Metairie,” Oubre said.

As soon as the pals decided that a new krewe should be founded, they immediately turned to Carnesi and said, “Bob, you’re going to be the captain,” Oubre recalled. With that, plans for what many consider to be Metairie’s largest and finest Mardi Gras parade were put in motion. Caesar would roll on the first Saturday of the season for 40 years.

Carnesi was born in New Orleans and attended Francis T. Nicholls Senior High School. Soon after graduation, he took a job at the Chiquita Brands International fruit company, best known as a leading distributor of bananas. By the time Carnesi became vice president of sales years later, he’d earned the tongue-in-cheek nickname “The Banana Man.” Carnesi later became vice president of Del Monte Fruits Company Carnesi had a lifelong love of Carnival. As a young man, his girlfriend, Sylvia Ory was a member of an amateur dance troupe that performed regularly at Mardi Gras balls. She took Bob along, where he drank in the sights and sounds of the celebration “That’s what made him go into Mardi Gras,” said Ory, who later became his wife. The couple had two children, Robyn and Robert Jr In time, Carnesi became a Carnival parade marshal, helping guide marching bands into position. Later he joined the Krewe of Pegasus, where he rose to be an officer Sometime in the late 1950s or early 1960s, he reigned as king. Not long after, he and his family left New Orleans for Metairie, where they presented the first Caesar parade in 1980. Oubre said her father insisted that the parade have its own character. Instead of

In a 5-1 vote, the commission recommended that the developers behind the planned 1,000-room Omni New Orleans be permitted to build a 27-story tower that rises 336 feet over the Warehouse District on state-owned property across the street from the Convention Center

The existing height limit is 125 feet The commission’s vote was a major victory for Convention Center officials and leaders of the city’s hospitality industry For years, they have sought to make the project a reality, arguing that New Orleans needs a new large, high-end hotel in close proximity to the Convention Center to remain competitive with peer cities like Atlanta, Austin and Nashville in attracting major gatherings. The developers have said build-

ing to 336 feet is the only way they could fit the 1,000 rooms they need on the footprint of the site

Though Tuesday’s vote is not binding and must still be approved by the City Council, having the commission’s blessing for the extra height will go a long way toward ensuring the project continues to move forward. Jim Cook, executive director of the Convention Center, called the

approval a “critical step forward for the Omni New Orleans project.”

“This approval is the next step toward delivering a transformative investment for New Orleans,” Cook said. “The proposed zoning action creates a clear, intentional framework for a project of this scale, one that reflects the importance of this site and the opportunity in front of us.”

The Omni would be the first

Rollin’ down the river

A Flood Protection Authority East tractor rolls past blooming wildflowers,

grass along the Mississippi River levee on Tuesday. Maintaining the 3,530 acres of levee land along the river’s east bank — spanning St. Bernard, Orleans and Jefferson parishes — requires a significant effort. A crew of 79 maintenance workers keeps the

clearly observe the levee system’s integrity

Panel extends Quarter trash hauler’s contract

IV Waste may continue for another 18 months

BY JONI HESS Staff writer

New Orleans City Council mem-

bers gave the nod Tuesday to a sanitation contract that has spurred lawsuits, near-service disruptions and heated debate between two arms of city government. Local sanitation firm IV Waste may continue servicing the French Quarter and the Downtown Development District for another 18 months after a council committee voted to extend the contract following more than a year of controversy

The measure will go to the full council for approval at a later date.

Henry Consulting owner Troy Henry, who is suing the council over a $73 million contract the firm initially won, told council members that the extension is “nothing more than an opportunity to circumvent the judicial process.”

Meanwhile, IV Waste owner Sidney Torres IV and a sea of supporters who showed up to the committee meeting Tuesday said the company is doing a great job and urged the council to keep them on board.

“We will continue to do the same work that we’re doing. We will continue to give great service,” Torres said.

French Quarter resident Debbie Latham said Torres’ firm is an “excellent company.”

“I have to tell you, I’m a little angry that I’m here today, because we shouldn’t be having to do this,” she said. “Please, please listen to the residents and keep IV Waste.”

Henry Consulting in 2024 won the contract in a competitive bid process with longtime New Orleans firm Richard’s Disposal as a subcontractor But a legal dispute between the two companies over payment terms spurred pushback from council members who refused to approve Henry’s bid to replace Richard’s with a new firm.

The council also criticized former Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration for hiking Henry’s contract costs and agreeing to a greater span of work from him after he won the bid. Weeks before the area’s previous contractor was set to pull out the council struck down Henry’s contract under an ordinance that gives them signing authority on professional service contracts

High court disbars New Orleans attorney

Officials say lawyer forged documents

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

Lionel “Lon” Burns Jr., a New Orleans attorney whose cases have made headlines for decades, can no longer practice law in Louisiana.

The state Supre me Court this month disbarred Burns after finding he helped forge documents to get his client a favorable divorce judgment. In taking the step, the court cited a long history of ethical misconduct by Burns, a former prosecutor and briefly a candidate for Orleans Parish district attorney When the forgery became apparent, Burns refused to vacate the divorce decree. His client’s estranged wife spent thousands of dollars to get the courts to reverse the fraudulent ruling.

In opting to permanently disbar the 54-year-old attorney, the justices cited a history of ethical lapses resulting in Burns being admonished and suspended multiple times over the past 20 years.

“Rather than taking these opportunities to reform his actions, respondent continued to engage in the same type of misconduct, culminating in the present charges,” the April 9 order stated “These facts clearly demonstrate respondent has no interest in rehabilitating his character.” Five of the seven Supreme Court justices agreed to permanently disbar Burns. Justice Piper Griffin dissented, calling the punishment too harsh. Justice John Michael Guidry felt there should’ve been more briefings to determine if disbarment was the “appropriate discipline.” The court has permanently disbarred only 10 lawyers over the past five years, according to statistics from the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board. Burns declined to comment.

STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

kicking up a dry haze as it mows

Carnesi

Officials: Teen shot father near school

Car veered into nearby Hammond home

BY MARCO CARTOLANO Staff writer

A 13-year-old Hammond boy shot and seriously injured his father as they were driving home from school Tuesday morning, causing the car to crash into a nearby house, the Hammond Police Department said.

The boy was arrested following the shooting, which happened close to Tangipahoa Alternative School, according to officials.

The boy and his father were in the drop-off line about 7:39 a.m. when he refused to get out of the car and go into the school, Chief Edwin Bergeron Jr said. After speaking with a school resource officer and a Hammond police lieutenant, the boy’s father agreed to take his son back home.

A gunshot rang out as the car began to pull away from the school, and the vehicle sped across the street into a home on Crystal Street, according to officials.

After the shooting, police said

the boy approached the school with a handgun. The school resource officer was able to disarm him, Bergeron said Another boy, around 5 to 6 years old, was in the back seat of the car at the time of the shooting. He was unharmed, police said.

The boy’s father was taken to a local hospital in critical condition He was stable as of noon, Bergeron said.

The boy was immediately taken into custody and will be processed at the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center, police said.

“It’s absolutely scary how a 13-year-old could come in possession of a firearm,” Bergeron said during a noon news conference.

“The bigger picture here is the hero we have, who is a police officer who reacted and put himself in between a shooter and a school. He may have thwarted something much worse by doing so.”

Ron Genco assistant superintendent of Tangiphoa Parish schools, said the school system is cooperating with law enforcement and will offer counseling for students on campus.

Employers to be repaid for skilled trades training

Federal fund could help fill workforce gaps

BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer

A $7 million federally funded state initiative will reimburse employers for skilled trades training in hopes of bridging the state’s workforce shortage Louisiana Works, in partnership with Louisiana Construction Education Foundation, launched Workforce Outcomes and Reimbursement for Key Sectors Training Fund to help businesses fund training for new and current employees as the state looks to power about $98.1 billion in industrial projects under construction. The fund will focus on training workers in construction and industrial trades, artificial intelligence to support data centers and advanced manufacturing, for jobs such as welders, electricians, industrial machinery mechanics and advanced HVAC technicians.

Businesses training employees in skills needed for the selected industries will be reimbursed up to $150,000 or $1,500 per employee based on workers’ completion of training and six-month employee retention. Applications open Wednesday “This is about helping employers solve real workforce challenges, right now,” Louisiana Works Secretary Susana Schowen said in a release. “We’re aligning training directly with business demand and making sure it leads to jobs, retention and long-term success for workers.”

The fund is part of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Industry-Driven Skills Training Fund program, which granted a total of $86 million across 14 states to fill gaps in employment for high-demand indus-

ATTORNEY

Continued from page 1B

An uncontested divorce

The most recent allegation against him stemmed from a divorce petition he filed in November 2020 for a man named Paul Lucky III. It listed an incorrect address for Lucky’s wife, Tierra Singleton. Orleans Parish sheriff’s deputies weren’t able to serve her

In February 2021, an affidavit that sanctioned the uncontested divorce was filed in court with Singleton’s purported signature. Two months later, Lucky filed for a default judgment. Receiving no response from Singleton, Civil District Judge Rachael Johnson granted the motion to dissolve the marriage in Lucky’s favor

Singleton claimed her signature was forged and hired an attorney to nullify the divorce. The attorney, Micah Zeno, testified that he tried multiple times to re-

HOTEL

hotel with 1,000 rooms or more to be built in New Orleans in more than 40 years and would have two grand ballrooms, a rooftop bar and entertainment area, restaurants, a pool and a self-contained parking garage.

It would rank among the city’s top three hotels in terms of room count and have a height on par with the Caesars Casino Hotel — making it the tallest in the city not located on Poydras or Canal streets.

“It has been nearly 50 years since a hotel of this scale has been developed in New Orleans, and we believe this project represents a transformational opportunity to strengthen the city’s position as a premier destination,” said Mike Smith, executive vice president of real estate and development with TRT Holdings, Omni’s parent company.

Tuesday’s vote on the project came after a two-hour public hearing filled with about three times as many supporters of the project including developers, their employees and Convention Center staff — as opponents Maddie Taliancich, a project manager for local event planning firm Event Consultants, said a new headquarters hotel with two ballrooms would be a huge selling point with her clients.

“But the bigger draw is the possibility of a sizable room block at the hotel with easy access to the larger meeting spaces at the Convention Cen-

ter,” Taliancich said.

Among those voicing concerns were members of a local service workers union, a pair of neighborhood residents and a representative of the Preservationist Resource Center

“Many times I heard the word ‘transformational,’ ” said Cliff Leboeuf, who lives near the site of the proposed hotel. “It’s definitely going to transform the Warehouse District — from a residential community of small businesses that it is today to something that it was never intended to be.”

The commission’s vote is technically a recommendation to the City Council to create a new zoning district that would allow the hotel to be built to 336 feet. Earlier this month, the commission’s staff of professional architects and planners recommended capping the building height at 250 feet.

Commissioner Robert Steeg said he would “love to see a lower building that could work” but said “if it just can’t be done, I think that the impact of the project and the benefit makes it worth it.”

Commissioner Katie Witry was the sole vote against the height waiver

Changing footprint

Original plans for the hotel called for it to be located within the River District, the 40-acre riverfront neighborhood redevelopment underway downriver from the Convention Center But the proposed Omni site shifted across the Pontchartrain Expressway in 2024 to its current location between Convention Center Boulevard and

South Peters Street.

Following pushback from residents over plans to build over the Mississippi River Heritage Park, a 1.36-acre green space across the street from the Convention Center, the Omni’s proposed footprint was reduced and its height increased to retain the same number of rooms.

The site is presently occupied by the former Sugar Mill event venue and a former tire warehouse. Last month, the Historic District Landmark Commission overruled its staff and recommended the City Council allow the demolition of the pair of historic warehouses.

The project now heads to the City Council, which must approve the zoning change to allow for the height waiver and also must sign off on the hotel’s design.

Additionally, the developers need the council to agree to sell them a one-block stretch of John Churchill Chase Street between South Peters Street and Convention Center Boulevard. Separately, the developers need approval from a range of public bodies for the series of subsidies they’ve sought, which include 45 years of reduced property taxes and hotel and sales tax rebates and a permanent a new 2% tax on sales at the new hotel. State lawmakers will begin deliberating those measures in the coming days. Should they receive all the required approvals, developers hope to begin construction in 2027 and open in 2030.

Email Jonah Meadows at jonah.meadows@theadvocate. com.

tries, like shipbuilding, advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence.

The state aims to train more than 6,000 workers across 59 businesses with the WORKS Training Fund, according to a grant summary from the U.S. Department of Labor Workers will receive training through community college partnerships, apprenticeships in-house instruction and third-party providers.

Companies have struggled with recruiting employees with the necessary skills, like operating industrial machinery, due in part to Louisiana’s waning population and difficulty obtaining support from the state, leading to a gap of about 24,000 more job openings than job seekers.

Filling workforce gaps has been a top-of-mind priority for state leaders, who are looking to advance legislation to boost funding to Louisiana Works for better oversight and efficiency for the commission’s workforce development efforts.

The commission started a pilot program earlier this year that appointed the state’s eight economic development organizations as points of contact for companies looking to tap into the state’s resources for employee recruitment, training and retention.

“LCEF’s mission is centered on strengthening the pipeline of skilled craft talent that Louisiana’s employers depend on, and we are enthusiastic about what this partnership with Louisiana Works makes possible,” Connie Fabré, president and CEO of the Louisiana Construction Education Foundation, said in the release. “The WORKS Grant gives opportunities to more Louisianans and gives employers a resource to help offset the cost of developing that talent, and we believe this program will have a lasting impact on the competitiveness of our state’s industrial base.”

solve the issue with Burns, who refused to withdraw the forged documents Zeno then alleged perjury, forgery and fraud, according to court records.

The sides agreed in 2022 to vacate the judgment. Soon, Civil District Judge Lori Jupiter ruled that Lucky obtained the divorce judgment fraudulently but only awarded Singleton $500. An appeals court vacated Jupiter’s order in March 2023 and ordered a hearing to identify the culprits and review the award.

In January 2024, Jupiter ruled that the waiver and verification documents were forged and held that Burns, Lucky, and Burns’ longtime paralegal, Robert Tucker had made false statements. She ruled them in contempt of court and ordered them to pay Singleton $5,000 in attorney fees.

“By perpetrating, and then concealing, a fraud upon the court, respondent undermined the administration of justice, wasted judicial resources, and eroded con-

CARNESI

Continued from page 1B

conventional celebrities, Carnesi usually arranged for costumed actors dressed as the Flintstones, Smurfs, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and most importantly, Mickey and Minnie Mouse. He felt Mardi Gras was supposed to be for kids, Oubre said. Oubre points out that these were “official, licensed” costumers hired from entertainment corporations, including Disney Mickey and Minnie’s appearance in the Caesar parade led to Carnesi being invited to ride in parades at Walt Disney World and to present golf cart Carnival parades in Disney’s bygone “Pleasure Island” attraction. “We went for quite a few years,” Ory said.

CONTRACT

Continued from page 1B

above $1 million.

Henry sued the council, and IV Waste came on under an emergency contract. But Cantrell later issued an emergency contract with Henry which could have seen both firms hauling trash in the French Quarter at the same time. The Louisiana Supreme Court stepped in at the last minute, pulling Henry Consulting’s contract and leaving IV Waste as the sole trash hauler

After a lower court ruled in Henry’s favor, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal overturned the ruling, citing a group of resi-

fidence in the reliability of court proceedings,” justices wrote in disbarring Burns.

In a July 2024 letter to Office of Disciplinary Counsel investigators, Burns wrote that he “would not forge documents and did not do so,” suggesting instead that Lucky’s mother forged them.

The Supreme Court majority said Burns refused to acknowledge the wrongful nature of his dishonesty and had chosen to point out Zeno’s “motivation” for legal fees rather than respond to the allegations against him.

Past disciplinary record

Burns earned his law license in 1998 and went to work at the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office.

He made early waves in 2000 when, midway through a trial, he found napkins in the back pocket of George Lee’s uniform pants.

Lee was an ex-New Orleans Police Department officer being retried for raping and kidnapping two women. He purportedly

He was particularly proud of his Italian heritage and served as grand marshal of Metairie’s 1991 Louisiana Irish-Italian parade. Carnesi retired in 2004, busying himself with his family and golf, a game he adored, as well as the management of the Krewe of Caesar Oubre said her father was one of those “bigger than life characters.” He restlessly strove to improve the parade and ball each year By the end, she said, “there were lasers and fireworks” at the ball. “Nothing was ever good enough.”

The last Caesar parade took place on a rainy evening in 2019. Afterward, Carnesi announced that the 40th roll would be the parade’s last.

“It has become exceedingly difficult over the past several years to fund a parade of the high qual-

dents’ arguments that Cantrell’s emergency contract was legally questionable.

Henry, in a pending lawsuit filed in August, is challenging the council’s initial actions. The suit seeks to nullify the ordinance. The city entered into a contract with IV Waste in December that allows three six-month contracts for a period of 18 months with service fees remaining the same. It also gives room for a contingency increase of $240,000 for one year — a common practice in city contracts. The current contract is set to end in May with the extended contract date beginning June 23. If approved by the full City Council, IV Waste would work

used the napkins to wipe himself after the sexual assaults.

Burns’ disclosure brought the trial to a halt as Lee’s attorneys accused him of planting evidence. An Orleans Parish judge found Burns in contempt of court and sentenced him to six months in jail.

The Louisiana Supreme Court later overturned that contempt finding and vacated the jail sentence, but fined Burns for failing to disclose the napkin evidence to opposing counsel. Lee was ultimately convicted.

As a defense attorney, Burns’ prolific track record was marked with episodes of alleged misconduct.

His most recent suspension, in November 2024, was for two years It came shortly after he defended Derrick Groves in multiple murder cases leading to convictions. Burns’ suspension on an unrelated matter helped delay Groves’ transfer to state custody In the meantime, he allegedly led

ity that we are known for and are accustomed to,” Carnesi wrote in his letter to members.

Though he never gave up the dream of someday bringing Caesar back. Carnesi’s son said that just last week his father discussed the possible future of the parade.

Carnesi is survived by his wife Sylvia Ory, son Robert Carnesi Jr., daughter Robyn Oubre; grandchildren Robert Carnesi III, Austin Carnesi, Julia Oubre, Jolie Oubre; and great-grandchildren Juliana and Lillian Carnesi.

A visitation will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. April 30 at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, 105 Bonnabel Blvd. followed by a funeral Mass.

Email Doug MacCash at dmaccash@theadvocate.com.

through December 2027 and its contract would rise from $6 million to $13 million.

Torres said the six-month timeline was meant to be a bridge until Mayor Helena Moreno’s administration takes over and decides to rebid or extend the contract. But Henry pushed back against that claim, saying it was structured to allow time for his lawsuit to be heard in court.

“The Supreme Court has ruled, and that’s why we’re here today,” Torres said, speculating that the case will again land in front of the Supreme Court “Whatever happens there will happen.”

Email Joni Hess at joni.hess@ theadvocate.com.

last year’s brazen jail escape by 10 inmates

Among his notable cases, Burns represented Chelsea Thornton, a Gert Town mother who admitted to killing her two children. She was released from a mental hospital in 2020 and admitted to a less-restrictive Baton Rouge group home.

Burns also represented Shante Wade when she was found not guilty by reason of insanity for shooting and injuring two strangers at University Medical Center’s emergency entrance. He earlier represented the family of Wendell Allen, an unarmed Gentilly man shot dead by former New Orleans police officer Joshua Colclough during a 2012 drug raid.

But disciplinary woes followed Burns. The Supreme Court suspended him in 2018 for sending Tucker who was not licensed to practice law, to handle settlement talks at a 2013 pretrial conference in Jefferson Parish.

Supreme Court orders indicate Burns testified that

he was sick and couldn’t attend the hearing himself, but evidence showed him in an Orleans Parish courtroom at the time. Burns was reinstated in May 2019 but had failed to notify a client he’d been on suspension. He also continued to collect fees and failed to immediately return an unearned payment to a client, according to court orders. That offense led to Burns’ two-year suspension in 2024. Email Matt Bruce at matt. bruce@theadvocate.com.

Trial set in 2025 Super Bowl reporter’s death

Three accused of drugging, robbing

Quarter tourists

BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer

A trial date has been set for a woman and two men charged with working together to drug and rob French Quarter tourists, a yearslong scheme that authorities allege resulted in the death of a Kansas City sports reporter who traveled to New Orleans to cover the 2025 Super Bowl.

Danette Colbert, 49, Rickey White, 35, and Christian Anderson, 33, will stand trial July 6 in 24th Judicial District Court in Gretna on charges of manslaughter and racketeering, according to court records. All three have pleaded not guilty

The trio is accused in the death of 27-year-old Adan Manzano, a father of one who worked as a sideline reporter for KBKC-TV, the Kansas City Telemundo affiliate. Manzano’s co-workers became concerned Feb. 5 after he missed a morning meeting in the week leading up to the game.

Manzano, who had been out with colleagues in the French Quarter the night before, was discovered dead in his room at the Comfort Suites in Kenner, police said An autopsy determined Manzano died of asphyxiation while lying face down

on a pillow due to the combined toxic effects of alcohol and Xanax, according to authorities.

Kenner Police detectives say Colbert met Manzano while he was hanging out in New Orleans She brought him back to his hotel room, where she drugged him before making off with his debit card, wallet and cellphone. Colbert was the last person seen on video entering and leaving Manzano’s room, according to police. Prosecutors allege Manzano was the latest victim in a well-practiced criminal enterprise in which Colbert, White and Anderson targeted visitors who were out drinking in the New Orleans area. The group set out to steal cash, credit cards, debit cards, jewelry, mobile phones and personal information that allowed them access to bank accounts.

In a 21-page charging document, prosecutors describe Colbert as the group’s prostitute or party girl whose job was to approach the victims, promise a good time and gain their confidence while supplying them with alcohol or drugs.

Colbert would encourage a visit to the ATM so she could eyeball PIN codes for debit cards and cellphones, authorities said. Once in a private place, such as a hotel room, she would wait until the victim was unconscious, either through alcohol consumption or drugs she administered. Then she’d

steal the victims’ valuables, authorities said.

White served as Colbert’s “pimp,” prosecutors allege. He often provided her with the narcotics she used to subdue victims, drugs they referred to as “KO” or “knockout,” according to text messages sent by the defendants between 2019 and 2025.

White occasionally obtained “clients” for Colbert or helped her steal money from victims’ accounts, according to investigators.

While Anderson sometimes acted as a prostitute to target victims, prosecutors described him as the enterprise’s “administrator.” He provided technical support and advice while also distributing some of the narcotics used by Colbert and others, according to court records.

Anderson rented the vehicle Colbert used to transport Manzano, according to investigators The pair “communicated extensively” after Manzano’s death, police said.

White and Colbert exchanged 30 phone calls on the day of Manzano’s death. Colbert also sent White a text message containing Manzano’s PIN number, according to authorities.

Colbert, White and Anderson were being held Tuesday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna.

Email Michelle Hunter at mhunter@theadvocate. com.

Slidell doctor sentenced in federal Medicare fraud scheme

Man gets three years of probation in insurance plot

BY JAMES FINN Staff writer

A Slidell doctor received three years of probation for billing the federal Medicare health insurance program for millions from unnecessary cancer screenings, federal prosecutors said.

Over a seven-month period in 2019, physician

Robert Tassin admitted to signing orders for cancer tests for Medicare patients he never “saw, spoke to or otherwise treated,” U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle said in a news release The orders led to $6.6 million in bills to Medicare, of which Tassin was paid about $2 million.

Tassin also filed false notices in medical records certifying that the orders were legitimate. He carried out the fraud while working as an independent contrac-

tor for several telemedicine companies, prosecutors said.

Under his sentence, Tassin is barred under from working in the health care field without consent from the federal probation office and must pay about $2 million in restitution to Medicare. Aside from the money he acknowledged pocketing from Medicare programs, Tassin admitted to taking over $106,000 in fees from patients he signed up for the tests and was ordered to return that amount, too.

An attorney for Tassin declined to comment Tuesday Fallout from the scheme brought repercussions for the northshore doctor even before Tassin’s sentencing, with records showing the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners moved last August to indefinitely suspend his medical license while the criminal case unfolded.

Tassin’s LinkedIn profile states he worked recently for two organizations, COS-

MOS Health and Healthy Heart Clinics of America. Neither could immediately be reached.

Medicaid and Medicare fraud have emerged alongside immigration enforcement and violent crime as prosecutorial priorities of President Donald Trump’s Justice Department amid turmoil at the agency

A news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana last week connected Tassin’s April 9 sentencing to a new Justice Department initiative headed by Vice President JD Vance called the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. Former Justice Department officials have slammed the initiative as politically motivated.

Tassin’s indictment came long before that initiative was conceived. He was charged in March 2025 and pleaded guilty two months later

Email James Finn at jfinn@theadvocate.com.

LSU player’s parents sue Louisiana State Police

crash investigation.

Conflicting narratives

BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer

The parents of LSU wide receiver Kyren Lacy are suing Louisiana State Police for allegedly falsifying evidence in the fatal crash investigation Lacy was implicated in, the fallout of which they say caused the 24-year-old’s suicide.

The wrongful death suit filed in Baton Rouge last Friday by Kenneth Lacy and Kandace Washington targets both State Police and specific troopers who investigated the fatal crash that Kyren Lacy was allegedly the cause of.

Lacy’s parents are seeking damages for his death, as well as for public humiliation, and the loss of professional football opportunities caused by his arrest.

In addition to maintaining Lacy’s innocence in the fatal accident, the lawsuit also accuses State Police and its troopers of making false statements in the original crash report, coaching a witness and failing to consider evidence that pointed to other drivers’ culpability

“The extreme emotional distress inflicted by Defendants’ intentional and reckless misconduct was the direct and proximate cause of Mr. Lacy’s decision to take his own life,” the lawsuit states “But for Defendant’s fabricated investigation, false arrest, and malicious prosecution, Mr Lacy would be alive today.”

On April 12, 2025, Lacy died by suicide in Houston, Texas, only one day after the publication of a Lafourche Parish district attorney’s report that found errors in State Police’s

A narrative of the Dec. 17, 2024, wreck, which resulted in the death of 78-year-old Herman Hall, is laid out in the lawsuit. It closely matches the series of events given by Matt Ory, one of Lacy’s attorneys, to a Houma television show in October 2025.

In all accounts, Lacy was driving a Dodge Charger south on La. 20 near Perez Lane in Lafourche Parish the morning of the accident. Just before the accident, Lacy passed several vehicles, including a semitruck, by pulling into the oncoming lane. He then pulled back into the correct lane, just over 70 yards from the actual crash site.

Ahead of him, a Kia Cadenza was traveling behind a gold pickup, both heading north.

The Cadenza then crossed the center line striking a southbound Kia Sorrento, which had Herman Hall in the passenger seat. Hall was taken to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries.

State Police’s statements following the crash said the gold pickup was forced to emergency brake as the driver saw Lacy’s oncoming Charger Friday’s lawsuit instead contends that the driver of the Kia Cadenza was traveling too closely behind the gold pickup, being forced to swerve into the southbound lane when the truck slowed down.

“Video evidence and independent analysis confirmed that the gold pickup truck proceeded at an average speed of 28.2 mph with no evidence of emergency braking or sudden deceleration that would indicate an immediate col-

lision with Mr Lacy’s vehicle,” the suit states. Witness coaching

The suit also claims that, during the crash investigation, a State Police trooper named in the suit attempted to coach the gold pickup’s driver, allegedly instructing the driver that he “slammed on the brakes,” and writing in his report that the pickup “slowed abruptly and came to a stop.”

In body camera footage from the interview cited in the lawsuit, the pickup driver allegedly told the trooper that “I didn’t skid,” “I wasn’t going that fast,” and “that lady behind me she caused that wreck.” The driver then refused to sign a written statement drafted by the trooper, which the trooper marked as the witness having “refused” to speak entirely, according to the lawsuit. The same trooper also issued a traffic ticket to the driver of the Kia Cadenza for “following too closely,” before allegedly altering the citation to be for “crossing left of center. State Police has maintained its series of events since Lacy’s arrest, which was for a count each of negligent homicide, felony hit-and-run and reckless operation of a vehicle

Benefield, Robert

BourgeoisSr.,Larry

Christian, Mary

DelArcaSabat,Olan

Flint, Michael

Gennaro,Donald

JonesJr.,Jimmy

Kelso, Shirley

MendelJr.,Earl

Reynolds,Robert

Turlich, Mary

EJefferson

Garden of Memories

DelArcaSabat,Olan

LA Muhleisen

Reynolds,Robert

Bob was aproud Veteranofthe United States Army National Guard, whereheserved for six years. Bob dedicated thirty-three years at Louisiana Gas Services,beginning in Drafting and working up to District Engineer forSt. Tammany Parish. While working with the Gas Company,Bob also designed residentialand commercialplans. After retirement,Bob dedicated thirty moreyears to designing residentialand commercialplans, as well as spending agreat dealof his time travelingand tending to his many gardens. AVisitationfor Bobwill be held at Grace Funeral Home on Friday, April17, beginning at 10:30AM, followed by aFuneral Mass at 12:00PM. Military honors willberendered after the FuneralMass. Bob willbe laid to rest beside his wife at St. Lazarus of Bethany Memorial Gardenfollowing services.

NewOrleans Bourgeois, Larry J.

Boyd Family

Flint, Michael JonesJr.,Jimmy

Lake Lawn Metairie

Christian, Mary

Gennaro,Donald

Kelso, Shirley

River Parish

Millet-Guidry

BourgeoisSr.,Larry

St Tammany

Grace Funeral

Christian,Mary Boesel

'Buffy'

Mary Jane "Buffy"

Boesel Christiandiedon March 12, 2026, at theage of 103 years. Mrs. Christian was born in Toledo,Ohio and has been aresident of NewOrleans since 1946.

She was agraduateof OhioStateUniversity. While enrolled at OSUduring one or moresummers, she volunteered as a sorter of aircraftparts of US military aircraftthat had been shotdownin Europe.Aftergraduation, she became alicensed Occupational Therapist, trained by theU.S.Army. During WWII, she subsequentlyserved in several Army hospitals and post WWII at theVeterans Hospital in NewOrleans. She was released fromthe U.S. Army civilian service by Honorable Discharge. In thelate1960's, she became an activerealtor and continued this profession forthe next 20 years. She also served as President of the Women's Republican Club of New Orleans. She volunteered as an assistant forseveral exhibitions at theNew Orleans Museum of Art. Shewas also active in several othersocial organizations. At the time of her death, Buffy was asenior ladymember of Southern Yacht Club and amember of Munholland Methodist Church.

DelArcaSabat, Olan David

Mothe

Turlich, Mary

Obituaries

Benefield, Robert Gerard

Robert "Bob" Gerard Benefield, of Covington, Louisiana, passed awayon April 3, 2026 at the ageof 89. Bob was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 18, 1936 to the late Daniel and Myrtle Benefield. Robert was the beloved husband of Lou Anna Benefield for 60 years. Devoted father of Wanda Rieger (Ronald) and the late Laura Scharfenstein. Proud "Pops" of Fieldrose Scharfenstein, Ross Rieger (Sarah) and Chad Rieger (Brock). Great-Grandfather of Olivia Rieger. Brotherof the late Audrey, Buddy, and Gene. Bob is also survived by many nieces, nephews and friends who will forever cherish his memory.

Larry JBourgeois, Sr passed awayonMonday April 13, 2026 at the ageof 92. He was anative of Garyville and alongtime resident of Reserve Beloved husbandofthe late Yvonne Cambre Bourgeois.Devotedfather of Larry J. Bourgeois,Jr, his constantcompanion and caregiverfor the last twelve years. Son of the late Paul and Martha T. Bourgeois.Brother of Albert Bourgeois (Marietta), the late Rita Madere (the late Antoine), Doris Cambre (the late Warren Madereand the late Douglas Cambre), Warren Bourgeois (the late Clemence),Hubert Bourgeois (the late Mary Anne), RolandBourgeois (thelateEunice), Noland Bourgeois (the late Betty), and Lynn Bourgeois (Delores). Survived by numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. Larry proudly served in the US Navy, duringthe Korean Warfrom19521956,during these four yearshenever returned home. Once he returned home, he workedat AvondaleShipyard, and ADM and Bayside Grain Elevator as amachinist and mechanic. Relativesand friends areinvited to attend the Visitationand Funeral Mass on Friday, April17, 2026 at St.Peter Catholic Church. Visitation will be held from 10:00a.m.to 12:00p.m.,followedbya Funeral Mass at 12:00p.m. Burial willfollow the servicesatSt. Peter Catholic Cemetery. The family wouldlike to thankall the doctorsand staffatEastJefferson Hospital forthe care they have providedfor the past 45 years.

Mrs. Christianispreceded in death by her husband, Dr. Edward R. Christian, M.D.,her brothers, MiltonC.Boesel and Dr. Lawrence Boesel, DDS, and her son, Elliot K. Christian (Cheryl).

Mrs. Christianissurvivedbyher son, Peter F. Christian (Gayle Weatherly) and her daughter-in-law,CherylB Christian. By way of Peter and Gayle, she is also survivedbytwo grandchildren,Scott F. Christianand Ana Gayle W. Christian, M.D., (Jonathan), and by twostep-grandchildren, John Watson Galloway (Ana Reed) and William "Rush" Galloway. By John Watsonand AnaReedshe is also survivedbythree step great-grandchildren, Watson, Walker, and Helen Reed. By way of Cheryl B. Christian, she is survived by granddaughter, Jennifer Christianand threegrandchildren, Hunter, Ray,and Ry. She is also survivedby her sister, Reverend Suzanne Northcraft.

Buffy was and continues to be an inspirationtofamilyand dear friends. She willbedeeplymissedby many that lovedher. May thosethatfeelthis sorrow realize that her pain has been erased, she dwells in thedominion of theLord, and she is sharing eternity with us and lovedones that preceded her physical departurefrom this earth.

Private family arrangementsare being handled by Lake Lawn Funeral Home.Relatives and friendsare invited to attend amemorial at Munholland Methodist Church on Friday, April 17, 2026, at 2:00 PM.Flowers may be sent to thechurch or in lieu of flowers, memorial donations to Munholland Methodist Church are greatly appreciated

Olan DavidDel Arca Sabat,47, passedawayon April 8, 2026. Olan wasborn onAugust23, 1978 to his lovinglatemother, Blanca Iris SabatBonilla andfa‐ther, MarcoTulio DelArca Saravia in SanPedro Sula, Honduras. In 1995, Olan met GraceinNew Orleans, Louisiana,beginning alove story that wouldspan three decades. Over 30 years of marriage,they built aliferooted in com‐mitment anddevotion, raising four belovedchil‐drentogether:Jochelyn, Linda,OlanJr.,and Taina. Olanwas preceded in death by hismother, BlancaIrisSabat Bonilla Olanissurvivedbyhis wife, GraceF.PilotoDel Arca; hischildren: Jochelyn A.Del Arca Diaz (Rey‐naldo), LindaM.Del Arca Lau (Miguel),OlanD.Del ArcaJr.,and TainaI.Del Arca; grandchild,Sarah Diaz; andsiblings: MarcoT Del Arca,Laura E. DelArca Medina, AntonioN.Del Arcaand RolinE.Del Arca Olanloved to spenthis time fishing, traveling, spendingtimewithhis familyand dogs,Thorand Rome, andridinghis four wheeler.Olandedicated manyyears to thecon‐struction field, working withdetermination and pride.His passionand per‐severance ledhim to build his owncompany along‐sidehis wife,Grace Del Arca. Together,theycre‐atedmorethana business Theyfostereda close-knit, family-likecommunity among theirclients, em‐ployees,and colleagues Olanwas an unparalleled son,husband,father, grandfather,and sibling. Whileour hearts mourn the loss, we take comfort inknowing he is no longer suffering.Olanlived alife fulloffaith,joy,and gen‐erosity.Olan’sstrengthto keep familytogether will liveonthrough us forever. Hewillalwaysberemem‐bered forhis kind heart. Relatives andfriends are invited to attend theFu‐neral Services at Divine Mercy Catholic Church, 4337 SalLentini Pkwy Ken‐ner,LA70065 on Friday, April 17, 2026. Visitation willbegin at 10:00 am with Massstartingat12:00 noon.Toorder flowersor offercondolences,please visit www.gardenofmem oriesmetairie.com

ardo,two sisters, Evange‐lineAdams andSuzan Joseph(AndreJoseph),a hostofnieces, nephews, and otherrelatives and friends.Inaddition to his parents,SidneyFlintand Pearl Philomene(Glapion) Flint,hewas preceded in death by adaughterTa‐lahna Flint, hisbrother Kenneth Flint, Sr sister Antoinette McGeeand nephewRobertCharles Green IV.Familyand friends areinvited to at‐tendthe CelebrationofLife Service on Friday,April 17, 2026, for10:00 a.m. at the Regular BaptistChurch,901 5th Street in Gretna,LA. Viewing will beginat9:00 a.m.PastorT.A.Hodge will beofficiating. Interment willfollowatMount Olivet Cemeteryat2050 Caton Street,New Orleans, LA 70122. Guestbook Online: www.anewtraditionbegins com (504)282-0600. Linear BrooksBoydand Donavin D.BoydOwners/FuneralDi‐rectors

Gennaro,DonaldJoseph

DonaldJoseph Gennaro passedawaypeacefullyin hishomeonThursday April 9, 2026, at theage of 92. He wasanative of New Orleansand aresident of Metairie. He is survived by hisbeloved wife of 68 years, Linda Chatelain Gennaro; hisson, Michael Gennaro (Deborah),his daughter, Lucy Nourse (David), and hisson Thomas Gennaro (Katique);his 7grandchildren,Angela Beler (Patrick), Kristina Locascio (Anthony), Vincent Gennaro (Amy), Bridget

Correa (Mark), Teresa Gennaro,Elizabeth Frantz (Brian), and Dominic Gennaro;his 9greatgrandchildren, Philip, Luca Grace, Cecilia, Michael, Nicolo,Alice,Julia, and Audrey; hissisters, Victoria Fuselier andFlora Bealer; hisbrother,John Gennaro (Sandy); and numerousnieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by hisparents, CalogeroGennaroand IgnaziaBonsignore Gennaro,and hissister, Jacquline Caire. Donremained very close with his extendedfamilyofcherished cousinsinSciacca, Sicilywho upon hearing of hisdeathheld aMass in Sciacca dedicatedinhis honor

Donretired from National/Canal Villere after 35 years of service and built athrivingtireshop businessinhis sparetime. He wasa member of the first graduating class in Auto Mechanicsfrom DelgadoTrades School in 1957. Donwas astrong yet gentle man with a fierceworkethic andoptimistic spirit whowas loved by all he encountered.He wasverydevoutinhis Catholic faithand always carried and prayed his Rosary. Donloved spendingtimewith hisfamily andservedasa role model and trustedadvisor, offeringsupport,guidance, and mentorship to all.His passionswerefishingand promoting his Italian Heritage He wasa charter member of theEast JeffersonItalian American Society, where he held officer positionsincluding Presidentand Corresponding Secretary, andwas recognized with theorganizationsMan of theYearAward in 1992 and President'sAward in 1997. He chaired EJIAS participation in theIrish Italian Parade for manyyears and lednumerous casinobus trips to theGulfCoast as partofthe EJIAS fund-raisingactivities. Donwas also honored by theAmericanItalian Federation of the Southeast with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. Relativesand friends are invited to attendfuner-

Benefield, Robert West Bank Afullservice funeralhomeofferingtraditional

MichaelFlintpassed awayonApril 6,

Flint, Michael

al services on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd, New Orleans, LA. Visitation will be held from 10:00AM12:00PM. Mass begins at 12:00PM. Interment willfollow in Metairie Cemetery

JonesJr.,Jimmy Lee'Bro-Bro'

JimmyLee “Bro-Bro Jones Jr.departedthislife

onFriday, March27, 2026

Hewas born on March29, 1982, to JimmySr. andMar‐ilynJones.Jimmy Jr.leaves tocherish precious memo‐ries, wife MoniqueJones; beloved children Madison and Jayden Jones; siblings Natusha (Stanley)Bardere, Melvin(Francessa)Jones Kinya Smith, Jessica (Isaac)Brooks, Deonka Smith,and Robyn(David) Garcia; bonus sisters, Kris‐hanaWelch andGermany Cooley;Godchild, Malik Welch,Godmother Karen Russell, as well as ahostof other relativesand friends. A CelebrationofLifeSer‐vicewillbeheldonApril 17, 2026, for10:00 a.m. at Law Street BaptistChurch, 3132 LawStreet,New Or‐leans,LA70117. Visitation willbegin at 9:00 a.m. Pas‐tor JohnnyR.Arvie,offici‐ating.Intermittentwillfol‐low butislimited to imme‐diate familydue to military burial. Professional arrangementsentrusted to The Boyd Family Funeral Home. GuestbookOnline: www.anewtraditionbegins com (504)282-0600. Linear BrooksBoydand Donavin D.BoydOwners/FuneralDi‐rectors

Kelso, Shirley J.

Shirley Josephine Kelso entered eternal rest on April 11, 2026, at the age of 92, surrounded by loving family. She was born on October 28, 1933, to James Kelso and Vivian Kelso Parent. Shirley was alifelong resident of the Crescent City and an avid Saints fan. She was graduated from St. James Major High School where she participated in numerous sports and several city championship teams. Shirley worked for 42 years at Black +Decker Tools, servingthousands of customers. She prided herself on her attention to detail and outstanding customer service. She is predeceased by her sister, Erie Parent Lanier (Eugene), her brother, Beauregard Jean Parent, Jr., her niece, VickiLanier Crouch and grandniece, Jenessa Guillory. She is survived by her brother, Clifford William Parent and sisters in law, Betty Parent and Elizabeth Parent. Shirley is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews, including Dayle Lanier Guillory, Vance Lanier, Lisa Parent Hickey, Christine Parent Smith, Colette Parent Raphel, Jean EdwardParent and Nicole Parent Bonck. Holding a very special place in her heart were numerous grandnieces and grandnephews, including Bucky and Jesse Crouch, Sean and Micah Lanier, Ryan and Jordan Hickey, Erich and Conrad Smith, Elliot Raphel, and Christian Bonck. Shirley had afierce desire to live independently as long as she could, and that would not have been possible without the incredible support of her loving neighbors on Dahlia St, to whom we are incredibly grateful. We will miss you, Shirley Joe, may you rest in peace! Friends and family are invited to attend afuneral mass at Lake Lawn Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70124 on Thursday, April 16th at 2pmwith visitation

willfollow at Metairie Cemetery.

Mendel Jr., Earl J.

Earl J. Mendel,Jr.,83, of Robert, Louisianaentered intorestonApril 6, 2026 at North Oaks MedicalCenter inHammond.BornonSep‐tember26, 1942 in NewOr‐leans,Louisiana,hewas the belovedsecondchild of the late Earl J. &Evelyn Champagne Mendel.At18, Earlenlistedinthe U.S. Air Force andservedacross the Pacific, primarilyin Guam. Histimeinthe mili‐tarywould be asourceof pride throughout hislife. Uponhis return he began buildinga 30 year career asa New OrleansFire‐fighter. Regarded as atal‐ented metalworker, E.J. was selected in the1970’s tofabricate andassemble several of thelarge fea‐tures in Al Copeland’s yearlyChristmas display. E.J or “Spoon”, wasan avidhunterand fisherman, often sharinghis love of the outdoorswithfellow firefighters andfamily. He loved theSaints, LSUand the underdog.E.J.was kind and funny, butferocious in defense of hisfamilyor whathethought wasright His last 10 yearswerededi‐cated solely to thecareof his treasuredCarol,never leaving hersideasshe suf‐fered dementia.Heissur‐vived by hislovingwifeof 62years,Carol Fryer Mendeland theirthree children: Donna Warren (Jessie),EarlJ.Mendel, III (Pamela)and Jeffery Mendel(Rosemary); sister Jeanette Gusler;grandchil‐dren: Lori Mullins (Matthew), DevinWarren (Arianna), Courtney Mendel, Gary Rousseau, IreneRousseau, Tucker Loftisand RexMendel; great-grand children:Eve‐lyn,Daniand Cayden; Bryndin,Austinand Hud‐son;Lilianna andElla; a chosenson HenryJ.Knoll Jr. (Susan); cousinsand manylovingnieces, nephews andfriends.Heis precededindeath by his parents Earl andEvelyn Mendeland oldersister Betty Fontaine.A Celebra‐tion of Life will be an‐

nounced once detailshave been finalized. In lieu of flowers, thefamilywould suggest donationstoany veteran’s advocacy organi‐zations or children’s hospi‐tals

Reynolds, Robert Heyden'Mr.Bob'

Robert H. Reynolds, known affectionatelybyall as "Mr. Bob", passed away on April9,2026, in Fort Gibson, Mississippi,atthe ageof86, leaving behinda life marked by devotion, hard work, and love for those around him. Bornon March 8, 1940, in Aruba, NorthWestIndies, Bob carried with him throughout his life thestrength, resilience, and quietdeterminationthatwouldcometo define him. He was aman who believed in doing thingsthe right way, and he brought that same steady spirit to everypart of his life.Bob was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 64 years, MaryLee Guillory Reynolds. He is survivedbyhis sisterKay, Reynolds, Robinson, and brotherLloyd Reynolds, his son, Frank Reynolds, his daughter, DebbieReynolds and hisgrandchildren, Cody Reynolds, Elina Johnson, and Colson Johnson. Bob was aproud veteran of the U.S. Army, a chapter of his life that reflected hissenseofduty and commitment to something greaterthanhimself. After his militaryservice, he builta respected career as theowner of Bob's PlumbingInc. of Harahan, Louisiana which has proudly been in business forover 60 years. Through hiswork, he earneda reputation forreliability,skill, and integrity.Plumbing was morethan aprofession to Bob. It was acraft he understooddeeplyand practiced with pride. Bob found joy in thesimple and meaningful pleasures of life.Heloved fishing and hunting at thecamp where he could enjoythe outdoors, wildlife, and the peace that came with time spent in nature. Mr. Bob requestedtohavea memorial servicefor both him and his wife at thetime of his passing.Tohonorhis wishes, thefamily has decided to holdthe memorial service for bothBob and

MaryLee togetheron Saturday, April 18, 2026. Relatives and friends are invitedtoattend the Memorial Services for Robert &MaryLee Reynolds at L.A. Muhleisen &Son FuneralHome, 2607 Williams Blvd.,Kenner, LA 70062 on Saturday, April 18, 2026. Visitation willbeheld from3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. followedbythe Memorial Service starting at 5:00 p.m. Aprivate burial will take place on alaterdate at GardenofMemories Cemetery in Metairie,LA. To share memories or condolences, please visit www.muhleisen.com

Mary Caroline Hamann Turlich,affectionately known as “Liney”and “Dawlin”, passedaway peacefullyonFriday, April 10, 2026 with herdaughters ather side.Daughterofthe lateMaryAmeliaWiseman Hamannand Joseph Frank Hamann, Sr.Sisterof JosephFrank Hamann, Jr and thelateAntoinette Netty”HamannChartier. She metthe love of herlife atthe tender ageof14. Mervin“Merv”Anthony Turlich fell in love at first sight andproposedsoon after.Theywould forever refer to each otheras“my love”.Hepatiently waited until shewas aseniorin highschool to gether daddy’s blessing andbe‐camemarried.Dawlinand Mervhave five beautiful daughters:Jeanne Amelia Turlich,Rosalie “Dobie” Nanette TurlichEdge‐combe (Jeff),PamelaAnn Turlich Scarabin (Deron), MaryCaroline“Prune” Turlich Buras(Rodney “Bush”),and thelate Melinda “Lenny”Elizabeth Turlich Cubbage(thelate VernonCubbage II).She is MawMawtoDavid Alex Landry, Jr.(Tabitha),Joey Anthony Landry,Ryan JosephBuras (Samantha), JeffEdwardEdgecombe,Jr. (Anna), JaredMitchellCub‐bage(Maegan), PaigeCar‐oline Buras, Jade Elizabeth Edgecombe,Deron Louis Scarabin,AndrewPatrick

Scarabin,and MadisynKay Madi”Scarabin. Greatgrandmother of Loghan ClaireVela-Lopez (Jose) David Alex Landry,III, CollinAnthony Mills, Bently Mills,Zoë Roy, Dylan MitchellCubbage,Kynlee Ann Landry,HunterEliza‐bethCubbage,Ellie Rose Landry, JaxonEli Edge‐combe,Jacques Cyprien Buras,Ryker JamesEdge‐combe,ScarlettRae Machuca, CohenAnthony Cubbage,Juliette Rae Buras,EastonKai Black, and SadieTateEdgecombe Great-great-grandmother of Isabel “Bean” VelaLopez andanexpectant babyboy,Ivory Vela-Lopez She graduatedSalutato‐rianofthe Classof1959 fromBuras High School After gettingmarried,she was contenttobea stayat-home mom. When Pam and Prunewereinhigh school,she went to work for Stumpf’s IGASuper‐market, Venice AceHard‐ware, as asubstitute teacher at BoothvilleVeniceElementarySchool and as acustodian at Cy‐press Cove Marina.She was aresidentofSt. Oaks CareCenterinCarriere, Mississippi since2024 Special thanks to thestaff ofSt. Oaks fortheir pa‐tienceand sincerelove thattheygaveher throughouther stay.They treated herlikethe queen thatshe was. Special thankstoSummerfrom Notre Dame Hospice. Visi‐tationwillbeheldat Mothe FuneralHome, 7040 Lapalco Boulevard(corner WestwoodDrive), Marrero, Louisiana on Friday,April 17, 2026 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.A FuneralMasswill followinthe funeralhome chapel. IntermentOur Lady ofGoodHarborCemetery in Buras, Louisiana. You

1833 Oretha Castle HaleyBlvd NewOrleans,LA70113

We offer affordableburials,cremation,and life insurance majesticmortuary.com

ResthavenMemorial Park 10400Old Gentilly Road,New Orleans, LA 70127 Servingthecommunityforover75years

ADVERTISEMENT

Many Americans are fortunate to have dental coveragefor their entire working life,through employer-provided benefits. When those benefits end with retirement,payingdental bills out-of-pocket can come as a shock,leading peopletoput offoreven go without care.

Simplyput —without dental insurance, there may be an importantgap in your healthcarecoverage

Whenyou’recomparing plans ...

 Look forcoveragethat helps pay formajor services. Some plans maylimit thenumber of procedures —orpay forpreventive care only.

 Look forcoveragewithnodeductibles. Some plans mayrequire you to pay hundredsout of pocket before benefits are paid.

 Shop forcoveragewithnoannual maximumoncash benefits.Some plans have annual maximums of $1,000.

Medicare doesn’tpay for dental care.1

That’s right. As good as Medicare is,itwas never meanttocover everything. That means if youwant protection, youneed to purchase individual insurance.

Early detectioncan prevent small problemsfrom becomingexpensive ones

The best way to preventlarge dental bills is preventive care. TheAmerican Dental Association recommends checkupstwiceayear.

Previous dental work canwearout

Even if you’ve hadqualitydentalworkinthe past, youshouldn’t take your dentalhealth forgranted. In fact, your odds of havinga dentalproblemonly go up as youage.2

Treatment is expensive especially theservicespeople over 50 often need

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

Turlich, Mary Caroline Hamann

OUR VIEWS

Legislature shouldn’tstop duly elected courtclerk from taking office

Last fall, voters in OrleansParish elected a new clerk of Criminal District Court. By a68%-32% margin, Calvin Duncan beat incumbent DarrenLombard for ajob that oversees not just criminal case records but alsovotingmachines. It wasanundeniable show of public support for aone-timejailhouse lawyerwho had been exonerated after spending28yearsat the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

Yetwhile the votersofOrleans Parish spoke clearly,the Louisiana Legislature is rapidly moving to overrule them.

That is the immediate effect of Senate Bill 256 by stateSen. Jay Morris, aWest MonroeRepublican, that would merge thecriminalcourt clerk’sjob into the office now runbythe city’s Civil DistrictCourt clerk. Because it would take effect immediately upon thegovernor’s signature, the bill would eliminatethe officetowhich Duncan wasdulyelected before he is setto be sworn in on May 4.

That’sjust one of several seriousconcernswe have over this legislation,whichwas approved last week by the state Senate 25-11,with allRepublicans present supportingand all Democrats opposed, and now heads to the House.

Another is that, while Morris talks of efficiency,there’snofiscal note specifying savings. Under thelegislation, theunifiedclerk’s office would not only continue to do all the work both clerksdonow,but wouldhavetocombine operations, which could be costly and confusingon such short notice.

Yetsenators rejected aproposed amendment by state Sen. Royce Duplessis, aNew Orleans Democrat, that woulddelay implementation, allowing for Duncan to servethe termtowhich he’s been elected and for the careful, well-organized transition such amerger would require

We should say herethat we are not opposed to common-sense consolidation of unnecessary offices in New Orleans, where the Legislature long ago set up several systems thatare different from those in the state’sother parishes.We have supported reasonable effortsinthe past, when local officials were involved in thediscussions. But this divisive current drive, whichalso includes separate bills to reduce the number of judgeships in the city,was undertakenbylawmakers whose own districts are far fromNew Orleans without even apretense of consultation with the city’sleaders.Indeed, thedataupon which supporters are relyingtoclaim waste and duplicationamong judgesisdisputed by Orleans officials.

It’snoteworthy that SB256 has drawn harsh criticism even from New Orleansleaderswho backed Duncan’sopponent, such as U.S. Rep. Troy Carter and Mayor HelenaMoreno.

The Legislature has every right —and indeed, aresponsibility —toidentify efficiencies, even if that means eliminatingpublic offices once those elected to them have served outtheir terms.

But it has no business pushingthrough a rushed bill that would thwart thewill of the city’svoters.

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

Make N.O. streetssafefor people biking andwalking

Twoyears ago, Iwas hit by acar while riding my bike on Magazine Street in abike lane. Ibrokefour ribs

While thedriver was at fault, the real problem is New Orleans’ failure to provide basic protections for people biking and walking.

From 2017-2021, New Orleans had thehighestdeath rate of people biking among major U.S. cities.In2023, it was more than fivetimes thenational average. The city also ranks poorly on pedestrian deaths.Last year,21people walking were killed in New Orleans.

The vastmajority of New Orleans’ bike lanes areunprotected and inherently unsafe.

Fast-moving carspass within inches of people biking in unprotected lanes. Parked car doors open into them. Cars double-parkinthem, forcing people biking out into traffic. The solution is to protect the bikelanes with curbs, bumps or by swapping the parking and bike lanes. Doing so substantially increases thenumber of people biking, according to studies. To keep pedes-

As ahistory teacher within Jefferson Parish Schools,the largestpublic school system in this state, Irefuse to remainsilent while our children are treated as afterthoughts.

Alack of reliable transportation to and from school for many kids is not merely alogistical failure; it is acivil rightsissue. To standinaclassroom and teach history while my students are denied thebasic dignity of areliable ride to school reminds me too much of historical struggles that some naively thought we had overcome some time ago.

When our studentsare left stranded on street corners, we are sending a cold, clear message about our true priorities

We are telling them that their journey toward an education —their most fundamental right —isasecondary concern. This local failure of mobility stands in stark,moral contrast to our national mobilization. We find billions of dollarswitheffortless speed to fund

trianssafe, trafficcalming measures like widening sidewalks and installing blinking lightsatcrosswalks are needed. (Thecityalso must ticket driversrefusing to stop for people in crosswalks).

Such street improvements are relatively inexpensive,increase retail sales and attract employers and workers. They benefit low-income people who walk and bike to work the most.

Since concernfor public safety hasn’tmotivated our leaders, maybe fear of negative publicity and liability will. Anyone from out-of-state with more than $75,000 in damagescan sue thecityfor defective road design in federal court, where the city must pay up. New Orleans encourages people to visit from all overthe country and abroad, use the Blue Bike programand walk the neighborhoods. Will it take a highly publicized and expensive killing of tourists to makeour streets safe?

MATT PAWA NewOrleans

military escalation and the dropping of bombs in theMiddle East, yetwecannot ensure the safe passage of students to aclassroom in Jefferson Parish.

Iamreminded of the hauntingly prophetic words of Martin Luther King Jr., who warned that“anationthatcontinues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”

We are witnessing that spiritual decay in real-time. We are choosing themechanics of destructionabroad over the mechanics of opportunity for our own children at home. Busing our studentstoschool is afar more vital investmentinour future than any war. The plea is simple: we want buses, not bombs.Wewant the “uplift” King spoke of —asociety that invests in thelives of itschildrenrather than the deliveryofdevastationtothe lives of others.

JOHN GUZDA NewOrleans

N.O. owes its officers and repeatedly chose nottopay

In arecent op-ed, Mayor Helena Moreno called the Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System a“bully.” That claim is wrong —and it distracts from the city’s own decisions and from the law In January 2026, the city paid $8 million in recruitment and retention incentives —payments it initially resisted before relenting. Those payments are pensionable, and corresponding retirement contributions are required. It was aunilateral decision not to remit retirement contributions tied to officers’ earned compensation. The city previously treated similar payments as pensionable and remitted the required contributions; officers have already retired on those benefits. Discussions had progressed to proposed terms before the current administration reversed course and declined to comply with the law Delay does not eliminate the obligations. It increases them Amounts owed will include contributions, interest, actuarial costs, and collection expenses. The city has recently borrowed below 6%, yet continued nonpayment triggers penalties and costs that can exceed 25%. The mathisstraightforward. This approach increases taxpayers’ liability while officers bear the consequences. State law requires the state treasurer —who serves as atrustee of MPERS and chairs the State Bond Commission —towithhold certain funds from the city’sstate distributions to satisfythese obligations.

Moreno expresses sympathy for small towns. So does MPERS. But sympathy does not replace compliance. In somecases, municipalities failed to enroll officers as required by law,including officers later killed in the line of duty

Enforcing the law is not bullying; it is afiduciary duty MPERS has no discretion to waive. CHAD KING chairman of the Board of Trustees, Municipal PoliceEmployees’ Retirement System

Data centersmeetthe opposition

It appears that folks livinginthe gently rolling farmland of southwestern Ohio don’twant a2-million-squarefoot data center plopped down the road from their front porches. What’swrong with them?Are they snotty not-in-my-backyard liberals?

Not quite. Wilmington, Ohio, is avery Republican region marked by modest incomes. Such demographics may have made the locals, and other rural Americans, look like an easy sale to the tech companies hunting for places to plop their massive data centers.

picky about “economic development.”

Froma Harrop

Amazon WebServices,whichis proposing this nine-buildingdata center on about 500 acres of aformer farm, has its boosters hard at work

The project would create upto100 full-time jobs, they say.Itcould also pay for up to $35 million inimproving public infrastructure (much of which may not be needed in the absence of a massive data center).

The JobsOhio website crows that data centers “create positive economic momentum” by generating jobs and attracting talented people —people the locals may never have noticed weremissing. Touting “100 jobs” could also be read as “only 100 jobs?”

The controversies in southwestern Ohio are being repeated in rural communities acrossthe country.Their land is cheap, incomes are not great and their local officialsseem not too

In addition,some states like Ohio are waving big taxincentives at Big Tech. It seems that many rural Americans regard modestincomes as the “price” they willingly pay to live in “God’scountry.” Some families have been there for generations, and many want to keep it peaceful for future generations. No doubt artificial intelligence is taking over.Americans can’t stop it and shouldn’twant to. It will be essential for national security andeconomic survival. AI needs these data centersfor power Butitdoes not follow that the human beings living in their pathshould have no say on howthis all develops.

Wisconsin voters have been presented with four local ballot measures designedtorein in data center projects. Onethat already passed gives the public more control over incentives officials may offer developers. Maine is the first state to pass alaw halting bigdata-center construction for over ayear

I’m not afan of class warfare. But, there is something unfair about the superrich dumping things they don’t wanttobenearoneconomically strugglingcommunities without giving alot back.

Amazon zillionaire Jeff Bezos keeps hismain mansion on Indian Creek Island,near Miami Beach.This exclusive paradise limits building heights to

two stories, lot coverage to25%. Residentsmay have only two accessory buildings for those essential cabanas, boat houses and such. Alittle bridge connects Indian Creek Island to Miami’sbarrier island. People using that bridge are screened.

Bezos cleverly threw out adistraction from Amazon’sbuilding plans by suggesting that data centers be put in outer space. That is in afar and, perhaps, never-gonna-happen future. For now,Ohio farm country is the plan.

As for Donald Trump, he’sall for building “colossal datacenters” and fast. His administration has moved to speed permitsfor the centers themselves and the infrastructure they need.

As for quality-of-life concerns, Trumplimits them to within his own environment.

In pre-presidential days, Trump called for moving the Palm Beach airport because he didn’tlike the jet noise over Mar-a-Lago.

Somedata center foes make cost-ofliving arguments against them. The centers’ ravenous energy needs could raise local electricityrates. However, that could be countered by thetax revenues thecenters would generate. Decisions on placing them should be based on more than the locals’ cost of living. There are other values.

Froma Harrop is on X, @FromaHarrop. Email her at fharrop@gmail.com.

SanFrancisco’s latest radicalexperiment

San Francisco, acitylongassociated with exotic ideas, has beenexperimenting with aradical notion —cracking down on car thieves.

Unlike some of the city’sother adventures, this one is actually working out. Car break-insare down 85% from 2023, and are down 50% the first three months of 2026, compared to the first three months of 2025.

This is good news for residents and tourists, and badnews for auto repair shops that did a brisk business in new carwindows. Smash-and-grab break-ins were such an ingrained part of SanFrancisco life that an argot grew up around them: Breaking into cars is knownas“bipping,” and the shards of glass left behind are called “San Francisco diamonds.”

into committing thecrimeinview of cops, usingpublic securitycameras to identify getaway carsand deploying dronestotrackthem after thefts,and targetedsting operations against crews of thieves SanFrancisco voters aided the effort by passing so-called Proposition EinMarch 2024, empoweringthe police to employ new crime-fighting technology

Rich Lowry

Residents were putting up signs warning tourists of frequent break-ins —the equivalent of the “no radio”signs that New Yorkers once put in their cars to deter thieves in the bad old days of the 1980s and 1990s.

The success in fightingthis scourge is asign that urban disorderisn’t inevitable and needn’tbetolerated even in afamously left-wingjurisdiction. A broader decline in crime in SanFrancisco shows that the city,ifnothing else, still has an instinct for basic selfpreservation. In 2023, the city began acounteroffensive against the break-in artists that included setting baitcars to lure them

The upshot is that increasing arrests takes repeat offenders off thestreetsand creates adeterrent against other offenders, leading to less crime. This is along-established, intuitive dynamic, butthe City by the Bay turned its backonitand paid the price. One of the wealthiest cities in the world put up withsurging property crimes,as well as levels of homelessness and publicdruguse that made it feel at times like Calcutta. The first step towarda return to rationality came when San Francisco voters in 2022 recalled the city’ssofton-crime ideologue masquerading as a districtattorney,Chesa Boudin. Then, in 2024,Mayor London Breed lost her reelection bid to reformer Daniel Lurie, whoeffectivelyattacked her record on disorder.

Lurie is hardly Rudy Giuliani, but sayssensiblethings about crime and appointed agood police chief. Meanwhile,new DA Brooke Jenkins isn’tas allergic to jailing people as Boudin. Since the pandemic, various catego-

riesofcrimehave been plummeting and hit two-decade lows.They’ve continued to fall this year.Inpart, San Francisco is riding anationwide trend of declining crime, but clearly tougherminded policies have had an effect. The city has alsocleared out homeless encampments and pulled back on its outlandishly permissive approach to public drug use thatwas terrible for addicts and corrosive of civic life.

All of this is to the good, but San Francisco is still operating within the limits of an overwhelmingly progressive context. If the city’sleadership hasbecome moreresponsible, judgesstill tend to be reflexively opposed toimposing serious consequences on offenders, and at the state level, California laws remain absurdly lenient.

The exception to the favorable trends in the cityismurder.Lastyear,San Francisco had its lowestnumber of homicides since 1954. This year is trending higher,although violent crime has never been the city’smain problem and the numbers are relatively low (28 murders in 2025) Ultimately,reality is the mostimportant factor in theaffairs of men, and San Francisco ignored it for too long, believing it was compassionatetoaccommodate aberrant behavior. Eventually,itbecame too much even for the cityofHarvey Milk and Nancy Pelosi. That means theremust be hope for everyjurisdiction in America. RichLowry is on X, @RichLowry

Watchthe Republican ‘fireball in thenight’

Warisagreat engine of change, sweeping aside assumptions, toppling established power relationships, driving new forces into play,rearranging long-held theories and challenging orthodoxies. That happened in six years of fighting in World War II, in the seven days of the 1967 Middle East War and, we are discovering in recent days, in seven weeks of conflict in Iran.

With aceasefire in the Iran war and with the parties to the fragile agreement failing to agree about its sweep and its meaning, some clarity about the conflict, and about the new global order it may have created, nonetheless, is setting in.

The reach, and the limits, of American military and technology superiority have been glimpsed. The power of asymmetrical warfare has been reaffirmed. China and Pakistan have assumed unfamiliar new roles in global diplomacy.The power of American domestic politics to affect American foreign policy has been reinforced. The Strait of Hormuz has joined the English Channel, the Suez and Panama Canals, the Dardanelles, the Malacca Strait and, ominously,the Taiwan Strait among the world’smost vital waterways —and its possible flashpoints forconflict.

As the ancient Chinese military theorist and philosopher Sun Tzu may or may not have said —no one knowsfor sure, but no one doubts the force of the observation: The nature of warisconstant change. This war —perhaps over,perhaps merely interrupted foraspell —isnodifferent.

The Iran wartaught that there are limits to what bombs might achieve in military engagements, but that there also are limits to the power of bombastic rhetoric.

The American assault from the air,and the technological firepower of its new-wave weapons, wreaked amazing destruction in Iran, essentially negating or at least limiting its opponent’sdrone and missile arsenal, its navy,and its anti-aircraft capabilities. It brought Iran to the bargaining table, but it also took the United States there.

Hardly anyone —except sharp-thinking counterintelligence analysts whounderstood Iran’scapacity forisolated terror attacks on American soil that comprised aconstant but little-acknowledged and, fortunately,unrealized threat —took seriously Iran’sboasts of retaliation. Hardly anyone believed Donald Trumpactually would persist in ordering an attack so comprehensive that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

The Trumpremarks spurred afurious backlash. It came not only from the Vatican, which can be counted on to deplore wanton wartimedestruction, but also from theranks of MAGA’sonce-mostprominent voices.

PopeLeo’scritique of the threat (“truly unacceptable”) may have had unusual sting because of his American identity,but it wasrelatively mild compared to reactions from the commentator Tucker Carlson (“vileonevery level”) andformer Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (“evil and madness”).

It wasironic Greene’scomments came as Georgians voted to select Greene’sreplacement in the House —apoignant reminder of what Americans learned in conflicts from the Warof1812 to the Mexican Wartothe Vietnam War: how the separation between domestic and foreign policy can shrink during wartime. In this case, Republican Clay Fuller,who had the president’sendorsement, prevailed in ahard-fought contest but did so with a victory margin of about 12 percentage points in a district Trumpwon by 37 points in 2004.

That 25-point shiftiswhat Thomas Jefferson would describe as a“fireball in the night” forRepublicans hoping to retain power on Capitol Hill in this fall’smidterm congressional elections.

It also stands as areminder of how democracies, even those undersiege, are ill-equippedtosustain long-term military engagements with little or vaguely expressed consequences for the people at home. It’s alesson the U.S. learned in Vietnam, then in Afghanistan andnow in this conflict, when prices on gas-station signs across the country exerted a power fargreater than Iranian anti-aircraftguns. For all his determination, Trumpispossessed of ashort attention span, as attested to the various activities he engaged in beyond conducting the war; calling foranoverhaul of college athletics is hardly apressing issue while Americans are engaged in combat. He’snot alone. Gloria Mark, an attention researcher at the University of California, Irvine, has identified dramatic decreases in public attention spans in the past twodecades, finding that internet users whoonce remained on atopic for about two-and-a-half minutes now were switching screens after about 47 seconds.

At the sametime, even opponents of the Iran conflict must have been astonished by Americans’ reluctance to makewartime sacrifices and their impatience with gas prices that soared beyond the psychological barrier of $4 agallon.

Email DavidShribman at dshribman@postgazette.com.

David Shribman

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

California HighwayPatrol officers conduct aroutine trafficstop in the Tenderloin neighborhood of SanFrancisco, where they have been deployedtoassist in crimeenforcement.

humid and breezy day. Temperatures this afternoon will rise to the lowto mid-80s. Over the next fewdays, temperatures will inch higher until almost 88 by Fridayand Saturday. Windsremainsoutherly at 15 mph,sohumidity remains high. There is a20% chance of rain today, so isolated showers are possible. If you’re headed to Wednesdayat the Square, expect sunnyand warmconditions.

‘Assess and learn’

Pelicans executive Dumars discusses his first year, future of Zion, Borrego

BY ROD WALKER Staff writer

Joe Dumars spoke to the media Tuesday morning for the first time since November Dumars, who just completed his first season as the executive vice president of basketball operations for the New Orleans Pelicans, fielded questions for about 50 minutes on a wide range of topics.

Here is a look at the seven most important things Dumars said.

Season assessment

The Pelicans finished 26-56 in the first year of the Dumars’ era. It’s the third-worst record in franchise history and came on the heels of last year’s 21-win season that led to the firing of David Griffin, whom Dumars replaced.

Dumars: “A really interesting year this was for me to assess and learn who we are and where we need to go. We had some moments that were very promising. Certain nights we looked like the team we strive to be go-

Without Davis,

Joe Dumars fielded questions on Tuesday after completing his first season as the Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations.

ing forward. Some nights it was rough, and we just didn’t look like the team we needed to be. We just weren’t consistent enough.”

What’s missing?

The obvious answer is more rebounding, better 3-point shooter and a go-to guy in crunch time. Dumars points more to the mentality that is needed.

Dumars: “I would add more toughness to this team. We have to be able to compete every night. We cannot get banged around, pushed around. We have to be physical and compete every night. There were some nights we did it, but too many nights we didn’t compete at a high enough level for me. You can’t get past that in this league. We have talent. But if you think you’re just going to roll talent out on an NBA court and that’s all you need to do to win, that’s not going to happen.”

Coaching search

Dumars fired Willie Green just 12 games into the season. James Borrego filled in as the interim coach for the last 70 games.

Dumars: “What you don’t do is put a timeline on it. You get the best coach as soon as you can, but you’ve got to go through the process. This is another step that you can’t skip. My timeline is to get it right. I’m not putting a clock on it.”

ä See PELICANS, page 4C

Saints may try to bolster LBs

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

For the first time in a long time, the New Orleans Saints linebacker room is in a little bit of flux as the 2026 NFL Draft approaches. Demario Davis was not only one of the primary leaders of the defense but he also was the type of player you never had to worry about for anything. He was always on the field, he was always playing at a high level, and he was always where he was supposed to be. The Saints benefited from his steady presence for eight seasons, but no longer after Davis signed a free agent contract with the New York Jets. This does not mean the cupboard is bare in New Orleans. Pete Werner has held down a starting job next to Davis for five seasons and is coming off one of his better campaigns, having set career highs in pass breakups (five), fumble recoveries (three) and sacks (two). That was while he shared snaps with last year’s third-round pick, Danny Stutsman, who impressed in limited action.

Shortly after Davis signed with the Jets, the Saints brought back a familiar face in Kaden Elliss, who blossomed as a full-time player during his three seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. Elliss averaged 127 tackles and four sacks per season for Atlanta, and he could add some juice as a rusher in obvious passing situations — evidenced by his seven-sack season with the Saints in 2022. Behind those top three, the Saints have 2024 fifth-rounder Jaylan Ford and former undrafted free agent Isaiah Stalbird. Both have played big special-teams roles, and Stalbird added some value as a pass-rush specialist on passing downs. Would the Saints add to the room in next week’s draft?

Unexpected splurge

Backup QB Longstreet shows off potential

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

The window was about to slam shut. Husan Longstreet had a small opening to throw it to JC Anderson. The freshman tight end was running a deep crossing route to Longstreet’s left but multiple defenders were starting to close in on the 6-foot-6 target. The level of difficulty was high, but that didn’t stop Longstreet — the Southern Cal transfer and former five-star quarterback from letting it rip. His throw to Anderson was on the money, layering the ball over a leaping defender and perfectly placing it in his arms.

“He had a really poor decision Saturday, but he has played today (and) on Saturday within the scrimmaging of practice really well,” coach Lane Kiffin said of Longstreet.“He’s playing his best (now) by far in the practices since we’ve been here. So that’s been obviously really good to see.”

This spring hasn’t been flawless for Longstreet He’s thrown interceptions and, at times, the game has looked fast for him during the scrimmage periods that have been open to the media. He’s also split first-team reps with Elon transfer Landen Clark, with Clark earning ä See LONGSTREET, page 3C

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

Golden State Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin didn’t have much to say on Monday when she was asked about her decision to trade LSU star Flau’jae Johnson.

OHIO STATE LB SONNY STYLES, 6-FOOT5, 244 POUNDS: Styles widely was regarded as the top linebacker in this class, and then he blew up at the combine. There just aren’t many people at his size who max out the metrics the way Styles did with a 4.46-second 40-yard dash, a 43.5-inch vertical leap and an 11-2 broad jump. His physical traits showed up on the field with the Buckeyes. After playing safety his first two years,

Despite the loss of Davis, which will hurt, the Saints probably feel comfortable with their starting options. But it would still be fair to call this group good but not great without a true impact player of Davis’ caliber. Let’s take a look at what the Saints might do at the position in the draft.

Styles switched to linebacker and recorded 182 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and seven sacks in his final two seasons. He was also a team captain, an honor the Saints value in prospects. Styles would be a surprise pick for the Saints in the first round for a lot of reasons, including history The franchise never has used a top-10 pick on a linebacker and has used a top-50 pick on one only twice in the last 20 years. But, depending on how the first seven picks fall, Styles may have to be considered.

ä See SAINTS, page 3C

The Valkyries, an expansion team beginning its second season in the WNBA, selected Johnson with the eighth overall pick of Monday’s WNBA draft, then flipped her to the Seattle Storm for a 2028 secondround choice and the right to take Marta Suarez of TCU with the 16th pick.

Nyanin told ESPN Monday night that the two teams had agreed to the trade before either of the picks was made. “I want to be super clear about the draft,” Nyanin said. “This had nothing to do with Flau’jae or any specific athlete selection.” In the statement she gave to ESPN, Nyanin offered more clarity about the move than she did in

See JOHNSON, page 4C

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JULIO CORTEZ

Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, a former college quarterback, had 128 tackles, four interceptions and seven forced fumbles last season.

STAFF FILE PHOTOS By DAVID GRUNFELD

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson is defended by Dallas Mavericks guard Max Christie on March 16 in the Smoothie King Center Joe Dumars, the Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations, said Tuesday he has no intention of trading Williamson.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON LSU quarterback Husan Longstreet throws during practice on March 26.

Closing the NCAA, MLB gap

More money, technology in college good development for pro coaches

BY DAVID BRANDT

AP Baseball writer

PHOENIX There was a time in the not-so-distant past that many Major League Baseball teams looked at their college baseball counterparts with a degree of skepticism There were the metal bats, the shorter schedule and a sense that nothing could replace the seasoning that came with years of grinding through professional baseball’s minor leagues. Not anymore. Thanks to a variety of factors especially money and technology — the MLB and NCAA versions of baseball have never been more similar There’s also been more movement between the two versions of the sport in recent years.

It’s part of the reason Tony Vitello is now the manager of the San Francisco Giants despite never working or playing for a professional organization before he was hired — a first in MLB history It’s also a factor in why Athletics slugger Nick Kurtz was the AL Rookie of the Year in 2025 barely one year after finishing a decorated college career at Wake Forest.

“The college game has definitely taken a bigger step toward the pro game — mainly because of the almighty dollar,” said Arizona State coach Willie Bloomquist, who played 14 big league seasons.

“Essentially what’s happened, the Power Four Conferences are basically the minor leagues.”

Athletics general manager David Forst — who selected Kurtz with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 draft — said the first baseman’s quick rise through the minors made him realize how good college baseball had become. Kurtz needed just 210 plate appearances in the minors before dominating MLB pitching, batting .290 with 36 homers and 86 RBIs over 117 games in 2025.

“There’s no doubt that top-level college baseball is High-A or Double-A now It’s really close,” Forst said. “I never would have imagined a player like Nick Kurtz coming to the big leagues for us 11 months after he was drafted.

“That was unthinkable when I first started doing this. The timeline is squashed because these guys are coming out of college so ready, so physically advanced. Some of them — frankly — don’t need the minor league at-bats they used to need.”

One reason the college game has improved so much is an influx of cash. Coaching salaries have exploded over the past few decades:

LSU’s Jay Johnson is at the top of the scale at more than $3 million per year while Mississippi State coach Brian O’Connor is second at $2.9 million.

Those are outliers, but it’s not uncommon for power conference coaches to make more than $1 mil-

lion

The highest paid MLB managers make around $8 million per season, but top assistants like pitching and hitting coaches usually make six figures.

The advent of NIL money has also made playing college baseball more lucrative, even if payouts lag well behind their football and basketball counterparts. There’s also the fact that top-level NCAA programs are investing in technology

“We have one of the better pitching labs on the West Coast,” Bloomquist said. “I think it would rival a lot of professional organizations. From a data standpoint, it’s all trickled down to the college level.”

After retiring as a player, Bloomquist worked in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ front office before getting hired by the Sun Devils. His pitching coach Jeremy Accardo spent 18 years in professional baseball as a player and coach.

Bloomquist said that MLB teams have become more comfortable trusting NCAA programs to develop professional talent instead

of taking the risk of drafting an unproven 18-year-old straight out of high school. He added that it’s probably one of the reasons that MLB felt comfortable cutting 40 minor league affiliates back in 2020.

In the 2025 MLB draft, 56 college players were selected in the top 90 picks.

“These guys trust (college) programs,” Bloomquist said. “They say, ‘We’ll just watch them in college in three years at a Power 4 program, see how they development and then we’ll go get them.’”

Georgia baseball coach Wes Johnson is another coach who has bounced between MLB and NCAA with success at both levels. He was hired as the pitching coach for the Minnesota Twins and had a strong 3 ½-year run between 2019 and 2022 before going back to the college game. He helped develop 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes as LSU’s pitching coach before landing the head job with the Bulldogs.

Johnson said there’s little doubt that the college and pro games have never been more similar, but added that there are still real differences for players and coaches.

The biggest is the schedule.

In college, the condensed schedule makes all 56 regular-season games feel huge. A three-game losing streak is the end of the world. In professional baseball, it’s just a small bump in the road.

“With the Twins, we played 33 spring games, then played 162 in the season and then made the

playoffs,” Johnson said. “It’s every day there. That’s the hardest challenge you have when you go from college to the big leagues. We won 101 games in 2019 (in the regular season) That means we only lost 61 games.

“But that’s the most I’ve ever lost in my life in one year.”

Bloomquist agreed that the schedule is much different. He said age is a factor as well.

“There’s a different style in college than there is in professional baseball — to an extent that’s accurate,” Bloomquist said. “There’s an intensity in college, motivating 18 to 20 year olds, as opposed to guys who are making $20 million. Can you relate to those guys in pro ball?”

San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman played in college at Cal State Fullerton before becoming a five-time Gold Glove winner the big leagues. Even though there are some differences like many more native Spanish speakers in professional baseball — he wasn’t worried about Vitello’s transition.

“Winning baseball looks the same,” Chapman said. “It’s pitching and defense, knowing how to run the bases and then managing personalities. He has a lot of experience with that.

“There will be a learning curve in some areas. You just can’t fully know how to run a Major League clubhouse unless you’ve been in one. But it’s not foreign to him. He’s a baseball guy.”

Trout vs. Judge turns into slugfest of MVPs

BY RONALD BLUM AP baseball writer

NEW YORK Mike Trout and Aaron Judge turned their baseball game into a heavyweight slugfest Monday night.

Trout’s second home run of the game bounced off the back wall behind the Angels bullpen in left-center, giving Los Angeles a two-run lead in the eighth inning on a night when Judge had already homered twice to put the New York Yankees ahead. And there was more drama to come after two three-time MVPs both homered twice in the same game for the first time in 70 years

Trent Grisham hit his second homer of the evening (and season) to tie the score in the ninth. Moments later, José Caballero trotted home on Jordan Romano’s game-ending wild pitch to give the Yankees a pulsating 11-10 win that stopped a five-game losing streak.

“It was great. That’s baseball for you,” Trout marveled. “It’s what fans want, and to be able to see something like that, pretty cool.”

Only once before had a pair of players already three-time MVPs each homered twice in the same game, according to STATS Perform.

After Stan Musial had gone deep twice, Roy Campanella hit a tying, three-run drive in the ninth for his second of the game and Don Zimmer followed with a walk-off single to lead the Brooklyn Dodgers over the St. Louis Cardinals 9-8 at Ebbets Field on June 21, 1956.

Trout nearly hit a third Monday night. He flied out to Cody Bellinger in front of the center-field wall, leaving the bases loaded in the fourth after the Angels tied the score four-all with four unearned runs following Caballero’s error on Trout’s leadoff grounder to shortstop.

Judge had looked forward to crossing paths with Trout in a Yankee Stadium weight room.

“I was going to talk some smack to him after the one he hit all the way to the warning track,” Judge said, “but I didn’t get a chance to and then he answers right back with two big homers for him. You put that guy in a clutch situation, a big moment and he’s going to show up every single time, so it’s fun going back and forth with a guy like that, especially in New York and the Bronx.”

New York had lost five straight after an 8-2 start and had been 0-6 in one-run games. There were seven home runs

that traveled a total of 2,846 feet — more than half a mile — with the Yankees hitting five. Judge’s first went 456 feet deep into the leftfield bleachers and left the bat at 116.2 mph, the hardest-hit home run of the season Grisham and Trout each had five RBIs, and Judge had three. Baseball’s top four active home run leaders were all in the game. Judge, with 374, moved one ahead of teammate Paul Goldschmidt. New York slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who leads active players with 454, missed by about a foot with a double off the center-field wall in the fifth. Trout has 408 homers. Trout, 34, won AL MVPs in 2014, ‘16 and ‘19 but has struggled with injuries for much of the past five seasons.

Judge, who turns 34 on April 26, won AL MVPs in 2022, ‘24 and ’25.

“Those are two of the greats, so it’s really fun to watch,” Yankees starter Will Warren said Judge and Caballero each hit a two-run homer off Yusei Kikuchi for a 4-0 second-inning lead on an unseasonably warm 77-degree night. After Caballero’s error led to the unearned runs off Warren, Grisham pinch hit in the fifth and connected for a three-run drive against Shaun Anderson for a 7-4

Ex-Michigan coach Moore gets 18 months probation

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore was placed on probation Tuesday for 18 months for a confrontation with his executive assistant soon after he was fired for having an inappropriate relationship with her Moore was facing a possible sentence of up to six months in jail after pleading no contest to trespassing and malicious use of a telecom device. But Judge J. Cedric Simpson ordered no time in custody He said jail wasn’t warranted, though he warned Moore that “all bets are off” if he violates probation. Simpson, too, said his decision was greatly influenced by the ex-coach’s wife, Kelli.

Moore, 40, was fired on Dec. 10 after leading the Wolverines for two seasons, following Jim Harbaugh’s move to the NFL’s LA Chargers.

Iowa football on probation for 1 year, to pay $25K fine

IOWA CITY, Iowa Iowa has been placed on probation for one year, will pay a self-imposed $25,000 fine and vacate four wins in 2023 as part of the resolution to an NCAA infractions case stemming from the recruitment of former quarterback Cade McNamara, the NCAA announced Tuesday

The NCAA found tampering violations occurred in 2022 when coach Kirk Ferentz and assistant Jon Budmayr had impermissible contacts with McNamara when he was enrolled at Michigan and had not entered the transfer portal. Budmayr also communicated with McNamara’s father before he entered the portal.

Iowa suspended Ferentz and Budmayr from the team’s 2024 opener against Illinois State.

Brewers OF Yelich likely to miss at least 1 month MILWAUKEE Milwaukee Brewers outfielder/designated hitter Christian Yelich is expected to miss at least a month with an adductor strain.

Yelich left in the fifth inning of the Brewers’ 8-6 loss to the Washington Nationals on Sunday with what the team described as tightness in his left hamstring. The Brewers placed him on the injured list Tuesday, retroactive to Monday, and said he had a seconddegree adductor strain.

The Brewers estimated he would return in mid-to-late May though Yelich said he didn’t want to put a timeline on it.

The Brewers also are playing without starting pitcher Quinn Priester (thoracic outlet) and reliever Jared Koenig (elbow).

Lakers’

Doncic, Reaves out to start series vs. Rockets

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves will not return from injury in time to begin the Lakers’ first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets, leaving Los Angeles without its top two scorers.

Doncic strained a hamstring and Reaves strained an oblique during the Lakers’ loss to the Thunder on April 2 in Oklahoma City, and neither returned during the regular season. The Lakers host the Rockets in Game 1 on Saturday night.

lead. Trout countered with a three-run homer in the sixth against Jake Bird, who was demoted to Triple-A after the game.

Judge’s homer off Anderson leading off the bottom half gave him 47 multi-homer games, one more than Mickey Mantle and trailing only Babe Ruth’s 68 among Yankees.

“To be surrounded by some greats like that, it’s special,” Judge said Josh Lowe knotted the score at 8 with a seventh-inning sacrifice fly and Trout’s two-run drive in the eighth off Camilo Doval put the Angels ahead 10-8 with his 31st multi-homer game. Judge, watching from right field, shook his head.

“Every time he comes to the Bronx, man, he puts on a show,” Judge said “I hate to see it, but it’s fun competing against a guy like that.”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone described his own feelings as “tough for the belly.” Then he switched his thoughts to his players.

“You get a lead, then you get another lead, and then it’s gone,” he said. “For the guys, maybe it was good to have a game like that where it was a little messy.”

Doncic will return to Los Angeles on Friday after traveling to Spain last week for treatment on his hamstring.

Doncic and Reaves combined to average 56.8 points, 13.8 assists and 12.4 rebounds per game when healthy this season.

Orioles manager returns with broken jaw from foul ball

BALTIMORE With a big bruise on the right side of his face and several fractures, Baltimore Orioles manager Craig Albernaz was back at the ballpark a day after being hit by a foul ball in the dugout.

“I can’t blow my nose for six weeks, because one of the fractures is kind of like where my orbital bone is,” he said. “If I blow my nose it’s going to go up into my eye.”

Albernaz said he has over a halfdozen fractures in his cheek area and a broken jaw, but he was relieved to avoid surgery and said he doesn’t need his jaw wired. Albernaz joked he might grab a Ravens helmet from his desk to wear in the dugout. He was back in the dugout Tuesday but the healing process could take time.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By SETHWENIG

Oakland Athletics slugger Nick Kurtz reacts after hitting a solo home run during the third inning against the New york Mets on Sunday in New york.

FILEPHOTO By SOPHIAGERMER

Tigers run-rule struggling UL

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

Having apacked houseat Lamson Park didn’tchange UL’s recenttrend of being overly generous. LSU starting pitcher Jayden Heavener wasn’t generous at all, throwing a no-hitter over five innings.

runwith abunt, Jalia Lassiter hit atwo-run homer to right=center for a5-0 cushion. LSU added to that with another run in the third when two more walks set up Sierra Daniel getting hit by apitchwith the bases loaded fora6-0 lead. Char Lorenz, whoalso singledinthe third, smashed atwo-run home run to left in the fourth to give LSU the eight-run advantage necessary for a run-rule decision.

New-look Tulane

BY GUERRYSMITH

Contributing writer

With four new startersand afifth at adifferent spot, Tulane hasadifferent look on its offensive line

There is enough continuity, though, for new coach Will Hall to feel like the Green Wave can have thesame old success as it seeks its fifth consecutive American Conference championship game appearance.

Of the five first-unit performers through spring practice, onlyone, Boston College transfer Ryan Mickow,is in his initial year with the Wave. Offensive line coach Cody Kennedy has plenty of experience working withHall, and assistant Kanan Ray is back,too.

“A lot of them have played alot of football, and the ones that haven’t played as much are going into Year 2 or Year 3,” Hall said Tuesday after the 13th workout of spring practice. The overall experience in that room coupled with howcoach Kennedy and coach Ray areteaching those youngguys has really allowed them to progress.”

Gone is first-team left guard Shadre Hurst (transferred to Houston) along with third-team all-league left tackle Derrick Graham, center Jack Hollifield and right guard Jordan Hall, who all used up their eligibility.Holdover Reese Baker,asophomore, has moved to rightguard from right tackle.Joining him on the first-team line are sophomore left tackle Dominic Steward, sophomore left guard Elijah Baker, senior center JohnBockand Mickow, ajunior right tackle.

Bock has the most experience, having started 21 games at FloridaAt-

SAINTS

Continued from page1C

Day2or3options

TEXAS TECH LB JACOB RODRIGUEZ, 6-2, 231: There aren’t many,ifany,defensive players in this draft class who have abetternose for the ball than Rodriguez. The former college quarterback racked up more than 125 tackles in each of his final

LONGSTREET

Continued from page1C

the majority of reps with the starters on Tuesday,LSU’s 10th spring practice under Kiffin

But Longstreet’sthrow to Anderson was exactlywhy LSU brought him in from the portal in the first place. He and Clark have experienced growing pains as they adjust to taking reps against apotential top-tier SEC defense. Saturday’s practice was particularly frustrating for Kiffin, as the offense made mistakes and failed to produceexplosive plays

“You go play against really good people, allofasudden it’sharder,and the windows are smaller,and you underthrow alittle bit, and it gets picked off,” Kiffin said. “Whenyou move up,like (Clark) has, thereissome challenges right away.”

Both quarterbacks are earning first-team reps as Arizona State transfer and presumed starter Sam

ascrimmageonAug.16atyulman Stadium. Baker, asophomoreleft

Plenty of continuity

lots of experience in Hall’s firstyear STAFF

lantic. Reese Baker started 11 games at tackle and two at guard in 2025. Mickow starteda bowl game for Boston Collegein2024. Steward played in five gamesasareserve over two years.

ElijahBaker started twice last season as an extra blocker In theNIL era of thrown-together transfer groups, having this many guys who were on theteam lastyear couldbeahuge plus “It’saposition that thrives on cohesiveness,” said Kennedy,who also was Tulane’sline coach in 2019 and 2020 when Hallwas offensive coordinator.“We have an elite academic setup Guys want to be here and get developed,sothisisa sweet spot in college football.Theywanttoget that degree butalsowewin alot of games,sowe have the total packagewhere we can retain guys.”

Mickow,who won two state championships at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, powerhouse program St.Thomas Aquinas, is amember of theNational Honor Society

“My biggest strength is probably just my mind and beingable to processinformation,” he said.“Half of football is knowing what you have to do andseeingwhatthe defenseisshowing you and just reacting.”

Bock won back-to-back state championships at another Fort Lauderdale school, Cardinal Gibbons.

“He’sdoingaphenomenal job,” Kennedy said. “If you don’thave acenter that’svocal, mature and hassome stripes, you are going to takesome lumps.”

Reese Baker, who can squat600 pounds, admits to being morecomfort-

twoseasons, and as asenior,heamassed four interceptions and sevenforced fumbles. Hisproductivity earned him alot of postseason hardware: he was named an All-American, finished fifthinHeisman Trophyvoting, and won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy,the Lombardi Award, the ButkusAward, the Chuck Bednarik Award andthe Big12Defensive Player of the Year He is not the biggest player,but he’sa goodenough

Leavitt sits outthe rest of springpractices as he recovers from afoot injury His absence has created a competitiontosee whom the primary backup will be heading into fall.

“Wedon’tjustmake adepth chart and you stay there,” Kiffinsaid. “A lot of people do that. When you getoutplayed, we move thedepthchart.”

Weeksbackon field

LSU seniorlinebacker WhitWeeks returned to practice on Tuesdayand participated in individual drills. Weeks did nottakepart in theteam drills, but Tuesday was the first timehe’d done anything on the field this spring.

Weeks hasbeen recovering from an ankleinjury that forced him to miss achunk of last season

“I was pretty messed up,” Weeks said March 27. “… It was definitely agrindtoget outthere at the end of last season.”

Defendersonoffense

TheLSU offense got cre-

able at guard than he was at tackle last season.

“It’sbeen asmooth transition,” he said. “Playing tackle, you’re outthere on an island for sure. Moving back inside, you have help from bothsides. Iplay right next to the twosmartest guys on the O-line (Bock and Mickow), so it makes everything easier.”

His feet are his best asset.

“He’s really natural gifted in his movementpatterns, which is what you want with the big boys,” Kennedy said. “Wedon’twant to look like robots.”

Elijah Baker was used primarily last year as alinemen who would go in motion andcrash intoanedge rusher the Wave wanted to neutralize right after thesnap.

“EBisthe barroom brawler of the crew,” Kennedy said. “He’s therough and rowdyguardthat’s going to go after you and put you in aphone booth.”

Steward’s road to starting featured the mostpotholes.Despite being undersizedasa two-way star at Atlanta Westlake High, he arrivedasanearly enroller in the spring of 2024 expecting to contributeright away.Instead, he barely played thepast two years. Kennedy praisedhis resilience in sticking with theWaverather than entering the portaldespite negative outside noise. Thereward came this spring.

“I wanted tobeastarter when Ifirst came in, but I’ve learned how to face adversity so much better,” Steward said. “I’m super fired up for thisyear My pass protection abilities aremarketable. Ifeel like Ihave an athletic edge on most anybody who lines up across from me.”

athleteand is one of the moreinstinctual linebackers in this class. He likely will hear his name called before theend of the second round.

OREGON LB BRYCEBOETTCHER, 6-1, 231: Before he became alegitimatefootball prospect, Boettcher followed hisfirst love of baseball.He played center field for the Ducksbefore walking on to the football program and deciding to pursue afuture in footballrather than playingprofessional baseball

ative Tuesday during ateam drillthat wasdedicated to short-yardage situations.

Kiffinand offensive coordinatorCharlie Weis turned to two players on defense to help out the offense in itsjumbo packages,using freshman defensive tackle Deuce Geraldsand redshirt freshman linebacker Zach Weeks as fullbacks.

“We’re just looking at alot of differentthings,” Kiffin said. “It’sthattimeofyear to do that. We run aprogram that’sabout creating anew box, not just being outside of it.”

Jersey number tradition

Kiffin was asked about whether he’d continue with two LSUtraditions —handing outthe No. 7jersey to the top playmaker andgivingthe No. 18 jersey to the player who best embodies the traits of leadership and being agood teammate.

His response wasshort andsweet: “Yeah, of course.”

Email Koki Rileyatkoki riley@theadvocate.com

(he was a13th-round selectionbythe HoustonAstros in 2024). He’sundersized, which maybeaknock for some teams (the Saints specifically being one), and his testing numbers didn’t match his playonthe field. But he’saninstinctive player with agood feel for space and aplus ability in pass coverage.

MICHIGANLBJIMMY ROLDER, 6-2, 238: It took four years for Rolder to crack the Wolverines’ rotation, but he pro-

Theresultofthatcombination was adominating 8-0 victory for the No. 22 Tigers over the Ragin’ Cajuns on Tuesday UL pitching issued issuedseven walks, hit a batter and there wasone error to complement six LSU hits in the one-sided contest. It was avery different gamethan when the Tigers slipped past UL 2-1 in 10 inningsback on Feb. 21 in Baton Rouge.

The Tigers improved to 29-14 heading into a home SEC seriesagainst Ole Miss starting at 6p.m Friday.The Cajuns, who have lost five straight, are now 22-22 and will take on Coastal Carolina at home at 6p.m. Friday

Thetroublefor the Cajuns began in the second inning with four walks andanerror.Destiny Harris followed three straight walks with atwo-run single to leftfor LSU.

After AveryHodge squeezed home athird

Heavener didn’trequire nearly that much offenseto improve her record to 11-6 on the season.

Thesophomorelefthander walked abatter with two outs in the first inning, then didn’tallow another base runner until Lily Knox drew aleadoff walked in the fifth. She had twostrikeouts to go with the twobases on balls. UL starting pitcherJulianne Tiptonenjoyeda scoreless first inning, then walked thefirst threebatters she faced in the second before giving waytoreliever Bethaney Noble. Noble gave up atwo-run single and atwo-run homer before getting removed for Sage Hoover during LSU’s five-run second. Hoover gave up three runs on three hits with three walks and no strikeouts over the last 32/3 innings.

Email KevinFoote at kfoote@theadvocate.com.

duced in his lone season as a starter, earningsecond-team All-BigTen honorsafter making 73 tackles with seven tackles forloss. Where someofthe other linebackers listed above are at their best in coverage, Rolder is a weapon against the run with somelimitations against the pass.

BYULBJACKKELLY, 6-2, 239:

TheSaints just brought Elliss back, and Kelly feels like ayounger version of him. TheBYU defensive

captain racked up 15 sacks in his twoseasonswiththe Cougars (he began his career at Weber State), including 10 of them in 2025. He’s toosmall to be atrue edge, buthewill need some seasoning to learn the finer points of off-ball linebacker play.Kelly was astandout at the Senior Bowl and put up big testing numbers at the combine, but at least early on in his NFL career,his role probably will be limited to specificsituations.

Tulane offensivelinemanElijah Baker looksonduring

guard, started twice lastseason.

STAFF FILE PHOTOByMICHAEL JOHNSON LSUpitcher Jayden Heavener held UL hitless in a fiveinning victory on TuesdaynightinLafayette. Heavener allowedjust twobase runners, both on walks.

Athletic reporter resigns over photos with Vrabel

BY ROB MAADDI AP pro football writer

NFL reporter Dianna Russini

has resigned from The Athletic less than a week after published photos of her and New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel at an Arizona resort prompted an internal investigation at The New York Times-owned sports outlet.

The New York Post last week published the photos of Vrabel and Russini at the Sedona hotel and said they were taken before the NFL owners meetings that began in Phoenix on March 29.

“I have covered the NFL with professionalism and dedication throughout my career, and I stand behind every story I have ever published. When the Page Six item first appeared, The Athletic supported me unequivocally, expressed confidence in my work and pride in my journalism. For that I am grateful. In the days that followed, unfortunately, commentators in various media have engaged in self-feeding speculation that is simply unmoored from the facts,” Russini said in a letter sent Tuesday to The Athletic executive editor Steven Ginsberg and obtained by The Associated Press.

“Moreover, this media frenzy is hurtling forward without regard for the review process The Athletic is trying to complete. It continues to escalate, fueled by repeated leaks, and I have no interest in submitting to a public inquiry that has already caused far more damage than I am willing to accept. Rather than allowing this to continue, I have decided to step aside now — before my current contract expires on June 30. I do so not because I accept the narrative that has been constructed around this episode, but because I refuse to lend it further oxygen or to let it define me or my career.”

Russini joined The Athletic in 2023 after nearly a decade at

PELICANS

Continued from page 1C

Borrego’s chances

ESPN, where she held various roles, including “SportsCenter” anchor, NFL analyst and insider

She hosted a podcast for The Athletic and made appearances on their video platform.

Vrabel and Russini, who are both married, released statements to the Post after publication of the photos downplaying what the photos depict.

Russini said they “don’t represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day.”

Vrabel told the newspaper:

“Those photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable.”

Vrabel didn’t attend New England’s pre-draft news conference on Monday

Dumars is zeroing in on Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham, former UConn coach Kevin Ollie and current Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley, Dumars said to take those reports with a grain of salt.

The New York Times reported Saturday that the digital outlet was investigating Russini’s conduct. That decision came after Ginsberg previously told the Post that the photos “lacked essential context” and lauded her work with The Athletic.

Ginsberg said the review of Russini’s work will continue Vrabel, who won three Super Bowls as a player with New England, is preparing for his second season as coach of the Patriots. He was the AP NFL Coach of the Year after leading the team to a 14-3 finish last season, which ended with a Super Bowl loss to Seattle Vrabel previously won the AP NFL Coach of the Year award with Tennessee in 2021.

next year and playing great again next year.”

Message to fans

Road to NBA title goes through OKC

Thunder have secured home-court advantage throughout playoffs

BY CLIFF BRUNT AP sportswriter

OKLAHOMA CITY The Oklahoma City Thunder know how vital home-court advantage can be in securing a championship.

The Thunder won Game 7 at home in the Western Conference finals last year against Denver and Game 7 in the NBA Finals at home against Indiana to win the title. They clinched the Western Conference finals series against Minnesota at home in Game 5.

This season, the Thunder held off the San Antonio Spurs in the race for homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. Thanks to a league-best 64-18 record, the road to the NBA title once again goes through Oklahoma City reigning league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Paycom Center, where the upper levels are known as “Loud City.”

“It’s extremely important,” Thunder guard/forward Jalen Williams said of earning homecourt.

gin.

Gilgeous-Alexander is well-positioned to repeat as MVP after averaging 31.1 points and 6.6 assists per game this season. He shot 55.3% from the field and 38.6% from 3-point range.

Chet Holmgren missed 50 games in the regular season last year This time, he was mostly healthy and emerged as an AllStar He averaged 17.1 points and 8.9 rebounds while finishing second in the league with 1.9 blocks per game.

Williams, an All-Star last season, was injured much of this season. He has returned to form and has averaged 17.1 points per game this season. Center Isaiah Hartenstein and guard Lu Dort remained steady starters. The team’s greatest strength might lie in its bench. Ajay Mitchell, Isaiah Joe, Alex Caruso, Aaron Wiggins, Jaylin Williams, Cason Wallace, Kenrich Williams and Jared McCain are significant contributors. Of the Thunder players who participated in at least 30 games, 13 averaged at least 15 minutes per contest and 10 averaged at least eight points

The Thunder added McCain in a mid-season trade with Philadelphia, and he has averaged 10.4 points in 18 minutes per game since the deal.

Borrego went 24-46 in the 70 games he coached after replacing Green. The Pels showed their most promise during a stretch after the All-Star break when they went 10-5. When the team was fully healthy, they were competitive. Dumars made it clear that Borrego is a viable candidate for the job Here’s why Dumars: “What makes him a viable candidate is his ability to communicate with the team every day and to do it in a positive way every day What James did well this year was never let the building completely collapse. He always tried to keep the team up and positive. That’s exactly what you want to see, especially in a situation where he took over and it could have slid.”

Other candidates

Despite several reports that say

JOHNSON

Continued from page 1C

her post-draft news conference. She told reporters then that she would “take a beat” before she discussed the trade and that she didn’t “have a lot of detail to share” about the move.

“One, because I’m exhausted,” Nyanin said. “Two, because I want to be very thoughtful when I’m talking about other humans and their basketball abilities and how they would or would not show up for our squad.

“And what I can say is, even through all of this exhaustion, I’m extremely excited about all of the athletes that we’ve signed or are about to sign.”

Nyanin was referring to the breakneck speed at which the league readied for its 2026 season Because the WNBA and its players association didn’t come to terms on a new collective bargaining

ment

Dumars: “Some of the stuff you wake up and see in this seat is so far-fetched and not even remotely close to being true. I saw a lot of that this year, if I’m being honest. I saw names pop up in trades. I saw coaches lists. We don’t even have a list like that right now We have got names that we’ve been talking about. Sometimes I’m just thinking, ‘Where is that coming from?’ It’s amazing. We are going to go through this process the right way We are going to figure out what’s best for New Orleans.”

Plans for Zion

It comes up every year around this time. Should the Pelicans keep their star forward or try to trade him away? With Zion Williamson playing in 62 games this season (the second most in his career), Dumars knows he’ll get plenty of calls this offseason of Williamson’s availability

Dumars: “We have no intentions of (trading Williamson). We are going into the offseason looking forward to Zion coming back

Pelicans fans are frustrated after back-to-back seasons with less than 30 wins. With no first-round draft pick this season, the frustration has grown. What is Dumars’ message to the fans? Dumars: “We are going to build. We are going to win. We don’t believe we are that far away from winning. We had a tremendous amount of very close games that we should have won. When you have that many games where you are right there to win and you don’t know yet how to close out games, that’s different than getting blown out by 20 every night. When you get blown out by 20 every night, I’ve got to look around the room with staff and scouts and say, ‘We are not good enough, we are not talented enough and don’t have enough depth to win here.’ I don’t feel that. I feel that we are close enough. But it takes some work. To the fans, I’d say I understand being discouraged. But I firmly believe we are going to win, and I don’t think this is some long rehaul process.”

Email Rod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.

“Otherwise, I don’t think everybody would be trying to get the records and stuff. It’s just one of those things. Last year it saved us a couple times. If we don’t have home court advantage, those can turn out totally different. So, home court is extremely important.”

Oklahoma City will host Game 1 of their first-round series on Sunday against an opponent to be determined.

The Thunder say one of the keys to their success has been to mentally separate this season from the last. They’re not looking to repeat — they are trying merely to win this season’s championship. Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said the detachment from last year’s title has a lot to do with why the team was so successful this season.

“Last year’s championship was great,” Daigneault said. “We earned it. No one can ever take it from us. And we’ll have the rest of our lives to be the 2025 champions. But it’s also over and completely mutually exclusive to this year’s playoffs.”

There are plenty of reasons to believe this run will be similar to the last one. The Thunder were fifth in the league in scoring (119 points per game), second in scoring defense (107.9) and first with an 11.1-point average victory mar-

pick, then declined to answer any questions about the “strategy” she used when she and her front office made those decisions.

“When I’m ready to kind of speak more about what the strategy is behind it,” Nyanin said,

“I’ll speak on it. I’ll also say I don’t really speak about my strategy ever publicly, because all other teams are watching to see what our strategy is.”

One of those teams was the Storm, which was hoping to find a way to trade up in the draft and land a third first-round pick. General manager Talisa Rhea said she didn’t think Johnson would fall to the eighth selection and that the opportunity to trade for her was “exciting and incredible” for the franchise.

“Flau’jae is a really dynamic, talented young player who’s gonna just impact on both ends of the court,” Rhea said. “She can score in multiple ways. She’s a great defender Gets deflections, steals. She’s gonna be out in transition with our group, so really excited how she aligns.” The Storm, which lost in the first round of the playoffs last season,

Daigneault showed willingness to go deep into his bench and shift lineups during last season’s playoffs. He noted that he moved Wallace into the starting lineup during the NBA Finals last year, and said reserves such as Kenrich Williams, who is 13th on the team in minutes played this year, had key moments during last season’s playoffs.

“We’re going to just try to find the best thing,” Daigneault said. “But when you have a deep team, that’s sometimes the best thing. We’ve got a lot of guys we believe in, and we assume that they’re all ready to do whatever it takes to help the team at any time. And there’s so many examples of that from last year’s playoffs.”

The Thunder don’t even know their first-round opponent — that will be determined Friday in the play-in tournament. Daigneault said he’s fine with being unsure if the Thunder will play Phoenix, Portland, Golden State or the Los Angeles Clippers.

“In between now and then, we focus on getting ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally ready, fundamentally ready for the first round, independent of who we play,” Daigneault said.

also selected Spain forward Awa

Fam Thiam with the third overall pick, Duke guard Taina Mair with the 14th overall pick and Michigan State forward Grace VanSlooten with the 39th overall pick.

The Valkyries made the playoffs in 2025, too, becoming the firstever WNBA expansion franchise to earn a postseason berth in its inaugural season.

They left Monday’s draft with Suarez, Duke’s Ashlon Jackson — the guard whose buzzer-beating 3 ended LSU’s season — and Japan guard Kokoro Tanaka. Interestingly, the Storm will open its season at home vs. the Valkyries on May 8, which means that Johnson will debut in the WNBA against the team that traded her away on draft night.

Johnson said before she learned about the trade that she was “very excited” to begin her professional career

“I’m officially a drafted pro,” Johnson said, “so it means a lot to me, and I just want to go and make an impact.”

Email Reed Darcey at reed. darcey@theadvocate.com.

Borrego

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson drives to the basket past Texas Tech guard Snudda Collins during

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By BEN MARGOT

Reporter Dianna Russini works on the sidelines before the start of a game between the Oakland Raiders and the Denver Broncos on Sept. 9, 2019, in Oakland, Calif.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARK J.TERRILL

Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, left, tries to get by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander during a game on April 8 in Inglewood, Calif.

ThirdstraightMasters might be toughest of allfor McIlroy

AUGUSTA, Ga. The passing comment Fred Couples said to his caddie on the 12th hole of the opening round at the Masters was worth another listen when Rory McIlroy slipped both arms into the green jacket for the second year in a row “Rory may never lose this thing again after last year,” Couples said. Not that McIlroy ever makes it easy, but there is cause to wonder how many times his name will be etched on the Masters trophy,how often he gets to create the menu for the Masters Club dinner.For now,his two green jackets are as many as Scottie Scheffler,who is seven years younger The next step is three in arow,which has proven difficult for the three greats before him. None of them so much as finished in the top 10. Jack Nicklaus missed the cut in 1967 as the two-time reigning champion. Nick Faldo was never closer than five shots after the opening round in 1991. Tiger Woods was going for three in arow in 2003 when he shot 76 in the first round and was 10 shots back. He had a66onSaturday to get within fourand then closed with a75. McIlroy is at astage where he wants majors morethan he needs them particularly with the career Grand Slam out of the way.Faldo predicts he will get another slam. McIlroy needs another claret jug and aU.S. Open trophy for asecond slam, and then do it athird time to catch Nicklaus and Woods. Simply going back-toback in the Masters is no small feat considering it had been done only three times by an impressive list of golf greats.

BrotherMartin landsNo.1seed in baseball playoffs

BY CHRISTOPHERDABE Staff writer

BYDOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

Andwhilehecouldafford abogey on the final hole —his drive on the 18th was so far right itwas found closer to the 10th fairway —this Masters couldhave gone differently.Scheffler’sbirdie putt on the 17th defied gravity Cameron Young had seven reasonablebirdie chances on the back nine. He finished with nine pars. McIlroy became thefirst player since Trevor Immelman in 2008 to play even par on the weekend and winthe Masters. He did his heavy lifting earlier,particularlythat stunning finish of six birdiesonthe last seven holes Friday to set aMasters record with asix-shotlead through 36 holes.

Of thesix players who had led by at least five shotsgoing into the weekend, allbut one kept the lead going into Sunday Theexception was Nicklaus in 1975, who was overtaken by TomWeiskopf. What followed was as thrilling afinal round as Augusta National has seen. Nicklaus, Weiskopf and Johnny Miller were allon top oftheir games —this was 11 years before the worldranking launched and allthree were in the mixdeep inthe back nine until Nicklaus famously made that 40-foot birdie putt across the 16th green to tieWeiskopf and go on to winarecord fifth green jacket. This hadall thetrappings of arepeat of that year,especially with three players —Young, Justin Rose andMcIlroy —holding atwo-shot lead at various points of the final round.

It was McIlroy at the end by one shot over Scheffler and yet itfeltsoinevitable

He effectively won this

with two brilliant birdies around Amen Corner thethree-quarter 9-iron on thepar-3 12th that drifted nervously right buthad enough to hit thegreen and settle7feet away,and the350-yard blast on the par-5 13thafter hitting intothe trees theprevious three days.That set up an 8-iron to just over the green, leaving him two tough putts that gave him athree-shot lead.

Inevitable is how it felt thelast time the Masters had arepeat champion with Woods in 2002. But it was different then Woods didn’ttend to make mistakes when he had the lead on theback nine at a major,withone exception (his playoff win in the2005 Masters).

Perhaps that’swhy of the five Masters that Woods won, becoming only the thirdrepeat champion gets theleast amount of attention.The others were more spectacular because of the way he won or the circumstances around it.

Woods had thewatershed momentin1997 when he won by 12. That might be thecase for McIlroy,too, depends on wherehegoes from here. Nothing will top lastyear at the Masters, a final day worthy of aPrime Video documentary.

McIlroy was so joyous about finally being aMasters champion that he said at the start of the week, “I think for thepast 17 years Ijustcould not wait for the tournamenttostart, and this year Iwouldn’tcare if thetournament never started.”

He was joking. He was ready. He was far more relaxed, and it showed Therewill be more at stakefor him next year at Augusta National with a chance to do something no one has done. Those opportunities don’tcome along veryoften.

Brother Martin is the only New Orleans-area school with aNo. 1seeding for the high school baseball playoffs afterthe LHSAA released bracketsfor all10divisionsand classesTuesday Other high seeds from the New Orleans area in the Division Iselect playoff bracket areNo. 3John Curtis, No. 5Rummel, No. 6 Jesuit and No. 7HolyCross —all withbyes intothe secondround of the20-team playoff bracket No. 15 St. Augustine will play abest-of-three home series this week against No. 18 C.E. Byrd,withthe winner set to face No. 2Catholic-Baton Rouge in thesecond round. No. 16 Riverdale also hasahomeplayoff series against No. 17 Pineville. High-seeded teams in other divisionsare No. 2 St. Charles in Division II select,No. 2Newman in

LHSAAbaseball first-round

Division III select andNo.4

St. Martin’sinDivision IV select No. 5Hahnville has the highest seeding among NewOrleans-area schools in the Division Inonselect bracket. Contact ChristopherDabe at cdabe@theadvocate. com

Sergio Garcia apologized Tuesday for his tantrum during the final roundof the Masters when he tore up the turf after abad drive on the second hole and then broke his driver against a bench.

Geoff Yang, chairman of the Masters competitions committee, issued acodeof-conduct warning to the Garcia on the fourth tee

The conduct policy was new to the Masters this year

“I want to apologize for my actions Sunday at The Masters tournament,” Garcia said in asocial media post. “I respect and value everything that The Masters and Augusta National Golf Club is to golf. Iregret the way Iacted and it has no place in our game. It doesn’treflect the respect and appreciationI have for The Masters, the patrons, tournament officials and golf fans around

the world.” Garcia, the 2017 champion, began with abogey and then hit aweak fade on thepar-5second holethat was headed to the bunker He recoiled his driver onto thetee, andthenturned and slammed his club into theturf.

Withoutrepairing the damage, Garcia then smacked his driver against awooden bench holding a water cooler,and the head of the club was leftdangling from the shaft Garcia declined to discuss what was saidbythe official, sayingafter his round, “I’m notgoing to tell you.”Whenaskedabout it againhereplied, ”Next question.”

He also did notapologize for hisbehavior afterhis closing 75 tofinish in 52nd placeamong the54players whomade thecut.

“Just obviously not super proudofit, butsometimes it happens,” Garcia said. Garcia has not finished in

the top 10 in the 29 majors he has played since beating Justin Rose in aplayoff at Augusta National in 2017. He hasmissed thecut six times in eight appearances at the Masters since winning. Askedabout his record, Garcia said, “Bad golf.” When areporter asked him to be more specific, Garcia said, “Bad shots.” Garcia was disqualified in 2019 at the Saudi International for damaging greens in frustration. His antics over the years include angrily kicking off his shoe when he slipped during a tee shot at the World Match Play in 2001, and theshoe nearly struck an official. He also spit intoacup during aWorld Golf Championship at Doralafter three-putting. The PGA Tour hasbeen developing the code-ofconductpolicythe last few years, and the Masters was thefirst tournamenttoput it into effect.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By ERICGAy

RoryMcIlroycelebrates after winning the Masters on SundayatAugusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.

Doug Ferguson

SCOREBOARD

Going yard

at Milwaukee (Patrick 1-0), 6:40 p.m. Colorado (TBD) at Houston (Imai 1-0) 7:10 p.m. Seattle (Hancock 2-1) at San Diego (Vásquez 1-0), 8:40 p.m. Texas (Rocker 0-1) at Athletics (Ginn 0-0) 8:40 p.m. National League Monday’s games Baltimore 9, Arizona 7 Philadelphia 13, Chicago Cubs 7 Pittsburgh 16, Washington 5 Miami 10, Atlanta 4 Cleveland 9, St. Louis 3 L.A. Dodgers 4, N.Y. Mets 0 Tuesday’s games Cincinnati 2, San Francisco 1 Arizona 4, Baltimore 3 Chicago Cubs at Philadelphia, n Washington at Pittsburgh, n Miami at Atlanta, n Toronto at Milwaukee, n Cleveland at St. Louis, n Colorado at Houston, n Seattle at San Diego, n N.Y. Mets at L.A. Dodgers, n Wednesday’s games Arizona (Rodriguez 1-0) at Baltimore (Bradish 1-2), 11:35 a.m. Cleveland (Cecconi 0-2) at St. Louis (May 1-2), 12:15 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Imanaga 0-1) at Philadelphia (Luzardo 1-2), 5:40 p.m. San Francisco (Mahle 0-2) at Cincinnati (Lowder 1-1), 5:40 p.m. Washington (Irvin 1-1) at Pittsburgh (Mlodzinski 0-0), 5:40 p.m. Miami (Paddack 0-2) at Atlanta (Elder 1-1), 6:15 p.m. Toronto (Cease 0-0) at Milwaukee (Patrick 1-0), 6:40 p.m. Colorado (TBD) at Houston (Imai 1-0) 7:10 p.m. Seattle (Hancock 2-1) at San Diego (Vásquez 1-0), 8:40 p.m.

Gibbs having fun as new NASCAR Cup winner

BY NATE RYAN Associated Press

Ty Gibbs has a famous last name and has spent much of his life in the spotlight, recently being unwittingly thrust into the center of a contentious court case. The attention is less than comfortable for the grandson of Joe Gibbs, a Hall of Fame legend as a championship team owner in NASCAR and a Super Bowl-winning coach in the NFL.

“Yeah, I feel like I could be a lot bigger in the community than what I am,” Ty Gibbs said about his place in NASCAR after his first career victory Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway “I just enjoy privacy I don’t really want to show off a lot, too. I just enjoy training on my bike, getting strong, working hard during the week. I’m not here to be a moving billboard. I don’t really care. I don’t have any social media on my phone at the moment. I just really enjoy racing and focusing on myself.” The focus at Bristol was squarely on the 23-year-old after he deftly fended off NASCAR champions

Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson on a two-lap overtime restart. The relief of finally breaking through in his 131st Cup start was evident.

Gibbs celebrated by playfully crashing his grandfather’s national TV interview and handing the checkered flag to his mother Heather, before giving her a ride to victory lane in the No. 54 Toyota.

“It’s just a thrill to see this happen because I don’t know how to explain it,” said Joe Gibbs, who has half of his eight grandchildren working at Joe Gibbs Racing, the team he founded 35 years ago. “It’s just a special feeling for all of us.

I called my wife, and she’s crying.

The whole family is crying. We love this. We really appreciate what today meant to us and the family.”

The narrative was positive for the Gibbs organization, which has been ensnared in some unflattering headlines after suing former competition director Chris Gabehart for breach of contract.

In a court filing, Gabehart said he expressed “serious concerns” about team management after he felt pressured to help Ty Gibbs (and was moved to the No. 54 pit

box to call strategy) Gabehart said Gibbs “was not held to the same meeting attendance standards as others on the team.”

After the Bristol win, Gibbs made multiple references to “people saying false things” (without naming Gabehart) and steadfastly reaffirmed his work ethic.

“I’ve stayed after it the whole time,” Gibbs said. “Obviously, people are going to say false things about how I wasn’t present in meetings. I’ve been the same the whole time, just to clarify that.”

But others have noticed a change in his demeanor To defuse the driver’s frustration during races, crew chief Tyler Allen said “a huge focus” entering 2026 was on keeping it fun because a “loose, fun Ty is a fast Ty.”

During a stretch of four consecutive finishes of sixth or better before Bristol, Gibbs impressed his teammates by speaking up in debriefs with helpful advice.

“He’s been in a good mood,” JGR driver Christopher Bell said. “He’s happy Ty is killing it. It’s fun to see his confidence is literally radiating from him. He’s really switched on

“I’ve

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO ByWADE PAyNE

Ty Gibbs, center, celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday in Bristol, Tenn.

From pond to plate, chasing thebiggest crawfish in Cajuncountry

BY IAN McNULTY Staff writer

The restaurant hasnosign— not after acar crashedthroughit acouple years ago —and its address doesn’t appear on GoogleMaps.But around Abbeville, everyoneseemstoknowthe waytoCajunClawsjustthe same.

People dropbythissmall, plainlooking restaurant starting an hour before its 5p.m. opening to add their names to the list fortables.They’re coming for crawfish of unusual size Cajun Claws, 1928 CharitySt., Abbeville, has been an institutionin this smallCajun town for30years.It opens only duringcrawfish season, andeven then only on nights when ownerDonni Choate judges the sup-

ply to be up to his standard, which is to say,very large.

“I’ve got too much pride for anything less,” Choate said while overseeing the boil room. In thedining room, a 5-pound order landed at the table withatray on top steaming withanair of suspense. Liftingthe lid revealed abouquetofhumongous crawfish, with tails the size of aman’s thumb. The waiter brought metal seafood crackers, the type used for lobsters as theclaws on thesecrawfish werebig enough to call for them.

Oneparticularly burly mudbug from this batch measurednearly8 inches long. The tail was plump, the juice hada compelling spice, andthe

BYIAN McNULTY Staff writer

claws werelike eating crab fingers at acocktail party This wasextraordinary crawfish, and it was also just another night in the crawfish heartland. We hadcomefrom NewOrleans to Acadiana for ataste of crawfish close to the source, in the regionthatproduces so much of Louisiana’sprodigious harvest. Behind the trip wasagoal to answer onenagging question: Do thebiggest crawfish even makeitout of Acadiana, or do the Cajuns keep them for themselves?

Acrawfish road trip

Crawfish afficionados know thatasany season progresses, crawfish go frombeing pricey and small to cheaper and larger.Around New Orleansatthispoint in theseason, any given boil mayinclude crawfish of noteworthy size.They’re oftenheldup like trophies, and some restaurants will brag about their biggest finds on social media.

Butthat’sjust it —these are finds, like discovering apearl in an oyster.Whatifthese coveted giantswerejust the house standard? How does that happen, and what wouldsucha feast be like?I hit the road with aparty of avid Louisiana food lovers to find out.

FRENCH QUARTER FEST

WHEN: April 16-19, various locations across the French Quarter INFO: See frenchquarterfest.org food for complete vendor listwith locations.

STAFFPHOTOSByDAVID GRUNFELD

That’sbig! Acrawfish is measured up at Cajun Claws seafood restaurant in Abbeville

Acrawfish boat works acrawfish pond near Eunice.

More spiceisadded to the hotcrawfish in theboiling room at Cajun Claws seafood restaurant

The take-out windowatthe drivethruseafood stand Jo Mama’s Crawfish stays busy in Abbeville.

Food writer Ian McNulty’s notebook is markedwith spice-stained fingerprints amid apileofcrawfish from Jo Mama’sCrawfish.

Discussions about crawfish differences between Acadiana and other hot markets for it typically center on preparation. While a long soak is the way many boilers add spice, a typical Acadiana method sees more spice added to the exterior, over the shell, to steam into the crawfish. Opinions on the best method are entrenched.

But another fundamental difference becomes swiftly evident when eating around Acadiana. The baseline size of crawfish is just bigger. On our road trip, the evidence piled up from well-known restaurants to next-generation pop-ups The reason revolves around tightknit supply chains, sometimes running through blood relations, and a cultural expectation from customers.

Home of the ‘hammers’

There was a time when grading crawfish by size was not commonplace That changed in 1987, according to the LSU AgCenter, when a blight on Europe’s crawfish harvest opened an overseas export opportunity for Louisiana growers, particularly to Sweden. The Swedes wanted big crawfish, and Louisiana producers began grading them to meet that demand.

Now the smallest crawfish of a harvest are dubbed peelers, bound for processing plants to be packaged and used in recipes. A size up is the field run, usually a mix of medium-sized crawfish with a smattering of larger ones. Selects are the biggest a producer is harvesting.

Still, there’s no uniform measurement for what differentiates them; instead, it’s a relative comparison of size as the season goes on and crawfish get bigger

There’s a different name for the biggest mudbugs at Jo Mama’s Crawfish, 1902 W Summers Drive, Abbeville, the drive-thru stand that Luke Schultz opened outside of downtown Abbeville two seasons ago.

“These are hammers,” said Schultz, beaming as he handled a few Hammers, or “hammas” in his parlance, are crawfish so big they

feel like a carpentry tool in the hands (on online videos, Schultz extols their virtues to what he calls his “hamma mafia” of regulars).

Schultz, 21, a standout offensive tackle in his days at Crowley’s Notre Dame High School, is a big man with catcher’s mitts for hands. The hammers still looked impressive as he casually moved them from palm to palm beside his trailer-mounted boiling rig.

He serves a mix of more normalsized mudbugs with the largest he can find. This is an intentional

blend so that any given order has a good volume of crawfish and a strong representation of hammers. Schultz has a direct line of supply for the best: his own family

Sourcing selects

In the countryside around Eunice, his father, Patrick Schultz, continues a long family heritage of farming, alternating between rice and crawfish in their complementary seasons. He invited us to ride along on a harvest.

This rural stretch off Interstate 10 is a patchwork of rice fields, flooded to become crawfish ponds, framed by roads that switch from paved to dirt. Lone crawfish that have fled the pond march down these roads here and there, claws up in truculent defiance of passing vehicles.

On one of the Schultz ponds, a crawfish boat maneuvered rows of traps with a bright sky reflected on placid water bristling with the remnants of rice stalks. A crawfish boat is a uniquely Louisiana contraption, like a miniature paddle wheeler crossed with a pickup truck. It’s designed to glide along shallow water while also being able to climb over dry berms and roll down the road.

As this one clanged and chugged nosily along, a worker collected one wire trap after the next. Tipping them over onto a collection table, just three or four crawfish spilled

from each. But they were all hammers. This pond was stocked leaner before the season, and the crawfish were left to grow bigger

“It’s about space and nutrition,” explained the elder Schultz. “That determines size and yield. It’s just like an aquarium. If you put too many fish in, they stay small; if it’s just a few, they get big.”

The mesh sacks gradually filled, and eventually these joined the day’s collected harvest from a network of other ponds back at the Schultz homestead.

In a metal shed, workers poured the sacks onto the jittering conveyor belt of a mechanical grader With water spraying over them, they moved across a series of rollers fitted with differently sized gaps.

The peelers drop out first, then the field run, then, by the end, the selects. The Schultzes sell their crawfish to distributors from Texas to the Gulf Coast. The selects are available to anyone willing to pay the premium price, and that is most consistently buyers in Acadiana.

“People here are just spoiled,” said Luke Schultz. “We grew up with this.”

Picky with claws

At Cajun Claws, Choate is known among crawfish suppliers as a tough customer He was a crawfish broker himself, working around

TODAY IN HISTORY

Muslim religion’s birthplace.

ByTheAssociated Press

Today is Wednesday, April 15, the 105th day of 2026. There are 260 days left in the year

Today in history:

On April 15, 1912, the British luxury liner RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland just over two and a half hours after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage. More than 1,500 people died while 710 survived.

Also on this date:

In 1865, Abraham Lincoln died after being shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater the previous evening; Andrew Johnson was sworn in as the 17th president hours later

In 1947, Jackie Robinson, baseball’s first Black major league player of the modern era, made his official debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on opening day at Ebbets Field. (The Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves, 5-3.)

In 1955, Ray Kroc opened the first franchised McDonald’s restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois.

In 1974, members of the Symbionese Liberation Army robbed a branch of the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco; a member of the group was SLA kidnap victim Patricia Hearst, seen wielding a rifle. (Hearst later said she had been forced to participate in the robbery.)

In 1989, a crush of soccer fans at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, caused 97 deaths and over 760 injuries.

In 1997, a raging fire stoked by high winds swept through a sprawling pilgrims’ encampment near Mecca in Saudi Arabia, killing more than 300 people and injuring about 1,500 others during the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the

In 2013, two bombs made from pressure cookers exploded at the Boston Marathon finish line, killing two women and an 8-year-old boy and injuring more than 260. (Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted and sentenced to death for his role in the bombing; his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed in a gunbattle days after the bombing).

In 2019, fire swept across the top of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris during renovation work on the landmark structure; the blaze collapsed the cathedral’s spire and spread to one of its iconic rectangular towers. (The cathedral was restored and reopened to the public in December 2024.)

In 2025, the federal government announced it was freezing more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard University over Trump administration demands that the Ivy League school limit activism on campus. (A federal judge would rule for Harvard the following September ordering the cuts reversed )

Today’s birthdays: Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Cooper is 70. Olympic track & field gold medalist Evelyn Ashford is 69. Actorscreenwriter Emma Thompson is 67. Singer Samantha Fox is 60. Olympic swimming gold medalist Dara Torres is 59. Singer Luis Fonsi is 48. Country singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton is 48. Actor Luke Evans is 47. Actor-writer Seth Rogen is 44. Actor Alice Braga is 43. Singer-songwriter Margo Price is 43. Actor Samira Wiley is 39. Actor Emma Watson is 36.

Actor Maisie Williams is 29. Gymnast Jordan Chiles is 25. Country singer Sam Barber is 23.

FESTIVAL

Continued from page 1D

“That’s the goal, to make this reflect the flavor of the city,” said Kenneth Spears, the festival’s food and beverage director

This is why festgoers can get a classic Creole hot sausage po-boy from the 7th Ward legend Vaucresson’s, and learn about Haitian Creole flavor from the Treme restaurant Fritai, with its passionfruit wings and a fiery shrimp and cabbage slaw (called pikliz).

French Quarter restaurants are well represented at the fest. The Tujague’s booth will have the same shrimp remoulade served at the restaurant a few blocks upriver, and also its shrimp-stuffed mirliton, an old-school specialty The Rib Room is back with its prime rib debris po-boys. New vendors

The food lineup has also been growing in diversity for years, both in the flavors presented and the New Orleans people behind it. This year brings a lot of new operators to the mix. New this year is Spicy Mango, with an oxtail melt sandwich, joining the other restaurants from Larry Morrow at the festival (that includes Sun Chong, with its gumbo dumplings).

Willie Mae’s NOLA, the next generation reboot of the historic Willie Mae’s Scotch House, is also making its festival debut this year, with wings and hot honey beignet sandwiches. Chicken’s Kitchen, the West Bank hit for plate lunches, is new at the fest, too. It’s serving a hit from the regular menu with its soul bowls, which include its stuffed, fried bell pepper balls, and also its soul rolls, filled with chicken,

Forked Island, an area southwest of Abbeville renowned for producing quality crawfish. In 1995, he and his wife Jodi started their restaurant (there are other restaurants in the region with Cajun Claws in their names, but these are not affiliated with the Abbeville original).

From the start, Choate decided that to stand out in a crowded market, he would only accept crawfish a step above the normally impressive local standard. He gets it by paying top dollar, and the prices at the restaurant reflect it, at about $10 a pound by late March, twice what some takeout shops were offering at the time.

“It’s a relationship with your fishermen; they know what I want and we pay them extremely well to get what we want, and that works out pretty good,” said Choate.

At his own processing shop, he adds the step of hand-sorting his crawfish, discarding inferior examples that might’ve evaded the first grading.

“We charge more for it than others, but people are willing to wait in line for what we got,” he said.

Hawk’s next flight

Tailgating is part of the experience at Hawk’s Crawfish Restaurant, another seafood destination open only in crawfish season, far off the country highway in Robert’s Cove, a dot on the map surrounded by crawfish ponds. People come early to line up before the 5 p.m opening, and they turn the parking lot into an ad hoc party

Hawk’s is famous for big crawfish and also for pioneering a purging technique using aerated water to clean the mudbugs before the boil.

Meg Arceneaux, granddaughter of founder Hawk Arceneaux, grew up in the restaurant and has taken her family heritage on the road with her own new business.

Today she runs Bon Temps Boilers, a pop-up and caterer, along with Luke Venable and Anne Venable, two siblings with their own third-generation family roots in crawfish farming.

Hawk’s supplies the crawfish for Bon Temps Boilers, which has a homebase this season cooking outside of the Yard Goat, 116 Bertrand Drive, Lafayette, a patio bar and an offshoot of the Wrong Iron bar in New Orleans. Bon Temps Boilers has been traveling for popups and private events in New Orleans, as well. Their crawfish are juicy, with a sweet and buttery-creamy flavor, and seasoned both in the soak and augmented on the surface of the shell. And, one after the next, they have that eye-popping size with fat tails and claws worth cracking open.

To Arceneaux, the mobile boiling gigs are just a new vehicle for the time-tested principles she learned at the family restaurant.

“You’ve got to know your farmers and pay them,” she said. “They you grade them and purge them and sort them, and you can put out the best, biggest crawfish. It costs more and takes more work, but it’s just what people expect here.”

greens and mac and cheese.

Festival favorites

Some vendors make an annual trip to the festival. One is Lasyone’s Meat Pie Restaurant, the Natchitoches classic. Its zydeco shrimp bowl, with spiced potatoes covered with a creamy shrimp and crab sauce, with a bubble-crusted meat pie on the side, is consistently one of the best dishes around the fest. Gumbo ramen, meanwhile, comes from Thai NOLA, the New Orleans East restaurant that’s mostly Thai, a little Creole, and home to a delicious traditional gumbo. This mashup dish has become a hit on the regular menu, while the festival booth gives people a chance to try it in the French Quarter Some restaurants use the festival to showcase signature dishes on their regular menus. That explains the Lambeaux

from Smoke & Honey, the deli/taverna in Mid-City This is a Greek po-boy with lamb leg, whipped feta and crunchy onions and cucumber, stacked on a John Gendusa Bakery po-boy loaf.

Red Fish Grill, the Ralph Brennan family restaurant on Bourbon Street, has made a festival standard of its barbecue oyster poboy, with fried oysters drenched in butter, tangy-spicy sauce with blue cheese dressing.

A different branch of the Brennan family, Dickie Brennan & Co., now runs historic Pascal Manale’s Restaurant, birthplace of BBQ shrimp, has a new festival specialty based on it, with a barbecue shrimp po-boy The Ethiopian sambusas start many a meal at Addis NOLA; at the festival, these super-crispy turnovers filled with beef or greens go by a different name to lure curious first-timers to try: “world’s best meat pie.”

STAFF FILE PHOTO By IAN McNULTy

A hand pie tops a bowl of mashed potatoes with shrimp under a creamy, tangy, lightly spicy sauce from Lasyone’s Meat Pies, a vendor at French Quarter Festival.

STAFF PHOTOS By DAVID GRUNFELD

Crawfish is the draw at Cajun Claws, a seafood restaurant in Abbeville that opens only for crawfish season.

Luke Venable works on a batch of boiled crawifsh at a pop-up from Bon Temps Boilers in Lafayette.

Nell Nolan SOCIETY

Contact: nnolan@theadvocate.com

PLAUDITS

■ Faith in the Future

The Greater New OrleansSection of the National Council of Jewish Women held the Hannah G. Solomon Award Luncheon at the AudubonTea Room on arecent Monday.Acash bar preceded the noon luncheon that featured reserved tables for eight to10people The event was bannered “A Faith in the Future. ABelief in Action.”

Aformer insurance executivewho has been engaged in education reform for more than 35 years Leslie Jacobs was the honoree. She was instrumental in the creation of the Recovery School District; has been active in theNew Orleans business and startup community,serving as past chair of GNO, Inc.; and has founded three organizations reflective of her commitmentto venture philanthropy.Kudos abounded as she strode forth. Melanie Bronfin, the 2025 honoree, and Wendy Goldberg teamed to chair the luncheon that includedascommittee members Ina Weber Davis (2021 awardee), BarbaraKaplinsky,Madalyn Schenk, Dana Shepard, KathyShepard,and Lilli Geltman Vohs. Susan Greenberg and Diana Mann are the NCJW co-presidents, and Leslie Fischman serves as vice president, administration. Inspired by Jewishvalues, NCJW is a grassrootsorganization of volunteersand advocates who turn progressiveideals

■ Good Sports!

■ Greats!

Chateau Golf &Country Club housed the honors. This occurred at midday on arecent Sunday when East Jefferson General Hospital Auxiliary proudly presented the 47th Great Lady Great Gentlemen Awards. Thelaureled septet was recognized for their outstanding volunteer service to the Greater New Orleansarea.

The first, in alphabetical order,was native Canadian Lana Duke,who was raised in foster care; in 1975, she founded Duke Unlimited, which grew into thelargest woman-owned advertising agency in the Gulf South; and has dedicated her life to championing vulnerable youth. Dr ThomasKennedy, an example of “service above self,” was,for years, apillar of leadership at EJGH, and now is vice president andmedical director of New Orleans Medical Mission, which, under his direction, has led 45 missions across Ecuador,Panama, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

In theaftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Sal LaRock who was born and raised in afamily of farmers, helped lead area cleanup efforts and now tends to 250 “Knock Out” rose bushes in Lafreniere Park to create acommunity environment of tranquility Career educator Janet James Schwary,who retired as a special education teacher and department head, has been afixture at several schools while serving the Syrian LebaneseClub of New Orleans for47years as president and secretary Sandy Stubbs, whospent morethan 20 years in insurance “before shattering glass ceilings in the automotive world,” now gives to thecommunity in numerouscharitable causes.

Arleeta Terrell, theformer director of the Jefferson Parish Community Development Department and founder of the Bunche Village Civic Association, is thenational chairlady of the Daughters of Elks Shoe Bank Committee that provides needy children with shoes forschool. Called “the cornerstone of the Jefferson Performing Arts’ Leading Ladies Guild,” Linda Watson has worked with the HomeBuilders Association’sNOEL program to assist applicants with the critical grant-writing process.

In addition to theabove, and their accolades (which extend beyond the above-mentioned), recognition tapped Table Sponsors EJGHFoundation, Marian and Larry Gibbs,Dr. Thomas Kennedy,and Cindy Paulin.Also donors Beth’s Flowers, John Blancher,Rubye Noble Evans (in honor of Janet Schwary), RachelMunoz, Dr.and Mrs. Bennie Nobles,Faith Peperone, Sarah Perrin, Sonda Stacy, and Denise Woodward.As sponsors, Stacey and Paul Schott figured in the Circle of Care Partner category, and Hancock Whitney Bank, Community Patron.

Auxiliary president Deborah Schmitz opened the program that continued with Ginger Crawford for theinvocation andPledge of Allegiance; Dolores Hall,hailed as event chairman; and forthe hospital message, CEO Gregory Nielsen and RubyBrewer, Senior Vice President Chief Quality &Nursing Officer Jack L. Sloan stepped forward as master of ceremonies, animating the assembly that included fine food, fellowship, and both acknowledged, and anonymous, altruism.

into action. Leslie Jacobs has now joined theranksofthe prestigious Hannah G. SolomonAwardthat has laureled, in recent years, Melanie Bronfin and Ina Weber Davis, Anne Skorecki Levy,Judy Barrasso, Madeleine Landrieu,Susan Hess, Kim Sport,Anaand

Dr Juan Gershanik, Julie Schwam Harris, Marjorie (now deceased) and Dr Scott Cowen, and Ruth Kullman. Many of those names were chatted about as luncheon attendees relished theAudubon TeaRoom’scuisine and ambiance.

Twoscore! And this concernsthe longevity.Held at the JW Marriott New Orleans, theAmerican Italian Renaissance Foundation held the40th annualLouisiana American Italian SportsHall of Fame Gala, an induction ceremony —and livelydinner— that celebrated contributions from ItalianAmericansin sports, entertainment, medical and civic fields Proceeds will benefit the impressive American Italian Cultural Center and provide college scholarships for high schoolseniors who excel in academics and athletics. All locals, Jessica Erwin,a former softball pitcher; Nick Hazard, aformer football player and team captain; and John Hazard,aformer football player and wrestler,were recognizedinthe LAI Sports Hall of Fame. Joey Dee of Joey Dee &the Starliters received the Louis PrimaArts &Entertainment Award, while Zack Fradella was the recipient of another award named after aCrescent City legend,the Buddy “D” (Diliberto)Media Award. More recognition tappedDr. GeorgeChimento, theDr. John Adriani Medical awardee; Armand “AJ” Duvio Jr., Business Achievement; and, appropriately,the JosephI.Giarrusso Civic Awardto Joseph “Joe” Giarrusso III. Anthony“Tony”Russo received the Joseph Maselli Heritage Award, which bears the name of the late businessman, philanthropist, and American-Italianactivist.Joe Maselli (1924-2009) founded the American ItalianMuseum andthe LAISHF,now known as the American Italian Cultural Center.(Its programming includes Italian languageclasses, yoga,lectures, movie nights, and trips. To mentionafew offerings at the 537 S. Peters St. location.) Joe’sson, Frank Maselli, hascontinued his dad’slegacy as the AICC chairman.

PHOTOSByJEFF STROUT

Lana Duke,Tom Kennedy, Janet Schwary, SandyStubbs

Deborah Schmitz, Darlene McGarry

Dolores Hall, Carrel Epling

Sal LaRock,Arleeta Terrell, LindaWatson

PHOTOSByJEFFSTROUT

Lauren Benjamin, Leslie andScott Jacobs, Michelle Antle

Susan Greenberg, Diana Mann

KathyShepard, Leslie Fischman, Dana Shepard

Melanie Bronfin, Wendy Goldberg

PHOTOSByREAGAN LAQUE

Joey and Michelle Mannino, Jodi Poretto, Walker Mannino

Louis Ballero, Tony Russo

JoeGiarrusso III, RoseMisuracaScott, Arthur Brocato

Jimmy Anselmo, Sophia Parigi

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Refuse to let anyone talk you into something you don't want or need. Put your energy into positive change, better money management and loving yourself

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Broaden your circle of friends, interests and skills. Question information that sounds too good to be true. Gather the facts and costs of whatever you are considering prior to signing up for something.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Make a move before someone else makes it for you. Action, common sense and thoughtful maneuvers will encourage positive results. A personal change will offer a unique perspective regarding your plans.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Focus on finishing what you start without going over budget or losing sight of what's important. Stick to the rules and regulations and move forward with a minimalist attitude.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Listen, absorb and put all the information you gather to good use. Traveling, networking and engaging in educational pursuits are in your best interest and will encourage you to align yourself with influential people.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Get physical and fit. Join a gym or sign up for an activity that will get you moving. Invest more time and money into what makes you happy. Ask for what you want.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) You'll gain insight into how to take advantage of a situation that offers financial stability. A relationship with someone special will offer long-term benefits.

sCoRPIo (oct. 24-Nov. 22) Engage in events that give you a platform to show your attributes. Stepping out, speaking up and physically taking control of whatever situation you face will pay off.

sAGIttARIus (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Pull in the reins when it comes to spending money on others. Invest your cash in something that will add to your comfort or enhance your skills.

CAPRICoRN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Stop, look, listen and be hesitant to buy into something you know little about. Rely on yourself, not on others, and adjust as you go to further your plans.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Embrace change; put your energy toward meeting new people, changing your surroundings and setting up a routine. Let the journey begin.

PIsCEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Be secretive regarding any changes you want to implement. Put everything in place before you share or demonstrate your plans.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by nEa, inc., dist. By andrews mcmeel syndication

FAMILY CIrCUS

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

FrAnK And erneSt

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon

Sudoku

InstructIons: sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. 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

FarrahFawcettsaid,“Godgavewomen intuition and femininity. Usedproperly, thecombinationeasilyjumblesthebrain of any manI’ve ever met.”

Today’s trumpcombination might jumble declarer’sbrain,especially if he remembers yesterday’sdeal.South is in fivediamonds.West leads alow spade. East takes two tricks in the suit,then shifts to aclub to North’s queen. How shoulddeclarer continue?

On the second roundofthe auction,if North-South use support doubles, South has aperfect hand withexactly threecard heart support.But if North-South do not employ this gadget, South should raise to two hearts.

North’s two-spade cue-bidisanartificialgame-force,askingSouthtodosomething intelligent. Here, Southcannot do more thanrebidhis diamond suit.Then North might jump to four hearts, but let’s suppose he settleshis partner into five diamonds. South must draw trumps withoutloss. In yesterday’s deal, he could afford one loser, so cashed the ace first.Here,though,heshouldstartwitha diamond to his queen. When West’s jack drops, declarerreturnstothe dummy with aclub (or aheart) and plays adiamondtohis10.ThenhedrawsEast’slast trumpand claims.

Note that four hearts can be made.

If East starts with three rounds of spades, North does besttodiscard adiamond fromhis hand, but here he could ruff. Then declarer, afterdrawing trumps, makes the same play in the diamond suit. ©2026 by nEa,inc., dist. By andrews mcmeel syndication

Each Wuzzle is awordriddlewhich creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: nOOn gOOD =gOOD aFTErnOOn

Previous answers:

word game

INstRuCtIoNs: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3 additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit wordsare not allowed toDAy’s WoRD CRoNyIsM: KRO-nee-iz-im: The practice of favoring one’s close friends, especially in political appointments

Average mark23words

Timelimit 35 minutes

Can you find 28 or morewords in CRONYISM?

yEstERDAy’s WoRD —QuARRIEs

quai quasi quire

urea user arise raise rare rear rise riser risqué ruse sari sear sierra sire square squire suer sure surer

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard fillmore

Scrabble GramS

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.

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

Get fuzzy

jump Start

roSe iS roSe animal crackerS

DuStin

Drabble

Wallace the brave

breWSter rockit

luann

g y code(s) beforethere‐leaseofthe sourcing event: COMMODITY CODE(s): 913-27,925-58,906-54, 925-28

TheCityofNew Orleans strongly encourages mi‐nority-owned and women-ownedbusi‐nesses, socially andeco‐nomicallydisadvantaged businessesand small businessestorespond to this solicitation,orto participateinsubcon‐tracting opportunities pursuant to this solicita‐tion Formoreinformation aboutthissourcing event, go to www.nola. govand clickon“BRASS SupplierPortal” under “BIDS& CONTRACTS” Once on theSupplierPor‐tal, search “Open Events.” Thankyou foryourinter‐estindoing business with theCityofNew Or‐leans. JamesSimmons,Jr. ChiefProcurement Officer AdvertisingDates: April8,15and 22, 2026 NOCP 8898 183605-apr8-15-22-3t $108.30 1st Public

p at themoment ofadjudication

tomakea de‐

posit of 10% of the purchase price andthe balance by 4:00 pm thesame day

LawFirm: LOGS

LEGAL GROUP LLP

Address: 3510 N CAUSEWAYBD SUITE 600

METAIRIELA

70002

PhoneNo.:504 838 7535

N.O. ADVOCATE

Date(s): April15, 2026

184107-APR151T

PUBLIC

LEY ABS CAPI TALI INC. TRUST 2007-NC2MORT‐GAGEPASSTHROUGH CER‐TIFICATES,SE‐RIES

2007-NC2VER‐SUS HARVEY A. GREEN,SR. A/K/A HARVEY GREEN,SR. A/K/A HARVEY A.GREEN A/K/A HARVEY GREEN

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-3110

Seized in the above suit, TERMS -CASH. Thepurchaser atthe moment ofadjudication tomakea de‐posit of tenper‐centofthe pur‐chase price, and the balance withinthirty daysthereafter Note: Thepay‐mentmustbe Cash, Cashier's Check,Certified Check or Money Order.NoPer‐sonal Checks FACE MASKS AND TEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPONENTERING BUILDING.

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

GH 28

THELAW OF‐FICES OF HER‐SCHEL C. AD‐COCK, JR.,L.L.C (225) 756-0373

COREYJ.GIROIR

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date ( )

By virtue of a WritofSeizure and Sale di‐rectedtomeby the Honorable JudgesofCivil DistrictCourt for theParishof Orleans,inthe above entitled cause,I will pro‐ceed to sell by publicauction onthe ground floor of theCivil DistrictCourt Building, 421 LoyolaAvenue, inthe FirstDis‐trict of theCity onApril 16, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon, the following described prop‐ertytowit: 24 CURTIS DR NEWORLEANS, , LA 70126 LOT:24, SQUARE: 2 THIRDMUNICI‐PAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 877603 WRIT AMOUNT: $70,867.56

cate Date (s): 3/11/2026 & 4/15/2026 mar11-apr15-2t

PUBLIC NOTICESALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT

THAT CERTAIN PORTION OF GROUNDBEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 2008 TENNESSE STREET,THIS CITY, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED: FIRST HORIZON BANK VERSUSMORRIS MAYFIELD, SR

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-6429

By virtue of a WritofSeizure and Sale di‐rectedtomeby the Honorable JudgesofCivil DistrictCourt for theParishof Orleans,inthe above entitled cause,I will pro‐ceed to sell by publicauction onthe ground floor of theCivil DistrictCourt Building,421 L l A

g, Loyola Avenue, inthe FirstDis‐trict of theCity onApril 16, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon, the following described prop‐ertytowit: 2008 TENNESSEE STNEW OR‐LEANS,LA70117 LOT: 36, SQUARE: 950989

THIRDMUNICI‐PAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 1105937 WRIT AMOUNT:

$70,325.10

Seized in the above suit, TERMS -CASH. Thepurchaser atthe moment ofadjudication tomakea de‐posit of tenper‐centofthe pur‐chase price, and the balance withinthirty daysthereafter. Note: Thepay‐mentmustbe Cash, Cashier's Check,Certified Check or Money Order.NoPer‐sonal Checks FACE MASKS AND TEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPONENTERING BUILDING.

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐

Parish of Or leans GH2 LOGS LEGAL GROUP LLP 504838-7535

TheN.O.Advo‐cateDate (s): 3/11/2026 & 4/15/2026 mar11-apr15-2t

PUBLIC NOTICESALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT

THAT CERTAIN PORTION OF GROUNDBEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 4120 POCHE'COURT WEST,CITYOF NEWORLEANS, IN THEMATTER ENTITLED: IN‐VESTARBANK, NATIONALAS‐SOCIATION VER‐SUS IRIAPAKRE USA, LLC

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-8346

By virtue of a WritofFieri Fa‐ciasdirectedto mebythe Hon‐orableJudgesof CivilDistrict

Civil District Courtfor the ParishofOr‐leans,inthe above entitled cause,I will pro‐ceed to sell by publicauction, onthe ground floor of theCivil DistrictCourt Building, 421 LoyolaAvenue, inthe FirstDis‐trict of theCity onApril 16 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon the following described prop‐ertytowit: 4120 POCHECT WEST NEWOR‐LEANS,LA70129 LOTS 3AND 4SQUAREC THIRDMUNICI‐PAL DISTRICT MIN: 1329407 WRIT AMOUNT: $1,293,349.81

Seized in the above suit, TERMS -CASH. Thepurchaser atthe moment ofadjudication tomakea de‐posit of tenper‐centofthe pur‐chase price, and the balance withinthirty daysthereafter Note: Thepay‐mentmustbe Cash, Cashier's Check,Certified Check or Money Order.NoPer‐sonal Checks FACE MASKS

FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPONENTERING BUILDING. SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

RB 5 CARVER,DAR‐DEN,KORETZKY, TESSIER,FINN, BLOSSMAN& AREAUXL.L.C 504-585-3800

TheN.O.Advo‐cateDate (s): 3/11/2026 & 4/15/2026 mar11-apr15-2t

PUBLIC NOTICESALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT

THAT CERTAIN PORTION OF GROUNDBEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER1829 HENDEEST, THIS CITY, IN THE MATTERENTI‐TLED: U.S. BANK TRUST NA‐TIONALASSOCI‐ATION,NOT IN ITSINDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR TREATYOAK MORTGAGE

in the Finance Department located at: 1610 Reverend Richard Wilson Drive Building D Kenner,Louisiana 70062

All interestedparties are invited to attendthe BidOpening on thesame day at 10:00 a.m. CSTinthe City of Kenner,Building DAuditorium, 1610 ReverendRichard WilsonDrive, Kenner, Louisiana, 70062 at which time thebids will be publicly read. There will be an optional pre-bid meeting on Thursday,April 16, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. CSTatMussBertolinoGym located at 600 West Esplanade Avenue,Kenner, LA 70065. All interested bidders are encouragedtoattend.

CITY OF KENNER

/s/Elizabeth Herring Chief Financial Officer

Advertisement:

The Advocate April 8, 2026 April 15, 2026 April 22, 2026

INVITATION TO BID

SealedBid No. 26-6965

TheCity of Kenner (alsoreferenced as “Kenner” and “Owner”) will receive sealed bids for:

A.P.Clay Community CenterReconstruction

Theproposed work (“Work”) includes:

The Work consists of anew 1-storyapproximately 8,634 sf community resource center which will housea medical office building. Work includesselective demolition, site improvements,pilesupported concrete slab foundation, wood structure, exterior walls of stucco, metal wall panels, and aluminum storefront, interiorpartitions, doorsand frames, finishes, casework, equipment, mechanical, electrical, sprinkler,communications, and fire alarm work fora complete andfully functional medical office building.

Sealed bids will be received until May12, 2026 at 9:45 AM by the City of Kenner in theFinance Department located at: 1610 Reverend RichardWilson Drive BuildingD Kenner,Louisiana70062

All interestedparties are invited to attendthe BidOpening on the same dayat10:00 a.m. in theCity of Kenner,Building

DAuditorium, 1610 Rev. RichardWilsonDrive, Kenner, Louisiana, at which time thebids will be publicly read.

There will be apre-bid meeting on April 28, 2026 at 10 AM at City of Kenner Building DAuditorium, 1610 Rev. Richard Wilson Drive, Kenner,LA70062. All interestedbidders are encourage to attend.

All bids must be in accordance with theContractDocuments (which include, butare notlimited to,all documents, sections, terms,provisions,and anyrequirementsprovided for in this bid) on file with VergesRome Architects, 320 Carrollton Ave. Suite 100, New Orleans, LA 70119, the Design Consulting Professionals (alsoreferenced as “Design Professional”) for this project.

Copies of Contract Documentsfor review or foruse in preparing bids maybeobtained from VergesRome Architects, 320 Carrollton Ave. Suite 100, New Orleans,LA70119 at www. Centralauctionhouse.com

Bidders may also obtain copies of ContractDocuments for review and may alsosubmit bids electronically by visiting www.centralauctionhouse.com.

CITY OF KENNER

/s/Elizabeth Herring Chief Financial Officer Advertisement:April 15, 22, &29, 2026

INVITATION TO BID Sealed Bid No. 26-6966

TheCity of Kenner (also referenced as “Kenner” and “Owner”) will receive sealed bids for:

BUDDY LAWSON GYMNASIUMROOF REPLACEMENT

The proposed work (“Work”) includes: (Base Bid) Removal andreplacement of

All interestedparties are invited to attendthe BidOpening on thesame dayat10:00 a.m. in theCity of Kenner,Building DAuditorium, 1610 Rev. Richard WilsonDrive, Kenner Louisiana, at whichtimethe bids will be publicly read There will be apre-bid meetingonApril 21, 2026 at 10:00 A.M. at City of Kenner Building DAuditorium, 1610 Rev RichardWilsonDrive, Kenner, LA 70062. Allinterested bidders are encourage to attend.

All bids must be in accordance with theContract Documents (which include, butare notlimited to,all documents,sections terms, provisions,and anyrequirements provided forinthis bid) on file with Meyer Engineers, Ltd (4937 Hearst Street, Suite 1B, Metairie, LA 70001, Phone: 504.885.9892), the DesignConsulting Professionals (also referenced as “Design Professional”) forthis project.

Copies of ContractDocumentsfor review or foruse in preparingbids maybeobtained from Meyer Engineers, Ltd (4937 HearstStreet, Suite1B, Metairie, LA 70001, upon deposit of $50.00 (refundable) forahard copyset and/or $25.00 (non-refundable) foranelectronicset on USB Flash Drive foreach setofdocuments.

The Contractor shall hold aLouisiana Contractor’slicense in BuildingConstructionClassification.

Biddersmay also obtain copies of Contract Documentsfor review and mayalso submit bids electronically by visiting www.centralauctionhouse.com.

CITYOFKENNER

/s/Elizabeth Herring Chief Financial Officer

Advertisement:The Advocate April8,15, 22, 2026

PUBLIC NOTICE RFP 26-6967 CONDUCTA COMPREHENSIVE CLASSIFICATIONAND SALARYPLAN STUDY

TheCityofKenner is interestedinconductingacomprehensive classification and salary plan study

Interestedindividuals or firmscan obtain acopyofthe Request forProposal packet by emailing theCityofKenner

MORTGAGE TRUSTVERSUS ELGIN MATHIS CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2023-10341

By virtue of a WritofSeizure and Sale di‐rectedtomeby the Honorable JudgesofCivil DistrictCourt for theParishof Orleans,inthe above entitled cause,I will pro‐ceed to sell by publicauction onthe ground floor of theCivil DistrictCourt Building, 421 LoyolaAvenue, inthe FirstDis‐trict of theCity onApril 16, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon, the following described prop‐ertytowit: 1829 HENDEE ST NEW ORLEANS, LA70114 LOT30- SQUARE 60-A FIFTHMUNICI‐PAL DISTRICT ACQ MIN:1350782 TRUMAN PARK NO. 1SUBDIVI‐SION WRIT AMOUNT: $77,913.00

Seizedinthe above suit, TERMS -CASH. Thepurchaser atthe moment ofadjudication tomakea de‐posit of tenper‐centofthe pur‐chase price, and the balance withinthirty daysthereafter Note: Thepay‐mentmustbe Cash, Cashier's Check,Certified Check or Money Order.NoPer‐sonal Checks FACE MASKS AND TEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPONENTERING BUILDING.

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans RB 8 HALLIDAY, WATKINS& MANNP.C.AT‐TORNEYS AT LAW

TheN.O.Advo‐cateDate (s): 3/11/2026 & 4/15/2026 mar11-apr15-2t

above entitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by publicauction, onthe ground floor of theCivil DistrictCourt Building, 421 LoyolaAvenue inthe FirstDis‐trict of theCity onApril 16, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon, the following described prop‐ertytowit:

2720-22 WISTE‐RIA ST NEWOR‐LEANS,LA70122 LOTS:5 AND6 SQUARE: 35 THIRDMUNICI‐PAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 829352 WRIT AMOUNT: $82,367.32

Seized in the above suit, TERMS -CASH. Thepurchaser atthe moment ofadjudication tomakea de‐posit of tenper‐centofthe pur‐chase price, and the balance withinthirty daysthereafter Note: Thepay‐mentmustbe Cash, Cashier's Check,Certified Check or Money Order.NoPer‐sonal Checks FACE MASKS AND TEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPONENTERING BUILDING.

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans GH 10 HALLIDAY WATKINS& MANNP.C.AT‐TORNEYS AT LAW

TheN.O.Advo‐cateDate (s): 3/11/2026 & 4/15/2026 mar11-apr15-2t

TIONTRUST

FELTON, JR. AND TREVA FELTON NUMA CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-3886

By virtue of a WritofSeizure and Sale di‐rectedtomeby the Honorable JudgesofCivil DistrictCourt for theParishof Orleans,inthe aboveentitled PUBLIC NOTICESALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTION OF GROUNDBEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 203 WALKERST, CITYOFNEW ORLEANS, IN THE MATTEREN‐TITLED: PENNY‐MAC LOAN SER‐VICES,LLC VER‐SUS CHRISTINE A.LAUGHLIN, INDEPENDENTLY ANDASINDE‐

AND AS INDE PENDENTAD‐MINSTRATRIX OF THESUCCES‐SIONOFROBERT M.LAUGHLIN, A/K/AROBERT MINARDLAUGH‐LIN

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-7480

By virtue of a WritofSeizure and Sale di‐rectedtomeby the Honorable JudgesofCivil DistrictCourt for theParishof Orleans,inthe above entitled cause,I will pro‐ceed to sell by publicauction, onthe ground floor of theCivil DistrictCourt Building, 421 LoyolaAvenue inthe FirstDis‐trict of theCity onApril 16, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon, the following described prop‐ertytowit:

203WALKERST NEW ORLEANS, LA70124 LOTF -SQUARE 58 2NDMUNICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 1382208 LAKEVIEW WRIT AMOUNT: $798,538.16

Seized in the above suit TERMS -CASH. Thepurchaser atthe moment ofadjudication tomakea de‐posit of tenper‐centofthe pur‐chase price, and the balance withinthirty daysthereafter Note: Thepay‐mentmustbe Cash, Cashier's Check,Certified Check or Money Order.NoPer‐sonal Checks FACE MASKS AND TEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPONENTERING BUILDING.

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

RB 11 DEAN MORRIS, LLC 318-3881440 ZACHARYGAR‐RETTYOUNG

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date ( )

cate Date (s): 3/11/2026 & 4/15/2026 mar11-apr15-2t

PUBLIC NOTICESALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTION OF GROUNDBEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBERS1719 TOURO STREET, CITYOFNEW ORLEANS, IN

, THEMATTEREN‐TITLED: PROVI‐DENTFUNDING ASSOCIATES, L.P. VERSUS DAVID REYNOLDS

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-9694

By virtue of a WritofSeizure and Sale di‐rectedtomeby the Honorable Judges of Civil Di t i t C t

g District Court for theParishof Orleans,inthe above entitled cause,I will pro‐ceed to sell by publicauction onthe ground floor of theCivil DistrictCourt Building, 421 LoyolaAvenue, inthe FirstDis‐trict of theCity onApril 16, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon, the following described prop‐ertytowit: 1719 TOUROST NEW ORLEANS

TOWN OF JEAN LAFITTE LEGALS

1719 TOURO ST NEWORLEANS, LA70116 LOT: 18, SQUARE: 772 THIRDMUNICI‐PAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 1310896 WRIT AMOUNT: $160,358.89

Seized in the above suit TERMS -CASH. Thepurchaser atthe moment ofadjudication to make ade‐i f

to make a de positoften per‐centofthe pur‐chase price, and the balance withinthirty daysthereafter Note: Thepay‐mentmustbe Cash, Cashier's Check,Certified Check or Money Order.NoPer‐sonal Checks FACE MASKS AND TEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING

with

following members present: Councilman Bartholomew,Councilwoman Creppel, Councilman Darda,Councilman Kerner Jr and Councilwoman Smith.The meeting was calledtoorder at 7:03p.m. asking everyone to rise and pledge allegiance to the flag of the UnitedStates of America.

Councilman Bartholomew

Councilwoman

Councilman Darda was notified of the specialmeeting by phone on March 24, 2026, by the Town Clerkat2:36p.m.

Councilman Kerner Jr.was notified of the specialmeeting by phone on March 24, 2026, by the Town Clerkat2:36p.m.

Councilwoman Smith was notified of the specialmeeting by phone on Marc 24, 2026, by the Town Clerkat2:35p.m.

RESOLUTION#2477

On amotionbyCouncilwoman Smith and secondedbyCouncilwoman Creppel the following resolution was adopted: Aresolution approving the Town of JeanLafitte’scommitment for the balance of the construction costs for the Amphitheater project over and above the States’ participation.

WHEREAS,the Town of JeanLafitte

/S/NORMA J. CRUZ, LCMC CITY CLERK CITY OF GRETNA STATEOFLOUISIANA

On amotion by Council Member Rauand secondedby Council Member Smith,the following resolution wasoffered: ORDINANCENO. 5034

An ordinance declaring vehicles surplus property andnolongerneeded for public purposes; andtoauthorize thesaleofsaid surplus property at apublic auction. (1)

WHEREAS,the City of Gretnahas an obligation to provide its citizenswith ordinancesthatclearly describe permitted activities in the city; and WHEREAS,the City of GretnaPoliceDepartmenthas declared certain vehicles, surplus property andunnecessary to the daily operationsofthe department; and WHEREAS,isnecessary to replace certain vehicles and equipment so that the city could continue to provide the citizens of Gretna with quality daily services. NOW,THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by theCity Council, acting as legislative authorityfor theCityofGretna, that: SECTION 1.The followingvehicleswere designated surplus propertybythe GretnaPoliceDepartmentand should be sold at an auctiontothe highestbidder:

GRETNA POLICEDEPARTMENT –VEHICLES Year Make ModelVIN /Serial No.

2017

370 -FordExplorer

1FM5K8ARXEGB27599

496 -FordExpedition1FMJU1FT8HEA70372

473 -FordExpeditionXL1FMJU1FT4HEA13120 2016 460- Ford Explorer Police 1FM5K8AR7GGA28578

Provided that amajority of theCity Council of theCity of Gretna have voted in favorofthisordinance, this ordinance shall have the full force andeffect of law at midnighton the tenth day follow¬ing theClerk’spresentment of sameto the Mayor,inaccor¬dance with Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:406(c)(2)

Pursuant to the provisionsofResolution No.2025063, adopted by the GretnaCityCouncil(theGoverning Authority’) on December 10,2025, acting as governing authority of theCityofGretna (the“City”); NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that aspecial electionwillbeheld within theCityofGretnaonSaturday, May 16, 2026, and that at the said electiontherewillbesubmitted to all registered voter in the City of Gretnaqualified andentitled to vote at the said electionunder theConstitution and Laws of theState of Louisiana andthe Constitutionofthe UnitedStates, the followingproposition, to-wit: City of Gretna Proposition (FireProtection Renewal)

Shall theCityofGretna, State of Louisiana (the “City”) renew the levy of aspecial tax of five (5.00) mills on all property subject to taxation within theCityofGretna; that beingthe same area contained wholly withinvotingprecincts G-001through G-011; butexcluding voting precinctsG-012and G-013Parts, (Annexed Timberlane Subdivision); (anestimated $854,924.34 reasonably expected at this time to be collectedfromthe levy of the special tax foranentireyear,) fora periodoften (10) years beginningwith theyear 2027, andending with theyear 2036, forthe object and purpose of fire protection within said City,a work of permanentpublicimprovement, titletowhich shall be in thepublic?

On Wednesday,June10, 2026, at 5:30 p. m. in the Council ChambersatGretna City Hall, 740 SecondStreet, Gretna,Louisiana, theMayor, andCityCouncil of theCityof Gretnainopensessionwillproceedtocanvass

/S/NORMA J. CRUZ,LCMC

City of GretnaOfficial Journal

cate Date (s): 3/11/2026 & 4/15/2026

mar11-apr15-2t

and Sale di

rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil DistrictCourt forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by publicauction, on theground

floorofthe Civil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on April16, 2026, at 12:00 o'clocknoon, thefollowing describedprop‐erty to wit:

2001CONGRESS ST NEWOR‐LEANS, LA 70117 LOT: L, SQUARE: 1001

THIRDMUNICI‐PALDISTRICT ACQMIN: 822495 WRIT AMOUNT:

$60,897.52

Check Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPONENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans GH 22 MCCABE LAW FIRM,LLC 504782-3436 RYAN MCCABE

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 3/11/2026 & 4/15/2026 mar11-apr15-2t

PUBLIC NOTICE

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT

DUDLEY A/K/A GAYLEDUDLEY ANDJONETTE D. BROWNA/K/A

JONETTE BROWN, HEIRS OF ANNIEMAE DUDLEYA/K/A ANNIE M. DUDLEY A/K/AANNIE DUDLEYA/K/A ANNIEGILMORE DUDLEYA/K/A ANNIEG.DUD‐LEY

CI VI L DI S TR IC T CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-2510

trict of the City on April16, 2026, at 12:00 o'clocknoon, thefollowing describedprop‐erty to wit:

5940 FRANKLIN AV NEWOR‐LEANS, LA 70122 LOT: A, SQUARE: 4664

THIRDMUNICI‐PALDISTRICT ACQMIN: 1338397 WRIT AMOUNT:

$140,835.95

Check Certified Check or Money Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the above entitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City onApril 16, 2026, at 12:00 o'clocknoon, thefollowing describedprop‐erty to wit:

ACQMIN: 1444822 WRIT AMOUNT:

$430,923.00

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH

Thepurchaser at themoment ofadjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans RB 14 JACKSON& MCPHERSON, LLC504-5819444 CRIS JACKSON

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 3/11/2026 & 4/15/2026 mar11-apr15-2t

PUBLIC NOTICE

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT

THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 2001 CONGRESS STREET,THIS CITY,IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:LNV CORPORATION VERSUS DON‐ALDV.ELLZEY ANDCHANDAC

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

GH 20 LOGS LEGAL GROUPLLP 504838-7535 EMILYA MUELLER

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 3/11/2026 & 4/15/2026 mar11-apr15-2t

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 3330 CANALSTREET THIS CITY,IN THE MATTERENTI‐TLED:U.S.BANK TRUSTCOM‐PANY,NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEEFOR VELOCITY COMMERCIAL CAPITALLOAN TRUST2019-1 VERSUS PYRA‐MIDHOUSE,LLC CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-2313 By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floorofthe Civil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on April16, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon, thefollowing describedprop‐erty to wit: 3330CANAL ST NEWORLEANS, LA 70119

THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 2416

PRENTISS AVE, CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTER EN‐TITLED:MMG REOVI2, LLC VERSUS 2416 PRENTISS AVE LLC

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-8928

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on April16, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon, thefollowing describedprop‐erty to wit: 2416 PRENTISS AV NEWOR‐LEANS, LA 70122 LOT X-2SQUARE 4411 3RDMINICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 1398066 WRIT AMOUNT: $344,292.80

Seized in the above suit, TERMS -CASH. Thepurchaser at themoment ofadjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPONENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans RB23 NEWMAN MATHIS,BRADY &SPEDALE, APLC 225-3433456

TheN.O.Advo‐

cate Date (s): 3/11/2026 & 4/15/2026 mar11-apr15-2t

PUBLIC NOTICE

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on April16, 2026, at 12:00 o'clocknoon, thefollowing describedprop‐erty to wit: 7812 SCOTTWOOD DR NEWORLEANS LA 70128 LOT1 -SQUARE 1 3RDMUNICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 707997 BRIARWOOD SUBDIVISION WRIT AMOUNT:

$78,036.35

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter Note:The pay‐ment mustbe Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

RB 27

THELAW OF‐FICESOFHER‐SCHELC.AD‐COCK,JR.,L.L.C (225) 756-0373 COREYJ.GIROIR

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 3/11/2026 & 4/15/2026 mar11-apr15-2t

PUBLIC NOTICE

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 5940 FRANKLIN AV‐ENUE,THISCITY, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:MOVE‐MENT MORT‐GAGE,LLC VER‐SUSORLANDO RICARDOSTEIN A/K/AORLANDO R. STEINA/K/A OR‐LANDOSTEIN CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-5736

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

GH 16 LAWOFFICESOF HERSCHEL C. ADCOCK,JR., LLC(225) 7560373 COREYJ.GIROIR

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 3/11/2026 & 4/15/2026 mar11-apr15-2t

PUBLIC NOTICE

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT

THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 5818 W LOUISPRIMA DR,CITYOF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:METRO‐POLITANLIFEIN‐SURANCECOM‐PANY VERSUS GRETCHEN M. JOHNSON( A/K/A GRETCHEN MARIEBATISTEJOHNSON, GRETCHEN M. BATISTE) AND AUGUST JOHN‐SON (A/K/A AUGUST JOHNSONJR.)

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR L EA NS Case No: 2025-11294

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on April16, 2026, at 12:00 o'clocknoon, thefollowing described prop‐erty to wit: 5818 WLOUIS PRIMADRNEW ORLEANS, LA 70128 LOT19- SQUARE A 3RDMUNICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 1202032

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans RB 19 LOGS LEGAL GROUPLLP 504838-7535 EMILYA MUELLER

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 3/11/2026 & 4/15/2026 mar11-apr15-2t

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT

THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIAP NUMBER 330 NEWTON ST CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐TILED: HOME BANK,N.A.VER‐SUSISAAC AN‐TOINE,JR

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-11411

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court

District Court forthe Parishof Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May21, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 330 NEWTON ST NEWORLEANS LA 70114 LOT10- SQUARE 154 5THMUNICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 1396870 WRIT AMOUNT: $382,951.98

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

RB 21 NEWMAN MATHIS,BRADY & S

MATHIS BRADY &SPEDALE, APLC 225-3433456

JEFFERY M. TOEPFER

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/15/2026 & 5/20/2026

apr15-may202t

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 2108 ANNETTE STREET,THIS CITY,IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:BRAVO RESIDENTIAL FUNDINGTRUST 2019-2VERSUS DERREYANA

HOWELL, JARMAL HOW‐ELLA/K/A JARMEL HOW‐ELLAND MILTON HOWELL,HEIRS OF LAKENDRA HOWELL

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-1820 By virtue of a Writ ofSeizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by publicauction, h d

ST.TAMMANY PARISH MICHAELB.COOPER PARISH PRESIDENT

ST.TAMMANY PARISH NOTICEFOR STATEMENTS OF QUALIFICATIONS 2026

public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May21, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 2108 ANNETTE ST NEWOR‐LEANS, LA 70119 LOT: X, SQUARE: 1053 THIRDMUNICI‐PALDISTRICT ACQMIN: 1255919 WRIT AMOUNT: $59,561.87

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans GH 32 THELAW OF‐FICESOFHER‐SCHELC.AD‐COCK,JR.,L.L.C (225) 756-0373 COREYJ.GIROIR TheN.O.Advo‐

St.Tammany Parish Government (the “Parish”) is nowaccepting Statement of Qualifications (“SOQ”) submissionsfromindividualsand/or firms interestedinproviding servicesinany of the categories below:

•Airport Engineering• Architectural: Vertical/Horizontal/Landscape

•EnvironmentalStudy andReview

•Civil Engineering

•Electrical Engineering• Planning

•Appraisal

•Environmental Engineering

•Mechanical Engineering• Land Acquisition,Legal andAbstract

•Other Engineering Specialty• Surveying

•Engineering Management •Grant ProgramManagement (BenefitCost Analysis)

•Laboratory and/or Field Construction Testing

This notice is to inform anyindividualsand/or firms that theParish is currentlyaccepting submissions for the Parish’s pre-qualified professional serviceslist(“PPSL”).Ifyou would like to submit aresponse for anyofthe categorieslisted above,you maydosoatthistimein accordance withthe proceduresbelow.The deadline for submitting yourSOQ will be no later than 4:30 p.m. on May 7, 2026

Current pre-qualified Individuals and Firms MUSTRESUBMIT for evaluation to be considered as apre-qualified vendor for SOQ2026.

Once the submission deadline is closed, allSOQ’sreceivedwillbeformallyevaluated. A SOQreceiving an overall cumulative scoreofatleast

(75) points or greaterfor all

andeligibletobeawarded work by theParish

areplacementlistisestablished. Anyworkawarded will be within St.

or

Parish andonanas-needed basis.

to ShawnHoover, Director of Procurement, St. TammanyParish Government,21454 Koop Drive,Suite 2F Mandeville, LA 70471, or by email to soq@stpgov.org,Subject: “Statement of Qualification

Submission 2026”

• •Only electronic media andemailed submissionswillbeaccepted. No printed copieswill be accepted.

•Nosubmissionswillbeacceptedafterthe deadline

ELLZEY CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-4684 By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐d b

LOTS:2 AND3, SQUARE:683 FIRSTMUNICI‐PALDISTRICT ACQMIN: 1290159 WRIT AMOUNT: $388,958.04

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- 100% CASH AT THE MOMENT OF AD‐JUDICATION Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified Ch k M

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 7812 SCOTTWOOD DR,CITYOF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:PENNY‐MACLOANSER‐VICES, LLCVER‐SUSGAYLE A. DUDLEY A/K/A GAYLE DUDLEY

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by the Honorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City il

FAUBERGSUBDI‐VISION WRIT AMOUNT: $93,698.96

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified h k

SOQs willberejected by anyindividual or firm that is not“In Good Standing” andlicensed to do business in the State of Louisiana (copy of State License(s) shall be includedwiththe SOQ). SOQs must include acompleted W-9 Form (a copy canbefound at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/ fw9.pdf).

It

LEANS VERSUS HERBERTDAVIS OR HISSUCCES‐SORS,HEIRS ANDASSIGNSIF

DECEASED, JACKIE DAVIS

COATSAKA

JACKIE DAVIS

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court for theParishof Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor ofthe Civil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May21, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon, thefol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 5053 STEPHEN GIRARD AV NEW ORLEANS, LA 70126 LOT12- SQUARE 40-A 3RDMUNICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 1056629 GENTILLY WOODSSUBDI‐VISION WRIT AMOUNT: $225,042.59

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans RB 34 THELAW OF‐FICESOFHER‐SCHELC.AD‐COCK,JR.,L.L.C (225) 756-0373

DENNISF.WIG‐GINS,JR.

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/15/2026 & 5/20/2026 apr15-may202t

COATES AKA JACQUELINE COATES AND NOLHOLDINGS AKANOL HOLD‐ING, LLCOFCAL‐IFORNIAIN

LOUISIANA

CI VI L DI ST RI CT

CO UR T FO R PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2022-6887

By virtue of a Writ of FieriFa‐cias directed to me by theHon‐orable Judges of CivilDistrict Courtfor the Parish of Or‐leans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May21, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,thefol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 7939-79391/2 OLIVESTNEW ORLEANS, LA LOT: 10, SQUARE:539 SEVENTHMU‐NICIPALDIS‐TRICT ACQUIRED MIN 1249220 WRIT AMOUNT:

$9,902.26

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

GH 1 CITY OF NEW ORLEANS504658-4346 ANNA T. LEE

The N.O. Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/15/2026 & 5/20/2026 apr15-may202t

PUBLIC NOTICE

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBERS171012 INDEPEN‐DENCESTREET, CITY OF NEWOR‐LEANS, IN THE MATTER ENTI‐TLED:CITYOF NEWORLEANS VERSUS FRAN‐COIS HOLDINGS LLC

lowing de scribedprop‐ertytowit: 1710-12INDE‐PENDENCEST NEWORLEANS, LA70117 LOT: C, SQUARE: 793 THIRDMUNICI‐PALDISTRICT ACQMIN: 1460049 WRIT AMOUNT: $4,260.00

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐posit of tenper‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

GH 2 CITY OF NEW ORLEANS504658-4346 ANNA T. LEE

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/15/2026 & 5/20/2026 apr15-may202t

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐ING MUNICIPAL NUMBER 1112 LEBOEUFST, CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:FED‐ERALHOME LOAN MORT‐GAGECORPORA‐TIONVERSUS CONRAD DAVIDJOHN‐SON,JR.

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-8801

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by the Honorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building, 421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trict of theCity on May21, 2026, at 12:00o'clock noon,the fol‐lowingde‐scribed prop‐ertytowit: 1112 LEBOEUF ST NEWOR‐LEANS, LA 70114 LOT4 -SQUARE 196 5THMUNICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 1263995 WRIT AMOUNT: $122,247.52

HALLIDAY WATKINS& MANN P.C. AT‐TORNEYSAT LAW318-3881440 CANDACEA COURTEAU

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/15/2026 & 5/20/2026 apr15-may202t C I V I

PUBLIC NOTICE

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT

THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 2201 DANTESTREET CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:RE‐GIONSBANK VERSUS MICHAELL MATTAX THOMPSON SOLELY IN HERCAPACITY AS INDEPEN‐DENT ADMINIS‐TRATIONOFTHE SUCCESSION OF MICHAELLEE MATTAX, DECEASED

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-9107

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May21, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 2201 DANTEST NEWORLEANS, LA 70118

LOT: 25-A, SQUARE:309 SEVENTHMU‐NICIPALDIS‐TRICT ACQMIN: WRIT AMOUNT: $75,172.47

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

GH 5 GRAHAM,ARCE‐NEAUX& ALLEN, LLC504-5228256

Case No: 2025-7367

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May21, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit:

3120 URQUHART ST NEWOR‐LEANS, LA 70117 LOTP -SQUARE 481 3RDMUNICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 1458348 WRIT AMOUNT: $139,345.72

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans RB 7 JACKSON& MCPHERSON LLC504-5819444 CRIS R. JACK‐SON

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/15/2026 & 5/20/2026 apr15-may202t

PUBLIC NOTICE

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBERS8421 JEANNETTE STREET,CITYOF NEWORLEANS, IN THEMATTER ENTITLED:TRA‐DITIONAL MORTGAGE AC‐CPETANCE COR‐PORATION VER‐SUS BERNADINE COCO

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-10455

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING.

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans GH 13 LAWOFFICESOF HERSCHEL C. ADCOCK,JR. LLC(225) 7560373

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/15/2026 & 5/20/2026 apr15-may202t

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 6262 CARLSONDR, CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:NATION‐STAR MORT‐GAGE LLCVER‐SUSVICTORIA AMBER WEATHERING‐TONA/K/A VIC‐TORIAA WEATHERING‐TONA/K/A VIC‐TORIAWEATH‐ERINGTON

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-11362

By virtue of a WritofSeizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May21, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 6262 CARLSON DR NEWOR‐LEANS, LA 70122 LOT9 -SQUARE 21 3RDMUNICIPAL DISTRCT ACQMIN: 1455687 LAKE TERRACE SUBDIVISION WRIT AMOUNT: $772,967.68

cate Date (s): 4/15/2026 & 5/20/2026 apr15-may202t

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBERS7516 DOGWOOD DRIVE, CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:HOPE FEDERALCREDIT UNIONVERSUS MONTRELL W. BOGUS

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-9165

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May21, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 7516 DOGWOOD DR NEWOR‐LEANS, LA 70126 LOT: 15-A, SQUARE:2-A THIRDMUNICI‐PALDISTRICT ACQMIN:201546518 ARDYNPARK SUBDIVISION WRIT AMOUNT: $124,099.38

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

Susan Hutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

GH 16 LOGS LEGAL GROUPLLP 504838-7535

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/15/2026 & 5/20/2026 apr15-may202t

PUBLIC NOTICE

rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May21, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 920 SCARROLL‐TONAVUNITT NEWORLEANS, LA 70118 LOTS:1,2,3,4,5, 26 ANDB SQUARE:108 SEVENTHMU‐NICIPALDIS‐TRICT ACQMIN: 1346049 WRIT AMOUNT: $275,998.24

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified Check or Money Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans GH 17 LOGS LEGAL GROUPLLP 504838-7535 AMYR.ORTIS

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/15/2026 & 5/20/2026 apr15-may202t

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT

Building, 421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May21, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 6700

BRUNSWICKCT NEWORLEANS, LA 70131 LOT: 20, SQUARE:141 FIFTHMUNICI‐PALDISTRICT ACQMIN: 1141933

HOLLYPARK, SECTION1-A SUBDIVISION WRIT AMOUNT: $138,756.54

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

GH 33 THE LAWOF‐FICESOFHER‐SCHELC.AD‐COCK,JR.,L.L.C (225) 756-0373 DENNIS F. WIG‐GINS,JR.

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/15/2026 & 5/20/2026 apr15-may202t

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF O RL EA NS Case No: 2025-12147 By virtue of a Writ of FieriFa‐cias directed to me by theHon‐orable Judges of CivilDistrict Courtfor the Parish of Or‐leans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May21, 2026 at 12:00o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐ib d

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐posit of tenper‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans RB 4 HALLIDAY,

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/15/2026 & 5/20/2026 apr15-may202t

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable JudgesofCivil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May21, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 8421 JEANNETTE ST NEWOR‐LEANS, LA 70118 LOT: F, SQUARE: 197 SEVENTHMU‐NICIPAL DIS‐TRICT ACQMIN: 1340079 WRIT AMOUNT: $245,724.76 Seized in the

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certified CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans RB 14 LAWOFFICESOF HERSCHEL C. ADCOCK,JR., LLC(225) 7560373 DENNIS F. WIG‐GINS

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT

THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 920 SOUTHCAR‐ROLLTONAV‐ENUE,UNIT T, THIS CITY,IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:ASSUR‐ANCE FINAN‐CIAL GROUPLLC VERSUS FIONA HELENE PEDEN(A/K/A FIONA-HELENE PEDEN, FIONA PEDEN, FIONAH PEDEN, F.H. PEDEN) ANDAU VERITASTRUST CI VI L DI

Case

2023-3027 By

Writ

THIS SALE IS MADE UNDER R.S. 13:4360 AT THERISKAND PERILAND FOR THEACCOUNT OF ,WHO FAILED TO COMPLY WITH THEADJU‐DICATION MADE TO HIMON 07/10/2025. THAT PORTION OF GROUND, BEARING MUNICIPALNO. 6700 BRUNSWICKCT NEWORLEANS LA 70131, THIS CITY,INTHE MATTER ENTI‐TLED: WILMINGTON SAVINGSFUND SOCIETY, FSB, NOTINDIVIDU‐ALLY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEEFOR FI‐NANCEOF AMERICA STRUCTURED SECURITIES AC‐QUISITION TRUST2019-HB1, VERSUS CATRICEROBIN‐SON WINESBERRY,IN HERCAPACITY AS ADMINIS‐TRATRIXOFTHE SUCCESSIONS OF SAMUEL ROBERTSON AND ELIZAROSS ROBINSON

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-1377

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground floor of theCivil District Court Building,421 l

DanGill’s

guidetoenvironmentally supportivegardening

2026 SP RI NG GA RDE NI NG GUID E

Consideringthe environmentalimpact of ourgardening practices is agrowingtrend. Itreminds me of the 1970s,when environmental concerns became an important considerationinfluencing howwegarden. That waswhenthe concepts of organic gardening and organicpestcontrol eventually became common practice.

Atthe time, theseconcepts were considered“fringe”and out of mainstreamgardening. But over time, organic gardening concepts have cometopermeate howwegardenand are definitely notfringe anymore.

Likethe environmental awakening of the 1970s,gardening trends in the 2000s have seen anincreasing focus onenvironmental issues likeplanting natives,pollinatorgardening, reducingpesticides and sustainable practices likecomposting and mulching. And while the averageweekendwarriorsmay not be focusing on theseideas, theyare increasingly influencing howwegardentoday.

When it comes to gardening, it could be argued thatsome of the thingswedo—including thecommonuse of gas-poweredequipment, over applying fertilizersorthe careless use of pesticides —are not environmentally responsible. Thereare,however, things gardenerscan do to maketheir gardening efforts moresustainableand have amorepositive environmental impact

Choose nativeplants

I’mabig advocate forusing nativeplantsinthe landscape. Having said that, howyou view theterm “nativeplants” canvary

Igenerally takearegional approachtonativeplants. Iuse the term to indicate plants that are native to theGulf CoastalSoutheastern US –hardinesszones 8and 9running from the Texas gulf coast to theFloridapanhandleand the northern partofthe peninsula.The climateand native faunaand floraare similar across this region.

While natives cannot satisfactorily replaceall the manytypes of plants we useinour landscapes (I have no problemrecommending non-nativeplantsfor landscapes), utilizing nativeplantswhen andwherewecan is agood thing.

One reason is that it givesour landscapesasense of place. Using plants nativetoour region linksour landscapes to natural areas andthe plantstheycontain. It makes the gardens hereinthe GulfCoastal South look distinctively differentfromgardens in other partsofthe country.

Also, nativeplantscan play an importantrole inproviding food fornativewildlifeand habitatrestoration.Wildlifewill often feed on nonnativeplants. But native birds and insects have coexisted with nativeplantsfor manythousands of years, andare especially adapted to feeding on native foliage, nectar,fruit andseeds

2026 SP RI NG GA RDE NI NG GU ID E

CONTINUED:Choose nativeplants

Nativeplantsare well adapted to the climate (temperatures and rainfall) of their nativeregion and aregenerally tolerantofcommon pestproblems.Theyhavecoexisted with nativeinsects and diseases foralongtime, and, if attacked, theycan recoverwithout the useofpesticides

Finally,thereissimply asenseofsatisfactionthatmany of us getbyusing nativeplants,and we enjoythe unique beautytheyprovide.

Many peoplewould liketouse natives, but theydonot know which nativeplantswould be good forlandscaping. Referencebookscan helptremendously with this, such as “The BigEasyNativePlant Guide” by Susan Norris-Davis and Amelia Wiygul or “NativeGardening in the South” by WilliamFontenot.Alsocheck out the websites of organizations suchasthe Louisiana Native Plant Society,Native PlantInitiativeofGreaterNew Orleans,Capital Area NativePlant Society and Acadiana Native Plant Project

Oneofthe frustrating aspects of wanting to usenative plants in the landscape is availability. As importantasnatives aretosome gardeners, most people who shop at nurseries do not put natives at ahighpriority. If the demand is notthere, nurseries arelesslikelyto focus on nativeplants

That’swheregardenersinterested in using natives can make adifference. Unlesswelet the retailnurseries we shop at know thatwewanta betterselection of natives, theywill be lesslikely to carry them.

As youthink about adding trees, shrubs,vinesand flowers to your landscape, always look to seeifthere aresomesuitable nativeoptions.And whenanon-nativeand anative plantare equally suitable— go native.

Support pollinator

The wellbeing of pollinators is something thatg should takeintoconsideration when planting their scapes.The populations of manypollinators ha the decline in the past couple of decades.Pollina area aremostly insects,suchasflies,beetles,w moths and butterflies.Hummingbirds also help pollination.

The reasons fordeclining pollinator populations and complex,involving habitatloss, lossoffood eases and parasites and the useofinsecticides.B aresteps home gardenersinurban and suburba takethatcan help maintain, and even encourag tions of honeybees,nativebees,wasps moths andhummingbirds

CONTINUED:Supportpollinators

2026 SP RI NG GA RD EN IN GG UI DE Reduce pesticideuse

Dealing with pests is part of gardening –but we need to do it responsibly.The major pests we deal with areinsects, weeds and fungal diseases.Apesticideisa product,whether organic or chemical, used to kill the targetpest. Insecticides areused forinsect control; herbicides areusedin weed control; and fungicides controlfungalorganisms

Minimizing the useofpesticides,whether theyare chemical or organic,isalwaysa good idea.The overuseand unnecessary application of insecticidescan kill beneficial insect predators thathelp keep insect pest populationsdown. And insecticides cannegatively impactpollinatorinsects likebutterflies and bees

It is importanttoremember thatthe use of pesticides is only one methodfor controlling pests.Thereare other techniques gardenersshoulduse thatcan helpprevent the severe infestations thatmakethe use of pesticides necessary.For insects,this might includebiological controls,beneficialinsects,handpickingorvacuuming, barriersand traps.Minimizediseases by spacing plants properlyand avoid wetting the foliage when youwater. Usemulches to minimizeweed issues

Trytoraise your tolerancetoinsectand diseasedamage. Trees and shrubs are resilientplants. Insectand disease prob-

lemsoften come and go without causing a substantial or life-threatening amountof damage. Do not,however, raiseyourtoleranceofweeds.Alwaysaddressweed issues promptly.

Many of the techniquesweshould utilize to reduce pestproblems areproactive Make it apointtoinspect your landscape frequently fordevelopingproblems.Weed controlisaprime examplewhereearly intervention is fareasierand more effectivethan lettinga situationget out of hand beforeacting.

Plantselection is important. Choosefrom the manytrees,shrubs,ground covers and vines that rarely have major insector diseaseproblems.Plantsthatare prone to damaging insectordiseaseproblems canbeavoided. Whenchoosing plants,do some research, check with your parish LSU AgCenter extensionhorticulturist and staff at the nursery.Considerremovingproblem plants and replacing themwith plants that youhavefound to be morecarefree.

Keeping lawns healthyand vigorous with proper care will help minimizethe need for herbicides in the lawn (mowing regularly at the correct heightisimportant). If you feel asituationwarrants using alawnweed killer,try limiting the applicationjust to the areas of the lawn wherethe weed is an issueand notthe entire lawn.

2026 SP RI NG GA RD EN IN GG UI DE Fertilize moderately

We need to be careful about howmuch we apply fertilizerstothe plants in our landscapes

The overuseoffertilizers, especially highly soluble chemical fertilizers, cancontribute significantly to the pollution of lakes,ponds and streams

The regular useoffertilizersismost important forplants growing in containers. Their roots areconfined to asmall volume of soil and frequentwatering leaches outnutrients rapidly.A slow-releasefertilizer is thebest waytofertilize container plants

Vegetables and flowers areexpected to perform at avery high level, so adequate nutrients areimportanttogood results.But even here, moderate fertilizer applications aregenerally allthatisneeded. Followrecommendations

And organic matter,likecompostsand manures,can provide some of thesenutrients while recycling agricultural byproducts.

Lawns arecommonly fertilized, but maximum fertilization is not critical foracceptable

performance. Fertilizecentipede onceinlate March, St.Augustine and zoysia in late March and again in July and bermuda in late March, June and August.The moreyou fertilize, the more often youneed to mow.

If treesand shrubs aregrowing vigorously and blooming well, fertilization is generally optional. Aspring application of fertilizer to shrubs is generally plenty.While young trees intheirfirst15yearsafter planting will grow faster withannual fertilization, it is not needed formaturetrees unlessindicatedbylow vigor

Your plants will not“starve” if youfertilize morejudiciously.Fertilizersare not food. The terms “plantfood” and “feeding”are misleading. Using theseterms makes gardenersthink thatfertilizing plants is morecritical than it usually is.Plants maketheir ownfoodthrough photosynthesis,aprocessthatutilizes the energy of thesun to create sugar from carbon dioxide and water. Theyare solar powered.

2026 SP RI NI NG GUID E

Planting guide

TREES

•*ParsleyHawthorn, Crataegusmarshallii

•*Redbud, Cercis canadensis

•*FringeTree, Chionanthusvirginicus

•*Silver Bell, Halesia diptera

• *American Holly,Ilexopaca

•*Deciduous Holly,Ilexdecidua

•*Dahoon Holly,Ilexcassine

• *YauponHolly,Ilexvomitoria

•Swamp RedMaple, Acer rubrum

•var.drummondii

•Southern SugarMaple, Acer barbatum

• LiveOak, Quercus virginiana

•Nuttall Oak, Quercus nuttallii

• ShumardOak, Quercus shumardii

• WillowOak, Quercus phellos

• *Southern Magnolia,Magnolia grandiflora

• *Sweet BayMagnolia,Magnolia virginiana

•*Cherry Laurel, Prunus caroliniana

• American elm, Ulmus americana

• WaxMyrtle, Morells cerifera

• Bald Cypress, Taxodium distichum

• Eastern RedCedar,Juniperusvirginiana

•*Devil’sWalkingStick, Aralia spinosa

VINES

•*CoralHoneysuckle, Lonicerasempervirens

• *CrossVine, Bignoniacapreolata

•*YellowJessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens

•*NativeWisteria,Wisteria frutescens

Plants,vinesand perennials thatthriveinour climate

SHRUBS

•*Starbush, Florida Anise, Illicium floridanum

•*RedBuckeye,Aesculuspavia

• *Honeysuckle Azalea,Rhododendron

•canescens

•*Flame Azalea,Rhododendron austrinum

•*Oakleaf Hydrangea,Hydrangea quercifolia

• *Dwarf YauponHolly,Ilexvomitoria

•*Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis

•*SouthernArrowwood, Viburnum dentatum

• *Beautyberry,Callicarpa americana

HARDYPERENNIALS

•*Louisiana Phlox, Phloxdivaricata

•*DownyPhlox, Phloxpilosa

•*Indian Pink, Spigelia marilandica

•*Mallow, Hibiscus moscheutos

•*TexasStar Hibiscus,Hibiscus coccineus

• *Cardinal Flower, Lobelia cardinalis

•*Mexicanprimrose, Oenotheraspeciosa

•*Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia fulgida

•*Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea

•*Louisiana irises,Iris species and hybrids

•*Goldenrod, Solidagospecies

•*Stokes Aster,Stokesia laevis

•Muhly Grass, Muhlenbergia capillaris

•Switch Grass, Panicum virgatum

•Rush, Juncusspecies

*good forpollinator gardens

Our 12-YearPower Plus Warranty picks up whereother warranties end.

How YouBenefitfrom 12-Years of Full Coverage:

•Longest full coverage warranty in the industry

•Transferable coverage if you sell yourhome

• Backed by trusted local experts

•Faster repairs with no long delays

•Peace of mind for yearstocome

Warranty FAQ’s:

Q: What does “full coverage”mean.

A: Fullcoverage means parts, labor,travel, and major componentsare included.

Q: Do Ineed to pay extra for this?

A: We give you 12 years with no additionalcost.

Q: What productsdoes it cover?

A: The 12-year warrantyisincludedonall Generac Air Cooled unit purchases.

Q: How do Ikeep my warranty active?

A: For all manufacturerand dealerwarranties, generatorsmust have maintenance performedevery year.Our warranty requires that we perform the maintenance to ensure properupkeep and protect your investment

1

Meet With an Install Designer &Complete theIn-Home Assessment

•Locationofgenerator

•Sizerequired

•How it works •How install happens

•Qualify forfinancing

•Answerquestions

Receive aWrittenQuote

NotAll Home Standby GeneratorsAre The Same

•Locationofgenerator

•kWsizer

runat3600 RPM and aredesigned foremergency uselasting days to acouple of weeks.During extended outages, theymay consume moreoil and requiremorefrequent oil checks

2

If you have...

Liquid Cooled Generators (Premium Heavy-DutyOption)

Liquid-cooled generators area higher-performance option builtwith larger,heavier-duty engines,similartoasmall truckenginewitha radiatorcooling systemlikeacar

Liquid-cooled units come in both 3600 RPM and 1800 RPM models

The 1800 RPM models arewidelyconsidered the most durable and reliable standbygeneratorsavailable,designed forlonger runtimes, quieter operation, and reduced wear

We specializeinstocking premium 1800 RPM modelsfor homeowners who want theverybest.

Recommended Type

Typical home, occasional outages Air-Cooled Large home, multiple AC unitsLiquid-Cooled

Rural area with longoutages Liquid-Cooled(1800 RPM) Budget-focused backuppower Air-Cooled Maximum

Liquid-Cooled

Final Walk Through

•Loadtestgenerator

•Explain basics

•Deliver paperwork

•Offer maintenance

•Collect balance

3