The Acadiana Advocate 06-02-2026

COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME Players with Louisiana ties among this year’s nominees THE

ACADIANA

1C

ADVOCATE

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

|

T u e s d ay, J u n e 2, 2026

$2.00X

UL shifts to new payroll schedule

Move to leave some without August check

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

Payroll changes will leave some University of Louisiana at Lafayette employees, including professors, without a paycheck in August.

On May 27, officials at UL advised employees that the university is switching everyone to a

biweekly pay schedule. Instead of professors, graduate students and adjunct professors being paid once a month, they’ll be paid every other week.

Faculty will receive their final monthly paycheck on July 31 and won’t receive their first biweekly check until Sept. 4. The new school year starts Aug. 15.

An email from the university

advised employees to review the new pay dates and their personal finances and adjust their budgets accordingly.

That messaging to just plan ahead angered some faculty, said Leah Orr, faculty senate president and head of the English department.

Annual pay won’t change under the new schedule.

“They’re not taking away pay,”

she said, “just delaying when it’s paid out, and that’s what’s causing the hardship.”

The faculty senate was not consulted or advised of the changes in advance of the announcement, Orr said.

At a virtual town hall meeting last week, she said some of the nearly 500 employees attending strongly expressed their concerns about the pay schedule and asked administrators to reconsider the transition period.

A message from university Pres-

2026 LEGISLATURE SESSION ENDS

Legislators tighten oversight of La. child welfare agency

ident Ramesh Kolluru advised faculty that administrators will speak with faculty senate leaders and others and continue to work on the new pay schedule, Orr said.

The changes are “intended to improve payroll operations, enhance compliance and provide accurate reporting of time worked and leave usage,” the university said in a statement. “This change is related to payroll operations and administration, not institutional cash flow or the current financial situation.”

Trump may back off $1.8B fund, source says Justice Department temporarily pauses it

BY ERIC TUCKER, SEUNG MIN KIM and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press

STAFF PHOTOS By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Speaker of the House Phillip DeViller, R-Eunice, bangs the gavel to end the 2026 legislative session on Monday.

‘Everyone feels like this is a step in the right direction’

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

On the final day of the legislative session, lawmakers passed a bill to have stricter oversight of how Louisiana’s child welfare system handles deaths caused by abuse and neglect.

While lawmakers stopped short of abolishing the Department of Children and Family Services, which has faced intense scrutiny over how it handles such deaths, some legislators said they are not done asking whether the agency needs a bigger overhaul.

Senate Bill 237 requires more thorough reviews of child abuse and neglect cases, and it orders the department to give more detailed information about child deaths to a state watchdog and legislators.

“I feel like there’s consensus that what we have in the bill is going to make a

WEATHER HIGH 88 LOW 71 PAGE 6A

to work and also getting them more help and support.”

Berault said members of the House and Senate, the department, the Governor’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office, the State Child Ombudsman’s Office and Louisiana’s child advocacy centers played a part in negotiations.

“At this moment, everyone feels like this is a step in the right direction,” she said, adding that it moves Louisiana toward the larger goal of “making sure that no vulnerable child slips through the cracks.”

Department Secretary Rebecca Harris celebrated the legislation.

“The passage of Senate Bill 237 reflects Rep. Michael Echols, R-Monroe, addresses the media following the end of what can happen when leaders come together around a shared goal: protecting the 2026 legislative session on Monday. Louisiana’s children,” Harris said in a statement. difference in helping kids without balShe said lawmakers, advocates and looning costs,” said state Rep. Stephanie other stakeholders “worked through Berault, R-Slidell, who played a key role difficult conversations to find common in negotiating the final version of the ground on an issue that matters deeply legislation. “And it’s giving the departä See SESSION, page 4A ment an opportunity for those changes

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is reconsidering whether to move forward with a $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate his allies, a person familiar with his thinking said Monday, as the Justice Department said it would temporarily pause its implementation to comply with a court order.

The potential retreat is a recognition of the legal setbacks the fund has encountered since it was announced two weeks ago as well as a mounting political backlash from Republicans concerned by a perceived lack of oversight of the money disbursement and the potential for payouts to participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The Trump administration had defended the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” established to resolve Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns, as an appropriate corrective measure to make up for what officials insist was weaponized law enforcement during the Biden administration.

Though some Trump supporters — including participants in the Capitol riot — celebrated the announcement of the fund, the reaction among Republicans in Congress has been decidedly more hostile. The fund was one of the issues the president spoke about with House Speaker Mike Johnson, whom he met with Monday, according to a person who was granted anonymity to discuss a private discussion.

On Monday, a person familiar with

ä See FUND, page 4A

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he arrives at the White House on Sunday.

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

101ST yEAR, NO. 337

2A ● Tuesday, June 2, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Judge: Key hearing in Kirk killing will be public

SALT LAKE CITY — Reporters and the public will be allowed to attend a key upcoming hearing for the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk, after a Utah judge on Monday denied a defense request to restrict access.

Tyler Robinson’s defense team had asked Judge Tony Graf to close portions of the preliminary hearing on July 6-10, when prosecutors must show they have enough evidence to warrant a trial. It will mark the most significant presentation of evidence to date in a case that has so far focused on matters of media access.

“The public and the media enjoy a presumptive right to access court proceedings, including preliminary hearings,” Graf said during his ruling. He said the defense hadn’t shown that presenting the evidence publicly would deny Robinson a fair trial.

Robinson’s lawyers have tried to guard against media coverage that they say sometimes misrepresents their client, as his case has drawn tremendous public attention. The 23-year-old from southwestern Utah is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 assassination of Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus.

Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted. He has not yet entered a plea.

5 U.S. cruise passengers leave quarantine facility

OMAHA, Neb. — Five of the 18 American cruise ship passengers who have been staying at a national quarantine facility in Nebraska after being exposed to hantavirus are going home, U.S. health officials said Monday.

The five people will complete their monitoring at home after remaining symptom-free and meeting criteria for monitoring outside the quarantine unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

They are leaving Omaha about three weeks after they and the 13 other Americans arrived in Nebraska following a deadly outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship traveling in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Hantaviruses usually spread when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings, but the hantavirus that has caused the current outbreak, called the Andes virus, may be able to spread between people in rare cases.

A total of 13 confirmed or probable hantavirus cases, including three deaths, have been linked to the ship, according to the World Health Organization.

No Andes virus cases have been confirmed in the U.S., and the risk to the public remains low, health officials said.

None of the U.S. passengers has shown any symptoms, a spokesperson for Nebraska Medicine said Monday.

Ex-N.C. officer charged in beating woman

SHELBY, N.C. — A former North Carolina police officer caught on a doorbell camera repeatedly punching a woman in the face was charged Monday with assault.

The video of Shelby Officer Karson Hyder pummeling Cherrie Moore on Friday has circulated widely on social media.

Hyder, 22, turned himself in to the Cleveland County Detention Center Monday morning and was released on a $10,000 bail.

Court records do not list an attorney for him, and a phone number associated with his name was out of service.

Hyder, who was suspended Friday and fired on Saturday, was responding to a breaking-andentering call when the scuffle ensued.

According to a warrant, Moore, 34, fled the residence on foot and resisted arrest, assaulting Hyder by “grabbing and ripping (his) uniform.”

A separate warrant filed Monday alleged Hyder “unlawfully and willfully did assault and strike Cherrie Moore” by grabbing Moore “by the arm, pushing her to the ground and striking her in the face with a closed fist, thereby inflicting serious injury possible broken nose and busted lip.”

lll

U.S. bombs Iranian military sites Officials: Missiles Tehran fired at troops in Kuwait were shot down

enough to carry globally significant amounts of oil or cargo. That compares to an average of more than 130 ships per day before the war began.

A fifth of all the world’s traded oil and natural gas once passed through the strait. Its closure has put pressure not only on energy supplies but on chemical fertilizer, generating fears of food shortages. The Gulf region produces 30% of globally traded chemical fertilizers.

BY JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States said Monday that it bombed radar and drone sites in Iran after Tehran shot down an American drone over the weekend. Iran then said it targeted American soldiers in Kuwait with missiles, which the U.S. says it shot down.

The nominal ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. has been repeatedly tested with back-and-forth attacks, though officials from both countries are still trying to negotiate an end to the war.

It’s not clear how close they are to a deal — and there is always the risk that an attack could derail those talks.

Fighting has also been escalating between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, despite their nominal ceasefire, and that has increasingly threatened the emerging deal to extend the Iran war ceasefire.

On Monday afternoon President Donald Trump said Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to dial back their fighting after he held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and communicated with Hezbollah through mediators. Moments later, though, Israel said it had detected missile launches from Lebanon and warned Israelis in part of northern

Kuwait reports fire

ISNA PHOTO By AMIRHOSEIN KHORGOOI

Cargo ships and service vessels are anchored Sunday in the Strait of Hormuz, as a person stands in shallow water off Bandar Abbas, Iran.

Israel to take cover in protected spaces.

Meantime, Iran maintained its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy supplies and driving up the price of fuel around the world, with far-reaching consequences.

A cargo ship came under attack off Iraq Monday afternoon, the British military said.

Fighting in Lebanon Israel has extended its occupation deep into Lebanon, and Hezbollah — which joined the war in support of its main backer, Iran — continues to launch drones into Israel.

Iran wants any agreement to include Lebanon, and its foreign ministry on Monday highlighted the rising tensions in Lebanon, saying via government

media: “The responsibility of the results and consequences of this situation is on the U.S.” In his social media post about Israel and Hezbollah scaling back their fighting, Trump added that talks with Iran “are continuing, at a rapid pace.”

In Pakistan, which has been a mediator between Washington and Tehran, a former ambassador to the U.S. said that Israel’s actions in Lebanon were complicating the diplomatic environment.

“Israel is creating a new strategic reality in its neighborhood,” Masood Khan said.

around the city of Geruk and on Qeshm Island, hitting air defenses, a ground control station and two attack drones it said threatened ships in the region.

“The measured and deliberate strikes occurred ... in response to aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a U.S. MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters,” Central Command said.

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is at a trickle compared to before the war, with ship owners deterred by the risk of an Iranian attack. Only 36 ships transited the waterway in the seven days leading up U.S. military attacks Iran to Friday, a third of them The U.S. military’s Cen- carrying crude oil or petrotral Command said it car- leum products, according ried out the strikes in Iran to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, on Saturday and Sunday which counts only ships big

Kuwait said its air defenses opened fire early Monday morning to intercept incoming drone and missile fire.

Around the same time, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it responded to an American attack without saying where, likely referring to the attack on Kuwait. In a statement carried by the staterun IRNA news agency, the Guard said that U.S. forces had targeted a telecommunications tower.

Kuwait is home to U.S. Army Central, the Mideast forward command for the Army.

Iranian state television shared footage of the ballistic missile launch, including a close-up showing a sticker on its body depicting a bruised Trump overlaid on a “closed” Strait of Hormuz with the caption: “Until the last American soldier leaves the region.”

Central Command said U.S. forces shot down two ballistic missiles Iran launched toward bases home to American troops.

No Americans were hurt, it added.

Trump: Israel, Hezbollah agree to dial back fighting

BY AAMER MADHANI, BASSEM MROUE, KAREEM CHEHAYEB and NATALIE MELZER Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to dial back fighting after he talked with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and communicated with the Lebanese militant group through mediators.

Trump announced the development in a social media post following a call with Netanyahu, whose forces recently made their deepest incursion into Lebanon in more than a quarter century. Trump said there would be no Israeli troops “going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back.”

The president said Hezbollah had “agreed that all shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.”

Netanyahu confirmed

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

A destroyed building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike is seen through a shattered window of the Jabal Amel Hospital on Monday in Tyre, Lebanon. the conversation but cast it less as restraint and more as a warning, saying he told Trump that Israel would strike targets in Beirut if Hezbollah’s attacks do not stop. The Israeli military will continue “to operate as planned” in southern Lebanon, Netanyahu added.

There was no immediate word from Hezbollah.

The two sides have been under a ceasefire since mid-April, but the militant group resumed attacks

after Israeli strikes in Lebanon that Israel characterized as self-defense.

The fighting also presents a major obstacle in the emerging deal to extend the ceasefire in the Iran war. Tehran wants any agreement to include Lebanon.

Lebanese authorities secured Hezbollah’s approval of a proposal by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Israel would not strike Beirut’s southern suburbs, and Hezbollah

Court panel rules Pentagon policy illegally banned transgender troops

BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A Pentagon policy illegally banned transgender troops from military service, a divided panel of federal appeal court judges ruled on Monday in another legal setback for President Donald Trump’s sweeping agenda.

The majority opinion — by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit — held that the Trump administration’s policy was designed to exclude people from the military based on their gender identity.

The ban remains in ef-

fect. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Pentagon to start enforcing it last year, as litigation continues to plays out.

The panel’s new ruling would keep the military from kicking out current service members named in the lawsuit, but wouldn’t allow new transgender recruits to join. The judges put their decision on hold, though, to let the administration seek further review.

The appeals court panel’s 2-1 decision partially upholds a March 2025 ruling by U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C. Reyes concluded that Trump’s executive order to exclude transgender troops from military ser-

vice likely violates their constitutional rights.

The administration appealed after Reyes issued a preliminary injunction requested by attorneys for several transgender people who are active-duty service members and others seeking to join the military. The appeals court’s majority decided that the injunction should be narrowed to the plaintiffs serving in the military but not those trying to enlist.

Another lawsuit challenging the ban was filed in Washington state and led to a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs challenging the policy in that case, though it’s been blocked by the Supreme Court.

would not attack northern Israel, according to a statement issued by the Lebanese Embassy to the U.S. Moments after Trump’s message, Israel detected missile launches from Lebanon and warned Israelis in part of northern Israel to take cover.

The agreement comes ahead of talks between Israel and Lebanon scheduled for Tuesday and Wednes-

day in Washington, where Lebanese negotiators hope to widen the scope of areas that will not be attacked in the country as they seek a complete ceasefire.

Tr u m p ’s c o m m e n t s emerged after Israel’s government ordered strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut and as Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel, including the outskirts of the coastal city of Haifa.

GET IN TOUCH Customer Service: HELP@THEADVOCATE.COM or 337-234-0800 News Tips / Stories: NEWSTIPS@THEADVOCATE.COM Obituaries: 225-388-0289 • Mon-Fri 9-5; Sat 10-5; Closed Sun Advertising Sales: 337-234-0174 • Mon-Fri 8-5 Classified Advertising: 225-383-0111 • Mon-Fri 8-5 Subscribe: theadvocate.com/subscribe E-Edition: theadvocate.com/eedition Archives: theadvocate.newsbank.com The Acadiana Advocate (USPS # 25-866) is published daily by Capital City Press, LLC at 203 W. Third St., Lafayette, LA 70501. Periodicals postage paid at Lafayette, LA ISSN 2643-7252 and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Acadiana Advocate, Circulation Accounting, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821. Newspaper carriers are independent contractors and not employees of Capital City Press.

All home delivery subscription sales are non-refundable. Should you discontinue your subscription during term, the subscription will end with the expiration date on your subscription, and there will not be a refund of a prorated amount. Subscribers who purchased their subscription before Feb. 1, 2023 and wish to cancel can request a refund of a remaining balance at https://www.nola.com/app/forms/refund-request-form/. Refunds are considered on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of Capital City Press, LLC or its designee. All subscriptions purchased that include a special edition will have the special edition value deducted prior to any refund provided to subscriber upon cancellation of service. Standard subscription rates may be effective upon renewal. All standard subscriptions include digital access and e-Edition, a digital replica of the printed Advocate edition(s). The apps are free for tablets and smartphones. Smartphone apps may not be supported on all devices. The Advocate standard subscription rate is $80.89 per 4-week period, plus tax. The Acadiana Advocate standard subscription rate is $68.48 per 4-week period, plus tax. Standard digital subscriptions include e-Edition with the rate of $31.15 per 4-week period, plus tax starting 1/1/25. Special editions included in home delivery subscriptions are 1/30/26, 3/11/26, 4/15/26, 5/27/26, 7/8/26, 8/19/26, 9/30/26 11/26/26, 1/22/27, 3/10/27, 4/14/27, 5/26/27, 7/14/27, 8/18/27, 9/29/27 and 11/25/27 and are billed at $6.23 each. The Thanksgiving Day edition will be billed at your regular Thursday rate plus $6.23. To opt out of special edition delivery, email help@theadvocate.com or call 225-388-0395. By opting out of special editions you will not receive that day’s newspaper. Thanksgiving Day is not a special edition and opting out for that edition isn’t permitted. Prices shown are in U.S. dollars. Prices subject to change. Other restrictions may apply. We no longer provide credit for temporary delivery stops of 14 days or less. During a temporary delivery stop donations are made to our News in Education program. This program provides newspapers and digital access to schools across Louisiana. This program is paid for by sponsors and temporary stops so that students may use the newspaper for educational purposes in the classroom. During a temporary delivery stop of the print edition subscribers have unlimited digital access to theadvocate.com, nola.com and the apps for tablet and smartphone. Seasonal delivery times from August 2025 through February 2026 will extend to 8:00 a.m. on weekends. Subscribers may also choose to access our digital replica e-Edition of the printed Advocate, Times Picayune | New Orleans Advocate and Acadiana Advocate only. As a highly valued customer, we also value your privacy. All personal information collected by The Advocate will be used for administration and customer verification; it may be used for promotional purposes in accordance with The Advocate’s privacy policy. Please refer to our policy located at https://www.theadvocate.com/new_policy/ for information regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal information.

By providing your phone number and email address you agree that we can call or email you to confirm delivery service, satisfaction and/or sales promotions as they may occur from The Advocate.

The Acadiana Advocate: 203 W. Third Street, Lafayette, LA 70501

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Tuesday, June 2, 2026 ● 3A

lll

Ex-Colo. elections clerk released from prison

CONGO

Governor commuted sentence

BY NICHOLAS RICCARDI

Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MOSES SAWASAWA

Healthcare workers who have recovered from Ebola pose Sunday in Bunia, Congo.

Ebola cases near 300 as recovery stories emerge

BY JUSTIN KABUMBA Associated Press

BUNIA, Congo — At least 282 cases of Ebola disease have been confirmed in Congo’s growing outbreak, the central African nation says, as more joyful stories from recovered medical workers emerge. One nurse spoke of his “indescribable joy” at beating the illness.

The outbreak remains focused in eastern Ituri province, where 264 cases have been confirmed, the health ministry said. Congo has reported more than 1,000 suspected cases of the Bundibugyo virus, the species of Ebola that was confirmed weeks after the outbreak quietly began. There is no approved medicine to treat it, or vaccine.

The disease outbreak has killed 42 people in Congo and one person in neighboring Uganda, according to health authorities in both countries.

The outbreak has spread to 22 health zones across three eastern provinces in

Congo, government data shows, even as the World Health Organization has sought to highlight signs of progress, like new deliveries of supplies to deeply underresourced health centers.

Congo’s health ministry says the main challenges in containing the outbreak in the remote region include early detection and rapid isolation of cases, rigorous contact tracing, safe and dignified burials and strengthening infection prevention and control in health facilities.

Meanwhile, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations said Monday that it would commit up to $62 million to accelerate development of three experimental vaccines targeting Bundibugyo. The three in development are from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Moderna and the University of Oxford.

Health workers have been at high risk. WHO honored five of them as survivors over the weekend, during a visit by Director-General

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, as he opened a new Ebola treatment center in Bunia, capital of Ituri province.

Baraka Bulambulu, a nurse, said that he was thrilled after the final Ebola tests on him returned negative.

“Coming out of this illness alive is an indescribable joy,” Bulambulu said with a wide grin.

Ezo Étienne, another nurse who recovered, said that he had started feeling dizzy as he checked on patients.

“I called the team and told them, ‘Something’s wrong here,’ ” he recalled. “I decided to rest for a bit, and a few minutes later I started vomiting.”

The virus is spread through close contact with sick or deceased patients’ bodily fluids.

Treatment has mostly targeted patients’ symptoms, WHO has said.

“Your courage gives hope and your living story that this outbreak can be stopped,” Tedros told the health workers on Sunday.

DENVER — Tina Peters, the former county clerk convicted of participating in a scheme to chase election conspiracy theories promulgated by President Donald Trump, was released from state prison Monday after the president successfully pressured Colorado’s Democratic governor into commuting her sentence.

Shortly after her release was confirmed by the Colo- Peters rado Department of Corrections, Peters appeared on the program of Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser who was part of the right-wing campaign to free Peters. Gov. Jared Polis said he would shorten Peters’ sentence if she expressed regret about her actions.

But in her interview with Bannon, Peters repeated the debunked conspiracy theory that voting machines cheated Trump out of reelection in 2020 and portrayed herself as a martyr to the effort to expose it.

“I know that the Democrats are going to cheat, and no one is really addressing the problem that I spent my time in prison as retribution for,” Peters said.

Multiple reviews, recounts and audits in the battleground states where Trump disputed his 2020 loss have all affirmed that Democrat Joe Biden won.

Dominion Voting Systems, the company used for Colorado elections, has

also succeeded in multiple defamation cases against conservative news outlets and others who repeated the false claims that its voting systems were somehow manipulated to change the outcome.

Peters’ sentence was shortened by Polis last month after Trump waged a lengthy pressure campaign against the governor and his state. Peters served less than a quarter of her nineyear sentence.

“She really is extremely grateful to Donald Trump,” Peters’ attorney, Peter Ticktin, said in an interview. “If it weren’t for Donald Trump, she’d still be behind bars.”

In her interview with Bannon, Peters said she plans to spend “the next few weeks regaining my health and with loved ones and family.” She said she is interested in becoming involved in prison reform and the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4.

Peters also is challenging her conviction, a case her attorneys hope to take to the U.S. Supreme Court if needed. She told Bannon she will “fight to clear my name and bring out the truth of why they came after me the way they did.”

Peters was the first local election official to be charged with breaching security after the 2020 election. She snuck in an outside computer expert affiliated with My Pillow Chief Executive Mike Lindell — who himself denied that Trump lost the White House in 2020 — and the person copied the county’s Dominion Voting Systems computer server as it was updated in 2021.

Peters then joined Lin-

r y ou da tY o ar T St ove M

U.S. to slash number of embassies in Africa that can process visas

BY MATTHEW LEE and SAM MEDNICK Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The State Department plans to drastically slash the number of U.S. embassies and consulates in Africa that can process visas for foreigners seeking to come to the United States.

The almost 50 U.S. embassies and consulates that are processing visa applications will be reduced to 20 in the coming weeks, according to three U.S. officials and an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. There is not yet a set date for the change, but it is expected in June, according to the officials, who were not authorized to comment to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The move is part of the Trump administration’s effort to crack down on issuing both immigrant and nonimmigrant visas as part of its broader aim to limit immi-

gration to the U.S. and clamp down on those who travel on temporary visas but then overstay them. The administration also has scaled back personnel at embassies and consulates around the world.

On a conference call last Friday, U.S. diplomats, including consular chiefs, were told the U.S. would be scaling back its visa services across Africa, according to one of the officials who was on the call.

Under a directive approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week, the State Department will reduce consular operations in all but 20 “hubs” in Africa, according to the officials and the memo.

Visa processing in Africa has already been affected by a travel ban on certain countries as well as a requirement for applicants to post up to $15,000 bond in order to apply and more recently by restrictions caused by the Ebola outbreak.

The new rules mean that a citizen of a non-hub country will have to travel to one of the 20 approved sites, which could pose formidable travel challenges and costs.

Consular sections in nonhub countries will stay open but be limited in the services they can offer. They will still be able to assist American citizens with passport renewals and emergency consular requests as well as special national interest cases and diplomatic visa applications.

The State Department did not address the specific issues in the memo but said it “is constantly evaluating its overseas operations in order to deploy taxpayer resources in a way that advances America’s priorities as efficiently and effectively as possible.”

It said this “includes a visa process that maintains rigorous standards of security screening and vetting and aligns resources and operational capacity with America’s national interests.”

dell onstage at a “cybersymposium” that promised to reveal proof that the election was rigged. Video and photos of the computer system upgrade, including passwords, were posted online. The move stoked false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election from Trump.

Last year, a federal jury found that Lindell had defamed a former Dominion employee over claims related to the 2020 election.

Peters was convicted in 2024 of attempting to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, violation of duty and other crimes by jurors in Mesa County, a Republican stronghold that supported Trump. An appeals court upheld her conviction in April, but ordered Peters to be resentenced because it said the judge who sent her to prison wrongly punished her for speaking out about election fraud.

Trump had championed Peters’ case, but because she was convicted under state law, he did not have the power to pardon her.

Instead, the president pressured Polis to do so, lambasting him on social media and disinviting him to a White House meeting with other governors. The Trump administration also announced plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and relocated the U.S. Space Command to Alabama.

Polis commuted Peters’ sentence on May 15. In a letter, he wrote that although Peters was convicted of serious crimes and deserved to spend time in prison, the sentence was “extremely unusual and lengthy” for a first-time nonviolent offender.

Visit us today and take the first step toward finding your perfect address.

Rescuers in Myanmar dig for bodies after deadly mining explosives blast

BY GRANT PECK Associated Press

BANGKOK — More than a dozen rescue and charity groups used excavation machinery on Monday to recover bodies following a massive blast from stored mining explosives in northeastern Myanmar.

The explosion occurred Sunday at noon in Kaungtup village, Namhkam township in Shan State near the Chinese border.

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the ethnic rebel group that controls the area, said in a statement released

on Monday evening that the death toll from the blast has reached 43, including seven children. Previous estimates from rescue workers had ranged from 38 to 45.

The group said 112 people, including 25 children, were injured, with 37 in critical condition, raising concerns that the number of fatalities could increase.

“Rescue operations and the compilation of casualty figures were still underway,” said the statement.

Determining the exact death toll has been complicated because several bodies were blown apart by the

force of the explosion.

Many of Myanmar’s resource-rich areas, where most mining operations have been largely unregulated, are controlled by different armed militias engaged in sporadic fighting against the central government to seek greater autonomy. Accidents, such as deadly landslides, are fairly common.

TNLA said Sunday’s blast involved gelignite used in local mining and stone quarrying. Although gelignite is commonly used, it becomes highly unstable over time when improperly stored.

addresslafayettela.com DRE#01901536 This website is a marketing and information program that sends all inquiries to state-licensed real estate professionals.

4A ● Tuesday, June 2, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

More Mandelson files released in England

appointment has left the tween Starmer and senior civil been comprehensive, even if it’s all Documents bring bad news for Starmer judged prime minister fighting for his job. servants. quite artificial.”

BY JILL LAWLESS and DANICA KIRKA Associated Press

LONDON — Peter Mandelson assured the British government it would “never regret” appointing him as U.K. ambassador to the United States, according to documents released on Monday. His pledge was dramatically proven wrong within months.

More than 1,500 pages of files relating to the appointment of Mandelson, a friend of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as envoy to Washington at the start of President Donald Trump’s second

term were released by the government to comply with a demand by lawmakers.

They shed new light on the contentious decision and heap more embarrassment on beleaguered Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Among the documents is a note from Mandelson to then Foreign Secretary David Lammy in November 2024, before his appointment, pledging that the government would “never regret” giving him the post.

Starmer fired Mandelson after nine months when new details emerged about his friendship with Epstein, and fallout from the mis-

Alex Burghart, a lawmaker for the opposition Conservative Party, said that the decision to appoint Mandelson “is a failure that will define this prime minister’s premiership.

“It is a failure that will be written as his political epitaph,” he said.

A first trove of files published in March revealed ministers had been warned that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein exposed the government to “reputational risk.”

It was later disclosed that Mandelson had been approved for the ambassador’s job despite failing security checks, a revelation that sparked bitter blame-trading be-

The files released Monday show officials from multiple departments discussing Mandelson’s security vetting, a process that National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell described in previously released files as “weirdly rushed.”

One senior Foreign Office official said the primary issue was “trying to get 101 things done in a very short period of time.”

In one email, Mandelson asked vetting officials if he needed to tell them about “literally every foreign national I have ever met.” A Foreign Office official suggested he “send over the handful of names you mentioned. ... That will reassure the vetting team that you’ve

It remains unclear why Mandelson failed security checks. The summary of his vetting wasn’t among the documents released, as it’s part of a police investigation into Mandelson for alleged misconduct in public office.

Officials have said ties to Epstein are not the reason he failed the vetting. A background report drawn up by officials before Mandelson was appointed, released by the government in March, flagged business ties to Russia and China as a concern.

Also missing is any record of what measures, if any, were taken to mitigate the risk of giving Mandelson the job.

SESSION

Continued from page 1A to all of us.”

The bill was among the last pieces of legislation passed in the waning hours of a session marked by intense debates over congressional redistricting, tougher scrutiny of judges and pay for teachers and other state employees, among many other issues.

Lingering tensions The compromise bill followed months of at-times intense interrogation of the department by lawmakers who say too many children are dying of abuse and neglect on the agency’s watch.

Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, who sponsored the bill, said the measure was a move in the right direction. But she told her colleagues on the Senate floor Monday she had hoped to go further.

“Certainly, this was not all that I wanted to do with the bill,” she said. “We do look forward to working extremely close with the department as we look to safeguard our young people and make sure that we are keeping them out of harm’s way.”

In an interview, Barrow said the legislation doesn’t include measures aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect before it happens. Those interventions would have cost the state too much money, she said.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” she said.

Harris said “a major goal of DCFS for the remainder of this year will be expanding our focus on prevention.”

“We cannot have a system that only responds when a family has reached a point of crisis,” she added. “Our responsibility is not only to protect children when harm occurs, but also to strengthen families before harm happens.”

What the bill does SB237 makes dozens of substantive changes to department operations. Among the most notable: n It must notify the State Child Ombudsman’s Office in writing of any child abuse death investigation and include detailed information about the child. n It must notify the ombudsman’s office in writing when any child abuse death investigation has concluded, including more detailed information about whether the department had involvement with the child before

FUND

Continued from page 1A the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss the president’s thinking, said Trump was reconsidering whether to move forward with the fund. The Justice Department said separately that it would comply with a ruling by a federal judge in Virginia on Friday that halted plans for the fund pending additional arguments later this month, even as it noted that it “disagrees strongly” with that decision.

Lawmakers have raised concerns about the lack of oversight of the money and pushed the administration to either impose limits on the fund or scrap it altogether. It especially complicated matters in the Senate, where Republicans defiantly left town 10 days ago without passing legislation to fund Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies.

Republicans who returned

State Rep. Francis C. Thompson, R-Delhi, calls for sine die to end the 2026 legislative session on Monday. the death. n The ombudsman’s office, within 24 hours of being notified of a child abuse fatality by the department, must notify the following people: Lawmakers who represent the district where the child died, the speaker of the Louisiana House and president of the Senate, and chairs of the House and Senate health committees. n All child deaths determined to be caused by abuse or neglect will now be reviewed by a “critical incident review team.” The Attorney General’s Office will chair the review team, which will meet quarterly and evaluate how deaths could have been prevented. n Children reported as having experienced physical or sexual abuse will now be interviewed by a trained interviewer at a children’s advocacy center, which have

to Washington on Monday said they won’t have the votes to pass the Homeland Security spending bill until the White House works with them to place parameters on the fund.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated Monday that he hoped the White House would move to drop the fund.

“I do think the best way to handle it is if the administration decides to shut it down themselves,” Thune told reporters.

Senators pressed acting Attorney General Todd Blanche over the fund at a closed-door gathering last month that Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, called one of “the roughest meetings I’ve seen in my entire time in the Senate.”

The fund’s future was called into question Friday by a pair of court rulings.

In Virginia, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema temporarily halted its formation and scheduled a June 12 hearing for arguments on

teams of professionals that handle investigation and prosecution of child abuse. n It will have a new law enforcement liaison position that will be a link between the department and law enforcement agencies and facilitate any joint investigations.

The ombudsman, a position created in 2023 in response to criticism of the department, works in the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office and independently reviews child welfare problems and other child-related issues throughout the state. Earlier in the session, the ombudsman said she was having trouble getting important information from the department about child abuse deaths.

cy’s chief critics this year was state Sen. Patrick McMath, RCovington. Earlier in the session, he pushed to dismantle the department and put child welfare functions under the purview of the state Health Department, Louisiana State Police and the Attorney General’s Office.

After he unveiled that plan in April, it quickly became clear he lacked buy-in from Gov. Jeff Landry, however.

McMath said SB237 “will move the needle in the right direction when it comes to improving child welfare in the state.” That’s in part because the legislation should lead to more investigations of child abuse and neglect incidents and, thus, fewer child deaths, he said.

Agency to remain under scrutiny Nonetheless, he said state offiOne of the child welfare agen- cials should still entertain disman-

whether to extend her order barring the government from moving forward with the fund while pending litigation challenges it.

The Justice Department said Monday it would abide by the ruling but noted in a statement the “fund was open to anybody who was so weaponized, targeted, or persecuted, whether they were Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Independent, or otherwise.”

Separately, the federal judge in Florida overseeing Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS ordered Trump’s attorneys to respond to “grievous allegations” by settlement critics that the president abandoned his claims to avoid the court’s scrutiny of an illegal deal. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams gave them until June 12 to respond in writing to allegations of collusion and whether the case should be reopened because the court was the “victim of a fraud.”

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

tling the agency.

There are “significant structural flaws” in the way the department operates, McMath said, and lawmakers should still “seriously consider” folding it into a larger state Department of Health and Human Services that handles both public health and child welfare.

McMath said that, to make that kind of major structural change, buy-in from the legislative and executive branches of government is necessary.

“We didn’t have that this session,” he said.

Barrow argued that, while the child welfare agency has always had problems, it’s currently at a low point. She said she “is not opposed” to a plan that would fold it into the Health Department.

“The system is structurally broken. Period,” she said.

Inogen® Portable Oxygen Concentrators

Leave the tanks at home.

Convert the air around you into medical-grade oxygen.

At just under 3 lbs.*, Inogen® lightweight and compact portable oxygen concentrators easily deliver your prescription oxygen on-the-go. * Inogen Rove 4 weighs 2.9lbs. with a standard battery

CALL US NOW 1-877-760-2294

SM250015 EN_EX_USA | Rx Only. © 2024 Inogen, Inc. 859 Ward Drive, Suite 200, Goleta, CA 93111. Inogen® is a trademark of Inogen, Inc. The usage of any Inogen, Inc. trademark is strictly forbidden without the prior consent of Inogen, Inc. All other trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners or holders.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Tuesday, June 2, 2026 ● 5A

lll

wanted: 20 people

Limited Time Offer

WE NEED 20 PEOPLE WITH HEARING LOSS TO TRY THE LATEST ADVANCEMENTS IN HEARING AIDS!

Your hearing plays a crucial role in your overall health. Untreated hearing loss can affect communication, confidence, and even long term cognitive well being. That's why we're inviting 20 people to experience the newest breakthroughs in hearing technology - completely risk free.

Visit us during our June Special Event and receive these FREE services: FREE Hearing Consultation FREE Video Otoscope Exam - Find out if it's hearing loss or just earwax FREE Clean & Check on your current hearing aids FREE Baseline Audiogram Assessment FREE Familiar Voice Test FREE Demonstration of Audibel's Latest Hearing Technology Try it with zero cost and zero obligation

FREE

Limited Time Offerr

Hearing Consultation

Appointments are first come, first served, and every service is 100% free. Simply call one of our offices to reserve your spot.

Audibel is NOW Offering...

• Hearing aids at NO COST to those who qualify!• • That’s Right...No Co-Pay! No Exam Fee! No Adjustment Fee! If you have this card, you may qualify for free hearing aids!

Call today to verify your benefits.

Government-Wide Service Benefit Plan Member Name

John Doe

Member R0000000 Enrollment Code R0000000 00/00/0000

0000 0000 0000

a pair of Aris AI Hearing Instruments Offer valid on select in-stock 24 level technology.

Exclusions may apply.

Limited Time Offer

Effective Date

Rx# RxPCN RxGrp

$ $1000 OFF

CLEAN & CHECK

If you already have hearing devices, receive a free cleaning & maintenance check.

JUNE 2026

LAFAYETTE

NEW IBERIA

105 Westmark Blvd., Ste. 2

224 N. Lewis St., Ste. C

337-205-9576

337-606-7301

ABBEVILLE 100 S. Louisiana St., Ste. 300

337-516-0050

*

Complimentary hearing consultations are widely available at no cost.

Amieva, H., Ouvrard, C., Giuloli, C., Meillon C., Rullier, L., & Dartigues, J. F. (2015). Self-reported hearing loss, hearing aids, and cognitive decline in elderly adults: A 25-year study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2015 Oct;63 (10):2099 – 104. Doi: 10.1111/jgs.13649. 2Rechargeable option not available in all styles.

See clinic for details.

1

©2024 Starkey Laboratories, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 4/23 Audibel and Audibel logo are registered trademarks of Starkey Laboratories, Inc. Signature Series is a trademark of Starkey Laboratories, Inc.

RECEIVE UP TO

2000

$

*

Toward premium technology when you Trade-In & Trade-Up your old hearing aids. *Offer valid on 24 level technology.

Exclusions may apply.

Cannot be combined with other offers.

6A ● Tuesday, June 2, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

TODAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

A shower and thunderstorm

Humid with a t-storm in spots

A stray afternoon thunderstorm

Cloudy, a shower and t-storm

Showers and a heavier t-storm

Humid with a few showers

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

LOW

88° 71°

LOW

85° 70°

LOW

80° 71°

Beaumont 89/73 Port Arthur 85/74

Baton Rouge 90/71

Lake Charles 88/71

New Orleans 89/75 Houma 85/72

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

0s

Hattiesburg 89/71

Alexandria 89/71

Lafayette 88/71

10s

20s

30s

40s

50s

HIGH

85° 74°

LOW

86° 75°

TEMPERATURE Jackson 87/70

Many 85/69

LOW

YESTERDAY

TODAY

READING 44 MAIN POLLUTANT Particulates

MAIN POLLUTANT Particulates

Lafayette through 5 p.m. Monday

Longview 93/71

-0s

83° 74°

Monroe 89/70

Shreveport 94/71

-10s

LOW

Some of the same showers and storms that we experienced yesterday will repeat themselves today. In fact, rain chances today are slightly higher than they were yesterday. So expect a partly cloudy, hot and humid day. Temperatures this afternoon will be about where they should be rising into the upper 80s to the low 90s. There is a 40% chance of rain in the forecast, so expect scattered showers and thunderstorms. Rain chances should be about the same tomorrow, so keep the umbrella with you.

60s

70s

80s

90s 100s 110s

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

Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today LAST

JUN 8

City

Austin Boston Dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Las Vegas Louisville Miami Nashville

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

PRECIPITATION

87°/75° 89°/71° 86°/68° 98° in 2011 54° in 1984

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

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

HIGH

9:22p 3:39p 8:00a 11:29a 11:04a 10:21a 12:12p

6:07 a.m.

8:05 p.m.

10:28 p.m.

7:38 a.m.

NEW

FIRST

JUN 14

Hi

92 73 95 67 86 100 80 93 84

TODAY Lo

70 56 74 43 76 76 58 77 57

FULL

JUN 21

W

t pc t pc sh s s t s

JUN 29

Hi

88 73 88 73 87 102 84 85 85

GOOD

WED. Lo

70 59 71 46 74 78 59 76 61

W

t pc t pc sh s s t s

FT.

LOW

0.29” 0.29” 0.22” 26.83” 24.28”

FT.

HIGH

0.8 8:47a -0.1 1.7 1:53a -0.1 2.0 10:07p -0.3 2.0 1:26a 0.1 1.4 10:36p -0.1 1.7 8:55p -0.2 1.7 11:38p -0.2

SOURCE: LOUISIANA DEQ AND AIRNOW.GOV

FT.

---------------

---------------

LOW

---------------

FT.

---------------

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 Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday

City

New Orleans Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Raleigh St. Louis San Diego Tampa

1:12a 2:07a 3:02a 3:54a 4:45a 5:32a 6:16a

Hi

7:25a 8:20a 9:14a 10:06a 10:56a 11:43a 12:04a

TODAY

89 91 77 105 74 76 82 70 90

Lo

75 74 59 77 48 48 57 62 75

1:38p 7:50p 2:32p 8:44p 3:26p 9:38p 4:17p 10:29p 5:07p 11:18p 5:53p ---6:38p 12:27p

W

t t s s s pc s pc t

GOOD

Hi

82 81 82 106 78 82 82 72 83

WED. Lo

77 69 59 80 51 53 61 62 71

W

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

t t s s s s s pc t

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

FLOOD STAGE

34 48 48 35 27 22 17

MON. 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE

20.30 36.80 38.10 21.10 12.40 8.91 5.80

-0.11 +1.44 +1.30 +1.30 +0.80 +0.52 +0.40

40

35.27

-0.34

19

-1.34

-0.13

18 29 8

-0.32 12.17 2.08

-0.49 -0.16 -0.38

13 15

2.12 1.68

-0.69 -0.05

47 34 29 20 12 6

18.15 13.11 11.17 8.95 5.40 3.15

+1.26 +1.02 +0.74 +0.58 none +0.06

data as of 7 a.m. Monday

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

Rescuers seek alternative route to reach 2 in Laos cave

BY JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI Associated Press

BANGKOK — Rescue workers in Laos searched Monday for an alternative passage into a flooded cave where two people are believed to have been trapped for nearly two weeks after heavy rainfall flooded the main entrance, making it impassable.

The two people remain unaccounted for since a search and rescue operation began last month in a rugged area of Xaisomboun province, about 75 miles north of the capital, Vientiane. Five of the seven people initially trapped inside the cave have been rescued.

Malaysian diver Lee Kian Lie, who is involved in the operation, said workers were pumping water out of the cave.

“We will go into the suspected area to continue the

and neighboring Thailand have been working together for more than a week. They were joined by divers from countries including Finland, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, France and Australia.

Several of the rescuers previously took part in the complicated 2018 cave rescue in northern Thailand that saved 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave.

Laos’s Rescue Volunteer for People group posted on its Facebook page that heavy rain caused “massive amounts of water” to flow down into the area, forcing them to suspend operations PHOTO PROVIDED By METTA THAM RESCUE KALASIN on Sunday night.

Rescuers evacuate the first of five villagers, center, who had been trapped in a cave in Kengkaj Bongkawong, Xaisomboun province, Laos, on Friday. head of the Thai group Metta Tham Rescue Kalasin, search if the water level is ers is also looking around cess to the area where the said workers are also looklowered,” he told The Asso- the other side of the cave in missing people are believed ing for air shafts from above hopes of finding a dry pas- to be trapped, he said. that may provide access into ciated Press.

Rescue teams from Laos the cave.

Another team of rescu- sage that could provide ac-

“The team and I have used a radar scanner and satellite images and many other things as a basis for our navigation of the mountain,” he said.

In remarks on his Facebook page, Kengkaj warned that even if a suitable alternative entrance is found, “it’s going to be a very tough job,” with access difficult and the constant problem of continuing rain flooding the cave.

It would require not only pumping water out, but also installing equipment to keep ventilating the cave’s air supply, he said.

Rescuers believe the two missing people are trapped deeper inside the cave than the location where the five survivors were originally found on Wednesday. But the passage into that area is said to be very narrow and heavily flooded.

Bus driver in fatal Virginia crash Judge postpones civil trial over Md. had previous speeding charges bridge collapse after late settlements

BY HOLLY RAMER Associated Press

A bus driver with a history of speeding accusations was indicted on additional charges Monday in a chainreaction crash in Virginia that killed five people and injured dozens more.

Jing Sheng Dong, 48, of Staten Island, New York, initially was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter after the crash early Friday morning on Interstate 95. On Monday, a grand jury indicted him on three additional charges of involuntary manslaughter and one count of reckless driving, according to a statement from the Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.

Authorities said Dong was driving a motorcoach from New York to North Carolina when he struck a line of vehicles that had slowed down in a work zone. A family of four from Greenfield, Massachusetts, on their way to a wedding were killed, as was a 25-year-old woman from Worcester, Massachusetts.

Dong, who remained hospitalized Monday, previously was accused of speeding in Colonial Heights, Virginia, in November 2024 and in Annapolis, Maryland, in March, according to online court records. In the latter case, he is accused of driving a motorcoach 72 mph in a 50 mph zone.

In the Virginia case, Dong was convicted of driving 73 mph in a 55 mph zone and paid $219 in fines and court

costs. He also has a pending case in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, where he was accused of trespassing in July.

The bus involved in Friday’s crash was operated by E&P Travel Inc., based in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, a board member said.

Court documents related to the bus crash do not list an attorney for Dong. Neither the attorney representing him in the trespassing case nor the lawyer representing him in Maryland responded to emails seeking comment Monday.

Prosecutor Eric Olsen said Dong will be transported to jail upon his release from the hospital.

BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press

BALTIMORE — A federal judge agreed Monday to postpone a civil trial over the 2024 collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge after a flurry of last-minute settlements resolved most of the remaining claims.

U.S. District Judge James Bredar expressed frustration about the timing of last week’s settlements, including deals resolving all pending claims over the deaths of six construction workers.

The workers were filling potholes when the container ship Dali lost power and crashed into the bridge in the early morning hours of March 26, 2024.

Virtually all of the unresolved claims are alleging economic losses by business-

es and local governments.

None of the remaining parties were asking to start the trial as scheduled this week.

Bredar, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, was scheduled to hear attorneys’ opening statements on Monday for a trial expected to last approximately five weeks. He postponed the proceedings indefinitely to consider legal arguments that could lead to further settlements and possibly end the litigation without a trial.

Bredar said he was “highly frustrated,” but acknowledged that civil cases often settle on the eve of trial.

“It’s not directed at just one side or another. It takes two to tango,” Bredar said. “I’m frustrated on behalf of the public (and) the court.”

Details of the settlements with families of the construction workers weren’t publicly disclosed.

Less than two weeks ago, Bredar rejected a prior request to delay the trial after the filing of criminal charges against companies that managed the Dali.

On May 12, Justice Department prosecutors announced the indictment against Singapore-based Synergy Marine Pte Ltd. and Chennai, Indiabased Synergy Maritime Pte Ltd. The operator of the Dali and its technical superintendent are charged with conspiracy, misconduct causing death, failing to immediately inform the U.S. Coast Guard of a hazardous condition, obstructing the National Transportation Safety Board and making false statements.

METRO

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

Jan Risher LOUISIANA AT LARGE

Walking while looking down

A few weeks after a man named Vince began documenting what he found on his daily walks through London, I discovered his Instagram account, “Until Found.” His project rests on the goal of finding a real diamond.

In the meantime, he finds a variety of other things — Lego flowers, broken charms of dancing ladies, silver bird charms, wooden beads, earring backs, zipper pulls and lots of buttons.

He makes beautiful videos of his finds. His voice is soothing.

Each of the videos I watched ended with the same three words: “No diamond today.”

One hundred days in, Vince did a recap. We learned that he actually found a diamond on day four.

Over the 100 days, he took roughly a million steps (about 10,000 per walk). Along the way, he collected 3,786 objects. He even takes some of his finds and casts them into new jewelry pieces.

His process made me wonder: What would a daily walk reveal here?

I’ve never noticed a broken dancing-lady charm on a Louisiana sidewalk. Is that because they aren’t there? Or because I’m not looking?

Granted, Louisiana is not London, with its centuries of lost jewelry and cobblestone crevices, but in New Orleans? In Baton Rouge? Surely, there would be interesting things.

Only one way to find out.

I challenged myself to walk every day for a week and to look down along the way. I made a few rules. The first: only nonorganic matter. That rule lasted until day five, when I found a perfect ginkgo leaf. On day seven, I added two tiny bird feathers.

The second rule: I would not pick up anything obviously dangerous or gross. That one held without effort.

Memorial Day was my first walk looking down — and it was humbling. I covered familiar ground in our neighborhood, followed by exploring the backside of Baton Rouge’s City Park (the other side of Dalrymple), a place I had never been.

I love going places I’ve never been, even those close to home, but along the way, I found very little.

By day seven, things emerged from the pavement much more easily. Spotting so many things on day seven reminded me of the way we see shapes in a Magic Eye poster once the brain adjusts.

Seven days produced 72 items across four walks in Baton Rouge, two in New Orleans — and 30 rocks on a creekside in Mississippi. The finds tell the stories of their surroundings.

The New Orleans walk to see the tall ships yielded a broken Christmas light, Budweiser bottle cap, Sutter Home screw cap — and the strangest find of the week, a tiny handmade pillow (with a tag confirming its handmade-ness) that was meant to look like a piece of toast. Velvety fabric, little felt legs, a stitched face — sitting on a New Orleans street corner.

On the next day on the other side of town, I found a Delgado Community College alumni ribbon that I hope someone didn’t regret dropping.

The creekside walk offered only rocks, which turned out to be a gift. So many shapes, so many sizes, so many shades of gray and rust. Deciding on which rocks to choose was delightful, yielding the most peaceful of the seven.

ä See RISHER, page 4B

|

T u e s d ay, J u n e 2, 2026

1Bn

‘This war has consequences’

Boustany’s Kyiv visit fuels his call for increased U.S. support

BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer

It was about 1 a.m. in Kyiv when the air raid sirens went off. For locals, the sound is normal, signifying yet another attack from the Russian military, but for former U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, it was a harrowing experience that underscores his belief in the Ukrainian cause.

The former congressman who lives in Lafayette was visiting Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine, on a fact-finding mission for the ongoing war.

“We wanted to understand the

challenges Ukraine was facing,” Boustany said.

He was joined by a fellow former Republican congressman Geoff Davis, of Kentucky.

The early morning attack on May 23 came on his final day in the country, while Boustany was staying in a hotel only a block away from Maidan Boustany Square, a central location in the city. He described the events that took place after he and other guests sheltered in the

hotel’s bunker that morning.

“There were nonstop explosions for six hours,” Boustany said. “It’s very harrowing the impact this has had on the people of Ukraine.

I saw a 9-year-old boy and his parents in the hotel’s basement and you could just see the look on his face. He was terrified. How do you explain something like this to a kid that age?”

According to reporting from the BBC, the attack left four people dead and dozens of others injured.

“We later found out there were around 600 or so drone strikes and between 30 to 60 ballistic missiles that came down in the area,”

Boustany said. “Some came as close as a block away from us.”

Boustany returned from Ukraine late last month with a message for Louisiana’s congressional delegation: The United States should continue supporting Ukraine’s war effort, and congressional leaders should see the conflict firsthand.

During Boustany’s visit to Ukraine, he met with the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and observed some of the country’s humanitarian efforts in parts of the country rav-

ä See KYIV, page 4B

PHOTOS By ROBIN MAy

People and vendors enjoy the cooling ceiling fans in the new Farmers Market Pavilion inside Moncus Park on Saturday in Lafayette.

Rural living

ABOVE: Blueberries are for sale inside the new Farmers Market Pavilion.

RIGHT: People enjoy the new patio area outside.

Police investigate shooting PBS Kids show to feature La. 10-year-old that left one man dead spending time at school and Crew visits Breaux ings, showcasing some of his favorite and traBridge to show boy’s hobbies ditions rooted in culture. life, Cajun culture Cajun “At first I really

BY JA’KORI MADISON

didn’t know what it would be like to be on TV and I was A film crew recently spent two really nervous,” days in Breaux Bridge capturing he said. “But once Jacob various aspects of Jacob Lewis’ we started, I just life for the new PBS Kids series did what I normally do.”

Jacob impressed producers with “America’s Awesome Kids.”

The PBS Kids series highlights his diverse interests, but also his children from across the country leadership skills, which included and the unique communities they developing an anti-bullying camcall home. paign for his school, according to For 10-year-old Jacob, that a PBS news release. meant cameras following him on Jacob’s mother, Malette Lewis, a swamp tour and trail ride, docuä See PBS, page 4B menting close-knit family gather-

Staff writer

Authorities are investigating a fatal shooting near Vivian Drive in Eunice, according to the CRIME St. Landry Parish BLOTTER Sheriff’s Office.

Officials conAdvocate firmed one vicstaff tim, who has been reports identified at Obrian Paul Terry, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

No suspects have been identified.

animal sexual abuse counts, authorities said.

Christopher Campbell, 21, was booked on 74 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material involving children younger than 13 and three counts of sexual abuse of an animal.

Campbell was arrested Thursday and booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center. His bail was set at $105,000.

The arrest stems from a joint investigation by the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations and the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office. Investigators said the case began after the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation received A Lafayette man has been ar- a tip from the National Center for rested on child pornography and Missing and Exploited Children.

Man accused of possessing child porn

OPINION

2B ● Tuesday, June 2, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

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

OUR VIEWS

What’s shaking the state? We need a network of seismic monitors Earthquakes are among the natural disasters that we had thought Mother Nature had largely spared Louisiana from. But since 2022, the number and strength of earthquakes in northwest Louisiana have been increasing at an alarming rate. On March 5, an area in Red River Parish saw a 4.9-magnitude earthquake, tied for the strongest recorded in state history.

Since then, researchers have installed seismometers and the federal Environmental Protection Agency ordered the state to look into the activities of oil and gas companies in the region.

As in other states, the proliferation of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has coincided with an uptick in seismic activity, even though no direct links have been proven.

In northwest Louisiana, the discovery of new potential in the Haynesville Shale prompted a rush of oil companies to drill there starting in 2019. Texas and Oklahoma, two states that also share the formation, have seen a drilling boom for nearly two decades. But recent shale plays have shifted the focus of activity to northwest Louisiana.

By fracking, drillers can extract oil from places previously out of reach due to technology or economics. They inject saltwater into rock, and in the process extract brine and other toxic materials from the well that must then be disposed of. They generally use injection wells to push the saltwater deep underground.

There are concerns that this may cause problems if water is injected at too high a pressure or if other geological factors add unforeseen risks. But the only way to remedy the situation is to know what’s going on.

That’s why we’re glad to see that state regulators and LSU officials are working to create a seismic monitoring network, which would gather data in greater detail than we have had before. Information from Louisiana researchers like Tulane University’s Cynthia Ebinger, data from the nationwide network through the U.S. Geological Survey and out-of-state networks have been able to capture some of what’s going on, but it’s well nigh time for the state to have a formal seismological network in northwest Louisiana.

A 2022 report by Erbinger and researchers at the LSU and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette that recommended the state install up to 10 seismic monitors in the region with an automatic earthquake detection system.

We were pleased to see that lawmakers want to see that happen and put a bill on hold that would have removed state limits on the pressure of injection wells until further notice. We hope that going forward, industry, science and government can work together on solutions.

We believe government should act only when there is solid evidence on what’s causing these temblors. Otherwise, decisions for the future might rest on faulty ground.

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

lished identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’s city of residence. The Advocate | The TimesPicayune 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

YOUR VIEWS

High electricity bills are Republicans scared of hurting working families Mamdani don’t Electricity is no longer just a basic necessity; it has become a burden many families can barely afford. Over the past few months, my power bill has continued to rise, even during periods when my electricity usage has not changed much. It is frustrating to constantly worry about how to keep the lights on while also trying to afford food, transportation and other daily needs.

Many people in my community are facing the same struggle. Some households now limit the use of basic appliances just to avoid outrageous bills, while others experience poor or unstable supply despite paying so much.

It feels unfair to pay high amounts for electricity that is not always reliable.

recognize their own bogeymen

Affordable and stable power supply should not be a luxury. Energy providers and policymakers need to take the concerns of ordinary citizens seriously by reviewing billing systems, improving transparency, and ensuring that consumers are not overcharged. There should also be stronger investments in reliable energy infrastructure so people can get the quality service they are paying for.

Electricity is essential for businesses, students, workers and families. If prices continue to rise without improvement in service, more people will continue to suffer financially.

Billy Arcement’s letter reads like a Facebook comment section wrapped in Cold War paranoia.

According to him, New York City electing Zohran Mamdani apparently means communism is marching toward Louisiana like the Red Army crossing the Atchafalaya Basin.

Please.

Let me kindly remind Louisiana MAGA Baby Boomers of something uncomfortable: Your momma was a Democrat, darlin’. So was your pawpaw. So were half the people sitting at the camp boiling crawfish every Easter Sunday while voting for folks like Edwin Edwards without believing Stalin was about to seize the sugar mills.

The modern Republican obsession with calling every Democrat a communist would be funny if it were not so intellectually lazy.

These are the same people who lose their minds anytime someone points out the authoritarian behavior coming from their own party.

Republicans can compare school boards to dictatorships, call liberals enemies of America and scream socialism at anything more complicated than a tax cut. But make even a mild comparison between today’s strongman politics and Europe in the 1930s and they collapse faster than a snowball on Airline Highway in August.

Dissent is patriotic. Blind loyalty is not. Louisiana Democrats are not plotting collectivized crawfish boils and government owned bait shops.

Most are trying to keep flood insurance from bankrupting working families while Republicans chase another cable news culture war.

Arcement is terrified of a mayor in New York while ignoring a national political movement demanding loyalty oaths, punishing dissent, attacking the press and treating disagreement as betrayal.

That is the real danger to democracy.

Not a guy in Brooklyn talking about rent.

FRANKIE GERAD New Orleans

Gerrymandering should drive all to voting booths Gerrymandering based on race is illegal, yet our U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that political gerrymandering is a state issue and not for federal courts to resolve.

Raised in Tennessee, and having spent the last 32 years in New Orleans, I recognize that racial bias and racism have diminished in some ways following the passage of the Civil Rights Act, but I am watching politicians and the U.S. Supreme Court act as if we can check off racial inequality from our list of national challenges.

How can the state on the wrong side of Plessy v. Ferguson continue to pretend that we are basing our gerrymandered districts on anything but race?

The U.S. Census, upon which the two parties allegedly rely while seeking to “balance” districts fairly, contains no information about political party affiliation.

So I wonder exactly how the political parties are drawing their maps, and why?

As NOLA.com reported, Louisiana’s population fell in 70% of our parishes.

We could adopt mathematical modeling to more fairly shape districts, create independent map redistricting commissions, use proportional representation, and pass federal legislation (remember the Freedom to Vote Act?).

Our governor and other elected leaders may wish to remember that, since the last census, Louisiana remains about 32% black and Hispanic population has increased from 2% to almost 7%, while the White population has decreased from 65% in 2000 to about 56% in 2020.

Is all of this gerrymandering a backlash of fear as our state’s demographics change? This fear gets played out, not by working for a more just union, but by rigging maps so the powerful remain in power. This should drive us all to the voting booths. But will it?

MICHAEL KUHN New Orleans

Louisiana needs the revenue from carbon sequestration Missing in the political debate about carbon sequestration are discussions of where to put the meters and how much to charge. The empty geological space under Louisiana, once occupied by oil, is now in demand to store carbon dioxide from producing carbon-free hydrogen.

What is a fair price for that storage?

Who gets the revenue? How does the public benefit? Can carbon sequestration pay for plugging orphan wells?

How about a revenue stream for coastal restoration? Carbon sequestration from biomass removes carbon

dioxide from the atmosphere. Should biomass carbon get a discount? These are all questions that should be part of the debate.

I will let others debate the pros and cons of sequestering, including the long-term environmental risk and the associated decrease in property values.

If sequestering occurs, let it be with a substantial recurring revenue stream sufficient to repair some of the environmental damage Louisiana has incurred.

BARRY RANSHI Kenner

JOHN HOWLAND Covington

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR LOCAL REPORTING

KEVIN HALL

President & Publisher

RENE SANCHEZ

VP/News, Executive Editor

KARYN KEARNEY EVP/Strategic Partnerships

ARNESSA GARRETT Managing Editor/ Opinion

JUSTIN MITCHELL

Managing Editor/ Audience

HANK STUEVER

Managing Editor/ Enterprise

FRED KALMBACH

JENNIFER BROWN

JERRY DICOLO

EMMA DISCHER

Managing Editor

Managing Editor, New Orleans

KRISTIN ASKELSON Managing Editor, Acadiana

BARBARA LEADER Managing Editor, Shreveport

Senior Editor Senior Editor

ANDREA GALLO Senior Editor/ Investigations

JESSICA WILLIAMS Senior Editor

ROGER HOLMES Executive VP, Operations

ASHLEY WHITCHER VP/IT

KYLE WHITFIELD

LOU HUDSON

VP/ Consumer Sales

JIM MYERS

General Manager/ Advertising

VP/Majors & Nationals VP/Finance

ROBERT STOLL

VP/Distribution

G

ROBERT YOUNG

GEORGES MEDIA GROUP JOHN D. GEORGES Owner

JUDI TERZOTIS

Chief Executive Officer Editorial Page

DAN SHEA

Chairman

ARNESSA GARRETT STEPHANIE GRACE WILL SUTTON QUIN HILLYER FAIMON ROBERTS

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Tuesday, June 2, 2026 ● 3B

lll

COMMENTARY

Can Trump handle the world he has changed?

Ten years ago this month, Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination for president, with a platform that was vastly different on trade and foreign policy from other recent presidents, Republican and Democratic alike.

Michael How fares America Barone — and the world — 10 years later?

In some important ways, things have moved in Trump’s direction. In 2016 and since, he complained constantly that Europeans were not contributing their fair share to NATO. That had been the position of previous administrations, but none emphasized it as Trump did.

Early in Trump’s first term, only five NATO allies met the stated goal of spending 2% of GDP on defense. A decade later, the goal has risen to 5%, and most NATO allies are moving toward that goal.

And as Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened his neighbors, previously neutral (for nearly 75 years!) Finland and Sweden, with their highly competent militaries, have decided to join NATO and have made the Baltic Sea just beyond Putin’s hometown of St. Petersburg a NATO lake.

In the Middle East, Trump has also made a difference. His predecessors’ policy was based on the hoary assumption that the key to stability was to pressure Israel to make a peace agreement with the Palestinians. So America’s task was to pressure Israel to make concessions.

Trump saw it differently. He pushed the Abraham Accords, diplomatic relations between Israel, Saudi Arabia and Persian Gulf oil producers. Progress has been uneven but palpable. Israel’s pacification of Gaza has not prevented the Saudis and United Arab Emirates from supporting Trump’s efforts, cooperating with Israel, to disarm and destabilize the regime in Iran.

On trade, Trump’s on-again, off-again threats, impositions and adjustments of tariff rates have resulted in channeling trade in different patterns. The days of a jointly dependent “Chimerica” (historian Niall Ferguson’s phrase) seem to be waning.

Not everything has gone Trump’s way. His fixation on unproblematic trade “deficits” has led him to impose tariffs that have fed inflation and eroded his job approval at home. His initiatives in Iran, without persuasive explanations to voters or any attempt at buy-in by the political opposition, have also hurt him politically — although regime collapse in Iran remains possible and could put things in a different light.

More importantly, the world has changed, sometimes in line with his expectations, sometimes to the contrary. The prime example is Russia’s

more expensive Russian missiles and have enabled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to destroy energy infrastructure in Perm, 1,000 kilometers beyond the Russian border, and prompted Putin to downsize his WWII victory parade in Moscow.

It is clear that the Trump policy of pressuring Ukraine to accept Russian control of provinces it hasn’t occupied is as obsolete as Trump’s predecessors’ policies of pressuring Israel to accept Palestinian control of territory from which the Palestinians could launch attacks like those of Oct. 7, 2023.

It seems clear as well that the remnants of the Iranian regime are unwilling to abandon their 47-year hostilities toward the U.S., and that Trump’s eagerness to deploy “the art of the deal,” even under the auspices of a hostile Pakistan, is encouraging their continued resistance. And in the meantime, will the drawdown of America’s expensive smart weapons in the Persian Gulf reduce American deterrence against Chinese aggression against Taiwan?

The final verdict on Trump’s foreign policies cannot be written now, with 32 months left in his term and so many kinetic events in unpredictable motion.

But perhaps it can be said that while his departures from his predecessors’ policies have had some successes in reshaping the world, it is not clear that he has developed policies adapted to the world he has done so much to change.

At first, it didn’t sound right. Someone must have miscalculated. How could there be so much fraud that has robbed taxpayers of billions of dollars without anyone seeming to notice?

Worse, it appears they didn’t seem to care.

Vice President JD Vance convened a meeting on Tuesday Cal his Task Force to Eliminate Thomas of Fraud. Fifteen Republican attorneys general showed up.

Almost two dozen Democrat attorneys general didn’t come, citing short notice. Their invitations went out on Friday, so they probably had a good excuse. Vance urged all of them to help in rooting out more fraud than has so far been discovered. So many administrations have talked about fraud, but seemingly have done little about it, until now.

According to Vance, taxpayers across the country were defrauded of billions of dollars by unscrupulous scammers. Vance said the number will likely be higher as investigations continue. One optimistic note. Vance said $160 billion has been “clawed back,” which doesn’t always happen in such cases.

Vance said more than $22 billion has been recovered from small business loans and transferred to the Treasury Department. He said more than $1.3 billion in fraudulent Medicaid reimbursements has been recovered. As previously disclosed these included fake hospice care facilities, many of which were in Los Angeles and other California cities. Vance also said: “We’ve recovered taxpayer funds from the $135 billion stolen after the floodgates were opened in the immediate aftermath of COVID.” Vance also announced $6.3 billion has been recovered from fraudulent government contracts which “were mostly rewarded during the (Biden) administration. And finally, he said the task force has blocked $60 million in student aid fraud.

Fraud is not a victimless crime, Vance said, because it robs people who should be getting help, including needed medical aid.

The first question that should come to mind from these revelations and accusations, is where were the inspectors general in these states and at the federal level? Why did no one appear to notice? Probably because it wasn’t their money being wasted. Look at the defensive posture of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and his attorney general, Keith Ellison. Both made initial statements they knew nothing about fraud in their state. They sounded like piano players in a brothel who claimed not to know what was going on upstairs.

DOGE – the Department of Government Efficiency – began to unveil some of this fraud, but it takes a much larger effort than Elon Musk and his crew of volunteers were able to achieve.

One other point. The fraudsters revealed a complete lack of conscience as they stole money that was supposed to help people, especially those in physical need. Is this another consequence of our failure in too many cases to impose a moral and ethical standard, beginning in schools?

An ancient proverb says: “Where there is no revelation (or vision), people cast off restraint.” (Proverbs 29:18) It also makes one wonder whatever became of shame?

Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

Email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com.

He is on X, @CalThomas.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARK SCHIEFELBEIN

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on May 15. war on Ukraine. As Trump has noted, Putin launched his 2014 attacks on Donbas and his 2022 march toward Kyiv when Democrats were president.

And former President Joe Biden’s restrictions on aid to Ukraine — especially bans on lobbing attacks on Russian territory — limited Ukraine’s defense.

But like the Biden CIA’s assumption that Kyiv would fall in days, Trump’s obvious admiration for Putin as a strong leader has proved a poor guide to events. Note that this is not an endorsement of the Democrats’ and much of the media’s Russia collusion hoax; admiration is not collusion. But it turns out that Russia’s enormous superiority in manpower and major weapons systems has proved unavailing against Ukraine’s unexpected advantage in morale and adaptability.

As analysts of various stripes have concluded, Ukraine has developed drone warfare as a barrier to Russian advance and to make advances itself.

Ukraine has had one advantage Putin didn’t count on in 2022: morale, a sense of national pride and resolve that is unquantifiable but has enabled seemingly ordinary people to adapt with extraordinary speed and inventiveness reminiscent of the best of American examples in World War II. It’s interesting that Trump, for all his emphasis on building America’s national morale, has been deaf to the importance of that factor in Ukraine.

The cheap drones that Ukrainians have invented and produced in astonishing numbers — some 60,000 per day — have routinely destroyed much

Fraudsters running amok

Suspicious decline in birth rates points to a new culprit If you attend a high school graduation this spring, you will witness something special: not just fresh-faced younglings being launched into the maelstrom of the adult world, but Megan ega number of McArdle the them. America may never see so many graduates again. The United States hit a peak number of high school seniors in 2025, and now the country is entering a period of rapid decline. The class of 2041 is projected to be about 13 percent smaller than the class of 2025.

The drop in U.S. birth rates is well known, as are the problems that demographic change will cause: closing schools, slower economic growth, climbing budget pressures and a politics that is increasingly locked into zerosum intergenerational battles — something evident as established homeowners vote to exclude new housing that young people need.

What’s less understood is that this isn’t just America’s future.

It’s everyone’s.

Sometime between 2008 and 2015, birth rates worldwide hit an inflection point. They had been decreasing in most countries for

a while as societies got richer, women got more educated and infant mortality fell. But during that period the decline sped up, and some places that had comparatively high birth rates — — such as Latin America — are now declining faster than in the U.S. Mexico’s birth rate dropped below America’s in 2023.

The fact that low- and middleincome countries are no longer producing so many eager young people complicates the usual answer to worries about American birth rates: let in more immigrants to bolster our shrinking workforce. It also complicates the stories that try to explain why birth rates are falling. Whatever your pet explanation is for the U.S. birth dearth, it probably doesn’t account for why fertility has plunged in Tunisia or Sri Lanka.

In a recent essay for the Financial Times, John Burn-Murdoch suggests that the culprit is smartphones. The devices could be causing birth rates to decline in several ways — accelerating the spread of Western norms about female empowerment, pitting the sexes against each other as feminists on social media take on the manosphere, or simply substituting for the social activity that leads to babies. Burn-Murdoch’s

data suggests that less socialization, especially, is a big part of the problem: Young people are spending less time together, which means fewer opportunities to find romantic partners.

I’m suspicious of monocausal explanations, and Burn-Murdoch isn’t saying phones are the only reason people might be having fewer kids. But the trend is sufficiently widespread, and the timing sufficiently suspicious, to justify adding the decline in fertility to the long list of the smartphone’s unwanted side effects.

If you think having too few kids is a problem (and I do), that leaves us with what to do about it. I’m not casting aspersions on anyone’s life choices — I married at 37 and never had kids. But I don’t want America to become a sort of continent-scale retirement village.

Unfortunately, if Burn-Murdoch is correct, naming a policy fix is difficult. Every argument about birth rates founders on this point: Even if people can acknowledge the problem and agree about the cause, it’s hard to find solutions that aren’t laughably unworkable or hideously expensive, especially with old-age entitlements already squeezing out the fiscal space that could otherwise pay for beefier family benefits.

But smartphones present an even more challenging problem than usual. Is the answer to ban them? Sue TikTok to make its content less compulsively scrollable? Force single young people to attend mandatory speed dating?

Obviously not. So what, then?

One option is that we could change the culture around smartphones to limit their harm. And by “we” I don’t mean public officials or other authorities. I mean you and me. Communities could collectively decide to give kids dumb phones rather than smartphones, to discourage people from taking them out in adult social settings, and to generally treat the infinite scroll as something like smoking — if you’re an adult you have a right to do it, but it’s bad for you and kind of déclassé.

If that seems fanciful, just remember that social sanction can be much more effective than the law at deterring destructive behavior. Few people shoplift, cheat on their taxes, vandalize public property, run through red lights or shout at strangers even when they could probably get away with it. That’s because they’d be ashamed to violate the social contract — and even more ashamed to have the neighbors find out.

It is possible to rewrite that

social contract, constructing new social norms to handle new kinds of destructive behavior. Humans have evidently done so many times throughout history, since none of the offenses I named existed among our hunter-gatherer ancestors. But though it can be done, it takes a lot of work, because the social sanctions that reinforce the norms have to be applied (consistently!) by ordinary people going about their daily lives.

No one wants to fight with their kids about smartphones, fight with their boss about the expectation to be available at all times, or fight with their friends when phones appear at the dinner table.

It’s much easier to go along, especially because that means you can enjoy your own guilt-free hours of scrolling.

But sitting passively and waiting for something to happen got us into this mess — or, at the very least, have made the mess much worse. Complaining and hoping someone else will do something won’t stop the downward spiral in birth rates. If we actually want something done, we’re going to have to do it ourselves.

Megan McArdle is on X, @asymmetricinfo. Email her at Megan.McArdle@washpost.com.

4B ● Tuesday, June 2, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

KYIV

Continued from page 1B aged by the ongoing warfare.

After returning to the U.S., Boustany expressed a continued dissatisfaction with Republican leaders on their handling of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Boustany, who has not served in Congress since 2017, has in recent years become associated with the “Never Trump” wing of the Republican Party, even endorsing Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential elec-

tion. Much of his criticism of the incumbent president extends to his congressional allies, including fellow Louisiana Republicans Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise.

“The thing that enticed me and my colleague to go was the fact that House leadership, two of whom are from Louisiana, is not allowing congressional delegations to go on fact-finding missions,” Boustany said. “Speaker Johnson and Majority Leader Scalise are sidestepping their obligation to the international community. It’s distressing to me that the Congress has not provided the kind of support they need.”

Neither Johnson nor Scalise were immediately avail-

lll

able to comment.

Boustany said he opposes American troops on the ground but that country officials are in desperate need of support in the form of missile defense systems, intelligence sharing and some offensive weapons.

He argued that a failure to support Ukraine’s efforts could have negative effects on the global economy and embolden Russia, one of the U.S.’ primary adversaries.

“This war has consequences for American freedom and economically here in south Louisiana,” Boustany said. “These are people just like us and they’re fighting for their freedom.”

PBS

Continued from page 1B said the opportunity came forward after local educators helped connect the family with information about the casting process. The family then submitted an audition video showcasing Jacob’s personality, interests and life in south Louisiana.

The submission video spotlighted Jacob’s busy life, from playing football and caring for the family’s horses to spending time outdoors with his father and older brother.

“My horse’s name is Goldie,” Jacob said. “Me, my dad and my brother are always taking care of them or I’m playing football. I’m happy they got that on camera.”

Family members say one of Jacob’s most defining qualities is his willingness to help others.

That compassion led Jacob to launch an anti-bullying campaign after being elected by classmates to serve as a house chief, a student leadership position similar to student council.

“He has such a big heart,” his mother said. “No one is too small for his attention. He welcomes everybody.”

After delivering a speech and winning a student vote, Jacob worked to raise awareness throughout the school using signs, bookmarks and small giveaways designed to encourage students to treat one another with kindness.

“I wanted to speak up on anti-bullying because at my school they have a lot of big bullies bullying all the little kids,” Jacob said. His advice

Obituaries Tolson III MD, John

Funeral services will be held at La Chapelle de Martin & Castille in Lafayette on Thursday, June 4, 2026, at 11:00 AM for John Tolson III MD, who passed away on Saturday evening, May 30, 2026, after a long and courageous battle with Parkinson's Disease.

The family requests that visitation be observed in Martin & Castille's Downtown location on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM and will continue Thursday from 9:00 AM until the service at 11:00 AM. Officiating the service will be Reverend Monsignor Richard Greene, a childhood friend of his. Musical selections will be sung by Charlotte Jagneaux.

"Johnny," as he was affectionately known, was born on June 13, 1941, in Lafayette, LA, to John Tolson, Jr. of Lafayette and Billie Stroud Tolson of Monroe, LA. Growing up in Lafayette, Johnny was an active member of the Boy Scouts of America, city league sports, American Legion baseball, as well as high school sports and club organizations. While attending the University of Southwestern Louisiana, he was a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity.

He served in the Army Medical Corps of the Louisiana Army National Guard from 1966-1972. An avid outdoorsman, he loved hunting and fishing and spent

PROVIDED PHOTO FROM PBS

Trail riding is just one of the hobbies 10-year-old Jacob Lewis, of Breaux Bridge, shares during his segment of ‘America’s Awesome Kids’ set to air on PBS Kids nationwide. for students facing bullying is simple: “Tell the teacher if somebody is picking on you,” he said.

Outside of school and sports, Jacob also enjoys cooking, with chicken fettuccine ranking at the top of his favorite dishes to prepare.

That love of food became one of the most memorable parts of the filming experience for the family, who had the opportunity to share the Cajun dishes and traditions that have long been part of their daily lives.

“We cooked crawfish étouffée, red beans and turkey necks, ribs, fresh sausage and boudin,” Malette Lewis said. “Just the things that are normal for us.”

Jacob’s father, Jacoby Lewis, said he is most excited to see those traditions highlighted for a national audience.

“It was exciting, but it was also navigating the unknown,” Jacoby Lewis said.

“We didn’t really know what to expect, but it was nice to see our family and our way of life represented.”

Rather than focusing solely on Jacob, the production

featured his parents, older brother, grandparents and other family members, capturing the close-knit relationships that define much of life in south Louisiana.

Jacob’s Louisiana segment is scheduled to premiere during “Alma’s Way” at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

The episode will also be available June 24 on the “America’s Awesome Kids” YouTube channel. The complete 25-episode series will be available for streaming on the PBS Kids video app, PBSKids.org and the “America’s Awesome Kids” YouTube channel.

The Lewis family also plans to host a community watch party at Jacob’s school to celebrate the premiere.

many years playing golf with his brother Mark, his cousins, and great friends, both locally and around the world.

After graduating from Lafayette Senior High School in 1959, he married Nell Kimbrough. In 1963, he earned a B.S. Degree from USL and moved his family to New Orleans, where he attended LSU School of Medicine. During his time in Medical School, he was President of the Student Body, Student Council Class Representative for several years, and Vice President of Phi Chi Medical Fraternity and graduated in 1966. After completing his Internship and Residency at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, he and his family returned to Lafayette, where he began his private practice in Urology until his retirement in 2005.

A leader in his profession and his community, Johnny served as President, Vice President, Committee Chair, Secretary/Treasurer, Board of Trustees, Chief of Staff and Board of Directors with Hospital Affiliations, his Professional Organizations at both a local and national level, Alumni Associations and the USL Foundation. He served as a Clinical Instructor from 1971-1990 to the Department of Urology at LSU School of Medicine and as a visiting lecturer from 1980-1990 to the Department of Medical Record Science - Health Information at USL. Raised in the rich culture of local traditions, Johnny loved this city, the food, the athletics, university and festival events, the unique environment, and most importantly, he loved the people. This was reflected in his continual investment in life and family, alongside his wife, Dianne Branch Tolson, whom he married on February 8, 1995. A longtime member of the Greater Southwest Mardi

Gras Association and the Krewe of Gabriel, Johnny was honored to serve as King Gabriel LXVII. He is survived by his wife of 31 years, Dianne Branch Tolson, his children - Nell A. Tolson, John Tolson IV (Bessie), Katherine T. Selph (Mike), Carol Lynn T. Barrett (Bradley), Emily B. McCaig (Rob), and John Branch; his grandchildren Hunter Nezat (Jamie), Margaret N. Harrelson (Matt), Julie T. Milan (Jordon), John "Johnny" Tolson V (Peyton), Sarah Beth Selph, Ryan Selph, Drew Daigle (Colleen), Ellen D. Tyler, Ellie McCaig, and Aidan McCaig; his great-grandchildren - Claire, Aubrey, Caroline and Grace Harrelson, Olivia and Avery Nezat, Patrick and Thomas Milan, and Katie, Kylie, Archer and Rowan Tyler; his brother Mark W. Tolson (Mary Beth), his sister-inlaw Cheri B. Tubb (Jim), and his brother-in-law Bill Bacon (Mary).

Johnny is preceded in death by his parents, his sister Martha Tolson Griggs, his brother-in-law Jake Griggs, and Nell Kimbrough Schneider, the mother of his children.

Pallbearers include Hunter Nezat, John Branch, Johnny Tolson V, Drew Daigle, Ryan Selph, and Aidan McCaig.

The family would like to thank Hospice of Acadiana and his loving caregivers, whose compassion, care, and support were a true blessing.

Memorial contributions in honor of Dr. Tolson may be made to Hospice of Acadiana.

View the obituary and guestbook online at www.mourning.com.

Martin & Castille DOWNTOWN, 330 St. Landry Street, Lafayette, Louisiana 70506.

LOTTERY

SUNDAY, MAY 31, 2026 PICK 3: 6-9-4 PICK 4: 8-6-8-3 PICK 5: 0-8-2-8-6

RISHER

Continued from page 1B Still, every one of my 72 finds produced a small jolt.

Not a jolt of discovery exactly — more like the feeling of being let in on something. The ground had been there, holding so much. The simple act of looking made the objects visible.

My favorite find was near a school. It’s a piece of frayed braided rope with a clip attached — old, worn, the kind of thing that looks like it once belonged to something that mattered but was discarded after years of use.

The week’s collection tells multiple stories.

Three National WWII Museum tags. A bright yellow fishing bobber. A dirty rubber ball the color of old brick. A golf ball to match the fishing bobber.

A rule-breaking ginkgo leaf. Bottle caps and broken beads and one improbable piece of toast.

In London, Vince averaged more than 37 finds a day. His walks were two to three times as long as

STAFF PHOTO By JAN RISHER

Jan Risher took a walk each day for a week and looked down, picking up the odds and ends she found along the way. Here is the collection of the 72 items she found, including a tiny smiling toast pillow. mine. Meanwhile, I averaged less than eight finds per walk.

He finds charms shaped like animal limbs and tiny ornate objects that look as though they may have fallen from Victorian jewelry.

Louisiana finds are messier, more industrial, more beer-adjacent.

Both tell the stories of the places they are.

The process hasn’t created a certain, profound truth — but it has been fun. A week of looking down proved that attention is a muscle and produced enough small jolts of joy to recommend the practice to anyone with a half-hour and a bag.

The ground beneath everyday feet holds the score.

No diamond today.

.theacadianaadvocate.com Public Notices

Announcements Anyone knowing the whereabouts of, Deandra McGee, previously residing at 2198 Magnolia Progress Road, McComb, MS 39648, is asked to contact R.W.Tucker and Associates at 225-346-4000 188296-5/21 through 6/3-14 Days $319.00

Acadiana Real Estate For Sale LOT 800acres of Prime Rice Pasture & Marsh Land for Sale in Klondike LA, Exc. Water Fowl Hunting & Fishing, for more info (337) 789-4999

Pets

Unofficial notification, keep your tickets.

CATS RAGAMUFFIN & RAGDOLL KITTENS www.CatsByFrancy.com/kittens $1500up! Reg. Shots & Guaranty 337-230-3150 DOGS German Shorthaired Pointer - Beau‐ tiful Registered German Shorthaired Pointer Puppies, Now taking de‐ posits of $100, born April 25th. $700 337-692-2179

GET FULL DIGITAL ACCESS

On your phone. On the go.

Subscribe today Scan the QR code Cancel anytime

How to place an Obituary Notice EMAIL:

obits@theadvocate.com OR CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION:

225-388-0289

How to place a Memorial Ad An “In Memory Of” ad, is a way to pay tribute to your loved one.

This remembrance is often printed on the anniversary of a loved one’s death.

The deadline is two days prior to the day you want your ad to appear.

TO PLACE A MEMORIAL AD GO TO:

obituaries.theacadianaadvocate.com, click submit an obituary and select create a memoriam.

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE TO BIDDERS Notice is hereby given that sealed bids will be received either electroni‐ cally at https://lafayet tecsdgovla.tylerportico. com/va/vendor-access/ registration or in the of‐ fice of the Purchasing Di‐ vision at the Lafayette Govern‐ Consolidated ment Building, located at 705 West University Av‐ Lafayette, enue, Louisiana, until 3:00 pm Central Time on the 17TH day of June, 2026 for the following: 2026 ADS HP STORM PIPE and will, shortly there‐ after, be opened and read aloud in City Hall lo‐ cated at 705 West Univer‐ sity Avenue, Lafayette, LA. Bids received after the above specified time for opening shall not be considered and shall be returned unopened to the sender. Bidders are encouraged to attend the bid opening virtually by using the following link https://us02web.zoom. us/j/82451135182? pwd=4eFbmIbU5imurwz SlYt4a3Vxtk4Ueu.1 Meet‐ ing ID: 824 5113 5182 Passcode: 027323 In accordance with Louisiana RS 38:2212. may submit vendors their bid electronically at the website listed above.

Bidders wishing to sub‐ mit their bid electroni‐ cally must first be regis‐ tered within LCG Vendor Access at the website listed above. The regis‐ tration process can take some time; therefore, LCG recommends regis‐ tering days in advance of the time that bids are due. It is the sole respon‐ sibility of the bidder to ensure their bid is deliv‐ ered (whether electroni‐ cally via Vendor Access, in person, or via mail) to the Purchasing Division prior to the scheduled date and time of the bid opening. Vendors may request the bid package from electronically Thomas Metrejean at tg‐ metrejean@lafayettela. gov.

Vendors submitting bids are re‐ electronically quired to provide the same documents as bid‐ ders submitting through the mail as soon as avail‐ able. Only a bid bond, check or certified cashier’s check shall be submitted as the bid se‐ curity. Electronic copies of both the front and back of the check or bid bond shall be included with the electronic bid.

Bids must be signed in accordance with LRS Title 38:2212(B)5. A Cor‐ porate Resolution or Cer‐ tificate of Authority au‐ the person thorizing signing the bid is re‐ quired to be submitted with bid. Failure to sub‐ mit a Corporate Resolu‐ tion or Certificate of Au‐ thority with the bid shall be cause for rejection of bid.

Copies of the bidding documents are available at the Purchasing Office located at 705 West Uni‐ Avenue, versity Lafayette, LA 70506. Tele‐ phone number (337) 2917187 (Attn: Thomas Me‐ trejean). Bidding docu‐ ments shall be available until twenty-four (24) hours before the bid opening date.

Each bid shall be accom‐ panied by a certified check, cashier’s check or bid bond payable to the Lafayette Consolidated in the Government, amount of $500.00. If a bid bond is used, it shall be written by a surety or insurance company cur‐ rently on the U.S. Depart‐ ment of the Treasury Fi‐ Management nancial Service list of approved companies bonding which is published annu‐ ally in the Federal Regis‐ ter, or by a Louisiana insurance domiciled company with at least an A-Rating in the latest printing of the A.M. Best’s Key Rating Guide to write individual bonds up to ten percent (10%) of policyholders’ surplus as shown in the A.M. Best’s Key Rating Guide, or by an insurance com‐ pany in good standing li‐ censed to write bid bonds which is either domiciled in Louisiana or owned by Louisiana resi‐ dents. The bid bond shall

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

be issued by a company licensed to do business in Louisiana and counter‐ signed by a person who is under contract with re‐ siding in this state. The certified check, cashier’s check, or bid bond shall be given as a guarantee that the bidder shall exe‐ cute the contract, should it be awarded to him, in conformity with the con‐ tract documents within ten (10) days.

No bidder may withdraw his bid for at least fortyfive (45) days after the time scheduled for the opening of bids. Each bid shall be submitted only on the bid form provided with the specifications.

Bids will be evaluated by the Purchaser based on the lowest responsible and responsive bid sub‐ mitted which is also in compliance with the bid The documents.

Lafayette Consolidated Government reserves the right to reject any and all bids for just cause in ac‐ cordance with LA R.S. 38§2214.B. The Lafayette Consoli‐ Government dated strongly encourages the participation of DBEs (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) in all con‐ tracts or procurements let by the Lafayette Con‐ Government solidated for goods and services and labor and material.

To that end, all contrac‐ tors and suppliers are encouraged to utilize DBEs business enter‐ prises in the purchase or sub-contracting of mate‐ rials, supplies, services and labor and material in disadvantaged which business are available.

Assistance in identifying said businesses may be obtained by calling 2918410.

PURCHASING DIVISION Lafayette Consolidated Government PUBLISH DATES: 6/2/26, 6/7/26 DPR # 1005302 189545-JUN 2-7-2T $99

Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE --HEARING EXAMINER AGENDA JUNE 12, 2026 COMMUNITY DEVELOP‐ MENT AND PLANNING AU‐ DITORIUM 220 WEST WILLOW STREET, BUILDING B 8:30 A.M. I. Call to Order & Intro‐ duction / Morgan Hart II. Development Review 1. Hearing Review No. 2026-34-HE Proposed Plat Name: An‐ gela Broussard Martin, Lot 1 Plat Location: 240 Gumbo Road Jurisdiction: Parish of Lafayette Proposed Use: Residen‐ tial Surveyor: Michael Guidry 2. Hearing Review No. 2026-35-HE Proposed Plat Name: Dale Joseph Denais, Lot 2A1-A Plat Location: 1209 Bourque Rd Jurisdiction: Parish of Lafayette Proposed Use: Residen‐ tial Surveyor: Andre Montag‐ net 3. Hearing Review No. 2026-36-HE Proposed Plat Name: Donald Landry, Tract 3 Plat Location: 600 Block of Whitmore Rd Jurisdiction: Parish of Lafayette Proposed Use: Residen‐ tial Surveyor: Andre Montag‐ net 4. Hearing Review No. 2026-37-HE Proposed Plat Name: Louis Edgar Connolly, Plots 1D-1 & 1D-2 Plat Location: 135 Rue Coupe Civique Jurisdiction: Parish of Lafayette Proposed Use: Residen‐ tial Surveyor: Paul Briley 5. Hearing Review No. 2026-38-HE Proposed Plat Name: Pat Richard Estates, Lot A-4-2 Plat Location: 336 Vati‐ can Rd Jurisdiction: Parish of Lafayette Proposed Use: Residen‐ tial Surveyor: Michael Breaux 6. Hearing Review No. 2026-39-HE Proposed Plat Name: D. Boudreaux Extension, Lot 24-A Plat Location: 914 Hop‐ ki

Legal Notices

p kins St City of Jurisdiction: Lafayette Proposed Use: Residen‐ tial Surveyor: Brock Hollier 7. Hearing Review No. 2026-40-HE Proposed Plat Name: Bal Lon LLC, Parcels A, B, & C Plat Location: 145 & 151 South Beadle Road Jurisdiction: City of Lafayette Proposed Use: Commer‐ cial Surveyor: Michael Breaux 8. Hearing Review No. 2026-41-HE Proposed Plat Name: Ty Latiolais, Lot 1 Plat Location: 801 Om‐ brage Road, Unit F Jurisdiction: Parish of Lafayette Proposed Use: Residen‐ tial Surveyor: Ryan Fuselier 9. Hearing Review No. 2026-42-HE Proposed Plat Name: Oak & Iron LLC, Lots 1, 2, & 3 Plat Location: 200 Block of Hapsburg Lane Jurisdiction: Parish of Lafayette Proposed Use: Residen‐ tial Surveyor: Jared Normand 10. Hearing Review No. 2026-43-HE Proposed Plat Name: Joseph Ray Alleman, Lots 1, 2, & 3 Plat Location: 1112 S Fieldspan Rd Jurisdiction: Parish of Lafayette Proposed Use: Residen‐ tial Surveyor: Jacob Jarrell III. Adjourn 189176-jun 2-1t $28.98 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE 1 In accordance with Act 186 of 1984, the public is hereby notified that the proposed budget of the City of Scott, Louisiana for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027, is available for inspection at City Hall, Scott, Louisiana be‐ tween the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Mon‐ day through Thursday.

Also, the public is hereby notified that a public hearing will be held on June 23, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. at the City Hall, Scott, Louisiana. The pur‐ pose of this public hear‐ ing is to allow citizens to provide comments and opinions on the proposed budget of the City of Scott, Louisiana for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026 and ending June 30, 2027.

Additionally, proposed amendments to the bud‐ get of the City of Scott for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026 may be considered at the public hearing to be held on June 23, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. at the City Hall, Scott, Louisiana. This proposed budget is amended shown as the estimated 2026 amounts in the 6/30/26 budget docu‐ ment.

Immediately following the budget hearing, a City council special meeting is scheduled to adopt the budget for the year ended June 30, 2027 and the amended budget for the year ended June 30, 2026. /s/ Jan-Scott Richard Jan-Scott Richard, Mayor May 26, 2026 Date /s/ Shelley Gautreau Shelley Gautreau, City Clerk 189593 June 2, 1t $49.31 PUBLIC NOTICE --The FY 27 budget for Aca‐ diana Renaissance Char‐ Academy and ter Renaissance Lafayette Charter Academy will be available for inspection effective May 28, 2026 at the following location: 8940 Bluebonnet Blvd, Suite 300, Baton Rouge, LA 70810 The Lafayette Charter Foundation shall conduct a public hearing on the proposed budget on June 15, 2026, at 6:30 PM at: 306 Acadian Hills Drive, Lafayette, LA 70507 189263-JUN 2-1T $91.77

CLASSIFIEDS WORK

OFFICIAL NEWS PARTNER OF THE LOUISIANA RAGIN’ CAJUNS

SPORTS

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

|

T u e s d ay, J u n e 2, 2026

1Cn

LSU commit says he’s eyeing two sports

COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME NOMINEES

BY TOYLOY BROWN III Staff writer

STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints head coach Kellen Moore watches a play that is under review during the second half of a game against the San Francisco 49ers at the Caesars Superdome on Sept. 14.

ON THE BALLOT

Saints coach Moore, two ex-Tigers LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson exhorts the crowd to cheer louder against Florida on Oct. 10, 2009, at Tiger make first college HOF cut Stadium.

BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

Is it finally Kellen Moore’s time to be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame? Will LSU great Alan Faneca add a place in the hall in Atlanta to his enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio?

The ballot is out for the 2027 College Football Hall of Fame induction class,

STAFF FILE PHOTO By TRAVIS SPRADLING

with the second-year Saints coach and former LSU All-America offensive lineman headlining those with Louisiana ties on the list.

Other notable nominees include former LSU All-American Patrick Peterson, Saints great Jahri Evans and former Biletnikoff Award winner Troy Edwards from Louisiana Tech.

The National Football Foundation released the ballot Monday for those eligi-

ble to be inducted next year. It includes 80 players and nine coaches from the FBS level, and 99 players and 39 coaches from the NCAA divisional and NAIA levels. The Class of 2027 will be announced early next year.

Moore is a repeat nominee, having compiled one of the greatest careers in college football history. A first-team

ä See HOF, page 3C

LSU is no stranger to dual-sport athletes.

Five-star tight end Ahmad Hudson from Ruston plans to be the next in line for the Tigers on the football field and basketball court.

After a standout performance for his JL3 Elite AAU basketball team last week, the 6-foot-7, 239-pound athlete did a postgame interview with the commentators broadcasting the game on the NBA’s YouTube channel. When Hudson was asked about how fun it was to play his last year of basketball on the EYBL circuit for his Houston-based team, he said, “Actually, I’m going to play both sports” at LSU. “I was actually recruited by basketball first,” Hudson said. “Then football offered me after my first high school football game, and ever since then it’s been up.”

Hudson is one of the most highly touted two-sport athletes in recent memory.

He is the No. 1 tight end and the No. 11 football player in the country, according to 247Sports. He is also the No. 5 power forward and No. 25 basketball player in the 2027 class.

Hudson committed to LSU for football on May 3. He was first offered

by LSU basketball on Nov. 9, 2024, by former coach Matt McMahon and reoffered by Will Wade’s staff on April 9.

The last LSU athlete to play both sports was current junior tight end Trey’Dez Green. The 6-7, 237-pounder played six games and a total of 40 minutes on the basketball court as a freshman during the 2024-25 season after playing 13 games on the gridiron. He stepped away from the basketball to focus on academics in February 2025, and he didn’t rejoin the team last season.

Hudson was asked why the tight end position has historically translated well on the basketball court.

“We got the physicality to play with anybody,” Hudson said. “You can have a 6-4 tight end and he can come out here and play with a 7-2 center. So just the physicality that we have to be able to play 1 through 5. Not a lot of people got that.”

Hudson is averaging 13.2 points on 53.3% shooting, 10.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 3.0 blocks in 10

ä See HUDSON, page 3C

Cajuns basketball expects big things from Philadelphia native

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GREGORy BULL

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Cristopher Sánchez celebrates after the last out of the seventh inning of a game against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday in San Diego.

Sánchez’s scoreless streak in rarified air

BY DAN GELSTON

struck out 13 overall in the May 16 shutout victory.

“That wasn’t a very good idea to PHILADELPHIA — Cristopher Sánchez piss him off,” Phillies catcher J.T. is friends with fellow Dominican Realmuto said with a laugh.

Using an elite sinker-sliderRepublic native Marcell Ozuna, so it was only natural they trash changeup mix that has made him talked each other before their one of the best pitchers in basemost recent game. ball, Sánchez had his way with just The Pirates’ designated hitter about every batter in a sensational told Sánchez he would take him scoreless May. deep.

Sánchez went 4-0 and struck out Sánchez instead struck him out ä See SÁNCHEZ, page 3C — four times, and the Phillies’ ace

AP sportswriter

UL will be Trent Middleton’s fourth school.

The Philadelphia native is pretty sure the fourth time is the charm.

The 6-foot-3, 177-pound guard began his career at Ball State before heading to Delaware. His last stop was his most productive of the three at North Carolina A&T. “Really it was just opportunity on that first move, just looking for a bigger role,” Middleton said.

“Nothing against the staff at Delaware, but things just didn’t happen the way it was supposed to.”

The opportunity he was looking for began to transpire at North Carolina A&T. “A lot of times at A&T, the way it worked out, I had to be on the ball to make good decisions,” Middleton said. “My role there was definitely being a floor leader.

“My decision-making got better and just being a leader. I also got stronger being my third year. I was able to take the bump better than my first two years. It got easier for me from a strength standpoint.”

PHOTO PROVIDED

Trent Middleton comes to UL from North Carolina A&T after also ä See MIDDLETON, page 3C spending time at Ball State and Delaware.

2C ● Tuesday, June 2, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS On TV MEN’S COLLEGE GOLF Noon NCAA Tourn.: Team Match Play 5 p.m.

NCAA Tourn.: Team Match Play MLB 5:40 p.m. San Diego at Philadelphia

Golf Golf TBS

8:38 p.m. Colorado at L.A. Angels NHL 7 p.m.

Vegas at Carolina MEN’S SOCCER 1:35 p.m. Wales vs. Ghana TENNIS 6:30 a.m. French Open, Quarterfinals

IN BRIEF

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

MLBN ABC FS2 TNT

10 a.m. French Open, Quarterfinals TNT, TRUTV Noon French Open, Quarterfinals TNT, TRUTV 1 p.m. French Open, Quarterfinals TNT, TRUTV 4 a.m. (Wed.) Roland Garros — Live Tennis 4 a.m. (Wed.) French Open, Quarterfinals TNT, TRUTV 5 a.m. (Wed.) Roland Garros — Live Tennis 5 a.m. (Wed.) French Open TNT, TRUTV

FRENCH OPEN

Sabalenka advances to quarterfinals

BY ANDREW DAMPF AND JEROME PUGMIRE Associated Press

PARIS — Naomi Osaka might have had the edge in the fashion contest. In the tennis department, though, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka was the winner.

Sabalenka beat Osaka 7-5, 6-3 on Monday to reach the French Open quarterfinals and move one step closer to finally winning the clay-court Grand Slam, where she lost last year’s final to Coco Gauff.

It was the first women’s night match at Roland Garros in three years, and Osaka entered the court wearing a golden bomber jacket over her gold sequin playing dress, trailing a tiered train with puffs of tulle.

Sabalenka wore more standard tennis attire: a slightly sheer black flared tennis dress with a red underlayer; plus diamond necklaces.

In the matchup of four-time Grand Slam champions, Sabalenka improved to 3-1 in her career against Osaka, who was playing in the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time.

Sabalenka overpowered Osaka from the baseline and produced a huge forehand return winner on her first match point that Osaka barely got her racket on.

Tournament organizers had been criticized for not scheduling more women’s matches at night, with Roland Garros officials responding that women’s best-ofthree set matches don’t occupy enough time for TV broadcasters. The men play best-of-five set matches.

Sabalenka won in 1 hour, 27 minutes.

“The atmosphere and the attention that this match brought (is) going to show them that probably for the future they should con-

On a day when several NFL stars have been on the move, Alvin Kamara is still a member of the New Orleans Saints.

And the running back reportedly is expecting it to stay that way.

“We plan on playing for the Saints in 2026,” said Brad Cicala, Kamara’s agent, to the NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo on Sunday.

Monday was seen as a pivotal day for Kamara and the Saints, because it was when the 30-year-old running back became eligible to be released without New Orleans incurring a sizable salary cap charge.

According to Garafolo, the Saints’ unconventional restructure of Kamara’s contract in March made Kamara ineligible to be designated as a post-June 1 cut, which would explain why the Saints have waited this long to determine the running back’s future.

Giants add three receivers, including ex-LSU star OBJ

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By AURELIEN MORISSARD

Aryna Sabalenka waves to the crowd after winning a fourth-round match against Naomi Osaka on Monday at the French Open in Paris.

Italian fans will have at least two men in the quarterfinals.

Tenth-seeded Flavio Cobolli advanced to his second Grand Slam quarterfinal — and his first here — after beating American Zachary Svajda 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5).

“It’s for sure my favorite Grand Slam to play,” Cobolli said after winning on Court Philippe-Chatrier. “We have the best feeling with the surface as Italians.”

A little while after his win, Italians in quarterfinals Cobolli — a former youth socDespite top-ranked Jannik Sin- cer player at Italian club Roma ner losing in the second round, — joined players from the Paris sider putting at least sometimes women matches at night,” Sabalenka said.

Sabalenka’s quarterfinal opponent will be Diana Shnaider, who beat Madison Keys — the last American woman remaining in contention — 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.

French hopes were dashed following Diane Parry’s 6-3, 6-2 loss to 114th-ranked Maja Chwalinska of Poland.

Saint-Germain team as they paraded the Champions League trophy on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

PSG beat Arsenal in the final on Saturday.

Cobolli next faces No. 4 Felix Auger-Aliassime, who beat Alejandro Tabilo 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 to complete a career set of reaching the last eight at all four majors. The Canadian has never been beyond a Grand Slam semifinal, though.

“Not having Sinner in the semifinals is another opportunity, but you need to be there,” Auger-Aliassime said.

Williams, 44, announces return to tennis

BY ANDREW DAMPF

daughter: “Rumor has it…I got a new trainer,” Williams said in the post.

Williams’ second daughter was born in 2023.

Venus Williams, who also had a stint at No. 1 in the rankings and is a five-time Wimbledon champion, is still playing occasionally at 45.

Associated Press

PARIS — Serena Williams is coming back to professional tennis at the age of 44, returning to the sport she dominated for two decades before famously “evolving” away from the daily grind of competition.

First up for the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion is the doubles tournament at Queen’s Club.

But Wimbledon and the U.S. Open could be next.

“It seems like she’s trying to work her way up maybe to the U.S. Open, and those fans would be so ready to see her back on a singles court there,” former No. 1 Lindsay Davenport said at the French Open after the WTA Tour announced Monday that Williams has accepted a wild-card invitation to play doubles at next week’s grass-court tournament in London.

Williams won seven Wimbledon titles and six at the U.S. Open before stepping away from the game in 2022. In doubles, she won six titles at Wimbledon and two at the U.S. Open — all with her older sister Venus Williams.

John McEnroe suggested Williams could compete in singles at Wimbledon, which starts June 28.

“She’s not getting any younger, but she’s Serena Williams, so I bet you she would tell me about wanting to win the whole damn thing,” McEnroe said in Paris.

The Queen’s Club tournament starts next Monday, and the WTA said Williams will play “with a partner to be announced in due course.”

“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,” Williams said in a statement.

“Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career, and I’m excited to be back competing on one of the sport’s most iconic stages.”

Williams has not competed since bidding farewell at the 2022 U.S. Open. At the time, Williams said she didn’t want to use the word “retiring” and instead declared that she was “evolving” away from tennis.

Davenport said some current

Kamara’s agent shares update on RB’s status

McEnroe played doubles at 47

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JOHN MINCHILLO

Serena Williams returns a shot to Anett Kontaveit during the second round of the U.S. Open on Aug. 31, 2022, in New york. Williams has not competed since bidding farewell at that event. women’s players went down to Florida to practice with Williams recently.

“I don’t think anyone’s admitted to that, but I do know that some of them were,” Davenport said. “So I think she has kind of a handle on where the level is. But I don’t know if she’s been playing a twohour singles match, right? We’ll have to see how she can handle that physically.”

Williams, who has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles overall in her storied career, became eligible to compete in February after re-registering with tennis’ mandatory anti-doping program six months earlier — which is the first step toward a comeback.

Djokovic still competitive at 39 Davenport noted how Novak Djokovic is still competitive at 39 — having recently pushed 19-year-old Joao Fonseca to five sets before losing in the third round in Paris.

“It’s not going to be easy. If anyone could do it, certainly it could be her,” Davenport said of Williams. “We’re seeing kind of an unprecedented time with players and how they train now, being able to play better longer, play at a level that we never expected.

“She always looks in incredible

shape, and better shape than arguably when she left.”

While Williams’ big serve automatically gives her an advantage on grass, it’s a surface that also presents unique challenges because of the speed of play and low bounces.

“Grass is a tough surface to start on,” Davenport said. “It goes very quick, very low, very physical, not as much running as clay, but a lot of bending. ... She wouldn’t come back unless she knew she could play at such a high level. But we’ve got to be a little graceful in the time we give her until she hits her feet.”

Osaka’s role models Four-time major champion Naomi Osaka, who beat Williams in the 2018 U.S. Open final for her first major title, was excited at the prospect.

“It will bring people to watch tennis,” Osaka said Thursday.

“I’m going to be tuned into the first match, for sure. I think a lot of people are. Everyone knows Serena and Venus were my role models growing up, so it’s going to be cool to see her on the grounds again.”

Williams recently posted a video on Instagram showing herself training on a hard court with her

McEnroe was 47 when he returned after 12 years of retirement and won a tour-level doubles tournament with partner Jonas Bjorkman.

“Physically I still had it for doubles, so she definitely could still have it for doubles, there’s no question about that. She could win anything (in doubles),” McEnroe said. “The singles is more difficult. ... I’m not really sure what the plan is. She hasn’t called me to tell me the plan.”

Gauff’s regrets “One of my biggest regrets was not being able to play her,” reigning French Open champion Coco Gauff said.

Eighteen-year-old American player Iva Jovic was also thrilled.

“I have never seen Serena in real life,” Jovic said. “Obviously, I grew up watching her. In my entire childhood she was dominating tennis.”

Added fellow American player Madison Keys: “Serena Williams playing tennis is only good for tennis. Let’s be real. We all want to watch Serena play tennis.

“I mean, you literally get to watch history every single time she takes the court,” Keys added.

“So why not watch more?”

‘Icon of the game’ A women’s tournament rejoined the men’s competition at Queen’s last year after an absence of more than 50 years, meaning Williams will be making her debut at the historic grass-court tournament.

“Women’s tennis made a historic return to the Queen’s Club last year,” Queen’s tournament director Laura Robson said, “and now we have an icon of the game stepping back on to court at this prestigious venue.”

Odell Beckham Jr. is returning to the New York Giants.

The 33-year-old receiver and former LSU standout signed with the Giants on Monday after visiting and working out with them in April.

The Giants also signed receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Braxton Berrios, according to a person with knowledge of the moves.

There is uncertainty at the position with fellow former Tiger Malik Nabers recovering from a torn ACL in his right knee and wideout Gunner Olszewski having torn his right Achilles tendon in an offseason workout practice last week.

Beckham did not play in the NFL last year, when he served a six-game suspension for failing a performance-enhancing drug test.

Sweeney formally named as head coach of Magic

SAN ANTONIO — Sean Sweeney was formally named coach of the Orlando Magic on Monday after the sides struck an agreement in principle last week.

Sweeney, the associate head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, will remain with that team through the conclusion of the NBA Finals.

The Magic will introduce Sweeney at some point after the series between the Spurs and New York Knicks.

The 41-year-old Sweeney will replace Jamahl Mosley, who was let go by the Magic after five seasons and three consecutive first-round playoff exits. Mosley has since been hired as coach of the New Orleans Pelicans.

Hall of Fame receiver, Colts legend Berry dies

NEW YORK — Raymond Berry, the Hall of Fame wide receiver who teamed with Baltimore quarterback Johnny Unitas for one of the NFL’s greatest passing combinations and helped lead the Colts to victory over the New York Giants in the storied 1958 championship game, has died. He was 93.

Berry, who later coached the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX, died May 25, the Pro Football Hall of Fame said Monday.

His family said in a statement that Berry died peacefully at home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, surrounded by family, including his wife of 65 years, Sally.

Adelman, winner of over 1,000 games, dies at 79 Rick Adelman, a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee who played for seven NBA seasons before becoming one of the game’s all-time winningest coaches, has died, the National Basketball Coaches Association announced Monday.

Adelman, the father of Denver Nuggets coach David Adelman, was 79. The cause of his death was not immediately announced.

Rick Adelman won 1,042 games as an NBA coach, 10th-most in league history. Only four other coaches — Pat Riley, Gregg Popovich, Jerry Sloan and George Karl — coached more games and had a better winning percentage than Adelman, who took the Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA Finals twice and also was head coach in Sacramento, Houston, Minnesota and Golden State.

Adelman played in the NBA from 1969-75 as a point guard with five teams — but found his calling as a coach.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Tuesday, June 2, 2026 ● 3C

lll

HOF

Continued from page 1C All-America quarterback in 2010 at Boise State, Moore finished with the highest winning percentage for a starting quarterback (.943) ever. He also set the NCAA record for lowest career interception percentage (.017), tied the NCAA record with four 3,000-yard passing seasons and finished as Boise State’s all-time leading passer (14,667 yards).

Faneca, who played guard at LSU from 1995-97, was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.

A consensus first-team AllAmerican in 1997 and LSU’s first Outland Trophy finalist, he won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy that year. Faneca helped the Tigers lead the Southeastern Conference in rushing his final two seasons and was a two-time firstteam All-SEC pick.

Peterson made history as an LSU cornerback, becoming the first player to win both the Bednarik (top defensive player) and Jim Thorpe (top defensive back) awards. A unanimous firstteam All-American in 2010, Peterson was the first player to be named SEC defensive player of the year and SEC special teams player of the year after also leading the conference in punt and kickoff return yards.

Evans, a Saints Ring of Honor honoree who played guard from 2006-16 in New Orleans, was a standout small college offensive lineman at Bloomsburg (Penn-

STAFF FILE PHOTO By TRAVIS SPRADLING

Star LSU guard Alan Faneca takes a breather after a win over Akron is well in hand on Sept. 27, 1997, in Tiger Stadium.

and two-time NCAA Division II player of the year finalist.

Edwards set the thenNCAA record for career touchdown receptions with 50 (he now ranks third alltime) as he won the 1998 Biletnikoff Award at Louisiana Tech and was a consensus first-team All-American. He caught 27 touchdown passes that season and set a singlegame FBS record with 405 receiving yards against Nebraska.

Other notables on this year’s ballot include: Ashley Ambrose, Mississippi Valley

(1999, 2003-04) led the nation in punt returns as a senior.

Vaughn Dunbar, Indiana: Long before the Hoosiers dreamed of winning the national title, the former Saints running back (1992, 1994-95) led the nation in rushing in 1991 (1,805 yards) and was a unanimous first-team AllAmerican.

Matt Dunigan, Louisiana Tech: A 1982 first-team All-American and Southland Conference Player of the Year, Dunigan set career school records for completions (550), passing yards (7,042) and TD passes

a guy that can play the point, so he could slide to the point as well.”

The Cajuns appear to have more ballhandlers on the roster than last season. Regardless of the role, Middleton foresees himself being a leader.

“That’s definitely important for me, having that same role and even looking for a lot of leadership and scoring ... making the right plan as well,” Middleton said.

“This is probably the biggest step I’ve taken so far coming from A&T.” Middleton hopes his vast experience at adjusting to a new program will benefit him at UL. “It was definitely difficult but nothing that I wasn’t ready for,” he said of each move. “All of that kind of made me the person who I am today like going ... from Philly early and moving away early and then going

Live Ball Era in 1920.

Arizona pitcher Zac Gallen is the only other active pitcher who understands what Sánchez is feeling on the mound over a lengthy scoreless streak. Gallen — just passed by Sánchez — had six straight scoreless starts of six-plus innings and finished at 441/3 innings overall in 2022.

“When you’re on a streak like that, it’s fun,” Gallen said. “It’s kind of like walking around, I wouldn’t say on eggshells of, ‘Oh man, you never know when this thing’s going to end.’ But it’s fun when you’re out there and you’re in flow and the zeroes start to stack up. So, it’s awesome for him. I hope he can take down the record.”

Sánchez is 6-2 with an MLBlow 1.47 ERA overall headed into Wednesday’s start against a Padres team he just beat last week with seven brilliant innings. Should Sánchez start the game with three scoreless innings, he would pass Sal Maglie, Carl Hubbell, Zack Greinke and Bob Gibson on the scoreless streak list.

Only Don Drysdale and Hershiser would be left.

“What I do watch, he’s very, very special,” Hershiser said. “His changeup, his athleticism, his ability to change speeds to both sides of the plate. I just think he’s a real special pitcher. You can’t do what he’s doing without repeating your mechanics and having some deception and making a lot of good pitches.

He’s putting it all together.”

Each of Sánchez’s last 282/3 innings at Citizens Bank Park have been scoreless, and he has the third-longest scoreless streak in ballpark history, trailing only Roy Halladay in 2010 (33 innings) and Cliff Lee in 2011 (29).

The 29-year-old Sánchez has inched toward greatness each of the last two seasons.

He was the NL Cy Young Award runner-up in 2025 when he went 13-5 with a 2.50 ERA and struck out 212 in 202 innings. Sánchez was rewarded in March with a guaranteed $104 million over a six-year contract through the 2032 season in a deal that contains $20 million in deferred money payable from 2035-44.

The Phillies put a lot of financial faith in Sánchez, and the early returns have been significant — he made his first opening-day start and could lead to the lanky lefty earning an All Star start in July on his home mound.

Sánchez signed with the Tampa Bay Rays as an international free agent in 2013 and was traded to the Phillies six years later for infielder Curtis Mead, who never caught on as an everyday player and is batting .242 in 45 games this season with the Washington Nationals.

Sánchez — throwing a changeup that averages 86.5 mph and holding hitters to a .153 average — and Zack Wheeler have formed a formidable 1-2 punch in the rotation and helped the Phillies play their way out of a 9-19 start to get back into wildcard contention.

Sánchez has pitched largely to weak contact, and the scoreless streak has never been in any serious jeopardy since he last allowed two runs in the first inning of a 3-2 Phillies win over the Giants on April 30.

“If Cristopher would break it, that would be an honor to be mentioned and I would treat him with the same (respectful) that Don Drysdale treated me,” Hershiser said.

Kansas City, Missouri. Hudson had 25 points on 9-of-15 Continued from page 1C shooting, eight rebounds, six blocks, one steal, one assist and two turnovers. He also games on the 17U EYBL cir- made 6 of 7 free throws.

Hudson earned Louisicuit this summer. Before the interview, he played his best ana Gatorade Player of the game of the summer in the fi- Year honors as a junior, nal matchup of Session III in averaging 19.7 points, 13.5

rebounds, 2.1 assists and 3.0 blocks. He led Ruston (23-4) to the Division I nonselect state tournament championship game.

Hudson’s dad, Antonio Hudson, played basketball at LSU from 2001-05 and is the basketball coach of Lincoln Prep.

MIDDLETON

Continued from page 1C Last season, he averaged 12.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists over 29 games and 28 starts. Middleton shot 31.1% from 3-point land and 76.5% at the line.

“He’s a guy that can score the ball at all three levels,” UL coach Quannas White said of Middleton. “He’s also

SÁNCHEZ

Continued from page 1C 45 — with only three walks — over 39 innings in May and broke a 115-year-old franchise record along the way. Sánchez has pitched 442/3 consecutive scoreless innings headed into Wednesday’s start against San Diego to top the mark of 41 innings set in 1911 by Grover Cleveland Alexander.

Up ahead, a shot at the major league record held by former Los Angeles Dodgers great Orel Hershiser, who threw 59 consecutive scoreless innings for the World Series champions from Aug. 30 to Sept. 28, 1988.

“I’m pulling for anybody to have a life-changing moment,” Hershiser said. “’88 and the 59 scoreless changed my life. The only time I’m not going to root for him is when he’s pitching against the Dodgers.”

Sánchez missed the Dodgers series during the Phillies 4-2 road trip, and they are now 21-10 under interim manager Don Mattingly.

He hasn’t missed much else, except maybe a lot of bats.

“It’s something special,” Sánchez said through an interpreter. “Something really important. I never imagined something like this. So, I’m really happy and proud of myself.”

Sánchez has thrown at least seven shutout innings in five straight starts — he would need to reach that minimum in two more starts, plus one inning to top Hershiser — and only six other pitchers are ahead of him on the consecutive shutout innings list dating back to the start of the

HUDSON

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By DAVE MARTIN

North Squad quarterback Kellen Moore of Boise State looks sylvania). Evans was a first- State: A first-team All-Ameri- for a receiver in the first half of the Senior Bowl game on team All-American in 2005 can in 1991, the former Saint Jan. 28, 2012, at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. (40).

Craig Heyward, Pittsburgh: A 1987 consensus first-team All-American, the former Saints running back (198892) led the nation in rushing and finished fifth in Heisman voting.

Maxie Lambright, Louisiana Tech: The coach in Ruston from 1967-78, he led the program to three consecutive Division II national titles from 1972-74 and won seven conference titles.

MantiTe’o,Notre Dame: A Saints

linebacker from 2017-19, Te’o was a unanimous firstteam All-American in 2012 under former LSU coach Brian Kelly. He was the first player ever to sweep the Maxwell, Walter Camp, Bednarik, Butkus, Lombardi and Nagurski awards in the same season.

Jonathan Vilma, Miami: Also a Saints linebacker from 2008-13, Vilma was a firstteam All-American in 2003 and led the Hurricanes to back-to-back BCS national

from school to school ... it really just helps you create that relationship with the coach and your teammates.”

White foresees Middleton helping on the defensive side.

“He’s an elite scorer, and one of the underrated things about Trent Middleton’s game is he’s a really good on-ball defender,” White said. “He’s a really good defender.”

Last year, much of his scoring came from attacking the basket, as well as an improved mid-range jump shot.

“And one of the main reasons I came here is coach (White) said he’s going to make me a better offensive player,” he said. “Shooting is one of the main things I’m going to be working on.”

Middleton said his after arriving in Lafayette later this

championship games.

Not included on this year’s ballot is former LSU coach Les Miles, his absence notable because of the names of two other coaches.

Former Mississippi State coaches Mike Leach and Jackie Sherrill made the list.

Both were eligible because of a voting rule adopted in 2025 saying that coaches with a winning percentage below .600 could be on the ballot if their winning percentages round up to .600 (.595 or higher), among other considerations.

Leach, who died in 2022 and is considered a mastermind behind modern college offenses, had a winning percentage of .596 with a 158107 record at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State. Sherrill, who coached 26 seasons at Washington State, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M and Mississippi State, was {span}179-121-4 (.595).{/span} Miles went 114-34 with a 2007 national championship at LSU and was 145-73 in 18 total seasons that included stops at Oklahoma State and Kansas for an on-field career winning percentage of .665.

But LSU forfeited 37 wins from Miles’ tenure, stemming from improper benefits given to former Tiger Vadal Alexander by convicted Our Lady of the Lake Foundation president/CEO John Paul Funes. That officially made Miles 108-73, for a winning percentage of .597.

That qualifies under the new criteria, but Miles must be nominated by one of the schools he coached at to be on the ballot.

week is “work every day so I can add to my game and keep building.”

The other portal transfers are 6-8 post man Dani Pounds from Tennessee Tech; 6-7 forward Josiah Harris from Cleveland State; 6-foot guard Mekhi Cooper from Lindenwood; and Deion Ware from South Plains College.

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@theadvocate.com.

OVER 50?

UNLIMITED FOR JUST $35/MONTH.

Backed by #1 Network Coverage and Customer Satisfaction.*

100% U.S. BASED CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Ranked #1 in customer satisfaction

by ACSI®.*

FAST, RELIABLE NATIONWIDE COVERAGE. Ranked #1 in network coverage by ACSI®.*

Switch & Save Today.

844-238-7868

© 2026 Consumer Cellular, Inc. Terms and Conditions subject to change. Plans shown include $5 credit for AutoPay and E-billing. Taxes and other fees apply. Credit approval required for new service. Cellular service is not available in all areas and is subject to system limitations. For unlimited plans, high-speed data is reduced after 35GB on single-line plans and 50GB of combined usage on multi-line plans for the remainder of your billing cycle. Unlimited data plans only for customers age 50+.

Age validation required. *2025 ACSI® Survey of customers rating their own wireless service provider. ACSI® and its logo are registered trademarks of the American Customer Satisfaction Index LLC. For more about the ACSI®, visit www.theacsi.org.

4C ● Tuesday, June 2, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

Rams land Garrett in blockbuster trade

BY JOE REEDY AND GREG BEACHAM AP sportswriters

Myles Garrett finally got his wish — to be a part of a consistent winning team instead of one in a perpetual rebuild.

The Cleveland Browns traded the two-time AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year to the Los Angeles Rams for pass rusher Jared Verse and three draft picks in a blockbuster deal on Monday.

Garrett was the unanimous choice for Defensive Player of the Year last season after he had 23 sacks to break the NFL singleseason record. He is expected to report to the Rams’ facility on Tuesday and have a news conference to discuss the trade.

Garrett’s addition marks the first time the reigning AP NFL MVP and Defensive Player of the Year will be teammates. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford won his first MVP award last season.

General manager Andrew Berry was able to make a deal after the Browns and Garrett agreed to modify his contract and defer option payments over the 2026-28 seasons in March. The first payment of around $10 million was due on March 28 but was moved to near the start of the regular season.

Garrett demanded a trade at the end of the 2024 season, but signed a four-year contract extension in March 2025 with a total value of $204.8 million that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. The contract also included a no-trade clause.

Berry had long said that Garrett would play his entire career in Cleveland, but Garrett’s lingering frustrations over the franchise’s

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By DAVID DERMER

This photo combination shows Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, left, in Cincinnati and Los Angeles Rams linebacker Jared Verse on Jan. 4 in Inglewood, Calif. direction and the chance to start anew meant it was time to move on.

Cleveland is 8-26 the past two years after making the playoffs in 2023.

“As discussions intensified, we were stuck at a legitimate crossroads: Do we hold on to a truly generational player who has become the identity of our team, or do we make the difficult decision that we think is best for the organization over the long run?” Berry said after the trade was announced.

The Browns get Verse — the 2024 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year — a 2027 first-round selection, a second-round pick in 2028 and a 2029 third-round selection.

Owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said in a statement that they met with Garrett on Saturday to discuss the trade.

“Trading Myles was never our

intent, but we also recognize that certain opportunities demand serious consideration, and we believe this is the right move for our team.

Adding a young defensive star like Jared Verse, along with valuable draft assets, are necessary to strengthen a talented young core and align with the youth of our team,” the Haslams said.

Garrett was not seen at the Browns’ facility during offseason workouts even though he made a couple of visits to Cleveland during the Cavaliers’ NBA playoff run. Garrett has a minority stake in the Cavaliers.

Coach Todd Monken said two weeks ago he had not had a faceto-face meeting with Garrett since being hired in late January. Defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg said last week he had some conversations over the phone with Garrett about the direction of the defense.

Patriots send 1st-round pick to Eagles for Brown

BY KYLE HIGHTOWER AP sportswriter

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — A.J. Brown is leaving Philadelphia for a reunion in New England with his first NFL coach.

The Eagles traded the star receiver to the Patriots on Monday, putting a cap on the longrumored deal.

The Eagles said they will receive a first-round pick in 2028 and a fifth-round pick in 2027 for the three-time Pro Bowler.

The trade comes after a frustrating 2025 season for Brown in Philadelphia, in which he had grown dispirited with an Eagles offense that played uninspired football at times while the team failed to defend its Super Bowl title.

Still, he posted a message on Instagram shortly after the trade became official Monday of him in an Eagles jersey with his hands making the “heart” symbol. He also posted a few other photos of himself as a kid wearing a Tom Brady Patriots jersey.

Brown played under Vrabel for three seasons after being drafted by the Tennessee Titans in 2019.

Brown, 28, quickly rose to the top receiving option in Philadelphia after being traded by Tennessee to the Eagles in 2022.

He had back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons his first two seasons with the Eagles, catching 88 passes for 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2022 and 106 passes for 1,456 yards and seven TDs in 2023.

He earned a Super Bowl ring during the 2024 season, but began to grow unhappy last season as the Eagles offense stagnated — leading to a change at offensive coordinator after a wild-card playoff loss to San Francisco last season.

It led to an increase in chatter about the potential for a trade heading into this offseason. It

AP FILE PHOTO By CHRIS SZAGOLA

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown was traded to the New England Patriots on Monday for a pair of draft picks.

didn’t happen during April’s NFL draft likely because the Eagles would have had about $43 million in dead cap money for 2026 compared to about $16 million this year and $27 million next year if traded after June 1.

Ultimately a high draft pick proved to be enough to persuade them to deal a player of Brown’s caliber.

The Patriots have been viewed as a possible landing spot for Brown since they released receiver Stefon Diggs in March.

Diggs led New England with 85 receptions and 1,013 yards receiving with four touchdowns in his only season in New England in 2025, helping the Patriots reach the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Seattle Seahawks.

Diggs’ exit made finding a No. 1 receiving option for quarterback Drake Maye a priority.

The Patriots did add former Green Bay Packers receiver Romeo Doubs in free agency, but he doesn’t instantly change an offense the way Brown’s addition could.

Maye acknowledged last week that he was aware of the Brownto-New England rumors.

SCOREBOARD Odds

Game 7 — No. 2 Tennessee 2, No. 3 Texas Tech 1 Game 8 — No. 1 Alabama 5, No. 1 Nebraska 1

Sports Betting Line MLB

Sunday’s games

Game 9 — No. 1 Texas 3, Nebraska 1 Game 10 — No. 2 UCLA 8, No. 3 Texas Tech 7

Tuesday

American League FAVORITE LINE at TAMPA BAY -145 at BOSTON -130 at N.Y YANKEES -206 White Sox -118 National League FAVORITE LINE at PHILADELPHIA -130 at WASHINGTON OFF at MILWAUKEE -184 LA Dodgers -123 Interleague FAVORITE LINE at CINCINNATI -124 at ATLANTA -128 Texas -111 Athletics -123 Pittsburgh -115 at LA ANGELS -159 at SEATTLE -152

Monday’s games

UNDERDOG LINE Detroit +121 Baltimore +110 Cleveland +171 at MINNESOTA -101 UNDERDOG LINE San Diego +110 Miami OFF San Francisco +153 at ARIZONA +103 UNDERDOG Kansas City Toronto at ST. LOUIS at CHI CUBS at HOUSTON Colorado N.Y Mets

LINE +106 +108 -108 +103 -104 +133 +128

UNDERDOG Vegas

LINE +127

NHL Tuesday

FAVORITE at CAROLINA

LINE -152

FINALS

Thursday, June 4

Game 2 — Teams TBD 8 p.m.

Friday, June 5

x-Game 3 — Teams, TBD, 7 p.m.

College baseball Double Elimination; x-if necessary Atlanta Regional Atlanta Friday, May 29

Game 1 — Georgia Tech 22, UIC 5 Game 2 — The Citadel vs. Oklahoma, ppd. to May 30

Sunday, May 31

(Best-of-7; x-if necessary)

San Antonio vs. New York

Wednesday, June 3: New York at San Antonio, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, June 5: New York at San Antonio, 7:30 p.m.

Monday, June 8: San Antonio at New York, 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, June 10: San Antonio at New York, 7:30 p.m. x-Saturday, June 13: New York at San Antonio, TBA x-Tuesday, June 16: San Antonio at New York, TBA x-Friday, June 19: New York at San Antonio, TBA

WNBA Glance EASTERN CONFERENCE W 5 5 5 4 3 3 2

W 6 5 5 5 6 4 3 2

Game 5 — Oklahoma 15, The Citadel 5 , The Citadel eliminated Game 6 — Oklahoma 15, Georgia Tech 8

Monday, June 1

Game 7 — Oklahoma 8, Georgia Tech 7

Athens Regional Athens, Ga. Friday, May 29

Game 1 — Liberty 4, Boston College 3 Game 2 — Georgia vs. LIU, susp.

Saturday, May 30

Game 2 — Georgia 18, LIU 2 Game 3 — Boston College 8, LIU 4, LIU eliminated Game 4 — Georgia 6, Liberty 2

Sunday, May 31

L 2 4 4 4 4 5 8

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Sunday’s Games

Game 1 — Teams TBD, 7 p.m.

Game 2 — Oklahoma 8, The Citadel 3 Game 3 — The Citadel 9, UIC 8, 10 innings, UIC eliminated Game 4 — Georgia Tech 9, Oklahoma 3

NBA Playoff Glance

Minnesota Dallas Las Vegas Golden State Portland Los Angeles Seattle Phoenix

Championship Series (Best-of-3) Wednesday, June 3

Saturday, May 30

Pro basketball

Atlanta New York Toronto Indiana Washington Chicago Connecticut

Game 11 — No. 1 Texas 5, No. 2 Tennessee 2 Game 13 — No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 3 Texas Tech, n x-Game 14 — No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 2 UCLA, 8:30 p.m.

L 2 3 3 3 4 4 6 7

Pct .714 .556 .556 .500 .429 .375 .200 Pct .750 .625 .625 .625 .600 .500 .333 .222

GB — 1 1 1½ 2 2½ 4½ GB — 1 1 1 1 2 3½ 4½

Las Vegas 91, Golden State 81

Monday’s Games

Seattle at Dallas, n Minnesota at Phoenix, n

Tuesday’s Games

Game 5 — Liberty 8, Boston College 3, Boston College eliminated Game 6 — Georgia 6, Liberty 1

Auburn Regional Auburn, Ala. Friday, May 29

Game 1 — Milwaukee 1 3, Auburn 8 Game 2 — NC State vs. UCF, susp.

Saturday, May 30

Game 2 — UCF 9, NC State 3 Game 3 — Auburn 17, NC State 13, NC State eliminated Game 4 — Milwaukee 13, UCF 6

Sunday, May 31

Game 5 — Auburn 9, UCF 3, UCF eliminated Game 6 — Auburn 8, Milwaukee 1

Monday, June 1

Game 7 — Auburn vs. Milwaukee, n

Austin Regional Austin, Texas Friday, May 29

Game 1 — Texas 19, Holy Cross 1 Game 2 — Tarleton St. 11, UC Santa Barbara 5

Saturday, May 30

Chicago at Washington, 6:30 p.m.

Connecticut at Atlanta, 6:30 p.m.

Las Vegas at Los Angeles, 9 p.m.

Portland at Golden State, 9 p.m.

Game 3 — UC Santa Barbara 15, Holy Cross 1, Holy Cross eliminated Game 4 — Texas 16, Tarleton St. 2

College softball

Game 5 — UC Santa Barbara 9, Tarleton St. 5, Tarleton St. eliminated Game 6 — Texas 8, UC Santa Barbara 3

NCAA Div. I World Series glance At Devon Park Oklahoma City, Okla.

Double elimination x-if necessary

Thursday’s games

Sunday, May 31

Chapel Hill Regional Chapel Hill, N.C. Friday, May 29

Game 1 — East Carolina 7, Tennessee 3, 14 innings Game 2 — North Carolina 8, VCU 0

Sunday, May 31

Game 5 — West Virginia 10, Wake Forest 5, Wake Forest eliminated Game 6 — West Virginia 11, Kentucky 9

Game 3 — Southern Cal 19, Lamar 6, Lamar eliminated Game 4 — Texas A&M 17, Texas St. 2 Game 5 — Southern Cal 8, Texas St. 4, Texas St. eliminated Game 6 — Southern Cal 14, Texas A&M 3

Monday, June 1

Game 7 — Texas A&M vs. Southern Cal, n

Eugene Regional Eugene, Ore. Friday, May 29

Game 1 — Washington St. 3, Oregon St. 2 Game 2 — Oregon 14, Yale 2

College Station Regional

Sunday, May 31

Monday, June 1

Game 7 — Kentucky vs. West Virginia, n

Starkville Regional Starkville, Miss.

Friday, May 29

Game 1 — Mississippi St. 10, Lipscomb 1 Game 2 — Cincinnati 12, Louisiana 2

Saturday, May 30

Saturday, May 30

Game 3 — Louisiana 10, Lipscomb 4, Lipscomb eliminated Game 4 — Mississippi St. 10, Cincinnati 5

Sunday, May 31

Game 5 — Louisiana 8, Cincinnati 6, Cincinnati eliminated Game 6 — Mississippi St. 19, Louisiana 5

Game 3 — Oregon St. 9, Yale 2, Yale eliminated Game 4 — Oregon 4, Washington St. 0 Game 5 — Oregon St. 10, Washington St. 1, Washington St. eliminated Game 6 — Oregon 4, Oregon St. 1

Gainesville Regional Gainesville, Fla. Friday, May 29

Game 1 — Florida 8, Rider 7 Game 2 — Miami 10, Troy 5

Saturday, May 30

Game 3 — Troy 15, Rider 7, Rider eliminated Game 4 — Florida 22, Miami 10

Sunday, May 31

Game 5 — Troy 9, Miami 6, Miami eliminated Game 6 — Troy 16, Florida 11

Monday, June 1

Game 7 — Troy vs. Florida, n

Hattiesburg Regional Hattiesburg, Miss.

Friday, May 29

Game 1 — Little Rock 7, Southern Miss 4 Game 2 — Jacksonville St. 15, Virginia 7

Saturday, May 30

Game 3 — Virginia 15, Southern Miss 11, Southern Miss. eliminated Game 4 — Little Rock 8, Jacksonville St. 6

Sunday, May 31

Game 5 — Jacksonville St. 7, Virginia 6, Virginia eliminated Game 6 — Little Rock 8, Jacksonville St. 3

Lawrence Regional Lawrence, Kan. Friday, May 29

Game 1 — Kansas 6 Northeastern 3 Game 2 — Arkansas 9, Missouri St. 5

Saturday, May 30

Game 3 — Northeastern 5, Missouri St. 1, Missouri St. eliminated Game 4 — Kansas 5, Arkansas 3

Sunday, May 31

Game 5 — Arkansas 10, Northeastern 9, Northeastern eliminated Game 6 — Kansas 13, Arkansas 10

Lincoln Regional Lincoln, Neb. Friday, May 29

Game 1 — Nebraska 4, South Dakota St. 1 Game 2 — Mississippi 7, Arizona St. 6, 14 innings

Saturday, May 30

Game 3 — Arizona St. 17, South Dakota St. 0, South Dakota St. eliminated Game 4 — Nebraska vs. Mississippi, susp.

Sunday, May 31

Game 4 — Mississippi 6, Nebraska 3 Game 5 — Arizona St. 11, Nebraska 8, Nebraska eliminated Game 6 — Mississippi 5, Arizona St. 4, 10 innings

Los Angeles Regional Los Angeles Friday, May 29

Game 1 — Saint Mary’s (Cal) 3, UCLA 2 Game 2 — Cal Poly 6, Virginia Tech 2

Saturday, May 30

Sunday, May 31

Game 5 — East Carolina 10, VCU 0, VCU eliminated Game 6 — North Carolina 9, East Carolina 3

Saturday, May 30

Saturday, May 30

Game 5 — Saint Mary’s (Cal) 6, UCLA 5, UCLA eliminated Game 6 — Cal Poly 5, Saint Mary’s (Cal) 2

Game 5 — No. 1 Texas 4, No. 5 Mississippi State 0 Game 6 — No. 2 UCLA 11, No. 5 Arkansas 0

Game 1 — Kentucky 6, Wake Forest 5 Game 2 — West Virginia 10, Binghamton 1

Game 3 — Wake Forest 12, Binghamton 3, Binghamton eliminated Game 4 — Kentucky 11, West Virginia 9

Game 3 — UCLA 6, Virginia Tech 5, Virginia Tech eliminated Game 4 — Cal Poly 14, Saint Mary’s (Cal) 1

Game 3 — VCU 5, Tennessee 4, Tennessee eliminated Game 4 — North Carolina 7, East Carolina 5

Saturday’s games

Game 1 — Texas A&M 7, Lamar 5 Game 2 — Texas St. 5, Southern Cal 4

Saturday, May 30

Game 1 — No. 3 Texas Tech 8, No. 5 Miss. St. 0 Game 2 — No. 2 Tennessee 6, No. 1 Texas 3 Game 3 — No. 1 Alabama 6, No. 2 UCLA 3 Game 4 — No. 1 Nebraska 5, No. 2 Arkansas 3

Friday’s games

College Station, Texas Friday, May 29

Sunday, May 31

Morgantown Regional Morgantown, W.Va. Friday, May 29

Sunday, May 31

Tallahassee Regional Tallahassee, Fla. Friday, May 29

Game 1 — St. John’s 6, Florida St. 5 Game 2 — N. Illinois 12, Coastal Carolina 10

Saturday, May 30

Game 3 — Florida St. vs. Coastal Carolina, susp.

Game 4 — St. John’s vs. N. Illinois, ppd.

Sunday, May 31

Game 3 — Florida St. 2, Coastal Carolina 1, Coastal Carolina eliminated Game 4 — St. John’s 21, N. Illinois 8,Game 5 — Florida St. 7, N. Illinois 4, 10 innings, N. Illinois eliminated

Monday, June 1

Game 6 — St. John’s 5, Florida St. 4 x-Game 7 — Rematch Game 6

Tuscaloosa Regional Tuscaloosa, Ala .

Friday, May 29

Game 1 — SC-Upstate 8, Oklahoma St. 5 Game 2 — Alabama 21, Alabama St. 3

Saturday, May 30

Game 3 — Oklahoma St. 8, Alabama St. 7, 11 innings, Alabama St. eliminated Game 4 — Alabama 7, SC-Upstate 5

Sunday, May 31

Game 5 — Oklahoma St. 12, SC-Upstate 1, SC-Updated eliminated Game 6 — Alabama 9, Oklahoma St. 7, 11 innings

Hockey NHL Playoff Glance FINALS

(Best-of-7; x-if necessary)

Carolina vs. Vegas

Tuesday, June 2: Vegas at Carolina, 7 p.m.

Thursday, June 4: Vegas at Carolina, 7 p.m.

Saturday, June 6: Carolina at Vegas, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, June 9: Carolina at Vegas, 7 p.m. x-Thursday, June 11: Vegas at Carolina, TBA x-Sunday, June 14: Carolina at Vegas, TBA x-Wednesday, June 17: Vegas at Carolina, TBA

Auto racing

18. (32) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 299, 19.

19. (3) Daniel Suárez, Chevrolet, 299, 28.

20. (21) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 299, 17.

21. (20) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 299, 16.

22. (34) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 299, 15.

23. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 299, 23.

24. (27) John H. Nemechek, Toyota, 298, 13.

25. (24) Corey Heim, Toyota, 298, 0.

26. (36) Austin Cindric, Ford, 296, 18.

27. (25) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 293, 0.

28. (37) Chad Finchum, Ford, 289, 0.

29. (22) Chris Buescher, Ford, accident, 286, 8.

30. (8) William Byron, Chevrolet, accident, 231, 15.

31. (33) Josh Berry, Ford, accident, 214, 6.

32. (18) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, accident, 203, 10.

33. (19) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, accident, 203, 13.

34. (12) Brad Keselowski, Toyota, accident, 192, 4.

35. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, accident, 172, 12.

36. (28) Ryan Preece, Ford, garage, 90, 1.

37. (35) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, accident, 81, 1.

38. (38) Connor Zilisch, Chevrolet, accident, 71, 1.

Race Statistics Average Speed of Race Winner: 106.425 mph.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 44 minutes, 57 seconds.

Margin of Victory: .115 seconds.

Caution Flags: 11 for 77 laps.

Lead Changes: 31 among 15 drivers.

Lap Leaders: D.Hamlin 0; T.Reddick 1-37; C.Bell 38; S.Van Gisbergen 39-40; J.Logano 41; S.Van Gisbergen 42-48; K.Larson 49; S.Van Gisbergen 50-52; K.Larson 53-75; C.Bell 76; A.Allmendinger 77-78; R.Herbst 79; R.Blaney 80; A.Allmendinger 81; R.Blaney 82-89; A.Allmendinger 90-93; K.Larson 94-125; C.Briscoe 126-139; R.Blaney 140-146; C.Elliott 147; R.Blaney 148-177; C.Elliott 178; D.Suárez 179-188; D.Hamlin 189-244; C.Bell 245-259; C.Elliott 260; T.Reddick 261-265; T.Gibbs 266; E.Jones 267-269; Z.Smith 270-287; C.Bell 288299; D.Hamlin 300 Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): D.Hamlin, 3 times for 58 laps; K.Larson, 3 times for 56 laps; R.Blaney, 4 times for 46 laps; T.Reddick, 2 times for 42 laps; C.Bell, 4 times for 29 laps; Z.Smith, 1 time for 18 laps; C.Briscoe, 1 time for 14 laps; S.Van Gisbergen, 3 times for 12 laps; D.Suárez, 1 time for 10 laps; A.Allmendinger, 3 times for 7 laps; C.Elliott, 3 times for 3 laps; E.Jones, 1 time for 3 laps; T.Gibbs, 1 time for 1 lap; J.Logano, 1 time for 1 lap; R.Herbst, 1 time for 1 lap.

Wins: T.Reddick, 5; D.Hamlin, 2; C.Elliott, 2; R.Blaney, 1; T.Gibbs, 1; C.Hocevar, 1; D.Suárez, 1; S.Van Gisbergen, 1.

Top 16 in Points: 1. T.Reddick, 657; 2.

D.Hamlin, 560; 3. R.Blaney, 483; 4. C.Elliott, 460; 5. T.Gibbs, 449; 6. K.Larson, 409; 7.

C.Bell, 399; 8. C.Buescher, 393; 9. C.Hocevar, 383; 10. D.Suárez, 378; 11. W.Byron, 352; 12.

S.Van Gisbergen, 348; 13. B.Keselowski, 347; 14. C.Briscoe, 343; 15. B.Wallace, 338; 16.

A.Cindric, 306.

NASCAR Driver Rating Formula A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race.

The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.

NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 Results

Transactions

Late Sunday

American League DETROIT TIGERS — Reinstated RHP Ty Madden from the 15-day IL. Optioned RHP Ricky Vanasco to Toledo (IL).

HOUSTON ASTROS — Optioned RHP Logan VanWey to Sugar Land (PCL).

National League ATLANTA BRAVES — Sent RHP Hurston Waldrep on a rehab assignment to the FCL Braves.

CINCINNATI REDS — Designated RHP Yunior Marte for assignment. Recalled SS Edwin Arroyo from Louisville (IL). Selected the contract of LHP Brandon Leibrandt from Louisville.

MIAMI MARLINS — Placed RHP Josh Ekness on the 15-day IL, retroactive to May 29.

Transferred LHP Andrew Nardi from the 15day IL to the 60-day IL. Transferred LF Griffin Conine from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL. Selected the contracts of RHPs Tyler Zuber and Zach Brzykcy from Jacksonville (IL).

Optioned RHP Josh White to Jacksonville.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES — Optioned RHP Cam Sanders to Indianapolis (IL).

At Nashville Superspeedway Lebanon, Tenn.

Lap length: 1.33 miles (Start position in parentheses) 1. (1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 300 laps, 62 points.

2. (4) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 300, 38.

3. (31) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 300, 39.

4. (15) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 300, 41.

5. (10) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 300, 32.

6. (2) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 300, 37.

7. (29) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 300, 37.

8. (7) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 300, 37.

9. (11) Zane Smith, Ford, 300, 28.

10. (17) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 300, 27.

11. (13) Erik Jones, Toyota, 300, 26.

12. (30) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 300, 25.

13. (6) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 300, 24.

14. (9) Joey Logano, Ford, 300, 23.

15. (14) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 300, 27.

16. (26) Noah Gragson, Ford, 299, 21.

17. (23) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 299, 22.

Major League Baseball

LIVING

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

Tomatoes don’t need a lot of space

|

T u e s d ay, J u n e 2, 2026

H

5Cn

“It should feel like home, where Black women can walk the aisles freely without feeling watched or uncomfortable.”

MACIE SMITH, owner of two beauty supply stores in Baton Rouge

Fresh, homegrown tomatoes are as much a symbol of summertime as pool days, ice cream and backyard barbecues.

If you don’t have a lot of space for gardening, you may have resigned yourself to missing out on the refreshing flavor of a ripe, just-picked tomato you grew yourself.

GARDEN But Christine NEWS Coker, LSU AgCenter vegetable specialist, said you don’t need a huge yard to successfully grow a bountiful tomato crop. In fact, tomatoes are an excellent candidate for vegetable gardening in small spaces.

Here’s what you need to know to get started.

Containers If you’re short on space, containers are your best bet for growing tomatoes.

“You can use any kind of container as long as there’s drainage,” Coker said.

Feel free to reuse plastic nursery pots — or you can splurge on some nice decorative containers.

Hanging baskets are great if you have a patio, adding visual interest and putting your tomatoes in a convenient location. Got a 5-gallon bucket sitting around in your garage? You can use that too, Coker said, as long as you drill some holes in the bottom first so excess water can run out.

Types and varieties There are two general categories of tomatoes: indeterminate and determinate.

Indeterminate tomatoes have continuously growing vines that may need occasional pruning to keep them from getting unruly.

Because of this growth habit, indeterminate varieties need support — whether in the form of a trellis, stakes or a cage. They yield a steady supply of fruit (yes, tomatoes are botanically considered fruit) over the entire growing season, often up until

ä See TOMATOES, page 6C

LSU AGCENTER PHOTO

When planting tomatoes, bury them deeper than you would other vegetable transplants.

STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Store owner Macie Smith, a senior finance major at Southern University, opened Luxurious Lookz on Highland Road last year.

‘OUR SAFE SPACE’ Southern University student opens two beauty supply stores

BY BRIANNA MEEKS

Contributing writer

When Macie Smith opened a hair supply store in Baton Rouge, she didn’t realize that she’d have to learn Mandarin. But such was the case when Smith, a senior finance major at Southern University, opened an account with a Chinese braiding hair vendor for her two stores, Luxurious Looks and Mays Beauty Supply.

She learned how to say, “How are you?”, “beauty” and “account.”

But when she met with the vendor in person, she was left with a sour interaction.

After that, she was determined to build a brand that was rooted in respect and representation, especially for students at Southern University.

“The beauty supply store should be our safe space,” Smith said. “It should feel like home, where Black women can walk the aisles freely without feeling watched or uncomfortable.”

Smith has opened two businesses while completing her degree. She saved for two years before opening her first store, Luxurious Lookz, last year at 2932 Highland Road. On Feb. 7, she opened her second location, Mays Beauty Supply, at 8418 Scotland Ave. near campus to provide students easier access to hair products and

Luxurious Lookz is the first of two beauty supply stores opened by Macie Smith. when she did my hair,” Smith said. cosmetics.

At age 4, she began training in karate Her goal is to operate a space where Black women feel welcome and safe, a and continued until she was 11, earning a goal shaped by her own experiences in the second-degree black belt. Smith, who grew beauty industry. ä See SPACE, page 6C “I still carry products my mother used

South Arts’ traveling show conjures questions, thought

BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer

The world doesn’t necessarily revolve around the woman in Edgar Cano’s painting — she simply sits at its center with her eyes closed, hands clasped behind her head. It’s not that she’s ignoring the children playing at her side or even the men preparing a birthday cake behind her.

“She is just enjoying who she is at that moment,”said Cano, who approCano priately titled the piece, “Life if Beautiful.”

The LSU Museum of Art is celebrating the painting’s revelry this summer by featuring it as the signature piece in its exhibit of the “2025 South Arts Southern Prize & State Fellowships for Visual Arts,” opening on June 4. The show runs through Sept. 6.

Cano was chosen as the Louisiana artist for this touring exhibit, which features works by artists from nine Southern states. His “Life is Beautiful” is one of four paintings chosen for the show, which also includes pottery, abstract sculptures, punch loop embroidery and large-scale photo realistic drawings.

“South Arts is a nonprofit based in Atlanta, Georgia, that supports visual artists, writers, musicians and dancers through the Southern region,” said Michelle Schulte, the museum’s chief curator of exhibitions and collections. “They have this specific nine-state organization that they define as the South, and once a year, they have this Southern prize exhibitions.”

Along with Louisiana, represented states are North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. In Baton Rouge,

2025 SOUTH ARTS SHOW

2025 South Arts Southern Prize & State Fellowships for Visual Arts

WHEN: June 4-Sept. 6. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m.Tuesday,Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

Thursday; and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

WHERE: LSU Museum of Art in the Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St. ADMISSION: $5, age 13 and older.

Children age 12 and younger are admitted free.

INFO: Visit lsumoa.org.

ALSO: Artist Edgar Cano will be the featured artist during the museum’s Free First Sunday on June 7, and he PROVIDED PHOTO By LSU MUSEUM OF ART will return for the museum’s reception celebrating both the South Arts and Edgar Cano’s painting, ‘Life is Beautiful,’ is featured in the LSU Museum the upcoming “ReVision: Women in of Art’s showing of the traveling exhibit, ‘2025 South Arts Southern Prize Photography,” at 6 p.m. on its opening & State Fellowships for Visual Arts,’ opening June 4. Cano is South Arts’ day, June 11. Both events are free. ä See SHOW, page 6C Louisiana artist for this exhibition.

6C ● Tuesday, June 2, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

TODAY IN HISTORY

By The Associated Press Today is Tuesday, June 2, the 153rd day of 2026.

There are 212 days left in the year.

Today in history: On June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at age 27 at a ceremony in London’s Westminster Abbey, 16 months after the death of her father, King George VI. Also on this date: In 1886, 49-year-old President Grover Cleveland became the first president to get married in the White House, wedding 21-year-old Frances Folsom.

In 1924, Congress passed, and President Calvin Coolidge signed, the Indian Citizenship Act, a measure guaranteeing full American citizenship for all Native Americans born within U.S. territorial limits.

In 1941, baseball’s “Iron Horse,” Lou Gehrig, died in New York of the degenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease; he was 37.

In 1966, U.S. space probe Surveyor 1 landed on the moon and began transmitting detailed photographs of the lunar surface.

In 1997, Timothy McVeigh was convicted of murder by a federal jury in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, which killed 168 people. (McVeigh would be sentenced to death and was executed in 2001.)

In 1999, South Africans went to the polls in their second post-apartheid election, giving the African National Congress a decisive victory; retiring President Nelson Mandela was succeeded by Thabo Mbeki.

In 2012, ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison after a court convicted him on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that forced him from power (Mubarak was later acquitted and freed in March 2017; he died in February 2020).

In 2016, autopsy results revealed that musician Prince died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl, a powerful opioid painkiller.

In 2023, two trains derailed in eastern India, killing 275 people and injuring hundreds in Odisha state. Officials said an error in the electronic signaling system led to a passenger train wrongly changing tracks and crashing into a freight train.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Stacy Keach is 85. Filmmaker Lasse Hallström is 80. Actor Jerry Mathers is 78. Actor Joanna Gleason is 76. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is 74. Actor Dennis Haysbert is 72.

Comedian Dana Carvey is 71. TV personalityproducer Andy Cohen is 58. Actor-comedian Wayne Brady is 53. Actor Wentworth Miller is 54. Actor Zachary Quinto is 49. Actor Justin Long is 48. Actor Morena Baccarin is 47.

Olympic soccer gold medalist Abby Wambach is 46.

Actor-rapper Awkwafina is 38. Actor Madison Hu is 24. Actor Jeremy Ray Taylor is 23.

lll

Hold on to original boxes for collectibles Dear Heloise: Should I hold on to the original sets of boxes for collectibles like crystal and figurines?

— Laurel B., via email Laurel, you should only keep old boxes if they help you. Some items, like crystal or small statues, are worth more money if you still have the original box. Having the box Hints from is helpful if you want Heloise to sell them or give them as a gift later, but having too many empty boxes can fill your closet with clutter.

You can try to do a little of both by keeping boxes for items that are very special or worth a lot of money. You can throw away boxes for things that you want to keep forever. To save space, you can fold the boxes flat or put them all in one big bin. When the boxes

SPACE

Continued from page 5C up in St. Rose, said the sport helped her channel her anger in a healthy way while instilling discipline at an early age.

“Seeing something start from beginning to end was part of it,” said Ricardo Smith, Macie’s father.

“That was my plan, putting her in that and encouraging her to finish.”

But discipline did not always come easily. She was expelled from middle school after repeated physical altercations, but her focus shifted once she got to high school.

Macie Smith excelled in math and joined the math club, where she tutored other students and competed in competitions with other high schools. Eventually, she envisioned a future as a financial adviser and business owner.

After two serious car accidents in 2020 and 2024 and the loss of her grandfather, she began to reflect on her life. She caught the Southern University bus one Sunday to attend church with friends.

“I focused on building the kingdom of God,” she said.

Today, Macie Smith’s businesses operate with a Christian-based foundation, with scripture displayed in front of the store where customers walk in. Gospel music

start to take up too much room, then it’s time to get rid of them.

Cleaning out a few boxes now will save you from having a big mess later. — Heloise

Smart storage for mats Dear Heloise: Baking mats are thin, but they can still be hard to store.

They often slide around or get lost in a messy drawer, but there’s an easy way to keep them neat. I put two strong clips on the inside of a kitchen cabinet door, then hang the mats so that they stay flat. This method keeps them from getting wrinkled or bent. You won’t have to roll them up or dig through a drawer anymore.

One of my friends tried this and loved it. Now their mats stay hidden and are easy to find. Hanging the mats helps them keep their shape so that they last longer.

This simple trick helps you stay

organized and saves space in your kitchen. — Sherrill, in Virginia

Gas tank rule Dear Heloise: When kids start driving the family car, there’s one easy rule to help things go smoothly.

Make a rule that the car must always come home with a full tank of gas. This rule teaches kids how to be responsible without the effort of a long talk. It also makes it fair for everyone who uses the car. No one likes to start the car and see the gas light blinking especially when they’re late for work or an event!

Parents can also ask kids to throw away their trash and report any car problems right away. One parent said that this rule became a normal part of their day. These small habits teach kids to respect the things that they share with others. And it saves time and money for the whole fam-

Continued from page 5C

TOMATOES

Continued from page 5C first frost.

Determinate varieties, on the other hand, stop growing when they reach a certain point, usually about 3 to 4 feet tall. These tomatoes have a bushier, more upright form but can still benefit from being staked or caged to prevent plants from toppling under the weight of fruit, which matures in a short burst rather than in dribs and drabs throughout the season.

Many people prefer to stick to determinate tomatoes for containers, but don’t discount indeterminate or semi-determinate varieties. Their vining form allows

Silence is golden Dear Heloise: In response to Naomi L., in Oklahoma, regarding scam callers wanting our personal information, I just don’t answer calls from anyone I don’t know or anyone who isn’t in my contact list. I figure that if it’s important, they’ll leave a message. I don’t want them to know that the number belongs to somebody who answers the phone. — Susan, via email Susan, this is probably the best way to handle scam calls. However, I’ve gotten letters from readers who claim that they rant at the callers as a way to release tension.

I don’t advise this method. Stay silent, and after a while, they should stop bothering you. — Heloise Send a hint to heloise@heloise. com.

change the culture of the beauty supply industry. She has realized that doing so isn’t so simple.

“It was very trying and very hard,” she said.

Research shows that Black women spend nine times more on ethnic hair products than non-Black consumers of both genders. Black haircare represents a multi-billiondollar industry, and manufacturers have developed products targeting coily and kinky hair textures that cost an average of 17 cents more per ounce than products designed for straight hair, according to the International Journal of Women’s Dermatology.

Vendors may set higher costs for certain hair products marketed toward specific groups with limited legal restrictions.

When she opened her first store, STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS Macie Smith wanted the name to Luxurious Lookz offers a wide variety of beauty products for Black women. reflect the confidence she believes hair can bring. She said “Luxurious plays over the speaker with inten- location makes it easier for her to Lookz” represents the feeling many women experience after getting tion. Her hope is that the atmo- balance work and classes. sphere provides encouragement She added that the environment their hair done.

“You feel luxurious, and now you and comfort to her customers. also benefits customers.

“The kids got to get their word “Customers are walking in, and have a luxurious look,” she said.

This story was reported and writin some way, somehow. You know? they have a lot of stuff on their And when I’m playing gospel music, chest,” Jupiter said. “They feel that ten by a student with the support of it’s not just for me, it’s for them,” positivity when they walk in the the nonprofit Louisiana Collegiate she said. store. They hear the lyrics and tell News Collaborative, an LSU-led coDestiny Jupiter, a Southern Uni- you, ‘I needed that today.’” alition of eight universities funded by the Henry Luce and John D. and versity student and shift lead at Catherine T. MacArthur foundaboth Mays Beauty Supply and Lux- Changing the culture urious Looks, said the new store’s Macie Smith’s ultimate goal is to tions.

SHOW

some followers of the local art scene will already be familiar with Cano’s work.

He staged his first show as a member of Baton Rouge Gallery in 2024, and his “Life is Beautiful” was chosen for the gallery’s 16th annual Surreal Salon exhibition in 2024.

Cano is a native of Veracruz, Mexico. He came to Louisiana with his wife and two daughters in 2020 to work on his master’s degree in art at Northwestern Louisiana University in Natchitoches, where he now teaches. Though he is the featured Louisiana artist, his wife plays a special part in the South Arts show.

“She is the woman in the center of the ‘Life is Beautiful’ painting,” he said.

Cano’s message is to make the viewer think, and his combination of traditional painting techniques combined with nontraditional colors achieves this purpose.

Hanging next to Cano’s “Life is Beautiful” is South Carolina artist Felicia Greenlee’s wood collage, “Dejavu.”

The piece is one of six by the artist, each telling their stories in layers. “Dejavu” seems to play off of Grant Wood’s “American Gothic,” yet it tells a different story of the American landscape.

“Felicia Greenlee’s work is full of symbolism, and the symbolism

ily! — Kelly E., in Arkansas

STAFF PHOTO By ROBIN MILLER

Mississippi artist Stephen Phillips’ pottery is featured in the LSU Museum of Art’s showing of the traveling exhibit, ‘2025 South Arts Southern Prize & State Fellowships for Visual Arts.’ in ‘Dejavu’ is detailed all the way down to the newspaper articles she’s chosen,” Schulte said.

Schulte refers to a halo of paper doll-like characters rounding the head of a little girl at the bottom of the piece. Each character in the halo is plastered with a piece of newsprint specifically cut to highlight news blurbs documenting racial injustice during the Civil Rights era.

you to take advantage of vertical space, and some varieties perform especially well in hanging baskets. One of Coker’s favorites is Celano, a grape tomato developed specifically for container production.

“It has this really nice cascading form,” she said. “This takes very little space, very little input, and you can have tomatoes on your table every afternoon.”

You’ll find transplants of plenty of other varieties at local garden centers. For small spaces, Coker recommends small-fruited varieties like grape, cherry and roma types.

Planting method Fill your containers with a goodquality potting mix and place

them in a sunny area. Tomatoes (and pretty much any other vegetable) need full sun exposure, which means six to eight hours of direct sun daily.

With most crops, it’s best to dig a hole the same depth as the transplant’s container. Not so with tomatoes.

“Tomatoes are a little different from other vegetable plants because they really want to be planted deep,” Coker said.

You can bury tomato transplants several inches into the potting media — all the way up to their tips, in fact — and they’ll be fine. It’s also OK for stems to lie sideways.

This atypical planting method helps stabilize leggy transplants.

It works, Coker said, because

zeroing in on Mississippi artist Stephen Phillips’ pottery technique resulting in thin, elegant pieces, and Tennessee artist Tabitha Arnold’s tapestries created through punch hook embroidery.

Arnold not only is an artist but also a social and labor organizer, and the stories told through her work reflect her passions.

“My tapestries borrow imagery from Bible Belt spirituality, socialrealist public art movements and ancient art motifs to create new historical artifacts from a workingclass perspective,” she writes in her artist’s statement.

Then there are Florida artist Gonazalo Fuenmayor’s charcoal drawings. They’re photo realistic, yet at the same time, surreal. And they’re big — so big that the museum had to build floor platforms to hold them.

Fuenmayor’s drawing, featuring a dining room in what appears to be in a palace, is 96-by-96 inches.

Move backwards, and it appears to be a 19th-century black and white photograph — a wall-sized photograph.

Fuenmayor’s “Eucharist of Amnesia” is even bigger, taking center stage in the main gallery at 208-by95 inches. This piece, too, is set in a palace.

It mixes old with new, formal with circus antics.

And like Condo’s paintings, it generates questions among viewers.

While the characteristics in Greenlee’s “American Gothic”-like couple and their little girl are meticiously detailed, Schulte encourages viewers to look further.

“There’s more to see in all of her pieces,” she said. “There are layers, and the layers add to the story. Every time you look at them you’ll see something different.”

Email Robin Miller at romiller@ Schulte points out other work, theadvocate.com.

tomato stems are covered with small, specialized roots known as adventitious roots.

Care basics Container gardening means you need to be more intentional about watering. Containers can dry out quickly and need to be watered daily, Coker said.

A basic water-soluble fertilizer works well for tomatoes and can be applied while watering.

Tomatoes are prone to developing blossom end rot. This condition, which is not a disease, results from irregular water and insufficient calcium, Coker said.

Garden centers stock several calcium-containing products that you can apply to prevent this issue.

LSU AGCENTER PHOTO

By OLIVIA MCCLURE

Celano is a tomato variety that does well in hanging baskets.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Tuesday, June 2, 2026 ● 7C

lll

FrAnK And erneSt

bIG nAte

zItS

zodIAC GEMInI (May 21-June 20) A change will motivate you to explore new possibilities. Participate in events that make you feel good. Be cognizant of someone using compliments or pressure tactics to push you in a questionable direction. cAncER (June 21-July 22) Speak up, do your thing and live in the moment. It's up to you to make things happen and to push yourself to participate in events that allow you to use your skills and attributes to your advantage.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Be careful sharing personal information. Dealing with institutions and government agencies will lead to problems. Concentrate on lifestyle changes and reclaiming your dreams.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Being detailed, having precision and remembering discipline will be important. Refuse to let what others choose to do tempt you. Pay more attention to whatever makes you feel good.

LIBRA (sept. 23-Oct. 23) You'll be stepping back in time if you don't leave the past behind you. Stop holding yourself back when letting go offers you the freedom to find your niche and power yourself forward. scORPIO (Oct. 24-nov. 22) Whether work or personal, the encounters you experience will have an impact on what you choose to do next. Getting a new adventure underway will boost your ego and motivate you to explore new possibilities. sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Pay attention to legal, financial and medical issues.

Look for opportunities to mix and mingle with people who can offer inside information or help you gather your thoughts as to how to best take care of your concerns or needs. cAPRIcORn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Trust your instincts over the information you receive. Fact-check and prepare to branch out in directions that are better suited to what you want to achieve.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Take time to think matters through before acting.

Refuse to let anger get the best of you, disrupting your day or your relationship with someone. Make domestic changes that ease tension.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Don't let the changes happening around you stifle your plans. Use what's unfolding to your advantage, and you'll find a path that leads to greater confidence and getting things done on time.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Observation is necessary. Refuse to let sensitive situations push you toward an argument.

Expect situations and conversations to offer an exaggerated perspective. tAuRus (April 20-May 20) A chance to learn something new while making a difference in your community or an organization that interests you will have an impact on your lifestyle. Verify information before you act on it.

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: B EQuALs R

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

8C ● Tuesday, June 2, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

CurTiS

Hi and LoiS

lll

Sudoku InstructIons: Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers.

The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

BaBY BLueS

BLondie

THe wiZard oF id

nea CroSSwordS

La TimeS CroSSword

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Tuesday, June 2, 2026 ● 9C

lll

B.C.

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER John Buchan, a Scottish politician and novelist, whose most famous book was “The Thirty-Nine Steps,” said, “Every man at the bottom of his heart believes that he is a born detective.”

It helps if a bridge player is a detective, uncovering clues from the bidding and play. But another word in that sentence is important in today’s deal.

South is in three no-trump. West leads the spade queen. Given that the defenders can take only four tricks in spades, how should declarer plan to win the last nine?

South starts with six top tricks: four hearts, one diamond and one club. He needs to deduce that if the club finesse is losing, the contract is hopeless. But if that finesse is winning, he can rake in nine tricks: four hearts, one diamond and four clubs. So, on the fourth spade, declarer must discard his diamond queen. Yes, this risks going several down if the club finesse fails, but pitching a club instead would leave South needing both minorsuit finesses to work.

Then, after taking the fifth trick with his diamond ace, how should declarer continue?

He must realize that he might need to take the club finesse three times. But he has only one dummy entry, in hearts, and he must stay in the dummy while repeating the club finesse. This requires first leading the bottom card in dummy’s

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

clubs that can hold the trick when East has the club king. South must lead first the club nine. When that holds, he runs the club jack. Then he plays a club to his queen and claims.

If declarer first leads dummy’s club jack, East can defeat the contract. Work out how. © 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 — scAFFOLD: SKA-fold: A temporary platform above the floor or

Bizarro

marmaduKe

ground for workers.

Average mark 15 words Time limit 25 minutes Can you find 22 or more words in SCAFFOLD? yEstERDAy’s WORD — OBsEssIOn oboe

sine

noose

obsess

snob

nose

bison

sone

bone

soon

boon

ebon

boss

ness

bosses

noes

session

noise

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” Psalms 19:14 This is the kind of praying we should be doing. G.E. Dean

10C ● Tuesday, June 2, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

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

DOW 51,078.88 46.42 0.09%

NASDAQ 27,086.81 114.19 0.42%

BRIEFS

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Oil prices rise as U.S. stocks set records

NEW YORK — Oil prices rose Monday following the latest fighting to threaten the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, but Wall Street isn’t very worried, and U.S. stocks ticked to more records.

The S&P 500 added 0.3% to its prior all-time high set on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 46 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.4% to likewise set records.

A slight majority of U.S. stocks actually fell, including companies with big fuel bills hurt by higher oil prices. United Airlines lost 2.6%, and Alaska Air Group fell 3.3% after the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil climbed 4.2% to settle at $94.98. That clawed back a chunk of Brent’s loss from last week and means it’s still well above its price of roughly $70 from before the war.

Expensive oil has already sent inflation higher, which increases not only bills for households but also yields in the bond market. High yields worldwide recently have threatened to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments.

But yields regressed during the day after oil prices came off their highest levels. That eased some of the pressure on Wall Street, and the Russell 2000 index of the smallest U.S. stocks went from a loss of 1.3% back to roughly even before finishing with a dip of 0.5%. Small companies can feel the pinch of higher borrowing costs in particular because of the need for many to borrow to grow.

Nvidia bets on chips for AI personal computers TAIPEI, Taiwan — Nvidia on Monday unveiled new powerful chips that would bring advanced artificial intelligence functions into laptops and desktop computers, with the new personal computer models from brands including Microsoft and Dell set to roll out later this year.

While Santa Clara, Californiabased Nvidia has already been massively successful in supplying highend chips for data centers riding the worldwide AI demand boom, it is plotting different plans to expand its presence across AI systems and products.

Jensen Huang, the TaiwaneseAmerican founder and CEO of Nvidia, made the announcement in Taipei at the annual Nvidia GTC event. Microsoft and Nvidia “are going to reinvent the PC (personal computer),” he said in his keynote speech.

“This is going to be the new PC,” Huang said as he unveiled Nvidia’s RTX Spark superchip — which combines CPU, or central processing unit, and GPU, or graphics processing unit, capabilities — that would power new Windows laptop and desktop computer models in what the company called “AI personal computers,” expected to debut in the fall of this year.

Nvidia is already the world’s most valuable company, ahead of Apple, Google’s parent Alphabet and Microsoft. Its new superchips for PCs will challenge chipmaking rivals including Intel and AMD. Nvidia’s shares were up nearly 4% in early U.S. trading, while Intel and AMD both fell more than 3%.

New CEO makes first Berkshire Hathaway deal OMAHA, Neb. — Berkshire Hathaway’s new CEO Greg Abel hinted that he may depart from Warren Buffett’s longtime hands-off operating model at the conglomerate as he announced a $6.8 billion acquisition of homebuilder Taylor Morrison.

Abel suggested in the deal announcement he plans to consolidate Taylor Morrison with Berkshire’s existing site-built homebuilding operations that are part of its Clayton Homes subsidiary. For six decades under Buffett, Berkshire promised to largely leave companies alone after it acquired them and allow the executives to keep running the dayto-day operations the same way.

“We are excited to welcome Taylor Morrison into Berkshire’s portfolio, reflecting our long-standing commitment to housing, exemplified by Clayton Homes and our other building products businesses.

Over time, we expect to unify our site-built homebuilding operations into a combined platform enabling us to deliver the dream of homeownership to more Americans,” Abel said in the announcement.

S&P 500 7,599.96 19.90 0.26%

EURO 1.1632 -0.0025 -0.21%

CRUDE OIL 92.16 4.80 5.49%

GOLD 4,475.20 -85.30 -1.87%

6-MO T-BILLS 3.78 0.03 0.8%

30-YR T-BONDS 4.97 -0.0 -0.08%

Anthropic races toward Wall Street debut

BY MATT O’BRIEN

AP Technology Writer Artificial intelligence company Anthropic is moving toward going public on Wall Street, the latest chapter in its meteoric rise from a little-known research laboratory to one of the leading AI companies valued at $965 billion.

Anthropic said Monday it has submitted a confidential filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of its common stock.

“This gives us the option to go public after the SEC completes its review,” Anthropic said in a brief statement. “The proposed initial public offering will depend on market conditions and other factors.”

The company said it hasn’t decided on the number or price of

shares to be offered.

Anthropic said last week it had raised $65 billion in private funding that will push its valuation to $965 billion, a whopping number that makes the five-year-old maker of the Claude chatbot one of the world’s most valuable startups.

Anthropic now has vaulted ahead of its chief rival, ChatGPT maker OpenAI, not only in market value and reported revenue but also on the path to becoming a publicly traded company.

“I think we were all expecting OpenAI to go first, so it was a little bit surprising,” said Patrick Corrigan, a law professor at Notre Dame University who studies IPOs. “Public investors are going to be comparing them roughly around the same time, and so there seems to be a bit of a first movers’ advantage here.”

Anthropic said it’s now making

annualized revenue of $47 billion from selling its technology to people and organizations using Claude to write code and do other work and personal tasks on their behalf.

Anthropic was formed in 2021 by ex-OpenAI leaders and now both AI firms, along with Elon Musk’s rocket and AI company SpaceX, are all expected to become publicly traded. All three have been losing more money than they make, fueling concerns of an AI bubble.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said Anthropic’s move marks a major step for the company to get ahead of OpenAI and “an opening of the floodgates for the IPO market, which has been relatively dormant for a few years, with these three major conglomerates set to go public later this year.”

Corrigan said the race between

Trump facing new inflation warning

Bond market adds to midterm challenges

Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX resembles in some ways the rush by startups to go public in the early internet era. Some of those companies — like Amazon — did well, and others infamously failed during the dot-com crash but still left new technology that changed society and work life.

Claude’s growing popularity has left OpenAI playing catch-up despite its early lead in making ChatGPT a household name that sparked a commercial AI boom.

Anthropic also last week launched its newest AI model, called Claude Opus 4.8, boasting that it is even better at coding and other professional work than previous models.

OpenAI last reported in March it was heading toward a $852 billion valuation after a $122 billion fundraising round. It has not yet reported filing initial IPO paperwork with the SEC.

Florida sues OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman Company accused of concealing serious risks of ChatGPT

BY JOSH BOAK

Associated Press

BY DAVID FISCHER

WASHINGTON — The world is getting more uptight about lending money to President Donald Trump’s government — causing interest rates to climb in ways that are worsening affordability pressures, hampering economic growth and creating a new risk for Republicans in November’s midterm elections.

The energy price spike triggered by the Iran war has seeped into the price of bonds that help fund the U.S. government. Interest rates on a 10year U.S. Treasury note are topping 4.44%, up from 3.95% before the war started at the end of February. Average mortgage rates have climbed to their highest levels in nine months, while auto sales are slumping.

The challenge is global in scale, as interest rates have risen for multiple countries as the world has been adjusting to the prospect of higher inflation, mounting questions about the sustainability of government debt and a dramatic surge in investment in artificial intelligence.

Trump has tried to assure Americans that he has a plan to trim the roughly $1.8 trillion annual budget deficit. In the past, he has pointed to revenue from tariffs, payments from foreigners for his “Gold Card” visa, spending cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency, and faster economic growth. Last week, he said the fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance would be the key to unlocking massive savings.

“If he does really great, we’ll have a balanced budget without having to do anything,” Trump said.

Economists say Trump’s strategies to meaningfully curb the deficit are unlikely to deliver the promised results.

The cost of servicing the national debt has tripled since 2021 to more than $1 trillion annually, said Jessica Riedl, a budget and tax fellow at the Brookings Institution.

“President Trump signed a tax cut bill that will likely add $5 trillion to 10-year deficits — and tariffs are offsetting only a small fraction of those costs,” she said. “Budget deficits are still projected to soar past $4 trillion annually within a decade under current policies.”

Deficits are expected to grow over the next decade as the costs of Social Security and Medicare outstrip tax revenues.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury rate climbed as high as 4.67% in the middle of May and has since

MIAMI — The state of Florida filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman on Monday, claiming the company knowingly released and aggressively marketed ChatGPT to the public while concealing serious risks.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said during a news con- Altman ference that the company suppressed internal safety warnings and deceived users about the true nature and dangers of the product. He said Florida was the first state to sue OpenAI. “Today, we announced the first-in-thenation state-led lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman,” Uthmeier said.

“OpenAI and Altman ignored internal and external safety warnings, put children at great risk, and allowed a dangerous product to reach millions of Floridians.”

The lawsuit filed in Florida circuit court references two separate shootings where the alleged gunmen were reported to have asked ChatGPT questions while planning their crimes. OpenAI said in a statement that its models repeatedly encouraged the individuals to seek realworld support, including from mental health professionals. The company also said it has cooperated with law enforcement in both cases.

“ChatGPT is a general-purpose tool used by hundreds of millions of people every day for legitimate purposes,” an OpenAI statement said. “We work continuously to strengthen our safeguards to detect harmful intent, limit misuse, and respond appropriately when safety risks arise.”

In April, Uthmeier opened a criminal investigation into OpenAI over whether ChatGPT offered advice to a gunman who killed two people and wounded six others last year at Florida State University. And in another case, prosecutors have said the man charged with killing two University of South Florida doctoral students had asked ChatGPT what would happen if a human body was put in a garbage bag and thrown in a dumpster, days before they went missing.

Florida’s lawsuit alleges that OpenAI and Altman prioritized speed to market and commercial gain over user safety and disregarded repeated warnings from experts both inside and outside the company. The lawsuit claims the company deployed a product that facilitates and encourages harm, including self-harm and violence, while falsely assuring users it was safe.

The complaint also alleges that ChatGPT collects data from minors without meaningful parental oversight, as well as causes behavioral addiction and cognitive harm. The company has also actively downplayed dangerous errors, the suit said.

Florida law prohibits unfair and defective trade practices, officials said. The complaint alleges that OpenAI’s conduct causes ongoing harm to Floridians and demands accountability.

Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JACQUELyN MARTIN

President Donald Trump addresses his Cabinet on Wednesday at the White House. At right is Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent listens to a reporter’s question Thursday in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House.

eased as negotiations over the Iran ceasefire continued — just as rates initially climbed in 2025 because of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs and then began to decline once Trump backed off the most extreme increases.

When Kent Smetters, faculty director of the Penn Wharton Budget Model, broke down the math tied to rising 30-year Treasury yields, he estimated that 60% of the increase had come from the expectation that America will continue its outsized borrowing and the other 40% was tied to the inflation driven by the Iran war and Trump’s tariffs.

Glenn Hubbard, a former chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the George W. Bush administration, worries that the U.S. may no longer have the same borrowing capacity as before to effectively combat an economic crisis, such as the 2008 crash or the coronavirus pandemic.

“I don’t think we have the space that we had in 2008 or 2020 to deal with it,” said Hubbard, now a professor at Columbia University’s Business School. “Washington doesn’t seem to be full of ideas — good or bad — to solve it.”

Higher interest rates are giving Democratic candidates in the races to determine control of the House and Senate another line of attack at a time when voters are concerned about high costs for food and gasoline.

In Colorado’s 5th Congressional district, Democrat Jessica Killin is leaning into the message that the persistent deficits

and higher interest rates make it harder to buy or renovate a home, afford a new car or manage credit card debt.

“Things are already expensive,” said Killin, an Army veteran who was a top aide to Doug Emhoff, the former second gentleman. “We can already talk about gas, but the cost of borrowing only makes that worse.”

Joe Reagan, an Army veteran also seeking the Democratic nomination, said in an email that he is talking “a lot about fiscal stewardship” in his campaign.

“Every dollar spent paying interest is a dollar that isn’t being invested in infrastructure, education, veterans’ services, or economic growth,” he said.

They are challenging Republican Rep. Jeff Crank in a district that their party views as a potential pickup. Killin said the deficit is an example of how “Trump says one thing and does the opposite.”

In his March 2025 address to Congress, Trump declared that “in the near future, I want to do what has not been done in 24 years: balance the federal budget. We’re going to balance it.”

Crank, the Republican incumbent, did not reply to requests for comment.

The administration maintains that it is going to steadily reduce budget deficits. As a share of the overall economy, the deficit last year was lower than it was in 2024, though that drop depended in part on tariff revenues that are subject to refunds after the Supreme Court ruled them to be illegal.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week cited a report showing that there was as much as $500 billion annually in fraudulent government spending that could be eliminated, “so that would reduce the deficit substantially.”

Bessent appeared to draw that conclusion from a 2024 report by the Government Accountability Office that estimated there had been between $233 billion to $521 billion each year in fraudulent spending.

But those numbers were drawn in part from the pandemic era when the government borrowed heavily to stabilize the economy.