The Advocate 06-07-2026

Public schoolsshrink

whilestaffing grows

BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer

Joey Richard likes to say that he conductsresearch from behind his barber chair.

It’swhere Richard, theowner of Holliwood Cutz barber shop in Opelousas, deducedthat thelocal school system is shrinking.

“Every year I’ve been in business,”hesaid, “I’m cutting less and less kids.”

EMPTY DESKS

THECRISIS OF DECLINING ENROLLMENT IN LA.’S TRADITIONAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Second in an occasional series

Like nearly everyother school district in Louisiana, St. Landry Parish has seen enrollmentfall as families have fewer kids, move away or opt forcharters or homeschool. Yetevenasthe school system lost roughly a quarter of its studentsover the past decade,its workforce grew by nearly20%.

School officialssay the positionsare necessary to serve the area’smanystudentswithcomplex needs —but it’s not clear thedistrict can afford them. Richard, who has two schoolaged children andwhose wife is aclassroom aide, watched with dismaylastmonth as local voters rejected atax hike that would haveboostedschool employees’ lowpay,leading frustrated busdrivers —who earn less than $25,000annually— to stageasick-out. When Richard attended the School Board meeting afew days after the May vote,anofficial in the financedepartment said he would cut some positions and reduce hisown salary to chip away at the district’snearly $8 million deficit.

ä See SCHOOLS, page 3A

School enrollmentdown, employment up Nearly 40%ofLouisiana school districtsloststudentsfrom 2014 to 2024 even as they addedemployees

Legislature passes more than 900bills

Louisiana’s 2027 budget includes economic incentives, raises forstate workers

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

When the U.S. Supreme Court issuedits April 29 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, it sent the state Legislature into overdrive. The high court’sruling —which found the state’scongressionalvoting map unconstitutional because the legislature relied too heavily on race in drawing it causedGov.Jeff Landry to cancel elections forthe U.S. House just days before early voting, andsent the House and Senate scrambling to assemble anew mapinthe final month of the session.

Landry and the Legislature’s GOP supermajority eliminated one of the state’stwo majority-Black, Democratic-leaning districts. Thatleft one such district that ties together NewOrleans and Baton Rouge and five solidly Republican districts. The push to eliminate the majority-Black districtdrewintense opposition. Severalhearings on the newmap lastedfor hours as speakersaccusedRepublican leadersofdisenfranchising Black voters,undermining decades of hard-won civil rights progress.

ä See LEGISLATURE, page 8A

La.heavily relying on nondisclosure

agreements in economic talks

Officialssay secrecy necessarytoprotect deals from competingstates

BY SAM KARLIN Staff writer

As Louisiana officials negotiated with Hyundai to build amassive steel mill in the state, they used confidential agreements to provide much more generousincentives than have been publicly known.

Records obtained by The Times-Picayune show that Louisiana —through the state and local governments and Entergy —collectively offered incentives worth $2.6 billion to Hyundai, apackage that amounts to roughly half the overall cost of the $5.8 billion steel plant that the company plans to build in Donaldsonville.

STAFF PHOTOSByLESLIEWESTBROOK

St. LandryParish school busesare parked outsidethe school system warehouse in OpelousasonMonday

Joey Richard and his son Dylan, 12, chat as theywalk and roll down to their neighborhood mailboxes in Sunset on Monday. Dylanwill enter sixth gradethis fall at Helix AI and Medical Academy

Landry

Ukraine targets

St. Petersburg again

Residents of St. Petersburg were told not to leave their homes after a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack targeted Russia’s second-largest city Saturday morning, underscoring Kyiv’s growing ability to hit deep inside Russia.

The attack came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin refused an offer to meet his Ukrainian counterpart.

St. Petersburg Gov Alexander Beglov said three people sustained minor injuries in the attack. He advised residents not to go outside and warned of possible disruptions to mobile internet service, while regional Gov Alexander Drozdenko said 141 drones were shot down over the surrounding Leningrad region in what he called an “unprecedented attack.” Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 376 Ukrainian drones.

“Last night, our drones covered a distance of about 1,000 kilometers to the St. Petersburg region — to the enemy navy’s arsenals and a base in Kronstadt,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that drones also hit an oil depot in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region.

The renewed attack on St. Petersburg is the latest embarrassing blow to Putin’s efforts to cast the conflict as a distant event that doesn’t affect Russian daily life.

Trump pardons former GOP congressman

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump has issued a pardon to Stephen Buyer, a former Republican congressman from Indiana who served nearly two years in prison for making illegal stock trades based on inside information after he left office.

Buyer was sentenced to 22 months in prison in 2023 for trades made while working as a consultant and lobbyist. He was ordered to forfeit more than $350,000, representing the amount of the illegal gains, and pay a $10,000 fine. He was released in 2025.

The Supreme Court in May rejected Buyer’s appeal without comment or noted dissent.

In granting “a full, complete, and unconditional pardon,” Trump cited Buyer’s career as a judge advocate general in the Army and in the House that was “distinguished and highly productive.” The pardon was dated Thursday and released by the White House late Friday Buyer said the pardon “corrects a politically motivated prosecution” and that it was “horrific to be imprisoned for a crime that I did not commit.” He maintains that he is innocent.

India’s ‘cockroaches’ hold first street protest

NEW DELHI Hundreds of supporters of the Cockroach Janata Party, an online joke that has drawn millions of followers across India, gathered for the first time in the capital on Saturday for its biggest real-world test yet. The protest near Parliament in New Delhi marked the movement’s first step into street politics after weeks of dominating social media feeds and news headlines, attracting widespread support among young Indians.

The immediate trigger for Saturday’s protest was the reported irregularity in a recent exam that quickly became a broader outlet for frustration over India’s education system and limited job opportunities.

“Time to turn this tiny joke into a revolution,” the official CJP account on X posted Friday. Young people in India make up more than a quarter of the population.

Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the online movement, joined the protest after arriving from the U.S. Police had laid steel barricades at the arrivals section of New Delhi’s international airport. Dipke said in a social media post shortly after arriving that police granted permission to the Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP, to hold the protest, adding: “Cockroaches gather at Jantar Mantar.”

U.S. exchanges fire with Iran

Strikes test fragile ceasefire

BY SAMY MAGDY and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press

CAIRO Iran fired ballistic missiles and drones toward Bahrain and Kuwait that were intercepted early Saturday, Bahrain’s government said, and called on Tehran to halt attacks on Gulf neighbors that test a fragile ceasefire in the Middle East conflict.

Iran said that it targeted American military assets in both countries, after the U.S. attacked surveillance facilities on Qeshm Island and near Sirik that Iran said were used to protect borders and “ensure the security of navigation in international waters.” Tehran called the attack a ceasefire violation.

The latest exchange of fire came as the Trump administration presses Iran to make a deal to end the war, which has strained the glob-

sites in response.

“The attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic,” U.S. Central Command said. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted the Ali Al Salem air base, which hosts U.S. forces in Kuwait, and the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain, according to the state-run IRNA news agency

The U.S. military said there were no reports of harm to U.S. personnel.

Earlier in the week, Iranian drones heavily damaged a passenger terminal at Kuwait’s main airport, killing one person and wounding dozens.

al economy and threatened a hunger crisis in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is seeking to ratchet up economic pressure on Iran.

The U.S Treasury Department is considering using Iranian assets to help Gulf

Palestinian officials: Israeli troops kill baby in West Bank

BY MAHMOUD ILLEAN, SAMY MAGDY and SAM MEDNICK Associated Press

HEBRON,West Bank Israeli troops shot at a car in the occupied West Bank, killing a 7-month-old Palestinian baby and wounding his parents, the Palestinian health ministry said, with the bullet striking the boy in the face

The Israeli military said that soldiers shot at a vehicle perceived to be accelerating toward them near Hebron. It said an initial inquiry found that the three Palestinians wounded were uninvolved civilians.

Israeli military activity, and settler violence against Palestinians, have surged in the territory since the war in Gaza began in October 2023.

The baby’s father, Bethlehem University lecturer Fahd Abu Haikal, told The Associated Press that a bullet struck the windshield before piercing his right hand and striking his son and wife in the back seat Friday evening. Another bullet struck the hood, according to AP journalists who saw the car

Police

The bullet passed through Sam Fahd Abu Haikal’s face.

“He was the entire world,” Haikal said of the boy, who turned seven months on Friday

The mother was in critical condition, with shrapnel close to her heart.

The baby’s body was wrapped in a Palestinian flag. His father carried him. The men placed the small bundle at their feet and bowed in prayer

The father demanded justice. “At the end they tell you it was a mistake,” he said. “Nothing is called a mistake.”

The baby’s grandmother, Feryal Abu Heikal, was also in the car She said that they were driving near a checkpoint and stopped when they saw Israeli military vehicles and soldiers in the distance. She said she initially thought the gunfire was warning shots.

Israeli soldiers accused of harming Palestinians are seldom penalized, and were indicted in fewer than 1% of cases based on 2,427 complaints alleging wrongdoing between 2016 and 2024, according to Israeli rights group Yesh Din.

say at least 12 shot

near festival in Ohio

BY JAIMIE DING and THOMAS PEIPERT Associated Press

A shooting near a community festival in Toledo, Ohio, wounded at least 12 people, and police said a search for the suspects was ongoing following an outbreak of gunfire that sent crowds scrambling for cover

Two of the wounded were in critical condition, Toledo Deputy Police Chief Joe Heffernan said. He said it appeared there were at least two people firing weapons who were “probably shooting at each other.”

The Toledo Police Department said the shooting happened near the Old West End Festival, an annual gathering of live music and home tours in a historic district of the city

The department said an active search was underway for those responsible.

“I am deeply concerned about the situation in Toledo tonight. Summer festivals should be safe spaces for families to spend time together without fear of violence,” Ohio Gov Mike DeWine said

allies pay for damages they sustained in the war, according to a person familiar with Secretary Scott Bessent’s thinking who spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity to share internal deliberations.

The U.S. military said it shot down several Iranian missiles and drones launched toward the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf Arab allies, and struck some of the Islamic Republic’s coastal surveillance radar

Pakistan’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, arrived in Iran on Saturday as part of mediation efforts.

The U.S. military kept up its blockade on Iranian ports in response to Tehran’s grip on the strait, a crucial corridor for global oil and natural gas shipments. Energy prices have spiked, posing political problems for President Donald Trump’s Republican Party before the midterm congressional election.

Israeli airstrikes kill 9 people in Lebanon after ceasefire deal

BY BASSEM MROUE Associated Press

BEIRUT Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday killed nine people including three members of the Lebanese military, the Lebanese army and state media said, days after the two sides reached a new ceasefire deal.

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun called the strike against its military a “flagrant violation” of the country’s sovereignty and international law during an “ongoing escalation that threatens stability and security in the south.”

An airstrike on a vehicle on a road linking Nabatiyeh city with Marjayoun town killed a brigadier general, a captain and another soldier, the army said, without releasing their names. Another airstrike on Saksakiyah village killed six people and wounded four, the staterun National News Agency said.

Lebanon’s army said the “continued, deliberate, and repeated Israeli aggression” aims to thwart efforts toward a solution “that would restore stability, establish a comprehensive ceasefire and lead to the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Leba-

in a statement.

Multiple videos posted to social media showed people running over the sound of gunshots and emergency officials tending to others who appeared wounded.

Kevin Berry said he was sitting in the neighborhood arboretum listening to live music with his friends when he heard a handful of gunshots ring out.

“Everybody hit the deck,” he said.

When he looked back up, he saw a gun being tossed to the ground less than 50 feet away from him. Police officers who were already on-site for the festival immediately responded to the scene.

Berry, who has medical training and served in the U.S. Navy said he walked around the area looking for potential victims who might need help.

He said he saw at least five people with gunshot wounds.

“The folks who were hit were spread out around the arboretum area,” he said.

nese territories.” The Israeli military confirmed hitting a vehicle and said it was “moving suspiciously” toward soldiers near Kfar Tibnit village, after the military received “concrete indications” that the Iranianbacked Hezbollah militant group would direct fire toward Israeli soldiers from the same area.

The military said it operates against Hezbollah and not against the Lebanese army

Meanwhile, Israel’s military announced the deaths of two soldiers in southern Lebanon, without the dates they died.

The latest ceasefire, an-

nounced in Washington, came through U.S.-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon’s government, which accuses Hezbollah of dragging the country into war and made efforts to disarm it before the latest hostilities. Hezbollah has refused the truce. Israeli troops have seized around a fifth of Lebanon, pushing farther into the country’s south than at any time since the end of Israel’s 1982-2000 occupation. More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since the war began March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel, two days after Israel and the U.S. began attacking Iran.

Obituaries: 225-388-0289 • Mon-Fri9-5;Sat

Lebanese Red Cross personnel and rescue workers stand next to a destroyed vehicle on Saturday after an Israeli strike in Kfar Tebnit, Lebanon.

PROVIDED PHOTO By THE LEBANESE ARMy

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By VAHID SALEMI

People walk Sunday past anti-U.S graffiti painted on the wall of the British Embassy in Tehran, Iran.

PHOTO PROVIDED By WTVG

Police officers work Saturday at the scene of a shooting near a festival in Toledo, Ohio.

SCHOOLS

To Richard, the right answer is bothobvious and agonizing: The district needs fewer schools and workers.

“I’m not the superintendent,” he said, “but I’m sure that he’sgoing to have to cut the fat off the chicken.”

Nationwide, schools have been staffing up for years, even as they enroll fewer students. The pandemic turbocharged the trend as schools used federal relief funds to hire counselors, tutors andother staffers to help students overcome COVID-related learning setbacks, even as many families pulled their kids outof public school.

In Louisiana, the school workforce grew by 6% over thepastdecadewhile enrollment fell by 7%, according to federal data from 2014 to 2024. Post-pandemic, the state’spublic schools lost nearly 44,000 students, yet added more than 11,000 staffers—mainlyteachers, but also classroom aides and administrators,according to 2019 to 2024 figures

Part of the statewide staffing increase is due to publiccharter schools, which expanded rapidly overthe past decade to meet surging demand. But about 40% of traditional public school districts had larger workforces in 2024 than adecade earlier, even though their student counts were smaller,according to federal data.

District leaders say they used extra staff to respond to students’ soaring academic and mental health needs, especially afterCOVID, as well as state priorities like the push to expand career education. Theadditional educators have led to lower class sizes, apriority for many teachersand parents, andlikely contributedto Louisiana students’ remarkable rebound from pandemic learning loss and recent reading gains.

State leaders could embrace the enrollment declines as an opportunity

to boost Louisiana’sperstudent spending, which is higherthan most Southern statesyet below thenational average. But when the state education board sought to giveschool districts some of the$42 million thestate saved thisyearineducation funding, which is tied to enrollment, lawmakers rejected the idea.

Now,with federal COVID money long goneand state funding uncertain, shrinking districts that have tried to staveoff school closures and layoffs might soon have no other option.

Instead, Gov.Jeff Landry lastweek proposed slashing nearly $170 million in state funding for schools,saying the money should instead payfor teacher stipends that the Legislature left outof thestate budget. Despite the risingcost of insurance and utilities, Landryarguedthat schooldistricts canafford thecut by reducing “the waste andthe bureaucracy.”

Thenumber of people “that school boards are employing, noninstructional, has risenatthe detrimentof our teachers,” he said, callingfor greater “fiscal discipline.”

“Wejust have to continue to getour staff to align with ourstudent numbers,” said St. Landry Parish Schools Superintendent Milton Batiste III. “As long as we can do that, we can survive.”

Whystaffing surged

When the governor unveiled hisplantocut school budgets, he pointed to the growing gapbetween enrollmentand spending.

“I’m going to keep hammeringthis until people understand,”Landrysaid Tuesday,standing before a giant chart with two intersecting lines. “The amount of students in the system keeps goingdown, and the amount of money we spend

ä See SCHOOLS, page 4A

Batiste

keeps going up.”

How is that possible? The explanation centersonstaffingbecauseemployeesalaries and benefits are by far the largest school expense

One cost driveristhe changing student population.While totalenrollment has declined, groupswith greater needs have grown —and those studentsoften require additionalsupport from staff.

Louisiana’spopulation of students still learning English, many of them recent immigrants, soared over 150% from2010to2021, more than any other state, according to an analysis by New America, anational thinktank. The shareofstudents with disabilities grew 3percentage pointsover the pastdecade, according to state data.

Anotherfactor is the$4billion in federal COVID funds thatLouisianaschools received duringthe pandemic

Many used the money to hire stafferswho helped reopen classrooms and catch up students who fell behind Schools also added employees to meet new state demands, which in recent years havecalled for enhanced tutoring, career training,revamped reading instruction andmandatory coursesin computerscience and financial literacy On the flip side, school systemscan’t automaticallycut positions as enrollment slips because declines typically are spread across campuses. Classrooms and schools need somepersonnel,like principals and custodians, no matter how few students they have.

“The challengefor school districts is that their costs don’t decline at thesame rate as they losestudents,” said Carrie Hahnel, senior associate partner at Bellwether, anational education consultancy,who has studied the impact of student loss on school budgets. How can shrinking schools afford to add employees when state funding is based on enrollment? The main reasonisthatschool districtsget somefederal aidand their local tax revenue regardless of how many students they serve. And in Louisiana, nearly half of K-12 education spending —over $5 billion— comes from local revenue For example, St. Tammany Parish received about $43 million more in localrevenue in 2025 than it did adecade earlier,adjusted for inflation, even though it lost about 2,800 students, according to state data.

“A school district doesn’t call for areferendumwhen they have declining enrollment to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to reduce our property taxes,’”said Matthew H. Lee, an economics professorat KennesawState University in Georgia. Because some funding doesn’tfall in proportion to enrollment, shrinkingschool districts have increasedperstudent spending and staffing more than growing districts, Lee and hiscolleague, Benjamin Scafidi, found in astudy

of national data from1999 to 2019. The additional staffing might benefit some students, but it typically comesatthe expenseofhighersalaries includingfor teachers, who earn less in Louisiana than almost anywhere else

“Adjusted for inflation, teacher salaries have been flat over afew decades,” Scafidi said, “because the money went to thestaffing surge.”

Schools havebeen adding employees for decades, so thetrend couldcontinue, he added. But other experts see aperfect storm —sharply fallingenrollment, risingoperational costs andtightening budgets —that will force districts to downsize

“I anticipate that we’re just at thefront endofthis, Hahnelsaid.“We’re going to see much moreshrinking of our school systemsinthe future.”

District downsizing Caddo Parishmight offera glimpse ofthis future.

Theschool system, which includes Shreveport, shed nearly 8,500 students over

the past decade. In officials say, the aggressive steps the district Morethan20s been shuttered andthe districth 1,050fewer emp 2024 than adecad

Superintendent Keith said he triedtom trict lesstop-heavy centraloffice sta schools and putting cipals in chargeo training rather than officials

“If astaff member draw astraightlinebe tween their daily work and theimpact on ateacherora student,” he said, “thenwe questionthe need for that position.”

year and downthe next. Most addedworkers duringthe pandemicasstudent needs spiked and federalaid floodedin.

But by 2024, 30 districts with decliningenrollment had fewer employees than theydid adecadeearlier, according to an analysis of federal data. By contrast, 26 districts had fewer students, but more staffers than in 2014.

Some of the difference could stem fromfunding, as school systems in wealthier communities get more local tax dollars, while those serving needier students getmorestate andfederal money.Yet staffing can differ greatly even between districts with similar funding levels, said Maggie Cicco, a research fellow at GeorgetownUniversity’sEdunomics Lab, whichhas highlighted the divergence of school enrollment and employment.

dard in most school systems.

“I’ve seen districts where youhaveanabundanceof resources, an abundance of people,” he said, “and thisis notone of them.” But the district also did not close schools as enrollment plummeted, which drove up per-student spending. After parish voters soundly rejected atax hike in 2022, the SchoolBoard considered consolidating schools but took no immediate action.

“There’sbeen study after study after study saying that St. Landry Parish is operatingtoo manyschools,” said Rod Sias, aformer Opelousas city officialand localNAACP chapter president, at adistrict meeting in 2024. “Now we’re in asituation where if we do not do something extreme within three years, it’s going to be unsustainable.” Under Batiste’sleadership, the district movedto close three schools in 2025. tool Superintendent to or leyuse teachers ol “ItParish ces refused pus lylaunch tet reore reverse to

During the pandemic, enrollment cratered at schools like University Elementary in Shreveport,which went from about 1,100 students to just over 600. Principal AshleyAtkins had to let go of teachersand clerks —for awhile, she was answering the school’smain phone line —and repurposed empty classrooms as office andstor-

STAFF PHOTOSByLESLIEWESTBROOK

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LeoXIV makespapal visittoSpain

Pope urges Spaniards to stop fanning flames of polarization

BY NICOLE WINFIELD and SUMAN NAISHADHAM Associated Press

MADRID Pope Leo XIV

urged Spaniards on Saturday to stop “fanning the flames of polarization” as he arrived in Spain at amoment of political turmoil for the Socialist-led government and acredibility crisis for the Catholic Church. The American pontiff traveled to Spain dozensoftimes as apriest, butthisisthe first visit here by apope in 15 years. And Spaniards turned out in droves to welcome Leo, with an estimated 500,000 people —many of them young —cheering “This is the youth of the pope” at a raucous evening prayer vigil in Plaza de Lima in Madrid, where Leo was treated to a

rock star’swelcome.

Leo’svisit signals areturn of papal attentiontoEurope’s Christianroots afterPope Francis largelystayed away from the traditional centers of Christianity in favor of smallerCatholiccommunities fartheraway. Leo isseemingly keen to bring hismessage of peace, unity and humandignity to acontinentsorely polarized over migration,the RussiaUkraine war and anxiety over artificial intelligence.

The pope, known as León XIV in Spanish, openedhis weeklong trip in Madrid, greeted at theairport by the country’sCatholic monarchs, KingFelipeVIand Queen Letizia,and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. He told reporters, while traveling, that he wasparticularlyheartened by reports of aspiritual awakening among young peopleinthe once-staunchly Catholic but nowsecularized country

Duringhis welcome address, Leoappealedto

Spaniards, especiallypolitical leaders, to put polemics aside and investineducating young people to appreciate diversity andcomplexity ratherthan shunning them.

“Today,the temptation to gain popularity by fanning theflames of polarization seems to have grown rather than diminished,and human dignity continues tobeviolated,” Leo said.

He appealed to Spain’s placeatthe heartofChristian Europetoserveasa model for the rest of the continent, while also recalling the country’s800-year Moorishpast,whencities like Toledo and Córdoba became, he said, “centers of dialogue between languages, religions and knowledge.”

“For the love of truth, I invite everyone to set aside the divisive and polarizing narratives of your societal realityand history,”hesaid. Doing so will help Europe “overcome sterile simplificationsthrough the fruitful appreciation of complexity.”

Hegsethinvokesimmigration and ‘invasion’ in D-Dayspeech in France

By The Associated Press

U.S. Defense Sec-

PARIS—

Spaniards find themselves increasingly divided over issuesincluding immigration, feminismand political corruption,while historically Spain was riven by territorialand independence movements.

The highlight of Leo’svisit to Madrid will be his speech on Monday to ajoint parliamentarysessionofthe Congress of Deputiesand the Senate—the first by apope Such speeches are rare and often become oneofthe most important of apontificate.

But Leo will find ahighly polarizedlegislature, with the government Socialist party hammered by aseries of corruptionscandals. Conservative parties, including thePopular Party and Vox, have called for Sánchez to step down before ageneral election due by next year andhaveroundly criticized hisgovernment’smigration policies.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByALESSANDRA

Pope Leo XIViswelcomed by Spain’sKingFelipeVIand Queen Letizia as he arrives Saturday at the RoyalPalacein Madridonthe firstday of hisseven-dayapostolic journeyto mainland Spainand the CanaryIslands.

Spain’sSocialist-led government has bucked ageneral trend in Europe and the United States by announcing it will grant legal status to potentially hundreds of thousands of immigrants liv-

ing and working in the country without authorization. Sánchez has highlighted the benefits of legal migration to the Spanish economywith an aging workforce and low birthrate.

retary Pete Hegseth used a D-Day anniversary speech on Saturday to appear to link immigration by sea to the wartim e liberation of Europe, warning that the freedom won by Allied troops could prove temporary if leaders failed to defend it.

Hegseth, speaking at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer

in northwestern France during commemorations for the 82ndanniversary of the June 6, 1944, landings, said thattoday,“different European beaches are stormed by differentdangerous ideologies.”

“Beaches in Spain andItaly andGreece and Bulgaria. Boats andmen arrive,” he said.

“When will European capitals do somethingabout that invasion? Or is it too late?” he added. “I pray not, andI believe not.”

Hegseth did not use the word immigration, but his remarksechoed broader Trump administration criticismof Europeovermigra-

tion,borders and what U.S officials have describedas censorship of nationalist and far-right voices.

On Saturday,British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’soffice condemnedU.S. Vice President JD Vance for blamingimmigration forthe killing of Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old British student stabbedtodeathinSouthampton, even though both Nowak and his killerwere British

In December,the Trump administration’snational security strategy warned that Europe faced the “prospect of civilizational erasure” andcould become “unrecognizable” within 20 years.

ActorAnthony Head,known for ‘Buffy theVampire Slayer,’ dies

BY JILL LAWLESS and BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press

NescafeGoldBlend instant coffee. The ads werelater re-shot for aU.S. audience forTaster’sChoice.

Head

LONDON Anthony Head, the suave, smooth-voiced British actor known for roles in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Ted Lasso,” has died, his family said Friday. He was 72. He ad’ s daughters, actors Emily and Daisy Head, told the Press Association news agency that the actor passed away duetocomplications from pneumonia. The stage and TV performer became well known to British audiences in the 1980s as one half of awillthey,won’t-they romantic couple in aseries of ads for

Head achieved wider fame as librarian Rupert Giles, mentortothe title character in thecult-favorite supernatural series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” which ran from 1997 to 2003.

He most recently played Rupert Mannion,the villainous ex-husband of Hannah Waddingham’scharacter Rebecca, in “Ted Lasso.”

“Our grief is far greater thanthe hole he has leftbehind, but we know hislegacy will live on, in the shows he was apartof, and in the audiences that love them,” his daughterssaid. “How lucky we are to know we are able to watch himdoing what he loved, even when he is no longer with us.”

Head was born in London

on Feb. 20, 1954, to Seafield Head, adocumentary filmmaker,and Helen Shingler, an actor.His older brother, Murray,isalso an actor Othernotable rolesincluded playing Geoffrey Howe, the deputy to Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher,played by Meryl Streep, in the Oscar-winning “The Iron Lady.” Head portrayed aprime ministerhimself in the sketch comedyshow“Little Britain,” as well as King UtherPendragon, the father of Prince Arthur,inthe “Merlin” TV series. He also appeared in “Motherland,” Manchild,” and “Silent Witness,” alongwithacting in many plays, musicals, and recording music as asinger He waspredeceased by his longtimepartner,animal welfare activist SarahFisher,61, in 2025.

Hegseth

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But, while redistricting dominated the final month of the session, it was far from the only thing of consequence that legislators did.

They passed a $47 billion budget for next year that includes more money for early childhood education and tutoring programs, economic development incentives for business that create high-paying jobs and road and infrastructure improvements The budget includes raises for a number of state employees like judges, firefighters and prison guards.

Notably, the budget does not include a $2,000 stipend teachers have received for the past few years. But Landry and legislative leaders have said they will find money for those raises by cutting other spending in the state K-12 education budget.

All told the Legislature passed more than 900 bills and hundreds more resolutions and other legislation over the course of 85 days.

Here are some of the most important and controversial things they addressed.

Expanding death penalty

Louisiana broadened its definition of first-degree murder through a last-minute Senate amendment to House Bill 102 by state Rep. Jeff Wiley R-Maurepas

The change means more people could be subject to the death penalty, a punishment that can only be given for first-degree murder

The law adds killings carried out in public places when the defendant puts at least three people at risk of great harm. It also adds killings committed by people with illegal firearms and by people out on bail, probation or parole.

Lawmakers cited the Mall of Louisiana shooting to justify the change, but critics argued it was far too broad and questioned its relevance to the shooting House Bill 102 became Act 120 after the governor signed it into law

New homelessness laws

A proposal that drew some of the most public opposition made “unauthorized camping on public property” a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison. It also allows courts to set up homelessness programs that could help homeless people charged with that crime or others to avoid

jail time and get connected with rehabilitative programs.

Proponents said it would help the state improve homeless people’s lives, but critics said it would do the opposite, making it more difficult for people to get housing and work by giving them arrest records.

House Bill 211 was sponsored by state Rep Debbie Villio, RKenner, and backed by Landry As of Thursday, it had not yet been signed into law

No more inspection stickers

Drivers across most parishes in Louisiana will no longer need a vehicle inspection sticker thanks to House Bill 1085, by Rep. Larry Bagley, R-Stonewall. Instead, they will get a new Louisiana Vehicle Identification Program sticker that has a QR code listing the vehicle identification number when scanned.

Starting Jan 1, there will be an annual $6 fee for the QR code sticker that will be assessed when registering a vehicle and renewing the registration.

However, the cities of New Orleans, Kenner and Westwego have local vehicle inspection programs that remain in effect. And drivers who live in Baton Rouge metro area are still subject to federal emissions testing requirements.

Marijuana near campuses

Anyone caught using marijuana within 2,000 feet of any school, college or university could be charged with a felony under House Bill 568. A conviction could result in up to a year in prison and up to a $1,000

fine

Outside of a school zone, firsttime possession of marijuana is a misdemeanor Possession of 14 grams or less comes with a maximum fine of $100

Rep. Gabe Firment, R-Pollock, said he was inspired to bring the bill to address marijuana use at LSU football games. Landry celebrated the new law writing in a social media post: “We are bringing back the greatness of these familyfriendly environments — especially on game days!”

Critics argued the penalty was too harsh at a time when most of the country is scaling back punishments for marijuana.

Removing elected officials

Several bills by state Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, sought to give the Legislature more power

to remove elected officials from office for bad behavior They were controversial, with opponents saying they could easily be abused to target political enemies.

The Legislature did not pass Senate Bill 123, which arose amid calls for greater oversight of judges from Morris and Landry Though it went through several iterations, the final version of SB123 would have let voters decide whether judges ought to be subject to impeachment. It’s not currently clear whether they are.

and Family Services will be subject to stricter oversight if Landry signs Senate Bill 237, by Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge.

However, Morris successfully pushed through Senate Bill 479, which began as a companion bill to SB123 but evolved into a bill that lays out an impeachment process for judges and other elected officials. Hypothetically, that could be used to test whether the constitution allows judges to be impeached.

Another measure by Morris, Senate Bill 425, also passed. Now Act 510, it allows the Legislature to vote to file civil lawsuits against elected officials they believe are guilty of “malfeasance” or “gross misconduct.” A judge would then oversee proceedings to decide whether the official should be removed.

The law does not apply to the governor, the lieutenant governor or judges, who are exempt from “removal by suit” under the constitution.

New Orleans court system

Republicans also passed bills specifically targeting New Orleans’ court system, which Landry and others have argued is overfunded and inefficient.

Perhaps most controversially, Senate Bill 256 consolidated the civil and criminal clerk of courts offices. Proponents argued New Orleans’ dual clerk role was unusual and inefficient, but supporters argued the bill was a thinlyveiled move to oust incoming criminal clerk Calvin Duncan, overturning the will of the voters.

Lawmakers also reduced the number of judges in the New Orleans area courts and cut funding for the city’s district attorney, as a last-minute amendment to a bill that increased funding for prosecutors in other jurisdictions.

Child abuse oversight

The Department of Children

Some state lawmakers, furious over a spate of child abuse or neglect deaths, at first called to completely dismantle the agency But they settled for new rules: DCFS would be required to report more detailed information about child abuse deaths, including prior agency involvement with the child or perpetrator, to the office of the Louisiana Child Ombudsman, a government watchdog for agencies that deal with children.

A new “critical incident review team” led by the attorney general’s office would meet quarterly to review child deaths caused by severe abuse and make recommendations on preventing future incidents. And trained professional interviewers from child advocacy centers will now handle interviews of children when DCFS or a law enforcement agency gets a report of child abuse.

Carbon capture

After intense debate, the legislature rejected some attempts to rein in carbon capture and storage, the practice of storing carbon from industrial emissions deep underground to avoid contributing to climate change.

Residents of some areas where carbon capture projects are planned pushed for bills that would give local governments the ability to ban the practice in their area. Others pushed for tougher laws on when companies can use eminent domain to place pipelines to transport the carbon.

But those bills failed amid opposition from industry groups that said carbon capture is important to the future of petrochemical industry, and restricting it would put the state at a competitive disadvantage.

The aerospace industry

A package of bills aims to attract the aerospace industry to Louisiana — including a rumored SpaceX project along the cost in rural Vermilion Parish.

So far, state officials have not shared any details about project plans, and many say they signed nondisclosure agreements.

Some companies could get huge

tax breaks, Including a big property tax exemption and state and local sales tax breaks for aerospace equipment. Aerospace companies would have stronger protections against lawsuits people file related to noise and other disturbances from flight activities, and they can more easily ask a judges to toss out any kind of lawsuit against them. Some aerospace activity and facility records will be exempt from public disclosure laws.

Prescription drugs costs

Lawmakers approved a package of four bills aimed at lowering prescription drug costs and setting tougher regulations for pharmacy benefit managers. PBMs are businesses that administer prescription drug benefits on behalf of health plans.

PBMs will no longer be able to tie the service fees they charge health plans to the amount of savings on drug prices they negotiate with drug manufacturers And any savings they achieve through negotiations have to be passed onto health plans, rather than retained as profit. Starting in 2028, PBMs will only be able to charge health plans through a flat fee-for-service model.

The package also sets a higher dollar amount that PBMs must reimburse local pharmacies for dispensing drugs to patients. Health plans are now required to make less-expensive generic drugs or other “biosimilar” versions that have the same effect. And a new “Prescription Drug Accountability Board” will collect drug pricing information from manufacturers to study how drugmakers determine prices.

Stricter photo ID to vote

Voters who can’t show a photo ID at their polling place will no longer be able to just sign an affidavit. Under Senate Bill 319, by Sen. Thomas Pressley, R-Shreveport, they would need to instead provide a “primary” document like a birth certificate or Social

LEGISLATURE

Continued from page 8A

Under a separate measure, House Bill 691, by Rep. Beau Beaullieu, RNew Iberia, the secretary of state every year will now check the citizenship status of all registered voters in a federal database administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Noncitizen voters could be prosecuted.

Supporters argued the bills will protect against voter fraud. Critics argued they could make it harder for people to vote.

Money for fortified roofs

Louisiana expanded its fortified roof program, which gives $10,000 grants to homeowners in some areas of the state toward a fortified roof designed to better withstand hurricane-force winds.

The sought-after program got an injection of $50 million, enough for 5,000 more roofs. That’s a big addition to the $30 million already slated for 3,000 roofs.

‘Smart glasses’

Worried about rising reports of so-called “manfluencers” surreptitiously recording women using smart glasses and then posting the footage to social media — state Rep. Laurie Schlegel, R-Metairie, sponsored legislation this session that aimed to tighten recording laws.

House Bill 410 requires anyone using glasses to record an in-person interaction to notify those who are being recorded. It has a number of exemptions, however. Among them are recordings made by on-duty police officers, recordings that aim to capture evidence of a crime and recordings made in one’s own home.

Earlier versions of HB410 applied more broadly to other recording devices, but resistance to the bill prompted Schlegel to narrow it down.

As of Friday, HB410 was still awaiting the governor’s signature.

Disrupting church services

House Bill 294 by state Rep. Gabe Firment, R-Pollock — now Act 148 — legalizes the forcible removal of church “trespassers,” with some limitations.

House Bill 68 by state Rep. Laurie Schlegel, RMetairie, expands the definition of disturbing the peace to cover certain types of disruptive behavior at worship services. It became Act 115 after the governor signed it into law

And Senate Bill 306, now Act 379, adds the crime of obstruction of freedom of worship.

Sponsored by state Sen. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge, it features a broad definition of the crime, which could apply to people who engage in protests or “disorderly conduct” in a way that interferes with religious services, or to those who block church entrances or exits.

The bills were inspired by a high-profile incident in Minnesota where anti-ICE protesters interrupted a church service. A number of people, including journalist Don Lemon, were arrested.

The company is expected to receive a significant break on sales and property taxes, direct cash payments from the state, free land and infrastructure, and a $300 million electric bill discount from Entergy Louisiana, according to emails and an internal breakdown of incentives reviewed by The Times-Picayune. At the same time that they negotiated the tax breaks, state officials sought to assure the company that their emails around the negotiations would not become public through freedom of information requests, thanks to the NDAs signed by Louisiana Economic Development, Gov Jeff Landry’s lead agency on business deals.

“The NDA protects the confidentiality of the project until the project is officially made public,” wrote LED Director of Business Development Jacob Ellis in an email to Hyundai executive Hyo Joon Park. “Because the NDA is in place, all project information is redacted if it ever was caught up in a public records request.”

Two weeks before Landry announced the project last March alongside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, Park, of Hyundai, memorialized their agreement in an email to Ellis and provided a breakdown of the $2.6 billion in incentives.

The new manufacturing plant, set to create 1,300 jobs, represents an important economic development and political win in Landry’s tenure.

The deal also illustrates how Landry’s administration is aggressively using nondisclosure agreements to negotiate with companies in secret, leading to announcements where the state has already committed billions in tax breaks and other benefits before some legislators or the public can see what has been offered. In the case of Hyundai, the company is getting $2 million in benefits for every permanent job it says it will create, the documents show Susan Bourgeois, the secretary of LED said in an interview that the incentives are only one side of the ledger On the other side is a host of benefits for the state, she said She said it’s “apples and oranges” to look at $2.6 billion in incentives for a nearly $6 billion plant, because Hyundai’s operations will create billions more in value to Louisiana workers over the long run.

“There’s a multi-multi-billion dollar value to the state and the parish,” she said.

“It’s not a one-time, $6 billion investment. It’s payroll, it’s a multiplying effect of manufacturing jobs.”

Critics of the secrecy say that the use of NDAs for generous tax incentives unfairly leave the public in the dark.

“When you cover these situations with NDAs, even local elected officials can’t talk to their constituents about it,” said Pamela Spees, a staff attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, who is representing plaintiffs in several lawsuits about Hyundai, including about NDAs in Ascension Parish and LED’s incentive deal.

Across the country, NDAs have garnered pushback from public transparency advocates, especially in communities where data centers are popping up.

“These NDAs continue

to spread throughout the country as data centers and others hope to evade public scrutiny,” said David Cuillier director of the University of Florida Brechner Freedom of Information Project.

“Even when they say they comply with state public records laws, they chill the flow of information and open the door to corruption and public mistrust.”

Bourgeois defended the use of NDAs, saying it’s common practice for companies to request them as they evaluate several potential sites.

“From a business side it makes total sense,” she said.

summer of 2025, his office had signed or facilitated more than 150 NDAs, according to a Times-Picayune analysis of the agreements.

That’s two nondisclosure agreements per week, on average

Previous governors also have used nondisclosure agreements in some cases for economic development.

“Why would you telegraph to your competitors. Or why would we telegraph to other states what we’re offering?”

Hyundai Steel spokesperson Youngshik Shin said that “NDAs are common practice in competitive site selection to protect proprietary information shared by both companies and the state.”

Secrecy agreements

From Landry’s inauguration in January 2024 to the

LED officials said that the agency under former Gov John Bel Edwards’ administration initially signed an NDA with Deloitte, the firm who worked as Hyundai’s site selection consultant. Under Edwards’ administration, LED also signed NDAs with ExxonMobil in Baton Rouge.

The Landry administration has greatly expanded the use of such agreements, signing them with companies big and small and taking the unusual step of using NDAs between government agencies and having elected officials sign them, including state legislators, city council members and mayors.

The practice is drawing scrutiny and lawsuits from

local advocacy groups, who argue the agreements are shielding the public from what officials are doing with their tax dollars.

Spees, the attorney representing Rural Roots, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade and others in suits against Ascension Parish, LED and the Port of South Louisiana, said the NDAs are “hugely problematic.”

“It’s turning the way our government is supposed to work on its head,” she said.

“There’s supposed to be transparency for a reason.”

‘Very awkward position’

State Sen. Eddie Lambert said the Hyundai deal was still “super secret” when LED officials approached him in the fall of 2024 with an NDA to sign. Lambert, R-Gonzales, joined several Ascension Parish elected officials and Landry for a trip to South Korea to visit with Hyundai.

“It puts you in a very awkward position,” Lambert said. “Because if you don’t sign it, they’re not going to tell you anything. And if you sign it, you can’t tell anybody anything.”

The company showed off its steel plant and hydrogen-

powered 18-wheelers on the trip. At the time, Hyundai was still scouting several other sites across the south. Lambert said he understands why the company wants confidentiality, likening it to a real estate deal where the buyer is pitting various sellers against each other Hyundai did the same thing with incentive packages as they considered several sites.

“They’re just going to keep playing you until they see who gives you the best deal,” he said. “That’s what I would do.”

During the legislative session that ended this week, Landry’s administration asked state Sen. Alan Seabaugh, R-Many, to amend a bill he sponsored to allow aerospace companies to expropriate land as long as the site was 20,000 contiguous acres with no residences The bill became part of a push by Landry’s administration to roll out the red carpet for companies like SpaceX, offering secrecy and tax breaks. Sources have confirmed to The Times-Picayune that an aerospace company is

ä See TALKS, page 10A

eyeing a large tract of land in Vermilion Parish, where ExxonMobil owns 136,000 acres

But Seabaugh said he doesn’t know who the expropriation law is aimed at, because he refused to sign an NDA.

“I don’t believe as a legislator, I can sign an NDA,” Seabaugh said. “If somebody is going to give me information because I’m a senator, I certainly don’t feel good, and I’m not sure it’s legal to keep that information from my constituents, so I’d rather just not have anything to do with it.”

‘What companies expect’

More than 20 Louisiana officials signed NDAs for the Hyundai deal, records show But Hyundai is only one of dozens of companies that have negotiated with Louisiana in secret.

Landry’s administration began signing NDAs as soon as he took office, records show

Most of the NDAs involve companies who are negotiating with officials at Louisiana Economic Development. They include Hyundai, Meta, Google, LIV Golf, an entertainment company tied to the rapper 50 Cent — who has bought up land in Shreveport and a little-known company associated with state Sen Mike Fesi’s son, records show Several of the state’s NDAs are with site selection consultants who worked on behalf of anonymous clients.

LED has also signed an NDA with People Who Think, a Mandeville-based GOP consulting firm that worked for President Donald Trump’s campaign The firm has two contracts with LED worth a collective $5.75 million to provide messaging strategy on economic development deals and to carry out a marketing campaign to attract businesses and retain workers.

And LED has facilitated nondisclosure agreements with state legislators, mayors, sheriffs and other local elected officials LED has signed NDAs with state agencies including the Department of Transportation and Development and the Division of Administration.

LED said the interagency NDAs are associated with

Landry’s “lightning speed” executive order, aimed at “breaking down silos” between agencies for economic development.

LED appeared to draft NDAs in the fall of 2024 for state Treasurer John Fleming, but they went unsigned. Fleming spokesperson Jeff Crouere said no one sent him the NDA, and that he wouldn’t have signed it anyway

Bourgeois said the Landry administration is using NDAs more because it has more deals in the pipeline than past administrations. She also said that while companies often demand the state sign them, the state also benefits by not allowing other states to see what tax breaks LED is offering.

Bourgeois said the NDAs cover “all details of the project.”

Because Louisiana was competing with other sites until the last minute for Hyundai, it would put the state at a “competitive disadvantage” if another state found out the details of its offer, she argued.

“It’s what the companies expect and it’s how you remain competitive to land these projects,” she said.

Multibillion-dollar deal

By the time the secret negotiations were over with Hyundai, the company had amassed a package of incentives that is among the largest in Louisiana history

The state would provide $100 million for land, another $100 million in cash grants and nearly $100 million in Quality Jobs incentives, among other carrots, according to an internal Hyundai document breaking down the value of the incentives over 30 years. The state has bought several huge tracts of land in Donaldsonville with plans to lease them to Hyundai for $1 a year for 99 years, then allow the company to buy it for less than $100.

The deal between the state and Hyundai also bakes in several large local tax breaks that have not yet been finalized by Ascension Parish officials. Those include a PILOT, or payment in lieu of taxes, that will allow the company to pay $609 million over 32 years, saving Hyundai a staggering $1 6 billion according to the company document. The plant would be deemed a “public asset,” the document said, meaning

it’s exempt from sales taxes, and Hyundai wrote that LED “found a way” to let it take a separate facility rebate immediately, maximizing its value.

Entergy Louisiana is also providing Hyundai with more than $300 million in benefits, largely by giving the company a special “economic development” rate that gives it cheaper electricity for a decade.

Entergy declined to answer questions about the incentive. Entergy spokesperson Brandon Scardigli said such incentives are a “valuable tool” in attracting companies to the state, and promised that other customers won’t see rate hikes because of the discount. He added that such incentives are overseen by the Public Service Commission, a state regulator In all, the document shows the scope of the incentives reached $2.6 billion. The size of the package has raised questions about whether Louisiana’s state and local governments will ever recoup all the revenue.

LED commissioned an economic impact report by Greg Upton and Greg Albrecht, two LSU economists, which found that the project will support nearly 7,000 jobs and generate hundreds of millions in wages for Louisiana workers. But that report was done before the final incentive package was finalized, meaning it didn’t assume the state and locals were giving Hyundai nearly the level of incentives that the company is ultimately getting.

Upton noted that the economic impact report is not a cost-benefit analysis, which determines whether a project is a net benefit to society Hyundai is still waiting on Ascension Parish officials to ratify its side of the deal, which includes some of the biggest incentives Rural Roots and the Louisiana Bucket Brigade are fighting in court to unseal documents related to the case.

“Budgets are about choices and priorities,” said Jan Moller, head of Invest in Louisiana, a nonprofit advocating for low-income residents. “When the state can afford a $2.6 billion incentive package for a single global corporation but can’t fund a teacher pay raise and other basic needs, something is seriously out of balance.”

Staff writer David Mitchell contributed to this story

BY KONSTANTIN TOROPIN Associated Press

WASHINGTON After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cut nine Navy officers, including all the women, from a promotion list, several female officers say they see the unusual intervention as a sign that their careers now have a ceiling and worry for the future generation of female military leaders.

The Navy had selected 31 sailors to promote from the rank of captain to onestar admiral, but Hegseth recently intervened to strike nine people from the list, including three women and two Black men, according to a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss information not permitted to be released publicly

As a result, the Navy is not promoting a single woman to the onestar admiral rank this year even though women make up about one-quarter of all Navy officers and nearly one-third of the sea service’s midgrade ranks, according to military data from 2024.

The Associated Press spoke with eight female Navy officers of varying ranks and time in service after Hegseth’s cuts, which were reported earlier by The New York Times, became public They spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution from their superiors.

The more junior officers said they saw the development as a sign that their careers would become politicized if they rose too far in the ranks, and some said they felt they now had a limit on how far they could be promoted. Some said it made them feel less valued within the military and wondered whether that wasn’t part of the intent.

The Pentagon has not offered any rationale on why the women, or any of the other six people, were removed from the promotion list.

Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, said on social media this week that “military promotions are given to those who have earned them” and that the Pentagon “will never consider the color of a service member’s skin or their gender as a factor in promotions.”

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request seeking further comment. The Navy’s process for choosing which officers to promote to the one-star rank has been relatively constant and transparent over the years. The service convenes a group of officers, called a promotion board, that examines the records of eligible officers and chooses the most qualified.

The board that selected the initial slate of 31 officers for promotion was directed by then-Navy Secretary John Phelan, an appointee of President Donald Trump, to “recommend for promotion the best qualified officers within their respective competitive category.”

The order from Phelan, who later abruptly departed his post in April, said the board should consider an officer’s performance, competence and character, among other traits, as part of those qualifications.

It also said that given China’s prominence in the Trump administration’s National Defense Strategy, “special consideration shall be given to officers who have excelled in their knowledge of the political military affairs and U.S. strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific region, and operational contingency planning for Indo-Pacific war plans.”

Hegseth has long argued, without offering evidence, that women in the military benefit from preferential treatment and are not suited for combat roles.

“For too long, we’ve promoted too many uniformed leaders for the wrong reasons based on their race, based on gender quotas, based on historic so-called firsts,” Hegseth told hundreds of military leaders in September

The approach, he asserted, made the Pentagon “less capable and less lethal.”

Phelan’s order said the Navy cannot discriminate based on criteria such as race and sex, and it specifically noted that “this guidance shall not be interpreted as requiring or permitting preferential treatment of any officer or group of officers on the grounds of race, religion, color, sex.”

Hegseth

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EDUCATION

Trumpofficials rewritingrules forall of academia

BY COLLIN BINKLEY AP education writer

WASHINGTON Ayear ago, the White House was unleashing a blitz on higher education. At one campus afteranother,Trump officials opened investigations and cut federalfunding unless schools fell in line with the Republican president’spolitical agenda.

Now, aftera campaign that put dozens of universities underinvestigation, President Donald Trump’s administration is takingawiderapproach, moving to rewrite the federal rules that govern all of higher education. Demands that were being pressed on individual schools are being written into the fine print for thousands of U.S. universities.

“We’recomingover the higher education system and course correcting,” Nicholas Kent, undersecretary for the EducationDepartment, said in an AssociatedPress interview.Unlike investigations that target individual campuses, he said the new tactic has power “to affect 6,000 institutions.”

The shift comes afterfederal judges blocked Trump’sadministration from making crippling cuts at Harvard and the University of California, Los Angeles. It also follows a mass exodus in civil rights lawyers who traditionally guide investigations against universities. Still, Trump hasn’tbacked down from hiscampaign to end what he calls “wokeness” run amok in academia. Through regulation, the administration is going after many of the targets it hammeredwithinvestigations —diversity,equity and inclusion policies, transgender athletes, antisemitism and avariety of practices perceived as anti-White discrimination.

Agencies proposenew rules

One new rule being proposed by theEducation Departmentwould overhaul the system thatdecides which colleges can receive federal money,knownasthe accreditation process. Among other changes, the proposal would require accreditors to make sure colleges have “intellectualdiversity,” aveiledcall for

more conservative voices

Many people in higher education are alarmed by aproposal from the Office of Management and Budget that would order agenciestoensure federal grants“advance the President’s policypriorities.”Trump officials would verify that grants aren’t usedtopromote DEI, “anti-American values”oranything denying “thesex binary in humans,” according to the proposal issued last week. An OMB spokesperson said therule aims to promote transparency. Anotherproposalfromthe General Services Administration would require federal grant recipients,including universities andtheir contractors, to certify theydon’thave DEI policies deemed unlawful by the administration.

At least 11 new rules have been proposed atthe Education Department, including one aimed at “streamlining theprocess” to cut money for schools thatviolate the Trump administration’sinterpretation of civilrights law

Making federal rules can take months of debate in humdrum bureaucratic processes. But unlike earlierstrategies that testedthe limits of White House power,the rulemakingprocessisawidelyaccepted route to establishfederal policy into law —without needing to go through Congress. Some in higher education wel-

comethe change. Unlike last year’s attacks, the new approach opens the door for aconversation, said TedMitchell, president of the American Council on Education, which represents college and university presidents.

“We’replaying agamethat has rules andreferees, and that’s good,” said Mitchell, aformer EducationDepartmentofficial under President Barack Obama, aDemocrat. “It gives us an opportunity to talk about where we might agree with the administration. That was impossible to do when these were just straight-on attacks.”

Fewernew investigations

Meantime, theEducation and Justice departments have announced fewer higher-education investigations, issuing news releases on roughly adozen at U.S. universities so far this year.Inthe same span last year,theyannounced more than 70, according to an AP analysis.The exact numberofnew investigations is unclear —apublic databasehas notbeen updated sinceJanuary2025.

Kent said the EducationDepartment will continuetoopen investigations as needed,describing it as using a“scalpel to cut out the bad.” But he said colleges have started to cometoheel on the administration’spriorities.

“Folks realize that it’s anew day and that we’re paying attention,” Kent said.

The vast majority of the investigations opened last year are still open. The White House struck dealswith Columbia, Brown and ahandful of othercampuses, but most cases are unresolved with no public update in months.

Catherine Lhamon, who led the Education Department’sOffice for Civil Rights under President Joe Biden, aDemocrat, said the barrage of investigations amounted to “performance art” that grabbed attention but hadlittle impact.After pushback from schools, she said, theTrump administration is backing off.

“Itstopped putting itself in aposition to lose,”saidLhamon, whonow leads the Edley Center on Law and Democracy at the University of California, Berkeley Still, some fights have intensified.

TheWhiteHouse has doubled down on battles with Harvard and UCLA after federal judgesblocked the administration from cutting off research fundingfromthe campuses.

The Justice Department has sued Harvard andUCLAfourtimes since February,alleging that both campuses tolerated antisemitism and that Harvard refused to release admissions data sought by theadministration. Leaders of both universities say they have worked to fight antisemitism.

Admissions casesa toppriority

AWhite House official said the investigative slowdown is also theresult of amounting focus on college admissions. The administration has been building cases against colleges accusedofconsidering race in admissions decisions even after theSupreme Court struck down affirmative action. Those investigationscan take more time because theyrequire large data collections, said the official, speaking on the conditionofanonymity to discuss internalstrategy

Some of those cases arenow coming to bear

The Justice Department recently concludedthat medical schools

at Yale andUCLAdiscriminated against White andAsianAmerican students by allegedly favoring Black and Latino applicants. The universities have defended their admissionsprocesses,saying they were rigorous and based on merit. On Thursday,the Justice Department said it was opening 15 similar investigations at other medical schools, alleging “potentialrace discrimination”intheir admissions processes.

Trump officialsare taking ahardline approach against any use of race in admissions, clashing with colleges that invite students to discuss their race in applicationessays. In its 2023decision, the Supreme Court said nothing stopsschools from considering how applicants’ race speaks to broader qualities.

“Weare making sure,” Kent said, “that we are elevating our best and ourbrightest andthatwe’re not putting the thumb on the scale because of somebody’sskin color.” Colleges alreadychanged Facing last year’sblitz, many campuses quietly made changes to avoid scrutiny.Someclosed DEI offices. The NCAA moved to limit transgenderathletes. Universities from UCLA to Columbia tightened campus protest rules after pro-Palestiniandemonstrationswerethe subject of federal investigations. Research hasbeen scaled back as top schools face continued funding cuts.

In theclassroom,there’s been a chilling effect as professors fear that whatthey say or teach could attract federal attention, said Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of UniversityProfessors. Still, he’soptimistic thebalance of power is shifting in universities’ favor.Students and faculty members on severalcampusesbuilt pressure to reject aWhite House invitation last fall to sign on to aspectsof Trump’s agenda in exchange for favorable accesstoresearch funding, he said.The AAUP hasbrought several lawsuits against the administration, including one that stopped funding cuts at UCLA.

Rising fuel prices shapesummerplans forboaters

BY DEE-ANN DURBIN Associated Press

DEXTER TOWNSHIP,Mich. On the kind of warm, bright afternoon that Michigan boaters wait all year for,Malik Amine and his brother readied their family’spontoon boat for the summer

The cover was off and Portage Lake sparkled in the sun. But before the brothers could leave anarrow wooden dock, they had adecisionto make: how much gasoline to put in the pontoon’s52-gallon engine.

Recreational boaters, like motorists, are feelingapinch from the Iran war.U.S. gas prices have come down in recent weeks, but agallon of regular gas still cost an average of 34% more Friday than it did ayear earlier,according to motor club AAA. The priceofdieselfuel, whichis also used by some boaters, is up 53% from last year

Ethanol-free gas, which many boaters, classic car owners and lawn mowerusers prefer,isanywhere from 20 cents to $1 per gallon more than regular fuel, according to the National Associationof Convenience Stores, which also represents fuel retailers. One gas station near Portage Lake, which is 60 miles west of Detroit, is selling ethanol-free fuel for$7per gallon. Amine said he didn’tplan to fill the boat’stank ahead of Memorial Day weekend.

“The costisgoing tobea lot more than it was last year,” Amine said. “I think it’s probably alittle bit smarter to do what you need and fill it as much as you need, because who knows when this conflict’sgoing to end.”

The National Marine ManufacturersAssociation estimates that 100 million Americans go boating each year,contributingtoan industry worth $230 billion annually.The trade group, which represents companies

that make boats, marine engines, boating equipment and accessories, said itsconversations withboatersindicate that most still plan to head out on the water thisyear,but in some cases, gaspricesare curtailingtheir plans.

“There were anumber of people within thatwho said, ‘I am going to have to change my behavior’,” said Ellen Bradley,the association’s chief brand officer. “I may not go as far. Imay notas fast. Imay spend more time anchored and swimming. I may spend more time at the dock.”

Neil and Kathleen Donohoe soldtheir home in Coloradoand now live aboard a 50-foot,diesel-powered boat dubbedthe Granuaile,which is the Gaelic name of Grace O’Malley,a16th century sea captain known as Ireland’s pirate queen. They’ve spent the last seven yearscruising up and down theEast Coast andtothe Bahamas. Maintenanceonthe boat— not fuel —istypically their greatestexpense, NeilDonohoe said. But lately,the cost to fill up the boat —which can hold 1,500 gallons —is eye-popping. Theytalk to other boaters and use vari-

ous marine apps to find the cheapestgas

“It’s not driving us notto cruise, but it’s makinga difference,” he said.

This summer,the couple plan to stick around the ChesapeakeBay areainstead of heading further north. They’ve already been to Maine and to Canada, they reasoned, and they don’tfeel theurge to go again while gas prices are so high.

“It seemsa little gross to spend that kind of money when so manypeople are struggling,” Kathleen Donohoe said.

Gas prices arealso impacting boating-related businesses. The Seattle Sailing Club, which offers lessons, charteredcruisesand rentals,said its fuel bill has gone up 10.7% since the beginning of the war

Lindsey Brown,the club’s office manager,said itsfleet of 30 boatsusually rely on windpower,but they all have gasordieselbackup engines. In April, themarina where theboats are docked charged $6.50 per gallonfor diesel, she said. By late May,that had risen to $7.99 per gallon.

“Weare just heading into our busy season, so we may

Trumpkeeps door open to call with Taiwan’s president

BY AAMER MADHANI and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press

ABOARD AIRFORCE ONE President Donald Trump on Friday indicated that he may still speak with Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te even after China has publicly urged him not to directly engage with the leader of the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own.

Trump first raised the idea last month on his way back from meeting PresidentXi Jinping in Beijing, saying that he intended to speak directly with Lai as he weighs whether to go ahead with a $14 billion arms sale for Taipei that Congress approved earlier this year The U.S.president on Friday suggested that acall with the Taiwaneseleader is still in play.“I’ll always talk to him,” Trumptoldreport-

ers when asked if hestill intended on calling Lai. Such acall would mark the first directdialogue between sittingAmericanand Taiwanese presidentsinmany decades, and Beijing has discouraged Trump against such an engagement.

TheChinese embassy in Washingtonina statement to The Associated Press this week said that kind of phone call could undermineprogress in the delicateU.S.-China relationship and urged the Republican administration to “handle theTaiwan question with utmostprudence” and “avoid sending wrongsignals” to officials in the democraticallyrun island that China views as a breakaway province Trump raisedChina’sire when he tooka congratulatory call from Taiwan’sthenPresident Tsai Ing-wen after winning the2016presiden-

tialelection but before taking office.

Trumphas raisedthe idea of adirect engagement with Lai even as he’s been more circumspectabout whether he’ll move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Xi in Beijing. Congressgreenlit thearms deal in January but it still needs Trump’sapproval,

The president said last monthhesees arms sales with Taiwan as a“negotiating chip”inthe administration’s approach to Pacific policy

At last month’sBeijing summit,Xiwarned Trump that the “Taiwan question” is the most important issue in ties between China and theU.S., and that the two nationswill“have clashes and even conflicts” without proper handling of the matter,according to Chinese officials.

seeamoredramaticeffect on ourbusiness if the price of fuel doesn’t change or continuestoincrease,”Brown said. Brown, wholivesona sailboat at the marina, said the serviceshe uses to pump

out wastewater just added a fuel surcharge to her bill.

It’s also thebusy season for Melissa Kunnert, who owns NautiMi On theRiver,an ice cream and gift shop near Portage Lake. Sherents outa tiki-themed pontoon boat for parties and hosts three-hour evening cruisesfor $50 aperson starting after Memorial Day

Kunnert decided notto raise her prices this summer even though it costs more to fill up the pontoon. She wonders if the higher gas prices affectingall forms of travel might benefit her business by keeping morepotential customers closer to home.

“I’m interested to see if we’ll have the sameamount as previous years (or) if we will have morebecause peopledon’twant to use their gas, they want ours,” Kunnert said.

In Traverse City,Michigan, afew hours north of Portage

Lake, Robert Hinds decided to adda $50 fuelsurcharge to the fishing trips he offers as the owner and operator of CentralCoastAngling. He tows his 22-foot boat from port to port on LakeMichigandepending on where the fishing is best, so he has to fill up his truck in addition to his boat.

Hinds said he’shad multiplecancellationsascustomers do their own math on gas prices. One regular customer from Nebraska didn’tmake the trip this spring.

“It’sreally tough. People do wanttoget out andIstill believe people will,” he said.

“But everybody comes from different walks of life.” Hinds recently ruled out his ownfishing trip to Wisconsin after figuring out it would cost him $400 in diesel fuelfor thetruck that tows his boat.

“I can just stay home and fish here,” he said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER

KayWorsham cleans her boat on May31inDexter Township,Mich. Recreational boaters, likemotorists, arefeeling apinch from risingfuel prices from the Iran war.

LOUISIANAPOLITICS

Landry toutsprojectsCassidy made possible

WASHINGTON —Freed from having to toe the party line after losing a Republican primary,U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy last week expandedhis list of GOP politicos he’scriticizing to include Gov.Jeff Landry —one of the chief architects ofhis political downfall —for undermining acornerstone of hiscampaign strategy

“I’m alittle bit amused by my contributions not being acknowledged by Gov.Landry,” Cassidy, RBaton Rouge, told local reporters in ateleconference newsbriefing.

Mark Ballard

Attacked by many Louisiana Republicans for his 2021 vote to convictPresidentDonald Trump of impeachment charges, Cassidy focused his 2026 campaign message on how effectively he has added federal bacontolocal plates —even when it meant compromising with Democrats. But, after ballots were counted May 16, Cassidy was votedout.

U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow,the Baton Rouge Republican whoLandry and President Donald Trump endorsed, and State TreasurerJohn Fleming, the Minden Republican and former Trump staffer,will meet in the June 27 runofftodecidewho will representRepublicans in the Nov.4generalelection.

The loss untethered ausually cautious Cassidy,who now is criticizing Trump and some of his top allies.

“Mr.President, I’m speaking to youjust for asecond, I’m speaking to President Trump, Mr.President, Mr.President Trump, getengaged,” Cassidy said Wednesday during afloor speech about healthcare affordability,slamming the podium for emphasis.

Landry refused to comment on Cassidy’sobservations.

Whodelivered themoney?

Cassidy’s“effectiveness” messaging never gained traction

Keyhearing on voting maps delayed

Buzz STAFF REPORTS

partially because he was the only Louisiana Republican reminding voters ofhis work during thepast 11 years as senator Now Landry is trotting out some of theprograms Cassidy helped secure, the senator says. The governor has couched them as major victories for hisadministration withoutmentioning Cassidy’s role.

Forinstance,Cassidy points to Landry’sApril29ribbon-cutting ceremonyfor anew Interstate 10 Calcasieu River Bridge in Lake Charles. The$2.3 billion project will feature six to eight lanes, full shoulders, center barriers, lower approach inclines, and increased overhead clearance to replace the

officials argued that Louisiana’s newmap must be used for the 2026 midtermelections.

74-year-old bridge built by Gov Earl K. Long, which now carries upward of 90,000 vehicles per day

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton,and U.S. Rep.Clay Higgins,R-Lafayette, delivered videotaped messages at the ceremony extolling the official start of along-sought project.

Landry then name checked a long list of contributors, demanding standing ovations for some. “A deal like this doesn’thappen by accident.Ithappens because we demand people thinkoutside thebox and awillingness to do thingsdifferently,” Landrysaid. Cassidy’sname went unmentioned. Buthewas the only

Kennedy pushes for better accesstocourtrecords

Republican in Louisiana’scongressional delegation to vote for Democratic President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investmentand JobsAct, which was widely criticized by Trumpand Republicans. It was that bill that brought $150 million forthe Calcasieu Bridge.

Trumppromised anew bridge during avisit in 2019, which was mentioned alot in the ribboncutting ceremony Biden used the bridge as avisual backdrop in 2021 to demonstratethe need forupdating infrastructure. When he was governor, Democrat John Bel Edwards came up with a$2.1 billion plan

es ought to serve the American people —not makethem want to put their head through awall.”

that stalled because of Republican opposition.

Upon becoming governor in 2024, Landry jump-started the bridge project, which also includes money forthe state general fund, bond proceeds, redirected road taxes, and apublicprivate partnership that hinges on tolls.

It’s not just the Lake Charles bridge the Landry administration touts as major victories forthe governor,Cassidy said.

Initiatives to expand broadband across rural areas of Louisiana, which the Landry has rolled out at aseries of ribbon-cuttings, includes alarge pool of federal money from Biden’sInfrastructure Act.

And last month, Landry announced the launch of the state’s Rural Tech Catalyst Fund to support companies seeking to improve healthcare access in Louisiana.

Cassidy said that money comes from wording in last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill he secured through his workonthe Senate Finance Committee and as chair of the Senate Health Education Labor &Pensions committee. The bill included a$50 billion appropriation forrural hospitals to expand access to health technologies in rural areas.

“I was deeply involved in all parts of it, but particularly the healthcare portion, working closely with Dr.Oztomake sure that Louisiana rural families and rural communities got their fair share,” Cassidy said, referring to Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers forMedicare &Medicaid Services.

“Again, you wouldn’tknow that from Gov. Landry speaking about whotoacknowledge. But Iam glad that he acknowledges the worthiness of those programs,” Cassidy said.

Email Mark Ballardat mballard@theadvocate.com.

to $200, and commissioners-incharge can makeupto$350.

It appears likely that November’scongressional elections will use the new voting map Gov.Jeff Landry signed last month, after a federal court postponed akey hearing on apotential legal challenge to the new map. The Legislature redrew Louisiana’s congressional map to eliminate one of the state’stwo majority-Black districts after the Supreme Court ruled in Louisianav Callais that the previous map was unconstitutional. The plaintiffs in that case have asked afederal courttodetermine whether the new map —which still hasone majority-Black district —isalso an illegal racial gerrymander

The three-judge panel of the U.S District Court for the Western District of Louisiana that is handling the case quickly set ahearing for June 17 to address that question. But the court reversed itself Thursday and, for the time being, canceled the hearingafter state

To make that point,Attorney General Liz Murrill’soffice cited another Supreme Court opinion that came down last week in aseparate Alabamaredistricting case, Allen v. Milligan. “While federal courts should not impose changes close to an election,States are free to decide for themselves whether last-minute changes to an election are in their best interests,” thejustices wroteinthat opinion

Sen. John Kennedy,R-Madisonville, has sponsored abill to removethe paywall on the online systemsused to access federal court records and further modernize them.

Murrill’soffice argued that, in light of the new guidance this week from the justices, any “judicial modifications” to themap Louisiana passed lastweek would likely be blocked by theSupreme Court

The plaintiffs didn’ttake issue with thestate’sargument about the 2026 election, but theydid suggest that they are preparedto litigate whether the new mapis constitutionalahead of the 2028 elections

The Louisiana Republican’sOpen Courts Act would require thefederal court system to develop anew, moremodern replacement for thePublic Access to Court Electronic Records system, known as PACER. The new system would be merged with theCase Management/Electronic Case Files system

“Americans should not have to sell plasmaorwrestle with clunky government websites just to read public court records. PACER is old, very expensive and extremely burdensome to use,” Kennedy said in anews release.

“The Open Courts Act would drag this outdated system into the21st century,protect court records from hackers and give taxpayers abetter deal. Government servic-

PACER is used to access everythingfrom criminal proceedings to immigration cases to bankruptcies. The files it contains are public records, but critics have long argued that the system’s paywall blocks much of the public from viewing them

“For far too long, unnecessary paywalls have kept the American people from freely accessing public court records,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., whoisco-sponsoring the bill with Kennedy State seeks more election workers

Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry is looking formore people to work as poll commissioners for electionslater this year

Workers are needed forboth the June 27 runoff election from last month’s closed party primaries and for the Nov. 3election, which will have the U.S. Senate general election andopen primaries for theU.S. House, among other ballot items.

Commissioners can makeup

To qualify, you must be registered Louisiana voter whoisat least 17 years old and ahigh school senior or older Youwill have to attend aone- to two-hour training course.

Commissioners workthe entire election day,from 6a.m. to 8p.m., arriving at least 30 minutes before polls open and staying until ballots are finalized.

Applications can be submitted at aparish clerk of court’soffice. More information is available on the Louisiana Secretary of State’s website.

“Poll commissioners are the backbone of Louisiana’selection process,” Landry said in anews release. “Their commitment helps ensure voters have asmooth experience at the polls and that elections are conducted with integrity.Weare looking forindividuals whowant to serve their communities, support the democratic process, and earn extra income while playing an important role on Election Day.”

STAFF FILEPHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

Gov. Jeff Landryspeaks during aribbon-cuttingceremony for the newInterstate 10 CalcasieuRiver Bridge on April 29 at the Lakefront PromenadeinLakeCharles.

Capitol

Murrill

Kennedy

NancyLandry

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THE GULF COAST

Famed restaurant draws diners to Alabama town

Lambert’s Cafe known for throwing dinner rolls

BY POET WOLFE

Staff writer

At Lambert’s Cafe, diners crane from their seats to catch softballsized rolls spinning through the air

Waiters carrying steaming pots weave through the room, stopping at booths to pile fried okra onto paper napkins and dollop apple butter onto the yeasty bread. Every so often, an announcement crackles through the megaphone about grandpa’s 75th birthday or Alan’s first visit, briefly cutting through the din until diners break into applause.

The walls are just as busy as the dining rooms. Plastered with country kitsch decor, each and every corner tells stories from different eras and places. License plates from as far north as Illinois hang beside biblical phrases painted on wooden planks and rooster paintings that would look right at home in a Texas grandmother’s kitchen. Watching over it all is a portrait of a squinting, cigarillo-smoking, poncho-wearing Clint Eastwood

The roadside spectacle in Foley, Alabama, has drawn families and road-trippers since 1996, when the small town “didn’t really have much from here down to the bridge of Gulf Shores,” manager Greg Felix recalled during a recent dinner rush. Today, Foley is among the fastest growing cities in the country and the three packed dining rooms at Lambert’s on a weeknight served as evidence.

The restaurant celebrates Southern customs through potpies, painted prayers and friendly servers whose bluejeans are yanked up by suspenders and finished with a bow tie. But its origins trace back

to the Midwest.

The original restaurant, opened by Norman Lambert in 1942, was located in Sikeston, Missouri, and it was far different from the Lambert’s in Foley, where 3,000 plates are served and more than 6,000 rolls are tossed by waiters each day.

The original eatery opened during World War II — when many restaurants were forced to ration and some shuttered altogether — and it had enough seats for only 41 people. But through hard work, and a menu shaped by family recipes, Lambert’s persevered.

The restaurant’s signature touch came decades later, in 1976, when Lambert was working his way through a busy lunch rush, passing rolls from table to table, until a customer yelled, “Just throw the damn thing!” It was then that it became “home of the throwed rolls.”

With its popularity surging, Lambert’s moved into a larger location and opened a second restaurant in Ozark in 1994. Two years later, Lambert decided to bring his busi-

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ness near Gulf Shores, where he frequently vacationed, and opened the Foley location, now run by the family’s fifth generation, Felix said.

Minutes later, a bowl piled high with golden fried catfish, shrimp and smoked hog jowl — think thick-cut slices of bacon arrived at the table. Plates only kept coming: rib-eye, sweet carrots, chicken tenders, chicken potpie, rolls and more rolls.

Between bites of steak, servers would approach the table, carrying pots filled with free additional sides: black-eyed peas, fried potatoes and onions, macaroni and tomatoes. The portions were, to say the least, generous. Even the water arrived in bulky tumblers.

The dinner rush grew as the evening wore on. Walking toward the exit, Felix pointed to faded framed photographs on the walls that showed the street back then — once bare and now lined with businesses — and said, “Norman saw the future. He knew the potential, and he was right.”

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BY MARTHA SANCHEZ Staff writer

The waves of summer visitors arriving at some Gulf Coast beaches this month are encountering a problem: Seaweed is everywhere.

So much of it has washed up in recent days in Dauphin Island, Alabama, that some visitors have reported not being able to swim there. It has also appeared near Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, and in the Florida cities of Pensacola and Miramar Beach.

The seaweed, called sargassum, is a natural occurrence that is harmless in the ocean or in small quantities near shore. But it becomes a nuisance on beaches when large piles of it accumulate on the sand.

Researchers at the University of South Florida said the amount of sargassum floating through the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean and the Gulf could break records this summer and is already nearing extraordinary levels on the Gulf Coast.

“It’s not the overall biggest bloom ever,” said Brian Barnes, an assistant research professor who tracks the seaweed at the University of South Florida. “But in the larger Gulf of Mexico, for this time of year, this is the most we’ve seen.” Forecasting where the seaweed will go, and when it will reach land, is difficult because it moves in patches and can die quickly

But researchers at South Florida are tracking patches of seaweed on satellite imagery and expect the amount washing up on beaches to increase throughout June.

The biggest seaweed piles usually hit the Caribbean islands, and that trend is continuing this year But the amount of seaweed

floating in the Gulf is higher this year because its seed population grew farther west, and because the loop current, which funnels water from the Caribbean to the Gulf, is extending farther north.

The seaweed floats across the ocean in large mats and protects sea creatures including turtles, crabs and sea horses. The patches of seaweed can be hundreds of feet wide.

But once the seaweed reaches beaches and begins decaying, it can attract flies, disrupt turtle nesting and produce gas that smells like rotten eggs, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Large patches of it can also lower oxygen levels in the water, which can kill fish near shore.

The seaweed shows up in the Gulf most years, in varying quantities. But the risk of accumulations are high this week on most beaches from Biloxi, Mississippi, through Panama City, Florida, according to a NOAA map.

The University of South Florida bulletin also said some seaweed may reach the Louisiana and Texas coasts in June.

Treatment is expensive especially the servicespeople over 50 often need.

Consider these national average costs of treatment. $274for acheckup $299 for afilling $1,471 foracrown.3 Unexpected bills likethis can be areal burden, especially if you’re on afixed income.

Early detection canprevent small problems from becoming expensive ones. The best way to preventlargedental bills is preventive care. TheAmerican Dental Association recommends checkups twice ayear. Previous dental work canwear out. Even if you’ve had quality dentalwork in the past, you shouldn’t take your dentalhealth forgranted.Infact,yourodds of havinga dental problem only go up as you age.2

and

PROVIDED PHOTO By GULF STATE PARK A type of seaweed called sargassum is washing ashore across the Gulf Coast, including at Gulf State Park in Baldwin County, Ala.

PROVIDED PHOTO By LAMBERT’S CAFE

A vintage photo shows Norman Lambert as he winds up to throw a dinner roll to a customer at his restaurant, Lambert’s Cafe. The Foley, Ala., location is now run by the family’s fifth generation.

Officials, Altman discusspublicownership in AI

BY JOEY CAPPELLETTI and SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press

WASHINGTON It was perhaps asurprising private overturefrom OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The meeting between the two had come just after the Vermont senator announced aplan for the public to take a50% ownership stakein artificial intelligence companies such as OpenAI,using their stock to create apublic wealth fund that would spread the fortune generated by AI behemoths.

Altman told Sanders that he, too, wants the publicto have equity in AI companies.Thoughthe CEOsaid he couldn’tsupport Sanders’ threshold of 50%, he nonetheless wanted to workwith him to advocate for the general idea, according to people with knowledge of theconversation.

The nearly hourlong meeting in Sanders’ Senate office this week, held at Altman’s request, highlighted the inherent tension between AI powerhouses and policymakers as Americans are increasingly askedtoaccept the costs of the AI boom even as they remain unconvinced of its direct benefits. Yetit’salso creating odd political bedfellows fueled by populism as politicians from Sanders to President Donald Trump embracegiving the public astake in AI’sgrowth.

Speaking to reporterson Air Force One on Friday Trump described apotential partnership “where the American people can benefit fromthe success of AI” and said executives from leading AI companies will visit the White House, “probably next week,” to discuss the idea.

“There’ssomething very interesting about it, where it almost becomes apartnership with the Americanpublic,” Trump, aRepublican, said Friday When reporters noted to Trump that Sanders, aselfproclaimed democratic socialist, had proposed public ownership in AI companies, he pointed to similaritiesin their coalitions. The economic views of Trump votersand voters who supported Sanders for president, Trump said, “aren’tthat far apart.” Trump has embraced government investmentin private companies in his

second term, scrambling his party’spolitics. His administration lastyear secureda 10%stake in the struggling Silicon Valley company Intel,and it considered agovernment takeover of Spirit Airlines earlierthisyear, although the airline couldn’t reach adeal and ultimately closed Public backlash to AI

The positioning of leading figures such as Trump and Sanderscomes as concerns about AI areemerging far beyond Washington.

In Michigan, Democrats recently clashed over Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’sappearance with Altmanatthe site of amajordatacenter.CandidatessuchasNew York Democratic House hopeful Alex Boreshavealsomade AI regulationa campaign issueby tapping into voters’ angst about the technology

“This is areal change to society,” Altman told reporters this week. “I think it’s possibleboth thatpeoplecan use AI alot and likeusing it andalso have anxietyabout what it’sgoing to do for the future.”

Datacenter projects across the country have drawn oppositionfromresidents concerned aboutelectricity demand, water consumption andenvironmental impacts.

Somestates once eagerto attract thefacilities, includingOhio and Virginia, have moved to reconsidertax incentives

“Weneed to pass legislation rightnow that says there’snot goingtobe any furtherdatacenter development until they agree to payfor theirown electricity, build their own gridsand pay fortheir own water supply,” Missouri Sen.Josh Hawley, aleading Republican skeptic of Big Tech,told TheAssociatedPress

Before arriving in Washington,Altmanstopped in Michigan on Monday to appear alongside Whitmer, a Democrat, at the building siteofa 1.65 million-squarefoot datacenter.Whitmer’s team claimed the project will create morethan 2,500union constructionjobs

But italsodrew criticism from local activistsand some Democrats, includingMichiganRep. Rashida Tlaib, who called the project “disgusting.” She saidshe was “so disappointed” in Whitmer.

“It’savery controversial

Altman, in emerging from the conversation, described it as “great,” adding that the two“obviously don’tagree on everything.”

AI regulation

Congress this week released abipartisanframework that would establish the firstbroad federalapproach to AI regulation whiletemporarily preempting many state laws.

Anthropic, one of OpenAI’s top competitors, has proposed mechanismsfor coordinating pauses on advanced AI development if systems become too powerful.

TheTrump administration hasalsobegun constructing its own oversight structure, signing an executive order to establish aprocessfor reviewing national security risks posedbyadvanced AI systems before theirpublic release.

topic rightnow andit’scoming fromthe ground up,” Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, aDemocrat, saidabout the grassroots pushback. “Peoplefeelvery strongly about it.”

Whitmer,however,told reporters after the event that “one thing’s very clear, everyone has acellphone in our pocket.”

“Weare all, moreand more, consuming technology anddata andthese data centers aregoing to get built.So, my thoughtisifwecan hold themtoahigh standard and do it in Michigan,that’sthe best way todoit,” she said.

Thetensions extendbeyond datacenters. On college campuses,commencement speakers have been interrupted by boos when discussing artificial intelligence. About 70% of college students seeAIasa threat to their job prospects,according to a2025 poll by the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Altman acknowledged those concerns. He said that while “the impact on jobshas been less than manypeople in our field expected,” he understands “thatcollege students have alot of anxiety about the future.”

OfficialsseekAIbargain

The idea that AI’sexpansion is inevitable is increasingly shared by leaders across the political spectrum, even as they disagreesharplyabout how to manage it.

That reality was at the center of Altman’sconver-

By The Associated Press

LONDON British police said Saturday that six more people have beenchargedwith violent disorder at aprotest over the stabbing death of a university student who was handcuffed by officers as he lay dying. Police were pelted with chairs, cans, rocks and flares on Tuesdaybysome of the hundreds of people attending aprotest in the English

southern coastal cityof Southampton, where 18-yearold Henry Nowak was killed in December.

Many in Britain and beyond were angered by police body-worn video showing Nowak being handcuffed momentsbefore he became unconscious and subsequently died.

Nowak’sdeath hasspurred heated debatesabout policing, race and knife crime in the U.K. Nowak’skiller

Vickrum Digwa, who is Sikh, falsely claimed to policethat he was the victim of aracist assault by Nowak, who was White. When police officers arrived, theyinitially treated the wounded manasasuspect before noticinghis injury and trying to resuscitate him.

Digwa, 23, was convicted of murder for stabbing Nowak witha Sikh dagger and sentenced this week to life in prison witha minimum 21-year term.

sations in Washington. In addition to Sanders, Altman met with Trump administrationofficials suchasMichael Kratsios, the White House’s chief scienceand technology adviser,and congressional leaders from bothparties Sanders’ team emphasized that thetwo didnot reach an agreement on the main points that the senator made to Altman, including the 50% figure so the public has decision-making power. Sanders also expressed oppositionto the growing electionspending by the AI industry

Sanders said he found the administration’smove notable after years of warnings that regulationcould slow American innovation.

“Unfortunately,Sam Altmandid not commit to any of those,” said Sanders’ spokesperson JeremySlevin.

“Eventhese guys arebeginning to catch on that there are legitimate concerns that have to be dealt with,” Sanders said.

ANN ARBOR NEWS PHOTOByJACOB HAMILTON

From left, OpenAI CEOSam Altman, Related Companies CEOBrent Behrman, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Oracle CEO Clay Magouyrk attend agroundbreaking on Mondayfor the Barndata center in Saline Township, Mich.

Grocery store aims to shrink food desert

Harvest Fresh to open in North Baton Rouge

BY RYAN CHATMAN and PAUL TIBBETS

Louisiana State University

For North Baton Rouge residents, fresh food is far less accessible than fast food.

About 14% of East Baton Rouge Parish residents faced food insecurity in 2021, according to a study from HealthyBR. The federal government defines food insecurity as living more than a mile from a large grocery store.

Ranchers urged to prepare for deadly parasite

New World screwworm fly detected in Texas

BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer

Louisiana agriculture officials and veterinarians are urging cattle producers to closely monitor their herds after a deadly livestock parasite was discovered in the United States for the first time in decades.

The New World screwworm fly, which infects many warm-blooded animals including cattle, was detected last week in a 3-week-old calf in La Plata, Texas, near the Rio Grande valley The parasite was eradicated from the United States in the 1950s but has steadily spread north through Mexico and Central America in recent years

Christine Navarre, a veterinarian with the LSU AgCenter and coordinator for the Louisiana Beef Quality Assurance Program, said it is crucial for Louisiana cattle ranchers to be proactive in protecting their herds from the invasive parasite.

“Controlling a pest like the New World screwworm is complex and challenging, particularly given how easily it can spread,” Navarre said “It’s particularly difficult in remote locations with wildlife movements.”

Navarre said cattle should be inspected daily or as frequently as possible, so wounds can be treated promptly before they become susceptible to infestation. Signs of infection include wounds with a foul odor or bloody drainage, reduced appetite and weight loss, the presence of maggots and animals isolating themselves from the herd.

The discovery in Texas has also drawn the attention of Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain, who warned that the parasite could have economic consequences if it spreads.

“We’re going to do whatever we need to do to stop it. Because, if we don’t stop it, we’ll have a significant and long-term impact on the cost and affordability of beef,” Strain said Friday in a podcast.

Texas Gov Greg Abbott responded to this week’s discovery by expanding a statewide disaster declaration to increase personnel and resources dedicated to containing the outbreak. The strategy being employed by the USDA and Texas officials includes the release of sterile screwworm flies to reduce reproduction rates, as well as the creation of a 12.5-mile quarantine zone around the infected calf.

In Texas alone, the largest cattleproducing state in the United States, a 1976 outbreak of New World screwworm cost the 2024 equivalent of $1.8 billion in total economic loss, with $732 million of that hitting producers in a single year. That is more than the entirety of Louisiana’s $640 million cattle industry, according to 2023 LSU Ag Center data.

Screwworm is the parasitic larva

For Southern University students like Neisha Pascal, a sophomore majoring in plant and soil science, securing healthy food is almost impossible due to a lack of reliable transporta-

tion or budget concerns. “If transportation were better, people would probably choose healthier options, but there’s just a lack of access,” Pascal said. “There is a new market opening nearby though, and I’m excited about that. It’ll make things easier, even for people without cars.” Pascal is referring to the Harvest Fresh grocery store at The BLVD at Harding, the result of

partnership between Associated Grocers, local and state leaders and developers. The project will mark the first grocery store in the area in nearly 15 years.

Harvest Fresh, which is planning to open in fall 2027, will encompass more than 43,600 square feet of total supermarket space, along with health and wellness services and other retailers.

“This is very much a long time coming,” said Carmen Austin, assistant real estate broker for The BLVD at Harding. “This is an area

that is definitely underserved, that I think can sustain something like this dramatically.”

Located on the corner of Harding Boulevard and Howell Place, the $50 million retail and grocery development is highly accessible to public transportation, even including walking paths and proximity to well-established neighborhoods. Austin said she hopes Harvest Fresh will help transform the community in the busy area, pointing

posters going

state law

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

Students returning to the campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette this summer and fall will find posters of the Ten Commandments displayed in classrooms. The university has begun hanging the posters across campus this week in accordance with Act 676 of the

A man was shot to death Friday night during a prearranged custody exchange at an apartment complex along Tiger Bend Road and the boyfriend of his exwife has been arrested in the killing. The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office

ABOVE: Christian Hemard and his son Henry Hemard fish together RIGHT: LDWF outreach biologist Caroline Sadurski helps Asia Smith fish

STAFF PHOTOS By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Hank Jones fishes with others at the Waddill Wildlife Refuge while attending the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries introduction to fishing course on Saturday in Baton Rouge

Student rallies peers on education issues

Rising senior founds advocacy group

BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer

Wearing a gray suit and blue button-down, 16-year-old Victor Romero stepped up to the podium and faced the eight Jefferson Parish School Board members whose decisions shape his education.

The rising senior at Patrick F. Taylor Academy had come to advocate for higher teacher pay, to urge the board to stop shuttering schools where the majority of students are Black or Hispanic and to remind members that their policies impact thousands of teachers and students.

“I’ve never attended a School Board meeting before,” he said at the June 3 meeting. “But I’ve come here this time because I believe that people like myself should show up and be acknowledged by the people who affect our everyday lives.”

Aside from a few of his friends, there were no other students at the meeting to hear Romero’s remarks. But he’s hoping to change that with his group, the Student Action Movement, which aims to get Jefferson Parish students involved in local politics.

While its membership today hovers around 15 students, he wants to steadily grow the group’s numbers and eventually have a presence at every School Board meeting.

Even if students think they have little power to influence anyone, Romero said he wants them to know that change only happens when people get involved.

“People in high positions tell us again and again that the youth are the future,” he said in an interview “We can only be that future if we take that power.”

How the group started Romero founded Student Action Movement earlier this year when students across the country were organizing walkouts to protest the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

The son of a mother who immigrated to the U.S. from Honduras, Romero was angered by the fear the immigration enforcement caused his community, and he wanted to do something to support his peers. Children of immigrants

FOOD

Continued from page 1B

to the Rouses supermarket that opened at Florida Boulevard and North Ardenwood Drive two years ago as a model to address food insecurity Edgar Cage worked to eliminate food deserts in the city for years as a leader of Together Baton Rouge, gathering data, building community support and presenting findings to the city

make up a large percentage of the students who attend the district’s public schools, and many stayed home during the raids.

In March, Romero’s group successfully organized its first student-led demonstration, when an estimated 150 students across four high schools staged protests during their lunch periods to voice their opposition to the crackdown.

Today, the group’s members hail from schools across the district, including Patrick Taylor, Haynes, Riverdale and Higgins high schools. They meet once a month, often at someone’s house or a nearby park, to talk about district issues.

Their goals include giving communities more control over their schools, shifting resources from school police to student mental health services and putting more money into arts education.

The group tackles issues “from the bottom up,” Romero explained, drawing inspiration from grassroots organizing tactics of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, when activists mobilized community members by hosting meetings

and encouraging those supportive of the cause to show up at local town halls.

What’s on their agenda

While national politics around immigration catalyzed the group, lately they’ve turned their focus closer to home. They believe they can make a bigger impact locally where they see a lot of need for change.

Romero said they were galvanized by Jefferson Parish School Board member Steven Guitterrez’s sudden resignation last month, when he criticized his colleagues for prioritizing “self-interest(ed) political positioning” over students. The message convinced Romero that the board’s members need to hear from students about the issues that really matter to them.

One of the main issues the group is focused on is improving district employees’ pay, which Romero said affects students as well as staff, noting that one of his favorite teachers quit last year because he couldn’t get by on his low salary A lack of qualified teachers has also led to large class sizes at his school,

Romero added. “When teachers aren’t paid enough,” he said, “it impacts the kind of education students receive.”

Romero raised the issue during his comments at the School Board meeting, imploring members to “commit to paying all professionals in the school system a livable wage.”

Board members applauded Romero for speaking up. Some also said the board is doing its best amid mounting financial pressures, and others noted that the district gave employees a 2% raise last school year and a 5% raise the year before.

Afterwards, Romero said he was glad he voiced his opinion to the board, but he also wished that more community members and students had done the same: “More people should have been in that room,” he said.

Still, he’s hopeful that future meetings will draw more and more students.

“We live in a democracy,” Romero said, “and everyone should be able to participate and feel safe in their own community.”

outside their immediate area. When asked what delayed the construction of a grocery market in the North Baton Rouge area, Baker Mayor Darnell Waites explained that it has to do with factors shaped by public opinion and juggling priorities.

“It has a lot to do with economic development, housing and schools,” Waites said. “Environment matters, and leadership matters. Funding doesn’t always come this way, and people don’t always look this way,” he said.

BLOTTER

Continued from page 1B

prearranged pickup of his child from his ex-wife, the release states. While there, Wilson became engaged in a verbal altercation with Marcus Jackson, 44, of New Orleans, the boyfriend of the woman. Jackson allegedly pulled out a gun and shot Wilson multiple times, then fled the scene, deputies said. Detectives with the Sheriff’s Office and the Louisiana State Police Fugitive Task Force tracked Jackson to LaPlace, where he was identified through surveillance footage.

The St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office SWAT team executed a search warrant of an apartment in LaPlace and arrested Jackson. He was booked on counts of second-degree murder, illegal use of a weapon and auto theft.

Jackson will be transported to the East Baton Rouge Parish jail next week.

Officer arrested for allegedly driving drunk

A Baton Rouge police officer faces discipline after she was arrested last month for allegedly driving over 100 mph while intoxicated.

Officer Sabrione Reed was stopped May 30 after a speed laser clocked her speeding vehicle, the Baton Rouge Police Department said. Officers suspected Reed was under the influence of alcohol and transported her to the 3rd District headquarters, where she voluntarily took a Breathalyzer test. Her blood alcohol content registered as 0.09% police said.

Reed was arrested for a first-offense DWI and cited for reckless driving, fleeing to elude and speeding. She was released with a mandatory court date.

A full internal affairs investigation will be conducted, and Reed will face departmental discipline as well as criminal penalties She is currently on restricted duty, a department statement said. Reed was not shown any favoritism during the incident, and the arresting officers held Reed to the same standard as the rest of the community, the statement said.

Cage said he took a reporter on a tour of small stores in North Baton Rouge years ago. She was appalled that fresh food options were limited and overpriced. He said most of the options were beer and junk foods, but that was not the worst of it.

“We once found a store selling expired food six or seven months old,” Cage said. “The manager said, ‘These people ought to be happy they have this.’ That mindset — it’s wrong.”

Jared Barbarin, a psychology major at Southern, said he struggles with budgeting on account of having to pay rent, and contemplates whether to sacrifice nutrition over cost

“We actually got about $380,000 in incentives from the city to help with startup costs,” he said. “Grocery margins are very tight — under 2% — so early years are tough, but we couldn’t find any takers,” Cage said. “One grocery executive told me I was crazy said no one would open in North Baton Rouge because of crime and perception.” For those living near Southern or in the Scotlandville area, a routine grocery run is limited to either small corner stores or the local Family Dollar where frozen and canned fruits and vegetables sell for $2 to $3 per item, but there is nothing perishable or locally grown.

PARASITE

Continued from page 1B

of the screwworm fly and is a type of blowfly that can invade the tissues of any warm-blooded animal, including humans. The parasite enters animals’ skin, causing severe damage and lesions that can be fatal. Infected animals are a serious threat to herds. There are two types of screwworms: Old World and New World. The Old World screwworm larvae dine on the living flesh of warm-blooded animals and are generally not found in the Western Hemisphere.

New World screwworm also feeds on the flesh of living warmblooded animals but is found in the Western Hemisphere. The flies lay up to 3,000 eggs throughout their two-to-three-week life on the outside of open wounds and mucous

membranes of animals, Buenger said. The larvae then burrow into the flesh and feed before turning into pupae, dropping to the ground to mature and start the cycle again. If the animal goes untreated, the results can be fatal.

The discovery has heightened concerns among livestock producers across the Gulf South as the parasite moves closer to Louisiana.

While Louisiana’s cattle industry is not as large as in Texas and other Western states, it does boast many historic cattle ranches across regions of the state such as Acadiana that have operated for generations.

“It’s important that we report anything like fly larva in livestock or pets quickly and treat any infested animal appropriately to prevent spread,” Navarre said. She also highlighted the importance of insect repellents and closely monitoring newborn calves and postpartum mothers which are particularly vulnerable to infection.

“If I buy cheaper, lower-quality food, I can get a lot more of it, and it can last weeks or even a month,” Barbarin said. “If I buy higher-quality food, it costs more and doesn’t last as long, so I have to budget carefully.”

Since he resides in an apartment on Southern’s campus, Barbarin buys groceries at the nearby Family Dollar, or drives about seven miles to the Walmart in Baker If he wants alternative food choices, he has to drive about 10 miles away to the Rouses on Florida.

A Together Baton Rouge survey found North Baton Rouge residents are already traveling significant distances for groceries. The majority reported shopping at stores like Walmart in Baker or Central, as well as supermarkets

POSTERS

Continued from page 1B

blocked implementation of the Ten Commandments law The appeals court did not, however, declare the law definitively constitutional.

In April, a majority of judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Texas’ law, which is nearly identical to Louisiana’s, is constitutional and does not violate students’ religious freedom.

In their majority opinion, the judges rejected the argument that posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms would pressure students to honor the biblical mandates or adopt particular beliefs.

“To plaintiffs, merely exposing children to religious language is enough to make the

While many businesses often frame North Baton Rouge as unprofitable or too dangerous to invest in, Waites and Tony King, a podcaster and former radio host, see it as an untapped market with boundless potential.

“Our (Baker) situation is slightly different, but we still share similar economic challenges with surrounding communities,” King said “That’s why partnerships matter.”

Additional reporting by Katharine Sherrett. This story was reported and written by students with the support of the nonprofit Louisiana Collegiate News Collaborative, an LSU-led coalition of eight universities funded by the Henry Luce and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur foundations.

displays engines of coercive indoctrination We disagree,” the majority wrote about the Texas law, known as S.B. 10. A minority of the court’s active judges dissented.

Rejecting arguments made by attorneys for the Texas families who challenged the law, the 5th Circuit majority said that requiring public schools to post the Ten Commandments does not amount to the government endorsing a particular religion, which the U.S. Constitution forbids. The law also does not impose religious beliefs on students, the judges wrote.

“As noted, S.B. 10 authorizes no religious instruction and gives teachers no license to contradict children’s religious beliefs (or their parents’),” the majority opinion states. “No child is made to recite the Commandments, believe them, or affirm their divine origin.”

“We issued the summons to our own officer, as we would to anyone else on these charges. No one is above the law especially not officers. It’s why we’ve now launched an internal affairs investigation into this officer Matters involving my own men and women are taken very seriously and investigated to the fullest extent,” Police Chief TJ Morse said. Reed has been with the department since 2021. 1 hurt during gunbattle involving two vehicles

One person was injured during an argument between two groups of people that escalated into a shootout between two vehicles along U.S. 61 in West Feliciana Parish, the Sheriff’s Office reports. Sheriff Brian Spillman said deputies responded to a hospital where a victim showed up with a gunshot wound around 1 a.m. Saturday The victim was then transported to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge with a non-lifethreatening injury Spillman said.

During the investigation, detectives learned an altercation between two groups of people in the lower end of the parish turned into a “running gunbattle” between two vehicles, the sheriff said. Shots were fired from both groups. Spillman said authorities have identified most of the suspects and are working to get arrest warrants. Detectives are unsure what caused the altercation.

LOTTERY FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2026

PICK 3:

Cage

STAFF PHOTO By ENAN CHEDIAK

Victor Romero, a rising senior at Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy, poses for a portrait in front of the Jefferson Parish public school system administrative building in Harvey on Friday

RENDERING PROVIDED By THE BLVD DEVELOPMENT GROUP

A rendering depicts Harvest Fresh, a grocery store that will anchor the $50 million retail development The BLVD at Harding The development, located off Harding Boulevard, will bring a long-awaited supermarket to North Baton Rouge.

National WWII Museum honors Rosie the Riveters

BY VIOLET BUCARO Staff writer

The heads of the factory told Delphine Klaput to guard the aircraft blueprints with her life.

Whenever she needed to bring them out, which was often as a leader of a team of men building planes to be sent overseas, she kept them close so they wouldn’t be lost or seen by someone who shouldn’t know about them

There was a war on, after all. It was a far cry from her life growing up in a Pennsylvania coal mining town, and she remembers walking through Glenn L Martin Aircraft factory in Baltimore asking herself, “What did I get myself into?” Klaput, 101, worked at the aircraft factory during the last years of World War II.

From 1944 to 1945, she was one of the millions of young women who took jobs in the factories that built the planes and tanks and ships and trucks that helped the U.S. and its allies win the war America’s massive manufacturing capability came to be known as the Arsenal of Democracy It was powered by women like Klaput, who later came to be associated with the wartime icon known as Rosie the Riveter The Rosie the Riveter propaganda poster, created by J. Howard Miller in 1943, depicts a woman with rolledup sleeves, red lipstick and a pumped fist, with the emblematic motto “We Can Do It.” It was made to motivate women in the labor force

Earlier this week, Klaput was among more than 30 “Rosie the Riveters” who traveled to New Orleans to

attend The American Spirit Awards at The National World War II Museum, where they are honorees. The awards are given to people who reflect the spirit and contribution of the men and women who served in the war. Former Saints football player Steve Gleason and American composer John Williams will also be recognized at the awards ceremony this weekend

A difficult time

Over 16 million Americans served in the armed forces in WWII, and approximately 6 million women filled jobs on the homefront historically reserved for men. Due to the Depression from 1929 to 1939, many women who worked in the war effort came from poor families When they got jobs, they sent

most of the money to families back home.

Francesca Masters, 104, another honoree in New Orleans this week, said she made $1 an hour and like Klaput sent nearly all her money back to her family

Masters worked on the airplane wing of the B-24 Liberator, operating heavy machinery in the bomber plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

She felt proud to be working a “man’s job,” she said, and that it “felt like a different world” in the factory

Peter Crean, vice president of education and access at The National World War II Museum, said that so often the men in uniform are recognized, but in reality, the war touched every family, every woman.

“It was the women that

were stepping into the breach on the homefront,” Crean said.

American industrial needs went into hyperdrive, and if women were refused entry for production roles, it would’ve taken over 5 million men out of uniform. He said it would have been much harder to build 2,700 Liberty ships and 100 aircraft carriers and ultimately, to win the war

Women welded, carried rivet guns and stepped into administrative roles. Before, it was unheard of to apply for those jobs. Crean said not only did the women help win the war but the country was fundamentally different because of their example.

“The opportunities for my mother, my wife and my daughters would be very dif-

ferent,” he said. “That door never really closed.”

Masters remembers the scale of effort, and the small details. Overwhelmingly large machines surrounded her in the Willow Run Bomber Plant, the largest war factory in the world during World War II, built by the Ford Motor Company It was spotless, she said, except when men would spit their chewing tobacco on the floor

Her parents were Italian immigrants, and her father was a horticulturist for a fruit market. Two of her sisters worked at the plant while her two brothers fought in the war

Frequently, her family would get letters in the mail from her brothers. A few weeks before the war ended, she came home and saw plants had been thrown out on her family’s back porch.

She said she just knew something had happened to one of her brothers, Salvatore, and the telegram confirmed it. He had been killed in the Battle of the Bulge.

As they waited for news from overseas, the women had to find ways to stay motivated back home. Virginia Rusch, 99, from Detroit, said she had always wanted to work. She wanted to buy new clothes. When she was 15, she dropped out of high school and told Republic Aircraft Products that she was 17 to get hired.

She built airplane nose cones and propellers at the assembly line from 1942 to 1944. Each day she’d solder a cone, place it in a bin and repeat

Who are the Rosies?

As they talked about their experiences together at the museum Thursday, the three women said that until recently they didn’t think of themselves as “Rosie the Riveters” who fought on the homefront From 2013 to 2017, Rusch’s daughter, Lisa Brown, would dress up as Rosie at Willow Run to raise funds to repair the plant but she had no idea her mother was considered a Rosie until she learned about her part of the war effort

“I would say the last five years there’s been a push for the recognition for Rosies,” said Brown. “But in the first few years, it was very hard for them because they truly didn’t think they had done anything special.”

Rusch would tell her daughter that she quit school and got a job because it was what she needed to do to help the effort

“It was our duty,” Masters chimed in.

The passing decades have meant fewer and fewer Rosies are still alive. But the ones that are say they try to stay involved in associations around the nation and celebrate one another

“No matter where you go, if there’s a Rosie, you’re gonna see this,” Klaput said, extending her hands toward the other women.

“They have to hold hands,” Klaput said.

She reached for Rusch’s hand, and Rusch reached for Masters’ hand.

“We can do it,” Klaput said.

She said if she could talk to her younger self, she’d say, “I had good intentions in life. I wanted to succeed, which I didn’t do badly,” she said. “I did pretty good for a person that didn’t graduate from high school.”

Court’s slowest docket sees intensive intervention

Backlog unclogged following judge’s resignation

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

Last year, the docket of one section of criminal court in New Orleans grew so backlogged and bloated that a local judge compared it to a failed organ in critical need of triage.

At least 550 open cases were unresolved in Section J under long-serving judge Darryl Derbigny, more than twice the average for the other 11 court sections, the Metropolitan Crime Commission reported. A TimesPicayune analysis found homicide cases in Section J took twice as long to resolve as in the court’s fastest moving section.

A year later, much has changed: Derbigny is gone.

A new judge, John Fuller, just took the bench in Section J. And while Fuller may not be there long a bill to ax his seat and two others awaits Gov Jeff Landry’s signature the docket he inherited is among the leanest at the courthouse after a deep cleanse ordered up by the Louisiana Supreme Court. When Derbigny tendered his resignation July 30, about 430 open felony cases filled the Section J docket, according to data compiled by the Metropolitan Crime Commission. By December, the caseload in Section J was down to 165, MCC data shows. The number involving violent crimes declined from 245 to about 100 over that time. The slide continued into 2026, to about 150 cases by April. The drops occurred after the Supreme Court assigned two former judges to the task of dispensing cases, in what those involved describe as an intensive intervention as Derbigny took a leave from the bench under pressure, never to return. If it appeared easy, several players involved say wrangling the massive Section J docket demanded a rare level of collaboration, along with a strong mandate from the Supreme Court. Buy-in came not only from

the district attorney and Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office, the public defender, lawmakers and judicial leaders, they said.

Caseload data shows the docket in Section J began its descent not long after Derbigny’s departure, first when retired criminal court judge Calvin Johnson took the seat. The shedding accelerated when the high court appointed the second judge, Franz Zibilich, to the pursuit in August.

Zibilich is a former criminal court judge with a history of taming a docket by applying heavy pressure for plea deals. He was voted out of office in 2020 amid a progressive political wave in New Orleans.

“The first four months that I was here, it was triage. I mean, it was absolute triage,” Zibilich said. “We’re now under control. It’s now elective surgery instead of emergency surgery We’re not in that emergency scenario anymore.”

Landry and other supporters of a shrunken court system in New Orleans have pointed to the metamorphosis in Section J as evidence the city can do more with fewer judges.

“It just shows you what’s possible when you actually move your docket,” Attorney General Liz Murrill said.

Landry’s signature on Senate Bill 217 will remove Fuller along with Judges Simone Levine of Section A and Rhonda Goode-Douglas of Section E. The nine surviving sections of court would divvy up those dockets.

“It’s time for them to go to work,” Landry said in an April 29 appearance on WBOK “Look, you talk about Derbigny’s case, we cleared that docket in six months.”

Changing the culture

The backlog forced prosecutors and defense attorneys to stop haggling over dog-eared cases, Johnson said. Some defendants accepted plea deals while other cases were dismissed. The state took some to trial.

“Posturing and trying to finagle to get to another result is what lawyers do on both sides,” Johnson said. “But we had to come to the table and say, ‘Look, y’all

Let’s really put our real cards on the table.’”

A handful of cases in Section J lingered for more than a decade.

“You had cases that were ancient,” Johnson recalled. “In order to do this, you had to have complete focus on that section of court by someone from the DA’s Office who could make decisions on the docket. That could look at the entirety of a case and all of the cases and pick out those cases that could be fast-tracked.”

Zibilich said the target was a docket reduced to 150 cases. He said he focused first on prosecutions that were reopened based on convictions by nonunanimous juries.

Next were cases in which defendants languished in jail, he said, and those with multiple defendants or more than one case against the same person.

His pitch to defense attorneys: “The more files you close and the faster you close files, the more time you can spend on the cases that you can’t close that have to get tried,” Zibilich said.

His message for prosecutors: “If the case ain’t no good because it’s a million years old and you can’t find witnesses, let’s do something with it today It’s not getting any better.”

Zibilich said he beefed up the daily docket and gave attorneys strict deadlines for pretrial motions, disregarding briefs that came in late

“I’m proud of the fact that I was able to do what the Supreme Court sent me there to do,” Zibilich said last week. “I could not have done it without the cooperation of the indigent defenders, the District Attorney’s office, the attorney general and my staff.”

In court, Zibilich fires rapid-fire questions at lawyers as they cycle through case files. The attorneys appeared attuned to the pace, rattling off answers in rhythm.

“We are probably going to resolve this case soon,” one attorney assured him at a hearing in March.

“Wonderful, hope so,” Zibilich shot back. “I like to hear that.”

While the swollen docket in Section J dwindled, case-

loads declined at a slower pace in other sections of the criminal courthouse over the same period, from an average of 246 felony cases per section in May 2025, to 168 in November

The result across the courthouse was an inventory of open felony cases that fell by more than a third in half a year, from 3,200 in May 2025 to a little over 2,000 in November the MCC data shows.

“The law says the DA sets the docket The reality is that the judge sets the culture in a section of court,” said Metropolitan Crime Commission President Rafael Goyeneche.

“The judges that have the lowest inventory, it’s not by accident. They’re showing up and creating expectations of finality.”

Bob White, a prosecutor and top aide to District Attorney Jason Williams, played a key role in the Section J docket purge, Johnson said.

Veteran prosecutor Andre Gaudin helped clear the first 150 to 200 cases, he said, before turning to campaign for the Section J judgeship against Fuller. Gaudin said the challenge

of reducing the caseload fell under a larger effort known within the District Attorney’s Office as the “trial Olympics,” a competition of sorts to pick up the pace.

“The ones that are left may be a harder nut to crack than, let’s say, another section with 155 (cases) that hasn’t had to reduce it down from 500,” Gaudin said.

Triaging a docket in crisis

Murrill pointed to “significant consequences” from lingering cases citing a mass escape from the Orleans Justice Center last year Its leaders “were very familiar with all the vulnerabilities of that facility because they’d been there a long time,” she said.

Prosecutors from Murrill’s office have become a major presence at the courthouse under an agreement to handle cases from arrests by Troop Nola, the dedicated Louisiana State Police unit that Landry launched two years ago.

As of last week, the Attorney General’s Office was handling 540 active cases there, a spokesperson said.

For a Public Defender’s Office that represents 85% of criminal defendants in New Orleans, clearing the Section J backlog was an all-hands-on-deck situation, said Chief Public Defender Danny Engelberg.

“I knew that our clients were being impacted and some of them were ready and eager to see it get to the end of the line,” Engelberg said. “So we definitely went into the effort jumping in.” Court Watch NOLA, a watchdog group that monitors proceedings in criminal court, noticed a much quicker pace in Section J under the two appointed judges, said executive director Jesse Manley He said his team of volunteers saw no red flags in the process. “We don’t want the fastest justice system. We want to have the most fair justice system,” Manley said. “In this particular situation, a lot of these cases had been dragging on. So finding a quick resolution to them that doesn’t violate anyone’s constitutional rights, I think is a win.”

Email Matt Bruce at matt. bruce@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By ENAN CHEDIAK

Delphine Klaput points to a photograph of herself on a canvas at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans on Friday.

Clement, Jacobi

OursoFuneralHome, 13533 Airline Hwy.Gonzales,LAat11am. Graham,Gloria

Rabenhorst FuneralHome, 825 Government Street,at4 p.m

Obituaries

Black Sr., Gary Louis

Gary Louis Black, Sr. was born in Baton Rouge, LA on November 28, 1950. He died peacefully in the comfort of his home on May 20, 2026, at the age of 75.

Gary was fascinated with the outdoors as a child. This passion inspired alife of adventures fishing and hunting with friends and family in South Louisiana, namely Port Eads, Pierre Part, and Norwood.Thoughtful and precise, he could find fish in the Gulf or marsh. He was atrue marksman in aduck blind or deer stand.

Throughout his formative years, Gary excelledin multiple sports and wasa star athlete at Lee High School. His successonthe fieldearned multiple scholarshipoffers. He was the first member of his family to attendcollege when he committed to the LSU Football (Outside Linebacker) and Track & Field (JavelinThrower) teams.

While at LSU, the Feature Twirler of the LSU Tigerettes caught his attention: Marsha "Hoppy" Scarle of Ponchatoula, LA, who became his adoring wife of 51 years. As acouple, Gary and Hoppy heard and believed The Gospel of Jesus Christ. They were members of The Chapelon the Campus where Reverend DonaldTabb developed acommunity of college students who grew spiritually, started families, and established lifelong relationships.

1974 was an eventful year for Gary. He graduated from LSU with aBusiness degree, entered the insurance industry through an opportunity with future business partner Danny Price, andmarried Hoppy

As his businessgrew,so did his family. Gary and Hoppy welcomed their sons Gary Jr. in 1978 and Barrett in 1980. They spent the next 20 years attending every game and performance, proudly supporting Gary Jr., an exceptional athlete, and Barrett, anatural musician

On theprofessional front, Gary and Danny worked together for several years before moving to Omni Group in 1983. In 1993, they branched out to start Price &Black, an independent wealth management and insurance brokerage firm. Gary's sister Colette joined the company in 1998 and was an integral part of their success.

Arthur J. Gallagher acquired Gary's division of the organization in 2012. Shortly thereafter, he added his son Barrett to the team. Gary retired in 2016 following aParkinson's diagnosis, concluding an impressive 42-year career -18ofwhich he worked alongside his sister.

Gary was atechnician and expert in his craft.He was respected by colleagues, clients, carriers andcompetitors alike Known for his integrity diligence and wisdom, his business philosophy was based on Proverbs such as 21:5: "Steady plodding brings prosperity; hasty speculation bringspoverty".

Gary was aloyal, kind, and faithful husband. He was patient, steady, and gracious as afather. To his siblings, he wassupportive andconsiderate, serving as acalming presence in their lives. He was hospitable and reliable as a friend, atrusted confidant.

Being agrandfather of 6 brought "Big G" immeasurable joy.Hewas intentional, engaged, and dependable. He was deeply loved by his grandchildren who cherish memories of exciting days at Lake Verret riding an inner tube, jumping off the party barge, or see-

AdevoutChristian, Gary invested his adultlifeinto the ministryofThe Chapel on the Campus,both locally and globally. He functioned in various capacitiesover the years. On the Deacon board, he managed finances and cared for "theleast of these". He also supported internationalefforts throughthe Missions Committee. Additionally,hewas dedicated to the visionofThe Chapel Trafton School and served as President of the Board He was quietly generous, compassionate,and took the workofthe church and Christianeducation seriously. Through hisinspiring life, Gary taughtthe valuesofgratitude,contentment, consistency, and forgiveness. He responded to thecallofMicah 6:8 "to act justly .lovemercy and walkhumblywith your God".

Gary was precededin deathbyhis paternal grandparents Norman Cole Black, Sr. (Gladys Triche), maternalgrandparents Louis Langlois(JennieCarles), parents Norman Cole Black,Jr. andMary Lou Langlois Barney,and siblings FredNormanBlack and Cherie Black Vaughn

He is survived by his wifeMarsha "Hoppy"Scarle Black, siblings Colette Black Dowden (Phillip), MichelleBlack Fisher (Bill), and KimMarieBlack, childrenGaryLouisBlack, Jr (Caroline) andBarrettJohn Black (Amy), and grandchildren Sofia Mary Black, PattisonMarieBlack, Naomi Elise Black, Gary "Louis" LouisBlack III, Julia AlexanderBlack,and Elliott Jude Black.

The family extends profound appreciationto Suzanne Hebert and her team at No Place Like Home, who cared forGary with dignity and honorat the end of his life

Aprivate burial service for the family willbeofficiatedbyReverendSteve Elworth at ResthavenGardens, where Garywill be laid to rest

Bourgeois, Marshall Ann Heflin

Marshall Ann Heflin

Bourgeois of Baton Rouge, Louisiana passed awayon Wednesday,June 3, 2026. She was 98. She was bornonJuly7 1927, at OurLady of the LakeHospitalinBaton Rouge to Charles Marshall and AnnieLaurie(Pemble) Heflin. Shegraduatedfrom BatonRouge High School in'1943 and while there, she met her futurehusband, Nelson A. Bourgeois. Their firstdate was in February 1942 fora Coke at Dalton'sDepartment Store on Third Street After graduatingfrom Baton Rouge High, she went to Louisiana State University and graduated in 1947.While at LSU,she was an active memberof Pi Beta Phi sororityand served as president for one year. After graduation, she became amemberof theTarnished Arrows,the luncheon group. In 1948, Marshall Ann went to workfor theDepartment of Highways in the accounting department secretarial pool. Within 6months, she was the supervisor of the secretarial pool and then went on to work for Mr. Himbert her boss formanyyears Sheretired after30years of servicein1978 On July 7, 1951,Marshall Ann married Nelson at First PresbyterianChurch. She and Nelson's first home was on South Eugene Streetand eventually they settled on Sevenoaks Avenue in the 1960's. Marshall Ann wasa long -time member of Ikebana International, aworldwide organizationdedicated to the enjoymentofikebana (the artofJapanese floral arrangements).Her interestinthe Orient led Nelson to buildher aJapanese tea house at their Sevenoaks home.She was also a member of the Baton Rouge High School Lunch Bunch and amemberof First PresbyterianChurch since1938,whereshe was active with the Presbyterian Women. She lovedtotravelboth inside the US and internationally and made trips to England, France,Switzerland, Italyand Japanac-

companied by traveling companion, AnnParnell. She is preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, NelsonA.Bourgeois and her parents, Charles Marshall and Annie Laurie (Pemble) Heflin. She is survivedbyher cousins, Sterling Abernethy, Mark Abernethy (Janet), Benton Abernethy (Madeline) of BatonRouge and her dear and devoted friends,Larryand Virginia Smith of Lakeland, Tennessee. VisitationwillbeatFirst Presbyterian Church on June 12, 2026, from 10am to 11am followedbya religious service in theDunham Chapel at 11am conducted by Pastor Scott Graham. Aprivateinterment willbeatGreenoaks Mausoleum. Pallbearers areDenton Abernethy TateParker, Tommy Pittenger,Tommy Lafargue and Pemble Davis.HonoraryPallbearers are Larry Smith, Mike Cullen, Dr. Richard Hebert,Dr. Richard Atkins and Charles Calandro The family extendstheir deepest thanks to Emer Turner and thestaff of Quality Care fortheir loving care.

Memorial donations may be madetoThe First Presbyterian Church, 763 NorthBoulevard, Baton Rouge, LA 70802; The PresbyterianChildren's Home and Services, 4407 Bee CaveRoad, Suite 250, Austin, TX 78746, Greater Baton Route Food Bank, 10600 Choctaw Dr. Baton Rouge, LA 70815 or Pinnacle Hospice, 5627 S. SherwoodForestBlvd. Baton Rouge, LA 70816.

Miriam Joy Stelly Charlet,81, "Sue", aformer ownerofCharlet Funeral Home,Inc., anativeof Zachary, LA and longtime resident of Clinton, LA died on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. There will be avisitationat Charlet FuneralHome, Inc. in Zachary, LA on Sunday, June 7, 2026 from 3:00 pm until 7:00 pm. Visitation willcontinue on Monday, June 8, 2026 at Our Ladyof theAssumption Catholic Church in Clinton from9:00 am until Mass of Christian Burial at 12:00 noonwith a recitation of theRosary at 8:30 am. Funeral mass will be conductedbyFr. Lamar Partin and burial will be besideher husband GeorgeCharlet Jr. at MasonicCemetery in Clinton. She is survivedbytwo daughters: NicoleJolie Charlet Wilcher; Miriam Joy Charlet Morgan and husband Tommy Morgan; twosons: GeorgeJoseph Charlet IIIand wife Gina Garretti Charlet; Christopher Jordan Charlet and wife Aimee Mouch Charlet; sisterOliviaBurns; sisterin-law Patty Dart and husband BillDart;sister-in-law Linda Ulbrich; brother-inlawDonald"Pete"Charlet and wife ConnieCharlet; eight grandchildren: GraysonWilcher, Kennedy Wilcher, LaurenWeslee Wilcher, JudeCharlet,Colin Charlet,Georgia Kate Charlet,Magnolia May Charlet,and MiloCharlet She is also survivedbyher friend and companion John Anderson. She was preceded in death by her husband of 43 years, GeorgeJ Charlet Jr.; parents Gordon and DotStelly; brother Vic Stelly and sister-in-law TerryStelly; brother-in-law RonUlbrich; brother-in-law Jackie Burns, niece Kelly Burns, and in-lawsGeorge Charlet Sr."Buddy", and BettyJoLedoux Charlet Pallbearers willbeDon Charlet,Brent Charlet, William Dart, David Dart JudeCharlet,Colin Charlet, Kennedy Wilcher,and Milo Charlet.Honorary pallbearer will be legendary band directorLawrence Jackson. Share sympathies,memories,and condolences at www.CharletFuneralHome. com.

Frank JosephFalcon, 67, of Brusly, LA,passed away on Sunday, May 31, 2026. He was born on March 4, 1959, in Paincourtville,LA to Maudry and Charles Falcon, Sr. Frank retired as an operator fromAxiallCorporation. He is survived by his children, Leann Evans (Jason), Ashley Hebert,Briana Bazile(Cody), and Chad Robertson (Anna); grandchildren, Tyler Evans (Katherine), Landon Evans (Mia), Jason Evans,Jr. (Emily), AllieHebert (Matthew),BrileyAguillard,Mariaand Jayde Bazile,Bailey, Cadence and Chance Robertson; great grandchildren, Renley, Beckham and Beau Evans; brothers, Charles Falcon, Jr. (Sandra), Leland Falcon (Laurie), and ChaseFalcon (Raymona); and second mother, BrendaFalcon. Preceded in death by his father, Charles Falcon, Sr.; mother, Maudry Campbell; granddaughter,Abigail Robertson;and grandparents, Eddie and MaudeRodrigue.Relatives and friends are invited to join thefamily forvisitation at Wilbert Funeral Home, 24120 Railroad Ave Plaquemine, LA 70764, on Friday, June 12, 2026, from 10am until Rite of Christian Burial at 1pm, conducted by DeaconBob McDonner. Please sharememories online at www.wilbertservices.com.

It is with greatsadness that we announce the passing of Barry Galloway, belovedfather, grandfather,brother, and friend. A true Renaissance man, Barry was source of creativestrengthand energy forall who knew him. Always quick with ajoke or a nugget of wisdom, Barry brought greatjoy into the livesofhis family and friends. Hismischievous smirk and bright eyes will be missed by allwho loved him. He is preceded in death by his wife of over40 years, Teri GremillionGalloway (6/3/1957-10/19/ 2022) and his parents, John CGalloway and GloriaOry Galloway. He is survived by his children, Amber Townsend,Carlie Galloway, and Hayden"Bo Galloway, as well as multiplegrandchildren,great grandchildren, siblings, nieces and nephews. Acelebration of life will be plannedlater this year in honorofhis life and legacy. Should youwish to honorBarry in any way, please donatetoLouisiana PublicBroadcasting (LPB) to ensurethe programming he lovedcan be enjoyed by allfor years to come.

Gloria 'Chris'

Chris Graham, nee GloriaChristine Johnson was born on June 14, 1948 in Syracuse, NY and died peacefully on June 4. Chris with her family moved to Ormond Beach, FL in 1963, and attended Seabreeze HighSchool and University of Central Florida. With an immense love forchildren, she beganteaching preschool whenshe moved to Baton Rougein 1978, teaching at St. Luke's Episcopal School, Christian Life Academy and University Methodistpreschool. Having moved with her family to Sugarland,TX, Birmingham, AL and Lutherville, MD, Chris returnedtoBaton Rougein 2007. She is survived by daughter JenniferParrenin

(Nolan),Slaughter,LA, John RobinGraham (Naomi Dubin),Madison WI,granddaughterAmeliaParrenin, Slaughter,LA., sister Sally Minyard(Joey), Apache Junction,AZ, and former husband RobinGraham (William J. McLennan), Baltimore,MD. Sheispredeceased by herparents, Russell and Gloria Johnson. Thefamilywould like to thank The Hospice of Baton Rouge and theButterfly Wing for an overwhelmingqualityofcare. It is requestedthatflowers be omitted. Memorials may be made in hermemory to TheHospice of Baton Rouge,3600 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge,LA70806. A CelebrationofLife,led by KeithMorris will be held Sunday, June 7atRabenhorstFuneral Home of Government St;the family will receivefriends at 2pm with theCelebrationat4 pm.

Hamilton,Martha Moody 'Patsy' Martha"Patsy" Moody Hamilton"MeMe"passed away, surrounded by family, on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, at theage of 78. She wasa native of Columbus, GA, andwas aresident of Baton Rouge,LA. Patsy is survived by herchildren, WendyBryan, Louie Roth (Michelle), Tiffany Degg, Patricia Hamilton, and Marcie Hamilton (Rodney Holliday);grandchildren, Colby Bryan (Nicole),Lexie, Lance andLanden Roth Jessica Degg, Trey Hood, Bridgette Hood (Ivan Zeko), Trenton (Korah), Trevor,Braiyden,and BrennanWhitaker;great-grandchildren, Scarlett, Collin Baut, Onyx, Christian, Luka, andMyles;brothers, Richard Moody (Liz), and FranklinMoody; extended daughter, ReneeWalker; extendedgrandchildren, Raven andCoyan;exsonin-law,Todd Whitaker;extended great-grandchild, Ryver;and numerous nieces and nephews. Patsy is preceded in death by her parents; husbands, James Hamilton andLouie Roth; andgranddaughter, Sophia Lanne' Boniol. Agraveside service will be at Greenoaks Memorial Park, 9595 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge,LA, on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, at 2pm. Everyoneistomeetinside the funeral home at 1:45pm to be ledout in procession

Revelation21:4 "And God shall wipe away all tears from theireyes; and thereshall be no more death,neithersorrow, nor crying,neithershall there be anymorepain: for the former things are passed away."

Alesha Dawn Henderson of Livingston, Louisiana, passed peacefullyinher sleep at herhomeonJune 1, 2026 at the age of 52. Alesha was born on November 1, 1973, to Dale andSue Henderson. Alesha wasbornwith many special needs, and herparents consideredittheir privilege to care for her. Even from ayoung age, Alesha didnot allow herdisabilities to hinder her. Shewas abletotravelthe world andenjoy herfavorite things,fromlisteningto theInspirations Quartet in theSmoky Mountainsto Disney Worldtosee herfavorite Mickey Mouse. She also attendedrodeos, fairs, church camp meetings, Henderson family auctions, and many birthday parties. Shespent many hourslisteningand singing alongwith herfavorite gospelmusic, Disneytunes, and nursery rhymes. Sheloved teasing those around herand gave special nicknamesfor all of herfriends andfamily. Sheloved watching Bob Barker on thePrice is Right everymorning withher breakfast,along with Sesame Street, Winnie the Pooh,and Mickey Mouse. Although she wasa woman of few words, she touchedmany hearts throughout herjoyfullife. Alesha taught all those whoknewher lessons in patience, humility, gratitude,and most of all the sanctity of all lives Though ourheartsache at herabsence,her spirit seems to remindusthat this is notforever butonly TTFN "Ta Ta For Now." Alesha is survivedby herbrothersand sister-in-

law,Lloyd Henderson and Delmondand Ashley Wright Henderson. She lovedspendingtimewith all of hernieces and nephews: Demi Henderson Bush and husband Brennan, Joseph L. Henderson and wife Lauren, Samuel Henderson, Lucy Henderson, Bonnie Henderson, Case Henderson, Hudson Henderson, Glynleigh Sue Henderson, and Wyatt Henderson. Sheisalso survivedbyher great niece, Magnolia Bush,and great aunt Daisy Smith. Alesha wasalso lovedand survivedbyher uncles and aunts, Wayneand Carolyn Henderson, Sonnyand Debbie Hood, Patsy Ouber, andMildred Henderson. Sheisalso survivedby17 first cousins andnumerous otherfamilyand friends. Alesha is preceededin death by herparents Dale andSue Hood Henderson; grandparents Joseph Lawrence(J. L.) andGladys Willie Henderson; and Norrisand Beatrice Hood; uncles andaunts, Alex Ouber, ClydeHenderson, Marvin andAudreyHenderson, and Valery andLaverne Henderson Watts.

Thefamilywishesto thank all those whocared for Alesha in herlifetime including butnot limited to Mary Ethel (Nanny), Norvella, Juanita, Sandy, Linda, Kulnisha, Rochelle andWendy.

Servicesfor Alesha Dawn Hendersonwillbe held Monday, June 8, 2026 at Fundamental Baptist Church,Livingston, Louisiana. Visitation will begin at 11:00 am withthe funeral starting at 1:00 pm, conductedbycousins Bro. Arvin Harrell andBro Jonathan Watts. Pallbearerswill be PaulOuber Brent Ouber, Rusty Hood, Phillip Watts, Ryland Watts, Joseph Henderson, and Samuel Henderson. Honorary pallbearers will be WayneHenderson, Sonny Hood, andBro.Paul Taylor.Music will be provided by hercousins Jeremy Henderson and Tammy Watts Hardy.Alesha will be buriedbetween herparents at Oak View Baptist Church followingthe funeral.

Henry, Lynda Shaver

Lynda ShaverHenry, 84, passedawayin Tuscaloosa, Alabama on June 1, 2026. Shewas daughtertothe latePaul Ogden Shaver and Anna LoreneStephensShaver. Shewas agraduate of Bowling Green High School andattendedWestern Kentucky University. She moved to Baton Rouge, whereshe raisedher family. Herlast twoyearswere spent with herdaughterin Tuscaloosa, Alabama whereshe proudlywore herpurpleand gold among theBama community. Sheispreceded in death by herparents; herhusband, ArthurLeonard Henry; herdaughter, Vicky Carol Gardner; herson Stephen PaulHenry; her sister,ArleenShaver Stone. Sheissurvivedbyher daughter, Tracy Gardner Singleton(Bob) and her son, Bryan Edward Gardner (Maria); hergrandchildren Trey Singleton, Gregory Singleton, Megan Averitt, Victoria Troxler,John Robert Gardner, Brynn Henryand fivegreat grandchildren; hersiblings, Paula Oliver (KY), Judy Wilhoyte (GA), Laura Beville(KY); herbrother KeithShaver(TX); and her beloveddog companion, Cricket. At herrequest,the family will celebrate Lynda's life in aprivate ceremony.

Laiche, Anicet 'Dooney' Anicet ("Dooney") LaicheJr. (73) passedaway on Thursday, June 4, 2026. Born January20, 1953 in Baton Rouge,LA, Dooney was aresident of Gonzales, LA, spending most of hislifeasa pipelineoperator. He enjoyed cooking. His sauce picante he cooked on NYEwas oneofhis most lovedmeals. Along with hiswife,hehostedan annual jambalaya festival everysummerintheir backyard. Each NYE, they hosted aparty andbonfire. In 2003, he purchaseda motorcycle, and he and Sherryenjoyedriding20 years. They made lots of great memories andgreat friends. Mr.Laiche Jr.issurvived by hiswife of 51 years, Sherry DuplessisLaiche; daughter, Adrian E. Laiche; sons, CourtneyA.Laiche

Falcon,FrankJoseph

Charlet,Miriam Joy Stelly 'Sue'

Galloway, Barry

Henderson, Alesha Dawn

Graham,

and Tyler D. Laiche (Ashly); sisters, Gayle Fontenot, Geraldine Painter and Sheila Wittie(Louis); and grandchildren, Emily Parker, Caroline Parker, Andrew Laiche, and Audrey Laiche. He is preceded in death by his mother, Estelle Laiche; father, Anicet Laiche Sr.; brothers,Roderick Laiche, Manuel Laiche (infant) and John Neil Laiche Services are being held at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. Service date &times are pending.

Alfred Ory Persick, Sr. of Grosse Tete, Louisiana, passed away peacefully on June 3, 2026, at the age of 98. He was born on June 20, 1927, in Baton Rouge.A proud veteran of the United States Navy, Ory served his country from 1945 to 1946, after which he enjoyed along, fulfilling career with Superior Oil Company. Ory began as a roustabout and eventually retired as amanager over numerous oil fields scattered across south Louisiana and Mississippi. An avid hunter, fisherman, and gardener, he devoted his life to his family and was known for his strong work ethic, quiet strength, and deep appreciation for the outdoors. Ory was the son of the late Alfred Persick and Corinne Bayham andthe stepson of Edmund Nereaux. Ory is survived by his beloved wife of seventy-five years, Mattie Lee Matirne Persick; children, Ralph Persick (Teresa), Alfred Ory Persick, Jr. (Debra), Mike Persick (Kathy), Darianne Braud (Danny), and Bryant Persick (Sue); grandchildren, Blake Persick, Jared Persick (Rebekah), Lauren Persick Jeffreys (Kyle) David Ory Persick (Mandy), Ryan Persick, Megan Duplechain (Cody), and Katy Roucher (Austin); and ten great-grandsons, three of whom carry on the name "Ory"; brothers,Sonny and Roger; nephew, Floyd Daigre; niece, Sandra Daigre Andre, long-time friend and dear "adopted" son Phillip "Steele" Faveroth. He was preceded in death by abrother, Virgil "Tab" Persick;and sister, Florence Nereaux Jones. Visitation will be held at St. Joseph CatholicChurch, Grosse Tete, LA, on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, from 9am until Mass of Christian burial at 11am, celebrated by Father Galeji Mulupuri. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. Pallbearers will be

Blake, Jared, DavidOry, and Ryan Persick, Floyd Daigre,Kyle andLeviJeffreys. HonorarypallbearerswillbePhillip"Steele" Faveroth and Derek Matirne. Please share memoriesonline at www.wilbertservices.com

Richard,Toni Accardo

Toni Accardo Richard passed awaypeacefully, surrounded by her family, on Sunday, May31, 2026,at OurLady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge.She was born on February11, 1964,inBatonRouge, Louisiana

ShegraduatedfromSt. George CatholicSchool (1978), St. Joseph's Academy (1982), and received her bachelor's degree in ElementaryEducation from Louisiana State University (1988).

Toni's deeproots in Baton Rouge and herboundless generosity as an educatorfor 37 years defined her.She taught for 20 years at St. George CatholicSchool.The passionshe had to teach young minds continued at OakGrove Primary,Baton Rouge Mid-CityCharter Academy (CharterUSA), withher tenure culminating at AscensionParish Schools.She was currently employedwith St. Jude the ApostleSchool, where she served as their administrative receptionist. Beyond the classroom, Toni broughtjoy and friendship to her communityasa dedicatedmember of the Krewe of Romany family forthe past 23 years. Above all, Toniwas the cornerstone of her family Sheissurvived by her beloved husband of 41 years, Brant Richard; three children, Ryan Richard (April), CoryRichard, and Kelsey Richard(fiancé, Trenton Porche); two treasured grandchildren, Bennett and Kyle; herloving parents, J.F.and Adrienne Accardo; sisters, Tina Knight (Robert) and Charla Wade (David), alongwitha close-knit extended family and many dear friends.

Avisitation willbeheld on Thursday, June 11, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at ResthavenFuneral Home, 11817Jefferson Highway. A Visitationwillcontinue Friday, June 12, 2026,beginningat1:00 pm atSt. George CatholicChurch, 7808 St. George Drive, followed by aMassofChristianBurialat2:00 p.m. Entombment willfollow St George CatholicChurch Mausoleum.

For acomplete obituary,

please visit www.resthave nbatonrouge.com

Rolfs III,EmileChristian Emile Christian Rolfs III, born in Baton Rouge in 1943, passed away peacefully at home on May 24, 2026. AgraduateofBaton Rouge High School,Class of 1961, Emile attended LSU, where he joinedthe Sigma Chi Fraternityand formed lifelong friendships. He laterearnedhis J.D. from thePaulM Hebert Law Center in 1967 and begana distinguished legal career with atwoyear clerkship for U.S. District Judge E. Gordon West, whomhegreatly admired Throughout hiscareer, Emile was frequently appointed by both federal and state courtstoserve as aspecial master in complex litigation, arole he found especially meaningful and rewarding. Deeplydevoted to hiscommunity, Emile served as a vestryman at St. James Episcopal Church and as president of theCityClub of BatonRouge.Healso proudly served on the boards of theLouisiana Museum of Artand MagnoliaMound Plantation. He is survivedbyhis devoted wife of 57 years, Susan Dietrich Rolfs; his three daughters, who were his greatest prideand joy: Susannah Rolfs Elliott and husband Jeff of Charleston, South Carolina;Charlotte ElizabethRolfs of NewOrleans; and Ainsley Rolfs Grigsby and husband Todd of BatonRouge.Heisalso survivedbyhis beloved grandchildren, William Lane Grigsby,Crawford Emile Grigsby,Oliver Steele Grigsby,Samuel JohnsonElliott,and Susan ClaireElliott;his brother James Rolfs and wife Mary; hissister, KayRolfs White; threenephews; one niece; and his sister-in-law, Kristine Dietrich Keating. An avid reader witha deep appreciationfor music and intellectual inquiry,Emile pursuedknowledge throughout his life.Heespecially cherished time spent withhis grandchildren,who found comfort and ease in his presence.A true Southern gentleman, he carried himself with steadfast integrity, quiet grace, and adistinctive, thoughtful style. Avisitation willbeheldonMonday, June 8, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. at St. James Episcopal Church, followedbya funeral service at 1:00 p.m. The family extendsspecial thankstoHospice of Baton Rouge for itscompassionatecare. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be madetothe Sigma Chi Scholarship through theLSU Foundation or to St.James Episcopal Church.

Rountree, Kellie Kellie Rountreepassed away peacefully on Sunday, May 31, 2026, at Our Ladyofthe Lake at theage of 66. She retiredfrom the marketing industry; was a resident of Port Allen, LA and anativeofCalifornia.

Acelebration of Kellie's life will be held at alaterdate. Kellie is survived by her children, Cyrus and Tyler Farajpour; one grandchild; siblings, Audra Psutka and Robin Rountree; numerous nieces and nephews. Preceded in death by her parents, JamesRountreeand Diane McCormack; and sister, Lynnette Nordberg Kellie wasatalented artist and seamstress. She volunteered many hours at theWestBaton RougeMuseum and didseveral art and cooking classes in her home. Kellie was also involved with Twisted Sisters and Brusly SeniorQuilters. Please sharememories online at www.wilbertservices.com.

John Louis Sibley, "Taterhead," 63, passed away peacefully on Thursday, June 4, 2026, at his home in Walker, Louisiana, after acourageous battle with cancer. He is survived by his sister, Myra Thomas and her husband, Bart; nephews Lane, Garrett, and Kade Thomas, Andy Hughes, and LeeSibley; niece KelliSibley; and dear friend, AngelaWhiddon.He is preceded in death by his wife, Dierdra Sibley; son, WyattSibley; parents, Clifford and Nellie Sibley; and brother, Ricky Sibley. John spent many years of his early life playing fast-pitch softball and laterenjoyed spending time at thefishing camp.Hewas an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed turkey hunting and spending time in nature. He was also aproud member of Millwright Local720. Relativesand friendsare invited to attend visitation at VictoryBaptist Church, 31449 N. CorbinRd, in Walker, LA,Monday, June 8, 2026 from9:30 AM until funeral services beginat 2:00 PM.Burial willfollow in Sibley Family Cemetery. Arrangementshavebeen entrusted to McLin Funeral Home.Online condolences may be shared at www.mcl infuneralhome com

membered for his independent spirit,generousheart, andunwaveringwillingness to help others. May he rest peacefully beneath theopenskies andamong thewoods he cherished so dearly. Funeral servicesfor Troy will be celebrated by Fr. Jason Palermo Tuesday, June 9, 2026 at St.Alphonsus Catholic Church,14040 GreenwellSprings Road Visitation willbefrom9:30 untilthe mass begins at 11:00 am. Aprivate burial will be held at alater time

CatherineDeBenedetto

Spitalepassed

Troy K. Simoneaux,affectionately known to many as "Tree-House Troy", "Troy Boy",or "Tarzan" passedawayon May27, 2026, duetonatural causes, at theage of 61. Born on June 29, 1964, Troy lived life on hisown terms, embracingadventure,independence,and adeep connection to nature. A hardworkingand dependableman,hespent much of hiscareer in construction,including HVAC and insulation. Whether helpingbuild bulkheads in Bayou Sorrellorworkingon houses all theway in Egan, Troy always showed up ready to work.Hetook pride in ajob well done andwas known for hiswillingness to lend ahand whenever someone needed help.Troywas happiest outdoors.Heloved living off thegridand spent as much time in thewoods as possible,finding peace, purpose,and freedom among the trees. Nature washis sanctuary, andhis adventurousspirit ledhim down countless trails and into countless stories.To hisnieces and nephews, Troy wasn't just an uncle, he wasa "FUNcle"— the kind of unclethat brings you on thrill- seeking adventures. The unclewith unbelievablestories.The unclewho wasnevertoo old to sit at thekids table Thesetraditionscontinued with hisgreat nieces and nephewsaswell,with the additionof"treasures" whichrangedfromleather jackets, to sling shots,to survival gear.Above all, Troy hada bigheart. He careddeeply forhis family, friends, and anyone fortunate enough to cross his path. Hisgenerosity, loyalty, andwillingness to help others left alastingimpression on all whoknew him. Troy is survived by his siblings, ShivonneWren (Tommy), Donnie Simoneaux, Jeannine Cockerham (Tony), Marc Simoneaux(Marianne), Kyle Simoneaux (Becky); his "rideordies," Rusty Devall andKendra Grant. He is also survived by his nieces andnephews: Anna, John, Mallory, Jennifer,Angelle, Lyle, Madeleine,Brennan, Alyssa, his godchild, Rachel, andMissy; as well as 18 great-nieces and great-nephews wholoved himdearly andlookedforward to everystory, adventure, andtreasure he shared with them.Troy waspreceded in death by hisparents, Donald LSimoneaux, Sr.and Barbara Berthelot Simoneaux; as well as hisdear friend CassieBrashier. Though he will be deeply missed, Troy's legacywill live on in thestories told,the adventuresheinspired, andthe love he gave. He willbereb d f hi i d

Simoneaux, TroyK.

Spitale, Catherine DeBenedetto

away on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, at the age of 93. Visitation will be at Greenoaks Funeral Home, 9595 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge,LA, on Monday, June 8, 2026, from 9am untilthe

Persick, Alfred Ory

Sibley, John Louis

OPINION

OUR VIEWS

Legislature recognizes limitsofits power

If the close of the 2026 Legislative sessionoffered one lesson, it’sthis: Even with aRepublican supermajority in aruby red state,legislative andexecutive power has itslimits. Watching Gov.Jeff Landry and lawmakers tangleatthe statehouse this year felt very different from those early,heady days of his administration when they pushed through sweepingchangesto elections, criminal justice andtaxation

This session, lawmakersappearedprimed to tackle the nuts and bolts of governancewith little flash and perhaps moresubstance.(Of course, the Legislature’s swift passage of newcongressional maps afterthe Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais was ahead-turner,but one that deserves lengthier considerationata laterdate.)

There were some ambitiousideas floatedat the start —abolishing the Board of Regents and abolishing the DepartmentofChildrenand Family Services —but those seemed towitheronthe vine as lawmakers grappled withthe realities of the Louisiana budget. They also sawtheir plan to fund teacher raises through constitutional amendment roundly rejected byvoters fora second time. Still, there were accomplishmentstobeproud of.The budget gave priority topaying down debt and puts dollars toward much needed upgrades to our juvenile prison system. Lawmakers also gave more money to foster care and home care for developmentally disabled people.Wewere also pleased to see they bolstered the successful fortified roof program that promises to help lower insurance rates. But lawmakers declined to get behind more funding for Landry’s signature LA GATORprogram that gives taxpayer money to parents who optout of publicschools. And they did notinclude money for teacher stipends, though the governor now is promoting aplan to payfor them, which some school leaders say would make their budgetsevenmore precarious. Onething is certain: It’s past time to make teachers’ raises permanent, instead of aconstant political football. We also can’thelp being alarmed by agrowing trend toward less transparency ingovernment. Watchdog groups like PARpoint to the $180millioninearmarks for local pet projects decided behind closed doors. These actionserode trust in government. So do votes toshield thedetails howpublicuniversitiesspend public money on athleticsand to shield the records of applicants for certain top universityjobs. That’s to say nothingofthe meddling inNew Orleanscourts with no say from its citizens that went so far as to undo an election. And that brings us back to where we started. Perhaps we see politiciansreachingthe limits of their power becausethey are notseeking the people’sinput.Wesee no shared visionfor the future of our state and little grassroots campaigning for specific policy priorities. Perhaps if lawmakers want to buildsupport forsweeping change next session,they need to startplanting the seeds now.

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE

HERE AREOUR

GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence

TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com. TO SEND US A LETTER SCANHERE

Pope LeoXIV delivers moralclarity

“The greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion.”

Mother Teresa famously said this while standing on adais with President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton in aNational Prayer Breakfast Speech in Washington, D.C., in February1994. It was big news at the time. Ayear into the reign of PopeLeo XIV,the first pope born in theUnited States —South Side Chicago, to be exact —it isn’tnews that Leo cited Mother Teresa’squote.

yards from her while Iwas astudent at theCatholic University of America, at aMass at theBasilica of the Shrine of theImmaculate Conception, adjacent to thecampus, where new Missionaries of Charity,the religious community she founded were making their vows.

Speaking to young people participating in a“Political Innovation Hackathon,” Leo said: “No policy can genuinely serve the people if it denies the unborn thegift of life, or if it neglects to support those in need, whether in their material circumstances or in their spiritual distress.”

“Her words remain prophetic,”Leo said about the fearless, mighty, tiny nun who captured the attention of theworld. Her merepresence would challenge us —Iremember being just

“The greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is awar against thechild, adirect killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself,”Mother Tsaid bluntly in her Nobel acceptance speech. Ihave an unspoken rule that if you’re going to talk to me about something evil like pornography,Idonot want graphic details. Don’tput an image in my head that might not have entered in another way.Idonot have thesame rule when it comes to abortion. Mother Teresa’s words need to be heard by citizen and politician alike, so that public figures will realize that awell-informed conscience is abeautiful thing to have and aterrible thingtowaste.

Athrowback to clarity on moral issues is not aradical departure from PopeLeo’spredecessor,Pope Francis. “Leo does follow Francis when it comes to speaking out on immigration, the environment, poverty and capital punishment,” according to one CNNanalysis. The media longs forafight between Trump andthe pope. They did it with Pope Francis —putting him on the cover of Rolling Stone only to warn him to notdisappoint their desires for him. But if youthought Francis was changing the Church to endorse the whims of conventional society and Western liberalideologies —especially sexualrevolutionary ones —you were mistaken. He likened abortion to hiring ahit mantokill your unborn baby andtalkedabout gender ideology as the equivalent of anuclear bomb destroying the nuclear family.HecanonizedJohnPaulII, calling him “the pope of the family.” Pope Leo has ajoy and steadiness about his Catholicism.Itseems to come naturally to him.For all the headlines, he really wants you to take away one thing: the love and mercy of GodinJesus Christ.

Email Kathryn Jean Lopez at klopez @nationalreview.com.

Journalism has been famously called “the first rough draft of history,” and working in theOpinion section, that takes on new meaning for me. Iamvery aware that theworries and concerns of readers today will look very different 100 years hence. It’s hard not to wonder what future generations will make of our fears of artificial intelligence or our debates over climate change. It’s likely they will face new problemsthat we can’teven imagine. That’swhy newspaper archives offer afascinating trove of information for readers curious about the past. You can find our archives at theadvocate. newsbank.com and nola.newsbank.com It does require asubscription to search thearchives, but somelibraries offer access to their patrons. Thanks to our long history in Louisi-

ana, the newspapers’ archives go back decades. Recently,asthe Supreme Court was deliberating Louisiana v. Callais, Iwas able to look at what was written about the Voting Rights Act when it passed in 1965. Needless to say, thesignificance of the law’s provisions becamemore apparent over time. Sometimes readers write in to seeif we can locate an article abouta family member from longago. Newspapers used to have librarians who were whizzes at locatingold clippings in what used to be called a“morgue,” usually somewhere in the basement with stacksoffile cabinets containing yellowed papers. Butnow,ofcourse, everything is online, so Isendthemto our archives. Searching thearchives is relatively easy,but it can take afew tricks to find theright keywords to get to what you want.And you can download pages from thesite for afee. Or you can browse to your heart’sdelight.

The archives are especially useful to researchers and historians, but they are just afun read foranyone whois interested in the past. If you haven’t checked out our archives, Iencourage you to do so. As July 4approaches and we are celebrating the 250th anniversary of our country,wehave asked you to reflect on aquestion: What are the quintessential texts of American history? We know the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are on there. But what other documents would you recommendfor an understanding of what this country is?

Send your ideas to letters@ theadvocate.com.Wewill publish aselection of the best letters from readers later in the year

Idon’thave acount of the letters we received foryou this week, but we will catch up next weekand let you know what your fellow readers are mostconcerned about —atleast fornow

Kathryn Jean

Arnessa Garrett

COMMENTARY

La.AGbrought home wins at legislativesession

petitions should be allowed, but not repeatedly and not forever.AsMurrill’sstatement explains, the new requirement protects “victims’ interest in finality of criminalconvictions.”

When state Attorney General Liz Murrill leaves aside her hardball political power plays, she can notch common-sense wins that benefit everybody Granted, Murrill does seemtorevel in extravagant assertions of authority.Witness her threat to remove from office(or even imprison) NewOrleans officialsmerely for acting on adifferent interpretationof aconfusing new law regarding court clerks. Witness how she risked disruption of health care for 330,000 Medicaid recipients while pressing alargely unrelated case against ahealth care provider Still, this column comes not to bury Murrill but to praise her When the Louisiana legislative session ended on June 1, Murrill issued anews release boasting about the finalpassage of 24 billsshe hadhelped originate. And, with one exception (not worth deep discussionhere), it looks at first glance to be an impressive, well-considered list indeed. Almost all the bills focused on key nuts and bolts ofcriminal justice, not on partisanorhighly ideological crusades.

The first one listed in the release,for example, Act 285 by Rep. Debbie Villio, prohibits post-conviction bail for offenders convicted of an aggravated offense, such as rape or kidnapping, against aminorvictim. It boggles the mind that acourt would even consider bail in such asituation, so the Legislature is right to take that option away

Another good one, Act 120 by Rep. Jeff Wiley,passed as aresponse to the April 23 Mall of Louisiana shooting, “expands the definition of first-degreemurdertoinclude shootings and gang violence in public venues.” Not directly related but also important, the new law “createsthe crime of

second-degree crueltytothe elderly and persons withinfirmities,” akin to theprotections already afforded children. It recognizes that justlike children, people with “intellectual disabilities, in mental health facilities, and nursing homes” can be less ableto defend themselvesthan most adults. Othersuccessful bills providing more protectionfor children include Act211 by Sen. Heather Cloud and SenateBill 42 by Sen. RickEdmonds, bothofwhich penalize the use of new technology to portray child sexual abuse. For the cause of supporting youngsters, House Bill 1224 helps ensure that the Louisiana Department of Children andFamily Services can readily support pregnantminors, including child victims of first-degreerape.

In awonderful example of crossing the ideological divide, theconservative Murrill supported progressive stateRep. Mandie Landry’sAct 538 to “givecrime victims the opportunitytobeheardbefore vacating a final conviction or reducing an offender’s sentencethrough resentencing.” Surely everyone has heardofinstancesinwhich victims or their families were noteven told, much less consulted, about the release of the criminals,even violent ones, who preyed on them. Well, no longer.Good! Amoretechnical one supporting victims’ interestsisAct 104 by Speaker Pro TemMike Johnson, putting atime limit on “habeas corpus”petitioners (contesting imprisonment)sothey can’tfile endless post-conviction motions.Ofcourse such

Some of the bills depart from traditional criminal-justice issues, on subjects ranging from collegiate name-image-likeness regulations to workers’ compensation to protection for at-risk home renters to interest-rate limits in personal-injury cases.

Goodfor Murrill. It is not the main part of an attorney general’sjob, but still an important one, to work with the Legislature to improve the laws she will be expected to enforce. And while of course governing philosophy plays arole here, most of these bills seemed more in the old-style mode of careful, consensus-driven policy changes. There was atime when those sorts of things, along with the main job of job of overseeing investigations and prosecutions —not heavily ideological agendas or assertions of political might —were all thatwas expected from an attorney general. Even those of us on the same (conservative) side of the political spectrum as Murrill should recognize that aneutral, evenhandedapproach is crucial for public confidence in law enforcement.

For those old enough to remember,agreat model of that approach was the moderate Democrat William “Billy” Guste, who was elected arecord five times (1972-92) as a low-key but honest, dutiful and generally effective chief legal officer of the state. Surely there should be ahappy medium between Guste’sstyle and the headline-grabbing methods oft employed by Murrill. Either way,Murrill’ssuccessful legislative package this year is well worthy of a favorable verdict.

EmailQuin Hillyer at quin.hillyer @theadvocate.com

Landry couldhavedoneright by OrleansParishjudges

After blasting Orleans Parish judges for not being good, for not doing enough work and becausethere are too manyjudges in New Orleans, Gov.Jeff Landry had a choice: Sign abill that would do whathe promised he would do, or do theright thing by vetoing the bill.

The guv said clearlyand directly in Marchthat he would push for the “rightsizing” of the courtsinNew Orleans when he spoke during the Louisiana Legislature’sopening session in March. He rallied Republicans legislators to the cause, identifying state Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, as the one who would carry the legislation to make it happen.

As originally proposed,Senate Bill 217 would’ve cut the number of civil court judges, cut the number of criminal court judges, cut the number of municipal and traffic courtjudgesand cut thenumberof juvenile court judges. New Orleans legislatorsweren’tconsulted in advance, and they were angry

As the bill moved throughthe legislative process, changes weremade, as recently as Monday.The bill that passed thestate House and the state Senate would cutno

civil court judges; cut the number of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court judges from 12 to nine; cut the number of municipaland traffic court judges from seven to five; and cut thenumber of juvenile court judges from four to two. The number of juvenile court judges would be reduced over time as one judge then another leaves thebench through attrition. The municipal andtraffic court judges would be go away as two judgeship terms expire at theend of the year

Thecriminal court judge cut would happen asofDec. 31, meaningthree court sections would be eliminated. Just afew days ago, the three eliminated judges were to be newly-elected Judge John Fuller and judgesLeon Roché and Simone Levine. Butsomething happened Monday.Fuller andLevine would be cut. Butinstead of Rochébeing cut, Judge Rhonda GoodeDouglas would be cut.Morris said the switch-a-roo happened after conversations with thegovernor’soffice and theNew Orleans delegation. That didn’tsit well with Landry. “Nobody called and asked me. If they would have, Iwould’ve told them that’sridiculous,” Landry said Monday “They’re taking the best judge off the bench.”

Goode-Douglas was stunned.

On WBOK Wednesday morning, she told me that she doesn’tintend toretire or step aside, and she still will run fora new term as criminal court judge, her seat if the bill doesn’tbecome law and someone else’s seat if it does. Who told her whythis has happened? “No one can tell me,” she said. “Tohave to now pit myself against somebody I’ve worked withthe last six years is really not anything Ilook forward to having to do.”

Goode-Douglas was aprosecutor in New Orleansfor 12 years, including timeunder former OrleansParishDistrict Attorneys Eddie Jordan and Leon Cannizzaro, before her time as adefense attorney,then her elevation to judge. She has more seniority than nearly all of the judges. Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill haven’tbeen friendly to OrleansDistrict Attorney Jason Williams lately.The governorwent after OrleansParishCriminal Clerk-elect Calvin Duncan, denying him aposition he wonby election, and voters statewide rejected all five constitutional amendments on the May ballot.Could it be theCannizzaro-LandryMurrill connection?

It seems this has been about GoodeDouglas and Roché, one or the other. But it’s really about whether it wasright to go after any New Orleans judges without a

thorough reviewand consideration of the financialimpact. Cut threejudges, by any name,and watchthe intake at the Orleans Parish jail quickly rise, costing more money.Cut threecriminal court judges, by anyname, andwatch docket numbers increaseand justiceslow.Cut threecriminalcourt judges, by anyname, and watch defense attorneys sue to pursue speedy trials andcomplaints fromBaton Rouge thatthe remaining judges aren’tdoing their job.

Once Landry receives the bill, he has up to 20 days to veto the bill, sign the bill or let it becomelaw without his signature. Early Wednesday afternoon, the guv said on social media that he will sign the bill. “Of course I’mgoing to sign Senate Bill 217 into law!” he wrote. He blamed the situation on “Democrat gamesmanship.” Morris might’ve been disappointed, hurt or even embarrassed if the governor didn’t sign the bill. But Landry had achance to veto it, let the courts stand as they are and pick this matter up later —ifhewere truly focused on having the right number versus the wrong person.

Email Will Sutton at wsutton@ theadvocate.com. Findhim on Instagram at @editorwillsutton.

Bill revealsthatCongresshas an animal crueltyproblem

When you think about the2026 farm bill —but of course you do! —you’d be forgiven if root canals suddenly seemed alluring. The bill is amassive package of federal legislation that includes regulations for everything from rural health and nutrition to multinational farming practices. It is the latest iteration of a bill signed into law in 2018. The legislation expired in 2023 and has been slogging through Congress with annual extensions. The current version lasts until Sept. 30. It’sunlikely anyone has read the nearly 1,000-page tome, outside of animal welfare activists and special-interest groups, namely owners of large pig factories. The bill passed the House in April and is expected to be unveiled in theSenateearly this month.

That case went to theSupreme Court, which ruled in California’sfavor and memorably produced Justice Neil M. Gorsuch’smajority opinion in 2023 that “while the Constitutionaddressesmany weightyissues, the type of pork chopsCalifornia merchants may sell is notonthat list.”

pork-producing state. If the Senate committee does cut the provision, Iowa’stwo Republican senators, Chuck Grassleyand Joni Ernst, co-sponsors of the Senate counterpart to the Save Our Bacon Act, could try to re-add it as an amendment. But ultimately, the two chambers will have to reconcile the bills in conference.

Of particular interest to people who value the humane treatment of animals over,say, hot dogs, the bill includes the proposed Save OurBacon Act, which is designedtooverride state animal welfare requirements and potentially ahost of otherstate and local regulations.

The act aims to reverseCalifornia’s Proposition 12 and Massachusetts’sQuestion 3, whichvoterspassedin2018 and

2016,respectively,toprohibit thesale of food products derived from livestock raised in extremeconfinement —that is, without enough space for animals to turn around and stretch their limbs. This hardly seems an unreasonable request for amodern, enlightened society. Besides, amajorityof residents in those two states,among several others, want it thatway Whatever happened tothe Republican love affairwith states’rights? Iguess it all depends on whosebacon is getting fried. Though it’salmost irresistibly amusing to poke fun withpunny takes, this legislation is serious and mattersbeyond the humane treatmentofanimals intended for slaughter and consumption. (Globally,humans slaughter more than 80 billion land-raised animals annually,and thenumbers are climbing.)

Should the Save Our Bacon Act make the final version of thebill, federal legislators would be undermining states’constitutional rights to self-determination, while potentially strengthening foreign countries such as China.In2013, theChinese company WH Grouppurchased Smithfield Foods, America’slargest pork producer,witha$4billion loan from thestate-owned Bank of China. Smithfield Foods is amember of the NationalPorkProducersCouncil, whichfiled a lawsuit challenging Proposition 12 in 2019.

The Save Our Bacon Act could nullify hundreds of state and local laws affecting livestock production, according to areport fromHarvard LawSchool.This would mean thatscores of farmers who have retrofittedtheir factories tomeethigher standards would have spent their money needlessly.These include, it must be said, Smithfield, even though the company still lobbies against the rules. It also would end legislative progress on animal wellness issues. The Senate Agriculture Committee could issue its version without theSave Our Bacon Act provision, but this largely will be determined by Republican Chair John Boozman (Arkansas) and ranking Democrat AmyKlobuchar (Minnesota). At aNational Association of FarmBroadcasting event in April before the House passed its bill, Boozman indicated thatthe Senate version wouldn’thave the Save Our Bacon Act.

Klobuchar hasn’tcommitted to killing the act,perhaps becauseshe’srunning for governor of Minnesota, the second-largest

Or,ifhistory is our guide, not.

The Senate should reject the act for several logical reasons. A2024 study by NSF, apublic health and safety nonprofit, found that nearly 70% of Americans say that animal wellness is important to their purchasing decisions. Most Americans would instinctively oppose handing over state jurisdictional power to foreign countries, especially China. It is philosophically and economically un-American to punish smalland medium-size farms to fund corporate interests. Finally,scientific evidence shows that stress and improper handling of farm animals before slaughter can lead to lowerquality meat —and taste.

If enough senators join the act’ssupporters in the House to infringe upon the rights of citizens not to participate in animal cruelty,their next act maybetosave their own bacon.

EmailKathleen Parker at kathleenparker@washpost.com.

Quin Hillyer

Will Sutton

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Attorney General Liz Murrill speaks during aMay 18 news conference at the Louisiana Department of Justice in Baton Rouge.

Kathleen Parker

We need to listen to Saban, not mock him

We need to listen to Nick Saban.

More importantly,weneed to figure out away to adopt the Protect College Sports Act, which Sabanendorsed duringhis testimony at acongressional hearingwhere the legislation was introduced Wednesday in Washington, D.C. Yes, the bill hasflaws that need to beaddressed, tweaked and adjusted. But it’sacomprehensiveplan and goes along way toward fixing the mess that modern college sports has become. Wednesday’sthree-hour session featured several distinguished panelists, includingNotre Dame athletic director PeteBevacqua, former Ohio State presidentGordonGee, Pac-12commissionerTeresa Gould and Utah defensive end Lance Holtzclaw,but Saban was clearly the star witness. And, predictably,his testimonywas whatmost critics have seized upon in thewakeofthe session. Speaking as aneutral observer rather than arepresentative of Alabama, the SEC or ESPN, Saban delivered several bluntassessmentsofwhere the sport stands. His comments were vintage Saban:calculating, analytical and full of the same sharp analogies he used to dominatenews conferences during his time as head coach at LSU and Alabama.

Saban is one of the most astute minds andaccomplished coaches in college football history.His opinionisinformed by

By

Former University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban testifies beforeaSenate Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday at Capitol Hill in Washington. Abipartisan bill in the Senate aims to changethe landscape of collegesports.

Aftermissing 2025,‘hungry’WRPolkaimstoprove

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

Duringthe final7-on-7periodoftheir OTA

practice Wednesday afternoon, New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough dropped back, surveyed thefieldand ripped athrow toward theright hash to an open receiver It was notChris Olave, whowas notpresent.

Norwas it first-round pick Jordyn Tyson, who was there butnot participating as the team eases him intoregular on-field work after he injured his hamstring during his final college season. Instead it was theman who hadn’tplayed ball in ayear hauling it in. Ja’Lynn Polk, wearing No. 13, had beaten thecoverage easily and made the play for abig gain. “Itwas just friendly,”said Polk,describingthe throw

Knicks benchnohacks vs.Spurs

BY RAUL DOMINGUEZ

AssociatedPress

SAN ANTONIO New York Knicks center andChalmette graduateMitchell Robinson was neither offended norfrustrated when the San Antonio Spurs began intentionally fouling him in the first quarterof Game 2ofthe NBA Finals on Friday night.

While he did go 3of6onfreethrowsin theopening quarter, theHack-a-Mitch strategy inspired Robinson and the rest of the Knicks.

“It means alot when Iruintheirstrategy,

ä NBA Finals Spurs at Knicks 7:30P.M. MONDAy,ABC

but Imean, it seems like they just want me off the court,” Robinsonsaid. “So,inmy eyes, Ifeel like I’m athreat.”

Washeever Robinson, Landry Shamet and the other NewYork role players came up hugeas the Knicks held on to beatthe San AntonioSpurs 105-104for their13thstraight

fromthe receiver’sperspective.“Seeing the ball in the air,that wasawesome.”

It had been along time coming, too.

Polk represents an interesting project for ateam that has revamped its cast of offensive playmakers in the past nine months. Once ahighly touted prospect coming outofthe University of Washington,Polkstruggled in his2024 rookie season with the New England Patriots, then missed all of last season with ashoulder injury that required surgery New England effectively gave up on Polk, sending him andthe final three years of his inexpensive rookie contract plus afutureseventh-round pick to theSaintsin exchange forasixth-rounder He was one of three young receivers the Saints

Jeff Duncan

AP PHOTO

JOSE LUIS MAGANA

Newyork Knicks center Mitchell Robinson tries to blocka shot against the San AntonioSpurs on Friday in San Antonio.

AP PHOTO By GREGORy SHAMUS

Russian teen wins French Open

Andreeva defeats

Chwalinska for first Grand Slam title

BY ANDREW DAMPF Associated Press

PARIS Bent over with her hands covering her face, her knees getting dirtied on the red clay court, Mirra Andreeva was celebrating processing might be the more appropriate word — how she had finally overcome “so many demons inside” that came with being a teenage tennis phenom.

After bursting onto the scene at 15, Andreeva became a Grand Slam champion at 19 when the Russian ended the run of 114thranked Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the French Open final on Saturday “I’ve done a lot of visualizations before. Not just this tournament, but I’ve had dreams, I’ve had a lot of thoughts on how it’s going to happen, if it’s going to happen, when it’s going to happen, where,” Andreeva said, still hardly breathing as she talked quickly in true teenage style. “The feeling in real life is so much better than in your dreams “I can call myself a Grand Slam champion,” Andreeva said.

The biggest challenges for Andreeva have not been on the court, as she already has one of the best attacking baseline games in the sport. It’s been the mental side. And her stubbornness

“Her attitude is difficult,” said Conchita Martinez, Andreeva’s coach and a former Wimbledon champion. “You tell her something, and maybe she’s not open to listening. When she works hard and when she listens and she does everything, she has no limits.”

Andreeva acknowledged as much during the trophy ceremony

“I know I can be a tough cookie sometimes, and it’s pretty hard to put up with me,” Andreeva said The victory took Andreeva one step further than Martinez, who lost the 2000 French Open final to Mary Pierce.

Pierce presented the winner’s trophy to Andreeva, who became the youngest woman to win the clay-court Grand Slam since Monica Seles was 18 when she claimed her third straight French

Open in 1992.

“You’re so young and talented.

It’s so annoying,” the 24-year-old

Chwalinska told Andreeva.

Andreeva took the unusual step of thanking herself “for believing in myself, always giving my 100%, even when it’s tough, trying every day to be better as a person and as a player, believing that I can do this, fighting so many demons inside of me.

“Only I know how tough it was for me,” Andreeva added. “How nervous I was throughout these two weeks.”

Andreeva also thanked her psychologist, who she said was watching from Florida: “Everything that you’ve told me I’ve been trying to use these two weeks.”

Chwalinska’s depression

Chwalinska was attempting to become the first qualifier to capture the Roland Garros title. She was a promising junior alongside four-time Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek before she began struggling with depression in 2019.

“Tennis is such a tough sport.

It’s so individual. We start so early We are basically kids when we start,” Chwalinska said. “People

are expecting that we are going to behave like adults already and we are just kids really So the pressure is huge.”

Andreeva was born in Siberia and moved to Sochi and eventually France to develop her tennis career

She drew loud applause from the crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier when she spoke a few words of French during the trophy presentation.

“Thanks for your support today and over these past two marvelous weeks here in Paris,” Andreeva said in French. “It was very important for me.”

Breakthrough at 15

Andreeva has been considered a Grand Slam contender since she burst onto the scene as a 15-yearold at the 2023 Madrid Open, where she became the thirdyoungest player to win a maindraw match at a WTA 1000 tournament and made the quarterfinals.

Lately, Andreeva has had to contend with playing under neutral status and without her country’s flag because of the war with Ukraine.

When she beat Marta Kostyuk in the semifinals, Kostyuk refused

to shake her hand, as has been the custom for Ukrainian players facing Russians ever since the war started in 2022.

“Every person doesn’t want to have a war in the world,” Andreeva said. “I never think about those things when I play.”

Mastering the wind

The final was played under a mostly sunny sky, though wind was a factor in the first Grand Slam final for both players.

Chwalinska double-faulted on the opening point of the match, but she was the first player to hold serve in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead.

But then Andreeva won nine straight games to take control as she found a way to hit through the wind and answer Chwalinska’s array of spins and drop shots.

Whereas Chwalinska would retreat to handle high balls in the wind, Andreeva often would move forward and take balls on the rise.

“She definitely handled wind much better than me,” Chwalinska said. “She was not running away from the ball.”

Andreeva produced 25 winners to Chwalinska’s 10 and also had fewer unforced errors: 26 to 29.

Stars fell in tournament full of surprises

BY ANDREW DAMPF Associated Press

PARIS Jannik Sinner and his 30-match winning streak melted away during the opening week’s heat wave. Fellow No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka had just as astonishing a mental meltdown during a quarterfinal defeat in which she described finding herself in a “very deep, deep, dark hole.”

No former major champions reached the men’s and women’s semifinals for the first time at a Grand Slam in 49 years

The French Open that concludes this weekend has been unlike any other major tournament in recent memory

“It’s always exciting when crazy things happen,” said Madison Keys, the 2025 Australian Open champion who reached the fourth round. “As a tennis fan, it’s been fun to watch.”

Here’s a look at some of the more surprising developments that have characterized Roland Garros this year:

Heat wave

With the temperature rising to at least 90 degrees every day of

the first week, players struggled to keep cool.

After Jakub Mensik edged Mariano Navone in a fifth-set tiebreaker in the second round, he cramped up and fell to the clay following match point and required medical attention on the court. He was eventually removed in a wheelchair Mensik bounced back to reach the semifinals, where he lost to Alexander Zverev, who will meet Flavio Cobolli in Sunday’s final.

Two-time runner-up Casper Ruud was on the verge of fainting during a five-set win over Roman Safiullin in the first round, saying he felt “like a zombie almost ” Ruud conceded the fourth set 6-0 “to get my pulse and body temperature down” to see if he could recover in the fifth: “Luckily that ended up working.”

Groundskeepers at Roland Garros had to drench the clay courts with water at night to keep them from drying out during the day

Still, the heat made for unusual conditions: The pace of play was faster and balls bounced higher Sinner, Djokovic waste leads

Already without two-time reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz, who

missed the tournament with an injured right wrist, it was a shock when Sinner wasted a two-set and 5-1 lead in the third against 56thranked Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round.

The top-ranked Sinner came to Paris on a 29-match winning streak and was an overwhelming favorite for the title. But the Italian said he started feeling dizzy and “very low on energy” when he needed to win just one more game against Cerundolo. It was a match for the ages when 39-year-old Novak Djokovic also surrendered a two-set lead and lost to 19-year-old João Fonseca. The 24-time Grand Slam champion also had physical issues.

“I was barely standing on my legs toward the end of the match,” he said.

Sabalenka wanted to quit

Sabalenka was leading 4-1 in the second set of her quarterfinal with Diana Shnaider and was within two points of victory when she proceeded to lose 12 of 13 games.

Sabalenka said later that she wanted “to quit tennis right now

“You know those rooms where you just go in and you smash everything,” she added. “Probably I

Storms halt Memorial;

Poston, Gerard still lead

DUBLIN,Ohio J.T Poston and Ryan Gerard were tied for the lead Saturday at the Memorial when a second round of storms arrived and wiped out the rest of the third round before it had time to take shape. It might have come at a good time for Scottie Scheffler, who was making quite a charge until two bogeys in three holes, the last one from an iron off the tee into a creek. And it probably won’t help the players like Poston who face a long Sunday to make up for the lost time and then have 36 holes of U.S. Open qualifying Monday Poston and Gerard were tied at 9 under through five holes, one shot ahead of Sam Burns, who was through six holes. The third round was to resume at 7 a.m., followed by a final round off both tees in threesomes.

Rays moving LHP Matz to bullpen after rough starts

MIAMI Steven Matz is moving from the starting rotation to the bullpen after a pair of poor starts by the Tampa Bay Rays left-hander, manager Kevin Cash said Saturday Matz, who signed a two-year, $15 million deal with Tampa Bay in December, allowed five runs on six hits, including two home runs, in an 8-0 loss to Detroit on Tuesday It was his second straight loss and raised his ERA to 5.48. The 35-year-old had gone on the injured list on May 4 because of left elbow inflammation and returned on May 20. In his past two starts, he has allowed 11 runs, 13 hits and three home runs.

Cash said right-hander Mason Englert, who was recalled from Triple-A Durham on Wednesday, could work bulk innings in his place.

Rangers place Jansen on 10-day IL with arm strain

ARLINGTON,Texas The Texas Rangers placed catcher Danny Jansen on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Wednesday before Saturday night’s game against Cleveland with right forearm strain. The Rangers signed catcher Elias Díaz to a major league contract.

Jansen has hit .171 in 41 games with three home runs and 12 RBIs. The ninth-year major leaguer signed with Texas as a free agent last December after splitting 2025 with Tampa Bay and Milwaukee. Díaz was granted free agency by Kansas City on Wednesday after playing 10 games with the Royals this season, hitting .227 with two homers and five RBIs He signed with Kansas City as a free agent in late February

Yankees catcher Wells on IL with cervical headaches

NEW YORK Austin Wells, in the midst of a season-long slump, joined Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton on the 10-day injured list Saturday when the New York Yankees said the catcher was sidelined by cervical headaches.

will spend a whole day tomorrow over there destroying stuff. Maybe it will help. Maybe not.”

Shnaider then went on to lose in the semifinals to Maja Chwalinska, who became the first qualifier in French Open history to reach the championship match.

A new champion

The 14th-ranked Flavio Cobolli reached his first Grand Slam final with the help of a retirement and withdrawal by two fellow Italians.

Matteo Berrettini retired because of a left hip injury with Cobolli leading 7-5, 5-2 in their quarterfinal and then Matteo Arnaldi withdrew before their semifinal because of a virus.

Zverev will be playing in his fourth major final on Sunday as he seeks an elusive Grand Slam title. Whoever raises the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy will become the first man other than Alcaraz, Sinner, Djokovic or Rafael Nadal to win a Grand Slam since Daniil Medvedev at the 2021 U.S. Open.

“We’ve had so many long eras of these four people are the only people that we think are going to win,” Keys said. “Makes the sport interesting, at least.”

Catcher J.C. Escarra was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/ Wilkes Barre after being optioned to Triple-A after Friday night’s 5-3 loss to Boston. New York selected the contract of Ali Sánchez from the RailRiders, giving the Yankees a right-handed-hitting catcher for the first time since 2024. Wells is hitting .166 with four homers and seven RBIs in 47 games in his third full season as New York’s starting catcher He is hitless in his last 13 at-bats and 1 for his last 18.

Lightning’s Vasilevskiy wins best goaltender trophy

NEW YORK Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning has won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender the league announced Saturday It is the second Vezina honor of Vasilevskiy’s career after he also won in the 2018-19 season. The 31-year-old Russian was a runaway winner in voting by the league’s general managers. Vasilevskiy received 17 first-place votes among the 31 ballots cast. Vasilevskiy led all goalies with 39 wins, going 39-15-14 to backstop Tampa Bay to a second-place finish in the Atlantic Division and a ninth consecutive playoff appearance. With a 2.31 goals-against average and .912 save percentage, he ranked second to Colorado’s

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By THIBAULT CAMUS

Mirra Andreeva is overcome with emotion after winning the women’s final match against Maja Chwalinska on Saturday at the French Open in Paris.

ASSCOAITEDPRESS

Golden Tempotakes the second legof Triple Crown

SARATOGA SPRINGS,N.Y.— Golden

Tempowon the 158th running of theBelmont Stakes on Saturday, capturing the third leg of the Triple Crown five weeks after winning the Kentucky Derby and making more history for trainer Cherie DeVaux.

With jockey Jose Ortiz aboard, Golden Tempo charged down the stretch at Saratoga RaceCourse to win the Belmont, holding off Commandment before the finish line at the historic track to win at odds of 6-1. Commandment was second and favorite Renegade third.

“Golden Tempo is amazing Jose is amazing,”said DeVaux who was born in Saratoga Springs and began her trainingcareer there. “I thinkheneeded to do this to kind of show that he was meanttowin theDerby and that he is ahorse that belongs in that conversation of beingone of the top 3-year-olds.”

DeVaux, after becoming the first woman to train aKentucky Derby winner,isthe second in four years to do so at the Belmont. Jena Antonucci won it with Arcangelo in 2023. DeVaux is the firstwoman to win multiple Triple Crownraces.

“It’soverwhelming,” DeVaux said. “All the credit goes to Golden Tempo, who won therace and Jose did awonderful job of making it happen. But I’m just so fortunate to be in this position. It’shistory-making, and I’ve kind of shiedawayfromit, but I’mreally gracious that Iamthat person.”

ROBINSON

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postseason victory and a2-0 lead in the NBA Finals.

Karl-Anthony Towns led the Knicks with 21 points, buthe said in apostgame interview with ESPNthat thoseplayers, along with the likes of Miles McBride and former Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado, were the MVPs ofthe game.

“Our team play had got us here,” Towns said.

After Townswenttothe bench with foul trouble and fellow AllStar Jalen Brunson was resting, Knickscoach Mike Brown went to his reservesand they rewarded him with abig burst.

“Somebody is always there,” Brown said. “Again, alot of contributions fromalot of guys, andthat’s whyyou like having ateam, because it could be anybody’snight on any given night. Our guys don’tcare. Theysacrifice for one another and we founda way to get awin.”

The New York bench accounted for 27 points and10rebounds, and Robinson defended Victor Wembanyama whenthe San Antonio star missed ajumper that wouldhave won the game. “Our effort, it’sbeen crazy,” Robinson said. “Wejust came out

traditional home on the borderof Queensand Long Island is getting demolished and rebuilt. Therace is settoreturn to Belmont Park next year

“It’ssomeaningful,”DeVaux said. “A lotoffamily here. Saratoga,it’sbeen wonderful to have such ahistoric race here.It’sso meaningful because the town gets to have this andcelebrate it along with us.”

Golden Tempopaid $14 to win, $7.32 to place and $3.88 to show Commandment paid $7.02 to show and$4.08 to place, whileRenegade —the Derby runner-up —paid $2.52 to place.

NASCAR hometown hero role in Michigan

BY NATE RYAN Associated Press

Carson Hocevar has fond childhood memories of MichiganInternationalSpeedway,with one exception. Despite manyNASCAR family outings at the 2-mile oval,Hocevar somehow missedthe Michigan wins in 2008 and 2012 for favorite driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.—his only two Cup Seriesvictories during aseven-season stretch from 2007-13.

“I enjoyed going there every year as akid, but Ialways kicked myself,” Hocevar said. “Everytime that Ididn’tgo, Junior won, and every time Idid go,he wrecked or didn’trun good.”

TheSpire Motorsports driver can make new memories Sunday by playing the home-state hero to anew generation of fans.

Hocevar,who grewupabout 85 mileswestofthe Brooklyntrack in Portage, will have an enormous cheering section as he seeks his second victory of the season. He’s unsure howmanysupporters will be on hand, because manyofthose who watched him rise throughthe ranksatMichigan shorttracks suchasBerlin Raceway or Kalamazoo Speedway aren’tbothering him fortickets.

“A lot of them camp at the track anyway, so they’re alreadygoing to be there,”he said. “I don’thave to get them passes and burn through those. It’llbea lotofpeople thatI grew up racing with, so it’salways fun just to see who’sthere. Familywise,there’ll probably be alot of people.”

Expectations will be high beyond just the rooting interests. Beforeaflat tire spoiled ashot at the win, Hocevar led 32 laps last year at Michigan, which is among his best tracks.

managing the pressure to meet expectationsasa championship contender since his first career winatTalladega Superspeedway six weeksago. He is ranked ninth in the standings with 12 races remaining until the Chase points reset. The top-16 drivers then will race for the championship over the final 10 races.

The pace was not nearly as fast as it was at Churchill Downs,yet Golden Tempostill wasable to closein time to winthe 11/4-milerace in 2:03.49. It didn’tmatter,ashewas the best in the field of nine horses “Hewasn’tgoing to getthatsetup ashedid in the Derby,” Ortiz said. “Weall knewthat, andI was alittle worried about it. He needed somekind of setup.But today, there wasn’t one and he showed up today and won.”

Golden Tempo won two-thirds of the Triple Crown after DeVaux and owners decided to bypass the Preakness. He is the second horse in as many years to win the KentuckyDerby and the Belmontafter notrunning in the middle jewel.

“Wemade our decision, and we won todayand we’re going to be happy about that,” DeVaux said.

This was thethird and final time for the Belmont at Saratoga in upstate New York while its

Ortiz said he followed Renegade, riddenbyolder brother Irad, just as he didinthe Derby.Itworked outjustthe same in thefirst Saturday in June as the first Saturday in May “He was abouncing abit today, which made me veryhappy becauseI wanted himtobea little bit sharper today,” Jose Ortizsaid. “You can see him, he’svery relaxed. He does what Iask him to do. That’s themain thing.”

Co-owner VinnieViola dedicated the race to late friend Dominic DiPrisco, who died Wednesday at age 70.

“I know you’re in heaven, and I love you and this race is for you,” Viola said. “It means more than I can express in words right now.”

Ortiz won the Belmont Stakes for the second time, nine yearsafter his first aboard Tapwrit in 2017.

“Wejust wanted him to getbetter and keep winning these kinds of races,” Ortizsaid. “We’re very happy with him. It’sall about him.”

bridged the third and fourth quarters on an 11-3 run fueled by Robinson, Alvarado, McBride, Shamet and starting guard Mikal Bridges.

Shamet finished with 13 points while Robinson had seven, McBrideadded five and Alvarado had two. Shamet’s3-pointer put NewYorkahead 87-75 aminute into the fourth quarter

Bridgeshad four points, one assist andone rebound during the run and helped theKnicks hold the Spurs to 1-of-5 shooting.

“I think startedjustdefensively getting stops,” Bridges said. “I thinkthat’sthe biggest thing, us getting stops andgetting out. Just him giving me confidence to tryto make the right play.”

Robinsondid the same.

After thwarting the Hack-aMitch strategy in the first quarter,Robinsonsealed thevictory in thefinal minute with two defensive stands against Wembanyama

With the game tied at 104, Wembanyama misseda 17-footer with 30 seconds remaining withRobinson defending. Wembanyama then missed a20-footer with two seconds remaining andthe Spurs trailing by onepoint.

there justfighting, you know,talking to each other. Communication, that’sbeen key forus.” Clinging to afour-point lead late in the third quarter,the Knicks

“Inmymind, Iwas just like, defend without fouling,”Robinson said. “So, that was kind of like howitwent. Just great contest, and just kind of howitwent.”

“Ultimately,it’sagood place for me to go home because we run good there,” he said. “So there’salot less pressure when everybody’salready really excited for you. Ialready feel really confident walking into Michigan. But it being my home track, it just lets me walk alittle bitlighter.”

The 24-year-old Hocevar is also

“Welook at (the standings) all the time,” Hocevar said. “I think we’ve been faster than where we have been finishing. But Ithankthe heavens that everybody around us in points has had worse days. So I’m still gaining spots.” Awin in Sunday’s400-mile race wouldshore up his title bidand make history.NoMichigan-born driverhas won aCup race at the track in the Irish Hills region Brad Keselowski, whohails from theDetroit suburb of Rochester Hills, has three runner-up finish-

at Michigan.

StreakingKnickson ahistoricalNBA run

BY TIM REYNOLDS AP basketball writer

It was April 23. The New York Knicks had just endured their second consecutiveone-point loss to theAtlanta Hawks, and this one left them trailing 2-1 in their Eastern Conferencefirstround series.

Signs of trouble were everywhere.

Themood in NewYorkwas abysmal. Mike Brown’sfuture as coach was ahot topic.

“Stuff’s goingtohappen,” Brown, the Knicks coach in his first year,saidthatnight in Atlanta. “Plenty of teams have been down 1-2. Ieventhink Oklahoma City was down 1-2lastyearand they ended up winning it. I’m not saying we’re going to win it or anything like that,but thereality of it is it’sseven games and you takeone game at atime.”

The Knicks have played 13 gamessince. The results: win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, winand winagain. Onegame at atime, one winat atime and, quite possibly,one championship at atime. The Knicks areback in New York with a2-0 lead over SanAntonio in the NBAFinals, still riding the strength of a13-game winning streak. Astreak like that has happened once before in NBApostseason history,when counting just single-season winning runs. Golden Statewon 15 in arow on its way to the2017 title. Thecommonthreadbetween those Warriors and these Knicks? That would be Brown. He was an assistant on that Golden State staff and went 12-0 as acting head coach during theplayoffs while Steve Kerr was sidelined by back issues.

“You’ve got to have good play-

ers,”Brown said. “I’m notthat smart. You’ve got to have good players that carry you.” Brown’splayoff record, officially,isastellar 64-42 as ahead coach.

Throw those 12 games with the Warriors on his record—which, by NBA rule and precedent, doesn’thappen because Kerr was still head coach,just not present on thesidelinefor those games— and Brown’splayoff winning percentage would rise to .644. That would be third best in NBAhistory among coaches with at least 100 playoff games, behind only Phil Jackson and Kerr Eitherway,Brown now hasto be considered thecoaching king of the playoffwinning streak. Alook inside this run by New York:

Dominant margins

•The Knickshaveoutscored Atlanta, Philadelphia, Cleveland and San Antonio in these 13 games by 273 points, the biggest 13-gamemargin in NBA playoff history. Before this stretch,the biggest13-game playoffpointdifferential margin was 225, by those Warriors —the teamthat Brown led on an interim basis in 2017.

•All but two of the Knicks’ wins in this streak were by double figures. Theexceptions: Game 2of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Philadelphia (a six-point win) andGame 2ofthe NBAFinals against SanAntonio (a one-point win).Six additional wins have come with afinal margin between 10-16 points, and the other five were total blowouts— the Knicks winning those by 29, 30, 37, 39 and 51 points.

•The Knicks have led by 40 or moreinfour different gamesduring the streak,including a61-point lead at Atlanta in the clinching game of that East first-round series.

AP PHOTO By DAVID J. PHILLIP San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell defendsasNew york Knicks guard Jalen Brunson goes for a layup during the first half of Game 2ofthe NBAFinals on Fridayin San Antonio.

The Associated Press

PHOTO By yUKI IWAMURA

Jockey Jose Ortiz celebrates as he crossesthe finishlineaboard Golden Tempotowin the 158th running of the Belmont Stakes horse race on SaturdayinSaratogaSprings, N.y.

AP PHOTO By yUKI IWAMURA Trainer Cherie DeVaux, center,with Jockey Jose Ortiz, left, holds the trophyafter Golden Tempo won the158th running of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday.

U.S. soccer drops ninth straight vs. European foes

BY JAY COHEN AP sportswriter

CHICAGO Leroy Sané scored a tiebreaking goal in the 57th minute, giving Germany a 2-1 win over the United States in a friendly on Saturday and a nine-game winning streak heading into the World Cup.

Kai Havertz put the four-time champions in front with a header from a free kick in the second minute but Antonee Robinson tied the score in the 37th with a left-foot volley from the top of the arc after Christian Pulisic’s corner kick. Sané scored off a short pass from Havertz a diagonal shot between the legs of Miles Robinson that appeared to take a slight deflection off the defender and beat goalkeeper Matt Freese to the far post.

The 16th-ranked United States has lost nine straight games to European opponents dating to 2022.

Hosting the World Cup for the first time since 1994, the Americans open against Paraguay on Friday, then play Australia and Turkey The U.S. hadn’t lost its last match heading into a World Cup since 2002.

No. 10 Germany starts against Curaçao on June 14 in a group that includes Ivory Coast and Ecuador

The match drew a sellout crowd of 63,636 to Soldier Field, site of the 1994 World Cup opener. Chicago refused to bid to host 2026 World Cup matches, citing what it said was a lack of financial assurances by FIFA.

The U.S. played without top defender Chris Richards, sidelined since tearing a pair of left ankle

ligaments on May 17.

Germany was missing 18-yearold midfielder Lennart Karl, ruled out for the World Cup after injuring a thigh in training. Oliver Baumann started in goal as Manuel Neuer rested while recovering from a calf muscle issue.

Freese started in goal for the 15th time in 18 matches.

Die Mannschaft went ahead after Tyler Adams’ foul just outside the penalty area. Joshua Kimmich’s free kick was headed in by Havertz at the top of the 6-yard box for his 22nd international goal.

Robinson scored his fifth international goal after Jonathan Tah’s headed clearance attempt on Pulisic’s corner kick went just outside the area. Robinson celebrated with a cartwheel and a backflip.

Iran leaves for World Cup without some visas for staff

BY KHALIL HAMRA Associated Press

ANTALYA, Turkey The Iran World Cup soccer team set off from Turkey for their training base in Mexico on Saturday, with some members of their entourage reportedly still without U.S. visas, before three group matches in the United States later this month.

The Iranian Football Federation’s secretary-general, Hedayat Mombeini, and its vice president, Mehdi Mohammad Nabi, were among 14 backroom staff and officials without U.S. visas before games in Los Angeles and Seattle, according to Iranian state television.

It was unclear whether the federation’s president, Mehdi Taj, had been issued a visa.

The team’s participation in the World Cup has been complicated by the Iran war Problems with processing visas had earlier led Iran to move its training base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico, which is on the border with California.

The federation accused the U.S. of “vindictive behavior” in refusing visas for “key managerial and administrative members” of the team.

The decision had “effectively denied the Iranian national team the opportunity for a level playing field and a competition free from discrimination,” according to a statement on the federation’s website. It added that the federation would pursue the matter through world soccer authority FIFA

The Iranian Embassy in Ankara, meanwhile, responded to an earlier social media post from U.S ambassador Tom Barrack, in which he congratulated his embassy staff for processing the Iran team’s visas. “You cannot whitewash conduct that violates FIFA regulations and breaches the United States’ host obligations merely by praising yourselves,” the Iranian post read. “This represents the worst possible form of politically biased interference in sport.”

SAINTS

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acquired last season, with the others being Devaughn Vele (by trade) and Trey Palmer (via waivers). Since, New Orleans has continued to fortify its offense. It drafted receivers Tyson and Bryce Lance along with tight end Oscar Delp, and it signed high-profile free agents such as running back Travis Etienne and guard David Edwards.

Though he’s been with the team since September while rehabbing his injury, Polk is part of that equation. It had been a long time since he had been able to make a play like he did in practice Wednesday, but he said the “hunger never left” him while he endured the disappointments of his first two seasons. And while there is suddenly a lot of competition for the football in New Orleans — as things currently stand, Polk is at best fourth or fifth in the offensive pecking order — he sees this as a positive.

“We’ve got a big old plate, and everybody is going to have the opportunity to go out there and eat.”

The shoulder injury that erased Polk’s 2025 campaign is, hopefully, a thing of the past. He praised the training staff for making him feel like himself again throughout the rehabilitation process and said “everything is great” now in respect to his body

“I feel like I’m supposed to be here. For them … bringing me in here and having that trust of seeing the player I’m capable of being, it speaks a lot.”

JA’LyNN POLK, Saints wide receiver

He welcomed the opportunity to come to New Orleans, which brought him closer to his hometown of Lufkin, Texas. But he mostly stayed in New Orleans this offseason to work on his recovery, which also afforded him the opportunity to get a head start on refining his connection with Shough. That may be paying dividends now for both the Saints and Polk, who is grateful for a fresh slate to show what he can be as a professional.

“(The hunger is) never gone It’s always there, it’s always going to be there,” Polk said. “And a lot of these guys, pretty much everybody in here, is hungry as well.

“I feel like I’m supposed to be here,” Polk said. “For them bringing me in here and having that trust of seeing the player I’m capable of being, it speaks a lot. I just want to go out there each and every day and show them they made the right decision of bringing me in here.”

Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

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decades of work at the highest levels of college athletics.

Shooting slings and arrows at the people trying to save college sports won’t solve the crisis at hand.

One U.S. official earlier told The Associated Press that all players on the Iranian team were approved for visas, while a second official said visas had been issued for players, coaches, trainers and some support staff. A third official suggested that some applicants affiliated with the team had been rejected for requesting visas “under false pretenses.”

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the visas publicly

The squad has been preparing for the World Cup at a training camp in Antalya The team said that it has already received visas from the Mexican Embassy in Ankara.

The players, dressed in blue blazers over white T-shirts, left the luxury Mardan Palace hotel in Antalya on Saturday afternoon

They boarded a private jet at the Mediterranean city’s airport and were due to fly directly to Mexico.

Iran plays its first two games in Inglewood, California, against New Zealand on June 15, and Belgium six days later, then heads to Seattle to face Egypt on June 26.

Iran and the U.S. could meet in the round of 32 on July 3 in Arlington, Texas, if both teams come second in their groups.

In March, U.S. President Donald Trump had discouraged Iran from participating in the tournament, saying he didn’t think it was “appropriate” and raising concerns over players’ “life and safety.”

A day later, Iran’s national team pushed back, saying “no one can exclude” it from playing.

Iran finalized its team on Monday, including 17 home-based players whose clubs haven’t played since February because of the war Star forward Sardar Azmoun was dropped in March, reportedly because of a social media post that angered Iranian authorities during the war Iran’s sports minister said in March that it would “not be possible” for the team to participate in the World Cup, but the republic’s soccer federation said in May that it was moving ahead with a team. The federation had insisted that all players and staff be granted visas, including those who had military service in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell, a passionate advocate for the Protect College Sports Act, had an astute observation of its opponents.

“What they talk about is that any plan that isn’t exactly what they want to do has all these problems with implementation,” Campbell said on the Powers podcast. “They don’t have good reasons, but the issue is complex enough and it’s poorly understood enough that they can throw those things out there as kind of red herrings and confuse people enough to where people take their eye off the ball and they just revert back to the most simple form of legislation possible, which does not solve the problem.”

Longtime sports media executive Gordon Whitener had a great analogy of the situation: “The house is on fire, and everyone’s arguing over who owns the hose.”

A look at some of the most important things Saban said and why we should take them to heart:

n “If you had the biggest, baddest Ferrari that you could ever have, and it was going 150 miles an hour toward the Grand Canyon, somebody needs to tap the brakes.”

Critics accused Saban of being one of the reckless drivers who mashed the accelerator and careened the Ferrari into danger in the first place. But this classic “shoot-the-messenger” argument ignores the larger point: College sports are out of control and facing an existential crisis without guardrails. They need governance, which the NCAA can no longer provide after being dismantled by widespread legislation and litigation.

n “Congress does not need to micromanage college athletics Congress does need to fix the mess in the courts and create a national framework so the people inside college sports can enforce fair rules.”

Saban understands that congressional intervention is needed to provide the governance structure necessary to run the sport, implement rules and enforce regulation. He’s advocat-

ing a regulated framework, not full federal control essentially guardrails rather than takeover n “Student-athletes should profit as long as those things are authentic endorsements [but] name, image and likeness has turned into pay-for-play This bill recognizes the difference between real NIL and disguised pay-for-play.”

Saban isn’t against athletes getting paid. But, as he predicted years ago, schools have gamed the system and are simply using NIL to pay players for performance, which was not the original intent of the legislation. The College Sports Commission was created to oversee NIL transactions, but schools are already fighting its enforcement.

n “We’re going to lose Olympic sports nonrevenue sports scholarships you’re going to have football and basketball succeed and club sports for everything else.”

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) noted that more than 100 varsity sports teams and more than 1,000 NCAA scholarships have been lost since the 202425 NCAA antitrust settlement. More will fall by the wayside if we continue down this path. No one wants to see college sports reduced to just football and men’s basketball.

n “Athletes should have real freedom. A young person should not be trapped in a bad situation. But unlimited transfer freedom, combined with pay-for-play incentives, has created something very close to unlimited free agency without contracts, without rules and without stability.”

Saban’s point here is primarily about the transfer portal, which has led to a decline in graduation rates while also jeopardizing health care for athletes. The Protect College Sports Act would implement more stable transfer policy, while balancing player freedom with program continuity n “I’m not here to represent a conference or a team, but to preserve college athletics as a whole. I really want everybody to know I’m just a former college coach who cares about college sports.”

Major college football — particularly the SEC and Big Ten — is suffering from the Disease of Me. An exclusive Super League of 30 to 40 schools,

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOSE LUIS MAGANA Former University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban testifies before a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday at Capitol Hill in Washington.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NAM y. HUH

U.S. forward Christian Pulisic, right reacts after a missed shot as Germany forward Leroy Sané celebrates during the first half of an international friendly match on Saturday in Chicago. Germany won 2-1.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By KHALIL HAMRA

Iran’s players arrive at Antalya airport before departing to Tijuana, Mexico, for the World Cup on Saturday in southern Turkey

23

A.Cejka/T.O’Neal 63-57—120 -22

B.Gay/R.Sabbatini 60-60—120 22

J.Caron/B.Quigley 62-58—120 22

D.Barron/D.Pride 63-58—121 -21

F.Jacobson/S.Kjeldsen 59-62—121 21

S.Parel/P.Stankowski 62-59—121 -21

T.Gainey/T.Ridings 63-58—121 21

G.McNeill/K.Perry 64-58—122 20

H.Slocum/B.Weekley 66-56—122 -20

R.Green/M.Hensby 60-62—122 20

S.Alker/B.Langer 61-61—122 20

H.Frazar/T.Petrovic 62-61—123 -19

M.Allen/J.Daly 63-60—123 19

S.Bertsch/E.Els 63-60—123 -19

S.Cink/Z.Johnson 65-58—123 19

J.Durant/K.Sutherland 65-59—124 18

R.Goosen/B.Van Pelt 64-60—124 -18

S.Allan/D.Bransdon 65-59—124 18

S.Appleby/M.Wright 62-62—124 18

W.Austin/V.Taylor 64-60—124 -18

B.Andrade/J.Maggert 62-63—125 17

K.Tanigawa/M.Weir 65-60—125 -17

A.Cabrera/R.Gonzalez 64-62—126 16

D.Duval/M.Gogel 65-61—126 16

S.Flesch/P.Goydos 64-62—126 -16

S.Stricker/M.Tiziani 65-61—126 16

J.Kelly/J.Leonard 67-60—127 15

T.Pernice/V.Singh 66-61—127 -15

M.Jimenez/J.Olazabal 64-64—128 14

C.Wi/Y.Yang 65-64—129 -13

B.Jobe/S.McCarron 68-63—131 -11

F.Funk/G.Sauers 64-67—131 11

C.Campbell/R.Pampling 66-66—132 -10

K.Duke/T.Lehman 69-63—132 10

U.S.

Veteran coastal fisherman Bootsie Toups shows off two 5-pound-plus speckled trout he caught to win a past Swollfest rodeo title. The annual benefit event held on Grand Isle raises money for charities like Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital and many others. Toups, of Marrero, added three more specks to these two for a record 24.35-pound total to win the five-trout stringer category. This increasingly popular rodeo begins Wednesday with final weigh-in set late Saturday afternoon at Grand Isle Marina.

OUTDOORS

Anglers hoping weather better for Swollfest rodeo

BY JOE MACALUSO Contributing writer

With what’s going on along the Louisiana coast this weekend, it’s a sure bet Nick Rauber and his Swollfest crew are uttering the “rain, rain, go away” prayer in hopes for calmer conditions for this week’s annual Swollfest Fishing Rodeo on Grand Isle.

Swollfest is more than a successful string of fishing days. It’s become a celebration of all our state’s coast has to offer for summertime adventure.

Fish of all sizes are caught and gushed over at the Grand Isle Marina weigh station, but, in the end, funds go to charities like Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital and college scholarship recipients.

The crew’s prayers are needed after a tropical system invaded Louisiana’s offshore waters Friday Earlier last week, the forecast of up to 30 mph winds and heavy seas forced Catholic High’s Alumni Fishing Rodeo organizers to postpone this weekend’s annual event until July 10-12 at Fourchon.

Swollfest’s entry info and rules can be found on its website: swollfest.com New CWD rules

Reacting to what some are calling ill-advised meddling by the state Legislature, the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission approved amended regulations for the expanding Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zones at its meeting last week.

This declaration of emergency comes after the Loui-

NOTEBOOK

siana Senate passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 24 during its regular session.

This SCR 24 does away with a total ban on baiting and feeding — a practice that tends to congregate deer and risks spreading this always-fatal disease — and allows baiting and feeding from Sept.1 through March 31 within all current CWD Management Zones.

This further explanation came from Wildlife and Fisheries: The baiting and feeding allowance from Sept. 1-March 31 is based on achieving CWD sampling goals, not to exceed 300 samples, the previous surveillance season.

“CWD prevalence rates (of) 2.5-20% will result in the prohibition of baiting the following surveillance season. Surveillance seasons are July 1-June 30 Results from a surveillance season will determine baiting allowances in subsequent seasons.”

CWD zones are set when a CWD-infested deer has been found in an area. Zones are established by using roads, waterways and other easily identifiable land features and are comprised of a 5-mile and a 15-mile zone. Additional CWD detections beyond the 5-mile zone will result in changes to the 15mile zone boundary the following surveillance season.”

The new regulation stated that any new detections outside of an existing zone will result in an emergency declaration to establish a new zone, but that baiting and

feeding restrictions would not be implemented at that time.

Furthermore, zones and restrictions will be removed when sampling goals are met for three consecutive surveillance seasons without a CWD detection, and “the use of bait not normally ingested by deer may be used for feral hog trapping.”

Just four years after the first CWD-infested deer was found along the Mississippi River in east-central Louisiana, there have been 55 CWD-positive deer detected with all but three coming from Tensas Parish. The other three came from Ouachita, Catahoula and Concordia parishes.

A

win for sportsmen

The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation heaped praise on the recent passage of House Bill 1177 offered by state Rep. Jerome Zeringue a move that protects those Louisiana-licensed hunters and fishermen who are drawn to participate in state-run lottery hunts.

Zeringue’s bill, passed without opposition, came after concerns that hunters drawn in lotteries were being harassed after certain groups and individuals discovered the names of the hunters.

The foundation, based in Washington, explained Louisiana’s stand on this increasing problem “highlights a broader national conversation around protecting hunters and anglers while maintaining transparency in government and wildlife management. It also underscores the bipartisan

CALENDAR

WEDNESDAY-SATURDAY

Website: rsff.org

WEDNESDAY LA. YOUTH ATV/UTV SAFETY TASK FORCE BRIEFING: 9:15 a.m., state Wildlife & Fisheries headquarters, 2000 Quail Dr. Baton Rouge Preregistration requested via email to Taylor Brazan: tbrazan@wlf.la.gov

BUGS & BEERS: 6:30 p.m., Skeeta Hawk Brewing, 455 N. Dorgenois St., New Orleans. Casual fly tying. Open to public. Email A.J. Rosenbohm: ajrosenbohm@gmail.com Website: neworleansflyfishers.com JUNIOR SOUTHWEST

BASSMASTERS MEETING: 7 p m. Seminar Room, Bass Pro Shops, Denham Springs Boys & girls age-group bass tournaments for ages 7-10 11-14 & 15-18 anglers. Special event: June 20-21, Lake Concordia. Call Jim Breaux (225) 772-3026.

SWOLLFEST FISHING RODEO: Grand Isle Marina, Grand Isle. Offshore & Inshore categories. Weigh-in Thursday-Saturday, 4-6 p.m. Fishing begins Wednesday. Benefits Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital & others. Email: swollfest@cox.net. Registration website: swollfest.com.

SATURDAY NSCA REGISTERED SPORTING CLAYS: Bridge View Gun Club, Port Allen.

ONGOING

STATEWIDE TOURNAMENT & ANGLERS RODEO/S.T.A.R.: Through Sept. 7, Coastal Conservation Association’s summerlong fishing event Tagged redfish, coastal/offshore species categories & youth division. CCA membership required. Website: ccalouisiana.com/star AROUND THE CORNER

JUNE 16 — LAFAYETTE KAYAK

FISHING CLUB MEETING: 6 p.m., Pack and Paddle, 601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette. Call (337) 232-5854. Website: www lafayettekayakfishing.com.

JUNE 17 — FLIES & FLIGHTS: 7-9 p.m, Rally Cap Brewing, 11212 Pennywood Ave., Baton Rouge. Casual fly-tying. Open to public. Email Chris Williams: thefatfingeredflytyer@ gmail.com

JUNE 18 — ACADIANA FLY RODDERS PROGRAM: 6 p.m., Pack and Paddle, 601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette. Open to public. Email Darin Lee: at cbrsandcdc@ gmail.com. Website: acadianaflyrodders.org

JUNE 19-20 — GARAND/ SPRINGFIELD MODERN MILITARY MATCH: Palo Alto Rifle & Pistol Club, 1393 L1. 943, Donaldsonville. 2-man team, 30-shot president’s course & EIC matches. LSA event. Call Michael Burke (337) 380-8120. JUNE 19-20 — NSCA SPORTING CLAYS EVENTS: Wilderness Club, Lafayette. JUNE 19-20 — BROTHER DARDIS FISHING RODEO: Begins sunrise June 19, weigh-in June 20, 2-4 p.m., Jesuit High School, Banks Street at Carrollton Avenue, New Orleans. Freshwater, Inshore & Offshore categories in Adult & Student divisions. Website: jesuitnola.org

JUNE 19-20 — BROTHER

MARTIN FISHING RODEO & SUMMER FEST: Fishing begins sunrise June 19, weigh-in

Next big catch is on the water

Moss is cancer-free and angling in pursuit of bass fishing passion

BY DAVE CAMPBELL AP pro football writer

Randy Moss is still making big catches, long after he finished playing football.

The Hall of Fame wide receiver with the secondmost touchdown receptions in NFL history has found his off-the-field calling on the boat, fishing for freshwater bass.

“That’s my passion right now That’s my hobby That’s my getaway That’s my therapy,” Moss said.

support that conservation and outdoor recreation issues continue to receive in Sportsman’s Paradise.”

Gulf Council discussions

Three recreational fishing items were discussed during last week’s Gulf Council meeting in Tampa, Florida.

After years of turning red snapper management over to the five Gulf states the council is considering doing the same for greater amberjack The debate now centers on whether to allow each state to manage this species or set up regions in the Gulf. If it’s regions, then there will be allocations and management measures. Plans are to continue discussion at the October meeting. Up for consideration is a move to a mandatory recreational reporting program for deep-water grouper species. The council delayed any action until recreational fishermen can respond and “after further research is conducted on the feasibility of a reporting program.”

The council also reviewed what is known as “postseason accountability measures for private recreational red snapper,” which, under current rule, penalizes a state for exceeding its annual catch limit by subtracting the overage from the state’s next year allowable catch. The move, as explained, is to allow more flexibility to each of the five states “without compromising the effectiveness of state management.”

The council’s next meeting is set to open Aug. 24 at the Golden Nugget Hotel in Biloxi, Mississippi.

4-5:30 p.m. June 20, Brother Martin High campus, 4401 Elysian Fields Ave., New Orleans. All Louisiana waters & launch sites. Call Advancement Office (504) 284-6700. Website: brothermartin.com/alumni/ fishing-rodeo FISHING/SHRIMPING

SHRIMP: Spring inshore season open; all outside waters open. OPEN RECREATIONAL SEASONS: Private recreational red snapper; gray triggerfish; flounder; lane, blackfin, queen and silk snappers & wenchmen among other snapper species; all groupers except closed for goliath & Nassau groupers in state/ federal waters.

CLOSED SEASONS: Greater amberjack; bluefin tuna; gag, goliath & Nassau groupers in state/federal waters. Commercial greater amberjack season closed.

LDWF UPDATES

REOPENED: Pearl River Wildlife Management Area & shooting range.

CLOSED: Hope Canal Road/ boat launch (Maurepas Swamp WMA, levee construction) EMAIL: jmacaluso@theadvocate.com

Mostly confined to his home for about nine months while he underwent chemotherapy and radiation to beat cancer, Moss developed a deeper appreciation for being in nature. Since his treatment was completed last fall and his rare form of the disease — in the bile duct between the pancreas and the liver — was deemed to be in remission, Moss has often had a rod and reel in his hands.

This lifelong hobby for Moss has become a third career of sorts, following his work as an NFL analyst for ESPN that he resumed with the 2025 season.

“I’m just excited to be able to showcase my talent and go out there and show people that I have something else other than football that I love,” Moss said.

Moss was hired by World Bass Enterprises to serve as an ambassador for The Champions tournament this fall in Hendersonville, Tennessee, an inaugural five-day event just across the river from Nashville designed to determine a true title in a sport divided by two competing tours. WBE was founded earlier this year by Brian Bird, a Texas businessman and amateur angler who has become a fishing buddy to Moss.

In the meantime, Moss and his business partner, Andrew Grein, have been busy filming a documentary series, Chasing 10, that features Moss fishing with celebrity guests in pursuit of the elusive 10-pound largemouth bass while offering tips and trading stories. He’s auctioning off a custom-made boat for each season to benefit the Children’s Cancer Research Fund in Minnesota.

“I had to take a year off to be able to get myself back right, but my health is great,” Moss said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “I still have my quarterly checkups every four months, my scans, but I just think that now that I’m back outside, this is one of the things that I couldn’t wait to see. I have the bass waiting on me, so I’m just a kid in the candy store having fun, man.”

The Champions event, which is carrying a total prize purse of $3.25 mil-

lion for the largest in the history of the sport, will pay $1.25 million to the winner from a field of 50 anglers the top 25 from each of the two biggest organizations in competitive bass fishing.

The Bass Anglers Sportsman Society — known as B.A.S.S. — runs the Bassmaster Elite Series. Major League Fishing has the newer Bass Pro Tour For the past seven years, a bit like the PGA and LIV factions in golf, the best anglers in the world have been split between two groups. Moss is on board with Bird to try to help unite the sport and take it further into the mainstream.

“We both are trying to bring something that’s really positive to the sport of bass fishing,” said Bird, who sold his electrical construction services company three years ago and has invested his own money into the launch of the tournament. “It’s a good way for a family to spend time out in nature.”

The first batch of Chasing 10 episodes posted to YouTube this week included a spirited outing with the Kelce brothers and a reunion of fellow receivers from the Minnesota Vikings with Cris Carter and Jake Reed. While he was out on another show with Bird on a Texas lake, Moss giddily reeled in the hallowed 10-pounder, comparing the anxiety he felt during the process to the moments before a football play when he knew the pass was coming his way Moss first learned how to cast a line while growing up in West Virginia with his older half-brother, Eric Moss, who died in 2019. Soon after Moss started his NFL career in Minnesota in 1998, he was introduced to a professional angler the late John Laub, who taught him the sport on the St. Croix River along the Wisconsin border

“My first actual bass experience, I caught 20!” Moss said. “John, he was glowing.

“That’s the man who showed me bass fishing, and I haven’t looked back since.”

PHOTO By ANDREW GREIN

In this undated image, Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss holds up a bass during an episode of ‘Chasing 10 with Randy Moss’ about Moss’ pursuit of the elusive 10-pound largemouth bass.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

Former NFL great Randy Moss, currently a TV analyst, walks on the field before a wild-card playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Arizona Cardinals on Jan. 17, 2022, in Inglewood, Calif.

Area athletes earn LSWA Class3Aall-state honors

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

Ayear filled with great seasons led to severalBaton Rouge-area athletes earning spots on the LSWAClass 3A all-state baseball and softball teams.

In baseball, Parkview Baptist pitcher LoganSorrel earned aspot on the first team. The senior finished with a1.51 ERA and 106 strikeouts across 55 innings. The Kentucky signee fooled hitters all year,limiting opposing batters to a .116 batting average.

Parkview Baptist’sHenry Beckers also earned allstate honors at utility. The senior batted .442 witha .538 on-base percentage.He finished with 39 RBIs, eight doubles and four home runs. On the mound, Beckers had a2.20 ERA in 35 innings

ApairofUniversity High players earned first-team honors.

Cubs junior infielder Shepherd Gammon hit .384 with a .503 on-base percentage and a.648 slugging percentage. He spent the majority of the season as U-High’sleadoff hitter.Hetotaled 24 RBIs, 19 doubles, four triples and two home runs.

U-High senior Jaris Hamilton earned first-team honors in the outfield, batting .366 with a.439 on-basepercentage. He tallied 19 stolen bases, seven doubles, four triples and two home runs. St. James had one honoree in junior LiamCazenave. The junior earned aspot at utility after he batted 430 with 23 RBIs. He also stole 24 bases. On the mound, Cazenave hada5-2 record with a1.81 ERA and 81 strikeouts.

In softball, twoParkview Baptist players earned firstteam honors at utility.

Eagles freshman Jalayah Slaughter finished witha stellar season in the circle with an 11-1record,a1.19 ERA and152 strikeouts in 82 innings. She also hada .389 batting average, 43 RBIs and10doubles.

Eighth graderAimee Gawlik earned first-team honors with a.400 battingaverage, .508 on-base percentage and 36 RBIs. She hit 11 home runs and sevendoubles.In the circle, Gawlik went 11-2 witha1.31 ERAand 108 strikeouts in 79 innings.

University High’sMorgan Singletonearned first-team honors in the outfield. The eighth grader batted .515 with a.595 on-base percentage. She totaled 39 runs, 27 RBIs, 11 doubles and four triples

Dodgers’ Sasaki makeshis

BY BETH HARRIS Associated Press

LOSANGELES Roki Sasaki is finally becoming the pitcherinreallifethatthe Los Angeles Dodgers first saw on video in Japan.

The 24-year-old righthander didn’tallow ahit through 41/3 innings and had acareer-high 10 strikeouts over seveninnings in a1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.

Sasaki notched hisfirst career scoreless start after 18 previousstarts. He threw 98 pitches, 72 for strikes. He reached 100.4 mph.

“He wentthrough some tough times and some doubts,”manager Dave Roberts said, “but he’sgotten to theother side.”

Roberts sent Sasaki back out for the seventh inning to see how the youngster would respond in ascoreless game. Sasaki retired theside, striking out two.

“He was on the attack, he didn’trun,” Roberts said. “That shows alot of growth.

Sasaki was expected to be thenext big thingcoming

out of Nippon Professional Baseball. But he failed to crack the Dodgers’ starting rotation as arookie. His sadface andtearyeyesin his U.S. debut was shown on Japanese television, triggering some unflattering reaction on social media and around baseball.

“Weall felt sorry for him,” Roberts recalled.

Sasaki’spoor body language on the mound tipped opposing hitters to alack of confidence, too.

He then missed 4 1/2 months withshoulderissues before returning as the team’s closer during its postseason run to asecond straight World Series.

Buthearrivedtospring training and walked 15 batters, again raising concerns about his ability to perform as astarter and shaking his confidence.

Over thepastmonth,however,Sasakihas built consistency thanks to aharder splitter that touches 90 mph and complements his fastball and slider as well as improving his command.

“There is an adjustment with the ball that he had to

makewith his grip,” Roberts said. “You can seehis demeanor on the mound. There’sjust no moredoubt and uncertainty.”

Sasakilowered his ERA to 4.03 and he has a1.48 ERA over his past four starts.

“I’m just doing small things allthe time,and I just keep building on it,” he said through atranslator

The Dodgers beat the Angels on Freeman’ssixth career walkoff home run after both teams had three hits apiece.

“Roki has really turned the corner here and it’sfun to watch,” Freeman said, “especially after last year grinding, coming back as a bullpenguy.Hejust looks great out there.”

Freemanand catcher Will Smith arepartofaclubhouserooting forSasakito succeed on ateam in which his fellow Japanese teammates —two-waysuperstar ShoheiOhtani andYoshinobu Yamamoto—set high standards.

“You can seethe care factor,the drive he’s got,” Smith said. “It’sgood to see the benefits right now.”

Westlake

Honorable mention: AJ Armand, Buckeye; Alex Baggett, South Beaugard; Bryce Bankston, Albany; Drew Barrow South Beauregard;LukeBecnel, St. James; Layf Bella, Berwick; Jacob Bourgeois, Fisher; Kaylor Broussard, Iota; TreBurch, Sterlington; Carter Champagne, Erath; Tate Collins, Erath; Beau Cormier, Acadiana Renaissance; Ty Curtis, Buckeye; Seth DeGeorge, ParkviewBaptist; Sabe David, Kaplan; Reece Dommert, Iota; Malachi Dunn, Madison Prep; Hudson Dupuis,Jennings; Camden Fisackerly,DeLaSalle; JackGarcille, St. Louis;JeremyGibson, Patrick Taylor; Landon Gravois, St. James; Jonah Grob, Albany; Trent Helwig, Haynes Academy; LinzyHoward, Patterson; Justin Hunt,Buckeye; Sy Jackson, St. James; Jonas Jenkins, Jena; Collin Jensen, Jena; Brody Mayeaux, University; Tyler Mike, Fisher; Cain Milligan, Bunkie; TraceMoreau,St. Louis; Caleb Ortiz, Albany; Noah Pearson Caldwell Parish; Parker Pilgreen, Bunkie; Jacques Riche, Bunkie;Karson Robichaux, De La Salle; Grayden Ross Westlake; ColeSchexnaider, Acadiana Renaissance; Braden Scioneaux, St.James; Riley Sinclair, Caldwell Parish; MaddoxSoileau,St. Louis;TreySotile, University; Lucas Surcouf, Haynes Academy; Dylan Vital,LakeCharles College Prep; GrantVollmer, University; Cooper Williams,

Tannehill,

Grace Baum, Caldwell Parish; AndiBettevy,Bunkie; JaiBright, St. James; Austin Carter, Sterlington; Saige Cherry,Iota; AubreyCrochet, Iota; Aubree Ducote, Bunkie; Ellie Gage, St. Louis; AzyriaGarrison, Berwick; Liberty Greene, Kaplan; Gabriella Grogan, Patterson; Olivia Harmson,Buckeye;London Harvey,University; Anna Hebert, Kaplan; Rylee Henson, South Beaureguard; Kenadee Jeansonne,Buckeye; Mia Knight, Patterson;EmmarieLacy, ParkviewBaptist;Ava Landry,Parkview Baptist; AddisenLipari, Berwick, GenieLovett, Doyle;Charlotte Lowe,University; Makinley Miller, Buckeye;MycaMudd, South Beauregard; Elaina Newman, Westlake; Rosalee Richey,Buckeye; Makayla Richoux, Cabrini; Kenzie Sonier, SouthBeauregard; Charli Sonnier,Iota; MalayaSonnier, Jennings; ShiyaSteib,St. James; Bailey Thomas, Albany,Shelby Taylor, Berwick; Rayleigh Thompson,Caldwell Parish; AbbyTraub, St. Louis; Savanna Triche, Albany; AvaWebb, Bunkie; Triniti Williams,Jena; Hayden Williamson, Patrick Taylor; Piper Wimberly,Vidalia; Mary Wood, Jena;Addie Young,Parkview Baptist.

ALL-METRO TENNIS

GIRLS PLAYER OF THEYEAR

PHOTO

LAUREN LONGMIRE UNIVERSITY HIGH,FRESHMAN

Lauren Longmire continueda legacy left by her sister this season.Longmire won theDivision III singles state title in her freshman season She follows her sister,MaryEllen Longmire,to become astate champion at U-High. Lauren Longmire entered this year’sstate tournament as aregional champion and then breezed through the competition in the state singles bracket. Longmire didn’t drop aset on her waytobecoming astate champion The Cubs freshman wonher first-round match

6-0, 6-1. Shecontinued to cruise through the competition to makethe state final

Longmire’sclosest call was in the final,where shewon the first set 6-3 over Elizabeth Aragon of Haynes.Longmire wonthe second set 6-0 to secureher title.

Longmire’smemorable season earned her the honor of being recognized as The Advocate’sAll-Metro girlstennis playerofthe year

Jackson Reyes

GIRLS COACHOFTHE YEAR

JONATHAN HOWARD ST.JOSEPH’S

St. Joseph’scontinued its stellar runofstate titles this season, winning their sixth straight Division Istate title. Redstickerscoach Jonathan Howard has continued to mold U-High into an unstoppable force on the tennis court.

GIRLS ALL-METRO TEAM

High, Fr Division III singleschampion

St. Joseph’s, So. Division Isingles quarterfinals

PAYTON

MCGREADY

Dutchtown, Jr Division Isingles second round

AUBRIE

Dutchtown, Sr Division Isingles second round

LOUISE LAVILLE

St. Joseph’s, So. Division Isingles second round

EMILY SHEARER

University High, Sr

Division III singles quarterfinals

TheRedstickers also wonthe DivisionI doubles state title. For hiseffortscoaching another statetitle team, Howard is named The Advocate’sAll-Metro girlstennis coach of the year

Jackson Reyes

DOUBLES

HARPER BROWN-RACHLEFF,Jr. andRYLANDSTAFFORD, Jr.

St.Joseph’sAcademy Division Idoubles champion

LILY GUILLOT, So andSOPHIEBOURGEOIS,So.

St.Joseph’sAcademy Division Idoubles semifinalists

KATE McCANN,Sr. andLUCYJIMENEZ,Sr.

St.Joseph’s Academy Division Idoubles quarterfinals

ADALINEBEAVEN, Fr andEMMABROWN,Jr. BatonRougeHigh Division Idoubles quarterfinals

ANNCLAIREMCCULLOH, 7th andAVA ORILLION,Sr. ParkviewBaptist Division IIIdoubles second round

HARPER INZER,Jr. andMEREDITHHILL, Sr Episcopal DivisionIII doubles second round

BOYS PLAYER OF THEYEAR

FreshmanParker BryanofCatholic Highservesduring amatch last season. Bryanentered the state tournamentasthe No. 14 seed and ended up winning theDivision Istate title.

PARKER BRYAN CATHOLIC HIGH,FRESHMAN

Parker Bryan’sfreshman season wasone to remember.Hedominatedthroughout theyearand was the area’s top-ranked playerinthe LHSAA individual rankings. Bryan finishedasthe runner-upinthe Division IRegionII final.That result did little to slow Bryandownatthe statetournament. He entered the tournament as the No.14 seed and swept his first match to reach the quarterfinals.

He then faced BrotherMartin’s Reed MacAlestar, the state’stop-ranked player, and

upsetthe junior in threesets BryanthenfacedSouthside’s Andrew Delello whohad defeated Bryaninthe regional final. Bryanavenged that regional loss in straight sets to clinch the Division Isinglesstate title. Bryan’sperformanceshaveearnedhim a five-star rating on the Tennis Recruiting Network. For his effortsthroughout theyear and forwinning astate title, Bryanwas named The Advocate’s All-Metro boys tennis playerof the year Jackson Reyes

BOYS COACHOFTHE YEAR

ANNABELLARAWLS CATHOLIC HIGH

It was an outstanding year forthe Catholic tennis team, led by Rawls. Her Bears finished as the state runner-up to Brother Martin, which marked the team’sbest finish at the state tournament since its state title in 2022.

The Bears also wontheir sixth straight

BOYS ALL-METROTEAM

SINGLES

PARKER

BRYAN Catholic, Fr. Division Isingles champion

JACKSON BELCHER

Parkview Baptist, Jr Division III singlessemifinalist

JOSHUA

MILLER

Ascension Christian, Sr Division IV singlesrunner-up

LOGAN

BERNARD Live Oak, Sr. Division Isingles second-round finish

MATTHEW MACALUSO Prairieville, Sr Division II singlesquarterfinals finish

CAMERON HART

St. Michael, Sr Regional singles runner-up

regional title and sawfreshman Parker Bryan win asinglesstate title For hercoaching efforts, Rawls wasnamed The Advocate’s All-Metro boys tennis coach of the year Jackson Reyes

DOUBLES

LANDOVUTRAN, Jr. andJACKBRADY,Sr. Catholic Regional doubles champion

PRESTONPECUE,So. andDAVIS WALKER,So. Catholic Division Idoubles quarterfinalists

EDWINREDDING,Sr. andGIANNIPASTORE,Jr. Parkview Baptist Division IIIdoubles runners-up

MICHAEL ZHANG, Sr. andMILOGUTFREUND,8th Episcopal Division IIIdoubles quarterfinalists

CHRISOLIVIER,Jr. andLUCIENPHAM, Jr Dunham Division IIIdoubles second round

HAROLD BERRY, Sr andKASON TANNER,Jr. Ascension Christian Division IV doubles second round

PROVIDED PHOTO

PROVIDED

University High freshman Lauren Longmireswept through the DivisionIII state tournament this season, winning all of her matches in straight sets. Longmire follows in her sister MaryEllen’s footsteps in becoming astate tennis champion at U-High.

ALL-METRO GOLF

BOYS PLAYERSOFTHE YEAR

High senior DrewPrietoplays in the finalround of the 68th Louisiana Junior AmateurChampionship on July 11 at SouthernTrace CountryClubinShreveport. Prieto wonhis second Metro championshiptolead the Bearstotheir sixth straight title.

DrewPrieto dominated in his final high school season.TheBears seniorwon the Baton RougeMetro tournament individual title with a2-under 70.Thewin marked hissecond Metro title and helped Catholic secureits sixth straight Metro championship. At the state tournament, Prietoshot a75 in the first round and a71inthe second to finish 2overand tie for seventh overall. Prieto’sseason averageof34was the

Catholic put up another bannerseason under coach Chris Davis.The Bears wona sixth straight Baton RougeMetro championship, andsenior DrewPrieto wonthe individual Metro title. Catholic placed fourth at the

ANDREW GRISSOM

Catholic, Sr

73.95adjustedaverage

GRAHAM ANGERS

Catholic, So.

74.95adjustedaverage

AIDANCOBB

West Feliciana, Jr

Top20atD-IItourney

LUKE ALWOOD Catholic, Fr Placed 21st at D-I tourney

second-best in the Baton Rougeareaand the best among Division Iand Division II schools

The seniorleavesa lasting legacyatCatholic. The Sewanee signeehas wonmultiple allstatehonorsand helped theBears win astate titlelast season after an 18-yeardrought.

For hisdominanceonthe golf course,Prieto washonored as The Advocate’sAll-Metro large schoolsplayerofthe year Jackson Reyes

DivisionI state tournament and sawsix athletes earn spots on the All-Metro team

For hisworkcoaching,Davis was named The Advocate’sAll-Metro boys coach of the year Jackson Reyes

BROOKS HOLLEY

Brusly,So. 76 adjusted average

BRODYBOURGOYNE

Brusly,Sr. Placed fifthatD-IItourney

BRYCEAGUILLARD

Catholic, Jr 76.7 adjusted average

ANDREW HERNANDEZ Live Oak, Sr 77.245adjusted average

NOLANOSBORNE

St.Amant, Fr Placed 10th at D-Itourney

BRADYKELLER

Live Oak, Sr. 77.755 adjusted average

Editor’snote: Teams selected by area coaches.

JackCarterstood out from thepack in his senior year

The Parkview Baptist senior’s scoring average of 32.50 led the area across all four divisions.At the Division statetournament, he shot a75inthe first round and a73inthe second to secure a fifth-place finish.

The UL signee ranks as the top areagolfer in the American Junior GolfAssociation rankings andthe Universal GolfRankings.Those accoladesadd to last year’sMetro titleand top-three finish at state

WHIT CRAWFORD

Episcopal, Fr Placed 12th at D-III tourney

AUSTIN RAY

Episcopal, Sr Placed 6thatD-III tourney

BRAD BURAS

University High, Sr 73.95 adjusted average

Maci Williams of Brusly plays in the final round of the 68th Louisiana Junior Amateur Championship on July 11 atSouthernTraceCountryClubinShreveport.Williams shot 2-under par at the LHSAAstatetournament to claimher second straight state title.

After Maci Williams wonthe Division I state title last season,therewas only one wayfor the Brusly sophomore to followthat up: win it again. Williams shot 2under at the state tournament to capture her second straight individualtitle and was the only playerinthe field toshoot under par She shot a71inRound 1and a73inRound

2.

“I was on my toes the whole round,”Williams said after her win in early May.“The hard work paying off meansa lot.To go back to back

might meanevenmore.” Williams’ performanceatthe state tournamentwas areflection of her great season. Her season averagescore of 32.67 wasthe second-best in the area. She said she neverfelt the pressure of defendingher state title.

“I knew Iput in the time in,” she said.“It wasmorelikeI was readymore than Ihad expectations.”

For her efforts,Williams was named The Advocate’sAll-Metro girls playerofthe year Jackson Reyes

EVELYN ARTIETA Walker,Jr. Division Istate runner-up

BERKLEY

REITZELL

St. Joseph’s, Jr Placed 14th at D-Itourney

MARCELLA RABALAIS Episcopal, 8th Placed 7th at D-II tourney

His adjustedscoring averageof68ranked as the best across all four divisions in theBaton Rougeareaand helpedhim carve out alegacy as one of the Eagles’ all-time bests. For Carter’s memorable season, he was named The Advocate’s All-Metro small schools playerofthe year Jackson Reyes

OWEN LEJEUNE

Dunham, 8th grade D-IIIstate runner-up

DAVIDGARY

Parkview Baptist, Jr 75.4 adjusted average

BILLYVAN BUZZELL

Dunham, 7th Placed 19th at D-III tourney

BAYLEIGH WALDREP

Ascension Christian, Sr Placed 12th at D-II tourney

SCARLETT

KIRSCH

St. Joseph’s, So Placed 8thatD-I tourney

ELLA NUGENT Zachary, So Placed 16thatD-I tourney

Bruslyhad one of its best seasons in program historyunder Brent Williams.

ThePanthers qualified for the LHSAA state tournament forthe first timeinthe team’s history.

Led by individual champion Maci Williams, the Panthers finished sixth in the

SAMMcCULLOUGH

Dunham, Sr Placed 17th at D-III tourney

PORTER EGLIN

Episcopal, Sr Placed 22nd at D-IIItourney

DAVIDRAINWATER

Dunham, So Top-20 finish at D-III tourney

ELLA PEREZ

Episcopal, 8th Placed 12th at D-Itourney

HAGEN

REITZELL

St. Joseph’s, Fr Placed 23rd at D-Itourney

CARA JONES

Denham Springs, So 90.75 adjustedaverage

tournament.Before that,Brusly claimedthe BatonRougeMetro championship in anineteam field.

For his efforts,Williams wasnamed The Advocate’s All-Metro girls golf coach of the year Jackson Reyes

STAFF FILE PHOTO By JILLPICKETT

PROVIDED PHOTO

ParkviewBaptist seniorJack Carter had an adjusted scoring averageof68, which ranked as the best in theBaton Rougearea. The UL signee is ranked as the top area golferby both the American Junior GolfAssociation and Universal Golfrankings

AT RANDOM

Traveling remindsme of wonders of home

As my wife and Ilanded back in Louisiana after atrip to California lastmonth, Ibegan thinking of aJane Kenyon poem that Itreasure. It’scalled “Coming Home at Twilight in LateSummer,” and it’sabout all the urgencies that greet you after you’ve been gone from home awhile.

“So much to be done,” Kenyon laments, “the unpacking, the mail and papers …the grassneeded mowing.” Her poem reminded me whatwas ahead when we turned into our driveway Ahome misses you while you’re gone, which is agood thing, Isuppose, although the longing can take complicated forms. As soon as we placed our bags into the car at the airport, our little household, peeved by our absence, began to air its grievances. The air conditioning in our car went out as we paid the airportparking fee, signaling abig repair bill that made me wince abit after our vacation splurge. Pulling into the driveway after ourride home, Inoticed that the gas lantern on our porch had blown out in one of the rainstorms we’d missed while we were gone. Fire ant mounds rose like volcanoes from the corners of our lot, and our grass, of course, was as tall as corn.

PHOTO By DANNyHEITMAN

DannyHeitman’srecent tripto California included great views, likethis beach sceneinLaJolla.

Inside, akind someone had saved our newspapers,arranged as neatly as cordwood just beyond the threshold.A little mountain of unopened parcels sat on the rug, and there was astack of junk mail at its summit Slowly,webegan to empty our luggage of laundry,which quickly formed ahillnear the washer.Like amidden of relics from alost civilization, it yielded small clues aboutthe life we’d led on the road. There were swimsuits from our evening in ahot tub, ashirt stained with caramel from an afternoon at an ice cream parlor and socks still crusted with sand from alovely Pacific beach. Over severaldays,wereclaimed our regular life Ipushed our mower overthe high blades of grass, and the yard shed its shaggy excess and revealed acalmer,saner self. Irestocked our birdfeeders, repairing one that had been pillaged by asquirrel. The garden fountain, which had shorted out when we weren’taround, is fixed and working again.

It’sonly now,inthe return to routine,thatI’ve had timeto think about the second part of Kenyon’spoem. In the concluding stanza, after reciting the humdrum list of chores that awaits areturning traveler,she remarks on ahouseholdpear tree, heavy with fruit, that had worked up its bounty while she and her husband wereonthe road

What Kenyon seems to say is that leaving home is agood way to savorits wonders when you return —something I’m learning againnow that our luggageisback on the shelf.

PHOTO FROM GETTy IMAGES

Datingbacktothe ninth century,pilgrims have walked various routes of the CaminodeSantiago, ‘The WayofSaint James,’tothe Cathedral of SantiagodeCompostelainnorthwesternSpain.

SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

BatonRouge walkersofCaminodeSantiagoshare storiesofchurros,chocolate,beautyand pain

BY JOYHOLDEN Staff writer

AT29, Dr.Heidi Nowakowski hadbeen walking for four days across Spain with her brother,Josh, 25, and her friend Rowan Knight from Scotland. As happens withsiblings, the big sister fussed at her littlebrother for oversleeping. They argued. He gotready. She wasnot. He hitthe road without her and her friend —and he wasn’tattheir preplanned meetingspotthat night

WhenNowakowskiand Knight arrived at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela thenext day at noon, her brother was therewaiting for them with waterinhand.

“Then we had lunch and churros and hot chocolate. It just madethe arrival all themore sweet,” she said. “My brother and Iare very close. So we fighta lot, but we always make up.

Thepilgrims werethree of 530,919 who walked theCamino de Santiago, earning aCompostela

arrived

Pilgrim Certificatein2025. Twenty years ago that number was 93,923, evidenceofthe increaseinpopularityofthe journey. Many make thewalkwithout receiving theCompostela certificate, whichrequires proof of the

journeyusing aCaminoPilgrim Passport, with certain stipulations —either 100 kilometers walked or ridden on horseback or 200 kilometers cycled.

See CAMINO, page 4D

Staff report

Lt. Gov.Billy Nungesser and the LouisianaCenterfor theBookat the State Library of Louisiana have announced Louisiana’s two “Great Reads from Great Places”selections for the 2026 National Book Festival, which will be held Aug 22 in Washington, D.C. Louisiana’s2026 selection for youngreaders is “Soggy Like Cush

The National Book Festival is organized by the Center forthe Book in theLibrary of Congress. Each

See BOOKS, page 4D

Cush” by KarlyPierre, illustrated by Kristen Uroda. Acelebration of Creole culture, family and community, thestory followsPetite Marie and her Gran-moman as arainy dayturnsinto an adventure filled with friendship, tradition and Creole cooking. Louisiana’s2026 adult readers’ selection is “You Are My Sunshine: Jimmy Davis &the Biography of a Song” by Robert Mann. The book explores thestorybehindone of America’smost beloved songs, weavingtogetherthe rise of country music,Louisiana politics, WorldWar II andthe civilrights movement into anarrative of culture and history

DannyHeitman

PROVIDED PHOTO

Josh and HeidiNowakowski pose with Rowan Knight, center,infront of the zero kilometer marker in Santiago after theyhad

Educator receives Alvin Batiste Hall of Distinction Award

Bassist, composer, bandleader and educator Roland Guerin is the recipient of the 2026 Alvin Batiste Hall of Distinction Award.

The Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge recognized Guerin at the conclusion of the final concert of this season’s River City Jazz Masters series, Vincent Herring’s “Something Else!”.

The award honors a performer or educator for a “lifetime contribution and cultivation of jazz music in the state of Louisiana.” It’s named for clarinetist and educator Batiste, whose influence helped shape generations of musicians and the modern jazz community in Louisiana and beyond, the Arts Council states.

New Orleans-based Guerin, also a singer-songwriter and arranger has spent decades building an internationally respected career rooted in innovation, storytelling and musical excellence. Raised in a deeply musical family, Guerin began playing bass at age 11 and drew inspiration from jazz, rock, R&B, blues, folk and zydeco traditions that continue to shape his singular sound today

While studying marketing at Southern University, Guerin joined Batiste’s groundbreaking ensemble, The Jazztronauts, where he absorbed many of Batiste’s forward-thinking musical concepts and philosophies. That mentorship would become foundational to Guerin’s artistic voice and career trajectory Over the years, Guerin has toured and performed with a roster of legendary artists, including George Benson, Jimmy Scott, Allen Toussaint, Dr John, John Scofield, Marcus Roberts and Nicholas Payton, among many others.

COMMUNITY GUIDELINES

The Community column runs Sundays in the Living section and accepts submissions for news of events that have taken place with civic, philanthropic, social and religious auxiliary organizations, as well as academic honors.

Submissions should be sent by noon Monday to run in the upcoming Sunday column. Because of space limitations, organizations that meet monthly or more are limited to one photo per month. If submitting digitally, we prefer JPG files 300KB or larger. If taking a photo of a group, have them stand or sit shoulder-to-shoulder If more than six people are in the photo, arrange them on multiple, distinct rows.Avoid strong background light sources.

Identify those pictured by first and last names as viewed from left to right, row by row.We prefer emailed Community column submissions to features@theadvocate.com.We also accept submissions by mail at P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge LA 70821.A phone number must be included.

Hope Group

Republican Women

U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow spoke at the monthly meeting of the East Baton Rouge Parish Republican Women at Drusilla Seafood Restaurant on May 28. Shown are, from left, Sashika Baunchand, Baton Rouge first lady Beanie Edwards and Sarah Holliday James.

Alpine Community Development Corporation

Members of the Alpine Community Development Corporation hosted a spring wellness event on Memorial Day at their community garden. Participants enjoyed a variety of activities, including a prayer and grounding circle, a hydration education and tasting bar, a wellness plant table and a movement and exercise corner From left, seated, are Ethel Felders, Diane Drake and Margaret Evans; standing Bernell Boudreaux, Adell Brown and Fred Sibley.

Garden Discovery Series

Claire Fontenot, left, Master Gardener and developer of the Daylily American Society display garden at Independence Park, is shown with Sheldon Johnson prior to her program on daylilies at the May 30 Garden Discoveries event at the Main Library at Goodwood.

PROVIDED PHOTOS

Members of the Hope Group from Broadmoor United Methodist Church gathered May 14 at Drusilla Seafood Restaurant for food, fun and fellowship with friends. Gathered are, from left, seated, Charlotte Fitzsimons, Donna Boulmay, Judy Burch and Teenie Bajon; standing Beverly Grant, Gerri Cornett, Joy D’Armond Linda Crane and Jackie Eichelberger

Guerin

TRAVEL

2 new species of fireflies turn up at LSU

Attorney thinks more may be hiding in her Mississippi woods

BY JAN RISHER Staff writer

When Amanda Butler Schley, a New Orleans attorney emailed about Magee’s Creek Retreat in Walthall County, just across the Mississippi/Louisiana state line off Interstate 55, she mentioned the fireflies.

She said she and her husband have been working on the cabin for a year and again mentioned fireflies.

The more we communicated, the more I could tell that fireflies were not something Schley thought about on occasion she was a firefly evangelist. Yes, she has built a cabin that she rents, but it’s the fireflies that really light her up. Turns out, there’s a small window to see fireflies in and around south Louisiana, and we’re closing in on the use-by date, with fireflies being in the area from mid-May to mid-June.

So, I headed out to see the fireflies — something I spent much of the summers of my childhood doing. My husband and our friend joined me, one who had never seen a firefly

We were on a mission.

Once at the cabin, Schley took me on a tour and explained that she and her husband are working to make their 37 acres a haven for fireflies.

They’ve also spent much of the past year turning the site into the kind of spot that looks like it has already been photographed for a magazine. The two-bedroom cabin is thoughtfully outfitted, with an outdoor fire pit overlooking the creek and sandbars nearby for exploring. Out back, there’s a fire pit near the water with an old VW van pressed into service as a storage shed, lanterns and s’mores supplies.

Schley framed the firefly hunt as a choose-your-own-adventure.

Level 1, sit on the porch. Level 2, sit by the fire pit. Level 10, walk a trail deeper into the woods in the dark of night. The deeper in, the better the show.

Rarely have I met someone so excited about something as Schley is about fireflies. She had her facts ready Fireflies thrive in hardwood forests with deep leaf litter In south Louisiana and south Mississippi, they appear from Mother’s Day through midJune. They like damp. They do not like rain.

So, at 8 p.m. on a Wednesday — the exact hour the fireflies were supposed to put on their best show — the rain began. The screened-in porch at Magee’s Creek Retreat, it should be said, was a fine place to be rained on.

We sat. We watched water sheet off the roof. We talked about our grandparents. It was the kind of night each of us will likely remember for years to come easy conversation, comfy seats and rain coming down.

WHERE TO FIND FIREFLIES

Entomologist Christine Gambino recommends these spots, all with documented firefly sightings. The species’ active window in south Louisiana is roughly Mother’s Day through mid-June, between dusk and 10:30 p.m. Damp evenings without active rain are ideal.

In Baton Rouge

n BREC’s Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center 10503 N. Oak Hills Parkway, features hardwood forest, boardwalks and documented firefly sightings on iNaturalist.

n LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden, 4560 Essen Lane, where Gambino is working to designate Burden as Louisiana’s first formal firefly sanctuary.

n BREC’s Comite River Conservation Area, 8900 Hooper Road, features more than 100 wooded acres along the Comite River and Cypress Bayou.

Within a day’s drive

n St. Francisville/Tunica Hills

Wildlife Refuge — La. 66, St. Francisville

n Bogue Chitto State Park, 17049 State Park Blvd., Franklinton, features cypresstupelo swamps and upland and bottomland hardwood forests in Washington Parish.

n Tammany Trace — Covington Trailhead, 419 N. New Hampshire St., Covington n Abita Springs Trailhead, 22049 Main St.,Abita Springs, features a 31-mile rail-to-trail corridor through five northshore communities

n Atelier de la Nature, 1050 Andrew Gautreaux Road, Arnaudville, features a 25-acre nature reserve and STEAM education center in Cajun country. It’s free to visit and open daily

Farther afield Kisatchie National Forest, Kisatchie Ranger District, 229 Dogwood Park Road, Provencal, is Louisiana’s only national forest with more than 604,000 acres across seven parishes

By 10:30 p.m., we were ready for bed. And then, the rain stopped. I was already standing when I saw a single yellow blink in the dark high in the trees past the screen.

I gasped.

With that, and against my friend’s better judgment, off we went to Level 10. My husband went to bed. In doing so, he missed a small but real firefly show A dozen or so were blinking in the trees, including one newly emerging adult working its way through the leaves.

Christine Gambino, an entomologist at the LSU AgCenter and one of the few people in Louisiana doing serious firefly work, shed more light on the subject Gambino said fireflies are an indicator species of a healthy environment.

“Leaf litter” is critical to the life cycle of fireflies.

Leaving leaves on the ground, undisturbed and for a long time, is the only way for fireflies to grow to adulthood, which takes the larvae two or three years in the leaves — hunting snails and slugs, before they emerge as the briefly glowing adults we recognize.

The adults only live and shine their lights as a mating call for four to five weeks.

Schley is convinced synchronous fireflies — those that flash in unison, the ones people enter a lottery to see in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee could be in her woods, too. Gambino says Schley may be right.

The most famous synchronous species, Photinus carolinus, lives only in the southern Appalachians. The chance to see them draws roughly 20,000 lottery applications for fewer than a thousand parking passes each year

But there is a second synchronous species, Photuris frontalis, nicknamed the Snappy Sync, which is found in central Mississippi.

Gambino said Lynn Faust an independent firefly researcher in Knoxville and one of the country’s foremost authorities on the insect, suspects Louisiana may have its own Snappy Sync a variant potentially distinct from populations farther north and east.

Nobody yet knows. And that’s where you come in.

Gambino and her team are looking for firefly samples.

“There is zero baseline knowledge about the types of fireflies that we have here,” she said. Her team recently submitted a seed grant to begin DNA sequencing every firefly people send to the LSU Arthropod Museum.

Until that work is done, identification comes down to comparing flash patterns and, when it really counts, examining the genitalia under a microscope

Remarkably, LSU scientists have identified two new firefly species within the past few months found by a taxonomist working through specimens already on the shelves. More than 2,000 firefly species are known worldwide.

In the United States more than 150 species are known — but that number keeps climbing because no one had looked closely enough until now

Gambino says the reasons there are fewer fireflies than there once were turn out to be the obvious ones, in the obvious order Pesticides kill the larvae and the soft-bodied things they eat. Mowing and raking strip the leaf litter where the babies live. Urban sprawl removes the forest edge. LED streetlights drown out the females’ answering flashes, and the males never find them.

So, Schley is right: a pesticidefree cabin on a creek bank near the Mississippi/Louisiana line, with leaf litter left alone, is exactly what fireflies need The good news is that fireflies can be found even closer to home with more spots in Louisiana than most people realize.

After all Schley’s warnings about the narrow firefly season, I left thinking less about what I saw than what we still don’t know. There may be species blinking away in Louisiana woods that scientists haven’t fully identified yet. And that’s enough to make a person look more carefully the next time a tiny light appears in the trees.

To submit a firefly for ID Gambino said the LSU AgCenter accepts firefly specimens for identification through its Insect Identification service. She recommends sending three to five samples. Submission Checklist

n All specimens are dead. n Specimens are on tape or in a tightly sealed container.

n Specimens have been killed and preserved by freezing or in alcohol or vinegar.

n There are no bodily fluids or tissues.

n Photos have a rule or reference item to determine size

n The included address label is taped to the box.

n You include your contact information within the box.

n You include a description of where specimens were collected. Please adhere this mailing label to insect sample submission: Department of Entomology

Attn: Small Insect Specimen ID 404 Life Sciences Building Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, LA 70803 For more information: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/ portals/our_offices/departments/ entomology/id

To stay where this story began Magee’s Creek Retreat is a private, two-bedroom cabin on 37 acres in Walthall County, Mississippi, between McComb and Tylertown. For more information: mageescreekretreat.com

Email Jan Risher at jan.risher@ theadvocate.com.

PROVIDED PHOTOS

Magee’s Creek in Walthall County, Mississippi, borders woods ripe for fireflies.

reaction.

feat.

Amomentwith adragonflyand a messagefor alifetime

BY LISA G. STAFFORD Contributing writer

Ihave been fascinated with dragonflies for as long as Ican remember

Unlike some insects, dragonflies are great to have around. They eat pesky mosquitoes and they have four wings that allow them to do amazingstunts,like flying backwardand snatchingtheir prey midflight. They alsoare beautifully arrayed in amultitude of colors.

Ioften have attempted to lure the plentiful yet elusive insects onto my hand afterIsaw a friend coax adelicate dragonfly onto his extended finger

‘For severalseconds we stood motionless, intentlystudying each other,communicating without words,’Lisa G. Stafford writes of her enlightening dragonfly experience. Human Condition

One day,Imoved closer to my goalwhen, as Iwatered plants adragonfly rested on my outstretched arm. Amazed, Istood motionless, reluctant to scare it away. It seemed to look into my face as it tilted its tiny head and with bulging eyes,seemed to try to anticipate my next move. Its body and wings, in emerald and sapphire hues,glistened in the dazzling sunshine, contrasting beautifullywith the bright red petals of hibiscusand jatropha flowers, and blending harmoniously with my greenand navy blouse. After afew seconds of studying each other,the dragonfly zipped away, and Imarveled that with so many options, it chose me for ashortrepose.

Dragonflyonjatropha

Over the years, Ihave attempted to get extra special photos in my garden, like that of two Eurasian collared doves perched atop the mandevilla-draped arbor,orablue jay sitting among its pink blossoms, or the golden confetti of falling leaves in November,orbrilliantly colored butterflies dancing on abreeze. Some photos Icaptured; others Istill seek. But after trying for severalyears to replicate my friend’sfeat with the dragonfly, Isnapped an event when Ileast expected it

During an evening walk,I tried to persuade adragonfly to rest on my hand and to my surprise, it accepted my offer.I stood completely still to prevent startling it, then IrealizedI had no way to document the rare occurrence, because Ididn’thave my phone with me.

After the dragonfly flew away, Ihurried to get my phone, then stationed myself back at the scene of my good fortune. Could

BOOKS

Continued from page1D

year,affiliate centers fromall 50 states, the District of Columbia and United States territories are invited to selecttwo titlesthat reflect their literaryheritage: one for young readers and one for adult readers. Selected books maybewritten by authors who live in or were born in the state or mayfocus on the state’speople, culture or history

Pierre grew up in Louisiana’s Creole and Cajun countryside, surrounded by sugarcane fields and afamily of farmers andeducators whofostered herloveof nature, culture and storytelling Mann is the author of 10 books on U.S. and Louisiana political history.Heserved as asenior aidetoU.S. Sen. RussellLong and Sen. John Breaux and to Gov Kathleen Blanco. Mann spent

Alongthe way, pilgrimsstop at cafes andchurchestoget their passport book stamped at least twice per day from Saria to Santiago.

Formorethanathousandyears

Dating back to theninth century,pilgrimshavewalkedvarious routesofthe Camino de Santiago, “The WayofSaint James,” to the CathedralofSantiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, wherethe remainsofthe apostle St.James theGreat are believedto be buried.

Itsrecent popularityisnot afirst During the medieval period, it was oneofthe three most important Christian pilgrimages, along with Jerusalem and Rome.

Martee Fry,atthe Southeast Louisiana ChapterofAmerican Pilgrimsonthe Camino,assisted Nowakowski with her planning.

“She helpedmesomuch,”Nowakowski said. “She gave me some pointers on whichtrips would be thebest for what Iwas looking for andwith my time constraints. She also toldmeabout the right guidebooks to use and little things to look out for.”

‘The Camino will tell youwhy’ Somewalk the Camino for spiritual reasons. Somewalktohonor alost loved one. Some walk for fitness. Somewalk for travel reasons. Somewalk to markapivotal momentintheir lives.

Fry,a 76-year-old pilgrim who has been on the Camino three times, says thatthe Caminoreveals its purpose to each participant. She walked herfirst Camino at 66 yearsold. Frylives in Poplarville, Mississippi, but for many years, she lived in New Orleans working as an operating room nurse at Ochsner

The movie “The Way” withMartin Sheen motivated her to go on theCamino about 10 yearsago. After atrip to Italy with friends was canceled, she pivoted to walking the Camino in Spain —byherself.

TIPS FOR THECAMINO

lightningstriketwice?

Stealthy as acat, Istalked my target. With my phone recordinginmyright hand, Igently stretched my left hand to the enchantingcreature. Realizing that Iwas nothreat,itgingerly stepped onto my hand. For several secondswestood motionless, intently studying each other,communicating without words.

Theday Imet adragonfly

The magical moment ended when the dragonflyflew to anew perchtoawait the passing of a hapless mosquito or gnat that would become its next meal. I continued my walk, full of awe andinspiration

Even thoughwewerevery different,wetook amomentto trulysee each other

AndIwondered,how many other bonds can be made if we reach outtoothers —people, animals, birds, insects —that we don’tusually connect with, or even notice? Andhow much richer would our lives be for having made theeffort?

—Stafford lives inNew Orleans.

Advocate readers may submit stories of about 500 words to The Human Condition at features@theadvocate.com or The Advocate, Features, 10705 Rieger Road, Baton Rouge,LA 70809. There is no payment, and stories will be edited. Authorsshould include their city of residence

“Whenyou’reout in thecountryside,you cansee the raindrops or thedew glistening on spider webs,” shesaid. “You can see the beautiful flowers. Youcan actually hear the sheep lowing out in thefields. Youcan see thelittle old ladies out sweeping their steps.”

Shesaidthe people whomet along the way asked each other one major question: “Why are you walking the Camino?”

“The powerful thing aboutthe Camino,” Fry said, “is you don’t have to have apurposewhen you put your first step on the Camino, because theCamino is going to tell you why you are there.”

Nowakowski, thechild of Catholic Polishimmigrants, saidthe Caminowas aspiritualjourney for her

Even though her compatriots were not motivated by religion, they hustledtomakesure she made it to Sunday Massatone of their stopovers.

“It was so sweet that they were trying to get there for me,” Nowakowskisaid. “I remember getting to that church, anditwas abunch of smelly pilgrims.Wewereall sitting together,and Icried because it wassobeautiful. Ididn’tunderstand the Spanish very well, butI just felt so like lucky to be there.”

‘Catholic or not’

For Nancy Hicks, aBaton Rouge pilgrim who went on the Camino with her brother and her niece, every morning started with prayer

“WhetherCatholic or not, we wanted this to be aspiritualwalk because you are walking the walk that St.James’sasheswere brought to thecathedral,” Hicks said. “We prayed that Godwould show us something during theday.”

n Walkingthe Caminoissurprisingly easy to plan withthe help of atravel agency.Thereare multiple agencies that specialize in the pilgrimage n Choosethe route to takeand estimate howmanykilometers to walkper dayaswellashow long the trip will be, and the travelgroups will makereservations at small hotels along the way.

n Foranextra cost, the agencieswill eventransportluggagebycar to the nextaccommodation.

n The most popular route is the Camino Frances, which starts in France, and the most traveled 100-kilometer trail begins in Saria, Spain and ends in Santiago.To go that route,Americans usually flyto Madrid and thentakeatrain to Saria.

n Download your trail onto your phone for easy reference

n Book reservations six months in advance.Twooptions for accommodations are hotels with private bathrooms or albergues,which are hostelswith bunks and shared bathrooms.

n Check withbanks before departure to make sure there is not a block on debit cards forforeign travel.

n The best gear is ultra lite with trail runners,not hiking boots, since most of the route is on pavementand farmland.

n Prepare by working up to the distance chosen per daybefore leavingfor the trip.

was stationed in while serving in the Vietnam War. They got along great and learned their timelines just missed each other Nowakowski, who is from Gonzales, picked up abunch of free pins from Gonzalez City Hall and LSU that she handed out to people she met.Travelers from all over theworldnow have Jambalaya Festival and LSU pins as mementos from their Caminos.

Shouressoote

Just as Geoffrey Chaucer says in “The Canterbury Tales,”the best timefor European pilgrimages is the spring —particularly April and May

Nowakowski first heard about the Camino when she was in 10th grade at St. Michael theArchangel High School in Baton Rouge. Her religionteacher,Ryan Hallford, shared his Camino experience and told his students something she carried fornearly two decades.

18 years on thefaculty of LSU’s ManshipSchool of Mass Communication before retiring in 2024. The Louisiana Center for the Book was established in the State Library of Louisiana in 1994. Its mission is to stimulate public interest inreading, books,literacy andlibraries andtocelebrate Louisiana’s literaryheritage.

Larry and JijiJonas, who went in May,wantedtoachieve the challenge of doing the Camino Portuguese, the secondmost popular route thatbegins in Portugal. As master naturalists, Larry,83, said they also wanted to experience Spain’sflora and fauna. Jiji, 81, saidshe was able to identify wildflowers and bird sounds along the walk.

Asocialexperience

Frysaidmanypilgrimstake the trip with theexpectation of having aquiet and meditative experience, but it’s surprisingly social.

“As you walked, alot of people were doing your same walkand same distance, so afteryou slept for the night andgot back on the trail, you’drun into the same people,” Hicks said. “You build up friendships along the way,and they would tell what they had seen andtalk about their lives.”

RobertHawkins and Nell Huard, twooctogenarian BatonRouge friends who walktogether,have done the Camino twice. Both had memorableinteractionsalong the way

Huardmet ayoung manwho asked her where she was from, and when she told him Baton Rouge, he asked if sheknewJay Johnson, the LSU Tigers baseball coach. Turns outhewas oneofJohnson’sformer players. For Hawkins, it was aconnection from his past that impacted him themost. He befriended aVietnamese Canadian pilgrim who was from thesame town that Hawkins

“He said that it wasthe first time he realized that to experience beauty,you need to experience pain. He hada leginjury along the way, but he said while he was walking, it was so painful, yethe was surroundedbysuch beauty,” Nowakowski said.

Shewent on to attendLSU and medical school. When her residencyendedand she finally had abreak, she decided it was time for the Camino. She wasready to encounter the pain and the beauty After walking 23 kilometers on the first day,her knees and feet startedaching in ways she hadn’t expected.

“I had never felt my joints like that,” she said. “I remember thinking, ‘I’m not sure how I’m gonna do this every day.’”

She did —after applicationsof athletic tape and Tiger Balm

After the fight with her brother andthe reunionatthe cathedral, after the churros and hot chocolate, after everything her joints had to say about it, Nowakowski understood what her teacher meantall those years ago.

“I thinkweunderestimateourselves alot,” she said.

Email Joy Holden at joy.holden@ theadvocate.com.

PROVIDED PHOTOS

Capturing adragonflyona jatropha is one thing;havingone rest on your hand is quitethe

PROVIDED PHOTO

HeidiNowakowski, left,and Rowan Knightmakeheartsigns in frontof the Cathedral de Compostela after theirarrival

Martee Frycelebrates her arrival at Cathedral de Compostela with aselfie.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Larry and Jiji Jonas pause in front of the first marker on their journey in Tui, Spain

-Zeiri

Mr.and Mrs. JohnD.HutchisonofBaton Rouge LA.are pleased to announcethe engagementoftheirson IantoGhofranZeiri, daughterofMr. and Mrs. Mohamed AliZeiri of OuledZayer,Tunisia.The engagement wascelebrated with adinner hostedbythe groom’s parents in Kairouan, Tunisia.

TODAYINHISTORY

By The Associated Press

Today is Sunday,June

7, the 158th day of 2026. There are 207 days left in the year

Todayinhistory:

On June 7, 1998, in acrime that shocked the nation and ledtostronger state and federal hate crime laws, James Byrd Jr., a49-yearold Black man, was hooked by achain to apickup truck and dragged to his death in Jasper,Texas. (Two White men were later sentenced to death and executed for the crime; athird was sentenced to life in prison.)

Also on this date:

In 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia offered a resolution to the Continental Congress stating “that these united colonies areand of right ought to be free and independent States.”

In 1892, Homer Plessy aCreole of color,was arrested for refusing to leave aWhites-only car of the East Louisiana Railroad. (In an 1896 ruling on his case, Plessy v. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld “separate but equal”racial segregation, aconcept it renouncedin1954.)

In 1929, the sovereign state of Vatican City formally came into existence as the Italian Parliament ratified the Lateran Treaty in Rome. In 1942, the Battle of Midway ended in adecisive victory for American naval forces over Imperial Japan, marking aturning point in the Pacific War.

In 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Griswold v. Connecticut, struck down by a 7-2 vote aConnecticut law used to prosecute aPlanned Parenthood clinic in New Haven for providing contraceptives to married couples.

In 1976, New York maga-

zine publishedanarticle by journalist Nik Cohn entitled“The TribalRitesof theNew Saturday Night,” which inspired the 1977 film “Saturday Night Fever” and sparked anationwide disco craze. (Cohn admitted in 1997 that the article was actually awork of fiction.)

In 1979, Texas became the first state to recognize Juneteenth as an official state holiday.(Juneteenth became afederal holiday in 2021; the June 19 holiday marks the day in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston at theend of the Civil Warand brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Texas.)

In 1982, Graceland, Elvis Presley’sMemphis mansion, was opened to the public as a touristdestination, five years after Presley’sdeath.

In 2006, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of al-Qaida in Iraq, waskilledbyaU.S. airstrike on his safehouse.

In 2021, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and her son Paul Murdaugh, 22, from a prominent South Carolina legalfamily,were found shot and killed on their family’s property.(In 2026, theSouth Carolina Supreme Court overturned the murder convictions of Alex Murdaugh, Maggie’shusband and Paul’s father.)

Today’sbirthdays: Filmmaker James Ivory is 98. Singer TomJones is 86. Actor Liam Neeson is 74. Author Orhan Pamuk is 74. Author Louise Erdrichis72. Music producer L.A.Reid is 70.Musician Juan Luis Guerra is 69. Former Vice President Mike Pence is 67. Rock musicianTV hostDave Navarro is 59. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., is 54. Actor Karl Urban is54. TV personality Bear Grylls is 52. BasketballHall of FamerAllen Iverson is 51.

Warm gesture, cold reaction

Dear Miss Manners: My fiancé and Iwere spending time with an old, close, female friend of his. He noticed she was cold and offered his jacket to her.She wore his jacket for therest of theevening.

He’sa kind, faithful man who always looks out for others, and Iknow his intentions were noble; he truly just wanted tohelp his friend when he saw her shivering.

While I’mproud to be marrying such akind man, Icouldn’thelp but feel atad embarrassed. I’ve always felt this was an intimate gesture between romantic couples —tobe wrapped in ajacket that carries the warmth and scent of your beau. Pop culture seems to have ingrained it in my head that wearing aman’scloth-

ing (such as aletterman jacket in high school, or his favoritehoodie after staying over at his place) is aprivilege reserved for romantic partners only Since this was my first time meetingher,italso left me with aless-thanfavorable impression that she should accept the jacket and wear it in front of me. On theother hand, Ican understand the clear practicalityofwanting your friend to be comfortable. I’m not above admittingthat Imight just need to takethe gesture at face value and try not toread too much into it. So am Ibeing overly sensitive, or is this slightly crossing the line? In the future, should he offer? Should she (or any other woman) accept?

Gentlereader: Pleasedeal with this before you are married. AndMiss Manners does not mean you should continue tocriticize akind man for being kind, and to monitor and restrict his friendships.

Gettingthe tops off nail polish bottles

This is your problem,not his. Surely you do not want to alert him that you will be evaluating his every trivial gesture forsuspicion of disloyalty

We are supposed to be beyond the era when it was assumed that there could be only one relationship between men and women, and therefore any claims to friendship are acover-up.

Do someabuse this trust?

Sure. But you have strong evidence that he is not in love with this person he has knownfor years. He engaged himself to you, expecting you to join the friendship —which is what you should try to do.

What would have been rude of her would have been to say,“Oh, no, Ican’t accept this. Notinfront of your fiancée.”

Dear Miss Manners: When I dine at arestaurant and use

aknifetocut my meat,I don’tknow what to do when Ilater wanttobutter aroll. Many places don’tprovide aseparate butter knife, and the dinner knifehas pieces of meat or sauce on it, which Idon’twant on my roll. What am Isupposed to do?

Gentle reader: Ask the server foranother knife. Contrary to popular belief it is the restaurant’sjob to provide proper utensils for eating, not the customer’s responsibility to figure out how to do without.

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

Hints from Heloise

Dear Heloise: I’ve had alot of trouble opening bottles of nail polish. Some bottles have topswith asmooth surface or ashape that’snot easily grasped. Anddon’t forget bottles that have partially dried shut! My quick fix is to wrap arubber band around thebottle cap. It’sso much easier to graspthe bottletoopen it;even the stubborndried-on tops frequently come loose. I just keep rubber bands on the bottle tops while they’re in storagesothat they’re alwaysready to be used. —Sandy,inKalamazoo, Michigan Sandy,this is agood hint.Iusually put on one of my rubber gloves to help me get thetop off of anail polish bottle. Do any of my readers have a special trick they use to open nail polish bottles that get stuck? —Heloise Dealingwithspamcalls

Dear Heloise: Regarding spam calls, if an out-oftown area codeshows up on your phone that you don’trecognize, don’t answer it. Let it go to voicemail. If it’sspam, it will stop on the third ring. If it’s alegitimate call, they’ll leave avoicemail. Not answering usually takes you off their list. Ilove your column and the great advice on so manytopics. —EdF., in St. Louis

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

7summerbookrecommendationsfrom ourstaff dations fro

Staff report

Summer is for reading. Ask anyone in anewsroom and they’ll prove it. When asked for recommendations, our staff came back with alist that spanssevenvolume Danish time-loopnovels, Che Guevara’sroad memoir,ancient Mesopotamian history told with wit, aPulitzer winner and a debut from aSlidell playwright

One book made acolleaguecry

Another prompted arereadingof everything by the same author These are not assigned readsor trend pieces —they’re the books people actually reached forwhen given afew hours and achoice

Hereare highlights of what the newspaper staff is reading this summer:

Alex Lubben says he will be reading the “On the Calculation of Volume” books, written by Solvej Balle. There are seven of them, all about asingle day,orabout the repetition of asingle day thousands of times over.The protagonist, Tara Selter,finds herself stuck in atime loop, Groundhog Day-style, living Nov.18again and again. Lubben read the first book in one sitting He’salso reading “The Gulf: The MakingofanAmerican Sea” by Jack E. Davis. Lubben says the panoramic portrait of the ancient Gulf, overabundant with fish and birds before Europeans got here, will stick with him. And he plans to read more Percival Everett this summer,but “Telephone” is Lubben’s favoriteof theauthor who wrote “James,” which won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Joanna Brown says she just read “They Can’tKill Us Until They Kill Us,” a2017 book of essays by culture and music writer Hanif Abdurraqib. This book is apoignant look at contemporary America throughthe lens of awriter who grew up as aBlack, Muslim, Midwestern kid in the early 2000s,

heavily immersed in the emopunk scene of that era.

“If you’re of acertain age and remember the bands that paved your way through high school (Fall Out Bo anyone?), th book might make you cr Brown says will definitel expand the wy you think about music, community, identityand being from Ohio.”

BY RIEN FERTEL

Contributing writer

The New Orleans-based investigative journalist and historian Robert W. Fiesler is quickly building adynamic and laureledcareer uncovering forgotten storiesof ordinary individuals confronted —one might say trapped —byextraordinary circumstances.

His first book, 2018’s“Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the RiseofGay Liberation,” chronicled the 1973 French Quarter arson attackthat, despite claiming the lives of 49 individuals, thenation’s deadliest attack on agay bar for four-plus decades, was largely ignoredin NewOrleans.

Fiesler’slatest book,“American Scare: Florida’sHidden Cold WaronBlack and Queer Lives,” exposes achilling episodein the Sunshine State’shistory, the closed-door inquisition of ordinary Americans by apower-mad, gerrymandered state senator.Composed like aprocedural thriller, it has also earned severalhonors, including being named aKirkus Best Book of 2025.

He completed his next project, a documentary film he co-directed titled “By George, ALife,” while pursuing aPh.D. from Tulane’s History Department. The story of the Rev.George St. Angelo,a civil rights activist from Fiesler’s hometown of Napierville,Illinois, is currently competing on the festival circuit. This interview was edited for length and clarity

AidanMcCahill said he recommends “The Motorcycle Diaries,” Ernesto CheGuevara’stravelogue as a23-year-old medical student driving arickety motorcycle up the western side of South America,accompaniedbyhis doctor friend, Alberto Granado. Throughout the short and easy read, Guevara describes poverty exploitation andthe treatment

of lepers in 1950s Latin America, lightening the memoir with some hilarious descriptions of his own debauchery and shamelessness.

Regardless of one’sfeeling toward Guevara or the Cuban Revolution, McCahill notes that it’san interesting window into theroots of his revolutionary fervor and showcases an impressive literary ability and eye for detail for a 23-year-old.

Faimon Roberts is reading “Between TwoRivers” by Oxford scholar

NewOrleans-based investigative journalist and historian RobertW Fiesler

How did you find the storythat became “American Scare”? It startedwith aquestion many people have probably asked themselves:“What’swith Florida? How could it be home to such atoxic formofpolitics that, it seemed to me,onceadecade bred akind of sociopolitical panic that would then sweep acrossthe country in ahysteria? In 2019,I wenttothis exhibit at the History of Miami Museum called“Queer Miami.”One corner of theexhibit was devoted to this largely forgottenMcCarthy-era purge runbythis gerrymandered, segregationiststate senator namedCharlie Johns. It focused on an era of the ’50s and ’60s where white supremacy was the shared oppositiontoboth the na-

scent,veryhidden queer community of Florida and also thevery public Black civil rightsmovement in Florida.

Iwas like, Ineed to dive in.

I’m all about lost or forgotten stories. My mantra is this line writtenbythe former U.S. poet laureate LouiseGlück: “Whatever returns from oblivion returns to find avoice.” I’m all about those unapproved stories thathave been suppressed, censored, buried, that don’tdie but return withavengeance. Iwant to ask about your first book,“Tinderbox.”I’m interested in what happened after its publication, its aftereffects.

The profile of theUpStairs Lounge has become so elevated thatit’snow regardedwithin queer Southern history and queer American historyasprobably the

Moudhy al-Rashid, whowrites thebook about ancient history in alight tone with easy readability

“The book takes on the massive complexity of 3,000 years of Mesopotamian history and distills it into digestible, even whimsical, sections,” Roberts said. “In that, she turns what can be amusty topic into afresh, enjoyable trip through history.”

He also recommends “Eros the Bittersweet” by Anne Carson, aclassic examination of Greek poetry

that’spart essay,part literary criticism, part philosophy andpart love song. Though Roberts doesn’tusually read classical Greek, he saysthe book madehim think about things in ways henever did before: “There are parts to ove,parts to dislike and parts thatyou won’tget unless youread classical Greek, which Idon’t. And regardless of howone feels about the book as awhole, there are some sentencesthat are almost the Platonic ideal of the form.” AndrewCanulette recommends “Travis Moon and theGhost Train” by Donald G. Redman, who is aSlidell resident. In his first book, the award-winning playwright and journalist blurs grief and wonder with reality and fantasy

Author seeksto give voicetomarginalized, forgotten

mostimportant event in the queer South. It was this emergency moment thatrevealed such nascent ugliness and bigotry,that it challenged the queer community in Southern societies, but also many Louisianans, to evolve their notions about homosexual citizens and to reveal the consequences of demonizing people and criminalizing them.

In 2022, JP Morrell invited me to help (the New Orleans City Council) draft aresolution to recognizethe atrocity of the Up Stairs Lounge, to apologize, and then to name all of the victims. From there,the knowledge of the Up Stairs Lounge has only expanded.

Youhavepublished several recent articles detailing the overlooked lives of queer men with local roots: Reggie Adams, theonly knownBlack victim of theUpStairsLounge fire, and BayouLafourche activist Peter DeLancey.What is it about theselostorforgotten stories?

Iwas acloseted gay kid in a Chicago suburb where gay people supposedly did not exist. Iwas a child and then an adolescent who was not heard. As an adult, I’ve devoted myself to ensure that marginalized people are heard in some way,especially individuals in the past who were ignored. History can offer some sort of redemption to validate the fact that their voices were of value despite what others said about those individuals within their lifetimes.

The voices of the marginal within any society oftentimes can tell us the most about whatthat societywas at agiven point, agiven place in time.Ifyou really want

to know what asociety was, you need to find individuals who were un-famous —individuals who attempted to be successful but were denied.

Your bio states that you live withyour husband on “the gayest street in New Orleans.” What makesitsogay?

I’m not going to name the street, because Iwant it to be like Brigadoon. It exists in aplace in the imagination, but Iwant you to know it’sreal. If you walk down my street, it’shard to find ahouse without arainbow flag on it. There’sabunch of people named Ryan on my street. They’re all gay and there’sone guy named Ryan who’s straight, and we call him “Straight Ryan” to sort of delineate him from the gays. There’s two head lesbians who are in charge. They’ve bought an empty lot in the middle of the street that they’ve converted into asort of queer,semi-public pool. We have queer pool parties. They cook meals for the whole block. It’savision for intentional queer community living that is inspiring and special and very real, akind of society that can exist anywhere. The fact that it exists in Louisiana is crazy,but Iknow it exists in many places throughout the country,and it’sthis revelation of human goodness. Every day I wake up it validatesthe fact that living in NewOrleans is the correct decision formeasaqueer American.

RienFertel is theauthor of four books. He can be reached at rienfertel@gmail.com.

PROVIDED PHOTO

AlphaKappa Alphahonors12debutantes

TheNuGamma Omega Educational and Charitable Foundation, in partnership with the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Nu Gamma Omega Chapter,presented12debutantes at its recent cotillion at L’Auberge Event Center

Under the theme “A Celebration of Becoming: Grace Realized,a Promise Fulfilled,” the evening celebrated achievement,elegance and service. Chapter President Lauren Grundy-Byrd welcomed nearly 320 guests, while Erinn Gaines, foundation vice president, shared the significance of the cotillion. Foundation PresidentLynn Farrisdelivered the celebratory toast and

official charge to the debutantes, with Dr.Joan Fisher-Ranel serving as mistress of ceremonies

MaliaRebecca Doganwas coronated as 2026 queen. Additional honorees included Miss Amity Savanna Grace Fort and Poise& Grace Tori Charisse Broussard. Thequeen’scourt included: n Kiersten Popillion, first princess n Gretchen Elizabeth Payne, secondprincess n Baileigh Elisabeth Bradford, third princess n AllysonMarie Atkins,fourth princess n BailiZoea Hilton, fifth princess

Additional honorees were:

ship Fund, providingyoung dancers withthe opportunity to perform in “The Nutcracker.” Visit batonrougeballet.org.

RedMagnoliaauditions

Auditionsfor RedMagnolia Theatre’s production of “Men on Boats” will be from 1p.m.to5p.m.June 20 at Dancers’ Workshop, 10745 Linkwood Ct.

“Men on Boats”isthe true-(ish) story of an 1869 expedition, when aone-armedcaptain and acrewof insane,yet loyalvolunteers set out to chartthe courseofthe Colorado River.

Rolesfor diverse women and gender-expansiveactors age 16 and older. Show dates areAug.21-23 and Aug. 28-30. To sign up foran audition time, visitredmagnoliatc. org/auditions.

Ballet

From July 1-31, Baton Rouge Ballet

Theatrewill be offering avery early birdspecial discount on its annual holidayfundraiser, “Night at the Nutcracker,” tickets.The eventwill include aprivate viewing of “The Nutcracker: ATalefromthe Bayou.”

Enter the promo code “Christmas” for abuy one, get one50% discount at givebutter.com/baton-rougeballet-theatres-night-at-the-nutcracker.

Also, the company’s community fundraiser, Clara’s Closet, will run throughout the month of July.The companyisaccepting gently used clothing, shoes or accessories at its studio, 10745 Linkwood Ct.Proceeds will benefit the Nutcracker Scholar-

At MidCityCivic Theatre

Tickets areonsale for Mid CityCivic Theatre’s inauguralproduction, Shakespeare’s “Much AdoAbout Nothing,”opening June 12 on its stageat7155 Florida Blvd. Tickets are$20-$40. Visit midcitycivic.org.

At theArtsCouncil

The Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge,233 St. Ferdinand St., will open “EYECON” on June 7inthe Cary Saurage Community Arts Center’s ShellGallery.The show, running through July 3, is ajuried exhibition that exploresthe people, moments, and cultural traditions that have shapedLouisiana’s LGBTQ+ community.

n Jaycee Alexis Burks, first maid

n Tori Charisse Broussard, second maid

n PromiseGrace Fair,first pearl

n Kera Ana Sharae Chew,second pearl

n Savannah Grace Fort,third pearl

n MadisonTiana Stampley, fourthpearl

The cotillion, the culmination of eight months of empowerment workshops, community service, culturalactivitiesand dancerehearsals, continuestouphold atradition of scholarship and service. Proceeds from the event support scholarships and community initiatives.

Featured artists areCierra English, Jacob Lagasse, Haley Roussel, Julie Glass, Iain McLean and AuraCervini. Aclosing reception is scheduled for 6p.m.to9p.m.July 2. Admission is free. Visit artsbr.org.

At theOld Capitol Louisiana’s Old State Capitol,100 North Blvd.,isshowing “Bought For ASong: AYoung NationExpands,” featuring the Louisiana Purchase agreement, signed by Napoleon Bonaparte, through July 11. This exhibitisonloan from theNational Archives in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary Also, the museum’s Free First SundayonJune 7will playhost to “A Young NationExpands: ColorSheets &Crafts” from noon to 4p.m and its Flag Daycelebration is set for 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. June 13.

The museum also will open the exhibits “Excursions, Expeditions, and ‘Discoveries: AYoung NationExpands” and “Reimagining America: The Maps of Lewis and Clark” on June 24. Finally,the show “Once Upon ACastle: Storytime and Puppet Theatre will be performed from 11 a.m.to noon June 26, and afilm screening of “Capturing America:The CarolHighsmith Story” is setfor 5p.m. July 1. Admission is free to all events. Visit louisianaoldstatecapitol.org.

‘BlueDog’release

The George Rodrigue Foundationof the Arts will releasethe Rodrigue’s painting “Washington Blue Dog” for the first time as afine-art silkscreen print to commemorate the 250th anniversary of theUnited States’

independence. Proceeds from the release will support thefoundation’sarts education initiatives. Featuring theartist’s blue canine posed beforethe U.S. Capitol and the White House, theiconic 30x40inch original waspainted in 1992 as atribute to Washington, D.C. The fine-art, 20-by-27-inch print will be available in an open edition exclusively during 2026 for $1,000. Beginning in 2027, theimage will only be made available to nonprofit organizations as afundraising vehicle for charitablecauses. Prints can be purchased through the foundation’s website at georgerodriguefoundation.org.

At LSUMuseumofArt

The LSU MuseumofArt in theShaw Center forthe Arts, 100 Lafayette St will host Free FirstSunday from 1p.m.to4p.m. June7,featuring alecturebyartistEdgar Cano at 2p.m.and art activitiesinspiredby the museum’s “SouthArtsSouthern Prize&State Fellowshipsfor Visual Arts” exhibition. Admission is free. Visitlsumoa.org/calendar1/2026juneffs. Also, the museumwill hostafree summer reception from 6p.m. to 8p.m.June11celebrating its exhibits “South Arts SouthernPrize &State Fellowshipsfor Visual Arts” and “ReVision: WomeninPhotography.”Visitlsumoa.org/calendar-1/2026/summerreception.

At LASM

The LouisianaArt &Science Museum, 100 S. River Road, will host “RandomActs of Science,” featuring free admission and a$5unlimited

pass for planetarium shows,onits Free FirstSunday,June 7. Also, registration is open for the museum’s NASAAstroCamp for students in thefifth through eighth grades, set for July 8-10 at themuseum, 100 S. River Road. Costis$325. A$75 nonrefundable depositdue at booking. Visitlasm. org.

In Hammond

The Hammond Regional ArtsCenter, 217 E. Thomas St., Hammond,in partnership withthe Hammond NorthshoreRegional

PROVIDED PHOTOByCWASH PHOTOGRAPHy Honorees at Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Nu Gamma Omega Chapter’scotillionare, from left, Gretchen Payne, Baileigh Bradford, Madison Stampley, Allyson Atkins, Promise Fair,Tori Broussard,Kera Chew,Kiersten Popillion, Baili Hilton, Jaycee Burks, Malia Dogan and Savannah Fort

BY MARK KENNEDY Associated Press

NEW YORK

Twenty-four shows on Broadway received Tony Award nominations this season, but not all will walk away with a trophy and the box office attention they usually bring.

Here are some key things to know as Broadway’s biggest night approaches, including how to watch, the top nominees, who is poised to make history and what shows secured performance slots.

When are the Tonys?

The Tonys will be broadcast to both coasts on Sunday from 7 p.m to 10 p.m., live from Radio City Music Hall.

How can I watch them?

On CBS and streaming for Paramount+ subscribers in the U.S.

Who’s hosting?

Pink, a three-time Grammy Award winner, will make her debut as MC “I just want it to be, first and foremost, just celebratory and fun and entertaining and over-the-top and ridiculous,” she says She promises a big, honking opening number — written by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Mark Sonnenblick that ends with some 170 people on stage — lots of costume changes and some wire work, which she has done in her concerts She has tapped Amber Ruffin, a writer and performer for “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” for help with jokes.

A pre-show will be broadcast on Pluto TV from 5:35 p.m. to 7 p.m. Laura Benanti and Tituss Burgess will host that telecast, in which some technical Tonys will be handed out. Viewers can access it on their smart TV, streaming device, mobile app or online by going to Pluto TV and clicking on the “Live Music” channel, found within the Entertainment category on the service.

What performances?

The seven best new musical and best musical revivals — “The Lost Boys,” “Schmigadoon!,” “Titanique,” “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York),” “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” “Ragtime” and “The Rocky Horror Show.”

Who are the presenters?

The presenters include: Adrien Brody, Annette Bening, Ariana DeBose, Ben Platt, Bernadette Peters, Billy Crystal, Bowen Yang, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Carrie Coon, Cole Escola, Darren Criss, Jack O’Brien, Jeremy Pope, John Leguizamo, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kara Young, Kelli O’Hara, Kristin Chenoweth, Law Roach, Lena Waithe, Lily Rabe, Maya Rudolph, Megan Thee Stallion, Neil Patrick Harris, Nicole Scherzinger, Patrick Wilson, Paul Rudd, Ruben Santiago-Hudson,

Sarah Paulson and Sting.

How many awards?

A total of 26 competitive categories, from lead and featured actors to scenic, costume and lighting design. Some technical award handouts may be pre-taped, and winners won’t appear on the live show, only cut down into edited bits sandwiched into the telecast.

Top nominees?

There are two top nominees: “The Lost Boys” and “Schmigadoon!” each earned a leading 12 Tony Award nominations. “The Lost Boys” is an adaptation of a 1987 teen movie vampire thriller, and “Schmigadoon!” is an adaptation of an Apple TV series that gently mocks Broadway musicals. They’re followed by a revival of “Ragtime,” a big, soaring musical celebrating early 20th-century America, with 11 nominations, and “Death of a Salesman,” Arthur Miller’s masterpiece that looks at the unraveling of the American Dream, starring Nathan Lane, which nabbed nine nods.

Vying for top spors?

For new musicals, it’s “The Lost Boys,” “Schmigadoon!,” “Titaníque” and “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).”

For new plays, it’s “The Balusters,” “Giant,” “Liberation” and “Little Bear Ridge Road.”

Can history be made?

History has already been made, in a way June Squibb became the oldest Tonynominated actor in history at 96 and could become the oldest Tony winner, surpassing Lois Smith, who was 90 when she won in 2021.

Nathan Lane is hoping for his fourth Tony, which would make him tied as the most-awarded male performer in Tony history alongside Boyd Gaines and Frank Langella. If he does win for best lead actor in a play for the revival of “Death of a Salesman,” he’d have Tonys in three separate acting categories, pre-

viously winning featured actor in a play for “Angels in America” and lead actor in a musical twice for “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and “The Producers.”

And for the first time since 2002, the contenders for best leading actress in a musical are all firsttime nominees: Sara Chase (“Schmigadoon!”), Stephanie Hsu (“The Rocky Horror Show”), Caissie Levy (“Ragtime”), Marla Mindelle (“Titanique”) and Christiani Pitts (“Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York”).

Oher performances?

Other performances include the original lead cast members of “The Book of Mormon” — Josh Gad, Andrew Rannells, Rory O’Malley and Nikki M. James — this year celebrating its 15th anniversary

Another show celebrating a milestone, “Chicago” now at 30, will have a performance slot featuring Queen Latifah, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Alex Newell, Adrienne Warren, Julianne Hough, Whitney Leavitt, Dylan Mulvaney and Pink. Plus, “A Chorus Line,” which last year celebrated its 50th anniversary, will get a special tribute by Rachel Zegler Leslie Odom, Jr will sing “Without You” from “Rent” during the In Memoriam section, in honor of that show’s 30th anniversary Broadway’s big season

The 2025-26 Broadway season set a new box office record for the second year in a row Over the 52 weeks of the season, Broadway brought in a combined total of $1,910,903,835, a smidge higher than last season’s then-historic total of $1,892,650,959. Last season also had 53 weeks instead of the usual 52, a Broadway accountant trick. In more gloomy news, attendance was actually down — 14,577,322 versus 14,658,531 from last season. And the average paid admission was $131.09, continuing an ever upward trend.

TNS PHOTO By EMILIO MADRID

Laurie Metcalf and Nathan Lane appear in ‘Death of a Salesman’ on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre in New york.

PROVIDED PHOTO By MATTHEW MURPHy Ken Ard appears during a March rehearsal for ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’ in New york.

BUSINESS

ON THESETQUIET

Hollywood productions ywood like ‘Hacks,’ Amy Poehler AmyPoehler series andmoreare using Louisianaaccompany’s solar-poweredtrailers

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

IDEAS INNOVATION &

In an AprilInstagrampost, Emmy-nominated actress Megan Staltershowedoff hernew high-tech and stylish trailer on the set of the hit HBO Max TV show “Hacks,” filmedona studio lotinLos Angeles.

The vehicle comes with Starlink Wi-Fi, an Apple TV,anopen floor planand lotsofnatural light, but most important, the 100% solarpoweredmobile dressing room runs quietly and hasenough excess power to charge up electric vehiclesand otherdevices —and even sendelectricity backtoapower grid

The luxury accommodations were providedbyacompany called Hollywood Trucks, which, despite what itsname suggests, is headquartered in asmall office in the Place St.Charlesofficebuilding in NewOrleans’Central BusinessDistrict. For the venture’sfounder Andre Champagne, anative of Napoleonville, delivering Stalter’strailerand about20others just like it over the

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer

While much of the 2026 legislative session was dominated by battles over congressional redistricting andhigh-profile partisan issues, for the state’sbusiness lobby,aseries of measures designed to ramp up workforce training were arare bipartisan win

Billsthat would restructure the state’sworkforce training programs —and redirect more federal money to the state, expand career programs beginning as early as middle school and create programs to connect college students to career opportunities —passed with support from both sides of the aisle.

“Some of the legislation passed

this year is goingtohaveimplications for our kids and really is goingtohavetremendous impact on ourstate for years to come,” saidWill Green, president and CEOofthe Louisiana Associationof Business and Industry Business-backed initiativesseekingtoreform thestate’s highest-in-thenation workers’ compensation program and to make it harder to tie climate change to fossilfuel activity also were successful.

Green

Andapackage of generous incentives backed by Gov.Jeff Landry’sadministration to attract aerospace companies likeSpaceX sailed through the process Localeconomic development

PROVIDED PHOTOS

NewOrleans-based Hollywood Trucksrents specialty vehicles like the Ecoluxesolar-powered trailer top,which has enough powertorun the factorybuilding behindit, to the film industry. The interiors, above,feature Apple TVs, Starlink WiFi and luxurious spaces.

last few months has been abreakthroughthat’s been in theworks fornearly two decades. During that time, he hasbuilt,sold andthen relaunchedhis truck rental business while designing and patenting cleaner, greener technology that he hopes will find manyother uses beyond thefilm industry Hollywood Trucks recently inked amultiyear deal to rent hundreds of trailers to the globalentertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, which is already using itsEcoluxe models for “Hacks” and other projects,including anew Amy Poehler-

led comedy series called “Dig” and afeature film directed by aworldfamous director

The company also just closed a $30 millionfundraising round led by Louisiana investors to bankroll further expansion.

Champagne, 50, is enjoyinga burst of successthat’sbeen anything but overnight.

“I put 20 yearsofmylife into these vehicles and now they’re finally showing what they cando,” he said.

ä See TRAILERS, page 2E

Session’sworkforce training wins abipartisanbrightspot

groups also notched victories with measures that include funding for infrastructure projectsinNew Orleans anda potential pathforward to clearing blighted properties in Baton Rouge. But thesession wasn’t atotal win for the business community.Workers’ comp reform measures only went so far,and efforts to lower the state’s insurancerates by tackling tort reform stalled. “Not everysession deliversevery reform the business community needs,” Green said. “Wewill continue to work on the missed opportunities and press forward.”

Champagne

6money tips newgraduates should know

sive when overused.

Michelle Singletary

THE COLOR OF MONEy

The congratulatory greeting cards are nice, but let’s face it: Whennew gradsrip one open, they really hope to find cash or acheck inside. But you should also give graduates something that endures: financial knowledge to help them build lasting wealth. Alot of personal finance advice doesn’tchange— even whenthe nationisworried about rising inflation, the highcost of buying ahome or car,and a costly war with Iran —soIlike to revisit the guidanceIoften give to high school and college graduates. Poet-philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson complainedthat we fail to teach students basic lifeskills: “Weare shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for 10 or 15 years and come out at lastwith a bellyful of words and do not know athing.” How true that statement is, especially as it relatestomoney

Here are six basic yet vital tips to help young adults keep their debt low and their net worth climbing.

TRAILERS

Continued from page1E

From La.toL.A Champagne’scareer has taken him back and forth fromthe nation’stwo “LAs” for more than 25 years.

After moving from Louisiana to Los Angeles in 2002 to climb the ladder in the film and television industry,hecame back home five years later to help makeahandful of filmsfor producers taking advantage of the state’srecently created tax credits.

The movies themselves weren’t super memorable. One was ahorror film called “Autopsy” set during aMardi Gras vacation gone wrong But importantly,Champagne discovered abusiness opportunity amid the new Louisiana film gold rush.

Producers were coming to town lookingfor 25% to 35% rebatesfrom the state, but to qualify they needed to spend money with local companies providing sound stages, cameras,lighting,trucks andother necessities. The problemwas manyofthose vendors simply didn’texist yet.

Transportation,inparticular, was an essential need for producers, who use avariety of trucks and vans to move people and gear around and need mobile trailers to house actors, hairand makeup stations, and offices while on set.

Working out of asmall office at Celtic Studios in Baton Rouge, Champagne set out to solve the problem.

He borrowed money to buy a couple of vans and started renting them to producers working in state. About six months later,the business became his full-time job. He reinvested profits in more vehicles, sometimes payingoff purchases in a couple of years because there was so much demand.

By the middleofthe last decade,HollywoodTrucks had amassed afleet of morethan 200 specialty vehicles —from cargo vans to talent trailers that served customers in multiple states. But in 2015, changes to Louisiana’stax incentive program slowed the industry’s growth in the state by capping rebates.In2019, though there was still work to be had, Champagne acceptedoffers from several competitors to sell his company’sfleet whilekeeping the business name and other intellectual property

The deal closed afew months before the start of the COVID pandemic and afew years before apair of strikes in 2023 shut down the entertainment industry formonths. Sincehe sold his fleet, there havebeen some productions in Louisiana, thoughnot enough to keep all in-state sound stagesbusy

“Looking back now,Irealize it was an ideal time,” Champagnesaid.

Keepingitclean

Afew years after launching Hollywood Trucks,Champagne became focused on making his fleet cleaner and greener

“Vehicles burn alot of fuel, and they’renoisy,soIstarted looking at ways to save money forproductions and be more

1. Don’tlistentothe collective“they.”

I’m sure you’ve heard someone say: “Well, they say you need to buy ahome to build wealth.” Or maybe: “Paying rent is awaste of money. They may say: “Don’tworry aboutpaying off your college debt right away because it’sgood debt.”

Whoare “they?”

I’ll tell you who. Most often,it’s peoplewith avested interest in howyou spend your money

They are often wrong. Theywill contribute to your financial stress, making youfeel likeyou’re not succeedingfast enough. Forinstance, there’salot of pressureonyoung adults to buy a home. Until youare readyfor such an expensivefinancial move, consider renting In certain high-cost areas, you maynever beable to afford a home.And for some, that means renting. However,you are not throwingmoney away when you pay to put aroof over your head. Youare nota financialfailure if you are arenter

2. Don’tbelieve people who saythereis good and bad debt

Referring to debt with an adjective is unhelpful.It’sjust debt, and it can be destructiveand oppres-

At aBerkshire Hathaway shareholders’ meeting, billionaire Warren Buffett was once asked by a14-year-old whichfinancial concepts he would recommendto young people whostill have time to implement them.

Buffett, oneofthe most successfulinvestors in the world, didn’t talk aboutinvesting, as many might have expected His advicewas to avoiddebt.

“If Ihad onepiece of adviceto give to young people …itwould be just don’tget in debt,”Buffett said.

3. Don’tget used to thegrace periodfor your loans.

If you’re graduating fromcollege with student debt, don’twait until youhavetostart repaying the loans(for federal loans, typically six months after graduation) to figure outwhatyou owe. The grace periodisa time to practice. Use this time to see how those payments will affect your monthlybudget.

For whatever time youhavebeforethe payments kickin, put that monthlyamount into asavings account. Get usedtohaving less to spend because of theloans.

4. Don’tjust focus on themonthlypayment Always look at thetotality of

PROVIDED PHOTO

NewOrleans-based Hollywood Trucks has built about 20 Ecoluxe trailers for NBCUniversal and more are on the way. The Ecoluxe is a sortof luxuryhomeonwheels that movie stars and crewmembers use while workingonlocations and studio lots.

“Weare now amobile, clean-energypower company becausewecan pull these vehicles up and exportpower to yourbuilding.They could turn an RV park into apower plant, because hundreds of them together can produce megawatts of free, cleanenergy.”

ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Hollywood Trucks founder

environmentally friendly,”he said.

He couldn’t do much to change trucks and vans that came from third-party manufacturers, so hedecided to focus on thetrailers, whichhe could design and then commission.

He began retrofitting hisfleet with more energy-efficient components, from solarpanels to better HVAC systems. He built dozens ofprototypes over severalyearsbefore creating atrailerthatcould runwithout an external power source. He partnered with different manufacturers throughout the process, forging agreements to protect hisintellectual property.

Afterhesoldhis fleet in 2019, Champagne had to step back from the industry,sohe spent several years consulting forclean energy companies in other sectors. When his noncompeteclausesexpired in 2025, hetransitioned into the business of making clean machines under the Hollywood Trucks banneronceagain. He chose Canada’sJexcar,which has served the movie industry forfourdecades,ashis manufacturing partner and got back to work.

The Ecoluxe is the revived company’sfirst product. Costing $150,000tomanufacture a40-foot version and $250,000 forthe 53-footer, it’sa sort of luxuryhome on wheels that movie stars and crew members use while workingonlocations and studio lots.

The company has built about 20 of the new trailers, which already been used by awho’s who of A-list actors and musicians. Another 12 vehicles are in production, and Champagne is excited to show more users what they can do.

“You justpull it up and never turn it off,”hesaid. “It hasits own internal power system, so it doesn’tmake asoundeven when everything’srunning.”

what you’reborrowing. By that, I don’tjust mean whetheryou can handle the monthly payment and the interestyou’recharged. Whatwill that loan costyou over the long run?

Consider what else youcould do with that money if youweren’t constantly servicing debt

If youborrowtoo much for a car,that’smoney youcan’t invest If your mortgage is too high and overextends your budget,you can’t build an emergencyfund for when lifehappens.

5. Don’ttreat yourbudget likeanadversary. Everbeen in love?

Treat yourbudgetlike alove interest. Stay connected to it Change when necessary andappropriate to make things work.

If youdon’t knowthe song “And IAmTellingYou I’mNot Going, go find it on YouTube.I like Jennifer Hudson’sversionfromthe movie“Dreamgirls.”

Here’show it starts:“AndIam telling you, I’mnot going. You’re the best man I’ll ever know. There’s no way Ican ever go.No, no,nothere’snoway.No, no,no, no wayI’m living without you.” Now replace thewords “best man” with “best budget.”

BIPARTISAN

Continuedfrom page1E

Bigwin on workforcetraining

The most significant win, business leaders say,was apackage of bills that consolidated power and millions of federal workforce training dollars under Louisiana Works, the former Louisiana WorkforceCommission, which wasrestructured during the 2025 legislative session. Those federal dollars, which totaled $115 million this year,previously flowed to 15 differentregionalcouncils charged with devising and overseeing workforce training in their respective geographic areas. Abill approved during the sessionwould effectively funnel the money and control to the state, which advocates saywould allowfor greater coordination, oversight and efficiency

Adam Knapp, president andCEO of Leaders for aBetter Louisiana, said the movewas “a longoverdue restructuring” thatwill“move the needle on workforceinwayswehave not seen in more than a decade.”

Otheruses

Hollywood Trucks’ supplier agreement with NBCUniversalisabig win for Champagne, whose long-term goals include bringing trailers back to Louisiana,where his headquarters will remain.

“I was bornand raised here, so that’swhy we’re standing here,”hesaidlastweek. “I wanttobuild aglobaljuggernaut from here.”

Champagne said he is encouraged by theway his new vehicles have performed since their rollout. He hopestoprove their usefulness to other industries, possibly serving as mobilepower plants for disaster relief or construction sites.

“Weare now amobile, cleanenergy power company because we can pull thesevehicles up andexportpower to your building,” he said. “They could turn an RV park intoa power plant, because hundreds of them together can produce megawatts of free, clean energy.”

Afew weeks before delivering thefirst Ecoluxe trailer to NBCUniversal’sstudio lotin LA earlier this spring, Champagne and his manufacturing partners in Canada conducted an experiment, connecting the vehicle’s50-amp electric output cord to the breaker panel of thefactorybuilding where it was made.

Champagne flipped aswitch andproved somethinghehad been theorizing for years: Even thesmallestversion of his new vehicles can power an entire building for aperiod of time.

“Itwas areally surreal moment,” he said. “At first, we were just afraid we’d blow something up at thefactory,but now I’m thinking about disrupting several industries by creating fleets of fully autonomous vehicles.”

EmailRich Collinsatrich. collins@theadvocate.com.

That’show youshould approach your budget. No, no,no, no wayyou should be living without it 6. Don’tkeep saying“Idon’t know.”

Me:What’syourtotal student loan debt?

Young adult:I don’tknow. Me:Whatisthe differencebetween gross payand netincome?

Young adult:I don’tknow. Me:What’sFICA?

Young adult:I don’tknow? Financialilliteracy can keep you broke or hinderyourabilityto growyourwealth

There’s apoint in your life when ignoranceabout your personalfinances is achoice, andit’sone that won’tserve youwell.

Childrencan saytheydon’t knowbecause they typically have parentsorguardians who aresupposedtoknowfor them. Butby thetime yougraduate fromhigh school or college,you have to take responsibilityand learnasmuch as youcan aboutbudgeting, credit, saving andinvesting.

Youcan no longerafford to say “I don’tknow.”

Email Michelle Singletary at michelle.singletary@washpost. com.

needs, also died in committee.

Differingperspectives

Avictory for the business community on the energy front came in the form of abill that blocks lawsuits against oil and gas companies over the impacts of climate change.

Business lobbyists also successfully fought back bills by environmental groups and local governments that would have made it hardertomoveforward with carbon capture and sequestration projects. The measures, Green said, would have created, “more regulation and more uncertainty at atime when we’re trying to create more jobs and opportunities.”

Another measure created thefunding mechanism for anew workforce traininginitiative, establishing the Bayou Growth Opportunity Fund, which also wouldbeadministeredbyLouisiana Works. Modeled afterasuccessful program in Michigan, “BayouWorks,” as the local program is called, would award competitive grantstobusinesses that partner with qualified training providers to build skills and increase productivity Lawmaker did notfundthe program. But Green saidestablishing aframework to get more workers up to speed is an important first step.

“The funding will eventually get there,” he said. “It’s too importantnot to seethrough.” Lawmakers also expandedaccess to workforcefinancial aid, expanding theTaylor Opportunity Program for Students’ Tech scholarship to include part-timestudents, streamlining dual enrollment processes and increasing instructional capacity in community and technical colleges for high-demand fields.

Mixedresults

As in thepast, business lobbyists pushed bills seeking to lower the duration and cost of workers’ compensation claims. The state’sclaims areamong thecostliestinthe U.S. even though Louisiana has some of the nation’slowestrates of on-the-jobinjury

Onemeasurethat business groups claimed as avictory requires the Office of Workers’ Compensation to collect andanalyze detailed billing, payment utilization and access to care data in order to determine why some doctors charge so much more than others when treating workers’ compclaims.

Leah Long, state director forthe National Federation of Independent Businesses,which lobbies forsmall businesses, said the measure is an “important first step towards amore modern andaccountable workers’ comp system.”

Key tort reform measures failed, however, with lawmakers opting not to advance out of committeeabill that would have established damage caps in civil lawsuits.Green said the measure had been “a reasonable bill,modeled after other states” that LABI will bring up again in the future.

Otherbills, including one that would require expertwitnesses to face greater scrutiny in jurytrialsand another to ensure that medical awards are used for legitimate long-termcare medical

As it did whensuccessfully passing incentives two years ago used to secure the Meta artificial intelligence data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana Economic Development asked lawmakers to sign nondisclosure agreements and pass incentives to benefit aerospace companies like SpaceX. Invest in Louisiana President and CEO Jan Moeller,whose organization advocates for equitable taxand spend policiesand is often at odds with the business lobby,saidthe widespread use of NDAs forincentivesistroubling especially because it’sunclear what the state is getting in return for giving away tax dollars. On other business issues, Moeller saidhis group applauds many of the workforce training bills.

“In asession that was so deeply polarized, this was an area where bipartisanship reigned,”hesaid. “I think people of good will on both sidesbelieveswe need to train workers for good jobs.” He lamented,though, that lawmakersdid notaddress wages for low-incomeworkers.

“You can have allthe workforce training in the world and you still are going to need custodialworkers, inhome care workers, and without a meaningful minimumwage, they are going to continue to struggle financially,” Moeller said.

Localvictories

Local economic development groups supported many of the broader statewide initiatives around workforce training and education and say they representwinsfor localcommunities as well as for the state as awhole.

The Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership celebrated the passage of ameasure establishing aframework forpaidinternships that provide high school credits connected to business partnerships.

The group also hailed the passage of aprogram that addresses the shortage of qualified instructors in high-demand industry sectors. It creates astructure in the Louisiana Community and Technical College System by creating astructure to recruit, train and retain teachers capable of providing technical educationthataligns with the needs of industry Ablight redevelopment initiative backed by the partnership also passed thissession. Thelaw sets up avote in November on aconstitutional amendment that would allow for property taxexemptions on blightedand derelict properties that havebeen rehabilitated.

In New Orleans, GNO Inc.’sMichael Hecht said one of thekey highlights wasthe creation of the Louisiana State Infrastructure Bank, which delivered anew financing tool to deliver more infrastructure projects, leverage public and private dollars, and stretch state resources further

Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@theadvocate.com.

Knapp

Moeller

La. Lottery quintupled revenue amid gaming industry changes

BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer

Rose Hudson describes her first role at the Louisiana Lottery Corp.

as a “Swiss Army knife.”

She started her journey at the company at its inception in 1991, after the state Legislature approved a lottery to generate revenue without raising taxes, taking on tasks like cleaning toilets and writing checks. She took a brief hiatus from the company but has headed the organization for the past 20 years. As president and CEO, Hudson still sees herself in a do-it-all role, which she says comes in handy in an ever-changing gaming market.

As mandated by law, the lottery contributes $500,000 to the state

Office of Addictive Disorders and at least 25% of revenue to the Minimum Foundation Program, which funds public education

According to preliminary revenue numbers for 2026, the organization’s 35th year, the lottery will contribute about 30% of its revenue to the MFP, Hudson said.

The legislative mandate is the organization’s “north star,” she said, guiding the lottery toward maximizing dollars for the state.

In recent years, the organization has posted $500 million to $600 million in earnings, which Hudson attributes to the lottery’s marketing strategy to partner with brands like the New Orleans Saints, create experiential prizes like a “Warehouse Dash” shopping spree and work one-on-one with its 2,900 retailers on product display That’s up from about $100 million to $200 million in revenue in the lottery’s early years.

Retailers earn a nickel for every $1 ticket sold and can earn additional commission for selling big jackpot tickets, totaling about

$800 million retailer commission over the years.

“We take our part of that very seriously, hence all of the games that we come up with, the approaches to marketing, all of that drives back to our part in the revenue generation effort,” Hudson said.

In this week’s Talking Business, Hudson discusses changing consumer behaviors, upcoming lottery technology and her tenure at the organization.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity

Are there any changes recently in what customers are wanting?

The visual appeal of the tickets themselves is a really big deal right now Tickets that are more in line with what else they’re seeing in the marketplace, let’s say the Saints. That’s something that they’re familiar with.

Customers like to go to games or watch the games on TV so matching up what they’re accustomed to seeing in their typical consumer life with our tickets.

We did a Hasbro ticket, so we did a suite of tickets with (the game) Clue, and so that’s kind of fun.

Whether they played the game or are familiar with the game, those are some of those things that we see that are very attractive to our customer and really pop out of the display

How would you describe the organization when you first joined?

It’s night and day We are a smaller organization. We’ve been able to really kind of tighten the way we operate.

We’re lean, following some re-

ally good business principles to make sure that we again are maximizing revenue.

We operate on less than 5% of gross revenue for our operations, which is unheard of.

We are innovative and creative in a way that we weren’t in the beginning.

We’ve really been able to take advantage of some very bright minds coming into the organization and being able to say, “What if we try this?” or “This would be an excellent way to market our tickets or develop our games.”

The industry has changed, consumer behavior has changed, and so I think we’ve been really good at kind of being flexible and changing for what the consumer and what the marketplace looks like.

I was reading that other state lotteries use somewhere around 10% of their revenues for operations How are you guys able to operate with 5%? What do you feel like deters other states from doing a similar thing?

The legislative mandate to give 25% really has been a driver and helped us from day one be able to kind of outline how we spend the money, how we spend that revenue, and what we can’t do, or what we can do within the parameters.

If that were removed, I think we would still be, as a part of our core business principles, operating in the same way using those same guidelines.

What’s the latest technology relating to gaming that’s on your mind right now?

The big one is what we would like to do is internet lottery We would love to be able to have our customers be able to purchase

tickets via the mobile app.

It’s happening in probably 13 other states right now very successfully They’ve been able to partner with retailers to make sure that those brick-and-mortar retailers don’t lose out.

It’s kind of a rising tide lifts all boats concept. When we pull that information, we’re able to see that we would not do any harm to our 2,900 partners by expanding into the mobile arena, but that is a policy decision that the Legislature would need to agree to, hopefully, at some point.

It seems like other states have done this already Why now for the organization?

I want to emphasize that we would need legislative approval to do that, and that has not happened yet, so I don’t want to get out in front of them, but it’s a perfect time for us, in that we see what other states are doing, we’re

listening to the consumer, and so we’re trying to kind of walk carefully with the Legislature and say, here’s the information.

It does not do harm to our current retailer base, and actually we can help drive traffic to those stores, whether it be that first download incentivizing the retail for a customer to get a download to download the app there, so there are ways that we can put their minds at ease, and see that this is next. You can buy a car, and you can buy wine and shoes online. We can do this, we can protect our consumer we can geofence to make sure only Louisiana residents are purchasing, we can agegate to make sure that our customers are 21 and over. It’s just a process. I think that change will come, but it’s a process that we work with the Legislature on.

AROUND THE REGION

DefensefirmtoexpandLSU operations,createnew jobs

Integersaysnew salaries will average $130,000

BY TIMOTHY BOONE Staff writer

ASouth Carolina-baseddefense technology companysaiditwillexpand its operations on the LSU campus, amove that will create 23 goodpaying jobs. The new jobs at Integer Technologies will have an average annualsalary of $130,000, according to Louisiana Economic Development. LED said the expansion will create 28 indirect jobs and keep the nine current employees at Integer

Company officials saidthey plan to increase the numberofemployees year-over-year by about 35% over the next four years. Integer,headquartered in Columbia, SouthCarolina, established operations at LSU in 2023. Earlier this year,the companymoved into aspace in the LSU Digital Media Center.The company works with several universities, including theUniversity of SouthCarolina,the University of SouthernMississippi, the University of Wisconsin-Madisonand Florida StateUniversity,totransform scientificresearch into software and systems that help the military and commercialcustomersmake faster, better decisions “Integer Technologies’Baton Rouge presence proves LSU’sresearch and

Integer Technologies’ Baton Rouge presenceproves LSU’sresearch and talent is a powerful engine for recruitment and innovation.”

WADE ROUSSE, LSU president

talentisa powerful engine forrecruitment and innovation,and we’re proud to workwith them on next-generation technology for thenation,” LSU President Wade Rousse said in astatement

The expansion is building off a$9.8 millionNavyresearchcontractthat Integer was awarded in 2024.

That money led to the development of aresearch team from the LSU College of Engineeringand the Collegeof Science to improve the intelligence, autonomy and decision-making abilities of maritime systems, such as underwater robots.

“Our partnership with LSU has created aunique environment where industry,academia, and government canworkshoulder-to-shoulder to bring innovations from the labtothe warfighter,” Duke Hartman, Integer

CEO andco-founder, said in astatement. “Together,we’re developing cutting-edge, predictive intelligence software to support the national security priorities of theU.S.Department of War, while building on the substantialmaritime infrastructure and know-how that already exists at LSU and in Louisiana to create meaningful, well-paying careers forLSU grads and the local workforce.” Integer was awarded acompetitive incentive package from LED to expand itsoperations, including participating in the Digital Interactive Mediaand Software program, which providestax credits forpayroll and production expenditures.

Email TimothyBoone at tboone@ theadvocate.com.

Gulf SouthAngelsmergeswithD.C.-basedinvestorgroup

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

Louisiana’slargest angel investor network just got bigger

In May,the New Orleans-based Gulf South Angels announcedit was absorbing members of the Washington, D.C.-based MEDA Angels,a healthcare-focused group.

Founded as the NO/LA Angel Network in 2014 by former Weather Channel executiveMike Eckert, the nonprofit investment group changed its name two years agoasitexpanded itsfocustothe region. It has more than 170 investors across20states.

MEDA Angels, established seven years agobyElizabeth Cho-Fertikh, is anetwork of approximately 50 high-net-worth physicians and healthcare professionals basedin 18 states, Canada, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.

Eckert, Gulf South Angels’ board chair,said he and his fellow investors areexcited to bringinnew blood, especially those with medical expertise.

“This transition enhances our

connections within the healthcare communitynationwide and continuestobuild onthe momentum of GSA’sever growing membership base and brand name,” he said in aprepared statement.

Cho-Fertikh said the deal made sense because her group had been looking for an expanded base of investors within astrong support structure

“I’m thrilled for the additional camaraderieour members will enjoy,access to even more expansive deal flow,and the opportunity to further establish ourselves as a trusted, go-to healthcare investor group for startups seeking both strategic and financialsupport,” she said.

Gulf South Angels meets monthly and employs twopart-time staffers to organize meetingsand analyze potentialinvestments.

The group’sboard of directors, executive committee and due diligencecommittees gather at other times. Members payanannual fee andagree to aminimumannual investment amount of $10,000 to stay active. The group’smembers, who make individual investment

decisions, have participated in 151 funding rounds in 75 companies. Theindividual investmentsadd up to $34 millionsince thegroup was formed.

Approximately40% of thenonprofit’s allocations are concentrated in pharmaceuticals, biotech, medical devicesand healthcare IT.Nineteen of its companies have “exited,” which is investorlingo forasale, merger or public offering that leads to apayout.

MEDA Angelsisafor-profit organization witha concentration of physician, scientist,insurance and healthcare industry investormembers. The group’smembers have invested approximately $10 million in 26 early-stage healthcare startups.Three of thosestartups —Atraverse Medical, Citus Health and Allotrope Medical —have had successful exits, according to a company spokesperson.

The transition of MEDA Angels members into Gulf South Angels will begin immediately and continue throughout thesummer Email Rich Collinsatrich. collins@theadvocate.com.

Working

Places Dozens of Local

Recently,GNO,Inc.launchedthe sixth year of our InnovationInternship Program, placing 45 college students with 39 companiesacrossSoutheast Louisiana.

TheGNO,Inc.Innovation Internship Programis premisedona double-win:

•Promising local students getreal-world experience andbusinessconnections

•Regional businessesget talent

The2026 internship cohort is our largest andmostdiverse ever:

•45paidinterns,39hostcompanies across six career tracks: STEM, Startup, Engineering, Energy,Trade &Logistics/Maritime,and PrivateEquity/ VentureCapital

•$20/hour,30hoursper week foreight weeks, witha C-SuitePitch Competition andindividual capstone presentationsatthe close

•Students from12institutions,including DillardUniversity,LSU,Loyola, SUNO, Southern BatonRouge,Southeastern,Tulane, UNO and Xavier

•Hostcompanies ranging from newcompanies likeNewlab andObatala Sciences, to major operatorslikeCFIndustries,PortofNew Orleans, MSC MediterraneanShipping Company,and Vivace(Michoud) [Seefull list of host companiesinimage below]

•Since theinternship programlaunchedin2021, students have maintained a 97% retention rate with host companies 65% percent of alumni have been invited back forextended placements. When thiscohortfinishes in late July, GNO, Inc. will have served nearly150 students total.

The2026 internship programissupportedby Chevron, Boeing,the Tulane Innovation Institute, LA Works, theBrown Foundation,the Walton Family Foundation,and NOBIC.Thank you!

Youcan read the full press release here Companiesinterestedinhosting an intern can reachDaphineBarnes at dbarnes@gnoinc.org

Student applications forthe 2027 cohort open this fall at gnoinc.org.

PROVIDED PHOTO

MikeEckert, aco-founder and former CEO of The Weather Channel, founded Gulf South Angels after moving to NewOrleans in 2013 and recognizing aneed forstartup capital in the local market.

MichaelHecht President &CEO GNO Inc

LouisianaLegislature ChoseBalance on Menhaden: Stronger OversightWithout Sacrificing CoastalJobs

Louisiana’smenhadenfisheryisoften scrutinizedfromafar, whichmakes it easy to forget that behindthe headlinesare working families,multi-generationalfishingoperations, andblue-collarjobsincoastal communities like Plaqueminesand Vermilionparishes, and localitiesinbetween,thatdependonthisresource Thatiswhythecommercialmenhadenfishery approachedthislegislativesessionwithasimple goal:workcooperatively with lawmakerson practical, science-based measures that improve transparency,reporting,and accountability withoutinflictingunnecessaryharmonthepeople whomaketheir living on thewater That is exactlywhathappened.

Lawmakersconsideredseveralproposalsthis sessionimpacting wherethe menhaden fleet operates.The debate wassometimes heated andsomeadvocates cast thefishingindustry as avillain.But ourindustrylistened,engaged, andworkedwiththe Legislaturetoadvance reasonable measures whileopposingproposals thatwouldhaveimposedsevereeconomicharm. TheLegislaturechosetostrengthenoversight andpublicconfidence throughbetterreporting, cleareraccountability,and vessel-tracking requirements,while rejectinganapproachthat wouldhavepushedthefisheryintoanunworkable corner First, HB 872requirespurse seinevessels engagedincommercialmenhaden reduction fishing,touseAutomaticIdentificationSystems. Thelargersteamersormotherships arealready equippedwiththetechnology.AIScreatesavessellocation record that cansupport enforcement, improveaccountability, andanswerwhether boatsare respecting establishedboundaries. It willrequire industry investment in equipment, installation,maintenance,and compliance, but it is a practical andtransparentbill.

Second,lawmakers strengthened accountability forcertain violations.Our fishermenrespectthelawanddesignatedfishing areas.Someproposalsincludedafirstoffensefine of$50,000.TheLegislaturetookamorebalanced approach.HB757,nowsignedintolawasAct316, includes afirstoffense fineof$2,500, roughlya tenfoldincreasefromthe prior$250 penalty. Boundariesmatter,andthelawnowreflectsthat Third,inHB886,lawmakersimprovedpublic understandingofthemenhadenfishingindustry withoutcompromisingsensitive details. We are transparentinour operations,but commercial catchrecords canrevealoperational strategies anddetailedfishing patterns.The proper balanceistogivethe public aclearer pictureat anaggregatelevelofharvestwithoutturningover specificset-by-setlocationinformationthatwould unfairlyexposeindividualcompany’soperations. Thesereforms occurred in afisherywitha strong management andconservationrecord. Louisianarecentlyconducted abycatch study, funded througha$1million legislative appropriationand administered by theGulf States Marine FisheriesCommission, using onboardobservers andelectronicmonitoring to evaluate 418purse-seine sets,3.2 percentof Louisiana’stotal 2024 menhaden fishingeffort. Theresultsdid notsupport widely circulated claims that menhaden fishing is an unchecked driver of sportfish mortality. Totalbycatch was estimatedatroughly3.6percentbyweight,below Louisiana’s5percentcap,andreddrummortality from thefisherywas asmall shareofoverall red drum removals.Thisdemonstratesthatany furtherreformsshouldbeproportional,targeted, andgroundedindataratherthananecdotes or worst-case assumptions.

ThatiswhytheLegislatureactedprudentlyin declining to advanceHB855, whichwould have

required thefleettoonlyfish in waters deeper than 22 feet.Supportersframeditasabycatch solution,but it wouldhave removedmiles and milesofavailablefishinggroundsthatsustainthe fishery.Landingsrecords show that roughly85 percentofmenhaden landings occurinthe zone thebillwould have restricted.Thisstructural disruption wouldhavethreatened jobsand the establishedfishing practices in Louisiana’s coastalcommunities Thestakesarereal.Louisiana’sGulfmenhaden industrysupportsmorethan2,000jobs,generates more than $419 millioninannualeconomic impact,purchases tens of millions of dollarsin goodsandservicesacrossdozensofparishes,and supportsdockworkers,plantemployees,welders, mechanics, truckdrivers,fuelsuppliers,vesselservicebusinesses,andcoastalsmallbusinesses. Noresponsiblepolicymakershoulddismissthose livelihoodsascollateraldamage. Policymakersalsoshouldn’tignorethebroader management context. Louisianahas already adoptedsignificant nearshoreprotections includingcoastal buffer zonesand additional protectionsinsensitive andhigh-priority areas. The questionbeforelawmakers waswhether to

pair thoseprotections with practicaloversight toolsortoimposeasweepingdepth restriction that wouldhavedisplaced most of thefishery’s historic landings

Thescientificclaim behindthe depth restrictionwas also farlesssettled than some advocatessuggested.Asdiscussed during the session,pushingboatsincrementallyfartherfrom shoredidnotshowaconsistentbycatchreduction. Amajor reductionappearedonlyatthe 22-foot threshold,thesamepointatwhichthefleetwould loseaccesstomostofitstraditionallandingsarea Louisiana’sLegislature weighedthattradeoff honestly andchose balance. Themenhaden fishery is sustainable,heavily scrutinized, andeconomicallyimportant Gulf menhaden arenot overfishedand arenot experiencingoverfishing.That’swhythefishery wasrecentlyrecertifiedassustainable by the Marine StewardshipCouncil This legislativesession demonstratedwhat is possible when thepeopleclosest to thework engage legislatorsand follow thescience to advancereasonable oversightmeasuresthat retain valued jobs and livelihoods

Broughttoyou by theLouisiana Commercial Fishing Coalition, LLC

Staff report

South Louisianabusinesses and nonprofit groups recently announced the following promotions, new hires and resignations.

BatonRouge

Sibel Bargu Ates hasbeen appointed the vice provost and dean of the Pinkie Gordon Lane Graduate SchoolatLSU.

Bargu Ates is aprofessor in the Oceanography and Coastal Sciences Department and hasserved as interim dean of the graduate schoolsince last year

She previously spent seven years as associate dean for Academics in

Fool’sTake: Growth and dividends from real estate

the College of the Coast and Environment.

JeremyJallans has beenhired as chief financial officer of Open Health Care Clinic.

Jallanshas previously worked for Ochsner Health andSt. Thomas Community HealthCenter NewOrleans

Dr.Dewitt Bateman hasbeen appointed chief medical officer of Lakeview Hospital. Batemanwas previouslyassoci-

industry historical median of 94.4%.

atechief medical officer and medical director of perioperative services at Woman’sHospital in Baton Rouge.

ErikGonzalez has been promotedto director of facility operations forthe Ernest N. Morial Convention Center

AU.S. Marine Corps veteran, Gonzalez joined the Convention Center in 2006 as facility services

manager and becameassistant director in 2018.

KendallMcManus-Thomas has been appointed as the new CEO and principalofWarrenEaston Charter School,effective July 1.

McManusThomas Moreau

Aformer WarrenEaston student, teacher and ad ministrator, McManus-Thomas wasmost recently principal of Benjamin Franklin High School and waspreviously principal of Andrew H. Wilson Charter School.

Raymond“Andy”

Moreau has been hired as executive chef at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel NewOrleans. ACharleston, SouthCarolina, native, Moreau has previously had leadership roles at Marmalade in San Juan and, locally,withRestaurant August and BRG Hospitality

Do you have personnel changes to shareorother ideas forour business coverage? Drop us a lineatbiztips@theadvocate. com.

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Fool’sSchool: Rethinkingdebt

It’seasytothink of debt as an undesirable thing. You(or acompany)borrow money for some purpose, such as buying acar (orbuyinganother company), and then you are on the hookfor repayingthat money alongwith interestonthe loan. It’struethat for us individuals, being debt-free is great,and that high-interest-rate debt,such as credit carddebt, canlead to big financial problems. And when you’re researching stocks, generallythe less debt each company holds, thebetter Still, debt isn’tnecessarily a deal-breakerinlife —orinvesting. Without taking on debt in the form of amortgage or auto loan, most peoplecould never buy ahome or anice new car Debt can be necessary to pay for schooling, too. All theseforms of debt canenhanceour lives, as long as theterms and interest ratesare reasonable and the payments are manageable. Similarly,it’snot always bad forcompaniestocarry debt.The

infusions of cash that companies get when theytake on debt can help themgrow—oreven just survive.Too much debt is risky, though, because acompany can end up in trouble if, at any point it doesn’thave the cashtomake the payments. Even if it does, it will be spending money that it might otherwise have used in moreproductive ways Investors considering companies with debt need to evaluate whether the debt is manageable and whether themoney raisedand invested is earning morethan it costs. For example, imagine you’re worried about the debt load of Buzzy’sBroccoli Beer (ticker: BRRRP).The notes in its annual report should detail the interest rates it’s being charged. If the effective interest rate on itsdebt is 4% and Buzzy’sisputting its borrowed money to workearning, say,8%, that’snot tooproblematic. But if Buzzy’sisgenerating $500 million in cash each year while owing $800 million in annual interestpayments, that’sworrisome.

Ask the Fool:Why

Walmartmoved

Iread that Walmartleft the NewYork Stock Exchangelast year and is now listed and trading on the Nasdaq stock market. Why? —T.P LaCrosse, Wisconsin There are severalpossible reasons,such as cost, image and listing requirements. The NYSE dates back to 1792, and many consider it more prestigious. Companies listed

Beyond Blueprints.

Fewindustriesdependonsuchavastarray of raw materialsand high-techproducts, or have such complex business relationshipsamongsuppliers,designers, vendors, or contractorsasthe construction industry

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on the NYSE include Berkshire Hathaway,ExxonMobil, Bankof America, Coca-Colaand Home Depot.The Nasdaq started in 1971 as acomputerized trading system, and it’s nowhome to gobs of fast-growingtech companies, amongmanyothers. Itslistings include Apple, Microsoft, Amazon.com, Costco Wholesale and PepsiCo. Walmart’sreasoning seems tiedtoits image, as it explained: “The move to Nasdaq underscores the strong alignment between Walmart andNasdaq’s sharedvalues: atechnologyforward approach andredefining their respectiveindustries through innovation.”

What happens to astock’sprice-toearnings ratio if the stock splits? —I.S., Port Charlotte, Florida Youmight think that theP/E ratio would drop alongwith the stock price, butitdoesn’t change. Let’sreviewthe (simple) math. AP/E ratioisa stock’sprice per share divided by the past year’searnings per share.Soa stock trading at $60 per share withanEPS of $5 will have aP/E of 12 (60 dividedby 5).Ifitsplits 2-for-1,shares will be priced at $30, andthe EPS will alsobehalved, resulting in an unchanged P/E (30 dividedby 2.5 is still 12).

Remember that stock splits arenot that meaningful:While you end up withmore shares, their prices are reduced proportionately,soyour holding’stotal value remains essentially the same. My Dumbest Investment: Badblood

Ihavemanyregrettable

Largecommercial construction projects often face disputes over delays, defectivework,cost overruns,and subcontractorfailures. ForLouisiana projectowners, resolvingtheseconflictsisalegal obligation andbusiness strategy.Early planning, contracts, andclaimscan turn setbacks into recovery opportunities, protecting investments andstrengthening delivery

Effective preparationevaluates projectriskand contract structure,sincedeliverymethods and pricingshaperesponsibility.Indemnification provisions,schedules,and liquidated damages provideleverage, whilealigned litigationstrategy andearly insurerinvolvementsupport business objectives.Documenting issues, preserving evidence,meeting bond requirements,and presenting supportedclaimsenhancecredibility resolvedisputes, andsafeguard projectsuccess.

Jones Walker is proudtohelpleadthe wayfor Louisiana’s construction industry as it navigatesa complexlegal environment.

Bateman

GonzaleZ

Jallans

SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

French Quarter skate shop has built a global reputation

BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer

In a narrow storefront nestled between Jackson Square and the French Market sits the oldest operational skateboarding shop in Louisiana.

It’s a distinction that might go unnoticed among those unfamiliar with skateboarding, a sport with a cultlike following that emerged in the 1960s and has grown into a $3.5 billion global market with more than nine million U.S. skaters, a corporate sponsorship ecosystem and permanent status at the Olympic Games.

But for devotees, Humidity Skate Shop is something of an institution, one whose reputation has spread over three decades through the international yet tight-knit skateboarding community to draw customers from far beyond Louisiana’s borders.

Owner Phil Santosuosso began working at the shop, then under its previous ownership, shortly after Hurricane Katrina. He was 20 at the time and an avid skateboarder who wanted to be around the sport as much as he could, so he gave up his day job at a Honda dealership.

Four years later, with the help of a loan secured by a lien against his mother’s house, he bought the shop and started working ‘round the clock, seven days a week. At the end of two years living on couches, paying himself just enough to eat and motivated by the fear of failure, Santosuosso paid off the lien.

While he remembers that time as nerve-wracking, he was fully immersed in the culture, living, breathing and bleeding skateboarding and still is.

“I’m a skateboarder, not a business owner That’s how I live,” he said. “Without this, I’d still be skating. That’s been my approach the whole time, so I don’t get burnt out.”

‘No big price jump’

There are a couple of keys to sustainability in the skate shop business, which is niche, rare and

increasingly challenging in an era of e-commerce and premium rents.

Humidity runs on a staff of two full-time and two part-time employees. Santosuosso supplements his own income through sponsorships from Australian skateboard brands Butter Goods and Cash

Only who pay him to wear and represent their products while riding. It’s an arrangement that allows him to draw a smaller salary from the shop and keep more money in the business.

Humidity has also teamed up with international brands on limited-release products, helping to drive sales and cement the shop’s reputation as a skateboarding trendsetter Collaborations have included Spitfire wheels, boards from Baker Skateboards, work with artists David Harouni and Sal Barbier, a Nike sneaker and a Vans all-weather skating shoe.

Santosuosso also credits the shop’s survival to its longtime landlord, who he said has prioritized leasing the block at reasonable rates to small independent retail-

ers over chain perfume shops and T-shirt outlets.

The shop carries the shoes, shirts and hats worn by skaters, including niche streetwear brands only available at a few stores in the U.S But the core of Humidity’s business is sales of skateboards and their components which comprise more than half its revenue of less than $1 million a year

Santosuosso said his store won’t carry any products that he and his staff wouldn’t skate on themselves. Plus, top-tier skateboarding equipment is available at a far more attainable price point than other sports.

“We sell the same exact thing the dude that won the Olympics rides, and that could be $180,” Santosuosso said. “That’s what I love about skating. If somebody really, really wants to skate, you can figure it out. There’s no big price jump.”

Déjà vu

The biggest competitive pressure on Humidity doesn’t come from other shops, Santosuosso said It

comes from the brands themselves.

And it’s more of an issue with shoes than the store’s boutique clothing selection.

“Something like Adidas, sometimes we get the shoe and they already have it on sale on their website,” he said. “That’s the hardest thing.”

An even bigger threat, of late, has been the ongoing road work in the French Quarter that has decimated sales at nearby businesses over the past year

“This is our second time dealing with this,” Santosuosso said. “We didn’t have a street for two years already once.”

And it’s not just the decline in foot traffic that’s costing Humidity

Last week, the shop’s air conditioner broke down, a failure its owner attributed to dust kicked up by the digging at the corner

Doubling down on Dumaine

Still, Humidity recently doubled both its square-footage and its rent, expanding into an adjacent unit in the building. Santosuosso dubbed it “the Annex” and plans to keep it as a white box and use it for temporary events like art shows, pop-up shops, video screenings or concerts.

“There’s so many creative people in skating,” he said. “Art and music

and everything, and I want to be able to celebrate that on a better level.”

He also hopes to construct a temporary skate ramp in the new space in conjunction with the X Games, which is set to hold its first-ever league championship event at the Caesars Superdome in July

Later this month, Humidity is partnering with New Balance and a prominent skateboard photographer for a series of events around National Go Skateboarding Day, including a demo and cookout at Parisite DIY Skatepark, where Santosuosso annually builds or donates a new element — this year, a picnic table from Los Angeles school yards made famous in influential skate videos of the mid-1990s. Santosuosso, who is also planning a benefit show to fund repairs of a community-built skate ramp in the 8th Ward, said giving back to the local skate community has always been his main focus.

“I did this because I genuinely love skating,” said Santosuosso. “Even to this day, we still skate every day and have art shows. If it wasn’t fun, I wouldn’t do this. I can go stress out somewhere else and make a lot more money.”

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

Santosuosso bought Humidity Skate Shop on Dumaine Street in the French Quarter shortly after Hurricane Katrina.

STAFF PHOTOS By ENAN CHEDIAK

Humidity Skate Shop owner Phil Santosuosso has been able to keep the small, niche operation in the French Quarter running through sponsorships and international partnerships.

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PRESSURE POINTS

Canhyperbarictherapy live up to the

hype?Louisiana expertsweigh in.

BY IANFAUL Contributing writer

When Jessica Moroux’s4-yearold son experienced asevere concussionthat resulted in prolonged behavioralsymptoms,she tried everything to help him.

“He was really having difficulty with impulse control and irritability,” said Moroux,who works as a nurse in Lafayette. “He came to me and said, ‘Mama, Idon’twant to haveanger issues anymore.’

Her research led her to hyperbaric oxygen therapy,ageneral treatment that involves breathing highly concentrated oxygen in a pressurized chamber.Long used to treatpatients with nonhealing wounds by increasing vascular supplytositesoftissue damage, she thought perhaps it could help with the effects of her son’sinjury

Hisrecoveryafterundergoing HBOT,Moroux said, was “tremendous.”

She has since founded Acadiana Hyperbarics, one of agrowing number of clinics that provide offlabelHBOT for traumatic injury woundhealing andgeneral wellness.

HBOT can sometimes give hope to patients with chronic symptoms and few treatment options.But as clinicsproliferateand claims expand faster than thescience,

patients.

interested in hyperbaric treatments when her

brain injury

researchers say there is increased need to determine exactly where hyperbaric oxygen therapy truly works, and where enthusiasm may be outpacing evidence.

ä See HYPERBARIC, page 2X

An estimated 1in10 womenhaveendometriosis

cludinginfertility It is estimated that endometriosis affects 1in10U.S. womenofreproductiveage.

BY MARGARET DeLANEY Staffwriter

Endometriosis is an incurable condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of theuterus, leadingtosignificant pain and complicationsin-

Kao

Dr.Elaine Kao, aNew Orleans obstetrician and gynecologist, thinks that estimate could be even larger based on undiagnosed and underreported cases —ashighas26%.

people are becominginterested in women’s pain andmenstrual issues,” Kao said. “It’s great, becauseitwas always alittlebit taboo.” Here aresix things to know about endometriosis:

It’s hard to diagnose

Stigmacan prevent manyof these symptoms from being flagged or indicationsoffurther diagnosis.

been largelyaccepted as normal by Americans, Kaosaid. But that’s actually blocking some patients from being diagnosed.

“Patients have to advocate for themselves in their appointments,” she said.

It’s progressive

“I will say that it feels like more

“Severe menstrual pain” has

On average, it takesapproximately 10 years to accurately diagnose endometriosis. Two-thirds of women are misdiagnosed initially andnearly half of those eventually

diagnosed withthe disease see five or moreproviders before aanaccurate diagnosis.

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine classifiesendometriosis into four stages, according to depthofscarring andhow far the disease has traveled from the uterus: minimal (Stage 1), mild (Stage 2), moderate (Stage 3) and severe (Stage 4).

Once endometriosis is severe,

Number maybe higher as condition hardtodiagnose ä See CONDITION, page 2X

PROVIDED PHOTO Jessica Moroux founded Acadiana Hyperbarics in Baton Rouge, which offers hyperbaric oxygen therapy to

She first became

young son suffered a

HEALTH MAKER

BR nursing director helps staff cope with daily ER dramas

Open-door policy key, she says

BY MARGARET DeLANEY Staff writer

Susan Green, a Slidell native, is an emergency room nurse in Baton Rouge. She started her career after high school graduation, when she saw a newspaper item that offered certified nursing assistant courses for $100 at the Baton Rouge Technical Institute. If a student completed the course and worked for six months, they got their $100 back. She leaped at the opportunity Thirty-two years later Green is a nursing director She has an open-door policy for the members of her team to come talk to her — about anything.

“They just sit in my office sometimes,” Green said. “They have their feet propped up on the desk They will come in my office all day and talk.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity

Why did you choose the $100 nursing class?

I’d always wanted to do healthcare. Growing up, I was unfortunate to see quite a few of my family members pass away who were really sick. My grandmother my dad’s mom, she died of a brain aneurysm unexpectedly I was the last person to talk to her I was always liked helping people — do all the things.

I don’t like to be (in) the spotlight of things, but if you ever saw me at work, I’m a totally different person. If I go out into the public, I’m the quiet one. I sit in the corner, and I watch people.

CONDITION

Continued from page 1X

the scarred tissue can impact the bowels, appendix, diaphragm, heart, lungs and more. The progression of endometriosis is “highly unpredictable” and sometimes does not correlate with pain, according to a 2024 study published in the National Library of Medicine.

“We often see patients being diagnosed at an advanced stage,” Kao said.

Can occur outside pelvic organs

Although endometriosis is associated with an abnormal growth outside the uterus and around organs in the pelvis, it can happen throughout the body as well.

The excess tissue causes a lot of inflammation and pain. The “main” symptoms are painful periods, pain with sex, general pelvic pain in general, urinary and digestive issues, as well as subfertility (a term for when fertility is possible, but conception is taking longer than expected) and infertility

Right now the gold standard is getting that tissue diagnosis through surgery.

Beyond the symptoms

Having a chronic condition takes a toll on the body, but it can also be detrimental to the quality of life.

“Just like any chronic pain, anybody who lives in chronic pain, there’s a significant mental health burden,” Kao said.

No known cause or risk factors

Researchers still don’t know what causes it There are theories that include retrograde menstruation, when the menstrual blood goes out through the tubes, instead of through the cervix and into the pelvis.

Other theories point to genetics.

“Bottom line is we don’t know,” Kao said.

Medical, surgical treatments

Surgery to treat endometriosis is mostly done through laparoscopy, where doctors use a camera to take photos of the entire inside of the pelvis and use specialized tools to remove the endometriosis lesions and restore the pelvic anatomy

There are treatments available other than surgery Hormonebased therapies, like contraception, can control symptoms of endometriosis, but don’t necessarily make the lesions go away, Kao said.

Email Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney@theadvocate. com.

I like talking to patients and being able to read the room and assess where people are: Do they look anxious? Do they look angry?

Do they look distressed? How do you approach them?

I’ve learned something new every day I always try to focus on that. Every day, when I walk out of the clinic, I reflect on what I learned Maybe sometimes I reflect too much. My role has transitioned over the years. Now, I don’t so much do patient care. I still go out and do things because I want to keep my

HYPERBARIC

Continued from page 1X

Diving medicine to brain therapy

HBOT involves breathing 100% oxygen in a pressurized chamber, typically at pressures greater than sea-level atmospheric pressure. This allows oxygen to dissolve more efficiently into blood plasma and tissues.

Physicians have long suspected that a high-oxygen, high-pressure environment has potential clinical uses.

The first reported hyperbaric chambers date back to the 17th century HBOT became more widely accepted after World War II when it was used to treat naval divers for decompression sickness, commonly called “the bends.”

The Food and Drug Administration has since cleared HBOT for about a dozen other conditions, including severe burns, chronic nonhealing wounds carbon monoxide poisoning, air embolisms, radiation injuries and gas gangrene.

In the past few decades, some physicians and private clinics have argued for expanding the number of approved conditions for HBOT, including chronic conditions of the brain.

Among the field’s most outspoken advocates is Dr Paul Harch, a hyperbaric medicine practitioner in Metairie and former director of the hyperbaric medicine unit at University Medical Center Harch said his patients since 1989 have included some 180 children injured in near-drownings, as well as children injured during birth and children with developmental delays, cognitive problems, autism and cerebral palsy

“Just a wide range of different injury conditions to the brain,” Harch said.

In adults, he has treated strokes, traumatic brain injury, migraines, cognitive decline and dementia.

Some studies have suggested HBOT’s benefits, including those affecting the nervous system arise from increased blood-vessel growth, immunological activation and tissue regeneration.

Harch believes the same mechanisms underlying HBOT’s success in expediting the healing of external wounds also operate within the brain.

“Internal conditions are similarly wounding conditions, like a stroke, a heart attack, traumatic brain injury And the second there is any tissue damage, you have inflammation associated with it to try to repair tissue,” he said.

“It turns out hyperbaric oxygen, through very basic mechanisms, is reparative for wounding or tissue injury and for inflammation.”

skills up and stay in the game. But also, I want to always be there to support our team.

I like to watch our staff grow and learn. While I don’t treat patients, I feel like I’ve gravitated to teaching the staff, helping them grow and how we can get them to the next level.

How do you unwind after a shift in the emergency room?

I have two kids. My oldest daughter lives in New Orleans (and works) as an attorney

My youngest daughter is in Chattanooga finishing her pediat-

ric residency in June. She’s married and has a 5-month-old baby I’m a grandma. My husband’s also in healthcare, he actually spends a lot of time in North Carolina, back and forth. Some days I’m home alone. We live on a lake. In the afternoons, I like to get home and sit on the patio and detox for a minute, just listening to the sounds of nature. You do have to take time to step away and separate yourself from the job. When we have critical patients, it is important that our

Still, much of the basic research on the therapeutic mechanisms of hyperbaric conditions remains to be validated.

Dr Omar Aljitawi, a physicianscientist at the University of Rochester Medical Center who studies the effects of hyperbaric oxygen on transplanted stem cells, said he is optimistic about the therapy’s effectiveness, especially in conditions related to the immune system. But he urges further research to bolster some practitioners’ claims.

“We need studies to examine this really thoroughly the number of treatments, duration of the treatments, the interval of the treatments and the underlying mechanism of how it might be working,” Aljitawi said.

Hyperbarics, wellness boom

The field’s major professional medical group has stated that there is no evidence showing that hyperbaric conditions are effective in treating neurological injury, after three studies found the reported benefits of HBOT could have resulted from a placebo effect.

Harch counters that designing a true placebo control for HBOT is inherently difficult because even modest pressure changes may produce physiological effects.

He also says the debate is shaped partly by economics and medical reimbursement systems, and that less expensive ways of using lower-pressure chambers made of plastic may disrupt the current system.

One HBOT session in a lower-pressure chamber can cost around $200 to $300, about half the price of a hard-shell chamber treatment Multiweek sessions can exceed $10,000.

Moroux sees research funding as a big obstacle to making HBOT more available.

“The gold standard, double-

staff takes the time to stop and talk about the situation. Some people want to go sit in their car and cry Some people want to surround themselves with others. Some people just need a few moments of silence by themselves. I just need my own thoughts and head space for a hot minute, and then I’ll be OK.

You can carry so much with you if you don’t take a beat. It’s because you do have to leave your personal life at the door when you come in here, and it’s the same sentiment when you leave. You have to leave this here when you walk out the door

Tell me about leading your nursing team through COVID-19 six years ago.What did you learn?

We learned a lot about our teamwork and how to really support each other

We had a tent outside at one point, and then we added a trailer, and then we expanded space. We commandeered some additional space in the hospital as well.

It was a lot.

At one point we had a no-visitor policy They couldn’t have family and, as nurses, we were charged with being there for them while they were here. We were their people.

Now, all of our doors have small, vertical windows on them. We did that during COVID. That was our way of seeing into the rooms, to see the patients and our peers — almost like cheerleading outside the door

We were never closer than we were during that time.

Email Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney@theadvocate. com.

biomarker associated with aging.

While promising, the results do not yet merit the conclusion that HBOT can help you live longer As Efrati recently told The New York Times, some studies were performed in cell cultures — not humans — and those that were done with humans were carried out under strict conditions in hospital-grade chambers.

“People look at milder (hyperbaric) conditions as if they’re taking a supplement or doing a cold plunge. They don’t look at it as a treatment, per se,” Aljitawi said. “I don’t see a lot of downside to it, but I don’t know the upside.” Hope, hype, questions

blind placebo control study across the board is expensive, and a lot of these studies are funded by pharmaceutical companies,” she said.

“With hyperbarics, there really isn’t that funding because there’s not the chance of patenting a medication or making a lot of money.”

Despite skepticism from some physicians, HBOT has found enthusiastic support in another arena: the booming wellness and longevity industry

Endorsements from some celebrities have helped, including athletes LeBron James, Novak Djokovic and Michael Phelps, and tech entrepreneur “biohackers” like Bryan Johnson and Gary Brecka.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr has also voiced his support for hyperbaric medicine research.

Wellness community members often refer to several studies from a research group led by Dr Shai Efrati, of the Shamir Medical Center in Israel, who has previously found that hyperbaric oxygen can improve cognitive function, increase skin collagen and increase telomere length — a

When administered by a licensed medical professional in an FDA-approved steel chamber, HBOT may be effective in accelerating external wound healing or combating acute gas poisoning, among other conditions. When administered outside the hospital in plastic chambers and in short durations however, HBOT has not been conclusively shown to have robust benefits — nor does it seem to have significant negative side effects.

Louisiana hospitals with hyperbaric medicine units include University Medical Center, Touro Infirmary, East Jefferson General Hospital, Our Lady of the Lake, Our Lady of Lourdes, Natchitoches Regional Health Center, Northern Louisiana Health Center and multiple Ochsner Health centers across the state.

While certified nonphysicians may legally provide HBOT, their doing so may be more dangerous. Risks of incorrect monitoring include ear trauma, air embolism and seizure. HBOT is generally not advised for those with inner ear infections and some lung diseases, such as severe COPD.

But Moroux said she frames the decision to try hyperbarics this way: “If there’s not side effects and there’s a whole slew of other benefits they could get, why not?”

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

The Louisiana Health section is focused on providing in-depth, personal accounts of health in the state.This section looks at medical innovations, health discoveries, state and national health statistics and re-examining tried and true methods on ways to live well.

Health editions will also profile people who are advancing health for the state of Louisiana. Do you have a health story? We want to hear from you. Email margaret.delaney@ theadvocate.com to submit health questions, stories and more.

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Susan Green stands inside a room at Ochsner Health Center — O’Neal.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Dr Paul Karch, a hyperbaric medicine practitioner in the New Orleans area, is the former director of hyperbaric medicine at University Medical Center

Eat Fit LiveFit

BRO UGH

Granola reimagined: better ingredients, better flavor

Granolahaslongbeenmarketedas abetter-for-youpantrystaple.It’s somethingwesprinkleoveryogurt, addtosmoothiebowlsorevengrabby thehandfulasa“healthy”snack.However, thisisaspacewhereperceptionand realitydon’talwayslineup.

Granolaisoneofthosefoodsthat soundshealthybutcanquicklydeliver aheftydoseofsugarandrefined carbohydrates(insomecases,rivaling thesugarcontentofasoftdrink).Witha bitofawarenessandsomemindfullabel reading,however,granolacanabsolutely supportanutrition-focusedlifestyle.

Mosttraditionalgranolasarecenteredon oats,coatedwithsugarysweetenerslike honey,maplesyruporbrownricesyrup, thenbakedwithoiltocreatejusttheright levelofcrunch.Adensemedleyofcarbs andaddedsugar,it’salsoacombinationof flavorsandtexturesthatcanlightupour brainreceptorstocravemoreandmore. Evenbrandslabeledasorganic,gluten-free ornaturaloftenstilllandintherangeof30 to45gramsofcarbohydratesforacouple ofhandfuls,alongwithnearlyaday’sworth ofaddedsugar.

Granolaisn’tinherentlytheissue–thedifferencecomesdowntohow it’sformulated.

Whenwemoveawayfromgrainheavybasesanddialbacktheadded sugars,thenutritionalprofilecanimprove dramatically.Nutsandseedsbring protein,fiberandhealthyfats,whichslow digestionandsupportmorestable energylevels.Insteadofthequickspike andcrashthatmanytraditionalgranolas cancreate,wegetsomethingthat actuallysustainsuslongterm.

We’restartingtoseemorebrands moveinthisdirection.Onethat consistentlystandsoutisNuTrail Theirgrain-freeblendsusealmonds, pecansandcoconutasthefoundation, sweetenedwithmonkfruitand

erythritol(natural,plant-basedzero-sugar sweeteners),resultinginagranolathat’s typicallyjusttwotothreegramsofnet carbsperserving,withnoaddedsugar. Fromanutritionalperspective,it’savery differentproductthanwhatmostofus grewupthinkingofasgranola,butitstill tasteslikethegranolaweknowandlove Twootheroptionsworthnotinginclude LakantogranolaandJulianBakery ProGranola.Lakantousesamonkfruit anderythritolblendsimilartoNuTrail.It tendstorunalittleonthesweeterside, whilestillkeepingcarbslowandavoiding addedsugars.

JulianBakery’sProGranolaincorporates eggwhiteproteinandasolublefiber blendalongwithamedleyofseedsand shreddedcoconut,deliveringaround11

gramsofprotein and9to11grams offiberper serving.It’sa morefunctional option–especiallyfor thoselookingto increaseprotein intake–while stillfittingwithin alow-carb,lowsugarframework. Sotomake surewe’re clear,it’sworth repeating:One ofthemost commonmisconceptions(ingeneral, notjustaroundgranola)istheideathat sweetenerslikehoneyormaplesyrupare inherentlyhealthier.Whiletheymaybe natural,ourbodiesprocesstheminmuch thesamewayasotheraddedsugars. Whenwe’rescanningnutritionlabels,a fewthingscanquicklyhelpguide ourdecision-makingprocess:keeping addedsugarinthesingledigits(and ideallynotmorethan5gramsofadded sugarperserving),lookingforatleast afewgramsoffiberandprotein,and avoidingingredientliststhatstack multipleformsofaddedsugars.Also, thisisonecategorywhereaDIYblend canbebothsimpletomakeandanearly effortlessnutritionalupgrade

MollyKimball,RD,CSSD,isaregistereddietitian withOchsnerHealthandfounderofOchsner’sEatFit nonprofitinitiative.Formorewellnesscontent,tuneinto Molly’spodcast,FUELEDWellness+Nutrition,andfollow @MollykimballRDand@EatFitOchsneronsocialmedia. Emailnutrition@ochsner.orgtoconnectwithMollyor scheduleaconsultwithherteam.

BY THENUMBERS

Grain-Free,Low-SugarGranola Makesabout10quarter-cupservings Thisversionkeepseverythingwelike aboutgranola—thecrunch,theflavor, theflexibility—whileshiftingthe ingredientstobettersupportsteady energyandsatiety

1cupchoppedalmonds

1cupchoppedpecans

1/2cupunsweetenedshreddedcoconut

1/2cuppumpkinseeds

1/4cupsunflowerseeds

2tablespoonschiaseeds

2tablespoonsgroundflaxseed 1teaspooncinnamon

1/4teaspoonsalt

1/4cupmeltedcoconutoil

3tablespoonsplant-basedsweetener ofchoice(e.g.,Swerve,Truviaor allulose-erythritolblend) 1teaspoonvanillaextract

Preheattheovento300degreesand lineabakingsheetwithparchment paper.Inalargebowl,combinethe almonds,pecans,coconut,pumpkinseeds, sunflowerseeds,chiaseeds,flaxseed, cinnamonandsalt.Inaseparatebowl, whisktogetherthemeltedcoconutoil, sweetenerandvanilla,thenpouritover themixtureandstiruntileverythingis evenlycoated.

Spreadinanevenlayerontothebaking sheetandbakefor20to25minutes,with aquickstirhalfwaythrough,untillightly golden.Letitcoolcompletelytoyielda crisptexture.

NutritionFactsper1/4cup:210calories, 16gramsfat(allplant-based),45mg sodium,8gramscarbohydrate(2grams netcarbs),4gramsoffiber,1gramof sugar(0addedsugar),5gramsprotein

DownloadthefreeEatFitmobileapp forthisrecipeandmorehealthy cookingideas

LA.CONSISTENTLyAMONG STATES WITH HIGHESTSICKLECELLRATES

In 2023, 1,430 people withsickle cell disease were hospitalized in Louisiana—25% were between 20 and 29 years old.

Sicklecelldiseaseisa chronic condition that causes intense pain throughout thebody, often leading patients to multiple hospitalizations in their lifetime.

Louisiana consistentlyranks among states with thehighestsickle cell disease prevalence per capita with about 70 babiesdiagnosed eachyear

Newdata collected by the Louisiana DepartmentofHealth, the Louisiana Sickle Cell Disease Registry, aims to provide the state with an understanding about the people living in Louisiana with sickle cell disease. It is tracking the number of hospitalizations per parish for patients withsickle cell disease.

These parishes hadthe most hospitalizations in 2023 in Louisiana: n OrleansParish with 208; n East Baton RougeParish with 205; n Caddo Parish with 179; n Jefferson Parish with 116; n Lafayette Parish with 67; n Rapides Parish with 59; n Ouachita Parish with 56; n Calcasieu Parish with 47;

n and Bossier and St. Landryparishes with 35

These parishes had zero reported hospitalizations due to sickle cell disease in 2023:Cameron,West Carroll and Winn.

Total people hospitalized by parish mayexceed thetotal number of people with sickle cellasanindividual maybehospitalized morethan once, and living in adifferent parish at thetime

In time, the registryhopes to have comprehensivepopulation estimates and illustrate long-termtrends in diagnosis, treatmentand healthcare access for individuals living with sickle cell disease.

ing by about four months on average. Biological aging refers to howold the body is in terms of health and function rather than the number of years aperson has lived. Previous studies on the use of multivitamins and health have given mixed results, with one large

study in 2024 showing no benefit when it comes to preventing early death and others showing theymay have someeffect. In the latest trial, published in Nature Medicine,experts concluded that multivitamins may lead to “healthier,higher-quality” aging.

Dr.Howard Sesso, associate director of thedivisionofpreventive medicine at theMassGeneral Brigham DepartmentofMedicine in the U.S., and lead author,said: “There is alot of interesttoday in identifying ways to not just live longer, but to live better

“It was exciting to seebenefits of amultivitamin linked with markers of biological aging.

“This study opens the door to learning more aboutaccessible safeinterventionsthatcontribute to healthier,higher-qualityaging.” However,other expertscast doubt on the findings.

The study looked at biological aging based on tiny changes to DNA Specificsites in DNA that regulate gene expression (known as DNA methylation)were examined as markersofaging. As the years go by,methylation

patternsshift,forming the basis for what scientists term “epigenetic clocks.”

The blood samples of 958 randomly selected healthy peoplewith an average chronological age of 70 were examined for DNA methylation. Experts looked for changes in five epigenetic clocksatthe start of thetrial and at the end of the first and second years. They found that, compared with people taking dummy drugs, those in themultivitamin group hadslowing in all five epigenetic clocks.

The changes equated to about four months less biological aging over the course of two years. Further studies are now being carried out to see if the effects are long-lasting.

“A lot of people take amultivitamin without necessarily knowing anybenefits from taking it, so the morewecan learn about its potential health benefits, the better,” Sesso said.

The study received agrant from Mars Edge, asegment of Mars, whichincluded the donation of multivitamins forthe study

TT OY OU BY Molly Kimball RD,CSSD

AtOchsnerBatonRouge,deliveringexceptional,trustedhealthcareiswhatwedobest.Ourtalentedand experiencedteamsworkacrossourhospitals,clinics,outpatientandshort-staysurgeryfacilitiestoprovide in-personanddigitaloptionstomeetyouwhereveryouareonyourhealthcarejourney.

Withover650physiciansandadvancedpracticeprovidersinmorethan30specialties,wedeliver leading-edge,evidence-basedcaretailoredtoyourneeds.Everyday,ourgoalremainstostrengthenthe communitiesweservebyputtingpatientsfirst.AstheCapitalregiongrows,sodoesourcommitment toprovidingreliable,accessiblehealthcare,todayandforthefuture

Visitochsner.org/batonrougetolearnmore

Bringinga Swedish tradition to La.

Afriendrecentlyreturned from avacation to Swedenand shared photos from histrip,mentioninga word Ihadn’theard before: fika. Something about the way he used the word on his social media post pulled me in. The word sounded like something Iwould appreciate.

Loosely translated, afika is a Swedish coffee break. Idon’tdrink coffee. I’ve never been to Sweden, but Iwas right about appreciating the word and what it represents.

GET YOUR HEAD IN THEGAME

Since launching its esports initiative in 2019, Southern University in Baton Rougehas steadily expanded its competitivepresence

The university fields multiple teamsthat compete against other colleges and universities nationwide in the EasternCollege Athletic Conference

PROVIDED PHOTOS

‘From

hobbytocareerpath’:Southern trains gamers foropportunities in esports

BY ERYKA W. JACKSON

Contributing writer

At Southern University,gaming is no longer justa pastime for students interested in playingsports online.

Through aprogram called EDGE —Esports and Digital Gaming Ecosystem —the university is preparingstudents for careersingamedevelopment, production, broadcasting, content creation and emerging technologies. These fields are rapidly expanding alongside the growth of the gaming industry in the country At the same time, the program addresses apersistent representation gap. While African Americans make up approximately 12% of video game players in the United States, they account for only4%to5%ofthe gaming andtech workforce, based on industry analyses anddiversity reports from organizations like the International GameDevelopers Association.

“For too long, our community has beenthe cool factor that drives gaming culture, yet we rarely ownthe platforms or write thecode,” said Christopher Turner,directorofgaming and esports innovation at Southern. “I wantmystudents to feel theshift from being consumers to being innovators.

Turner said the program at Southern is astrategic engine for academic innovation, student recruitment and institutional growth —and it positions the

Coach Christopher Turner says the EDGE program at Southern University is astrategic engine for academic innovation, student recruitment and institutional growth.

universityasarising force in esports (a categoryofcompetitive video gaming) and digital media. He calls academicintegration the department’s“secret sauce.”

“Anecosystem requires afoundation that touches every part of student life,” he said. “That’s how youmovefromhobby to career path.”

Since launching its esports initiative in 2019,Southernhas steadily expanded its competitive presence. The university fields multiple teamsthat compete against other colleges and universities nationwide in the Eastern CollegeAthletic Conference, astructuredcollegiate esports league, similar to regular sports leagues. Each team’s performance is tracked through match results, standings and

tournamentprogression.

In April, Southernbecamethe first historically Blackcollege and university to compete in and winthe Eastern College Athletic Conference’sEASports College Football Division II National Championship.

Idecided to contact my friend Erika Sunnegardh. She’saSwede, an international opera soprano whomade her Metropolitan Opera debut in 2006 —and my go-to source forall things Swedish. Imessaged her and learned she was on aboat off the coast of Portugal. Even so, she took the time to send me avoice message with her take on fika. She said it’sbeen around for several hundred years, but the worditself took hold around 1910. Cleverly,the word came about by someone rearranging the letters of the Swedish wordfor coffee, kaffi. She said that it started as something womendid, gathering over coffee to meet and talk. She used the word“lighthearted” to describe its origins. Eventually,fika becameapart of everyday Swedish life. She emphasized that fika is about much morethan coffee. Logistically,sweet treats are mandatory.They call them fika bread —cinnamon rolls, cardamom buns, pastry or the like. However,cookies are also apart of fika. She shared adetail that struck me as deeply Swedish. “Tradition has it you should treat seven different kinds of cookies,” she said. “Noless, because then you’re stingy,and no more, because then you’re showing off. Seven is the magic number.”

Coby Robinson, asophomore from CrystalSprings, Mississippi, helpedsecure thatlegacy as akey member of the roster that defeated Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky Robinson, who has been gaming since he was 4years old, was a dual-enrolled high school student when he originally joined Coach Turner.Robinson says the win turned a“lifelong hobby into history.”

“It’s abig accomplishmentto be anational champion,”Robinson said. “I hope younger gamers learn to chase their dreams, stay humble,and keep grinding.Always put thework in.”

Southern’sesportsleague is supportedbyvarsity rosters, club-levelplayers and even a K-12 pipeline that begins at the Southern University Laboratory School.Atthe Lab School, students areintroduced to competitive gaming alongsidefoundational skills in digital literacy, teamwork and content creation The goal is to cultivate early

ä See GAME, page 2Y

According to the Visit Sweden website, there are seven specific types of cookies that are the most traditional fika cookies: Brussels cookies, chocolate slices, dream cookies (a type of meringue cookie that melts in the mouth), raspberry caves, oat biscuits, nut biscuits and chessboards (twotone shortbread cookies). Sunnegardh told me that morning and afternoon fika are apart of daily lifeinSwedish workplaces. Work stops. Everybody leaves their desk. Someone may stay to cover the office phones, but fika happens, lasting 10 or 15 minutes —never morethan 20. People bring their own treats and their personal phones are down. Teaispermitted forthe noncoffee drinkers.

“Itsimply is what it is,” Erika told me from her boat. “Itcan’tbe degraded or weirded out by any digital thing. Ihave never heard of anyone skipping fika just because the world has changed.”

Irecognized fika from the start. Notfrom Sweden, but from

ä See RISHER, page 2Y

ASK THE EXPERTS

Environmentalist helps communities manage water

BY JOY HOLDEN Staff writer

Lafayette native Stacey Scarce

is a community infrastructure management specialist for Communities Unlimited, which connects rural Americans to solutions that sustain healthy businesses, communities and lives. She is one of four management specialists in Louisiana and helps town leaders with water systems.

Scarce began her career at Acadiana Park Nature Station in 1998 as a naturalist and later advanced to manager During her tenure, she revitalized the environmental education program and expanded offerings for participants of all ages. She also founded the Acadiana Master Naturalist Program and was recognized with the Professional Conservationist of the Year Award by the Louisiana Wildlife Federation Scarce then became executive director of Our Neighbors Farm & Pantry in Arizona in 2018, where she oversaw farm operations, educational initiatives, a food pantry and a bunkhouse facility Since joining Communities Unlimited in 2022, she has worked closely with rural communities and water and wastewater systems in areas experiencing persistent poverty, providing technical assistance and community development support.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity

What does working with a small town look like for you?

We’re funded in part by the United States Department of Agriculture, in part by the Environmental Protection Agency and in part by private foundations.

Q&A WITH STACEy SCARCE

COMMUNITy INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST

What was the problem with the water system in Melville?

On a daily basis, I might get a referral from the USDA or the EPA to go work with a system that needs help with writing their water budget or turning in their budget because they have a loan or a grant with the USDA I’ll teach them how to do that, or I’ll do rate studies because their rates are too low and can’t sustain the system. A lot of what I’ve been doing is compliance reviews for the USDA. It takes a while to get the towns in compliance. We’re talking very rural Louisiana, where water systems are out in the middle of nowhere, and they serve outside of cities. The people that they hire are really intelligent people, but they don’t have the experience, so that’s where I come in. I help them with all sorts of things so they can be successful. That’s all we want. For example, I teach them a

lot about how to work on Excel. I wrote up a 20-page instruction manual that will make their lives just a little bit easier

I’m also a sounding board for some of the things that towns are going through and some of the frustrations that they have.

What are some other things about your job that you find fulfilling?

I think the most fulfilling thing is to see the clerks, the operators and the mayors have success, especially after a long-fought effort.

An example is in Melville, Louisiana. I worked with them for about three years to complete their compliance for a water loan from a previous administration. The new mayor and the new clerk worked so hard for three years. About a month or two ago, they were granted the money because they are now in compliance.

Southern University’s innovation labs function as collaborative hubs for hands-on training, content production and interdisciplinary experimentation in gaming and digital media

GAME

Continued from page 1y

interest that can transition into collegiate opportunities through EDGE.

The university’s innovation labs reinforce this effort by functioning as collaborative hubs for hands-on training, content production and interdisciplinary experimentation in gaming and digital media.

“People see a headline and think we just started, but Southern University esports has been a force since 2019,” Turner said. “We’ve been building this brick-by-brick for years.” Looking ahead

Competition wins have brought national recognition, but Turner’s goals extend to making esports essential to the university’s approach to the future of interactive tech.

“When I look at our roster I’m

not just looking for the next toptier controller player,” Turner said. “I’m looking at the future of an industry that, frankly, hasn’t always looked back at them.”

His philosophy — “exposure is the equalizer” guides both the academic and competitive sides of the department.

Turner sees opportunity for expansion in the way Southern University is structured, with five campuses across the state, including ones in New Orleans and Shreveport. It is the only HBCU system in the country, and that structure is the foundation of everything the esports department is building

“Most people look at a university as a single campus, but I saw a network,” Turner said. “If we could build the blueprint here, we could export it across the entire system, creating a massive, interconnected web of talent.”

In addition to expanding esports innovation labs across Southern’s system, Turner hopes to reach other milestones, such as plans to

launch the full EDGE curriculum by 2029, with the goal of producing “day one-ready” graduates for the gaming industry

That effort will be helped by an upcoming $70 million STEM complex, expected to open in 2027, which will support esports research, artificial intelligence studies and global gaming summits.

Competitively Turner aims for Southern to secure top-10 national rankings across its varsity titles and maintain a consistent presence in major collegiate esports conferences.

“We aren’t just playing games,” Turner said. “We’re building a system, a pathway and a future.”

This story was reported and written by a student with the support of the nonprofit Louisiana Collegiate News Collaborative, an LSU-led coalition of eight universities funded by the Henry Luce and John D. and Catherine T MacArthur foundations.

Melville has a system, but there was a lot of theft on the system because before, when they had put in some new service lines, they didn’t shut off the old service lines. People were stealing water like crazy They had no meters, so everything was a flat rate. It didn’t matter how much you’re using because you’re all paying the same. That’s not fair especially for people that are low-income or on a fixed income. What they’re going to do now is they are going to add new service lines and cut off all the old ones. Every person will have to tap into a meter, so their water loss is probably going to be tremendously reduced.

Everybody will pay for the water that they use, so that is a huge boost to the town’s economy

How complex is it for these rural communities to have compliant water systems?

People take water for granted. They think that it just shows up at their house. Water needs to be cleaned to be sure that it doesn’t have any bacteria like E. coli in it or if there’s a lot of manganese, it will be treated.

If you have a private well, you can have all sorts of things in that private well, and you don’t even know it unless you test it. Water systems are testing every single day, so they are giving you the best possible water that you can get. Towns have to stay in compliance with whoever the grantor or the loan agent is and with the Department of Health. That’s why every day, they’re testing the water

Small communities often can’t afford to pay an operator, so several communities share an operator

A lot of these little communities have an agreement that if they ever need water for their community, they have a tie-in where they can use water from the next community or the next water system.

It’s hard in a small community because you don’t want to overcharge for water You want to be fair, but you have to charge enough to keep it sustainable. How does this job with rural communities and water tie into your passion for environmentalism?

The environmental part is the water part and making sure people have clean water I explain how important it is to have clean water, and to pay the rates, whatever they may be, to have clean water to drink and not worry about it.

That’s my environmental correlation, but it’s always about community with me. So, even though it’s not about birding and plants and animals, it’s about water What have you learned in three years that you were surprised to find out? I honestly did not give water that much of a thought before this, which is why I think it’s helping me to better understand everyone else. I wasn’t thinking about how hard it was to clean water and how much went into it. I never thought about that, but now I do.

Email Joy Holden at joy holden@theadvocate.com.

Lemon and chocolate Hubig’s Pies, cut open to show their fillings, make a decadent coffee break snack, just as cookies are a part of fika. Swedish coffee breaks are customarily paired with Brussels cookies, chocolate slices, dream cookies (a type of meringue cookie that melts in the mouth), raspberry caves, oat biscuits, nut biscuits or chessboards (twotone shortbread cookies).

RISHER

Continued from page 1y

Mississippi. My parents’ home was fika central. Throughout the day — almost any day usually mid-morning or mid-afternoon, people knocked on the door and were welcomed in. My mother would put on coffee. Somehow, there was almost always cake. People sat down and visited, and the day went wherever it went. Now that I think about it, they usually stopped by in the mornings around 10 and in the afternoons around 2, which coincides nicely with the Swedish tradition. My parents led productive, even busy lives, but I never remember Mom not sitting to visit when guests arrived — and my dad too when he was home. They didn’t call it fika, of

course. They didn’t call it anything. It was just how things were.

Things stayed that way for my parents until my dad died and my mother moved away from our family home to be closer to my youngest brother

The tradition was not passed to the next generation. Dropping by unannounced is unheard of now We rarely sit and visit without an agenda. We schedule coffee weeks out.

I do like calling it fika. Names change things. What was an interruption becomes a ritual. What felt like lost time becomes the point.

If fika is the word that gets people to put their phones down and sit with each other — really sit, with something sweet nearby and no particular reason to leave — then I am for it.

My mother never needed a word for it. She just opened the door

PROVIDED PHOTO

Stacey Scarce, from left, works with Melville’s assistant town clerk Shakita Brown and Khadiejah Williams, the town clerk.

STAFF PHOTO By IAN MCNULTy

PROVIDED PHOTO

These are stories of global progress, compiledbythe media group Fix the News and shared in partnership with The Advocate/The Times-Picayune.

DECLINE IN LEAD EXPOSURE

Astudyfrom the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

found that current concentrations of leadinhairfrom individuals living along the Wasatch Front in Utah averagealmost 100 times lower than before the establishmentof the Environmental Protection Agency Researchers examined archived human hair samples from that population to evaluate changes in lead exposure over the past century. Hair samples from the Salt Lake City region population from 1916 to 1969 showedespecially high contaminations, likely caused by gasoline, industrial emissions and lead-based paint. Levels steadily declined after the EPAwas created in 1970 and regulations beganphasing out lead in fuel and consumer products. By the 2020s, average concentrations had dropped to below1ppm, compared with peaks near 100 ppm in earlier decades.

RIVERRECONNECTED

American Rivers —which advocates for local, state and federal protection for the nation’shealthiest waterways —reported in March that 2025 marked arecord-breaking year for dam removals in the United States. Over 100 outdated dams were removed across 30 states.The effort reconnected morethan 4,893miles of river,“the most upstream milesever reconnected in asingle year in the U.S. through dam removal.” Manyofthe country’sdams are no longergenerating power, supplying water or serving apractical purpose. Instead, the organization says that the dams threaten public safety, accelerate flooding risks, block

OF GLOBAL PROGRESS,COMPILEDByFIX THE

More than 4,893 miles of river reconnected

Arock damisseen across the MRGO near the Breton Sound Marina.American Rivers —which advocatesfor local, state and federalprotection forthe nation’s healthiest waterways —reported in March that 2025 marked arecord-breaking year for dam removals in theUnited States.

fish migration and more. Removing them restores river health, allowing native fish andwildlife to return. Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Vermont led the nation in removals. American Rivers’hopes to see 30,000dams removedby2050.

HEARTTRANSPLANTS

ResearchersatVanderbilt University Medical Center have developed anew heartpreservationmethod called REUP —rapid recovery with extended ultraoxygenated preservation— that safely recovers heartsfor hearttransplantation.The technique wasrecentlypublished in theJournal of the AmericanMedical Association. It usesoxygenatedblood and a specializedsolution“as a flush for

more than 10 to 12 minuteswith anewly recovered donor heart.”If successful, the method maylower costs, reduce ethical concerns and broaden the pool of available organs “ThestudyshowedREUP resulted in good outcomespreservinghearts foruptoeight hours, includingin older donors and without concern forgeographical limitations to get these hearts, broadening the pool of available organs to people waiting fora lifesaving hearttransplant,” Vanderbilt Health News reported in February.

MILKYWAY

Scientists are studying microscopic crystals to better understand how the solar system formed 4.6billion

years ago,accordingto Quanta Magazine.These crystals, called “presolar grains” are found inside meteorites.

For decades, researchers believed that anearbysupernova triggered the collapse of agiant dustcloud that became the sun andplanets. That theorywas supported by detailed astrophysicalmodels and furthermeasurements of enriched magnesium-26 in pristine meteorites However, newmeasurements show that the solarsystem hasaniron deficiency

“Therefore, if asupernova launched the formationofthe solar system, ‘weshould see quitehigh initial [iron-60] abundances in theearlyformed objects, wrote LinruFang, acosmochemist at the Universityof

Copenhagen, in an email. Agrowing alternative theory suggests that the winds of aWolf-Rayetstar couldhavedelivered the aluminum-26 in our solar system. Researchers are nowstudying the meteorite to see if there are grains with the right chemical composition to have come froma WolfRayetstar.Their findings could reshape scientists’ understanding of thesolar system’sorigins and the conditions that made life on Earth possible.

Fix theNewsisthe world’s leading solutions journalism newsletter.The organization finds hiddenstories of progress and shares them withreaders from 195 countries. Steven Pinker calls Fix the News “the bestsource forpositivenewson theinternet.”

STEAM

HarryHurst’s Advanced STEAMLab PreparesStudentsfor Real WorldCareers

At HarryHurst Middle School,students aregaininghands-on experience in engineering, broadcasting,journalism, and technology throughthe school’sAdvanced STEAMLab.Theydesignprojects likecircuitboards and mechanicaldeviceswhilealsoproducing news broadcasts,podcasts,videos,and theschool newspaper

Principal Sean Dwyercredits thelab’ssuccess to communitysupport, includingfunding from Shell. “Whatour students do is amazing,” Dwyersaid. “Shell askedhow it could help,encouraged us to think bigger when we answered, and that support transformed ourSTEAMclassroomintoaninnovative Advanced STEAMLab.”

Throughthese uniquelearningopportunities, studentsare discoveringnew passions and preparing forfuturesuccess.Shell’sinvestment is helping open doorsfor thenextgenerationofengineers, creators,and innovators

“I see studentsproblem solvingand accepting taskstheynever thought they could do.Theyare growingasleadersand taking riskslikespeaking in frontofthe entire school or interviewing our principal.”

LINDSAY MAXIE STEAMCoordinator

HarryHurst Middle School

STAFFPHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

STEAM LAB

ADVA NCED

Pen pal programs still exist in a digital world

Reporter visits pen pal of 40 years

BY HOLLY RAMER Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. — In 1985, a 13-yearold girl in New Zealand spotted a pair of purple, lip-shaped sunglasses in “Young Miss” magazine. In March, I traveled 9,000 miles from New Hampshire to deliver them to her, finally fulfilling my pen pal’s decades-old request.

International Youth Service, the agency that matched us up 40 years ago, has long since folded, but other pen pal programs have survived — or even began during — the internet age. And even though New Zealand’s postal system has reduced home delivery days, Denmark has stopped delivering letters altogether and Canada is moving in that direction, some see signs of a letter-writing resurgence.

“The hunger is there,” said Rachel Syme, a writer for The New Yorker magazine who created a pen pal program during the COVID-19 pandemic and later published a book encouraging others to take up handwritten correspondence.

More than 15,000 people signed up for Syme’s Penpalooza project in 2020, and she still gets hundreds of takers when she coordinates a new round of matchmaking every few months. She also gets requests for pen pals at book signings for “Syme’s Letter Writer – A Guide to Modern Correspondence,” and the stationery stores she frequents in New York City are always crowded with customers

“People are very interested in physical, analog things right now,” she said. “I think it really has an appeal especially to a younger generation who grew up with a phone glued to their hand, to do something that’s more tactile, slower, more intentional, more mindful, but also just disconnected from the internet in every way.”

‘Yours (hopefully)’

I was still 10 years away from connecting to the internet when I opened my first aerogramme from New Zealand, a sheet of pale blue paper that served as both writing surface and envelope adorned with a 45-cent stamp That missive ended with a formal “Yours (hopefully) Molly Nunns,” but within a year, she was signing off with “Lots and lots of love” or “Your friend forever.”

In letter after letter, Molly drew little hearts on the tails of y’s in both of our first names, asked for updates on my middle school crushes and shared stories about her classmates and family I could clearly picture her life, though it was hard in snowy New Hampshire to imagine celebrating Christmas during the summer

“I am thinking of you heaps and I wonder what you are doing because you’re a SUPER pen friend and I hope that we never stop writing to each other and that one day we will get to meet each other,” she wrote in early 1986.

Some of the hundreds of letters Ramer has received from her pen pal

Julie Delbridge, 65, fostered similar friendships after joining International Pen Friends as a teenager in 1979. Writing to pen pals in more than a dozen countries from her home in Australia was such a positive experience that she began working for the organization as an adult and took over as its president in 2001. While she loved sharing photos, postcards and treats with her pen friends, it also was a therapeutic experience at a time when her parents were going through a bitter divorce.

“It was a pastime that I totally immersed myself into in a positive way and gained a lot of enjoyment from,” she said. “There was an abundance of non-judgmental friendship, fun and different perspectives.”

Over its 59-year history, IPF has provided pen pals to more than 2 million people ages 8 to 80+, she said. Membership peaked in the late 1990s but surged again during the pandemic, and this year, there’s been an increase in people ages 21-26 joining.

Pen pals in the classroom

In 2021, the U.S Postal Service sent cards and envelopes to 25,000 elementary school classrooms for a pen pal project, but older students also are putting pen to paper

In Texas, a group of medical students created an anonymous pen pal program to promote peer support and personal reflection.

At Villanova University professor Kamran Javadizadeh requires students to send letters to each

other as part of a literature class called “Letters, Texts, Twitter” that examines different forms of epistolary communication in literature.

“I make them put pieces of paper in envelopes and take them to the post office and send them to each other even though they could just as easily hand it to the person in class,” he said. “Something is lost when you have instantaneous communication. So I’m interested in the relationship between synchronous kinds of intimacy and asynchronous forms of intimacy.” Gordon Alley-Young, dean of communications at New York’s Kingsborough Community College, believes letters are like vinyl records they’re coming back into fashion as young people explore a tangible medium from

the past. He has both studied the history of letter writing and used it to teach students empathy

In an interpersonal communication class, he noticed that students analyzing case studies about relationship problems offered matterof-fact, almost insensitive diagnoses. But when he re-wrote the case studies in the form of letters from friends and had students respond in kind, they began sharing their own feelings and offering more open-ended advice.

“We really want students to connect to what they’re looking at,” he said “And letter writing encourages that.”

Pen pals in the digital age

An app called Slowly seeks to combine modern technology with the old-fashioned anticipation inherent to the pen pal relationship. Users send messages digitally but delivery is delayed from an hour to several days to mimic snail mail.

“This delay naturally encourages longer, more thoughtful messages because you wouldn’t just say ‘hi’ if you know you have to wait days for a reply,” said co-founder JoJo Chan.

Since 2017, the app has gained 10 million users in more than 160 countries, most in their 20s and 30s. One user said he was curious about pen pals after hearing about them from his grandparents, Chan said.

“Slowly offers a convenient way and a modern way for them to try that experience,” she said.

Syme, however, is all about the tangible aspects of letter writing. Her book includes advice on paper and pens plus all kinds of goodies that can be tucked into envelopes.

“There is joy to be had once you fully embrace the medium’s outdated extravagance,” she writes.

But letter writing, she said in an interview, is like a swimming pool, both shiny and deep. The frippery and embellishments don’t matter in comparison to what you actually put on the page.

“That’s where I think it can get very real, very quickly,” she said.

A special connection

Molly and I had been writing for 15 years by the time we met in person, spending a day together in New York when she toured the U.S. in May 2000. We crossed paths in London a few years later, and in 2018, she and her family visited New Hampshire.

“Who would have thought when we started writing in 1985 that one day you’d be sitting here? It’s quite amazing,” she said during my recent visit. “We’ll always have a special connection, I’m sure.” In addition to the sunglasses, I also gave Molly a bound book of 200 pages of her letters that I scanned and printed. At age 13, I never could have imagined that someday I’d have searchable PDFs of our teenage scribblings that could be summarized in 10 seconds by artificial intelligence. But what amazes me more is the depth of the connection I felt during our tearful airport goodbye. We will for sure meet again. Until then, lots and lots of love, Holly

Cambodians honor spirits to pray for rain, good fortune

Villagers celebrate with a colorful ceremony

BY SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press

PHUM BOEUNG, Cambodia In May,

hundreds of Cambodians honored their village’s guardian spirits by holding a colorful centuries-old ceremony to pray for good fortune, rain and prosperity.

The “He Neak Ta” ritual has been celebrated annually for several hundred years by the villagers in Phum Boeung, about 15 miles northwest of the capital, Phnom Penh. The ceremony, which has become increasingly rare in modern times, coincides with the onset of the summer monsoon as farmers prepare for planting rice, a particularly water-intensive crop. Although most Cambodians are Buddhist, the ritual reflects a widespread faith in animism, the belief that spirits can inhabit all types of living and inanimate objects.

Chamrouen Ratha, a 26-year-old blacksmith, said he was taking the day off from work to join other villagers in honoring the same spirits celebrated by his ances-

tors.

“The significance of this ceremony is to pray for happiness and prosperity for all the villagers in this area and the participants who have joined this ceremony,” he said.

Villagers of all ages congregate about 1.2 miles from the local monastery dedicated to their guardian spirit. Young village men paint scenes inspired by local folklore on their faces and bodies, dress as spirits and don grass skirts. A few wear painted oversized heads atop their costumes.

Many young women wear traditional silk clothing, with gold-colored necklaces and flowers tucked behind their ears. Some dance elegantly to the beat of handheld drums and small gongs.

The ragtag procession, including some participants traveling on motorbikes and even on horseback, slowly makes its way to the guardian spirit’s shrine. There, villagers light incense sticks and offer various types of fruit, food, soft drinks and alcohol while praying for good fortune, adequate rain, prosperity and the prevention of disease within their community.

The half-day ceremony concludes with the spraying of holy water on the cheerful participants.

“I

“This

marchers, 30-year-old driver Sim

Pov Neak Mao, 64, who brought two horses with him, said he has attended the ceremony since he was young.

celebration is to ensure that the traditions of our ancestors are not lost, which they have tried to preserve and we continue to do so every year,” he said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By HENG SINITH

A man representing a ghost rides on a horse during a ceremony to invoke rain amid the rice planting season in Pring Ka-ek village, northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on May 21.

PROVIDED PHOTOS

This photo provided by Martin Murray shows longtime pen pals Molly Nunns, left, and Holly Ramer during a walk in Wellington, New Zealand, on March 7.

SUNDAY, JUNe 7, 2026

CURTIS / by Ray Billingsley

SLYLOCK FOX / by Bob Weber Jr

GET FUZZY / by Darby Conley

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE / by Chris Browne

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM / by Mike Peters

ZIGGY / by Tom Wilson

ZITS / by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

SALLY FORTH / by Francesco Marciuliano & Jim Keefe

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE /byStephan Pastis

directions: Make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row Add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value All the words are in the Official SCRABBLE® Players Dictionary, 5th Edition.

word game

instructions: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

todAY's Word — oPPortune: op-orTOON: Suitable or convenient for a particular occurrence.

Average mark 49 words

Time limit 60 minutes

Can you find 60 or more words in OPPORTUNE?

ken ken

instructions: 1 -Each rowand each column must contain thenumbers 1through4 (easy) or 1through6 (challenging) without repeating 2 -The numbers within the heavily outlinedboxes, called cages, must combine using thegiven operation (inany order)toproduce the target numbersinthe top-left corners. 3 -Freebies: Fillinthe single-boxcages withthe numberinthe top-left corner

instructions: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 gridwith several given numbers. The object is to placethe numbers 1to 9in theempty squares so that each row,each column and each 3x3 boxcontains the same number only once. The difficultylevel of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

directions: Complete thegridso that numbers 1–132 connect horizontally, vertically or diagonally

Sudoku

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

By ricky J sirois

wuzzLes

Weekly bridge quiz answers

Today’s deal was played some years ago in the Buffet Cup. This was a competition between players from the USA against players from Europe, designed to imitate the great Ryder Cup in golf It was much ballyhooed in the beginning, but the interest didn’t last. South was French star Michel Bessis Bessis was regretting his decision to respond on such a light hand, but the sight of dummy gave him hope. He had to play it very well.

super Quiz

Take this Super Quiz to a Ph.D. Score 1 point for each correct answer on the Freshman Level, 2 points on the graduate Level and

LEVEL

What was signed on Aug. 2, 1776?

Which U.S. president was assassinated on Nov 22, 1963?

Bessis won the opening trump lead with dummy’s ace and led a diamond to his 10 and West’s queen. He won the trump continuation in hand and led the 10 of hearts. This was covered by the jack from West, the ace from dummy, and ruffed by East. East shifted to the queen of clubs to dummy’s ace. Bessis cashed the king of clubs, discarding a diamond, and ruffed a club. He ruffed a diamond in dummy, another club in his hand, and another diamond in dummy In this three-card ending, with

only hearts in the North, South, and West hands, Bessis led a low heart to his eight. West won with the nine but had to lead a heart from his queen and Bessis made his contract. Very nicely done!

Tannah Hirsch welcomes readers’ responses sent in care of this newspaper or to Tribune Content Agency inc., 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, Ny 14207. E-mail responses may be sent to gorenbridge@ aol.com. © 2026 Tribune Content Agency

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Take a moment to sort through mixed emotions and how to deal with any unexpected changes that pop up. Use your memory, experience and charm to zigzag your way through any difficulties you face.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Trust your gut feeling, not what someone else tells you or wants you to believe. Misinformation is apparent, leaving you in charge of what you do next. Learn from mistakes.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Plant your feet firmly on the ground and repeat your mantra until your brain adapts permanently You have plenty to

gain if you are adamant and innovative.Keepthemomentumflowing. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Listen,anddo what you must to get what you want. Speakingoutforthoselessfortunate will lead to interesting connections that offer strength, courage and motivationtomakeyourcommunity a better place. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Whether you lower your overhead or increase your earning potential, hard work, inspiration and originality will carry you forward and help you outperform any competition you encounter

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Whether you are trying to gain physical strength or mental agility your quest will come to pass if you compete with yourself instead of trying to outmaneuver someone else.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Spend time at home, and avoid dealing with emotionally manipulative people. A change of heart will help you sort through what’s important to you and what you can discard CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) You can turn a negative into a positive with an energy push to reconstruct how you use your skills to make your life manageable. A heart-to-heart chat

Which war began on July 28, 1914? Answer________ 4. Who was the prime minister of England during World War II? Answer________ 5. What ship sank on April 15, 1912? Answer________

GRADUATE LEVEL 6. What was signed on Sept. 17, 1787? Answer________ 7. Which U.S.

will lead to a better relationship.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Don’t labor overwhatyoucannotchange.Thinking ahead will motivate you to make a long-overdue move that changes your quality of life and turns your negativity into something new and refreshing.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) You aren’t alone, but you do have to be selective when choosing who to believe or hang out with Get out and do things that interest you. It’s time to connect with people who share your interests.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Being emotional about decisions will set you

back. Keep your personal information to yourself. Someone will take advantage of you if given the opportunity Focus on getting ahead financially

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Clean up a mess or unfinished business. Step outside your comfort zone and do what’s necessary to ease stress and togetbackoncourse.Personalsatisfaction will come from self-love.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

goren Bridge

Answers to puzzles

1. The Declaration of Independence. 2. President John F. Kennedy.3.World WarI 4. Winston Churchill. 5. RMSTitanic. 6.The U.S Constitution. 7. President James A. Garfield. 8. Korean War. 9. Franklin D. Roosevelt.10. RMS Lusitania. 11.The MagnaCarta. 12.President William McKinley.13. American Civil War. 14.Joseph Stalin.15. HMS Hood.

SCORING: 24 to 30 points —congratulations, doctor; 18 to 23 points—honorsgraduate; 13 to 17 points —you’replenty smart, but no grind; 5to12points —you really shouldhit the booksharder;1point to 4points —enroll in remedial courses immediately; 0points who reads thequestions to you?

They fight not for the lustofconquest.They fight to end conquest.Theyfight to liberate.— President Franklin D. Roosevelt,announcing D-Day invasion

Crossword Answers

jeFF mACnelly’sshoe/ by Gary Brookins &Susie MacNelly

FoXtrot/ by BillAmend

dustin /bySteve Kelley&JeffParker