The Acadiana Advocate 04-16-2026 by The Advocate

Metaseeks powerfor data center expansion

As construction continues on thesprawlingMeta datacentersiteinHolly Ridge, plans for

EntergygetsOK to speedupapprovalprocess to buildseven more gas-firedplantsfor project

BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer

Plans for ahuge expansionof Meta’sLouisianadata center took their first steps before Louisiana electricity regulators on Wednesday,with Entergy granted an initialgreen lightfor an expedited approval process to build seven more gas-ﬁred power plants for the project. The expansion adds to what was already expected to be Meta’s largest AI data center worldwide, being builtinnortheastern Louisiana at acostof some $27 billion. The seven new powerplants would be in addition to three already approved for the project.

Statecould dismantle DCFS amid criticism

Billwould divide department into differentagencies

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

After years of frustration about child deaths from abuse andneglect in Louisiana,astate lawmaker wantstodismantle theDepartment of Children and Family Services, moving some of itsfunctionsintothe health department and others intolaw enforcement agencies.

Sen. PatrickMcMath,RCovington, unveiled the plan in Senate Bill 462 during a Wednesday meeting of the Senate health committee, which he chairs.

Louisiana faces problems with“child welfare and, in particular,child deaths,” McMath said,and the state’s child welfare apparatus needs “significant, foundational” change.

Approval from the state’sPublic

ServiceCommissionwould enable Entergy to generate7,400megawattsintotal for the tech company with its 10 gas-firedplants, the equivalent of over half of all power it currently produces statewide. It is alsorequesting 2,500 megawatts of solar and wind energy,aswell as an upgrade to existing nuclear sites. Four outofthe ﬁve elected regulators voted in favor of Entergy’s proposal for an advanced timeline, agreeing to cast aﬁnalvote on thenew power plan in December,roughly eight months after the utility filed the application. The commissioners also sided with Entergy to forego a formalrecommendation from an administrative judge,a typical pro-

cedure,but onethatisnot binding on thecommission.

“Only in government is eight months rushed to make adecision,” saidCommissioner Jean-PaulCoussan, who voted in favor of Entergy’srequests.

Theutility said it met requirements for the commission’s “lightning initiative,” afast-tracked approval process for largeprojects like data centers designed to reduce redtape. ApprovedinDecember, the measure exempts utilitiesseeking to build new infrastructure from going to the market to prove thatthe new generation is thecheapest and most reliable option available.

Entergy says in its ﬁlings that “the ability to deliver speed-to-power and execute on the economic-driven

“There is aunique opportunity here and atrue desire to ﬁx whatisa brokensystem,” he said. “If we don’t, children will continue to die at an unacceptable pace in Louisiana.”

But hoursafter McMath unveiled the plan, Gov.Jeff Landry gave it afrosty reception.

“It’shardfor me to know if Isupport it or not. Nobody talked to me about it,” Landry said in abrief interview.“I’m extremelyfrustrated withthe Senate and with Sen. McMath.”

“There is aunique opportunity here and a true desire to fixwhat is abroken system.Ifwe don’t, children will continue to die at an unacceptable pace in Louisiana.”

Louisiana senators have long complained that the child welfare agency isn’tadequately protecting abused and neglected children. They’ve said that too manykidsare dyingatthe hands of caregivers, even after potential dangers were previously ﬂagged to the state.

McMath’s proposed overhaul broadlyincludes three major changes.

DCFS would no longer be astandalone cabinet agency.Itwould become adivisioninthe state’s

School Boardrescinds vote to closeComeaux Public hearing setfor Thursday

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

The Lafayette Parish SchoolBoard voted Wednesday evening to rescinda March 12 vote to close Comeaux High School. The vote followed adistrict court judge’sdecision Monday to grant aprelimi-

nary injunction against the School Boardand schooldistrict until an April 29 trial. 15th Judicial Court Judge ValerieGotch-Garrettprohibited the board andschool district from taking action to close theschool until the trial.

Theboard voted March 12 to close Comeaux High at the end of the current school year,sendingstudents to

See COMEAUX, page 5A

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

State lawmakers could soon use the courts to oust elected ofﬁcials they believe areguilty of wrongdoing after abill to give them that powercleared itsﬁrsthurdleinthe LouisianaLegislature on Wednesday SenateBill 425 by state Sen.

STAFF FILEPHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

ahugeexpansion are

SantaCon fundraiser

organizer arrested NEW YORK A popular SantaCon charity fundraiser that floods New York City with thousands of inebriated young people in red and white Santa costumes every holiday season was true to its name: a con, federal authorities said after they arrested its organizer Stefan Pildes, 50, of Hewitt, New Jersey, was arrested on Wednesday He did not comment after an initial court appearance on a wire fraud charge and was freed on $300,000 bail Federal authorities said Pildes donated only a small fraction of the $2.7 million he raised through SantaCon charity events from 2019 to 2024. The tradition features a ticketed bar crawl through city streets each December that has attracted over 25,000 people.

The participants paid $10 to $20 for tickets after Pildes told them their money would be divided among neighborhood charities and that they could “brag that (they) actually gave to charity this year” according to the indictment.

Authorities said Pildes siphoned more than half of the proceeds raised each year to an entity he controlled, using those funds to ﬁnance various personal ventures.

According to the indictment, he solicited dozens of bars and restaurants to participate and donate 10% to 25% of their food and beverage sales to his charity organization.

Nigerian security forces on high alert for attack

ABUJA, Nigeria Nigeria’s security forces are on high alert over a planned attack by Islamist militants on public infrastructure in Abuja and Niger states, an internal memo dated April 13 obtained from the Nigeria Customs Service by The Associated Press on Wednesday showed The planned targets include the international airport and a prison facility in the capital city of Abuja, as well as a military detention center in neighboring Niger state.

“Their intention is to release detained terrorists and inﬂict significant damage on critical aviation infrastructure,” the memo reads.

Last week, the U.S. authorized its non-emergency government employees and their families to leave the Abuja embassy owing to a spike in terrorist attacks, kidnapping, and violent crimes in the country, especially in the north. The embassy has been closed. Nigeria’s information minister, Mohammed Idris, described the U.S. decision as a “routine precaution guided by internal protocols,” insisting that it does not reﬂect the overall security situation of the country

At least 250 people missing after sinking

DHAKA, Bangladesh — At least 250 people, including Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals, were either feared dead or missing after a boat capsized in the Andaman Sea recently on the way to Malaysia, according to the U.N. refugee and migration agencies.

While details remained sketchy, Bangladesh Coast Guard spokesperson Lt Cmdr Sabbir Alam Suzan told The Associated Press on Wednesday that nine people, including three Rohingya and six Bangladeshis, were rescued on April 9. Suzan said that the Bangladesh ﬂag carrier M.T Meghna Pride rescued the nine people when the crew found them ﬂoating at sea after the capsizing.

The status of any search on Wednesday or when the boat sank weren’t immediately clear UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, and the International Organization for Migration said in a joint statement on Tuesday that the trawler departed from Teknaf in the southern Bangladeshi district of Cox’s Bazar carrying a large number of passengers to Malaysia.

Palestinian school path blocked by settlers

Impromptu barbed-wire fence erected overnight

BY SAM METZ and JALAL BWAITEL

Associated Press

RAMALLAH, West Bank Hajar and Rashid Hathaleen have always walked to school from their neighborhood on the outskirts of Umm al-Khair But when classes resumed this week for the ﬁrst time since the Iran war began, coiled barbed wire blocked the Palestinian siblings’ path to the village center Israeli settlers had installed it overnight, according to video that Palestinian residents provided to The Associated Press. Palestinians say the improvised fence is just the latest attempt by settlers to expand control in part of the occupied West Bank where statebacked demolitions, arson and vandalism regularly occur and settler violence, at times lethal, is rarely prosecuted

The villagers’ plight was covered in the 2024 Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” but the publicity has done little to stem the bloodshed or curb land grabs. They say Israel has used the cover of the Iran war to tighten its grip over the territory, as settler attacks surge and the military imposes additional wartime restric-

tions on movement, citing security Khalil Hathaleen, head of the village council and a member of the extended family that makes up much of Umm al-Khair’s population, said settlers were exploiting the war to seize land, cut down olive groves and raid nearby villages at night. “It was a good chance for settlers to do what they want, with no rules,” he said.

Like in Israel, Palestinian kids stayed home before last week’s ceaseﬁre, with the threat of falling missile debris leading schools to close.

Hajar, her brother Rashid and their classmates sat waiting Monday and Tuesday near Israeli ﬂags, the barbed wire and newly felled trees as their parents and village leaders demanded they be allowed to pass. On Monday, the children were met by plumes of tear gas and sound grenades hurled by armed men in an unmarked white truck, including some uniformed soldiers, according to the video.

Israel’s military said troops used “riot dispersal means” outside Carmel, the settlement next to Umm al-Khair It acknowledged that children were present but said the measures which it didn’t de-

tail — were directed at adults in the area, not the children. The Har Hevron Regional Council, the settlements’ local government in the area, did not respond to questions about the fence.

Bedouins and other villagers have been using the 1.8-mile path from the neighborhood of Khirbet Umm al-Khair to the village center for decades. “We are determined to keep it,” Khalil Hathaleen said.

The fence is just another way that Palestinian movement is being restricted as Israeli settlements multiply in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinians say it follows a wellworn pattern in which settlers erect fences or claim farmland that Palestinians say is theirs, and then move to enforce this new reality with the backing of Israel’s military

Hathaleen said Israeli forces sometimes restrain the settlers, but more often than not they defer to them.

“We are refused a solution,” he said.

The international community overwhelmingly considers the settlements illegal. Israel, meanwhile, views the territory as disputed and says its ﬁnal status is subject to negotiations.

U.S. faces demand to restore funding to power Puerto Rico

Organizations are urging Trump administration, governor to release $350M

BY DÁNICA COTO Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico

Nearly 200 organi-

zations are urging the Trump administration and Puerto Rico’s governor to restore $350 million in federal funding that was meant to ﬁnance the installation of rooftop solar and battery systems for 12,000 lowincome families across the U.S. territory

Many of the families have disabilities or medical conditions that require electricity Concern is growing that the U.S. will abandon them as chronic power outages persist and the Atlantic hurricane season ofﬁcially nears it runs from June 1-Nov 30.

“For them in particular, whether they get a (solar) system or not is something that is really life or death,” Charlotte

Gossett Navarro, Puerto Rico chief director for the Hispanic Federation, said in a phone interview

The nonproﬁt group is among the organizations that signed a letter released Wednesday to Puerto Rico Gov Jenniffer González and U.S Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

The Hispanic Federation is one of seven organizations that were going to help install the solar systems and educate families about their use. Some of those groups are now formally objecting to the cancellation of the funds or negotiating with the U.S. Department of Energy González has said that her administration “had no choice,” because the federal government decided it wouldn’t give Puerto Rico those funds. The money is expected to now be invested in the is-

land’s crumbling power grid, which was razed by Hurricane Maria in 2017 but was already deteriorated given a lack of investment and maintenance.

Installations of rooftop solar panels have grown in the past three years across Puerto Rico, with an average of 3,850 systems installed per month in 2025, for an overall total of nearly 192,000 by year’s end, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Meanwhile, more than 171,000 households and businesses have distributed battery storage systems. But not everyone can afford such systems on the Caribbean island of around 3.2 million people with a more than 40% poverty rate.

Gossett Navarro said that they haven’t received any answers to pending questions about the funding as a May 9 deadline approaches, marking the end of the program that for some hasn’t even started.

Crews had already installed solar systems in more than 6,000 households as part of the program, but another 12,000 families now remain in limbo.

Yvette Rodríguez 61, is among them. She needs a sleep apnea machine, and her husband, Luis Soler, a 67-year-old veteran and double amputee, relies on an electric adjustable bed.

“There’s a big need for those solar panels,” said Rodríguez, who resides on the small Puerto Rican island of Culebra with her husband.

María Pérez, 80, and her 88-year-old husband, have also been hit by the cut in federal funding. She has high blood pressure and heart problems that have led to several hospitalizations. She also has eyedrops for her cataracts that required refrigeration.

“I put them on ice, but it’s not the same,” she said. “They have us suffering with that money that they took away from us. It’s not fair.”

First lady pushes for foster care update

Melania Trump urges Congress to pass a series of bills

BY DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press

WASHINGTON Melania Trump made a rare appearance on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to push Congress to pass bills broadening access to services for young people in foster care, calling it a “moral imperative.”

The ﬁrst lady began working on foster care issues after President Donald Trump’s ﬁrst term ended in 2021. Her trip followed a similar and successful lobbying effort last year to get Congress to send legislation to the president to protect women and children from online sexual exploitation On Capitol Hill, she said youngsters in foster care face barriers to housing, transportation and education and other challenges outside the classroom that affect their academic performance.

“We can close this gap,” Melania Trump said. “New legislation for the foster care community is a moral imperative.”

She met Wednesday afternoon with members of the House Ways and Means Committee who introduced the new legislation, and she also heard from people who were in foster care.

Republican and Democratic committee members have introduced several bills to update the Chafee foster care program to improve outcomes for young people aging out of the foster care system. The measures would increase their access to housing, education and workforce training programs, among other things, to help them succeed in the transition to adulthood and independence. The bills have a long way to go toward passage in Congress since they’ve only just been introduced.

The program provides support to foster youth and former foster youth, ages 14 to 21, as they leave the system. The committee said the bipartisan proposals would be the most signiﬁcant update since the Chafee program was created in 1999.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MAHMOUD ILLEAN

Palestinian students walk to school on Tuesday using an alternative route that is nearly twice as long because a fence separates their village from the nearby Israeli settlement of Carmel, near the West Bank village of Umm al-Khair The fence was installed overnight according to Palestinian residents.

Pakistan hoping for more ceaseﬁre negotiations

Blockade, threats strain agreement

BY SAMY MAGDY, SAM METZ, MUNIR AHMED and MIKE CORDER Associated Press

CAIRO Pakistan’s army chief met Wednesday in Tehran with Iran’s foreign minister in the latest diplomatic move to ease tensions in the Middle East and arrange a second round of negotiations between the United States and Iran after almost seven weeks of war

The White House said any further talks would likely take place in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, though no decision had been made on whether to resume negotiations

The U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports continued for a third day The Trump administration warned of new economic sanctions on countries doing business with Iran, saying the Islamic Republic would feel the “ﬁnancial equivalent” of a bombing campaign Pakistan has emerged as a key mediator in the conflict after it hosted rare direct talks between the U.S. and Iran in Islamabad, a move authorities said helped narrow differences between the two sides. Mediators are seeking a new round before a ceaseﬁre is set to expire next week.

The Pakistani military said the delegation sent to Iran included the country’s interior minister and other senior security ofﬁcials, but provided no details.

U,S., Iran making progress

Even as the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and renewed Iranian threats strained the ceaseﬁre agreement, regional ofﬁcials reported progress, telling The Associated Press the United States and Iran had an “in principle agreement” to extend it to allow for more diplomacy They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, took part in a preliminary meeting with Asim Munir, Pakistan’s army chief of staff, Ira-

nian state media reported. It said talks would continue Thursday But even as mediators worked for peace, tensions simmered.

The commander of Iran’s joint military command, Ali Abdollahi, threatened to halt trade in the region if the U.S. does not lift its naval blockade.

In a move aimed at inflicting more economic pain on Iran, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the White House has warned countries and private companies they could face sanctions for doing business with Tehran.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the U.S. had not “formally requested an extension of the ceasefire” with Iran, which is set to expire Tuesday “At this moment, we remain very much engaged in these negotiations, in these talks,” Leavitt said, adding that any further in-person talks “would very likely” return to Islamabad.

Mediators seek compromise

Mediators are pushing for a compromise on three main sticking points that derailed direct talks last weekend — Iran’s nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and compensation for wartime damag-

es, according to a regional ofﬁcial involved in the mediation efforts.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Iran is open to discussing the type and level of its uranium enrichment, but his country “based on its needs, must be able to continue enrichment,” Iranian state media reported.

The negotiating team led by Vice President JD Vance urged Iran to agree to a 20-year moratorium on uranium enrichment as part of a potential deal to end the war, according to the regional ofﬁcial and a person briefed on the matter

No ships pass blockade

U.S. Central Command said Wednesday that no ships made it past the blockade in the first 48 hours, while nine merchant vessels complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around and reenter Iranian waters.

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

EThisstory is brought to you by ExxonMobil

xxonMobil is proud to be a long-standing part of theLouisianacommunities we call home. For more than 115 years, we’veworkedand lived here alongside our neighbors, helping support thestate’s economyand thepeople who make thesecommunitiesvibrant and strong

We stayconnected with our communitiesbylistening, learning, and working together,which helps guideour local investments.Through open conversations and collaboration, we’vebeenable to support community-identiﬁed priorities with millions of dollarsinlocal funding—andwe’re committedtocontinuing thatpartnership for yearstocome.

Investing in rural communities

As we grow ourLouisiana presence through our LowCarbon Solutionsbusiness, ExxonMobil alsocontinues to grow our investmentinLouisiana communities

In 2025alone, we invested $3.4 million in local communities with afocus on Allen, Ascension, Iberville, St.James,St. Landry and other rural parishes

We seek to tailor our contributions to meet parishneeds by working with local leadersand thoseliving or working near our projects.Our communityprograms focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, workforce development, emergencyresponsepreparedness and training,economic developmentand communitydevelopmentprograms

Partnering with educators

From investments in labs and learning materials to professional development, ExxonMobil collaborateswith educatorsto broaden STEM education accessthroughout Louisiana Since 2017, we’vebeenproud to partner with the Rice UniversityTapia Center Thatpartnership has allowedustobring Tapia Carbon STEM Camps and programs toevenmorestudents acrossthe Gulf Coast overthe years. We’veexpanded our work in Louisiana through partnerships

President urges extending foreign surveillance program

BY DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press

WASHINGTON Congress is set to take up the reauthorization of a divisive program that lets U.S. spy agencies pore over foreigners’ calls, texts and emails, with supporters like President Donald Trump saying it has saved lives while critics point to long-standing concerns about warrantless surveillance of Americans. A key provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act permits the CIA, National Security Agency, FBI and other agencies to collect and analyze vast amounts of overseas communications without a warrant. It incidentally sweeps up the conversations of any Americans who interact with those foreigners targeted for surveillance.

The program expires Monday, and critics want changes, including a requirement for warrants before authorities can access the emails, phone calls or text messages of Americans. They also want limits on the government’s use of internet data brokers, who sell large volumes of personal information gleaned online, offering the government what critics say amounts to an end-run around the Constitution.

House Republican leaders hoped to advance the legislation on Wednesday, but an initial procedural step was delayed Rankand-file members have pushed back despite a pressure campaign that included a trip to the White House and direct involvement from CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

The chances of significant changes, however seem have dropped since Trump announced his support for the program’s renewal, saying it had proved its worth in supplying information vital to recent U.S. actions in Venezuela and Iran.

“The fact is, whether you like FISA or not, it is extremely im-

ExxonMobillives local through partnershipand collaboration

with Southern UniversityinBaton Rouge andby offeringprofessional development opportunitiesfor local educators—helping support today’sclassrooms and tomorrow’sinnovators

In 2025, ExxonMobil partneredwith the Allen Parish School Boardand SOWELA Technical CommunityCollegetopresent a week-longresidential STEM professional developmentcamp for40middle and high school teachersinSouthwest Louisiana

“Providing instructional opportunities to train future educators in the STEM ﬁelds is critical to the continued successofproviding educational training opportunities toour students,”said SOWELA Chancellor Neil Aspinwall, EdD.“This is anothergreat example of education and industry partneringtohelp provide the skills andtools needed to prepareour students forfuture work opportunities in the always changing andexpanding STEM ﬁelds.Wereally appreciate ExxonMobil fortheir willingness toinvest in talent developmentfor our educators and AllenParish School Boardfor theirsupportwith the training.

Educatorstook on the studentrole and completed an energy-focused project which theypresented in an educatorshowcase at the endofthe program. Teachers alsoattended workshops on customized lessonplanning, strengthened their teaching and leadership skills,and were ableto expand theirprofessional network.

Supporting emergency responders

ExxonMobil’soperations areguided by a simple principle: safety comes ﬁrst.That’s whywework closely with local emergency responders, helping provide up-to-date training focused on pipeline safety

In 2025 alone,weinvested $3.4 million in local communities with afocus on Allen, Ascension, Iberville,St. James,St. Landry, and other rural parishes

In 2025, ExxonMobil invested $50,000 and donatedmorethan $500,000 worth of training and curriculum materials to found the Louisiana Pipeline Emergency Training Program in BatonRougeincollaboration with the Louisiana State Fire and Emergency Training Academy(FETA)and River Parishes CommunityCollege. Participants in this ﬁrst-of-its kind programinLouisiana receivefreeeducation in pipeline terminology, equipment, operations and hazards,followedbyhands-on ﬁeld exercises In the past 12 months,ExxonMobil has sponsored industry-leading, specialized

portant to our military,” Trump said on social media Tuesday U.S. authorities say the program, known as Section 702 of the law, is essential to national security and has saved lives by uncovering terrorist plots. Critics question what they say is a dangerous infringement on civil liberties and privacy

In a Truth Social post, Trump said a different FISA provision was used to spy on his 2016 campaign but that he supported Section 702’s renewal despite misgivings that political adversaries could use parts of the law against him in the future. He urged lawmakers to extend the foreign surveillance program for 18 more months.

The Republican president is a longtime critic of the nation’s intelligence services and was once opposed to Section 702 before he reversed himself. His director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, sponsored legislation to repeal Section 702 as a Hawaii congresswoman but now supports it. She says new protections added since her time in Congress helped change her mind.

Some Republican House members who have opposed the extension without changes traveled went to the White House late Tuesday to discuss the matter Ratcliffe also met with lawmakers early Wednesday In addition to a requirement for a warrant to access Americans’ data, critics also want greater protections on how the FBI or other agencies can search communications and how that is reported to the public.

“Journalists, foreign aid workers, people with family overseas, all could have their communications swept up in this surveillance merely because they talked to someone outside of this country,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. He is pushing for changes that he said will ensure the government is not violating civil rights in secret.

CO2 responsetraining forover1,000 ﬁrst respondersacrossits pipeline system, including signiﬁcantparticipation from Ascension, Assumption, Beauregard,Calcasieu, East BatonRouge, Franklin, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, St.James, St.Landry,St. Mary,and Vermilion parishes

Investing in life-saving infrastructure

Ourcommitmenttosafetyextendsbeyond the fenceline. We have invested in critical, life-saving infrastructuretoprovideemergency responderswith the knowledge and skills to best servetheir communities,and to giveresidents the information theyneed about the robust safety systems in place. Most recently,ExxonMobil contributed $373,500 to fund aGeographic Information SysteminSt. Landry Parish. The GIS will serveasareal-time mapping system available to parish departments and ﬁrst responders, improving communication and information-sharing acrossdepartments

“Whatthis will do forour parish is make thingshappen in the presentfor agencies likeﬁre,police, the tax assessor,emergency dispatchersand public works,”said St Landry Parish presidentJessieBellard. “It used to be thatyou would getinatruck, take amap out,put on the lightand try to identify alocation. Nowwewill bettersee where thatplace is and whatishappening at aparticular time.

ExxonMobil alsocontributed $60,000 toward CO2 monitorsfor St.James Parish ﬁrst respondersinsupport of the new CO2 pipeline service in the parish.

Continuing to deliver on our commitment

As we nowenter anew chapter of investmentinLouisiana —including carbon captureand storageprojects (CCS) and new connections to our existing CO2 pipeline network —weremain committedtobeing a trusted and engaged communitypartner

We believe strong relationships start early,which is whywefocus on connecting with communities from the very beginning of our projects and staying engaged forthe long term. As our investments in Louisiana continue, so does our commitmenttolivelocal, from large-scale economic impact to partnerships thataddress real communityneeds

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By HUSSEIN MALLA

Paramedics attach a portrait over the grave of Ghadir Baalbaki, 19, who was killed on Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike, at a temporary mass grave in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, on Wednesday.

power needs” is akey consideration for companies deciding where to locate their massive projects.

Requirements forthe lightning processinclude aletter fromthe state’seconomicdevelopment agency confirming “the customer’sinterest and the importance of power availability” and conﬁrmation that acompany will pay for more than half of its infrastructure costs for a15-year contract

Entergy says its 20-year agreement with Meta willcover “far more” than the one-halfrevenue requirement. Entergy Louisiana CEO PhillipMay said in the announcement forthe proposed expansion that the deal with Meta would “strengthenreliability, support economic development and deliver meaningful beneﬁtsto customers.”

The Wednesday meeting, however,pertained mostly to setting the timeline for the power plan.

“I’m not going to arguethe merits of the case,” said Entergy vice president Larry Hand. “That’swhy we have the proceeding. Iwillacknowledge that this is asigniﬁcant undertaking of the parties. It’sa lot of work.”

Size of Manhattan?

Last summer,Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to expand the footprint of thefacility in Richland Parish, called “Hyperion,” to asize rivaling Manhattan, though some analysts have questioned whether it could truly reach those dimensions.

Local and state officials have heralded the project as ahuge win for economic development in a poor,rural part of Louisiana. The siting of the facility aligns with ﬁndings that the majority of new

DCFS

Continued from page1A

health department, which would be rechristened the Louisiana Department of Health and Human Services.

Louisiana State Police would run the call center that handles reports of child abuse. And the Attorney General’sOfﬁce would handle child support enforcement.

In an interviewWednesday morning,McMath said he had discussedchanges at DCFS with Landry and his chief of staff, who he said “have indicated to me they have an open mind.”

ButLandry saidthe proposal had been created “with no input fromus” and that McMath had yet to show him aproven planfor thechild welfare agency.

Thegovernordid sayhe’s talkedtoSenate President Cameron Henry,R-Metairie, about the agency,and that “we do believe that there are certain buckets, certain things that DCFS can relinquish which may help some of the problems.”

He also acknowledged longstanding problems in the department.

“I do share the frustration that this building has had with that department,”

Work continuesonthe

data centers across thecountry are beingbuilt in rural areas, with Southern and Midwestern states leading the buildout, according to thePew Research Center

The Pewreport said 3,000 data centers are now operational nationwideand more than 1,500 new data centersare in various stages of development.

As with large data centers elsewhere, Meta’splansinLouisiana have generated controversy over whether they will lead to higher electricity billsfor residentsas well as their heavy reliance on fossilfuel-generatedpower.The project’s intensive water usage hasalsoraised concerns.

“Itisanoverwhelming proposal,” saidLogan Burke,who leads the New Orleans-based Alliance for Affordable Energy.“Remember when we were talking about

Landry said, referring to lawmakers atthe State Capitol.“Thatfrustration, though,did not start underthisadministration That place has been atrain wreck.”

He addedthat the person he appointedtoleadthe agency,Secretary Rebecca Harris, “has beendoingeverything she can to put the wheels back on that particularbus” and that hehopes to ﬁnd apathforward forthe agency by the end of the legislative session.

Later in theafternoon, Landry,McMath, Henry and Harris had ameetingthat both Landryand McMath described as “productive.”

“The governor is clearly passionateabout child welfare and Icertainly appreciate andshare his passion for child safety,” McMathsaid. Detailsabout thechange

Under SB462, all of the functions of DCFS would be distributed to differentagencies, andLouisiana would no longerhave astandalone child welfare department

Arenamed LouisianaDepartmentofHealthand HumanServices wouldgaina new ofﬁce of child welfare that would handle the vast majority of Louisiana’s child welfare services: childprotectiveservices,

howunprecedented threegas plantswas? Andthen they turn around and triple down.”

As of 2024, Louisiana ranked last among states for the share of electricity it gets from renewable resources, according to an analysisbythe Union of Concerned Scientists advocacy groupciting government data.

If all 10 of Entergy’sproposed plants come online, the annual NOxemissions that contribute to smog would be equivalent to driving adiesel bus roughly 450 million miles, according to Paul Arbaje, asenioranalyst with the group. Entergy has repeatedly stressed the project’seconomicbenefits and maintains that sufﬁcient protectionsare in place to protect residents from shouldering itscosts Entergy Louisiana CEO Phillip

foster care, adoption, child abuseand neglect prevention,and human trafﬁcking, among others.

McMathsaid the “massive umbrella” of the health department will allow Louisiana to put more resources and personnel toward child welfare.

State Police would run a 24-hour hotline thatwould take calls and reports of suspected child abuse. Investigations intosevere child abuseorabuse of children in statecustody wouldbe handled by State Police, but other investigations could be handled by thehealth department.

McMath said the “besttrained”responders should be the first to quickly and professionally handle initial reportsofabuse andneglect, whichcan laterbehanded off to awelfare worker at thehealth department if appropriate.

“That system is upside down,” McMathsaid. “Child abuse andneglect is a crime.”

The AttorneyGeneral’s Office would ensure that parents are makingcourtordered child support payments

“I’ve met with Senator McMathand discussed this proposal,and Iwillsupport these efforts,” Murrill said in astatement. “It wouldcer-

May has saidthe deal with Meta would “strengthen reliability,support economic development and delivermeaningful benefits to customers.”

Watershedmoment?

The requested timeline for the approvalprocesscoincideswith the ﬁnal months in ofﬁce fortwo commissioners who have been supportive of Meta’splans so far Commissioner Foster Campbell, whose district includes the data center location, has said: “I am for this project 1000%.”

Commissioner Eric Skrmetta, theother regulator whose term ends in November,saidthatEntergy’srequest will be given “a tightly controlled analysis.”

“This is awatershed momentfor thestate,”Skrmetta said. “Tobe perfectly frank, Ithink we’re just getting started.”

tainly take some transition time, but many AG ofﬁces around the country perform this function.It’sa legal process, so it would fitwithin ouroverall responsibilities.” McMath said apublic hearingwillbeheldonthe proposal next week.

DCFS facing scrutiny

The DepartmentofChildrenand Family Services hasundergone aseries of significant controversiesand changes in recent years.

Last month at apublic meeting, senators on the health committee threatened to abolish the child welfare agency, sayingitwas a warning intended to prompt action andreforms. They grilledits leaders on how the department would put a stop to child deathsowed to abuse and neglect.

In July,Landry announced Harris,a formerdeputy secretary andundersecretary at thedepartment, would lead theagency, replacing David Matlock, aformer Caddo Parishjuvenile court

He saidthe future makeup of the regulatory body,which includes ﬁve total commissioners, “is probably goingtobeevenmoresupportive” of data center growth.

Commissioner Davante Lewis, the only PSC memberwho voted against Entergy at the meeting, cautionedagainst completing the reviewfor a“seismically different” request in the same timeframe as the previous one.

“Ittakes alonger time to bake a wedding cakethan acupcake,” he said.

Lewis said the lack of acompetitive bid process “incentivizes the utility to build” more infrastructure instead of looking for the least costly option.

Email Josie Abugov at josie abugov@theadvocate.com.

judge who hadservedas secretaryfor ayear anda half

Last summer,state lawmakers took away from DCFSthe job of handling workforce training and safety net programslike SNAP and TANF,the federally fundedprograms run by states that provide food and cash assistance to low-income families. Those programsare nowhandled by Louisiana’shealth and workforce development departments.

Officials said movingthe programs away from DCFS would give the agency a chance to focus its efforts squarely on child welfare. DCFS in recentyears has struggled with child welfare staffing shortages andturnover due to low pay and the difficultnatureofthe jobs

In March, agency officials saidthe numberofvacancies at the department has decreased, but turnover due to lowwages and burnoutis still aproblem

A2022 investigation by The Advocate |The Times-

Picayune found that, adjusted for inflation, DCFS lost nearly half of itsfunding between 2007 and2021 The investigation also found that, at the time, DCFS caseloads were three timesthe national standard. Also in 2022, the agency andpublic were roiledby aspate of shocking deaths from child abuse and neglectinwhich DCFS had received previous warnings. The deaths led to the resignation of then-Secretary MarketaGarner Walters, who was in that job for six years. Terri Ricks took over, serving until Landry took ofﬁce in 2024. In 2025, 31 child deaths in Louisiana wereattributed to abuseand neglect; in 2020, thatnumber was23and in 2015, it was 41. It’s not clear in how manyofthose cases DCFShas been previously alerted to problems. As of March,DCFS data showed 4child deaths resulted fromabuse and neglect, and 7deaths were still pending investigation.

other high schools in the parish and renovate the Comeaux High campusto house the W.D. and Mary Baker Career Center and E.J. Sam Accelerated School. Itsathletic fields also would be used by other schools in the district

Parent Suzanne Lajaunie filed alawsuit asking the court to stop the school district from closing Comeaux High and repurposing the campus for another use. She argued that the board did not follow its own policy for closing aschool.

The board actionWednesday is in line with the

School Boardabolishing theentire ADB policy,with board member JeremyHidalgo calling it “a senseless policy.”

Lajaunie’srequest and the judge’sruling, the board’s attorney said Apublic hearing is scheduledfor 3p.m.Thursday on thepossibility of closing Comeaux High School. The hearingwill be followed by a regular board meeting. Also at Wednesday’sspecial meeting and related to theComeauxclosureplan, theboard voted to modify the language of the district administrative rule about school attendance areas. Theupdated policy will apply to both zone modiﬁcations and school closures, callingfor the school system to give “as much advance notice as reasonably possible” toallow familiesto explore all options. Aproposed policy revision that would have changed the maximum school enrollmentinstead led

$27billion Meta data center in Holly Ridge.

OFFICIALS

Continued frompage1A

the lawmakers’ authority to force ofﬁcials outofoffice:Senate Bill 123, also by Morris, would let voters decide whether the Legislature should be able to take incompetentjudgesoff the bench.

SB425, however,would not apply to judges, or to the governor or lieutenant governor,asthe Louisiana Constitution protects those officials from removal by suit.

When presenting the measure to theSenateand GovernmentalAffairs Committee on Wednesday,Morris said there was no specific case of misconduct that prompted him to ﬁle the bill, but that “there are mayors who have been involved in very serious scandals and nothing is done for along time.”

“Anything we can do to limit malfeasance or gross misconduct is agood thing,” he said.

The bill passed the Senatepanel in a4-3 vote that fell along party lines, with Democrats opposed. It now requires the approval of the full Senate. Under the proposal, if the Legislature voted to remove an official by civilsuit, a judge appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court would oversee aproceeding to determine whether that ofﬁcial was guilty of malfeasance or gross misconduct.

Senate debate

Current Louisiana law lays out aprocess for officials to be removed “by suit” after they are convicted of felonies.The mechanismdoes not involve the Legislature; instead,state statute directs the district attorneyfor the region where the official lives to ﬁle the removal suit.

If SB425 passes, ofﬁcials could be removed by civil lawsuits without having committed crimes. Democrats on the Senate and

Governmental Affairs Committee, whoworried the concept of “grossmisconduct” would be applied too broadly,raised concernsabout that change.

“I have my concerns about these terms that we’re using,” said state Sen. Sam Jenkins, D-Shreveport. “Especially if we’re not speciﬁcally layingout in the bill as to what we’re actuallylookingfor.”

Another Democrat, state Sen. GaryCarter Jr.ofNew Orleans, questioned how judges wouldinstructjuries to determine whether someone was guilty of gross misconduct without aspecific deﬁnition

“Gross misconduct is conduct that’svery bad,” Morris said, later adding, “I don’tknow that it needs adeﬁnition. It’s self-explanatory.”

Still, Morris said he would adda specific definition to the bill to address hiscolleagues’concerns

Democratsalsoworried that, with the Legislature’s Republican super-majority, lawmakerscouldabuse SB425’s removal mechanism just to get Democrats out of ofﬁce.

“What safeguards do we have in here that would prevent political abuse or temptation of apolitical party?” Carter asked. Morrisargued those concerns were unfounded, notingthe Legislaturecan already impeach ofﬁcials and has not used impeachment to go afterDemocrats.

Removing an official through impeachment requires the approval of both

theHouse and the Senate, as well as atrial in the Senate, according to the Louisiana Constitution. Grounds for impeachmentinclude malfeasance, gross misconduct and commission of afelony while in ofﬁce. Otherbilltargets judiciary

Also on Wednesday, the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee approvedSenate Bill 479. It acts as acompanionbill to SB123, Morris’ proposal to put aconstitutional amendment on the ballot that, if passed, would empower theLegislature to remove judges for“malfeasance, gross misconduct,orincompetence committed while in ofﬁce.”

SB479 deﬁnes those terms, describing incompetence as “a lack of abilityorknowledge sufficient to perform the duties of an ofﬁce that leads to neglect of duty, dereliction of duty,amiscarriage of justice, or misfeasance.”

The Senatepanel voted 4-3 to send SB479 to thefull Senate. Democrats opposedthe measure. Because theLouisiana Constitutiongivesthe Louisiana Supreme Court exclusive jurisdictiontodiscipline membersofthe bar, there is debate over whether theLegislature canimpeach judges underexisting law. It is alsounclearwhether SB123 would resolve that dispute.

SB123 passedthe Senate on March 30 and is awaiting approvalfrom the House andGovernmental Affairs Committee.

Siblings establishendowed fund at UL

Doctorshonor parents’ legacy with gift

BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer

Three siblings, who are all physicians and University of Louisiana at Lafayette alumni, have established ascholarship fund in their parents’ legacy

Drs. Shaminder,Seema and ShalinderGupta created theDr. Surinder &Shashi Gupta Endowed Enhancement Fund for Student Excellence in Sciences at the university. The fund will support high-impact student experiences, includingstudy abroad, internships, undergraduateresearch and service learning at the RayP Authement College of Sciences.

The gift reﬂects afamily legacy passed down from their parents, Dr.Surinder and Mrs. Shashi Gupta, who throughout their lives, have led by example, the siblings stated.

“Ourparents strongly believe that education opensdoors, that hard work matters, and that when yousucceed, you have aresponsibility to help others do the same,” they said in astatement.

Afterarrivinginthe United States in 1963, Surinder Gupta pursued aPh.D. in food science before going on to build acareer as an anesthesiologist. Shashi Gupta, who hadbeen on herown path to medicine in India,earned her undergraduate degree from Louisiana StateUniversity before focusing on family Together, they settledinLafayette, raised three children, and after Surinder Gupta retired from medicine, becamethe owners of Picante and later Masala, which they still operate today

BOOKINGGOOD

ABOVE: Author Shai August,right,talks withvisitorsatthe Books Along the TecheLiteraryFestival in the historic district of New Iberia. The event took place April 10-12.Guest authors, Cajun music, book fairs, artand Cajun cuisine were all part of the weekend.

BELOWLEFT: Guests enjoy arelaxing evening at Prose &Pours happy hour at Shadows-on-the-Teche.

BELOWRIGHT: Shane Bernard, McIlhenny Company historian and curator, speaks on music anddance traditionsinLouisiana during the literary festival. PHOTOSByLEE BALL

Arrest made in Abbeville homicide

Aman has been arrested in connection with ahomicideinvestigation involving awoman found with multiple stab wounds, according to police.

CRIME BLOTTER Advocate staff reports

Officers discovered the body of a woman on March 30 inside aresidence at theCourtyard Apartments. Police identified the victim as NicolettaMenard 44. She had multiple stabwounds, authorities said. During the investigation, detectives developed information

Ryan Harris announcescandidacy forseatvacated by Doug Saloom

ELECTION 2026

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

Lafayette attorney andpublic defenderRyan Harris has announced his candidacy for Lafayette City Court judge. TheDivision BCity Court judgeseat is beingvacated by longtimeJudge DougSaloom, who announcedinFebruary that he wouldnot seek another term. Harris, in awritten announcement, said he pledges “fairness, integrity and acom-

‘I am runningto serveLafayette,’ attorney says Harris

LAFAyETTE CITy COURT JUDGE

mitmenttojustice for every citizen whoenters the courtroom.” Agraduate of St. Thomas MoreHigh School in Lafayetteand LSU LawSchool, Harris believes in applying thelaw with consistency and compassion, his announcement states. With yearsoflegal experienceand deep ties to the community, he said, he is seekingthe position to ensure City Court continues to be efﬁcient,accessible and

groundedinrespect forthe Constitution andthe people it serves.

“I am running to serve Lafayette, acommunity that has done so much for me,” Harris said. “My goal is to use my experience working in City Court to ensure asmooth transition and continue the good work Judge Saloom has done.” Harris has worked as apublic defender in courtroomsacross Acadiana, handling avariety of cases, from trafﬁc to misdemeanor, fromjuveniletofelony. In his

Staff report

An inmate diedTuesdayatthe Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola,accordingtothe stateDepartmentofPublic Safety and Corrections. The prisoner,ReginaldBasile, 46, had been serving alife sentence since 2002 for ﬁrst-degree murder,according to the DepartmentofCorrections.

Basile’s deathisbeing investigated by the West Feliciana Parish Sheriff’sOfﬁce, and the cause is

ä See SIBLINGS, page 4B

OUR VIEWS

Sleeping on thestreet shouldn’t be acrime

If aHouse bill becomes law,people who sleep on the streetinLouisianawould be classiﬁed as criminals.

The so-called “Streets to Success Act” would make camping in unauthorized public spaces a crime punishable by up to six months in prison for aﬁrst offense and at least one year inprison forasubsequent offense,plusﬁnes. It aims to steer people experiencing homelessnesstoward services.

We agree that’sa worthy andimportantgoal Homelessness can affectpublic safety andquality of life, two issues thatmany residents of our cities consistently say are highpriorities

Still, we have concerns that labeling people who have fallen on tough times or are battling mental health challenges orsubstance abuseas lawbreakers does more harm than good.

House Bill 211 is apartof Gov.JeffLandry’s spring legislative agenda. Authored by state Rep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner,itwould create thenew crimebut also enable thosecharged to avoid prison by serving probation for at least ayear while completing atreatment program. Those who successfully complete theprobation andthe program would have theirconvictions removed During arecent HouseJudiciary Committee meeting where it was approved 12-4 before being sent on to the full House, Villiosaidthe bill “calls for acoordinated strategythat integrates criminal justice, housing,health care andhomelessness response systems into acontinuum of care.”

The measure also proposes creating “homelessness courts.”

We’re all for the continuum of careapproach.

In the runup to the Super Bowl in New Orleans, we saw efforts by Landry to move the unhoused from underneath the interstateand intoawellrun facility where services were available as a promising step. We hoped thatwould be amodel forthe state goingforward

But now we are considering criminally charging people for choosing what often is alast resort. That strikes us as unnecessarily cruel. Andwe worry that it could exacerbatechallengespeople face, as criminal charges may make it evenmore difﬁcult to ﬁnd housing andemployment.

We arealso concernedthatthe bill couldimpose conditions that the people targetedwould have difﬁculty meeting, allow judgestoforce those arrested to choose between taking medicine against their will or risking acriminal record andcrowd local jails that are not well-equipped to deal with this population.

Landry and the Legislatureare following the lead of PresidentDonaldTrump. He signed a 2025 executive order to move the nationaway from housing-ﬁrst effortstomandatory health and other treatment programs, shifting federal resources to effortslike theone being considered in Baton Rouge.

We understand that large camps of homeless people pose immense challenges, and wewelcome those federal resources to tacklewhat often feels like an intractable problem.

But we urge lawmakers to address the sources of homelessness and offer appropriate options without forcing thosewho already struggle to bear an additional stigma.

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

Livestreamingfamily court wouldaid abusers

StateRep.Kathy Edmonston’sHouse Bill 278, which calls for livestreaming East Baton Rouge Family Court proceedings, is one of three equally bad bills she ﬁled this session, which victims’ advocates have entitled “The Domestic Abusers’ Assistance Act.” Astudy by theLouisiana Supreme Court at therequestoflegislatorsfound zero corruptioninEastBaton Rouge Family Court, so this bill, which singles out the courtand exempts“Divorce Court TV” in family court proceedings in other state courts, is nonsensical. Does Edmonston really believe that litigants want to have their reasons for fault-based divorce actions watched by thepublic? Or nastychild custody battles available for use by school bullies against humiliated children? Doesn’t everyone want the intricacies of their employment positions and ﬁnancial situations broadcast for all tosee in child support and spousal support hearings?

Andwho doesn’twant their assets and liabilities in acommunity property partition madeknown to extended family and friends “on thespot?”

Keep in mind that Louisiana does not even allow jury trialsinfamily court mattersand that this family court, like domestic divisions of other courts, hears petitions for protection from abuse —for family violence, physical violence, sexual abuse, etc. Should victimsofabuse and sexual assault have their testimony livestreamed? How manyvictims are going to want to come to acourt to talk about experiencing battery and rape? The chilling effect could not be more obvious unless you co-sponsored HB278. The newspaper needs to investigate and report thetrue motives behind this bill.

KIMSPORT

formerchair,Louisiana Commission to Prevent Domestic Violence

Candidatedoesn’t representviews of partyonrace

Iamwriting as aRepublican voter who recently attended the DeSoto Parish Republican Executive Committee candidate forum, where congressional candidate Chris Johnson spoke. What I witnessed was not leadership; it was an embarrassment. Johnson’sremarks were not only provocative but they were also outright offensive and unacceptable. He used crude language, multiple curse words and made adeeply inappropriate and racially charged statement suggesting that Black Americans are only capable of degrading activities. Iwill not repeat his exact words in full out of respect for your readers, but thesentimentwas clear,and it was disgraceful. That is not conservatism. That is not Republican leadership. Andthat is

certainly not how we winelections or represent our values.

The Republican Party should be the partyofopportunity, personal responsibilityand respect forall individuals, not aplatform for crude rhetoric and divisive, demeaning comments. As Republicans, we should be expanding our coalition, not shrinking it through ignorance and offense.

Ireject Chris Johnson as acandidate for Congress. His conduct does not reﬂect thevalues of the Republican voters Iknow here in northwest Louisiana, nor does it represent the dignity that public ofﬁce demands. We can —and must —dobetter

PARKER WARD

Republican State Central Committee, District 38 D

Unborn should be included in constitutional rights

The Declaration of Independence statesthat all people have theunalienable right to life. So why are viable human beings in thewomb being excluded? Thereiscertainly no doubt, at least from the seventhmonth of pregnancy, thatthey are living human beings. Ultrasound images showvoluntarymovements, facial expressions and reaction to sounds, all indicative of afunctioning

brain. They are no longera fetus. They arechildren and should be protected according to theirconstitutionalright to life.

How then can any laws be made that allow anyone to murder these infants in the womb? If permitted, it is gross hypocrisy

LINDAR.SOLIS Mandeville

Congressmust acttohelp Alzheimer’s patients

Alzheimer’sdisease has taken too manypeople I’ve loved. My mother.Both of my grandmothers. My godmother.I was my mother’sprimary caregiver,and Iwalked with her —and our family —through every stage of this disease. That experience changed the course of my life. Today,I serve as an advocate and board chair of the Alzheimer’sAssociation Louisiana Chapter,and aWalk to End Alzheimer’scaptain. Ishare my story because Iknow this disease —and Iknow what is at stake. My mother was diagnosed in the later stages of Alzheimer’s. Like so manyfamilies, we did not fully understand what we were seeing early on. By the timewehad answers, we had already lost valuable time —timethat could have meantmore informed decisions, earlier access to support and a greater chance at dignity forher and relief forour family

That is whyI am asking U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise to advance the bipartisan Alzheimer’sScreening and Prevention (ASAP) Act. Science has madeextraordinary progress. Researchers have now developed blood tests that can detect Alzheimer’sbiomarkers before symptomsappear.But under current law,Medicare cannot cover any dementia screening test forpeople without symptoms. The ASAP Act clears that roadblock. It doesn’tmandate coverage; it simply allows Medicare’s existing evidence-based process to evaluate and cover these tests. It followsthe sameproven model Congress just used forcancer screening. It is bipartisan. It is commonsense. And it is urgent. Alzheimer’sisnot just ahealth care issue. It is afamily crisis —happening quickly,inhomes across the country.I urge Scalise to advance the bipartisan ASAP Act so that morefamilies have the chance to know sooner,plan better, and face this disease with the support they deserve.

JIM PITTMAN NewOrleans

Saints couldlearn from the Bible… andJames Madison

Quin Hillyer

Come on, Mickey Loomis: Trade down!That’swhat American founder James Madison would advise theNew Orleans Saints for the April 23 NFL draft. Yes, Saints fans, here’sariddle you may never have imagined: Why is someone’sapproach to the NFL draft an indicator of whether he has Madison’stype of conservative temperament? Let me hasten to say I’m not horning in on the province of this newspaper’ssuperb sports writers, all of whom are providing expert analysis of the players available in the draftthat begins aweek from now.Thisisabout how to improve the odds of securing useful players, not about which players in particular will prove useful. And while the Madisonian outlook is instructive, it’sworth giving anod, too, to the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 11:2 and11:6 —with which, by the way, Madison surely was familiar,as he studied the Bible extensively even though he kept his religious beliefs mostly private.

Here’sthe nub of why Madisonians (and readers of Ecclesiastes, often attributed to wise King Solomon) surely would look to “trade down,” an approach that Loomis has not taken since 2007, even while negotiating 28 draft trades in the years since then. The most famous of Madison’spolitical convictions —the reason he helped create so manyintricate “checks and balances” in the Constitution —was his very practical observation that humans aren’tangels, which means systems should guard against man’s fallibility by taking into account “the necessity of auxiliary precautions.”

In other words, hedge your bets. Or,asEcclesiastes putsit, “Invest in seven ventures, yes, [or even] in eight, [because] you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.” And “you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.”

Likewise, no matter how much con-

good careersassolid starters. Why not grab prospect number 12 or even 16, rather than prospect 8, if the differences aren’tthat large, while additional picks later in the draft provide more chances to ﬁnd diamonds in the rough?

What are these politicians thinking?

ﬁdence Loomis and his scouts have in their playerevaluations, they do not know whichones will succeed, or for thatmatter,which ones will subject Saints-land to the disaster of careerwrecking injuries. (See, for example, defensive linemen Johnathan Sullivan, Marcus Davenport and Payton Turner, among many other Saints draft busts.)

Granted, Loomis and his staff often are very good talent evaluators, but perhaps auxiliary precautions would have helped mitigate the prominent, intermittent failures.

Auxiliary precautions such as a trade down for more picks

In this year’sdraft, theSaints have the eighth pick in thefirst round. There seemstobeaconsensus that five specific players will be among those chosen in thefirst seven picks.

Afterthat, there are between eight and 11 players who are almost “sure things”tohelp theSaintsimprove, perhaps not all by thesame degree but each as likely as any other to have

Seven-time NFL champion Tom Brady(drafted way down at choice 199), five-time champ Bart Starr (200th pick) and New Orleans’ own onetime league-leading receiver,420th (!) choice Danny Abramowicz, all give testamenttothe realitythat scouts, coaches, and general managers are, in Madisonian terms, eminently fallible. For just one example of how this could work, most draft gurus envision Ohio Statesafety Caleb Downs being chosen around choice 8. Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman, with more blazing speed (4.35 40-yard-dash) than Downs and somewhat better on-field statistics, is projected to go around choice 16. Both are thought to be good fits as anickelback to replace theSaints’ departed Alontae Taylor.Are theSaints really so much surer of Downs than Thieneman that “settling” for Thieneman wouldn’tbeworth also getting far better or more choices later in the draft? The listofsuperbplayerslikely available at choice 12 or 14, or even 16, is fulsome and impressive. And two teams especially,the Dolphins and Jets, have an abundance of picks and thus might be willing to “tradeup” for another big swing at apotential superstar Using awidely referenced “trade value chart,” for example, the Saints could trade choice 8tothe Jetsfor choice 16. In return,the Saintscould move from their third-round choice (slot 73) all theway up to theJets’ secondrounder (slot 33), plus aJets fourth rounder (slot 140) andprobably a2027 sixth-rounder too. In other words: Auxiliary precautions, invested in moreventures. That’swisdom, from aconservative state of mind.

Email QuinHillyer at quin.hillyer@ theadvocate.com

An unpardonable abuseofpower

Yetanother reasonthatDonald Trump’sand Joe Biden’spresidencies cannot be examined without wincing concerns aconstitutional provision that is obscure untilitisabused, which it now often is.The presidential“power to grantreprieves and pardons” has become yet another source of political brutishness fueling voters’ cynicism. George Washington, conscious that he was constantlysetting powerful precedents, meticulously wielded the awesome and unreviewable pardon power by consulting pertinent ofﬁcials and listing reasons relating to the public interest. His amnesty —amass pardon —for participants in the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania promoted reconciliation. The second and third presidents were less scrupulous. John Adams’s pardons of some Pennsylvania tax evaders might have been related to that state’selectoral votes in 1800. Thomas Jefferson pardoned several supporterswho had been imprisoned under the Sedition Act, which he consideredunconstitutional. Critics, however,saw him aiding rabid allies. These instances of awkward political appearanceswere models of decorousness compared withwhat transpires today.Presidents, writes Saikrishna Bangalore Prakash, are embracing the“astounding potential of the pardon pen.” In his new book “The Presidential Pardon: The Short Clause with aLong, Troubled History,” Prakash, aUniversity of Virginia law professor,says we have entered “pardon dystopia.” Bill Clinton greased the downward slide. He pardoned his half-brother (Secret Service code name: “Headache”), who then made afortune lobbying his sibling, the president to pardon, among others, aGambino mob associate. As Hillary Clinton

Democrat Eric Swalwell and Republican Tony Gonzales were both accusedofsexual misconduct involving staffers. Californian Swalwell said he’d resign from his House seat aftergiving up on his run forgovernor.Texan Gonzales said he waswithdrawing fromthe 2026 reelection race.

Back in the day, male politicianscavortedwith their female staffers andgot away with it. But thatwas way back andmany days ago.

An ofﬁcialcheating on his wife with awoman pickedupata rally doesn’tseem to bother voters the way it once did. Donald Trump hasnumbed the electorate to thatlevel of moral outrage. Idon’tapprove of adultery,but it’sgenerally not adeal killerinmyvoting forsomeone. Many men regarded as great nationalleadershad sexual relationships outside their marriages. Some were Founding Fathers.

began seeking aU.S. Senate seat, her husband commuted the sentences of 16 members of aPuerto Rican group that had detonated more thanahundred bombs in the United States. He pardoned Marc Rich, afugitive who owed $48 million in taxes. Rich’sexwife made a$450,000 contributiontoClinton’spresidential library,gave $100,000 to Hillary’s Senate campaign, and $1 million to the Democratic Party This was unseemly enough, but Prakash says, “Something has qualitatively changed over thepast two presidencies.” Leaving office, Biden gave preemptive pardons to aslew of family members. Prakash:“For many years, JosephBiden had been involved in asordid business, where he was the product.” Family members charged for access to him. He gave preemptive pardons to two brothers, his sister and her husband, and asister-in-law Before the 2024 election,hesaid, regarding his egregiously corrupt son Hunter,“Iwill not pardon him.” After the election, he did. In Trump’sfirst term, he pardoned his daughter’sfather-in-law,who, for vengeance against his brother-in-law who had testified against him, hired a prostitute, filmed her encounter with the brother-in-law,and mailed the tape to his sister Having, consecutively,the two seediest families in presidential history has besmirched thepractice of pardoning.

Lobbying for pardons is now amorethan-cottage industry in Washington. OneTrump pardon, Prakash says, might have saved the recipient, a fraudster,nearly half abillion dollars. Campaigning in 1976, Jimmy Carterindicated that he might pardon Vietnam-era draft evaders. He did. In 2020, Prakash says, candidate Biden was “the ﬁrst to promise apardon

explicitly,” courting young voters by vowing to “expunge” marijuana convictions.Hedid, on theeve of the 2022 midterm elections. Prakash believes this was theﬁrst pardon based on a president’s disapproval of afederal law.Another was Biden’s2024 commutation of 37 deathsentences. In 2024, Trump pandered to his base by saying his ﬁrst acts if reelected would include pardoning theJan. 6 defendantshecalled “hostages.” This, like Biden’sactions regarding marijuanaand capital punishment,was discordant with the presidential duty to “takecare that thelaws be faithfully executed.” Welcome to what Prakash calls the “brave(and frightening) new world of policy pardons.” Prakash believes that such pardonsamount to suspensions of laws —announcementsofthe chief executive’srefusal to honor,by enforcing, some statutes. What can be done about thegrotesque useofthe pardon power that, in Prakash’sunderstatement, “seems inconsistentwiththe general structure of checksand balances”? Not much. Submit potential pardon grants to thepresident’s Cabinet?You probably have seen —speaking of grotesque things —the toadyismofthe current one.

Presidents hoard power,soany president probably would opposeconstitutional reforms, such as establishing an independent Clemency Commission, or empowering the Senate or Houseto disapprove of presidential clemencies. So, theremedy for tawdry pardoning is not this or that institutional gambit.The only feasible solution is theelection of presidentswho arenot louts. This,however,becomes less likely as votersare madeever more cynical by loutish pardons. Email George Will at georgewill@ washpost.com.

An affair with astaffer who may fear losing ajob or achanceatpromotion if they refuse is anothermatter. Although I’ve generally referred to the offenders as men, womencan engage in similarmisconduct, and some have Theyfamously include former California Rep. Katie Hill. She wasinvolved in at least one improperrelationship, with acongressional staffer.Hill resignedin2019 under considerable pressure The undeniable shift in the rules of conduct makes it incomprehensible that an ambitious congressmanwould ignore them. That goes doubly so forSwalwell, aDemocratic star who brieﬂy ranfor president in 2019. Until recently aserious contender to become governor of California, he’s nowout of the race. He’s been chargedwith grave offenses thatinclude drugging andraping awomaninahotel in 2018. I’mreluctant to accept as fact anyaccusationthrown at apowerful male ﬁgure. The #MeToo business may have emergedout of reasonable outrage,but it hasoften spiraled into aracket peddling halftruths —pushedbywomen with otheragendasorafew screws loose. Swalwell says the stories abouthim are“false.” He deniesthe rape charge and insists thatthe allegations were politically motivated. He might have apoint or two.Giventhe heated gubernatorialrace in California,the timing maybequestioned. Swalwell’slawyerhas publicly threatened legalactionagainst at least one accuser.

But his admission of having made “mistakes” alongside the copy-and-paste announcement, “My focus in the coming days is to be with my wife andchildren” leads one to believe he wassexually involved with an underling. Thatalone is serious.

Power radiating over good looks and smart TV appearances made Swalwell aglamorous ﬁgure.Hehad fans in Hollywood. One caneasily believe an unnamed accuser’sdescription of his aura.“When he talkedtoyou,itwas like the sun was shining on you,” she said. “You felt like the coolestperson in the room.”

As for Gonzales, the staffer with whom he admitted having an affair later took her life. The congressmaninsists thatthe suicide was nottiedtotheir relationship.

Gonzales strayedfromhis marriage vows while representing aculturally conservative districtalong the South Texas border Swalwell’sconstituents in the East Bay, right acrossthe waterfrom San Francisco, are afﬂuent andsocially liberal.

The two couldn’tbeculturally more different, but both seemedtothink they were entitledtodisregard the mores of the day. Being sexually involvedwith an employeeisbarred by House rules. And forgood reasons. Again, if theywere caught having aﬂing with awoman outside their professional orbit, theymight be criticized but could wrangle their wayout of it. Their fatal ﬂaw was treating their female workforce as aharem. What could theyhavepossibly been thinking?

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

George Will

Froma Harrop

Swalwell

Gonzales

STAFF FILEPHOTO By BRETTDUKE

MickeyLoomis, executivevice president and general manager of the New Orleans Saints, speaks at the Saints headquartersinMetairie.

La.wants people just outofprisononMedicaid

Officialssay health care prevents recidivism

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

Louisiana will work with the Trump administration on anew program to get peoplewho areleaving prison connected with Medicaid,inhopes of getting them help that will prevent them from reoffending, state ofﬁcials announced Wednesday

Gov.Jeff Landry held anews conference to say that the U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services is on trackto ap-

prove “Section 1115 Waiver” that will give the state flexibility to start offering the services up to 90 days before someone is released from prison or jail. Thoseservicescould include medication-assisted treatment foraddiction, mental health treatment,a 30-day supply of prescription drugs and other services.

people in jail, and we don’t want to keep people in jail,” Landrysaid. “We don’tlikethe recidivismout there.”

The idea is that, by putting people on asolidhealth care footing before releasing them,the state will remove an obstacle tosuccessfully reintegrating into society, ofﬁcials said.

“Wedon’tlikeputting

In a2024 application for thewaiver stateofﬁcialsnoted that people who repeatedly end up in prisondisproportionately suffer from substance abuse andmental health disorders.

By treating those disorders, state officials hope to keep people outof prison. “Weknow that we can get(substance use disorder)treatment, chronic disease treatmentand bring aprisoner’shealth

NEWORLEANS

under control, so that when they’re released,the emergency department is not theonlysource of care. There’scontinuity between thecare that they’re getting from the prison,” Secretary of Health Bruce Greensteinsaid. “Wealso know thatwhen prisoners get thecare that they need and haveasmooth transition, they’re much less likely to go back to jail.”

DanBrillman, the federal Medicaiddirector,was in Baton Rouge on Wednesday for theannouncement “There’sgonna be aton of innovation happening in prisons and jails and youth facilities,” he said. Brillmansaid he hopes theprogram will be up and runninglater in thesummer

SuspectedMolotov cocktail thrown at Teslacenter

No arrests have been made in Tuesdayincident

Aﬁre startedatthe New Orleans Tesla service and leasing center in the Irish Channel after the building was apparently hit by aMo-

SIBLINGS

Continued from page1B

Each of the Gupta children attended Lafayette High School, completed their undergraduate courses at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and earned medicaldegrees from the LSU Health Sciences Centers in NewOrleans and Shreveport.

Today,Shaminder Gupta is anephrologist and chief medical officer at Monogram Health.

Seema Guptaisanophthalmologist and clinical and surgicalprofessor at the Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center in Houma; Shalinder Gupta is afamily medicine physician and chief medical ofﬁcer at Clo-

BLOTTER

Continued from page1B

placingJaven Richardson, 33, of Abbeville,atthe scene around the time of Menard’sdeath. An arrest warrant was later obtained charging him with seconddegree murder Police said they believed Richardson left the area in an attempt to avoid arrest. Detectives coordinated with Louisiana State Police and learned he had traveled out of town but later returnedtoAbbeville.

Richardson was located Monday at aresidence just outside the city limits. He was arrested and booked on an active warrant for second-degree murder before being taken to the Ver-

HARRIS

Continued from page1B

private practice, Harrishas represented clients in civil and family law matters.

ANGOLA

Continued from page1B

undetermined,pending results of an autopsy,according to thedepartment.

Basile is one of three men convicted in the killing of Acadiana oil executive Ronald Shaw at his homein Youngsville. Basilepleaded guilty to the murder in ex-

lotov cocktail early Tuesday morning, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ New Orleansofﬁce. The front door of the ofﬁce on 2801 Tchoupitoulas St. was singedinthe incident.Debris surrounded theentrance Wednesday morning and asignatthe center instructed customers to use aseparatedoor

ATFNew Orleansand the New Orleans Police Department responded to the ﬁre at around 7:52 a.m. Tuesday after the center’sowner calledabout aﬁre, an NOPD spokesperson said.Noarrests hadbeen made as of Wednesday Teslastaffers were advisednot to comment on the investigation. Several Tesla shops and

cars were targets of vandalismlastyearasCEO ElonMusk’sleadership at theTrumpAdministration’s Department of Government Efficiency, andhis wider involvementinright-wing politics, provokedbacklash. Agroup of TeslaCybertruck drivers was pummeled with beads during the Krewe of Orpheus’ parade in 2025.

The Guptasiblings honor their parents’ legacy withanendowedfund for student excellenceatthe University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

ver Health.

“Where you build your foundation is core to future success. UL-Lafayette allowed me to build thisfoundation, and Iwill always be grateful,” said Shaminder.

milionParish Correctional Center

The investigation remains ongoing.

Captured fugitive awaitsreturn to La.

Raymond Howard, a 34-year-old fugitivewanted in St. LandryParish, has beencaptured in Houston andisawaiting extradition to Louisiana, authorities said. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office arrested Howard without incident near Interstate10and Sheldon Road.

Howard facesmultiple charges in St. Landry Parish,including rape, escape, resisting an ofﬁcer,possession of aﬁrearmbya felon and burglary Mark LeBlancsaid How-

He has experience in jury and bench trials, including cases before Judges Saloom and Roya Boustany,the current City Courtjudges Emilia Pardo, aLafayette prosecutor, previously announced her candidacy for

change for the prosecutors not seeking thedeath penalty

The three men ambushed Shaw and his wife when they returned home from grocery shopping

The grisly murderwas the subject of a“Forensic Files” TV episode thataired in 2002 andmade national news Staffwriter Olivia Tees contributed to this story

Shaminder entered the University of Louisianaat Lafayette through the Concurrent Early Admissions Program and played men’s soccer on campus. To learn more aboutthe

Ray P. AuthementCollege of Sciences or other university initiatives, contact theUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation at (337) 482-0700 or email ulfoundation@louisiana.edu.

ard hasa historyofextensive contact with law enforcement and repeated court appearances tied to serious charges LeBlancsaid Howard has escapedcustody three times since 2023, each time while being taken to or from court appearances at the St. LandryParishCourthouse in Opelousas.

3-year-old boy dies in hotel pool

A3-year-old boydied after he was found unresponsiveina hotelswimming pool in New Iberia, authorities said.

The incident occurred justbefore12:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Ramada Inn on La. 14, according to Capt. Leland Laseter of the New Iberia Police Department.

theDivision BCityCourt judge seat. Theelectionisscheduled for Nov.3

EmailClaire Taylor at ctaylor@theadvocate. com.

LOTTERY

TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2026

PICK 3: 1-2-6

PICK 4: 1-8-3-9

PICK 5: 7-4-5-0-0

MEGA MILLIONS: 17-21-24-57-69

MEGA BALL: 12

Parker, Jeanette Plauché

Aservice of Christian Burial willbeheld on Saturday, April 18, 2026 at 11:00 AM in the Episcopal Church of theAscension, 1030 Johnston Street,for Jeanette PlauchéParker, whopassed away peacefully on April 13, 2026 at home surrounded by family. TheReverendMatthew Ainsleywill celebrate the Funeral Mass, followed by inurnment of ashes in the church's columbarium

Jeanette wasbornin Lake Charles on October 14, 1934, the daughterof Stephen Eugeneand Janette Vitello Plauché.In 1954, she marriedher high school sweetheart, Luther George Parker. In 1957, after earningtheir undergraduate degreesatLSU they moved to Lafayette; it washerethat Jeanette discerned hervocationtobecome an educator andbegan hercareerasfounder of AscensionDay School (now AscensionEpiscopal School). Shelater taught elementary school, started theLafayette Parish Gifted Program, earnedher doctorate from the University of Georgia, andjoinedthe facultyofthe Universityof SouthwesternLouisiana (now theUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette), whereshe wasan Endowed Professor and founding directorofthe Center for Gifted Education.Ather 2004 retirement she wasnamed Professor Emerita. Jeanette wasa devout Christian whooverthe years served herchurch in many capacities, including as amember of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension Vestryand the Ascension Episcopal School Board, which namedher Trustee Emerita in 2013. In 2023, she received theRector'sAward for distinguishedservice to Ascension Parish. Jeanette was active locally, serving on Lafayette'sEconomic Development Task Force andthe Vision Lafayette project, and as accreditation editorfor the Chamber of Commerce,Presidentof theLafayette Natural History Museum Association,and member of theMuseum Commission. Shewas known nationallyfor her contributions to theestablishment of professional standards for graduate programs in giftededuca-

received numerousprofessional awards. In 2010 she was nameda Trailblazer in The Independentnewspaper's recognition of Women Who Mean Business. Sheloved writing andin2021 published herfourthbook, BendelGardens: An HistoricTreasure in Lafayette, Louisiana-the history of theLafayette subdivision in whichshe andGeorge hadlived for over 20 years. Jeanette is survivedby twosons, JamesStephen andGeorge Thomas Parker of Lafayette, andher daughter-in-law, Tracey Barnabei ParkerofFrisco, Texas; fivegrandchildren Alec Parkerand hiswife Roya, KyleParker, Jordan Parker, AnnieParkerand herhusbandJacob LeMarié, and ErinParker; andthree great granddaughters, Everleigh LeMariéand Audreyand Dakota Parker. Sheisalso survived by herlifelong friend, Craig Gorham ShaddockofLake Charles; herstepmother's grandchildren-Steve, Mary (Jones), and Nancy (Clements) Shaddock, and Carolyn,Mary, andTerrell Woosley; andthree godchildren, Carol Hamilton Hunt,Mark Hamilton, and AnthonyMirabile.She was preceded in death by her belovedhusbandofnearly 60 years, Luther George Parker; ason,Robert William Parker; herparents; herstepmother, Edith Burton ShaddockPlauché; herstepsister,Evelyn ShaddockMurray,and her very special stepbrother BillShaddock. Thefamilywould like to give special thanks to Virginia Broussard, Sonia Deal,and Hospice of Acadianafor theloving care they providedto Jeanette Friends whowish to make memorial donations in Jeanette's name are invited to consider the Episcopal Church of the Ascension or Ascension Episcopal School (1030 Johnston Street,Lafayette, LA 70501) or theUL Lafayette Foundation (P. O. Box 44290, Lafayette, LA 70504-4290).

Visitation will be held at Martinand Castille Funeral Home'sDOWNTOWNlocation (330 St.Landry Street Lafayette, LA 70506) from 4:00-7:00 PM on Friday, April 17, 2026. View Jeanette's full obituary andguestbookonline at www.mourning.com. Martin& Castille Funeral HomeDOWNTOWN, 330 St LandryStreetLafayette, Louisiana 70506 337-2342311

Officersresponding to areported medical emergency found the child had alreadybeenpulledfrom thepool. Police saidofficersimmediatelybegan lifesaving measures,including CPR. The child was airlifted to ahospital in Lafayette, where he was later pronounced dead.

Detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident, Laseter said. Authorities said more information will be releasedasitbecomes available.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Landry

Brillman

Staff report

Saints solidonO-line, butdepth picksanoption

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

It truly has been awhile since the New Orleans Saints did not feel the need toplug a massive hole on their offensive line withone of their top picks in the NFL draft In each of the pasttwo years (andthree of the past four drafts), the Saintshave used atop-20 pick on an offensivetackle.Two of those picks, Kelvin Banks(No. 9last season) and Taliese Fuaga (No. 14 in 2024) appear to have hit, giving the Saints young bookend tackles to build around.

This year,New Orleansaddressedits major weakspot on the offensive line in free agency when it handed a$61 millioncontracttoDavid Edwards to play left guard.

His signing means the Saintswill go into trainingcamp knowing who their projected starting ﬁve linemen are for next season.

This is not to say theSaintsshouldn’tcontinue to investinthe position, starting with the draft.

Pro Bowl center Erik McCoy has played at an extremely high level when he’sbeen on the ﬁeld, but he’smissed 20 games the last twoseasons withvarious injuries. Right guard CesarRuiz has missedatleastone game ineachofthe last four seasons, and

LSUgymnasticsteamaimsto keep focusahead of NCAA semifinals

LSU gymnast LexiZeiss performs her routine on the balance beam during ameet against Kentucky on Jan. 23 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

BYSCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

FORT WORTH,Texas— As the LSU Tigers wentthrough their pre-NCAA championships practice session here Wednesday at DickiesArena, staff members andsome gymnasts wore lavender-colored T-shirts with the words“Let it Reign”onthe back.

Asubhead tothat slogan couldhave been “Do ournormal.”

There are fewifany sporting eventsasraucousand distraction-ﬁlled as afour-team NCAA gymnastics meet.Someone else’smusic is always playing, cheers alwaysringing out for another team or gymnast. Allthe whileyou’re trying toconcentrate on the most important routines of the year

Both elite skill and concentration arerequired.

“Wedon’tworryabout the other teamsonthe floor,” said LSUsophomore Lexi Zeiss, expectedto compete in three events in Thursday’s first national semifinal at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN2. “Stay in our bubbleand do our normal. Our normal’senough.” When the Tigers have been their best this season, their normal would be good enough to win LSU’ssecond NCAA title in three years. TheNo. 2 national seed, LSU posted aseasonbest 197.375 in the NCAA regional

NCAA championships Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, Texas Thursday Semifinal I: LSU,Florida, Georgia, Stanford, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2 Semifinal II: Arkansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, UCLA, 8p.m., ESPN2 Toptwoteamsfromeachsessionadvance tofinal Saturday NCAA final,3p.m., ABC

semiﬁnals at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center,the Tigers’ best-ever regional score. LSUfollowed that up witha197.825 in the regional ﬁnal, good enough to winand advance to nationals for the

16th time,but just lowenoughthat if the Tigers repeat it here it could leave themout of the NCAAfinal forthe second straight year.Add to that some questions about the health of two key gymnasts andyou could understandthe fretful look on LSU coach Jay Clark’sface Wednesday as he spoke to reporters.

“You really can’thold back in terms of puttingyourbest foot forwardonceyou gettothe semiﬁnals like this,” Clark said, “because ä See LSU, page 3C

UL’s series winover nationally ranked Southern Mississippi last weekend didn’t solve all of the issues plaguing the Ragin’ Cajuns this season. But it wasatimely,welcomed relief from losing six of eight games —and somein scary fashion. In someways, the Cajuns are still in a precarious position heading into this weekend’strip to Troy.After all, UL (21-15, 6-9 Sun Belt) is tied for11th place in the conference standings, just one game above the cellar That only begins to tell this team’s story.ULisina fascinating position with ﬁve league series left. While the Cajuns are just one gameout of last place, they’re also just two games behind third place. That’s how competitive the Sun Belt race is this spring.

Another factor in UL’s corner is the RPI

“There’salot of different waystoget to where you want to go,” Deggs said. “You can’tpigeon-hole yourself into one way to get to the postseason. Youcan get hot and makearun, or you stay grinding and get in that thing and go winthe tournament, which we’ve done.

“And with our RPI,maybe it’sjust adeep run in the tournament, Idon’tknow.You just have to let the season play out.”

Scheduling can be tricky but it has worked out this season forthe Cajuns. Almostevery team UL has played has agood RPI

Consider someofthe RPIsentering Tuesdayofprevious UL opponentsthis season: Southern Miss (14), Texas State (38), Kansas State (48), UC San Diego (53), Rice (55), Maryland (60), Dallas Baptist (71), LSU (72), Southeastern (74) and South Alabama (78).

As aresult, the Cajuns sport aNo. 40 RPI

UL has achance to climb ever higher Troy’sRPI stands at 56, and next week UL heads to No.47Arkansas State. There’salso ahuge opportunity with

Kevin Foote

On TV

COLLEGE BASEBALL

6p.m. Clemson at Virginia ACC

6p.m.Auburn at Florida SEC

7p.m. Georgia at ArkansasESPNU

WOMEN’S COLLEGE GYMNASTICS

3:30 p.m. Semifinal 1ESPN2

8p.m. Semifinal 2ESPN2

WOMEN’S COLLEGELACROSSE

4p.m. North Carolina atDukeACC

4:30 p.m. Syracuse at BostonCollegeESPNU

5p.m. Johns Hopkins at Penn St BTN

7p.m. Maryland at Michigan BTN

Sixprospects whocould be steals in draft

BY ANTWAN STALEY Newyork Daily News (TNS)

The NFL draftclass hasbeen criticized for alack of elitetop-endtalent.

This is particularly true at thequarterback and runningback positions, where only one player from each position could be selectedinthe ﬁrst round (quarterback Fernando Mendoza and running backJeremiyah Love).

Butthatdoesn’tmean therearen’tunderrated prospects who could make animmediate impact. Each positionhas itssleeper players. Here areafew of theDay 2orDay 3prospects who could becomeproductive players in the league.

Taylen Green, QB,Arkansas

This is not agreatquarterbackdraft in terms of depth at the position, butGreen couldbeworth taking aswing at on Day3 Green is araw,dual-threatquarterback with ahigh ceiling thanks to hisrocket arm and overall athleticism. He wouldworkwell in today’s NFL offenses withthe usageof RPOs and play-action passing. At 6-foot-6 and 227 pounds,Green hasexcellentsize, which will be intriguing to someteamslooking for adevelopmental quarterback.

Duringhis fiveseasons at bothBoise State and Arkansas, Green threwfor 9,662yards, 59 touchdowns and 35 interceptions.He will needtolimithis turnovers at thenext level ButGreen throws the ball downfield well enough while beingable to be abackfield creator, which is the archetype teamsare searching for at quarterback.

JonahColeman,RB, Washington

Coleman is an experienced running back who can play all three downs.Despite his 5-8,220-pound frame, he is adownhillball carrier who has only fumbled once in four seasons at Washington and Arizona. Colemanisdifficult to take downwhile alsoshowing patience and vision to evade defenders. ButColeman lacksthe top-end speedteams want to see from aplayer of his size. He didn’tdoany testingat thecombine becausehewas rehabbing an ankle injury. ChrisBell, WR,Louisville Bellisonly on this list becausehesuffered an ACL injuryinNovember, which dropped his draft stock from the first round. At 6-2, 222 pounds, Bell has everythingteamslook forinareceiver.Heisa big targetwho can turn short routes into long gains In 11 games before his ACL injury, Bell registered 72 receptions for 917 yards and six touchdowns for the Cardinals. The most impressive part about Bell’sgameisthat he welcomes contact and is difficult tobring down.

John MichaelGyllenborg, TE,Wyoming Gyllenborg is one of the mostunderrated players in thisyear’sdraft. During his four seasonswith the Cowboys, he ﬁnished with 80 catches for 1,023 yards and sevenTDs Gyllenborg wasn’tsuper productive, but his talent is evident whenwatching any Wyoming game. He attacksdefensesinthe middle of the ﬁeld with his athleticism and size. At 6-6, 249 pounds, Gyllenborg ran a 4.6-second 40-yard dash at theNFL combine. Markel Bell,OT, Miami

At 6-9, 346 pounds, Bell is amountainous player, which helps himkeeppassrushers at bay while also moving well for aplayer his size. He started all 15 games at left tackle forthe Hurricanes last season, earning All-ACC third-team honors. Bellplayed 1,034 offensivesnaps, ﬁfthmost in theFBS. He also allowedzero sacks across 558pass-blocking snapsinhis senior season. Bellallowed just nine pressures and one quarterback hit in 2025,withanelite 83.8 pass-blocking grade,according to Pro Football Focus.

Jadon Canady,DB, Oregon

At 5-10, 181 pounds, Canadyisanundersized defensive back, which will scare some teams away. But he’saversatileplayerwho brings experience at safety,nickel and cornerback. Canady was the Ducks’ nickel corner last season and helped them rank fourth in yards passingallowed. In 15games, he ﬁnished with 39 tackles, twointerceptions and six pass breakups. Canady projects as either aslotcornerback or afree safety at thenextlevel and is worth alate Day2or3 pick

GOLF

9a.m. Champions:Senior PGAGolf

1p.m. PGATour:RBC HeritageGolf

5p.m. LIV Golf: Mexico City FS1

5p.m. LPGA: LA ChampionshipGolf HORSE RACING

Noon America’s Dayatthe Races FS2

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

6p.m. PFL: Main Card, Belfast,Ireland ESPN2

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

12:30 p.m.Toronto at MilwaukeeMLB

3:30 p.m. TexasatAthletics *MLB

7:30 p.m. Seattle at San DiegoMLB NHL

6:30 p.m.St. Louis at Utah ESPN

9p.m.Seattle at Colorado ESPN MEN’S SOCCER

11:40 a.m. Freiburg at Celta de Vigo CBSSN 1:55 p.m.Bologna at Aston Villa CBSSN TENNIS

5a.m.Barcelona-ATP, Munich-ATP Tennis UFL

7p.m.Louisville at Houston NFLN WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

7p.m.SaltLakevs.Austin USA

*Joined in progress

atouchdowncatch

Seattle Seahawkstight

Saturday’s special

NFL’sbestteams useDay 3ofdraft to buildwinning rosters

BY ROBMAADDI AP pro football writer

Winning Day 3ofthe NFL

draft is abuilding block for success in the league.

While most of the draft buzz centers on top prospects who can makeanimmediate impact, evaluating players for thelater rounds is acrucial part of the process

Early-round picks generate excitement, getbiggercontracts and bring higher expectations. Star power sells tickets and merchandise. Butrosters are built and sustained withplayers drafted on Saturday when the fourth throughseventh roundstake place. Teams that consistently contend ﬁnd players who can contribute in those rounds. These are theguys who play key roles on special teams, can develop into starters and provide needed depth.

“I’dsay the lateround to (undrafted) free agents, honestly,the fifththrough undrafted players, it’s probably asimilar pool of players,” Texans general manager Nick Caserio said. “That’s where youtip your hattoyour scoutingstaff becausethey know the players as much as anybody,and we spend as much time talkingabout that group of players as we do the other players that are graded higher.

“You take alot of pridein those players because those players have an opportunity to enhance your overall program, enhanceyouroverall team.Again, just getthemin thebuilding.Ifthey’re on the roster,great. If they’re offthe roster in the practice squad, no problem.We’ve talked about this. You’re going to need those players at some point to go in and play really important snaps.”

Trusting thescouts

Thebestscoutingdepartments shine in the later rounds after spending months identifying traits that stand out and upside that may have been overlooked by other teams.

Thereigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks had ﬁve starters who were selected on Day 3ofthe draft or were signed as undrafted free agents. Tight end A.J. Barner guard Anthony Bradford and

DRAFT DAYS

Day1(Round 1): Thursday,April23

Day2(Rounds 2-3): Friday,April24

Day3(Rounds 4-7): Saturday,April25

On TV: ABC, ESPN, NFL Network

cornerback CobyBryant each were fourth-roundpicks.Center Jalen Sundell and linebacker Drake Thomas were signed after going undrafted.

The 2024 Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles found one of their best offensive linemen in the seventh round, taking achance on Australian rugby player JordanMailatain2018. Edge rusher JoshSweat,who sacked Patrick Mahomes21/2 times in adominantdefensive performance against the Chiefs in theSuper Bowl, was afourth-round pick. Starting safetyReed Blankenship was an undrafted free agent.

One of Philadelphia’salltime greats—Jason Kelce was asixth-round pick who anchored the offensive line for more than adecadeand helped the teamwin its ﬁrst SuperBowl titlein2018 and reach another title game in 2023. HowieRoseman was in hissecondseasonasgeneral manager when he selected Kelce in 2011.

“I thinkwhenyou’retalking about the first-round picks, you’re hoping you’re getting atwo-contract player thathas Pro Bowl potential,” Roseman said.“So you’re lookingatit over hopefully eight- ,nine- , 10-year period. Then Ithink as you go through the draft, those expectations change just basedonreally the research on those picks.

“When you’re in the fifth round, can youexpect that you’re going to getaneight,nine- ,10-year player based on theresource? Maybe not. Obviously,that’swhat we’re looking to do and that’swhat we’re looking to hit on.”

Capfriendly

From asalary-cap standpoint,Day 3picks and undrafted free agents are especially valuable because theymake less money,have

Hurtwristcauses Alcaraz to withdraw in Barcelona

Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the BarcelonaOpenafter undergoing atest on his right wrist, the tournament announced Wednesday

The withdrawal means the second-ranked Alcaraz cannot overtake top-ranked Jannik Sinner and moveback atop the rankings next week.

The move came aday after Alcaraz called for atrainer and had his wrist treated during his opening match, a6-4,6-2 victory over Otto Virtanen.

Alcaraz was slated to play Tomas Machac in the round of 16 on Thursday. Machac advances to the quarterﬁnals to meet either Andrey Rublev or Lorenzo Sonego. Alcaraz, 22, lost the No.1ranking after getting beat by Sinner in the Monte CarloMasters ﬁnal Sunday

Tigersrookie McGonigle gets$150 million contract

DetroitTigersrookieKevin McGonigle becamethe latest young player to get abig-money deal, agreeing Wednesday to a$150 million, eight-year contract that starts in 2027.

A21-year-old infielder,McGoniglehad four hits in hismajorleague debut on March 26 and entered Wednesday hitting .311 with one homer,eight RBIs and a.417 on-base percentage in 17 games. McGonigle becamethe fourth top prospect to get abig-money deal since late March following a $140 million, nine-year contract for 19-year-old Pittsburgh shortstop Konnor Grifﬁn; a$95 million, eight-year agreement for20-yearoldSeattleshortstop Colt Emerson; and a$50.75 million, eightyear pact for 21-year-old Milwaukee shortstop Cooper Pratt.

Lehigh sets NCAAbaseball record for first-inning runs

cost-controlled contracts and are low risk. These players also help build culture. They often enter the league with something to prove, feeling overlooked or doubted. They push establishedplayers and create morecompetition.

“Great players comefrom everywhere in the draft, whether they’re aﬁrst-round pick, seventh-round pick, undraftedfreeagent,”Colts GM ChrisBallard said.“Our scoutsdoagreat job of digging andtrying to dig out those typesofplayers that we think can come in and produce right away.They come from everywhere.”

Hittingthe jackpot

TomBrady is the ultimate late-round find in the NFL draft. The Patriots selected him in the sixth round in 2000 withthe 199th overallpick. He went on to lead NewEngland to six SuperBowl titles and became the greatest quarterbackinleaguehistory

The SanFrancisco49ers turnedMr. Irrelevant —the last pick in the2022draft intoafranchise quarterback whenthey chose Brock Purdy with the 262nd pick. They traded up to select quarterback Trey Lance third overall in 2021 but Purdy outplayed him, ledSan Franciscotothe NFCtitlegameasa rookie and the Super Bowlinhis second season.

“I will tell youthata lotof the things we track in terms of successful draft choices over theyears, there’sobviously arequisite amount of ability,” Niners GM John Lynch said.

“A lot of it goes to the person, the intangibles that they possess or don’tpossess in terms of them makingitor not making it. And Ithink that’sbecause, having done it myself for 15 years, the NFL is very hard.It’stough. It’s not easy

“You’regoing to be tested over and over andover. And so, do youhavethatmental fortitudethat when things get tough,because they will and they do and that never goes away,doyou have thatmentaltoughness, that physical toughness to endure and get the most out of whatever your abilities are? Ithink that’sreally critical, but the tape is very critical.”

BALTIMORE Lehigh set an NCAA Division Irecord by scoring 20 runs in thefirst inning of a38-6 victory over Coppin State on Tuesday night. The Mountain Hawks broke the first-inning record of 18 runsset by Princeton and matched by Air Force, both in 1974. Lehigh’s38 total runs werea Patriot League record and the mostinagame between Division Iteams since New Mexico State beat Texas Southern 38-6 in 2019. Of Lehigh’s20first-inning runs, 13 were scored consecutively on bases-loaded walks, hit by pitches or wild pitches. Owen Walewander’sgrand slamaccountedfor the final runs in the inning. Aidan Quinn was walked seven times for Lehigh, also aDivision Irecord.

Aces re-sign 4-time MVP Wilsontothree-year deal Thereigning WNBA champion LasVegas Aces completed theprocess Wednesday of bringing back their coregroup by re-signing four-timeMVP A’ja Wilson. Terms were notreleased,per club policy, but ESPNreported it was athree-year, $5 million supermaxcontract thatisthe most lucrative in WNBA history

“A’ja is truly one of one, whohas led this franchise to where it is today,”Aces president and general manager Nikki Fargas said In addition to Wilson —last season named WNBAMVP and The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year —the Aces have resigned stars Jackie Young, Chelsea Grayand Jewell Loyd, among other key contributors to their third title in four seasons.

NBA says regular-season viewership roseby86%

The numbers are in, and the NBA said the ﬁrst year of its new TV deals were ahit. The league released numbers for theregularseasononWednesday, showing that170 million people in the U.S. watched NBAgames across theleague’sfour primary broadcast platforms this year —those being ABC/ESPN,Amazon Prime Video, NBC/Peacock and NBA TV Thosenumbers arethe league’s best in 24 years, the NBAsaid, and representedan86% rise over last season.

Prime Video was part of the league’sTVrights package forthe first time this season, and NBC/ Peacockreturned forthe ﬁrsttime in ageneration. The league signed anew 11-year,$76 billion-plus media rights deal in 2024.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTOByMARK J. TERRILL

end

Barner makes

during the second halfof Super Bowl 60 against the NewEngland Patriots on Feb.8 in Santa Clara, Calif. Barner was a fourth-round pick inthe 2024 NFLDraft.

FIVE TO WATCH

FORT WORTH, Texas The top teams and gymnasts come together here this weekend for theNCAA championships.

No. 2-seeded LSU will be in Session Iat3:30 p.m. Thursdayon ESPN2, taking on No. 3Florida, No. 6Georgia and No. 7Stanford, with nine unattached individual gymnasts alsocompeting.InSession II (8 p.m., ESPN2), No. 1Oklahoma, No.4 UCLA, No. 9Arkansas and No. 13 Minnesota plus 10 individual gymnasts also will compete.

The top twoteams advanceto Saturday’sNCAA final (3 p.m., ABC). The NCAA individual award winners will be decided Thursday. In ameet that brings together the best of the best, we’vepicked five to watch:

KAILIN CHIO

Sophomore •LSU

No. 1inthe all-around, on vault and beam, and with 12 perfect 10s— including threeinthe NCAA regional. WonNCAA vault title in 2025.

LSU

Continued from page1C

there’sjust very little room for error.”

The Tigers will compete against No. 3-seeded Florida, winner of the Southeastern Conference championship meet, No.6 Georgia and No. 7Stanford, which also advanced here from the NCAA Baton Rouge regional. The other semiﬁnal at 8p.m. features No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4UCLA, No. 9Arkansas and No. 13 Minnesota.

The top two teams from each semiﬁnal move on to Saturday’s championship meet at 3p.m. on ABC. NCAA individual champions will be determined Thursday

The most scrutiny duringthe LSU practice Wednesday landed on junior Konnor McClain. The All-Americanfellwhile tryingto grip the top bar on unevenbars in the regional ﬁnal, leaving the ﬂoor holding her wrist.

After an idle week following the regional, McClain looked solid doing full routines Wednesdayon bars and balance beam,though she did not practice on vault

“She’sbeen able to do things,” Clark said, “then we havetomonitor through the night and see

SAINTS

Continued from page1C

with two years remaining on his deal, New Orleans may be in the market to develop his eventual replacement.

NFL teams never can have enoughoffensive line depth, and manyofthem don’t haveit. Even if the Saints are one of thefew teams who feel good abouttheir starting five at this stage,they shouldstill be looking to stockpile capable backups with potential to develop into starters.

Day2options

OregonOGEmmanuel Pregnon,6-foot-4, 315pounds:Pregnon is an explosive athletewho has aton of college experience, having loggedmore than 3,000 snaps at three different schools (Wyoming, USC and Ore-

Habetz:‘No excuses’ afterLSU

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

Having apackedhouse at Lamson Parkdidn’tchange UL’s recent trend of being overly generous.

LSUstartingpitcherJaydenHeavenerwasn’tgenerousatall,throwing ano-hitterover ﬁve innings.

Theresultofthatcombination was adominating 8-0 victory for theNo. 22 Tigers over the Ragin’ Cajuns on Tuesday

UL pitching issued seven walks, hit abatter andthere wasone error to complement six LSU hits in the one-sided contest. It wasavery different game than when the Tigers slipped past UL 2-1 in 10 innings back on Feb.21inBaton Rouge.

This one tied for theshortest game of the season at 1hour, 36 minutes.

It was the ﬁrst timeULwas nohit sinceCheridan Hawkins of Oregon did it —ironically by the same 8-0 score in ﬁve innings —on April 24, 2015, at Oregon.

“Today was more like, Ifelt like apityparty .poor,pitifulme,”

UL coach Alyson Habetz said.

ä CoastalCarolina at UL 6P.M. FRIDAy,ESPN+

run in the third when two more walks set up Sierra Daniel getting hit by apitch with the bases loaded fora6-0 lead.

Char Lorenz, whoalso singled in the third, smashed atwo-run home run to left in the fourth to give LSU the eight-run advantage necessary forarun-rule decision.

They felt sorry forthemselves tonight. Iget it,” Habetz said. “I understand that completely,but that’snot an excuse. We still got to play. We’re playing LSU. The fans showed up to watch you. Lets go.” Heavener didn’trequire nearly that much support to improve her record to 11-6 on the season.

The sophomore left-hander walked abatter with twoouts in theﬁrstinning, thendidn’tallow another base runner until Lily Knox drew aleadoffwalk in the ﬁfth. She had two strikeouts to go with the twobases on balls.

GUTIERREZ

UCLA gymnast Jordan Chiles blowsakiss during her floor routineat the NCAA women’s gymnastics championships on April 17 in FortWorth, Texas.

JORDAN CHILES

Senior •UCLA

Named after Michael Jordan, Chiles is ranked nationally in all four events.

howshe feelsinthe morning. So there’sstill no concrete decisions made on that.But she did agood job today

“The plan would be if she were to wakeupfeelinggood (Thursday),wecould dothe four-minute touch and she could vault. Butwe just won’tknow.Wehave to see howher body responds.”

Sophomore Kaliya Lincoln suffered ulnar nerve paininher elbow last monthatthe SECchampionships,whichcaused alack of feeling in one hand. Allshe did wasthengoout and sharethe SEC individual floor title, followed by a perfect 10onfloor in the regional final.

“Kaliya is in agood place,” Clark said. “Relativelygood.She’s probably alittle more cemented in what she’sgoing to be doing than Konnor.” Cementedat thetop of the LSU lineupisKailin Chio. The SEC gymnast of the year,the sophomore hasthe nation’sbestaverage in the all-around, on vault, on beam and has an NCAA-best 12 perfect 10s. Thatincludestwo on vault and one on ﬂoor in the regional. Olympian Jordan Chiles of UCLA is second withseven 10.0 scores.

“She’sjust unique,” Clark said of Chio.

gon). He did notallow asackin2024 with USC, thenearned All-America honors in his lone season at Oregon The drawback with Pregnon is that he is exclusively aguard. Iowa OL Gennings Dunker,6-5, 319: Dunker was aright tackle at Iowa and may providesomedepth value there as aprofessional, but he may be best suited to play inside in theNFL.Dunkerexcels when he can get on people in the run game, but he could struggle with more athletic edge rushers in space —whichiswhy guard is likely hisfuture.

AuburnC Connor Lew,6-3,309: Lew decided todeclare for the draft this year despite tearing his ACLinOctober, andhe may not be ready for thestartofthe 2026 season. Hadit not beenfor theinjury,hemight be consideredthe best center prospectinthe draft. He excels in pass protection, allowingjustone sack in more than400 pass-blocking

The2024 U.S. Olympian has seven perfect 10s, trailingonlyChio.

ADDISON FATTA

Sophomore •Oklahoma

Ranked second on vault and fourth in the all-around.An all-arounder in all 15 meetsthis season. Recorded a10on vault on Feb.13atFlorida.

SELENA HARRIS-MIRANDA

Senior •Florida

TheSEC bars champion with aperfect 10.0, the former UCLA gymnastis second behind Chio on beam, fifth on bars andsixth in the all-around.

AVERYNEFF

Sophomore •Utah Utah failed to reach NCAAsfor the first time in 49 years, but Neff didn’t. She’s third in all-around, eighthonvault and has three perfect 10s.

—ScottRabalais

Chio also wonthe NCAA vault title here last year,the bright spot for LSUasthe Tigers finished third in their semiﬁnal and failed to advance to thechampionship meet.Now giventhe remarkable season she’s had, Clark is hoping to help herguard against thepressure to perform at an unrealistic level.

“We’ve talkedtoher aboutnot allowing outside noise to creep into her process,” he said, “trying to keep her focusturned toward her team rather thanwhat she’s doing individually.That helps her cope withall the things that get pushed on her

“When you do really great thingsasconsistently as she does it, it’sablessing and acurse. The blessing is, is thatyou’re helping to lead your team to great things. The curse is that’sall anybody wants to talkabout. Eventually, that creepsinifyou’re not careful. Youjust hope thatshe handles it theway that she always has She’sanamazing kid bothmentally and physically.She’sdone agreat job compartmentalizing things.”

Theepitome of her normalbeing enough, and an exceptional template for herLSU teammates to trytofollow into the NCAA ﬁnal.

snaps during his last full season. Day3 options

Georgia Tech OL KeylanRutledge, 6-3, 317: Rutledge was athree-sport star in high school, winning astate championship as ashot-putter and racking up 1,000 points and rebounds as abasketball player. He chose football and began his career at Middle Tennessee State before finishing it at Georgia Tech.He’samauler whoplays with quickfeet andhas some positional ﬂexibility,but he may need some time to develop before he’s ready tohandle starter’ssnaps. BostonCollege OL LoganTaylor,6-6, 315: Taylorisalongand versatile prospect whostarted games at every positiononthe offensive line except center.The positional versatilitymay give himachanceto stick on an NFL roster —much in the same way as it has for Saints swing tackle Landon Young.

“The umpires notgiving me the calls,whatever.There are no excuses.You go out there and you ﬁght, andyou play,and you play hard. That’sit, period.”

The Tigersimproved to 29-14 heading into ahomeSEC series against Ole Missstarting at 6p.m Friday.The Cajuns are now 22-22 andwill takeonCoastal Carolina at home at 6p.m.Friday

Thetrouble for the Cajuns began in thesecond inning with four walks and an error.Destiny Harris followed three straight walks with atwo-run single to leftfor LSU.

After Avery Hodge squeezed home athirdrun with abunt, Jalia Lassiter hit atwo-run homer to right-center fora5-0 cushion.

LSU added to that with another

UL starting pitcher Julianne Tipton enjoyed ascoreless first inning,thenwalked the ﬁrst three batters she faced in the second before giving way to reliever 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.

“I think she’sacompetitor,” Habetz said of Hoover.“Ilove her fight. She didn’tmake excuses. She cameinthe huddle and said, ‘I don’t careabout theumpire.’ Like, let’s go. Let’sdosomething about it. “So, she’sgoing to fight. She’sgoing to give her best, and she’sgoing to fight. I’ll take her in the circle all day.”

FOOTE

Continuedfrom page1C

No. 9Coastal Carolina coming to Lafayette to close out the regular season with three games.

There aresome trouble spots such as midweek games against No. 225 Southern and No. 292 Grambling. Perhaps it’ll rain on those days. If not, those are game theCajuns can’tafford to lose.

No matter whoisonthe schedule, UL must play moreconsistent baseball soon. The Cajuns will have to winalot of these games therest of the way to makethe RPI truly pay off with an at-large NCAA regional bid.

Recenthistory showsTroy (1818, 8-7) has been areal problem for UL. The Cajuns haven’twon a series in Troy since 2017, getting swept in 2022, and losing twoof three in both 2024 and 2019.

“Weneed to go over there and play our best baseball of the year,” UL coach Matt Deggs said. “Really,that’swhat we’ve got to do from here on in.

“You’re looking at ﬁveweeks left, and you’ve got to makethe mostofevery week.”

Arkansas State (21-14, 7-8) is no longer looking up at UL Even when the Cajuns wonthe league in 2024, UL needed ahuge comeback to wintwo games in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and the Red Wolves won the series in Lafayette last season.

“Bothofthem are long trips,” Deggs said. “Troy is agreat place to hit,sohopefully we can go over there and bang the baseball around.Arkansas State has turned that thing around, and that has become an extremelytough place to play.”

The goal of limiting walks is a good one, but UL pitchers also need to limit homeruns. Op-

ponents have out-homered the Cajuns by 37. That’salot to overcome.

UL is aplus-12 in free passes to get on base, but that also needs to improve the rest of the way.

The good newsfor UL is the Trojans aren’tnearly as powerful as in years past. Troy hit 108 homers in 2023 and 85 last season. So farthis season, the Trojans have hit only 35 and given up 45. For UL to make ameaningful surge, pitchers such as JR Tollett will need to bounceback or get somehelpfrom such arms as Murphy Brooksand Landon Victorian from here on out. There’stoo much of aburden on afew arms to carry aheavyload at the moment

“I’m going to need to see some adjustments,” Deggs said of Tollett. “We’ve got to get back to knowing what we’re running out there. He’sfully capable of that. I would fully expect him to adjust and ﬁndhis wayback.”

Deggs said “a lot of it” is Tollett’ssinker isn’tsinking any more, and “wiggle on the fastball hasn’tbeen there and the location is not there.”

Speaking of bouncing back, Friday night starter Sawyer Pruitt has allowed eight runs on seven hits, 11 walks and eight strikeouts in just seven innings over his last twostarts.

“He’sgot arock-solid delivery, but he’s6-foot-7, so there’sstill somemoving parts there long arms, big hands and small baseball,” Deggs said. “He can get around the side of it, which causes alittle cut, inadvertent cut. Then we can try to do too much at times, too.

“I think sometimes when a gamegets going and they mount alittle something, sometimes it’s amatter of doing less and not trying to do more. And just learning how to take our medicine alittle bit better.”

AP FILE PHOTO By TONy

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE

UL coach Alyson Habetz strongly expressed her displeasure with her team’sperformance in Tuesday’shome loss to LSU.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU gymnast Kailin Chio soars over the balance beam during her routine in the third rotation of theregional finals on April 4atthe PMAC.

Go nuts with quicksea scallops, fettuccine

BY LINDAGASSENHEIMER

Tribune News Service (TNS)

Ilove making sea scallops.

They’re sweet, juicy and take only acouple of minutes to cook.

For this dish, Itopped the scallops with crunchy,chopped peanuts and ﬁnished themwith abrown butter sauce that addsa nutty depth of ﬂavor

The secret to tender,juicy scallops is aquick sear,just 1minute per side. They should still be slightly translucent in thecenter and will ﬁnish cooking off the heat.

Another important tip is to pat them dry with apaper towel before cooking, which helps them develop abeautiful golden crust

Chopped baby kale tossedwith fettuccine rounds out this fast meal.

Helpful hints:

n Peanuts and kale can be chopped in afood processor.Chop peanuts ﬁrst and then kale. No needtowash processor in between.

n Any typeoflong cut pasta such as spaghettiorlinguine can be used.

Peanut Crusted Sea Scallops withFettuccine

Yields 2servings. Recipe is by Linda Gassenheimer

4cups coarsely chopped babykale

1/4 cup dryroasted, unsalted peanuts

2tablespoons pankobreadcrumbs

4ounces fettuccine

2teaspoons olive oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper Olive oil spray

3/4 pound sea scallops

1tablespoon butter

3garlic cloves

1. Fill alarge pot three-quarters full of water and place over heat to boil.

2. Chop peanuts in afood processor and remove them to abowl and toss with breadcrumbs.Set aside.

3. Add kale to the food processor, chop and remove

4. Add fettuccini to boiling water.Cook 6minutes. Add chopped kale and continue to cook 2more minutes. Remove 2tablespoons of pasta water to abowland add olive oil.

5. Drain fettuccini and kale and add to the bowl. Toss well andadd salt and pepper to taste.

6. Divide in half and serve on two dinner plates.

7. Heat alargeskilletovermedium-high heat and spray witholive oilspray. Add scallops andsear 1 minute. Turn them over and sear 1minute.

8. Remove to aplate and addbutter and garlic to the skillet. Cook until butter starts to turn slightly brown. Return scallops andcook 1 minute. Sprinkle peanut mixture on top of the scallops. Serve the scallops and saucewith the fettuccine and kale Nutrition info per serving: 681calories (35 percent from fat), 26.5 gfat (6.3 gsaturated, 10.4 gmonounsaturated), 70 mg cholesterol, 46.2 gprotein, 70.9 gcarbohydrates, 6.5 gﬁber,448 mg sodium.

ONE-PAN WONDER

Pastachecksall theboxes simple,delicious andnutritious

BY APRIL HAMILTON Contributing writer

The destruction anddrywall dust are in the rearview mirror.Every day when Iget home from work is athrill, seeing the transformation from the food truck kitchen to the wide open space with light ﬁlling in from new windowsand afour-panel sliding glass door

Iamnever certain what went on in my absence and am always amazed at the progress this small crew makes

April

Hamilton shreds cheese while cooking in her backyard kitchen alongside her dog, Gus.

Editor’snote: During April Hamilton’s kitchen remodel, she’smovedher cooking into thebackyard. This is the third in aseries spotlighting some of the outdoor meals she prepares for her family

in awork day.Atthe halfway point, no unpleasant surprises have been unveiled, which is atremendous relief after hearing of friends’ remodeling nightmares andvanishing contractors.

ä See WONDER, page 6C

Lemon-pepper

Cacio epepe with Spring Vegetables

Serves

4to6.Recipe is adapted from Melissa Clark’s“Dinner in One: Exceptionaland Easy OnePan Meals.”

2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2garliccloves, finely chopped

5cups water

11/4 teaspoons kosher salt

1pound spaghetti or yourfavorite pasta shape (farfalle works well)

1pound freshasparagus, trimmed and diagonally sliced 1-inch thick

1cup thawedfrozen peas

1cup gratedParmesan cheese, plus more forserving

1tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper,plus morefor serving Zest of onelemon

1. In alarge deep skillet or sautepan,heat theoil over medium heat. Add the garlic andcook 30 seconds.

2. Return the skillet to medium-high heat and add 5cups water and the 11/4 teaspoons salt and bring to aboil. Add pasta. Cook uncovered for8 minutes, tossing pastaoccasionally Additionalwatercan be added as needed.

3. Add asparagus pieces andpeas. Cook 2-4minutes, until pasta is al dente.

4. Turn offburner.Stir in Parmesan, pepper and lemon zest, tossing well

5. Serve immediately *This recipe is adaptable to other vegetables or by adding cooked shrimp, chicken or sausage.

Chickensandwichshinesinair fryer

Addsoy,garlicglaze to ampup flavor

BYGRETCHEN MCKAY Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS) There’snothinglike afried chicken sandwich to put agiant smile on asandwich lover’sface. Whether it’stucked between two pieces ofwhite bread or stuffed into atoasted and buttered bun, the combination of crispy, craggy coating and juicy, tender breast orthigh meat is a pinnacleofhandheld eating —at once both incredibly comforting andimmenselysatisfying. Calo-

ries be damned! Iused to think no one did a chicken sandwich better than Chick-ﬁl-A. Then Idiscovered this recipe from Donaldo Estevam, aka “Donaldo Cooks,” a digital food creator and air fryer expert known for his easy,bigﬂavored recipes geared to the homecook. Likealot of food writers, Iown just about every kitchen gadget.Most days, my air fryer is gathering dust in my pantry; as a Mediterranean diet acolyte, Ifry and sauté alot of foods in olive oil completely guilt-free. Donaldo’srecipe made me thinkIshould give thecounter-

top appliance another chance to impress, not to save calories, but because the Asian-inspired, soy sauce-based glaze sounded (and looked) so good. The thick, glossy coating is a perfect mix of sweet (honey), spicy (red pepper and fresh ginger),tang (vinegar) and umami (fish sauce). One taste on your fingertip andyou’ll develop a craving for the stuff,which I’m guessing would also add afantastic flavor to just about any protein or roasted vegetable and could be used as adipping sauce for dumplings.

ä See CHICKEN, page 6C

STAFFPHOTOSByJAVIER GALLEGOS

April Hamilton cooks Lemon-pepper Cacio epepe with Spring Vegetables, adapted from‘Dinner in One: Exceptional &Easy One-Pan Meals’ by Melissa Clark.

TNS PHOTO By LINDAGASSSENHEIMER

Peanut Crusted Sea Scallops with Fettuccine

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE/TNS PHOTO

GRETCHEN MCKAy Air-Fried Chicken Sandwiches with SoyGlaze

Friend stuckinthe middle

CHICKEN

Continuedfrom page5C

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

Dear Miss Manners: Iam casual friends with Dand F. We all became friends when our boys were in elementary school, but now the boys are grown and we see each other infrequently, only getting together every couple of years. Afew years ago, Dsent Fa Christmas card, butsent it to our address accidentally (I don’texchange Christmas cards with either of them, which is ﬁne.) I texted both of them, we had agood laugh and Idropped off the card at F’shouse while running errands. Six months later,wegot agraduation announcement from D, meant for F. Imailed it directly to Fina larger envelope, and texted

WONDER

Continued from page5C

Minimalist walls have gone up and our original front hallwayisnow concealed into awalk-in pantry.The former unused square footage that tees into our living room is mapped in as abaking zone with an uninterrupted counter and bookended with an appliancegarage and French door wall oven All praise to my contractor who envisioned this new floor plan! The two types of mismatched tile from the front to back of the house, with odd thresholds between each room, have been replacedwith continuous 24-inch-by-48-inchporcelain tile that looks like soft beachsand. Igrew up on the coast of Florida and am drawn to those calming coastal colors. Next we select the paint colors. Every decision feels like the weight of the world. My dear neighbor is an interior designer and helped select the flooring we love so much, so Iam leaning on her to continue assisting withthese tough choices. “It’sonly paint,” she says. From the birdsong-filled backyard bistro, Ican see the whole space and daydream about the possibilities the new kitchen will bring. While we wait, we keep the Coleman camp stove humming with my

ByThe Associated Press

Today is Thursday,April 16, the 106th day of 2026. There are 259 days left in the year Todayinhistory: On April 16, 2007, Seunghui Cho, a23-year-old Virginia Tech student, killed 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus before taking his own life. It remains the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history Also on this date: In 1866, acrate of nitroglycerine that had been shipped from New York to California by way of Panama exploded in the Wells Fargo building in San Francisco, killing 14 people and shattering windows up to a half mile away.(The blast prompted passage of afederal law banning shipments of explosives on passenger vessels.) In 1917, VladimirLenin, after being exiled to Europe, returned to Russia by train to take command of the Russian Revolution that would overthrowa provisional government, install communism and bring about the rise of the Soviet Union. In 1945, aSoviet submarine in the Baltic Sea torpedoedthe shipMVGoya, which Germany was using to transport civilianrefugees and wounded soldiers. As many as 7,000 people died as the ship broke apart

Ftoask that she contactD directly to make sureshe hadtheir address. She said shewould The following Christmas, we againgot D’scard meant for F. Ididn’ttext anyone; Ijust mailedittoF inside alarger Christmas card fromour family,trying to embrace the spirit of the season. This pastChristmas, we received F’s card from D once again. Itexted Dand wasmoreﬁrm this time about changing her records. She responded with ashort but sincere apology text.

Whatshould Idoif I receivemorecardsmeant for F? Ithink Disjust disorganized (asopposedtolazyor entitled)and Idon’twant to cause drama. Icould continuetojust forwardit (which is irritatingtome), or Icould putitback in the mailboxstamped “not at this address”(whichseems

favorite trifecta of dishes: simple,delicious, nutritious.

Iturn to theperfect book for this situation,Melissa Clark’s“Dinner in One: Exceptional &Easy One-Pan Meals.” Fora person who relies on the dishwasher for after-meal cleanup, Clark’s book is alifesaver She wroteittokeep that chore to aminimum. Imet Clark at adinner and book-signingevent at theSouthern Food and Beverage MuseuminNew Orleans, and treasure my signed copy of this essential book. In the great outdoors, onething we have missed cookingispasta, which usually requires apot for boilingthe spaghetti and another forthe sauce. Clark’sgeniusissharing recipes for pasta in ameasured amount of liquid in one pot. Her version of cacio epepe, enhanced with a serving of vegetables, is all cooked magically in onepan.Please be sure to grateyour own cheeses for this one. It is companyworthyand we invited theneighbors to savor the feast. Delightfuldinner conversation focused on —you guessed it —paint colors and continued anticipation of the joy our new kitchen will bring.

Successfulgrating

This maynot be areal recipe, but real cheese is an important ingredient. Gratingityourself is quickerthan you think and

TODAYIN HISTORY

and sank minutes after being struck In 1947, the French cargo ship Grandcamp, carrying over 2,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, blew up in theharbor of Texas City, Texas. Anearby ship, the High Flyer,which was carrying ammonium nitrate and sulfur,caught ﬁre and exploded the following day The combined blasts and ﬁres killed nearly 600 people and injured 5,000 in the worst industrial accident in U.S. history In 1963, the Rev.Martin Luther King Jr.wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in which the civil rights activist responded to agroup of local clergymen who had criticized him for leadingstreet protests. King defended his tactics, writing, “Injusticeanywhere is athreat to justice everywhere.”

In 1972, Apollo 16 blasted off for the moon with astronauts John Young, Charles Duke and Ken Mattingly aboard.

In 2010, the U.S. government accused Wall Street’s most powerful ﬁrm of fraud, saying Goldman Sachs &Co. had sold mortgage investments without tellingbuyers the securities were crafted with input from aclient whowas betting on them to fail. (InJuly 2010, Goldman agreed to pay $550 million in asettlement with the Securities

cold, but would force her to change her records).I could alsotext DinNovember when she is actually addressing the cards and remind her to update her records (which seems like overreaching)

What do you suggest?

Gentle reader: Unlessyou plan to be theEinthis drama forever,you have twochoices. Youcan hand future pieces back to the mail carrierand let the post ofﬁce deal withit, or you can startapile of items to forward when you get around to it

Miss Manners allows for the possibilitythat you may not get around toitprior to retiring or dying. She is merely suggesting younot throwthe items out, as then you would have to explain yourself if Ddiscovers the items have not arrived.

Email dearmissmanners@ gmail.com.

makes abig difference in theﬁnal dish.

In my new kitchen, I have already designated a drawer for all mygraters. Though having acollection of graters isn’tnecessary, Ibreak them out when hosting friends for pizza night or other cooking activities that involve cheese (fondue, anyone?!).Many hands makethe work light

Here is thehow and what, featuring some of my favorite grating devices:

n The OXO multi-grate and slice setwhich has four blades for slicing, grating and julienning, all which nestle inside a handy container

n Large box grater which stands tall and has four sides for grating tasks

n Microplane grater for ﬁnely grated Parmesan and pecorino, also perfect for grating garlic and citrus zest

Here is the why:

Pre-grated/shredded cheese has been treated with anti-clumping and anti-mold agents (preservatives) that will interfere with the results of your ﬁnished dish. Also, when you grateyour own cheese, you get about twice as many shreds by volumecompared to factory-shredded, so it is far more cost effective.

Funfact: Almosteverythingtastes better when you’ve lovingly labored over it yourself.

This little kitchen task also builds hand strength, so go ahead and grate!

and Exchange Commission but did not admit wrongdoing.)

In 2012, trialbegan in Oslo, Norway,for Anders Breivik, charged with killing 77 people in abomb and gun rampage in July 2011. (Breivik was found guilty of terrorism and premeditated murderand sentenced to 21 years in prison.)

In 2016, amagnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Ecuador’scoastal provinces, killing hundreds of people and displacing thousands.

In 2023, the New York production of “The Phantomofthe Opera” ended its 35-year Broadway run withstanding ovations and Champagne toasts. The ﬁnal curtain camedown on performance No. 13,981 at the Majestic Theatre, ending the longest-running show on “The Great WhiteWay.” Today’sbirthdays: Singer Bobby Vinton is 91. Basketball Hall of FamerKareem Abdul-Jabbar is 79. Football coach BillBelichick is 74. ActorEllen Barkinis72. Singer Jimmy Osmond is 63. ActorJon Cryer is 61. Actorcomedian Martin Lawrence is 61. ActorPeter Billingsley is 55. ActorLukas Haas is 50. Actor-singer Kelli O’Hara is 50. ActorClaire Foy(TV:“The Crown”) is 42. RapperChance the Rapper is 33. ActorAnya TaylorJoy is 30. ActorSadie Sink is 24. BoxerEmiliano Vargas is 22.

For thebest-tasting sandwich, be sure to line bothsides of the bun with mayonnaise, and don’tforget acrunchy,cool layer of thick-cutpickles. Abuttery brioche bun is thebest way to hold it all together,but if you can’tfind thesoft and fluffy buns at your local grocery store, ahoagie roll works just fine, too.

Air-Fried Chicken Sandwicheswith SoyGlaze

Makes 4sandwiches. Recipe is from donaldocooks. com.

Forchicken:

4boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs

1cup all-purpose flour

2largeeggs, beaten in bowl

2cups crushed cornflakes

Avocado oil spray

Forseasoning:

1tablespoon paprika

1tablespoon garlic powder

1tablespoon onion powder

2teaspoons black pepper

2teaspoons salt

Forglaze: 1/2 cup dark soysauce

1⁄3 cup honey

11/2 tablespoons sesame oil

1tablespoon fish sauce

4clovesgarlic, minced 1tablespoon fresh ginger,grated 1/2-1 teaspooncrushed redpepper, or to taste

1/4-1/2 cup water,tocontrol consistency

Forsandwich:

4brioche or ciabatta buns, toasted Garlic mayo or Greekyogurt, for garnish

Sweet pickles, optional

Forcucumber salad:

2English cucumbers, julienned

2medium carrots, julienned

3green onions, thinly sliced Zest of 1lemon

Fordressing:

2tablespoons freshlysqueezed lemonjuice

2tablespoons rice vinegar

11/2 tablespoons avocado oil

1tablespoon honey

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1. Preparethe chicken:

Pat chicken dry and lightly season withsalt. Coat each pieceinflour,then dipin beaten eggs. Press ﬁrmly into crushedcornﬂakesand shake to removeexcess. Spray both sides generously with avocadooil.

2. Preheat airfryer to 390 F. When hot, add chicken to tray andair fryuntilinternal temperature reaches 165 F, 14-15 minutes.

3. Cook until internal temperature reaches 165 F, then allowtorest for5minutes before glazing

4. While chicken is cooking, make glaze andstirtogether vegetablesalad

5. Add dark soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, ﬁshsauce, garlic, ginger,crushed red pepperand watertoasaucepan. Bring to amedium simmer andcook, uncovered,for 10-14 minutes, stirring often. (The glaze will naturally reduceand thickenfrom the honey.)

6. Once thesauce is glossy andcoats theback of aspoon, remove fromheat. Add cucumber,julienne carrots, green onions and lemon zest to abowl

7. Whisk lemon juice, rice

vinegar, avocadooil, honey, salt and pepper in ameasuringcup,thenpourdressing over vegetables and toss well. Chill 10-15 minutes before serving for best texture and ﬂavor.

8. When chicken is done cooking, build the sandwich: Toss thechicken in theglaze. Toast buns until lightly golden andspread mayonnaise or Greek yogurt on both sides.

9. Add alayer of shredded lettuce, glazed chicken, picklesand vegetable salad. Top with bun and serve immediately.

Notes: Iused boneless, skinless chicken thighs for these crispy air-friedsandwiches because they tendtobejuicierand moreforgivingifyou cook them aminute or two too long. Theoriginal recipe calls for serving the cucumber salad on theside, but Itucked it under the bun for one big, flavorful bite. Spicybreadand-butter pickle chips add just theright amount of kick. If you don’thaveanair fryer, the chicken can be panfriedin1 or 2tablespoonsof oil until golden brown and crispy,about 6-8 minutesper side

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE/TNS PHOTOByGRETCHENMCKAy

Chicken Sandwiches with SoyGlaze

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Rely on your strengths and forge ahead until you get what you want. Say no to unrealistic offers. Use your ingenuity to devise a plan that offers positive results.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Your desperation for change, advancement or ways to discover your potential is growing. Before you end up against the wall or at a dead end, take a moment to consider what dissatisfies you.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Don't let anyone scam you or talk you into doing their dirty work for them. A pick-me-up will set the stage for socializing, making new friends and generating a buzz that helps you promote what you want to do next.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Keep your thoughts and plans to yourself. Someone will try to push you aside if you offer too much information. Pay attention to what things cost and what's important to you.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Pick up the slack, do your thing and dazzle everyone watching from the sidelines. Don't jeopardize your health or reputation. Seize the moment and display what you can do.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Put yourself in a position where you get to learn from the best. If you're the smartest person in the room, you are at the wrong event. Let your passion lead the way.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Overspending, overanalyzing, exaggerating or taking

on more than you can handle will end in disappointment. Look for partners who offer equality, share your dreams and are willing to work side-by-side with you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Look for opportunities but not at the expense of your reputation. The best way to get ahead is to invest in yourself and your skills and to keep up with technology.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Home is where the heart is. Turn your surroundings into a place you want to spend time in. Open your doors to people you cherish and want to be with. Set the stage to accommodate your dreams.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Refuse to fall prey to hype. Verify information, handle matters personally and don't commit to anything that can turn into a costly venture.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Take better care of yourself and your relationships. Focus on how you earn and handle your money. Set up a budget and a financial plan that encourages growth.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) A change of pace or space will help you put your life in perspective. Distance yourself from confusion or those who use emotional manipulation to push you in a direction that suits their needs.

FAMILY CIrCUS

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

LAGoon

bIG nAte

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placingpuzzle basedona9x9 grid with severalgiven numbers. Theobjectistoplace thenumbers 1to9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column andeach3x3 boxcontains the same number only once.The difficulty level of theSudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

nea CroSSwordS

La TimeS CroSSword

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

Bridge

BY PHILLIPALDER

PeterDeVries,anovelistandaneditor whodied in 1993,said, “The universe is like asafe to which there is acombination. But the combination is locked up in the safe.” Iwonder if we will ever find that safe combination?

Thisweek,wehavebeenlookingatvarious suit combinations. Here is another deceptive one. HowshouldSouth playin sixspades after West leads the diamond queen?

North’s initial two-no-trump response wasthe Jacoby Forcing Raise. South’s jump to game showedaminimum openingwithnosingletonorvoid. North then launched RomanKey Card Blackwood, whichwasgoodforthisdeal.AfterSouth bidfivediamonds, indicating zero or three key cards (the four aces and the trump king count as key cards),North relayed with five hearts to ask about the spade queen. When South denied holding that card, Northknewnottobidagrandslam.(And, yes, North might havesigned offinsix no-trump.)

Sincethesidesuitsaresolid,declarer’s only problem is to avoid two trump losers. South shouldstart with alow trump fromthe board (not the ace), planning to rise with his king or to finesse his jack. When East shows out,declarer can still do either. If he wins with his king, he then leads low toward the board, covering West’s card as cheaply as possible. If South plays his jack, West wins with his queen and probably leads another diamond. But declarer wins on theboard, plays aspade to his king, returns aspade to dummy’snine, cashes the ace, and claims.

AndrewsMcMeel Syndication

wuzzles

Each Wuzzle is aword riddle whichcreatesadisguised word, phrase,name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

word game

INsTRucTIoNs: 1. Wordsmustbeoffourormoreletters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by theaddition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words madebyadding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns,slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

ToDAY’s WoRD sALuTE: suh-LOOT: To give asignofrespect,courtesyor goodwill to Averagemark 19 words Time limit 25 minutes

Can you find 24 or more wordsinSALUTE?

YEsTERDAY’s WoRD —cRoNYIsM

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Roblox, Nevada reach

$12 million settlement

LAS VEGAS — Roblox, a gaming platform popular with kids, will implement increased protections for young users and pay more than $12 million to the state of Nevada in what state Attorney General Aaron Ford on Wednesday called a ﬁrst-ofits-kind agreement.

Roblox, which is used by nearly half of U.S. children under 16, will give $10 million over three years to support programs like the Boys & Girls Club and other nondigital activities, Ford said. It will also fund a law enforcement liaison position to respond to safety concerns about the platform and fund an online safety awareness campaign, Ford said The settlement, which was agreed upon in lieu of litigation, includes enhanced protections for minors who use the app, such as requiring age veriﬁcation for all users and restricting nighttime notiﬁcations for minors. The gaming platform faces litigation in other states, including Texas and Kentucky, which allege it fails to protect children.

Great Value packaging to see redesign

NEW YORK — Walmart is redesigning the packaging of its Great Value products to help customers instantly spot whether a bag of spicy chips is gluten-free or how much protein is packed into a serving of chicken nuggets.

Encompassing 10,000 different products, Great Value is Walmart’s biggest store brand and one of the largest food and consumer packaged goods labels in the U.S. The revamp announced Wednesday comes as shoppers have increasingly treated private-label foods not as a step down from national brands, but more as an equivalent The new cartons, boxes, bags and other containers will start to appear on Walmart store shelves next month, said Scott Morris, senior vice president of Walmart’s U.S. private brands division The overhaul does not involve any changes to the products themselves, he said. The updates include images that are intended to make the product inside more tempting to shoppers.

Walmart also is moving nutritional information to the upper right hand corner of Great Value food packages, Dave Hartman, Walmart’s vice president of creative design, said. The information previously had no standard location, he said U.S. consumers have become more picky about the ingredients in their food, looking for protein-packed meals or items without gluten, for example. Walmart said its customers, as well as the workers who have to pick items off shelves quickly to assembly online orders, need to be able to spot ingredient lists quickly to speed up their shopping or production.

BBC to cut nearly 2,000 jobs

LONDON — The BBC said Wednesday that it plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs to save 10% of its annual budget — $677 million — over the next two years.

The layoffs announced during a call with staff are the biggest in more than a decade at the U.K. national broadcaster Interim Director-General Rhodri Talfan Davies said in a staff email that the reductions were driven by inﬂation, pressures to license fee and commercial income and a turbulent global economy

The BBC said earlier this year that it faced “substantial ﬁnancial pressures” and wanted to cut about a tenth of its budget by 2029. The bulk of the cuts are to be made in the next ﬁscal year beginning April 1. The BBC is both a beloved and oft-criticized cultural institution funded by an annual license fee, which recently rose to $244, paid by all U.K. households who watch live television or any BBC content.

THEADVOCATE.COM/news/business

S&P 500 hits record, builds on rally

BY STAN CHOE AP business writer

— The U.S stock mar-

NEW YORK

ket hit a record Wednesday after adding to its two-week rally built on hopes the war with Iran won’t create a worst-case scenario for the global economy Whether Wall Street is correct to have so much hope for peace and whether stocks should be the highest they’ve ever been remains to be seen.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8% and eclipsed its prior all-time high set in January After falling nearly 10% below its record in late March, a drop steep enough that

Wall Street calls it a “correction,” the index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts has since roared more than 10% higher

Much of the rally has been due to expectations for calming tensions in the war and a resumption of the full flow of oil from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide.

Bank of America rose 1.8% after saying it made $8.6 billion in proﬁt during the ﬁrst three months of the year, more than analysts expected CEO Brian Moynihan also said the bank saw signs of a “resilient American economy,” including solid spending by U.S. consumers.

Morgan Stanley jumped 4.5%

after the investment bank likewise delivered a better-than-expected quarter of results.

Companies hurt earlier in the year by worries about artificialintelligence technology also rose to recover more of their losses for 2026. Some of the concerns were about companies potentially spending too much to build out AI capabilities, while others focused on businesses that may go obsolete because of AI-powered competition.

ServiceNow climbed 7.3%, Oracle rose 4.2% and Ares Management gained 5.9% for some of Wednesday’s bigger gains in the S&P 500. All are still down between

12% and 39% for the year so far The stock price of Allbirds surged 582% to nearly $17 after the company said it’s shifting gears and moving into the AI compute infrastructure industry, while changing its name to NewBird AI. The Allbirds name will stay with the shoe brand that the company has already agreed to sell to American Exchange Group.

Nike rose 2.8% after CEO Elliott Hill and Tim Cook — a Nike director and the CEO of Apple — disclosed that they purchased a combined 48,000 shares of the athletic shoe maker at a cost of about $1 million each.

Prosecutors continue investigation, seek access to Fed’s headquarters

Trump again threatens to fire Fed’s chairman

BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors made an unannounced visit this week to a construction site at Federal Reserve headquarters that is the focus of an investigation into a $2.5 billion renovation project, according to two people familiar with the visit.

Two prosecutors and an investigator from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s ofﬁce were turned away on Tuesday by a building contractor and referred to Fed attorneys, one of the people said. The two people familiar with the visit spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation.

The visit underscores that the Trump administration is not backing down from its investigation of the Fed and its chair, Jerome Powell, even though the probe has delayed the conﬁrmation of a new chair nominated by President Donald Trump The investigation is focused on cost overruns and brief testimony about the project last summer by Powell. Trump conﬁrmed in an interview that aired Wednesday on Fox Business that he wants to continue the probe.

Last month, during a closed-door hearing before a federal judge, a top deputy from Pirro’s office conceded that they hadn’t found any evidence of a crime in their investigation of the headquarters project

Robert Hur, an attorney for the Federal Reserve board of governors, sent an email to Pirro’s prosecutors about their visit and their request for a “tour” to “check on progress” at the construction site. Hur’s email, which The Associated Press has viewed, noted that U.S. District Judge James Boasberg concluded that their interest in the Federal Reserve’s renovation project was “pretextual.

Republican Tillis is key vote

Sen Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who is a key member of the Senate Banking Committee, has vowed to vote against Kevin Warsh, Trump’s nominee to replace Powell as Fed chair, until the investigation is dropped. With the committee closely divided on partisan lines, Tillis’ opposition is enough to block Warsh from receiving the committee’s approval.

Tillis on Wednesday criticized the investigation as “bogus, ill-timed, ill-informed” and repeated that seven Republican members of the banking panel have said they do not believe Powell committed a crime when he testiﬁed last June.

Tillis also said there aren’t enough votes on the committee or in the broader Senate to do an end-run around the committee and get

Warsh conﬁrmed some other way

“There really is no path,” he told reporters, adding that Pirro and her aides were “asleep at the switch” because the investigation has essentially delayed Powell’s departure from the Fed, despite Trump’s obsessive criticism of the Fed chair Powell has now said he won’t leave until the investigation is resolved.

Tillis suggested Pirro blindsided the White House with her investigation. “They should have consulted with the White House, because I’m sure if they would have, (the White House) would have said, ‘no, we can wait,’” until Powell steps down.

But Kevin Hassett, the Trump administration’s top economist, said Wednesday that the Justice Department got involved because “the president wanted to investigate the cost overrun,” Axios reported.

The Banking panel said Tuesday that it will hold a hearing on Warsh’s nomination April 21. Powell’s term as Fed chair ends May 15, but Powell said last month he would remain as chair until a replacement is named. Powell is serving a separate term as a member of the Fed’s governing board that lasts until January 2028. Chairs typically leave the board when their terms as chair end, but they can remain on the board if they choose. Powell has said he won’t leave until the investigation is resolved. If he remains it would deny Trump the opportunity to appoint someone else to the seven-member board.

Late Tuesday Tillis posted a link on social media to The Wall Street Journal’s article on the visit below an image of the Three Stooges and wrote, “The U.S. Attorney’s Ofﬁce for D.C. at the crime scene.”

Investigation centers on renovations

The investigation centers on an appearance by Powell before the Banking Committee last June, when he was asked about cost overruns on the renovations. The most recent estimates from the Fed suggest the current estimated cost of $2.5 billion is about $600 million higher than a 2022 estimate of $1.9 billion.

“It is probably corrupt, but what it really is, is incompetent,” Trump said. “Don’t you think we have to ﬁnd out what happened there?”

The president’s support for the investigation threatens a time frame set out by Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican who chairs the Banking Committee. Scott said Tuesday on Fox Business that he believed the investigation would be “wrapped up in the next few weeks,” allowing Warsh to be conﬁrmed soon after

Threat to fire Powell

News of the unannounced visit by prosecutors comes as Trump has again threatened to ﬁre Powell, if the Federal Reserve Chair decides to stay on the central bank’s governing board after his term as chair expires next month. “Well then I’ll have to ﬁre him, OK?” Trump said.

Trump has for months wanted to remove Powell, saying he has been too slow in orchestrating interest rate cuts that would give the U.S. economy a quick boost. Powell has said the investigation is a pretext to undermine the Fed’s independence to set rates. Sen.JoshHawley,R-Mo.,saidTrumpcanonly ﬁre Powell “for cause,” meaning some kind of misconduct, “so that’s a pretty tall order.”

Jury finds Ticketmaster, Live Nation had monopoly

BY LARRY NEUMEISTER and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press

NEW YORK — A jury has found that concert giant Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary had a harmful monopoly over big concert venues, dealing the company a loss in a lawsuit over claims brought by dozens of U.S. states and the District of Columbia. A Manhattan federal jury deliberated for four days before reaching its decision Wednesday in the closely watched case, which gave fans the equivalent of a backstage pass to a business that dominates live entertainment in the U.S. and beyond. Earlier, the judge told lawyers on both sides to meet with one an-

other “and the United States” to provide a joint letter proposing a schedule for motions and how the remedies phase of the case would occur He told them to deliver it by late next week.

The trial brought Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino to the witness stand, where he was questioned about matters including the company’s Taylor Swift ticket debacle in 2022. Rapino blamed a cyberattack. The proceedings also aired a Live Nation employee’s internal messages to another employee declaring some prices “outrageous,” calling customers “so stupid” and

boasting that the company was “robbing them blind, baby.” The employee, Benjamin Baker who has since been promoted to a position as a ticketing executive, apologetically testified that the messages were “very immature and unacceptable.”

Live Nation Entertainment owns, operates, controls booking for or has an equity interest in hundreds of venues. Its subsidiary Ticketmaster is widely considered to be the world’s largest ticket-seller for live events. The verdict could cost Live Nation and Ticketmaster hundreds of millions of dollars, just for the $1.72 per ticket that the jury found Ticketmaster had overcharged consumers in 22 states. The companies could also be assessed pen-

alties. In addition, sanctions could result in court orders that they divest themselves of some entities, including venues such as amphitheaters that they own.

The civil case, initially led by the U.S. federal government, accused Live Nation of using its reach to smother competition — by blocking venues from using multiple ticket sellers, for example.

“It is time to hold them accountable,” Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney for the states, said in a closing argument calling Live Nation a “monopolistic bully” that drove up prices for ticket buyers.

Live Nation insisted it’s not a monopoly, saying that artists, sports teams and venues decide prices and ticketing practices.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, right, and President Donald Trump look over a document of cost figures July 24 during a visit to the Federal Reserve in Washington.

Rapino