The Times-Picayune 05-05-2026

NFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST: U.S. FIGHTS TO

Duncan’s reignbrief at clerk’soffice

Appealscourt ruling forces himout as legalbattlecontinues

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

Calvin Duncan showedupfor

work before 8a.m. Monday,eager for his first day as Orleans Parish clerk of Criminal Court —a post that state lawmakers voted last week to abolish. The former life prisoner arrived with athrong of supporters, anda federal judge’sorder issued Sun-

day night that declared unconstitutional anew law to eliminate his electedjob,barring it from being enforced

With the temporary order from U.S. District Judge John deGravelles in place, Duncan toured offices and recordkeeping vaults with outgoingClerk Darren Lombard, filledout paperwork for the new joband posed for photos seated behind adesk before receiving the

office

keys.

Butbynoon Monday,hehad left theoffice. An order from afederal appeals court Monday sent Duncan walking out without the title andonly questions about whether he will returntoitasits elected leader

The U.S.5th Circuit Court of Appeals in atwo-sentence order stayed the courtruling from deGravelles, prompted by arequest

Woodfork pledgesintegrity, accountability at swearing-in

OrleansParish SheriffMichelle Woodfork, right,issurrounded by her family as she is sworn in by U.S. 5th Circuit Courtof Appeals JudgeDana Douglas at aceremonyatGallier Hall in NewOrleans on Monday

Newsheriff takesover office grappling with challenges

BYJOHN SIMERMAN Staffwriter

Hundreds of supporters packed GallierHall in downtown New Orleanson Monday morningfor theswearing-inof Orleans Parish Sheriff Michelle Woodfork to an officefraught withchallenges.

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

Widespread confusion

That described the scenes at early voting sites throughout Louisiana on Monday as voters dealt witha newprimary election system, alandmark U.S. Supreme Court rulingonWednesday,Gov

“Finally,we’re here,” saidWoodfork, 56,after acousin,U.S.5th CircuitCourt of Appeals Judge DanaDouglas,led her in the oath of office. Woodfork, acareer police officer who served as interim superintendent of the NewOrleansPolice Department,won election in October to take over aSheriff’s Office beset by troubles andshort staffing at the city’s10-year-old lockup, theOrleans Justice Center Woodfork enters office as itsmost recentoccupant, Susan Hutson, faces astate indictment handed up last week alleging30felony corruption counts. The charges againstHutsoninclude

Jeff Landry’sorder on Thursday cancelingthe House elections and lawsuits filed by Democrats challenging thecourt ruling and the governor’sorder Election officialsdid their best to minimize theturmoil, training election commissioners beforehand onquestionsthey might face and posting signs throughout early voting sitesdescribingthe new semi-closed primary rules and the impact of Landry’sorder AndrePagliarini, ahistory pro-

from Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill. Whether Duncan’sbrief time there Monday morning counts as having “assumed” the office became oneofseveral issues percolatingMondayasa court battle began to play out over a relatively obscure office that handles criminal court filings andoversees New Orleans

14 counts of malfeasance in office, three counts apiece for obstruction of justice andfiling or maintainingfalse publicrecords, along with 10 related conspiracy charges. BiankaBrown, Hutson’schief financial officer,was indicted withher on 20 counts. Details on thosecharges remain sketchy.

Reciting Scripture, those who spoke at Monday’s ceremony described Woodfork’sfaith as akey factor heraldinga new era at the beleaguered agency

“If youwatch the news,you know that thejail is in alot of trouble right now,”

ä See WOODFORK, page 4A

fessor at LSU, wasn’tsurewhen he arrived at theState Archives building in Baton Rouge whether he couldvoteinthe 5thCongressional District race until he saw a sign inside thevoting booth telling

elections. Duncan amassed morethan 68% of votesinNovember to defeat Lombard,aone-term incumbent, on acampaignofreform after a heated race during which both Lombard and Murrill challenged his claim of exoneration.

Aformer inmate counsel at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola for two decades, Duncan has calledthe bill to ax the criminal clerk’spost apersonal attack on

BYMARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Monday issued an order that temporarily allowswomenseeking abortions to obtain the drug mifepristone at pharmacies or through themail, without an in-person visit to adoctor Alito lifted the ban without comment, as is usual until the Supreme Court decides whether to hear acase. Alito’sorder pauses a5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ orderuntil Monday. In the meantime, Alito asked the parties to submit briefs.

Ruling Friday in alawsuit broughtbyLouisiana, the 5th Circuit, basedinNew Orleans, ruled that mifepristone could not be ordered by or mailed to women because, partially,itundermined the state’sban on abortions after the 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Louisiana is among the 13 states that have outlawed abortions. The state contendsthatabortions arecontinuinginthe state because of the availability of the mail-order drugs.

The pills are responsible fortwo-thirds of abortions in the U.S., according to Guttmacher Institute,aNew York-based nonprofit that studies reproductive issues.

The drug regimen was approved in 2000. TheFoodand Drug Administrationhad rules to allow mifepristone, which along with the drug misoprostol, induces amiscarriage,only after the woman consulted in person with aphysician.

The FDAlifted that requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, it made permanent the ability to buy the pills via

him that the race had been canceled.

DeniseLyons was advised by election officials at City Hall in NewOrleans that her vote in the 2ndCongressional District House race would not count. She was not happy

“That theyare canceling our obligation to vote is pretty effing wild,” shesaidjust aftervoting.

“The denial of voting in Louisiana is starting here.” Clarissa Hoff in New Orleans

voted in the House race anyway

“I want it documented thatmy vote was stolen,” Hoff said. “I’m pretty pissed.” Allison Dumas in Baton Rouge also voted anyway,“in case they do count those votes,” she said. “I want my vote to be heard.”

Turnout on Saturday and Monday —the first two days of early voting in Louisiana —was about normalfor thefirst twodaysof

STAFF PHOTO By CHRISGRANGER

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Afghanistan: Pakistan killed 3incivilian areas

KABUL, Afghanistan Afghanistan accused Pakistan of carrying out cross-border attacks into itsterritory on Monday that hit civilian areas, killing at least threepeople and wounding 14, as tension between the two neighbors remain highdespite recent peace talks.

Afghan deputy government spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said on Xthat the attacks also destroyedtwo schools, two mosques and ahealth center in theeasternAfghan provinceof Kunar

Pakistan’sInformation Ministryrejectedthe allegation in apost on X, saying that Fitrat’s accusations follow recentcrossborder firing from Afghan territory into Pakistan. Those attacks, in March and April, killed nine women and children in Bajaur,a district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

It said Bajaur attacks “exposedthe Afghan regime’sreckless and shameful actions.” The ministry also argued that images circulated with thelatestAfghan claim show damage “inconsistent with artillery impact,” citing intact roofs and localized breakage as indicators of possible staged destruction Pakistan andAfghanistan had beenembroiled in months of deadly fighting that killed hundreds of people since late February,when Afghanistan launched across-border attack on Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan Giuliani hospitalized with pneumonia NEW YORK Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is breathing on his own after being hospitalized with pneumonia and placed on aventilator,his spokesperson saidMonday Giuliani, 81, remains in critical but stable condition at aFlorida hospital and is beingmonitored as aprecautionary measure, spokesperson TedGoodman said.

Goodman said Giuliani’scondition was exacerbated by restrictive airway disease attributed to his exposure to dust and toxins from the Sept. 11, 2001, attackon the World Trade Center.

Giuliani’shospitalization, near Palm Beach, Florida, cameafter he was heard coughing Friday on his nightly online talk show and hoarsely told viewers that his voice was “a little under the weather.”

“Thiscondition adds complicationstoany respiratory illness,and the virus quickly overwhelmed his body,requiring mechanical ventilation to maintain adequate oxygen and stabilize his condition,” Goodman said in astatement.

He described Giuliani as “the ultimate fighter” and said, “heis winning this battle.”

Giuliani’sfamily and primary medical provider are by the former mayor’sside, Goodman added. He said they thanked well-wishers for an “outpouring of love and support.”

Jet hits truck, light pole near airport, lands safely

AUnited Airlines jetcame dangerously close to disaster Sunday when it hit asemitrailer truckand light pole on theNew Jersey Turnpike as it came in to land at Newark Liberty International Airport.

“A major catastrophe was avoided by feet,” saidsafetyexpert Steve Arroyo, who landed on that same short runway many times during his career at United. “Had it been another5 feet lower,8 feet, Imean, no more than 10 feet, that plane would have been all over the NewJersey Turnpike.”

The driver of the bakery delivery truck was treated at ahospital for minorinjuries, and the Boeing 767 flying in fromVenice, Italy,with 231 people aboard was able to land safely.Noone on the plane was hurt. Air traffic control audio suggests the incident may have created ahole in the sideofthe plane, but theairline andthe National Transportation Safety Board haven’tconfirmed that.

The NTSB said Monday afternoon that it has reclassified the incident as an accident because of the extent of thedamageto the plane,but it didn’t provide any details.

U.S. fights to reopen Strait of Hormuz

UAEattacked as Iran ceasefire threatened

BY ADAM SCHRECK, BEN FINLEY and SAM METZ

Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates

The U.S. military said it firedonIranian forces and sank six small boats targetingcivilian ships as it movedtoreopenthe Strait of Hormuz on Monday.The United Arab Emirates, a key American ally,said it had come under attack from Iran for the first time since afragile ceasefire took hold in early April.

TheU.S. military said two American-flagged merchantships had successfully transited the straiton Monday as part of anew initiative

TheUAE DefenseMinistry said its air defenses had engaged 15 missilesand four drones fired by Iran. Authorities in the eastern emirate of Fujairah said one dronesparked afire at akey oil facility,wounding three Indian nationals. The British military reported two cargovessels ablaze offthe UAE Tehran did not outright confirm or deny the attacks but earlyonTuesday,Iran’s ForeignMinisterAbbas Araghchi said on Xthat both the U.S. and the UAE “should be waryofbeing dragged back into quagmire.”

to avoid shipping some of itsoil through the strait.

Theemirate on the Gulf of Oman is hometoextensive oil storage facilities and is the UAE’smain sea access outside the strait.

“These attacksrepresent adangerous escalation and an unacceptable violation,” the UAE’sForeign Ministry said in astatement on X. In Oman, authoritiessaid aresidential building near the strait “was targeted,” resulting in two foreign workers wounded, four vehicles damaged and nearby windows shattered. The report carriedbystate-run media did not provide further details.

Iran’smilitary command has warned that ships passing through the strait must coordinate with them.

In similarly vague terms, Iranianstate television earlierquoted an anonymous military official as saying Tehranhad had no plan” to target the UAE or one of its oil fields

“The incidentresulted from U.S.militaryadventurism to create an illegal passage,” the official said about the oil facility attack, apparently referring to President Donald Trump‘s latest efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, acritical waterway for globalenergy BreakingIran’s chokehold on the strait would ease global economic concerns and deny Iran amajor source of leverage. But such efforts also risk reigniting the full-scale fighting thaterupted when the U.S. andIsrael first attacked IranonFeb. 28, prompting it to closethe strait Shipping companies, and their insurers, are unlikely to take such arisk, given thatIran has fired on ships in the waterway and vowed to keep doing so. Iran has said the new U.S. effortis aviolation of the fragile ceasefire thathas held for morethanthree weeks. Iran’seffective closure

Russia declares truce in Ukrainetomark WWII VictoryDay

Kyiv says it’ll halt attacks twodaysearlier

By The Associated Press

Russia’s Defense Ministrydeclared aunilateral ceasefireinUkraine for Friday and Saturdayto mark the 81st anniversary of thedefeatofNazi Germany in World WarII, but it threatenedtostrike back at Kyiv if it tries to disrupt theVictory Day festivities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyyin response said his country would observe atruce beginning at 12 a.m. Wednesday and respond in kind to Russia’s actions from that moment on. He did notput an end dateon the truce

The announcements on Monday comeasRussia prepares to celebrate its most importantsecular holiday with atraditional military parade on Moscow’sRed Squarepared downdue to whatofficialssay are concerns over possible Ukrainian attacks. Ukraine has been launching drone attacks deep inside Russia to counter itsmorethan 4-year-old invasion. They also follow afamiliar patternofpreviousattempts to secure ceasefires —most recently around Orthodox Easter —that had little to no impact.

The Defense Ministry said if Ukraine attempts to disrupt Saturday’s celebrations, Russia will carry out a“massive missile strikeonthe center of Kyiv.” It warned the civilian population there and employees of foreign diplomatic missions

of “the need to leave the city promptly.”

Zelenskyy responded by saying thatwhile Kyiv has not received any official requests for atruce, in the time left until midnight on Wednesday “it is realistictoensure” that aceasefiretakes effect. He urged the Kremlin “to takereal stepsto end their war,especially sinceRussia’sDefense Ministry believes it cannot hold aparade in Moscow without Ukraine’s goodwill.”

Foryears, the Kremlin hasused the pomp-filled Victory Dayparade to showcase itsmilitary might andglobalclout, andithas been asource of patriotic pride.

But this year,the parade in the Russian capital will take place without tanks, missiles andother military equipmentfor thefirst time in nearly two decades. Someofthe smaller parades that are held elsewhere across the country have also been pared down or even canceled for security reasons.

Speaking at asummit with European leaders in Armenia on Monday, Zelenskyy said thatthe Russian authorities “fear drones may buzzover Red Square” on Saturday “This is telling. It shows they are not strong now so we must keep up the pressure through sanctionsonthem,” he said. World WarIIremains a rare pointofconsensus in Russia’sdivisivehistory underCommunist rule

The Soviet Union lost27 millionpeopleinwhatit called the Great Patriotic Warin1941-45, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scarinthe national psyche.

of the strait,which runs between Iran andOman, has caused aspike in worldwide fuelpricesand rattled the global economy.The U.S.ledJoint Maritime Information Center hadadvised ships Monday to crossthe strait in Oman’s waters, saying it had set up an “enhanced securityarea.”

Adm. Brad Cooper,commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters that American forces have successfully opened apassage through thestraitthat is free of Iranian mines.He said Iran launched multiple cruise missiles, drones and small boats at civilian ships under theU.S. military’s protection.

U.S.military helicopters sank six of thesmallboats, Cooper said, adding that “each andevery” threat had been defeated.

“The U.S.commanders whoare on thescenehave allthe authoritynecessary to defendtheir unit andto defend commercial shipping —aswesaw and dem-

onstrated earliertoday,” Cooper said.

Trumphad warned SundaythatIranianeffortsto halt passage through the strait “will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.”

He described“Project Freedom” in humanitarianterms, designed to aid stranded seafarers on hundreds of ships that have been stuckinthe Persian Gulf since the warbegan.

The UAE condemned what it called“renewed treacherous Iranianaggression” and called for an immediate halt to the attacks.

Four missilealertswere issued Monday urging UAE residents to find shelter the first such alerts since the ceasefire begannearly amonth ago. Commercial planes bound forthe UAE —hometothe global travel hubs of Dubaiand AbuDhabi —turned around midair

The extent of the attack on Fujairahwas unclear, but it is the terminus of a pipeline the UAE has used

“Wewarn that any foreign military force —especially the aggressive U.S. military —thatintends to approach or enterthe Strait of Hormuzwill be targeted,” Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi told state broadcaster IRIB.

The South Korean government said an explosionand fire had brokenout aboard aSouth Korean-operated ship anchored in the strait offthe UAE. No injuries were reported. It was not immediatelyknown if the vessel wasone of the burningships reported by the British military’sUnited Kingdom MaritimeTrade Operations center Trump said in asocial media post that Iran had “taken some shot” at aSouth Korean cargo ship, without elaborating.

The UAEaccused Iran of targeting atanker linked to its main oil company with two drones as it navigated the strait. It did not say when the attack occurred. No injurieswere reported.

Cruise ship awaitshelpamid suspectedhantavirusoutbreak

Threepeople havedied

BY GERALD IMRAY Associated Press

CAPE TOWN,SouthAfrica A cruise ship with nearly150 people aboard was waiting for help off the coastof Cape Verde in theAtlantic OceanonMondayafter threepassengers diedand at leastthree other people wereleft seriously ill in a suspected outbreak of the rare hantavirus, according to the World Health Organization and the ship’soperator

The MV Hondius, a Dutch ship on aweekslong polar cruise from Argentina to Antarcticaand several isolated islandsin theSouth Atlantic, had requested help from health authorities Sunday after making its way to the island of Cape Verde,off the West Africa coast. Butno onehas been allowed to disembark, Netherlandsbased operator Oceanwide Expeditions said. Cape Verde’sHealth Ministry said Monday that for now, it will notallow the ship to dock because of public health concernsand that it would stay in open watersclose to shore Hantavirus is arodentborneillness spread by contactwith rodentsor their urine,saliva or droppings.WHO saysthat while it is rare, hantavirus may spread between people. It was unclear howan outbreak could have started, and the WHO saidit was investigating while working to coordinatethe evacuation of two sick crew members. Another sickperson —a British man evacuated to South Africa on April 27 —tested positive for the virus, authorities said. He is in critical conditionand isolated

in intensive care, according to local health officials.

The body of one of the passengers whodied —aGerman—remains on the ship, according to an Oceanwide Expeditions statement. A 70-year-old Dutch mandied

onboardApril 11, andhis 69-year-old wife died later in South Africa after leaving the ship, officials said. Her blood later tested positive for thevirus, making two confirmed cases, South Africa’s health ministersaid.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByAMIRHOSEIN KHORGOOI

An Iranian tugboat floats in the foreground as cargoships are anchored Mondayinthe Strait of Hormuzoff Bandar Abbas, Iran.

Driver plows into shopping area in Germany

Two people killed in Leipzig

By The Associated Press

BERLIN A driver plowed into people in a busy shopping area in the center of the German city of Leipzig on Monday afternoon, leaving two people dead, authorities said.

An additional three people were seriously injured in what officials believe was a deliberate rampage, Mayor Burkhard Jung said. He described it as “a terrible tragedy.” An unspecified number of people sustained less serious injuries.

The driver, a 33-yearold German citizen, was detained in the car. Police said he was a German-born

resident of the Leipzig area.

Prosecutors said he is under investigation on suspicion of murder and attempted murder There was no immediate word on a possible motive.

The interior minister of Saxony state, Armin Schuster, said investigators believe the man acted alone. He said that rage and “psychological instability” are often factors in such cases, but added that he wouldn’t speculate on whether that was the case here.

Police chief René Demmler said the man drove from the Augustusplatz, a major square, along the Grimmaische Strasse into the city’s central pedestrianized shopping area. He stressed that there was no longer any danger

The driver was arrested in the vehicle and didn’t resist arrest, Demmler said.

Saxony state Gov Michael Kretschmer expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.

“An act like this leaves us speechless — and it makes us determined,” he added, according to German news agency dpa. “We will do everything in our power to solve this case quickly and completely.”

Photos from the scene showed a car with a battered front and a shattered windshield after the incident, which happened at about 5 p.m.

Leipzig is located southwest of Berlin and has more than 630,000 inhabitants, making it one of the biggest cities in eastern Germany

AP, Washington Post, Minnesota Star Tribune among Pulitzer winners

BY JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press

NEWYORK The Washington Post won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for scrutinizing the Trump administration’s sweeping, choppy cuts and changes to federal agencies, and The Associated Press won the award Monday for international reporting about surveillance.

In a year when several prize-winning projects zoomed in on the Trump presidency, the Post’s coverage illuminated the fastmoving, sometimes opaque particulars of the administration’s drive to reshape the national government, and judges credited the Post with detailing what the changes meant for individual Americans.

The Miami Herald’s Julie K. Brown was given a special citation for her reporting, nearly a decade ago, that drew attention to Jeffrey Epstein ’s abuses. The New York Times won three of the coveted prizes, the Post and Reuters each won two, and smaller outlets ranging from The Connecticut Mirror to the podcast

“Pablo Torre Finds Out” also were recognized in a challenging year for American journalism.

“This is always a day of celebration in our communities, but perhaps never more so than today as we face tremendous political and economic pressures,” prize administrator Marjorie Miller said in a livestream announcing the awards. In the last few months, the Post cut a third of its staff, CBS News announced it would shutter its nearly century-old radio service, the AP offered buyouts to over 120 journalists and some regional newspapers also publicly struggled. CBS parent Paramount’s acquisition of CNN has raised questions about what’s next for those networks. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump continued to bash, and sometimes sue, outlets whose coverage he finds objectionable.

Spanning three years, thousands of pages of documents and numerous interviews, the AP project found that American companies help lay the foundations of the Chinese government’s system for monitoring and

policing its citizens.

“This was sweeping and deeply impactful reporting, the kind of work that highlights the unique strengths of AP’s global, multiformat newsroom,” executive editor Julie Pace said in an email to staffers. She is among the Pulitzer Board’s new members.

The prizes covered President Donald Trump’s first year back in the White House, and two winning entries focused on his pulverizing approach to norms and constraints The Times took the investigative reporting prize for exploring Trump’s boundary-pushing approach to the notion of conflicts of interest. Reuters, which won for national reporting, looked at how Trump has used the federal government and his supporters’ influence to expand presidential authority and to try to punish his foes, the award judges noted.

Reuters’ reporting on the social media giant Meta won a prize in the newly revived category for beat reporting, a term for journalists consistently assigned to a particular topic. The board brought

Police seek Okla. party shooters

At least 23 injured

BY NICHOLAS INGRAM and ALONZO ADAMS Associated Press

EDMOND, Okla. — Authorities in Oklahoma were looking for assailants Monday in a weekend shooting at an unsanctioned lakeside party packed with young adults that left at least 23 people injured, some critically according to police and hospital officials.

It wasn’t clear how many of those injured had been shot, according to a statement released by police Monday No arrests have been made.

The shooting broke out Sunday night during a party near a campground at Arcadia Lake, a popular swimming and boating spot in Edmond, just outside Oklahoma City, said Edmond police spokesperson Emily Ward.

At least 18 people were treated at hospitals in the Oklahoma City area. One healthcare system said the victims it treated ranged in age from 16 to 30. It said three people were in critical condition and four were listed as serious. Jason Hearne told ABC News that he was nearby when the shooting started and saw people who had been shot in the legs and one young woman with a head wound who was still breathing.

“These kids came out to have a, probably a good time, and for this to break out, I know that wasn’t what they expected, and it’s just tragic,” he said.

Police in Edmond said Monday that the party had been advertised across social media drawing a large crowd of mostly young

adults from across the Oklahoma City area. “There is no reason to believe there is an ongoing threat to the public,” police said in a statement. Edmond Mayor Mark Nash said the shooting took place at a public park where

spaces can be reserved for large gatherings. “To our knowledge, there was no reservation through the parks department,” he said. Nash declined to answer questions about the shooting, saying police were handling the investigation.

that honor back for the first time in two decades.

Reuters’ wins spotlighted “fearless, deeply reported, original work that holds powerful institutions to account,” editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni said in a statement.

The prize for breaking news went to the Minnesota Star Tribune’s coverage of last year’s mass shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school, where two children were killed and more than a dozen others were injured during the school’s first Mass of the academic year Judges praised the thoroughness and compassion of the newspaper’s reporting on a scene of carnage in its hometown,

“To me, it’s really a moment to appreciate the power of local journalism,” Kathleen Hennessey, the Star Tribune’s editor and senior vice president, said in an interview One Tribune reporter who lives

in the neighborhood heard the gunshots and called 911 before running over to the scene, she noted; an editor at the paper has children who attend the school.

“It feels really gratifying to be recognized, but for this newsroom, this is also just still a really painful event,” Hennessey said.

The San Francisco Chronicle received the award for explanatory reporting, which means work that makes a complex topic comprehensible to everyday readers and viewers.

The Chronicle’s series laid out how insurers, aided by algorithmic tools, undervalued and denied rebuilding claims for fire-destroyed homes, the judges said.

In visual journalism, The Times got a breaking news photography award for depicting devastation and starvation in Gaza resulting from Israel’s war in the territory The Post won the feature photography prize,

with terminal

award for illustrated reporting and commentary — a category that includes editorial cartoons and more — went to Bloomberg for a graphic novel about online scams that threaten “digital arrest.”

While several prizes reflected the year’s biggest news stories, others highlighted work that wasn’t pushed to everyone’s phones.

One of two local reporting awards, for example, went to The Connecticut Mirror and ProPublica for a series on how towing companies profited off Connecticut laws, at the expense of poor car owners; the state soon changed the laws. The Chicago Tribune also was honored for its coverage of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the Windy City

DPA PHOTO By SEBASTIAN WILLNOW

Rescue workers stand next to a damaged car that crashed into several people on Monday in Leipzig, Germany, killing two.

said Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams. “It’s going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of God’s grace to right this ship. So, she is the perfect person to have this responsibility.

Williams was among the speakers who referenced Woodfork’s low-key departure from the New Orleans Police Department after a career capped by a stint as interim police chief.

Woodfork had been considered the local favorite for the permanent NOPD chief’s job, having led the department into a period of extended declines in violent crime as the interim chief. She was expected to follow in the footsteps of her uncle, Warren Woodfork, New Orleans’ first Black police chief.

But Mayor LaToya Cantrell had other thoughts, instead endorsing current Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick, an outsider, for the chief’s post.

A subsequent federal case against Cantrell and her alleged lover, former NOPD officer Jeffrey Vappie, suggests Woodfork paid a steep price for a decision to uphold discipline against Vappie over his timesheets. Vappie and Cantrell are accused of crimes to conceal an affair and have pleaded not guilty Woodfork stayed on for the transition at NOPD, then went to work for Williams, the district attorney, before running for sheriff. Williams called Monday’s ceremony historic as he thanked Woodfork for taking on the challenge.

“This is the first time in our modern history that we’ve elected a law person to be sheriff of Orleans Parish,” Williams said. “A woman who has dedicated her whole life to protecting and serving, stepping up to take this mantle.”

DUNCAN

Continued from page 1A

account of his prison history and advocacy Backers of the merger argue that he’s a casualty of circumstance as the Legislature seeks to rein in a costly Orleans Parish judicial system.

The showdown reached a head Monday morning as Duncan sought to assert his leadership in an office on the chopping block.

At issue is Senate Bill 256, now Act 15, which combines civil and criminal clerks’ offices in Orleans Parish into one operation and abolishes Duncan’s seat. Those responsibilities land with the clerk of Civil Court under the new law, part of a broader downsizing of New Orleans courts underway in the Legislature

The federal judge, a nominee of former President Barack Obama, ruled Act 15 unconstitutional, barring Gov Jeff Landry and Secretary of State Nancy Landry from enforcing it.

“The Court is not ruling that the state lacks the authority to abolish an agency or office writ large,” deGravelles wrote But he found the state constitution requires an election for newly created clerkships, and that the defendants “have violated (Duncan’s) federally protected constitutional rights to due process and to

vote.”

Cedric Richmond, the former congressman from New Orleans, said Woodfork “is going to be an awesome sheriff.”

In a brief speech afterward, Woodfork addressed both the jail’s staff and its inmates.

To the former, she pledged to “build a culture where you are supported, respected and equipped to do your jobs with professionalism, pride and confidence.”

She offered parish prisoners a commitment to “dignity fairness and respect” in jail.

“You are not forgotten. You are not invisible,” she said. “My commitment is that our facilities will be more than just places of detention. They will be centers for growth, rehabilitation and education.”

Hutson became the first Black female sheriff in New Orleans when she toppled the incumbent, Marlin Gusman, in 2021.

The city’s former independent police monitor, Hutson ran as a progressive. Her tenure proved rocky beset by numerous scandals, none bigger than the May 16,

2025, jailbreak by 10 inmates that largely scuttled Hutson’s chances for reelection. A grand jury investigation conducted by Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office into the jailbreak led to the recent indictment against Hutson and Brown. Woodfork walks into a jail near its capacity that remains under the watch of a federal judge under a 12-year-old consent decree governing conditions inside the lockup. Federal monitors have described backsliding on that agreement in

recent reports. Meanwhile, a controversial wing of the jail known as “Phase III,” an 89-bed mental health annex, is slated to open this year

Donning the sheriff’s green uniform and six-point star for the first time, Woodfork didn’t get into particulars before the Gallier Hall crowd on Monday “I pledge to serve you with integrity I pledge to lead you with accountability,” she said. “And I pledge to honor the trust you have placed in me every single day.”

Those violations outweighed a state interest he deemed “likely pretextual.”

The appeals court stayed the ruling before 9:30 a.m. at the request of Murrill, who described deGravelles’ ruling as out of bounds.

“The appeal is proper and if any court is to interpret what state law creates, when it creates it, and when it can abolish it by law, it will be the Louisiana Supreme Court,” she said in a statement.

The 5th Circuit’s stay quickly turned what began as a triumphant coronation into a rapidly brewing legal showdown.

“Calvin Duncan assumed his responsibilities as Clerk of Criminal District Court this morning. Once he was informed that the 5th Circuit had stayed the District Court’s (temporary restraining order) against Act 15, Clerk Calvin ceased acting on those responsibilities,” his team said in a statement.

“He has always done his best to comply with the law and he continues to do exactly that during these unprecedented and evolving legal developments.”

The Senate bill transfers the criminal clerk’s records, staff and duties to Chelsey Richard Napoleon, the Orleans civil clerk of court, and installs her as the parishwide clerk. It makes Napoleon the chief elections officer in Orleans Parish, absorbing a staff of more than

85 employees who work at the courthouse and jail. Napoleon issued a statement Monday afternoon.

“My focus is on the people of Orleans Parish, the uninterrupted operation of services they rely on, and preparation for the May 16th election,” she said. “Much like the public, I am monitoring the legal decisions.”

American Civil Liberties Union attorneys who challenged SB256 on Duncan’s behalf said Monday they were preparing an emergency writ to the U.S Supreme Court to challenge the stay order ACLU of Louisiana Executive Director Alanah Odoms said she expects an in-person hearing at the 5th Circuit courthouse this week. Odoms said the timing of the stay after Duncan had stepped in Monday to lead the office, bodes well for his case to complete his term.

The Louisiana Constitution does not allow a court clerk’s salary or retirement benefits to be diminished during their terms in office.

“We are still arguing that Calvin should have his rightful place,” she said. “It’s a showdown But we’re not giving up. We’re going to keep fighting. We’ve come too far to go back.”

On social media, Gov. Landry disputed that deGravelles’ decision had given Duncan runway to take the office before the appeals court stepped in.

Duncan had earlier received a commission for the clerk’s office and took a ceremonial oath. Those acts only take effect only once his term starts, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

For awhile on Monday it was unclear who was in charge of New Orleans’ criminal filings.

Rumors have swirled that Napoleon would appoint Lombard to retain control of the criminal clerk duties if SB256 took effect. Lombard swatted those rumors Monday, saying he was never offered the job.

Several of his employees and many colleagues offered him well wishes as he departed the courthouse following the tour with Duncan. Lombard said he’s spent several weeks positioning the office for a transition, however uncertain his successor “Given the circumstances, I was ready to work with either one of them,” Lombard said. “It didn’t matter I just wanted to make sure everything goes smoothly.”

Bitter redistrictingfight loomsinLegislature

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

As Republicans in the Louisiana Legislature saidtheywould start drawing anew voting map for Congress as soon asFriday, Democratic lawmakers countered that they’ll resist any attempts to reduce the number of majorityBlack districts.

“Any talk of anything less than two seats is something that Iwill not entertain, nor should anyofmy colleagues, particularly those in the Black Caucus and those in the Democratic Caucus,” Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, told reporters.

But, with Republican supermajorities in both the Louisiana House and Senate, Democrats havelittle chance of stopping maps that have fewer Democraticleaning districts.

“We’ve already donethe 4-2 once and it didn’twork,” said Senate President Cameron Henry,RMetairie.

Louisiana has six U.S. House seats. Currently,four are held by White Republicans, and two are held by Black Democrats. After the U.S. Supreme Court in awatershed decision last week ruled that voting map unconstitutional —and limited how race can be used to draw voting districts —Louisiana Republicans quickly prepared to draw anew map eliminating one or two Democratic districts for this year’smidterms, which willdeterminewhich party controls Congress.

Democrats said they would refuse discussions on any map that has less than two majority-Black districts and have noted that Louisiana’spopulation is now roughly one-third Black

“Weare not in favor of anything other than a4-2 map. If youbring us something that has less than twoAfrican-American representatives, we arenot in favor,”said Rep. EdmondJordan, D-Baton Rouge, chair of theLouisiana LegislativeBlack Caucus.

It’snot clear whether Republicanswill seektoadvancea map that containsexclusively Republican-leaning districts or amap with five Republican districts and one majority-Black, Democraticleaning district.

“It might be 6-0, it might be 5-1,”

said Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter,R-Port Allen, chairofthe Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee, which handles redistricting.

“I don’tknow yet.”

Kleinpeter said Louisiana’sRepublican members of Congress

“have serious concerns” about whethertheycould easily hold onto their districtsunderamap that has sixGOP districts.

“Theymighthave issues running for reelection,” hesaid. “Wecan’t jeopardize theleadership in Congress with changing maps.”

Henry echoed that concern.

“A 6-0 map doesnot guarantee sixRepublicans,” he said. “We’re working on the numbers.”

Henry saidlawmakers will hold apublic hearing at 9a.m. Friday on the new maps.

After public testimony is taken Friday,Kleinpeter saidthe committeechairs will vote on the legislation by May13, followed by a possible full Senate vote May 14. Themap wouldthenneedapproval in the House.

Henry alsosaid he believes the statewill have to go back to open primaries for the Houseseats instead of the new,closed party primaries.

Duplessis said Republicans are trying to help President Donald Trump, who has pushed GOP-led states todraw district lines to win moreRepublican seats.

“This is adecision that’scoming from Trump,” he said.

ButKleinpeter saidheisnot aware of pressure by Trump to pass amap thathas only Republican-leaning districts.

“I have not had anycommunication from the WhiteHouse,” he said.

Henry also saidhehasn’ttalked with anyone fromthe White House about redistricting.

Callstokeepvoting

U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields,D-Baton Rouge, whosedistrictcould be eliminated in the impending redistricting process, made appearances at events across the state Monday,echoing state lawmakers’ call to demand acongressional map with twomajority-Black districts.

“IfIwas in theLegislature, I wouldn’tvote for anything that wouldn’tincludetwo majorityBlack districtsout of defiance to

this governor and this secretary of state,” Fields said. He also urgedvoterstocontinue to cast ballots in Louisiana’s congressional primary elections, which Gov.JeffLandry suspended Thursday, two days before in-person early voting began.

Landry’sexecutive order declaring astate of emergency immediately prompted several lawsuits, whichare ongoing. So far, no judge has halted thesuspension.

Fields said lawsuits challenging of thegovernor’ssuspensionof U.S. Houseraces have notyet been decided by courts, andheurged people to vote forcongressional candidates.

“Vote thefull ballot,” Fields said. “Don’t listen to the secretary of stateorthe governor,for that matter,because this issueisnot resolved yet.

“I feel that the governor and the secretary of state basically said to people across thestate, both Black andWhite, theirvotedoesn’tmatter ‘cause it won’tcount. That’s wrong.”

Democrats in theLegislature also urged people to disregard Landry’sordersuspending the election and keep voting forcongressional candidates.

“What we can’t win through legislation,wewillwin through litigation,” Jordan said.

Attorney General Liz Murrill, whohas promised to defend the decision to suspend the elections, took to social mediatopush back against the criticism.

early voting, according to election officials throughout the state.

“Saturday was alittle more than we expected,” said Dale Sibley, the registrar of voters in Caddo Parish, where the biggest city is Shreveport.“Today has been a little bit slower.”

Several votingofficials said Landry’sorder may have caused some voters to stay home.

“They come in and theysay,‘We thought the whole election was canceled,’”LafayetteParish RegistrarofVotersCharlene Meaux said Monday Landry and Republican elected officials said they had no choice but to postpone the House elections scheduled on May 16 and redraw the congressional map after theSupreme Court ruled that the current map is an illegal racialgerrymander

But Republican lawmakers are alsoattempting to addressPresident Donald Trump’scalls to deliver more districts that Republicans can wintoprevent Democrats from emerging with aHouse majority after the midterm elections.

Landry and legislators planto move swiftly to redraw the six congressional boundaries in the coming weeks before the legislative session ends on June1

Louisiana has four Republican members of Congress and two Democrats. The Republicanshave

ABORTION

Continued frompage1A

mail with the prescription of aphysician whoconsulted with the patient remotely over atelemedicine visit. The state argues that the FDA’s justification for removing the in-person medical provider visit was based on inadequate research.The state further argues that taxpayers in astate that forbids abortion are on the hook for Medicaid expenses for low-income women seeking emergency treatment when the medication causes medical problems.

Athree-judge 5th Circuit panel ordered reinstatement of the rule that required women to visittheir doctors in person in orderto receive mifepristone until the Louisiana case was decided.The 5th Circuit order in GenBioPro Inc. vLouisiana applied to all women seeking abortions across the country Over the weekend,the drugs’ manufacturers, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, filed for an emergency stay of the 5th Circuit order

The pharmaceutical companies countered thathundreds of studies accepted by the medicalcommunity have shown mifepristone is

said they plan to eliminate the seat of U.S. Rep. Troy Carter,D-New Orleans, or U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, or both of them

In the meantime, early voting continues until Saturday for those who don’t want to voteinthe party primaries on May 16.

The marquee racefeatures Sen. Bill Cassidy running for reelection in aRepublican primary,challenged by U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming. Three candidates —Nick Albares, Gary Crockett and Jamie Davis arecompeting in theDemocratic Senateprimary

The winners of each partyprimary will face off in aJune 27 runoffelection, unless someone wins the primary with at least 50% of the vote.The party nominees will face off in aNovembergeneral

safe. Physicians counseling patients via telemedicine are not required to prescribe the pill by mail and that method doesn’tprevent Louisiana fromenforcingits ban on abortions, thecompaniesargued “It simply removes afederal in-person dispensing requirement,”theysaid.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in astatement: “Big abortion pharma

election.

Early voting andthe May16primary also feature two Public Service Commission races in different parts of Louisiana, astate Supreme Courtrace on the northshoreof Lake Pontchartrain, an election to theBoardofElementaryand Secondary Education to represent suburban New Orleansand localraces. The Secretary of State’sOffice reported that 42,829 people had voted absentee through Saturday, while 37,015 had voted in person that day. Thosenumbers were in line with voting in 2022,the last nonpresidential election year Progressive groups —includingVoters OrganizedtoEducate, Black VotersMatter,the Power Coalitionfor Equityand Justice andStep Up Louisiana —held a get-out-the-vote rally outside City

claims they need an emergencystay because they will lose massive amounts of money if they can’tkill more babies quickly and efficiently by mail without medical oversight. Theadministrativestay is temporary,and I am confident life andthe law will win in the end.”

The 5th Circuit’sthreejudge panel included Judge Kyle Duncan,aBaton Rouge native and LSU law

EastJeffersonLeveeDistrictMillagePublicHearing JeffersonParish, LA –Apublichearing willbe conducted, pursuant to Article7,Section 23 (C) of theLouisiana Constitution andR.S.47:1705 (B), by theSoutheast LouisianaFlood Protection Authority– East on behalf of theEastJefferson LeveeDistrict in JeffersonParishwillbeheld at itsregular meetingplace in theJosephYenni Building,SecondFloor CouncilChamberslocated at 1221 ElmwoodParkBoulevard,Jefferson, LA 70123on Thursday,May 21,2026at10:00AMto consider levyingadditionalorincreased millage rateswithout furthervoter approval or adopting theadjustedmillage ratesafter reassessment and rollingforward to ratesnot to exceed theprior year’smaximum Theestimated amount of tax revenues to be collectedinthe next year from the increasedmillageis$12,933,462 andthe estimated amount of increase in taxesattributable to the millageis$612,807.00

Legal challenges to the governor’sorder postponing theelection continue to pile up.

Agroup of voters andthe League of Women Voters of Louisiana on Mondaysued SecretaryofState NancyLandry in federal court over the suspension of U.S. House races in Louisiana, adding to alist of several other lawsuitsthat were already filed late last week over the issues.

The plaintiffs argue that, by enforcing theexecutive order,the secretaryofstate is violatingthe fundamental constitutional right to vote of those who already cast absentee ballots.

They’re asking ajudge in the U.S. Middle DistrictofLouisiana to stop the Secretary of State’s Office, which oversees elections, fromenforcing Gov.Landry’sorder suspending the House elections and to count ballots that have been cast.

Several lawsuits were filed in both state andfederal court late last week challengingGov Landry’semergency suspension of Louisiana’sU.S. House races.

Gov. Landry has said the suspension is lawfuland declared that Louisiana will notholdits 2026 midtermelectionsunder amap declared unconstitutionalbythe U.S. SupremeCourt.

“Do they believeLouisiana should intentionally violate the constitutional rights of hercitizens under the existing map?” she wrote in asocial media post. More lawsuits filed

Hall in New Orleans on Monday that included denunciations of Landry

“It’simportant to stand here against the anti-democratic forces,” Albares said in an interview StateRep. Alonzo Knox, D-New Orleans, also attended. He noted that he spent16years in theMarines, including acombat stint during the Desert Storm offensive during the Iraqi war

“Democracy is something Ihold dear,” Knoxsaid. “I’m here on the streets on American soilfighting for our rights to vote.” Steve Raborn,the registrar of voters in East Baton Rouge Parish, said his office recruited additional early voting commissioners andgave them extra training to be prepared to handle questions.

Lisa Manning Bridges, the registrar in OrleansParish,saidthe biggest confusion has been among no-party voters. Under the new semi-closed primary rulesadopted by Landry and the Republican Legislature, no-party voters must choose between voting in either the Democratic Party or Republican Party primary Bridgessaid election commissioners have hadtoexplainto some no-party voters that choosing to vote in either party’sprimary does notmeanthey are changing their party affiliation.

In Baton Rouge, somevoters complained that thenew primary rules meant they couldn’tvote for Democrats and Republicans —as voterscould under the long-standing open primary system

school grad whoservedas general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty,aWashington-basedlegal nonprofit that has opposed abortion,beforePresident Donald Trump nominated

“I’m an independent and don’t want to have to vote astraight ticket,” said aman in Baton Rouge named Donald. He saidhechose to vote in the Republican primary Ano-party voter,Sean Lou read up on the new rules on the Secretary of State’s Office’swebsite before voting at theArchivesbuilding.

“I was kind of confused,” Lou said.

In acallwith reportersMonday,Cassidy said he’shearing that many Democrats switched to noparty or to Republican to be able to vote for him in the Republican primary Dennis DiMarco, the Jefferson Parish registrar,said one voter opted to not take either the DemocraticorRepublican Party ballot, instead choosing the no-party ballot. This voter then found no elections to vote forand wasthen given another opportunity to choose a party preference. DiMarco saidhis commissioners have also encountered Democrats who are surprised that the new party primary rules will not allow them to vote for Republicans. He saidthese voters typically registered Democrat years ago but never changed their registration and have been voting forRepublicans. Raborn and DiMarco said early voters tend to be more prepared to cast ballots than those whovote on election day

“Election daywill be thereal test,” DiMarco said. Staff writer Claire Taylor contributed to this article.

him to the federal appellate bench.

He wasjoined by Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt, another LSUlaw school grad who had been chief judge of the federal district court in his

home city of New Orleans before Trump nominated him to the5th Circuit, and JudgeLeslieSouthwick,of Jackson,Mississippi,who was an appointee of President George W. Bush.

Spirit Airlines seeksto startorderly wind-down

Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc.isset to start an orderly wind-down process to sell its assets, capping the downfall of the low-cost carrierthat has filed for bankruptcy twice in recent years and failed to clinch alastminute U.S. government rescue.

The airline filed amotion on Mondayrequesting to wind down operations, after ceasing all passenger flight operations early Saturday.Itis also seeking to modify abankruptcy loan to have thenecessaryfunding to proceed with the sale of its assets, which include aircrafts and spare engines and parts.

Theairline hadplannedtoexit bankruptcy by the summer after striking adeal with creditors to shed billions in debt and lease obligations. Butits financial position significantly worsened due to the surge in fuel costs stemming from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

As Spirit veered towardliquidation last month, the Trump administration floated arescue package. But the effort fizzled out after pushback from agroup of creditors andeven some Republicans. Late last week, the companywas informed that this potential new financing “was no longer an available option,” ChiefFinancial Officer Fred Cromer said in adeclaration filed Monday in support of the wind-down request.

The company made the call to wind down on Friday as it was running short on cash, Cromer said. Spirit incurred nearly $100million in incremental fuel costs between March and April 30, he said.

Spirit ceasedoperations around 3a.m. Saturday so that none of its planes would be in the air and all crew whowereawayfrombases had sufficient time to make hotel accommodations, Cromer added.

GameStop makes $56B bid foreBay

GameStop Corp. is tryingtobuy eBay Inc. for about$56 billion in cash andstock,aboldattempt by Ryan Cohentotakeovera storied e-commercename several times larger

The gaming retail chain has offered $125 per share in cash and stock for the online marketplace, or abouta20% premium to itsFridayclose. GameStop,which built a roughly 5% stake in eBay, hassecured an initial, non-binding “highly confident letter” from TD Bank to provide about $20 billion of debt financing for the deal. In amemo toinvestors, Cohen’scompany pledged to find some $2 billion of annual savings within 12 months of closing. Cohen is proposing to take over a company roughly four times larger than the retail chain he operates. GameStop had amarket value of $12 billionasofFriday. EBay wasmuch bigger at around$46 billion, though the game retailer has about $9 billion in cash. The takeover offer is split evenly between cash and GameStop common stock.

EBay said Monday thatitwould review the offer “with afocus on the value to be delivered to eBay shareholders, including thevalue of the GameStop stock consideration and the ability of GameStoptodeliver a binding, actionable proposal.” Calif.says StateFarm violated law after wildfires

SACRAMENTO, Calif.— California’stop insurance regulator says the state is seeking millions of dollars in penalties from State Farm after aninvestigation found the insurance company violated state laws while handling claimsfrom the 2025 LosAngelesareawildfires.

State Farm violatedthe law hundreds of times by delaying claim investigations, providing unreasonable payouts and failing to communicate with policyholders, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said Monday. Regulators are also seeking to prohibit State Farm, the state’slargest home insurer,fromwriting new policies for ayear Lara launched the investigation last June after survivors of the devastatingPalisades and Eatonfires said that State Farm was delaying andmishandling claims regarding damage to their homes and possible contamination from smoke.

“Our investigation foundthat State Farm delayed, underpaid, and buried policyholders in red tape atthe worst moment of their lives. That is unacceptable, and we are taking decisive action to hold them accountable,” Lara said in astatement.

State Farm didn’timmediately respond to request for comment.

BUSINESS

NOLA.COM/BIZ

Does weaker make life more expensive?

BY MATT SEDENSKY AP national writer

NEW YORK Ahidden force is qui-

etly pushing up costsfor everything from yoursummer vacation to your weekly grocerybills: aweaker U.S.dollar

The dollar hasfallen about 10% againstother majorcurrencies since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, a pullback potentially playing arole in Americans’ concerns about affordability

“It’skindofa hidden tax,” said economistThomasSavidge,ofthe conservative-leaning American Institute for Economic Research. “What your dollar is going to be ableto buy is going to shrink.”

TheU.S. Dollar Index, which measures thegreenback against other major currencies, logged its steepest six-month drop in more than50years in thefirst half of 2025. Though the decline hasn’t deepened, the dollar indexisstill about 10%lower thanthe start of Trump’sterm.

Astrongdollar makes imports cheaper and can help keep inflationincheck. Aweak one can increase prices on foreign goods but boost Americanexports.

U.S. presidents have long voiced support for astrongdollareven as they pursued policies that, at times, pushedthe currency lower.Trump has suggested astrong dollarputs the U.S. at adisadvantageand that aweak dollarhelps Americanindustry.And as with most things with Trump, he’s been blunterinhis messaging.

“You make ahell of alot more money with aweaker dollar,” he said last year,one of anumber of public statements showing his preference for seeing the dollar decline Trump isn’talone in seeing benefits of aweaker buck.

In recent months, corporate earnings calls have been peppered with talk of howa weaker dollarhas helpedcompanies from PhilipMorris to Coca-Cola, with executives pulling out Csuitephrases like“favorablecurrencyimpact” to notehow the dip brought tailwinds outside the U.S. that added to bottom lines.

“In many cases, we’ve got a weaker dollar, which is not unhelpful,” Elie Maalouf, theCEO of InterContinental Hotels, said on aFebruarycall as the compa-

ny announced higher profits and revenues.

For bigmultinational companies that do business overseas, a weaker dollar can spur sales for products that suddenly become cheaper.But the vast majority of U.S.businesses are not operating beyond theborder.For those catering to domestic customers it’sadifferent story,particularly if they arereliantonimporting goods.

Travis Madeira, afourth-generation lobsterman who founded the lobster-shipping business LobsterBoys with his brother,makes about 80% of his sales to Americans, unlike somecompetitors who primarily export.

“The exporters aregonna have theadvantage when it comes to the dollar weakening,”says Madeira, who is paying more to import bait and buy Canadian lobsters. “These guysare gonna have alittle bit of alever on us.”

Evenamong companies that do have apresence outside the U.S., the dollar’sfall can have an impact.While manybig companies hedge currency to tryand insulate themselves or push more sales overseas,smaller businessesare often more susceptible to the turbulence.

David Navazio, CEO of Pennsylvania-basedGentell, which makes bandages and other medical supplies, operates plants in Brazil, Paraguay, Canada,New Zealand and the United Kingdom. In each location, the dollar has fallen, increasing Gentell’scosts

Gentell has had to raise some prices to reflect the currency

fluctuation, whichstacks on top of other challenges, including tariffs and war-related spikes to fuel costs

“A year ago, none of these were concerns,” he says. “And it always hurts the consumer.”

For the American consumer, thereality of adeclining dollar is mostobvious during foreign travel or when making apurchase directly from an international seller Crossthe border into Mexico, thetop foreign destinationof Americans, andyourdollaris about16% weaker versus the peso compared with early 2025. Declines of about 10% to 17% have been recorded elsewhere, including against the Swiss franc, South African rand, Danish krone, Swedish krona and the Euro.

As for goods imported to the U.S., there is an impact, but it’s harder to gauge. Many economists estimate that,inadvanced countrieslike the U.S., only about 5% to 10%ofa currencydip is passed on to consumers.

Butthey are an added stress when prices are already affected by other factors.

Take coffee, one of the grocery itemsthathas seenthe biggest price hike in the past year.Brazil is the biggest source of coffee for theU.S. and the dollar has fallen around 13% versus its real. Currency fluctuations can hit harder in developing economies and, while only afraction of the change mayfeed intocoffee’sballooning price, every bit can pile up. Coffee prices are up nearly 19% in the U.S. in thepast year,according to government data.

N.M. seekschild safety restrictions in Meta trial’ssecondphase

BYMORGAN LEE Associated Press

SANTAFE, N.M. New Mexico state prosecutors are seeking fundamental changes to Meta’ssocial mediaappsand algorithms to safeguard children in thesecondphase of alandmarktrial on allegations that platforms such as Instagram have created apublic safety hazard.

Opening statements began Monday in thethree-week bench trial to decide whether theplatformsof Meta,which also ownsFacebook andWhatsApp,poseapublic nuisance under state law. In the first phase, jurors ordered $375 millionincivilpenalties against Meta, determining that it knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

Prosecutors are now asking ajudgetoimpose fundamental changes aimedatreining in addictivefeatures,improving age verification andpreventing child sexual exploitationthrough default privacy settings and closer oversight

Meta has vowed to appeal the juryverdict and warned that it could eliminate Instagram and Facebook serviceinNew Mexico if forced to comply with impractical mandates

“The fact that we’rehaving a trialonnuisance is itself aremarkable outcome,” said Eric Goldman, co-directorofthe High Tech Law

Institute at Santa Clara University SchoolofLaw in California.“That theoryisnot well accepted as applied to the internet, and thattheory doesn’t really fit the internet.”

As thetrial reconvened Monday state District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid addressedconcerns that the court might overreach its authority

“I’mprobably notthe easiest sell on theideawhere Iwould become aone-personlegislator,judge and executive branch enforcer,” he said.

New Mexico AttorneyGeneral Raúl Torrez saidthe jury verdict punctured the auraofinvincibility protecting tech companies from liability for materialontheir platformsunder Section 230, a 30-year-old provision of theU.S CommunicationsDecency Act.

ALos Angeles jury separately found bothMetaand YouTube liable for harmstochildren, validating long-standing concerns about dangers of social media.

New Mexicoprosecutors are demanding thatMetahelp remedya mental health crisis among children througha series of safeguards and changes,including a redesign of algorithmsthatmake contentrecommendationssothey no longer prioritize constantengagement

New Mexicoprosecution attorney David Ackerman outlined a$3.7 billion proposal for Meta to remedyharm to children that “recognizesthe scope of the public nuisance thatMeta has caused.”

“Across NewMexico, acrossthe country,children are begging for help,” he said. “Itisthorough and it is necessary.There areitems in this abatement planfor public education,toassist schools, to assist law enforcement, to assist mental health providers.”

Prosecutors are also targeting other appfeatures linkedto compulsive usesuchas“infinite scroll,” whichcontinuously loads content; push notifications; and default settings that show tallies for “likes” and sharing. Their lawsuit also seeks improvements to age verification andothersteps aimed at curbing child sexual exploitation.

And New Mexicowants child accounts on Metaplatforms to have an associated parent or guardian, as well as acourt-supervisedchild safety monitor to track improvements over time

Executives have said the company continuously improveschild safetyand addresses compulsive use andthatmanydemands from prosecutorsare redundant.

In opening statements, Meta attorney Alex Parkinson disputed the ideathat there is apublic righttosocialmedia underlaws against public nuisance, andthat New Mexico’sproposedremedies would be unprecedented in the U.S

He said the state’s$3.7 billion plan goes toofar and would “reshape the way allmental andbehavioral healthcareisdeliveredto New Mexico teens.

BY STAN CHOE Associated Press

NEWYORK— The U.S. stock marketfellfromits record heights

Monday, while oilprices jumped following escalationsinthe Middle East that may undermine the ceasefire in the warwith Iran.

TheS&P 500sank0.4%, comingoff its latest all-time high The DowJones IndustrialAveragedropped 557 points, or 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2%.

The action was stronger in the oilmarket, where the pricefor abarrel of Brentcrudeleaped 5.8% to settleat$114.44. It jolted higher after the United Arab Emirates, aU.S. ally,said it came underattack by Iranfor the first time since the ceasefire took hold in early April. The attacks appeared to be in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’slatest efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s closureofthe strait has kept oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf and away from customers worldwide.Thatinturn has sent the price of Brent soaring from roughly $70 perbarrel before the war TrumpsaidSundaythatthe United States would guide ships through thestrait,whichcould getoil flowing againand bring down its price. But prices instead climbed with uncertainty about whatwould happen next.

TheU.S. military saidMonday that two American-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz. It also said that it sank six small boats as it set up an “enhanced security area”for ships crossingthe strait Evenwith allthe uncertainty about how long the war with Iran will last,the U.S. stock markethas remained remarkably resilient and has powered to record after record. Hope is still high on Wall Street that theglobal economy can avoid aworst-case scenario because of the war.And in the meantime, companies continue to deliver biggrowthinprofits. That’skey because stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term. The strength so far this reporting season has been broad-based and not confined to just theBig Tech superstars thatdominate the market. The median stock in the S&P 500 is tracking for the best growth since2021, according to Savita Subramanian, astrategist at Bank of America.

Tyson Foods joined the list Mondayofthose topping analysts’ expectationsfor both profit and revenue during thelatestquarter It sold lessbeefthanitdid a year ago, but it did so at prices that were11.5% higher, so itstotal beef revenue edged up. It also sold morechicken and pork than ayear earlier, at slightly higher prices. Its stock rose 8% and helped limit Wall Street’slosses. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings likewise delivered abetter profit forthe latest quarter than analysts expected. But it’sfeeling theeffects of thewar,whichhas notonlyraisedpressure on fuel prices but also pushed customers to think twice about travel plans, particularly to Europe. The cruise operator said some “executionmissteps” also have bookings belowwhere it would like, and its stock fell 8.6%. UPSand FedEx droppedeven more for some of the market’s sharpest losses after Amazon announced amovethatcould cut into theirbusinesses. Theonline giant said it’s begun allowing Procter &Gamble,3Mand other big companies to use its logistics services to move inventory,fulfill orders anddeliverpackages directly to shoppers.

UPSdropped10.5%,and FedEx fell 9.1%, while Amazon rose 1.4%.

STAFF FILE PHOTOByJILL PICKETT

Acustomer loads purchases into acartatWalmartNeighborhood Market in Bossier City.

Gulf could overtake N.O. in the future, study reveals

Scientists

urge city to begin relocation planning

BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer

A team of scientists led by a Tulane University geologist is urging Louisiana to begin planning now for how to relocate entire communities away from the coast, warning that sea levels may eventually rise high enough to overtake New Orleans.

The paper, published Monday in the journal Nature Sustainability with Tulane coastal geologist Torbjörn Törnqvist as lead author, gives a concrete picture of what southeast Louisiana could look like in the coming centuries as sea levels rise.

The team identified, for the first time, an ancient shoreline about 30 miles north of New Orleans that marks where the Gulf once reached.

That finding underpins an argument the paper makes that one its authors acknowledge won’t be popular: that the state should begin planning now for a gradual, multigenerational relocation of coastal residents to higher ground. New Orleans, the paper argues, will eventually become “physically impossible” to defend with flood walls and levees.

“They are saying out loud the things that no one wants to say,” A.R. Siders, an associate professor at the University of Delaware who studies how people are adapting to climate change, said of the study’s authors. “No one wants to say New Orleans won’t be there in 200 years.”

Siders reviewed the paper but was not involved with the study

The argument isn’t entirely new, and Törnqvist has been warning about New Orleans’ long-term future for years. In a 2020 paper, he wrote that Louisiana’s wetlands

A team of scientists led by a Tulane University geologist

journal Nature Sustainability warning that sea levels may

overtake New Orleans.

had crossed a tipping point and that the eventual shoreline would likely settle near the Baton Rouge Fault, a geological line where land to the south sinks faster than land to the north.

What the new paper adds is direct geological evidence of where that shoreline once was, and a sharper policy stance from an interdisciplinary team that combines geology with archaeology, demography and policy It’s a perspective article, a format in which authors advance an argument supported by evidence rather than report a standalone research finding.

“What is new about this study is that it lays out in clear scientific terms with abundant data and supporting information that we are facing right now a multigenerational need to relocate our coastal communities,” said Sam Bentley, a professor of sedimentary geology at LSU who was not involved with the paper “That has never been spelled out so clearly and with such urgency.”

Robert Young, a professor of geology at Western Carolina University who was not involved in the study, agreed with its findings but doubted it would move Louisiana’s po-

litical class.

“It is going to be fairly straightforward for the political class to dismiss it because the timeframe is so long,” he said “Politicians are not going to get reelected by telling communities that they need to leave.”

Not everyone in the region accepts the idea that the city might have to relocate. Greater New Orleans Inc., the regional economic development organization, said the paper goes too far in advocating for wholesale relocation of the city.

“The study’s findings are academically compelling, but empirically unconvincing,” said Michael Hecht, the organization’s president and CEO. “Experience around the world, and here in Louisiana, demonstrates that relocation is not inevitable, nor always desirable.”

Ancient shoreline

The discovery happened almost by accident

About a decade ago, Tulane geologist Zhi-Xiong Shen — now at Coastal Carolina University and a co-author on the paper was using lidar a laser-based mapping technology, to study fault lines that contribute to southeast

Louisiana’s sinking. He noticed a low, curving feature in the elevation data, drilled into the ground, and found sand: the remains of an ancient beach. That beach, now called the Ponchatoula Ridge, runs from roughly Mandeville in the east to Ponchatoula in the west. The sand had been shaped by wave action, indicating it is likely where the Gulf lapped against the shoreline about 125,000 years ago, when the Earth was warmer than it was during most of human civilization. The shoreline from that period was known across much of the Gulf Coast, but it was never located in Louisiana until now

The discovery of the Ponchatoula Ridge is “a small detail, maybe, to some readers, but the implications of it are epic,” Bentley said. To him, it underscores that an area where more than a million people live will eventually be submerged. Earth is now roughly as warm as it was during that last interglacial period, when temperatures peaked at as much as 2.7 degrees above pre-industrial levels. Sea levels lag behind temperature, though, as ice sheets take

centuries to melt meaning the warming already locked in is expected to keep raising seas for centuries.

That means the city could become a kind of fortified island in the Gulf by the time sea levels rise by roughly 10 feet above where they are now, the study finds. And if sea levels rise by over 20 feet — a level the researchers say is locked in over the long term, though the timing is uncertain — sea water could slosh over the French Quarter’s wrought-iron galleries.

Current projections from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show seas rising off Louisiana by between 3.5 and 9 feet by 2100, depending on emissions scenarios.

Fewer diversions, less time

The state’s recent cancellation of two major Mississippi River sediment diversions, the Mid-Barataria and Mid-Breton projects, both opposed by shrimpers and oyster farmers, has shortened the timeline.

“New Orleans is in a terminal state,” said Jesse Keenan, an associate professor at the Tulane School of Architecture and a co-author of the study “The question is how much time do we have, and how much time can we buy?”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which built and maintains the post-Katrina levee system, is designing new additions to extend protection through 2073. Beyond that, the Corps said in a written response, “additional evaluations” will be needed.

Without the diversions, the city has less time, Törnqvist said. Future projects could buy some or all of that time back, though they will not change the eventual outcome.

“The negative outcomes of continued sea level rise are just going to happen earlier,” Törnqvist said. “The time window to do this managed relocation is just going to be shortened by maybe a couple of decades. And that’s a lot of time.”

“There’s a kind of mortality here,” Keenan said. “We’re facing our own mortality with New Orleans, and that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with that. It just means we have to think about palliative care and how we are going to treat those who are immobile and those that are getting left behind.”

The paper also argues that getting ahead of relocation could give New Orleans a “first mover advantage,” or a chance to develop expertise other coastal cities will eventually need.

Young, the Western Carolina geologist, wasn’t convinced that was really an advantage.

“The main problem I have with the paper is at the very end when it talks about the possibility of making New Orleans and places south a model for what could happen elsewhere,” he said. “I’m just really skeptical that that can happen anytime soon.”

Without a state-managed plan, the paper warns, residents with savings will leave first, taking the tax base with them and stranding lower-income residents in communities with eroding services and worsening climate hazards.

“Those people with abundant resources will move, and then who do you leave behind?” Keenan said. “A highly impoverished and immobile population.”

Articulating all of this and publishing it in a reputable scientific journal puts the researchers in a somewhat uncomfortable position, they said, having to tell people what they don’t want to hear Törnqvist said he was “preparing for some hate mail.” Keenan said he would not have published the paper if he didn’t have tenure.

“Many of us have taken the approach that advocating for a particular stance can threaten our apparent objectivity in reaching a solution,” said Bentley “But sometimes you have to do it. And I think this is an exceptional case.”

BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A federal magistrate judge on Monday pressed a jail official to explain why a man charged with trying to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and attempting to kill President Donald Trump was placed on restrictive suicide watch after his arrest.

Officials at the city jail in Washington, D.C., removed Cole Tomas Allen from its designated “suicide status” over the weekend after his attorneys complained that he had been unnecessarily confined in a padded room with constant lighting, repeatedly strip searched and placed in restraints outside his cell.

But the relaxed conditions

didn’t satisfy U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui’s concerns that Allen may have received disparate, punitive treatment in violation of his due process rights. Faruqui noted that the D.C. jail routinely houses convicted killers and others charged with violent crimes without placing them on 24-hour lockdown.

“It could drive a person crazy to be in that situation,” he said.

Faruqui apologized to Allen over his confinement conditions. In response to a news report on that apology, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro criticized him in a social media post that said Faruqui “believes a defendant armed to the teeth and attempting to assassinate the president is entitled to preferential treatment in

his confinement compared to every other defendant.”

Allen’s lawyers said he wasn’t showing any suicidal risk factors after his arrest. But a jail psychiatrist evaluated him and initially concluded that he posed a suicide risk, according to Tony Towns, acting general counsel for the city’s corrections department.

“Every case is different, your honor,” Towns said. Allen was moved into protective custody after the jail lifted the suicide prevention measures. His attorneys didn’t object to his new confinement status. They had asked the magistrate to cancel Monday’s hearing, but Faruqui forged ahead with it due to his “grave concerns” about Allen’s treatment in jail.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

published a paper Monday in the

eventually rise high enough to

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LOUISIANA AT LARGE

Paddling on the Mississippi

We made it: Three days, 50 miles, 12 women, three guides and two oversized canoes on the Mississippi River

We put in near Clarksdale, Mississippi, and got out at Terrene Landing in Bolivar County, Mississippi —paddling rightup alongside the American Melody, acruise ship, as its well-dressed passengers returned from an excursion.

We had been on the water,sleeping on islands for three days. They had been sailing from Memphis, Tennessee, to New Orleans. We were not, at that moment, peers. But several of them wanted to talk to us. So did the crew.One female crew member told us she was seriously impressed. Ibelieved her.John Ruskey,founder of the Quapaw Canoe Co. out of Clarksdale, was our primary guide. He is white-haired, leanlegged and always on amission. Originally from Colorado, he arrived in Clarksdalein1982 and was astonished to find that people who had lived their whole lives alongside the Mississippihad never once been on it. He decided to do something about that. He builtthe giantvoyager-style canoes, based on those usedby Frenchexplorers. They can hold 12 people or,inour case, sevenoreight people and allthe gear. They are remarkably stable. Also, he swims in the river every day.Aswewere getting in the canoes Friday morning, he suddenly dove into the water and started swimming aroundlikea mermaid,asifthe temperature didn’tapply to him. It was cold. Iwas not frolicking like amermaid. Iwas focused on not getting my feet wet. Ultimately,Idid not swim in the river.Afew of the braver women did. Idid, however,eventually get my feet wet.

At our first stop for the night, Irelearned how to put upa tent —meaning, Iwas presentwhile others did it well.One handled the poles, another the stakes, andone folded it all back up with impressive efficiency.Idid not have a specialty What Ihadn’texpected was the night noise.

Ihad imaginedisland camping on the Mississippi would feel remote and hushed, cut off from everything.

Iwas wrong in away you can only be wrong at 2:43 a.m Towboats run all night on the Mississippi, and those things are loud —and long. Even though, from its banks or bridges, Isee bargesonthe Mississippi often,I have adifferent level of appreciation for it being aworkingriver now.Itnever rests.

We saw several tow boatspushing what appearedto be 42 barges, lined up side-by-side.Barges can be larger on the lower Mississippi because the river is so wide.

Ilearned that astandard inland barge carries 1,500 to 1,750 tons of dry cargo. Accordingto the U.S. NationalWaterways Foundation, inland barges can move aton of cargo 647 miles on asingle gallon of fuel. The river is, among other things, an engine.

Ialso learned that the river islands are numbered. Below the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi near Cairo, Illinois, they run sequentially— we paddled roughly from Island 63 to Island 69. Ihad no ideasucha system existed. But back to noises: We also heard coyotes. They werehowling at the full moon. And birds —somany birds. On Sundaymorning, as we

ä See RISHER, page 2B

Jazz Fest crowdtops475K

Despiteweather issues,number beats last year

BY KEITH SPERA Staff writer

Attendancefor the2026 New Orleans Jazz &HeritageFestival swung dramatically over thesecond weekend, thanks in part to the weather

Butultimately,the total number swung abit higher than last year

Approximately 475,000 people passed through the gates of the FairGrounds during the eight days of the just-completed Jazz Fest, co-producer Festival Productions Inc.-New Orleans announcedMonday That total counts everyscanned ticket or pass usedtoenterthe grounds by attendees, musicians, vendors, staffers and other personnel.

Last year, thetotal for eight days wasalittle lower at 460,000. And in 2024, Jazz Fest attendance was 500,000, including the limited number of 40,000 tickets sold for

thespecial “Rolling Stones Thursday.” It was ayear of attendance extremes, especially thesecond weekend. Attendance thefirst

weekendwas solid all four days, peaking on April 25. That Saturday, Stevie Nicks filled the Festival Stage field at the same time country/bluegrassstar Tyler

Aladyinred

Evidence revives Katrina-eracoldcase

Unsolved murder tied to staged wrecks saga

BY JOHN SIMERMAN and JAMES FINN Staff writers

Avis Adamsand Marvin Trudeauhavesome nagging questionsfor thefeds. Their brother’smurder,still unsolvedafter 20 years, was dredgedupinfederal court this month in the prosecution of an

unrelated, headline-grabbing schemetostagecar crashes with big rigs across NewOrleans, leading to big payoutsfor injury lawyers whofiledscores of bogus claims. Police never cracked the murder of Marcel Trudeau though they eventually developed a few suspects. One of them, Leon “Chunky” Parker,faces an August trialdateinthe murderof Cornelius Garrison,aprolific “slammer” whodrove cars in dozens of thestagedwrecks

Childers sang for ahuge crowd at the opposite end of the Fair Grounds on theShell Gentilly

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

STAFFPHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

Abikerider clad in red while carrying red flowers passes Our Lady of Good Counsel Church on Louisiana Avenue in NewOrleans

Convicted sex offender accused of abusing 5 children

BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer

The Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office formally filed charges Thursday against a convicted sex offender who is now accused of sexually abusing five children, according to court records. Troy Rodriguez, 49, of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, was charged with three counts of sexual battery of a victim under 13, four counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile under the age of 13 and oral sexual battery He appeared in Jefferson Parish Magistrate Court on Monday

and pleaded not guilty Rodriguez was arrested Jan. 2 following an investigation by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office into allegations that span a decade. He is from the Westwego area and only recently moved to Mississippi about seven months ago, according to the authorities. Four of the victims, now between the ages of 12 and 19, said they were around 4 and 5 when the abuse began, according to court records. Sheriff’s Office investigators say Rodriguez was a friend of the victims’ families and would sometimes babysit the children.

The alleged abuse occurred

Kenner man charged in rape of two girls

Officials say he met juveniles through church

BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer

A Jefferson Parish grand jury

handed up an indictment last week charging a Kenner man with the rape of two girls who attend his church, according to authorities.

Juan Zuniga, 50, was charged Thursday with first-degree rape, second-degree rape and molestation of a juvenile. He pleaded not guilty Monday The assaults occurred between 2022 and 2024, according to investigators with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Zuniga is related to the pastor of the church that he and the victims attend, according to authorities. The Sheriff’s Office did not name the church.

The first victim reached out to Kenner police to report the abuse in November But the Sheriff’s Office took over the investigation once detectives learned the assaults occurred in Metairie, authorities said.

The first victim told investigators Zuniga raped her for the first time when she was 13. She accused him of inappropriately touching her beforehand and ignoring her when she told him no,

LIMITS

Continued from page 1B

crisis in the first place.”

BGR also urged the council to require Moreno’s administration to report regularly and publicly about how the city will use the deal’s proceeds. In a statement Monday, Moreno said her administration has “worked relentlessly to restore financial stability here at City Hall, and as I said last week, this cash infusion is an essential part of our creative thinking to rebuild our cash reserves and restore our key bond ratings.

“I’m glad to see the BGR concurs and I welcome their support.” The city’s reserves a safeguard in case of a hurricane or other emergency — fell from $344 million at the end of 2022 to just $35 million, as officials drew from those funds to cover operating costs as the city faced a deficit. Under the deal announced last week, the city would sell future lease payments from the casino to a private equity firm, TPG, for the next nine years In exchange, the firm would pay New Orleans $103 million this year — around $46 million less than the full lease amount over that nine-year period. It would be one of the biggest boosts to the city’s budget since officials revealed a $160 million spending deficit last year Officials say the cash influx will improve the city’s bond rating, which has been slashed by credit rating agencies in recent months because of the city’s cash flow issues and low reserves.

All seven council members back the deal, and the council expects to approve it at its next regular meeting on Thursday The New Orleans Building Corp., the city entity that is the landlord for the casino, will also sign off on it on Tuesday

But BGR said that before signing off, council members should amend the ordinance to require the city to report regularly to the council on its reserves and to

between 2012 and 2022. Investigators accuse Rodriguez of exposing himself, inappropriately touching the children, forcing them to perform sex acts or watching them bathe according to authorities.

The fifth victim is an adult woman who accused Rodriguez of abusing her in 1991 when she was about 4, officials said. Rodriguez would threaten to hurt the children or their families if they ever told anyone about the abuse, according to the Sheriff’s Office. But in January 2025, one of the victims confided in their parents. The parents reached out to law

enforcement, and officials spent several months investigating the case, coordinating with law enforcement agencies in other jurisdictions. Jefferson Parish prosecutors called Rodriguez a “serial abuser” during a January bail hearing.

After he was convicted in Jefferson Parish in 1994 for oral sexual battery of a child, Rodriguez was ordered to register as a sex offender according to court records.

He was then convicted in Orleans Parish in 1998 on three counts of obscenity In 1994, he was also convicted of female

genital mutilation, though authorities did not disclose where that charge was prosecuted. After his move to Mississippi, Rodriguez was supposed to transfer his sex offender registration to the new jurisdiction. He hadn’t completed the paperwork by the time he was arrested in January on the Jefferson Parish warrants, according to authorities. Rodriguez was being held Monday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna. Bail information was not immediately available.

Email Michelle Hunter at mhunter@theadvocate.com.

authorities said.

In the summer of 2023, the girl told detectives Zuniga, a construction worker, took her to an office building that he was renovating. He tried again to have sex with her but she refused, authorities said.

The following year, however, the girl said she wasn’t able to fend him off when he took her to a Metairie house that he was renovating. Zuniga is accused of raping her there Authorities said he also sexually assaulted the girl on a separate occasion when he took her to a different house that he was repairing.

The second victim came forward after she and her family learned of the Sheriff’s Office investigation. She told detectives Zuniga raped her when she was 12 at a Metairie residence, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The girl was at the house with other children, but Zuniga cornered her alone inside the residence and began touching her inappropriately, according to authorities. After telling the girl she was “getting older,” Zuniga prevented her from leaving and raped her, authorities said. After the indictment, the court set Zuniga’s bail at $1 million. He was being held Monday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna

Email Michelle Hunter at mhunter@theadvocate.com.

direct the cash infusion only to the emergency fund, not regular spending. The original ordinance does not place restrictions on the use of the proceeds.

The city should also implement a policy on how to manage its reserves ahead of the 2027 budget season, BGR said. It also urged the city to develop a five-year financial plan.

“Such a policy is essential to establish the appropriate size of the reserves, the conditions under which an appropriation is permitted, and requirements to replenish the fund after an appropriation,” BGR officials said in the report.

The Moreno administration told BGR it has hired a financial consultant to develop both a reserve policy and a longer-term finance plan, the report noted.

BGR has raised red flags about the city’s lack of safeguards for its reserves repeatedly in recent years. In a September report, BGR said the lack of a reserve policy contributed to the city’s fiscal crisis.

It found that the city “spent or appropriated more than $200 million from the reserves without a policy for managing its financial cushion” and that the “lack of a strategy for managing the City’s reserves was compounded by poor financial monitoring that left City officials and the public unaware that they were depleting the reserves.”

Experts recommend that cities maintain reserves equal to at least two months of expenses, or about 17% of the annual budget.

The cash infusion would boost the city’s reserves to that minimum.

Moreno’s statement said “the Mayor and Council are already working towards the BGR’s key recommendations, including creating safeguards to ensure this cash infusion will not be used for ongoing expenses but will be kept in reserve.”

The statement did not address BGR’s suggestion to require regular reporting on use of the reserve fund or on proceeds from it, which the city said could total several million dollars a year through investing the upfront payment.

RISHER

Continued from page 1B

camped on an island on the Arkansas side of the river, in the silence between barges, I tried to count how many birds I could hear With the Merlin app, I spent five minutes identifying songs and counted 19 species. Nineteen.

At home, I probably hear just as many and register maybe two. Out there, the birds were not background noise — it was either them or barges. Hearing all those birds made me want to get better at paying attention.

Saturday night, we sat in the sand around the campfire with a guitar strumming, friends singing — and the river lapping 5 feet away The sky was clear, and the constellations were extraordinary — the kind of sky that made me feel both small and lucky to be in that place with that view

Then the full moon cleared the eastern horizon, its reflection stretching like gold a mile and a half across the Mississippi, straight to us. There are moments that don’t need improving.

Ruskey navigated us across the river repeatedly, always chasing fast water Through most of our journey, the river was at least a mile and a half wide. Being in the river — at water level, in a canoe is a different kind of understanding.

Catherine S. Comeaux, of Lafayette, made all of this happen.

JAZZ FEST

Continued from page 1B

Stage. Some rain fell late in the day but the festival’s scheduled performances were unaffected. By contrast, April 30 and May 1 were plagued by steady and, at times, heavy rains. On both days, the festival shut down early The producers cut acts from the middle of the schedule so headliners could go on earlier than originally scheduled. The bad weather depressed attendance both days. But it seemed as if everyone who stayed home on the rainy days headed to the Fair Grounds on the second Saturday and Sunday, when clear, sunny skies and low humidity prevailed.

An enormous crowd overflowed the Festival Stage field for the Eagles’ performance on Saturday Because the day’s crowd concentrated at the Festival Stage — where parts of the field were still muddy and wet from the previous days’ rain —

She asked, I said yes, and then spent the weeks before the trip wondering why I have a better idea of why now In the lives of comfort that we live, this trip was a reminder that we can do hard things — actual hard things, cold-morning-

the festival’s producers made the unprecedented decision to cut off ticket sales midafternoon. They declared the first daytime sellout in Jazz Fest history, with the exception of the limited-admission “Rolling Stones Thursday” in 2024. The Fair Grounds also felt full on the final Sunday, as Earth, Wind & Fire filled the Congo Square Stage field, the Tedeschi Trucks Band jammed to a big crowd at the Shell Gentilly Stage, and Teddy Swims and then Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue played to a big but not Eagles or Stevie Nicks big — audience at the Festival Stage.

By the numbers

As the total number of festival days has flipped back and forth between seven and eight, Jazz Fest’s average daily attendance has trended downward in recent years, this year being an exception. In 2019, the eight-day festival’s 50th anniversary posted a total attendance of 475,000, with an av-

getting-in-a-canoe hard things, sleeping-on-an-island hard things. Fifty miles. Three days. Twelve women Three guides. The river did the rest.

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

erage daily attendance of 59,300. Following two COVID-canceled years, the seven-day 2022 festival also posted a total of 475,000, with a higher daily average of 67,800. The seven-day 2023 fest’s daily average dropped to 65,700, then 62,500 over eight days in 2024, and 57,500 over eight days in 2025. This year’s daily average was approximately 59,300.

Next year, Jazz Fest will return with two four-day weekends: April 22-25 and April 29 to May 2 Email Keith Spera at kspera@ theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTOS By JAN RISHER

Skilled guide John Ruskey of Quapaw Canoes in Clarksdale, Miss., chased fast water and dodged barges while leading Jan Risher’s group of adventurers on a trip along the Mississippi River.

Catherine S Comeaux, who organized a 50-mile paddle trip down the Mississippi River laughs along with the group that includes 11 friends and strangers. The canoe trip started in Clarksdale, Miss., on Friday and finished at Terrene Landing in Bolivar County, Miss., on Sunday

Abreo, Edna Burridge,Donna

Cannon, Stephen Burridge, Donna Dell Whittington

Dugas, Jason

Grisamore, George

Lamy,Raymond River Parish

HC Alexander

Abreo, Edna West Bank

West Leitz-Eagan

Lamy,Raymond

Obituaries

Abreo, EdnaRome

Edna RomeAbreo entered into eternalrest on Saturday,May 2, 2026 at 5:08 pm.Age 86 years, and alifelong resident of Gramercy,LA. Beloved wife of the late Thomas L. Abreo, Sr. Loving motherof Dawn A. Becnel (Kevin), Dayna A. Montz (Dawayne),Thomas J. Abreo, Jr. (Melissa), Denise Abreo, DebraA.Strain (late: Mark) and the late Lynn and Glynn Abreo. Grandmother of Brandi Fontenot, Dustin Montz, Brett Becnel, Blake Abreo, Darien Miller, Mandy Montz, Marcel Miller, Jesse Miller and the late Daniel Montz. Great-grandmother of Ally, Kate, Matthew, Lily, Collin, Gavin, Andrew, Caroline, Eloise, Hayden, Emmelyn andAddilyn Daughter of the late Jean Etiennie Rome and Denise Becnel Rome. Sister of the late Gerald Rome. Also survived by ahost of other relatives and friends. Edna's greatestjoy in life was her children and grandchildren along with the many trips to the camp on Blind River where she enjoyed fishing and spending time with family. She will be dearly cherished and sadly missed by all. Relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend the Funeral Mass at Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, 616 Main Street, Gramercy, LA on Wednesday, May 6, 2026at 11:00 AM. Visitationwill begin at 9:00AM until Mass Time at Church. Interment will follow in St. Joseph Cemetery, Paulina, LA. Memories and condolences to the family can be

DonnaDell Whittington Burridge, age77, passed awaypeacefully, Friday, May1,2026in Ponchatoula, Louisiana

Shewas born Tuesday September14, 1948inNew OrleanstoWalter"Buster" and Adele Whittington

Donnagraduatedfrom West JeffersonHighSchool in 1966and Southeastern Louisiana University with a degreeineducation in 1970.

Donnataught in both publicand private schools for more than 20 years, including many years at SalemLutheran ElementaryinGretna

After retirement, Donna moved to Ponchatoula, whereshe enjoyed spending time with her husband Jack and her manypets over thedecades -dogs Jacque and Charlie; cats Kiki, Kira,Momma Scratch, Sweet Pea, Elsa and SmokeyJoe; and cockatoo bird Snowy

Donnaloved reading books,watchingmovies and visiting with her grandchildren Cameron and Dylan Samuels,regularly takingthemtozoos and museums in Baton Rouge and Houston.

Donnaispreceded in death by herparents, her husband, hersister Leslie Guiseand her step-daughter Kimberly Burridge Stewart.

Donnaissurvived by her sister Pamela Adams; first spouseMarc(Maylee) Samuels; her son Matt (Kristy) Samuels;grandchildren Cameron and Dylan Samuels; and nieces KimGuise(Collin), Kelli Guiseand Amanda Adams (Johnny) Vincent; brotherin-law Pat Guise, sisters-inlaw Lynda (John) Gay Paulette (Joseph) Kohrs, Annette (DuaneSr.) Kortas; and brother-in-law ThomasC.(Maria) Burridge.

Donations can be made in her nametoananimal shelter or charity of your choice.

Donna's arrangements have been entrusted to LN Hughes Funeral Services of Ponchatoula.

Stephen Foster Cannon passed away peacefully at home in NewOrleans on April27, 2026. He was born on August 13, 1939. He is survivedbyhis threechildren,Stephen Sean Cannon(Sabine), Charles Weeks Cannon(Laura), and Jennifer Keith Cannon (Jefferey); seven grandchildren, Sarah Cannon Straight (Jason), Laura Cannon, and Cam Cannon (Cecilia), Russell AdelmanCannon, Diana Paradise, AmeliaParadise,and Ian Paradise; and twogreatgrandchildren, Paul Straight and Lina Straight; as well as numerous loving cousins, nieces, nephews, and their children. He was precededindeath by his parents, Julius Myrick Cannon and Velma ElizabethStephens Cannon; hisfivesiblings, Geraldine Schwarzauer (Bill), Vivian Steele (John), JoAnn Fagin(J.L.),Julius Cannon (Jeannie),and Johnny Cannon (Suk);his first wife, Lana Carol Weeks, and hissecond wife, CarrellAnn Beasley Cannon; and his grandchild,BelleBrock AdelmanCannon. He was born and raised in MobileCounty, AL.Heplayedfootballin highschooland college and served in theAlabama National Guard,before earning aBachelors DegreeatMillsaps College in Jackson, MS. He spent much of his adult life in NewOrleans, where he raised his family and workedatseveral iconic NewOrleans restaurants, including Brennan's, the Blue Room, T. Pittari's, and 20 years at Antoine's. He was activeinCivil Rights and labororganizing in Mississippiand New Orleans. He wrote poetry, played guitar, studied languages (Latin, French, and Choctaw), designed and built furniture outofsalvaged materials, and created many fanciful costumes, winning theAlpine Bar'sMardiGras costume contest on morethanone occasion. The family will receive friendson Saturday, May9,2026, from 10:00 AM until the 11:00 AM funeralservice at St. Thomas Aquinas Church withFather John Coghlanofficiating.Burial willfollow in St.Thomas Cemetery

On Sunday, May 3, 2026, Jason Kern Dugas (52) passed on to thenext life. He was thewholeworld to so many people,and he is terribly missed. He is preceded in deathbyhis parentsMichael and Carolyn Dugas. He leaves behind hiswife,Cynthia, their children David Thomas, Jr. (Sam) ,Rhiannon Thomas (Da'Jour), Joshua Rodriguez and Megan Rodriguez Walsh, and grandchildrenDa'JourJr and Iris Bustamante. He also leaves behind his siblings Micheal Dugas, Jr.(Melissa) and Nicolle Dugas Sigur (Scott)and several nieces and nephews. Services willbe held at Garden of Memories in Metairie at a date to be determined

in death by his parents, Wilbert Grisamore and Jewell CreelGrisamore. Left to honor and treasure hismemory are hisloving wife, Jo AnnUhl Grisamore, son Greg Terry Grisamore (Penny), daughterJill AllisonGrisamore, and granddaughterHailey Parker Grisamore. Terry will be remembered for his quietstrength,warm smile, andthe love he showed hisfamily.

Lamy, Raymond George

Raymond George Lamy, Sr.passed away surrounded by hisfamilyonApril 30, 2026, at the age of 93. He wasborninNew OrleansonMay 10, 1932, andwas along-time residentofthe NewOrleans Westbank. Raymond wasagraduate of St.Aloysius High School in 1950 wherehe wasthe class salutatorian As astar footballplayer, he wasnamed to the1949 NewOrleans Quarterback Club. Upon graduation, Raymond earnedanacademic and baseballscholarship to Loyola University wherehegraduatedin 1954 with adegree in accounting After graduating from Loyola, Raymond was appointed as asecondlieutenantinthe U.S. Army whereheadmirablyserved ourcountryinFortKnox, KY Raymond had asuccessful career in theinsurance industry. He wasex-

tremelydedicated to his familyand community wherehewas aScout Leader,baseballcoach, volunteerfireman,school PTA officer, and HOA board member. He was an avid golferscoring several holesinone at Brechtel ParkGolf Course. Most importantly, Raymond spent hislifeasa devout Catholic serving OurLord as alector, usher, alter server, Knights of Columbusmember,and Eucharistic Minister. He wasextremely devotedto hisSt. Vincent de Paul Society Conferencein ImmaculateConception Parish Raymond was preceded in death by hisparents John Earl andCamille Sperandeo Lamy; brothers John andHarold Lamy; beloved wife Marcia Ann; andsonsDennisMichael andDaniel Patrick. He is survived by his sons Raymond,Jr. (Jann), Timothy(Kathleen),and daughterLeslie Champagne (Michael, Sr.); grandchildrenRyan,Rhett, Reid (Lacey), Toby (Julie) L. Nick,Kyle(Abby), DevenPaul, Trevor (Connie), and Michael Champagne, Jr (Christine) as well as 10 great-grandchildren Visitation at Immaculate Conception Church,4401 SeventhStreet, Marrero, LA. on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at 11:00 AM followed by aCatholic Funeral Mass at 1:00 PM. Private intermentata later date. In lieu of flowers, donationsmay be sent to St VincentdePaulSociety, ImmaculateConception Conference,4401 Seventh Street,Marrero, LA 70072.

Dugas, Jason Kern

OUR VIEWS

Airquality picture in La.hazy with spots of hope

The latest “State of the Air”report fromthe American Lung Association gives some Louisianacitiescause for concern andothersreason to breathe easier

The report presents resultsofathree-year nationwide examination of smog andfine particle pollution, using data from theEnvironmental Protection Agencyfrom 2022 to 2024. It gave the Baton Rouge-Hammondmetro areaafailing gradeonthe numberofhighozone days The New Orleans area received a“C” grade,but droppedinthe rankings nationally fortotal air quality. Lafayette likewisereceived a“C” grade for ozone. On the positive side, ozone ratingsshowed that the Monroe-Ruston metro areahad some of thecleanest air in thenation, and ShreveportBossier ranked among thebest forshort-term particulate matter.And let’s be clear,it’sgood news that no Louisiana citywas on thelist of the 25 worst for air quality based on anyofthe standards measured by the group

Overall, the New Orleans metro arearanked 100th worst nationally,and Baton RougeHammond ranked 26thworst forozone out of 226 metro areas studied. Iberville hadthe state’sworst rating for ozone, witha three-year weighted average of 10.2 bad airdaysper year Ground-level ozone, or smog, andfine particulate matterinthe air affect humanhealth in myriad ways, causing asthma attacksin children and increasing the riskofchronicconditions,suchashigh blood pressure andheart disease

On yet another measurethe report looked at —annual particulate levels —there were some mixed results, though, especially in ShreveportBossier,which receivedan“A” gradefor shortterm particulates

The report says that in Caddo Parish during the three-year period, annual particulate levels were 7.7% higher than federal standards,giving the area afailing grade on thatmeasure. Thedata come from air qualitymonitoring networks around the state, and officialswith the Department of Environmental Quality have said theremay be someunusual factors contributing to the numbers, such as wildfires in 2022 and 2023.

Still, webelieve these numbers provideimportant guidanceastothe healthofour environment. We oftentalk about“quality oflife” measures that Louisiana is seeking to improve None canbemorefundamental than clean air. Whileweseek toattract industry and jobs to our state, we cannot ignore theireffect on our air and water.Ifweare trulytocontinuetobe “Sportsman’s Paradise,” let’spay attentionto the natural resourcesthat make that possible These numbers do not paint adire picture,like the situation of our coast.But wedon’t have to waitfor acrisis.Let’sresolvetolook at the warning signs and take steps to improve ourair quality now and for the future.

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence

TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com.

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE

Bernardleadin spaceships andshipyards

What agreat time for New Orleans and St.Bernard Parish. We look to the future, building rockets,and we reach back to the past in building ships and marine vessels. The New Orleans area, and particularly Nunez Community College, are at theforefront of both. The summer after Igraduated from Chalmette High School, Iworked in a shipyard on the Industrial Canal as a welder Out of law school at Tulane, Ibecame amaritime attorney at one of the top maritime law firms in the country.My grandfather,father,brother, nephew and ason wereand are all maritime captains and/or pilots. As ayoung sciencegeek, Iwas inspiredbythe work of my mother’s brother,myUncle Eddie Brown, who was one of the first aerospace engineers in the manned space program. He fascinated me with stories of putting aman on the moon and exploring outer space. As amember of the foundation boards

of bothNunez and Delgado, Icouldn’tbe prouder of the efforts of our educators. Today,Nunez Community College in St. Bernard is at the forefront of meeting the workforce needs of aprojected 75,000 new shipbuilding navaldefense jobs with its program of studies in maritimeoperations

As we watched thelaunch of Artemis II, NASA’s first lunar voyage in decades, it was good to know that the aerospace technician program at Nunez, in partnership withBoeing and NASA, had provided graduates who at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans East wereinvolved in building the Space Launch System rocket that powered the mission.

As we look towardthe future of transportation in space and revitalize our history of construction of seagoing vessels, it is good to know that the New Orleans and St. Bernard areas are at the forefront WALTER J. LEGER JR. past chairman,PortofNew Orleans

Don’tlet parish become thenation’sdumping ground

Think about garbage for amoment Rottenfood. Dirtydiapers. Then imagine what happens to all this garbage. Where does it go?

If RiverBirch landfill’sexpansion request to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is approved, all thatgarbage —and more—could come to Jefferson Parish. And in order to get to the RiverBirch Landfill in Waggaman, thatgarbage would travel by truckand rail through other parishes.

RiverBirch, currently permitted to accept solid wastefrom 13 Louisiana parishes, wants to be allowed to take in solid wastefrom all 64 Louisiana parishes and 50 states in the United States. Imagine atrain hauling decomposing garbage in your neighborhood, or worse, stalled on the track on asummer day

Local businesses collect sales tax from consumers and remit them to the city andstate every month. The cityand state compensate businesses for sales taxcollection at arateof1%and .85%, respectively.The city should not be compensating itself at ahigher rate than businesses are compensated. Therefore, the city’sadministrative fees for sales

RiverBirch takes in 1.3 million wet tons of solid waste and could double thatto2.6 million tons per year.Assolid wastedecomposes, it gives off noxious landfill gases, including hydrogen sulfide, which has a“rotten egg” odor.Added garbage trucktraffic will erode our highways, and selling ahome anywhere near what would be the nation’slargest landfill will surely be achallenge. Who would benefit from River Birch’s expansion if it’sapproved? The owners of the privately owned landfill would, and so would the people in communities shipping theirgarbage to Waggaman. They would enjoy fresh, clean air while those of us in south Louisiana would be stuckwith the stench.

LISA KARLIN River Ridge

taxcollection should never exceed about 2%. Anything above that is unfair,and our public schools andschoolchildren deserve fairness. We are talking about money thathas been designated forthe public school system, andthat’swhere it should be going.

CATHERINE JAMES NewOrleans

Responding to the letter,“Make N.O. streets safer forpedestrians and cyclists,” cyclists should have alicense in order to ride their bikes. They should also be required to have insurance. The cyclists that Isee every day ride in the middle of the street. Magazine Street is probably one of the worst places to bike. Why would you ride in the congested street where there’sreally no room forbike lanes? Ride in designated bike lanes. They just keep riding. The cars have to stop and waitfor the oncoming traffic to pass in order to avoid the bikes. Most don’tpay attention to traffic. They have been drilled that they have the right of way The pedestrians just walk out in front of traffic while engaged in aphone conversation, not paying attention to anything and not in the crosswalk. They have no common sense. There needs to be somecommon sense in the idea that the pedestrian always has the right of way. So to cyclists, stop riding on streets like Magazine Street.

KENNETH LORIA NewOrleans

The politicians in this country do not adhere to the TenCommandments. They set terrible examples of illegal and immoral behavior, which only confuses children. Words on awall mean nothing compared to the behavior of those whoshould set the example.

CATHY HIGHTOWER Metairie

La.needs abudgetfor water

Faimon Roberts

Thank God we’re not in Texas. That’s not asentiment you often hear in Louisiana. Our westernneighbor as some tell it,isautopianmodel with nothing but good roads,good schools, an attractive tax structure andplentyof opportunity It’snowonder that the LoneStar State is amajor destination for Louisiananslookingfor a better life. But those Bayou State expatriates may find themselvesstaringdown some familiar problems. Like in Louisiana, Texas officials are grappling with aging and crumbling infrastructure, especiallywhen it comes to providing drinking water to residents. Arecent draft report bythe TexasWater Development Board estimates that communities there willneed $174 billion in repairs to their local watersystems in order to avoid amajor crisis in thenext 50 years.That’smorethandouble the estimate theTWDB produced just four years ago. Texas has aTexas-sized problem on its hands, and it’sgetting bigger.And it’scomplicated by aproblem Louisiana, at leastfor now, doesn’thave: alack of water supply Corpus Christi, for instance, couldbe just months from awater emergency, worsened, in significantpart, by drought. Hundreds of miles away in north Texas, groundwater worriesare arecurring problem, especially for farmers.

Texas’ supply issues won’tstay bound by state lines. Last year,aTexas firm inquired about purchasing fresh water from the Toledo BendReservoir in northwestern Louisiana. The deal, proponents argued, would generate significant revenue while having aminimal impactonwater levels in the 186,000acre reservoir,which is apopular fishing and recreation spot. But the proposalwas abandoned when the leaders of twoLouisianalegislative committees, each of which would have had to approve the deal, sent aletter opposing it.

This year,athird legislator,state Rep. Rodney Schamerhorn, R-Hornbeck, is trying to prevent such transactions from happening in the future. Schamerhorn, who represents adistrict near Toledo Bend, has filed HouseBill 599to prohibit Louisiana from selling“running surfacewater” for use in other states “This bill is to protect ournatural re-

sources. It’swater.One day,oil and gas maydisappear,and water will disappear if we’re notcareful,”Schamerhorn told theHouse Natural Resources and EnvironmentCommittee last week.

HB599 is not abad idea on its face.

SellingToledo Bendwater,asIhave argued, is abad idea, at least for now

But thebill’s narrow focus on “running surface water”distracts from the real need:acomprehensive water managementplan for Louisiana. Andunlike HB 599, such aplan must also include groundwater

This idea has been discussed many times, but never implemented. It could hardly be more urgent. Each of thehandful of large data centers currently under construction will require significant water supplies

Forinstance, company officials workingonthe Meta datacenter in Richland Parish notified the statethat they might needasmuch as 23 million gallons of groundwater per day.Normal operationswould require much less, they said, but still.

Other data centers in Shreveport, Boyce and West Felicianaare not as big as Meta’ssite. But their water needs will still be significant.

All of this is why Louisiananeeds a comprehensive water strategy more

than it needs another piece of smallambition legislation. As part of anysuch plan, thestate needs to conduct afull and transparent audit of supply,both on thesurface and under it

Louisianahas long acted like it has an inexhaustible water supply,but we really have no idea how much we have. Until we know that, we can’tknow how muchwecan use and how muchwecan sell. It may be, in fact, that Louisiana can reasonably profit by selling someof its abundant water supplies.

Rebecca Triche, executive director of theLouisiana Wildlife Federation, highlighted this fact even as she spoke in favor of Schamerhorn’sbill.

“So, we’renot even sure how much water we could sell or permit or what that impacts on priority users. In the absence of acomprehensive managementplan, this is very prudent to put in place,” she told thecommittee.

So Louisianawould find itself in a place we know too well: with no real strategyorsolution, just acobbledtogether collection of narrowly tailored regulations. Those may solve local problems, but they do little to movethe stateforward.

Email Faimon A. Roberts III at froberts@theadvocate.com.

Seattlehas acaseofthe AyatollahItch

The Ayatollah Itch is adisease that manifests in an urge to use government power to coerce conformitytoquasireligious agendas. The disease is not confined to clerics in foreign theocracies. Consider Seattle. Last month, Joshua Diemert,who for eight years was acity employee administering social services, will get what the city wants to deny him: his day in court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit will hear his argument that adistrict court erred by granting summary judgment in favor of Seattle. That court held that no major factual issues are in dispute. Oh? Here are undisputed facts laden with legal significance: In 2004, Seattle’sgovernment as woke as arooster at dawn, adopted the Race and Social Justice Initiative, which wasmore than aprogram to promote workforce diversity.Rather, it was aprogram of compelled racial identity Its explicit purpose was tochange “the fundamental nature of local government” by embedding “racial equity andsocial justice principles” throughout city “programs, budgets, and culture.” This involved evaluating city employeesthrough a“racial equity lens.” Facially illegal and presumptively unconstitutional, this monomania featured the full spectrum of now-familiar nostrums and policies. They are divisive, bullying and, by now, boring. Favoring acolorblind societyis stigmatized as “racialevasion.” What normal people consider elementary adult virtues —e.g., punctuality,individualism, perfectionism —are residues of “white supremacy culture.” Diversity, equity and inclusion trainers told trainees that racism is “in white people’s DNA.” Although it is againstthe law to “limit, segregate, or classify” employees by race “in any program, estab-

Whois monitoring thedebt?

People of acertain agewill recall alyric from the Tennessee Ernie Ford song “Sixteen Tons”: “Another day older and deeper in debt.”

Ithought of thatsong as Secretary of WarPeteHegseth asked Congress to approve a$1.5 trillion budget for fiscal year 2027toput the military on what he calleda “wartime footing.”

Hegseth says the Pentagon needsthe money for more drones, munitions and modernizedsystems.

Though President Donald Trump hasdeniedit, bragging thatwehavethe strongest military in the world, it would appear that the Iran conflicthas significantly depleted U.S military resources. Whatever Congress decides to do in response to Hegseth’srequest will be done with borrowed money,because we don’t have enough resources —and haven’tfor some time —topay for the unrestrained spending Congress loves to do.Notice there were no pledgesofcost reductions in Hegseth’srequest. There neverare when it comes to government

If you want to be shocked, assuming we areshocked aboutmuchthese days, visit usdebtclock.organd watch the numbers rise faster thana space rocket.It’s$39 trillionand counting with the averagecostto each American family of $114,130, according to the PeterG.Peterson Foundation. No nation in history has ever been able to shouldersuchdebt and survive. The politiciansdon’t seem to care as long as they can dole outmoney to keep themselves in office.

Ihavewrittenabout the debt before,but it bearsrepeating until Congress takes action. Whatfrustrates those who are paying attentiontothe debt is thatitisnot an unsolvable problem. It’sbeen fixed before, even within recentmemory for many people In the mid-1990s, an unlikely partnership was forged between President Bill Clinton andSpeaker Newt Gingrich to address the debt, whichhad increased from $4.8 trillionto$5.6trillion. Chump change comparedtotoday Fromfiscal years1998 to 2001, thanks to the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the federal government achieved four consecutive budgetsurpluses. There wasstill debt but surpluseswerereducing it. What created the surpluses?

George Will

lishedtoprovide …training,” Seattle inflictedmandatory,race-segregated sessions. The preferred euphemism for such evasions of thelaw is “affinity groups.” They separate White people and BIPOCs (Black, Indigenous and people of color).Seattle seems unawareofhow close it has come to formulating a21stcentury version of the Jim Crow “separate but equal” doctrine. The city’sfirst manager of the Race and Social Justice Initiative was almost endearingly candid: “Weasked all the white people to go in oneroom and all the people of color [to] go in another room. …Well, the White people got in theroom and just talkedabout theirfear,and the Blackpeople got in theroom and talkedabout how glad they weren’t the White people.” Living, no doubt,ina bubble of the like-minded, this person probably had no clue how repulsive he sounded to normal Americans

Racialized messaging was directed at Whiteemployees in general and Diemert specifically.But thedistrict court complacently accepted Seattle’s insistencethat itsinitiative cannot be discriminatory because its aim is “equity.” The training’spettiness and animus sometimes produced unintelligible verbal mush, as with its instruction thatWhiteemployees must “decenter” themselves.Such jargon is asuresign thatthe speaker has had asmattering of what today counts as higher education.

Thedistrict court accepted thecity’s lackadaisical characterization of its Race and Social Justice rigmarole as abenign “presentation of concepts.” Thecitysays each individual affront Diemert experienced was “not severe.”

Butwhat matters legally is thetotality of conditions, and the cumulative

impact of episodes.So, Diemert’sresignation from his cityjob satisfies the criteria for an involuntary “constructive discharge”: His working conditions were made so intolerable that he felt compelled to resign.

Constitutional law is clear:Freedom of speech includes freedom from compelled speech —freedom from coerced affirmations of government catechisms. Furthermore, equity “training” —meaning, invariably,indoctrination —isinherently poisonous.Italsois, however,abillion-dollar business, siphoning up government and corporate money,coast to coast. The Pacific Legal Foundation, apublic interestlaw firm that defends Americans from government overreach, and is representing Diemert, has more work to do.

In Illinois, the “LGBTQIA+ Equity and Inclusion” initiative sweepsfar beyond compliance withnondiscrimination law,topropounding murky theories of “overlapping identities” and “micro-invalidations.” The purpose, obviously,istoextinguishviewpoint diversity

The U.S. CourtofAppeals for the 8th Circuit recentlylooked askance at aMissouri school district’smandatory training for staff who, presented with amigraine-inducing “oppression matrix,” are supposed to ingest the district’sinterpretation of white supremacy.For example, “covert” supremacy includes thevice of “tonepolicing.” If you aremystified by that, you are presumptively aracist.

The Ayatollah Itch is acommunicable diseasespread by aspiring thought police. The vaccine againstitisthe visceral American recoilagainstgovernment establishment of religion. Including ersatz religions concocted from evanescent political fads.

Email George Will at georgewill@washpost.com.

Clintonand Gingrichaddressed the biggest drivers of the debt —Medicare and Medicaid, the so-called “third rail.” They managed to cut$115 billion in Medicare spending, $14 billioninMedicaid, along with significantreductions in discretionary spending to eliminate the deficit by 2002. Muchofthis wasdonebyremoving fraudsters andthe unentitled fromthe rolls. Sound familiar?

While Vice President JD Vance hasbeen taskedwith rooting outfraud as in the child carecenters in Minnesota, no one wants to re-visit Medicare and Medicaid, especially with elections just five months away Somebody hastodoit. According to the KiplingerRetirement Report and numerous otherprojections, the “Medicare HospitalInsurance (Part A) trust fund is projected to be exhausted by 2033-2040, requiring automatic benefit cuts of 11-13% if notaddressed. While Medicareitself won’t totally ‘run out,’ it will only cover roughly 89-90% of costs. Medicaid is funded differently via federal/state taxes, so it does notface the same ‘trust fund’ insolvency but is facing severe funding pressure, with 2025 legislationimplementing significant cuts.” These would not be tough choices if the public wasproperly prepared. The reductioninbenefits and/or an increaseintaxes is inevitable. Means testing, allowing people to choosea hybrid retirement fund combining reduced Social Security payments with investments in the stock market andother reforms would save the programs forthose who need it andallowmoreindividuals to carefor themselves instead of burdening the government.

Simple,right? If only the politicians would do what theyknow must be done Email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub. com.

STAFF FILE PHOTO

The 2.1-mile-long earthen-and-concrete dam of Toledo Bend Reservoir holdsback millions of acre-feet of water in the SabineRiver valleyalong the Louisiana-Texas line.

with meteorologist DamonSingleton

Our winds shifted around to the south yesterday, and they’ll be southerly and stronger today. Theresult will be higher humidity, higher temperatures and more cloud cover. So,expect amostly sunny to partly cloudy, warm and more humid day. Temperatures this afternoon will be just about where they should be, in the mid-80s. Windswillbesoutherly at 15 mph,and rainchances once

COLD CASE

Continued frompage1B

before becoming an FBIinformant.

Parker is accused of peppering Garrison with bullets on his mother’sdoorstep in 2020 in apaid hit Tenyears earlier, Parker was arrested with three others in Trudeau’smurder,stemming from atip to aNew Orleans Police Department cold case detective. None of the four suspects were charged in Trudeau’s death. Still, the feds argue the slayings share traits that include amodus operandi for erasing evidence with fire.Atthe August trial in Garrison’smurder, they want the jury to hear evidence of patterns in Parker’salleged criminal behavior,including in Marcel Trudeau’sdeath.

Marcel Trudeau’shouse was set ablaze as he lay dead in his kitchen before dawn on Aug.16, 2005. Fifteen years later,agetaway car burned afterGarrison was shot 10 times.

For Adams and Marvin Trudeau, agovernmentfiling seeking to introduce new evidence of Marcel Trudeau’skilling—including testimony from awitness they didn’tknow existed —has stokedhopes that the made-for-Hollywood insurance fraud casemight finally bring answers in the quest to find their brother’s killers.

“By thefeds saying this and doing this, they’re acting like Leon Parker is guilty of Marcel’smurder,” said Adams, 62.“This is almost like, ‘Weknow who did it.’ We don’twant it to stop there.” Katrina-eracoldcase

Marcel Trudeau’skilling came shortly before Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, clearing out the city and upending its justice system. Firefightersrolled to a smoking house on St. Roch

AvenueinGentilly in the earlyhours of Aug.16to find Marcel Trudeau dead. Theson of acivil rights lawyer who worked to desegregate Jefferson Parish schools, Marcel Trudeau owned aplumbing business and developed areputation for solid work. His clients included the mother-in-law of Marlin Gusman, then the Orleans Parish sheriff Aformer City Council member from Gentilly,Gusmanhad befriendedMarcel Trudeau in chats outsidehis home during morning runs. “He had some big dogs —a Doberman or aRottweiler,” Gusman said.“He used to tellmetopet them. I’d say,‘Get the hell out of here.’” Marcel Trudeau also owned guns. Butneither the weaponsnor the canines deterred intrudersthat August night. His family suspects Marcel Trudeau was fooled into opening thedoor by someone he knew He was shot twice, once in his right eye and once in the chest, and abulletpocked window suggested he returned fire. Marcel Trudeau’s twin, Marvin, recalled the details in arecent interview with The TimesPicayune. Police saidthe livingroom couch was aflame. Aheavysafeupstairs with cash and guns was gone, according to media reports. It had taken several men to get it up there, said Marvin Trudeau, now 65. Despite an outpouring of calls for accountability—Gusmanheld anews conferenceoutside Marcel Trudeau’shouse and offered to match areward —the case languished. Katrinafloodinghad destroyed records and sent potential witnesses scattering. Thenin2010, aNOPD cold case detectivenamed DeCynda Barnes made a breakthrough. Awitness had come forward. Parker and the three others were arrested on first-degree murder counts. The districtattorney at thetime, LeonCannizzaro declinedtochargethe four

men after their arrests, tellingMarcel Trudeau’s family the evidence wasn’t strong enough, Marvin Trudeau said. Cannizzaro did not respond to an interview request.

Newevidence

For months, the siblings from the 7th Ward have watched as thesensational staged crash drama has played out in New Orleans’ federal courthouse. Two injurylawyers,Vanessa Motta and Jason Giles, were convicted in the scheme in Marchafter adramatic trial

The next installment in the saga is the August murdertrial.Parkerand Sean Alfortish, adisbarred Kenner lawyer accused of masterminding the fraudand murder schemes, will face ajury in thedeathofGarrison,the lanky slammerturned-informant, days after his name appeared atop afederal indictment in September 2020.

In the forthcoming murdertrial, federal prosecutors revealed in abombshell court filing they hope to show the jury what amounts to newevidencefromMarcel Trudeau’scold-case murder

Thefiling revealed that last year,Ryan“Red” Harris, another slammer who grew up with Parker and haspleaded guilty to helping him arrange Garrison’s killing,told the FBIthat he bailed Parker outofjailafter the2010 arrest.

Parker,who was in alongterm relationship withHarris’ mother,oncetold Harris thatheand another assailanthad “killed aman then burned his house down,” Harristold the feds.

On the night of Garrison’smurder, Harris added,Parker directed himto torch theNissan Rogue that Parker allegedly usedasa getaway car.Harris saidhe soaked the SUV’sfront and back seats in gasoline and set it ablaze, according to an FBI memo filed in federal court.

At the August trial, Chief

torney Mary Howell, who later represented victims of the notorious Danziger Bridge policeshootings and cover-up.

“Katrina didn’tcause the collapse of the NOPD; it exposedit,” Howell said. Less thantwo weeks after Marcel Trudeau’smurder, the siblings cleared outto Texas. When they returned to New Orleans permanently afew yearsafter the storm,the homicide case was cold.

U.S.DistrictJudge Wen-

dy Vitter will have to decide whether prosecutors can use thosestatements against Parker andAlfortish

Legal experts say the standardofproof to include evidence of Parker’salleged roleinthe 2005 killing is lower thanwould be required to formally prosecute him for it.

For Vitter to admitthe information, prosecutors must demonstrate three elements: they must show by apreponderance of the evidencethatParker killed Marcel Trudeau; thatit goes to his intent, motive or modus operandi,not his character; and thatit’snot overly prejudicial.

“A trial judge will have broad discretion as to whether to allowit,” said Andre Lagarde,a civil attorney andformer federal prosecutor in theNew Orleans-based U.S. Attorney’sOffice for theEastern DistrictofLouisiana. “And, even if it is otherwise admissible,she may still exclude it if shefinds that its probative valueissubstantially outweighed by a dangerofunfairprejudice or confusion.”

For Marcel Trudeau’ssiblings,the stakes are high.

“I want my brother to have justice,”said Marvin Trudeau.

Queenfor aday Harris’ statementscame

in awide-ranging “Queen for aDay” interview with federal prosecutors, an informal meeting meantto explore terms of apossible guilty plea.

How much of the information he providedwas already knowntoNew Orleans police and state prosecutors —thenornow —is unclear.Spokespeople for the NOPD and the Orleans Parish DistrictAttorney’s Officedid notrespond to questionsabout thecase. A spokespersonfor theU.S Attorney’sOffice declined to answer questions about whether theofficeorthe FBI hassharedinformation with state prosecutors and city police.

Marcel Trudeau’skilling was far from the only one hamstrung by the damage that followed Katrina. Several other murderinvestigationswere left incomplete

The city’spolice force was in turmoil before the storm, said veteran civil rights at-

The brothers hadattended St.Augustine High School Their father,Antoine “Mutt” Tureaud Jr., was alawyer forthe NAACP Legal Defense Fund who worked to help desegregate schools in southeast Louisiana. As Marcel Trudeau’s plumbing business took off, he oftencashedhis employees’ paychecksfor them, said Marvin Trudeau. Apolice report says the shootinghappenedjustafter4a.m

Adams believesMarcel Trudeau was drawn to the door by avoice he knew on the morning of his death.

“There’samissing link, andthat is the personthat he opened the door for,” she said. “A Judas.” In 2010, five years after Marcel Trudeau was killed, his face appeared on aset of playing cards put out by the state andCrimeStoppers. The cards featured victims of unsolved Louisianahomicides. Marcel Trudeau’swas the King of Spades.

Email James Finnat jfinn@theadvocate.com.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Marcel Trudeau, 45, waskilled in his Gentilly home in August 2005. The case went cold after progress was interrupted by Hurricane Katrina, which struck only days later

POINTING UP

Liner notes in my baseball/softball scorebook. Not just agolf scorecard this time. Everythingelse is changing in sports, it seems, so whynot?

n For perhaps the first time this season, the LSU baseball team got whatitneeded this past weekend when the Tigersproduced athree-gamesweepofSouthCarolina.

Necessity need not be celebrated beyond its station —the Paul Mainieri-less Gamecocks remain one of the worst teams in the Southeastern Conference, just anotch belowLSU.Despite the sweep, the Tigers (28-21, 9-15 SEC) are

still mired in 14th place in the conference andopenthe week withatepid RPI of 55. Nonetheless, youcan only beat who youplayand LSU took care of business, going 4-0including amidweek winoverSLU. The pitching looked improved(again, it must be said, against an anemic-hitting South Carolina team), defense generally was better and, most

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

BY RODWALKER Staff writer

Addanother name to thelist of New Orleans Pelicans’ head coaching candidates.

Asourceclose to thePelicans’ search said Monday morning that “there could be interest” in former Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley Mosley was fired by the Magic on Monday after coaching there for five seasons.

The Magic’sseason ended Sunday in the first round of the playoffs with alosstothe Detroit Pistons in Game 7. Orlando led the series 3-1 but was unableto pull off the upset againstthe top seed in the Eastern Conference. The series included aloss Friday night in Game 6when theMagic scored just 19 points in the entire second half. Orlando was onewin away from becoming just the seventh No. 8seed to upset aNo. 1seed in the playoffs.

It wasn’tenough for Mosley to keep his job

“We’re grateful to Jamahl for all he’sdone for the Orlando Magic,”Magic president Jeff Weltman saidinastatement. “We appreciatehis leadership and the positive contributionshemade as head coach.While this was

STAFFPHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSUcatcher Omar Serna jogshome for arun after ahit by teammate Cade Arrambide in the first inning on Saturday at AlexBox Stadium.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU shortstop StevenMilam leaps over South Carolina first basemanWill Craddock while turning thedouble playonSaturday at Alex BoxStadium.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD Saints running backAlvin Kamarasmilesbeforea preseason game against the DenverBroncos at the Caesars Superdome on Aug. 23.

Rabalais

On TV

COLLEGE BASEBALL

7p.m. Louisville at Vanderbilt ESPN2

COLLEGE GOLF

3p.m. PGAWORKSCollegiate Champ.Golf COLLEGE SOFTBALL

Noon SEC Tourn.: Auburnvs. MissouriSECN

3p.m. SECTourn.: Kentucky vs.Miss St.SECN

6p.m. SEC Tourn.:Ole Missvs. S. Car.SECN

MLB

7:10 p.m. L.A. Dodgers at Houston TBS,TRUTV

8:40 p.m. Pittsburgh at Arizona MLBN

NBA PLAYOFFS

6p.m. Cleveland at DetroitNBCSN, Peacock

7:30 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Okla.City NBC, Peacock

NHL PLAYOFFS

7p.m. Minnesota at Colorado ESPN

MEN’S SOCCER

12:45 p.m. Al Hilal at Al Khaleej FS2

2p.m.Atletico Madrid at Arsenal CBS

6:30 p.m.Atletico Ottawa at TorontoFCFS2

8:30 p.m.Nashville SC at UANL FS1 TENNIS

4a.m.(Wed.) WTA,ATPTennis

5a.m.(Wed.) WTA,ATPTennis

Winner’s journeybegan in NewOrleans

Golden Tempo brokemaiden at Fair Grounds

BY JEFF DUNCAN Sports writer

Golden Tempo and theconnections of the winner of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby started their journey to horse racing glory in New Orleans.

The 3-year-old colt, histrainer,Cherie DeVaux, and jockey Jose Ortiz competed at theFair GroundsRace Course, as did the Derby’sthird-place finisher, Ocelli. Ortiz was the meet’sleading rider for the secondconsecutive year, and DeVaux, who became the first female trainer to win the Derby, finished fifth in the trainer standings at the 2025-26 race meet.

Golden Tempo broke his maiden at Fair Grounds on Dec.20and stamped himself as aDerby contender by winning the GradeIII Lecomte Stakes at the Gentilly oval amonth later. He finished third in the track’ssubsequent graded stakes races for 3-year-old colts, the Grade II RisenStar in February and the Grade II Louisiana Derby in March.

Those third-place finishes likely

causedhis odds to dip to 23-1for theKentucky Derby,but hisconnections were confident in his abilitytorun the race’sdemanding 11/4-mile distance after the way he finishedbothracesatthe Fair Grounds.

“Weknew he was the type of horsethat’s goingtoget better with development andracing,” DeVaux told TwinSpires.com this week.“We hadcommitted to doing the seriesofDerby prep races at theFair Grounds, with the idea that they do have the longest dis-

tance as aprep (the 13/16-mile LouisianaDerby) and we knew the more distance the better for him and it gave us moretime between that race andthe Derby. Andthe discussion was, as long as he’s movingforwardinhis numbers and his performances then we should take ashot at the Derby.”

GoldenTempocompleted the 11/4-mile trip on afast main track in 2minutes, 2.27 seconds and made Ortizthe ninthrider to sweep the Kentucky Oaksand

Kentucky Derby in the same year

Lafayette native Brian Hernandez Jr who also competes annually in theFairGrounds jockeycolony, wasthe most recentridertodo that in 2024 with Thorpedo Anna andMystik Dan.

“Jose has alot of faith in him,” said DeVaux, whohas wintered at theFair Grounds sincethe 202324 meet. “Jose is the one that has hadthe most faith in him and encouraged us to continue on our path with each race.”

The victory wasworth $3.1 million for Golden Tempo, aKentucky-bred son of Curlin out of the Bernardini mare Carrumba. He is nowa two-time graded stakes winnerwitha record of 5-3-0-2 andincreased his earnings to $3,433,000.

Golden Temporeturned$48.24, $19.14,$11.90.Renegade,ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr.returned $7.14 and$5.46,withOcelli paying $36.34 to show under Tyler Gaffalione.

“He’sa dead closer,and the Louisiana Derby really solidified he was getting there from the eighth pole home,” DeVaux said at thepost-Derby pressconference Saturday.“If he had extra ground, he was going to make it. We had to have faith in theprocess, faith in the horse, faith in Jose (Ortiz). That was an incredible experience. I’m so proud of this horse.”

Elliottonrollwithtwo Cupvictories underbelt

BY STEPHENHAWKINS Associated Press

FORT WORTH, Texas ChaseElliott never before had won two Cup races this early in aNASCAR season. After first winning at Martinsville at the end of March,the most popular driver in the series opened May in victory lane at Texas. That 11/2-mile trackisgrowing on Elliott after he had not been much of a fanofthe repave and reconfiguration done there nine years ago.

“I think having awin early at Martinsville Isaid it to you guys then and there, it’snot like, ‘oh, hey,the pressure is off,wehave awin,’”hesaid Sunday at Texas after another 1-2 finish ahead of Denny Hamlin. “It’s‘man, we have alot longer period of timetobuild on that.’ That’sgenuinely where my mind was at.” And still is after already getting another victory Elliott has the two wins and five other top-10 finishes this year,and Alex Bowman has consecutive third-place finishes for Hendrick Motorsports after missing four races because of vertigo. And it was Bowman who provided the decisivepush for his teammate on the final restart with four lapsleft Sunday When crew chiefAlan Gustafson came on the radio at the end of the

race proclaiming Elliott atwotime Texas winner,the driver’s initialfeeling was, “I’llbedamned.

I’dhave never thought.”

Now 30 yearsold and 11 races into his 12th Cupseason, Elliott joined five-time winner Tyler Reddick asthe only driverswith multiple wins this year.The soonestbeforethatElliott hadtwo wins in aseason was 17 races into 2022, when hewentontomatch the career-high five wins he hadduring his 2020championship season.

“I knew it right atMartinsville,

we’ve never won arace this early, much less to now have two this early,”Elliott said. “I’m proud of our team for that, because anytime you can check off newboxes

in this sport when you’ve been doing it for 10-plus yearsiscool,and it’s hard to do.”

Elliottled arace-high 87 of the 267lapsatTexas forhis 23rd career victory.Thatcame two years afterending a42-race winless streak in the No. 9Chevrolet with an overtime victory there.

“The 9just performed flawlessly,” said four-timeCup champion Jeff Gordon, now vice chairman of the Hendrick team.

“One of ourstrongest races that we’vehad in quite some time,” Elliott said.

Elliott moved up aspottothird in the season standings, only eight pointsbehind Hamlin but still trailing Reddick by 117. Theother

LSU heads to LasVegas for 4gamesnextseason

LSU baseball will play four games in Las Vegasnextseason, LSU coach Jay Johnson said on his radio show Monday TheTigerswillbeinSin City from March 5-8 and play four games.JohnsontoldThe Advocate on Monday that his team will play threecontestsatthe Live Like Lou Las Vegas College Baseball Classic before playing afourth gameon Monday,March 8, against UNLV. LSU’sopponentsatthe Las Vegas College Baseball Classic have not been finalized, Johnson said. This season,LSU traveledto Jacksonville, Florida, to face Indiana, Notre Dame and UCF at the Jax College BaseballClassic.The Tigers won all three contests to cap off an 8-0 start to the season.

Pistons,Bickerstaff agree on contractextension

DETROIT Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff has agreed to acontract extension on the heels of Detroit’s first-round playoffseriesvictory over the Orlando Magic. Details regarding the value and length of the extension werenot released by the Pistons when they announced the deal on Monday

The Pistons have gone 104-60 in regular-season games under Bickerstaff and madetwo playoff appearances since he took over for Monty Williams at the start of the 2024-25 season.

Detroit lost in the first round a year ago. This season,the Pistons had the best record in the Eastern Conference at 60-22 and on Sunday defeated Orlando 116-94 to close out aplayoffseries victory forthe first timesince 2008.

High-scoring guard Harris commits to Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. Former Wake Forest guard Juke Harris has committed to Tennessee, the school announced on Monday, giving the Volunteers one of the top scorers in this year’sportal.

The 6-foot-7, 200-pounderscored 21.4 points per game last season for the Demon Deacons to rank No. 14 in the country.Hewas named to theAll-ACC secondteam as asophomoreand hastwo seasons of eligibility remaining. Harris hadoriginally declared for the NBA draft but decided to go to Tennessee after being projected as alate first round or early second round selection.

“Juke is not only an explosive talent, but also ahumble young man from agreat family,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnessaid in astatement.

Toptennis players criticize FrenchOpen prize money

two Hendrick drivers, Kyle Larson(eighth)and William Byron (10th), are in the top 10 while Bowmanisstuck in 34th after the four missed races.

On the final restart Sunday,Elliott hadcontrol and chose to start on theinside of Hamlin. Bowman was behind his teammateand gave himthe push of momentum onto thebackstretchtoclear forthe lead he kept to the checkered flag. Thatwinning move came through turns 1and 2, the part of thetrack where the banking was reduced and racing surface widened duringthe repave in 2017. Turns3and 4wereleft in their original form, makingthe ends of the track different forthe first time since Texas Motor Speedway opened in 1997. Elliottisfar from the only driver to express his displeasure about those changes.

“Yeah, you know, I’ve trashed this place for years. Ithought it wasareally strong track (for me), andthenitturnedinto nota strong track at all,” Elliott said. Twowins in three trips to TMS certainly have eased that feeling for Elliott.

“Whenyou run better,itgrows on you littlebylittle,” he said. “For as hard of atime as I’ve given (the track),for somereason it likes me.Itloved me back.I didn’tlike it,but it liked me. So I’mlearning to come around alittle bit.”

Topplayers including No. 1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka expressed “their deep disappointment” at the French Open prize money on Monday Theplayers added their otherdemands have not been addressed by officials from the four Grand Slam tournaments, including better representation, health and pensions. French Open organizers announced last monththey wereincreasing overall prize moneyby about 10%. But the players’ statement said “the underlying figures tell avery different story,” claiming they will receive asmaller share of tournament revenues.

“Players’ share of Roland Garros tournamentrevenue hasdeclined from 15.5% in 2024 to 14.9% projected in 2026,” the players said.

Yankees radio broadcaster

Sterling dies at age 87

NEW YORK JohnSterling, the ebullient radiobroadcaster known forextravagant,individualized homerun calls and shouting “theee Yankees win!” after each of New York’svictories, died Monday.He was 87.

Sterling had aheart attack and bypass surgery this winter and had returned to his homeinEdgewater,New Jersey,where he was cared forbyhealth aides. He died of complications Monday at Englewood Hospital,according to his former wife, Jennifer “He brought that New York theater to the ballpark,” Yankees slugger Aaron Judge said. “He was almost akid up there in the broadcast talking about the game.” Sterling called5,651 games,including 5,060 in arow from September 1989 through July 2019. He retired in April 2024.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By LM OTERO

Chase Elliottdoes aburnout at the finish line after winning aNASCAR CupSeries race on SundayinFortWorth, Texas.

PROVIDED PHOTO GoldenTempo, with jockeyJose Ortiz aboard, wins the83rdrunning of the$250,000 Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 17 at Fair Grounds Race Course

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By DIANE BONDAREFF

Jockey Jose Ortiz celebrates after Golden Tempo wins the 152ndKentucky DerbyonSaturday at Churchill DownsinLouisville, Ky

BRyNN ANDERSON

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By

Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal throwsapitchWednesdayinAtlanta.

Cy YoungwinnerSkubal to have elbowsurgery

By The Associated Press

DETROIT Two-time American League Cy Young Award winner

Tarik Skubal will have surgery to remove loose bodies from hiselbow after being scratched from Monday’sstart againstthe Boston Red Sox.

Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reportersthat the left-hander felt discomfort in his elbow on Sunday,less than aweek after an injury scareagainst the AtlantaBraves. The29-year-old —set to become afree agent next offseason —underwent tests that showed the loose bodies. The surgery hadn’tyet been scheduled

There is no immediate timetable for his return, though similar injuries usually require atwoto-threemonth recoveryperiod. The phrase “loose bodies”often refers to pieces of bone or cartilage thatbreakoff and float in the joint space, though the specifics of Skubal’scase are unclear

“From my understanding, you just go take it out,” Skubaltold MLB.com.“Ithinklength of the rehab is probably just getting your springtraining buildupup again, getting your volume up. But the procedure itself Ithink is pretty simple as far as what I’ve beenexplained.”

Skubalpitchedfor theU.S.in

LSU

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Freshman report

It wasanother standout series for the LSU freshmen.

In Game 1, right fielderWilliam Patrick had two hits,first baseman Mason Braunreachedbasefour times and catcher Omar Serna scored on three occasionsand hita double. Game 2was even more impressive, when right-handed starter Marcos Paz allowed just onehit in fiveinnings, and Braun, Patrick and Serna combined to go 5for 11. Second baseman Jack Ruckert had abig day Sunday withtwo hits andanRBI.Serna also homered anddrove in three runs.

“(The freshman hitters) had some adversity early in the game (Sunday) where they didn’tget a couple things done or didn’ttake the at-bats maybe that they had had in the stretch that they’ve been playing,” LSU coach JayJohnson said. “And they overcame that,and every single one of them positively affected winning today after that.”

The freshmen were responsible for driving in nine of the Tigers 20 weekend runs.They scored 14 times and smacked four extra-base hits.Serna’s homer was hisseventh of the year,and Braun blasted a homer in Game 2onSaturday Paz was the only freshman pitcher who threw this weekend, buthis

RABALAIS

Continued from page1C

encouraging for LSU baseball fans who have given up on this season, the lineup looks like it’s starting to bunch hits and get them in amore timely fashion. And with freshmen doing alot of the hitting, asign of optimism for 2027. The 2026 Tigers still havea long, long way to go to getto13-14 SEC wins, including the tournament, which is what’sassumed to be needed to get into theNCAA Tournament. Injuries still have lowered this team’sceiling— Jake Brown is out, Cooper Moore is out, previous Friday starter Casan Evans didn’tpitch last weekend— butthere is finally some optimism. The future is daunting,though. After Tulane on Tuesday,another must-win game for the Tigers, LSU goes on the road to face SEC leader Georgia and closes the

WhiteSox 3B Murakami sports Bonds-like HR rate

BY NOAH TRISTER AP baseball writer

After three straight 100-loss seasons —including arecord 121 defeatsin2024 —the Chicago White Sox needed alittleexcitement Munetaka Murakami hascertainly provided that.

the World Baseball Classic this spring butwas carefulwithhis workload, throwing in just one game before returning to spring training with the Tigers.Hewon arecord salary arbitrationcase in February andisbeing paid $32 million this season, far exceeding theteam’s$19 million offer

Skubal hasa 3-2record with a 2.70 ERAoverseven starts this season, striking out 45 over 431/3 innings. The Tigers were tied for first place in the AL Central with an 18-17 record entering Monday

Skubal initially felt pain in hiselbowlast weekagainst the Braves butstayedinthe game.

He rubbed his left arm after a 2-2 pitch toMatt Olson, drawing a visit from the trainer and Hinch. Skubalthrew one warmup pitch, decided he was OK and struck out the side to end hisnight

He allowed five hits, fanned seven anddidn’twalk anyone.

The two-timeAll-Starwon the AL Cy Young award in each of the last two seasons. He had an 18-4 record with a2.39 ERA and228 strikeoutsin2024 andwas 13-6 witha 2.21 ERA and 241 strikeouts last year

He’salso been effective in the postseason with a2-1 record, 2.04 ERAand 56 strikeouts over six starts.

outing was the longest andbest.

“Just landing the off-speed (pitches) is abig thingfor me, whether it’ssliderorcurveball, just kind of stealingstrikesorgetting weak contact,” Pazsaid. “And then, once you get ahead in the count, just finish the batter when youcan. Ifeel like Idid that pretty well today.”

Braungetting on base

Aquick peekatthe boxscore would suggest it was aquiet weekend for Braun.

He had only two hitsall series after going 7for 13 at Mississippi State.But in reality,itwas another strong series for the freshman.

Braun had sixwalks against SouthCarolina, reaching base eight timesin15plate appearances. His abilitytoget on base at the top of the order went alongway toward LSU consistently producing quality at-bats throughout the weekend.

SinceJohnsonmoved him to theleadoff spot,the Tigers have scored at leastsix runs in each contest,and Braun has gotten on base in every game. His on-base percentage is up to .474, which is the best mark on the team.

“Play the Billy Beane clip,” Johnson said. “… If you getonbase, you’regoing to play for me.”

Improved defense?

Twoweeks ago, Johnson called the defenseaproblem that may notget fixed until 2027. Hiscomment made sense at the time, giv-

regular season at home against aFlorida team fighting to earn an NCAA regional host slot. The Tigers needtofind some way to take at least one game off Georgia (the Bulldogs perennially come up short of baseball expectations, so anything’spossible) andwin two, if not three, against Florida. Twelve SEC wins wouldatleast give LSU ashotatanNCAAbid in aroad regional, probably as aNo. 3seed.

None of this is remotely close to the Tigers’ typical expectations nor their lofty preseason goals when they started ranked No. 2in most polls.But forthe first time in along time, this LSU season is pointedina positive direction for now

n Baseball’s sweepwasn’t the only one by an LSU team this past weekend.The softball Tigers ended their regular season against Auburn with a3-0 slate, includingan eye-poppingand record-breaking 25-0 demolitionSaturday of theTigers from the plains.

The 26-year-old infielder from Japan is tied with Aaron Judge for the majorleague lead with13home runs. Thataccounts for nearly half of Murakami’shits so far thisseason. He has14singles andnodoubles or triples. This type of all-or-nothing production would be quite rare if it continues for an entire season.So far,48.1% of Murakami’shitshave been homers. The single-season record —amongplayers whoqualified for the batting title—is46.8% by Barry Bonds. He did it during his famous 2001 season, when he sluggedarecord 73 home runs and had 156 hits.

Nextinline are two of Mark McGwire’sbest years. He had 70 homers on 152 hits (46.1%) in 1998, and 65 homers on 145 hits (44.8%)in1999. Only nine players have homered on at least 40% of their hits, but not all of them neededstratospherichome run totals to do it.JoeyGallo hit 41 home runs on 94 hits (43.6%) in 2017, finishing with a.209 average. That might be amore reasonable comp for Murakami,who is batting .223. Following Murakami’slead, the White Soxrank28th in themajor leaguesinbatting averageand ninth in home runs. ColsonMontgomery is hitting .227with nine homers. It was an encouraging week for Chicago, which hada chance to reach .500 on Sunday but lost to SanDiego —the endofa fivegame winning streak.

Murakamisigned atwo-year, $34 million contract in the offseasontocome over from Japan and join theWhite Sox.Montgomery, meanwhile, is 24 and under team control for awhile. On thepitch-

ON DECK

WHO: LSU (28-21) vs Tulane (23-26)

WHEN: 6:30 p.m.Tuesday WHERE: Alex Box Stadium ONLINE: SEC Network+ RADIO: WDGL-FM, 98.1 (Baton Rouge); WWL-AM, 870 (New Orleans);KLWB-FM,103.7(Lafayette)

RANKINGS: LSU and Tulane are not ranked PROBABLE STARTERS: LSU —TBA; Tulane —TBA

PREGAME UPDATES: theadvocate. com/lsu ON X: @KokiRiley WHATTOWATCH FOR: LSU hasn’t faced the Green Wave since the 2023 Baton Rougeregional.In that game,Paul Skenes threw acomplete game as the Tigers won7-2.Tulane gotswept by Charlotte this past weekendonthe road, fallingto8-13 in American Conference play.

Koki Riley

en the number of players who had tried andfailedtofixthe defensive issues at first, second, third and catcher

Butlast weekend was astep forward, especially on theinfield Braunmade multiple nice picks at first base. Ruckert played solid

Remember allthathot-seat talk about coach Beth Torina going into the season? Well, LSU heads into this week’sSEC Tournament with arespectable 37-16 record anda No. 11 RPI (the Tigers are theNo. 8seed in the tourney). It alladds up to put LSU in line to againhost an NCAA regional, though Torina’sTigershavea long way to go to be considered for atop-eight national seed. That would probably mean winning the tournament this weekend in Lexington, Kentucky. Still, Torina looks to be on solid ground as do herTigers, though getting through aregional and at leastback to asuperregional would help hercause immensely.

n The ZurichClassic of New OrleansonMonday announced its tournament dates for 2027: April 19-25. The tournament, like many non-majorsorelevated events on thePGA Tour,still faces an unknown futurebeyond 2027 with talk of the tour revamping itsschedule. Butwith acommitted sponsor and

ingside, left-handerNoahSchultz has madehis debut this season and is 2-1 with a2.53 ERA.

And the White Soxalso have the No.1pick in the upcoming draft.

ABSimpact

So farthere doesn’tseem to be ahuge correlation between successwith the automated ball-strike system and winning. The teams with themost successful ABS challenges are theTwins(52), Rockies (50),Marlins (46), Athletics(45)and Royals (44). Only the A’sare above .500 from that group.

On apercentage basis,the teams withthe best successratehave been theDiamondbacks (64.3%), Padres (62.3%),Royals(62%), Tigers (60.7%) andReds(59.6%).

San Diego, Detroit and Cincinnati have winning records.

Performance of week

Ranger Suarez struck out 10 in eight one-hit innings forthe BostonRed Soxina5-0 win over To-

defense at second base and showed improved chemistry with junior shortstop Steven Milamonplays around thebag at second.

Behind the plate, Serna and sophomoreCade Arrambide were more stout at catcher.LSU had just two wild pitches in the series.

“Wedidn’tcatch acouple of popupsatthird base,” Johnson said after Game 2. “But other than that, we played pretty good defense today.”

The only spot wherethe Tigers hadtrouble defensively was at third base, wherefifth-year senior Seth Dardar committed multiple mistakes in the second game on Saturday,including an error.He also missed aground ball on Sunday that wasoriginally ruled an errorbut was later changed to ahit.

Dardar’sstruggleswere somewhat placated by the two hits he hadinGame2onSaturday.It’s easier to stomach his defensive mistakes if he’s producing at the plate, especially as Milam and Ruckert provide qualitydefense up the middle

Lots of strikes

Finding the strike zone has been an issue for LSU all season, but it was astrength forthe LSUpitchers againstthe Gamecocks.

LSU walked only eight batters across the three-game set, and no starterthrew fewer than 60% of his pitches for strikes. That consistency went along waytoward the Tigers holding South Carolina to

adate tournament organizers want to maintain—balanced between theMasters and the PGAChampionship —things could definitely be much worse. Hopefully the PGA Tour will do oneofits solid citizens afavor andspreadout the surrounding big purse signature events crowding the Zurich into other parts of the schedule. Fromthe Much Worse Department, we have LIV Golf. That tour is having its funding pulled by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund after the Saudis dumpedatleast $5 billion down its rabbit hole over the past four years, proof that even uber-rich people eventually tire of losing money.LIV says with typical “Ignore the riot behind me,all is well” aplombthat it will try to pivottoother investment streams.

Butwith pitiful TV ratings and stars jumping or considering jumping ship, that looks like a fool’s errand. Meanwhile, what of LIV’s proposedtournament in New

ronto on April 28. That was athird straight victory forthe struggling Red Sox,but they’ve dropped four of five since. Suarez left Sunday’s start after four innings because of hamstring issues.

Comeback of week

The Atlanta Bravesscored seven runs in the last three innings to beat Colorado 8-6onFriday night. The Braves were down 6-1 in the seventh. They scored arun thatinning andthenfour more in the eighth, with Mauricio Dubón’s bases-loaded triple the highlight. Michael Harris’ two-run homer in the topofthe ninth put Atlanta ahead

The Rockies’ winprobabilitypeaked at 97.7%,according to Baseball Savant. After sweeping three straight at Colorado,the Braves hadan81/2game lead in theNLEastentering Monday.Atlanta also hadthe best run differential in baseball at plus81.

just four runs in the series.

“I feel like it’sjust kind of what I’ve done my whole life,”senior right-hander Zac Cowan said after he threw 60 of his 82 pitches for strikes on Sunday.“And Ifeel like I’m just able to be consistent with allmypitches and …I feel confident when Igoout there,and I’m just able to flood the zone.”

Regional hopes

LSU had to sweep South Carolina to keep its slim NCAA Tournament hopes alive, but even after taking three games from the Gamecocks, the Tigers have alot of work to do. They still need to win four of their final six contests in SEC play to get to 13 wins. Those victorieshaveto come against two opponents that could make it to Omaha: Florida and Georgia. The Bulldogs have a 21/2-game lead over TexasA&M at thetop of theconference, andthe Gators are the No. 12 team in RPI, a schedule-based metric used by the NCAA Tournament committeeto help determine the field.

Not only does LSU need these wins forits conference recordbut it also needsthemfor itsRPI.The Tigers are only the No. 55 team in RPI, astanding that’sprobably too low for themtoearnanat-large bid Four wins over Florida and Georgiaand acoupleofvictories at the SEC Tournament couldchangethat picture in ahurry The bottom line? Last weekend was astep forward,but LSUhas a long way to go.

Orleans? The June tournament at Bayou Oaks in City Park was scrapped, with some vague talk of asmaller,exhibition-style event coming to the city this fall. Great idea, right in the middle of football and hurricane season. Hopefully,LIV —like the hurricanes —just veers to adifferent course entirely.The state of Louisiana did no favors to the Zurich, a tournament that began way back in 1938 and funded numerous charities in New Orleanss and Baton Rouge to the tune of arecord $3.6 millionlast year (there were no announced plans of local charitable contributions from LIV) by inviting the competing, if lesser, golf tour into the market.

If there is any silver lining it’s that there were improvements made to Bayou Oaks, namely its practice facility,abenefitfor local public golfers in the Crescent City But to put amodern spin on an old Frank Sinatra tune, LIV-ers stay away from my door

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByGREGORy BULL

ChicagoWhite Sox slugger MunetakaMurakami bats during the eighth inning againstthe San DiegoPadres on Sunday in San Diego.

Thunder brace for perhaps their biggest stage vs. Lakers

BY CLIFF BRUNT AP sportswriter

OKLAHOMA CITY From a strictly basketball standpoint, this young version of the Thunder truly arrived last season when they won Oklahoma City’s first NBA title.

From a visibility point of view the Thunder are preparing for perhaps their biggest stage yet — a Western Conference semifinals series against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers

The Thunder know what the Lakers mean to the sport. The franchise has won 17 championships while remaining relevant for generations. Facing such a respected opponent will give Oklahoma City a rare spotlight. They also know what James, the league’s all-time scoring leader, brings. Most of them grew up watching James win four championships and reach the Finals regularly “Playing against an all-time great like that, you get up for those those games, regardless of when they are,” reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said.

Oklahoma City’s respect for the Lakers franchise or its star won’t affect the action, though And despite the glitz and glamour attached to LA and James, the topseeded Thunder are the clear favorites in a series that starts Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

“I think the beautiful thing about this league is that it has a lot of history,” All-Star Chet Holmgren said. “But at the end of the day, whether they’re wearing purple or pink out there, it’s not going to affect how we need to play and approach it.”

Though Oklahoma City has earned the top seed in the West three straight years, some casual fans will get their first look at the Thunder simply because of the Lakers’ name and star power

The Lakers know small-market Oklahoma City has big-time talent.

ä Lakers at Thunder 7:30 P.M.

The Thunder won all four regularseason matchups this season by an average of 29 points.

“It’s one of the greatest teams ever in NBA history,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said “That’s the reality They are. They’re that good I think our guys recognize that and respect that, and we know what kind of task we have in front of us.”

Lakers defensive stopper Marcus Smart called Gilgeous-Alexander the “No. 1 defensive challenge in the NBA right now.”

“It’s going to be a challenge for not just me, but everybody on this team to stay out of foul trouble, keep him off the line as much as possible, and then just continue to shut him down,” Smart said “It’s tough, but it can be done.”

Doncic’s status

Lakers star Luka Doncic injured his left hamstring in Oklahoma City about a month ago and hasn’t played since. The league scoring champion averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists in the regular season. Redick hasn’t said if or when Doncic could return from an injury that sometimes requires two months of recovery Doncic shot 3-pointers with his teammates Monday while they wrapped up a workout before their flight to Oklahoma City

Still the king

At age 41, James still has juice.

In Game 6 against Houston, he had 28 points, seven rebounds and eight assists to help the Lakers clinch the series.

“I just went over to him and was like, you’re insane,” LA guard Austin Reaves said. “Like, the stuff that you’re doing isn’t, it’s

it’s not normal, especially age whatever He’s been in the league for 23 years. The way he demands a game, the way he can control a game — it’s impressive.”

Playoff history

This is the third postseason meeting between the teams.

The Thunder announced their arrival in 2010 when they pushed the defending champion Lakers to six games in the first round. The young trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden made Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol work before the Lakers won the series and, eventually, Bryant’s last championship.

In 2012, the Thunder, still with Durant, Westbrook and Harden, rolled past the Lakers 4-1 in the West semifinals. The Thunder eventually lost to James’ Miami Heat in the Finals.

Williams or Mitchell?

Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams, a 2025 All-Star, missed most of the first-round series against Phoenix with a left hamstring injury. Thunder coach Mark Daigneault did not declare him ready for a return, saying Monday only that Williams is progressing. In the last two games of the Phoenix series, Ajay Mitchell moved into the starting lineup in Williams’ place. The second-year guard shot 5 for 20 from the field in Game 3 but went 7 for 16 and scored 22 points in Game 4.

Reaves’ recovery

Reaves was limited in the first round with a strained oblique muscle. He played the final two games against Houston and averaged 18.5 points. He went 4 for 16 in his return as a reserve in Game 5 but made 12 of 13 free throws and scored 22 points. He made 7 of 14 field goals in Game 6 and scored 15 points.

BY MARK ANDERSON AP sportswriter

HENDERSON, Nev The GOAT talk regarding A’ja Wilson began in earnest late last season when her play and leadership not only rescued the Aces but helped carry Las Vegas to the WNBA title. And when it comes to greatestever discussions, there is no separating Wilson from her team. History is a large part of the background for Wilson and the Aces as another season is about to begin. Wilson already has taken her career where others have yet to go. She became the league’s first four-time MVP last year and the first WNBA or NBA player to be named the top player Defensive Player of the Year and Finals MVP and lead the league in scoring in the same season For all that, Wilson was the fifth basketball player to become The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year

Her success has been the Aces’ success, Las Vegas coming off its third championship in four seasons. Should the Aces win another title this year, they would join the Comets, Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm as the only franchises to win four overall. They also would join the Comets as the only teams to win four times in five years; Houston captured the WNBA’s first four championships. What’s scary for the rest of the league is that the 29-year-old Wilson remains in her prime years, meaning her GOAT argument has an excellent chance to strengthen and for the Aces to continue to build their legacy

Wilson said she has taken the approach of focusing on the daily process since being drafted No. 1 out of South Carolina in 2018 and changing the arc of the franchise.

“I’ve worked so hard to get to these situations and put myself in these spaces that I’m like, ‘OK, yeah, I’ve earned it, of course,’” Wilson said. “But when it comes to people and where they want me and they’re saying are you the next GOAT? I have no idea because in my mind I have a lot more winning to do.” And in an Aces uniform, with the club having signed Wilson to a supermax three-year, $5 million contract that is the most lucrative in WNBA history

Wilson’s athletic ability has been unquestioned since she entered the league, the 6-foot-4 post player averaging 21.4 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots over her eight-year career

But greatness isn’t just about accumulating numbers, and Wilson showed in two notable moments last season in her commitment to the team why she has separated herself.

One was there for all to see when she made a turnaround jumper over two defenders with 0.3 seconds left to win Game 3 at Phoenix and set up a four-game WNBA Finals sweep.

The other and probably even more important action occurred out of sight as the season was slipping away Minnesota had come to Las Vegas and handed the Aces a 53-point defeat — the largest

home loss in league history and at 14-14 even making the postseason was far from assured. Wilson texted her teammates to say that they might as well not show up anymore if they were not embarrassed by that performance. They were. And the league was in trouble.

“I was pissed and I knew they were pissed, which is the better option,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said.

The Aces rolled off 16 consecutive victories on the way to winning another championship.

“A’ja’s a great leader because she does it herself first,” Hammon said. “Any time you have a leader that works by example first, holds herself accountable to the highest standard, then she has two legs to stand on with the group about holding others accountable.”

Six-time All-Star Jewell Loyd, who was traded to the Aces last year after helping the Storm win two titles, agreed with Hammon’s assessment.

“She wants the best out of each and every person here no matter if you’re the security guy at the front or you’re Chelsea Gray,” Loyd said of Wilson. “She takes good ownership and that’s what you want as your leader As someone who’s the face of women’s basketball, you want that as an ambassador.”

Hammon said Wilson also has surrounded herself with a strong supporting cast off the court that includes her mother and boyfriend Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat that helps keep the WNBA superstar grounded. But Wilson also is careful not to get caught up in the accolades that come her way and instead focuses on the next task.

For the Aces, that’s another season as defending champs and knowing they again will get every opponent’s best shot.

“We’ve been the hunted with the Aces before we even got banners and rings, so it’s a part of who we are,” Wilson said “We try to let our newcomers know when you put this jersey on, it’s a different feel and I love it. It brings the competitor out of everybody

Wade adds another former staffer as assistant coach

BY TOYLOY BROWN III

Staff writer

Another familiar face will be back on the sidelines for LSU men’s basketball.

Coach Will Wade hired former LSU staff member Vernon Hamilton as an assistant coach, the program announced Monday Also joining the staff is Greg Goldin, who will serve as chief of staff and director of performance Hamilton, 41, is the fourth ad-

PELICANS

Continued from page 1C

It was 11th in defense this season when it finished 45-37. Orlando won 21 games the season before Mosley took over, then won just 22 games in his first season, but the win total

dition to Wade’s coaching staff. The former Clemson basketball player served as an assistant under Wade at NC State last season and at McNeese State for two seasons (2023-25). He joins associate head coach Rick Stansbury, assistant head coach Johnny Jones and assistant coach Damon Stoudamire as members of Wade’s first-year staff back with the program.

“We are pleased to have Vernon Hamilton rejoin our staff at LSU,”

Wade said in a statement. “His work here in player development previously and his work with top players at McNeese and NC State on our staff was a big part of our ability to get to the NCAA Tournament our last three seasons. He knows our priorities to help build this LSU program back to where it will be.”

Goldin worked with Wade during his first stint at LSU and most recently at NC State last season. He was the Tigers’ strength and condi-

jumped to 47 by Year 3. The 47 victories were the franchise’s most since the 2009-10 season. “To our fans, there is nothing but love in my heart,” Mosley said in a statement. “The joy I had coaching this team, in this city, for the people who live here is something I will never forget. All I ever wanted was to make you proud to be Magic fans, and my journey here will certainly stay with me forever.”

tioning coach from 2017-21.

During Hamilton’s first stretch at LSU, he was the assistant to the head coach during the 2020-21 season and director of player development in 2021-22. He helped develop eventual NBA players Trendon Watford, Tari Eason and Cam Thomas. Before rejoining Wade at McNeese, he was the director of player development at Georgetown under coach Patrick Ewing in 2021-22.

In the 2023-24 season at McNeese, Hamilton served as the acting head coach for the first five games of the season. The Cowboys won all of those contests. McNeese State went to the NCAA Tournament in the two years Hamilton was on staff. Hamilton and Wade’s paths first crossed at Clemson. While Wade was a graduate assistant for the basketball team from 2005-06, Hamilton was in the midst of his playing career from 2003-07.

Prior to taking over in Orlando, Mosley was an assistant coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks. The Pelicans are looking for a head coach to replace Willie Green, who was fired 12 games into the season. James Borrego, the Pels interim head coach after Green was fired, is one of the four candidates considered front runners for the job. The others are former AllStar guard Rajon Rondo, former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham and Brooklyn Nets assistant coach Steve Hetzel. All four of those candidates have interviewed for the job, sources confirmed to The Times-Picayune. The Pelicans’ job is one of four openings right now The Chicago Bulls, Portland Trail Blazers and the Magic are also looking for head coaches.

Email Rod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ROSS D FRANKLIN

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander protects the ball from Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker during the second half of Game 4 in a first-round playoff series on April 27 in Phoenix.

Auriemma reflects on postgame exchange at Final Four with Staley

BY JIM FULLER Associated Press

STORRS, Conn.

— A little more than a month after Geno Auriemma’s UConn women’s basketball team’s title bid ended with a Final Four loss to South Carolina, Auriemma reflected on his heated postgame exchange with South Carolina coach Dawn Staley.

“When I walked into the locker room afterward with the coaches you are just shaking your head, thinking five more seconds, you couldn’t keep it in for five more seconds,” Auriemma said. “You just feel dumb for the way that it played out. We are all human and we all do dumb (stuff).”

Auriemma went over to Staley in the final seconds of South Carolina’s 62-48 victory at the Final Four in Phoenix and appeared to chastise her Coaches from both teams had to separate them When the game finally ended, Auriemma walked off the court to the locker room without going back to shake hands with anyone from South Carolina.

Auriemma’s behavior generated more buzz than South Carolina’s impressive defensive effort that shut down a UConn team with two first-team All-Americans.

“I didn’t see a lot of it, but that is to be expected,” Auriemma said of the backlash. “I think maybe some of it was warranted and some of it was people have been lying in the weeds waiting for that moment. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done for the game; it is what you just did “Unfortunately, that is the world that we live in today and it usually is one-sided. The people who understood what it was all about in a different light, they are not going to go on the air and say it. They are not going to write about it because now they are going against a major internet or media frenzy; they are not going to do that. I brought the criticism on myself. I didn’t bring the (stuff) that came after it on myself.”

Auriemma compared the backlash to what might have happened if social media had been around in 1998, when he arranged for an injured Nykesha Sales to make a basket so she could set the program’s career scoring record.

“Immediately, it was the worst thing to ever happen to the game of basketball and to sports in general,” Auriemma said.

“These things that happen, you take them all with a grain of salt understand them I did what I did, I apologized for it and I moved on.”

His focus now is on the 2026-27 season Despite the loss of two starters, including WNBA No. 1 overall pick Azzi Fudd, the Huskies figure to be one of the top title contenders again.

Transfers Serah Williams and Kayleigh Heckel played pivotal roles for the 38-1 UConn team in the 2025-26 season. He opted not to add any transfers and rely on the returning players, led by national player of the year Sarah Strong and two incoming freshmen.

“People have to get better,” Auriemma said. “You want your players to get better and improve from one year to the next. Blanca (Quinonez) going from playing 17 minutes a night to playing 27-30 minutes a night, I think changes the dynamic of the team Sarah (Strong) probably getting more touches, probably playing 30 minutes per game.

Auriemma said that Strong has declined opportunities to play for USA Basketball this offseason to recover from inflammation in her leg that kept her out of most practices during the postseason.

“The new kids that are coming in are going to give us a little bit of a different look than we had. We have really good guards on our team but none of them are exactly what Jovana (Popovic) is; our big kids are going to get better Olivia (Vukosa) is a little different than what we have right now. We will look a little different, but the core of the team is back.”

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the Saints — came as questions surround the 30-year-old’s future in New Orleans.

The Saints signed Etienne to a four-year, $52 million contract in free agency, and the Saints still want to address Kamara’s status — despite Kamara being under contract for next season, and the team already restructuring his cap hit once. Armstead did not ask Kamara whether he anticipates returning to the Saints in 2026, but the veteran running back spoke glowingly about the moves the franchise made. He also praised quarterback Tyler Shough and

Newman sophomores help lead Greenies to berth in semifinals

Pitcher returns after illness to deliver Game 3 win

BY JIM DERRY Contributing writer

One might find it a bit ironic that a team that is so senior laden — with a group of five who have been mostly starting for three seasons — was bailed out on the mound by a couple of sophomores.

Indeed, senior ace Christian Sauska saved Newman’s playoff chances in Game 2 of a best-ofthree Division III select quarterfinals series on Saturday night. Then his brother Augie and Peter Barras did plenty well enough in Sunday’s Game 3 to lead the Greenies to an 8-3 victory against Notre Dame, lifting Newman to the semifinals for the first time in 23 years. Although Augie had missed the past six weeks with mononucleosis, he came back in time to start Game 3 and played the role of a wily vet.

Down 1-0 in the top of the third, he allowed the first Pioneers to reach base on a hit batter and a walk. Considering the Greenies had only scored four combined runs in the series to that point, it was clear they could not afford to give up many more.

It was then Augie Sauska settled down and got out of a big-time jam — inducing a popup from Notre Dame’s top player Drew Lejeune, which was followed by a groundout and flyout from Jude Duplechin and Chris Holmes, respectively

“I have to trust my pitching and trust my defense. We didn’t make it this far just to make it this far,” said Sauska (5-1), who gave up a solo home run to Duplechin in the first and nothing else, and struck out three. “We get to play another week; this is big stuff. Mono sucks, and so does being out for

six weeks. “I was so excited to be able to come back. This is a special season to be a part of.”

It’s as special a season as Newman (26-7) has had in quite some time. The team has won 21 of its past 23 games and will host a semifinals series next weekend against 11th-seeded Dunham. The Tigers finished off a road sweep of third-seeded Calvary Baptist a couple of days before the Greenies played their first and second games on Saturday Newman had several opportunities to fold Sunday but stayed together Not only were the Greenies down 1-0 through three innings, but they went all the way through the order the first time without a player reaching base. Then senior Jack Falgoust walked to open the bottom of the fourth, and Charles Wilson put down the perfect bunt that put runners on first and third with no outs. Two batters later, Atticus LaFleur doubled in two for the lead, and a couple more runs

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scored on back-to-back hit batters.

Falgoust batted again in the inning with the bases loaded and two outs, and he knocked them all in with a three-run double to make it 7-1 and all but over Barras pitched the final three innings for the save.

“The confidence we have at the plate is what gets us going; all I did was walk (to start the inning), and then Charles with the great bunt. All we need to do is put some pressure on the other team, and sometimes it can turn into a big inning,” said Falgoust, who was 3-for-7 with three runs scored and four RBIs in the series.

“We didn’t start how we wanted to, and we had some adversity We’re the one Newman team that has been able to battle through and come back, no matter what the score is and no matter what inning it is.”

The Pioneers finished their season (27-12) and made it this far on an upset in the second round of seventh-seeded St. Louis.

coach Kellen Moore ahead of their second season. Kamara also shot down any idea that he was unhappy about the Saints potentially signing his replacement in Etienne.

“You know I ain’t into social media and all that,” Kamara said. “I don’t do too much watching and stuff, but I think a lot of people be thinking (there’s) like beef or something, when moves like this happen. And it’s like man, I couldn’t be happier

“Like, one, my boy got paid. And two, (the signing) ain’t nothing but some help in the backfield.

That’s the name of the game. Shoot, one person can’t do it by themselves, so I’m cool with it.” Kamara would know about the latter experience firsthand. He benefited early in his career

when working with Ingram. The duo combined to put up prolific numbers, with the runners’ styles complementing each other to keep defenses off balance.

But the Saints have struggled to find that type of running mate for Kamara in the years since Ingram’s departure.

“Me and Marcus set the bar,” Kamara said.

“High,” Armstead added.

“Yeah, very high,” Kamara said.

“That’s what efficiency looks like. I’m 100% for (Etienne’s signing).

If that’s what the direction we’re going in, I’m with it. I think we can get there. You know (Ingram’s) my dog, so I’m not saying we’re going to re-create that, but we’ll see. We’ve got to get close and reach for it.” The effectiveness of the duo

could also depend on how much Kamara has left in the tank. The 30-year-old is coming off his worst season as a pro, averaging career lows in several categories before suffering a season-ending knee injury that caused him to miss the last six games. Kamara was not asked about his health, but he indicated he had been training in Miami. He also noted his involvement in other offseason projects, including real estate and TV production But Kamara sounded like a man eager to return to the Saints He said he looked forward to meeting first-round wide receiver Jordyn Tyson — “I’m super excited to get him in the building” — and the team’s other rookies. Kamara later said that he is “supposed

to” link up with Shough, who the running back said has “higher expectations” entering his second year Kamara brought up how former Saints coach Sean Payton would always tell his players to “not drink the Kool-Aid” and how they have to work “10 times harder,” adding he believes the same approach is relevant for Shough.

“I think he’s ready for it, man,” Kamara said of the quarterback. “He’s mature. He’s got some swag to him. It’s like there’s a light-hardedness about his game and his approach that like he works his (butt) off, but he doesn’t take himself too serious.

I’m excited for Shough, man.” Email Matthew Paras at matt. paras@theadvocate.com

STAFF FILE

PHOTO By ENAN CHEDIAK

Newman senior ace Christian Sauska pitches against St. Charles Catholic on March 20 at Avenger Field. Sauska led the Greenies to a Game 2 win and brother Augie pitched in the decisive Game 3.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By RICK SCUTERI

UConn coach Geno Auriemma coaches against South Carolina during an NCAA Tournament game at the Final Four in Phoenix

LIVING

DAILyPICAyUNE ARCHIVE IMAGE

Buffalo Bill ad in the Daily Picayune on Dec. 20, 1884

Before andafter segregation, this park near Metairie Road wasenjoyed by allNew Orleanians

BY RICHARD CAMPANELLA

Contributing writer

From 1866 to 1905, one recreational area in New Orleansstood apart for its varietyofuses and diversityofusers. Known interchangeably as Oakland Course, Oakland ParkorOakland RidingPark,itoccupied an expanse of the Metairie Ridge where present-day City Park Avenue becomes Metairie Road

This narrow upland —formed by an earlier channel of the Mississippi River and later by adistributaryknown to Indigenous groups as Bayou Coupicatcha —enabled access across the swamplands to key geographical features, such as the portage tothe riverbend where in 1718 French colonials established New Orleans. Almost40years later, theLeBreton family received aland grant for part of this backswamp ridge, and soon small tenant farms known as métairie arose along what settlersnow called Bayou de la Métairie.

DIGITAL LIBRARy |UNIVERSITy OF NEW ORLEANS FRANK B. MOORE COLLECTION

Grandstand crowd at the Crescent City Park, adjacent to Oakland Park andNew Shell Road near South Metairie Road,New Orleans

Strive

BY CHEYANNE MUMPHREY Associated Press

Inviting friends and family members over for acelebration, holiday or routine dinner provides an opportunity for connection, butpressure to serve good-tasting food in aclean and welcomingenvironment can deter many people fromhosting or prevent them from being fully present with their guests

and

By the early 1800s, thebayou’s paralleling chemin (road) came alive every Sunday. “Whoever had ahorse or acarriagewas on the… Metairie

See GEOGRAPHIES, page 2D

Withoutin-personsocialgatherings, adults can becomeincreasingly lonely and isolated, especially as more work is done remotelyand conversationstakeplace via text messages.

“Oftentimes, we expect someone else to reach out to us. Butif thevast majority of people are expectingsomeoneelse to do it, then it’sgoing to become arare thing,”said Julianne Holt-Lunstad,apsychology professor at Brigham Young Universityand thelead author of a2023 U.S. surgeon general’sreportonthe widespread healthrisks of loneliness. Seasoned party-plannerssay

“The road wasfull withanunbroken line of traveling coaches, cabriolets,horses,carts, spectators, and players. …Strollers dressed in theirSunday finery ” PIERRE CLÉMENT DE LAUSSAT, of his 1803 visit along BayoudelaMétairie

An arrangement of crackers, cheeses, meats,fruitsand spreads is prepared for guests at agathering of friends at an apartment in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Feb.15.

LOUISIANA

STAFFFILE PHOTOByJOHNMcCUSKER

Metairie Cemeterywas founded in 1872 on the site of Oakland Park, ahorse race track. The footprint of the old track is evident in the layout of the cemetery.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO

CHEyANNE MUMPHREy

Avoid lingering trashodors

GEOGRAPHIES

Continued from page1D

road,”recollected PierreClément de Laussat of his 1803 visit. “The road was fullwith an unbrokenline of travelingcoaches, cabriolets, horses, carts, spectators, and players. …Strollers dressed in their Sunday finery, (and) young folks challenged each other to raquette,” aChoctaw game like lacrosse. “Sprinkled hereand there are log cabins and somecultivation” amid forestsof“evergreens(,) magnolias, vines, (and) oaks.”

Dear Heloise: Trash cans can develop odors evenafter you empty them, but aquick step keeps smells under control. Sprinkle athin layer of baking soda at the bottom of the can before adding anew bag. The baking soda absorbs odors throughoutthe week. After noticing lingering smells in my kitchen, Iadded this to my routine, and it made anoticeable difference right away.For extra freshness, wipe the insideof thecan occasionallywith amild cleaner —Mark E., in Columbus, Ohio Foggymirrors

Dear Heloise: Foggy bathroom mirrors can slow down your morning routine, so here’s a simple trick to keep them clear: Rub asmall amount of shaving cream onto the mirror,then wipe it off with aclean cloth, which leaves behind athin layer that prevents fog from forming. Iwas tired of wiping the mirror after every shower Now it stays clear long enough to get ready without interruptions. Irepeat the process every few days. —Dana R., in Hartford, Connecticut

Thinking ahead

Dear Heloise: Ipurchase two half-gallons of milkand freeze one. This savesmethe trouble of going to the grocery store when I’m out of milk for my coffee, especially when it’s all Ineed from the store! —Beth, in California

Send ahint to heloise@heloise. com.

TODAYINHISTORY

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday,May 5, the 125th day of 2026. There are 240 days left in the year

Todayinhistory:

On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr.became America’sfirst space traveler as he made a15-minute suborbital flight aboardMercury capsule Freedom 7.

Also on this date:

In 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte, 51, died in exileonthe South Atlantic island of St. Helena.

In 1862, Mexican troops repelled Frenchattacks on the city of Puebla de los Ángeles in the Battle of Puebla, also known as the Battle of Cinco de Mayo.

In 1925, high school teacher John T. Scopes was charged in Tennessee with violating astate law that prohibited teaching the theory of evolution. (Scopes was found guilty,but his conviction was laterset aside.)

In 1945, in the only fatal attack on the U.S. mainland duringWorld WarII, aJapanese balloon bomb exploded on Gearhart MountaininOregon, killing apregnant woman and five children.

In 1973, Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby,the first of his Triple Crown victories, in a timeof1:59.4 —arecordthat still stands.

In 1981, Irish Republican Army militant Bobby Sands died at age 27 at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland on the 66th day of ahunger strike.

In 1994, American teenager Michael Fay was caned at a Singaporean prisonfor vandalism, aday after his sentence was reduced from six lashes to four in response to an appeal by President Bill Clinton.

In 2016, Lonnie Franklin Jr was convicted of 10 countsof murder in the “Grim Sleeper” serial killings in Los Angeles that targeted poor,young Black women over two decades.

Today’sbirthdays: Actor Lance Henriksen is 86. Comedianactor Michael Palin is 83.Actor Richard E. Grantis69. R&B singer Raheem DeVaughn is 51. Actor Vincent Kartheiser is 47. Actor Danielle Fishel is 45. Actor Henry Cavillis43. Singer-songwriter Adele is 38. R&B singer Chris Brown is 37 Tennis playerAryna Sabalenka is 28. Olympic figure skating gold medalist Nathan Chen is 27. Tennis player Carlos Alcaraz is 23.

Those oak trees inspired real estate speculators in 1837 to name thissection of theridge “Oakland.”Capitalizing on upcoming railroads, they advertised their plans fortownsto be called Oakland, Metairieville, Harlaem and Shrewsbury Areal estate ad in the Picayune extolled Oakland’s potential for “pleasure and recreation by the Metairie road,” particularly for “the equestrian” or anyone seeking “adelightfulretreat …where domestic felicity under itsmost pleasing aspects, awaits.”

Thoughthe railroad projects failed, three of the envisioned communities eventually came to fruition. Metairieville is today’s OldMetairie, while Harlaem (Harlem) andShrewsbury are neighborhoods in OldJefferson.

As for Oakland, it became the rear of the Macartyplantation, which in 1831 the New Orleans Canal and Banking Company acquired for thetwin purposes of laying out thesubdivision of Carrollton andexcavating anavigation canal to Lake Pontchartrain. Dubbed the New Basin Canal and fully opened by 1838, thewaterway and its levee-top Shell Road madethe Metairie Ridge accessible to the 100,000 city dwellers in NewOrleans proper,most of whom resided in congested neighborhoods with few opportunities for green space and recreation.

As the urban population grew, theMetairie andGentilly ridge system became theperfect place forrace courses, parks, fairgrounds andcemeteries —that is, big-footprintlandusesthat would have beentoo costly to be located in the urban core, but perfect for an outlyingridge. Recognizing this geographical advantage, investors in 1838 opened the Metairie RaceCourseonone part of the ridgesystem; by 1860, at least foursuch facilities operated along other parts of the upland, including the original section of City Park In 1866, areal estate attorney and horse lover named George Leon Brightbought 88 acres from theNew Orleans Canal and Banking Company directly across from theMetairie Course. Aiming to give his neighbor somecompetition,Bright hired surveyor William H. Williams todesign and lay out “Oakland Course,” the name ascribed to this spot at least since 1837 which also evoked the famed Oakland Race Course in Louisville, Kentucky Bright’sfacility featured aonemile track for trotting, carriage driving and harness racing, plus stables, standsand apavilion known as thePublic House. Patrons (“subscribers”) would enter Oaklandvia the Half-Way House, astopover for travelers on the

HOSTING

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that striving to createmeaningful interactions instead of for perfection alleviates some of the stress of hosting. Organizing activities that give guests away to settlein or mingle, planningasimple menu and asking for help are some of thestrategies they use to create an event that everyone,even the host,can participate in andenjoy, they say

“When we are more socially connected, we arenot only happier, but we’re healthier and livelonger,”Holt-Lunstad said.

Gatherings notjustfor theguest

Madeline Johnson, 24, posts recipes, decoration tips and ideas for backyard parties on socialmedia under thename Madeline May.She said shegot into hosting because shewas seekingsocial connection.

“As an only child, Ialways wanted community,” said Johnson, who hosted about adozen large events with friends and at least five smaller gatheringswith family members last year.“Istarted to realize if Iwanted that village around me that Iwould havetobuild it on my own.”

Now,she wantstohelp other peoplebuild the courage to invite guestsover and facilitate bonds between them.

“There’sjust way toomuch unnecessary pressure that makes

Shell Road or New Basin Canal midway between the city and what would soon become thelakefront resort of West End.

In an 1867 Picayune ad for Oakland, manager JohnMarshall declared “the highest portion of the Metairie Ridge” will make “the elegant riding and driving track …attractive to lovers of outdoor sports.” Payingsubscribers soon arrived for family picnics, privateevents, scheduled races and even hot-air balloon launches.

Despite racial tensions in the years following theCivil War, Louisiana’sbiracial government during theReconstruction era meantthat public facilities were not yet strictly segregated by race. Whiteand Black patrons alike made use of OaklandCourse (Park),sometimes for separate events, sometimes in separate spaces for the sameevents, and at times intermingled. Even after segregation becamethe law of the land, Oakland catered to the full social spectrum of local society.

The year 1872 became pivotal for Oakland, because even as the adjacent Metairie Course closed to be converted to today’sMetairie Cemetery,the Fair Grounds Race Course opened further east along the upland on the Gentilly Ridge, and would soon attract wealthier patrons. Oaklandbecame the park for theproletariat.

Typical eventsatOakland included the 1868 Grand Catholic Festivalonthe FourthofJuly featuring horse and muleraces as well as foot and sack competitions; an 1880 picnic of an Irish-American soldiers association attended by famed writer Lafcadio Hearn; a June 1881 picnic of the Daughters of Israelite Tabernacle No. 6; and later thatsummer,acommemorationofthe Emancipation Proclamation featuring aperformance by the Excelsior Brass Band, which would become influential in the development of jazz. In 1887, according to The Weekly Pelican, “a large numberofour colored fellow-citizens (celebrated)the fortiethanniversary of the freedom of the African Republic …of Liberia …atOakland park.”

Perhaps themost influential event at Oaklandwas Buffalo Bill’sWild West Show,for which Brighterected a15,000-seat amphitheater.Timed to coincide with the1884-85 World’sIndustrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition at present-day Audubon Park, famed empresario William F. Cody —“Buffalo Bill, theSphinx of the Prairie” —and his troupe

people feel like the bartohost is up here when it’smuchlower,” Johnson said.

As someone whoismorenaturally reserved, she likes planning an activity for hergatherings, suchas painting aflower vase or answering trivia questions, to reduce the initial anxiety of socializing, especially when thegroup includes people who don’tknow each other

Asking guests to bring different foodsorassigning them shared tasks like setting the table also can spark conversations and reduce workfor the host,Holt-Lunstad said.

“Inthe U.S., we aresotime deprived and have over-scheduled everything that it is difficult to sit down and be present,but ameal allows us to do that. We should not underestimate the power of what food can do,” she said.

Kitchenshortcuts forhosts

Shared appetizers like charcuterieand grazing boards, andmeals that can be prepared in advance such as casseroles, soups and other dishes,are simplifying how people host, reducingtime in the kitchen on the day of and making serving and cleanup easier

Oregon-based chefand cookbook author Josh McFadden, who is known for turning seasonal ingredientsintoapproachable, shareable dishes, talks in one of his books about grazing-style eating having rootsincommunal farm tables Butterboards, whichinvolve spreadingsoft or whippedbutter

staged frontier battles, stagecoach robberies and feats of equestrian marksmanship. His ads in the Picayune promised “two hundred Indians, Scouts, Mexicans, (and) Cowboys,” along with ahundred horses and some bison, performing over aperiod of four months. Despite persistent rains, the Wild West Show did “a very fine business at Oakland Park,” according to the New York Dramatic Mirror.Famed sharpshooter Annie Oakley took part in the shows, which at one point included apyrotechnical reenactment of the Battle of New Orleans, with Cody playing Maj. Gen.Andrew Jackson. The mostlasting influence may have occurred when performerstook leave of their Oaklandresidency and headed into theneighborhoods of New Orleans.

In a1990 article, the late photographer and historian Michael P. Smithnoted there were “some fiftytosixty Plains Indians, including four chiefs …onthe streetsinNew Orleans in their native dress during Mardi Gras of 1885… .According to the oral tradition of the present-day Indian gangs,” Smith continued, some Black New Orleanians “joined with them to maskasIndians,” revitalizing atradition from antebellum times with anew frontier flair.“The oral history of the modern Mardi Gras Indian groups begins in that year,” Smith posited, “the first tribe calling itself the ‘Creole Wild West.’”

While picnics, banquets and ball games continued at Oakland, horse racing struggled in the face of competition with the Fair Grounds and other venues. Bright ended up leasing out his track as pasture forcattle, horses and mules.

“Mr.Bright’sproposition failed to produce big profits,” recounted alater Times-Picayune article. ButOakland endured “as aprivatetrack.Hespent big sums to gratify his interest in horses, which was his chief hobby.”

By theearly 1900s, the swampland lakeside of the Metairie Ridge had been drained, and by the1910s, city dwellers were driving automobiles out to fashionable new subdivisions in Lakeview and Metairie. No longer cheap real estate on the metropolitan fringe, Oakland took on new value foradifferent land use —and anew community of users.

Golf had becomepopular nationwide, and as cities became

on aplatter toppedwithhoney, herbs or spices and dippedinto withbread and crackers, are a modern interpretation that have gained popularity

“You can put alot of variety and textures anddifferent flavors into things in an easier way,showing offthe seasonalityofthe food.It becomes amobile meal,” McFadden said in an interviewwithThe Associated Press. “It also creates conversation, and it’sjust afun way to eat.”

Serving food arranged for picking from aplatter is aquickway to serve guests,hesaid. McFadden also suggests incorporating storebought foods and asking guests to bring specific dishes or beverages as other ways hosts can lighten their loads. Katie Eu,26, wholives in New Hampshire,saysshe lovesa “bring your own” type of gathering, especially since hosting can get expensive if it’snot apotluck or friends don’ttake turns playing host,like she and hers do.

“It is pretty low pressure because what you are providing is not the food, but the space for people to gather,” Eu said. Supporting thehostasthe guest Providing asetting for social connection mattersmorethanhow great the food is, what the decor looks like or how spacious ahome is,said Richard Slatcher,asocial psychology professor at the UniversityofGeorgia.

“The other stuff is abonus,”

Buffalo Bill Cody and an unidentified Native Americanin hisWild West Show performashooting demonstration. Over the winter of 1884-85, Buffalo Bill’sWild West Showperformed at Oakland Park on the grounds of what is nowMetairie Cemetery.

industrialized, urban gentry yearned forasort of manicured version of nature —a“country club” that was close to homeyet farfrom congestion. As early as 1900, golfers eyed Oakland as a potential course, and five years later,George Bright sold Oakland Park to an intermediary named Edward G. Schlieder for$140,000. Famed local golfer George Turpie then teamed with countryclub investor Charles B. Thorn to form the Oakland Park Land Company,which, following complex transactions pieced together by the late historian Charles L. Dufour, finally acquired the Oakland tract from Schlieder in 1913. That autumn, members officially formed the New Orleans Country Club, and “on April 23, 1914,” wrote Dufour in his 1988 book on the history of the organization, “the Oakland Park Land Company sold Oakland Park to the New Orleans Country Club forthe same price it had paid, $200,500.” Turpie subsequently designed the golf course among majestic live oaks, someofwhich are listed on the Live Oak Society Registry of the Louisiana Garden Club Federation. Today,I-10 overlays the former bed of the New Basin Canal, and Zea’sRestaurant on Metairie Road occupies the space of the old Half-Way House. Bayou Metairie has been filled in, and Metairie Road humswith the sort of traffic that would have been unfathomable to those circa-1803 “strollers in Sunday finery.” But if you squint abit at an aerial image, you can still discern Oakland’soval track amid the links of the NewOrleans Country Club, whose entrance aligns precisely with that of old Oakland. First coined in 1837, that nameremains on the modern map in the form of an adjacent residential street named Oakland Drive. As forGeorge L. Bright, he died in 1917 at age 86 and is entombed today on aformer race course, now Metairie Cemetery

Richard Campanella,a geographerwiththe Tulane School of Architecture and Built Environment, is the authorof“Draining NewOrleans,” “Bienville’s Dilemma, Crossroads, Cutoffs, andConfluences,” and other booksfrom LSU Press. He maybereached at http://richcampanella.com, rcampane@tulane.edu, or @nolacampanella on X.

Slatcher said. “It’sreally about the people.”

Inviting people into your home forthe first time nevertheless creates afeeling of vulnerability since guests can learn alot about the host’staste, interests and beliefsthrough thecolor scheme, the books on the shelves, and the artwork andmementos on display. Trytoremember that vulnerability also is an essential element in fosteringauthentic humanconnections, said Slatcher,who co-led researchwithHolt-Lunstad on how attending live events can combat loneliness.

Guests also have aresponsibility when it comes to making asocial event fulfilling forthemselves and their host, Holt-Lunstad said.

“Ifyou’repassivelybeing an attendee, you are not going to feel connected,” she said. For Johnson, guests not confirming theirattendance, showingup late or not showingupatall are a major sources of stress.

“I put my heart and soul into everything,” she said. “If you want to truly be agood guest, put the invitation on your calendar,don’t double book yourself and try to show up on time.”

Guests also show consideration fortheir host by cleaning up after themselves to the extent possible and not overstaying their welcome, according to Eu.

“Hosting is hard, so being aware of space that you’re coming into and space you’re taking up” matters, she said.

PHOTO FROM THELIBRARy OF CONGRESS

Hints from Heloise

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Shift into high gear and take care of business, health and legal matters that are time-sensitive. How you handle responsibilities will not go unnoticed.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Stick close to your people, the ones who understand and share your opinions, and you'll find hope and support. Be careful not to reveal too much personal information.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Refrain from wasting time and energy on people and situations you cannot control. Look inward and consider how you can best serve your needs. Being the best version of yourself will be uplifting.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Try something new. Engage in an event or activity that challenges you physically, and you will gain strength and understanding of the intellectual challenges you encounter.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Be aware of what's happening around you. An unexpected change can be beneficial if you are ready to act. A smile and a positive attitude and response will set the tone.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct 23) When in doubt, sit still, observe and reflect. Put greater emphasis on physical activity, eating habits and health, and use your intelligence to stabilize your financial situation.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Broaden your horizons. Update your skills and network every chance you get. Who you

know and how you build your relationships will determine how far you get. Be creative, and do your best.

sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Initiate change, and don't stop until you are happy with the results. It's time to play the game instead of sitting on the sidelines. Procrastination will not lead to healing old wounds.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Read between the lines, ask questions and turn any negative into a positive. Respect and understanding will help you build a solid environment to develop and grow your aspirations.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Pay attention to money matters. How you earn and manage your financial affairs will have more influence on your meaningful relationships than you realize. Hard work will pay off.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Review your options. Balance and equality are necessary if you want to feel good about the outcome of any situation you face with friends, relatives or associates. ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Let go of what you cannot change, and place more energy, time and discipline into improving your domestic situation and personal relationships. Consider what's missing in your life, and revamp your schedule.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by nEa, inc., dist. By andrews mcmeel syndication

Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

toDAy's cLuE: E EQuALs I

FAMILY CIrCUS

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

LAGoon

bIG nAte

Sudoku

InstructIons: sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. Theobject is to place the numbers 1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of thesudoku increases from monday to sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER

DickGregory,acomedian,socialactivistandwriter,said,“Iwouldn’tmindpaying taxes —ifI knew they were going to afriendlycountry.”

Let’s examine adeal that ought not to be taxingfor someone who remembers the bidding First, though, look at the South hand. Westdealsandopensoneclub.Aftertwo passes, what shouldSouth do?

Inthisbalancingseat,themeaningsfor three of South’sbids change. The first is aone-no-trump overcall. It is no longer strong. Now it is weak, showing11toan unappealing 15 points.

Norththenwiselypasses,leavingSouth in one no-trump. How shouldheplanthe play afterWest leads hisfourth-highest club and East putsupthe jack?

Notethatwithastrongno-trump,South would double first and hope to rebidone no-trumponthe next round (ifaneightcard major-suit fitwas not revealed). Here,thatwould be easy. ButifWest’s opening bid were one of amajor,South might be forced to rebid two no-trump, whichisuncomfortably high. Then, a balancing one-no-trump overcall might containapoor 16 points.

South has onlyfour toptricks. The best chance for the extratricks lies in diamonds. From the bidding, West is a

heavy favorite to holdthe ace. So declarer should win the second (or first)club trick in hishand withthe ace and lead a low diamond to dummy’s king. After it wins,hereturnsadiamondandplayslow from his hand. When theace comes tumbling down, Southhas seventricks: two hearts, three diamonds and twoclubs ©2026 by nEa,inc., dist. By andrews mcmeel syndication

Each Wuzzle is awordriddlewhich creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: nOOn gOOD =gOOD aFTErnOOn

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3 additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit wordsare not allowed toDAy’s WoRD cHARIty: CHAR-ih-tee: Aid given to those in need.

Average mark 16 words

Timelimit 25 minutes

Can you find 22 or morewords in CHARITY?

yEstERDAy’s WoRD —MELton

omen noel note

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

Trustthe Lord and have agood night’s sleep. G.E. Dean

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard fillmore

dIrectIons: make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value. all the words are in the Official sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5th Edition.

ken ken

InstructIons: 1 Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 thorugh 4 (easy) or 1 through 6 (challenging) without repeating. 2 The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using the given operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners. 3 Freebies: Fill in the single-box cages with the number in the top-left corner. HErE is a

Well

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

Scrabble GramS

Get fuzzy

jump Start

roSe iS roSe

animal crackerS

DuStin

Drabble

Wallace the brave

breWSter rockit

luann

Anypersonhavinganop‐position to thesaid amendedTableau of Dis‐tributionorthe payment of thedebts

thereinmust file awrit‐tenoppositionwiththe Clerkofthe CivilDistrict Courtfor theParishof Orleans, 421 Loyola Ave, NewOrleans,LA70112, within seven(7) days from thedateofthis publication. If no opposition is filed within thetimepre‐scribedbylaw,the TableauofDistribution maybehomologated (approved) by theCourt andthe Administrator will be authorized to pay thedebts as proposed CHELSEYRICHARD NAPOLEON ClerkofCourt Dr.Chidi Onyenekwu, Administrator 1433 EuterpeSt. NewOrleans,LA70130 (504) 321-3335 Conyen400@gmail.com Publication: TheAdvocate 5/5/26 186491-may5-1t $46.28 p Court for authority to sell at privatesale, forthe priceofONE HUNDRED SIXTY-SIXTHOUSAND EIGHTHUNDRED AND NO/100 DOLLARS ($166,800.00),subject to theterms andconditions of thepurchaseagree‐ment,including,the pay‐ment of $7,000 towards thebuyer’s prepaids,dis‐count points andpre‐paids, andrealtor com‐missions of 5.5% along with thepro-rated taxes andother sellerclosing costs, theSuccession's undivided5/840 undi‐videdinterestinand to thefollowing described property bearingmunici‐paladdressof107 Lin‐coln Road,Monroe, LA 71203: ACERTAIN PIECEORPOR‐TION OF GROUND,to‐gether with allbuildings improvements thereon andall rights,ways, priv‐ileges, servitudes,appur‐tenances andadvan‐tagesthereuntobelong‐ingorinanywise apper‐taining, situated in the Parish of Ouachita, Louisiana, knownasLot Fifteen (15) Block(1) Unit no.1 of MAGNOLIA PARK SUBDIVISION, Sec‐tion SeventyOne (71) Township Eighteen (18) North, RangeFour(4) East,OuachitaParish, Louisiana, as shownon theplatthereof made by W.I. Neal,C.E datedMay 7, 1959, recorded in the official recordsofthe Clerkand Recorder for OuachitaParish, Louisianainplatbook 10 page,page48said

y 1959 recorded at COB682 Page 467 of thesaidoffi‐cial recordsofthe Clerk andRecorderfor Oua‐chitaParish, Louisiana. AndA CERTAINPIECE OR PORTIONOFGROUND, to‐gether with allbuildings improvements thereon andall rights,ways, priv‐ileges,servitudes, appur‐tenances andadvan‐tagesthereuntobelong‐ingorinanywise apper‐taining, situated in the Parish of Ouachita Louisiana, locatedinLot Fifteen (16) Block(1) Unit no.1 of MAGNOLIA PARK SUBDIVISION, Sec‐tion SeventyOne (71) Township Eighteen (18) North, RangeFour(4) East,OuachitaParish, Louisiana, as shownon theplatthereof made by W.I. Neal,C.E datedMay 7, 1959, recorded in the official recordsofthe Clerkand Recorder for Ouachita Parish Louisianainplatbook 10 page,page48said records, beingsubject to theact of restrictions datedMay 8, 1959 and recorded at COB669 Page 289 andamended by actdated October15, 1959 recorded at COB682 Page 467 of thesaidoffi‐cial recordsofthe Clerk andRecorder forOua‐chitaParish, Louisiana andmoreparticularlyde‐scribedasfollows:From thesoutheasterly corner of Lot16, runnortheast‐erly alongthe easterly line of Lot16, also being thewesterlylineofLin‐coln Road (Louisiana StateHwy.139),a dis‐tanceof125 feet forthe

runwesterlyalong the line dividing Lots 16 and 15, adistanceof156.54 feet to thenorthwesterly corner of Lot16; thence runsoutherly alongthe line dividing Lots 16 and 3a distance of 5feet; thence runsoutheasterly adistanceof155.5feet more or less to thePoint of Beginning, allas showninred on themap or plat of V.A.

Sin ce it’ si nce pt io ni n2 014, Giv eN OLA Da yh as ra is ed fo ro ur re gio n’ sn on pr o fi ts

$7 1+ mIl LiO

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