The Advocate 05-22-2026 by The Advocate

House panel OKs map

Updated congressional districts approved after hours of testimony

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

ä Senate committee makes cuts to budget. Page 4A ä Louisiana teachers may lose $2,000 stipends. Page 4A

over how exactly to draw the new lines.

“I don’t like the map,” said Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, a Port Allen Republican who chairs the Senate committee that handles redistricting. “I don’t understand why they changed the map that drastically over on the House side.”

Kleinpeter said he doesn’t plan to work with House members while the legislation moves through the lower chamber

“I’m not messing with what they do in the House,” he said. “If it comes back like we don’t like it, then we’ll ﬁx it. That’s what the Senate does.”

The changes stemmed from specific asks by House lawmakers, moving voters between districts and a requirement to maintain equal population in each district, said state Rep. Beau Beaullieu, RNew Iberia, who chairs the House and Governmental Affairs Committee.

“The amended map is a representation of our House members’ requests,” he said. “It’s all a domino effect.”

Meanwhile, dozens of speakers again showed up to speak out against the

ä See MAP, page 6A

Below-average hurricane season predicted

NOAA researchers say strong El Niño conditions likely to help

BY KASEY BUBNASH Staff writer

Federal hurricane researchers are predicting below-average activity during the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season for the ﬁrst time in over 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 those, three to six are expected to become hurricanes, and one to three of those are expected to become major hurricanes of Category 3 strength or more. An average season ends with 14

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

BY DAVID J MITCHELL Staff writer

A state district judge has ruled that Ascension Parish’s government must turn over nondisclosure agreements among ofﬁcials and business leaders related to industrial development projects, but the parish is seeking to block that order while it appeals.

The records are nondisclosure agreements between the parish and state and business officials in connection with the RiverPlex MegaPark industrial complex proposed for 17,000 acres of farmland and woods in western Ascension. Hyundai Steel, CF Industries, Nemo Industries and Linde have announced new plants for the west bank park along the Mississippi River

The change is promising billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs for a high poverty corner of the state. But the projects will also transform a rural region around the Modeste community north of Donaldsonville that already has elevated cancer risk from toxic air pollution from existing industries across the river Rural Roots Louisiana and the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, environmental groups opposed to the massive buildout, sued in December for the documents after a records request was denied in September

After reviewing the documents in his private chambers last week, Judge Cody Martin found that neither of the public records exemptions that parish ofﬁcials had been

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Hurricane Melissa, one

the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever, struck Jamaica and Cuba last year

BRIEFS

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 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

NEWYORK 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.

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 AttorneyGeneralToddBlancheonThursday 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

Residents burn an Ebola treatment center in Congo

Health crisis authorities, aid agencies struggling to contain outbreak

BY JUSTIN KABUMBA, MONIKA PRONCZUK 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-

cording to a witness who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone.

“The police intervened to try to calm the situation, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful,” said Alexis Burata, a local student who said he was in the area. “The young people ended up setting ﬁre to the center That’s the situation.”

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.

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.”

Germany urges the EU to offer Ukraine ‘associate membership’

BY LORNE COOK and GEIR MOULSON Associated Press

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.

Customer

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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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.

Republicanscalloff vote on Iran warresolution

Legislationwas on vergeofpassing

BY STEPHENGROVES Associated Press

WASHINGTON Republicansstruggled Thursday to find the votes to dismisslegislationthatwould compel President Donald Trump to withdraw from the war with Iran, delaying planned votes on the matter into June.

The House had scheduled avote on awar powers resolution, brought by Democrats, that would rein in Trump’smilitary campaign. Butas it became clear that Republicans would not have the numbers to defeat the bill, GOP leaders declined to hold avote on it. It was the latest sign of the slipping support in Congress for awar that Trumplaunched more than two months ago without congressionalapproval.

“Wehad the votes without question and they knew it, and as a result they’re playing apolitical game,” said Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks, who sponsoredthe bill. Republicans in the Senate are also workingtoensure they have the votes to dismiss another war powersresolution that advanced to aﬁnal vote earlier this week, when four GOPsenators supportedthe resolution and three others were absent from the vote.

The actions by congressional leaders showed Republicans are struggling to maintain political backing for Trump’shandlingof the war.Rank-and-ﬁle Republicans are increasingly willing to defythe president over the conﬂict

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson,told reporters that the vote was delayed to give lawmakers who were absent a chance to vote. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, did not answer questions from reporters as he exited the House chamber

FrustrationwithIranwar grows

On Capitol Hill, patience withthe warhaswornthinasthestalematein the Strait of Hormuz disruptsglobal shipping and elevates gasprices in

the U.S. Another House war powers resolutionnearly passed last week falling on atie vote as threeRepublicansvoted infavor

Meeks, thetop Democrat on the HouseForeign Affairs Committee, said he hadthe votes“locked in” this time around.

“Peopleare beginningtoﬁnally listen to the American people who don’tsupport the war in Iran, and Ithink there’sagrowing number of Republicans who see how devastating the war has been for our country,” said Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state.

The lone Democrat who voted against thewar powersresolutionlast week, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, has said he will vote in favor of the legislation next time.

In ajointstatement, House MinorityLeader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and other caucus leaders saidRepublicans were “cowardly” to pullthe vote

“Even as we prepare to recognize our nation’sfallen heroes on Memorial Day,House Republicans refuse to show up andbeaccountable to thebraveservice members that have beenrecklesslyput in harm’sway,” they added.

Republicanshave been broadly supportive of Trump’seffortstodestroy Iran’snuclear capabilities, but some are now saying the president’s legaltimeline to wage awar without congressional approval hasexpired.

Under the WarPowers Resolution of 1973, presidents have 60 days to

Keyagencyapproves thedesignplanfor arch

Trumpwants to build at entrance to capital

Speakerof the House MikeJohnson, R-Benton, and House GOP leaders departa news conference at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday.

engage in amilitaryconﬂict before Congress must either declare war or authorize the use of military force.

“We’re past 60 days so it’s got to be brought to us to vote on. We’re following thelaw,” said Rep.Brian Fitzpatrick,R-Pa., adding that he plans to vote for the war powers resolution.

Thedispute over warpowers

The White Housearguesthat the requirementsofthe WarPowers Resolution no longer apply because of the ceaseﬁre withIran. At the same time,Trumphas said he was just an hour away from ordering another strike on Iran earlier this week,but held off because Gulf allies said they were engaged in negotiations to end the war

Still, Trump said on social media that military leaders should “be prepared to go forward withafull, large scale assault of Iran, on amoment’snotice, in the event that an acceptable Dealisnot reached.” Trump has repeatedly set deadlines for Tehran and thenbacked off.

Sen. Thom Tillis,aRepublican who has so far voted against the war powers resolutions, expressed frustration with theTrumpadministration’sstance, especially from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“The current status quo, Pete Hegseth demonstrates howincompetent he is,” Tillis told reporters, adding that he would be willingto vote for an authorization for use of militaryforce.

Trumpsayshe’ssending

5,000 more troops to Poland

Announcement stirs confusion

BY BEN FINLEY and MATTHEW LEE

Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Thursday said the U.S. will send an additional 5,000 troopsto Poland, stirring confusion following weeks of changing statements from Trump and his administration about reducing —not increasing —the American military footprint in Europe.

The Trump administration has said it was reducing levelsinEurope by about 5,000 troops, and U.S. officials conﬁrmed about 4,000 service members were no longer deploying to Poland.

Trump’ssocial media announcement raises more uncertainty for Europeanallies that have been blindsidedby the changesasthe administration has complained about NATO members not shouldering enough of the burden of theirown defense and failing to do more to support the Iran war

“Based on the successful Election of the now President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki,who Iwas proud to Endorse, and our relationship with him, Iampleased to announce that theUnited Stateswill be sending anadditional 5,000 Troops to Poland,” Trumpsaid on Truth Social.

Trump and the Pentagon have said in recent weeks that they weredrawingdown at least 5,000 troops in Ger-

many after Chancellor Friedrich Merz saidthe U.S.was being“humiliated” by the Iranianleadership andcriticized what he called alack of strategy in thewar Trump thentold reporters at the beginning of the month thatthe U.S. would be “cutting alot furtherthan 5,000.”

As of last week, some 4,000 troops from the Army’s2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division were no longer en route to Poland. TheAssociated Pressreported that the canceled deployment waspart of an efforttocomply with Trump’sorder to reduce the number of troops in Europe. AdeploymenttoGermany of personnel trainedtoﬁre long-range missilesalso was halted.

BY DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press

WASHINGTON The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts on Thursday approved the design forthe triumphal archthatPresident Donald Trumpwants built at an entrance to the nation’scapital, akey step in the project’sprocess butone that has no immediate bearing on thetimeline forconstruction.

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

At the WhiteHouse, Trumptold reporters he thought the vote was “fantastic” adding that “we’re the only important andmajor city that doesn’t have one.”

The commission only oversees designs andhas no role in the actual constructionorfunding of the arch or any other project it considers. Preliminarysurveys and testing of the arch site began last week. The National Capital PlanningCommission, aseparate federal agency that approves construction on federal land, has thearch on theagenda at its June meeting.

Trump hadsaidlast year that the arch could be paidfor with privatedonations left over from theballroom project. Acostestimate for the arch is still being calculated, but amix of taxpayer andprivate money is expected to be usedtopay for it, according to aWhiteHouse official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the president hasnot publicly discussed the project’s cost.

“The building is beautiful,” saidthe commission’schairman, RodneyMimsCook Jr., shortly before thevote on theslightly revised design. Commissioners had suggested several changes when they ﬁrst reviewed the design in April. Somewere made by theHarrisonDesignarchi-

tecturefirmand approved on

Thursday.

The arch would stand250 feet tall from its base to atorch held aloft by aLady Liberty-like figureontop 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“Libertyand Justice for All” would be inscribedin gold lettering atop either side of the monument.

Apublicobservation deck on top would provide 360-degree views of the region. The arch would have an exterior madeof granite

The commission’svice chairperson, architect James McCrery II, said in April that he preferred the archwithout the ﬁguresontop,which would have reduced theheightbyabout 80 feet. Critics argue that the arch would dominate the skyline and disruptcarefully designed views between theLincolnMemorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

It would be morethan twice as tall as the Lincoln Memorial, which is 99 feet tall, andclose to half the height of the Washington Monument, at about 555 feet tall. McCrery had also recommended nixing theground-level lionstatuesalong with an underground tunnelfor pedestrians to gettothe arch,whichwould be built on abusy trafﬁc circle. The design approved Thursday has no lions andincorporates pedestriancrosswalks. Aplatform the archwould have been built on also hasbeen removed.

Tenpeople who testiﬁedThursday, including on behalf of organizations such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the DC Preservation League, opposedthe arch on groundsthat it is toobig. Theysaidthe project needed to be approved by Congress because it wouldbebuilt on federal land andthat it would disrupt thesightline between the LincolnMemorialand Arlington House at Arlington National Cemeterythatwas created to symbolize reuniﬁcation after the Civil War.

Sweetest

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE

Senate panel makes big cuts to budget

School vouchers, raises, education funds trimmed

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

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

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.”

Pay raises

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

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

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 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

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.

Budget advances without their funding

BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer

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 $200 million needed

“We’re

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

D’SHAy OAKS, Louisiana Association of Educators president

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, according 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 While the budget bill advanced by the Senate com-

mittee 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.

STAFF FILE PHOTO

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

Atlanticreachesits busiest time of year.ElNiño is generally associated withfewer storms in the Atlantic.

The last time theagency issued abelow-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 abelow-average season in the Atlantic, it’svery important to understandthat it only takes one,” Jacobs said at the news conference. Good news forLouisiana El Niño and La Niña are two opposing climatepatterns 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, whichhelps to breakup stormsand prevent hurricane formationand intensiﬁcation.

Though El Niño is not yet in full swing, scientists at the Climate Prediction Center said on May14that there’san82% chance such conditions willemerge

SECRECY

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claiming for nine months applied.

State public records law is weighted in favor of disclosure, and the 23rd Judicial District judge wrote that it was up to parish government to prove public records exemptionsapplied.

“The burden of proving protectionfrom production of documents is on the custodian who is bound by law to produce said documents,” Martin wrote in the ruling signed Friday.“Ascension Parish has not met its burden in doing so.”

With that ﬁnding, Martin granted the legal petition, known as a“writ of mandamus,” which forces the parish to provide the agreements.

But while Martin ordered that the records be produced in ﬁve days, parish ofﬁcials movedonWednesdaytoappeal and delay disclosure during the appeal process.

‘Hiddenbehindsecrecy’

The plaintiffs noted the court victory,but questioned why parish officials are “stonewalling” the release of the agreements, some of which have already been provided under separate records requests.

“If these projects are truly in the best interest of the people, why are so many documentshidden behind secrecy?” asked Ashley Gaignard, president of Rural Roots Louisiana, oneof the plaintiffs.

“The people of Ascension Parish deserve transparency, honestyand aclear

sometime between May and July.Jacobs saidit’salso likely that this year’sElNiño conditions will be moderate to strong.

That’sgoodnewsfor Louisiana, but bad forthose neighboring the Pacific Ocean, where Jacobssaid 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.

understanding of what is being plannedfor ourcommunities, ourhealthand our future. What are they hiding, and why can’tthe public know the full plan before decisionsare made that impact generations to come?”

Pamela Matassa, spokesperson for the parish, said Ascension ofﬁcials would not comment sinceitinvolved an ongoing legal matter.

The legal battle in Ascension comes as Gov.Jeff Landry has made apush for more industrialprojects, andhis state department of economicdevelopment has usedNDAsextensively

Though theNDA dispute has arisenfrom afight against theoverall buildout, Hyundai’s$5.8billionsteel mill hasdrawn thefocus of some communityand other groups.

On Thursday, representatives of theUnited Steelworkers,the Sierra Club’s Louisiana chapter and the SunriseCommunity Group of Donaldsonville dropped a list of demandsfor Hyundai at its Gonzales ofﬁce, includingoverworkersafetyand reduced environmental impact, that wouldbeenforced throughacommunitybeneﬁtsagreement

In previous statements, Hyundaiofﬁcials have touted their operations’ ability to improve theeconomic fortunes of local residents employed bytheir plants andtheirefforts to stand up workforcetraining in Donaldsonville. They also declined to comment on the NDA disputebecause their companywasn’tapartyto the litigation.

‘Has notmet itsburden’ In thepublic records ﬁght,

Since El Niño’simpacts are most prominent deep in thetropical Atlantic, Matthew Rosencrans, NOAA’s lead seasonal hurricane forecaster,saidwe’lllikely see fewer long-track storms in 2026. Butafew so-called homegrown storms could still spin up in theGulf.

“You could getthose stormsinthe Gulf that have the short awareness times,” Rosencrans said.

Ken Graham, director of NOAA’s National Weather Service,urged thoseinall

Ascension Parish officials claimed three exemptions applied to the nondisclosure agreements: tradesecrets, deliberative process and economic developmentnegotiations.

The economic development negotiation exemption, arelatively newone adopted in 2024, is designed to protect talksbetween local ofﬁcials and potential economic prospects, as well as therecords related to those talks.

But Martin found that, at thetime the records request was ﬁled, the parish failed to follow the requirements of that exemption. It requires theparish president to lay out why the exemption is needed and apublic voteby the Parish Council backing themove that also discloses in advancethatthe exemption was going to be invoked.

The parish did takethose steps, but only in January, monthsafter thefact.

For the trade secrets exemption, in which parish officials hadarguedbusinessesthatwereparty to the NDAs had an expectation of privacy,Martinfound the agreements did not contain conﬁdential information.

The agreements laid out howother documentsthat are confidential in nature, such as ﬁnancialstatements, mightbesubsequently produced. Martinfound what the plaintiffs were seeking didn’tfall under thatexemption

The deliberativeprocess exemptionisdesignedto protect discussions on new laws or policies, such as conﬁdentialadvisory opinions amongdifferentagencies that might hurt theparish’sabilitytodebate future plans.

forecasts that warned of an extremely active season, aprediction that came to fruition. Last year saw more tropical activity than usual as well, with fewer storms than in 2024 but ahigh ratio of powerful hurricanes that were difﬁcult to forecast.

Still, theNationalHurricane Center made strides last season in forecasting accuracy,improvements that ofﬁcials said would not have been possible withoutNOAA’s 50-year-old Lockheed WP-3D Orion Hurricane Hunter aircraft, known as “Miss Piggy” and “Kermit.”

Newertechnology showed promise last season, too, whenthe NationalHurricane 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’sforecasts, according to center SeniorHurricaneSpecialist JohnCangialosi, who said the agency is hoping to use AI models more efﬁciently after experimentation last year.They’ll be incorporated in both forecastdiscussions and the center’sother blended tools.

hurricane-prone states to prepare forthe upcoming season as usual, regardless of the forecast.

“Don’tlet words like ‘below average’ change theway you prepare,” Graham said.

Abetteroutlook

This year’soutlook is in stark contrast to prioryears, when warm ocean waters and other factors fueled unusually prolific hurricane

Outfitted with Doppler radars andable to ﬂy into the eye of ahurricane, the P-3aircraft collect critical data that forecastersuse to more accurately predict howstrong astorm will get and where it might go,according to Rear Admiral ChadCarey,director of NOAA’s CommissionedOfﬁcer Corps.

“These ﬂying, meteorological data collection machines are one of the most important tools we have to betterunderstand hurricanes,” Carey said. “The data collected using NOAA aircraft improve hurricane track forecasts and intensity forecasts by as muchas20%.”

“So we’re going to use it sort of smarter in 2026,” he told The Times-Picayune | The Advocate on Tuesday Cangialosi also took the opportunity to remind those in storm-proneareas that while El Niño couldmakeit harder forstormstoform in the Atlantic this year,there’s no guaranteeing where those that do form will go. “There’s alower risk, but it doesn’tmean there’s no risk,” Cangialosi said. “It doesn’tmean anyone is off the hook.”

Email KaseyBubnash at kasey.bubnash@ theadvocate.com.

PHOTO PROVIDED By NOAA

proposed 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 economicexploitation.”

Redistricting is amatter 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, thesoutheast 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 asupermajority in the Legislature. That leaves Democrats withvirtually no chance to stop anew map that slashes one Democratic district and adds aRepublican one. The House committee advanced the map on a10-7 vote along party lines.

What changed?

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

In Acadiana: Lafayette, St. Martin and Acadia parisheswould allbesplit into at least two congressional districts.

Lafayette Parish would mostly be in the 3rdDistrict, which runs along the southwesternpart of the state and is currently represented by U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette. But anorthern section of the parish would be in the 6th District, the new,solidly Republican district centered in suburban Baton Rouge. Acadia Parish would also

to tellhow many bubbles were in abar of soap or how many gallons of water were in theMississippiRiver in ordertovote.”

rather than splitting them up in different congressionaldistricts. McMakinsaidhealso worked not to change District 1insoutheast Louisiana. And he notedthat Jackson, Lincolnand Morehouse parishesinthe northernpartofthe state were moved.

Committeedebate

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

be mostlyinthe 3rdDistrict. But one small section wouldbeinaShreveportanchored district,while another would be in aMonroerooted district. St. Martin Parish would no longer be entirely in the 3rd District.Instead, most of it would be 6thDistrict.

St.Landry Parish is now almost entirely in the 5th District. That Monroeanchored district covers northeastLouisiana andis currently representedby Rep.Julia Letlow,R-Baton Rouge, who is vacatingher seat to run for the U.S. Senate. Previously, the parish was split between three congressional districts. Calcasieu Parish is now entirelypart of District 3, rather thanbeing split up. In the Baton Rouge region, the new map now splits Pointe Coupee Parish in half,with the southern part in the6th District and the northern part in the 5th. Livingston Parish is also split up now;mostofits population is still in the 6th

While Republicans maneuvered toward the map they wanted, Democrats continued to ﬁercely protest theelimination of aBlack seat

Amajor politicalbattle

District, but anortheastern part of the parish was moved to the 5th.

Kleinpeter —whoseSenate district includes part of theBaton Rouge metro area andpart of theAcadiana region—questioned thedecision to split off the northern portion of Pointe Coupee into District 5and to group St.Martinintoa Baton Rouge-based district.

Pointe CoupeeParish is more apart of the Baton Rouge area thanisSt. Martin, he said.

Beaullieu, the House committeechair,said lawmakersdidn’trequest changes specifically to Livingston, Pointe Coupeeand St.Martinparishes. “These were aresult of trying to push population or move populationaround based on othermemberrequests,”hesaid. “It’sall kind of achain reaction. None of them are isolated in asilo.”

The updated map also eliminates aspur of the New Orleans-anchored 2nd District, which had pushed

outintosuburbanBaton Rouge. That meansthe Baton Rouge home of Republican state Sen. Blake Miguez is nowback in the6th District;the Senate maphad shunted him intothe 2nd.

Otherchanges

In north Louisiana, the parishesofJackson, Lincoln and Morehouse were movedinto District 4, the Shreveport-anchored district in northwest Louisiana currently represented by U.S.House SpeakerMike Johnson, R-Benton Johnsonnow hasa district that nearly entirelyfollows parishlines GrantParish, in central Louisiana, was moved entirelyintoDistrict 5. StateRep.Dixon McMakin, R-Baton Rouge, introduced theupdated map on behalfofGOP members of theLouisiana House. He said that,after talking to House members, he focused on trying to make Grant, Calcasieu andSt. Landry parishes whole,

Marc H. Morial,president and CEO of the National Urban League andformer mayor of New Orleans, launchedthe public testimonyportion of the meeting. He said that, when he ﬁrst visited the State Capitol in 1968 as a10-year-old boy, everyBlack person working therewas holding amop or broom, carrying a trayofwater,shining shoes or cutting hair

That year,his late father, Ernest “Dutch” Morial, was the ﬁrst Black person elected to theLegislature,where he brought legislation to undo aLouisiana law that required blood for transfusions to be labeled either White or Black Marc Morial calledthe GOP redistricting plan “a reversal of progress.”

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

Morris said the proposed mapwas driven by politics andnot race andwas colorblind. Rep. Candace Newell, D-New Orleans, calledthe idea of colorblindness “very offensive.”

“Itmeansthatthe person who is claiming colorblindness is willfully ignoring the oppressions thathave been placed on Black people in this country,” Newell said. “Itminimizes thelived experiences of my grandparents whowere forced

TheLegislature’sredistricting effort comes after the U.S. Supreme Court last monthruledLouisiana’s congressional map unconstitutional over lawmakers’ addition of amajority-Black district in 2024,a move theymadeinresponse to a Voting Rights Act lawsuit brought by Black voters. The high court’sruling substantially weakenedthe Voting Rights Act, saying it’s almostalways illegal to useraceasafactorwhen drawing voting maps.

President DonaldTrump has called for GOP-led states across the country to drawnew congressional maps to secure moreRepublican seats in the U.S. House ahead of midterm elections this fall.

Louisiana Republicans could have drawna map that eliminated both Democratic-leaning districts ButGOP leadershavesaid creatingsix Republican districts wouldfiltertoo many Democratic voters into those districts and run the risk of voters electing more thanone Democratto Congress.

U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, a Black Democrat from Baton Rouge who represents the district lawmakers have been orderedtodismantle, also saidhewon’tcompete against Carter,aNew OrleansDemocrat, forreelection. Those factors have cleared the way forLouisiana lawmakers to craft asocalled 5-1map rather than onewithsix Republican districts.

Activists from the

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO EMRAHGUREL

Flotilla disembark aplane upon arriving at Istanbul Airport, in Istanbul, Turkey,onThursday.

Israel deportshundreds of Gaza flotilla activists

International backlash leadsto release

BY MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press

TEL AVIV,Israel The Israeli governmentonThursday releasedand 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 theirconcerns.

About 420 activists departed Israel on planes bound for Turkey,wherethey landed Thursday evening in Istanbul. Wearing gray sweatsuits and Arab keffiyehs, they descended stairs to therunwayﬂashingtwoﬁngered salutes and chanting“Free Palestine.” Some

appeared to belimping.

Allofthe activists were expected to be taken for a medicalcheckup,Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in astatement that “allforeign activists” from the flotilla had been deported.

TheLegal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, or Adalah, said one participant whoholdsIsraeli citizenship, Zohar Regev,was released following acourt hearingon charges of illegal entry into Israel andunlawful stay.Regev has taken partinprevious ﬂotillas to Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahusaid on Wednesday he instructed that the activists be deported “assoon as possible,” after sharply rebuking Israel’snational security minister for provocative videos showingthe

ministertaunting detained flotilla activists whowere handcuffed and kneeling. Netanyahu said that although Israel has every right to stop “provocative ﬂotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters,” the way National SecurityMinister Itamar BenGvir dealt withthe activists was “notinline withIsrael’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 headstouching the floor inside whatappears to be amakeshift detention area on the deck of aship.

Several countries, including Britain, France and Portugal, summoned Israeli envoys on Thursday over concernsabout the treatment of flotilla activists andin protestofBen-Gvir’sactions

Lawmakerswarndatasafety rulesdon’t protectkey sites

Cellphonesat WhiteHouse,CIA unprotected

BY RONTAU Associated Press

WASHINGTON TheBiden administration spent almost ayearcrafting regulations to block U.S. adversariesfrombuying commercial data gathered from cellphones at thefederal government’s mostsensitivelocations.

The resulting rules, however,haveafew gaps. Left off the list of 736 sensitive locationswere theWhite House, Congress and the CIA’s headquarters, among others, according to awarning issued Thursday by three congressional Demo-

crats.

“The sale of Americans’ location data by data brokers poses aserious threat to U.S. national security, particularly when data about U.S. government employees is sold to foreign governments,” the lawmakers wrote in aletter to Trumpadministration ofﬁcials. “Such data can reveal sensitive informationthat can be exploitedfor espionage purposes.”

The letter,which was signed by Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of NewMexico, and Rep. Sara Jacobs of California,urgedthe Trump administration to address theoversightsand create a“protection zone” that encompasses the entire Washington, D.C. region rather than choosing individual

buildings. They also urged the Department to expand thelistofcountries of concern that were barred from acquiring data on Americans. Aspokesman forthe Justice Department declined to comment. The ofﬁceof the Director of National Intelligence did not respond to arequest forcomment. Data brokershavelong sold suchinformationto help companiesbettertargetadvertising, analyze consumerhabitsand assess investment opportunities. Governments have increasingly turned to these datasets to enforcelaws and gather intelligence. Foreign spyagencies, for example, can use such data to map the patterns and activities of U.S. government personnel.

By The Associated Press

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 avideo 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.

that began Tuesday come amid asurgein Ukrainian dronestrikes.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 theconflictin Ukraine —now in its ﬁfth year —assomething so distant thatitdoesn’t affect the daily routines of Russian civilians.

Wide arrayofweapons

Russian arsenals in Belarus include itslatest intermediate range nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system.

Lukashenko earlier inspectedRussian shortrange nuclear-capableIskander ballistic missiles at amilitary unitinvolved in the drills and declared:“I dreamed about this machine along time ago.”

Thethree-day drills

Russia’sDefense Ministry saidthe exerciseinvolved 64,000 troops, over 200 missile launchers, more than 140 aircraft, 73 surface warships and 13 submarines, including eight armed with nuclear-tipped ICBMs. The drills focused on the “preparation anduse of nuclear forces underthe threat of aggression,” it said. The maneuversalso practice cooperationwith Belarus, an ally that hosts Russian nuclear weapons.

Along with nuclear-tipped ground- andsubmarinelaunchedICBMs, the maneuvers featured abroad assortmentofshort- and medium-range weapons Unlikethe intercontinentalmissiles thatcan destroy entire cities,tactical nuclear weaponsintendedfor use against troops on the battlefield are less powerful. Theyinclude aerial bombs and warheads for short-and medium-range missiles and artillery munitions.

TheDefense Ministry said theRussianarmed forces test-fired Yars and Sineva ICBMs, as well as medium-range sealaunched Zirconand airlaunchedKinzhalmissiles, noting that all missiles hit their designated practice targets. Belarusian troops test-ﬁred ashort-range Iskanderballistic missile inside Russia. Russia

Global Sumud

BEIGNET, DONE THAT

Rainy weather doesn’t dampen Coffee Call’s 50th birthday as shop hosts daylong celebration

BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer

Cannatellas, coffee lovers and cus-

tomers second-lined through the rain on Wednesday, celebrating 50 years of Coffee Call.

Founded by Vincent Cannatella in 1976, Coffee Call has been a community hub for those seeking beignets in Baton Rouge. On Wednesday, a daylong celebration saw live music ﬁll the restaurant from 1 p.m to 10 p.m.

The menu was half-off all day for those dining in, many of whom danced in a second-line led by the Trinity Brass Band.

At 3 p.m., the brass band looped around the parking lot, and a crowd of all ages clutched umbrellas and danced to the beat, including Cannatella’s great-granddaughter Margot Gautreaux, 5, who skipped, hopped and twirled to the brass band in pigtails.

She had fun dancing to the music, she said. Her celebrations were followed by a plate of beignets.

“Coffee Call is truly a family-owned and operated business,” said co-owner John Cannatella on the microphone to a room full of family, friends and customers. “One generation teaches the next. And just as it was my honor to learn the business from my father, it is truly an honor for me to teach and pass the torch on to the next generation ” He said he couldn’t have asked for a better business partner or better niece, Brandi Catoire.

: Margot Gautreaux, 5, dances in the rain at Coffee Call’s 50th anniversary celebration.

LEFT: Retired night manager of Coffee Call Elvin Dunn, left, won ‘The Real Deal’ award on Wednesday.

Memorial Day weekend forecast for Baton Rouge

BR defense attorney to remain on probation

Complaints

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 with clients, had misled a client about the status of her settlement, and other issues.

For those failures, the state Supreme Court ordered Sterling to be suspended from practicing for six months. After the suspension was served, Sterling was reinstated to the practice of law effective April 9, 2024, and his twoyear 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

ä See PROBATION, page 2B

Elayn Hunt officer accused of inmate relations

from two clients led to 2023 suspension CRIME

staff reports

Sgt. Deja Lee, 25, was arrested on a count of sexual conduct with a person in an institution on Thursday and booked into the Iberville Parish jail. Deputies with the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to an investigation on Thursday after a corrections officer found an inmate in an employee-only bathroom, trying to hide, the arrest document said. The officer said she initially saw the bathroom door close and lock, and heard the toilet flush shortly after Then, Lee exited the bathroom, and the other officer entered and found the inmate hiding behind a wall, said the arrest warrant.

ABOVE

STAFF PHOTOS By MADDIE SCOTT

The Trinity Brass Band plays through the rain during Coffee Call’s 50th anniversary celebration on Wednesday.

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN BALLANCE Metro Council member Darryl Hurst, left, and attorney Stephen Sterling speak April 29 outside the Attorney General’s Office. Sterling’s probation for practicing law was extended for another year by the Louisiana Supreme Court.

ä See COFFEE CALL, page 2B

Former Oakdalepolicechief pleads guilty to visa fraudconspiracy

BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer

Aformer Oakdalepolice chief has changed his plea to guilty for his involvement in avisa fraud conspiracy uncovered lastyear Afederal indictment issued in July alleged that Chad Doyle and threeother lawenforcementofﬁcials generated false police reports for U-visa applications.They’re named in a21-page, 62-count indictment that alleges the scheme operated in central Louisiana for almost 10 years.

U-visas are aspeciﬁc type of visa for individuals who were the victims of certain criminal activity in

COFFEE CALL

Continued from page1B

“Brandi is hardworking and smart, and she’sgood with the tools. Thank God, because Iamnot,” he said, laughing.

Awards and recognitions were given at the microphone to longtime employees, including Debra Wallace, who has worked atall four CoffeeCall locations, Elvin Dunn (also known as Eddie D.) and 45-year employee Michelle Miles. Customer Jim Glas, 80, said he remembers taking his children to Coffee Call for the first time in 1989 backatits original location where they’d visit at least once aweek.

“My wife and Iwanted beignets and coffee, and this is where you came,” Glas said. “So we started bringing the kids, and they absolutely loved it. They’d eat beignets, white sugar all over them, but we had fun.” Since then, Glas has been

PROBATION

Continued from page1B

The state Supreme Courtapproved that request on May 12. As conditions of his probation, Sterling must complete the Louisiana Bar Association’sEthics School within the next 12 months and pay all fees and expenses tiedto the Office of Disciplinary Counsel’sinvestigation.

“In support of the motion, the parties assert the extension is warranted to address aviolation by respondentof the Rules of Professional Conduct during the period of probation,” the Supreme Court’sorder states, although it didn’texpand 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 thegrounds it was too lenient.

Little communication Complaintsfrom two clients led to Sterling’s2023 suspension: One was an elderly woman who had been injured at an Albertsons in 2016,and the seconda driver needing representation after aDUI in 2021. In the older woman’s case, she suffered severe damage to her front teeth while at the store and had Sterling file for damages as her attorney,according to the Ofﬁce of Disciplinary Counsel’scommittee report.

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

theUnited States. Theindictment allegesthat 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, whowas granted aU-visa in 2023, charged prospective applicants $20,000 for falselygenerated police reportsinconnection with various law enforcement ofﬁcials across central Louisiana, according to aplea agreement for the former Oakdale marshal for Ward 5, Michael Slaney Theindictmentclaims that Patel

paid ofﬁcers $5,000 for the generation of these reports.

Theviolentcrimeslisted in the false reports tended to be armed robberies, whichled prosecutors to notice the unusuallyhighrates of thesecrimes occurring in the relatively small communities.

Slaney also pleaded guiltyinthe conspiracy last week,inwhichhe admitted responsibilityfor certifying at least 78 false reports over thecourse of theconspiracy As aresult of thepleaagreements, bothDoyle and Slaney agree to forfeitmultiple bank accounts associated with theconspiracy,aswellasproperty in DeRidder owned by Slaney

aregular.Right after Hurricane Katrina, Glas used to go to Coffee Call every dayand play cardswith his friends. They had aball together,hesaid Arsheal Barnes, 64, was seated by the front window, looking outside at the brass band and admiringthe scene. Like manylongtime customers, he also remem-

When asettlementwas reached in the case in 2019, Sterling allegedlyfailed to provide the grocery store’s attorneys with therequired paperwork to process it.

Thewoman continually asked Sterling for updates on the settlement, according to the committee’sreport. In 2021, Sterling wasordered by the court in that caseto perfect thesettlement within the nextmonth,

bers the original location at the now-demolished Village Square Shopping Center.He becameacustomer when his sister,Michelle Miles, started working there in 1982.

“The owners are just so wonderful,” Barnes said. “I can’t sayenough about them. Every time Igo, they makemefeel so comfortable here.”

but it was never completed. After five moremonths and an attempt from the store’sattorneystodismiss the case, Sterling assured thecourt he would complete the settlementpaperwork, according to the report.

In early 2022, the store’s attorneysagain complained to the court that Sterling had failed to provide themwith atax documentneeded to deposit therest of the settlementmoney for Sterling’s

Other law enforcement ofﬁcials indicted include formerForest Hill Chief of Police Glynn Dixon and Glenmora Chief of Police Tebo Onishea. Court records showthatthe remainderofDoylwe’sco-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, onecount of bribery,24counts of mail fraud and eight counts of moneylaundering.His change of plea hearing is set forThursday n Dixon, Forest Hill chiefofpolice, was indicted on acount of

conspiracy to commit visa fraud, six counts of visa fraud, sixcounts of mail fraud and one count of money laundering. Dixon was an elected chief, but records at the Secretary of State’sOfﬁce indicate he’snolonger chief in Forest Hill. His change of pleahearing is set forJune 4. n Onishea, formerelected Glenmorachief of police, was indicted on acount of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, six counts of visa fraud and sixcounts of mail fraud. Hischange of pleahearing is set forThursday If convicted,the remaining defendants could also be ordered to forfeitadditionalbankaccounts, properties and vehicles allegedly tied to the scheme.

BLOTTER

Continuedfrom page 1B

Deputies said they conﬁrmed thatLee and the inmate entered thebathroom at the same time, as shown in video surveillance footage.

Lee told investigators she had previously had a sexualrelationshipwiththe inmate, according to the arrest warrant

Lee is theninth ofﬁcer arrested at Elayn Hunt since the startofthe year.Since Warden Travis Day took over the prisoninJanuary,hehas been working to crackdownonmalfeasance in theofﬁce andcontraband in the facility

Teenager fatally shot Wednesday ID’d

The teenager who was fatallyshotWednesday evening hasbeen identiﬁed as Tyruan Dunn, 15, the East BatonRouge Parish Coroner’sOfﬁce said.

client.

In thesecond complaint, a man paid $150 for aconsultationwith Sterling in 2021, followed by a$2,500 fee, which was quoted as the priceofrepresentation in a ﬁrst-offense DUI.

When the charge instead came down as afull fourthoffenseDUI, Sterling told the client the legalfee would be $10,000 due to the more severecrime,according to thereport.

Police responded to the scene of the shooting around 5:25 p.m.and found Dunn suffering frommultiple gunshots,accordingto BatonRouge Police Department spokesperson Sgt. L’Jean McKneely.Dunn was transported to ahospital and died.

Police also identified asecondvictim suffering fromlife-threatening gunshotinjurieswho was transported to ahospital.

Police have no suspects of motives at this time. No furtherdetails were immediately available.

Student booked on terrorizing count

ADonaldsonvilleHigh School student was arrested after he created alist of students that he intended to harm,the Ascension Parish Sheriff’sOfﬁce said.

Kyle Sanchezwas arrested Monday by deputies on onecount of terrorizing and was booked into the AscensionParishJail. Hisbail is set at $75,000.

The client said the feewas too high and requested arefund of his original$2,500. The refund was never delivered, according to the report.

Sterling didn’tfile any pleadingsormakeany ofﬁcial appearances in court in thatcase, according to the report.

Sterlingalso allegedly failed to file an answer to thecommittee’scharges in atimely manner

Deputies responded to a report that alist had surfaced online that included the names of several Donaldsonville High School studentsthatSanchez had threatened to harm,the Sheriff’sOfﬁce said. During theinvestigation, Sanchez admitted to deputies that he madethe list but said he never planned to carry it out, according to deputies.

In an email fromthe school sent to parents, school ofﬁcials said they were notified late Monday of the threats and immediately contactedthe Sheriff’s Ofﬁce. Sanchez is facing both legaland disciplinary consequences and has not been on campus since the incident was reported, the email said.

“The safety and security of ourstudents andstaff remain our highest priority.Wetakeall threatsseriously and will act quickly and decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for everyone,” the school said.

During aNovember 2025 murdertrial, Sterling was issued eight counts of contempt of court alongside his co-counsel. He waseventually required by astate court to pay $800inﬁnes over the charges. Sterling could not be reached forcomment Thursday

Email Quinn Coffman at quinn.coffman@ theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By MADDIESCOTT

Acrowd dances to music playedbythe Trinity Brass Band at Coffee Call’s50thanniversarycelebration on Wednesday

BUSINESS

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Stocks edge higher after U-turn for oil prices

NEWYORK 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.”

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

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-

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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Obituaries

Casserleigh, Douglas Washburn

DouglasWashburn

Casserleigh, age 79, died on Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Doug was adedicated husband of 34 years to Deirdre McCarthy Casserleigh. Loving father of DouglasW Casserleigh Jr (Amy), Mathilde C. Fusco (Christopher), and Bess Casserleigh (Dixon McMakin); grandfather to Charlie and JamesFusco; brother to Randy L. Casserleigh (Suzi), and Hank G. Casserleigh (Boo). He was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Shirley Dunlap Casserleigh. Doug was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on October 17, 1946. He graduated from Fortier High School and Tulane University where he received his JD in Law. His profession as acorporate attorney forJ.Ray McDermott took himand his family to live all over the world including London,Singapore and Dubai. Aprivate celebration of life with family will take place at a later date.

theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate Ascension Oaks,Gonzales on Friday,May 15, 2026, at the ageof90. She was a resident of Prairieville and lifelongnativeofPlaquemine, LA. Visitation will be held at St. John the Evangelist CatholicChurch, PlaquemineonSaturday, May23, 2026,from9am until Mass of ChristianBurial at 11am, celebrated by FatherMartinLawrence. Interment willfollow at Grace MemorialPark, Plaquemine.Nettlaissurvived by her children, Sylvia Burgessand husband William, Lloyd"Poncho" Landry, Jr Larry "Chubby" Landry, Steve Landryand wifeVicki, and Chad Landryand Jeanne; grandchildren, Shane Burgess and wife Melissa, Daryn Burgess and wife Alise, Taryn Boone and husband Tracy, Jordan Dowden andhusband Blake, Dustin Landryand wifeJennifer, Lloyd "Ponch"Landry, III, Jarrid Landry and wifeWhitney; Corey Landryand wife Mandy, Brandi Edwards and husband Greg, Holly Hubbs and husband Brian Tank",Adam Landryand wifeCarley, Ashley Drinkwater andhusband Matt,Emily McFarland and husband Lance,Landon, Barker, Alexand Harvin Landry; grandson-in-law, JoeyKelley; fifty-one great grandchildren; nine greatgreat grandchildren; siblings, Beverly Scalise, Roland Landry, and Susan Chrostowskiand husband Andrew; numerous nieces and nephews. Precededin death by herhusband, Lloyd J. Landry, Sr.;granddaughter, Kristen Burgess Kelley;great-granddaughter, Penelope Landry; daughter-in-law, Kendra SimpsonLandry; parents, Nolan Landryand Pearlie BouquetGravoisand husband Elmo; and siblings, Marjorie Vaughn and Melva "Butsy" Young. Nettla loved her family especially her grandchildren and was alwaysexcited fora visit from them. She wasa selfproclaimedGolden Girl along with her best friends, Joycelyn, Rose, Butsy and Gloria.Special thanks to Hospice of Baton Rouge for their care,Randle Lorance for allhis visits, songshesangand support. Please sharememories online at www.wilbertservices.com.

Franklin, Elouise Signater

Elouise Franklin alife long resident of Morganza, Louisiana ,born November 12, 1940 peacefully transition to her heavenly home on May 15, 2026. She leave to cherish her memories her four daughters Myrna Cannon(Rickey), Tammie Whiten, Kathy Shavers(Ricky) and Ruthie Kennedy (Rogers), Three grandchildren, 5great grandchildrennumerous family members, neighbors, her Mt. Era Church family and community. A funeral service will be held at 10:30 AM on 2026-05-23 at Mt.Era B.C., 8616 Callegan Lane.

Harrell-Morgan,Patsy Lynn 'Pat'

Funeral Service will be held at 11:00 AM on 2026-05 -23 at Amite River Baptist Association Multi-Purpose Building, 4576 Highway 48 West Liberty, Mississippi 39645 Rev. Byron K. Sanders Sr./ Officiant Landry, Nettla Marie

Nettla Marie Landry passed awaypeacefullyat

In Loving Memory Superintendent Roger V. Mills transitioned fromthis life on Monday, May11, 2026,at the ageof69. A spiritualleader,gifted

Howtoplace an Obituary Notice

Howtoplace a MemorialAd EMAIL: obits@theadvocate.com OR CALL FORMORE INFORMATION: 225-388-0289

Mills, Roger V.

chef, and devoted culinary arts educator, Superintendent Mills left aprofound impact on the lives of many in Baton Rouge and in the communities of Amite and Wilkinson Counties in Mississippi. He diligently served as Pastor of Paradise Park Church of God in Christ and held the position of District Superintendent for District 1in the Louisiana Eastern Third EcclesiasticalJurisdiction. He received his education at Scotlandville High, LSU, and Southern University. During his time at Southern University, he was amember of thefootball team, where he cultivated adeep and lifelong love for the sport. Superintendent Mills was united in holy matrimony for fortytwo wonderful years to his beloved wife, Jurunist Mills, who preceded him in death on April 15, 2026.He leaves to cherish his memory his siblings: Neala Bradley (Harry, Jr.), Volois Maiden (Alonzo), Diane Mills, and Glasco Antoine (Ray Helen), along with a host of familymembers, friends, loved ones, and colleagues.

Visitations will be held Friday, May 22, 2026, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at

Hall Davis& Sons Funeral Service, 9348 ScenicHighway, and Saturday, May23, 2026,from 8:00 a.m.to 10:00a.m. at the W.K.Gordon Prayer Center, 8930 PlankRoad, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.A Homegoing Celebration will start at 10:00a.m., followed by a burial to be heldatNew ZionBaptist Church Cemetery,Highway963.

Troxclair, David Joseph

David JosephTroxclair passed away on Monday, May 18, 2026, at theage of 76. He was bornAugust 27, 1949, in White Castle Louisiana to Dunkin Joseph Troxclair and Rita Gertrude Rome Troxclair. After obtaining his bachelor's degree in business from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette,David entered thefoodindustry and never lookedback. As aperpetual foodie,Davejoined his sister'sfamily business as themanager of Frank's Restaurant Grill &Bar for over 30 years. He is preceded in death by hisparents; his loving wife of 16 years Bonita "Bonnie" Troxclair;his sisters Brenda Martinand Marlene Hadden; his infant brother Charles Troxclair;

and hisbrothers-in-law

DonaldMartin and Russell Euggino

David is survivedbyhis sisters Cynthia Euggino, Sidonia "Sid"Lovelace and husband Alan, and Catherine "Cathy" Dedman and husband Frank Dedman, Jr.; hisbrother Bruce Troxclair; hisbrother-in-law Stan Hadden and wife Pam; and hisbeloved nieces, nephews, greatnieces and great-nephews -who affectionately called him "Uncle Dave", as well as countless otherfamily and friends.

David enjoyed hunting and fishing, teaching most of his siblings how to bait aline. Hisfamily and friends especially enjoyed himpartaking in theoutdoors, as they reaped the benefitsofhis catch to kitchen. Daverecently traveled to Toledo Bend and onlygot to enjoy a boat ride on thewater, as the'fish weren'tbiting'. Whether at work or at home he could be found cooking,oftenmaking his famous jambalaya, smoked sausage or hogshead cheese. As you can imagine, this left many aconversationabout food! In his spare time, he enjoyed keeping tabs on his

siblings -nevermissing an opportunity to tease them UncleDave willforever be remembered as thefamily jokester! He nevermissed apuzzleinthe morning paperand was an avidsports fan.Inyearspast,hecherished trips with hiswife to theCaribbean Islands, and trips to Canada to visit her birthplace.

Relativesand friends are invited to attendthe Funeral Service at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May23, 2026, at ResthavenFuneral Home, 11817 Jefferson HighwayinBaton Rouge.A Visitation will be held at thefuneral home beginning at 1:00 p.m. Interment will follow at Resthaven GardensofMemory.

HonoringDavid as pallbearers are Frank Dedman III,RossDedman,Travis Euggino, KevinLovelace, Alfredo Figueroaand Todd Guerin.

In lieu of flowersand at thefamily'srequest, memorialsinhonor of David Joseph Troxclair may be made to St.Jude

OPINION

Data centerswillmakepower grid stronger

Concerns about rising electricity bills and overtaxed grids have dominated the national datacenter conversation, but Louisiana is showing that they can actually strengthen grid reliability and help keep electricity prices down for all customers. So much so that the Trump administration recently highlighted Entergy as a model for how utilities can work with tech companies to improve reliability and affordability

andbillionsintax revenue.

Earlier this month, Entergy Louisiana announced another $2 billion in new customer savings from our power agreement for Meta’sLouisiana campusagreement, bringing total projected savings from data centers (including Meta’sand Hut 8’s), to $2.8 billion over 20 years, which includes a10% reduction in storm recovery and grid resilience costs. The projects are also expected to create thousands of jobs

Onereason Entergy is able to make datacenters work for customers in Louisiana is a keyadvantage we have over other states where residents are experiencingbill spikes and reliability issues from data centers: regulatory oversight of utilities. In deregulated states, developers can build their own power generation for data centers but still connect to the gridwithout any public oversight. In regulated states like Louisiana, however,utilities must receive Public Service Commission approval for every majorinvestment or new project to ensure it beneﬁtscustomers.

Deregulated electricity markets have also consistently seen signiﬁcantly higherresidential rates even before data centers came on thescene— an important fact often omitted byderegulation advocates. In contrast, our state’s

Stateneeds

regulatorymodel has helped Entergy Louisianakeep residential rates morethan 30% below national average while ensuring that adding new large customers strengthens our grid rather than strains it Iamgratefulthat Gov.Jeff Landry and the PSC have advanced aframeworkthat 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. OurFair Share Pluspledge outlines how we’re ensuring tech companies pay their fair share of the cost to power their facilities, plus provide added beneﬁtsfor our communities. For example, Meta has agreed todonatehundreds of millions of dollars to homeenergy efﬁciency and bill support programsfor vulnerable customers, workforce development and

to getmore BlackstudentsintoSTEM

Ididn’t realize how rare Iwas until a studentstated, “I’ve never had amath teacherwho looked like you.”

Ihad been teaching foryears, but thatmoment made Louisiana’s6%real. Black men make up only about 6% to 7% of the state’sentire teacher workforce—and in STEM classrooms, the number is even smaller.To that student, my presence wasn’t ordinary.Itwas exceptional. That exception has consequences far beyond the classroom. Louisiana’s 6% isn’tjust an education statistic. It is apreview of the STEM workforce the state will have —and the talent it will continue to lose.

demand STEM careers.

Thesepathways cannot thrive without strong STEM foundations. Currently, Louisiana has lost 60,000 studentsin the public school system. If Black boys continue tobeunderrepresented in advanced math and science courses and if Black men continuetobenearly absent from STEM teaching, then thestate will struggle to build awellversed, future-ready aviation workforce.

renewable energyinvestments. We also require prepayments, multiyear contracts and financial safeguards so other customers don’tshoulder 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 datacenters arrived and are projected to continue rising nationwide because of factors like inflation,fuel price volatility,supply chain disruptions, stormsand 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. Oneofthe fewways we can ease these inflationary bill impactsisbyadding new large customerswho can pick up the tab on alarger share of the cost of grid maintenance and upgrades that residential andsmall-business customers would otherwise have had to pay foralone.

Because of the data centers joining our grid, we can now makecritical upgrades to our infrastructure at afraction of the cost to existing customers —upgrades that strengthen reliability forour current customers and help attract even moreindustrial investment, like Hyundai’s Ascension Parish steel plant. This boosts Louisiana’seconomic development proﬁle, brings new jobs and resources and keeps electricity moreaffordable.

The U.S. is competing in aglobal race for AI dominance, and supporting domestic data centers will help us win it while providing our communitieswith 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 Mayispresident and CEO of Entergy Louisiana.

Programcan help Louisianaaddress its physicianshortage

Algebra and calculus are gateways to high-demand careers in artiﬁcial intelligence, aviation, engineering, energy and computer science. But gateways only open when studentscan see themselves in the people guiding them.

For many Black boys, aBlack male STEM teacher is often theﬁrst signal that advanced mathematics, robotics, coding or engineering belongs tothem, too.

Research consistently shows thathaving even one same-race teacher can increase conﬁdence, academic persistence andlong-term achievement Over time, this shapes who enrolls in advanced STEM courses, who pursues STEM majors and ultimately who enters STEM professions. The 6% becomes a pipeline problem long before students reachcollege. This challenge is not unique to Louisiana.

Nationally,Black men remain severely underrepresented in STEMgraduate programs —making up only about 2% of students. This number signals afragile pipeline. If we are to bridge thisgap, Louisiana must become more intentional about recruiting talent from nontraditional paths: veterans, industry professionals and career changers who, like me, didn’tinitially see theclassroomas an option.

Louisiana is working toexpand its presenceinaviation, engineering, drone technology,advanced manufacturing and artiﬁcial intelligence. Recently,the stateannounced its ﬁrst “Aviation Day,” bringing together educators, industry leaders and policymakers to strengthen aviation and aeronautics pathways for students.

The need is urgent. In reporting for The Hechinger Report, Javeria Salman noted that aviation is rapidly becoming amodern version of shopclass, offering students hands-on pathways intohigh-

The Federal Aviation Administration has warned of asevere national shortage of air trafﬁc controllers, one of the most mathematically rigorous and high-paying positions in theaviation sector. Without stronger K-12 STEM preparation and role models, Louisiana risks leaving large segments of its population out of these opportunities.

Federal policymakers recognizethese shortages.

In 2024, Sen. Raphael Warnock championed legislation allocating new funding to diversify aviation workforce development. The message from Washingtonisclear: The countrycannot meet its aviationand STEM workforce needs without broadening who has access to these ﬁelds.

Louisiana has an opportunity to align with this national momentum. But that begins with strengthening the front end of the pipeline —the teachers who introduce STEM concepts long before students choose amajor or career.Ata time when national conversations about DEI are heated, it is essential to clarify thataddressing the 6% is not apolitical stance; it is solely economic.

Ensuring that Black boys see Black men teaching STEM courses is not about ideology;itisabout preparing the engineers, pilots, air trafﬁc controllers, aviationmechanics, coders and innovators thatLouisiana —and thecountry —will need. Black men have contributed to America’s progress in STEM and aviationthroughout history of theUnited States. Supportingthe next generation continues that legacy

Targeting districts where thegap is greatest will ensure the6%begins to rise where it is most needed. If Louisianawantsastronger STEM workforce tomorrow,then it muststart with who stands in front of the classroom today

M. PaulSmith IV is ascience and mathematics education doctorate candidate at Southern UniversityA&M

We know that Louisiana is truly one of akind. From our world-renowned music to our celebrated cuisine, our state’sheritage plays an important role in our nation’sstory Yet, compared to otherstates, our health and wellness lag. To preserve our cultural richness and supportthosewho shape it, we must improve the health of all our communities.

For too many years, Louisiana has placed near thebottomin healthrankings.

Healthcare leaders and partners, working with the Louisiana Department of Health andother agencies, are responding by focusing on quality metrics and better health outcomes.

By concentrating efforts to decrease chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease, and creating innovative solutions to improve maternalcare, we are working diligently to elevate our state’shealth and increase life expectancy

Prioritizing these health initiatives supports ourfriends, familiesand neighbors, allowing themtolive fuller and happier lives.

However,totruly move the needle, we must also address our U.S. physician shortage and its effect on receiving timely, preventive care.Inthe pastseveral months, projections of theshortagehave shifted, pointing to aworsening long-term crisis: By 2038, we will be short up to 141,000 physicians nationwide.

We feel this already in Louisiana, where 60 of our 64 parishesare designated Health ProfessionalShortage Areas. Meeting this challenge nowrequires innovative solutions.

This effortstarts with training more primarycare physicians who serve as thefrontline of disease prevention. Better access to primary care means earlier interventions, improved maternal andinfant health outcomes and relief for our overburdened emergency departments.

Mostimportantly,ithelps our loved ones prevent and manage chronic conditions before they become lifethreatening. Evidence clearly shows that training

andretaining doctors within our state is crucialfor solving these challenges. Communities where medical students andresidents train areoften where theychoosetopractice longterm, with 62% of family physiciansstaying in the state where theycompletedtheir residency It’salso imperative that we train physicians who reﬂect andunderstand the communitiesweserve.Patients receiving carefromdoctorswho understand their cultures experiencebettercommunication, greater trust andimproved health outcomes. The creationofthe XavierOchsner College of Medicine is part of the solution. As acollege within Xavier University of Louisiana —atop HBCU recognizedasa leader in placing graduates into medical school —XOCOM builds on aproud legacy.Asweundergo the accreditationprocess, we are committedtothis mission by training exceptional, empathetic doctors in-state to serve communities across Louisiana. Yet, with national medical student debt exceeding $215,000 and proposed federal student loan caps on the horizoninJuly,wemust also overcomethe ﬁnancialbarriers that keep talented students from pursuing medical school to begin with.

One solutionisthe $3 millionHumana Health Workforce Scholarship Fund, which will advance our efforts to make medical school accessible by covering full tuition at XOCOM forstudents with financial need who commit to practicing primary care, internal medicine or maternal care in Louisiana aftergraduation. We need more programs like these thatreducefinancial burdens and help improve health outcomes for everyone. To build ahealthier future, we must find more innovative solutions to invest in ourphysicianworkforce now, ensuring thatthose who train here have everyreason to stay.

Dr.Leonardo Seoane is the president andfounding dean at XavierOchsner College of Medicine and executive vice president and chiefacademicofﬁcer at OchsnerHealth.

COMMENTARY

ISSUE OF THE WEEK THEMIDTERMS

Voters across the countryhavestarted to register theirchoices in the midtermelections. In Louisiana, party primariesonSaturday forU.S.Senate led to theousterofincumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy, whofaced achallengerbacked by President Donald Trump.The president has been usingthe midtermstoexact retributiononofficials he has deemed insufficiently loyal. Cassidymade the list forvoting to convict Trump in hissecond impeachmenttrial.But while the president hasdemonstrated his grip on the Republican Party, it’sunclear if he will have the same sway in the November general election.With high gasprices and the warinIran, the president’spopularity is at an all-time low.Whatwill voters be lookingtoastheymaketheir decision? Here are twoperspectives:

Midtermelections present gloomy picturefor GOP

For the first time this term, President Donald Trump’sjob approval rating has dippedbelow 40%inthe RealClearPoliticsaverage of polls. The newest rating is 39.9% approval and57% disapproval. The president’sapproval has beenticking downward for months —itstarted at 50.5% approval in January2025 —and was brought to its current point by anumber of polls showing his job approval in themid-to-high 30s. The latest is aNew York Times poll sows Trump at 37% approval and59% disapproval, allamong registered voters. TheTimes poll found asignificant gender gap in Trump approval. Fortyfour percent of men approve of the job thepresident is doing,while 29% of women approve.The race/ethnicitygap is larger —Trump’sapproval among White respondents is 45% while hisapproval among non-White respondents is 20%. Among respondents who voted for Trump in 2024, his approval rating is 79%. Among those who voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris, it is 3%, and among those who did not vote, it is 21%. The new survey,like many others, foundsolid disapprovalofthe war in Iran. The Times asked, “Do you think Donald Trump’sdecision to go to war with Iran was the right decision or the wrongdecision?” Sixty-four percent said the wrong decision, while 30% said theright decision.Among Trump2024 voters, 76% said going to war was the right decision. Among Harris voters, 95% said it was the wrong decision The pollsters, of course, asked respondents’ opinion on Trump’shandling of the economy —itwas 33%approveand 64% percent disapprove. Morespecifically,they also asked about Trump’shandlingofthe cost of living —itwas 28% approve and 70% disapprove. As far as the coming midterm elections are concerned, on the so-called generic ballot question —“If the 2026 general election for Congress were held today, which party’scandidate would you be more likely to votefor in your district?” —50% said the Democratic candidate, while39% said the Republican candidate and 11% said they didnot know That 11-point advantagefor Democrats is bigger than the party’s advantage in the RealClearPolitics average of the generic ballot, which standsat 7.2 points.Still, even the averageisbig enough to cause Republicansserious

concern. It’sespecially concerning in light of the president’slow job approval rating, which is another good predictor of midtermresults.

What partywilltakeover there-redistricted House?

In Trump’sﬁrst midterms,in 2018, the president’sparty, like today, controlled boththe House and Senate. The ﬁnal generic ballot average before the midterms favored Democrats by 7.3 points, nearlythe sameasitistoday Trump’s job approval rating immediately before the2018 electionswas 43.6%, abit better than it is today. In that election, Democrats picked up 41seatstowin control of the House. The GOP kept control of theSenate.

TheRepublican Party’sobvious weakness going into the 2026 midterms is, of course, the main reason behind themassive battle over redistricting. It appears theGOP will win that battle, at least this year,which could reduce itspossible midterm losses in the House. Butthe currentRepublican advantage in the House is so small that Democrats can win control by picking up atiny number of seats.

The current party balance in the House is 217 Republicans to 212 Democrats, with oneindependent and ﬁve vacancies.However those are sorted out, thefact is, if theelection were held today,Democrats could win control of theHouse bypicking up three or four seats. That is an incredibly low bar for the party to achieve.

Meanwhile, President Trumpisadding to hisalready dominant power in the Republican Party.Over the weekend, one of his last GOP antagonists in the Senate,Sen.Bill Cassidy,lost aprimary in Louisiana after Trumpendorsed his Republican opponent. That meansTrump hasgotten rid of all but two of the seven Republicans who voted toconvict him in the2021 post-presidential impeachment trial.

TheCassidy defeat is on top of others, like the successful Trump-encouraged primarychallenges of several Indiana Republican state lawmakers who crossed Trumponredistricting. Trump’s obviouspower in such matters has made many lawmakersscared of clashing with him, whatever they mightfeel aboutredistricting.

So now, Trump’sauthorityover the Republican Party has never been higher But now,with 51/2 monthsuntil midterms, he’snot doing nearly as well with the electorate as awhole.

Email Byron York at byork@washingtonexaminer.com.

AsPresident Donald Trump’s job approval sinks to or below 40% (depending on which poll you’re looking at), betting marketsand political conventional wisdom are that his Republican Party is not necessarily doomed tolose its narrow House majority,nor is it at serious risk of losing its Senate majority

This is partly because of court decisions affecting redistricting in major states,but it also owes something to fundamentals thata few observers have noted even before. One example is Henry Olsen, writing twomonths ago in The WashingtonPost,noting that the president’sjob approval has been cratering more among nonvoters than amonglikely voters. In today’sRealClearPolitics polls, the same relationisapparent:Trump’sslippage is less among those morelikely to vote.

As elections analyst NateSilver explained, the uneven distribution of the parties’ voting bases tends to give Republicans an advantage in single-member,equal-population districting. Increasingly since the mid-1990s, and even moresoafter Trump’semergence, Democratic voters tend to be concentrated in central cities, sympathetic suburbs and university towns, while Republican voters tend to be spread moreevenly around the rest of the country

Similarly,Republican pollster Patrick Rufﬁni in March noted that, in a60,000-person biennial YouGov survey,the Democratic advantage in party identiﬁcation has been steadily narrowed toward the vanishing point since 2006. And this year’sspecial elections, in which theopposition party typically fares better than the president’s, have been showing less anti-Republican movementthan in 2025.

Nonetheless, thefact that the president’s partyalmost always loses House seats (exceptions: 1934, 1998, 2002) plus the fact that Republicans won only 220 seats to Democrats’ 215 in 2024, has madeitseem close to certain that Democrats would win control.

To forestall that, Trumplast summer urged Texas’ Republican governor andlegislature to redistrict its 38 House districts. They passed aplan portrayedasgaining ﬁve Republican seats, although it may not if the 2024 MAGA surge among Hispanics evaporates, as polls suggest. Similarly, Republicans in NorthCarolina (where the Democratic governor has no veto over redistricting) and Ohio passed plans advertised as gaining one and two seats, respectively

Democrats retaliated spectacularly last November in California, where aplan is estimated to increase Democrats’ edge in the state’sdelegation from 44-8 to 48-4.

In themeantime, the U.S. Supreme Court’sdecision in Louisiana v. Callais ruled that theVoting RightsAct doesn’trequire maximizing the number of “minorityinﬂuenced”districts, which opened the way for some Republican legislators to redistrict and add adistrict for their party.And in Florida, Republican legislators quickly passed Gov.Ron DeSantis’ redrawing of its 28 districts, which was predicted to add four Republican districts.

This meansthat Republican districting plans tend to have morecompact-shaped districts, while Democrats tend to link distant nodes with tenuous corridors. Illinois Democrats’ 14-3 plan, forexample, consists of bacon strips leading outward from Chicago wards and heavily Democratic suburbs out across miles of treeless prairie to Democratic towns. Virginia Democrats’ 10-1 plan had ﬁve districts fanout from heavily Democratic Arlington and Fairfax Counties, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

In contrast, Texas and Florida Republicans’ plans would probably pass even a stringent numeric test forcompactness and contiguity

The result forthe momentisnearly alevel playing ﬁeld in the House races. The authoritative Cook Political Report rates 188 seats as solidly Republican and 184 seats as solidly Democratic. It rates 22 seats as leaning or likely Republican and 23 seats as leaning or likely Democratic. That’s210 seats at least leaning Republican, 207 as leaning or likely Democratic, leaving 18 seats, four currently held by Democrats and 14 by Republicans, as tossups.

So if Democrats winall the tossups, they would control the House 225-210, anet gain of 10 seats —awin, but not the blue wave they’ve been hoping for. If Republicans win half of the tossups, they would control the House 219-216, anet loss of just one seat. Those numbers are beginning to look familiar.The House was 222-213 Democratic in 2020, 222-213 Republican in 2022, 220215 Republican in 2024.

Americans have had such periods of partisan parity,characterized by especially bitter partisanship before, in the ﬁghts between Jacksonians and Whigs between 1832 and 1852, and between the pro-Civil WarRepublicans and dubious Democrats between 1864 and 1894. Eventually,other issues arose, new political platforms emerged and something like aconsensus emerged. Could that happen this year? Maybe. But it sure doesn’tlook like it. Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

Michael Barone

Byron York

STAFFPHOTO By JILL PICKETT

Residentsvote SaturdayatC.E. ByrdHigh School in Shreveport.

LATE-NIGHT JAGUARS

Southern-FAMUended afterthis editionwenttopress.For complete coverage,visit theadvocate.com

2-time

NASCAR champBusch dies

Driver washospitalizedearly Thursday with ‘severeillness’

BY STEVE REED AP sportswriter

CONCORD,N.C. Kyle Busch, atwo-time Cup Series champion who wonmoreracesthan anyone across NASCAR’s threenational series, has died. He was 41.

The Busch Family,Richard ChildressRacing and NASCAR issued ajointstatement Thursday saying Busch died after being hos-

pitalized. No cause of death was given. Busch’sfamily said earlier Thursday that he was hospitalizedwith a“severe illness,”three days before he was to compete in theCocaCola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Busch was theyoungerbrother of Kurt Busch, aNASCAR Hall of Famer

“Our entire NASCAR family is heartbroken by the loss of Kyle Busch,” thestatement said.“AfutureHall of Famer,Kyle wasa rare talent, onewho comes along once in a

BOND STRONG

BY JIMKLEINPETER Contributingwriter

all them the “Sisterhoodofthe Circle.”

CIt’s agood enough moniker for LSUpitcher Paytn Monticelli, who likens the LSU staff to asisterhood that played abig part in launching the Tigersinto this weekend’sNCAA Super Regional at No. 1national seed Alabama.

Theteams play Friday at 6p.m.onESPN2 and Saturday at 2p.m.onESPN. If they split those games, thedecidinggamefor aberth in theWomen’s College World Series in Oklahoma City will be played Sunday at atime to be determined

See LSU, page 5C

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

Notlong after coach Lane Kifﬁnﬁrst landed in Baton Rouge,hepickeduphis phone and calledhis longtime friend and colleague Ed Orgeron.

Kifﬁn was passing by TigerStadiumwhen the two coaches talked. According to the recollection of the call he shared at his introductory newsconference, Kifﬁn

See ORGERON, page 3C

kickoff against Texas A&M on Nov. 27, 2021. Orgeron returns to LSUasa specialassistant to recruiting and defense.

At somepoint you’ve probably caught a show on aband 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 areunion tour that’s about the mostLSU thing you can imagine. Three former head coaches —not just former,but ﬁred coaches —have returned since March. It

See RABALAIS, page 3C

Buschcelebrates winningthe NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on March 20, 2011.

LSU pitcher Jayden Heavener takes the field for agameagainst TexasA&M on March 14 at TigerPark. LSU softball’s bond has been keytotheir success ahead of the NCAA Super Regional. STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSO

STAFF FILE PHOTOByHILARy SCHEINUK Former LSUcoachEdOrgeron watches his players before

Sam Leavitt LSU Quarterback

Koepka leads the Byron Nelson

BY SCHUYLER DIXON AP sportswriter

McKINNEY Texas Scottie Schefﬂer

won’t be the wire-to-wire winner of his hometown CJ Cup Byron Nelson again this year

For now, the world’s top-ranked player is chasing Brooks Koepka, the five-time major champion looking for his ﬁrst victory since returning to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf.

Koepka shot 8-under 63 for a one-shot lead over five other early finishers at the revamped TPC Craig Ranch on Thursday, with Scheffler three back while playing with Koepka and Si Woo Kim, one of those at 64.

“I felt like I was getting lapped out there for a little bit,” said Schefﬂer, who led from the start of last year’s Nelson and won by eight shots at 31 under while tying the tour’s 72-hole scoring record at 253. “So I was fortunate to make a couple birdies late in the round and keep myself in the tournament.”

Kim — the highest-ranked player in the ﬁeld behind Schefﬂer at No. 24 had the only bogey in the threesome, on his 16th hole at the par-3 seventh.

One of several countrymen in the event sponsored by South Korean conglomerate CJ Group, Kim got back within a shot of the lead with a birdie while Koepka saved par 5 at the ninth.

Emiliano Grillo, Keith Mitchell, Stephan Jaeger and Michael Thorbjornsen were tied with Kim, one shot ahead of Doug Ghim and Mackenzie Hughes.

Koepka, who contended at last week’s PGA Championship before fading on Sunday, eagled the par-5 12th and was 4 under through ﬁve holes. He had four

more birdies in a span of five holes in his back nine, capped by a 3-foot birdie putt on the short par-4 sixth.

Kim had four birdies on the front and four more on the back while Scheffler was lagging at 2 under before getting birdies on three of his final five holes

“It was just a comfortable group,” Koepka said. “Everyone is just kind of feeding off each other, easy Everyone’s having fun. Makes it enjoyable. I feel comfortable on the golf course as well.”

Even though he hardly recognizes parts of it.

Koepka last played at TPC

Craig Ranch in 2021, the year before he bolted for LIV The sixth Nelson at the par-71 layout about

30 miles north of Dallas was the debut of a Lanny Wadkins-led redesign that cost nearly $25 million and added bunkers everywhere and overhauled the greens with mounds and ridges.

“The greens are totally different than when we played,” Koepka said. “That’s obviously the biggest thing. Off the tee it looks pretty good. Place hasn’t changed too much. It’s familiar I like it.”

Koepka was a regular at the Nelson a decade ago, including a runner-up ﬁnish in 2016 when he lost to Sergio Garcia in a playoff.

The 36-year-old also has a little CJ Cup history He rose to No. 1 in the world with a victory when the event was in South Korea in 2018.

The title sponsorship moved to the U.S. after the COVID-19 pan-

demic and has been associated with the Nelson since 2024.

The move to LIV forced Koepka to put aside things such as world rankings, and now he’s dealing with stipulations he had to agree to in order to rejoin the PGA Tour Among them is not being exempt for the $20 million signature events, even though he won a major — the 2023 PGA — while with LIV

“I think there’s such a huge difference right now of trying to get into signature events, on my way back, coming back to the tour,” Koepka said. “(Winning) would be a big conﬁdence boost for sure because I feel like I’ve been playing well. I feel like I’m knocking on the door, and I’m very, very close.”

WNBA home teams win 29% of games

BY DOUG FEINBERG AP basketball writer

NEW YORK Playing at home

hasn’t provided much comfort for WNBA teams this season

Through nearly the first two weeks, home teams have only won about 29% of games. Out of the 15 teams, only New York has a winning record at home.

This is the worst percentage to start a season by home teams in the league’s 30-year history, according to Elias Sports Bureau stats provided to The Associated Press by the WNBA. Through an equivalent number of games, the previous worst was 41% in 2021 — when fans weren’t

allowed to attend games early on because of the COVID pandemic. Home teams won 43% of their games to start the 2016 season. Both those years the number reached over 50% by the end of the season. There was nearly a 54% home advantage in 2021 and 55% in 2016. There are a lot of factors that go into the poor start at home so far, including scheduling. The expected top teams Las Vegas and New York have been on the road for most of the start of the season. That said, Chicago, which was near the bottom of the standings last year went 3-1 on the road to begin this season “It’s bizarre and interesting,

but I don’t think it signals a trend that will continue,” ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo said. “We just need to have the better teams to have more home games.” Golden State coach Natalie Nakase agreed she didn’t think the early trend would continue.

“I don’t put much stock in it,” said Nakase, who’s team visits New York on Thursday night. “I think it gives players that out to say that we have more advantage at home or we have more advantage away. I just say there’s two hoops, there’s a court, there’s a couple refs, and we got to play At the end of the day when you step on the court, you got to be ready to ﬁght.”

One thing it’s not caused by is a lack of fans in the buildings. Attendance is up 6% so far this season compared to last year, according to the website Across The Timeline.

The second-year Valkyries have established quite a homecourt advantage They led the league in attendance last year and so far have drawn well in their ﬁrst two games at home.

“You also don’t want to take it for granted, you know, and take advantage of it,” she said. “But we do have the love of support that is, you know, amazing. But at the same time, you have to be able to handle the noise So we try to prepare as best as we can.”

LSU women set for NCAA championships

Tigers making sixth straight appearance

BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

If it’s time for the NCAA women’s golf championships, it means the LSU Tigers are still playing.

LSU has appeared in the past six championships, one of just eight programs to do so. The Tigers will tee it up Friday morning at La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.

“It’s hard to do in a sport where there’s no defense,” coach Garrett Runion said of LSU’s streak.

“I don’t want a good team, I want a good program. To have a good program, you’ve got consistently be at national. I’m very proud of what we’ve done.”

The Tigers got to Carlsbad by ﬁnishing fourth last week in the NCAA Waco (Texas) regional.

“All the credit goes to the players that have bought in, worked hard, and showed up when they needed to in the most stressful tournament of the year (NCAA regionals),” Runion said. “I think that just helps them understand what we’ve done back home to prepare them, and handle that pressure.”

The Tigers will use the same lineup from the regional with sophomore Francesca Fiorellini, seniors Elsa Svensson and Taylor Riley, sophomore Joseﬁn Widal and freshman Ryleigh Knaub. Sophomore Rocio Tejedo will be the alternate. Knaub leads the team with a 71.96 stroke average, just ahead of Fiorellini’s 71.97. Riley, who grew up in nearby San

Diego, is the daughter of former PGA touring pro Chris Riley and former LSU golfer Michelle Louviere. She becomes the 13th LSU player to compete in at least three NCAA Championships.

“She’s a little sentimental, knowing it’s her final college tournament in her hometown,” Runion said. The NCAA Championships are a marathon, not a sprint. The field of 30 teams will be cut to 15 Sunday followed by a final round of stroke play Monday when the NCAA individual champion is crowned The top eight teams begin match play Tuesday to determine the team champion Wednesday Live scoring is available at www Scoreboard.clippd.com, with streaming pay coverage on BabyGrande. com. Television coverage switches Monday to The Golf Channel.

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.

and

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By LM OTERO

Brooks Koepka hits to the 14th green during the first round of the Byron Nelson on Thursday in McKinney, Texas

PROVIDED PHOTO

LSU senior Taylor Riley will compete for the third time in the NCAA Championships.

NFLMVP Stafford agrees to one-year extension

BY GREG BEACHAM AP sportswriter

LOS ANGELES Reigning NFL

Most Valuable Player Matthew Stafford has agreed to a one-year contractextension through the 2027 season with the Los Angeles Rams.

The Rams announced the deal Thursday without immediately revealing its value.

ESPN reported the 2027 deal is worth $55million with a potential to increase to $60 million, araise from his salary for the upcoming season.

The deal indicates that the 38-year-old Stafford is at least strongly thinking about staying with the Rams past 2026.

That’snotable because Staffordhas professeda yearto-year mentality about his

ORGERON

Continued from page1C

“I don’tknow,man,” Kifﬁn said overthe phone, “I’m feeling you right now.”

“Coach,” Orgeron replied, “you’re at the best place in America.” Now theybothare.LSU announced Wednesday night that Orgeron was returning to Baton Rouge to ﬁllarole on Kifﬁn’sstaff. The former Tigers’ head coach will work as aspecial assistant to recruitingand defense, and he signed aone-year deal worth $100,000, according to acopy of his term sheet obtained Thursday by The Advocate. Orgeron, 64, can coach on the sidelineduring games andhit the roadtorecruit

The NCAA passed arule change in 2024 that removed restrictionsonthe number of FBS staff members who can“providetechnicaland tactical instruction” during games and practices while maintainingthe 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-campusrecruiters. Orgeron is expected to ﬁllone of those spots,according to areport from On3. It’s an idealrolefor the Larose native, who spent the 2025 season talking publicly

RABALAIS

Continued from page1C

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 Oisback. Wednesday night, in the midst of what is sure to be LSU baseball’sseasonending loss to Auburn in the SEC tournament,news broke that Ed Orgeron was returning to be apart of Lane Kiffin’sstaff. Not as a position coach, but as aspecial assistant for defense and recruiting. His salary: $100,000, abit removed from the high-rent district of his $9 million salary in his final seasonasLSU’s head coach in 2021 (the school finished paying Orgeron his $17 million buyout in December,sonoclawback is available).

When Kiffin took the LSU job in late November,hementioned calling Orgeron on his way past Tiger Stadium. “I said, ‘Hey man, this placejust makesmewant to talk like you right now,’ ”Kiffin said. “I rolled down the window and Iwas like, ‘Geaux Tigahs!’ to the fans.” Orgeron replied, “You’re in the best place in America right now.” The two have been friends and coaching colleagues for along time. Kiffin and Orgeron wereon Pete Carroll’sstafftogether at Southern California. Later,after being fired as head coach at Ole Miss, Orgeron went to work for Kiffin when he became head

time.

futureeversinceheled the Rams to aSuper Bowl championshipinFebruary 2022, andheonlyconfirmedhe would return forthe upcomingseasonwhile accepting his MVP trophy in February

TheRamsthensurprised the league by drafting Alabama quarterback Ty Simpsonwith the 13th overall pick last month,throwing Stafford’slong-term future into momentary doubt —until head coach Sean McVaymade it quite clear thatStaffordis the Rams’ startingquarterback for as long as he decides to play

“Wheneverthattimecomes for(Simpson) to get an opportunitytobeMatthew’s successorwill be on Matthew’s terms,”McVay said at the

about hisdesire to coach againbut only if he found “theright situation.” He’s spentthe last four yearsin an unofﬁcial retirement,collecting his $17 million buyout in monthly installments until this past December.

“Now, do Iexpect to be anational championship coach?” Orgeron told The Advocate in January.“I’m notexpectingthat. I’m not expecting to be ahead coach. Iwas happy beinga defensiveline coach.Iloved it. Ilove coaching football. Ilove being retired. Either one would beﬁne.”

Theon-ﬁeldcoaching role Orgeronwillﬁll in his second stintatLSU, though, is less clear than hisrecruiting responsibilities.

TheTigershavethreeassistantcoaches assigned to different partsofthe 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 nowincharge of itsinterior linemen, and Lou Spanos is apass-rush specialist.Kifﬁn retained Peoples from coach Brian Kelly’sstaff, but hired Lucas away from SouthCarolina and brought Spanos with him from Ole Miss.

Even if Orgeron’snew role doesn’trequire himtobeas hands-on as he was in his last job as an assistantcoach,he can still leaveaconsiderable mark on the program

Orgeronwasknown na-

coach at Tennessee in 2009 andthen USC in 2010. When USCfired Kiffinin2013, the school madeOrgeron interim headcoach, thesame role he filled in 2016 when LSUcanned Les Miles. Orgeron got thejob fulltime later that season,then, of course, led LSUtothat incomparable 2019 national championship season.Even if Kiffin wins acouple of national titles at LSU, he won’t be abletofield ateam that surpasses that Joe Burrowled squad. Still, Orgeron was out by2021, unable to sustain theprogram at such ahigh level.

Coach Obounced around the sport, lived for awhile in Miami Beach, Florida, gotremarried, watchedhis sons begin their football coachingcareers and talked of gettingback in thegame —anitch that untilnow he wasunabletoscratch with apermanentposition. Consideringtheirrelationship, it seemed naturalthat Kiffinwould hire Orgeron as defensiveline coach on hisnew staff at LSU. When he didn’t, it seemed Kiffin might have deemedthat too awkward,which was fair enough Eventually,though, Kiffin decidedheneeded some Coach Oenergy andenthusiasm on his staff. Say what you want about Orgeron’squality as ahead coach and how thingsended for him at LSU. Butthe man is apreeminent defensive line coach and an unparalleled recruiter.Hemay not be onpoint to do eitherfor the Tigers —LSU hastwo D-line coaches in Sterling Lucas andKevin Peoples but he cancertainly offer invaluable input andmake

Stafford is coming off one of the best seasons of his career in which he won his ﬁrst MVP award, edging New England’sDrakeMayeinthe voting.Stafford passed for an NFL-best 4,707yards and acareer-high 46 touchdowns against just eight interceptions before he led the Rams to tworoad playoff victories and aspotinthe NFCchampionship game.

The upcoming season will be Stafford’s18th in theNFL and his sixth with the Rams, who acquired himina trade withDetroit in 2021. Stafford is the sixth-leading passer in NFL history with 64,516 yards, and he is seventh with 423 touchdown passes, two behind Philip Rivers.

tionally as oneofthe nation’s best recruiters when he was LSU’sheadcoach.Heand his staff landedall of the major stars who led the Tigers to their2019 national title, including Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, Derek Stingleyand others. Manyofthem were from Louisiana, whichwas oneofthe reasons Kiffin has said attracted him to the LSUjob.

So,having Orgeron on boardshould enhance the Tigers’ recruiting operation ahead of an important 2027 high school signingcycle. Louisianahas five players in thetop 100 of 247Sports’ composite rankings, andtwo of them are already committed to LSU: Ruston tight end Ahmad Hudson and Shreveport quarterback Peyton Houston.

The other threecould soon hear from Orgeron, who telegraphedhis move back to LSU in an interview with Jacksonville,Florida, radio station WJXL 92.5 FM last December.Itwas afew days after Kifﬁncalled 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 andIhaveworked together at threeschools. Ilove him. He andI aregood friends; I believe in him.Sodeﬁnitely if he does ask me, I’d consider it.Noquestion.”

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

for some indelible in-home visits.

There was understandable concern among Tiger fans when former recruiting coordinator and fellow Louisianacoaching icon FrankWilson wasn’tretained by Kifﬁn, instead trekking north to OleMiss to be part of PeteGolding’s new staff in Oxford, Mississippi. Butbybringing back Orgeron, Kifﬁncan say,“I’ll see your Frank Wilson and raise you aCoach O.” The personal touch isn’tas important as it was before NIL and revenue sharing every recruit now is like Rod Tidwell in “Jerry Maguire,” bellowing “Show me the money!” —but Orgeron will be able to go on the road and help recruit. There isn’ta high school coach he won’t make an impression on, and Iimagine he has lost little or anything off his in-home fastball he displayed in “The Blind Side.”

Getting back into football in an official capacity is certainly awin for Orgeron. Unless he started contradicting what Lucas and Peoples are teachingthe Tigers’ D-linemen, Ican’t imagine this isn’tawin for LSU. Andit’sa win for Kiffin, at least temporarily,though somewill and have dredged up someof Orgeron’spast off-the-field transgressions. However you look at it, it’sanengrossing final act of acareer filled with remarkable chapters. One moreenticing ingredient to a2026-27 LSU athletic year already stocked with compelling characters like Kiffin, Wade and Kim Mulkey Football season can’tget here fast enough.

PATLEONARD

Newyork Daily News (TNS)

NEW YORK The New York Giants’ goal with Malik Nabers is to get him back on thepractice fieldduring training camp andreadyfor their Week 1regular season opener against the Dallas Cowboys

Buttheymight nothit that goal right on themark.

Head coach John Harbaugh acknowledgedThursday after the team’sthird OTApractice that Nabers’ availability forthe start of the regular season is uncertain, although Nabers is currently in the building rehabbing andstriving toward that goal

“If he’sout there, great,” Harbaugh said of Week 1. “If he’s not, great.”

The coach said Nabers’ surgeryand recovery are “nota simple”kneerehab, given that doctors had to repair both his right ACLand meniscus.Then Nabershad asecondsurgery recently to clean up scar tissue, as The Athleticreported It seems clear thatthe Giants understanditwould be wise to developanoffensive identity that does notlean too hard on Nabers, 22, who might notbeonthe ﬁeld at the start of the season. That way when he does return, hopefully his explosiveness takesthemfromgood to great.

“AnACL is atough injury,” left tackle AndrewThomas said. “But we’re gonna be ready for him when he comes back. Malik’sagame changer.”

With both Nabers and Darius Slayton (sports hernia surgery) notpracticing, aton of receivers hadopportunitiestocatch passes from Jaxson Dart during Thursday’sindoor practice, from

veteran Darnell Mooney to Ryan Miller Dartconnected most consistently with the running backs, though, particularly Tyrone Tracy Jr.and Devin Singletaryinthe flats.The QB also found wideout Calvin Austin III twice, includingdownthe right sideline to get in field goal range during an end of half situation. Rookie Malachi Fieldsand speedster Xavier Gipson both hadbig gainers down the fieldthrown by backup quarterback Brandon Allen, while Mooney and Miller eachdropped apassfrom Dart.

Mooney said hisrole on thisteam is “tomake plays and dominate,”regardlessof what he’saskedtodoorwhat the depth chart looks like.

D-Line worth monitoring

Veteran defensivetackle RoyRobertson-Harris limped offthe ﬁeld on Thursday,and trainersseemed to be looking at hislower right leg or ankle. That wasconcerning becauseRobertsonHarris was the ranking member of the interiordefensive lineonthe practice ﬁeld.

Newsignings DJ Reader and Shelby Harris were not at practice, which is voluntary at this juncture. And new signingSam Roberts had offseason surgery Dexter Lawrence’sforced trade out of town to Cincinnati depleted aunitthat had anchored the worst run defense in pro football last season. Harbaugh loaded up on linebackers withTremaine Edmunds and ArvellReese, but thoseplayers won’t reach their potential this seasonifthey aren’tprotected by aphysical, violent and formidable front. So it will be interesting to

continue to monitor attendance and performance at the position as this builds toward mandatory minicamp in June and training camp in late July

Thomas managing ailments Harbaugh said that the Giants are managing Thomas, their franchise left tackle, because he is being careful with shoulder and foot issues. Thomassaidneither injury required surgery this offseason. Theseare just precautions for ashoulder ailment that he battled last season andfor the Lisfranc injury in his foot that shut him down in 2024. Still, it was noteworthy to see second-year tackleMarcus Mbow receivingopportunities while Thomas stayed out of team reps. Harbaugh said Thomas practicedtwo of out three days thisweek as part of asteady ramp-up towardthe season …Wide receiver Jalin Hyatt rodethe bike during the team period of practice after appearing to tweak something earlier …Safety Jevon Hollandwas asked if the pace of Harbaugh’sOTA practices are faster than what he’sused to. “Faster than last year? Yeah, for sure,” Holland said …Harbaugh continued running the Giants’ ﬁrst andsecond units through fullspeed end of half and end of game situations, adramatic difference from BrianDaboll’s four yearsascoach …Safety Beau Bradeintercepted Allen and almost had asecond later in practice …Rookie corner Colton Hood didnot participate but walked out to the sideline midway through practice. Corner DruPhillips, quarterback Jameis Winston and fullback Patrick Ricard were not there, either …The Giants return to practice next Wednesday

GUTIERREZ

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By TONy

Spurs, Thunder deal with multiple injury concerns

BY TIM REYNOLDS AP basketball writer

Oklahoma City’s Shai GilgeousAlexander seems to have shaken off his now-traditional Game 1 blahs. San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama is putting up numbers the likes of which haven’t been seen in a conference finals for about a half-century

The stars in these Western Conference ﬁnals, they’re being stars. It’s the supporting casts that are of major concern — for both teams.

Game 3 of the West title series is on Friday night, things having shifted to San Antonio tied at a game apiece. The Spurs took Game 1 behind 41 points and 24 rebounds from Wembanyama, and the defending champion Thunder got 30 points from Gilgeous-Alexander on the way to getting a victory in Game 2.

“We’re probably most comfortable playing in front of our fans,” Spurs guard Stephon Castle said after the Game 2 loss in Oklahoma City “I don’t think we’ll have any problem doing that. Mentally I think we’re all in a good head space. We came here, won a game on the road and they’re a good team and they responded. So, now we have a chance to play in front of our fans.”

It’s not the mental side that either the Spurs or the Thunder should be worried about. It’s the physical.

There’s a bad ankle. A pair of aching hamstrings. A shot to the

Guardiola

ä Thunder at Spurs, 7:30 P.M. FRIDAy, NBC

thigh And those are only the injuries that the world seems to know about, not even taking into account the aches and pains that have accumulated over the last seven or eight months.

As expected, the West ﬁnals are shaping up to be quite the battle.

Two battles, really There’s the obvious one, Thunder vs Spurs, the two best teams in the league this season vying for a spot in the NBA Finals. The other is those teams vs. attrition, and right now, attrition might be winning.

“It feels like that’s always at this time of the season in every sport, right? You have to get to the end to give yourself a chance,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “And I think that’s why we have to continue to trust our depth and guys have to step up when their name’s called — answer the bell and be able to give us some quality minutes.”

Spurs All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox has an ankle issue that’s not going away until after the season ends. His replacement, Dylan Harper, seemed to tweak a hamstring in Game 2 and departed early Thunder guard Jalen Williams aggravated his problematic left hamstring in Game 2 and his replacement, Ajay Mitchell, was shaken up by a thigh issue in the ﬁnal moments.

The Spurs won Game 1 largely because Harper stepped up. The

gaining support for becoming American coach after World Cup

BY RONALD BLUM

AP sportswriter

NEWYORK Former players Alexi

Lalas and Stu Holden along with fellow Fox broadcasters Rebecca Lowe and Rob Stone all said they think the U.S. Soccer Federation should c o n t a c t P e p Guardiola about taking over as the American national team’s coach after the World Cup.

“Pep would be a wonderful hire. He’s a visionary He’s one of the best coaches that’s ever coached in this game,” Holden said Thursday at an event to promote Fox’s World Cup coverage.

Guardiola is expected to leave Manchester City after Sunday’s ﬁnale of his 10th season as manager Mauricio Pochettino, the former Tottenham manager who took over the U.S. team from Gregg Berhalter in late 2024, has a contract through the World Cup and has said he isn’t sure whether he would be interested in a new U.S. deal. Guardiola is likely to be highly sought.

“I don’t know if he takes the call, but he might even be calling you,” said Lalas, a star U.S. defender at the 1994 World Cup.

“He’s never coached internationally. He’s also never coached a team that’s not an elite team. He might not be the right guy,

but you deﬁnitely have that conversation.”

Lowe, a British-born, naturalized American who grew up in London and lives in California, has hosted NBC’s Premier League coverage since 2013 and will be working for Fox for the ﬁrst time next month.

“Having somebody like Pep would double or triple the fan base in my opinion in this country because they’re out there but they need to fall in love with the U.S. men’s national team,” she said. “And then on the ﬁeld, he will improve the players. I know he won’t get them very often, but when he gets them, he’ll improve them. Imagine if you’re Weston McKennie and Pep Guardiola is your manager? You are running through a brick wall for that man.”

Guardiola, a 55-year-old Spaniard, won two Champions League titles with Barcelona and one with Manchester City along six Premier League championships and three in La Liga and also in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.

After coaching Barcelona from 2008-12, he moved to New York for a one-year sabbatical, then led Bayern Munich from 2013-16 before switching to Manchester

“He’s the kind of guy who would like that new challenge: taking over a national team, coming to a country that probably feels like his second or third home,” Stone said. “So this is that next logical challenge.”

Sinner chasing 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 careerhigh 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

Thunder won Game 2 largely because Isaiah Hartenstein was a huge factor, both in terms of physicality and production. For as out-of-this-world great as Gilgeous-Alexander and Wembanyama are, there will be X-factors that decide games and perhaps the series.

“I think it’s a privilege,” said Hartenstein, who had 10 points and 13 rebounds in Game 2.

“You dream of playing in games like this and playing a game against another great team is always something really special. Again, I heard somewhere that pressure is a privilege and so I think just being in this series where the pressure is so high, just trying to go out there and enjoy competing is always something really important.”

Gilgeous-Alexander struggled big-time in Game 1, shooting only 7 for 23 — the sixth time in his last seven Game 1s in which he’s failed to make half his shots. But his rhythm was clearly back in Game 2, which is what he expected.

“I just have sucked when I get too long of a break,” GilgeousAlexander said. “I don’t think it’s anything other than that.”

Wembanyama has 62 points and 41 rebounds so far in the series

Others have had more points in the ﬁrst two games of a conference ﬁnals, but nobody since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1974 have had at least 60 points and 40 rebounds through two games in this round.

BUSCH

Continued from page 1C

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 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

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 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.

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,” 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 team-

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 topranked 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.

mate 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.

Busch

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

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.

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander celebrates after making a 3-pointer during the second half of Game 2 in the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday in Oklahoma City

LATE WEDNESDAY

LSU’sseasonendswithlosstoAuburn

Reigning national champs staying home forthe postseason

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

HOOVER, Ala. Derek Curielcalled it aﬂuke.

Between injuries, defensive struggles, poorpitching,aninconsistent offense, and everything else in between, Curiel knew that almost nothinghad gone right for LSUthisseason. Forthe sophomore, this was “a crazy,fluky year.”

But to call it all bad luck wouldn’t fully explain why LSU will miss the NCAA Tournament in 2026, areality that became ofﬁcial onWednesday night at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium when No. 14 seeded LSU was eliminated by No. 6Auburn in the second round of the SECTournament by aﬁnal scoreof3-1

After winning its eighth national championship ayear ago, LSUﬁnished with a30-28 record and will not appear in an NCAA regional for the ﬁrst time since 2011.

“We’ve had alot of good fortune,” coach Jay Johnson said. “It’salmost like baseball sometimes is going to baseball you, and sometimes life doesn’tgothe waythat you want it.

“There’sa little bit of astretch here where it was like, ‘OK, I’m paying for some sins that helped us get the two championships.’ Itfelt like that sometimes (this season).”

On Wednesday,LSU had the game-tying run at ﬁrst basewith two out in the ninth inning after Brayden Simpson accurately challenged astrike-three call in afull count that turned into atwo-out walk. But John Pearson grounded out to shortstop to end thegame.

“They gave it everything they had for two days,” Johnson said In some respects, Curiel is right Junior right-handed starter Cooper Moore —who underwent successful surgerytorepair astress fracture at the tip of his elbow on Wednesday —only pitched in three Southeastern Conference games Sophomore right-handed starters

LSU

Continued from page1C

Casan Evans and William Schmidt missed time, as didfreshman Omar Serna, senior ChrisStanﬁeld and junior JakeBrown. Brown, despitehitting16homeruns, missed most of thesecond halfofthe year with abroken hamate bone

That’sbad luck,but even those setbacks don’tfully account for a 22-28 record after an 8-0start to the season. It doesn’tjustify a.967 team fielding percentage, or the 10.46 ERA the Tigers postedinﬁve of their ﬁnal six series against SEC competition.

“I think we were alittle short in alot of areas,” Johnsonsaid. “I mean,a lotofareas.I’m not (just) talking about players. Yeah,alittle bit in how we recruit, alittle bit in howwedeveloped (them), both the individual player and the team.

“Wejustlost alot of close games,

NO.1ALABAMA

andthat’sbeen ahallmark of why we have two championships in the fouryears, is we’vebeen able to be on the rightsideofthose games, like agame like tonight. Andagainstthe bestteams,wejust couldn’tdoit.”

LSU’s regular-season struggles meant that theTigers hadtowin the SEC Tournament tomake the NCAA Tournament.They needed to win ﬁve games in sixdaystoaccomplish that, atask theybegan successfully on Tuesday whenthey beat No. 11 Oklahoma 6-2.

“This is our postseason baseball,” right-handerGavin Guidry said after Tuesday’swin. “Postseason baseball has started earlier than it has thelastcouple of years If we don’twin these games, we’re going home and the season is over.”

LSU then put itself on the right track to earning asecond win on Wednesday,taking thefirst lead of thenightinthe fourthinning. ButAuburn, after tying the game 1-1inthe bottom of the fourth, took theleadinthe fifth thanks to an errant throw to third base from freshmansecondbaseman Jack Ruckert with two outs. With runners on first and second, Ruckert cleanly fielded aweak ground ball and had a chance to throw out shortstop BrandonMcCraineatthird base after the Auburnrunnerhad lingered too far offthe bag. But Ruckert’sthrowwas well wide, and it allowed McCraine to easily score Themistake was the 66th error LSU hascommittedthis season. “They’re better on amound.

They’re just alittle betteron defense and popped acouple of homers outofhere,”Johnson said. “And we made one mistake, and that was the ball game.”

After Ruckert’serror,Auburn extendedits lead in thesixth on asolohome run fromthird baseman Eric Guevara. Auburn led3-1 entering the seventh and then inserted its top reliever,lefthander Jackson Sanders, to close out the ﬁnal three innings. LSU mustered just three hits off Auburn left-handed starter JakeMarciano. Asacrificefly fromsophomoreJohnPearson that drove in Curiel was the only run it could muster offthe Auburn ace. LSU ﬁnished the game with just four hits; Curiel had two of them

“Those guys really pitched,” Johnson said. “They really didn’t give us muchtohit. Imean, they were in the zone, but tough to hit within the zone.”

LSU sophomore right-hander Casan Evans made just his secondstart sincereturning from arm soreness on Wednesday,and through four innings, he pitched as well as he had allseason. Evans had six strikeouts, and the only run he allowed was asolo home run in the fourth.

He didn’trun into any trouble until the fifth, when Auburn put two on with nobody out in an inning that eventually resulted in it scoring the go-ahead run. Evans allowedjustone earnedrun in 42/3 innings, striking out eight batters in his final start of the year Sophomore left-hander Ethan Plog then replaced Evans and escaped the fifth inning jam, and seniorright-hander Zac Cowan allowed just one earned run in threeinnings in reliefafter Plog. But the strong effort on the mound wasn’t enough to staveoff what has now become inevitable.

LSU baseball will not be playing in June this year

“I feel bad because we didn’t get to where we needed to be or wantedtobe, or where Ithink this team could have been,” Johnsonsaid. “And Idon’t know that I’ve ever said that in my entire career.And that stings.”

LSU is trying to end an eight-year WCWS drought after getting to Oklahoma City four times in Beth Torina’s first sixseasons at the helm. The seven-member pitching staff is headed by Monticelli, Jayden Heavenerand Cece Cellura, who each pitched acompletegame victory in the BatonRouge Regional last weekend. It will go head-to-head with one of the best pitching staffs in the nation, ledbyjunior right-hander JocelynBriski, theSEC Pitcherofthe Year Monticelli, the only Tigers pitcher with previous super regional experience, said the group’scloseness is the foundation of the confidence that has been building throughout the season. They took some earlyhits but finished strong with 17 wins in the past 22 games.

“Weget along so well,” said Monticelli, who spent two seasons withOklahoma, which made the WCWS bothyears, andwon it all in 2024. “Wewent to apitcher dinner last night. We do alot of stuff outsideofthe ﬁeld. The seven of us are like sisters, that’s the best part of our team “It’sasisterhood within asisterhood. Sometimes we can feel like we’re on our own island and wouldn’thaveitany other way.We’ve got each other’sback no matter what.”

Monticelli (9-3, 2.39 ERA) and Cellura (95, 3.12) tamed Virginia Tech’spowerfuloffensive attack, holding the Hokies to seven hits and two runs in 13 innings. Heavener (13-8, 2.75) threw athree-hit shutout,the 10th of her career,inthe opener against Akron.

RECORD: 52-7, 19-5 in SEC, 31-2 at home, 14-4away, 7-1 neutral

COACH: Patrick Murphy, 28th season (1,369-405 overall, all at Alabama)

CWCS TITLES: 1(2012)

CWCS APPEARANCES: 15 (2000, 2003, 2005-06,2008-09, 2011-12, 2014-15, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2023-24)

SUPER REGIONALS: 19

NCAATOURNAMENTS: 27

2026REGIONALS: Defeated South Carolina Upstate(8-0), Belmont (2-0), South Carolina Upstate(9-0)

NO.4 LSU

RECORD: 40-17, 13-11 in SEC, 31-5 at home, 8-7 away,1-5 neutral

COACH: Beth Torina, 15th season (618-270 at LSU, 747-381 overall)

CWCS TITLES: 0

CWCS APPEARANCES: 6(2001, 2004, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017)

SUPER REGIONALS: 11

NCAATOURNAMENTS:27

2026REGIONALS: Defeated Akron (8-0), Virginia Tech (8-0 and 7-2) ALL-TIMERECORD VS.ALABAMA: 49-44

“Toget three complete games from three different pitchers in aregional is pretty unheard of,” LSU coach BethTorina said. “It’s special what they did lastweekend.” LSU (40-17) will need moreofthattoget past Alabama (52-7),which lost only oneSEC series this season. The heart of the Crimson Tide’s team is itsown pitching staff. Briski is 22-3 with a1.38 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 strikeoutsand 52 walks. Alabama had the second-lowest team ERAat1.52 with 430 strikeouts and only 103 walks.

“They do aton of things well,” Torina said.

“They’ve been led by theirpitching staff and are solid on all fronts.”

TheTide is led offensively by Brooke Wells and designated player Alexis Pupillo. Wells hashit 23 homers with 65 runs batted in while batting .398. Pupillo also brings power with17homers and a.396 average.

Torina likes her team’sresilience aftera slowstart andknows trying to beat the na-

tion’sNo. 1seed will come downtogrinding through imperfect performances.

“This team is tough. The things they went through made themtougher,”Torina said. “They understand they can take apunch, and it doesn’thave to be perfect. It won’t be perfect this time of year.We’re going to get punched; it’show you respond. They’ve learned this response and proven they have one. They’ll keep ﬁghting all the way.”

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU pitcher Casan Evans delivers against Kentucky on March 27 at Alex Box Stadium.OnWednesday,Evans pitched 42/3 innings against Auburn,striking out eight while allowingfour hits and one earned run.

Briski Heavener Pallozzi

Cellura Moten

Monticelli

THAT’S AWRAP!

The LiveAfter Five free outdoor concertseries will finish itsspring season with ashowbythe Rouge Kreweparty band, which brings high-energyfavorites, dancehits and crowd fun to each performance. The music will runfrom 5p.m. to 8p.m. Fridayat Rhorer Plaza downtown. downtownbr.org/live-after-five/.

AUTHORS ROW

Louisiana writers will be selling their books from 10 a.m. to 2p.m.Saturdayatthe Jones Creek BranchLibrary. The Red RiverBank ice cream truck and the LifeShare Blood Center vanwill participate in the event. Also, takein apresentation on the library’slocal author resources at 2:30 p.m. ebrpl.com.

SERVING UP SOUL

FAIRSAND FESTIVALS

The ninth annual Baton RougeSoul Food Festival will be open from 11 a.m. to 8p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Main Libraryat Goodwood. It’safree, family-friendly event with varied livemusic, avendor village, cooking contests and amustard greens and cornbread eating contest. hitcitydigital. wixsite.com/brsoulfoodfest.

With the extended Memorial Day weekend,there’s more time to take in the last of Louisiana’s fairsand festivalsfor spring

Hereare thedetails on eight of them, from celebrating the watermeloninDeRiddertoa zydecobashinLafayette: Make the most of holiday’s long weekend

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

BEAUREGARD WATERMELON

FESTIVAL: BeauregardParish Fairgrounds, 504 West Drive

DeRidder. The community event is going patriotic to celebratethe nation’s 250th birthday, pausing to honorthe bravemen and women whose sacriﬁce made freedom possible. Goldstar Amusement will offer rides, games and other midway favorites. Also look forliveentertainment and contests. beauregardwatermelonfestival.com.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY

JAMBALAYA FESTIVAL: LamarDixon Expo Center,9039S.St. Landry Ave., Gonzales. Carnival rides, games, livemusic, jambalaya cook-off, food vendors, and arts and crafts. jambalayafestival.net.

GREEK FESTIVAL: Holy Trinity Greek OrthodoxCathedral,1200 Allen Toussaint Blvd., New Orleans. Walk/run, guidedtours of the cathedral, performances by the Hellenic Dancers, liveGreek music, Athenian Playground for kids, food and drink. https:// www.gfno.com/.

MUDBUG MADNESS FESTIVAL: Festival Plaza, 101 CrockettSt., Shreveport. Thirty bands set to playcountry,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-SUNDAY, MAY31

CAJUN HEARTLAND STATEFAIR: 444 Cajundome Blvd., Lafayette. This kickoff to summer features rides, food, craft vendors, free attractions andfamily-oriented games. Admissionis$5SundayThursdayand before7 p.m Friday- Saturday, $10 after 7p.m. Friday-Saturday. cajundome.com

SATURDAY LUNCHBOXCOMEDYFESTIVAL IV: 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Cabin &Courtyard Events, Gonzales. Event will feature25-plus comedians, 20-plus vendors, four full comedy shows,liveband, reptile petting zooand hot dogeating competition. All-daypass, $25; VIP pass, $40. eventbrite.com.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

BATONROUGE 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 avendors’ village, ajudged soul food cooking contest, and new this year —a mustardgreens and cornbread eating competition. Free. https:// hitcitydigital.wixsite.com/brsoulfoodfest. ZYDECO EXTRAVAGANZA: Noon, Blackham Coliseum, 2230Johnston St., Lafayette. Featuringthe crowd-favoriteamateur accordion contest, authentic Creole food and art vendors.The music lineup includes ChrisArdoin, Keith Frank, Tucka, Step Rideau, Rusty Metoyer, Leon Chavis, Jeffery &Koray Broussard, Mike Dopsie andDJTroyD.$30 and up; free, kids 12 andyounger https://zydecoextra.com/.

REEL DEAL

From ‘StarWars’ to ‘The Dog Stars,’hereare 29 movies hittingU.S.theatersthissummer

TBY JOHN WIRT| Contributingwriter

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

Thecoming weeks and months will bring new ﬁlms from A-list directors Steven Spielberg (“Disclosure Day”)and Christopher Nolan (“The Odyssey”); a“Scary Movie” sequel; ahandful of genuinely scary movies; theﬁfth “Toy Story”; and alive-action remake of Disney’sanimated hit “Moana.”

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

FRIDAY

“PASSENGER”: Ademon hitches aridewitha young couple who witnessed adeadly highway accident. Starring Jacob Scipio, LouLlobelland Melissa Leo.

“STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU”: PedroPascal starsasDin Djarin, theMandalorian bountyhunter who, withhis apprentice, Grogu, battles Imperial warlords hellbenton destroying theNew Republic. SigourneyWeaver and JeremyAllenWhiteco-star

MAY29

“BACKROOMS”: Astrange doorway appears in the basementofafurniturestore.WithChiwetelEjiofor (“12 Years aSlave”),New Orleans nativeMark Duplass, RenateReinsve,Finn Bennett and LukitaMaxwell.

“PRESSURE”: Set in the72hours before D-Day, “Pressure”focuses on Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser)and Capt. James Stagg (Andrew Scott) as they decide if thetime is right to launch thelargest invasion-by-sea in history —orriskdefeat in EuropebyNazi Germanyand its fascist allies.

“THE BREADWINNER”: In his ﬁrstfeature ﬁlm, comedian NateBargatze playsasalesman and father whosesupremely organized spouse (Mandy Moore) takes an extended business trip, leaving theirhome in chaos.

JUNE 5

“MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE”: After Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine)obtains theSword of Power, he returns to his nativeplanet, Eternia,

BY JUDYBERGERON Staff writer

MOVIES

Continued from page1D

to save hisfamily andworld.

“POWER BALLAD”: Rick (Paul Rudd), aprofessional wedding singer,and Danny(Nick Jonas), afaded boy-band star, become friends after they meet at ajam session. Jealousyensueswhen Danny gets ahit with asongwritten by Rick.

“SCARYMOVIE”: Original

“Scary Movie” stars Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Anna Faris and Regina Hall aremock-terrorized by masked murderer Ghostface.

JUNE 12

“DISCLOSURE DAY”: Steven Spielbergdirects an alien-invasion thriller starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor,Colin Firth and EveHewson.

JUNE 19

“THE DEATH OF ROBIN HOOD”: Suffering from physical and mental wounds,Robin Hood gets achance for salvation thanks to amysterious woman. Hugh Jackman, Jodie Comer and Bill Skarsgård lead thecast.

“TOY STORY5”: Woody the cowboy, Buzz Lightyearand the other toys confront anew nemesis. Lilypad, afrogshaped smart tablet, is determined to sever thetoys from their child, Bonnie. Featuring the voicesofTom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack and Greta Leeand music ofRandy Newman.

“GIRLS LIKE US”: Acoming-ofage drama based on writerdirector Hayley Kiyoko’s hit song andbestselling novel.

JUNE 26

“JACKASS BEST ANDLAST”: JohnnyKnoxville leads his gang of fools in moresilly stunts. It’s promised to be the ﬁnal “Jackass” movie.

“SUPERGIRL: WOMAN OF TOMORROW”: Milly Alcock is the new Supergirl, areluctant heroine who, responding to amerciless threat, embarks on an interstellarquest for justice.

JULY1

“MINIONS &MONSTERS”: The diminutiveco-starsoffour

“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, BobbyMoynihan, Phil LaMarr, Trey Parker and PierreCofﬁn.

JULY3

“THE INVITE”: OlivaWilde directs and co-stars in acomedy-drama about adinner party that takes unexpected turns. Penélope Cruz and

Seth Rogen co-star. Limited opening.

“YOUNG WASHINGTON”: William Franklyn-Millerportrays George Washington at the beginning of hismilitarycareer. Mary-LouiseParker, Kelsey Grammer and Ben Kingsley co-star.

JULY10

“EVIL DEAD BURN”: Theﬁfth “Evil Dead” movie sticksto the1981 original’shorror blueprint.After awoman’s husband dies,she seeks comfort with her in-laws at an isolated family retreat.

JULY17

“MOANA”: Disney adapts another of its animated hits to live-action. StarringCatherine Laga’aiaasPolynesian heroine Moana and Dwayne Johnson as the shape-shifting Maui. Directed by Thomas Kail of “Hamilton” fame. Songs by “Hamilton”creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.

“THEODYSSEY”: Christopher Nolan (“Oppenheimer, The Dark Knight,” “Interstellar”) depicts Odysseus’ voyage homefromthe Trojan Warin theIMAX format.The blockbuster cast features Matt Damon, TomHolland, Anne Hathaway,Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o,Zendaya and CharlizeTheron.

JULY31

“SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY”: After erasing himself from the memories of everyone he loves, PeterParker, akaSpider-Man,isalonein NewYork City.Fightingcrime full-time inacitythathas forgotten him, he facesa 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”) andCallum Turner (“Mastersofthe Air,” “FantasticBeasts”)portray twopeoplelookingfor love in NewYork City on the least likelynight to ﬁndit. With Maya Hawke, Julia Fox, Molly

Ringwald and LevarBurton.

AUG. 14

“PAW PATROL: THE DINO MOVIE”: The PAWPatrol pups get shipwrecked on an island of dinosaurs. Making matters worse, PAWPatrol enemy MayorHumdinger begins mining the island, sparking a volcanic eruption.

“THEEND OF OAKSTREET”: Acosmic event transports a family’s 1980s neighborhood on Earthtoanunknown place Starring Anne Hathaway,Ewan McGregor and P.J. Byrne

AUG. 21

“INSIDIOUS: OUT OF THE FURTHER”: Gemma, ayoung mother raising adaughter in the house she grew up in, learns that she can travel into apurgatory for lost souls and open aportal for demons.

“MUTINY”: Jason Statham’s character in the action-thriller “Mutiny,”agood guywho’s been framed for acrime, uncovers human trafﬁcking on acargo ship.

AUG. 28

“COYOTEVS. ACME”: An animated/live-action hybrid movie, “Coyote vs.Acme” pits Looney Tunes character Wile E. Coyote in asuit against the Acme Corp.,whose products alwaysmalfunction when he pursues Road Runner. Will Forte and John Cena co-star.

“FINDINGEMILY”: Alovestruck musician gets thewrong number for his dream girl. He enlists apsychology student to ﬁnd her and, together, they inspireacampus-wide frenzy that tries their ownhearts and ambitions. StarringAngourieRice, Spike Fearn and Minnie Driver.

“THE DOG STARS”: After a pandemic wipes outmost 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 GuyPearce.

Email John Wirt at j_wirt@ msn.com.

Sonhas issues around eating

Dear Harriette: My son hides his food intake, and he’s been this way for years. I’m not sure if it stems from him feeling like we used to baby him, but he hates when we offer him food, tell him to pack ato-go plate when he’sleaving our place or announce thatthe food is ready.Hewon’t eat when we tell him to,but once everyone is gone, he’ll come around and eat heftyportions. We used to poke fun at how much food he’d take until we realized it was asorespot for him. This all started withhis vegan phase in his late teens,which was around the time when my steaks and bacon would disappear overnight.He’s grown up now and still lies or sneaks around about food. He’ll even go as far as

making fun of his dad for eating too muchwhen he indulges asecond serving, even though we all know my son will be back later to do the same. My son is not and hasn’tever been overweight, so Ican’t, for the life of me,ﬁgure out why he does this. And, as you can see, it’snot his favorite topic of conversation. Any advice? —SecretEater

Dear SecretEater: Select atimethat you twoare together and it’snot near ameal. Tell your son you have asensitive topic you want to discuss with him Ask forhis blessing to proceed, and then be direct with him.Point out that you have noticed that he has an unusual relationship with food, at least around the family.Describe what you have observed, and

ask if you or the family has done something to make him feel ashamed

PROVIDED PHOTO By MELINDASUE GORDON/UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Matt Damon is Odysseus in ‘The Odyssey,’written,produced and directed by Christopher Nolan.

PROVIDED PHOTO FROM SONy PICTURES

TomHollandstars as Spider-Manin‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day.’

So many questions

Dear Miss Manners: Iwas a single mom in my 40s with apreteen child.After eight yearsofnot dating, Imet aman through my CB radio community whom Itook agood liking to. We spent eight months getting to know each other and he never hinted that he was homeless, nor that he had learning disabilities. He lived across the country and never asked me for anything.

them to. Somepeople offer right away,but it still seems awkward How do Iaddress this withoutcomingoff as rude? I don’tinclude elderly guests on this issue. Gentle reader: Why? Because they keep their shoes cleaner?

By The Associated Press

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

Idecided Iwould like to share my life with him. He literally rode an adult tricycle 1,500 miles to me and married me before even coming in the house.

I’m extremely happy.It’s been ﬁve months and we’re doing well, but when others hear of our meeting, they act confused. How shouldI react?

Gentle reader: If you feel like answering any clarifying questions (Miss Manners has afew herself), you may,ofcourse. But it is not arequirement.

If others have your best interests at heart and see that you are happy,they should be happy,too. Now about that tricycle

Dear Miss Manners: We bought ahouse withnew ﬂoors and new carpet. It seems awkward to ask guests to take theirshoes off, but Iwould reallylike

No, more likely because keepingone’s shoes on is safer and more dignified conditionsthat non-elderly peopleappreciate as well. Miss Mannerstherefore encourages you to invest in goodcarpet-and floorcleaners and takeyour chances with your guests— whose comfort and safety should be more important than your floors. She is aware, however,thatthis is an unpopularopinion,so if you must, she will allow you to put out slippers and bootees for encouragement —aslong as that encouragementisnot verbalized.

Dear Miss Manners: You advisedareader thatnot even theweather is asafe conversation topic nowadays,since itmay getinto climate change. Andasking about accents or last names can befraught, since it may be taken as —ormay really be —aform of othering (“You’renot from here, are you?”)

Can youadvise someone like me, who has trainingin linguistics and whogenu-

inely enjoys hearing avariety of accents and names? Ihave no trouble asking native speakersofEnglish, “Where did you grow up? Inoticed how you pronounced (word).” But with foreign accents —many of which Ican place, but not all —it’sdifferent and risks being off-putting.

Gentlereader: It will come as ashock to you, but it is not thejob of your acquaintances to supplement your linguistics education. Miss Manners ﬁnds it amusing that she repeatedly gets asked this question by people whose reasoning is that they really want to know Oh,well, in that case Nevertheless, she has recently heard adecent compromise with the question,“Where do you call home?” This leaves it up to therecipient to determine whether they want to cite their current home or their birthplace, if those are different. ButMiss Manners issues the condition that there be no follow-up questionsifyou get an unexpected answer

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

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By CHRISPIZZELLO

LaineyWilson performsduring the 61stannualAcademyofCountryMusic Awards on Sunday.

AWARDS

Continued from page1D

Although fellowLouisiana artistLainey 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 YouCan’t”).The big win-

ner of the night, Ella Langley,beat out Wilson in four other categories. NewlywedWilson turned 34 on Tuesday,did takethe stage for ahigh-energy, ﬂashyperformance of current hit “I Can’tSit Still.” Herblack, body-hugging ensemble, bedecked with silverbucklesand fringe, popped against her backup dancers’ all-white attire News broke last week that Wilson and longtime boyfriend Devlin “Duck” Hodges, aformer NFL

quarterback,had tied the knot on Mother’sDay at the foot of awaterfall in The Ruskin Cave,Dickson, Tennessee. Wilson, anative of Baskin, wore acustomOscardela Renta gown with Japanese cherry blossom appliques. Both worecowboy boots custom-made forthe occasion.New Orleans’Rebirth Jazz Bandprovided music.

Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate. com.

Today is Friday,May 22, the142nd day of 2026. There are 223 days left in theyear Todayinhistory: On May 22, 1960, the strongest earthquake recorded struck southern Chile. The magnitude 9.5 quake claimed 1,655 lives, left 2million homeless and triggered atsunamiresponsible 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 twocountries to amilitary 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 forall” and “demands an end to poverty and racial injustice.”

In 1969, thelunar module of Apollo 10, withThomas P. Stafford andEugene Cernanaboard,ﬂew within nine miles of themoon’s surface in a“dress rehearsal”for theﬁrst lunar landing.

In 1985, U.S. sailor Michael L. Walker was arrested aboard the aircraft carrier Nimitz, twodays 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 wasreleased in 2000; John Walker Jr.died in prison in 2014.)

In 1992, after areign 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, amassive EF5 tornado struck Joplin,

Missouri, with winds up to 250 mph, killing at least 159 people and destroying about 8,000 homes and businesses. In 2017, asuicide 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’sbirthdays: Actor-ﬁlmmaker Richard Benjamin is 88. Songwriter Bernie Taupin is 76. Republican Sen. Lisa

Murkowski of Alaska is 69. Singer Morrissey is

PROVIDED PHOTO By ALySSE GAFKJEN

Alt-countryrock band Old97’sblends rootsy rock,power-pop and Texas swagger.Catch theirshowat9 p.m.WednesdayatThe TexasClub.Ticketsare $38.15 and up.

SHOWSTOWATCH —BATON ROUGEAREA

Scandal, 7:30 p.m.

FRIDAY

FLORIDASTREETBLOW-

HARDS: Downtown busking, Starbucks, 11:30 a.m.

KILEY MCDONNEL: The Colonel’s Club, 5p.m.

ROUGE KREWE: LiveAfter Five, Rhorer Plaza, 5p.m.

CHRIS OCMAND: Agile Brewing, 5p.m.

MATT HOLT: City Cafe, 5:30 p.m.

JAMBALAYA FESTIVAL: Lamar-Dixon Expo Center, Gonzales, 5:30 p.m.

ROCK IT: Papi’s Fajita Factory,Watson, 6p.m.

MARK BABIN: GalvezSeafood, Prairieville,6 p.m.

BLOCKER HARVISON: BLDG

5, 6p.m.

SOUTH OF CENTRAL: Blue Iguana, 6p.m.

KAITLYN WALLACE: Agave Blue, Gonzales, 6p.m.

ERIC BASKIN: Sullivan’s Steakhouse, 6p.m.

THE LONGNECK SOCIETY: El Paso, Denham Springs, 6p.m.

DRAMA KINGS: T’Quilas, Denham Springs, 6p.m.

DERRICK LEMON: Le Chien Brewing Co., Denham Springs, 6:30 p.m.

RHODES,MAURER&FRIENDS: On TheHalfShell, Prairieville, 7p.m.

TAYLOR RAE: Bin 77, 7p.m

BEN BELL &THE STARDUST

BOYS: Curbside Burgers, 7p.m.

THE LEE SERIO BAND: Phil Brady’s, 7:30p.m.

DUSTIN LEE GUEDRY: Frozen Assets Daiquiris, Gonzales, 8p.m.

KARIN DANGER: The Colonel’s Club, 8p.m.

AFTER 8: The Edge Bar at L’Auberge, 9p.m.

THE DUPONT BROTHERS: The Vineyard, 9p.m. REGENERATION: Coop’s on 621, Gonzales, 9p.m.

IAN WEBSTER &PAT-E: Fat Cat Saloon, Prairieville, 9p.m.

BLUE CRAB REDEMPTION/ SOUTHLAND: The TexasClub, 9p.m.

SATURDAY

JAMBALAYA FESTIVAL: Lamar-Dixon Expo Center Gonzales, 10 a.m.

JOSH MARTIN: Leola’s Café, 11 a.m.

BATONROUGE SOUL FOOD FESTIVAL: Main Library at Goodwood, 11 a.m.

RUSTY YATES: The Colonel’s Club, 5p.m.

IAN WEBSTER DUO: Sullivan’s Steakhouse, 5:30 p.m

EDDIE SMITH: El Paso, Denham Springs, 6p.m.

DON POURCIAU&KONSPIRACY: La Carreta, Denham Springs, 6p.m.

DRAMA KINGS: Victoria’s

Mexican, Denham Springs, 6p.m.

AMEAL CAMERON: BLDG 5, 6p.m.

TAYLOR NAUTA: Le Chien Brewing Co., Denham Springs, 6:30 p.m

FLORIDASTREETBLOWHARDS: Curbside Burgers, 7p.m.

THE PADLOCKS: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 7p.m

JENNA &DON: Bin 77, 7p.m.

MJ &THE REDEEMERS: Backstreet Lounge, 8p.m.

BRIAN &THE BANDITS: TNT Lounge, 8p.m.

THE MUDKATZ: Cousins’Bar, Port Allen, 9p.m. THE DRUNK UNCLES: FatCat Saloon, Prairieville, 9p.m.

SUNDAY

JAMBALAYA FESTIVAL: Lamar-Dixon ExpoCenter, Gonzales, 10 a.m.

CHRISALLEN DUO: On The HalfShell, Prairieville, 11a.m.

CANE FEVER: Leola’s Café, 11 a.m

JUSTIN BURDETTE TRIO: Superior Grill-MidCity,11a.m.

BATONROUGE SOUL FOOD FESTIVAL: Main Library at Goodwood, 11a.m.

JAZZ BRUNCH: RedStick Social, noon

ERICBASKIN: Watermark Hotel,1 p.m

JESSE RICE: Buddy’s Backyard,3 p.m

FOSSIL FUEL: Beauvoir Park, 5p.m.

SONGWRITER SUNDAYS: La Divina Italian Cafe, 5p.m.

JEFF BAJON PROJECT: Pizza Byronz, 5:30 p.m

LORI ST.GEORGE: TheEdge Bar at L’Auberge, 6:30 p.m.

OPEN MIC JAM: FatCat Saloon, Prairieville, 7p.m.

MONDAY ERICSTELLY: Superior GrillMidCity,6 p.m

TUESDAY

KATIE KENNEY: Superior GrillMidCity,6 p.m

WEDNESDAY

2DOMESTIC 1IMPORT: BLDG 5, 5:30 p.m

STONEWALL BROUSSARD: Galvez Seafood,Prairieville, 5:30 p.m

GARRETT REMSON DUO: Superior Grill-MidCity,6 p.m

BRENT ARMSTRONG: Danny’s DiveBar, 6p.m. LSU JAZZ JAM: ClassicVinyls, 6p.m.

JOSH MARTIN: Bin 77, 6:30 p.m

ERICLEGER: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 6:30p.m.

SONGWRITERS OPENMIC W/ HEATHRANSONNET: Coop’s on 621, Gonzales, 7p.m

ANDYPIZZOTRIO: Hayride

BR SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: Louisiana Art&Science Museum, 7:30 p.m.

OPEN MIC JAM: O’Hara’s Irish Pub, 8p.m

OLD 97’SWITH CALEB CAUDLE: The TexasClub, 9p.m

THURSDAY

PETER SIMON: BLDG 5, 5:30 p.m.

CHRIS OCMAND: Luna Cocina, 6p.m

DOROTHYLEBLANC: La Divina Italian Cafe,6 p.m.

CAITLYN RENEE: Thai Kitchen,6 p.m.

KYBALION: El Paso, 6p.m

BRANDON NICHOLSON: Superior Grill-MidCity,6 p.m.

CAMPYLE: Bin 77, 6:30 p.m.

ELIZABETH SHAR: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 6:30 p.m.

TUNES ÀLAMODE TRIO: The Brakes Bar,7pm.

TET DUR: Swamp Chicken

Daiquiris,St. Amant, 7p.m

TUNES ÀLAMODE TRIO: The Brakes Bar,7 p.m.

BR SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA:

Louisiana Art&Science Museum, 7:30 p.m.

HENRY TURNER JR. &ALL-

STARS: Henry Turner Jr.’s

Listening Room, 8p.m

CHRIS LEBLANC DUO: The Station, 8p.m

BLUES JAM: Phil Brady’s, 9p.m OUTLYING

FRIDAY

THE ROUX TONES: Bayou

SaraBrewing,St. Francisville, 6:30 p.m.

IRIS CALLEGAN: El Mejor, St Francisville, 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY

LA SOUTHBOUND: El Mejor, St.Francisville, 6:30 p.m.

MARK CHESNUTT &CHRIS

CAGLE: MáriShowroom at Paragon Casino,Marksville, 7:30 p.m.

WILL WESLEY: The Red, White &Brew, Hammond, 8p.m

SUNDAY

LUCY YOES: BayouSara Brewing, St.Francisville, 1p.m

THURSDAY THE PADLOCKS: El Mejor, St Francisville, 6:30 p.m.

Compiled by Marchaund Jones. Want your venue’s musiclisted? Email info/ photos to showstowatch@ theadvocate.com. The deadline is noon FRIDAY for the following Friday’s paper

FRIDAY

SHADES OF MEN LIVE: 8p.m

Southern Rhythm, Denham Springs. An all-male revue. $19.70 and up. eventbrite. com.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

EVENING SKYVIEWING:

8:30 p.m.-10 p.m.,BRECHighland Road Park Observatory 13800 Highland Road. See the majesty of the night sky in these public viewingsfor those 6and up. hrpo.lsu.edu/ events.

SATURDAY

RED STICK FARMERS MARKET: 8a.m.-noon,Fifth and Main streets, downtown. Farmfresh produce and goods. breada.org.

FAMILY-HOURSTARGAZING: 10 a.m.,Irene W. Pennington Planetarium at the Louisiana Art &Science Museum, 100 S. River Road. Learn about the stars and constellations in the local nighttime sky, followedbyanall-ages show. lasm.org.

GREATER BATONROUGE

MODEL RAILROADERS: 10 a.m. to 2p.m Republic of West Florida Historical Museum, 3406 CollegeSt.,Jackson. Electric trains of all sizes will be running on ﬁvedifferent layouts. Free admission and parking

TUESDAY

RED STICK FARMERS MARKET:

3p.m.-6 p.m.,Main Library at Goodwood, 7711 Goodwood Blvd. Farm-fresh produce, goods, cooking demonstrations. breada.org.

BECOMING LOUISIANA: THE ACADIANS: 5:30 p.m., reception; 6:30 p.m., lecture, Louisiana State Archives, 3851 Essen Lane. The Friends of the Louisiana State Archives and the Friends of theOld State Capitol present alecturefocused on theAcadians, givenbyWarren Perrin. Free. Reservations at zeffy.com.

BATONROUGE CHESS CLUB: 6p.m.-8 p.m.,LaDivina Italian Cafe, 3535 Perkins Road, Unit 360. Achance to playand learn; all levels welcome. Free.

CRAWFISH TALK: 6:30 p.m.-

8p.m., LSU Hilltop Arboretum, 11855 Highland Road. Author/ bandleader Sam Irwin will speak on his book “Louisiana Crawﬁsh: ASucculent History of theCajun Crustacean.”

WEDNESDAY

RED STICK FARMERS MARKET: 9a.m.-noon,ExxonMobil YMCA, 7711 Howell Blvd. Farm-fresh produce, goods and more. www.facebook. com/redstickfarmersmarket.

MICHALOPOULOS: THE ART OF CELEBRATION +ART EXHIBIT,RECEPTION &Q&A: 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.,Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St Screening of art documentary capturing the evolutionof James Michalopoulos’ artistic vision and the profound impact his work has had on Louisiana’s cultural landscape. $12.50. manshiptheatre.org.

THURSDAY

RED STICK FARMERS MARKET: 8a.m.-noon,Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 6400 Perkins Road. Farm-fresh produce, goods and more. facebook.com/redstickfarmersmarket.

OUTDOOR COMMUNITY

YOGA: 6p.m.-7 p.m.,pavilionbythe pond, LSU Hilltop Arboretum, 11855 Highland Road. Drop-in; no registration required; bring your ownmat. Free, but donations welcome. www.lsu.edu/hilltop.

GROWING MEDIUM AND SOILS AND BEES: 6:30 p.m.,Bluebonnet Branch Library,9200

AROUND

STAFFPHOTO By ROBIN MILLER

Marc Chagall’slithograph, ‘Wedding Feast in the Shrine of the Nymphs,’isNo. 40 in afolio of 42 lithographs he created to illustrate Greek novelistLongus’ story‘Dapnis and Chloe.’The piece, fromthe Collection of the West Park Museum,isfeatured in the LSU Museum of Art’sexhibit, ‘Daphnisand Chloe and Other Lovers.’Thisisthe final weekend to view the exhibit.

BluebonnetBlvd. Program presented by EBRMaster Gardeners. Free.

WEEKLYSOCIAL BIKE RIDE: 7p.m., Geaux Ride, 521 N. ThirdSt., SuiteA.Free. fareharbor.com.

KARAOKE, TRIVIA, BINGO AND MORE: 8p.m.-11 p.m Brickyard South Bar +Patio, 174 South Blvd.Presented by BarFlyEntertainment.Freeto play.https://www.facebook com/brickyardsouth.

ONGOING

ARTGUILD OF LOUISIANA: Independence Park Theatre, 7800 Independence Blvd. “Watercolor Basics —Waterscapes (Beach,Bayou, and Flowing Water), May 23 and May30. Classes are held at AGLPark Studio, 2490 Silverest Ave. Text workshop coordinator BarbaraAndrepont at (225) 773-8020 or artguildlouisiana.org. “Larry Downs —Acrylic Pouring: Color, Motion, and Creative Surprise,” 3p.m.-6 p.m., June 4-5, maximum of 14 participants. Contact workshop coordinator Sheila Riso at (225) 216-0826.

BATONROUGE GALLERY CENTER FORCONTEMPORARYART: 1515 Dalrymple Drive.ExhibitsbyJeremiah Ariaz, Justin TylerBryant and Kristine Thompson, through Sunday.Hours:noon-6 p.m Tuesday-Sunday.batonrougegallery.org.

CAPITOL PARK MUSEUM: 660 N. FourthSt. “Groundsfor Greatness: Louisiana and theNation,” “The Louisiana Experience:Discovering the SoulofAmerica,” “African American History,” “Music and Musicians” and “Mardi Gras,” permanent exhibits. (225) 342-5428 or louisianastatemuseum.org. CARY SAURAGECOMMUNITY ARTS CENTER SHELL GALLERY: 233 St. Ferdinand St. “A Refugee’s Origin by K.T.Ho: AMixed-Media Exhibition Exploring Vietnamese Diaspora, Colonial Legacy, and Survival,”through May 29. Hours arefrom9 a.m. to 4p.m.weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 2p.m.Saturday. artsbr.org.

THE GALLERYATMANSHIP: 100 Lafayette St. “Brandon Lewis —WhenAll God’s ChildrenGet Together.” Hours are9 a.m.-4 p.m.Monday 9a.m.-10 p.m.Tuesday-Thursday, 9a.m.-11 p.m.Friday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m.Saturday, and 11 a.m.-5 p.m.Sunday LOUISIANAART &SCIENCE MUSEUM: 100 S. River Road. “Then, And Now, And Always: The Artwork of Nick Bustamante,” through July 19, SoupCon Gallery; “Pinpointing theStars,” through Aug. 1; “Crossroads&Connections: ACentury of theRailway in

Baton Rouge,” through Oct. 1; “Going Places: Transportation Toys of thePast,” through July 6, and “Shelf Queens: Model Train Masterpieces,” also through July 6. (225) 3445272 or lasm.org.

LSU MUSEUM OF ART: Shaw Center for theArts, 100 Lafayette St. “Daphnis and Chloe and Other Lovers: Lithographs by MarcChagall,” through Sunday.(225) 389-7200 or lsumoa.org.

LSU TEXTILE &COSTUME MUSEUM: Human Ecology Building, TowerDrive, LSU campus. “Quilts&Fashion,” exploring theenduring dialogue between quilt making and dress, through Jan. 15, 2027. (225) 578-5992 or email textile@lsu.edu

MAGNOLIA MOUNDMUSEUM

+HISTORIC SITE: 2161 Nicholson Drive.Guided and selfguided tours.Hours arefrom 10 a.m. to 4p.m. MondaySaturday and from 1p.m. to 4p.m. Sunday.brec.org/facility/MagnoliaMound

MANSHIP THEATRE JONES WALKERFOYER: 100 Lafayette St. “Look up:APhilosophy for Birding and Life” by Gail Suberbielle.Freeand open during regular Shaw Center building hours unless thereis aprivate event.

OLD GOVERNOR’SMANSION: 502 NorthBlvd. Open for tours.Hours arefrom9 a.m. to 4p.m. Monday-Friday.Free admission. oldgovernorsmansion.com.

OLD STATECAPITOL: 100 North Blvd.“Bought for aSong: AYoung Nation Expands,”displayof the Louisiana Purchase, through July 11. “Japanese WarBrides: Across AWide Divide,” through June 13. “A MorePerfectUnion: Reconstruction’sLegacy in Louisiana,” permanent exhibit. Free. Hours: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, plus Free First Sunday. louisianaoldstatecapitol.org. USS KIDD VETERANS MUSEUM: 305 S. River Road. Displaysofavariety of artifacts that celebrate veteran and navalmilitary history.Note: Vessel is in Houma for dry dock repairs.usskidd.com. WEST BATONROUGE MUSEUM: 845 N. Jefferson Ave., Port Allen. “Finding Alice: Artists Exploring Wonderland,” through Sunday.(225) 336-2422 or westbatonrougemuseum.org.

CompiledbyJudy Bergeron. Have an open-to-the-public eventyou’dlike to promote? Email details to red@theadvocate.com. Deadline is 5p.m.Friday forthe following Friday’s paper

GEMInI(May 21-June 20) Structure your time and schedule around what matters most to you. Considerhosting an event or opening your doors to people you like to hang out with or haven't seen forsome time

cAncER (June 21-July22) Consider every angle and, most of all, be honest with yourself regarding what's possible and whatisn't.Fact-check,talktoexpertsand avoidtaking on too much debt or responsibilities.

LEO (July 23-Aug.22) Payattention to detail. Chooseacreative or helpful path. Approach specialists to discover resources that you can drawfromto ensurethat 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'shappening around you.

LIBRA (sept.23-Oct. 23) An unexpected change will breathe new life into your plans. Conversations will lead to somethingconcrete, 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'tbuyintosomethingyoucannot afford.

sAGITTARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Step into thespotlight and share your thoughts. A chance to make improvements to yourself, your homeand 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'sinsinuations get to you.

AQuARIus (Jan.20-Feb. 19) Don't push yourself physically or take on ano-win situation. Happiness will come from spending timewithloved ones and taking care of financial matters that add to a stable and stress-free environment.

PIscEs (Feb.20-March20) 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(March21-April19) Listen, nurture meaningful relationships and take care of domesticissuespromptly. Achange to how you earn your living or how you handle your investments will help you overcome debt.

TAuRus (April 20-May 20) Useyourenergy wisely. Take care of unfinished business instead of stressing over what you'veleft undone. Completion is the key to being able to move forward. Use your voice to attract interest.

CeLebrItY CIpher

better or For WorSe

beetLe bAILeY Mother GooSe And GrIMM

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers1to9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

By PHILLIP ALDER

This week,wehave been studying strong jump shifts. To check that you have theidea, look at today’sSouth hand Northopens one heart andEast passes. What should Southbid?

While you decide, Ihave said that a strong jumpshift should promise 13-16 high-card points. In the days of yore, responderneeded17-19high-cardpoints. As Iexplainedthree daysago,thiswas not best. But if responder has atwo-suiter, by the timeheadds shortage points, hishand will probably be worth 17-19 supportpoints: high-card plus shortage points. In this deal, though, South must respond one spade, nottwo spades. Don’t make astrong jump shiftwitha two-suiter unless partner opened in one of your suits.

Asensible sequence is oneheart –one spade –three spades–four no-trump –five diamonds –five no-trump–six hearts –six spades.Itisdifficult to bid seven no-trump (the best contract) or sevenspades with confidence when a king is missing.

However, let’s assume that West leads the club jack against seven spades. How should Southplan the play?

Declarer has 13 top tricks: five spades, five hearts, one diamondand two clubs So, he does not need to risk thediamond finesse.Heshould win trick one in his hand withthe club ace, drawtrumps (leaving the ace or king in the dummy as an entry), unblock the heartace and king, cross to dummy with atrump, and cash those lovely winners (the heart Q-J10andclubking),discardinghisfourdiamondlosers.

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

Previous answers:

word game

InsTRucTIOns: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional wordsmade 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’sWORD IMITATED: IM-ih-tay-ted: Followed as apattern, model or example.

Average mark 26 words

Time limit 40 minutes

Canyou find 35 or more words in IMITATED?

yEsTERDAy’sWORD— sEAGOInG

today’s thought

“And he said to them, Why are you fearful, Oyou of little faith? Then he arose, and rebukedthe windsand the sea;and there was agreat calm. But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the windsand thesea obey him!” Matthew8:26-27

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

LetJesus calm thestorms in your life. G.E. Dean

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles