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2026 LEGISLATURE

House panel OKs map Updated congressional districts approved after hours of testimony

Ex-chief pleads guilty in visa fraud scheme More plea changes scheduled

BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, holds up a proposed congressional map during a House and Governmental Affairs Committee meeting about congressional redistricting on Thursday.

INSIDE

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

Republican lawmakers on a Louisiana House committee approved an updated congressional map Thursday, after a hearing lasting 10 hours and more public testimony strongly opposing a GOP plan to get rid of one of the state’s majorityBlack districts.

The map approved last week by the Senate remains largely intact, but the latest version from the House makes significant changes that affect a number of parishes in the Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas and other parts of the state.

But a fight could be brewing between the two Republican-controlled chambers

“I’m not messing with what they do in the House,” he said. “If it comes back like ä Senate committee makes cuts to budget. we don’t like it, then we’ll fix it. That’s Page 7A what the Senate does.”

The changes stemmed from specific ä Louisiana teachers may lose $2,000 asks by House lawmakers, moving votstipends. Page 1B ers between districts and a requirement to maintain equal population in each disover how exactly to draw the new lines. trict, said state Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R“I don’t like the map,” said Sen. Caleb New Iberia, who chairs the House and Kleinpeter, a Port Allen Republican who Governmental Affairs Committee. chairs the Senate committee that handles “The amended map is a representation redistricting. “I don’t understand why of our House members’ requests,” he they changed the map that drastically said. “It’s all a domino affect.” over on the House side.”

Meanwhile, dozens of speakers again Kleinpeter said he doesn’t plan to work showed up to speak out against the prowith House members while the legislaä See MAP, page 5A tion moves through the lower chamber.

Below-average hurricane season predicted NOAA researchers say strong El Niño conditions likely to help

a decade, thanks to incoming strong El Niño conditions that are expected to help limit storm formation.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association is forecasting eight to 14 named storms this season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Of

BY KASEY BUBNASH those, three to six are expected to beStaff writer come hurricanes, and one to three of Federal hurricane researchers are those are expected to become major predicting below-average activity hurricanes of Category 3 strength or during the upcoming Atlantic hurri- more.

An average season ends with 14 cane season for the first time in over

WEATHER HIGH 83 LOW 72 PAGE 12C

named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

NOAA officials presented their 2026 outlook Thursday from the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland, Florida, marking the 50th anniversary of the agency’s vital Hurricane Hunter aircraft.

The main contributor to this year’s quiet outlook, forecasters said, is the expected return of El Niño before the

ä See HURRICANE, page 7A

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

A former Oakdale police chief has changed his plea to guilty for his involvement in a visa fraud conspiracy uncovered last year.

A federal indictment issued in July alleged that Chad Doyle and three other law enforcement officials generated false police reports for U-visa applications. They’re named in a 21-page, 62-count indictment that alleges the scheme operated in central Louisiana for almost 10 years.

U-visas are a specific type of visa for individuals who were the victims of certain criminal activity in the United States.

The indictment alleges that Doyle worked with Oakdale-based business owner Chandrakant Patel, who operated the scheme. The alleged victims listed in the reports all shared the last name Patel, though court records do not indicate whether they were related.

Patel, who was granted a U-visa in 2023, charged prospective applicants $20,000 for falsely generated police reports in connection with various law enforcement officials across central Louisiana, according to a plea agreement for the former Oakdale marshal for Ward 5, Michael Slaney.

The indictment claims that Patel paid officers $5,000 for the generation of these reports.

The violent crimes listed in the false reports tended to be armed robberies, which led prosecutors to notice the unusually high rates of these crimes occurring in the

ä See PLEADS, page 7A

Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever, struck Jamaica and Cuba last year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

101ST yEAR, NO. 326

2A ● Friday, May 22, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Two separate attacks kill at least 16 in Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Gunmen opened fire in two separate attacks Thursday on the Honduran coast, killing at least 16 people, including six police officers, police said.

The first incident took place at a plantation in the municipality of Trujillo in northern Honduras, where at least 10 workers were shot and killed, National Police spokesman Edgardo Barahona said.

The resource-rich region has been the site of a decades-long agrarian conflict.

In the second attack, assailants opened fire on police in the municipality of Omoa in the Cortes department near the Guatemalan border, killing six officers, including a senior officer, police said.

The officers were assigned to an anti-gang mission and were attacked while traveling to Omoa from the capital, Tegucigalpa, police said.

Although Barahona said at least 10 workers were killed in Trujillo, he said the overall toll still remains unclear, partly because relatives of the victims have removed bodies of their loved ones. Investigators have been sent to the scene, he said..

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Backlash to $1.8B fund delays bill Republicans recess without voting on immigration meaures

BY KEVIN FREKING, MARY CLARE JALONICK and LISA MASCARO Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans abruptly left Washington on Thursday without voting on a roughly $70 billion bill to fund immigration enforcement agencies, frustrated with the White House and at an impasse over whether to try to block a new $1.776 billion settlement fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they have been politically prosecuted.

Republicans had already abandoned part of the bill that provided $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and President Donald Trump’s ballroom amid backlash from members of their own party. But the settlement announced by the Justice Department this week prompted even more questions, spurring a push to limit the taxpayer dollars that

some feared could go to Trump supporters who harmed law enforcement officers in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

A tense meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday morning only heightened the frustration among senators. Soon after it ended, Republican leaders announced that they would not vote on the immigration enforcement measure until they returned from a Memorial Day recess the week of June 1, which was Trump’s self-imposed deadline for them to pass it.

Blanche “had an appreciation for the depth of feeling” among GOP senators, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said afterward.

The last-minute scramble on the bill came as Democrats have criticized Republicans for trying to fund Trump’s ballroom when voters are concerned about affordability issues — and as some GOP lawmakers have grown increas-

ingly frustrated with Trump.

Several GOP senators have spoken out against the Justice Department settlement announced this week, and many were upset by the president’s Tuesday endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in next week’s primary runoff against Sen. John Cornyn.

Growing tensions derail bill Both sides have acknowledged the tensions. Thune said Thursday that the White House should have consulted Congress before it announced the settlement, which he said made “everything way harder than it should be.” Trump’s endorsement of Cornyn’s opponent also complicated matters, he said.

“I think it’s hard to divorce anything that happens here from what’s happening in the political atmosphere around us,” Thune told reporters. “There is a political component to everything we

Germany urges the EU to offer Ukraine ‘associate membership’

Charges dismissed against ex-administrator A Virginia judge on Thursday dismissed all charges against a former school administrator accused of ignoring repeated warnings that a 6-year-old had a gun hours before a teacher was shot.

Acting on a defense motion, Circuit Judge Rebecca Robinson issued the ruling on the fourth day of the trial of Ebony Parker, who was charged with eight felony counts of child neglect.

“The court is of the legal opinion that this is not a crime,” Robinson said.

The former assistant principal was charged in the January 2023 shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News that left teacher Abby Zwerner wounded. Prosecutors had said the charges issued in a grand jury indictment were for each of the bullets in the gun brought into Zwerner’s classroom. Each count could have carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison upon conviction.

Parker was not called to testify during the trial. On Wednesday, a video interview of Parker conducted three days after the shooting by a school district human resources officer was played in the courtroom for the jury.

Parker said she was told about reports that the student had a gun in his backpack, but said she could not leave her office due to ongoing testing. A reading specialist who first reported the concerns then searched the backpack, but no gun was found, Parker said.

Parker then said the student’s mother would arrive to pick him up and go through the rest of his belongings.

The student’s mother was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for felony child neglect and federal weapons charges.

Two charged with creating ‘deepfake’ porn NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors have charged two men with using artificial intelligence to create nude videos and photos of female celebrities under a newly enacted law meant to halt the spread of deepfake pornography.

Cornelius Shannon, 51, and Arturo Hernandez, 20, were both arrested Tuesday for generating sexually explicit AI content that drew millions of views online, according to criminal complaints.

The men — who do not appear to be connected — are among the earliest defendants to face charges under the Take It Down Act, a law signed last year by President Donald Trump that adds stricter penalties for publishing AI-created deepfakes and “revenge porn.” The bill drew bipartisan support, as well as the public backing of first lady Melania Trump.

Under the new law, the men now face up to two years in prison.

Attorneys for Shannon and Hernandez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

do around here.”

Trump unloaded on senators in a social media post Wednesday, urging Republicans to fire the Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, who said over the weekend that parts of the $1 billion security proposal did not qualify for the ICE and Border Patrol bill. Trump also renewed his long-standing calls for the Senate to pass the SAVE Act, a Republican bill that would require voters to prove U.S. citizenship, and to end the Senate filibuster.

Republicans need to “get smart and tough,” Trump said, or “you’ll all be looking for a job much sooner than you thought possible!”

While they have been loyal to Trump on most issues, Senate Republicans have resisted his repeated calls over the years to kill the filibuster, which creates a 60-vote threshold for most bills in the Senate.

Asked Thursday at the White House if he was losing control of the Senate, Trump replied: “I really don’t know. I can tell you — I only do what’s right.”

BY LORNE COOK and GEIR MOULSON Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By DIROLE LOTSIMA DIEUDONNE

Flames and smoke rise from an Ebola treatment center in Rwampara, Congo, on Thursday following an arson attack by residents.

Residents burn an Ebola treatment center in Congo cording to a witness who spoke to The Health crisis authorities, Associated Press by telephone. police intervened to try to calm aid agencies struggling to the“The situation, but unfortunately they contain outbreak were unsuccessful,” said Alexis Burata, a local student who said he was in the

BY JUSTIN KABUMBA, MONIKA PRONCZUK area. “The young people ended up setting fire to the center. That’s the situation.” and GERALD IMRAY Associated Press

BUNIA, Congo — People set fire to an Ebola treatment center in a town at the heart of the outbreak in eastern Congo on Thursday after being stopped from retrieving the body of a local man, a witness and a senior police officer said, as fear and anger grow over a health crisis that doctors are struggling to contain.

The arson attack in Rwampara reflects the challenges of health workers trying to curb a rare Ebola virus by using stringent measures that might clash with local customs, such as burial rites. The disease has been spreading for weeks in a region lacking in adequate health facilities and where many people are on the move to escape armed conflicts.

The bodies of those who die from Ebola can be highly contagious and lead to further spread when people prepare bodies for burial and gather for funerals. The dangerous work of burying suspected victims is being managed wherever possible by authorities, which can be met by protests from victims’ families and friends.

The center in Rwampara was burned by local youths who became angry while trying to retrieve the body of a friend who had apparently died of Ebola, ac-

An AP journalist saw people break into the center and set fire to objects inside and also to what appeared to be the body of at least one suspected Ebola victim that was being stored there. Aid workers fled the treatment center in vehicles.

Deputy Senior Commissioner Jean Claude Mukendi, head of the public security department in Ituri Province, said the youths had not understood the protocols for burying a suspected Ebola victim.

“His family, friends, and other young people wanted to take his body home for a funeral even though the instructions from the authorities during this Ebola virus outbreak are clear,” Mukendi said.

“All bodies must be buried according to the regulations.”

Hama Amadou, field coordinator for the humanitarian organization ALIMA, which had teams working at the center, said later that calm had been restored and that aid teams were continuing their work at the center.

There were 160 suspected deaths and 671 suspected cases in Congo’s two provinces, Congolese authorities said on Thursday. Earlier in the week, the U.N. said there were two cases including one death in neighboring Uganda.

Contentious segment of Dakota Access oil pipeline gets OK Approval comes decade after Standing Rock

BY JACK DURA Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. — Federal officials on Thursday gave final approval for the Dakota Access oil pipeline to continue operating its contentious Missouri River crossing, an outcome that comes nearly a decade after boisterous protests against the project on the North Dakota prairie.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to

grant the key easement means the pipeline will keep operating but with added conditions for detecting leaks and monitoring groundwater, among others. The announcement brings an end to a drawnout legal and regulatory saga stemming from the protests in 2016 and 2017, though further litigation over the pipeline is likely.

The $3.8 billion, multistate pipeline has been transporting oil since June 2017 from North Dakota’s Bakken oil field to a terminal in Illinois. The line carries about 4% of U.S. daily oil production, or roughly 540,000 barrels per day,

The Corps is “decisively putting years of delays to rest and moving out to safely execute this crossing beneath Lake Oahe,” Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle said in a statement.

The pipeline crosses the river upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation, which straddles the Dakotas. The tribe has long opposed the pipeline, fearing a spill and contamination of its water supply. In 2016 and 2017, thousands of people camped and protested for months near the river crossing.

BRUSSELS — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wants the European Union to consider offering “associate membership” to Ukraine and breathe new life into talks aimed at ending more than four years of war with Russia, according to a letter seen Thursday

by The Associated Press.

His letter, to the EU’s top officials, comes as the 27-nation bloc weighs whether to try to launch its own negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with U.S. mediated talks bogged down while America’s attention focuses on the Iran war.

Under Merz’s proposals, Ukraine would take part in EU meetings, but without voting rights, and would also have non-voting “associate members” of the bloc’s powerful executive branch, the European Commission, and the European Parliament.

He insisted that this “would not be a membership light,” and “go far beyond” the Association Agreement that currently governs EU-Ukraine relations. Merz suggested a “snap-back mechanism” in case Ukraine backslides on democratic standards.

European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reaffirmed last month that official membership talks with Ukraine should be opened “without delay,” and Merz too called for that process to start.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed signs of possible progress in the accession negotiations, saying in an address that it is “very important for us. Ukraine has fulfilled everything necessary for this progress.”

Candidate countries must bring their laws into line in 35 policy areas, or “chapters,” ranging from justice standards to farm and fishing rules.

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agency approves Republicans call off vote Key the design plan for arch on Iran war resolution Trump wants to build at entrance to capital

Legislation was on verge of passing

BY DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press

BY STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Republicans struggled Thursday to find the votes to dismiss legislation that would compel President Donald Trump to withdraw from the war with Iran, delaying planned votes on the matter into June.

The House had scheduled a vote on a war powers resolution, brought by Democrats, that would rein in Trump’s military campaign.

But as it became clear that Republicans would not have the numbers to defeat the bill, GOP leaders declined to hold a vote on it.

Republicans are also working to ensure they have the votes to dismiss another war powers resolution in the Senate that advanced to a final vote earlier this week, when four GOP senators supported the resolution and three others were absent from the vote.

The actions by congressional leaders showed the increasing difficultly of maintaining political backing for Trump’s handling of the war. Rank-and-file Republicans are increasingly willing to defy the president over the conflict.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Benton, and House GOP leaders depart a news conference at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday.

Maine, had said he would vote in favor of the legislation this time.

Meanwhile, leaders of both parties dealt with several absences that could have shifted the vote either way in the closely divided chamber.

Republicans have been broadly supportive of Trump’s efforts to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities, but some are now saying the president’s legal timeline to wage a war without congressional approval has expired.

Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, presidents have 60 days to engage in a military conflict before Frustration with Iran war grows Congress must either declare war or On Capitol Hill, patience with the authorize the use of military force.

“We have to follow the law,” said war has worn thin as the stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz disrupts global Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylshipping and elevates gas prices in vania Republican, shortly after he the U.S. Another House war powers voted for an Iran war powers resoresolution nearly passed last week, lution for the first time last week. falling on a tie vote as three RepubThe dispute over war powers licans voted in favor.

Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks The White House argues that of New York, who sponsored the the requirements of the War Powwar powers resolution, had said ers Resolution no longer apply behe expected to have the votes this cause of the ceasefire with Iran. At time around. the same time, Trump has said he “Congress has a constitutional was just an hour away from orderduty. It has a duty to act, not to ing another strike on Iran earlier cheerlead, especially not to cheer- this week, but held off because lead an open-ended war of choice,” Gulf allies said they were engaged in negotiations to end the war.

Meeks said.

Still, Trump said on social media The lone Democrat who voted against the war powers resolution that military leaders should “be last week, Rep. Jared Golden of prepared to go forward with a full,

large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached.”

Trump has repeatedly set deadlines for Tehran and then backed off.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican who has so far voted against the war powers resolutions, expressed frustration with the Trump administration’s stance, especially from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“The current status quo, Pete Hegseth demonstrates how incompetent he is,” Tillis told reporters, adding that he would be willing to vote for an authorization for use of military force.

Democratic senators rallied outside the Capitol Wednesday alongside VoteVets, a left-leaning veterans’ advocacy group. They placed signs on the Capitol lawn noting that the nationwide average price of gasoline had risen to $4.53.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat who served in the Iraq War with the Air National Guard, argued that the Iran war has amounted to a strategic blunder for Trump.

“Trump started a war, and he’s made things worse than before,” Duckworth said, pointing to Iran’s new leadership and the country’s willingness to put a chokehold on commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts on Thursday approved the design for the triumphal arch that President Donald Trump wants built at an entrance to the nation’s capital, a key step in the project’s process but one that has no immediate bearing on the timeline for construction.

Commissioners, all appointed

by Trump, acted despite overwhelming public opposition to the 250-foot arch, one of several projects the Republican president is pursuing alongside a White House ballroom to leave his imprint on Washington.

At the White House, Trump told reporters he thought the vote was “fantastic” adding that “we’re the only important and major city that doesn’t have one.”

The commission only oversees designs and has no role in the actual construction or funding of the arch or any other project it considers. Preliminary surveys and testing of the arch site began last week. The National Capital Planning Commission, a separate federal agency that approves construction on federal land, has the arch on the agenda at its June meeting.

Trump had said last year that the arch could be paid for with private donations left over from the ballroom project. A cost estimate for the arch is still being calculated, but a mix of taxpayer and private money is expected to be used to pay for it, according to a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the president has not publicly discussed the project’s cost.

“The building is beautiful,” said the commission’s chairman, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., shortly before the vote on the slightly revised design. Commissioners had suggested several changes when they first reviewed the design in April. Some were made by the Harrison Design archi-

tecture firm and approved on Thursday.

The arch would stand 250 feet tall from its base to a torch held aloft by a Lady Liberty-like figure on top of the structure, flanked by two gilded eagles. But four lions envisioned as guarding the base were removed.

The phrases “One Nation Under God” and “Liberty and Justice for All” would be inscribed in gold lettering atop either side of the monument.

A public observation deck on top would provide 360-degree views of the region. The arch would have an exterior made of granite.

The commission’s vice chairperson, architect James McCrery II, said in April that he preferred the arch without the figures on top, which would have reduced the height by about 80 feet. Critics argue that the arch would dominate the skyline and disrupt carefully designed views between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

It would be more than twice as tall as the Lincoln Memorial, which is 99 feet tall, and close to half the height of the Washington Monument, at about 555 feet tall.

McCrery had also recommended nixing the ground-level lion statues along with an underground tunnel for pedestrians to get to the arch, which would be built on a busy traffic circle. The design approved Thursday has no lions and incorporates pedestrian crosswalks. A platform the arch would have been built on also has been removed.

Ten people who testified Thursday, including on behalf of organizations such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the DC Preservation League, opposed the arch on grounds that it is too big. They said the project needed to be approved by Congress because it would be built on federal land and that it would disrupt the sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery that was created to symbolize reunification after the Civil War.

Investigators trying to identify substance that may have killed 3 First responders briefly quarantined

BY SAVANNAH PETERS and SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN

Associated Press

MOUNTAINAIR, N.M. — Investigators in New Mexico are trying to identify a mysterious substance that may have contributed to the deaths of three people and led to more than a dozen first responders being briefly quarantined.

Two people remained in a hospital Thursday, including a person who was found unresponsive in a home where the three died east of Albuquerque, in the rural town of Mountainair.

Authorities went to the home Wednesday after being called about a suspected

drug overdose.

Some first responders began coughing, vomiting and experiencing dizziness, authorities said. As a result, medical workers checked nearly two dozen people who may have come into contact with the mysterious substance, the University of New Mexico Hospital said.

It was not clear what the substance was, how the people in the home died, what caused some first responders to become sick or exactly how many experienced symptoms. Autopsies will be conducted and authorities said they were testing to determine what substances were in the home.

Antonette Alguire, a volunteer firefighter in Mountainair, said Wednesday that she saw some EMTs and

firefighters coughing and vomiting after they were outside the house.

Medical workers decontaminated nearly two dozen people, most of them first responders, the University of New Mexico Hospital said.

Most had no symptoms, hospital officials said.

Three people were admitted to the hospital Wednesday. One — an emergency medical services official — has since been released, the mayor of Mountainair said Thursday.

Mountainair Mayor Peter Nieto said he spotted drugs at the home, but did not say what type of drugs. He dismissed carbon monoxide or natural gas exposure as possible causes for the health issues that the first responders experienced.

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Lawmakers warn data safety rules don’t protect key sites The letter, which was cilities. In other instances, Cell phones at signed

by Sens. Ron Wyden fitness apps have caused and Martin Hein- problems during military White House, CIA ofrichOregon of New Mexico, and operations or at sensitive faunprotected Rep. Sara Jacobs of Califor- cilities, most recently when

BYRON TAU

Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Biden administration spent almost a year crafting regulations to block U.S. adversaries from buying commercial data gathered from cell phones at the federal government’s most sensitive locations.

The resulting rules, however, have a few gaps. Left off the list of 736 sensitive locations were the White House, Congress and the CIA’s headquarters, among others, according to a warning issued Thursday by three congressional Democrats.

“The sale of Americans’ location data by data brokers poses a serious threat to U.S. national security, particularly when data about U.S. government employees is sold to foreign governments,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Trump administration officials. “Such data can reveal sensitive information that can be exploited for espionage purposes.”

nia, urged the Trump administration to address the oversights and create a “protection zone” that encompasses the entire Washington, D.C. region rather than choosing individual buildings. They also urged the Department to expand the list of countries of concern that were barred from acquiring data on Americans.

A spokesman for the Justice Department declined to comment. The office of the Director of National Intelligence did not respond to a request for comment.

Data brokers have long sold such information to help companies better target advertising, analyze consumer habits and assess investment opportunities.

Governments have increasingly turned to these datasets to enforce laws and gather intelligence. Foreign spy agencies, for example, can use such data to map the patterns and activities of U.S. government personnel.

Such commercially available data has been used to identify sensitive U.S. fa-

a French aircraft carrier deployed in the Mediterranean reportedly gave away its location when a crew member logged a running route on the ship’s deck.

The rules, which went into effect in April 2025, seek to curb the sale of such data to China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.

They broadly ban selling the location data on more than 1,000 American devices to those countries. But concerned that foreign governments might circumvent those restrictions by buying up small data sets, the rules singled out certain designated sites linked to the U.S. government where even the sale of information about a single device was forbidden.

The rule only identified those locations by GPS coordinates. Wyden’s staff, assisted by the Congressional Research Service, analyzed the GPS coordinates to identify which U.S. government facilities or places were included and which ones had been left out, according to a spokesman for the senator.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO EMRAH GUREL

Activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla disembark a plane upon arriving at Istanbul Airport, in Istanbul, Turkey, on Thursday.

Israel deports hundreds of Gaza flotilla activists International backlash leads to release

BY MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli government on Thursday released and deported hundreds of flotilla activists who attempted to breach Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. Outrage abroad over the activists’ treatment prompted several countries to summon Israeli envoys to hear their concerns.

About 420 activists departed Israel on planes bound for Turkey, where they landed Thursday evening in Istanbul. Wearing gray sweatsuits and Arab keffiyehs, they descended stairs to the runway flashing two-fingered salutes and chanting “Free Palestine.” Some appeared to be limping.

All of the activists were expected to be taken for a medical checkup, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “all foreign activists” from the flotilla had been deported.

The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, or Adalah, said one participant who holds Israeli citizenship, Zohar Regev, was released following a court hearing on charges of illegal entry into Israel and unlawful stay. Regev has taken part in previous flotillas to Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he instructed that the activists be deported “as soon as possible,” after sharply rebuking Israel’s national security minister for provocative videos showing the minister taunting detained

N O R T H A M ER I CA’S

PHOTO PROVIDED By RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRy PRESS SERVICE

A yars intercontinental ballistic missile is seen during drills of Russia’s nuclear forces in Belarus on Thursday.

Russia holds nuclear drills on land, sea and air with Belarus The Associated Press

nuclear-tipped ICBMs. The drills focused on the “preparation and use of nuclear forces under the threat of aggression,” it said.

The maneuvers also practice cooperation with Belarus, an ally that hosts Russian nuclear weapons. Russian arsenals in Belarus include its latest intermediate range nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system.

Along with nuclear-tipped ground- and submarinelaunched ICBMs, the maneuvers featured a broad assortment of short- and medium-range weapons.

Unlike the intercontinental missiles that can destroy entire cities, tactical nuclear weapons intended for use against troops on the battlefield are less powerful.

They include aerial bombs and warheads for short- and medium-range missiles and artillery munitions.

The Defense Ministry said the Russian armed forces test-fired Yars and Sineva ICBMs, as well as mediumrange sea-launched Zircon and air-launched Kinzhal missiles, noting that all missiles hit their designated practice targets. Belarusian troops test-fired a shortrange Iskander ballistic missile inside Russia.

MOSCOW — Trucks carrying intercontinental ballistic missiles rumbled over forest roads, atomic-powered submarines set sail from Arctic and Pacific ports, and crews scrambled into warplanes as Russia and neighboring Belarus held the final stage of their joint nuclear drills Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the maneuvers in a video call with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.

“The use of nuclear weapons is an extreme, exceptional measure for ensuring the national security of our states,” Putin said.

Lukashenko earlier inspected Russian shortrange nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missiles at a military unit involved in the drills and declared: “I dreamed about this machine a long time ago.”

The three-day drills that began Tuesday come amid a surge in Ukrainian drone strikes. including on Moscow’s suburbs that killed three people and damaged several buildings and industrial facilities. The strikes made it harder for officials in the Kremlin to cast the conflict in Ukraine — now in its fifth year — as something Kremlin messaging so distant that it doesn’t afPutin has repeatedly refect the daily routines of minded the world about Russian civilians.

Moscow’s nuclear arsenals after sending troops into Wide array of weapons Ukraine in February 2022 to Russia’s Defense Ministry try to deter the West from said the exercise involved ramping up support for 64,000 troops, over 200 mis- Kyiv.

In 2024, the Kremlin adsile launchers, more than 140 aircraft, 73 surface war- opted a revised nuclear ships and 13 submarines, doctrine, noting that any including eight armed with nation’s conventional at-

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tack on Russia that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country. That threat was clearly aimed at discouraging the West from allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with longerrange weapons and appears to significantly lower the threshold for the possible use of Moscow’s nuclear arsenal.

The revised doctrine also placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella.

Putin has said that Moscow will retain control of its nuclear weapons deployed in Belarus, which borders Ukraine and NATO members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, but would allow its ally to select the targets in case of conflict.

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Ukrainian drones spotted The maneuvers are held amid an increase in drone activity in the Baltic nations. On Tuesday, a NATO jet shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia. Ukraine apologized for that “unintended incident,” without specifying what had happened.

On Wednesday, an emergency announcement about a drone flying over Belarus prompted residents of the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, including top officials and lawmakers, to take shelter and led to a brief closure of its airport.

Ukrainian drones targeting Russia’s Baltic ports and energy facilities have recently crossed or come down in NATO territory on several occasions. Western officials blame apparent Russian electronic jamming of the drones.

flotilla activists who were handcuffed and kneeling.

Netanyahu said that although Israel has every right to stop “provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters,” the way National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir dealt with the activists was “not in line with Israel’s values and norms.”

Ben-Gvir released videos Wednesday showing him walking among some of the detainees. In one, activists with their hands tied behind their backs are kneeling, their heads touching the floor inside what appears to be a makeshift detention area on the deck of a ship.

Several countries, including Britain, France and Portugal, summoned Israeli envoys on Thursday over concerns about the treatment of flotilla activists and in protest of Ben-Gvir’s actions.

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The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Friday, May 22, 2026 ● 5A

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MAP

Continued from page 1A

Webster Webster

Lincoln Lincoln

Caddo Caddo

posed map.

“As Black Americans, we have endured so much,” said Angel-Mariah Thompson, “from slavery to segregation to lynchings to discrimination to Jim Crow to mass incarceration to economic exploitation.”

Redistricting is a matter of morality, she said.

The New Orleans-anchored, Black-majority District 2, currently represented by U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, is more or less unchanged in the version approved Thursday.

Also unchanged is District 1, the southeast Louisiana district that includes St. Tammany in the north and Lafourche toward the south and is currently represented by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson.

Republicans hold a supermajority in the Legislature. That leaves Democrats with virtually no chance to stop a new map that slashes one Democratic district and adds a Republican one.

The House committee advanced the map on a 10-7 vote along party lines.

What changed?

Some of the biggest adjustments the House made to the Senate map affect the Acadiana and Baton Rouge regions.

In Acadiana: Lafayette, St. Martin and Acadia parishes would all be split into at least two congressional districts.

Lafayette Parish would mostly be in the 3rd District, which runs along the southwestern part of the state and is currently represented by

HURRICANE

Continued from page 1A Atlantic reaches its busiest time of year. El Niño is generally associated with fewer storms in the Atlantic.

The last time the agency issued a below-average May outlook was in 2015, officials said.

Still, NOAA administrator Neil Jacobs said powerful hurricanes have formed and hit land during past El Niño seasons.

“Even though we’re expecting a below-average season in the Atlantic, it’s very important to understand that it only takes one,” Jacobs said at the news conference.

Good news for Louisiana El Niño and La Niña are two opposing climate patterns that disrupt normal wind and current conditions in the Pacific Ocean, impacting weather across the globe.

El Niño tends to increase vertical wind shear across the Atlantic, Jacobs said, which helps to break up storms and prevent hurricane formation and intensification.

Though El Niño is not yet in full swing, scientists at the Climate Prediction

Richland Richland

Ouachita Ouachita Bienville Bienville Red R ed River River

DeSoto DeSoto

Grant Grant

LaSalle LaSalle Concordia Concordia

Rapides Rapides

Vernon Vernon

Allen Allen

Avoyelles Avoyelles

Evangeline Evangeline

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

JJefferson efferson Davis Davis

Cameron Cameron

Tangipahoa Tangipahoa Washington Washington

St. Tammany St. Tammany

Livingston Livingston

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

In north Louisiana, the parishes of Jackson, Lincoln and Morehouse were moved into District 4, the Shreveport-anchored district in northwest Louisiana currently represented by U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton.

Johnson now has a district that nearly entirely follows parish lines.

Grant Parish, in central Louisiana, was moved entirely into District 5.

State Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-Baton Rouge, introduced the updated map on behalf of GOP members of the Louisiana House.

He said that, after talking to House members, he focused on trying to make Grant, Calcasieu and St. Landry parishes whole, rather than splitting them up in different congressional districts.

McMakin said he also worked not to change District 1 in southeast Louisiana. And he noted that Jackson, Lincoln and Morehouse parishes in the northern part of the state were moved.

EBR EBR WBR WBR

Calcasieu Calcasieu

Other changes

5 6

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

4

2

Tensas Tensas

Catahoula Catahoula

Sabine Sabine

3

Orleans-anchored 2nd District, which had pushed out into suburban Baton Rouge.

That means the Baton Rouge home of Republican state Sen. Blake Miguez is now back in the 6th District; the Senate map had shunted him into the 2nd.

1

Franklin Franklin

Caldwell Caldwell

Natchitoches Natchitoches

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

St. S t. James James Assumption Assumption

Iberia Iberia

St. Mary St. Mar y

Orleans Orleans

Jefferson Jefferson

St. St. Charles C harles Lafourche Lafourche

St. Bernard St. Bernard Plaquemines Plaquemines

Terrebonne Terrebonne Staff St ff map Source: Louisiana Legislature

U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, RLafayette. But a northern section of the parish would be in the 6th District, the new, solidly Republican district centered in suburban Baton Rouge.

Acadia Parish would also be mostly in the 3rd District.

But one small section would be in a Shreveport-anchored district, while another would be in a Monroe-rooted district.

St. Martin Parish would no longer be entirely in the 3rd District. Instead, most of it would be 6th District.

St. Landry Parish is now almost entirely in the 5th District. That Monroeanchored district covers northeast Louisiana and is currently represented by Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Baton

Rouge, who is vacating her seat to run for the U.S. Senate. Previously, the parish was split between three congressional districts.

Calcasieu Parish is now entirely part of District 3, rather than being split up.

In the Baton Rouge region, the new map now splits Pointe Coupee Parish in half, with the southern part in the 6th District and the northern part in the 5th.

Livingston Parish is also split up now; most of its population is still in the 6th District, but a northeastern part of the parish was moved to the 5th.

Kleinpeter — whose Senate district includes part of the Baton Rouge metro area and part of the Acadiana region — questioned

the decision to split off the northern portion of Pointe Coupee into District 5 and to group St. Martin into a Baton Rouge-based district.

Pointe Coupee Parish is more a part of the Baton Rouge area than is St. Martin, he said.

Beaullieu, the House committee chair, said lawmakers didn’t request changes specifically to Livingston, Pointe Coupee and St. Martin parishes.

“These were a result of trying to push population or move population around based on other member requests,” he said. “It’s all kind of a chain reaction.

None of them are isolated in a silo.”

The updated map also eliminates a spur of the New

Center said on May 14 that there’s an 82% chance such conditions will emerge sometime between May and July. Jacobs said it’s also likely that this year’s El Niño conditions will be moderate to strong.

That’s good news for Louisiana, but bad for those neighboring the Pacific Ocean, where Jacobs said forecasters are expecting to see heightened activity this season. El Niño has the opposite effect in the Pacific, he said, reducing wind shear and making it easier for strong storms to form.

Since El Niño’s impacts are most prominent deep in the tropical Atlantic, Matthew Rosencrans, NOAA’s lead seasonal hurricane forecaster, said we’ll likely see fewer long-track storms in 2026. But a few so-called homegrown storms could still spin up in the Gulf.

“You could get those storms in the Gulf that have the short awareness times,” Rosencrans said.

Ken Graham, director of NOAA’s National Weather Service, urged those in all hurricane-prone states to prepare for the upcoming season as usual, regardless of the forecast.

“Don’t let words like ‘below average’ change the way you prepare,” Graham said.

A better outlook

tools we have to better understand hurricanes,” Carey said. “The data collected using NOAA aircraft improve hurricane track forecasts and intensity forecasts by as much as 20%.”

Newer technology showed promise last season, too,

This year’s outlook is in stark contrast to prior years, when warm ocean waters and other factors fueled unusually prolific hurricane seasons.

In 2024, researchers issued alarming preseason forecasts that warned of an extremely active season, a prediction that came to fruition. Last year saw more tropical activity than usual as well, with fewer storms than in 2024 but a high ratio of powerful hurricanes that were difficult to forecast.

Still, the National Hurricane Center made strides last season in forecasting accuracy, improvements that officials said would not have been possible without NOAA’s 50-year-old Lockheed WP-3D Orion Hurricane Hunter aircraft, known as “Miss Piggy” and “Kermit.”

Outfitted with Doppler radars and able to fly into the eye of a hurricane, the P-3 aircraft collect critical data that forecasters use to more accurately predict how strong a storm will get and where it might go, according to Rear Admiral Chad Carey, director of NOAA’s Commissioned Officer Corps.

“These flying, meteorological data collection machines are one of the most important

While Republicans maneuvered toward the map they wanted, Democrats continued to fiercely protest the elimination of a Black seat.

Marc H. Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League and former mayor of New Orleans, launched the public testimo-

ny portion of the meeting.

He said that, when he first visited the State Capitol in 1968 as a 10-year-old boy, every Black person working there was holding a mop or broom, carrying a tray of water, shining shoes or cutting hair.

That year, his late father, Ernest “Dutch” Morial, was the first Black person elected to the Legislature, where he brought legislation to undo a Louisiana law that required blood for transfusions to be labeled either White or Black.

Marc Morial called the GOP redistricting plan “a reversal of progress.”

Democratic lawmakers on the committee spent over four hours pressing Sen. Jay Morris, the West Monroe Republican who is sponsoring the bill, to change the map.

Morris said the proposed map was driven by politics and not race and was colorblind. Rep. Candace Newell, D-New Orleans, called the idea of colorblindness “very offensive.”

“It means that the person who is claiming colorblindness is willfully ignoring the oppressions that have been placed on Black people in this country,” Newell said. “It minimizes the lived experiences of my grandparents who were forced to tell how many bubbles were in a bar of soap or how many gallons of water were in the Mississippi River in order to vote.”

Like he did in previous meetings and debates, Morris also noted that Louisiana’s current map was deemed unconstitutional, and the state has been barred by a federal court from using it in this year’s midterm elections.

when the National Hurricane Center incorporated artificial intelligence-based weather model guidance in its hurricane predictions for the first time in 70 years of existence.

AI will play an even bigger role in this year’s forecasts, according to center

Senior Hurricane Specialist John Cangialosi, who said the agency is hoping to use AI models more efficiently after experimentation last year. They’ll be incorporated in both forecast discussions and the center’s other blended tools.

Committee debate

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6A ● Friday, May 22, 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 50,285.66 276.31 0.55%

NASDAQ 26,293.10 22.74 0.09%

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Stocks edge higher after U-turn for oil prices

NEW YORK — Hour-to-hour swings for oil prices keep jerking financial markets around, and U.S. stocks wavered Thursday following the latest reversal.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and inched closer to its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 276 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.1%.

All three indexes erased early drops and gained strength following the latest U-turn for oil prices. Brent crude oil briefly got above $109 per barrel in the morning, threatening to worsen the world’s already high inflation, before quickly erasing all its gains in midday trading and falling 2.3% to settle at $102.58.

Oil prices are yo-yoing because of uncertainty about how long the war with Iran will keep the Strait of Hormuz shut. The closure has prevented oil tankers from exiting the Persian Gulf to deliver crude to customers worldwide, driving up oil’s price.

As oil prices eased Thursday, so did pressure on Wall Street that’s been building from the bond market.

Yields had climbed so high that they threatened to slow economies worldwide and undercut prices for stocks, bitcoin and all kinds of other investments.

They’ve already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level since last summer, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the AI data centers that have supported the U.S. economy’s growth recently.

Average mortgage rate climbs to 6.51% The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed this week to its highest level in nearly nine months, driving up borrowing costs for homebuyers during what’s traditionally the housing market’s busiest time of the year.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.51% from 6.36% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. Despite the sharp increase, the average rate remains below 6.86%, where it was a year ago.

Rates have been mostly trending higher since the war with Iran began. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has roiled energy markets, sending crude oil prices sharply higher — a key driver of inflation.

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.

Meanwhile, borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also rose this week. That average rate climbed to 5.85% from 5.71% last week. A year ago, it was at 6.01%, Freddie Mac said.

U.N. court: Right to strike protected by treaty THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The United Nations’ top court issued a landmark advisory opinion on the right to strike on Thursday, finding that a cornerstone labor treaty protects the ability of workers to walk off the job.

The International Court of Justice was asked in 2023 by the International Labor Organization, a U.N. agency, to settle an internal dispute over whether one of the ILO’s conventions gives workers the right to strike.

Advisory opinions aren’t legally binding, but carry significant weight. The decision could have a worldwide impact on labor regulations, enshrining the right to strike in labor standards and international trade agreements.

Labor unions welcomed the decision.

“As any trade unionist will tell you, there is no right to organize without the right to strike!” Christy Hoffman, general-secretary of UNI Global Union, said in a statement after the opinion was announced. “The two are inseparable foundations of any functional and fair industrial relations system. Congratulations to the many advocates who argued the point so brilliantly before the ICJ.”

S&P 500 7,445.72 12.75 0.17%

EURO 1.1620 -0.0004 -0.03%

CRUDE OIL 96.35 -1.91 -1.94%

GOLD 4,539.80 8.50 0.19%

6-MO T-BILLS 3.75 0.03 0.81%

30-YR T-BONDS 5.09 -0.03 -0.55%

Trump eases federal refrigerant rule Move comes in a bid to address surging grocery costs

BY MATTHEW DALY Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday loosened federal rules that require grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment, a step that President Donald Trump said would help lower grocery costs.

Trump said at a White House ceremony that the action by the Environmental Protection Agency would “substantially lower costs for consumers” by delaying costly restrictions that limit the type of refrigerants U.S. businesses and families can use.

The move to relax the Biden-era rules on harmful pollutants known as hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs,

emitted by refrigerators and other appliances was the latest attempt by the Republican administration before pivotal elections in November to try to address rising voter concerns over the cost of living.

It is not clear how much or how quickly grocery prices could be impacted. Industry groups said it could even raise prices because manufacturers have already redesigned products, retooled factories and trained workers to build and service next-generation refrigerant equipment.

Inflation in the United States increased to 3.8% annually in April, amid price spikes caused by the Iran war and Trump’s sweeping tariffs. Inflation is now outpacing wage gains as the war has kept oil and gasoline prices high.

The regulation from the Democratic Biden administration was “unnecessary and costly and actually makes the machinery worse,” Trump said at a ceremony joined by top executives from Kroger, Piggly

Wiggly and other grocery chains.

He said the EPA action would protect hundreds of thousands of jobs and save Americans more than $2 billion a year.

The Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, which represents more than 330 HVAC manufacturers and commercial refrigeration companies, said the change in approach would “inject uncertainty across the market” and could even raise prices.

“This rule works against basic supply and demand,” said Stephen Yurek, the group’s president and CEO. “By extending the compliance deadline” for phasing out HFCs, the administration “is maintaining and even increasing demand in the market for existing refrigerants while supply continues to fall.”

The greenhouse gases are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide and are considered a major driver of global warming.

It is a reversal after Trump signed a law in his first term that aimed to

reduce harmful, planet-warming pollutants emitted by refrigerators and air conditioners. That bipartisan measure brought environmentalists and major business groups into rare alignment on the contentious issue of climate change and won praise across the political spectrum.

The 2020 law reflected a broad bipartisan consensus on the need to quickly phase out domestic use of HFCs. The EPA action highlights the second Trump administration’s drive to roll back regulations perceived as climate friendly. The plan is among a series of sweeping environmental changes that the agency’s administrator, Lee Zeldin, has said will put a “dagger through the heart of climate change religion.”

Environmentalists criticized the administration’s actions, saying the new rule would exacerbate climate pollution while disrupting a yearslong industry transition to new coolants as an alternative to HFCs.

Close to home

Higher fuel prices have some scaling back Memorial Day travel plans

BY RIO YAMAT

AP airlines and travel writer As someone who is “not the best person with bugs and stuff,” Stephanie Bernaba never imagined herself becoming an outdoorsy mom.

But the mother of three is getting more daring as gas prices and other travel costs make vacations more expensive. Her family has traded pricier trips, such as long summer stays in Florida and an annual Disney World visit around her birthday, for local beaches, bike rides and hiking trails near their home in coastal Rhode Island.

“I’ve been trying to do more of that because one, it’s quality time. Two, it’s fresh air. And three, we’re not spending an arm and a leg,” Bernaba, 47, said.

That kind of calibration is shaping the summer travel season, which gets its traditional start in the U.S. with the long Memorial Day holiday weekend. Higher fuel prices resulting from the Iran war and other inflationary pressures are making most forms of travel costlier as people in many parts of the world form their plans.

The U.S. Travel Association expects annual travel spending to grow by a modest 1% this year, powered largely by domestic leisure travel despite the FIFA World Cup giving soccer fans from other countries a reason to visit the U.S. Airfares have climbed around the world along with the price of jet fuel as the war constrains global oil supplies.

Sticking closer to home may not cushion the sticker shock. The nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimated Americans would collectively spend an extra $3.5 billion on gasoline over the holiday weekend.

The average price for a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. was $4.56 on Thursday compared to $3.18 a year ago, according to motor club AAA. Other travel expenses have gone up too. The latest consumer price index showed airfares were 20.7% higher in April from a year ear-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JAE C. HONG

Travelers wait to board an Amtrak train on Wednesday at Union Station in Los Angeles. Some Americans are planning to scale back their summer travel as higher fuel prices resulting from the Iran war and other inflationary pressures take a toll on people’s pocketbooks. lier, the cost of intracity transit such as buses and subways rose 5.6%, lodging cost 4.3% more, and eating out got 3.6% pricier.

Despite elevated prices, industry forecasts suggest Americans still want to get away, even if it means replacing long trips with long weekends, choosing destinations closer to home and finding ways to cut costs by cooking meals or using buses and trains instead of driving.

AAA predicted that 45 million U.S. residents would travel at least 50 miles from home between Thursday and Monday for the holiday.

The Transportation Security Administration said it expects to screen 18.3 million passengers from Thursday to next Wednesday.

Many households are planning summer vacations but making tradeoffs such as shorter trips or cheaper lodging, according to Bank of America analysts. Mastercard said in a recent report that consumers appeared increasingly focused on value and were adjusting their destinations and timing instead of not going away at all.

“Generally, it’s certainly more of a demand reshuffling than a demand softening,” David Tinsley, a senior economist at Bank of America Institute, said.

For the Bernaba family, that has meant trading a big vacation for a shorter trip nearby this summer. Their scaled-back itinerary still is pricey: more than $400 for a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard for their car and passengers, and about $800 a night for each of the two hotel rooms the family of five needs.

Another family that had planned to join them backed out after seeing the price tag.

“The pinch is being felt all the way around,”

Bernaba said.

Analysts have increasingly described travel spending as “K-shaped,” with higher-income households continuing to spend while lowerincome families pull back or opt out entirely.

Bank of America said lower-income households were significantly more likely to report having no summer travel plans this year.

New polling of registered U.S. voters by Quinnipiac University found that 48% have cut back on vacation spending, 54% have reduced what they spend on dining out, and 36% have curbed their driving.

Travelers are confronting other stressors besides cost.

Airlines around the world have canceled flights and trimmed routes to save on fuel and operating costs, leaving passengers with fewer options. The conflict in the Middle East has complicated getting there and rerouted flights to and from Asia, adding another layer of concern on top of broader geopolitical tensions and the declining value of the dollar for people considering trips abroad.

Recent U.S. government shutdowns, which caused major flight disruptions and long security lines, also are likely still fresh in travelers’ minds.

The various factors impacting travel right now has made planning trips more mentally taxing and may be pushing people toward simpler and more accessible vacations that feel easier to manage, said Marta Soligo, a tourism sociologist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

“The key word here is unpredictability,” Soligo said. “Tourists don’t like unpredictability.”

President calls off artificial intelligence executive order Trump says he’s concerned it could dull U.S. tech edge

BY COLLIN BINKLEY and MATT O’BRIEN Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump called off plans to sign a new executive order on artificial intelligence hours before an expected White House ceremony Thursday because he said he was worried the measure could dull America’s edge on AI technology.

Trump said he was postponing the Oval Office event with tech industry executives because he did not like what he saw in the order’s text.

“We’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead,” Trump told reporters.

The order would have established a framework for the government to vet the national security risks of the most advanced AI systems before their public release, according to a person familiar with the White House’s deliberations with the tech industry but not authorized to speak about them publicly. The directive was being characterized as a voluntary collaboration with participating U.S.-based tech companies, including Anthropic, OpenAI and Google, the person said.

The push for some kind of government action to review leading AI systems follows growing concern within the banking industry and other institutions about the leaps in AI’s abilities to find cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the world’s software.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell convened an urgent meeting with Wall Street CEOs in April, warning them about

the cybersecurity risks posed

by Anthropic’s AI model, Claude Mythos.

The meeting, urgently assembled at the Treasury Department’s headquarters, was intended to ensure that banks were aware of the risks associated with the models, Bessent said at CNBC’s “Invest in America Forum” in Washington in April. “This new Anthropic model is very powerful,” he said. “Some banks are doing a better job in cybersecurity than others, and we want to have the ability to convene them and talk about what is best practices and where they should be heading.”

That led some allies of the Republican president to propose better methods for getting those AI tools in the hands of trusted cybersecurity experts.

Trump had pledged to undo the AI safety regulations set by his predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden. Trump’s administration has

viewed the AI sector as an engine to help deliver on his pledges to expand the economy and he has promoted its major players at events at the White House and around the world. Last week, Trump had tech CEOs in tow for a summit with China’s Xi Jinping.

Trump’s ambitions for the sector have collided with the fears of voters over the impact of the technology on American life, jobs and electricity bills. Republicans themselves are divided over whether to embrace the AI industry or side with voters who express skepticism about the technology.

Also complicating the government’s interest in working with Anthropic on cybersecurity is the government’s ongoing legal fight with the company. Trump in February ordered all U.S. agencies to stop using Anthropic’s chatbot Claude after an unusually public clash between the Pentagon and CEO Dario Amodei.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Friday, May 22, 2026 ● 7A

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Senate panel makes big cuts to budget School vouchers, raises, education funds trimmed

pared back the budget: the Senate panel, for example, gave state lawmakers the right to daily allowances for days they work outside of the legislative session, and it allocated about $18.5 million for raises for corrections officers.

Whether those budget items last remains to be seen; the fates of other pending proposals, such as raises for registrars and prosecutors, also are murky.

On Monday, Landry issued a statement on X saying that no state workers should receive pay raises this year if teachers don’t get them.

Since then, legislative leaders have been seeking clarity on what exactly Landry meant. The governor spent the first part of the week in Greenland. President Donald Trump, who has said he wants to acquire the island, named Landry its special envoy earlier this year.

The governor returned Wednesday night, according to his social media.

State Rep. Jack McFarland, RJonesboro, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee and sponsors multiple budget bills, said he expected to meet with the governor Friday.

Landry’s statement about pay raises came after a constitutional amendment that affected teacher pay failed at the polls Saturday.

Amendment 3 would have liquidated three state education trust funds and used the money to turn $2,000 and $1,000 stipends that teachers and school support staff receive, respectively, into permanent raises. The raises also would have grown to $2,250 and $1,125.

Teachers have received stipends for three years in a row, so they effectively face a pay cut. Lawmakers would have to allocate $200

As a result of the plea agreements, both Doyle and Slaney Continued from page 1A agree to forfeit multiple bank accounts associated with the conspiracy, as well as property in DeRidrelatively small communities. der owned by Slaney.

Slaney also pleaded guilty in the Other law enforcement officials conspiracy last week, in which he indicted include former Forest admitted responsibility for certi- Hill Chief of Police Glynn Dixon fying at least 78 false reports over and Glenmora Chief of Police Tebo Onishea. the course of the conspiracy.

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN

Staff writer

Raises for judges and members of Gov. Jeff Landry’s Cabinet next year appear to be off the table after a Senate panel cut them from the state budget, along with funding to expand LA GATOR and money that would have increased the per-student rate schools are paid for operating costs.

Facing budget constraints, the Senate Finance Committee made those changes Thursday through a lengthy set of amendments, just days after a statement from Landry cast doubt on who should receive pay raises and threw a wrench into budget deliberations.

Other cuts are unsurprising after state economists predicted Louisiana would bring in about $100 million less in tax revenue for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, than previously expected. On its own, the increase for GATOR, a program that gives taxpayer money to families to pay for private school, would have cost $43.5 million.

Senators also lowered by $30 million the state funds schools receive as determined by a formula known as the Minimum Foundation Program. That allocation was already set to decrease because of declining public school enrollment, but lawmakers had agreed to increase the per-pupil payments schools get for operating costs to soften the blow.

Still, not all the amendments

PLEADS

them to fight wildfires,” he said, referring to a pay increase for firefighters that he has supported. “It’s not a want; it’s a necessity. I feel the same way with corrections.”

million to avoid that outcome — a feat top budget officials in the Legislature have described as unrealistic.

Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, initially said the Senate would cut out all raises in the budget and park bills authorizing new pay increases, to prevent Landry from vetoing legislation.

But McFarland balked at the idea of abandoning pay raises for low- and middle-income workers.

“I’ve expressed this to (Landry’s) chief of staff, Julie Emerson.

Those are to me a critical industry.

Firefighters — we’ve got to have

The budget the House passed included $10,000 pay raises for state firefighters, who receive $28,000 annually, McFarland said. It was not immediately clear whether the Senate amendments impacted that raise.

As for the pay increase lawmakers now want to give prison employees, state officials hope it will help address staffing shortages and save money on overtime costs.

Corrections cadets have one of the highest turnover rates of all state workers: Between 2024 and 2025, that rate was 164%, according to Louisiana’s annual turnover report.

The state Civil Service Commission recently approved a $3 hourly raise for cadets, meaning they could make $20.50 an hour, said Gary Westcott, the state’s top corrections official. They currently make $17.50, he told legislators earlier this year.

The increase for corrections officers came through an amendment to House Bill 1, which lays out the state’s operating budget for the coming fiscal year.

An amendment to House Bill 983, which controls the state’s judiciary budget, takes out $6.7 million that would have made the pay boost judges received last year permanent.

Two other proposals are also hanging in the balance as budget deliberations continue.

An amendment to HB1 sets aside $500,000 to update the pay schedule for registrars of voters, but the

appropriation is dependent on the passage of a bill that would enact that change.

The measure, Senate Bill 25 by state Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen, is headed to the House Appropriations Committee, with a hearing scheduled for Tuesday.

Kleinpeter said Tuesday that he wants to keep fighting for the raises. Registrars haven’t had their pay schedules adjusted since 2007, he said.

Meanwhile, state Rep. Peter Egan, R-Covington, has been pushing two bills to give prosecutors more resources. House Bill 660 would raise the base salary for assistant district attorneys from $50,000 to $60,000, and House Bill 719 would let district attorneys hire more prosecutors.

Hillar Moore, the district attorney for the 19th Judicial District in East Baton Rouge Parish, has said his office is in dire need of more staff, and that he has struggled to retain prosecutors because he cannot offer competitive salaries.

While the status of negotiations on HB660 and HB719 is unclear, their odds did not appear promising Thursday.

The House did not include raises for prosecutors in the budget it originally passed. There did not immediately appear to be any new money allocated for those measures in the amendments the Senate passed.

Both HB660 and HB719 are pending approval by the Senate Finance Committee.

The budget bills now head to the full Senate for approval; after that, the House will need to agree to the amendments. If it doesn’t, the bill will go before a small committee of legislators who will hash out the final version in private.

Court records show that the remainder of Doyle’s co-defendants in the case have plea changes scheduled within the next couple of weeks: n Patel, the Oakdale businessman, was indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, one count of bribery, 24 counts of mail fraud and eight counts of money laundering. His change of

plea hearing is set for Thursday. n Dixon, Forest Hill chief of police, was indicted on a count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, six counts of visa fraud, six counts of mail fraud and one count of money laundering. Dixon was an elected chief, but records at the Secretary of State’s Office indicate he’s no longer chief in Forest Hill. His change of plea hearing is set for June 4.

n Onishea, former elected Glenmora chief of police, was indicted on a count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, six counts of visa fraud and six counts of mail fraud. His change of plea hearing is set for Thursday.

If convicted, the remaining defendants could also be ordered to forfeit additional bank accounts, properties and vehicles allegedly tied to the scheme.

Pay raises

STAFF FILE PHOTO

Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, has balked at the idea of abandoning pay raises for low- and middle-income workers.

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8A ● Friday, May 22, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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F r i d ay, M ay 22, 2026

1BN

ST. LANDRY PARISH Career Center Student of the year Micah Conley delivers the senior tribute address during Carencro High School’s commencement exercises Thursday at the Cajundome in Lafayette.

STAFF PHOTOS

By BRAD KEMP

THE KEYS TO SUCCEED

Congratulations to the Carencro High School class of 2026

Trail rides canceled for the year Official: ‘Public safety must come first’

BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer

St. Landry Parish government on Tuesday announced the cancellation of all trail rides for the remainder of 2026 and identified several suspects accused of violent activity at a trail ride over the weekend.

Trail rides are a time-honored tradition for St. Landry Parish’s African American community, but two shooting incidents at the Yambilee Building over the weekend during the annual Ride R Die Trail Ride and Rodeo have reignited conversations about whether enough is being done to ensure participant safety.

Two people suffered nonfatal injuries as a result of the first shooting. A second shooting also occurred Sunday evening that resulted in an individual being detained.

Brandon Zeno, 27, from Lafayette; Jordan Bernard, 32, from Lafayette; Hakeem Gloston, 24, from Iowa; and Shakeal Griffin, 30, from Lafayette, have each been booked with the illegal use of a weapon and aggravated criminal damage to property, with Zeno and Gloston facing additional charges of possession of a firearm with certain felony convictions.

“Public safety must come first,” St. Landry Parish President Jessie Bellard said. “Unfortunately, the violence we witnessed this weekend has forced us to make a difficult decision regarding trail rides moving forward this year.”

The trail rides are considered a celebration of the parish’s unique Creole cowboy identity, often featuring processions, dancing, music, food and lots of horses.

ä See TRAIL RIDES, page 4B

Louisiana teachers likely to lose $2,000 stipends

ABOVE: Graduate Jamyree Nakyhi Ason shows off his diploma to family and friends during the graduation ceremony on Thursday.

Budget advances without their funding

RIGHT: Graduates point to their family and friends on Thursday.

BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer

on a count of negligent homicide and booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center.

The Lafayette Police Department confirmed Lee had full custody of the toddler, his twin brother and two other siblings.

Lee is the children’s maternal grandmother. Her daughter,

Louisiana’s public school teachers, who are among the lowest-paid in the country, are likely to take home $2,000 less next school year after state lawmakers advanced a budget Thursday that leaves out educator stipends.

The state Legislature has given one-time pay boosts to teachers in the past few years instead of permanent raises. After voters rejected a ballot measure Saturday that would have financed teacher raises, educators urged lawmakers this week to add stipends to the state budget.

On Thursday, those hopes were dashed as the Senate Finance Committee approved a budget plan that does not include the annual pay bumps — $2,000 for teachers and $1,000 for school support staff — that educators have received since 2023.

Legislative leaders had warned that they were unlikely to find the roughly

ä See TODDLER, page 4B

ä See STIPENDS, page 4B

Lafayette grandmother arrested in toddler’s drowning death Child’s mother was murdered in 2024

shooting two years earlier, according to police and court records.

The 3-year-old boy, Khaine Notto, was living with his grandBY JA’KORI MADISON mother, who now faces a negliStaff writer gent homicide charge in connecA Lafayette toddler who died tion with his death.

Sunday after being found unLafayette police said officers responsive in a bathtub had al- responded around 7 p.m. Sunready lost his mother to a fatal day to a home in the 200 block

of Rocky Meadows Lane after reports of an unresponsive child. Khaine was transported

by Acadian Ambulance to a Lafayette hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Investigators said the child’s guardian, Dawn Lee, 50, left him unattended in a bathtub before later finding him unresponsive in the water. Lee was arrested

2B ● Friday, May 22, 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

Data centers will make power grid stronger Concerns about rising electricand billions in tax revenue. ity bills and overtaxed grids have One reason Entergy is able to dominated the national data cenmake data centers work for custer conversation, but Louitomers in Louisiana is a key advantage we have siana is showing that they over other states where can actually strengthen residents are experiencgrid reliability and help keep electricity prices ing bill spikes and relidown for all customers. So ability issues from data much so that the Trump centers: regulatory overPhillip administration recently sight of utilities.

May highlighted Entergy as a In deregulated states, GUEST model for how utilities can COLUMNIST developers can build their work with tech companies own power generation for to improve reliability and data centers but still conaffordability. nect to the grid without any pubEarlier this month, Entergy lic oversight. In regulated states Louisiana announced another $2 like Louisiana, however, utilities billion in new customer savings must receive Public Service from our power agreement for Commission approval for every Meta’s Louisiana campus agreemajor investment or new project to ensure it benefits customers. ment, bringing total projected Deregulated electricity markets savings from data centers (inhave also consistently seen sigcluding Meta’s and Hut 8’s), to $2.8 billion over 20 years, which nificantly higher residential rates includes a 10% reduction in storm even before data centers came recovery and grid resilience on the scene — an important fact costs. The projects are also exoften omitted by deregulation pected to create thousands of jobs advocates. In contrast, our state’s

regulatory model has helped Entergy Louisiana keep residential rates more than 30% below national average while ensuring that adding new large customers strengthens our grid rather than strains it.

I am grateful that Gov. Jeff Landry and the PSC have advanced a framework that prioritizes customer protection, stability and long-term affordability while ensuring we can still move fast enough to compete for these once-in-a-generation economic development opportunities.

Entergy is doing its part to protect customers, too. Our Fair Share Plus pledge outlines how we’re ensuring tech companies pay their fair share of the cost to power their facilities, plus provide added benefits for our communities. For example, Meta has agreed to donate hundreds of millions of dollars to home energy efficiency and bill support programs for vulnerable customers, workforce development and

State needs to get more Black students into STEM I didn’t realize how rare I was until a demand STEM careers. student stated, “I’ve never had a math These pathways cannot thrive without teacher who looked like you.” strong STEM foundations. Currently, I had been teaching for years, but Louisiana has lost 60,000 students in that moment made Louisiana’s 6% real. the public school system. If Black boys Black men make up only about 6% to 7% continue to be underrepresented in of the state’s entire teacher workadvanced math and science courses and if Black men conforce — and in STEM classrooms, the number is even smaller. To tinue to be nearly absent from that student, my presence wasn’t STEM teaching, then the state ordinary. It was exceptional. That will struggle to build a wellexception has consequences far versed, future-ready aviation beyond the classroom. Louisiana’s M. Paul workforce.

6% isn’t just an education statistic.

The Federal Aviation AdminSmith IV istration It is a preview of the STEM workhas warned of a severe GUEST national shortage of air traffic force the state will have — and the COLUMNIST controllers, one of the most talent it will continue to lose. mathematically rigorous and Algebra and calculus are gatehigh-paying positions in the aviation secways to high-demand careers in artificial intelligence, aviation, engineering, tor. Without stronger K-12 STEM prepaenergy and computer science. But gate- ration and role models, Louisiana risks leaving large segments of its population ways only open when students can see out of these opportunities. themselves in the people guiding them.

Federal policymakers recognize these For many Black boys, a Black male shortages.

STEM teacher is often the first signal In 2024, Sen. Raphael Warnock chamthat advanced mathematics, robotics, coding or engineering belongs to them, pioned legislation allocating new fundtoo. ing to diversify aviation workforce Research consistently shows that hav- development. The message from Washing even one same-race teacher can inington is clear: The country cannot meet crease confidence, academic persistence its aviation and STEM workforce needs without broadening who has access to and long-term achievement. these fields.

Over time, this shapes who enrolls in Louisiana has an opportunity to align advanced STEM courses, who pursues STEM majors and ultimately who enters with this national momentum. But that begins with strengthening the front STEM professions. The 6% becomes a end of the pipeline — the teachers who pipeline problem long before students introduce STEM concepts long before reach college. This challenge is not students choose a major or career. At a unique to Louisiana.

Nationally, Black men remain severely time when national conversations about DEI are heated, it is essential to clarify underrepresented in STEM graduate programs — making up only about 2% of that addressing the 6% is not a political stance; it is solely economic. students. This number signals a fragile Ensuring that Black boys see Black pipeline. If we are to bridge this gap, Louisiana must become more intentional men teaching STEM courses is not about ideology; it is about preparing the engiabout recruiting talent from nontraditional paths: veterans, industry profesneers, pilots, air traffic controllers, aviasionals and career changers who, like tion mechanics, coders and innovators me, didn’t initially see the classroom as that Louisiana — and the country — will an option. need. Black men have contributed to Louisiana is working to expand its America’s progress in STEM and aviapresence in aviation, engineering, drone tion throughout history of the United technology, advanced manufacturing States. Supporting the next generation and artificial intelligence. Recently, the continues that legacy. state announced its first “Aviation Day,” Targeting districts where the gap is bringing together educators, industry greatest will ensure the 6% begins to leaders and policymakers to strengthen rise where it is most needed. If Louisiaviation and aeronautics pathways for ana wants a stronger STEM workforce students. tomorrow, then it must start with who The need is urgent. In reporting for stands in front of the classroom today.

The Hechinger Report, Javeria Salman noted that aviation is rapidly becoming M. Paul Smith IV is a science and a modern version of shop class, offering mathematics education doctorate students hands-on pathways into highcandidate at Southern University A&M.

renewable energy investments.

We also require prepayments, multiyear contracts and financial safeguards so other customers don’t shoulder their project risks.

While data centers we serve are paying their fair share of the cost to serve them, electricity costs were already rising long before data centers arrived and are projected to continue rising nationwide because of factors like inflation, fuel price volatility, supply chain disruptions, storms and the need to replace infrastructure.

In Louisiana, however, our customers’ bills will be lower than they otherwise would have been thanks to our data center service agreements.

One of the few ways we can ease these inflationary bill impacts is by adding new large customers who can pick up the tab on a larger share of the cost of grid maintenance and upgrades that residential and small-business customers would otherwise have had to pay for alone.

Because of the data centers joining our grid, we can now make critical upgrades to our infrastructure at a fraction of the cost to existing customers — upgrades that strengthen reliability for our current customers and help attract even more industrial investment, like Hyundai’s Ascension Parish steel plant.

This boosts Louisiana’s economic development profile, brings new jobs and resources and keeps electricity more affordable.

The U.S. is competing in a global race for AI dominance, and supporting domestic data centers will help us win it while providing our communities with lower long-term energy costs, stronger infrastructure and new economic opportunities. Our state is showing how high-tech and households can thrive on the same power grid, improving the lives of Louisianans today and for generations to come.

Phillip May is president and CEO of Entergy Louisiana.

Program can help Louisiana address its physician shortage We know that Louisiana is truly one and retaining doctors within our state of a kind. From our world-renowned is crucial for solving these challenges. music to our celebrated cuisine, our Communities where medical students state’s heritage plays an important role and residents train are often where in our nation’s story. they choose to practice longYet, compared to other states, term, with 62% of family physiour health and wellness lag. To cians staying in the state where preserve our cultural richness they completed their residency. and support those who shape it, It’s also imperative that we we must improve the health of all train physicians who reflect our communities.

Leonardo and understand the communiFor too many years, Louisiana Seoane ties we serve. Patients receivhas placed near the bottom in ing care from doctors who GUEST health rankings. understand their cultures expeCOLUMNIST Healthcare leaders and partrience better communication, greater trust and improved ners, working with the Louisihealth outcomes. ana Department of Health and other The creation of the Xavier Ochsner agencies, are responding by focusing College of Medicine is part of the soluon quality metrics and better health outcomes. tion. As a college within Xavier UniverBy concentrating efforts to decrease sity of Louisiana — a top HBCU recogchronic diseases like diabetes and nized as a leader in placing graduates heart disease, and creating innovative into medical school — XOCOM builds solutions to improve maternal care, we on a proud legacy. As we undergo the are working diligently to elevate our accreditation process, we are commitstate’s health and increase life expected to this mission by training exceptancy. tional, empathetic doctors in-state to Prioritizing these health initiatives serve communities across Louisiana. supports our friends, families and Yet, with national medical student neighbors, allowing them to live fuller debt exceeding $215,000 and proposed and happier lives. federal student loan caps on the horiHowever, to truly move the needle, zon in July, we must also overcome the we must also address our U.S. physifinancial barriers that keep talented students from pursuing medical school cian shortage and its effect on receivto begin with. ing timely, preventive care. In the One solution is the $3 million Hupast several months, projections of the shortage have shifted, pointing to mana Health Workforce Scholarship a worsening long-term crisis: By 2038, Fund, which will advance our efforts we will be short up to 141,000 physito make medical school accessible by covering full tuition at XOCOM for stucians nationwide.

We feel this already in Louisiana, dents with financial need who commit where 60 of our 64 parishes are desto practicing primary care, internal medicine or maternal care in Louisiana ignated Health Professional Shortage after graduation.

Areas. Meeting this challenge now reWe need more programs like these quires innovative solutions. that reduce financial burdens and help This effort starts with training more improve health outcomes for everyone. primary care physicians who serve as To build a healthier future, we must the front line of disease prevention.

Better access to primary care means find more innovative solutions to invest in our physician workforce now, ensurearlier interventions, improved maternal and infant health outcomes and ing that those who train here have evrelief for our overburdened emergency ery reason to stay. departments.

Most importantly, it helps our loved Dr. Leonardo Seoane is the president ones prevent and manage chronic and founding dean at Xavier Ochsner conditions before they become lifeCollege of Medicine and executive vice threatening. president and chief academic officer Evidence clearly shows that training at Ochsner Health.

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR LOCAL REPORTING

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COMMENTARY

STAFF PHOTO By JILL PICKETT

Residents vote Saturday at C.E. Byrd High School in Shreveport.

ISSUE OF THE WEEK THE MIDTERMS Voters across the country have started to register their choices in the midterm elections. In Louisiana, party primaries on Saturday for U.S. Senate led to the ouster of incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy, who faced a challenger backed by President Donald Trump.The president has been using the midterms to exact retribution on officials he has deemed insufficiently loyal. Cassidy made the list for voting to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial. But while the president has demonstrated his grip on the Republican Party, it’s unclear if he will have the same sway in the November general election.With high gas prices and the war in Iran, the president’s popularity is at an all-time low.What will voters be looking to as they make their decision? Here are two perspectives:

Midterm elections present gloomy picture for GOP

What party will take over the re-redistricted House?

For the first time this term, President concern. It’s especially concerning in Donald Trump’s job approval rating has light of the president’s low job approval dipped below 40% in the RealClearPolirating, which is another good predictor of midterm results. tics average of polls. The newest In Trump’s first midterms, in rating is 39.9% approval and 57% 2018, the president’s party, like disapproval. today, controlled both the House The president’s approval has and Senate. The final generic balbeen ticking downward for months — it started at 50.5% lot average before the midterms approval in January 2025 — and favored Democrats by 7.3 points, Byron was brought to its current point nearly the same as it is today.

York by a number of polls showing his Trump’s job approval rating imjob approval in the mid-to-high mediately before the 2018 elec30s. The latest is a New York Times poll tions was 43.6%, a bit better than it is tosows Trump at 37% approval and 59% day. In that election, Democrats picked disapproval, all among registered votup 41 seats to win control of the House.

The GOP kept control of the Senate. ers.

The Republican Party’s obvious weakThe Times poll found a significant gender gap in Trump approval. Fortyness going into the 2026 midterms is, of four percent of men approve of the job course, the main reason behind the masthe president is doing, while 29% of sive battle over redistricting. It appears women approve. The race/ethnicity gap the GOP will win that battle, at least this is larger — Trump’s approval among year, which could reduce its possible White respondents is 45% while his apmidterm losses in the House. But the current Republican advantage in the proval among non-White respondents House is so small that Democrats can is 20%. Among respondents who voted for Trump in 2024, his approval rating is win control by picking up a tiny number 79%. Among those who voted for former of seats.

The current party balance in the Vice President Kamala Harris, it is 3%, House is 217 Republicans to 212 Demoand among those who did not vote, it is 21%. crats, with one independent and five The new survey, like many others, vacancies. However those are sorted found solid disapproval of the war in out, the fact is, if the election were held Iran. The Times asked, “Do you think today, Democrats could win control of Donald Trump’s decision to go to war the House by picking up three or four with Iran was the right decision or the seats. That is an incredibly low bar for wrong decision?” Sixty-four percent the party to achieve. said the wrong decision, while 30% said Meanwhile, President Trump is adding the right decision. Among Trump 2024 to his already dominant power in the Revoters, 76% said going to war was the publican Party. Over the weekend, one right decision. Among Harris voters, of his last GOP antagonists in the Sen95% said it was the wrong decision. ate, Sen. Bill Cassidy, lost a primary in The pollsters, of course, asked respon- Louisiana after Trump endorsed his Redents’ opinion on Trump’s handling of publican opponent. That means Trump the economy — it was 33% approve and has gotten rid of all but two of the seven 64% percent disapprove. More specifiRepublicans who voted to convict him in cally, they also asked about Trump’s han- the 2021 post-presidential impeachment trial. dling of the cost of living — it was 28% The Cassidy defeat is on top of others, approve and 70% disapprove. like the successful Trump-encouraged As far as the coming midterm elecprimary challenges of several Inditions are concerned, on the so-called generic ballot question — “If the 2026 ana Republican state lawmakers who general election for Congress were held crossed Trump on redistricting. Trump’s today, which party’s candidate would obvious power in such matters has you be more likely to vote for in your made many lawmakers scared of clashdistrict?” — 50% said the Democratic ing with him, whatever they might feel candidate, while 39% said the Republiabout redistricting.

So now, Trump’s authority over the can candidate and 11% said they did not Republican Party has never been higher. know.

But now, with 51/2 months until midThat 11-point advantage for Democrats is bigger than the party’s advanterms, he’s not doing nearly as well with the electorate as a whole. tage in the RealClearPolitics average of the generic ballot, which stands at Email Byron York at byork@washington7.2 points. Still, even the average is big enough to cause Republicans serious examiner.com.

As President Donald Trump’s job approvAs elections analyst Nate Silver exal sinks to or below 40% (dependplained, the uneven distribution of the parties’ voting bases tends to ing on which poll you’re looking give Republicans an advantage in at), betting markets and political single-member, equal-population conventional wisdom are that his districting. Increasingly since the Republican Party is not necessarily mid-1990s, and even more so after doomed to lose its narrow House Trump’s emergence, Democratic majority, nor is it at serious risk of Michael voters tend to be concentrated in losing its Senate majority.

Barone central cities, sympathetic suburbs This is partly because of court and university towns, while Repubdecisions affecting redistricting in major states, but it also owes something to lican voters tend to be spread more evenly fundamentals that a few observers have around the rest of the country. noted even before. One example is Henry This means that Republican districting Olsen, writing two months ago in The Wash- plans tend to have more compact-shaped districts, while Democrats tend to link disington Post, noting that the president’s job approval has been cratering more among tant nodes with tenuous corridors. Illinois nonvoters than among likely voters. In Democrats’ 14-3 plan, for example, contoday’s RealClearPolitics polls, the same sists of bacon strips leading outward from relation is apparent: Trump’s slippage is less Chicago wards and heavily Democratic among those more likely to vote. suburbs out across miles of treeless prairie Similarly, Republican pollster Patrick to Democratic towns. Virginia Democrats’ Ruffini in March noted that, in a 60,000-per- 10-1 plan had five districts fan out from heavily Democratic Arlington and Fairfax son biennial YouGov survey, the Democratic advantage in party identification has Counties, just across the Potomac River been steadily narrowed toward the vanish- from Washington, D.C. In contrast, Texas and Florida Repubing point since 2006. And this year’s special elections, in which the opposition party licans’ plans would probably pass even a typically fares better than the president’s, stringent numeric test for compactness have been showing less anti-Republican and contiguity. movement than in 2025.

The result for the moment is nearly a levNonetheless, the fact that the president’s el playing field in the House races. The auparty almost always loses House seats thoritative Cook Political Report rates 188 (exceptions: 1934, 1998, 2002) plus the fact seats as solidly Republican and 184 seats that Republicans won only 220 seats to as solidly Democratic. It rates 22 seats as Democrats’ 215 in 2024, has made it seem leaning or likely Republican and 23 seats close to certain that Democrats would win as leaning or likely Democratic. That’s 210 control. seats at least leaning Republican, 207 as To forestall that, Trump last summer leaning or likely Democratic, leaving 18 urged Texas’ Republican governor and leg- seats, four currently held by Democrats islature to redistrict its 38 House districts. and 14 by Republicans, as tossups.

So if Democrats win all the tossups, they They passed a plan portrayed as gaining would control the House 225-210, a net gain five Republican seats, although it may not of 10 seats — a win, but not the blue wave if the 2024 MAGA surge among Hispanthey’ve been hoping for. If Republicans win ics evaporates, as polls suggest. Similarly, half of the tossups, they would control the Republicans in North Carolina (where the House 219-216, a net loss of just one seat.

Democratic governor has no veto over Those numbers are beginning to look faredistricting) and Ohio passed plans advertised as gaining one and two seats, respecmiliar. The House was 222-213 Democratic in 2020, 222-213 Republican in 2022, 220tively.

215 Republican in 2024.

Democrats retaliated spectacularly last Americans have had such periods of parNovember in California, where a plan is estimated to increase Democrats’ edge in the tisan parity, characterized by especially state’s delegation from 44-8 to 48-4. bitter partisanship before, in the fights In the meantime, the U.S. Supreme between Jacksonians and Whigs between Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais 1832 and 1852, and between the pro-Civil ruled that the Voting Rights Act doesn’t re- War Republicans and dubious Democrats quire maximizing the number of “minority- between 1864 and 1894. Eventually, other influenced” districts, which opened the way issues arose, new political platforms emerged and something like a consensus for some Republican legislators to redisemerged. trict and add a district for their party. And Could that happen this year? Maybe. But in Florida, Republican legislators quickly it sure doesn’t look like it. passed Gov. Ron DeSantis’ redrawing of its 28 districts, which was predicted to add Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone. four Republican districts.

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4B ● Friday, May 22, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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N.O. levee board reduces police chief’s salary Rondeno’s contract drew scrutiny, outcry

BY JOSIE ABUGOV and ALEX LUBBEN Staff writers

The New Orleans flood protection authority voted Thursday to slightly reduce its police chief’s salary and strip him of an additional job title after its board president faced pointed questions over the contract from lawmakers in Baton Rouge.

The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East’s board voted unanimously to lower Police Superintendent Joshua Rondeno’s salary to $197,000, a figure just shy of the maximum allowable amount under state law, but still far above his $160,000 annual pay when he started the role in 2024.

Rondeno’s second job was akin to an internal auditor role that did not previously exist. He received a raise last July that boosted his pay to $208,000 after taking it on.

The vote to cut Rondeno’s pay came after weeks of mounting pressure from state lawmakers, who noted that the flood agency’s police chief cannot legally earn more than the head of the Louisiana State Police, who makes about $198,000. Rondeno has also come under fire for a remarkably generous employment contract that provides him with protections afforded to no other employee at the agency.

The disclosure that Rondeno himself drafted an earlier version of the contract — which included a lucrative severance clause potentially worth up to $910,000 — led to

further criticism. That version was decision.

“The board does not characlater amended, with severance pay for public employees having been terize the action as a raise, but labeled unconstitutional. rather as part of the overall reHad the board not acted Thurs- structuring and realignment of day, a bill moving through the state responsibilities approved by the authority,” it said. “Chief Legislature might have Rondeno continues leadforced its hand. Senate Bill 56, introduced by Sen. Pating the authority’s Police Department and remains rick Connick, R-Marrero, responsible for public was recently amended to safety operations, infrainclude language that prevents the authority’s chief structure security, inof police from holding any spections and emergency other roles at the agency. preparedness functions Rondeno The police chief’s conacross the regional flood tract has been part of turmoil at protection system.”

Following the vote, Sen. Kirk Talthe levee board over the past couple of years. Gov. Jeff Landry’s ad- bot, R-River Ridge, said it wasn’t ministration has sought sweeping his place to opine on the chief’s changes, including boosting the salary, but that “you can’t violate a agency’s police force, and that has state statute.” Talbot had sharply raised deep concerns over wheth- questioned Vicari on the chief’s er reforms put in place after the contract at a recent hearing.

“When you’re a compliance ofcatastrophic levee failures during Hurricane Katrina were being ficer for a multimillion-dollar enabandoned. tity, that to me is a job in and of The police force’s budget has itself,” Talbot said. increased by nearly 50% since the Blair duQuesnay, who chairs the changes began. Supporters say the Citizens for 1 Greater New Orforce must be professionalized and leans organization, which pushed its equipment should be brought for flood policy reforms after Kaup to date. trina, said “it’s unfortunate that The agency’s main role is main- the Legislature now has to get taining much of the New Orleans involved and pass laws to correct area’s $14.5 billion hurricane pro- mistakes made by this board.”

“While we are glad the Legtection system. islature has taken these steps, ‘Can’t violate a state statute’ we believe a return to proper Flood authority board Presi- governance and protocol would dent Peter Vicari told lawmakers avoid this situation altogether,” earlier this month that he would duQuesnay said.

Rondeno’s supporters have remove Rondeno from the role of compliance officer and bring his praised his performance. Vicari salary back down to its starting has previously pointed to accompoint. He declined to comment plishments he says include impleafter Thursday’s vote and the menting workforce development board released a statement on the training and saving the agency

$500,000 through his compliance During a confirmation hearing in Baton Rouge on Wednesday for role. board member Kerwyn King, Tal‘Nobody likes paying taxes’ bot expressed concern about the The agency also voted Thursday rising millage.

“Some of the concern I have and to increase taxes on property owners within its jurisdiction in Jeffer- some of the concern other people son Parish, a move it called neces- have is that we’re spending more sary due to reserve shortfalls for and more money on … police,” Talfuture levee improvements. bot said.

The move will raise an additional He stressed that the agency’s $612,000 annually, increasing the first priority should be “levees, leagency’s millage to its maximum vees, levees.” allowable amount for an annual total of $12.9 million from Jefferson ‘Severe dysfunction’ Parish taxpayers.

Separately, the board voted at a State agencies have leeway to special meeting last week to request adjust their tax rate, “rolling back” that Attorney General Liz Murrill when property values increase to release investigative reports about keep taxes flat, or “rolling for- the agency to the public.

Shane Guidry, Landry’s adviser in ward,” as the levee authority did on Thursday, to raise additional New Orleans who has been overseefunds. ing reforms at the agency though he The result will be a modest holds no official title in government, bump in most homeowners’ 2026 has been teasing the findings of tax bills. Under the previous rate, those reports for over a year, saying a resident with property valued they reveal waste, fraud and abuse at $300,000 paid $859.50 in taxes under prior leadership. to the flood protection authority, Using those unspecified allegaassuming that they claim a home- tions as a justification, Landry has stead exemption. That will in- overhauled the board’s membercrease by $42.75 to $902.25 under ship. Every board member who was the new millage rate. serving before Landry’s governor“Nobody likes paying taxes. I ship has been replaced. certainly don’t. But it’s the responMurrill said last week on WWL rasible thing to do to maintain our fi- dio that if the board wants the report nancial ability to partner with our released, “I will release the report.”

She said it did not find any crimipartners,” said board Treasurer David Martin. nal conduct but that it details “some He said the East Jefferson dis- pretty severe dysfunction.” She also trict currently has $50 million in addressed Rondeno’s contract.

“Certainly, I don’t think that he reserves and expects future levee elevations — necessary to address should be able to draft a contract for subsiding land — to cost $80 mil- himself and then get it approved,” she said. “The board has to do an lion.

Scrutiny of the agency’s police independent job of evaluating what spending has also spilled over into the compensation is and what’s legal questions about the tax increase. to pay him.”

BR defense attorney to remain on probation

clients, had misled a the Office of Disciplinary tion after a DUI in 2021.

Complaints from with client about the status of her Counsel’s investigation.

In the older woman’s “In support of the motion, case, she suffered severe and other issues. two clients led to settlement, For those failures, the the parties assert the exten- damage to her front teeth Supreme Court or- sion is warranted to address while at the store and had 2023 suspension state dered Sterling to be sus- a violation by respondent of Sterling file for damages

BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer

Stephen Sterling III, a Baton Rouge public defender and defense attorney, will remain on probation for another year after the Louisiana Supreme Court ordered an extension of his sanctions tied to a 2023 suspension from practicing law.

The court did not specify what Sterling did to violate a condition of his existing prohibition.

An order to keep Sterling from practicing law was put in place in October 2023, after an Office of Disciplinary Counsel report found he was not communicating

STIPENDS

Continued from page 1B $200 million needed for the stipends after recent economic forecasts predicted a drop in state revenues next year.

D’Shay Oaks, a school librarian and president of the Louisiana Association of Educators, a statewide teachers union, noted that the state is poised to give teachers less money even as student test scores continue to rise.

“We’re working our butts off in the classrooms,” she said, “but yet you’re gonna take away money that you’ve given to us for the past few years?”

Louisiana ranks 49th for average teacher pay, which was $56,785 in 2025, ac-

TODDLER

Continued from page 1B Alexis Notto, 31, was shot and killed in Lafayette Parish in May 2024. In August 2024, a Lafayette Parish grand jury indicted 29-year-old Jaquell Melon Carter, reported to be the boy’s father, on a charge of second-degree murder in connection with her death, according to court records.

Previous reporting showed Carter and Notto were living together near Scott, but Notto was in the process of moving out at the time of the shooting.

pended from practicing for six months. After the suspension was served, Sterling was reinstated to the practice of law effective April 9, 2024, and his two-year probationary period began April 15, 2024.

But before the suspension period ended, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel filed a motion seeking to extend Sterling’s probation for another year. The state Supreme Court approved that request on May 12.

As conditions of his probation, Sterling must complete the Louisiana Bar Association’s Ethics School within the next 12 months and pay all fees and expenses tied to

the Rules of Professional Conduct during the period of probation,” the Supreme Court’s order states, although it didn’t expand on what violation Sterling had committed.

Of the seven justices on the court, only Justice Jay McCallum dissented to the order extending Sterling’s probation, on the grounds it was too lenient.

cording to a recent analysis by the National Education Association, a national teachers union. In 2024, Louisiana teachers earned about $6,000 less on average than their peers in nearby states, according to data from the Southern Regional Education Board.

In the May 16 election, Louisiana voters rejected an amendment to the state constitution that would have liquidated three education trust funds to pay off teacher retirement debt, then put the savings toward teacher raises.

Gov. Jeff Landry had championed the amendment, which was similar to one that failed to pass last year. But some educators opposed paying for the raises at the expense of trust funds that support education programs that

benefit students.

On Monday, Landry posted on social media that no state employees should get pay increases this year if teachers do not receive permanent raises. In response, lawmakers planned to nix raises for prosecutors, judges, legislators and other state workers.

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers, the largest statewide teachers union, had called on the Legislature to draw from a state savings account called the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund to pay for another year of educator stipends.

“Louisiana teachers and school employees should not face a reduction in pay while the state has resources available to prevent it,” the union said in a Facebook post Tuesday.

Little communication Complaints from two clients led to Sterling’s 2023 suspension: One was an elderly woman who had been injured at an Albertsons in 2016, and the second a driver needing representa-

Witnesses told investiThe investigation into gators the two became in- Khaine Notto’s death volved in an altercation as remains ongoing.

Notto was leaving for work on May 10, 2024. Authorities said she was found LOTTERY dead on the front lawn of a home in the 100 block of WEDNESDAY, Rendezvous Road.

MAY 20, 2026 According to Lafayette PICK 3: 2-9-5 Parish court records, CartPICK 4: 5-8-4-4 er appeared in court April 30 for a pretrial hearing PICK 5: 2-6-9-6-3 before Judge Cynthia SpaEASY 5: doni. Court records state 10-28-31-33-37 the case was continued to LOTTO: 2-6-13-16-22-38 a May 13 status hearing “to POWERBALL: determine competency.”

Records show Carter is 10-28-30-46-57 (25) currently scheduled for a Unofficial notification, felony trial beginning Sept. keep your tickets.

28.

as her attorney, according to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel’s committee report.

But Sterling failed to file discovery documents on the woman’s behalf in a timely manner and did not communicate with the opposing counsel, according to the committee report.

When a settlement was reached in the case in 2019, Sterling allegedly failed to provide the grocery store’s attorneys with the required paperwork to process it.

The woman continually asked Sterling for updates on the settlement, according to the committee’s report.

While the budget bill advanced by the Senate committee did not boost teacher pay, it did include raises for some state workers, such as corrections officers. A spokesperson for Landry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The bill, which could still be amended, now heads to the full Senate for approval. Then it will go back to the House.

TRAIL RIDES

Continued from page 1B St. Landry Parish has been a hub for the trail ride tradition. Until 2016, it was the home of Step-N-Strut, an event dubbed by some enthusiasts as the “Creole Woodstock.” The threeday event would attract as many as 30,000 people to a parish with 83,000 residents. Due to issues surrounding the massive size of the event, it is now hosted in Texas.

The Yambilee Building is operated by the St. Landry Parish government and is rented out for trail rides as one of the few buildings in the parish with the capacity to hold the often large events.

The issue of public safety at trail rides had emerged previously, with Bellard attempting to negotiate policy changes with local trail ride associations following a shooting in October.

At the time, Bellard expressed an unwillingness to cancel trail rides in the parish, saying, “The event itself isn’t the problem; it’s everything that happens around it. We’ve seen a lot of activity happening outside the buildings. If people are not going inside to take part in the event, they’ll need to leave the grounds.”

According to Bellard’s office, discussions to implement an age limit for trail participation and increased enforcement against solicitation at the events fell through in January.

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F r i d ay, M ay 22, 2026

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2-time NASCAR champ Busch dies Driver was hospitalized early Thursday with ‘severe illness’

BY STEVE REED AP sportswriter

CONCORD, N.C. — Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion who won more races than anyone across NASCAR’s three national series, has died. He was 41.

The Busch Family, Richard Childress Racing and NASCAR issued a joint statement Thursday saying Busch died after being hospitalized. No cause of death was given.

Busch’s family said earlier Thursday that he was hospitalized with a “severe illness,” three days before he was to compete in the

Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Busch was the younger brother of Kurt Busch, a NASCAR Hall of Famer.

“Our entire NASCAR family is heartbroken by the Busch loss of Kyle Busch,” the statement said.

“A future Hall of Famer, Kyle was a rare talent, one who comes along once in a generation. He was fierce, he was passionate, he was immensely skilled and he cared deeply about the sport and fans.

The statement went on to say

Kyle Busch celebrates after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on March 20, 2011, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn. AP FILE PHOTO By WADE PAyNE

ä See BUSCH, page 3C

NCA A SUPER REGIONAL

L S U V S . A L A B A M A • 6 P. M . F R I D A y • E S P N 2

STRONG

BOND

Kiffin adds Orgeron to LSU staff Former Tigers’ coach signs one-year, $100K deal

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

Not long after coach Lane Kiffin first landed in Baton Rouge, he picked up his phone and called his longtime friend and colleague Ed Orgeron.

Kiffin was passing by Tiger Stadium when the two coaches talked. According to the recollection of the call he shared at his introductory news conference, Kiffin cracked to Orgeron that the drive onto campus gave him an urge to start talking in his voice — the gravel-toned Cajun accent that powered the Tigers to one of the best seasons in college football history in 2019.

“I don’t know, man,” Kiffin said over the phone, “I’m feeling you right now.”

“Coach,” Orgeron replied, “you’re at the best place in America.”

Now they both are. LSU announced Wednesday night that Orgeron was returning to Baton

ä See ORGERON, page 3C

STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Former LSU coach Ed Orgeron watches his players before kickoff against Texas A&M on Nov. 27, 2021, at Tiger Stadium. Orgeron returns to LSU as a special assistant to recruiting and defense.

LSU pitcher Jayden Heavener takes the field for a game against Texas A&M on March 14 at Tiger Park. LSU softball’s bond has been key to their success ahead of the NCAA Super Regional. STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSO

‘Sisterhood’ big part of LSU’s success heading into super regional

C

BY JIM KLEINPETER Contributing writer all them the “Sisterhood of the Circle.”

It’s a good enough moniker for LSU pitcher Paytn Monticelli, who likens the LSU staff to a sisterhood that played a big part in launching the Tigers into this weekend’s NCAA Super Regional at No. 1 national seed Alabama.

The teams play Friday at 6 p.m. on ESPN2 and Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPN. If they split those games,

the deciding game for a berth in the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City will be played Sunday at a time to be determined.

LSU is trying to end an eight-year WCWS drought after getting to Oklahoma City four times in Beth Torina’s first six seasons at the helm.

The seven-member pitching staff is headed by Monticelli, Jayden Heavener and Cece Cellura, who each pitched a complete-game victory in the Baton Rouge Regional last weekend. It will go head-to-head with one of the best pitching staffs

in the nation, led by junior righthander Jocelyn Briski, the SEC Pitcher of the Year.

Monticelli, the only Tigers pitcher with previous super regional experience, said the group’s closeness is the foundation of the confidence that has been building throughout the season. They took some early hits but finished strong with 17 wins in the past 22 games.

“We get along so well,” said Monticelli, who spent two seasons with Oklahoma, which made the WCWS both years, and won it all in 2024.

“We went to a pitcher dinner last night. We do a lot of stuff outside of the field. The seven of us are like sisters, that’s the best part of our team.

ä See LSU, page 3C

Coach O’s return another ‘only at LSU’ kind of comeback At some point you’ve probably caught a show on a band reunion tour. You know, when the musicians set aside their squabbling and contractual grievances to play together again. They may still not like each other, but the money is too good to resist.

This spring, LSU has put together a reunion tour that’s about the most LSU thing you can imagine. Three former Scott head coaches — not just forRabalais mer, but fired coaches — have returned since March. It started with Will Wade coming back to coach men’s basketball and bringing back Johnny Jones to be on his staff.

Now comes an encore to bring the house down: Coach O is back.

Wednesday night, in the midst of what is

ä See RABALAIS, page 3C

2C ● Friday, May 22, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Sinner chases career Grand Slam Italian star draws French opponent in first round of French Open

BY SAMUEL PETREQUIN AP sportswriter

PARIS — Jannik Sinner won’t have the crowd on his side when he starts his quest for a career Grand Slam at the French Open.

On Thursday, Sinner drew a French opponent in the first round — Clement Tabur, ranked a career-high 165th. Tabur received the wild card vacated by former champion Stan Wawrinka, who gained a late automatic entry.

With two-time reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz out injured, Sinner is the overwhelming men’s favorite on the red clay of Roland Garros, where play starts on Sunday.

The Italian is unbeaten in three months. He’s won 29 straight matches and dropped just three sets. The French Open is the only major Sinner hasn’t won. Sinner had three match points in last year’s final but Alcaraz prevailed in an epic match.

In the women’s draw, Coco Gauff is trying to become just the third woman to successfully defend the Roland Garros title this century after Justine Henin and Iga Swiatek. Gauff will start her campaign against fellow American Taylor Townsend, a doubles specialist.

Gauff said at the draw she was “as ready as you can be.”

“I feel I had a good tournament in Rome, similar to the preparation I had last year, so I feel really ready.”

In the absence of Alcaraz, who

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALESSANDRA TARANTINO

Jannik Sinner, of Italy, celebrates winning a point against Casper Ruud, of Norway, during the final match at the Italian Open in Rome on Sunday. will also miss Wimbledon, Sinner has claimed all three clay Masters trophies in Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome. Sinner has the fifth longest winning run in the ATP Tour era (since 1990). Novak Djokovic has the record of 43 straight wins in 2010-11.

With his historic Rome title — first homegrown men’s champion in 50 years — Sinner became the second man after Djokovic to win all nine Masters, the biggest tournaments outside the Grand Slams.

Djokovic continues to chase an unprecedented 25th major title.

But the Roland Garros champion from 2016, 2021, and 2023 is in Paris with only one match on clay this season and only three

tournaments all year because of a shoulder injury. The 38-year-old will take on Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round. Djokovic couldn’t meet Sinner until the final.

No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev, still looking for his first major crown after making it to the 2024 final in Paris, will be up against another local player, Benjamin Bonzi.

Home favorite Arthur Fils, the highest-ranked French player at No. 19, opens against Wawrinka in a mouthwatering contest.

Gauff aiming for back to back Gauff’s first Roland Garros title came with a victory over top-

ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the final a year ago.

Just like last year, Gauff was the runner-up at the Italian Open, losing in the final to Elina Svitolina. She is No. 4 and seeded to meet No. 1 Sabalenka in the semifinals.

While Sabalenka remains unbeatable at times on hard courts, she is still perfecting her game on clay. She was upset by American Hailey Baptiste in the Madrid Open quarterfinals and lost in the third round at the Italian Open to 36-year-old Sorana Cirstea.

Sabalenka appeared visibly bothered by lower back pain in Rome. Her first-round opponent is Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, a Spaniard ranked 51st.

Elena Rybakina, ranked No. 2 and this year’s Australian Open champion, is in the same half of the draw as No. 3 Swiatek.

Rybakina has mixed results on clay. She has reached the French quarterfinals twice. She starts against Veronika Erjavec of Slovenia.

Swiatek, the four-time French Open champion, lost to Svitolina in the Rome semifinals and is still reshaping her game under new coach Francisco Roig, who used to work with Rafael Nadal. Swi tek’s 26-match winning streak at Roland Garros ended in the semifinals last year with a loss to Sabalenka. She opens against Emerson Jones of Australia, a wild card.

Svitolina, who is from Ukraine, claimed the Rome title for her first WTA 1000 trophy in eight years — and is back in the top 10 after a maternity leave. But she’s never been past the semifinals of a Grand Slam, and never past the quarterfinals at the French Open.

Svitolina takes on Anna Bondar in the first round.

UL’s Potgieter qualities for NCAA championship Cajuns senior plays three straight bogey-free rounds

BY DAN MCDONALD Contributing writer

UL’s Malan Potgieter is headed to the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships after an impressive display at the NCAA regionals on Wednesday in Athens, Georgia.

The Cajuns senior turned in his third straight bogey-free round at the Athens regional to finish tied for first.

A final round 3-under 68 at the 7,258-yard par-71 Georgia course left him at 14 under and tied with Vanderbilt’s Will Hartman for medalist honors.

The Kirkwood, South Africa, native is the first Cajun to qualify for the nationals in 30 years.

The last UL player to make it was Matt Trevino in 1996.

Finishing as the top individual in regional play assures Potgieter of All-America status by the Golf Coaches Association of America. He is first UL AllAmerican since Richard Ainley in 2001.

“Doing what he did, especially as an individual, that was really impressive,” Cajuns coach Theo Sliman said. “Guys that are on teams that are also in contention as individuals can really free-wheel; they don’t have the intense pressure that Malan had for three days.”

The top five teams and the low individual not on one of the top five teams at each of the six regionals qualified for the finals May 29-June 3 at Omni LaCosta Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Cali-

FILE PHOTO By BENHAMIN R. MASSEy

UL golfer Malan Potgieter advanced the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship after finishing tied for first at the Athens (Ga.) regional. fornia. Potgieter finished three strokes ahead of the next highest player that did not advance with the top five teams — Vanderbilt, Louisville, Auburn, Brigham Young and Georgia — advancing from the regional.

Potgieter was the only player in the six-regional, 450-player field to record all pars (41 to lead the field), birdies (12) and eagles (one) for the three rounds.

ninth hole. He added birdies on the 12th and 15th holes before parring to finish with a 68.

He tied for the second-low score with his opening 5-under 66 and bettered that with a 65 on Tuesday, the second low round of the day in the 75-player regional field.

“His first two days were unbelievably impressive from just not missing a shot,” Sliman said. “He had to work a little bit harder today, but he played brilliant. His proximity wasn’t as tight as the first two days, but he still only missed two greens. He played with such patience and calmness … young guys usually get rattled in a situation like this and he could have gotten rattled with a missed chip or putt, but none of that bothered him.”

Potgieter was a freshman on the UL squad that advanced as a team to the Norman (Oklahoma) regional in 2023.

“It’s been a goal of mine for four years to go to the national championship and compete at the highest level,” Potgieter said.

“This course suited my game almost perfectly. I felt good after the practice round Sunday, and off the tee I didn’t miss too many fairways all week and when I did it was just off the fairway.”

“This was probably my best Results ball-striking performance in University of Georgia Golf Course (7,258 four years of college golf,” Pot- yards, par 71), Athens, Ga. gieter said. “That makes it a lot TEAM: 1. Vanderbilt 277-269-278—824 (-28); easier to make pars … probably 2. Louisville 274-275-277—826 (-26); 3.

Auburn 277-277-276—830 (-22); 4. Brigham the longest par putt I had to make Young 278-279-275—832 (-20); 5. Georgia all week was maybe 12 feet.”

279-277-277—833 (-19) Potgieter, who had finished INDIVIDUAL: T1. Malan Potgieter, UL, 66-6511th in last year’s Tallahassee 68—199 (-14); T1. Will Hartman, Vanderbilt, (-14); 3. Cooper Claycomb, regional, opened with eight 67-63-69—199 Louisville, 68-66-67—201 (-12); T4. Josiah Gilstraight pars Wednesday before bert, Auburn, 65-68-69—202 (-11); T4. Barry birdieing the 443-yard par-four Zhang, Harvard, 69-67-66—202 (-11).

Clark out for game against Fire because of back injury

INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark has a back injury and was ruled out by the Indiana Fever for Wednesday night’s game against the Portland Fire.

The Fever disclosed Clark’s injury less than two hours before tipoff. She had not been listed on Indiana’s injury report a day earlier.

The star guard has not missed a game this season after her 2025 campaign was cut short by a series of injuries. Clark is averaging 24.3 points, nine assists, five rebounds and one assist in four games.

Clark has spoken this season about lingering back issues. After the Fever’s season-opening loss, she said her back “gets out of line pretty quickly.”

Eagles’ Smith arrested for driving 65 mph over limit Philadelphia Eagles edge rusher Nolan Smith Jr. was arrested last week in Georgia for driving 135 mph in a 70 mph zone, authorities said.

Smith, who played at Georgia, was cited for speeding and reckless driving, the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday.

He posted bond and was released shortly after his arrest on May 15.

Smith, from Savannah, Georgia, was selected by the Eagles with the 30th pick in the 2023 NFL draft. He has 25 quarterback hits, 10.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries over three seasons.

He played a crucial role in the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX run, recording five quarterback hits, four sacks and four tackles for loss during the playoffs.

French Open prize money won’t change despite protest

PARIS — The French Open prize money will not change this year despite players complaining they deserve a bigger share, tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said on Thursday.

Top players have criticized the Open organizers for reducing the players’ share of revenue to an alleged 14.3% — compared to 22% at standard ATP and WTA events.

To show their discontent, many competing at Roland Garros, where play begins on Sunday, are planning to limit their interaction with reporters to 15 minutes during Friday’s traditional pre-tournament media day.

Roland Garros organizers increased the prize money by about 10%, after the U.S. Open last year raised their’s by 20%.

Iowa State great Ryan promoted to assistant coach

AMES, Iowa — Emily Ryan, one of the most productive point guards in women’s college basketball history when she played for Iowa State, has been hired as a full-time assistant at her alma mater, coach Bill Fennelly announced Thursday.

Ryan played for the Cyclones from 2020-25 and was a graduate assistant last season. She finished her career with 993 assists, a school record and seventh all-time in Division I. She was just the third NCAA women’s player to record at least 1,500 points, 900 assists and 600 rebounds in a career. She also ranks in the top five in program history in steals and blocks.

Ryan was voted to the All-Big 12 first team in 2022 and second team in 2023 and was on the league’s alldefensive team in 2021.

Florida center Chinyelu returning for senior season

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida center Rueben Chinyelu decided Thursday he will return for his senior season to run it back with a stacked frontcourt that helped the Gators win a national championship in 2025.

Chinyelu formally removed his name from the NBA draft to play another year with fellow big men Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh.

Coach Todd Golden’s roster is expected to cost roughly $25 million in 2026-27.

Chinyelu went through the NBA pre-draft process and had until May 27 to decide whether to return to school or stay in the draft.

The 6-foot-10, 265-pound Nigerian became the first Florida player in 50 years to average a doubledouble, totaling 10.9 points and 11.2 rebounds a game last season.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Friday, May 22, 2026 ● 3C

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RABALAIS

PHOTO By PATRICK DENNIS

LSU pitcher Paytn Monticelli, second from left, is surrounded by teammates after getting the last out in a game against Ole Miss on April 20 at Tiger Park. LSU won 8-5.

LSU

Continued from page 1C “It’s a sisterhood within a sisterhood. Sometimes we can feel like we’re on our own island and wouldn’t have it any other way.

We’ve got each other’s back no matter what.”

Monticelli (9-3, 2.39 ERA) and Cellura (9-5, 3.12) tamed Virginia Tech’s powerful offensive attack, holding the Hokies to seven hits and two runs in 13 innings. Heavener (13-8, 2.75) threw a three-hit shutout, the 10th of her career, in the opener against Akron.

“To get three complete games from three different pitchers in a regional is pretty unheard of,”

LSU coach Beth Torina said. “It’s special what they did last weekend.”

LSU (40-17) will need more of that to get past Alabama (52-7), which lost only one SEC series this season. The heart of the Crimson Tide’s team is its own pitching staff. Briski is 23-4 with a 1.38 earned run average and 182 strikeouts in 1462/ 3 innings, while Vic Moten is right behind with 20-4, 1.66 ERA, 1351/ 3 innings, 163 strikeouts and 52 walks.

Alabama had the second-lowest team ERA at 1.52 with 430 strikeouts and only 103 walks.

“They do a ton of things well,” Torina said. “They’ve been led by their pitching staff and are solid on all fronts.”

The Tide is led offensively by

Brooke Wells and designated player Alexis Pupillo. Wells has hit 23 homers with 65 runs batted in while batting .398. Pupillo also brings power with 17 homers and a .396 average.

Torina likes her team’s resilience after a slow start and knows trying to beat the nation’s No. 1 seed will come down to grinding through imperfect performances.

“This team is tough. The things they went through made them tougher,” Torina said. “They understand they can take a punch, and it doesn’t have to be perfect. It won’t be perfect this time of year.

We’re going to get punched; it’s how you respond. They’ve learned this response and proven they have one. They’ll keep fighting all the way.”

BUSCH

Continued from page 1C that “throughout a career that spanned more than two decades, Kyle set records in national series wins, won championships at NASCAR’s highest level and fostered the next generation of drivers as an owner in the Truck Series. His sharp wit and competitive spirit sparked a deep emotional connection with race fans of every age, creating the proud and loyal ‘Rowdy Nation.’”

The news comes 11 days after Busch radioed into his crew near the end of a Cup Series race at Watkins Glen asking a doctor to give him a “shot” after he finished the race. According to the TV broadcast, Busch had been struggling with a sinus cold that was exacerbated by the intense G-forces and elevation changes at the New York road course.

Busch finished the race in eighth place.

Busch competed at Dover last weekend and won the Trucks Series race for Richard Childress Racing. He finished 17th at the NASCAR All-Star race.

“Absolute shock. Very hard to process,” veteran NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski posted on social media.

NASCAR driver and former teammate Denny Hamlin posted on social media: “Absolutely cannot comprehend this news. We just need to think of his family during this time. We love you KB.” A polarizing figure known as “Rowdy” and “Wild Thing” for his post-race fights, regular feuds with other drivers and sometimes outlandish behavior, the multi-talented Busch stormed on the Cup Series scene in 2005 by winning Rookie of the Year.

He went on to win championships in 2015 and 2019 for Joe Gibbs Racing.

From Las Vegas, Busch experienced unrivaled success across NASCAR’s three national series winning a combined 234 Cup, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Trucks Series races. He had 63 Cup victories along with 102 O’Reilly Auto Parts wins and 69 Trucks victories — both records.

Kyle Busch was a racing prodigy.

He was said to be ready to race at NASCAR’s top level at 16, but a cigarette settlement banned his debut and he had to wait until he was a 18. At the time Kurt Busch said “if you think I’m good, wait until you see my brother.”

Busch was fired early in his career by Hendrick Motorsports to make room on the team for Dale Earnhardt Jr. “Kyle and I had a really challenging existence for many years,”

Orgeron as defensive line coach on his new staff at LSU. When Continued from page 1C he didn’t, it seemed Kiffin might have deemed that too awkward, which was fair enough.

Eventually, though, Kiffin desure to be LSU baseball’s seasonending loss to Auburn in the SEC cided he needed some Coach O energy and enthusiasm on his tournament, news broke that staff.

Ed Orgeron was returning to Say what you want about Orgbe a part of Lane Kiffin’s staff. eron’s quality as a head coach Not as a position coach, but as a special assistant for defense and and how things ended for him at recruiting. His salary: $100,000, LSU. But the man is a preeminent defensive line coach and an a bit removed from the highrent district of his $9 million sal- unparalleled recruiter. He may not be on point to do either for ary in his final season as LSU’s the Tigers — LSU has two D-line head coach in 2021 (the school coaches in Sterling Lucas and finished paying Orgeron his $17 Kevin Peoples — but he can cermillion buyout in December, so tainly offer invaluable input and no clawback is available). make for some indelible in-home When Kiffin took the LSU job in late November, he mentioned visits.

There was understandable calling Orgeron on his way past concern among Tiger fans when Tiger Stadium.

“I said, ‘Hey man, this place just former recruiting coordinator and fellow Louisiana coachmakes me want to talk like you ing icon Frank Wilson wasn’t right now,’ ” Kiffin said. “I rolled retained by Kiffin, instead trekdown the window and I was like, king north to Ole Miss to be ‘Geaux Tigahs!’ to the fans.” part of Pete Golding’s new staff Orgeron replied, “You’re in in Oxford, Mississippi. But by the best place in America right bringing back Orgeron, Kiffin now.”

The two have been friends and can say, “I’ll see your Frank Wilson and raise you a Coach O.” coaching colleagues for a long The personal touch isn’t as imtime. Kiffin and Orgeron were portant as it was before NIL and on Pete Carroll’s staff together at Southern California. Later, af- revenue sharing — every recruit now is like Rod Tidwell in “Jerry ter being fired as head coach at Ole Miss, Orgeron went to work Maguire,” bellowing “Show me for Kiffin when he became head the money!” — but Orgeron will be able to go on the road and coach at Tennessee in 2009 and help recruit. There isn’t a high then USC in 2010. When USC school coach he won’t make an fired Kiffin in 2013, the school impression on, and I imagine he made Orgeron interim head has lost little or anything off his coach, the same role he filled in-home fastball he displayed in in 2016 when LSU canned Les “The Blind Side.”

Miles.

Getting back into football in Orgeron got the job full-time later that season, then, of course, an official capacity is certainly a win for Orgeron. Unless he led LSU to that incomparable 2019 national championship sea- started contradicting what Luson. Even if Kiffin wins a couple cas and Peoples are teaching the Tigers’ D-linemen, I can’t of national titles at LSU, he won’t be able to field a team that imagine this isn’t a win for LSU. And it’s a win for Kiffin, at least surpasses that Joe Burrow-led temporarily, though some will squad. Still, Orgeron was out by and have dredged up some of 2021, unable to sustain the proOrgeron’s past off-the-field gram at such a high level. transgressions.

Coach O bounced around the However you look at it, it’s an sport, lived for a while in Miami engrossing final act of a career Beach, Florida, got remarried, filled with remarkable chapters. watched his sons begin their One more enticing ingredient football coaching careers and to a 2026-27 LSU athletic year talked of getting back in the already stocked with compelling game — an itch that until now characters like Kiffin, Wade and he was unable to scratch with a Kim Mulkey. permanent position. ConsiderFootball season can’t get here ing their relationship, it seemed fast enough. natural that Kiffin would hire

ORGERON

Continued from page 1C

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By TERRy RENNA

Kyle Busch holds up the trophy in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series championship on Nov. 17, 2019, at HomesteadMiami Speedway in Homestead, Fla. Earnhardt said in a statement.

“But we luckily took the time to figure out our differences and that was something he instigated with a conversation in his bus around how we each managed our racing teams. I was super eager for us to get on better terms. But it was he who made the effort for that to be possible.”

Busch moved on to Joe Gibbs Racing where he experienced the vast majority of career success.

But Busch was let go when there was no sponsor after the 2022 season and joined RCR, where had struggled to win races.

His lack of success led to a recent spat with former JGR teammate Denny Hamlin, who appeared to criticize Busch on the Actions Detrimental podcast.

Hamlin said, “If you’re expecting Kyle Busch to just go back to Victory Lane on a regular basis, you are kidding yourselves.”

While Hamlin later said he meant no harm by the comments and was just making an observation, Busch took exception and said he could make Hamlin’s life “hell” on the racetrack.

While several laps down at last month’s race at Kansas, Busch made good on the threat and raced Hamlin hard instead of allowing the race leader to pass. That decision held up Hamlin during a crucial stage of the race and Tyler Reddick wound up winning the race after Hamlin faded late.

After winning the Trucks race at Dover last week and showing an uptick in speed, Busch seemed to make a veiled jab at Hamlin, saying “I guess I just remembered how to drive.”

After earning his win at Dover,

Busch was asked how many races he wants to win in his career before he stops racing.

“You take whatever you can get, man,” Busch said. “You never know when the last one is going to be, so cherish them all — trust me.”

The unexpected death is just the latest tragedy to hit NASCAR. Last December, former driver Greg Biffle, his wife and two children and three others died in a plane crash in Statesville, North Carolina.

The announcement of Busch’s death came after Indy Car teams had already left Gasoline Alley on media day at the Indianapolis 500. As word spread on Main Street in Speedway, Indiana, just a short walk from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, race fans — IndyCar and NASCAR — were saddened.

“Shocking, you know, wonder what got him. He had a serious illness,” said Mike Bowers, an IndyCar fan who came to town from Kansas City for the big weekend.

“A sad deal. It’s going to be on everybody’s mind all weekend.”

NASCAR officials confirmed to The Associated Press the CocaCola 600 will go on as planned Sunday.

Drivers are expected to begin making their way to Charlotte Motorsports Speedway in Concord on Friday with practice and qualifying beginning on Saturday. Earlier in the day, RCR had announced that Austin Hill would replace Busch in the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

Busch is survived by wife Samantha and children Brexton and Lennix.

Rouge to fill a role on Kiffin’s staff. The former Tigers’ head coach will work as a special assistant to recruiting and defense, and he signed a one-year deal worth $100,000, according to a copy of his term sheet obtained Thursday by The Advocate.

Orgeron, 64, can coach on the sideline during games and hit the road to recruit. The NCAA passed a rule change in 2024 that removed restrictions on the number of FBS staff members who can “provide technical and tactical instruction” during games and practices while maintaining the limit on coaches who can leave campus to recruit prospective players.

Teams must still designate no more than 11 staffers, including the head coach, as off-campus recruiters. Orgeron is expected to fill one of those spots, according to a report from On3.

It’s an ideal role for the Larose native, who spent the 2025 season talking publicly about his desire to coach again but only if he found “the right situation.” He’s spent the last four years in an unofficial retirement, collecting his $17 million buyout in monthly installments until this past December.

“Now, do I expect to be a national championship coach?” Orgeron told The Advocate in January. “I’m not expecting that. I’m not expecting to be a head coach.

I was happy being a defensive line coach. I loved it. I love coaching football. I love being retired.

Either one would be fine.”

The on-field coaching role Orgeron will fill in his second stint at LSU, though, is less clear than his recruiting responsibilities.

The Tigers have three assistant coaches assigned to different parts of the defensive line — the position group that Orgeron has overseen throughout his career.

Sterling Lucas is the program’s official defensive line coach, Kevin Peoples is now in charge of its interior linemen, and Lou Spanos is a pass-rush specialist. Kiffin retained Peoples from coach Brian Kelly’s staff, but hired Lucas away from South Carolina and brought Spanos with him from Ole Miss.

Even if Orgeron’s new role doesn’t require him to be as

COACH O’S TERM SHEET Ed Orgeron signed a one-year deal to return to LSU, according to a copy of his term sheet obtained Thursday by The Advocate.

The deal, which runs through January, will pay Orgeron $100,000. The former LSU head coach signed it on Wednesday, the day the program announced that he was returning to Baton Rouge to work as a special assistant to recruiting and defense on coach Lane Kiffi n’s staff.

Orgeron can coach during games, and he’s expected to be one of the 10 assistant coaches who are allowed to make recruiting trips.

Reed Darcey hands-on as he was in his last job as an assistant coach, he can still leave a considerable mark on the program.

Orgeron was known nationally as one of the nation’s best recruiters when he was LSU’s head coach. He and his staff landed all of the major stars who led the Tigers to their 2019 national title, including Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, Derek Stingley and others. Many of them were from Louisiana, which was one of the reasons Kiffin has said attracted him to the LSU job.

So, having Orgeron on board should enhance the Tigers’ recruiting operation ahead of an important 2027 high school signing cycle. Louisiana has five players in the top 100 of 247Sports’ composite rankings, and two of them are already committed to LSU: Ruston tight end Ahmad Hudson and Shreveport quarterback Peyton Houston.

The other three could soon hear from Orgeron, who telegraphed his move back to LSU in an interview with Jacksonville, Florida, radio station WJXL 92.5 FM last December. It was a few days after Kiffin called him on his way to the Tigers’ football operations building.

“I’d consider it, yes,” Orgeron said. “I’d definitely consider it. No question. Lane and I have worked together at three schools. I love him. He and I are good friends; I believe in him. So definitely, if he does ask me, I’d consider it. No question.”

It just took Kiffin more than one phone call to do it.

4C ● Friday, May 22, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Comeaux’s Celestine getting help in journey

With school’s status in limbo, Spartans alumni show support to star RB

BY ERIC NARCISSE

Staff writer

Comeaux High’s Jaden Celestine enjoyed the best season of his career last year as the Spartans ended a long losing streak.

Celestine, who finished as the Acadiana area’s fourth-leading rusher, established himself as one of the best running backs in the state.

As a junior, Celestine rushed for 1,648 yards on 186 carries and scored 24 touchdowns to help the Spartans snap a 33-game losing streak and enjoy their first fivewin season since 2019.

However, there is concern whether Celestine and the Spartans will have an opportunity at an encore performance this fall.

The back-and-forth regarding the potential closing of Comeaux High has left the team in limbo.

fall. Coach Marquis Newsome said there’s a good chance there won’t be a football season at Comeaux even if the school remains open.

Not long after, a fundraiser was held by Landon Fitzgerald — a high school teammate of Newsome’s — to raise money for the football team, it was announced that the school would close.

Fitzgerald is a Comeaux graduate and owner of “Perfect Fitz.”

Newsome and his Spartans staff along with the support of Fitzgerald decided to provide Comeaux players with keepsakes such as jerseys with their names embroidered on the back, helmets, compression shirts featuring the Spartans logo and their jersey number as well as sports STAFF FILE PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK bags.

Comeaux High running back “We spent every bit of money on the kids, because we were unJaden Celestine is staring at the der the impression that the school possibility of not being able to was closing,” Newsome said. “So, play football this fall because the we gave the kids all of their jeruncertainty of the Spartans having seys and had their names put on a team. the back of them. So even in the event the school stays open, havFor now Comeaux will remain ing football is very unlikely. We open, but that doesn’t mean the don’t have a game schedule befootball team will compete in the cause everybody pulled out from

the schedule.”

After it was announced the school would remain open, Fitzgerald made Comeaux High alumni shirts in an effort to raise money for things the program might need.

Those shirts raised a little less than $1,100 but considering there may not be a football program to support, Fitzgerald decided to use the money to support a Spartans player.

That player was Celestine.

“I feel blessed. I’m truly honored to have them think of me in that moment,” Celestine said.

“This just shows you that if you are good to people and kind, it can get you really far in life.”

Considering he may not have the chance to play football this season, Celestine plans to use the money to help pay for the more than 20 football camps he’s planning to attend in an effort to get his name out as a college recruit.

“It’s going to play a big part in my journey,” Celestine said. “It’s going to be a major help especially with the rental cars, the food and the gas. I’m putting that toward all of the expenses for going to these

camps and getting myself exposed more.”

In what has been tabbed as a sponsorship, Fitzgerald said “he felt the need to do so after praying about.”

“All I wanted to do was use my resources that I’ve been blessed with to bless somebody else,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s not a whole lot of money, but I just thought of him because from my understanding he may not be able to play his senior year. So, it was really important for him to go to these camps.”

Celestine, who plans to commit in June or July, has scholarship offers from Arkansas State, Nicholls State and Lamar.

“I’m not saying he’s getting affected more than others, but he has the most potential out of the whole team, and this situation is kind of putting a damper on things,” Newsome said. “It has created some uncertainty, so the least we can do is help him go to camps this summer, and that’s kind of how we came about giving the sponsorship.”

Email Eric Narcisse at enarcisse@theadvocate.com.

SCOREBOARD Hole-in-one

Game 2: No. 2 Lamar vs. No. 5 McNeese, 6 p.m.

Saturday’s game

Kenneth Doucet Course: Pelican Point Golf Club Hole #, yardage: No. 4, 144 yards Club selection: 7-iron Witnesses: Aaron Dunaway, Mike Wilson, Owen Parker, Denny Lacombe

Odds NBA Friday

FAVORITE LINE at SAN ANTONIO 1½

MLB

O/U (217½)

UNDERDOG Oklah. City

Friday

American League FAVORITE LINE at N.Y YANKEES -152 at BOSTON -144 at BALTIMORE -134 Seattle -134 at LA ANGELS OFF National League FAVORITE LINE at CINCINNATI -110 N.Y Mets -126 at ATLANTA OFF LA Dodgers -116 at ARIZONA -180 Interleague FAVORITE LINE at CHI. CUBS -142 at PHILA -190 at TORONTO OFF at SAN DIEGO OFF Chi. White Sox -116

UNDERDOG Tampa Bay Minnesota Detroit at KAN CITY Texas

UNDERDOG LINE St. Louis -108 at MIAMI +108 Washington OFF at MILWAUKEE -102 Colorado +152

NHL

Friday

FAVORITE at COLORADO

LINE +128 +122 +114 +114 OFF

UNDERDOG LINE Houston +120 Cleveland +158 Pittsburgh OFF Athletics OFF at SAN FRAN -102

LINE -190

UNDERDOG LINE Vegas +158

College softball NCAA Tournament glance Super Regionals LSU vs. Alabama

At Tuscaloosa, Ala. Friday: No. 4 LSU (37-17) vs. No. 1 Alabama (49-7), 6 p.m.

Saturday: Alabama vs. LSU, 2 p.m. x-Sunday: LSU vs. Alabama, TBD

Texas Tech vs. Florida

At Gainesville, Fla. Friday: Texas Tech (52-6) vs. No. 2 Florida (48-10), 10 a.m.

Saturday: Florida vs. Texas Tech, 11 a.m. x-Sunday: Texas Tech vs. Florida, TBD

Duke vs. Arkansas

At Fayetteville, Ark. Friday: No. 3 Duke (39-14) vs. No. 2 Arkansas (42-11), 11 a.m.

Saturday: Arkansas vs. Duke, 4 p.m. x-Sunday: Duke vs. Arkansas, TBD

UCF vs. UCLA

At Los Angeles Friday: No. 6 UCF (38-16-1) vs. No. 2 UCLA (47-8), 8 p.m.

Saturday: UCLA vs. UCF, 8 p.m. x-Sunday: UCF vs. UCLA, TBD

Oklahoma St. vs. Nebraska

At Lincoln, Neb. Thursday: No. 4 Oklahoma St. (38-15) vs. No. 1 Nebraska (46-6), n Friday: Nebraska vs. Oklahoma St., 4 p.m. x-Saturday: Oklahoma St. vs. Nebraska, 4 p.m.

Arizona St. vs. Texas

At Austin, Texas Friday: No. 5 Arizona St. (41-16) vs. No. 1 Texas (42-10), 7 p.m.

Saturday: Texas vs. Arizona St., 6 p.m. x-Sunday: Arizona St. vs. Texas, TBD

Georgia vs. Tennessee

At Knoxville, Tenn.

Thursday: No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 2 Tennessee, n Friday: Tennessee vs. Georgia, 2 p.m. x-Saturday: Georgia vs. Tennessee, 10 a.m.

Mississippi St. vs. Oklahoma

At Norman, Okla.

Friday: No. 5 Mississippi St. (38-18) vs. No. 1 Oklahoma (48-8), noon Saturday: Oklahoma vs. Mississippi St., noon x-Sunday: Miss. St. vs. Oklahoma, TBD

College baseball Sun Belt conference tournament glance Tuesday’s games

Game 1: No. 7 UL 11, No. 10 Marshall 1 Game 2: No. 9 Georgia State 17, No. 8 Old Dominion 1

Wednesday’s games

Game 3: No. 6 Texas State 6, No. 3 App State 5 Game 4: No. 7 UL 12, No. 2 Coastal Carolina 11 Game 5: No. 1 Southern Miss. 7, No. 9 Georgia State 6

Thursday’s games

Game 6: No. 4 Troy 11, No. 5 South Alabama 3 Game 7: No. 2 Coastal Carolina 8, No. 3 App State 2 Game 8: No. 9 Georgia State vs. South Alabama, n Game 9: No. 7 UL vs. No. 6 Texas State, n Game 10: No. 1 Southern Miss. vs. No. 4 Troy, n

Friday’s games

Game 10: No. 4 Seed Troy vs. No. 1 Southern Miss, 11 a.m.

Game 11: Loser Game 9 vs. No. 2 Seed Coastal Carolina, 3 p.m.

Game 12: Loser Game 10 vs. Winner Game 8, 6:30 p.m.

Southland Conference tournament glance

(Best two of three; x-if necessary)

Championship series At Beaumont, Texas

Thursday’s game

Game 1: No. 2 Lamar vs. No. 5 McNeese, n

Friday’s game

x-Game 3: No. 2 Lamar vs. No. 5 McNeese, 6 p.m.

SEC tournament glance At Hoover, Ala.

Tuesday’s games

First round Game 1: No. 16 Missouri 10, No. 9 Ole Miss 8 Game 2: No. 12 Vanderbilt 8, No. 13 Kentucky 5 Game 3: No. 10 Tennessee 11, No. 15 South Carolina 6 Game 4: No. 14 LSU 6, No. 11 Oklahoma 2

Wednesday’s games

Second round Game 5: No. 8 Miss. State 12, No. 16 Missouri 2 Game 6: No. 5 Florida 8, No. 12 Vanderbilt 3 Game 7: No. 7 Arkansas 8, No. 10 Tennessee 4 Game 8: No. 6 Auburn 3, No. 14 LSU 1

Thursday’s games

homa City, TBA

WNBA glance EASTERN CONFERENCE New York Atlanta Chicago Indiana Toronto Washington Connecticut

L 1 1 2 2 2 2 5

Pct .750 .667 .600 .600 .600 .500 .167

GB — ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 3

Las Vegas Golden State Dallas Minnesota Phoenix Portland Los Angeles Seattle

W 4 2 3 2 2 2 1 1

L 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 4

Pct .800 .667 .600 .500 .400 .400 .250 .200

GB — 1 1 1½ 2 2 2½ 3

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Wednesday’s games

Game 11: No. 7 Arkansas vs. No. 2 Texas, 3 p.m.

Game 12: No. 6 Auburn vs. No. 3 Texas A&M, 7 p.m.

Thursday’s games

Friday’s games

Late Wednesday LSU (30-28)

Indiana 90, Portland 73 Dallas 99, Chicago 89 Connecticut 80, Seattle 78

Auburn (37-18)

ab r h bi ab r h bi Braun rf 4 0 1 0 Rembert 2b 4 0 1 0 Arrambide c 4 0 0 0 Fralick c 4 1 1 1 Curiel cf 3 1 2 0 Bingaman 1b 4 0 0 0 Milam ss 3 0 0 0 Guevara 3b 4 1 2 1 Simpson dh 2 0 0 0 Terrell lf 4 0 1 0 Jh. Pearson 3b 3 0 1 1 B. McCrai. ss 3 1 1 0 Stanfield lf 3 0 0 0 M. McCrai. dh 2 0 1 0 Ruckert 2b 2 0 0 0 Carter cf 3 0 0 0 Yamin ph 1 0 0 0 Belyeu rf 2 0 0 0 Patrick rf 2 0 0 0 Yorke ph 1 0 0 0 TOTALS 28 1 4 1 TOTALS 30 3 7 2 LSU 000 100 000 — 1 4 1 Auburn 000 111 00X — 3 7 0 E — Ruckert (5). DP — Auburn 1. LOB — LSU 5; Auburn 5. 2B — Curiel (18). HR — Fralick (14); Guevara (12). HBP — Belyeu SH — Simpson (1). SF — Pearson (2). CS — McCraine (3).

LSU IP H R ER BB SO 4 2 1 1 8 Evans (L, 2-4) 42⁄3 1 ⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 Plog Cowan 3 3 1 1 0 4 Auburn IP H R ER BB SO Marciano (W, 5-5) 6 4 1 1 1 4 Sanders (S, 4) 3 0 0 0 2 2 BP — by Cowan (Belyeu, C.).

Umpires — HP: Kevin Sweeney 1B: Scott Kennedy 2B: Jason Bradley 3B: Clint Fagan Start: 8:10 p.m. Time — 2:34 A — 14,461

Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament glance

At Birmingham, Ala.

Wednesday’s games First round

Game 1: No. 3 Florida A&M 8, No. 6 Texas Southern 6 Game 2: No. 4 Alabama State 10, No. 5 Grambling 0 Game 3: No. 2 Southern 4, No. 7 Jackson State 3, 10 innings Game 4: No. 8 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 6, No. 1 Bethune-Cookman 4

Golden State at New York, n Toronto at Minnesota, n Los Angeles at Phoenix, n

Thursday’s games

Game 5: No. 6 Texas Southern 8, No. 7 Jackson State 7 Game 6: No. 1 Bethune-Cookman 7, No. 5 Grambling 6 Game 7: No. 3 Florida A&M vs. No. 2 Southern, n Game 8: No. 4 Alabama State vs. No. 8 Arkansas-Pine Bluff, n

Friday’s games

Game 9: No. 6 Texas Southern vs. Loser Game 7, 9 a.m.

Game 10: No. 1 Bethune-Cookman vs. Loser Game 8, noon Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, 3 p.m.

Game 12: Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 8, 6 p.m.

Saturday’s games

x-Game 11b: Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 11, noon x-Game 12b: Loser Game 12 vs. Winner Game 12, 3 p.m.

Sunday’s game

Game 13: Championship game, 1 p.m.

Pro basketball NBA Playoffs CONFERENCE FINALS (Best-of-7; x-if necessary)

Eastern Conference New York 1, Cleveland 0 Tuesday, May 19: New York 115, Cleveland 104, OT Thursday, May 21: Cleveland at New York, 7 p.m.

Saturday, May 23: New York at Cleveland, 7 p.m.

Monday, May 25: New York at Cleveland, 7 p.m. x-Wednesday, May 27: Cleveland at New York, TBA x-Friday, May 29: New York at Cleveland, TBA x-Sunday, May 31: Cleveland at New York, TBA

Western Conference San Antonio 1, Oklahoma City 1

Monday, May 18: San Antonio 122, Oklahoma City 115, 2OT Wednesday, May 20: Oklahoma City 122, San Antonio 113 Friday, May 22: Oklahoma City at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 24: Oklahoma City at San Antonio, 8 p.m. x-Tuesday, May 26: San Antonio at Oklahoma City, TBA x-Thursday, May 28: Oklahoma City at San Antonio, TBA x-Saturday, May 30: San Antonio at Okla-

Dallas at Atlanta, 6:30 p.m.

Golden State at Indiana, 6:30 p.m.

Connecticut at Seattle, 9 p.m.

Hockey NHL Playoffs CONFERENCE FINALS (Best-of-7; x-if necessary)

EASTERN CONFERENCE Carolina vs. Montreal

Thursday, May 21: Montreal at Carolina, n Saturday, May 23: Montreal at Carolina, 6 p.m.

Monday, May 25: Carolina at Montreal, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, May 27: Carolina at Montreal, 7 p.m. x-Friday, May 29: Montreal at Carolina, TBA x-Sunday, May 31: Carolina at Montreal, TBA x-Tuesday, June 2: Montreal at Carolina, TBA

WESTERN CONFERENCE Vegas 1, Colorado 0

Wednesday, May 20: Vegas 4, Colorado 2 Friday, May 22: Vegas at Colorado, 7 p.m.

Sunday, May 24: Colorado at Vegas, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, May 26: Colorado at Vegas, TBA x-Thursday, May 28: Vegas at Colorado, TBA x-Saturday, May 30: Colorado at Vegas, TBA x-Monday, June 1: Vegas at Colorado, TBA

Major League Baseball American League glance East Division Tampa Bay New York Boston Toronto Baltimore

W 33 30 22 22 21

L 15 20 27 27 29

Pct .688 .600 .449 .449 .420

GB — 4 11½ 11½ 13

Cleveland Chicago Minnesota Kansas City Detroit

W 30 25 23 20 20

L 22 24 27 30 31

Pct .577 .510 .460 .400 .392

GB — 3½ 6 9 9½

Athletics Texas Seattle Houston Los Angeles

W 25 24 24 20 17

L 24 25 27 31 33

Pct .510 .490 .471 .392 .340

GB — 1 2 6 8½

Central Division

West Division

Wednesday’s games

Tampa Bay 5, Baltimore 3 Minnesota 4, Houston 1 Texas 5, Colorado 4 Seattle 5, Chicago White Sox 4 Cleveland 3, Detroit 2, 10 innings Toronto 2, N.Y. Yankees 1 Boston 4, Kansas City 3 Athletics 6, L.A. Angels 5, 10 innings

Thursday’s games

Cleveland 3, Detroit 1 Toronto at N.Y. Yankees, n Athletics at L.A. Angels, n

Friday’s games

Houston (Arrighetti 5-1) at Chicago Cubs (Taillon 2-3), 1:20 p.m.

Cleveland (Williams 6-3) at Philadelphia (Sánchez 5-2), 5:40 p.m.

Tampa Bay (Martinez 4-1) at N.Y. Yankees (Cole 0-0), 6:05 p.m.

Pittsburgh (Chandler 1-5) at Toronto (Gausman 3-3), 6:07 p.m.

Minnesota (Prielipp 1-2) at Boston (Tolle 2-2), 6:10 p.m.

Detroit (Flaherty 0-5) at Baltimore (Bassitt 3-3), 6:15 p.m.

Seattle (Gilbert 2-4) at Kansas City (Cameron 2-3), 6:40 p.m.

Texas (deGrom 3-3) at L.A. Angels (Rodriguez 0-1), 8:38 p.m.

Athletics (Springs 3-4) at San Diego (Buehler 3-2), 8:40 p.m.

Chicago White Sox (Martin 6-1) at San Francisco (McDonald 2-0), 9:15 p.m.

National League glance East Division Atlanta Philadelphia Washington Miami New York

W 34 25 25 22 21

L 16 25 25 28 28

Pct .680 .500 .500 .440 .429

GB — 9 9 12 12½

Milwaukee Chicago St. Louis

W 29 29 28

L 18 21 21

Pct .617 .580 .571

GB — 1½ 2

Central Division

24 24

.520 .520

4½ 4½

Los Angeles San Diego Arizona San Francisco Colorado

W 31 29 25 20 19

L 19 20 23 30 31

Pct .620 .592 .521 .400 .380

GB — 1½ 5 11 12

Wednesday’s games

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

Thursday’s games

Pittsburgh 6, St. Louis 2 N.Y. Mets at Washington, n Atlanta at Miami, n Colorado at Arizona, n

Friday’s games

Friday’s games

Auburn 3, LSU 1

26 26

West Division

W 3 2 3 3 3 2 1

Quarterfinals Game 9: No. 1 Georgia 5, No. 8 Miss. State 3 Game 10: No. 5 Florida 13, No. 4 Alabama 3

Cincinnati Pittsburgh

Houston (Arrighetti 5-1) at Chicago Cubs (Taillon 2-3), 1:20 p.m.

Cleveland (Williams 6-3) at Philadelphia (Sánchez 5-2), 5:40 p.m.

St. Louis (Leahy 5-3) at Cincinnati (Paddack 0-5), 5:40 p.m.

Pittsburgh (Chandler 1-5) at Toronto (Gausman 3-3), 6:07 p.m.

N.Y. Mets (Peralta 3-3) at Miami (Pérez 2-6), 6:10 p.m.

Washington (Mikolas 1-3) at Atlanta (Elder 4-2), 6:15 p.m.

L.A. Dodgers (Wrobleski 6-1) at Milwaukee (Henderson 1-1), 6:40 p.m.

Athletics (Springs 3-4) at San Diego (Buehler 3-2), 8:40 p.m.

Colorado (Sugano 4-3) at Arizona (Soroka 6-2), 8:40 p.m.

Chicago White Sox (Martin 6-1) at San Francisco (McDonald 2-0), 9:15 p.m.

American League Leaders

BATTING—Greene, Detroit, .326; Langeliers, Athletics, .322; Y.Díaz, Tampa Bay, .316; Jo.Jung, Texas, .309; Alvarez, Houston, .303; Arozarena, Seattle, .302; Witt, Kansas City, .299; W.Abreu, Boston, .292; J.Wilson, Athletics, .292; Rocchio, Cleveland, .290.

RUNS—Judge, New York, 40; Arozarena, Seattle, 36; Rice, New York, 36; Trout, Los Angeles, 35; Vargas, Chicago, 35; Buxton, Minnesota, 34; Langeliers, Athletics, 34; Kurtz, Athletics, 33; Murakami, Chicago, 33; Neto, Los Angeles, 32; Ward, Baltimore, 32.

RBI—Aranda, Tampa Bay, 37; Kurtz, Athletics, 35; Rice, New York, 33; Murakami, Chicago, 33; Y.Díaz, Tampa Bay, 33; Burger, Texas, 33; Bellinger, New York, 32; Montgomery, Chicago, 31; C.Walker, Houston, 31; Alvarez, Houston, 31.

HITS—Greene, Detroit, 59; Witt, Kansas City, 59; Langeliers, Athletics, 58; Alvarez, Houston, 56; Arozarena, Seattle, 55; Y.Díaz, Tampa Bay, 55; W.Abreu, Boston, 54; Jo.Jung, Texas, 54; Clement, Toronto, 53; C.Simpson, Tampa Bay, 53.

DOUBLES—Greene, Detroit, 15; Ward, Baltimore, 15; Jo.Jung, Texas, 14; Soderstrom, Athletics, 14; Arozarena, Seattle, 13; Clement, Toronto, 13; M.Garcia, Kansas City, 13; Witt, Kansas City, 13; Alonso, Baltimore, 12; Bellinger, New York, 12; McGonigle, Detroit, 12.

TRIPLES—C.Simpson, Tampa Bay, 4; Bellinger, New York, 3; Antonacci, Chicago, 2; Benintendi, Chicago, 2; Carpenter, Detroit, 2; Langford, Texas, 2; McGonigle, Detroit, 2; Muncy, Athletics, 2; Nimmo, Texas, 2; Pasquantino, Kansas City, 2; Rafaela, Boston, 2; Walls, Tampa Bay, 2.

HOME RUNS—Murakami, Chicago, 17; Rice, New York, 16; Judge, New York, 16; Buxton, Minnesota, 15; Alvarez, Houston, 15; Montgomery, Chicago, 13; Caminero, Tampa Bay, 13; Trout, Los Angeles, 12; Langeliers, Athletics, 12; Vargas, Chicago, 11; C.Walker, Houston, 11.

STOLEN BASES—Ramírez, Cleveland, 20; Witt, Kansas City, 15; Arozarena, Seattle, 14; C.Simpson, Tampa Bay, 14; Caballero, New York, 13; Chisholm, New York, 12; J.Naylor, Seattle, 12; J.Duran, Boston, 10; Keaschall, Minnesota, 10; Mullins, Tampa Bay, 10.

PITCHING—D.Martin, Chicago, 6-1; Warren, New York, 6-1; Schlittler, New York, 6-2; G.Williams, Cleveland, 6-3; Soriano, Los Angeles, 6-3; Messick, Cleveland, 5-1; Civale, Athletics, 5-1; S.Gray, Boston, 5-1; Arrighetti, Houston, 5-1; Ober, Minnesota, 5-2; McClanahan, Tampa Bay, 5-2; Scholtens, Tampa Bay, 5-2.

ERA—Schlittler, New York, 1.500; N.Martinez, Tampa Bay, 1.509; D.Martin, Chicago, 1.607; Soriano, Los Angeles, 2.413; Messick, Cleveland, 2.455; Wacha, Kansas City, 2.700; Ginn, Athletics, 2.981; Cease, Toronto, 2.983; Ryan, Minnesota, 3.018; deGrom, Texas, 3.020.

STRIKEOUTS—Cease, Toronto, 84; Schlittler, New York, 75; G.Williams, Cleveland, 73; Soriano, Los Angeles, 67; Messick, Cleveland, 64; Warren, New York, 62; Detmers, Los Angeles, 61; Ryan, Minnesota, 61; Weathers, New York, 61; deGrom, Texas, 61.

54; Burleson, St. Louis, 54; Lile, Washington, 54; Marsh, Philadelphia, 54; Olson, Atlanta, 54; J.Walker, St. Louis, 54.

DOUBLES—Olson, Atlanta, 16; Adames, San Francisco, 14; Lile, Washington, 14; Wood, Washington, 14; F.Freeman, Los Angeles, 13; Hoerner, Chicago, 13; Johnston, Colorado, 13; O.Lopez, Miami, 13; Tucker, Los Angeles, 13; 5 tied at 12.

TRIPLES—Carroll, Arizona, 6; X.Edwards, Miami, 3; Marsee, Miami, 3; McCarthy, Colorado, 3; Perdomo, Arizona, 3; 17 tied at 2.

HOME RUNS—Schwarber, Philadelphia, 20; Olson, Atlanta, 14; B.Lowe, Pittsburgh, 13; J.Walker, St. Louis, 13; Baldwin, Atlanta, 13; Wood, Washington, 13; Moniak, Colorado, 12; Muncy, Los Angeles, 12; Harper, Philadelphia, 12; S.Stewart, Cincinnati, 12.

STOLEN BASES—Nuñez, Washington, 21; Cruz, Pittsburgh, 16; Marsee, Miami, 13; Crow-Armstrong, Chicago, 12; Tatis, San Diego, 12; K.Griffin, Pittsburgh, 11; D.Hamilton, Milwaukee, 10; S.Stewart, Cincinnati, 10; 8 tied at 9.

PITCHING—Ashby, Milwaukee, 8-0; Sale, Atlanta, 7-3; Burns, Cincinnati, 6-1; Wrobleski, Los Angeles, 6-1; Soroka, Arizona, 6-2; Skenes, Pittsburgh, 6-3; Harrison, Milwaukee, 5-1; C.Sánchez, Philadelphia, 5-2; F.Griffin, Washington, 5-2; Vásquez, San Diego, 5-2.

ERA—C.Sánchez, Philadelphia, 1.819; Burns, Cincinnati, 1.831; Sale, Atlanta, 1.887; Misiorowski, Milwaukee, 1.895; Elder, Atlanta, 2.011; M.King, San Diego, 2.314; C.Holmes, New York, 2.392; McGreevy, St. Louis, 2.396; Wrobleski, Los Angeles, 2.487; E.Rodriguez, Arizona, 2.531.

STRIKEOUTS—Misiorowski, Milwaukee, 88; C.Sánchez, Philadelphia, 80; Sale, Atlanta, 72; McLean, New York, 69; Luzardo, Philadelphia, 66; B.Ashcraft, Pittsburgh, 65; Burns, Cincinnati, 64; Skenes, Pittsburgh, 63; Cavalli, Washington, 61; Imanaga, Chicago, 61; Roupp, San Francisco, 61.

Pro golf PGA Tour statistics Through May 18 FedExCup Season Points

1, Cameron Young, 2,541. 2, Scottie Scheffler, 2,521. 3, Matt Fitzpatrick, 2,494. 4, Collin Morikawa, 1,737. 5, Ludvig Aberg, 1,630. 6, Chris Gotterup, 1,552. 7, Jacob Bridgeman, 1,512. 8, Rory McIlroy, 1,503. 9, Si Woo Kim, 1,404. 10, Akshay Bhatia, 1,342.

Scoring Average

1, Scottie Scheffler, 69.243. 2, Rory McIlroy, 69.416. 3, Jake Knapp, 69.571. 4, Cameron Young, 69.669. 5, Matt Fitzpatrick, 69.893. 6, Ludvig Aberg, 69.996. 7, Xander Schauffele, 70.000. 8, Nicolai Hojgaard, 70.001. 9, Collin Morikawa, 70.034. 10, Chris Gotterup, 70.068.

Driving Distance

1, Aldrich Potgieter, 328.4. 2, Rory McIlroy, 326.8. 3, Michael Brennan, 325. 4, Gary Woodland, 323.6. 5, Chris Gotterup, 322.6. 6, Nicolai Hojgaard, 321.6. 7, Rasmus Hojgaard, 321.2.

8, Marco Penge, 320.8. 9, Min Woo Lee, 320.3.

10, Jake Knapp, 319.8.

Driving Accuracy Percentage

1, Russell Henley, 70.86%. 2, Andrew Putnam, 70.39%. 3, Si Woo Kim, 69.64%. 4, Aaron Rai, 69.28%. 5, Corey Conners, 68.91%. 6, Lucas Glover, 68.37%. 7, Matt Fitzpatrick, 68.30%.

8, Tommy Fleetwood, 67.48%. 9, Collin Morikawa, 66.60%. 10, Kensei Hirata, 66.59%.

Total Driving

1, Scottie Scheffler, 52. 2, Ludvig Aberg, 53.

3, Michael Brennan, 59. 4, Matt Fitzpatrick, 62. 5, Cameron Young, 63. 6, Kurt Kitayama, 65. 7, Min Woo Lee, 67. 8, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, 75. 9, Jordan Smith, 76. 10, Michael Thorbjornsen, 79.

SG-Putting

1, Vince Whaley, .915. 2, Jacob Bridgeman, .837. 3, Jake Knapp, .744. 4, Beau Hossler, .732. 5, Akshay Bhatia, .693. 6, Sam Burns, .670. 7, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, .669. 8, Matthieu Pavon, .645. 9, Chad Ramey, .643.

10, Karl Vilips, .626.

Birdie Average

1, Scottie Scheffler, 4.88. 2, Ludvig Aberg, 4.65. 3, Akshay Bhatia, 4.56. 4 (tie), Jacob Bridgeman, Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa, 4.5. 7, Cameron Young, 4.48. 8, Robert MacIntyre, 4.45. 9, Harris English, 4.42. 10, Matt Fitzpatrick, 4.39.

Eagles (Holes per)

1, Jake Knapp, 43.7. 2, Nicolai Hojgaard, 69. 3, Sahith Theegala, 69.4. 4, Keegan Bradley, 80.

5, Shane Lowry, 81. 6 (tie), Tommy Fleetwood and Max Greyserman, 85.5. 8 (tie), Joel Dahmen and Max Greyserman, 90. 10, 2 tied with 92.3.

All-Around Ranking

1, Scottie Scheffler, 152. 2, Ludvig Aberg, 204.

3, Collin Morikawa, 272. 4, Min Woo Lee, 279.

5, Chris Gotterup, 294. 6, Cameron Young, 302. 7, Alex Smalley, 306. 8, Jake Knapp, 313. 9, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, 334. 10, Rory McIlroy, 353.

Transactions

National League Leaders

Major League Baseball

BATTING—O.Lopez, Miami, .349; Vargas, Arizona, .331; Marsh, Philadelphia, .325; Johnston, Colorado, .324; Arraez, San Francisco, .319; Gonzales, Pittsburgh, .319; X.Edwards, Miami, .317; Baldwin, Atlanta, .303; Abrams, Washington, .297; J.Walker, St. Louis, .295.

RUNS—Wood, Washington, 43; Baldwin, Atlanta, 39; Turang, Milwaukee, 39; X.Edwards, Miami, 37; Olson, Atlanta, 37; Cruz, Pittsburgh, 36; De La Cruz, Cincinnati, 36; Muncy, Los Angeles, 36; Happ, Chicago, 35; Wetherholt, St. Louis, 35.

RBI—Hicks, Miami, 42; Abrams, Washington, 42; Pages, Los Angeles, 42; Olson, Atlanta, 42; Baldwin, Atlanta, 38; Schwarber, Philadelphia, 36; J.Walker, St. Louis, 35; Burleson, St. Louis, 34; S.Stewart, Cincinnati, 34; Wood, Washington, 34.

HITS—O.Lopez, Miami, 68; Arraez, San Francisco, 59; X.Edwards, Miami, 59; De La Cruz, Cincinnati, 58; Baldwin, Atlanta, 57; Vargas, Arizona, 55; Abrams, Washington,

American League BALTIMORE ORIOLES — Sent RHP Jose Espada outright to Norfolk (IL).

CLEVELAND GUARDIANS — Agreed to terms with SS Luis Rodriguez on a minor league contract.

HOUSTON ASTROS — Agreed to terms with RHP Andrew Marrero on a minor league contract. Optioned RHP Jayden Murray to Sugar Land (PCL). Sent RHP Cody Bolton outright to Sugar Land.

National League ATLANTA BRAVES — Claimed C Maverick Handley off waivers from Baltimore. Selected the contract of RHP Carlos Carrasco from Gwinnett (IL). Optioned RHP Victor Mederos to Gwinnett.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS — Sent RHP Quinn Priester to Nashville (IL) on a rehab assignment.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS — Reinstated RHP Clayton Beeter from the 15-day IL. Optioned LHP PJ Poulin to Rochester (IL).

That’s a wrap!

PROVIDED PHOTO

The Live After F ive free outdoor concert series will finish its spring season with a show by the Rouge Krewe party band, which brings high-energy favorites, dance hits and crowd fun to each performance. The music will run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at Rhorer Plaza downtown. downtownbr.org/liveafter-five/.

LIVING

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

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F r i d ay, M ay 22, 2026

5CN

FAIRS AND FESTIVALS

Make the most of holiday’s long weekend

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REEL DEAL

Staff report With the extended Memorial Day weekend, there’s more time to take in the last of Louisiana’s fairs and festivals for spring.

Here are the details on eight of them, from celebrating the watermelon in DeRidder to a zydeco bash in Lafayette:

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

BEAUREGARD WATERMELON FESTIVAL: Beauregard Parish Fairgrounds, 504 West Drive, DeRidder. The community event is going patriotic to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday, pausing to honor the brave men and women whose sacrifice made freedom possible. Goldstar Amusement will offer rides, games and other midway favorites. Also look for live entertainment and contests. beauregardwatermelonfestival.com.

From ‘Star Wars’ to ‘The Dog Stars,’ here are 29 movies hitting U.S. theaters this summer

T

BY JOHN WIRT | Contributing writer

he summer movie season opens big on Friday with “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.”

The coming weeks and months will bring new films from A-list directors Steven Spielberg (“Disclosure Day”) and Christopher Nolan (“The Odyssey”); a “Scary Movie” sequel; a handful of genuinely scary movies; the fifth “Toy Story”; and a live-action remake of Disney’s animated hit “Moana.”

Many films opening from Friday through late summer follow. Opening dates may change.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY

JAMBALAYA FESTIVAL: LamarDixon Expo Center, 9039 S. St. Landry Ave., Gonzales. Carnival rides, games, live music, jambalaya cook-off, food vendors, and arts and crafts. jambalayafestival.net.

GREEK FESTIVAL: Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 1200 Allen Toussaint Blvd., New Orleans. Walk/run, guided tours of the cathedral, performances by the Hellenic Dancers, live Greek music, Athenian Playground for kids, food and drink. https:// www.gfno.com/.

MUDBUG MADNESS FESTIVAL: Festival Plaza, 101 Crockett St., Shreveport. Thirty bands set to play country, pop, blues and zydeco on three stages; food, art/ craft vendors, children’s area, crawfish eating contests, boiled crawfish, beverages. https:// www.mudbugmadness.com/.

FRIDAY

“PASSENGER”: A demon hitches a ride with a young couple who witnessed a deadly highway accident. Starring Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell and Melissa Leo. “STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU”: Pedro Pascal stars as Din Djarin, the Mandalorian bounty hunter who, with his apprentice, Grogu, battles Imperial warlords hellbent on destroying the New Republic. Sigourney Weaver and Jeremy Allen White co-star.

MAY 29

“BACKROOMS”: A strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture store. With Chiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave”), New Orleans native Mark Duplass, Renate Reinsve, Finn Bennett and Lukita Maxwell.

“PRESSURE”: Set in the 72 hours before D-Day, “Pressure” focuses on Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) and Capt. James Stagg (Andrew Scott) as they decide if the time is right to launch the largest invasion-by-sea in history — or risk defeat in Europe by Nazi Germany and its fascist allies.

“THE BREADWINNER”: In his first feature film, comedian Nate Bargatze plays a salesman and father whose supremely organized spouse (Mandy Moore) takes an extended business trip, leaving their home in chaos.

JUNE 5

“MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE”: After Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) obtains the Sword of Power, he returns to his native planet, Eternia, to save his family and world.

ä See MOVIES, page 6C

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, MAY 31

CAJUN HEARTLAND STATE FAIR: 444 Cajundome Blvd., Lafayette.

This kickoff to summer features rides, food, craft vendors, free attractions and family-oriented games. Admission is $5 SundayThursday and before 7 p.m.

Friday- Saturday, $10 after 7 p.m.

Friday-Saturday. cajundome.com.

‘TOY STOR ‘PRESSUR

Y 5’

E’

SATURDAY

LUNCHBOX COMEDY FESTIVAL IV: 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Cabin & Courtyard Events, Gonzales. Event will feature 25-plus comedians, 20-plus vendors, four full comedy shows, live band, reptile petting zoo and hot dog eating competition. All-day pass, $25; VIP pass, $40. eventbrite.com.

‘THE BRE A

DWINNER’

‘DISCLOSU RE DAY’

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

BATON ROUGE SOUL FOOD FESTIVAL: 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Main Library at Goodwood, 7711 Goodwood Blvd. Featuring blues, soul, R&B, gospel and Christian music, along with a vendors’ village, a judged soul food cooking contest, and new this year — a mustard greens and cornbread eating competition. Free. https:// hitcitydigital.wixsite.com/brsoulfoodfest.

ZYDECO EXTRAVAGANZA: Noon, Blackham Coliseum, 2230 Johnston St., Lafayette. Featuring the crowd-favorite amateur accordion contest, authentic Creole food and art vendors. The music lineup includes Chris Ardoin, Keith Frank, Tucka, Step Rideau, Rusty Metoyer, Leon Chavis, Jeffery & Koray Broussard, Mike Dopsie and DJ Troy D. $30 and up; free, kids 12 and younger. https://zydecoextra.com/.

La.’s Kix Brooks wins another ACM honor Ronnie Dunn, left, and Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn accept the award for duo of the year during the 61st annual Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday.

AP PHOTO By CHRIS PIZZELLO

Awards elude multi-nominated Lainey Wilson

home their 18th ACM Duo of the Year award on Sunday night in Las Vegas.

Shreveport native Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, of Coleman, Texas, have had hits including “Neon Moon,” “Brand New Man,” “Cowgirls Don’t

BY JUDY BERGERON Cry” and more over 34 years Staff writer of performing together. In toVeteran country music art- tal, they’ve amassed 30 ACM ists Brooks & Dunn, the most- awards and 73 nominations. awarded duo in Academy of ä See AWARDS, page 6C Country Music history, took

6C ● Friday, May 22, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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TODAY IN HISTORY

By The Associated Press Today is Friday, May 22, the 142nd day of 2026.

There are 223 days left in the year.

Today in history: On May 22, 1960, the strongest earthquake recorded struck southern Chile. The magnitude 9.5 quake claimed 1,655 lives, left 2 million homeless and triggered a tsunami responsible for over 230 additional deaths in Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines.

Also on this date: In 1939, the foreign ministers of Germany and Italy, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Galeazzo Ciano, signed a “Pact of Steel” committing their two countries to a military and political alliance.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson, speaking at the University of Michigan, outlined the goals of his “Great Society,” saying that it “rests on abundance

and liberty for all” and “demands an end to poverty and racial injustice.”

In 1969, the lunar module of Apollo 10, with Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene Cernan aboard, flew within nine miles of the moon’s surface in a “dress rehearsal” for the first lunar landing.

In 1985, U.S. sailor Michael L. Walker was arrested aboard the aircraft carrier Nimitz, two days after his father, John A. Walker Jr., was apprehended by the FBI; both were later convicted of spying for the Soviet Union. (Michael Walker served 15 years in prison and was released in 2000; John Walker Jr. died in prison in 2014.)

In 1992, after a reign lasting nearly 30 years, Johnny Carson hosted his final episode of NBC’s “Tonight Show.” (Jay Leno took over as host three days later.)

In 2011, a massive EF5 tornado struck Joplin,

SHOWS TO WATCH — ACADIANA AREA Missouri, with winds up to 250 mph, killing at least 159 people and destroying about 8,000 homes and businesses.

In 2017, a suicide bomber set off an improvised explosive device that killed 22 people and injured over 1,000 following an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England.

Today’s birthdays: Actor-filmmaker Richard Benjamin is 88. Songwriter Bernie Taupin is 76. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is 69. Singer Morrissey is 67. Singer Johnny Gill (New Edition) is 60. Actor Brooke Smith is 59. Model Naomi Campbell is 56. Actor Sean Gunn is 52. Actor Ginnifer Goodwin is 48. Actor Maggie Q is 47. Olympic speed skating gold medalist Apolo Anton Ohno is 44. Tennis player Novak Djokovic is 39. Actor Judah Lewis is 25.

Actor Peyton Elizabeth Lee is 22.

MOVIES

Continued from page 5C

“POWER BALLAD”: Rick (Paul Rudd), a professional wedding singer, and Danny (Nick Jonas), a faded boy-band star, become friends after they meet at a jam session.

Jealousy ensues when Danny gets a hit with a song written

by Rick.

“SCARY MOVIE”: Original “Scary Movie” stars Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Anna Faris and Regina Hall are mock-terrorized by masked murderer Ghostface.

“DISCLOSURE DAY”: Steven Spielberg directs an alien-invasion thriller starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth and Eve Hewson.

JUNE 19

PROVIDED PHOTO By MELINDA SUE GORDON/UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Matt Damon is Odysseus in ‘The Odyssey,’ written, produced and directed by Christopher Nolan.

JULY 10

“EVIL DEAD BURN”: The fifth “Evil Dead” movie sticks to the 1981 original’s horror blueprint. After a woman’s husband dies, she seeks comfort with her in-laws at an isolated family retreat.

JULY 17

“JACKASS BEST AND LAST”: Johnny Knoxville leads his gang of fools in more silly stunts. It’s promised to be the final “Jackass” movie.

“SUPERGIRL: WOMAN OF TOMORROW”: Milly Alcock is the new Supergirl, a reluctant heroine who, responding to a merciless threat, embarks on an interstellar quest for justice.

“MOANA”: Disney adapts another of its animated hits to live-action. Starring Catherine Laga’aia as Polynesian heroine Moana and Dwayne Johnson as the shape-shifting Maui. Directed by Thomas Kail of “Hamilton” fame.

Songs by “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.

“THE ODYSSEY”: Christopher Nolan (“Oppenheimer,” “The Dark Knight,” “Interstellar”) depicts Odysseus’ voyage home from the Trojan War in the IMAX format. The blockbuster cast features Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya and Charlize Theron.

JULY 1

JULY 31

JUNE 26

“MINIONS & MONSTERS”: The diminutive co-stars of four “Despicable Me” movies conquer Hollywood and become movie stars before losing everything and unleashing monsters. Voices by Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, Zoey Deutch, Bobby Moynihan, Phil LaMarr, Trey Parker and Pierre Coffin.

JULY 3

“THE INVITE”: Oliva Wilde directs and co-stars in a comedy-drama about a dinner party that takes unexpected turns. Penélope Cruz and Seth Rogen co-star. Limited opening.

“YOUNG WASHINGTON”: William Franklyn-Miller portrays George Washington at the beginning of his military career.

Mary-Louise Parker, Kelsey Grammer and Ben Kingsley co-star.

AWARDS

Continued from page 5C Although fellow Louisiana artist Lainey Wilson went into the 61st ACM Awards ceremony with six nominations, including Entertainer of the Year, she left empty-handed, bested for the top honor by singer and former pro bull rider Cody Johnson (“I’m Gonna Love You,” “The Fall,” “’Til You Can’t”). The big win-

MAGGIE TAUZIN: Cane River Pecan Company Pie Bar, New Iberia, 5 p.m.

DAVE BRUCE: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

FRIDAY NIGHT JAM: La Maison de Begnaud, Scott, 6 p.m.

JACK WOODSON: 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.

LIVE MUSIC: Naq’s-n-Duson, Duson, 6 p.m.

MATT GARY TRIO: Whiskey and Vine, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

CAJUN HEARTLAND STATE FAIR — MASON TRAIL AND ZYDECO RHYTHM: Cajundome, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

DOYLE TAUZIN: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

RORY SUIRE: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.

CHAS JUSTUS & THE TRAIL DRIVERS: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

COUILLON FEST: A STAND-UP COMEDY FESTIVAL: Cité des Arts, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

JC MELANCON: Silver Slipper, Arnaudville, 7 p.m.

BAYOU BLUES NIGHT FEATURING THE HARRINGTONES + JP SUMMERS + THE COLLABORATORY JAM: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

NICK BEGNAUD: The Barrel of Broussard, Broussard, 8 p.m.

PASSENGER ELEVEN, SMOL ROSA, DANDELIONESS: Freetown Boom Boom Room, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

JOHNNY MARKS: Toby’s Lounge, Opelousas, 8:30 p.m.

MICHAEL SCOTT BOUDREAUX: Rock ’n’ Bowl de Lafayette, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

SATURDAY

JUNE 12

“THE DEATH OF ROBIN HOOD”: Suffering from physical and mental wounds, Robin Hood gets a chance for salvation thanks to a mysterious woman. Hugh Jackman, Jodie Comer and Bill Skarsgård lead the cast.

“TOY STORY 5”: Woody the cowboy, Buzz Lightyear and the other toys confront a new nemesis. Lilypad, a frogshaped smart tablet, is determined to sever the toys from their child, Bonnie. Featuring the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack and Greta Lee and music of Randy Newman.

“GIRLS LIKE US”: A coming-ofage drama based on writerdirector Hayley Kiyoko’s hit song and bestselling novel.

FRIDAY

“SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY”: After erasing himself from the memories of everyone he loves, Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, is alone in New York City. Fighting crime full-time in a city that has forgotten him, he faces a vexing new crime wave. Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink and Mark Ruffalo star.

AUG. 7

“ONE NIGHT ONLY”: In this high-concept romantic comedy, Monica Barbaro (“A Complete Unknown,” “Top Gun: Maverick”) and Callum Turner (“Masters of the Air,” “Fantastic Beasts”) portray two people looking for love in New York City on the least likely night to find it. With Maya Hawke, Julia Fox, Molly Ringwald and Levar Burton.

MOVIE”: The PAW Patrol pups get shipwrecked on an island of dinosaurs. Making matters worse, PAW Patrol enemy Mayor Humdinger begins mining the island, sparking a volcanic eruption.

“THE END OF OAK STREET”: A cosmic event transports a family’s 1980s neighborhood on Earth to an unknown place.

Starring Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor and P.J. Byrne.

AUG. 21

“INSIDIOUS: OUT OF THE FURTHER”: Gemma, a young mother raising a daughter in the house she grew up in, learns that she can travel into a purgatory for lost souls and open a portal for demons.

“MUTINY”: Jason Statham’s character in the action-thriller “Mutiny,” a good guy who’s been framed for a crime, uncovers human trafficking on a cargo ship.

AUG. 28

“COYOTE VS. ACME”: An animated/live-action hybrid movie, “Coyote vs. Acme” pits Looney Tunes character Wile E. Coyote in a suit against the Acme Corp., whose products always malfunction when he pursues Road Runner. Will Forte and John Cena co-star.

“FINDING EMILY”: A lovestruck musician gets the wrong number for his dream girl. He enlists a psychology student to find her and, together, they inspire a campus-wide frenzy that tries their own hearts and ambitions. Starring Angourie Rice, Spike Fearn and Minnie Driver.

“THE DOG STARS”: After a pandemic wipes out most of the humans on Earth, survivors must evade murderous scavengers known as Reapers. Ridley Scott (“Gladiator,” “Blade Runner”) directs a stellar cast featuring Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin and Guy Pearce.

AUG. 14

Email John Wirt at j_wirt@ msn.com.

ner of the night, Ella Langley, beat out Wilson in four other categories.

Newlywed Wilson turned 34 on Tuesday, did take the stage for a high-energy, flashy performance of current hit “I Can’t Sit Still.”

Her black, body-hugging ensemble, bedecked with silver buckles and fringe, popped against her backup dancers’ all-white attire.

News broke last week that Wilson and longtime boyfriend Devlin “Duck” Hodges, a former NFL

quarterback, had tied the knot on Mother’s Day at the foot of a waterfall in The Ruskin Cave, Dickson, Tennessee.

Wilson, a native of Baskin, wore a custom Oscar de la Renta gown with Japanese cherry blossom appliques.

Both wore cowboy boots custom-made for the occasion. New Orleans’ Rebirth Jazz Band provided music.

“PAW PATROL: THE DINO

Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate. com.

PHOTO By ROBIN MAy

Catch Forest Huval at Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Broussard, Broussard, 8 p.m.

DUSTIN SONNIER & THE WANTED: Lakeview Park, Eunice, 8 p.m.

GENO DELAFOSE & ROCKIN BOOGIE: La Poussiere Cajun Dancehall, Breaux Bridge, 8 p.m.

WACK! WITH FRIENDS: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

WYATT SHUFF AND SECONDHAND SMOKE: Toby’s Lounge, Opelousas, 8:30 p.m.

THAT ‘90S SHOW: Rock ’n’ Bowl de Lafayette, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

SUNDAY

LEROY THOMAS & THE ZYDECO ROADMASTERS: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 8 a.m.

TROY LEJEUNE BAND: Fred’s, Mamou, 8 a.m.

CAJUN JAM: Moncus Park, Lafayette, 9 a.m.

SATURDAY MORNING JAM SESSIONS: The Savoy Music Center, Eunice, 9 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.

CAJUN JAM SESSION: Touchet’s Bar, Maurice, 2 p.m.

AUDREY BROUSSARD: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

CAJUN BREAKFAST: Naq’s-nDuson, Duson, 6 p.m.

CAJUN HEARTLAND STATE FAIR — GYPSY LA BLUE, SCHOOL OF ROCK, SPANK THE MONKEY: Cajundome, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza & Brewery, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LWA HEARTLAND HEAT II: Cajundome, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

PAUL PIAZZA: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

BRANDON MENARD: The Tap Room, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.

FOREST HUVAL: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

THE CAST: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.

COUILLON FEST: A STAND-UP COMEDY FESTIVAL: Cité des Arts, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

JUST US JAZZ: Whiskey and Vine, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

KEITH MYERS: Silver Slipper, Arnaudville, 7 p.m.

TROUBLE DOWN TECHE: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

CLIFF BERNARD: The Barrel of

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 — BRANDON LEDET & CREOLE TOUCH: Vermilionville Living History Museum & Folklife Park, Lafayette, 1 p.m.

ZYDECO EXTRAVAGANZA: Blackham Coliseum, Lafayette, 1 p.m.

CAJUN JAM: Bayou Teche Brewing, Arnaudville, 2 p.m.

JAMIE BERGERON: Cypress Cove Landing, Breaux Bridge, 3 p.m.

SHADOW ROAD BAND FEATURING KYLE DUGAS: Pat’s Atchafalaya Club, Henderson, 4:30 p.m.

CAJUN HEARTLAND STATE FAIR — ISAAC LEJEUNE, MIKE BROUSSARD: Cajundome, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

SAM SPHAR: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

COLBY HEBERT & LUKE HUVAL AND FRIENDS: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

RAY THIBODEAUX & ALLONS DANSER: Lakeview Park, Eunice, 8 p.m.

REGGAE SUNDAY WITH MISTA DO RIGHT AND THE IRIE CREW + LIL C: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

GENO DELAFOSE: Rock ’n’ Bowl de Lafayette, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

MONDAY

PATRICIO LATINO SOLO: Cafe Habana City, Lafayette, 11 a.m.

BLUEGRASS JAM: Cité des Arts, Lafayette, 6:30 p.m.

CAJUN HEARTLAND STATE FAIR — DANI LACOUR: Cajundome, Lafayette, 7:30 p.m.

TUESDAY

MICHALIS: Charley G’s Sea-

food Grill, 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.

PAUL TASSIN DUO: Whiskey and Vine, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

RAMONA AND THE HOLY SMOKES + LILY UNLESS AND THE IF ONLYS: Blue Moon Saloon, 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.

GRANDPA: Park Bistro, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

JACK WOODSON: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Park Bistro, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

WANTED WEDNESDAY KARAOKE NIGHT: The Barrel of Broussard, Broussard, 6 p.m.

JOSHUA LEBLANC: The Tap Room, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.

CAJUN HEARTLAND STATE FAIR — SPARKY 86: Cajundome, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

CAJUN JAM: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

THURSDAY

AUDREY BROUSSARD: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

COMMUNITY HOUR — COMMUNITY DRUM CIRCLE: Moncus Park, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LADIES NIGHT WITH DJ DONOVAN IN THE MIX: Cowboys Nightclub, Scott, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Naq’s-n-Duson, Duson, 6 p.m.

TROUBADOUR: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.

CHARLES & WENDY TRICHE: Whiskey and Vine, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

PRENDS COURAGE: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

KARAOKE PARTY — PANDA ENTERTAINMENT: Black Bull, Youngsville, 8 p.m.

THE COLLABORATORY OPEN JAM NIGHT: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 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.

YEARS

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The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Friday, May 22, 2026 ● 7C

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FrAnK And erneSt

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zodIAC GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Structure your time and schedule around what matters most to you. Consider hosting an event or opening your doors to people you like to hang out with or haven't seen for some time. cAncER (June 21-July 22) Consider every angle and, most of all, be honest with yourself regarding what's possible and what isn't. Fact-check, talk to experts and avoid taking on too much debt or responsibilities.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Pay attention to detail. Choose a creative or helpful path. Approach specialists to discover resources that you can draw from to ensure that whatever you do is done with good intentions.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Pace yourself; spontaneity will get you in trouble. Put your energy into research, looking for flaws and paying attention to what's happening around you.

LIBRA (sept. 23-Oct. 23) An unexpected change will breathe new life into your plans. Conversations will lead to something concrete, so pick up the phone and make things happen. scORPIO (Oct. 24-nov. 22) Put more effort into nurturing meaningful relationships.

Conversations and kind gestures will help you gain access to helpful information. Don't buy into something you cannot afford. sAGITTARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Step into the spotlight and share your thoughts. A chance to make improvements to yourself, your home and the relationships

that matter most to you will pay off.

Rearranging your space will spark your imagination. cAPRIcORn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Stick close to home to take care of family matters.

Get your place ready for any upcoming events you want to host or to make your life more comfortable and convenient.

Refuse to let someone's insinuations get to you.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Don't push yourself physically or take on a no-win situation. Happiness will come from spending time with loved ones and taking care of financial matters that add to a stable and stress-free environment.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Stay out of questionable conversations with people who are manipulative or trying to redirect your beliefs. Pay more attention to your needs and what makes you happy.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Listen, nurture meaningful relationships and take care of domestic issues promptly. A change to how you earn your living or how you handle your investments will help you overcome debt.

TAuRus (April 20-May 20) Use your energy wisely. Take care of unfinished business instead of stressing over what you've left undone. Completion is the key to being able to move forward. Use your voice to attract interest.

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: W EQuALs y

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

8C ● Friday, May 22, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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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

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The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Friday, May 22, 2026 ● 9C

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Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER This week, we have been studying strong jump shifts. To check that you have the idea, look at today’s South hand.

North opens one heart and East passes.

What should South bid?

While you decide, I have said that a strong jump shift should promise 13-16 high-card points. In the days of yore, responder needed 17-19 high-card points.

As I explained three days ago, this was not best. But if responder has a two-suiter, by the time he adds shortage points, his hand will probably be worth 17-19 support points: high-card plus shortage points.

In this deal, though, South must respond one spade, not two spades.

Don’t make a strong jump shift with a two-suiter unless partner opened in one of your suits.

A sensible sequence is one heart – one spade – three spades – four no-trump – five diamonds – five no-trump – six hearts – six spades. It is difficult to bid seven no-trump (the best contract) or seven spades with confidence when a king is missing.

However, let’s assume that West leads the club jack against seven spades. How should South plan the play?

Declarer has 13 top tricks: five spades, five hearts, one diamond and two clubs.

So, he does not need to risk the diamond

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

finesse. He should win trick one in his hand with the club ace, draw trumps (leaving the ace or king in the dummy as an entry), unblock the heart ace and king, cross to dummy with a trump, and cash those lovely winners (the heart Q-J10 and club king), discarding his four diamond losers. © 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 — IMITATED: IM-ih-tay-ted: Followed as a pattern, model or

Bizarro

marmaduKe

example.

Average mark 26 words Time limit 40 minutes Can you find 35 or more words in IMITATED? yEsTERDAy’s WORD — sEAGOInG sage sane sang sign signage sine sing singe snag soigne sone

song easing egis aegis ageing aging agog agonies anise gage gain

gang genoa goes going gone gong noes noise nose

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “And he said to them, Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” Matthew 8:26-27 Let Jesus calm the storms in your life. G.E. Dean

10C ● Friday, May 22, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Announcements Anyone knowing the whereabouts of, Deandra McGee, previously residing at 2198 Magnolia Progress Road, McComb, MS 39648, is asked to contact R.W.Tucker and Associates at 225-346-4000 188296-5/21 through 6/3-14 Days $319.00

.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 Bids/Proposals

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y after the specified time and date will not be con‐ sidered.

g neering, Inc. located at 1245 South College Road, Building 1, Lafayette, LA 70503; (337-989-8047).

Copies shall be obtained at the Engineer’s office (upon payment of a de‐ posit of $120.00) or may be downloaded from the Mader Engineering Plan Room as hosted by Cen‐ tral Bidding (subject to fees and conditions). The deposit will be refunded upon request in accor‐ dance with R.S. 38:2212, but Central Bidding fees are not refundable.

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Public Notices Bids/Proposals

PUBLIC NOTICE --ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Acadia Parish Police Jury (herein referred to as the "Owner") hereby solicits sealed bids for LeGros Memorial Airport, Run‐ way 4-22 Lighting and NAVAID Improvements project described as fol‐ lows: STATEMENT OF WORK: Removal of existing run‐ way and taxiway edge lighting, removal of exist‐ ing REILs, and installa‐ tion of new LED runway and taxiway edge light‐ ing and installation of new LED REILs. Also in‐ cluded is the removal and replacement of the airfield lighting controls.

Sealed Bids shall be ad‐ dressed to Acadia Parish Police Jury, and delivered to 505 Northeast Court Circle, Crowley, LA 70526 or submitted by elec‐ tronic bid at www. madereng.com not later than 10:00 a.m., on June 16, 2026. Any bid received f h ifi d i

The sealed bids will be publicly opened and read aloud at 10:00 a.m., on June 16, 2026 at the Aca‐ dia Parish Police Jury lo‐ cated at 505 Northeast Court Circle, Crowley, LA 70526.

A Non-Mandatory / PREBID CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD: TIME & DATE: 10:00 a.m. on June 2, 2026 LOCATION: LeGros Memorial Airport Terminal Building Airport Road Estherwood, LA Attendance at the PreBid Conference is not mandatory in order to bid on the project; how‐ ever, bidders are encour‐ aged to attend. It is the responsibility of all po‐ tential bidders to visit the job site to assess the location and conditions prior to bidding.

The Instructions to Bid‐ ders, Bid Form, Contract, Plans, Specifications, and Forms of Bid Bond, Performance Bond and Payment Bond, and other bidding documents may be examined at the office of the Engineer for the contract; Mader Engi‐ i l d

Contractors submitting bids shall be licensed under LA R.S. 37:21502164, Building Construc‐ tion or Electrical. The bidder shall show his li‐ cense number on the bid and on the sealed enve‐ lope submitting the bid.

The signature on the bid must be that of an autho‐ rized representative of the corporation, partner‐ ship or other legal entity, as defined by Louisiana Public Bid Law Revised Statute 38:2212.A.(1)(c) which dictates parties authorized to submit bids for public contracts.

All required Certificates of Liability Insurance shall list the “Owner” as “additionally insured”.

The Owner reserves the

PROCEEDINGS OF THE LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF LAFAYETTE, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT A REGULAR MEETING OF MAY 19, 2026 HELD AT 705 W. UNIVERSITY AVENUE, LAFAYETTE, LA. ATTENDANCE COUNCIL: Kenneth Boudreaux (Chair, District 5), Liz Hebert (Vice-Chair, District 3) Elroy Broussard (District 1), Andy Naquin (District 2) and Thomas Hooks (District 4) ABSENT: None COUNCIL STAFF: Joseph Gordon-Wiltz (Clerk of the Council), Cindy M. Semien (Associate Clerk for Legislative Affairs) and Kelly Comeaux (Assistant Clerk for Legislative Affairs) ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF: Monique B. Boulet (Mayor-President), Rachel Godeaux (Chief Administrative Officer), Karen Fontenot (Chief Financial Officer), Robert A. Mahtook, Jr. (City-Parish Attorney) and Paul Escott (Assistant City-Parish Attorney)

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

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 Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

right to reject any and all bids for just cause; such actions will be in accor‐ dance with Title 38 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes. In accordance with R.S. 38:2212 (A)(1) (b), the provisions and requirements stated in the Bidding Documents shall not be waived by any entity.

p 30, Government Wide De‐ barment and Suspension as per 2 CFR part 180 and Non-segregated Facilities as per 41 CFR § 60-1.8.

Attention to Bidders is particularly called to the requirements as to con‐ ditions of employment to be observed and mini‐ mum wage rates to be paid under the Davis Bacon Act Requirements.

In accordance with R.S. 38:2212 (A)(1)(b), the pro‐ visions and requirements stated in the Bidding Documents shall not be waived by any entity.

The requirements of 49 CFR part 26 apply to this contract. It is the policy of the Acadia Parish Po‐ lice Jury to practice nondiscrimination based on race, color, sex, or na‐ tional origin in the award or performance of this contract. The Owner en‐ courages participation by all firms qualifying under this solicitation re‐ gardless of business size or ownership.

The proposed contract is subject to the Buy Ameri‐ can provision under 49 USC § 50101.

The successful bidder will be required to sub‐ mit Certifications regard‐ ing Foreign Trade Restric‐ tions under 49 CFR part id

All applicable Federal, State, Local laws, ordi‐ nances, and the rules and regulations of all au‐ thorities having jurisdic‐ tion over construction of the project shall apply to the contract throughout.

Notice is hereby given that the project is funded through Federal and State Grants which funds will not be available at the time of bidding. The Owner may reject all bids and cancel this solicita‐ tion should adequate funding not be secured within 30 days after bid opening. The time limits stipulated in LA. R.S. 38:2215(D) do not apply based upon the statutory exception that “the con‐ tract is to be financed in whole or in part by fed‐ eral or other funds which will not be readily avail‐ able at the time bids are opened.”

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Each Bidder must de‐ posit with his/her bid, security in the amount of at least five percent (5%) of the total bid price, provided on the specified form and subject to the conditions provided in the Information for Bid‐ ders. Sureties used for obtaining bonds must appear as acceptable on the U. S. Department of Treasury Circular 570.

OWNER Acadia Parish Police Jury PUBLICATION/DATES: May 20, 2026 May 27, 2026 June 3, 2026 188076 May 20, 27, June 3, 2026 3t $1,947.94 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

ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Motion to adopt was approved.

AGENDA ITEM NO. 6: CO-035-2026 An ordinance of the Lafayette City Council declaring the Johnston St./LA. Ave. Infrastructure Improvements, Segment III (Railroad to Lewis Street) Project a public necessity and authorizing the acquisition of the necessary rights-of-way, immovable property and other property rights requisite to the construction of said project, either on an amicable basis or through the proper use of the expropriation process if necessary, motion to adopt by Naquin, seconded

by Hebert, and the vote was as follows: YEAS: Broussard, Naquin, Hebert, Hooks, Boudreaux NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Motion to adopt was approved.

The Chair called upon Councilmember Naquin to cite an invocation and upon Councilmember Hebert to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

AGENDA ITEM NO. 7: CO-036-2026 An ordinance of the Lafayette City Council authorizing the Lafayette Mayor-President to execute an act of cash sale by and between the City of Lafayette and G&M Partnership for the price and sum of $280,000 for the acquisition by the City of Lafayette of that certain property, with improvements and appurtenant servitudes and property rights, having a municipal address of 113 E. Simcoe Street, Lafayette, Louisiana, for the present purpose of improvement and expansion of the Utilities Department and for other present or future permissible purposes, motion to adopt by Hebert, seconded by Broussard, and the vote was as follows: YEAS: Broussard, Naquin, Hebert, Hooks, Boudreaux NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Motion to adopt was approved.

WELCOME AND CHAIR ANNOUNCEMENTS

JOINT ORDINANCE FOR FINAL ADOPTION

AGENDA ITEM NO. 2: COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS Hebert announced her condolences of Christopher Wayne Boudreaux, Councilman Boudreaux’s brother. She offered a moment of silence.

AGENDA ITEM NO. 8: JO-016-2026 A joint ordinance of the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget and adjusting the manning tables of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government to provide funding for a salary adjustment within the Office of Finance & Management, motion to adopt

by Hebert, seconded by Naquin, and the vote was as follows: YEAS: Broussard, Naquin, Hebert, Hooks, Boudreaux NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Motion to adopt was approved.

(5:32:00) COMMENCEMENT Call to order Chair Boudreaux called the Regular City Council Meeting of May 19, 2026 to order.

AGENDA ITEM NO. 1: Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance

Boudreaux expressed gratitude to Hebert, Council staff, the Administration, and members of the public who attended the funeral and reached out to him during his time of grief.

AGENDA ITEM NO. 3: EXECUTIVE/MAYOR-PRESIDENT’S REPORT Godeaux delivered announcements on behalf of Boulet, who was in attendance but had just come from a prior meeting where she spoke for nearly two (2) hours and required a brief vocal rest: • The library millage was not renewed; the plan is to place it back on the ballot for the December election; • Applications are open for the 2026-2027 Mayor-President’s Youth Advisory Council and is open to all 9th – 12th grade Lafayette Parish students. Those interested should apply at www.lafayettela. gov/your-government/youth-advisory-council.

Deadline for applications is July 10th; • Tip A Cop Fundraising Event will be May 20th from 5 PM – 9 PM at both Deano’s Pizza locations. The event will benefit Faith House Domestic Violence Crisis Center and Lafayette Crime Stoppers and it will be an opportunity to meet and be waited on by law enforcement officials; • The Oath of Office Ceremony for Fire Chief Earl Borden is May 22nd at 9 AM at the downtown fire station. She welcomed all who are interested; • Memorial Day Run for Heroes will be May 25th at Moncus Park starting at 8:30 AM. Noted that this will take place to honor fallen military veterans; • Lafayette Parish Annual Hurricane Tabletop Exercise is May 29th at 9 AM and is available to Councilmembers who are interested.

It will include a full-scale exercise of the Parish pickup location at the MLK Center. Godeaux noted that the tabletop exercise is not open to the public.

ORDINANCES FOR FINAL ADOPTION AGENDA ITEM NO. 4: CO-033-2026 An ordinance of the Lafayette City Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget of the Lafayette CityParish Consolidated Government by increasing revenues in the amount of $28,616 received 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 Department, motion to adopt by Naquin, seconded by Hebert, and the vote was as follows: YEAS: Broussard, Naquin, Hebert, Hooks, Boudreaux NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Motion to adopt was approved.

AGENDA ITEM NO. 5: CO-034-2026 An ordinance of the Lafayette City Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget of the Lafayette CityParish Consolidated Government by increasing revenues in the amount of $25,843 received from the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement (LCLE) and appropriating within the Lafayette Police Department, motion to adopt by Broussard, seconded by Naquin, and the vote was as follows: YEAS: Broussard, Naquin, Hebert, Hooks, Boudreaux NAYS: None

Pets

INTRODUCTORY ORDINANCES A motion to introduce agenda items 9-16, in globo, was offered by Naquin, seconded by Hebert.

9. CO-037-2026 An ordinance of the Lafayette City Council amending the Lafayette Development Code so as to reclassify the property of Case No. 2026-1-AZON Hobson Street and North Buchanan Street Administrative Rezoning, located 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 Hobson Street, and 101, 103 & 107 Mudd Avenue being rezoned from IL (Industrial-Light) to MN-2 (MixedUse Neighborhood).

10. CO-038-2026 An ordinance of the Lafayette City Council amending the Lafayette Development Code so as to reclassify the property of Case No. 2026-4-REZ 110 & 112 Row 2 Rezoning, located generally north of Row 3, west of West Pinhook Road, and south of Row 1; being rezoned from IH (Industrial-Heavy) to IL (Industrial-Light).

11. CO-039-2026 An ordinance of the Lafayette City Council amending the Lafayette Development Code and the official map of the City of Lafayette, providing for the annexation of additional land into the Corporate Limits of the City of Lafayette, Louisiana, Case No. 2026-6REZ 300 Block Tolson Road Annexation (Lots 1-5), located 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) (District 4).

12. CO-040-2026 An ordinance of the Lafayette City Council approving a Conditional Use Permit to allow a dwelling, two-family (duplex) in a RS-1 (Residential Single-Family) zoning district, Case No. 20267-REZ 100 Wilkins Street CUP (Conditional Use Permit), located generally north of Markham Street, east of Liston Street, and south of Hammond Road.

13. CO-041-2026 An ordinance of the Lafayette City Council amending the Lafayette Development Code and the official map of the City of Lafayette, providing for the annexation of additional land into the corporate limits of the City of Lafayette, Louisiana, Case No. 2026-8REZ 100 Block Darbonne Road Annexation, located generally north of Woodbridge Drive, east of Tolson Road, and south of Darbonne Road; and assigning a zoning classification of RM-1 (Residential Mixed) (District 4).

14. CO-042-2026 An ordinance of the Lafayette City Council amending the FY 25/26 operating and capital budget of the Lafayette City-Parish

CATS RAGAMUFFIN & RAGDOLL KITTENS www.CatsByFrancy.com/kittens $1500up! Reg. Shots & Guaranty 337-230-3150

Automotive DOMESTIC TRUCKS 2009 Toyota Tundra, needs transmis‐ sion $3700. 225-202-2177 Ask for Ms. B

Merchandise MUSIC INSTRUMENTS Recording studio desk. Keyboard case. Uprt piano 225-202-2177 Ms. B

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NEWS 24/7 ON

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

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‐ b b i d

DOGS Australian Shepherd - We have six Australian Shepherd puppies one male blue merle, one female black tri, two male red tri, two female red merle’s looking for their forever homes. $800 985-688-7455

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

p p 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.

p y and small business en‐ terprises.

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. 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 21, 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 d ll b i

The Lafayette Parish School System reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and to waive any informalities or irregularities in the proposals received, when such action is deemed to be in the best interest of the School System.

Lafayette Parish School System Kristie Sam, Purchasing and Procurement Coordinator Advertisement Dates: May 8, 2026 May 15, 2026 May 19, 2026 May 22, 2026 187023-may 8-15-19-22-4t $131.76

Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE The Lafayette City Coun‐ cil and the Lafayette Parish Council each met in Regular Sessions on d i

Consolidated Government 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 Combined Bond Fund (Fund 4410) Reserve by $1,195,000 and removing the ACA Music Museum Bond Project.

15. CO-043-2026 An ordinance of the Lafayette City Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget and adjusting the manning tables of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government by reclassifying and adjusting the salary of one (1) City Marshal Office Administrator to Deputy Administrator position reflecting eligibility for State Supplemental Pay (SSP) within the Lafayette City Marshal’s Office.

16. CO-044-2026 An ordinance of the Lafayette City Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget and adjusting the manning tables of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government by using prior year fund balance in the amount of $5,124 for salary adjustments within the Utilities Department.

The Chair then called for a vote to introduce the ordinances (items 9-16), in globo, and the vote was as follows: YEAS: Broussard, Naquin, Hebert, Hooks, Boudreaux NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Motion to introduce, in globo, was approved.

Item #13 - Brent Hollier signed in to speak, but only if there were questions.

JOINT INTRODUCTORY ORDINANCES AGENDA ITEM NO. 17: JO-018-2026 A joint ordinance of the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council amending Chapter 26, “Development Regulations”, Article III, “Building Code” Section 26-93, “Fees”, of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government Code of Ordinances amending Ordinance O-221-2014, Schedule of Fees charged by the Permit Division of the Community Development and Planning Department., motion to introduce by Hebert, seconded by Naquin, and the vote was as follows: YEAS: Broussard, Naquin, Hebert, Hooks, Boudreaux NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Motion to introduce was approved.

Tammy Luke, Community Development and Planning Director, gave a seven (7) page PowerPoint presentation regarding the CD&P Fee Schedule Adjustments. and the new proposed fee would be a 22.61% increase. Luke explained that this will allow for a modified fee schedule, more strategic inspections and a goal for multi-certified inspectors. She further noted that there will no longer be a fixture count, it will be a flat fee based on square footage.

Godeaux reported that the last fee adjustment was in the year of 2014 and explained that the increase is well below other municipalities. She clarified that it will be a flat rate based on square footage.

Boudreaux noted that Lafayette is unique in its approach to serving lowand moderate-income households. He expressed appreciation that the Community Development and Planning Department continues to provide services effectively by phone, in person, and online.

Hebert questioned if the numbers have been shown to developers and their feedback on the increase.

Luke indicated that the developers stated they were preparing for the increase.

Naquin questioned if this increase included permit fees.

Luke reported that it includes both permitting and inspection. She further explained that if a developer constructs a larger home, they are assessed a higher fee based on square footage.

COMMENT(S) FROM THE PUBLIC AGENDA ITEM NO. 18: Comments from the public on any other matter(s) not on an agenda and are within the legislative power of the Lafayette City Council There were no Comments From The Public.

(6:05:00) ADJOURN There being no further business to come before the Council, Chair Boudreaux declared the Regular Meeting adjourned. /s/ Joseph Gordon-Wiltz JOSEPH GORDON-WILTZ, LAFAYETTE CLERK OF THE COUNCIL

188604-651203-may 22-1t $ 304.29

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g May 19, 2026 and intro‐ duced the following ordi‐ nance.

p both the Lafayette Parish Council and the Lafayette City Council, this joint ordinance shall become effective upon signature of this joint or‐ dinance by the Lafayette Mayor-President, the elapse of ten (10) days after receipt by the Lafayette Mayor-Presi‐ dent without signature or veto, or upon override of a veto, whichever oc‐ curs first. *****

y designee, is hereby au‐ thorized to amend the operating budget within the grant period by transferring any unex‐ pended appropriated balances into or out of salaries and benefits line items and all other ex‐ pense line items in order to expend the total award amount in accor‐ dance with the regula‐ tions.

SECTION 5: This increase in revenues shall be as reflected in any pertinent documents which are at‐ tached hereto and made a part hereof and filed in the Office of the Clerk of the Council.

SECTION 6: All ordi‐ nances or resolutions, or parts thereof, in conflict herewith are hereby re‐ pealed.

SECTION 7: This ordi‐ nance shall become ef‐ fective upon signature of the Lafayette MayorPresident, the elapse of ten (10) days after re‐ ceipt by the Lafayette Mayor-President without signature or veto, or upon an override of a veto, whichever occurs first. *****

p g g the grant period by transferring any unex‐ pended appropriated balances into or out of salaries and benefits line items and all other ex‐ pense line items in order to expend the total award amount in accor‐ dance with the regula‐ tions.

SECTION 5: This increase in revenues shall be as reflected in any pertinent documents which are at‐ tached hereto and made a part hereof and filed in the Office of the Clerk of the Council.

SECTION 6: All ordi‐ nances or resolutions, or parts thereof, in conflict herewith are hereby re‐ pealed.

SECTION 7: This ordi‐ nance shall become ef‐ fective upon signature of the Lafayette MayorPresident, the elapse of ten (10) days after re‐ ceipt by the Lafayette Mayor-President without signature or veto, or upon an override of a veto, whichever occurs first. *****

y quire such land, immov‐ able property, rights-ofway, servitudes, or other property rights as are determined to be neces‐ sary under good engi‐ neering standards to provide for the construc‐ tion of said Project; and she is authorized to do so on an amicable basis or by the proper use of the power of expropria‐ tion granted to munici‐ palities under applicable State law. In acquiring said land, immovable property, rights-of-way, servitudes, or other property rights, she is authorized to acquire said land, immovable property, rights-of-way, servitudes, or other property rights and to settle the matters thus presented on such terms and conditions as she shall deem proper and in the best interest of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Govern‐ ment.

SECTION 3: All ordi‐ nances or resolutions, or parts thereof, in conflict herewith are hereby re‐ pealed.

SECTION 4: This ordi‐ nance shall become ef‐ fective upon signature of the Lafayette MayorPresident, the elapse of ten (10) days after re‐ ceipt by the Lafayette id i h

p y y Mayor-President without signature or veto, or upon an override of a veto, whichever occurs first. *****

p property, with improve‐ ments and appurtenant servitudes and property rights, having a munici‐ pal address of 113 E. Sim‐ coe Street, Lafayette, Louisiana, more fully identified in the legal de‐ scription attached hereto as Exhibit A (the “Prop‐ erty”), to be necessary, convenient, and/or desir‐ able for the present pur‐ pose of improvement and expansion of the Utilities Department and for such other present or future purposes as are permissible under ap‐ plicable law; and WHEREAS, the current owner of the Property, G&M Partnership, desires to sell, and the City of Lafayette desires to pur‐ chase, the Property for the price and sum of $280,000, which price and sum is the appraised value of the Property; and WHEREAS, the parties have entered into an Agreement to Purchase and Sell providing for the conveyance of the Prop‐ erty by act of cash sale free and clear of liens, mortgages, and encum‐ brances except those of record; and WHEREAS, the Lafayette City Council therefore desires to authorize the Lafayette Mayor-Presi‐ d f

y y dent to execute an Act of Cash Sale to acquire the Property at the price and sum of $280,000 for the reasons stated herein‐ above.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED by the Lafayette City Coun‐ cil, that: SECTION 1: All of the aforedescribed “Whereas” clauses are adopted as part of this ordinance.

SECTION 2: The Lafayette Mayor-President is hereby authorized to ex‐ ecute an Act of Cash Sale for the purchase of the Property for the price and sum of $280,000 and to conduct all negotia‐ tions and enter into and sign any and all con‐ tracts and other docu‐ ments necessary, inci‐ dental, convenient, or de‐ sirable to provide for the purchase of the Property.

SECTION 3: The Lafayette Mayor-President, or her designee, is hereby fur‐ ther authorized to take any and all actions and to execute any and all documents which are, in the judgment of the Lafayette Mayor-Presi‐ dent, in consultation with the City-Parish At‐ torney or his designee, necessary, convenient, or desirable to purchase the Property and to carry h f hi

p y y out the purposes of this ordinance, specifically including, but not limited to, any and all customary documents ancillary to a purchase and sale of real property.

SECTION 4: All ordi‐ nances or resolutions, or parts thereof, in conflict herewith are hereby re‐ pealed.

SECTION 5: This ordi‐ nance shall become ef‐ fective upon signature of the Lafayette MayorPresident, the elapse of ten (10) days after re‐ ceipt by the Lafayette Mayor-President without signature or veto, or upon override of a veto, whichever occurs first. *****

JO-018-2026 A joint ordi‐ nance 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.

The ordinance will ap‐ pear before the each, the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council for public hear‐ ing and final adoption in the Ted A. Ardoin CityParish Council Audito‐ rium located at 705 W. University Avenue, Lafayette, LA on June 2, 2026. /s/ Joseph Gordon-Wiltz JOSEPH GORDON-WILTZ LAFAYETTE CLERK OF THE COUNCIL 188582-may 22-1t $10.97 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE The Lafayette City Coun‐ cil and the Lafayette Parish Council each met in Regular Session on May 19, 2026 and adopted the following or‐ dinance: ORDINANCE NO. JO-0162026 A JOINT ORDINANCE OF THE LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL AND THE LAFAYETTE PARISH COUNCIL AMENDING THE FY 25/26 OPERATING BUDGET AND ADJUSTING THE MANNING TABLES OF THE LAFAYETTE CITYPARISH CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT TO PRO‐ VIDE FUNDING FOR A SALARY ADJUSTMENT WITHIN THE OFFICE OF FI‐ NANCE & MANAGEMENT BE IT ORDAINED by the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council, that: SECTION 1: The FY 25/26 operating budget and manning tables of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Govern‐ ment are hereby amended by adjusting the appropriations of the Office of Finance & Man‐ agement.

SECTION 2: The FY 25/26 operating budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Govern‐ ment shall not be af‐ fected due to the fact that there is sufficient unexpended/unencum‐ bered salary appropria‐ tion to cover this reallo‐ cation. The annual recur‐ ring cost is $5,009.30.

SECTION 3: This adjust‐ ment to the manning ta‐ bles shall be as reflected in any pertinent docu‐ ments which are at‐ tached hereto and made a part hereof and filed in the Office of the Clerk of the Council.

SECTION 4: All ordi‐ nances or resolutions, or parts thereof, in conflict herewith are hereby re‐ pealed.

SECTION 5: After first having been adopted by a majority of the autho‐ rized membership of b h h f i h

/s/ Joseph Gordon-Wiltz JOSEPH GORDON-WILTZ LAFAYETTE CLERK OF THE COUNCIL 188596-MAY 22-1T $21.26 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE The Lafayette City Coun‐ cil met in Regular Ses‐ sion on May 19, 2026 and adopted the following or‐ dinances: CITY ORDINANCE NO. CO033-2026 AN ORDINANCE OF THE LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL AMENDING THE FY 25/26 OPERATING BUDGET OF THE LAFAYETTE CITYPARISH CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT BY IN‐ CREASING REVENUES IN THE AMOUNT OF $28,616 RECEIVED 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 DEPARTMENT BE IT ORDAINED by the Lafayette City Council, that: WHEREAS, the Lafayette Police Department was awarded a Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) grant from the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement (LCLE) and Administra‐ tion of Criminal Justice in the amount of $28,616; and WHEREAS, there is an ad‐ ditional match in the amount of $9,539 re‐ quired for the grant award.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED by the Lafayette City Coun‐ cil, that: SECTION 1: All of the aforedescribed “WHEREAS” clauses are adopted as part of this ordinance.

SECTION 2: The FY 25/26 operating budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Govern‐ ment is hereby amended by increasing revenues in the amount of $28,616 re‐ ceived from the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement, au‐ thorizing the transfer of matching funds in the amount of $9,539 from Fund 101, and appropriat‐ ing within the Lafayette Police Department.

SECTION 3: The Lafayette City Council hereby au‐ thorizes the Lafayette Mayor- President, or her designee, to conduct all negotiations, execute and submit all docu‐ ments, including but not limited to applications, agreements, amend‐ ments, payment requests and so on, which may be necessary for the com‐ pletion of the aforemen‐ tioned project.

SECTION 4: The Lafayette Mayor-President, or her d i i h b

CITY ORDINANCE NO. CO034-2026 AN ORDINANCE OF THE LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL AMENDING THE FY 25/26 OPERATING BUDGET OF THE LAFAYETTE CITYPARISH CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT BY IN‐ CREASING REVENUES IN THE AMOUNT OF $25,843 RECEIVED FROM THE LOUISIANA COMMISSION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT (LCLE) AND APPROPRIAT‐ ING WITHIN THE LAFAYETTE POLICE DE‐ PARTMENT BE IT ORDAINED by the Lafayette City Council, that: WHEREAS, the Lafayette Police Department was awarded a Bryne JAG grant from the Louisiana Commission on Law En‐ forcement (LCLE) and Administration of Crimi‐ nal Justice in the amount of $25,843; and WHEREAS, these funds will be used by the Lafayette Police Depart‐ ment in targeting com‐ puter and high-tech crime.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED by the Lafayette City Coun‐ cil, that: SECTION 1: All of the aforedescribed “WHEREAS” clauses are adopted as part of this ordinance.

SECTION 2: The FY 25/26 operating budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Govern‐ ment is hereby amended by increasing revenues in the amount of $25,843 re‐ ceived from the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement, and appropriating within the Lafayette Police Depart‐ ment.

SECTION 3: The Lafayette City Council hereby au‐ thorizes the Lafayette Mayor- President, or her designee, to conduct all negotiations, execute and submit all docu‐ ments, including but not limited to applications, agreements, amend‐ ments, payment requests and so on, which may be necessary for the com‐ pletion of the aforemen‐ tioned project.

SECTION 4: The Lafayette Mayor-President, or her designee, is hereby au‐ thorized to amend the operating budget within i d b h

CITY ORDINANCE NO. CO035-2026 AN ORDINANCE OF THE LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL DECLARING THE JOHN‐ STON ST./LA. AVE. INFRA‐ STRUCTURE IMPROVE‐ MENTS, SEGMENT III (RAILROAD TO LEWIS STREET) PROJECT A PUB‐ LIC NECESSITY AND AU‐ THORIZING THE ACQUISI‐ TION OF THE NECESSARY RIGHTS-OF-WAY, IMMOV‐ ABLE PROPERTY AND OTHER PROPERTY RIGHTS REQUISITE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF SAID PROJECT, EITHER ON AN AMICABLE BASIS OR THROUGH THE PROPER USE OF THE EXPROPRIA‐ TION PROCESS IF NECES‐ SARY

CITY ORDINANCE NO. CO036-2026 AN ORDINANCE OF THE LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL AUTHORIZING THE LAFAYETTE MAYOR-PRES‐ IDENT TO EXECUTE AN ACT OF CASH SALE BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF LAFAYETTE AND G&M PARTNERSHIP FOR THE PRICE AND SUM OF $280,000 FOR THE ACQUI‐ SITION BY THE CITY OF LAFAYETTE OF THAT CER‐ TAIN PROPERTY, WITH IMPROVEMENTS AND AP‐ PURTENANT SERVITUDES AND PROPERTY RIGHTS, HAVING A MUNICIPAL AD‐ DRESS OF 113 E. SIMCOE STREET, LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA, FOR THE PRE‐ SENT PURPOSE OF IM‐ PROVEMENT AND EXPAN‐ SION OF THE UTILITIES DEPARTMENT AND FOR OTHER PRESENT OR FU‐ TURE PERMISSIBLE PUR‐ POSES BE IT ORDAINED by the Lafayette City Council that: WHEREAS, the Lafayette City Council deems the purchase of that certain i h i

/s/ Joseph Gordon-Wiltz JOSEPH GORDON-WILTZ LAFAYETTE CLERK OF THE COUNCIL 188597-may 22-1t $117.51 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE The Lafayette City Coun‐ cil met in Regular Ses‐ sion on May 19, 2026 and introduced the following ordinances.

CO-037-2026

An

ordi‐

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BE IT ORDAINED by the Lafayette City Council, that: WHEREAS, the Lafayette City Council has declared the Johnston St./LA. Ave. Infrastructure Improve‐ ments, Segment III (Rail‐ road to Lewis Street) Pro‐ ject (hereinafter referred to as “Project”) a public necessity; and WHEREAS, the public purpose to be served by the construction of said Project is to provide in‐ frastructure improve‐ ments including, but not limited to roadway, drainage, utility, and sidewalk improvements within the Project limits for public safety; and WHEREAS, the Project limits of the Project are shown on the attached Exhibit “A” between the points “A-B” and include the roadway, drainage, utility, and sidewalk im‐ provements within said area as well as the neigh‐ boring areas or associ‐ ated areas necessary to tie into the subsurface drainage systems and utility systems; and WHEREAS, engineering work has progressed to a point wherein it is deter‐ mined that certain tracts of land or portions thereof will be required for construction of the Project.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED by the Lafayette City Coun‐ cil, that: SECTION 1: All of the aforedescribed “Whereas” clauses are adopted as part of this ordinance.

SECTION 2: The Lafayette Mayor-President is hereby authorized to ac‐ i h l d i

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PROCEEDINGS OF THE LAFAYETTE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING OF THE PARISH OF LAFAYETTE, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT A REGULAR MEETING OF MAY 19, 2026 HELD AT 705 W. UNIVERSITY AVENUE, LAFAYETTE, LA.

Tabor clarified that he authored this item in consideration for Councilmembers, Council staff and also constituents experience longer wait times than necessary when they have signed in to speak to the Council.

Shelley Delahoussaye explained that the barn was demolished and they are currently using a third party to board horses. She stated that the barn will be built directly behind the animal shelter.

ATTENDANCE

Stansbury questioned Legal on what the Council can and cannot do.

JOINT ORDINANCE FOR FINAL ADOPTION

COUNCIL: Donald Richard (Chair, District 2), Ken Stansbury (Vice-Chair, District 3), Bryan Tabor (District 1), John Guilbeau (District 4) and AB Rubin (District 5)

Escott explained that the Council has the authority to adopt reasonable rules and stated that the Council is obligated to provide the public with an opportunity to comment on the items that are voted on.

ABSENT: None

Stansbury provided a detailed explanation of the proposed time limitations for clarity and inquired about how often Council meetings have extended beyond typical hours as a result of public comment.

AGENDA ITEM NO. 8: JO-016-2026 A joint ordinance of the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget and adjusting the manning tables of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government to provide funding for a salary adjustment within the Office of Finance & Management, motion to adopt

by Guilbeau, seconded by Rubin, and the vote was as follows: YEAS: Tabor, Richard, Stansbury, Guilbeau, Rubin NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Motion to adopt was approved.

COUNCIL STAFF: Joseph Gordon-Wiltz (Clerk of the Council), Cindy M. Semien (Associate Clerk for Legislative Affairs) and Kelly Comeaux (Assistant Clerk for Legislative Affairs) ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF: Monique B. Boulet (Mayor-President), Rachel Godeaux (Chief Administrative Officer), Karen Fontenot (Chief Financial Officer), Robert A. Mahtook, Jr. (City-Parish Attorney) and Paul Escott (Assistant City-Parish Attorney) (4:30:00) COMMENCEMENT Call to order Chair Richard called the Regular Parish Council Meeting of May 19, 2026 to order.

AGENDA ITEM NO. 1: Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance The Chair called upon Councilmember Guilbeau to cite the invocation and called upon Councilmember Rubin, to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

WELCOME AND CHAIR ANNOUNCEMENTS AGENDA ITEM NO. 2: COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS Richard stated that summer is coming and everyone should drink lots of water to stay hydrated.

Rubin noted that it is Mental Health Awareness Month and asked all to pray for the mentally ill.

AGENDA ITEM NO. 3: EXECUTIVE/MAYOR-PRESIDENT’S REPORT Godeaux explained that Boulet is in City-Parish business at the moment but will arrive shortly.

Godeaux’s announcements on behalf of Boulet: • The library millage was not renewed; the plan is to place it back on the ballot for the December election; • Applications are open for the 2026-2027 Mayor-President’s Youth Advisory Council and is open to all 9th – 12th grade Lafayette Parish students. Those interested should apply at www.lafayettela. gov/your-government/youth-advisory-council.

Deadline for applications is July 10th; • Tip A Cop Fundraising Event will be May 20th from 5 PM – 9 PM at both Deano’s Pizza locations. The event will benefit Faith House Domestic Violence Crisis Center and Lafayette Crime Stoppers and it will be an opportunity to meet and be waited on by law enforcement officials; • The Oath of Office Ceremony for Fire Chief Earl Borden is May 22nd at 9 AM at the downtown fire station. She welcomed all who are interested; • Memorial Day Run for Heroes will be May 25th at Moncus Park starting at 8:30 AM. Noted that this will take place to honor fallen military veterans; • Lafayette Parish Annual Hurricane Tabletop Exercise is May 29th at 9 AM and is available to Councilmembers who are interested.

It will include a full-scale exercise of the Parish pickup location at the MLK Center. Godeaux noted that the tabletop exercise is not open to the public.

RESOLUTION AGENDA ITEM NO. 4: PR-007-2026 A resolution of the Lafayette Parish Council establishing rules related to per-speaker time limitations on agenda items and any amendments thereto, including the “Comments from the Public” agenda item, at Parish Council meetings, motion to adopt by Tabor, seconded by Rubin, and the vote was as follows: YEAS: Tabor NAYS: Richard, Stansbury, Guilbeau, Rubin ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Motion to adopt failed.

Guilbeau stressed that public input and engagement is crucial and highly valued. He stated that the constituent speaker time limit has already been reduced from five (5) minutes to three (3) minutes.

Gordon-Wiltz stated that there are no statistical data available, but it is an event that has happened occasionally.

Rubin announced that he supports implementing time limitations for Council meetings and public comment periods, depending on the number of individuals wishing to speak, in consideration of Council staff and meeting efficiency.

Guilbeau reiterated that he values the input of citizens and the Council has an obligation to serve.

17 citizens called the Council office in opposition.

Bill Leyendecker emphasized that reducing time limitations is offensive, disappointing and insulting to every tax payer. He stated that the Council should encourage more input and not less. Leyendecker stressed that there are no time limits on Councilmembers when they speak and urged all to vote in opposition.

Sally Donlon urged the Council to not disenfranchise tax payers. She explained that a reasonable time is needed to thoughtfully comment.

ORDINANCES FOR FINAL ADOPTION AGENDA ITEM NO. 5: PO-017-2026 An ordinance of the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operating and capital budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government by transferring $10,000 from the Parish Council District 5 Capital Appropriation to the Council Office-Parish Tourism account for additional funding needed for obligations associated with the closing reception of the 2026 National Association of Counties Annual Conference & Exposition and for the hosting of the Police Jury Association of Louisiana Region 3 Meeting, motion to adopt by Rubin, seconded by Stansbury, and the vote was as follows: YEAS: Tabor, Richard, Stansbury, Guilbeau, Rubin NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Motion to adopt was approved.

Stansbury questioned the running total of allocation.

Fontenot reported that this is the first transfer of funds out of the account and noted that a remaining balance of $50,000 will remain.

AGENDA ITEM NO. 6: PO-018-2026 An ordinance of the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operating and capital budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government by transferring $35,000 from the Parish Council District 2 Capital Appropriation to the Parks, Arts, Recreation and Culture (PARC) Department for a tennis court-topickleball court conversion project at Judice Park and by transferring $15,000 from the Parish Council District 2 Capital Appropriation to the PARC Department for an archery range project at Duson Park, motion to adopt by Tabor, seconded by Rubin, and the vote was as follows: YEAS: Tabor, Richard, Stansbury, Guilbeau, Rubin NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Motion to adopt was approved.

AGENDA ITEM NO. 7: PO-019-2026 An ordinance of the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 capital budgets of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government by transferring $100,000 from Fund 2060 Fund Balance to the LASCC Livestock Barn Project and appropriating within the Elected Officials CAO Department, Animal Shelter and Care Division, motion to adopt by Tabor, seconded by Stansbury, and the vote was as follows: YEAS: Tabor, Richard, Stansbury, Guilbeau, Rubin NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Motion to adopt was approved.

Guilbeau inquired about the project.

INTRODUCTORY ORDINANCE AGENDA ITEM NO. 9: PO-020-2026 An ordinance of the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget of the Lafayette CityParish Consolidated Government by adjusting the manning tables and increasing the hourly pay rate of one (1) Secretary I position within the Capital Improvements Department Environmental Quality Division, motion to adopt by Stansbury, seconded by Rubin, and the vote was as follows: YEAS: Tabor, Richard, Stansbury, Guilbeau, Rubin NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Motion to introduce was approved.

JOINT INTRODUCTORY ORDINANCES AGENDA ITEM NO. 10: JO-018-2026 A joint ordinance of the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council amending Chapter 26, “Development Regulations”, Article III, “Building Code” Section 26-93, “Fees”, of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government Code of Ordinances amending Ordinance O-221-2014, Schedule of Fees charged by the Permit Division of the Community Development and Planning Department, motion to adopt by Stansbury, seconded by Guilbeau, and the vote was as follows: YEAS: Tabor, Richard, Stansbury, Guilbeau, Rubin NAYS: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Motion to introduce was approved.

Tammy Luke, Community Development and Planning Director, gave a seven (7) page PowerPoint presentation regarding the CD&P Fee Schedule Adjustments. She noted that the last fee adjustment was November 2014 and the new proposed fee would be a 22.61% increase. Luke explained that this will allow for a modified fee schedule, more strategic inspections and a goal for multi-certified inspectors. She further noted that there will no longer be a fixture count, it will be a flat fee based on square footage.

Godeaux reported that much was improved to streamline the process.

She stated that the Acadian Home Builders Association is in support of the ordinance. Godeaux urged the Council in vote in support.

Stansbury questioned if the reorganization of the department was a success.

Luke explained that the reorganization has resulted in a more efficient process, particularly with invoices now being issued on the same day the work is completed.

Godeaux clarified that there has been full integration with the MGO Connect software, which is user-friendly for businesses.

Guilbeau stressed and wanted to clarify for the record that on Item #4, PR007-2026, his voice vote was “no” and that he had inadvertently recorded his electronic vote as “yes”.

(5:14:00) ADJOURN There being no further business to come before the Council, Chair Richard declared the Regular Meeting adjourned. /s/ Joseph Gordon-Wiltz JOSEPH GORDON-WILTZ, LAFAYETTE CLERK OF THE COUNCIL

188601-651198-may 22-1t $ 277.83

12C ● Friday, May 22, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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TODAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

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TUESDAY

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Showers and a heavier t-storm

Cloudy, a t-storm; humid

Showers and a heavier t-storm

Cloudy with heavy t-storms

A couple of t-storms; humid

Humid with a t-storm or two

HIGH

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LOW

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83° 72°

LOW

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83° 73°

LOW

79° 70°

80° 71°

Beaumont 84/74 Port Arthur 83/74

Hattiesburg 82/71

Alexandria 81/70

Lafayette 83/72

Baton Rouge 84/71

Lake Charles 83/72

New Orleans 85/76 Houma 86/73

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

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83° 74°

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84° 73°

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Jackson 82/69 Many 84/66

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Longview 84/67

-0s

LOW

Monroe 84/69

Shreveport 83/68

-10s

HIGH

If you’re tired of the rain, I’ve got bad news for you: more rain and storms are on the way today. So expect a mostly cloudy, mild, humid and breezy day. There’s a marginal risk of excessive rainfall that could lead to some measure of flash flooding. In fact, a quarter to a half inch of rain is possible. Temperatures this afternoon will be in the low to mid-80s. Winds will be out of the south at 10-15 mph, bringing lots of moisture from the Gulf. There’s a slight risk of excessive rain through the weekend.

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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

Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today

24-hour total Month to date Normal month to date year to date Normal year to date

HIGH

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Austin Boston Dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Las Vegas Louisville Miami Nashville

Shown are areas of precipitation and high temperatures for the day.

81°/72° 87°/69° 79°/61° 96° in 2005 50° in 1954

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5:31a 11:44a 6:22a 12:10a 7:06a 12:55a 7:45a 1:35a 8:22a 2:12a 8:59a 2:48a 9:37a 3:26a

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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.

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NOTICE The Lafayette Parish Council met in Regular Session on May 19, 2026 and introduced the fol‐ lowing ordinance.

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.

The ordinance will ap‐ pear before the Lafayette Parish Council for public hearing and final adop‐ tion in the Ted A. Ardoin City-Parish Council Audi‐ torium located at 705 W. University Avenue, Lafayette, LA on June 2, 2026. /s/ Joseph Gordon-Wiltz JOSEPH GORDON-WILTZ LAFAYETTE CLERK OF THE COUNCIL 188578-may 22-1t $12.05 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE The Lafayette Parish Council met in Regular Session on May 19, 2026 and adopted the follow‐ ing ordinances: PARISH ORDINANCE NO. PO-017-2026 AN ORDINANCE 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 DIS‐ TRICT 5 CAPTIAL APPRO‐ PRIATION TO THE COUN‐ CIL OFFICE-PARISH TOURISM ACCOUNT FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDING NEEDED FOR OBLIGA‐ TIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CLOSING RECEPTION OF THE 2026 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUN‐ TIES ANNUAL CONFER‐ ENCE & EXPOSITION AND

PARISH ORDINANCE NO. PO-018-2026 AN ORDINANCE 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 DIS‐ TRICT 2 CAPITAL APPRO‐ PRIATION TO THE PARKS, ARTS, RECREATION AND CULTURE (PARC) DEPART‐ MENT FOR A TENNIS COURT-TO-PICKLEBALL COURT CONVERSION PROJECT AT JUDICE PARK AND BY TRANSFERRING $15,000 FROM THE PARISH COUNCIL DIS‐ TRICT 2 CAPITAL APPRO‐ PRIATION TO THE PARC DEPARTMENT FOR AN ARCHERY RANGE PRO‐ JECT AT DUSON PARK BE IT ORDAINED by the Lafayette Parish Council, that: SECTION 1: The Lafayette Parish Council desires to provide funding assis‐ tance for recreational improvements within Lafayette Parish through the reallocation of exist‐ ing Parish Council Dis‐ trict 2 capital appropria‐ tions currently budgeted at $60,000.

SECTION 2: The FY 25/26 Operating and Capital Budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government is hereby amended by transferring $ f h i h

data as of 7 a.m. Thursday

Forecasts and graphics, except for Damon’s Outlook, provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2026

Save 500 $ Save 1,000 $

PARISH ORDINANCE NO. PO-019-2026

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AN ORDINANCE OF THE LAFAYETTE PARISH COUNCIL AMENDING THE FY 25/26 CAPITAL BUD‐ GETS OF THE LAFAYETTE CITY-PARISH CONSOLI‐ DATED GOVERNMENT BY TRANSFERRING $100,000 FROM FUND 2060 FUND BALANCE TO THE LASCC LIVESTOCK BARN PRO‐ JECT AND APPROPRIAT‐ ING WITHIN THE ELECTED OFFICIALS CAO DEPART‐ MENT, ANIMAL SHELTER AND CARE DIVISION BE IT ORDAINED by the Lafayette Parish Council, that: SECTION 1: The FY 25/26 Capital Budgets of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Govern‐ ment is hereby amended by transferring $100,000 from Fund 2060 Fund Bal‐ ance to the LASCC Live‐ stock Barn Project and appropriating within the Elected Officials CAO De‐ partment, Lafayette Ani‐ mal Shelter and Care Center Division Budget.

SECTION 2: This transfer of funds shall be as re‐ flected in any pertinent documents which are at‐ tached hereto and made a part hereof and filed in the Office of the Clerk of the Council.

SECTION 3: All ordi‐ nances or resolutions, or parts thereof, in conflict herewith are hereby re‐ pealed.

SECTION 4: This ordi‐ nance shall become ef‐ fective upon signature of the Lafayette MayorPresident, the elapse of ten (10) days after re‐ ceipt by the Lafayette Mayor-President without signature or veto, or upon an override of a veto, whichever occurs first. ***** /s/ Joseph Gordon-Wiltz JOSEPH GORDON-WILTZ LAFAYETTE CLERK OF THE COUNCIL 188592-may 22-1t $60.49

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CO-043-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette City Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget and adjusting the i bl f h

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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 4410) Reserve by $1,195,000 and removing the ACA Music Museum Bond Project.

/s/ Joseph Gordon-Wiltz JOSEPH GORDON-WILTZ LAFAYETTE CLERK OF THE COUNCIL 188587-MAY 22-1T $39.69

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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).

The ordinances will ap‐ pear before the Lafayette City Council for public hearing and final adop‐ tion in the Ted A. Ardoin City-Parish Council Audi‐ torium located at 705 W. University Avenue, Lafayette, LA on June 2, 2026.

BE IT ORDAINED by the Lafayette Parish Council, that: SECTION 1: The Lafayette Parish Council finds it necessary to provide ad‐ ditional funding within the Council Office–Parish Tourism account through the reallocation of exist‐ ing Parish Council Dis‐ trict 5 capital appropria‐ tions currently budgeted for District purposes at $60,000.

SECTION 2: The FY 25/26 Operating and Capital Budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government is hereby amended by transferring $10,000 from the Parish Council District 5 Capital Appropriation to the Council Office–Parish Tourism account for ad‐ ditional funding needed due to previously unan‐ ticipated expenses asso‐ ciated with Lafayette Parish’s obligations to participate in the closing reception of the 2026 Na‐ tional Association of Counties Annual Confer‐ ence & Exposition through the Police Jury Association of Louisiana (PJAL) on Monday, July 20, 2026, and to augment the budget for the PJAL Region 3 Meeting that Lafayette Parish is re‐ sponsible for hosting on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.

SECTION 3: These adjust‐ ments shall be as re‐ flected in any pertinent documents which are at‐ tached hereto and made a part hereof and filed in the Office of the Clerk of the Council.

SECTION 4: All ordi‐ nances or resolutions, or parts thereof, in conflict herewith are hereby re‐ pealed.

SECTION 5: This ordi‐ nance shall become ef‐ fective upon signature of the Lafayette MayorPresident, the elapse of ten (10) days after re‐ ceipt by the Lafayette Mayor-President without signature or veto, or upon an override of a veto, whichever occurs first. *****

y g $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.

SECTION 3: The FY 25/26 Operating and Capital Budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government is hereby further amended by transferring $15,000 from the Parish Council Dis‐ trict 2 Capital Appropria‐ tion to the PARC Depart‐ ment for an archery range project at Duson Park.

SECTION 4: These adjust‐ ments shall be as re‐ flected in any pertinent documents which are at‐ tached hereto and made a part hereof and filed in the Office of the Clerk of the Council.

SECTION 5: All ordi‐ nances or resolutions, or parts thereof, in conflict herewith are hereby re‐ pealed.

SECTION 6: This ordi‐ nance shall become ef‐ fective upon signature of the Lafayette MayorPresident, the elapse of ten (10) days after re‐ ceipt by the Lafayette Mayor-President without signature or veto, or upon an override of a veto, whichever occurs first. *****

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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).

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.

FOR THE HOSTING OF THE POLICE JURY ASSOCIA‐ TION OF LOUISIANA RE‐ GION 3 MEETING

24-HOUR

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CO-038-2026 An ordi‐ nance of the Lafayette City Council amending the Lafayette Develop‐ ment Code so as to re‐ classify the property of Case No. 2026-4-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).

g j g 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.

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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).

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MISSISSIPPI STAGE STAGE CHANGE Memphis 34 6.30 -0.58 Vidalia-Natchez 48 29.90 -0.60 Red River Landing 48 32.60 -0.70 Baton Rouge 35 17.20 -0.60 Donaldsonville 27 10.10 -0.40 Reserve 22 8.15 -0.30 New Orleans 17 4.80 -0.13 OHIO Cairo 40 21.32 +0.14 COMITE Near Olive 19 0.46 +1.76 AMITE Near Darlington 18 0.84 +1.30 Denham Springs 29 13.86 +1.70 Port Vincent 8 2.94 +0.06 TICKFAW Montpelier 13 4.74 +2.76 Holden 15 2.01 -0.06 ATCHAFALAYA Simmesport 47 14.98 -0.23 Melville 34 10.92 -0.22 Krotz Springs 29 8.50 -1.00 Butte La Rose 20 8.00 -0.29 Bayou Sorrel 12 5.50 -0.30 Morgan City 6 3.80 -0.01

Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.

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SOURCE: LOUISIANA DEQ AND AIRNOW.GOV

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.

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