The Lafayette City Council is unlikely to consider an ordinance establishing rules and guidelines for removing homelessencampments in the city
Talks about the ordinance, which would have made camping on public propertyacrime punishable by jailtime and afine, have stalled while the council monitorsdevelopments of asimilar state law, said Lafayette City Council member Kenneth Boudreaux.
“I can saythere doesn’tseem to be any indication that an ordinance would be coming forth anytime soon,” Boudreaux said. “Someof the state legislation that has been consideredand brought forward, (the council is seeing) what impact thatisgoing to have and tosee of theneed if any new ordinances actually is necessary.”
The legislation, HB211, has
passedand is making itsway to Gov.Jeff Landry’sdesk. It makes it illegal to camp on public property.Violations mayresultina $500 fine and/orsix months in jail. The original draft of the legislation allowed for up to twoyears in prison for second and subsequent violationsand fines up to $1,000.
Lafayettehomelessordinance stalls
The bill, however,aimstocreate acourt program for the homeless, connecting them with services instead of facing those criminal penalties.
Student researcher and recent graduateIzamaryLara talks about her work involving
leavesonthe UniversityofLouisiana at Lafayette campus on Wednesday
BYJOANNA BROWN Staff writer
Many of the live oaks standing on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus are over 100yearsold.Several were planted by the university’sfirst president, Edwin LewisStephens, in 1901. These iconic trees havebecome akind of totem for the university itself, representing the growthofknowledge as generations of studentsand researchers walk beneath their branches. They are
BY MARYCLARE JALONICK, JOEY CAPPELLETTI and KEVIN FREKING Associated Press
WASHINGTON Senate Republicans cleared the first hurdle on Thursday as they are struggling
beloved for their beauty,and historic significance —but until recently,noone realized that theleaves themselves had something unexpected to reveal about ourenvironment.
Undergraduate students Izamary Lara andClinton Vincent analyzed 150 leaves from live oaks located outside of Hamilton Hall, which is home to theuniversity’s School of Geosciences. Using stable isotopeanalysis,theyfoundthatthe campusoaksare chemically recording
ä See OAKS, page 7A
to pass legislation to fund President DonaldTrump’simmigration enforcement agencies, narrowly beatingbackaDemocraticeffort to permanently blockTrumpfrom creating a$1.776 billion settlement fund for payouts to allies whoclaim theywere persecuted
of ground,powdered liveoak tree leaf material are used forresearch.
by thegovernment.
The legislation defines unauthorized camping as “the intentional use of any tent, shelter,orbedding constructed or arranged for the purpose of or in such away to permit overnightuse on public
Comeaux’s fate will be decided next week
School Boardexpected to vote to closeschool, disperse students
BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer
Thefate of Comeaux HighSchool will be decided next Thursday at the Lafayette Parish School Board’sregular meeting.
Tracy Wirtz, chiefcommunications officer,confirmed Thursday that the school closure vote will be on the board’sagenda forthat meeting. If the board votes as is expected, Comeaux High will no longerexist as a traditionalhighschooleffective June 30, according to alegal notice posted May 31 in advance of Tuesday’spublic hearing on the proposed closure. The campus will be repurposedasa career centerand accelerated school as well as aschoolssports complexto be used by schools throughout the district. Students will be dispersedamong Lafayette High, Acadiana High and Southside High.
School system officials cite low enrollment at ComeauxHigh, alongwaiting list and limited capacity at the W.D. Smith and Mary Baker Smith Career Center,and agingfacilities as reasons forthe change.
Aconsultingfirmin2024recommended closing Comeaux High School but the board didn’tdoitatthe time. In March, the closure wasresurrected with little notice, and the board voted 5-2, with two board members absent, to close Comeaux High at the end of the 2025-26 school year
Aparent, Suzanne LaJaunie,fileda
ä See COMEAUX, page 7A
STAFF PHOTOSByLESLIE WESTBROOK
stable isotope analysis of liveoak tree
Samples
Man charged with taking explosive through airport
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
A man carrying what authorities described as an explosive device powerful enough to damage a plane, as well as a torch lighter, knife, zip ties and other items, was arrested after trying to pass through a Sacramento International Airport security checkpoint over the weekend, federal prosecutors said.
The 49-year-old from Sacramento was wearing a scarf covering his face and latex gloves,
U.S. Attorney Eric Grant said in a news release He also had five cellphones: one with a 15-minute timer set to begin, a second with a message on the screen from another phone number saying, “we will be awaiting your call.”
Evidence photos released by prosecutors show a cardboard tube about the size of a toilet paper roll fitted with a green fuse. Bomb technicians tested the device. The powder and fuse “were determined to be viable and energetic,” Grant said If the device had detonated next to a window on a pressurized aircraft flying above 10,000 feet, Grant said, “it had the potential to damage the aircraft and cause a possible loss of cabin pressure.”
The man was arrested Saturday and appeared in federal court in Sacramento on Wednesday He is charged with unlawful possession of explosive material in an airport The complaint also alleges he made “rambling” calls to the FBI in the months beforehand to report he was being threatened and intimidated
Sherpa guide rescued while crawling to camp
KATHMANDU, Nepal A Sherpa guide was found crawling to base camp on Mount Everest a week after he went missing and was reunited with his family who had given up hope he would return.
Dawa Sherpa was last seen around May 29 descending the mountain, but he did not reach base camp even though his client did. The pair were among the last climbers on the mountain as the climbing season came to an end and the route was dismantled.
Dawa was located by a cleaning crew Thursday morning as he was crawling down the snowy slopes around the Khumbu Icefall, just above base camp, said Pemba Sherpa of 8K Expeditions, which coordinated the search.
He was quickly carried down to safety and given food and water. A rescue helicopter flew him to HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu, where his wife and daughter, who already had begun funeral rituals for him, were waiting
“We first heard that he was still alive on the local news and from a person we know who called with the news that he is being brought down,” said his wife, Damu Sherpa.
Though Dawa had been missing since last week, there was a delay in organizing a search team. No reasons were given for the delay, but when helicopters were finally sent to look for him, they could not find him.
Gunmen kidnap 7 from school in Nigeria
ABUJA, Nigeria Gunmen raided an off-campus residence in northwest Nigeria and kidnapped seven students, police said.
The attack occurred early Wednesday in the Kaura Namoda area of conflict-battered Zamfara state, police spokesman Yazid Abubakar said in a statement. One of the students escaped and was in custody.
The police spokesman said it wasn’t clear where the students were taken but efforts were underway to rescue the remaining six.
Zamfara has been a hotspot for armed gangs that carry out kidnappings for ransom, with abductions of students increasing in recent years across the country A tally by local news outlet Premium Times found that at least 1,900 students have been kidnapped from 20 schools since the 2014 mass abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from Chibok in Borno state.
Putin: Russia will bolster defenses
Zelenskyy calls for face-to-face negotiations in neutral third country
BY JAMES JORDAN and HARRIET MORRIS Associated Press
ST PETERSBURG, Russia President
Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia will strengthen its air defenses to counter recent Ukrainian drone attacks, which have reached deep inside his country and cast a cloud over his showcase economic forum in his hometown of St. Petersburg
Speaking in response to a question from The Associated Press during a meeting with heads of international news agencies, Putin acknowledged the damage from Ukrainian drone attacks.
“To our regret, some of them break through,” Putin said of the drone strikes. “Russia has an air defense system, we need to improve it, strengthen it, and we will do that.”
The wide-ranging media session
came on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum his annual showcase for investment. Hours before the forum opened Wednesday, a Ukrainian drone attack set ablaze an oil terminal in the city and also hit a nearby naval base. Putin also said Russia is open for a compromise on Ukraine in line with understandings reached at his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, adding that Ukraine needs to accept them to make a deal to end the conflict, now in its fifth year Zelenskyy proposes talks
Also on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed face-to-face negotiations in a public letter addressed directly to Putin. Zelenskyy acknowledged shifting U.S. priorities, saying it would be wrong to wait for the U.S. to return its attention to
Ukraine while it is remains heavily focused on the Iran war
In Washington, Trump said it “would be great” if Putin and Zelenskyy meet.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin hadn’t seen the letter yet and repeated his statement that Zelenskyy could come to Moscow if he wants talks. Putin said last month he doesn’t exclude a meeting in a third country, but only when there is a deal to sign.
Putin dismissed the idea that European Union countries could mediate Russia-Ukraine peace talks because “mediation assumes neutrality Where is the neutrality here?”
Any potential third-party mediators needed to be trusted by both sides, Putin said.
“How can Russia trust people who have been harping about the need to inflict a strategic defeat on
Police warn families not to visit Tiananmen graves
Efforts to mark anniversary have been suppressed
BY KEN MORITSUGU and KANIS LEUNG Associated Press
BEIJING Chinese authorities snuffed out efforts to mark Thursday’s anniversary of the deadly 1989 military crackdown on student-led pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square, in a further tightening of a yearslong campaign to erase what happened from public memory
Police told relatives of the victims they would not be allowed to visit a cemetery in Beijing on the anniversary of the crackdown 37 years ago, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of retribution.
Relatives from a group called Tiananmen Mothers visited the graves for more than 30 years, reading memorial statements while police kept watch, Amnesty International said.
Hundreds of people, and possibly thousands, were killed in 1989 as troops advanced through crowds that were trying to stop the military from reaching the protesters on Tiananmen Square, a vast plaza in the center of the Chinese capital. The decision by the Communist Party leadership to send in the military was a pivotal moment in China’s modern history, determining that the market reform that trans-
formed the country into the world’s second largest economy would not be coupled with political liberalization.
In Hong Kong, police stepped up security Thursday at or near a park where a massive candlelight vigil lit up the night every year until a clampdown following major anti-government protests in 2019. A handful of people showed up in the evening. Officers allowed some to go freely including a man holding flowers and an activist who said she bowed 37 times.
Police said in a statement that seven people were stopped and searched on suspicion of being disorderly in public as of 11:30 p.m. They were taken away for further investigation before being allowed to leave, police said, without naming them.
The U.S., the EU and Britain posted messages on social media marking the anniversary “No amount of censorship can erase the past,” a statement from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio read. “Those who sacrificed to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday.” Rows of electronic candles lit up the windows of the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning dismissed Rubio’s words as a smear on her nation’s political system “We urge the U.S. side to stop using so-called democracy and human rights as a pretext to interfere in China’s internal affairs,” she said.
Convictions reversed for paramedics
BY MEAD GRUVER and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A Colorado court reversed homicide convictions against two paramedics on Thursday in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man who was pinned down by police and injected with a fatal dose of ketamine.
McClain’s final words “I can’t breathe” — foreshadowed those of George Floyd a year later in Minneapolis, and the Colorado man’s name became part of the rallying cries for social justice that swept the U.S. in 2020. The appeals court or-
dered new trials for Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec McClain, 23, had been forcibly restrained and put in a neck hold by police, who stopped him in response to a suspicious person complaint as the massage therapist walked home from a convenience store in the Denver suburb in 2019. Cr im ina l ch ar ge s against paramedics and emergency medical technicians involved in police custody cases are rare. As McClain’s death and others raised questions about the use of ketamine to subdue struggling suspects, this prosecution
sent shock waves through the ranks of first responders across the U.S.
A jury in 2023 found Cooper and Cichuniec guilty of criminally negligent homicide following a weekslong trial in state district court. The jurors also found Cichuniec guilty of seconddegree felony assault Cooper avoided prison and was sentenced to 14 months in jail with work release and probation. Cichuniec received five years in prison. The appeals court upheld Cichuniec’s assault conviction. Thursday’s ruling sends their cases back to a lower court for a new trial on that charge.
Russia for years?” he said.
Putin’s battlefield update
Commenting on Russia’s use of its Oreshnik intermediate range ballistic missile, Putin said it was fired at targets that allowed it to test its capability and precision before using it against objectives closer to residential areas.
“We hit the area where it was convenient to see the results,” he said. “It was important for making a decision on the future on the fullformat use of the Oreshnik on designated targets, including those in populated areas.”
Putin emphasized his push for control of the entire Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, noting that Ukraine controls about 15% of its territory Putin declared that “patriotism and will of the Russian people” will ensure the achievement of goals that Moscow set in Ukraine.
“Russian troops are advancing along the entire line of contact,” he said.
Trump reconsidering Pulte as director of national intelligence
President says other candidates
under consideration
BY JOSH BOAK Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that federal housing finance regulator Bill Pulte, his pick for acting director of national intelligence, would not be his “permanent” choice for the critical security post.
The Republican president’s disclosure that he was ruling out installing Pulte in the position fulltime came after bipartisan pushback on Capitol Hill in recent days over Pulte’s lack of national security experience. The position requires Senate confirmation, something that lawmakers indicated was unlikely if Pulte were the nominee.
“He’s not going to be permanent because, you know I don’t think he’d want to be permanent,” Trump said while taking questions in
the Oval Office after an event on coal. He called Pulte a “very smart guy” and said he may look at past elections that Trump claims, without credible evidence, were “rigged” against him. Trump said other candidates were under consideration for nomination to the post. “We’re interviewing people right now,” he said. Pulte, a grandson of the founder of PulteGroup, has been a source of controversy within the administration for his work as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and his oversight of the mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Both Republican and Democratic senators expressed concerns about Pulte and his lack of national security credentials in occupying a role coordinating 18 federal agencies involved in domestic and foreign security issues. Trump’s initial director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, resigned last month, citing her husband’s recent cancer diagnosis.
Participants attend a candlelight vigil at Democracy Square on Thursday to mark the 37th anniversary of the Chinese military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, in Taipei, Taiwan.
Ex-national security adviser
Bolton
will plead guilty
Deal will allow him to avoid prison time
BY ERIC TUCKER Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of retaining classified information under a deal with the Justice Department that could allow him to avoid prison time, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday
The deal would resolve a criminal case filed in October that charged Bolton with 18 counts of either retaining or disseminating classified information, including diary-like notes from his time in government that officials say he shared with family members as he was preparing a memoir about his career.
Under the agreement, Bolton would also face a $2.25 million fine, said the person, who insisted on anonymity to discuss a deal that had not been made public. Any prison sentence would be capped at five years, but the agreement could also allow for him to avoid time behind bars. The punishment will ultimately be up to a judge.
The case against Bolton, filed weeks after prosecutors secured indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, unfolded against the backdrop of concerns that the Justice Depart-
Supreme
BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press
ment is using its law enforcement powers to pursue perceived adversaries of President Donald Trump.
The investigation burst into public view last August when FBI agents served search warrants at his Maryland home and Washington office, but it had been well underway by the time Trump returned to the White House in January 2025
Wrote book critical of Trump
Bolton is a longtime fixture in Republican foreign policy circles who became known for his hawkish views on American power. He served for more than a year in Trump’s first administration before being pushed out in 2019 and publishing a critical book that portrayed the Republican president as deeply misinformed and painted an unflattering portrait of his leadership and decision-making.
Trump’s administration fought unsuccessfully to block the publication of “The Room Where it Happened”
Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton arrives for his arraignment at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Md. in October
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
on the grounds the book contained classified information that could harm national security if exposed.
Bolton’slawyershavesaidhemoved forward with the book after a White House National Security Council official, with whom Bolton had worked for months, said the manuscript no longer had classified information.
The indictment he faced focused on notes shared with his wife and daughter rather than the substance of the book itself.
Bolton had initially pleaded not guilty and, in a statement released after his indictment, described the charges as part of an “intensive effort” by Trump “to intimidate his opponents, to ensure that he alone determines what is said about his conduct.”
A re-arraignment, which can signal a plea agreement, is scheduled for June 26 in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The Justice Department declined to comment.
Federal
BY MEG KINNARD Associated Press
The National Capital Planning Commission has kept alive the triumphal arch that President Donald Trump wants built at an entrance to the nation’s capital, requesting more information on how it could potentially impact air travel navigation in the area, as well as other specifics on construction and traffic in the area. Most members of the federal agency that approves construction on federal land voted in favor Thursday of seeking more information from the Department of the Interior, which submitted the application for the 250-foot arch planned between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery
of Fine Arts — which only oversees designs and has no role in the actual construction or funding of the arch or any other project it considers — has approved the arch’s design, a key step in the project’s process but one that has no immediate bearing on the construction timeline.
For now, the National Capital Planning Commission is seeking more information justifying the proposed height of the towering arch, as well as additional details about lighting, management of storm water and how traffic and parking would be regulated for visitors.
Will Scharf, who has served as Trump’s White House staff secretary, heads the commission and acknowledged the applicant “has some homework to do,” Scharf said, suggesting more information on how it would appear from other monuments in the Washington area. But, Scharf said ultimately, this year’s 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence “is as good an opportunity as any to add something to Washington, D.C., that will hopefully stand the test of time.
Stuart Levenbach, Trump appointee and commission vice chairman, said the proposed site represented “one of the few locations” in the area where such an “iconic civic monument could be appropriate,” although he added that “it’s reasonable to consider whether a significant architectural statement belongs in such a location.”
The U.S. Commission
The vote came after nearly three hours of public comment from about 20 members of the public, some representing historic and architectural organizations, and most of whom expressed concerns about the arch that is one of several projects the Republican president is pursuing to leave his imprint on Washington. Preliminary surveys and testing of the arch site began last month, and other approvals are underway
Court sides with administration on regulation of telecoms
WASHINGTON The Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration Thursday in upholding the power of federal regulators to enforce data privacy laws on telecommunications companies.
The 8-1 decision preserved one of the Federal Communications Commission’s key
tools, though the companies also won a concession from the Republican administration that could shift the regulatory landscape.
The appeal from telecommunications giants Verizon and AT&T challenged a combined $100 million in penalties imposed after the agency determined that the companies had failed to safeguard customer location data.
The companies argued that the FCC’s process was unconstitutional because it gave them little opportunity to tell their side of the story in front of a jury
The administration defended the fines as an essential regulatory tool. But the government also said companies did not have to pay the penalties right away, a regulatory shift in the com-
panies’ favor
The Supreme Court agreed, affirming the FCC’s power to order fines when challenges are still available.
“The orders at issue did not settle the carriers’ legal obligations because, stated simply, they did not create an obligation to pay,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority Justice Clarence Thomas,
the lone dissenter, said he would have given the two telecom companies a clearer path to recouping the fines they already paid.
Other agencies use similar enforcement methods, so a sweeping victory for AT&T and Verizon could have had widespread effects, advocates said.
The environmental group Earthjustice applauded the ruling, saying it has direct implications for other agencies and a key energy-efficiency case.
“By rejecting this unsupported attack on agency authority, the Court’s decision safeguards the government’s ability to enforce laws that protect people, communities, and the environment,” said Caroline Flynn, the group’s Supreme Court counsel.
U.S. sanctionsCuban president
in latest move to pressure island
Assets of Díaz-Canel, wife,three others frozen
BY FATIMA HUSSEIN, DÁNICA COTO and MATTHEW LEE Associated Press
WASHINGTON The United States has imposed sanctions Thursday on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, his wife and three other individuals, in the latest move by the Trump administrationtopressure the island’s leadership that drew immediate condemnationfrom Havana.
Included in the sanctionsare Alejandro Castro Espín,the sole sonof former Cuban President RaúlCastro and Vilma Espín. He served as an adviser to Cuba’sDefense and National Security Commission and was present when Raúl Castro greeted then-U.S. President Barack Obama in Havana during ahistoric March 2016 meeting. Castro Espín’s son,Raúl Alejandro Castro Calis, also was listed.
The new penalties come as U.S. President Donald Trump hasbeen threatening military action in Cuba since ousting Venezuelan leader Nicolás MaduroinJanuary and then ordering an energy blockade that choked off fuel shipments to Cuba. That has led to severeblackouts,foodshortagesand an economic collapse across the island.
The threats took on additional weight after theU.S.announced criminal charges against Raúl Castro last month. Thursday’spenalties, which followTrumpsigning an executive order expanding sanctions against the island, freeze individuals’ property andbank accounts in the U.S. But it’sunclear how intertwined their finances are with the U.S. financial system.
Díaz-Canel accused Trump of making “newthreatening statements against Cuba” andsaid “these measures are aimed at reinforcingthe blockade andescalating the conflict between Cuba and the United States.”
“This political blindness adds to the coercive measures applied in recent weeks against our country,designedtoharm the Cuban people,” he wrote on X. “The aggression and perversion of the U.S. government will clash with our resolvetocon-
Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel, second left, and Raúl Castro’s grandson Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, center, take partinarally in supportofformerPresident Raul Castro in frontofthe U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba,inMay.The U.S. has imposed sanctions against Díaz-Canel.
frontthe worst-casescenarios and resist the imperial onslaught.”
‘We’re goingtohandlethat’
Asked Thursday if his sanctions were meanttoaccelerate Cuba’s collapse, Trump said, “Wejust want them to be anicely run country.”
“The country is starving and it’s got no energy,it’sgot no oil, it’s got no money,it’sgot nothing. It’s got a beautiful piece of land. Youcould have beautiful resorts,” Trump toldreporters at an unrelated eventinthe Oval Office.
Asked whether Cuba is closeto collapsing,hesaid,“It’ssort of collapsed”and addedthat“we’regoingtohandle that as soon as we’ve finished” militaryoperations in Iran.
“I like to do onething at atime,”
Trumpsaid
Trump has ratcheted up talk of regime change in Cubaafter pledging to conduct a“friendly takeover” of the country if itsleadership did not open itseconomy to American investment andkick out U.S. adversaries
SecretaryofState Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who has long takena hard line against Cuba’ssocialist leadership,has said Trump’spreference is to reacha dealbut hassaidheisdoubtful the U.S.can finda diplomatic resolution with the current government Those“designated todaydirect or fund the regime and itsefforts to mobilize its radical revolution-
arymovementsinthe United States andaround the world,” Rubio said in astatement.
Diplomat condemns sanctions
In addition to Díaz-Canel, Bruno Rodríguez, Cuba’s minister of foreign affairs, alsocondemned the new sanctionsinasocial media post.
He said “the vile inclusion” of Díaz-Caneland others, including Cuban institutions and civil society organizations,“is thelatest exampleofthe US interventionist plan to portray Cuba as athreat to US national security,”hewroteonX
“Every US action aimed at creating ascenario of conflict between thetwo countries is destined to fail,”hewrote. “Every threat against Cuba’s independence and sovereigntywill be met with even greater unity anddetermination from our people.”
The newsanctions, whichfreeze any assets that thosetargeted may have in U.S. jurisdictions or any thatcome into U.S. jurisdictions, alsoapply to non-American entities thatmight do business withthem.
In additiontothe individuals, thesanctions alsotarget Cuba’s defense ministry; itsInstitutefor theFriendship with the Peoples, whichpromotes people-to-people talks; Amistur Cuba,anarm of theinstitutethat oversees specialized tourism on the island; and the Committees for theDefense of the Revolution.
EU taking helm of global oceanresearch
Commission pledges
$107Mtoefforts as U.S. cuts funding
BY SAM MCNEIL Associated Press
BRUSSELS— With underwater dronesand ocean-focusedsatellites, theEUisexpanding its monitoring network of Earth’s seas as climate change fuels heat waves and stronger storms and theTrump administrationplans severe cuts to asimilar system in the United States.
With an investment package of $107 millioncalled OceanEye announced on Wednesday,the EU will be able to take the helm of global effortstoexplore the depths of the planet’svast oceans, said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.
Oceans are vital ecosystems covering about70% of planet Earth, hostingcomplex webs of lifethat generate oxygen and absorb greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. Temperatures have risen in oceans faster due to climate change, super-charging storms and drought, ravaging coral reefs across the world, and endangering species in tandem with overfishing and industrial pollution.
Scientists estimate climate change will increase the strength of heat waves and severe storms across Europe.
Monitoring the ocean can help protect it by showing damage and threats to ecosystems that help inform regulations aimed at preventing species loss.
“Thisisaboutusing science and good governance to understand ourocean and secure our future,” von der Leyen said.
U.S. cuts funding
In May,officials in the U.S. began signaling plans to gut its Ocean Observatories Initiative —a network of more than 900 oceansensors builtata cost of $386 million that has continuously collected real-timedata for morethan adecade. Funded by theNational Science
Foundation, the observatories have tracked everything from ocean circulation and marine ecosystemstoclimate change and extremeweather.Its data has been freely available and has informed morethan 500 scientific publications. The project was slated to run foranother 15 to 20 years. The EU investment was already in the pipeline when the U.S. cuts were announced.
International efforts are organized through the GlobalOcean Observing System. The U.S. collects morethan half of this data while Europe does about aquarter,followed by Japan, Australia, India and China.
“Europe needs to do more,” said Pierre-Yves Le Traon, an oceanographer and scientific director of the Mercator Ocean International based in Toulouse, France. By 2035,the EU hopesto cover35% of Earth’smaritime monitoring network and become theglobe’s leadingproviderof “ocean intelligence.”
Importance of collecting data
Robotic sensors in underwater andinorbit feed information to organizations like shipping companies, fisheries, emergency services andresearch institutions like the Mercator Ocean Institute that is building avirtual-reality mockup of Earth’soceans to be updated in real time calledthe Digital Twin Ocean.
That data is crucial to understanding and adapting to climate change and to avast array of industries on land andatsea like aquaculture, shipping especially through icy waters, coastal tourism,agriculture and even navies, Le Traon said.
“Knowledge is essentialifwe wanttomanage the ocean,” Le Traon said. “Wereally have to be very active forthe monitoring and protectingofthe oceanbecause the ocean matters to everyone: for life at sea, for life on Earth.”
The EU funds will go toward private incubatorsfor oceanic technology and beefing up existing institutions like the Global Ocean Observing System
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By RAMON ESPINOSA
Continued from page1A
property that is not adesignated campground.”
It lays out amechanismfor homeless people to avoid prison timebypleading guilty,going on probation for at leasta year, and completing atreatment program. Someone who successfully completes theprogram could have their conviction tossed. Homeless courts are optional for local governments or judicial districts to establish
Local governments must enforce the law, but may designate areas where public camping is allowed if the area lacks adequate shelter beds and the spaceismaintained.
How Lafayette would enforce thelaw is still unclear
Mayor-PresidentMonique Boulet’s administration“expressed concerns” over thepossiblecityordinance,Boudreaux said, adding that the cityislookingtocome up with a“more comprehensive plan to deal with the homeless situation.”
“It’savery sophisticated issue, andat the end of the day,the idea of bringing anycriminal charges or criminalizing
aperson’scondition in anyway,that needed to be thoughtthrough,” Boudreauxsaid.“We’ll see what thestate does and seewhat tools thatmay offer.“
The Lafayette ordinance, as written in adraft obtained by theAcadiana Advocate in April, would have made campingorsquatting on public propertyillegaland punishable by a$500 fine and/ or upto30days in jail.
Council member Andy Naquinpreviouslysaidthe ordinance sought to address thegrowing complaintsabout Lafayette’shomeless population.
ThestalledLafayette ordinance and statelegislation follow in the footsteps of many U.S.citiesand more than 30 states that have banned homeless camps and sleeping in public in recent years, following a2024 Supreme Court decision that made it easier to punish thoseliving on the streets.
Data collected by theAcadiana Regional Coalition on Homelessness and Housing suggest that the region’shomelesspopulation is shrinking overall.
Thereare 410 homeless people in Acadiana, according to the organization’spoint-in-time count. Of those, 29 are veterans.
Around half of the homeless population is unsheltered, with shelter bed space nearly at capacity daily
Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, held out foraround threehours on the Democratic amendmentbanning thesettlement amid discussions over whether to vote for it.
DOJ saysthey’re not moving forward with.”
Wing ballroom project, his tariffs, his war with Iran and his immigration enforcement campaign
“Amendmentafter amendment, vote after vote, Republicans are going to havetoanswertothe American people,” Schumer said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said this week that the fund would not move forward,and many GOP senators said Wednesday that they were satisfied with his remarks.
YetTrump, who has beenatodds with Senate Republicans in recent weeks, raisednew doubts about the settlement’sfuture on Wednesday afternoon —just after the Senate had voted to start debate on the immigration bill —when he told reporters that the settlement is “very important” and said “I don’tknow” whether it is dead or on hold.
“I’d have to ask thelawyers,” he said.
Sens. Bill Cassidy,R-Baton Rouge; John Husted,R-Ohio;and
Cassidy,who eventually voted against theamendment, lost reelection in aGOP primarytwo weeksago after Trumpendorsed his opponent. Husted and Sullivan, whovoted against it, are both up for re-election in November Senators then defeated asecond amendmentfrom Republican Sen. Thom Tillis,ofNorth Carolina, that would also banthe settlement fund but would move the money to aseparate anti-fraud fund at the Department of Justice. Most Democrats voted against the amendment, guaranteeing its defeat, but more than 10 Republicans supported it.
“If Blanche says this is largely inoperative, whynot usethis moment to codifythat?” Tillis said ahead of thevote. “Otherwise, you’re exposing every oneofour members who are in cycle to havingtodeal with this between today and Election Day,and that makes no sense for something thatthe
It was unclear howRepublicans would vote on additional amendments. Cassidy is also planning to offer an additional attempt to curb thefund, and he appeared tobein conversations with the Senate parliamentarianthroughout the morning as he brought her proposals to review
Passage of the roughly $70 billion bill to fund U.S. Immigration andCustoms Enforcementand theBorder Patrol would end the blockadebyDemocrats whodemandedpolicychanges after the fatal shootings of two protesters by federal agents in January. The bill would fund the agencies for three years, through theend of Trump’sterm. SenateRepublicansare using a complicated proceduralmaneuver to get around the filibuster and pass thebudget legislation withno Democratic votes. Butithas taken weekstoget thebill to the Senate floor as Republicans navigated variousobstacles to passagecreated by Trumpand theWhiteHouse —including a$1billionproposal
for WhiteHouse security that they eventually scrapped and the fierce bipartisan backlash to the settlementfund.
“The thing we’re trying to do here is to keep the focus on funding for ICE and CBP,” Thune said Wednesday evening, after the Senate voted to start debating the legislation.
“This was narrow and targeted from the very beginningand clean, and we’re trying to maintain it that way,” he said.
Democrats say any funding bill for the Homeland Security Department should place restraints on federal immigrationauthorities, including better identification for federal officers and moreuse of judicial warrants, amongother asks.
After federal agents shotRenee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Trump agreed to aDemocratic requestthatthe Homeland Securitybill be separated from a larger spending measure thatbecame law.But bipartisan negotiations went nowhere, andthe DHS funding lapsed in mid-February with no agreement on changes to the Trump administration’simmigration enforcement tactics.
Congress eventually funded the rest of the Homeland Security Department at the end of April with Democratic support. But ICE and BorderPatrol remained without regular funding, and Republicans launched anew effort to pass three years of funding for those agencies with no Democratic votes. Work on thelegislationwas also delayed by Republican opposition to $1 billion in security funding forthe White House, including for Trump’snew ballroom, that was added to the original bill. Democrats andsomeRepublicansquestionedusing taxpayer moneyfor themassiveproject, andRepublicansdid notinclude it in thefinalbill whenitwas released on Wednesday Republican House leaders said Wednesday they would like to clearthe legislationbefore the endofthe week,ifthe Senate can finishit. HouseMajorityLeader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, said that House leaders werehaving internalconversations aboutthe schedule. “Wejust need to make sure everybody’sthere,” Scalise said.
STAFF FILE
PHOTOByLESLIE WESTBROOK
Aperson sleeps near acovered public bus stop that has been filled with personal belongings on West Congress Street in Lafayette in April.
BRIEFS
FROM WIRE REPORTS
Jobless filings at highest since Iran war began
WASHINGTON The number of Americans filing for jobless aid hit their highest level in four months last week, but layoffs remain historically low despite ongoing economic uncertainty brought on by the war in Iran U.S. applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending May 30 increased by 13,000 to 225,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday That’s the most since early February, before the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran, but still a historically low level. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected 211,000 new applications Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market. Despite historically low layoffs, the labor market seems to be mired in what economists call a “low-hire, low-fire” state. That’s kept the unemployment rate low at 4.3%, but left many of those out of work struggling to find new employment.
Though U.S. employers delivered a surprising 115,000 new jobs in April, the Iran war has injected a large degree of uncertainty about the broader U.S. economy and labor market.
Canada to back off charging streamers
OTTAWA, Ontario Canada’s government directed its television and communications regulator to back down from a recent decision to triple financial contributions required from U.S. streaming services such as Netflix for Canadian content, the country’s culture minister said Wednesday Instead, Culture Minister Marc Miller said, the government will invest hundreds of millions of dollars into the sector
The U-turn comes after the Motion Picture Association, the U.S. group representing streamers, called on the Canadian Cabinet to reconsider its approach, and after the U.S. ambassador to Canada called for the policy to be rescinded.
It also comes as Canada and the United States are in discussions on whether to renew the free trade agreement between the two countries and Mexico.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission — the country’s equivalent to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission — said in May it would require large streaming services like Netflix to contribute 15% of their Canadian revenues to Canadian content. It made the decision as part of its work to implement the Online Streaming Act.
Asked whether the decision is another concession to the U.S., Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday the government was looking at how much the new policy would cost Canadians.
“It is another step to reinforce affordability for Canadians. This is not the time to raise the costs for Canadians,” he said U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra welcomed the decision.
American temporarily suspends some routes
NEWYORK American Airlines is temporarily suspending some of its routes this summer as steep jet fuel costs continue to strain carriers’ budgets amid the war with Iran.
In a statement, American said it had adjusted service for “select routes” in August and September — and that impacted travelers would be offered alternative arrangements or refunds. The Texas-based airline cited elevated fuel costs, and maintained that these changes were in line with wider industry trends.
American also said that it was not cutting any of its routes indefinitely and that it was proud to “offer an industry-leading network with more flights than any other U.S. airline.”
Still, the summer suspensions could cause more headaches for travelers already facing fewer flights options and higher price tags across their budgets.
The Dow leaps to a record high
Oil prices ease and U.S. stocks outside of AI rally
BY STAN CHOE AP business writer
NEW YORK Wall Street rallied
Thursday after falling oil prices and yields in the bond market eased the pressure on U.S. stocks. Banks, small companies and other stocks that had earlier been left behind by the euphoria around artificialintelligence technology led the way
The S&P 500 rose 0.4% for its 10th gain in the last 11 days, a day after dropping from its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 874 points, or 1.7%, to a record, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%.
Stocks got a lift from a 2.8% drop for the price of Brent crude oil to $95.03 per barrel. That gave back a chunk of its rise from this week caused by the latest flare-ups of
fighting between Iran and the United States and its allies.
The expectation on Wall Street seems to be that the United States and Iran will ultimately agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers. That would hopefully improve the flow of crude, lower oil’s price and remove some of the upward pressure on inflation that’s hurting the world. Such hopes, along with strong profit reports from U.S. companies, helped launch the S&P 500 on a nine-day winning streak that ended Wednesday, a day short of its longest run in three decades.
Stocks of smaller companies helped lead the way and the Russell 2000 index of the smallest U.S. stocks jumped 1.4%. They can reap the biggest benefits of falling interest rates, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped to 4.47% from 4.49% late Wednesday as oil prices sank.
Lower yields can make it less expensive for companies to borrow cash, which many smaller compa-
Trump announces $700M in support for coal industry
BY MATTHEW DALY Associated Press
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump is again seeking to boost the struggling U.S. coal industry announcing a plan Thursday to spend nearly $700 million to support coalfired power plants and coal exports
Trump said the administration will use authority under a Cold War-era national defense law to support 13 coal plants across the country and help build coal plants in Alaska and West Virginia — the first new U.S. coal plants since 2013. The money will also help restart a shuttered coal-fired power plant in Maryland and support construction of a long-delayed coal export terminal in Oakland, California.
Together, the announcements will support or create more than 14,000 jobs in coal, construction rail and maritime industries, a White House official said.
At a White House ceremony, Trump called coal “a great business,” adding: “It’s real power. In terms of power, there’s really nothing like it.”
The announcement is the latest step by Trump to try to reverse the yearslong decline in the U.S. coal industry The administration said last fall it will open 13 million acres of federal lands for coal mining and provide $625 million to recommission or modernize coal-fired power plants. Trump issued executive orders soon after retaking office to try to revive coal, a reliable but polluting energy source that’s long been shrinking amid environmental regulations and competition from cheaper natural gas and renewable energy
Under Trump’s orders, the Energy Department has required coal-fired power plants in Michigan, Indiana, Colorado and Washington state to keep operating past their retirement dates to meet rising U.S. power demand amid growth in data centers, artificial intelligence
nies need to do to grow Banks also helped lead the market, including gains of 5% for Goldman Sachs, 4.7% for Fifth Third Bancorp and 4.4% for U.S. Bancorp. They helped to more than make up for losses by some AI stocks, which took a sudden back seat after dominating the market. Broadcom sank 12.6%, even though both profit and revenue for the chip company surpassed analysts’ expectations. CEO Hock Tan said its AI semiconductor revenue more than doubled to $10.8 billion during the quarter and that demand is only getting bigger He is forecasting AI semiconductor growth to top 200% in the current quarter Investors, though, may have wanted even more after Broadcom’s stock came into the day with a 38.5% surge for the year so far That towered over the already strong 10.3% rise for the S&P 500 index, and Broadcom has grown to become one of Wall Street’s largest and most influential stocks.
Analysts have been saying AI stocks may have run too high, becoming too expensive, and that the broad U.S. stock market may be set for a slowdown following an unrelenting streak of nine straight winning weeks for the S&P 500, its longest since 2023.
Other AI winners likewise gave back some of their big gains. Micron Technology, the latest company to see its total value top $1 trillion because of AI euphoria, fell 7.7%.
CrowdStrike Holdings dropped 3.8% even though the cybersecurity company’s profit and revenue for the latest quarter topped analysts’ expectations. CEO George Kurtz said the latest quarter was when “the worlds of cybersecurity and frontier AI collided,” and the company said it’s splitting its stock to make its share price more affordable.
But its stock came into the day with a 59.5% surge for the year so far And analysts said it beat forecasts for some financial measures by less than it usually does.
and electric cars. The Energy Department has extended short-term orders to allow those efforts to continue, and has ordered oil and gas-fired plants in Maryland and Pennsylvania to run past scheduled retirement dates.
Wright has said the administration’s use of emergency orders to keep aging coalfired plants operating helped prevent major blackouts during brutally frigid weather that gripped most of the country in late January and early February.
Environmental groups denounced the latest effort to boost coal, which comes as the Trump administration has clamped down on renewable energy, including freezing permits for offshore wind projects, ending clean energy tax credits and blocking wind and solar projects on federal lands.
“Propping up coal billionaires with taxpayer money is one more way for the Trump administration to put polluters first and put the rest of us at risk,” said Kit Kennedy, managing director for power at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “What’s next, a taxpayer bailout to build new phone booths?”
Trump’s order will result in higher electricity bills and dirtier air, Kennedy and other critics said. “The best thing for the air, the climate and our utility bills is to let these plants retire peacefully,” she said.
Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association, said coal generation helps shield consumers from the impacts of volatile energy prices and supply challenges exacerbated by AI.
Trump’s strategy will “ensure that up-
grades to existing energy assets are made” domestically, “and at our ports to ensure that U.S. coal can answer the world’s needs,” he said.
Coal once provided more than half of U.S. electricity production, but its share dropped to about 15% in 2024, down from about 45% as recently as 2010. Natural gas provides about 43% of U.S. electricity, with the remainder from nuclear energy and renewables such as wind, solar and hydropower U.S. coal exports dropped during the first year of Trump’s second term, largely due to less coal being shipped to China after it imposed reciprocal tariffs on American products last year in response to broad tariffs announced by Trump, according to the Energy Information Administration. Global coal demand rose to record levels in recent years but is expected to flatten or decline in coming years, according the International Energy Agency It’s hard for U.S. companies to expand into new markets because there are plentiful reserves of coal around the globe.
Even so, Trump has pushed to revive coal exports on the West Coast. Coal miners have long sought to ship coal from Utah and the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming to markets in Asia.
Developers are fighting the city of Oakland to build an export terminal on the site of a decommissioned Army base. Community members and advocacy groups have voiced concerns over how trains loaded with coal will affect public health, safety and the environment.
Authorities: Screwworm fly detected in Texas
BY JOHN HANNA Associated Press
The New World screwworm fly has reached south Texas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed Wednesday, the first time in decades that the parasite with flesh-eating larvae has threatened the nation’s $113 billion cattle industry and only the third time it’s appeared in the U.S. in that time.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the case was in a 3-week-old calf in La Pryor, Texas, about 50 miles from the Mexico border. Texas State Veterinarian Bud Dinges said he has established a 12-mile quarantine zone,
prohibiting the movement of any warm-blooded animal — including pets — outside that zone without an inspection. Rollins said there have been no other detections of the fly in the U.S., and officials were quick to say that while the fly’s larvae are a threat to livestock production, they don’t infest food. Properly treated, even the infested calf should recover, Rollins said. Rollins, U.S. and Texas agriculture officials, and cattle industry leaders have been sounding public alarms about the fly’s movement across Mexico for more than a year spurred on by memories of it causing tens of millions of dollars
of losses — potentially billions in today’s dollars — before its eradication in the 1970s. It is the first case confirmed in Texas since 1966, Rollins said. Texas, home to $17 billion worth of the nation’s cattle, is the industry’s No. 1 state. The months of effort to keep the fly out of the U.S. have included dropping millions of sterile screwworm flies in the area to mate with wild females the same method used successfully before the fly was eradicated.
Rollins said the USDA is confident enough in its preparations that it believes “there is no threat of mass infestation.”
“There is no reason to believe this incursion will result in establishment of the pest in our country,” Rollins said.
The announcement of the suspected case comes only a day after Rollins had an online news conference to highlight the nearness of the threat, with cases being confirmed in Mexico as close as 25 miles from the border — and to outline the USDA’s efforts to combat it.
The New World Screwworm fly is a tropical species that decades ago infested cattle in warm weather across the southern United States, but it was contained in Panama until late in 2024.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By TED S. WARREN
The Trump administration plans to use authority under a Cold War-era national defense law to support 13 coal plants across the country and help build coal plants in Alaska and West Virginia as part of a plan to spend nearly $700 million to support the coal industry.
carbon isotope ratios much lower than previously recorded for oak trees, anywhere in the world
“Izamary and Clinton set out to actually measure the carbon isotope composition of these plants, and the reason they did that is because the carbon isotope value tells you something about the chemistry of the atmosphere and the carbon dioxide that the plant is taking up,” said geosciences director Brian Schubert, who mentored the students alongside Hope Jahren.
Carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere, and when levels are elevated, plants record lower carbon-13 to carbon-12 ratios, which don’t decay over time Lara and Vincent were the first to confirm that the campus oaks are responding to their environment with a carbon isotope composition that surprised the scientists
Said Schubert, “We use stable carbon isotopes a lot in the geosciences they’re the reason we know that the chemistry of the atmosphere has changed in the past
When we find a fossil plant, we can dig it up and measure its carbon isotope composition, which is the same as when it was growing. That’s how we learn about the environment that the plant lived in.”
The project started with the goal of learning more about the condition of the campus trees, particularly in the midst of university construction projects. They were
COMEAUX
Continued from page 1A
lawsuit that stopped the administration from proceeding with the closure.
She alleged the board did not follow its own policy for closing schools, such as holding a public hearing before the vote.
The board in April, trying to remedy the error, rescinded its March vote to close the school, apparently in violation of a judge’s order that they take no action until the lawsuit
able to confirm that the trees are healthy — but the stable carbon numbers were striking.
“These values plot so far off the scale, and the reason for that is that the chemistry of our atmosphere has changed so much in the last 100 years since these trees were planted, and they’re record-
was decided.
Before a hearing on the lawsuit could conclude, a state appeals court ruled that the lawsuit was moot because the board had rescinded its closure order That ruling cleared the board to restart the process to close Comeaux High School.
The board conducted a public hearing this week
The June 11 meeting is at 5:30 p.m in the central office at 202 Rue Iberville.
Contact Claire Taylor at ctaylor@theadvocate com.
ing it within their leaves,” according to Schubert. Lara said that this project ignited her love of scientific discovery, and she plans to seek a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Connecticut in the fall. Vincent also graduated this spring with a degree in chemistry
“From this experience, I was able to take away how these small things that we take for granted, like the trees we walk by every day, can teach us about things as big as how carbon dioxide is changing in the atmosphere,” she said.
“It’s kind of like investigating a
crime scene. You don’t really know what’s going on, and you have to put all of the pieces together and take all of the evidence to get your answer That’s what intrigued me so much about research — you’re actively working towards something that no one has ever seen.”
Twenty-four trees were analyzed for the project, with 100 individual leaves, in Hamilton Hall’s Stable Isotope Geochemistry Lab. The instrument used can measure the isotopic composition of any organic material, giving researchers insight into everything from the composition of cooking oils, to figuring out how fish are responding to their environmental conditions. Schubert says that he plans to begin a long-term chronology of the trees, by measuring the isotopic composition of the leaves each year to see how things progress or change.
“The most interesting thing to me is to then apply all this to the fossil record,” he said. “As a geologist, I want to understand how the environment has changed in the past. When you hear projects about how much the earth might warm, or how rainfall patterns might change in Louisiana, that’s based off models that geologists can go back through time and test. We can actually see what Louisiana looked like the last time CO2 levels were 400 parts per million, or 500 parts per million. That’s what we’re really after and this helps us calibrate those data sets so much better.”
Email Joanna Brown at joanna. brown@theadvocate.com.
Nadine Melancon addresses the board during a public meeting held by the Lafayette Parish School Board to discuss the potential closure of Comeaux High School on Tuesday.
STAFF PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE
STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK
Brian Schubert, director and professor of the School of Geosciences at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, talks about the work of students in his department that involved stable isotope analysis of live oak tree leaves on the campus.
Wrongful conviction payouts bill vetoed
Governor says system lacks safeguards
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
Louisiana Gov Jeff Landry this week vetoed legislation that would have allowed prisoners who were wrongfully convicted of a crime to get more compensation from
Senate Bill 125, sponsored by Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, D-Lafayette, passed both the House and Senate unanimously It would have increased the cap the state pays out to wrongfully convicted people. It is currently set at $400,000, with an annual payout of $40,000 over the course of 10 years. The legislation would have increased the cap to $600,000, with the same annual payout over the course of 15 years.
The change could have increased the total amount of payouts by the state roughly $800,000 to $900,000 every year, according to a nonpartisan fiscal analysis by legislative staff. Landry on Tuesday vetoed the
bill, his first of the 2026 regular legislative session. In his letter rejecting the measure, he argued that Louisiana has not done enough to ensure the wrongful compensation process is fair and “protected against abuse.”
“The current system lacks important safeguards to prevent abuse and double recovery,” he said.
Boudreaux said it is hard to “put as price tag” on the harm people suffered in these cases.
“Their whole lives were stopped because they were wrongfully convicted,” he said. “I want to emphasize ‘wrongfully convicted’ — for something that they did not do.”
Boudreaux said that, while he’s
‘IT’S HERITAGE, IT’S RESPONSIBILITY’
BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer
When travel host Denella Ri’chard decided to produce an episode of her show in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary, she knew that she wanted to center part of the American story that few are familiar with The Miami-based Ri’chard is originally from Baton Rouge, and her parents are from Opelousas. She is a descendant of Pierre Richard of Louisiana, a White man who fought on the side of the Americans under General Bernardo de Gálvez, who was then governor of Spanish Louisiana.
Galvez’s army was an extraordinarily diverse fighting force, made up largely of Spanish, Creole, Acadian, Black and Indigenous troops They played a critical role in securing the Gulf Coast for the American army, and made Galvez a hero in Spain and in the newly-created
on Wednesday.
music venue to operate as usual
BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer
The Blue Moon Saloon has been for sale for the past year, but the venue has continued to welcome travelers, musicians, dancers and lovers of south Louisiana culture, just as it has for 25 years.
Owner Mark Falgout listed the Blue Moon Saloon & Guesthouse for sale in January 2025 for $1.2 million. The properties at 215 and 219 E. Convent St. and 214 Stewart St. have now been sold for under $1 million to real estate investor and commercial broker Ken Simeral, who was the listing agent. The deal includes a bar, stage, dance floor, an attached guesthouse and adjacent rental properties and the business will continue to operate as it has since opening, according to the new owner
“The goal was to make sure it stayed doing live music, and that is what this ensures,” said Simeral. “Mark will continue operating as he always has.” It is a leaseback sale, meaning that Falgout will continue leasing the property to operate. “Mark and I want people to know that he’s going to continue, and this gives him the opportunity to do that.”
Simeral said that the plan is to begin improving and expanding the overnight spaces, with improvements to the guest house and adjacent rentals. They are planning a 25th anniversary event in October, and Simeral said that he is excited to help bring the Blue Moon into its next stage.
“I’ve renovated buildings downtown, Grand Coteau, places that other people have given up — none of that scares me,” he said. “I’m just a supporter of the music.”
BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer
A Lafayette man previously arrested in connection with the disappearance of Skye Angers has been named a fugitive after failing to appear for court hearings, according to Lafayette Parish court records.
Fugitive warrants
Denella Ri’chard, left to right, visits with Lafayette Travel’s Jesse Guidry and Ben Berthelot before a free public screening of ‘Traveling With Denella: America 250’
STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD BOWIE
Denella Ri’chard introduces a free public screening of ‘Traveling With Denella: America 250’ at the Acadiana Center for the Arts on Wednesday.
the state.
Landry
OPINION
Across ruralAmerica,Trump flagsfading
Iamnot apoliticalanalyst.I am aBlack woman from Ville Platte,Louisiana, asmall rural town in Evangeline Parish where the poverty rate is high and your neighbors are also your history.I grew up alongside White classmates from kindergarten on. We weremore than fine. We carried those relationships forward. What Iwatched happen to some of those same people starting in 2016isnot something Iread about in areport. Iwatched it in real time, on Facebook, in my own community.That did not happen by accident. Donald Trump did not accidentally stumble into the Republican Party. Trump spent decades as a Democrat. He donated to Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer and Rahm Emanuel. He registered
as aDemocrat for most of the 1990s and again from 2001 to 2009. His positions on healthcare, taxing the wealthy andtrade policy aligned far moreclosely with Democratic values than Republican ones. He also said, in interviews thatstill exist, that he wanted to dismantle theRepublican Party.
Most people heard that and moved on. Ifileditaway.When someone tells you what they plan to do,believe them.
Trump did not become aRepublican because he believed in Republican values. He became one because the party’s structure made it the only vehicle available for what he wanted to do.
This is notnew.The Republican Partyhas always had factions willing to break off when it no longerserved them —you saw it in the Reagancoalition,you saw it in the TeaParty, you saw it in every outsider candidate who ran against “the establishment” and won enough votes to frac-
ture thebase. Theindividualism baked intothe party’s foundational values is alsoits structural vulnerability. Everyman for himselfeventually means every faction for itself.
Trump read that history.Hedid notstumble intothe Republican Party —hestudied it.Afragmented party can be captured. Acohesive one cannot. Andhe knew exactly which one he was walking into.
Trump did not simply reveal who people already were. For some of them, he installed something new.Hetold people who felt lost that theirresentment and fear were not just acceptable, they were righteous.He gave people an identity.And I watched it happen in real time, in my own community,inthe racial divide that quietly opened up between people who had known each other their whole lives. In a smalltown, you feel that at close range The flags aregonefrom my
La.broadband office is improvingcommunities
March 29 markedfive years in Louisiana’s effort to closethe digital divide. In2021, more than 375,000 households, small businessesand essential community institutions suchashospitals,libraries andschools lacked reliableinternetservice,affectingmore than one in four Louisianans.
area. The people who deleted me are sending friend requests again. The silencefrom those who voted for him is its own answer The fracture is proving itself everywhere.InTexas, three Republican candidates split the primaryvote— notbecause the party is healthy,but because no one can replicateTrump’shold. Hispower was personal. Personality cannot be inherited. In Hungary, JD Vanceflew to campaign alongside ViktorOrbánonly to watch voters hand the opposition alandslide,54% to 38%, ending Orbán’s16-year rule. Trump did not comment. Vance did not comment. The silencewas loud. Aparty built around aman instead of amissiondoes not survive theman Rural communitiescannot be governed on individualism. When everyone sharesthe same roads, thesame school,the same hospital,you cannot govern foronly half thepeople.Whatruralcom-
munities producebynecessity is centrist leadership. Notideology Just the practical reality that your neighborisalso your community
Places like Ville Platte have been talkedabout as problems to be solved. We arenot. My parents have acres.They can growcrops. While cities wrestle with food accessand supply chainfragility,ruralLouisiana hasquietly held onto something foundational: land, community self-sufficiency. Those are things the rest of the country is going to need
We arenot behind. We are what comes next.
The leaderswho will actually serve us arethe ones willing to govern forall of us. Iamone of those people from Ville Platte. I am watching what is happening to my town, state and my country And Iampaying attention.
Latoyia Wrightlives in Ville Platte.
Oneplace Iran,Israel, U.S. areallies? Climatechange
As executive director of the Louisiana State BroadbandOffice, Iamproud to work with a small but highly effective team united by asingle mission:connecting every community in our state to reliable, affordable, high-speed internet. Louisiana is now nationally recognized for both itsprogress and its approachtoexpanding broadband access. We are notonlymeeting our infrastructure goalsbut also doing so ahead of schedule and underbudget.Thanks to the competitive fundingframework we developed, Louisianians in federally funded areas are now saving30% to 40% each month on broadband service.
Over the past five years, we have visited more than 100 communities. We have heard storiesof frustration aboutfiberlinesstopping at the main road andsky-high costs for mediocre service, especially in rural areas. Those conversations are starting to change. Now,whenwevisit communities, we hear from law enforcement about quicker response times to urgent callsand from health care providers about how reliable connectivity is improving patient care.
Those early visits grounded our work. Today, many of those same trips are celebrations, including ribbon cuttings forcompletedprojects and expanded internet access in parishes across the state. We have seen firsthandthe impact of Louisiana’sleadership as moreindividualsearndegrees online, small businessesgrow through e-commerce and rural residentsgain access to telemedicine.
This progressisrooted in strong executive leadership. The previous administrationand Legislature launched thiswork. Now,under Gov.Jeff Landry,Louisiana is positioned to close the digital divide. In his first 100days,I worked closely with the governor to chart our course,and our regular conversationsreflect aclear focus on ensuring every Louisianianis connected. Louisiana’sapproach alsoreflects acommitment to limited government and disciplined execution. Our small team manages more than $1.5 billion in federal funding from theU.S Treasury and Commerce departments with a focus on efficiency and outcomes. By cutting throughunnecessarybureaucracy,wehave accelerated deployment and deliveredresults faster than traditional models allow We are equally focused on delivering value for taxpayers. Louisiana has built acompetitive, market-drivengrant program that maximizes competition, prioritizes cost efficiency
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By TEDS.WARREN
Louisiana is nownationally recognized for both its progress and its approach to expanding broadbandaccess.
and ensures no communityisleft behind.
In many federal broadband programs, infrastructure spending consumes nearly all available funding, leaving little for workforce development, economic competitiveness and longterm resilience. Louisiana took adifferent approach. Our efficient deployment process freed up more thanhalf of our federal dollars for these higher-order investments. Approximately 90% of funded infrastructure will be buried, and about 80% of funding will go to Louisianabased internet service providers such as REV, Cajun Broadband, Skyrider,Swyft Fiber and others. The majority of infrastructure dollars will remain in-state, withLouisiana-based contractors building these networks.
Ourresults have attracted national attention.
In aDec. 28 editorial, The Wall Street Journal highlighted Louisiana’sefficient use of taxpayer dollars, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick cited the state in Senate testimony:
“Under the Biden administration, Louisiana was tasked withspending morethan $1.3billiontodowhat it is now doing for under $500 million. That means in Louisiana alone, we’ve saved more than $800 million and delivered bettereconomic results, all while advancing thesame standards. Louisiana reopened competition, embraced technology neutrality and drove costs down dramatically.” The American Enterprise Institutealso recently ranked Louisiana as having the top broadband office in the country
This is aclear example of government deliveringresults for itspeople, but the work is not finished. We expect to reach full connectivity by 2028, if not sooner
The people of Louisiana should be proud. Their advocacy and persistence are driving real progress, progress you can see in your home, progress thatputs money back in your pocket and progress thatisbuilding astronger, more connected future for our state.
VeneethIyengar is theexecutivedirector of Louisiana’sOffice of Broadband Development and Connectivity
Last month, as theUnited States, Iran and Israel continued exchanging military attacks by land and sea, they stood shoulder-to-shoulder at the United Nations. Their common cause? Denying responsibility for climate change.
The vote in the U.N.’s general assembly went against them,by acount of 141-8. The resolution likely means little in the short term, since the U.N. has no police force or court systemtoforce governments to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions or to paydamages to people harmed by climatechange. But it was aclear signal that, on this issue, all three warring nations are indisputable losers. When the U.S.,Iran and Israel hold hands for such aheavy diplomatic defeat, somepeople see strange bedfellows or unholy matrimony.Look closer,and you see geopolitical tealeaves.
Othercountriesthat voted against the climateresolution included petroleum producers like Saudi Arabia and Russia. The fossil-fuel endowmentsofthe U.S. and Iran are well known. Though Israel isn’t arenowned producer,recently it began developing offshore reserves of natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean.
But what if the emerging fossil alliance isn’tprimarily about dollars and cents, or euros and shekels? Spare a thought for geopolitical leverage.
Leverage is what Iran enjoys when it collects tolls and inflicts economic damage through theStrait of Hormuz. Whetheryou’re Britain to the west or India to theeast, abig chunk of your economy depends on that passage. Youhave to deal with the powers-that-be in Tehran.
ForIran, the cutoff of Middle East suppliesthrough Hormuz is productive,not destructive: It produces fear and respect In aword, leverage.
Leverage is also what the U.S. sought when it removed the Venezuelan president from office and stopped the flowofVenezuelan oil to China. The operative logicisthe same. To solve the Hormuz problem, the U.S. government could force U.S. energy firmstolower their prices. TheRepublican Party of pre-2016
times would never have considered such an interference in the global marketplace, but post-2024 times are different. Most observers are currently underestimating the likelihood of such amove.
The obvious alternative is to clean up the nation’senergy mix. Countries with less reliance on oil and gas, and more on wind and solar,can afford to care less about who’sincharge in Iran or what is and isn’tsailing through Hormuz. Hence the geopolitical importance of the U.N.’sclimate resolution: While most of the world is going for the post-fossil transition, the “no” votes are defending their right to make energy hostages of everyone else. Some analysts argue that the major global divide is no longer between democracies and dictatorships. It’s now “petrostates” vs. “electrostates,” with US President Donald Trump leading the former In any geopolitical realignment, apparent enemies become substantial friends, and vice versa. Is that what the U.N.’sclimate resolution is signaling? Maybe, but pundits sometimes overlook how short American electoral cycles really are.
On the other side, China is the sun around which the post-fossil group orbits. It currently dominates the production and distribution of wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles.
The U.S. is also exceptional, but in other ways. It has (unlike China) excellent oil-and-gas resources and (like China) excellent wind-and-solar potential. On top of geology and geography,systems of education, research and finance give Americans an enviable capacity to create new infrastructure for the next energy system.
Unlike the other losers on the U.N.’sclimate resolution, then, the U.S. has areal choice to make. It can lead either the post-fossil bloc or the pro-fossil bloc. It can bet on what’sinour brains or what’sunder our feet.
If the Trump administration chooses to act as if geology is destiny,at least it can count on Iran and Israel as loyal allies.
JasonMaloy is theKalisteSaloom Endowed Chair in PoliticalScience at theUniversityofLouisiana at Lafayette.
Latoyia Wright GUEST COLUMNIST
Veneeth Iyengar GUEST COLUMNIST
Jason Maloy GUEST COLUMNIST
ISSUE OF THE WEEK
Arecentstudy on thethreats to coastal Louisiana laid out in stark termsthe crisis we’refacing Land loss and sea-level rise have putthe city of NewOrleans in peril, the scientistssaid. Theyraiseda provocativequestion:
DOES NEWORLEANS HAVE APLAN?
In response, MayorHelena Moreno defended the city on these pages last week.Here’sanexcerpt:
Scientists should absolutely help sound the alarm about serious challenges. But theyshould also be working alongside engineers, planners,governments andcommunities to help developsolutions. Andwhy is New Orleansuniquely singled out for abandonment rhetoric?Miami,New York,San Francisco andcountless other cities face significant long-term environmental threats. Yetnoserious movement exists to declarethose cities lost causes. New Orleans is one of theworld’sgreatcultural capitals and acritical economic engine for the United States. The Mississippi River corridor,the port system, energy infrastructure and global commerce tiedtosouthLouisiana are tooimportant to simply walk away
Moreno’sguest column also generatedits ownset of replies. Hereare twoperspectives:
Sensationalheadlines don’tcapture ourstudy on N.O. future
Our study on the future of coastal Louisiana has sparked along-overdue, communitywide conversation. While some headlineshave grossly overstated our findings, the researchhas galvanizeda publicdialogue about what comes next for future generations —aconversation that must not stop. Because some misunderstandings have arisen, we wantto clarify what our science means.
The heavy focus on New Orleans in the public discourse, while understandable, is nota balanced reflection of our study
Our focus on coastal Louisiana is personal; collectively,wehave more than halfa centuryofresearch experience here and our study has been more than adecadeinthe making. All five of us have spenta significant portion of our lives in New Orleans. We fully appreciatethatour research relates to a deeper,shared ancestry that is uniquely connectedtoaplace we have called home Within the context of climate-driven sea-level rise, our home is also the most vulnerable major low-lying coastal zone in the world. What we —asasociety —get wrong and right in our own backyard will havelocal consequences forour friends and family,yet could also have implications for coastal citiesand river deltas around the world.
We highlighted another low-lying coastal zone —the Florida Gulf Coast —and argued that the situationthere is moredire thanincoastal Louisiana. Closer to home, we showed that manyothercommunities along our coast will likely become uninhabitable well before New Orleans
To be clear: Our study does not call for government-led relocation or foranyone to pack up and move today.Weare acutely aware of how fraught this topic is for New Orleanians. What we call for is for people to realize that we do not have time to waste in planning for the next generations whowill bear the brunt of our changing climate and shifting coast. We call for aggressive, scienceinformed, and locally determined adaptation investments that can buy time for future generations. We arenot giving up on anything or anyone. We must continue to invest heavily in flood protection, resilient infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and localized innovations. Buttrue resilience requires us to hold twotruths at once: We must protect our communities in the present, while realistically planning for the coming decades and centuries. Our study is scientifically uncontroversial, and our sea-level projec-
tions align entirely with international, peer-reviewed standards. Sea-level projections made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 30 years ago have proven to be remarkably accurate. We deny science at our own peril. Tulane research published in 2024 estimatedthat 75% of our remainingwetlands maybeunder water by 2070. That prospect is now more likely due to the cancellation of river diversions. Accepting this science does not mean abandoning Louisiana, itspeople or its vital port and industrial infrastructure. Instead,wemust plan to adapt as the shoreline retreats landward. As Mayor Helena Moreno recently noted, “the answer is investment, innovation, restoration and resilience.” We could not agree more.
The world’shunger for climate adaptation solutions —ranging from smart microgrids to biomaterial innovations —will be immense. Louisiana is uniquely positioned to lead this frontier through the development of aregional economichub thatserves as acrown jewel among lowlying coastal zones. Decades from now, when nations from Asia to Europeface the drowning of their own river deltas and megacities, Louisiana’sclimateadaptation expertsand engineering firms could, and should, be the ones securing multibilliondollar contracts to guide them.
As currentorformer Louisianans, we care deeplyabout preserving this region’s irreplaceablehistories and cultures. We also takeinspiration from the resilience of NativeAmerican nations who, as our research showed,adapted to life along ourdynamic coast over several millennia. Inspired by thepast andwithaneye to the future, we argue forcareful,realisticand proactive planning. Our current insurance crisisisapreludetothe continuation of themarket-drivenstatus quo, which will inevitably fracture neighborhoods, scare away jobs, and scatter our communities across thenation in away that disenfranchises those withthe least resources We welcome acandidand ambitious discourse aboutthese vital issues, andwe commend thepeople of coastal Louisiana foropening thedoor forsucha conversation.Louisianansare primedtoholdtheir leaders accountable —not just forresponding to headlinesbut forproviding a strategic vision forwhat comes next. Torbjörn Törnqvist is acoastal geoscientist. He wrote thepiece with colleagues andstudy authors Brianna Castro, an environmentalsociologist; Jesse M. Keenan, an urbanplanner and economist; Jayur Mehta,an environmentalarchaeologist; and ZhixiongShen, acoastalgeoscientist.
On the Louisiana coast, where land loss is the dominant story,the Atchafalaya is doing something different.Year by year,thisriver deposits sedimentatthe WaxLake Outlet, growinga new delta into the Gulf of Mexico —buildingland while much of the coast is losing it. That is the place from which we write.
resilience “lab” here. Afteranine-month planning process in 2025 with morethan 30 partner organizations and The Water Institute, we developed thatlab into the Atchafalaya RiverCoastal Hub, or ARCH —acommunity-built resilience roadmap, not apress release.
newly created ground as aparkfor evacuees from the New Orleans region —bringing the parkway into being faster than we had imagined possible.
Mayor HelenaMoreno’s recent column responding to the Tulane sea-level study said something important —and it spoke for more than just New Orleans. Her argumentfor investment, innovation, restoration and resilience, not retreat, is the right one. It is also theworking philosophyofcommunities upand down thecoast, including ours. St. Mary Parish does not need to be told that we too are doomed. The Urban Land Institute saw thealternative in 2018 and recommended a
Ourarea has been hard at work alongside New Orleans. The St. Mary Levee District is advancing aring levee; the Port of Morgan Cityiscompleting beneficialuse dredging; the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority has budgeted for aworking coast, not an abandoned one. We also have something the rest of thecoast does not. The WaxLake Outlet, a1942 Army Corps diversion, has spent more than 80 years quietly building anew delta into the Gulf —what LSU’s Dr.Robert Twilley calls a“living laboratory” for coastal restoration.
The Lake End Parkway along LA 70 is itselfa land bridge: In theearly 2000s, theArmy Corps pumped sediment from Berwick Bay onto an eroding Lake Palourde shoreline. The parkway was still being built when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, and FEMA contracted with the City of Morgan Citytouse the
At arecent Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana workshop, CRCL’s NewOrleansbased Director of Governmental Affairs, Ethan Melancon, put it plainly: Morgan Cityisthe micro to the New Orleansmacro —lake, bowl, pumps, river system.We share ageography of risk and ageography of opportunity Treating the coast as asingle doomed unit erases the people and the workalready underway.Sea-level rise andwetland loss are real. But the leap from those factstomanaged retreat skips, as Mayor Moreno recognized, the very thingLouisiana has always done: adapt It also skips over the AtchafalayaBasin, where land is building, and over theperseverance and stubbornness of itspeople It is one thing to sound the alarm abouta sinking coast. It is another to writeoff the communitiesalready answering it Mayor Moreno spoke of how Hurricane Katrina forced New Orleans to come back stronger.Hurricane Francine in 2024 was our reminder that the sameforces, and
thesame imperative,reach far. We now qualify,because of Francine, forfederal EconomicDevelopment Administration recovery investment, withstate andlocal partners at the table.And as theAtchafalaya National Estuarine Research Reserve nears designation, our regionwill host the newest— and arguablythe mostactive laboratory in thenational NERRsystem Ourcoastal peopleare ready to welcome andput Louisiana’sbest foot —a deltaic one— forward, armed withthe resilience strategiesofARCH.
We extendaninvitation to Mayor Morenotocome visit Morgan City. Walk ourriverfront. See WaxLakeDelta froma boat. Meet thepartners whoare building this place every day.
Ourmantra, like NewOrleans’, is placebased andstrategic investmentrather than coastal retreat. We hear you, New Orleans, andweneed youtohear and standwithus. We are allthe samecoastal Louisiana people.
CatherineHolcomb and Monica Mancuso areco-leaders of theARCH project andboard members of St. Mary Excel.
STAFFFILE PHOTOByDAVID GRUNFELD
TheNew Orleans skyline shimmersinthe distance as seen across LakePontchartrain from Lacombe on aclear autumn evening
Report:Detainees attacked at La.ICE facility
Watchdog
BY JAMES FINN Staff writer
Guards at aU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in north Louisiana stabbed one detainee’shand with a pen while trying to secure ahousing wing and placed another in achokehold while attempting to stopa fight, afederal watchdog found.
Those were among aslew of violations of federal useof-force, health and safety standards recorded at Winn Correctional Center, aprivate ICE lockup, when agents from aU.S. Department of Homeland Security auditor visited the facility last March for three days.
A35-page report released by DHS’ Office of Inspector General this week found that staff at Winn did not store perishable food at required temperatures, failed to alert federal officials when guardsused force on detainees and presided over unsanitary conditions. The review dinged LaSalle Corrections, aLouisianabased firm that runs the lockup, for not handing over to the federal inspectorscomplete video of some use-of-force incidents.
“Without this footage, we could not fully analyze the facility’scompliance with use-of-force standards,” wrote DHS Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari.
SPECIAL
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United States. In her onehour special, “Traveling with Denella:America 250,” she followed the story of the Revolutionary Warfrom Boston to Philadelphia —and all the way down to Acadiana Ri’chard highlighted the Lafayette portionofthe episodeatanAcadiana Center for the Arts premiere on June 3, followed by apanel discussionwith local historians Warren Perrin, Michael Martin and John François. Members of the Galvez Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution hosted the evening, alongside Lafayette Traveland the Acadian Museum.
“I’m aninth-generation descendant of Pierre Richard,” said Ri’chard. “When Ilearned his story, Irealized that the revolution wasn’tjust something Iwanted to report on, it’ssomething Icome from. Because of his service,I’m amember of the Daughters of the American Revolution.This isn’t just history to me —it’s heritage, it’s responsibility,it’salegacy thatIcarry with pride.”
Warren Perrin, who founded the Acadian Museum in Erath and has written extensively on the
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disappointed, he doesn’tsee the veto as afailure, and he hopes it can serve as astarting pointfor morepublic awareness about the issue.
To get money from the state’sInnocence Compensation Fund, apetitioner has to provebyclear andconvincingevidence he is “factually innocent”ofthe crime, and the court has to grant the requestinanew proceeding in which the state is represented by theAttorney General’s Office.
Innocence &Justice Louisiana,aNew Orleans-based lawfirm that works to free innocent people serving unjustsentences,blasted the veto.
“The Governor’smessagemakes specious assertionsabout abuse without acknowledging who will suffer because of hisveto,” Jee Park, the group’sexecu-
Astatement provided Thursday by anunnamed DHS spokesperson dismissed the findings as “minor infractions,” saying the agency wouldaddress the issues through beefed-up training.LaSalle did not respondtoaphone message. Unveiled 18 months into President Donald Trump’s ongoing immigration crackdown,the report shedsfreshlight —inunusually candid words from federal officials themselves —onconditionswithin an immigration lockup at a time when soaringdetainee deathsare ratcheting up scrutinyofsuchfacilities.
It’spart of an ongoing review ofimmigration lockups that DHS’ inspector general initiated last year.
The findings drew aresponse from at least one member of Congress, U.S Rep.Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who said they confirmICE is “putting people’shealth and safety at seriousrisk.”
Federal inspectors said theprivate jail in Winnfield wasatits capacity of 1,576 people when they arrived unannounced in early March of 2025 for the review In an intake room,they found holes and insulation hanging from the ceiling. They notedleakingkitchen vents and cracks in ceilings. Staff tried containing leaks with Styrofoam containers, but waterwould overflow and puddle on floors, theauditfound.
While federalstandards require perishable foodsto be stored at temperatures
between 35 and 40 degrees, the auditors found that Winn’scoolers hoveredbetween 44 and 60 degrees
The DHSwatchdog also reviewed five use-of-force incidents at thefacility, concluding that three fell short of federal standards
The report questioned whether facility leaders took steps they acknowledged were needed to correct the behavior Jail officials marked the guard who used the chokeholdona detainee for “remedial training,” noting federal detention standards expressly prohibit the technique.The facility’sleaders found the guard involved in the pen-stabbing incident, too, “requireddisciplinary action,” theinspector general report says.
But because Winn does notmaintaindetailed records, it was unclear whether those officers were ultimately subjectto any discipline.
“This could lead to staff repeating inappropriate use-of-force tactics that could potentially resultin property damage, injury, and death,”Cuffari wrote.
Thereport dingedWinn for poor recordkeeping in other areas. Staff did not maintainlogsofdetainees’ criminalhistories as required under federal rules meant to ensure safehousingarrangements. And in afacilitywhere detainees can work up to 40 hours weekly for as little as $1 perday,the inquiry found almost no records of detainee work histories.
Staff “only recorded
detainee workinghours forthe current week in a spreadsheet by overwriting the previousweek’s data,” thereport says.
The numbers of people being held in immigration detention nationally and in Louisiana has soared since Trump took office. Louisiana had morethan 8,000 people in immigration detention as of April, second only to Texas, accordingto data tracked by Syracuse University’sTransactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
Thenew DHSreview marks the latest report of troubling conditions inside facilities operated by LaSalle, which runs half of Louisiana’sICE-contracted lockups.
In 2021, aDHS review dingedWinn Correctional for inappropriateuse of force and “serious environmental andsafetydeficiencies.” Acivil jury in Monroe lastyear awarded $42.75 million to family of aman killedafter guards at Richwood Correctional, aLaSalle-run facilityin Monroe, slammed his head against aconcrete floor
In April, officials said 49-year-old Alejandro CabreraClemente, aMexicanborn man withahistory of high blood pressure,died at Winn after staff found him unresponsive in adormitory area. Mexican officials called his death asign of increasingly direconditionswithin U.S. detention facilities.
Email James Finn at jfinn@theadvocate.com
Center for the Arts on Wednesday.
Acadians and their descendants, appearedinthe television special to shed light on why the Acadian people, having fled to Louisiana to start anew life,decided to join the continental fight under Galvez.
“When Gov.Galvez asked theAcadians to join the Spanish militia, they were anxious to do so. They finally had achance to getbackatthe British who had stolen their lands, so 67 men got on horses and went from Lafayette to New Orleans to join the
tive director,saidina statement. “SB 125 is about real people who are innocent, real decadeslost, and real familieswho lived with the consequences of Louisiana’s mistakes.”
Landry alsousedthe veto to call out New Orleans.
“Louisiana taxpayers have already seen examples of Soros-funded prosecutorsgaming the system to secure the release of convicted criminals and then seek taxpayer-funded compensation,” Landrywrote. “Thereisno betterexample than Orleans Parish.”
He said some individuals there have received compensationfrom thestate in addition to money from claims made in federal court In astatement, Orleans Parish District AttorneyJason Williams said Landry’s “characterization” is “inaccurate.”
“The Governor’s statement conflates separate legal processesand overlooks afundamental principleofour
militia,” he said. “They helped defeat the British at theBattle of Manchac, then went up to Baton Rouge, defeated the British there, andgot control of the Mississippi River.
“After theforts fell at Mobile andPensacola, the Gulf of Mexico wascontrolled by Spain, and four monthslater,Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington. The war was over.”
Louisianans witha verifiable connection to aRevolutionary Warveteran (or
justicesystem: when acourt determines that apersonwas wrongfully convicted, the law providesamechanism for compensation,” Williams said. “Thatprocessexists becauseaccountability and justicedonot end with aconviction.” Williams saidjusticerequiresboth holdingthose found guilty accountable and “acknowledging andcorrecting errors when they occur.”
Skye Angers,who was reported missing in January 2021 while pregnant, hasnever been found
The criminal portion of the case is listed as “cleared by arrest,” police said in a recent statement. Bryant was arrested on Feb.26, 2021, on theone count of obstruction of justice connected to the investigation into Skye’sdisappearance. The mostrecent search activity occurred in March 2022 after investigators received informationregarding the possible whereabouts of Skye’s remains
Detectives and cadaver dogs searched an abandoned area in Lafayette, but the search produced no results, accordingtopolice.
Now,more than five years after Angers’ disappearance, her family is still searching foranswers while holding tightly to memoriesofwho Skye was before shevanished.
Alex Angers says her sister’sstory is about more than the circumstances surrounding herdisappearance.
“Ifyou ever mether, you’d say she was eccentric,very fun,” Alex said. “She loved music. She loved making friends. She just enjoyed life.”
Foryears, Alex says she has carried the weight of notknowing andwondering whether someoneout there knows what happened, whether someone has stayed silent allthis time.
Now, herfamilyhopes renewed attention to Skye’s disappearance could bring answers, closure or at least newinformation forward
The District Attorney’s Office encouraged the public to provide anyinformation that could lead to Bryant’s capture by contacting the Lafayette Tips Hotline Anyone with information related to the disappearance of Skye Angers is encouraged to contact the LafayettePoliceDepartment. Tips can be submitted anonymously through 232TIPS, the LPD mobile app or by emailing viapiolpd@ lafayettela.gov
GALA
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any ancestor who aided in thepursuitofAmerican independence) are eligible for membership in the Daughters of theAmerican Revolution, which has resources to help with genealogical research.
“Traveling withDenella: America 250” will air locally on KATC at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday,June 13.
Email Joanna Brown at joanna.brown@ theadvocate.com.
they are seen, valued and cared for,”saidLakisha Varner,executive director of the Lafayette Council on Aging.“The ‘Agelessin Time’ Gala allows ourcommunity to cometogether andensurethatthislifeline continues forthe neighbors who need it most.”
Founded in 1965, the Lafayette Council on Aging is anonprofit organization that provides services aimed at helping seniors remain in their homes and maintaintheir qualityof life
The event’spresenting sponsors are Higginbotham Insuranceand Bradberry Construction
STAFF PHOTO By BRADBOWIE
Attendees gatherfor afreepublic screening of ‘Traveling With Denella:America 250’ at Acadiana
SPORTS
PO VE IM
Spain’sJosepPuerto
Spainand Italy on Sept. 2atSpyrosKyprianou ArenainLimassol, Cyprus. Niangwill playwiththe LSU men’s basketball team in the fall.
Niangbringsfeelfor
BY TOYLOYBROWN III
Staff writer
thegame, strong defensetoLSU’s roster
Saliou Niang will doalittle bit of everythingfor LSU. Coach Will Wade addedthe 6-foot-7Italian-Senegalese wing because even whenheisn’t scoring, he’ll positively impactthe game. Niang has proven that against topinternational competition
In 21.7 minutes per game, the22-year-old averaged 7.1 points on 62.9% shooting, 5.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.4 turnovers across 38 games forVirtus Bologna in the EuroLeague—the mostcompetitive league outside theUnited States
His talent level was high enough for the ClevelandCavaliers to select him58th overallinthe 2025NBA Draft. He played threegames withtheirsummerleague team before returning overseas. Feel forthe game
Basketball feel is an intuitive awarenessofwhat’s happening on the court. Players withthis“feel” move to the
BY TIM REYNOLDS AP basketball writer
SAN ANTONIO The road to the NBA Finals was not exactly smooth for theSan Antonio Spurs. They had —and lost —home-court advantage in Round 1against Portland,before recovering to win the series. In Round 2against Minnesota, the same thinghappened.Inthe WesternConference finals against Oklahoma City,theytrailed 2-1 before finding away to oust the defending champion Thunder in seven games. And now,the finals. They had home-court advantage and lost it in Game 1against the New York Knicks. Adversity, hello again “We’ve been consistent inthat regard,” Spurs coachMitch Johnson said Thursday as his team prepares for Game 2onFriday night. “I think one thingwe have learned in our three series is that series are long. Games are long. Things shift quickly, whether that’shealth, who’splaying well or hot, quote-unquote, at the time. Teams at thisstagetypically have shown theabilitytoevolve on the fly and improve within
right spots at the right time andmake smartreadsdecisively Niang is one of those players. What he lacks in flashyskill,hemakes up forwith effectiveness. While often positioned in thecorner,he moves well without theball, slipping into gaps and finishing at the rim.His over 60% field-goal shooting stems from aknow-how as acutter and straightforward layup finisher. Hiswiry204-pound frame assists in weaponizing his instincts with fluidity His high motor alsohelps in the half-court and during fastbreaks. He sprints in transition, where hislength and leapingability aredifficult to contain without fouling. His blue-collar style comes out on the offensive glass. While not playing power forward or center,heimpressively averaged 2.2 offensive rebounds in under 22 minutes per game. Hisfeel away from theballalsomadehim asurprisingly effective roll man for his size. He setsolid screens,
ä NBA Finals Knicks at Spurs 7:30 P.M. FRIDAy,ABC
aseries.”
That’swhat will be required if the Spurs are goingtohead to New York with this series knotted at agame apiece. They shot poorlyinGame 1(36%), extremely poorlyfrom 3-point range (26%, missing 32 of 43 tries), had 16 assists (nowherenear enough),got outscored in the paint 50-42 andcouldn’tholda 14-point third-quarter lead. The Knicks deserve credit for creatinga whole lot of thoseissues, but the Spurs know they’re capable of much better play
“I thinkthe reason we lostthat game isn’t even technical (or)tactical,” Spurs star Victor Wembanyama said. “We need to approach thegame with abetter mental state. We just need to play our game. We just need tobenormal.” Normal?
“‘Normal’ means trusting each other,
WorldCup festivities aimto showcase unity
Star-studded opening ceremonies will be held in each host country
BY COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press
MILAN The World Cup will feature an unprecedented trio of star-studded opening ceremonies in thehostnations,the United States, Canada andMexico, created by the Italian producer behind the opening ceremony forthis year’sMilan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Marco Balich, fresh off the Olympics opening ceremony,which included aparade of athletes spread across four venues, saidhewas up to thechallenge of producing three shows in threecities, with teams numbering 260 to 300 people in each city The ceremonies’ unifying theme will be “thecelebration of sports,the passion for soccer,symbolizedbythe cupitself,”Balich said. “The idea is to narrate with three points of view and languages,” using design aesthetics representative of each culture. In Canada,a mosaic will represent its multicultural identity.Mexico’smotif will be the traditional papercutouts called papel picado, while the United States will have “a super shiny,glowing cup,” said Balich, who also produced theopening ceremonyfor the 2022 World Cup in Qatar
On
NCAA tourney, Sorsby, andkilling time until footballseason
Notes in my baseball scorebook because Icertainly have no LSU NCAA Tournamentgames to put in there.
Scott Rabalais
There’slittle Ican say or write that’s going to makeLSU baseball fans feel less pain over their beloved Tigers being NCAA Tournamentspectators instead of participants forthe first timesince 2011. Iwill saythatmisery definitely lovescompany, andin this case, will offer misery aprime seat next to it in the empty AlexBox Stadium grandstands. And possibly, offer to buy it ahot dog. When it comes to the teams that madeit to the College World Series in 2025, there is plenty of misery to go around. The NCAA super regionals begin Friday and Saturday at eight sites across America. There are somefamiliar names, somesurprising names, but no names of the teams that were in the CWS ayear ago.
That’sright. Noneofthe eight madeitas farasthis year’ssweet 16. Four of them
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By CHARA SAVVIDOU
defendsagainst Italy’sSaliou Niang during the Eurobasket championship Group Cmatch between
AP PHOTO By JAEC.HONG
BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS
Serena, 19-year-old to team up in Queen’s Club tourney LONDON Serena Williams will make her eagerly anticipated return to professional tennis playing doubles alongside a partner who is 25 years younger Victoria Mboko, the 19-year-old Canadian ranked No. 9, revealed Thursday she would have the “honor” of playing with the 44-year-old Williams as a wild-card entry at the Queen’s Club next week. They practiced on the grass courts in west London on Thursday “The Queen is back,” Mboko wrote in a post on Instagram alongside a picture of her standing next to Williams.
Sipping tea fuels Chwalinska’s run
Polish player earns spot in French Open final
BY JEROME PUGMIRE AP sportswriter
PARIS Sipping tea every night is working wonders for Maja Chwalinska.
The Polish player became just the second qualifier to reach a Grand Slam singles final in the Open Era when she beat Diana Shnaider of Russia 7-6 (4), 6-4 on Thursday
The 24-year-old Chwalinska can match Emma Raducanu’s title run at the 2021 U.S. Open when she plays Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva in Saturday’s final at Roland Garros. Nothing will change Chwalinska’s routine for the biggest match of her life.
“I’m going to drink my tea,” she said.
Chwalinska and Raducanu, according to stats provider Opta, stand alone among men and women in having reached a major singles final from the qualifying rounds since the Open Era began in 1968.
“I feel like I am in a bubble, I don’t know what’s going on,” Chwalinska said. “After the tournament it will be time to process it: breathe in, breathe out.”
Besides the tea, she might watch some tennis “because I’m a tennis freak.”
She said her favorite player growing up was Swiss great Roger Federer, then Spanish clay-court ace Rafael Nadal. Now it’s 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic.
“I’m just very grateful that I was growing up during this era,” she said. “Sometimes I come back to these old matches and I watch them play and it feels like poetry.”
Chwalinska sealed victory on her first match point with a powerful forehand winner down the line, then fell back with both hands on her face. She then sat on her chair and panted heavily, her face buried into a towel.
“I honestly don’t know what was going on in my head,” she said “I was just in such a shock.”
Chwalinska’s run saw her advance through three qualifying rounds to enter the main draw and play in just her third Grand Slam. Her best result at a major before this was the second round at Wimbledon in 2022 Polish countrywoman Iga Swiatek has
won the French Open four times.
The 19-year-old Andreeva reached her first Grand Slam final by beating Marta Kostyuk 6-1, 6-3 earlier Thursday on Court
Philippe-Chatrier
Andreeva had reached the semifinals here two years ago, but this is Chwalinska’s first semifinal anywhere at WTA tour-level.
Remarkable run
Chwalinksa has dropped only one set in her nine matches, including qualifying, and has bulldozed her way past four top-50 players in the main draw
Her ranking will rocket from No. 114 to No. 14 if she wins the tournament, according to the WTA. Her bank balance will also get a significant boost. Chwalinksa’s total prize money heading into Roland Garros was $864,030 and by reaching the final she gets 1.4 million euros about ($1.6 million); and 2.8 million euros ($3.25 million) if she wins on Saturday
A neat drop shot and lob gave her set point in the tiebreaker, and she clinched the first set when Shnaider’s backhand went wide.
Shnaider had a medical timeout after the seventh game of the second set. She flexed her left leg as she lay on her back, and dropped
her serve in the ninth game, giving Chwalinksa a chance to serve for the match.
“All the kudos to Maja. She played amazing,” Shnaider said. “She moves incredible on the court, she covers a lot. Even if you think that you won the point she’s there.”
Fully focused
Andreeva could see even the smallest details on the ball.
“I was seeing the little hairs on the ball when I was tossing or playing (shots),” Andreeva said. “I was really, really focused today.”
Andreeva, who is seeded No. 8 also converted her first match point when serving for the victory She clearly feels comfortable at the French Open, which she describes as a “cozy” tournament because she sees familiar faces every year, and enjoys her time in Paris.
“I really like to walk around the city, to go into those little restaurants on the street,” she said. “I also speak a little bit of French, so I try to sometimes talk to people in French.”
Tensions on the court
There was no post-match handshake between Andreeva and Kostyuk and the Ukrainian
walked off quickly, turning only to wave and blow kisses to the crowd. They had separate photos taken before the match as they each stood next to two children on their respective side of the net. Usually the players pose for the same photo, standing right next to each other by the net.
Kostyuk and countrywoman Oleksandra Oliynykova have spoken out during the tournament about the impact Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is having on their country
The No. 15-seeded Kostyuk said defeat won’t linger given how much support she felt from fans.
“This is something I will carry with me forever,” she said. “I feel like this is the highlight of my tournament.”
Roof open and then closed
The semifinal began at shortly after 3 p.m. with an open roof, like on Wednesday when beaten quarterfinalists Aryna Sabalenka and Anna Kalinskaya complained of swirling wind on Chatrier and said the roof should have been closed.
It was closed toward the end of the second set of Thursday’s semifinal, offering Kostyuk better conditions for her clay-court game. But her 16-match winning streak on clay ended.
Fleetwood part of 4-way tie for the lead at Memorial
BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer
DUBLIN, Ohio Scottie Scheffler never thought two straight victories in the Memorial would be of any value when he began his bid for three in a row It sure felt that way Thursday in a tough start that left him exasperated by the wind and six shots behind a four-way share of the lead. Wyndham Clark, coming off a victory in the Byron Nelson U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun, Tommy Fleetwood and the Ryan Gerard were each at 5-under 67, among only 22 players who broke par at Muirfield Village.
Scheffler was poised to be among them until a bad wedge led to a careless bogey on the 14th, and what he thought was a great shot on the 16th bounced into the water for double bogey He walked 96 yards to the drop area with his palms upward when they weren’t slapping his thigh, all the while seeking answers from caddie Ted Scott that neither of them had. “I don’t think you understand how frustrating that is,” he said to Scott, who replied qui-
etly with the obvious answer “I do,” the caddie said Six of the seven players who broke 70 started before 10 a.m. and missed out on the swirling wind on a hot, clear day that made the greens even firmer than they already were.
The exception was Gerard, who had quite the wild ride. He had a 3 on a par 5 and followed that with a 5 on a par 3. He had five straight birdies on the back nine and only five pars on his scorecard for the entire round. It added to a 67, which was all that mattered.
“The small misses often lead to big punishments at this golf course,” Gerard said “I don’t think we aimed at a flag stick on the back nine and shot 5 under You’re picking small targets around either the edge of a bunker or a rake or some guy wearing a bright-colored shirt in the background or a TV tower or whatever it might be.
Fleetwood’s 67 was his lowest round in his fifth time playing the Memorial, and this wasn’t the way he would have drawn it up. He was solid off the tee, not so much from the fairway Fleetwood hit only seven greens and still played bogey-free.
“I got the most out of the round, totally I got away with a couple of poor misses. Hit the pin a couple of times when it was going past. Shot 5 under, so it couldn’t have been that bad. I was just getting a little frustrated at the end not being able to execute the iron shots that I wanted to.”
Nick Taylor wasted a good start with a double bogey on the par-5 seventh and a bogey on the next hole, only to played bogey-free on the tough back nine and finishing with one of only seven birdies on the the 18th hole. Justin Rose and Sam Burns were at 69. Scheffler provided the entertainment, even it didn’t feel all that entertaining to him. He had changed clubs on the ninth, took the longer one and still was short. He changed clubs three times from the fairway on the par-5 11th and came up short. And then the water ball on the 16th was the capper
What followed was a stream of frustrating lines: “I never thought that was in the water I don’t know what to do. I absolutely flushed a 7-iron and we get the
wind wrong and I’m in the water
I’m hitting good shots and dropping from hazards.”
So when he was asked after signing for his 73 if he had any fun at any point, Scheffler gave a half-laugh as he rubbed his chin and said, “Not that I can recall at the moment.”
The 17th was kind of fun. From a fairway bunker, 182 yards to a tucked pin in the front right, Scheffler hit 7-iron to the collar 15 feet away and chipped in for birdie.
“See, that’s the thing that can be so frustrating about golf,” Scheffler said. “I striped one on the hole before that and I end up in the water That one I kind of hit thin, and you get a good bounce and I end up on the fringe and I chip in.
“Yeah, what a game,” he said. “I felt like I didn’t get anything out of the round, all of a sudden you get a lucky bounce and you’re like, ‘OK, well, I’m going to try to smile.’ It’s still hard.”
He did smile as he headed to the wind, late enough in the afternoon the wind was starting to calm. He also realized his score wasn’t all that bad compared with other players from the afternoon.
“An honor to share the court with one of the greatest athletes of all time this week,” Mboko added. Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, stepped away from tennis in 2022. She has yet to say whether she plans to play at Wimbledon or the U.S. Open in 2026.
Braves acquire catcher Wynns, designate
Tromp
ATLANTA
The Atlanta Braves have bolstered their depth at catcher by acquiring veteran Austin Wynns from the Los Angeles Angels.
The Braves added the 35-year-old Wynns to the major league roster on Thursday, a day after acquiring him from the Angels for cash They designated catcher Chadwick Tromp for assignment before Thursday’s game against Toronto. The Braves continue to adjust to injuries to Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy Baldwin was placed on the 10-day injured list on May 19 with a strained right oblique. Manager Walt Weiss said Baldwin was on pace to return in June.
Murphy, who was moved to the 60-day injured list on Thursday, was placed on the IL on May 12.
Packers, WR Watson agree to four-year, $110.5M deal Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson agreed to terms on a four-year, $110.5 million contract extension through 2030 with a $31 million signing bonus, according to a person with knowledge of the contract. Watson, 27, tore his right anterior cruciate ligament in Green Bay’s 2024 regular-season finale, but came back last season to catch 35 passes for 611 yards and six touchdowns in 10 games He tied for the team lead in touchdown catches and ranked second in yards receiving despite missing much of the season.
While recovering from his torn ACL, Watson signed a one-year, $13.25 million extension last fall that enabled his contract to run through 2026. Now he has a longerterm commitment.
F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix extended through 2037
Formula One and the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority have committed to a 10-year extension to host the annual Las Vegas Grand Prix on the Strip through 2037.
With this year’s race, set for Nov 19-21, that means there are 12 more Las Vegas Grand Prix events under contract; the 10-year deal will kick in after the 2027 race, when the current two-year deal expires, the two groups announced Thursday LVCVA will continue to pay F1 $10 million per year to sponsor the event each year starting with the 2028 race for a total of $100 million, pending LVCVA board approval at a future meeting. The LVCVA is also paying F1 $10 million for this year’s race and the 2027 edition.
Minnesota forward Foligno wins King Clancy award Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Foligno has received this season’s King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership and service, the NHL announced Thursday
The award is presented annually to the player who “best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”
Foligno was recently presented the trophy in a surprise appearance at the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota by his older brother and teammate, Nick Foligno. They established the Janis Foligno Foundation in memory of their mother, who died of breast cancer in 2009.
The NHL will donate $25,000 to the foundation as part of the award to Foligno.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By THIBAULT CAMUS
Poland’s Maja Chwalinska react during her semifinal match against Russia’s Diana Shnaider at the French Open on Thursday in Paris.
SCOREBOARD
Fun in Philly
PhiladelphiaPhillies
Tennis
French Open
At Stade Roland Garros, Paris Purse: $33,513,885; Surface: Redclay Women’s singles Semifinals
MirraAndreeva(8),Russia, def. Marta Kostyuk(15),Ukraine, 6-1, 6-3
Harri Heliovaara, Finland, and Henry Patten (2), Britain, def. Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Quentin Halys, France, 6-3, 6-4
Mixeddoubles Championship SaraErrani and Andrea Vavassori(1), Italy, def. Evan King, United States, and Gabriela Dabrowski, Canada, 4-6, 6-3,10-4
Golf PGA Tour
Memorial Tournament At Muirfield Village GolfClub Dublin, Ohio Purse: $20 million Yardage: 7,569; Par: 72 First round Wyndham
BY MIKE COPPAGE
Contributing writer
TrevorEaton is allabout service.
eligible playerand missed the postseason.
“They have alot of upside,” Eaton said of the Patriots. “There wasonly one senior last year.”
Pierceson Coody38-40—78
RickieFowler41-38—79
Sam Stevens
Jhonattan Vegas
Matthew McCarty
p.m. N.Y. Mets (Scott 1-0) at San Diego (King 4-4), 8:40 p.m. Washington (Griffin 6-2) at Arizona (Kelly 5-3), 8:40 p.m. L.A. Angels (Detmers 2-5) at L.A. Dodgers (Sasaki 3-3), 9:10 p.m. Hockey
Thursday: Vegas at Carolina, n Saturday: CarolinaatVegas, 7 p.m. Tuesday: CarolinaatVegas, 7 p.m. Thursday, June11: x-VegasatCarolina, TBA Sunday, June 14: x-Carolina at Vegas, TBA Wednesday, June 17: x-Vegas at Carolina, TBA
Aformerprofessional firefighter turned high school basketball coach,Eaton recently made an inparishmoveby taking the coaching jobatNorth Vermilionafter asuccessful stint at Abbeville. “I’m agiver and aservant,” Eaton said. “All Iwant to do is serve thekids.” After adecadefighting fires, Eaton spent the next 10 years at Abbeville —first as an assistant under legendary coach Berwick
Hamilton
Eaton willbuild his team around Jose Sotomayor, arising senior point guard.
“In my opinion, Jose is one of the betterdecision-makers and ball-handlers in thearea,” he said. “He’s very unselfish. We were preparing to face him in last year’splayoffs.”
Eaton is bringing assistant Jalen Hill with him from Abbeville, which won adistrict title while compiling a20-12 record.
“Coach Hill is agreat young guy from DeRidder,amilitary kid who played college ball,” he said. “He’sgoing to be atremendous help.”
“I played for him and coached forhim,” he said.“Everything I knowcamefrom coach Hamilton.”
In 2022,Eaton became the coach at Abbeville. His desire to eventually pursue acareer in schooladministration was the drivingforce behind taking the job at North Vermilion.
“I felt likeitwas agood move to go to another school and learn,” he said.
ANo. 12 seed in last year’s Division II nonselect playoffs, Abbeville wasscheduled to host No. 21 North Vermilion before thePatriotsself-reported an in-
With the freshman and junior varsity teams in Hill’scapable hands, Eaton hopes the boys middle school program can replicate whatMya Touchet has done for the girls, who reached the state tournament last season.
“Vermilion Parish is very small,” he said. “I pretty much already knew all of the parents. I just want people to know I’m very excited to be part of the Maurice and NVHS Patriot community “Just know that coach Trev is going to give everything he has.” Thegoalfor his first yearisto host afirst-round playoff game, something thathasn’thappened in morethan adecade.
Charter; Kelsey Bruce, Ouachita Christian;Mallory Carver, CalvaryBaptist; Karley Caskey,Winnfield; CarolineCedars, Many;Emily Cooley DeQuincy; Lily Cunningham, Houma Christian; Emily Doiron,Houma Christian; Caylee Downs, Many; Emma Davis,Menard; Annabelle Drago, Menard;Mia Ennis, Country Day; Conlee Flotte, Slaughter Charter; Audi Flowers,DeQuincy; Sydney Fraher, Northlake Christian; Niki Gardner, Episcopal; Carlie Guile, Calvary Baptist;Avery Hankins, Oak Grove;Kylee Hardison,Oakdale; Abigail Hardy,Mangham; SantanaHarris, Winnfield; Alivia Hayes, Houma Christian;AlauraHough,Pickering; Lylah Jones,D’Arbonne Woods; Maddie Jones, Rosepine; Marli Jones,Rosepine; Mia Klein, Lake Arthur; Jesse Lambert Newman; Kaylee Methvin, Menard; Kenna Miles,French Settlement; Fallyn Moore, Oak Grove;Addie Morris,OuachitaChristian;Allie Payne, Many;Gracie Price, Oak Grove; Kaylynn Rainey,North Caddo; Ellie Kate Ray, Oak Grove; Peyton Reeves, East Beauregard; KamRodriguez,PopeJohnPaul; Hadley Spellman, French Settlement;Kaylee Vercher, Winnfield; Maddie Vinatieri, DeQuincy; Reese Walker, Calvary Baptist; Piper Weatherly,Vidalia; Abigail Willie, NorthlakeChristian;Aubrey Zachary,D’Arbonne
RABALAIS
Continued from page1C
didn’teven qualify for this year’s tournament:LSU, Arizona, Louisville and Murray State. The other four lost in the regional round: CWS runner-up Coastal Carolina, Arkansas, OregonStateand this year’stop seed, UCLA. Come to mention,Vanderbilt, theNo. 1 overall seed in 2025, didn’t make it into the field of 64 as well.
To carry that theme abit further, none of the eight teams that were in the 2024 CWS made it back last year,either.Remarkably,2025 and 2026 markthe first time since 1956-57 that there were eight brand-new teams in Omaha in back-to-back years.
Much parity in college baseball? Apparently plenty The parade of upstarts does have plenty of LSU-related
NIANG
Continued from page1C
finished reliablyatthe hoop and drew fouls. With his nearly 6-11 wingspan, he was aconsistent dunk threat
Niang’spassing abilitysolidifies his case as ahigh-feel player His assist numbers undersell how well he sees the floor. He finds teammateswith interior passes after offensive rebounds or when defenders collapse on him near the rim. He also threw not-so-obvious skip passes and processed defensive rotations well.His courtvisionand quick decision-making are bonuses to have for aplay finisher
The two major areas of improvement are his outside shot and on-ball creation.
Niang made only 4of123-pointers in 38 games. The minimal number of attempts is concerning since he stood on the perimeter enough and too often passed up open looks. Not taking open looks as asmall forward in the Southeastern Conference would be to the detriment of LSU’sspacing. Hisballhandlingisalsolacking. He rarely initiated offense or attacked set defenses, often defaulting to post-ups when he tried to create for himself. Raising his confidence as ashooter and dribbler would elevate him
angles. Cal Poly and West Virginiahavefirst pitch of the super regionals at 10 a.m. Friday,with Little Rock at Troy at 4p.m. West Virginia is the team LSU swept in last year’sBaton Rouge Super Regional, while Little Rock is,of course, thefourseedthe Tigers survived after losing to them in the Baton Rouge Regional. Noneofthe four,whose winners will meetinthe CWS, has ever beentoOmaha,with only West Virginia getting as far as asuper regional. That means either Cal Poly,WVU, Little Rock or Troy will finditself in thewinners’ bracket next weekend.
It’sabrave new college baseball world indeed.
…Meanwhile, over in Lubbock, Texas, Texas Tech is waiting to seeifajudgewill grant Red Raiders quarterback Brendan Sorsby an injunction to beable to play thisseason.Sorsby, of course, admitted to bettingtens of thou-
from aglue guy on offense to a respectable scorer
Impact defense
Niang usually served as adefensive stopper overseas —and for good reason. He started 13 of 38 EuroLeague games and carved outa consistent role due to beinghis team’s best perimeter defender
His frame and mindset make him an annoyance while guardingscorers on theball. During EuroBasket, Italy tasked him with checking NBA superstar Luka Doncic. TheLos Angeles Lakers star scoredattimes,but Niang genuinely flashed the ability to force Doncic topass out of shots andmiss tough looks. Niang has thelateral quickness and lengthtostay in front andrecover when blown by.While he still needs more upper-bodystrength, he’sfunctionally able to absorb bumps from wings and guards —atraitthat should translate to college basketball. That gives him versatilitytodefend guards, wings and some power forwards. His effort on the offensive glass carries over defensively, soaring for rebounds. He’sdisruptive withsteals and blocks for his position, and his bestmoment against Doncic came when he picked himclean at half court. If Wade brings back the aggressive defensive philosophy he used previously at LSU,
sands of dollars —reportedly about $90,000 —while playing at Indiana and Cincinnati. He now wants to claim that he should be allowed to play because banning him would cause harm tohis career and mental health. Spare me. While Sorsby deserves compassion, he does not deserve another chance to play college football. Ever.Many rules and previous red lines in college athletics have become blurred out, often by litigation challenging previous norms. Want asixth year like Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss? Finda friendly judge. Want to come back to college after playing professional basketball like LSU recruit RJ Luis?Itwill likely take finding afriendly judge. There is no crossing thegambling line, though. If Sorsby is allowed to play,college sports will lose all credibility Texas Tech has already lostits
Niangcould become even more disruptive. If he’sapest on ball handlers and can fly for some blocks out of nowhere, he might be reminiscent of former LSU forward Tari Eason. Niang likely won’treach Eason’selite defensive status, but he has thetools to approximate some of that ability
Onearea of growth is screen navigation. All defenders get clipped by hard screens, but Nianghas thephysicaltools to fight over them even better than he did last season.
Finalverdict
Niangisa winning player. He does too manythings well without the ball, at his size and experience level, not to help LSU.
Barring unexpected developmentasaballhandler or shooter, Wade won’task theformer NBA second-round pick to be aprimary scoring option. While Niang didn’tshow natural off-the-dribble creation last season,that’snot amajor issue.
The Italian pro can compensate by potentially becoming atop-10 perimeter defender in the SEC and an opportunistic off-ball scorer.Combined with his connective passing, it would be surprising if he isn’ta starter for LSU.
Becoming aserviceable and more willing3-pointshooter is the swing skill that could elevatehim from asolid startertoa rare twoway talent in college basketball
credibilityfor trying to get him eligible. Not really for Sorsby’swellbeing, but well, to win. One doubts the school would be going to the mattresses (“The Godfather” reference) for abackup right guard. The school made abad investment in Sorsby —reportedly about $5 million worth —though it’sdoubtful it will have to pay him all that if he isn’tallowed to play While Texas Tech deserves to be taken to task, the school probably wouldn’tbealone in this attempted end run to circumvent asacrosanct rule like “NOGAMBLING.” Remember,LSU wanted Sorsby badly; the Tigers finished second toTexas Tech in the transfer portal chase before signing Sam Levitt. Would LSU have been so noble as to not allow Sorsby to play if thetruth about his gambling had broken out while he was in the purple and gold? One would like to believeso, but whoknows? The truth is, this is Texas Tech’s
NBA
Continuedfrompage1C
trustingthe basketball gods, trusting thegame plan, executing, and not relying on talent so muchtomake shotsortosave the day,” Wembanyama said. “We’ve been playing acertain way all season. We’ve been successful thisway.There’snoreason to change the day the finals start.”
It waseasyfor theSpurs to find areas to cleanup.
For theKnicks these days, that’s considerably tougher
They’re 12-0 in their last 12 games, the thirdteamtodothat in asingle postseason.The other two —San Antonio in 1999 and Golden State in
WORLD CUP
Continuedfrompage1C
Balich called it a“very good sign” that Canada, Mexicoand the U.S. were working together to host “a peaceful World Cup.”
“I think it’svery important that we stress the fact that the three nations are working together to hostavery important andrelevant championship, especially in this momentwhere thereissomuch controversy on the political side,” said Balich, founderofBalichWon-
problem. It never should have gotten as far as acourtroom,but now that it has, let’shope justice is swift.
…While thelocal sports scene may be quietwithout LSU baseball still going, overall, it’s abusy June on thesports calendar.The NBA andStanleyCup finalsare in swing, as is theFrench Open through Sunday. The Belmont Stakes runs Saturday.ThennextThursday the WorldCup begins, withthe U.S. Open thefollowing week at tough, windy Shinnecock Hills.And, of course, theaforementioned CWS. It’s all about enough to get everyone to late July,when, to me, football season begins. SEC Media Dayswill be in Tampa, Florida, July 20-23, with Lane Kiffin and three yet-to-be-named LSU players attending on the final day That’sadeparture from recent years, when the LSU contingent was always on the first day Don’tworry,sports fans, it’ll be here before you know it.
2017 —were NBA champions. The Knicks are certainly playing like achampionship-capable team, but star guard Jalen Brunson insists that NewYork can’tsubscribe to any sort of thinking that suggests thejob is done anda parade is inevitable.
“It’sall aboutjust getting better every single day,keep chipping away,keep chipping away,being 1% better,” said Brunson, who led all scorers with 30 points in his finalsdebut Wednesday.“Whenyou take steps back, how can you improve? Having that mentalityand focusand approach Ithinkallows us to still be students of the game and still find waystolearn, even through wins, and Ithink we need to continue to do that.”
der Studios. “But the people are people, and they will get together andenjoy.”
Each ceremonywill feature top artistic performances that tap into the national identity,but Balich said spectators shouldn’texpect aSuper Bowl-style halftimeextravaganza. Instead,the ceremonies will combine welcoming speeches, aparade of flags, the presentation of the match ball andabout 30 minutesof musical entertainment.
“It’sa celebrationoffootball, FIFA andthe fact that, thanks to soccer,people get together in peace and harmony,” Balich said.
Dance it off
DJ duo Interstellarwill be spinning tunesfor Taylor SwiftNight at Chelsea’s Livefrom 10 p.m to 11:45p.m. Friday. Think “Cr uel Summer,” “NewRomantics,”“Blank Space”and more. Doors will open at 9p.m.$10, advance; $15, at the box office. Forthose18and older. chelseaslive.com.
LIVING
GeorgeRodrigue’s1991
‘Over the moon’
Andthe Emmy goes to ‘Blue— TheLifeand Artof George Rodrigue’
BY JUDYBERGERON Staff writer
“Blue —The Life andArt of George Rodrigue” has wona national Emmy Award for outstanding regional documentary Jacques Rodrigue, the late artist’sson, accepted the award at ceremonies in New York City last week.
“I’m absolutely over the moon andsoproud,”Rodrigue, also executive directorofthe George Rodrigue Foundation of theArts, said in an email.
Making it big
MILLER
STAFFPHOTOSByROBIN
CalebBroussard, left, as Jack, tells his best friend,Crutchie, playedbyHenryGore, about howlife will be in Santa Fe aftertheyamass enough moneyfrom newspaper sales to move away fromNew york in Playmakers of Baton Rouge’sproduction of ‘Disney’sNewsies Jr.’
Kids on stagewill play kids who changed theworld in ‘Newsies Jr.’
BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer
There’ssomethingprofound about Playmakers of Baton Rouge’sproduction of “Disney’sNewsies Jr.”
Rodrigue
“Blue” is acareer-spanning film that follows famousBlue Dog painter Rodrigue’slife and journey as an artist. For the first timein30years, the filmincludes footage filmed inside Rodrigue’sstudio as Jacques Rodrigue and his brother,Andre, led abrief tour of where their father painted all of his Cajun works. Besides the fame for his iconic azure canine works, these paintings of Louisiana landscapes andoutdoor family gatherings are also well-known. He diedin2013.
“For afilm made right here in New Orleans by our local stationWLAE-TVabout my dad to win the national Emmyisincrediblymeaningful,”Rodrigue also said. “Only five regional documentaries from across the entire country are even nominatedeach year,sotoactually take home the award feels like a dreamcome true for us and for Louisiana storytelling.”
Under the direction of Sean O’Malley,ateam at WLAE/6th StreetStudios worked on the project.
“For years, I’ve beenarchiving and digitizing dad’s catalog, butalso hismaterials and, footage and old TV interviews,” Jacques Rodrigue said in 2025. “So when the filmmakersfirst approachedus, we had areal treasure trove of things to
ä See RODRIGUE, page 6C
The musical is fun, true. It’s also equipped with thebrand of challenging choreography that musical theaterkidslovetoperform And they’ll be dancing everywhere when Playmakers opens “Newsies Jr.” on Fridayinthe Reilly Theatre. Butlingering beneaththe dancingand showstopping numbers is the fact that the kids on the Reilly’s stage basically are the sameage as the newsboys they’re portraying. The newsies were teens, some evenyounger,when, in 1899, they were hawking newspapers for
illuminates Spanish moss hanging from branches ofbald cypresstrees in Caddo Lakenear Uncertain,Texas.
‘DISNEY’S NEWSIESJR.’
APlaymakers of Baton Rouge production
7p.m.Friday, 2p.m.SaturdaySunday, 7p.m.Friday, June 12, and 2p.m.Saturday-Sunday, June 13-14 l Reilly Theatre,Tower Drive,LSU campus l $20-$30 l playmakers.org
Jack, played by Caleb Broussard, right, takes a likingtoaspiring investigative reporter Katherine, played by Adelaide Overall, in the Playmakers of Baton Rouge show, ‘Disney’s Newsies Jr.’
mere pennies. Most of them were homeless or orphaned. But then they banded together and changedthe system by takingonthe nation’smost powerful media titan. Little did they know,their effort would be the catalyst forthe eventual child laborreform movement. Real-lifecontemporaries
Cast members’ expressions shift from excitement to all
ä See 'NEWSIES', page 6C
BYMOLLYTERRELL Staff writer
The newest movie in the Star Wars franchise,“StarWars: TheMandalorianand Grogu,” was partially filmed on Caddo Lake near Shreveport, and the crew was broughtout by alocal swamptour company
The lake,which spans both Louisiana and Texas, is at its swampiest near the city of Uncer-
tain, Texas, whereCaptainRon’s Swamp Tours operates from the Uncertain Lodge and Inn.
Captain Ron’sSwamp Tours wasable to announce their involvement the daythe movie released, and posted to Facebook, writing, “The swamps of Caddo Lake were part of film magic. We werehonored to
PROVIDED PHOTO By GEORGE GODFREy RODRIGUE JR.FAMILyTRUST
painting,‘Loup Garou’
PROVIDED PHOTO By ALySSE GAFKEJN
Austin-based country-rockers The Band of Heathens will perform at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, at 7:30 p.m.Wednesday.Tickets are $61.96-$83.03 at simpletix.com
SHOWS TO WATCH — ACADIANA
Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.
FRIDAY
LIVE MUSIC: Cane River Pecan Company Pie Bar, New Iberia, 5 p.m.
FRIDAY NIGHT JAM: La Maison de Begnaud, Scott, 6 p.m.
HORACE TRAHAN AND THE OSSUN EXPRESS: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m
LIVE MUSIC: Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza & Brewery, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
JANSON MATTE: Naq’s-nDuson, Duson, 6 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6 p.m.
MYLES & MACKENZIE: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 6 p.m
DOYLE AND JACOB TAUZIN: Naq’s-n-Duson, Duson, 6 p.m.
COUNTERCONTROL & BLUE
COLLAR BOYS: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza & Brewery Lafayette, 6 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6 p.m.
MARY BROUSSARD: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge 6:30 p.m.
NICKI NEEDHAM: SHUCKS!
‘STAR WARS’
Continued from page 5C
Wars film, Mandalorian and Grogu! If you have ever glided through our ancient Cypress groves, you already know why they came here. There is no place on earth quite like it Look out for Caddo when you watch the movie. Come and see the lake that caught Hollywood’s eye.” The company is the No 1 tour operator on the lake, according to co-partner Jean Rhodes-Werneke, who said they could fill a second boat for tours because of how busy they are. They were contacted by Disney in July 2024, Rhodes-Werneke said, to arrange for a scout to visit Caddo Lake as a potential filming location for part of
BEAUSOLEIL AVEC MICHAEL
DOUCET: Hideaway on Lee Lafayette, 7 p.m.
HOLDING DAISIES + BETTER LATE THAN NEVER + LONE
JABRONI + SILVERCAPBABY: Feed N Seed, Lafayette, 7 p.m.
MATT GARY TRIO: Whiskey and Vine, Lafayette, 7 p.m.
UNCOUTH, POT OF GREED, & HIJACK THE FLOAT: The Loose Caboose, Lafayette, 7 p.m.
WILLIS ALAN RAMSEY/DREW
LANDRY: NUNU Arts and Culture Collective, Arnaudville 7:30 p.m.
VERMILLIONAIRES: Rock ’n’ Bowl de Lafayette, Lafayette, 9 p.m. THE MAGIC OF ERIC EATON — COMEDY MAGIC FOR ADULTS: DoubleTree by Hilton, Lafayette, 9:30 p.m.
SUNDAY
LIVE MUSIC: Tante Marie, Breaux Bridge, 11 a.m. THE SUNDAY PEOPLE: Whiskey & Vine, Lafayette, 11 a.m.
LES FRERES MICHOT: Prejean’s, Carencro, 11:30 a.m.
JAMBALAYA ACOUSTIC MU-
SIC JAM: Tom’s Fiddle & Bow, Arnaudville, 12:30 p.m.
CAJUN JAM: Bayou Teche Brewing, Arnaudville, 2 p.m. “BLITHE SPIRIT” BY NOËL COWARD: Cité des Arts, Lafayette, 2 p.m.
CREOLE CONNECTION: Rock ’n’ Bowl de Lafayette, Lafayette, 5 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
LUKE HUVAL BAND: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 7 p.m. THE SUNDAY PEOPLE: Whiskey and Vine, Lafayette, 7 p.m.
MONDAY PATRICIO LATINO SOLO: Cafe Habana City, Lafayette, 11 a.m.
the newest Star Wars movie, released on May 22. By that October, she said, the film’s crew stayed in the Uncertain Lodge and Inn and the Shady Glade Resort for a few days of filming. But the pontoon boat they had wasn’t big enough for the crew so Disney had a barge moved from Miami for the crew
Filming on the lake
Rhodes-Werneke said the crew had pictures of the lake they wanted to be guided to, and she immediately knew where each location was.
“I’ve been on this lake for 33 years, so we took them where pictures were, and then also some more areas that we knew they might be interested in,” she said.
One of the locations was Pine Island Pond, where Rhodes-Werneke had asked
By The Associated Press
Today is Friday, June 5, the 156th day of 2026. There are 209 days left in the year
Today in history: On June 5, 1968, U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was shot and mortally wounded after claiming victory in California’s Democratic presidential primary at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles; assassin Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was arrested at the scene.
Also on this date:
In 1794, Congress passed the Neutrality Act, which prohibited Americans from taking part in any military action against a country that was at peace with the United States.
TODAY IN HISTORY
In 1967, the Six-Day War began as Israel, anticipating a possible attack by its Arab neighbors, launched a series of airfield strikes that destroyed nearly the entire Egyptian air force.
In 1981, the Centers for Disease Control reported that five men in Los Angeles had come down with a rare kind of pneumonia; they were the first recognized cases of what later became known as AIDS.
In 2002, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her Salt Lake City home. (Smart was found and rescued by police in a Salt Lake City suburb in March 2003.)
LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
BLUEGRASS JAM: Cité des Arts, Lafayette, 6:30 p.m.
TUESDAY ACADIANA TALENT PRESENTS
JIBBER JABBER NIGHT: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 5 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
PAUL TASSIN: Whiskey and Vine, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
TERRY HUVAL & FRIENDS: Prejean’s Restaurant, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
BLOOD SHOW + TRAIN
WRECK METHOD + CHEATER
PIPE + THE LA PHANTOMS: Feed N Seed, Lafayette, 7 p.m.
GREENLIGHT SESSIONS OPEN
MIC: The Jefferson Street Greenroom, Lafayette, 7 p.m.
OOF. COMEDY HOUR OPEN MIC: Cité des Arts, Lafayette, 8 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
DULCIMER JAM: St. Landry Visitor Center, Opelousas, 10 a.m.
ANDREW WAIN & LOGAN
TURNER JAZZ: Whiskey and Vine, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Park Bistro, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
WANTED WEDNESDAY KA-
RAOKE NIGHT: The Barrel of Broussard, Broussard, 6 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: The Tap Room, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.
AN EVENING WITH THE BAND OF HEATHENS: Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, 7:30 p.m.
CAJUN JAM: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.
THURSDAY
SUNSET SESSIONS FEATURING CHERE ELISE: Moncus Park, Lafayette, 5 p.m.
LADIES NIGHT WITH DJ DONOVAN IN THE MIX: Cowboys Nightclub, Scott, 6 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC: Naq’s-n-Duson, Duson, 6 p.m.
WILL FONTENOT: Whiskey and Vine, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
RORY SUIRE: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.
JOE ZIMMERMAN: DoubleTree by Hilton, Lafayette, 7 p.m.
THE HAS BEANS: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 7 p.m.
KARAOKE PARTY — PANDA
ENTERTAINMENT: Black Bull, Youngsville, 8 p.m.
Compiled by Marchaund Jones. Want your venue’s music listed? Email info/ photos to showstowatch@ theadvocate.com. The deadline is noon FRIDAY for the following Friday’s paper
a friend if the crew could use her dock to film. She said the pond had calm water so that the crew’s equipment wouldn’t be jostled.
They even rebuilt Caddo Lake as a set in Los Angeles for the actors to use, she said.
The tour company also served as a point of contact for the horror film “Caddo Lake,” and a couple of Japanese shows have also used the location to film She said a lot of people are attracted to the location because it’s beautiful in every season.
“It’s just magical and mystical,” Rhodes-Werneke said. “It’s such a unique place that some people find it very eerie, which is why some horror films have been here.”
Email Molly Terrell at molly.terrell@ theadvocate.com.
In 1950, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Henderson v. United States, struck down racially segregated railroad dining cars traveling across state lines.
In 2004, Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, died in Los Angeles at age 93 after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.
In 2024, Boeing launched astronauts into space for the first time aboard its Starliner capsule, joining SpaceX as a second taxi service for NASA. Two NASA test pilots blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, bound for the In-
‘NEWSIES’
Continued from page 5C
encompassing awe when the actual people their characters depict from more than a century past are mentioned They look at each other and nod, understanding that they’re about to tell a true story of how kids came together to change the world.
Making this possible in the musical version of this story is the orphaned 17-year-old newsboy Jack Kelly, a fictionalized compilation of the nonfiction newsboys’ leaders, Louis “Kid Blink” Balletti and Jack Sullivan.
Jack, played by Caleb Broussard, dreams of one day leaving New York for the exotic-sounding dreamscape of Santa Fe, New Mexico, while looking out for his best friend Crutchie, played by Henry Gore.
“Jack is a charismatic character,” Broussard said.
“He wants to be the leader, but he’s not cocky about it. He can be clueless at times. I feel like the musical kind of shows Jack peeling off layers and showing his true personality in the end.”
Crutchie, so nicknamed because he walks with a crutch, wears an optimistic face around Jack. Gore sees his character as comic relief.
“But as the play moves on, you realize that Crutchie is putting on a tough face,” Gore said “There are times when he doesn’t put up that front, and you see the pain
RODRIGUE
Continued from page 5C
share with them.”
“Blue” also features interviews with Rodrigue’s family, curators, critics, collectors and such notable admirers as chef/restaurateur Emeril Lagasse, former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and political strategist James Carville.
that he’s in.”
Things get rolling
The plan really gets going when Jack and Crutchie meet Davey, played by Camden DeVaux, and his little brother Les, played by Juliet Beard. Unlike Jack and his fellow newsboys, the brothers have parents and a home, but they turn to selling papers when an injury forces their father out of his job.
So, Jack and Crutchie team up with Davey and Les for what seems like a lucrative partnership, and it would have been had Joseph Pulitzer not raised wholesale prices of the papers.
The name Joseph Pulitzer may sound familiar He’s the namesake for the highest honor in journalism. He’s played by Aiden Wiltz in this show
“And he’s the funniest Pulitzer you’ll ever see,” said Brandy Johnson, who is directing the musical’s cast of 25.
“I read about Joseph Pulitzer before the show and I decided to do my own take on his character,” Wiltz said.
“Just the expressions he makes, alone, are hilarious,” Johnson added.
Pulitzer in real-life
The legendary newsman was the hard-nosed owner of the New York World, whose prime competition was William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal. Both papers were sold by newsboys, whose source of survival were the newspapers they sold on the street. The newsboys bought the papers at wholesale prices
The Rodrigue documentary previously won the Suncoast Regional Emmy
“I couldn’t be prouder of the filmmakers,” Rodrigue said.
The national Emmy is the latest award for “Blue,” which has also received a Silver Telly Award in the general-documentary: long form category The Tellys, established in 1979, honor the television and video industry “Blue” has also
upfront and kept the money from the copies sold However Pulitzer and Hearst refused to buy back unsold copies, then raised the wholesale rate.
That’s when Jack rallies newsboys throughout the city to fight back, turning the newspaper world upsidedown. In the meantime, Jack meets an aspiring investigative reporter named Katherine Plumber, who decides to make her journalistic mark by covering the strike. Katherine is double-cast in this production with Ruby Dupre and Adelaide Overall playing the character in alternate performances.
Katherine and Jack meet in the vaudeville theater owned by his friend, the flamboyant Medda Larkin, played by Annalee Templet. Sparks fly and a romance blooms, that is, until the revelation of Katherine’s true identity
Though the ending isn’t a surprise, there are plenty of story twists entrenched in the action leading up to it And it’s all wrapped in a lineup of such signature songs as “Seize the Day” and “King of New York.”
“The actors really came in prepared for this show,” Johnson said. “They knew their material, and they gelled. But I couldn’t have put this show together without our stage manager and choreographer and music director and set designer everyone in the crew This is a big show, and I want to give them full credit.”
Email Robin Miller at romiller@theadvocate. com.
been recognized at the New Orleans Film Festival, Amsterdam New Cinema Film Festival and World Film Festival in Cannes.
“Blue,” distributed by American Public Television, premiered on PBS stations in 2025. It is still available for viewing on the PBS Passport app.
Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate. com.
STAFF PHOTO By ROBIN MILLER
Annalee Templet, right, as Vaudeville theater owner Medda Larkin, provides a safe haven for newsboys, from left, Henry Gore as Crutchie, Juliet Beard as Les, Camden DeVaux as Davey and Caleb Broussard as Jack in Playmakers of Baton Rouge’s production of ‘Disney Newsies Jr.’
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Tidy up before heading in anew direction. You'll do much betterifyou focus on what you want to achieve instead of lingering on unfinished business. Keep your thoughts andfeelings to yourself.
CANCER (June 21-July 22) Putyour energy to good use.Reach out, pitch in and help. Do your part to make adifference. Someone you encounter will have an emotional impact on howyou take care of yourself
LEO(July23-Aug. 22) Participate, do your best, help acause or make adifference to someone struggling. Listen, but don't believe everything you hear. If you don't likethe suggestions you receive, look for alternatives
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) You have more choices than yourealize. Reach out, get the lowdown on what's available and align yourself with people whoare heading in asimilar direction. Sharing with others willmotivateyou.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Be agood listener Show compassion and understanding, andengage in discussions that allowyou to share your skills, objectives and what youfind uplifting.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Envisionwhat youwanttopursue.Thoughtsfollowed byactionswillnotdisappoint.Steerclear of anyone trying to push you in adirection that benefits them more than you.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Adiversion thatsparksyourimaginationandencourages you to make alifestyleadjustment will prompt adifferent perspective
regarding thepossibilitiesand motivate you to embark on something creativeor energizingwithouttaxingyouremotions, health or finances.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Putting energy toward home improvement and personal growth is in your best interest. When approached by peoplewho ask for too much or try to back you into acorner, walk away
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Finishoff those home improvements that will make your life easier. Creativethinking, coupled with discipline anddesirefor convenience and comfort,will helpyou make better lifestyle decisions.
PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Pick avenue that interests you. Get out, socialize or pursuesomeoneorsomethingyouenjoy. You don't have to impress anyone. Be yourself, andbehonest about your likes and dislikes.
ARIES (March 21-April 19) You'llneed to engage in alittle give-and-take to avoid domestic disputes or confusion from someone you depend on for answers. Ask for secondopinions.
TAURUS (April 20-May20) Haste makes waste.Yourtimeisputtobetterusehelpingothers, asking questions and upping your game throughpersonal preferences, additional qualifications and asolid plan.
InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place thenumbers 1to9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box containsthe samenumber onlyonce. The difficulty level of theSudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.
Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer
BLondie
BaBY BLueS
Puzzle Answer
Bridge
BY PHILLIP ALDER
Albert Einstein said, “If Aissuccess in life, thenA equals xplus yplusz.Workis x, yisplay, and ziskeeping your mouth shut.” If Bissuccess in bridge, xisbidding, yisdeclarer-play and defense, andzis keepingyourmouthshutwheneverpartnermakes amistake.
However, forsuccess in today’s deal, Southneeds to find the best playtobring home nine tricks in no-trump. What should he do after West leads the heart jack?
Each Wuzzle is aword riddle which creates adisguised word, phrase,name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON
Previousanswers:
word game
InsTRucTIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” suchas“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 soFTEnED: SOF-end: Made less firm
Average mark 34 words
Timelimit 45 minutes
Can you find 43 or more words in SOFTENED?
YEsTERDAY’s WoRD —THunDER
thought
heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showshis handiwork.” Psalms 19:1
wuzzles
loCKhorNs
marmaduKe
Bizarro
hagar the horriBle
Pearls Before swiNe
garfield
B.C. PiCKles
email: (bidconnect@ centerline.co).A Bid bond will be required perthe contract docu‐ments, andshouldbeup‐loaded with therestof therequiredBid Docu‐ments. If ascanned copy of the BidBondisup‐loaded,the original nota‐rizedbid bond must be produced “on-demand perthe Owner’srequest ThesuccessfulBidder shallberequiredtofur‐nish aPerformance and PaymentBondinan amount equalto100% of theContractonthe formsprovidedbythe School Boardand written in accordance with Louisianalaw Bids shallbeaccepted only from contractors who arelicensed by the LouisianaState Licensing Boardfor Contractorsfor theclassification of Building Construction: Building Construction.No bidmay be withdrawn fora period offorty-five (45) days after receiptof bids,exceptunder the provisions of La.R.S 38:2214.
AMandatory Pre-Bid Conference will be held at theErnestGalletEle‐mentaryat10:00 a.m. CST, June 15th, 2026. All questionsregardingthe BidDocuments andany substitution requests shallbesubmitted to Hollyand SmithArchi‐tects, attn NicBourque viaCenterlineBidCon‐nect Theownerreservedthe righttorejectany andall bids forjustcause TheLafayette Parish School System strongly encourages thepartici‐pation of minority busi‐ness enterprisesinall contractsorprocure‐mentslet by theBoard forgoodsand services To that end, allcontrac‐tors andsuppliers are encouraged to utilizemi‐nority business enter‐prises in thepurchaseor sub-contractingofmate‐rials, supplies, andser‐vicesinwhich minority ownedbusinessesare available.
LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM Advertisingdates:May 29, June 5& 12 189328-may29-jun5-12-3t
BidOpening:June 15, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. CST Complete BidDocuments maybeobtained without charge andwithout de‐positfromwww.centerl inebidconnect.com.All electronic bids shallbe submittedbythe due date andtimestated above. Questionsregard‐ingthe electronic bid‐ding processshouldbe directed to Centerline at 504-291-5738 or by email at bidconnect@ centerline.com Addenda, if any, will be posted at www.centerl inebidconnect.com.It shallbethe responsibil‐ityofall prospectivebid‐ders to checkthisweb‐site forany addendais‐sued before thebid opening.
Allbidsmustbesubmit‐tedinaccordancewith therequirementsofthe biddocuments No bidmay be with‐drawnfor aperiodof thirty (30) days after the scheduledtimefor open‐ingofbids.
TheLafayette Parish School System reserves the righttorejectany andall bids andtowaive anyinformalities or ir‐regularities in bids re‐ceived when such is in thebestinterestofthe School System
In accordance with La R.S. 38:2251, apreference of up to tenpercent (10%)may be grantedto products manufactured, produced,grown, or as‐sembledinLouisiana whensuchproducts meet or exceed thespec‐ificationsofthis bid. Awardofthiscontractis subjecttothe availability of funds.
TheLafayette Parish School System strongly encourages thepartici‐pation of minority-owned andsmall business en‐terprises.
Lafayette Parish School System Kristie Sam, Purchasing andProcurement Coordi‐nator AdvertisementDates: May29, 2026 June 5, 2026 189334-MAY29-JUN5-2T
PUBLIC NOTICE Advertisementfor Bids Notice is hereby given that sealed bids will be received by theLafayette Parish School System Purchasing Department locatedat202 Rue Iberville, Lafayette,LA 70508, or electronically at www.centerlinebidco nnect.com until10:00 a.m. CSTonJune15, 2026. Bids received after this date andtimewillnot be considered.Deliveryto anydepartmentother than thePurchasingDe‐partment may result in non-consideration. Bids
NOTICE
The Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council each met in Regular Session on June 2, 2026 and adopted the following ordinance: ORDINANCE NO. JO-018-2026 AJOINT ORDINANCE OF THE LAFAYETTECITY COUNCIL AND THE LAFAYETTE PARISH COUNCIL AMENDING CHAPTER 26, “DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS”, ARTICLE III, “BUILDING CODE” SECTION 26-93, “FEES”, OF THE LAFAYETTE CITYPARISH CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT CODE OF ORDINANCES AMENDING ORDINANCE O-221-2014, SCHEDULE OF FEES CHARGED BY THE PERMIT DIVISION OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT
BE IT ORDAINED by the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council, that: WHEREAS,the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government (“LCG”) Community Development and Planning Department (“CD&P”) through its Permit Division and Codes Division administers the building permit proceeds, including but not limited to, the review of building permit applications and building plans, the issuance of building permits and the inspection of construction (“Building PermittingProcess”);and WHEREAS,inconnection with the Building Permitting Process, the Permit Division charges certain fees (“Building Permit Fees”) related to plan review,building permit issuance and construction inspection; and WHEREAS,fromtime to time the Building Permit Fees have been modified by various actions of the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council; and WHEREAS,the community has acentral, codified resource that accurately identifies the fees related to the Building Permitting Process, it has been determined thataninclusive schedule of Building Permit Fees should be adopted by the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council and that such schedule be available to the community through CD&P; and WHEREAS, to ensurethat theBuilding Permit Fees areproximateto the actual fees and expenses incurred by CD&P in connection with the Building Permitting Process, the Building Permit Fees shall be brought current by the provisions of this ordinance.
NOW,THEREFORE,BEITORDAINED by the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council, that:
