The Advocate 05-28-2026

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‘Still not feeling safe’ Mall of Louisiana traffic down after fatal shooting, workers say

BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer

STAFF PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER

The ARA Libertad, a sailing vessel from Argentina, docks on the downtown riverfront for Sail 250 in New Orleans on Wednesday.

New Orleans welcomes historic marine vessels for America’s 250th birthday

BY VIOLET BUCARO Staff writer

Nearly 3,000 sailors and a fleet of historic and modern vessels will descend on New Orleans beginning Thursday to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, including 18th-centurystyle tall ships that once served in trade and wartime missions around the world.

The global gathering of tall and military ships, known as Sail 250, will make its first American stop in the Crescent City through Monday. The ships will continue on a multicity tour that will finish in Boston in late July.

The vessels, often associated with pirates, naval battles and maritime exploration, will be open for free public tours once they dock along the Mississippi River near downtown New Orleans. Thousands of visitors are expected to show up to see their multiple

Navy Band Southeast performs during a welcome celebration for Sail 250 at the Julia Street Pier in New Orleans on Wednesday. masts and billowing port. stacks of sails.

“Our riverfront As she welcomed has long been the the ships’ arrival, gateway connectNew Orleans Maying New Orleans to the nation and or Helena Moreno also to the world,” said Wednesday Moreno said. “We the city’s more than value and honor 300-year-old mari- Moreno that connection betime industry remains central to its identity cause it is one of the main because of its longstand- reasons New Orleans develing role as an international oped the rich and diverse

culture that makes our city so incredibly special today.”

Walt Leger III, president and CEO of tourism marketing organization New Orleans and Co., added that the five Louisiana ports stretching from New Orleans to Baton Rouge form what he considers one of the world’s most significant port systems. The ports played a key role in the Louisiana Purchase and continue to shape Louisiana and the nation’s economy, he said.

“I think it’s a really great symbol of preserving and protecting the past and celebrating the history and the culture, but also leaning into the innovation and the modern development of new technologies,” Leger said of the vessels.

While a few ships are replicas, several are authentic vessels dating back to the 19th and 20th centuries.

ä See VESSELS, page 5A

Mothers pushed strollers through the Blue Zoo Aquarium at the Mall of Louisiana early on the afternoon of April 23, cruising their children through the dark rooms, illuminated by the lights of tanks filled with aquatic creatures.

Around 1:23 p.m., two groups opened fire following an altercation in the mall food court upstairs, killing one teen from Lafayette and injuring five, sparking a chaotic scene as shoppers fled to safety. Blue Zoo Aquarium manager Garrett Callender recalls his staff ushering all guests out of the aquarium within a minute.

Ever since the tragedy, the aquarium has not been the same, he said, with revenue this quarter down more than half from the previous one.

“Many people are still not feeling safe,” Callender said.

The mall — more than a million square feet of space for retail, food and services galore — is usually humming with the shuffle of shoppers. But attendance since the shooting has been sparse: 17 mall employees contacted said traffic has fallen, by double digits for some stores, as the community continues to reel from the tragedy.

A dozen other mall employees either declined to comment or deferred comment to their corporate office in fear of retribution from their employer or company policy restricting employee communication with the press.

Mass shootings at retail centers tend to decrease revenues, customer shopping time and traffic at stores within a 1.25-mile

ä See MALL, page 4A

Edwards hopes AI will speed up EBR 311 Pilot program to tackle after-hours nonemergencies

BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER

Staff writer

Rural town’s internet plans derailed again Federal, state funding stalled

BY JENNA ROSS Staff writer

EAST CARROLL PARISH — “Celebrate,” the original poster said, “the arrival of fiber internet!”

Folks were trekking to Lake Providence in the northeast corner of Louisiana from Washington, D.C., to cheer the expected expansion of high-speed internet across the small city. The head of the state’s broadband office was

WEATHER HIGH 82 LOW 71 PAGE 6B

set to attend. The internet company, Conexon, had installed fiber optic cables in the ground, right up to the library, where the event was to be held.

But by the time of the event, in early May, the celebration and the exclamation point had disappeared from the poster. A few of the speakers had, too.

Instead, leaders were again answering the same question: Where’s the fiber internet?

“We’re furious,” said Nathanael Wills, an organizer with Delta

PHOTO PROVIDED By EREMy HERNANDEZ/DELTA INTERFAITH

After Conexon built fiber internet lines in rural East Carroll Parish, Cassandra Toston, left, returned to the area, ä See INTERNET, page 3A knowing she’d be able to work from home.

After years of complaints from residents frustrated by slow responses to 311 requests, East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sid Edwards’ office hopes some new tech will make things move faster.

On Wednesday, the Metro Council approved a contract to start a pilot program that will use artificial intelligence to help tackle complaints of potholes, blight, broken streetlights and other nonemergency situations identified by East Baton Rouge Edwards residents.

The program, given the name “Grace,” will start by answering after-hours calls, and Edwards’ team says it will eventually lighten the load on call center workers, shorten the time it takes to address issues and make the city-parish’s 311 system more cost-efficient.

After coming into office, Edwards and his team quickly saw that many complaints were being duplicated in the system, and residents

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

ä See 311, page 3A

101ST yEAR, NO. 332

2A ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Puerto Rico announces erosion emergency

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico’s governor announced a state of emergency Wednesday to fight a surge in coastal erosion along the U.S. territory’s north coast.

Gov. Jenniffer González said the executive order would allow her administration to accelerate projects to protect natural resources and vulnerable coastal communities. The government said in a statement that rising sea levels, storm surges and other factors have intensified coastal erosion in Puerto Rico.

González pledged to help northern towns including Loiza, where people have been evacuated and chunks of asphalt from coastal roads have tumbled into the ocean following heavy swells.

The order was signed just days before the start of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

The cost of the projects has not yet been determined.

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Trump sets Ebola response policy Americans exposed while abroad to be sent to Kenya

BY ALI SWENSON and MIKE STOBBE Associated Press

NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s administration is planning to send Americans who are exposed to Ebola while abroad to a new facility in Kenya instead of flying them to the United States, an administration official said Wednesday.

The quarantine and treatment center being set up by the Departments of Defense, State and Health and Human Services will be designed for Ebola patients who need to get out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and receive care quickly, said the official, who insisted on anonymity to share the Republican administration’s plans.

The person said the plan would help patients avoid an hourslong medical evacuation to the U.S. It was unclear where in Kenya the new facility will be built or whether the Kenyan government has signed off on the plan.

The official said the facility will be able to care for the full spectrum of Ebola, a rare but severe disease that is often fatal in people.

But the official said people may be transported elsewhere for more advanced care as appropriate.

Kenya’s health minister confirmed officials there were talking with the U.S. about “preparedness and response mechanisms for Ebola” but didn’t address whether the country would establish a treatment facility for Americans.

“Any arrangements regarding international health cooperation will be guided by Kenya’s national laws, public health regulations, biosafety and biosecurity standards, and the government’s responsibility to safeguard the health and welfare of Kenyans,” Health Minister Aden Duale said in a statement.

For decades, medical experts have suggested moving patients suffering from Ebola and similar

illnesses as little as possible in case their condition worsens, said Dr. Ali Khan, the public health college dean at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. But, he added, the quality of care must be equivalent to what someone would receive in American facilities.

“You’ve got to make sure the patient gets the best quality care, and you need to ensure excellent infection control,” said Khan, who earlier in his career led international responses to Ebola and other outbreaks for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Craig Spencer, a public health professor and emergency medicine doctor at Brown University who survived Ebola in 2014, said he doesn’t expect the facility in Kenya to provide the same quality of care that dedicated facilities in the United States do. He said refusing to consider bringing American Ebola patients home for treatment is “a moral abdication of

SpaceX’s rockets grounded after test CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX Starship launches are on hold pending an investigation into last week’s test flight.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday that the hourlong spaceflight resulted in a mishap based on the performance of the mega rocket’s first-stage booster.

Minutes after Starship blasted off from Texas on Friday, the booster separated as normal but engines conked out as it made its way back to Earth. Instead of a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, the booster came in hard. There were no reports of injury or property damage, according to the FAA, which will oversee the company’s investigation.

The spacecraft continued around the world, releasing 20 mock satellites before ending the mission as planned with a fiery splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

The 407-foot rocket is SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s biggest and most powerful Starship yet, designed to carry crews to Mars.

NASA is looking for it to land astronauts on the moon as soon as 2028 and help build a lunar base.

Teen charged with killing stepsister remains free MIAMI — A federal judge on Wednesday allowed a teenager charged with sexually assaulting and killing his 18-year-old stepsister, Anna Kepner, on a Carnival Cruise ship to remain free for now as the judge considers arguments following a hearing in Miami.

Timothy Hudson was initially arrested and charged as a juvenile, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres ruled in February that the 16-year-old could live with an uncle and be electronically monitored. But after the case was transferred to adult court, prosecutors wanted Hudson in custody.

Minors are rarely prosecuted in federal court, and this case landed there because Kepner apparently died in international waters, outside any state’s jurisdiction.

The judge ended Wednesday morning’s hearing without making a final decision, saying he wanted to speak with the U.S. Marshals Service about the logistics of detaining Hudson in central Florida, closer to his family, rather than South Florida, where the trial is taking place.

It’s unknown when Torres will announce his decision. In the meantime, Hudson walked out of the courthouse after the hearing, rather than being immediately taken into custody.

Hudson has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse. His federal public defenders have declined to comment on the charges.

Kepner had been traveling on the Carnival Horizon ship in November with her family, including Hudson. Before the ship was scheduled to return to Florida, her body was found concealed under a bed in a room she was sharing with Hudson and another teen, a criminal complaint said.

what this country owes its own.”

Officials have been expanding the number of U.S. airports where CDC staffers are screening and monitoring incoming passengers from outbreak countries. Enhanced screenings began last week at Washington Dulles International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. CDC staff began screenings at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston this week, and are being dispatched to start screenings Friday at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The CDC’s acting director, Jay Bhattacharya, sent an email Monday to CDC employees asking for volunteers from across the agency to work the screening stations.

CDC veterans say it’s not unusual to see a call for volunteers for staffing major epidemic responses.

The government also has temporarily banned the entry of people without U.S. passports, as well as U.S. green-card holders, who have visited Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the last 21 days.

Congress members visit N.J. immigration detention center

later spoke with protestAdvocates say ers and family members immigrants are on of detainees demonstrating outside the facility’s a hunger strike security gate.

BY TED SHAFFREY and PHILIP MARCELO The Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MOSES SAWASAWA

A Muslim man washes his hands as a precaution against Ebola before attending the Eid al-Adha prayers at Sayo Muhamed School in Bunia, Congo, on Wednesday.

Uganda closes border with Congo as precaution Suspected cases of rare strain of Ebola surging

BY RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press

KAMPALA, Uganda — Uganda on Wednesday ordered the closure of its border with Congo, where suspected cases of a rare type of Ebola are surging, and as cases have been confirmed at home after Ugandan health workers were exposed to the disease from Congolese patients.

The measure, which goes against the guidance by the World Health Organization, underscores growing fears of contagion in East Africa from Bundibugyo, a rare type of the Ebola virus that is behind this outbreak and that has no approved medicines or vaccines.

Like Congo, Uganda has faced Ebola outbreaks in the past. A local Ugandan task force made the decision on the border closure. The Ugandan health workers were exposed to the virus by Congolese patients who had crossed the border before the outbreak was declared in eastern Congo on May 15.

Border crossings will be authorized only in emergency cases, including for the outbreak response, cargo or security reasons, Dr. Diana Atwine of the Ugandan Ministry of Health, told journalists.

Anyone entering from Congo under emergency circumstances will be taken into mandatory isolation for 21 days.

Tracing and isolating Ebola contacts is seen as key to stopping the spread of the disease, which usually manifests as hemorrhagic fever. The virus is spread through close contact with sick or deceased patients’ bodily fluids. Experts say healthcare workers and family members caring for patients face the highest risk.

The number of suspected cases in eastern Congo is nearing 1,000, with at least 220 suspected deaths. Congo’s health ministry on Tuesday said 101 cases have been confirmed, and they are looking into over 3,000 possible contacts.

On Wednesday, Congolese authorities said that the first person who recovered from the Bundibugyo virus has been released home from a treatment center in Rwampara, one of the towns in eastern Congo at the heart of the outbreak.

WHO has discouraged border closures with Congo while acknowledging that neighboring countries are at high risk of contagion. The U.N. health agency has declared this outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

Closures “push the movement of people and goods to informal border crossings that are not monitored, thus increasing the chances of the spread of disease,” the agency said.

The Uganda-Congo border is several hundred miles long and crossed by numerous footpaths beyond formal border posts. Many people come and go in the course of a day to visit families or to trade.

Divers find 5 villagers alive in cave Two are still missing in Laos

BY JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI Associated Press

BANGKOK — Five villagers who became trapped in a flooded cave in central Laos more than a week ago have been found alive by divers who discovered them sitting on a rock in the darkness, rescuers said Wednesday, but two others are still missing.

The seven villagers entered the cave in Xaisomboun province on May 19, but heavy rain triggered flash flooding that blocked

the exit, according to Lao and Thai rescue teams involved in the operation.

Thai rescuer Chakkit Taengtang posted video of himself in the cave saying divers were delivering food and water to the five and planning to extract them as soon as possible.

All of the villagers are men, according to a Facebook post by the Lao group Rescue Volunteer for People.

“I’m still shaking. Our team made it happen,” Bounkham Luanglath, a member of the Lao rescue team, said in a voice message to The Associated Press. He said the search for the missing would con-

tinue.

A video posted by the rescue group appeared to show the moment divers emerged from the water and discovered the trapped men. In the footage, the men are wearing headlamps and sitting on a rock surrounded by floodwater.

Other videos showed rescuers inside and outside the cave cheering, jumping and hugging each other in joy after the discovery.

Another villager who went into the cave with the seven was able to escape when the flooding began, and he raised the alarm about the trapped men.

NEWARK, N.J. — Democratic members of Congress visited a federal immigration detention center in New Jersey on Wednesday, where protesters have been demonstrating in recent days and asserting that detainees are on a hunger strike.

U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a Manhattan Democrat, said after touring Delaney Hall in Newark that detainees were refusing to eat over what he described as “inhumane” conditions.

“We will shut this center down. We will shut it down,” he vowed after the roughly hourlong visit.

U.S. Reps. Jerry Nadler and Dan Goldman, also Manhattan Democrats,

“We want to make sure the conditions here are going to be dealt with,” said Goldman, shortly before the two lawmakers entered the facility.

More than 50 people held signs saying “Stop Family Separation” and chanted “Free Them All” and other slogans.

Some shouted directly at the armed and helmetwearing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers standing outside, calling them “cowards” and “idiots.”

The protests began Friday and have been tense at times.

On Monday, U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, said he was pepper-sprayed as he and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill led a delegation of Democratic officials who tried to visit detainees but were denied entry.

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Louisiana redistricting effort in home stretch GOP leaders ‘close’ on a deal as protests continue

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

Republican leaders in the Louisiana House and Senate say they are nearing a final deal on a new congressional map as the lower chamber is set to take a vote Thursday that would bring the proposal near the legislative finish line.

Senate President Cameron Henry said the two chambers are “very close” to an agreement after several key GOP players in the redistricting effort met early Wednesday afternoon to discuss the plan.

He and others said the map will likely look similar to an initial version approved by the Senate two weeks ago.

Lawmakers who have been working on the map have reached “a compromise that, I think, will make everybody as comfortable as they’re gonna be and follows all the rules and regulations of redistricting,” Henry said.

But even as Republicans appeared close to a deal, Democrats continued

INTERNET

Continued from page 1A Interfaith, a coalition of congregations across the area.

“We’re fed up.”

For five years, Delta Interfaith has been pushing to better connect this city, population 3,500, despite obstacle after obstacle. Among them: A cable company’s last-minute attempt to block a grant to build fiber in 2022.

The Trump administration’s rewrite of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, known as BEAD, in 2025. The awarding of those dollars last year to satellite, rather than fiber.

But this spring, the community had been optimistic.

Though Conexon’s award for federal funding was rescinded, the Kansas Citybased company was planning to extend fiber across the city on its own dime.

With the help of a state grant known as GUMBO, it had already built fiber to homes outside of town.

Ahead of the May event, Conexon’s co-CEO Jonathan Chambers outlined his frustrations with the Louisiana’s Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity.

But, he said, he had faith that the people of East Carroll “want for themselves and their children and their grandchildren something better than has been given to them,” he said. “I am building this on faith.”

A week beforehand, though, Chambers and the head of the broadband office, Veneeth Iyengar, disappeared from the event’s agenda.

Chambers says the state owes his company millions.

Iyengar says the company

311

Continued from page 1A often weren’t having their 311 calls returned.

“The idea is that Grace will be so good that when you call it, it’s going answer the first ring every time, and when Grace calls you back … the product is good enough to where they’ll be happy,” said Mason Batts, executive director of the Mayor-President’s Office. “We’re trying to improve the overall customer experience.”

Following the first phase of solely after-hours service, Grace will then start taking calls during the day. If residents would rather speak to a person, the program will transfer them to one, Batts said.

In the last phase of the pilot, the program will allow 311 call center workers shift their focus from constantly answering calls to making sure complaints are quickly assigned and addressed, Batts said.

He also said the program is designed to improve over

to protest the new congressional map, which will eliminate one of two majority-Black voting districts that favor Democratic candidates and add a district that favors Republicans.

A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision weakening the federal Voting Rights Act that led to redistricting in Louisiana represents “the most significant attempt” to reduce Black and Democratic congressional representation in the South in a generation, Rep. Kyle Green, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said at a Wednesday news conference alongside Democratic leaders from other Southern states.

Republicans get on same page Sen. Jay Morris, the sponsor of the map legislation, and state Rep. Beau Beaullieu, chair of the House committee that handles redistricting, agreed that a deal was imminent.

“We’re pretty close to an agreement,” Beaullieu said. “Conceptually, we’ve gotten to a place where we think we can get it out of both bodies.”

Beaullieu, Morris and Henry all expressed optimism about the prospect of a deal, but they also cautioned that any plans remained tentative.

needs to complete its work.

“Conexon has some additional homework,” Iyengar said. The state has reimbursed Conexon for 30% of its GUMBO project, he said, and has successfully audited 70% of the work. The process of reimbursement requires technical and compliance checks, he continued.

“The last thing we want to do is a fund a program that does not comply with federal state and local rules.”

Program ‘has failed us here’ The dispute illustrates the complexities of mapping, funding and building high-speed fiber systems in the country’s most rural reaches. Now, Lake Providence residents are looking at whether they might build, own or run a network on their own.

“The BEAD program has failed us here,” Wills said.

After a prayer, Wills began the May meeting with “a major reality check.”

The $6.2 million in Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment funding awarded to Conexon was gone. Instead, funds went to SpaceX, which operates Starlink, a satellite-based service already available in Lake Providence.

Fiber cables, installed underground, consistently meet the Federal Communications Commission’s broadband requirements of 100 megabits per second for downloads and 20 Mbps for uploads. Last year, a national speed analysis found that just 17.4% of Starlink users got speeds consistent with those minimums.

But recently, satellite has improved: A May study by Ookla shows that in the second half of last year, 44.7% of Starlink users got those

time.

“Every day, Grace gets better,” Batts said. “She learns based on all the call data she will get, and she’ll get better with the more interactions with people she has … it will become to where you have no idea you’re talking to an AI.” Council member Carolyn Coleman saw a brief demo on Grace earlier this week, and said she is excited to see it fully deployed.

“I think Grace is gonna grace us with some more efficiency,” Coleman said. “311 has been one of the most cumbersome things within the city-parish since I’ve been on council.”

The Grace pilot will cost $140,000 to run starting Monday through July 2027. Care Plus Ventures, which created the system, will be paid those funds to implement it.

Batts says the data collected will not only help the city-parish to address issues more quickly, but also eventually anticipate them before they happen.

“The AI on the back end will be able to tell us over the past six months we’ve

“It’s not over till it’s over, and things are always subject to change,” Morris said.

Senate Republicans were set to meet Wednesday evening to review the proposed map, as were House Republicans on Thursday morning.

Last week, a House committee altered the initial version of the map approved by the Senate. Districts in southeast Louisiana and anchored in New Orleans remained intact.

But the committee made significant changes to district lines in the Baton Rouge and Acadiana regions, as well as Calcasieu Parish and some parishes in north Louisiana.

Some of those changes irked senators.

“We have to talk to members and make sure that we have the votes,” Beaullieu said of the latest agreement. “We’re not gonna make everybody happy. It’s impossible to make everybody happy.”

Henry, Morris and Beaullieu were all at the Wednesday afternoon meeting about the proposed map.

So were Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, chair of the Senate redistricting committee, House Speaker Phillip DeVillier and Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-Baton Rouge, who sponsored the House amendments.

The House is set to take up the re-

speeds.

“We set out a long time ago to build fiber,” Wills said, which is less expensive and more reliable. “We have not wavered.” So leaders were hopeful when Conexon said it would complete the network, crisscrossing through town, and disappointed when officials outlined their dispute.

“As it stands today, we are awaiting reimbursement from ConnectLA for two projects — our original build in East Carroll Parish, completed in 2024, and a recently completed build in Webster Parish,” a Conexon spokesperson said by email.

“Once we receive payment for those, construction will begin.”

Chambers compared working with ConnectLA to Charlie Brown attempting to kick Lucy’s football. But Iyengar disputed that characterization, saying that his office has been consistently applying a “sequence of steps to make sure the work is complete, compliant and fully paid out.”

The company received extensive funding from an earlier federal program for homes in the area. “We need to make sure we’re not … awarding funds to a location that has already received federal funds,” Iyengar said.

In the meantime, “we’re the community that gets caught in the middle,” Wills said.

At the meeting, attendees discussed another option: community control.

“Now I’m not going to kid you: It’s not cheap,” said Gigi Sohn, executive director of the American Association of Public Broadband. “But I just scribbled down a list of a dozen communities across the country that have de-

had ‘X’ number of pothole calls on this street … and the road is deteriorating faster,” he said. “We’ll be able to see ahead of time that we need to get that road in line of an overlay before we actually see any major cracking or anything like that.”

Edwards’ office hopes to deploy Grace in other cityparish departments in the future too, Batts said, especially in the finance department.

“We really hope at some point, Grace will be citywide,” Batts said. “We’re going to save the people a lot of money with this.”

districting bill on Thursday and put it to a vote. Should it pass, the Senate will need to sign off on it.

Henry said he’s hopeful the Senate will be able to agree to the plan without the need for further negotiations in a closed-door “conference committee.” If that’s the case, the Senate’s sign-off could happen as early as Thursday afternoon or Friday, he said.

The legislation, Senate Bill 121, would then go to Gov. Jeff Landry for his signature.

The legislative session is scheduled to end Monday.

Democrats protest Meanwhile, Louisiana Democrats continued to protest the GOP map, holding a news conference Wednesday at the State Capitol alongside prominent Democrats from other Southern states.

Rep. Gene Wu, chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, said Louisiana’s Republican redistricting effort reflects broader concerns with the GOP agenda, like affordability, underfunding of schools and a healthcare system that’s broken.

“If you’re thinking that this is just about Democrats, or you’re thinking this is just about the Black community, you’re wrong,” Wu said. “Redis-

cided — including Lafayette in Louisiana — to take their future into their own hands.”

Six years ago, Scott Woods, then a division chief at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, worked with Delta Interfaith in its early days of fighting for broadband.

“This is personal to me,” he told the crowd of more than 40 residents. Delta Interfaith has been pushing for broadband in “the right way,” said Woods, now president of public-private partnerships for Ready.net.

“What’s best for the community as a whole? Not just what’s best for this side of the railroad tracks versus that side of the lake, but what’s best for everyone together to move the commu-

tricting, gerrymandering — this is how they steal the American dream from you. This is how they steal your democracy.”

Wu called on voters to get involved in the political process.

“Go tell your state legislators, ‘We want our democracy back. We want this country back from the king. We want it back from the orange king,’” he said, apparently referencing President Donald Trump.

Georgia Democratic Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley also spoke, along with Mississippi state Rep. Zakiya Summers.

“The vote is still our most powerful weapon,” said Hugley. “It’s your protest. It’s your right. It’s your weapon. It’s your power.”

State Rep. Edmond Jordan, a Baton Rouge Democrat and chair of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, said Democrats are ready to bring a lawsuit over any map passed by the Louisiana Legislature.

“Our motto has always been over the last few years, what we can’t win through legislation, we’ll win through litigation,” Jordan said.

“And so we are prepared to do that.

We’re going to continue to fight for the African Americans of not only of this state but throughout the whole country.”

nity forward?”

Cassandra Toston grew up in Lake Providence, graduating from high school there.

She would have stayed, too, but she couldn’t find enough work to support herself and her son. At 29, she left for Texas.

One day, decades later, her mother, Earnest Jean Overton Toston-Luster, a longtime cafeteria manager for the school system, called and asked how to make spaghetti.

“That was the most frightful phone call I have ever had in my life,” Toston said.

Soon after, doctors diagnosed her mother with dementia. Toston’s job with a sanitation company allows her to work remotely, anywhere in the continental U.S. She wanted to return home

to Lake Providence, but the internet was too spotty and too expensive.

So instead, she moved her mother to Texas with her.

After a few years together there, she died in January 2025. “I feel like I let her down,” Toston said.

Then, at last, Conexon ran fiber lines to her childhood home in rural East Carroll.

So, after 39 years away, Toston moved back in December. “That’s income that’s going into the community,” she said. In Texas, she paid $100 to $150 a month for solid internet. Now, she’s paying “$67 and some change.”

“I’m loving it,” she said.

While working from the home where she grew up, Toston often glances at her fireplace. A portrait of her mother smiles back at her.

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4A ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Major fortified roof grant expansion in Louisiana begins Landry signs bill for more funding

BY SAM KARLIN Staff writer

Louisiana will dole out a record 3,000 grants to help homeowners put fortified roofs on their homes in the coming weeks, after elected officials agreed on a bill that injects $50 million into the program.

Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple said Wednesday his office will open up a lottery for the next batch of grants from Temple Monday to June 19.

Until now, the program has seen far more demand than supply, with only about 20% of people who sign up for the lotteries winning grants. Homeowners have

been desperate for relief from staggering property insurance costs in recent years, and fortified roofs have proven to save homeowners money on their premiums.

But lawmakers, Temple and Gov. Jeff Landry agreed on House Bill 1187 by Rep. Paul Sawyer, R-Baton Rouge, which will allow the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to send excess funds from Hurricane Katrinaera emergency bonds to the fortified roof program. The move is expected to net $50 million for the program, on top of $30 million in annual dedicated funding.

Landry signed the bill at a news conference Wednesday at the State Capitol.

“People want to protect their homes,” he said. “Louisianans are hungry for solutions that will actually work and drive down their

insurance costs.”

The new lottery round in midJune represents the first 3,000 of 8,000 grants the state will be able to fund this year. The Insurance Department is also expanding the eligibility criteria to include more parishes, not just those closest to the coast.

Parishes newly eligible to participate include Lafayette, Acadia and Jefferson Davis. Homeowners who had previously been excluded are also now eligible in Ascension, Calcasieu, Iberia, Livingston, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Vermilion parishes.

Fortified roofs have emerged as a bipartisan solution to the state’s homeowners’ insurance crisis, which has driven premiums to unsustainable levels for thousands of Louisianans. Around the nation, climate change and inflation have

MALL

presence immediately after the tragedy. Others aren’t convinced that the mall is completely safe despite the security update due to the random nature of the April 23 shooting.

“It might happen again, you never know,” said Jamie Johnson, a sales associate for Essence Fragrances.

Sarah Forest, manager of Sake Japan and Sake Sushi N Ramen, said she joined the staff about two weeks after the shooting. After seeing The shooting crime all around the state, The April 23 shooting she doesn’t think the mall took the life of 17-year-old should be seen as a dangerMartha Odom, a student at ous place.

Ascension Episcopal School “The streets of Baton in Lafayette, who was re- Rouge aren’t safer than the membered as “a light to ev- Mall of Louisiana,” she said. eryone around her.” Donnie Guillory, 43, was shot three Mall traffic times during the shooting.

While traffic has slowed He is recovering and return- at the mall, it hasn’t ceased. ing to his activities, includ- Shoppers have milled ing Special Olympics events around the mall’s grounds and shopping at GameStop since the Saturday after the shooting. at the mall.

The mall does not release The investigation of the shooting is ongoing. Last traffic data, per Brookfield week, Baton Rouge police Corp. policy.

Michael McKee, a 24-yearannounced that they have identified an individual who old LSU student, returned to appeared in a surveillance the mall on May 21 for the video during the time of the first time since the shooting shooting and is wanted for to get his phone fixed at the Apple store. The violence questioning.

Police arrested 17-year- wasn’t what deterred him old Markel Lee the day af- from coming back — he ter the shooting when Lee doesn’t have much reason to turned himself in. He faces be at the mall since he feels charges including illegal use its popularity has dwindled, of a weapon, attempted first- he said.

While waiting for his degree murder and first-dephone repair, McKee ate gree murder. lunch at the food court, Security updates which he said made him feel More security guards and a little uneasy due to it bepolice officers began pa- ing the site of the shooting. trolling the mall following While he is comfortable rethe shooting, according to turning to the mall, he said spokespeople at the Baton the violence adds to the “unRouge Police Department rest” that already existed in and GGP, the retail arm of Baton Rouge.

Chicago-based Brookfield “It doesn’t help that our Corp., which owns the mall. city isn’t the safest place,” They declined to specify McKee said. the exact number of guards Some stores have seen an and officers and declined to uptick in sales tied to holishare other security updates days and other annual celto prevent compromising ebrations. the efficacy of their work.

An employee at Lush, The mall’s curfew policy, who declined to share their which requires customers name due to fear of retribuyounger than 18 to have a tion from their employer, chaperone 21 or older after said traffic at the bath prod4 p.m. on Fridays and Satur- ucts store started to pick up days, is still in effect after around Mother’s Day. Chelsey Cook, a shoe stylits enactment in June 2024 as a proactive measure. ist at Steve Madden, said Some staff members, in- graduation and prom seacluding Callender, said they son have attracted shopfeel like security has gone pers back to the store as back to the pre-shooting they look for shoes to match level after a large uptick in their outfits. The shooting

siana, meaning most people are doing it on their own dime.

Landry earlier this year asked the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corp. to use some of its money to fund the program, but the idea didn’t go anywhere.

Instead, Temple and legislative leaders landed on Sawyer’s bill.

The legislation targets money that Citizens raised by assessing policyholders a fee, part of a 20year effort to raise money to pay off emergency bonds needed to pay claims after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Having raised enough money to pay off the bonds, Citizens finally canceled the surcharge last year.

But it took months for insurers to stop collecting the money, leaving Citizens with $64 million in excess funds. Citizens is expected to send $50 million of that to the fortified program.

Diners sit Friday at the Mall of Louisiana food court. Mall employees say traffic is down following the April 23 shooting as some customers are afraid to return, but some stores have seen upticks tied to holidays and graduation season.

Continued from page 1A radius from the incident, according to a 2025 study on the retail impact of such shootings. The ripple effects from April’s shooting extend beyond retail: In response, the state Legislature passed a bill this session to expand the definition of first-degree murder, potentially making more people eligible for the death penalty.

The mall, considered to be a superregional shopping center due to its size, has fared relatively well compared to other shopping centers since it opened in the 1990s. It has survived the fall of brick-and-mortar retail across the country in the past decade thanks to trendy spots like Zara and experiential tenants like Dick’s House of Sports, though some local real estate experts heed caution concerning the mall’s future due to vacancies surrounding its campus.

Lately, customers who do return seem jumpy, said Charita Antoine, manager of clothing store New Square.

Business has suffered in the past month since many people are afraid to go to the mall, she said.

“Most of them who come in are rushing,” Antoine said.

caused a spike in insurance rates, particularly in places where wildfires, hurricanes and other types of severe weather are worsening.

“Risk is why we pay so much money,” Sawyer said at the news conference. “This bill represents managing risk and promoting resiliency.”

The 2020 and 2021 hurricane seasons ratcheted up crisis here, as a dozen insurers went belly up and tens of thousands of Louisianans were forced onto the rolls of Citizens, the insurer of last resort.

Elected leaders have searched for ways to get more money into the fortified roof grant program.

Louisianans have proved eager to fortify their homes: Nearly 5,000 have put new roofs on through the grant program, which gives homeowners $10,000 each. In total, 13,000 people have put fortified roofs on their homes in Loui-

has been “heartbreaking” for the mall, she said, but she hopes that a few more months of calm at the shopping center will assure shoppers it is safe to come back.

William Bourgeois, an employee at Charleys Cheesesteaks, said he has started to see traffic pick back up after an initial setback.

“Should be better with the kids being out of school,” Bourgeois said.

not returned to the site since the shooting, Norwood said.

“There’s clear apprehension among employees,” he said.

Yan Sun, a manager at Dos Bros, said experiencing the shooting has put her on edge.

“Loud noises can be frightening,” she said through Google Translate.

Mall management and corporate offices of some retailers brought in counselors following the shooting, which many staffers said was helpful for processing the traumatic event.

Uchenna Okoroma, manager of Journeys Kidz, said she appreciates mall STAFF PHOTO By management’s efforts to IANNE SALVOSA remember the life taken on April 23 and ensuring employees had mental health professionals to speak with. She has worked at the mall for five years and has formed bonds with other employees in and out of her customers can opt to sati- bers who have to be there store, a community she said is helping them get through ate their shopping needs regularly.

Many mall employees the emotional impact. online or at other shopping “There’s still something to centers, the level of fear re- frequent the food court on mains for some staff mem- their breaks, but some have smile about,” she said.

Tenant protocol Large retailers typically have their own safety protocols for employees during active shooter situations, and some managers said they recall mall management holding a briefing on active shooter protocol the week of the shooting.

For most stores in the main interior of the mall, employees pull down the gate at the front of the store, hide in a safe space and exit the store if possible. The open-air portion of the mall outside its front entrance has a similar protocol to lock its doors, hide and exit if it is safe.

Jeans retailer True Religion was one of the few stores that successfully pulled down their gates on April 23, manager Ronald Norwood said, since the store’s gate is manually operated, while others are automated.

Kiosks spread throughout the mall, selling items like phone cases and fragrances, are in the open, so the employee protocol is to run to safety, said Shahab Uddin, who runs the Jewelry World kiosk just outside the food court.

Leaving his inventory behind made him a bit nervous, but safety must come first, he said.

Stanton Hargrave, a manager at Zara, said the shooting activated his fight-orflight instinct as he ushered guests to the back of the store to wait until it was safe to evacuate.

Kelsey Caldwell, another manager at Zara, said the responsibility of mall employees to protect their shoppers by leading them to a safe space feels natural.

“We’re all human beings by the end of the day,” Caldwell said. “If I need to do something, I will do it.”

Employee impact While Mall of Louisiana

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ 5A

Ex-CIA official charged with stealing gold bars

BY PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press

A former senior CIA official with top secret-level clearance is accused of stealing hundreds of gold bars worth more than $40 million from the federal government and stashing them in his home.

David Rush was arrested and charged with criminal theft of public money last week, according to federal court filings in Virginia, where he lives.

From November to March, Rush requested and received a “signifi-

cant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses,” according to an affidavit from an FBI agent investigating the case.

The affidavit says its unclear what Rush intended to use the funds for, but that a portion of it was found in a storage space near his office.

Federal officials searched his home on May 18 and seized more than 300 gold bars with an estimated value of more than $40 million, according to the affidavit. They

also seized roughly $2 million in U.S. currency and some 35 luxury watches, many of them Rolexes.

Rush was arrested the next day, the FBI said.

The FBI affidavit concludes that there’s probable cause to believe that Rush “knowingly embezzled, stole, purloined, or knowingly converted a thing of value of the United States” for his personal use.

The FBI said it was working with the CIA and Department of Justice in its investigation.

Rush’s lawyer declined to comment Wednesday.

It’s not clear what role Rush had at the CIA or when he left the agency. He’s described in court filings simply as a “former senior executive service-level employee at a United States government agency.” Spokespersons for the FBI declined to comment further, and the CIA didn’t respond to an email.

The FBI affidavit also notes that Rush appears to have lied for years about his education and military background. The bureau’s investigation found he had falsely claimed to be a Navy pilot and that he’d graduated from Clemson

University in South Carolina and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.

Instead, they found he had enlisted in the Navy in 1997 and then served in the U.S. Navy Reserves from 2004 until 2015, when he was honorably discharged as a lieutenant. The affidavit states he does not appear to have underwent any evaluations as a pilot during that time, and he did not attend either college.

Rush is being held in custody pending a hearing Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.

VESSELS

Continued from page 1A

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

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The ARA Libertad, a sailing vessel from Argentina, docks on the downtown riverfront for Sail 250 in New Orleans on Wednesday.

Elysian Fields

New Orleans itself was founded nearly 60 years before the United States, and its port system emerged shortly afterward, helping establish the city as a major center for trade and commerce.

Leger said the event also highlights the military, international commerce and the importance of Leger the Mississippi River, which connects 31 states and two Canadian provinces.

Lt. Gen. Len Anderson, a commander with the U.S. Marines, said the event could also spark an interest in sailing for younger people, and it underscores New Orleans’ status as a strategic location for the country’s armed forces.

It “lets people remember what that time was like, and then perhaps, for some of the younger generation in New Orleans, you see an opportunity and join the Navy,” he said.

The Department of Homeland Security has granted the Sail 250 event a Special Event Assessment Rating of 3, which means federal agencies will offer some help to local and state agencies’ security efforts.

Security measures this week include explosive detection teams, bomb-sniffing canine sweeps, drone sensors, air support and Coast Guard boats, Coast Guard Capt. Greg Callagan said Tuesday.

The ships are expected to line the riverfront from the Bywater’s Poland Avenue Wharf to the Crescent City Connection bridge by Thursday afternoon. New Orleans is the first of five ports scheduled to host the tall ships, followed by Norfolk, Virginia; Baltimore; New York; and Boston.

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6A ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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

DOW 50,644.28 182.60 0.36%

NASDAQ 26,674.74 18.55 0.07%

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Robot with 20 legs can see in any direction

DURHAM, N.C. — A robot being developed at Duke University is almost ready to face the world, in any direction.

Instead of trying to copy symmetrical shapes from nature by building robots that look like people, dogs or insects, engineering professor Boyuan Chen and his team focused on uniformity in action, or what he calls “dynamic symmetry.”

The result was Argus. The roly-poly robot named after a mythological many-eyed giant has depth-sensing cameras attached to 20 telescoping legs that radiate from a central core. With no front, back, top or bottom, it can see and move in any direction instantly.

“Instead of measuring how your legs are arranged around a different part of your body, we’re measuring how fast you can move in any direction,” Chen said. “Who said, you know, if you have a robot to help us in a most effective way, it has to look like us?”

In experiments, Argus has navigated sandy beaches and forest undergrowth, rolling over obstacles and stabilizing itself after being pushed. It can climb between parallel brick walls by alternating bracing and thrusting motions with its legs. If one or more motor dies or a leg breaks, it continues to function.

“Watching Argus move is unlike watching any other robot we’ve worked with,” said Jiaxun Liu, a graduate student and co-author of a study about Argus published online Wednesday in the journal Science Robotics. “The first time we saw it navigate among trees and rough terrain, even under heavy collisions, we knew this was something different.”

Meta lays off nearly 1,400 in Seattle area Meta’s sweeping layoffs announced last month hit 1,395 employees in King County, per a recent state filing last week.

While Meta is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company maintains a significant presence in the Seattle area. Meta’s Puget Sound hub grew rapidly during the pandemic — reaching a local head count of 8,800 employees at some point — as the company focused its virtual reality efforts in the area.

The layoffs affect 259 employees across two Seattle offices, 699 workers at a Bellevue office and 206 at a Redmond office, plus 231 remote workers statewide. Engineering and product manager roles were hit the hardest.

The tech giant let go of the employees on May 20, though their official separation date will be July 22, according to a worker adjustment and retraining notification sent to the Washington State Employment Security Department on Friday.

Their severance packages include 16 weeks of base pay, plus two additional weeks for every year of continuous service.

Canada, Germany reach LNG deal TORONTO — Canada has reached a deal to export liquefied natural gas to Germany from a planned Pacific Coast terminal, an official familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

The official confirmed Canada will sign the agreement with Germany’s SEFE group, which stands for Securing Energy for Europe, from the proposed KSI Lisims export facility on the coast of British Columbia.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak ahead of Wednesday’s announcement.

The official said up to 1,1 million tons 1.1 million of liquefied natural gas per year will be exported.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has set a goal to double non-U.S. trade in a decade.

Oil- and gas-rich Canada exports almost all of energy oil and gas to the U.S. currently.

S&P 500 7,520.36 1.24 0.02%

EURO 1.1630 -0.0001 -0.01%

CRUDE OIL 93.89 -2.71 -2.81%

GOLD 4,448.40 -72.60 -1.61%

6-MO T-BILLS 3.76 -0.01 -0.27%

30-YR T-BONDS 5.01 -0.02 -0.3%

U.S. stocks on the rise to more records

BY STAN CHOE

AP business writer NEW YORK — U.S. stocks inched to more records Wednesday after oil prices fell and eased the pressure on households and businesses worldwide.

The S&P 500 edged up by less than 0.1% and added to its all-time high set the day before.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 182 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.1% as both indexes also set records.

Stocks of companies with big fuel bills helped lead the way on hopes that lower oil prices will remove a big drag on their profits.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings

climbed 6.1%, and United Airlines rallied 6.3%. Delta Air Lines rose 3% and set an all-time high.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil fell 4.6% to $92.25 after the ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared to hold despite the U.S. military launching what it called “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude fell even more, 5.5%, to settle at $88.68 and is back to where it was in midApril on hopes that the United States and Iran can reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf for deliveries again.

Stocks have been able to run to records despite the painful infla-

tion and uncertainty caused by high oil prices largely because companies have reported surprisingly strong profits for the start of 2026, and the forecast is for them to continue.

Bath & Body Works rallied 9.7%, and Abercrombie & Fitch climbed 8.9% after both reported bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

That’s even as U.S. consumers continue to say they’re feeling discouraged about the economy and inflation.

Lululemon Athletica rose 2.9% after reaching a deal with its founder, Chip Wilson, where it will add a former chief marketing officer of ESPN and a former co-CEO of On to its board of directors.

On the losing side of Wall Street was Dick’s Sporting Goods, which dropped 6% despite delivering a profit for the latest quarter that edged past expectations.

Analysts pointed to how much profit it wrung out of each $1 in revenue, which some called a bit weak.

Oil-and-gas stocks also sank, hurt by the dropping prices for crude. Exxon Mobil fell 1.3%, and Chevron slipped 1.3%. Halliburton dropped 3.6% to bring its gain for the year so far back toward 40%.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 1.24 to 7,520.36. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 182.60 points to 50,644.28, and the Nasdaq composite gained 18.55 to 26,674.73.

GAINING INDEPENDENCE Independent bookstores are multiplying, but many people still think they’re dying

BY HILLEL ITALIE

AP national writer

NEW YORK — Allison Hill, CEO of the American Booksellers Association, is used to strangers expressing sympathy when they learn what she does for a living.

“It’s all so funny,” she says. “When I tell them I run the trade association for independent stores, they’ll say, ‘It’s just so sad that they’re disappearing.’ I don’t think they’re really keeping track, or they just know about a store that closed or heard about one closing.”

The decline of physical bookstores remains so embedded in popular culture that the man dating Anne Hathaway’s character in “ The Devil Wears Prada 2 ” laments that bookstores are “getting downsized and consolidated.” But the decline actually ended years ago, and the latest numbers from the American Booksellers Association show independent stores expanding at a pace not seen this century.

Membership in the ABA grew by more than 500 over the past year, to a total of 3,417 (at 3,783 locations), nearly triple what it was ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By RACHyEL P. MAGAÑA a decade ago and the highest level since the late 1990s. The surge included stores of vari- Co-owners Anika Omark, left, and Matthew Hein appear behind the counter at their ous kinds — general interest shops like Hey bookstore, Hey Books!, in San Diego.

Books! in San Diego; mobile stores like the Wandering Quills Bookshop in Westerville, who hopes to find a larger space that would ing new ones and struggled for years to find Ohio; pop-up stores like Banyan Books in St. make it easier for customers to gather and a new owner before the hedge fund Elliott “just be.”

Petersburg, Florida.

Management Corp. bought it in 2019.

“People are craving conMany of the new members reflect the curUnder the leadership of CEO James Daunt, rent boom in romance, fantasy and their nection, especially in-person Barnes & Noble is expanding again, adding hybrid, romantasy, whether the Spicy Liconnection,” she said. “Peo- more than 100 stores over the past two years. brarian in Denver or the Flutter Romance ple are over the internet and In Chicago, the owner of the decade-old VolBookstore in Austin, Texas: “Where buttervirtual meetings and algo- ume Books has blamed a new Barnes & Noflies begin. And every story ends in happilyrithms. They’re not the same ble for putting her out of business, while Hill ever-after,” according to its website. as having a human to human added that “even a small decrease in sales connection. It feels really can make or break a bookstore’s year in an Both a business and a calling healing.” industry with paper-thin margins.”

Hill can joke about the Daunt denies any intent to take business Independent bookselling, rarely a way to Hartnett mistaken elegies for book- from independent sellers, saying it’s not in get rich, is a meeting ground for idealists — for young people with a sense of mission, selling, while expressing concern that the his “DNA.” “I’m an independent seller myself,” he retirees embarking on a new life or middle- state of independent stores is healthy but aged people no longer satisfied with their ca- “precarious.” Costs are high, and schools says, noting that he founded Daunt Books in reers. “I think people want to realign their and libraries face budget cuts that limit their London. Daunt says he has customers who shop at his store and the British chain Waterpurchases from local stores. lives with their values,” Hill says.

In Wentzville, Missouri, 55-year-old Kelstones (where he’s also managing director).

“I never thought of the market as finite.” ley Hartnett is a marketing consultant and Is there room for indies and giants?

The owners of The Book Loft Oak Park, copywriter who had always wanted to run Independent owners also find themselves a bookstore. worrying about a onetime competitor which another Chicago-area store that opened last Her husband’s concerns included com- itself had seemed endangered, Barnes & summer, acknowledge some nerves about a nearby Barnes & Noble coming soon. But peting against Amazon, but Hartnett went Noble.

The superstore chain was the dominant Heather Nelson and Sophie Schauer Eldred ahead and opened Double Dog Bookshop in 2025 as a mobile store. She rode about the seller in the 1980s and 1990s, and was wide- hope the stores ultimately compliment each area in a converted cargo trailer, joined by ly seen as the leading cause for hundreds — other.

“We’re hoping people whose curiosity is two Australian Cattle Dog mutts, and has maybe thousands — of independent stores since opened a storefront downtown. shutting down. But by the 2010s, Barnes & piqued by the new Barnes & Noble will walk “For me, Double Dog is about maybe 50% Noble had been surpassed by Amazon. It down the street,” Schauer Eldred said, “and books and 50% community,” says Hartnett, began shutting down stores instead of open- pop into our bookstore.”

Trump’s tariffs are pushing Mexico back toward low-value exports

BY GONZALO SOTO

Bloomberg News (TNS) U.S. tariffs pushed by President Donald Trump and supply-chain disruptions are eroding Mexico’s gains as a manufacturing hub, raising the risk that the country slips back into exporting lowervalue goods that create few jobs or investment opportunities.

On the surface, Mexico’s exports are still breaking records, giving President Claudia Sheinbaum a headline number to tout as proof of economic resilience. Shipments surged nearly 33% from a year earlier in April to $72 billion, according to official data released Monday. Imports climbed 24% to a record as well, but with a telling detail: intermediate goods used

in manufacturing and assembly made up nearly 80% of total imports in the first four months of the year.

“Mexico’s export profile has deteriorated significantly since last year,” said Gabriela Siller, director of economic analysis at Banco Base. “Mexican exports have become extremely reliant on inputs from Asia that are just assembled in Mexico.”

The data suggest Mexico’s trade profile is shifting away from more lucrative industries built around highly integrated supply chains, such as its vast auto sector, and back toward lower-value goods that require simpler assembly, or none at all.

That marks a setback for Sheinbaum’s plan to move Mexico be-

yond its maquiladora model and toward higher-value exports to the U.S. The goal, outlined in her “Plan Mexico” economic blueprint, now faces even steeper challenges as a high-stakes review of the USMCA trade pact approaches.

“Mexican factories are essentially triangulating products. They receive high-value inputs and package them for shipment to the U.S.,” Siller said. “If the US strategy was to transform Mexico into a new, closer China, it’s succeeding.”

In fact, Mexico’s exports of light vehicles have stagnated as US tariffs and other barriers to trade with its northern neighbor — by far its top main export market — have increased.

At the same time, exports of computer equipment spiked by

144% last year, doubling their share of the country’s total exports to almost 13%, largely due to lower trade barriers for those products in the U.S. plus strong demand from the AI-driven data center boom.

But such triple-digit growth can mask where the Mexican economy would benefit more.

While Mexico’s automotive industry employs 800,000 people, computer equipment assembly employs only 60,000, mainly in the northern part of the country where production is concentrated.

Mining is another sector that underscores the trend of growth without adding value. Metals exports rose 71% in April and by an even higher level during the first four months of this year.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ 7A

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Zelenskyy asks Trump for more air defense help Kyiv has requested Patriot missiles

By The Associated Press Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has written to U.S. President Donald Trump and Congress asking for more American-made air defense ammunition to counter intensifying Russian ballistic missile attacks, Kyiv said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Russian lawmakers have backed a draft bill to have bank employees join the fight against Ukraine’s long-range drones that strike deep inside Russia — with trained bank staff shooting down the unmanned aircraft.

The steps came after a recent escalation in aerial attacks by both sides in the more than four-year war that followed Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor. Neither side has been able to make much progress on the 780-mile front line.

Also on Wednesday, Anne Keast-Butler, head of U.K.’s intelligence agency GCHQ, asserted that Russian President Vladimir “Putin is going backwards on the battlefield.” New data shows that “almost half a million Russian soldiers have now been killed since the conflict began,” she added.

Ukraine has pounded Russian targets, especially oil facilities and manufacturing plants, with its domestically produced drones.

At the same time, the Russian military has intensified its aerial attacks, firing almost 90 missiles as well as hundreds of drones at Kyiv last weekend in an effort to overwhelm air defenses.

More Patriot defense systems The Ukrainian leader urged Trump and Congress in a letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press, to supply more Patriot PAC-3 missiles and other air defense systems, warning that deliveries to Ukraine are falling dangerously short as the Iran war diverts U.S. stocks.

Ukraine has raised its drone interception rate to more than 90%, the letter says, and Ukrainian specialists have helped countries

in the Middle East — specifically the Gulf Arab region — strengthen air defenses. They have also helped at American military bases in the Mideast, the letter says.

But Ukraine cannot yet produce its own anti-missile defense systems, Zelenskyy said, and for that relies “almost exclusively on the United States.”

“For us — for a nation fighting for its survival — there is hardly anything more painful to see than Patriot batteries with no missiles loaded,” Zelenskyy wrote.

Deliveries, he says, are “no longer keeping up with the reality of the threat we face.”

Washington did not immediately comment on the letter.

The U.S. weapons that European nations and Canada buy to donate to Ukraine are a vital component of the country’s air defenses, but only a few NATO allies are investing significant sums in the arrangement, alliance officials say.

Bank employees to join fight In Russia, an ambitious plan approved by the country’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday envisages banks installing electronic jamming systems on their premises while selected employees would be trained to shoot down incoming drones.

And with banks in almost every town, their incorporation into Russia’s air defenses could help expand its cover.

The bill, which state news agency Interfax said was first presented last August and later expanded in scope, must still be approved by the upper house Federation Council and signed by Putin before coming into force.

Russia is finding it hard to protect its large land mass from a growing number of attacks by increasingly sophisticated Ukrainian long-range drones.

Smaller drones are also holding back Russian troops along the front line, Western analysts and officials say.

As the intensity and depth of Ukrainian drone attacks have increased, Russian authorities have encouraged businesses to contribute to protective measures against aerial strikes.

U.S. will need years to replenish stockpiles of advanced weapons Analysis finds depletion possibly opens window of vulnerability

BY BEN FINLEY Associated Press

WASHINGTON — U.S. military contractors need at least three years to replenish stockpiles of three key weapons systems used heavily in the Iran war, according to an analysis released Wednesday, adding to concerns that American forces would have limited firepower in any future conflict with China.

The weapons systems are Tomahawk cruise missiles, which are used to strike targets deep inside enemy territory, and Patriot and THAAD interceptors that defend against incoming missiles and drones.

“The United States has enough munitions for any plausible scenario in the Iran war, but the depleted inventories have created a window of vulnerability for a potential Western Pacific conflict,” the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in its new report, provided to The Associated Press. “The time needed to rebuild those inventories has thus become a major concern.”

China has a stated goal of ensuring its military is capable of taking Taiwan by force if necessary by 2027, which experts see as more aspirational than a hard deadline.

But Chinese President Xi Jinping warned this month that if Washington mishandles its relations with the self-governing island, the U.S. and China could end up clashing or even in open conflict.

Production takes time The analysis by the Washington think tank factors in the Republican Trump administration’s historic $1.5 trillion defense budget proposal for 2027, which significantly accelerates spending on high-end munitions that began under the Democratic Biden administration. While there’s bipartisan agreement in Congress to boost inventories, “the problem today isn’t money; it’s time,” the report said.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON

Acting Under Secretary of Defense and Comptroller Jules Hurst III, from left, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine arrive to testify at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense hearing on the budget request for the Department of Defense on May 12 in Washington.

“It takes time to expand production capacity and to build these complex systems,” the report said, adding that the window of vulnerability will last “for several years until inventories return to their previous levels and another several years before they get to the levels that war planners desire.”

Although munitions inventories are classified, CSIS said sufficient public information exists in Pentagon budget materials to estimate production timelines.

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have insisted the U.S. is capable of fighting any war. They have pushed defense contractors to speed up munitions production, with Hegseth telling lawmakers last month that military spending under Trump will help manufacturers double or even triple their capacities.

During Trump’s Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Hegseth lauded the president’s efforts to expand the nation’s defense manufacturing sector, with private contractors investing in new plants and production lines “so that we’re getting weapons faster than ever.”

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that the military “has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of

the President’s choosing.”

“We have executed multiple successful operations across combatant commands while ensuring the U.S. military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests,” Parnell said.

How long it will take to rebuild The U.S. fired 1,000-plus Tomahawk missiles at Iran, and it could take until late 2030 to fully replenish the prewar inventory, CSIS estimates show.

Fewer than 200 Tomahawks are made a year because of small orders in the past, the report says.

However, manufacturer Raytheon has a goal of ramping up capacity to more than 1,000 per year.

RTX, Raytheon’s parent company, declined to comment on the CSIS findings because it had not yet seen the report. But RTX pointed to investments of several billion dollars to boost production, including expanding facilities in Alabama and Arizona.

For in-demand air defense systems, replacing as many as 290 THAAD, or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, interceptors that shot down incoming Iranian drones and missiles could take until the end of 2029, CSIS estimates. Replenishing more than 1,000 Patriot interceptors should wrap up in mid-2029.

8A ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Fair housing groups file lawsuit over rule change accused the CFPB of ignorOrganizations argue tice, ing “public comments, common and decades of precedent protections have been sense, in its misguided attempt to turn anti-discrimination law on its removed

BY MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press

Fair housing organizations filed a lawsuit Wednesday over a federal rule change that they say would reverse decades of lending protections and open the door to discrimination against Black people, Latinos and other minorities.

The federal lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C., takes aim at a change made earlier this year by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which bars lenders from discriminating against credit applicants. Among the changes being challenged is that lenders will no longer have to consider “disparate impact” — policies that appear neutral but tend to cause disproportionate harm to certain groups.

Plaintiffs also argue the rule would make it easier for lenders to market loans to predominantly white neighborhoods, forcing minority communities to rely on risky, high-cost lenders that offer predatory loans with exorbitant interest rates.

“This is the deliberate dismantling of 50 years of legal jurisprudence, regulatory guidance, and bipartisan consensus that lending discrimination has no place in America,” Lisa Rice, the CEO and president of the National Fair Housing Alliance, one of the plaintiffs that filed the lawsuit, said in a statement.

“This reversal by the CFPB is a continuation of this Administration’s efforts to gut fair housing and lending protections,” she said. “Eviscerating these guardrails will ultimately result in less credit access for many people, make our markets less sound, and cause our economy to be less productive.”

Paulina Gonzalez-Brito, the CEO of another plaintiff, Rise Economy, a California nonprofit that advocates for economic jus-

head.”

“The CFPB was created to protect consumers and small businesses from financial abuse and discrimination, and this final Reg B rule would do real harm, setting us back in our collective efforts to ensure that all families and small businesses have a fair chance to achieve the American Dream,” Gonzalez-Brito said.

The CFPB did not respond to a request for comment.

Plaintiffs argue that the rule change is part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration to dismantle regulations related to fair housing and lending protections.

The administration, the National Fair Housing Alliance said, has proposed eliminating the budget for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program, which funds nonprofits to ensure access to housing for seniors, disabled veterans, families with children and other groups. It also has cut staffing in half at the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.

Several high-profile settlements in recent years indicate housing discrimination remains a significant problem.

In 2023, the Justice Department accused Los Angeles-based City National Bank of discrimination by refusing to underwrite mortgages in predominately Black and Latino communities, requiring the bank to pay more than $31 million in the largest redlining settlement in department history. In 2016. the Justice Department and the CFPB fined Mississippi-based BancorpSouth $10.6 million, alleging the bank deliberately discriminated against minorities in its lending practices.

Plaintiffs are asking court to vacate the rule, which they contend is arbitrary and capricious, in excess of statutory authority, and issued outside the procedures required by Congress.

U.S. military conducts another defensive strike against Iran Trump had said country was ‘negotiating on fumes’

BY AAMER MADHANI and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN Associated Press

WASHINGTON — U.S. forces carried out new defensive strikes on Iran on Wednesday after President Donald Trump asserted that Iran is “negotiating on fumes” and insisted that November’s midterm elections in the United States won’t make him rush into a deal to end the nearly three-month-old conflict.

U.S. Central CO ONFLICT Command forces shot down four IN THE T MIIDDLE Iranian one-way attack drones that EAST AST posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. officials who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The U.S. military also struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone, the officials said.

Details about the strikes emerged after Trump, at a Cabinet meeting earlier Wednesday, expressed confidence that his administration was making headway on settling the war, even though the talks still remain very much in flux.

The president is looking for a settlement that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and provide him with a credible argument that Iran’s nuclear capability has been diminished enough to declare victory, winding down a conflict that’s been politically unpopular for Republicans.

But as things stand, Trump also risks finding that closure to his war of choice comes with an unsatisfactory ending.

The emerging deal puts off many critical issues to be resolved later and has already exposed the Republican president to fierce criticism — even from some of his own supporters — that Iran’s hardline leaders will emerge from the con-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JACQUELyN MARTIN

President Donald Trump, center right, attends a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room at the White House on Wednesday. flict battered but emboldened. It all comes to a head just as the midterm elections to determine control of Congress come into focus and as Republicans worry that rising costs and fuel prices are darkening the American electorate’s mood.

But Trump on Wednesday dismissed the idea that the upcoming elections would shape his Iran strategy.

“They thought they were gonna outwait me. You know, ‘We’ll outwait him. He’s got the midterms,’” Trump said. “I don’t care about the midterms.”

Trump acknowledged there’s still work to do, but he spoke with a measure of certainty that the two sides would get there.

“They want very much to make a deal,” Trump said. “So far, they haven’t gotten there. We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be — either that or we’ll have to just finish the job.”

The new strikes came after U.S. forces carried out what the Pentagon called “defensive” strikes on missile launch sites and minelaying boats in southern Iran on Monday. The U.S. has said it has acted with restraint with both of this week’s military actions in light of the fragile, weekslong ceasefire that continues to hold.

While Trump insists a deal is within reach, there appears to be daylight between the U.S. and Iran on several key issues. The president is also facing scrutiny from Repub-

lican allies, including Sens. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Ted Cruz of Texas, who have said the terms seem too favorable to Tehran.

They’re balking at aspects of the deal that have emerged publicly that they say too closely resemble the nuclear agreement reached with Iran by Democratic President Barack Obama, which Trump scrapped during his first term.

Under the potential deal, Tehran would agree to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium — a key Trump demand — in return for sanctions relief. That’s according to two regional officials and one senior Trump administration official, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations.

One regional official, with direct knowledge of the negotiations, said how Iran would give up the uranium would be subject to further talks during a 60-day period.

Some would likely be diluted, while the rest would be transferred to a third country, the official said.

But Trump said Wednesday that he “wouldn’t be comfortable” with either Russia or China taking Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The two countries have the closest relations with Tehran, and nuclear analysts have said they could be a potential acceptable third party to the Iranian Republic to take possession of the enriched uranium as part of a potential deal.

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Judge backs WBR in public records fight Journalist to pay fees, legal costs

BY AIDAN MCCAHILL Staff writer

A judge sided with the West Baton Rouge Parish government in its lawsuit against a local journalist, ruling officials acted in good faith in a monthslong public records dispute and order-

ing the reporter to pay outstanding fees before filing new requests.

The May 13 judgment signed by 18th Judicial District Court Judge Melvin C. Zeno also requires John Summers, editor of the West Baton Rouge Independent, to pay the parish’s attorney fees.

Parish officials said they sued Summers in March after he threatened litigation.

The suit asked the court to declare their records procedures and fee schedule reasonable, and also sought reimbursement of legal costs and an order limiting Summers’ future requests.

Attorneys for the parish later dropped the request to have Summers’ future requests limited, but the judgment from the April 29 trial granted all of the parish’s original requests.

Summers, whose outlet covers local government, has argued the suit was intended to stifle his reporting on the West Baton Rouge Fire Department. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a national pro bono legal group representing Summers, also argued the parish violated Louisiana’s public records law by not specifying the cost of records Summers

requested, then demanding payment for them even though the journalist never received them, and ultimately withholding further records over the outstanding balance.

“Under the Petitioners’ theory, the result of simply submitting a request could be a debt to the government of any amount, regardless of whether the requester receives the records,” the

attorneys wrote in a legal brief.

By finding that the parish acted in good faith and that its fees are reasonable, however, the ruling allows the government to require payment for certain records even if they were prepared but not delivered. It would also require Summers to pay for expenses associated with

ä See RECORDS, page 2B

Legislature OKs stricter voter ID law

Opponents call it another hurdle to casting a ballot

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Police Chief TJ Morse, center, speaks to an officer at the Afton Oaks apartment complex on Newcastle Avenue in Baton Rouge after a shooting that left two dead Wednesday.

BR police investigating double shooting

BY OLIVIA TEES Staff writer

A man and a woman were killed in a shooting Wednesday morning at the Afton Oaks apartment complex on Newcastle Avenue in what Baton Rouge police say may have been a domestic incident.

Police Chief TJ Morse said police were called to the scene around 10:30 a.m. to find both people dead from gunshots. Police believe the man fired the shots, Morse said.

Morse said police interviewed witnesses at the scene, and that it appears that no one else was in the apartment at the time of the shooting.

Emergency Medical Services initially said two people were found dead at the scene and the Coroner’s Office had been contacted.

The couple’s identities had not been released Wednesday evening. The investigation is ongoing.

Police Chief TJ Morse gives the media an update from the crime scene.

Louisiana is poised to tighten its laws requiring photo ID to vote after the Legislature passed Senate Bill 319 on Tuesday.

Currently, if voters show up to the polls without a picture ID, they can sign an affidavit confirming their identity and listing their date of birth and mother’s maiden name.

Under SB319, voters will no longer have that option. Instead, to cast a ballot without a photo ID or other identifying documents, they’ll have to go to the office of the registrar of voters in that parish and cast a conditional ballot.

Then, they’ll have two days to present the required photo identification for the ballot to be counted.

The bill would also limit what documents count as photo ID. Examples include a Louisiana driver’s license or ID, passport or other citizenship document that has a photo and signature and a military or tribal ID. Currently, to confirm someone’s identity, poll workers can accept a “generally recognized picture identification card that contains the name and signature of the applicant.”

If a voter doesn’t have photo ID, they’ll have the option to present a combination of two other identifying documents. At least one would have to be a “primary” document such as a birth certificate, Social Security card or certificate of citizenship. The second document could be an item like a voter registration notice, recent utility bill, bank statement or pay stub.

Sen. Thomas Pressly, R-Shreveport, who sponsored SB319, has said the new procedure ensures that all polling places follow the same rules and all voters are treated the same.

But critics of the legislation say it will disenfranchise voters.

“We’re trying to fix something that isn’t broken,” state Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, said during debate on the bill before the Louisiana House approved it. “I don’t see this as voter integrity. I see this as voter suppression.”

Gov. Jeff Landry must sign the bill for it to become law.

Judge can’t ‘micromanage’ Angola’s Farm Line, ruling says ing any permanent changes rowed what they were askDecision to how Angola operates the ing for, ultimately requestwork assignment in which ing an end to inmates being highlights inmates toil in the prison’s assigned to the Farm Line as fields. punishment, no Farm Line changes made as agricultural Jackson’s ruling does work on any day where the case litigated highlight, however, that temperature reaches 103 de-

BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer

In a ruling issued Tuesday, Judge Brian Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana reaffirmed that the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola’s so-called Farm Line program regularly puts inmates in danger of heatrelated injuries.

However, Jackson said a higher court’s ruling prevents his court from issu-

many changes to the Farm Line that inmate advocates sought had been carried out by the Angola administration as the case was litigated, including the construction of multiple “shade pavilions.”

The inmates’ attorneys originally sought an end to the Farm Line on Eighth Amendment grounds that the field work assignment is a cruel and unusual punishment.

During the length of the case, inmates’ attorneys nar-

grees, that Angola no longer charge inmates with medical copays for heat-related illnesses suffered while on the Farm Line, and other items.

Jackson’s ruling said these requests were well-founded, but “the Court is constrained by the Circuit’s opinion in Parker, however, indicating that it would be inappropriate for the Court to ‘micromanage the prison’s facilities, personnel, procedures,

PROVIDED PHOTO

Inmates work on the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola’s Farm Line. A lawsuit sought an end to the field work assignment on Eighth Amendment grounds that it is a cruel and ä See ANGOLA, page 2B unusual punishment.

2B ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Hip-hop, EDM artists to perform during X Games

than 100 athletes taking part influential hip-hop producers of the Games, the extreme sports compeJay Cicero, president and CEO League championship inmore 18 events and a $500,000 prize past decade, crafting chart-topping tition founded by ESPN in 1995 and of the Greater New Orleans Sports hits with Migos, The Weeknd and sold to private equity firm MSP Foundation, said city officials had going to the winning team. will be at Superdome purse X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom Future. He will be joined by J.I.D., Sports Capital in 2022. made a bid to host the 2018 X

BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer

The inaugural X Games League Championship planned for the Caesars Superdome from July 2426 will include two nights of concerts at the Smoothie King Center, with hip-hop headliners Metro Boomin and J.I.D. on the first night and electronic music DJs Subtronics and Bunt on the second.

The nighttime concerts, announced earlier this week, are set to follow the first two days of a three-day championship weekend that will transform the floor of the Superdome into a skate park, BMX course and motorcycle track, with

said the combination of concerts and action sports competition will bring together music, culture and athletics.

“New Orleans is one of the great event cities in the world, and this lineup reflects the scale and energy of what we’re Bloom building,” Bloom said in a statement announcing the headliners.

Friday’s bill at the Smoothie King Center features a pair of Atlanta-based rappers.

Metro Boomin, born Leland Wayne, has been one of the most

born Destin Rose, who is signed to J. Cole’s Dreamville Records label and picked up two Grammy nominations this year.

Saturday’s lineup shifts from rap to electronic dance music.

Philadelphia-based producer and DJ Jesse Kardon, who performs dubstep music Subtronics and is himself an avid skateboarder, has headlined major EDM festivals.

He has been booked alongside Bunt, the project of German producer Levi Wijk, who layers samples of acoustic instruments over dance beats.

The New Orleans championship weekend will conclude the first season of the restructured X

Instead of annual summer and winter events with athletes competing for medals as individuals, the new MoonPay X Games League is a year-round, team-based format.

Four clubs, representing Los Angeles, New York, Sao Paulo and Tokyo, drafted 40 athletes in March.

The season opens in Sacramento, California, on June 26, and heads to Chiba, Japan, for the first weekend in July before concluding in New Orleans.

This year’s event is expected to draw up to 20,000 visitors per day during the annual summer tourism slump, with ABC and ESPN scheduled to air 13 hours of television coverage.

Games, the second of four years awarded to Minneapolis, but those plans were put on hold by planned Superdome renovations.

Cicero said he believes the X Games audience, which skews younger and more adventurous, is a natural fit for New Orleans.

“Hopefully it’ll be a multiyear event,” Cicero said. “I think that’s gonna come down to what they do business-wise here, their experience at the Caesars Superdome and the Smoothie King Center for the concerts, and then the service that we provide them.”

Email Jonah Meadows at jonah. meadows@theadvocate.com.

Former Advance head who owned Times-Picayune dies Donald Newhouse ‘cared about people,’ former publisher says

By The Associated Press

PROVIDED PHOTO

Angola’s new shade pavilions are outfitted with four oscillating fans, benches and spigots. Inmates working the Farm Line are allowed 15-minute breaks in the pavilion for each hour worked, with iced water provided.

ANGOLA

n Construction of shade pavilions, outfitted with oscillating fans, ice water coolers, spigots, benches and a roof to provide shade, n A 15-minute break for every 45 minutes working on the line, n Access to water at any time during Farm Line work, n An expansion to the list of medications that keep an inmate from being assigned Farm Line work, n An end to the “heat season,” meaning heat precautions continue year-round, and n Access to sunscreen, work gloves, drinking cups and hats.

“The safety of incarcerated individuals remains a top priority in all institutional operations, including outdoor work assignments,” Falon Brown, a spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections said Wednesday.

“The Department’s heat pathology policies in place include substantial risk-mitigation measures designed to protect inmates working outdoors, including required rest breaks and access to shade, fans, water and other safeguards.”

Brown said the department is pleased with Jackson dismissing the plaintiffs’ claims.

“Agricultural work at LSP serves an important purpose, including harvesting fresh vegetables for inmate consumption while also providing valuable work opportunities. The Department remains committed to balancing meaningful work programs with the health and safety of those in its custody,” Brown said.

Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, leaders with prisoner

advocacy groups The Promise of Justice Initiative and Voice of the Experienced said that without permanent injunctions from the Middle District, the corrections department is free to roll back these improvements at any time.

Samantha Kennedy, executive director of the Promise of Justice initiative, said the ruling was like a “victory without a remedy,” while Angola “was delivered a loss, but no consequences.”

“Tuesday afternoon, we learned that the court agrees with people in prison that the dangers caused by working outdoors in extreme heat, on the Farm Line, is indeed unconstitutional,” Kennedy said.

“However, because of a recent 5th Circuit ruling, the court believes that its hands are tied and it does not have the authority to stop Angola from violating the rights of people forced to work on the Farm Line.”

Advocates also said they were disappointed that the ruling didn’t touch on the emotional and psychological aspects of the Farm Line, which they believe are caused by how the Farm Line simulates chattel slavery.

“Black people, our experiences, our history and our ability to seek self-determination are under attack in Louisiana,” Kennedy said.

“We very much see our fight for the right to not be forced to reenact slavery just because we are as a critical frontier in the rights of people, Black people in particular.”

process,” Parish President Jason Manola said in the statement. “We remain dedicated to serving the Continued from page 1B public with integrity while ensuring that public resources are manthe parish government employees’ aged responsibly.” gathering of records, including overtime pay and photocopying Initial dispute costs.

The conflict centered on a series “I believe it has a chilling effect of records requests Summers beon reporting in regards to the fire gan filing in July 2025. department and parish governHe initially sought financial rement,” Summers said. “It affects cords from the West Baton Rouge every journalist in Louisiana if it Fire Department and declined to stands.” pay an $83 charge after being told In a statement, a spokesperson earlier the request could cost up for the parish government said the to $1,500. He never received those ruling reinforced the authority of records, but parish officials later local governments to implement waived the fee. reasonable fee schedules and balIn January, Summers requested ance responsible use of public re- records tied to a fire in Erwinville, sources and taxpayer funds. The including GPS logs, vehicle locastatement added that the parish tion data, reports and staffing inremains committed to transpar- formation. He paid a $50 fee and ency and accountability and will received those records.

Then in March, he requested simcontinue to ensure citizens have access to public records in accor- ilar records related to a warehouse fire at the Port of Baton Rouge. dance with state law.

“This ruling confirms that the Chance Stephens, the finance diParish acted properly, reasonably, rector and custodian of records and within the law throughout this for West Baton Rouge Parish, re-

sponded that some materials were ready but said vehicle location and staffing data would cost $121.50.

Summers objected, arguing the records were already digital and should not incur additional costs after being printed and rescanned.

He asked to inspect the records in person instead. Parish attorneys say Summers then threatened legal action if the request was not fulfilled by March 20.

Stephens subsequently invited Summers to schedule a time to inspect the records. But that same day, the parish filed suit. Stephens notified Summers by email and, in the same message, declined to process a separate new request, writing that the parish would not respond to additional requests “until an official court ruling is made on the matter.”

During the trial, Zeno declined to bar Summers from submitting new requests. Under his judgment, however, Summers must pay the $121.50 fee associated with the March request before submitting any further public records requests to the parish.

Continued from page 1B and standards of care.’ ” On March 30, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals preempted the lower court by ruling in Parker v. Hooper that “ongoing improvements and innovations” at Angola likely keep it from violating the Eighth Amendment.

To violate the Eighth Amendment, a prison administrator must be found to be “deliberately indifferent” when inmates are faced with potential danger.

The 5th Circuit ruled that even when prison improvements are insufficient to fully protect inmates, the fact that improvements are being made at all shows “concern and sincerity” on the part of prison officials, and thus protects them from the “deliberate indifference” standard needed for cruel and unusual punishment.

“This litigation, however, has not been all for naught,” Jackson’s Monday ruling states.

“The Court emphasizes that in several meaningful respects, due to the committed efforts of Plaintiffs’ Counsel and the class representatives, this litigation has obtained the relief Plaintiffs seek — more significant protections for incarcerated person laboring on the Farm Line.”

Darrel Vannoy, warden at Angola, confirmed that many changes sought by inmates’ attorneys had been delivered during the case, including:

RECORDS

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

Donald E. Newhouse, who oversaw The Times-Picayune for more than half a century while serving as president of Advance Publications, one of the largest family-controlled publishing companies in the nation, died Tuesday.

He was 96 and died at his home in New Jersey, his family said.

Newhouse spent decades overseeing The Times-Picayune, one of 35 newspapers owned by Advance Publications, the media business started by his late father, Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., in 1922. His older brother, S.I. Newhouse Jr., who died in 2017, was chair of the company and oversaw Condé Newhouse Nast magazines.

Newhouse attended Syracuse University but never graduated, heading into the family’s newspaper business instead. The family was known for regularly visiting its newspapers but left the ultimate authority of running them to their local publishers.

In New Orleans, where the New houses purchased The Times-Picayune in 1962, that meant for most of his ownership, it remained under the leadership of Ashton Phelps Sr., who was named publisher in 1967, and Ashton Phelps Jr., who became publisher in 1979 and oversaw the paper until 2012.

The Times-Picayune suffered from a weak national reputation in the early years of Newhouse ownership. But by 1980, its profile and prospects began to improve.

That year, it combined with its sister publication, The StatesItem. It also began adding a series of suburban bureaus across the metro area. Those bureaus, in Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist and St. Bernard parishes, allowed for zoned editions and comprehensive local coverage.

“My late father and I felt the Newhouse ownership was good for the communities the newspaper served,” Ashton Phelps Jr. said by phone Wednesday, recalling relationships with S.I., Norman and Don Newhouse that were “were both business and personal.”

“They encouraged editorial quality, but left editorial decisions to local leaders,” he said.

“We collaborated on business decisions.”

In 1997, the paper was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes, one for a series on the world’s threatened fisheries and one for the editorial cartooning of Walt Handelsman. Under the Newhouses, The Times-Picayune went on to win two more Pulitzers, for breaking news and public service, for its coverage of Hurricane Katrina.

Phelps recalled Donald Newhouse’s commitment to the paper and its staff in the storm’s aftermath, with frequent phone calls to offer help.

“They cared about people.

Such was never clearer than Don’s support in the days immediately after Hurricane Katrina

when the newspaper and the city were nearly destroyed,” Phelps said. “He supported us during that terrible time.”

The Times-Picayune and many other Advance newspapers were able to thrive and remain profitable because they dominated their market, but Newhouse said he was very much aware of what he called the “dramatically changing media landscape” and how people get their news.

“The 15th-century revolution was epitomized by the printing of the Gutenberg Bible; ours by Ted Turner’s Cable News Network and by web-based news sites — news in real time from anywhere to everywhere,” Newhouse said in 2004 at the rededication of a communications school named after his father at Syracuse University.

Three years later, he told one of his papers, The Post-Standard of Syracuse, New York, that newspapers can survive “by producing content that is relevant, interesting, accurate and entertaining for newspapers and the internet.”

Yet the papers did ultimately struggle financially.

Advance was known in the industry for a pledge that employees who weren’t in a union would have jobs regardless of economic downturns or technological advances. In 2009, the company announced that the pledge would be withdrawn.

The company also moved away from daily publishing of several papers. In 2012, The Times-Picayune announced it would cease daily publication and would only offer print editions on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Those changes were accompanied by hundreds of layoffs.

Newhouse stepped back from daily operations in the mid-2000s, though he retained the title of president for several years. His eldest son, Steven, oversaw The Times-Picayune until 2019, when it was sold to Dathel and John Georges and returned to daily publication.

John Georges recalled a chance meeting and brief conversation with Donald Newhouse at a Manhattan restaurant several months before the purchase that he said helped pave the way for the eventual deal.

“It was fortuitous and opened the door for the later conversations we were able to have,” Georges said. “I give him a lot of credit for doing the right thing.

The deal could not have happened without him.”

“I am very, very appreciative,” he added.

While Newhouse was dedicated to Advance, his true passion was his family. His daughter, Katherine Mele, said his favorite pastime was taking 3-mile walks with them.

In addition to his children, Newhouse is also survived by his grandchildren. His wife, Susan, died in 2015.

Staff writer Stephanie Riegel contributed to this report.

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TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2026 PICK 3: 8-1-5 PICK 4: 1-3-5-7 PICK 5: 5-3-8-9-4 MEGA MILLIONS: 1-5-49-51-59 MEGA BALL: 7

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Funerals Today Berthelot, Howard

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in St. Amant at 11 a.m.

Brown, Ann

St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church, 9150 Highland Road, at 10 a.m.

til religious service at 2 p.m. Entombment will follow in Grace Memorial Park Mausoleum. To view full obit visit www.wilbertservices.com.

Collins, Barbara Riley

Breidenbach, Madeline Jewell

Duthu, Jackie

Resthaven Funeral Home, 11817 Jefferson Highway, at 11 a.m.

Johnson, Edna

Asbury Methodist Church in White Castle at 11 a.m.

Root, Maxine

Resthaven Funeral Home, 11817 Jefferson Highway in Baton Rouge at 2:30pm.

Summerville, Michael

Greenoaks Funeral Home at noon.

Obituaries Alexander Jr., John

John Alexander Jr. affectionately known as "JJ" passed away at OLOL May 17,2026. Visiting at Hall Davis & Son Funeral Home at 10am on 5/30/26 followed by Religious Service at 11am. Conducted by Rev. Errol K. Domingue

Bourg Jr., Clay Mark

Clay Mark Bourg, Jr., native and lifelong resident of Port Allen, went home to be with Jesus on Monday, May 25, 2026, surrounded by the love and prayers of his family. Mark was born on December 27, 1948 to Clay M Sr and Juette Bourg. He was a proud Vietnam Veteran, a devoted husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and faithful servant of the Lord. He loved his Savior and his family with every fiber of his being, and his life reflected unwavering faith, strength, and compassion. Mark was a fierce protector of all those whom he loved. He is survived by his loving wife, Cynthia Johnson-Bourg; his children, April Bourg, Bridgette Bourg Langlois and husband Michael, and Clay "Trés" Bourg and wife Jamie. Visitation will be at Wilbert Funeral Home in Port Allen on Saturday, May 30th, from 10 a.m. un-

Madeline died on Thursday, May 21, 2026, from an unexpected and sudden illness. She leaves behind her husband of 55 years, David Breidenbach, their son, Adam Breidenbach (wife, Leslie), and grandson, Elliot Breidenbach.

She is also survived by her brother, Ronald Jewell (wife, Lena) of New Roads, and by her niece, Marcy Jewell Donham (husband, Stephen) of Mandeville, LA., and several other nieces, nephews and cousins in her extended family.

Madeline was born in New Roads, Louisiana, on April 1, 1948, and was preceded in death by her parents, Elliott E. Jewell and Eloise Milam Jewell. Madeline was a proud 1966 graduate of Poydras High School in New Roads. She lived primarily in Baton Rouge until moving to the New Roads area in 2003.

She was a wonderful, caring, and loving wife, mother, and dear friend to many people throughout her full and active life. She was talented in many fields, particularly in creating art through many styles of painting, flower arranging, and more recently rug hooking. She also enjoyed a lifetime of travel and sightseeing, having visited over 70 countries throughout the world including a 3-year residency in Japan. She was active in several local organizations and causes including animal welfare, book clubs, and by participating frequently with dear friends at social events and small group dinners.

She attracted many close friends throughout her life across many locations who will fondly recall her and their time together. She especially enjoyed being with her family, and she was so very proud of them and their accomplishments.

There will be a Celebration of Life for Madeline at the United Methodist Church in New Roads on Monday, June 1, 2026, from 9 to 11 AM. While Madeline adored flowers, please consider remembering her by making a donation in her memory to a favorite charity.

Barbara Riley Collins was born August 3, 1932, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to the late West and Hazel Riley. She entered eternal rest on May 18, 2026. Barbara was a member of Mount Zion Methodist Church in New Orleans and later Jordan United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge. She was the wife of Herbert "Rip" Collins, Sr., with whom she shared 74 years of marriage.

Barbara was a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School in New Orleans and Southern University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Education, and additional graduate hours in Elementary Education.

She taught at Progress Elementary and Baker Heights Elementary in East Baton Rouge Parish School System and served as a supervisor of student teachers for Southern University and Louisiana State University.

Barbara was an active member of several organizations, including Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated (Baton Rouge Alumnae Chapter), Top Ladies of Distinction, Jet Setters Social Club, Red Hat Society, Lions Club, 100 Black Women, and the Southern University Alumni Federation (Life Member). In 2002, she was honored as the March of Dimes "24 Karat Lady of the Year."

She was preceded in death by her parents and siblings, West Riley, Jr. and James Riley, Sr. She leaves to cherish her memory her husband, Herbert "Rip" Collins, Sr.; children, Belita Collins and Herbert Collins, Jr. (Eleanor); grandchildren, Nicole Grimes, Keshia Cato (Stephen), Germaine Grimes (Jennifer), Malcolm Franklin, and Herbert Collins, III; great-grandchildren, Avery Cato, Eric Collins, Mekhi Collins, Kali Cato, Rian Grimes, Braxton Grimes, and Jace Grimes; siblings, Gloria Riley and John Riley(Dorothy); godson, Ryan Riley; and a host of relatives and friends.

Her legacy of love, faith, and service will be cherished always.

of Baton Rouge for 86 years. Visiting at St. James Episcopal Church, at 9:30 a.m. Friday, May 29, 2026 until religious services at 11:00 a.m., conducted by the Rev. Christopher R. Duncan.

Interment in Roselawn Memorial Park.

Survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Neal Risley Elliott, Jr. and Olivia Woodyear Elliott; a daughter, Katherine Phillips Elliott Creech; five grandchildren, that brought her great joy, Neal Risley Elliott, III, Marshall Fielding Elliott, Caroline Annesley Creech, William Neal Creech, and Emily Katherine Creech; a brother, Fielding Chadwick Phillips; a sister and brother-in-law, Pamela Phillips Sulzer and Gerald Michael Sulzer; and a sister-in-law, Joanne Elliott Milton; three nephews, Eric Fielding Sulzer, Conrad Phillips Sulzer, and William Hunt Sulzer; three greatnephews and one great niece. Preceded in death by her husband Neal Risley Elliott; parents, Lewis Fielding Phillips and Shirley Genius Phillips; paternal grandparents, Robert Bowman Phillips and Frances Hewitt Turner Phillips, maternal grandparents, Albert Sidney Genius and Alice Lebeau Genius, niece, Emily Annette Phillips, sister-in-law, Annette Brumfield Phillips, and brother-in-law, Clarence Willard Elliott, Jr. Pallbearers will be Neal Risley Elliott, III, Marshall Fielding Elliott, William Neal Creech, Eric Fielding Sulzer, Conrad Phillips Sulzer, and William Hunt Sulzer. During her life she was a member of the Baton Rouge Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company - Louisiana Chapter, the Baton Rouge Assembly, the Baton Rouge Country Club, and was a member of St. James Episcopal Church. A special thank you to her wonderful caregivers, Leslie Bruner and Anna Hemphill, the caring staff at Hospice In His Care, and the clergy of St. James Episcopal Church.

Rabenhorst Funeral Home, 825 Government Street, in charge of arrangements.

Elliott, Kay Phillips

Kay Phillips Elliott died Saturday, May 23, 2026, at her residence in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Born January 18, 1940, she was a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a resident

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ 3B Espinal, Elena

Elena Espinal passed away peacefully on May 20, 2026, at the age of 91.

Born on March 6, 1935, in Honduras to Lino Diaz and Elena Hernandez, she devoted her life to caring for her family and creating a home filled with love, warmth, and togetherness.

She found great joy in cooking and baking, and nothing made her happier than gathering loved ones around the table to share one of her unforgettable meals. She enjoyed embroidery, gardening, shopping, and caring for her many beloved houseplants, which made her home feel especially cozy and welcoming. She cherished traveling back to Honduras to visit her son, extended family, and dear friends, and enjoyed spending time in Massachusetts surrounded by the family she loved so deeply. Some of her happiest moments were spent sharing "cafecito" and heartfelt conversations with her granddaughters at La Madeleine. She also enjoyed watching movies and shows, especially Emily in Paris, often clapping excitedly during her favorite moments. Quiet afternoons reading classic novels and the Holy Bible were another source of comfort and peace.

Cooking was one of the many ways she showed her love. She loved preparing meals alongside her children and took pride in seeing the recipes, traditions, and talents she passed down continue through her family. One of her greatest joys in life was spending time with her great-grandchildren, a joy that kept her active and closely present in their lives. Her gentle spirit, unwavering love, and nurturing heart touched everyone who knew her. She had a rare gift for making every place feel like home, and her family and friends often described her as the easiest person to love. She was the heart of her family, a beloved matriarch whose presence will be deeply missed and forever cherished. She is survived by her eight children: Manuel Espinal (Martha Espinal), Carmen Hernandez (Denis Hernandez), Alfredo Espinal, Xiomara Reyes (Luis Reyes), Nestor Espinal (Lady Espinal), Roney Espinal (Gisela Espinal), Zulema Santos (Samuel Santos), and Rommel Espinal (Stephanie Es-

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pinal). She is also survived by her 24 grandchildren, 34 great-grandchildren, 7 great-great-grandchildren, and her siblings Sandra and Oscar. She is preceded in death by: her parents, Lino Diaz and Elena Hernandez; her husband of 52 years, Alfredo Espinal; and her siblings Alicia, Arnulfo, Julio, Jorge, Luis, and Omar.

The family extends its deepest gratitude to her caregivers, Dr. Jeryl Breaux and Dr. Burke Brooks, and especially to her primary caretaker and beloved granddaughter, Lilibeth Espinal, who remained by her side with love and devotion. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Funeral Service at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 30, 2026, at Resthaven Funeral Home, 11817 Jefferson Highway, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A visitation will be held at the funeral home beginning at 9:30 a.m.

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Elena Espinal, please visit our flower store.

Netto, Mary K.

Mary K. Netto passed away at her residence in Prairieville, on May 23, 2026, at the age of 93. She is survived by her daughter, Yvonne Matthews (Terry); son, Charles Harper (Felicia); grandchildren, Dianna Greene and Chris Matthews; great-grandchild, Ethen Greene. She is preceded in death by her husband, Ardis Netto and is survived by his family.

She is also preceded in death by her parents, Mary and Elbert Burnette; and her sister, Betty Maddox.

Visitation will be on Saturday, May 30, 2026, at First Baptist Church, 16735 Hwy 16, French Settlement, LA, from 9:00 am until the funeral service at 11:00 am in the church. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

4B ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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

OUR VIEWS

Rural residents lose again in dispute over broadband In 2026, reliable and fast internet is almost as important to daily life as electricity and water.

It’s how we shop, entertain ourselves, work, access healthcare and do so much more.

Any community without it is doomed to struggle to attract new residents or keep the ones it has.

That’s the situation that tiny Lake Providence, population about 3,500 in East Carroll Parish, finds itself in.

For years, town residents have wanted good internet service. A local activist group, Delta Interfaith, had made the call a central part of its platform. And within the last couple of years, it seemed as if they might have finally gotten their wish.

A Missouri-based company called Conexon had agreed to lay fiber throughout East Carroll Parish, including in Lake Providence, paid for in part by federal and state grants. As of just a few months ago, much of that work had been completed: Fiber had been installed right up to the edge of town.

But then it stopped. Multiple reasons, including a Trump administration rewrite of program rules and a fight between Conexon and Louisiana’s broadband office, were to blame.

Months later, residents are still waiting.

“We’re furious,” a local organizer from Lake Providence told this newspaper’s Jenna Ross.

“We’re fed up.”

So are we.

The first signs of trouble came after the Trump administration made changes to the federal roadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, or BEAD, program. It was created under the Biden administration’s bipartisan infrastructure law to speed the rollout of broadband to rural areas. But critics argued the program was moving too slowly.

The Trump administration vowed to change that by shifting its focus away from installing cheaper, more reliable and faster fiber internet and instead allowing satellite internet companies, like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which operates Starlink, to get the grants. But satellite is already available in East Carroll.

Compounding the federal change is an ongoing dispute between Conexon CEO Jonathan Chambers and the Louisiana Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity. Chambers contends that the state office owes his company millions of dollars for work already completed. Veneeth Iyengar, the lead state official, says the company still must comply with a series of checks to ensure its work follows federal and state rules.

Little of that matters to local residents, and none of it is their fault. As one resident told Ross, “We’re the community that gets caught in the middle.”

They’re justified to feel that way. Of course, companies should be fairly paid for the work and investment they pour into our communities. And we understand the need to ensure that public money is spent transparently and toward the objective for which it was allocated.

We urge Conexon and state officials to resolve this dispute and get the fiber into Lake Providence with all due haste. Even more importantly, we urge each side to learn from this example so that such delays are not repeated elsewhere.

No other community should end up caught in the middle.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE ARE OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published

identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’s city of residence.

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

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YOUR VIEWS

Gerrymandering doesn’t benefit anyone but politicians

Speed in effort to dismantle voting rights says it all My grandmother had a phrase she used when she watched somebody move too fast. Not when they were eager. Not when they were excited. When they were guilty. She’d narrow her eyes and say, “Up to no good.”

The Supreme Court handed down its decision in Louisiana v. Callais on a Wednesday. By Thursday — before the ruling was even certified — Gov. Jeff Landry had suspended Louisiana’s House primary elections so the Legislature could redraw the congressional map. As U.S. Rep. Troy Carter pointed out, mail ballots were already out, early voting was set to begin that Saturday, and soldiers overseas had already cast votes that wouldn’t count.

A day. Landry gave it a day.

You don’t move that fast on a process you believe in. You don’t suspend an active election unless you already know what map you want and you already know the public won’t like how you got it. The speed is the tell.

If this were about fair representation, there would be hearings. There would be public input. There would be the slow, patient, grinding work of democracy that doesn’t make the cable news.

Instead, we got an executive order and a thank-you note for moving quickly.

My grandmother wouldn’t need a law degree to read this one. She’d read it from the porch. She’d read it from the speed alone. Up to no good.

Gerrymandering is wrong. It does not matter what political party you belong to, what race you are, what gender you are or any other aspect you consider important. Gerrymandering is a tool of segregation and voter nullification. Gerrymandering guarantees voter disenfranchisement. Eventually, gerrymandering promotes extremism. Why would any politician listen to anyone but those people who guarantee his election?

The determination of the boundaries of a U.S. House of Representatives district should be accomplished using geography and math, not the desire for the attainment or maintaining political power.

Step one is the determination of the population center for each prospective representative district.

The population for congressional districts averaged about 760,000 in 2020.

For example, that means Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Monroe, New Orleans and Shreveport would be the population centers for the state of Louisiana (sorry Lafayette).

Step two would be the simultaneous expansion of district boundaries in a 360-degree direction from each population center until they meet another district boundary or state line.

This will result in some districts exceeding and others not meeting the 760,000 population goal. Step three involves the simultaneous expansion and/or contraction of district boundaries until the 760,000 population average is attained for each district.

This would result in a more diverse electorate for each district.

Using geography and math, representatives would have to listen to and consider the concerns of a broader base of the electorate. The determination of the boundaries of the U.S. House of Representatives districts based on geography and math would not eliminate extremism, but it should help in limiting it.

Politicians should not be involved in this process. They would only screw it up and disclose their racism and authoritarianism.

DAVID W. HOOVER New Orleans

Storm recovery fees an added burden on homeowners The storm may be over, but for Louisiana residents, the financial damage keeps coming every single month.

Since the Louisiana Public Service Commission approved hurricane and storm damage recovery fees, my monthly electric bill has spiked noticeably and consistently. What was presented as a small addition has compounded into a significant financial burden that disrupts my household budget month after month. I did not cause the storm damage. I did not make the infrastructure decisions that left our grid vulnerable. Yet I am the one absorbing the cost.

The timing could not be worse.

Louisiana residents are already battling rising gas prices, inflation and in-

creased living costs across the board.

Layering storm recovery fees onto already strained household budgets is pushing families like mine dangerously close to the financial edge.

I urge the commission to take immediate action: cap the duration of storm recovery fees with a clear end date; introduce income-based exemptions for low-income households; increase transparency around how collected fees are being utilized; and accelerate infrastructure improvements to prevent future storm-related cost transfers onto consumers.

Louisianans have weathered enough.

We should not be endlessly billed for it.

LESLIE TAYLOR Baton Rouge

Data centers growth should prompt question about energy use The rapid growth of data centers in Louisiana should concern all residents.

While these facilities may create shortterm economic opportunities, they also consume enormous amounts of water and electricity. Some data centers use millions of gallons of water daily to cool servers and rank among the largest industrial users of electricity.

As energy demand rises and data centers continue to be approved at a rapid pace, will Louisiana have adequate resources now and in the future to meet the needs of its citizens?

Utility companies receive state tax incentives to support these projects, but when, how often and by what means are the results of public oversight

shared with the public? Could the increased utility demands from these facilities place a greater financial burden on Louisiana residents than the benefits these projects promise?

If demand continues to rise while resources remain limited, will the needs of data centers take priority over those of Louisiana citizens and at what cost?

Consumers should carefully review their utility bills. Detailed charges may reveal hidden fees, meter-reading mistakes or billing errors. Understanding energy use patterns can also help households reduce waste and develop more efficient habits.

LORETTA DILAURA Baton Rouge

WILLIAM BENDER Baton Rouge

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ 5B

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COMMENTARY AMERICA 250

PROVIDED PHOTO FROM SAIL 250

ARA Libertad is a 340-foot, three-masted, steel-hulled tall ship based in Buenos Aires. Built in 1963, it carries 28,545 square feet of sail and a crew of officers, sailors and cadets.

The river that forged a nation Ships tell only part of the story of the vital role the Mississippi has played in our history

F

ew places tell the story of America quite like United States.

Louisiana — where our people, our commerce New Orleans has long played a defining role in and our waters have helped to shape a nation America’s military and maritime history — from now approaching its 250th birthday. And no place the pivotal Battle of New Orleans in 1815, which carries that story more powerfully than the Mishelped cement the young nation’s confidence and sovereignty, to the production of Higgins boats dursissippi River, a river system that connects 31 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces through ing World War II, innovations manufactured in New a watershed that drains roughly 41% of the conOrleans that helped Allied forces change the course of history on the beaches of Normandy and tinental United States. This means rainfall, throughout the Pacific. commerce, agriculture, energy and industry This city has always mattered to the from nearly half of the nation ultimately flows American story because it has always conthrough this interconnected water network.

From the earliest days of our republic, nected America to the world.

America has been defined by its maritime Explorers and immigrants arrived here might. Our prosperity has long depended on seeking opportunity. Entrepreneurs built Walt the Mississippi River and the ports it sustains fortunes here. Musicians transformed Leger — from the Port of Baton Rouge to the Port global culture here. Generations have GUEST of New Orleans — gateways through which COLUMNIST stood along these riverbanks in awe of a the agricultural and industrial strength of the city shaped by the movement of people and American heartland reaches the world. ideas from every corner of the globe.

The vessels traveling these waters are more than And that spirit remains alive today. ships of commerce. They carry the lifeblood of the Sail 250 New Orleans will feel unlike celebrations nation’s economy. Grain, energy, steel, chemicals anywhere else in the country. It will look different, and goods produced across the interior of North sound different and taste different — because only America all move through this corridor. The Missis- New Orleans could welcome the world in this way.

From Louisiana seafood and live music to unforgetsippi River is not simply a Louisiana story; it is an American story. table experiences along our historic riverfront, this For centuries, it transported music, language, tra- week will create lasting memories for families, visiditions, cuisine and ideas that helped shape one of tors, crewmembers and military guests alike. the world’s truly great cultural cities.

With thousands of crewmembers visiting our city, The story of New Orleans begins with water — Sail 250 represents more than a celebration of mariwith the Mississippi River connecting the center time history. of a continent to the wider world. Along these rivIt is another opportunity to showcase the very best of New Orleans to the world and to demonerbanks, cultures collided and converged, producing something entirely original and unmistakably strate what we already know: We are one of the American. world’s great gathering places — resilient, authenMark Twain famously called the Mississippi “the tic, welcoming and deeply connected to the indusbody of the nation,” immortalizing its spirit through tries and culture that continue to move America the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. forward. Events of this magnitude happen because Generations later, the river remains exactly that: a of extraordinary community partnerships, political living symbol of the movement, ambition, resilience leadership and public support. and diversity that define the United States itself.

As America approaches its 250th birthday, New In many ways, New Orleans exists because of Orleans stands as a reminder of what has always this riverfront. It made the city a gateway to the made this country exceptional: our openness to the world, a center of trade, a crossroads of cultures world, our ability to blend cultures into something and a place of constant reinvention while remaining new, and our enduring belief that commerce, credeeply rooted in history. ativity, freedom, and opportunity can flow together For more than 300 years, New Orleans has stood just like the waters of the Mississippi River itself. as a global port of call. And this week, as Sail 250 arIn a world that too often feels divided, New Orrives along our riverfront, it is fitting that New Orleans reminds us that culture still connects us. Muleans is among the first cities in America chosen to sic still unites us. Food still brings us to the same help commemorate our nation’s 250th anniversary. table. And joy still matters.

To welcome the United States Navy, the United New Orleans is a city where history still breathes.

States Coast Guard and international maritime Where culture still evolves. And where people partners to the banks of the Mississippi River is a from every corner of the world still gather along tremendous honor. the banks of the Mississippi River — the great waBut it is also a reminder of something larger: terway that helped build America and continues to America would not be the nation it is today without carry its story forward.

New Orleans, without this riverfront and without the Mississippi River system that helped build the Walt Leger is president and CEO of New Orleans & commerce, culture and strategic strength of the Company.

ON THE CALENDAR There are several events around Louisiana to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Here is a list of some going on now. For a full list, go to america250la.org n Sail 250 at the New Orleans Riverfront offers visitors a chance to see the largest flotilla of tall ships ever assembled in the Mississippi and participate in festivities designed to entertain and educate audiences about the history of the U.S. May 28 to June 1. Go to www.sail250neworleans.com for more details n The Louisiana State Museum at the Cabildo, 701 Chartres St., New Orleans, is featuring the exhibit, “Gálvez and Louisiana in the American Revolution,” which explores the life of Spanish Gov. Bernardo de Gálvez and the diverse people of Louisiana who fought for American independence.Through May 15, 2027. louisianastatemuseum.org. n Louisiana’s Old State Capitol, 100 North Blvd., Baton Rouge, is featuring the exhibit,“Bought for a Song: A young Nation Expands,” whose only artifact is the French exchange copy of the convention between the Republic of France and the United States that finalized the Louisiana Purchase.Through July 11. louisianaoldstatecapitol.org. n The Historic New Orleans Collection, 520 Royal St., New Orleans, is featuring the exhibit,“American Revolution: The Augmented Exhibition,” where visitors can immerse themselves in 3D interactive reconstructions of key moments in American history.

Through Jan. 17. hnoc.org

ABOUT THE SERIES Throughout the year, the Opinion pages are featuring columns and conversations from historians, scholars, politicians and others about what this 250th anniversary of America means.To read previous pieces, go to the Opinion section of our website.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE ARE OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the

writer’s city of residence. The Advocate | The Times-Picayune require a street address and phone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor, The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@theadvocate.com.

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCAN HERE

6B ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

TODAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

Showers and a heavier t-storm

Showers and a heavier t-storm

Humid with a t-storm in spots

A shower and t-storm; humid

Humid with a thunderstorm

Rain and a t-storm in the p.m.

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

LOW

82° 71°

LOW

87° 72°

LOW

90° 72°

Beaumont 85/72 Port Arthur 84/72

Baton Rouge 82/71

Lake Charles 84/71

New Orleans 82/73 Houma 80/72

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

0s

Hattiesburg 85/70

Alexandria 79/69

Lafayette 82/71

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30s

40s

50s

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90° 70°

LOW

90° 69°

TEMPERATURE Jackson 83/70

Many 82/68

LOW

Baton Rouge through 5 p.m. Wednesday

Longview 86/68

-0s

90° 71°

Monroe 82/70

Shreveport 85/70

-10s

LOW

Well, once again today there is a risk of excessive rainfall that could lead to flash flooding in the forecast. With saturated ground in many parts of the Baton Rouge area, there is a general flood risk as well.

There are also flood warnings in effect for several rivers on the northshore and in southern Mississippi. Otherwise, besides rain and storms, expect a partly to mostly cloudy, warm and humid day.

Temperatures this afternoon will rise to the mid-80s and more rain and storms are possible tomorrow.

60s

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90s 100s 110s

High/low Normal high/low Last year’s high/low Record high Record low

TODAY’S TIDES Lake Pontchartrain (Tchefuncte River) Shell Beach South Point, Marsh Island Cypremort Point Grand Isle (Barataria Pass) Mississippi River (Southwest Pass) Wine Island

Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today FULL

MAY 31

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Atlanta Austin Boston Charlotte Chicago Dallas Denver Houston Las Vegas

Shown are areas of precipitation and high temperatures for the day.

24-hour total Month to date Normal month to date year to date Normal year to date

HIGH

6:40p 12:24p 5:02a 7:47a 8:09a 7:39a 9:17a

6:04 a.m.

8:00 p.m.

5:56 p.m.

4:01 a.m.

LAST

NEW

JUN 8

Hi

86 90 67 87 72 86 77 89 83

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71 74 55 66 50 70 56 72 61

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t pc sh t s t pc t s

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80 91 68 84 80 90 82 92 80

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68 73 46 69 57 74 52 75 65

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LOW

0.33” 11.46” 4.52” 27.66” 24.84”

New study says damage will increase in a warming world

BY SETH BORENSTEIN AP science writer

WASHINGTON — A warmer world will likely make bigger and more damaging hail, a new study said.

Because climate change from the burning of fossil fuels should make more highenergy unstable air, which is conducive to hail forming, global storms pelting roofs, cars and the ground with hail bigger than a large marble will increase between 38% and 47% by the end of the century, depending on how much heat-trapping gas the world spews, a study in Wednesday’s journal Nature said. And storms that produce smaller hail will shrink by 4% to 8%, researchers found.

Hail generally doesn’t kill people, but it is expensive.

It already costs the U.S. about $10 billion a year and around $80 billion globally, said study co-author John Allen, a meteorology professor at Central Michigan University.

Hail does more damage than tornadoes and generally costs “more than a couple hurricanes a year now,” Allen said in the morning from Guymon, Oklahoma, before he ventured out with scientists who drive into the heart of hail storms to figure out what makes them tick. “We’ve seen record hailstones in recent years. I find this extremely concerning because we’re not really building our environment to be resilient to hail. We don’t include this in our design standards, for example, for built homes in the U.S. or in-

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

Forensic engineer Tim Marshall measures a large hailstone during a Project ICECHIP operation June 6, 2025, in Morton, Texas.

deed internationally.”

Allen’s computer simulations show the mix of larger stones will grow with climate change. Those are the ones that cause more damage, he and outside scientists said.

Bigger stones weigh more and fall through the air faster to hit with more power.

While small hail can damage crops, large hail of around 2 inches “can cause major damage to vehicles, roofs, solar panels, and other infrastructure,” said Andreas Prein, a climate scientist at ETH Zurich, who wasn’t part of the study.

One hole on a roof from a single hailstone can be patched, but many large stones hitting that roof usually means an expensive roof replacement, Allen said.

What happens is there’s more water vapor in a warmer atmosphere — nearly 4% more per degree Fahrenheit — and “that increases the available energy to the atmosphere and so we tend to get end up with stronger updrafts,” Allen said. “And that leads to more thunderstorms with updrafts capable of producing hail.”

But with warmer air, there’s less cold as high up for smaller hailstones and

they tend to melt more, where bigger ones don’t, Allen said.

Previous studies have mostly focused on hail in the United States — which has the most hail — and didn’t do the three-dimensional modeling of hail formation that the new study has done with lead authors out of China, Allen said. Other studies have looked at potential increase in frequency instead of size.

Argentina, Europe, Canada and the U.S. Northern Plains will likely see the biggest increase in larger hail, while parts of the tropics should see a reduction because of smaller stones melting, Allen said.

“Hail is not just a U.S. problem,” Allen said. “Yes, we do see large losses here, but the global hail losses seem to be something that is really spiraling in recent years.”

Study authors looked at hail bigger and smaller than 1.2 inches in diameter, which is somewhere between a marble and golf ball, and about the size of a U.S. 50cent coin. The team looked at three scenarios based on carbon emissions from the burning of coal, oil and gas. In a slightly optimistic scenario of not so much carbon pollution, larger hail increases by 38%. In a more pessimistic scenario, where temperatures rise nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit even warmer than the other scenario, larger hail jumps by 47%.

“This is a meaningful climate signal,” said Walker Ashley, a Northern Illinois meteorology professor who wasn’t part of the study.

“But disaster losses are not driven by the peril alone.”

As more people, more houses, more solar farms and more infrastructure move into areas prone to hail, the risk and damage increases, Ashley said.

READING 35 MAIN POLLUTANT Nitrogen oxide

MAIN POLLUTANT Nitrogen oxide

FT.

HIGH

0.7 5:51a 0.0 1.6 11:12p -0.1 2.0 9:46a 1.6 1.7 11:10p 0.1 1.2 7:20p -0.1 1.5 5:48p -0.1 1.5 8:22p -0.1

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The solunar period schedule allows planning days so you will be fishing in good territory or hunting in good cover during those times. Major periods begin at the times shown and last for 1.5 to 2 hours. The minor periods are shorter.

MAJOR MINOR MAJOR MINOR

Today 9:33a Friday 10:14a Saturday 10:59a Sunday 11:48a Monday 12:14a Tuesday 1:08a Wednesday 2:03a

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Los Angeles Miami Nashville New york City Philadelphia Phoenix St. Louis San Francisco Seattle

Hi

71 88 86 76 78 93 87 69 80

3:22a 9:55p 4:02a 10:37p 4:47a 11:24p 5:35a ---6:27a 12:40p 7:21a 1:34p 8:16a 2:28p

TODAY Lo

56 76 67 57 56 68 66 54 51

W

sh t t pc pc s c sh s

GOOD

SOURCE: LOUISIANA DEQ AND AIRNOW.GOV

Hi

72 88 86 78 80 90 82 64 59

3:44p 4:26p 5:11p 6:01p 6:53p 7:46p 8:40p

FRI. Lo

58 77 69 54 58 70 66 53 47

Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.

Warmer world creates bigger, worse hailstones

TODAY

GOOD

PRECIPITATION

87°/74° 88°/68° 90°/70° 98° in 2024 49° in 1961

YESTERDAY

W

s t t pc s s t pc c

MISSISSIPPI Memphis Vidalia-Natchez Red River Landing Baton Rouge Donaldsonville Reserve New Orleans OHIO Cairo COMITE Near Olive AMITE Near Darlington Denham Springs Port Vincent TICKFAW Montpelier Holden ATCHAFALAYA Simmesport Melville Krotz Springs Butte La Rose Bayou Sorrel Morgan City

FLOOD STAGE

34 48 48 35 27 22 17

WED. 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE

17.40 29.40 31.80 15.70 9.10 6.84 5.10

+1.87 +1.04 +0.40 +0.20 +0.10 -0.13 +0.13

40

34.49

+1.01

19

-1.17

-0.15

18 29 8

-0.09 13.20 2.84

-0.17 -0.57 +0.13

13 15

3.25 2.19

-0.16 -0.54

47 34 29 20 12 6

13.51 9.59 8.07 7.10 5.50 3.05

-0.42 -0.68 -0.09 -0.37 -0.20 -0.05

data as of 7 a.m. Wednesday

Forecasts and graphics, except for Damon’s Outlook, provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2026

Print subscriber but haven’t set up your digital access yet?

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SPORTS

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

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T h u r s d ay, M ay 28, 2026

U.S. senators propose bill with ‘Kiffin Rule’ in it STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Despite roster eligibility questions, coach Wade content with LSU’s position

‘VERY COMFORTABLE’

BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

MIRAMAR BEACH,Fla.— Recently released NCAA eligibility guidelines aimed at restricting the influx of international and previously professional basketball players could have a major effect on returning LSU men’s basketball coach Will Wade’s 2026-27 roster.

If Wade is overly concerned about it, he isn’t letting it show.

“We feel very comfortable in our position,” Wade said with a smile Wednesday as he prepared to head home from the Southeastern Conference spring meeting here at the Sandestin Hilton.

Wade, who returned to LSU in March after a previous stint from 2017-22, gave little elaboration, though he did add: “We’ve got a job to do. A big task ahead of us. We’ve got to get it done.”

Potentially in question is the eligibility of five of LSU’s

UNO hires new AD ahead of summer transition Newly named athletic director Giorlando has LSU, UNO ties

BY RASHAD MILLIGAN Staff writer

UNO announced Wednesday that Michael “Gio” Giorlando is the school’s new athletic director to usher in a new era on the campus.

UNO’s transition to rejoin the LSU System is set to be completed this summer.

“Gio’s long history with UNO and his extensive experience in collegiate athletics make him a tremendous fit to lead Privateers athletics,” Jeanette Weiland, inGiorlando terim chancellor of UNO, said in a news release. “He understands this university, he understands our student-athletes, and he brings decades of experience as both a coach and athletics administrator.

ä See UNO, page 3C

1CN

nine newcomers. They include: Brice Dessert: A 6-foot-11, 23-year-old center from France, Dessert plays for Anadolu Efes in the Turkish League.

Saliou Niang: A 6-6, 22-year-old wing player from Senegal, Niang has played in the EuroLeague. He was also the 58th overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Michael Ruzic: A 7-0, 19-year-old forward/center from Croatia, Ruzic played for Jovenhut in Badalona, Spain.

Marcio Santos: A 6-9, 23-year-old center/forward from Brazil, Santos plays for Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel and in the EuroLeague.

Also in question is LSU commitment RJ Luis. The 2025 Big East Player of the Year at St. John’s signed with LSU after having previously signed a two-way contract with the NBA’s Utah Jazz. He later played three exhibition games for the Boston Celtics.

ä See WADE, page 3C

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — It’s being called the Lane Kiffin Rule.

It’s just one segment of a sweeping and potentially landmark bipartisan piece of legislation called the Protect College Sports Act, put forward Wednesday by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, intended to regulate college athletics. But in Louisiana, one part of the ponderous 111-page bill will Scott get the most attention.

Rabalais The part that pertains to Kiffin, who you may have heard left Ole Miss to become the LSU football coach on the eve of the Rebels’ appearance in the College Football Playoff, would prohibit coaches from leaving their schools for another coaching position before the season ends, or for schools to make such a hire.

The act is obviously a long way from becoming law, especially with all of Congress and one-third of the U.S. Senate facing impactful midterm elections in November.

But it begs an interesting question: If the act had been law this past season, would Kiffin have been able to coach Ole Miss in the CFP before taking — or even entering into negotiations — the LSU job?

There’s a lot to absorb about the proposed act and how much it does to cure some of college sports’ ills — believe it or not, some of which Kiffin has nothing to do with — currently imperiling college athletics. But if it does get passed, the

ä See RABALAIS, page 3C

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU football coach Lane Kiffin pumps his fist to a crowd on Nov. 30 as he leaves the MMR hangar at Baton Rouge Metro Airport.

Torina says LSU softball trending up

BY JIM KLEINPETER Contributing writer

LSU’s defeat in the Tuscaloosa Super Regional was a microcosm of its season.

After being shackled offensively in the first game, the Tigers rebounded with a much better effort but still could not overcome the No. 1 national seed Alabama that scored 7-0 and 4-1 wins last weekend.

The Tigers started the season slowly but came on strong at the end. They dominated this season’s regional at Tiger Park where they’d lost twice to No. 4 seed Southeastern Louisiana the year before.

Coach Beth Torina believes her program is trending up.

“I’m incredibly proud of this team,” Torina said. “I’m glad I got this week with them.

I would like to have had another week. They showed a ton of growth throughout the season, and I’m excited about what’s in front of them.

“I still think last year’s team was kind STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON of flukey; we played bad for one day. This team grew a ton, they finished strong. We’d LSU softball coach Beth Torina talks with first baseman Tori Edwards in the third like to continue to play on, but we’ve got to inning of a regional championship game against Virginia Tech on May 17 at Tiger keep growing and continue to find ways to Park. LSU beat Virginia Tech 8-0 to advance to the super regionals. do that.”

Torina is trying to get the program back to This team grew a ton, they finished strong. We’d like the Women’s College World Series, where it to continue to play on, but we’ve got to keep growing hasn’t been since 2017. But the program is in the midst of a transition that won’t come

and continue to find ways to do that.”

BETH TORINA, LSU coach

ä See LSU, page 3C

2C ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS On TV COLLEGE SOFTBALL (WCWS) 11 a.m. Mississippi State vs.Texas Tech ESPN 1:30 p.m. Tennessee vs.Texas ESPN 6 p.m.

UCLA vs.Alabama ESPN2 8:30 p.m. Arkansas vs. Nebraska ESPN2 GOLF 6 a.m.

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COLLEGE BASEBALL

Things to know as NCAA tourney gets started Friday

BY ERIC OLSON AP sportswriter

The NCAA baseball tournament opens Friday with play in 16 double-elimination regionals.

Regional winners advance to best-of-three super regionals next week, and the final eight go to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, beginning June 12.

Who’s hot Alabama State (34-21) and The Citadel (35-24) each have won eight straight games entering regionals.

SWAC Tournament champion Alabama State, which opens at Alabama as a No. 4 seed, turned nine double plays and averaged better than eight runs per game in the conference tournament. Miguel Oropeza drove in 13 runs over the past four games.

The Citadel (35-24), which plays Oklahoma as a No. 3 seed in Atlanta, knocked off regular-season champion Mercer twice on its way to the Southern Conference title. The Bulldogs have won 17 of their past 20.

Who’s not Boston College (36-21) has lost four in a row entering its game against Liberty as the No. 2 seed in Athens, Georgia. The Eagles have been outscored 46-5 over those games — 38-3 in three games against Georgia Tech and 8-2 by Miami in the ACC Tournament.

Kentucky (31-21) has dropped three in a row and 11 of its past 16.

Still waiting East Carolina (36-22-1), which received the American’s automatic bid by winning the conference tournament, has never reached the College World Series in 35 previous NCAA Tournament appearances, the longest streak of its kind. The Pirates are in an eighth straight regional and 10th in 11 years.

Florida State (38-17) has never won a national championship in 61 previous appearances. The Seminoles are a regional host for a record 38th time and open against St. John’s (33-24).

Ole Miss (36-21), the No. 2 regional seed, played the fourth-toughest schedule in the country and was in the running to be a host until two weeks ago. The Rebels lost 10 of their past 17 and tied for ninth in the SEC. The Rebels open against No. 3 regional seed Arizona State (37-19). The Sun Devils tied for third in the Big 12 and bring a powerful offense featuring conference player of the year Landon Hairsto (28 homers).

South Dakota State (2431), the bottom seed, opens against Nebraska. The Jackrabbits lost 5-4 in Lincoln in March.

No guarantees Regional hosts have advanced to super regionals 66.3% of the time (276 of 416) since the tournament went to its current format in 1999. Last year, nine hosts won regionals.

The fewest hosts to advance were seven in 2007 and 2014 and eight in 2018.

Feeling a draft Fourteen of the first 25 players in the mock draft

by MLB.com analyst Jonathan Mayo are in the tournament, including three of the top five.

Heading the group are UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky (1), UC Santa Barbara RHP Jackson Flora (3), Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey (5), Georgia Tech outfielder Drew Burress (7), Texas A&M second baseman Chris Hacopian (8) and Arkansas catcher Ryder Helfrick (10).

Next are Alabama shortstop Justin Lebron (11), Florida RHP Liam Peterson (12), Virginia outfielder A.J. Gracia (14), Kentucky shortstop Tyler Bell (17), Coastal Carolina RHP Cameron Flukey (18), Tennessee RHP Tegan Kuhns (23), Arkansas LHP Hunter Dietz (24) and Virginia shortstop Eric Becker (25).

Bashing Bulldogs

Georgia leads the nation in home runs for the second straight year and is on pace to set its single-season record. The Bulldogs enter with 149 in 58 games, two shy of the 151 in 60 games in 2024. The Bulldogs are in Welcome to the party their fourth straight season Tarleton State (37-19) is with at least 100 homers.

SEC player of the year the only first-time participant, winning the Western Daniel Jackson leads the Athletic Conference Tour- Bulldogs with 27 and is nament to earn the No. 3 among six players with seed in Austin, Texas. The double-digit homers.

Texans also won the WAC in 2024 but weren’t eligible Who is this guy? for NCAA championships The best player you’ve because they were transi- probably never heard of is Cincinnati first baseman tioning from Division II. Tarleton State, which Quinton Coats. The 6-footopens against UC Santa 3, 225-pound sophomore is Barbara (38-18), owns three tied for fourth nationally wins over teams from pow- with 28 homers, is fifth with er conferences. The Texans 78 RBIs and third in the Big will be playing on the same 12 with a .764 slugging perfield where they beat re- centage. He has four multigional host Texas in March. homer games and went hitless in just six of 57 games.

Toughest regional

The Lincoln Regional, hosted by Nebraska, appears to be the toughest of the 16.

Nebraska (42-15), the No. 13 national seed, won 40 regular-season games for the first time since 2003 and will play in a regional at home for the first time since 2008.

The Huskers played a meaty nonconference schedule and posted wins over national seeds Auburn, Florida State and Oregon.

Geography lesson California, Florida and Texas all have five teams in regionals, most among the 30 states represented in the tournament. Alabama, North Carolina and Virginia all have four schools in regionals.

Massachusetts, not known as a bastion of college baseball, has three teams in the tournament in Boston College, Holy Cross and Northeastern.

Saints sign LB Sirmon, son of linebackers coach

The Saints signed linebacker Jackson Sirmon — the son of Saints linebackers coach Peter Sirmon.

Jackson Sirmon, 26, signed after a two-year stint with the New York Jets. The 6-foot-2, 240-pounder mostly spent time on the practice squad, appearing in one game last season.

Peter Sirmon joined the Saints last season when Kellen Moore hired him. He coached Jackson at Cal, where Peter served as the defensive coordinator while Jackson was a first-team all-Pac-12 choice in 2022.

Jackson Sirmon went undrafted in 2024. He played 18 specialteams snaps and recorded a tackle in his career debut against the Carolina Panthers.

To make room for Sirmon, the Saints waived cornerback Jeremiah McClendon.

Major league players ask for expanded free agency ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By VASHA HUNT

Alabama starting pitcher Jocelyn Briski throws against Belmont during an NCAA regional game on May 16 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Fully loaded

No. 1 seed Alabama, reigning champion Texas lead deep, talented field at Women’s College World Series

BY TIM WILLERT Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — Top overall seed Alabama, reigning national champ Texas, and Big Ten Conference champion Nebraska headline a balanced field at the Women’s College World Series.

Alabama, with star pitcher Jocelyn Briski (22-3, 1.30 ERA), is capable of knocking off the second-seeded Longhorns and six others, including newcomers fifth-seeded Arkansas and unseeded Mississippi State.

The Crimson Tide (54-7) will open on Thursday against No. 8 seed UCLA, which boasts NCAA single-season home run leader Megan Grant and the top scoring team in the nation.

No. 4 seed Nebraska, which is ranked first in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, is making its first series appearance since 2013. The Cornhuskers (51-6) have won 26 straight games and are led by USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Jordy Frahm.

Frahm led Oklahoma to a national title in 2023 as Jordy Bahl before transferring, then later getting married and changing her name. Her previous team — eight-time national champion Oklahoma — won’t be making the 26-mile drive to Oklahoma City’s Devon Park for the first time since 2015.

The third-seeded Sooners, who won four of the past five national titles, were eliminated by Southeastern Conference upstart Mississippi State in three games at the Norman Super Regional. The Bulldogs (43-19) are coached by former Sooners All-American Samantha Ricketts, who played for coach Patty Gasso at Oklahoma.

“This week right now has been about enjoying the moment after obviously a historic super regional for us and also just being where our feet are,” Ricketts said. “We want our players to enjoy every step of this, being present, but then really using today to lock back in and knowing that we’re not done yet.”

Mississippi State will open with 2025 runner-up Texas Tech and ace NiJaree Canady. The Red Raiders (57-7), seeded No. 11 overall, took down sixth-seeded Florida at the Gainesville Super Regional and are looking to get back to the championship series. Canady, who wore down against Texas last year, now has help from pitcher Kaitlyn Terry, a transfer from UCLA. Arkansas, the team with the top regular-season RPI, makes its Devon Field debut. The Razorbacks haven’t reached the World Series, despite playing in super regionals in 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2025. Coach Courtney Deifel’s team racked up 26 run-rule victories this season, including five straight. The Razorbacks went undefeated in regional and super regional competition.

Texas opens defense of its title Thursday against No. 7 seed Tennessee and hard-throwing Karlyn Pickens, the No. 1 overall pick in the AUSL draft.

The Volunteers (47-10) are making their 10th appearance in Oklahoma City and Pickens (15-7, 1.53 ERA and six saves) is among the reasons why, with 180 strikeouts in 1321/ 3 innings. But the Lady Vols can throw more than just Pickens at opponents. Sage Mardjetko (0.99 ERA) and Erin Numar (1.09 ERA) rank second and fourth, respectively.

“They definitely have three pitchers that have shown they can beat anybody at any time, especially going through the SEC Tournament,” Texas coach Mike White said. “They’re dangerous. They’re well coached.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NICK SMITH

UCLA senior Megan Grant leads the nation with an NCAA-record 40 home runs this season.

THURSDAY’S GAMES Game 1: Texas Tech vs.

Mississippi State, 11 a.m., ESPN Game 2: Texas vs.

Tennessee, 1:30 p.m., ESPN Game 3: Alabama vs. UCLA, 6 p.m., ESPN2 Game 4: Nebraska vs.Arkansas, 8:30 p.m., ESPN2 The Longhorns counter with Teagan Kavan, the Most Outstanding Player of last year’s Women’s College World Series. Kavan has a 25-5 record with a 2.47 ERA and beat Alabama in the SEC title game. Katie Stewart leads the team with a .436 average and 27 home runs.

Briski has 198 strikeouts in 1562/ 3 innings. She combined with teammate Vic Moten to limit LSU to one run and seven hits in two games at the Tuscaloosa Super Regional.

“I just think really the main goal here is to just go out and win one game at a time and win each game,” Briski said.

“I’m just excited to take the field. It all starts (Thursday), and we’re just focusing on that game.”

The Tide staff will be tested right away.

UCLA (52-8) features Grant, a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year finalist who has 40 home runs, and Jordan Woolery, the 2026 Big Ten Player of the Year who is on pace to become the first player in NCAA history to hit .500 with 30 or more homers and 100 or more RBIs in the same season.

“I think a lot of the times me and Jordan are talked about as a duo, but I’m happy to say that I can finally talk about her individually because what she’s done this year is simply incredible,” Grant said. “I mean, honestly, she’s just going out there and she’s being herself, and she’s being everything that we always knew that she could be.”

Alabama coach welcomes support Alabama coach Tim Murphy invited fans of the Sooners to switch their allegiances for the next 10 days or so.

“First, to all the Oklahoma fans that are looking for a team to cheer for, it’s right here,” Murphy told reporters during media day interviews. “We have the same color palette. AMA at the bottom.

You can almost think it says Oklahoma, pretend it does. I’ll take those 10,000 fans cheering for us.”

WCWS has a big talent pool Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco called the overall talent level “unbelievable.”

“There’s literally — I think anyone in the field can win it, and I just don’t see anybody that’s going to be a clear-cut favorite,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a war from start to finish. There’s just so many teams that are really good here.”

NEW YORK — Baseball players fired the opening salvo Wednesday in what is expected to be long and contentious labor negotiations, asking for expanded free agency and salary arbitration rights along with almost doubling the major league minimum and increasing the money high-revenue teams share with the less-wealthy clubs.

A day before Major League Baseball is expected to make a salary cap proposal, the union outlined its initial economic proposals during a bargaining session at the players’ association office in Manhattan. It included what it called a “competitive integrity tax” that would penalize teams dropping below a payroll floor and called for the luxury tax threshold to rise to $300 million next year.

Packers RB Jacobs released from jail after Tuesday arrest

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs was released from a Wisconsin jail on Wednesday while authorities further investigate allegations of domestic abuse.

Jacobs was arrested Tuesday in Brown County on allegations of strangulation and suffocation and other offenses over the weekend.

His lawyers said he denies wrongdoing. District Attorney David Lasee said it’s too soon to make a formal charging decision.

Hobart/Lawrence Police Chief Michael Renkas said police responded to a complaint about Jacobs around 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

Jacobs is the Packers’ top returning rusher after running for 929 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2025.

Former NL MVP McCutchen designated for assignment

ARLINGTON,Texas — Former NL MVP outfielder Andrew McCutchen was designated for assignment by the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, after he hit .192 in his 37 games.

The 39-year-old McCutchen had joined the Rangers on a minorleague contract midway through spring training and made their opening-day roster for his 18th MLB season. He started only 15 games, nine as the designated hitter and six in the outfield.

Texas signed infielder Nicky Lopez to a major league contract.

The 31-year-old Lopez has played in 693 big-league games over parts of eight seasons with five teams.

The left-handed hitter was designated for assignment by the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.

McCutchen had two doubles, one homer and five RBIs with Texas.

Busch death certificate reveals health struggles

NASCAR driver Kyle Busch had been suffering from pneumonia for “days to weeks,” triggering a “chain of events,” including sepsis, that resulted in his untimely death, according to a report.

Busch’s sepsis progressed rapidly, within 24 hours turning into disseminated intravascular coagulation, which is the formation of small blood clots that ultimately block blood flow to the organs, per the death certificate, obtained by US Weekly.

From there, Busch suffered hemorrhagic shock due to lack of blood flow.

Busch died on May 21, a day after he fell unresponsive in a racing simulator while prepping for the Coca-Cola 600 in North Carolina.

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WADE

Continued from page 1C A 6-7 wing player, Luis also signed with Boston’s G-League affiliate the Maine Celtics but never played for that team and was waived because of an injury. Luis may need to file a lawsuit to gain eligibility to play for the Tigers.

“We’ll let that play out,” he said.

Under the NCAA’s new eligibility rules issued earlier this month, players who have “entered an agreement with, competed on or received compensation from a team that par-

UNO

Continued from page 1C

ticipates in a league with minimum compensation that exceeds actual and necessary expenses” would not have their college eligibility reinstated.

According to Sports Illustrated, which obtained a document outlining the new NCAA rules, the document specifically mentions the NFL, NBA, MLB, WNBA and Premier League, though other top international basketball leagues also could become part of the same ruling.

Including Luis, LSU has nine prospective players on its 202627 roster. Wade didn’t rule out the possibility of adding more.

“We may get another couple,” he said.

From 2004-14, Giorlando served as athletic director and head coach of men’s basketball at Loyola University New Orleans.

Most recently, he was the dental director for MCNA Dental LA for the Louisiana State Dental Medicaid Program.

“Returning to UNO — soon to be LSU New Orleans — is incredibly meaningful to me because this university helped shape both my professional and personal journey,” Giorlando said in the news release. “Privateers athletics has a proud tradition and a passionate community behind it. I look forward to supporting our student-athletes, working alongside our coaches and reconnecting with alumni and supporters as we continue building pride in LSU New Orleans athletics.”

We are pleased to welcome him back to LSU New Orleans at such a pivotal time for the university.”

Giorlando has been an assistant basketball coach at both UNO and LSU. He was a dentist for eight years before becoming a graduate assistant at UNO in 1991-92.

During his last two years as a full-time dentist, Giorlando was also a junior varsity basketball assistant coach at St. Martin’s.

He then became the boys basketball coach at St. Martin’s, Archbishop Shaw and Archbishop Hannan high schools from 1992-97 before returning to UNO as an assistant from 1997-2001.

In 2001, he joined the LSU men’s basketball staff, where he scouted opponents and oversaw LSU Email Rashad Milligan at head coach John Brady’s summer rashad.milligan@theadvocate. basketball camps. com.

FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL BACIGALUPI

LSU coach Beth Torina visits the mound during a game against Arizona on April 10 at Tiger Park.

LSU

a center fielder who could step in with the loss of senior leadoff Continued from page 1C hitter Jalia Lassiter; and Vazquez is a left-handed hitter who could step in for senior Maci Bergeron.

The freshmen will be hardinto focus until school opens in pressed to unseat multiple posthe fall.

While Torina is in line to wel- sible returners, including shortcome back six of nine daily stop Kylee Edwards, who had starters and two of her top three 10 homers, 40 RBIs and a .341 pitchers, the comings and goings batting average. Tori Edwards is of the transfer portal — which is also expected back after hitting open for business June 8 — will a team-best 12 homers with 45 have something to say about the RBIs. The Tigers survived the loss of roster composition.

Last year, Torina signed five pitching ace Sydney Berzon to the key players from the portal but transfer portal last offseason by also in the fold is a recruiting bringing in veterans Cece Cellura and Paytn Monticelli, class that has been ranked in the top “We’re on the right the latter of which be back. But three in the nation at track. It’s a new won’t Cellura teaming with different times. The age of college Jayden Heavener shift to the offense athletics.

We’re would give LSU a seacoached by assistant soned twosome in the Bryce Neal, who just learning and completed his sec- growing, trying to circle.

Torina is aware ond season in Baton put the program in that some of the 2026 Rouge, has begun to the best possible team will opt for the take hold. position to win. portal, but she likes “It’s the first rethe direction the procruiting class (Bryce) We’ve made a gram is trending. The had his hands in,” Tolot of changes next season rina said. “Getting and keep making schedule looks to be among the athletes that fit his style is important. changes that allow toughest ever with us to do that.” seven of the eight We are excited about SEC opponents reachthe class. They were BETH TORINA, ing this year’s super ranked No. 1 at the LSU coach regionals and four time we signed them. of those playing in The group of freshthe Women’s College men we have coming in will be immediate difference- World Series this week.

The SEC schedule for LSU will makers.”

The class includes catcher feature Kentucky, Tennessee, Samantha Alekman (El Dora- Florida, Arkansas, Texas, Oklado Hills, California), infielder homa, Alabama and Georgia.

“We’re on the right track,” ToGiselle De Casas (Hayward, California), pitcher Addie Rack- rina said. “It’s a new age of colley (Buford, Georgia), outfielder lege athletics. We’re learning Adelynn Siegel (Shiner, Texas), and growing, trying to put the pitcher Ayla Tuua (Murieta, program in the best possible poCalifornia), catcher Karmen sition to win. We’ve made a lot of Vazquez (Hanford, California) changes and keep making changand outfielder Sydnee Williams es that allow us to do that.

“We won’t return everyone, but (Phoenix, Arizona).

Tuua, the California Gatorade nobody does that anymore. OklaPlayer of the Year, and Rackley homa, UCLA, whoever you are, are two-way players; Williams is nobody lives in that world.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON

Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey speaks during a roundtable discussion on college sports in the East Room of the White House on March 6 in Washington.

Bipartisan bill aims to fix college sports’ ‘chaos’

BY EDDIE PELLS AP national writer

WASHINGTON — Two key senators involved in a long-simmering debate over fixing college sports will introduce a bipartisan bill designed to break a congressional logjam that would regulate payments to players, limit them to one “free” transfer over their careers and create a “Lane Kiffin Rule” to restrict coach movement during the season.

Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., briefed The Associated Press on details of the bill they crafted in hopes it can get the 60 votes needed to clear the Senate.

“This is a stability bill, not just an NIL bill,” Cruz said, referencing the name, image and likeness payments that have led to football rosters with $30 million payrolls and reshaped the industry.

Cantwell said she and Cruz teamed up on the legislation “because he and I really do believe the college sports system is in a bit of chaos.”

Meredith Page, the chairwoman of the NCAA Division I Student Athlete Advocacy Committee and a former volleyball player at Radford, called the bill “a phenomenal step.”

“I think this has lots of great protections and gives the ability

for us to stabilize the field that is so, so unstable right now,” Page said.

NCAA president Charlie Baker said the association was reviewing the Cantwell bill and looked forward to “further productive dialogue with members of Congress.”

The bill would limit players to one unrestricted transfer over the course of their colCruz lege careers — a widely supported idea across the country — and would adopt something close to the five-year eligibility period that the NCAA appears ready to enact next month.

The bill also tries to regulate coaching movement. Kiffin’s sudden move to LSU from rival Ole Miss while the Rebels were preparing for the College Football Playoff last season put a fine point on an issue that has only gotten worse in an era where teams spend millions to fill out rapidly shifting football rosters: Schools have less patience (and more money) to devote to hiring coaches for a quick fix.

Under terms of the bill, midseason coaching changes would be

RABALAIS

Continued from page 1C

Lane Kiffin Rule is on its way to becoming imprinted in the sports lexicon.

In case you’re wondering, Kiffin was leaving here to fly back to Baton Rouge along with men’s basketball coach Will Wade and women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey right about the time news of the bill was breaking.

There’s obviously a lot more in the bill than what pertains to jobhopping coaches. There are provisions to prevent the creation of a so-called “super league” of an elite group of power schools, limit fees for agents to 5% of player deals, permit the pooling of media rights, and allow the NCAA and College Sports Commission to enforce strict standards to prohibit third-party NIL deals.

It also leaves open the possibility of collective bargaining for athletes, a highly controversial outcome that would allow athletes to be considered university employees.

“This bipartisan bill is designed to save the part of college sports that fans actually care about,” Cruz recently told Yahoo Sports.

Something tells me a lot of folks will focus on the part that they think will save college sports from Kiffin.

In other news from the SEC spring meeting: Football scheduling: The Southeastern Conference revealed more kickoff times and TV assignments Wednesday for early season games.

The only new LSU-related information was on the Tigers’ Sept. 12 home game against Louisiana Tech. Kickoff will be at 6:30 p.m., with the game being shown on a streaming basis on SECNetwork+.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU coach Lane Kiffin walks across the field during spring practice on March 26 at the team’s football practice facility.

That means LSU’s first three games of the Kiffin era will all start at 6:30 p.m. As previously announced, the Sept. 5 opener in Tiger Stadium against Clemson will be on ABC, as will its Sept. 19 game at Ole Miss.

According to the SEC, kickoff windows for remaining SECcontrolled games — which will include all nine remaining games on LSU’s schedule — will be announced June 10. Following a scheduling format that debuted in 2024, the windows are as follows: early (11 a.m.-noon), afternoon (2:30-3:30 p.m.), night (5-7 p.m.) or flex (afternoon or night).

CFP expansion: SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Monday before the SEC meetings began that there would be no vote here on whether to support expansion of the College Football Playoff from 12 to 16, 24 or even 28 teams.

After a couple of days of discus-

prohibited.

“It’s not fair or right to poach a coach in the middle of the season while the team is still competing,” Cruz said. “There’s a reason the NFL has a rule that you can’t do that. Obviously, NFL teams hire coaches away from each other but they don’t do so in the middle of the season.”

The bill also would rework the Sports Broadcasting Act to allow conferences to pool their TV rights — a move proponents have said could add billions of dollars to the ecosystem in a conclusion the Southeastern and Big Ten Conferences believe is inaccurate.

The senators said leagues wouldn’t be required to join the media pooling but those that do would have to use a percentage of any increase from that to support women’s and Olympic sports.

That alone could be a dealbreaker for the SEC, which has reportedly been discussing topics including breaking away from the NCAA and allowing collective bargaining for athletes at its league meetings in Florida this week.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, along with Jim Phillips of the Atlantic Coast Conference and Brett Yormark of the Big 12, all said they were reviewing the bill, with Sankey saying “bipartisan engagement in Washington on these issues is critical.”

sions, LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry said that remains the case.

“I’m still looking at all the pieces of the puzzle,” Ausberry said.

“Figuring out what’s the best for LSU, first of all, and then the conference. We want to make sure we get it right.”

The Big Ten, Big 12, ACC and Notre Dame are all unified in their support for a 24-game playoff.

Sankey said Wednesday that the SEC continues to support an expansion to only 16 games, at least for now.

“We have not talked about our decision point,” Sankey said.

“This is likely a fall decision. As we work to gather information to see if there is interest in an expanded playoff from media markets, we’ll try to plot out the calendar. All of those need time for research and planning. There’s no need to rush to do this by, to pick a date, (SEC) media days.”

It’s expected that the college football conferences, led by the SEC and Big Ten, have to let ESPN know about their plans for the 2027-28 playoff by December.

Anti-gambling education: In the wake of the NCAA denying reinstatement to Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby over his admission of extensive sports gambling, the SEC on Wednesday unveiled its plan for mandatory sports gambling education for athletes.

The league has produced an educational video, among other initiatives, that must be viewed by all SEC athletes before their start of competition for the 202627 athletic year.

Among those in attendance at a news conference to announce the SEC program was former LSU offensive lineman Braden Augustus, who earlier this year was elected vice chairman of the SEC Student-Athlete Advisory Council.

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Two Tigers advance to NCAA Championships

BY TOYLOY BROWN III Staff writer

LSU javelin thrower Jack Larriviere and long jumper Jordan Turner on Wednesday each punched their tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Both Larriviere and Turner finished third in their events during Day 1 of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field East first round in Lexington, Kentucky.

The Tigers have 36 athletes (17 men, 19 women) and 49 total entries competing over the four days of competition at the University of

TRACK AND FIELD

Track events

Kentucky.

The top 12 in each event advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be held from June 10-13 at the University of Oregon.

LSU also had nine athletes advance to the next round.

Larriviere, a former Jesuit star, finished third with a throw of 231 feet, 8 inches.

Turner finished with a leap of 25-111/ 2, which was also good enough to earn a trip to Eugene.

The women start competition on Thursday.

100-METER DASH: Junior Jaiden Reid finished fourth with a time of 10.04 seconds, advancing to the quarterfinals.

Junior Joshua Caleb also advanced to the quarterfinals, finishing 18th with a time of 10.20. The top 24 competitors move on to the next round.

110-METER HURDLES: Senior Matthew Sophia was second, finishing with a personal-best time of 13.28 to advance to the quarterfinals of the regional.

200 METERS: Reid finished first with a season’s-best time of 20.15

to advance to the quarterfinals.

Caleb and senior Jeremiah Walker did not advance. Caleb was one spot shy of qualifying, placing 25th in 20.75. Walker did not finish the race.

400 METERS: Four of the five Tigers competitors advanced to the quarterfinals. Junior Grant Buckmiller finished fifth with a personal-best time of 45.03.

Redshirt freshman Malachi Austin was eighth with a personal-best time of 45.28.

Senior Shakeem McKay was ninth with a time of 45.36.

Sophomore Amal Glasgow advanced after a time of 45.59 for

14th.

Walker was disqualified for a lane violation.

400-METER HURDLES: Junior Isaac Lewis advanced to the quarterfinals after finishing 18th with a time of 50.59.

Field events JAVELIN: Sophomore Paul Catalanatto finished 33rd with a throw of 204-9, and senior Jackson Rimes finished with no legal throw.

LONG JUMP: Junior Koi Wedderburn was the lone Southern athlete to compete on the first day of the regional. He finished 42nd in the long jump with a leap of 21-9.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

New Liberty coach Baker relishes shot to coach in Class 5A

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JULIO CORTEZ

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shoots against San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet during Game 5 in the Western Conference finals on Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

Win or go home

Spurs facing elimination against reigning champion Thunder

By The Associated Press SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama was quiet on the floor in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, and silent afterward.

The San Antonio Spurs surely are hoping to see a different version of him on Thursday.

Game 6 of the West title series awaits, with the Spurs — facing elimination for the first time in these playoffs — set to host the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder. Oklahoma City leads the series 3-2 and would have homecourt advantage if a Game 7 is necessary on Saturday.

“I think we’ll be fine,” Spurs forward Julian Champagnie said. “I think we’ll be ready to play next game. Obviously, it’s a win-or-gohome situation, so I’m 100% sure everybody’s going to come to play.”

That would include Wembanyama, who was held to a series-low 20 points in Tuesday’s Game 5 loss at Oklahoma City. He didn’t speak with reporters after that game, and the NBA issued him a warning on Wednesday for not fulfilling media obligations.

The Spurs would likely prefer

ä Thunder at Spurs.

7:30 P.M.THURSDAy, NBC

Wembanyama does his talking on the floor Thursday. Getting him more than 15 shot attempts will be a priority, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said.

“That’s probably the easiest (adjustment) in terms of just surfacelevel stuff,” Johnson said. “He’ll definitely need to take more shots.”

There are all sorts of technical and highly nuanced adjustments that get made over the course of a playoff series, especially a backand-forth playoff series like these West finals have been.

Game plans can seem quite elaborate. But for the Thunder, the plan going into a possible closeout game like Game 6 against the Spurs couldn’t be simpler.

“We’ve got to understand what’s going on,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said.

Here’s what’s going on: The Spurs will be fighting for their playoff lives, with a home crowd behind them hoping to see them extend their season for at least one more game.

A back-and-forth series — San Antonio won Game 1, Oklahoma City won Games 2 and 3, the Spurs won Game 4 and the Thunder prevailed in Game 5 — has now reached the must-win phase for San Antonio.

“We’ve been great when we’re desperate all year,” Spurs guard Stephon Castle said. “I can’t wait to see how we respond.”

Closeout games The Thunder are 2-0 in closeout chances this year, winning Game 4s on the road in both Round 1 against Phoenix and Round 2 against the Los Angeles Lakers.

They were 4-2 in closeout chances last season on the way to the NBA title.

The Spurs won elimination games in each of their past two playoff series before this season, but ultimately wound up losing both of those series.

The odds Oddsmakers evidently expect a Game 7. They’ve made San Antonio a 31/ 2-point favorite for Game 6, which means the series would go back to Oklahoma City for a deciding game.

Spurs need Wembanyama to up his output after lowest of series

By The Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY — It’s been a simple formula for the San Antonio Spurs in these Western Conference finals. When Victor Wembanyama has been the best player on the floor, they win. When he isn’t, they lose.

He wasn’t the best player on the floor Tuesday night.

That was not the only reason the Spurs fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the West finals — there were many — but it was certainly among them. Wembanyama, who has had 41-point and 33-point outings in winning efforts during the series, never seemed to get fully rolling, and the Spurs lost 127-114.

Now down 3-2 in the series, they’ll try to extend the matchup — and save their season — in Game 6 at San Antonio on Thursday night.

Wembanyama scored 20 points, his lowest of the series, and only a 12-for-12 effort from the foul line helped him get there in Game

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama scored 20 points in the Spurs’ 127-114 loss to Oklahoma City on Tuesday night.

5. He was 4 for 15 from the floor, missing all five of his 3-point tries, never seeming to get into any sort of rhythm.

“He’s got to take more than 15 shots, even with the free throws,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said in his postgame news conference.

“He’s going to have to score more than 20 points, for sure. ... OKC did a good job. We’ve got to do a better job.”

Wembanyama did not speak with reporters after the game.

The first halves have told much of the story. In San Antonio’s two wins in this series, Wembanyama has gone 7 for 15 and 6 for 11 from the field.

In the three losses, his halftime shot numbers — 2 for 4, 2 for 5 and 2 for 6, the last of those what he did in the first two quarters on Tuesday.

Wembanyama offered an impassioned speech to teammates during a timeout barely two minutes into the third quarter, after the Thunder opened an 18-point lead.

And it worked — to a point. Oklahoma City scored again to get the lead up to 20, but the Spurs closed within eight later in the third.

It seemed like there was hope.

But the Spurs didn’t get any closer. The deficit was 10 going into the fourth, the Spurs scored only two points in the first 4:02 of the final quarter, and whatever momentum that seemed like it was building after Wembanyama’s timeout speech appeared to be gone.

Devyn Baker always wanted the chance to coach in Class 5A, Louisiana’s biggest classification.

His opportunity came when the football coaching position opened at Liberty High School, but he was still happy with his job at Northeast High.

As weeks passed, the Liberty job remained vacant and Liberty alumni reached out to him.

Eventually, he was recommended to the school’s principal and the two spoke about the opening.

After their conversation, Baker applied and interviewed for the job. He was named the Liberty coach on May 1.

“I’m extremely excited, not just for me, but some of the guys I brought along,” Baker said.

“Everybody wants to have that one chance, that one opportunity to coach in 5A football.”

Baker takes over a Patriots program coming off a 6-5 season and first playoff appearance since 2021.

Baker coached at Northeast for five seasons. He started his coaching career as an assistant at Zachary and then spent two years as an assistant at White Castle.

His first head coaching role was at False River for one season. He then spent three years as Slaughter Community Charter’s coach.

He spent time as a defensive coordinator at Southern Lab and Liberty before the school entered varsity play before taking over at Northeast.

“We get a chance to coach in the best (Class) 5A district in the state,” he said. “We get a crack at it with the big boys.”

He looks forward to the opportunity to build off Liberty’s momentum of making the playoffs last year, while putting his own stamp on the program, which, for Baker, is nothing new.

Baker took over Slaughter after the school had become a member of the LHSAA for just one year. The school didn’t have a stadium or a weight room, but he helped get facilities built.

“Every job I’ve had, either I’ve had to build or had to rebuild,” he said. “I really just think this is just a blessing and a calling that I have in the coaching profession.”

With Liberty graduating 30 seniors, Baker sees his new job as another opportunity to rebuild a team, but this time with more resources to work with.

“I walked out from the weight room (and) I had a group of parents introduce themselves as the booster club,” Baker said. “I’ve never had that before. That’s something that’s going to be very, very helpful and new for me.”

The excitement around his new job also comes from the early turnout of athletes. On Tuesday, the team held its first workout and 75 players took part.

It all starts on defense Baker’s coaching philosophy begins with defense.

“We’re going to score some points, but I’m a firm believer in if they can’t score, they can’t win,” Baker said.

He hangs his hat on defense, and he’s already told his players and coaches that means he might be tougher on them.

“I just believe in our defense that much,” Baker said. “If nobody can score on us, nobody can beat us.”

Baker brings a hands-on approach to the defense during games, but his initial focus in the offseason will be working with the offense.

He brought his defensive coordinator and several defensive assistants from Northeast, so the main priority will be getting his offensive coaches and players up to speed.

Baker’s vision He looks to make the playoffs in Year 1.

Baker knows it will be a process, but playing in a district that includes Catholic and Zachary, which both made the state semifinals last year, and Central, which was a state champion two years ago, will help boost his team’s strength of schedule.

His eyes are also set on the future. With a sophomore and freshman class Baker said is loaded with potential, Liberty can make its mark in District 4-5A. “I think by Year 3, we really can shake up a lot of things,” he said. “We’re going to lean on those guys, especially this year, to get through the bumps and the bruises that we know we’re going to take this season.”

Baker said he knows playing his younger players early will help them gain needed experience.

Baker knows it’s a process, but he’s already seen his players show a willingness to get better.

“If the kids show up,” Baker said, “we have to show up for them.”

While the 2026 season is still months away, Baker is ready to coach in the state’s biggest class.

In the early days of his Liberty tenure, he watched film of the Patriots’ game against Catholic last season.

The camera panned to the crowd, and he knew he was right where he was meant to be at Liberty.

“You can just see the excitement,” he said. “It reminds me of an SEC matchup. Just two great teams, two great programs, just going at it week in and week out.”

Former Northeast coach Devyn Baker watches his players take the field at the Showdown on the Bluff jamboree on Aug. 29, 2024, at A.W. Mumford Stadium.

STAFF FILE PHOTO

By MICHAEL JOHNSON

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Falcons QB battle may ramp up soon

BY CHARLES ODUM AP sportswriter

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By THIBAULT CAMUS

Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates after winning against Valentin Royer of France during their second-round match at the French Open in Paris on Wednesday.

Djokovic survives heat for 4-set victory

BY ANDREW DAMPF AP sportswriter

PARIS — Novak Djokovic placed ice packs around his neck and on top of his head during changeovers to keep cool amid the Paris heat wave at the French Open on Wednesday.

The 39-year-old Djokovic was pushed by 74th-ranked French player Valentin Royer — who is 15 years younger than him — for more than 31/2 hours before he reached the third round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (7), 6-3 victory.

For the fourth straight day of this year’s tournament, the temperature rose above 90 degrees.

“When you play a three-and-ahalf hour match on clay, it’s long and very exhausting,” Djokovic said. “These days have been really, really very challenging for a lot of players.”

The 24-time Grand Slam champion wasted a chance to close the match out earlier when he missed a backhand long in the third-set tiebreaker, then required four more match points in his final service game before a forehand from Royer landed in the net to conclude a long rally.

Before arriving in Paris, Royer had earned only one tour-level win across 11 tournaments he played this season.

Djokovic came to Roland Garros with questions about his form after getting beat in his only clay-court match before the tournament.

He lost to Croatian qualifier Dino

Prizmic at the Italian Open after two months out because of a right shoulder injury.

But Djokovic is playing himself back into form after coming back from a set down to beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, another Frenchman, in a first-round match that lasted nearly three hours.

Djokovic reached the third round in Paris for a 21st straight year. He raised the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy in 2016, 2021 and 2023.

Up next for Djokovic is potentially a bigger test against 19-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca, who came back from two sets down for a 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 victory over the 20-yearold Prizmic. Fonseca has been touted as a future Grand Slam contender.

Meanwhile, Jakub Mensik collapsed to the clay because of cramps and had a tough time getting up after edging Mariano Navone in a fifth-set tiebreaker.

That match lasted 4 hours, 41 minutes.

Then in the next match on Court 6, Hailey Baptiste was forced to retire while facing a set point against Wang Xiyu after landing awkwardly on her left leg.

Djokovic suggested that French Open organizers should consider moving more matches later in the day and night on days with extreme heat.

“With Grand Slams it shouldn’t be an issue, because we have so many courts,” Djokovic said. “If

you have certain days that you have extreme heat and conditions, then maybe that’s something to consider.”

In the night session, second-seeded Alexander Zverev beat Tomas Machac 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

On the women’s side, No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina, this year’s Australian Open winner, was beaten

by Ukrainian opponent Yuliia Starodubtseva 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4).

Also advancing were Ukrainians Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk, who are coming off trophies at the Madrid Open and Italian Open, respectively.

The seventh-seeded Svitolina beat Kaitlin Quevedo 6-0, 6-4 to extend her winning streak to eight matches. The 15th-seeded Kostyuk beat Katie Volynets 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 to extend her winning streak to 13 matches.

“I’m most pleased that I didn’t cramp to death or didn’t pass out during this match,” Kostyuk said after her match, which lasted nearly three hours. “It was not easy for everyone.”

Four-time champion and No. 3 seed Iga Swiatek improved her career record at Roland Garros to 42-3 by eliminating 35th-ranked Sara Bejlek 6-2, 6-3.

Swiatek won at Roland Garros in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

She next faces Magda Linette in the first all-Polish meeting at Roland Garros in the professional era (since 1968). Linette eliminated 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Tua Tagovailoa is using the Atlanta Falcons’ organized team activities to handle the bulk of the first-team snaps at quarterback while Michael Penix continues his recovery from surgery on his left knee.

With Penix’s progress already allowing him to participate in individual drills, the competition between left-handed passers for the starting job may come sooner than expected.

“Shoot, I’m impressed by what he’s shown out there,” Tagovailoa said Wednesday of his first two weeks of OTAs with Penix. “Of course, you can just tell that he’s been here working, and working really hard to be able to get back out there, and you can see the level of respect that the guys that have been here last year with him have for him, both offense and defensively. So it’s been good fun to go out there and compete with him. You know, I’m trying to help him as much as I can as well.”

In the first week of OTAs last week, the Falcons released a video of Penix taking a snap under center, dropping back and completing a pass to Drake London. It was a surprise to many that Penix was available for even limited portions of practice after having surgery in November to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

“What Mike’s able to do right now in terms of individual and the seven-on-sevens is outstanding and just shows you how hard he’s working at it,” first-year Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski said Wednesday. “But when it’s appropriate, then we’ll move him into team drills. He’s not 100%, but he’s exactly where he needs to be, and I’m very impressed with how he’s working.”

Even though he has been held out of team drills, Penix has looked comfortable in individual and seven-on-seven work.

“I feel great,” Penix said last week. “I’m just taking it one day at a time. Just trusting the process like we talked about and

just trusting what the trainers are telling me and giving me all the information I need to go out and be successful and to be healthy at the same time.”

Penix had two ACL surgeries on his right knee during his college career. His last ACL surgery came in 2020 at Indiana. He transferred to Washington in 2021.

The Falcons signed Tagovailoa to a one-year contract in March after his six seasons with the Miami Dolphins. Tagovailoa, 28, said he is looking for a fresh start in Atlanta. His experience as a starter allows the Falcons to be cautious with Penix.

Tagovailoa could be more than a fill-in for Penix. New general manager Ian Cunningham said Tagovailoa will have an opportunity to compete for the starting job after Penix recovers.

Stefanski said Tagovailoa has had a smooth transition in the offseason and is “working very hard.”

“Veteran. Fits in really well with our guys,” Stefanski said of Tagovailoa. “Skill set is what you see from his Miami days to now. Very accurate. But fits in really well.”

Tagovailoa said he chose Atlanta when looking for an opportunity to compete for a starting job. That could provide an opportunity for Tagovailoa to prove he can return to his 2023 form when he led the NFL with 4,624 yards passing, and 2024, when he led the league by completing 72.9% of his passes.

The Dolphins owe Tagovailoa $54 million in guaranteed money in 2026. The one-year deal with the Falcons is for $1.3 million.

He signed with Atlanta after the Dolphins announced they were releasing him despite taking on an NFL-record $99 million dead cap hit.

Penix said he is focused on his recovery instead of the upcoming competition with Tagovailoa.

“I’ll say I’m running my own race,” Penix said. “I can’t look in another lane. But at the same time, we are working together.

That’s what it’s all about, working together and helping each other finish the race.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MIKE STEWART

Sánchez sets Phillies’ franchise record for scoreless innings QB Jackson not talking

Atlanta Falcons quarterbacks Michael Penix, left, and Tua Tagovailoa move during a football practice on Wednesday in Flowery Branch, Ga.

contract status with Ravens

The Associated Press

SAN DIEGO — After going the entire month of May without allowing a run, and breaking a 115-year-old franchise record along the way, Philadelphia left-hander Cristopher Sánchez emphatically pumped his fists after getting his final out in a landmark game.

Sánchez extended his scoreless innings streak to 442/ 3 innings on Wednesday to set the Phillies’ franchise record by passing Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander in a 3-0 win Wednesday against the San Diego Padres for a three-game sweep.

Sánchez reached the milestone by getting through the four full innings he needed to pass Alexander, who had a 41-inning scoreless streak in 1911. He kept going through three more scoreless innings before leaving after throwing 100 pitches. He allowed six hits, struck out nine and walked none.

He left his brilliant outing with a 2-0 lead, pumping his fists after striking out pinch-hitter Ty France to end the seventh.

“I just went out to compete and give the best of myself,” he said through an interpreter.

He didn’t think he had his best stuff, but he dominated a Padres lineup that went 0 for 20 with runners in scoring position and stranded 19 in the series while striking out 32 times.

Interim manager Don Mattingly said the team acknowledged the record afterward, and Sánchez addressed the team.

“I just told them it was something special for me,” Sánchez said. “First I thanked God and then I thanked all my teammates

The Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GREGORy BULL

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Cristopher Sánchez works against a San Diego Padres batter during the first inning on Wednesday in San Diego. and everyone around me for their support. It’s really special to have their support, in the good times and through the rough times as well. That’s something I admire with this group.

“This is a game that it’s not only about me or about what I do on the mound, it’s about our group and I think it’s really something special and beautiful to feel the support of the team as a whole,” he added.

With Sánchez an inning away from the record, there was a heart-stopping moment as Manny Machado lifted a fly ball to left that Edmundo Sosa caught just in front of the wall leading off the fourth.

Sánchez struck out Xander Bogaerts, Ramon Laureano doubled to left and then the lefty got Jackson Merrill to ground out to second base to set the record.

The Padres stranded runners in scoring position in the first and second innings, and Gavin Sheets

lifted a fly ball just in front of the warning track in right to end the third.

“There were a couple of hits that I thought were gone off the bat, but thank God they didn’t,” Sánchez said.

Sánchez’s streak dates to the second inning of the first game of a doubleheader against San Francisco on April 30.

He set another franchise record by going at least seven scoreless innings for the fifth straight start, becoming the sixth player to do so in MLB history.

He also now has the longest single-season scoreless innings streak by a left-hander in the Expansion Era after passing former Los Angeles Dodgers great Clayton Kershaw, who had a 41-inning scoreless streak in 2014.

Orel Hershiser holds the MLB record of 59 scoreless innings set in 1988.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — As another set of contract talks drags on, Lamar Jackson said his heart is in Baltimore.

“I love the Ravens. I love this organization. I love this city.

This is the team that drafted me, so (this city has) a lot of love for me — I believe — and I have a lot of love for the city Jackson and this team, as well,” Jackson said. “The restructure is done, and I’m cool with that, but I love Baltimore. Everybody should know that by now.”

Wednesday was the first time Jackson has been available to local reporters in a while, and there was a lot to catch up on. Coach John Harbaugh was fired after last season and replaced by former Ravens assistant Jesse Minter. Baltimore also made no secret of the fact that it was hoping to reach a new deal with Jackson before the start of free agency, but that came and went with only a restructure that freed up cap space. The two-time MVP quarterback has just two seasons left on the five-year deal he signed before the 2023 season.

There was plenty of drama that offseason, when the Ravens used the franchise tag on Jackson and he even requested a trade before eventually coming back. On Wednesday, he was upbeat and, as usual, didn’t want to discuss the specifics of recent negotiations.

“I was thinking about how I was going to respond to this question if I got it, but I’m going to give you the same answer I always give,” Jackson said. “I just want to keep those conversations private. We restructured the deal, and that’s what we have right now.”

As for the coaching change, Jackson said he reached out to Harbaugh after he took over the New York Giants. He said he was “shocked” by Harbaugh’s firing but trusts owner Steve Bisciotti’s judgment.

“I felt like Mr. Steve did what was best for the team, and I hope coach Harbaugh has a great time in New York, man,” Jackson said.

“Hats off to coach Harbaugh because he did so much for the city, for the team and for this organization. So, hats off to him in New York. We built a lot. We did a lot here.”

One of Jackson’s early takeaways about Minter is that he always seems to have a smile on his face.

“Everything is just new basically, besides (the personnel staff) upstairs,” Jackson said. “But, the coaching staff is just new, and I can say it’s a breath of fresh air because everything is just new.”

Minter arrived with a defensive background, having been a coordinator on that side of the ball for the Los Angeles Chargers the past two seasons. So the new offensive coordinator, Declan Doyle, will be crucial as the Ravens try to unleash Jackson’s considerable talent after he struggled through an injuryriddled 2025.

6C ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

SCOREBOARD Odds NBA Thursday

FAVORITE LINE O/U UNDERDOG at SAN ANTONIO 3½ (218½) Oklahoma City

MLB

Thursday

American League FAVORITE LINE UNDERDOG at DETROIT -130 LA Angels Minnesota -122 at CHI. WHITE SOX at BALTIMORE -124 Toronto at TEXAS -152 Houston National League FAVORITE LINE UNDERDOG at PITTSBURGH -174 Chicago Cubs Interleague FAVORITE LINE UNDERDOG Atlanta -136 at BOSTON

LINE +110 +104 +106 +128 LINE +146 LINE +115

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

Eastern Conference New York 4, Cleveland 0

Men’s Doubles

Tuesday, May 19: New York 115, Cleveland 104, OT Thursday: New York 109, Cleveland 93 Saturday: New York 121, Cleveland 108 Monday: New York 130, Cleveland 93

Western Conference Oklahoma City 3, San Antonio 2

Monday, May 18: San Antonio 122, Oklahoma City 115, 2OT Wednesday, May 20: Oklahoma City 122, San Antonio 113 Friday, May 22: Oklahoma City 123, San Antonio 108 Sunday: San Antonio 103, Oklahoma City 82 Tuesday: Oklahoma City 127, San Antonio 114 Thursday: Oklahoma City at San Antonio, 7:30 p.m. x-Saturday, May 30: San Antonio at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.

WNBA glance

EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlanta Indiana Chicago New York Toronto Washington Connecticut

W 4 4 3 3 3 2 1

L 1 2 3 4 4 3 7

Pct .800 .667 .500 .429 .429 .400 .125

GB — ½ 1½ 2 2 2 4½

Minnesota Las Vegas Golden State Dallas Portland Los Angeles Seattle Phoenix

W 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2

L 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 5

Pct .667 .667 .667 .571 .571 .500 .429 .286

GB — — — ½ ½ 1 1½ 2½

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Tuesday’s games

Tamara Korpatsch, Germany, def. Wang Xinyu (32), China, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

Iga Swiatek (3), Poland, def. Sara Bejlek, Czechia, 6-2, 6-3.

Peyton Stearns, United States, def. Daria Snigur, Ukraine, 6-4, 6-0.

Viktorija Golubic, Switzerland, def. Alycia Parks, United States, 6-2, 6-2.

Elina Svitolina (7), Ukraine, def. Kaitlin Quevedo, Spain, 6-0, 6-4.

Magda Linette, Poland, def. Jelena Ostapenko (29), Latvia, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

Marie Bouzkova (27), Czechia, def. Francesca Jones, Britain, 6-0, 7-6 (3).

Marta Kostyuk (15), Ukraine, def. Katie Volynets, United States, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3.

Yuliia Starodubtseva, Ukraine, def. Elena Rybakina (2), Kazakhstan, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4).

Wang Xiyu, China, def. Hailey Baptiste (26), United States, 5-4, ret.

Jil Teichmann, Switzerland, def. Magdalena Frech, Poland, 7-5, 6-4.

Sorana Cirstea (18), Romania, def. Eva Lys, Germany, 6-3, 6-0.

Solana Sierra, Argentina, def. Jasmine Paolini (13), Italy, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Mirra Andreeva (8), Russia, def. Marina Bassols Ribera, Spain, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.

Karolina Muchova (10), Czechia, def. Kamilla Rakhimova, Russia, 6-2, 6-2.

No games scheduled.

Wednesday’s games

New York 84, Phoenix 74 Toronto 111, Chicago 104 Atlanta at Minnesota, n Connecticut at Portland,n Washington at Seattle, n

Thursday’s games

Las Vegas at Dallas, 7 p.m.

Indiana at Golden State, 9 p.m.

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

EASTERN CONFERENCE Carolina 3, Montreal 1

Thursday, May 21: Montreal 6, Carolina 2 Saturday: Carolina 3, Montreal 2, OT Monday: Carolina 3, Montreal 2, OT Wednesday: Carolina 4, Montreal 0 Friday, May 29: Montreal at Carolina, 7 p.m. x-Sunday, May 31: Carolina at Montreal, TBA x-Tuesday, June 2: Montreal at Carolina, TBA

WESTERN CONFERENCE Vegas 4, Colorado 0

Wednesday, May 20: Vegas 4, Colorado 2 Friday: Vegas 3, Colorado 1 Sunday: Vegas 5, Colorado 3 Tuesday: Vegas 2,, Colorado 1

College softball NCAA Div. I World Series glance At Devon Park Oklahoma City, Okla.

Double elimination x-if necessary

Thursday’s games

Game 1 — Texas Tech vs. Mississippi St., 11 a.m.

Game 2 — Texas vs. Tennessee, 1:30 p.m.

Game 3 — Alabama vs. UCLA, 6 p.m.

Game 4 — Nebraska vs. Arkansas, 8:30 p.m.

Friday’s games

Game 5 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 6 p.m.

Game 6 — Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 8:30 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 7 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 2 p.m.

Game 8 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 6 p.m.

Sunday’s games

Game 9 — Game 5 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 2 p.m.

Game 10 — Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 loser, 6 p.m.

Monday’s games

Game 11 — Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 11 a.m. x-Game 12 — Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 1:30 p.m.

Game 13 — Game 8 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 6 p.m. x-Game 14 — Game 8 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 8:30 p.m.

First Round John Peers, Australia, and Robert Galloway, United States, def. Reese Stalder, United States, and Cleeve Harper, Canada, 6-3, 6-4.

Adam Pavlasek and Patrik Rikl, Czechia, def. Finn Reynolds and James Watt, New Zealand, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Evan King, United States, and Andre Goransson, Sweden, def. Rafael Matos and Orlando Luz (16), Brazil, 7-6 (7), 6-3.

Robert Cash and James Tracy (15), United States, def. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Moise Kouame, France, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.

Diego Hidalgo, Ecuador, and Patrik Trhac, United States, def. Fernando Romboli, Brazil, and John-Patrick Smith, Australia, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

David Pel and Sander Arends, Netherlands, def. Kyrian Jacquet and Arthur Gea, France, 6-4, 6-3.

Kevin Krawietz and Tim Putz (6), Germany, def. Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov, Kazakhstan, 7-5, 7-6 (4).

Edouard Roger-Vasselin, France, and Hugo Nys (10), Monaco, def. Vit Kopriva, Czechia, and Filip Pieczonka, Poland, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1.

Vasil Kirkov, United States, and Bart Stevens, Netherlands, def. Corentin Moutet and Luca Van Assche, France, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-4.

Lucas Miedler and Alexander Erler (14), Austria, def. Ryan Seggerman, United States, and Rinky Hijikata, Australia, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4).

Hendrik Jebens, Germany, and Ray Ho, Taiwan, def. Mac Kiger, United States, and Ignacio Buse, Peru, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (7).

Women’s Doubles

First Round Gabriela Dabrowski, Canada, and Luisa Stefani (4), Brazil, def. Maia Lumsden, Britain, and Isabelle Haverlag, Netherlands, 6-2, 6-0.

Anhelina Kalinina and Dayana Yastremska, Ukraine, def. Xu Yifan and Xinyu Jiang (14), China, 6-1, 6-1.

Nicole Melichar-Martinez, United States, and Cristina Bucsa (6), Spain, def. Katarzyna Piter, Poland, and Renata Zarazua, Mexico, 6-7 (2), 7-5, 6-0.

Sara Errani, Italy, and Lilli Tagger, Austria, def. Sofia Kenin and Ashlyn Krueger, United States, 6-3, 6-2.

Shuko Aoyama, Japan, and En-Shuo Liang, Taiwan, def. Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Italy, and Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, Spain, 6-2, 6-3.

Maya Joint, Australia, and Hanne Vandewinkel, Belgium, def. Jessika Ponchet and Leolia Jeanjean, France, 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-3.

Taylor Townsend, United States, and Katerina Siniakova (1), Czechia, def. Antonia Ruzic and Petra Marcinko, Croatia, 6-1, 6-0.

Vera Zvonareva, Russia, and Laura Siegemund (11), Germany, def. Ann Li, United States, and Clara Tauson, Denmark, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3.

Qianhui Tang, China, and Elena Pridankina, Russia, def. Linda Noskova and Tereza Valentova, Czechia, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.

Anastasia Zakharova and Oksana Selekhmeteva, Russia, def. Leylah Fernandez, Canada, and Diana Shnaider, Russia, 6-3, 6-1.

Emiliana Arango, Colombia, and Iva Jovic, United States, def. Kimberly Birrell and Talia Gibson, Australia, 6-3, 6-2.

Ulrikke Eikeri, Norway, and Quinn Gleason (15), United States, def. Hao-Ching Chan, Taiwan, and Ekaterina Alexandrova, Russia, 6-2, 6-4.

Mixed Doubles

Second Round Neal Skupski, Britain, and Desirae Krawczyk (4), United States, def. Harmony Tan and Gregoire Jacq, France, 6-2, 6-1.

Nikola Mektic, Croatia, and Asia Muhammad, United States, def. Amandine Hesse and Sadio Doumbia, France, 6-1, 6-3.

Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwan, and Mark Wallner, Germany, def. Andreja Klepac, Slovenia, and Lloyd Glasspool, Britain, 6-3, 7-5.

Kristina Mladenovic and Manuel Guinard, France, def. Estelle Cascino and Luca Sanchez, France, 6-1, 7-6 (2).

Leolia Jeanjean and Geoffrey Blancaneaux, France, def. Hugo Gaston and Clara Burel, France, 7-6 (6), 5-7, 10-5.

College baseball NCAA Div. I regional glance Double elimination; x-if necessary

Atlanta Regional Atlanta

Friday’s games

Game 1 — Georgia Tech (48-9) vs. UIC (27-271), 11 a.m.

Game 2 — The Citadel (35-24) vs. Oklahoma (32-21), 4 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser

Sunday’s games

Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner

Monday’s games

x-Game 7 — Rematch Game 6

Athens Regional Athens, Ga.

Friday’s games

Championship Series (Best-of-3) Wednesday, June 3

Game 1 — Liberty (41-19) vs. Boston College (36-21), 1 p.m.

Game 2 — Georgia (46-12) vs. LIU (30-20), 6 p.m.

Thursday, June 4

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser

Game 1 — Teams TBD, 7 p.m.

Game 2 — Teams TBD 8 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Friday, June 5

Sunday’s games

Pro tennis

Monday’s games

x-Game 3 — Teams, TBD, 7 p.m.

French Open results Wednesday

At Stade Roland Garros Paris Purse: €28,900,000 Surface: Red clay

Men’s Singles

Second Round Alex de Minaur (8), Australia, def. Alexander Blockx, Belgium, walkover.

Jesper De Jong, Netherlands, def. Federico Cina, Italy, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3.

Thiago Agustin Tirante, Argentina, def.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (21), Spain, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-3.

Karen Khachanov (13), Russia, def. Marco Trungelliti, Argentina, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (4).

Andrey Rublev (11), Russia, def. Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Argentina, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5).

Pablo Carreno Busta, Spain, def. Thanasi Kokkinakis, Australia, 7-5, 4-6, 1-0, ret.

Nuno Borges, Portugal, def. Miomir Kecmanovic, Serbia, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.

Jakub Mensik (26), Czechia, def. Mariano Navone, Argentina, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (11).

Quentin Halys, France, def. Ugo Humbert (32), France, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8).

Novak Djokovic (3), Serbia, def. Valentin Royer, France, 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (7), 6-3.

Rafael Jodar (27), Spain, def. James Duckworth, Australia, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-5.

Alex Michelsen, United States, def. Nishesh Basavareddy, United States, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Joao Fonseca (28), Brazil, def. Dino Prizmic, Croatia, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.

Tommy Paul (24), United States, def. Lorenzo Sonego, Italy, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Alexander Zverev (2), Germany, def. Tomas Machac, Czechia, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

Casper Ruud (15), Norway, def. Hamad Medjedovic, Serbia, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Women’s Singles

Second Round Belinda Bencic (11), Switzerland, def. Caty McNally, United States, 6-4, 6-0.

Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner x-Game 7 — Rematch Game 6

Auburn Regional Auburn, Ala.

Friday’s games

Game 1 — Auburn (38-19) vs. Milwaukee (25-31), noon Game 2 — NC State (32-22) vs. UCF (31-21), 5 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser

Sunday’s games

Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner

Monday’s games

x-Game 7 — Rematch Game 6

Austin Regional Austin, Texas

Friday’s games

Monday’s games

x-Game 7 — Rematch Game 6

College Station Regional College Station, Texas

Friday’s games

Game 1 — Texas A&M (39-14) vs. Lamar University (34-25), 3 p.m.

Game 2 — Texas St. (36-24) vs. Southern California (43-15), 8 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser

Sunday’s games

Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner

Monday’s games

x-Game 7 — Rematch Game 6

Eugene Regional Eugene, Ore.

Friday’s games

Game 1 — Washington St. (30-26) vs. Oregon St. (43-12), 2 p.m.

Game 2 — Oregon (40-16) vs. Yale (30-13-1), 7 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser

Sunday’s games

Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner

Monday’s games

x-Game 7 — Rematch Game 6

Gainesville Regional Gainesville, Fla.

Friday’s games

Game 1 — Florida (39-19) vs. Rider (33-18), noon Game 2 — Troy (32-29) vs. Miami (FL) (38-18), 5 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser

Sunday’s games

Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner

Monday’s games

x-Game 7 — Rematch Game 6

Hattiesburg Regional

x-Game 7 — Rematch Game 6

Chapel Hill Regional

Chapel Hill, N.C.

Friday’s games

Game 1 — East Carolina (36-22-1) vs. Tennessee (38-20), 11 a.m.

Game 2 — North Carolina (45-11-1) vs. VCU (37-23), 4 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser

Sunday’s games

Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner

L 19 22 29 30 31

Pct .642 .607 .482 .464 .426

GB — 1½ 8½ 9½ 11½

Cleveland Chicago Minnesota Detroit Kansas City

W 33 28 27 22 22

L 25 27 29 34 34

Pct .569 .509 .482 .393 .393

GB — 3½ 5 10 10

Seattle Athletics Texas Houston Los Angeles

W 28 27 25 24 21

L 29 29 29 32 35

Pct .491 .482 .463 .429 .375

GB — ½ 1½ 3½ 6½

Central Division

West Division

Tuesday’s games

Washington 6, Cleveland 3 Baltimore 6, Tampa Bay 1 Atlanta 7, Boston 6 L.A. Angels 10, Detroit 6 Toronto 8, Miami 1 Texas 10, Houston 7 N.Y. Yankees 15, Kansas City 1 Minnesota 5, Chicago White Sox 3, 11 innings Seattle 4, Athletics 1

Wednesday’s games

Cleveland 3, Washington 2 Toronto 2, Miami 1 Seattle 9, Athletics 1 N.Y. Yankees 7, Kansas City 0 Houston 4, Texas 3 Detroit 4, L.A. Angels 0 Boston 8, Atlanta 0 Baltimore 11, Tampa Bay 2 Chicago White Sox 15, Minnesota 2

Thursday’s games

L.A. Angels (Rodriguez 1-1) at Detroit (Flaherty 0-6), 12:10 p.m.

Minnesota (Bradley 5-1) at Chicago White Sox (Martin 7-1), 1:10 p.m.

Atlanta (Sale 7-3) at Boston (Tolle 2-2), 3:10 p.m.

Toronto (Corbin 2-1) at Baltimore (Bassitt 4-3), 5:35 p.m.

Houston (Arrighetti 6-1) at Texas (Eovaldi 5-5), 7:05 p.m.

East Division Atlanta Philadelphia Washington Miami New York

W 37 29 29 26 23

L 19 27 28 31 33

Pct .661 .518 .509 .456 .411

GB — 8 8½ 11½ 14

W 33 29 30 29 29

L 20 25 26 26 27

Pct .623 .537 .536 .527 .518

GB — 4½ 4½ 5 5½

W 35 31 31 22 20

L 20 24 24 34 36

Pct .636 .564 .564 .393 .357

GB — 4 4 13½ 15½

Central Division Milwaukee St. Louis Chicago Cincinnati Pittsburgh

West Division Los Angeles Arizona San Diego San Francisco Colorado

Tuesday’s games

Washington 6, Cleveland 3 Pittsburgh 12, Chicago Cubs 1 Atlanta 7, Boston 6 Toronto 8, Miami 1 Cincinnati 7, N.Y. Mets 2 Milwaukee 6, St. Louis 0 Philadelphia 4, San Diego 3 Arizona 7, San Francisco 5 L.A. Dodgers 15, Colorado 6

Wednesday’s games

Cleveland 3, Washington 2 Milwaukee 2, St. Louis 1 Toronto 2, Miami 1 Arizona 3, San Francisco 2 Philadelphia 3, San Diego 0 N.Y. Mets 4, Cincinnati 2 Boston 8, Atlanta 0 Chicago Cubs 10, Pittsburgh 4 Colorado at L.A. Dodgers, n

Thursday’s games

Atlanta (Sale 7-3) at Boston (Tolle 2-2), 3:10 p.m.

Chicago Cubs (Rea 4-3) at Pittsburgh (Skenes 6-4), 5:40 p.m.

BOX SCORES

Saturday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser

Sunday’s games

Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner

Monday’s games

x-Game 7 — Rematch Game 6

Lawrence Regional

Lawrence, Kan.

Friday’s games

Game 1 — Kansas (42-16) vs. Northeastern (38-20), noon Game 2 — Missouri St. (34-19) vs. Arkansas (39-20), 5 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser

Sunday’s games

Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner

Monday’s games

x-Game 7 — Rematch Game 6

Lincoln Regional Lincoln, Neb.

Friday’s games

Game 1 — Nebraska (42-15) vs. South Dakota St. (24-31), 3 p.m.

Game 2 — Arizona St. (37-19) vs. Ole Miss (36-21), 8 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser

Sunday’s games

Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner

Monday’s games

x-Game 7 — Rematch Game 6

Los Angeles Regional Los Angeles

Friday’s games

Game 1 — UCLA (51-6) vs. Saint Mary’s (CA) (34-25), 2 p.m.

Game 2 — Cal Poly (36-22) vs. Virginia Tech (30-24), 7 p.m.

Milwaukee 2, St. Louis 1

Toronto 2, Miami 1

St. Louis

Milwaukee ab r h bi ab r h bi Wetherh. 2b 4 0 1 0 Yelich dh 4 0 1 1 Herrera dh 3 0 1 0 Chourio lf 4 0 0 0 Burleson 1b 4 0 0 0 Turang 2b 4 0 0 0 Walker rf 4 1 2 0 Contreras c 3 0 0 0 Gorman 3b 4 0 1 0 Bauers 1b 2 0 0 0 Winn ss 4 0 1 0 Mitchell cf 3 1 1 0 Torres lf 4 0 1 1 Rengifo 3b 3 0 1 0 Pagés c 3 0 1 0 Frelick rf 2 1 0 0 Pozo ph 1 0 0 0 Hamilton ss 2 0 0 0 Scott cf 2 0 0 0 Vaughn ph 1 0 0 0 Ortiz ss 0 0 0 0 Totals 33 1 8 1 Totals 28 2 3 1 St. Louis 000 100 000 — 1 Milwaukee 000 000 02x — 2 E—Pagés (5), Winn (5). DP—St. Louis 0, Milwaukee 2. LOB—St. Louis 7, Milwaukee 4. 2B—Wetherholt (6), Pagés (4), Mitchell (9). 3B—Torres (1). SB—Winn (5).

IP H R ER BB SO St. Louis May L,3-6 7 2 2 1 0 9 Romero BS,0-2 1 1 0 0 0 1 Milwaukee Patrick 4 5 1 1 1 4 Drohan 2 1 0 0 0 1 Ashby W,9-0 2 1 0 0 1 2 Megill S,6-7 1 1 0 0 0 1 May pitched to 2 batters in the 8th.

HBP—May (Bauers).

ABS Challenge—May (Ball-Overturned to Strike); May (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Scott (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Herrera (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Romero (BallOverturned to Strike); Torres (StrikeOverturned to Ball).

Umpires—Home, Todd Tichenor; First, Tyler Jones; Second, Clint Vondrak; Third, Adam Hamari.

T—2:17. A—30,391 (41,700).

Miami Toronto ab r h bi ab r h bi Edwards 2b 3 1 3 0 Lukes rf 4 0 1 1 Hicks c 3 0 0 0 Guerrero 1b 3 0 2 0 Lopez ss 4 0 4 1 Varsho cf 4 0 0 0 Stowers lf-rf 4 0 1 0 Sánchez dh 2 0 0 0 Marsee cf 3 0 0 0 Spring. ph-dh 2 0 0 0 Norby dh 3 0 0 0 Okamoto 3b 2 1 1 1 Caissie rf 2 0 1 0 Piñango lf 3 0 0 0 Herná. ph-lf 1 0 1 0 Straw lf 0 0 0 0 Sanoja 3b 1 0 0 0 Clement 2b 3 0 0 0 Morel 1b 3 0 1 0 Giménez ss 3 0 1 0 Ruiz pr-rf 1 0 0 0 Heineman c 2 1 0 0 Pauley 3b-1b 4 0 0 0 Totals 32 111 1 Totals 28 2 5 2 Miami 100 000 000 — 1 Toronto 000 011 00x — 2 DP—Miami 1, Toronto 3. LOB—Miami 8, Toronto 5. 2B—Edwards (11), Lukes (5).

HR—Okamoto (11). SB—Lopez 2 (10), Guerrero (5), Edwards 2 (8), Hernández (5).

IP H R ER BB SO Miami Pérez 4 3 0 0 0 9 2 Petersen ⁄3 1 1 1 2 0 Nardi L,3-3 11⁄3 1 1 1 0 2 King 1 0 0 0 0 1 Fairbanks 1 0 0 0 0 1 Toronto Gausman 5 6 1 1 2 5 2 Fluharty ⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 Hoffman W,3-3 11⁄3 2 0 0 0 2 Varland H,4 1 2 0 0 0 1 Rogers S,2-4 1 0 0 0 0 0 HBP—Gausman (Norby), Pérez (Okamoto), Fluharty (Marsee).

ABS Challenge—Gausman (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Hoffman (Ball-Overturned to Strike).

Pitch timer violations—Petersen (pitcher).

Umpires—Home, Austin Jones; First, Doug Eddings; Second, Nic Lentz; Third, Gabe Morales.

T—2:55. A—42,372 (39,150).

Philadelphia 3, San Diego 0

Arizona 3, San Francisco 2

Philadelphia San Diego ab r h bi ab r h bi Schwar. dh 4 0 2 1 Tatis 2b 4 0 2 0 Turner ss 4 1 1 2 Andujar 3b 4 0 0 0 Harper 1b 4 0 0 0 Sheets 1b 4 0 0 0 Bohm 3b 4 0 1 0 Machad. dh 4 0 0 0 Stott 2b 4 0 0 0 Bogaert. ss 4 0 1 0 Realmuto c 3 0 1 0 Laureano lf 4 0 1 0 García rf 3 0 0 0 Merrill cf 4 0 2 0 Crawford cf 3 1 1 0 Castellan. rf 3 0 1 0 Sosa lf 2 1 0 0 Fermin c 2 0 0 0 France ph 1 0 0 0 Durán c 0 0 0 0 Totals 31 3 6 3 Totals 34 0 7 0 Philadelphia 000 002 001 — 3 San Diego 000 000 000 — 0 DP—Philadelphia 0, San Diego 2. LOB— Philadelphia 2, San Diego 7. 2B—Laureano (6), Merrill (11). HR—Turner (7). SB—Tatis (14), Turner (11).

IP H R ER BB SO Philadelphia Sánchez W,6-2 7 6 0 0 0 9 Bowlan H,1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Alvarado S,1-2 1 1 0 0 0 2 San Diego Buehler L,3-3 51⁄3 3 2 2 0 2 2 Morejon ⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 Estrada 1 1 0 0 0 1 Adam 1 0 0 0 0 0 Marinaccio 1 1 1 1 0 0 HBP—Buehler (Sosa).

ABS Challenge—Castellanos (StrikeConfirmed); Sánchez (Ball-Confirmed); Sheets (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Andujar (Strike-Confirmed); Harper (StrikeConfirmed).

Umpires—Home, Louie Krupa; First, Chris Guccione; Second, David Rackley; Third, Nestor Ceja.

T—2:22. A—37,426 (40,222).

Arizona San Francisco ab r h bi ab r h bi Marte 2b 5 0 2 0 Adames ss 4 1 2 0 Carroll rf 4 1 0 0 Arraez 2b 4 0 3 2 Perdomo ss 2 1 1 1 Schmitt lf 4 0 0 0 Del Casti. dh 4 0 1 1 Devers 1b 4 0 0 0 Wldsch. cf-lf 3 0 0 0 Chapm. 3b 4 0 0 0 Vargas 1b 3 0 1 1 Eldridge dh 2 0 0 0 Fernand. 3b 3 0 0 0 Susac c 3 0 0 0 A.Garcia c 4 0 0 0 Gilbert cf 2 1 1 0 Troy lf 3 1 1 0 Bader ph-cf 1 0 0 0 Barrosa cf 1 0 0 0 Brennan rf 2 0 0 0 Haase ph 1 0 0 0 Bericoto rf 0 0 0 0 Totals 32 3 6 3 Totals 31 2 6 2 Arizona 000 002 100 — 3 San Francisco 002 000 000 — 2 E—Gage (1). LOB—Arizona 7, San Francisco 3. 2B—Adames 2 (17). SB—Arraez (5), Schmitt (4). SF—Vargas (1), Perdomo (5).

IP H R ER BB SO Arizona Soroka W,7-2 6 4 2 2 0 3 2 Thompson H,5 ⁄3 0 0 0 1 0 1 B.Garcia H,4 ⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 Ginkel H,4 1 2 0 0 0 0 Sewald S,14-15 1 0 0 0 0 1 San Francisco McDonald L,2-2 61⁄3 6 3 2 2 6 2 Gage ⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 Kilian 2 0 0 0 0 1 HBP—McDonald (Perdomo). WP—McDonald(2).

ABS Challenge—Waldschmidt (StrikeOverturned to Ball).

Umpires—Home, D.J. Reyburn; First, Steven Jaschinski; Second, James Hoye; Third, Sean Barber.

T—2:21. A—33,258 (41,915).

Saturday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser

Sunday’s games

Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner

Monday’s games

x-Game 7 — Rematch Game 6

Morgantown Regional

Morgantown, W. Va.

Friday’s games

Game 1 — Kentucky (31-21) vs. Wake Forest (38-19), 11 a.m.

Game 2 — West Virginia (39-14) vs. Binghamton (31-20), 4 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser

Sunday’s games

Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner

Monday’s games

x-Game 7 — Rematch Game 6

Starkville Regional

Friday’s games Game 1 – Mississippi State (40-17) vs. Lipscomb (29-24), 1 p.m.

Game 2 – Cincinnati (37-20) vs. UL (39-22), 6 p.m.

Saturday’s games Game 3 – Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 3 p.m.

Game 4 – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 8 p.m.

Sunday’s games Game 5 – Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 – 2 p.m.

Game 6 – Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 4 – 7 p.m.

Monday’s game Game 7 – If Necessary – Time TBD

Tallahassee Regional Tallahassee, Fla.

Friday’s games

Game 1 — Florida St. (38-17) vs. St. John’s (NY) (33-24), 2 p.m.

Game 2 — NIU (35-17) vs. Coastal Carolina (37-21), 7 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner

Monday’s games

x-Game 7 — Rematch Game 6

Tuscaloosa Regional Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Friday’s games

Game 1 — USC Upstate (33-28) vs. Oklahoma St. (37-20), 1 p.m.

Game 2 — Alabama (37-19) vs. Alabama St. (34-21), 6 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser

Sunday’s games

Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner

x-Game 7 — Rematch Game 6

Transactions American League BALTIMORE ORIOLES — Recalled RHP Trey Gibson from Norfolk (IL). Optioned LHP Nick Raquet to Norfolk.

HOUSTON ASTROS — Sent LF Joey Loperfido and LHP Josh Hader to Sugar Land (PCL) on rehab assignments. Recalled RHP Logan VanWey from Sugar Land. Optioned RHP Jason Alexander to Sugar Land.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS — Designated LHP Bailey Falter for assignment. Recalled RHP Mason Black from Omaha (IL).

LOS ANGELES ANGELS — Designated LF Matthew Lugo for assignment. Placed 1B Nolan Schanuel on the 10-day IL retroactive to May 24. Selected the contract of 3B Nick Madrigal from Salt Lake (PCL).

TAMPA BAY RAYS — Placed LF Gavin Lux on the 60-day IL. Selected the contract of RHP Jonathan Heasley from Durham (IL).

Houston 4, Texas 3 Houston

Sunday’s games

Major League Baseball

Monday’s games

W 34 34 27 26 23

Game 1 — Southern Miss. (44-15) vs. Little Rock (36-26), 1 p.m.

Game 2 — Jacksonville St. (46-13) vs. Virginia (36-21), 6 p.m.

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner

Tampa Bay New York Toronto Baltimore Boston

Friday’s games

Monday’s games

Sunday’s games

National League glance

American League glance East Division

Hattiesburg, Miss.

Game 1 — Texas (40-13) vs. Holy Cross (2528), noon Game 2 — Tarleton St. (37-19) vs. UC Santa Barbara (38-18), 5 p.m.

Saturday’s games

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Boston 8, Atlanta 0 Atlanta

Boston ab r h bi ab r h bi Acuña rf 3 0 0 0 Duran lf 5 2 4 1 Dubón lf 4 0 1 0 Rafaela cf 5 1 3 2 Olson 1b 3 0 0 0 Abreu rf 5 0 1 2 Albies 2b 3 0 1 0 Contrer. 1b 5 0 1 0 Riley 3b 3 0 0 0 Yoshida dh 4 1 1 0 Harris cf 4 0 0 0 Gasper c 3 2 1 0 Mateo dh 4 0 2 0 Sogard 2b 3 0 1 0 Kim ss 4 0 0 0 Mayer ss 4 1 2 1 Tromp c 4 0 1 0 Kiner-Fal. 3b4 1 1 1 Totals 32 0 5 0 Totals 38 8 15 7 Atlanta 000 000 000 — 0 Boston 000 600 11x — 8 E—Elder (2), Olson (3), Tromp (1), Mayer (3). DP—Atlanta 0, Boston 1. LOB—Atlanta 9, Boston 8. 2B—Tromp (1). HR—Duran (8).

SB—Acuña (8), Rafaela (4), Abreu (4). S— Sogard (1).

IP H R ER BB SO Atlanta Elder L,4-3 31⁄3 9 6 5 1 1 2 Dodd 1 0 0 0 0 ⁄3 Carrasco 4 5 2 2 0 2 Boston Early W,5-2 7 4 0 0 3 7 Watson 2 1 0 0 1 1 WP—Dodd.

ABS Challenge—Carrasco (Ball-Confirmed); Watson (Ball-Confirmed).

Umpires—Home, Jordan Baker; First, Willie Traynor; Second, Jansen Visconti; Third, Alex Tosi.

T—2:28. A—34,093 (37,755).

Texas ab r h bi ab r h bi Peña ss 5 0 1 0 Pederson dh 4 3 3 2 Alvarez dh 4 2 3 2 Osuna lf 3 0 0 0 Walker 1b 4 1 0 0 Haggert. ph-lf 0 0 0 0 Trammell lf 3 1 2 0 Nimmo rf 4 0 1 1 Smith rf 4 0 0 0 Jung 3b 4 0 1 0 Shewm. 3b 2 0 0 1 Burger 1b 4 0 0 0 Paredes ph 1 0 0 0 Carter cf 3 0 0 0 Allen 3b 0 0 0 0 Duran ss 2 0 0 0 Meyers cf 3 0 0 0 Foscue 2b 2 0 0 0 Matthew. 2b 3 0 1 0 Jansen c 4 0 1 0 Vázquez c 4 0 1 0 Lopez 2b-ss 3 0 0 0 Totals 33 4 8 3 Totals 33 3 6 3 Houston 010 100 020 — 4 Texas 101 000 010 — 3 E—Lopez (0), Alexander (1). LOB—Houston 8, Texas 5. 2B—Trammell (2). HR—Alvarez 2 (20), Pederson 2 (6). SB—Carter (9). SF— Shewmake (1). S—Trammell (1).

IP H R ER BB SO Houston Burrows W,3-6 7 5 2 2 1 6 1 ⁄3 1 1 1 1 1 King H,5 De Los Santos S,4-4 12⁄3 0 0 0 0 3 Texas deGrom 6 4 2 2 1 6 Martin 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 ⁄3 1 2 1 1 0 Alexander L,1-1 2 Collyer 1 ⁄3 1 0 0 2 2 WP—Burrows.

ABS Challenge—Carter (Strike-Confirmed); Burrows (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Osuna (Strike-Confirmed); Walker (Strike-Overturned to Ball); King (BallOverturned to Strike); De Los Santos (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Vázquez (Strike-Confirmed).

Pitch timer violations—Collyer (pitcher).

Umpires—Home, Quinn Wolcott; First, Ramon De Jesus; Second, Paul Clemons; Third, Adrian Johnson.

T—2:39. A—27,073 (40,000).

LIVING

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

|

T h u r s d ay, M ay 28, 2026

H

1dN

Chickpea Tabbouleh Salad packed with protein

BY LINDA GASSENHEIMER Tribune News Service (TNS)

For this simple salad dinner, I combined chickpeas with bulgur wheat for a hearty yet refreshing taste.

Bulgur is made from whole wheat kernels that have been steamed, dried and then crushed, giving it a tender texture and a subtle nutty flavor. Let the wheat sit a little longer if it is not soft after 20 minutes.

One key technique for boosting flavor is to crush fresh scallions together with the bulgur, allowing the scallion juices to seep into the grains and infuse them with a savory aroma. Drained canned chickpeas add protein, while cheddar cheese brings a rich, tangy note.

A handful of pistachio nuts finishes the dish with a delicate crunch, creating a vegetarian meal full of flavors and textures.

savor pring s Strawberry cake has cooked strawberries inside and can be topped with fresh ones.

TNS PHOTO

Chickpea Tabbouleh Salad is full of protein and flavor.

Chickpea Tabbouleh Salad Yields 2 servings. Recipe is by Linda Gassenheimer.

1/4 cup bulgur wheat 1/2 cup hot water 1 ⁄3 cup thinly sliced scallions 1 tomato, cut into 1-inch pieces 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon minced garlic 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 cup reduced-fat, shredded, sharp cheddar cheese 1 (14-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained 1 ⁄3 cup unsalted pistachio nuts Salt and freshly ground black peppercorns 1/2 cup coarsely chopped mint 2 cups washed, ready-to-eat lettuce leaves 1. Place bulgur wheat in bowl with hot water and let sit 20 minutes.

2. While wheat is soaking, prepare remaining ingredients. Combine lemon juice and garlic in a bowl. Stir in olive oil.

3. Drain bulgur and squeeze out as much moisture as possible with your hands. Add the scallions and squeeze again so that the scallion juices penetrate the wheat.

4. Add to olive oil mixture. Fold in cheddar cheese, chickpeas and pistachios. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Sprinkle mint on top.

5. Divide the lettuce between two dinner plates. Divide the chickpea mixture in half and serve over the lettuce.

Nutrition info per serving: 530 calories (53 percent from fat), 31.5 g fat (6.7 g saturated, 13.6 g monounsaturated), 20 mg cholesterol, 21.4 g protein, 46.9 g carbohydrates, 13.1 g fiber, 311 mg sodium.

STAFF PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER

Enjoy the bounty of Louisiana gardens

May is the month when every fruit and vegetable sold anywhere is at its peak. It could be that the abundance of your farmers market has you invigorated about enjoying the bounty, or Recipes season’s you may simply find Fresh Pea the produce in your Soup, grocery store to be Lemon plump and alluring Caper right now.

Shrimp, Whatever you can Strawberry get your hands on, Cake I say enjoy it while 2D you can.

One of my favorite cold soups to make this time of year uses fresh peas.

It’s even worth it, to me, to shell peas for it. If you cannot find fresh peas, or if you are disinclined to shell fresh peas, frozen peas will work. Be sure to buy frozen baby peas, not the big ones, as they aren’t as good for this soup. And be sure to fully defrost and drain

Liz Williams TIP OF THE TONGUE

them.

I like to serve the soup in teacups as an appetizer. In fact, it would go well as a starter for Lemon Caper Shrimp. Besides produce, there is often an abundance of shrimp in this season.

I think this recipe is a good alternative to New Orleans Barbecued Shrimp. Don’t get me wrong, I love barbecue shrimp, but sometimes I want a change. This recipe can be made with shells on, so no need to peel them, although this is up to preference.

If you are having a dinner party,

Fresh peas are best for making cold pea soup.

ä See SAVOR, page 2D

Take advantage of asparagus season

BY NICOLE HVIDSTEN

The Minnesota Star Tribune (TNS) Versatile asparagus is the vegetable you’ll want to include in everything while it’s in season.

It is a perfect side dish, whether you’re grilling meat or baking a quiche. It can be an ingredient in quiche, too, or just add leftover asparagus to scrambled eggs if you’re in a rush. It’s a natural in pasta dishes, with a light cream sauce to hold things together, and can be the star of a springtime soup. Try your hand at pickling,

and extend its season even further; pickled asparagus is a natural charcuterie, and a must in a homegrown bloody mary bar.

When shopping for asparagus, look for spears with tightly closed tips.

To prepare, cookbook author Beth Dooley suggests snapping off and discarding the toughest part of the stalk and storing in the fridge like cut flowers — in a glass of water and tented with a plastic bag. (Or wrap the ends in a damp paper towel, then bag, and place in the refrigerator’s crisper.)

Recipes

Asparagus, Bacon and Parmesan Omelet Pie; Creamy Smoked Salmon, Asparagus and Peas

2D

Whether to choose thick or thin stalks is a matter of personal preference, and how you intend to use it. I can’t resist pencil-thin spears cooked on the grill. But for these recipes, either will do.

ä See ASPARAGUS, page 2D

GETTy IMAGES PHOTO

2D ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

TODAY IN HISTORY

By The Associated Press Today is Thursday, May 28, the 148th day of 2026. There are 217 days left in the year.

Today in history: On May 28, 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which forced nearly 50,000 Native Americans, primarily in the Southeastern U.S., to move to designated territories west of the Mississippi River.

Also on this date: In 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, made up of free Black men, left

Boston to fight for the Union in the Civil War. In 1892, the Sierra Club was founded in San Francisco by naturalist John Muir.

In 1918, American troops fought their first major battle during World War I as they launched an offensive against the German-held French village of Cantigny; the Americans succeeded in capturing the village.

In 1959, the U.S. Army launched Able, a rhesus monkey, and Baker, a squirrel monkey, aboard a Jupiter missile for a suborbital flight

which both primates survived.

In 1972, burglars working on behalf of the Nixon White House broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., installing surveillance devices on telephones and taking photos of DNC documents. The ensuing scandal led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974.

In 1977, 165 people were killed when fire raced through the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky.

In 1987, to the embarrassment

of Soviet officials, Mathias Rust, a teenage West German amateur pilot, landed a private plane near Moscow’s Red Square without authorization. (Rust was held by the Soviets until he was pardoned and freed the following year.)

In 2013, in one of the biggest money-laundering schemes in U.S. history, federal prosecutors charged seven people with effectively running an online, underworld bank, saying Liberty Reserve handled $6 billion for drug dealers, child pornographers, identity thieves and other criminals worldwide. Its

ASPARAGUS

a 1/ 8-inch-thick round and press into a 9-inch pie plate. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

9. To assemble: Pour the filling mixture into the pie shell and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until it is puffy in the center.

Continued from page 1D

Asparagus, Bacon and Parmesan Omelet Pie

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Lemon caper shrimp

SAVOR

Continued from page 1D

Fresh Pea Soup

Lemon Caper Shrimp Serves 4 to 6.

5 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/4 cup chopped capers (if using salt-cured capers, rinse and drain them first) 6 cloves minced garlic Grated zest of 2 lemons 3 pounds unshelled fresh shrimp Juice from 2 lemons 1 lemon, sliced thinly and seeded 1/2 bottle dry white wine 1 teaspoon hot sauce with more for the table 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper 1 bunch parsley, chopped 1. In a large skillet, melt the butter. When it begins to sizzle, add the capers and garlic. Stir and reduce the heat to make sure that you do not burn the garlic.

2. Add the lemon zest and the shrimp. Toss to ensure that the butter mixture covers all of the shrimp. Keep tossing to ensure that all of the shrimp cook. Do this for about 3 minutes.

3. Add the lemon juice, the lemon slices and the wine. Stir and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.

4. Add the hot sauce and toss again. Turn off heat.

Add the ground pepper. Let sit for 5 minutes.

5. When ready to serve, heat again, tossing the mixture. Dump the shrimp and the sauce into a platter.

Scatter with parsley. Serve with a generous supply of paper napkins or cloth napkins. (You may want to consider bibs.)

There should be plenty of extra hot sauce on the table and extra lemon wedges, as well as warm French bread for sopping up the sauce.

Makes 6-8 appetizer servings.

3 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 cup chopped leeks, white parts only (you can save the tender green parts for something else) 1 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts 1 quart chicken stock 5 cups freshly shelled small peas (you can use two 10-ounce packages of baby peas that have been defrosted and drained) 2 ⁄3 cup fresh mint leaves 1/2 cup buttermilk Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley or chives 1. Place the butter in a pan over low heat to melt the butter. When it has melted, add the leeks and cook slowly for about 20 minutes until the leeks are soft, but not browned.

2. Add the scallions and cook 10 more minutes.

3. Add the chicken stock to the pot and bring the mixture to a simmer.

4. Add the shelled peas (or Strawberry Cake the defrosted, drained peas) Makes 1 cake. and cook for 20 minutes for 11/4 cup flour fresh peas and 10 for fro1 cup sugar plus 3 tablespoons for the strawberry step zen. Stir occasionally.

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 5. Remove from heat and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda add the mint. Add the but-

2 large eggs cracked into a small bowl and beaten together with a fork 1/2 cup fruity olive oil Zest of 1 orange 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon rosewater 3/4 cup milk 1 or more pints of fresh strawberries, trimmed flat on the broad side For curing: 6 tablespoons orange liqueur 8 ounces mascarpone 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup of wholefat plain yogurt Zest of 1 lemon 1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and coat the inside of an 8-inch cake pan with olive oil (if the pan is old, prepare a parchment paper round and oil it) 2. Sift the dry ingredients together into a bowl. Add the eggs, olive oil, orange zest, vanilla, rosewater and milk. Stir vigorously until all of the ingredients come together into a smooth batter.

3. Sprinkle the bottom of the pan evenly with the sugar. Place the whole strawberries in concentric circles, with the pointed side up, until the entire surface of the pan is covered.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and cook for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

If more time is needed, check again every 5 minutes.

4. Remove the cooked cake from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and turn the pan onto a wire rack. Flip the cake over so that it cools with the flat side down.

5. When the cake is completely cool, brush the syrup on the top and sides using half of the syrup.

Wrap in plastic film and set aside in the refrigerator.

6. Unwrap the cake and repeat again with the remaining syrup right before serving. Place the cake on a serving platter. Bring to room temperature.

6. Mix the mascarpone with the yogurt to thin it to a spreadable, but still thick consistency. Sprinkle the orange zest over the strawberries. Spoon the mascarpone mixture over each slice of cake as you serve it.

Liz Williams is founder of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum in New Orleans. Listen to “Tip of the Tongue,” Liz’s podcast about food, drink and culture, wherever you hear podcasts. Email Liz at lizwillia@gmail.com.

Serves 6. Recipe is from “Southern Roots”

by Spring Council (Countryman, 2026).

For the filling: 1 1/2 pounds asparagus, trimmed 4 thick slices of bacon, diced 8 eggs 1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley 1/2 cup soft breadcrumbs 1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell (recipe follows) For the crust: 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon. salt 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold 3 tablespoons ice-cold water 1. To make the filling: Preheat the oven to 375 F. 2. Slice the asparagus 1-inch thick on the diagonal, leaving the tips whole.

3. Fry the bacon in a medium skillet on medium-high heat until crispy, 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

5. Beat the eggs and milk together in a large bowl. Add the Parmesan cheese, asparagus, cooked bacon, parsley and breadcrumbs. Stir to combine. Set aside.

6. To make the crust: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until coarse crumbs form. Add the water and mix everything together to form a soft dough.

7. Gather the dough, press it into a ball, and then flatten it into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes or up to 2 days.

8. When ready to prepare, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough out into

Creamy Smoked Salmon, Asparagus and Peas Serves 4. From “Spinning Plates” by Anna Stanford (Hamlyn, 2025).

14 ounces pasta of your choice For the sauce: Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon 11/4 cups creme fraiche 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 leeks, trimmed, cleaned and chopped 9 ounces asparagus spears, woody ends removed, stems chopped, tips reserved 2 ⁄3 cup frozen peas 51/2 ounces smoked salmon,cut into strips (see Note) Salt and freshly ground black pepper Chopped fresh dill, for garnish 1. Combine the lemon zest and juice and the creme fraiche in a bowl and set aside.

2. Cook the pasta in a large pan of salted boiling water for 8 to10 minutes, or according to the package instructions.

3. Meanwhile, heat a separate pan until hot, then add the olive oil, leeks and asparagus stems. Cook on a medium heat for 4 minutes before adding the asparagus tips and frozen peas. Season with salt and pepper, and cook for an additional 4 minutes.

4. Add the smoked salmon, stir, and remove from heat.

5. Stir through the lemony creme fraiche, adding a ladleful (about 1/ 3 cup) of pasta water to loosen.

6. Drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the pan, toss together with the sauce and serve. Garnish with fresh dill.

Note: You can replace the smoked salmon with flaked cooked salmon or hot smoked salmon.

r y ou da tY o ar T St ove M

it’s nice to take the time to peel the shrimp for your guests. But family can enjoy the informal fun of licking their fingers.

And who can resist a strawberry cake? This one has cooked strawberries inside and fresh ones on top.

That pavé layer of strawberries is always that kind of surprise, as the cake releases from the pan, that makes me smile.

You can go Spartan and eat it as a snack right after it cools without any embellishments. Or you can put it on a cake pedestal and add flavored mascarpone to the top. A nice thick layer. And then gild the lily by adding fresh sugared strawberries over the top.

Be sure to drain the strawberries, but keep that wonderful juice. I like to make a sauce by heating a good strawberry preserve with the reserved strawberry juice and a bit of Grand Marnier. Place the warm sauce in a small pitcher on the table for everyone to serve themselves.

Grate orange zest over the top and serve in wedges. Let me know what you think!

termilk.

6. With an immersion blender (you can transfer in batches to a food processor, but the immersion blender in more convenient) blend the ingredients together until they are homogenous.

You decide how much texture you want the soup to have.

7. If you are going to serve the soup cold, put into the refrigerator for 2 hours or until chilled. Serve with parsley or chive garnish. If you want to serve the soup warm, allow the soup to stand for 1 hour so that the flavors can meld. Reheat over a low heat until hot.

Serve with parsley or chive garnish.

founder, Arthur Budovsky, was later convicted in the scheme and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Today’s Birthdays: Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is 82. Singer Gladys Knight is 82.

Musician Billy Vera is 82. Musician John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is 81. Country singer-songwriter Phil Vassar is 64. Singer-actor Kylie Minogue is 58. Actor Justin Kirk is 57. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is 55. TV personality Elisabeth Hasselbeck is 49. Actor Jake Johnson is 48.

Visit us today and take the first step toward finding your perfect address.

addressbatonrouge.com DRE#01901536 This website is a marketing and information program that sends all inquiries to state-licensed real estate professionals.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ 3D

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FrAnK And erneSt

bIG nAte

zItS

zodIAC GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Participate in a learning experience or a day trip that leads to something or someone you find exciting. Approach people who can offer sage advice or a helping hand to get you to a place you want to be. cAncER (June 21-July 22) Stop worrying, and start exploring the opportunities that are waiting to be discovered. A positive attitude will help you see situations from a different angle.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Reject anger; keeping busy will lead to self-satisfaction.

Tie up loose ends, set boundaries and dance to your own beat. Life is too short to waste on no-win situations.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Less talk, more action, greater stabilization. Your actions should reflect what's right and best for you and those you love.

Research, pay attention to detail and execute your plans flawlessly.

LIBRA (sept. 23-Oct. 23) Learn through experience. Sign up for something that interests you or that will help you make a better decision. Information is golden when navigating your path forward.

Avoid situations that put you at risk. scORPIO (Oct. 24-nov. 22) Take the initiative to put your plans in motion. Taking physical action will be tough but rewarding. Kindness trumps aggressive behavior. Expand your awareness, knowledge and plans to meet your needs. sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Rearrange your surroundings. Realign your space to meet demands and to ensure the flow

is designed to make your life easier.

Change will offer the boost you need to trust and believe in your abilities. cAPRIcORn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Now is not the time to take a break, you're on the right track. Discipline, ingenuity, networking, and using your knowledge, expertise and charm will carry you forward with grace and glory.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Mixed emotions will lead you down a slippery slope. Do your research, fight your own battles and choose to be honest, not angry, when dealing with unsavory situations.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) What you do counts. A change someone makes will not favor your interests. Don't feel bad; head in a different direction or try something that sparks your imagination.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Follow your instincts, and use discipline to make your dreams come true. Walk away from those asking for too much or trying to tempt you to participate in expensive entertainment. tAuRus (April 20-May 20) You can jump for joy or let stubbornness set in and cause you grief. You have more going for you than you think, and allowing anyone to cost you peace of mind is on you.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

For better or For WorSe WonderWord

peAnUtS

SALLY Forth

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

tODAy's cLuE: D EQuALs I

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

4D ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

CurTiS

Hi and LoiS

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Sudoku InstructIons: Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers.

The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

BaBY BLueS

BLondie

THe wiZard oF id

nea CroSSwordS

La TimeS CroSSword

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ 5D

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B.C.

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER Rupert Murdoch said, “The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow.”

Not necessarily at the bridge table, though. Sometimes, for example, drawing trumps early will lose a contract.

And, of course, occasionally not drawing trumps soon enough can be fatal.

Which applies in this deal? South is in four spades, and West leads the heart king.

Note North’s four-spade rebid. It promises at least four-card support and denies a first- or second-round control. South is implying that he has (at least) nine winners when he opens two clubs and rebids two spades.

North hopes that his trumps will provide a 10th trick. (Yes, South’s hand is a minimum. Some experts would rebid two no-trump to limit the hand. But that would not work well here, because North would surely pass, and the contract would fail.)

Given that the trumps are 3-1, South has five losers: one spade, one heart, one diamond and two clubs. The blacksuit losers are unavoidable, so declarer must ruff his low red-suit cards in the dummy.

The right play is to win the first trick, to cash exactly one top trump, then to play off the three top diamonds, discarding dummy’s remaining heart. Next, South ruffs the heart seven in the dummy,

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

returns to his hand with a trump, and ruffs his diamond five — mission accomplished.

Note that if declarer begins with both of his top trumps, he will be stranded in the dummy after the first ruff. West can get in with his club ace and draw dummy’s last trump, leaving South with a fourth loser. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

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

PiCKles

Previous answers:

mallard fillmore

word game InstRuctIOns: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3.

Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

tODAy’s WORD — OFFEnsIVE: uh-FENT-siv: Rude or insulting.

Bizarro

marmaduKe

Average mark 15 words Time limit 35 minutes Can you find 26 or more words in OFFENSIVE? yEstERDAy’s WORD — WAyLAyInG wail wain waling wanly waylay wigan wily wing again alga anyway

away yawing yawl yawn lain lanai lawn layin laying ling lying

inlay inly nail gaily gain gala gnaw

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34 Our words will reveal what is in our hearts. G.E. Dean

6D ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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classifieds.theadvocate.com Search Search& &Place PlaceAds AdsOnline Onlineatatclassifieds.theadvocate.com classifieds.theadvocate.com* Call * Call -Friday Us Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM at 225-383-0111 8AM-5PM at 225-383-0111

Announcements AIRCRAFT Hanger Space Needed for Bonanza V35B Call Stewart (225) 288-5793 ANYONE knowing the whereabouts of any property owner, heir or other related person, in regard to the properties listed below, please contact the East Baton Rouge CityParish, Department of Development – Neighborhood Revitalization Office at 225-389-8680.

4788 MONARCH AVE DELORES DOUCET 9685 LEADALE DR ALISHA S DOUGLAS 5572 HALSEY ST JOHN D JENKINS 10555 MOLLYLEA DR G2 GREEN COTTAGE, LLC / EUGENE ANF VIVIAN JI 2252 GEORGIA ST NINIKA NNAJI 2128 GEORGIA ST JIM MCDOWELL 2391 MARYLAND ST KENNETH CUTNO 2148 GEORGIA ST JOHN H HICKMAN 519 S 16TH ST LEGACY AT 1124, LLC 2332 HURON ST FRANCES PIGEON 3476 FAIRWOODS DR DONNA KELLY COLLINS LEWIS 1724 N 36TH CLIFFORD JEROME GILLIE 4270 PROVOST VERONICA RENEE RODDY 1580 N 32ND ST CARLOS KESTLER 2513 YAZOO ST KDH GROUP, LLC 1114 N 48TH ST DEVON RAY PARKER,SR 1506 N 37TH ST LEWELLYN BRADFORD 12346 QUEENSBURY AVE WARREN STANLEY STABLER 8158 KEEL AVE JR PROPERTIES, LLC / REGISTERED AGENT: JONATHAN ROBINSON 8256 NED AVE PROFICIENT PROPERTIES & CONSULTING, LLC 5947 CREEK CENTRE DR TURBO RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT, LLC 7575 HANKS DR MARISOL DEL TORO RAMIREZ 1075 MAYHAW DR STEVEN J GRAY 6720 SCENIC HWY 6708 SCENIC HWY, LLC 3613 SYCAMORE WILLIAMS & COMPANY ENTERPRISE, INC 4964 ANNETTE ST TM CAPITAL, LLC 4784 PACKARD ST LEEVY ENNIS 9685 FOSTER RD DAVID B DRAGO / C/O TIFFANY RENEE HERN 5648 ATLANTA AVE CAREY L FORD 5414 PEERLESS ST THE ESTATES OF EZEKIEL MURPHY 5345 MONARCH AVE JOSEPH COLEMAN 544 COOT JOSEPH P NEWTON, JR 12411 E GLENHAVEN DR SAMUEL JACKSON TOUCHSTONE 1684 ROBIN ST KEITH HARDESTY 1933 N 16TH ST RAYMION L MORGAN

Public Notices

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

PUBLIC NOTICE --ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Sealed bids will be re‐ ceived for the State of Louisiana by the LCTC Campus Official with Owner’s Representative and shall be directed to the LCTC River Parishes Commu‐ nity College, 181 Regala Park Road, Reserve, La 70084. The deadline for receipt of bids is 10:00 AM on JUNE 26, 2026, at which time bids will be opened and read aloud in a public meeting in the LCTC RIVER PARISHES COMMUNITY COLLEGE, BUILDING K, Main Conference Room.

FOR: HVAC Replacement Build‐ ing A, B, & C River Parishes Community Col‐ lege – Reserve Campus 181 Regala Park Road, Re‐ serve, LA 70084 PROJECT NUMBER: 01-107-24-05 WBS Num‐ ber: F.01004657 Site Code: 6845 State Building ID: S04355 Complete Bid Documents for this project are avail‐ able in electronic form.

They may be obtained without charge and with‐ out deposit from Associated Design Group, Inc. (DBA: ADG En‐ gineering). Bid Docu‐ ments may also be ob‐ tained from www.centralbidding.com for a nominal charge or subscription.

Printed copies are not available from the Designer, but arrangements can be made to obtain them through most re‐ prographic firms. Plan holders are responsible for their own reproduc‐ tion costs.

Questions about this pro‐ cedure shall be directed to the Designer at: Associated Design Group, Inc. 3909 West Congress Street, Lafayette, LA 70506 337-234-5710 adginc@adginc.org All bids shall be accom‐ panied by bid security in an amount of five per‐ cent (5.0%) of the sum of the base bid and all al‐ ternates. The form of this security shall be as stated in the Instructions to Bidders included in the Bid Docu‐ ments for this project.

The successful Bidder shall be required to fur‐ nish a Performance and Payment Bond written as described in the Instruc‐ tions to Bidders included in the Bid Docu‐ ments for this project.

A MANDATORY PRE-BID CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD at 10:00 AM on JUNE 16, 2026 at 181 Regala Park Road, Reserve, La 70084 Building Room

K

Conference

Bids shall be accepted from Contractors who are licensed under LA. R.S. 37:2150-2192 for the classification of ME‐ CHANICAL. Bidder is required to l i h i i

2581 NAVAJO ST ELTON R NOLAND 2374 GEORGIA ST LBL PROPERTIES, LLC 766 E BUCHANAN ST JOSEPH J LONG 1379 SWAN AVE ONYX SQUARE, LLC 2738 74TH AVE MARQUEE ACQUISITIONS, LLC 10578 SCOTLAND AVE IMANI FAYETTE HARRELL 4251 BLOUNT RD ERNEST J WASHINGTON, JR 8832 THELMA ST IRINE JOHNSON 1664 ROBIN ST NANCY L HALL 1822 CAROLINA ST ALEX COLLINS 617 MAXIMILIAN ST PATRICIA ELFREIEDA LAWLESS 12762 E ROBIN HOOD DR SARAH B BOOTH 4360 PLANK RD KAIDS TAHA 1631 N 39TH ST IVAN DE JESUS AGUIRRE ALTAMIRANO 1168 N 46TH ST MARCUS DWAYNE FONTENOT 5566 GEORGE ST SABRA DESIREE POPE 1595 N 44TH ST LINDA HAWKINS GRIFFIN 5359 PEERLESS ST CHERISE P STEVENSON 6983 AIRLINE HWY BERNARD KIBODI 7362 WHITNEY DR THE ESTATE OF ROBERT J SMITH 4655 HOLLYWOOD ST RHIANNON S SUIR 2110 70TH AVE LATOY PESHUN TRAVELER 188791-5/25/26 Thru 5/31/26 $3,259.00 Anyone knowing the whereabouts of BOB DEAN, JR., please contact Jarvis M. Antwine, Attorney At Law, 637 St. Ferdinand Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802, (225) 3837800.

188991-5/28-29-30-3t $109.00 ANYONE knowing the whereabouts of ELSHONIQUE JAMIKA COMPTON please contact Courtney M. King, Attorney at Law, (225) 366-8696.

188864-5/26-27-28-3t $85.00 Any person knowing the whereabouts of the following described promissory note: That certain promissory note dated March 8, 2024 by Lauren Stoute payable to First Consumers Financial of Lafayette in the amount of $8,611.92 together with interest at the rate of 24.99%% until paid, payable in 36 equal monthly installments of $239.22 each. Please contact Richard D. Bankston, 427 South Foster Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70806, (225) 346-1999.

189218-May 28-30, 3t $205 I have been appointed as an administrator to a deceased individual, Debra Chews Daniel to whom I am seeking any heirs. If anyone knows the whereabouts of any heirs, please contact attorney Shannon L. Battiste at (225) 726-5070 or send me any information to 12605 S. Harrell’s Ferry Road, Suite 5, Baton Rouge, LA 70816.

188881-5/26-27-28-3t $157.00 Advertising Looking to promote your services or find a new hire? Deliver your

Public Notices Bids/Proposals q comply with provisions and requirements of LA R.S. 38:2212(B)(5). No bid may be withdrawn for a period of forty-five (45) days after receipt of bids, except under the provisions of LA. R.S. 38:2214.

Bids may also be submit‐ ted by electronic means via website www.central bidding.com. Free regis‐ tration is required to submit a bid via the Central Bidding website.

The Owner reserves the right to reject any and all bids for just cause. In ac‐ cordance with La. R.S. 38:2212(B)(1), the provi‐ sions and requirements of this Sec‐ tion; and those stated in the bidding documents shall not be waived by any entity.

When this project is fi‐ nanced either partially or entirely with State Bonds or financed in whole or in part by federal or other funds which are not readily available at the time bids are received, the award of this Contract is contin‐ gent upon the granting of lines of credit, or the sale of bonds by the Bond Com‐ mission or the availabil‐ ity of federal or other funds. The State shall incur no obligation to the Contractor until the Contract Between Owner and Contractor is fully executed.

Act 751 – Louisiana Com‐ munity and Technical Colleges is a participant in the Small Entrepre‐ neurship (SE) Program (the Hudson Initiative) and the Vet‐ eran-Owned and ServiceConnected Disabled Vet‐ eran-Owned (LaVet) Small Entrepreneurships Program.

Bidders are encouraged to consider participation.

Information is available from its website at https://www.doa.la.gov/ doa/fpc/.

If you have a disability and would like to request an accommodation in order to participate in this meeting, please con‐ tact Cheryl at Cheryl.

Schilling Schilling@la.gov or (225) 342-6060 as soon as pos‐ sible but no later than 48 hours before the sched‐ uled meeting.

ACT 751LOUISIANA COMMUNITY AND TECH‐ NICAL COLLEGES VICE PRESIDENT OF AD‐ MINISTRATION TOBY R. COMEAUX, MPA FEBRUARY 2026

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

City of Monroe Purchasing Division 1014 Grammont Street Monroe, LA 71201 All Bidders MUST obtain copies of Bidding Docu‐ ments from the City of Monroe Purchasing Divi‐ sion by emailing us at purchasing@ci.monroe. la.us, thereby being added to the Bidders’ List. Bids from vendors not on the Bidders’ List will not be accepted. The name of the vendor must match that of the name on the Bidders’ List, under which the Request for Bid was requested.

Sealed bids must iden‐ tify, on the outside enve‐ lope, the name of the vendor.

Bidders also have the op‐ tion to submit bids elec‐ tronically. To submit a bid electronically, bid‐ ders must register at www.QuestCDN.com.

Bidders submitting bids electronically must ob‐ tain copies of the bid packet as indicated else‐ where herein.

The OWNER reserves the right to reject any or all bids for just cause per State Public Bid Law. A corporate resolution authorizing a representa‐ tive of the corporation to sign the bid must accom‐ pany the bid if the bidder is a corporation. Such ac‐ tivities will be in accor‐ dance with Title 38:2237 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes.

An award shall be made to the responsible bidder or bidders whose bid is determined in writing by the governing authority of the City of Monroe to be the most advanta‐ geous for each chemical, taking into consideration price and other evalua‐ tion factors set forth in the Information for Bid‐ ders.

MINORITY-OWNED FIRMS AND SMALL BUSINESSES ARE ENCOURAGED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS RE‐ QUEST FOR BIDS. Bid Reference No. 202700000008 /s/ Date Richard Moore, Director of Administration News Star: 5/28/2026, 6/04/2026, 6/11/2026 Monroe Dispatch: 5/28/2026, 6/04/2026, 6/11/2026

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

Advocate: 5/28/2026, 6/04/2026, 6/11/2026

Separate sealed BIDS for the Transit ITB Medical Screening Services will be received by the City of Monroe, at the Purchas‐ ing Division, located at 1014 Grammont Street, Monroe, Louisiana 71201.

Bids will be received until 1:45 P.M., on Tues‐ day, June 16, 2026. Bids will be publicly opened in the Purchasing Division, at the above-mentioned address, at 2:00 P.M. The CONTRACT DOCU‐ MENTS, consisting of Ad‐ vertisement for Bids, In‐ formation for Bidders, SPECIFICATIONS, and AD‐ DENDA, may be exam‐ ined at the following lo‐ cation:

Miscellaneous YMT Vacations. Over 50 guided tours available. Affordable, social and stress-free travel designed for mature travelers. Our tours include accommodations, transportation, baggage handling, sightseeing, entrance fees, a professional Tour Director and select meals. For a limited time SAVE $250 on all tours.

Call YMT today. 1-877-914-7029 Donate your car, truck, boat, RV and more to support our veterans!

Schedule a FAST, FREE vehicle pickup and receive a top tax deduction!

Call Veteran Car Donations at 1-844-742-5188 today!

Health and Wellness DENTAL INSURANCE from Physicians Mutual Insurance Company.

Coverage for 400 plus procedures.

Real dental insurance - NOT just a discount plan. Do not wait! Call now!

Get your FREE Dental Information Kit with all the details!

1-855-268-0108 www.dental50plus.com/morning #6258 Home Improvement Prepare for power outages today with a Generac Home Standby Generator. Act now to receive a FREE 5-Year warranty with qualifying purchase. Call 1-844-3352962 today to schedule a free quote.

It’s not just a generator. It’s a power move.

Home Services DIRECTV- All your entertainment.

Nothing on your roof! Sign up for Directv and get your first three months of Max, Paramount+, Showtime, Starz, MGM+ and Cinemax included. Choice package $84.99/mo. Some restrictions apply.

Call DIRECTV 1-866-734-0452

189181-may 28-jun 4-11-3t $1,036.84

PUBLIC NOTICE --AIRPORT AUTHORITY OF AIRPORT DISTRICT NO. 1 Lake Charles, Louisiana LCH ALCMS 00 11 00 ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Sealed bids for LCH ALCMS, to be con‐ structed for AIRPORT AU‐ THORITY OF AIRPORT DISTRICT NO. 1 will be re‐ ceived at the office of the AIRPORT AUTHORITY OF AIRPORT DISTRICT NO. 1 and addressed to Lake Charles Regional Airport Administration Office, 500 Airport Blvd., Suite 104, Lake Charles, LA

MISC FOR SALE Two 38” Tall Cement Cranes Each Crane $50 225-752-7273

Garage Sales ESTATE SALES HUGE MID CITY ESTATE SALE 556 BIENVILLE ST. Thurs 2-7PM, Fri, Sat, Sun 8-5, Packed house of Antiques, Collectibles, MCM, 2010 Mercury Grand Marquis, tools, See pics at estatesales.net

ROOMS FOR RENT Furnished Rooms. $125/wk. $500/mo.

225-933-7560

AREA 5 1 & 2 BR Apts, W/D, C A/H, Starting at $850/mo Deps vary 225-315-0930

Recreational Vehicles

AREA 5 1BR $550, 2BR $650 Tigerland. $500 Deposit. 225-475-1737

AREA 5 655 North St. Subsidized eff Apts cpabr.org 225-383-5551.

TDD/TTY /711RELAY

BOATS 2010, 1860, SC Tracker Grizzly, Good Cond. 90hp Mercury Out Board Motor $7500 (225) 698-1742

AREA 6 HUGE MID CITY ESTATE SALE 556 BIENVILLE ST. Thurs 2-7PM, Fri, Sat, Sun 8-5. Packed house of Antiques, Collectibles, MCM, Mercury Grand Marquis, tools, See pics at estatesales.net

Baton Rouge Rental

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

MOBILE HOME 1, 2 & 3 BR mobile homes, $675 & up 6061 Plank Rd. CALL 225-978-4653

AREA 2 3BR 2BA, 16x80 Mobile Home in Central School District on 1 acre treed lot, $600 dep, $1100/mth rent.

Large storage bldg, Lawn Service Included. 225-603-4395 AREA 3 3060 N. Acadian Thrwy 1BR/1BA $500/mth $300Dep Water/Sewer Paid 225-357-6436

AREA 3 5135 & 5137 Fairfield (Duplex) 1BR/1BA, Rent $500, Dep $300 Updated 225-357-6436 AREA 3

Move In Ready!

3017 Chippewa St. 5159 Frey St. Both Properties 3BR 1BA Rent $800/mo, $300/dep 225-357-6436

Dish Network: Get DISH Satellite TV + Internet! Free Install, Free HD-DVR Upgrade, 80,000 On-Demand Movies, Plus Limited Time Up To $600 In Gift Cards. Call Today! 1-855-654-8207

Pets / Pet Services Directory PETS • SUPPLIES • SERVICES • OBITUARIES • LOST & FOUND

Merchandise

PLACE YOUR PET SERVICES INFORMATION IN THE PET SERVICES DIRECTORY TODAY! • IT IS FAST AND EASY! • CALL 225-383-0111 DOGS German Shorthaired Pointer - Beau‐ tiful Registered German Shorthaired Pointer Puppies, Now taking de‐ posits of $100, born April 25th. $700 337-692-2179

WANT TO BUY Old Records 33's, 45's & 78's. All types of music. Call 985-259-1889 CEMETERY PLOTS Greenoaks Mem. Cem. Plot, Rose Garden Area, $3k Call 318-229-6949

CATS RAGAMUFFIN & RAGDOLL KITTENS www.CatsByFrancy.com/kittens $1500up! Reg. Shots & Guaranty 337-230-3150 DOGS AKC Reg. Rottweiler Puppies, Exc. Temp. 1 -M 1 -F Show Quality $900504-782-9291

MISC FOR SALE SMALL SOLID BLACK THROW PILLOWS MANY AVAILABLE! EACH $5 225-752-7273

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

70607-0669 (Main Termi‐ nal Building) until 1:00PM on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, at which time the bids shall be publicly opened and read aloud.

An Optional Pre-Bid Con‐ ference will be held on 10:00AM Tuesday, June 9, 2026, at the Lake Charles Regional Airport Admin‐ istration Office, 500 Air‐ port Blvd., Suite 104, Lake Charles, LA 70607. Each bidder shall be limited to three personnel per or‐ ganization. The Pre-Bid Conference will also be held virtually and infor‐ mation regarding the vir‐ tual meeting will be sent out to all plan holders via QuestCDN one week prior to the meeting time.

The Project consists of installation of new air‐ port lighting control & monitoring system (ALCMS) in vault and air traffic control tower, in‐ stallation of a new backup generator and regulators in vault.

Bids will be received on the Louisiana Uniform Public Work Bid Form.

Bids will be received for a single prime contract.

Bids shall be on a lump sum and unit price basis i di d i h id

Place a Classified ad?

1-800-960-6397

Public Notices Bids/Proposals p as indicated in the Bid Form.

Digital copies of the bid documents are available at http://Planroom.

GarverUSA.com.

These documents may be downloaded by selecting this Project from the “Plan Room” link, and by entering Quest Project Number 10183187 on the “Browse Projects” page.

For assistance and free membership registration, contact QuestCDN at 952.233.1632 or info@ questcdn.com.

Adden‐ dums to the bid package will be issued through the Garver online Plan Holders List; therefore, all Bidders shall be re‐ sponsible for download‐ ing the bid documents from the Garver online plan room in order to be included in the Plan Holders List.

Bidders must enter the addenda numbers in Article 3.01 of the Bid Form to verify re‐ ceipt.

Bids shall be accompa‐ nied by a bid security in accordance with the In‐ structions to Bidders.

The successful Bidder must furnish Perfor‐ mance and Payment Bonds in accordance with the Contract Docu‐

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

ments.

Bidders also have the op‐ tion to submit bids elec‐ tronically. For this pro‐ ject, if the Bidders choose to submit bids electronically, the bids will be accepted through the QuestCDN online electronic bid interface.

To access the electronic bid form, download the project documents, re‐ fresh the project’s page on the online planroom, and then click the “online bid” button below the project name.

Bidders must be licensed to perform work within the state of Louisiana.

Federal Requirements for Federally Funded Pro‐ jects. This Project is being partially funded under the Federal Avia‐ tion Administration (FAA) Airport Improvement Program (AIP). Contrac‐ tors must comply with specific federally re‐ quired provisions as listed herein and con‐ tained in the contract documents. The follow‐ ing federal provisions are incorporated in this so‐ licitation by reference: • Buy American Prefer‐ ence (49 USC § 50101) • Civil Rights – Title VI As‐ surances (78 Stat. 252, 42

CITY OF PORT ALLEN, LOUISIANA PUBLIC NOTICE PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2026

No Bidders may with‐ draw their bid within Forty-Five (45) days after the actual date of the opening thereof.

188935-may 28-jun 11

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS

classified message statewide for as little as $265 per week through the Louisiana Press Association’s Classified Network. Pre-payment required. To learn more, email advertising@lapress.com or call 225-344-9309.

ADOPTED

2026 ADJUSTED PROJECTED

REVENUES Local Sources Intergovernmental Charges for services Other Financing Sources

$ 6,665,600 $ (538,400) $ 6,127,200 2,072,100 (1,016,000) 1,056,100 3,877,700 655,400 4,533,100 327,250 327,250

Total revenues

$ 12,942,650 $ (899,000) $ 12,043,650

EXPENDITURES Administrative Public Safety Roads and Drainage Utility Services Capital Outlay Debt Service Sanitation City Court Other Services Other Financing Uses

$ 1,731,950 2,131,135 1,437,170 2,859,281 2,721,500 224,413 705,000 147,280 1,090,815 327,250

Total expenditures

$ 13,375,794 $ (1,702,501) $ 11,673,293

(76,300) (131,650) (205,150) 413,924 (1,903,000) 22,000 2,700 174,975 -

1,655,650 1,999,485 1,232,020 3,273,205 818,500 224,413 727,000 149,980 1,265,790 327,250

A budget hearing will be held on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, at 5:30 p.m., at the City of Port Allen, City Council Chamber 3rd Floor, located at 375 Court Street, Port Allen, Louisiana, for interested citizens of the City of Port Allen. The purpose of the hearing is to review the proposed amendment of the June 30, 2026 operating budget for the General Fund Revenues and Low Income Housing Fund. A summary of the operating budgets are above. The proposed budget may be examined Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to noon at City Hall, City of Port Allen. Interested citizens will have the opportunity to give written or oral comment.

Terecita Pattan Mayor The Advocate, 5/21/26, 5/28/26, 6/4/26

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CLASSIFIEDS WORK

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

USC §§ 2000d to 2000d-4) • Davis-Bacon Require‐ ments (2 CFR § 200, Ap‐ pendix II(D), 29 CFR Part 5) • Debarment and Suspen‐ sion (2 CFR part 180 (Sub‐ part C), 2 CFR part 1200, DOT Order 4200.5) • Lobbying and Influenc‐ ing Federal Employees (31 USC § 1352, 2 CFR part 200 Appendix II(J), 49 CFR part 20 Appendix A) • Procurement of Recov‐ ered Materials (2 CFR § 200.322, 40 CFR part 247, Solid Waste Disposal Act) • Prohibition of Covered Unmanned Aircraft Sys‐ tems (UAS) (FAA Reau‐ thorization Act of 2024 (Public Law 118-63), Sec‐ tion 936 49 U.S.C. § 44801

provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (78 Stat. 252, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000d to 2000d4), 28 CFR § 50.3, and 49 CFR Part 21, hereby noti‐ fies all bidders that it will affirmatively ensure that any contract entered into pursuant to this adver‐ tisement, all contractors will be afforded full op‐ portunity to submit bids in response to this invita‐ tion and will not be dis‐ criminated against on the grounds of the owner’s race, color, na‐ tional origin, sex, creed, age, or disability in con‐ sideration for an award.

Civil Rights Title VI As‐ surance The AIRPORT AUTHORITY OF AIRPORT DISTRICT NO. 1, in accordance with the

Federal Fair Labor Stan‐ dards Act All contracts and sub‐ contracts that result from this solicitation in‐ corporate by reference the provisions of 29 CFR part 201, et seq, the Fed‐ l i b d d

p q eral Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), with the same force and effect as if given in full text. The FLSA sets minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards for full and part-time workers.

The Contractor has full responsibility to monitor compliance to the refer‐ enced statute or regula‐ tion.

The Contractor must address any claims or disputes that arise from this requirement di‐ rectly with the U.S. De‐ partment of Labor – Wage and Hour Division.

Trade Restriction Certifi‐ cation By submission of an offer, the Offeror certi‐ fies that with respect to this solicitation and any resultant contract, the Offeror –

CITY OF PORT ALLEN, LOUISIANA PUBLIC NOTICE PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2027 2027 PROPOSED SOURCES OF FUNDS: Taxes Licenses Intergovernmental Revenue Charges for Services Fines Apex Royalty Income Miscellaneous Interest Earned Transfer from other funds

$ 5,276,000 395,400 2,071,600 4,376,550 107,500 22,000 205,000 506,500 326,500

TOTAL SOURCES OF FUNDS

13,287,050

USES OF FUNDS: General Government City Court Police Protective Inspection Roads & Drainage Sanitation Animal Control Community Development Fleet Maintenance Depot Natural Gas Water Sewer Waste Water Treatment Other Services & Charges Capital Outlay/Debt Service (Muni) Transfer to other funds

$ 1,649,150 160,530 1,986,450 70,905 1,395,370 732,000 95,000 175,415 181,400 10,850 1,284,105 569,880 439,100 764,390 821,000 3,373,238 326,500

TOTAL USES OF FUNDS

$ 14,035,283

A budget hearing will be held on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, at 5:30 p.m., at the City of Port Allen, City Council Chamber 3rd Floor, located at 375 Court Street, Port Allen, Louisiana, for interested citizens of the City of Port Allen. The purpose of the hearing is to review the proposed adoption of the June 30, 2027 operating budgets. A summary of the operating budgets are above. The proposed budget may be examined Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to noon at City Hall, City of Port Allen. Interested citizens will have the opportunity to give written or oral comment.

Terecita Pattan Mayor The Advocate 5/21/26, 5/28/26/ 6/4/26

188048-649556-may 21-28-jun 4-3t $ 249.48

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

188050-649566-may 21-28-jun 4-3t $ 291.06

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ 7D

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Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

1) is not owned or con‐ trolled by one or more citizens of a foreign country included in the list of countries that dis‐ criminate against U.S. firms as published by the Office of the United States Trade Representa‐ tive (USTR); 2) has not knowingly en‐ tered into any contract or subcontract for this project with a person that is a citizen or na‐ tional of a foreign coun‐ try included on the list of countries that discrimi‐ nate against U.S. firms as published by the USTR; and 3) has not entered into any subcontract for any product to be used on the Federal project that is produced in a foreign country included on the list of countries that dis‐ criminate against U.S. firms published by the USTR.

tract or subcontract for default at no cost to the Owner or the FAA.

To access the electronic bid form, download the project documents, re‐ fresh the project’s page on the online planroom, and then click the “online bid” button below the project name.

This certification con‐ cerns a matter within the jurisdiction of an agency of the United States of America and the making of a false, fictitious, or fraudulent certification may render the maker subject to prosecution under Title 18 USC § 1001.

The Offeror/Contractor must provide immediate written notice to the Owner if the Offeror/Con‐ tractor learns that its certification or that of a subcontractor was erro‐ neous when submitted or has become erroneous by reason of changed cir‐ cumstances. The Con‐ tractor must require sub‐ contractors provide im‐ mediate written notice to the Contractor if at any time it learns that its cer‐ tification was erroneous by reason of changed cir‐ cumstances.

Unless the restrictions of this clause are waived by the Secretary of Trans‐ portation in accordance with 49 CFR § 30.17, no shall be contract awarded to an Offeror or subcontractor: 1) who is owned or con‐ trolled by one or more citizens or nationals of a foreign country included on the list of countries that discriminate against U.S. firms published by the USTR; or 2) whose subcontractors are owned or controlled by one or more citizens or nationals of a foreign country on such USTR list; or 3) who incorporates in the public works project any product of a foreign country on such USTR list.

Nothing contained in the foregoing shall be con‐ strued to require estab‐ lishment of a system of records in order to ren‐ der, in good faith, the certification required by provision.

The this knowledge and informa‐ tion of a contractor is not required to exceed that which is normally pos‐ sessed by a prudent per‐ son in the ordinary course of business deal‐ ings.

The Offeror agrees that, if awarded a contract re‐ sulting from this solicita‐ tion, it will incorporate this provision for certifi‐ cation without modifica‐ tion in all lower tier sub‐ contracts. The Contrac‐ tor may rely on the certi‐ fication of a prospective subcontractor that it is not a firm from a foreign country included on the list of countries that dis‐ criminate against U.S. firms as published by USTR, unless the Offeror has knowledge that the is erro‐ certification neous.

This certification is a ma‐ terial representation of fact upon which reliance was placed when making an award. If it is later de‐ termined that the Con‐ tractor or subcontractor knowingly rendered an erroneous certification, the Federal Aviation Ad‐ ministration (FAA) may direct through the Owner cancellation of the con‐

Bids must remain in ef‐ fect for 60 days after the bid opening date. Within 60 days from the bid date, the Owner may award the contract to the lowest responsive, re‐ sponsible Bidder or re‐ ject any or all Bids for the Project.

The AIRPORT AUTHORITY OF AIRPORT DISTRICT NO. 1 reserves the right to re‐ ject any or all Bids in ac‐ cordance with the provi‐ sions of LA RS 38:2214A. Advertisement dates in the Baton Rouge Advo‐ cate are as follows: May 28, 2026 June 4, 2026 June 11, 2026 END OF ADVERTISEMENT FOR BID 188913-MAY 28-JUN 4 -11T $451.69 PUBLIC NOTICE --FALSE RIVER AIR PARK COMMISSION New Roads, Louisiana JET A FUEL TANK INSTALLATION 00 11 00 ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Sealed bids for JET A FUEL TANK INSTALLA‐ TION, to be constructed for FALSE RIVER AIR PARK COMMISSION will be re‐ ceived at the office of the FALSE RIVER AIR PARK COMMISSION and ad‐ dressed to Jean-Pierre DuRousseau, Airport Manager at 8662 Airport Spur, New Roads, Louisiana 70760, until 1:00PM on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, at which time the bids shall be publicly opened and read aloud.

An Optional Pre-Bid Con‐ ference will be held at 1:00PM on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at the False River Regional Airport at 8662 Airport Spur, New Roads, Louisiana 70760.

Each bidder shall be lim‐ ited to three personnel per organization.

The Project consists of installation of a Jet A fuel system and associated equipment.

Bids will be received for a single prime contract.

Bids shall be on a unit price basis as indicated in the Bid Form.

Digital copies of the bid documents are available http://Planroom. at GarverUSA.com.

These may be documents downloaded by selecting this Project from the “Plan Room” link, and by entering Quest Project Number 10209355 on the “Browse Projects” page.

For assistance and free membership registration, contact QuestCDN at 952.233.1632 or info@ questcdn.com.

Adden‐ dums to the bid package will be issued through the Garver online Plan Holders List; therefore, all Bidders shall be re‐ sponsible for download‐ ing the bid documents from the Garver online plan room in order to be included in the Plan List.

Bidders Holders must enter the addenda numbers in Article 3.01 of the Bid Form to verify re‐ ceipt.

Bids shall be accompa‐ nied by a bid security in accordance with the In‐ structions to Bidders.

The successful Bidder furnish Perfor‐ must and Payment mance Bonds in accordance with the Contract Docu‐ ments.

Bidders also have the op‐ tion to submit bids elec‐ tronically. For this pro‐ if the Bidders ject, choose to submit bids electronically, the bids will be accepted through QuestCDN online the electronic bid interface.

Bidders must be licensed to perform work within the state of Louisiana.

Federal Requirements for Federally Funded Pro‐ jects. This Project is being partially funded under the Delta Regional Authority (DRA). Contrac‐ tors must comply with federally re‐ specific provisions as quired listed herein and con‐ tained in the contract documents. The follow‐ ing federal provisions are incorporated in this so‐ licitation by reference: • Buy American Prefer‐ ence (49 USC § 50101) • Civil Rights – Title VI As‐ surances (78 Stat. 252, 42 USC §§ 2000d to 2000d-4) • Davis-Bacon Require‐ ments (2 CFR § 200, Ap‐ pendix II(D), 29 CFR Part 5) • Debarment and Suspen‐ sion (2 CFR part 180 (Sub‐ part C), 2 CFR part 1200, DOT Order 4200.5) • Lobbying and Influenc‐ ing Federal Employees (31 USC § 1352, 2 CFR part 200 Appendix II(J), 49 CFR part 20 Appendix A) • Procurement of Recov‐ ered Materials (2 CFR § 200.322, 40 CFR part 247, Solid Waste Disposal Act) • Prohibition of Covered Unmanned Aircraft Sys‐ tems (UAS) (FAA Reau‐ thorization Act of 2024 (Public Law 118-63), Sec‐ tion 936 49 U.S.C. § 44801 Civil Rights Title VI As‐ surance The FALSE RIVER AIR PARK COMMISSION, in accordance with the pro‐ visions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (78 Stat. 252, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000d to 2000d-4), 28 CFR § 50.3, and 49 CFR Part 21, hereby notifies all bid‐ ders that it will affirma‐ tively ensure that any contract entered into pursuant to this adver‐ tisement, all contractors will be afforded full op‐ portunity to submit bids in response to this invita‐ tion and will not be dis‐ criminated against on grounds of the the owner’s race, color, na‐ tional origin, sex, creed, age, or disability in con‐ sideration for an award.

Federal Fair Labor Stan‐ dards Act All contracts and sub‐ that result contracts from this solicitation in‐ corporate by reference the provisions of 29 CFR part 201, et seq, the Fed‐ eral Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), with the same force and effect as if given in full text. The sets minimum FLSA overtime pay, wage, recordkeeping, and child labor standards for full and part-time workers.

The Contractor has full responsibility to monitor compliance to the refer‐ enced statute or regula‐ The Contractor tion. must address any claims or disputes that arise from this requirement di‐ rectly with the U.S. De‐ partment of Labor – Wage and Hour Division.

Trade Restriction Certifi‐ cation By submission of an offer, the Offeror certi‐ fies that with respect to this solicitation and any resultant contract, the Offeror – 1) is not owned or con‐ trolled by one or more citizens of a foreign country included in the list of countries that dis‐ criminate against U.S. firms as published by the Office of the United States Trade Representa‐ tive (USTR); 2) has not knowingly en‐ tered into any contract or subcontract for this project with a person that is a citizen or na‐ tional of a foreign coun‐ try included on the list of countries that discrimi‐ nate against U.S. firms as bli h d b h

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

g published by the USTR; and 3) has not entered into any subcontract for any product to be used on the Federal project that is produced in a foreign country included on the list of countries that dis‐ criminate against U.S. firms published by the USTR.

y dance with the provi‐ sions of LA RS 38:2214A.

y licitation Number Doc2205486154 - Request for Proposal (RFP) for Statewide Business Con‐ sulting Services. The RFP may be accessed at: https://portal.us.bn. cloud.ariba.com/ dashboard/public/ appext/comsapsbncd iscoveryui#/RfxEvent/ preview/1110013996?anI d=ANONYMOUS

This certification con‐ cerns a matter within the jurisdiction of an agency of the United States of America and the making of a false, fictitious, or fraudulent certification may render the maker subject to prosecution under Title 18 USC § 1001.

The Offeror/Contractor must provide immediate written notice to the Owner if the Offeror/Con‐ tractor learns that its certification or that of a subcontractor was erro‐ neous when submitted or has become erroneous by reason of changed cir‐ cumstances. The Con‐ tractor must require sub‐ contractors provide im‐ mediate written notice to the Contractor if at any time it learns that its cer‐ tification was erroneous by reason of changed cir‐ cumstances.

Unless the restrictions of this clause are waived by the Secretary of Trans‐ portation in accordance with 49 CFR § 30.17, no shall be contract awarded to an Offeror or subcontractor: 1) who is owned or con‐ trolled by one or more citizens or nationals of a foreign country included on the list of countries that discriminate against U.S. firms published by the USTR; or 2) whose subcontractors are owned or controlled by one or more citizens or nationals of a foreign country on such USTR list; or 3) who incorporates in the public works project any product of a foreign country on such USTR list.

Nothing contained in the foregoing shall be con‐ strued to require estab‐ lishment of a system of records in order to ren‐ der, in good faith, the certification required by provision.

The this knowledge and informa‐ tion of a contractor is not required to exceed that which is normally pos‐ sessed by a prudent per‐ son in the ordinary course of business deal‐ ings.

The Offeror agrees that, if awarded a contract re‐ sulting from this solicita‐ tion, it will incorporate this provision for certifi‐ cation without modifica‐ tion in all lower tier sub‐ contracts. The Contrac‐ tor may rely on the certi‐ fication of a prospective subcontractor that it is not a firm from a foreign country included on the list of countries that dis‐ criminate against U.S. firms as published by USTR, unless the Offeror has knowledge that the is erro‐ certification neous.

This certification is a ma‐ terial representation of fact upon which reliance was placed when making an award. If it is later de‐ termined that the Con‐ tractor or subcontractor knowingly rendered an erroneous certification, the Federal Aviation Ad‐ ministration (FAA) may direct through the Owner cancellation of the con‐ tract or subcontract for default at no cost to the Owner or the FAA. Bids must remain in ef‐ fect for 45 days after the bid opening date. Within 45 days from the bid date, the Owner may award the contract to the lowest responsive, re‐ sponsible Bidder or re‐ ject any or all Bids for the Project.

The FALSE RIVER AIR PARK COMMISSION re‐ serves the right to reject any or all Bids, in accor‐ d i h h i

City of Central, Louisiana 2026-27 Budget As Proposed General Fund Final Amended Budget 2025-26 Revenues

$ 12,985,569.09

Proposed Budget 2026-27 $ 13,039,735.33

Legislative Judicial Elections Executive Financial Administration City Operations & Services Planning & Zoning General Administration Public Safety Police Department Fire Safety Flood Control Highways & Streets Sanitation Welfare/Council on Aging Parks & Recreation Special Events Economic Development Fiscal Agent Intergovernmental Expenditures

85,545.00 85,750.00 0.00 312,677.68 167,750.00 7,390,259.00 186,700.00 222,608.00 138,950.00 1,087,380.00 0.00 1,788,860.00 119,000.00 210,000.00 0.00 200,000.00 170,500.00 151,150.00 45,000.00 260,790.02

Total Expenditures Other Revenues Other Expenditures

12,622,919.70 1,079,943.97 (1,695,020.35)

14,856,305.27 954,500.00 (759,130.44)

(615,076.38) (252,426.99)

195,369.56 (1,621,200.38)

Beginning Fund Balance Ending Fund Balance

125,726.00 275,250.00 10,500.00 343,984.26 259,500.00 6,650,000.00 234,000.00 343,503.74 1,632,000.00 1,272,846.93 0.00 2,590,000.00 190,000.00 225,000.00 0.00 40,000.00 200,000.00 177,200.00 45,000.00 241,794.34

25,624,833.56

25,372,406.57

$ 25,372,406.57

$ 23,751,206.19

Emergency Services, Drainage & Local Road Improve/Maint Fund Final Amended Proposed Budget Budget 2025-26 2026-27 Revenues

$ 1,949,600.00

$ 1,969,096.00

1,205,616.00

2,200,000.00

919,200.00

(278,510.99)

Increase/(Decrease) in Fund Balance

1,663,184.00

(509,414.99)

Beginning Fund Balance

17,096,815.68

18,759,999.68

$ 18,759,999.68

$ 18,250,584.69

Expenditures Net Other Revenues & Exp

Ending Fund Balance

May 21, 2026 May 28, 2026 June 4, 2026 END OF ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS 188052-may 21-28-jun 4-3t $$3,086.76 PUBLIC NOTICE --Invitation to Bid SEALED PROPOSALS AS LISTED BELOW WILL BE RECEIVED BY THE PUR‐ CHASING DEPARTMENT AT: LSU HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER 433 BOLIVAR STREET ROOM 623 NEW ORLEANS, LA 70112 (504) 568-2947 UNTIL TIMES AND DATES INDICATED, AT WHICH TIME AND PLACE THE PROPOSALS WILL BE PUBLICLY OPENED AND READ: BID TITLE: AUTOCLAVES AND STERILIZERS BID NUMBER: 002984 BID OPENING DATE: JUNE 16, 2026 @ 2:00PM ALL INQUIRES AND RE‐ QUESTS FOR SPECIFICA‐ TIONS SHOULD BE AD‐ DRESSED VIA EMAIL TO: MMALTE@LSUHSC.EDU BIDS WILL BE PUBLICLY OPENED AT: LSUHSC-433 BOLIVAR ST. 6TH FLOOR, RM 623C NEW ORLEANS, LA 70112 SPECIFICATIONS MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE PURCHASING DEPART‐ MENT. THE RIGHT IS RE‐ SERVED TO REJECT ANY AND ALL BIDS AND TO WAIVE INFORMALITIES. 188941-may 28-1t $40.48 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE TO BIDDERS SP# 103 Sealed bids will be re‐ ceived by the Procure‐ ment Section of the Divi‐ sion of Administration, 1201 N. 3rd. St., 2nd.

Floor, Suite 2-160, Baton Louisiana, at Rouge, 10:00 A.M. for the follow‐ ing: RFx No. 3000026273, *Rebid* Propane - DPS, 6/9/26 RFx No. 3000026283, *Rebid* Foundation Re‐ pairs – DPS, 6/11/26 RFx No. 3000026285, Building Repairs – DMA, 6/16/26 RFx No. 3000026286, Lime‐ stone – DOC – DCI, 6/16/26 RFx No. 3000026166, LSMSA Food Service Op‐ erations, 6/17/26 Bid proposal forms, in‐ formation and specifica‐ tions may be obtained by accessing the bid num‐ ber in LaPac at www.doa. la.gov/doa/osp/ or from the procurement section listed above. No bids will be received after the date and hour specified.

The right is reserved to reject any and all bids and to waive any infor‐ malities.

Amy Vincent Director of State Procurement FAX (225) 342-8688 188929-may 28-1t $15.20 PUBLIC NOTICE --Notice to Proposers SP# 104 Sealed proposals will be received by the Office of State Procurement, 1201 North Third Street, 2nd Floor, Suite 2-160, Baton Rouge, LA until 10:00 a.m.

CT on July 2, 2026 for So‐ li i i b

No proposals will be con‐ sidered after the date and hour specified. The right is reserved to reject any and all proposals and to waive any infor‐ malities.

Amy Vincent Director of State Procurement Phone (225) 342-8010 188933-may 28-1t $11.77 PUBLIC NOTICE --PUBLIC NOTICE Sealed Bids for the Readiness Jeanerette Center Sustainment will received at the be Readiness Jeanerette Center, 291 Martin Luther Dr, Jeanerette, King Louisiana 71457, until 10:00 a.m. CT on Wednes‐ day, June 17th, 2026.

ANY PERSON REQUIRING ACCOMMODA‐ SPECIAL SHALL NOTIFY TIONS PAUL RICCARDI OF THE TYPE(S) OF ACCOMMO‐ DATION REQUIRED NOT LESS THAN SEVEN (7) DAYS BEFORE THE BID OPENING. Complete Bid Documents for this project are avail‐ able in electronic form.

They may be obtained without charge and with‐ out deposit from AQ Stu‐ dios LLC. Printed copies are not available from Designer, but the arrangements can be made to obtain them most repro‐ through graphic firms. Plan hold‐ ers are responsible for their own reproduction costs. Questions about this procedure shall be directed to the Designer at 115 East Main Street, Louisiana Lafayette, 70501. Attention: Greg Damico, E-Mail Address: greg@aqteam.com or via phone (337) 235-8016.

A Mandatory Pre-Bid conference and site visit is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. CT on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026, 291 Martin King Dr, Luther Louisiana Jeanerette, 71457. Attendance at this Conference is manda‐ tory. Prospective bidders must attend the entire mandatory Pre-Bid con‐ ference in order to sub‐ mit a bid. The Pre-bid conference shall be con‐ ducted within current ap‐ propriate guidelines con‐ cerning COVID19. The Louisiana Military Department and Training Center Pineville point of contact is Paul Riccardi, Email: richard.p.riccardi. nfg@army.mil, Bldg. 420 F St., Room 233, Pineville, LA 71360.

BIDS SHALL BE ACCEPTED ONLY FROM CONTRAC‐ TORS THAT ATTEND THE ENTIRE MANDATORY PREBID CONFERENCE. ANY PERSON REQUIRING ACCOMMODA‐ SPECIAL SHALL NOTIFY TIONS PAUL RICCARDI OF THE TYPE(S) OF ACCOMMO‐ DATION REQUIRED NOT LESS THAN FIVE (5) DAYS BEFORE THE MANDATORY PRE-BID CONFERENCE. All Bids must be accom‐ panied by Bid Security equal to five percent (5%) of the Base Bid and Bid Items Additional (ABI) and must be in the form of a certified check, cashier’s check or bid bond.

Bids shall be accepted from Contractors who are licensed under LA. R.S. 37:2150-2192 for the classification of BUILD‐ ING CONSTRUCTION. Bid‐ der is required to comply with provisions and re‐ quirements of LA R.S. 38:2212(B) (5).

The

Half Cent (EBR Greenlight) Fund Final Amended Budget 2025-26

Expenditures:

Net Other Revenues & Exp Increase/(Decrease) in Fund Balance

Advertisement dates in the Baton Rouge Advo‐ cate are as follows:

Revenues

successful

Bidder

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

will be required to fur‐ nish a Performance and Payment Bond written by a company licensed to do business in the State of Louisiana, equal to 100% of the Contract amount, including Addi‐ tional Bid Items (ABI), if required.

ceived at the New Iberia Readiness Center, 700 Drive, New Parkview Iberia, Louisiana 70563, until 1:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday, June 17th, 2026.

der is required to comply with provisions and re‐ quirements of LA R.S. 38:2212(B) (5).

ANY PERSON REQUIRING ACCOMMODA‐ SPECIAL SHALL NOTIFY TIONS PAUL RICCARDI OF THE TYPE(S) OF ACCOMMO‐ DATION REQUIRED NOT LESS THAN SEVEN (7) DAYS BEFORE THE BID OPENING.

No Bid may be with‐ drawn for a period of forty-five (45) days after receipt of Bids except under the provisions of LA R.S. 38:2214.

Electronic Bid Docu‐ ments may be submitted

by Contractors to the Construction & Facilities Management Office by their bid submitting along with their bid secu‐ rity to https://www.cen tralauctionhouse.com/.

Electronic bids must be submitted to be posted prior to 10:00 a.m. CT on June 17, Wednesday, 2026. Hard copies of the electroni‐ contractor’s cally submitted packet must be sent to Con‐ struction Facility Man‐ agement Office, ATTN: Paul Riccardi, 420 F Street, Training Center Pineville, Pineville, LA. 71360, telephone 318-2905859. Contractors MUST attend the mandatory conference Pre-Bid scheduled for 10:00 a.m.

CT on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026, at the above listed location in order to submit an electronic bid.

The Owner reserves the right to accept or reject any and all Bids for just cause. In accordance with directives and guid‐ ance published by Facil‐ ity Planning and Control, the Louisiana Revised Statutes, the provisions requirements of and those stated in the ad‐ vertisement for bids and those required on the bid shall not be form waivered. The Louisiana Department Military Deputy Director for Con‐ tracting and Purchasing and the State Contract‐ ing Officer do not pos‐ sess authority to waive any informality inciden‐ tal thereto. The

Complete Bid Documents for this project are avail‐ able in electronic form.

They may be obtained without charge and with‐ out deposit from Corne Wilson Architects, APAC. Printed copies are not available from the De‐ signer, but arrangements can be made to obtain them through most re‐ prographic firms. Plan holders are responsible for their own reproduc‐ tion costs. Questions about this procedure shall be directed to the Designer at 111 Rue Jean STE 105, Lafitte Louisiana Lafayette, 70508. Attention: Galen Wilson, E-Mail Address: galen@ cornewilsonarchitects. com or via phone (337) 232-0773.

A Mandatory Pre-Bid conference and site visit is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

CT on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026, 700 Parkview New Iberia, Drive, Louisiana 70563. Atten‐ dance at this Conference is mandatory. Prospec‐ tive bidders must attend the entire mandatory Pre-Bid conference in order to submit a bid.

The Pre-bid conference be conducted shall within current appropri‐ ate guidelines concern‐ ing COVID19. The Louisiana Military Department and Training Center Pineville point of contact is Paul Riccardi, Email: richard.p.riccardi. nfg@army.mil, Bldg. 420 F St., Room 233, Pineville, LA 71360.

BIDS SHALL BE ACCEPTED ONLY FROM CONTRAC‐ TORS THAT ATTEND THE ENTIRE MANDATORY PREBID CONFERENCE.

Owner shall incur no obligation to the Con‐ tractor until the Contract between Owner and Con‐ tractor is fully executed.

The Louisiana Military Department is a partici‐ pant in the Louisiana Ini‐ tiative for Small Entre‐ preneurships (SE) Pro‐ gram (the Hudson Initia‐ tive) and the VeteranOwned and Service-Con‐ nected Disabled VeteranOwned Small Entrepre‐ neurships Program (the Veteran Initiative). Bid‐ ders are encouraged to consider participation.

ANY PERSON REQUIRING ACCOMMODA‐ SPECIAL SHALL NOTIFY TIONS PAUL RICCARDI OF THE TYPE(S) OF ACCOMMO‐ DATION REQUIRED NOT LESS THAN FIVE (5) DAYS BEFORE THE MANDATORY PRE-BID CONFERENCE. All Bids must be accom‐ panied by Bid Security equal to five percent (5%) of the Base Bid and Bid Items Additional (ABI) and must be in the form of a certified check, cashier’s check or bid bond.

Bids shall be accepted from Contractors who are licensed under LA. R.S. 37:2150-2192 for the classification of BUILD‐ ING CONSTRUCTION. Bid‐

186820-may 14-21-28-3t $200.08 PUBLIC NOTICE --PUBLIC NOTICE Sealed Bids for the New Iberia Readiness Center Sustainment will be re‐

Expenditures

85,600.00

120,161.60

Net Other Revenues & Exp

(39,950.00)

(5,926,474.12)

Increase/(Decrease) in Fund Balance

2,096,200.00

(3,781,287.46)

Beginning Fund Balance

16,660,276.91

18,756,476.91

$ 18,756,476.91

$ 14,975,189.45

Proposed Budget 2026-27

$ 2,213,500.00

$ 2,257,770.00

17,800.00

18,062.16

(2,890,700.00)

174,230.00

Increase/(Decrease) in Fund Balance

(695,000.00)

2,413,937.84

Beginning Fund Balance

3,866,006.05

3,171,006.05

$ 3,171,006.05

$ 5,584,943.89

Expenditures Net Other Revenues & Exp

Ending Fund Balance

Traffic Contribution Fund Final Amended Proposed Budget 2025-26 Budget 2026-27 Revenues

$ 18,600.00

$

-

Expenditures

0.00

0.00

Net Other Revenues & Exp

0.00

0.00

Increase/(Decrease) in Fund Balance

18,600.00

0.00

Beginning Fund Balance

251,386.98

269,986.98

$ 269,986.98

$ 269,986.98

Ending Fund Balance

Owner shall incur no obligation to the Con‐ tractor until the Contract between Owner and Con‐ tractor is fully executed.

The Louisiana Military Department is a partici‐ pant in the Louisiana Ini‐ tiative for Small Entre‐ preneurships (SE) Pro‐ gram (the Hudson Initia‐ tive) and the VeteranOwned and Service-Con‐ nected Disabled VeteranOwned Small Entrepre‐ neurships Program (the Veteran Initiative). Bid‐ ders are encouraged to consider participation.

186822-may 14-21-28-3t $204

OF THE ATCHAFALAYA BASIN LEVEE DISTRICT SCHEDULED FOR 4:00 P.M. JUNE 3, 2026 HAS BEEN CHANGED TO 4:00 P.M. JUNE 10, 2026.

187344-647297-May 14, 21, 28-3t $ 72.78

Revenues

Proposed Budget 2026-27

$ 2,808,525.20

$ 4,835,680.00

5,200,000.00 127,000.00 950,000.00 4,717,000.00 176,250.00 70.00 38,500.00

500,000.00 858,515.00 2,227,454.99 4,619,153.12 3,028,150.00 0.00 179,156.00

11,208,820.00

11,412,429.11

4,335,946.60

8,216,220.11

Increase/(Decrease) in Fund Balance

(4,064,348.20)

1,639,471.00

Beginning Fund Balance

1,822,093.46

(2,242,254.74)

$ (2,242,254.74)

$ (602,783.74)

Expenditures Buildings Sidewalks & Crosswalks Drainage Road Construction Road Repair/Maintenance Flood Control/Protection Beautification Total Expenditures Net Other Revenues & Exp

Revenues

No Bid may be with‐ drawn for a period of forty-five (45) days after receipt of Bids except under the provisions of LA R.S. 38:2214.

Electronic Bid Docu‐ ments may be submitted

by Contractors to the Construction & Facilities Management Office by their bid submitting along with their bid secu‐ rity to https://www.cen tralauctionhouse.com/.

Electronic bids must be submitted to be posted prior to 1:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday, June 17th, 2026. Hard copies of the contrac‐ tor’s electronically sub‐ mitted packet must be sent to Construction Fa‐ cility Management Of‐ fice, ATTN: Paul Riccardi, 420 F Street, Training Pineville, Center Pineville, LA. 71360, tele‐ phone 318-787-3036. Con‐ tractors MUST attend the mandatory Pre-Bid con‐ ference scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CT on Wednes‐ day, June 3rd, 2026, at the above listed location in order to submit an elec‐ tronic bid.

The Owner reserves the right to accept or reject any and all Bids for just cause. In accordance with directives and guid‐ ance published by Facil‐ ity Planning and Control, the Louisiana Revised Statutes, the provisions requirements of and those stated in the ad‐ vertisement for bids and those required on the bid shall not be form waivered. The Louisiana Department Military Deputy Director for Con‐ tracting and Purchasing and the State Contract‐ ing Officer do not pos‐ sess authority to waive any informality inciden‐ tal thereto. The

Capital Outlay & Improvement Fund Final Amended Budget 2025-26

$ 2,265,348.26

MovEBR Special Revenue Fund Final Amended Budget 2025-26

The successful Bidder will be required to fur‐ nish a Performance and Payment Bond written by a company licensed to do business in the State of Louisiana, equal to 100% of the Contract amount, including Addi‐ tional Bid Items (ABI), if required.

THE REGULAR BOARD MEETING

Proposed Budget 2026-27

$ 2,221,750.00

Ending Fund Balance

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Ending Fund Balance

Total Fund Balance - ALL FUNDS Final Amended Budget 2025-26

Proposed Budget 2026-27

Ending Fund Balances General Fund ESDLRIM Fund Half Cent (EBR Greenlight) Fund MovEBR Special Revenue Fund Traffic Contribution Fund Capital Outlay & Improv Fund Total Ending Fund Balance ALL FUNDS

$ 25,372,406.57 18,759,999.68 18,756,476.91

$ 23,751,206.19 18,250,584.69 14,975,189.45

3,171,006.05

5,584,943.89

269,986.98 (2,242,254.74)

269,986.98 (602,783.74)

$ 64,087,621.45

$ 62,229,127.46

189060-652556-May 28-1t $ 374.22

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ 9D

lll

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

Legal Notices

INCOME

PUBLIC NOTICE ST. CHARLES PARISH Request for Proposals for Program Administra‐ tive/Management Ser‐ vices to Implement the St. Charles Parish Resi‐ dential Mitigation Pro‐ gram

$525,000

St. Charles Parish has se‐ cured/intends to secure grant awards through FEMA’s Flood Mitigation Assistance and Hazard Mitigation Grant Pro‐ grams (and any other funding that may be‐ come available) to miti‐ gate Severe Repetitive Loss and Repetitive Loss residential structures.

These grant programs will provide funding nec‐ essary for the elevation or mitigation reconstruc‐ tion of residential struc‐ tures to reduce or elimi‐ nate the risk of flood damage to said struc‐ tures insured under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The Parish is interested in procuring the services of an administrative con‐ sulting firm to manage the implementation of these programs.

$584,550

The procedures for the selection of this firm will be in accordance with the procurement require‐ ments of FEMA, GOHSEP, the State of Louisiana, and St. Charles Parish.

All responses received will be evaluated in ac‐ cordance with the selec‐ tion criteria and corre‐ sponding point system, which is identified in the Request for Proposals package. The package also identifies the scope of services to be per‐ formed by the selected firm. All proposals will be scored and ranked with the highest rated firm being awarded the con‐ tract. Interviews may be conducted at the Parish’s discretion or in the event of a tie.

Interested parties are in‐ vited to secure a pro‐ posal package from Blaise Robert by e-mail‐ ing a request to brobert@stcharlesgov. net.

Proposals must be re‐ ceived by the St. Charles Parish Grants Office at P.O. Box 302, Hahnville, LA 70057 or 15045 River Road 3rd Floor, Hahnville, LA 70057, no later than 10:00 a.m., local time on Thursday, July 2, 2026.

Any proposal received later than the specified time and date will NOT be accepted or consid‐ ered.

No facsimile, e-mail, or telephone proposals will be accepted. Submitted MUST be Proposals sealed and clearly la‐ beled: St. Charles Parish Residential Mitigation Program on the outside of the envelope/package, as well as the Proposer’s business name, address, and license number (if applicable).

St. Charles Parish is an Equal Opportunity Em‐ ployer. We encourage all and minoritysmall firms and owned women’s business enter‐ prises to apply.

Persons requiring rea‐ sonable accommodation to respond to this solici‐ tation are requested to contact Carla Chiasson cchiasson@stcharl at to discuss esgov.net their particular needs.

Advertisement and Dates:

Source

St. Charles Parish Herald Guide The Advocate https://www.stcharlespa rish.gov/ Thursday, May 28, 2026 Thursday, June 4, 2026 Thursday, June 11, 2026 188789-may 28-jun 4-11-3t $1,082

PUBLIC NOTICE --River Parishes Commu‐ nity College is seeking bids for a janitorial ser‐ vice to clean 3 locations (Gonzales, Reserve and Westside). To obtain bid package, please visit https://wwwcfprd.doa. louisiana.gov/osp/lapac/ dspBid.cfm?search=dep artment&term=4.

The following bids are open: #4005FY27-009 188811-MAY 26-JUN 5 $63

Legal Notices

Public Notice In accordance with La. R.S. 33:2333, the Central Police Department is pro‐ viding public notice of unclaimed property cur‐ rently in its custody. The items listed below have been found or recovered and remain unclaimed.

Individuals who believe they are the rightful own‐ ers must contact the Central Police Depart‐ ment and present proof of ownership within 90 days of this notice, or the property will be disposed of as provided by law.

Claims may be made at 13505 Hooper Road, Cen‐ tral LA, 70818, during nor‐ mal business hours, or by calling (225) 367-1254, ask for the Evidence Cus‐ todian.

1. One purple backpack with a set of bolt cutters and one green shirt 2. One RG .22 cal pistol and bullets 3. One black Swiss Army brand backpack contain‐ ing misc items 4. One Winchester 22 Rifle 5. One black duffle bag containing several items 6. One 40 S&W para-ordi‐ nance semi auto pistol 7. One Hornady 40 cal 8. One red/yellow/black camo purse 9. One Auto-Ordinance Corp .45 cal pistol 10. One PPU .45 auto with some ammunition 187675 May 14, 28, 2026 2t $35.14 PUBLIC NOTICE --In accordance with R.S. 39:1306 notice is hereby given that there will be a Public Hearing at the Liv‐ ingston Parish Council Chambers, 20355 Govern‐ ment Blvd., Livingston, LA 70754, Tuesday, June 9, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. for the purpose of the re‐ view/adoption of the pro‐ posed 2026-2027 Admin‐ istrative Budget for the River Basin Amite Drainage and Water Con‐ servation District. This proposed budget reflects estimated revenues and expenditures, the sum‐ mary of which is pro‐ vided below. The pro‐ posed budget is avail‐ able for public inspection upon request at the fol‐ lowing email: tguitrau@ amitebasin.org Beginning fund balance $2,619,253.00 Ending fund balance $2,559,703.00 Amite River Basin Drainage and Water Conservation District Summary of Administrative Budget FY 6/30/27

EXPENDITURES General Government $189,550 Professional Services $395,000 TOTAL EXPENDITURES

188830-may 28-1t $41.91 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING City of Baker, Louisiana In accordance with the Open Meetings Law at R.S. 42:12-28 The City of Baker, Louisiana, Municipal Civil Service Board, will meet on June 23, 2026, at 9:00am at the City of Baker City Hall Council Chambers.

In accordance with the rules of conduct of the Baker City Council Meet‐ ings, any person desiring to be heard relative to any matters for public hearing may contact the Secretary of the City of Baker Municipal Civil Ser‐ vice Board, P.O. Box 707, Baker, Louisiana, 707040707, in writing, and an opportunity will be of‐ fered to speak during this public hearing.

In accordance with the Americans with Disabili‐ ties Act, if you need spe‐ cial assistance, please contact Ashley Williams at 225-778-0300, describ‐ ing the assistance that is necessary.

Amelia Georgetown, Secretary City of Baker, Municipal Civil Service Board cc: Mayor Civil Service Board Members Council Members City Attorney Department Heads Advocate 188831-may 28-1t $19.60 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE OF SALE OF ADJUDICATED PROPERTY Michael Charles Thomp‐ son, Linda Gail Thomp‐ son, Robert Julius Thompson, Jr. THIS NOTICE BY PUBLICA‐ TION IS NOTIFICATION THAT YOUR RIGHTS OR INTEREST IN THE FOL‐ DESCRIBED LOWING PROPERTY LOCATED IN BATON ROUGE EAST PARISH, LOUISIANA MAY BE TERMINATED BY OP‐ ERATION OF LAW IF YOU DO NOT TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW: Lots 8, 9, & 10, Square 25, Fortune Improvements thereon believed to bear on Mu‐ nicipal No. ( ) Peerless Street.

By virtue of the provi‐ sions of Louisiana Re‐ vised Statute 47:2201 et seq. and Metropolitan Council Ordinance num‐ ber 19851, the Parish of East Baton Rouge has been authorized to sell this property as adjudi‐ cated property. You have been identified as a party who might have a vested or contingent in‐ terest in said property, which was assessed in name(s) Michael the Charles Thompson, et al., and was adjudicated to the Parish of East Baton Rouge in the year of 2021 for unpaid taxes for the year of 2020. The sale will take place in accordance with the provisions of LA R.S. 47:2201 et seq. Your interest in the property will be terminated if you do not redeem the prop‐ erty by making all re‐ quired payments to the tax collector listed below or file a lawsuit in accor‐ dance with law within SIX (6) MONTHS of the date of the first publica‐ tion of this notice, or the recording of an act trans‐ ownership, if ferring later.

Tax collector: East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff 222 St. Louis Street, 2ND Floor Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 (225) 389-4810 188943 May 28, June 4, 2026 2t $58.06 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE the La. Dept. of Conservation and Energy, Office of Permitting and Compliance (OPC) has received the following a for application(s) Coastal Use Permit (CUP) in accordance with the State and Local Coastal Resources Management Act of 1978, as amended, (La. R.S. 49:214.21-214.41), and the rules and regula‐ tions of the Coastal Re‐ sources Program. Appli‐ cations for the proposed work may be inspected at 617 North 3rd Street, Room 1078, Baton Rouge, LA or on the OPC web at: http://dnr. page louisiana.gov/index.cfm? md=pagebuilder& tmp=home&pid=591.

Copies may be obtained upon payment of cost of copying. Written com‐ ments, including sugges‐ tions for modifications or objections to the pro‐ posed work and stating the reasons thereof, are being solicited from the public. Comments must be received within 25 days of the date of publi‐ cation of this notice.

Comments should be up‐ loaded to our electronic record, but may be mailed or emailed to the OPC Re‐ designated viewer. All comments must contain the appro‐ priate application num‐ ber and the commenter's full name and contact in‐ formation. Any person may request, in writing, within the comment pe‐ riod specified in this no‐ tice, that a State or Fed‐ eral public hearing be held to consider this ap‐ plication. Requests for hearings shall public state, with particularity, the reasons for holding a public hearing and must contain the name and contact information of the requester. Below are the referenced applica‐ tion(s): *********OPC; P. O. Box 44487, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-4487; CUP NUMBER: P20250966 Name: (Amended) Cameron Land Ventures, LLC c/o ERM 555 17TH Street Suite 1700 Denver, CO 80202 Attn: Alissa Ing‐ ham Location: Cameron Parish, LA; Lat. 29-46Long.

93-1835.92N, 3.95W; 259 Beach Road Cameron, 70631 Descrip‐ tion: Proposed facility improvements and addi‐ tions that include 2-4 feet of soil stabilization, 8 inches of gravel, and Stormwater basins. Ap‐ prox. 4557 CY of material will be excavated and placed onsite, 37752 CY of crushed stone and 26858 CY of Portland ce‐ ment slurry will be used as fill. AMENDMENT 1: facility im‐ Proposed provements and addi‐ tions included in this amendment include 2-4

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

feet of soil stabilization, approx. 8 inches of gravel, installation of a floodwall, including abutting riprap, and the relocation and expansion of Stormwater Basin A. An additional 4557 CY of material will be exca‐ vated and placed onsite, 37752 CY of crushed stone and 26858 CY of Portland cement slurry will be used as fill. ********** CUP NUMBER: P20260424 Name: Grand Isle Independent Levee District c/o GIS Engineer‐ ing 197 Elysian Dr., Houma, LA 70363 Attn: Kodi Babin Location: Jef‐ ferson Parish, LA; Lat.: 29-14-54.4N, Long.: -89-5854.64W; Grand Isle, from Anchor Drive to LA Hwy 1. See plats for full de‐ tails. Description: Pro‐ posed construction of a 3,500' flood protection levee to provide im‐ proved flood protection for developed areas vul‐ nerable to storm surge and flooding along the northern end of Grand Isle, LA, which will re‐ quire elevating part of a roadway to match the levee height, ~13,321 CY of fill to construct, and installation of culverts with sluice gates to allow for and control water movement. The project with impact ~0.41 acres of wetlands. ********** CUP NUMBER: P20260123 Name: Slu- Turtle Cove Environmental Health and Safety c/o South‐ eastern Louisiana Univer‐ sity SLU - BOX 10585, Hammond, LA 70402 Attn: Robert Moreau Location: Saint John The Baptist Parish, LA; Lat. 30-1636.92 N, Long. 90-23-50.66 W; Galva Canal in Man‐ chac. Description: Pro‐ posal for two projects at the Turtle Cove Boatshed Complex: (1) extend the boatshed east by one double slip approx. 30' L x 20' W x 8' D, and (2) construct an approx. 800' L x 8' W x 30" tall "sus‐ tainable boardwalk" in the marsh for research, education, and public outreach activities. Ap‐ prox. 178 CY will be exca‐ vated and placed in an existing parking lot.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 (225) 389-4810

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 (225) 389-4810

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 (225) 389-4810

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 (225) 389-4810

188949 May 28, June 4, 2026 2t $80.36

188956 May 28, June 4, 2026 2t $81.70

188923 May 28, June 4, 2026, 2t $81.02

188936 May 28, June 4, 2026 2t $81.70

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

Recquisition 11297753

Recquisition 11297753

Recquisition 11297753

Recquisition 11297753

NOTICE OF SALE OF ADJUDICATED PROPERTY

NOTICE OF SALE OF ADJUDICATED PROPERTY

NOTICE OF SALE OF ADJUDICATED PROPERTY

NOTICE OF SALE OF ADJUDICATED PROPERTY

Helen Bertha Wright and Audrey Feltus Hawkins

Charles Cunningham

Priscilla Ann Lewis Harri‐ son

THIS NOTICE BY PUBLICA‐ TION IS NOTIFICATION THAT YOUR RIGHTS OR INTEREST IN THE FOL‐ LOWING DESCRIBED PROPERTY LOCATED IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, LOUISIANA MAY BE TERMINATED BY OP‐ ERATION OF LAW IF YOU DO NOT TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW:

THIS NOTICE BY PUBLICA‐ TION IS NOTIFICATION THAT YOUR RIGHTS OR INTEREST IN THE FOL‐ LOWING DESCRIBED PROPERTY LOCATED IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, LOUISIANA MAY BE TERMINATED BY OP‐ ERATION OF LAW IF YOU DO NOT TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW:

Lot 9, Hillside Farms

Lot 27, Square 39, South Baton Rouge

TAX COLLECTION FOR THE YEAR 2027, AND AN‐ NUALLY THEREAFTER TO AND INCLUDING THE YEAR 2036, TO PROVIDE FUNDS FOR THE PURPOSE OF PURCHASING, MAIN‐ TAINING AND OPERATING MACHINERY, FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT NECES‐ SARY IN THE ERADICA‐ TION, ABATEMENT OR CONTROL OF MOSQUI‐ TOES, OTHER ARTHRO‐ PODS OF PUBLIC HEALTH IMPORTANCE AND RO‐ DENTS, AND MAINTAIN‐ ING ADEQUATE ADMINIS‐ TRATIVE AND SUPPORT STAFF IN CONNECTION THEREWITH; MAKING AP‐ PLICATION TO THE STATE BOND COMMISSION; PROVIDING NOTICE THAT A PUBLIC HEARING RE‐ GARDING THE ADOPTION OF THIS RESOLUTION SHALL BE HELD ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2026, AT 4:00 P.M. AT THE REGULAR MEETING PLACE OF THE METRO‐ POLITAN COUNCIL, THIRD FLOOR, CITY HALL, ROOM 348, 222 ST. LOUIS STREET, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA; AND PROVID‐ ING FOR OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH.

Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended (La. R.S. 18:54), and that at the said elec‐ tion there shall be sub‐ mitted to all registered voters qualified and enti‐ tled to vote at the said election under the Con‐ stitution and laws of the State of Louisiana and the Constitution of the United States of America, the following proposi‐ tion, to-wit: PROPOSITION (MILLAGE RENEWAL) Shall the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana (the “Parish”) be authorized to renew the levy and collection of a .50 mills ad valorem tax (the “Tax”) (an estimated $3,135,435 is reasonably expected to be collected from the levy of the Tax for an entire year), for a period of ten (10) years, beginning with the tax collection for the year 2027, and annually there‐ after to and including the year 2036, and shall the proceeds of the Tax (after paying reasonable and necessary expenses of collecting and admin‐ istering the Tax) be used entirely and exclusively to provide funds to pur‐ chase, maintain and op‐ erate machinery, facili‐ ties and equipment nec‐ essary and useful in the eradication, abatement or control of mosquitoes, other arthropods of pub‐ lic health importance and rodents, title to which shall be in the public, and maintaining and providing for ade‐ quate administrative and support staff in connec‐ tion therewith?

188928-may 28-1t $49 PUBLIC NOTICE --OFFICIAL PUBLIC HEAR‐ ING NOTICE – RE-ZONING THE TOWN OF BRUSLY, LOUISIANA ORDINANCE NO. 1 OF 2026 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to LA R.S. 33:4724 and 33:4726 to all citizens and all other in‐ terested persons that the Town of Brusly Zoning Commission has held and the Town Council of the Town of Brusly will hold Public Hearings to obtain views regarding the following re-zoning request: Request: Re-Zoning From C-1 (Light Commercial) To R-1 (Single-Family Residential) Property Address: 207 Jones Drive, Brusly Property Owners: Lyle Charles Torres and Debo‐ Jones Torres, rah Trustees of The Lyle Charles Torres and Debo‐ rah Jones Torres Revoca‐ ble Living Trust A PUBLIC HEARING was held by the Town of Brusly Zoning Commis‐ sion relative to the rezoning request.

Date: WEDNESDAY, May 27, 2026 Time: 6:30 P.M. A PUBLIC HEARING will be held by the Brusly Town Council relative to the re-zoning request.

Date: MONDAY, June 8, 2026 Time: 6:30 P.M. All hearings will be con‐ ducted in the Council Chambers of the Brusly Town Hall, 601 South Vaughan Drive, Brusly, Louisiana.

The proposed re-zoning application is available for inspection at Town Hall during regular office hours.

188889-MAY 28& JUN 4-2T $45 PUBLIC NOTICE --PUBLIC NOTICE: Cellco Partnership and its con‐ trolled affiliates doing as Verizon business Wireless (Verizon Wire‐ less) is proposing to in‐ FCC-licensed stall telecommunications equipment on an existing (overall height) 185’ monopole tower located at 44498 Brignac Street, Ascension Sorrento, Parish, Louisiana 70778 (30° 11' 20.681" N, 90° 51' 14.04" W). Public com‐ ments regarding poten‐ tial effects from this site on historic properties may be submitted within 30-days from the date of this publication to A. Terracon, Broadhurst, 11555 Clay Road, Suite 100, Houston, TX 77043; Ashley.

713-329-2529; Broadhurst@terracon. com. Reference Terracon Project No. 92267340.

189163-may 28-1t $112.21 PUBLIC NOTICE ---

THIS NOTICE BY PUBLICA‐ TION IS NOTIFICATION THAT YOUR RIGHTS OR INTEREST IN THE FOL‐ LOWING DESCRIBED PROPERTY LOCATED IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, LOUISIANA MAY BE TERMINATED BY OP‐ ERATION OF LAW IF YOU DO NOT TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW: LOTS 10 & E ½ LOT 11, SQUARE 12, BATON ROUGE TERRACE Believed to bear Munici‐ pal Address () Seneca Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana By virtue of the provi‐ sions of Louisiana Re‐ vised Statute 47:2201 et seq. and Metropolitan Council Ordinance num‐ ber 19070, the Parish of East Baton Rouge has been authorized to sell this property as adjudi‐ cated property. You have been identified as a party who might have a vested or contingent in‐ terest in said property, which was assessed in the name of Helen Bertha Wright, et al., and was adjudicated to the Parish of East Baton Rouge in the year of 2016 for un‐ paid taxes for the year of 2015. The sale will take place in accordance with the provisions of LA R.S. 47:2201 et seq. Your inter‐ est in the property will be terminated if you do not redeem the property by making all required payments to the tax col‐ lector listed below or file a lawsuit in accordance with law within [60 days] of the date of the first publication of this notice, or the recording of an act transferring ownership, if later.

188950 May 28, June 4, 2026 2t $83.06

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

PUBLIC NOTICE --Recquisition 11297753 NOTICE OF SALE OF ADJUDICATED PROPERTY Donald Fort

THIS NOTICE BY PUBLICA‐ TION IS NOTIFICATION THAT YOUR RIGHTS OR INTEREST IN THE FOL‐ DESCRIBED LOWING PROPERTY LOCATED IN BATON ROUGE EAST PARISH, LOUISIANA MAY BE TERMINATED BY OP‐ ERATION OF LAW IF YOU DO NOT TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW:

Lot 4+, Square 52, Bank

Lot 209pt, Southern Heights

Improvements thereon believed to bear on Mu‐ nicipal No. ( ) 68th Av‐ enue.

By virtue of the provi‐ sions of Louisiana Re‐ vised Statute 47:2201 et seq. and Metropolitan Council Ordinance num‐ ber 19837, the Parish of East Baton Rouge has been authorized to sell this property as adjudi‐ cated property. You have been identified as a party who might have a vested or contingent in‐ terest in said property, which was assessed in the name(s) Donald Fort, et al., and was adjudi‐ cated to the Parish of East Baton Rouge in the year of 2018 for unpaid taxes for the year of 2017. The sale will take place in accordance with the provisions of LA R.S. 47:2201 et seq. Your inter‐ est in the property will be terminated if you do not redeem the property by making all required payments to the tax col‐ lector listed below or file a lawsuit in accordance with law within SIXTY (60) DAYS of the date of the first publication of this notice, or the record‐ ing of an act transferring ownership, if later.

Tax collector: East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff 222 St. Louis Street, 2ND Floor Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 (225) 389-4810 188947 May 28, June 4, 2026 2t $80.36 PUBLIC NOTICE --Recquisition 11297753

Johnnie L. Darville, Wanda C. Darville

THIS NOTICE BY PUBLICA‐ TION IS NOTIFICATION THAT YOUR RIGHTS OR INTEREST IN THE FOL‐ DESCRIBED LOWING PROPERTY LOCATED IN BATON ROUGE EAST PARISH, LOUISIANA MAY BE TERMINATED BY OP‐ ERATION OF LAW IF YOU DO NOT TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW:

Tax collector: East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff 222 St. Louis Street, 2ND Floor

NOTICE OF SALE OF ADJUDICATED PROPERTY

THIS NOTICE BY PUBLICA‐ TION IS NOTIFICATION THAT YOUR RIGHTS OR INTEREST IN THE FOL‐ DESCRIBED LOWING PROPERTY LOCATED IN BATON ROUGE EAST PARISH, LOUISIANA MAY BE TERMINATED BY OP‐ ERATION OF LAW IF YOU DO NOT TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW:

Jefferson Standard Mort‐ gage Co. Inc.

By virtue of the provi‐ sions of Louisiana Re‐ vised Statute 47:2201 et seq. and Metropolitan Council Ordinance num‐ ber 19848, the Parish of East Baton Rouge has been authorized to sell this property as adjudi‐ cated property. You have been identified as a party who might have a vested or contingent in‐ terest in said property, which was assessed in the name(s) Philly Tax Group, et al., and was ad‐ judicated to the Parish of East Baton Rouge in the year of 2009 for unpaid taxes for the year of 2008. The sale will take place in accordance with the provisions of LA R.S. 47:2201 et seq. Your inter‐ est in the property will be terminated if you do not redeem the property by making all required payments to the tax col‐ lector listed below or file a lawsuit in accordance with law within SIXTY (60) DAYS of the date of the first publication of this notice, or the record‐ ing of an act transferring ownership, if later.

Recquisition 11297753

Hezekiah Jackson, Adele Martin Jackson, Reginald Jerome Jackson, Ronald Keith Jackson, Raymond Eugene Jackson

NOTICE OF SALE OF ADJUDICATED PROPERTY

Improvements thereon believed to bear on Mu‐ nicipal No. ( ) Brady Street.

Tax collector: East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff 222 St. Louis Street, 2ND Floor Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 (225) 389-4810 188952 May 28, June 4, 2026 2t $80.36

NOTICE OF SALE OF ADJUDICATED PROPERTY

Lot 37, Highland Gardens

By virtue of the provi‐ sions of Louisiana Re‐ vised Statute 47:2201 et seq. and Metropolitan Council Ordinance num‐ ber 19854, the Parish of East Baton Rouge has been authorized to sell this property as adjudi‐ cated property. You have been identified as a party who might have a vested or contingent in‐ terest in said property, which was assessed in the name(s) Charles Cun‐ ningham, et al., and was adjudicated to the Parish of East Baton Rouge in the year of 2019 for un‐ paid taxes for the year of 2018. The sale will take place in accordance with the provisions of LA R.S. 47:2201 et seq. Your inter‐ est in the property will be terminated if you do not redeem the property by making all required payments to the tax col‐ lector listed below or file a lawsuit in accordance with law within SIXTY (60) DAYS of the date of the first publication of this notice, or the record‐ ing of an act transferring ownership, if later.

Tax collector: East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff 222 St. Louis Street, 2ND Floor Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 (225) 389-4810

Recquisition 11297753

THIS NOTICE BY PUBLICA‐ TION IS NOTIFICATION THAT YOUR RIGHTS OR INTEREST IN THE FOL‐ DESCRIBED LOWING PROPERTY LOCATED IN BATON ROUGE EAST PARISH, LOUISIANA MAY BE TERMINATED BY OP‐ ERATION OF LAW IF YOU DO NOT TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW:

Improvements thereon believed to bear on Mu‐ nicipal No. ( ) Graves Drive

Sec 2&3, R1E, Parcel ID 1498053

Improvements thereon believed to bear on Mu‐ nicipal No. ( ) 79th Av‐ enue.

By virtue of the provi‐ sions of Louisiana Re‐ vised Statute 47:2201 et seq. and Metropolitan Council Ordinance num‐ ber 19826, the Parish of East Baton Rouge has been authorized to sell this property as adjudi‐ cated property. You have been identified as a party who might have a vested or contingent in‐ terest in said property, which was assessed in the name(s) Hezekiah Jackson, et al., and was adjudicated to the Parish of East Baton Rouge in the year of 1993 for un‐ paid taxes for the year of 1992. The sale will take place in accordance with the provisions of LA R.S. 47:2201 et seq. Your inter‐ est in the property will be terminated if you do not redeem the property by making all required payments to the tax col‐ lector listed below or file a lawsuit in accordance with law within SIXTY (60) DAYS of the date of the first publication of this notice, or the record‐ ing of an act transferring ownership, if later.

Tax collector: East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff 222 St. Louis Street, 2ND Floor Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 (225) 389-4810

Improvements thereon believed to bear on Mu‐ nicipal No. ( ) Kentucky Street.

By virtue of the provi‐ sions of Louisiana Re‐ vised Statute 47:2201 et seq. and Metropolitan Council Ordinance num‐ ber 19856, the Parish of East Baton Rouge has been authorized to sell this property as adjudi‐ cated property. You have been identified as a party who might have a vested or contingent in‐ terest in said property, which was assessed in the name(s) Priscilla Ann Harrison, et al., and was adjudicated to the Parish of East Baton Rouge in the year of 2017 for un‐ paid taxes for the year of 2016. The sale will take place in accordance with the provisions of LA R.S. 47:2201 et seq. Your inter‐ est in the property will be terminated if you do not redeem the property by making all required payments to the tax col‐ lector listed below or file a lawsuit in accordance with law within SIXTY (60) DAYS of the date of the first publication of this notice, or the record‐ ing of an act transferring ownership, if later.

Tax collector: East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff 222 St. Louis Street, 2ND Floor Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 (225) 389-4810 188927 May, 28, June 4, 2026 2t $81.02 PUBLIC NOTICE --Recquisition 11297753 NOTICE OF SALE OF ADJUDICATED PROPERTY Wilbert Bush, Judy Bush, Gregory Bush, Dorothy Bush, Rose Ann Bush El‐ liott, Willie Bush Howard, Wanda Bush, Warren Bush, and Weldon Bush THIS NOTICE BY PUBLICA‐ TION IS NOTIFICATION THAT YOUR RIGHTS OR INTEREST IN THE FOL‐ DESCRIBED LOWING PROPERTY LOCATED IN BATON ROUGE EAST PARISH, LOUISIANA MAY BE TERMINATED BY OP‐ ERATION OF LAW IF YOU DO NOT TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW: Lots 6 & 7, Square 52, Bank Improvements thereon believed to bear on Mu‐ nicipal No. ( ) 68th Av‐ enue.

By virtue of the provi‐ sions of Louisiana Re‐ vised Statute 47:2201 et seq. and Metropolitan Council Ordinance num‐ ber 19836, the Parish of East Baton Rouge has been authorized to sell this property as adjudi‐ cated property. You have been identified as a party who might have a vested or contingent in‐ terest in said property, which was assessed in the name(s) Rose Ann Bush Elliott, et al., and was adjudicated to the Parish of East Baton Rouge in the year of 2019 for unpaid taxes for the year of 2018. The sale will take place in accordance with the provisions of LA R.S. 47:2201 et seq. Your interest in the property will be terminated if you do not redeem the prop‐ erty by making all re‐ quired payments to the tax collector listed below or file a lawsuit in accor‐ dance with law within SIXTY (60) DAYS of the date of the first publica‐ tion of this notice, or the recording of an act trans‐ ownership, if ferring later.

188955 May 28, June 4, 2026 2t $83.72 PUBLIC NOTICE ---

188930 May 28, June 4, 2026 2t $85.74

NOTICE OF SALE OF ADJUDICATED PROPERTY Irma Richardson Scott THIS NOTICE BY PUBLICA‐ TION IS NOTIFICATION THAT YOUR RIGHTS OR INTEREST IN THE FOL‐ DESCRIBED LOWING PROPERTY LOCATED IN BATON ROUGE EAST PARISH, LOUISIANA MAY BE TERMINATED BY OP‐ ERATION OF LAW IF YOU DO NOT TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW: Lot 3, D.J. Richardson Tract

Improvements thereon believed to bear on Mu‐ nicipal No. ( ) Zachary Deerford Road.

Improvements thereon believed to bear on Mu‐ nicipal No. ( ) Elliot Road.

By virtue of the provi‐ sions of Louisiana Re‐ vised Statute 47:2201 et seq. and Metropolitan Council Ordinance num‐ ber 19846, the Parish of East Baton Rouge has been authorized to sell this property as adjudi‐ cated property. You have been identified as a party who might have a vested or contingent in‐ terest in said property, which was assessed in the name(s) Jefferson Standard Mortgage Co Inc, et al., and was adju‐ dicated to the Parish of East Baton Rouge in the year of 2016 for unpaid taxes for the year of 2015. The sale will take place in accordance with the provisions of LA R.S. 47:2201 et seq. Your inter‐ est in the property will be terminated if you do not redeem the property by making all required payments to the tax col‐ lector listed below or file a lawsuit in accordance with law within SIXTY (60) DAYS of the date of the first publication of this notice, or the record‐ ing of an act transferring ownership, if later.

By virtue of the provi‐ sions of Louisiana Re‐ vised Statute 47:2201 et seq. and Metropolitan Council Ordinance num‐ ber 19835, the Parish of East Baton Rouge has been authorized to sell this property as adjudi‐ cated property. You have been identified as a party who might have a vested or contingent in‐ terest in said property, which was assessed in name(s) Irma the Richardson Scott, et al., and was adjudicated to the Parish of East Baton Rouge in the year of 1992 for unpaid taxes for the year of 1991. The sale will take place in accordance with the provisions of LA R.S. 47:2201 et seq. Your interest in the property will be terminated if you do not redeem the prop‐ erty by making all re‐ quired payments to the tax collector listed below or file a lawsuit in accor‐ dance with law within SIXTY (60) DAYS of the date of the first publica‐ tion of this notice, or the recording of an act trans‐ ownership, if ferring later.

Tax collector: East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff 222 St. Louis Street, 2ND Floor

Tax collector: East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff 222 St. Louis Street, 2ND Floor

Lot 32, Park Addition Improvements thereon believed to bear on Mu‐ nicipal No. ( ) Gus Young Avenue.

By virtue of the provi‐ sions of Louisiana Re‐ vised Statute 47:2201 et seq. and Metropolitan Council Ordinance num‐ ber 19849, the Parish of East Baton Rouge has been authorized to sell this property as adjudi‐ cated property. You have been identified as a party who might have a vested or contingent in‐ terest in said property, which was assessed in the name(s) George Washington Mars, et al., and was adjudicated to the Parish of East Baton Rouge in the year of 2001 for unpaid taxes for the year of 2000. The sale will take place in accordance with the provisions of LA R.S. 47:2201 et seq. Your interest in the property will be terminated if you do not redeem the prop‐ erty by making all re‐ quired payments to the tax collector listed below or file a lawsuit in accor‐ dance with law within SIXTY (60) DAYS of the date of the first publica‐ tion of this notice, or the recording of an act trans‐ ferring ownership, if later.

Tax collector: East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff 222 St. Louis Street, 2ND Floor Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 (225) 389-4810 188939 May 28, June 4, 2026, 2t $80.36 PUBLIC NOTICE --RESOLUTION The Resolution was thereupon signed by the President Pro Tempore and attested by the Administrator, Council and declared to be adopted. The Resolution provides as follows: RESOLUTION NO. 59376 A RESOLUTION ORDERING AND CALLING A SPECIAL ELECTION TO BE HELD IN THE PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE, STATE OF (THE LOUISIANA “PARISH”), ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2026, TO AUTHORIZE THE PARISH TO RENEW THE LEVY OF A .50 MILLS AD VALOREM TAX (THE “TAX”), ON ALL THE PROPERTY SUBJECT TO TAXATION WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE PARISH OF EAST BATON STATE OF ROUGE, LOUISIANA, FOR A PE‐ RIOD OF TEN (10) YEARS, COMMENCING WITH THE

WHEREAS, the Metro‐ politan Council of the Parish of East Baton Rouge and City of Baton Rouge (the “Metropolitan Council”), acting as the governing authority of the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana (the “Parish”), desires to order and call a special election to be held in the Parish on Tuesday, No‐ vember 3, 2026, to autho‐ rize the Parish to renew the levy and collection of a .50 mills ad valorem tax (the “Tax”), for a period of ten (10) years, begin‐ ning with the year 2027, to and including the year 2036, with the proceeds of the Tax to be used en‐ tirely and exclusively to provide funds to pur‐ chase, maintain and op‐ erate machinery, facili‐ ties and equipment nec‐ essary and useful in the eradication, abatement or control of mosquitoes, other arthropods of pub‐ lic health importance and rodents, title to which shall be in the public, and maintaining and providing for ade‐ quate administrative and support staff in connec‐ tion therewith (after pay‐ ing reasonable and nec‐ essary expenses of col‐ lecting and administer‐ ing the Tax); and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Metro‐ politan Council of the Parish of East Baton Rouge and City of Baton Rouge, acting as the gov‐ erning authority of the Parish of East Baton State of Rouge, Louisiana: SECTION 1. That, sub‐ ject to the approval of the State Bond Commis‐ sion and under and pur‐ suant to the authority conferred by Article VI, Sections 26, 30 and 32 of the Constitution of the State of Louisiana of 1974 (the “Constitution”), and the applicable provisions of Chapter 6-A and Chap‐ ter 6-B of Title 18 of the Revised Louisiana Statutes of 1950, as amended, and other con‐ stitutional and statutory authority supplemental thereto, a special elec‐ tion be and the same is hereby called and or‐ dered to be held in the Parish of East Baton State of Rouge, Louisiana, on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2026, be‐ tween the hours of six (6:00) o’clock a.m. and eight (8:00) o’clock p.m., in compliance with the provisions of Section 541 of Title 18 of the

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SECTION 2. That condi‐ tioned on the renewal of the levy of the Tax at the November 3, 2026 elec‐ tion authorized pursuant to this resolution, all avails or proceeds of the Tax, for a period of ten (10) years, beginning with the tax collection for the year 2027, to and including the year 2036 (after paying the reason‐ able and necessary ex‐ penses of collecting and administering the Tax) shall be used entirely and exclusively to pro‐ vide funds to purchase, maintain and operate machinery, facilities and necessary equipment and useful in the eradica‐ tion, abatement or con‐ trol of mosquitoes, other of public arthropods health importance and rodents, title to which shall be in the public, and maintaining and pro‐ viding for adequate ad‐ ministrative and support staff in connection there‐ with.

SECTION 3. That, in ac‐ cordance with La. R.S. 18:1285, there shall be published in The Advo‐ cate, a daily newspaper of general circulation within the Parish, pub‐ lished in the City of Baton Rouge, and being the official journal of the Parish of East Baton Rouge and City of Baton Rouge, once a week for (4) consecutive four weeks, with the first pub‐ lication to be made not less than forty-five (45) days nor more than ninety (90) days prior to the date fixed for said election, which notice shall be substantially in accordance with the No‐ tice of Special Election annexed hereto as Ex‐ hibit A and incorporated herein by reference the same as if it were set forth herein in full.

SECTION 4. That this Council, Metropolitan acting as the governing authority of the Parish, shall meet at its regular meeting place, the Coun‐ cil Chambers, City Hall, hi d l

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Tax collector: East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff 222 St. Louis Street, 2ND Floor Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 (225) 389-4810

Recquisition 11297753

George Washington Mars THIS NOTICE BY PUBLICA‐ TION IS NOTIFICATION THAT YOUR RIGHTS OR INTEREST IN THE FOL‐ LOWING DESCRIBED PROPERTY LOCATED IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, LOUISIANA MAY BE TERMINATED BY OP‐ ERATION OF LAW IF YOU DO NOT TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW:

PUBLIC NOTICE --Recquisition 11297753 NOTICE OF SALE OF ADJUDICATED PROPERTY James McCurley, Jr. THIS NOTICE BY PUBLICA‐ TION IS NOTIFICATION THAT YOUR RIGHTS OR INTEREST IN THE FOL‐ DESCRIBED LOWING PROPERTY LOCATED IN BATON ROUGE EAST PARISH, LOUISIANA MAY BE TERMINATED BY OP‐ ERATION OF LAW IF YOU DO NOT TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW: Lot 3pt+, Square 16, Istrouma Improvements thereon believed to bear on Mu‐ nicipal No. ( ) Hiawatha Street.

By virtue of the provi‐ sions of Louisiana Re‐ vised Statute 47:2201 et seq. and Metropolitan Council Ordinance num‐ ber 19789, the Parish of East Baton Rouge has been authorized to sell this property as adjudi‐ cated property. You have been identified as a party who might have a vested or contingent in‐ terest in said property, which was assessed in the name(s) JAMES LEE MCCURLEY, JR, et al., and was adjudicated to the Parish of East Baton Rouge in the year of 2021 for unpaid taxes for the year of 2020. The sale will take place in accordance with the provisions of LA R.S. 47:2201 et seq. Your interest in the property will be terminated if you do not redeem the prop‐ erty by making all re‐ quired payments to the tax collector listed below or file a lawsuit in accor‐ dance with law within SIX (6) MONTHS of the date of the first publica‐ tion of this notice, or the recording of an act trans‐ ownership, if ferring later.

Tax collector: East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff 222 St. Louis Street, 2ND Floor

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10D ■ Thursday, May 28, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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y Third Floor, Room 348, 222 St. Louis Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on WEDNESDAY, DECEM‐ BER 9, 2026, at FOUR (4:00) O’CLOCK P.M., and shall then and there in open and public session proceed to examine and canvass the returns and declare the result of the said election.

p gether with a letter re‐ questing the prompt con‐ sideration and approval of said application.

p g g g the adoption of this reso‐ lution shall be held on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. at the regular meeting place of the Metropolitan Council, Third Floor, City Hall, Room 348, 222 St. Louis Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and providing for other matters in con‐ nection therewith.

y g the polling places at which to hold the special election, and the Com‐ missioners-in-Charge and Commissioners, re‐ spectively, shall be those persons designated ac‐ cording to law pursuant to Section 1286(A) or Section 1286.1, as the case may be, of Title 18 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended.

SECTION 5. That the polling places set forth in the aforesaid Notice of Special Election and situ‐ ated within the corpo‐ rate limits of the Parish be and the same are hereby designated as the polling places at which to hold the said election in accordance with Sec‐ tion 1286 or Section 1286.1, as the case may be, of Title 18 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, and the Com‐ missioners-in-Charge and Commissioners, re‐ spectively, will be those persons designated ac‐ cording to law in accor‐ dance with Section 1286 or Section 1286.1, as the case may be, of Title 18 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended.

SECTION 6. That the of‐ ficers designated to serve as Commissionersin-Charge and Commis‐ sioners, respectively, pursuant to Section 5 hereof and in accordance with Section 1286 or Sec‐ tion 1286.1, as the case may be, of Title 18 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, or such substi‐ tutes therefor as may be selected and designated in compliance with Sec‐ tion 1287 of Title 18 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, shall hold the said special election as herein provided, shall make due returns of said special election for the meeting of the Metropol‐ itan Council to be held on Wednesday, December 9, 2026, and that the com‐ pensation of said officers be and the same is hereby fixed at the sum prescribed by law. All registered voters in the Parish are entitled to vote at the said election and voting machines shall be used thereat.

SECTION 7. That the Council Administrator of this Metropolitan Council be and is hereby empow‐ ered, authorized and di‐ rected to arrange for and to furnish to said elec‐ tion officers in ample time for the holding of said election the neces‐ sary equipment, forms and other paraphernalia essential to the proper holding of said election.

SECTION 8. That, in ac‐ cordance with La. R.S. certified 18:1285(B)(1), copies of this resolution shall be forwarded to the Secretary of State, the Clerk of Court and Ex-Of‐ ficio Parish Custodian of Voting Machines in and for the Parish, and the Registrar of Voters in and for the Parish, as notifi‐ cation of the election herein called in order that each may prepare for said election and per‐ form their respective functions as required by law.

SECTION 9. That appli‐ cation be and the same is hereby formally autho‐ rized to be made to the State Bond Commission for consent and author‐ ity to hold the aforesaid election as herein pro‐ vided, and that a certi‐ fied copy of this resolu‐ tion shall be forwarded to the State Bond Com‐ mission on behalf of this Metropolitan Council, to‐ h i h l

SECTION 10. Pursuant to the provisions of La. R.S. 18:1284(C), an esti‐ mated $3,135,435 is rea‐ sonably expected at this time to be collected from the levy of the Tax for an entire year.

SECTION 11. This Metro‐ politan Council, acting as the governing authority of the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana, made the an‐ nouncement with re‐ spect to this resolution required by La. R.S. 42:19.1, at its public meeting on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, and pub‐ lished said announce‐ ment in the official jour‐ nal of the Parish and City on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. Such announce‐ ment was also transmit‐ ted via email to each state senator and repre‐ sentative in whose dis‐ trict all or a portion of the Parish is located on Thursday, April 10, 2026.

This Resolution having been submitted to a vote, the vote thereon was as follows: YEAS: Laurie Adams, Denise Amoroso, Carolyn Coleman, Cleve Dunn, Jr., Rowdy Gaudet, Twahna P. Harris, Dwight Hudson, Darryl Hurst, Anthony Kenney, Bran‐ don Noel, Jennifer Racca NAYS: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: Aaron Moak Done, approved and adopted on this, the 13th day of May, 2026.

By: /s/ Ashley Beck Council Administrator By: /s/ Brandon Noel President Pro Tempore STATE OF LOUISIANA PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE I, ASHLEY BECK, certify that I am the duly quali‐ fied and acting Council Administrator of the Met‐ ropolitan Council of the Parish of East Baton Rouge and City of Baton Rouge, the governing au‐ thority of the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State Louisiana (the of “Parish”).

I further certify that the above and foregoing is a true and correct copy of an excerpt from the minutes of a meeting said Metropolitan of Council held May 13, 2026, of a resolution or‐ dering and calling an election to be held in the Parish of East Baton State of Rouge, Louisiana, on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, to au‐ thorize the Parish to renew the levy and col‐ lection of a .50 mills ad valorem tax (the “Tax”), on all the property sub‐ ject to taxation within the boundaries of the Parish of East Baton State of Rouge, Louisiana, for a period of ten (10) years, commenc‐ ing with the tax collec‐ tion for the year 2027, and annually thereafter to and including the year 2036, to provide funds for the purpose of purchas‐ ing, maintaining and op‐ erating machinery, facili‐ ties and equipment nec‐ essary in the eradication, abatement or control of other mosquitoes, of public arthropods health importance and rodents, and maintaining adequate administrative and support staff in con‐ nection therewith; mak‐ ing application to the State Bond Commission; providing notice that a public hearing regarding h d i f hi

IN FAITH WHEREOF, wit‐ ness my official signa‐ ture and the impress of the official seal of said Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana, on this, the 13th day of May, 2026. /s/ Ashley Beck Ashley Beck, Council Administrator (SEAL) EXHIBIT A NOTICE OF SPECIAL ELECTION Pursuant to the provi‐ sions of a resolution adopted on May 13, 2026 by the Metropolitan Council of the Parish of East Baton Rouge and City of Baton Rouge (the “Metropolitan Council”), acting as the governing authority of the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a special election will be held in the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2026, and that at the said election there will be submitted to all registered voters of the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana, qualified and entitled to vote at the said election under the Constitution and laws of the State of Louisiana and the Constitution of the United States of America, the following proposition, to-wit: PROPOSITION (MILLAGE RENEWAL) Shall the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana (the “Parish”) be authorized to renew the levy and collection of a .50 mills ad valorem tax (the “Tax”) (an estimated $3,135,435 is reasonably expected to be collected from the levy of the Tax for an entire year), for a period of ten (10) years, beginning with the tax collection for the year 2027, and annually there‐ after to and including the year 2036, and shall the proceeds of the Tax (after paying reasonable and necessary expenses of collecting and admin‐ istering the Tax) be used entirely and exclusively to provide funds to pur‐ chase, maintain and op‐ erate machinery, facili‐ ties and equipment nec‐ essary and useful in the eradication, abatement or control of mosquitoes, other arthropods of pub‐ lic health importance and rodents, title to which shall be in the public, and maintaining and providing for ade‐ quate administrative and support staff in connec‐ tion therewith?

The said special elec‐ tion will be held at each and every polling place in the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana, which polls will open at six (6:00) o’clock a.m., and close at eight (8:00) o’clock p.m., in compliance with the provisions of Section 541 Title 18 of the of Revised Louisiana Statutes of 1950, as (La. R.S. amended 18:541).

In accordance with La. R.S. 18:1285(A)(1)(a)(v), the estimated cost of holding the election will be $85,300.00.

A portion of the monies collected from the Tax shall be remitted to cer‐ tain State and statewide retirement systems in accordance with the pro‐ visions of Subtitle 1 of Title 11 of Louisiana Re‐ vised Statutes of 1950, as amended (La. R.S. 11:82).

The said election will be held in accordance with the applicable pro‐ visions of Chapter 5, Chapter 6 and Chapter 6A of Title 18 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, and other con‐ stitutional and statutory authority supplemental thereto, and the officers appointed to hold the said special election, as provided in this Notice of Special Election, or such substitutes therefor as may be selected and designated in accor‐ dance with law will make due returns thereof to the Metropolitan Council, and NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that said Metropolitan Council will meet at its regular meet‐ ing place, the Council Chambers, City Hall, Third Floor, Room 348, 222 St. Louis Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on WEDNESDAY, DECEM‐ BER 9, 2026, at FOUR (4:00) O’CLOCK P.M., and will then and there in open and public session proceed to examine and canvass the returns and declare the result of the special election. All reg‐ istered voters in the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana are entitled to vote at said election and voting machines will be used thereat.

THUS DONE AND SIGNED at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on this, the 13th day of May, 2026. /s/ Brandon Noel President Pro Tempore ATTEST: /s/ Ashley Beck Council Administrator 188787 May 28, 1t $286.47 PUBLIC NOTICE --The Louisiana Office of the State Museum is re‐ questing proposals for a Partner‐ Public-Private ship project to design, build, furnish, operate, and maintain an in‐ door/outdoor café at the New Orleans Jazz Mu‐ seum. For more informa‐ tion go to opportuni‐ tiesinlouisiana.com.

188286-MAY 21-JUN 16 $139

The polling places at the precincts in the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana are hereby designated as h lli l

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

PUBLIC NOTICE --CSAL Charter Schools, Inc. June, 2026 Board of Direc‐ tors Meeting Virtual Link by Zoom Platform Monday, June 8, 2026 6:00 pm 2026-27 Budget Review and Vote Join CSAL, Inc. Board of Director’s Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom. us/j/82818375215? pwd=vjfrb7sC04mH91d a19i0XME7GKeQIC.1 Meeting ID: 828 1837 5215 Passcode: 716108 --One tap mobile +13052241968,,8281837521 US +13092053325,,8281837521 US Join instructions https://us06web.zoom. us/meetings/ 82818375215/invitations? signature=Zkw5kAT6I61 P98bse1M-gtkAV1WEHJg U9DlCp_3eBCA 188840-may 28-1t $99.95 PUBLIC NOTICE --OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS OF THE ZACHARY COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD MEETING Tuesday, May 19, 2026 The meeting was called to order by Mr. Andrew Gaines at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at 4100 Bronco Lane, Zachary, Louisiana, 70791.

Invocation was led by Mr. Mackie.

Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mrs. Freeman.

Public Notice of Live Feed was given by Dr. Taylor-Jarrell.

Board Members in Attendance: Dr. Taylor-Jarrell, Mr. Dayton, Dr. London, Dr. Lathon, Mrs. Freeman, Mr. Mackie, Mr. Hughes.

Board Members Absent: Mr. Gaines, Mr. Talbot Recognition: Mr. Necaise recognized State Powerlifting Heavy Champion – Weight Gabrielle Anthony Mr. Necaise recognized Caroline Wilson for her Second Team All-District Soccer placement.

Mr. Necaise recognized those elected to the LMEA Honor Choir.

Mr. Necaise recognized the NMS Texas Thespian Festival winners.

Mr. Necaise recognized the NMS Youth Legisla‐ tive for their placements.

Receive as Information: Mr. Necaise gave his Su‐ perintendent’s Update to the Board.

Approval of Minutes: The Minutes from April 21, 2026, Board Meeting were approved.

The Minutes from May 5, 2026, Committee of the Whole were approved.

Motioned by Dr. London.

Second, by Dr. Lathon.

Vote: Yeas 7 Nays 0 Ab‐ sent 2 Consent Agenda Items: 5A and 5B Consent items were Agenda moved by Dr. London to the Stand-Alone Agenda.

Motioned by Dr. London.

Second, by Dr. Lathon.

Vote: Yeas 7 Nays 0 Ab‐ sent 2 Stand Alone Items: Mrs. Williams asked for consideration of a re‐

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

quest for the board to approve Administrative Contracts.

Motioned by Mrs. Free‐ man. Second, by Dr. Lathon.

Vote: Yeas 7 Nays 0 Ab‐ sent 2 Consideration of a re‐ quest to approve File: JS – Student Fees, Fines and Charges Policy.

Motioned by Dr. Free‐ man. Second, by Dr. Lon‐ don.

Vote: Yeas 7 Nays 0 Ab‐ sent 2 Mr. Necaise discussed and updated the board and public regarding the Tax Plan Proposition.

Mr. Necaise asked the board to approve a Tax Plan Strategic Funding Plan for Compensation.

Motioned by Mrs. Free‐ man. Second, by Dr. Lon‐ don.

Vote: Yeas 7 Nays 0 Ab‐ sent 2 Dr. London requested consideration of a process for a ZCSD Policy Audit.

Motioned by Dr. London.

Seconded by Mr. Mackie.

Vote: Yeas 7 Nays 0 Ab‐ sent 2 Board Members had a discussion on travel pro‐ cedures and policy for those procedures.

Attorney Alexander will bring a few choices for these procedures to the next scheduled meeting in June.

Dr. London requested to table permission for funding to attend the SRLC in Hot Springs, AR, on July 19-21, 2026, until the full board was pre‐ sent to discuss and vote.

Motioned by Dr. London.

Second, by Mr. Dayton.

Vote: Yeas 7 Nays 0 Ab‐ sent 2 Student Expulsion Appeal: Closed Session Expulsion Appeal requested by At‐ torney Elsey for KW. Mr. Dayton moved to go into Executive Session in the Appeal of Hearing of KW. Mr. Mackie seconded the motion.

There was no public comment.

VOTE: YEAS 7 NAYS 0 AB‐ SENT 2 Mr. Dayton moved to come out of Executive Session and go back into the regular Board Meet‐ ing. Dr. London seconded the motion.

There was no public comment.

VOTE: YEAS 7 NAYS 0 AB‐ SENT 2 Dr. London moved to modify the expulsion for KW to one year, return‐ ing March 2027. Mrs. Freeman made a subse‐ quent motion to uphold the original decision. No one attempted a second, motion failed. Dr. London rescinded her original motion and made a mo‐ tion to modify the expul‐ sion to one semester with KW returning in Jan‐ uary 2027. Mr. Mackie seconded the motion.

There was no public comment.

ROLL CALL VOTE: Mr. Gaines - Absent, Dr. Taylor – Jarell Yea, Dr. Lathon – Abstained, Mr. Talbot – Absent, Mr. Mackie – Yea, Mrs. Freeman – Nay, Mr. Hughes – Yea, Mr. Dayton - Yea, Dr. London - Yea. YEAS 5 NAYS 1 ABSENT 2 ABSTAINED 1 Organizational Items – Next Board Meeting, Committee of the Whole, will be held on June 2, 2026, at 6:30 PM, 3755 Church Street, Zachary,

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

LA 70791.

Adjournment: Mr. Dayton moved to ad‐ journ. Mr. Mackie sec‐ onded the motion.

The meeting was ad‐ journed at 8:53PM. __________________ Mr. Ben Necaise Superintendent _____________ Dr. Taylor-Jarrell – Board Vice President 189129 May 28, 1t $104.56 PUBLIC NOTICE --Please be advised that the May Board of Direc‐ tors meeting will be held as follows: Date: Thursday, May 28, 2026 Time: 12:00 Noon (lunch included) Location: Visit Baton Rouge, 359 Third Street Attached please find the following: • Notice & Agenda for May 28, 2026 - Board Meeting • Minutes of April 23, 2026 Meeting

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min g and the Dedicated Fund Budgets for Emergency Services, Drainage, and Local Road Improvement & Maintenance, Half Cent Sales and Use Tax, MOVEBR, Traffic Contri‐ bution, and Capital Out‐ lay & Improvement for the 2025-2026 fiscal year and providing for related matters (By Council Members Lavergne and Myer). b) An ordinance enacting the 2026-2027 budget.

An ordinance enacting the General Fund Budget and the Dedicated Fund Budgets for Emergency Services, Drainage, and Local Road Improvement & Maintenance, Half Cent Sales and Use Tax, MOVEBR, Traffic Contri‐ bution, and Capital Out‐ lay & Improvement for the 2026-2027 fiscal year and providing for related matters (By Council Members Lavergne and Myer).

The complete agenda can be found at www. centralgov.com on the Public Notice page and the City Council page or by calling 225-262-5000.

189058 May 28, 1t $20.27

Please RSVP your atten‐ dance to me at 382-3580 or via email at lisa@vis itbatonrouge.com to en‐ sure that a quorum is present.

WBR Public Notices

Thank you,

WBR Public Notices Bids/Proposals

c: Tim Boone VISIT BATON ROUGE Board Meeting Notice & Agenda May 28, 2026 Visit Baton Rouge 12:00 Noon 359 Third Street I. Call to Order Rowdy Gaudet II. Opportunity for Public Comment Rowdy Gaudet III. Approval of April 23, 2026 - Minutes Rowdy Gaudet IV. Treasurer’s Report Danielle Prejean V. President’s Report Jill Kidder VI. New Business A. Discussion/Action in connection with the staff credit cards Danielle Prejean master account change.

B. Discussion/Action in connection with the Sec‐ tion 125 Cafeteria Lisa Clary Plan updates.

C. Discussion/Action in connection with the Civic Collaborative Jill Kidder Foundation CEA Amendment.

PUBLIC NOTICE --REQUEST FOR BID JUNK REOMVAL SERVICES West Baton Rouge Parish is requesting proposals from qualified contrac‐ tors to provide junk re‐ moval and disposal ser‐ vices at 10000 Highway 190 W, Port Allen, La 70767.

Proposals will be re‐ ceived until 06/25/2026 at 5:00pm.

It is the responsibility of all prospective bidders to visit the project site prior to submitting a proposal.

Site visits are necessary to properly asses the lo‐ cation, logistics, scope of work and existing site conditions.

Proposals may be re‐ online at ceived Premise@wbrcouncil.org Questions about bids should be directed to the of Community Office Planning & Development 880 N Alexander, Port Allen, La 70767 Tele‐ phone:225-336-2434 188904-MAY 28=JUN 4-113T $38.58

WBR Public Notices Sheriff Sales

VII. Old Business VIII. Adjourn

SHERIFF’S SALE

189190 May 28, 1t $25.20

PENNYMAC LOAN SER‐ VICES, LLC VS. JAKE BRANAGAN PONTHIEUX AND JACI PONTHIEUX JACI ROPPOLO A/K/A PONTHIEUX

Public Notice The Mayor and City Council of the City of Central, LA will hold a public meeting and pub‐ lic hearing on Tuesday, June 9, 2026 at 6:00 pm at Central City Hall, 11530 Sullivan Road, Central, LA 70818 to discuss the fol‐ lowing items: a) An ordinance amending the 2025-2026 budget.

An ordinance amending the General Fund Budget d h di d d

DOCKET NO: 49589 18TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT WEST BATON COURT ROUGE PARISH STATE OF LOUISIANA By virtue of a Writ of Seizure and Sale, di‐ rected by the Honorable The Eighteenth Judicial District Court, for the Parish of West Baton Rouge, in the above enti‐ tled and numbered

WBR Public Notices Sheriff Sales

cause, I have seized and proceed to sell by public auction, on the front steps of the West Baton Rouge Courthouse, 850 8th Street, Port Allen, Louisiana on WEDNES‐ DAY, JUNE 3, 2026 at 10:00 A.M., the following de‐ scribed property, to wit: Terms of Sale: Cash to the highest bidder WITH benefit of appraisement and according to law.

Attorney for the Plaintiff: Halliday, Watkins & Mann, P.C. 1505 North 19th Street Monroe, LA 71207 (801) 355-2886 Judicial Advertise‐ ment(s) will appear in THE ADVOCATE on the date(s) of: April 30, 2026 and May 28, 2026.

JEFF BERGERON, SHERIFF PARISH OF WEST BATON ROUGE BY: ANGIE DELAUNE, DEPUTY SHERIFF $44.26 SHERIFF’S SALE BANK VS. REGIONS SHANTRELL DESHA PIER‐ SON DOCKET NO: 50896 18TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT WEST BATON ROUGE PARISH STATE OF LOUISIANA By virtue of a Writ of Seizure and Sale, di‐ rected by the Honorable The Eighteenth Judicial District Court, for the Parish of West Baton Rouge, in the above enti‐ tled and numbered cause, I have seized and proceed to sell by public auction, on the front steps of the West Baton Rouge Courthouse, 850 8th Street, Port Allen, Louisiana on WEDNES‐ DAY, JUNE 3, 2026 at 10:00 A.M., the following de‐ scribed property, to wit: One (1) certain lot or par‐ cel of ground, together with all buildings and im‐ provements located thereon situated in the Parish of West Baton Rouge, Louisiana and designated on a map en‐ titled Revised Final Plat of Blanchard Estates, Being the Subdivision of Twenty Two Acres (22 Acres) of land located on the South Side of Rebelle Lane, Section 17, T7S, R12E, Southeastern Land West Baton District, Rouge Parish, Louisiana for Silvery Lane (sic) Cor‐ poration, 724 Georgia Street, Port Allen, LA 70767, dated August 20, 1987, and prepared by John K. Laws, Jr., RLS, a copy of which map is recorded at Map Book 3, Entry 110 of the records of the Clerk and Recorder for West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, as LOT SEVENTY-THREE (73) hav‐ ing those same measure‐ ments and dimensions as shown on said map as referred to above.

The municipal address is 802 Bohne Road, Port Allen, LA 70767 Terms of Sale: Cash to the highest bidder WITH benefit of appraisement and according to law.

Attorney for the Plaintiff: Graham, Arceneaux & Allen, LLC Two Lakeway 3850 N. Causeway Blvd., Suite 1695 Metairie, LA 70002 (504) 522-8256 Judicial Advertise‐ ment(s) will appear in THE ADVOCATE on the date(s) of: April 30, 2026 and May 28, 2026.

JEFF BERGERON, SHERIFF PARISH OF WEST BATON ROUGE BY: ANGIE DELAUNE, DEPUTY SHERIFF $56.39

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