The Acadiana Advocate 06-10-2026 by The Advocate

U.S. carries out strikes on Iran

Trump blames Tehran for downing Army helicopter

BY JON GAMBRELL, KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates The

U.S. military said Tuesday that it carried out strikes on Iran following the crash of an Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz that President Donald Trump blamed on the Islamic Republic.

U.S. Central Command said on social media that the strikes would be “a proportional response to unjustiﬁed Iranian aggression.” Iranian state media reported that explosions were heard on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane that Iran has effectively closed during the war, before saying that the wave of American attacks in the south has “subsided.”

Trump said earlier in a social media post that Iran had shot down the aircraft while it was on patrol over the strait and declared that the U.S. “must, of necessity, respond to this attack.” Iran’s top diplomat said foreign military forces near the country’s territory “are at constant risk.” The downing of the helicopter

Pilot program targets 12 homeless individuals for help

BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer

On the surface, homelessness appears to have become far more visible in Lafayette.

Photos of tents set up on the side of the road or of someone sleeping at a bus stop make the rounds every week It can often lead people to question what’s being done to address the issue.

And it’s an issue that comes with a hefty price tag. The group of 12 individuals targeted by a pilot program was estimated to cost government agencies and service providers roughly $1.25 million annually through repeated ambulance transports, emergency room visits, jail stays and oth-

er interventions, said Elsa Dimitriadis, executive director of Acadiana Regional Coalition on Homelessness and Housing.

On average, that amounts to about $102,000 per person each year, compared with roughly $29,500 annually to provide permanent housing and supportive services.

“I’m talking about people who are getting hundreds of ambulance rides per year Police calls multiple times a week,” Dimitriadis said.

About a year and a half ago, Lafayette Consolidated Government approached ARCH, Catholic Charities of Acadiana, and Acadian Ambulance to begin discussions on how best to address resource drain.

What they came up with is 12 Together, a multiagency pilot program that aims to create a stronger web of services for the city’s most resource-intensive individuals through a housing-ﬁrst lens. Since then, collaboration has expanded to organizations like Faith House, Acadiana Cares, and the Outreach Center to governmental agencies such as the 16th Judicial District, the Lafayette Police Department and the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce.

The program focuses on 12 individuals identiﬁed by service providers and government agencies as some of the community’s most frequent users of

Misty Roberts ordered to serve 90 days in

BY MEGAN WYATT Staff writer

Former DeRidder Mayor Misty Roberts, convicted of multiple sex crimes after a 2024 party in which she was charged with having sex with her son’s 16-year-old friend, was ordered by a judge Tuesday to serve 90 days in the parish jail.

Judge Kent Savoie, who sits on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal, presided over the trial and sentenced Roberts. He acted as an ad hoc district judge for the case because of the recusals of the other district judges. Savoie sentenced Roberts to ﬁve years in prison for each charge with the time to be served concurrently, but he suspended the sentence. He instead ordered Roberts to 90 days in the parish jail and to pay a $5,000 ﬁne.

He also ordered Roberts to abstain from drugs and alcohol, to submit to random drug screenings, to pay monthly supervision fees and to have no contact with the victim and his family If she violates any of the conditions of a ﬁve-year probation, she’ll serve 10 years in prison.

State prosecutors asked for Roberts to receive the maximum sentence 10 years for one charge

Inmates’ families left in dark after Louisiana prison deaths

Failed legislation would have created reporting system

BY AIDAN McCAHILL

Staff writer

Jahane Draper says she learned through social media that her son died at Elayn Hunt Correctional

Center More than six months later, she’s still searching for answers. Eight months after detectives told them their son died at the West Baton Rouge Parish Detention Center, Charlene and Henry Henderson say they have learned more about it from watching the local news than from public ofﬁcials.

Monica Lafayette recalls the excruciating two weeks she had to wait to see her daughter’s body, and the bruises she saw when she ﬁnally viewed her The questions for Lafayette — whose daughter was in East Baton Rouge Parish Prison — have stretched on for more than 10 months.

information, disrupting an already arduous grieving process. Some wait months for just a death certiﬁcate.

In Louisiana, there is currently no uniform, statewide system for reporting deaths in custody Many families of inmates who died say they are forced to ﬁght for basic

“You play it in your mind, trying to ﬁgure out what happened,” said Jehane Draper “Because we don’t know what happened your mind tends to go here, tends to go there, your mind is never at rest.”

The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, which declined an interview, has

ä See PRISON, page 4A

State Rep Candace Newell, a New Orleans Democrat, sponsored a bill that failed this past legislative session that aimed to establish basic reporting requirements for deaths in custody “Families have been left in the dark at the very moment they are grieving the most,” she said.

President Donald Trump talks with reporters before boarding Air Force One at John F Kennedy International Airport in New york early Tuesday.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARK SCHIEFELBEIN

See STRIKES, page 6A

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

A small homeless encampment is located near downtown Lafayette. A multiagency pilot program aims to create a stronger web of services for the city’s most resource-intensive individuals.

HOMELESS, page 6A

Texas teen convicted in stabbing of rival athlete

MCKINNEY, Texas — A Texas teenager who fatally stabbed a 17-year-old track athlete from a rival team during a competition was convicted of murder Tuesday in a trial that drew attention far beyond the booming Dallas suburb where the two students attended different high schools. A jury rejected Karmelo Anthony’s claims of self-defense during a confrontation with Austin Metcalf in stadium bleachers last year. Most people who testiﬁed were students who described a heated exchange over Anthony’s refusal on a rainy spring day to leave a tent that belonged to Metcalf’s team Anthony, now 19, did not testify at trial and faces up to life in prison after a sentencing hearing in which his mother was the only witness. His lawyer had an arm around him when the guilty verdict was announced.

Trial in Ukrainian woman’s killing delayed

CHARLOTTE,N.C. — A man charged in the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee on a North Carolina commuter train cannot currently stand trial because of his mental illness and will undergo medical treatment to try to restore his competency, a federal judge ruled Tuesday Decarlos Brown Jr., 35, faces a federal charge of causing death on a mass transportation system in the killing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, a charge that is punishable by death. A separate state case against Brown in which he is charged with ﬁrst-degree murder is on pause pending the outcome of the federal case.

At the request of Brown’s attorneys, U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell found that their client is not currently competent to stand trial and ordered him to spend up to four months in a prison medical facility to try to restore his competency.

Rob Reiner’s son seeks money from trust LOS ANGELES Rob Reiner’s son Nick Reiner is seeking unpaid money from a trust his parents established for him, saying he needs it to help in his defense against charges that he killed them.

A petition ﬁled by Nick Reiner’s civil attorneys in a Los Angeles County court on Monday says that trustees overseeing the funds have denied them to him without legal justiﬁcation, and he needs and should get them now

“Nick loved his parents, and he is devastated by their deaths. But the facts about what did and did not happen to them are not at issue in this Trust litigation,” the petition says. “Like anyone accused of a crime, Nick is presumed innocent, and he is entitled to mount his defense with the resources that are lawfully his own.”

N.Y.’s busiest train station to get $8B remodel

NEW YORK When Manhattan’s original Pennsylvania Station was demolished in 1963, it marked the undigniﬁed end to one of America’s great public works, a monolithic Beaux Arts train terminal with Roman-style columns and a spacious central waiting area that was at the time the city’s largest indoor space. But a dramatic new vision for the busiest transit hub in the Western Hemisphere calls for a return to the original station’s grandeur from 1910. The redesign is projected to cost roughly $8 billion, and construction is targeted to begin before the end of 2027, ofﬁcials said Monday. Renderings released Monday feature a rectangular stone facade lined with imposing columns along a grand entryway

CORRECTION

A story on Tuesday gave incorrect information regarding the opening of Bob Borel’s art installation, “Mom Mom’s: The Sacred Ordinary” at Basin Arts, which opens to the public Saturday at Basin Arts, 126 S. Buchanan St 100, Lafayette. The Times-Picayune | The Advocate regrets the error.

32K displaced by quake in Philippines

Death toll hits 37 as rescuers search rubble

BY JIM GOMEZ and JOEAL CALUPITAN Associated Press

GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines Rescuers searched ruined buildings in the southern Philippines on Tuesday to ensure no one was still trapped a day after one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the country in a half-century killed at least 37 people and displaced more than 32,000.

Only four people were considered missing on official records in the southern provinces near where the 7.8 magnitude quake struck Monday morning, but the Ofﬁce of Civil Defense acknowledged several collapsed and heavily damaged buildings must be thoroughly inspected for possible survivors or casualties.

The earthquake centered off Mindanao, the second most populous Philippine island injured nearly 500 people and displaced more than 32,000, most of whom ﬂed to emergency shelters.

Many people who left their homes feared a tsunami. Waves up to 4.6 feet above tide level were measured in the Philippines, but the only tsunami damage reported was to six

shanties on stilts in a coastal village. Smaller waves washed ashore in Indonesia and Palau and as far away as southern Japan.

Landslides, building collapses

The earthquake left a trail of destruction, including in General Santos, a lively coastal city of more than 700,000 people known as the country’s tuna capital, where at least 13 people were killed in collapsed buildings and due to falling debris.

At least 18 died in Sarangani province, mostly in a landslide that buried houses in the mountainside town of Glan, according to Rafaelito Alejandro of the Ofﬁce of Civil Defense.

The other deaths were reported in the southern provinces of South Cotabato and Davao Occidental, and on Balut Island, disaster response ofﬁcials said.

About 2,500 houses and 117 government buildings and facilities were damaged in several provinces, according to an initial government damage assessment. The international airport in General Santos remained shut for a second day forcing the cancellation of 63 domestic ﬂights except for those on humanitarian missions.

About 6,000 public school buildings in quake-hit provinces must be assessed before classes can resume. The quake struck on the ﬁrst day of classes nationwide after a twomonth summer break, and many who sustained injuries were young students who had gathered with excitement for morning ﬂag-raising ceremonies. Authorities have warned that buildings that sustained cracks could collapse due to aftershocks, some of them dangerously powerful. “We cannot force the immediate reopening of schools because we have to ensure the integrity of the buildings,” Alejandro said. Strongest since 1976 Monday’s earthquake was centered at sea at a depth of 20 miles, about 20 miles southwest of Maasim town in Sarangani province. It was set off by movement in the Cotabato Trench and was the strongest since the same undersea depression triggered an 8.1 magnitude quake that whipped up tsunami waves on Aug. 17, 1976, said Teresito Bacolcol, the director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology

NASA unveils crew for Artemis III mission

Astronauts to test technology for a future moon landing

BY ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN AP science writer

NEW YORK NASA on Tuesday revealed the crew for its Artemis III mission, the next step in the space agency’s plan to eventually land astronauts on the moon.

The announcement came two months after Artemis II’s record-breaking trip around the moon that surpassed the distance record of Apollo 13.

NASA’s Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio, Andre Douglas and the European Space Agency’s Luca Parmitano won’t ﬂy to the moon or land on the surface. Instead, they’ll orbit Earth while practicing docking their Orion capsule with two lunar landers.

“To the Artemis III crew, we wish you Godspeed on the journey ahead,” said

NASA administrator Jared Isaacman.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are racing to deliver the lunar landers.

The two-week demo is targeted for 2027.

Blue Origin suffered a recent setback when its massive rocket exploded during an engine-ﬁring test on the launch pad in Florida, shaking nearby homes and illuminating the sky with an orange ﬁreball.

NASA’s Jeremy Parsons said the setback is a learning opportunity and that the space agency is conﬁdent Blue Origin’s rocket will be ready in time.

NASA’s Artemis program aims to re-

turn astronauts to the moon’s surface for the ﬁrst time since the 1970s. A recent revamp of the program announced by Isaacman aims to fast-track it similarly to the Apollo era, adding the upcoming spaceﬂight around Earth before eyeing a lunar landing in 2028.

“We are certainly humbled as a crew to be able to be your crew that executes this Artemis III mission in space,” said Bresnik, Artemis III commander Added Douglas, mission specialist: “My brain — it is going a mile a minute right now But my heart, it is so warm. It is so full.”

In May, NASA awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to four companies, including Blue Origin, to build landers, rovers and drones for a future moon base. Isaacman said the goal of the moon base is to lay the foundation for a Mars expedition.

Judge bars Alabama nitrogen gas execution

BY KIM CHANDLER Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala.

— A federal judge on Tuesday permanently blocked Alabama from executing an inmate with nitrogen gas after declaring the method violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

U.S. District Judge Emily C. Marks issued the decision a day after an appeals court reversed her ruling that the method is constitutional.

Marks permanently enjoined the state from executing Jeffery Lee by nitrogen gas. Lee was scheduled to be executed Thursday at an Alabama prison.

A spokesman for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the state is reviewing the decision and considering next steps, including an appeal. The case will likely end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has previously let nitrogen executions proceed.

A spokeswoman for Lee’s legal team said they did not have an immediate comment.

In her 26-page ruling, Marks said litigation is a constant in death penalty cases.

“Were Alabama to adopt firing squad as a method of execution, that method would likely be challenged as well. Indeed, there is likely no method — no matter how humane — that would be immune to constitutional challenge. But the Constitution does not guarantee a painless death, and human life cannot be purposefully extinguished without some risk of pain The Court, the condemned, and the State must all confront that sobering reality,” Marks wrote.

Marks noted that the state has two other authorized execution methods, lethal injection and the electric chair She said Lee is “not entitled to an injunction barring the State from executing him using one of those methods.”

Marks also ruled that the state could switch to Lee’s preferred method a ﬁring squad. Inmates challenging execution methods are required to suggest an alternative method.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By BASILIO SEPE Rescuers inspect a damaged building Tuesday following an earthquake in General Santos, Philippines.

PROVIDED PHOTO

The Artemis III crew includes, from left, Andre Douglas, Luca Parmitano, Randy Bresnik and Frank Rubio.

$70B immigration bill passed by House

Measure will fund enforcement agencies for three years

BY KEVIN FREKING and LISA MASCARO Associated Press

WASHINGTON A bill to provide nearly $70 billion for immigration enforcement narrowly passed the House on Tuesday and now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature, fueling the administration’s deportation agenda for the remainder of his time in the White House. Republicans used their majority to get the bill over the ﬁnish line, funding a pair of Homeland Security agencies through the next three years. The bill passed by a vote of 214-212, over the objections of Democrats.

The White House says the bill will provide $38 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, $26 billion for the Border Patrol and another $5 billion to cover unforeseen costs. It frontloads routine annual funding, ensuring a virtually uninterrupted flow of money as the Trump administration seeks to deport some 1 million people per year Speaker Mike Johnson needed near-perfect attendance and unity on his side to complete weeks of action. The legislation got sidetracked over $1 billion for White House security, including for Trump’s new ballroom, and a $1.8 billion fund to compensate his allies who claim

Salt Lake City sues to block warehouse detention

BY RYAN J FOLEY Associated Press

Salt Lake City and its county have ﬁled a lawsuit seeking to block the Department of Homeland Security’s plan to open a giant warehouse in the city that would be used to detain up to 10,000 immigrants.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court, is the latest brought by officials around the country who were not consulted before DHS purchased industrial warehouses that it planned to convert into regional immigrant processing and detention centers. The lawsuit targets the most expensive property purchased by DHS for the initiative: $145.4 million for a 833,000-square-foot warehouse that is roughly the size of 15 football fields. The March purchase, from a real estate development group partially owned by Deutsche Bank, cost nearly 50% more than the property’s 2025 assessed market value, records show In all, DHS purchased 11 warehouses for more than $1 billion between January and March in the final weeks of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem’s tenure under her $38.3 billion plan for a new detention model to increase bed capacity and make deportations more efficient. The DHS Office of Inspector General has opened an investigation into whether the plan was wasteful, and Noem’s successor, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, has put it on hold.

Like others ﬁled around the country, the lawsuit in Utah alleges DHS violated federal law by failing to conduct required environmental reviews or get input from state and local ofﬁcials before the purchase.

“This kind of facility has no place in Salt Lake City, not only due to its inhumane nature but also because of our limited water supply, the increased strain on public utilities systems, and the potentially drastic public health and safety impacts it would have on our residents,” Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said in a statement.

they have been unjustly investigated and prosecuted. Those proposals proved politically toxic and were scrapped.

Now the bill is focused entirely on immigration enforcement, a topic that Republicans have treated as a deﬁning issue between the two major political parties and one they hope will carry them to victory in this year’s midterm elections.

“It’s long overdue,” said Johnson, R-Benton, of the bill. “We have to fund border security and immigration enforcement, and it’s sad that Republicans have to do it on our own.”

But Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett, of Texas, called it a “slush

fund for ICE.”

The funding comes on top of the nearly $140 billion that the Republican-controlled Congress gave ICE and Customs and Border Protection last year as part of Trump’s tax and spending cuts bill.

Democrats objected to giving the agencies more money without changes in the way they operate after the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis. For example, Democrats insisted agents remove masks and be required to display ID badges during enforcement operations and that they get a judicial warrant before entering private property Instead, the funding will come with virtually no strings.

Report: ICE facility wasted millions, put detainees at risk

BY MICHAEL BIESECKER and RYAN J FOLEY Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Mismanagement at a massive Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Texas created unsafe conditions that contributed to detainee deaths and suffering even as millions of wasted tax dollars enriched contractors, according to a federal report released Tuesday

The Government Accountability Ofﬁce report documents serious problems at Camp East Montana, a sprawling tent facility at Fort Bliss in El Paso where three detainees have died in little more than six months. Evidence in one of those deaths, of a 55-year-old Cuban migrant who died in January after being held down by guards, was “missing or destroyed,” the report found.

ICE rushed to open the camp in August before construction was complete and failed to conduct required oversight to ensure detainees were held in sanitary conditions and receiving adequate medical care, according to the report.

The Department of Homeland Security noted that ICE has replaced the contractor running the facility “This new contractor will allow Camp East Montana to continue abiding by the highest detention standards with the ability to provide more medical care on-site,” said DHS spokesperson Lauren Bis.

The GAO’s findings echo past

reporting by The Associated Press and other news outlets about dangerous conditions at Camp East Montana, which quickly became the nation’s largest immigration detention facility

But the government report also details previously undisclosed incidents, including that a detainee escaped in October due to what ICE called the contractor’s oversight failure. In January, a guard lost a loaded ﬁrearm inside the facility that was never recovered.

The contractor failed to administer skin tests to screen detainees for tuberculosis, relying on a questionnaire instead, the report said. The inadequate screening allowed a detainee with tuberculosis to be housed with the general population, which suffered an outbreak.

GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency in Congress that investigates how federal funds are spent and evaluates whether programs and policies are operating effectively The ofﬁce opened its review into Camp East Montana at the request of Democrats in the House and Senate.

Sen. Dick Durbin, of Illinois, called the report’s ﬁndings “damning.”

“We now know even more details of how dangerous and irresponsible the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign truly is,” said Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, adding that “those detained are experiencing conditions that shock the conscience.”

HarryHurst’s Advanced STEAMLab Prepares Students forRealWorld Careers

HarryHurst Middle School students walk into thefuturewhentheyenter theschool’s Advanced STEAMLab —abrightlycolored uniquelydesignedclassroom whereengineering meetsjournalismand learningmirrors real worldexperiences.The innovative labcombines hands-on engineeringprojectswithdigital storytelling andbroadcast journalism,giving students opportunitiestoexplore careers, build conﬁdence,and thinkcreatively.

In theEngineering side of thelab,students design andconstruct projects such as pulleys, circuitboards, andevena mechanical forearm that bendsatthe elbow. Throughtrial,error,and problemsolving,theylearn that challenges are part of theprocess. “It’shardtosay what thebest part of STEAMisbecause it’s allinteresting,” oneeighthgradersays. “I really likedlearning aboutcircuits.”Another addedthatthe experience hassparked career goals: “I’m thinking aboutbecoming an engineer.”

Acrossthe room,several Journalism students

arepreparing scripts, producingand editingvideos, andpreparing to anchor dailyannouncements.Othersareworking on theschoolnewspaper,which includes news articles, photos,interviews, comics, andpuzzles.“I’mananchorfor themorningnews,”one studentshares. “I love it even though it made me nervousatﬁrst. Studentsalsoenjoythecreativefreedom encouraged in theSTEAM labenvironment.“Sometimeswemakefunny videos asking students andteachersdifferent questions; sometimeswediscuss serious things, like what ourprincipal expectsfroma HarryHurst student,”saysasoon-to-behigh school freshman. “One of ourﬁrstsurveys was aboutFruit Roll-Ups.” Learning to keep videos shortand focusedhas been achallenge,students admit, buttheysay thetechnologyinthe STEAM labmakes professionallevel work possible as they learntoconquer ever-changingadvances.

entire school or interviewing ourprincipal We function like afamily—ateamthatworks throughchallengestogether.”

TheAdvancedSTEAM Lab is ledbyLindsayMaxie,who transitioned from teaching EnglishLanguageArtsintothe STEAM coordinatorrole. With abackground in journalism andexperience advising theschoolnewspaper andchess club, Maxieembracedthe opportunitytoblend creativity with technology.She says oneof themostrewarding aspectsiswatching students grow “Iseethemproblemsolvingandaccepting taskstheynever thoughttheycould do,” Maxiesaid. “Theyare growingasleaders taking riskslikespeakinginfront of the

PrincipalSeanDwyer creditsthe lab’sgrowth to strong community support, includingfundingfromShell Norco. “Whatour students do is amazing,”Dwyer notes. “Shell askedhow it couldhelp, encouraged us to thinkbiggerwhen we answered,and that supporttransformed our STEAMclassroom into an innovative Advanced STEAMLab.”

Dwyerexplainsthatthe programservesasa bridge tohigh school andbeyond. “The St.Charles Parish Public School district offerswelding and engineeringprograms, andour SatelliteCenter plus both high schoolsteach television broadcastingcourses.Thislab is aﬁrststeptoward careersand good jobs.”

AtHarryHurst,math,science,andEnglishcome together in powerful ways.“Here,weopenthe door to imagination, collaboration, andsuccess in therealworld,”Dwyer says —“oneproject,one broadcast, andone conﬁdent studentatatime.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CLIFF OWEN Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin testifies June 3 before the House Committee on Homeland Security during a hearing on the budget request for the Department of Homeland Security

This articleisbrought to youbyShell

HarryHurst Middle School STEAMLab coordinatorLindsay Maxie(left)withSTEAM Labstudentsand Hurstprincipal Sean Dwyer(center back row)

argued that adequate reporting systems already exist. Timely notiﬁcation to family members is required for DOC facilities, they say while statistics about deaths at its facilities are posted online.

“DOC supports the general principle that families and designated emergency contacts should be notiﬁed as soon as practicable regarding serious incidents involving individuals who are incarcerated,” the agency said in a statement.

Beyond the notification process, there is no state-level system for investigating deaths at jails and prisons in Louisiana, and details about how they occur don’t have to be made public. Advocates for inmates argue that without more transparency and oversight prisoner safety in Louisiana’s penal system, ranked in the top ﬁve nationally in state prison mortality rates, won’t improve.

“Understanding who is dying and why and where is the only way that you can reduce the number of preventable deaths,” said Andrea Armstrong, a law professor at Loyola University in New Orleans.

Underreporting?

Under the Death in Custody Reporting Act, Louisiana must report every incustody death that occurs in private, parish and state facilities to the federal government, though the raw data is not made public. The process is facilitated by the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement, a state agency that helps distribute millions of dollars in federal grant money Armstrong, an expert on prison conditions certiﬁed by the U.S. Justice Department to audit detention facilities, says Louisiana is likely underreporting prison deaths.

Since 2019, she and her students have tracked Louisiana deaths in custody through public records requests. While DOC posts online the number and causes of deaths in its facilities through its “Death Dashboard,” Armstrong’s database, The Incarceration Transparency Project, provides the only statewide, publicly available mortality information for all Louisiana detention centers.

Between 2020 and 2023, the project uncovered 302 Louisiana inmate deaths in state, parish and private detention centers that did not show up in federal databases. Of the 707 deaths occurring in Louisiana during that time, Armstrong’s data suggests only 57% were reported to the federal government.

“There are facilities that don’t report at all but my students are able to obtain that information through public records requests,” she said.

Over half of the nearly 31,000 people in state custody are held under contract in local parish jails, which also house pretrial detainees and can vary in how they report and investigate deaths.

Some agencies report each death that occurs at the jails

they run to the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement, but others don’t. Armstrong pointed to Jefferson Parish Correction Center, run by the parish Sheriff’s Office. In 2025, after averaging one to two deaths annually for years, the facility had eight including at least one suicide and two drug overdoses, according to autopsy results. Only one was reported to the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement, Armstrong said — and it was reported by DOC. Brandon Veal, a spokesperson for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce, said their facility did not report in-custody deaths to the commission in 2025 because they did not receive or apply for federal grant money that year He said the policy of the Sheriff’s Ofﬁce is to report each in-custody death to DOC.

“I can’t speak for what was reported or not reported by the state,” Veal added Fredia Dunn, who manages such reporting for the law enforcement commission, said each death is supposed to ﬂow through her ofﬁce.

She said it’s “been communicated over the years that this is a requirement” by the U.S. Justice Department, “but I don’t know how we would be able to police that.”

De’Troit Draper

De’Troit Draper had been in Elayn Hunt since 2017 for attempted second-degree murder convicted of shooting a woman in the arm. The 30-year-old liked helping other inmates produce their own music and was working on two degrees, his mother Jehane Draper, said

“He wasn’t just sitting idle; he was educating himself,” she said On Nov 24, De’Troit Draper was found unresponsive in his cell after a “ﬁstic encounter” with another inmate. He died hours later at a local hospital. By the evening, Jehane Draper had learned her son had died through a friend on social media. She said she called Elayn Hunt multiple times before they conﬁrmed her son had died — after it was reported by local news outlets.

Randy Lavespere, the DOC’s head physician testiﬁedduringarecentlegislative committee hearing that after prison deaths employees are supposed to call the emergencycontactprovidedbythe inmates which for De’Troit Draper was his mother Staff must also immediately notify the warden, parish coroner and DOC headquarters, conduct in-house medical reviews, and engage law enforcement “under suspicious circumstances,” Lavespere said “Timely notiﬁcation of designated family contacts following a serious illness, serious bodily injury, or death is a matter our staff and medical professionals handle with great care and urgency,” the department said in an email in response to a question about its practices.

But that process is only for DOC facilities, and many families of inmates who die in custody — regardless of who runs the facility — say they struggle to receive any-

thing beyond a call and an autopsy report.

“Most families, they have to go ﬁnd a lawyer, they have to come up with money out of their pockets, just to get some degree of closure,” said the Rev Alexis Anderson, a Baton Rouge criminal justice advocate. “We treat deaths in custody as if they are not real human beings, and their families are not real human beings.”

In Draper’s case, the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce initially investigated his death as a homicide gathering physical and surveillance evidence, until a pathologist ruled he had epilepsy and died of a natural seizure.

“When the pathologist says natural, I can’t go with anything more than that,” said Mark Graves, a detective with the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce who investigated the case.

Jahane Draper, who has not been able to view the footage of her son’s death, remains unconvinced. She said she spoke with De’Troit every week. She’s never heard of him having epilepsy

“The type of relationship me and my son had, my son would have picked up the phone and called me, would’ve told me,” she said “It’s a lie.”

Deavon Scott

Denise Scott is likewise trying to reconcile with being told her son, Deavon Scott, died from a seizure. He was arrested in Baton Rouge in November after allegedly hitting an ex-girlfriend and later ﬁring a gun near her apartment. Due to a lack of space, he was taken to Riverbend Detention Center, run by the East Carroll Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce and more than three hours away Before he died, Scott was scheduled twice in January for arraignment in Baton Rouge but was never taken back, according to court records.

On Feb. 10, Scott was again scheduled for court in Baton Rouge. Instead, Denise Scott got a call around 2 a.m. and learned her son had died at a hospital in Lake Providence.

“When I called the hospital to see if I could come see him, they told me they couldn’t give me any information that I would have to contact the prison,” she said.

After repeatedly calling Riverbend, Denise Scott said, the warden told her surveillance footage showed her son collapsing after what appeared to be a seizure.

Initial autopsy reports, conducted by an out-of-parish coroner’s ofﬁce, have found no drugs in Deavon Scott’s system East Carroll Parish Coroner Lisa Holt says she has not been allowed by the Riverbend warden to review the footage of his death, nor has his mother Riverbend Detention Center Warden John Hedgemon did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

“To have a seizure at 23, with no history of seizures, I really don’t understand,” said Denise Scott.

In May, a Baton Rouge judge issued a bench warrant for Deavon Scott for three more missed arraignment dates — all scheduled after he died.

Nicholas Henderson

Nicholas Henderson was awaiting trial for allegedly supplying a deadly batch of synthetic marijuana to another inmate. He was soon placed in a lockdown cell after a ﬁght. He was 26, had two daughters and called his parents almost every day from the West Baton Rouge Parish jail. Two days before his death, on Sept. 5, he told them he planned to sue the jail for civil rights violations, his parents say After detectives told Charlene and Henry Henderson their son had died, they drove to the parish Coroner’s Ofﬁce and banged on the door They said they did the same at the jail but received no answers there either It was not until after an autopsy three days later that the Hendersons were able to see their son.

Henry Henderson has since ordered a second, outof-state autopsy A few weeks after Nicholas’s death, the family says, they were told preliminary evidence suggested a drug overdose, and for months afterward, they pressed West Baton Rouge ofﬁcials for more details.

“Each time we called, it was always still under investigation and no information was given to us,” Henry Henderson said. His wife Charlene said they also have ﬁled multiple public records requests. Henderson’s cause of death was eventually determined to be a drug overdose after a pathologist discovered a small bag of fentanyl in his stomach — details The Advocate obtained through its own public records request.

“At this time, investigators were unable to determine how he came into possession of the narcotics,” said a spokesperson for the West Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Ofﬁce, which runs the jail and initially investigated the death as a homicide.

Maressa Mays

Maressa Mays was found dead in a lockdown cell at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on July 19.

Mays had a medical condition that put her at risk of blood clots, her mother said. She also had HIV and was in jail for allegedly intentionally exposing people to the virus.

In the days before her death, her mother, Monica Lafayette, said she received two calls from inmates ﬁrst saying her daughter was screaming in stomach pain and being denied medical care, then two days later alleging staff were beating her

After detectives informed Lafayette that her daughter died she was told she couldn’t get an independent autopsy, or see the body, until Aug. 1, two weeks later, she said. When she did see the body Lafayette said, it looked like her daughter had been severely beaten.

“She had bruises everywhere, all over her body,” Lafayette said. “The left front of her forehead was dented in.

The autopsy lists her death as accidental due to a fentanyl overdose.

A spokesperson for the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce, which runs the jail and conducted a homicide investigation into Mays’ death, said “there was no evidence that indicated anything other than an overdose,” but declined to provide any other information.

Public health approach

In many facilities, such as the East and West Baton Rouge Parish jails, suspicious deaths are investigated by the same agency that runs them. The only independent probe Louisiana law requires is by local coroners, who are trained to look only for the manner and cause of death and whose investigations vary widely from ofﬁce to ofﬁce, Loyola’s Armstrong said.

“The law is vague on what the content of that investigation is,” she noted.

She said Louisiana has no one at the state level analyzing systemic issues within prisons like healthcare or stafﬁng shortages.

“(Coroners) are not experienced in or required to assess the prison or the jail’s policy, stafﬁng, supervision,

and whether or not that played a role in the death,” Armstrong added. Nobody, for example, monitors how inmates in lockdown cells might be obtaining drugs or whether unexpected seizures are increasing, she said.

After a string of inmate deaths at Elayn Hunt, DOC requested an independent State Police investigation into the facility in January but has since declined to provide details about it. In Texas and New Jersey the Attorney General’s Office investigates prison deaths. Washington State produces multipage reports, filled with preventive recommendations, after each unexpected death in custody Other states, like Florida, publish the name of each inmate and cause of death online, Armstrong said. Independent reviews might not only increase accountability Armstrong said, but also allow the state to take a public health approach to prison health. Nothing on a death certiﬁcate notes whether a person died behind bars — meaning the state Health Department has no way to track or analyze patterns of prison mortality she added.

“There is someone at the state level who reviews all infant deaths; the same should apply to deaths of incarcerated individuals,” Toby Savoy, a former St Landry Parish coroner, said in a recent Health Department survey

Some family members say the lack of oversight has eroded their trust in the criminal justice system.

“I think it’s really hard for families when that first moment doesn’t go great, they don’t get a phone call,” said Armstrong. “It begins and plantstheseedofdistrust,and it’s hard to overcome that.” Henry Henderson, whose son died in September, says he’ll keep pushing to make changes to ensure families whose loved ones die in prison can get closure faster “It’s not just happening to our kids,” he said. “It’s going to happen to other kids, too.”

andseven years for another —while her defense attorneys requested asuspended sentence. Before sentencing, the judge heard victim impact statements fromthe 16-year-old victim’smother, two older sisters and cousin They said the victim has struggled with panic attacks in the aftermath of the2024 party,missed alot of school and that they haveworried about him harming himself.

“The personresponsible took many thingsfrom our family,”said the victim’s mom, who described Roberts as achild predator.“Shewill not take our son’sfuture.”

Her address to the courtroom ended witha message to Roberts: “Stay the hell away from my family.”

Roberts also addressed the courtroom before her sentencing Tuesday

“I have sat with the consequences of my actions for nearly two years,” theformer mayor said.

“I blamedmyselfthat day,” Roberts added.“I blamemyself today,and I will blame myself for the rest of my life.”

Sasha JoyLambert, apsychologist from Lafayette,assessedRobertsand testiﬁed that she has alow risk of reoffending and wouldbeneﬁt from specialized, long-term treatment

As he read out Roberts’ sentence, Savoie said he didnot believe shetook full responsibility for her actions. He said Roberts told the children who witnessed the crimes to lie or be quiet, minimized her involvement and, to some extent, blamed the victim.

Although prosecutors asked the court to consider Roberts’ position of authority as mayor at the time of thecrimes, Savoie saidhe did not do so because there was no evidence she used her inﬂuence as an elected ofﬁcial. Instead, she “used her position in that she was the sole adult present”

trusted with supervising the teensatthe party,hesaid.

Savoie determinedthe sentence by considering Roberts’ lack of prior criminal history,low risk for reoffendingand thesentences given by other judges in Beauregard Parish forsimilar crimes, he said.Healsoconsidered the victim impact statements,attorneyarguments and how the crimes affected the victim’s family and Roberts’ family Prosecutor Charles Robinson objected to the “lenient” sentence anddeclined to comment afterthe hearing.

“There’s no wayanelected ofﬁcial can have sexwith a child and notgotojail,” Robinson saidbefore the sentencing.

Roberts’ defense attorneys said she won’tpost a $150,000 appeal bondfor the 90 daysinparishjail

“Shewantstoget it over with,” said defenseattorney Adam Johnson saidafter courtadjourned.“She doesn’twant it hanging over herhead ” Johnson and his co-counselor,Todd Clemons, said they weredisappointed by theconviction but couldtell Savoie put alot of thought into the sentencing.

“The sentence could have been much worse,” Johnson said.

Ajuryon March3found Roberts guilty of carnal knowledgeofajuvenile and indecent behavior withajuvenile, bothfelony charges. The panel of six jurors deliberated for less than an hour after hearingﬁve days ofarguments, witness testimony and evidence presentation in the case.

Robertsinitially walked free on bail after her convictionwhile shewaitedfor sentencing. Witnesses testifiedthat Roberts provided alcohol to her teenage son,nephew and their friends during aJuly 2024 party beforehaving sex with oneoftheir friends.

The 16-year-old victim testiﬁed that he was drunk thenight of theparty when Roberts told him he looked good, winked at him,danced with him, took aphotowith him, grabbed him and kissed him. The victim said he felt dizzy and strange, and when Roberts said they shouldn’t continue kissing outside,he asked if theycould go upstairs. The victim testiﬁed that they had sex upstairs in the game room, and it wasn’t until afterward that he realized what was happening.

Roberts’son,nephew and afriendtestiﬁed that they went upstairs and saw the mayor andtheir friend having sex through blinds in a window of the game room.

When Roberts and the victim came downstairs, Roberts and herson gotintoan argument, witnesses said.

The victim’scousin lost friendships becausehe “chose to tell the truth,” according to avictim impact statement read by Robinson.

“The emotional scars extend far beyond the courtroom,”the statement said.

In herstatement to the court Tuesday,the victim’s mother said Roberts preyed on children, but insteadof using avan andcandy,Roberts had hair extensions and heels.

“She’s not sorry for what she did,” thevictim’smoth-

er told the courtroom.“She’s only sorry it got out.”

The victim’s mothersaid her son missedhalf his high school years because of the crimes, noting that he didn’t want to go to school and continues to faceridicule. An opposing baseball team member referred to her son as “the mayor slayer,”she said. Roberts resigned fromher elected position afew days before her August 2024 arrest

The defense portrayed a case built around rumors shared by teenagers in a small town.

Johnson asked his client’s sonifheactuallysawhismother having sex withhis friend. Roberts’ son saidhecould not conﬁrm it,but it lookedlikeit from what he saw.

Text messagesbetween Roberts and her nephew the day after indicatethe mayor was “scared to death,” although Clemons pointed out that shedid notexplicitly refer to having sex with the boy

ADoorDash driver also

testified that he delivered Plan Bemergencycontraceptive fora customer namedMisty to the mayor’s address afew days before she was arrested. Duncan Clanton, Roberts’ ex-husband, testifiedthat she toldhim directlythat she hadsex withthe 16-yearoldboy,and that theywere caught in the act.

During her statement Tuesday,Roberts recalled how she promised to “put DeRidder on the map”asmayor andsaidshe didn’tdoitinthe wayshe should have.

“Whatanembarrassment I’ve been to this city,” she told the courtroom.

Roberts said everything she did in the aftermath was out of fear of losing her children. She asked the judge for“grace andmercy”and to be allowed to be amother to her children ahead of the sentencing.

Lambert, thepsychologist, said she did notsee apattern of attraction to children based on her assessment of Roberts.

When questioned about whether Roberts took full accountabilityfor her actions, Lambert hesitated to answer,saying Roberts only said she behaved inappropriately with ajuvenile but did not say she had sex with him. The judge told Lambert that ajury heard evidence and convicted her of having sexwith him, andthenasked Lambert whether Roberts had accepted full responsibility Lambert’sresponse of “no” wasmet by applause from the crowded courtroom Johnsontoldthe judge his client is notapredatorand all evidence points to her being involved in aone-time mistake that happened during amental breakdown. She is nowaregistered sex offender and has faced public scrutiny as her punishment, Johnsonsaid. He encouraged thejudge to tune out public pressure.

“No matter whatyou do, therage will neversettle,” Johnson said.

emergency and public services. By helping those individuals secure stablehousing and access healthcare, mental health treatmentand other services, organizers hope to reduce recurring crises that often lead to repeatedambulance calls, hospital visits and interactions with law enforcement.

The philosophy is not thatdifferent from ARCH’sgeneral philosophy.The 12 Together program differs in its intensity,providing a far more hands-on approach to individuals facing homelessness. They are identiﬁed by their vulnerability or their chances of dying on the streets, and whether they are dealing with an immediate psychological or medical crisis.

Typically,acandidate for theprogram would have either multiple jail stays or police responsesrelated to them or frequent use of ambulance and emergency room services.

Those people would then be connected to acasemanager whoworks to ﬁnd housing for the homeless individualand to connectthem with

STRIKES

Continued from page1A

andthe resulting strikes by the U.S. military further strained a two-monthceasefire aday after Iran and Israel exchanged fire forthe ﬁrst time since the fragile truce took effect. Iranian state television said Tuesday that the Israeli attacks killed at least two members of the country’sair-defense units.

Since the U.S. and Israel began striking Iran on Feb.28, thewar has shaken the global economy, driven up energy pricesaround the worldand mademany basics, including food, more expensive.

Officials have been unable to turn the April ceaseﬁreintoadeal to permanently end the conflict, particularly as Israelintensiﬁes and expands its military campaign in Lebanon against theIranianbackedmilitia Hezbollah.

The Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter went downafter colliding with an Iranian drone, according to aU.S. ofﬁcial, whospoke on condition of anonymity to discuss

resourcessuch as primary careor behavioral healthservices. Those case managers would then ensure individuals have transportation to attend appointments or remainin inpatient care.

It’seasier said than done.

“Since it’ssuch slow and arduous work, it’shard to externalizethose wins to the general public. Six of these folksbeing stably housed is an enormouswin,” Dimitriadis said.

The idea of sitting casemanagerswith local agencies and providers isn’tanything novel, said Sarah Clement, Catholic Charities chief of administration

The city had somethingsimilar more than adecade ago. Butchanges in administrationled to those interagencydiscussion to fall by thewayside —relationships began to dissolve, and thatvaluable data stopped being shared.

“These people are requiringthe most amountofenergyfrom the system combined. If we solve their crisis, what does that look forusas asystem?Ifwecan model what this looks like,then anytimesomeone meets this criteria, there’samechanism and clearprocessfor how we handle this across systems,” Dimitriadis said.

an ongoinginvestigation.

It wasn’tclear whetherthe collision was intentional, and ofﬁcial statements only said the crash is underinvestigation. CNN, CBS News and other outlets earlier reported thecollision.

In theﬁrst knownoperation of its kind by theAmerican military,a drone boatrescuedtwo aviatorsat 3:30 a.m. local time Tuesday,about two hoursafter theiraircraft went down during apatrol off thecoast of Oman, U.S. Central Command said.

Trump saidboth service members “are safe anduninjured.”

TheU.S. service members were spotted and picked up by adrone boatthattook themtoanother locationonthe water,wherethey were picked up by ahelicopter, said Capt. TimHawkins, aspokesmanfor U.S. Central Command He initially said the drone took the two to shore, and he did not elaborate on theupdated timeline.

It was thefirst known drone rescue at sea by the U.S. military, Hawkinssaid AH-64 Apache helicopters have beenakey asset for the American military as it enforces ablockade

The programisfundedthrough a one-year grant received by Catholic Charities and through federal dollars that ARCH receives for permanent housing programs. The two organizationshopetoapproachphilanthropic organizations for additional funding to keep theprogram going.

Theprogram hasalready shown somesuccess, Clement said, adding thathalf of the participants are below their average number of ambulance transports.

Butthat funding still wouldn’t tackle someofthe biggestroadblocksfacing Lafayette and the stateasa whole, Clement said.

For one, Lafayette lacks space for those who don’tmeet hospital admission criteria to recover from medical or mental healthepisodes. The elderly and dying lack access to thehome healthcare they require in their ﬁnal days, which is often unsuitable in ashelter setting.

And the ever-present issue in Lafayetteisa generallack of shelter space for families and individuals.

“The biggest success of this is that willingness and paradigm shift that this is asocial issue that we can tackle if we work together and we ﬁgure out who does what best,” Clement said.

on Iranian crude oil shipmentsand tankers, seekingtopressure Tehran intoadeal. The helicopters have alsobeen used by theUnited ArabEmiratestoshoot down Iranian drones.

Thedroneusedtoperform the rescue was a24-foot vesselcalled aCorsair,Hawkins said. It’smanufactured by Saronic Technologies.

Thedrone was assignedtothe Navy’sTaskForce 59, established in 2021 as theNavy’s first uncrewedand artiﬁcial intelligence unitthat focusesonmaritime security in the Middle East, including the Strait of Hormuz and the Suez Canal.

Soon afterTrump made his accusation that Iran shot down the aircraft, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in a social media post thatthe strait is “thousands of miles away from U.S. shores.”

“Foreign forces in proximityto ourterritoryare at constant risk on account of their own human errors,plain accidents, or potentially being caught in crossﬁre,” Araghchi wrote. “Toreduce risk, best solution is for them to leave.”

Beforeheaccused Iran of down-

ing the U.S. helicopter,Trumphad expressed renewed optimism over negotiations with Iran.

“Wehave agoodchance” of signinga deal in “two or three days,” Trump said late Monday.But he did not provide any details on why there wasreason for new optimism In thetwo months since the U.S. and Iran agreed to an initial ceaseﬁre, Trump has repeatedly predicted that adeal is near

“We’re very closetohaving a very,very good, strong, powerful deal,” thepresident said.

Mediators, led predominantly by Pakistan, have been trying for weeks to get adeal across the line. However,both Iran and the U.S. have taken hard-line positions.

TheU.S. wants to see Iran give up itsstockpile of highly enriched uranium, whichisbelievedto be entombed in the aftermath of American airstrikes that happened during the 12-day warin2025. But Iranisrefusing that anddemandingrelief from sanctions. It also wants the release of frozen assets even before aﬁnal agreement is in place, something rejected by Trump.

Before Trump’scomments on negotiations, Qalibaf said Monday that Trump’sremarks so far on a possible deal “contradicted the agreed-upon sections,” showing that the U.S. is “neither seeking a ceaseﬁre nor dialogue.”

The continued ﬁghting between Israel and Hezbollah is still atop Iranian priority as well. Lebanon’sarmychief,Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, traveled to Pakistan on Tuesday.There, he met Pakistan’s army chief, FieldMarshal Asim Munir,who hasbeenakey ﬁgure in the Iran-U.S. talks. Haykal’svisit comes as Lebanon’sgovernment takes an increasingly hard line on Hezbollahbut remains unable to disarm the powerful militia. Hezbollah thankedIran on Tuesday forattacking Israel “in defense of our Lebanese people,” suggesting that Lebanon’s government should take this opportunity to improve relations with Tehran.

Meanwhile, theIsraelimilitary issued an evacuation warning for Lebanon’ssouthern port city of Tyre, including the Christian quarter, which hassofar been spared from airstrikes on the city

STAFFPHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK Aman sleeps on aSouth Bienville Street sidewalk on Friday.

Envoy: Sanctionsa ‘pretext’for action

Trumplaying groundwork for military intervention in Cuba,diplomatsays

BY MATTHEW LEE AP diplomatic writer

WASHINGTON Recent U.S. sanctions targeting Cuba’sleadership and the indictment of former President Raúl Castroare a“pretext” for theTrumpadministration topersuade the American people to support amilitary intervention, Cuba’s topdiplomattothe United States told The AssociatedPress

In an interview on Tuesday,Ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera repeatedaccusations against the Trump administration madeby other Cuban ofﬁcials, including the foreign minister and the president, andcomplained bitterlythatthe U.S. is targeting Cuban civilians with itsdecades-oldembargo and

newblockadeofenergy shipments to the island

“The sanctions against ourleaders, we seeasa pretext tomake the American people think we are a threat,” shesaidatCuba’sembassy in Washington. “Weare not athreat to theU.S., and we don’twant confrontation.”

Torres Rivera, who holds the formal title of chargé d’affaires, describedthe situation as “a war without bombs.” She saidefforts to change Cuba’s government by coercion or force would be met by ﬁerce resistance.

“Raúl is sacred,” she said of the indictment by afederal grandjury lastmonthofCastro. The 95-yearoldformer president faces conspiracy and murder charges related to the 1996 shootdown of two unarmed civilian planes operated by the Miami-basedexile group Brothersto the Rescue whilehewas serving as Cuba’s defense minister

“Raúl isa sacred symbol of the revolution, and we will defend Raúl —aswewill the country —until the

end,”Torres Rivera said. “Ifweare attacked, we are going to respond, andweare prepared for that. But we don’twant it.”

Hercomments reflect abelief among many Cubans and Cuba analysts that the charges against Castro andthe sanctions imposed on others in the socialist government’s leadership are similar to those theTrump administration touted as areason for the military intervention in Venezuela in January that deposed thenPresident Nicolás Maduro.

On Thursday, the same daythe U.S.Treasury Departmentleveled sanctionsonCuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Castro’sson and grandson, alongwithothers, U.S. President Donald Trump saidof Cuba: “We’re goingtohandle that as soon as we’ve ﬁnished” military operations in Iran.

Trump hasbeenthreatening militaryaction in Cuba ever since ousting Maduro and thenordering an energy blockade thatchoked off fuel shipments to Cuba. Thathas led to severe blackouts, food shortages

andaneconomic collapse across the island. Torres Rivera said the moves by the Trump administration to tighten thescrews on Cuba’s alreadyfalteringeconomyhave resulted in

BY NICOLE WINFIELD and JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press

BARCELONA, Spain Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday sought to encourage Spain’syoung people to persevere in their faith, as he presided over an evening rally that was notable for its frank discussion of depression, domestic violence and“toxic” family relationships.

The U.S.-born pope received araucous welcomeat the Olympic stadium in Barcelona, the second stop of his weeklong visit to Spain that has drawn huge crowds despite the country’sstrong secular bent.

The crowd, estimated at 40,000, erupted in cheers when Leo emerged from the stands in his popemobile and loopedaround the grounds. He thrilled sectionsofthe crowd each time he stopped to bless babies or to do the “6-7” hand gesture that has now become asignature.

The event featured several nodstoCatalan culture, includinga demonstration of the region’sfamed human tower acrobats, known as castellers. The eight-level tower drew an appreciative applause from the pope after the smallest child reached the top, waved, andthen quickly shimmied down. Leo also spoke in Catalan, more than initially foreseen, during the prayer vigil that featured aquestion-andanswer session with young adults.Such exchanges are scripted in advance and are typical features of papal trips. But Tuesday’s edition was particularly raw given the subject matter Leo covered.

One youngwoman told Leo of asuicideattempt andthe “darkness” she had experienced with bouts of depression.Another spoke abouther father’sattempt to kill hermother and a childhood spent in juvenile detention. She asked how

she could ever forgive her father

Leo thanked theyouths for their honesty and willingnesstoshare their stories publicly. He blamed themalaise on what he said was asociety that demands perfection of its youth and silences “momentsofdarknessand suffering.”

He compared the “silent illness” of depression amongyoung people to the suffering of Christ on the cross.

“In those dark hours, as he wasdying on the cross, Jesus shared our pain and revealed to us the face of acompassionate God,who bears oursorrows,who suffers with us, weepsour tears andremains at our side with hispresence full of love andmercy,” Leo said.

But he also identiﬁed abusive families wheredomestic violenceisnormalized as being behind many problems facing today’s young people.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByJ.SCOTT APPLEWHITE

Chargéd’Affaires of the EmbassyofCuba Lianys Torres Rivera speaks TuesdaywithThe Associated Press in Washington.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By BERNAT ARMANGUE

Pope Leo XIV makes a‘6-7’ hand gesture Tuesday as he arrives at aprayervigil at Lluis Companys Olympic StadiuminBarcelona, Spain

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

More swings for AI stocks on Wall Street

Another sudden reversal for high-flying artificial-intelligencestockssent Wall Street reelingonTuesday

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% after careening between an initial gain of 1% and amiddayloss of 2.3%, pulling furtherfrom its all-time high set aweek ago. After similar yo-yo moves, the Dow JonesIndustrial Average added 86 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 1%.

Indexes swung lowerafter companiesselling computer chips, memory and other building blocks of the AI boom broke fromearly gainstolosses.

Micron Technologywent from ajump of 4% to aplummet of 10%, for example, before finishing with adrop of 1.4%. That’saday after it soared 9.9% and two days after it plunged 13.3%.

The computer memory company’sstock hasalready tripledsofar this year,raising criticism that it’sgonetoo far,too fast. Following last week’sindustrywide sell-off, the question is whether AI stocks broadly areheadingfor alongdownturn or just needed ashake-out to get rid of excessiveoptimism.

Several big-name AI companies are racing to list their stocksona U.S. exchange and sell them at high prices.

OpenAI, the maker ofChatGPT,said Monday it was the latest to file confidential paperwork with U.S. regulators top open the door for an initial public offering. SpaceX’sIPO could happenlater this week.

Meta ordered to restore WhatsApp access

LONDON European Union regulators on Tuesday ordered Meta Platforms to restoreaccess to WhatsAppfor rival AI chatbot makers until an antitrustinvestigation is complete.

The bloc’sexecutive Commission, whichisthe 27-nation EU’stop antitrust and competitionenforcer,saiditwas taking action to prevent harm to competition in thegrowing market for AI assistants before it’stoo late.

The commission said it was imposing “interim measures” while it continuesits investigation into WhatsApp’sartiﬁcial intelligencepolicy over concernsthe companyisbreaching EU lawbyblockingcompetitors from offeringtheir AI assistantsonthe platform

Meta said it would appeal.

“The European Commission has decided that OpenAIand some of the largest companies in theworld can usethe paidfor WhatsApp Business product forfree,” the company said in astatement. “Thisisregulatory overreachsubsidized by the manyEuropean companies that pay.”

Brussels has occasionally resorted to temporary orders after facing criticism thatpreviousyearslongantitrust investigations into Big Tech companies were too slow to rein in their market power China’sexports jump 19.4% in May

HONG KONG China’sexports picked up pace in May, rising 19.4% fromayear earlier,its customs agency said Tuesday, as technology-related shipments remained robust despite impacts from the Iran war The stronger than expected performance was an improvement fromApril’s14.1% yearon-year increase.

Imports in May jumped 27.4%, also at afasterpace comparedwith April’s25.3% year-on-year expansion. Exports to the U.S. in May surged more than 35%from the year before —the strongest pace since early 2021 —after an 11% increase in April. China’sshipments to the U.S. had fallen sharply for most of the months since U.S. President Donald Trump returned tothe White House last year,asshipments to regions like Southeast Asia and Europe surged

THEADVOCATE.COM/news/business

the warnings comes withpenalties as high as $2 million annually for each recipient that doesn’tcreate a plan to post clear pricing data.

BY JOSH BOAK Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Trump administrationhas warned more than 500hospitals that they are failing to provide the public withbasic pricinginformation —arguing that thelack of disclosure is keepinghealthcare costs higher than they should be.

TheAssociated Press obtained exclusively the list of hospitals thatsinceAprilhaveeitherreceived letters of warning or,in moreseverecases, requeststo submit planstoprovide transparentpricing.Failingtocomply with

Theletters are meanttofixa fundamental problemthatpatients, employersand insurers might notknowahead of time thecost of blood work, an imaging test or another form of treatment, and as aresult pay morethan they should have.Asenior administration official who requested anonymityto provide thelist said that President Donald Trumpplans to tighten enforcement of pricetransparency standards made possible by a2019 executive order signedby Trump. More hospitals are likely to receive letters regarding the absence of pricing data, the official said.

Thewarningsare thelatest example of Trump leaning into the

message that his administration is ﬁxing the problem of healthcare expenses that can draina family budget

It’sacalculated pitch ahead of the November midtermsatatime when affordability is atop concern for voters. But Trump is also vulnerable on this particular issue, as his administration allowed subsidiestolapse forpeople buying insurance through the2010 Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare.

Just 29% of U.S. adults approved of Trump’shealthcare policies according to the mostrecent survey on the issue by The Associated Press-NORCCenter forPublic AffairsResearch. Thepresident fared slightly worse on that issue in theDecembersurveythanon theeconomy, immigrationorhis management of the federal gov-

ernment.

Gary Claxton,seniorvicepresident andthe director of the program on thehealthcare marketplace at KFF, said that the pricing data is moreuseful forbeneﬁtconsultants and others in the sector with access to additional information than it would be for consumers. But he said that the standards in reporting pricing data can still create difﬁculty in making accurate comparisonsabout thecosts and quality of the services being provided.

“There’sapretty widespread belief that prices are more divergent than they should be in acompetitive market —and this is one way of trying to understand that more,” Claxtonsaid. “It’smoving in the right direction, but that doesn’t mean it has gotten to where it needs to be.”

Meanwhile, Social Security’scombined trust funds —which cover old age anddisabilityrecipients—will be unable to pay full beneﬁtsbeginning in 2034, unchanged from the2025 report. After that, incoming revenue would cover about83% of scheduled beneﬁts.

BY FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press

WASHINGTON Social Security ’s retirement trust fund is projected to face afunding shortfallin2032, ayear earlier thanlast year’sprojections, according to an annual reportreleased Tuesday, whileMedicare’shospital insurance trust fund will be unable to pay full beneﬁts in 2033, which is unchanged from last year’sestimate.

Rising healthcare costs and government spendinghave contributed to aprojected depletion date that is lessthan 10 years from now

The looming challenge for the programs is apartial funding gap, not acollapse. Even after trust fund depletion, the system will continue issuing beneﬁts, albeit at reduced amounts.

Last year,Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fundgo-broke datewas pushed to 2033 from 2036 theyear before that, according to the report from the programs’ trustees.

BY KAITLYNHUAMANI AP technologywriter

Anyadvertisements in New York that feature artificial intelligence-generated peopleinplace of actors will now be violating state law if they don’tclearly labelthat they have used a“synthetic performer.” Thelaw,signed in December by Gov.KathyHochul, went into effect Tuesday Her office is callingita “firstin-the-nation law” thatwill boost transparency at atimewhenit says AI generated performers are popping up across all forms of media, including on social platforms

Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano said the Trump administration is “committed to protecting and strengthening Social Security” and “eliminating waste, fraud, abuse and ensuring program integrity.”

The report states that thenew funding shortfallismainly theresultoflower projected birthrates, reduced immigration and reduced trust fund revenue due to the costs of Republican’smassive taxand spending bill that was signed intolaw by President Donald Trumplast summer

Nancy Altman,president of the Social SecurityWorks advocacy group, said the latest report takes “Donald Trump’ssecond term policies intoaccount:A taxbillthatlargely beneﬁtedthe wealthy, economy-wrecking tariffs,aneedless war with Iran, and hostility to immigrants. All of these havereduced theamount of money going intoSocial Security, weakening the system’sﬁnances.” The trustees, who include thetreasury

secretary,labor secretary,health and humanservices secretary and the Social Security commissioner,say the latest ﬁndings show theurgency of needed changestothe programs, whichhavefaced dire ﬁnancial projections fordecades. But making changes to the programshas long been politically unpopular, andlawmakershaverepeatedly kicked Social Security and Medicare’stroubling mathtothe next generation.

AARP’sCEO Myechia Minter-Jordan said in astatement that the latest numbers “should be awake-up call. Congress needs to act.”

“Americanshaveworked hard andpaid into Social Security their entire lives, and they deservetocount on it whentheyretire,” shesaid. “No family should see any cuts to what they’ve earned in Social Security.”

About 70.1 millionpeople are enrolled in Medicare, the federal government’shealth insurancethatcoversthose 65 andolder,as wellaspeople with severe disabilities or illnesses.

Social Security beneﬁts were last reformed roughly 40 years ago, when the federal government raisedthe eligibility agefor the program from 65 to 67. The eligibility age of 65 has never changed forMedicare.

and in digital advertising.

Synthetic performersare deﬁned under statelaw as “digitallycreated media that appear as areal person.”The lawappliestoads in any medium. “In New York, we are setting the rules of the road instead of letting AI run theshow,” Hochul, a Democrat, said in astatement. The “simple, honest disclosure” required by thelaw “protects consumers, respects our creative workforce and keeps New York at the forefront of responsible innovation,”she said. Ads that don’t“conspicuously disclose”thattheyhaveuseda synthetic performerwill be subject to apenaltyof$1,000 for a ﬁrst violationand $5,000 forany

further violations. Thereare specific carve outs listed in the law to exempt ads for movies, televisionshows,streaming content, video games and other works that feature synthetic performers in theentire work.

It also doesn’tapply to audio advertisements or ads where AI is solely used for language translation.

When the law was making itsway through thestate legislature last year,the American Association of Advertising Agencies and several other advertising organizations issued statements in strong opposition to the law

The 4As, as the organization is better known, said in one blog post that it would hurt advertisersby

“injecting compliance uncertainty into the advertising process, burdening brands (and their agencies) whoadvertise in NewYork and undermining creative and technological innovation.”

Other organizations, like theThe New York State Broadcasters Association, said in public statements during the legislation’sjourney to become law that they were relieved to see someofthose carve outs that were created through amendments, but remained concerned about the broad deﬁnition of asynthetic performer

The biggest supporter of the lawwas SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union that recently ratiﬁed anew contract withstudiosand streamers that they say provides further protections against synthetic performers.

Ukraineready to share dronetechnology

Zelenskyymeets with Nordic and Baltic leaders

BY KOSTYAMANENKOV Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia— Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Nordicand Baltic leaders whowerein Estonia for aregional summit Tuesday, avisit that comes amid friction over Ukrainian drones straying into the region in recent months.

The drones have crashed into the chimney of apower plant in Estonia, hit empty fuel tanks in Latvia and been shot down by Romanian ﬁghter jets stationed in Lithuania. Ukrainian ofﬁcials apologized, saying the drones had been aimedatmilitary targets in Russia but were sent off course by Russian electronic interference

Estonia hosted the summit in its capital of Tallinn amid

Russia’s 4-year-old, full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Estonia holds the rotating presidency of the NB8, aregional groupingofthe five Nordic and three Baltic countries, and brought together the bloc’s prime ministers, alongwith Zelenskyy Zelenskyy and Estonian PresidentAlar Karis agreed to work on cheaper ways to shoot down drones that have ﬂown over Estonia, including one that aNATOﬁghterjet shot down over the south of the country in May

“Wehave shown that we can shoot the drones down with the planes,” Karis said at anews conference. Using fighter jets to shoot down the drones is expensive, he added, so he hopes to partner with Ukraine for its technology and expertise to do it more cheaply

Zelenskyy said Ukraine wasready to do so, drawing on its experience withhelping countriesinthe Middle East shoot down drones, where it

had sent experts to train local forces. “Wedid this in the Middle East, anditworked,” he said.

He said Ukraine could offer thelow-costinterceptor drones it has deployed at home to build an inexpensive shield against Russian drone attacks, and that Kyiv could send experts to its European partners “at any moment.”

Karis said he expects dronestocross into Baltic airspace as thewar continues and urged thepublic to remain calm. Estonia and theother Baltic nations are among Ukraine’sstaunchest supporters in its war against Russia.

Zelenskyysaidhis talks with theleadershad focused on advancing diplomacy strengthening air defenses and Ukraine’spathtoEuropeanUnion membership. He said Kyiv hadmet theconditions to open itsaccession negotiations and urged the bloctoapprove them this summer

BY CHINEDU ASADU and JUSTIN KABUMBA Associated Press

BUNIA, Congo— More than 100 people havediedfrom Ebola lessthana month afterauthoritiesdeclaredan outbreakofthe disease in eastern Congo, agrim toll as ofﬁcials intensify efforts to slow thediseasediscovered weeks late.

Attacks on health workers from angry residents, skepticismamongsome locals and armed conﬂict in hot spots continue to challenge efforts to stop the Ebola outbreak declared on May 15, caused by asevere form of thedisease.

Outofthe 550 cases conﬁrmedasofSunday, there have been 101 deathsand 19 recoveries,the latest

situation report said late Monday.The outbreak is concentrated in Congo’s eastern province of Ituri, whichaccounts for more than 90% of the cases. Cases have also been recorded in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, and has spread across the border to Uganda.

However,the number of cases in Congo is believed to be higher because the outbreak wasconfirmed weekslateand the contacttracing coverage rate, which hasimproved in recent days, is still at 64%.

The World Health Organization said Tuesdaythat over the last 24 hours, only 137samples have been tested, with 35 coming back positive.

The latest Ebola outbreak

is causedbythe rare Bundibugyo virus, which does nothaveanapprovedvaccine or treatmentunlike the “Zaire virus,” another name forthe Ebola virus, responsible for most of Congo’s past 16 outbreaks of the disease. The rapid increase in the numberofcases is partly due to the scale up of diagnostic capacities,enabling testing of the backlog of previouslycollected samples, authorities said. Health measures put in place to limit thespread of Ebolahave disrupted daily life in Bunia,the bustling capital of Ituri province. Justin Abekani,who ferriescustomers on his motorcycle, said they are“now onlyallowed to carry one customer per motorbike.”

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By SERGEI GRITS

Estonia’sPrime Minister Kristen Michal, right,and Ukraine’sPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend aNordic and Baltic countries meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, on Tuesday

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OMVofficesfacenetwork outages

Tech upgradecausesissues

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

Office of Motor Vehicles locations around Louisiana experienced network outagescaused by connectivity issues after anew hardware system used by dozens of state government offices and agencies wasinstalledSunday officials said.

“The Ofﬁce of Technology Ser-

Judge faces charges in 2023 barfight

Videofootage shows Gonzales scrap

BY JOHN SIMERMAN

Staff writer

Three years ago, alate-night

fracaslanded astate judge, Steven Tureau, in the mud andtrash behind Swamp ChickenDaiquiris, aGonzales bar Now,Tureau faces judicial misconduct charges over the incident, accused by the Louisiana JudiciaryCommission of misusing the prestige of his ofﬁce andconduct unbeﬁtting ajudge.

Tureau, who has served for ﬁve years on the 23rd Judicial District Court bench in Ascension, Assumptionand St. James parishes, has admitted he crossed the line in adispute with Michelle Lee, part-owner of Swamp Chicken.

The judge, his wife andanother couple showed up at the bar late on Feb. 12, 2023, after dinner and drinks at alocal steakhouse.

At the time, Tureauwas in secret discussions with the bar’scoowner,Stephen Frederic, about buying Lee out of the business. Frederic hadrecently learned that oneofthe bar’slicenses was due to expire. He blamed Lee and told Tureau about it. Thingsturned nasty that night after the judge’swife andafriend “worked their waythrough the crowded bar in front of theband whichupset otherpatrons,”the commission wrote. Jostling ensued, and the two women were movedtothe back of thebar, wherethey complainedabout Lee.

The judge confrontedLee.

Tureau brought up buyingthe bar andwas heard saying “that you weregoing to shut her down,” the commission alleges. Frederic, the bar’sco-owner,began to push himaway

“You weren’tsupposedtosay anything to Ms. Lee about the expiring license and your conversation with (Frederic),” the commission wrote. The argument grew hot.Video footage of the incident “clearly shows that you, Judge Tureau, were angry,red-faced and spilling abottle of what appears to be beer,and you appeared to be intoxicated,” the commission said. Frederic and agroup of patrons shoved Tureau, his wife and the woman who had joined them out the back door.The two women “endeduponthe muddy,trashstrewn ground, along with you,” thecommission stated. The other woman “believed that she ended up on top of you,” the commission stated. “Ms.Tureau

vices (OTS) replaced alegacy piece of hardware on Sunday,” according to aTuesday newsrelease fromOTS, which handles information technology for state government agencies. “While migrating to the new hardware, the old system began to give the state’snetworkteam issues.”

The newstatewide hardware systemisnow “up and running,” but someOMV locations arestill

experiencing issues, said Thomas Mulé,directorofcommunication for OTS

The OMV issues are stemming fromproblems connecting to the new system, and employees at the state technology ofﬁce have been “working nonstop since Sunday” and will continue to do so untilthe problems are resolved, Mulé said.

“Weare confidentthatbytomorrow morning, allofﬁces will be up and running,”Mulé saidin an interview Tuesdayafternoon.

Residents can check on the closure status of OMVlocations at the website offices.omv.la.gov

Locations with the label “Temporary Ofﬁce Closure” are affected by the network issue.

Mulé said thetechnologyinterruptions have been brief and have been changing rapidly

“Asthose interruptionsare broughttoour attention, we are addressing them and we areﬁxingthem,”hesaid. “It’sveryﬂuid. It’svery minute-by-minute.”

OMVspokespersonMatthew

Boudreaux said “all 80” OMV locations were affected in some waybythe IT issues, though he agreed that the situation is “very ﬂuid.”

Thetechnology problems and resulting closures at OMVlocationsthisweekare “completely unrelated” to other computer system upgrades themotor vehicleofficehas planned,OMV Commissioner KeithNeal said Tuesday

ABOVE: Visitors

BELOWRIGHT:

LIVING HISTORy

STAFFPHOTOSByBRAD KEMP

on Sunday.

Twomen accusedofforcing teen into vehicle

CRIME BLOTTER Advocate staff reports

TwoOpelousas menwerearrested after allegedly forcing ateen into avehicle at gunpoint, policesay Kayman Guillory,26, of Opelousas, is charged with second-degreekidnapping. ShaylonDavis 21, of Opelousas, is charged with interfering with emergency communications. Officers with thePortBarre Police Departmentwere called

to ahome on BeauxisDrive for adisturbance Sunday.Before police arrived, both Guillory andDavis hadleftwiththe victim. Witnesses at the residence told police that the18-year-old femalevictim was visitingthe home whenGuillory andDavis came andpressured her to leave withthemand go to Lafayette, according to reports.

Guillory became upset and while wearing afirearm, he made threats that if the victim would not get in thecar and leave with them, he would harm thepeople in the home

Police made contact with the victim by cellphone, and she shared herlocation which was an address outside of Opelousas. Thevictim’s phone was then turned off, whichcausedthe location to stopsharing. Authorities later received information that Guillory,Davis andthe victim were at ahospital in Lafayette to visit apatient in the intensive careunit.

Port Barre police coordinated with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’sOfﬁce and located all three at the Lafayette hospital, according to authorities

During an interview,the victim told police that Davis had grabbed her phone and turned it offtoprevent her fromcontacting authorities.She also describedthe firearmtopolice. The victim said that while at asecond location, Guillory brandished the firearm and forcedher intoavehicle before driving to Lafayette,officials said.

Guillory andDavis were arrested and booked into the Lafayette Parish jail. They were

ABOVE: Local artist K’Shawn Collins, center, helpsvisitors withfree painting instructions. RIGHT: ShelbyThibeaux, left, riding Monkey and DrakeLeBlanc, riding Koupe, starta demonstration of atrail ride.

dance to the music of the Next Gen Zydeco band during Creole Culture DayatVermilionville

Kallee-Jane Charles, 12,left, gets pointers on howtoplaythe rubboard fromZydeco Mike Chassion, right, while musician Kevin Rees waits to playalong

OUR VIEWS

Redistricting frenzy diminishes allofpolitics

There’ssomething aboutredistrictingthat brings out the most cynical sideof politics Questions that should be high-minded, suchas what is the nature of representationinademocracy,are overtaken by naked political advantage. That was unfortunately true during this year’s legislative session in response tothe U.S. Supreme Court’sruling in Louisiana v. Callais, in which thecourt declared the 6thCongressional District an unconstitutional racial gerrymander The high court waived itscustomarywaiting period andexpedited itsﬁnal, formaljudgment

That allowedGov.Jeff Landrytocancel elections for U.S. House in whichthousands of Louisiana voters had already mailed in ballots.The Legislature quicklyredrew congressional maps for this year’selection —violating at leastthe spirit of adoctrine that saysrules shouldn’tbe changed close to an election

Disturbingly,voters whoshowed up to the state Capitol in force to remindlawmakersof the Voting Rights Act’shistory andofthe ongoing importance of having theopportunity to elect representatives who share their concerns about protecting civil rights were toooften treated dismissively

Yes, Landry and the Legislature actedwithin the rules presented to them, but it’s alsotrue they pushed themtothe limit

Callais was aLouisiana case, but itseffects were felt across the South,where otherRepublican-majority legislatures pounced on judicial permission to try to increase their numbers ahead of the fall midterm congressional elections, when control of theU.S. House will be at stake. Democrats in otherparts of thecountry have also sought ways to gain advantage,sothe end resultlikelywill be aCongress with even fewer members who feel they need to answerto all the voters in their district Louisiana wound up with ﬁve majority White, largely Republican districts, andBlack voters in the Baton Rouge were packed into aheavily Black and Democratic district centered aroundNew Orleans.Lost is the current second majority Black seat thatstretched fromBaton Rouge to points north andwest,which gave the stateabalance of power muchmore closely aligned with its population. But becausethe court deems partisan gerrymanders acceptable, many voters are still lopped intooddly-shaped districts that break up communities. At some point, both in Baton Rougeand in Washington, atruce is needed. Myriadpotential reforms, suchasneutral redistrictingcommissions (asinIowa)or bansonmid-decaderedistricting,shouldatleast beconsidered Thefocus in Baton Rougethis session was on politics, but the impact of thenew map on whose voices are represented willtouch every aspect of American life where Congress acts We hope the politicianswho will be eventually emerge from this discouragingprocessin the rescheduled fall electionskeep that in mind —and remember that once the gamesmanship ends, their duty remains asacred one: to serve thevotersintheir districts. All of them.

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 USA LETTER, SCANHERE

Publicunhappy with Trump’s economyfor good reason

Cal Thomas’recent column criticizing polls that show President Donald Trump’sdecaying approval ratings is a fascinating display of his refusal to accept reality. To Thomas, theonly conceivable reason for these polls is the “poor memories” of the participants. Don’tweremember,asks Thomas, gas prices under Biden? Well, yes, we do. When Putin invaded Ukraine (an event Biden did not control),fuel prices hit global record highs, pushing inﬂation over 9%. Fuel prices remained astronomical in much of theworld, but in theUnited States, inﬂation cooled rapidly,and within six months, average gas prices in theU.S. had gone down to $3.75 agallon ($3 in Louisiana).

When Biden left ofﬁce, his economy had created millions of jobs, unemployment had hit a50-year low and average U.S. gas prices were down to $3.16 agallon. By contrast? Trump, and Trump

alone, has created our current fuel and inﬂation crisis.

His tariff insanity has sent prices on everything we buy —from food to clothing to cars —soaring to record highs. Unsatisﬁed with creating this ﬁnancial chaos, Trumpdecided to go to war with Iran, awar he has not been able to explain the reason for or the goals of, nor has he offered any plan forvictory or withdrawal.

Nationwide, gas prices are wellover $4 agallon ($6 in California), inﬂation is climbing rapidly and even FOX commentatorsagree that there is no end in sight.

Andin2025, the last year we have datafor,his “booming” economy added fewer than 200,000 jobs. Thomas blames bad memories for bad polls. He should be concerned about his own.

NANCY KEEGAN Baton Rouge

Promote firefighters in acompetitive processthatputscompetence

first

Deep in the bayous,guarded by swamp puppies,giant mosquitoes and union lobbyists, lies theOffice of State Examiner.What it’sprotecting is a nearly 80-year-old tradition of promoting workers based on seniorityrather thancompetence, something born of necessity and alack of standards that is finally catching up withthe Louisiana FireService. Promotion based on senioritywas once the only basis for advancement, given the absence of certification and formal training. International FireService Accreditation Congress(IFSAC) certifications weren’testablisheduntil the 1990s,and there werenoflagship universities offering fire science degree programs. Those weren’treadily available until the post-internet boom of the early 2000s.IfIhad to imagine, it was just “the way things weredone.” Here we stand in 2026, wondering how bare-minimum certification guys arebrandishing thetitle and rank of

captain with as little as three years of experience. Does it make sense when aguy with 10 yearsofexperience transfers to a neighboring department, meets all the educational and time-of-service requirementsand getspassed over for a three-year guy? Icontend that it’shigh noon in Louisiana; we must recognize a merit-based, dare Isay purely competitive,promotional system. We owe it to the public stakeholders to promotethe best person for the job. Stop protecting guys whose greatest accomplishment isn’ttheir resume, but merely the fact thatthey managed to not get fired in theirfirst three years of service. What Ifear is that eventually,Louisiana’scurrent civil service system will be put on trial when an unqualified chief officer makes acritical mistake and kills membersofhis department.

BRIAN DEES Amite

Callaisdecision

robs

Black voters of rights wonby theblood of civil rights leaders

Iamwriting to express my outrage about the SupremeCourt’sLouisiana v. Callais decision. First, as aLouisianan, it is embarrassing that our state took the position that the map the Louisiana Legislature had drawnwas unconstitutional. Minority-majority districts had been apositive outcome of the landmark Voting Rights Act for decades. It has been the only way Black citizens of the South could be truly represented in Congress. With this decision, the court gutted the law that so manycivil rights leaders, Black and White, fought to enact for decades with blood, sweat and tears.

Second, the court ruled that while creating acongressional district based on race is not permitted, it is OK to draw districts based on partisan reasons. As aresult, manyof the Southern states, including ours, are scrambling to redesign their congressional mapstofavor Republicans.

It seemslike the court has now ruled it’swrong to draw districts to empower Black voters, but it’sOK to draw districts to empower White conservatives.

As aWhite Democrat wholives in New Orleans, this effort also disenfranchises my vote as the only options formewill mostlikely be Republicans. How can this be fair or what the Voting Rights Act intended?

It is areturn to the horrible Jim Crow era and deﬁnitely astep backward in history.This decision, and Louisiana rushing with other Southern states to erase Black representation, will be remembered in the same vein as the Dred Scott decision by racist justice Roger Taney,as“the worst ever rendered by the Supreme Court,” according to the Oxford Companion to the SupremeCourt.

NORA SUPER NewOrleans

From front-runnertoEpstein files

COLUMBIA, S.C. There’snothinglike

acircus for entertainment, especially if you enjoy the blood sport of South Carolina politics. The Roman Colosseum had nothing on the state’spolitical games, which these days have become more dramatic thankstothe head-spinning theatrics of Rep. Nancy Mace, the erstwhile Republican front-runner in thegovernor’srace.

Kathleen Parker

The jumbo surprise under the big top as the Tuesday primary approached was President Donald Trump’sendorsement of the Other Woman running for governor —Lt. Gov.Pamela Evette

On the morning of May 29, thereliably ﬁre-breathing Mace jumped on social media apparently to head offrumors that Trump was planning tocommit his support to Evette.

“Pamela Evette is NOT ENDORSED by DONALD TRUMP,” Mace exclaimed at 10:05 a.m.onX.“Do not believe her LIES.” Speakingoffakenews, the post featured avideo generated by artificial intelligence of Mace and Trump giving athumbs-up Trump officially backed Evetteina Truth Social post at 5:45 p.m.that day At 7:03 p.m., amore sober Mace said Trump’ssnub was because of her demand for transparency on theEpstein files.

“If sacrificing my values is the price of an endorsement, Iwill never payit,” she wrote on X. (OK, brava, butMace’s support for Trump has waffled through the years, no offense to her proudpast as aWaffle House waitress.)

Nevertheless, on May 31, Mace posted aphoto of herself andTrump with more thumbs-up and aquote from him describing her as “a ﬁghter.”No one has ever disputed the veracity of Trump’sobservation, butseveral factcheckingenthusiasts on theplatform accused Mace of misleading voters about his support.

The president also appeared to endorse Gov. Henry McMaster’sson, lawyer Henry McMaster Jr., tobe Evette’slieutenant governor.The only hitch is that Evette hasn’tagreed to the younger McMaster as her running

mate,though his inclusion on the ticket has long been talked about around the State House.

Trump’sendorsementslook like a trade-off with McMaster,sort of like whenDon Corleone loans money to a youngman in distress with the ominous suggestion that someday he may call upon him fora favor.Don Trump helped McMaster by making then-Gov NikkiHaley ambassador to theUnited Nations, which paved theway for McMastertobecome governor; therefore, wouldn’tMcMaster like to reconsider hisstatement that he wouldn’tcall for aspecial session for legislators to push through Trump’s desired congressional redistricting map?

The governor did reconsider,and he didrecall legislators to Columbia. But instead of doing theDon’sbidding, enoughRepublicans joined Democrats to rebuke the president. Apparently, the state’ssecessionist blood runs a deeperred than aMAGA cap. Even without theredistricting win, Evette was an easy endorsement for the president.The self-made millionaire has beenanunwaveringTrumpsupporter.

Mace’sbehavior may be erratic, but another candidate, U.S. Rep.Ralph Norman,isamenace. An eager player in the Trump-inspired conspiracy to declare the2020 election “stolen,” Normandashed off afrantic texttoTrump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows three days before Joe Biden’sinauguration,

saying: “Weare at apoint of …noreturn …insaving our Republic!!Our LASTHOPE is invoking Marshall [sic] Law!! PLEASEURGE TO PRESIDENT TO DO SO!!”

How did two people as wild-eyed as Norman and Mace manage to be boring together?

Mace’slegendary public meltdowns include the time she berated airport police for failing to obey her orders. Then there are themoreshocking moments:using theHouse ﬂoor to accuse her ex-ﬁancé and three other men of raping her and other women. (All four men denied theallegations.)

Mace’sserial histrionics seem more apt to invite an exorcism than thegovernorship, which may explain her signature fashion accessory —dangling cross earrings thesize of parakeets. If Mace is, indeed, spiraling and needs help, as someofher former colleagues and social media followers have asserted, then we mustn’tbe mean (anymore).SouthCarolinians have always had asoft spot for eccentrics or at least observed them benignly,aswhen afoppish yet frumpy fellow ﬁlls his pocketswith ham biscuitsfrom theCharleston Yacht Club buffet, as I once witnessed. They do not, however, elect their “interesting” aunts and uncles to public ofﬁce.

Email KathleenParker at kathleenparker@washpost.com.

Whichparty will recoverﬁrstfromself-harm?

Last Tuesday saw the usual ﬁrstweek-of-June gaggle of stateprimary elections. It’safeatureofthe American federal system that stateschoose when to hold primary and local elections. Back in the 1850s,ashistorian Roy Franklin Nichols notes, there was an election in all but one or two of the 24 months in the two-year congressional election cycle. From the results, in those prepolling days, politicos andpundits drew conclusions about the strengths and weaknesses of the Democratic and Republican politicalparties and their various candidates.

notconvicted by theTexas House) and whose wife of 38 years is suing him “on biblical grounds.”

and tactical blunders. Butworse things can happen, and have happened, in electoral democracies.

Howtokill theSupreme Court in one easy step

In 2016, the conservative writer Mike Anton madeagalvanizing case forDonald Trumpin his famous “Flight 93” essay,arguing that the stakes in the contest between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton wereexistential.

His contention that aClinton winwould cementDemocratic electoral dominance forever, such that Republicans needed to charge the cockpit or die, wasimplausible at the time, and seemsmore so in retrospect. If Hillary had wonin2016, in all likelihood, she would have been gone in 2020, washed away by the pandemic just like Trump was. This time, though, really might be different.

Democrats are now seriously contemplating measures that wouldn’thave occurred to Hillary Clinton circa 2016.

Endorsing someversion of court-packing, or “court reform,” as Democrats insist on calling it, is becoming orthodoxy among mainstream Democrats.

Several weeks ago, James Carville said that Democrats should pack the Court and add the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico as states in 2028 if they get uniﬁed control of Washington.

The immediate past Democratic presidential nominee, whohas somechance of winning the 2028 Democratic nomination, Kamala Harris, associated herself with the sameideas. She added abolishing the Electoral College to the list.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whoeasily could be the Speaker of the House next year,has said: “Inthe new Congress, we’re going to have to do something about this SupremeCourt, and let me be very clear: Everything is on the table.”

The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Jamie Raskin, has fashioned a reason whythe SupremeCourt needs to be expanded by four justices (supposedly the number of justices should match the number of federal circuits at 13).

Congress in 1872 set asingle date for congressional elections, butthe proliferation of primariesinthe early20th century gave us, once again,elections scheduled around the calendar. Primary elections don’talwaysgive clues about the parties’ general election strength. But they do tellussomething about the stateofmind of the followers of both parties, and theysometimes bring forward candidates withthe capacity for future national leadership

This year’sprimaries seem to be providing little in the way of good news for both parties’ futures. Both parties’ primary electorates seem focused on fighting the same old battles they have been fighting since Donald Trump clinchedthe Republican Partypresidential nomination121 monthsago Republican primary voters have been obediently followingthe orders of apresident who must leave office two and ahalf years from now. Democratic primary voters seem focused on endorsing whoever denounces him most vitriolically

Thus, 75% of Louisiana Republicans rejected Sen. Bill Cassidy. R-Louisiana, on May 16, 55% of Kentucky’s 4th District Republicans rejected Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, on May 19, and 64% of Texas runoff primary voters rejected Sen. John Cornyn, RTexas, on May 26. In that last case, the votes went to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was impeached (but

Loyalty to apresident whose idiosyncratic preoccupations —resurrecting tariffs, restricting Iran —are opposed by largely nonoverlapping segments of theRepublican electorate sweeps all before it,for the moment Democratic primary voters appear on the verge of endorsing candidates who most vibrantly radiatecontempt for Trump, despiteproblematic signs in their own proﬁles. Democrats in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District nominated Adam Hamawy,anunrepentant witness forthe Omar Abdel-Rahman, aka “the Blind Sheik,” in his 1995 terrorism trial; Hamawy also worked for an alQaeda front in Bosnia in 1994.

America’spolitical parties are the oldest and third-oldest in theworld —Democrats dating from 1832, Republicans from 1854 —and they have both had theirtroubles before, though rarely simultaneously Some haveapplauded those developmentsand cheered for the old parties’ downfalls. American liberals have tried jiggering electoral systems with aview to derailing Republicans, with ranked-choice voting in Maine andAlaska (and New York Cityand Washington, D.C.), all-party primaries in Washington and California, and Democrats withdrawing in favor of theoretically independent candidates in Nebraska and Kansas. Critics have pointed to polls showingmore respondents identifying as independents, even though in actual elections, historically low percentages of voters split their tickets. There is atemptation to write off our currentparties as hopelessly addled by loyalty to, or hatred of, Trump. But history advises caution.You can argue, as Ihave, that both parties these days seem engaged in self-harm,and the only question is which one will hurt itself more by poor candidatechoices

Acentury ago, the horrors of what was then called the Great Warwere followed by an antidemocratic upheaval. Riots in St.Petersburg in 1918 removed anascent representative government and produced acommunist tyranny that spread over much of the earth and lasted more than 70 years. A comic-opera march on Rome in 1922 imposed fascism in Italy for 22 years. Street thuggery in Weimar-era Berlin led to Hitler’sNazi dictatorship, a world war that killed millions, and the Holocaust America’spolitical parties, old even then, did better

The Democratic Party,always a coalition of people considered not ordinary Americansbut capable of notable majorities, collapsed in 1918-20 through Woodrow Wilson’sforeign policy and economic misrule. ButRepublicans, with acore of people considered ordinary Americansbut not yet amajority,were there to provide competent governance in the1920s.

Similarly,when Republican support collapsed from 1930 to 1934 due to the Great Depression, theDemocrats were capable of providing leadership capable of governing. Butjust as Democrats recovered from collapse in 1920 and won again, so Republicans recovered from collapse in 1932 and were capable of winning again, although that was hidden by Franklin Roosevelt’s success as leader of what was in fact a bipartisan war government

The enduring character of America’s historical parties has provided and can provide again an alternative to antidemocratic or anti-republican alternatives that may emerge, as they did in Europe acentury ago. In the meantime, theremay be apremiumfor theparty that emerges ﬁrst from what somemight call itsversion of Trump derangement syndrome.

Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

If all these ideas weretobecome consensus Democratic agenda itemsin2028, they would constitute one of the mostradical political platformsofa major political party in American history Court-packing alone would be aseismic, system-changing event, as would abolishing the Electoral College, which has been foundational to our presidential elections from the beginning.

The common theme of all of this would be guaranteeing outcomes —four new progressive justices, four new Democratic senators —inblatant power grabs undermining the legitimacy of the institutions in question.

What would aworld look like where asubstantial portion of the country thinks the SupremeCourt is asham,and not because the court is issuing unwelcome opinions, but because the court has been arbitrarily changed to produce apredetermined ideological result through agrotesque end-run around the rules?

Democrats will say Republicans have already done this, even though the GOPoperated within standard procedures to forge the current conservative majority

DidRepublicans play hardball? Sure. But their influence on the composition of the court depended on winning presidential and senate elections, and taking advantage of fortuitous timing to confirm justices the waythey’ve alwaysbeen confirmed. Manufacturing new seats out of nothing, or forcing the retirements of conservative justices by fiat, would be ablatant rigging of the court.

If aportion of the country thinks that it no longer needs to abide by the Court’sdecisions, that obviously creates the predicate forserious civil strife. The sameistrue if the Congress is no longer seen as legitimate after it is packed with newly minted Democratic senators.

Democrats feel justiﬁed in embracing any meanstomatch and exceed Trump’scomprehensive aggressiveness. Trump’sprovocations —the lawfare, the executive overreach, the warswithout congressional authorization, the gerrymandering —all have ample precedent among prior Democratic presidents. Democrats, of course, don’tsee it that way, and they fear and loathe Donald Trumpmore than they have any other Republican president.

In reaction, should they sweep in 2028, they may try to push the American constitutional order past an event horizon from which it will never return. In other words, 12 years after the GOPwas told to charge the cockpit or die, the stakes forour system really could be existential.

Rich Lowry is on X, @RichLowry.

Rich Lowry

Michael Barone

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C

Orleansinmatebackincustody

Manhad been mistakenly released

BY KASEY BUBNASH Staff writer

Another inmate was mistakenly released from the NewOrleans jail and out for days before officials realized the error and brought the man back to lockup on Monday,according to the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce Seth Butler,19, was released from the Orleans JusticeCenteronMay 30 after pleading guilty to several drug, weapon and other charges stemming fromanarrestinAugust 2025, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Orleans Parish Criminal Court Judge Simone Levine suspended Butler’ssentence, giving him credit for time served, and issued his re-

BLOTTER

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then taken to the Port Barre jail, booked and subsequently taken to the St. Landry Parish jail.

The investigation into why Guillory and Davis pressured the victim to get into thecar is not clear and remains ongoing.

Crowley couple faces sex crime counts

TwoCrowley residents havebeenarrestedon multiple sexcrime counts followinganAcadia Parish Sheriff’s Office investigation involving the alleged sexual abuse and exploitationoftwo minors.

The investigation began after one of the victims contacted ahotline seekinghelpfor allegedphysi-

lease following hisguilty plea May 29. More than aweek went by before Sheriff’sOfﬁce officialswere informed Monday by theOffice of Juvenile Justice thatadetainer hadbeenplaced on Butler in February, preventing his potential releasefrom jail. Butler was on juvenile probation when he was arrested as an adult in 2025.

The juvenilejustice office emailed the detainer to OPSO’s records department during former Sheriff Susan Hutson’sadministration, Sheriff’sOffice officials said, asking jail officials to hold Butler for pickup by juvenile justice officials once his adult case wasclosed.The detainer was never added to Butler’sfile or the jail management system, according to theSheriff’s Office. Once Sheriff’sOffice officials were made aware of theerror,they alerted

cal and sexual abuse by an adult male in the home, according to theSheriff’s Ofﬁce.

Investigators determined that two teenage girls were being sexually exploited by aman who lived in the same residence as the suspects, authorities said.

Simeon Jolie Guidry, 43, of Crowley,was arrested and charged with threecounts of firstdegree rape,two counts of second-degreerape, 10 counts of aggravated crime against nature, ﬁve countsofcarnal knowledge of ajuvenile and one count ofobstructionof justice.

Kristi Renee Weismort, 36, of Crowley,was charged withfive counts of principal to carnal knowledgeofajuvenile, five countsofprincipaltoaggravated crime against nature and two

other law enforcement agencies acrossthe parish and sent aunit to Butler’s address, where he was taken into custody without issue and returnedtothe Orleans Justice Center

Calandra Corder,a spokespersonfor the Sheriff’s Office, saidButler was picked up by juvenile justice officials on Tuesday.She did not know how much more time he would have to serve, but he would have been on juvenile probation until September 2027.

Butlerisonly the latest inmate to be releaseddue to clerical errors at the New Orleans jail, which is operated by the Sheriff’s Ofﬁceand recently swornin Sheriff Michelle Woodfork.

Khalil Bryan, 30, was accidentally released in place of another inmate withthe same last name in July 2025, just twomonths after 10 inmates broke

counts of domestic abuse battery.

Guidry’s bailwas setat $2.565 million.Weismort’s bail was setat$77,500. Both remained in custody as of Friday,according to the Sheriff’s Ofﬁce.

1dead after vehicles crash, police say Acrash involving at least three vehicles on asection of West GloriaSwitch Road on Tuesday morning left one persondead, according to the Carencro Police Department.

Carencro Police Chief DavidAnderson reported Marcus Patterson, 22, of Lafayette, died from his injuries Ofﬁcers responded to a trafﬁc crash with injuries on W. Gloria Switch Road near Turf Road shortly after 7a.m. Tuesday,shutting down the roadway for several hours.

outofthe jailinabrazenescape that exposed security flaws at the jail that was then headed by Hutson. Officials spent nearly amonth searching beforethey foundBryan and brought himback to thejail.

Morerecently under Woodfork’sadministration,30-year-old Dreion Williams wasatlargefor sixdaysinMay after he was released due to what ofﬁcials described as apaperwork errorand “breakdown of systems.” He turnedhimself in Wednesday at theOrleansParish CriminalDistrictCourthouse.

During her campaign and since taking office last month, Woodforkhas pledged to improve security andconditionswithin thejail.

Email KaseyBubnash at kasey.bubnash@ theadvocate.com.

According to authorities, Patterson was driving a 2018 NissanSentraweston Gloria Switch Road near Turf Road when, for unknown reasons,the Nissan crossedthe center line and struck atruck and trailer traveling eastonGloria Switch Road. He added that after the initial impact, the Nissancontinued west andstruck asecond eastboundvehicle, a2025 Buick, head-on.

Anderson said Patterson was taken to alocal hospital with serious injuries and died shortly afterarrivingatthe hospital. Patterson was not wearing aseat belt at the timeofthe crash, police said.

The driver of the Buick wastaken to alocal hospitalwith moderate injuries. No otherinjuries were reported Thecrash remains under investigation.

With completelyshatteredhearts, we share the passing of ourbeloved Jon Jenkins -husband,father son, brother, uncle, friend, andthe steady heartbeat of ourfamily. Jonwas thekindofperson whoquietly made the worldaroundhim better. He showed hislove not just through words, but through thethingshedid everysingle day -the meals he cooked, the things he built with his hands, theproblems he solved, the people he showed up for, andthe wayhecared for thepeoplelucky enough to be lovedbyhim. Joncarried withhim the love of abeautifulchildhood -one filledwith camping trips, adventure, laughter, andthe special bond he shared with his parents, Sam &Paula Fontenot, hissiblings, Dave, Julie& Michelle,and hisnephews andniece, Seth,Evie,Freddie.The peace,love, andconnection he grew up surrounded by became thesame gifts he gave so freely to others throughout hislife. He wasanavidskateboarder and, withhis friends, skatedall over townand on janky homemade skate ramps. Always aworkerbee, he started work at age 14 delivering sandwichesvia skateboardindowntown Lafayette, wherehesoon became afixture at variousbusinesses. Whilestill in high school, he started a production company, Bluebird Productions, and bookedbands from across theStates. Including Fugazi, JesusLizard, Acid Bath, Jawbox, Thinking Fellers Local Union, Alex Chilton and manyothers. He wasa devotedhusbandtoLynnJenkins -his partnerinlife, creativity, business, and everywild adventuretheydreamed up together. Thetwo of

worldoftheir own- one overflowingwith creativity, music, meals shared aroundtables,deep friend-

family, andthe kind of love people spend their whole lives searching for. But Jon's greatest pride anddeepestjoy wasbeing adad.Heloved Mose and Magnolia fiercely, with his whole heart. Whetherhe wasteaching, playing, creating,building,orsimply beingpresent, Jongave his childrenthe greatest giftknowingwithout question howdeeply andcompletely they were loved. Of all the places Jon helped create and all the spaces he filledwith life, hisfavorite place in the worldwas home. It was theplace he broughthis babieshometo, theplace he pouredhis heartand hands into,and theplace he built with onepurposeto give hisfamilya world filledwith safety, laughter, creativity, andlove. More than anything, Jonloved thebeautifullifewithin those walls because it held thepeople he lovedmost. Jonpouredhimself into hiscommunity through BlueBird Productions, Metropolis, andTaco Sisters. He believedin feeding people, taking care of people, andcreatinga place whereeveryonefelt welcome.His impact reachesfar beyond what canbemeasured- in friendships, memories, and countless small and large acts of kindness. Whileour hearts are broken beyondworlds, we will carry Jonwithusalways -ineverymeal shared arounda table,everyflowerthat blooms, everylaugh,everyact of kindness andeverymomentwechoose love Jonwas, and always will be,our home. The familywill receive guestsatMartin& Castille's DOWNTOWNlocation on Sunday, June 14, 2026 from 11:00 AM until 4:00 PM with Eulogiestobe shared at 1:00 PM in the funeralhome. Martin& Castille Funeral HomeDOWNTOWN, 330 St LandryStreet, Lafayette, Louisiana 70506, 337-2342311

thePurchasingDi‐visionatthe Lafayette ConsolidatedGovern‐mentBuilding, locatedat 705 West University Av‐enue,Lafayette Louisiana,until 11:00 a.m. CentralTime on the 5th dayof August,2026 forthe following: 167118.5.5120

Jenkins,Jon Christian

SPORTS

TAKING SHAPE

Tigers likely still have more work to do in transfer portal

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

The transfer portal has been open for 10 days, but LSU baseball already has made a couple of big splashes, adding Texas State shortstop Dawson Park and Gonzaga righthander Landon Hood Park ﬁlls a major need at short and Hood is a potential weekend starter, but coach Jay Johnson’s proactivity is likely just the tip of the iceberg. Here’s where the roster stands as we head toward mid-June.

Catcher

Returners: Cade Arrambide (Jr.), Omar Serna (So.), Eddie Yamin (Sr.)

Transfers out/in: None

High school signees: Masen Belding

Breakdown: As long as Serna or Arrambide don’t unexpectedly enter the transfer portal, LSU is set behind the plate. Serna and Arrambide had their fair share of struggles defensively, but both catchers thrived at the plate, particularly in Southeastern Conference play Johnson said during the season that Ya-

min plans to return for another year Belding is a signee from California who also has experience playing ﬁrst and third base First base

Returners: Mason Braun (So.), Yamin, Serna Transfers out/in: None High school signees: Will Adams, Dominic Santarelli, Dylan Minnatee, Luke Tucker, Belding

Breakdown: A strong ﬁnish to the year de-

across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

BY JAMES ROBSON AP soccer writer

The wait is over for the biggest World Cup ever with 48 teams, 104 matches, three host nations, and a slew of questions and controversies swirling around the highly scrutinized event that will last for nearly six weeks.

The tournament kicks off in Mexico City on Thursday amid concerns about soaring ticket prices and political tensions. There are unprecedented logistical challenges to staging a three-country event

All of that is separate from the onﬁeld drama that will play out through the July 19 ﬁnal as soccer’s top stars battle for the sport’s biggest prize.

That remains to be seen. The tournament kicks off in the U.S., which hosts the majority of the games, at a time of rising inﬂation, the war in Iran and the Trump administration’s policies regarding immigration.

A ‘monumental betrayal’

“This will be the biggest, the most inclusive, the greatest FIFA World Cup ever,” declared FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who has predicted 7 million fans will pack the stadiums and 6 billion more will watch from afar “FIFA is the ofﬁcial happiness provider for humanity.”

FIFA has come in for ﬁerce criticizm over its ticket pricing strategy for this World Cup, which was already considered an expensive trip. When tickets went on general sale in January they ranged from $140 to $8,680. While some have since been made available for less, others have risen signiﬁcantly — up to

BY TOYLOY BROWN III Staff writer

LSU will have 23 entries at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships between the men’s (11) and women’s (12) teams this week. That total is four more than coach Dennis Shaver’s squad sent last year Competition begins Wednesday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, where the Tigers aim to improve on last year’s team finishes, when the men placed 28th and the women 13th.

Two of LSU’s key sprinters are Jaiden Reid and Shawnti Jackson Reid, a junior, will run the men’s 100 meters, 200 and 4x100 relay He qualified after an impressive showing in the NCAA East first round, especially in the 200 after finishing second with a season-best 20.01 seconds. Jackson, a sophomore, has continued her breakout first season at LSU by qualifying in the women’s 100, 200 and 4x100 relay The former No. 1 U20 sprinter in the world in 2023 has battled injuries

BY BRIAN MAHONEY AP basketball writer

NEW YORK The last time the New York Knicks lost a game, they didn’t do it again for another month and a half. When they fell behind against Atlanta in the ﬁrst round of the NBA playoffs, desperation turned into domination The Knicks won 13 straight games, many of them blowouts, in one of the most impressive postseason stretches in NBA history They don’t need to do anything so dramatic now With a 2-1 lead over the San Antonio Spurs in the

“We have a veteran group Nobody is quote-unquote panicking or anything like that,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said Tuesday “Everybody is disappointed that we didn’t go out and execute and play to what we feel our standard is. That’s not taking anything away from San Antonio, but we feel like we can play a lot better than what we did.

“We’re looking forward to going out on the ﬂoor and showing it.” Game 4 is Wednesday in a series

throughout her college career, missing her freshman outdoor season and the 2025 indoor season while at Arkansas. Her best event is the 100, where she ran a personal-best 10.90 to finish fourth in the NCAA East. Both LSU 4x100 relay teams are

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

TOP PHOTO: Texas State shortstop Dawson Park is one of the key transfers heading to LSU.

BOTTOM PHOTO: LSU coach Jay Johnson talks with third baseman John Pearson, left, and catcher Omar Serna during a game against Oklahoma on March 19 at Alex Box Stadium. Both Pearson and Serna are expected to return to the team next season.

FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON LSU sprinter Aniyah Bigam, left, battles Adidas sprinter and LSU alum Thelma Davies in the 100 meters at the LSU Alumni Gold meet on April 25 at Bernie Moore Track Stadium.

ASSOCIATED

PHOTO By BENJAMIM HANSON

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO New york Knicks guards Jalen Brunson, left, and Miles McBride walk to their bench during their 115111 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night in New york.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By MATTHEW HINTON

Hitters struggling to thrive after 35

Analytics, increased velocity contribute to league skewing younger

BY DAVID BRANDT Associated Press

PHOENIX Nolan Arenado was slugging his way through the month of May when the Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman woke up one morning with an ailment that’s familiar to those who felt invincible in their 20s but have advanced to their mid-tolate 30s. His back hurt. Not bad. Not enough to keep him out of the lineup. But it was one of those inexplicable moments that comes with being an aging Major League Baseball player — threatening to derail a hot streak for an eight-time All-Star who just turned 35.

“There’s more aches and pains,” Arenado said. “There’s just a little more work in the gym getting prepared for the game, than there used to be. That’s a learning curve.

“I’ve always been in the gym, always did that stuff, but there’s deﬁnitely more maintenance.”

Arenado got past the minor back issue and is continuing a bounceback season in the desert, batting .256 with eight homers and 30 RBIs through Monday’s games.

He’s among a group of the 35-andolder crowd getting solid results at the plate, joining Los Angeles Dodgers veterans Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy, along with Houston’s Christian Walker But it’s a small club that’s become smaller over the past decade.

MLB hitters who are 35 or older have combined to provide just 5.6 WAR (Wins Above Replacement, per FanGraphs) through roughly the ﬁrst one-third of the season, continuing a trend that’s accelerated over the past decade.

In the early 2000s, older stars were the norm in the big leagues. It peaked in 2003 when older hitters combined for 71.3 WAR, with a group highlighted by Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas, Kenny Lofton, Luis Gonzalez and Jeff Bagwell.

So what changed?

Let’s look at some of the reasons why MLB is skewing younger these days:

Analytics like younger players

Baseball’s analytical era can be traced back to the work of Bill James in the 1970s and 1980s, but terms like WAR, wOBA, BABIP and OPS+ didn’t start to become widespread in the big leagues until at least the late 2000s.

Suddenly, the eye test wasn’t enough for MLB general managers. Cold, hard numbers were in. And — overwhelmingly — those numbers showed that the best years for a big league hitter usually come from their mid-20s to early 30s.

That’s directly correlated to MLB teams locking up young players to long-term contracts.

Arizona’s Corbin Carroll, Detroit’s Kevin McGonigle, Pittsburgh’s Konnor Griffin, Kansas City’s Bobby Witt and Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez are among dozens of promising players who were signed to lucrative deals well before they reach free agency Spending on veterans is no longer in vogue. Walker — a threetime Gold Glove first baseman who has hit nearly 200 career homers — signed with the Astros for a relatively modest $60 million, three-year deal after the 2024 season when he was 33 years old.

“I think it has a lot to do with the ability to measure guys’ value on the field,” Walker said. “For a long time, WAR didn’t exist, wRC+ wasn’t a stat, right? So, you went off of the optics or this guy’s a good clubhouse guy or he’s got experience, he’s been to a World Series.”

Velocity has exploded

Today’s young stars have come of age in a game where velocity is king, but it wasn’t that way when Freeman and others broke through. The average MLB fastball in 2026 is north of 94 mph,

with 18 qualified pitchers averaging at least 96. When Freeman debuted 17 years ago, the leaguewide average was under 92 and no qualiﬁed pitchers averaged at least 96.

Arenado said that one of the ﬁrst things that becomes tougher for MLB veterans is the ability to handle really good fastballs particularly inside. It makes for tough matchups against pitchers like Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski, who routinely throws 100 mph.

“I feel like just the general age of the levels and the development is trending younger and younger,” Walker said. “And there might be something to that like your best bullets might be when you’re 27 years old.”

Teams value flexibility

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has Freeman and Muncy in his lineup on nearly a daily basis. He also played in the big leagues until he was 36 years old, retiring in 2008, giving him some personal experience on the aging process.

“The hardest part is to expect and want the same output you’ve always had, but not be willing to change the equation,” Roberts said. Roberts said the process is different for every player Some need to work out more. Some less. Others need more sleep. Diet becomes more important. The tricky part is that the habits that brought you to the big leagues might not be the same ones that will keep you there in

your mid-to-late 30s Walker, who didn’t become a starter in the big leagues until he was 28, said he has embraced getting older and enjoys analyzing his blood tests that might signal what’s causing vitamin deﬁciencies or inflammation The tests also show how much alcohol might affect his body or the importance of a good night’s sleep.

“For myself, no real magic recipe, just chalk it up to being a late bloomer,” Walker said. “My age is older than most guys, but service time isn’t. I haven’t been in the big leagues for 20 years or anything like that. Just fortunate that I still can help the team.”

Arenado embraces change Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said he believed there were two main reasons Arenado was still having success in his 14th big league season. First, he gave credit to the D-backs’ hitting coaches.

But maybe most importantly, Arenado has listened to those coaches, embraced change and found new ways to have success.

“There’s an adjustment to work habits and mindset once you get to that level where things aren’t as easy as they used to be,” Lovullo said. “Some say ‘I’ve had my career, it’s not as easy as it once was, and I want to shut it down.’”

Later he added: “It’s fun to watch Nolan Arenado have all this success, but he’s worked his butt off. He’s working as hard as any 22 or 23 year old we have on this team.”

A’s say hello to future Vegas fans with wild game

BY MARK ANDERSON Associated Press

LAS VEGAS The ﬁrst pitch to an Athletics player Monday night in Las Vegas was an explosive welcome.

Shea Langeliers sent a shot 483 feet in the ﬁrst sign of the madness to come in a 15-14, 12-inning game that introduced the city to its eventual MLB club.

The Milwaukee Brewers were the winners, but so were the fans.

“It’s the most bizarre game I’ve ever had in Major League Baseball in 11 years,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “I never saw anything like it. So many things happened. There were 16 challenges in the game Sixteen challenges in the game. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Oh, yes, the challenges. It wasn’t just the pitchers who had a rough night. Home plate umpire Clint Vondrak had 11 of 16 challenges for ball and strikes overturned and, according to Umpire Scorecards, he missed three other calls that potentially affected the game. This series is being played at Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the A’s Triple-A afﬁliate. The A’s were set to play the Brewers again Tuesday and Wednesday and will host the Colorado Rockies in a three-game series beginning Friday as they begin to introduce themselves to the Las Vegas fan base. The club is scheduled to move to Las Vegas in 2028 and play in a $2 billion 33,000-person capacity domed sta-

dium on the Strip. Team jerseys with VEGAS on the back and the No. 28 were given out to fans. It’s doubtful that new stadium will be the launching pad the minor league facility was in the opening game — a four-hour, 14-minute offensive onslaught. The teams combined for 34 hits

Bengals rework Burrow’s contract to free cap space

The Cincinnati Bengals have restructured the contract of franchise quarterback Joe Burrow a person familiar with the move told The Associated Press on Tuesday Cincinnati gains around $10 million in cap space by spreading out some of his base salary over the ﬁnal three years of the deal (2027 through ’29). The former LSU star signed a ﬁve-year, $275 million extension in 2023.

The Bengals found themselves low on cap space after acquiring defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence from the New York Giants before the draft and signing him to a oneyear extension worth $28 million. Burrow, the top overall pick in the 2020 draft, played in only eight games last season. He suffered a turf toe injury in a Week 2 win over Jacksonville and was out until late November

Williams makes winning comeback in doubles

LONDON After nearly four years away from professional tennis, Serena Williams showed she still has plenty of power to her game as she made a winning return at Queen’s Club on Tuesday

The 44-year-old Williams hit service winners of up to 120 mph as she teamed up with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko to win their opening doubles match at the Queen’s Club grass-court tournament.

Williams and Mboko beat thirdseeded duo Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6 (2), 6-2 in Williams’ ﬁrst professional match since the 2022 U.S. Open. They next face Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund in the quarterﬁnals.

Bitonio to retire after 12 seasons, all with Browns

BEREA, Ohio Joel Bitonio had a good idea in January that he would be retiring after 12 seasons with the Cleveland Browns.

On Tuesday, it was time for the 34-year-old offensive lineman to make it ofﬁcial.

“This place is so special that it was hard to truly say goodbye. I’m so glad I got to learn and be a Cleveland Brown my entire career,” Bitonio said during a news conference.

Bitonio played his entire career in Cleveland after he was selected in the second round (35th) of the 2014 draft. He was a stalwart at left guard and emerged as the leader of the offensive line when Hall of Fame left tackle Joe Thomas retired after the 2017 season. Bitonio’s 178 games — all starts are ninth in franchise history

Rams LT arrested at LA home, awaits charges

LOS ANGELES Los Angeles Rams left tackle Alaric Jackson was arrested Monday night on suspicion of felony domestic violence. The Los Angeles Police Department says Jackson was arrested after ofﬁcers were called to his home in the West Hills neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley NBC4 reported that Jackson allegedly attempted to take a phone away from a woman when he thought he was being recorded, and the woman had scratches on her arm.

and 11 home runs. “Just an all-around crazy game,” Langeliers said. “Both teams battled all night. It was a great baseball game.”

This was the Brewers’ secondever victory after allowing at least 14 runs Milwaukee defeated Washington by the same score on Aug. 17, 2019. The Brewers now are 2-88 in such games.

For the A’s, this was the first time they have been in a game in which both sides scored at least 14 runs since a 17-16 loss at Texas on May 5, 2000. There was not only a lot of scoring, but plenty of drama as well.

The A’s took a two-run lead into the ninth inning, but Andrew Vaughn’s two-run double with no outs sent the game to extras. Milwaukee then scored four runs in the 10th before the A’s answered with four of their own, including two-out homers by Nick Kurtz and Jonah Heim. Brice Turang’s ﬁelder’s choice grounder with one out in the 12th inning scored Christian Yelich for what turned out to be the winning run, and soon after perhaps the wildest game of the season was over

Jackson has been the Rams’ starting left tackle for the past three seasons, starting 45 regular-season games and six playoff games. The case will be submitted to the district attorney’s ofﬁce to consider charges.

Detroit PGA tournament coming to end this year

DETROIT The next Rocket Classic will be the last.

“After nearly 13 years as a PGA Tour title sponsor, including eight years in Detroit, 2026 will mark the ﬁnal Rocket Classic,” tournament director Mark Hollis said Tuesday “We are incredibly proud of what this tournament has meant to the city, from creating unforgettable moments for fans to raising more than $10 million for local organizations.”

Aldrich Potgieter will be the reigning champion on July 30 when the ﬁnal tournament begins at Detroit Golf Club. Cam Davis is a two-time Rocket Classic champion and Bryson DeChambeau is among the previous winners at the tournament.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By RICK SCUTERI

Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Nolan Arenado celebrates after hitting a grand slam against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning of a game May 18 in Phoenix At 35, Arenado is part of a shrinking group of older veteran players.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CAROLINE BREHMAN

Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Abner Uribe cheers after striking out the final batter to end the 11th inning against the Athletics on Monday in Las Vegas. The teams combined for 34 hits and 11 home runs.

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in which the road teamhas won all three games, only thesecondtimethat’shappened in the NBA Finals.

The Spurs jumped on the Knicks right at the start and then outplayed them late in their 115-111 victory on Monday Victor Wembanyamacontrolled the action on both sides with 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots.

Showing no fear of a rowdy road environmentin the first NBA Finals game

TIGERS

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fensively makes Braun the leading candidate to start at first base next season. He’ll be one of LSU’smost important hitters in 2027. Behind him, Yamin and Serna also have experience at first. There’sachance Adams and Santarelli don’tmake it to campus. Between the two, Santarelliismore likely to end up at LSU. Minnatee is a contact-first first baseman,in the same vein as TreMorgan. Tucker’ssize (6-foot-4, 210 pounds) limits him to acorner infield spot, buthewas also a shortstop in high school.

Second base

Returners: JackRuckert (So.)

Transfers out: Ethan Clauss (So.) High school signees: CJ Weinstein, Parker Loew Breakdown: Ruckert settled into astarting spot at second base after arocky start. Clauss was the only freshman who didn’tsee more time on the ﬁeld at the end of the year

Don’trule out LSU adding atransfer who canatleast compete with Ruckert for the starting job. Ruckert showed some promise this past season, but Johnson willbeaggressive in making sure he has plenty of options to turn to on the inﬁeld.

Shortstop

Likely draft departure: Steven

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in contention for top-three finishes. Themen’s team, made up of senior Jeremiah Walker,senior Shakeem McKay, junior Joshua Caleb and Reid, ran apersonal-best 38.25 to finish second at the SEC Championships. While they didn’tmatch that time in the NCAA first round, their previous showing demonstrated their potential to outrun most of the field.

in Madison Square Garden since 1999, Wembanyama and the Spurs again looked likeateam that might be able to win atitle without ﬁrst experiencingthe growing pains that other young groups have gone through.

“Wewill see. But mybet would be yes, it’spossible,” Wembanyama said. The Spurs thought so even after droppingtwo games in SanAntonio,whichmeans to win the title they would have to become theﬁrst team to do so afterstarting 0-2 in its own building. It’sabelief built from having one of the bestplayersin the world and loadsoftalent aroundhim, agroup so con-

Milam(Sr.)

Transfersin: Dawson Park (Jr.)

Transfersout: Clauss

High school signees: Jordan Martinez,Weinstein, Loew Breakdown: Park had 13 home runs, a.962 on-base plus slugging percentage and played strong defense at shortstop for TexasState. He also left the program before theend ofthe season, reportedly after gettinginto an on-ﬁeld altercation with a teammate in May.He’ll still start at shortstop as long as Milamdoesn’t return. Weinstein and Loew are primarily shortstops, but both signees could compete for astarting spot at second base. There’sachance that Weinstein doesn’tmake it to campus as atop-150 prospect in thedraft, per MLB. com

Thirdbase

Returners: John Pearson (Jr.)

Transfers out: Trent Caraway (Sr.)

High school signees: Martinez, Tucker,Belding

Breakdown: Pearson struggleddefensively at third base despiteshowcasing some power as asophomore. Caraway departs for the portalafteranunderwhelmingseason in Baton Rouge. Martinez andLoeware high school teammates at Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Florida. Martinez has experience at shortstop,but hissize likely makes himathird baseman Thirdbase is arguably LSU’sbiggest remaining

The women’steam of freshman AthaleyhaHinckson, junior Tima Godbless, juniorAniyah Bigam and Jacksonshould be among thefavorites todowell. Theywon theSEC titlein apersonal-best42.31 and placed third in theNCAA East ﬁrst round in 42.48. Themen’s 4x400 relayalso enters with expectations. Sophomore Amal Glasgow McKay,juniorGrant Buckmiller andredshirt freshman Malachi Austin broke the LSU record with a 2:58.47 at the SEC Championshipsand ﬁnished second

ﬁdent that the players didn’t think much of their accomplishment Monday “I didn’twant us to get too happy about one win andget satisfied and take our foot off the gas alittle bit forthe next game,” said Spurs guard Stephon Castle, who scored 23 points. “But I thinksince the end of Game 2we’vestill been conﬁdent that we’regoing to win this series, andthat’swhatwe plan to do.”

TheKnicks’ ﬁrst losssince April 23 didn’tsend them scrambling for solutions, because they were constantly looking for ways to improve even when all they didwas win.

roster need. Expect Johnsontoadd someone from theportal sooner rather than later

Left field

Returners: William Patrick (So.), Braun, Yamin Transfersout: Daniel Harden (Sr.)

High school signees: Malachi Washington, Anthony Murphy,Nathaneal Davis and Wessley Roberson

Breakdown: Patrick saw more of theﬁeld toward the end of the year.His athleticism gives himachanceto start nextseason.Harden entered the portal after registering just 19 at-bats. Washington, Davis and Murphy maynot endupon campus. Allthree players are excellent athletes, and Murphy would be draft-eligible as asophomore if he came to school. Roberson is aspeedster withstrong batto-ball ability.

Center field

Returners: Patrick

Likelydraft departure: Derek Curiel

High school signees: Murphy, Washington, Davis and Roberson

Breakdown: The four signees are allfast enough to play center field. Whether any of them getthe chance to start out there as freshmen is another question. This is deﬁnitely aposition of need in the transfer portal.

Right field

Returners: Patrick,Braun

Likely draft departure: Jake

at the NCAA East in 3:00.39. In the fieldevents, LSU is led by Jack Larrivierein themen’sjavelin. After an injury-riddledstart to his college career,the junior is headed to Eugene forthe first time. The New Orleans native placedthird in the NCAA East with athrowof231 feet, 8inches.His personal best of 258-1 in April would have ledthe NCAA East first round. SeniorlongjumperJordan Turner took third in the first roundwitha leap of 25-111/2 and women’sdiscus thrower

“Each game, no matter what thesituation is, we’re growingasa team. Ithink we’re learning and we’re gettingbetter —obviously beforelast night,” Knicks guard Jalen Brunsonsaid.

“No matter what the situation is, we’re going to stick together.We’re going to execute, we’re going to be better.That’sjust howour mindsethas to be goingforward.

Thereare things to fix.

Karl-Anthony Towns isn’t scoring in thefourth quarter. Wembanyama has clearly ﬁgured out ways to hurt the Knicks in the last 11/2 games after struggling by his standards before that.

Brown

Transfers out: Harden

Highschool signees: Washington,Murphy,Davis and Roberson

Breakdown: As long as Braun remainsinthe inﬁeld, right field is another hole the Tigers likely need to fill through theportal.

Right-handed pitchers

Returners: Casan Evans (Jr.), WilliamSchmidt (Jr.), Cooper Moore (Sr.),Reagan Ricken (So.), Zion Theophilus (So.), Marcos Paz (So.)

Likely draftdepartures: Deven Sheerin

Transfers out: MavrickRizy (Jr.), Jaden Noot (Sr.)

Transfersin: Landon Hood (So.), Hayden Morris(Jr.) and Major Osbolt (So.)

Highschool signees: Jensen Hirschkorn, Cooper Sides, Kolby Stringer,Dylan Blomker,Coleton Brady and Braydon Wisener

Breakdown: LSU’sthree starting pitchers areset to return in Evans, Schmidt and Moore. Hood might crack that rotation if he widens his arsenal of pitches. He arrives in Baton Rouge with agood fastball, alethal changeup and acurveball.

Sheerin has achance to be one of the ﬁrst relievers picked in thedraft.Rizy and Noot enteredthe portal after bothpitchers took astep back this season. Morris and Osbolt are junior-college transfers with high strikeout rates.

Hirschkorn is alongshot to make it to campus. He’ll likely be picked on theﬁrst

Princesse Hyman displayed herpotential afterfinishing fifthinthe first round. LSU hasone veteran who could peak at the right time. Godbless, whomissed this year’s indoor season,is competing in the 100 for thethirdstraight year after placing 11thatregionals. Theformer Nigerian Olympianremainsathreat after finishing thirdatlast year’s NCAA Championships SeveralTigersare making their debutsinEugene. For the women, that includes freshman Hinckson(100), fifth-year seniorAdeyah

$32,970 for the ﬁnal. Fans have accused the governingbodyofa “monumental betrayal”.

Resale prices areeven higheronthe secondary market, with FIFA’s own resale marketplace in April listing four tickets to the ﬁnal forjust under $2.3 million each. While FIFA does notcontrol prices on the site, it does take a30% commission from each resale.Parking for games can costas much as $175, andfans have been stunned by rising trainfares —upfrom $12.90 to $98 in New Jersey,for example. Infantino has defended ticket prices and said demandwas equivalent to “1,000 years of World Cups at once,”adding that all 104 matches would be sold out.

Arecent IPSOS poll, however,found that only 26% of Americans said theywere“at leastsomewhat excited” about the World Cup and7%were “extremelyorvery excited.”

They have to turn the ball over less and defend better without fouling.

TheKnicks didenoughof those things well to run off the second-longest winning streak in postseason history

Now they have to recover quickly fromaloss,or they’llhead to SanAntonio for Game 5with the series tied.

“Wehave, what, 13 games in arow,50days of ﬁlm to show what it looks like when we’re at our best. So we’ve got good film,” Towns said. “We’ll get back to our fundamentals, what makes us great, what made us great, and get back to work.”

day of thedraft.Sides and Stringeralso could be selected,while Blomker,Brady andWiseneradd depth to a room that’sexpected to lose at least seven arms. Hood probably won’tbe LSU’sonly addition at this spot.The pitchingstaff was the primary reason behind LSU’s demise this season.

Left-handedpitchers

Returners: Danny Lachenmayer (Jr.), Jonah Aase (Fr.), Cooper Williams(Jr.), Ethan Plog (Jr.) Likely draft departures: Santiago Garcia Transfers out: DJ Primeuax (Sr.)

High school signees: Logan Schmidt, Lucas Nawrocki, Spencer Evans, Braxton Beaty,Colton Christman and Bradyn Cupit

Breakdown: Primeauxisthe only lefty who hasentered the portal, meaning LSU has four lefties set to return as things currently stand. Lachenmayeralreadyhad said that he was coming back, and Aase waswith the team this spring but missed the year while recovering from Tommy John surgery Garcia’sarray of breaking balls makeshim astrong candidatetoget drafted Primeauxexitsafter four seasons with the program Even if Schmidt and Nawrockidon’t make it to school, Johnson madesure his team wouldn’tbeshort of lefthanded options next year LSU is still on track to bring in its deepest class of lefties since Johnson took over

Brewster (100 hurdles), freshman Skyler Franklin (400), freshmanKennedi Burks (4x400 relay), senior Keliza Smith(4x400 relay), freshmanAbigael Chemnagei (10,000) andjunior Alexis Guillory (javelin). For themen,Austin(400), Buckmiller(400),Caleb (4x100), sophomore Chad Hendricks (discus) and Larriviere (javelin) are making their debuts. LSUisseeking its first track and ﬁeld national team titlefor themen since 2021. The women last won anational in 2012.

Meanwhile, room bookings have been lighter than expected in most of the11U.S. host cities, according to an April survey by the American Hotel & Lodging Association.

Goingtobebig

Asuper-sized tournamentacrossthree countries is FIFA’slatest World Cup experiment, andonly time will tellifitworks. For some, the quality of the eventwill seem diluted by expandingthe format from 32 teamsto48and creatingroom for debutants such as tiny Curacao and Cape Verde. Much of the jeopardy of the group stage has been removed with elite teamslargely separated. It means the real drama maybeput on hold until the round of 16.

“There’sabalance to be struck between making sure the World Cup is genuinely representative, but it’salsomeant to be afootball tournament thatdetermines who thebest team in the worldis,” said Jonathan Wilson, author of The Power and the Glory: ANew History of the World Cup.

Goingtobehot

One thing FIFA cannot be blamed for is rising temperatures and extreme heat. Some of the sites —the Texascities of Dallas and Houston,for example, though Kansas Cityand Atlanta are not immune —couldsee ‘feels like”temperatures above 90 degrees. There will be safety measuressuchashydrationbreaks for players and FIFAwound up changing its policy on water bottles for thetournament’s16stadiumsacrossNorth America, includingsomewith limited shade from thesun. Politicalfootball

President Trump has been abig supporterof the World Cup coming to America, repeatedly hostingInfantinoatthe White Houseand speakingin glowing termsabout the tournament. Infantino has gone to great lengths to strengthen those relations, awarding Trump the inauguralFIFAPeace Prize last year after he missed out on the Nobel Prize. Sixmonthshavepassed sinceaGermansoccer federation official said it was time to consider aWorld Cup boycott becauseofTrump’sactions, which includedthreats to take control of Greenland. That was even before the United States andIsrael launched militaryattacks on Iran. It also raised questions about Iran’s participation in the WorldCup. Theteam movedits training base from Tuscon, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico, called out visahassles just aweek beforeitopens play and arrived wearing lapelpins highlighting the victimsof adeadly missile strike on an elementary school at the start of the war

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByROSS D. FRANKLIN

San Antonio Spursforward Victor Wembanyama shoots overNew york Knicks center Karl-AnthonyTowns duringthe secondhalfofGame 3ofthe NBA Finals on MondayinNew york.Wembanyama had 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists andthree blocks in theSpurs’ win

Seven area players ready to break out in ’26

Region again loaded with talent heading into season

BY ERIC NARCISSE Staff writer

With high school spring football concluded and scrimmages wrapping up around the Acadiana area, several players have garnered the attention of college coaches while others have established themselves as key contributors for the upcoming season.

Although there are still a couple of months before the regular season gets underway, here are seven breakout candidates from the area.

Ansinneo Charles, Lafayette Renassance, Sr.

Because of injuries in each of the past two seasons, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Charles has shown only ﬂashes of his dominance Charles is a game-changer on the defensive side of the ball at outside linebacker, showing the ability to be a disruptive force in the backﬁeld whether rushing the passer or playing the run.

With the ailments behind him and entering the offseason fully healthy, Charles has all of the physical tools to be a defensive player of the year candidate.

Jared Quoyeser, St. Thomas More, Sr.

A season-ending injury suffered in Week 5 against Westgate robbed Quoyeser of what appeared to be a breakout season But with

his recovery having been tabbed as “months ahead of schedule,” Quoyeser looks ready to pick up where he left off.

The 5-9, 170-pound receiver has great speed and agility In the five games he played last season, Quoyeser had multiple punt returns for touchdowns. If he can stay healthy, Quoyeser will provide a boost not only to the Cougars’ special teams units but also their offense.

Malachi Menard, Carencro, Jr.

Menard has the chance to be a major threat on offense. Despite his lack of size at 5-5 and 141 pounds, Menard is an explosive player who coach Gavin Peters lines up at a

multitude of positions on offense.

While he’ll get touches at running back and receiver, Menard’s initial impact will come on special teams as he’ll likely serve as the primary returner

Riley Dupuis, Teurlings Catholic, Sr.

With the Rebels hard-pressed to replace the production of Andrew Viator, Dupuis appears set to get the ﬁrst crack at ﬁlling the role.

Although he doesn’t possess the measurables one might like at the receiver position, the 5-5, 145-pound Dupuis is a shifty receiver with really good hands.

If he can carry over his development from

SCOREBOARD

St. Charles Honorable mention: Grant Barbera, E.D. White; Avery Bergeron, Livonia; Brandon Blanchard, Brusly; Trigger Booth, West Ouachita; Kohen Boudreaux, Iowa; Maddox Breaux, South Terrebonne; Eli Clark, St. Thomas More; Brayden Cortez, St. Charles; Ryan Crooks, Tioga; Isaiah Daley, Brusly; Tre Daley, Brusly; Cayden Dartez, St. Thomas More; Cameron DeRoche, Lutcher; Colin Dore, Cecilia; Carter Douglas, E.D. White; Porter Doyal, North DeSoto; Blaze Duhon, North Vermilion; Alex Duvieilh, Lakeshore; Benjamin Ellender, Breaux Bridge; Landen Fletcher, Grant; Patton Ferguson, Tioga; Gavin Foreman, Rayne; Gavin Foster, Livonia; Myles Futrell, Grant; Luca Golden, Loyola; Morgan Havens, DeRidder; Holdyn Herring, West Ouachita; Hayes Holton, Loranger; Kole Hurst, St. Charles; Jace Jarveaux, Vandebilt Catholic; Braden Jones, North DeSoto; Hunter Jones, Livonia; Bryson Keller, Lutcher; Grant Kirkpatrick, E.D. White; Colton Lacour, North DeSoto; Caleb LeBlanc, South Terrebonne; Thomas Lecompte, Vandebilt Catholic; Aiden LeJeune, Eunice; Mason Lomonaco, Lakeshore; Sammy McDaniel, Pearl River; Logan Matherne, Loranger; Krash Menard, Vandebilt Catholic; Lon Paul Moody,

the spring into the regular season, it’s possible the Rebels can pick up where they left off last season.

Cohen DiBetta, Acadiana, Jr.

Set to be a ﬁrst-year starter under center for the Rams, DiBetta has enjoyed a great spring. The 6-3, 220-pound dual-threat quarterback showed he not only has the arm strength and accuracy to throw the football but also has the ability to fully operate the offense.

If the transition to DiBetta at quarterback is as seamless as expected, Acadiana could make life difﬁcult for opposing defenses this year

Caemon Crockem, Westgate, Jr.

One of the more electrifying players in the area, Crockem is a threat to score anytime he touches the football. The 5-10, 185-pound running back, who rushed for nearly 1,000 yards a year ago as a sophomore, runs hard between the tackles.

One of the many talented players on the Tigers’ roster Crockem is a violent runner with breakaway speed.

Kerrance Vallot, Lafayette Christian, Sr.

The 5-8, 160-pound defensive back started at safety for the Knights last year before moving to cornerback after the injury bug hit the secondary late in the season. Known for his high football IQ and great coverage skills, Vallot has good hands. Whatever he lacks in size and speed he more than makes up for with his ability to jump routes.

If his spring performance that has seen him record a handful of interceptions is any indication of what’s to come, Vallot could become a household name.

Email Eric Narcisse at enarcisse@ theadvocate.com.

player: Lauren Baudoin, Vandebilt

of the year: Tim Whitman, Pineville Honorable mention: Abby Aguillard, Vandebilt Catholic; Lilly Rose Albarez, Brusly; Rylie Arceneaux, South Terrebonne; Sydney Arnold, Lakeshore; Devan Ashby, Northwood-Shrev; Elizabeth Balkom, Minden; Addison Brignac, Lutcher; Aleiya Callais, Vandebilt Catholic; Sarah Coddou, E.D. White; Chloe Curtis, North DeSoto; Nikkie Devillier, Cecilia; Lacy Faul, Beau Chene; Kylie Ferguson, Minden; Aubrey Gautreaux, South Terrebonne; Rockie Graves, Pearl River; Alyssa Hall, DeRidder; Kamryn Henley, West Ouachita; Mackenzie Jagers, Northwood-Shrev; Emiry Jeanne, St. Thomas More; Abby Jones, Tioga; Peyton Kirtland, Grant; Larkin Krieg, Loyola; Ava Kulivan, Archbishop Hannah; Emma Loupe, Brusly; Danielle Louque Lutcher; Landry McLamb, Caddo Magnet; Baylie Middleton, Tioga; Anistyn Nichols, Tioga; Margaret Oge, St. Thomas More; Makenzie Picasso Pearl River; Bree Pech, E.D White; Londyn Pennison, Assumption; Haleigh Perilloux, E.D. White; Melanie Pomar, Belle Chasse; Carleigh Roe, Grant; Isabella Rome, Livonia; Grant; Avery St. Pierre, Lutcher; Addisyn Singletary, Iowa; Alivia Singletary, Iowa; Cali Smith, West Ouachita; Alya Taylor, Archbishop Hannan; Emmey Tullos, West Ouachita; Presley Walker, Loyola; Tannah Willie, Lakeshore; Riley Williams, Archbishop Hannan; Saydie Wilson, Grant; Jada Wolfgang, Caddo Magnet.

n Wednesday’s games Washington (Grifﬁn 7-2) at San Francisco (Ray 4-6), 2:45 p.m. Cincinnati (Singer 2-6) at San Diego (King 4-5), 3:10 p.m. Arizona (Nelson 2-4) at Miami (Gusto 0-1), 5:40 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Ohtani 6-2) at Pittsburgh (Jones 1-0), 5:40 p.m. Philadelphia (Luzardo 4-4) at Toronto (Scherzer 1-3), 6:07 p.m. St. Louis (Pallante 6-4) at N.Y. Mets (Scott 2-0), 6:10 p.m. Atlanta (Sale 8-4) at Chicago White Sox (Martin 8-2), 6:40 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Imanaga 4-6) at Colorado (Lorenzen 2-8), 7:40 p.m. Milwaukee (Sproat 1-4) at Athletics (Perkins 2-3), 8:05 p.m. Hockey Stanley Cup Finals (Best-of-7) (x-if necessary) Tuesday, June 2 Vegas 5, Carolina 4 Thursday, June 4 Carolina 4, Vegas 3, OT Saturday, June 6 Vegas 5, Carolina 4, 2OT, Vegas leads series 2-1 Tuesday’s game Carolina at Vegas, n

vs. Colombia, 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 23 Portugal vs. Uzbekistan, noon Colombia vs. Congo DR, 9 p.m. GROUP L Wednesday, June 17 England vs. Croatia, 3 p.m. Ghana vs. Panama, 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 23 England vs. Ghana, 3 p.m. Panama vs. Croatia, 6 p.m. Tennis WTA Queen’s Club At The Queen’s Club London; Purse: $1,915,000 Surface: Grass Women’s singles Round of 32 Emma Raducanu,

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

Westgate running back Caemon Crockem, who rushed for nearly 1,000 yards as a sophomore, could be in for an even bigger season for the talented Tigers.

Scalp massages from Japan catching on in U.S.

BY HAVEN DALEY Associated Press

“Typically, when you go get a massage, the focus is always like your back, and I always wish there was more on my head, on my face especially, on my neck,” says Karena Kong, a frequent customer of Nen Head Spa in San Francisco. “When I saw that they give 90 minutes of just head, face, shoulder massage, I felt like it’s a great way to just focus on the areas that I love.”

AP PHOTO By JEFF CHIU Head spa specialist Ha Truong, right, applies a halo waterfall device to Liz Evans during a treatment at Sunday Headspa on April 16 in San Francisco.

What to expect

Head spas originated in Japan, rooted in centuries-old practices that combine massage and herbal tinctures Modern versions began gaining popularity in Japanese salons in the 1990s before spreading throughout Asia and now the U.S.

A typical session lasts 60 or 90 minutes and often begins with a scalp inspection, followed by deep cleansing, exfoliation, steam, and extended head, face and neck massage. Many services also include essential oils, conditioning masks, and aromatherapy in a quiet setting with dimmed lights and soft music.

“The core part of it is actually getting your hair washed,” said Peter Tham, owner of Nen Head Spa where head massages cost about $100 an hour “The feeling of getting your head washed, especially on a hot and humid day, feels really good. Combine that with, facial, scalp, neck and shoulder massages, which is kind of where most people, especially those who sit in front of a computer all day, suffer a lot of tension.”

What to make of claims

Some head spas make health and medical claims about some of their services, suggesting they can offer stress relief or treatment for scalp skin conditions, hair loss or even alopecia, an autoimmune disorder. Experts caution that people with skin or hair conditions should see a dermatologist or other appropriate doctor for advice and possible treatment.

“It’s important to know and differentiate something that’s done for a health reason or relaxation from seeing a medical expert, a dermatologist, if you are having hair loss,” said Zakia Rahman, a dermatology professor at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Rahman has noticed the rising popularity of head spas

ä See MASSAGE, page 6C

‘We

just do our best’

They came to Lafayette to start fresh. 15 years later, their sushi is a local favorite.

BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

The menu is long, with pages of sushi rolls named “Stephanie’s Favorite,” or the “UL roll” selections that speak to the creativity and local connections that Fuji Sushi House is known for

While the choices are many, everything at Fuji Sushi is made fresh by hand by sushi chef Thongsy Hemsouvanh, who goes by “Tik.” Her wife, Pimtanis Worawongrata (known as “Ginger”) runs the front of house, greeting each guest like family, with jokes, hugs and friendly banter

They have become community ﬁxtures in the 15 years since Fuji Sushi opened in Lafayette, creating the kind of restaurant that feels like a comfortably lived-in dining room.

“I can’t believe it’s been this long,” said Worawongrata. “I never realized until people came in and said, ‘Has it been 15 years already?’”

A recent tragedy highlighted how deep their roots have grown in Loui-

The Becker Roll is on the menu at Fuji

siana, when the couple announced that they were closing the restaurant indeﬁnitely due to a death in Worawongrata’s family Fuji Sushi House closed for several weeks this spring while Worawongrata and Hemsouvanh traveled to Thailand, and now, the ﬁrst thing you see on entering the dining room is a counter full of blooming orchids and

sympathy cards from their friends and longtime customers.

The couple worked all over the country before coming to Lafayette, seeking to open their own place. Hemsouvanh primarily trained at a sushi restaurant in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, run by a

See SUSHI, page 6C

Sushi

PHOTOS By ROBIN MAy

Sushi chef Tik Hemsouvanh prepares a sushi roll at her restaurant May 23 in Lafayette. A fixture in the community, Fuji Sushi celebrates 15 years of being open.

Countering negativity from mother-in-law

Dear Miss Manners: My daughter married avery nice man 18 months ago. We have had some contact with the in-laws, and are friendly The mother-in-law tends to be very negative, and is known to say unkind things about whoeverisn’t present. Iran into her while shopping, and she went into how she was worried about my daughter: She looks sad, she looks sick, she looks worried… Ichanged the subject after saying she was ﬁne.If Ididn’tknow the mother-inlaw’shistory,I’d think that she was just concerned. But Iknow what she is like. How do Itactfully tell this womanthatcommenting about my family to me is off-limits? Iknow she’ll be insulted anyway, and she is known to hang onto this sort of thing, but Ineed her to know Gentle reader: Why?Miss Manners could remind you that it is impolite to criticizeanother person’s behavior —which is what you propose. But as you’ve just said, it will also make the mother-

in-law angry, causing her to talk more. Anditwill not changeher behavior.Better to do whatyou did, which is to blithely assert that your daughter is happy and healthy— and then change the subject.

sponses.

Useno. 0000 steelwoolfor glass

Dear Miss Manners: I have afriend who persistsininviting herself over to my house.Iwould be extremely hesitant to propose to even avery close friend that Ishouldbea guestat their housewithoutﬁrstreceivinganinvitation. Even more surprising to me,when Idisplay resistance to the idea, she persists, something that I ﬁnd amazing. WhenI have agreed,she invites others also. Am Itotally outofdate on manners? Rather than pressing afriend to conform to my wishes on such matters, Ialways am carefultogive others space to decline gracefully Gentle reader: But you have arudefriend. Miss Manners doesnot therefore mean to suggestthat you can berudeback,but neither doesthisrequire an endless variety of re-

Youcan say,“I’msorry, we can’tdothat,” the ﬁrst time —and perhaps the second. After that, when asked why not, or when it would work —and on and on —the answer is simply, “Wejust can’t.”

Dear Miss Manners: Iusually run in themorning through aparticular park and am in the habit of greeting the park’sother patrons, who are all much older than me.

Inoticed that if Idon’t say hello, they don’tlook up from their walk to greet me. However,ifIdo, they always give me abright smile and ahello.

Is it arule that the younger person must greet the older person ﬁrst?

Gentlereader: Greeting each other is acustom among hikers, but no actual rule requiring runners to offer greetings —though it is gracious. Others may simply have had moreontheir minds or been less aware of their surroundings, whichever way you prefer to thinkofit. Butyou know that they appreciate your greetings.

Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com.

BEST

Dear Heloise: No. 0000 steel wool won’tscratch glass. It’s also the best thing for cleaning up chromethat is rusty and pitted. It can make things look almost like new.(I collect British sports cars from the ’50s and ’60s. Youlearn all kinds of tricks.)

Hints from Heloise

I’ma 70-year-old manwho read your mother’scolumn many decades ago. I’m happy thatmylocal paper

recentlypicked up your column. —ChrisT.,via email Chris, fordoublepaned windows, the stains and spots are possibly on the inside between the sheets of glass. If this is the case, then you’ll have to replace the sheet of glass or possibly the entire window —Heloise Broken window seal

DearHeloise: In reference to

Jacqueline’sinquiry on the spots on her windows that she can’tremove, it’smost likely that the seal around the two window panesof glass is broken and letting in air and moisture, which causes the spots. The only remedy is to replace the glass. Look for companies that will only replace the glass —not the entire window —Paul,via email Sendahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

SUSHI

Continuedfrom page5C

Japanese family,according to Worawongrata —who said she considers the sushi rice at FujiSushi astandout experience.

“It’sfull of ﬂavor and very tasty.Some places willjust put some vinegar andsugar,but when we cook sushi rice, we put alot of ingredientsintothe rice sauce,” Worawongrata said. Atraditional sushi rice includes elements like rice vinegar, sugar,salt, mirin or kelp to balancesweet,savory and umamiﬂavors.

“She also does really,really good workwithhow she rolls —very tight, reallytidyand neatand nice When theytested her hand in Hattiesburg, they picked hertoworkwith them, even thoughtheyhadn’thired non-Japanese people before,”saidWorawongrata of Hemsouvanh.

comes to support us.”

with harissa and chorizo oil. The dates weresalty, sweet and alittle smoky aperfect small bite. The honey-glazed porkbelly was the star of the lunch The pork belly came with a carrot, scallion and cucumber salad, asesame puree and cilantro. The dish was fresh, bright and decadent

The sesame puree and sauce beneath the pork were good enough to drink on their own.

Mixed grill

—Joy Holden, features writer

n Al Shami, 13461 Tiger Bend Road, Baton Rouge

This new Middle Eastern food truck just opened last month in the parking lot of AZ International Foods in Baton Rouge. Last time Iwent, they served my beef kabob on a2-foot-long skewer that felt like holding asword of meat. When Iwas craving something hearty on Thursday,Iknew

MASSAGE

Continued from page5C and says they are generally ﬁne as acompliment to actual medical treatmentsif needed —and for people who like the way it makes them feel.

The beef and chicken were tender and juicy.I enjoyed stufﬁng thebread with bits of meat and tomato likeawrap, alternating between little bites of everything listed above. Isplit theplate with aco-worker, and we were both pretty full after

I’ll deﬁnitely be back. My eyes are on that chicken shawarmasandwich.

—Maddie Scott, features reporter

Beef Patacon

n Patacon Latin Cuisine,308 Bertrand Drive, Lafayette

just the place. Iordered the mixed grill meal,awhopping plate that came with beef tikka(the same meat as on last visit’s sword) andchickentawook. Thebest part aboutthis plate is thevariety of accoutrements. Fries, mixed pickles, agrilled tomato, grilled onions, coleslaw, lemon slices, garlic sauce, Shami sauceand my favorite lagniappe, the“special bread,” wereincluded.The breadwas like awarm, ﬂuffy tortilla with ared paste inside.

The beef patacon is one of thetreatsImiss mostsince moving from Lafayette. It’ssuch agreat blend of ﬂavors and textures —soft, crunchy,sweet and savory Just delicious! Iwas sad to seethat they no longer have thedelicious green sauce in bottles,and you have to buy ateenytinycup of it for 80 cents, but Iunderstand that a business has to do business. AndIamwilling to pay for such adelicacy

—Jan Risher, LouisianaCulture Editor

Ilove yellowtail sushi, so Itried an off-menu yellowtail special that came withsearedyellowtail tuna, thin-sliced jalapeño and asweet and spicy ponzu sauce. The ingredientswere perfectly considered in their simplicity and larger house rolls like the Becker Roll share that trait, even piledhighwith seared tuna, black pepper

By The Associated Press

Today is Wednesday June 10, the 161st day of 2026. There are 204 days left in the year

Todayinhistory: On June 10, 2018, NASA’s rover Opportunitysent its last message from the surface of Mars. Originally expected to serve athreemonth mission, Opportunityfunctioned for over 14 years, traveling over 28 miles acrossMars and providing critical discoveries about the planet’sgeology

tuna and acrabstick on top, withsnowcrab, avocado, spicy tuna, asparagus and crunchinthe center That delicacy,where you can try item after item without ever overwhelming your palate, is asignature of Hemsouvanh’swork Worawongrata noted that Lafayette has become more educated about sushi in the years since they opened, andthey in turn workto provide theirguests with the best they can offer

“We’re honest to people. We give good food that’s homemade andcooked with fresh ingredientsthat’s clean,clean,clean —I’m very OCD and picky,” she said. “The way Idobusiness, we never look at how people are competing —we just do ourbesttoreally appreciateeveryonewho

TheMount Fuji, Becker, Tiger,and Philip &Blair rolls aresomeofthe more popular rolls at Fuji Sushi House. All contain raw fish,exceptfor theTiger Roll, whichWorawongrata said is the “best cooked roll ever” with fried shrimp and snow crab, and acrab stick on top (with avocado, eel sauce, crunchy bites, spicy mayoand hot sauce). Tikis alsohappy to create adish just for you, if yougoin knowing what you love. Fuji Sushi House, at 4416 JohnstonSt., Lafayette,is open from 4p.m. to 9p.m. Tuesdays, and noon to 9p.m. Wednesdaythrough Saturday

Email Joanna Brown at joanna.brown@ theadvocate.com.

in the Mideast involving Israel, Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq ended as Israel and Syria accepted aUnited Nations-mediated ceaseﬁre.

In 1977, James Earl Ray, the convicted assassin of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Tennessee with six others. He wasrecaptured three days later

Continued from page5C AP PHOTO

‘It’ssorelaxing’

At Sunday Headspa in San Francisco, each session starts with atechnician inspecting hair follicles with amagnifying device and

assessingtheir condition Then customers get adeep clean, said Jolly Mac, the spa’scoordinator Many of their clients ﬁrst discovered head spaservices in Asia and arelooking for similar services, which start at about $200 an hour Customer CrystleVitari, ﬁrst visited ahead spa while visitingSouth Koreaand finds it “rejuvenating” and relaxing.

“Every time, Ifall asleep and take anap, actually,because it’ssorelaxing,” she said.

Also on this date: In 1692, theﬁrst execution resulting from the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts took place as Bridget Bishop was hanged.

In 1854, theU.S. Naval Academy held its ﬁrst graduation ceremony

In 1940, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini declared war on France and Great Britain,formally entering Italy into World WarII.

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed into law the Equal Pay Act of 1963, aimed at eliminating wage disparities based on gender

In 1967, six days of war

In 1978, racehorse Afﬁrmed, ridden by Steve Cauthen, wonthe 110th Belmont Stakes to claim the 11th Triple Crown. Alydar,ridden by Jorge Velasquez, ﬁnished aclose second in each of the Triple Crownraces.

In 1991, 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard of Meyers, California, wasabducted by Phillip and Nancy Garrido; Dugard washeld by the couple for18years before she wasfound by authorities. In 2009, White supremacist James von Brunn, 88, opened ﬁre in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., killing security guard Stephen T. Johns. (Von Brunn died in 2010 while awaiting trial.)

In 2020, protesters pulled downacentury-old statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond, Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy In 2023, Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski, the Harvardeducated mathematician dubbed the “Unabomber” by the FBI,died in a federal prison in North Carolina at age 81. Before his capture, Kaczynski conducted a17-year bombing campaign that killed three people and injured 23 others.

Today’sbirthdays: Political commentatorJeffGreenﬁeld is 83. ActorFrankie Faisonis77. Football Hall of Famer Dan Fouts is 75 ActorGina Gershon is 64. Actor-model Elizabeth Hurleyis61. Comedian Bill Burr is 58. Alphabet andGoogle CEO Sundar

STAFF PHOTO By JANRISHER Beef patacon from Patacon Latin Cuisine

STAFF PHOTO By MADDIESCOTT Mixed grill platefrom Al Shami

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

PHOTOSByROBIN MAy

Fuji Sushirestaurant co-owners Ginger Worawongrata, left, and TikHemsouvanh stand in their restaurant in Lafayette

Bluefintuna and yellowtailsashimi is on the menu at Fuji Sushi

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Success comes when joint effort and great minds work in conjunction to get the best outcome. The information you gather will change how you feel about some of the people and pastimes you engage in.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Work behind the scenes. If you make yourself too readily available, others will take advantage of your skills, eating up your time and ability to do the best job possible.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Plant your feet firmly on the ground and think twice before you jump into anything you know little about. Research is your ticket forward, so don't scrimp when it comes to positioning yourself for victory.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Reach out, ask questions and offer solutions. Your input will help you win favors and encourage others to be a help, not a hindrance Don't buy into what others do.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-oct. 23) Distance yourself from trouble and those who are eager to pick a fight or alter your plans. Pay attention to the changes happening around you and take advantage of the information you gather from reliable sources.

ScoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Push forward with enthusiasm. Do your own thing and gain experience in areas that help you add to your qualifications and skills. An encounter with someone special will change your perspective.

SAGIttARIuS (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Consider the changes you want to make at home or to yourself, and set a strict budget.

Refuse to buy into someone else's vision or lavish attitude. Use your imagination to devise a plan that's within your means.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Opportunities are apparent, but if you let outsiders interfere with your plans you'll end up redoing what you don't like at a high cost. Put your time and energy into hands-on projects.

AQuARIuS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Tidy up loose ends and give yourself a pat on the back. Refuse to let what others do anger you when your energy is best used to satisfy your needs and add to your comfort and convenience.

PIScES (Feb. 20-March 20) Someone you encounter will grab your attention, but before you engage in talks that lead to joint ventures listen, ask questions and consider if you can do better moving forward alone.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Verify information before passing it along. Someone will give you an overrated opinion that can cost you if you don't do your homework. Lead the way; when you follow, it always ends in disappointment.

tAuRuS (April 20-May 20) You can hide, but you can't ignore responsibilities. The longer you leave matters unfinished, the more difficult it will be to turn things around. Size up and act accordingly.

Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

toDAy'S cLuE: J EQuALS R

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

bIG

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers1 to 9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS CurTiS

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER

John Tyndall, an English physicist who died in 1893, said, “Life is awave that in notwoconsecutivemomentsofexistence is composed of the same particles.”

At thebridge table, usually when the right choice of bidorplayisnot clear, you have two possibilities. Consider both of them, and with luck it will become apparent,which is preferable. In this deal, Southisinfivediamonds. West leads the spadefour.How should declarer plan the play?

South mighthave opened five diamonds, but thatwould have risked missing aslam. East’sdouble of oneno-trump was for takeout of diamonds, the opener’s suit. Yes, East might have bidtwo heartstoget hisfive-card major into the game, but the double wasmore flexible. Then Southbid what he hopedhecould make. Note that if he had gambled on the majorsbyrebiddingthreeno-trump,that contract would have made easily

Declarer has three possible losers: one in each side-suit. He also has only10 winners: one spade, eight diamonds and one club. He needs asecond spade trick. And if West has led away from the king, that trick will materializeimmediately. Butwhat happens if East produces the spade king?

Yes,South’s queen is now established, but how can he get to dummy’sspade ace? The answer is to hope that West has the spade jack and to drop the queen under East’s king. Suppose East shifts to theclubking. Declarer wins, drawstrumps, and plays his spade three to dummy’s 10. If that finesse loses, the contract was unmakable.

Andrews McMeel Syndication

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

Previous answers:

word game

InStRuctIonS: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters 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 wordsare not allowed toDAy’S WoRD LIBAtIon: ly-BAY-shun: Abeverage, especially one containing alcohol.

Average mark23words Timelimit 45 minutes

Can you find 36 or morewords in LIBATION?

yEStERDAy’S WoRD —BoGGLED

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles hidato mallard

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