The Times-Picayune 05-07-2026

Leveepolicechief contract questioned

Boardpresidentsays Rondenoallowed to sethis ownterms

BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer

New Orleans’ flood protection board allowed its police chief to draft his ownemploymentcontract,the board’spresident acknowledgedWednesday, disclosing new details of ahighly favorable deal that is drawingscrutiny

from state legislators.

The comments at astate Senate hearing add to more than ayear of turbulenceat the SoutheastLouisiana Flood Protection AuthorityEast, the agency that maintains the New Orleans area’s$14.5 billion hurricane protection system. Since Gov. Jeff Landry began reshaping its leadership, seven

board members have resigned, and the floodcontrol agency’spolice force has seen its budget grow by nearly 50%.

Therevelationthat thepolice chief penned his own contract came during ameeting of the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee, which convened for confirmation hearings for seven

boardmembers. Senators used the opportunity to grillboard President Peter Vicari over recent changes, includingthe new contract for Police ChiefJoshua Rondeno.

An initial version of the contract would havegranted Rondeno a12year term and made him eligible

La.’shistoricallyBlack colleges at risk of losing millions

BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer

As PresidentDonald Trump’sadministration moves to eliminatediversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at U.S. universities, Louisiana’shigher education board is cutting an incentive that encouraged universitiestograduate more minority students.

The change means the state’s historically Black colleges and universities stand to lose millions of dollars.

“I’m not going to lie, because the numbers are out there,” interim Southern University system President OrlandoMcMeanssaid. “It willput us in the red as it relates to funding for 2026-27.”

The Louisiana Boardof Regents doles out money from

theLegislature to the state’s public colleges and universities based on acomplex formula. For the new fiscal year that starts July 1, that formula

will no longer include an “underrepresented minority completer” metric, which rewarded institutions for graduating studentsofraces with lower

graduation rates than the rest of the population. Ki mH un ter Reed ,

for6%annual raises. It would have also given Rondeno four years’ pay if the board fired him without cause —and maintained his eligibility for6%annual raises even after termination. If that contract had been paid out, Rondeno could have collected up to $910,000 in severance pay “I’ve never seen that. Lane Kiffin would love to have that contract,”

Jefferson sees spike in school busissues

Students stranded amid driver shortage

BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer

HundredsofJefferson Parish students have been leftscramblingto find away to school following arecentspate of bus delays andcancellationsdue to what district officialssay is an ongoing driver shortage.

Dozens of bus routes were canceled each day in March, and manyothers had interrupted service resulting in late pickups and drop-offs, according to Jefferson Parish schools data.

Some parents say they’ve had to take time off work to drive their children to school, while others say their kids missed classes or entire school days due to the bus disruptions, causing studentstofallbehind in learning or go without school-provided meals.

“My kids miss school if abus doesn’tcome to gettheminthe morning,” said Nevada Prewitt,whose three children attend Rudolph Matas Elementary School in Metairie.

About40,000Jefferson Parishstudents rely on buses that travel nearly 1,700 routes across the district, Louisiana’slargest. An average of nearly 5% of those routes —about 80 per day —were canceled each day in March, according to an analysis of the district’sdata.

Nearly 80% of the district’s74 schools had at least one bus route canceled that same month, data shows. Many schools—including BuncheElementaryand Bonnabel, East Jefferson, West Jefferson and Riverdale high schools —had some routes canceled nearly every day

The cancellations involved district school buses and ones operated by

ä See BUS, page 8A

Rondeno

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Police announce arrest in Okla. party shooting

Police said an 18-year-old man was arrested Wednesday in connection with a mass shooting that left one woman dead and 22 other people wounded during a nighttime party Police in Edmond announced that Jaylan A. Davis was arrested on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon in the wake of Sunday night’s shooting, which erupted after an argument broke out amid a large crowd gathered at Arcadia Lake.

Edmond Police Chief J.D Younger said at a news conference that the charge against Davis was in the process of being upgraded to felony murder following the death of an 18-yearold woman. Police identified her as Avianna Smith-Gray a high school senior Davis was being held in the Edmond jail on a $1 million bond and listed in jail records as an Oklahoma City resident.

Detectives believe the incident began with an argument between two women attending the gathering and escalated into an altercation between rival gang members, the police chief said In addition to the 18-year-old woman killed, others suffered gunshot and shrapnel wounds as dozens of shots were fired at the popular lake about 20 miles north of downtown Oklahoma City Six of the victims are juveniles, Younger said.

Man charged in Texas shootings that killed 2

CARROLLTON, Texas A man who police said shot five people, killing two, in back-to-back shootings at a shopping center and an apartment building in suburban Dallas has been charged with two counts of capital murder, police said Wednesday Seung Ho Han, 69, has also been charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon following Tuesday’s shootings in the Koreatown neighborhood of Carrollton, police said.

Police said Han acknowledged he was the shooter in an interview with detectives and said he was angry at the people he shot because of financial disagreements over their business dealings. They declined to release the names of the victims and said they were still investigating the motive.

The first shooting happened just before 10 a.m. Tuesday at a shopping center, police said. When police arrived, they found four adults who had been shot, including a man who died While they were investigating, another shooting was reported at an apartment complex roughly 4 miles away Responding officers found a dead man inside one of the apartments.

Investigators determined that Han carried out both of the shootings, police said. He was arrested at a nearby grocery store after a short chase on foot 2 shot, killed in Mich. in dispute at soccer game

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A young man who was turned away from an informal soccer game in Michigan fatally shot a 15-yearold boy and killed a woman who tried to help the victim, all in the presence of other kids, police said. The suspect fled but was caught and arrested, police said.

“There was at least seven or eight kids that are out here, juveniles, older juveniles that witnessed this, which is just horrific for anybody to witness, let alone juveniles,” said Joe Trigg, interim police chief in Grand Rapids. Trigg said kids were playing soccer Tuesday when an 18-year-old asked to be included.

“For whatever reason, he was turned away,” Trigg said “Did not like the fact that he was turned away so a verbal altercation started, which led to the suspect pulling out a firearm and shooting that juvenile.”

CORRECTION

An article Wednesday about New Orleans police overtime provided incorrect information about the job status of a New Orleans police officer Henry Burke was suspended without pay after being arrested and accused of payroll fraud.

CNN founder Ted Turner dies

He built entertainment empire, turned to philanthropy

BY DAVID BAUDER AP media writer

NEW YORK Ted Turner, a brash

television pioneer who raced yachts, owned huge chunks of the American West and transformed the news business by launching CNN and introducing the 24-hour cable news cycle, died Wednesday

He was 87.

Turner died surrounded by his family, according to Turner Enterprises, the company that oversees his vast business interests.

Turner owned professional sports teams in Atlanta, defended the America’s Cup in yachting in 1977 and donated a stunning $1 billion to United Nations charities. He married three women — most famously Jane Fonda and earned the nicknames “Captain Outrageous” and “The Mouth of the South.”

He once bragged: “If only I had a little humility, I’d be perfect.”

He was slowed in later years by Lewy body dementia. Long out of the television business, he concentrated on philanthropy

His garrulous personality sometimes overshadowed a risk-taking business acumen By the time he sold his Turner Broadcasting System to Time Warner Inc in 1996, Turner had turned his late father’s billboard company into a global conglomerate that included seven major cable networks, three professional sports teams and a pair of hit movie studios.

President Donald Trump, reacting to Turner’s death, called him “one of the Greats of All Time.”

The creation of CNN

Turner’s signature achievement was creating the Cable News Network, the first 24-hour all-news television network in 1980. In part, Turner’s own frustration with television news was the instigator He often worked past 8 p.m., after the ABC, CBS and NBC nightly newscasts had already gone off the air CNN’s breakthrough moment came during the Gulf War with Iraq in 1991. Most television journalists had fled Baghdad but CNN stayed, capturing arresting images of a war’s outbreak. Turner was promised a continued role in CNN after his company’s sale to Time Warner but was gradually pushed out, much to his regret. “The mistake I made was losing control of the company,” he later said.

Building TBS SuperStation

Robert Edward Turner III was born Nov 19, 1938, in Cincinnati. When he was 9, his family moved to Savannah, Georgia, where he

grew up. After being expelled from Brown University, Turner came to Atlanta to work for his domineering father’s billboard company Turner Advertising. After his father’s 1963 suicide, Turner took over the company. In 1970, he bought an independent UHF station with a weak signal that didn’t even cover Atlanta.

On Dec. 17, 1976, he began transmitting the station to cable systems across the country via satellite. It became the TBS SuperStation. TBS’ motley collection of old movies and sitcom reruns was augmented by Turner’s acquisition of baseball’s Atlanta Braves. Perennial doormats, the Braves slowly attracted fans nationwide through their superstation exposure. In the 1980s, Turner went deeply into debt to buy MGM, a move again greeted with skepticism. But the acquisition gave his company a library of vintage movies that eventually were parlayed into the TNT and Turner Classic Movies networks.

Lutnick’s Epstein testimony draws

BY STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press

WASHINGTON Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared Wednesday before a House committee investigating sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, trying to explain to lawmakers his contact with the financier after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.

The Cabinet member was the latest powerful political figure to appear before the House Oversight Committee. He has previously given contradictory statements about his relationship with Epstein, but he said he has done nothing wrong and welcomed the closed-door interview with lawmakers

The transcribed interview is a test of how much scrutiny lawmakers will apply to powerful men who kept company with Epstein even after his conviction. President Donald Trump’s administration has tried unsuccessfully for more than a year to move past the issue.

Lawmakers emerged from the private interview with vastly different assessments of Lutnick’s answers. The committee chairman, GOP Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, said Lutnick had been “forthcoming” in describing limited interac-

BY MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

NEW YORK President Donald Trump’s lawyer, hoping for an eventual Supreme Court victory, has asked a federal appeals court in New York to temporarily block a longtime columnist from collecting an $83 million defamation

award The lawyer, Justin D. Smith, told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a filing Tuesday to stay

tions with Epstein Democrats accused Lutnick of lying and evading their questions.

Lutnick is the highestranked administration official, besides Trump, to be named in the Epstein case files.

ously claimed on a podcast last year that he had decided to “never be in the room” with Epstein after a 2005 tour of Epstein’s home, which included a massage table, disturbed Lutnick and his wife.

He revealed his ambitions as a younger man: “I used to tell people I wanted to become the world’s greatest sailor, businessman and lover all at the same time.”

Acquiring sports teams and land

For much of his life a partying roustabout who wooed beautiful women, the lean, mustachioed sportsman married three times

He was married to Fonda from 1991 to 2001. She tired of his philandering and divorced him, although they remained friends. Perhaps Turner’s greatest love was for the land. He acquired millions of acres in ranches complete with roaming buffalo and was Nebraska’s largest private landholder Researchers at Texas A&M University credited his donation of a few bulls in 2005 with helping increase the genetic diversity of the last herd of southern Plains bison.

An atheist since his only sister died of lupus at age 17, he called Christians “losers” and “Jesus freaks,” later apologizing for both remarks.

Dedication to various causes

Turner, the father of five children, grabbed a leadership role in American philanthropy with his Sept. 18, 1997, pledge to give $1 billion to United Nations charities.

He promoted a range of humanitarian causes. Turner joined former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn to start the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to reducing the threat of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

As he poured millions into nonprofits on a global scale, Turner was also fond of spreading his wealth in small ways. He once gave $500 to a volunteer fire department that helped extinguish a blaze on one of his ranches. Bauder, a longtime media writer, retired from The Associated Press in 2026.

praise, derision

that would have blocked the view from their homes.

Epstein also gave $50,000 to a 2017 dinner honoring Lutnick, while Lutnick invited Epstein to a 2015 fundraiser for Hillary Clinton.

view and “let the American people judge whether the credibility was damaged or not.”

The Republican president has consistently den ied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and has said he ended their relationship years ago. Epstein died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Several Democrats have called for Lutnick to resign.

“He was evasive, nervous. He was dishonest,” said Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va “He would not admit to lying, which he clearly did.”

Epstein’s private island

Lutnick has played down his ties to Epstein, who was once his neighbor in New York City Under questioning from Democrats during an unrelated hearing earlier this year, Lutnick described their contact as a handful of emails and a pair of meetings in 2011 and 2012.

But that admission came after Lutnick had previ-

In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to state sex offense charges in Florida, including soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.

“I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with him,” Lutnick told senators in February when he was asked about Epstein during a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

But Lutnick, who was previously the head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald, actually had an hourlong engagement at Epstein’s home in 2011. His family then visited Epstein’s private island in 2012 for lunch.

Committee Democrats asked Lutnick repeatedly about that visit, but came away from the interview frustrated with Lutnick and accused him of evading their questions.

The federal release of case files on Epstein also showed that Epstein and Lutnick had kept in contact through email. Lutnick in 2018 emailed Epstein about a proposed expansion of a museum in their neighborhood

its decision supporting the award so that Trump won’t have to pay writer E. Jean Carroll while he appeals to the high court. A Manhattan jury awarded Carroll the payout in January 2024. Another jury in May 2023 awarded Carroll $5 million after concluding Trump sexually abused her in a Manhattan luxury department store dressing room in 1996 and then defamed her after she published her account of it in 2019. Trump has vehemently denied sexually abusing Carroll or ever knowing her and has repeatedly accused her of making accusations against him for political purposes or to promote her memoir Smith told the 2nd Circuit that Trump “will suffer irreparable harm” if he must pay Carroll

“I haven’t seen wrongdoing in the email correspondence, but he wasn’t 100% truthful with whether or not he had been on the island,” Comer said.

He added that the committee planned to later release the transcript of the inter-

The interview was not recorded on video, as the committee has done with depositions for others, including former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state. Comer said the decision not to video the interview for which Lutnick volunteered, was keeping with the committee’s practice.

Lutnick

ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION FILE PHOTO By NANCy MANGIAFICO

Ted Turner is seen at his desk inside the CNN Center in Atlanta in 1982.

U.S. firesontankerinGulfofOman

Trumpseeks to pressure Tehran into reaching adeal

BY JOSHUABOAK, BEN FINLEY andRUSS BYNUM Associated Press

WASHINGTON The U.S.military

fired on an Iranian oil tanker

Wednesday as PresidentDonald

Trump sought to pressureTehraninto reaching adeal to endthe war.The Islamic Republic said it was reviewing the latest American proposals.

A fighter jet shot out therudder of the tanker in the Gulf ofOman as it tried to breach theAmerican blockade of Iran’sports,U.S.Central Command said in asocial media post.

CO IN T MI EAST

near an agreement with Iranon aone-page memorandum to end thewar,according to reporting by Axios.There is no deal yet, but provisions include amoratorium on Iranian uranium enrichment, liftingofU.S.sanctions,distribution of frozen Iranian funds and opening the strait forships. The White House did not immediately respond to questions about thepossible agreement.

Aspokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry,EsmaeilBaghaei, toldstateTVthat Tehran had “strongly rejected” U.S. proposals reported by Axios, but that it was still examining the latest proposed agreement.

Shortefforttoforce strait open

eting, rattled the global economy andput enormous economicpressure on countries, including major powers such as China.

China’sforeign minister called fora comprehensive ceasefire Wednesday after meeting in Beijing with Iran’stop envoy.Wang Yi said his country was “deeply distressed” by the conflict, which began Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.

China’sclose economic and political tiestoTehrangive it aunique position of influence. The Trump administrationispressingChina to use that relationship to urge the Islamic Republic to open the strait.

Iranianenvoy visits China

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’svisit to China came ahead of aplanned tripbyTrump to Beijing.

NFLICT HE DDLE AS

The attack occurred as Iran and the U.S. are officially in aceasefire. Trump threatened Tehran with anew wave of bombing if adeal is not reachedthat includes opening the critical Strait of Hormuz.

Trump posted on social media that the two-month war could soon end and that oil and natural gas shipments disrupted by the conflict could restart. But he said that depends on Iran acceptinga

reported agreement thatthe president didnot detail.

Meanwhile,Israel struck Beirut’ssouthern suburbs for the first time since aceasefire between Israel andthe Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group was announcedApril 17.Fighting has continued since then in southern Lebanon.

Trump: U.S. mightforce adeal

Trumpinsisted Wednesday that Iranian officials want to endthe war

“We’re dealing with people that want to makeadeal very much, and we’ll seewhether or not they can make adeal that’ssatisfactory to us,” thepresident said.

He suggested, both at theWhite House andonsocial media,that the U.S. could ultimately force a settlement.

“If they don’tagree, thebombing starts,” Trump said on socialmedia, “and it will be, sadly,ata much higherlevel andintensity than it was before.”

The White Housebelieves it is

Trumpsoughttoincrease pressure on Tehran the day after he suspended ashort-lived U.S. efforttoforce open asafe passage for commercial ships through the strait. The waterway was avital passage for oil andgas supplies, fertilizer and other petroleum products before the war Only twoAmerican-flagged merchantships are knowntohave passed through the U.S.-guarded routeafter it opened Monday.The U.S. military said it sank sixIranian small boats threatening civilian ships.

Iran’seffective closure of the strait hassent fuel prices skyrock-

Trumpisscheduled to attend ahigh-profile summit on May14 and 15 with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trumpwas the last U.S president to visit China in 2017.

“Webelieve that acomprehensive ceasefire is urgently needed, that aresumption of hostilitiesis not acceptable,” Wang said in a video of the meeting.

The Chinese foreign minister said theconflict“hasnot only causedserious lossestothe Iranian people, butalsohad asevere impact on regional and global peace.”

Trumpadministrationsowsconfusion on Iran strategy

BY BEN FINLEY,MATTHEW

LEE and FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Trump administration’s approach to the Iran war has pinballed from declarations that atenuous ceasefire was holding and military operations were over to new threats of bombing the Islamic Republic.

Tuesday started with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth explaining how the U.S. military was protecting stranded shipssothey could traverse the Strait of Hormuz. He insisted it was a defensive operation and the truce was still in place even though Iran had launched missiles and drones at U.S. forces, which sank Tehran’s small attack boats.

throughout theIran war has produced ever more confusion this week as thepresident andhis aides presented adizzying narrative over the U.S. strategy to unblock the Strait of Hormuz and wrap up the warthatdrastically changed over the course of mere hours.

Trying to sell strategies

The Trump administration hasstruggled with its messaging becausethe war wasn’twell planned, said ElizabethDent, asenior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

On Tuesday,Hegsethand the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, saidtwo Americanflaggedfreighters transited the waterway to lead the effort,but Iran fired at U.S. ships andthe military sank sixIranian small attack boats.

Whenasked aboutthe fire from both sides,Hegseth said, “No, the ceasefire is not over.” Caine also said Iranian attacksdid notreach the level of “restarting major combat operations.”

morning, Trumpthreatened Iran once again.

“If they don’tagree, the bombing starts, and it will be,sadly,atamuchhigher leveland intensitythanit wasbefore,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Seekinghelpfromothers

Anotherconfusing element is the administration’s efforts to persuade allies to deploy warships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

pension of the initiative, two U.S. officials said the administration wasstill deciding whether,and how,toproceed with planning, followingthe State Department’s formal request forsupport from countries last week.

That afternoon, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reportersatthe White House that the military operation was “concluded”and that the U.S. achieved its objec tives almost same dent seeking that to oil Tr effort paused ment on again ing didn’ tion’ contradictory

“Because it happened very quickly,itwasn’tsoldto the American public in away that Ithink was palatable,” said Dent, aformer official in the State Department andPentagon. “Now Ithink Trump is sort of doing everythinghecan to prevent a return of hostilities because he saw how unpopular the war was.”

Throughout theconflict, the presidenthas shifted his priorities and his perspectives on victory.He’soffered ky definitio fa

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks with reporters April 6inthe James BradyPress Briefing Room at the White House.

political importance forthe Republican president, said Ali Vaez, Iran director at the International Crisis Group.

“This is not an administration that operates basedon apolicy process. It operates basedonimpulse. And the president seems now both tired of thiswar andreluctant to continue investing hi olitical ital into it,”

Rubio later insisted Trump’spreferencewas diplomacy.“Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved theobjectives of that operation,” he said, referring to thecode name for the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran. “What the president would prefer is adeal.”

Adeal seemed closer at hand when Trump said Tuesdaynight on social media that he was halting theoperation in the strait to seewhat would happen withnegotiations. But on Wednesday

Trump hasbeen lashing outatcountriesunwillingto do more, tellingthem to “go get your own oil” and saying it wasnot America’sjob to secure the strait. But administration officialshavebegun actively soliciting help while toning down their language.

Rubio said theissue is not alack of interest, but that manyare unable to provide the necessary resources.

“A lot of countries would love to do something about it. But they don’thave a navy,right? Or they can’t get there in time,” he said.

AfterTrump’sabrupt sus-

The officials, who spoke on Wednesday on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said Trump’sannouncementhad not been expected and that they had not been offered detailed guidance on whether to withdrawthe requests forsupport. The issue only hasbeen more complicated by Trump’strip to Beijing next week.

“Going to Chinawhile the strait remains closed is humiliating forPresident Trump and puts China in a position of strengthvis-a-vis the United States, because President Trumpwould have to, as he has done recently ask forChina’shelp to resolve aproblem that didn’t exist before he launcheda war,”Vaez said.

ISNAPHOTO By AMIRHOSEINKHORGOOI

Oil tankers sit at anchor offshore Saturday in the Strait of Hormuzoff Bandar Abbas, Iran.

Southern Republicanspress aheadwithredistricting

BY TRAVIS LOLLER, KIM CHANDLER, JEFFREY COLLINS and DAVIDA.LIEB Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Republicansin

several Southern states pressed aheadwithanaggressiveelectionyear redistricting effort Wednesday,undeterred by demonstrations and objections to their plans to reshape majority-Black congressional districts that have suddenly become susceptible because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

In Tennessee, protesters interrupted legislative hearingsonthe redistricting plans, prompting lawmakers to temporarily suspend their work.

Despite passionate pleas from Black Democratic lawmakers, Republicans in the Alabama House approved ameasuretoupend the state’s congressional primaries if courts allow them to switch their U.S. House districts.InSouth Carolina, Democrats chidedRepublican colleagues for abidingby President Donald Trump’s desires as they took an initial step toward redrawing adistrict long held by a Black Democratic lawmaker The stakes are high for minority voters who standtolosetheir preferredrepresentatives and for any Republican lawmakers reluctant to follow PresidentDonald Trump’swishes.

The Supreme Court ruledlast week that Louisiana reliedtoo heavily on race when creating a second Black-majority Housedistrictasitattemptedtocomplywith theVoting Rights Act. The ruling significantly altered adecades-old understanding of the law, giving Republicans in Louisiana andelsewhere grounds to try to eliminate majority-Black districts that have elected Democrats.

The ruling intensified an already fierce national redistricting battle ahead of aNovember midterm election that will determine control of the closely divided House. Plan splits up Memphis Republicans on Wednesday proposed anew U.S. House mapthat would split Memphis’ home of

BY THOMAS BEAUMONT and BILL BARROW Associated Press

Five months ago, President DonaldTrump was stinging from one of the first politicaldefeats of his second term as Republican state senators defied him on redistricting in Indiana. Now he hasproved he can still punish wayward party members after he endorsed aslate of challengers who defeated almost every one of the lawmakers he wanted to dislodge.

But that success may not help Republicans’ odds in November’s midterm elections, when Trump’s sagging poll numbers, lingering inflation and frustration over the war with Iran have boosted Democrats’ chance of retakingcontrol of Congress. Some Republicans are worried that intraparty fights arecosting time and moneythat should be focusedondefending their majorities in Washington “Every dollargoing toward keeping seats we already have, and not winning oneswedon’t, really matters,” said Rick Tyler,aRepublican strategistwho has been critical of the president.

Trump doesn’tseem to have any second thoughts about purging his party of dissenters. Indiana’s primary will likely bolster his

Shelby County into three districts, instead of thecurrent two. Themap wouldbreak up Tennessee’slone Democratic-held district,centered on the majority-Black city,creating aripple effectofalterations to districts throughout the western and centralparts of the state.

“Tennessee is aconservative state,and our congressionaldelegation should reflect that. This bill ensures itdoes,” Republican state Sen. John Stevens said.

Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton said the proposed districts weredrawnbased on population andpolitics, not racial data.

To adopt newHouse districts, Tennesseelawmakers alsoare seeking to repeal astate law prohibiting mid-decade redistricting. Democratsand civil rights activists denounced the efforts during Wednesday’scommittee hearings.

The proposal “isBlack vote dilution at an industrial scale,” said Sekou Franklin, apolitical-science

confidence in other primaries this month, ashetries to oust U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana andU.S Rep.ThomasMassie of Kentucky

It also ratchetsupthe pressure on Republican lawmakers in other states to move aggressively to redraw congressional district boundaries this year State Sen. Linda Rogers, one of the Indiana lawmakers whovoted against redistricting andlosther seatTuesday,saidthe outcomeof this week’sprimary “will probably discourage others in other states.”

“If someone is going to ask you to take atough vote, you may think twice about your conscience and what’sbest for your community and insteadwhat’sbest for youand your career,” she said.

Indiana Gov.Mike Braun, who sided with Trump, said it was a “historic night”and he thanked Republican voters who“stood with me and President Trumptonominate some great America First conservatives.”

Redistricting efforts began last year when Trumpsaw an opportunity to give Republicansanadditional edge. Indiana stood out as a Republican-run state thatdeclined to give Trump whathewanted, even as GOP-and Democratic-led states traded gerrymandering maneuvers in anational competition.

professoratMiddle Tennessee StateUniversity who is part of the Tennessee branch of the NAACP

Protesters interrupted aSenate committee meeting, loudlychanting“Handsoff ourvote!”After senatorssuspended thehearing, state trooperscleared people from theroom. Senators resumed their workelsewhere, advancingthe legislation.

Later Wednesday, protesters in thehallway beat on the walls and doorsofacommittee room where senators weremeeting. AHouse committee also paused its work as state troopers escorted chanting protesters from the room

Thecandidatequalifying period in Tennessee ended in March, but legislation would reopen it to allow new candidates tojoin the races and existing candidates to switch districts.The primary election is Aug. 6.

Democratsnoted thatthe state Supreme Court in April2022 re-

After the Indiana Senate rejected the redistricting plan in December, Trump pledged to punishdefiant lawmakers. His alliesspent more than$8.3 million on races that usually seeverylittle spending.

Five of Trump’stargetslost their races.One won. One race was too close to call.

Trump allies celebratedthe results andwarned other Republicans who might be thinking of opposing thepresident “Redistrict ASAP for the November election or you face areal risk of losing your seat.Noexcuses,” Robby Starbuck, aconservative activist, wrote on social media. “Reschedule primaries if you must but redraw the map. Voters demandaction NOW,not weakness.”

Trump himself was relatively restrainedonsocial media. He shared aseries of photos celebratingthe victories of candidates he endorsedinIndianaand Ohio, which also held primaries Tuesday. Butheotherwise passed on boasting or renewing his attacks on Massie or Cassidy Massie hasbeenamong the members of Congress whofrustrated thepresident by pressing for therelease of the Jeffrey Epstein case files, challenging Trump for taking militaryaction in Iran without congressional approval,

jected achallenge to thecurrent congressional map, finding it was tooclose to the election to make changes. This year,there’seven less time before the primary elections, raising the potential of confusion for both candidates and voters, Democrats said.

AlabamaHouse primary?

The Republican-led Alabama House on Wednesday passed legislation authorizing special congressional primariesasRepublicans eye the possibility of getting adifferent congressional map in place for the November elections. The bill now moves to the state Senate. Alabama is seeking to lift afederal court order that created a second congressional district with anear-majority of Black voters. That mapled to the2024election of Rep.Shomari Figures, aBlack Democrat. Republicanswantinstead to use a2023map drawn by state lawmakers that would give

and voting against the party’s sweeping tax-and-budget bill last year

“I vote with the Republican Party and this president 90% of the time, and the 10% of the time that I’m not votingwiththe party or the president,I’m keeping the promises that the president and I campaigned on,” Massie recently told Kentucky’sPBS affiliate.

Explaining his vote against Trump’ssignature domestic achievement, Massie called it “a big spending bill” and said he has voted consistently “not to bankrupt this country.”

Trump hasendorsed Massie’s challenger,retired Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, andcampaigned for him before theMay 19 primary In Louisiana, Trump backs Rep. Julie Letlow over Cassidy in their May 16 primary,which includesa third candidate, state Treasurer John Fleming.

Cassidywas amongthe Republican senatorswho votedtoconvict Trump on 2021 impeachment charges after the Jan. 6riot. But he also has givenTrump consistent support. Most notably,the Baton Rouge physician advanced Robert Kennedy Jr.’scontroversial nomination as Trump’shealth secretary

The two-term incumbent is campaigning aggressively against

the GOPanopportunity to reclaim Figures’ south Alabama district. The legislationwon approval on aparty-line vote after four hours of fiery debate during which Black legislators said the moment calls backtothe state’sshameful Jim Crow-era history

Alabama’slegislation hingeson the U.S. Supreme Court or adistrict court agreeing to lift the injunction. Alabama’sprimaries are May 19. If acourt grants the state’srequest, the legislation would ignore the results forcongressional seats and direct the governor to schedulea newprimary underthe revised districts.

S.C. advances option formap

The South Carolina House on Wednesdayapproveda resolution giving lawmakers permissionto return later, aftertheir regular work ends, to redraw congressional districts that could eliminate the state’s only Democratic-held district. The proposal now goes to the Senate, where it would need a two-thirds vote.

Republican House leaders said after the vote that they plan to introduce anew mapThursday and hold committeemeetings on Friday.But during debate Wednesday, Republicans fended off specific questions from Democrats, including why they were willing to stop theJune9U.S.House primary elections well aftercandidates filedand howmucha rescheduled primary could cost.

DemocraticRep. JustinBamberg said he felt sorryfor Republicans who he said were giving up their principles to follow the whimsofTrump.

“The president of the United States is avery powerful man. Wields aheavy,heavy thumb— Truth Social, X, Meta, Instagram. To be honest Idon’t envy our Republican colleagues,” Bamberg said.

Democratic Rep. Leon Stavrinakis said democracy will die if lawmakers redrawvoting districts for political reasonsevery time power changesortoprotect someone in office.

Trump’schosen candidate without mentioning the president in his attacks on Rep. Julia Letlow

“Sen. Cassidy is running likehe’s 10 points down and is pounding the pavement every day,” Cassidy campaign manager Katie Larkin said in astatement.

It is unusualfor asitting president to be focused on attacking and defeating his own party members this deep into amidterm election year.And it’syieldednotable spending that is not directed at Democrats. In Louisiana, Letlow, Cassidy,and other campaign organizations have plowed more than $28 million into attack ads.

“It’salot of dollars spent on taking on fellow Republicans,” said Marc Short, who worked for former Vice President Mike Pence, a onetime Indiana governor Rogers, the Indiana state senator,faced almost $670,000 in televisionads against her, fundedby political action committees associated with Braun and U.S. Sen. Jim Banks,R-Ind.Yet even in defeat she said she does notregrether vote against redistricting.

“Itwould have been easy forme to hit that ‘yes’ button,” she said.

“Tohear the number of people who asked me not to, then the number of people who thanked me,would mean Iwasn’trepresenting them.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByGEORGE WALKER IV

People protest in aSenate committee meeting during aspecial session of the state Legislature to redrawU.S congressional votingmapsWednesdayinNashville, Tenn.

3 evacuated from cruise ship with hantavirus outbreak

BY ANNIE RISEMBERG, MISPER APAWU, ALEKSANDAR FURTULA and ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press

PRAIA, Cape Verde Two pa-

tients with hantavirus and one suspected of infection were evacuated Wednesday from a cruise ship at the center of a deadly outbreak, the U.N. health agency said The ship then departed Cape Verde with nearly 150 people on board — isolated in their cabins — and headed to Spain’s Canary Islands.

Associated Press footage showed health workers in protective gear evacuating three patients, including the ship’s British doctor Two of the patients arrived at Amsterdam’s airport Wednesday evening and were taken to separate hospitals.

Three people have died and one body remained on the ship, the World Health Organization said. Of eight recorded cases, five were confirmed by laboratory testing.

Hantavirus u su a lly spreads by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings and can spread person-to-person, though that is rare, according to the WHO, whose top epidemic expert said the risk to the public is low Health officials in Europe and Africa are trying to identify people who may have had contact with people who earlier left the ship, which departed April 1 from South America for stops in Antarctica and several remote Atlantic islands.

Two Argentine officials investigating the origins of the outbreak said the government’s leading hypothesis is that a Dutch couple contracted the virus while bird-watching in the city of Ushuaia before boarding They said the couple visited a landfill during the tour and may have been exposed to rodents.

No others with symptoms

The Dutch foreign ministry said the three people evacuated Wednesday were a 41-year-old Dutch national, a 56-year-old British national and a 65-year-old German national. WHO said testing in Senegal confirmed that two of the evacuees were infected with hantavirus

Two of the evacuees were in “serious condition,” Dutch ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions said, and the third had no symptoms but was “closely associated” with a German passenger who died on the MV Hondius ship on May 2.

Upon arriving in Amsterdam, one of the evacuated patients was taken to a specialized hospital in Düsseldorf, Germany; the other was taken to a hospital in Leiden, the Netherlands.

Health officials said passengers and crew members still on the ship were without symptoms. Their journey to the Canary Islands will take three or four days, Spain’s health ministry said. Their arrival “won’t represent any risk for the public,” the ministry said.

‘Not the next COVID’ Authorities said passengers tested positive for the Andes virus, a species of hantavirus found in South America, primarily in Argentina and Chile The virus can spread between people, though that’s rare and only through close contact, according to the WHO. The health agency has never seen a hantavirus outbreak on a ship.

“This is not the next COVID, but it is a serious infectious disease,” the WHO’s top epidemic expert, Maria Van Kerkhove, said. “Most people will never be exposed to this.” At St. Helena, the body of the Dutch man suspected to be the first hantavirus case on board was taken off the ship. His wife flew to South Africa, where she collapsed at the Johannesburg airport and died.

FBI searches Virginia Senate leader’s office

BY ERIC TUCKER, ALLEN G. BREED and JENNIFER PELTZ

Associated Press

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The FBI searched the Virginia state Senate leader’s hometown office and her neighboring cannabis shop Wednesday, bringing into public view what two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press was a corruption investigation

One of the people said the investigation into Democratic Sen. L. Louise Lucas was opened during Democratic former Pr es ident Joe Biden’s administration. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation.

While the probe apparently has spanned administrations of different political parties, Democrats viewed it against a backdrop of recent, politically charged inquiries during President Donald Trump’s tenure. Lucas, who has been a senator for 34 years, was a prominent voice in Virginia’s recent redistricting effort, a Democrat-led initiative to counter Republican redrawing pushed by Trump.

“Today’s actions by federal agents are about far more than one state senator; they are about power and who is allowed to use it on behalf of the people,” Lucas said in an evening statement. “What we saw fits a clear pattern from this administration:

when challenged, they try to intimidate and silence the voices of those who stand up to them.”

The FBI said only that it was conducting a courtauthorized search in Portsmouth. Such searches require approval from a judge and for investigators to assert that they believe they have identified probable cause of a crime.

Besides the search at Lucas’ office, which houses her disabilities services business and is her political base in Portsmouth, agents in FBI T-shirts also went into the nearby cannabis store, which she opened in 2021. Several entrances to the Cannabis Outlet’s parking lot were blocked by unmarked vehicles with flashing blue lights, as was an entrance to the politician’s office. By evening, agents

were carrying boxes and bags out of the shop’s back door Lucas, a prominent backer of legalizing marijuana, has said the store sells legal hemp and CBD products. It has drawn scrutiny from local media amid allegations that some products were mislabeled.

Virginia has legalized pot possession, but retail sales of recreational marijuana remain illegal in the state.

A woman who identified herself as Lucas’ granddaughter, Nicole Bremby, came by after agents left to check on the Cannabis Outlet. She declined to discuss the raids.

“I’ve had better days,” she said. “It’s all good. Everyone is home.”

State House Speaker Don Scott said he was deeply concerned by the FBI search.

“Right now, there is far more theatrics and speculation than actual information available to the public,” Scott, a Democrat, said in a statement, adding that more facts were needed “before anyone rushes to political conclusions.”

Gov Abigail Spanberger declined to comment.

Other Virginia Democrats were quick to note that the search comes as the FBI and Justice Department have opened a spate of investigations into perceived adversaries of Trump.

Lucas has been a vocal leader of Virginia’s redistricting effort, which voters approved last month. A sign urging people to “vote yes” to “stop the MAGA power grab” still hung Wednesday on a fence separating her office’s parking lot from

that of the cannabis shop.

Amid a national, state-bystate partisan redistricting fight kicked off by Trump’s desire to aid his fellow Republicans, Virginia voters OK’d a Democrat-backed constitutional amendment authorizing new U.S. House districts. The plan could help the party win up to four additional seats.

“We are not going to let anyone tilt the system without a response,” Lucas said after the vote. Trump, meanwhile, denounced the results.

The state Supreme Court let the referendum proceed but has yet to rule on whether the effort is legal The court is considering an appeal of a lower court judge’s ruling that the amendment is invalid because lawmakers violated procedural requirements.

Voting districts typically are redrawn once a decade, after each census. But Trump last year urged Texas Republicans to redraw House districts to give the GOP an edge in

Judge releases note that Epstein cellmate says he found

BY MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

NEW YORK A note Jeffrey Epstein’s former cellmate claimed he found after the financier’s first suspected jail suicide attempt was made public Wednesday after it had been sealed and locked in a courthouse vault for nearly five years as part of an unrelated legal dispute.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas in White Plains, New York, ordered the note’s release after The New York Times petitioned last week to unseal it and other documents in a case involving the cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione.

Few people had known about the note until Tartaglione, a former police of-

ficer who is serving a life sentence for killing four people, mentioned it on a podcast last year Tartaglione claimed he discovered the note in a book in his cell after Epstein was found on July 23, 2019, with a strip of bedsheet around his neck.

“They investigated me for month — found nothing!!!” said the short note, which is hard to decipher in some places. “It is a treat to be able to choose” the “time to say goodbye,” the note continues. “Watcha want me to do — Bust out cryin!!”

“NO FUN,” the note concludes, with those words underlined. “NOT WORTH IT!!”

Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on Aug. 10, 2019, while await-

ing trial on sex trafficking charges.

The medical examiner ruled it a suicide and authorities have pointed to a series of missteps by jail personnel

— including browsing the internet and sleeping when they should’ve been checking on Epstein — for allowing him to take his own life. It is unclear who wrote

the note that Tartaglione claimed he found. It wasn’t mentioned in the lengthy government reports examining the circumstances of Epstein’s death.

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

U.S. firms add 109,000 jobs, most since 2025

U.S. companies boosted payrolls in April by the most in over a year, the latest evidence of stabilization in the labor market.

Private-sector payrolls rose by 109,000 in April after a revised 61,000 advance in the prior month, according to ADP Research data out Wednesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for an increase of 120,000.

More than half of the hiring advance was due to health services and education. Trade, transportation and utilities payrolls also increased. Construction employment grew, which may reflect the building of data centers that are at the heart of massive investment in artificial intelligence.

The figures showcase a labor market that is finding its footing after an especially harsh year for hiring. Some employers may be more at ease adding to headcount now that there’s more clarity around tariff, immigration and other fiscal policies Moreover, layoffs remain low across the economy Employment growth was fueled by businesses with fewer than 20 employees and those with 500 or more Hiring was strong in the West and South.

DoorDash plans gas price relief for drivers

DoorDash said Wednesday it expects to spend more than $50 million in the second quarter on gas price relief for its delivery drivers.

The San Francisco-based company said in March that it would offer extra compensation to U.S and Canadian drivers as part of a temporary program to offset a sharp increase in gas prices due to the Iran war The national average for a gallon of gas on Wednesday was $4.53, up 44% from a year ago, according to AAA.

DoorDash said demand for deliveries remained strong in the January-March period despite higher gas prices. Total orders rose 27% to 933 million. But that fell short of Wall Street’s forecast of 954 million, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

Revenue also fell short of expectations DoorDash said its revenue rose 33% to $4.0 billion, which was shy of the $4.15 billion analysts were forecasting.

The company said the gas price relief is being funded by adjusting investments in other areas. DoorDash said in November that it would be investing heavily in new products and services this year, including the addition of restaurant reservations in its app and robot deliveries.

DoorDash said its net income fell 5% to $184 million, or 42 cents per share, for the January-March period.

Coinbase to lay off 14% of staff as AI alters work

Cryptocurrency exchange

Coinbase said it’s slashing roughly 14% of its workforce, or about 700 workers, partly because artificial intelligence is reshaping the way people work.

“The biggest risk now is not taking action. We are adjusting early and deliberately to rebuild Coinbase to be lean, fast, and AI-native,” Coinbase Chief Executive and co-founder Brian Armstrong said in a Tuesday email to employees.

The email, which was posted on social media, said engineers with the help of AI are completing work in days rather than weeks. As more tasks get automated, that’s made it possible for the company to lean on smaller teams.

Founded in San Francisco, Coinbase is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States Millions of people use its platform to buy, sell, transfer and store cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin.

Coinbase is among tech companies that have been laying off workers and pointing to how AI is making workers more productive. It is also reducing management layers and some leaders will oversee 15 workers or more, Armstrong’s email said.

BUSINESS

NOLA.COM/BIZ

Oil prices sink as hope for deal grows

Stock markets rallied worldwide as Trump offers new deal to Iran

BY STAN CHOE Associated Press

NEW YORK — Oil prices sank Wednesday, and stock markets rallied worldwide with hopes that the United States and Iran are nearing a deal to allow ships to deliver crude from the Persian Gulf once again to their customers.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell 7.8% to $101.27, down from more than $115 early this week. It dropped as President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz could be “OPEN TO ALL” if Iran accepts a reported agreement that the U.S. president did not detail.

The small strait has caused big trouble for the global economy because the war with Iran has blocked oil tankers from using it to exit the Persian Gulf. A reopening could allow oil to flow freely again and remove upward pressure on inflation

that’s driving prices up for all kinds of products worldwide.

Stock markets abroad had even bigger gains, with indexes leaping 6.5% in Seoul, 2.9% in Paris and 2.1% in London.

Of course, hopes have risen several times already on Wall Street about a possible end to the war with Iran, only to get dashed each time

That could happen again, and oil prices pared some of their steepest losses from Wednesday morning.

The price for a barrel of Brent briefly dove below $97 before returning above $100 after Trump

threatened to start bombing “at a much higher level and intensity” if Iran does not accept the agreement.

AMD helped lead the market with a surge of 18.6% after it joined the list of big-name companies topping expectations for both profit and revenue. Outside of earnings reports, companies with big fuel bills jumped on hopes that oil prices will continue to ease. That included gains of 6.8% for United Airlines, 6.8% for Carnival and 8.8% for Royal Caribbean.

Shipping firms being whipsawed by changing stances, growing risks

Companies weighing costs, alternate routes as uncertainty over strait continues

BY MAE ANDERSON and DAVID MCHUGH AP business writers

NEW YORK With hundreds of vessels still stuck in the Persian Gulf and costs piling up, shipping companies are being whipsawed by uncertainty over how and when the Strait of Hormuz might reopen more than two months into the Iran war

On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced Project Freedom,” a way for the U.S. to “guide” ships to exit the strait. Two ships made the transit, but by Tuesday Trump abruptly paused the effort to allow time for a deal to end the war Meanwhile, the risks for ships and crew haven’t faded. A cargo container ship operated by the CMA CGM Group was damaged when it came under attack while attempting to transit the strait, the French shipping company said Wednesday, and concerns about Iranian speedboats and drones are leading major ship owners and operators to say the strait remains too dangerous.

“Ultimately, it’s still going to come back to the primary issues of risk and safety,” that shippers have to evaluate, said Sean Pribyl, a maritime attorney at Holland & Knight in Washington, D.C. “It seems as though we’re not anywhere near to returning to a free flow of traffic and navigation through the strait,” he added

Costs pile up as goods, workers stranded

Before the Iran war, 100 to 135 vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz daily, according to research firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence, but that has slowed to a trickle as Iran has demanded that vessels go through a vetting process run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to receive safe passage.

The process requires ships to follow a route near Iran’s coast, submit information on crew and cargo, and in at least some cases, pay a fee. Meanwhile, paying the IRGC risks running afoul of sanctions from the U.S. and the EU, which have designated it a terrorist organization.

Goods stranded in the strait include oil and oil products such as fertilizer, not to mention thousands of ship workers. Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday there are more than 1,550 vessels with about 22,500 mariners on them inside the Persian Gulf.

To pressure Iran, the U.S. Navy is blockading Iran’s ports, enforcing the blockade outside the strait in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Holland & Knight’s Pribyl said shippers and ship insurers are likely still assessing the scenario in the strait Ships carry two main types of insurance: protection and indemnity, which covers property and thirdparty liabilities, and — during a conflict — war risk insurance that covers damage and

losses due to war Insurance costs have shot up for vessels in the region due to the risk of attack, jumping from less than 1% of the value of goods on a ship to anywhere from 3% to 10% during the conflict, said Ed Anderson, a professor of supply chain and operations management for the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. But even with insurance, most shippers have deemed the crossing too unsafe.

“Ferrying out a couple of ships has not really affected the shipping industry in any way whatsoever,” he said.

Companies weigh costs and risks

Hapag-Lloyd AG, one of the world’s largest container shipping companies, says the Hormuz situation is costing it $60 million a week, particularly in skyrocketing prices of fuel and insurance. It has a fleet of 301 ships including four stranded in the Persian Gulf. The company has also had to suspend some of its transport services and find alternate routes either to safe harbors or over land.

“These options are however limited in capacity and cannot completely replace the regular maritime routes through the region,” the company said in a statement.

The Maersk shipping company said its U.S.-flagged Alliance Fairfax vehicle carrier exited the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz “accompanied by U.S. military assets” on Monday “The transit was completed without incident, and all crew members are safe and unharmed,” the company said in a statement.

A long return to normal Oil prices and shipping are unlikely to return to normal until it’s clear the risk of at-

tacks in the Strait of Hormuz have receded, cautioned Kaho Yu, head of energy and resources at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.

“Even with diplomatic engagement continuing, energy markets are unlikely to return quickly to precrisis assumptions,” he said. “Refiners, shippers, and commodity traders will remain cautious until there is clearer evidence that Hormuz disruptions will not re-escalate.”

A meeting on Wednesday between Iranian and Chinese diplomats emphasized de-escalation. But “Hormuz remains the real metric that will be watched,” Yu added. “Tanker traffic and energy flows over the coming weeks and months are likely to matter more than diplomatic language in assessing whether Beijing can translate influence with Tehran into practical stability.”

If the ceasefire holds and ships gradually begin transiting the Strait of Hormuz again, shipping won’t “snap back overnight,” warned Razat Gaurav, CEO of Kinaxis, a supply chain management company

“Even when conditions improve, carriers, insurers, and shippers need confidence that stability will hold before capacity and routes fully normalize,” he said. “Air cargo can recover relatively quickly, but ocean shipping typically takes weeks or months because of longer lead times and contractual constraints.”

He said shipments of certain categories like liquid natural gas and sulfur, where the Middle East is a major source of supply, are likely to move more quickly as backlogs clear, but “most shippers will remain cautious until stability proves durable,” he said.

Some iPhone owners paid after Apple agrees to settle case for $250M Company accused of false advertisement

BY KELVIN CHAN Associated Press

LONDON Owners of some iPhones are in line to get cash payments of up to $95 from Apple after the company on Tuesday reached a $250 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit for false advertising of its artificial intelligence capabilities. Apple trumpeted new AI features for its virtual assistant Siri when it rolled out the iPhone 16 in 2024, part of new software updates that the company billed as “Apple

Intelligence.” The company has been scrambling to keep up with tech rivals amid the AI boom but still hasn’t delivered on the Siri revamp two years later The lawsuit, filed on behalf of U.S. consumers in the San Francisco federal court for the Northern District of California, alleged that Apple deceived consumers with a marketing campaign that promoted features that did not yet exist and misled them into buying the devices.

Lawyers for the iPhone buyers asked a court for preliminary approval of the proposed $250 million settlement, according to a court fil-

ing. If approved by a judge, it would be one of the biggest ever for Apple. The settlement covers about 37 million devices bought in the United States between June 10, 2024, and March 29, 2025, including all iPhone 16 models and the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Owners are eligible for a payment of at least $25 for each device, and that amount could go up to $95 depending on how many claims are filed “and other factors,” the filing said.

Customers will be notified by email or mail that they can file a claim on a settlement website, it said.

“Apple has reached a settlement

to resolve claims related to the availability of two additional features,” the company said in a statement. “We resolved this matter to stay focused on doing what we do best, delivering the most innovative products and services to our users.” Apple, based in Cupertino, California, was caught off-guard by the intense consumer interest in the Siri AI features. Buyers were angered after finding out that the new features would be released later than expected, the filing said. They “would not have purchased the Eligible Devices or would have paid significantly less, had they known Enhanced Siri features were not available,” the filing said.

ISNA PHOTO By AMIRHOSEIN KHORGOOI

A container ship sits at anchor as a small motorboat passes in the foreground in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, on Saturday.

state Sen. Kirk Talbot, RRiver Ridge, said during the hearing.

One NewOrleans-based employment attorney has called theseverance clause the first of its kind he had encountered, noting it seemed more in line with terms for Fortune500 executives or professional athletes.

The Louisiana Legislative Auditor’sOffice has declared that severance pay for any public employeeamountsto an unconstitutional donation of public funds.

After the agency’s attorney reviewed thecontract, he suggested changes, and Vicari and Rondeno signed anew version in February It didnot include anyseverance, but the three-year deal makes himeligible for 6% annual raises on top of a substantial salary increase already granted to him.

If he receives a6%raise each year,Rondeno will earn about $250,000, or more than double his predecessor’ssalary. It also gives him protections that no other employee at the agency has He can only be fired for cause —definedaswillful misconduct, gross negligence or insubordination —byamajority vote of the board. The board is now considering new bylaws giving itself explicit authority over hiring, firing and setting the chief’s salary.

‘Not in town that week’ Vicari said he did not consult theboard or the agency’sattorney,Kirk Ordoyne, before signing because Ordoyne was “not in town that week.”

“Who wrote the contract?” Talbot asked.

“He did,” Vicari said.

“So the chiefwrote his own employment contract?” Talbot followed up.

“Yeah,” responded Vicari, who later acknowledged that perhaps an attorney hired by Rondeno helped him. Vicarithen sought to justify its generous terms by saying Rondeno was“taking abeating in the media,” calling it “fake news.” “He really felt that he was going to be fired.”

When Talbot asked Vicari what aboutthe news coverage was “fake,” Vicari responded: “I would invite you to come to our executivesessions. Icannotdiscuss that here.”

Talbot also noted that Rondeno is, by law,not allowed to make more than the State Policesuperintendent, Col. Robert P. Hodges, who earns an annual salary of $198,765, compared to Rondeno’s$208,000. Vicari justified Rondeno’ssalary because he was also serving as the agency’schief compliance officer

“I don’tthink the statute says you can’tmake more than Louisiana State Police unless you have another job,” Talbot said. He saidthe agency“might have been in violationofthe statute” since last July,when Rondeno was granted his current pay

“We’re correcting it,” Vicari said. He told lawmakers the agency would reduce Rondeno’ssalary and remove him from the chief complianceofficer role, hiring aseparate internal auditor instead.

“Hesaved millions of dollars for this authority.That’s what people don’twant to talk about,” Vicari said, without providing details. Talbot noted that the state’scivil servicecommission warned that assigning the police chief to also serve as chief complianceofficer may create aconflict of interest.

“When Italkedtothe executive director of civilservice, Isaid, ‘Did you approve combining those offices?’ And they said they did not,”

SinceGov.JeffLandrytookoffice in 2024,a once-insulated flood-protection agency hasseenboard membersresignand itspolicebudgetincrease. Atimelineofsignificant moves:

May2024: Gov. Landry refuses to forward civil engineer Norma Jean Mattei to the Senate,the firstpublicsign of abreak with the post-Katrina nominating process.

Nov. 2024: Roy Carubba, whohad done engineering work for Shane Guidry’scompany,is installedasboard president, and regional director Kelli Chandler is placed on leave pending an internal probe.

Dec. 2024: Chandler resigns. Accordingto Guidry,the sticking point wasthe police force: Chandleropposed expandingit; the governor wanted it larger

March2025: Four board members quit in protest weeks beforehurricaneseason, citing concerns the agency’s flood-protection mission is being diluted.

June 2025: Apublicmeeting nearly turns physical —CarubbatellsClayCosséto“hit me.”

July 2025: Landry removes Carubbaand installs contractorPeter Vicari as board president, though Carubbaremains aregular board member

Sept. 2025: An internal document invites levee officers to apply for anew SWAT-trained unit with semi-automatic rifles.

Oct. 2025: Police chief Joshua Rondeno files amisdemeanor batterycharge against 68-year-oldboardmemberDeborah Settoon, claiming she punched him in the arm—an allegation she calls absurd.

Feb. 2026: Rondeno’snew contract is quietly approved:guaranteed 6% annual raises, firing protectionnoother employee has and a three-year termthat could push his salaryto $250,000 by 2029.

Talbot said from the dais.

‘Share your view’

Talbot also pressed Vicari on the firing last week of two employees in the agency’s operationsdepartment, including department head Darren Austin. Austinwas in charge of criticalcomponents of the region’sflood control infrastructure, including floodgates and pump stations.

The board’svice president,Roy Carubba, called in to WWL radio last week and said the employees were fired because they were stealing money from the agency

“Is that true?” Talbot asked Vicari.

“Yes,”respondedthe board president.

Talbot noted the seriousness of that accusation, and speculated that theboard could beopening itselfupto defamation liability if those employees are found innocent.

Areport on the firings, obtained by The Times-Picayune through apublic recordsrequest,indicates that an employee who managed the controls at thepump stationatthe end of the 17th

Street outfall canal was collecting moreovertime than his peers.

The report, which Rondeno contributed toaschief compliance officer,accuses Austin, theemployee’smanager,offailing to properly oversee hissubordinate’s hours. It frames their firing as the result of violations of theagency’s internalovertime policy and civil service rules,which both employees dispute. The report does not accuse either employee of a crime.

“I was handling thedepartmentasIthought adirector needed to handle thedepartment,” Austin said Wednesday. “Wehad increased overtime because of lack of staffing. Nothing was being obscured. Iwas paying an employee for overtime that Itrusted that he worked.”

Vicari, during thehearing, describedwhattook place as “payroll fraud.”

Gregory Marsiglia, aNew Orleans attorney whose appointmenttothe boardwas up for Senateconfirmation Wednesday,agreed with Talbot’swarning about defamation “I’m alawyer,” Marsiglia said. “I share your view.”

La.Senatebillexpands deathpenalty eligibility

Changeprompted by mall shooting

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

The Senatealtered abill Wednesday night to expand who can be charged with first-degree murder in Louisiana, citing April’s massshooting at theMall of Louisiana as the reason for thechange.

With little debate and no opposition, the chamber approved an amendment to HouseBill102 that revises the definition of first-degree murder,anoffense that can carry thedeath penalty,to include killings carried out in public places where at least threepeople wereat risk of great harm

It would further add killings committed with illegally possessed firearms and those committed by defendants out on bail, probation or parole. Louisiana has few restrictions on who can carryguns,but it is generally illegalfor people with felony convictions to do so.

In astatement, Gov.Jeff Landry, who successfully pushed to resume executions in Louisiana after a 15-year hiatus, called the amendment to HB102 “absolutely necessary” and said it would bring thestate’scriminal justice system “one step closer” to delivering “true justice” for victims

“I promised thepeople of this State andthe city of Baton Rouge action after the tragic shooting at the Mall of Louisiana,” Landry said.

Capital defense attorneys werequick to panthe proposal, which they criticized as overly broad and said nearly eliminates the distinctionbetween first- and second-degreemurder They also argued that killings by people who fire into

crowds alreadycount as first-degree murder

TheamendmenttoHB102 comes at Landry’srequest, according to state Rep. Jeffrey Wiley,R-Maurepas, who is sponsoring the bill and expressed fervent support forthe new version.

Wileysaidthe bill ensures there are“real, serious consequences” forheinous crimes, and that expanding the definitionof first-degree murder to cover people on bail or parole wouldcreate a“catchall.”

“Whenyou’re looking to prosecute,you’relooking forall kinds of pilingonof charges that you can make to make sure youkeep them where you need to be, which is in jail forever,” he added.

In itsoriginal form, HB102 created the crime of second-degreecruelty to the elderlyand persons with infirmities.

Then, on April 23, amass shooting at the Mall of Louisiana resulted in the death of 17-year-old Martha Odom and injured five other people. Police said multiple peoplefired on each other; officials booked Markel Lee, 17, on acount of first-degree murder in the killing.

That prompted the amendmenttoHB102, according to stateSen. Alan Seabaugh,RShreveport, who drafted it to ensure that killing someone after firing into acrowd counts as first-degree murder,even if the victim was not the intended target, he said on the Senate floor Tuesday evening.

Thenew lawwould address situations where “an innocentperson was shot while theperpetrator was trying to shoot somebody else,” he said. “It’staking away that‘Ididn’tmean to kill her,I meanttokill him.

Capital defense attorneys notedthatthe amendment

goes further than that. “Such ahuge change shouldn’tbemade as a floor amendment withlittle debate,” said Cecelia Kappel, an attorney whorepresents people on death row.“We already have amuch broader definition than in other states.I think this would make us an extreme outlier.” What wouldchange In Louisiana, akilling does notneed to be premeditated to count as firstdegreemurder, Kappel said. Instead,itmust be committed only with “specificintent to kill or inflict bodily harm”—which Kappelsaidcan be formed“in an instant” —and meet one of along list of conditions outlined in state statute. Forexample,defendants can face the charge if the victim is achild, firefighter or elderly person, or if the crime is carried outduring an act of terrorism or in the middle of arapeor burglary If HB102 becomes law, Kappel predictedprosecutorswould use thewider definition as atool to pressure more defendants to plead to lifeinprison. She said it was unlikely thatHB102 would greatly increase how many defendants actually end up sentencedtodeath in Louisiana. In only asmallportion of first-degreemurder casesdoprosecutors seek thedeath penalty, and juries do not always approve it, she said. But the legislation would expand which defendantsare entitled to capitaldefense teams, Kappelsaid, adding that aspecialized defense has to be offered whenever thedeath penaltyison the table, even if the prosecutor eventually decides against seeking it.

Staffgraphic

First Student, which the district hires to run about half its fleet of 335 buses, officials said. Each bus carries an average of about 70 students, though actual numbers vary by route and day

Any bus disruption can create a burden for families and cause students to miss critical class time, parents and teachers say “A lack of reliable transportation to and from school for many kids is not merely a logistical failure,” West Jefferson High School teacher John Guzda wrote in a recent letter to The Times-Picayune. “It is a civil rights issue.”

Jefferson Parish schools officials said they are unable to share exactly how many students have been impacted by the recent rise in cancellations, which the officials attributed to driver shortages.

The district has taken steps to improve communication with families and expanded its contract with a different bus company, said Chief Operations Officer Patrick

MILLIONS

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Louisiana’s commissioner of higher education, said the board dissolved the metric to comply with Trump’s executive orders prohibiting the federal government and federal contractors from maintaining DEI programs.

In an executive order on March 26, Trump said individuals are separated on the basis of race and ethnicity in DEI initiatives “rather than treated equally and objectively based on their merit and without regard to their immutable characteristics.”

“There’s been significant conversation about racebased metrics, so we removed it in the formula,” Reed said.

Among Louisiana’s four public university systems, the historically Black Southern University system will lose the most: roughly $1.5 million, the Board of Regents estimates based on numbers from the previous fiscal year

The Southern University system’s total appropriated funds for that year were $191.9 million, according to its budget report

The individual schools most affected by the change are the Southern University campus in Baton Rouge and Louisiana’s other public HBCU, Grambling State University, of the University of Louisiana system.

“It may not seem like a lot for three universities, but for us, that’s a significant cut,” McMeans said, referring to Southern’s campuses in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Shreveport. “It’s one that we don’t want to think about trying to make decisions on how we’re going to overcome.”

Southern recently requested an additional $19 million in one-time funding to address campus safety and infrastructure, including the ailing power grid that forced classes to be delayed or canceled three times since February

“We’re trying to go in the

Jenkins. Despite the recent spike, the total number of bus cancellations has decreased over the past few years, Jenkins said, adding that most buses run on schedule every day

Still, he said, “We’re very compassionate for parents who are impacted when a bus isn’t running.”

In a statement, First Student said it experienced a rise in driver call-outs since March, leading to transportation disruptions. The company is working to recruit and train new drivers to fill the gap, the statement added.

“Our local team remains focused on minimizing disruptions,” it said, “and working closely with the district to ensure students are transported safely and as reliably as possible.”

An ongoing problem

Bus driver shortages are up nationwide, with drivers pointing to low pay as a top reason for quitting Since the beginning of March, Jenkins said the Jefferson Parish school system has seen an even bigger uptick in route cancellations as more of the district’s drivers whose top annual pay is

other direction and increase our revenues and increase our funding and our fiscal stability,” McMeans said.

“Having a decrease in funding in our base it’s not a one-time cut; this is our base — it will definitely negatively impact us as a system.”

Some non-HBCUs will benefit from the redistribution of dollars through other metrics used to determine funding, such as the benchmark that rewards universities for graduating Pell Grant recipients The LSU system could receive approximately $1.2 million in additional funding once the race-based metric disappears from the formula, according to Board of Regents estimates for fiscal year 2025.

“I think it was President McMeans, the interim president of Southern, who said something to the effect of, ‘Where you stand depends on where you sit,’” University of Louisiana system President Rick Gallot said.

“This change does impact some of our institutions, but it also helps other institutions.” Federal investigation

The Board of Regents divides money from the Legislature between public universities using a funding formula. The equation has been run with a “standstill,” or frozen, budget for three years.

“It doesn’t create funding, but it allocates funding based on priorities,” Reed said. In the past decade, the formula has increasingly

about $35,000 — leave for higherpaying jobs.

But some parents say the district’s transportation issues have persisted longer than a few months.

Prewitt said her children missed the first three days of school last fall because their bus failed to show up. She said the bus still comes late sometimes, leaving her children waiting up to 45 minutes at their bus stop Her children’s school marks absences as “excused” when buses are late or canceled, she added.

Parent Katherine Scott shared screenshots of district notifications that showed her daughter’s bus to Riverdale High School was canceled almost every day during the second half of September Scott, who doesn’t own a vehicle, said she was late to work several times after driving her daughter to school in a car borrowed from relatives.

“It’s not just an inconvenience — it’s lost class time and potential safety concerns,” Scott said during an interview last fall. “And it’s happened multiple times, over and over.”

focused on educational outcomes, funneling dollars according to benchmarks like Pell Grant graduates, adult learner graduates and the time to a degree for firsttime freshmen.

The board decided to remove its underrepresented minority benchmark last year as an anti-DEI wave, led by the White House, began to sweep through higher education, Reed said. The change will take effect when the formula is run for the upcoming fiscal year

The move occurs as the U.S. Department of Education announced an investigation into the Louisiana Board of Regents in February over its DEI policies and what the department said were potential violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

At issue were the higher education board’s executive budget documents in recent years, in which the board included performance targets for the state’s public colleges and universities to increase the number of “underrepresented minorities (all races other than white, Asian)” receiving postsecondary credentials.

“The Louisiana Board of Regents’ objective to prioritize recruitment and graduation efforts for ‘all races other than white (and) Asian’ appears to blatantly violate not only America’s antidiscrimination laws, but our nation’s core principles,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in a news release in February.

While the formula shakeup will result in some dol-

Jenkins said transportation issues are more common at the beginning of each school year and typically subside after a few weeks. The district sets up a temporary call center at the start of the school year to field parents’ calls, he added.

Shonica McDowell, whose two sons and nephew attend West Jefferson High School, estimated that their bus is canceled at least once a month. McDowell, who doesn’t have a car, pays up to $50 for the students to take an Uber to school on those days. She rides along so she can sign them in at school, per the late policy then pays for another Uber home.

“I need to get these kids to school because I want them to get their education,” said McDowell, who works at Walmart. “It’s frustrating.”

Possible solutions

District officials said they’re working to address the transportation problems.

Last month, the district amended its contract with Sunshine Bus Sales Inc. to lease an additional 15 vehicles to ease the burden on the

district when buses break down.

The district also introduced a mobile app called My Ride that gives families real-time bus updates.

But solving the driver shortage will be more difficult.

One major barrier is the cost of obtaining a commercial driver’s license, which includes a $4,000 fee and more than 90 training hours. Jenkins said the district is looking into covering the licensing cost for drivers who agree to stay with the district for a certain number of years, but added that the plan is still in the early stages.

The district also started requiring drivers to get a doctor’s note before calling out sick during periods, such as Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest, when bus drivers are in high demand. The policy has reduced spikes in driver shortages during those times, Jenkins said.

Still, he acknowledged that bus delays and cancellations are frustrating, and he encouraged families to report any issues to the district’s transportation office.

“When a parent calls in,” he said, “we try to listen to them understand their concern, and address and resolve it.”

Grambling. “But as we think about the goal of attainment of a degree or a credential of value, and when you have approximately a third of your state’s population being minority, not only does it have an impact on individual institutions, but it has an impact on overall support for students all across the state.”

lars being regained through other metrics, Louisiana’s HBCUs still come out with the biggest losses.

Southern University in Baton Rouge and Grambling State University in Grambling would have missed out on $1.1 million and $899,000, respectively, in fiscal year 2025 had the race-based incentive not been included in the formula, according to Board of Regents estimates.

“Certainly, they have the ability to weather the storm,” Gallot said about

Tramelle Howard, Southern University alumnus and Louisiana director of the Washington, D.C.-based education policy group EdTrust, said the absence of the underrepresented minority metric this year is disappointing.

He said higher education leaders have different strategies for how to handle antiDEI pushback. Some continue to follow the practices by a different name, while others “overcomply” and root out all measures that benefit students from diverse backgrounds.

He said Louisiana’s HBCUs will need to seek more philanthropic dollars, but the change only adds more barriers to universities that struggle to access state funding at the same rate as their flagship counterparts.

“I feel like right now HBCUs are being served in a policy space that we did not create,” Howard said. “We literally created institutions because people didn’t want us to go to other institutions, and now we create our institutions, we’re doing more with less, and you’re still trying to put us under attack.”

“They have been overcomplying and responding to a narrative,” Howard said of Louisiana leaders. “I do think it’s about the pendulum swinging, but I think the damages are going to be so longstanding that even when the pendulum swings in a different direction, it’s going to take some real, intentional, innovative work to ensure that we can actually live out the promises of what education should be.”

Councilcancels $16M tennis complex

Facility at JohnnyBrightPlaygroundhaltedafter backlash

BY LARA NICHOLSON Staff writer

The Jefferson Parish Council said Wednesdayit will no longer pursue a$16 million professional-grade tennis complex at Johnny BrightPlaygroundfollowing backlash from the community

Hans Liljeberg, the Jefferson Parish Council member who representsMetairie, said theparish wouldno longer pursue apartnership with nonprofit Split Sets Foundationtobuild acomplexonJohnnyBright Playground that would have featured over 30 courts, abasketballprogram, aturf field

and asportsinjury clinic.

“I have come to the conclusion that while a(U.S. Tennis Association) tennis hub, basketball clinic andsport performance and injury preventionarena is agreat projectfor Jefferson Par-

ish, Bright doesn’twant it,” Liljebergsaid.

Parish officials saidthey wouldworkwithSplit Sets to find another property for thefacility,but that other parishes and municipalities have alreadybegun courting thenonprofitfor the project.

Severalofficials, particularly Parish President

Cynthia Lee Sheng and atlarge council memberScott Walker,expressed disappointment with the project’scancellation and said it would have revitalized the playground while attracting professional tournaments andother economicdevelopment to the area.

“We’re not trying to do something dangerous in the middle of aneighborhood,” Lee Sheng said. “We’re try-

ingtobringtenniscourts to arecreational facility,guys. This kind of thing, with opposition everywhere, with other people’sagendas, we arebetterthanthis in Jefferson Parish.” Split Sets co-ownerGwen Loria said her nonprofit is seeking to make tennis and community programming affordable andaccessible to

Metairie Towers ownerfiles bankruptcy

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer

Less than aday before Metairie Towers was scheduled tobeauctioned off at asheriff’s sale, the building’sowner placed the property under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, putting the sale indefinitely on hold.

The JeffersonParish Sheriff’s Office had seized the vacant condominium complex and the 4acres on which it sits in February after developer Darren Aschaffenburg defaulted on his $19million mortgage with the building’slender.Officials had scheduled the sale for 10 a.m. Wednesday But the auction was postponed after Aschaffenburg late Tuesday placed the legal entity that owns the building, D.K.A. One,LLC, under the protection of the federal bankruptcy court. The developer saidinanemail Tuesday nightthat the movewillgive him more time to find abuyer at what he believes is the right price to make theproject work.

“I have fought like hell for 2plus years to put thisdealtogether, never wavering in my belief of the property,project and surrounding community,” Aschaffenburg said in the email.“We finally have potentially all the pieces inplace to pull this $100 million dealoff Therefore, Iamusing the business bankruptcy laws as atool to buy our team the time needed to close.”

The bankruptcy is the latest development in the yearslong saga of MetairieTowers,which sits on some of the most valuable property in Jefferson Parish in the heart of Old Metairie. It has been vacant since it was damaged by Hurricane Ida and, subsequently,

SUNRISE OVER THESWAMP

Outdoorseating at longtime Tulane partybar in limbo

Permit denied for Uptown’s TheBoot

BYKASEY BUBNASH Staff writer

Forthe past threeyears,law

students Nick Rusovich, William Turner and Eric Shea have celebrated the end of finals week as so many Tulane University students have before them: with adrinkat The Boot.

That’swhat they were doing at the decades-oldcollege bar on April 30, but, perched at ahigh-top table inside the dimly lit dive, their annual tradition lookeda little different this year.They’d typically enjoy the springweather at atable outside, but the sidewalks surroundingThe Boot have largely been void of seating since the bar

was cited foroperating an unpermittedsidewalk cafeinthe fall of 2025. Outside, agroup of freshmen on alunch break grappled with the sameissue. They’d just ordered sandwiches from the shop next door,and, with nowhereelse to eat them, pulled plastic chairs from a stackoutside the bar and reassembledthem on the sidewalk like old times. All four said they’d signed a petition to bring thebar’soutdoor seatingback, an effortthathas so far proven unsuccessful.

“It sucks,” Noah Aronson said. Nestledupagainst Tulane’s campus andsurrounded by student housing, The Boot has been afavoritehangout among New Orleans college students for more than 60 years, making aname for itself with livemusic, daily drink

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

Five Republicans,including a former Jefferson Parish president and two statelegislators, are running in the May16election for aseat on theboard that oversees Louisianautilities. The five-member Public Service Commission regulates electric, water,wastewater, naturalgas andsome telecommunications services. It hasplayed acritical role in approving power generation plans forMeta’smassive data center in northLouisianaand deciding how much of thoseproject

costs are shouldered by families and other businesses. CommissionerEric Skrmetta,a Metairie Republican, is vacating his District 1seatdue to term limits.The districtincludesportions of Jefferson,Livingston,Orleans and St. Charles parishes. It also covers theparishesofPlaquemines, St Bernard,St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington. If no candidate secures over 50%ofthe vote on May16, thetop two Republicans will compete in a June 27 runoff. The finalwinner will then face Democrat Connie Norris, of Slidell, who ran unopposed in her party’sprimary,inthe Novembergeneral election.The GOP

candidate is favored to wininthe Republican-leaning district. Here are the five candidates: Wallace“Wayne” Cooper Cooper,55, is akitchen manager at the Florida Parish Juvenile Detention Center andpreviously rana meal-prep business for a local gym until the COVID-19 pandemic. Before Hurricane Katrina, he was a partnerinI-55

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Man jumps from bridge into Lake Pontchartrain

Officials say he is suspect in multiparish crime spree

BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer

A Napoleonville man accused of multiple stabbings, a home invasion and other crimes jumped into Lake Pontchartrain from the Causeway Bridge on Wednesday after he ran out of gas, police said

The man was pulled from the water using a rescue basket about 30 minutes after he jumped, according to Carlton Dufrechou, the causeway’s general manager He was transported to a hospital on the south shore, according to Dufrechou, who said he did not have any apparent injuries.

The man was identified by the Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office as Kentrell Tremaine Sanders, 45, according to spokesperson Lonny Cavalier. Sanders is accused of committing multiple crimes on Wednesday across Assumption, Ascension and St. Tammany parishes.

Cavalier said that at 6 a.m., the Sheriff’s Office received a call from Assumption Community Hospital in Napoleonville saying a man was in the emergency room with multiple stab wounds in the head. The man alleged that Sanders had broken into his home and stabbed him, according to Cavalier Sanders then went to a convenience store, where he jumped into a pickup truck and forced the driver to take him south of Napoleonville, before eventually taking the car from the driver, Cavalier said. He also stabbed the driver, Cavalier said. Sanders then traveled to Ascension Parish, where police say he

Host,

stole a vehicle from a store about 8:33 a.m at the intersection of La. 621 and La. 73 and was chased by Ascension Parish deputies, according to Donovan Jackson, an Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesperson. The Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office called off the pursuit after about five minutes, Jackson said. Jackson said his office had not known about the incidents in Assumption Parish when they were pursuing him.

About 10:26 a.m., Mandeville police responded to a reported incident at the Discount Zone gas station at the corner of La. 22 and West Causeway Boulevard in Mandeville, according to Sgt. Timothy McJunkin, of the Mandeville Police Department.

McJunkin said Sanders pulled up to the gas station in the white pickup truck he had stolen in Ascension and attempted to steal a vehicle from a person pumping gas nearby The vehicle’s owner fought back and Sanders fled in the truck he arrived in, headed toward the Causeway Bridge.

Sanders ran out of fuel while driving southbound on the Causeway breaking down around mile marker 10, Dufrechou said. When Causeway police approached, he jumped off the bridge into the lake. Causeway police arrested him at the scene, McJunkin said, but multiple jurisdictions have filed arrest warrants for him McJunkin also said Sanders is accused of robbery in Madisonville.

The bridge’s southbound lanes briefly closed as officials worked to rescue Sanders from the water The U.S. Coast Guard also responded to the incident. Lanes had reopened by noon

Email Willie Swett at willie. swett@theadvocate.com

teen brothers speak after ICE release

BY MARTHA SANCHEZ Staff writer

Gail Baptiste is tired and relieved.

She reunited last week with Israel and Max Makoka, the teenage brothers her family cares for, after they were released from the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The brothers had been detained for over a week after immigration agents arrested them as they walked to their school bus stop in Diamondhead, Mississippi.

The Makokas returned home after an outcry from their conservative Mississippi Gulf Coast city Baptiste said the experience is now galvanizing her to advocate for others in similar situations as the Makokas seek reinstatement of their student visas.

“People came together and really became united in this situation,” Baptiste said. “But I don’t want it to stop with Max and Israel.”

For more than two decades, Baptiste and her family have hosted dozens of international students at their home in Diamondhead. But they made national news last month after the arrests of Israel, 18, and Max, 15.

The Makokas, from the Republic of the Congo, entered the U.S on student visas in 2023 and 2024 and attended the Piney Woods School, a historically Black boarding institution in central Mississippi. They stayed with the Baptistes during summers and holidays and asked to transfer to Hancock High School, near Diamondhead, last year The Baptistes also became their legal guardians

The Baptistes and their attorney say they were never notified that the move would change the brothers’ legal status. ICE has said the brothers violated their student visas by transferring from the private school in central Mississippi to the public Hancock High School on the coast.

“Because they violated their visas, they are subject to removal,” an ICE spokesperson said last month.

The brothers were held in separate ICE facilities — one in Houston, the other in Jena according to their family Their detention came as the Trump administration cracks down on illegal immigration, including by increasing scrutiny on international students studying in the United States.

‘What can we do?’

For the past few days, Baptiste said she has been deep in thought and trying to stay away from social

State Sen. Larry Selders hospitalized

BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT Staff writer

State Sen. Larry Selders, a Baton Rouge Democrat, has been hospitalized after “a serious medical emergency involving his heart,” according to a statement posted on his social media.

“He is receiving care from his

medical team and is surrounded by his loved ones,” the statement says. “He will be temporarily unavailable as he focuses on his treatment and recovery.” Selders’ office remains open for constituents, the statement said. Selders was elected last year to the seat that now-U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields vacated to run for Congress. The Legislature is in its final month of a regular session, with a number of major issues still to be resolved most notably, redistricting the state’s U.S. congressional voting maps after a Supreme Court decision found the current one unconstitutional.

Police: Teen booked with murder in shooting death

BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer

Detectives investigating the death of a 13-year-old boy gunned down in Harvey last week have arrested a teen in the killing.

A 15-year-old boy was taken into custody Friday and booked with second-degree murder, according to Sgt. Brandon Veal, spokesper-

BOOT

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specials and block parties that draw hundreds.

The bar’s owners, the Napoli family, say tables and chairs have lined the sidewalk outside The Boot for as long as anyone can remember But for the first time in years, freshmen who started at Tulane and Loyola universities this school year have by and large never enjoyed an evening playing cards or camped out late into the night at tables on the corner of Zimpel and Broadway streets.

Crowds still spill out into the street on busy nights, and tables dotted the sidewalk on Wednesday evening after being stacked nearby But the long-term future of the Boot’s outdoor seating has been in limbo since an August inspection that led the Napolis to apply for a sidewalk cafe permit.

But Jason Napoli said his family isn’t giving up the fight, and there could be signs of hope.

son for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. Authorities did not release the suspect’s name because he is a juvenile. The teen is accused of killing Josiah Brackens on the afternoon of April 30.

Josiah was shot about 2:15 p.m. outside a residence in the 1400 block of Angus Drive The Sheriff’s Office did not release any

information about a suspected motive for the killing.

Friends and family were expected to gather at the location at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday for a balloon release in Josiah’s honor A GoFundMe has been organized to help cover funeral costs for Josiah’s burial. Those who wish to donate may do so at https://gofund.me/83e976e2e.

the wall in the background advertising one of the first live shows performed by local rock band The Radiators.

media as the teenagers process the experience and readjust to school.

On Monday, the family drove to a check-in at an ICE facility in St. Rose. Amy Maldonado, an attorney representing the Makoka brothers, has said they will participate in frequent ICE check-ins and court proceedings.

The Makoka brothers garnered support from their neighbors and leaders, and Baptiste said the office of Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith also helped the family find a top immigration attorney and answered questions about the federal immigration process.

Now, Baptiste is thinking about other children who lack similar support.

“It’s just been really on my heart and on my mind ” she said. “What can we do? What should we do?”

The brothers say they are deeply grateful to be back home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The Baptistes drove for hours to pick them up from the detention centers last week

“I’m grateful to be back with my family,” Israel said. “Everybody showed support.”

“It’s been great to go to school and see my teachers, my friends,” said Max. “Everybody keeps saying ‘Hey Max, I’m glad you’re back.’”

Hosting international students

Baptiste estimates her family has hosted about 100 students over the years, giving them a place to stay during summers and school breaks. The Makokas are the only international students who have lived with them.

Many students the Baptistes have hosted arrived from countries including the Congo Rwanda and Cameroon, and are now adults with college degrees. Baptiste said one of them is now determined to get a doctorate degree.

Many residents in Hancock County, where Donald Trump won almost 80% of the vote in the last presidential election, rallied to support the brothers, including by writing letters in support of their release and calling federal representatives’ offices.

Others questioned the outcry and argued ICE had to detain the brothers since their legal status had lapsed.

Baptiste said she is determined to work toward a greater solution.

“I feel responsible for somebody else’s children that I have taken as my own,” she said. “I do want this to make a difference for other people, other kids, other families, if at all possible.”

“The sidewalk seating at The Boot has been a staple of the neighborhood since the early 1970s,” Napoli said in a statement. “There is overwhelming support within the community for the sidewalk seating and we are exploring all options.”

Grandfathered in

On Tuesday, Napoli found out the city’s Board of Zoning Adjustments put The Boot’s sidewalk seating back on its May 18 docket for reconsideration. It’s the first good news Napoli has heard in a while.

Susannah Kirby, interim director for the Department of Safety and Permits, said The Boot is in a residential zoning district where sidewalk cafes are prohibited at legal nonconforming bars, establishments like The Boot that no longer comply with current zoning laws but were lawfully established before the rules changed.

At a zoning board meeting on April 20, Napoli and land use consultant Zach Smith appealed the permit denial, arguing that, like The Boot itself, its outdoor seating existed before the zoning ordinances in question and should be grandfathered in, too.

A photo that Napoli said dates back to 1978 shows two patrons at a beer-bottle strewn table outside The Boot, a poster taped to

TOWERS

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a contractor making repairs.

Aschaffenburg’s bid to buy the building was chosen in early 2024 through a competitive process held by the building’s condo owners. He planned to convert the complex to luxury apartments with rooftop penthouses and highend amenities. But he was unable to secure permanent financing for the renovation, which he estimated would cost $100 million.

Late last year, his lender, Atlanta-based Bay Point Capital Partners, initiated foreclosure proceedings.

Chris Caplinger, an attorney for Bay Point Capital Partners, declined to comment Wednesday on the bankruptcy filing. Aschaffenburg’s local bankruptcy lawyer, Mark Mintz, did not return calls seeking comment.

Interest accruing

In the bankruptcy petition form

filed in the U.S Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District, D.K.A

One said both its assets and liabilities were between $10 million and $50 million and that it has be-

While some neighbors and students suggested that The Boot’s seating area has expanded in recent years, street view images on Google Maps show roughly the same number of tables outside the bar going back to 2011.

“The key issue here is can a nonconforming use apply to a public space,” Napoli, a prosecutor serving as assistant district attorney in Plaquemines Parish, said at the zoning board meeting. “There is zero case law to say that it cannot. You do have that authority And we are at this point honestly begging for the ability to continue something that we’ve had in place for 50 years.”

Chief Zoning Official Dan Macnamara disputed Napoli’s claims, arguing The Boot’s owners can’t assert nonconforming use on property they don’t own. He also said the law clearly states that “casual, intermittent, temporary or illegal use of land or structures is not sufficient to establish any nonconforming use.”

“It’s one thing to say, ‘Well this has been going on forever,’” Macnamara said at the meeting, “but this has been going on forever because it seems like this establishment is not particularly concerned with what the laws are in the city of New Orleans.”

Despite over 130 letters from students and neighboring businesses in support of The Boot’s efforts, the zoning board voted 3-3 in the appeal, resulting in a “de facto denial.” One board member was absent.

tween one and 50 creditors.

According to the foreclosure suit filed against the firm last year in 24th Judicial District Court, Bay Point Capital is the main creditor The real estate investment group lent Aschaffenburg $19 million in 2024 to buy the building in a deal that ultimately topped $24 million. The note had an interest rate of 13%, or more than $15,800 a day With late fees and other charges, the total amount due is now more than $25.5 million, court documents show Other creditors owed money by Aschaffenburg include Albert Architect and Design, which filed a lien against D.K.A. One in December for more than $95,000, and a design firm, PLAID, which filed a lien for more than $70,000.

A related Aschaffenburg entity, D.K.A. Six, which owns a building in downtown Baton Rouge at 654 Main St., also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday. That building was put up as collateral in the Metairie Towers loan.

Uncertain future

Metairie To wer s is a 265,000-square-foot building with 219 condominium units After it was damaged, a fight with the in-

City officials did not provide further comment, but Macnamara said at the meeting The Boot’s best path forward would likely be a zoning change, a process he said “might be a difficult road.”

Party happening anyways

The Boot isn’t without its critics. Michael Plemer, one of two residents who wrote in to the zoning board to oppose the bar’s appeal, said The Boot’s outdoor tables and chairs block the sidewalk and force pedestrians to walk in the street. Plemer listed an address a few blocks away from the bar on Audubon Street, and said outdoor seating would increase congestion and noise in the “fully residential area.”

But other neighbors, even some who were critical of The Boot’s huge events and thumping music, said the bar’s immediate surroundings today are hardly the typical New Orleans neighborhood. Celeste Lay, a longtime Tulane professor, said she moved into her Pine Street house nine months ago fully aware that she would be surrounded by college students. It’s not unusual to find streets in the area packed with cars and yards littered with beer cans. Most homes in the immediate vicinity of The Boot feature some portion of the Greek alphabet, and a dorm sits directly across from the bar on Zimpel Street.

“This is frat row,” Tulane sophomore Allie Smaio said, gesturing to Broadway Street, where she was sitting on the porch outside her sorority house studying. “The party is happening anyways.”

Email Kasey Bubnash at kasey bubnash@theadvocate.com.

surance company ensued. In late 2023, a majority of owners voted to sell the building and hired a broker to solicit proposals for the building.

Aschaffenburg’s proposal was selected over several others because it was the highest with the most favorable terms of those received, the broker handling the process said at the time.

Aschaffenburg, who grew up in Old Metairie and now splits his time between Dallas and New Orleans, finalized the purchase of the building in October 2024 and, over the next several months, gutted the building and completed the design and engineering work. But last year, the project stalled. It is unclear what the bankruptcy petitions will mean for the future of the building.

According to a source with direct knowledge of the bankruptcy case who was not at liberty to speak for attribution, the filing will likely delay a sheriff’s sale by months if not longer and will require approval from the court. The case has been assigned to U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Meredith Grabill.

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

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

The Boot Restaurant and Pub’s outdoor seating permit was denied by the New Orleans Board of Zoning Adjustments.

JPSO: Jeweler arrested, accused of

BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer

Jefferson Parish Sher-

iff’s Office investigators arrested a Metairie jeweler who they said stole almost $40,000 from customers who asked him to help sell their jewelry, watches and coins.

Ira Savoie, 71, of Old Jefferson, was booked this week with four counts of felony theft between $5,000 and $24,999, two counts of bank fraud and one count of exploitation of the elderly,

according to Sgt. Brandon Veal, spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office. Savoie is the owner of Savoie Fine Jewelry, an appraisal and consulting company in Metairie. At least three victims brought valuables to Savoie, who was supposed to act as a middleman in the sale of the items, according to authorities. In one of the cases, a 74-year-old woman brought him five gold coins in late August to appraise and sell. Savoie told the woman he

sold the coins for $20,526 and wrote her a check, according to Veal.

When she went to cash the check, the account had insufficient funds, Veal said.

Another victim, 61, brought Savoie a diamond ring and a gold pocket watch. Savoie told the man he sold the ring for $10,500 but later claimed the check was lost in transit, according to Veal. The victim told deputies he never received any money for the ring. Depu-

ties said they recovered the pocket watch when they searched Savoie’s Causeway Boulevard business.

A third victim gave Savoie a Rolex watch and a gold nugget bracelet worth $7,400 She, too, reported receiving no money from Savoie, authorities said. Detectives first arrested Savoie on April 25 and continued to rebook him on new counts as they identified new victims.

He is facing an exploitation charge because of the

victims’ ages, according to Veal. Louisiana law makes it illegal to financially exploit an elderly person, defined as someone 60 or older Sheriff’s Office investigators said they suspect Savoie himself was scammed out of money he received when selling the items. In an attempt to make a little money on the side, Savoie took the proceeds of the sales and tried to buy gift cards from an unidentified person, according to Veal. It’s not clear how the gift

card scheme was supposed to work, but investigators said they believe whoever was orchestrating it was a scammer and tricked Savoie out of the money Savoie was being held Wednesday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna. Bail was set at $85,000. The cases are still under investigation.

Email Michelle Hunter at mhunter@theadvocate. com.

Give NOLA Day sees $8.2M raised for area nonprofits

Last year’s total exceeded by $1M

BY VIOLET BUCARO Staff writer

New Orleans-area nonprof-

its by Wednesday collected

$8.2 million as a themed giving marathon wrapped, smashing local fundraising goals for the event known as Give NOLA Day

The Greater New Orleans Foundation has hosted Give NOLA Day for the past 13 years, a 24-hour giving marathon that often inspires donations in the days sur-

TENNIS

Continued from page 1B

everyone amid a “national epidemic” of underused playgrounds. In a statement, she said Jefferson Parish has been “thinking outside the box, to bring community quality training and competition back to our playgrounds.”

Jill Finney, a Bright Booster Club board member whose two children play there, said she and other boosters were pleased with Liljeberg’s announcement. About five residents came to the meeting, including Finney, to speak against the proposed facility while wearing blue “Save Bright” T-shirts.

“We feel heard that, hopefully moving forward, they can take some of this advice

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acquired after Katrina.

He lives in the town of Robert in Tangipahoa Parish and studied for two years at Southeastern Louisiana University Cooper said he decided to enter the race because he realized public service commissioners can authorize increases in rates consumers pay to utility companies for electricity, and some commissioners also accept campaign contributions from those companies.

“Working class people are driving the profit for these utility companies. We’re paying for that,” Cooper said.

Cooper said he “100%” supports business investment in Louisiana, including the new Meta data center but emphasized those companies should “pay their way” and not pass on utility costs to residents.

Stephanie Hilferty

State Rep. Hilferty, 40, of New Orleans, has worked in commercial real estate for nearly two decades in the New Orleans area and across Louisiana. She was elected to the Louisiana House in 2015 and is term-limited in that chamber She has a bachelor’s degree in English and psychology from Loyola Hilferty said the top issues in the race are “affordability for our residents” and reliability of the power grid.

Because energy companies are “regulated monopoly utilities for the areas they

rounding it.

The event, which began Tuesday and ended Wednesday at midnight, aims to bolster the budgets of local nonprofits the community foundation partners with The foundation aimed to raise more than $7 million, and it exceeded last year’s total by $1 million Each dollar will support more than 1,000 nonprofits across southern Louisiana.

Greater New Orleans Foundation CEO and President Andy Kopplin said he chose to host the event on a random Tuesday in May to promote the idea that donors

and understand they need to talk to the people before they just go in and do this,” Finney said. “We’re not all against this tennis complex. We just don’t want it on Bright’s property.”

Letter of intent

The announcement came two weeks after the Parish Council approved a nonbinding letter of intent that gave Split Sets six months to raise the funds necessary to proceed with the facility, although the measure was met with criticism from neighbors who said they were excluded from the planning process.

Had the plan moved forward, Split Sets would have entered into a 25-year lease agreement with the parish through METRY, a public benefit corporation created

serve,” she said, the Public Service Commission plays a crucial role in holding those businesses accountable and ensuring ratepayers are being charged fairly and can depend on the grid

The fact that data centers are being built in Louisiana is “positive,” Hilferty said. But she also noted that “puts a burden on the PSC to ensure” the costs for the power generation aren’t shouldered by other ratepayers in the state. Hilferty said it’s worth looking into whether companies with massive power needs should be able to generate their own power and not be on the grid

John Mason

Mason 60, of Metairie, got his law degree from Loyola at age 47 and is now a criminal defense attorney

He also has three co mpu ter science degrees: Ph.D. and master’s de gre es from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a bachelor’s from LSU.

Mason says the primary issue in the race is the “monopoly” that energy companies have.

“The government has its thumb on the scale, and it basically says, ‘This company is so important that it’s above the law,’” Mason said.

He said Louisiana should follow in the footsteps of other states that have deregulated electricity and natural gas “Getting rid of the monopoly is the way of the future,” he said Mason said businesses should be allowed to use the grid and generate their own electricity, as long as they generate 15% more energy than they use.

can be generous any time of the year

“It’s not just giving at the end of the year or holidays,” Kopplin said. “We want to call people’s attention to the fact that they need your support.”

The foundation’s website on Tuesday became a clearinghouse for individual donations. Donors could search for the nonprofit they wanted to support and give to it directly. All nonprofits were also part of the foundation’s lagniappe fund, which benefited the nonprofits that weren’t selected specifically by a donor

by the council earlier this year

The letter of intent also received criticism from parish Inspector General Kim Chatelain and Jefferson Parish Council atlarge member Jennifer Van Vrancken, who both said the parish failed to undergo proper procedures like a study or procurement process to determine if a partnership with a private company for a tennis complex was the best use of the land.

“The arrogance disturbs me that we should forget at any point that we are here by grace of the people we serve,” Van Vrancken said. “We keep fussing at them like, ‘Get on board,’ but we’re not talking to them. We’re not listening to them. We’re not engaging them.”

Chatelain had requested a deferral on the letter of

Mason welcomes the expansion of power generation precipitated by the Meta data center “I don’t see our need for electricity going down,” he said. “I don’t think you can have too much generation or too much transmission.”

Mark Wright

State Rep. Wright, 55, lives in Covington and for 15 years worked in the towing and barge industry, which he left two years ago. He is in the process of starting tw o ne w businesses: a management consulting practice and a fund related to cryptocurrency, foreign currency and commodities.

He was elected to the Louisiana House in 2017 and is term-limited.

Wright has an MBA from the University of Dallas and graduated from Xavier with a degree in political science.

Wright said the top issue in the race is electricity rates paid by individuals, families, small businesses and industry, and he said Louisiana needs a long-term plan to regulate rates as large companies invest and build facilities in the state.

“We’re gonna have tre-

Over 23,000 donors participated, sending in nearly 50,000 individual donations. The top three nonprofits with the most dollars raised were the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the Louise S. McGehee School, which had raised around $324,000, $321,000 and $280,000, respectively

Several nonprofits met or exceeded their donation goals. Son of a Saint, which mentors fatherless boys and teens in the New Orleans area, met its donation goal of $200,000, with about $168 extra tossed in.

intent so her office could review it, which Liljeberg declined because of its nonbinding nature Chatelain said she also sent administrative subpoenas to Split Sets for basic documentation like business plans after the parish said it did not possess such paperwork.

Wednesday’s discussion of the now-scuttled project sparked old debates between Van Vrancken, Chatelain and the other council members.

Council member Arita Bohannan chided Van Vrancken for criticizing the letter of intent on social media after she originally abstained from the vote because her husband, real estate attorney Stephen Dwyer had represented the nonprofit’s owners until April 16, according to a letter he sent the parish attorney Van

mendous growth in electricity needs over the next couple of decades,” he said.

That’s stemming from data centers as well as other large projects like the Hyundai steel plant, he said.

Wright said he generally supports projects like the Meta data center

“I’m OK with it as long as the planning is done well,” he said.

“The question is, will the PSC or me as a commissioner play a role of making sure it stays that way?” That means ensuring those power demands don’t cause problems for families and small businesses, he said.

John Young Young, 68, lives in Metai-

Daphne Stratton, communications director, said the needs of each boy are varied, and donations from Give NOLA provide flexibility to operate programs and resources.

“It’s an incredible day to see the community come together,” Son of a Saint development associate Kason Cullins said.

Covenant House, a 24/7 crisis youth shelter, raised nearly $35,000, though its goal was $30,000. The Give NOLA event is “what keeps our doors open every day of the year,” CEO Rheneisha Robertson said.

Vrancken said it was “ugly to make this personal.”

Dwyer said in an interview that he had attended a meeting with the parish attorney and reviewed the letter of intent for edits before withdrawing his representation.

Playgrounds to change

The proposed facility also fit into Lee Sheng’s broader “Recreation Reimagined” initiative, which sought to repurpose some parish playgrounds as individualized sports hubs in response to dwindling recreation numbers in recent decades.

That initiative came under a political firestorm after it was first announced in 2022 which led her to pause those changes and draft a new plan in collaboration with playground steering committees that was re-

rie and is an attorney with a civil litigation practice.

Young served as Jefferson Parish president from 2010 through 2016. Before that, he served on the Jefferson Parish Council from 2004 to 2010, and he was an assistant district attorney there from 1997 to 2004.

He has a law degree and a bachelor’s degree in public administration, both from Loyola.

Other grants the organization receives are often restricted to certain expenses, Robertson added. But Give NOLA Day’s donations always come without strings. Covenant House plans to use the funding to expand its hot meal plan and to develop programs for expecting and first-time mothers.

“This is the day where everybody could be a philanthropist,” Kopplin said. “The goal is to show love and support to these nonprofits for 365 days in a year, who work on our behalf.” The next Give NOLA Day is May 4, 2027.

leased in 2024. At Bright, that plan called for the addition of nine tennis courts and a basketball institute at a cost of $2.7 million. Walker stressed that although the tennis complex may be nixed, “hard decisions” will still need to be made in the coming years over what to do with the parish’s underused playgrounds.

“In Jefferson Parish, we cannot support 27 playgrounds with our recreation department and the recreation millage,” Walker said. “We cannot. So the reality is playgrounds are going to change.”

Lara Nicholson writes about Jefferson Parish for The Advocate | TimesPicayune. Email her at lnicholson@theadvocate. com.

“I think that the Public Service Commission is going to play a central and critical role in that economic development,” he said. He said companies with big energy needs should “pay their own way.”

“That is, they pay for their added infrastructure, they pay for their own power source so that no costs are shifted on to the existing ratepayers, be it residential, commercial, business, industrial or otherwise,” he said.

“I want to make sure those costs aren’t shifted to the existing ratepayers.”

Young said he’s running because Louisiana’s economy is at a “transformative inflection point” as AI companies like Meta and other businesses like Hyundai steel and Venture Global invest billions of dollars in the state.

Hilferty

Wright

Young Mason

ArnoldJr.,Kenneth

Baird, Karen

Bellanger, Baby Ray

Bennett Sr.,Adolph Boissiere, Elaine

Duke Sr., Charles Fleming, Debora

Fuglestad, Betty

HarrisJr.,Jesse

Hill, Elveria

Jacquot,Sylvia

Kelley, Harry

Lewis, Gwendolyn

ManeauxJr.,Paul

Paine, Lincoln

Perrone,Marie

Thomas,Ollie

VarmallSr.,Michael

Walker,Dannette

White,Louis

YearginJr.,George EJefferson

Garden of Memories

ManeauxJr.,Paul NewOrleans

Boyd Family

Bellanger, Baby Ray

Fleming, Debora

Lewis, Gwendolyn Charbonnet

Hill, Elveria

Jacquot,Sylvia

DW Rhodes White,Louis Greenwood Duke Sr., Charles

Perrone,Marie

Lake Lawn Metairie

Kelley, Harry

St Tammany

Audubon

Baird, Karen

EJ Fielding

HarrisJr.,Jesse West Bank

DavisMortuary

VarmallSr.,Michael

Robinson FH

Bennett Sr.,Adolph Fuglestad, Betty

Thomas,Ollie

YearginJr.,George

Obituaries

ArnoldJr., Kenneth Michael 'Kenny'

ny is survived by hisloving wifeof10years, Ashley MillerArnold; his newborn daughter, bornjust2 days afterhis passing, Kennedy Grace Arnold;parents, Kenneth M. Arnoldand Marie Denise Arnold; sister, RachelM.Arnold; brother, WayneJ.Arnold (Jessica); grandmother, NathalieLedoux;niece Chloe Arnold;nephews, Nathan Arnold and Luke Arnold; mother-in-law, Samantha Miller; father-inlaw, Mike Miller;and brothers-in-law, Cody Miller (Julie), and their son, Silas, Elijah Miller,Evan Miller, and Logan Miller; as well as numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins. Visitation willbeheldonSaturday,May 9, 2026,at Resthaven Funeral Home, located at 11817Jefferson Hwy, Baton Rouge, Louisiana,from8:30 to 10:30 AM, with the Celebration of Lifebeginning at 10:30AM. The familywould like to give special thanks to the entireMICUstaff,as well as the doctors and nurses at Our Lady of the Lake fortheir incredible kindness, support, and sympathy during this difficult time.The familywould also like to thankthe nurses and staffatWoman's Hospital, with special regard to Dr. Stelter and L&D Nurse Heather, for their support andcarewith Kennedy and Ashley during their stay there.Inlieu of flowers, please consider making adonation directly to the family through GoFundMe, or donatetothe American HeartAssociation in memoryofKenny

Bellanger, Baby Ray Gordon 'Ray'

Boissiere,Elaine

Fuglestad, Betty SueAltom

Kenneth Michael Arnold Jr., "Little Kenny", passed away on Sunday, April 26, 2026, at the age of 45, after an unexpected heart attack. Kenny was born on October 23, 1980, in New Orleans, Louisiana to Kenneth and Marie Arnold. Kenny graduated from Lutheran High School in 1988 and moved to Baton Rouge not long after. Kenny was the kind of man who turned ordinary moments into stories worth telling, loud with laughter andamagnetic personality that drew people in Kenny enjoyed cooking, and was agreat chef, often looking inthe pantry and being able to create anything on awhim. He loved his dogs, Ellie and Charlotte, but most of all, he loved spending time with his friends and family. Ken-

Baird, Karen Ruth Linhardt

KarenRuthLinhardt Baird,ofSlidell, Louisiana, passedawayonApril 30, 2026, at theage of 78,leav‐ing behind alife marked by devotionand steadfast lovefor herfamily. She was born October25, 1947 inSt. Louis, Missouri,to her loving parents, thelate Carleen Schultz Linhardt and Edward H. Linhardt Karen is thebeloved wife ofWilliam RichardBaird Jr.;adoredmotherofCar‐rie BairdNettles (Cris), Anne BairdBrandt, and William RichardBaird III (Lana); proudgrandmother ofBlake Baird(Dari), Zoe Nettles,CateNettles, William“Liam”Richard Baird IV,AubreyBrandt, and RyanBaird;and trea‐sured sister of Joan E. Schepis.She also leaves behind, to cherishher memory, ahostofex‐tendedfamilymembers and dear friends. Karen graduated from John Mc‐Donogh High School and later earned aBachelorof Science in Biology from Texas ChristianUniversity. Karen wasformerlyem‐ployedasanoffice man‐agerfor SlidellFamilyDen‐tal Care,where shewas re‐spected forher profession‐alism, reliability, andkind manner. Shealsodevoted herself to herhomeand familyasa homemaker, a roleshe embraced with pride anddedication. Karen wasdeeply involved inher community andwas a foundingBoard Member ofthe KreweofSeleneCar‐nival Club.She valued friendship, tradition, and the joyofsharedcelebra‐tion. Shewas also an avid bowler, andshe found hap‐pinessinbakingcookies, pies, andcakes forthose she loved. Afterretirement, Karen spenther time en‐joyingthe simple plea‐sures that meantthe most toher.She lovedbeing withher family, playing cards,sewing, andcruis‐ing.These moments brought herhappiness and gaveher theopportunity to spend time with thepeople she lovedmost. Hergrand‐childrenand herdogs were her prideand joy, andshe cherished hertimespent withthem. Karenwillbe rememberedfor herloving heart,her devotion to fam‐ily,and themanywaysshe enrichedthe livesofthose around her. Shewillbe deeply missed andforever heldinthe hearts of those who knew andloved her. Relatives andfriends are invited to attend avisita‐tiononFriday, May8,2026, from6:00p.m.to9:00p.m atAudubon FuneralHome inSlidell.Memoriesand condolencesmay be ex‐

Baby Ray“Ray” Gordon Bellanger,82, passedaway onApril 15, 2026. Born in LakeCharles,LAonMarch 7,1944, shespent most of her life in NewOrleans,LA. Ray graduatedfromW.O BostonHighSchool in Lake Charles,LA. Following graduation, shemarried Harry D. Bellanger, and theysettled in NewOr‐leans,LA. From theirunion two daughterswereborn, Tynia Bellangerand the lateCarla Reese. Ray workedatCharity Hospital and wasa member of St Mark’s4th BaptistChurch Ray is preceded in death byher parents, Louisand TenaGordon; husband Harry D. Bellanger; daugh‐ter,Carla B. Reese, and11 siblings. Sheissurvivedby her daughter,Tynia A. Bel‐langer; grandchildren, Reneé D. Reese, Donald (Oshé)Reese, Jr Jazzma Reese, andReginaldBel‐langer; great-grandchil‐dren, Ross L. Roussell,II and CarlaM.Reese; anda hostoffamilyand friends. Familyand friendsare in‐vited to attend theFuneral Service on Friday,May 8, 2026, at TheBoydFamily FuneralHome, 5001 Chef Menteur Hwy.,New Or‐leans,LA70126 for1:30 p.m.Visitationwillbegin at 12:30 p.m. Rev. Dr.Robert Turner, Sr.officiating. In‐terment is private. Guest‐book Online:www.anewtra ditionbegins.com(504)2820600. Linear BrooksBoyd and DonavinD.BoydOwn‐ers/FuneralDirectors

Bennett Sr., Adolph

Adolph Bennett, Sr passedawaypeacefully on Saturday, April25, 2026, at the ageof68, surrounded byhis loving family. Adolph was born on October17, 1957, in NewOrleans to his parents.Hewas ahard‐working anddedicated man who took greatpride inproviding forhis family and servinghis commu‐nity. Throughout hislife, he was knownfor his strength, wisdom,and steadypresence. He wasa proud graduate of L.B. LandryHighSchool.He was adevoted father, grandfather,and friend Adolphcherished time spent with hisloved ones and createdlasting memo‐riesthrough familygather‐ingsand laughter.Hehad a deep appreciation for cooking, sports fishing, music,and attendingsec‐ond lines. Thosewho knew him will remember his warmspiritand generous heart.Heissurvivedbyhis children, includingAshton Bennett, Sr.(Alicia), Ar‐mondBennett, Sr.(Char‐lene),and thelateAdolph Bennett, Jr.(Tameka); his grandchildren:AdolphIII, Tamia,Ashton, Jr., Alacia, Amyrih, Amyah, Armond Jr.,Avah, andAcai; andone great-grandson, A’Nyze Starks. He is also survived byhis siblings:sisters Di‐anna Bennett, Nikkitta White(Gregory),Merilyn Ross(Freddie),and Ven‐netta Waller(Reginald); and brotherErnestRuffin (Tonique),along with a hostofextendedfamily and friends. He waspre‐ceded in deathbyhis beloved mother,Theresa Earl; father,Grant Bennett; stepfather, Lawrence Earl, Jr.;and siblings:brothers MelvinBennett, Sr., Ardel‐phus Bennett, Sr andWal‐ter Smith. Amemorialand repasttohonor Adolph’s lifewillbeheldonWednes‐day,May 6, 2026, at 6:30 p.m at 419 LapalcoBlvd. Suite 1, Gretna,LA70056 AdolphBennett, Sr.willbe deeply missedand forever rememberedbyall who had theprivilege of know‐ing andlovinghim.Funeral planning entrustedto

Remembering Elaine! May 7, 2025. May 7thmarks one year since your passing and May 20thwillhavebeen your birthday. After 60 years together, this first year without youhas been especially hard.You are deeply lovedand willalways be missed. Your memory livesoninevery shared moment, every treasured memory and in thelovethatremains unbroken! Forever in my heart, Lambert

Duke

Surrounded by family, Charles Edward Duke,Sr. passedintoeternal life on April 28, 2026, at theage of 90. He wasborninNew Or‐leans,LA. on July 7, 1935 Beloved anddevoted hus‐bandtoCynthia Wood Dukefor 56 years. Brother ofDonaldRussell Duke.Fa‐therofCharles Edward Jr Jacquelin Marie, Robert Stephen,Tonya A. Vernon Christina Adela, andVicto‐ria AmyDuke. Grandfather ofCharles E.,II, Stephanie, Maryann, andAndresElvir Hewas preceded in death byhis parents, Charles MarionDukeand Melville Laurent Duke,and his brother,GeorgeA.Duke. Charles wasraisedinIn‐carnate Word Parish where he attended Lafayette GrammarSchool and latergraduated from Alcee FortierHighSchool Helater attended Tulane and LSUuniversities. He was employed by TheCon‐tinentalGroup andStone Container Corp.for 34 years.Hejoinedthe U.S. Air Force andservedinSAC Heresided in Metairie for the last 53 yearsand wasa memberofSt. Christopher Parish. He served in sev‐eralroles,including Eu‐charistic Minister and ParishCouncil President. Hewas ordained aperma‐nentDeaconfor theArch‐diocese of NewOrleans in 1989 andservedhis parish for over 37 years. Thechil‐drenofSt. Christopher School were of greatim‐portanceinhis life,as wereall thebabieshebap‐tized.Charlie also served asthe Chaplain forDoctors Hospitalfor 16 yearsuntil itclosed. Acelebration of Charles’lifewillbeheldon Saturday, May9,2026, at St. Christopherthe Martyr Catholic Church,3924 Der‐bigny St., Metairie,LA 70001. Visitation will begin at9:30AM, followed by Massat11:30 AM.Inter‐mentwillbeatLakeLawn ParkMausoleum.Masses are preferredinlieuof flowers. We also invite you toshare your thoughts fondmemories, andcon‐dolencesonlineatwww greenwoodfh.com.Your sharedmemorieswillhelp uscelebrate Charles’ life and keep hismemoryalive

Fleming, Debora

Debora Flemingpassed awayonApril 27, 2026, at the ageof68. Debora Flem‐ing is survived by her daughterMarchalla Flem‐ing.Alsosurvivedbya host ofother relativesand friends.Precededindeath byher parentsJohnand EolaHudson, sister;Willie Ann Haten(Robert), brother;Milton Hudson, and hersisterBeverly Hud‐son. Family andfriends are

invitedtoattendthe Cele‐bration of Life Serviceon SaturdayMay 9, 2026, for 10:00 a.m. at St.MaryMBC, 6223 6thAve.Marrero,LA 70072. Visitation will begin at8:30a.m.Rev.Edward Joseph, III officiating. Inter‐mentisprivate.Guestbook Online: www.anewtraditi onbegins.com(504)2820600. Linear Brooks Boyd and DonavinD.BoydOwn‐ers/FuneralDirectors Frank),Henry,Jr.,Robert (Irene) andBeverlynReed Alsosurvivedbya host of grandchildren,great grandchildren,other rela‐tives andfriends.A Cele‐bration servicehonoring the life andlegacyofthe lateMrs.Elveria “Vera” Reed Hill will be held at Christian Fellowship Family Worship Center,5816 E. Judge PerezDr.,Violet, LA 70092 on Saturday,May 9, 2026 at 11 am,Bishop Henry Ballard, Host Pastor, Rev.MerlinFlores, Sr., Pas‐tor of TheGreater Mount Olive MissionaryBaptist Church,Officiating. Visita‐tion10aminthe church IntermentMerrick Ceme‐tery, Violet,LA70092 Pleasesignthe online guestbook at www.cha rbonnetfuneralhome.com. SpecialthankstoOchsner MainCampusOncology8th floor andICU 7th floor Final arrangements en‐trusted to Charbonnet FamilyServices(504) 3021520.

Betty SueAltom Fu‐glestad enteredintoeter‐nal rest on Saturday,Feb‐ruary 14, 2026 surrounded byher loving familyatthe age of 81. Sheissurvived byher children Jimmy Howard(Donna)and Becky Buchholtz (Jeff).Grand‐motherofBrennan,Brylin Nickolas, Noah andTyler Great grandmotherofWin‐ter Howard.She demon‐strated herlovefor ani‐malsthrough herroleasa dedicated petownerand volunteer forSilentVoices and theDrewPet Founda‐tionfundraisers.Relatives and friendsare invitedto attendBetty's celebration oflifeonSaturday, May9, 2026 at BayouSegnette State Park locatedinWest‐wegoLA. (Pavilion4), at 12 noon.Funeral planning en‐trusted to Robinson Family FuneralHome.

Jesse Seth Harris, Jr passedaway peacefullyon Sunday, May3,2026 in Covington,LA. He was78. He waspreceded in death by hisfather,Jesse Seth Harris. He is survivedby hismother, YolandeElton Harris, hissiblings, Ray Harris, George Harris (Lisa), Margaret Mitcham (Robert), LewisHarris (Lynn), Gary Harris, and VelmaBel (David) and also survived by 12 nieces and nephews.

Jesse wasa native of NewOrleans,LAand wasa residentofBush, La for over 40 years, before movingtoBogalusa,LA. He proudlyservedhis country in theU SNavy, and workedasa welderinthe Oil field Industry.

Relativesand friends of thefamilyare invited to attend theFuneral Service on Saturday, May9,2026 at 11:00 am at EJFielding Funeral Home, 2260 West 21st Avenue, Covington, LA andthe visitation will begin at 9:00 am untilservice time.Interment willfollow in Barker-McManus Cemetery

E.J. Fielding Funeral Home hasbeen entrusted with funeral arrangements. Please sign the guestbook at www.ejfieldingfh.com

Hill,Elveria Reed 'Vera'

Elveria“Vera”Reed Hill, a lifelong resident of Vio‐let,LA, departed this life peacefully on Friday,April 24, 2026, at theage of 76 "Vera"was born on March 1,1950 to thelateHenry, Sr. andMargueriteDo‐minickReed.Beloved wife ofthe late Joseph Louis Hill. Mother of Tanya(the lateOliver),Jerome(Ani‐tra), Keenan (Taneka) Jarmin(Sandy),Gizelle and Myrtle“Lucy”Hill. Step‐motherofTracy (Peter) Robinson, Donna (John) Hooperand Ronald (Bar‐bra)Hill. Sister of Angelina R. Duplessis(thelate

Sylvia R. Jacquotpassed awayonMonday, May4 2026 at theage of 89. Sylvia was born on March8,1937 toLeroy andIsabelB.Robi‐net.She worked as asecre‐taryinthe OrleansParish School system untilher re‐tirementfromFrederick A. Douglas High School in 2001. Sylvia is survived by her companionof44years, Emile J. Martin Jr.; onesonin-law, GarryColeman;one sister, Brenda Nunnally; and caregivers,Cynthia Christian andCyrilliaDup‐lessis; as well as ahostof nieces, nephews, otherrel‐ativesand friends. Shewas precededindeath by her parents,Leroy andIsabel Robinet;daughter, Crystal J.Coleman;sisters,Martha R.Coleman andOliviaR Thomas. Aviewing will be heldinthe Chapel at Char‐bonnetLabat GlapionFu‐neral Home,1615 St.Philip Street,New Orleans, LA 70116 on Thursday.May 7, 2026 from 4:00 -6:00pm. BurialPrivate.Pleasesign the online guestbook at www.charbonnetfuneralho me.com. Charbonnet Labat Glapion Directors, (504) 581-4411.

Mr.Harry PatrickKelley passedaway peacefullyon May1,2026 at the age of 88. He wasborninNew OrleansonOctober 3, 1937 and wasa resident of Metairie. He is preceded in death by hisparents,Lelia B. and Richard J. Kelley,Sr.,siblings, Patricia Bruhn, Jacqueline Baudine, Richard Kelley,Jr., Thomas Kelley,and Donald Kelley Sr., andhis granddaughter, Brandy AnnStephens. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Marie Davis Kelley;his sister Barbara Kelley Velesquez, children, Donna Kelley Stephens(Robert Fresina), ErinKelleyLaurent (Deacon Julius),Amy Kelley O'Donnell(Walter), Craig Patrick Kelley,and Brett Michael Kelley.Heis also survivedbyhis belovedgrandchildren, PatrickStephens(Lacy), Rosa StephensWalton (Darnell), Katie Stephens Martinez(Samuel), Sarah Laurent Sanders (Jeffrey), Claire Laurent, andEmily Laurent,his cherished great-grandchildren CampbellWalton,Monroe Sanders, SamuelMartinez, Sophie Stephens,Logan Sanders, and Benicio Martinez, andnumerous nieces andnephews. Harry graduatedfrom John McDonaldHigh School, served in the Navy andthentook some college coursesinbanking. He retiredfromWhitney Bank as abanktellerand workedthere for over 30 years. He wasa memberof theAmerican Legion and

Jacquot, Sylvia R.

Sr., CharlesEdward

Harris Jr., Jesse Seth

Kelley, Harry Patrick

loved to do woodworking in his spare time for friends and family.

The family would like to give special thanks to Denise Rainey,Chateau Living Center, and St. Catherine's Hospice for the care and comfort they gave him.

Afuneral service will be held on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Lake Lawn Metairie FuneralHome, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd. New Orleans, LA. Visitation will be held from 11 am -1 pm with aservice to begin at 1pm.

Lewis, Gwendolyn

GwendolynLewis passed away on April4,2026 atthe ageof72. Gwen‐dolyn Lewisissurvivedby her sisters- JoyceCarter, PatriciaJohnson,Yvonne Lewis,and GildaHickerson and herbrothers- Walter Lewis andMarkLewis.Also survivedbyher niece NakitaShelton anda host ofother nieces,nephews, great-niecesand nephews, godchildren,sorors, and friends.Precededindeath byher mother Ruby BluntLewis andher father John‐nie Lewis. Family and friends areinvited to at‐tendher CelebrationofLife onFridayMay 8, 2026, for 10:00 a.m. at Franklin Av‐enue BaptistChurch8282 I10Service Road,New Or‐leans,La70126. Visitation willbegin at 9:00 a.m. Pas‐tor Fred Luter, Jr,officiat‐ing.Interment will follow atProvidenceMemorial Park& Mausoleum, 8200 Airline Drive, Metairie,La 70003. Guestbook Online: www.anewtraditionbegins com (504)282-0600. Linear BrooksBoydand Donavin D.BoydOwners/FuneralDi‐rectors

ManeauxJr.,Paul

Paul ManeauxJr. passed peacefullyathomesur‐rounded by love andfamily onApril 22, 2026 at theage of87. Paul affectionately known as “Doc”, wasborn April 14, 1939inSt. Mart‐inville,LAtothe late Paul and GussieManeaux.Heis survivedbyhis spouse Genevia Clark; his four dedicated children:PaulIII, Cornelius,Chauntelle,and GenordManeaux;his four beautiful grandchildren: Cornelius,Jason,Kion, and KadeManeaux;aswellas his devotedniecesand nephews.Relatives and friends of thefamily, em‐ployees of LSUHealthcare Network Multi-Specialty Clinics,UMC speechand ENT clinic,and Touroinfir‐mary(W5,M8nursing units andrespiratory dept.)are invitedtoattend the visitation on Friday May 8, 2026 at Garden of MemoriesFuneralHome& Cemetery, 4900 Airline Drive,Metairie, LA 70001 from12:00 pm to 1:00 pm followedbyMassofChrist‐ian Burial at 1:00 pm RepasttofollowatGarden ofMemoriesFuneral Home You maysignthe guest‐book online at www.gar denofmemoriesmetairie com.GardenofMemories FuneralHomeinchargeof arrangements.

January 11, 1936- April 30, 2026

Lincoln Denton Paine, 90, died peacefully at home on April 30.A native of Boston, Massachusetts, he moved to NewOrleans to attend Tulane Medical School in 1957,and lived therefor thenextseven decades, apartfromtwo years servingasa psychiatrist at the Portsmouth Naval Prison in New Hampshire(1965-67).

He was the fourth of five children born to thelate Francis Ward Paineand Frances MoirHatch Paine Hisfather died when he was fourand his mother remarriedHenryS Middendorf, Sr.,which made him one of nine children. With her great capacity forlove and warmth, his mother, Mo instilledinher children a curiosity about the world and aconcernfor those less fortunate than themselves.

He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, Haverford College in Pennsylvania, and Tulane Medical School in Louisiana.During and after collegehevolunteered with the American Friends ServiceCommitteein Cherokee, North Carolina, and in Kenya.

He was marriedthree times— alwaysto Newcomb grads —including to Judy (Jones), his beloved wifeoffifty-six years, who surviveshim. His greatest joywas always his family and he was especially proud of his six children—Lincoln P. Paine(Allison), Yvonne W. Thomas(Jamie), Isabelle P. Thacker (Strom), Adrienne M. Paine, RachelP.Fuller (Graham), and Whiton M. Paine (Archana). They, as well as his thirteengrandchildrenand two greatgrandchildren,all joyfully gatheredinJanuary to celebratehis 90th birthday.

Returning to New Orleans afterhis naval service, Lincolnentered private practice,and then joinedthe medical staff at RiverOaksHospitalatits inception in 1970. He servedasits medical directorfor thirty-fouryears beforestepping down following astroke in February 2022atthe ageof86. He remained on the staff to run the DayProgram until January 2025. Additionally he provided weekly psychiatric care to the residents at the Waldo Burton Boys Home formuch of his career.Deeplydevoted to his profession, he served as treasurer of the Louisiana PsychiatricMedical Associationand wasa fellow of the American PsychiatricAssociation.

Despite his almost seventy yearsinthe Crescent City, he never lost touch with his New England roots. Introduced to midcoastMainebyJudy,the family spent summers therefromthe early 1970s, above allattheirtreasured Spring House in Alnafrom 1991until2019.Inthe glorious gardens they created together, Lincoln reigned as Compost King,and kept it alltogether with liberal use of the state tool,duct tape.

Avenue Presbyterian Church and served on the BoardofDeacons and the Session. Additionally, he was instrumental in recordingover adecade's worthofDr. Kenneth Phifer'ssermons, which he donated to thePhifer Library. As selfless in death as he was in life,he donated his bodytoTulane Medical School.

In addition to his parentsand stepfather, he was predeceased by hisinfant daughter Victoria, sisters Isabelle P. Middendorf, Martha P. Newell,and step-sister Sara "Sally" M. Lofving, brother Michael J. Paine, and step-brothersHenry S. Middendorf, J. William Middendorf, II,and W. KennedyBoone Took Middendorf. Besides his wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren,heissurvivedbyhis brotherand eternal best friend,F.Ward Paine (Mary) of PortolaValley, California,and numerous nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers,the family requeststhatdonations be madeinhis name to Smile Trainfor cleft lip and palate repair (https:// donate.smiletrain.org), the PreservationResource Center of NewOrleans (https://prcno.org/get-involved/donate/), ora charityofyourchoice.

Amemorial service will be held at St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church, 1545 StateSt.,New Orleans, on Monday, May 11, with visitationat 12:30pm and serviceat 2:00pm.

G. Perroneand hiswife

Lisa, andDavid A. Perrone and hiswifeSonia,bothof Tennessee. Sheisalsosur‐vived by hergrandchildren Elizabeth Perrone, JonathanPerrone,Alyssa Perrone,Kristen Scottand her husband Thomas,and Chelsea Brooksand her husband Lucas, as well as her great-grandchildren, Hudson, Addison, Dawson Emerson,and Bailey.She is alsosurvivedbyher broth‐ers,DonaldBrown, Michael Brown, RaymondBrown, and Joseph Brown. She was preceded in deathby her belovedhusband SamuelA.Perrone;her parents,JosephBrown and Loridea FolseBrown; and her siblings,AliceMae Suhre, MabelForet,Nor‐man Brown, Janice LeJuene,GeraldBrown, and Norris Brown. Marie Shirley BrownPerrone will berememberedfor herlov‐ing heart, herkindand generousnature, andthe warmthshe shared so freelywithfamily, friends, and herchurch community Her life wasa beautifulex‐ample of faith,devotion, and unconditionallove, and hermemorywillre‐mainforever in thehearts ofthose sheleavesbehind. Familyand friendsare in‐vited to attend aFuneral MassonSaturday, May9 2026, beginningat12:00 PM atSt. Angela Merici Catholic Church,901 Bev‐erlyGardenDr.,Metairie, LA70002 with visitation from10:30 AM until service time. Burial will follow at Greenwood Cemetery.The familywould like to invite those attendingtoa Re‐ception after theburial thatisbeing hosted at the Greenwood FuneralHome Boulevard Room at 5200 Canal Blvd NewOrleans LA70124. To sign theonline guestbook as well as share memoriesand condo‐lences, please visitwww greenwoodfh.com

Barthelemy,Sr.;her sis‐ters, Irma Barthelemy AlmaJenkins,and Leona Narcisse;her brothers,Eu‐geneBarthelemy, Jr ThomasBarthelemy, Chris Barthelemy, Joseph Barthelemy, andOliver Barthelemy; andher god‐children, PeterNarcisse and CarolAnn Encalade She leaves to cherishher memoryher children:Mari‐lyn (Ronald) Bassett, Allen (Sheila)Thomas, Robin Thomas, Virgiland Williams,Rockell Thomas, LelandThomas, Portia (Steven)Thomas, andZina (Conrad)Pinkney;her sib‐lings,Simon Barthelemy and Mercedes Guerin;her devoted goddaughter,Mia Johnson;along with 17 grandchildren,54greatgrandchildren,9 greatgreat-grandchildren,and a hostofrelatives and friends.Relatives and friends of thefamily, parishionersofSt. Thomas Catholic Church andneigh‐boringchurches,and members of theFishermen and ConcernedCitizens Associationare invitedto attenda CelebrationofLife onSaturday, May9,2026, atSt. Thomas Catholic Church,17605 Hwy. 15 Pointe-à-la-Hache,LA 70083. Visitation will begin at9:00a.m., followed by Massat11:00 a.m. Father Sampson Abdulaiwilloffi‐ciate.Entombmentwillfol‐low in thechurchceme‐tery. Funeralarrangements are entrustedtoRobinson FamilyFuneralHome, 9611 LA23, Belle Chasse,LA 70037. Repose en paix Noust’aimonstoujours. (Rest in Peace, We will al‐waysloveYou)

MayKay (James)Johnson, Stacey(Stanley) Davis, Jer‐ilyn(Anthony) Willliams, Sonora(Darrell) Jackson, Keith (Connie) Varmall, Dexter(Cherline)Varmall Kenneth (Jada) Varmall, Alvin (Regina) Varmall, and the late Irma Jean Daniels, CliffordVarmall,and Mur‐ray “Johnny” Varmall. Michael is also survived by his aunt EthelMay Hall and ahostofnieces, nephews,cousins,other relatives andfriends.Rela‐tives andfriends of the family, also pastors, offi‐cers, andmembers of First ZionBaptist Church Greater BethlehemBaptist Church,Morning Star Mis‐sionary BaptistChurch of Marrero,Pilgrim Baptist Church of Kenner,and all neighboring churches are invited to attend theCele‐bration of Life at FirstZion Baptist Church,1221 CausewayBlvd.,Jefferson, LAonFriday, May8,2026, at11:00 a.m. Pastor Graylin Burl, Jr officiating. Visita‐tionwillbegin at 10:00 a.m. until servicetimeatthe church.Interment:Wood‐lawnParkMemorialCeme‐tery, Westwego, LA ArrangementsbyDavis MortuaryService,230 Mon‐roe St Gretna,LA. To view and sign theguestbook, pleasegotowww.davismo rtuaryservice.com

Modest and unassuming,hewas blessedwith a happy disposition, agood sense of humor, and was instantly recognizable by his trademarkmustache and ever-presentbowtie He was an avid baker and photographer,read widely, and took his family on countless road trips and travels abroad—a passion engenderedbyhis mother. He inspired loyalty and devotionamong his close circle of family and friends, among them his sisters-inlaw, Jackie J. Derks,Ruthie J. Frierson, and Ann J. Milliner (Denis) and brother-in-law, Martin "Took" Jones; his trustedfriend and longtime partner in chess, Pini Weinstein; his "workwife" of 43 years, Betsy Raymond and the rest of his RiverOaksfamily; and his dedicated caregiverand friend, Vanessa Brooks.

In the 1960s, Lincoln was afounder and vice chairof the Committeefor Open Pools, whichsecuredthe re-opening of the Audubon Park pool as an integrated facility. He was an active member of St. Charles

MarieShirley BrownPer‐rone, age95, passedaway peacefullyonMay 4, 2026, ather home in Metairie Louisiana.BornonApril 27, 1931, in Raceland,Louisiana, shelived alongand meaningfullifemarkedby faith,devotiontofamily, and agenerousspiritthat touched allwho knew her. She wasa native of LafourcheParishand had been aresidentof Metairie, Louisiana, since 1948. Mariewas agraduate ofRacelandHighSchool and laterdevoted many years of servicetoNew Or‐leans Public ServiceInc., now Entergy, where she workedfor 28 yearsbefore continuingfor an addi‐tional7 yearspart-time as anexecutive assistant. Her strongworkethic,reliabil‐ity,and gracious manner earnedthe respectofher colleaguesand reflected the same care shebrought toevery part of herlife. Marie wasa devout Catholic anda faithful parishioner of St.Angela MericiCatholicChurch since itsinception.Her commitmenttoher faith was aguiding force throughouther life,and she served herchurch community with quietded‐ication.She also served as anAreaBlock Couple Coor‐dinator,offeringher time and energy in supportof others. Mariewas known for beingextremely kind, loving, welcoming, and generous, andshe was loved by everyone who had the blessing of knowing her.She found greatjoy in simplepleasures andcher‐ished themoments that brought laughter andcom‐fort. Shethoroughlyen‐joyed watching TheGolden Girls,Everybody LovesRay‐mond, andWheel of For‐tune.She also loveddoing wordpuzzles andwas es‐peciallygood at them Mostofall, Marietrea‐sured time spentwithher grandkids andgreatgrandkids,who brought her immensehappiness and pridethroughouther later years. Marieissur‐vivedbyher sons,Kenneth

OllieLydia Barthelemy Thomas, abeloved mother, grandmother,great-grand‐mother, great-greatgrandmother,sister, aunt and friend,entered her eternal rest on Saturday April 25, 2026, at theage of 94, surrounded by herlov‐ing family. Born andraised inPointe-à-la-Hache Louisiana,Ollie wasa proud lifelong resident who deeply cherishedher family, faith,and commu‐nity. Shewas thematriarch ofher family, knownfor her warmth,strength, and unwaveringlove. Ollie found joyincaringfor oth‐ers,especiallythrough her cooking. Shewas known for herfried chicken, potatosalad,sandwiches, stuffedcrabs,and home‐madeblackberry wine.Her homewas always open her tablealwaysfull, and her presence always com‐forting.A proudmemberof the NewDynasty Social Aid and Pleasure Club,Ollie embracedfellowshipand celebration.Their events brought thetownout in their finest,and shewas alwaysa standout—ele‐gantlydressedingowns highheels, andher signa‐turered lipstick.There was notasktoo greatortoo small forOllie.She embod‐ied strength,indepen‐dence,and resilience qualities sheinstilled in her daughtersand grand‐daughters,leaving a legacythatcontinues through generations. She was also alifelongmem‐ber of St.ThomasCatholic Church.She waspreceded indeath by herhusband Etienne Paul Thomas,Jr.; her daughter,CherylNar‐cisse Page;her grandchil‐dren, NalonNarcisse and Kisha Bassett; herparents, Eugene andIrma

MichaelJames “Skully” Varmall,Sr. enteredpeace‐fully into eternalrestathis residence on Saturday April 25, 2026, at theage of 67. He wasa native of New Orleans,LAand aresident ofMetairie, LA (Shrews‐buryCommunity). Michael attendedJohnH.Martyn HighSchool andwas em‐ployedasa construction laborer.Beloved husband ofthe late Denise Varmall. Devoted father of Daniyell (Bill)FountainofCleve‐land, OH,Michael (Razell) and Darren Johnson, Jar‐mall(Latoya)Varmall, Chavis(Shawnickeal “Tootie”) Varmall, and Michael Varmall, Jr.Cher‐ished grandfatherofGre‐gory, George,and Camille FountainofCleveland,OH, Mikielah, Kamore,Gavin Gerald, andAsiaJohnson, DeAntea,DeVante,Dean‐dre,and Elijah Cooper,Jer‐mall, Jr.Chaves, Cha’hariz, and Chad Varmall, Deja, Darren, andDarreionJohn‐son.Son of thelateClifford Daniels andHelen Hall Tureaud.Lovingbrother of Joyce Marie(June)Mar‐sails,Cleatte (Kevin) Reeves,ofCleveland,OH, Dianeand KarenVarmall

AMemorialService that will be held on May

at 2:00pm, 4411 Congress Dr.New Orleans, La.

Zoom Meeting: ID:918 2275 8989, Password: 727374

White, Louis Louis Whitepassed away on April 20, 2026 at the age of 88. Relativesand friends of the familyare invited to attendhis Funeral Service at D.W. Rhodes Funeral Home, 1020 Virgil Street on Friday, May8 2026 at 11:00 am. Visitation will begin at 10:00 am. Interment: RestlawnPark Cemetery.Arrangements by D.W. Rhodes Funeral Home, Gretna, LA. Please visit www.rhodesfuneral.com to sign the guestbook.

Paine, Lincoln Denton

Walker,Dannette 'Mimi'

Dannette Walker born in NewOrleans to thelate DanBrightand Mildred Joseph Dannette leavestocherish hermemories: Husband AlbertWalker, children, Connie (deceased), Danita(Eric), Calvin (Faylin) andDarryl (Tinisha).

9, 2026,

70126.

Perrone, Marie ShirleyBrown

VarmallSr.,Michael James'Skully'

Thomas,Ollie LydiaBarthelemy

See more DEATHS page

OUR VIEWS

Yes, legislators should revamp Sewerage & WaterBoard

Abill pending in the state Legislature to change the governance structure forsewerage and water service in New Orleans would move things in the right direction,but theSenate shouldcarefully mind thedetails.

The immediate problemisclear: Thecurrent set-up of the Sewerage &Water Boardisa mess, with divided lines of authority but little ultimate accountability.The result isawater systemthat keeps failing and failing again,including five large, ruptured water pipes within six weeks earlier this year

The S&WB, which also oversees the city’s sewer service and drainage, is regulatedby more than 80 state laws, plus severallocal ordinances. The New OrleansCityCouncilapproves water rates while the mayor presides over the 11-memberboard.Members servestaggered four-year terms, meaning aprior mayor’s appointees can maintain aboard majority well into anew mayor’sterm.

The convoluted hodgepodge serves thepublic badly.Meanwhile, the system is massivelyunderfunded, with a2003 S&WB study suggesting the cost of replacing just 60%of thedecrepit watertransmissionsystem would be $2.8 billion. Sincethen,only 7% ofthe systemhas been replaced, while abasicinflation calculatorsuggests that now,23years later, thecostofthe other53% (not to mention the40% not even examined in 2003)wouldbe in the$4.7 billion range.

Considering that the S&WBalready struggles just to find the cashfor $23 million in court judgments, some almost 30 yearsold,it’sobvious that financing for theneeded improvements is well-nigh unattainable withoutmajor changes.

To provide more clarity on whoisresponsible, the state House on April 23 passed House Bill 1243. As currently configured,the billwouldallow the council to pass ordinances giving itself control of S&WB budgets, staffing, funding —even the compositionofthe boarditself. In other words, anear-total takeoverofthe board’s functions.

The bill, which has the support of NewOrleans Mayor and board presidentHelena Moreno, is well-intended, and itsgeneraldirection is wise. Clearly,city government, with elected officials accountable to thecity’svoters, should not be hamstrung in addressing suchmajor problems and shouldnot need to wait forstate lawmakers with no skin in thegame to bless their actions.

Then again, some mechanism should keep anewly empowered mayor and council from turning the entire S&WB staffing system into a massive political patronage operation.The ideal of apolitical management, free fromelected officials’ feather-nesting,was agood reason for theboard initially to be created as an independent entity

It’snot easy to figure out where to drawthe line between aboard properly responsiveto accountable politicians and onethatpoliticians can misuse.

The Senate should move carefully but deliberately to streamline this convoluted setup.

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 USA LETTER SCANHERE

YOUR VIEWS

Celebratenew park butdon’t forget what parksare for

Parks For All is anonprofitfounded in 2014 thatadvocates for parks and recreation in New Orleans.Wecelebratethe opening of the new Goldring Woldenberg Parkand itsconnection to Crescent Park—acontinuation of avision begun in the1970s.Kudos to those who brought this to fruition. Along with the Lafitte Greenway extension, City Park’sstrategic plan, expanded bike routesand NORD upgrades, we are making real progress in improving our park and recreation systems. However,wehave serious concerns about what comes next.

This new Gov.Nicholls Street Wharf phaseispredominantly parkland with limited commercial development,but the next phase will reverse that ratio —mostly commercial, little park— framed as necessary to cover annual costs. We reject this rationale.

Turning public parkland intorevenuegenerating enterprises sets adangerous precedent for everygreen space in the city. Onceweaccept that apark mustpay for itself through commercial activity,wehave fundamentally

changed what aparkis—and whom it serves. Using thefuture Esplanade Wharf phase as acommercial subsidy for the Gov.Nicholls phase is not a parks strategy; it’sanabdication of the City’sresponsibility. The real solution is found in The Big Green Easy, avisionary citywide parks and recreation plan that examines parks as asystem, identifies potential revenue streams and allocates resources equitably through short- and long-term strategies. We urge the administration to adopt this blueprint and let it guide future management of our park system.

Commercializing one park to offset costs without considering the entire park system is shortsighted. It sets a troubling standard: thatpublic space is only worth preserving if it can generateprofit. Let’sadopt The Big Green Easy and get development right!

SCOTT P. HOWARD president, ParksFor All LAKE DOUGLAS professor emeritus, LSU RobertReich School of LandscapeArchitecture

Camp owners woulddobettertorelyonsolar

In therecent article about ongoing power issues affecting remote camps and rural properties, much of the blamewas directed toward the power company.While it may be easy topoint fingers at the utilityprovider,that perspective overlooks amore practical and forward-looking solution that rests with the camp owners themselves.

These camps are, by their very nature, located in remote andoften difficult-to-service areas. Maintaining and extending reliable grid infrastructure into suchlocations is costly,inefficient and highly vulnerable to weather and environmental disruptions. Expecting consistent, high-quality serviceunder those conditions ignores both economic and logistical realities

What makes far moresense is for camp owners to takeadvantage of modernenergy alternatives —specifically solar power.Remote camps are, in fact, an ideal use case for solar en-

ergy systems. With abundant sunlight in our region and significant advancements in battery storage technology, solar setups can provide dependable, independent power without relying on miles of fragile transmission lines. Rather than continuing to depend on asystem that was never designed for these conditions, camp owners should consider investing in self-sufficient energy solutions. Not only would this reduce strain on the existing grid, but it would also provide greater reliability and long-term cost savings forthe owners themselves.

In short, this is less afailure of the power company and moreareluctance to adapt to solutions that are already well within reach. It’stimetoshiftthe conversation from blame to responsibility—and from outdated expectationstomodern solutions.

MIKENORTON Metairie

The coverage of the final days at Saks Fifth Avenue at Canal Place noted that the closure “underscores the challenges downtownbusinesses and malls have faced in recent years.” While downtownretail has undeniably faced challenges across the country,especially in the postpandemic era, this closure is better understood as part of abroader national story that has little to do with Canal Street, New Orleans or even downtowns moregenerally The Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization driving Saks Fifth Avenue store closures across the country is primarily due to the chain’sill-fated acquisition of NeimanMarcus and challenges associated with its shift to a“store-within-a-store” retail model. Further,Saks has decided to close the majority of its stores —18 of 33 at last count. The majority of those 18 store closures are in relatively affluent, suburban locations —like Chevy Chase, Maryland, or Long Island, New York —asopposed to downtowns or malls in the center of major cities. It’s always disappointing to see along-time, high-profile business leave our city,and it’sespecially frustrating when it seemstolargely be due to national forces beyond our control. Yet, the local story told by the DowntownDevelopment District’s2026 State of Downtown is encouraging —overall retail occupancy stands at an enviable 94%. As the Saks Fifth Avenue chapter comes to an end, there is an exciting opportunity to write anew chapter forthe future of Canal Place and downtownasawhole.

SETH KNUDSON president &CEO,Downtown Development Districtofthe City of NewOrleans

Thereare unintended supply-chain effectsofIranwar Trump’sWar may have an effect I have not yet seen covered. Few people realize how manymeds, prescription and over-the-counter,are either imported from abroad (frequently India or China) or,ifmanufactured here,

madefrom active pharmaceutical ingredientsthat are imported. Your prescription may not be available if Trump’sWar continues.

MARIE ROUSSELLE Metairie

Let’shear it forthe oversight and transparency our new mayor has put into place. Bravo, Mayor Helena Moreno! We see you, and we appreciate you.

MARYANN KAUCHAK NewOrleans Shoutout to mayor doinggoodjob

Court, Jeff Landry made a messyelectioneven messier

Bewilderment in elections is abad thing. Unfortunately,that’s whatthe U.S. Supreme Court and Gov. Jeff Landry have created. Whatever one thinks of the substance of the Supreme Court’srulinginthe Louisiana v. Callais redistrictingcase (my reaction is mixed, and complicated), we all shouldbedisturbedby itstiming and by Landry’s decisionto delay the U.S. Houseelectionswhile continuing to hold the Senate election and some others on May 16. In the short run,the high court dealt Louisiana abad hand,and Landry made it worse.

Quin Hillyer

The original “bad hand” here was not necessarily the court’s decision itself (which is debatable), but when it was issued. The Supreme Court first heard this caseargued last March, followedbymore oral argumentsin October.There was no good reason it should have taken until lateApril, after months of aprimary campaign andafter absentee voting had already begun, to issue its ruling.

Justice Brett Kavanaughina 2022 ruling (in an Alabama case) explained at great length how unfair and burdensomeitis to change election rules close to an election. Afew snippets of hisverbiage will suffice. Kavanaugh agreed then with the stateofAlabama that such last-minutechanges are “a prescription for chaos for candidates, campaign organizations,independent groups, political parties, andvoters, among others Runningelections statewide is extraordinarily complicated and difficult. Those elections require enormous advance preparations by state and local officials, and pose significant logistical challenges Abedrock tenet of election law[is that] when an election is close at hand, the rules of the road must be clear and settled.”

Recognizing these undisputable realities, the court should havemade sure to issue its decision months ago. It is not Landry’sfault that the court acted slothfully When burdenedwith thelatecourt decision, Landry knew he would face legal challenges,all of themwell within reason, no matter what he did If Landry delayed the electionson the grounds that the congressional districts are unconstitutional, one side would sue to say that those who already voted absentee hadbeen disen-

franchised and that the candidates and donors hadlegally recognizable stakes in goingaheadwith thecurrent districts this year.Ifhedid not delay the election on grounds similar to what Kavanaugh described in 2022, the other sidewouldsue to say he had proceeded with unconstitutional districts. Nonetheless, Landry should have chosen oneoption or the other.What Landry did, though, was significantly to increase what has been described as “widespread confusion” —and perhaps increased the likelihood of adverse legalramifications, too.

By continuing with theSenate election (andinaclosed primary) and a few local races, while canceling the House races (in anticipation of rescheduling them, probably in an open primary), Landry baked asmorgasbord of conundrums. The House races remain on the ballot,but supposedly votes castinthose races this time won’t count. Yetwhat happens if alegal challenger successfully secures acourt injunction ordering the House electionstogoahead after all? Will those votescount? Andwill the early voters whoabstained from voting for House candidates get achance to go back and recast those votes? Howwould that work?

Meanwhile, the unfairness to the

Senatecandidates and their supporters and donors is palpable. With so much confusion, how manyvoters who hear that the House races are stopped will stay away from the polls entirely?

There’snoway to tell which Senate candidates this would help or hurt, but it is anear-certainty that voter turnout patterns will be substantially affected. Consider,too, that this obvious recipe for befuddlement comes on top of asituation somevoters already found perplexing: namely,the return to closed partyprimaries after most of the past 50 years of Louisiana elections had been conducted with open primaries, meaning all candidates on one ballot regardless of partyaffiliation. What Landry did by bifurcating the election may (but probably won’t) be adjudged illegal. Whether legal or not,though, it is astonishingly unjust.

To quoteKavanaugh again, belated “tinkering withelection laws can lead to disruption and tounanticipated and unfair consequences.” It’s ashamethe court didn’theed those words.

Nonetheless, Landry’sdecision to split theelection baby isn’tSolomonic; it’sjust dead wrong.

Email QuinHillyer at quin.hillyer@ theadvocate.com

Hutson doesn’tdeserve an indictment

Say what you want about former Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson, but Ithink the sheriff gig is the toughest elected position in the entire city,and she had abad, bad hand.

Now she’sbeen hit with a 30-count indictment. Louisiana AttorneyGeneral Liz Murrill conducted an investigation mostly focused on last year’s jailbreak. She got 14 countsof malfeasance in office, three of filing or maintaining falsepublic records, three of obstruction of justice and 10 conspiracy charges based on those alleged crimes. Her chief financial officer,Bianka Brown was indicted as well. She was hitwith 20 similar counts. The 23-page indictment had zero specifics about what Hutson and Brown did. It was anothingburger.The meat was in a10-page affidavitinsupportof the arrest warrant. Surely this would be the “gotcha” packageoutlining the specifics of how Hutson took criminal actions as sheriff.

shared. It does not, though, suggestany alleged self-dealing. I’m still notconvinced that Hutson is acriminal who should be sentto prison.

On Spirit Airlines,the government protected competitionby eliminatingit

Regulators no longer have to worry that Spirit Airlinesmight upsetthe airline market by merging with the wrong competitor

The now-defunctairline made poor business decisions andhad to cope withtough circumstances, but if its demise were an Agatha Christie mystery,the fingerprints of Biden antitrust officialswould be all over the crime scene. Theseantitrust zealotsfought aproposed deal betweenJetBlue andSpirit,and congratulated themselvesona 2024 court victory that doomed Spirit to likely oblivion.

This was wanton economic destruction masquerading as antitrust enforcement.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, whonever met an antitrust action she didn’tlike, exemplifies the perversity.After theBidenadministration gotafederal judge to put the kibosh on the JetBlue-Spirit deal in 2024, she celebrated: “This is aBiden win for flyers!”

Last month, as Spirit teetered on the edge of the grave, she expressed dismay: “The Big Four airlines (American, Delta, Southwest, United) control 75% of the U.S. market. Fewer choices =higher prices foryou.”

Yes, it would be terrifictohave abigger,more serious challenger to the established players, wouldn’t it?Ifonlythere’dbeenaway to achieve such an outcome.

The federaljudge on theJetBlue-Spirit case conceded that “an expansion of all aspects of JetBlue’sbusiness —including network, fleet and loyalty program—would allowfor more vigorous competition with the Big Four,which carry mostpassengers in the country.”

No matter.For Bidenofficials, antitrust enforcement was ascholasticexercise wherethe definition of monopoly had no connection to reality

If JetBlue hadsucceeded in gobblingupSpirit, the airline still would have been smaller than the Big Four

Worrying about JetBlue getting too big is like fretting that Thrifty —the fifthlargest car rental outlet in theUnited States after Enterprise, Hertz, Avis and Budget —isone relatively small acquisition away from establishing dominance in the car-rental market.

As forthe fear that the JetBlue-Spirit merger would end Spirit’srole as an ultra-low-cost carrier and therefore harm consumers, the airline hasnow gone away anyway, only in amore disorderly fashion.

JetBlue might wonder what Biden regulators hadagainst it. As the website View Fromthe Wing points out, JetBlue gotapprovalduring the first Trumpadministration forapartnership with American Airlines to expand in New York. Then, the Biden team showed up and killed the partnership on grounds that directly contradicted its rationale for nixing the JetBlue-Spirit deal.

Will Sutton

Idon’tcare whether your name is Charles Foti, Marlin Gusman, Susan HutsonorMichelleWoodfork. If you run and successfully win the right to oversee security for civil and criminal courtrooms, court judges and personnel, attorneys, defendants and others; serve eviction subpoenas and notices; and, of course, run the Orleans Justice Center, you’re going to be atarget.

Foti served along time, had agood tenure, faced challenges, had opposition (Gusman) andlost the seat. Gusman served along time, had agood tenure, faced challenges, had opposition (Hutson) and lost the job. Hutson served asingle term, did some impressive things, faced serious challenges, had opposition (Woodfork, and others) and lost her reelection bid.

The affidavit said Hutson “knowingly and willingly neglected her duty to secure the Orleans Justice Center,” which is the subject of afederal consent decree. It said she ignored multiple warnings that the jail was not secure —and that she could’ve prevented the May headline-grabbing escape of 10 men who scampered to freedom. According to the affidavit, Hutson didn’tprovide adequate staffing, could’ve used available fundstopreventthe escape, and didn’taddress other problems —and she lied.

The document raises questions about Hutson’scompetence, questions that the voters in Orleans Parish clearly

There were too manyproblems that got alot of media and public attention Harsh criticism from the New Orleans City Council about budget and finance transparency.Acontempt of court charge.

Theunfortunate, mistaken release of ajailresident. Abiting review by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor.And, of course, the May 2025 jailbreak by 10 men who somehow escaped through a hole behind atoilet, left ataunting wall message and in some cases remained on the lam for months.

Idon’tthink Foti or Gusman would’ve survived that. Idon’tthink Woodfork could either.Itwas just too much.

Unfortunately for Hutson, these things overshadowed some good work. American Correctional Association jail accreditation. AMarch 2025 millage renewal that will generate up to $12 million,which can be used tobuy locks, removehazards, fixplumbing, improve technology and further harden thejail. Updating 40-year-old computer software with amajor 2026 case managementupgrade, just beforeending her term. Hutsondidn’tget much credit for those things.The bad things wereoverwhelming. Voters wanted achange, and they rallied behind Woodfork. In arecent interview on “The Good Morning Show” on WBOK 1230 AM beforenews of the indictment broke, Hutsontold me howmuch shewas looking forwardtotaking agood amount of time off after being on call as the city police monitor for 11 years, then as sheriff for thelast four.She said shehasn’tthought about her next chapter Iattended her Tuesday morning celebration of accomplishments event with dozens of OPSOadministrators, deputies, staff, friends and supporters. Foti was there, too. Iliked that Hutson took time to recognizethe workofher team, and that sheread a“Love Letter to My Staff.” As sheread it, shegot choked up, pausing beforecontinuing. Ididn’t know at the time what was coming. I’m sure shedid Unless Murrill comes back with a whole lot more than shehas, this isn’t right.Hutson had arough time and lost an election. Kicking Hutson on her way out is shameful.

Email Will Sutton at wsutton@theadvocate.com.

“The Biden administration fought the American Airlines-JetBlue partnership,”ViewFrom the Wing notes, “calling JetBlue apro-passenger disruptorwho drivesdown prices. Thenthey turned around andclaimed that JetBluewas a monopolistwho would drive up prices if they bought Spirit.” JetBlue itself is struggling, but at least the airline is still with us.

Spirit hada good run basedonits initialdisruption of the industry.The airline’sidea was to make abasic fare extremely cheap, andthen charge passengers fees for everything taken for granted at other airlines (drinks, carry-on bags, etc.).

The customer experiencewas terrible,though. And Spirit got buffeted by changes during the pandemic, while more establishedairlines matchedits fareswith basic economy.Spirit stopped making money in 2019. With the JetBlue deal blocked, it couldn’tget an alternative merger done. It declared bankruptcy in 2024, and then again in August 2025. Therecent spike in jet-fuel prices pushed it over the edge.

Elizabeth Warren was quick to say that “Trump’swar wasthe nail in the coffinfor twicebankrupted SpiritAirlines.” Well, yeah. But its vulnerable state underlines how foolish it wasto keep it from getting the lifeline it so desperately needed from amerger Ronald Reagan said the mostterrifying words in the English language are, “I’m fromthe government, and I’mhere to help.” The Spirit fiasco shows that perhaps equally frightening are the words, “I’m with the DOJ antitrust divisionand I’mhere to protect consumers.”

RichLowry is on X, @RichLowry

Rich Lowry

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Voters followthe signs to the pollinglocation at the Louisiana State Archives.

with meteorologist Damon Singleton

Todaybegins

thunderstorms some of whichcouldbecomesevere as well. Also, we couldsee a quarter to ahalfofaninch of rain in partsofour area. Temperatures

YearginJr.,GeorgeH

George H. Yeargin, Jr., a residentofNew Orleans, Louisiana,passedaway peacefullyonApril 29, 2026. He is survived by his wife, ChimeneYeargin, who washis belovedpart‐ner foreighteen yearsand stood by himasheem‐bracedlifewithgenuine passion.BorninLonoke, Arkansas, on December 14, 1942, to thelateGeorge and Vivian Yeargin, Sr., Georgewas aman of faith, intelligence, andunwaver‐ing commitmenttohis familyand friends. George confessedhis faithin Christatanearly ageatSt. PaulBaptist Church in Lonoke, Arkansas under PastorJ.V.Cooper.Hecar‐riedthisfoundation throughouthis life,bring‐ing passionand honorto everythinghepursued.He graduated from Lonoke HighSchool Classof1960 beforebeginning hisacad‐emicjourney.Hehit the booksatArkansasAM&N College (now theUniver‐sityofArkansasatPine Bluff),earning hisBachelor ofScience andlater receiv‐ing hismaster’sdegree fromGovernors StateUni‐versity in Illinois.Upon completionofhis acade‐mic studies, he joined the UnitedStatesNavy, where heservedhis countrywith pride.After twenty-five years,Georgeretired from the Social Security Admin‐istration in SanFrancisco, California, andlater moved toLas Vegas, Nevada.In his retirement,hewas an activememberof100 Black Men andthe University of ArkansasatPineBluff AlumniAssociation. He was alifelonglearner He was happiest whendiving intoa newbook, maintain‐ing hishome’sexteriorby sweepinghis driveway and taking particular care ofhis onebananaonhis bananatree. He enjoyed spendingtimewith his family, andone of his greatestjoyswas seeing the relationshipsbetween his children andgrandchil‐dren blossom. He wasa

DEATHS continued from proudfather, leavingbe‐hinda strong andbeautiful legacythrough hischil‐dren: Toya Dean (Derrick), StephanieYearginCopeland(Micheal),Car‐lotaHallDeWilks,Mia A. Yeargin,DawnBrown (Ronald), AishaFrench Boynton (Dwain), and LaVonce Yeargin(Jasmin), along with hisbonus chil‐dren, AmeerWeaver(Patri‐cia), TourePruitt(Hanh), TinaWilliams, andTimia McPherson (Brandon).Al‐thoughthere were seven children, somehowGeorge “Dad” hada wayofmaking every single oneofthem feel like they were hisfa‐vorite. He stayed con‐nected, he stayed present, and he made sure every‐bodyfeltincluded. Nowthe story of howeverybody truly came together that’ssomething we’lltalk about lateratthe repast Hehad an unwavering love for hisgrandchildren: WilliamMcArthurJr.,Loren McArthur,PaulWilks Devin Dean (Jacquelyn), MorganDean, ArielWal‐don,Sabrina Evans (Zachary),AminahYeargin, AlexandriaBoynton,Nisaa Yeargin,Arianna Brown, and Sophia Brown, along withtwo bonus grandchil‐dren, Dakota andDallas McPherson,who affection‐ately called him“G-Pop, and five great-grandchil‐dren. George hadanun‐breakable bond he shared withhis siblings,Bennie Waller, Yvonne Gentry ScottieYeargin (Shirley), MaryFlowers (John),and his nieces andnephews, who were absolutely crazy about him. They shared a connection filledwithlots oflaughterand love.He alsoleavesbehinda host ofcousins,friends,and family, by blood andby love, who will foreverhold him closeintheir hearts Hewas preceded in death byhis parents, George H. Yeargin Sr.and Vivian Cole Yeargin;his sister,Norma Yeargin-Jolley; hisbroth‐ers,Theodis Yearginand LesterVan Yeargin; andhis nephew, KevinYeargin Georgewillbe greatly missedand foreverre‐memberedfor everylesson hepasseddown, andevery heart he touched. Because a manlikehim doesn't simplyleave,hebecomes a legacy. Relativesand friends areinvitetothe celebration of Mr.Year‐gin's life on Friday,May 8, 2026 at Israel Baptist Church 1612 Esther Ave., HarveyLA. 70058. Thevisi‐tationwillbegin at 10:30 AMfollowedbyan11AM serviceofficiated by Pastor

DarrellMcKinnies. Repass tofollow. Funeralplanning entrusted to Robinson FamilyFuneral Home

Mathieu questions Saints’ handling of Kamara

Former safety says team is mistreatingstarrusher

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

BA TO THE WALL’

Mathieu

LSU findsitselfatrareintersectionofhopeand discouragement

If you met Steven Milam, the LSU shortstopwould likely strike you as asoft-spoken man whowould rather let his leather glove or his aluminum alloy bat do the talking When he does speak,hespeaks plainly.And what he said Tuesday night in the LSU clubhouse after a 13-6 victory over Tulane spoke volumesabout theTigers’ present plight

“I don’twant to go home,” Milamsaid. “I want to win another nationalchampionship.”

This time ayear ago, Milam andthe 2025 LSU baseball team were on theirway to the program’seighth national championship. Thebiggest questionconfrontingthe Tigers then waswhether ornot they could stack up enoughvictoriestoearn atop-eightnationalseed, thus allowing LSU to stay at homeatAlexBoxStadium before making thetrip to Omaha, Nebraska,for the College World Series.

They did. The Tigers werethe No.6 national seed Asidefromnearly getting sunkbyanunheralded ice-

berg named Little Rock in theNCAA regional, those Tigers fulfilled LSU’s annual manifest destiny ambitions and claimed that trophy.Itwas asuccessful quest for pride, achievement, and aplace on the wall as one of this rich program’s forever teams. These Tigers face adifferent, unfamiliar (for LSU) quest:survival. Being worthy of not winning the NCAA Tournament, but just earninga toehold in it.

Lessthan two weeksago, it looked as though the Tigers’ cochon de lait was cooked. LSU was coming off an 0-4 week that included athree-gamesweep at Mississippi State, the last of an unprecedented threestraight three-gameSoutheastern Conference sweeps thatno other Tiger baseball team had ever endured.

At 24-21, LSU was starving for wins. At the crucial time, thefood truck pulled up outside the ballpark.

Mixing hotter-hitting veterans like Milam and Derek

ä See RABALAIS, page 5C

LSUcoach JayJohnson makes apitching change in the first inning of agame against SoutheasternonApril 28 at Alex Box Stadium. PHOTO By MICHAEL BACIGALUPI

Tulane addsprolific NAIA scorer, rebounderamong seventransfers

BY GUERRYSMITH

Contributing writer

The Tulane men’sbasketball team’slatest batch of newcomers for 2026-27 includesa 6-foot-7 forward with arebounding prowess seldom seen in coach Ron Hunter’stenure, although it remains to be seen if that skill will translatetoDivision Ifromthe NAIA level.

Caedmon Bontrager,aNAIA All-America selection who averaged 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds as aredshirt junioratIndiana Wesleyan, committed to theGreen Wave on Xthis week, and the school confirmed his signing on Wednesday.Hegrabbed 22 rebounds in one November game thispast season, pulled down10ormore12times and has one year of eligibility left Tulane finished last in the American Conference in rebounding margin at minus-8 1, marking its fifth time at the bottom of that category in sevenyears underHunter Bontragerwas theCrossroads League player of the year in 2025-26, leading Indiana Wesleyan to a28-6 record and NAIA Sweet16appearance. He shot 56.9% from the floor and 34.5% (29 of 84) from 3-point range, also blocking ateam-high 36 shots.

He averaged 20.4 pointsin2024-25 and 13.9 pointsin2023-24. As is true for almostevery program in thetransfer portalera, Hunter’seighth team will look dramatically different than hisseventh.Bontrager is oneofseven transfers who have signedwith the Wave, joining 6-foot-8 sophomoreforward Joah Chappelle from Georgia State, 6-foot-8 junior forward Jordann Dumont from Virginia Commonwealth, 6-foot-8 junior forward Carson Schwieger from QueensUniversity and the previously announced 6-foot-7 wing Ryan Blount from Division II Tampa, 6-foot-3junior guard Krystian Lewis from LouisianaMonroeand 6-foot-5 guard TJ Nadeau from Detroit Mercy Tulane also will have two incoming freshmen—6-foot-3 guardNoah Mister of Victory Rock Prep in Bradenton, Florida, and 6-foot-7 Decatur (Georgia) wing Tobias Brinkley,a prospect who signed in the fall. The ninenewcomers join holdovers Tyler Ringgold, KJ Greene, Josiah Moore, Robert Mooreand walk-on Luke Cronin. Star point guard RowanBrumbaugh,who ledthe team

ä See TULANE, page 5C

As Alvin Kamara’sstatus with the New Orleans Saints remains up in theair for next season, former safety Tyrann Mathieu said he thinks the black and gold are mistreating their all-time leading rusher On his podcast, Mathieu aNew Orleans native who playedfor theSaintsand with Kamarafrom 20222024 —took theteam to task fornot declaring definitively whether the running back will return in 2026, adding the team doesn’thave “the balls to outrightcut him.” Kamara is on the roster andhas oneyear left on his contract,though coach Kellen Moore and general manager Mickey Loomis have been coy regarding the running back’s future with the team Mathieu disagrees with the approach. “I don’tthink the Saints are dealing with this in good faith,” Mathieu said. “I don’t think so. This is not what you do to your

ä See SAINTS, page 5C

LSU, Wade addBrazilian

BYTOYLOYBROWN III

Staff writer

LSU is no longer the only high-major team in the country with asingle player on its roster fornext season. Brazilian professional player Marcio Santos committed to coach Will Wade’s Tigers on Wednesday, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. The 6-foot-9, 250-pound center reportedly was pursued by Kentucky,according to Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68. The 23-year-old Santos is averaging 7.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 0.7 blocksand 1.4 turnovers in 17.8 minutes pergame in 17 games forMaccabiTel Aviv in Israel.He’salso shooting 52.7% from the field, 12.1% fromthe 3-point line on 1.9 attempts and 73.1% from thefree-throw line. Histeam is currently18-1 in theIsraeliBasketballPremierLeague Santos was born in Brazil and wentundrafted in the 2023 NBA Draft. He is playing his first season in theEuroleague,the highest level of competition outside of the United States. In 37 games for Maccabi TelAviv,he’saveraging 6.9 points,1.9 rebounds and3.2 foulsin14.1minutes.Heis

ä See LSU, page 5C

Scott Rabalais

STAFFFILE PHOTOByDAVID GRUNFELD Saints running backAlvin Kamara warms up before agame against the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 14 at the Caesars Superdome.

STAFF FILEPHOTO By SCOTT THRELKELD

Tulane coach RonHunter watches his team playinthe second half against UNOonNov.22, 2024, at Devlin Fieldhouse. Hunter has signed seven transfers to his 2026-27 team.

4p.m.

9a.m. PGA: Myrtle Beach Classic GOLF

11 a.m.LPGA: Mizuho AmericasOpen GOLF

1p.m. PGA: Truist ChampionshipGOLF HORSE RACING

noon America’s Dayatthe Races FS2

6p.m.Tampa

6p.m.Cleveland at Detroit PRIME 8:30 p.m.L.A.Lakers at OklahomaCityPRIME NHL

7p.m.CarolinaatPhiladelphia TNT MEN’S SOCCER

1:55 p.m.Nottingham at Aston Villa CBSSN WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

6p.m.Omaha vs.IndyION

8:45 p.m.San Diegovs. Dallas ION

McIlroy more motivatedthan ever

McIlroyset for Truist tourneyafter 3-week layoff

BY STEVE REED AP sportswriter

CHARLOTTE, N.C. Rory McIlroy appeared rested and relaxed as he prepared for his first tournament since repeating as Masterschampion.

Just don’tlet that be confused with complacency

The world’sNo. 2-ranked player said he feels “more motivated” than ever heading into amajor stretch that includes the PGA Championship next week outside of Philadelphia and theU.S.Open next month at ShinnecockHills. First up though is this week’sTruist Championship at Quail Hollow, where McIlroy earned his first PGA Tour victory 16 years ago and has won four times.

“I’mexcited for the road ahead,” the six-time major champion said Wednesday after his Pro-Am round.

It’sbeen more than three weeks since McIlroy slippedonthe green jacket for asecondtime after becoming just the fourth playerin 90 years to go back-to-back atthe Masters.

He described this year’spostMasters breakfrom golf as “less hectic” than last year’swhirlwind tour

The 37-year-old McIlroy spent mostofhis time at his home in Jupiter,Florida, although he did visit New York with his wife Erica Stoll and attended aWhite House state dinner held for King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

But it’swhat he didn’tdothat has left him feeling refreshed.

He didn’ttravel back home to Northern Ireland to celebrate his Masters win like he did in 2025, largely because his parentswere already in the United States to seeitinperson. They skippedlast year’sMasters so as not to jinx their son’schances of completing the career grand slam after years of disappointment He alsodidn’tdothe media rounds,electingfor more “chill” time at home,allowing him to take

his daughter Poppy to tennis lessons.

“I gave myself agood 10 days to enjoy myself and then thought Ineeded to get back on the range and start to practice and get ready forthisstretch coming up,” McIlroy said.

Thestretch begins Thursday with the tuneup at Quail Hollow,a place where McIlroy is adored by fans and often serenaded with the “Happy Birthday” song given the tournament often falls during his birthday

He was 20when he won his first PGA tournament here, earning him immediate popularity in Charlotte. In some ways, he’sbecome the city’sadopted golfer

He haswon here four times on acourse that sets up perfectly to complement his lengthoff the tee, including adominant seven-shot victoryin2015 inwhich he established anew tournament record at 21-under267 after athird-round 61.

“I reallyfeel likethis tourna-

mentgot my career going,” McIlroy said. “This is 16 years I’ve been cominghere, so it’sbeen a fun place, I’ve had success. It’s somewhere Ialways love coming back to.”

with whatthe golf course was like in 2024, when the tournament was last here. Thecourse is great.”

LSU Softball knocked out of SEC Tournament

LEXINGTON,Ky. Emily Digby’s three-run home run in the top of thefourth inning broke a2-2 tie and propelled Georgia to a7-3 win over LSU in theSEC Tournament on Wednesday

The losseliminated the eighthseeded Tigers (37-17) from the tournament as they await their fate in hosting an NCAA softball regional. No. 9Georgia (37-17) took a2-0 lead in the topofthe thirdinning on RBIs by NatalieRay andJaydyn Goodwin. TheTigers tied it in the bottom of thethird on Sierra Daniel’stwo-run home run, one of LSU’s twohits in the game, to right field. Jayden Heavener (12-8) took the loss afterthrowing 31/3 innings while allowing five earned runs on six hits, no walks and five strikeouts.

NFL, referees association movingtoward newdeal

The NFL and its officials are moving closer towardanew agreementthatavoids awork stoppage. After alengthystalemate,negotiations have reached apoint wherethe NFL Referees Association is planning to have aratification vote this week, aperson with knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press on Tuesday Lastmonth, the league began the onboarding processfor replacement officials because negotiations weren’tprogressing.

The NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Referees Association is set to expire on May 31.

Theleague and the union have been negotiating anew CBA since the summerof2024.

Yankees to pay tribute to Sterling with uniformpatch

He enters thisweek as the slight favoritetowin (+600)over the redhot Cameron Young (+850), who wonlast week at Doral McIlroy feels good abouthis chances despite thethree-week layoff that included skipping the RBCHeritageand theCadillac Championship.

He won the Truist Championship by five shots over Xander Schauffele thelast time it was played at Quail Hollowin2024, but surprisinglystruggled here at the 2025 PGAChampionship, finishing tied for 47th.

“Slightly different setup than the PGA last year,and slightly different conditions,” McIlroy said. “It’s been very dryhere by all accounts, so thegreensare very firm.The rough is down alittle bit. Sort of more, probablymoreinkeeping

McIlroy said returning to action after winning theMastersa second time feels much different thana year ago. “I felt like winning the Grand Slam wasgoingtobethis lifechanging thing and in some ways it was, but in other ways Ihad to remember like, ‘No, Istill have a lotofmycareer left andI want to keep playing andkeep competing,’”hesaid.“So this year Ithink winning wasvalidation forall the work that I’veput in over the last fewyears to getmyself back to this place where I’m winning majors.

Schauffele said it will be atall task beating McIlroy this week and moving forward if he plays the way he did at AugustaNational.

“His best club (driver)was his worst club, and he still won the tournament,” Schauffele said. “That’sa little scary, obviously,if you’re competing against him.”

Kentucky Derbywinnernot runninginPreakness

Golden Temposets sights on Belmont Stakes in June

BY STEPHENWHYNO

AP sportswriter

Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo will notrun in the Preakness Stakes next weekend, trainer Cherie DeVaux announcedWednesday. DeVaux and owners decided to skip the Preakness and settheir sights on the Belmont Stakes on June 6atSaratogaRaceCourse in upstate NewYork. DeVaux, who became the firstwoman to train aDerby winner,isfrom Saratoga Springs, whichis hosting the Belmont for athird and final time this year

“Weare incredibly appreciative of the excitement and support surrounding the possibility of aTriple Crown run,” DeVaux said in astatement.“Golden gave us the race of alifetime in the Kentucky Derby, andwe believe the best decisionfor him moving forward is to give him a little more time following such a tremendous effort. Hishealth, happinessand long-term future will always remain our top priority.” Golden Tempo is the third Derby winner in thepast five years not to be entered in the Preakness. For various reasons, it is the sixth time in eight years the Preakness willhappenwith no chance of aTripleCrownonthe line. American Pharoahin2015

andJustify in 2018 arethe only horses to sweep allthree races over the past four decades. The two-week turnaround from the Derby to the Preakness, which used to be commonplace, is considered anonstarter for many trainers and owners

given that most elite thoroughbreds now typically go amonth or more between races. It has caused endless debateinhorse racing circles about the spacing of the Triple Crown in modern times. Maryland racing officials are

considering moving the Preakness back from the thirdSaturday in May to thefourthtoincreasethe chances of not just the winner but otherhorsesfrom the Derbybeing considered for the second leg of the Triple Crown. None of the 18 who ranthisyear at ChurchillDowns areheading to the Preakness, with Golden Tempo the only one considered. ThePreakness is taking place at Laurel Park between Baltimore and Washington, D.C this spring while its longtime home, Pimlico Race Course, is rebuilt as part of amassive construction project thatincluded demolishing the debilitating old structure. Pimlico is settobecome thesite foryear-round racing in Maryland beginning next year when the state takescontrol from 1/ST Racing,withLaurel becoming a training venue GoldenTempo won the Kentucky Derby as a23-1 long shot in spectacular fashion, making acharge from theback of the pack down thestretch to the finishline aneck ahead of morning line favorite Renegade. DeVaux and co-ownerDaisy Phipps Pulito said they wouldsee how the coltcame outofthe race before making any decisions.

Theyfollowed the lead of trainer BillMott and GodolphinRacing, which last year chosetobypass the Preakness withDerby championSovereignty to give himextra rest for theBelmont. Sovereignty rewarded them by winning the Belmontand the Travers Stakes andisback racing as a4-year-old.

NEW YORK The New York Yankees will pay tribute to longtime radio play-by-play announcer John Sterlingwith amemorial patch on their uniform sleeves,the team announced on Tuesday.

Sterlingdied Monday. He was 87 After announcing Sterling’spassing, theYankees wore capswith “JS” stitching on the back of their hats for Monday’s12-1 winagainst Baltimore.

Followingthe finalout,the sound system blared Sterling’svoice booming “Ballgameover! Yankees win! Theee Yankees win!” just before the first strainsofFrank Sinatracrooning “New York, NewYork.” Sterling called 5,426 regular-season Yankees games and225 morein thepostseasonfrom1989untilhis retirementin2024

Lakers’ Vanderbilt going day-to-day afterdislocation

Though Jarred Vanderbilt suffered agruesome dislocated right pinkyinjuryduringthe Lakers’ loss in Game1against the Thunder on Tuesday,coach JJ Redick said hisforward hasbeen listed as dayto-dayfor the second-round series. Vanderbilt, who is left-handed, wasinjured in the second quarter trying to block adunk by Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren, but his hand hitthe backboard.Vanderbilt immediately doubledoverinpain, as the bone brokethrough the skin andhad to be put back in place.

Redick said it was a“reduction” forVanderbilt, meaning it wasa procedure to restore hisdislocated finger.

TheLakers andThunder play Game2onThursdaynight in Oklahoma City

Tigers’ Valdez suspended for intentionally hittingStory

DETROIT Detroit Tigers pitcher Framber Valdez was suspended for five games and finedonWednesday,one day after he was ejected for hittingBoston’s Trevor Story with apitch duringa 10-2 loss in which he allowed acareer-high10 runs.

Valdez was at first bannedfor six games by MLB, whichcited him for intentionally throwing apitch at Story,but the penalty was reduced in an agreement between Major League Baseball andthe players’ association. He started serving the penalty during Wednesdaynight’s series finale andbarringrainouts will be eligible to pitchWednesday at the New York Mets.

Valdez denied hitting Story on purpose, saying the unfamiliar four-seam fastball gotaway from him.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By ASHLEy LANDIS

RoryMcIlroy, of NorthernIreland,holds the trophy after winning the Masters tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club on April 12 in Augusta, Ga

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JEFF ROBERSON Golden Tempo, riddenbyJose L. Ortiz, winsthe 152ndrunning of the

‘Thisisuniquetous’

Family dinner talks fuel statetrack dreams forJesuit, MCAsiblings

BY CHRISTOPHER DABE Staff writer

Lucy Quintana ran slower than she wanted at the districttrack and field meet two weeks ago and she heard about it during dinnertime with her family

“I know this is unique to us,” Quintana said. “Every family dinner is about running.”

The family of cross country andtrack and fieldrunners will convene this week at the LHSAA state championships at LSU’s Bernie MooreStadium, where parents Robbie and Rachel Quintana will cheer for daughter Lucy (Mount Carmel) in the 1,600-meter run and son David (Jesuit) in the 3,200. Older son Josh runs at UL, and younger daughterMary is afreshman at Mount Carmel.All four compete.

“My family will be like, ‘Lucy, you are capable of somuch more,’” she said. “Being partofa running family,they’re not going to sugarcoat it.”

Support in the Quintana family comes in different forms. When Mary finished one spot shy of reaching stateinthe 800 meters,

“My family will be like, ‘Lucy, you are capableofsomuchmore. Being partofa running family,they’re not going to sugarcoatit.”

LUCy QUINTANA

oldest siblingJosh immediately sent herasympathetic text message.

“He’sfollowing it while they’re here (at the regional meet),” Rachel said. “And he feelstheir pain becausethat’shappenedtohim before.”

Thekids’ parents also know whatit’sliketorun at state. Robbie ran the 800 for Jesuit and finishedfourthwhen he was asenior in 1994.

“Gosh,thatwas atough race,” said Robbie, recalling how he fell across the finish line 0.4 seconds after the winner

“I still remember that race,” said Rachel,aMount Carmel graduatewho finished third in the 1,600 and 3,200 that year

Robbie and Rachel met while at thestate cross country meet during their senior year.They quickly became friends. He took her to prom that year

They both drew scholarship offers from multiple colleges.

“He was callingmelike, where areyou going to college,” Rachel said.

Robbie picked between Louisiana Tech and UNO.

“When she leaned toward UNO, Ithought, ‘Yeah, that sounds kind of good,’ ”hesaid with alaugh.

During track meets, Robbie —who coachedhis childrenin

crosscountry at St. Dominic —commonlygoestothe topof the stands and videos theraces. Rachel gets into the frontrow to cheer They’ll watch Saturday at the Class5Astate meet,where Davidwill be astrong contenderin the3,200. He was arunner-up to Parkway’sBrennan Robin when they raced at the state indoor championships in February They’ll race again at theoutdoor meet. Lucy finished third at the regionalbehind Northshore standoutGrace Keeneand Mount Carmel’s Stella Junius, an LSUsignee. Anotherhighfinish would put heronthe podium in the last race of herhigh school career

Not lost on theparentsis the fact that they’ll be watching from thesame grandstand where theirparents saw them runatthe state meet more than 30 years ago.

“They’re down on the field, and Isee them running around while their siblings arerunning, cheering them on,” Rachel said. “I just thinkwhata blessing it is that they’re down there for each other.That’s way better than us being down there.”

Contact Christopher Dabe at cdabe@theadvocate.com

Tulane golfer to take part in men’s amateurqualifier

Macias first womantocompete in tourneyhistory

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

When Sophia Macias tees off at theLouisiana Golf Association men’samateur qualifier,she will have brokenbarriers.

TheTulanefreshman will be the firstwoman in Louisiana history to competeinthe men’s qualifier in its107-year history. Macias is playing for more than just herself, though; she’splaying foryoung girls around the state chasing the respectthey deserve Macias, who will compete in thequalifieronMay 18 at English Turn in New Orleans, said the challenge of being the lone woman in a field isn’tone she’ssweating.

“It’s just people I’m competing against,” Macias said. “I’m not really looking at it as like, ‘Oh, I’m playing against all these guys.’ “ She knows thatifshe plays her game, she can qualify forthe Louisiana men’samateur

Macias, who will play from the white tees just like the men, will look to shatter stereotypes around the game that women can only compete at closer distances to thehold.

“I feel like alot of credit gets taken away from female junior golfers, especially in high school,” Maciasaid. “It’sjust anothercourse. If you swing it good,itdoesn’treally matter.”

AformerEpiscopal High standout, Macias won astate high school championship while also competing in boys tournaments “By going out here and playing

fromthese distances andplaying against this type of competition, it just is avery good look,” she said. “I thinkit’sgoing to open alot of doors foryounger female golfers.”

Macias said she’s inspired when she returns home and sees young girls on the course

Poor course conditions and short distances took away her competitive edge of golf, she said. She said she entered amentalslump with feelings of notbeing heardorappreciated.

“It just felt like no matter the score Ishot, it would never be goodenough to get the properrepresentation that it needed to have to be taken seriously,” she said.

Shedoesn’twant those same problems to become the thief of joyfor young girls.

“I let those things get to me a lot, insteadofjustplaying my owngame,” she said. “I think now,Igo, and Irepresent Louisiana and women’sgolf. There’s alot more competition in high school golf now.”

Shereached out to the LouisianaGolfAssociation to see if she could compete in aqualifier With no writtenrule stating otherwise, she was granteda spot.

“It’slikeeveryonetakes (girls golf) as ajoke, whichisvery,very frustrating,” she said. “I’m playing in these men’stournaments to show that all these other girls can play at the samelevel. We put in the same amount of work as these other people.”

She’s notsatisfied withjust playinginthe qualifier.Her goal is to qualifyand then performwellat the men’samateur tournament.

“I know Ihave comevery far,” Macias said. “I know Ihave alot of support at home. Ireally want to make those people proud, but also Iwant to make myself proud.”

Marcotte thriving in relief role forDestrehan baseball

Wildcats travel for semifinalseriesat SamHouston

BY SPENCERURQUHART

Staff writer

Destrehan junior ChaseMarcottewas trusted to throwsome of the biggest innings of his baseball careerwith the Wildcats’ season on the line.

Normally astarting pitcher, Marcotte shifted to arelief role in Destrehan’s past threeplayoff games, which were on the road against higher seeds. Marcotte shined during the highpressuremoments, recording three straight saves to help the Wildcats complete back-to-back series sweeps.

“I’ve been calming down on the mound to make my pitches,” Marcotte said. “Mentally,I’m stronger this year.Iget over the past at-bat quickly.” No. 14-seeded Destrehan (29-12) lost its firstplayoffgame at home against No. 19 Fontainebleau but has gone on to win sixstraightDivision Inonselect postseasoncontests to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2005.

Destrehan swept No. 3West Monroe in thesecond round and No. 6Benton in the quarterfinals to punch its tickets to thesemis

The Wildcats will face No. 2Sam Houston this weekend, the reigningDivision Inonselect state champion.

“There’salot of buy-in with this group,” coachChris Mire said “Tohavethat,you have to trust one another.They’re very tight. It goes beyond practice.”

Marcotte didn’tallow arun in his three relief appearances, the first being in Game 2against West Monroe. He wasset to start an if-necessary Game 3inboth theregional round and thequarterfinals, whichwasn’tneeded becauseofhis late-inning success.

Aversatile contributor,Marcotte has been one of Destrehan’stop pitchers this year while serving as akey middle-of-theorder bat andthe starting catcher when he’s not on the mound.

“I’ve got morecommand on my pitches this year,” Marcotte said.“Behindthe plate,myblocking has improved. We walk into places ready to go knowing we can win.”

Destrehan’s pitching staff has shined in the playoffs, having allowed just 12 earnedruns in seven games. Senior Chase Mire and

sophomoreJosh Muller started againstBenton in 4-2 quarterfinal wins, pitching 52/3 innings and allowing only two earned runs each.

Thecoach’s son,Mirehas made atwo-way impact with his bat and on arm on themound. Destrehan seniors Jaden Sloan and Brady Carter have also delivered big hits in the postseason.

“We’re just playing as ateam,” Chase Mire said. “It’s been pretty special having the final games be thebiggest of my career.”

Destrehan’s best-of-three semifinalseries begins Friday, with Game 1scheduled for6 p.m. at Sam Houston in Moss Bluff. Game 2isscheduled for noon Saturday with athird gametofollow if necessary

“I wouldn’twant to do it with any other group,”Chris Mire said. “We’re going to ahostileenvironment, but Icouldn’t’ be more excited for the opportunity. We expect to win.”

The Destrehan-Sam Houston winner will face either No. 4Zachary or No. 8Dutchtown in the Division Inonselect best-of-three state championship series in Sulphur Dutchtown upset the No. 1seed Barbe in thequarterfinals.

Email SpencerUrquhart at surquhart@theadvocate.com.

PREP REPORT

on

17,

STAFF PHOTO By CHRISTOPHER DABE

From left, Mary,David,Lucy, Rachel and Robbie Quintana pose after aClass 5A regional track and field meet hosted by Hahnville HighSchool on April 29.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Tulane freshman Sophia Macias watches her shot after driving the ball off the tee.

STAFF FILE PHOTOByHILARy SCHEINUK

Destrehan’sChase Mirecelebrates an RBI against Central in aDivision Inonselect playoff game

April

2025, at Central High School in Central.

WNBA’s 30th season brings 2 new teams

BY DOUG FEINBERG AP basketball writer

The WNBA is poised for a historic 30th season after a transformational new collective bargaining agreement was reached in March.

Now the league can focus on the play on the court which will feature the Las Vegas Aces looking for a fourth championship in five years, the return of Caitlin Clark after she missed most of last season with injuries, and the debut of expansion teams the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo.

The Aces have their core intact from last season’s title run, including four-time league MVP A’ja Wilson. She was picked by a national media panel as the preseason AP Player of the Year She became the highest paid player in WNBA history earning a $5 million supermax contract extension over the next three years.

Las Vegas has won three of the last four championships with New York taking home the crown in 2024.

The Liberty look poised to challenge the Aces again with their Big Three of Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu all returning. Ionescu will miss at least the first couple of weeks of the season with a foot injury she suffered in the preseason finale over the weekend.

The Liberty added All-Star Satou Sabally in free agency and made a coaching change after last season’s first-round exit in the playoffs. They replaced Sandy Brondello with former Golden State Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco. He’s one of five new head coaches in the league.

Brondello didn’t stay unemployed long as she is the head coach of the Tempo — the league’s first team outside of the United States.

Clark played in only 13 games last year after a series of injuries cut short her sophomore season. The Indiana Fever star spent the offseason getting healthy and stronger and is ready to go. Here are a few other tidbits for

Celtics’ Stevens upset with quick end to title hopes

BY KYLE HIGHTOWER AP sportswriter

BOSTON Make no mistake about it, Brad Stevens still expected to be watching the Celtics in the playoffs right now

“I’m pissed. I’d rather be playing New York tonight,” Boston’s president of basketball operations said Wednesday during his end of season news conference.

Stevens’ bitterness is not just about the second-seeded Celtics losing to Philadelphia to mark the third time in the last four years that they have lost in the playoffs as the higher seed.

It’s more about how a team that started the season with Jayson Tatum sidelined, and with such low outside expectations, overachieved to a point that Stevens and the front office were thinking anything was possible when the postseason opened a few weeks ago.

the upcoming season:

Free agent movement

While 80% of the players were free agents this offseason with the expected payday of the new CBA, a handful changed teams with coming home a major reason why Nneka Ogwumike returned to Los Angeles, Skylar Diggins went to Chicago, putting her closer to her hometown of South Bend, Indiana Sabally came to New York where she was born.

Sunset season

The Sun will play their final season in Connecticut as the franchise will move to Houston next year after the team was sold to Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta. Connecticut has said that it will honor its past players and coaches over the course of the season. This will end a 23-year run by the team in New England after moving to Connecticut from Orlando in 2003.

Injured Lynx

Lynx star Napheesa Collier, who was the runner-up in MVP voting

last year, will be out until at least early June while she recovers from ankle surgery she had in March. Collier also had surgery on her right ankle in early January

“Right now, I’m just working as fast as I can with my doctors and my (physical therapy) staff, just trying to get back on the court,” Collier told reporters in training camp. “But everything is going well, so you’ll see me soon.”

The Lynx will rely on rookie Olivia Miles, who was the No. 2 pick in the WNBA draft last month She was picked as the AP preseason Rookie of the Year

Predicted order of finish

Las Vegas was the preseason No. 1 team in the AP WNBA power poll, which is in its 10th season, The Liberty were second. New York was followed by Atlanta, Indiana Los Angeles, Minnesota and Phoenix. Dallas was eighth with Golden State ninth. Chicago, Washington, Toronto, Seattle, Connecticut and Portland rounded out the poll.

After being overlooked, Jenkins becomes key player

BY LARRY LAGE AP sportswriter

DETROIT Daniss Jenkins was overlooked and underappreciated for much of his career Not anymore. Jenkins has played himself into a key role with the top-seeded Detroit Pistons, earning 29 minutes of playing time in their Game 1 win over the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

He had 12 points and three assists, bringing the ball up the court at times to give Cade Cunningham a break. He also had playoff career highs with seven rebounds and four steals. In the last 3:23, he scored six points, grabbed three rebounds and had a steal to help Detroit pull away “This team didn’t win 60 games just because of (Cunningham),” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said “They have really good players surrounding him and a really good bench.” Jenkins has become Detroit’s top guard off the bench, playing 29 minutes in each of the last two games.

That’s pretty impressive for a second-year pro who was on a twoway contract just a few months ago. An undrafted free agent after playing for four schools, including a junior college, he spent most of his rookie season in the G League.

“My whole journey, it hasn’t been pretty, but it’s about fighting through adversity,” Jenkins said. “So, I just try to go out and let that show when I play.”

He’s been doing that for months for the Pistons. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound Jenkins didn’t play in half of the first 10 games this season, then made the most of his opportunities when he got a shot to play in November

He scored a then-career-high 24 points in a win over Washington and averaged 19-plus points over the next four games — all victories. In February, he played in a 42nd

for Pistons

in Detroit

ä Cavaliers at Pistons. 6 P.M.THURSDAy,PRIME

game, which turned his two-way deal into an $8 million, two-year contract.

When Cunningham was out of the lineup in March with a collapsed lung, Jenkins scored a career-high 30 points in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers. That was part of his 10-game streak of scoring in double digits. Jenkins finished the regular season averaging 9.3 points and 3.9 assists, solid numbers for a player getting 20 minutes per game off the bench

“He’s been building for it all year,” Detroit guard Duncan Robinson said. “His journey is unique, and it takes somebody with a special will and character to have that story

“He has unshakeable confidence for someone who’s been overlooked his whole career, and he just wears it as a chip.”

Like the team, Jenkins got off to a slow start in the first round against the Orlando Magic before rallying.

He missed 11 of 14 shots over the first two games and didn’t score more than seven points in a game

until he had 16 points and five assists in Game 7.

“It was just a matter of him growing into playoff basketball,” coach

J.B. Bickerstaff said Wednesday “If you go back to that series, he got better every single game and it carried over (in Game 1).”

Jenkins, who is from Dallas, started his college career at Pacific and then spent one season at a junior college in Texas. He transferred to Iona and spent his fifth year at St John’s, leading the Red Storm in scoring. He signed a two-way deal in Detroit shortly after every team passed on him in the 2024 NBA draft. He played in seven games for the Pistons last year, scoring a total of seven points, and averaged 18.5 points and 6.4 assists for the Motor City Cruise.

Jenkins has come a long way, but doesn’t spend too much time looking back.

“I try to reflect a little bit, but I don’t try to get too much out of the moment because we’re still in it,” he said. “We’re still trying to win it and we’re not nowhere where we want to be.

“It’s s definitely rewarding and I try to soak it all up while I’m going through it, but yet still stay in the moment and stay hungry.”

“If you would have told me last summer that we would have won 56 games in the regular season; that the young guys would all become contributors; that people would have great impacts, and all up and down our roster; that we would get Tatum back for (22 games) I would have been thrilled with those results,” Stevens said. “But the reality is, is that we came up short and, so now the job is to do an honest assessment.”

Stevens said that introspection will begin with first taking a breath following Boston’s earliest postseason exit since Stevens’ final season as Boston’s coach in 2020-2021.

It got him thinking about a small sign that hangs in his office that says, “What do you want, what’s true and how do you get there.”

“There’s no question what we want. There’s no question when you look at what’s true that, though we did a lot of good things, we lost in the first round,” Stevens said “And we’re also 3-11 against the top three seeds in the West (Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Denver) and the other top two (Detroit New York) in the East. And so, we’ve got to get better.”

Even before Tatum made his season debut on March 6, just shy of 10 months after rupturing his right Achilles tendon in the second round of the playoffs last season against New York, the Celtics were thriving with the feisty group led by All-Star Jaylen Brown.

Brown set career scoring (28.7), rebounding (6.9) and assists (5.1) averages while getting into the MVP conversation for the first time.

That continued when Tatum returned and played in 16 of the final 22 regular-season games, in which he averaged 21.8 points and 10 rebounds. He looked mostly like himself playing at what Tatum said was about 8085% as he continued to rehab and prepared to play more minutes in the playoffs. But it also could have contrib-

uted, Stevens acknowledged to Tatum leaving Game 6 of their first-round series with the 76ers early with an unspecified left leg issue. By the morning of Game 7 two days later he was experiencing left knee stiffness, and the decision was made for him to sit it out.

The Celtics lost 109-100 without him.

Stevens said everything about Tatum’s return will be looked at by their sports performance staff, including how the ramp up in his minutes may have factored into the new knee ailment. Tatum averaged 36.3 minutes in his six playoff games, twice logging 40-plus.

“He did play a lot of minutes,” Stevens said. “Do we think that had an impact on his knee stiffness and in the injury in Game 6? It’s hard to tell, but we can’t cross it off. So we have to look at that. And, I know that they will.”

How much change to the roster will take place is unclear The only unrestricted free agent this summer will be Nikola Vucevic, who was acquired from Chicago in exchange for Anfernee Simons at the trade deadline.

But the Celtics received about a $27.5 million trade exception in that deal that Stevens could use this offseason. He said everything is on the table.

He was coy about what they might pursue but did note that figuring out how to get to the rim more would be a priority

“I think that one of the things that we’ve got to figure out is how to have more of an impact at the rim,” Stevens said. “And I think we need to add to our team to do that.”

As for who will be in charge of the roster once it’s constructed, Stevens said he still has confidence in Joe Mazzulla and his staff.

“I think our coaching staff, like all of us, can continue to improve and get better That said, I think they’re very good, and we need to continue to provide them the resources to grow and to get better and to continue to be the best that we can be.”

Brunson helps Knicks take a 2-0 lead over 76ers

BY BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer

NEW YORK Jalen Brunson scored 26 points and helped New York seize control of a close game after a run of blowouts, leading the Knicks to a 108-102 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Playing without the injured Joel Embiid, the 76ers put up a far better fight than

AP PHOTO By yUKI

New york Knicks’

right, drives past Philadelphia 76ers’ Quentin Grimes during a Game 2 playoffs series game on Wednesday in New york.

and added another jumper for a 103-99 advantage with 3:45 to play before Mikal Bridges’ basket made it a six-point game OG Anunoby added 24 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Knicks, whose Game 1 victory made them the first team to win three straight postseason games by at least 25 points. Tyrese Maxey scored 26 points for the 76ers, who face another big climb after falling behind 3-1 against Boston in the first round. The series moves to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on Sunday, where Embiid

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ERIC GAy

Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson celebrates a play with teammates during a preseason game against the Dallas Wings on Sunday in Austin, Texas.

AP FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL DWyER President of basketball operations Brad Stevens speaks at a news conference during the Boston Celtics media day on Sept. 29 in Boston.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By DUANE BURLESON

Detroit Pistons guard Daniss Jenkins, right, drives against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jaylon Tyson during Game 1 of a playoff series on Tuesday

IWAMURA

Jalen Brunson,

AFCA supports earlier CollegeFootballPlayoff

finish, proposes

Coachesgroup looksto reduce byeweeks, eliminate conference championship games

The Associated Press

WACO,Texas The American Football Coaches Association is proposing the elimination of conference championship games andother changes as part of its non-binding recommendation for the College Football Playoff to be completed by the second Monday each January

Whilethe AFCA hasnoauthority within the NCAA or CFP governance structures, FBS coaches are part of the group’s board and membership. The AFCA publicly revealed itspositionsTuesday, after they were discussedand adopted by board members at an annual meeting last week

“The American Football Coaches Association has identified the length of the college football seasonasa critical issuethatneeds to be addressed,” thegroup said in astatement. “As we modernize our game to betterserve student-athletes,wehave fallen short in structuring aseason that concludes in atimely and sustainable way.” As for the size of the playoff field,currently 12 teamsand expected to expand, theAFCA didn’tpublicly endorse acertain

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franchise —this is not the way you treat your franchise all-time touchdownleader. Iknow Kamara, his production hasn’tbeen what we thought it’sgoing to be, but he is still this franchise’s leader in (expletive) yards and touchdowns, without himhaving 1,000 yards (in aseason) rushing

“My honestopinion, bruh I think the Saints would rather not have to make ahard decision and he just walk in one day,and say, ‘Hey look, I’m going to retire.’ Youknow what I’m saying?

“Because Idon’treally think they have the —and Iknow Mickey, I hope he doesn’t takethiswrong —but Idon’tthink they’vegot the balls to outright cut him.”

If the Saints are waitingfor Kamara to retire, therunning back didn’tsound like he was close to hanging up hiscleats when he appearedMonday on former teammate Terron Armstead’spodcast. Kamara wasn’tdirectly asked about the possibility the Saints could move on from him, but the 30-year-old praised the franchise and said he wasexcitedtowork with the Saints’ new additions, such as wide receiver Jordyn Tyson and running back Travis Etienne.

Etienne’saddition, in particular, raised questions about Kamara’s future after New Orleans signed theformer JacksonvilleJaguars runningback to afour-year,$52 million deal in free agency

Despite already restructuring his contract once this offseason, the Saints are believed to want to further address Kamara’s contract before next season. That could involveasking him to take apay cut or releasing him outright. Kamara’scap numberis

$10.5 million, down fromnorth of $18 million after New Orleans utilized an unconventional salary cap maneuver in March rather than astandard restructure

Publicly,the Saints have tiptoed around Kamara’sstatus for next season. At the NFL’s owners meetings in March,Moore said he hadenvisioneda role for the running back to play alongside Etienne, but that Kamara and the Saints would first have to go through a“process.” Loomis, in aradiointerview after thedraft, declined to comment on ques-

changes

number,but said“future playoffmodels should maximize the number ofparticipants while honoring theproposed completion date.”

Otherproposals

Alongwith eliminating conference title games, the AFCA proposals for finishingonthe second Monday in January are to reduce scheduledbye weeks from two to oneand reduce the minimum number of days between games to no fewer than six

TheAFCAalsocalls to preserve adedicated window for the Army-Navygame, whileallowing flexibility for other games,such as playoff games, to be played on that sameday outside thatwindow.

“Structuring theseasoninthis way will better support studentathletes by more closelymatchingthe academiccalendar and aligning with the single transfer portalwindow,” the AFCA said.

“It also elevates the qualityof play during the most meaningful stretch of theseason by removingunnecessary breaks and preserving competitive rhythm.”

An NCAA committee last month recommended that Football Bowl Subdivision teams play a12-game schedule over 14 weeksbeginningin2027. The regular season wouldstart on theThursday of what is nowdesignated Week Zero andend the Saturday after Thanksgiving

tions aboutKamara’sfuture.

“I think we’re still trying to work through that, to see where we’re at roster-wise,” Loomis said,later adding,“I’drather keep that to myself at this point.”

On his podcast, Mathieu said that the Saints are treating Kamara “kind of the same way” they are handling Cam Jordan’s free agency

Mathieu, asafetywho retired last July,said hewouldrather the Saints come out and say,“Cam, go find somewhere else to play” and thatpeople would respect the honesty.Hecomparedittohis own situation in2022, when Kansas City Chiefsgeneral manager Brett Veach told himthe team didn’t have the money to re-sign him

Mathieu, citing “one of my good sources,” also suggested that a“fewpeople”inthe Saints haven’tbeen happywithKamara over thelast year, accusing the running back of leading acharge for theteam to fire former coach Dennis Allen “Soyou got somebody fired, but you didn’tproduce neither,”Mathieu said, alluding to Kamara’s decline in production this past season. “The Saints organization, for people who haven’tbeen a part of it, it’sreally like afamily

So you’re going to argue, you’re going to fight. Afew of those decision-makerswho were in love with Dennis Allenbecause he did have greatdefenses,hewas one of the guys to bring home aSuper Bowl, there’sjust ahistory there “And some people picked a side. Ithink (Kamara) got caught in it.”

The Saints firedAllen in November 2024,going on to hire Moore thefollowing offseason. The Saintswent 6-11 in Moore’s first year,and Kamara’sproduction declinedsignificantly. He rushed fora career low471 yards and 3.6 yards per carry before suffering aseason-endingknee injury that cost him the last six weeks. Mathieu said he wished Kamarawell. But on the same podcast,henotedthatmanyplayers don’tget to stay with one team throughout their careers If the Saints end up parting wayswith Kamara, Mathieu said he hopes the five-time Pro Bowler playsfor another team for the next 2-3 years to finish his career “I don’tthink it’samoney issue,” Mathieu said. “I think for some people it’spersonal.”

Wade adds veteranSmith to LSUbasketballstaff

Former Michigan assistantnamed director of player development

BY TOYLOY BROWNIII Staff writer

LSU brings afourth former college head coach to Will Wade’s staff ahead of next season.

The Tigers’ new coach hired Jay Smith to be the team’sdirector of player development for next season, theprogramannounced on Wednesday. Smith hasworked in college basketball for over four decades, starting as an assistant at Kent State in 1984.

“Jay Smith brings many years of college basketball experienceto our LSU program,” Wade said in astatement. “He has had success at many different levels as acollege head coach. He has proven to be one of the best,ifnot the best, big mancoaches in the country Theplayer development component is an important part of the moderncollegebasketball game andJay has beensuccessful in

LSU

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also shooting 49.3% from the field, 40% from the3-point line on 1.6 attempts and 80.4% from the freethrow line.

LSU’snew big man played one game for the Atlanta Hawkssummerleague team before the 202324 season. He played one game for the Orlando Magic summerleague team before the2025-26 season. In 14 minutes,hehad 11 points on 2-of-7 shooting, four rebounds, two steals and two turnovers. Santosisthe secondplayer on

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in scoring, rebounds, assistsand steals,transferredtoSMU. Others who hit thetransfer portal were wing Scotty Middleton,guard Curtis Williams and forward Luke Rasmussen(Marshall),atrio that combined for 62 starts.

Chappelle, from Atlanta, averaged 7.3 points and 5.3 rebounds while starting 19 times for Georgia State. His 13 pointsina first-round Sun Belt tournament loss to UL were tied forhis most since November.Ayear earlier,heearned freshman of the year honorsfor his conference in 2024-25 at Pearl River CommunityCollege,where he averaged 16.3pointsand 7.8 rebounds.

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Curiel in thelineup with precocious freshmen like Mason Braun and Jack Ruckert, plus timely pitching and at least passable defense, and the Tigers have a positive streak going. Beating SLU, sweeping SouthCarolina and beating Tulane has LSU(2921, 9-15 SEC) on a five-gamewinning streak heading intoanother crucial series this weekend at Georgia.

“We,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said, “had to win.”

The Tigers still have to win, alot, with six games left in the regular season. Those games are at SEC-leading Georgia and at The Box against aFlorida team projected tobeanNCAA regional host Going into the weekend, the national NCAATournament projectionsgive theTigersaglimmer of hope, though hope that could easily be extinguished by theBulldogs,anacross-the-board top-eight national seed managed by former LSU pitching coach WesJohnson. D1Baseball, Baseball America and On3all place LSU on their list of the next four teams out, which basically means Nos. 69-72 in relation to the field of 64. USA Today’s tournament projection stopsatthe lastfour out and doesn’tinclude theTigers, either In short, the consensus is that LSU must make the baseball equivalent of an ascent up a sheer rock walltoevenhopeof reaching the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Jay Johnson is an ever-bub-

playerdevelopmentthroughout his outstanding career.”

Smith, 65, was the head coach at Division II Grand Valley State (199697), Central Michigan(1997-2006) andDivisionIII Kalamazoo College (2016-19). He mostrecently was thedirector of Player development at Eastern Michigan (2024-26) under former Arkansas coach Stan Heath. The Mio, Michigan, native was alsoanassistant coach at Michiganfrom1989-96 andlater served as director of player personneland development from 2019-24. He played apart in recruiting Michigan’s“Fab Five,” which featured formerNBA players JuwanHoward, Chris Webberand Jalen Rose.

LSU’snewestaddition also won twoMid-American Conference titles at Central Michigan in 2001 and 2003.

Smithjoins astaffthat has associate head coach Rick Stansbury, assistantheadcoach Johnny Jones

Wade’sroster after Kentucky transfer Mo Dioubate. The 6-7 forward averaged 8.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in 21.6 minutesper game as ajunior.Heplayed the first two years of hiscareer at Alabama. Dioubate is aconsensus top-65 player on the transfer portal rankingsof TheAthletic, On3 and 247Sports.

Wade said on CBS Sports’ “Inside College Basketball Now” podcast on Tuesday that histeamwillfocus moreonthe international player market.

LSUhas hadall nine of itsremaining players enter the transfer portalsince the firing of coach Matt McMahon. The departures areDedanThomas(Houston),

Schwieger,from Overland Park, Kansas, averaged 10.1 points and 3.1rebounds while starting 27 games for Queens, which wonthe Atlantic Sun Conference tournamentand reached the NCAA Tournament forthe first timeinschool history.Hescoreda season-high 29 points againstNorth Florida on 10-of-13shooting. He spent his freshmanyear at Valparaiso,starting threetimes and averaging 2.6 points. Dumont,aMontreal native, signedwith Villanova out of high school, wasredshirted in 2023-24 and appeared in 20 games in 202425 despite having surgery on both hips the previousMay.Heaveraged 0.9 points while playing in nine games forVirginia Commonwealththispast season, including atwo-minute stint against Illinois in thesecond round of the NCAA

and assistant coach DamonStoudamire, all former college head coaches.

Stansbury,66, is theall-time winningest coach at Mississippi State, leadingthe program for 14 seasons starting in 1998. He hada 293-166 record with the Bulldogs. Jones, 65, is aformer LSU player,assistant coach and head coach at his alma mater. He ledthe program from 2012-17, with a90-72 record and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2014.

Stoudamire, aformer NBAplayer and All-American at Arizona, led Georgia Tech for three seasons until he was fired last season. The 52-year-old finished with a4255 career record and zero NCAA Tournament appearances. Also on LSU’scoaching staffis VernonHamilton, an assistant under Wade at NC State last season and at McNeese State fortwo seasons (2023-25). Hamilton, aformer Clemson basketball player, also worked with Wade at LSU, serving as the assistant to the head coach during the 2020-21 season and director of player development in 2021-22.

Mike Nwoko (Xavier), Jalen Reed (Michigan), Jalen Reece (Texas A&M), Robert Miller,Mazi Mosley (Loyola Marymount), Ron Zipper, Marcus Vaughns (Arizona State) andMatt Gilhool (Kansas State). At hisintroductory pressconference on March 30, Wade saidhe wasconfident in theresources he would have to pay players. He predicted the total cost in his first season would be higher than in future years becausemost of theroster would comefrom the portal.

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

Tournament. Brinkley,who missed his junior year with atorn ACL, is afour-star prospect according to ESPN Mister is unranked by ESPN, On3 and 247Sports.

Tulane, which went 12-6 in the American in 2024-25, slipped to 8-10 in 2025-26 after losing versatile center andspiritualleader Gregg Glenn to adrowning death in late July.The Wave will have no proven all-conference performer like Brumbaugh andnoreturning double-digit scorers—Ringgold’s 9.4-point averageisthe highest and the others combined for only three starts —but will hope to coalesce better than this past season, when it never developed areliable option behind Brumbaugh despite attracting apair of former top-100 national recruits in Middleton and Williams.

LSU CATCHER SERNA DEALING WITH BACK INJURY;QUESTIONABLE VS.GEORGIA

LSU baseball freshman catcherOmarSerna has aback injury, coach Jay Johnson said on Tuesday.

Serna has been dealing with aback injuryfor about aweek, Johnson said. Theailment forced him out of the lineup on TuesdayinLSU’s13-6 win over Tulane,and Johnson isn’t 100% sureifhewill be available forthis weekend’s series against Georgia.

“Hopefully he’s finefor theweekend,”Johnson said.

“I don’tknowthat yet. But he’s acompetitivekid, and we have the best trainer on the planet (Isaac Trujillo).SoOmar’swill to play(combined with) Isaac,I’m optimistic.”

Serna has been one of LSU’sbesthitters this season, hitting .319 with sevenhome runs and a.936 on-base plus slugging percentage. He homered last Sundayagainst SouthCarolina and cracked aball overthe fence in each game of theTigers’ seriesatMississippi State.

blingfont of positive praise for hisplayers mixed with the tempered steel of aman who has aburning desire to be No. 1all day, every day.Iasked him if he allowed himself more hope now than he had five games ago.

“I thought this weekend they dida good job making tonight (against Tulane) matter alot,” Johnson said. “By winning tonight, it’sall there in front of us. We’re playing two teams with great winning percentages, one of them on the road. It’sanopportunity “We’ve gottogointhere guns blazing, preparing to win.”

As hasbeen well documented, the Tigers’ cannons are lowon shells. Weekend starting pitcher Cooper Moore andsluggerJake Brown are outfor theseason Speaking again Wednesday to reporters, Johnson could still not be sure if Fridaystarting pitcher

—KokiRiley

Casan Evans would be able to pitch at all, andbrimming-with-talent freshman catcher Omar Sernaisa big question markbecause of back trouble

It’s astrange address where LSU baseball finds itself,this intersection of hope and discouragement, especially after winning the CWS twoofthe past three seasons. There is fortitude in the fact that LSU baseball is still LSU baseball and showed as much these past five games. But it’seroded by the scars and apprehension of all this season has wrought.

At this point, all the Tigers can ask forisachance. Achance that, to their credit, they have given themselves, despite all the prior deficits on their ledger

“Wehave our backs to the wall,” second baseman Seth Dardar said. “We’re not going to go down without a fight.”

Smith

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By LyNNE SLADKy

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza is interviewedafter winning the CollegeFootball Playoff national championship game against Miami on Jan. 19 in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Correa faces season-ending surgery on torn tendon in ankle

BY KRISTIE RIEKEN AP sportswriter

HOUSTON Houston’s Carlos Correa has a torn tendon in his left ankle that will require season-ending surgery the star infielder said Wednesday

Correa was injured Tuesday while taking swings in the batting cage before a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“I was hitting in the cage, normal day, feeling great,” he said “I went through my whole routine, took a swing and just felt a pop. It just completely snapped on me and then I fell to the ground and couldn’t put weight on it.”

Correa was on crutches and in a walking boot Wednesday morning at the ballpark after seeing a foot specialist. He said he would seek some other opinions before scheduling the surgery

Correa, 31, said the injury was a complete tear and his recovery is expected to take six to eight months.

“Tough, really tough,” he said. “Not what I was expecting, but now it’s time to deal with it, face it head on and and focus on the rehab.”

Correa has had ankle problems in the past. In 2023, he had huge free agent deals with the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets fall through over concerns with his right ankle that was operated on in 2014 He ended up remaining with the Minnesota Twins after the deals collapsed.

Correa has salaries of $31.5 million this season, $30.5 million in 2027 and $30 million in 2028. As part of the last July’s trade, the Twins will pay the Astros $10 million each Dec. 15 from this year through 2028.

His latest injury is yet another blow to an Astros team that has dealt with scores of injuries this season including an oblique injury to Yainer Diaz that landed the catcher on the injured list Tuesday Correa, who is back with the Astros after last summer’s blockbuster trade from the Twins, played third base for Houston last season with Jeremy Peña at shortstop. But Correa has been playing shortstop recently with Peña out with a hamstring injury Manager Joe Espada said this week that Peña is close to a return and could begin a rehabilitation assignment soon.

But it’s still a huge blow to lose Correa, who is one of the leaders of the team.

“It’s a gut punch,” general manager Dana Brown said. “But it’s not the end of the world. We still have a very competitive team. Thank God we have the depth still in the infield particularly when Jeremy comes back. And so, the team is still built to win, no doubt about it.”

Espada said the Astros will miss all that Correa brings to the team.

“It’s just really hard,” Espada said. “Talking to Carlos this morning it was really, really hard. What he means to this team, to this organization, personally to me as his manager, as a friend. I’ve known him for a very long time. It sucks, but we have to move on.”

The Astros had Isaac Paredes playing third base and Braden Shewmake at shortstop for the finale of a series against the Dodgers on Wednesday Correa is batting .279 with three home runs and 16 RBIs. The No. 1 pick in the 2012 amateur draft, Correa spent his first seven seasons with the Astros before signing with the Twins where he spent 31/2 seasons before last summer’s trade.

SCOREBOARD

Carolina at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

Pro tennis

ATP World Tour Internazionali

BNL d’Italia results Wednesday At Foro Italico Rome Purse: €8,235,540 Surface: Red clay Men’s Singles Round of 128 Vit Kopriva, Czechia, def. Fabian Marozsan, Hungary, 6-3, 6-3. Damir Dzumhur, Bosnia-Herzegovina, def. Adrian Mannarino, France, 6-4, 6-0. Sebastian Baez, Argentina, def. Jenson Brooksby, United States, 6-3, 7-6 (8) Daniel Altmaier, Germany, def. Zhang Zhizhen, China, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4. Zachary Svajda, United States, def. Marco Trungelliti, Argentina, 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4)

Botic Van de Zandschulp, Netherlands, def. Alexandre Muller, France, 7-5, 6-3 Yannick Hanfmann, Germany, def. Hubert Hurkacz, Poland, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2), 6-2. Alexander Shevchenko, Russia, def. Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Argentina, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (5) Jan-Lennard Struff, Germany, def. Francisco Comesana, Argentina, 6-2, 6-4. Nuno Borges, Portugal, def. Jesper De Jong, Netherlands, 6-3, 6-0. Matteo Arnaldi, Italy, def. Jaume Munar, Spain, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Aleksandar Vukic, Australia, def. Patrick Kypson, United States, 6-3, 5-7, 6-0. Alejandro Tabilo, Chile, def. Pablo Carreno Busta, Spain, 6-2, 6-1. Transactions Major League Baseball MLB — Suspended Detroit Tigers LHP Framber Valdez six-games and manager A.J Hinch one-game for intentionally throwing at Boston Red Sox SS Trevor Story American League ATHLETICS — Selected the contract of RHP Brooks Kriske from Las Vegas (PCL). Optioned RHP Tyler Ferguson to Las Vegas. BOSTON RED SOX — Sent RHP Justin Slaten to Worcester (IL) on a rehab assignment Reinstated RHP Sonny Gray from the 15-day IL. Optioned LHP Alec Gamboa to Worcester (IL). CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Reinstated RHP Jonathan Cannon and LHP Chris Murphy from the 15-day IL and optioned them to Charlotte (IL) DETROIT TIGERS — Placed 2B Gleyber Torres on the 10-day IL retroactive to May 4 Recalled 3B Jace

ABS Challenge—Pérez (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Pérez (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Criswell (Ball-Confirmed); Fuentes (BallOverturned to Strike); Rodríguez (StrikeConfirmed); Dubón (Strike-Confirmed). Pitch timer violations—Woo (pitcher) Umpires—Home, Ryan Additon; First, Ryan Wills; Second, Lance Barksdale; Third, Will Little. T—2:27. A—23,648 (47,929).

Los Angeles

LOB—Chicago 7, Los Angeles

2B—Montgomery (7), Teodosio (2). 3B—Neto (1). HR d’Arnaud (1). SB—Teodosio 2 (4). SF—Benintendi (3), Neto (1). IPHRERBBSO Chicago

HBP—Bido 2 (Soler,Adell), Pomeranz (Antonacci). ABS Challenge—Schultz (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Schultz (Ball-Confirmed); Peters (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Suter (Ball-Overturned to Strike). Umpires—Home Andy Fletcher; First, Alex Tosi; Second, Cory Blaser; Third, Jansen Visconti T—2:34. A—23,338 (45,517).

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By KAREN WARREN

Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa was injured Tuesday while taking swings in the batting cage before a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Athicker mattress?

Dear Heloise: Mattresses keep getting thicker and more expensive, and they require special deep-pocket sheets on top of this. Are they actually more comfortable or just harder to get into, especially for shorter people and those who have mobility difficulties?

—Marlene K., in Regent, North Dakota

By The Associated Press

Hints from Heloise

Marlene, over the past 20 years, mattresses have gotten thicker mainly because of marketing trends and additional foam layers. For people who are shorter or have difficulty moving around, thesetall mattresses can be challenging to use. Getting in and out of bed shouldn’tfeel like balancing on atightrope.

Keepinga step stool next to your bedcan help make thingssafer.Thicker mattresses require fitted sheets with pocketsthat areatleast 15 inches deep;otherwise, the sheets won’t stay in place. Be sure to check the pocket depthbefore youbuy newsheets to avoid any hassle. Some newer,higherend mattresses also come with handles, makingrotation or adjustment easier.Your bed should be comfortable and fityour daily life. —Heloise Take controlofmoney

Dear Heloise: Trackingevery dollar changed how I handlemoney.Instead of guessing,Itrack income

SimpleCookedQuinoa

Yields about 6cups of cooked quinoa.

4cups water

2cups quinoa

½teaspoon salt

1. First,rinse thequinoa. Quinoa has anatural coating called saponin that serves the plant by acting as anatural repellant against pests.It is recommended to prewash quinoa before cooking because the saponins canproduce abitter taste.

2. Using afine mesh strainer,simply add quinoa

and run cold water over it for1-2 minutes. Alternatively, put thequinoa in a bowl,cover it with water and stir until the water becomes cloudy.Gently pour off thewater 3. In amedium saucepan, add water,salt and rinsed quinoa. Bringtoa boil, then turnheat to low and simmer for about 25-30 minutes, or until the quinoa has absorbed the waterand you can fluff it witha fork.

Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

Makes 2servings.RecipeisbyLiz Faul

1cup cooked quinoa

½teaspoon cinnamon

¼teaspoon honey

½cup cut strawberries

1banana, sliced

¼cup dried cranberries

1tablespoon milk (or oat milk for veganversion)

½tablespoon chia seeds (optional)

1. In two serving bowls, divide the cooked quinoa, strawberries, banana and cranberries.

2. Stir inthe cinnamon and aswirl of honey.Top with milk to add moisture to bind all theingredients together.Toss on chia seeds to add some crunch. Enjoy!

and expenses in detail. I anticipate and set aside funds for future expenditures, and Imonitor my bank and credit card activity daily,which helps me avoid unpleasant surprises. Settingaside small amounts for car repairs, yearly fees and holiday shopping madeabig difference over time. The short daily check-in makes it easy for me to spot mistakes or surprise charges before they become problems. The result can seem bizarre. If you constantly worry about money,you won’tever have to seriously worry about money! —Jim R., in Houston

Send ahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

Today is Thursday,May 7, the127th day of 2026. There are 238 days left in theyear Todayinhistory: On May 7, 1915, aGerman U-boat torpedoed and sank theBritish liner RMS Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans, out of the nearly 2,000 on board.

Also on this date: In 1945, Nazi Germany signedanunconditional surrenderatAllied headquarters in Rheims, France, ending its role in World WarII.

In 1954, the55-day Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ended withVietnamese insurgents overrunning French forces;itwould be thelast major battle of the First Indochina War.

In 1975, PresidentGerald

R. Fordformally declared an endtothe “Vietnamera.” In Ho Chi Minh City —formerly Saigon—the Viet Cong celebratedits takeover In 1977, SeattleSlewwon theKentucky Derby, the first of his Triple Crown victories.

In 1984, Monsanto and six other chemical companies agreed to pay a$180 million settlement to Vietnam veterans whowere exposed to the chemical herbicide Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. In 2020, Georgia authorities arrested aWhitefather andson andcharged them withmurderinthe February shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery,aBlack man they pursued in atruck after spotting him running in their neighborhood near theport city of Brunswick. (The two men and athirdWhiteman would be convicted of mur-

QuinoaCakes with Za’atar

derinstate court and hate crimes in federal court.)

In 2025, cardinal electors began aconclave at the Sistine Chapel in Rometo choose asuccessor to Pope Francis, whodied on April 21 at age 88. Over atwo-day gathering, they choose Cardinal Robert Prevost as the first U.S.-born pontiffand he took the nameLeo XIV Today’sbirthdays: Rock musician Bill Kreutzmann (Grateful Dead) is 80. Actor/former boxer Randall “Tex” Cobb is 76. Actor Breckin Meyer is 52. Reggaeton musician JBalvin is 41. Actor-comedian Aidy Bryant is 39. Actor-writer Maya Erskine is 39. Actor Alexander Ludwig is 34. YouTube personality MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) is 28. Actor Elijah Nelson is 27. Boxer Tommy Fury is 27.

Serves 10-12. This recipe was inspired by acooking blog by Heidi Swanson called “101 Cookbooks.” For anew twist, I tried coating the quinoa cakes in za’atar seasoning before browning them in apan.

2½ cup cooked quinoa

4eggs, beaten 1teaspoon salt 1small onion, chopped 2garlic cloves, finelychopped 1 3 cup chopped fresh parsley, thyme or oregano 1cup breadcrumbs ½cup grated Parmesan cheese 3tablespoons za’atar

1-2tablespoons of extravirgin olive oil

1. In alarge bowl, add the cooked quinoa, eggs and salt.Stirtogethertocombine the egg intothe quinoa. Stir in chopped onion, garlic, and herbs. Mix in the breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese.

2. Preparea baking sheet with parchmentpaper.Ina smallbowl,add theza’atar spice blend.

3. Next,form small patties with the quinoa mixture. Dip each quinoa pattyinthe bowl of za’atar to coat each side

QUINOA

Continuedfrom page1D

of my home kitchen. These shows provided me with the inspiration that Ineeded to makebreakfast,lunch and dinner while mykids were young. Over time, Ibecame abraver and better cook. These cooking shows also madeunfamiliar ingredients into everyday staple meals.Remember when kale becameasuperfood that was everywhere from salads to T-shirtsthat read “Kale Yeah!”? Likewise, quinoa gained popularity and morewidespread appeal. Ijumped on the quinoa bandwagon at that time, and Iamstill crazy for quinoa. Maybe Ishould makethat T-shirt?

and place each patty on the prepared baking sheet.

4. In alarge,heavy pan(I used acast iron pan),heat the oil over medium heat. Add half of thepatties to thepan, and cook until each side is golden brown.Itcan take5-10 minutes per side. Remove from thepan andplace on a clean baking sheet. Repeat with thesecondhalfofthe quinoa patties.

5. Optionalideas for serving: Eat the cooked quinoa patties on your favorite green salad. They taste great dunkedinayogurt sauce like tzatziki.

NOTE: Just after cooking, I put thequinoa patties into the oven on the lowest setting to keep themwarm while preparing asalad. Store the extra patties in a sealed plastic storage container in the refrigerator for quick snacks and meals during abusy work week.

It is agreat ingredient that can be used for breakfast, lunch and dinner.A great way touse leftover quinoa is to makequinoa cakes. Food blogger Heidi Swanson wroteacookbook called “Super Natural Every Day.” It includes a great recipe for quinoa patties.Ihave made her recipe for years, and Irecently decided to experiment with adding different herbs and spices.

This week, Icrusted the patties with aMiddle Eastern seasoning blend called za’atar.Ibuy za’atar in New OrleansatMona’sCafé, which has an international grocery attached. Butyou can make your own version of this spice blend by combining dried thyme, ground sumac, sesameseeds and salt.Quinoa cakes are a

PIZZAPARTY RECIPES

great recipe to add to your homecooking repertoire because they are tasty, satisfying and the perfect grab-and-go snack. Protein is having abig moment right now. It seems thateverything from breakfast cereal to pasta have been supplemented with ingredients to boostgrams of protein perserving. Many foods, including quinoa, naturally provide quality plant-based protein. It is whatisknown as a“complete protein” because it providesall nine essentialamino acids. It is easytodigest, andit is agreat food choice for people who cannotdigest gluten. Quinoa is also agood source of minerals and high in fiber.Soifyou wantto add moreprotein to your

diet, buying abag of quinoa is agood place to start. For these recipes, I cooked two cups of dried quinoa, which yielded 6 cups. Iused 2½ cups to makeabatch of quinoa cakes. Then Iused 2cups to makeaMediterranean quinoa salad to bring to a party.I used the remaining 1½ cups of leftover cooked quinoa to makebreakfast bowls spiced with cinnamon and topped with cut berries.

So one bag of quinoa goes along wayand makes everyday homecooking worth the effort.

Liz Sullivan Faul is a registered dietitian nutritionist who enjoys cookingand sharing meals withher friendsand family

Weeknight White Dough

All-purpose flour,for dusting 1ball Weeknight White Dough (seerecipe)

Semolina flour or cornmeal, for dusting ½cup low-moisturewhole-milk mozzarella,shredded

¼cup feta, crumbled

1teaspoon garlic confitoil, for finishing

1. Arrange racks in the lower and upper thirds of theoven. Placea baking steel or stone on thelower rack andpreheat theoven to 500 Ffor at least 1hour

2. In asmall bowl, stir to-

gether the ricotta, mashed garlic confit, saltand pepper In amedium bowl, combine thespinach, choppedbasil andscallion. Drizzle with the oliveoil andtoss to coat. 3. Shape thepizza: Dust your work surfacewith flour and place the dough on it. Without distorting the round dough, flipitover so that bothsides are coatedwith flour. Useyour fingertips to gently depress thecenter of thedough, being careful not to touchthe outer edge of the crust. This step is important —leaving thecircumference untouched at this stage will result ina beautiful bubbly outer crust postbake

4. Continue usingyour fingertips to press the center of the doughoutward until you have an 8-inch circle. Again, taking care not to touch the outermost edgeofthe crust, lift the pizza from the work surface anduse your knuckles to gently stretch the dough into an 11-inch round. If thedough is at allsticky use more flour

5. Usetwo hands at once to gently move thedough in acircle, allowing gravity to do most of the work for you, rather than pulling onthe

dough. If the dough resists stretching, return it to your floured work surfaceand let it rest for 5to10minutes to allow the gluten to relax, then try again.

6. Lightlydust apeel or an overturnedbaking sheet with semolina andtransfer theshaped dough to thepeel. If the dough retracts when transferring it to thepeel, gently re-form it. Shimmy the dough on thepeeltoensure it’s notsticking;ifitis, lift the edge of the crust and add more semolina.

7. Spread the ricotta mixture over the dough in an even layer, leaving a 1/2-inch border.Top with the spinach mixture,piling it more heavilyonthe outeredge(but avoiding the crust), then distributethe mozzarella and feta over the spinach.

8. Bake: Use thepeel to transfer the pizza onto the steel or stone, then bake for3to4minutes. Check thebottomofthe crust it should be spotted and charred in places, and the edge crust should have some color.Ifnot, rotate thepizza andbakefor another 1to2 minutes.

9. When the bottom has

sufficient color,use thepeel to transfer thepizza to the toprack, switchthe oven to broil, and broilfor 2to3 minutes, untilwellcharred in spots. (Don’twalk away pizza can go from perfectly charred to burnt quickly.)

10. Use the peel to remove the pizza from the oven and slideitontoa wire rack Drizzle with the garlic confitoil andscatter wholebasil leaves over.Top withadditional whole confitgarlic cloves. Slice and serve.

11. To makegarlic confit: Combine 6ouncesofgarlic (about 36 cloves)and 1cup olive oil in asmall oven-safe baking dish or loaf pan. The garlic cloves need to be completely covered by theoil; if theyaren’t, add additional oil to cover 12. Bakethe garlic in a 300 Foven until thecloves are very tender,about 90 minutes. Let cool to room temperature in the oil, then use immediately or transfer to aliddedjar andrefrigerate for up to 2weeks.

Note: If your ricotta is at allwet, place it in a finemesh sieve set over abowl and drain for 15 to 30 minutes before using.

Makes enough for 2(11-inch) pizzas. Recipe is from King Arthur Baking Company’s“The Book of Pizza: Recipes for Every Pizza Maker.”

2½ cups unbleachedallpurpose flouror00 flour, plus more fordusting 1teaspoon fine salt

1½ teaspoons instant yeast

1½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil ¾cup plus 3tablespoonsand 2teaspoons lukewarmwater(85 to 90 F)

1. Make the dough: In a large bowl, combine the flour,saltand yeast, then add the oil and water

2. Mix to combine,then knead the doughbyhand in the bowluntil you have a rough but cohesive dough. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest at room temperature for30minutes.

3. Uncover thedough and perform abowl fold: With awet hand (which will help keep thedough from sticking to you), grab asection of dough from oneside,lift it up, then press it down into themiddle. Repeat,turning thebowl 90 degrees (a quarter turn) after each stretch, until the dough won’telongate easily and forms a

smooth, tight roundball, 4to 6timestotal

4. Turn the dough over, placing it seam side down in the bowl. Coverand letthe dough rise at room temperature (70 to 75 F) for 1hour, until puffy but notnecessarily doubled in size. Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 500 F with abaking steel or stone placed on arack in the lower third and an empty oven rack in the upper third.

5. Divide the dough: On alightly flouredsurface, divide the dough into 2 equal pieces (about 1cup per piece). Form each piece into atight ball andplace seam side down in alightly greased container.Cover with alid and let it rest at room temperature while the oven preheats, 20 to 60 minutes.

Quinoa Cakes with Za’atar

PHOTO By LIZ FAUL

tAuRus (April 20-May20) Press forward withanticipation and asolid plan. Confidence is knowing what you can do and how to preventsituations from running amok. Trust your instincts over what others sayordo.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Embrace what lifeoffers. Achange will be arebirthing that satisfiesyoursoul. It'sbeen a long time coming, and you don't want to miss abeat. Choose avibrant path that offers freedom.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Keep alow profile and bypass thosewho stand in your way. Look for and create opportunities that suit your needs. Youcan't work at maximum efficiency if you aren't getting back thereturnsyou deserve.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Focusonhelping others. What you learn and whoyou encounter will change your perspective regarding howyou respond, react and resolve sensitive situations.

VIRGo (Aug.23-sept. 22) Focus on learning. Take your time, back away from pushy people andmake revisions only whennecessary. It's up to you to ask questions, reviewoptions andmove forward withconfidence.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Work in conjunctionwithsomeone whounderstands what you areupagainst and how you want to move forward. Communication requires patience and thoughtfulness if you want to get resultsyou don't regret.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Don't force your ideas or plans on others. If you

want something done,doityourself. Take control, and you'llfindaway to reachyourdestination withoutconflict.

sAGIttARIus(nov. 23-Dec. 21) Put your energy into home improvements that make your life easier. Let desire and change go hand in hand until youfeel comfortable in your surroundings and withyour circle or community.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Stop,look, listen,review andreconfigure your planofattack.Let your intelligence and experience lead the way. Your ego and confidence will encourage you to disregard thosetrying to lead you astray.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Look at your financial situation, the job market, and upgrading your skills andincome. A change at home will help you take better careofyourself and your possessions

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Do your research.The informationsomeone offers will be slanted to benefitthem, not you. Participate in events that give you areal-time view of what's necessary and possible.

ARIEs (March 21-April19) Overreactingwill get you into trouble. Put on the brakes, listen, back away andsort through your differences before youallow yourself to lambaste someone for something you have littletonoproof of.

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

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe AndGrIMM

LAGoon

Sudoku

InstructIons: sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers1to9inthe emptysquares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficultylevel of the sudoku increases from monday to sunday.

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

Bridge

By PHILLIPALDER

We have been looking at the balancing overcalls that have different meanings from those in the second position.Here is the third. Look at the South hand. After onespade-pass-pass,whatshouldSouth do?

Directly over one spade, if North jumps to twono-trump, it would be the UnusualNo-trump,indicatingatleast5-5 in the twolowest-ranking unbid suits. In the fourth position, though, it shows a (quasi-)balanced hand with some20-21 pointsand at leastone stopper in the opener’s suit; though youmight have slightly fewer high-card points when holding areasonable six-cardminor. In this deal, North thentransfers into hearts before rebidding three no-trump to offerSoutha choice of games. With only two hearts, he selects three notrump. (Notethatfour hearts fails, the defenderstaking three diamonds and one heart.)

Againstthree no-trump, West leads the spade queen. How should South continue? Declarer has eight top tricks: two spades, three hearts andthree clubs. And it is easy to get greedy. Some players would win with theirspade ace, cash the heartace and queen, lead aspade to dummy’s king, andcash the heart king. However, when West discards, the contract can no longer be made.

wuzzles

Instead, South mustbewillingtotrade oneheart trick to guarantee four winners from thesuit.After winning the first trick with hisspade ace, he cashes the heart ace, overtakes the heart queen withdummy’s king, and continueswith the heart10todriveout East’s jack. Now the contract sails home ©2026 by nEa, inc.,dist. By andrewsmcmeel syndication

EachWuzzleisaword riddle which creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: nOOngOOD =gOOD aFTErnOOn

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,”suchas“bats” or “dies,”are notallowed. 3. additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may notbeused. 4. proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are notallowed.

toDAy’s WoRD BAttLED: BAH-tuld: Combatted; struggled.

Average mark27words

Time limit 30 minutes

Can you find 32 or more words in BATTLED?

yEstERDAy’s WoRD —EXPEnsIVE

loCKhorNs

Thedescendants of Abraham have the Hand of God upon them. G.E. Dean

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard fillmore

dIrectIons: makea 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. add points of each word, using scoring directionsat right. Finally 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter havenopoint value. allthe words arein the Official sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5th Edition. Formore information on tournaments and

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

playersassociation: info@scrabbleplayers.org.Visit

ken ken

WiShinG Well

InstructIons: 1 -Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1thorugh 4(easy) or 1through 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. HErEisaplEasanTliTTlE

thenumberofletters

Scrabble GramS

Get fuzzy

jump Start

roSe iS roSe animal crackerS

DuStin Drabble

or 504-301-0014x4658. 186688-may6-8-3t $432

PUBLIC HEARINGONMAY 26, 2026 ON THEFOLLOW‐INGMATTER: SUBDIVISIONDOCKETS 039-26, 047-26, and048-26 SD039-26 Resubdivision of Lots Y, aportion of Lots,A,B,C,D,and

THECITYPLANNING COMMISSIONWILLHEAR PROPONENTS ANDOPPO‐NENTSTOTHE ABOVE PROPOSED SUBDIVISION. ALLINTERESTEDPARTIES AREENCOURAGEDTOAT‐TEND ANDALL RELEVANT COMMENTSCONCERNING THEPROPOSEDCHANGES AREENCOURAGED. THE CPCHAS ESTABLISHED PUBLIC HEARINGRULES WITHIN ITSADMINISTRA‐TIVE RULES, POLICIES, & PROCEDURES,WHICH AREAVAILABLE ON THE CPCWEBSITE: WWW NOLA.GOV/CPC.YOU MAY ALSO SUBMIT WRITTEN COMMENTSTOTHE EX‐ECUTIVEDIRECTORIN ADVANCEBYMAIL(1300 PERDIDOSTREET,7TH

HEARINGDATE. May7,May 14, and May21, 2026 Robert Rivers ExecutiveDirector NOCP 9050 186832-may7-4-21-3t $121.44

Resubdivision of Lot1 into Lots 2and 3 in Square 517, Federal City,Fifth MunicipalDis‐trictand bounded by RaphaelSemmesStreet Hunley Street,Constitu‐tion Street,Savage Street,and Guadalcanal Street.Municipaladdress is 755 RaphaelSemmes Street.(Policy D)

don’tmiss don’tmiss don’t miss

mother’s day

concerts

Soul Queen of New Orleans

Irma Thomas will be the feature at the Audubon Zoo from 2p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, with additional activities starting at 9a.m. at the6500 Magazine St. hot spot.And the Vieux Carré Property Owners, Residents&Associates’ concert and picnic is from 4p.m.to 7p.m.inCabrini Park,1219 Dauphine St. The free event features the New Leviathan Oriental Foxtrot Orchestra and ahat contest.Both events encourage chairs and blankets to sit back andrelax. audubonnatureinstitute.org and vcpora.org.

lposeason finale

fi

erybrilliance of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky’s irebird Suite” wraps the season for theLouisiana Philharmonic Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Orpheum Theater,129 Roosevelt Way. Also on thebill are Alberto Ginastera’s“Four Dances from Estancia” and Bela Bartók’s“Dance Suite.” Maestro Matthew Kraemer conducts the program, with apre-concert talkat 6:30 p.m. Tickets start at $27. lpomusic.com.

chorgemeinschaft lied hoch glückstadt

From Schubert and Mendelssohnto gospel and Elvis, the German men’s choir will performtwo free concerts, one at 7p.m. Monday at St. Joseph’s Church, 610 Sixth St., in Gretna; the second concertwill be 7p.m. Tuesday at Deutsches Haus, 1700 Moss St., in New Orleans. deutscheshaus.org.

mandevillefoodtruck festival

Roll over to the LionsClub, 720 Lafitte St., in Mandeville for thefree food truck gathering from 4p.m. to 8p.m.Saturday.Vendors will be selling crafts and tasty eats,plustherewillbeactivities for kids. eventbrite.com.

rumrendezvous

Sample avariety of Bayou State rums at 6p.m. Wednesday at the Audubon Clubhouse, 6975 Magazine St., in Audubon Park. Afundraiser for the Friends of the Cabildo, the boozie dozen of Louisiana-made or -owned purveyors will share their appreciation of the liquor withalineage to one of the state’s top crops —sugar.Tickets start at $50. lousianastatemuseum.org.

ABOUTLAGNIAPPE

The Lagniappe section is published each Thursdayby The Times-Picayune |The New Orleans Advocate. All inquiries about Lagniappe should be directed to the editor.

LAGNIAPPE EDITOR: LaurenWalck, lauren.walck@theadvocate.com

COVER DESIGN: Andrea Daniel

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Victor Andrews, Will Coviello, Marigny Lanaux, Dean M. Shapiro, Keith Spera

GETLISTEDINLAGNIAPPE

SubmiteventstoLagniappe at least twoweeksinadvance by sending an email to events@ theadvocate.com.

ON THECOVER

Shafiq Hicks is theUgandan warlordencountered by newmissionary Sam McLellan in ‘TheBook of Mormon,’ set for theSaenger TheatreonTuesday. Photoby Julieta Cervantes. Story by Victor AndrewsonPage 6.

don’t miss don’t miss don’t miss

halfway to halloween dance-off

Spooky season is just half a year away, and the Krewe of Boo celebrates at 2 p.m. Saturday at Spanish Plaza at the foot of Canal Street at the Mississippi River. Costumed Carnival dancing krewes will be judged by a panel of celebrities for bragging rights, while the audience gets a free show of some uniquely New Orleans “movers and shakers.” kreweofboo. com.

court of appeals building tour

The New Orleans Architecture Foundation will lead an examination of the design, adaptation and preservation of the 1915 neo-Renaissance John Minor Wisdom U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals building, 600 Camp St., at 4 p.m. Tuesday (arrive at 3:45 p.m.). Cost is $10. neworleans architecturefoundation.org.

MAY 8–10 | MAY 15–17

Starring Cristina Perez Edmunds with Script by Denise Altobello

The story behind the woman who became The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat. PRESENTS

SCAN FOR TICKETS

events events events

Bayou Fest a showcase of Sankofa Wetland Park

BY WILL COVIELLO Gambit Weekly

Sankofa Wetland Park is an oasis of nature and nature-focused activities in the Lower 9th Ward Every week, people go there to fish, birdwatch, jog or just enjoy the benches and grassy areas along the water

The annual Bayou Fest is a free celebration of the park, with live music, games, free crawfish and more. The festival’s sixth edition on Saturday will also be a preview of the next phase of development, including construction of an outdoor amphitheater

“We’re trying to support this area, making it a real destination space for nature-based recreation,” said Rashida Ferdinand, founder and director of Sankofa Community Development Corp “This is home. This is what’s in our backyard. There’s space for multiple uses. Having outdoor events and outdoor experiences is part of our culture in New Orleans.”

The festival highlights many of the regular activities offered by the space, including kayaking, birdwatching, horseback riding and fishing, and there will be free fishing lessons. There also are lawn games including Jumbo Jenga, STEM and kids’ activities and a crawfish race.

Entertainment includes the Michael Foster Project brass band and storytellers.

Along with the free boiled crawfish, while supplies last, food vendors include Mo Fries, The Food Lab, Danielle’s New Orleans Style Snoballs and Sankofa Market.

10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Sankofa Wetland Park, 6401 Florida Ave., New Orleans sankofanola.org

The 40-acre park with a large retention pond in the center is part of a cooperative endeavor between Sankofa and New Orleans. The developing park borders the Bayou Bienvenue Wetland Triangle. A linear strip of the park runs along Florida Avenue, bordering the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood around Fats Domino Avenue.

Ferdinand grew up nearby

“I grew up closer to (what is now) the park on Flood Street,” she said. “When I was growing up, it was a flat green space. Kids played softball and baseball, and there was a playground.”

The area had been used by the community for generations.

“My father grew up about three blocks away from the park,” she said. “He actually did go out there as a child.”

But by the time of Hurricane Katrina and the federal levee failures, it had become blighted. The neighborhood was then devastated by storm, flooding from breaches at the nearby Industrial Canal. That did further damage to the park area as well. Work on reclaiming the park space did not immediately follow the storm. Sankofa was

formed in 2008 to create a farmers market in a neighborhood lacking grocery stores and rebuilding slowly It worked to revitalize the area and has expanded its mission to attract development.

Sankofa entered its agreement with the city in 2014 and broke ground on the Sankofa Wetland Park in 2017. The initial goal was to restore it to what had previously existed in the space. Work included removing garbage that had been dumped there, like tires, but also getting rid of invasive species of plants and trees.

FILE PHOTO By MATTHEW PERSCHALL

The 40-acre Sankofa Wetland Park and Nature Trail in the Lower 9th Ward has become popular for birders who have spotted more than 80 species in the park, from egrets, spoonbills and ibis to pelicans and bald eagles.

events events events

Sankofa has rebuilt the area for recreational use. There are 1.5 miles of nature trails, and the group hopes to unveil wooden boardwalk extensions of the trails in marshy areas during the festival.

The park has become a popular birding spot inside the city More than 80 species have been spotted in the park, from egrets, spoonbills and ibis to pelicans and bald eagles.

There are organized activities in the park on the second Saturday of every month. That includes fishing lessons, kayaking, lawn games and more. Running clubs use the space as well. The park is regularly open from dawn to dusk.

At Bayou Fest, Sankofa will share details on plans for an amphitheater Following Katrina, Ferdinand saw the outdoor performance of “Waiting for Godot” performed at a devastated area near a levee breach. She kept that in mind as a possibility for redeveloping the neighborhood.

“This is the best way to have a space that is integrated with nature,” she said.

“It’s part of being in your neighborhood, and you can have places to sit and hang out, but also a place for music. Like, what if we had the philharmonic here, or the Roots of Music, or a drum circle like in Congo Square?”

The amphitheater is expected to be one to two acres, about the size of a city block. It’ll be natural, landscaped space for entertainment and events. Its exact location has not been determined and Sankofa is looking for community input.

Over the last two decades, Sankofa has added more community development projects. It has a garden on Tennessee Street that grows vegetables like okra and field peas and hibiscus and there’s a chicken coop and an apiary. Another garden at St. Claude Court grows herbs sold at the Sankofa Farmers Market and used for juices it sells.

In 2024, the organization opened the Sankofa Fresh Start Market, a grocery store culminating the work of the farmers market and a previous open-air market. Next, Sankofa is looking at building a headquarters for all of its initiatives.

Michael Foster plays the sousaphone as the Michael Foster Project performs in 2024. The band is set to perform at Bayou Fest on Saturday.

STAFF FILE

PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

stages stages stages

ä Forshows in production, visitnola.com.

bells With on

Award-winning ‘BookofMormon’ brings humorand ‘a senseofcommunity’toSaenger

Victor Andrews

From Mormons to Miranda, plays to ballets, New Orleans-area stages get busy with a springtime rush of activities for all ages this week.

Email Victor Andrews at vandrews@ theadvocate. com.

“Hello.” Yes, there are Mormons at the door,and this time,the door is in theSaenger Theatre. These Mormons (and Ugandans) sing and dancetheir wayall over the world and keep the audience rolling on the floor with laughteras“TheBook of Mormon” opens Tuesday

Fromthe creativeteam of Trey Parker,Robert Lopez and Matt Stone (“South Park”), this Broadway bulldozer won nine Tony Awards when it opened in 2011 and still runs 15 years later

The musical pokes funat theChurchof Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints viaa pair ofmismatchedyoung missionaries (one perfect,one hopeless)who are sentto Uganda. Anddespite the fact that the situation is rather dire,there’s plenty of “worlds collide” situations that erupt intohilarious yet touching moments.

“It feelsthrilling andscary …the wholetime I’m rejecting my natural reaction to laugh at thematerial in the show,” said ShafiqHicks, who plays the evil warlord “The General”and hasworked with such luminariesasEstelle, Andrea Bocelli andAretha Franklin

And while the deliveryand juxtaposition of thematerial is truly comical,dothe seriousissues aboutlife transcend the ageofthe show?

“I think it does,” Hicks said. “Wejust addeda new joke to the script that is extremely relevant. However, this show exercises itssense of community; which Ifeel is avery needed energythroughout this country andthe world at large.”

And speaking of community, Hicks andhis fellow travelingactors arereadyfor some of thethings that make New Orleansspecial.

‘Chapter Two’

Neil Simon, the Tony and Pulitzer Prizewinner,penned “Chapter Two” as asemi-autobiographical look at his second marriage to famed actor Marsha Mason.

As the missionaries attempt to “save” the locals, the locals are worried about starvation, AIDSand a warlord.

At times, the subject matter and presentation can be as edgy as the television show that catapulted the creators into the entertainment stratosphere.

So what’sitlike to be in a“South Park” episode every day?

“The food,” he said.“Y’allthrow down in NOLA, andI can’t wait to hit some favorite spots. I’ll also be going to every jazzclub Ican find.”

In the meantime, Hicks andhis fellowthespians will be the act to catch at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through May16, 2p.m. May16, and1 p.m. and6:30 p.m. May17at1111 Canal St. Tickets start at $51. Visitsaengernola.com.

PlaymakersTheater in Covington revives theshow,which next year will mark50years since its Los Angeles debut in 1977.

Directed by Joan Soboloff, the show features Lindsey Andry,Emily Murray, Brandon Stacy and Kyler Heffner

The lead character,aplaywright grieving over the death of his first wife, is introduced to ayoung actress by his brother/agent.

The show runs at 7:30 p.m.Fridays and Saturdays and 2p.m. Sundays through May 17 at 19106 Playmakers Road.Tickets start at $15. Visit playmakersinc.com.

‘CarmenMiranda:Samba in Technicolor’

Known in herheyday as “The Bra Bombshell,” stage and film star Carm Miranda made astring of wartime m ies featuring her trademark kilowat smile and colorful fruit-adorned hea pieces.

And the star of “Springtime in the Rockies” and “Down Argentine Way will be the subject of alive show sta Cristina Perez Edmunds at BB’sSta Door Canteen in The National WWII seum, opening Friday.

‘Carmen Miranda: Same in Technico in the signature headpiece, with, fro Keyara Milliner.

Hicks

urdays and 2p.m. Sundays through May 17 at at 945Magazine St. Ticketsstartat $47.Visit nationalww2museum.org.

‘Cinderella’ ballet

zilian men movt ady” rring ge I Mu-

Miranda, often credited with introducing U.S. audiences to the sounds and moves of samba, will be brought to life backedbyBando da Lua and joined by a local cast.

Written by local educator DeniseAltobello, the show is directed and choreographed by Diedra Alexander,with musical direction by Geovane Santos Joining BB’sveteran Edmunds in the show will be Meliah Henry Clutter, Kelsey Fontenot, Aline de Souza-Myers, Keyara Milliner,Courtney Andersenand Deidra Alexander

The show is at 7p.m. Fridays and Sat-

New Orleans Ballet Theatre steps onto the stage of the Orpheum Theater for threeperformances of thetimeless classic “Cinderella” on Saturday and Sunday

Theballet, choreographed by Gregory Schramel, artistic director for the company,features Jo-AnnSundermeier as Cinderella and Josh Reynolds as the Prince. Performances are at 2p.m. Saturday and Sunday,plus 8p.m. Saturday.Tickets start at $51. Visit neworleansballettheatre.com.

‘The Sleeping Beatyand OtherWorks’ Delta Festival Ballet headlines its spring concertat6 p.m. Saturday with Fiorella Keane’s choreography,after Marius Petipa, of excerptsfromTchai-

kovsky’s“The Sleeping Beauty,” restaged by Richard Rholdon and Laurie Volny Langdon.

The work is part of theperformance thatincludes “Grand Tarantelle”and “Mazurka”fromDelibes’“Coppelia” by Rholdon and “Infinite Reflection,” a contemporaryworkbyCarrie J. Brown, DeltaFestival’sadministrative director

The production features members of the ballet’sYouthCorps de Ballet, including AveryAdams, KateBernard, Blythe Bossetta,Lillie Brown, Nola Brown,Laura Burlison, Ina Burns, Lucy Cole Carlin, AudreyCerise, Kate Collins,MaryAlice Comer,Molly Dunn, Rosalie Hogan, Logan Kadden, Layla LaHatte, Sophia Landry, Natalie Lazo, Emma Lim,Abby Mumphrey,Emma Mumphrey,Lyla Pelle, Kennedy Potter,Kennedy Schmalz, Jillian Surcouf, Olivia Taffaro, Gavin Tardy,Olivia Tardy,Liam VanVrancken, Meadow Waltemyer,Adriana Wilmore

PLAY/WRITE SHOWCASE

Local acting companieswill bring eight new student-written plays to life Tuesday.

Local theater company Goat in theRoad Productionsteaches classes for studentsingrades five andsix in 11 different schoolsacross theCrescentCityaspart of the yearlongprogram.

The Tuesday performance is the finaleofthe program and features Young Audiences Charter Schoolsstudents from theLawrence D. Crocker andKate Middleton campuses.

Performers will include actors from Blue Light Underground Ensemble,Intramural Theater,Goat in the Road andthe Tennessee Williams Theatre Co

The free family-friendly shows will beginat 7p.m. at UNO’s Nims Theatre, 2000 Lakeshore Drive. Visitgoatintheroadproductions.org.

—Victor Andrews

and Eva Wooderson.

The company wasfounded in 1969 by Joseph Giacobbe and Maria Giacobbe.

The performance will be held at Ursuline Academy’sauditorium, 2635 State St., in New Orleans. Tickets start at $35. Visit deltafestivalballet.com.

‘The IrishCurse’

“The Irish Curse,” an adult comedy about asupport group of Irish-American menwho meet in achurch basement to talk about their individual insecurities and “shortcomings,” will open Friday at Cutting Edge Center of the Arts in Slidell. The show is billed as a“revealing portrait of how men, and society,define masculinity,” filled with laughs, adult themes and strong language.

It opens at 8p.m.Fridays and Saturdays through May 16 at 767 Robert Blvd. Tickets start at $30. Visit cuttingedgetheater.com.

The freshly minted missionaries of ‘The Book of Mormon’ await their assignments.

PROVIDED PHOTO BY JULIETA CERVANTES

PROVIDED PHOTOBy FRANK LAyMAMI III

olor’ featuresCristina PerezEdmunds as the star mleft, KelseyFontenot, CourtneyAndersen and

stages stages stages

‘Itwas

grouptherapy’

Hitshowwritten by groupof friendsand describedasa NewOrleans ‘Steel Magnolias’ returnsfor newrun

BY MARIGNY LANAUX Staff writer

Apromise that JoycePulitzer made to her mother is onceagain being realized on aNew Orleans-area stage this week, as ahit playfromthe early2000s opens on theWest Bank

Pulitzer put her whole heart into“Cherries Jubilee,” aplay about five female friends who graduate from Newcomb College in the1960s andthe decades of their lives that follow

“It’saGarden District version of ‘TheGroup,’ an Orleans Club ‘Steel Magnolias,’”Times-Picayune theater reporter David Cuthbert wrote in 1999. Originally slated for atwo-weekend run,itended up showing for three months andwon the BigEasy Best New Work in Theater award in 2000. Afterits debut at the Contemporary ArtsCenter, it also ranat the Southern Repertory Theatre.

Now,thanks to achancemeetingwith director Gary Rucker, the play has been revived fora twoweekend run at the Westwego PerformingArts Theatre.

As fiery,sweet and lively asthe dessert it’snamed for,“Cherries Jubilee” follows thefriends, starting with the night of their collegegraduation. Setina Garden District home, thefouractsspan1960, 1970, 1985 and 1990, witheach actbeginningwith the sound of atelevision segment that sets the mood and time period.

Theplaynavigates theevolution of Southern women in society and how expectationschangedover time, from laughing about“MRSdegrees”tofacing life’s challengesand gaining independence.

The integrity of the play remainsthe same as its original run, addressingtopics such as divorce, abuse and homosexuality. It also pokesfun at distinctly New Orleans culture, like asking, “Wheredid you go to school?” —whichalwaysreferstohigh school rather than college. Mentions of iconiclocal businesseslike Langenstein’s, Commander’sPalace, Galatoire’s and TheBlue Room arealso heard throughout the play.

“The script benefits from alively senseofhumor, with abumper crop of laughlines thatactually get

First row, from left are Joyce Pulitzer,one of the writers of ‘Cherries Jubilee,’and Lauren Gauthier,who will be performinginthe stageshow; and second row, actors Dana Panepinto, Lauren Smith, Savannah Chiasson, Lorna Dopson and Michaela Brown.

ARCHIVE IMAGE

An article from June 15,2001, showsthe four script writers for ‘Cherries Jubilee.’

laughs,” Gambit theater critic Dalt Wonk wrote in 2001.

That’sthanks to thecamaraderie between Pulitzer and her three friends who helped write the script Harriet Nelson, Lynne Goldman and Marcy Nathan.

It took alittle convincing to get everyone onboard, as no one had playwriting experience. With atenacious nature, Pulitzer said she isn’tusually deterred when told she can’taccomplish something.

“I don’thave the credentials,but Ihavethe desire,” Pulitzer said, remembering how she felt at the time.

Pulitzer fondly recalls thewriting process, saying it oftenfelt like aparty.The four women wouldget together at coffee shops or one another’s homesto

‘CHERRIES JUBILEE’

7:30 p.m. Fridayand Saturdayand May15-16; and 2p.m. matinees Sundayand May17 WestwegoPerforming Arts Theatre, 177 Sala Ave. jpas.org

eat,vent and share ideas. According to Pulitzer,ifyou can talk, you can write aplay,asdialogue is the leadngforce.

It took years to finalize the script, as it went hrough multiple rewrites and wascritiqued by Goldman’sfriend Henry Heymann, whohas aYale degree in dramaand directing experience. Pulitzer described Heymann as a“guardian angel,” noting he played akey role in shaping the final play

“It wasgroup therapy,” Goldman told Cuthbert in 1999. “Weknew we weren’tbreaking new ground here, but we got together and laughed and blew off steam.”

Pulitzer said there wasnopride over authorship; it was atrue collaboration.

“If everyonewereaquarterback, they wouldn’t win the football game,” she said.

Co-directed by Rucker and Michael Vaughn, the 2026 revival of “Cherries Jubilee” features Savannah Chiasson, Lorna Dopson, Michaela Brown, Lauren Smith, Lauren Gauthier and DanaPanepinto. Those working behind the scenes are Katalea Ford, Grant Vicknair,Kate Jensen, Alexis Mancuso and Amanda Cavalier.

PROVIDED PHOTOByJEFFERSON PERFORMING ARTS

music music music

N.O. chamber ensemble marks 20th season

Concerts’ contemporary pieces to include Tulane composer

BY DEAN M. SHAPIRO

Contributing writer

In summer 2006, while driving out to Colorado, Bruce Owen had an inspiration to organize a chamber music ensemble in New Orleans.

“I had some friends who did something similar in Nashville, where they did three concerts a year and they played music from all different periods,” said Owen, a longtime violist with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. “They also did a number of world premieres. I was very inspired by what they did, and I thought, ‘Why don’t we do something like that here?’”

Soon after returning to New Orleans, Owen began recruiting a group of musicians he knew from the LPO, and they launched the inaugural Musaica Chamber Music Ensemble season in January 2007. Twenty years later, the 11-member group performs three annual concerts It concludes its milestone season Monday and Tuesday in Metairie and Uptown New Orleans.

The upcoming performances, under the title theme “New Horizons,” will feature two pieces by contemporary composers, Houston-based Nicky Sohn and Maxim Samarov, a cellist and the orchestra director at Tulane University. The third piece on the program was written by Hungarian composer Erno Dohnányi (1877-1960).

Sohn’s wind quartet, titled “A Night at Birdland,” is a four-movement tribute to jazz saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker and features flute, oboe, clarinet,

bassoon and French horn. Dohnányi’s 30-minute, three-movement “Sextet in C-major” features violin, viola, cello, clarinet, horn and piano.

Samarov’s three-movement piece “Concertino for Harp and Strings” is a world premiere.

“We play music by composers from other countries all the time,” Owen said. “What these particular musicians have in common is not just that they were born somewhere else, but that they all came to the U.S. to live and contribute to our culture.”

Owen noted that Sohn came from Korea and Samarov immigrated from Russia. Dohnányi, who was born in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, immigrated to the U.S. for the past 11 years of his life and taught at Florida State University

Performing on the “Birdland” quintet are Sarah Schettler on flute, Jane Gabka on oboe, Roy Park on clarinet, Josiah Bullach on French horn and Michael Matushek on bassoon. All but Matushek are core members of the Musaica ensemble.

Performing on the Samarov Concertino are Catherine Anderson on harp, Yuki Tanaka and Milena Rusanova on violins, Owen on viola, David Rosen on cello and David Anderson on double bass.

Owen, Tanaka, Rosen, Park and Bullach also perform on the Dohnányi sextet, along with Diana Thacher on piano.

Commenting on the creation of his world premiere composition, Samarov referred to the notes he wrote for the printed program.

“When most people think of the harp, they imagine music that is ethereal and angelic. In ‘Concertino for Harp and Strings,’ I sought instead to explore darker emotional territories not typically associated with the instrument.

MUSAICA CHAMBER MUSIC ENSEMBLE: ‘NEW HORIZONS’

WHEN AND WHERE: 7:30 p.m. Monday, Metairie Ridge Presbyterian Church, 215 Phosphor Ave., Metairie; and 7:30 p.m Tuesday, St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church, 1545 State St. (corner St. Charles Avenue), New Orleans

PROVIDED PHOTO By MUSAICA CHAMBER MUSIC ENSEMBLE Members of the Musaica Chamber Music Ensemble are, first row from left, David Rosen, Bruce Owen, yuki Tanaka and Milena Rusanova; and second row, David Anderson, Sarah Schettler, Jane Gabka, Nicky Sohn and Catherine Anderson.

TICKETS: Free with a suggested donation of $20 for adults and $10 for students and seniors INFO: (504) 304-8608; musaica.org

“The work consists of three movements performed without pause. These movements are also unified on a deeper level. All three are derived from the same seven-note melodic fragment. This source sequence is presented plainly in unison at the very beginning of the piece and is treated in distinct and contrasting ways in each movement.”

The concerts are sponsored by a grant from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation.

music music music

ALISON KRAUSS &UNION STATION

Keith Spera SOUND CHECK

The 2026 New Orleans Jazz &Heritage Festival is over,but the music plays on. Here are options for live music this week.

Email Keith Spera at kspera@ theadvocate.com.

THURSDAY,SAENGER

THEATRE

Throughout aprolific, Grammyladen career,singer and fiddler Alison Krauss has interwoven Appalachian tradition and contemporary country songcraft. She and her ace combo, Union Station, can conjure adeep-inthe-holler hoedown or atragic tale of hardship and woe as skillfully as anyone.

On adult contemporarypop fare such as “Paper Airplane,” Kraussbrings to bearaneffortless precision and alovely,bright voice, one that manages to be simultaneously delicateand steely. On her 2017 solo album “Windy City,” sherecreated classic country songs by the likes of Willie Nelson, Brenda Lee, theOsborne Brothers, Glen Campbell and Bill Monroe. Herlatest release is 2025’s“Arcadia.”

Beyond her own considerable skills,

her Union Station of aces, including bro player Jerry worked with her Krauss has presided excellent sets at Jazz thepast couple decades. Robert Plant showcased witching album “Raising theFair Grounds then fronted Union theGentilly Stage came back to theF Grounds with Plant again in 2023. She missed the2026 Jazz Festbut will hold court with Union Station on Thursday at the Saenger Theatre. Theo Lawrence opens. Tickets start at $41.

MOLLY TUTTLE &MAGGIEROSE

SATURDAY,TIPITINA’S

Molly Tuttle andMaggie Rose, simpatico artists with roots in Americana/bluegrass music, areplaying only eight co-headlining shows this spring. Oneofthem is Saturday at Tipitina’s.

The pairing makes alot of sense. Tuttle hails from thelittle-known bluegrass hotspot that is Palo Alto, California. She grew up in afamily of musicians led by her father,multi-instrumentalist Jack Tuttle. By 15, she’d joined the family band as aguitarist and banjo player.Fluent in the crosspicking, clawhammer and flatpicking styles of guitar,in2017, she became the first woman to be named Guitar Player of the Year by theInternational Bluegrass Music Associa-

tion. She has led aseries of bands, including Golden Highway,whose 2023 album “City of Gold” wonthe Grammy Award forBest Bluegrass Album.Golden Highway broke up in 2025; Tuttle subsequently released the album “So Long Little Miss Sunshine.”

Anative of Maryland, Maggie Rose gained national traction early in her career with a cover of Kings of Leon’s“UseSomebody.” Recording forvarious labels, she intermingled rock, pop, soul and Americana/country music. In 2016, she collaborated with Cash Money Records producer and NewOrleans native Mannie Fresh on the Dallas Davidson track “Laid Back.” Leaning into the pop-soul shadings in her voice, she has appeared at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville morethan 50 times. Her fourth studio album, 2024’s “NoOne GetsOut Alive,” wasnominated for aBest Americana Album Grammy.

Over the years, Rose and Tuttle have shared stages, and Tuttle was aguest on Rose’s“Salute theSongbird”podcast. On Saturday,they’re joined by New Orleans teenage piano phenom River Eckert and The PernikoffBrothers. The show starts at 8p.m.; tickets are $37.50.

Alison Krauss

Molly Tuttle

music music music

OTHER NOTEWORTHY SHOWS

THURSDAY

Billed as “4 legends, 1 stage,” “The Queens” tour brings together four stars of classic R&B, soul and pop: Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan and Stephanie Mills The show was originally scheduled for Feb. 19 at the Smoothie King Center but was postponed until Thursday. Tickets start at $96.

New Orleans trombonist Stephen Walker has toured and/or recorded with Harry Connick Jr., Branford Marsalis, Trombone Shorty, Irvin Mayfield, Nicholas Payton and many other artists even as he developed his own voice on his instrument. On Thursday, he celebrates the release of his new “Swing In New Orleans: The Trad Jazz Sessions Vol. 1” with shows at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m at Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro. Tickets are $30.

Zydeco accordionist Sean Ardoin is at Chickie Wah Wah starting at 8 p.m.; tickets are $15 plus fees.

FRIDAY

The Soul Rebels fire up the brass at Tipitina’s. Pocket Chocolate opens the show at 9 p.m. Tickets start at $25.

New Orleans-based saxophonist Brad Walker is equally at home onstage with Americana star Sturgill Simpson, roots rock guitar hero Anders Osborne or just about any jazz ensemble. At Snug

Harbor on Friday, Walker presents “Mysteries: The Music of Keith Jarrett,” a salute to the legendary pianist who worked with Charles Mingus and Miles Davis as well as his own influential groups; Jarrett’s 1975 album “The Koln Concert” is among the bestselling solo piano albums of all time. Show times on Friday are at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.; tickets are $40.

SATURDAY

Saxophonist Victor Goines, a longtime member of the Wynton Marsalis Sextet and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, leads his own quartet at Snug Harbor at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

SUNDAY

Percussionist Jafet Pérez, born in the Dominican Republic but based in New Orleans since 2020, is featured at Snug Harbor at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $30.

MONDAY

Multi-disciplinary indie rock singer-

songwriter and occasional fashion guru Ethel Cain brings “The Willoughby Tucker Forever Tour” to the Orpheum Theater on Monday and Tuesday. Tickets start at $62.

Rapper HaSizzle and the To Be Continued Brass Band team up at Chickie Wah Wah at 8 p.m. Monday Tickets are $15 plus fees.

TUESDAY

Drew and Ellie Holcomb bring their Never Gonna Let You Go Tour to the Joy Theater Tickets start at $30.

After a busy Jazz Fest, Galactic drummer Stanton Moore shifts to modern jazz mode for two shows with keyboardist David Torkanowsky and bassist James Singleton at Snug Harbor, starting at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $30.

Ethel Cain is back at the Orpheum.

WEDNESDAY

David Ramirez is at Chickie Wah Wah with Lauren Victoria starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 plus fees.

Sean Ardoin