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F r i d ay, M ay 15, 2026

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Fields steps aside for Carter in new map

ELECTION 2026

Teacher pay raise on ballot If amendment fails, they could lose $2K stipend

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS

U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, shakes hands on May 8 as he enters the room during a Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee meeting at the State Capitol in Baton Rouge.

La. Legislature advances plan with single majority-minority district 2026 LEGISLATURE

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

Protect Troy or protect Cleo?

That was the messy and politically difficult choice that state legislators and Gov. Jeff Landry appeared to face in the immediate aftermath of federal court rulings and a decision by Landry that would lead lawmakers to redraw Louisiana’s six congressional districts.

Republicans were bent on eliminating either the Black-majority Democratic district held by U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, of Baton Rouge, or the one held by U.S. speaks on May 8 during a Senate and Rep. Troy Carter, of New Orleans. Would lawmakers draw a new map that favored Governmental Affairs Committee meeting at the State Capitol in Baton Rouge.

Fields or Carter?

In a Legislature where Democrats and Republicans form friendships and pect threatened to drive a wedge on both often work closely together, that pros- a personal and political level — until

REDISTRICTING ä Louisiana Senate passes new congressional map. PAGE 4A Fields resolved the problem last week by announcing he would not run against Carter.

In an interview by phone from Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Fields said he has found the U.S. House to be a much different place since he returned to Washington following his 2024 election, after having served in the House three decades ago for four years.

ä See MAP, page 5A

As the state faces new budget constraints, teachers are likely to lose the $2,000 stipends they have received for the past several years if Louisiana voters reject a constitutional amendment on Saturday’s ballot.

The proposal, known as Amendment 3, would turn the teacher stipends into permanent pay raises by dissolving three state education trust funds and using the money to pay off teacher retirement debt.

As a result, public schools would have lower annual retirement payments — and they would be required to put their savings toward the pay raises.

Should Amendment 3 fail, state legislators would have to find another way to fund the stipends,

ä See AMENDMENT, page 4A

Disputed funeral home evicted

It faced violations, $200K in unpaid rent

China warns Trump over support for Taiwan Xi Jinping meets with U.S. president in day of talks, pageantry

is not handled properly, an unusually harsh admonition that stood in contrast to the American leader’s praise for his counterpart.

The exchange at a highly anticipated summit in Beijing underscored just how far apart Trump and Xi

BY WILL WEISSERT still are on thorny issues, including and AAMER MADHANI the war in Iran, trade disputes and Associated Press Washington’s relations with Taiwan, BEIJING — China’s Xi Jinping which is self-ruled but which China warned President Donald Trump on claims as part of its territory.

Thursday that their two countries ä See CHINA, page 7A could clash over Taiwan if the issue

WEATHER HIGH 86 LOW 67 PAGE 12C

NEW yORK TIMES PHOTO By KENNy HOLSTON

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, shakes hands with President Donald Trump on Thursday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Business ......................6A Commentary ................3B Nation-World................2A Classified ..................10C Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................2B Comics-Puzzles .....7C-9C Living............................5C Sports ..........................1C

BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer

A New Iberia funeral home facing allegations of unsafe conditions was formally evicted Thursday after falling more than $200,000 behind on rent.

During Thursday’s eviction hearing, Iberia Realty Group property manager Amanda Parfait testified that Fields Funeral Home had not paid rent since February 2025 and owed roughly $210,000 in unpaid rent and another $37,000 in late fees.

Wilfred Fields, the owner and

ä See EVICTED, page 5A

101ST yEAR, NO. 319

2A ● Friday, May 15, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Guyana presses Venezuela on gunfire

GEORGETOWN, Guyana — Guyana on Thursday demanded that Venezuela investigate what it said were two recent shootings targeting Guyanese troops along their shared border, including one that wounded a soldier.

A protest note from Guyana’s Foreign Ministry said the two attacks took place earlier this month on soldiers patrolling the Cuyuni River. It comes just days after the neighboring countries appeared before the International Court of Justice in The Hague for arguments in a dispute over a mineral- and oil-rich region that encompasses twothirds of Guyana’s territory and that Venezuela claims as its own.

One of the attacks left a soldier with two gunshot wounds in the leg, Guyana’s Defense Force said in a statement. Guyanese officials have reported similar shootings over the past two years, with one of them injuring eight soldiers, according to the statement.

The military said soldiers returned fire in all cases.

The protest note also urged Venezuela’s government to take steps to prevent future attacks against Guyanese civilians and military.

The Venezuelan government’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Monday, Venezuelan’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez defended her country’s claim to the Essequibo region at the United Nations’ highest court, telling judges in The Hague that political negotiations — not a judicial ruling — will resolve the century-old territorial dispute between the South American countries.

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EPA aims to relax more regulations

groundwater seeping Administration targeting limits on release of toxic wastewater taminated into waterways from mandatory

BY MARC LEVY Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency moved Thursday to relax limits that require coal-fired power plants to prevent the release of toxic heavy metals into streams and rivers, saying a three-year-old rule is unduly costly for the energy industry at a time when energy demand is spiking.

It is the latest step that President Donald Trump’s administration has taken to pull back regulations on coal mining and coal-fired power and empower fossil fuels as a primary energy source to feed the rapid growth of artificial intelligence data centers.

In its proposed rule, the EPA said a 2024 rule under President Joe Biden misjudged the effectiveness and cost of the regulation, and had the effect of shutting down coalfired power plants at a time when

energy demand is spiking.

Changing the rule is critical to making electricity more affordable and reliable, while advancing the economy, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement.

“The AI and data center revolution is creating an electricity and baseload power demand that cannot be met under the overly restrictive policies of past administrations,” Zeldin said. “The Trump EPA will continue doing its part to address these burdensome regulations on the coal-fired power plant sector that hold American communities back from the new opportunities presented by this new 21st century energy reality.”

The wastewater rule was designed to require power plant owners to clean coal ash and toxic heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic and selenium from plant wastewater before it is dumped into streams and rivers.

In 2024, the EPA strengthened

regulations over several types of plant wastewater, substantially reducing the amount of pollutants that power plant owners were allowed to dump into waterways. The EPA had given power plant owners until Dec. 31, 2029, to meet the new limits.

The EPA said the rule proposed Thursday, if finalized, would reduce power costs by as much as $1.1 billion a year. Coal and power industry trade associations cheered the EPA’s move. Environmental groups slammed it as a public health danger and giveaway to the coal-power industry.

Earthjustice, an environmental advocacy group, said the lakes, rivers and other waterways that will see more pollution as a result of the EPA’s proposal are often sources of drinking water. Coalfired power plants are by far one of the largest sources of toxic pollutants in America’s rivers, lakes and streams, Earthjustice said.

The proposal would exempt con-

Senators approve withholding own pay during shutdowns Resolution unanimously approved

BY JOEY CAPPELLETTI and MARY CLARE JALONICK

Associated Press ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOSE LUIS MAGANA

Medical plane crashes, killing all 4 aboard

FBI director Kash Patel testifies on Tuesday on Fiscal year 2027 Budget Request for the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration; the United States Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Washington.

A small medical plane crashed in a mountain range outside Ruidoso, New Mexico, before dawn Thursday, killing all four people aboard and sparking a wildfire in the surrounding forest, officials said.

The fire had grown to 35 acres by midday amid dry, windy conditions, according to Lincoln County Manager Jason Burns.

Burns said county officials were “very concerned” about the blaze and local agencies were working with the U.S. Forest Service to contain it.

The cause of the crash was unknown, Burns said. The plane was located between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Thursday in steep, rocky terrain in the Capitan Mountains that was difficult to access, with crews hiking the last half-mile to reach the crash site, he said.

The victims were flight crew and medical personnel, Burns said. Their names have not yet been made public.

The plane operated by Trans Aero MedEvac had been on a medical transportation mission and was reported overdue after communications and radar contact were lost, the company said in a statement.

Emails show FBI director’s trip included ‘VIP snorkel’

Agents arrest tourist accused of hurling rock SEATTLE — A tourist from Washington state is facing federal charges after a witness recorded what prosecutors say was a video of him hurling a coconutsized rock at an endangered Hawaiian monk seal just off a Maui beach last week.

Special agents with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration arrested Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, in the Seattle area, the U.S. attorney’s office in Honolulu said.

Lytvynchuk, who lives in Covington, Washington, was in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Thursday. A judge ordered him released pending another court appearance in Honolulu on May 27.

Lytvynchuk is charged with violations of the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Hawaiian monk seals are a critically endangered species.

Only 1,600 remain in the wild.

If convicted, Lytvynchuk, faces up to one year in prison for each charge. He also faces a fine of up to $50,000 under the Endangered Species Act and a fine of up to $20,000 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

treatment requirements, Earthjustice said. Power plant owners would only be required to treat the contaminated groundwater if they first decide to pump it to the surface as part of a groundwater cleanup, the group added.

“This is another example of the Trump administration endangering the health of Americans as a favor to corporate polluters,” Earthjustice attorney Thom Cmar said in a statement. “This plan would eliminate safeguards on hundreds of millions of pounds of wastewater with neurotoxins and cancer-causing contaminants. It would allow coal power plants to avoid cleaning up contamination that threatens our drinking water sources.”

The EPA said it remains committed to protecting water through “common-sense and workable limits” on wastewater discharges from power plants and said its new rule would “rescind certain one-sizefits-all limits” in favor of “case-bycase, data-driven discharge limits.”

who founded Justice Connection, a netKash Patel participated in work of former federal prosecutors and who advocate for the Department swim around USS Arizona ofagents Justice’s independence.

BY JIM MUSTIAN, ERIC TUCKER and MICHAEL BIESECKER Associated Press

WASHINGTON — When Kash Patel visited Hawaii last summer, the FBI took pains to note the director was not on vacation, highlighting his walking tour of the bureau’s Honolulu field office and meetings with local law enforcement.

Left out of the FBI’s news releases was an exclusive excursion that Patel took days later when he participated in what government officials described as a “VIP snorkel” around the USS Arizona in an outing coordinated by the military. The sunken battleship entombs more than 900 sailors and Marines at Pearl Harbor.

The swim, revealed in government emails obtained by The Associated Press, comes to light amid criticism of Patel’s use of the FBI plane and his global travel, which have blurred professional responsibilities with leisure activities. The FBI did not disclose the snorkeling session or that Patel had returned to Hawaii for two days after his initial stopover on the island.

“It fits a pattern of Director Patel getting tangled up in unseemly distractions — this time at a site commemorating the second deadliest attack in U.S. history — instead of staying laser-focused on keeping Americans safe,” said Stacey Young,

With few exceptions, snorkeling and diving are off-limits around the USS Arizona. The battleship, now a military cemetery reachable only by boat, has stood as one of the nation’s most hallowed sites since Japan bombed and sank it in 1941.

Marine archaeologists and crews from the National Park Service make occasional dives at the memorial to survey the condition of the wreck. Other dives have been conducted to inter the remains of Arizona survivors who wanted to rest eternally with their former shipmates.

Still, since at least the Obama administration, the Navy and the park service have quietly allowed a handful of dignitaries, including military and government officials responsible for management of the memorial, to swim at the site. The Navy and park service declined to provide details of those permitted to take such excursions.

Former FBI directors have visited Pearl Harbor on official business, but none going back to at least 1993 has gone snorkeling at the memorial, according to those familiar with their activities and a former government diver who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. The diver said it was unusual for a director or anyone not connected to the memorial to be granted such access because the swims come with physical risks and present security, safety and logistical challenges.

NASA’s spacecraft buzzing Mars

‘Psyche’ chasing a of Mars, equivalent to the will serve double duty, between the U.S. allowing operators to finerare metal asteroid distance east and west coasts. Then tune their instruments

BY MARCIA DUNN AP aerospace writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A NASA spacecraft chasing a rare metal asteroid swings past Mars this week for a gravity boost, snapping thousands of pictures as practice for the main encounter in 2029.

Named Psyche like the asteroid it’s after, the robotic explorer will slingshot past the red planet at 12,333 mph on Friday.

It will be an especially close flyby, with Psyche passing within 2,800 miles

it will barrel toward the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that is home to its enticing target.

All of the spacecraft’s science instruments will be on for the Mars pass. NASA’s two Mars rovers along with a small fleet of U.S. and European orbiters will make surface and atmospheric observations at the same time for comparison.

Psyche’s cameras already are photographing Mars, appearing as a crescent on approach and a nearly full sphere once it’s in the rearview mirror. The different views

while providing “just plain beautiful photos,” Arizona State University’s Jim Bell, the imaging team leader, said in a statement.

While the asteroid belt is swarming with millions of objects, most are made of rock or ice. Only a small percentage are thought to be metal-rich like Psyche, a potato-shaped asteroid roughly 173 miles long and 144 miles wide.

Scientists suspect the asteroid may be the exposed nickel and iron core of a fledgling planet that was stripped down by cosmic collisions.

WASHINGTON — Senators unanimously approved a resolution Thursday to withhold their pay during government shutdowns, an attempt to make federal closures financially painful for lawmakers after a string of record-breaking impasses in the past year.

The bipartisan support for the measure comes at a time when federal closures have become longer and more frequent, frustrating lawmakers who say there should be punishment when Congress fails at its most basic legislative duty.

Under the resolution, senators’ pay would be withheld by the secretary of the Senate whenever a government shutdown af-

fects one or more agencies, then released once funding is restored. It will take effect the day after the Nov. 3 general election and does not apply to the House.

“Shutting down government should not be our default solution to our refusal to work out our issues and our differences,” said Sen. John Kennedy, the bill’s sponsor, in a floor speech Wednesday.

“This is about putting our money where our mouth is,” said Kennedy, R-Madisonville.

Two shutdowns in the past year created significant financial hardship for tens of thousands of federal workers, particularly at the Department of Homeland Security. The department reopened last month after a 76-day partial shutdown, the longest agency funding lapse in history.

The DHS shutdown came just a few months after a 43-day lapse of the entire federal government, which was the longest such closure on record.

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New round of Lebanon-Israel talks Supreme Court preserves access to abortion pill kicks off as fighting continues

had called on Trump to Lower-court restrictions groups fire Makary over the slow pace of the mifepristone review. rejected while The court is dealing with its lawsuit continues latest abortion controversy four

Hezbollah and Israel continue to trade fire

BY ABBY SEWELL, BASSEM MROUE and KAREEM CHEHAYEB

BY MARK SHERMAN, GEOFF MULVIHILL and MATTHEW PERRONE

Associated Press

BEIRUT — A third round of direct talks between Israel and Lebanon kicked off in Washington Thursday, days before the expiration of a truce that reduced but did not stop the fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Lebanese offiCO ONFLICT cials are hoping that the two-day IN THE T MIIDDLE negotiations will yield a new ceaseEAST AST fire deal and pave the way for tackling a series of thorny issues, including the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah.

A U.S. State Department official described the full day of discussions on Thursday as “productive and positive” and said the U.S. looks forward to day two on Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the closed-door session and did not offer additional details.

The Trump administration has been pushing for a breakthrough between the two neighbors that have been officially in a state of war since Israel was created in 1948.

Hezbollah, however, is not part of those talks and has been vocally opposed to Lebanon engaging in direct negotiations with Israel.

Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group have continued to trade near-constant fire across the border despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire on April 17. Initially a 10-day truce, it was then extended for another three weeks.

Talks move to a higher level U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who attended the first Israel-Lebanon meetings in Washington in April, was with President Donald Trump on a visit to China and did not attend Thursday’s session.

The current round of talks repre-

Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MUSTAFA JAMALDDINE

Men attempt to rescue a person Wednesday from a burning vehicle after an Israeli airstrike hit the car in the coastal town of Barja, south of Beirut, Lebanon. Lebanese officials are hoping a two-day round of negotiations will yield a new ceasefire deal. sents a step toward more serious negotiations, with higher-level envoys from Lebanon and Israel taking part after the initial preparatory sessions were headed by the ambassadors of the two countries to Washington.

Lebanon’s envoy heading up Thursday’s talks, Simon Karam, is an attorney and well-connected former Lebanese ambassador to the U.S. who recently represented Lebanon in indirect talks with Israel over implementation of the ceasefire that preceded the latest outbreak of war between Israel and Hezbollah. On the Israeli side, Deputy National Security Adviser Yossi Draznin was set to attend.

There are still large gaps in what the two sides want from the direct talks. Israeli officials have focused on disarming Hezbollah and described the negotiations as a precursor to a potential normalization of diplomatic relations.

Lebanese officials have said they are seeking a security agreement or armistice that would stop short of normalization.

Trump has publicly called for a meeting between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while Aoun has declined to meet or speak directly with Netanyahu at this stage — a move that would likely generate blowback in Lebanon.

Lebanon hopes for ceasefire A senior Lebanese official familiar with the negotiations in Washington said Thursday Lebanon wants a complete ceasefire first and then would negotiate withdrawal of Israeli forces. The issue of Hezbollah’s weapons would be dealt with politically in Lebanon after that, he said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to speak frankly about the talks.

He said Lebanon is “relying heavily on the U.S. administration” to provide it with leverage in the negotiations with Israel and believes that Trump is “sincere” in his desire to help Lebanon.

The official said that when Trump and Aoun spoke recently, Trump did not pressure Aoun to meet or speak with Netanyahu and was understanding when Aoun explained his reasons for declining. According to the official, Aoun told Trump that if he went to Washington and shook hands with Netanyahu and the talks later fell apart, it could have internal repercussions in Lebanon and discredit Trump.

Aoun told Trump that if the two countries are able to reach a security deal, he would come to the White House and “inaugurate” it and Trump responded by saying “I like that,” the official said.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday preserved women’s access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion, rejecting lower-court restrictions while a lawsuit continues.

The court’s order allows women seeking abortions to continue obtaining the drug, mifepristone, at pharmacies or through the mail, without an in-person visit to a doctor. Access is likely to remain uninterrupted at least until into next year as the case plays out, including a potential appeal to the high court.

The justices granted emergency requests from makers of mifepristone, who are appealing a federal appeals court ruling that would require women to see a doctor in person and halt delivery of mifepristone through the mail.

The federal Food and Drug Administration, which first approved mifepristone for use in abortion in 2000, stopped requiring in-person visits five years ago.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented, with Thomas writing that the two companies, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, are not entitled to the court’s action to spare them “lost profits from their criminal enterprise.”

Anti-abortion groups, frustrated with President Donald Trump’s administration, are pushing the FDA to move faster with a review that they hope will result in restrictions on mifepristone, including blocking its prescribing via telehealth platforms.

The Republican administration says the work takes time.

Earlier this week, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary resigned after months of criticism from Trump’s political allies, including abortion opponents.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and similarly aligned

years after its conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed more than a dozen states to effectively ban abortion outright.

The case before the court stems from a lawsuit Louisiana filed to roll back the Food and Drug Administration’s rules on how mifepristone can be prescribed. The state claims that the policy undermines the ban there, and it questions the safety of the drug, which has repeatedly been deemed safe and effective by FDA scientists.

Alito, who wrote the opinion overturning Roe, agreed that the state’s efforts have been thwarted by medical providers and private organizations that mail the pills to women in Louisiana, despite the abortion ban. Danco and GenBioPro “are obviously aware of what is going on yet nevertheless supply the drug and reap profits from its felonious use in Louisiana,” he wrote.

Thomas said those who mail the pills are in violation of the Comstock Act, a 19th-century law that has long gone unenforced and bans mailing any “article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing which is advertised or described in a manner calculated to lead another to use or apply it for producing abortion.”

Lower courts concluded that Louisiana is likely to prevail, and a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that mail access and telehealth visits should be suspended while the case plays out.

The drug is most often used for abortion in combination with another drug, misoprostol. Medication abortions accounted for nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S. in 2023, the last year for which statistics are available.

Telehealth prescribers were prepared to switch to sending abortion patients a regimen that uses only misoprostol.

While Thursday’s ruling keeps the status quo in place for now, abortion-rights advocates warn that the case isn’t settled forever.

Waymo recalls thousands

of a crash or injury,” prior safety-related recalls.

Some cars failed to risk Last year, the company NHTSA said. avoid flooded roads The recall followed severe recalled more than 1,200

BY CAROLINE PETROWCOHEN Los Angeles Times (TNS)

Waymo is recalling 3,791 autonomous taxis after a software defect caused some vehicles to drive into flooded roadways, according to a recall report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association.

The voluntary recall filed April 30 affects Waymo vehicles operating on the company’s fifth and sixth generation Automated Driving System. The software “may allow the vehicle to slow and then drive into standing water on higher speed roadways,” a NHTSA report said.

“Entering a flooded roadway can cause a loss of vehicle control, increasing the

weather in San Antonio, during which a Waymo entered a flooded and impassable road, the company said.

In response, Waymo has increased weather-related constraints on its vehicles and says it is working on additional software safeguards.

“We have identified an area of improvement regarding untraversable flooded lanes specific to higher-speed roadways, and have made the decision to file a voluntary software recall with NHTSA related to this scenario,” a Waymo spokesperson said.

“Waymo provides over half a million trips every week in some of the most challenging driving environments across the U.S., and safety is our primary priority.”

Waymo operates in 10 major cities and has issued

autonomous vehicles after minor crashes involving obstacles in the road.

The Alphabet-owned company has also come under fire for safety incidents, including striking a child outside a school in Santa Monica earlier this year and fatally running over a neighborhood cat in San Francisco.

According to data collected by Waymo over 170 million fully autonomous miles driven, Waymo is 13 times safer than human drivers in crashes involving pedestrians.

The Mountain View-based company is currently ahead in the race to scale robotaxis across the country, with thousands of vehicles transporting paying customers in cities including Los Angeles, Miami and Phoenix.

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4A ● Friday, May 15, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Louisiana Senate passes new congressional map Boundaries eliminate one majority-Black district

2026 LEGISLATURE

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

The Louisiana Senate on Thursday approved a new voting map that would eliminate one of the state’s two majority-Black, Democratic-leaning congressional districts with only a few minor changes to a version approved by a legislative committee the day before.

The Senate voted 27-10, along party lines, to approve the new map, which is broadly similar to one lawmakers passed in 2022.

Senate Bill 121, sponsored

by Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, now heads to the House, which could further alter it.

The map approved by the full Senate removed Pointe Coupee Parish from District 5 and added it to District 6. It also split up St. Landry Parish between the 3rd, 5th and 6th Districts.

The amended map also changes Tangipahoa Parish: Instead of being split among three districts, the northern part of the parish would be in District 5 and the lower part would be in District 1.

District 2, the lone majority-Black district with a population center anchored in Orleans Parish, remains largely unchanged in the approved map. The seat is currently held by U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, a New Orleans Democrat.

AMENDMENT Continued from page 1A

which would cost about $200 million to renew. Senate President Cameron Henry says that’s not in the cards.

“If the public doesn’t vote to give them a pay raise, then that means they don’t want us to give them a pay raise,” he said. “The Legislature’s not going to turn around and do something that our constituents just voted not to do.”

Some political observers believe anger over Gov. Jeff Landry’s decision to halt this month’s U.S. House races so the state can redraw its congressional map to favor Republicans could make it difficult for the five constitutional amendments on the May 16 ballot to pass.

Democratic voters turned out in proportionally large numbers during the early voting period.

“If someone’s angry with the governor and they want to take it out on their teachers, that’s their prerogative,” Henry said. “(It) doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

In the four decades since the creation of the trust funds that would be liquidated under Amendment 3, they have contributed about

“I did draw it in a way that would help Rep. Carter maintain his incumbency,” Morris said Thursday. “It would help Republicans, in a way, by concentrating more Democratic-leaning voters in that district.”

Morris has said that, after the Supreme Court last month decided that redistricting plans can’t be made based on race, Louisiana is required to draw a new map.

“We cannot redistrict based upon race. We need to disregard race,” he said.

But Morris said lawmakers are instead permitted to use politics.

“As far as federal law is concerned, a state Legislature can use partisan advantage as a factor in redistricting,” he said. “It is perfectly fine for us to redraw maps based upon politics.”

As lawmakers debate the new map, Republicans are working to avoid any mention of race whatsoever so as not to run afoul of the Supreme Court ruling, which outlawed the use of race to draw voting maps.

“The goal is to stop being sued over redistricting,” said Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie. “Whatever version of a map that can get us there, that’s the one we want to use. And this version, we believe, gives us the greatest opportunity.”

Even the bill containing the proposed map doesn’t list any racial demographic data for voting districts, as is typical with redistricting bills.

Nonetheless, Democrats

$1.8 billion toward initiatives such as foreign language programs, preschool programs for at-risk children, vocational and technical programs, educator bonuses and updated curriculum materials.

Henry’s statements come days after state economists predicted Louisiana would bring in about $100 million less in tax revenue than previously expected during both the current and upcoming fiscal years. As a result, the Legislature will have to scale back its spending plans.

The revised revenue forecasts reduce how much money Louisiana is projected to have for the fiscal year that starts on July 1 by about $104 million. The estimate for the current fiscal year went down by about $113 million.

Top budget officials say they don’t expect to cut any existing programs, but that they will not be able to expand programs to the extent they had hoped.

“Everybody’ll get what they need, maybe not what they want,” Henry said.

The House already passed a package of budget bills, which is now in the hands of the Senate. The legislation includes House Bill 312 — known as a supplemental appropriations bill — which

have continued to protest the elimination of majorityBlack districts, arguing the Legislature is disenfranchising voters in a state that is roughly a third Black.

“You can’t bring a map like this, that’s going to reduce representation and think we’re just supposed to take it,” said Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans. “You think I’m supposed to be cool about it? You think I’m supposed to be calm about it? I don’t think so.”

Sen. Katrina Jackson-Andrews, D-Monroe, said, “For generations, many citizens of this state were excluded.

They were systematically

deprived of their right to vote.”

Minority voting power has been “constantly diluted,” she added.

Pressure is now on the House to approve the map before the legislative session ends on June 1.

Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, said he expects the House to pass a map that looks similar to the version approved by the Senate, but he said some members of the chamber don’t want parishes in their districts split up.

“I’m just hopeful that we can have good decorum throughout the debate and

the process,” DeVillier said.

State Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, who chairs the House committee that handles redistricting legislation, said he supports the general concept of the map approved in the Senate committee, though he noted he has yet to look at “the minutiae of what each district looks like.”

Beaullieu said he expects to hear SB121 sometime next week, though a date hasn’t been set. He said there will be ample time for public testimony.

Under the proposal, Loui-

siana would essentially return to the 2022 version of its congressional map, which had five safe Republican seats and one New Orleansanchored Democratic seat.

Carter won the majorityBlack, New Orleans-based seat that year, and he did so again in 2024 under a different map configuration.

The Legislature approved Wednesday and Gov. Jeff Landry on Thursday signed House Bill 842, rescheduling the U.S. House primary elections for Nov. 3, with a Dec. 12 runoff. Qualifying would take place from Aug. 5 to 7.

The elections will be held under Louisiana’s open “jungle” primary format, where voters can cast a ballot for candidates of any party.

Many voters have been outraged by Republican efforts to eliminate one of Louisiana’s Black-majority districts. They’ve packed town hall meetings in recent days held by Carter and U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, and have turned out in large numbers during early voting ahead of Saturday’s primary elections.

They’ve also railed against the GOP redistricting plan during two marathon public hearings, each lasting more than eight hours, saying Republicans are undermining decades of civil rights progress by reducing Black representation in Congress.

Republican lawmakers in Louisiana are responding to pressure from President Donald Trump to deliver at least one more Republican seat to buttress the GOP’s razor-thin majority in the U.S. House after midterm elections this fall.

in its current form would inject about $293 million more dollars into the current year’s budget, according to McFarland.

Legislators will have to cut that number by $113 million, said state Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, who authored HB312 and other key budget bills. As chair of the Appropriations Committee, McFarland plays a pivotal role each year in ushering the budget through the legislative process.

Meanwhile, officials will need to amend the bills outlining next year’s budget to cut about $104 million.

Those bills allocate more money to state prisons, raise judges’ salaries and increase how much money schools get per student for operational costs.

“Everything is in jeopardy with the reduction in revenue,” Henry said when asked whether the increases in judges’ salaries and school payment rates were at risk.

It is unclear exactly what will be affected, but one

item is almost certain to be on the chopping block: $43.5 million for LA GATOR, which would have doubled the size of the school voucher program.

LA GATOR gives families tax dollars to pay for

private schools. The House earmarked more money for it at Landry’s urging, but Henry has opposed expanding it.

The new tax revenue forecasts come the year after Louisiana flattened its cor-

porate and personal income tax rates as part of an effort to woo investors. Lawmakers raised sales taxes to make up the lost revenue.

Sales tax revenue is considered harder to predict than income tax revenue.

Webster Webster

Lincoln Lincoln

Caddo Caddo

Richland Richland

Ouachita Ouachita Bienville Bienville

DeSoto DeSoto

Red R ed River River

1

Franklin Franklin

Caldwell Caldwell

2

Tensas Tensas

3

Catahoula Catahoula

Natchitoches Natchitoches Grant Grant

Sabine Sabine

Vernon Vernon

Allen Allen

4

LaSalle LaSalle

5

Concordia Concordia

Rapides Rapides

Beauregard Beauregard

Madison Madison

Jackson Jackson Winn Winn

Proposed Louisiana congressional district map

Morehouse M orehouse West West East Carroll East Carroll Carroll Carroll

Union Union

Claiborne Claiborne

Bossier Bossier

W. Feliciana W. Feliciana E. Feliciana E. Feliciana

Avoyelles Avoyelles

Evangeline Evangeline

JJefferson efferson Davis Davis

Tangipahoa Tangipahoa

St. St. Helena H elena Pointe Pointe St. Landry St. Landr y C Coupee oupee

Washington Washington

EBR EBR St. Tammany St. Tammany

Livingston Livingston

WBR WBR

Calcasieu Calcasieu

6

Acadia A cadia St. John St. John Iber ville Iberville Lafayette St. Lafayette Ascension A scension St. Martin Martin

Cameron Cameron

Vermilion Vermilion

Iberia Iberia

St. S t. James James Assumption Assumption St. M St. Mary ar y

Orleans Orleans

Jefferson Jefferson

St. St. Charles C harles Lafourche Lafourche

St. Bernard St. Bernard Plaquemines Plaquemines

Terrebonne Terrebonne Staff S ff map Source: Louisiana Legislature

Fast-moving maneuvering

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ballot in November.

Continued from page 1A Fields said his recent decision to stand aside for Carter wasn’t a difficult decision.

“I fought against putting Baton Rouge and New Orleans in the same district all my life because the state has a sizable majority-minority population,” he said. “I just wanted the Legislature to know right out of the bat that that wasn’t something I would be interested in, no matter how favorable they would have made it toward me.”

Fields’ announcement cleared the way for the Republican-controlled Senate — over the vociferous objections of Democrats — to approve a map Thursday on a 27-10 vote that creates five safe Republican seats and one safe New Orleansanchored seat for Carter.

That map, contained in Senate Bill 121, turns Fields’ 6th Congressional District — which stretches like a seat belt from Baton Rouge to Shreveport, picking up Black precincts along the way — to a White-majority district centered around Baton Rouge.

SB121 now moves to the House, where passage in that Republican-controlled chamber seems assured. The new House maps would be on the

EVICTED

Continued from page 1A operator of the business, was present for the hearing and did not contest the figures. Fields argued that the property managers were negligent in maintaining the building, pointing out the faulty HVAC system and persistent roof leaks that led the city to investigate the business.

An inspection conducted last week by New Iberia revealed several major violations on the property, includ-

A changing Congress People close to Fields said he hasn’t enjoyed his return to the House, beginning in 2025, nearly 30 years after he served there from 1993-97.

Fields, though, said he enjoys the work, especially visiting with constituents at town halls and cutting through the bureaucracy to get those owed veterans benefits or Social Security checks.

But the partisanship these days is a marked change, he said.

“It all starts with the president, the leader of the country,” Fields said. “He has been so divisive.”

During his 26 years in elected office, Fields has earned a reputation for being able to work with Republicans.

But now, he added, Cabinet “secretaries for the most part don’t respond to members of Congress unless they’re of the same party. It’s a different feel from how it used to be 30 years ago.”

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, speaks on May 8 during a Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee meeting at the State Capitol in Baton Rouge.

When the Legislature began to work on drawing new maps two weeks ago, state Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen, who chairs the Senate committee that would first take up redistricting, said he favored a Baton Rougeoriented map. That would favor Fields.

But Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, whose district includes Uptown New Orleans, was known to favor a New Orleans-oriented map. That would favor Carter.

A legislative fight appeared to be brewing, with political insiders saying Fields’ close working relationship with Landry could tip the balance in his favor.

“It was difficult to see who we would pick and choose,” Kleinpeter said Thursday.

But Fields simplified the decision by saying he would not run in the same district as Carter.

“That would be a bad move for this Legislature to put

both Baton Rouge and New Orleans, two incumbents, in the same district,” he told reporters. “I can’t be clearer.

Do it for somebody else.”

Fields has emphasized that he will keep fighting the map that Republicans have drawn, saying that Democrats deserve two winnable districts in the state.

Protecting Carter’s district has meant that legislators could draw a new map similar to what they approved in 2022, which was in place for two years. That map also protected five Republican seats, including those of House Speaker Mike Johnson, who represents northwest Louisiana, and Majority Leader

ing excessively high temperatures in the embalming room due to a broken HVAC unit and an unidentifiable substance on several gurneys likely caused by a roof leak.

City inspector Matthew Gulotta said the failure of the HVAC unit posed a safety risk, saying, “When you work with formaldehyde in a building without proper ventilation, that’s a textbook violation.” Formaldehyde is commonly used in embalming and can cause skin burns and is linked to some forms of cancer.

Parfait testified that the

lease agreement Fields signed made him responsible for all building repairs and maintenance. Judge Theodore M. Haik III said responsibility for repairs was not relevant to the eviction ruling and granted the eviction based on unpaid rent.

Gulotta said the business appears to have already vacated the building.

Fields previously faced a lawsuit from the Iberia Parish School Board over unpaid taxes.

Public records show that Fields last appeared in court relating to that case in May

2025; however, court records reviewed Thursday did not show a final judgment.

The Louisiana Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors said it is in the early stages of an investigation into the business, according to The Daily Iberian.

Fields Funeral Home’s occupational license was issued by the New Iberia License & Tax Department; it lapsed on Dec. 31 of last year and was never renewed. This license is separate from state licensure issued by the Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors.

Political maneuvering

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Steve Scalise, who represents suburban New Orleans.

Under SB121, Carter’s new district would extend farther up the Mississippi River, into East Baton Rouge and Iberville parishes.

A long career Fields’ decision to stand down after what will be a final two years in the House appears to end a political career that began nearly 40 years ago and has had numerous ups and downs.

Fields first won election to the state Senate in 1987 as a 24-year-old, third-year law student at Southern University.

He was elected to the U.S.

House in 1992, ran for governor in 1995 but lost to Mike Foster in the runoff, and lost his congressional district after courts ruled in 1996 that his district was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

But voters in his north Baton Rouge-based district elected him to a second set of terms in the state Senate in 1997. He served 12 years, sat out eight years, and won a third set of terms to the Senate in 2019.

In 2024, thanks to a close working relationship with the Republican leadership, he chaired the Senate committee that oversaw the redrawing of a new congressional map that gave him the Baton Rouge-to-Shreveport district that he won that fall.

That’s the district that the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated as an illegal racial gerrymander.

Speculation on Fields’ next career move inevitably involves Southern. He has undergraduate and law degrees from the university, and his close friend Tony Clayton, the district attorney of West Baton Rouge, Pointe Coupee and Iberville parishes, chairs Southern’s board.

“I don’t know,” Fields said Thursday when asked about what he’ll do after his term ends in January. “We’ll see what ultimately happens with the redistricting process in Louisiana. Then I’ll make my decision after that.”

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

Fields Funeral Home in New Iberia is facing allegations of unsafe conditions and was formally evicted Thursday after falling more than $200,000 behind on rent.

6A ● Friday, May 15, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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BUSINESS T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M/news/business

DOW 50,063.46 370.26 0.74%

NASDAQ 26,635.22 232.88 0.88%

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Long-term mortgage rate eases to 6.36%

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate edged lower after rising the previous two weeks.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate fell to 6.36% from 6.37% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the rate averaged 6.81%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also eased this week. That average rate fell to 5.71% from 5.72% last week. A year ago, it was at 5.92%, Freddie Mac said.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation.

As recently as late February, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage had slipped just under 6% for the first time since late 2022. It’s hasn’t fallen below that threshold since.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes were essentially flat last month after declining from a year earlier in the first three months of the year, extending a nationwide housing slump that dates back to 2022 when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows.

Despite lackluster sales, there are signs that some home shoppers are adapting to where mortgage rates are now.

Cisco leads Wall Street to more records NEW YORK — The U.S. stock market rose to more records Thursday after Cisco Systems joined the parade of U.S. companies reporting fatter profits for the start of 2026 than analysts expected.

Cisco helped lead the market after reporting better profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The tech giant’s stock leaped 13.4% for its best day in nearly 15 years, and CEO Chuck Robbins said it saw “very strong, broad-based demand for our products.”

Big Tech behemoths in particular are pouring cash into artificial-intelligence technology, and Cisco gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that easily topped analysts’ expectations.

Such voracious demand for AI, and the big profits it’s producing, have been major reasons the U.S. stock market has set records throughout this year. Cerebras Systems, an AI processor company, raised $5.55 billion after selling its stock in an initial public offering, and its shares surged 68.1% in their debut on the Nasdaq on Thursday.

Honda records first loss on EV strategy TOKYO — Honda racked up a $2.7 billion loss Thursday, the first-ever full year loss for the Japanese automaker, acknowledging heavy costs for its electric-vehicle plans, stemming from President Donald Trump’s pro-U.S. policies.

The Japanese automaker said losses related to its EV operations are estimated to total $16 billion, incurred mostly in the fiscal year just ended and the current fiscal year.

Analysts say Honda Motor Co. might have been too ambitious too fast, when many markets weren’t ready. As a result, Honda abandoned many of its plans for EV models, including those in the works in a joint venture with Sony Corp.

“EV demand has declined considerably, due to the rollback of environmental regulations in the U.S. and other factors,” Honda said in a statement.

The Trump administration has pulled back on incentive programs for EVs and withheld money to states wanting to add more EV charging stations, even as gas prices have soared over the war in Iran.

Trump also blocked California’s stringent electric vehicle mandates last year, backpedaling on the shift to environmental models.

S&P 500 7,501.24 56.99 0.77%

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Allegiant closes Sun Country deal

fleets and, within three years, customers of both airlines will see giant CEO Gregory Anderson said $1.5B merger calls for and expect to save $140 million annu- new benefits through their respec- in a release.

“With a combined fleet of 195 through the merger, the com- tive loyalty programs, according to airlines to remain ally aircraft serving nearly 175 cities, Allegiant. bined airlines said.

Allegiant Allways Rewards and we are expanding access to afCustomers can continue to book separate for now travel through existing channels, Sun Country Rewards will remain fordable, reliable and convenient

BY RICHARD N. VELOTTA

Las Vegas Review-Journal (TNS) Allegiant Travel Co. on Wednesday completed the $1.5 billion merger with Sun Country Airlines Holdings Inc., potentially creating a leisure airline superpower that will be based in Las Vegas.

Over the next several months, Allegiant and Sun Country will integrate their systems, employees

and there are no changes to current reservations, flight schedules or travel plans. Both airlines will continue to operate as separate carriers in the near term, maintaining their respective brands.

Customers should continue to manage reservations, check in and access customer service through the airline with which they booked travel.

Eventually, that will change, and

separate in the near term, and members’ points, benefits and account status will retain their current value. Over time, Allegiant expects to introduce additional benefits that make it easier for customers to access the combined network.

“Today marks a defining moment in Allegiant’s history as we officially join forces with Sun Country to create the leading leisure-focused airline in the United States,” Alle-

travel for the communities that have long been the foundation of our business, while offering customers broader reach and more destinations. By bringing together two strong airlines with similar business models, we are creating a more differentiated and durable airline — one well positioned to deliver lasting value for our customers, team members and shareholders.”

Turbines are in place at Sunrise Wind offshore wind farm, under construction off the coast of Montauk Point, N.y., in April.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOSHUA A. BICKE

Trump has hindered offshore wind as C China, others invest

BY JENNIFER MCDERMOTT

building offshore wind farms are the Netherlands, Taiwan, Denmark, Belgium, France, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, Sweden, United President Donald Trump is stopping off- States, Norway, Finland, Italy, Portugal, Ireshore wind projects in the United States, just land and Spain, according to the Global Wind as the industry was poised to grow signifi- Energy Council. cantly.

Offshore wind energy has the potential to Increasing gigawatts deliver large amounts of clean energy along China added 6.6 gigawatts of new offshore U.S. coastlines. Three offshore wind farms wind capacity in 2025, according to GWEC. are open in the United States and three more China’s total offshore wind capacity stood at have begun delivering power as they finish 48.4 gigawatts by the end of 2025, the group construction or final testing before fully open- said.

Globally, countries added enough offshore ing.

There are more than 40 federal offshore wind energy to power 10.2 million homes wind leases. The Trump administration is in 2025 alone. The total was nearly 9.3 gigabuying some leases back, giving payouts to watts, an increase of 16% over the previous energy companies to walk away from off- year, GWEC said. The amount of offshore shore wind. Trump has erected other road- wind currently installed globally can produce blocks for the industry, while going all-in on enough energy to power the equivalent of 102 million homes, according to GWEC’s calculafossil fuels.

His stance runs counter to many other tions. countries that are embracing using wind turbines at sea to help meet a growing demand China leading capacity for electricity cleanly. China, where Trump China is expected to account for about 56% is attending a summit this week, is the global of the offshore wind capacity forecast to be leader in offshore wind. Unlike burning oil, added worldwide from 2026 to 2030, accordcoal and natural gas, wind turbines produce ing to GWEC. About 29% is expected to come electricity without warming the planet. from the European Union over that period and 5% from the U.S., the group said.

Associated Press

Powered by wind

There are 19 countries and markets powered with offshore wind energy: China is the global leader, followed by the U.K. and Germany, in terms of the number and the capacity of the wind farms installed. Other places

Wind pilot project, the first in federal waters; and South Fork Wind, the first large U.S. offshore wind farm sending power to New York.

The other three are: Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts; Revolution Wind in Rhode Island; and the full-scale Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, adjacent to the pilot turbines off Virginia Beach. Vineyard Wind, the furthest along of these three, is expected to reach full operations in the coming months.

Construction halt The Trump administration ordered that construction stop on all five East Coast offshore wind projects that were under construction in December, citing national security concerns. Along with impacting Vineyard Wind, Revolution Wind and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, the order paused work on two major offshore wind projects for New York, Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind.

Developers and states sued. Federal judges allowed all five to resume construction, essentially concluding that the government didn’t show that the national security risk was so imminent that construction must halt.

Powering the U.K.

Hornsea 2, the world’s largest operating offshore wind farm, has 165 turbines. Located in the North Sea 55 miles from England’s YorkOffshore U.S. shire coast and next to its sister project HornThe three open offshore wind farms in the sea 1, it generates enough energy to power U.S. are: the nation’s first, the Block Island over 1.4 million U.K. homes and covers an Wind Farm, in state waters off Rhode Island; area of 178 square miles. Another U.K. projDominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore ect under construction will surpass that.

U.S. filings for jobless benefits hits 211,000 as war drags on

BY MATT OTT

AP business writer WASHINGTON — The number of Americans filing for jobless aid rose last week but remains historically low despite the economic uncertainty caused by the war in Iran.

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits for the the week ending May 9 rose by 12,000 to 211,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s slightly more than the 207,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet had forecast.

Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for

U.S. layoffs and are close to a realtime indicator of the health of the job market.

Despite relatively few layoffs, the labor market appears to be stuck in what economists call a “low-hire, low-fire” state. That has kept the unemployment rate low at 4.3%, but left many of those out of work struggling to find new employment.

Though U.S. employers delivered a surprising 115,000 new jobs in April, the Iran war has injected a large degree of uncertainty about the broader U.S. economy and labor market.

The Strait of Hormuz, where

one-fifth of the world’s oil travels through, remains closed. Since the beginning of the war in late February, oil prices have spiked more than 50% and the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. has climbed to $4.53 from less than $3.

Besides hitting consumers’ pocketbooks, those higher costs can discourage businesses from hiring.

Data from the U.S. government this week revealed that inflation at the consumer level rose 3.8% from April 2025, the biggest jump in three years. Food prices are also up, but may not yet fully reflect rising energy costs due to the Iran war, analysts say.

Another report this week showed that wholesale prices shot up 6% from a year ago, the highest point in more than three years. The Labor Department’s producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — shot up 1.4% from March to April, the biggest monthly gain in more than four years.

This comes at a time when U.S. inflation is already above the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. Two weeks ago, the Fed opted to leave its benchmark rate alone, citing economic uncertainty caused by instability in the Middle East and still-elevated inflation.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Friday, May 15, 2026 ● 7A

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CHINA

Russian and Chinese equipment.”

Taiwan remains contentious

Continued from page 1A

Hopes for trade wins

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARK SCHIEFELBEIN

President Donald Trump participates in a welcome ceremony with China’s President Xi Jinping on Thursday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. that it would be “a terrible mistake” for China to take Taiwan by force.

“They always raise it on their side. We always make clear our position, and we move on to the other topics,” Rubio, who is traveling with the president, said in an interview with NBC News.

Importance of relations After their meeting, Xi took Trump on a tour of the Temple of Heaven, then hosted a state banquet for him. The Chinese leader used his evening toast to note that he and Trump had kept U.S.-China relations “generally stable” in a turbulent world.

“Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand,” Xi said, referring to Trump’s political movement.

“We can help each other succeed and advance the well-being of the whole world.”

In his toast, Trump said his visit had been “a great honor” punctu-

The White House has insisted that Trump would not be making the trip without an eye toward securing concrete results, suggesting there could be coming announcements on trade.

That likely includes a Chinese commitment to buy U.S. soybeans, beef and aircraft. Trump told Fox News that Xi had indicated a commitment to buying 200 jets from Boeing.

Trump administration officials also want to work toward establishing a board of trade with China to address commercial differences between the countries.

Trump and Xi discussed trade on Thursday, with Xi saying that China’s door of opportunity will open wider. Xi also met with a collection of U.S. business leaders who accompanied Trump.

The U.S. and China reached a trade truce last year that calmed each side’s threats to impose steep tariffs on the other. The White House says there have been ongoing discussions and mutual interest in extending the agreement.

The leaders also discussed further stemming the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals into the United States and increasing Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products, according to the White House.

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cans hope to maintain control of Congress — approach.

China is the largest purchaser of Iranian oil, and Rubio said in an interview with Fox News that Trump would make the case for Beijing to exert its influence on Iran, noting that administration officials would underscore that “economies are melting down because of this crisis,” which means consumers are “buying less Chinese product.”

It’s not clear if Trump persuaded Xi to wield his influence. The White House instead said Xi opposed any implementation of tolls on vessels crossing the strait — as Iran has proposed — and expressed interest in China potentially purchasing more U.S. oil to reduce Chinese dependence on Gulf oil in the future.

When asked Thursday at a congressional hearing whether China is providing intelligence to Iran to help it target U.S. forces, Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, would not discuss intelligence but said the Iranian military “is largely made up of

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ated by a “fantastic” day. He said matters “all good for the United States and China” were discussed.

Trump also said Xi would make a reciprocal visit to the White House on Sept. 24 — a date not previously announced.

The positive tone was reflected in the White House assessment of the earlier meetings, which said both leaders had touched on ways to enhance economic cooperation, including expanding market access for American businesses in China and increasing Chinese investment into U.S. industries.

The White House readout did not mention Taiwan directly, but, in relation to Iran, said both sides had agreed that the strait must remain open. The strait’s closure has stranded tankers and caused energy prices to spike, threatening global economic growth.

The war is dominating Trump’s domestic agenda and stoking fears about the prospect of a weakening U.S. economy as November’s midterm elections — when Republi-

SCAN

It also suggested that Trump’s three-day visit to China is likely to be longer on pageantry and symbolism than substantive political or economic breakthroughs.

The pair met for about two hours behind closed doors at the Great Hall of the People after an elaborate welcome ceremony featuring booming cannons, a band playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and China’s national anthem, and hundreds of schoolchildren jumping and waving flowers and American and Chinese flags.

According to a post on X by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, Xi told Trump that “the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations.”

“If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy,” she wrote.

That comment followed a brief public exchange before the meeting began in which Trump told Xi: “You’re a great leader. Sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway, because it’s true.”

“It’s an honor to be your friend,” Trump said before promising that the U.S.-China relationship “is going to be better than ever before.”

Trump later told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in an interview that Xi said during their conversations that he “would like to be of help” in negotiating an end to the Iran war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz to oil shipments.

Xi was far more stark in his opening public remarks, expressing hope that the U.S. and China could avoid conflict and asking “whether the two countries can transcend the ‘Thucydides Trap’ and forge a new model for relations between major powers.”

That’s a term, popular in foreign policy studies, referring to the idea that when a rising power threatens to displace an established one, the result is often war. Xi has used the term for years, but using it as Trump offered optimism was noteworthy and foreshadowed his closed-door comments on Taiwan.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio later said U.S. policy toward Taiwan was “unchanged” but warned

Xi’s warning about Taiwan reflects China’s displeasure with a U.S. plan to sell weapons to the island. The Trump administration has approved an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan, but has yet to begin fulfilling it.

The U.S. has a long-standing commitment to help the island defend itself if attacked, but Trump has shown greater ambivalence toward Taiwan, fueling speculation about whether the president could be persuaded to dial back American support.

Taiwan said after the Xi-Trump meeting that it was grateful for Washington’s “long-term support.”

“The government views all actions that contribute to regional stability and the management of potential risks from authoritarian expansion positively,” Michelle Lee, a spokesperson for Taiwan’s premier, told reporters. She added that the U.S. “has also repeatedly reiterated its firm and clear position of support for Taiwan.”

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1BN

Lafayette cigar bar seeks permit for alcohol Neighbor opposes Ash 2 Ash Cigar Lounge’s plan

BY ADAM DAIGLE

Acadiana business editor

STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK

A graduate waves while walking in the procession during the South Louisiana Community College Spring Commencement at the Cajundome in Lafayette on Thursday.

GRAD TIDINGS

One of the applicants behind a failed attempt to open a daiquiri bar downtown is seeking a permit to sell alcohol at another business downtown that is drawing opposition from a neighbor.

Marlon Haynes is among the applicants seeking a conditional use permit to operate as Ash 2 Ash Cigar Lounge, 403-B S. Buchanan St., as a bar or lounge. The matter goes before the Lafayette City Zoning Commission during its 5:30 p.m. Monday meeting.

Haynes, who was part of the group with the Downtown Daiquiri Bar that got voted down by the City Council in March, has opened the business but wants to sell alcohol. It is located at the bottom floor of the Buchanan Lofts building, which has residential units on the second floor.

ä See CIGAR BAR, page 4B

A graduate looks out to the audience during the commencement on Thursday.

LAFAYETTE PARISH

Teachers to get extra paycheck in May Staff report

Graduate Gabrielle Charles blows a kiss to someone in the audience as she walks across the stage.

Graduate DeAngela LeDoux waves to the audience as she walks in the procession during the the SoLAcc spring commencement.

A student wears a decorated graduation cap on Thursday.

Classroom teachers in the Lafayette Parish school system who are eligible will be receiving an extra paycheck this month.

The 13th check is a payment of $648.87 provided through the school system’s 2002 half-cent sales tax that funds teacher salaries and benefits.

Section 3 of the administrative plan requires the school system to distribute to eligible employees some of the interest earned on the sales tax reserve fund.

The extra payment is on the School Board’s agenda for its regular meeting on Thursday evening.

More than $1.46 million will be distributed among 2,253 eligible teachers.

The 2026 payment is the largest individual 13th check to be distributed since the program started in 2006, Tracy Wirtz, the school system’s communications director, said in a news release.

Recent payments include: n 2021: $135.50 per teacher n 2022: $20.69 per teacher n 2023: $19.49 per teacher n 2024: $364.76 per teacher n 2025: $598.44 per teacher n 2026: $648.87 per teacher.

High school graduation Louisiana State Police lieutenant dates, times announced accused of abuse cover-up suspended

Staff report

The Lafayette Parish school system has released dates for when its high schools will hold graduation ceremonies.

Each ceremony will be hosted at the Cajundome Convention Center. n Ovey Comeaux High School: Tuesday, May 19, 3 p.m. n Lafayette High School: Tuesday, May 19, 6 p.m. n Northside High School: Wednesday, May 20, 3 p.m. n Southside High School: Wednesday, May 20, 6 p.m. n Carencro High School: Thursday, May 21, 1 p.m. n David Thibodeaux STEM Magnet Academy: Thursday, May 21,

3:30 p.m. n Acadiana High School: Thursday, May 21, 6 p.m.

Several private and charter schools across Lafayette Parish have already held commencement ceremonies.

St. Thomas More Catholic School held its graduation on Tuesday and both Lafayette Renaissance Charter Academy and Acadiana Renaissance Charter Academy held ceremonies on Monday.

The remaining private school graduations are: n Teurlings Catholic High: Tuesday, May 19, 6 p.m. (Main Campus: 139 Teurlings Drive) n Episcopal School of Acadiana: Saturday, May 30, 9 a.m. (Cade Campus: 1557 Smede Road, Broussard).

Jefferson allowed to collect leave pay

BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER Staff writer

A Louisiana State Police lieutenant on Thursday was suspended without regular pay while he faces charges that he choked his wife and, on another occasion, tried to obstruct an investigation into whether he purposely hit her with his car.

At a State Police Commission meeting, commissioners ruled unanimously to suspend Lt. James Jefferson III, 41, but also allowed him to collect his ac-

crued leave pay as his criminal fied,” Craft said. “And he is, in case continues in a Baton Rouge the eyes of the law, actually an innocent man.” court.

Craft argued that JefOn March 31, Louisiferson is the victim of ana Attorney General’s an abusive wife, not the Office investigators isother way around, and sued an arrest warrant tried to submit video for Jefferson on chargrecordings at Thurses of domestic violence, falsifying public records day’s hearing to prove and obstruction of jusit. The commission did not allow the videos to tice. He was arrested the Jefferson be shown. same day.

“In the recordings, she slams Jefferson’s attorney, Jill Craft, told the commissioners on him over the head, and he’s Thursday that “he is a victim” bleeding,” she told commissionof continued domestic abuse, ers. “She screams at him, and calling the ordeal a “tragic situ- she says, ‘I will destroy you and ation.” ä See SUSPENDED, page 4B “He has been completely vili-

2B ● Friday, May 15, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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OPINION T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M/opinions

Congress can stop this gerrymandering madness In our democracy, voters choose politicians, not the other way around. But in the wake of the U.S. Charles Supreme Court’s Boustany undermining of GUEST the Voting Rights COLUMNIST Act in Louisiana v. Callais, a new round of gerrymandering wars has been reignited and created a mad scramble in Baton Rouge to carve up and eliminate at least one — if not both — of our state’s two Black-majority congressional districts. Louisiana is now moving forward with new voting maps in the middle of a primary election, creating chaos and confusion.

One-third of Louisianians are Black, and the two seats targeted by this gerrymandering push represent one-third of our congressional delegation. This latest round of aggressive gerrymandering could result in six Republican House seats and no seats for Democrats, while also eliminating the state’s only two Black-majority districts.

On April 30, Gov. Jeff Landry suspended the state’s U.S. House primary election while the state draws up new voting maps, but Louisiana’s other primary races will continue on schedule. Before his decision to delay the House

primaries, 42,000 absentee ballots had already been cast.

As former members of Congress from different poMary parties, we Landrieu litical urge Gov. Landry GUEST and the state LegCOLUMNIST islature to halt this gerrymandering push. This attempt to draw new voting maps would turn back the clock to a cruel chapter of our state’s history. And, it’s causing mass confusion about this year’s primary elections.

In the longer term, the Callais decision removes the last major federal protection against racially motivated redistricting. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act was never a partisan instrument; it was a mechanism to ensure race did not become a barrier to equal political participation. By effectively gutting that protection, the Court has cleared the way for aggressive gerrymanders that strip minority voters of influence with far fewer legal consequences.

Letting political parties draw their own districts is like letting teams serve as their own referees and gives political parties an unfair ability to tilt the field to their advantage. The stakes extend well beyond Louisiana. States nationwide now have a path to

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Protester Amanda Martello, facing the camera, chants ‘Shut it down’ along with dozens of other protesters who oppose redistricting outside of the Senate & Governmental Affairs Committee room during a meeting at the State Capitol on May 8. redraw districts that suppress minority representation and entrench power without any legal repercussions. The immediate ripple effect will be felt in 2026 and beyond: fewer competitive districts, fewer representatives who reflect diverse constituencies, and a Congress less responsive to its constituents.

Louisiana lawmakers should change course. The state Legislature should pause any rushed

Graduates, Louisiana has a place just for you

Graduation season is one of the most starting your own business, there is a meaningful times of the year. place for you in Louisiana’s economy.

It’s a moment filled with pride Our industries are expanding — from — families celebrating long nights energy and logistics to technology, of studying, teachers cheering on health care and professional services their students and gradu— creating demand for talent at every level. ates standing on the verge This moment also matters for of something new. It’s also families. a moment filled with one of To parents and grandparents: the scariest questions: What Your support has made this comes next?

Susan B. achievement possible. You have For too long, many of those Bourgeois invested in your children’s fuconversations have included GUEST a familiar assumption — that tures with the hope they would COLUMNIST have every opportunity to sucprofessional success requires leaving Louisiana. ceed. Today, that opportunity It’s an idea that has shaped can be found right here at home. decisions for generations. Parents For too long we have believed that have believed it. Students have choosing to stay in Louisiana meant planned for it. And too often, our state your child was settling. The fact is, it’s has watched talented young people the opposite. build their futures somewhere else.

It means building a career while But graduates, let me tell you some- staying close to the people and comthing: That narrative is changing, and munities that shaped them. It means it’s changing quickly. contributing to a state that is creating Today, Louisiana is experiencing new possibilities. It means being part real, measurable momentum. In of the generation helping write Louiless than two and a half years, we siana’s next chapter, which can be its have seen nearly $100 billion in new best chapter. investment across our state. These I know the decision is not always investments are from newly arriving simple. I’ve seen it with my own kids. global companies like Meta, Hyundai Leaving can feel like the only viable and Woodside Energy as well as longchoice, but Louisiana’s reality today is standing employers like MMR Group, different from it was even a few years Turner Industries and Textron Sysago.

This is Louisiana’s moment, and it is tems that have been creating opportuthe result of strong leadership, comnities in Louisiana for generations.

New direct jobs tied to these invest- mitted partners and a shared focus on ments have an average salary of near- delivering results. Businesses, educaly $87,000 — more than 40% higher tors, workforce leaders and communithan the statewide average. ties are working together to ensure These are not just headlines. They opportunity is not just created but acare long-term careers and pathways cessible to everyone. to prosperity.

Graduates, that brings us back to Under Gov. Jeff Landry’s leaderyou.

As you decide what comes next, take ship, Louisiana has made a clear decia fresh look at Louisiana. Look at the sion to compete and to win. We have improved, modernized and crafted an companies investing here. Look at the careers being unlocked. Look at the environment where companies want momentum building across our state. to be for the long haul. That progress The opportunity you are looking for is opening doors and delivering opportunities for you, the next generation of is not necessarily somewhere else.

It is already here in Louisiana. our workforce. And those opportunities are not limited to one path.

Whether you are earning a fourSusan B. Bourgeois is the year degree, completing technical secretary of Louisiana Economic training, entering the workforce or Development.

redraw until after the 2026 midterms and let current elections proceed under stable rules. This would give voters, election officials and candidates certainty.

The burden of defending democracy cannot fall solely on state capitols.

The Callais ruling makes clear that courts alone will not safeguard equal representation.

With Section 2 weakened and a nationwide gerrymandering war

continuing, the onus shifts to Congress. Lawmakers must act swiftly to restore and strengthen federal protections against racial dilution in redistricting. Congress should pass a bill with three simple reforms: n Ban mid-decade redistricting unless there is court order stating otherwise n Mandate independent or bipartisan redistricting commissions in all 50 states n Require commonsense national criteria for redistricting Congress has a clear choice: remain on the sidelines while voters are silenced or put voters back in charge through national reforms that end gerrymandering.

Now is the time for renewed energy — at the ballot box, in state legislatures and in Congress — to put the country first and to ensure that voters, not partisan operatives, pick the people who represent them. We owe that to every American and to the millions whose voices are in danger of being silenced.

Charles Boustany represented Louisiana as a Republican in the U.S. House from 2005 to 2017.

Mary Landrieu represented Louisiana as a Democrat in the United States Senate from 1997 to 2015. Both are members of Issue One’s ReFormers Caucus.

New Orleans’ future relies on adaptation, not abandonment We are not climate deniers in New Orleans. happens when you tell people to abandon their We are fully aware that when Bienville chose generational home (for a hint, search “Katrina this site over 300 years ago, it was the leastGreen Dot Plan”). bad option for an environmentally challenged Further, forced or even planned relocation but economically and strategically essential has a terrible history. From the Trail of Tears city. And since that time, we have defended in the 1800s to the recent relocation of the resiour unique position, most recently with the dents of Isle de Jean Charles (at a cost of al$15 billion Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk most $2 million per family), experience shows Reduction System (HSDRRS), which kept us that displacement always hurts the most vulbone-dry through Category 4 Hurricane Ida. nerable, who lose everything from their liveliThat is why it was frustrating to read about hood to their sense of identity. The authors’ a new Nature Sustainability paper by Torbsuggestion that New Orleans can achieve a “first mover advantage” by accelerating jörn Törnqvist et al., “Climate-driven depopulation makes about as much sense depopulation and adaptation realities as trying to get first to the firing line. in America’s coastal ground zero.”

Here is the question the study’s auDespite clear limitations, the study is presented as scientific proof that New thors never answer: Why New Orleans?

Orleans is lost, and that we should Miami sits on porous limestone that Michael cannot be walled off from rising seas. abandon the city.

Hecht Most vexing is that the paper’s preNew York’s financial district faces catamature prophecy of doom can be selfstrophic flood exposure. Do they suggest GUEST fulfilling. The authors warn against COLUMNIST these cities should be deserted? “market-driven disorderly movement Much better than abandonment is the of people,” but publicly declare New approach currently underway, adaptaOrleans “terminal.” When investors, insurers tion — where New Orleans does indeed have and young families read this, they will act aca first mover advantage, and is in fact a global leader. We have many successful examples of cordingly. The study is now part of the very adaptive infrastructure in Louisiana, including feedback loop it laments.

HSDRRS, the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Christopher Ard of The Lens summarizes Hurricane Protection Project and the Lake it well: “A modern-day redlining of an entire Borgne Marsh Creation Project. city.”

We are also working on adaptive policy. GNO, The study’s methodology has major gaps. Its Inc. is leading a national coalition to champion central scenario — 10 to 23 feet of sea-level rise pushing the shoreline 60 miles inland — is a new form of “all-perils” insurance that would incentivize risk reduction and provide affordextrapolated from conditions 125,000 years ago. And the paper provides no timeline for able protection from flood, tornado, fire and future flooding – it “cannot yet be provided.” more, for homeowners across the nation.

Most glaringly, there is zero consideration of Finally, there is robust research underway, the people of this great city and nation adaptincluding the $25 million Lower Mississippi ing: Apparently, we will just sit here like a cow River Comprehensive Management Study and the $22 million Mississippi River Delta Transiin a rising puddle.

The authors’ case studies are unconvincing. tion Initiative. These represent empirical sciSaying that the population of New Orleans ence that will help inform practical decisions. should migrate, as Native Americans did To be clear: None of this adaptation will haparound 1000 AD, seems to gloss over some pen easily. It is expensive and requires politiimportant differences. So does their more cal will. But what is also clear is that the Delta contemporary example of a mere 6,000 people has built land for 7,000 years, and restoration being moved out of a village in Sweden. in tandem with acclimatization is achievable.

Academic ideas notwithstanding, abandonThe authors of this study call place-attachment is simply not realistic. New Orleans ment a “trap.” We call it love, and that is why handles over 90% of America’s grain exports. we are going to continue to advocate for the Over 60% of America’s natural gas – now supambition and investment that New Orleans deserves. porting Europe — is exported from southern Louisiana. On an economic basis alone, New Orleans is essential. And that is before one gets Michael Hecht is president and CEO of to the social and political questions of what Greater New Orleans, Inc.

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COMMENTARY 2026 LEGISLATIVE RUNDOWN

As bills move in the Louisiana Legislature, we are featuring the issues that matter most to you

ISSUES IN THE SPOTLIGHT

WHAT yOU’RE TALKING ABOUT

Injustice for domestic abuse victims is a problem in La., but fixes available

HB211

Louisiana has long been one of the most dangerous places in America to be a woman. Domestic violence here is not just common — but far too often lethal; and the systems meant to protect victims routinely fail them.

Here is the part we don’t talk about: Some of these women survive.

Becki They survive by fighting Truscott back, by refusing to die, Kondkar by doing what is necesGUEST sary to live. And for that, COLUMNIST many end up in prison.

We have represented survivors of domestic violence for 26 years and 16 years, respectively. We have stood beside women labeled as “victims” and those Carlotta labeled “defendants” in Lepingwell courtrooms and before pardon boards. One of GUEST COLUMNIST those women was Laura.

Laura spent 30 years in prison for killing a man who tortured her for 16 years. She was convicted by a nonunanimous jury and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Laura was not perfect and was perhaps no one’s vision of who a victim is or how one should behave. She was a flawed parent, had a sharp wit and loved motorcycles.

But here is the rest. For 16 years, Laura’s husband routinely punched, pummeled, kicked, raped and threatened to kill her.

Mostly for no reason, but often for reasons like being slow to bring him dinner. He once beat her unconscious with a bat. Friends saw him beat Laura and drag her by her hair. His sexual torture of Laura was so extreme that it required surgery to repair the damage. Laura sought help from police, courts, lawyers and doctors. She even tried to end her own life. One morning, after he backhanded her across the face, Laura shot her husband eight times.

There is good reason to believe Laura acted in self-defense. But what if she did not? Should Louisiana’s mandatory sentencing laws make none of the above matter? On Oct. 22, 2024, Laura died in prison, confined to a wheelchair and tethered to an oxygen tank.

The system worked as we designed it.

Laura was supposed to die in prison and so she did.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Capt. Stephanie Minta Gibson takes part in the Shine the Light on Domestic Violence vigil on the steps of City Hall in New Orleans in 2025.

Studies confirm what practitioners like us see every day: Women’s pathways to prison are different from those of men. There is a direct, documented connection between intimate partner violence and women’s incarceration.

The Louisiana Legislature’s 2022 Survivor Informed Task Force found that about three-quarters of women incarcerated in our prisons have experienced abuse. A 2024 Stanford University study of 649 incarcerated California women found that among those who killed an intimate partner, 82% had been victims.

Louisiana’s legislature should act.

Senate Bill 523 is intended to help by allowing survivors to request clemency earlier than they can now. Earlier clemency is positive but not a solution. Clemency generally turns upon whether someone has changed enough — is remorseful enough — to deserve a second chance.

These are the wrong questions in cases like Laura’s.

SB523 does not fix this problem or change the clemency process that failed to bring Laura home. And it does nothing to prevent victims like Laura from being sentenced to die in prison in the first place.

Real solutions exist and they are not radical.

States like Georgia and Oklahoma have adopted them. Fix our mandatory sentencing laws so judges can properly weigh abuse — and extend that relief to victims already in prison.

Update self-defense and duress laws to account for the full context in which victims make split-second decisions and the coercive nature of abuse. Review nonunanimous jury convictions; they happen in cases like Laura’s.

Eliminate laws that put an expiration date on remedying injustice. And design a clemency process appropriate for survivors.

Laura’s story is not an anomaly.

Women like Laura are languishing in Louisiana’s prisons and will continue to die, one by one until we muster the courage and humility to admit our mistakes.

If we listen to survivors, we will know what to do — and will be ashamed that we didn’t do it sooner.

Becki Truscott Kondkar directs Tulane Law School’s Domestic Violence Clinic + Women’s Prison Project. Carlotta Lepingwell directs Tulane Law School’s Criminal Justice Clinic.

Cannabis near schools bill won’t make students safer discretion and pack jails at taxpayers’ Louisiana wants to protect its chilexpense. Because these zones blanket dren. So does every parent, teacher dense urban areas, the burden would and lawmaker in this state. But good fall disproportionately on Black intentions don’t always make and Brown residents. Louisiana good policy. House Bill 568 is already incarcerates more peoa case study in how to squander political will and taxpayer ple per capita than almost any money on a “solution” that jurisdiction on Earth. HB568 wouldn’t solve anything, but would deepen that crisis without Kevin would cause tremendous harm. making a single school safer.

Caldwell The misguided bill would imFurther, the data on youth cannabis use suggests we are pose a mandatory jail sentence GUEST COLUMNIST already on the right track. Since for the smoking or consuming Louisiana stopped arresting of cannabis within 2,000 feet of people for small amounts of a school. Not distribution. Not cannabis, youth use rates have fallen. sales to minors. This is about simple According to the Louisiana Caring consumption in a radius so wide it Communities Youth Survey, cannabis swallows entire neighborhoods. use among sixth through 12th graders In New Orleans, Baton Rouge and dropped from 8.4% in 2020 to 6.9% in Shreveport, these zones cover nearly 2024. Shifting from jail time to fines is every street corner, every apartment complex and every front porch. Under working. Returning to mass incarceraHB568, a grandmother using cannabis tion would be a step backward in her home for relief could face manThe American Academy of Pediatdatory incarceration because a school rics has been clear on this point: Insits two blocks away. That’s not a drug carceration harms children by tearing policy — it’s geography weaponized as parents from families and removing a trap. providers from the home. When we Decades of research from the U.S. lock up a parent for cannabis, we don’t Sentencing Commission, the Departprotect their child — we punish them both. ment of Justice and criminologists Moreover, placing individuals in across the political spectrum confirm that mandatory minimum sentences do prison for minor offenses exposes them to violent offenders, creating a not reduce drug use or trafficking. cycle of trauma rather than a path to What they do accomplish is welljustice. True justice actually keeps the documented. They strip judges of any

punishment aligned with the nature of the crime. HB568 does not reflect that.

The fiscal cost is equally stark. Incarceration costs Louisiana taxpayers more than $26,000 per person, per year. Mandatory incarceration means every qualifying case triggers a significant cost, regardless of individual circumstances. Those millions would be better spent on funding school counselors and evidence-based prevention efforts that actually work.

If the goal is truly protecting children from cannabis, the evidence points toward regulation and education, not incarceration. Even at the federal level, the tide is turning. Vice President JD Vance has stated he does not want people in jail for “smoking a joint,” and President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice is considering rescheduling recreational cannabis in addition to medical cannabis.

Louisiana should not be rushing to pass drastic, regressive policies while the national landscape is increasingly shifting toward common sense. Louisiana can do better than HB568. We should focus on what actually keeps our children safe: strong families, well-funded schools and police who are free to pursue violent criminals.

Bill doesn’t offer real solutions to address homelessness The Louisiana Advocacy Coalition on Homelessness is a collective of homeless service providers, coordinating agencies and persons with lived expertise deeply concerned by House Bill 211.

HB211 imposes penalties for sleeping in public spaces — effectively criminalizing people for having nowhere to stay. Across urban, suburban and rural communities alike, we know this does not work. Similar approaches in Florida and Texas have failed to reduce homelessness.

Every day, outreach teams meet people who are trying to stabilize — find employment, flee violence, reconnect with family or secure housing. Instead of helping, HB211 would place additional barriers in their path through fines, citations or incarceration.

Criminal records make housing harder to access. Fines create financial burdens that people cannot pay. Jail time disrupts employment and disconnects individuals from services. These outcomes do not reduce homelessness; they prolong it.

At the same time, this approach diverts public resources away from proven solutions: housing, outreach and supportive services that help people exit homelessness and reduce returns to the streets.

Louisiana has the nation’s second-lowest per capita rate of homelessness. Providers have made meaningful progress by investing in what works. Since 2014, homelessness in Louisiana has decreased by 25% based on annual counts.

Veteran homelessness has reached functional zero across much of the state. All this despite rising housing costs over the same period.

HB211 risks undermining that progress by replacing solutions with penalties.

Persistently high poverty and rising rents mean that people become unhoused daily. Without a strategy to address this inflow, Louisiana can expect to see rising homelessness regardless of how much it diverts to courts, jails and treatment. While other states invest in deeply affordable housing, we have relied on federal support and private charity to address a problem rooted in economic imbalance. If we want safer, stronger communities, we must invest in housing — not criminalization.

JOSEPH HEEREN-MUELLER coordinator, Louisiana Advocacy Coalition on Homelessness

SB217

Legislature needs to slow down and get the facts before changing courts We are advocates of a fair and competent judicial system accessible to all. We join requests to slow down the Louisiana Legislature’s rushed effort to consolidate New Orleans courts and reduce the number of judges, an effort driven by unsupported statements and inadequate data rather than sound policy, to obtain and consider a fair study of the real circumstances in our courts before voting on the proposal.

Our position aligns with a report released on April 19 by the Bureau of Governmental Research. That report advised that “insufficient analysis of the current bills raises serious concerns about the potential impacts on the Orleans Parish justice system and public safety” and urged the Legislature to slow the process to avoid underinformed decisions causing more harm than good. Eliminating judges only in New Orleans based on incomplete data risks delaying justice by cutting too many judges in some courts, slowing access to justice. In addition, the bills risk costing more by not researching the true costs of combining the courts. No fiscal note estimating potential savings has been provided. And the BGR reports that “many of the potential financial benefits of consolidation” may be achieved by simply sharing revenues, a more efficient solution.

The Legislature asks Louisiana to make consequential changes to the justice system based on incomplete analysis, unsupported projections and political urgency, not facts. That is not how sound policy is made. Justice demands fairness and a full accounting of the facts. In short, we urge the Legislature to wait to analyze all relevant facts. As the BGR report recommends, “Wait for the full study. The Supreme Court must complete a comprehensive analysis, including court visits and supplemental research, before any judgeships are eliminated.”

Kevin Caldwell is the southeast legislative manager for the Marijuana Policy Project.

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Proposal could relocate Confederate monuments Bill would move statues to state parks

BY SOPHIE KASAKOVE Staff writer

Confederate monuments that were removed from pedestals and columns around New Orleans could be relocated to Louisiana state parks under a bill moving through the state Legislature that has miffed Mayor Helena Moreno.

The proposed law, authored by Rep. Mike Bayham, R-Chalmette, could reopen a lengthy saga that New Orleans residents seemingly closed in 2017, when four prominent statues were removed amid protests and counterprotests.

The law, which would apply statewide, would put “any historical statue or monument” removed from public display since 2006 under the control of the state Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, which is overseen by Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser.

That office would then relocate the statues to “a location within the state park system … with due regard for preservation and public access,” according to the bill, which was approved 78-14 by the state House last week and is up for consideration by a state Senate committee.

Bayham said that the bill is “not targeting New Orleans.

I wish the best for the city.”

He was not aware of any municipalities with monuments that have been removed from public view other than

SUSPENDED

Continued from page 1B take everything you have worked for.’”

Prosecutors say on March 23, Jefferson’s wife was trying to leave their residence when he grabbed her and kept her from doing so. Surveillance video captured him putting his hand around her throat and forcing her back inside, investigators reported.

That was not the first time Jefferson assaulted his spouse, according to investigators.

Louisiana Bureau of Investigation agents say Jefferson obstructed justice by directing his wife to not give investigators the full picture of an incident that occurred Nov. 1, 2025.

On that date, Baton Rouge police responded to a crash near Lake Sherwood Avenue South. Witnesses said two people were arguing in the road near two stopped vehicles.

“During the confrontation, one of the vehicles accelerated and struck the other,” investigators said.

“The witness observed a person lying in the roadway immediately afterward … looking like ‘a rag doll, like they were limp whenever they got picked up.’”

The incident “was documented by BRPD as a crash rather than a domestic vio-

CIGAR BAR

Continued from page 1B The bar would be a small bar in the rear of the building adjacent to the cigar lounge since smoking is no longer allowed in bars, according to documents.

Lafayette Consolidated Government’s planning staff recommends commissioners OK the measure but with several stipulations.

An upstairs neighbor, according to LCG documents, is opposed to the business.

Phillipe Callais, in a letter sent to LCG staff in March, indicated he is frustrated with the business, complaining of the smell of cigars and loud music.

He also alleged the business has been selling alco-

New Orleans.

“I thought it’s something that New Orleans would welcome,” said Bayham.

“The city declared them a nuisance — why would they want to retain a nuisance?”

Moreno said that she opposed the bill and that her office was not consulted by its author.

“These statues are city property, and you can’t just by some kind of legislation just take them away and go put them in some park,” Moreno said this week.

“These statues are in storage away from public view here in New Orleans, where at this time they will remain.”

The bill comes during a tense legislative session that has left New Orleans residents and officials feeling besieged by interventions into the city’s affairs by legislators across the state. Bills that would shrink Black representation in the U.S. Congress and that have slashed New Orleans judgeships and unseated a Black lawyer elected as Orleans criminal district court clerk have stirred accusations that legislators are seeking to turn back the clocks on civil rights protections.

Sue Mobley, director of research at the Monument Lab, a nonprofit public art organization dedicated to reimagining monuments, said in text message that the bill is “adding insult to (much more significant) injury.”

“But of course, if the Lost Cause is determined to rise again, they’re going to want their participation trophies back,” Mobley said.

Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu led

the charge for removing Confederate-era monuments in 2017, including a statue of former Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that stood at the center of a St. Charles Avenue traffic circle for over a century.

The New Orleans City Council backed the move, and three of four monuments were removed and placed into storage. A fourth, commemorating a violent revolt by the Democratic White League against the Republican Reconstruction-era government of Louisiana in 1874, was due to appear in a Los Angeles exhibit.

Nungesser said that if the bill passes his office would “try to satisfy everyone who may have a problem,” and said he would get public feedback on proposed new locations for the monuments.

He would like to see them relocated to existing historical sites, like battlefields, he said.

“I think it’s wrong just to destroy them or keep them locked up forever — there are historical things all over that are a sad dark time in history, but it’s still history,” Nungesser said.

The monuments would be relocated to parks outside of the parish under the current version of the bill, which was amended after a request by Rep. Alonzo Knox, D-New Orleans.

“It would be antithetical to that whole point and purpose of removing statues only to have someone at some point years later come back and find a state entity or park within the same boundaries and place a statue,” said Knox.

lence event,” state officials wrote, and Baton Rouge police ticketed Jefferson’s wife.

Three months later, LBI officials started investigating and obtained text messages from Jefferson’s phone.

While Baton Rouge police officers were at the scene, prosecutors say, Jefferson texted his wife: “Hurry tell them u mentally off … U had episode.”

He later allegedly texted his wife: “Meet me on Florida, Watch bodycam right quick.”

That text was sent less than an hour before she was scheduled to be interviewed

by Louisiana State Police investigators about the incident, prosecutors claim.

Investigators say Jefferson’s wife emailed him audio recordings of the interview later that day.

According to court records, officials also reviewed recorded calls between Jefferson and his wife about the crash report.

“But we ain’t talking about truth. We’re talking about the crash report,’ ” investigators quoted Jefferson as saying.

They also say Jefferson either deactivated or removed residential surveillance cameras that could have captured the crash scene.

Jefferson’s wife later told investigators that he used his car to pin her between

his vehicle and another, causing her to lose consciousness.

Domestic violence charges were filed against Jefferson for the incident, but were later dropped.

On Thursday, Joseph Oubre, deputy general counsel for the Department of Public Safety and Louisiana State Police, argued against Jefferson receiving compensation of any kind during his suspension.

As Jefferson is not allowed to carry a firearm, Oubre noted, he cannot carry out the duties of a state trooper and should not be paid as one.

“Additionally, the nature of the pending felony charges directly impacts public trust, credibility, supervisory authority and integrity of a commissioned law enforcement officer,” he said.

Craft, Jefferson’s attorney, said she was happy with the hearing’s outcome, noting Jefferson wanted to be allowed to use his banked leave pay from his tenure as a trooper and wasn’t arguing to be reinstated.

“He’s looking forward to demonstrating his innocence in court because he is innocent of these charges, and then moving on with his life and taking care of his kids,” Craft said. “He looks forward to his day in criminal courts, and that’s going to play out how it’s going to play out.”

holic beverages without a permit, even posting images about it to social media.

“I was not naive about noise levels when I chose to live downtown,” Callais wrote. “But when the bass is literally rattling a glass on my bedside table, the problem becomes unbearable. If this cannot get resolved, I will, unfortunately, have to put this loft on the market (as other owners have).”

Among the stipulations recommended include any noise from the building cannot be audible at 100 feet in any direction. Others include no one under the age of 21 allowed, no external speakers, all doors and windows are to remain closed and maximum occupancy of 45 people.

The report referenced

Haynes’ Rooftop 116, which has been the site of what staff described as “several undesirable activities” that have been mostly noise concerns that have not exceeded the limit for violations.

Obituaries DuBois, Eldine Sonnier 'Deanie'

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, May 16, 2026, at a 1:00 PM Mass of Christian Burial in Our Lady of Fatima Roman Catholic Church in Lafayette for Eldine "Deanie" Sonnier DuBois, age 93, who passed away on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at Camelot of Broussard.

Interment will be held in Calvary Cemetery.

Reverend Thomas Voorhies will be the Celebrant of the Funeral Mass and officiate the services.

Survivors of Eldine include her five children, Michelle DuBois Picard and her husband Rusty, Jacquelyn "Jackie" DuBois Galvez, Claire DuBois Massingill and her husband Mike of Montgomery, TX, André Simon DuBois, III and his wife Annie, and Monique DuBois; nine grandchildren, Lesley Picard Roger and her husband Matt, Jean-Paul DuBois Picard and his wife Kali, Amanda Massingill Thayer and her husband Ansel of Houston, TX, Ellen C. Butler, André Simon DuBois, IV and his wife Dani, Jacques P. DuBois and his fiancée Brittany, Luke Thomas Butler Jr. and his fiancée Eliza, Emile C. DuBois, and Megan L. Butler; seven great-grandchildren, Jean-Luc DuBois Picard, Flynn Michael Roger, Amelie Corrine Picard, Olin Michael Thayer, Suzanna Gloria DuBois, André Simon DuBois, V, and Jorge Miguel DuBois; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 66 years, André Simon DuBois, Jr.; parents, Louise Chiasson Sonnier and Alfred Louis Sonnier, Sr.; son in law, Marshal Galvez; siblings, Vivian Sonnier Montgomery (Johnny), Myrtle Marie Sonnier, Lucien Ollie

Sonnier (Hilda), and Alfred Louis Sonnier, Jr. (Rounie); mother and father in law, André Simon DuBois Sr. and Regina Brown DuBois; and brothers-in-law, Richard DuBois, Sr. (Dolores) and Monsignor Charles J. Dubois.

Born on November 24, 1932, "Deanie" lived a life defined by love, creativity, curiosity, and devotion to family.

She shared 66 wonderful years of marriage with her devoted husband, André, building a life centered on faith, family, laughter, and enduring partnership.

Together, they raised five children, four daughters and one son, who were the pride and joy of her life.

A hardworking and accomplished woman, she worked in the oil and gas industry as a secretary and later became a real estate broker, notary public, dedicated CASA volunteer, and as a Eucharistic minister, always eager to serve others and support her community.

She approached every role with intelligence, warmth, and determination.

A lifelong learner with many talents and passions, she loved birdwatching, traveling, and enjoying a glass of wine with her husband on their deck. A proud graduate of SLI, she valued education and curiosity throughout her life. She was also a gifted artist, talented seamstress, and quilter.

She enjoyed playing solitaire and doing crossword puzzles in her spare time. She brought joy, laughter, and lively conversation wherever she went.

More than anything, she loved her family deeply.

She leaves behind a legacy

of love through her children, nine grandchildren, seven great grandchildren, and countless nieces and nephews, all of whom will carry her memory in their hearts forever.

Pallbearers will be JeanPaul DuBois Picard, André Simon DuBois, IV, Jacques P. DuBois, Luke Thomas Butler Jr., Emile C. DuBois, and Corey Sonnier.

The family requests that visitation be observed on Saturday, May 16, 2026, from 11:00 AM until time of services. A Rosary will be recited on Saturday, May 16, 2026, at 12:30 PM in Our Lady of Fatima Roman Catholic Church.

The family would like to extend special thanks to the nurses and staff with Camelot of Broussard and Southern Grace Hospice for the love and care given to "Deanie" and her family.

View the obituary and guestbook online at www.mourning.com Martin & Castille Funeral Home DOWNTOWN, 330 St. Landry Street, Lafayette, Louisiana 70506, 337-2342311

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Saints open season on the road

Saints QB Tyler Shough AP FILE PHOTO

New Orleans’ schedule features a return to prime time and an important late stretch

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

You can book your flights: The New Orleans Saints’ 2026 schedule has been finalized.

The NFL released the full 2026 slate Thursday, giving teams the where and when of their 2026 slate.

The Saints’ lineup this year features a travel-heavy back half of the season, with four of their final five games against division foes.

The 2026 Saints season will begin with a road swing — against two of the toughest

Ausberry: ‘There was no connection’

opponents on its schedule — after getting a home opener on the schedule in seven of the past eight seasons (the Saints played a “home” game against the Green Bay Packers in Jacksonville, Florida, to start the 2021 season on account of Hurricane Ida).

New Orleans opens its campaign against the Lions in Detroit, then follows it with a trip to Baltimore to take on the Ravens.

Both the Lions and Ravens are coming off disappointing seasons, but both are poised to rebound in 2026.

The last time the Saints opened the season against Detroit was in 2009, when they went on to win the Super Bowl.

The home opener will wait until Week 3,

when New Orleans will take on the Las Vegas Raiders and No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza Sept. 27.

After being shut out of prime time entirely in 2025, the Saints will return to the NFL’s bright lights with a Monday Night Football matchup against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 4 — an obvious homage to the 20th anniversary of the “Rebirth” game when the Superdome reopened its doors for the first time after Hurricane Katrina in a Monday Night Football game against Atlanta.

That game was played Sept. 25, 2006, against the Falcons, meaning the Saints will play Atlanta on Monday Night Football

ä See SAINTS, page 3C

BATON ROUGE REGIONAL

A K R O N A T L S U • 5 : 3 0 P. M . F R I D A y • E S P N +

HOST WITH THE MOST

LSU athletic director gives candid assessment of Kelly’s tenure

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

In an interview with USA Today, LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry offered a candid assessment of why coach Brian Kelly’s tenure failed and said that Lane Kiffin will shield the program from the “apathy” that took root last season.

Ausberry did not mention Kelly by name.

But he did say that “who we had” in charge of the football program had “no connection” with employees, boosters, former players and other key figures. Kiffin, he said, There was no will bring LSU back to feel, there was the “Saban model,” one no connection in which the school’s head football coach between the has a stronger rapport LSU football with fans, donors and program, the alumni.

“That’s what Lane coach and will do,” Ausberry said. “He’ll go out the fans.” there and have that VERGE AUSBERRy, conversation with the LSU athletic director, donors and the people who support the proon Brian Kelly gram and (say), ‘We need your help,’ and give them his cell number.

“He’s not one who’ll say, ‘OK, I don’t want people to contact me. I don’t want people to touch me. I don’t want people to be around me.’ That’s who we had. That’s why we got what we got. There was no feel, there was no connection between the LSU football program, the coach and the fans.”

Ausberry’s remarks were published three days after Kiffin said in an interview with Vanity Fair that when he was coaching at Ole Miss, family members of top recruits

ä See AUSBERRY, page 3C

LSU softball coach Beth Torina visits the mound on April 10 at Tiger Park. The Tigers are hosting an NCAA regional this weekend. FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL BACIGALUPI

Torina, LSU softball team looking for ‘best game’ in regional play

BY JIM KLEINPETER Contributing writer

The LSU softball team knows it drew perhaps the toughest No. 2 seed of any of the 16 first-round NCAA Tournament hosts in Virginia Tech.

It is also painfully aware that the Hokies aren’t the issue yet.

The Tigers open the Baton Rouge Regional against No. 4 seed Akron, a team bubbling with excitement for its first NCAA Tournament appearance on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Tiger Park. Virginia Tech and No. 3 seed South Alabama open regional play at 3 p.m. (ESPN+) Last year, LSU couldn’t get past the No. 4 seed South-

eastern Louisiana, losing twice to the spunky underdog Lions. The Zips, who won the Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament titles, would like to play this year’s spoiler.

“Everybody playing this time of year is playing for something; everybody has beaten somebody and done something great to get here,” LSU coach Beth Torina said.

While Torina has spoken carefully about last year’s result, she has emphasized to her players to focus on the team in front of them and to trust their own training. The Tigers finished strong and still hold the high ground as

ä See LSU, page 3C

Wilks brings floor leadership White, UL need

started with family, but really grew natu- the only way you can get better.”

Cajuns signee’s love of the rally The 5-foot-10 Wilks isn’t a big guard, as an individual. game came naturally despite “I think it was just coming from being but he ran the show for Millwood High in around it. with my dad and my mom play- Oklahoma City. his deep basketball roots ing — just my whole family being around Wilks led that program to its second

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry looks on from the sideline before kickoff against Alabama on Nov. 8 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

His father played basketball and so did his father.

In fact, his father Mike Wilks played in the NBA for seven seasons and is currently an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

But if you listen to UL signee Isaiah Wilks, his love and passion for the game

it,” Wilks said. “But they never forced me to play basketball. I think that was the biggest thing. I was never forced into it, so I was able to really develop a true love for the game.”

Consequently, as Wilks began to learn about the approach former Oklahoma Sooners’ point guard Quannas White has in mind for his program with the Ragin’ Cajuns, it fit perfectly with his background.

“That’s going to be great for me,” Wilks said. “That’s definitely going to be great, because I love to be coached hard. That’s

consecutive Class 3A state championship in March. While doing so, he averaged 23.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.6 steals a game on the season.

Following the season, Wilks was recognized as the Gatorade Player of the Year in Oklahoma.

“I controlled the game,” Wilks said of his high school role. “I really did whatever the team needed, but my job was running

ä See UL, page 3C

2C ● Friday, May 15, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Detroit at Cleveland PRIME 8:30 p.m. San Antonio at Minnesota PRIME MEN’S SOCCER 2 p.m.

Liverpool at Aston Villa NBCSN TENNIS noon Rome-ATP/WTA — Live TENNIS UFL 7 p.m.

Orlando at Dallas FOX WNBA 6:30 p.m. Washington at Indiana ION 9 p.m.

Toronto at Los Angeles ION

Aronimink proving to be a test at PGA Cool temps, thick rough provide challenge

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — The chilly start to the PGA Championship made it feel like May. The test Aronimink provided was more like June in a U.S. Open, with no one better than 3-under 67 among the early starters and Masters champion Rory McIlroy giving a stink assessment of his 74.

Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee and Ryo Hisatsune mixed in enough birdies to offset mistakes, each of them at 67.

Xander Schauffele, who set the major championship scoring record in the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla with a 21-under 263, opened with a 68 and was pleased.

“I think really, really thick rough and wind and really difficult greens and tucked pin locations is why you’re seeing what you may feel like are higher scores,” Schauffele said.

That also was the recipe for McIlroy, a bad mix for the Masters champion. He struggled out of the damp, dense rough. He struggled on the greens. He closed with four straight bogeys and described his round in one word that translates loosely to doo-doo.

Some overnight rain only dampened the course, but did little to soften it. And the greens on this Donald Ross original design lived up to the fears with its massive undulations.

Potgieter, a big-hitting South African, put himself in a good position on the severe greens and an even better position when he finished his round. He was in the first group off the 10th tee and the first to post 67, a round with six birdies.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATT SLOCUM

Aldrich Potgieter, of South Africa, watches his tee shot on the fourth hole during the first round of the PGA Championship on Thursday in Newtown Square, Pa. Hisatsune was even better with his seven birdies — four of them immediately after making bogey.

Jaeger ran off three in a row on his front nine.

The damp air gave way to clearing skies by mid-morning, and then the wind arrived, enough to make a strong test even tougher.

McIlroy hit one approach on the 15th that shot forward some 20 feet on its second hop.

“I think I hit it on the right spots on the golf course, especially on the greens,” Potgieter said. “I didn’t feel like I had to putt over some of these big slopes we had.

So I definitely left myself in really good positions on the green.”

No one struggled quite like Bryson DeChambeau, who didn’t make a birdie until he ended on the par-5 ninth. That kept him from matching his highest score in the PGA Championship. He shot 76 and now has to work toward avoiding a second straight missed cut in a major.

Garrick Higgo had the worst start imaginable — a late one. The South African was seconds late getting to the first tee when his group was announced. He was assessed a two-shot penalty before he even hit his opening drive. He still managed a 69.

“Unfortunately golf has these situations where we get penalized for things,” Higgo said. “But it is a rule and I obviously broke the rule. I would love to have 3 under. Hopefully, I can make a good story out of it.”

The main story Thursday morning was Aronimink, which hasn’t hosted a major championship since Gary Player won the 1962 PGA Championship. It hosted two PGA Tour events in 2010 and 2011, and then another in 2018 after a restoration project.

But this is major — an old slogan the PGA Championship once used — and while this one is famous for creating a firm but fair test, this was everything the players could have wanted.

“There was a couple pins that were on hills and they were tough,” Lee said. “I think they did a really good job on putting them in tough positions, enough to think about it coming into the greens. It’s a course where you don’t want to leave it in bad positions just because it can bite you in the butt pretty quick.”

Among those at 69 was Jordan Spieth, who lacks only the PGA Championship for the career Grand Slam. This is his 10th shot at that feat, and he’s rarely been in the mix on the weekend. For one round, he raised hopes with great control off the tee and enough good putting.

Spieth was tied for the lead late in his round until a long three-putt on the seventh, missing the green well to the right on the par-3 eighth and failing to get up-and-down for a birdie chance on the par-5 ninth.

He was hoping for better.

“Just didn’t quite finish the way I wanted to the last three holes, but under par was a good score,” Spieth said. “It was blowing really hard, and it was cold this morning.

The course played very, very difficult. It was a good start. I’m going to need to improve on it, I think, each day.”

Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion, played in the afternoon along with Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Jon Rahm was headed for another rough start in a major until he holed out for eagle from the 11th fairway, chipped in for birdie on the tough par-3 eighth and got up-and-down for birdie on his last hole for 69.

He was told some people thought scoring would be better in the morning. This surprised him.

“People thought it would be lower?” he replied. “Have you been out there? Have you seen this course?”

Rahm said the numbers — width of fairways, for example — can be misleading. The subtle slopes can put decent shots into the rough.

Third base still a question mark for LSU

BY KOKI RILEY

ä For full story on Florida at LSU

Staff writer

visit theadvocate.com

LSU’s infield has improved over the past two weeks.

Freshman Jack Ruckert at second base had two hits and an RBI on May 3 against South Carolina.

At first base, freshman Mason Braun has become the leadoff hitter and leads the team in on-base percentage. Both freshmen have also upgraded the defense.

Shortstop Steven Milam has been the Tigers’ most valuable defensive player all year while being one of their top hitters.

But even with Milam and the ascension of Ruckert and Braun, there’s a hole remaining on the infield: third base. The Tigers started Tanner Reaves and Seth Dardar and John Pearson at the position over the past two weeks, but no member of the trio has played well enough to warrant an everyday role.

Reaves started at third in Game 1 of the Tigers’ doubleheader on May 2 against South Carolina and went 0 for 3. Dardar had two hits in Game 2 of the doubleheader, but he struggled defensively and was hitless in the series finale.

Pearson returned to the lineup from a hamstring injury last week and hit home runs against Tulane and Georgia. But he was benched Sunday and replaced by Brayden Simpson in the sixth inning of the Tigers’ blowout loss to the Bulldogs. “(Just) try to get some guys a look to see if maybe there’s been some improvement,” coach Jay Johnson said. “It’s just that there have been some guys that

weren’t playing … and we got them back in there and they did well. So most of the guys on the team are good guys and put in a lot of effort, and I wanted to give them a look.”

With three regular-season games remaining, Johnson will be hardpressed to find a perfect solution at third. His best option at the plate to fill the role is likely Dardar. The Kansas State transfer was hitting .308 with a .970 OPS heading into this weekend’s series at Georgia.

“I thought he lengthened our lineup a little bit,” Johnson said. “I thought he took some really good competitive swings, had a couple of hits.”

The issue with Dardar has been his defense. He struggled filling in at third base against South Carolina, dropping a pop-up and misfielding a ground ball in Game 2 of the doubleheader. He also couldn’t corral a bouncing ball that was originally ruled an error before being changed to being a hit.

Granted, the defense at third base wasn’t much better with Reaves or Pearson there. Reaves failed to secure a pop-out in Game 1 against South Carolina and committed an error against Mississippi State. Pearson had an error Friday and misplayed a ground ball Sunday, a mistake that allowed Georgia to score four runs in the second inning.

But like Dardar, Reaves and Pearson can help LSU at the plate. “(Reaves) deserves to be in (the lineup) right now,” Johnson said last Sunday. “I believe he’s a play-

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU third baseman Seth Dardar throws to first base before a game against Northeastern on Feb. 29 at Alex Box Stadium. Dardar, John Pearson and Tanner Reaves have all manned the position this season. er. If he plays well, that really lifts our team.”

There aren’t many alternatives to Dardar, Pearson or Reaves at third base. Trent Caraway started at the position to begin the season, but he only holds a .713 on-base plus slugging percentage and hasn’t had an at-bat since the Mississippi State series. Simpson was a third baseman before transferring to LSU, but he has struck out 19 times in 37 at-bats.

Simpson and Caraway have also struggled at times defensively.

LSU’s best defensive alternative is probably freshman Ethan Clauss, who has only gotten two

at-bats in SEC play.

“I would never say never to anything,” Johnson said about the possibility of Clauss cracking the starting lineup.

For now, as LSU tries to sneak into the NCAA Tournament with one week left in SEC play, it’ll rely on Dardar, Pearson and Reaves to fill out the rest of its lineup and play third base.

Especially on defense, it’s not an ideal situation. But if they can contribute on offense, the Tigers will have a deeper lineup that could challenge Florida and whoever they face in the SEC Tournament.

FIFA announces World Cup final halftime show

The World Cup final will feature a star-studded halftime show headlined

by Madonna, Shakira and boy-band BTS. FIFA has announced that, for the first time, the final at the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19 will include a Super Bowl-style concert.

Soccer’s governing body said the show would support the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which is raising $100 million to help children access education and soccer.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said it would bring together “music and football on the biggest stage in sport for a very special cause.”

“Every child should have the opportunity to dream, and together we can help make that possible,” he posted on Instagram.

Sparks to honor HOF legend Leslie with statue

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Sparks announced Thursday they will honor Hall of Fame player Lisa Leslie with a statue outside of Crypto.com Arena.

Leslie became the second player in league history, joining Sue Bird, to be honored with a statue by her franchise. The eight-time AllStar remains the team’s leader in points, rebounds, blocks and a host of other categories.

“To be cemented in Los Angeles, the city that raised me, I couldn’t be more proud to be a role model forever!” Leslie said in a statement.

She helped the franchise win back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002 and spent her entire 12-year career with the Sparks. Leslie also won four gold medals with USA Basketball.

Gauff heads to Italian final for second straight year

ROME — Coco Gauff beat 36-yearold Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-3 to reach the final for a second straight year.

Gauff saved a match point in a three-set victory over Iva Jovic in the fourth round and then came back from a set down to defeat Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals.

Against Cirstea, Gauff got 78% of her first serves in and had only one double fault.

Gauff was beaten by Paolini in the 2025 Rome final, then went on to win the French Open.

In Saturday’s final, Gauff will face three-time Rome champion Iga Swiatek or two-time winner Elina Svitolina, who were playing later.

Gauff is one win away from her first title this season, and her first since the 2025 Wuhan Open.

Georgia S Riddle arrested on drug, speeding charges

Georgia safety Ja’Marley Riddle was arrested last week on two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance and a misdemeanor speeding charge, according to a police report obtained by WGIG 98.7 FM. Riddle, who transferred to Georgia from East Carolina ahead of the upcoming season, was observed weaving through traffic at roughly 95 miles per hour on Friday night in an SUV, according to the report. Glynn County police officers stopped Riddle and noted nervous behavior and an odor of marijuana.

Police discovered a bag inside a backpack containing “a large amount of multicolored packaging, some with a leafy substance stating marijuana, and some containing vapes stating THC.”

Sinner breaks record to reach Italian Open semi

ROME — Jannik Sinner is two victories away from becoming the first home man to win the Italian Open in half a century. And it doesn’t seem like anybody can stop him — either in Rome or at the French Open that starts in 10 days.

The top-ranked Sinner landed shots on the lines repeatedly in a 6-2, 6-4 triumph over No. 14 Andrey Rublev to reach the semifinals Thursday and move past Novak Djokovic with a record 32nd consecutive victory in Masters 1000 events — the biggest tournaments outside the Grand Slams.

“I don’t play for records.

I play just for my own story.

And obviously at the same time it means a lot to me,” Sinner said.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Friday, May 15, 2026 ● 3C

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UL

AUSBERRY

the team. I could also score the ball, be an efficient scorer and I’m a great defender.”

In many ways, Wilks sounds like a carbon copy of White in his playing days.

“I think I can bring the same thing (to UL) — my high basketball IQ, my defense, my energy and also the ability to score the ball efficiently,” Wilks said.

In addition to that comparison, Wilks said the “family atmosphere from the time I met them.

It was just a different feel that I didn’t get from the other coaches.

“The other thing that was pretty evident to me is the coaching staff had a big love for the game.”

On the court, Wilks was also drawn to the program because “I wanted to go somewhere where I could play fast and go in transition. I like to play fast and I’m really looking forward to that.”

Wilks joins two fellow high school signees to UL’s program, including 6-foot-8 forward from Alexandria, Ty’shawn Duncan, and 6-7 wing Zayson Salanoa from Humble, Texas.

“I think my basketball IQ will translate over, so the main thing I’m focused on now is getting stronger,” Wilks said.

Also making the jump to Division I basketball is prep school addition Derrick Florence from Mobile, Alabama.

The transfer portal also produced the additions of 6-foot

would sometimes express reservations about sending their son to Oxford, Mississippi, given the state and city’s checkered racial history. Those comments ignited a firestorm, widening a rift between Kiffin and his former school.

Kiffin offered an apology on Tuesday, telling On3 that he “really apologizes if anybody at Ole Miss or in Mississippi was offended by that.”

When USA Today asked Ausberry about those remarks, he cited LSU’s Oct. 25 loss to Texas A&M — a game he’s frequently highlighted as the impetus for Kelly’s firing.

The Tigers fell 49-25 in a mostly empty Tiger Stadium, losing what was left of their already faint College Football Playoff hopes and leading the school to make a coaching change.

“Every day you talk about us, guess what, that’s good for LSU,” Ausberry said. “If they’re not talking about you, guess what? That’s when you’ve got problems. That’s when you got apathy. That’s when nobody gives a s***, when nobody cares when you’re getting your ass beat by A&M by 40, when nobody’s watching you.

“I’d rather be on the opposite side.”

Ausberry also said that Kiffin is doing a better job of welcoming former players back to the program than Kelly did.

“There was no connection and no building” during Kelly’s tenure, Ausberry said. “Not many employees connected. The former players didn’t connect. Yeah, I’m saying it.

“Now, former players live over

Continued from page 1C

Continued from page 1C

PROVIDED PHOTO

UL signee Isaiah Wilks was honored as the Gatorade Player of the year in Oklahoma after leading Millwood High to a second straight state championship.

Mekhi Cooper from Lindenwood, 6-foot-8 Dani Pounds from Tennessee Tech, 6-foot-3 Trent Middleton from North Carolina A&T and 6-foot-5 Deion Ware from South Plains College to the roster.

That group replaces the losses of Jaxon Olvera to Portland, Joshua Lewis back home to South Florida, Dorian Finister to Charlotte and Mike Collins to Lamar.

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Former LSU coach Brian Kelly argues for a flag on Texas A&M in the second quarter on Oct. 25 at Tiger Stadium. LSU lost 49-25. there (at the facility), go over there, we welcome them over there, (they) work out over there.

That’s what we want. That’s who LSU used to be. Former players came in the weight room, and they worked out. There wasn’t signing no form to be able to work out, or, ‘Who are you? You can’t work out at this time.’”

Ausberry is a former LSU linebacker and longtime administrator who was promoted to athletic director after Scott Woodward was

ousted from the role on Oct. 30 — four days after Kelly was fired.

He formally hired Kiffin exactly a month into his tenure as athletic director, then re-hired Will Wade as LSU’s men’s basketball coach by the end of March.

The LSU board of supervisors officially approved Ausberry’s four-year, $6.3 million contract on April 23.

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

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU second baseman Sierra Daniel throws to first base for an out against Oklahoma on March 28 at Tiger Park.

LSU

Continued from page 1C the host site.

“We talked about being competitive,” second baseman Sierra Daniel said. “It doesn’t have to be pretty as long as we have the W next to your name.

“We’ve learned every team is going to give you their best and being the most competitive team on the field that day is what’s important. We have to trust our process. We do all the thinking and worrying on the practice field. We just need to play free.”

Torina describes Akron as balanced with similar home run power to LSU’s (54 homers to 56 for the Tigers) and with speed. Perhaps the best asset is coach Craig Nicholson, a 25-year coaching veteran with over 1,000 victories. He guided Central Arizona College to four junior college national titles while winning 723 games and has stops at Arizona State, Ball State and Texas A&M-Kingsville before taking over at Akron four years ago.

“They’ll be solid on all fronts,” Torina said.

So are the Tigers, who finished strong down the stretch, leading into the postseason. The Tigers improved their power numbers

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from last season, but also got more competitive at-bats. The pitching staff has had some ups and downs, but Torina thinks her team has an edge there.

“Our offense is doing a lot of things well, not just the increased power but the way they control the strike zone, so they’ve been able to get on base in a lot of situations,” Torina said. “That’s going to be a strength of ours throughout this regional.

“Everybody (pitchers) has had a strong week. We have a lot of options and it’s probably our trump card of all the teams here.

We have the deepest pitching staff. We will be able to match up well with some of these different types of hitters.”

Torina has said all season that it has taken some time for the team — with 11 new faces among 23 players — to come together and that it is playing its best ball while still looking for that elusive “best game.”

“We talked a lot about trying to find our best game,” she said.

“We’ve played some really good games. We played a complete game against Oklahoma and some complete games against Auburn, but we’ve searched all year to try to find our best game.

It would be a great time to have it right here in the regional. We’re working towards that every day in practice.”

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STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave, left, celebrates with quarterback Tyler Shough in the second half of a game against the New york Jets on Dec. 21 at the Caesars Superdome.

SAINTS

SAINTS 2026 SCHEDULE

Continued from page 1C about a week and a half after the anniversary.

The Saints will also have some chances at cold-weather games, but temperatures should be manageable for most of the schedule.

Only two of their road opponents play in domes, and several of them play in cold-weather climates.

But of their potential coldweather games — in Cincinnati, Baltimore and Chicago — none are happening in December. The games in Chicago and Cincinnati will occur in back-to-back weeks in late November.

According to weather.gov, the average late-November temperature in Chicago is somewhere in the low 40s — definitely cooler than what the Saints are accustomed to, but not exceptionally cold. Last year, the high temperature on that day was 44 degrees.

Finally, the Saints’ season might be defined by how the team finishes. Four of the final five games come against NFC South opponents, three of which will be on the road. That stretch begins with

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Preseason: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars, 3 p.m. Aug. 15 Preseason: at Los Angeles Rams 3 p.m. Aug. 22 Preseason: at Dallas Cowboys time, day TBD REGULAR SEASON Week 1: at Detroit Lions, noon Sept. 13 Week 2: at Baltimore Ravens, noon Sept. 20 Week 3: vs Las Vegas Raiders, 3:25 p.m. Sept. 27 Week 4: vs Atlanta Falcons, 7:15 p.m. Oct. 5 Week 5: vs Minnesota Vikings, noon Oct. 11 Week 6: at New york Giants, noon Oct. 18 Week 7: vs Pittsburgh Steelers (Paris), 8:30 a.m. Oct. 25 Week 8: ByE Week 9: vs Cleveland Browns, noon Nov. 8 Week 10 : vs Carolina Panthers, noon Nov. 15 Week 11: at Chicago Bears, noon Nov. 22 Week 12: at Cincinnati Bengals, noon Nov. 29 Week 13: vs Green Bay Packers, noon Dec. 6 Week 14: at Carolina Panthers, noon Dec. 13 Week 15: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, noon Dec. 20 Week 16: vs Arizona Cardinals, noon Dec. 27 Week 17: at Atlanta Falcons, noon Jan. 3 Week 18: vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers, time, day TBD (Jan 9/10) a Week 14 road game against the Carolina Panthers. The Saints will follow that up with a trip to Tampa Bay, then they play on the

road in Atlanta for Week 17 before finishing at home against the Buccaneers in their regular-season finale.

ONE great state FOUR great apps

4C ● Friday, May 15, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Harden-led Cavs win away from East finals

BY TIM REYNOLDS AP basketball writer

This may as well have been called The James Harden Experience.

In the span of 22 seconds during overtime of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night, Harden did all this for the Cleveland Cavaliers — made a free throw, missed a free throw, blocked a shot, got a rebound and threw the ball away.

None of it seemed to faze him, which is quintessential Harden.

“He never wavered,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “He has a bad game, good game, you can’t even tell. So, I think his mentality — he’s seen so much, been through so many of these series — he’s a heck of a leader.”

This is why Cleveland made the decision to go get Harden in a trade three months ago. He was going to make them better, tougher, more playoff-ready. The numbers, to this point, say they’re on to something.

Thanks largely to the bearded man who has been to the playoffs in each of his 17 NBA seasons, they’re one win away from the East finals. They could get there with a win over the Pistons in Game 6 of their series on Friday night, in Cleveland. It bears noting that Harden’s three best games of the series have been the last three games — all of them wins by the Cavaliers.

“He’s a pro’s pro,” Cavaliers guard Max Strus said after the Game 5 win, one where Harden

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By DUANE BURLESON

Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden goes to the basket against the Detroit Pistons during the second half in Game 5 of a second-round NBA playoff series on Wednesday in Detroit. led the Cavaliers with 30 points despite missing seven of his final eight shots from the field during the fourth quarter and overtime.

“He shows up every single day,” Strus said. “He puts (an) amount of work in. You don’t become one of the best players the game has ever seen without showing up every single day. I think that’s one thing that I’ve noticed from him is the consistency, whether that’s in

the weight room, whether that’s in taking care of your body, whether it’s in getting shots up. He’s a Hall of Famer in that regard and that’s why he is who he is — because he consistently puts in the work.”

The numbers show how Harden has so much value to the Cavaliers.

In these playoffs, they are: — 5-1 when he scores at least 22 points (2-4 otherwise).

— 4-0 when he shoots at least

44% (3-5 otherwise).

— 5-0 when he has at least seven field goals (2-5 otherwise).

— 6-1 when he has at least three 3-pointers (1-4 otherwise).

Has it always been smooth? It has not. Harden still turns the ball over often, although that’s sometimes a misunderstood stat because the guys with the ball in their hands more than others are simply going to turn it over more

than most people. He’s three points away from tying Stephen Curry for 10th on the all-time playoff scoring list (which is good), and one turnover away from tying Shaquille O’Neal for the secondmost giveaways in the playoffs in this format that goes back to 1984 (which is not so good).

In fairness, Harden is judged differently than many players.

It comes with the territory — 17 years in the league, 17 playoff appearances, extremely well-paid, extremely well-decorated when it comes to awards, and zero NBA titles. But also, in the interest of fairness, he’s finding ways to make things work with Cleveland despite being put in a role very different than the one he’s been playing for some time.

“This is new for me. I’ve only been here two and a half months,” Harden said. “So, the things that we are going through is all new.”

He’s had to be a second option in Cleveland, the Robin to Donovan Mitchell’s Batman. Such adjustments are not easy to make.

Harden has been trying to do so seamlessly ever since the trade happened — and Cleveland is one win away from the NBA’s final four for the first time since 2018 (and in the non-LeBron James era, the first time since 1992).

“I think we’re building in the right direction,” Harden said.

“And throughout that process, there’s going to be some times where we don’t look as great, but I think overall we’ve all got the right mindset of wanting to help each other be better. And I think we’re finding that.”

SCOREBOARD Odds NBA Friday

FAVORITE LINE at CLEVELAND 3½ San Antonio 4½

MLB

O/U (209½) (218½)

UNDERDOG Detroit at MINNESOTA

LINE +107 OFF LINE OFF +105 LINE +118 -104 +108 OFF OFF +114 +120 OFF OFF OFF +120

College softball NCAA Tournament glance (Double elimination; x-if necessary)

Baton Rouge (La.) Regional Friday’s games

Game 1 — No. 5 Virginia St. (46-10) vs. South Alabama (32-25), 3 p.m.

Game 2 — Akron (34-23) vs. No. 4 LSU (3717), 5:30 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, TBD Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, TBD. Game 5 — Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, TBD

Sunday’s games

Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, TBD x-Game 7 — Game 6 opponents, TBD

Bryan-College Station (Texas) Regional Friday’s games

Game 1 — No. 4 Texas A&M (45-9) vs. UConn (31-26), 1 p.m.

Game 2 — McNeese (40-20) vs. No. 5 Arizona St. (41-16), 3:30 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, TBD Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, TBD Game 5 — Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, TBD

Sunday’s games

Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, TBD x-Game 7 — Game 6 opponents, TBD

Tuscaloosa (Ala.) Regional Friday’s games

Game 1 — No. 1 Alabama (49-7) vs. USC Upstate (36-21), noon Game 2 — Belmont (40-22) vs. No. 8 Southeastern (46-14), 2:30 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, TBD Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, TBD Game 5 — Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, TBD

Sunday’s games

Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, TBD x-Game 7 — Game 6 opponents, TBD

College baseball Southland Conference tournament (Double elimination; x-if necessary)

Hammond bracket Thursday’s games

G1: No. 5 McNeese 11. No. 4 Nicholls 3 G2: No. 1 Southeastern vs. No. 8 HCU, n

Friday’s games

G3. Loser of Game 2 vs. No. 4 Nicholls, 1 p.m.

G4: No. 5 McNeese vs. Winner of Game 2, 6 p.m.

Saturday’s games

G5: Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 1 p.m.

G6: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, 6 p.m.

Sunday’s games

x-G7: Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 6, 1 p.m.

Beaumont Bracket Thursday’s games

G1: No. 6 Northwestern State 6, No. 3 UTRGV 5 G2: No. 2 Lamar vs. No. 7 SFA, n

Friday’s games

G3: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 1 p.m.

G4: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 6 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Thursday, May 7: Carolina 4, Philadelphia 1 Saturday, May 9: Carolina 3, Philadelphia 2, OT

x-G7: Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 6, 1 p.m.

Monday, May 4: Vegas 3, Anaheim 1 Wednesday, May 6: Anaheim 3, Vegas 1 Friday, May 8: Vegas 6, Anaheim 2 Sunday, May 10: Anaheim 4, Vegas 3 Tuesday, May 12: Vegas 3, Anaheim 2, OT Thursday, May 14: Vegas at Anaheim, n x-Saturday, May 16: Anaheim at Vegas, TBA

Sunday’s games

Championship Series May 21

Friday

American League FAVORITE LINE UNDERDOG Toronto -126 at DETROIT Texas OFF at HOUSTON National League FAVORITE LINE UNDERDOG at PITTSBURGH OFF Philadelphia Arizona -125 at COLORADO Interleague FAVORITE LINE UNDERDOG Baltimore -138 at WASHINGTON Miami -112 at TAMPA BAY at CLEVELAND -126 Cincinnati at MINNESOTA OFF Milwaukee at ATLANTA OFF Boston N.Y Yankees -134 at N.Y METS Chicago Cubs -142 at CHI WHITE SOX at ST. LOUIS OFF Kansas City at LA ANGELS OFF LA Dodgers at ATHLETICS OFF San Francisco at SEATTLE -142 San Diego

G5: Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 1 p.m.

G6: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, 6 p.m.

G1: Winner of No. 1 Seed Bracket vs. Winner of No. 2 Seed Bracket

May 22

G2: Winner of No. 1 Seed Bracket vs. Winner of No. 2 Seed Bracket

May 23

x-G3: Winner of No. 1 Seed Bracket vs. Winner of No. 2 Seed Bracket

WESTERN CONFERENCE Vegas 3, Anaheim 2

Colorado 4, Minnesota 1

Sunday, May 3: Colorado 9, Minnesota 6 Tuesday, May 5: Colorado 5, Minnesota 2 Saturday, May 9: Minnesota 5, Colorado 1 Monday, May 11: Colorado 5, Minnesota 2 Wednesday, May 13: Colorado 4, Minn. 3

State schedule

Major League Baseball

Thursday’s games

American League glance

Coastal Carolina at UL, n Alabama A&M at Southern, n Florida at LSU, n Tulane at Rice, n

East Division

Friday’s games

Coastal Carolina at UL, 6 p.m.

Alabama A&M at Southern, 6 p.m.

Florida at LSU, 6:30 p.m.

Tulane at Rice, 6:35 p.m.

Tulane at Rice, 1:05 p.m.

Florida at LSU, 2 p.m.

Coastal Carolina at UL, 2 p.m.

Alabama A&M at Southern, 3 p.m.

Pro basketball SECOND ROUND (Best-of-7; x-if necessary)

Eastern Conference Cleveland 3, Detroit 2

Tuesday, May 5: Detroit 111, Cleveland 101 Thursday, May 7: Detroit 107, Cleveland 97 Saturday, May 9: Cleveland 116, Detroit 109 Monday, May 11: Cleveland 112, Detroit 103 Wednesday, May 13: Clev. 117, Det. 113, OT Friday, May 15: Detroit at Cleveland, TBA x-Sunday, May 17: Cleveland at Detroit, TBA

New York 4, Philadelphia 0

Monday, May 4: New York 137, Phila. 98 Wednesday, May 6: New York 108, Phila. 102 Friday, May 8: New York 108, Philadelphia 94 Sunday, May 10: New York 144, Phila. 114

Western Conference

Oklahoma City 4, L.A. Lakers 0

Tuesday, May 5: OKC 108, L.A. Lakers 90 Thursday, May 7: OKC 125, L.A. Lakers 107 Saturday, May 9: OKC 131, L.A. Lakers 108 Monday, May 11: OKC 115, L.A. Lakers 110

Pct .667 .614 .455 .442 .429

GB — 2 9 9½ 10

Cleveland Chicago Minnesota Kansas City Detroit

W 24 21 20 19 19

L 21 21 24 24 25

Pct .533 .500 .455 .442 .432

GB — 1½ 3½ 4 4½

Athletics Seattle Texas Houston Los Angeles

W 22 22 21 17 16

L 21 23 22 28 28

Pct .512 .489 .488 .378 .364

GB — 1 1 6 6½

Wednesday’s games

Cleveland 4, L.A. Angels 2 Baltimore 7, N.Y. Yankees 0 Boston 3, Philadelphia 1 Toronto 5, Tampa Bay 3, 10 innings Chicago White Sox 6, Kansas City 5 N.Y. Mets 3, Detroit 2, 10 innings Miami 9, Minnesota 5 Texas 6, Arizona 5 Houston 4, Seattle 3, 10 innings Athletics 6, St. Louis 2

Thursday’s games

N.Y. Mets 9, Detroit 4 Minnesota 9, Miami 1 Seattle 8, Houston 3 St. Louis 5, Athletics 4 Philadelphia at Boston, n Kansas City at Chicago White Sox, n

Friday’s games

San Antonio 3, Minnesota 2

Monday, May 4: Minn. 104, San Antonio 102 Wednesday, May 6: San Antonio 133, Minn. 95 Friday, May 8: San Antonio 115, Minn. 108 Sunday, May 10: Minn. 114, San Antonio 109 Tuesday, May 12: San Antonio 126, Minn. 97 Friday, May 15: San Antonio at Minn., 8:30 p.m. x-Sunday, May 17: Minn. at San Antonio, TBA

WNBA glance

Pct 1.000 1.000 .667 .500 .500 .500 .000

GB — — ½ 1 1 1 2½

Pct .667 .667 .500 .500 .500 .333 .333 .000

GB — — ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1½

Toronto 86, Seattle 73 Las Vegas 98, Connecticut 69 Chicago 69, Golden State 63 Indiana 87, Los Angeles 78

Thursday’s games

Minnesota at Dallas, n New York at Portland, n

Friday’s games

Las Vegas at Connecticut, 6:30 p.m.

Washington at Indiana, 6:30 p.m.

Chicago at Phoenix, 9 p.m.

Toronto at Los Angeles, 9 p.m.

Hockey NHL playoff glance SECOND ROUND (Best-of-7; x-if necessary)

EASTERN CONFERENCE Montreal 2, Buffalo 2

Wednesday, May 6: Buffalo 4, Montreal 2 Friday, May 8: Montreal 5, Buffalo 1 Sunday, May 10: Montreal 6, Buffalo 2 Tuesday, May 12: Buffalo 3, Montreal 2 Thursday, May 14: Montreal at Buffalo, n x-Saturday, May 16: Buffalo at Montreal, 7 p.m. x-Monday, May 18: Montreal at Buffalo, TBA

Carolina 4, Philadelphia 0

L 14 17 24 24 24

West Division

NBA playoff glance

Wednesday’s games

W 28 27 20 19 18

Central Division

Saturday’s games

EASTERN CONFERENCE W L Chicago 2 0 Atlanta 2 0 New York 2 1 Washington 1 1 Indiana 1 1 Toronto 1 1 Connecticut 0 3 WESTERN CONFERENCE W L Las Vegas 2 1 Golden State 2 1 Minnesota 1 1 Dallas 1 1 Portland 1 1 Phoenix 1 2 Seattle 1 2 Los Angeles 0 2

Tampa Bay New York Baltimore Toronto Boston

Saturday, May 2: Carolina 3, Philadelphia 0 Monday, May 4: Carolina 3, Philadelphia 2, OT

Baltimore (Baz 1-4) at Washington (Littell 1-4), 5:45 p.m.

Toronto (Yesavage 1-1) at Detroit (Madden 0-0), 5:45 p.m.

Cincinnati (Abbott 2-2) at Cleveland (Bibee 0-5), 6:10 p.m.

Miami (Junk 2-3) at Tampa Bay (Scholtens 3-2), 6:10 p.m.

Milwaukee (TBD) at Minnesota (Ryan 2-3), 6:10 p.m.

Boston (Early 3-2) at Atlanta (Strider 1-0), 6:15 p.m.

N.Y. Yankees (Schlittler 5-1) at N.Y. Mets (Holmes 4-3), 6:15 p.m.

Chicago Cubs (Cabrera 3-1) at Chicago White Sox (Burke 2-3), 6:40 p.m.

Texas (Leiter 1-3) at Houston (Arrighetti 4-1), 7:10 p.m.

Kansas City (Wacha 4-2) at St. Louis (May 3-4), 7:15 p.m.

L.A. Dodgers (Wrobleski 5-1) at L.A. Angels (Kochanowicz 2-2), 8:38 p.m.

San Diego (Vásquez 4-1) at Seattle (Hancock 3-1), 8:40 p.m.

San Francisco (Mahle 1-4) at Athletics (Civale 4-1), 8:40 p.m.

National League glance East Division

Atlanta Washington Philadelphia Miami New York

W 30 21 20 20 18

L 13 23 23 24 25

Pct .698 .477 .465 .455 .419

GB — 9½ 10 10½ 12

Chicago Milwaukee St. Louis Pittsburgh Cincinnati

W 27 24 24 24 23

L 16 17 18 20 21

Pct .628 .585 .571 .545 .523

GB — 2 2½ 3½ 4½

Los Angeles San Diego Arizona San Francisco Colorado

W 25 25 20 18 17

L 18 18 22 25 27

Pct .581 .581 .476 .419 .386

GB — — 4½ 7 8½

Central Division

West Division

Wednesday’s Games

Boston 3, Philadelphia 1 Colorado 10, Pittsburgh 4 Atlanta 4, Chicago Cubs 1 Washington 8, Cincinnati 7, 10 innings N.Y. Mets 3, Detroit 2, 10 innings San Diego 3, Milwaukee 1 Miami 9, Minnesota 5 Texas 6, Arizona 5 Athletics 6, St. Louis 2 L.A. Dodgers 4, San Francisco 0

Thursday’s games

St. Louis at Athletics, n

Cincinnati 15, Washington 1 Pittsburgh 7, Colorado 2 N.Y. Mets 9, Detroit 4 Minnesota 9, Miami 1 Milwaukee 7, San Diego 1 Philadelphia at Boston, n Chicago Cubs at Atlanta, n San Francisco at L.A. Dodgers, n

Friday’s games

Philadelphia (Nola 2-3) at Pittsburgh (Ashcraft 2-2), 5:40 p.m.

Baltimore (Baz 1-4) at Washington (Littell 1-4), 5:45 p.m.

Cincinnati (Abbott 2-2) at Cleveland (Bibee 0-5), 6:10 p.m.

Miami (Junk 2-3) at Tampa Bay (Scholtens 3-2), 6:10 p.m.

Milwaukee (TBD) at Minnesota (Ryan 2-3), 6:10 p.m.

Boston (Early 3-2) at Atlanta (Strider 1-0), 6:15 p.m.

N.Y. Yankees (Schlittler 5-1) at N.Y. Mets (Holmes 4-3), 6:15 p.m.

Chicago Cubs (Cabrera 3-1) at Chicago White Sox (Burke 2-3), 6:40 p.m.

Kansas City (Wacha 4-2) at St. Louis (May 3-4), 7:15 p.m.

Arizona (Kelly 2-3) at Colorado (Freeland 1-4), 7:40 p.m.

L.A. Dodgers (Wrobleski 5-1) at L.A. Angels (Kochanowicz 2-2), 8:38 p.m.

San Diego (Vásquez 4-1) at Seattle (Hancock 3-1), 8:40 p.m.

San Francisco (Mahle 1-4) at Athletics (Civale 4-1), 8:40 p.m.

Pro golf PGA Championship par scores Thursday

At Aronimink Golf Club Newtown Square, Pa. Yardage: 7,394; Par: 70

First Round

Ryo Hisatsune, Japan 34-33—67 -3 Stephan Jaeger, Germany 31-36—67 -3 Martin Kaymer, Germany 34-33—67 -3 Min Woo Lee, Australia 33-34—67 -3 Aldrich Potgieter, South Africa 33-34—67 -3 Scottie Scheffler, USA 34-33—67 -3 Alex Smalley, United States 33-34—67 -3 Daniel Brown, England 34-34—68 -2 Corey Conners, Canada 34-34—68 -2 Max Greyserman, USA 34-34—68 -2 Shane Lowry, Ireland 34-34—68 -2 Patrick Reed, United States 34-34—68 -2 Xander Schauffele, USA 35-33—68 -2 Sahith Theegala, United States 34-34—68 -2 Chandler Blanchet, USA 35-34—69 -1 Bud Cauley, United States 32-37—69 -1 Jason Day, Australia 33-36—69 -1 Ryan Gerard, United States 36-33—69 -1 Garrick Higgo, South Africa 35-34—69 -1 Nicolai Hojgaard, Denmark 34-35—69 -1 Brooks Koepka, United States 35-34—69 -1 Maverick McNealy, USA 35-34—69 -1 Collin Morikawa, United States 34-35—69 -1 Joaquin Niemann, Chile 34-35—69 -1 Andrew Novak, United States 33-36—69 -1 Andrew Putnam, United States 36-33—69 -1 Jon Rahm, Spain 33-36—69 -1 Matti Schmid, Germany 36-33—69 -1 Cameron Smith, Australia 35-34—69 -1 Jordan Spieth, United States 35-34—69 -1 Sam Stevens, United States 36-33—69 -1 Nick Taylor, Canada 33-36—69 -1 Justin Thomas, United States 32-37—69 -1 Michael Block, United States 36-34—70 E Sam Burns, United States 35-35—70 E Patrick Cantlay, United States 36-34—70 E Matt Fitzpatrick, England 35-35—70 E Rickie Fowler, United States 34-36—70 E Ryan Fox, New Zealand 33-37—70 E Brian Harman, United States 34-36—70 E Rico Hoey, Philippines 37-33—70 E Casey Jarvis, South Africa 33-37—70 E Kurt Kitayama, United States 35-35—70 E Robert MacIntyre, Scotland 34-36—70 E Hideki Matsuyama, Japan 35-35—70 E Aaron Rai, England 36-34—70 E Justin Rose, England 37-33—70 E J.J. Spaun, United States 37-33—70 E Akshay Bhatia, United States 32-39—71 +1 Pierceson Coody, United States 35-36—71 +1 Luke Donald, England 34-37—71 +1 Harris English, United States 36-35—71 +1 Ben Griffin, United States 38-33—71 +1 Kazuki Higa, Japan 37-34—71 +1 Daniel Hillier, New Zealand 34-37—71 +1 Si Woo Kim, South Korea 35-36—71 +1 Hao-Tong Li, China 36-35—71 +1 Mikael Lindberg, Sweden 35-36—71 +1 Denny McCarthy, United States 35-36—71 +1 Alex Noren, Sweden 36-35—71 +1 J.T. Poston, United States 34-37—71 +1 David Puig, Spain 35-36—71 +1 Kristoffer Reitan, Norway 37-34—71 +1 Jimmy Walker, United States 36-35—71 +1 Matt Wallace, England 36-35—71 +1 Cameron Young, United States 35-36—71 +1 Ludvig Aberg, Sweden 37-35—72 +2 Angel Ayora Fanegas, Spain 37-35—72 +2 Christiaan Bezuidenhout, SA 36-36—72 +2 Michael Brennan, United States 33-39—72 +2 Brian Campbell, United States 36-36—72 +2 Thomas Detry, Belgium 33-39—72 +2 Alex Fitzpatrick, England 34-38—72 +2 Tommy Fleetwood, England 36-36—72 +2 36-36—72 +2 Chris Gotterup, United States Harry Hall, England 34-38—72 +2 Tyrrell Hatton, England 34-38—72 +2 Russell Henley, United States 36-36—72 +2 Tom Hoge, United States 35-37—72 +2 Rasmus Hojgaard, Denmark 37-35—72 +2 Dustin Johnson, United States 36-36—72 +2 John Keefer, United States 36-36—72 +2

R. Neergaard-Petersen, Den. 37-35—72 +2 Taylor Pendrith, Canada 36-36—72 +2 Adam Scott, Australia 35-37—72 +2 Austin Smotherman, USA 36-36—72 +2 Elvis Smylie, Australia 36-36—72 +2 Brandt Snedeker, United States 35-37—72 +2 Andy Sullivan, England 35-37—72 +2 Bernd Wiesberger, Austria 34-38—72 +2 Gary Woodland, United States 36-36—72 +2 Y.E. Yang, South Korea 37-35—72 +2 Jordan Gumberg, United States 35-38—73 +3 Joe Highsmith, United States 34-39—73 +3 Sungjae Im, South Korea 36-37—73 +3 Kota Kaneko, Japan 36-37—73 +3 Michael Kim, United States 36-37—73 +3 Chris Kirk, United States 34-39—73 +3 Keith Mitchell, United States 36-37—73 +3 John Parry, England 34-39—73 +3 Ben Polland, United States 37-36—73 +3 Sepp Straka, Austria 37-36—73 +3 Sami Valimaki, Finland 36-37—73 +3 Jhonattan Vegas, Venezuela 36-37—73 +3 Daniel Berger, United States 37-37—74 +4 Keegan Bradley, United States 36-38—74 +4 Jacob Bridgeman, United States 40-34—74 +4 Ricky Castillo, United States 39-35—74 +4 Stewart Cink, United States 37-37—74 +4 Padraig Harrington, Ireland 38-36—74 +4 Ian Holt, United States 36-38—74 +4 Billy Horschel, United States 36-38—74 +4 Viktor Hovland, Norway 38-36—74 +4 Ben Kern, United States 39-35—74 +4 David Lipsky, United States 38-36—74 +4 Rory McIlroy, N. Ireland 39-35—74 +4 Tom McKibbin, N. Ireland 37-37—74 +4 William Mouw, United States 34-40—74 +4 Travis Smyth, Australia 38-36—74 +4 Wyndham Clark, United States 39-36—75 +5 Tyler Collet, United States 35-40—75 +5 Jason Dufner, United States 38-37—75 +5 Nicolas Echavarria, Colombia 37-38—75 +5 Max Homa, United States 37-38—75 +5 Ryan Lenahan, United States 38-37—75 +5 Paul McClure, United States 34-41—75 +5 Marco Penge, England 37-38—75 +5 Adrien Saddier, France 37-38—75 +5 Garrett Sapp, United States 38-37—75 +5 Jayden Trey Schaper, S. Africa 39-36—75 +5 Adam Schenk, United States 35-40—75 +5 Jordan L. Smith, England 37-38—75 +5 Timothy Wiseman, USA 38-37—75 +5 Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Can. 38-37—75 +5 Francisco Bide, Argentina 36-40—76 +6 Bryson DeChambeau, USA 37-39—76 +6 Steven Fisk, United States 36-40—76 +6 Lucas Glover, United States 37-39—76 +6 Emiliano Grillo, Argentina 38-38—76 +6 Zach Haynes, United States 39-37—76 +6 Max McGreevy, United States 37-39—76 +6 Jesse Droemer, United States 37-40—77 +7 Chris Gabriele, United States 39-38—77 +7 Matthew McCarty, United States 39-38—77 +7 Shaun Micheel, United States 37-40—77 +7 Patrick Rodgers, United States 39-38—77 +7 Michael Thorbjornsen, USA 39-38—77 +7 Ryan Vermeer, United States 34-43—77 +7 Derek Berg, United States 34-44—78 +8 Davis Riley, United States 38-40—78 +8 Bryce Fisher, United States 39-40—79 +9 Austin Hurt, United States 39-40—79 +9 Michael Kartrude, United States 40-39—79 +9 Jared Jones, United States 40-40—80+10 Mark Geddes, England 39-42—81+11 Braden Shattuck, United States 38-43—81+11

Transactions Major League Baseball

American League ATHLETICS — Acquired LHP José Suarez from Seattle for cash considerations. Designated CF Junior Perez for assignment.

MINNESOTA TWINS — Optioned RF Matt Wallner and RHP Travis Adams to St. Paul (IL). Recalled CF Ryan Kreidler and RHP Zebby Matthews from St. Paul.

SEATTLE MARINERS — Placed C Cal Raleigh on the 10-day IL. Reinstated LHP José A. Ferrer from the paternity list. Recalled C Jhonny Pereda from Tacoma (PCL). Optioned LHP Josh Simpson to Tacoma.

National League CINCINNATI REDS — Sent C P.J. Higgins outright to Louisville (IL).

COLORADO ROCKIES — Placed RHP Jimmy Herget on the 15-day IL retroactive to May 13. Recalled RHP Tanner Gordon from Albuquerque (PCL).

MIAMI MARLINS — Optioned RHP Josh Ekness to Jacksonville (IL).

MILWAUKEE BREWERS — Sent LHP Rob Zastryzny to Nashville (IL) on a rehab assignment.

NEW YORK METS — Agreed to terms with SS Jaylen Palmer on a minor league contract.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS — Sent RHP Cole Henry to FCL Nationals on a rehab assignment. Recalled LHP Braxton Garrett from Jacksonville.

BASKETBALL

Women’s National Basketball Association CONNECTICUT SUN — Activated F Nell Angloma. Waived G Shey Peddy.

FOOTBALL

National Football League ARIZONA CARDINALS — Signed LB Stephen Dix Jr. to a UDFA contract.

ATLANTA FALCONS — Signed CB Avieon Terrell and DT Antonio Thompson to rookie contracts.

CLEVELAND BROWNS — Signed S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren to a rookie contract.

GREEN BAY PACKERS — Signed CB Brandon Cisse to a rookie contract. Claimed WR Brenden Rice off waivers from Las Vegas.

HOUSTON TEXANS — Signed TE Marlin Klein to a rookie contract.

Jazz and blues for a cause A fundraiser featuring performances by Lil Ray Neal and Lori St. George will support restoration of the historic Lincoln Theater on Friday at the Manship Theatre. The evening begins with a 6 p.m. cocktail hour, a 7 p.m. presentation and 7:30 p.m. concert. $81.88. eventbrite.com.

LIVING

T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M

|

F r i d ay, M ay 15, 2026

5CN

TH E N EW PO RN O G RA P HERS/W ILL S HEFF 8 p.m. Sunday l Chelsea’s Live, 1010 Nicholson Drive, Baton Rouge l $47.29 l chelseaslive.com and thenewpornographers.com

PROVIDED PHOTO

‘Whose Live Anyway?’ offers 90 minutes of improvised comedy and song all based on audience suggestions. Providing all the laughs are, from left, Joel Murray, Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops and Jeff B. Davis.

Next in line ‘Whose Live Anyway?’ takes TV improv series on the road

Staff report Fans will remember this foursome from the Emmy-nominated, longtime TV comedy series “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”

Now, Greg Proops, Jeff B. Davis, Ryan Stiles and Joel Murray will be live on the River Center Theatre for Performing Arts stage when their new improv tour, “Whose Live Anyway?” stops in Baton Rouge on Nov. 20.

The show offers 90 minutes of improvised comedy and song, all based on audience suggestions.

“Cast members will leave you gasping with the very witty scenes they invent before your eyes. Audience participation is key to the show, so bring your suggestions and you might be asked to join the cast onstage,” a news release states.

This style of improvisational comedy lends itself to gags, oneliners, hilarious games and even songs so good that audiences hardly believe they were made up on the spot.

“The teamwork and trust that it takes to perform a show with no script is apparent, but when the best of the best do it, they do it effortlessly,” the release also states. “Watch them build entire scenes, characters and storylines right before your eyes as they take you on a whiteknuckle ride through endless chuckles.”

Stiles’ television credits include roles on “The Drew Carey Show” and “Two and a Half Men,” while Proops voiced animated characters in “Star Wars: Episode 1,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Brother Bear.” However, both got their start as comedians.

Davis is also a veteran improv comedian and starred in the cult classic cartoon series “Harmonquest.” He has also starred in “Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show” and “Improv-a-Ganza.”

He’s known for his spot-on impressions of Christoper Walken, Keanu Reeves and Jeff Goldblum.

Murray is the youngest of the nine Murray brothers, which includes Bill Murray, but has become a star in his own right.

Though he has more than 250 sitcom appearances, he is best known for his recurring

ä See LINE, page 6C

PROVIDED PHOTO

A spring tour brings The New Pornographers to Chelsea’s Live on Sunday for its first Baton Rouge performance.

Headed for its 30th year and release of its 10th album, pop-rockers continue to relish living their dreams

N

BY JOHN WIRT

|

Contributing writer

ew music, new album, new tour.

For musical artists big, small and in between, that’s the classic modus operandi.

A. C. Newman feels fortunate the model still works for The New Pornographers.

“Just realizing how cool it is that that’s my job,” he said of the acclaimed and successful pop-rock supergroup he launched in 1997. “I get to create things.”

The New Pornographers are a year away from the 30th anniversary of the band’s creation in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Following the March 27 release of the band’s 10th album, “The Former Site Of,” a spring tour comes to Chelsea’s Live on Sunday. It’s the group’s first Baton Rouge performance. ä See SHAPE, page 6C

Beyoncé’s Met Gala gown homage to Southern artist Jay-Z, from left, Beyoncé and Blue Ivy Carter arrive at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala in New york.

INVISION/AP PHOTO

By EVAN AGOSTINI

BY DOUG MacCASH

ingly, the outfit was adorned with a bejeweled skeleton motif that matched her anatomy.

Online sources identified the Pop diva Beyoncé glittered at The Metropolitan Museum of designer of the gown as Olivier Art’s Costume Institute benefit Rousteing and reported that it had been inspired by a spooky gala in Manhattan on May 4.

The superstar singer appeared 1944 lithograph of a skeleton at the arty party in a form-fitting wearing a translucent frock. translucent gown that trailed a ä See BEYONCÉ, page 6C long, gray, feathery train. Strik-

Staff writer

6C ● Friday, May 15, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

TODAY IN HISTORY

By The Associated Press Today is Friday, May 15, the 135th day of 2026.

There are 230 days left in the year.

Today in history: On May 15, 1970, less than two weeks after the National Guard shooting at Kent State University, two Black students at Jackson State College in Mississippi were killed and 12 were injured when police opened fire during student demonstrations.

Also on this date: In 1800, President John Adams ordered government offices to relocate from Philadelphia to the newly-constructed city of Washington, in the federal District of Columbia.

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act establishing the Department of Agriculture.

In 1928, the Walt Disney cartoon character Mickey Mouse appeared for the first time in front of a public audience in a test screening of the short

SHAPE

Continued from page 5C Previous New Pornographers shows in Louisiana happened in New Orleans, but the practical and financial requirements of touring mean the band rarely reaches Louisiana.

“Sometimes we get as far as Atlanta and turn right,” Newman said from a tour date near Pittsburgh. “But I love the vibe of Louisiana.

Being Canadian, I’m connected to Acadiana, which is French-speaking. I love little cultures within cultures. That’s how it should be.”

Six or seven songs from The New Pornographers’ new album are in the group’s spring setlist, Newman said, as well as songs from nine previous albums. Three selections come from the especially well-loved 2005 release, “Twin Cinema.”

Newman and The New Pornographers, noted for years for their power-pop prowess, turned subtler in recent years. “The Former Site Of” moves forward comparatively gently on circling keyboard and guitar riffs and breathy, understated singing from Newman. Sometimes his singing and contemplative lyrics suggest a latter-day Paul Simon. When Neko Case and Kathryn Calder decorate Newman’s lead vocals, the collective singing resembles Simon and Garfunkel, the

“Plane Crazy.” (Mickey made his formal screen debut with the release of “Steamboat Willie” six months later.)

In 1940, brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first McDonald’s fast-food restaurant, in San Bernardino, California.

In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its In re Gault decision, ruled that juveniles accused of crimes were entitled to the same due process afforded adults.

In 1972, Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was shot and left paralyzed while campaigning for president in Laurel, Maryland, by Arthur H. Bremer, who would serve 35 years in prison for the attempted murder.

In 1972, the U.S. returned administrative control to Japan of the island of Okinawa, which had been seized by American forces near the end of World War II in 1945. (The U.S. maintained a significant military presence on Okinawa.)

In 2015, a jury sentenced Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to

Byrds and more 1960s vocal groups.

After traveling with as many as eight band members, this year’s tour edition of the band has merely five members — Newman plus longtime members John Collins, bass; Todd Fancey, guitar; Kathryn Calder, vocals; and newly recruited drummer Josh Wells.

Wells (Destroyer, Black Mountain) is a great fit, Newman said. “He’s a really awesome, kind, cool guy. We know him from the Vancouver days in the early 2000s.

It feels like a cool continuation, almost like he should have been our drummer from the beginning.”

Despite the absence of original New Pornographer Case from the current tour, Newman says the band is in “fighting shape.”

“We’re as good as we’ve ever been, and I feel as uncynical about music as I have in a long, long time,” he said.

Music has provided a good living for Newman and his family.

“I’m not set for life, but I don’t worry about losing my house,” he said. “I’m not scared, like, ‘Oh, this record has to do really well or else I’m screwed.’ I don’t have that weight on my shoulders.”

Newman’s band’s financial success enabled him to move from Vancouver to New York City in 2006. He moved to the musician-filled town of Woodstock in 2009.

“I still love being in New York (City),” he said. “When

BEYONCÉ

Continued from page 5C The artist who created the print, titled “Visitor,” was a renowned New Orleansborn artist named Caroline Durieux, who was a professor at both Tulane University and LSU, where she influenced generations of Bayou State artists from the 1930s to 1960s.

Durieux, who’s long life spanned 1886 to 1989, was known for her paintings and prints that satirized the foibles of society. Baton Rouge art collector Jeremy K. Simien said that the pioneering female artist often brought a “Southern gothic edge” to her art.

“Visitor,” Simien said, probably reflects Durieux’s knowledge of Day of the Dead imagery that she became acquainted during her three-year sojourn to Mexico City in the 1920s.

Simien said Durieux was known for employing experimental media in her work. He said he owns one of her pieces that was created using radioactive ink.

Simien said he recently con-

LINE

PROVIDED IMAGE FROM THE LSU MUSEUM OF ART

‘Visitor,’ a 1944 lithograph on paper by Caroline Wogan Durieux, may have been the inspiration for Beyoncé’s stunning 2026 Met gala gown.

death for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three and left more than 260 wounded.

In 2020, President Donald Trump formally unveiled a coronavirus vaccine program called “Operation Warp Speed,” to speed development of COVID-19 vaccines and quickly distribute them around the country.

Today’s birthdays: Artist Jasper Johns is 96. Counterculture icon Wavy Gravy is 90. Actor-singer Lainie Kazan is 86. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson is 86. Musician Brian Eno is 78. Actor Chazz Palminteri is 74. Baseball Hall of Famer George Brett is 73. Rapper Melle Mel is 65. Baseball Hall of Famer John Smoltz is 59.

Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith is 57. Football Hall of Famer Ray Lewis is 51. Actor Jamie-Lynn Sigler is 45. Tennis player Andy Murray is 39. French soccer player Ousmane Dembele is 29. Pop singer Haerin is 20.

you walk down the street in New York, it feels like everybody has a different vibe. And it’s not just ethnicity. It’s hard to describe, exactly, but everyone I see, I think ‘What is their story?’ ” The sprawling big city that’s home to 8.5 million people is not unfriendly, he added.

“There are a lot of people, and maybe some people are brusque,” he said. “But when I lived in Brooklyn, I was friends with people who lived on the floor and in the building. When I lived in Vancouver, I never once spoke to the guy who lived across the hall from me. For me, New York is a much friendlier place.”

Newman loves Woodstock, too.

“It’s a cool little community, full of a ton of amazing musicians. I know way more musicians in the little town of Woodstock than I did in Vancouver. My wife met Maria Muldaur. I encounter Donald Fagen (Steely Dan), occasionally. We’re friends with Amy Helm, so we’re connected to the world around the Levon Helm Studios.”

Feeling good about his choice of professions, Newman doesn’t sympathize with fellow music pros who lament their lot.

“I’m like, ‘Give me a break,” he said. “It must be so terrible following your dreams.’ ” Email John Wirt at j_wirt@ msn.com.

The artwork’s relation to the immeasurably famous Beyoncé would have probably enhanced its value considerably, he said. “I screwed up big,” Simien said, laughing.

Though the relationship between Beyonce’s Met Gala gown and Durieux has been widely reported, the source of the information is unclear. Nonetheless, Simien said it makes sense, since Beyoncé has long celebrated her Louisiana roots.

Her maternal grandmother, Agnez Dereon, was born in New Iberia, and her grandfather Lumas Beyince was from Abbeville.

“It’s pretty clear what’s going on,” Simien said. “She’s very much involved in her Creole heritage.”

Durieux donated a trove of her artworks to LSU, including “Visitor,” because she hoped to preserve a record of her career with the university, according to Michelle Schulte, chief curator of the LSU Museum of Art. A traveling exhibit of her works is planned for the fall.

sidered buying an example of the original edition of the “Visitor” print on Ebay, but the price, which was in the thousands of dollars, wasn’t Email Doug MacCash at in his art acquisition budget dmaccash@theadvocate. at the moment. com.

Jackson on “Shameless.” He has also appeared in “One Continued from page 5C Crazy Summer,” “The Artist,” “Scrooged” and Bobcat Goldthwait’s “God Bless roles like Freddy Rumsen America.”

The live concert showon “Mad Men” and Eddie

cases some of the improv games made famous on the long-running TV series, as well as some new ones.

Tickets to the all-ages show are on sale at Ticketmaster.com.

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE

Catch some zydeco when Rusty Metoyer plays Rock ‘n’ Bowl de Lafayette at 9 p.m. Sunday.

SHOWS TO WATCH — ACADIANA FRIDAY

LIVE MUSIC: Cane River Pecan Company Pie Bar, New Iberia, 5 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza & Brewery, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Naq’s-n-Duson, Duson, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6 p.m.

NICKI NEEDHAM DUO: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

FRIDAY NIGHT JAMS: La Maison de Begnaud, Scott, 6 p.m.

BLAKE LUQUETTE: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.

KIP SONNIER: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

ECLIPSE FEST DAY 1: Feed N Seed, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

JACOB RHYMES COMBO: Whiskey and Vine, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

JOHNNY NICHOLAS: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

KALAMITY, EFFIGY, & DOOGIE: The Loose Caboose, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

THE SLACKERS: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

THE ROUGE KREWE: Rock ‘n’ Bowl de Lafayette, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

SATURDAY

WAYNE & SAME OL 2 STEP: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 8 a.m.

CAJUN JAM: Moncus Park, Lafayette, 9 a.m.

SATURDAY MORNING JAM SESSIONS: The Savoy Music Center, Eunice, 9 a.m.

ACADIANA PO-BOY & PLATE LUNCH FESTIVAL: West Village, Scott, 11 a.m.

CAJUN JAM: Tante Marie, Breaux Bridge, 11 a.m.

CAJUN FRENCH MUSIC JAM: Vermilionville Living History Museum & Folklife Park, Lafayette, 1 p.m.

JAMMIN’ ON THE BAYOU: St. Landry Visitor Center, Opelousas, 1 p.m.

“K-POP WARRIORS LIVE”: Cajundome, Lafayette, 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

CIRCUS MUTT: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza & Brewery, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6 p.m.

CLIFF BERNARD: SHUCKS!,

Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.

DANNY AIRHART: Tap Room, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.

THE CAST: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

12/16 TRIO: Whiskey and Vine, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

ECLIPSE FEST DAY 2: Feed N Seed, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

HIGH PERFORMANCE: La Poussiere Cajun Dancehall, Breaux Bridge, 8 p.m.

JAMIE BERGERON & THE KICKIN’ CAJUNS: Lakeview Park, Eunice, 8 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: The Barrel of Broussard, Broussard, 8 p.m.

THE JOSH MENDOZA EXPERIENCE: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

T J GAUTREAUX AND LOUISIANA SOUL: Toby’s Lounge, Opelousas, 8:30 p.m.

SPANK THE MONKEY: Rock ‘n’ Bowl de Lafayette, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

SUNDAY

LIVE MUSIC: Tante Marie, Breaux Bridge, 11 a.m.

THE SUNDAY PEOPLE: Whiskey and Vine, Lafayette, 11 a.m.

LES FRERES MICHOT: Prejean’s, Carencro, 11:30 a.m.

BAL DU DIMANCHE — THE REVELERS: Vermilionville Living History Museum & Folklife Park, Lafayette, 1 p.m.

CAJUN JAM: Bayou Teche Brewing, Arnaudville, 2 p.m.

GROCASE I — “LIVING GALLERY”: Cité des Arts, Lafayette, 2 p.m.

ACADIANA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: “HAYDN, POULENC, MILHAUD”: St. Mary Catholic Church, Lafayette, 2 p.m.

HORACE TRAHAN: Cypress Cove Landing, Breaux Bridge, 3 p.m.

FORET TRADITION: Pat’s Atchafalaya Club, Henderson, 4:30 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

ACADIAN SPECIAL: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

RUSTY METOYER: Rock ‘n’ Bowl de Lafayette, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

MONDAY

PATRICIO LATINO SOLO: Cafe Habana City, Lafayette, 11 a.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

BLUEGRASS JAM: Cité des Arts, Lafayette, 6:30 p.m.

TUESDAY

ACADIANA TALENT PRESENTS STORYTELLERS: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

ROB SAXXY: Whiskey and Vine, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

TERRY HUVAL & FRIENDS: Prejean’s Restaurant, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

GREENLIGHT SESSIONS OPEN MIC: The Jefferson Street Greenroom, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

OOF COMEDY HOUR OPEN MIC: Cité des Arts, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

DULCIMER JAM: St. Landry Visitor Center, Opelousas, 10 a.m.

ANDREW WAIN & LOGAN TURNER JAZZ: Whiskey and Vine, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

DION PIERRE: Park Bistro, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

MERCREDI SHOW FEATURING GENO DELAFOSE: Pelican Park Mercredi Stage, Carencro, 6 p.m.

WANTED WEDNESDAY KARAOKE NIGHT: The Barrel of Broussard, Broussard, 6 p.m.

DYLON ERVIN: Tap Room, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.

CAJUN JAM: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

NICKI NEEDHAM: Gloria’s Bar & Grill, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

THURSDAY

LADIES NIGHT WITH DJ DONOVAN IN THE MIX: Cowboys Nightclub, Scott, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Naq’s-n-Duson, Duson, 6 p.m.

DUSTIN SONNIER: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.

CAT HEAD BISCUIT BOYS: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

COUILLON FEST: Cité des Arts, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

PAUL TASSIN DUO: Whiskey and Vine, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

KARAOKE PARTY — PANDA ENTERTAINMENT: Black Bull, Youngsville, 8 p.m.

Compiled by Marchaund Jones. Want your venue’s music listed? Email info/ photos to showstowatch@ theadvocate.com. The deadline is noon FRIDAY for the following Friday’s paper.

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6236-0625

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Friday, May 15, 2026 ● 7C

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FrAnK And erneSt

bIG nAte

zItS

zodIAC TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Charm, understanding and optimism will guide you to the winner's circle. How you respond to those closest to you will unveil what you get in return. Put your energy toward getting along, and erase any anger brewing in the background.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Push for change.

Do the groundwork, and don't overestimate or underestimate what others will do to get in your way. Pay attention to how you look and feel, and say no to temptation.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Take a moment to study your options, and dedicate more time to what's important to you. Trying to cram too much into your day will contribute to falling short of your expectations.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Dig in, learn all you can, build momentum and initiate plans.

Seeing something through from beginning to end will satisfy your soul and put you in a position to further your plans.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Sign up for something that offers insight into new possibilities. Finding unique ways to apply your skills will open a window of opportunity to engage in a project that's new and exciting.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Connect and collaborate with people who share your interests, skills and plans. You must be innovative, selective and constantly searching to find ways to use and market your experience to accelerate what's trending.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Pay attention to detail. Look for opportunities involving people you already know and trust. Put your energy into development, offering hands-on help and letting your creativity shine through.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Indulge in something you enjoy doing with people who bring out the best in you. How you use your space at home, or the social places you frequent, will set the stage for a unique experience.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Don't put yourself on display. Lie low, engage in self-improvement projects or sign up for activities or events that give you a chance to meet people who share the same likes and dislikes.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Self-improvement will be uplifting. Participate in activities that help you look and feel your best. Explore friendships.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Be honest with yourself and those close to you regarding how you feel and the changes you want to pursue. Be aware of how your decisions will affect others, and offer compensation or a way to include them.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Walk away from emotionally explosive situations before they have a chance to erupt. Direct your energy into something that makes a difference.

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

For better or For WorSe WonderWord

peAnUtS

SALLY Forth

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

TODAy'S CLUE: F EQUALS I

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

8C ● Friday, May 15, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

CurTiS

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Sudoku InstructIons: Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers.

The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

BaBY BLueS

BLondie

THe wiZard oF id

nea CroSSwordS

La TimeS CroSSword

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Friday, May 15, 2026 ● 9C

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B.C.

Bridge

BY PHILLIP ALDER Mark Twain said, “Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

At the bridge table, if you play right, you will gratify your partner, astonish those who do not rate your game highly, and irk the opponents.

Sometimes, of course, you rely on partner’s giving you accurate information, without which you will not do right. In this deal, how should the defenders card to defeat two spades after West leads the diamond ace?

North was tempted to pass out one no-trump. but knew that the percentage action was to retreat into spades; here, via a transfer bid. (One no-trump can be defeated by two tricks.) West was tempted to double two spades for takeout, but that would have been dangerous because North could have had a strong hand, and here would have turned a potential plus into a definite minus.

At first glance, South has only five losers: one spade, two hearts and two diamonds. He can get to dummy with a diamond ruff and the club king to take two spade finesses. But ...

Under West’s diamond ace, East should drop his queen, showing the jack as well.

ThenWestoughttoshifttotheheartking, under which East plays his six, starting a high-low with a doubleton. South ducks, but now West leads a low diamond to get

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

his partner on play. And East returns his second heart.

Declarer wins with his ace, ruffs his last diamond in the dummy and takes a spade finesse. But West wins the trick, cashes the heart queen, and leads another heart. East overruffs the dummy to defeat the contract. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

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

PiCKles

Previous answers:

mallard fillmore

word game InsTRucTIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3.

Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

ToDAY’s WoRD — FoRAYED: FOR-ade: Made an initial and often tentative

Bizarro

marmaduKe

attempt to do something.

Average mark 26 words Time limit 40 minutes Can you find 35 or more words in FORAYED? YEsTERDAY’s WoRD — VERTIGo veto vier vigor vireo vote voter ergo riot rite rive rivet

rote roti rove tier tiger tire tore trig trio trove give

giver goiter gore grit grove ogre over overt

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” Genesis 3:12

We can’t blame someone else or God for our sin. We are guilty period. — G.E. Dean

10C ● Friday, May 15, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Garage Sales LAFAYETTE 211 Sleepy Hollow., Sat, May 16, 7a12p. Most items under $1. Rest mostly under $5. Crafting, teaching, beauty, toys, Disney, party.

.theacadianaadvocate.com The Classified/Public Notice Department will be closed on

The Classified Advertising Department will be closed on

in observance of

in observance of

MONDAY ONDAY,, MAY 25TH 25T

Memorial Day

And will be observing the following Early Deadline: Deadline: Thursday May 21 @ 3pm

Run Date Tuesday May 26 Wednesday May 27

Call (225) 383-0111 - Option 3 then Press Option 1 or email: Classifieds at ClassifiedAds@theadvocate.com or Public Notices at legal.ads@theadvocate.com

Public Notices

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

PUBLIC NOTICE --Advertisement for Request for Proposal Notice is hereby given that a sealed Request for Proposal (RFP) will be re‐ ceived by the Lafayette Parish School System Purchasing Department located at 202 Rue Iberville, Lafayette, LA 70508, or electronically at www.centerlinebidco nnect.com until 2:00 p.m.

CST on June 8, 2026. Pro‐ posals received after this time will not be consid‐ ered. Delivery to any de‐ partment other than the Purchasing Department is unacceptable and may result in nonSealed proposals shall be clearly marked: Fire Alarm Inspections, Testing, and Monitoring Services; Sprinkler Sys‐ tem Inspections and Testing Services; Kitchen Hood Inspection and Fire Extinguisher Inspections RFP# 46-26 Opening: June 8, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. CST The Lafayette Parish School System (LPSS) is soliciting proposals from prospective licensed Fire Alarm and Sprinkler Con‐ tractors for Fire Alarm In‐ spections, Testing, and Monitoring Services, Sprinkler System Inspec‐ tions and Testing Ser‐ vices, Kitchen Hood In‐ spections, and Fire Extin‐ guisher Inspections.

LPSS will award this RFP to one respondent, based upon the evaluation of all proposals received. One Contract will be exe‐ cuted with the success‐ ful Contractor as a result of this process.

Complete Proposal Docu‐ ments may be obtained without charge and with‐ out deposit from www. centerlinebidconnect. com. All electronic pro‐ posals shall be uploaded by the due date and time stated above. Questions about this procedure should be directed to: Centerline – Phone: 504291-5738, email bidcon‐ nect@centerline.com.

Contractors must submit sealed proposals in the form of the executed Offer Form and Price Offer Sheets together with any material re‐ quired by the RFP by the time and date specified.

All proposals must re‐ main open for ninety (90) days from the opening date pending acceptance

by LPSS.

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

A Pre-Proposal Confer‐ ence will be held in con‐ junction with the Re‐ quest for Proposal at 10:00 a.m. CST on Thurs‐ day, May 19, 2026, at the Lafayette Parish School System District Office lo‐ cated at 202 Rue Iberville, Lafayette, LA 70508.

Specifications will be available beginning May 8, 2026.

The Lafayette Parish School System strongly encourages the partici‐ pation of minority-owned and small business en‐ terprises.

The Lafayette Parish School System reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and to waive any informalities or irregularities in the pro‐ posals received, when such action is deemed to be in the best interest of the School System.

Lafayette Parish School System Kristie Sam, Purchasing and Procure‐ ment Coordinator Advertisement Dates: May 8, 2026 May 15, 2026 May 22, 2026 187023-may 8-15-22-3t $101

Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE --Lafayette Parish School Board - Board Insurance Committee Meeting March 4, 2026 Minutes 2:00 PM Lafayette Parish School Board 202 Rue Iberville Lafayette, LA 70508 Meeting called to order: 2:01 PM 1. ROLL CALL 1.1 Roll Call - Board Insur‐ ance/Finance Committee - Joshua Edmond - Dis‐ trict 3; Hannah Smith Mason - District 8 and Je‐ remy Hidalgo - District 9 Members present: Han‐ nah Smith Mason and Je‐ remy Hidalgo Members absent: Joshua Edmond Other members present: None 2. AGENDA 2.1 COMMITTEE: Review and Approval of LPSB Board Insurance/Finance Committee Meeting Min‐ utes on February 11, 2026 - Hidalgo d

g LPSB - Board Insur‐ ance/Finance Committee Meeting - Feb 11 2026 Minutes - Html That the committee ap‐ prove the minutes from the Board Insurance/Fi‐ nance Committee Meet‐ ing on February 11, 2026.

Moved by: Hannah Smith Mason; seconded by: Je‐ remy Hidalgo Yes: Hannah Smith Mason and Jeremy Hi‐ dalgo Carried 2-0

Run Date Tuesday May 26 Wednesday May 27

As always, you may place your ad 7 days a week, 24 hours a day online at www.theadvocate.com or call Monday – Friday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM (225) 383-0111 Legal Notices

p vendors and choose the top two vendors to bring to the Board Insurance Committee with best and final offers. The program chosen will go live Janu‐ ary 1, 2027 for active members as well as NonMedicare retirees.

3. ADJOURN 3.1 There being no fur‐ ther business, the meet‐ ing adjourned. /s/Jeremy Hidalgo Jeremy Hidalgo, Chairperson

Legal Notices

Infrastructure Improve‐ ments, Segment III (Rail‐ road to Lewis Street) Pro‐ ject a public necessity and authorizing the ac‐ quisition of the neces‐ sary rights-of-way, im‐ movable property and other property rights requisite to the construc‐ tion of said project, ei‐ ther on an amicable basis or through the proper use of the expro‐ priation process if neces‐ sary. (CID)

classify the property of Case No. 2026-4-REZ 110 & 112 Row 2 Rezoning, lo‐ cated generally north of Row 3, west of West Pin‐ hook Road, and south of Row 1; being rezoned from IH (IndustrialHeavy) to IL (IndustrialLight). (CD&P)

CALL TO ORDER 1. Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance

JOINT ORDINANCE FOR FINAL ADOPTION

2. COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS

8. JO-016-2026 A joint or‐ dinance of the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget and ad‐ justing the manning ta‐ bles of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government to provide funding for a salary ad‐ justment within the Of‐ fice of Finance & Man‐ agement. (Finance)

3.4.26 BIC Gallagher Pre‐ sentation.pdf

REGULAR MEETING LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL 705 W. University Avenue, Ted A. Ardoin City-Parish Council Auditorium TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2026 5:30 p.m.

187793-may 15-1t $ PUBLIC NOTICE ---

AGENDA

3. EXECUTIVE/MAYORPRESIDENT’S REPORT

ORDINANCES FOR FINAL ADOPTION 4. CO-033-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette City Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government by increas‐ ing revenues in the amount of $28,616 re‐ ceived from the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement (LCLE) authorizing the transfer of matching funds in the amount of $9,539 from Fund 101 and appropriating within the Lafayette Police Depart‐ ment. (Police) 5. CO-034-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette City Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government by increas‐ ing revenues in the amount of $25,843 re‐ ceived from the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement (LCLE) and appropriating within the Lafayette Po‐ lice Department. (Police) 6. CO-035-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette City Council declaring the Johnston St./LA. Ave.

CATS RAGAMUFFIN & RAGDOLL KITTENS www.CatsByFrancy.com/kittens $1500up! Reg. Shots & Guaranty 337-230-3150

Legal Notices

7. CO-036-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette City Council authorizing the Lafayette MayorPresident to execute an act of cash sale by and between the City of Lafayette and G&M Part‐ nership for the price and sum of $280,000 for the acquisition by the City of Lafayette of that certain property, with improve‐ ments and appurtenant servitudes and property rights, having a munici‐ pal address of 113 E. Sim‐ coe Street, Lafayette, Louisiana, for the pre‐ sent purpose of improve‐ ment and expansion of the Utilities Department and for other present or future permissible pur‐ poses. (Utilities)

/s/Francis Touchet, Jr. Francis Touchet, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer

INTRODUCTORY ORDINANCES 9. CO-037-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette City Council amending the Lafayette Develop‐ ment Code so as to re‐ classify the property of Case No. 2026-1-AZON Hobson Street and North Buchanan Street Admin‐ istrative Rezoning, lo‐ cated generally north of Mudd Avenue, west of North Buchanan Street, and south of North Buchanan Street; 311, 313 & 315 (on one lot), 319, 401, 405 & 407 North Buchanan Street, 100, 101, 102, 106 & 107 Hob‐ son Street, and 101, 103 & 107 Mudd Avenue being rezoned from IL (Indus‐ trial-Light) to MN-2 (Mixed-Use Neighbor‐ hood). (CD&P) 10. CO-038-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette City Council amending the Lafayette Develop‐ ment Code so as to re‐

11. CO-039-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette City Council amending the Lafayette Develop‐ ment Code and the offi‐ cial map of the City of Lafayette, providing for the annexation of addi‐ tional land into the Cor‐ porate Limits of the City of Lafayette, Louisiana, Case No. 2026-6-REZ 300 Block Tolson Road An‐ nexation (Lots 1-5), lo‐ cated generally north of Hamilton Parc Way, east of Tolson Road, and south of Terville Avenue; and assigning a zoning classification of CM-1 (Commercial Mixed) (Dis‐ trict 4). (CD&P) 12. CO-040-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette City Council approving a Conditional Use Permit to allow a dwelling, twofamily (duplex) in a RS-1 (Residential Single-Fam‐ ily) zoning district, Case No. 2026-7-REZ 100 Wilkins Street CUP (Con‐ ditional Use Permit), lo‐ cated generally north of Markham Street, east of Liston Street, and south of Hammond Road.

(CD&P) 13. CO-041-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette City Council amending the Lafayette Develop‐ ment Code and the offi‐ cial map of the City of Lafayette, providing for the annexation of addi‐ tional land into the cor‐ porate limits of the City of Lafayette, Louisiana, Case No. 2026-8-REZ 100 Block Darbonne Road An‐ nexation, located gener‐ ally north of Woodbridge Drive, east of Tolson Road, and south of Dar‐ bonne Road; and assign‐ ing a zoning classifica‐ tion of RM-1 (Residential Mixed) (District 4).

(CD&P) 14. CO-042-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette City Council amending the FY 25/26 operating and capital budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Govern‐ ment by increasing the use of Fund Balance in the City General Fund (Fund 1010) by $1,195,000 and appropriating for the external appropriation to ACA Music Museum and increasing the City Com‐ bined Bond Fund (Fund by 4410) Reserve $1,195,000 and removing the ACA Music Museum Bond Project. (Finance)

STORE.THEADVOCATE.COM

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

15. CO-043-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette City Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget and adjusting the manning tables of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Govern‐ ment by reclassifying and adjusting the salary of one (1) City Marshal Office Administrator to Deputy Administrator po‐ sition reflecting eligibil‐ ity for State Supplemen‐ tal Pay (SSP) within the Lafayette City Marshal’s Office. (City Marshal)

City-Parish Council Auditorium TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2026 4:30 p.m.

Project and appropriat‐ ing within the Elected Of‐ ficials CAO Department, Animal Shelter and Care Division. (CAO)

16. CO-044-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette City Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget and adjusting the manning tables of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Govern‐ ment by using prior year fund balance in the amount of $5,124 for salary adjustments within the Utilities De‐ partment. (Utilities) JOINT INTRODUCTORY ORDINANCE 17. JO-018-2026 A joint or‐ dinance of the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council amending Chapter 26, “Development Regula‐ tions”, Article III, “Build‐ ing Code” Section 26-93, “Fees”, of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government Code of Or‐ dinances amending Ordi‐ nance O-221-2014, Sched‐ ule of Fees charged by the Permit Division of the Community Development and Planning Depart‐ ment. (CD&P) COMMENT(S) FROM THE PUBLIC 18. Comments from the public on any other mat‐ ter(s) not on an agenda and are within the leg‐ islative power of the Lafayette City Council.

ADJOURN IN ACCORDANCE WITH LA. R.S. 42:14(E) AS EN‐ ACTED BY ACT NO. 393 OF 2023 AND THE AMERI‐ CANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, PLEASE CONTACT JOSEPH GORDON-WILTZ, COUNCIL CLERK, AT (337) 291-8810 DESCRIBING THE ASSISTANCE THAT IS NECESSARY, IF SPECIAL ASSISTANCE AND/OR AC‐ COMMODATIONS ARE NEEDED. 187711-may 15-1t $73.35

PUBLIC NOTICE --REGULAR MEETING LAFAYETTE PARISH COUNCIL 705 W. University Avenue, Ted A. Ardoin

AGENDA CALL TO ORDER 1. Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance 2. COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS 3. EXECUTIVE/MAYORPRESIDENT’S REPORT RESOLUTION 4. PR-007-2026 A resolu‐ tion of the Lafayette Parish Council establish‐ ing rules related to perspeaker time limitations on agenda items and any amendments thereto, in‐ cluding the “Comments from the Public” agenda item, at Parish Council meetings. (Bryan Tabor) ORDINANCES FOR FINAL ADOPTION 5. PO-017-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operating and capital budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Govern‐ ment by transferring $10,000 from the Parish Council District 5 Capital Appropriation to the Council Office-Parish Tourism account for ad‐ ditional funding needed for obligations associ‐ ated with the closing re‐ ception of the 2026 Na‐ tional Association of Counties Annual Confer‐ ence & Exposition and for the hosting of the Po‐ lice Jury Association of Louisiana Region 3 Meet‐ ing. (AB Rubin) 6. PO-018-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operating and capital budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Govern‐ ment by transferring $35,000 from the Parish Council District 2 Capital Appropriation to the Parks, Arts, Recreation and Culture (PARC) De‐ partment for a tennis court-to-pickleball court conversion project at Ju‐ dice Park and by trans‐ ferring $15,000 from the Parish Council District 2 Capital Appropriation to the PARC Department for an archery range project at Duson Park. (Donald Richard) 7. PO-019-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 capital bud‐ gets of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government by transfer‐ ring $100,000 from Fund 2060 Fund Balance to the LASCC Livestock Barn

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And will be observing the following Early Deadline:

2.2 INSURANCE : Discus‐ sion and/or action re‐ garding the Gallagher Re‐ port - Gardner/LeBouef Gallagher Benefit Ser‐ vices will provide up‐ dates regarding (1) the Wellness Market Scan and (2) a Review of the Annual Service Calendar.

Gallagher updated the Board Insurance Commit‐ tee on the results of the Wellness Market Scan.

Chairperson Jeremy Hi‐ dalgo asked Gallagher to explain what a wellness plan consists of. Gal‐ lagher indicated a well‐ ness program is meant to engage the employees into a healthier lifestyle, which would be a health cost savings for the member and the plan.

The Wellness Market Scan consisted of four vendors: Meritain, Vital‐ ity, Navigate and Well‐ Right. Gallagher provided the committee with a side-by-side analysis of each vendor. Chairper‐ son Jeremy Hidalgo made note the this well‐ ness program is a fullblown holistic wellness plan that engages mem‐ bers to be proactive to‐ wards their health. Gal‐ lagher also compared es‐ timated pricing between the four vendors for the wellness plan. Chairper‐ son Jeremy Hidalgo questioned what was the return on investing in a wellness plan. Gallagher plans on making sure the vendors they have re‐ viewed for Lafayette Parish School System will incorporate with pro‐ grams like TRIA and Re‐ genex to make sure members are getting the most utilization out of the programs. Gallagher also provided a price comparison of onsite biometric screenings and flu shots from Meritain, Navigate, Ochsner, Vital‐ ity and WellRight. Gal‐ lagher discussed the timeline to implement the wellness plan. Ms. Mason and Mr. Hidalgo agreed to give Superin‐ tendent Touchet and the Insurance Department permission to review the d d h h

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DOGS Labrador retrievers - Born 3/18/26, dewclaws removed, first vaccines and have been dewormed. Varying shades of yellow to red. Only male pups avail‐ able $800.00 (337) 704-1900

EDUCATION Need 11th grade Math & English tutor for a couple of hours a day, 3-4 days per week. Contact Jamie Abshire at 337652-2368 for an interview. Student at‐ tends Lafayette High School. Competi‐ tive Salary. Serious inquiries only.

MONDAY ONDAY,, MAY 25TH 25T

Deadline: Thursday May 21 @ 3pm

DOGS German Shorthaired Pointer - Beau‐ tiful Registered German Shorthaired Pointer Puppies, Now taking de‐ posits of $100, born April 25th. $700 337-692-2179

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JOINT ORDINANCE FOR FINAL ADOPTION 8. JO-016-2026 A joint or‐ dinance of the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget and ad‐ justing the manning ta‐ bles of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government to provide funding for a salary ad‐ justment within the Of‐ fice of Finance & Man‐ agement. (Finance) INTRODUCTORY NANCE

ORDI‐

9. PO-020-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government by adjusting the manning tables and increasing the hourly pay rate of one (1) Secretary I position within the Capi‐ tal Improvements De‐ partment Environmental Quality Division. (CID) JOINT INTRODUCTORY ORDINANCE 10. JO-018-2026 A joint or‐ dinance of the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council amending Chapter 26, “Development Regula‐ tions”, Article III, “Build‐ ing Code” Section 26-93, “Fees”, of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government Code of Or‐ dinances amending Ordi‐ nance O-221-2014, Sched‐ ule of Fees charged by the Permit Division of the Community Development and Planning Depart‐ ment. (CD&P) ADJOURN IN ACCORDANCE WITH LA. R.S. 42:14(E) AS EN‐ ACTED BY ACT NO. 393 OF 2023 AND THE AMERI‐ CANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, PLEASE CONTACT JOSEPH GORDON-WILTZ, COUNCIL CLERK, AT (337) 291-8810 DESCRIBING THE ASSISTANCE THAT IS NECESSARY, IF SPECIAL ASSISTANCE AND/OR AC‐ COMMODATIONS ARE NEEDED. 187707-may 15-1t $39.69

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CITY OF SCOTT WATER SYSTEM Public Water Supply ID: LA1055026 Consumer Confidence Report

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Our water system tested a minimum of 10 sample(s) per month in accordance with the Total Coliform Rule for microbiological contaminants. With the microbiological samples collected, the water system collects disinfectant residuals to ensure control of microbial growth.

2025 CCR Additional Information and Electronic Copies can be found at www.ldh.la.gov/ccr

Disinfectant Date

HighestRAA

Unit

Range

MRDL

MRDLG Typical Source

CHLORINE

1.8

ppm

1.1 - 2.36

4

4

2025

Water additive used to control microbes

What you need to do: Review base report (numbered pages) for errors. If you are a surface water system, you must insert the turbidity data.

Distribute completed report to your customers as outlined on the CCR Certification of Distribution Form no later than June 30, 2026.

A completed CCR Certification of Distribution Form including a copy of the final CCR report shall be submitted to the State at the address provided on the form no later than September 30, 2026.

If submitting CCR Electronically by posting on a website, be aware of LAC 51:XII.403.C – Community water systems shall include their final letter grade and score in their annual Consumer Confidence Report (a.k.a.

Annual Water Quality Report) that is posted on the water system website. A statement like below must be added to the CCR notifying consumers of the water system grade.

In the tables below, we have shown the regulated contaminants that were detected. Chemical Sampling of our drinking water may not be required on an annual basis; therefore, information provided in this table refers back to the latest year of chemical sampling results.

Regulated Contaminants

Collection Date

Water System

Highest Range Value

Unit

MCL MCLG Typical Source

ARSENIC

4/7/2025

LAFAYETTE UTILITIES WATER SYSTEM

1.5

0 - 1.5

ppb

10

0

Erosion of natural deposits; Runoff from orchards; Runoff from glass and electronics production wastes

BARIUM

4/7/2025

LAFAYETTE UTILITIES WATER SYSTEM

0.26

00.26

ppm 2

2

Discharge of drilling wastes; Discharge from metal refineries; Erosion of natural deposits

DI(211/26/2025 LAFAYETTE ETHYLHEXYL) UTILITIES ADIPATE WATER SYSTEM

4.3

0 - 4.3

ppb

400

Discharge from chemical factories

FLUORIDE

6/30/2025

LAFAYETTE UTILITIES WATER SYSTEM

0.2

0.2

ppm 4

4

Erosion of natural deposits; Water additive which promotes strong teeth; Discharge from fertilizer and aluminum factories

NITRATENITRITE

7/14/2025

LAFAYETTE UTILITIES WATER SYSTEM

0.3

0 - 0.3

ppm 10

10

Runoff from fertilizer use; Leaching from septic tanks, sewage; Erosion of natural deposits

Our water system grade is a “fill in grade here”. Our water system report card can be found at “insert water system website link”.

UCMR5-Water systems are required to distribute results for the unregulated contaminant monitoring rule (UCMR). If you have collected samples and received results, you may insert that data into the CCR to satisfy the notification requirement. The average of all results and the range of results at with the contaminant was detected.

Notes: This page is not part of your CCR; it is only the instruction page. The pages that are numbered in the upper right hand corner are the report pages.

This page intentionally left blank The Water We Drink CITY OF SCOTT WATER SYSTEM Public Water Supply ID: LA1055026 We are pleased to present to you the Annual Water Quality Report for the year 2025. This report is designed to inform you about the quality of your water and services we deliver to you every day (Este informe contiene información muy importante sobre su agua potable. Tradúzcalo o hable con alguien que lo entienda bien). Our constant goal is to provide you with a safe and dependable supply of drinking water. We want you to understand the efforts we make to continually improve the water treatment process and protect our water resources. We are committed to ensuring the quality of your water.

Our water source(s) are listed below: Source Name

Source Water Type

LA1055017 - PERCY ROAD

Ground water

LA1055017 LUS - CAMERON ST.

Ground water

LA1055017 LUS - CAMERON STREET

Ground water

LA1055017 LUS - DULLES

Ground water

LA1055017 LUS - DULLES & JB

Ground water

LA1055017 LUS - RUE DE BELIER

Ground water

LA1055017 LUS - W. WILLOW

Ground water

LA1055017 LUS - WESTGATE & DULLES

Ground water

Seller Name

LA1055026 - CITY OF SCOTT WATER SYSTEM

LAFAYETTE UTILITIES WATER SYSTEM

Collection Date

Highest Range Value

COMBINED RADIUM (-226 & -228)

1/31/2025

1.91

0 - 1.91 pCi/l 5

0

Erosion of natural deposits

GROSS BETA PARTICLE ACTIVITY

6/30/2025

2.12

0 - 2.12 pCi/l 50

0

Decay of natural and manmade deposits.

The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over the surface of land or through the ground, it dissolves naturallyoccurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive material, and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity. Contaminants that may be present in source water include: Microbial Contaminants - such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.

Inorganic Contaminants - such as salts and metals, which can be naturally-occurring or result from urban stormwater runoff, industrial, or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.

Pesticides and Herbicides - which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses.

Organic Chemical Contaminants – including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems.

Radioactive Contaminants – which can be naturally-occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, EPA prescribes regulations which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. Food and Drug Administration regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water which must provide the same protection for public health. We want our valued customers to be informed about their water utility. If you have any questions about this report, want to attend any scheduled meetings, or simply want to learn more about your drinking water, please contact JANSCOTT RICHARD at .

There is no safe level of lead in drinking water. Exposure to lead in drinking water can cause serious health effects in all age groups, especially pregnant people, infants (both formula-fed and breastfed), and young children. Some of the health effects to infants and children include decreases in IQ and attention span. Lead exposure can also result in new or worsened learning and behavior problems. The children of persons who are exposed to lead before or during pregnancy may be at increased risk of these harmful health effects. Adults have increased risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney or nervous system problems. Contact your health care provider for more information about your risks.

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals - Office of Public Health routinely monitors for constituents in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws. The tables that follow show the results of our monitoring during the period of January 1st to December 31st, 2025. Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The pre8ence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that water poses a health risk.

In the tables below, you will find many terms and abbreviations you might not be familiar with. To help you better understand these terms, we’ve provided the following definitions: Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter (mg/L) – one part per million corresponds to one minute in two years or a single penny in $10,000.

Parts per billion (ppb) or Micrograms per liter (ug/L) – one part per billion corresponds to one minute in 2,000 years, or a single penny in $10,000,000.

Picocuries per liter (pCi/L) – picocuries per liter is a measure of the radioactivity in water.

Treatment Technique (TT) – an enforceable procedure or level of technological performance which public water systems must follow to ensure control of a contaminant.

Action level (AL) – the concentration of a contaminant that, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements that a water system must follow.

Maximum contaminant level (MCL) – the “Maximum Allowed” MCL is the highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCL’s are set as close to the MCLG’s as feasible using the best available treatment technology.

Maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG) – the “Goal” is the level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to human health. MCLG’s allow for a margin of safety.

Maximum residual disinfectant level (MRDL) – The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water. There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants.

Maximum residual disinfectant level goal (MRDLG) – The level of a drinking water disinfectant below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MRDLGs do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants.

Level 1 assessment – A study of the water system to identify potential problems and determine (if possible) why total coliform bacteria have been found in our water system.

Level 2 Assessment – A very detailed study of the water system to identify potential problems and determine (if possible) why an E. coli MCL violation has occurred and/or why total coliform bacteria have been found in our water system on multiple occasions.

Date

90TH Percentile

Range Unit

Unit

400

Radionuclides

Lead and Copper

Our water system also purchases water as listed below: Buyer Name

Legal Notices

AL

MCL MCLG

Typical Source

Sites Typical Source Over AL

COPPER, FREE 2021 - 2023 0

0

ppm 1.3 0

Corrosion of household plumbing systems; Erosion of natural deposits; Leaching from wood preservatives

LEAD

0

ppb

Corrosion of household plumbing systems; Erosion of natural deposits

2021 - 2023 0

15

0

Disinfection Byproducts

Sample Point

Period Highest Range Unit LRAA

MCL MCLG Typical Source

TOTAL HALOACETIC ACIDS (HAA5)

1010 DELHOMME

2025

2

2.2

ppb

60

0

By-product of drinking water disinfection

TOTAL HALOACETIC ACIDS (HAA5)

424 LAUREN 2025

3

2.7

ppb

60

0

By-product of drinking water disinfection

TTHM

1010 DELHOMME

2025

11

11.4

ppb

80

0

By-product of drinking water chlorination

TTHM

424 LAUREN 2025

15

14.7

ppb

80

0

By-product of drinking water chlorination

Source Secondary Contaminants

Water System

Collection Date

Highest Value

Range

Unit

SMCL

ALUMINUM

LAFAYETTE UTILITIES WATER SYSTEM

6/30/2025

0.09

0.03 0.09

MG/L

0.2

HARDNESS, TOTAL (AS CACO3)

LAFAYETTE UTILITIES WATER SYSTEM

4/7/2025

167

115 - 167

MG/L

0

IRON

LAFAYETTE UTILITIES WATER SYSTEM

4/7/2025

1.49

0 - 1.49

MG/L

0.3

MANGANESE

LAFAYETTE UTILITIES WATER SYSTEM

6/30/2025

0.18

0 - 0.18

MG/L

0.05

PH

LAFAYETTE UTILITIES WATER SYSTEM

6/30/2025

6.2

5.6 - 6.2

PH

8.5

POTASSIUM

LAFAYETTE UTILITIES WATER SYSTEM

4/7/2025

1.5

0.9 - 1.5

MG/L

0

SODIUM

LAFAYETTE UTILITIES WATER SYSTEM

4/7/2025

31.9

10 - 31.9

MG/L

0

SULFATE

LAFAYETTE UTILITIES WATER SYSTEM

4/7/2025

5

0-5

MG/L

250

++++++++++++++Environmental Protection Agency Required Health Effects Language++++++++++++++ Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immunocompromised persons such as persons with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, persons who have undergone organ transplants, people with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders, some elderly, and infants can be particularly at risk from infections. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and other microbial contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800–426–4791).

Lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children. Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with service lines and home plumbing. CITY OF SCOTT WATER SYSTEM is responsible for providing high quality drinking water and removing lead pipes, but cannot control the variety of materials used in plumbing components in your home. You share the responsibility for protecting yourself and your family from the lead in your home plumbing. You can take responsibility by identifying and removing lead materials within your home plumbing and taking steps to reduce your family’s risk. Before drinking tap water, flush your pipes for several minutes by running your tap, taking a shower, doing laundry or a load of dishes. You can also use a filter certified by an American National Standards Institute accredited certifier to reduce lead in drinking water. If you are concerned about lead in your water and wish to have your water tested, contact CITY OF SCOTT WATER SYSTEM and JAN-SCOTT RICHARD BUS Phone: . Information on lead in drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/ lead.

Additional Required Health Effects Language: Coliforms are bacteria that are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other, potentially-harmful, bacteria may be present. Coliforms were found in more samples than allowed and this was a warning of potential problems.

There are no additional required health effects violation notices. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thank you for allowing us to continue providing your family with clean, quality water this year. In order to maintain a safe and dependable water supply we sometimes need to make improvements that will benefit all of our customers.

We at the CITY OF SCOTT WATER SYSTEM work around the clock to provide top quality drinking water to every tap. We ask that all our customers help us protect and conserve our water sources, which are the heart of our community, our way of life, and our children’s future. Additional information on the water system can be found at www.ldh.la.gov/watergrade. Please call our office if you have questions.

187590-647954-may 15-1t $ 560.50

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12C ● Friday, May 15, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

TODAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

Partly sunny

Partly sunny and nice

Humid; a stray p.m. t-storm

HIGH

LOW

HIGH

86° 67°

LOW

HIGH

84° 72°

LOW

86° 77°

HIGH

LOW

87° 74°

Beaumont 86/72 Port Arthur 83/73

0s

Hattiesburg 87/62

Baton Rouge 88/65

Lake Charles 85/70

New Orleans 87/69 Houma 86/67

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

10s

20s

30s

40s

50s

HIGH

HIGH

LOW

84° 73°

60s

70s

80s

90s 100s 110s

High/low Normal high/low Last year’s high/low Record high Record low

YESTERDAY

Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today

MAY 16

City

Austin Boston Dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Las Vegas Louisville Miami Nashville

PRECIPITATION

86°/66° 86°/67° 86°/72° 96° in 1899 50° in 1931

TODAY’S TIDES Lake Pontchartrain (Tchefuncte River) Shell Beach South Point, Marsh Island Cypremort Point Grand Isle (Barataria Pass) Mississippi River (Southwest Pass) Wine Island

NEW

Shown are areas of precipitation and high temperatures for the day.

LOW

88° 75°

Lafayette through 5 p.m. Thursday

Alexandria 87/68

Lafayette 86/67

After an absolutely phenomenal Thursday, Friday is looking almost as good but with a few more clouds. So, expect a mostly sunny, warm and breezy day. Temperatures today will be about average, rising into the mid-80s, and will likely stay the same through the weekend. The winds have turned and are now southerly at 15 mph with gusts of 20 mph today and 20 to 25 mph this weekend. Rain chances will be at zero and will be the same tomorrow. The UV Index is “very high,” so protect your skin.

WEDNESDAY

Humid with clouds Humid; a morning Rain and a t-storm and sun shower in the p.m.

Jackson 87/67 Many 88/68

TUESDAY

TEMPERATURE

Longview 89/70

-0s

MONDAY

Monroe 91/69

Shreveport 91/70

-10s

lll

24-hour total Month to date Normal month to date year to date Normal year to date

HIGH

7:03p 1:00p 4:50a 7:31a 8:29a 8:02a 9:37a

6:14 a.m.

7:55 p.m.

4:59 a.m.

7:01 p.m.

FIRST

MAY 23

Hi

89 53 87 60 81 99 76 91 81

TODAY Lo

70 50 69 39 73 72 64 76 62

FULL

LAST

MAY 31

W

c sh pc pc sh s r pc s

Hi

89 74 88 62 86 94 83 89 86

JUN 8

SAT. Lo

73 61 74 39 74 72 66 78 62

W

pc s pc pc sh s t t pc

FT.

LOW

TIVE GROUP

READING

MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

0.00” 8.88” 2.33” 23.86” 20.95”

FT.

0.7 5:35a 0.0 1.7 11:20p -0.1 2.3 9:07a 1.7 1.8 11:34p 0.0 1.3 7:27p -0.2 1.6 5:56p -0.3 1.6 8:29p -0.3

HIGH

FT.

--- ----- --12:59p 1.8 --- ----- ----- ----- ---

MODERATE

MAIN POLLUTANT 101

SOURCE: LOUISIANA DEQ AND AIRNOW.GOV

LOW

FT.

--- ----- --7:44p -0.5 --- ----- ----- ----- ---

The solunar period schedule allows planning days so you will be fishing in good territory or hunting in good cover during those times. Major periods begin at the times shown and last for 1.5 to 2 hours. The minor periods are shorter.

MAJOR MINOR MAJOR MINOR

Today 10:27a 4:13a 10:55p 4:41p Saturday 11:23a 5:08a 11:54p 5:38p Sunday 11:50a 6:10a 12:26p 6:43p Monday 1:02a 7:19a 1:36p 7:52p Tuesday 2:14a 8:31a 2:47p 9:03p Wednesday 3:26a 9:41a 3:56p 10:12p Thursday 4:32a 10:46a 5:00p 11:14p

City

New Orleans Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Raleigh St. Louis San Diego Tampa

Hi

87 89 70 99 68 77 84 69 91

TODAY Lo

69 70 54 75 50 53 68 61 75

W

s s pc s pc s t pc s

TODAY

UNHEALTHy SENSI-

Hi

85 89 82 101 78 88 86 71 91

SAT. Lo

71 70 65 72 62 61 70 62 74

W

pc t s s t s t pc t

Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.

MISSISSIPPI Memphis Vidalia-Natchez Red River Landing Baton Rouge Donaldsonville Reserve New Orleans OHIO Cairo COMITE Near Olive AMITE Near Darlington Denham Springs Port Vincent TICKFAW Montpelier Holden ATCHAFALAYA Simmesport Melville Krotz Springs Butte La Rose Bayou Sorrel Morgan City

FLOOD STAGE

34 48 48 35 27 22 17

THU. 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE

12.70 36.30 38.80 23.30 14.90 11.33 7.30

-0.67 -0.80 -1.00 -0.90 -0.80 -0.39 -0.50

40

26.51

-0.96

19

-0.02

-3.80

18 29 8

1.13 25.30 6.10

-1.34 -1.82 -0.76

13 15

3.43 12.67

-1.25 +0.10

47 34 29 20 12 6

19.80 14.80 12.73 10.30 6.50 3.31

-0.99 -0.77 -0.40 -0.28 none -0.08

data as of 7 a.m. Thursday

Forecasts and graphics, except for Damon’s Outlook, provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2026

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