The Acadiana Advocate 05-02-2026

Earlyvotingopens amid uncertainty

Ballot includes contentiousU.S.Senateelection,

constitutional amendments butnoU.S.House races

INSIDE

When andwhere do Ivote?

Kolluru to askfor $15M from Legislature

BY ASHLEY WHITE Staff writer

UniversityofLouisiana at LafayettePresident RameshKolluru toldfaculty, staffand other stakeholders during atown hall this weekthat he plans to askthe Louisiana Legislature fora $15 million “strategic investment.”

Therequest wasannounced Tuesdaywhile Kolluruupdated attendees on the school’s$50 milliondeficit, with$25 million of that being arecurring structural deficit.The deficit was first reported last year and led to layoffs andothercost-cutting measures at the school, mostlyled by the former interim president.

He told stakeholders in his email after the town hall that he was proud of them and the work they’ve completed.

But the university’s“current reality remains serious,” and it is expected to end the fiscal year on June 30 with a$12 million deficit, he said. Kolluru reiterated that no furloughs or layoffs were planned.

“As we approach July 1, our goal is to enter the new fiscal year with clearer budgets, stronger alignment and improved visibility so units can planmore effectively,” he wrote in an emailto stakeholders after the town hall. “Wediscussed the importance of improving faculty and staff compensation as resources permit, along with

BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT Staff writer

Aseismic U.S. Supreme Court ruling has pushed Louisiana to cancel its congressionalraces, but early voting begins as scheduled Saturday for many other electionsonthe May 16 ballot

It’sthe first major vote to be held under the state’s new semiclosed party primary system, andthe stakes are significant.

Sen.BillCassidy is in abare-knuckle fight to win reelection against two fellow Republicans —U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow,who hasPresidentDonaldTrump’sendorsement, and state Treasurer John Fleming, who served in Trump’sWhite House during his first term.

ä Landry’s orderhalting electionsfaces barrageoflawsuits. Page 5A ä Amendment 1wouldchangeCivil Service protections forstate workers. Page 1B

ä What’sonthe ballot. Page 2B

And, in some parts of thestate, voters will decide who represents them on the stateSupreme Court,the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, andthe Public Service Commission,which regulates utilities across Louisiana.

Here’swhatyou need to knowbefore you head to thepolls.

Five constitutional amendments are on the ballot that wouldmake changes ranging from ateacher pay raise to the mandatory retirement agefor judges.

Election Day is May16, but you can vote early between this Saturday and next Saturday,May 9, excluding Sunday To findyourpolling place,what’s on your specificballotand other information, go to the Secretary of State’svoter portal at geauxvote com and enter your name, ZIP code and birthday Howdoprimary electionswork?

This is the first major election since 2010 in which Louisiana is voting in semiclosed party primaries, and elections officials are trying to stave off voter confusion.

If you are aregistered member of apolitical party,you will only be able

ä See VOTING, page 4A

Appealscourt blocks mailing abortion pills

BY GEOFF MULVIHILL

Associated Press

Afederal appealscourt hasrestricted access to oneofthe most common means of abortionin the U.S. by blocking mailing of prescriptions of mifepristone. Apanel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. CircuitCourt of Appealsisrequiring that the abortion pill be distributed only in person at clinics.

“Every abortion facilitated by FDA’s action cancels Louisiana’sban on medical abortions and undermines its policy that ‘every unborn child is

ä See ABORTION, page 4A

Trumpsayshe’s‘notsatisfied’ with Iran’s plan to endwar

BY TOQA EZZIDIN, MUNIR AHMED andCOLLINBINKLEY Associated Press

ISLAMABAD President Donald Trump rejectedIran’slatest proposal to end the war between the countries, saying Friday he still was not satisfied while blaming Iran’s“fractured” leadership Trump turned back thelatest proposal almost as soon as it was delivered. Iran’s state-runIRNA news agency reported that Iran handed over its plan tomedia-

torsinPakistan on Thursday night.

“They want to make adeal,I’m notsatisfied with it,sowe’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters Friday at theWhite House, without elaborating on what he saw as its shortcomings. The shaky three-week ceasefire

ä Trump: Deadline forCongress to approve Iran wardoesn’t apply PAGE 3A

between the U.S. and Iran appears to still be holding though both countries have traded accusations of violations. While the ceasefire has largely halted fighting in Iran, the U.S. andIran arelocked in astandoff over theStrait of Hormuz, through

ä See TRUMP, page 6A

President DonaldTrump boards Air Force One in Ocala, Fla on Friday after speakingat an event in The Villages.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOBy MATT

STAFF FILEPHOTO By TRAVISSPRADLING

Early votingfor theMay 16 election runs through May9,excluding Sunday.

Kolluru

ä See KOLLURU, page 6A

ROURKE

U.S. to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany

WASHINGTON The United States will withdraw about 5,000 troops from Germany in the next six to 12 months, the Pentagon said Friday, fulfilling President Donald Trump’s threat as he clashes with the German leader over the U.S. war with Iran.

Trump had threatened to withdraw some troops from the NATO ally earlier this week after Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the U.S. was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized Washington’s lack of strategy in the war Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that the “decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground.” Germany hosts several U.S. military facilities, including the headquarters of its European and Africa commands, Ramstein Air Base and a medical center in Landstuhl, where casualties from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were treated. U.S nuclear missiles are also stationed in the country The number of troops leaving Germany would be 14% of the 36,000 American service members stationed there.

Ukraine says strike hit Russian oil terminal

KYIV, Ukraine Ukrainian forces struck an oil terminal in the Russian Black Sea city of Tuapse, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Friday, marking the fourth attack targeting the region’s oil infrastructure in just over two weeks.

Explosions and a fire were recorded at the terminal, the statement from the General Staff said. Local officials in Russia said a Ukrainian drone attack sparked the blaze and that no casualties were reported

The facility had been hit previously on April 16, April 20 and April 28. Regional Gov Veniamin Kondratyev said a fire at the city’s oil refinery had also been extinguished Thursday, less than 24 hours before the latest strike. Meanwhile, Russian attacks continued to strike Ukraine. Russia attacked the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil with over 50 drones on Friday, Mayor Serhii Nadal said.

Hits were recorded in industrial facilities and infrastructure, he said. At least 10 people were wounded, he added, while some neighborhoods remain without electricity as a result of the mass attack. Two multistory residential buildings and port infrastructure in Odesa were damaged after Russian forces launched another overnight drone attack on the southern region, local authorities said.

Iran’s imprisoned Nobel laureate hospitalized

BEIRUT Iran’s imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has been urgently transferred from prison to a hospital in northwestern Iran after a “catastrophic deterioration” of her health, her foundation said Friday

The Narges Mohammadi Foundation said the Nobel Prize laureate had two episodes of complete loss of consciousness and a severe cardiac crisis.

Earlier Friday, Mohammadi had fainted twice in prison in Zanjan in northwestern Iran, according to the foundation. She was believed to have suffered a heart attack in late March, according to her lawyers who visited her a few days after the incident. At the time, she appeared pale underweight and needed a nurse to help her walk

The hospital transfer comes “after 140 days of systematic medical neglect,” since her arrest on Dec. 12, the foundation said.

“This transfer was done as an unavoidable necessity after prison doctors determined her condition could not be managed on-site, despite standing medical recommendations that she be treated by her specialized team in Tehran,” the foundation said.

Mohammadi’s family had advocated for her transfer to adequate medical facilities for weeks.

PRESS PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON

ASSOCIATED

President Donald Trump signs a document Thursday in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.Trump said on Friday that he will increase the tariffs charged on cars and trucks from the European Union next week to 25%

Trump says he’ll place 25% tariff on EU autos

President accuses bloc of not complying with trade deal

BY JOSH BOAK Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will increase the tariffs charged on cars and trucks from the European Union next week to 25%, a move that could jolt the world economy at a fragile moment.

Trump said in a social media post that the EU “is not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal,” though he did not flesh out his objections in the post

Asked by reporters on Friday about the increase in import taxes as he departed the White House for Florida, Trump said the EU was not “as usual” adhering to last year’s trade framework, without detailing the source of the tension. He added that he believed the shift to higher tariffs “forces them to move their factory production much faster” to the U.S.

Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had agreed to the trade deal last July It set a tariff ceiling of 15% on most goods, though the Supreme Court this year ruled against the legal authority that Trump had used to charge that tax. This left Trump looking for substitute authorities, and his administration has imposed a 10% tax while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.

The tariffs hit at a moment when the Iran war has crushed the world economy with expectations of slower growth and higher inflation, as oil and natural gas prices have risen due to the effective closure of the critical Strait of Hormuz after strikes by the U.S. and Israel began at the end of February.

At the same time, Trump faces political pressure in the U.S going into November’s midterm elections because of rising levels of inflation Trump, a Republican, returned to the White House last year on the explicit promise that he could quickly tame prices that jumped in the aftermath

of the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, but higher energy costs pushed annual inflation in March to 3.3%, which was higher than what he had inherited.

Just 30% of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s handling of the economy according to the latest poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The European Parliament has been moving slowly on finalizing last year’s trade agreement but was expected to finish work on the deal next month. The EU said in a statement that it was implementing its “commitments in line with standard legislative practice” and should the U.S. “take measures inconsistent with” that agreement “we will keep our options open to protect EU interests.”

Trump administration officials have not responded to questions about the tariff increase and why Trump said the agreement had been violated. But Trump has had a testy relationship with Europe, having threatened earlier this year to take control of Greenland and later blasting NATO allies for not providing more support to the U.S. for the Iran war

Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament trade committee, posted on social media that Trump’s tariff hike on autos was “unacceptable” and that the Trump administration “keeps breaking its commitments,” including on import taxes for steel and aluminum products.

Jennifer Safavian, CEO of Autos Drive America, which represents the American operations of foreign auto manufacturers, said the tariff increase “would threaten the progress that has already been made to open EU markets and grow the U.S. auto industry.”

Both the U.S. and the EU had previously confirmed their commitment to preserving the trade framework, known as the Turnberry Agreement, which was named after Trump’s golf course in Scotland.

The status of the 2025 deal was first cast into doubt after the Supreme Court this year ruled that the president lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency and charge tariffs on goods from the members of the EU and other states.

Ex-Miami congressman convicted of secretly lobbying for Venezuela

BY JOSHUA GOODMAN Associated Press

MIAMI A former Miami congressman and longtime friend of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was convicted Friday in connection with a secret $50 million lobbying campaign on behalf of Venezuela during the first Trump administration.

Jurors found Republican David Rivera and an associate, Esther Nuhfer, guilty on all counts, including failing to register as a foreign agent with the Justice Department and conspiracy to commit money laundering as part of their work for former President Nicolás Maduro’s government

It included testimony from Rubio, Texas Congressman Pete Sessions and a top Washington lobbyist — all of whom testified that they were shocked to learn belatedly of Rivera’s consulting contract with a U.S.-based affiliate of Venezuela’s state oil company, PDVSA.

Rivera

Much as he did throughout the trial, Rivera stood stone-faced as the jury delivered its verdict.

Rivera had been out on bond, but Judge Melissa Damian ordered him taken into custody, finding that he posed a flight risk because he has access to sizable funds, faces a potentially long prison sentence, and faces additional federal charges in Washington, D.C., in a related foreign lobbying case

The seven-week trial offered a rare glimpse into Miami’s role as a crossroads for foreign influence campaigns aimed at shaping U.S. policy toward Latin America, one highlighting the city’s reputation as a magnet for corruption and anti-Communist crusaders among its sizable exile population.

In an 11-count indictment unsealed in 2022, prosecutors alleged that Rivera was tapped by then Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez — now Venezuela’s acting president — to work Republican connections from Rivera’s time in Congress to get the first Trump administration to abandon its hard-line stance and ease crippling sanctions on Venezuela.

As part of the charm offensive, prosecutors alleged, Rivera and Nuhfer, a political consultant, manipulated influential friends, including Rubio and Sessions, like “pawns on a chess board.” The goal: to try and normalize relations with the new Trump administration at a time when the Maduro government was buffeted by serious accusations of human rights violations.

“As long as the money kept coming in, they didn’t care from where,” prosecutor Roger Cruz said of the defendants during closing arguments.

But the two held onto the “massive secret” and didn’t disclose their lobbying work as required, for fear it would have ended Rivera’s political career as an antiCommunist stalwart, Cruz said.

Florida sheriff IDs body as 2nd missing student

BY MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. A body found in Tampa Bay has been identified as the second missing University of South Florida doctoral student from Bangladesh, a sheriff said Friday He described their killings as “a monstrous crime” and said a motive was still unknown

Nahida Bristy’s remains were found Sunday in a garbage bag discovered by a kayaker whose fishing line got snagged, said Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister The positive identification on the badly decomposed body was eventually made using DNA and dental records, he said.

The body of her friend, fellow USF doctoral student Zamil Limon, was in another garbage bag found two days before that on a bridge over the bay Limon’s roommate, Hisham Saleh Abugharbieh, 26, was taken into custody the same day has been jailed since then, facing two charges of first-degree murder

Detectives are still working to determine a motive.

“I hope we find that out,” the sheriff said.

Chronister said the suspect showed no emotion when investigators presented him with details of the killings.

“He was nonreactive,” Chronister said. “He was callous and showed no emotion when we showed him the information we had.”

The two students were murdered around the same time and place, though more investigation is needed before detectives can decide that conclusively, the sheriff said.

The students’ disappearances on April 16 started off as separate missing persons’ cases for the campus police and the sheriff’s office, involving two responsible individuals for whom missing appointments was very uncharacteristic. But investigators soon realized

they were connected, the sheriff said.

Detectives first went to the apartment Limon shared with Abugharbieh and a third roommate The other roommate was cooperative while Abugharbieh gave elusive and inconsistent answers, the sheriff said. He also had a bandaged finger and a cut on his arm that should have been stitched up. It was enough to make him a ‘person of interest,’ but not to merit an arrest.

They went to interview the roommate again, alone this time, and he told them Abugharbieh had used a large cart to move things out of his room to a trash compactor overnight on April 16 and 17.

The first break in the case came when investigators searched the trash compactor and found Limon’s glasses, his student ID card, his wallet and his blood-covered clothes. The discovery gave law enforcement enough evidence to get a search warrant for the apartment itself and the suspect’s electronic devices, Chronister said.

A search of the apartment showed large traces of blood in the kitchen, leading down the hall and to inside Abugharbieh’s room. A blood-detecting spray even revealed blood in the shape of a human body curled up in the fetal position, next to Abugharbieh’s bed, the sheriff said. Traces of blood were also found on the floorboards of Abugharbieh’s car, Chronister said. Tests would later reveal it was Bristy’s.

Investigators believe the bodies were moved to the car in a cart, under the cover of darkness, he said. Using the GPS of the suspect’s car and surveillance video from a fire station, investigators determined that Abugharbieh drove over to Clearwater and across the Tampa Bay bridge, leading investigators to start an extensive search along his route.

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Trump: Deadline for Congress to OK war doesn’t apply

President says hostilities with Iran have ‘terminated’

BY MARY CLARE JALONICK, STEPHEN GROVES and SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press

WASHINGTON The White House asserted to Congress in a letter Friday that hostilities with Iran have “terminated” despite the continued presence of U.S. armed forces in the region.

The message from President Donald Trump effectively skirts a May 1 legal deadline to gain approval

from members of Congress to continue the war with Iran That deadline was already set to pass without action from Republican lawmakers who are deferring to the president. The letter brings into stark relief the bold but legally questionable assertion of presidential power at the heart of Trump’s war, which he began without congressional approval two months ago.

“The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated,” Trump wrote House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the Senate president pro tempore

Yet he also made it clear in the letter that the war may

be far from over

“Despite the success of United States operations against the Iranian regime and continued efforts to secure a lasting peace, the threat posed by Iran to the United States and our Armed Forces remains significant,” the Republican president said. Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, Congress must declare war or authorize the use of force within 60 days — Friday was the deadline — or within 90 days if the president asks for an extension. This Congress made no attempt at enforcing that requirement, leaving town Thursday for a week after the Senate rejected a Democratic attempt

to halt the war for a sixth time.

Some GOP senators are growing uneasy about the war’s timeline, which Trump initially said would last a few weeks. But Trump’s letter showed how the president continues to forego congressional approval. It contends the deadlines set by the law do not apply because the war in Iran effectively ended when a shaky ceasefire began in early April.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Thursday he did not plan on a vote to authorize force in Iran or otherwise weigh in.

“I’m listening carefully to what the members of our conference are saying, and at this point I don’t see that,”

Thune said. The reluctance to defy Trump on the war comes at a politically perilous time for Republicans, with public frustration mounting both over the conflict and its impact on gas prices. Still, most GOP lawmakers say they are supportive of Trump’s wartime leadership or are at least willing to give him more time amid the fragile ceasefire.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, RN.D., said he would vote for an authorization of war if Trump asked for it. But Cramer questioned whether the resolution passed during the Vietnam War era, as a way for Congress to claw back its power, was constitutional.

“Our founders created a really strong executive, like it or not like it,” Cramer said. Some GOP senators did make it clear that they eventually want Congress to have a say Indiana Sen. Todd Young said in a statement that lawmakers “must ensure that the people, through their elected representatives, weigh in on whether to send our military into combat.” He added that since the Trump administration is stating that “the Iran conflict has ceased, there should be no hostilities moving forward,” and that if the conflict resumes, he expects the White House to work with Congress to pass an authorization for use of military force.

Plane carrying pickleball players crashes in Texas

Pilot, four passengers killed

By The Associated Press

WIMBERLEY, Texas A small plane carrying pickleball players crashed among trees in Texas Hill Country, killing all five people aboard, authorities said Friday

The crash happened about 11 p.m. Thursday in Wimberley, a city about 40 miles southwest of Austin, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

“The pilot and four pas-

sengers on board were pronounced deceased on scene,” Sgt. Billy Ray told reporters. “The plane did catch fire. That would indicate some pretty severe damage to the plane.”

The names of the victims were not immediately released by authorities, though the Amarillo Pickleball Club in Amarillo, Texas, said they were members who were flying to a tournament.

“Please keep their precious families in your thoughts and prayers,” the club said on Facebook.

An unidentified woman wiped her eyes and fanned her face with her hands as she stood behind yellow police tape near the crash site Friday afternoon. A man consoled her The plane, a Cessna 421C, plane took off from Amarillo, Texas, about two hours earlier and was headed to New Braunfels National Airport, according to the flight history. Aerial photos posted online by the Austin American-Statesman showed the aircraft completely destroyed in a wooded area.

Surgeon general pick praised, panned Trump administration

BY ALI SWENSON Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Dr. Nicole

Saphier is President Donald Trump’s latest pick for the vacant role of U.S. surgeon general, a nomination that ended the embattled campaign of his previous candidate, Dr Casey Means, after it became clear she didn’t have the votes to advance out of a Senate committee.

Saphier, a radiologist and former Fox News Channel contributor, has promoted several aspects of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again agenda, including removing food additives, cutting ultraprocessed foods from diets and encouraging exercise.

But she has been a more vocal advocate for vaccination than Kennedy, and at times she has criticized the Trump administration’s handling of health issues as “embarrassing.”

If confirmed as the nation’s doctor, Saphier would be empowered to issue advisories that warn of public health threats. Surgeons general also have used the office to advocate on vaccination issues — though the office doesn’t create vaccine policy. Means, a Stanford University-educated physician and MAHA influencer who didn’t complete her surgical residency in Oregon and has an inactive medical license, faced grueling questioning from senators of both major political parties over her experience and stance on vaccination. She told The Associated Press her failed nomination was the result of a

“yearlong smear campaign.”

Trump’s new surgeon general pick is the director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth, according to her profile on the institution’s website. She has a medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine in Barbados, along with fellowships at the Mayo Clinic, according to her profile.

She has earned the approval of institutions including the American College of Radiology, whose president, Dr Dana Smetherman, on Thursday called her a “tireless advocate for women’s health.” Kennedy said in a social media post that her experience with breast cancer patients and early detection will help the Republican administration take on the chronic disease epidemic.

Saphier was also a longtime Fox News Channel contributor until this week one of several of the channel’s personalities Trump has brought into his administration. Trump’s first surgeon general pick, Dr Janette Nesheiwat, was also a contributor at the network, but her nomination fell apart last year after questions arose about her academic credentials.

An author and podcaster with her own show, “Wellness Unmasked with Dr. Nicole Saphier,” Saphier frequently comments on the Trump administration’s approach to health, often positively She also used the phrase “Make America Healthy Again” years before Kennedy popularized it. It was the title of a 2020 book she wrote that criticized the government’s

handling of healthcare and the Affordable Care Act

Saphier also has dipped into the wellness product industry creating a line of herbal supplements called Drop Rx, according to her LinkedIn profile.

A mom of three boys, Saphier has often said she is thankful she decided to keep her first son after becoming unexpectedly pregnant at age 17. She has advocated for more resources for mothers who make the same choice.

Like Means, Saphier has questioned some aspects of the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule, including the universal birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, a longtime recommendation that the Trump administration has been trying to weaken.

She also has aligned with Kennedy’s disdain toward COVID-19 vaccination requirements in schools, saying on her podcast in September that they were “a complete disaster” and one of the reasons for declining trust in vaccination.

Saphier says she supports immunization while arguing patients should be free to make their own medical decisions. In March, she praised acting U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr Jay Bhattacharya for posting a message encouraging Americans to get vaccinated against measles.

“The more vaccine confusion we create, the more preventable disease we will see,” she said in September, urging the administration to get itself in order “because it’s really upsetting.”

While being supportive of

Judge protects Yemeni refugees, slams push to end special status

BY JAKE OFFENHARTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press

NEW YORK A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from forcing about 3,000 Yemeni refugees to leave the U.S., ruling that Temporary Protected Status repeatedly granted to them and due to expire Monday should be extended again. Judge Dale E. Ho in Manhattan extended the status temporarily while a lawsuit seeking to preserve the protections plays out. In an emergency order, he wrote that people granted the status are ordinary, law-abiding people who the U.S government had determined could face threats to their safety if they were returned to a country facing an ongoing armed conflict. Amid its immigration crackdown, the Trump administration has terminated Temporary Protected Status for people from nine countries, including Haiti, Venezuela and Ethiopia. Before Ho’s ruling protections for Yemeni refugees were set

to end on Monday, according to U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services. People with Temporary Protected Status are eligible to remain in the U.S., may not be removed from the country, and are able to receive work and travel authorization.

In his ruling, Ho criticized former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, saying Congress had established a process for Temporary Protected Status to be altered or rescinded, but she had not followed it.

the Trump administration at large, Saphier has publicly cringed at some of its health mishaps. Last summer, she decried its long-anticipated first attempt at a MAHA report, which cited some studies that didn’t exist

“There were a lot of flaws in this report,” she said on her podcast. “In fact, it was pretty embarrassing.”

She said Kennedy’s firing of his first CDC director, Susan Monarez, after less than a month on the job was

“a mess.”

“When we keep hearing radical transparency and we’re going to regain trust, I can tell you these shenanigans are taking us farther away from that mission,” Saphier said on her podcast.

AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN PHOTO By JAy JANNER

A Cessna airplane lies crashed on Friday in a wooded area in Wimberley,Texas.Authorities say the pilot and four passengers were killed in the crash

to vote for candidates of that party in the elections for the Senate, Supreme Court, BESE and the PSC.

If you are registered as “No Party,” you can pick one party’s slate of candidates for which to vote.

For example: If you want to vote in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, you can choose the Republican ballot. But you would then be unable to vote in a Democratic primary for that — or any other — office.

That choice will automatically extend to a follow-up election on June 27. If no candidate in a race gets more than 50% of the vote, the top two candidates will compete in the runoff. You’ll only be able to vote for the party you picked in the first election.

House votes won’t count

In the voting booth, you will see an election for the U.S. House of Representatives, but any votes cast in that race won’t count.

That’s because the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling Wednesday that found Louisiana’s congressional voting maps unconstitutional. Gov Jeff Landry on Thursday signed an emergency order suspending the House election until the Legislature can redraw the maps in response to the ruling. That all happened too late for the state to redo the voting machines, Secretary of State Nancy Landry said.

A major Senate race

The biggest race on the ballot is the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. Cassidy is running on his record of delivering big infrastructure and flood-fighting projects to Louisiana, plus his work on the influential Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee.

Letlow is running on Trump’s endorsement, with the president saying she is the best-suited to help him pass his “Make America

ABORTION

Continued from page 1A

a human being from the moment of conception and is, therefore, a legal person,’” the ruling states.

Judges have long deferred to the Food and Drug Administration’s judgments on the safety and appropriate regulation of drugs.

FDA officials under President Donald Trump have repeatedly stated the agency is conducting a new review of mifepristone’s safety, at the direction of the president.

The judges noted in their ruling that the FDA “could not say when that review might be complete and admitted it was still collecting data.”

In a court filing, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and a woman who says she was coerced into taking abortion pills requested that the FDA rules be rolled back to when the pills were allowed to be prescribed and dispensed only in person Murrill heralded the ruling as a win for “women and babies.”

“The Biden abortion cartel facilitated the deaths of thousands of Louisiana ba-

Great Again” agenda.

Fleming is running on his role creating the arch-conservative Freedom Caucus when he was in the U.S. House and his work as a deputy chief of staff to Trump during his first term.

The race has been ferocious, with attack ads hitting all three candidates.

Three lesser known Democrats Nick Albares, Gary Crockett and Jamie Davis — are competing in the Democratic primary, seeking a long-shot chance to unseat Republicans in November in a GOP-heavy state.

Five amendments

Voters will decide whether to approve five amendments to the state constitution Amendment 1 would give the Louisiana Legislature more power to designate which positions have civil service protections. Sup-

are in place.

porters argue that would make it easier to remove state employees who aren’t performing and make government more efficient. Opponents argue it will open the door to more political influence over roles that should be nonpartisan.

Amendment 2 would create a school district in St. George, the new city in East Baton Rouge Parish. Supporters say residents of the area have long been underserved by the parish school system; opponents say a breakaway district would undermine East Baton Rouge Parish public schools.

Amendment 3 would liquidate several education trust fund accounts and use the money to pay off retirement debt, which would fund a $2,250 raise for teachers statewide. Supporters say teachers deserve a raise after several years of only getting one-time stipends. Opponents oppose elimination of the trust funds, which

BESE uses to fund some educational programs.

Amendment 4 would give parishes the option to eliminate taxes on business inventory Supporters say that tax is an obstacle to attracting companies and jobs. Opponents say local governments could end up irrevocably missing out on a stable source of revenue.

Amendment 5 would raise the mandatory retirement age for judges from 70 to 75. Supporters say medical advances allow people to keep working into their 70s and it’s beneficial to have experienced jurists. Opponents argue it’s important to ensure judges are mentally in their prime given the high stakes of their rulings.

State Supreme Court Voters in the 1st District of the Louisiana Supreme Court also will decide who receives a 10-year term as a justice on the state’s

highest court. The first district covers Livingston, St. Tammany, Washington, Tangipahoa and St. Bernard parishes and a smidgen of Orleans Parish.

Two Republicans are running for the seat. William Burris is a district court judge in St. Tammany and Washington Parishes. Blair Edwards is a 1st Circuit Court of Appeals judge and former juvenile judge.

TwosittingSupremeCourtjustices are running for reelection unopposed: Jay McCallum, in North Louisiana’s 4th District, and Cade Cole, in West Louisiana’s 3rd District. BESE

Three Republicans are running in a primary election for the 1st District seat on BESE, which sets policy for Louisiana’s K-12 school system. The district covers St. Tammany Parish and parts of Orleans, Jefferson and Tangipahoa parishes.

Those candidates are:

n Joseph Cao, a former member of Congress who Gov Jeff Landry appointed to fill a vacant spot n Mike Hollis, who is in the insurance business and whose father and brother were both state lawmakers n Ellie Schroder who worked in public schools for nearly 30 years and is the wife of former State Treasurer John Schroder PSC

Five Republicans are running for a seat on the Public Service Commission representing St Tammany Parish and parts of Orleans, Jefferson and Tangipahoa parishes. The commission regulates utilities.

The candidates are: n Wayne Cooper, a kitchen manager at the Florida Parish Juvenile Detention Center n State Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, R-New Orleans n John Mason, a criminal defense attorney n State Rep. Mark Wright, RCovington n John Young, the former Jefferson Parish president.

bies (and millions in other states) through illegal mailorder abortion pills. Today, that nightmare is over thanks to the hard work of my office and our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom,” Murrill said in a statement.

A Louisiana-based federal judge last month ruled that those allowances undermined the state’s abortion ban but stopped short of undoing the regulations immediately

Since the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed enforcement of abortion bans, prescriptions by mail have become a major way that abortions are provided — including to states where bans

“This is going to affect patients’ access to abortion and miscarriage care in every state in the nation,” said Julia Kaye, an ACLU lawyer “When telemedicine is restricted, rural communities, people with low incomes, people with disabilities, survivors of intimate partner violence and communities of color suffer the most.”

Mifepristone was approved in 2000 as a safe and effective way to end early pregnancies. It is typically used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol.

Because of rare cases of excessive bleeding, the FDA initially imposed strict limits on who could prescribe and distribute the pill only specially certified physicians and only after an inperson appointment where the person would receive the pill.

Both those requirements were dropped during the COVID-19 years. At the time, FDA officials under President Joe Biden said that after more than 20 years of monitoring mifepristone use, and reviewing dozens of studies involving thousands of women, it was

clear that women could safely use the pill without direct supervision. Friday’s ruling sets up a likely appeal to the Supreme Court.

The conservative-majority high court overturned abortion as a nationwide right in 2022 but unanimously preserved access to mifepristone two years later

That 2024 decision sidestepped the core issues, however by ruling that the anti-abortion doctors behind the case didn’t have legal standing to sue.

federal appeals court has blocked the mailing of prescriptions of Mifepristone.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy

Suspension of electionsfaces barrageofsuits

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

Within 24 hours of LouisianaGov.Jeff Landry’s decision to declare astate of emergency and suspend Louisiana’scongressional primary elections, candidates and civil rights groups had already filed multiple lawsuits to stop the change.

But their chances for success appeared murky after at leasttwo state court judges quickly shot down their efforts within hours of their filing.

The frantic legal maneuvering highlighted both the high stakes and urgent timeline —Landry suspended theelection just two days before in-person voting was set tobegin Saturday and after some voters had already cast absentee ballots. Each lawsuit takes its own approach, but they all argue the Louisiana governor overstepped his authority in canceling the election through an executive order Louisiana officials have countered that their actions are squarely within the bounds of law

Democrats in the Louisiana Legislature filed one of the lawsuits against the governor and SecretaryofState Nancy Landry in state court in Baton Rouge.

Legislators in the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, House Democratic Caucus and Senate Democratic Caucus are plaintiffs. They argue that,without immediate action by the court, they and thousands of other voters will be denied their right to cast ballots in the congressional primary.

“The harm is irreparable, falls disproportionately on Black Louisianans, and arises fromaunilateral executive action grounded in no qualifying emergency under Louisiana law,” their filing says.

The lawmakers areasking the court to immediately block Landry’sorder and force the secretary of state to count ballots cast in the congressional election.

But Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill in separate statements Friday both said, “Louisiana is following the law.” Murrill added: “I will vigorously defend the State against any lawsuits seeking to block the lawful suspensionofcongressional elections as our Legislature moves forward to adopt new dates and aconstitutional map.”

Otherlawsuits

Voting-rights groups and three individual voters also filed alawsuit against the governor andsecretaryof state in state court in Baton Rouge, and asked fora temporary restraining order blocking Landry’ssuspen-

sion of the election and declaringhis executive order unlawful

The plaintiffs included the NAACP Louisiana State Conference, League of Women Voters of Louisiana, Power Coalitionfor Equity and Justice, aLouisiana votingrights group, and three individual voterswho have alreadycast ballots.

They argued that Landry’s order suspending the U.S House elections exceeded his constitutional authority and was illegal, and suspending the electiondeprives Louisianans of their constitutional righttovote.

But on Friday,19thJudicial District Judge Chip Moore denied therequest for atemporary restraining order

“The Court finds that the governor hasthe authority to suspend the upcoming election to protect the electoral process,” Moore wrote “Holding an election withan unconstitutional map is like applyingfresh paint to rotten wood.”

Stuart Naifeh,anattorney with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund representingthe plaintiffs, said, “we are considering our options,” including a possibleappeal In another lawsuitbacked by the NationalRedistricting Foundation, the Greater New Orleanssection of the National Council Of Jewish

Women andthree voters are also suing the governor and secretary of state.

They askedthe courttodeclare Landry’sorder unconstitutional and block it from takingeffect.

“The Governor’s extraordinary andunlawfulassertionofthe power to cancel an election midstream is bothunprecedented and unjustified,” their legalfiling says.

But 19th Judicial District Judge BradMyers quickly rejected the group’srequest to immediatelyblock Landry’sorder, saying that it complies with amandate from the Western District federal court, where the Supreme Court case originated, barring the state from voting on the current maps.

Murrill quickly celebrated Myers’ decision, saying, “I will continue to vigorously defend the governor’s executive order suspending U.S. House elections.”

So did Landry,saying in a social media post, “Weapplaudand supportthe decision by Judge Brad Myers today.”

“Louisiana will not be electingmembersofCongress under an unconstitutional map,” he said.

On Thursday evening, Lindsey Garcia, aDemocratic candidate for the 5th Congressional District that stretches from Baton Rouge

to Monroe, andEugene Collins, of Baton Rouge, also sued in federal court in the Middle District of Louisiana. They askedthe court to permanently block Landry’s directive and order him and other Louisiana elections officials to proceed with the congressional primaryas originally planned.

Meanwhile, debatecontinues on where thecasedecided by theSupremeCourt this week, Louisiana v. Callais, actually stands in the legal process

While thehigh court released its opinionWednesday, it hasyet to issue a certified judgment in the case,a separate procedural stepthat formally returns thedecision to lower courts. Typically,that judgment is-

sues 32 days after an opinion unless the justices decide to shorten the timeframe.

The Callais plaintiffs,who had asked the court to block the current map, asked the Supreme Court Wednesday to expedite that process. They argued time is of the essencebecause of the looming elections.

Agroup of Black voters involvedinthe caseknown as theRobinsonlitigants on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to hold off on its judgment to give them time to potentially askfor a rehearing.

They also asked the high court to hold the judgment until after the 2026 midtermsare complete.

But federal judges in the Western District of Louisi-

ana, where the Callais plaintiffs originally filed their case, did not wait for the SupremeCourt to certify its decision. On Thursdayafternoon, athree-judge panel reimposed itsprevious order blocking Louisiana from voting under the current maps—that order had been stayed, or paused, while the case moved through the courts.

TheBlack voters in the case have asked the federal districtcourt to void itsorder,saying the judges acted too soon.

“The Supreme Court issued its opinion on April 29, 2026, but it has not yet sent down its judgment. Accordingly,the stayiscurrently in effect,”the voters’ court filing says.

STAFFFILE PHOTOByJAVIER GALLEGOS

If you’re sick of the rain and thunderstorms we’vebeen dealing with for the lastfew days, I’vegot somegreat news for you. Theweather will changedramaticallyfor Saturday. While we will startthe day with cloudyskies,expect somemostlysunnyskies this afternoon followedbymostly clear skies tonight. Temperatures will rise onlyto the lowtomid-70s with northerly windsat15mph butgusting up to 30 mph. With the cloudsand rain gone,the UV Index is back to the “veryhigh” level, so protect your skin.

TRUMP

which afifth of the world’straded oil andgas passes in peacetime. A U.S. Navy blockade stopping Iran’s tankers from getting out to sea has Iran’seconomy reeling. Theworld economy is also underpressure as Iran maintains its chokehold on thestrait.

Negotiations have continued by phoneafter Trump called off hisenvoys’ trip to Pakistan last week, the president said. Trump this week floated anew plan to reopen the critical passageway used by America’s Gulf allies to export their oil and gas.

On Friday,Trump expressed frustration with Iran’sleadership, describing it as fractured

“It’sa very disjointedleadership,” Trump said. “They all want to make adeal, but they’reall messed up.”

Discussing abriefing he had Thursday with Adm. Brad Cooper head of U.S. Central Command, the president said the U.S. has just two options in Iran.

“I mean, do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish themforever? Or do we want to try and make adeal?Imean, those are the options,” Trump said.

Trump said he believes Iran’s leadership has madesomeprogress toward unifying around a resolution.

“They’ve made strides, but I’m not sure if they ever get there,” he said. “There’stremendous discord, they’re having atremendous problem getting along with each other in Iran.”

KOLLURU

Continued from page1A

Continued from page1A several actions that support faculty success.” Kolluru introduced the“ambitious” Louisiana Vision 2035 framework. It’s designed to focus on growing enrollment, research, student success and statewide impact, he said. “It reflects asimplebelief,” he wrote. “Wecannot focus onlyon

Aman stands in the water,appearing to fish, as bulk carriers, cargoshipsand

Abbas earlierthisweek

Iran sought supportfor plan

Iran’sForeign Minister Abbas Araghchi held aflurry of calls on Friday with many of hisregional counterparts, including fromTurkey,Egypt,Qatar,Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Azerbaijan, to brief them on his country’slatest initiatives to end the war,according to his social media European Union foreign policy chiefKajaKallas also spoke over the phone Friday with Araghchi. They discussed ongoing diplomatic efforts to reopen theStrait of Hormuzand long-term security arrangements,Kallas’ office said

in astatement. Kallas alsohas been in contact with the EU’sGulf partners.

Pakistani officialshavesaidefforts were continuing to ease tensions between Iran and theU.S. Pakistan’sformerambassador to Washington, Masood Khan, said the continued exchange of proposals indicates that the U.S. and Iran remain engaged in seeking adiplomatic midpoint The proposals alsocomeafter leadersofthe two countries had exchanged some of their harshest threats, Khan said, fueling fears thatmilitary hostilities could resumeatany moment.

Explosionkilled14inIran

An explosionofleftover bombs from strikes during the war against Iran killed 14 Revolutionary Guard members, IRNA and other Iranian media reported Friday

Areport by the Nournews website, believed to be close to Iran’s security,said the explosion happened near the northern city of Zanjan, which is northwest of Tehran. It was the largest number of Revolutionary Guard members reported tobekilled since the ceasefire began on April 7. The report

said the ammunitionincludedcluster bombs and air mines dropped during the fighting.

Since the warbegan on Feb. 28, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran,and more than 2,600people in Lebanon, where new fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah broke out two days after the war started, according to authorities.

Additionally,24peoplehavedied in Israel andmorethan 20 in Gulf Arab states. Seventeen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 U.S. service members throughout the region have been killed.

ties in the United States.

the next semester or even the next year.Wemust also plan forthe next decade.” As part of theplan, Kollurusaid he wouldask the Legislature for a $15 million investment to “support student success,including graduate assistantships as part of our R1 engine.”

To earn an R1 designation, auniversity must spend at least $50 million on research anddevelopment and award at least 70 research doctorates, amove that accounts for only 5% of collegesand universi-

The goals for the next 10 years include increasing theamount dedicated toresearch from $254 million to $500 million,increasing enrollment from 16,100 to 27,500, andincreasing theuniversity’sendowment from $250 million to$500 million.

Kollurualso focused on student retention—“one of our most urgent prioritiesmovingforward” in histown hall. Theuniversityloses 26% of studentsbetween their freshman and sophomore year,he

said.His plan to improvethatincludes timely feedback andgrade entering on the student portal, individual advising and engagement with students andclear pathsfrom enrollment to employment. Kolluru was named the university’sseventh president in February. KolluruservedasUL’sinterim president sinceNovember andis the former vicepresident of research, innovation and economic development of the university.His appointment came threemonths afterpublic pushback against the

board’s initialplans to installKolluru as president without asearch. PriortoKolluru’sappointment, the university was without apermanent president since last July when longtimePresident Joseph Savoie abruptlystepped down. The UL system board, which oversees the university,named twointerim presidents, first Jaimie Hebert, who served as provost andhas since resigned, and Kolluru.

Contact AshleyWhite at ashley. white@theadvocate.com.

Civilservice change on theballot

La.constitutional amendmentwould give lawmakerssay over protections

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

Louisiana lawmakers would gain more power over the stategovernment workforceifvoters approve Amendment 1during theMay 16 election.

Amendment 1asksvoters to decide whether the Legislature should be able to decide which state governmentjobs should be at-will positions without civil service protections. Proponents say the change

would beamove toward improved government efficiency.Opponents sayitwould increasepolitical influenceingovernmentjobsthat should be nonpartisan.

Under the system set up in the stateconstitution,there aretwo groups of governmentworkers: “Classified” state employees with civil service protections and“unclassified”at-will state employees. Classified employees are meant to be shieldedfrom political pressure. They canonlybedisciplined or

fired for cause, with proper documentation and after achanceto respond or take corrective action. They also have to be hired through an open, competitive process, meet minimum job qualifications set by the state, and be paid according to statestandards.

Classified employees arealso barredfrom supportingpolitical candidates or parties.

Unclassified employees are considered at-will and can be hired or fired at any time. They’re not subject to same state hiring and compensation standards.

Unclassified employees have no restrictionsonpolitical activity Currently,state government jobs by defaulthavecivil service protections, but there are many exceptions.

About adozen of those exceptions are listed in the Louisiana Constitution, including elected officials, membersofboards and commissions, higher education professors andstaff, andstaff in the Legislature, Governor’sOffice and Attorney General’sOffice. The State Civil Service Commission can also approve requests fromstate agencies for additional unclassified employees, which it does regularly at its monthly meetings. If Amendment 1passes, the Legislature would also be able

ä See BALLOT, page 2B

SHARKAND AWE

Navalservicemancharged

Teen allegedly flew to Virginia formeetup

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

A27-year-old man in the U.S. Navy has been charged with transporting a14-year-old Lafayette-area girl out of state with the intent to engage in sexual activity

ABOVEand LEFT: Sharkie, the mascot for the Southside High School Sharks, is revealed to students and faculty during apep rally at the school in Youngsville on Friday

STAFFPHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK

Theinvestigation began when aparent reported her 14-year-old daughter ran awayfromhome.

The mother foundher daughter engaging in inappropriate communicationswith someoneonline who claimed to be 18 years old, theU.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release

TheU.S.Attorney’sOffice in Lafayette announced on Friday that Sadiq Rauf Perry,aNaval serviceman based in Virginia, was charged on April 30 in the case.

The parent took the girl’sphone and grounded her and later realized the girl she had left. Lawenforcement officers discovered arideshare servicetook thegirl to theairportwhereshe boarded aflight to Norfolk, Virginia. Both theridesharetransportand theflight werepaid for by Perry He also ensured the minor girl could board theflight unaccompanied by providing afictitious birth

datefalsely claiming she was old enough to travel alone, according to therelease. Law enforcementobtainedvideo surveillance showing the girl flew from Lafayette to Virginia where shewas picked up by Perry in a vehicle registered to him Perry reportedly was tracked to ahotel where law enforcement agents found Perry and the minor girl sharing aroom with one bed. The U.S.Attorney’sOfficereport-

Musician books26 gigs during Jazz Fest

Some take opportunitiesto play as much as possible

BY JENNA ROSS Staff writer

With his left hand, Aurélien Barnes carved abeat on the cowbell. With his right, he readied his trumpet and blew afunky riff. He turned back to the cowbell, then —drumstick still in hand —played another riff.

Trumpet, cowbell, trumpet. By that point, performing in asweatyRick James cover band, Barnes was skilled at aswitchover.The 30-year-old was six days and adozen gigs into aJazz Fest-fueled sprint. Over 11 days, the multi-hyphenate musician wasset to play 26 shows. Each day of the New Orleans Jazz &Heritage Festival and every day in between.

Three gigs aday,some days.

“I’m taking it day by day,” Barnes said. This year,he’s lucky: “All the gigs I’m doing are things Iwant to do. My heart is in everything I’m doing.”

Between them, he meets fansfrom all over.Folks who first saw him onstage as akid, playingwashboard with his dad, Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes, and now seek out his next-generation, Grammy-nominated group the Rumble. Early Wednesday afternoon, just before his first of three gigs that day,aman stopped him on the street to give him afist bump and abig smile.

“You’ve been lighting me up for aweek!”saidDavid Starr,intown from New York. Like many NewOrleans musicians, this is Barnes’ busy season, and the trumpet player,percussionist and composer had been booking gigs for months now. Hiscalendarwas packed with rehearsals, sound checks and performances. The trunk of his small car,too, was amarvel, stuffed with congas and bongos, casessoftand hard and stands small and tall.

“It took me awhile to get the Tetris right,” he said, grinning as he slid abackpack in without resistance. But by the end of the night —or, more accurately,by earlyThursdaymorning he would have used “every single thing.”

The first gig started late, as gigs tend to do.

But by 4p.m., on the outdoor stage at the RiverbendLagniappe festival, the 10-person band was riffing on “Give It to Me Baby,” the final song. Men in Grateful Dead caps danced. As the lead singer introduced the band’s members, once more, Barnes loosened his stands and packed his shakers

His next gig was at Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and his silky green shirt was soaked with sweat. He’d need ashower

‘Playing real good fory’all’

An hour later, clad in a smart black suit, Barnes arranged his trumpet mutes on astand in the museum’satrium for Ogden’s AfterHours event in celebration of Jazz Fest.This sound check was marked by murmurs from the gallery and the occasional pop of abartender opening another bottle of sparkling wine. Barnes welcomed the crowdatexactly 6p.m., introducing himself and pianistLeslieMartin, the other half of the evening’s duo. Sitting in rowsoffolding chairs, the audience listened intently,politely applauding aftersolos.

Afew songsin, Barnes noted that the vibes werea bit more elevated than his typical gig, that he’smore used to playing for rowdy crowds at 1a.m. “And they brought me some Fiji water,too,

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA

GERMER

Aurélien Barnes plays trumpet at the Old Alker Distilleryduring the Riverbend Lagniappe block party in NewOrleans.

he said, which got some laughs. “So I’m going to be playing real good fory’all.”

Barnes toyed withthe tall space’sechoes, turning his voice from gravelly to sweet, his trumpetfrom blaring to dulcet. He told stories about New Orleans musicians of the past. He sang in once-common Creole French: “I’m trying to bringitback onesongata time.” Before alovesong, he pointed out his wife, Jess Gersh,inthe back.

The pairwere married two years ago,onthe weekend between French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest

They’d wanteda spring wedding, and “it waswhen he hadthe time,” shesaid.

With French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest, April is “a great time for local musicians,” said Delfeayo Marsalis, president of the New Orleans chapter of the American Federation of Musicians,not only because gigs are plentiful and payis “betterthanaverage.”

“Because Jazz Fest brings in national artists, it elevates expectations.”

Musicians know their favorite playermight show up at their gig, Marsalis said, so they have to be at the top of their game.

More people use the union’srehearsal hall in April than in anyother month.

Barnesgrew up at Jazz Fest,firsttaking thestage as atoddler.Even then, he was anatural percussionist, jamming out with chopsticks. “You couldn’ttake me to an Asian restaurant.” He fronted hisown imaginary band: Aurélien and the Louisiana Jukebox.

Onstage with his father, he played washboard, then trumpet, honing his chops in ayouth music program his dadstarted while workingfor theNationalPark Service

Still today, theJazz Fest performance with his father,thisyear on thefest’s first day, is his favorite Away of noting progress. Away of marking time.“It brings it back home,” he said ‘Tiestogetherall theworlds’ His last gig of the night was alate one: 11 p.m. at Le Bon Temps Roule, the Uptown dive on Magazine Street.

Afterwrapping up atthe Ogden, hemapped it and decided, maybe againsthis betterjudgment,tocatch someone else’sgig between his own: WeedieBraimah at the Music Box Village

“One of my favoritemusicians inthe world,” Barnes explained. Born in Ghana, Braimah is adjembe player,aneducator,avisionary “He tiestogether allthe worlds that Ilove about music.” He texted afriendand fellow drummer,but he was setting up for his own show.Sohewent solo, capturing video on his phone of acacophony of drums and guitars, acrowd entranced. That concert is partof why,when someoneasks howBarnes is doing, he’ll answer,“Tired.”But he’ll smile,too.

LOTTERY THURSDAY, APRIL30, 2026

PICK 3: 9-1-3

PICK 4: 6-4-4-7

PICK 5: 8-6-7-3-9

Voters gettodecide on five statewide constitutional amendmentsonthe May 16 ballot:ateachers’ payraise; allowing the City of St. George to form its own school district; allowing the Legislaturetoadd or removeemployees from unclassifiedcivil service; allowing parishestoreduce or eliminate property taxes on business inventory;and changing the mandatory retirement agefor state judges.

This election also includes closed-party primaries for Republican and Democrat candidates for the U.S. Senate. No Party voters can select aRepublican or Democrat ballot for theseraces at their polling place, but must staywith that party through anyrunoff.

Races for the U.S. House of Representatives willappear on theballot, but those

U.S. SENATOR

DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Nicholas “Nick” Albares

Gary Crockett

“Jamie” Davis

REPUBLICANPARTY

“Bill” Cassidy John Fleming

Julia Letlow

Mark Spencer

CONSTITUTIONAL

AMENDMENTS

AMENDMENT 1

To allowthe legislature to remove or add officers, positions andemployees to the unclassified state civil service system.

AMENDMENT 2

To grantthe St.George communityschool system in East Baton Rouge Parish the authority to operate a school system.

AMENDMENT 3

To fund ateachers payraise by paying down thelongterm debt of the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana.Thatwould be achievedbyredirecting fundsfromthree educational trust funds.

BALLOT

Continuedfrom page1B

to determine which jobs should be unclassified.

There are roughly 71,000 employees in the state workforce, according to April data fromState Civil Service department. About38,000 are classified employees withcivil service protection, and 33,000 are unclassified.

Of those that are unclassified, about 27,000, or 82%, work at public colleges or universities as professors, instructors, administrators and staff.

Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe,sponsored the proposed constitutional amendment.

He said Louisiana’sstate workforce is currently controlledbythe Civil Service Commission, whose membersare appointed

Voters will decide on five statewide constitutional amendments on the May16ballot.

votes will not be counted.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled thestate’svoting map unconstitutional and Gov.Jeff Landry postponed theelection, but it was too latefor election officials to change the voting machines.

Also on the ballot is a Lafayette Parish public librarytax renewal. In addition, several Acadiana

AMENDMENT 4

To allowparishes to reduce or eliminate property taxes on business inventory,but only if the sheriff, school boardand parish governing authority approve. Parishes choosing to fully exempt inventory taxes could receive aone-timepaymentfromthe Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund.

AMENDMENT 5

To changethe mandatory retirement age of judges from 70 to 75 years of age.

LAFAYETTE PARISH PARISHWIDE

3.12-mill property tax renewal, Lafayette Public Library

ST.MARTIN PARISH

ST.MARTINVILLE MAYOR Melinda Narcisse “Mel” Mitchell, D Lisa Nelson, D Mark Pratt, NP JasonWillis, D ST.MARTINVILLE COUNCIL

DISTRICT 1

Brad Horton, R Marty Theriot, R ST.MARTINVILLE COUNCIL

DISTRICT 3 Jonas A. Fontenette, D Patrick Wiltz, D

rather thanelected and are“unanswerable tothe citizens of Louisiana.”

“Allowing the Legislature to legislate regarding civil service wouldallow for greater flexibilityin the hiring andretention of employees as wellasthe right sizing of the number of employees needed to serve the people,” he said.

Morris said his ultimate vision for Louisiana’s civil serviceis“amore efficientworkforce with the skills needed to perform the functions ourcitizens deserve.”

But those opposed to Amendment 1say the strong employment protections forgovernment workersare needed in Louisiana, astate known for political corruption and the legacy of former populist Gov.Huey Long, whodrewfunding forhis political campaigns from state workers.

towns have mayor races on the ballot.

Early voting is May 2-9.

The deadline to request amail-inballot from your registrar of voters is May 12. The deadline to return those ballots to the registrar is May 15.

Polls on voting dayopen at 7a.m.and close at 8p.m

Runoffs, if needed, will be held June 27.

ST.MARTINVILLE COUNCIL DISTRICT 4

Janise Anthony, D MonicaCharles, D Harold “Cat” Pickney,D VERMILIONPARISH ABBEVILLE MAYOR

Anita R. Levy,D Roslyn R. White, NP ABBEVILLE POLICE CHIEF MikeHardy,R William“Bill” Spearman, NP ABBEVILLE COUNCILMAN AT LARGE Bang Bui, NP Carlton Campbell, D Ravin St. Julien, D ABBEVILLE COUNCIL DISTRICT A

JesrialJevon Davis, D NealA.Richard,R ABBEVILLE COUNCIL DISTRICT B Todd Chauvin, NP Rachel Touchel Mouton, R FrancisPlaisance, R ABBEVILLE COUNCIL DISTRICT D Terry Broussard,D Malcolm Jones, NP KAPLAN POLICE CHIEF

Keith M. Greene Sr., R Joshua Hardy,R

“There’sareal reason why the classified system, the civil service system wasput in place, and I don’t think human nature has changed any based on what Isee going on politically in Louisiana,” said Brent Frederick, arecently retired Civil Service referee, who for16years heard appeals over employment disputes.

Fredericksaidcivil service offers amerit-based system, where hiring decisions are open andcompetitive andfiring is done forcause, and employees canclimb theranks without political intervention.

In exchange forthose protections, state workers give up their right to participate in political campaigns, Frederick said.

In Amendment 1passes, there’sachance the Legislature couldovertime do away with the civil service system, he said.

Veazey, George Clyde

Abbeville- AMass of Christian Burial officiated by Rev. Matthew Barzare will be held at 10:00 AM on Monday, May4,2026, at St Mary Magdalen Catholic Church,honoringthe life of George ClydeVeazey, 83, whopassed away on April 29, 2026, at hisresidence. Readerswillbehis three sisters, Patricia V. Alvarado, Barbara V. Kinnard, andFrancesV Angers.Gift bearers will be hisfourgranddaughters, AnnV.Hopkins, Lily V. Mauney,Eloise Veazey, andEmilyVeazey. He will be laidtorest at St.Paul Cemetery.Serving as pallbearers will be histwo grandsons, PaulJ.Veazey andPatrickVeazey, and nephews, JimVeazey, Mark Kinnard, Luke Kinnard, and Brion Angers. Avisitation willtake place at Vincent Funeral Home of Abbeville, 209 S. Saint Charles St., Abbeville, on Sunday, May3,2026, from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM with arosary being prayed at 6:00 PM.The visitation will continue Monday, May 4, 2026, from 8:00 AM until 9:45 AM,whenthe procession will departfor the church George was aproud 1960 graduate of Mount Carmel High School in Abbeville. He then earned hisBachelor's degree from Louisiana State University and later earneda Master's degree at McNeese State University. Throughout hisdistinguishedcareer, he served as ateacher,coach,and school administrator for theVermilion Parish School Boardand Vermilion Catholic High School. Hispassion for sports, especially track andfootball, and hislove for golf, were definingaspectsofhis life, which he enjoyed both on andoff thefield He is survived by his loving spouse of 59 years, Louella RedmondVeazey; sons, Andy Veazey andhis wife, Patrice, andMatthew Veazey andhis wife, Amanda; daughter, Lynn Veazey;beloved grandchildren,Paul, Ann(T.J.), Lily (Samy), Eloise, Patrick, and Emily; andtwo greatgrandsons, Maverickand Benson He wasprecededin death by hisparents, George Veazey andthe former Mary Grace Broussard; son,Douglas Veazey;and brothers, Mike Veazey andP.J. Veazey Thefamilywould like to extenda special thanks to Drs. Vernon Valentino David Daly, and Ronald Lahasky, thenursing staff at OurLady of Lourdes, andthe staff of Hospice of Acadianafor theirdedicated andprofessional care over many years. In lieu of flowers, the familyrequeststhatdonationsbemade in George's honor to theVermilion Catholic P.J.Veazey Memorial FundorHospice of Acadiana.

Allfuneral arrangements are beingconducted by VincentFuneral Home -Abbeville(337) 8934661.

tickets.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

BUSINESS

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Spirit Airlines rescue is under consideration

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said Friday his administration is still weighing a taxpayer-funded takeover of Spirit Airlines, with talks ongoing and no final decision yet on whether to move forward with a potential bailout.

The possibility of a bailout first emerged publicly last week, when Trump floated the idea of the U.S. government offering Spirit a financial lifeline to help keep the airline from going bust and out of business.

The president suggested the government would be able to resell the airline known for its bright yellow planes and “no frills” service for a profit once oil prices driven up by the Iran war come down.

Lawmakers from both parties and members of the Trump administration have criticized the idea of using taxpayer funds to keep the ultralow cost airline afloat. Speculation around the likelihood of a deal emerging has mounted with every day that passes without a resolution as Spirit’s operating expenses and debts mount

The administration delivered what Trump described as a “final proposal” to the airline. He framed the possible federal intervention as an effort to preserve jobs but stressed that any financial arrangement worked out would have to benefit the government.

Certain tariffs on Scotch whisky lifted

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said Thursday he is removing certain tariffs on Scotch whisky after this week’s White House visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom.

“The King and Queen got me to do something that nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking!” Trump posted on social media.

Trump said people had wanted this change, especially with regard to the wooden barrels in which the spirits of Scotch and bourbon can be aged. His post left it unclear if the tariffs were being lifted on bottles of Scotch or on the materials used to produce alcohol in both countries

“I will be removing the Tariffs and Restrictions on Whiskey having to do with Scotland’s ability to work with the Commonwealth of Kentucky on Whiskey and Bourbon,” Trump said.

The White House did not respond to emails seeking clarification about the details of what Trump announced, though the post was interpreted in Scotland and by industry lobbyists as removing the tariffs on Scotch.

Bid over Alex Jones’ Infowars in limbo

AUSTIN, Texas The Onion’s plan to take over the Infowars platforms that Alex Jones built into a bullhorn of conspiracy theories and turn them into parody sites was in limbo again Thursday, after a Texas court paused a proposed deal involving the satirical news outlet.

Austin-based Infowars is facing liquidation because of the more than $1 billion in defamation lawsuit judgments Jones owes relatives of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting for calling the Connecticut massacre a hoax. The proposed licensing deal would give The Onion temporary authority to use Infowars’ trademarks, copyrights and intellectual property while a state receiver in Texas works toward liquidation.

A state judge in Austin had scheduled a hearing Thursday on whether to approve The Onion deal with the receiver But the proceeding fizzled into a status conference because the Texas Third Court of Appeals late Wednesday approved an emergency motion by Jones’ lawyers that temporarily blocked the transfer of any Infowars assets. The judge set another hearing for May 28

Apple leads market as oil prices drop

BY STAN CHOE Associated Press

NEW YORK The U.S. stock mar-

ket set more records Friday after Apple, Estee Lauder and others joined the list of companies delivering fatter profits for the start of the year than analysts expected. Easing oil prices also helped steady the stock markets around the world that were still open on the May Day holiday

The S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to its latest all-time high and closed out a fifth straight winning week. That’s its longest such streak since 2024.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 152 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.9% to its own record.

Apple led the way after the iPhone seller reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Because it’s one of Wall Street’s biggest stocks in terms of overall size, Apple’s rally of 3.3% was by far the strongest force lifting the S&P 500. Stock prices generally follow the path of corporate profits over the long term, and U.S. companies have been blowing past expectations for earnings in the first three months of 2026. That’s even with the war with Iran and high oil prices souring confidence for many U.S. households. A little more than a quarter of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported already, and 84%

of them have topped analysts’ estimates, according to FactSet. The index is on track to deliver roughly 15% growth in profit from a year earlier Estee Lauder’s stock climbed 3.4% after reporting better earnings than expected, thanks in part to strength in China, and it raised some of its upcoming financial forecasts Sandisk jumped 8.3% after the maker of storage for computers blew past analysts’ expectations for profit thanks in part to voracious demand from data centers.

Colgate-Palmolive added 2.2% after likewise delivering bigger results than expected, though CEO Noel Wallace said it expects “volatile macroeconomic conditions and slower category growth to continue in 2026.”

The main uncertainty for the global economy is where oil prices are heading because of the Iran war Oil prices spurted higher early this week on worries that the war will keep the Strait of Hormuz closed for a long time. That would in turn keep oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf instead of delivering crude to customers worldwide. But such moves have been quick to reverse throughout the war, as hopes rise and fall for a reopening of the strait. On Friday, the price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 2% to settle at $108.17. Brent was selling for a little more than $70 per barrel before the

Byrd said in a phone interview earlier in the week. “It’s been a four-month sprint from merger agreement to closing. Now the real work starts.”

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

An investor group led by veteran Louisiana banker Daryl Byrd has completed its purchase of Morgan City-based MC Bank four months after announcing the deal and two months after a rival bank filed a lawsuit alleging Byrd’s team improperly wooed its employees and customers. Neither the aggressive timetable nor the legal action stopped DMMS Purchaser Inc., the acquisition group led by Byrd, from raising roughly $225 million from more than 500 regional investors as it launched a plan to buy and grow the small financial institution.

MC Bank had roughly $480 million in assets and 10 locations in south Louisiana when the deal was announced. The acquisition, which was finalized Friday, has already been approved by state and federal regulators.

“We’re extremely happy with MC Bank,”

BY BEN FINLEY and MATT O’BRIEN Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Pentagon said Friday that it has reached deals with seven tech companies to use their artificial intelligence in its classified computer networks, allowing the military to tap into AIpowered capabilities to help it fight wars. Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Nvidia, OpenAI, Reflection and SpaceX will provide their resources to help “augment warfighter decision-making in complex operational environments,” the Defense Department said.

The planned acquisition created shock waves in the regional banking community when it was announced in December Byrd is well known for his two-decade tenure leading IberiaBank, which he grew from a small Lafayette-based lender into a regional force, with assets of over $30 billion in 2019 when it was acquired by Memphis-based First Horizon.

Many of Byrd’s former executives at IberiaBank are part of the MC Bank purchasing group. The list includes several who moved from IberiaBank to First Horizon after that 2019 deal. The way some of those execs joined Byrd’s team sparked the First Horizon lawsuit, which was filed Feb. 20 in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana Less than a week later, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the case.

Byrd said he’s eager to let the courts weigh in.

“We adamantly believe they’re wrong, and our pleadings reflect that view,” he said “What’s really important is the way we want to run our company; I’m not worried about how someone else runs theirs.”

Byrd said MC Bank is flush with cash. He described the institution’s position as

The Defense Department has been rapidly accelerating its use of AI in recent years. The technology can help the military reduce the time it takes to identify and strike targets on the battlefield, while aiding in the organization of weapons maintenance and supply lines, according to a report in March from the Brennan Center for Justice. But AI has already raised concerns that its use could invade Americans’ privacy or allow machines to choose targets on the battlefield. One of the companies contracting with the Pentagon said its agreement required human

“super capitalized” after the fundraising round that began in January, meaning its shareholder equity is more than 30% of its total assets. He said that figure, which is three times the typical amount, means the bank is ready to do business.

“We expect to grow as our teams energize and build clients,” Byrd said. “We’re confident we’ll have clients moving over, people we’ve known for a long time.”

Byrd projects the bank will top $1 billion in assets by the end of the year and double that a year later

The new MC Bank executive team also has been planning several new physical locations since the December announcement. A branch at the corner of Magazine Street and Jefferson Avenue in Uptown New Orleans is under construction and scheduled to be complete late next year

The bank also has leased office space on the 27th floor of the Pan-American Life Center on Poydras Street in the Central Business District. There will be a ground-floor branch located nearby, Byrd said.

The bank is developing a branch in greater Atlanta and a loan production office in greater Miami. Byrd expects both to be active by this summer The bank also is planning spaces in Lafayette, Baton Rouge and Birmingham.

oversight in certain situations. Such concerns were raised by a company not on the list, Anthropic, and it is now battling the Pentagon in court The tech company said it wanted assurances in its contract that the military would not use its technology in fully autonomous weapons and the surveillance of Americans. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the company must allow for any uses the Pentagon deemed lawful. Anthropic sued after President Donald Trump, a Republican, tried to stop all federal agencies from using the company’s chatbot Claude and Hegseth sought to label the

company a supply chain risk, a designation meant to protect against sabotage of national security systems by foreign adversaries. OpenAI had announced a deal with the Pentagon in March to effectively replace Anthropic with ChatGPT in classified environments. OpenAI confirmed in a statement Friday that it was the same agreement it announced in early March.

“As we said when we first announced our agreement several months ago, we believe the people defending the United States should have the best tools in the world,” the company said.

STAFF PHOTO By RICH COLLINS A pedestrian walks past the site of an MC Bank branch under construction at the corner of Magazine Street and Jefferson Avenue in New

OPINION

Will Democratic California elect aGOP governor?

Welcome to California: 40 millionpeople, 54 electoral votes and aDemocratic Party sodominant that Republicans are more endangered than aCoachella Valley fringe-toed lizard.

Democrats have won the state in the last nine presidentialelections.Theyoutnumber Republicans twotoone in voter registration. Theycontrol81% of thestate’scongressional delegation and 75% of state legislative seats. Given all that, howis it possiblethat California’snext governor would be a Republican? Let’sstarts with the rules. California uses an openprimary forgovernor.All candidates run on the same ballot, regardless of party,and all voters can participate, regardless of party.That’ssimilar to how Louisianahas elected governors and other stateofficialssince 1975. Butthere is one big difference. In California, the top two primary finishers automatically advanceto arunoff. In Louisiana, arunoff is held only if no candidate wins amajority of votes castinthe primary Gubernatorialraces in Louisiana oftenend up in runoffs, butnot always.JeffLandry, forexample, won outright in 2023 without the need for arunoff. Now here’s another doozy: California has 61— yes, 61 —candidates on its June 2gubernatorialprimary ballot. It was hardenough to keep track of the 15 contenders in Louisiana’slastrace for governor Imagine dealing with four timesthat many Which brings us back to theburning question: How could aDemocratic bastion like California, especially in an era of sharppartisanpolarization, elect aRepublican governor? It could happen under one circumstance:two Republicans make the runoff.Thatwould mean no Democrat would appear on the Nov. 3general election ballot, leaving more than 10 millionregistered Democrats fuming on the sidelines. For that to come about,Republicans wouldneedto split their vote almost evenly betweentheir toptwo candidates: Steve Hilton, apolitical commentator endorsed by Donald Trump, and ChadBianco, the RiversideCounty sheriff,who is backedbynumerous state legislators and amajor gun owners’ group. Furthermore, the much largerDemocratic electorate would need to fracture into evenmorepieces. And this year,Democratshave more than enough candidates to do just that.

There are at least five majorDemocrats onthe gubernatorialballot next month: billionaire Tom Steyer; former U.S. Health and HumanServices Secretary Xavier Becerra; SanJose Mayor Matt Mahan; former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter;and former Los Angeles MayorAntonio Villaraigosa.

Here’show the math could work: InCalifornia’s 2022 gubernatorial race, 59% of thestate’svoters cast ballots for aDemocratand 41% for aRepublican.Ifthat 59% Democratic vote evenlysplits five ways, each Democrat would receive about 12%. And if you evenly splitthe 41% Republican vote two ways,eachRepublican would receive about 20%. Alot of moving parts would have to spin together to make this occur,but flukescan happen in politics. That’swhy Democrats have beendesperate for asmaller field.And it’swhy plenty of Republicans were disappointed when Trump endorsedHilton— amove that helps Hilton, but risks knocking Bianco out of arunoff slot. In reality,aDemocrat-Republican or DemocratDemocratrunoff is more likely thana RepublicanRepublican runoff this yearinCalifornia. But polls still show awide-open race. Recent polling from CBS News/YouGov,conducted after U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell exitedthe race amid sexual misconduct accusations,shows Hilton running first with 16%, Steyersecond with 15%, Becerra third with 13% andBianco fourth with 10%. Other candidates were in single digits

The last time Californiaelecteda Republican governor was under unusual circumstances. In 2003, Democratic Gov.Gray Davis was so unpopularthat voters recalled him in the middle ofhis term. Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger,a centrist Republicanrunning on achange platform,defeated Democratic Lt. Gov.Cruz Bustamante, who wasseenasa candidate of the status quo. Since then, however,the GoldenState has become much deeper blue. That makes aRepublican victory more difficult. But impossible? Not really

Ron Faucheux is anonpartisan political analyst, pollster andwriterbasedinLouisiana.

Everett Dirksen, who served in the House and Senate in the 1950s and ’60s, was aharsh critic of spending by the federal government. He said, “A billion here, abillion there, pretty soon you’retalking real money.” Dirksen’s ironic comment would be sadly out of place these days.Tociteone egregious example, Donald Trump recently proposed abudget for theDepartment of Defense of $1.5 trillion for the 2027 fiscal year.That will grow to $1.7 trillion, becauseTrump is tacking on another $200 billion to fund thewar in Iran and other miscellaneous programs. That represents ashocking and unprecedented increase of the present budget for thePentagon. Iwrite “miscellaneous”because nobody really knows wherethat money is going or how it is spent. The waste and fraud in theDepartment of Defense are legendary.The “big five” defense contractors overcharge the depart-

ment for almost everything purchased by the28separate agencies that function under thePentagon umbrella.To be morespecific, in 2018 Congress mandated an annual audit of Defense spending —and the department has failed every audit. Fifteen of the agencies did not even provide enough information for theauditors to complete theirreview And among the unworkable, unnecessary and wasteful programsofthe administration and defense contractors’ proposals are the Golden Fleet, the Golden Dome and the Sentinel ICBM projects. While the administration slashes Medicaid and other domestic programs it could well afford to fund, our national debt soars past $39 trillion due in large part to the obscene spending of the Department of Defense.

ARNOLD PULDA NewOrleans

ficeholderswill have to answer forDonaldTrump

When Iassumed the chairmanship of theLouisiana Young Republican Federation 40 years ago this spring, Icouldn’t have imagined ademented psychopath hijacking the GOP and turning it intoa cult of personality antithetical to both theideals and principles upon which this nation was founded and theteachings of Christ as outlined in the Gospel of Matthew.But that’swhere theGOP is, and has been for adecade.

So Iwasn’tsurprised that the megalomaniac with nuclear codes would declare, “A whole civilization will die tonight,never to be brought back again.” Nor was Isurprised when he chose Easter Sunday,Christianity’sholiest day, to post aprofanity-laden threat to wage genocide on 93 million innocent people, signing off with“PraisebetoAllah.”

No person of sound mindever cast a votefor Donald Trump, as the passage of time has proven.

Presidential historians rank theconvicted felon and self-professed serial sex offender as the worstpresident in American history.They citehis role

inthe Jan. 6insurrection,election denialism,undermining of American institutions, refusal to participate in the peaceful transfer of power,handling of theCOVID-19 pandemic and assaults on theFirst Amendment. Notably,scholars rank Trumpdead last in intelligence, moral authority and administrative skills. This doesn’ttake into consideration Trump’sobsession with dictators, mockeryofU.S. servicemen as “suckers” and “losers” and growing evidence that he’snot only apedophile protector, but also aperpetrator

What was true in 2016 remains true today: Following Christ is incompatible with supporting Trump, and Trumpis an anathema to the Constitution and rule of law

What I’ll never understand is whyRepublican office-seekers continue to bend over backward to tie themselves to the mostun-Christian andun-American grifter and charlatan this nation has ever produced.

JOHN MICHAEL LOCKHART Denham Springs

We would never expect adults to perform critical workwhile severely sleep deprived, yet we demand exactly that of students every day.Across our community, teenagers arrive at school exhausted, not from lack of effort but from asystem that ignores how their bodies actually function. It is timeto start school later Science makes it clear that adolescents experience a natural shiftintheir circadian rhythms, which makes early mornings misaligned with peak alertness. The American AcademyofPediatrics recommends eight to ten hours of sleep forteens, yet current schedules makethat nearly impossible. The result is not just fatigue, but diminished focus, weaker academic focus and alearning environment set up forstruggle rather than success.

The consequences extend beyond grades. Chronic sleep deprivation fuels anxiety,depression and emotional burnout among students already under pressure to succeed. We are not just asking them to learn, we are asking them to overcome exhaustion just to keep up.

Yes, adjusting school schedules may present logistical challenges. But inconvenience should not outweigh well-being. When research is this clear,inaction becomes a choice.

If we truly value education, we must also value the conditions that makelearning possible. Later school start times are not aluxury,they are a necessity we can no longer afford to ignore.

ARYUIANA HAMMOND Baton Rouge

Ron Faucheux

Broussard adds another distinction

STMcoach recognized as ‘Mr. LouisianaBasketball’

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

St. ThomasMore boys basketball coach

Danny Broussard knows he’snoknow-it-all. That realization wouldn’t have surprised anyone when he firsttook over theprogram as an aspiring 23-year-oldcoach lookingto make aname for himself.

Even 43 years later at 66, Broussardisstill looking for any new angle that might help his team win another game. Consideringhe’swon sixstate championships, had five state runner-upfinishes, won 28 district titles and is theNo. 5all-timewinningestboysbasketballcoach in thenation with 1,189 careerwins, it’ssafe to say his approach has worked.

Adding to that long list of credentials, Broussard will be recognized as thisyear’s recipient of the “Mr.Louisiana Basketball” award.

This award is the most prestigiousannual award given by the Louisiana Associationof BasketballCoaches (LABC).Itispresented annually to someone who has made asignificant, long-term contribution tobasketballat any level in thestate.Broussard will receive

ä See BROUSSARD, page 3C

St.Thomas More coach DannyBroussard, shown here coachinghis Cougars during the Sunkist Shootout this past season, will be recognized as this year’s ‘Mr.Louisiana Basketball’ recipient at Saturday’sLABC banquet.

BYLUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

When their turn came around inthe third round of the2026 NFL Draft, theNew Orleans Saints selected aplayer they hoped would help them reach the NFL’s leadingedge They didn’tfocus on positionsofimmediateneed, at least not in the senseofa traditionalstarter.Instead, the Saintssaw the way NFL offenses were trending and leaned into it by drafting tight endOscar Delp.

Put together a“two deep” rightnow adepth chart that showsthe backup and starter —and Delp may noteven be on it Juwan Johnson is coming off acareer-best season as areceiver,hauling in 77 passes for 889yards. In free agency,the Saints brought in veteran Noah Fant, aformerfirst-round pick with 334 career receptions.

Butthe tight endroomwas stillnot complete —especially if the Saints want to be in vogue withsome of the NFL’s betteroffenses.

“Playing multiple tight end positions is valuable,” Saintscoach Kellen Mooresaid after drafting Delp. “You can see theteams that made runs this year,alot of them are playing with 12 or 13 personnel.”

ä See SAINTS, page 3C

Derbydoubledip

Owningone horsegood enough to run in theKentucky Derby is adream.

Having twointhe Run for the Roses,well, that goes beyond most people’s imaginations

This is aheady reality for the Bernhards: Dana and son, Ben.

Thelongtime Baton Rouge residents will give Louisianans alocal rooting interest when they sendout Albus and Incrediboltinthe 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky

“It’s exciting,” Danasaid, “and very special.”

The journeytothe Derby hasbeen hrilling for theBernhards, who startin the horse racing business only ryears ago, but shesaiditwould ven more special if her husband was here to enjoy it withher JimBernhard —one of Louisina’smost successful, influential dbenevolentbusinessmen— died unexpectedly after abrief illness in November.Hewas 71.

“Jim would have been so thrilled,”said Dana of her late husband, who founded The Shaw Group in 1987 andbuilt it into one of Louisiana’sfew Fortune 500 companies. “He would have been shouting from the

rooftops to all of our friends.”

The$9.5 million GradeI Kentucky Derby is themost prestigious event in NorthAmerican horse racing. Incredibolt andAlbus qualifiedbywinning the Grade III VirginiaDerby and Grade II Wood Memorial Stakes, respectively,givingthemenoughpoints to enter the famedRun forthe Roses.

The Bernhards will entertain a group of 60 friends, family and businessassociatesintheir suite at Churchill Downs on Saturday.Albus and Incredibolt will break from post Nos. 2and 11 as 30-1and 20-1long shots,

No clearfavoriteinarace that hasalarge number of legitimate contenders

BY STEPHEN WHYNO AP sportswriter

LOUISVILLE, Ky The chaos at the start of theKentuckyDerby sometimes decides the most exciting two minutes in sports in amatter of seconds.Twenty horses bursting out of the starting gate to varying degrees of success makes it amad dashtothe turn.

Calling the raceonTVfor NBC, Larry Collmus typicallyfocuses on thefavorite. This year presents achallenge “I don’tknow who the favorite is going to be,” Collmus said. “I guess we’ll find out. It’s wide open this year.” Todd Pletcher-trained Renegade opened as the favorite, butitcould just as easily be Brad Cox’sCommandmentorFurther Ado or Bill Mott’sChiefWallabeebythe time the field of 20 leaves thegate. The first legofthe Triple Crownissowide open that at least ahalf-dozen horses have alegitimate chance to win the 152ndrunning of theKentucky Derby on “There’ ferent go if ping Brown, Market. argum half their good Re ite on end

fdifuld icapChad Emerging ly makean rmaybe they ran had a or-

ä See DERBY, page 3C

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByCHARLIE RIEDEL

STAFFPHOTO By BRAD KEMP

Above: Dana and Jim Bernhard bought Incredibolt at the Keeneland yearling Sale in 2024.

Incredibolt is one of twostarters for the Bernhards’ Pin OakStud farminthe Kentucky Top: Kentucky Derby entrant Albus works out FridayatChurchill Downs in Louisville, Ky

PROVIDED PHOTO By DANA BERNHARD

page 3C

Arizona’s Vargas sets marks with 27-game hit streak

CHICAGO Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ildemaro Vargas extended his hitting streak to 27 games on Friday, breaking the major league record for a Venezuela native.

Vargas went 4 for 4 with a walk in a 6-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs at a cold and blustery Wrigley Field. He raised his batting average to a major league-high .404. Vargas’ career-best streak dates to Sept. 26, and his 24-game streak to start this season is a franchise record.

Vargas has been one of baseball’s biggest surprises so far this year He has six homers, 21 RBIs and a 429 on-base percentage in 24 games. Vargas’ 24-game streak in 2026 is tied with Tony Womack (2000) for second on the single-season franchise list.

Ascension Episcopal bonds after tragedy

Baseball team rallies around memory of fallen classmate

BY MIKE COPPAGE

Contributing writer

Everyone seems to know everyone else at Ascension Episcopal.

It’s part of the charm of a small school.

The close-knit fabric on the Youngsville campus made it especially difficult for the students, faculty and families in the aftermath of senior Martha Odom’s death in last week’s mass shooting at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge.

Simultaneously that “Blue Gator bond” aided the mourners, which included the baseball team that was hours away from a playoff game when they got the news.

“I’ve seen our community come together with an output of love toward our school,” said athletic director Lonny Landry, who also serves as the baseball coach.

“It’s kind of neat to watch a group of kids that realize they’re playing together, love one another and at the end of the day there are bigger things than a high school baseball game.”

A day after the tragedy, the No. 13-seeded Blue Gators defeated No. 20 Westminster Christian in the Division IV select playoffs.

“I just told them to love one another and lean on each other,” Landry said. “They’re playing really relaxed.”

While it was a struggle to suit up for last week’s playoff game, Landry said the Blue Gators were bolstered by the way the community rallied around the school and team.

“I saw a community really show up and support the boys,”

Ascension Episcopal infielder Austin Adams throws to third during a game against Acadiana on April 8

youngsville.The Blue Gators are playing out the season with heavy hearts after the tragic shooting death of classmate Martha Odom.

he said. “It made you realize that Ascension Episcopal is really a special place.

“I don’t think anyone is trained to deal with something of this magnitude. We’re just trying to do the best we can with the tools we have.”

Landry described Odom as the happiest person he’s ever come across.

“Pure joy as a person,” he said of Odom, an athlete herself who was captain of the soccer team.

To demonstrate the school’s chemistry, the students are avid supporters of their classmates

who are involved with athletics, theater or any other endeavor They’re there for each other, which has been more important than ever

“That’s one of the special things with the size of the school,” Landry said. “Whether it’s an eighth grader or senior everyone is always pulling for another and shows up for each other’s sporting events.

“It’s a special place.”

Landry and the Blue Gators hit the road Saturday to challenge No. 4 St. Martin’s Episcopal in a regional playoff game at 1 p.m. at

Mike Miley Stadium in Metairie.

“The last couple of days, practice has been good,” he said. “At this point, the boys are enjoying being around each other They’re not taking life for granted. The seniors are pretty much done with school, so (baseball) has given them a couple of extra weeks to hang out.”

And while the Blue Gators are keeping things in perspective, they would love nothing more than to continue charging ahead through the postseason and dedicate each game to the memory of Martha Odom.

Acadiana Renaissance sweeps Loyola Prep to advance

Rideaux’s pitching gem in Game 1 sparks Eagles

BY NEAL MCCLELLAND

Contributing writer

Sebastian Rideaux pitched the game that almost didn’t happen. About two hours before the start of a baseball quarterfinal doubleheader on Thursday between Acadiana Renaissance and Loyola Prep, a thunderstorm inundated the Youngsville sports complex.

The eventual one-hour delay didn’t bother the ARCA junior starter as Rideaux threw a complete game in a 2-1 win over Loyola Prep in the first game of the doubleheader The fourth-seeded Eagles then survived a late rally to beat the No. 5 Flyers 6-5 in the second game to seal this best-of-three series and advance to the Division II select state semifinals.

The Eagles will meet the series winner between No. 1 Vandebilt Catholic and No. 9 St. Michael. That series starts with a single game Saturday and concludes Sunday “First thing, hats off to the Youngsville sports complex crew for getting to field ready to play because we didn’t think there was going to be a game,” ARCA coach Tyler Jensen said. (Rideaux) comes out and pic-

thes a great game against a good hitting team. “All he does is come out and throw strikes. He’s the guy that’s

most likely going to start Game 1 of any series or the first game of any doubleheader. He is that consistent. He is that good.

Rideaux was ready

“The fastball was working, the changeup was working and I was able to get as well as a few curveballs,” he said. “Everything was working and the defense was there behind me to back me up.”

Rideaux said he didn’t feel any pressure going into the game.

“I knew the guys were behind me and were going back me up,” he said “And when we got that early lead, there was no pressure at all. We love paying with the lead, and it makes everything a lot easier.”

The top hitters for ARCA in the first game were Spencer Glaeser (1 for 2, RBI) along with Keegan Handschin and Micah Porche, who each had a hit.

In the second game, ARCA led 3-2 before blowing the game open with a four-run fifth inning. The Eagles were able to survive a seventh-inning rally from the Flyers to complete the sweep.

Cole Schexnaider gave the Eagles another quality start in GAme 2, giving up two earned runs on seven hits, four walks and no strikeouts over six innings.

The top hitters in the second game were Jackson Kretzer (1 for 2, two RBIs) and Carter Mackay (1 for 3, double, RBI). Rideaux added two hits.

“We knew they were a good team, but we think we’re a good team too and the kids came out and worked hard and proved it tonight,” Jensen said.

Korda goes bogey-free to share early lead in Mexico

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico Nelly Korda kept out of trouble and played bogey-free Friday for a 5-under 67, giving her a share of the early lead with Brianna Do in Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba in the LPGA Tour’s only tournament in Mexico.

Korda only took advantage on two of the four par 5s at El Camaleon, and she had to scramble on the par-5 18th coming out of the right rough. But she had the right touch on a gap wedge from just over 50 yards to 4 feet to close out her round with a birdie. That allowed her to catch Do, who had a fairway metal for her second shot into the par-4 ninth and finished with a bogey for a 69. Minami Katsu of Japan had a 69 and was two shots behind.

Sinner earns 350th career win to reach Madrid final MADRID Top-ranked Jannik Sinner extended his winning streak to 22 matches by beating Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-4 and reached his first Madrid Open final on Friday Sinner will face No 3 Alexander Zverev in a fifth consecutive Masters 1000 tournament after the German dominated unheralded Belgian Alexander Blockx 6-2, 7-5 in their semifinal Sinner’s historic attempt to become the first man to win five consecutive Masters 1000s is on the back of beating Zverev in recent semifinals in Paris, Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo without dropping a set.

Sinner’s 350th career victory makes him the first man born in the 2000s to reach that milestone.

Fan altercation won’t result in charges for Steelers WR DETROIT Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf will not face any charges stemming from an incident with a Detroit Lions fan during a game last December The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office announced Friday that it will not pursue a criminal complaint against Metcalf following an investigation into the incident between Metcalf and Ryan Kennedy CBS cameras caught Metcalf and Kennedy, a Lions fan wearing a blue wig and a blue and black shirt that aligned with Detroit’s colors, having an exchange along the rail in the second quarter of Pittsburgh’s 29-24 victory on Dec 21. The NFL suspended Metcalf for the final two games of the regular season.

Brewers RHP Woodruff on IL due to inflammation WASHINGTON Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff has gone on the injured list one day after a reduction in his velocity caused him to leave a game in the second inning.

The Brewers announced Friday that the two-time All-Star was going on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation. The Brewers recalled right-hander Easton McGee from Triple-A Nashville.

Woodruff told reporters before the Brewers’ Friday game with the Washington Nationals that an MRI showed no structural damage Woodruff said he was encouraged after going over the test results with team staff as well as Dr Keith Meister, who performed shoulder surgery on the veteran right-hander in October 2023.

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE

in

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE

Acadiana Renaissance’s Jackson Kretzer, left, and Micah Porche

celebrate an out during the Eagles’ doubleheader sweep over Loyola Prep on Thursday in youngsville.

the award during the LABC’s 52nd annual awards banquet Saturday in Baton Rouge.

“People have asked me before whydoI think it’snecessary to still go to clinics after all these years of being acoach,” Broussard said. “I do thinkit’snecessary.Tome, if there’sone or two things Ican learn from aclinic to help you win agame, thenit’s worth it.”

“I’ve won two state championships on asingle play thatI learned at aclinic.”

Broussard said he’smotivated by the games he didn’twin as well.

“Yes, I’ve won over 1,000 games, but I’ve also lost alot of games,” Broussard said. “I’m not stupid enough to think that I haven’tcost us wins at times because of things we didn’t do that we should have done.” Broussard’slegacy is acurious mixture of old-school fundamentalsand the willingness to change with the times.

“I think the way he getsthem to buy into playing defense and to block out and rebound,” said EricMouton, who played point guard on the 1986 state championshipclub and later coached under Broussard with the Cougars. Mouton, who later served as headcoach at Vermilion Catholic and Ascension Episcopal, appreciates Broussard’s ability to get his kids to adhere to the fundamentals.

“If you don’tblock out, you really have no chance,” Mouton said. “Not every programcan do it. Istruggled to do it, but to get his players to play defense andto block out every single possession is what keeps you in games.” Broussard learned to lean upon others as his career progressed

“I always apologize to Kim (Broussard, current STM athletic director and former boys basketballassistantcoach),” Broussard said. “I stillfeelbad about it,because Kim was agreat assistant

SAINTS

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Aquick refresher: Numerical personnel groupings are defined by the number of running backs and tight ends on the field, with therunning backs being read first. When Moore says “12” personnel, he means one running back and two tight ends. Like most teams, New Orleans spent the majority of last season in 11 personnel —one back, one tightend, three receivers.Twenty-three NFL offenses were in 11 personnel at least 50% of their offensive snaps, and the Saints were near the top of the league, ranking fourth at 66.7%.

Analytically, this isn’t where the Saints want to be. Only one of the top-10 offenses in 11 personnel usage ranked in the top 10 in Expected Points Added (EPA) per play —the Dallas Cowboys.Five of the NFL’s seven worst offenses by EPAper play,including the Saints (27th), ranked in the top 10 in the percentage of time they were in 11 personnel.

NFL teamshave started to skewtowardbigger personnel packages. The Los AngelesRams (first in EPA/play) leaned hard into 13 personnel, running more than 30% of their offensiveplays with three tight ends sharingthe field. For context, the Rams ran twiceasmany plays in 13 personnel as the next closest NFL team (the Steelers, at 140 snaps) Five of the top-10 offenses by EPA/play also ranked in the top 10 for 22 personnel usage, including the Buffalo Bills, who ranked second in offensive EPA.

This isn’tjust aboutrunning the football. The Rams specifically were seekingmatchup advantages by going in “heavy” packages that also featured passcatching options. Not only did the Rams lead the NFL in 13 personnel usage, but they passed out of it nearly 40% of the time and averaged +0.5 EPAper dropback when they did passout of 13 personnel.

That’swhere Delp —and the Saints —see himchanging the offense.

“Tight ends arethe biggest mismatches on the field,” Delp said.

“Every team that is elite has an elite tight end, andwhen you’ve got agood one,you can almost revolve the offense around them and do crazy things.”

The Saints already had two capable veterantight ends on their roster,but both of them profile as pass-catchers first. Delp may have more in the tank as areceiver than his college statistics suggest, but he is still aplayer who

coach,but Ididn’tlean on him as much as Ishould have.

“I was so youngback then and trying to provemyselftoeveryone that Iwas worthy of that job that Itried to do too much.”

As he grewwiser,Broussard would allow his assistant coaches to call critical plays in playoff games.

“We’re playing McKinley and they had abig 6-foot-9 kid,” Broussard said. “There’sfive seconds left andI called a3-point play, but then Eric (Mouton)said, ‘Coach, what about if we back screen?’,soIcalled atimeout because it hit me thatwas the play we needed to run.Itwas ahigher percentage shot for us.”

Moutondid it another time in a tournamentinFlorida that ended with agame-winning slamdunk on abackdoor lob play at the buzzer.

“Who ends the game on adunk?” Broussard said. “The crowd went wild. Iwouldn’thavecalledthat play,but Eric did and we won.”

During the 2024-25 season, theoffense was limited, so the Cougars relied on adefense that set theschool record for fewest pointsallowed at 41 agame and reached the state championship game

That was largely because of a suggestion from assistant coach Wesley Cortese during summer basketballtoplay man-to-man exclusively for the summer,despite STM’strademark defensebeing the1-2-2 matchup zone.

“That defense ended up carryingusall the way to the state finals,” Broussardsaid

These days,the Cougarsare running the fifth different offense since Broussard took over

There are some things that haven’tchanged overBroussard’scareer.For one, he’sremained atSt. Thomas More for 43 years.

“There was one year thatwas particularly frustrating with some outside stuff and Icalled aboutanopeningatanother school,” Broussard said. “Then Ikind of caughtmyself andsaid, ‘What areyou thinking? This is theplace for you.’ ”

SAINTS ADD DT WITH CHECKEREDPAST

The NewOrleansSaints agreed to terms Fridaywith defensivetackle Zxavian Harris after theOle Miss product went undraftedlastweek,a source with knowledgeofthe situation confirmed

Harris, at 6-foot-8 and 330 pounds, has exceptional size for hisposition, but he had aseries of off-field incidents in college. He wasarrested in August 2024 on domestic violence and obstructing charges and in July 2023 fordriving under theinfluence, felony fleeing, recklessdriving,being aminor in possession, not usingheadlightsand running astop sign.

The driving-related charges resulted in Harrisentering apre-trial intervention program, according to the Lafayette County District Attorney’sOffice.

Harris is also coming offaninjury after undergoing surgeryonhis right foot in March.The 22-year-old spent four seasons at Ole Miss, appearing in 52 games with 25starts. He started all15games last year,recording 58 tackles,three sacks, four passes defensed and one interception.

MatthewParas

fitsthe mold ofatraditional “Y” tight end— someone who is going to line up over the tackle and contribute in the rungameasmuch as in thepass game.

“He can drop out in space. He’s gotsome juiceand some speed, vertical speed,” Mooresaid.

“He’savery willing,physical run player.I think that’sanimportant aspect. We knowwithJuwan and Noah, we have someguys whocan make some plays with the ballin their hands. These guys are going to have to do some dirtywork, and (Delp is) ready forthat.”

So think of Delpless in terms of where he may fit on the depth chart, and more in how he may become asortofskeleton key that can unlock new thingsfor theoffense.

DERBY

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position on therail. No horse has wonthe Derby from there since Ferdinand in 1986.

“It’snot the one we would have chosen,” Pletcher said.“It’s not ideal, but it’swhat we got and we’ll do thebest we can with it.”

WhenPletcher watched replays of every race since the new starting gate wasintroduced in 2020, he thoughthis horses and otherson therailwerenegativelyaffected and their chances compromised. Thelasthorse to break fromthe very inside to finishinthe money was Lookin At Lee in 2017.

Irad OrtizJr. is beingcounted on to navigate Renegade through the11/4-mile journey around the dirt track at Churchill Downs, andwhile he hasyet to winthe Kentucky Derby,he’sinhis prime as one of the best jockeysinthe world.

“Irad’sriding in great form right now,sothey just got towork it out,” Pletcher said. “I think his natural runningstyle is to kind of settle andmakeone run like he has been doing, so we’re not looking to change that.”

Cox entered threehorses but is downtotwo after ruling out Fulleffort on Thursdaybecause of achip in thecolt’sleft hind ankle. Mark Casse’sSilent Tactic and Kenny McPeek’sRight to Party werealso

FAMILY

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That’s finewith the Bernhards. As nascent “horse people,”they feel blessed to be there.

“It’smixed emotions,for sure,” Bensaid. “We’re still very much grieving the loss of my dad. It’s superexcitingwhat’sgoing on Youjust wish he was here for it. He would always remind me, “Remember to have fun.’ So that’s what we’re trying to do.”

With awin, the Bernhards would join exclusivecompany.Sharilyn Gasaway is believed to be theonly Louisiananative to win theKentuckyDerby as aprincipal owner TheShreveportnativeand her husband, Brent, are members of 4GRacing, which bred and owns Mystik Dan, who won the 2024 Kentucky Derby

Horses always have been part of theBernhard family.The daughter of longtime Louisiana Tech president Dan Reneau, Danahad horses from the age of 8while growing up in the Ruston area of north Louisiana. After sheand Jim married in 1993,theykept Friesian horses on their 100-acre property outside of Baton Rouge and their 50-acre propertyinnorth Louisiana.

“Wehad horses our entire 32 yearsofmarried life,” Dana said. “The past few years, Jim and Ienjoyed trail riding all over our various properties.”

TheBernhards’ initiationto thoroughbred racing began in 2021,whenJim offeredtobuy a colt for Danaasabirthday present. With thehelp of abloodstock agent, they pickedout ahandsome son of Candy Ride at theFasigTipton Kentucky Select KeenelandYearling Saleand bought him for $350,000. They named him with aLouisiana flair,Geaux Rocket Ride,and he went on to win morethan $980,000, including the Grade IHaskell Stakes and finishing second in the GI Pacific Classic.

Officially bittenbythe horse racing bug, theBernhards started buying more horses andeventually found themselves looking for property in Kentucky horsecountry.Whenlegendary PinOak Stud farm became available in 2022, theybought it andtookoverthe operation.

The bucolic 1,348-acre property is located between Frankfortand Versailles, in theheart of the Ken-

scratched, putting Great White, Ocelli and Robustainto thefield on thefar outside.

Commandment and Further Ado each hasshown the ability to finish first in this deep class of 3-yearolds. Commandment has won four in arow,including the Florida Derby,while Further Ado bounced back from alengthy absence and won the Blue Grass Stakes. Theywill face rivalswho thrived all over the country

“There’salot of talent, obviously,coming from different regions, whether it’sCalifornia,Florida, Louisiana,New York,” Coxsaid. “I do feel like the horses in Florida were definitely the strongest region this year.”

Bob Baffert’sPotente was second to So Happy in the Santa Anita DerbyinSouthernCalifornia, andLitmusTest comes from Oaklawn Park in Arkansas. Baffert is tied for the most Derby victories among trainers andcan take sole possession of therecord if oneof his long shots comes through. It does not look like there is asuper horse in this field whoiscapable of sweeping the Triple Crown like Justify in 2018 and American Pharoah in 2015.

“There’sbynomeansanAmerican Pharoah in here, at least up to this point, going into the race,” Brown said. “Now,whoever wins this race andgoes on,maybe one emerges and turns into one of the best 3-year-oldsinthe last few years. Who knows?”

Louisiana residents JimBernhard, left, and his son Ben developed impressiveracehorses together Jim died in November.Ben and his mother,Dana, are lookingtokeep the tradition alivewithtwo horses racing in the Kentucky Derby.

tuckybluegrass region. Thefarm’s original owner,Josephine Abercrombie,preserved large swaths of woodlands on the property.The woods and rolling hills arefilled with deer,rabbits, bald eagles and even the occasional bobcat.

“The farm is so beautiful,” said Dana, who splits her timebetween Versailles and Baton Rouge. “You sit on the back porch, and it’slike a bird sanctuary.It’sreally alovely place for us.”

TheBernhards also took over Pin Oak’sracing operation, keeping manyofthe farm’s staffmembersand famed blue-and-gray racing silks. Ben left his job as a guidance, navigation and control engineer at SpaceX in California and movedtoKentucky to take over the operation as president He overseesthe 100-horse stable’s breeding andracing operation. Leaningonhis aerospacebackground, he integrates modern data science into thefarm’soperations as theCEO andco-founderofStable Analytics, atech startup that develops horseracingtechnology anddata analysis tools.

TheBernhards have applied Jim’slongtime business mantra “The best has no equal” —totheir horse racing operation. They’ve grown and expandedPin Oakexponentially in recent years. The stable now features about 60 to 70 horses of racing age and includes 34 broodmares. The farm typically managesarotating populationof around 25 yearlingsand 16-20

weanlings.

In recognition of Jim Bernhard’s legacy,the family has named all 30 of its recently purchased yearlings in his honor.Piping Hot, for instance, was the headlinefor a Greater Baton Rouge Business Report cover story on Jim in 1994.

“The two-minute nature of horse racing is so unique,” said Ben, a graduate of The Dunham School in Baton Rouge. “I love it. That intensity,that adrenaline rush, it’s like sittinginmission controlfor a(rocket) launch. It’s twominutes of intense focus. Horse racing is similar to aspace mission in that way.But horse racing is alot harder.You don’twin as much.” In their short tenure,the Bernhards have experienced the highs and lowsofhorse racing.

Geaux Rocket Ride broke his right front leg during aworkout whiletrainingfor the2023Breeders’ Cup Classic and had to be euthanized.

Twoyears later,Pin Oak won the Grade II Saratoga Derby with World Beater and the Grade III BelmontGolfCup Stakes with ParchmentParty, whocameback to win the Isaac Murphy Marathon Stakes at Churchill Downson Wednesday

The stable’spositive momentum has continued this year with Albus and Incredibolt, who have combined to winfive of nine starts and morethan $934,000.

“Weare very excited and looking forward to Derby Day,but it’s still such agrief-filled timefor me and our children,” Dana said. “I still have extremewaves of grief, and Inever know whenthe grief is going to overcomeme. We feel him every day and every night in everything that we do.”

That was certainly the case at AqueductRacetrack in NewYork last month, when Albuscharged past the field in the stretch to win the Wood Memorial at 12-1 odds. The victory,coupled with Incredibolt’swin in the Virginia Derby three weeks earlier,gave Pin Oak its first Derby starters in its 74year history

Thereality andsignificance of the achievement hit the Bernhards during the car ride back from Aqueduct.

“Wewere all in shock that we have two horsesinthe Derby,” Ben said. “It’ssuch an unlikely thing to happen. Ifinally said out loud what everybody wasthinking: ‘Weall know this is happening because of him.This is all Dad.’ ”

AP PHOTO By JOHN RAOUX

Georgia tight end Oscar Delp runs withthe ball during agame against Florida on Nov. 1in Jacksonville, Fla.

PROVIDED PHOTO

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByCHARLIE RIEDEL

Ahorse headstothe track for aworkout at Churchill Downs on ThursdayinLouisville, Ky

Teen boys searchingfor identity need support, space

There’saphrase I’m hearing more and more from teenage boys lately: “I don’treally know who Iam.”

That’snot new.Adolescence has always been aseason of figuring yourself out. What’s new is their awarenessofthis struggle and how early they are naming it. Recently,a16-year-old sat across from me and said,“I feel like I’m adifferent person depending on who I’m with.” He wasn’tbeing dramatic. He was trying to be accurate. Ironically,its one of the biggest critiques teens have of other teens: “They change whothey are depending on who they’re with.”

Today’steen boys aren’t just comparing themselves to the guys in their school or on their team. They’re comparing themselves to everyone. The most confident guy on TikTok The most ripped guy on Instagram. The most successful 22-year-oldentrepreneuron YouTube. The loudest voices about what it means to be a man —often saying completely opposite things. It’snot just comparison anymore. It’sconfusion.

They’re tryingtoanswer a questionthat used to unfold slowly over time: Who am I? But now it feels like there are 100 possible answers— and they feel aneed to pick one early and get it right. Or at least look like they have.

That’salot of pressurefor a 15-year-old.

What I’m noticing in the counseling room is that many boys feellike they have to present an identitybefore they’veactually had time to develop one.They try on different versions of themselves depending on who they’rewith, what they’re scrolling, or what kind of response they think they’ll get. And when those versions don’tquite line up, it creates this quiet, nagging sense thatsomething is off.

“I don’tknow which version of me is real,” they say

That’snot pathology.That’s ayoung person trying to sort through an overwhelming amount of input without much help making sense of it. The online world gives them exposure, but not always integration. It gives them models, but not relationships. It gives them feedback, but not much guidance. It speeds everything up, but it doesn’tnecessarily make anything clearer And so they’re left tryingto build an identity in aspace that doesn’talways feel real. What often helps is surprisingly simple and, unfortunately for you, alittle inconvenient. Less talking, more doing. More timewithreal people in real places—ona team, at ajob, riding in thecar withsomeone they respect, sitting in aroom where they can’tedit themselves. Places where they have to show up, contribute, getit wrong and try again. Identity tends to show up in thosemoments. Not perfectly,but honestly And honesty is amuch better foundation than performance. It also helps when the adults in their lives resistthe urge to rush them into clarity.Welike answers. We like direction. We love the certainty of being able to predict who they will become. But most teenage boys don’tneed someone to define them —they need someone

ä See TEENS, page 6C

DRESSED SUCCESS

Clementine Hunter andGeoff

legacies have come together

BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer

GeoffreyBeene wasn’t the first couturier to incorporate quilting into his designs, andhe probably won’tbethe last. Butfor him,quilting was more than adesign technique.

It was as personal to himasitwas for the makers of the quiltsthat now cover theLSU Textile &Costume Museum’sgallery wallsfor its new exhibit, “StichesinTime: Quilts and Fashion,”opening with a2p.m. reception on May 3.

There are 15 quiltsinall, dating from 1849 to 1990, each serving as abackdroptoquiltedfashion designs in theexhibit.And 25 out of 30 of theshow’sdesigns are by Beene, whomadealasting markon fashion in the20thcentury.In2002, TheNew York Times described himasthe “architectofAmerican clothing.” Each of his designs in the museum demonstrates thedichotomy between quiltsand fashion, practicality and design. In the end, both are artforms

reyBeene’s

in BatonRouge

“I was interested in this commonality of technique between quilts and fashion,” museum director Michael Mampsaid. “And Iwanted to

‘STICHES IN TIME: QUILTS AND FASHION’

WHEN: May3through Jan. 15.The showopens withareception 2p.m. to 5p.m. May3.Regular hoursare 11 a.m. to 4p.m. Mondaythrough Friday. l WHERE: LSUTextile & CostumeMuseum,Human Ecology Building,140 TowerDrive, LSU. l ADMISSION: Free. l VISIT: lsu.edu/ agriculture/textilemuseum

explore in the exhibition how the simple processofa stitchcan be used for purposes from community-based practical to very high-end, luxuriousfashion.The stitchisthe denominator acrossall the objects. Bringing together contrasts If anyone was well familiar with this connection, it was Beene. Before moving to international designing fame in NewYork, he wasexposed to quilters and their process while growing up in the rural north Louisiana town of Haynesville.

ä See QUILTS, page 6C

BR restaurant knownfor $1 taco deal closes

BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer

RoyPetitfils

STAFF PHOTOSByROBIN MILLER

NativeLouisiana fashiondesigner GeoffreyBeene’sdesigns flank a‘Star of Bethlehem’or‘North Star’

The quilt Louisiana folk artist Clementine Hunter was working on at the timeofher death is on displayinthe LSUTextile & CostumeMuseum’s exhibit,‘Stiches in Time: Quilts and Fashion.’

‘Why

haven’tyou thankedme, thebesthostess ever?’

out of town aweek earlier

Dear Miss Manners: Less than 48 hours aftermyhusband and Iattended agathering at the home of acouple from our walking group, Ireceived atext from the hostess that read, “I hope you enjoyed the party.Should Iassume it was an oversight on your part not to send athank-you note? We believe we were gracious hosts and would appreciate gracious guests.”

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

Iwas shocked to receive this message and takenaback by her audacity and temerity in sending it.

Ibelieve that when she mentioned a“note,” she was referring

to atext or an email, as no handwritten note could have reached her in 48 hours. We had thanked and hugged them upon leaving. I’venever heard of someone texting with a demand to be thanked for their graciousness and implying that we don’t have any.Itexted back that there was no need to worry: I’d written her a thank-youletter that would be mailed thefollowing day.I then didso, also mailing anote to awoman we’d had dinner withthe following night,and another letter thanking friendswe’d visited

There was zero “gracious” follow-up from her after this How should Imove forward with grace, which Ithink she lacks? Should Ijust quit thewalking group, even though there are other people there Ienjoy? I’m happy walking on myown.

Gentlereader: By all means, walk away from her.But not necessarily from thegroup, where you might find other victimsofsuch self-defined graciousness.

Evidently,you are amodel letter-writer,and it might be supposed that Miss Manners would appreciate help in encouraging others to writeletters of thanks.

Speakslowlyand with intention

Dear Heloise: Here is something younger reporters don’talways hear: we older viewers are working to keep up, and fast talkers lose us. Mumbling makes it worse. Finish the word, pause, then move on —it sounds simple because it is. Reporters who actually do it come across as far more believable than those who rush The frequent use of filler words such as “like” can undermine your confidence. For instance, “It’s, like, really important” ap-

Church to host garden fundraiser

Nope. Not that kind of help.

Hostsshould not go looking for thanks when they should still be looking forglasses that might have been leftinthe living room

Dear Miss Manners: When we’re dining out, my husband sometimes blows his nose on atissue after dinner,then puts the used tissue on his dirty plate to be cleared by theserver Ifind this disgusting, and Iremovethe tissue and put it in my pocket or purse. If you agree that it’sdisgusting, please give me the words to convince him to stop.

Gentlereader: How about, “Please stop, dear.I find this disgusting”? It never fails to amaze Miss

Manners when people believe that their spouses would behave better forher sake than for theirs.

The consequences of offending Miss Manners at this distance are, unfortunately,slight. The consequences of disgusting one’swife, whether or not one agrees with her premise, could be enormous.

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

pears less certainthan“It’s really important.” Strong communication is priceless, and the skills that youdevelop now will benefit your career.Your audiencewill recognize your efforts. Beverly G., via email Visa rules Dear Heloise: I’msoexcited for the couple who’sspendingsix months in Paris —adreamcometrue. But please, do yourselves a favor and check thevisa rules before you start packing.Wefoundout the

RELIGION BRIEFS FROM STAFFREPORTS

Mother’sDay at St. James Baptist

The Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge, 8470 Goodwood Blvd., willhold agarden fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 1p.m. Saturday and Sunday Avariety of plants in all sizes will be available for purchase, along with handpainted decorative peace poles for gardens and landscapes.

In conjunction with the fundraiser,the church will celebrate its annual flower ceremony on during the 9a.m.and 11:30 a.m. services on Sunday,continuing a traditionthatbegan in 1923 The community is invited.

St.James Baptist Church, 1105 N. 44th St., Baton Rouge, will hold aspecial Mother’sDay celebration at 8a.m.Sunday,May 10.

The youth and children’s ministrywill highlight “The Value&VictoriousView of Godly Mothers.” Breakfast will be served following the worshipexperience.

Thepublic is invited Revival2026 at NazareneBaptist

Nazarene Baptist Church, 1707 Spanish Town Road BatonRouge,willhost Re-

TODAYINHISTORY

By The Associated Press

Today is Saturday, May 2, the 122nd day of 2026. There are 243 days left in the year

Todayinhistory:

On May 2, 1994, Nelson Mandela claimed victory for the African National Congress afterSouth Africa’sfirst democratic elections.

Also on this date: In 1863, during the Civil War, Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was accidentally wounded by his ownmen at Chancellorsville, Virginia; he died eight days later In 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Buck v. Bell, upheld 8-1 aVirginia law allowing the forced sterilization of people in order to promote the “health of the patient and the welfare of society.” In 1972, afire at the Sunshine silver mine in

TEENS

Continued from page5C

to stay with them while they’re still figuring it out Someone steady enough not to panic when they say, “I don’tknow.”

CLOSURE

Continued from page5C

In 2016, The Advocate’s food reviewer at the time, Kyle Peveto, called La Mexicana “an insider’s

Kellogg, Idaho, claimed thelives of 91 miners who succumbed to carbon monoxidepoisoning In 1997,TonyBlair,whose Labour Party crushed JohnMajor’s long-reigning Conservatives in anational election,became Britain’s youngest prime minister in 185years, at age 43 In 2011, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden,who had been killed hoursearlier in araid byAmericanforces at his Pakistan compound, was buried at sea. In 2017, Michael Slager,a White former police officer whose killing of Walter Scott, an unarmed Black man running from atraffic stop, was captured on cellphonevideo, pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges in Charleston, South Carolina. (Slager would be sentenced to 20 years in prison.)

In 2022,a draft was leakedofaSupreme Court

The goal isn’t to rush them, but it’stoslow things down. To remind them that identity isn’tsomething youpick off ashelf—it’s something you grow into It forms over time through real experiences, real relationships, and real feedback from people who

kind of place,” raving about thegorditas, filled with steak, sour cream and refried beans in athick corn tortilla. He said the gorditas and tacoswere the best in Baton Rouge. “Small taquerias like La Mexicana offer another

hard way while planning our own extended stay in theNetherlands. Ninety days in any 180 days —this is the ceiling, and it covers mostofEurope, France included.

Aweekend trip to London won’tbuy you extra time either. The United Kingdom runs on its own separate rules, so that’sa whole different situation.Look into all of this well beforeyour departure date, not after you’ve already booked. Nancy I., in Canton, Ohio

Send ahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

vival 2026 nightly at 7p.m. from Wednesday to Friday, May 8.

Theguest speaker will be theRev.LeReginald R. H. Jones, pastor of Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church, Centreville, Mississippi. Everyone is invited.

Mother’sDay at Nathaniel Baptist

Nathaniel Baptist Church, 5032 Highway 33S, Centreville, Mississippi, invites families to aspecial Mother’sDay worship service at 11 a.m. Sunday,May 10.

The Rev.Curtis Hopkins will deliver themessage. All arewelcome.

ruling throwing out the landmark Roev.Wade abortionrightsruling that had stood for ahalf-century.The court cautioned that the draft was not final. (The decision would be released in essentially the same form the following month.)

Today’sbirthdays: Singer Engelbert Humperdinck is 90. Actor David Suchet is 80. Singer-songwriter Larry Gatlin is 78. Rock singer Lou Gramm (Foreigner) is 76. Actor Christine Baranski is 74. Basketball Hall of Famer Jamaal Wilkes is 73. Fashion designer Donatella Versace is 71. Filmmaker Stephen Daldry is 66. Country singer Ty Herndon is 64. Actor-wrestler Dwayne “The Rock”Johnson is 54. Former soccer player David Beckham is 51. Actor Kumail Nanjiani is 48. Actor Ellie Kemper is 46. Singer Lily Allen is 41. NASCAR driver Kyle Busch is 41.

actually know you and care about you. Teen boys don’tneed a better label. They need morespace and permission to become.

Petitfilsisalicensed professional counselor in Youngsville

side of Mexican food unfamiliar to manyinLouisiana,” Peveto wrote in his review.“These tacos and smallcravings taste best withaspray of limeand a shot of salsa verde, not covered in thickcheese like manyTex-Mex staples.”

QUILTS

Continuedfrom page5C

Each stitch led to family heirlooms that warmed beds on winter nights. Their colorswere thoughtfully chosen, their stitching carefully crafted. And Beenecontinued this tradition in his own way.He often paired textures, colors and materials together into unexpected combinations.

The museum paid tribute to his creations in its2024 exhibit, “Geoffrey Beene: Coming Home.” That show featured Beene-created outfits that belonged to Sylvia R. Karasu, aclinical professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine in Manhattan. Karasubegan dressing in Beene’sdesigns in 1991 and donated alarge portion of her collection to themuseum.

“There are 20 newGeoffrey Beenepieces in this show that she just gave to us,” Mamp said.“Sheeven hand selected thepieces based on the theme for this exhibit. Thereare 30 fashion pieces in all, and 25 of them are by Geoffrey Beene.”

Butagain, this show isn’t so much aboutBeenebut of his use of quilting found in hislapels,bodices and even in thecollarsand sleeves.

Though the technique enhanced thebeauty of his garments, Beene, like the quilt makers, also incorporated it for practical purposes.

“He used quilting frequently as away to makethe garment less prone to wrinkling,” Mampsaid. “Healso used it to reinforce stress points on thegarment, such as thewaist, andparticularly at hems as away to kind of reinforce the fullness of thegarment.”

Quilting across cultures

Walkingthrough the gallery,Mamp provides stories behind the pieces,especially thoseofquilts, beginning with the oldest dated 1849. It’s made of 25 panels by 23 makers, and 23 panels are inscribed with themakers’ names. It was presented to their pastor,Mr. Bain

“Thisquilt doesn’thavea Louisiana province, but in the center,itsays the quilt is an offering of friendship,” Mamp said.

The names served as inspiration for this section of the show, wherethe quilt hangs as thebackdropfor a Beene jacket with his name inscribed on the inside.

On theoppositeside of the gallery an 1850 quilt hangs in an explosion of color

“The story is thatitwas

made on aplantation near Louisburg, North Carolina,” Mamp said. “It’sattributed to enslaved makers, and it is comprised of roller-printed and block-printed cotton that’sbeen arrangedina Star of Bethlehem design, which wasvery difficult to do with thesediamond shaped pieces.”

He’sright. The diamond shapes are small andintricate, each cut and arranged perfectly to form astarburst that dominates thegallery wall.

“The star of Bethlehem, or the North Star,was also significant within enslaved communities, because those who escaped along the Underground Railroad did so by following the North Star,” Mamp said. “Some quilt scholars believe that Star of Bethlehemquilts, suchas this onemadebyenslaved people in the Antebellum period, are reflective of the bright coloration associated with Africa. But it’salso symbolic of the North Star and the Underground Railroad.”

With this in mind, the quilt became more than abackdrop.

It was the inspiration for apart of the exhibit titled, “Quilting Across Cultures.” Aquilt made by enslaved people frommid-19th century hangs beside agarment by Japanese designer Issey Miyake. There’salso garments from Beene, an American, and KoosVan DenAkker,a Dutchdesigner

“So, we have quilting across time and cultures,” Mampsaid.

Legendaryquilters

Theshowalso features quilts by self-taught Baton Rouge quilter Anna Williams nowdeceased,whose designs were improvisedwithout templates or blocking.

“She becameasensation in the quilting world,” Mamp said. “She was adomestic

worker and childcare giver, who, at night and on whatever days off she had, did this very spontaneousquilting She collected mountains of scraps andassembled them in very spontaneousways, which accounts for the sort of irregularshape of her quilts. And she signed them on the back.” The museum featured her work in a1999 solo exhibit, “Joyful Improvisations: The Quilts of Anna Williams,” and her quilts are included in suchpermanent collectionsasthe National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky,and the Brooklyn Museum in NewYork. Finally,there’sthe prize piece —one of the final quilts created by Louisiana folk artist Clementine Hunter Hunterwas the cook at Melrose Plantation in Natchitoches Parish at the timeowner CammieHenry ran thegrounds as an artists and writers colony.She began painting when New Orleansartist Alberta Kinsey,who often painted at Melrose,gaveHuntersome leftover tubes of paints. From there, Hunter began creating paintings about life at andaround Melrose, whicheventually gained international attention. She also made quilts depicting similar scenes. “You can see that this one is unfinished if you look at it from the back side,” Mamp said. “You can see she used brownpaper as away to stabilizethe quilt.She put the figure in place, but she hadn’tyet finished stitching around the edge. She was workingonthisquilt when she passed away.” Clementine Hunter and Geoffrey Beene —both native Louisianans whobecame international figures. And nowtheir craft for quilting hasbroughtthem together at LSU.

STAFF PHOTOSByROBIN MILLER

Asequined, quilted jacket designed by Louisiana native fashion designer GeoffreyBeene is juxtaposed withanAcadian quiltinthe LSUTextile&Costume Museum’s exhibit,‘Stiches in Time: Quilts and Fashion.’

Aquilted GeoffreyBeene creation is juxtaposed against a crazy quilt in the LSU Textile &Costume Museum’sexhibit, ‘Stiches in Time: Quiltsand Fashion,’opening on May3

Hints from Heloise

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Make your surroundings comfortable and convenient, and sign up for events, activities and interests that soothe your soul. If you prioritize your happiness, you'll come out ahead.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Ferret out information, get your facts straight and take care of unfinished business. It's better to be proactive than to face criticism. Focus on doing research and building a healthier lifestyle.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Expand your interests, pastimes and relationships. Helping people or engaging in a physical activity that boosts your strength and confidence is in your best interest.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Be cognizant of other people's feelings. Respect timesensitive issues. Partners will react strongly to how you handle matters. Be direct and honest, and follow through with your plans.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Put your energy into self-improvement instead of trying to change others. Gather information, get your facts straight and make changes that ensure a healthy lifestyle.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Look on the bright side. Don't labor over something you have no control over. Romance is on the rise, and taking a relationship to the next level or just being kinder to yourself will boost your morale.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Channel your energy into peace, love and happiness. A tendency to overreact or to do or say

something that could jeopardize your plans or your reputation requires discipline and restraint.

sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Get up and get moving. Fill your day with fun, fabulous people, engaging conversations and events that put a sparkle in your eye and a smile on your face.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Ease into whatever you do. Problems with communication, directions and taking care of others will surface if not handled with care. Spread love and joy, not discord.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Emotional situations will escalate if you let stubbornness take control. Spend more time trying to look, feel and do your best. A change to how you earn your money or where you live looks promising.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Tuck yourself away in a quiet corner where you can read or do something that offers peace of mind and tranquility. The emotional benefits will be worthwhile, and the clarity you gain will help you make better choices.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Take a moment to resolve unfinished business before you take on more responsibilities Refuse to give in to someone trying to take advantage of you emotionally, physically or financially.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, Inc. dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

FAMILY CIrCUS

toDAy's cLuE: M EQuALs D

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

FrAnK And erneSt

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

LAGoon

bIG nAte

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 gridwith severalgiven numbers Theobjectistoplace the numbers1 to 9inthe empty squares so that each row,each column andeach 3x3 box contains the samenumber onlyonce. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’sPuzzle Answer

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

By PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

In “The Electric Woman,” Marabel Morgan, an author of self-help books for marriedwomen, wrote, “Persistence is the twin sister of excellence. One is a matterofquality; theother,amatter of time.” Why didshe not make it excellence is the twin sister of persistence? Or one is amatter of time; the other,a matter of quality?

This is an excellent defensive deal because it requires persistence on the part of the defenders. They have to take sixtrickstodefeat two spades. How can they do it after West leads the heart ace? When twospades came back to West perhaps he shouldhave made asecond takeout double.

Note thatthreediamonds is making, East losing two spades and two diamonds. East’s club loser disappearson West’s third high heart. West leads the heart ace, under which East drops hisnine, startingahigh-low (echo) with hisdoubleton. West cashes hisheart king and heart queen. What should East discard?

Since he wouldlikea clubshift, he should pitch the club eight.

West then leadshis club three, the low card guaranteeing at leastone honor in the suit. East wins with his ace and, although South drops adeceptive queen, returns the club two. When Westtakes the trick with his king, he shouldlead his last club, which East ruffs to defeat the contract. West should know that South has the last club, becauseifEast had started with fourclubs, he would have returned hishigher-remainingclubattrick five (high-low with aremaining doubleton), not the two.

Excellent! ©2026 by NEA, Inc.,dist. By

Andrews McMeel Syndication

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

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or moreletters.2.Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” suchas“bats”or“dies,” are notallowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s”may notbeused. 4. Proper nouns, slangwords, or vulgar or sexually explicitwords are notallowed.

Averagemark 34 words

Time limit 50 minutes

Can youfind42ormorewords in TALLIES?

yEstERDAy’s WoRD —PALLADIuM

toDAy’s WoRD tALLIEs: TAL-eez:Recordedaccounts,asofitemsorcharges.

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles