Once the poster child for private school vouchers in Louisiana, Hosanna Christian Academy in Baton Rouge has announced it’s closing its doors for good due to financial losses it says stem from recent changes in the voucher program and the continued unwillingness of the state lawmakers to expand it.
The school’s closure is sending hundreds of families scrambling to find new schools. It comes less than two months before the start of the 202627 school year in August. The school, which opened in 1978, last year enrolled about 450 students in prekindergarten
to eighth grade, down from almost 500 the previous year It employs about 60 staff members. The school is a ministry of Hosanna First Assembly church.
The school, which is located at 8850 Goodwood Blvd., sent a letter to parents on Thursday with the surprise announcement.
“As a result of harmful changes made in the state Legislature and some scholarship programs over the past two years, our school has incurred large financial losses that cannot be sustained,” according to the letter
In a statement, Ted Beasley, a spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Education, did not address the concerns raised by the school but acknowledged
that the state agency has been in contact with the school’s leadership.
“We’re supporting families through this transition by offering sessions where they can learn more about using their LA GATOR scholarships at another participating school,” Beasley said. Hosanna Christian Academy was on the ground floor of vouchers when former Gov Bobby Jindal launched the Louisiana Scholarship Program in 2012. Soon, the majority of the students enrolled at the school were receiving publicly funded vouchers. This past year, 255 Hosanna students — 57% of enrollment received vouchers.
BR area prepares for heavy rainfall
Flood watch issued through the week
BY ELLYN COUVILLION Staff writer
A flood watch is in effect in the Baton Rouge area through Friday morning, as the chance of rain ranges from 40% to 90% through the week, the National Weather Service said.
“A very moist air mass will be in place across the area for the next several days,” the agency said.
“Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible.”
The weather service said that the heaviest rainfall, along with thunderstorms, is expected through Tuesday night, but the outlook is for rain all week, with a tapering off as the weekend approaches.
“Widespread rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches are expected in the watch area through Thursday night, with isolated totals considerably higher,” the agency said.
Excessive runoff may bring flooding of rivers, creeks and other lowlying and flood-prone areas, the weather service said.
The rainfall is due to a disturbance forming over northeast Mexico that could become the first named storm of this year’s hurricane season once it remerges in the Gulf of Mexico, bringing intense rainfall, life-threatening flooding and gusty winds over much of Louisiana, according to forecasters.
Forecasters with the National Hurricane Center said the trough of low pressure’s chances of development
Initial deal to end U.S.-Iran war moves
‘They just keep coming’
Population in Fla seaside towns surges as newcomers seek a laid-back lifestyle
BY MARTHA SANCHEZ Staff writer
SEASIDE,Fla.— Looking out the window of his family’s old grocery store, Charlie Modica sees few signs of the quiet beach town he moved to decades ago. Visitors with shopping bags now hurry across a busy square built on land that used to be filled with nothing but scrub oak. Cars playing country music pack streets that were once sandy and unpaved A wave of newcomers moving to the beach towns across Florida’s Scenic Highway 30A is transforming the region from an undeveloped outpost into one of the fastest-growing areas along the Gulf Coast Some fear the population explosion is cre-
The U.S Census Bureau estimates more than 17,000 new residents have arrived in Walton County, Fla., since 2020, growing the region’s population by 24%
ating congestion that threatens their paradise. But Modica views it as a gift.
“Look at all these people,” he said as he glanced out at the bustling sidewalk.
“They’re happy How could that be wrong?”
The story unfolding across this gleaming stretch of coastline is remarkable: The U.S. Census Bureau estimates more than 17,000 new residents have arrived since 2020,
growing the region’s population by 24%.
The shift, along with the county’s thriving tourism industry, is generating an economic boom and luring more businesses to meet the needs of families who have long dreamed of laid-back lives near the beach. It is also forcing county leaders to
BY JON GAMBRELL, ELENA BECATOROS and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates An initial agreement between the United States and Iran to extend their shaky ceasefire inched toward a formal signing despite questions Monday over the fate of Tehran’s nuclear program and an offensive by Israel in Lebanon that could prolong the fighting and scuttle the deal.
Trump arrives at G7 summit looking for momentum after announcing deal. PAGE 3A
The agreement signed electronically Sunday is meant to provide a meaningful truce in a monthslong war that has killed thousands across the Middle East, including the top leaders of Iran’s theocracy, and raised the prices of fuel, food and other basic goods far beyond the region. But logistical and military challenges underscored the fragile nature of the deal, which was set for
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
Hosanna Christian Academy on Goodwood Boulevard in Baton Rouge announced it’s shutting down for good.
PROVIDED PHOTO
B-52 crashes after takeoff at military base
LOS ANGELES A B-52 bomber crashed shortly after takeoff Monday morning at a U.S. Air Force base in Southern California’s Mojave Desert, and all eight people aboard have dead, military officials said.
“We lost eight great Americans,” James Hayes the deputy commander at Edwards Air Force Base, said at a news conference Aerial footage showed virtually nothing left of the aircraft that went down around 11:20 a.m. during a routine test mission at the base 100 miles north of Los Angeles, the base said on its Facebook page. Black smoke rose from a large swath of charred desert near what appeared to be a runway on the base, with emergency vehicles nearby
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash.
“After reviewing the footage of the crash, it was deemed that this was an unrecoverable crash and unsurvivable,” Hayes said The way the B-52 crashed so quickly after takeoff without getting very high or going far makes aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti suspect some kind of flight control malfunction It’s possible the controls were rigged wrong after maintenance, he said, or a catastrophic engine problem or a failure of a piece of equipment that was being tested.
Miss. police shoot at car; 1 killed, 1 injured A child is dead and another person wounded after a Mississippi police officer shot at a vehicle while responding to a shoplifting call, authorities say
The shooting happened Sunday after three people, including the child, got into a vehicle after exiting a Walmart in Senatobia, according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
As police tried to stop the vehicle, the driver drove toward them and almost hit an officer, according to the bureau An officer then shot at the vehicle, which drove away
The three people in the vehicle drove to a hospital, where the child was pronounced dead Police: ICE agent fired gun after car hit him
STAFFORD TOWNSHIP, N.J A federal immigration agent was struck by a vehicle Monday and fired his gun while attempting to apprehend someone in New Jersey, police said.
The agent’s gunfire possibly struck the vehicle as it left the scene, Stafford Township police said in a written statement.
“The agent reportedly sustained unknown injuries,” police said, adding that it was unknown whether the motorist was hurt Payton Johnson, who witnessed it, said ICE agents approached a man in a van. “They tell him to roll down his window, he’s inching forward, and you can tell it’s getting tense by his inching forward,” Johnson told WCAU-TV, adding that the driver “gunned it” and took off. There is no universal training standard for law enforcement to shoot at a moving vehicle. But most police departments and federal guidance bar shooting unless the driver poses an imminent threat of deadly force beyond the car itself.
‘Wuthering Heights’ first edition up for auction LONDON — A rare first-edition copy of “Wuthering Heights,” Emily Brontë’s tragic, tempestuous romance, complete with spelling mistakes, is up for auction for the first time in more than a century Christie’s auction house said Monday that it’s the first copy of the novel in the publisher’s original cloth binding to be auctioned since 1908. Only about 250 copies of the first edition were printed, and this one has been in a private library since shortly after its publication in 1847. Being sold along with a copy of sister Anne Brontë’s “Agnes Grey,” it’s expected to sell for between $540,000 and $800,000 at a June 30 auction in London. Both books carry the male pen names the sisters adopted to get published: Ellis Bell for Emily and Acton Bell for Anne.
Killed skydivers were experienced
One of nation’s leading female jumpers among casualties
BY JOHN SEEWER and JOSH FUNK
Associated Press
Several of the skydivers killed when their plane crashed moments after taking off from a Missouri airfield were experienced jumpers, including one of the nation’s leading female jumpers.
Federal investigators were at the crash site Monday, a day after the plane carrying a pilot and 11 passengers slammed into a field and burst into flames, killing all on board, authorities said.
Some family members of those who died were at the airport to watch the jump and witnessed the crash, said Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson.
Authorities have not released the victims’ names, but friends and colleagues began paying tribute.
The United States Parachute Association, skydiving’s governing body said its technology director, Jen Sharp, was among those killed
“Jen was a remarkable force whose passion for the skies was matched only by her dedication to the people in our sport,” said Albert Berchtold, the organization’s executive director
Sharp taught skydiving instructors, wrote educational materials and made 6,800 jumps since her first one in 1989, according to her website.
She once jumped into Denver’s Coors Field ballpark while dressed as the queen of England and was part of the Everest Skydive in the Himalayas, her site said.
Kevin Payne, who had jumped with seven of the skydivers on the plane, said they were all different in nearly every way, except that they were all brought together as a “sky family.”
“There is a joy and peace and freedom to what we do. That’s what most people never understand,” Payne, of Parkville, Missouri, wrote in an email. “It’s not
about the adrenaline. It’s about really flying together with your family in that brief, exquisite instant that people who live their lives on the ground will never understand.”
Investigators have interviewed some witnesses, National Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Michael Graham said. The plane didn’t have a “black box” like those that record crash data on commercial planes, but investigators will look for other kinds of devices that could provide insights, he said.
Witnesses say the plane was roughly 100 feet from the ground when it made an abrupt left turn before crashing. It appeared to be losing power, and the pilot may have been trying to reach a highway to land when the plane stalled and went down nose first, said Dennis Jacobs, acting airport manager of Butler Memorial Airport. The plane was operated by Sky-
Wis. beagle research facility that drew protests is closing
BY PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press
A Wisconsin beagle breeding and research facility that’s been the site of recent violent protests is closing, and its remaining dogs are being taken in by a Florida rescue group.
Big Dog Ranch Rescue announced Monday that it has reached an agreement for the permanent closure of Ridglan Farms and the transfer of its 475 remaining beagles starting this week.
“Not one dog will remain,” Lauree Simmons the group’s founder, said in a news conference at a farm. “No more breeding, no more testing, no more anything.”
Yearslong opposition to the facility came to head in April when a large group of animal welfare activists stormed the property in an attempt to take away beagles, prompting police to use tear gas and pepper spray as they made dozens of arrests.
Some protesters were also arrested in March after they broke in and took 30 dogs from the facility, which is located in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles southwest of the capital, Madison.
Big Dog Ranch Rescue said some of the beagles will go to rescue groups while others will be sent to its Florida and Alabama campuses where they will be spayed neutered and prepared for adoption.
The group bought roughly 1,500 of the facility’s more than 2,000 beagles in
April for an undisclosed price.
About 200 dogs were being transferred Monday, according to Simmons. Another 125 will be moved Tuesday The transfer of the remaining beagles will happen in August, as they are still puppies.
Simmons called on protesters to refrain from further demonstrations as it says Ridglan Farms has committed to permanently closing its dog breeding, sales, research and testing operations.
“Our focus now should be on supporting these dogs as they transition into their new lives,” Simmons said. “These dogs will get to experience safety and a normal life for the first time.”
Simmons said her group is also “working closely” with the Trump administration to stop funding studies that subject dogs to “invasive and painful experimentation.”
Ridglan Farms, in a statement, said all the dogs being transferred are “happy, healthy animals” with “extensive” state and federal inspection documentation.
“We hope these dogs will continue to flourish in their new homes,” the company said adding that it hopes that the “years-long harassment campaign targeting the research facility’s owners, staff and neighbors comes to an end.”
Ridglan Farms agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on felony animal mistreatment charges
Woman who died in jumping incident wasn’t hooked up to rope, police say
By The Associated Press SAO PAULO — A Brazilian police investigator said Monday that the 21-yearold woman who died in a rope jumping incident was not attached to any safety equipment.
Andrea Levy told journalists that the three jumping instructors involved in the incident acknowledged that Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas was not connected to safety ropes when she jumped Saturday in the countryside of Sao Paulo state. Levy said the three instructors have been ar-
rested and could face manslaughter charges.
“They do not remember whether they forgot to attach (the ropes), or who was supposed to do it, or who failed to check. But the fact is the ropes were not attached to her,” Levy said.
De Freitas was buried on Sunday after the accident at Ponte do Esqueleto, an abandoned bridge in Limeira, a city 92 miles north of Sao Paulo.
The young woman had asked to be launched from the bridge airplane style, with two instructors hoisting her above their shoulders as she spread out
her arms. Footage shared online shows two men in white helmets launching her into a 130-foot abyss.
The instructors are wearing harnesses that appear to be attached to a security rope.
Rope jumping is an extreme sport that differs from bungee jumping in the type of cord used and the resulting motion of the fall. Bungee jumping uses elastic rubber cords that create a vertical, bouncing effect, whereas rope jumping uses low-stretch climbing ropes that convert the fall into a horizontal, pendulum swing.
dive Kansas City, he said. The crash site in the small town of Butler is roughly 65 miles south of Kansas City
The Pacific Aerospace 750XL — a single engine turboprop plane — is a popular model in skydiving because it’s designed for the sport and can quickly take parachutists to jumping altitudes while using short runways.
This particular aircraft, built in 2010, made nine successful flights in the days before the crash, including two on Sunday morning, according to FlightAware, a digital flight tracking company Federal investigators have voiced concerns about oversight for skydiving operators in past crash investigations and have cited the need for maintenance guidelines, training for pilots and stronger aircraft inspections. The NTSB said after a crash killed 11 people in Hawaii that the Federal Aviation Administration’s regulatory system isn’t strong enough to ensure the safety of skydiving flights.
Utah BASE jump kills 2
Extreme athlete performed with Madonna at Super Bowl
BY RUSS BYNUM Associated Press
A weekend BASE jumping accident in a Utah canyon killed two people, one of them a daredevil athlete best known for performing onstage with Madonna at the 2012 Super Bowl, authorities said.
The sheriff’s office in Grand County, Utah, confirmed one of the dead was Andy Lewis, an extreme athlete known for feats in BASE jumping, a dangerous sport that involves parachuting to the ground after jumping from a tall fixed object such as a building, a bridge or a desert cliff overlooking a deep canyon. In BASE jumping circles, Lewis had a huge following and a reputation for pushing the envelope — leaping into tighter spaces or deploying his parachute later than his peers would dare, said John McEvoy, a BASE jumping instructor
in Twin Falls, Idaho, who has jumped with Lewis.
“He had an incredible level of athleticism and skill that was developed over years of practice,” McEvoy said. “But then he would take an incredible amount of risk.”
Lewis was also a prominent figure in the niche sports of slacklining and tricklining, which combine elements of high-wire walking with aerial acrobatics — sometimes at perilous heights.
Lewis went from obscure athlete to overnight celebrity when he appeared onstage in Madonna’s 2012 Super Bowl halftime show Dressed in a Roman toga, Lewis bounced and executed tricks on his inch-wide line like it was a trampoline while Madonna sang behind him.
“My phone actually rang itself to death three days in a row,” Lewis said soon afterward on Conan O’Brien’s late night show Emergency responders were dispatched Sunday to a report of people injured in a BASE jumping attempt at Mineral Bottom, a remote desert area near the UtahColorado line, according to the sheriff’s office.
Beagles that were purchased from a Dane County animal research facility play outside May 12 in Madison, Wis.
Trump looking for momentum at G7 summit
BY SYLVIE CORBET, AAMER MADHANI and DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France President Donald Trump started his visit to the G7 summit of leading industrialized nations on Monday by declaring his agreement aimed at ending the U.S. war with Iran is a potential breakthrough for global security and a chance for the U.S. to finally turn the page in its relationship with longtime adversary Iran.
The Republican U.S. president sought to make clear that he arrived in Evian-les-Bains with the wind at his back for talks with G7 leaders, including some who have been sharply critical of his managing of the 15-week-old conflict, which has led to a surge in global energy prices — though he did not immediately seem willing to lay out the details of what was in the emerging deal.
Some of those details are still to be negotiated in talks over the next 60 days, though Trump said the memorandum of understanding would likely be released after it’s signed on Friday
“I think a lot of great things are going to happen in the Middle East right now and very importantly the oil (price) is plummeting down and the stock market is shooting up like a rocket today,” Trump said at a meeting with the summit’s host, French President Emmanuel Macron, before they joined a working dinner with other leaders.
“The Iran deal that we made is going to bring a lot of success to the world,” he said.
Deal could change G7 dynamic Trump has had friction with Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime
Minister Giorgia Meloni over failing to consult them before the decision to go to war But sealing an agreement before jetting off to the summit might change the dynamic of the three-day gathering.
Macron at the start of Monday’s meeting congratulated Trump for finding a way to an agreement. “It’s a very important matter for peace of the whole world,” Macron said.
Trump has pushed back on the four European leaders members of the NATO military alliance — for their lack of support for the U.S. in the conflict
He’s expected to discuss with leaders the demining of the Strait of Hormuz. Britain and France have expressed interest in assisting with the demining once the conflict is paused. Fear of potential mines is among the reasons tanker traffic has come to a halt during the war, and clearing them will be crucial to regaining the confidence of commercial vessels.
Macron on Monday said France was ready to move within days
to deploy assets, including mineclearing vessels, to the region to help.
Senior U.S. officials told reporters that the while the agreement provides for the immediate opening of the strait and lifting of the U.S. naval blockade, it will take weeks for traffic to return to previous levels.
Macron invited the leaders of three nations that aren’t part of the G7 Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — to take part in a session on the Middle East on Tuesday, when Iran is expected to be a central focus.
Questions about incentives
Trump had fiercely criticized President Barack Obama for the 2015 nuclear agreement, which Trump argued failed to stop Tehran from advancing toward a weapon and funneled billions of dollars into the Islamic Republic’s coffers.
In 2018, Trump exited the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Britain, China,
France, Germany Russia and the European Union were also signatories to the pact.
Trump in an interview on Sunday with The New York Times pushed back on comparisons to the Obamaera nuclear deal. “We negotiated from strength,” Trump said. “He was basically paying them off.”
But Trump hasn’t explained how his agreement will address some key issues about Iran’s nuclear program, including who will be in charge of verifying that Iran is complying with the agreement and who will destroy or remove 972 pounds of highly enriched uranium believed to be buried under nuclear sites that were badly damaged by U.S. strikes last summer
The memorandum of understanding includes the possibility of releasing Iran’s frozen funds, sanctions relief and a $300 billion fund to help rebuild Iran — all of which would be tied to Tehran meeting certain benchmarks aimed at assuaging White House concerns, senior U.S. officials told reporters on Monday
Some Democrats and hawkish critics say Trump has failed to explain how the financial relief in his agreement will differ from what Obama did in the 2015 nuclear deal.
“For all his critique of JCPOA, we had international observers, we actually had an alliance there that included the Europeans, and Russia and China were all signatories,” Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Trump and an Iran hawk, expressed skepticism, saying that Congress will need to review and vote on any nuclear deal with Iran, and said he expects Vance — “the architect of the deal” — to present it.
Tariffs, war in Ukraine also focus
Leaders are expected to discuss a range of economic and trade issues. Trump told the New York Post he’s warned Macron the U.S. will “have no choice” but to slap 100% tariffs on French wines unless Paris eliminates its digital tax on American tech companies, renewing a long-running threat from him that dates to his first administration.
Wines and spirits exported to the U.S. from the European Union currently face a 15% tariff.
In an interview with broadcaster TF1, Macron said Monday that it’s not “for the United States to decide what European or French law should be.”
Macron also invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a working session with G7 leaders on Tuesday to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war Zelenskyy had offered to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin with Trump and European leaders at the G7 gathering, but the Kremlin didn’t reply, a Ukrainian official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, and France would be obliged as an ICC member to arrest him. The United States and Russia both oppose the court. Trump suggested that, after an Iran deal, he’ll now have greater bandwidth to focus on the RussiaUkraine war Madhani reported from Geneva, AP writers Samuel Petrequin and John Leicester in Paris; Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine; Michelle L. Price and Collin Binkley in Washington; and Tom Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed reporting.
California’s Newsom says DOJ is investigating him and his wife
BY SOPHIE AUSTIN and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif
Demo-
cratic California Gov Gavin Newsom on Monday accused the Justice Department of launching a politically motivated investigation into him and his wife, saying the Trump administration was targeting him as he weighs a presidential bid.
Newsom, a longtime political rival of the Republican president, said in a video posted on X that federal agents have knocked on the doors of his friends and former employees, and have asked for records. Newsom didn’t provide specifics on the nature of the probe, but his office said the inquiry appears to have recently expanded into “increasingly
personal matters involving the Governor’s family and professional network.”
“Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets,” Newsom said, referencing his use of social media to mock Trump. “He’s coming after me because I’m considering running for president, because he hates that I’ve consistently called him out over and over again for his lies and deceit.”
The full details of any Justice Department inquires related to Newsom were not immediately clear But the revelations were likely to escalate accusations from critics that the Trump administration is using the law enforcement agency as a weapon to go after the president’s political opponents A person familiar with
the matter denied the existence of an investigation specifically targeting the governor but said there are multiple federal probes into people around him, including one related to his wife’s taxes. That probe began last year, and political leadership in Washington was not involved in the decision to open it, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss ongoing investigations.
Another probe is related to Newsom’s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, who was indicted on federal charges that she was involved in a scheme to steal campaign money from former federal Health Secretary Xavier Becerra. Williamson in May pleaded
Infant formula recalled amid outbreak
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
State and federal officials are urging parents to discard all cans of Nara Organics Whole Milk Organic Infant Formula while the authorities investigate an outbreak of infant botulism linked to the product
As a result of the investigation, Nara Organics voluntarily recalled all cans of Nara Organics infant formula currently available in the U.S,” a news release from the Louisiana Department of Health said. Nara Organics formula is sold online and at Target, according to the Health Department.
All products should be returned to the store they were purchased from or thrown away immediately, and any household items and surfaces that may have been touched by the formula should be washed with hot soapy water, the Health Department says.
The formula may be contaminated with the bacteria Clostridium botulinum, which can cause infant botulism, a serious illness that can result when infants swallow or inhale spores from the bacteria that produce toxins
The toxins can make infants very sick, in-
BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT
cluding paralysis and difficulty breathing, the release said.
Most babies with infant botulism may develop constipation, poor feeding, loss of head control and difficulty swallowing, and they may have other symptoms like decreased facial expression, a weak or altered cry, or other signs of muscle weakness, according to the Health Department.
Caregivers should seek immediate medical care if their infant consumed a Nara Organics product and is experiencing symptoms, and infants should be monitored for 30 days after exposure to the formula, the Health Department says.
Infant botulism “is extremely treatable,” according to Cleveland Clinic.
“The treatment starts with an antitoxin called botulism immune globulin,” according to Cleveland Clinic. “Healthcare providers will give that to your baby through an intravenous (IV) line. This antitoxin works like an antidote, neutralizing the toxin circulating in your baby’s blood.”
Babies usually fully recover and the survival rate is 98% to 100%, according to Cleveland Clinic.
guilty to charges including conspiracy to commit bank fraud. That investigation, launched by President Joe Biden’s Justice Department, has expanded to include other staff, the person familiar
with the matter said. Newsom hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing related to Williamson’s case. Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the governor’s wife, said the investigation showed that
Trump is unfit for office.
“There are clearly no boundaries to what Donald Trump will do to get his way or to challenge those who get in his way,” she said in a statement.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON
President Donald Trump meets with French President Emmanuel Macron during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit Monday in Evian-les-Bains, France.
scramble as they confront tough new questions about surging traffic and increasingly crowded shores.
How growth plays out in 30A — and whether county leaders can keep pace with it — could hold lessons for communities across the Gulf Coast, where many vacation spots beloved by Louisiana visitors are getting more popular and expensive than ever
And in this part of the Florida Panhandle, where the population is expected to surge from 93,000 to more than 100,000 people by 2030, striking a balance between growth and preservation is becoming a race against time.
“It’s tough,” said Dan Curry, a county commissioner who worries projects like road repairs must be done now before the population rises further “Pushing it off is not the answer.” 30A appeal grows
The land between Destin and Panama City once was wild and isolated, home to only a handful of residents who lived in wooden cottages along the windswept dunes
Then, beginning in the 1950s, developers started selling lots and luring affluent Southerners with promises of utopia. Soon, the state built the beach road that became the region’s namesake. And the draw to 30A has only grown since.
“They just keep coming,” Russ Barley, the mayor of Freeport, just north of 30A, said recently The added tax revenues have grown the city’s annual budget to nearly $100 million, up from around $20 million about a decade ago.
Barley names dozens of developments includ-
SCHOOL
Continued from page 1A
Gov Jeff Landry persuaded the Legislature in 2024 to convert the state’s private school assistance programs, which focused on children from families with lower incomes, into a “universal” voucher program without income requirements. The new program was named LA GATOR The Legislature, led by Senate President Cameron Henry R-Metairie, froze funding and has denied Landry’s subsequent requests to expand the program. The state is budgeting about $43.5 million a year for LA GATOR, enough money last year to serve about 5,600 students across the state
Starting with the 2025-26 school year, Hosanna began losing funding due to the shift to LA GATOR and the funding freeze.
Through the years, pre-K students at Hosanna have received state funding via a separate private school pre-
Continued from page 1A
ing a grocery store, more apartment buildings and a Walmart — arriving with the rising population. Some longtime residents in the area are selling their land and cashing in. And the newcomers snatching up properties say life here brings them peace.
“You run into people that have a lot of joy and good vibes because they’re here on vacation,” said Heather O’Connor, who moved with her daughter to an apartment in the Santa Rosa Beach community from Jonesboro, Arkansas, last month They plan to start an interior design business and are still in awe over the coastal scenery
“Even just going to church or the gas station or the grocery store, you’re surrounded by beauty,” O’Connor said.
Another newcomer, Selah Hirsch, moved in nearby with her husband and four children last August. They arrived from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, seeking a beach lifestyle that would let them slow down amid busy weeks. Hirsch runs a branding agency and, like many professionals moving here, works remotely
“It just instantly felt like the place we were supposed to bring our family to,” she said.
Crowds and traffic
But the region’s beauty is so great that it is growing increasingly crowded
So many sunbathers are now lounging across the white sand shoreline that many waterfront property owners are hiring security guards to enforce trespassing rules on privately owned beaches more strictly than ever Traffic, once confined to holidays like the Fourth of July, is now a year-round dilemma.
Home prices are also soaring the county’s median listing price has jumped from around $650,000 in
school program known as the NSECD Scholarship Program. Until now, those preK students were at the front of the line to get vouchers to continue on to Hosanna’s kindergarten class. But almost none of those children received funding last school year under LA GATOR rules, which prioritized existing voucher students over new ones.
Some visitors are complaining that public beaches in Walton
sits mostly empty Many homeowners argue growing crowds make enforcing
2020 to nearly $850,000 today Even old streets still lined with cottages are feeling the pressure.
“Some people look at the early Seaside neighborhoods and say, ‘Why are all these small shacks not being replaced by big monster houses?’” said Robert Davis, the developer who designed and founded the popular community four decades ago. “It’s something that concerns me.”
Leaders around the region are raising several ideas to solve the challenges of crowds. The county is considering adding more sand to renourish and expand the beaches. Davis suggested Seaside’s bike path should become wider and smoother to lure more residents off the roads.
Some say expanding highways could threaten the quaint feel that defines 30A’s communities. But others argue the region must add more passing lanes and stoplights.
Despite some tensions, many here say the soul of 30A is intact at least for now Tanned teenagers still ride bikes through the streets, ig-
Even so, he and the board for Hosanna First Assembly were working to keep the school open, hoping in vain that the Legislature, whose session ended June 1, would put more money into the program.
noring their cellphones for a few precious moments. Families still chase beach sunsets together Modica, 64, walks to work every day at his family gro-
cery store, same as always. But some signs of change are inescapable. As he looked across the town square, the store’s phone kept ringing behind
him. “Modica Market,” a cashier with a singsong voice answered over and over fielding questions from more new customers.
“It really is devastating to these families,” Russell Marino, the school’s executive director, told The Advocate in August. Ma ri no , who has led the school for more than a decade, took to social media on Saturday to elaborate on why the school closed.
Marino said Hosanna finished the year when classes wrapped up in May with a shortfall of $440,000, which he traced to the denial of state vouchers to 54 incoming kindergartners.
In early June, as lawmakers wrapped up, Hosanna learned the state is redirecting more money from LA GATOR, “already short of adequate funding to sustain it,” to another program that helps children. As a consequence, Marino wrote, the number of Hosanna students denied vouchers for the 2026-27 school year would likely double, meaning doubling losses to an estimated $880,000. That news compelled school leaders to finally decide to close the school.
“We are heartbroken over this sudden closing and its unfair impact on our children, parents, and employees alike,” Marino wrote.
“The state scholarship program is broken and desperately needs to be fixed by our legislators and our governor in our humble opinion!”
had risen as of Monday afternoon. Conditions are marginally conducive for it to become a short-lived tropical storm on Wednesday or Thursday, according to NHC forecaster Eric Blake The system has a 40% chance of forming in 48 hours and a 50% chance over the next seven days. This system is the first tracked disturbance of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, which began on June 1. Researchers forecasted below-average activity this year for the first time in over a decade due to the expected effects of El Niño. If the system develops into a tropical cyclone, it would be Arthur A look at rainfall predictions for the week: n Tuesday: a 90% chance of showers and thunderstorms drops to 40% Tuesday night. n Wednesday: Showers are likely, and a thunderstorm is possible. A 70% chance of rain drops to a 50% that night. n
through Friday morning, as the chance of rain ranges from 40% to 90% through the week, the National Weather Service said
Twelve hours later, on Saturday morning, Marino posted again.
“HCA is God’s school! Jesus is our King and role model,” he wrote. “If we need to die for the sake of other school children in our state His will be done.”
STAFF PHOTO By HANNAH LEVITAN
County Fla., are becoming packed while private sand nearby
private property rights more important.
STAFF PHOTO By MARTHA SANCHEZ
Modica Market, a gourmet grocery store, has served customers in Seaside, Fla., for decades and witnessed the county’s transformational growth. Marino
BUSINESS
BRIEFS
FROM WIRE REPORTS
Foxtobuy Roku in $22 billion deal
Fox Corp. has agreed to buy the streaming pioneer Roku in acash-and-stock deal valued at approximately $22 billion, including debt.
Roku will continue to be run as an open, partner-friendly platform, the companies said Monday,and thereappears to be no immediate changes thatcustomers will see. Fox andRokusaidthatthe combinedcompany willbecome thethird-largest player in U.S. television by share of viewing.
The deal will give Fox access to more than 100million globalhouseholds, along with the Roku channel and its firstparty data. Fox oversees a massivesports, news andentertainmentnetwork, as well as Tubi, which it acquired in 2020.
Fox will pay $96 in cashand
0.9693 shares of itsClass A common stock for each Roku Class Aand Class Bshare outstanding.The transaction is valued at $160 per Roku share.
Existing Fox shareholders areexpected to ownapproximately 73% of the combined company and Roku shareholders will own about27%.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of next year Target taps Mizrahi as newcreative director
NEW YORK Target is tapping designer and TV personality Isaac Mizrahi for anewly created role as creative director at largeasthe discounteraims to reclaim its reputation for stylish clothing on abudget
In Mizrahi’snew role, the fashion designer,who is known for his vibrant colors and who burst on the design scene in the late 1980s, will mentor Target designers, advise on product design and innovationand bring on fresh new partnerships, thecompany said Monday.Target said Mizrahi will work alongside Gena Fox, the retailer’ssenior vice president of design. With this move, the Minneapolis-based discounter is going backtoafamiliar partnership. Back in 2002, Target launched adesign partnership withMizrahi,marking theretailer’s firstcollaboration with amajor fashion designer Mizrahi’sexclusive clothing andaccessoriescollection forTargetpaved theway for the retailer’ssuccessful collaborations withother major designers ranging from Lilly Pulitzer to Missoni. Target’s partnership with Mizrahi ended in 2009.
UAWratifies deal, ends strike at key GM plant
The United Auto Workers strike at Dauch Corp.’sThree Rivers plant is officially over after the local union chapter ratified anew contract withthe key General Motors Co. truck axle supplier
About 80% of UAWLocal 2093 members voted to approve the new four-year deal that will increase top payfor union-represented workers to $30 an hour by 2030 from $22 now, accordingtothe union. Negotiators have cast the outcome as avictory after holding firm to wage and health care demands.
Nearly 1,000 workers at the plant in southwest Michigan walked out on June 1, demanding better wages,more time off, and no increasesintheir healthinsurance costs. Major politicians and political candidates including Gov. Gretchen Whitmerand U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed had visited the picket line. The deal also includes a $2,000 ratificationbonus and a$1,000 bonus after thefirst year. If it had stretched on, the walkout could have severely affected GM pickup production. Detroit-headquartered Dauch,formerly known as American Axle, makes axles and other parts at the plant that primarily go into several GM truck models.
Stocks leap worldwideasoil prices drop
BY STAN CHOE Associated Press
NEWYORK Stock markets rallied worldwide Monday,and oil prices easedafter theUnited States and Iran reachedatentative deal to extend their ceasefire and reopen the StraitofHormuztoget theglobal flowofcrudegoing again.
The S&P 500 rose 1.7% on hopes that this time, theannouncement of an Iran-U.S. agreementwill mean along-term fix to aconflictthat
has worsened inflation around the world. Stocks got alift after theprice for abarrelofBrent crude oil fell 4.8% to $83.17, back to where it was in earlyMarch. While that’s still above itspriceofroughly $70 from before thewar,it’slower than the $100 plus it cost just afew weeks ago. The hope is that lower oil prices will takepressure offhouseholds andbusinesses, whichhavehad to pay higher prices for everything from food to fuel to fertilizer becauseofthe war withIran.
Iran confirmed the deal, but it does notinclude afinalagreement on issues like Iran’snuclear program. Negotiations on that are expected to continue over the next 60
days, whichleavesopportunity for hiccups thatcould derail the agreement.And even if the Strait of Hormuz does fully reopen on Friday as expected, it will likely take months for the energy industry to get back to full speed.
For now,though, relief swept through financial markets worldwide. On Wall Street, stocks of companies with big fuel bills were instant winners. United Airlines flew 3.9% higher,and cruise operator Royal Caribbean Group rose 6.6%. Stocks of companiesenmeshedin the artificial-intelligence industry alsojumped. These stocks have yoyoed in recent weeks, going from roaringtorecordstosuddenlyturn-
ing lower.The concern is whether suchstocks shottoo high, too fast because of AI mania, andtheir careening moves have sometimes reversed direction by the hour MicronTechnology rallied10.8%, and Advanced Micro Devices rose 7%.Nvidia’s climb of 3.5% was thestrongest force pushing the S&P 500 upward because the AI chip company is Wall Street’smost valuable company,giving it more weight on the index than any other SpaceX,ElonMusk’srocket company that also owns the AI company xAI, rose 19.6% in its second day of trading on Wall Street. Its successfuldebut on the Nasdaq suggested plenty of demand still exists among investors for AI.
LONG MAYITWAVE
Flag makers prep
OldGlory
forAmerica’s 250th
BYALYSSA TISCH
The Detroit News (TNS)
CLAWSON, Mich. Jane Milesleanedovera worktableinsideAmerican Flag &Banner Co., carefully cutting and folding afire-damaged American flag before placing it inside a wooden display case for acustomer
Across the room, thestore’sonly two other employees were also busy.One washelpingcustomers browse flags and theother was stitchingaspecial “250” emblemonto acommemorative flag ahead of the nation’s upcoming milestone.
As the United States prepares to celebrate its250th anniversary in July,Metro Detroit flag businessesare seeinggrowing demand for the Stars and Stripes and other patriotic displays to mark thenation’ssemiquincentennial amid economic uncertainty at home andawar with Iran overseas.
“It’sreally aluxury item,” said Miles of purchasing an American flag, with Betsy Ross-styled flags selling for $70 in her shop.
“If you’rean American and you want to fly one, you’re giving up something else. You’re notbuying that secondpair of shoes at TJ Maxx.You’regoing to buya flag. It’s a choice, andit’sapatriotic choice, and lotsof Americans are making it.”
Miles has been helpingAmericansmake that choice for nearly five decades.Her store, American Flag &Banner,has been in business for more than acentury.Founded in Detroit in 1917, the business has operated in Clawson for about 40 years. Miles and her husband took ownership 48 years ago after what she thought would be aroutine jobinterview
Responding to ahelp-wanted advertisement for aseamstress in The Detroit News, Miles met the then-owner Robert Erdman, who insteadsuggested the couple purchase the business. Miles had an art degree and knew how to sew.Her husband had abusiness background from theUniversity of Michigan.
“We’ve beendoing it for 48 years,” Miles said. “So I’m pretty good at it.”
Over the years, Miles said the business has seen peaks andvalleys. In the months leadinguptoAmerica’s250th anniversary,there has been astrong peak. In high demandat the store arebothflags featuring the officially authorized America250 design, and Betsy Ross-styled flags displaying a“250” emblem at thecenter of acircle of 13 stars.
The Betsy Ross design’scircle of 13 stars representsthe originalcolonies and haslong been associated with the nation’sfounding. However,Ted Kaye,secretary of the North American Vexillological Association, said the popularstory that Betsy Ross designed thefirst American flag is likely amyth.
&Dist. Co., another family-owned business in Flint, Michigan, whose roots trace back to 1966. Karri Carter JohnsonfromKleeMfg. &Dist. Co.saidthe companybegan after her grandfather accepted asewing machine as payment forrepairworkand started using it to makeflags and banners.
The business no longer manufactures, but Johnson and her sister still sell flags from the same building purchased by their grandparents morethan six decades ago.
“I like that we’re an integral part in celebrating the anniversary,” Johnson said. “People can come in andget theirflags and be proudtofly them and know that they were madeinthe United States. We’vebeen around forever, andmostpeople always know whereweare andwhere they canget their quality.”
To createone of these BetsyRoss-style flags, American Flag &Banneremployees take an originalBetsy Ross flagand sew the 250 emblem onto it. The process takes roughly 15 to 20 minutes per flag, turning each one into ahandcrafted tribute to the nation’s250th birthday
“We’regettingreally good at it,” Miles said. “I trace them in 20 seconds, pin them in another 10 and it probably takes six or seven minutes to sew one. Trimming it is the lengthiest thing about it.”
Thestore sells about10commemorative flagsa daywhile producing aroundfour daily in-house, keeping thethree-person operation busy as the anniversary approaches. Similar interest is being seen at Klee Mfg.
“She may have sewn oneofthe first flags, butthe Betsy Ross myth is justthat. It’s a myth,” Kayesaid. “Francis Hopkinson, who was asignerofthe Declaration of Independenceand the designerofthe Great Seal of theUnited States, is very likely the designer of the American flag.”
For both businesses, the anniversary has renewed interest in where American flags areactually made. While many flags sold through large retailers are imported, both American Flag &Bannerand Klee Mfg. & Dist. Co.specializeinproducts made in the United States and say domestic manufacturing remains an important part of their business.
“There’sjust something alittle strange about buying aflag that symbolizes freedom and the United States that wasmade in China,” Johnson said. “Something withthat muchsymbolism is definitely something you want to buy that wasmadebysomeonein the United States, as opposed to it just being mass-manufactured in China.”
Few countries display and celebrate their national flagasprominentlyasthe United States, Kaye said: “Weare one of the most flag-waving countries of all. Few countries have as manyflags going as we do.”
Trumpadministrationurged to ease Anthropicrestrictions
BY BARBARA ORTUTAY AP technologywriter
SAN FRANCISCO Agroup of cybersecurity executives and experts is askingthe Trump administration to lift itsdirectivepreventingthe useofAnthropic’s latest artificial intelligence models by foreign nationals, saying the move could help U.S. adversaries morethanithurts them.
Anthropic said Friday it has taken its latest artificial intelligence models, known as Fable 5and Mythos5,offline to comply with the directive. The AI giant said it did not believe the steps taken by the government were warranted by the concernitflaggedabout a potential security issue.
Anthropichas said it waslimiting use of some itslatesttechnologytoselect customers because of its ability to surpass human cybersecurityexperts in finding and exploiting computervulnerabilities. TheSan Francisco-based company has had discussions with the White Housepreviously aboutthe latest models’capabilities.
In the letter Sunday,morethan 100 cybersecurityexperts and leaders from companies including Adobe andNvidia asked theU.S government tolift the export controldirectivesonthe Anthropic models and “commit to an open, scientific and transparent process of handling AI risk assessmentsin thefuture.” Theletter saidthatwhile An-
thropic’sMythos models are “quite good” at finding flawsinsoftware and weaponizing exploits, they are ”not uniquelygood at these tasks” andmanyofthe letter’s signatories regularlyuse otherfoundation and open-source models for securityaudits andtraining.
The letter said it is dangerous to take away thebestcyber defense capabilities “without agoodreason” when America’sadversaries are rapidly advancing.
China’smodels, the letter said, are“only months behind thebest American models,”and it is even likely that China’sgovernment hasaccess to privatecapabilities beyond what’sbeen madepublic.
The exportcontrolsmarked the U.S.government’smostsignifi-
cant step yettorestrict access to the mostadvanced AI models. Anthropic released Fable widely last week. That model is alimited versionofthe more advanced Mythos, to whichthe companyhas tightly limitedaccessdue to cybersecurity fears.
The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to arequest forcomment on Monday Friday’sdirective came 10 days after President Donald Trump signedanexecutive ordertoestablish aframework for the federal government to vet the national security risks of the most advanced AI systemsfor up to amonth before their public release. Participation by AI developers wouldbe voluntary,the order said.
Jane Miles, owner of the American Flag& Banner Co., has been sellingAmerican flags for nearly five decades.
BY SYLVIA HUI and BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press
LONDON Britain will ban children aged under 16 from using a range of social media apps, including Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, to protect them from harmful content and excessive screen time, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday The ban, which is expected to take effect early next year, makes the U.K. part of a growing global movement to tighten online safety for children. Australia, Canada, Brazil and Indonesia have introduced legislation or announced age-based restrictions or requirements for children’s access to so-
cial media. France, Spain, Denmark, Thailand and South Korea are among others studying or developing similar approaches.
“Every parent can see it with their own eyes. Social media is making children unhappy,” said Starmer, who has two teenage children. “I’ve heard first hand from families crying out for change and we will do right by them.”
The plan was met with mixed reaction, with some praising Starmer for taking action and others questioning the effectiveness of a blanket ban
YouTube and Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — warned Monday that a blanket social media restriction could push kids into unregulated spaces.
“Blanket bans push kids out of such curated, supervised, beneficial experiences and towards anonymous, lesssafe services,” a YouTube spokesperson said. Meta said a ban could drive teens to on-
line alternatives without any parental controls.
Starmer acknowledged the challenges and said some teens would try to find their way around a ban, but said: “I do believe we can enforce it.”
He added: “Teenagers drink before they should, but we do not then say, ‘in which case let us abandon any attempt to stop them buying alcohol.’”
Going further than Australia
The U.K. plans to follow the same model for a social media ban as Australia, which last year became the first country to bar under16s from holding social media accounts. Platforms that fail to take reasonable steps to exclude children younger than 16 could be punished with multimillion-dollar fines.
The U.K. said its ban will apply to platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, but not YouTube Kids or messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal.
Starmer stressed that enforcement action will target tech companies, not children.
He said the move was a “big moment for our country,” adding that he will go further than Australia’s measures.
The government will also act to prevent strangers from contacting children on gaming and livestreaming platforms, Starmer said. AI chatbots designed to simulate romantic or sexual relationships with users will be restricted to over-18s only, and authorities are also considering additional measures including overnight curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling for those under 18. More details are expected next month.
Skepticism if it will work
The decision follows a public comment period in which the government received 116,000 responses from parents, the tech industry and children. More than 90% of respondents
wanted an under-16 ban, the government said.
Ellen Roome, a children’s online safety campaigner whose son took his own life at 14 years old, welcomed the move. She believes her son died after an online challenge went wrong and has campaigned for legal reforms to give parents access to children’s social media accounts after their death.
“The tech companies, if they wanted to make changes, they could have done that by now They’ve chosen not to do it,” she said. “We need to come down hard on them. If they’re not going to do it, we need to be very strict.”
But others say research in Australia has shown that age verification is difficult to enforce, and that a blanket ban fails to address a deeper problem — the way social media algorithms push harmful content to young people.
“This is far too easy to work around. It is based on age verification tools that have been shown to be inef-
fective to date,” said Kate Edwards, head of education at the Molly Rose Foundation, which was set up in memory of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who took her own life after being exposed to self-harm content online.
“It does nothing to address the actual problem itself, the harmful algorithms, the harmful content that is existing on those platforms,” Edwards added. Other critics including the Open Rights Group have expressed concerns about age verification companies and how users’ private data is protected.
U.S. opposes the move The ban could further inflame tensions with the U.S., which has warned that regulations should be narrow and not violate free speech protections, according to a statement from the U.S. Embassy in London. It said it was also concerned that regulations would place greater burdens on American technology companies.
Hegseth: More U.S. military action in Latin America possible
BY ANTONIO MARÍA DELGADO Miami Herald (TNS)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday that the United States is prepared to carry out additional military operations across Latin America similar to the recent strike in Venezuela that killed Tren de Aragua leader Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as “Niño Guerrero,” signaling a potentially broader campaign against cartels and transnational criminal groups in the hemisphere.
Speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Hegseth said the Venezuelan interim government had invited U.S military forces onto its territory to help eliminate the founder of the Venezuelanborn criminal organization, marking one of the clearest acknowledgments yet of direct U.S. military involvement inside Venezuela.
“They invited our military in because they have a foreign terrorist organization on their soil in Tren de Aragua,” Hegseth said. “The founder and leader — we were able to identify where he was and kill him, just like we would kill al-Qaida or ISIS.” When asked whether Americans should expect similar operations in countries such as Ecuador and Guatemala, where Washington has expanded security cooperation, Hegseth offered an unequivocal answer “Yes, they should,” he said Hegseth said the operations would be conducted under a new regional security framework called the
capture and accused him of transforming Tren de Aragua from a prison gang centered in Tocorón prison into a sprawling transnational network involved in drug trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking and migrant smuggling.
Hegseth tied the success of the operation directly to President Trump’s January capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, arguing that the move fundamentally altered regional geopolitics.
“President Trump had the foresight to seize Maduro, change the relationship,” Hegseth said “Now Venezuela, through our partnerships, we’re killing foreign terrorist leaders who have terrorized the American people.”
Hegseth compared the
emerging strategy to the U.S. counterterrorism campaigns in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, where American forces spent two decades targeting jihadist leadership through intelligence-driven operations and precision strikes.
“Just like we showed we were very good at with ISIS and al-Qaida in the Middle East for 20 years,” he said. He also portrayed the strategy as a revival of the Monroe Doctrine, the 19thcentury U.S. policy asserting Washington’s primacy in the Western Hemisphere. Hegseth jokingly referred to it as the “Donroe Doctrine,” a reference to Trump.
“It’s an incredible reinforcement of the Monroe Doctrine now the Donroe Doctrine,” Hegseth said. “We’re taking back control of our hemisphere.”
Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, which seeks to coordinate U.S. military and intelligence capabilities with partner governments across Central and South America to target cartel and gang leadership
“It’s called the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, A3C, and we’re forming it with partner governments all around Central and South America to go after defeat and destroy foreign terrorist organizations (and) drug cartels,” Hegseth said The remarks suggest the Trump administration increasingly sees transnational criminal groups not as traditional law-enforcement targets but as terrorist threats warranting military action, similar to U.S. cam-
paigns against Al-Qaeda and ISIS in the Middle East.
“We treat these foreign terrorist organizations the same way,” Hegseth said.
“Just like we do with drug boats when we identify they’re run by those FTOs.”
President Donald Trump announced Friday that U.S. Southern Command had carried out a “swift and lethal kinetic strike” that killed Niño Guerrero, the founder of Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization U.S. authorities say expanded throughout Latin America and into the United States. Guerrero, 42, had been one of the most wanted criminal figures in the hemisphere.
Washington had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his
29 tornadoes, derecho confirmed in storms that hit Illinois, Indiana
BY ADRIANA PÉREZ Chicago Tribune (TNS)
At least 29 tornadoes ripped across Illinois and northwest Indiana last week, according to preliminary reports from the National Weather Service. As residents of parts of these states were recovering and surveying the damage from a destructive derecho that swept through Wednesday night with up to 80 mph winds, they were hit again less than 24 hours later with another round of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.
A derecho is a widespread and long-lived thunderstorm with damaging winds
As of the agency’s latest count Sunday, 17 of the confirmed tornadoes from last week occurred in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, and nine in central Illinois. The Quad Cities weather service office confirmed three tornadoes in western Illinois of unknown intensity that caused no known damage
The 17 tornadoes in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana brought the area’s tally for 2026 to 44 already the third most of any year since recordkeeping began in 1950. “This is well above average, already, for a typical year,” said Rafal Ogorek a meteorologist with the weather service’s Chicago office.
The top two years with the most tornadoes in the office’s forecast area are 2024, with 63 confirmed tornadoes, and 2023, with 58. The entire state of Illinois typically averages 50 tornadoes annually Thursday produced three EF3 tornadoes — which are characterized by speeds of 136 to 165 mph that hit Streator a city 81 miles southwest of Chicago; the village of
Washburn, near Peoria; and the towns of Hebron and Kouts in Porter County Indiana.
No major injuries have been reported.
The EF or Enhanced Fujita scale goes from 0 to 5, with an EF0 tornado starting at 65 mph and an EF-5 tornado being over 200 mph. Merrillville, in Indiana, was hit by an EF2 tornado. This is the second time in three months a tornado of that velocity has swept through the area, after an EF3 struck Lake Village in Newton County in March, killing an elderly couple in their home.
As human activities such as fossil-fuel burning release heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere and climate change intensifies air in the Midwest is becoming more saturated with humidity, a key ingredient of strong thunderstorms that can produce tornadoes.
Research also indicates tornadoes are happening more often during nontraditional tornado months, lasting longer and beginning sooner as winters become warmer and more humid. Most tornadoes in Illinois occur between April 1 and June 30, but according to the weather service, nearly half of the state’s tornadoes have occurred in the fall or winter in recent years.
Increasingly frequent and intense severe weather, such as tornadoes and derechos, has cost Illinoisans billions of dollars in recent years. In August 2020, a “ferocious” derecho downed trees and rattled windows from Iowa to Chicago, causing $11billion in damage. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration retired its public database tracking billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in May 2025 as part of the Trump administration’s rollbacks in federal spending.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By KEVIN WOLF Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks Monday during a meeting with Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa at the Pentagon.
Starmer
JanRisher
LOUISIANA AT LARGE
Everywall covered with art
Agiant, spooky funhouse ceramic jester by Linda Berman greets guests at the door —Jeremy Shapiro says he loves scaring himself with it on the wayin. It was the piece that launched the whole scene in his New Orleans apartment.
Ataxidermied alligator in a pointed hat stands nearby,a wink at the television show “Tiger King” that he picked up at ashop on Magazine Street.
The pieces are among roughly 2,500, my estimate, not Shapiro’s, crowded across the walls,shelves, bookcases and ceilingsofhis topfloor apartment at Federal Fibre Mills. Shapiro moved in last December. Since then, he has turned the 3,000 square feet into somethingcloser to afever dream than ahome. Shapiro, who just turned50, grew up in Los Angeles. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 1998 and ran a vintage clothing store there from 2008 to 2016. His father wentto medical school at Tulane, and his parents came and went fromthe city for decades. Shapiro runs a ticket business and stays off social media, which he said never appealed to him.
He calls himself boring.
The apartment argues otherwise.
He contacted me months ago, after reading astory Iwrote about Becky and Wyatt Collins’ folk-art collection in New Iberia. Hewas amassing hisown, largely New Orleans-themed, and wanted someone to see it.
Iwent Friday,not sure whatto expect.
From the moment he opened the door,the sheer volume of art shocked me, and all of it installed since December
The other surprise was discovering that Shapiro is as much ascene builder as he is acollector. Much of what fills the rooms beganas inexpensive folk art: hand-painted figures for $30 or $40, old $10 fruit-crate ads in $10 frames. He arranges the pieces into vignettes and then populates them, including atiny taco man in awhite suit beside ahot-dog man holding a teddy bear on the kitchen island. Apainted blues loungehangs in the hallway.Headded the singers and miniature beer cans himself. In the dining room corner,he dressed two skeletons as Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe,a tribute to Louellen Berger’syearly skeleton display outside hermansion on St. Charles Avenue in October He commissioned Jody Robert, aJackson Square artist, to make plasma-cut art that includes Mr Okraand Ruthie the Duck Girl. He drove to Lafayette to buya Blaine Kern Mardi Gras float piece off Facebook Marketplace. Shapiro says the bookshelves in the living room were the most time-consuming. Books alone just didn’tsit the way he wanted. So he started weaving in figureshe found on eBay until theshelves became aseries of miniature worlds, odes to Michael Jackson, Dennis Rodman, “FullHouse,” E.T.and more. The bookshelf vignettes are his favorite part ofthe whole place.
“It’sall there for areason,” he said. Behind the residential spectacle is Shapiro’sconviction that artists deserve aliving —and that more people could afford to give them one. He talks about the Jackson Square artists the way other peopletalk about endangeredspecies.
“So many hungry artists just
ä See RISHER, page 2B
Broadstripes, bright stars
ABOVE: Baton Rouge Fire Department Ladder 1displaysanAmerican flagwhile parked on NorthBoulevardduringstate Sen. Regina Barrow’sFlag Day parade and celebration on SundayinBaton Rouge.
LEFT: Autumn Percival sings thenational anthem at theGalvez Plaza
WorldCup fantours BatonRouge highlights
German Freddy visits LSU, Cane’s
BY JOYHOLDEN Staff writer
AGermanWorld Cup fan named Freddy,who has beendocumenting his road trip through the South, madeittoBaton Rouge to see LSU and Tiger Stadium on Saturday.His adventures have become quite viral.
Xuser@FreddyLA7landedinAtlanta on June 5with twofriends and started their epic road trip across theSouth on June 7. They are bringing asmall replica of theWorld Cup trophyto everystate they travel to. So far,they have driventhrough Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Their first American World
Cupexperiencewas at the match between Iceland andArgentina at Jordan-Hare Stadium at Auburn University
TheGerman fans got an unexpected treat when they were given tours of the New Orleans Saints practice facility andthe New Orleans Pelicans practice facility after arriving in New Orleans. The Pelicans posted, “Wecan confirm Freddy is real, is Germanand loves New Orleans,” in response to some posts questioning his authenticity
After looking for alligators in a Louisiana swampand an impressionable triptoBourbonStreet, Freddy andhis friendsstopped in BatonRouge on their waytoHouston for the Germany vs. Curacao match on Sunday
Freddy posted that the trio toured theLSU campus and saw Mikethe Tiger
Police:13themployee arrested at ElaynHunt
An ElaynHuntCorrectional
CRIME BLOTTER staff reports
Center officer was arrested Monday after police saidhewas caught with cocaine-lacedpaper anda loaded gunatthe facility,marking the 13th arrest of a current or former employee of the facility this year According to Warden Travis Day,Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Cadet JaunyaSpiller,30, afterabody scan before his shift revealed he hada cellphoneand drug-laced paper. Authoritiesthen searchedSpiller’s carand found aloaded gun, they said.
Spiller,who was hired in March, was first questionedbyElayn Hunt investigators as part of an investigation that beganinMay, his arrest warrantsaid. Spillerwas foundwiththree blanksheetsof paper,two of whichtested positive forcocaine,policesaid. Spiller told deputies during an interview that he planned to give thepaper to an inmate, the warrant adds. After less thanfour months on the job, Spiller was fired and now faces three felony charges: distributionofcocaine,introducing contraband to apenal institution and malfeasance in office. He is the13th Elayn Hunt
They got aglimpse of Tiger Stadium Freddy posted, “Omg this is insane,” to accompany his video of an empty TigerStadium. He then posted again to say it was the largest stadium he had ever been to Fortunately,Freddy and his friends ran into acouple Europeans on campus who gave them atourof the LSU women’s soccer facility.
He posted, “A fellow German and aBritish guy who work at LSU found us on campus and gave us atour of the soccer facilities and gifted us these stylish shirts,” beside three picturesofthe LSU soccer fieldand meetingroom.
Freddy,like some other World Cup fans posting on social media about their American experience, has not revealed his name or identity.Heplaces apicture of soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo over his face and emojis over his fellow
travelers’ faces.
Before Freddy andhis crew departed Baton Rouge for Texas, they stoppedatthe original Raising Cane’slocation on Highland Road near theLSU gates.
Freddy posted“Lives were changed” as the caption beside RaisingCane’schicken fingers and Texastoast with the famous wood panelinginthe background.
Having experiencedanathletic tasteofthe capital city, Freddy andhis pals continuedontoHouston, where retired NFL player J.J. Watt set themupatanupscale hotel
To top off the Germans’ road trip through the South,they witnessed Germanydefeat Curacao 7to1 at NRG Stadium. The 2026 FIFA World Cupwill conclude July 19 at MetLifeStadium,officially referred to duringthe tournamentas New York New Jersey Stadium
BY JUDYBERGERON Staff writer
Floyd Brown, alongtime fixture on theBaton Rouge music scene, has died at 79 after alengthy battlewithcancer, accordingtohis niece, Dara Stuart “He was oneofthe greatest,” Stuartsaid Friday morning. Aswamp pop/country singersongwriter-guitarist and Nashville, Tennessee, recording artist, Brown is known for hits including “Kiss Me Just One More Time,” “I Can’t Sleep If ICan’tSleep
With You” and“There Lies the Difference.” His heartfeltballads andthe dancebands he ledhave brought fansto the dance floor since theearly 1960s. Brownalso owned nightclubsatdifferent times in the city,among them Sweetwater Tavern, Floyd Brown’sEmbers, The BrownDerby,Studebaker’sand FloydBrown’s. “It’sashock for everyone,” BatonRouge singerChase Tyler
STAFFPHOTOSByMICHAEL JOHNSON
Commercial and residential building permits issued by
Baton Rouge Parish government for the week of June 8-12
Business
7423 PICARDY AVE., corpo-
rate office for commercial cleaning business; applicant, Jason Draper.
4325 WINBOURNE AVE., existing grocery store; applicant, Abubakr Ali. 1260 EDDIE ROBINSON SR. DRIVE, restoration of a 2,287-square-foot abandoned masonry structure for use as an office/warehouse, $160,000; applicant Samantha Montoya; contractor, Highland Construction Services.
cant, Steven Lumpkin 10235 JEFFERSON HIGHWAY BUILDING 1, SUITE C, new medical spa performing facials, Botox/dermal fillers, GLP-1s, lasers and lab work; applicant, Anna Hickey. 8700 FLORIDA BLVD., cosmetics; applicant, Emerald Morris. 1704 CONVENTION ST., renovation of former 1,170-square-foot dental clinic for St. Vincent de Paul donation office, $150,000; applicant, Robert L. Lunsford; contractor, Watts Real Estate 5439 AIRLINE HIGHWAY, renovation of a 3,319-squarefoot medical office building to finish updates of existing chemotherapy infusion suite and renovations for a new sickle cell infusion bay, $909,067; applicant, Ritter Maher; contractor, La. Specialty Services. 11919 BRICKSOME AVE., business office space rental; applicant, Charles Lemann. 5151 PLANK ROAD, commercial wall sign, $1,000; applicant, Jordan Firmin; contractor, Premier Sign Solutions.
11919 SUNRAY AVE., office space; applicant, Jeremy Allen
4100 NORTH ST sign-monument, $5,000; applicant, Steven Lumpkin. 1331 N. SHERWOOD FOREST DRIVE, office; applicant, Luis Melendez. 640 ARLINGTON CREEK CENTRE BLVD., massage business; applicant, Jason Spencer. 908 CAMELLIA AVE., political sign; applicant, Emilie Smart. 6401 BLUEBONNET BLVD., SPACE 1050, tenant improvement of a 1,255-square-foot space consisting of demolition of existing floor and wall fixtures, new floor finish, new wall and floor displays, $50,200; applicant, Manny Fernandez; contractor, Harvey Honore Enterprises. 1751 SORREL AVE, addition of a 930-square-foot connector bridge between two warehouses and new exterior docks, $500,000; applicant, Brent Bueche; contractor, TAC Construction Solutions. 1331 N. SHERWOOD FOREST
DRIVE, leasing office; applicant, Luis Melendez. 4868 NORTH BLVD., leasing a building for office space for a commercial cleaning and facility services business; applicant, Leonard White. 2834 S. SHERWOOD FOREST BLVD., salon; applicant, Tyesha Johnson. 10988 N. HARRELL’S FERRY ROAD, professional technology consulting services, including software architecture, systems integration and business process consulting; applicant, Aaron Blackledge. 11169 DARRYL DRIVE, recycle center, collection only; applicant, Marvin Materre. 4433 PERKINS ROAD, electronics retail store; applicant, Leonard Fields. 9923 SUNNY CLINE DRIVE, Christ Disciples Church commercial monument sign, $8,000; applicant, Hilton Michael. 3838 VICTORIA DRIVE, auto mechanic shop; applicant, George Applewhite. 10988 N. HARRELL’S FERRY ROAD, office space; applicant, Caleb Nations.
7875 GREENWELL SPRINGS ROAD, mobile detailing; applicant, Antonie White. 8681 SIEGEN LANE, personal training; applicant, Spencer Mounger.
Newspaper wins SPJ awards for investigative reporting
Staff report
Reporters for The Times-Picayune | The Advocate won top awards for investigative reporting and public service journalism in the Louisiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2026 contest.
Reporters Jillian Kramer and Jeff Adelson won the A-Mark Award for investigative reporting for their 2025 series “Longing for Justice,” which explored chronic delays in the New Orleans court system, the reasons behind the backlogs and the anguish inflicted on families of crime victims. The
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A-Mark Foundation is a national nonprofit that makes grants to help award investigative reporting across the country Contest judges noted their decision to give the award to Kramer and Adelson “for not only their journalistic revelations, but also their degree of difficulty.” Adelson built a database using hundreds of thousands of pages of records for the series, with the reporters analyzing cases over a 10-year period in Orleans Parish.
The judges also cited the results of the series, including two of the oldest cases in the criminal court closing after the newspaper’s re-
trying to make art their living,” he said. I wish locals would take greater advantage, as opposed to the artists being reliant on heavy tourist season.”
The artists’ creativity has pulled him in. He cannot draw and says so without embarrassment.
“They are doing things that I could never do in a million years, and it blows me away every single day,” he said. “I stare at some of the things in here and literally have no idea how the artist made it.” His best argument for buying art is also his simplest: Art brings out emotion. He compares the enjoyment to that of attending a concert.
“The difference with art is, if you buy it, you get to enjoy it for however long you own it,” he said. “It’s real and stays with us — and it’s so much more affordable than most people think. I want them all to succeed.” For all that, Shapiro is nearly finished with this project. He rents the apartment; its owners live nearby and plan to move in eventually He figures he has three to five years For now, every wall is spoken for Even the upstairs play room is finished, down to the Pop-a-Shot, where Shapiro properly shellacked me, 84-7.
“This was probably all too much to be honest,” he said, looking around. “You either go understated, or you go crazy I went crazy.” Even so, the too-muchness works. That he recognized what was happening and kept going anyway is what’s endearing.
Shapiro can’t compare notes on where he went to high school in New Orleans, but his apartment suggests something the city rewards: devotion taken a little too far
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employee to be arrested this year, according to a spokesperson for the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the result of what appears to be a coordinated crackdown since Day began overseeing the St. Gabriel facility in January. Around the same time, Elayn Hunt was facing increased scrutiny over a string of inmate deaths. A State Police investigation into the facility, requested by the corrections department, is also ongoing.
“Under Warden Day’s leadership, EHCC has intensified security measures and accountability efforts to restore integrity and protect the safety of staff, incarcerated individuals, and the public,” the release said.
An additional 34 civilians visiting the facility have also been arrested in 2026, according to the corrections department
On Saturday Iberville sheriff’s deputies arrested Shermaniqua
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said of Brown’s death. “I don’t think anyone saw it coming.”
Tyler was a 17-year-old aspiring musician when he met Brown in the early 2000s. Brown was delighted that Tyler wanted to record “Kiss Me Just One More Time” for his first album.
“Floyd was a mentor early in my career,” Tyler said. “He was always a sweetheart to me and very encouraging to the younger artists coming up behind him.”
But as widely known in the Baton Rouge area as Brown was, Tyler believes he was an underappreciated artist.
“Floyd was underrated as a vocalist, and he was an amazing singersongwriter,” Tyler said. “He had a lot of success early on, one of the true icons of swamp pop and country in south Louisiana. A legend.” Throughout the day on Friday, the Fans of Floyd Brown Facebook page filled with memories of the popular artist.
porting on them — one after 16 years, another after 12.
The Times-Picayune staff also won SPJ’s Ed Anderson Award for public service journalism for its probing follow-up coverage of the 2025 New Year’s terror attack on Bourbon Street. The same coverage was recently named a finalist for the National Center for Integrity in News Reporting’s print reporting award.
The SPJ judges complimented how the staff followed “the aftermath of the tragedy, investigating the lack of security precautions and how the killer got radicalized in the first place.”
“Too often in today’s resourcestressed newsrooms, the coverage stops with the news and never delves into the details,” the judges noted “The T-P never gave up on this story, and its community is better for it.”
Reporter Sam Karlin also won the second place Ed Anderson Award for public service journalism for his series “Lethal Heat,” which revealed soaring heatrelated deaths across the state.
Reporter James Finn won second place in news reporting for his coverage of U.S. Border Patrol sweeps late last year in New Orleans.
Smith, 26, of Shreveport, and Marshayla Blade, 23, of Bossier City, after police said they were found with a bag of marijuana and prerolled marijuana cigarettes during a routine screening while visiting the detention center Both women were booked into the Iberville Parish jail and face one charge each of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and introduction of contraband into a penal institution.
Corrections Secretary Gary Westcott said his agency has taken proactive measures and enhanced security across Louisiana’s facilities, including investment in advanced camera technology
“The message is clear: Criminal activity will not be tolerated,” he said in a statement about Spiller’s arrest
Former sheriff’s deputy accused of sex crimes
A former sheriff’s deputy has been indicted by a Livingston Parish grand jury on 12 counts of sex crimes against children, state
Attorney General Liz Murrill said Monday Nicholas LoCicero, of Denham Springs, faces five counts of firstdegree rape of a child under the age of 13, one count of sexual battery of a child under 13, three counts of indecent behavior with juveniles and three counts of molestation of a juvenile.
LoCicero was arrested in October 2024, following an investigation by the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office into information it received about his sexual abuse involving minors, the attorney general said in a statement.
The court ordered LoCicero be held in the Livingston Parish jail without bail.
LoCicero, then 38, was working as a deputy with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office when he was arrested, officials said. He had been with the force since 2022, primarily on uniform patrol, but he was fired at the time of his arrest in Livingston Parish.
The attorney general said LoCicero had also previously worked with the Livingston Parish Sher-
iff’s Office.
“Crimes against children are among the most serious offenses my office prosecutes. Anyone accused of preying on a child in Louisiana will be pursued aggressively by my office and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law No one is above the law, especially those sworn to uphold it,” Murrill said.
22-year-old found shot dead inside apartment
A 22-year-old Baton Rouge man was found shot dead in an apartment on Pampas Street on Saturday evening. J’Sinn Brazile, 22, was found dead from multiple apparent gunshot wounds at an apartment in the 3100 block of Pampas Street, Baton Rouge police said in a Sunday news release. Police first arrived at the scene just after 5 p.m. Saturday in response to a call about a dead man. At this time no suspects have been developed; homicide detectives are continuing the investigation, officials said.
“Floyd is a part of my life story,” Donnice Vessier posted “My sisters and I knew every word to his music. To us he was a big star! All grown up I still loved going to see him. His voice never changed. and he was still a big star to me. To this day, his music still brings me back.” Walker musician and Brown collaborator Jody Mayeux said simply, “I lost my best friend Mr Floyd Brown this week.” Brown was just 14 when he recorded his first record in 1960. It was the promo song for a new water park and campground in Livingston Parish called Thunderbird Beach. A year later, in 1961, Brown had his second release “Teenage Vision,” on S.J. Montalbano’s Montel label.
“S.J. and Jimmy Clanton (a young national recording star from Baton Rouge) came to my home and picked me up in a limo,” Brown recalled in 2005. “We went to Cosimo Matassa’s studio (in New Orleans). Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew had just finished a session and they were there. Mac Rebennack (aka Dr John) was there. All those people that were around there that I met, I had no idea who they were then.” “Teenage Vision” stayed No. 1 on Baton Rouge’s WLCS-AM for about 11 consecutive weeks, he said. Brown went on to have 45 rpm releases on Johnny Vincent’s Jackson, Mississippi-based Ace label in 1962, Baton Rouge-based Lou-Jay Records in 1964, and then on the Enterprise label, a subsidiary of Stax Records, in 1969. He continued to put out 45 rpm releases over the next two decades, with four in the 1970s and then five in the 1980s. In 1979, Brown released his first album, “Finally,” on Jimmy Rogers’ Baton Rouge-based Bayou Boogie Records.
Brown’s career got a boost in the ’80s after his win on the Nashville Network talent show “You Can Be A Star.” This led to appearances with Ralph Emery on TNN’s “Nashville Now” and a featured spot on the TNN nostalgia show “Play It Again Nashville.”
“By winning ‘You Can Be a Star,’ I met so many people,” Brown recounted “I mean doors opened up that you would not believe.”
Unfortunately, the MCA recording contract that accompanied Brown’s “You Can Be A Star” victory got dropped during a record company shake-up. A similar thing happened a few years later when Capitol Records was interested in him, Brown said. Again, the company president was let go, and with him went Brown’s record deal.
Brown’s final single release came in 1990, with “Hurt You, Haunt You, Heal You” on the Baton Rougebased Genesis label.
In 2005, a 12-song compilation album, “The Best Of Floyd Brown,” was released on AMG Records.
“Everywhere I play,” Brown said in 2005, “somebody comes up and wants those songs on a CD. So that’s why we put this CD together, the best of the stuff that I’ve done.”
Brown continued to perform in small gigs at area restaurants, festivals and other events up until several months ago.
Brown is survived by his wife, Linda; sons, Duke and Dustin; and two sisters, Sandy Duhon (Duddy) and Vickie Marshall (Gary).
A celebration of life will take place at Sandy’s Daiquiris, Erwinville, with a date to be announced later
John Wirt contributed to this report.
STAFF PHOTO By JAN RISHER
Obituaries
Barrow, JosephW.
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Joseph W. Barrow, age 84, who passed away peacefully on Friday, June 12,2026, in Baton Rouge, LA. Born in Baton Rouge, LA. in 1941 to his loving parents the late Eula Jarreau Barrow and Joseph C. Barrow. Joseph was a devoted husband of BrendaBergeron Barrow for 62 years and loving fatherof Jennifer Barrow Haydel (Barry E.). Joseph was the grandfather of Payton Seth Haydel and Brittney Payge and great- grandfather of Journey Mae Haydel. He was preceded in death by one nephew; Robert Logan Barrow. On his spare time Joseph was an avid hunter, fisher and enjoyed being around horses. Family and friends are invited to attend aFuneral Mass, to be held at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 865 Hatchell Ln.,
Denham Springs, LA 70726 on Thursday,June 18th, 2026, at 11:30AM. Visitation willbefrom 10:00 AM until service time.Burial willfollow in Greenoaks Memorial Park.
Crane, James Gayden
Jim Cranepassedaway on June 8th, 2026atthe ageof79. Jim passed away peacefully at home,surroundedbyhis family, and friends.
Jim was bornonAugust 10th, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas to Bill, andEdith Crane. He grew up in Little Rock,Arkansaswherehe
attended Little Rock Central High School before going to college at Ouachita Baptist University. While attending college at OBU Jimplayedonthe football team where he madea close bond with his teammates who wouldgoonto become lifelong friends.
Aftercollege Jimjoined theArmyasa MilitaryPolice Officer. While stationed at Fort Polk, Leesville,Louisiana he met Linda Johnson whomhe married June 6, 1970. Jim servedinVietnamasa MP convey escort platoon leader. Afterhis service in theArmyheattendedSam HoustonUniversity working toward agraduatedegree in Criminology and Corrections.Later he worked in Leesville/Vernon Parishasa Juvenile Officeronthe police force. In 1974 he and Linda moved to Baton Rouge where he became an agent with StateFarm Insurance. It was arolehewould hold until his passing.Jim saw his servicetothe State Farm policyholders as one of his life callings. He was known to say, "If yougivepeoplegoodservice, they will stickaround We must fulfill our promises to them."
to be thegrandfather to Caroline and James. Jimwas predeceased by hisparents, Billand Edith Crane, and his children, Mandy,Hunter, and Jamie Crane. He is survived by his wife, Linda Crane,sons, Kyleand BradyCrane, daughters in law, Kathleen Mocklin, and Kristen Crane, grandchildren, Caroline and James Crane, sister, Ora Sue Hamby, nephews ChrisHarr, Brice Nosal,Chuck and Rusty Hambyand niece Jenae Wiggly and GodSonsSean and Brian Garrison.
Jimwas proud of his military service, career with State Farm and had a profound faith in and love forJesus Christ. Relatives and friends are invitedtothe Chapel of Rabenhorst Funeral Home, Government St.,for avisitation on Wednesday,June 17, 2026 from6:00PM until 8:00PM. Visitation willresume on Thursday,June 18, 2026 beginning at 9:00AM until theservice begins at 10:00AM. Aburial is to follow at Resthaven Gardens of Memory.
June 17, 2026 at
in
From 6-8pm.Thursday, June 18 at 11am service followed by burialatAsbury CommunityCemetery.
Young.Hewas aresident of Brusly, LA. He departed from this life on June 10, 2026. Avisitation willbe held from5:00 PM to 7:00 PM on 2026-06-19 at
The family has asked that in lieu of flowers memorialdonations be madetothe Cystic Fibrosis. Foundation, 10101 Siegan Lane,Suite 2A, Baton Rouge, Louisiana70810
After losing theirdaughterMandyCrane to Cystic Fibrosisin1978, Jim and Linda became founding Hunter, Brady, and Jamie. He was also lucky enough
Jackson,David David Jackson 81, of ClintonLa, passed away June 6, 2026atOur Lady of The Lake Hospital.Visitation will be Wednesday
Along-sought after goal of advocatesaiming to rein in spiraling healthcare costshas been price transparency that letsconsumers seeup front what hospitals charge for routineprocedures.
An executive order by PresidentDonald Trump in 2019 set out aframework forprice transparency standards that hospitals had to meet for the first time. But in 2023,ananalysis by the group Patients Rights Advocate found that manyhospitalsinLouisianaand acrossthe nation were not meeting those standards.
Last week, wordcamethatthe federalgovernment is not ignoring the problem. Since April, The Associated Press reported, theTrumpadministration has sent out letterstomorethan 500 hospitals across the country,including 27 in Louisiana,warning them they were notmeeting thestandards.The hospitals could face penalties of up to $2 million annually if they don’t make aplan to post clear pricingdata in the near future.
Some big names on the list inLouisianawere Baton Rouge General’sBluebonnetcampus and its nearby rehabilitation hospital andManning Family Children’sHospital, part of the nonprofit LCMC network in New Orleans. Others on the list were mostly specialty hospitalsand behavioral facilities. Baton Rouge General said some of the issues had to do with how the information was displayedonits websiteand said it would be “making improvements.” Similarly,Manning Family Children’ssaidthat ithad pricing available on its website for years buttheyare workingtoensure the files meet therequirements. We are glad to see these twoinstitutions willing to work toward aresolution
We are also glad to see that theTrumpadministration is diligently pursuingthe issue Healthcare costs are one of themost stubbornly intractable problems in our economy.Families in America go bankrupt trying to pay forprocedures to save or improve thelives of loved ones We believe price transparency isanimportant tool that will help consumers andproviders alike by making it possible to shop around for nonemergency care. We do notsee that the information requiredtobe postedonlineisonerous, but rather,itisuseful to consumers and employers, who often must absorb highercosts for their health plans when theiremployees don’thave clear information.
The administration is pushingfor hospitals to make it easier for patients toaccess theprice lists and to make surethey arebasedonreal costs and not just estimates.
We think that is reasonable.Weknowthere are many drivers of cost in our healthcare system, but allowing consumers to know what they are paying for is astart. Sometimesgovernment can help markets workbetter,and in this case, we see price transparency rules as nota cureall, but as an essential prescription forsuccess in the future.
LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE
WELCOME. HERE AREOUR
GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence
TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com.
TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE
Extremism will always lead societiestoruin
In “Children are now running our big cities,” syndicated columnist Froma Harrop pointsout theignorance and heedlessness of certain liberal mayors in running big cities. There are many other instances of this same lack of awareness coming from members of the conservative political chorus, particularly our president,who should know better.“If you don’tagree with it, destroy it or deport it”seems to be the ethic infecting both ends of the spectrum today This is thoughtlessness,short-sightedness and fanaticism from both ends of the political spectrum, and thepublic is in thrall to it. The abandonment of moderate politics has proven over time to be arecipe for disaster
In the5th century B.C., the Athenian historian, philosopher and general Thucydides wrote thefollowing about fanaticism:
“What used to be described as a
Iwish to respond to Marcia Cooke’s letter concerning theuse of Title X funds. Itotally agree that women should have the knowledge to understand their fertility and to makewise decisions about becoming pregnant.However,I disagree withCooke’sconclusion that Natural Family Planning is unreliable NFP,aka Fertility Care, has been proven to be 99% effective when the woman makes 100% good observations for the mucus sign and records this information daily.Temperaturecan alsobeusedto track the woman’sovulation.
NFP has been taught and used effectively for morethan 50 years throughout the world without the need to depend upon pills thatcan have anegative impact on the woman’sbody
There are added benefits to the use of NFP/Fertility Carethat should be recog-
thoughtless act of aggression wasnow regarded as the courage one would expect to find in aparty member; to thinkofthe future andwait wasmerely another way of saying one was acoward; any idea of moderation was just an attempt to disguise one’sunmanly character;” and “the ability to understand a question from all sides meantthat one was totally unfitted foraction.”
Over two millennia later,this seems to be playing out in thestreets and in thehalls of governmentevery day, egged on by ashameless, mercenary media, and our “bread and circuses” culture seems to have no interest in trying to change.
It seems as true now,asever,that those who fail to heed themistakes of history aredoomed to repeat them Have we really learned nothing in the last 2,100 years?
MYRON WALKER Baton Rouge
nized. From personal experience, Ibecame awareofabnormal changes within my reproductive system and when to seek medical treatment. Secondly,my husband and Iwererewarded by learning and practicing SPICE, an acronym for Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Creative/Communicative and Emotional intimacy,inour daily relationship. When avoiding pregnancy,wewould decide which aspect needed more attention. It helped us to explore areas more deeply SPICE touches on all important aspectsofthe relationship to express love in many ways.Somuch fun. Trained practitioners are available who can explain and guide couples whowish to experience this wonderful marital bliss. VIRGINIA ALMON Metairie
Onceupona time nurses wore white dresses andcaps. These items of dress were earned symbols. Theyalso wore white stockings andsupportive shoes. The capping ceremonywas so inspiring. Nursesspent long hours of instruction andpractice, which ledtoin-depth learning. Nurse aideswereavaluable part of the team. There was apracticeofa.m andp.m.care. Warm cloths were giventowipe the patient’sface andhands before meals. After breakfast, abed bath with foot soaksand aback rub were welcomed.Dentalhygiene wasalso part of the care. Bedlinens were changeddaily.The food was appetizing andhealthy.The above was done in the name of TLC, known as tenderloving care. In caseofanemergency,papercharts were available. Now computers areutilized, and if the powershuts down, there is no recordtoscan,I’m told.
Nurses’ shifts canlast 12 hours today. Those with familiessuffer the most. Now we seepeople on social media saytheybecamean RN in averyshort time of training.
Good luck with the strippeddown education. Icould write more, but I’ve said enough. Will things change?
Ihopeso!
After sending theOMV my $60 for a fuel usage fee for my hybrid vehicle, I realized just how angry everyone who owns one of these vehicles should be with their legislators for allowing this to pass. This has got to be one of the worst examples of “double taxation” there is. People putgasoline in these vehicles to begin with, and they only switch to electric when that fuel is about to run out, unlike true electricvehicles. It makes you wonder where the money from this fund is going and who benefited from getting the bill passed in thefirst place. Maybeyou could find out theanswer for those of us whoown one of these vehicles. Thank you for your timeand keep up thegood work.
When will our governor set up atask force to deal with inferior roads and bridges that the citizens of this state have to drive over day after day?
When will our governor set up a task force to start giving retired state workers apermanent benefit increase each year as moststates do? The timefor this is now CLYDE LOYD Ruston
BARRYAMEDEE
Baton Rouge
MILLIE GALLO retired RN Baton Rouge
State’sexpandedalligator season
It may seem strange to talk about 10,000 alligators dyingasathing worth celebrating, but hear me out.
Last month, the Louisiana Legislature gave the go-ahead to state wildlife officials to add arecreational alligator hunting seasonthis fall in addition to the state’s already active commercial season. The new season will add about 10,000 tags to the 38,000 already offered in the state’scommercialprogram. In thenew season, 5,000 hunterswill be awarded two tags apiece. Eachtag is good for one alligator
The new season means hunters could take almost 50,000 alligators from Louisiana’shabitats this year.A little more than 50 years ago, that number would have been almost unthinkable. The state’stotal alligator populationwas estimated to be fewer than 100,000
Even if every tag is used, the new hunting season will barely make adent in thecurrent population,estimatedto be around 3million
How we got here from where we were is atriumph of data-based conservation that involved all stakeholders, including landowners, conservationists, hunters andthose who make alligatorproducts.
By the 1960s, Louisiana’salligators were in trouble. Poachingwas rampant, regulations wereineffective.
Many large landownerswho leased their land for duck hunting,crawfishing or trapping tacitly allowed,ifnot supported, eradication of alligators, according to Bob Thomas, anaturalist and the director of the Center for Environmental Communication at Loyola University.
“If you see somebody with alight and agunshot, he’sbreakingthe law, but helping you out,” Thomas said. The solution conservationists came up with was simple. Landowners could lease marshes for egg collectionbyalligator farmers. who thenhad to return aportion of the hatched alligators to the marshes from which they came. The program created an economic incentive forthose who previously would have
The newrecreational hunting season will addabout 10,000 tags to the 38,000 alreadyoffered in the state’scommercialprogram.
turned ablind eye to poaching. It also providedanavenue for the legal sale of alligator products.
The trulyingenious part of the plan restedinthe proportion of 4-foot alligators that egg collectors had to return to themarsh.Scientistshad determined that, in the wild, about 17% of alligators that hatchedsurvived to that length. So, if acollector took100 eggs,they would have to return 17 4-foot alligatorstothe wild within two years. By modulating the proportion, wildlife officials could boostorslowthe alligator population’s growth.
Also in the program, hunting was bannedfor about adecade. When it was allowed again, it was under tight restrictionsthat pushed hunters toward males and helped themavoid egg-laying females. In other words,noone —hunters, landowners,thosewho want alligator products, conservationistsorscientists —was left outofthe process. The idea was radical in theway it married economic incentives withecological goals But it almostdidn’thappen. Environmentalists opposed it,and membersof other state departments werealso skeptical, Thomastoldme. But he said once it got going, thealligatorpopulation “exploded.” Now,the
population is so robust that the additionof10,000 tags to the state’s totalis barely ablip. Louisiana can increase thenumber of alligatorskilled by hunters because, for ahalf century, we’ve been sogoodat helping themlive. And as aside benefit, the program generates an estimated $250 million in economic activity in Louisiana. The alligator isn’tthe only species thathas made acomeback in Louisiana in recent decades: The black bear,the brown pelican and the bald eagle have as well. Thoserestorations weredifferent,but they have had similar success. None of these conservation efforts have been easy or happened overnight. It takes time andintentionalitytobring back an animal that has dwindled due to human action. And thereare plentyof species thatare still in need of focused restoration.
State Sen. Robert Allain, R-Franklin, who sponsoredthe bill calling for the recreational season, called the alligator program“the greatest conservation story in America.” Politicians areprone to hyperbole, but in the alligator’s case, that’scertainly worth celebrating.
Email Faimon A. Roberts IIIat froberts@theadvocate.com
Youcan explain away all the scandals that have beset Graham Platner,Maine’sDemocratic nominee for U.S. Senate. The tattoo of aTotenkopf, the death’shead emblem associated with Nazi concentration campguards? Thatwas a drunken mistake by ayoung Marine who didn’t know any better.His failure to remove it for nearly two decades?
In the mid-1940s, 4-year-old Lamar Alexander climbedatree, frettedthat he could not climb down,and called forhis mother to help. This was before the noun “parent” became averb,and beforeadvanced thinkers decided that parenting is ascience, or an art, or both. So his mother simply told him, “You got yourself up there, you can get yourself down.”He did. He graduated from his freerange Tennessee childhood with astock of gumption that propelled him through apublic life spanningalmostaquarter of the nation’slife, working with 10 presidents. His career’sastonishing breadth began in 1963 as astaff member in Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy’sJustice Department.Alexander,now 85, was aWhiteHouse aide to President Richard Nixon,a two-term governor of Tennessee, presidentof the University of Tennessee, education secretary under President George H.W.Bush, and athree-term U.S. senator Hismemoir, “The Education of a Senator: From JFK to Trump,”tellshis story of many achievementsand afew disappointments (two attemptstowin Republican presidential nominations). His graceful but unembellished prose suits his penchant for understatement. Even if —no, especially if —you find today’spolitics repulsive,read this book while remembering Mark Twain’s warm endorsement of an exemplary congressional candidate duringthe seaminess of Gilded Age Washington: “The presenceofsuch aman in politics is like avase of attar of roses in agluefactory —itcan’textinguish the stink, but it modifies it.” The placidity of Alexander’smemoir is disturbed only,but emphatically,
and twice, byhis immoderate dislike of theadjective “moderate” when applied to him. He specifically deplores adescription of him as “of mild mien andasenatorial model of “moderate Republicanism” that is “as valuable as it is scarce.” Those words are from this column in 2009.
Alexander writes that he has always“detested”being called “moderate,” a“lazy adjective” that describes “style morethan philosophy.” Homer nods, and Alexander errs.
There are political people, and heisone, in whom personal style is inseparable from —is an emanation of —aphilosophy.Of conservatism, properly understood. Aconservatism whose principles include flexibility is indispensable in a functioninglegislature, where negotiation and compromise are inescapable. Principles must be moderated to accommodate the inconvenient existence of others elected espousing different philosophies.
Edmund Burke, thefountainhead of modern conservatism,warned against purelyperformative politicians, of which America today has asurfeit They “makethemselves bidders at an auction of popularity,” and become “flatterers instead of legislators.” By them, “moderation will be stigmatized as the virtue of cowards,and compromise as theprudence of traitors.”
Politicsisneither ascience nor an art. It is acraft, like carpentry or playing shortstop. The dignityofa craft derives fromthe fact that it is acquired only throughmanyyears of repetitions. Hence, patience is aconservative virtue. Faux conservatives who proclaim on the Senate floor their principledrefusal to compromise of-
ten achieve their only intended result: cable television and social media resonance. This is actual conservatism: While campaigning for governor,Alexander met amother who said, “I am sad tonight. My twinboys are smart, but they’ll never find agood job around here, and I’ll never see my grandchildren.”Hence his protracted courtship of Japanese automobile manufacturers to locate plantsinTennessee. By 2006, bothofthat mother’s sons and one of her grandsons were working for Nissan. Alexander’spolitical craftsmanship was honed during almost six decades of apublic career whose diversityof offices filled is perhaps unmatched in American history.Ofthe 2,019 people who have been senators, few earned as much respect as Alexander,and like TedWilliams, he homered in this last at bat. Near the end of his Senate tenure, he and two other senatorsmet in the WhiteHouse Roosevelt Room to try to persuade themercurial president to pressure someofhis Senate acolytes to support amajor bill, theGreat American Outdoors Act. Pointingtoaportrait of Theodore Roosevelt, one of Alexander’scolleagues said to Donald Trump: “If you support and sign this law,you’ll be thegreatest conservationistpresident since Teddy Roosevelt.” Alexander writes: “Trumpleaned back, folded his arms, and looked into space. ‘Wouldn’tyou say ever?’ Trumpasked.”
He endorsed the bill, which became law.AsOtto von Bismarck reportedly said, “You can do anything with children if you only play withthem.”
Email George Will at georgewill@washpost.com.
The self-professed “military history buff” found out about those associations only recently
How about this shirtless profile on the anonymous chat app called Kik, favoredmostly by the 13-to24-year-old set? He made some mistakes early in his marriage. The ex-girlfriends who told the New York Times his behavior was“unsettling” and, in onecase, physically abusive? The woman who says he manhandled her once worked for the conservative Heritage Foundation. QED, the accusation isn’tcredible. That sure is alot of explaining to have to do, and some of the explanations seem unconvincing. So alternatively,you could simply say, “What about KenPaxton?”
Paxton, the Texas attorney general who defeated incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary runoff last month, is at least as scandalicious as Platner.The Republican-controlled Texas House impeachedhim in 2023 for dereliction of duty and bribery,among other charges. As my news-side colleaguesreported: “His own senior staffers reportedhim to the FBI, alleging he illegally used his position to help aprominent donor,” and “his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce last year on ‘biblical grounds.’”(The Senate later voted to acquit him.)
It’shard to denounce Platner while supporting Paxton (or Donald Trump), but that won’tstop many Republicans from trying. The reverse is also true. Many Democrats will assure themselves that this is entirely different,even though it’smuch the same. It is arejection of the idea that character matters in politics.
Politicians needn’tbesaints. But nor should Americans mindlessly vote for whoever represents their party without any care for character Nominating those who are obviously unscrupulous and unstable is bad for the country —and, frequently,for America’sparties.
It mattered that Trump wasvindictive,vain, pigheaded and unprincipled, because that’show we gotJan. 6, unpopular tariffs, abudgetdeficit of almost 6% of gross domestic product, and the current mess in Iran. That can be twistedtojustify standing by Platner: Trump is so badthatwe must do all we can to check him.
This is now the dominant narrative of both parties: Our opponents are intent on destroying everything right and just, while we are doing whatwemust. Every election has become an existential contest between all-powerful supervillains and …amoebas who have no capacity for independent thought and can only react automatically to negative stimuli.
But we aren’tamoebas; we’re humans who have the capacity to make choices and draw lines.
It’shelpful to remember how often these compromises go awry.Trump’selection denialarguably cost his party both Georgia Senate races in the 2021 runoffs, and MAGA primary challenges have ousted moderates from seats the GOP subsequently lost. The president’sunpopular policies are likely to do further damage this November.Asmay his meddling in Texas, where he endorsed Paxton because Cornyn —who boasted that he supported Trump’spositions 99%ofthe time —wasn’tabjectly servile enough. Paxton might have won anyway,but it sure didn’thelp that the president weighedinonhis behalf. Platner also makes it more likely that Maine will return Republican Susan Collins to the Senate.
If both men survive their respective races they will arrive in Washington carrying all their baggage, containing who knows what ticking time bombs waiting to go off, with the rest of their caucus in the blast radius. When the eruption comes, party stalwarts will console themselves by saying the voters had spoken and there wasnothing they could do. Balderdash. There is at least one thing they could’ve done: Refuse to support acandidate who doesn’tbelong in the Senate.
What’sthat, you say? Politics ain’tbeanbag? Republicans have been saying so for 10 years and it’sgotten them only grief. Many have kept their jobs, but at great cost. They’ve been left with abadly weakened party that will either struggle to win elections or need to rebuild itself as something other than acult of personality Their jobs now mostly consist of explaining the inexplicable and defending the indefensible. It’sapity to sell your soul for power.It’san embarrassment to sell it for nothing.
MeganMcArdle is on X, @asymmetricinfo. Email her at Megan.McArdle@washpost.com.
Faimon Roberts
ega McArdle M n
George Will
FILE PHOTO
Source: Jordan, Saints make strides
BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer
The New Orleans Saints and Cam Jordan have made progress on contract talks on the eve of mandatory minicamp, a source with knowledge of the situation said Saints general manager Mickey Loomis has met with Jordan, the Saints’ all-time sacks leader, multiple times this offseason, a source said. The meetings have been productive enough that Jordan and the Saints will now meet again Tuesday, as former Saints tackle Terron Armstead first reported on his podcast Monday That sit-down will coincidence with the start of the Saints’ twoday mandatory minicamp. Jordan has been a free agent since March when the 36-year-old’s
contract expired.
The Saints made a contract offer to Jordan earlier this offseason and have been open to his return Coach Kellen Moore said last week that the team wouldn’t rush Jordan into his decision and that the offer did not necessarily have an expiration date.
“(We’re) here to help in any possible way,” Moore said. “We know what he means to this organization and this city, so if the opportunity presents itself and he feels comfortable and ready to go, then we’ll be ready to rock and roll.”
Drafted 24th overall in 2011, Jordan is coming off a resurgent season in which he recorded doubledigit sacks for the first time since the 2021 season. Jordan has said he wants to continue his career and has no interest in retiring.
As his free agency dragged on, Jordan had said that he was open to the idea of playing elsewhere.
But he also maintained that he had interest in returning to New Orleans, his home for the last 15 years. While the Saints kept an open channel with Jordan, the team also added two pass rushers.
The Saints traded for former firstrounder Tyree Wilson and signed veteran Anfernee Jennings. Jordan said in April that he did not think those deals closed the door on his return.
“I don’t know,” he said “There’s nobody (the Saints acquired) who produced the way I did last year so. My talent speaks for itself. And if things work out, phenomenal.
I’ve always said I understand the business side to it, so I’ve never worried about it.”
Welcoming arms
BY LEAH WILLINGHAM Associated Press
In the shadow of Tennessee’s Signal and Lookout mountains, 8-year-old Beckham has been balancing on a fence for more than three hours, gripping a handwritten note and waiting for Spain’s national team to emerge.
“I love you and I look up to you,” the note reads, addressed to Pedri and Lamine Yamal. “Thanks for coming to my city I hope you win the World Cup.”
As the players run onto the field, his eyes grow wide.
“Dad,” he whispers, “they’re real.”
The scene was equally incredible to his
Southern builds bonds at youth camp
BY TOYLOY BROWN III Staff
writer
camp by the Jaguars first-year coach and former Pro Football Hall of Fame player was the latest instance of him and his staff staying active since spring practice ended in April. Recruiting, whether in high school or the college transfer por-
tal, is a daily task Southern tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Ben Miles understands well. He and other staff members spent about six weeks on the road after spring practice to evaluate players at multiple levels. They returned to campus to share notes and create player boards. One of those recruits Southern discovered and signed in May was quarterback Christian Johnson, a Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College transfer The 6-foot, 206-pound signal-caller completed 156 of 258 passes (60.5%) for 2,120 yards, 22 touchdowns and five interceptions while leading his team to an 11-1 record last season. “Christian is smart as a whip,” said Miles, who is the son of for-
mer LSU football coach Les Miles. “I mean, really really smart. Christian will bring you through every coverage and explain to you every concept we can run and read his progressions. And Chris is also very athletic. I mean, he’s a broad sort of kid. He can run and he can change directions. So, athletic quarterback in the room, somebody who has leadership qualities, somebody who’s a bright kid.” This staff’s first high school recruiting class has joined the rest of the team on campus. Miles said they are training in the weight room ahead of August camp with strength and conditioning coach Barry Gant.
ä See SOUTHERN, page 3C
New Pels G League coach aims for greatness
BY ROD WALKER Staff writer
Brandon Demas isn’t sure of the exact date he started jotting down the
So he put pen to paper
“Be Great.”
“It just comes from trying to be the greatest version of myself each and every day,” Demas said. “All of a sudden, the guys just ran with it and it became my name.”
There are some in the New Orleans Pelicans’ team facility that don’t even know his real name. To them, he’s just B Great.
But Demas is making a name for himself, proving that those words of affirmation he repeatedly wrote down years ago can indeed come true. Demas’ basketball career continues to ascend, much like the high-rise bridge that takes a person from New Orleans
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GEORGE WALKER IV
Spain midfielder Lamine yamal, right signs an autograph for Griffin Wamp left, after arriving with teammates for the World Cup soccer tournament on June 5 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GEORGE WALKER IV
Baena walks across the tarmac after arriving with teammates for
Tenn.
DAVID GRUNFELD Saints DE Cam Jordan starts the “Who Dat” chant before the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at the Caesars Superdome on Dec. 29, 2024.
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON Southern tight ends coach Ben Miles measures a camper’s long jump during a camp on Saturday at A.W Mumford Stadium.
Sorsby won’t play for Texas Tech
QB will enter NFL supplemental draft instead, ending legal battle over eligibility
BY STEPHEN HAWKINS Associated Press
Transfer quarterback Brendan
Sorsby will not play for Texas Tech this fall and will enter the NFL supplemental draft instead, ending an unprecedented legal fight over the college eligibility for a player who had acknowledged betting on college and pro sports, including some on his own team while at Indiana four years ago.
Cody Campbell, the billionaire booster who is chairman of the school regents, wrote in an open letter Monday night that Sorsby will not be part of the team.
“This decision was made with Brendan and his family and is purely an output of practical analysis of the situation,” Campbell wrote.
“Brendan and Texas Tech stand on very solid and legitimate legal ground, but he faces a June 22nd deadline to be eligible to enter the NFL’s supplemental draft, and there is no practical way to resolve all the various pending legal disputes and ensure his eligibility prior to this date. This is the only viable and fair path for Brendan and his future, as well as for his teammates, and our university.”
That came exactly one week before the deadline for Sorsby to apply for the NFL supplemental draft. It was also on the same day that the NCAA and Big 12 had filings in different courts challenging a temporary injunction that had cleared the way for Sorsby to play despite being declared ineligible after he acknowledged making thousands of bets worth at least $90,000 while in college. Those in-
cluded at least 40 bets on Indiana while he was a freshman there in 2022, though none on the game in which he played for the Hoosiers that season.
Sorsby did not play a down for the reigning Big 12 champion Red Raiders. He transferred to Texas Tech in January for a reported multimillion-dollar deal after playing the past two seasons for Cincinnati, another Big 12 school. Campbell, while not revealing any figures, said Texas Tech will not seek the return of any payments already made to Sorsby through his NIL agreements with the university Court filings
The NCAA has long banned players for gambling, but Texas Tech had said Sorsby, who transferred there in January after the past two seasons at Cincinnati, would be better off on the team for his mental health and well being
“The trial court’s temporary injunction sweeps beyond anything Texas law permits,” attorneys for the NCAA wrote. “It undermines
the integrity of college sports, rewrites member-adopted rules of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, immunizes Brendan Sorsby from discipline for admitted and serial violations of NCAA anti-gambling rules, incentivizes a run on courthouses across the country to challenge even the most obvious and straightforward student-athlete eligibility decisions and demolishes the status quo.”
The injunction last week from Judge Ken Curry prevented the NCAA from being able to block Sorsby’s eligibility for what would have been his final college season with a team among the favorites to win the Big 12 and return to the College Football Playoff for a second consecutive season.
The Big 12, meanwhile, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Dallas seeking a court order backing its ability to use its bylaws for possible sanctions against Texas Tech if Sorsby had played.
Last week the Texas attorney general’s office warned the league of potential legal action from Texas Tech for any sanctions against
the school.
The Big 12 filing named Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee in the U.S. Senate race this fall, as well as Texas Tech leadership, including its president, chancellor and athletic director It accused them of trying to prevent the Big 12 from exercising its own rules the school itself agreed to long ago. Sorsby isn’t named as a defendant.
“An athlete with an extensive, documented history of wagering on intercollegiate athletic contests — especially his own team’s games — presents a reputational and integrity risk to the conference and its championship competition that the conference has both the right and the responsibility to address,” attorneys for the Big 12 wrote. “The conference is not required to accept that risk on behalf of its 15 other member Institutions, their student-athletes, their fans and its commercial partners. And no government official has the power to compel it to do so.”
NCAA rules
While some guidelines for penalties related to gambling have changed in recent years, NCAA rules still call for a permanent loss of eligibility for any player who wagered on his own team.
At least two schools, Nebraska in the Big Ten and Georgia in the SEC, had indicated they would not schedule Texas Tech.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond last week called on the Big 12 to suspend Sorsby, and said claims by the Texas AG’s office that sanctions against Texas Tech would violate antitrust laws are meritless. The Kansas attorney general, Kris Kobach, said Monday his office would provide support to the Big 12 in any legal dispute with Paxton’s office. Both states have public schools that are in the conference.
Sanders weighs in on sports wagering
Colorado coach also ponders possible improvements for college football
BY PAT GRAHAM Associated Press
DENVER Nobody has lived on the edge of the risk-reward nature of sports more than Deion Sanders over the years.
One place the Colorado coach won’t go: gambling on the college game, the likes of which has generated a scandal inside the very conference his team resides. Wagering has jumped to the forefront of college football as Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby won a court order early last week that restored his eligibility and set aside a ban by the NCAA for betting on pro and college sports. The school announced Monday night that Sorsby would not be playing for the Red Raiders.
“Somebody’s gambling on a sport they’re playing? You don’t think something’s wrong with that?” Sanders said in a recent interview with The Associated Press and before the latest court ruling with Sorsby “Just say that to yourself: This guy on my team is gambling on the sport, in the competition, that we’re about to go out there and have. Something’s wrong with that.” Sanders has plenty of thoughts on refining the game in this day and age of the volatile transfer portal and lucrative name, image and likeness deals. His takes include a salary cap in an effort to even the NIL playing field, hiring a retired coach as commissioner (a Nick Saban type), instituting some sort of an age limit, expand the College Football Playoff to 24 teams and, of course, a hard pass when it comes to betting (he’s talked to his squad about this
Cleveland
Tennessee Titans on Dec. 7 in Cleveland.
topic).
“The game is still the game,” Sanders said. “The game is just positioned differently Money’s involved, and any time money’s involved people tend to migrate to what they think they can get out of it instead of what they could put into it — and that’s unfortunate.”
Bladder cancer diagnosis
A year ago, Sanders was going through treatment for bladder cancer, which included having a section of his intestine reconstructed to function as a bladder.
Earlier this spring, Sanders stepped away from the team for a few days as he dealt with blood clots. But he said he’s “feeling great. I’ve got my old swagger back.”
Along with it, a new outlook, which includes actually taking vacation time. Sanders recently partnered on a beachfront property in St. Croix with his son, Shedeur, who’s entering his second
season as a quarterback with the Cleveland Browns.
“I never would’ve done that, because I don’t go anywhere,” the 58-year-old Sanders said. “I’m stepping out, just living life.”
Sanders missed football camps last summer in Boulder as he went through cancer treatments. The Buffaloes finished with a 3-9 mark a year after making a bowl game behind Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter
This offseason, it’s a more hands-on version of Sanders.
“I have everybody in that locker room because we said we want them,” he said. “Because I sat there and watched tape on them and said, ‘That’s who I want, that’s what I want. Let’s go get them.’” New landscape of college game
Sanders found it funny that his heavy reliance on the transfer portal once drew so many raised eyebrows. “Now, everybody’s doing the
Braves pitcher Strider shut down for four weeks
ATLANTA Atlanta Braves righthander Spencer Strider will be shut down from throwing for four weeks because of inflammation in his right elbow, the team announced Monday Strider, who had been placed on the 15-day injured list Saturday, will have another MRI at the end of that period and would begin “throwing progression” if tests were to show the inflammation had cleared, the team said. Strider left Friday’s 7-5 loss at the New York Mets in the fourth inning due to right shoulder and elbow soreness.
Strider has a history of arm problems. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019 and had the UCL in his right elbow repaired with an internal brace in April 2024.
Rangers place SS Seager on 7-day concussion list
ARLINGTON,Texas The Texas Rangers have placed shortstop Corey Seager on the seven-day concussion list, clearing the way for second baseman Josh Smith to return from a six-week absence that included a bout with viral meningitis
The move on Seager is retroactive to Friday, a day after he collided with Kansas City catcher Carter Jensen while trying to score from first base on a double by Brandon Nimmo.
The two-time World Series MVP stayed in the game and homered. Seager missed 19 games in May and June with back inflammation.
Manager Skip Schumaker said Seager mentioned a sore jaw while staying in the 4-2 victory over the Royals, then the five-time All-Star began reporting concussion symptoms after the game.
Reds’ De La Cruz could go on rehab assignment soon
CINCINNATI Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz could go on a rehab assignment this weekend if the next couple of days go according to plan. De La Cruz who has been sidelined since June 1 due to a right hamstring strain ran the bases and took some infield grounders before Monday night’s game against the New York Mets. He will run the bases again on Tuesday before a final decision is made. Manager Terry Francona said the likely rehab assignment would be to Triple-A Louisville, which is at Gwinnett this week. The Reds’ Single-A affiliate in Dayton is also on the road this week. De La Cruz left the May 31 game against the Atlanta Braves with right hamstring tightness.
same thing that I did,” he said. “But it was crazy back then, right?”
He’s seen and heard the plans from conferences — and the legislation proposals from lawmakers on how to adapt college football in this new landscape. It’s a lot to untangle, which is why he advocates for an authoritative figure to help oversee the sport
“A guy like coach Saban and some of the other coaches that have walked away from the game not because they can’t coach anymore but because they were fed up with how things are operating,” he said. Sanders also would be in favor of implementing a salary cap (see: NFL).
“So you can really have a consistency with the game,” Sanders said “The thing about the pro game, everybody gets to spend the same amount of money It’s who is crafty in regard to business. College football isn’t like that. You may have a team that’s spent $40 million playing against a team who spent $10 million. You darn well know the outcome in that game.”
That leads him to his next point a potential age cap.
“You can’t have a 30-year-old man playing against a 21-year old man and think it’s fair,” he said. “Should be a transfer rule as well. You’re teaching kids not to fight through adversity when you’re having kids able to transfer two or three or four times.”
As for NIL, he momentarily pondered if anything might have been different for him had a similar system been in place when he was at Florida State.
“It probably wouldn’t have (changed),” said Sanders, a college and pro football hall of famer “I’ve had a pretty good run. I’m still running, too — still high stepping. I’m probably in the third quarter of this game (of life) and we’re winning. We’re up by about 21. I’m loving life.”
Cameras stolen from Troy baseball team’s bus
OMAHA, Neb Troy’s first appearance in the College World Series has produced lots of Kodak moments for the Alabama school.
Only Troy’s photographers are having to use borrowed equipment to capture them after thieves stole cameras and lenses valued at $35,000 from the team bus.
The theft was discovered after Troy arrived at Charles Schwab Field for its game against Ole Miss on Sunday According to a police report, a Troy official reported the theft shortly before noon. The bus had been parked near the team hotel since about 4:30 p.m. Saturday Omaha police spokesman Michael Pecha said Monday no arrests had been made and that the investigation continues.
Kentucky hires former Michigan State AD Batt
The University of Kentucky announced on Monday it has hired athletic director J Batt from Michigan State, a little more than a year after he left Georgia Tech. Batt follows retiring UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart, who has had the job since 2002, making him the longest-serving AD in the Southeastern Conference. Barnhart won’t take on a high-paying role at the school after Gov Andy Beshear questioned decision-making at the school.
“The championship standard has been established at Kentucky and we are committed to upholding that standard of excellence,” Batt said. Before leading Georgia Tech’s athletic department, he was executive deputy athletic director at Alabama and served as chief operating officer and chief revenue officer in the athletic department.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By KIRK IRWIN University of Colorado coach Deion Sanders stands on the sidelines before the start of a game between the
Browns and the
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By TANNER PEARSON
Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby is interviewed after a game against Baylor on Oct. 25 in Cincinnati.
UFCboss: WhiteHouse
fight
BY DANGELSTON AP sportswriter
nighta one-off
WASHINGTON By the time Justin Gaethje pummeledhis bloodiedfoe to apulpand celebrated achampionship win withabackflip off the top of the wire-mesh cage, then shookhandswith President Donald Trump —and even fist-bumpedMelania— this muchabout his company’s future was clear to the ultimate boss of UFC: Just say no to the White House “It was an amazing experience, this was aone-of-one,” UFC CEO Dana White said. “It will never happen again.” Oh, not because theshowdubbed Freedom 250 and ostensibly held to celebrate Trump’s80thbirthday and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence’s signing wasn’tbyWhite’saccounts asmashing success. He crowed about merchandise sales and streaming servicesubscriptions, and how UFC surpassed its goals in every metric he could list at a news conference that stretched well into the dawn’searly light Monday And the setting?
Almost impossible to top on a night whenfighters essentially treated their walkouts like they were kids on aclass trip. The allmale lineup toured the West Wing, the Oval Office, walked past presidential portraits, through the Roosevelt Room, the Cabinet Room and the winners even got ameetand-greet with Trump.
Gaethje skimmed the copyofthe Declaration of Independence that hangs in the Oval Office andsaid a prayer before he madethe unusually longwalk to thecage. Gaethje battered Spanish-Georgian fighter Ilia Topuria in the main event and won theUFC lightweight title.
“Usually,I kind of blankout when it comes to getting ready to walk to the cage,” Gaethjesaid.
“It was pretty crazy,looking at the Declaration of Independence. The original one. Theirlanguage was different. I’m not smart enough to read that.”
Gaethje also banked awhopping $825,000 in bonus money for winning “Performance of theNight” and “Fightofthe Night” honors.
Trump stayed until theend of theseven-card show andgenerally seemed engaged with the fights —atone point he put on a white “USA” baseball cap —and certainlywas allsmiles each time afighter who had ahandraised in victory then used it on ahandshake with the president. There were fewblips on the big night and theblemishes that did happen were at the expense of UFC’stwo more problematic fighters.
UFCmiddleweight champion
Sean Strickland was escorted out of the Ellipse watch party attended by thousands more fansbya group of police officers. Heavyweight Josh Hokit took itfurther with an unfounded attack based on arightwing conspiracy theory about formerfirst lady Michelle Obama. For all the hand-wringing ahead
of thecard, theshowdelivered on the star-spangled smackdown that featured pulsating patriotism from theMarine Band, tributes to first responders, active military and other WhiteHouse-designated heroes. Gaethje and Ciryl Gane were crowned champions inside a blood-splattered eight-sided cage plopped in the open air right in the people’s house backyard on the SouthLawn.
Blood and guts werea mandate beforeanAmerican fighter wrapped himself in theflag.
“Hopefully tonight created some unity,”Whitesaidasheput on hishyperbolic promoter’shat. “Even for the people thatthought this was going to be some big political statement or something, this wasn’t. This was Americans,all Americans celebrating the birthday. For people whotuned in for thefirst time, because it was at the WhiteHouse, hopefully they liked the sport. They likedsomeofthe guys’ stories.” So maybe some new fans stick around.
Afterall, InternationalFight Week is right around the corner, with UFC 329 set to mark the return after afive-yearbreak of the company’sbiggest boxoffice draw, Conor McGregor Thatfight will be held in amore traditional arena back on UFC’s home turf in Las Vegas,justas they will for years to come.
Butdespite all thepomp and pageantry,the eyerolls andangst, Whitestands by hisclaim that UFC is one-and-done in D.C.
Knicks carved outlegacybeyondBig Apple
BY BRIAN MAHONEY AP basketball writer
NEW YORK By the time Jalen Brunson and the Knicks returned home, it was as easy to findsomething orange around NewYork as at Halloween. The city was caught up in this championship run for nearly two monthsand the party will last at least afew days more, with the Knicks’ first parade through New York —they didn’t have onein 1970 or ‘73 —scheduled for Thursday The team will be remembered long after the confetti is picked up off the streets of Broadway —and not only in New York. The 2025-26 Knicks have aplace in NBA history Their postseason performance is in the discussion for the best in the 80-year history of the league, a run of routs and then comebacks for their first championship since 1973. “What arun!” former President Barack Obama wrote in atweet congratulating coach Mike Brown, Brunson and the restofthe Knicks One thatwas arguably as good even as any of Obama’sbeloved Bulls. The Knicks finished 16-3, an .842 winning percentage that matched the 2024 Boston Celtics for the second best since the format switchedtobest-of-seven series in all rounds beginning in 2003.
The 2017 Golden State Warriors finished 16-1.
The LosAngeles Lakerswent 15-1 in 2001, and the Philadelphia 76ers finished 12-1 in 1983. Five teamsfinished apostseason with two losses.
The Knicks won 13 consecutive gamesatone point, second only to the Warriors’ 15 in arow in 2017. They set recordsbywinning nine straight on theroad and outscoring their postseason opponents by 283 points.
They were still midway through the NBA Finals when rapper Fat Joe, oneofthe Knicks’ orangeand-blue dressed celebrity fans, cametoBrown’snews conference and said what the team had spent weeksmaking clear
“Let’s just wait until it’sover but right now you analyze the numbers, we might be looking at the greatestteamever, likeifyou analyze thenumbers,” he said.
And when thingsstopped coming easily,the Knicks set records for the other ways they won. Theircomeback from a 29-pointdeficit in Game 4was thebiggest rally in an NBA Finalsgamesince detailed playby-play began in 1997, and the Knicks capped it offbycoming from 16 down in the clincher.
Add it up, and the Knicks can make acompelling case for the most dominant postseason ever
“It’s absolutelyone of the greatest ever,”said Mike Breen,
SOUTHERN
Continued from page1C
“Guys came back in June,started workouts,” Miles said. “(The) team is working hard and looking good.Coach Gantisbringing those guys through rigorous exercisesevery day, andthey’re challenging and being challenged andovercoming thosethings. So growing theteam,maturing your team and making sure that the next class is getting in line.”
Thestaff’s effort to identify talentthat bolsters Southern now and in the future was exemplifiedonSaturday,where players as young as high school freshmen received instruction from coaches.
Over the last two weeks, the Southern coaching staffmet with Faulk to plan the camp. The Jaguars coach said that while evaluation is crucial, he wants to show attendees the structured nature of theprogram. Another
PELICANS
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East where he grew up to where he is now
On Monday,Demas was named head coach of the Laketown Squadron,the GLeague affiliate of the New Orleans Pelicans. Not badfor akid with bigdreams who started from the bottom rung of theladder as aball boy for the then-NewOrleans Hornetsyears ago. His thoughts aboutlanding the gig?
“Gratitude,” Demassaid. “I alwayspreach gratitude andI’m super blessed.”
This all began whenDemas, born and raised in NewOrleans, was akid. His parents bought season tickets to Hornets’ games as areward for his good grades. As they watched games from up in Section 303 of the Smoothie King Center,hewould notice the ball boysonthe court doing their thing
“Man, Ican do that,” he thought to himself
So his parentsstarted talking to people to see whether there was an opening. He wasturned down thefirst year,but was able to get his foot in thedoor the second year.Heworked with the team one season before Hurricane Katrina.
Demas wassfreshman attendingSt. Augustine High School when thestorm hit. He and his family relocated to Houston, but he made sure to remain in contact with the team. His family eventually movedtoHouma, where he finished high school at Vandebilt Catholic.
He startedworking with the team again while in college. He attended Nicholls and Delgado Community College before eventually getting his computer science degree from Northwestern State. He’saselfproclaimed “tech nerd,” but basketballiswhere his heart resided. All those days of watchingformer Hornets like Baron Davisand David Wesley and LSUplayers like Garrett Temple and TyrusThomas or attending UNO games at Lakefront Arena won him over more than any computerprogramming skills ever could.
emphasis was simply “pouring into these kids,” so they can bring what they learned back to where they camefrom, Miles said.
Before position-specific drills, athletes completed athletic testing in the 40-yard dash, three-cone drill, broad jump and standing vertical jump.
While Southern values the data collected in-house, Miles said among the most important aspectsofthe camp was building genuine relationships with prospects from Louisiana and neighboring states.
“Wecan start building that relationship,” Miles said. “It’snot necessarily over the phone, but in person. And notabout, ‘Hey, your stats weresogood, and man, we enjoyed your tape. But really like, ‘No, we know you. We really want to coach you, andwereallywanttotellyou what you do well, and tell you what you needtoimprove on.’ So it’sa big deal forus, and then the relationship piece of it.”
“Brandon immersed himself in the process,” Demps said. “Seeing Brandonsucceed comes as no surprise.Heiskind, intelligent, determined and incredibly hardworking. Beyond his basketball knowledge, he understands people.His abilitytoconnect, communicate and earn trust is what truly sets him apart,and it will serve him well not only in coaching but in whatever else he chooses to do in life.”
Fornow,Demas chooses to be acoach. He’sbeen around plenty He was with the team in the Monty Williamsera. Since he became aplayer development coach in 2018, he’sworked under Alvin Gentry,Stan VanGundy,Willie Greenand interimcoachJames Borrego.
“Itallowed me to see and pick their brains for different wisdom, different experiences,” Demas said. “I think all of them brought something different to thetable.But at theend of the day,theyall taught me one thing: Youhave to be authentic to yourself. Ithink players are super aware of that. Ican’tbe coach Monty. Ican’tbeAlvin.I can’tbeWillie. Ican’tbeJB. I can’tbecoach (Jamahl) Mosley Ican take what Ilearned from all of them and utilize it in away that’sbest forthe group of guys. That’swhat’simportant.”
Thosecoaches all instilled something in him. Butsodid some of the players he’sworked with —especially former Pelicansguard Jose Alvarado,who wastradedtothe NewYork Knicks in February “Josedid alot formeonthis journey,and I’mproud of him as well,” Demas said. “I consider him family.Weare both the same breed. We are both underdogs, andwedon’t pass theeye test. But at the end of the day,weget the job done.”
Now Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars is counting on Demastoget thejob done Demaswas speechless when Dumars called him into his office to offerthe position.Hewas so speechless that Dumarshad to remind Demasthat he forgot to give ayes or no answer to accept the position.
who calls Knicks games on MSG Network during the regularseasonand hasbeen ABC’s lead announcer for the NBA Finals since2006.
“It’s impossible for me to rank it, but when you take into account the point differential, the nine straight road wins, clinchingall fourseries on the road, the twolossesbyone point, the two record-setting comebacks, it’sinthe conversationasthe best ever.”
Twoofthe Knicks’ losseswere by one point to Atlanta in the first round. The other was by four pointsinGame3against the Spurs, leaving themsix points from aperfect postseason. On the other side, they won clinching games by 51, 30 and 37 points in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
TheKnickswere nevergoingto care about how they won, just that they did. Before theplayoffs started, All-Starcenter Karl-Anthony Towns summed up the pressure the players faced in trying to get back to the NBAFinals for thefirst time since 1999 by saying: “Atthe endofthe day,we’ll be judged by what we do in this run.” They will be judged well —historically well.
“Wewent through alot this season, alot of ups and downs, butwejuststayedwithit,”forward OG Anunoby said. “We’re resilient, mentally tough andwe won.
Butjust being aball boy/equipmentmanager wasn’tenough for him. He andfellowballboy Jaron Neville would spend countless hours in the gym grabbing rebounds forplayers andhelping them with drills.
“Wejust lovedbeing apart of the team,” Demas said. “You know how New Orleansis. You canget distracted in different ways. At the end of the day,we feltthe safest and best route for us is to take advantage of what was in front of us.”
That work ethic didn’tgounnoticed to Dell Demps, the team’s general manager at the time. He saw the work they were putting in.
“When Ilooked on the organization chart, Irealized they were not on the payroll,” Demps said. “Wefixed that immediately.”
Dempsremembers sitting down withDemas one day and asking him whetherhehad a dream job. Demas was abit nervous, but he eventually told Demps he wanted to be acoach. Demps made adeal withhim. Demas would continue in his current role. In return, Demps would provide opportunities forDemas to develop as acoach. Those roles included anything from workingwith video coordinators and breaking downfilm to refereeing scrimmage games among players.
“I’m goingtobehonestJoe,” Demasresponded. “I’mjust thinking about calling my family right now and allowing them to be part of the moment.” Family is everything to Demas. Without them, he wouldn’t be here. He never wanted to let them down. That was part of his motivation to be great.
“I never had aspecific goal other than to make my family proud,” Demas said. “It could have been in any particular field.”
He knows his friends and family will be in the PontchartrainCenter forevery game. Theyhavealreadybegan asking him about how to purchase Squadron merchandiseand tickets to games. The fan base will also include allthe kids who have come through the Up Next Elite Camp,aprogram co-founded by Demas to help develop Louisiana’stop young basketball talent.
Demas’ goal is for the Squadrontohavea decisive homecourt advantageinKenner. He and Squadron general manager ThomasScott have talked about ways to get that done.
Nobody will feel moreathome than aguy fromNew Orleans East fulfilling his dream “It’sgoing to be surreal,” Demas said.
Or in this case, it’sgoing to “be great.”
Email RodWalker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JULIA DEMAREENIKHINSON
Featherweight fighters DiegoLopez and Steve Garcia square off in the ring during the first fightatUFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the WhiteHouse on SundayinWashington, D.C.
WORLDCUP 2026
Cape Verdestuns Spain
BY JAMES ROBSON Associated Press
ATLANTA— So much for asupersized World Cup diluting thequality of soccer’sbiggest tournament.
Tiny Cape Verde, makingits debut at the World Cup,pulled off a stunning upset to shut out heavily favored Spain in a0-0 drawon
Monday
“This means everything for our country,” said Cape Verde coach Pedro Leitão Brito. “Wehavealways said that we wanted everybody to see our country,our team and we have shown organization and braveness and this is proof of what our country is about— resilience and to try to overcome hardships.”
European champion Spain is one of the favorites to win the tournament and was -1200 to beat Cape Verde in its opening game. But it could not find away past a 40-year-old goalkeeper and astubborn defense that had an answer to everything Spain’ssuperstars threw at them.
Not even sensational teenager Lamine Yamal, who came in off the bench in the second half, could turn agame that ended with wild and emotional celebrations inside the stadium.
“A dream” was how Cape Verde defender StevenMoreiradescribed it. Veteran goalkeeper Vozinha broke down in tears afterthe final whistlefollowing his impressive performance to keep Spain at bay He was the player of the match, pulling off astring of saves at the end of the first half to deny FerranTorres,Pedri andAymeric Laporte.
The closest Spain came to finding abreakthrough was when Torres struck the bar shortly before halftime.
“Weshouldhave won today’s matchwitheverythingthathappened, with all the favorable situations we created,but we lacked freshness and aclinical edge,” said Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, who had warned before the match that Cape Verde could be one of the surpriseteams of the World Cup.
ROUNDUP
Cape Verdedidn’twin,but its performance rebuked some of thecriticismsthatthe expansion of theWorldCup from 32 teamsto 48 would weaken thetournament.
The group of islands have about 2.5 miles of landmassand approximately halfamillion inhabitants, making CapeVerde the thirdsmallest nation by population to qualify for the World Cup.
BELGIUM 1, EGYPT1: In Seattle, Romelu Lukaku’smere presence sparkedanattack that led to Belgium’slone goal only seconds afterheentered as asecond-half substitute,helpinghis team earn adraw with Egypt Lukaku came on in the 66thminute with Belgium trailing 1-0. He ran down themiddle of the field and lurched to tap across from the right into the net, but Egypt defender Mohamed Hany did that instead, scoring an own-goal.
Theequalizing goal came only
23 seconds after Lukaku came on the field. Emam Ashourhad put theEgyptians ahead in the 19th minute with his first international goal. Ashour,amidfielder whowas playinginhis 30th game forhis country,took advantageofadefensive breakdown to give Egypt only its secondlead in WorldCup match. The Egyptians, who are playing in their fourth World Cup, still have never won agame at the tournament.
Belgium failed to advance past the group stage at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and has not won any of its last three matches in the tournament. Egypt had numerous chances to increase its lead but could not put theRed Devils away.Lukaku and teammate Kevin De Bruyne also had an abundance of opportunities to take the lead.
SAUDIARABIA 1,URUGUAY 1: In Miami Gardens, Florida, Abdulelah AlAmri scored on arebound in the 41st minute forSaudi Arabia,and
Uruguay’sMaxiAraújoresponded withanequalizer in the 80th. Uruguaycontrolledmostof the second half but didn’tbreak through until Araújo fired arebound past goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais from close range. Uruguay,nicknamed“La Celeste,” dominated possession and had28attempts on goal to Saudi Arabia’s seven but trailed until late in the secondhalf It was the fourth international goal for Araújo and second at Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Al-Amri, who hada shotdenied by Uruguay’sFernando Muslera earlierinthe first half,put his squad ahead with aquick tap-in after Muslera palmed away a header Al-Amri fell to hisknees after the goal and placed his head down on thepitchashewas showered with cheers from Saudi Arabia fans, who were greatly outnumberedinSouth Florida but loud enough to make up the difference.
BY GREG BEACHAM Associated Press
INGLEWOOD,Calif. U.S.forward Christian Pulisic trained on his ownduring practice Monday while he rehabilitates acalf injury that limited him to one half of action in the Americans’ opening World Cup victory last week.
Pulisic participated in individual work and then wentto the gym while his teammates practiced at their training base in Irvine, California. The AC Milan attackergot kicked in the calfduring traininglastweek, and he left the Americans’ 4-1 victory overParaguay at halftime for precautionaryreasons.
Pulisic was outstanding inthe first match of his second World Cup, tormentingParaguay’sdefense with repeated runs down the left side at SoFi Stadium. He recorded an assistona goalby Folarin Balogun, and his playmaking wasdirectlyresponsible foranown-goal scored by Paraguay while the Americanswent ahead 3-0. The U.S. gave no update on Pulisic’sconditionMonday,but he said afterthe game that he didn’tthink it was serious.
“I just got abit of akick in the first half, so I’m reallyhoping that it’snothing,” Pulisic said
BY ZACH PASCUZZI Associated Press
PALM BEACH GARDENS,Fla. It would have beenunthinkable at thestart of the 2022 World Cuptosuggest CristianoRonaldo wasanything otherthan the undisputed leader of the Portugal team.
But the Qatar edition went poorly for Portugal’s all-time leading goalscorer.After scoring just once,fromthe penaltyspot, in the group stage, he reacted angrily to being subbed offagainst South Korea and was promptly dropped to the benchfor his team’sfirst knockout-stage match against Switzerland.
Then, he didn’tscore at allinthe 2024 European Championship. It wasthe first time he hadfailed to find the net at amajor international tournament
Now,inthe buildup to what may be Ronaldo’sWorld Cup swan song, concerns over what the 41-year-oldcan still bring to the national team are at theforefront of many fans’ minds.Portugal opens play Wednesday against Congo DR in Houston.
“I think in some instances they playbetter without him,”fan Zach Malliassaid at the team’sfirst open World Cup practice at its Florida base camp. “Thereare other playersthat fit the system better.”
Otherfans are worried about the superstar’sego and whether he wouldacceptrelinquishing the spotlight for the good of the team.
“He’sa verybig player,he’s very loved by alot of his fans,” Beatrice Mitankin said. “It might get to his head.”
AP PHOTO By MARTALAVANDIER Portugal’sCristiano Ronaldoruns drills on SaturdayinPalm Beach Gardens, Fla.
There is somerecentevidence, however,ofRonaldo still being able to positively influence games. During Portugal’s 2025 UEFANations League run, its second title triumphinthatcompetition, he scored eight goals, including an equalizer in the final against Spain.
Ronaldo also recently won his first Saudi Pro League title with Al-Nassr, leading his club with 28 goals on the season. His abundant experience and leadership are qualitiessome supporters say cannot be replicated.
“He’snot goingtoshy away from those moments when it’s the World Cup onthe line,” Rob Stickle said. “He’sone of those guys youwantkicking the penalty kicks for you,being on the pitch at the end of the game.” Ronaldo, playingina record-
extending sixth World Cup, is the oldestoutfieldplayer in the tournament but still projects as Portugal’sstarting striker Although hisage hasrepeatedly mentioned, fanErnesto Vilarpointedtoother examplesof older players, like Argentina’s LionelMessi andCroatia’sLuka Modric, as veterans whostill play significant roles fortheir team
“Age is just anumber,” Vilar said. “He’s still in very peak physical condition.” Ronaldo’steammates and manager would concur
Midfielder Vitinha is still in awe over Ronaldo’sphysique.
“He’s 41. I’m26, andI’m notlike that,”the Paris Saint-Germain player said through atranslator “It’ssomething incredible.”
Team manager Roberto Martínez has suggested Ronaldo could even appear at the2030World Cup, when he would be 45. Removed fromthe conversation aboutRonaldo’sproduction and effectiveness, however,are agroup of fans that will always idolize him: youngchildren.Many showed up to watch Portugal practice.
Elizabeth Stiebel, 10, says she admires how Ronaldo hasalways been there when his team needs a big moment. And 13-year-old Christian Loureiro, whose favorite Ronaldo momentishis overhead-kick goal against Juventus in 2018 while playing for Real Madrid, agrees thesuperstar forward is still a steadying voice.
“A lot of young players on this team need an olderfigure to help guide them,” Loureiro said.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ERIK S.LESSER
Cape Verde’sDailon Livramento, left, and SidnyLopes Cabral celebrate after aWorld Cup Group Hmatch between Spain andCape Verde on Monday in Atlanta. The game finished in a0-0 tie.
LSU gains two O-line pledges
BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer
Two offensive line prospects, three-star recruit Amaziah Siale and four-star prospect Terrance Smith, announced on social media Monday that they were committing to LSU football.
Siale, who is 6-foot-6 and 360 pounds, attends Mission Viejo High and is the No 46 player in California, according to the 247Sports composite. He flipped his pledge from California to LSU just 13 days after he originally committed to the Golden Bears.
He also has scholarship offers from Alabama, Texas and Utah
At 6-7 and 290, Smith is the No.
14 offensive tackle in the nation and the No. 7 recruit in Pennsylvania. He attends Lansdale Catholic in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, and holds scholarship offers from Alabama Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, Michigan and more.
Siale and Smith are LSU’s first two offensive linemen in the 2027 class. They are the ninth and 10th players to commit, joining the likes of five-star tight end Ahmad Hudson and four-star quarterback Peyton Houston.
Following Siale and Smith’s commitments, LSU holds the No. 34 recruiting class in the nation, per the 247Sports composite rankings.
LSU football reveals front office structure
BY JON BLAU Staff writer
As college football continues to professionalize, LSU football again has restructured its front office to focus on athlete pay. Along with naming assistant general managers for external and internal operations Monday to help general manager Billy Glasscock, the Tigers have moved the head of the football team’s name, image and likeness (NIL) initiatives, Taylor Jacobs, into a new role as a chief strategy officer for the program. In her new position, Jacobs will oversee what third-party NIL deals are going to football players as well as the team’s revenue-sharing dollars. According to a news release, the chief strategy officer is responsible for “generating strategic partnerships and ensuring alignment across key stakeholders to impact the long-term success of the program.”
More than ever, the success of a college football team depends on how much money it can invest in a roster LSU’s roster for the 2026 season, built heavily through the transfer portal, reportedly costs upward of $40 million.
A large chunk of that money comes from the $21.3 million each school can directly share with student-athletes during the 2026-27 academic year, the lion’s
Continued from page 1C
father, Jaxon McClure, a Marine Corps veteran who grew up in Chattanooga playing soccer with trash cans for goalposts, now coaches hundreds of local children and named his first child after one of the sport’s greatest stars.
This summer — 32 years since the United States first hosted the world’s biggest sporting competition Chattanooga is among several cities established as World Cup base camps, where visiting teams live and train between matches. Spain — among the favorites to win the tournament but tied Cape Verde 0-0 on Monday — has set up camp at a boarding school on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga; Iraq is in a mountain resort town in West Virginia with fewer than 3,000 residents; and Germany is in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where cobblestone streets and tobacco warehouses share space with German flags and TV crews.
Southern hospitality
A 144-foot underground waterfall beneath Lookout Mountain is lit up red and the Embassy Suites in downtown Chattanooga, where the Spanish team is staying, is adorned with la Rojigualda Spain’s red and yellow flag. Giant banners featuring Spanish players and declaring, “Bienvenidos a Chattanooga” greeted La Roja as the team arrived at Chattanooga Airport.
City native Skip Schwartz said so many people are wearing Spanish jerseys that “you don’t know if they’re from Spain, hoping to get
Top golfers aim to get in practice earlier before majors
BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer
share of that going to football programs. But third-party NIL deals are a differentiator for schools.
Businesses can pay athletes directly for marketing campaigns, but LSU also has worked with its multimedia rights partner, PlayFly, to not only reel in sponsorship dollars for the school but also athletes.
Now the Tigers also will have Jacobs, who has spent the last five years focused on NIL initiatives, working to find third-party deals to boost LSU’s budget.
Meanwhile, assistant GM for external operations JR Belton and Adam Clark, his internal operations counterpart, will help manage other aspects of the football program.
Belton, who served as director of football ops in 2025, will oversee recruiting, player development and personnel, and alumni relations as well as play a role in fundraising. According to the release, Belton will also help in building “a long-term financial strategy for roster construction.”
Clark, who comes over from NC State, will oversee the football program’s operational budget, including management of equipment, sports performance, nutrition, dining, athletic training, academics, compliance, human resources, game operations and facilities.
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y The U.S. Open brought big wind and not nearly as much activity for a Monday, typical these days of practice rounds at majors that move to a different course each year
More players are coming early, not so much to avoid the rush but to avoid the wait.
“It’s gotten terrible,” Justin Thomas said leading into the third major of the year “You have to sign up for tee times at the (British) Open and U.S. Open, and then people sign up with you and play in a foursomes. You can’t play nine holes in less than three hours.”
The way around that is to follow a script from Jack Nicklaus back in his prime — see the course early before it becomes populated with pros and amateurs, contenders and dreamers.
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy took a detour on their way to Ohio two weeks ago to play Shinnecock Hills, the first time seeing it for the No. 1 player, a refresher course for McIlroy
Jon Rahm arrived last Friday to see what he should expect for the U.S. Open. Patrick Reed, who hasn’t played since the PGA Championship last month, is said to have played the course more often than some of the Shinnecock members.
This is one of the most energydraining weeks of the year, a product of the mental stress a course like Shinnecock — and a major like the U.S. Open tends to elicit Thomas and Jordan Spieth arrived over the weekend and played
a glimpse or they are locals who have bought into the La Roja bandwagon.”
Around 25,000 people entered a lottery for 1,000 tickets to watch Spain practice at Baylor School, a 600-acre private academy for students grade 6 through 12. Meanwhile, tickets to watch Germany practice at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem sold out in four minutes.
“It’s just fun to see everyone start to care about something they didn’t care about before,” said Savannah Lahey who manages soccer bar Small Batch Beer Co. in downtown Winston-Salem. The bar has extended its hours for watch parties and created a German-inspired menu featuring schnitzel sandwiches and sauerbraten for Germany’s opening match.
“It’s getting to make people feel at home, even when they’re not at home,” Lahey said.
At the Greenbrier in West Virginia, a historic resort that has hosted presidents and foreign leaders, Iraqi flags flew alongside the Stars
and Stripes as the national team arrived for its World Cup training camp. Teams chose from FIFA-approved base camps across North America, with higher-ranked nations getting the earliest picks. Spain selected Chattanooga over larger cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles, then worked with Baylor to create an expansive headquarters around its training fields and media facilities.
FIFA inspectors graded Baylor’s facilities, including the condition of the grass and its drainage and irrigation systems, the school’s operations and systems director Sam Green said. To preserve the pitches for Spain, Baylor’s players trained this spring on artificial turf, a sacrifice Green said seniors accepted without complaint Hidden behind a tree line, two grass pitches form the center of Spain’s daily training. The airport and their downtown hotel are minutes away and Atlanta — where Spain plays two group-stage matches — is within easy reach. After
practice rounds two days before the official start of practice rounds. They didn’t have the course all to themselves, but it felt like it. And it beat the alternative of long rounds when players hit different clubs off the tee, dozens of shots from the rough and closely mown area around the green, putting to all four corners of the green.
Their preparation largely done, official practice days are now light work. That’s the Nicklaus way
“That’s why I never wanted to practice then,” Nicklaus said of the early part of the week at the majors. “I got my practice in the week before so I knew what I wanted to do, instead of waiting for everybody else. I didn’t like that. So I tried to get my practice in, and go back on Tuesday (of major week).
I didn’t want to get stuck in that six hours.
“If I had been there the week before, why did I need to get there on Monday?”
McIlroy had limited practice time at the PGA Championship because of a nagging blister on his right toe. But then, he had come to Aronimink two weeks earlier for serious practice.
But there was one image during his practice round when McIlroy had a small army tagging along inside the ropes, from TV personalities to equipment staff and photographers. It didn’t feel very productive to him.
“Too many people inside the ropes I think is the big part of it,” he said of the long practice rounds
Spain’s first official practice, players headed straight to the campus pool, where they “swam and laid out and had a good time” before returning to training.
For Schwartz, who now serves on Baylor’s board of trustees, Spain’s choice is meaningful because he and his teammates helped to lay Bermuda sod for their new soccer field when he played soccer at Baylor in the late 1980s and early 1990s. That field has since been replaced by an indoor tennis facility — which serves as Spain’s media center but the school now has three soccer pitches and one of the region’s premier soccer programs.
“If somebody had told me then that 40 years later Spain would be using this campus as the foundation for a World Cup, I wouldn’t even have tried to fathom it,” he said.
‘I’m cheering for Spain’
Tina Ankar, a first generation Palestinian American, said she became a soccer fan because of the World Cup and her boyfriend, who grew up watching games with his Mexican family At Spain’s open practice, hundreds of fans shouted “¡Vamos, España!” after nearly every touch Ankar found herself swept up in the energy
“I’ve got to watch these guys all the way to the end,” she said. “Now we really have someone to cheer on besides America.”
Before Spain’s first public practice, Baylor students slipped into the locker room and snapped photos of stalls freshly labeled with the names of Spain’s stars, debating which player had inherited “their”
locker
“I sat in that locker room almost every single day this spring,”
at the majors. “I think as well, guys are resigned to the fact that they’re going to play nine holes, so it’s OK to be out there for three hours. No one plays 18-hole practice rounds anymore the week of (a major). I guess it gives everyone the ability to play slow and hit as many balls as they like.” Tiger Woods used to have his own routine, playing first to have at least nine holes to himself.
One year at the Masters, he walked out of the clubhouse at 7:25 a.m. toward the first tee unaware of a wooden clock at the tee box indicating the course would open at 8 a.m. Not to worry His caddie, Steve Williams, moved the hands back a half-hour Woods stepped onto the tee at 7:28 a.m. saw the clock and moved the big hand back two more minutes and fired away He was on the links courses of the British Open around 6 a.m. Anything much later than that meant he had overslept.
Scheffler had a dream day of practice at the PGA Championship before he won at Quail Hollow last year He was the only PGA Tour player on the course the Sunday before official practice because most everyone else was at two PGA Tour events that day Monday through Wednesday can be as slow “I don’t remember it being as bad as it is,” Thomas said. “The U.S. Open and PGA Championship to me are the worst. It’s getting treated more like the range and chipping green. I get that you need to get used to it I totally understand that. But it’s gotten to be
17-year-old midfielder and graduating senior Heath Techasiriwan said.
Techasiriwan, a Filipino American and lifelong Lionel Messi fan who rooted for Argentina in 2022, said there was no question who he will support this summer “Without a doubt, I’m cheering for Spain,” he said. “I can’t see players like Pedri, Gavi and Lamine Yamal literally right in front of me and not cheer for them.”
Goalkeeper Mathew Ramirez commutes an hour each way to Baylor from Calhoun, Georgia. He grew up watching Barcelona with his father, who immigrated from Guatemala, and plans to watch Spain’s World Cup matches over carne asada with family and friends.
After practice, Yamal, who is 18, signed the 16-year-old goalie’s custom Barcelona jersey Ramirez told the star in Spanish: “Watching you play gives me happiness.”
Young fan’s superheroes
Back in Chattanooga, Beckham collects signatures and takes selfies with players before heading home in the Spain jersey his father said he slept in the night before.
His father said Beckham kept repeating: “Wait, Dad. They’re real. Lamine Yamal is a real person. I just thought they were like superheroes. They’re on TV.” Chattanooga has come a long way since the neighborhood games McClure remembers. He is now a soccer coach to about 850 children, and the city has professional men’s and women’s teams.
“They could have gone anywhere in this country,” McClure said of Spain, “and they chose us.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GEORGE WALKER IV Spain forward Lamine yamal, left, defender Marc Pubill, center, and midfielder Gavi walk with teammates on June 5 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Spain has set up its home base in Tennessee.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By DAVID J PHILLIP
Scottie Scheffler watches his shot on the 13th hole during a practice round for the U.S Open tournament at
Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.y., on Monday
The Fourth of July is approaching, and thisyear’sholiday marks aspecial milestone: The United States of America is officially 250 years old.Folks across the country are commemorating the occasion with lots of red, white and blue. Why not bring that color scheme into the landscape? At the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden in Baton Rouge, that’sexactly what staff members are doing as they refresh beds with warm-seasonannuals.Senior landscape manager Jason Stagg said there are plentyof patriotically hued plants that do well in Louisiana gardens.
Reds
The Burden team is using Lucky Star Dark Red pentas for apunch of red in the Burden landscape this summer
The Lucky Star series, which was selected for the AgCenter’sLouisiana Super Plant program, features small,fivepointed flowers that come in a range of vivid shades.
“This particular variety of pentas is shorter,sowe’re using that on the front of the bed,” Stagg said. Flowers aren’tthe only way you can add color.Stagg likes the deep crimson of Redhead coleus, afoliage plant that thrives in our climate.
Whites
To mimic the white stripes and stars of the American flag, the Burden landscape prominently displays white-flowering lantanas —asummertime staple in Louisiana gardens. Stagg recommends the Bandana series, amidsize lantana that is a Louisiana Super Plant.
Blues
True blue plants are rare in nature. But there are afew —along with some that come close enough to evoke Old Glory’sblue field.
“I find that some of your best blue colors are with salvias,” Stagg said. “This is also agood thing because salvias tend to be taller speciesofplants, and they’re great for the background of the bed.”
One of his favorite salvias is yet another Louisiana Super Plant that’scalled Rockin’Blue Suede Shoes. For even taller options, go with Indigo Spires and Big Blue. For lighter shades,give some less-common plants a try.Plumbago offers clusters of sky-blue flowers while ageratum, also known as blue mistflower,provides textured blooms that look like tiny pompoms.
BY ROBIN MILLER | Staff writer
The story of Beverly Lively’s family plays out through the photographs covering the living room wall in her Baton Rouge home.
At the top is aphoto of Lively during her days as anurse for gynecologist Henry Miller.Justbelow that is asmall portrait photo of her brother.Hewas a businessman,owner of three lounges in Baton Rouge.
Wall of memories
This is acopyofanold print that was probably taken about the time the girlsinthe orphanage movedfrom the oldhome on MainStreet to the newhome on North Street. BeverlyLively’saunts, Alma and Helen, nicknamed Snookie, movedfrom the orphanage’sMainStreet location to the house on NorthStreet at thistime.
And in thecenter is ashot of Elvis Presley,whom Lively met after his1956 Louisiana Hayride Tour performance in Baton Rouge High School’s auditorium. Shelooked into those blue eyes, he autographed thesouvenir for which she paid 25 s, then punctuated the moment with akiss on her cheek.
BR street market to host summer culinary series
STAFF PHOTO By ROBIN MILLER
Thered brick house, built as the Protestant Orphanagein1927, as it appears todayat1328 North St.inBaton Rouge. Though BeverlyLively’s mother,grandmother andAunt Edna neverlived in the house,her aunts,Alma and Helen, lived there until they were oldenough to leave
FILE PHOTO
GARDEN
Continued from page1D
What aboutshady areas?
Incorporating color into shady gardens often can be tricky,asvibrant flowering plants generally prefer sunny locations. But with a little creativity,you can still make these areas look festive for the Fourth. For shaded beds at Burden, Stagg and his crew are relying on acouple of plants. Torenia, acompact plant that works great in bordersand containers, is available in blue and white. And red andwhite selections from the Beacon series of impatiens, a
ORPHANAGE
Continued from page1D
Then the scanofLively’s wall comes to agrinding halt on agroup shotoflittle girls with uniform pageboy haircuts posing in front of a bricked building that once wasknown as theProtestant Orphanage in Baton Rouge when it stood on Main Street downtown.
Though so many stories vie for attentioninthis room, this is the story most important to Lively,and at age 90, she doesn’twant it to be forgotten.
Shetookthe opportunity
Her grandmother,Annie Laura Dunn Roof, was hired as the orphanage’scook and later named matron. Lively’s mother, LauraClaraRoof, and three aunts wereraised in the house, though they weren’ttechnically orphans.
“This is my mother,” Lively said, pointing to agirl on the back row.“And this is my Aunt Edna.She wasthe oldest, and she was feisty.My mother was the second oldest. And then here is my Aunt Alma and my Aunt Helen.”
Standingonthe end in the back is Lively’sgrandmother.She was barely scraping by in Hammond, taking any domesticjob she could find to support her four daughters.
“My grandfatherabandoned her,and she was doing what she could to support her family,” Lively said “She was an excellent cook, and she heard from someone that the orphanage was looking for acook. So, she went to the orphanage and asked them to try her cooking, and if they liked it, they could hire her.They loved it.”
Underthese conditions
She immediately was offered thejob,but Annie Laura Dunn Roof had afew conditions —four,tobeexact. As the chef, she would have to move into the orphanage, so she asked if she could bring her four daughters. They agreed. This was before World WarII, even long before the Great Depression. Though Lively can’tremember the exact year her mother’s family made the move from Hammond to BatonRouge, she emphasizes that it was necessary “Times were rough, and they were so poor,” she said So began the Roof family’s long association with the Protestant Orphanage. The institutionhad been around since 1854, housing only parentless girls.
Itsfirst home wasthe “Bird Building” on the 500 block of Main Street in downtown BatonRouge
The orphans moved further down Main Street in 1870 aftertheir original home was rented out to the Louisiana School for the Blind.
David Laatsch, ageneal-
SERIES
McCLURE
Manyplantscan be used to create ared, white and blue landscape.
LouisianaSuper Plant, are atried-and-true choice for color in the shade.
PROVIDED PHOTO FROM BEVERLyLIVELy
BeverlyLively’sgrandmother Annie Laura Dunn Roof, seen here in lateryears,took ajob as the cook for the Protestant OrphanageinBaton Rouge in the early 1900s. Roof was living in Hammond and working to supporther four daughters after her husband abandoned the family.She movedher daughterstothe orphanageand laterwas namedthe orphanage’s matron.
ogy librarian forthe East Baton Rouge ParishLibrary, pinpointed its exact address as 1219 Main St. after adeep dive into the 1905City Directory
“I found it at the samelocation in the 1895 directory,” he wroteinanemail.
Theorphanage remained on Main Street untilmoving into its thirdand final home in thered bricked building at 1328 North St. in 1927.
“Theold orphanage was simply one lot tothe west of thecurrent location and faced Maininsteadof North,” Laatsch continued.
Theorphanage was governed by aboard of directors, which secured the $42,000 funding for the new building’s construction and operated the organization as aprivate institution.
NewhomeonNorth Street In theend, the NorthStreet homehad thedistinction the other two buildings didn’t it was designedand built especially for the orphans. The building accommodated 25 girlsand its staff, consisting of asuperintendent,two matrons, acook andlaundress.
“Mymother neverlived in the new orphanage,”said Lively.“She and my Aunt Ednahad aged outofthe orphanage by that time. My grandmother had left and was working for Kean’s Dry Cleaners. My mother worked with her,and Aunt Edna worked for Wolf’s Bakery when it was downtown.” Aunt Edna eventually joined theWomen’sAirforce Service Pilots,orWASPs, whoflew under the directionofthe UnitedStates ArmyAir Forces, which would later become theU.S. Air Force.
Aunt Almaand Aunt Helen were theonly twofamily memberswho moved into the new orphanage on North Street, living thereuntil they wereold enough to leave.
But when they were all livinginthe Main Street orphanage,anincidentoccurred thatchanged Annie LauraDunn Roof’s status from chef to matron.
“I don’tknow what was said or what happened, but Edna got mad and threw an orange at the matron during dinner,”Lively said. “The matronhad astick and began beating Edna withit, andmymother heardthe commotion. My grandmother came outofthe kitchen andjerked thestick outof the matron’shand and said, ‘At therisk of losing my job, Iwillnot allowyou to beat my childlikethat.’ She threw thestick away.”
Anew matron
In theend, thematron was fired, and Lively’sgrandmother was promoted tothe position.
Fromthere, the storiesare sporadic.Lively remembers hermother sharing recollections of walking to school and church from the Main Street location. Her mother was apoint guard forthe girls’ basketball team at a school that once stood on Nicholson Drive, while her Aunt Edna attended aschool on Convention Street.
Lively doesn’tremember theschools’ names, but research shows thatthe ConventionStreet school possibly was St. FrancisHigh School, which was torndown in 1961 to makeway for U.S. 110.
“That school isn’tthere anymore,and my grandmother always hoped that she would livelongenough to be able to take aride on theexpressway,” Lively said. “She died before it was complete.”
Lively’s Aunt Alma moved to Long Island, New York. Her Aunt Helen married Alma’s husband’sbrother Lively’smother married Charles Whites Lively.The couple would become parents to Lively,her brother Kenny and sister Shirley BeverlyLively andher sister are the only survivors of their immediate family
Her mother never returned to the orphanage’s Main Street or visitedthe North Street location,though Beverly Lively would often takeher on Sunday drives down Main Street
“The building on Main Street had been torn down by then,” she said. “And she had no interest in going into the building on North Street.”
But hermother and aunts are forever part of theorphanage’shistory on the living room wall.
Email RobinMiller at romiller@theadvocate. com.
Waitingroomrudeness
Dear Miss Manners: Iwas in amedical office waiting room while myhusband was having atest done. I was the only one sitting in thewaiting room initially, until another person arrived. She had her cellphone on, and was watching aprogram when she walked in the facility.Noone was at the front desk at thetime of her arrival.
if people don’tstart saying something, we will be lost.
Businesses need to implement policies that require headphones with the use of cellphones in their offices. No one should be subject to listening to the mostdegrading and profane words that now seem popular with somepeople.
The volume was very loud, and all that could be heard was one profanity after another.After afew minutes, Iasked her if she had headphones, because the program was so loud and offensive.
Gentle reader: If only Miss Manners had put in earplugs or rather,put on an eye shade —before she saw this. But she is sadly familiar with apattern practiced by ordinary citizens, supposedly just going about their business:
She said she did not,and continued to listen, making no attempt to turn it down.
Itold her it was inconsiderateofher to play this type of program in awaiting room. She then threatened to “beat me up if I didn’tshut thef*** up.”
Itold her Iwould call 911 if that was her intention, and she then backed off.
Iknow you’re probably saying Ishould have just ignored her,but something in me would not let me. I feel we have allowed all decency to be slowly eradicated from our society and
1. Someone behaves with ablatant lack of consideration forothers.
2. Someone else scolds the offender
3. The offender threatens violence.
4. The offended threatens to call the police.
And oh, yes, there is another:
5. One or both of them invokesthe noble name of etiquette, claiming to be enforcing properbehavior.
Miss Manners is not grateful forthe assistance. But neither does she agree that suffering rudeness is the only alternative. Even if there wasnoone at the desk, you could have found someone in authority to deal with this. Or you could have waited foryour husband elsewhere, sending him atext on where to find you. Dear Miss Manners: Ilove eating cherries, but how can Ieat them without offending anyone by spitting out the stones?
Gentle reader: Well, you could swallow them, but Miss Manners does not advise this. When you werea child, surely someone told you that this would make acherry tree grow in your tummy It is the spitting part, which suggests propelling it out, along with some noise and saliva, which can be offensive. Instead, push the pit forward with your tongue and quietly deposit it in your hand or,better,a napkin if you are fortunate enough to have one within reach. Then what? Ashtrays have disappeared, so if there is no used plate around, into your pocket they go —offending only yourself or whoever does your laundry
Sendquestions to Miss Manners at herwebsite, www.missmanners.com.
Donating nonfoodessentials
Dear Heloise: Ihave asuggestion for donations to food pantries.I usually donatenonfood necessities such as toilet paper,trial sizes or small sizes of shampoo, laundry detergent,feminine supplies,toothpaste and more. Many people who use food pantries are living out of abackpack, so small sizes workbest.Pantries have ahigher number of customers when school is out, so this is agood time for an extra donation. Ialso include zip-close bags to keep thingsdry in abackpack that isn’twaterresistant.Can you imagine needing toilet paper and not having it?Also, as far as clothing drives, I’ll pick up acouple packages of underwear that are my size to donate. Someone who’smysize may be in need of it —Beverly P.,via email Beverly,these are useful items that we all need. However,some food pantries won’taccept anything but food items. So, it might be best to call and ask if your local food pantry or food bank is willing to accept and distribute nonedible items. —Heloise Reviving stalechips
make stalechipscrisp again is to useanair fryer. It is fast anduses much less energy. —RonT.,via email Blisterpackaging
Dear Heloise: Ihave agood wayofremoving medications from blister packaging. Iuse abasic potato peeler and use the end of the peeler to remove the eyes of potatoes. Ipush the end of the peeler through the foil at the edge of the blister,then Ifold the foil over The point of the peeler isn’tsharp enough to damage the medication. When I’ve finished peeling all of the blister’spacking material, Idumpthe contents into abowl, and this way, my thumbs don’tget sore. —JamesA., via email Wipe aftershopping
Dear Heloise: Just wanted to respond to the comments thatI’m seeing aboutusing wipesatthe grocerystore.I do use thembut on my way outofthe store to clean my hands, notonmyway in.
Kate, in Portland, Oregon
Dear Heloise: The best way to
Kate, agreed!You never knowhow many times an item washandledbyanother person.WhenI gethome from thegrocery store (or anyshopping trip),I always wash my hands before put-
TODAYINHISTORY
By The Associated Press
Today is Tuesday, June 16, the 167th day of 2026. There are 198 days left in the year
Todayinhistory: On June 16, 1963, the world’sfirst female space traveler,Valentina Tereshkova, 26, was launched into orbit by theSoviet Union aboard Vostok 6. Tereshkova spent 71 hours in flight, circling the Earth 48 times before returning safely
Also on this date:
ting things away.ThenI wash them againafterward to removeanythingImay have pickedupfrom handling thebags. Sound excessive? Actually,it’snot. We all handle things that other people have touched, and without thinking about it, we then touch our eyes, our lips, or an earlobe. When doing this, we transmit bacteria to ourselves with the possibility of picking up aflu, virus or something worse. —Heloise
Wash your food items
Dear Heloise: We workina large grocery store here in Texas, and we often see people handling items such as tomatoes, looking them over,putting them back, then examining another tomato, and so on. If you wantthe fruit and vegetables that have been handled the least, always reach as high up as you can. Most folks take from the lower options, as it’s easier to reach. Before you eat these fresh foods, washthem well. Instead of soap, use baking soda to scrub off any germsand oil from a stranger’shands. —Bobby, Jake and Luis, viaemail Sendahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.
Glass-Steagall Act into law, creating the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to bolster public confidence in the U.S. banking system.
In 1961, Soviet dancer and choreographer Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West, seeking asylum in Paris during atour by the Kirov Ballet.
Continued from page1D Higgins
$150 per person or $250 per couple, available for purchase at breada. org/summer-culinary-series.
On July 15 and July29, “Taste Like aSomme” offers guests the opportunity to explore wine through theeyes of aprofessional sommelier.
Level 3Sommelier Scott Higgins will teach the class how to evaluate wine with intention while enjoying a
charcuterie board that featuresseasonal ingredients from Red StickFarmers Market vendors. Participantswill learn the technique,structure and flavor profiling of wine. The event starts at 6:30 p.m.and is limited to 20 guests. Tickets are $100 per person or $175 per couple, available for purchase at breada. org/summer-culinary-series. BREADAplans to continue the program throughout the year with future classes that highlight the flavors of each season.Guests are en-
couraged to reserve their spotsearly
The Big River Economic and Agricultural Development Alliance is anonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening local food systems and supporting regional agriculture through the Red StickFarmers Market and Main Street Market.Through direct connections between producers and consumers, BREADA works to build ahealthier, more sustainable, and economicallyvibrant community.
In 1858, accepting the Illinois Republican Party’s nomination for theU.S. Senate, Abraham Lincoln said theissue of slavery in the United States had to be resolved, declaring, “a house divided against itself cannot stand.”
In 1884, designer La Marcus Thompson opened the first commercially successful rollercoaster,known as the Switchback Railway,in Coney Island, New York.
In 1903, theFord Motor Company was incorporated in Detroit, Michigan.
In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signedthe
In 1976, thousands of Black students in Johannesburg’sSoweto township demonstrated against the imposition of the Dutchbased Afrikaans language in schools; police opened fire on the students, killing at least 176 and as many as 700.
In 1978, President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos signed the instruments of ratification forthe Panama Canal treaties during aceremony in Panama City
In 2015, real estate mogul Donald Trump launched his successful campaign forthe presidency of the United States with aspeech at Trump TowerinManhattan.
In 2016, Walt Disney Co. opened Shanghai Disney-
land, its first themepark in mainland China. In 2023, Daniel Ellsberg, the history-making whistleblower who leaked the Pentagon Papers, died at 92. Ellsberg was amember of the government-military elite who revealed longtime government doubts and deceit about the Vietnam War, inspiring acts of retaliation by President Richard Nixon that helped bring about Nixon’sresignation.
Today’sbirthdays: Author Joyce Carol Oates is 88. Country singer Billy “Crash” Craddock is 87. R&B singer Eddie Levert is 84. Boxing Hall of Famer Roberto Durán is 75. Pop singer Gino Vannelli is 74. Actor Laurie Metcalf is 71. Rapper MC Ren is 57. Golfer Phil Mickelson is 56. Actor John Cho is 54. Actor Daniel Brühl is 48. Actor Missy Peregrym is 44. Singer Diana DeGarmo
LSU AGCENTER PHOTO By OLIVIA
Judith Martin MISS MANNERS
Hints from Heloise
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) A new look that makes you feel good about yourself will encourage you to go the distance and not settle for anything less than what you want. A unique suggestion will help you market yourself for success.
CANCER (June 21-July 22) Put more energy into your thoughts. Sticking to the truth and making your intentions very clear will be necessary when dealing with people who want something from you or those trying to change you.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) It's time to pay attention to how you look and feel. Take command of your future by engaging in events that connect you to an industry or group you'd like to participate in more.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) A lively approach to helping others and to making the most with what you've got will be inspirational and send a strong message to others to pitchinandhelp.Bealeaderandsethigh standards.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Flying under the radar will allow you to reach your goal without interference. Distance yourself from people who are overreacting. Disciplineandingenuityareyoursuperpowers.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) An open mind will lead to valuable information. Pay attention,stayintentondoingthingsright the first time and choose your words carefully and your battles wisely.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Analyzeyour status, and put an end to what's holding you back. Walk away from drama and those using emotional blackmail to take
advantage of you Limit spending, and implement discipline in your daily routine.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Demonstrating how much you care and revealing what you are willing to do will help you win favors and the respect of those you respect most. Truth and honesty will carry your wants and needs to fruition.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Push forward with enthusiasm. A change you make at home or to your lifestyle will enhance your creative imagination and help you find your way to a better place or position.
PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Doing something entertaining or creative will improve your view of what's happening around you. Choose to speak your mind and to do your part when working with others.
ARIES (March 21-April 19) Think before you speak. Focus on doing what's right and helping those in need. How you spend your time will determine how your day will unfold. Refuse to let anger take over.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Opportunity will unfold through talks, kind gestures and not letting stubbornness get in the way of doing what's right. Reach out to experts, and you'll discover options you didn't know existed.
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
BY PHILLIP ALDER
We are lookingatsituations in which third hand should or should not follow the“third-hand high”mantra. Whichis right here?
Southisinfour hearts. West leads a fourth-highestdiamond two. After dummy plays low, shouldEast put in hisnine or rise with the king?
North knew that his hand was atad strong for afour-heart “weak freak” raise, but he knew that it was unlikely his side had aslam, and he wasworried that the opponentsmight be abletodo well in spades. East should work outwho haswhatin diamonds. He knows that South has the ace, because West would not have led a diamond away from theace. AndSouth presumablyhas threediamonds.West probably has the queen,and might have the 10 as well. (If West had startedwith 10-high diamonds, he likelywould have led from astronger suit.)
However, thekey point is that if East plays his king, declarer must gettwo diamond tricks: his ace and, later, dummy’s jack. But if East puts in his nine, perhaps he can hold Southtoone diamond winner.
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 ZIRconIA: zur-KOH-nee-uh: Awhite crystalline compound used forrefractories, insulation, enamels and glazes.
Average mark14words
Timelimit 30 minutes
Can you find 23 or morewords in ZIRCONIA?
YEstERDAY’s WoRD —REMADE
mare mead mere armed dame dare dear deem deer dram dream
loCKhorNs
Whatawonderful promise! Be in churchthis Sunday. G.E. Dean
marmaduKe
Bizarro
hagar the horriBle
Pearls Before swiNe
garfield
B.C.
PiCKles
hidato
mallard fillmore
for the purpose of acquiring amineral lease(s) or ageophysical agr eement( s), provided and corrected exclusively by the nominating party.Therefore, any mineral lease(s) or geophysical agr eement(s) awarded by the Louisiana State Mineral and Energy Board(Mineral Board) from the Tract(s) listed below arewithout warranty of any kind, either express, implied or statutory including, but not limited to, title or the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for aparticular purpose.
An error or omission in the nominating party’s Tractdescription may requirethat a State mineral lease(s) or geophysical agreement(s) be modified, canceled or abrogated due to the existence of conflicting leases, operating agreements, private claims or other futureobligations or conditions within the Tract(s) described. In such case, however, the Mineral Board shall not be obligated to refund any consideration paid by the Lessee prior to such modification, cancellation or abrogation including, but not limited to, bonuses, rentals and royalties.
Tract(s) available for leasing may be situated in the Louisiana Coastal Zone as defined in Act 361 of the Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature of 1978 (promulgated as LSA-R. S. 49:213) and may be subject to the guidelines and regulations promulgated by the Office of Coastal Management of the Department of Energy and Natural Resources for operations in the Coastal Zone.
Bids may be for the whole or any particularly described portion of the land advertised, but no bids will be accepted that does not equal the Minimum Royalty as set forth in La. R.S. 30:127 or which are not in compliance with the provisions of Sub-part Aof Chapter 2, Title 30 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, other applicable laws or the guidelines established by the Boardthrough the Office of State Resources. The Minimum Royalty is not to be construed as an amount acceptable to the Mineral Board, it being the policy of the Mineral Boardto reject any bid which does not reflect tract potential. The Board considers bonus, royalty percentage, and also compares royalty granted to landownersinthe area.
Multiple portion bids on the same tract may be accepted by the Mineral Board, even though they overlap. In the case of overlapping portion bids on the same tract, each of which is otherwise acceptable to the State, the Mineral Boardhas the sole discretion, to determine which one of the multiple bids on the same tract is most advantageous and in the best interest of the State. The Mineral Board may base it decision on factors such as but not limited to the royalty,per acrecash payment, bonus, any additional consideration. The selected bid, (referred to as “Bid A”), will
Further,in accordance with Article XII, Section 10 of the Constitution of Louisiana, and notwithstanding any language herein to the contrary,any mineral rights granted by the Mineral and Energy Boardtothe tract(s) advertised herein are subject to the surface usage for integrated coastal protection or hurricane and flood protection projects promulgated, funded and effected through the State of Louisiana, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority the Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration, and the Department of Conservation and Energy and its divisions whether solely or in conjunction with other state, local or federal governmental agencies or with private individuals or entities.
be given priority in having alease issued.
TheMineral Board will also indicate the acceptability of other portionbids on the sametract, if any in the order of their acceptance (referred to respectively as “Bid B”, “Bid C” etc.). Once the plat of “Bid A” ‘s portion has been rendered as accurately as possible, “Bid B” will be contacted and given an option to take alease on the remaining portion of his portion bid acreage not overlapping “Bid A” ‘s bid portion, at “Bid B’ ‘s per acrebid price (both as to bonus and rental); and thereafter each successive bidder whose bid is otherwise acceptable will be given the option to take a lease on whatever portionremains of his portionbid acreage at his respective per acrebid price, less and except any prior portionbid acreage on which the successful bidder has opted to take alease.
TheMineral and Energy Boarddoes notobligate itself to accept any bid, and that acceptance is at the sole discretion of the Mineral Board which reserves the right to reject any and all bids or to grant a lease on any portion of the tract advertised and to withdraw the remainder of the tract.
EAST BATON ROUGE AND THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE Notice is hereby given to all citizens of the City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge and to all other interested persons, of the introduction at the
meeting of the Metropolitan Councilofthe City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, heldonJune 10, 2026 of theproposed resolutions/ordinances, the titles of which areset forth hereinafter,and that public hearing will be held thereon by theMetropolitan Councilat4:00 P.M., Wednesday,June 24, 2026, in the CouncilChambers(Room 348)on the third floor of the City-Parish Governmental Building in this City,these proposed resolutions/ordinances being entitledas follows: RESOLUTION
Aresolution setting the amount of the Local Hospital AssessmentPayments for the East Baton Rouge Parish Local HealthcareProvider Participation Program for fiscal year 2026, to direct how therevenue derivedfromLocal Hospital Assessment Payments is to be spent, and to set the due date and amount to be paid in collection fees. By CouncilAdministrator/Treasurer. RESOLUTION
Authorizing the Mayor-President, on behalfof theBaton Rouge Police Department, to accept adonation from the Louisiana Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Foundation inanamount not to exceedTwentyThousand Dollars ($20,000.00). The donated fundswill be used to offset expenses associated with travel, lodging, and attendance for membersofthe Baton Rouge Police Department at the 2026 National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial events in Washington, D.C. Sergeant Eisworth,who madethe ultimate sacrifice in service to the citizensof Baton Rouge, inclusion in the memorial observances is asignificantand meaningful occasion for the Department, his family,and the community.ByPoliceChief RESOLUTION
Authorizing the Mayor-President, on behalfofthe Baton Rouge Police Department, to amend the operating services contract with SoundThinking (ShotSpotter)for gunshot detection services in designated areas within the City of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish. The estimated compensation under the agreement will not exceed $307,255,effective January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026. The agreement will be funded by the 2026 Annual Operating Budget, specifically thePolice General Fund. By Police Chief.
RESOLUTION
Authorizing the Mayor-President, on behalfof theBaton Rouge Police Department, to donate thirty (30) surplus Protec/Safarilandballistic vests to the Ferriday Police Department. These vests have been removed from active service by the Baton Rouge Police Departmentand areconsidered surplus property.This donation representsanopportunity to provide assistance to afellow Louisiana law enforcement agency while disposing of surplus equipment responsiblyand beneficially.The transfer willresult in no cost to theCity-Parish. By Police Chief.
RESOLUTION
Authorizing the Mayor-President to execute an agreement between the CityofBaton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge, on behalf of theOffice of Community Development, and CatholicCharitiesofthe Diocese of Baton Rouge (Sanctuary of Life) in an amount not to exceed $70,000.00, with aterm beginning August 1, 2025, and ending December 31, 2026, and further authorizing the execution of all relateddocuments. ByCommunity Development Director
RESOLUTION
Authorizing the Mayor-President to execute an agreement between the CityofBaton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge, on behalf of theOffice of Community Development, and Vinformatix in an amount not to exceed $200,000.00 with aterm beginning May 1, 2026, and ending December 31, 2027, and further authorizing the executionofall relateddocuments. By Community Development Director
RESOLUTION
The rights to geother mal resources, free sulphur,potash, lignite,salt and other solid minerals aretobeexcluded from any oil or gas mineral lease and any bid purporting to include those rights will be disregarded as to the extent of those rights only
If you require accommod ati ons due to adisability in order to attend or participate in a meeting, please notifythe Office of State Resources at P.O. Box 2827, Baton Rouge, LA 708212827 or 225-3424615 at least two (2) working days before the meeting date.
INLAND TRACTS
(Tract Nos. 46088 through 46091 inclusive,herein cannot specify a lease primary term exceeding three (3) years).
TRACT 46088Bossier and Caddo Parishes, Louisiana All lands, including lands noworformerly constituting the beds and bottoms of all water bodies of every natureand description, owned by and notpresently under mineral lease as of July 8, 2026 from the State of Louisiana, situated in Bossier and Caddo Parishes,Louisiana, and being morefully described as follows: Acertain tract of land located in Section 3, Township 17 North, Range13 West,Bossier Parish, Louisiana, being more particularly described in that certain CashSale Deed, in Instrument Number 902849, Book 1411, Page194, of the Conveyance Records of Bossier Parish, Louisiana, containing 16.81 acres.
Addi ti ona l requirements to be included in all sealed bids submitted to the Office of State Resources and additional tract information associated with each tract advertised can be found at the Office of State Resources website titled “Notice of Publication” located at: https://www.denr louisia na .gov/ pag e/no tice -ofpublication-202512. It is the bidders’ responsibilityto properly complete the bid packagepursuant to the requirements stated in both the public notice and the Notice of Publication.
TRACT 46089Bossier and Caddo Parishes, Louisiana All of the lands nowor formerly constituting the beds and bottoms of all water bodies of every natureand description as to which title is vested in the State of Louisiana, together with all islands arising therein and other lands formed by accretion or by reliction, whereallowed by law,exceptingtax adjudicated lands, and notpresently under mineral lease on July 8, 2026, situated in Bossier and Caddo Parishes Louisiana, and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at apoint being apointonthe Northernboundary of State LeaseNo. 20030, as amended, having Coordinates of X=1,635,398.46 and Y= 622,831.80; thence South 90 degrees 00 minutes 00 seconds West 5,201.90 feet along the North boundary of said State LeaseNo. 20030, as amended, to apointbeing its Northwest corner having Coordinates of X=1,630,196.56 and Y= 662,831.80; thence North 00 degrees 34 minutes 27 seconds East 5,707.36 feet to apointhaving Coordinates of X= 1,630,250.44 and Y =668,538.90; thence South 89 degrees 00 minutes 10 seconds East 5,127.81 feet to apointhaving Coordinates of X= 1,635.377.47 and Y =668,449.66; thence South 00 degrees 12 minutes 51 seconds East 5,617.90 feet to the point of beginning (This tract includes only waterbottoms claimed and owned by the state and specifically excludes any land which the state may claim or own and to which the mineral rights arevested in the state), containing approximately 101 acres.
Authorizing the Mayor-President to execute Supplemental AgreementNo. 1tothe contract with James DeshotelsArchitects, LLC,for additional design services in connection with their contract for the Department of Maintenance –Maintenance Lot Storage Buildings, being City Parish Project No. 21-ASD-CP-1540 in an amount not to exceed $$9,902.00. (Account No. 1000-7600-30-7610-0000-0000-000000-643500-40000) By Buildingand Grounds Director
RESOLUTION
Authorizing the Mayor Presidentonbehalf of the Division of Human Development &Services Ryan White Program to accept funding from the US Department of Health andHumanServices, Health Resources and Services Administration,for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program which includes Ryan White Ending the HIV epidemic (EHE) funding in an amount of $1,450,000.00 (1st Allocation-$550,000.00 +2nd Allocation$1,450,000.00 =Total Award- $2,000,000.00) for the grant period of March 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027, and authorizing the execution of all documents in connection therewith. By Human Development &Services Director
RESOLUTION
Authorizing the Mayor Presidenttoaccept funding from the US Department of Health andHumanServices, Health Resources and Services Administration,onbehalf of the Division of Human Development and Services for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program which includes Part Aand the Minority AIDS Initiative in an amount of $3,242,143.00 (1st Allocation -$1,243,770.00 –2nd Allocation -$3,242,143.00 =Total Federal Award -$4,485,913.00) for the grant period of March 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027, and authorizing the execution of all documents in connection therewith. By Human Development &Services Director
RESOLUTION
Authorizing the Mayor-President, on behalf of the Office of Community Development, to execute an amendment to contract number 800003795 with Workforce Group, LLC between the City of Baton Rouge/Parish of East Baton Rouge, increasingthe contract amount by $100,000.00 for anew total not-to-exceed$38,671,406.53 and extending the agreement expiration date to September 30, 2026 and authorizes the execution of all necessary documents. By Community Development Director
RESOLUTION
Authorizing for the Mayor-President and/or Chairman of the Airport Commission to enter into an agreement with Gitibin &Associates, LLC. dba Go Rentals to provide luxurycar rental services to general aviation customers of Velocity BTR Holdings, LLC for aperiod of three (3) years with two (2)one (1)year options to renew.ByAviation Director
RESOLUTION
Authorizing the Mayor-President to enter into a five-year agreement with RTAFleet360 for cloud-based Fleet Management Information System (FMIS) services, in an amount not to exceed $559,908.76 over the fiveyear term, subject to budget approval with funding appropriated annually (Account No. 6100-7900-10-7920-0000-0000-000000-643500).By Director of Fleet Management.
RESOLUTION
Authorizing the Mayor-President to execute an amendment to the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement(CEA) with Capital Area Transit System (CATS) for clarification of agency responsibilities associated with MOVEBR Community Enhancement Project Nicholson-PlankBus Rapid Transit, being City of Baton Rouge/Parish of East Baton Rouge Project No. 16-CIUS-0032. (Account No. 920710043-4370 00000-0000000000-653100).By Transportation and Drainage Director RESOLUTION
Authorizing the Mayor-President to execute Supplemental AgreementNo. 2toa contract for Professional Engineering Services with T. Baker Smith LLC for additionaltrafficdata collection andSUE services associated with HighlandRoad at Pecue Lane Enhancement Project, being City-Parish Project No. 23-EN-HC-0029, in an amount not to exceed $28,040.51, bringing the total contract amount not to exceed $851,069.20. (Account No. 9217100100-4370.00000-0000000000-653240).ByTransportation and Drainage Director RESOLUTION
TRACT 46090 -East Baton Rouge and West Baton Rouge Parishes, Louisiana All of the lands now or formerly constituting the beds and bottoms of allwater bodies of everynatureand description as to which title is vestedin the State of Louisiana, together with all islands arisingtherein and other lands formed by accretion or by reliction, whereallowed by law, exceptingtax adjudicated lands and not presently under mineral lease on July 8, 2026, situated in East Baton Rouge and West Baton Rouge Parishes, Louisiana, and moreparticularly described as follows: Beginning at a point havingCoordinates of X=2,008,565.33 and Y=706,525.69; thence East 17,865.93 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 2,026,431.27 and Y =706,525.69; thence South 15,872.35 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 2,026,431.27 and Y =690,653.34; thence West 17,865.93 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 2,008,565.33 and Y =690,653.34; thence North 15,872.35 feet to the point of beginning, (This tract includes only waterbottoms claimed and owned by the state and specifically excludes any land which the state may claimor own and to which the mineral rights arevestedinthe state), containing approximately 1,804 acres.
TRACT 46091Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana
All of the lands now or formerly constituting the beds and bottoms of allwater bodies of everynatureand description as to which title is vestedin the State of Louisiana, together with all islands arisingtherein and other lands
Authorizing the Mayor-President to enter acontract for the Department of Emergency Medical Services with Life ShareBlood Center.Thiscontract
formed by accretion or by reliction, whereallowed by law, exceptingtax adjudicated lands and not presently under mineral leaseonJuly8 2026, situated in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at apoint having Coordinates of X= 2,504,630.00 and Y =265,950.00; thence South 7,240.00 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 2,504,630.00 and Y =258,710.00; thence West 1,862.97 feet to apoint on the East lineofTract 3ofState LeaseNo. 1464, as amended, having Coordinates of X= 2,502,767.03 and Y =258,710.00; thence on the boundary of said State LeaseNo. 1464 the following courses: North 366.38 feet, North 65 degrees 05 minutes 41 seconds West 1,497.63 feet and North 88 degrees 48 minutes 27 seconds West 3,200.00 feet to its Northwestcomer havingCoordinates of X=2,498,209.36 and Y= 259,773.66; thence West 219.27 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 2,497,990.09 and Y =259,773.66; thence North 01 degrees 07 minutes 41 seconds West 4,100.79 feet to apoint on the South lineofTract 2 of said State Lease No. 1464 having Coordinates of X= 2,497,909.36 and Y =263,873.66; thence on the boundary of said Tract 2ofsaid State LeaseNo. 1464 the following courses: North 87 degrees 34 minutes 56 seconds East 3,746.82 feet and North 00 degrees 54 minutes 20 seconds West 1,918.51 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 2,501,622.52 and Y=265,950.00; thence East 3,007.48 feet to the point of beginning, LESS AND EXCEPT any portion of the Agreement between Cockrell et al and the State of Louisiana, dated May 16, 1938, recorded in Book 88, Page 189, in PlaqueminesParish that may fallwithin the boundaries of above described tract. The abovedescribed tract contains approximately 181 acres.
is forLife Sharetoprovide theDepartment of EMSwith blood, blood components, and certain labservices, enabling theDepartment of EMS to provide lifesaving treatment whenclinically indicated, not to exceed $235,000. By Emergency Medical Services Director
RESOLUTION
Authorizing theMayor-President to executeacontract forProfessional Engineering Services with Vectura Consulting Services, LLC. fortrafficdata collectionneeded forthe MOVEBR CorridorEnhancement College Drive (Perkins Rd. to I-10) project,being City-Parish Project No. 19-EN-HC-0033, in an amount not to exceed $96,100.03. (Account No. 9217100081-4372 00000-0000000000-653240). By Transportationand Drainage Director CONDEMNATION INTRODUCTIONS
ARTHUR GREEN 1703 73rdAve Lot 10 +(10, 11, &12), Sq. 16, Bank AdditionSubdivision -Council District 2-Kenney
ETHEL STEWARTWORTHY,TOMMY CURTIS WORTHY,TERRYWAYNE WORTHY,KAIN WEBB WORTHY,AND JANIS RAVEN SHEEHAN 14812 Old Hammond Hwy Lot 7-C-1 Larry W. Worthy Prop. Tract -Council District 4-Moak
MIGUEL RECARDO DUNN AND IRENEDUNN 5620 Matthews St., Lot 176, Greendale Subdivision -Council District 5-Hurst
WILLIE C. MATTHEWS, ERIC BUTLER, THE ESTATEOFWALTER MCCLAIN AND LOIS BUTLER MCCLAIN 3157 Ontario St Lot 2, Sq. E, CrawfordAdditionSubdivision -Council District 7- Harris
MYRTIS REED, AUDREY STEWART, CAROLYNPREWITT,FREDERIC REED SR.,RAPHEW REED SR.,RAFEAL WRIGHT,GILLIAMA DOMINO, THE ESTATEOFBAPTISTE REED, AND THE ESTATEOFDOLORES WRIGHT 1177 N47thSt. (House and Rear Shed),Lot 29, Sq. 53, Greenville Extension Subdivision -Council District 7-Harris
DEBRA TERRELL, GEORGE WASHINGTONEAMES, JR.,THE OPENED SUCCESSIONOFGLORIA EMOORE, THE ESTATEOFGEORGE WASHINGTONEAMES, THE ESTATEOFJOY EAMES WILLIAMS 161 VanBuren St Lot 11, Sq. 25, SouthBaton Rouge Subdivision -Council District 10 -Coleman
KATHLEEN DEANDRA HATCHER, DONALD TERRONE FELDER, LEE FELDER, JR, GREGORYMOTON,VERNA MOTON SCOTT,LENNELL HOOVER, MELVIN MOTON,SHARONKAY MOTON,THE ESTATEOF WILLIE MOTON,THE ESTATEOFADELINE MOTON,AND THE ESTATE OF DOROTHY MAEMOTON 1212 MaximilianSt., NPartofLot 12, Sq. 264, SuburbSwart Subdivision -Council District10- Coleman ERIKA ALEXANDER AND TAWANDA ALEXANDER 818 &848 France St.(SouthernUnattached Auxiliary Structure Visually Appearing to Straddle theAssessor ParcelsIdentified as 8PT+ and 12 A, Square59, BeauregardTown), Lot 12 A(Acquired as Lot 12) and 8PT+ (Acquired and Described as theWest ½ofLots8,9,and 10), Sq. 59 BeauregardTown -Council District 10 -Coleman GEORTOSHA DMATERRE, CELESTINE TJILES, RUTH TURNER MATERRE, NINA WHEELER,THE HEIRS OF LEROY TURNER, THE ESTATEOFLAURA DEVAULL, THE ESTATEOFFLORA BAUGH, THE ESTATEOFIRMATURNER WALL, AND THE ESTATEOFREV.JOHNNY TURNER JR 958 Progress St Lot 41, Sq. 2, Progress ParkAdditionSubdivision -Council District 10 -Coleman
TERRYFORDFERGUSON 434 Highland Park Dr Lot 25, Highland Park HeightsSubdivision -Council District 12 -Racca
KENNETH WAYNE MACK 4468 Sherwood St Lot 14, Sq. 4, NorthHighlands AdditionSubdivision -Council District 7-Harris
MELVIN LEWIS, JR 2153 Yazoo St Lot 25, Sq. 2, Hillside Subdivision -Council District 7- Harris
