The Acadiana Advocate 06-21-2026

Structural issues andsafetya concernafter hundreds of crashes on theLakeCharles I-10 bridge

ASPAN TOOSTEEP

The Interstate 10 Calcasieu River Bridgeisseen May21inLakeCharles. More than 100 people have been injuredonthe

years.

it is rated structurally deficient, officials assure it remainssafedue to regular inspections and timely repairs.

BY MEGAN WYATT Staff writer

First in aseries

Lolly Comeaux Sr.rarely wore aseat belt 20 years ago when he worked as atruck driver in Westlake

But he buckleduponthe morning of May 23, 2006, while hauling sand in an 18-wheeler from Kinder.He was drivingupthe steep incline of Interstate10’sCalcasieu River Bridge when he andanother18-wheeler collided to avoid astalled taxi.

Both tumbled 40 feet off thebridge’spistol-lined guardrail.

Now 73, Comeaux lived to tell the tale.

“There’safew other peoplethat’vewent overthe side of that bridge since then,” said Comeaux, who was born the same year the bridge finished construction. “I know what they went through.”

Lolly Comeaux Sr., 73, holdsa photographonMay 21 of thewrecked 18-wheeler he wasdrivingwhen he went off theside of the I-10 Calcasieu River Bridge in LakeCharles, seen behindhim,20years ago.

It wasthe kind of nightmarishwreckthat those whofrequently drivethe bridge say they fear most on theimposing structure with asteep incline,narrowlanes andno shoulders. More than 100 peoplehave

Forclergy, sermonscome from theheart,not AI

Pope Leowarns prieststowrite theirown homilies

BY BOBWARREN Staff writer

The Rev.Kurt Young says nothing is off-limits, but treads carefully aroundhot topics. Deacon Eddy Beckendorf works to make it relatable, such as telling the story about the time he got hit by atruck. And MonsignorKeith DeRouen is

asticklerfor the eight-minute rule

“But sometimes four is better,”DeRouen said.“C’mon, you know the listening capacity of most people. If you’re just makingone point,you don’thaveto sayit16times.” Differentclergy,different tipsfor inspiring congregations in the digital age. But each is clear on one thing: When it comes to crafting a homily,letting AI handle the writing is not OK.

ä See SERMONS, page 6A

been injured in crashes on thebridge since 2018, The Advocatefound in an analysis of statedatathat tracks bridge crashes, injuries and fatalities.

Severalfactors makethe bridge aconcern—both

for drivers and for those in charge of maintaining it.

It’s rated a3 out of 9bythe Federal Highway Administration and considered to be in “poorcondition,” based on annual inspections dating back to 2011. The rating, whichthe feds used to describe as “structurally deficient”before a2017 classification change, means that structural components have started todeteriorate. Engineers base theratings on inspections of abridge’sdeck where vehicles drive,along with its other structures and supports.

Still, bridge engineers say thelow rating does not mean it’sunsafe for drivers.

“WeatDOTD want to stress that the bridge is regularlyinspected andit remains safe fortravel,” said John Guidroz,aspokesperson for theLouisiana Department of Transportation and Development. “If

ä See BRIDGE, page 4A

The Rev. Kurtyoung teaches homiletics at Notre Dame SeminaryinNew Orleans. young spends three semesters teaching seminarians the process of writing and delivering effectivehomilies during Mass. In February, Pope Leo XIV cautioned Catholic clergytonot use artificial intelligenceto write the homilies for them.

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

U.S. Rep. Julia Letlowappeared to hold an insurmountable advantage coming outofthe Republican Senate primary on May 16 when she led state Treasurer John Fleming by 17 points and nearly wonthe election outright. Butsigns haveemergedbeforethe June 27 Republican Senate runoffthat the outcome will be much closer,and avictory by Fleming is possible, even though Letlow’s side is badly outspending him, and she has President Donald Trump’sendorsement.

In what will be alow-turnout election,Fleming appears to have supporters whoare more committed to him,especially among Republicans who back himbecause of hisvigorous opposition to carbon capture and sequestration. That’sa new technology where companies want to build pipelines to transport carbon dioxide from industrial plants to locations whereitwouldbeinjected deep underground.

Asign of Fleming’ssupport among the Republican base occurred last Saturday when Gov. Jeff Landry had to personally intervene to keep 150 members of the state central committee from endorsing Fleming over Letlow.One Fleming supporter said she wasthreatened by asurrogate of Landry’swithpunishment by the governor if she voted to back Fleming. The committee voted to issue no endorsement. But it was striking to observers that, even though Letlow has the endorsement of Landry and Trump, the only question that day

ä See SENATE, page 5A

U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on useof six-person juries Floridaarguments lean on Lousiana case

BY JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer

In crimes whereLouisiana’scriminal code does not specifyhard labor upon aconviction, six-person juries can decide adefendant’sguilt. It’sbeen that way forwell over acentury.But last week, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in aFlorida casethat“six-pack” juries like those in Louisiana and ahandful of other states are half what the U.S. Constitution requires, based on history The petitioners in the Florida case lean heavily on the high court’s2020 decision in Ramos v. Louisiana, banning nonunanimous jury verdicts in criminal cases. In that case, theSupreme Court broke with a50-year ruling to find by a6-3 majority that American juries were always meant to be

ä See JURIES, page 9A

STAFF PHOTOSByLESLIE WESTBROOK

bridge in recent

While

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Letlow

Massive fire destroys resort in Caribbean

SANTO DOMINGO Dominican Republic

A large fire almost completely destroyed a luxury resort in the Dominican Republic on Friday forcing the evacuation of almost 1,700 tourists, authorities said Local media reported an Italian tourist died in the fire and several other tourists required medical assistance.

The Viva Dominicus Beach by Wyndham resort is located in Bayahibe, a popular destination for U.S. and international tourists on the Dominican Republic’s southeastern coast.

Authorities reported about 1,690 tourists had to be evacuated from the resort to other hotels and nearby housing facilities because of the massive blaze

The cause of the blaze was under investigation and the country’s Emergency Operations Center said it appeared the “fire spread rapidly” due to wind and because part of the resort’s roof was made of thatch.

Founder of video game company killed in crash PARIS A founder of global gaming company Ubisoft, maker of Assassin’s Creed, was killed in a plane crash in western France, authorities said Saturday

The twin-motor Cessna 421 carrying Claude Guillemot and a flight instructor crashed Friday evening near La Baule airport on the Atlantic coast, Mayor Franck Louvrier said in a statement. Both were licensed and experienced pilots. The instructor also was killed, the mayor said. Ubisoft confirmed Guillemot’s death but did not comment further Guillemot and four brothers founded Ubisoft in 1986. In addition to the popular Assassin’s Creed franchise, Ubisoft’s games also include Just Dance and the Rayman and Tom Clancy game franchises. RFK Jr. moves to lift testosterone warning

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wants to remove some of the stigma from testosterone treatment.

The agency, through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is asking manufacturers to take off warnings that have long appeared on hormone replacement therapy labels for older men whose testosterone levels decline naturally with age, it said in a statement Thursday

The FDA a decade ago required drugmakers to study the impact of testosterone use on men at high risk of heart problems They also had to note that the safety and efficacy of the products had not been established due to limited evidence. Now, those warnings are no longer needed, the agency said “By updating testosterone therapy labels to reflect current evidence, we are giving patients and physicians clearer information, supporting informed medical decisions, and improving care for millions of American men,” said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a selfdescribed testosterone user and proponent.

The new recommendation follows a review of new clinical data and scientific evidence, the agency said. Researchers in 2023 found testosterone had about the same effect on heart attacks, strokes and death from cardiovascular disease as a placebo in a study of more than 5,000 men published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The trial, funded by AbbVie Inc. and others, did find a higher rate of atrial fibrillation, kidney damage and pulmonary embolism in those taking testosterone.

Fire engulfs historic Brooklyn church

NEW YORK A massive blaze engulfed a nearly 200-year-old church in Brooklyn on Friday, causing the steeple to collapse and injuring a firefighter officials said. The fire broke out around 1:20 p.m. at South Bushwick Reformed Church and quickly escalated to three alarms, a Fire Department spokesperson said The church was built in 1853, but the congregation dates back to the Dutch colonial period in the 1600s, according to the National Fund for Sacred Spaces.

Pope Leo XIV exalts

first American saint

BY NICOLE WINFIELD and BRIAN HENDRIE Associated Press

SANT’ANGELO LODIGIANO, Italy Pope

Leo XIV on Saturday exalted the first American saint, Mother Frances Cabrini, as a model for Christians today to care for migrants in need, as he visited her birthplace during a day trip to northern Italy

Leo, who has clashed with the Trump administration over its migrant crackdown, urged young people in particular to learn about Cabrini’s life and service, once again confirming history’s first U.S. pope as the heir to Pope Francis in prioritizing the plight of migrants.

Leo prayed before Cabrini’s tomb in a basilica named for her in her birthplace in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, near Milan, and presided over an evening prayer service.

The visit to northern Italy is part of Leo’s summertime grand tour of Italy to visit key cities to get to know his flock.

Cabrini, the patron saint of migrants, is well known to many Americans for her work caring for Italian immigrants in the United States at the turn of the last century Her work went beyond the U.S., however, as she crisscrossed the globe building schools, hospitals and orphanages for those who had nothing After she died in 1917, as a natu-

ralized U.S. citizen in Leo’s native Chicago, Cabrini was beatified and then canonized in 1946 as the first American saint.

Leo asks what Francis would do

In praising Cabrini on Saturday, Leo said she was inspired by her faith to help those migrants who had left everything behind to try to find a better life. “What could be more relevant today than a missionary charism dedicated to serving migrants?” he said.

“Let us ask ourselves: if Mother Francesca were alive today, what would her missionary spirit tell her?” Leo said. “And what would a pope like Francis — who, as the son of Italian immigrants, made service to migrants one of the key priorities of his pontificate — ask of her?”

“I therefore take this opportunity to make an appeal, especially to young people: get to know St. Frances Cabrini!” Leo said, urging them to read her writings, travel journals and notes from retreats.

A July 4 with migrants

Leo has embraced the Catholic Church’s Gospel-mandated call to “welcome the stranger” in his ministry to migrants. Last week, Leo spent two days in Spain’s Canary Islands, a major destination for migrants leaving West Africa, where he called for welcoming and

integrating those fleeing hardship and conflict.

Leo’s next Italy day trip is on July 4, when he heads to Lampedusa, the Sicilian island that is a major destination for migrants fleeing North Africa for Italy

Prayer at tomb of St. Augustine

Leo arrived in Cabrini’s hometown after first stopping in nearby Pavia to pray at the tomb of St. Augustine, the fifth-century inspiration of his religious order There, he encouraged Italians to rediscover their lagging Catholic faith.

Like many once-Christian strongholds in Europe, Italy has seen its churches empty in recent years amid secularizing trends, with fewer and fewer Italians getting married in the church or going to Mass regularly

“At a time when many people seem to have lost their spiritual appetite or for various reasons, no longer find the Christian faith appealing for their lives, we are called first and foremost to proclaim the Gospel,” Leo said.

Augustine was born in 354 in what is today Algeria, but he lived for five years in and around Milan, where he converted to Christianity He later became a bishop, developed a rule for monastic life and wrote some of the most important works of Western thought, including “Confessions” and “The City of God.”

Ghana conference urges slave-trade nations to issue apologies, reparations

BY EDWARD ACQUAH and WILSON MCMAKIN Associated Press

ACCRA, Ghana African and Caribbean leaders in Ghana on Friday urged former slave-trading nations to issue apologies and reparations over the trafficking of enslaved Africans after a landmark U.N. resolution in March declaring it “the gravest crime against humanity.”

The “Next Steps” conference in the Ghanaian capital of Accra issued a declaration calling on countries involved in the Atlantic slave trade to “offer full, formal and unconditional apologies as a foundational step towards reconciliation, trust-building and reparatory justice.”

The U.N. resolution is nonbinding but carries moral authority Organizers said the Ghana conference was aimed at moving the reparations debate from recognition to concrete measures, including moves to require compensation under international law

About 12 million Africans were forcefully taken by traders from European nations from the 16th to the 19th century and enslaved on plantations that built wealth at the price of misery

Ghana President John Dramani Mahama said the

Dr Julius Garvey, son of Black

Garvey, lays a wreath in a ceremony to honor victims of the transatlantic slave trade at Christiansborg Castle during a Juneteenth ceremony Friday in Accra, Ghana.

U.N. resolution had created a new opportunity for meaningful engagement on reparations. He said the effects of slavery continue to be felt across Africa, the Caribbean, and the wider African diaspora.

“We’re here because recognition creates responsibility, and because the enduring consequences of this history continue to demand thoughtful, coordinated, and sustained international engagement,” Mahama told delegates from more than 80 countries.

At a reparations summit in Ghana in 2023, participants proposed establishing a Global Reparation Fund, though they did not

clarify how it would operate.

Positions on reparations are mixed in countries that would contribute.

For example, residents of the United States view the prospect of reparations mostly negatively A Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2021 found that only about three in 10 U.S. adults said descendants of people enslaved in the U.S. should be repaid in some way, such as being given land or money

Some activists say reparations should include direct financial payments, but also developmental aid for countries and the return of colonized resources.

Trump tries to blame

Reflecting Pool woes on vandalism

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON The paint is peeling from Washington’s Reflecting Pool after the renovation ordered by President Donald Trump, and he is now alleging that someone damaged it intentionally

“We’ve had some real problems with Vandalism at the beautiful Reflecting Pool,” he posted on his social media site Friday night. “Just like three days ago, they destroyed the grass outside of the Pool, they’ve also done everything possible to hurt the inside surface that was just installed.” He offered no details to substantiate his claim. Agencies responsible for law enforcement and upkeep on the National Mall — the U.S Park Police, National Park Service and Interior Department — did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Washington Post reported that Park Police officers arrested someone on Friday who they said was peeling paint from the pool, an act that does not explain the clouds of algae in green water and swaths of loose blue paint detached from the bottom. Trump insisted something nefarious was going on. “No different than the chemicals that were used on the National Mall, they used something similar in the Reflecting Pool to try to destroy and demean our beautiful work,” he posted on Truth Social. That was a reference to the discovery of large numbers etched in discolored grass on the National Mall the week before: “86 47.” Authorities said the numbers could have been meant as a threat to Trump, the 47th president The number 86 can be slang for “getting rid of.” Trumps claims came after days of negative attention to the state of the pool, which he made a point of rehabbing to the tune of more than $14 million.

The pool was swiftly beset by an algae bloom that returned its waters to the greenish color that Trump had tried to replace by having the bottom painted “American flag blue.” Federal workers treated the pool with chemicals to kill the algae Now chunks of the blue paint are gone, exposing its rocky bottom.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ANTONIO CALANNI

Faithful reach out to Pope Leo XIV as he leaves Pavia Cathedral in northern Italy on Saturday

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By REUBEN EKOW QUANSAH

nationalist Marcus

Trumpthreatens to charge U.S. tollsinStraitofHormuz

BY KAREEM CHEHAYEB, BASSEM MROUE and MUNIR AHMED Associated Press

TYRE, Lebanon Iran on Saturday said it closed the Strait of Hormuz because of Israel’sattacks in Lebanon and warned that while negotiators were going to Switzerlandfor talks with the United States on their interim agreement, not much likely will happen if the fighting doesn’tstop.

U.S. President Donald Trump, in response, threatened to impose American tolls in the crucial waterway if afinal deal with Iran isn’t reachedin 60 days, saying the money would be for “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East.” His social media post underscored that the agreement calls for toll-free travel for 60 days.

Theannouncementsindicated arough start to technical-levelU.S.-Irantalks that key mediator Pakistan said will begin Sunday,with Qatari mediatorsalso participating.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance left for Switzerland on Saturday evening, just as Iranian state TV posted video showing Iran’snegotiators arrivingthere. They include parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and central bank and oil officials, among others. The deal calls for billions of dollars of Iran’sassetstobeunfrozen.

Talks were meant to start Friday,but the Iranians initially canceled their plans to attend because of escalating fighting in Lebanon. Negotiators for the U.S. and Qatar, with help from Iran, worked

BY SEUNG MIN KIM

Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald TrumponSaturday lashed out at Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, insistingthatshe asked “over andover” fora photowith him at the recent Group of Seven summit and criticizing what he said was Italy’s lack of cooperationduring the Iran war The remarks deepen the spat that beganwith theRepublican president’sinterview with an Italian broadcaster,duringwhich Trump claimed Meloni “begged” for the photo during the G7 meeting in France. Meloni has called that “completely fabricated.”The dustupled Italy’sforeignministerto cancel aplanned trip to the UnitedStates as Meloni’s government lined up in her defense.

“Italian Prime Minister Gigiorgia Meloni asked, over and over,for apicture with me during the G-7 meetingin France,” Trump wrote on his socialmedia platformwhile spending the weekend at the CampDavid presidential retreat. He misspelled her first nameinthe initialpost, which he later corrected.

He continued: “She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity,possibly because she turneddown the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy,when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing aNuclear

out an agreement between Israel and Hezbollah to tamp down hostilities, according to U.S. and regional officials whospoke on the condition of anonymity Vancetold reporters he would be in Switzerland “for aday or two” butwas optimistic on making progress. Negotiations toward afinal agreement will begin once key commitments are upheld, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said. If theyare not, “thememorandum of understanding as awholewill be jeopardized.”

Strait againa challenge

But the strait has emerged again as afocus. Iran’sjoint military command said it was closed because of the U.S.“clearbreachofits commitments” by failing to endthe war.The interim deal is meant to stop fighting on all fronts.

The U.S. disputed Iran’s announcement. “Iran doesnot control the Strait ofHormuz. Traffic continues to flow,and U.S forces are monitoring the situationtoensure this remains thecase,” saidCapt. TimHawkins, aspokesperson for U.S. CentralCommand. The military said that 55 merchantshipstransited Saturday with more than17 millionbarrels of oil.

The global economy braced for more uncertainty

Ships began transiting after the interim U.S.-Iran agreement was signed earlier in the week, amilestone that left plenty of questions unanswered. The U.S. lifted itsblockade of Iran’sports and now allows Tehran to sell its oil freely —terms thathaveleft some in U.S. Congress asking whether the war was worth it Vance earlier confirmed that top negotiatorsJared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were already in Switzerland

Weapon (But so didNATO, for that matter!).”

Meloni soon responded, sayinginastatement to Trump that “theseconstant, unprovoked attacks are senseless.”

“Asfor my popularity, being your friend certainly has not helped it, nor does it depend on my relationship with you. My popularity depends on my ability to

andworking throughtechnical details of anticipated negotiations on Iran’snuclear program. The interim deal givesnegotiators 60 days to reach anuclear agreement but theissue is intricateand thetime can be extended.

Israeliattacks kill 16

AHezbollah official told The Associated Pressthat Iran informed themilitant group thatTehran won’treopen the straituntil Israel announces publicly that it will comply with a“comprehensive ceasefire” in Lebanon andanend to military operations there. The official spokeoncondition of anonymitybecause he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly

An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymityinline with regulations, latersaid that the militaryhad received “updated directives from thepolitical echelon to cease fire.” The official said that the military is operating in adefensive manner in Lebanon, which includesthe right to respond to Hezbollah attacks.

The official also said that five Israelisoldiers had been killed in thepast 48 hours in southern Lebanon

Earlier Saturday,Israeli strikes on southernLebanon killed at least 16 people, including twochildren, hours after reports emerged of a ceasefire agreement there. Seven people weretrapped under rubble after strikes hitthe southern city of Nabatiyeh and nearby villages, Lebanon’sNational News Agency said.

The death toll in thelatest Israel-Hezbollahwar has surpassed4,000, Lebanon’s health ministry later announced.

An Israeli military official said that Hezbollah fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight. Israel’s

defend Italy’snational interest, andthatisexactly what Ihave always done,”Meloni said in apost on Instagram. She added that “in any case, my popularity is none of your concern. Isuggest you focus on yours.” Trump alsocomplained that Meloni would notallow theU.S. to use Italy’slanding strips or runways during the Iran war

army said that it struck dozens of Hezbollah targets and militants

On Friday,the IsraeliambassadortoWashington, Yechiel Leiter,said that Israel “remains firmly committedtoanimmediate cease-

fire,” if Hezbollah honors the agreement and ceases hostilities.

Neither Israel nor Hezbollah are signatories to the deal between the U.S. and Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep Israeli forces in southern Lebanon until anythreat to Israel is eliminated.Hezbollahhas refusedtohaltits attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon.

Some families talk aboutworkatthe dinner table. TheHillfamilyjusthappens to work in thesamehospital. LewisHill,MD,hasbeenanOB-GYNfornearly 30 years, helping delivergenerations of families in Lafayette. HisdaughterGrace grew up here andeventuallyreturnedasaChildLifespecialist supporting children andparents throughsome of theirmostvulnerablemoments Now,Graceandherdadsharemorethanstories aboutwork. They sharethe workplaceitself, FMOL Health |Our Lady of LourdesWomen’s &Children’sHospital.

Crossing Paths

Atanygivenmoment,Dr.Hillmaybeinadeliveryroomwelcoming ababyintothe worldwhile Graceisdownthe hall helpinga childorfamily navigate everythinghappeningaroundthem. They don’t always crosspaths on purpose. But they do,constantly.

“It’sasmall place,”Grace says.“Yousee everyone.”

Sometimesthatmeans quickhallway hellos Sometimesitmeans realizingthey’ve both supportedthe same family in differentways. And sometimesitjust meanstryingtocoordinate lunch.

“Ifhehas acaseclose to lunchtime, we try to eat together,” Gracesays. “Evenifit’sjust fora minute.”

APlace That Became Home

Dr.Hilldidn’toriginallyplanfor Acadiana to become alifelonghome, but afterarrivinginthe mid-1990sfor training throughLSU,hestayed andnever really looked back

Over time,the work became less aboutroutine andmoreabout presence.Labor anddelivery stillcarries akindofprivilege forhim,the kind that hasn’t fadedwithtime.

“Itstill makesmyhairstand up,” he says of deliveries.“Even afterall theseyears,you still feel it.”

“I didn’t even know that role existedbefore then,” Gracesays.

Forthe first time,she sawhealthcarethrough adifferentlens, notjustthe clinical side of treatment,but theemotional experience of being a childinahospitaland thepeoplewho helped make it less frightening.

That experience stayed with her.

AftertraininginChicagoandworkinginalarge ChildLifeprogram,Grace eventually felt pulled back home,not just to return to Lafayette, but to help expand that kind of supportfor families here.She joined FMOL Health in January2026.

“Itfeels like I’ve beenherelongerthanIhave,” shesays.

TheWorkThatStays With You Graceand Dr.Hillbothdescribethe hospital as aplace wherepeopleshowupfor oneanother notjust professionally but also personally Dr.Hillhas spentdecades caring forfamilies inmomentsthatarejoyful,intenseorsometimes both at once.Grace experiences that same emotionalreality from adifferentangle,helping children andfamiliesnavigatefear, uncertainty andgrief in real time

“It’sjust aspecial place,”Grace says.“You’re around people whounderstandwhatyou’re doinghere.”

Learning From Each Other Neitherofthemset outtofollowthe other professionally butinfluencestill showsupin quietways. Gracetalks aboutwatchingher father move throughpatient care,how easily he connects with people,how naturallyconversations come andhow patients trusthim almost immediately. FluentinSpanish,Dr.Hilloftenformsespecially closeconnectionswithSpanish-speakingpatients andfamilies.

Outsidethe hospital,lifeissimpler:music, stayingactiveand time with family.But most of hisdaysstill orbitaroundthe same placehe’s worked fornearlythree decades.

GrowingUpinthe Hallways

Grace’sconnectiontothe hospital started long before sheeverhad atitle here

Shegrewuparoundthe unit,sometimes quite literallytagging alongasher dadrounded when shewas achild.The hospital wasn’t unfamiliar to her. It waspartofher world.

Whatstayedwithhermostwasn’tthemedicine, butthe waypeopletreated her.

“I’vebeenaroundthishospitalmywhole life,” shesays. “The people were always so kind to me as akid,and Irememberedthat.

As shegot older,Grace considered medicine butthe long clinical path didn’t feel like the rightfit. Yearsearlier,though, an experience as apatient herselfhad alreadystarted shapingher perspectiveonhealthcare.

After doctorsdiscovereda tumorinher shoulder,her family traveled to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for treatmentand surgery. Thetumor wasbenignand everything ultimately turned outOK, but theexperience left alasting impression,especiallythe supportshe received from theChild Life team

“Heisprobablyone of themostwell-liked physicians here,” Gracesays. “Every nurseI meet says they love workingwithhim.” Dr.Hill, in turn,speakswithvisible pride aboutseeingGrace grow in herown role,not as an extensionofhis career,but as herown professional identity

“I gettosee herasacolleague now,”hesays. “That’sprettyspecial.” What stands outmosttobothofthemisn’t simply that they work in thesameplace.It’sthat they understandwhatthe othercarries when they walk outofa room

Noteverythinghas to be said outloud. Home,InEvery Sense

FortheHillfamily,workinginthesamehospitalisn’t anovelty.It’sjust life:sharedroutines, overlappingpaths andthe occasional hallway moment whereeverythinglines up It’s also somethingneither of them takesfor granted.

Afteryearsofwatchingherfatherbuildacareer rooted in care,Grace returned notbecause she hadtobut becauseshe wanted to

Andafter decadesinthe same place, Dr.Hill nowgetssomethingunexpected: thechance to seehis daughter buildher ownlegacyinthe same hallswhere hisbegan Differentroles.Samehallways.Sharedpurpose. Andeverynowandthen,alunchbreaktogether if they’relucky

This articleisbrought to youbyFMOLHealth|Our Lady of Lourdes.

there were any issues that deemed the bridge to be unsafe, then the bridge would be closed immediately to traffic.”

Guidroz described the current bridge as having “deficiencies across the spectrum” given its age. Those have led to the replacement, which broke ground in April after decades of work.

The new bridge has been a long topic of debate made more difficult by the ground around the bridge being contaminated in an ethylene dichloride spill in the 1990s, spawning lawsuits and cleanup orders The price tag of the new bridge has come in at $2.3 billion, but it will take at least five years before it’s ready for drivers.

DOTD says that between 60,000 and 65,000 vehicles drive across the current one daily, a common route on I-10 between Louisiana and Houston.

The aging structure, though, has not necessarily been the culprit in most crashes. The bridge had 432 crashes on it between 2018 and 2024, the most recent year for which data is available, according to DOTD In roughly 27% of them, people were injured.

That’s about the same percentage of people who were injured in wrecks on the Horace Wilkinson Bridge on I-10 over the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge during the same time frame, though the Baton Rouge bridge experiences nearly twice as much daily volume.

On the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, which sees about 45,000 vehicles per day, there was a similar percentage of injuries in the 1,885 crashes 12 of which had fatalities — during the same time frame.

Well-known New Orleans personal injury lawyer Morris Bart, whose firm handles cases across the state, said the Lake Charles bridge’s steep slope and narrow lanes can lead to rear-end collisions and sideswipes, which are the most common type of wrecks his firm litigates related to the bridge. His own reaction to driving over the bridge for the first time was that he couldn’t believe it was real and thought he must have made a wrong turn.

“In Louisiana, we’re not so used to driving up and down,” Bart said. “We like to drive flat.”

The slope of the Lake Charles bridge can also make it tricky for first responders. There are only two ways to get up the bridge in a firetruck, said Westlake Fire Chief Jonathan Duff, who has spent 25 years responding to emergencies on the bridge.

One option is for a firetruck to go up the bridge in the wrong direction, which Duff described as daunting even with an all-clear The other is to split traffic, making a third lane and forcing vehicles to move out of the way to let a firetruck squeeze through the middle Sometimes, after an incident, crews must back a firetruck down the bridge in reverse for nearly a mile.

“It’s something you never forget,” Duff said. “And it’s not something very many people get to do.” Still, the pistol design on the bridge’s guardrails is so steeped in southwest Louisiana lore that Duff incorporated it into the Westlake Fire Department’s patch

causing a diesel spill that led to a 26-vehicle pileup. It killed three people and injured 18.

after becoming chief. While responding to overnight incidents, Duff sometimes enjoys being on the top of the dark bridge and feeling its gentle sway as he looks out onto his hometown illuminated by the lights of chemical plants.

An old bridge

The Calcasieu River Bridge predates the nation’s interstate system. Construction of the $10 million project began in 1948 and finished in 1952 to better carry traffic on U.S. 90 over the river The 1.25-mile bridge reaches a 5% vertical grade, or slope, and peaks at 143 feet above the river

The steep grade has prompted concerns for first responders as well as viral videos from out-of-towners. Duff said firefighters occasionally have to walk the steep incline to the top of the bridge to respond to emergencies while wearing

heavy equipment.

“That’s a crazy arch, a crazy angle,” Duff said. “If you’re not in good shape, you’ll wear yourself out.”

The bridge led to viral TikTok videos last year from British influencers

Josh Cauldwell-Clarke and Jase Riley when they visited Lake Charles describing it as an insane stairway to heaven.

“This thing looks like it’s going into space,” Riley said in the video.

Guidroz acknowledged the vertical grade as a concern, saying the grade, two-lane capacity, lack of shoulders and lack of lights are all issues on the bridge. They also can’t be solved through projects to improve the current bridge.

The new bridge that’s under construction, however, is expected to have three wider travel lanes in each direction, shoulders on both sides of the roadway, better lighting and reach only 75 to

95 feet in height.

One final, major maintenance project for the current bridge is on deck to extend its life. The $1.71 million project should repair several components that allow the bridge to expand, contract, and support and distribute the weight of the roadway and the vehicles that drive on it. It’s expected to begin in June and take more than a year to complete.

Despite those issues, Michael Shields, a professor in the Department of Civil & Systems Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, said even aging and poorly rated bridges are relatively safe.

“Even a bridge that is classified as structurally deficient, the risk to the average driver is still very, very low,” Shields said

Still, Shields said that the number of deficient bridges across the country is a concern, and chances are higher that “something’s going to happen on one of those bridges somewhere.”

The Lake Charles bridge is inspected annually, though Guidroz said that if significant problems crop up between inspections, DOTD addresses them right away The average annual cost of maintaining the bridge from 2021 through 2025 was $21,500, he said. Maintenance issues have caused some of its wrecks and closures over the years.

In 1981, a repair plate on an expansion joint punctured a truck’s fuel tank,

Decades later, in June 2024, a driver reported a piece of metal — another joint — sticking up on the bridge and reported it to Westlake Police. DOTD shut down the road for several hours to make emergency repairs.

‘A roller coaster’

Connie Matte, who lives in Moss Bluff, avoids the bridge after being stranded on it for hours during an ice storm.

In January 2024, she left early from the imaging center where she works as a nurse, hoping to avoid impending bad weather As she drove westbound on the bridge and tried to pass a stalled vehicle, another driver crashed into her SUV propelling Matte into the stopped vehicle. Her Toyota 4Runner blocked both lanes and brought traffic to a halt.

It would be about six hours before Matte, with the assistance of first responders, could carefully drive her totaled vehicle down the icy bridge In the meantime, she could feel the bridge — busy with traffic in the eastbound lanes swaying over the Calcasieu River

“It took me several months before I could go over it again,” Matte said.

“My husband was driving the first time I went over it again, and I just cried and prayed.”

Westlake Police Chief Chris Wilrye said responding to tragedies on the bridge never becomes routine. He remembered a particularly difficult one about a decade ago, when a box truck plunged off the eastbound side of the bridge, leading to a fiery crash.

The driver survived.

“You see a big old ball of fire and see things going off the side,” Wilrye said. “You don’t know if there’s vehicles or people, so you got to hurry up and get there as quick as you can to make sure everyone’s safe.”

More recently, a bucket truck also flew from the bridge earlier this year in an incident that closed the right, westbound lane of the bridge for about five days while crews made emergency repairs to the guardrail. That driver also survived with minor injuries.

DOTD says that the bridge has not had any fatal crashes from 2016 through 2024, the most recent year for which data is available. A motorcyclist died in a

March 2025 crash on the bridge.

“It kind of reminds me of a roller coaster,” said attorney Spencer Gulden, whose firm represents crash victims injured on the bridge.

“It just goes up and comes back down. It’s almost triangular-shaped, which is very unusual.”

Nick Canaday, a retired attorney who grew up in Baton Rouge and now lives in Austin, said he noticed temporary railings and aging sections of the bridge during a recent trip through Lake Charles.

“When I see bridges like this bridge, I think, ‘I wish this is where we spent our money,’ ” Canaday said. “Because they’re scary, and you know someday they’re going to collapse.”

New bridge, new tolls

After decades of studies, debates and delays, construction finally began this spring on the replacement bridge.

The new bridge will be built through a public-private partnership that includes tolling — one of the most divisive aspects of the project.

Comeaux, the truck driver who survived the 2006 crash, opposes tolling the replacement bridge

“That’s foolishness, if you ask me,” he said. “The state ought to furnish the roads to travel on.”

Others simply want the replacement built by any means necessary

Gerard Hill, who works at the Port of Lake Charles and crosses the bridge about once a week said he supports tolling if it speeds up construction. In the meantime, Hill said he trusts the inspectors responsible for ensuring the safety of the existing bridge.

“If that’s what it takes to build a new bridge I guess we have to deal with it,” Hill said.

Through the guardrails

The Calcasieu River Bridge will remain the primary route for many drivers along I-10 for the foreseeable future. They include Comeaux, who does not avoid driving the bridge despite his dramatic wreck in 2006 After he veered off the bridge then, Comeaux landed in a boat dock parking lot near the river’s shore. His truck burst into flames and he unbuckled his seat belt, broke the window and crawled out of the cab. Two nearby crabbers helped pull him to safety His Supplier Services coworker, Jack Powell, drove the other truck that collided with Comeaux’s on the bridge as they both tried to avoid the stalled taxi.

“I was watching the paramedics trying to bring him back,” Comeaux said. “They never could.”

Comeaux went through treatment for burns and a broken hip initially at a Lake Charles hospital, then at a Shreveport hospital. Although he spent six months in a wheelchair and a few more months in physical therapy, there’s now little to remind him of the crash in his day-to-day life. He struggles to curl his right toes or raise his heel after breaking his hip, but otherwise gets around just fine.

He hasn’t driven an 18-wheeler since the day he crawled out from the flaming cab of one. And he wonders how many more people will soar through the guard-

existing bridge in

meantime.

rails of the

the

Here's a look at crashes from 2018 through 2024 on the Calcasieu River Bridge in Lake Charles and other highway bridges in the state.

Louisiana highway bridge crashes

STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK

The Interstate 10 Calcasieu River Bridge is seen in Lake Charles on May 21.

Lolly Comeaux Sr., 73, was injured after driving off the side of the I-10 Calcasieu River Bridge 20 years ago.

waswhether Fleming would get theendorsement. Letlow had no shot at it.

To be sure, most political analysts expect Letlow to defeat Fleming, given asteep fundraising advantage and along list of endorsements.

Pollssuggest tightrace

Still, amonth after the primary, two independent surveys by New Orleans pollster Greg Rigamer have shown that Fleminghas closed the gap, and the race is now neck-and-neck.

Apoll of 600 likely Republican runoff voters takenJune 15-16 by Rigamer showed Letlow with 40.2%, and Fleming with 38.2% That poll showed aslightgain by Letlow compared to asimilar surveyaweek earlier by Rigamer that had Fleming leading,40.3% to 37.7%.

Super lobbyist Alton Ashy,aLetlow supporter,paid for bothpolls.

Jay Dardenne, who wonelections to the state Senate and to be secretary of state and lieutenant governor,cited his own election history to caution anyone from counting out Fleming.

In 1991, Dardenne trailed in the primary,41%-48%, for aBaton Rouge seat in the state Senate. But he won the runoff, 52%-48%

“The lesson is to never give up on arace where you appear to be trailing significantly,” Dardenne said. “On its face, you would say Julia is aheavy favorite given the margin. But it’s certainlypossible to make up that differential based on my experience.”

Meanwhile, two Democrats are competing on June 27 for the Democratic nomination to face theRepublican runoff winner in the Nov. 3general election.

They are Jamie Davis,a farmer from northeast Louisiana who led the May 16 primary with 45%, and Gary Crockett, aNew Orleans business owner,who captured 26% that day.Davis has the endorsement of the Louisiana Democratic Party and NewOrleans Mayor Helena Moreno.

Tiny turnoutexpected

The biggest question during the primary waswhetherCassidy could survive Trump’seffort to unseat him. With that settled, interest

in the race hasdroppedsharply

Early voting figures indicate that the overall turnout for the June 27 primary will be about 15%,down from theprimaryturnout of 28%.

Thedrop-off during early votinghas been higher amongDemocrats than Republicans.Rigamer believes that’sbecauseDemocrats turnedout to register theiranger with Landry’smove on redistricting —which turned aDemocrat congressional seat into aRepublicanone anddelayed thecongressional elections —byvoting against the governor’sconstitutional amendments.

Despite their ideological differences, Letlow and Davis have one thingincommon: Both have refusedtodebatetheir opponent

Letlow’sdecision —she also wouldn’taccept calls by Sen. Bill Cassidyfor televised debates during the primary—has raisedquestions amongsome Republicans about her ability to think on her feet.

nance reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission, which cover April 27 thru June 7, show that Letlow raised $732,000 and had $1.7 million on hand.

Fleming raised only $86,000. How much money he still hadisunclear because of hispersonalloans to the campaign.

Davis raised $665,000and had $383,000 on hand.

Crockett missed the June 15 reporting deadline.Heblamed “a technical issue” withhis computer but said he filed the report Wednesday,and it would show that he raised less than$50,000.

Twooutside groups are spending heavily to elect Letlow.

One is The Accountability Project, anditisled by Jay Connaughtonand Jason Hebert,who have worked for Landry.The group is organized so it doesn’thave to disclose its donors.

seas,” Letlow said in astatement, adding that “AI mustnot be used to exploit kids.”

In an interview, Fleming said he supports data centers coming to Louisiana but insisted that they not use so much water or electricityto drive up costsfor residentialcustomers.Healso expressed concern that AI could be usedtocreate“apolice state” in theUnited States.

Another metric suggesting Letlow will win: She has the endorsement of amajority of state House and Senate Republicans, along with U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise and U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins.

With that and Trump’s support,Letlow is the quasi-incumbent, saidAaron Broussard, who won 12 elections without aloss in Jefferson Parish.

radio showhost. Griffon organized andmoderated the onlydebate duringthe campaignonMay 5. Letlow saidshe agreed to theevent because Griffon’slisteners would likely be Republican primary voters. WherewillCassidy voters go?

For Dardenne, the key question is: Who will the Cassidy voters favor?

“The strong pro-Cassidy voters —who are chronic voters —some will go withFleming, andsome will go withLetlow,” Dardenne said. “Cassidy supporters who are moderates may vote for Fleming because he’snot Trump-endorsed. Somebody who thinks that Julia hasthe potentialto be more independent postTrump will go withher given that Fleming is more conservative.”

“She can’ttalk aboutwhat she believes,” said Christy Haik, president of Louisiana Republican Assembly,aconservative grassrootsgroup “That’swhathas givenhim (Fleming) themomentumhe has maintained when people wrote himoff.”

Davis rejectedmostrecently an offer from host Will Suttontodebate Crockett on hisWBOK-AM talkradiomorning show in New Orleans

Davis said he said no on theadviceofhis campaign attorney because Crockett has threatened to sue Davis over Crockett’sallegation that Davisworkers tore up some of Crockett’scampaign signs.

Most of the attentionlatelyhas been focused on the Republican ledger because whoever captures the GOP runoff on June 27 will be expected to wina statewhereno Democrathas been electedtothe Senate since 2008

Letlow hasbig advantages

There’splenty of information to indicate that Letlow will emerge victorious.

Thecandidates who Trump has endorsedinthis election cyclenationally have mostly won theirraces. In addition, she and her outside supporters are spending much more money to get out her message.

Thelatest quarterly campaign fi-

In one ad, The Accountability Project showed avideo clip of Fleming from 2008 to makeitseem as if he supports undocumented immigrants coming across theborder

The ad cut off the videosoviewers didn’tsee what followed: Fleming immediately corrected himself.

An AI-created ad showedFleming driving abus full of illegal aliens.

“I don’tcareabout which ad you’re looking at,there isn’tany truth in anyofit,” Fleming told agroup of 50 people in Covington Monday night.

He noted that he scored a96% rating from NumbersUSA, which favors strict controls on legal and illegalimmigration,fromwhenhe served in the Housefrom 2009-16. The group gives Letlowan80% score.

Another group, American Mission, is spendingupto$2.7million to promote Letlow, according to AdImpact, which is tracking election spending.

The group supportslight regulation of AI and data centers, according to press accounts.

“She’ll secure American energy dominance, unleashAmerican innovation andalwaysstand will law enforcement,” an announcer says in the ad in whichTrump appears twice endorsing Letlow.

“The UnitedStates cannotallow China to outpace us in AI, and Washingtonshould notsmother American innovation with heavy-handed rulesthatdrive jobs,investment andtechnological leadership over-

“A low turnout hasanincumbent advantage,” he said. “The incumbent hasa machine, anetwork. Incumbentsget theendorsements of other incumbents, so they get that support, too.”

But, addedBroussard,“that matters only if they activate their base.”

Fleming’s highest profileendorsementcomes from Moon Griffon, the Lafayette-based conservative talk

Fleming had afired-up crowd whenhespoke to agroup Monday night that opposescarboncapture andsequestration.

“He has been with us from the very beginning,” said Brad LeBlanc,aveteran geologist who said theproposedpipelinesand storage facilities present agrave danger because of the likelihood they would leak carbon dioxide.

Davis Crockett

Pope Leo XIV is clearly concerned about the rise of artificial intelligence,and what it’sgoingtomeannot only to the world’s Catholics, but to humans everywhere.

In May, he issued a 42,000-word encyclical letter, “Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.”

including AI —takes on the valuesofits creators and financial backersand can divide,rather than unite

His message on homilies runs parallel to oneofthe encyclical’s themes: That AI hasvalue, butitdoesn’t have ahumanheart;that peoplemustguard against allowingit to replace the very things thatmake us human.

But even before that,he warnedpriests during a meeting in Rome to notlet AI write their homilies.

“Togive atrue homilyisto share faith,” the pope saidin February,according to news reports.Artificial intelligence,headded, “willnever be able to share faith.”

‘Wecan’t ignore it’

Modern life is awash in artificial intelligence. With increasing speed,AIcomposes and replies to emails summarizes texts and memos, writes code, manages schedules, sorts and organizes data, spits out complete works of nonfiction and fiction, makes movies and comes up with songs. The term paper,the novel, the legal filing, the summer blockbuster: Is there anything it can’t do?

Yes, say the people tasked with getting up in front of churchgoers each week and connecting them, on adeeper level,tothe wordofGod.

Catholic priests and deacons in Louisiana say that agood homily —astandard part of the Mass liturgy, delivered after readings from the Old and New Testaments and areading from one of the four Gospels can take all week to craft. It requires prayer,reflection and insight. Like any writingtask, it starts with a blank page and the expectation that you will be ableto reach those who will hear it, and that it might fortify their faith.

The temptation is there to let AI help with that.

“Wecan’t ignore it,” said Young, 39, apriest and professor at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans.

He teaches homiletics— the practice of creating and delivering homilies —and he tellshis students each semester: “If you useAIto write your homily,you’re going to fail.”

As an experiment,Young said he has asked ChatGPT, an AI program, to write some homilies.

“The sad thing is that sometimes the homilies that AI writes are better,” he said.

Deacon Seth Smith, of New Orleans, afifth-year seminarian andone of Young’sstudents, said letting AI write ahomily “would be an insult to the Holy Spirit.”

“The scary part is that if you ask it to write ahomily for you, it will, and it’ll probably be pretty decent,” he said. In his “MagnificaHumanitas” encyclical, Leo cautioned that technology

That includes human weakness.

“(Leo) talks about thevalue of human weakness,” said TomRyan, aprofessor of theologyand ministry at Loyola University in New Orleans. “Who decideswhat human weakness is?What somethink are weaknesses could actually be dignity.”

Young, DeRouen and Beckendorf say they don’t specifically know of anyinstances where priests used AI-generated homilies.

But Beckendorf,75, deacon at Mary,QueenofPeace Catholic Church in Mandeville, said he has hearda “canned” homily or two, referringtoonlinesites where prewrittenhomilies can be found

Priests can get very busy running churches, tending to theneeds of large congregations andhandling business matters. Beckendorf said it can betough to find the prep time it takes to deliver ameaningful homily

“But it’ssad to listen to someoneread acanned homily,” he said. Like their colleagueson secular campuses, Young said he andother seminary instructors are always on guard for computer-generated work students might try to pass off as their own.

The seminary instructors, he said, are allowed leeway to determine how far they’ll allow students to go when using things such as AI for research.

AI shouldn’t be shunned, Young said:“It’s likecalculators. Calculators used to be forbiddenin(math) classes. Nowyou haveto have them.”

Though AI-generated writing isn’talways easy to detect, Young said there are some giveaways.

“It loves ‘threes,’ ”he said,asinprovidingthree instances or points in asentence, thewritingprinciple sometimes called “the rule of three.”

“And sometimes it’sjust too positive,” in its tone, he added.

Theage gap

Young said he thinks it would be newer,younger priests who might be more tempted to let something like ChatGPThandle their writing.

“Older priests are probably fine doing what they’ve beendoing most of their lives,”hesaid.

While at Notre Dame, seminarians spend three semestersinYoung’shomiletics classes. It starts with thebasics of public speaking and then moves on to more specialized topics, including marriages, funerals and baptisms.

Young, aMetairie native andArchbishop Rummel

Monsignor Keith DeRouen said his process for writinghomilies nevervaries. If it’sfor Sunday Mass, he beginsreading the highlighted Scripture early in the week. ‘It needs to ruminate,’hesaid

High School graduate, has amasters of divinity from Notre DameSeminary.At the urging of formerArchbishopGregory Aymond, he earnedadoctorate in preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St.Louis, then returned to teach at Notre Dame.

“I am thehomileticsdepartment,” he joked onerecent morning.

Smith, 25, said theclasswork includes writing daily and Sunday homilies that some students areaskedto preach to theclass, where theirwork is critiqued.

“Father Kurt can be blunt sometimes,” Smithsaid.

Smith, who was ordained a transitional deacon in May, said he recently preached his first homily during a Mass at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Destrehan.

“I was nervous, but it went really well,” said Smith, who will serve as a deacon at St.Dominic Catholic Church in New Orleans.

He said many in the congregation knewitwas first homily,but laughedatthe thought that perhaps they cuthim slackdue to that “Nah, they were complimentary,” he said.

Smith preached during theobservance of the Feast of the Ascension and keyed hismessage on thedesireto makeittoHeaven. He noted thehomily was not generated by AI, but instead flowed from prayer

Building ahomily

By his own estimate, DeRouen haspreached as many as 13,000 homilies during a44-year career that has taken him to several churches in the Diocese of Lafayette, including Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Opelousas, where he is currently pastor DeRouen,69, said his process never varies. If it’s for SundayMass,hebegins reading thehighlighted Scripture early in the week. “It needs to ruminate,”he said.

By Wednesday,he’s“feeling it” and begins to put his thoughts on paper, using the same ink pen he has for years. He never writes his

explained, is the ending he goes to when he decides to wrap thingssoonerthanhe had anticipated.

DeRouen recalls one memorablead-liband says it’sone of themoststirring homilies he’s ever witnessed. He was25atthe time, and adeacon at St. Edmund Catholic Church in Lafayette. The Rev.Joe Breaux, the church’svery popularpastor,was handling the duties that Sunday

“He starts preaching and then stops. He says to everyone‘Y’allknowI work hard on my homilies. But nothing came to me this week!”’ DeRouen said.

“Thenhesaystoeveryone, ‘God loves you. So do I. Let’s pray.’ DeRouen thought it was terrific.

“I still remember it, right?”

Aparting thought

homilies and sermons on the computer.“It’stoo sterile.”

On Saturday,the draft undergoes afinal edit.

Homilies in Catholic churches tend to be shorter than homiliesorsermonsin ProtestantorEvangelical churches.

Besides not going over eight minutes, DeRouen has acouple of other rules.

He tries to steer clear of politics, especially during an election season. “You just can’twin,” he said.

Also, he said, every homily must include a“safetynet.”

Safetynet?

“That Jesus saves, and you can be saved, too. People need that good news.”

Beckendorfadded another tip thatwould seem anobrainer, but can sometimes be difficult.

“You havetowatch your language,” he said. “When you get preaching, you’ll preach like youtalk.”He spent four years in the Navy and 20 years as apolice officer,whichmeans staying vigilant aboutcolorfullanguage,hesayswith agrin.

While DeRouenmakes sure to include the safety net, Beckendorf said it’s crucial to know your audience andfollowtheir tells.

“I’ve changed (the homily) on the altar,” he said.

“Wehavethe ‘out.’”

The “out,” Beckendorf

To give the congregation the sense that one is wrapping things up, we circle all the way back to Deacon Eddy’sstory about that time he got hit by atruck. It wasin1985, and it happened at an industrial plant in St. Charles Parish. The culprit wasaDodge Ram

“Spun me around and put me under the truck,” Beckendorf said. “Underthe truck!”

“Noteveryone’s been hit by atruck, but it’ssomething people can relate to,” he added. “So you can roll that into ahomily.” Which is probably not the wayAIwould preach it.

Email BobWarren at bwarren@theadvocate. com.

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Leo XIV

EDUCATION

EducationDept. changescould breakaflawedsystem

Parentsofkidswith disabilities still

BY HEATHERHOLLINGSWORTH, ANNIE MA and MORIAH BALINGIT AP education writers

For months, and sometimes longer,parents of kids with disabilities say they have waited for the Education Department to make progress on their complaints of bullying or other discrimination.

Now thatthe department is offloading civil rights enforcementand specialeducation, some parents and advocates warn aprocess that has largely been stalled since President Donald Trump took office will see only more chaos and roadblocks.

“It’stothe point Idon’teven check in anymore with the attorney,” said Nicole May,an Ohio mother.May filed acomplaintinspring 2024 with the department’sOffice forCivil Rights, alleging her teenage daughter was bullied over her hearing aids and was getting in trouble in class because shecouldn’t hear her teachers. More than two years later,the case lacks aresolution.

Under the changes announced Tuesday the Department of Justice will take over civil rights enforcement in schools, andthe Department of Health and Human Services will oversee special education. The moves help fulfill Trump’scampaign promiseto dismantle the Education Department. Linda McMahon, the education secretary,pitched the changesasa way to get morehelp to families of kids with disabilities.

Advocates said special education doesn’t belong in ahealth department,which usually treats disabilities as conditionstomanage, instead of differencesinhow children learn. The top Republicanonthe Senate education committee agreed, sayinghe’d pursue legislationtokeep special education out of Health and HumanServices. Taking caseselsewhere

For many,though, the response tothe announcementwas asigh of resignation.

The Education Department’s civil rights office had long been the last resort for parents who believe their child is facing discrimination at school, with amandateto review all complaints. Under Trump, the backlogofcaseshas ballooned, andresolutions have dwindled. Increasingly,attorneys say they are turning elsewhere to try to ob-

“I feel like they’re probably collecting dust on avirtual shelf somewhere,” Harvey said. In response to the federal backlog, she helped to push for anew state lawthatexpands the typesofcivil rights cases Colorado education officials can pursue. States across the U.S. already investigate variousspecial education complaints, including when parentsallege schools aren’t following achild’sindividualized education program. But the Colorado legislation, signedinto law in May, allows the state to pursue thetypes of cases typically handled at the federal level, such as those involving allegations of discrimination and harassment.

“Compliance and enforcement of federal civil rights lawswill remain apriority,” the department said in awritten statement. Taken together,the fracturing of programs, enforcement and oversight for disabledstudents acrossmultiple agencies raised questions of what would fall through the cracks, special education advocates said.

tain justice for children.

The reactionisa marked change from a yearago, when parents and attorneys were in apanicasEducation Department staff andattorneys were slashed.

TheOffice of Special Education andRehabilitative Services has shrunk by roughly athird since 2024, and the Office for Civil Rights is roughly40% smaller.Meanwhile in the Department of Justice, the Education Opportunities Section hasshrunk by half, accordingtoestimates provided by Justice Connection, anetwork of department alumni.

“I think alot of people aremad, but they are like, ‘Whatare we going to do?’ ”said EmilyHarvey,the co-legaldirector at DisabilityJustice, formerly Disability Law Colorado, whohas watched her cases languish.

When Trumptook office, she hadafederal complaintpending, alleging someColorado schools were illegally rejecting enrollment from kids outside their neighborhood boundaries because they haddisabilities Harvey also has acase pending at the Department of Justice, alleginga districtsouth of Denver restrained and secluded disabled students hundreds of times, even though the practice is supposed to be reservedfor emergencies.

Harveysaid she didn’tthink the federal civil rightsoffice was ever perfect. “But I think it’sbecomeeven less help for people who are trying to resolve issues,” said Harvey, whoworked as an Education Departmentcivil rights attorney in 2020 and2021. Boston-areaspecial education advocate Craig Haller said he’s heard nothing on a complaint he filed earlylast year with the Education Department’s Officefor CivilRights. Ever sincethe Trumpadministration started dismantling thedepartment, he hasleaned moreonMassachusetts’s state system for resolving special education matters.

He recentlyusedthatsystem to help a student whosehigh school didn’ttake into accounthis special educationplanwhenit suspended him

“I gotitfixed for my client,” Hallersaid. But without thefederal Office for Civil Rights, “I can’tget it fixed systematically.”

Jobs made harder

While only Congress can close the Education Department, McMahon, abillionaire and former CEO of WorldWrestling Entertainment, has signed 10 additional agreements to give department functions to other federal agencies.

So far,those agreements have not reduced thenumber of employees working on specific programs. But the unionthat representsdepartment workerssays staffhave runintoissueswithequipment andaccess at their new postings.

“It’s hard to describe how inefficient the implementation of the (agreements) has been,” said Rachel Gittleman, the union’s president

The Education Department said Wednesdaythe latest agreementswill help theOfficefor CivilRightsrun “more effectively and efficiently.”

Robyn Linscott, who directs education and family policy at The Arc of the United States,a majordisabilityrightsgroup,recalled attending athree-hour listening session the Education Department hosted in January.Families, educators and advocates described barriers to accessing proper support and services. Although they acknowledged breaks in the system, not asingle parent advocated for moving oversight of special education to Health andHuman Services.

Still, she isn’tsurprised the Trumpadministration moved the program anyway “Ithas only been 24 hours, butI think we anticipated this move for over ayear,” she said on Wednesday In Congress, senators frombothsides of the aisle said they would try to stop the movetoput special education in Health and Human Services.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said he would “publicly commit” to workingwithhis Democraticcolleague, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, on legislative action that would push the administration to change course. Cassidy,who lost aprimary election this spring and has less than six months left in his Senate term,has personal knowledge of theeducation challengesfaced by kids with disabilities: His wife co-founded anetwork of charter schools for students with dyslexia.

If special education is moved, he said Wednesday,itshould go to the Labor Department. That agency,hesaid, is better positioned to support people withdisabilities as they learn and work.

Ultimately,whatmatters to parents is whether theycan getthe services their children need, saidRob Harris, an IEP advocateinColorado. Families spend an inordinate amount of time navigating systems thatshould be working togethertoserve children, but often aren’t.Harrishas navigated thosesystems himself: His 19-yearold daughter is blind. “Families don’texperience the governmentthrough organizational charts,” Harris said. “Weexperience it through theservices our children receive.”

ProtesteruptsinNew Delhi

CockroachJanta

Partydemands minister’s resignation

BY PIYUSH NAGPAL

Associated Press

NEW DELHI Supporters of India’sviral Cockroach

Janta Party banged steel plates with spoons in aprotest Saturday to demand the resignation of the education minister over allegations of examination irregularities and repeated paper leaks.

Theprotest near Parliament in New Delhi by hundreds of students and young supporters of the nascent movement added to the pressure on Prime Minister NarendraModi’s government while also seeking wider support among Indians.

Authorities deployed heavy security andpolice used cameras and drones to monitor the protest.

Some carried placards and others banged plates, their noise cutting through the crowd protestingand demanding the resignation of Education Minister

JURIES

Continued from page1A

unanimous, scrapping long-standing laws in Louisiana and Oregon.

In the Florida case, defendant Hamed Kian argues that a1970 Supreme Courtdecision thatendorsed six-member juries, Williams v. Florida, “cannot be squared with” the Ramos decision,claiming that agroup of 12 was also what defined ajury trial when the Sixth Amendment came to pass.

“Ramos rejected the same kind of ‘cost-benefit analysis’ undertakenin Williams,” wrote Daniel Eisinger,public defender in West Palm Beach, Florida, in Kian’spetition.

“When the People enshrined the jury trial right in the Constitution, they did not attach arider that future judges could adapt it based on latter-day social science views.”

He argued that sixmember juries and nonunanimous juriesboth developed under Jim Crow-era efforts to suppress Black voices under the guiseof judicialefficiency Floridahas deployed sixmember juries for trials in noncapital cases since 1877, thecourt record shows.Louisiana’ssplit jury law was born at aconstitutional convention in 1898explicitly to advance White supremacy in the state. The result was asplit-jury lawthat discriminated againstBlackdefendants andjurors into the modern era, according to an ex-

Dharmendra Pradhan. The banging of plates appeared to satirize Modi’s call for Indians to steponto balconies and rooftopsand bang utensils in solidarity with front-line health workers during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, apolitical communications strategistand BostonUniversity student, urged supporters on social mediatobring platesand spoons on Saturday.“There is aviruscalled Dharmendra Pradhan that has to be removed,” he told the crowd, adding that the CJP was open to talks with the government if the education ministerstepped down.

“This is just the beginning. If DharmendraPradhan doesn’t resign or if no action istaken regarding this issue, this protest will not end here,” said aCJP supporter,Deepak Kumar The exam paper fora nationwide medical program wasleaked last month through social media app Telegram.Authorities subsequently postponed the exam and also temporarily banned Telegramin India. The examisscheduled to be held on Sunday. The

haustive 2018 analysis by The Advocateofsix years of state trial and jury selection data.

That research also found more than 100 cases per year being tried before “six-pack” juries in Louisiana at the time.The state once allowed five of six jurors to convict in those trialsuntilthe U.S. Supreme Court in 1979 insisted those smaller juries needed tobe unanimous Theconviction rate for six-pack juries was comparable generally to national figures forguiltyverdicts from 12-member juries that require unanimity,the data showed. More recent figures for six-pack juries in Louisianawere not available. A spokesmanfor Jefferson ParishDistrict Attorney Paul Connick’soffice said prosecutors tried 13 defendants last year before sixmemberjuries. The 23rd Judicial District Court reported holding 68 total jury trials last year Convictions by those smaller juries can pack a punch; six-member juries render verdicts on felonies including simplerobbery, whichcarriesamaximum seven-yearsentence, and simpleburglary,with a top sentence of 12 years, among othersecond-tier felonies.

Louisiana’shabitualoffender law can apply to convictions from either size jury.The Advocate’s research in 2017 found 14 Louisiana defendants who werelaunched tolife prison terms from habitual offendersentences based on convictions by six-member juries.

government says theleak is underinvestigation.

“Westudy in poverty,live in poverty for 24 hours everyday,for years at length, andafter that our(exam) papers get leaked. Will I notget angry at this?”said studentVicky Kumar

The movement emerged in May, after Supreme Court Judge Surya Kant’s remarks comparing some unemployed youthto “cockroaches” triggered outrage. Supporters embraced theterm as asymbolofresilience, helping the group amass more than 22 millionfollowersonInstagram.

The movement’smessage hassince expanded to include concerns over unemployment, rising living costs andgovernment accountability

The CJP mixesself-deprecating humor with political criticism. Supporters jokingly call themselves unemployed and chronically online, while videos and memes mocking unemployment, corruption and political dysfunction have attracted millionsofviews

Many parody CJP accounts have also adopted thecockroachasa satirical political symbol

In the Ramos decision, JusticeNeil Gorsuch rippedthe SupremeCourt’s prior endorsement of nonunanimous juries, from 1972, saying the swing justice applied a“functional assessment” to remove an “ancient guarantee.”

Loyola University law professor Will Snowden, who runs acommunity education initiative called TheJurorProject, said the“originalism-stacked court” that doomed split verdictsmay also consider that “allowingsix-person juries to proceed just for functional purposes, for efficient purposes, that’s not consistent with the intentionsofthe framersof the Constitution.”

Snowden said larger juries increase the likelihood of representation from a broadcross-section of the community

Should the courtfind sixmember juries unconstitutional,Snowden saidit will need to consider then, as it did with divided juries, whether to makethe change retroactive.

The high court declined to make its ban on divided juries retroactive, suggesting retroactivity was an issue left to the states. Oregontook the invitation, granting newtrials to hundreds of long-serving prisoners with final convictions by split juries, while Louisiana has refused to do the same.

Snowden said he wonders how the Supreme Court will treat retroactivity if it finds six-packs unconstitutional.

“Itwould be really interesting to seeifthe tone changes,” he said.

By Amanda McElfresh| amcelfresh@theadvocate.com

Long before AaronFlegeance became afather, grandfatherand respectededucator, he wasa teenageseminarian.Theteachersandnunsathis CatholicschoolinSt.Martinvillerecognizedhis energy andability to learnquickly,and felt that apathtowardthe priesthood wouldbea good wayfor Flegeancetochannel thoseskillswhile alsohelpinghimstayonanevenemotionalkeel.

Flegeancewas in seminary school from ages 14to20.Whileheultimatelyoptedforadifferent career path,those yearshelpedshape therestof hislife.

“Everythinggoodthathashappenedinmylife startedthere,” said Flegeance, now90. “I gota goodmoraleducation.IusedwhatIlearnedthere tofinishcollege.”

Aftergraduation,Flegeancetaughthighschool Englishand French,spent nearly threedecades as asupervisorinthe St.MartinParishschools centraloffice andthentransitionedtoworkfor thesheriff’s office. At home,hemarried at age 28andeventuallybecameafathertoonesonand twodaughters “IfeltlikeIwaslatebecomingahusbandand afather. EverybodyelseI knew wasmarrying andhavingchildreneitherintheir early20s or evenlate teenageyears,”hesaid.“Itwastrulya momentofgreatjoywhenmysonwasborn,and Iwasblessedtoexperiencethosesameemotions twomoretimeswhenmygirlswereborn.

Flegeance’sapartment at TheVincent Senior Livingisfilledwithfamilyphotosfromthrough theyears,markingmomentsintimethatstillfill himwithpride.Someofthemorerecentpictures includehis sevengrandchildren –six girlsand oneboy

Flegeancesaidthere were certainprinciples he always wanted to pass down to hisfamily. Histhree children allattendedCatholicschool andneededtohavedefinitive plansuponhigh school graduation.Healsomadesuretheytook musiclessons.Eventhoughtheynolongerplay, thevaluesofdiscipline,patienceandconfidence havestayedwiththem

“Ithinkittakeseducationandreligiontomake peopleintoproductivehumanbeings.Education withoutmoralscanleadtodisaster,”hesaid.“And, Ialwaystoldthemhow much Ibelieve in work It’stheonlywaytogetahead.”

Today, Flegeance’schildrenhavesuccessful careers. Onedaughterisa psychiatrist,one is a nursepractitionerand hisson is an electronics technician.Hisgrandchildrenalsohavetheirown shareofaccomplishments, includingcareers in healthcareandcommunications.OnegranddaughterbecamethefirstBlackwomantoearnaFIFA internationalrefereeingbadgeandnowofficiates soccermatchesatthehighestlevels.

In earlyJune, Flegeanceattendedhis only grandson’sgraduationfromBelmontUniversity inTennessee.

“Hefinishedwithadegreeinneuroscienceand wantstodoresearch,”hesaid.“Iwasworriedabout himatfirstbecauseIwantedtobesurehecould

earnagoodlivingandsupportafamily.Hetold me he knew hispathwould be workingfor the biggestinstitutions.Henowhasajobofferfrom Yale andwillgoworkfor them in September. I’msoproudthathehassuchagoodheadonhis shoulders.Iknowhewilldowell.”

Seeing multiple generationshavesuccessful careersandlovingfamiliesmeansmoretoFlegeance thananyawardsortitles.Helivescomfortablyat TheVincent–leadingFrenchtableconversations twiceaweekandfrequentsing-alongs–largelydue to thefactthatheknowshiskidsandgrandkids aredoingokay

“Godhastrulyblessedme,”hesaid.“WhenI gotobedatnightandsaymyprayers,Idon’thave to worry aboutifall of my kids andgrandkids went to bedona full stomach. They allhave wonderfuljobsand cantakecareofthemselves andtheirchildrenquitewell.Iconsiderthatquite ablessing.”

TheVincent Senior Living hasIndependent Living,AssistedLivingand Memory Care options forseniorcitizens. Availableservicesinclude physical therapy, housekeeping,laundry,flexiblemealplans,accesstoa full-service beauty salon, game area,library andtheater,plusa wide arrayofsocialactivities. Thecommunity is locatedat2201Verot School Road in Lafayette. Visitvincentseniorliving.com to learnmoreor schedule atour.

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LOUISIANAPOLITICS

Spylaw renewalrevealsTrump-GOP rift

WASHINGTON —America’s intelligence agencies are no longer allowed to spy on foreigners without awarrant because Congressstill has not reauthorized the law that would allow them to do so.

“At the moment, it is a multiple vehicle pileup,”

Mark Ballard

Sen. John Kennedy,RMadisonville, told Fox News on Wednesday.

“The president is aggressively unpredictable. We thought we had things worked out. We don’t.”

Even Vice President JD Vance is alittle worried about Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA. Pointing at arecentlybroken-up plot involving Americans, Vance told Fox News Wednesday,“If somebody had been engaged in foreign terrorist activities communicating with these guys, we would actually be kind of blind to it right now because FISA has elapsed, FISA expired.”

the confirmationhearing and announced he would not signlegislationre-upping the surveillance program, whichiscrucial forU.S. intelligence efforts, until the Senate approvedabill requiring voters to prove citizenship in ordertovote.

for new American citizens

But it was President Donald Trump who threw awrench into the U.S. Senate’scarefully orchestrated effort to reauthorize the law.Though surveillance is continuing for FISA cases certified before the sunset of Section 702, new cases cannot go forward.

The president told his nominee for director of national intelligence to skip

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., hassaid repeatedly thathe can’t find enough votes to passthat voting bill, called the “Save AmericaAct,”orSAVEAct Though allthe RepublicansinLouisiana congressionaldelegationtrumpet the SAVE Act, Democrats opposethe bill because of the additionalburdens createdinfinding the necessary documents,particularly

Deadline on teacher pay proposal looms

The Louisiana Legislature has until 5p.m. Tuesday to approve Gov.JeffLandry’splan to trim education spending, freeing up money to give teachers another year of pay stipends.

Capitol Buzz STAFF REPORTS

The Legislature adjourned on June 1after passinga budget that did not include the stipends teachers have received for the past several years —$2,000 for educators and $1,000 for support staff. Voters in May rejected aproposed constitutional amendment that would have turned those stipends into apermanent pay raise by liquidating several education trust funds and paying off retirement debt.

Near the end of the session, Landry issued an executiveorder requiring the Board of Elementaryand SecondaryEducation to find $168 million in cuts to the state’spublic schools budget,

Additionally,seniors, rural residentsand low-income workersalsocould face costly and time-consuming tasks before be allowed to registertovote. It is illegal for noncitizens to castballots, and no evidence has been shown thatillegal immigrantsare voting in any significant numbers.

Louisiana, Mississippi and five other states already require proof of citizenship to register.The SAVE Actwould make proof of citizenship and submitting a picture ID at the ballot box a national standard.

Section 702 of FISA allows the U.S.government to

collect, without awarrant, theemails,texts, phone calls and other electronic surveillance of foreigners. Sometimes American citizens are caught up in the dragnet Despitemonths of effort by leaders in bothparties in both chambers, Congress had been unable to find consensus enough to passreauthorizationlegislation.

First, the reauthorizationbill had been slowed because anumber of congresspersons from both parties demanded additional protections for Americans caught up in investigations of foreign plots Then, Trump’snominee for director of national intel-

ligence, Bill Pulte, attracted too muchopposition from senators of both parties, which stalled another vote. Critics said Pulte had no intelligence experience and as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency he had allowed the administration to look at mortgage records for the alleged purpose of locating immigrants who hadentered the country illegally Trump replaced his first DNI choice with U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton of New York. Based on that switch, Senate leadership felt they now had enough votes to reauthorize FISA and were poised to do so. Then, from Evian-les-

Bains, France, where he was attending the G7 economic conference, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “The Republicans agreed with Dumocrats to remove very fair,and talented, William Pulte, from serving as Acting DNI in return for getting FISA approved by the Dumocrats.” It was 10 a.m.Wednesday in France but 4a.m.in Washington. Trump then named James McDonald, apartner in the New York-based global law firm Sullivan &Cromwell LLP,for the U.S. Attorney posting in NewYork, one of the most prestigious in the nation, that Clayton would be leaving. But Trump doesn’twant to forward Clayton as DNI until McDonald is confirmed.

“I maynot be able to get the extraordinary Sullivan &Cromwell Partner,Jamie, approved, and Idon’twant to take Jay Clayton away from the great job he is doing until Jamie is in place,” the president said on his Truth Social platform. So, Pulte remains as acting director for the time being.

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy,RBaton Rouge, wrote Thursday on X: “Democrats have been blocking FISA in bad faith, but confirming Jay Clayton would allow for aquicker resolution. Mr President, by preventing Jay Clayton from testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, it puts American lives at risk. Put America first. Don’tstop

freeingupmoney to give thestipends to educators again in the comingschool year.That plan requiresapproval fromtwo-thirds of legislators, whoare casting their ballots remotely Landry and somelegislative leaders have argued school districts have bigfinancial reserves and can sustain the budget cut in order to give theincreases. But some school district officials have protestedthe plan, arguing it will make it harder for them to pay for vitalservices like school buses andmaintenance.

Looming over legislators’ vote is the fact that Landry has not yet signed the bills that contain the state budget. The governor has the authority to line-item veto individual spending projects, a tool that can be usedtopunish lawmakers that vote against his priorities.

Before gavelingout,the Legislature created atask force that is studying Louisiana’sschool funding formula. Its goal is to find money to permanently shift toward increasingteacher pay, instead of relying on repeated one-timestipends.

Murrill, feds seek to end desegregation order

LouisianaAttorney General Liz Murrill, theU.S. Department of Justice and the Bossier Parish School Boardare asking afederal judge to end one of the state’slongest-running desegregation cases.

The parish school system has been under acourt order since 1964. Butofficials say there has not been any contested litigation in the case for decades, and federal oversight has not found any problems with theschool district’scompliance efforts.

“The SupremeCourt has repeatedly recognized that federal court supervisionoflocal school systemsisintended to be temporary,” Murrill said in anews release. “The record demonstrates sustained compliance by the Bossier ParishSchool Board. It is long past due to return power back to thepeople of Bossier Parish and to their elected representatives on the School Board.”

The jointmotion,filed June 12, asks the court to dissolve all remaininginjunctions, terminate federal supervision, and dismiss

thecase with prejudice. It is up to judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr ,ofthe U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, to rule on the motion.

Landry signs homelessness bills

Gov.Jeff Landry has signed several bills taking aim at homelessness in Louisiana.

sources they need,” Landry said on X. “Wewant economic growth instead of economic destruction!” Critics fear the new law will criminalize homelessness and makeiteven harder forpeople to get back on their feet.

Landry also signed three bills sponsored by Rep. Alonzo Knox, D-NewOrleans, aimed at improving state oversight of homeless shelters.

Landry posted avideo to social media this week saying he had signed House Bill 211 by Rep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner.The new law makes unauthorized camping on public property amisdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison. It also allows courts to set up specialized homelessness programsthat can connect people charged with rehabilitation and other services to avoid jail time.

“This bill helps get people off thestreets while also providing them with the support and re-

They establish minimum standards forshelters, group homes and halfway houses; put stricter auditing requirements forshelters that get public funding; and create apilot program in Orleans Parish to divert homeless people out of courts and into treatment.

“Homelessness is one of the mostcomplex challenges facing our communities, and there are no simple solutions,” Knox said in anews release thanking Landry forsigning his bill.

“These new lawsrepresent acompassionate and balanced approach that protects vulnerable individuals, strengthens public trust, and creates pathways toward stability and selfsufficiency.”

Villio

BY POET WOLFE Staff writer

The sun set over Destin hours ago, but at a roadside diner off Beach Boulevard, breakfast never ended.

Waiters scribbled orders on notepads and refilled coffee, often disappearing into the kitchen where eggs, bacon and hashbrowns fried on the griddle. Tucked into booths, patrons bumped elbows as they doused maple syrup over stacks of pancakes and smeared strawberry jam on biscuits Solo diners stood in a single-file line at the counter, lingering over the glass case of key lime pie and glazed doughnuts.

Surrounding the families, late-night workers and travelers were photographs of the beach town from long ago palm-lined streets, weathered storefronts and stretches of sand stamped with footprints. Outside, a neon sign glimmered blue, beckoning drivers along the boulevard to pull over for plates of fried pork chops, omelets or simply a bit of banter at the bar

With its cushiony stools, cramped booths and all-day breakfast, The Donut Hole embodies the archetypal American diner Its motley mix of customers also reflects the broader transformation of Florida’s Gulf Coast — long a vacation destination for regional travelers but now a fast-growing region drawing new residents alongside nationwide tourists.

The region’s rapid growth has been accompanied by an evolving dining scene shaped by established institutions and newer arrivals.

We spent three days visiting some of these places from a charming Irish pub decked out in dollar bills to a breakfast spot started by a New Orleans chef — to experience another side of the region beyond its beaches and find restaurants worth seeking out on your next vacation.

Big Bad Breakfast

Though the name might suggest otherwise, this Miramar Beach restaurant is no greasy spoon. But it is about as Southern as they come.

John Currence, a seasoned New Orleansborn chef, mines his upbringing on the menu at Big Bad Breakfast, blending classics with innovative takes. Even the restaurant’s name nods to the South, drawing

THE GULF COAST

inspiration from Mississippi novelist Larry Brown’s “Big Bad Love.”

The decor is minimalistic, but the menu is anything but. Scallions and a fried egg top buttery grits and sauteed Gulf shrimp. Fried chicken with white gravy and cheddar cheese is tucked inside a biscuit. Those ingredients come together again in the Creole omelet, a combination of shrimp, andouille and tomato gravy

Traditional breakfast fare is offered, too: Steak and eggs, oatmeal doused in fruit and brown sugar and pancakes. The sides range from brûléed grapefruit to biscuits with strawberry jelly and whipped butter

The restaurant can’t be labeled, with dishes satisfying everyone from Southerners who grew up on grits and eggs to healthconscious acolytes who swear by avocado toast and granola.

McGuire’s

The nightlife of Ireland is defined by its pubs — little watering holes lit by the glow of corner fireplaces, where regulars nurse pints beneath low-beam ceilings. But inside a massive, resort-like complex, McGuire’s Irish Pub in Destin embraces pub culture in American fashion.

The restaurant leans into the notion that bigger is better from the walls and ceilings covered in millions of dangling $1 bills marked in black ink to the hefty portions. Every table starts with a pillowy loaf

of black bread drizzled with honey butter before moving on to entrees like chopped steak accompanied by two fried onion rings or a towering Reuben sandwich served with thick-cut fries.

McGuire’s is identified by traditions beyond the customers who pin dollar bills to its walls each day It offers an 18-cent bean soup that has been served daily in the U.S. Senate dining room for more than a century. Unlike in the nation’s capital, however, the price has remained the same at the pub.

The family-owned restaurant, started by McGuire and Molly Martin in 1977, helped popularize Irish culture along Florida’s Gulf Coast, a region better known for its white sand beaches and tourism.

The Donut Hole

Though we’ve covered it already, The Donut Hole deserves another mention and the long line of customers that snakes around it each morning would likely agree. Finding a blank space on the menu is like trying to spot a four-leaf clover among thousands of shamrocks. There are omelets, benedicts and pancakes in nearly every variation imaginable, alongside eight salads that likely are not ordered very often in a restaurant better known for doughnuts.

But “The Diet Plate” stands out mainly because it’s anything but diet-friendly Two homemade biscuits topped with sausage patties, cheese, fried eggs and gravy, served with hashbrowns, fill the plate until it seems a biscuit might tip over the edge. It’s worth breaking your diet over, though. Perhaps with a slice of key lime pie.

The Great Southern Cafe

Traces of New Orleans can be found everywhere at The Great Southern Cafe in Seaside, even in the smallest details.

Folk artist Dr Bob’s famed “Be Nice or Leave” sign hangs above the bar, where bloody marys stacked with green olives, okra and banana peppers are served. In the center of the polished beach town along 30A, afternoon crowds filled the outdoor seating area on a recent Thursday, digging into shrimp and grits, oyster po-boys and gumbo Among them was “The Dyana” a blackened chicken sandwich topped with two strips of bacon and Swiss cheese on brioche with homemade mustard. The waitress recommended the black-eyed peas

Saying goodbye to Comeaux High

Legacy Walk to be held June 25

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

Comeaux High School alumni and former members of the school community are invited to a special Legacy Walk to say goodbye before the school closes on

El Niño years have impacted La.

Devastating hurricanes have still struck, despite low predictions

BY KASEY BUBNASH Staff writer

Blossoming El Niño conditions are expected to reach historic proportions this year helping to limit hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean and altering weather conditions across the globe.

Federal scientists said last week that 2026 could “rank among the largest El Niño events in the historical record going back to 1950,” with conditions expected to intensify through the remainder of the Atlantic hurricane season and into the winter El Niño tends to increase vertical wind shear across the Atlantic, helping to break up storms and prevent hurricane formation and intensification. Those effects aren’t a given, but stronger events improve the odds for lower tropical activity across the Atlantic and Gulf

The potential for what some are calling a “super” El Niño is what led forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to predict slightly below average activity this season, which ends on Nov 30. But here in Louisiana, where some of the most memorable hurricanes in history have hit during El Niño years, experts like state climatologist Jay Grymes are warning residents to stay vigilant and get prepared.

“So that’s my first point, is to tell people, wait a minute, we’re reducing the number of storms a small amount,” Grymes said. “We’re not taking storms out of the game.”

Here’s a look back at some of the El Niño years that made history and how they stack up NOAA determines the strength of an El Niño event by measuring how far above average sea-surface temperatures are in a specific region of the Pacific Ocean relative to the rest of the tropics. NOAA forecasters sort El Niño events into four categories of intensity:

n Weak: Sea-surface temperatures are between 0.5 and 1 degrees Celsius above average

n Moderate: 1 to 1.5 degrees above average

n Strong: 1.5 to 2 degrees above average

n Very strong: 2 degrees or more above average.

Grymes said that while “very strong” is the official scientific terminology for the highest order category, some “media-driven scientists” have started using the term “super” El Niño.

“If we look back to 1950, there probably have been something like five or six events that would qualify for this super rating,” he said, adding that this year, “there seems to be very little question that we’re going to hit that super phase, that extra strong phase.”

According to NOAA’s Relative Oceanic Niño Index, the following

June 30. The Lafayette Parish School Board on June 11 voted 5-4 to close Comeaux as a high school effective June 30. It will be repurposed to house a career center and systemwide sports complex. Officials said student enrollment

has dropped so low that it isn’t financially feasible to keep the school open. Students are instead being sent to Lafayette, Acadiana and Southside high schools. The existing W.D. Smith and Mary Baker Smith Career Center building is in disrepair, officials said, and there is supposedly a long waiting list of students who want to take classes that range from cosmetology to robotics. About $2.1 million is expected to be saved by staff cuts with the school closure, Superintendent Francis Touchet said. The savings will be bonded to generate revenue to pay for the renovations. The Legacy Walk at Comeaux High is from 5 p.m to 7 p.m on June 25, 100 W. Bluebird Drive, in Lafayette.

The event will provide an opportunity to walk the campus, reconnect and recognize the lasting impact the school has had on generations. The school opened in 1966.

Only clear bags are allowed. Per the Lafayette Parish School System’s policy, all guests will also be required to pass through a weapons detection system upon entry

SOUL FOOD

ABOVE: Cooks Vinnie Thomas, center, and James Bruno serve up some wings during the 46th Annual SWLA Juneteenth Music Festival & Stone

Soul Picnic. The event offered food, music, fellowship and culture at Parc International on Saturday in Lafayette LEFT: Russell Cormier and Homegrown Reggae perform onstage.

Environmental activists navigate increased pushback

‘We have no one on our side,’ one advocate says

BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer

A dozen teenagers ride their bikes down a quiet street in Norco on a warm June morning, stopping at an empty playground beside a Shell petrochemical plant. Helmets off and bikes parked, they listen to their tour guides for the day, local advocates telling a story that weaves together Black history in the River Parishes and the current environmental justice movement.

“The ordinary people stood up and fought Shell and won,” said Cathy Laurino, a tour guide with the advocacy group Louisiana Bucket Brigade, referencing a community battle over a relocation effort two decades ago. Richlyn Gibson, a seventh grader from Donaldsonville, said later:

“It was very inspirational because you see how you can stand up for something.” The bike ride and related summer camp are examples of the

kind of outreach a constellation of local community and environmental groups have long been engaged in. That work gained unprecedented prominence and funding under former President Joe Biden’s administration.

But since 2025, such groups have watched a stunning reversal both nationally and in Louisiana under the administrations of President Donald Trump and Gov Jeff Landry. Landmark pollution rules long sought by local groups have been rolled back, and sharp cuts in grant funding have left environmental justice advocates navigating how to remain effective.

For some industry groups and politicians, the changes have been welcome — a necessary pushback against what they view as regulatory overreach that harms business and the broader economy

But local organizations say that without the work they carry out, pollution will only worsen and poorer residents without an effective voice will suffer the most.

“The state of (environmental justice) is we’re in a bad place. We’re hanging on by a thread,” said Beverly Wright, founder of The Deep South Center for Envi-

ronmental Justice, a New Orleansbased organization hit hard by cuts in federal grants.

“But I take heart in the fact that we have been here before and during worse times and under worse conditions, with fewer allies than what we have now.”

The Trump administration’s approach to environmental justice is in many ways the inverse of what occurred under Biden.

Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency chief, Michael Regan, was the first Black man to hold the position and put a high priority on environmental justice, or concerns that poor and Black neighborhoods have been forced to disproportionately suffer the effects of industrial pollution.

Louisiana and its heavily industrialized region along the river between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, which activists refer to as “Cancer Alley,” was among Regan’s areas of focus. He visited Louisiana twice to tour industrialized areas and speak with residents. When he signed off on what is known as the HON rule aimed at reducing cancer risk in communities near industrial plants, Louisiana activists attended the event in Wash-

ington, D.C. Sharon Lavigne, who founded Rise St. James, one of the most prominent local environmental groups, was there and still has a pen Regan used for the signing. But for her, the promise of that day has since eroded.

The 2024 rule had required over 200 industrial facilities nationwide to use stricter pollution controls and conduct routine air monitoring. The plants had until July 2026 to meet the bulk of these requirements. But last summer Trump exempted 49 chemical plants nationwide from complying with the standard by the 2026 deadline, including a dozen in Louisiana.

Industry groups in the state argued that the rule was impossible to comply with and would harm important sectors. Advocates see the exemptions as an interim move while the EPA seeks to permanently undo the requirements. “Our member companies spend millions of dollars each year on emissions controls, operational reliability and safety systems because environmental, health and safety performance remains

STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD KEMP

OPINION

OUR VIEWS

Legislatorsneed to do thehard work to get teachers a permanentraise

For years, Louisiana legislators have debated whether to pay publicschool teachers more, and how.Inrecent times that has ledtoaseriesof one-time stipends that temporarily boosted pay rather than sustained salaryincreases.

This year,after voters rejecteda constitutional amendment that wouldhave reallocated the money in three trust funds to payfor permanent raises,Gov.Jeff Landry issuedanexecutive ordertofund another round ofstipends —but with acatch. He proposed taking the money from state education funding already allocatedto local districts.

Thestopgap movemust be approvedbya twothirdsmajorityofthe legislators,with mail-in ballotsthatweretobedue Tuesday

That process, however,may be haltedbecause aBaton Rouge judge issued atemporary restrainingorder Thursdayafter public school advocates sued, arguingLandry’sorder is unconstitutional

We admit we’re not fans ofLandry’sapproach, even though Legislative AuditorMike Waguespack thinks most districts can absorbthe unexpectedcostatthis late date by tapping into their reserves.

Our skepticism stems not from afeeling that teachers don’tdeserve the money; wehave steadfastly advocated formorepay forthe state’softbeleagured educators, especially as documented gainsinreading and mathinLouisiana’spublic schoolshave drawn national attention.

Yetgiving teachers along-awaitedpermanent raise —rather than yet anotherone-time stipend —was not amajor priority whenthe Legislature convened earlier this year.Itonly became one aftervoters rejectedabroad package of constitutionalamendments that,amongother things, wouldhaveeliminated thetrust funds to pay for permanentpay increases

Of the fivequestions on the May16ballot, the teacher pay raise came the closest to passing. But it stillfell by asignificant margin, and some have suggested that means voters don’tsupport higher pay.Wethink it means most voters simply don’ttrust their elected leaders and don’tlike amendments to the constitution. After the election, Landry insisted that no one would getraises if teachers didn’t. Thatwas a good thought, but his plan came too late to go through the normal legislative process.Unfortunately,itnow puts the burdenonlocaldistricts to afford it by cutting the same amount from state funding for local districtsinthe Minimum Foundation Program, or MFP, as they re already finalizing budgets for theupcoming school year

We endorse the idea of reconsidering the MFP, especially in an age of declining enrollment, but this slapdash process wasunnecessaryand unprofessional. Going forward, the governor and legislators need to get back into aroomand do thehard workoffinally paying forthe raise that our teachers deserve —even if that means calling aspecial session. Such sessions have certainly been called forless urgent issues. Theimprovements in education rankings have not come easily. They’rethe fruitof hard work by both administrators and students and, yes,teachers.Now it’stimefor thepoliticians to buckle down and get to work, and send some of the rewards into teachers’ paychecks.

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

Anti-carboncapture forces emboldened by Beaver Lake projectcancellation

Has Louisiana’santi-carbon capture insurgency notched its first win? That depends on who you ask.

On June 12, SunGas Renewables, a Houston-based energy company that was converting an abandoned paper mill in Pineville into a$2.4 billion plant to produce woodbased clean fuels, announced it would halt work on the site.

The project, known as Beaver Lake, was announced to great fanfare in 2023. It was heralded as away for the state’sbeleaguered central region, which has few natural resources beyond itsabundant pine trees, to capitalize on newer technologies in thehopes of spurring an economic turnaround. The project included acarbon capture and sequestration component.

The passing reference to “uncertainty”was enough forCCS opponents, an ideology-bending alliance of left-leaning environmentalists and property-rightsconservatives. Those folks, many of whom live in Central Louisiana, have packed public meetings and kept up asteady online cadence against CCS for much of thepast two years.

So SunGas’ announcement, predictably,was met with joy

On one Facebook page titled “The People of Louisiana Against Carbon Capture Sequestration,” which has morethan 18,000 followers, commenters were exultant, with one calling it a “victory,” another “a huge relief”and a third“out f*****g standing.”

Baton Rouge. Apart from afew legislators from the region, fewlawmakers have been willing to come out against CCS. This year,abill sponsored by Mike Johnson, R-Pineville, that would have given locals morecontrol over CCS projects, died in committee. It wasthe second year in arow that the Legislature killed such abill, and it wasn’t particularly close. And statewide, a number of CCS projects are going forward.

In astatement, companybrass said thedecision to walk away was based on several factors, including demand for themaritime fuels the company produces,financing, regulatoryconcerns and “uncertaintyregarding the carbon capture and storagepathway.”

Parsing what is behind all that bizspeak is probably futile. It’s true that thecompany’sproject relied on aconstellation of international market and funding factors that make asimple explanation difficult,ifnot impossible. For some, it doesn’tmatter

Economically,the abandonment of theproject is ablow to the fortunes of Central Louisiana, aregion that, over theyears, has gotten accustomed to disappointment. Of course, the region now has itsfirst announced data center project,somaybe this loss won’t sting quiteasmuch.

Politically,the potential fallout could prove much moreinteresting. CCS opponents, who have never been shy about making their feelings heard, will now be further emboldened. With one victory,real or imagined, in hand, they will certainly go look foranother Their biggest hurdle, though, is in

Opponents aren’tcompletely without political allies, however.Republican John Fleming, whoisinthe Republican primary runofffor aU.S. Senate seat with Julia Letlow,has come out against it. Plenty of the commenters on the above-mentioned post urged others to vote forFleming.

Another post on that samepage touted Democratic candidate Jamie Davis’ opposition, and somecommenters vowed that if Fleming loses in the primaryrunoff, they will support Davis in the fall.

Regardless of how the topic plays out in this Senate race, the issue and the furor around it are not going away, even if there are manyinstate governmentwho would like to see it buried deep underground.

Email Faimon A. Roberts III at froberts@theadvocate.com.

Opinions canevolveasthe factschange

Oneofthe interesting things about therange of letterswereceive is that, on occasion, writersreveal that their opinions change when there arenew factstoconsider.Whether it’son big national issues, like immigrationorgun rights, or local issues, like new parks or roads, readers saythattheir opinions change when theyget new information. Iknow thatitisnot common these days to shiftinyour views Often, Americans areportrayed as unyielding on any given topic, stuck in aperpetual cycle of repeating the positions of whichever partyaligns withtheir views. The reality,Isuspect,ismuch more complex. It is easy to spout platitudes in avacuum, but when confronted withthe realitiesofour world, space opens for us to question why we believe what we believe. Those who can look at facts and then change their opinions when thefacts

warrant arepracticing the highest form of critical reading and thinking. It is askill that manybelieve we are losing as we become more polarized in our politics.

But Ihope otherwise. Even if mostpeople don’toften announce their changing views publicly,itisimportant to questionyourself and your opinions. Iadmire those who can do that.

As we celebrated Juneteenth on Friday and are approaching the Fourth of July celebration for this 250th year of our founding, we have asked you to consider whatthe quintessential texts of American history are.

If you had to have someone read something to understand who we are as apeople, what would it be and why? We know the DeclarationofIndependence and the Constitution are two of our most important documents, but outside of those,what words about the Ameri-

can experience do you find inspiring? Send us aletter to letters@theadvocate. com.Wewill feature some of the best responses in the paper and online. Turning to our letters inbox, for June 4-11, we received 56 letters, and Ihave to say,there wasnosingle topic that stood out. In fact, for the first time, the biggest category for letters was miscellaneous, agrab bag that can include everything from shoutouts to Good Samaritans to messages from visitors to our state. Aside from that, there were two letters on the D-Dayholiday,two on the America 250 celebrations and two on the legislative session just passed. But overall, we are seeing fewer letters on politics. That could mean that the summerdoldrumsare here, but as always, we love to hear from you.

Arnessa Garrett is Managing Editor |Opinion Page Editor.Email her at arnessa.garrett@theadvocate.com.

Arnessa Garrett

Faimon Roberts

COMMENTARY

Courtshootsdowngun-marijuana law, wrongful arrest

The Supreme Court on Thursday reconfirmed that not even illicit drug use can alter thefact that theSecond Amendment makes firearm ownership afundamental right. At least as importantly, it reaffirmed the importance of the due process of law,including the crucial principle that an alleged criminal offense cannot be used to turn otherwise-legal behavior on acompletely unrelated front into acrime of its own. Put another way,there’sno such thing as guilt by osmosis. The main thrust of the decision in U.S. v. Hemani had been expected due to the tenor of various justices’ comments during oral argumentonMarch 2. The case, the government’sappeal of a decision of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal based in New Orleans, involved aman named Ali Hemani who smoked marijuana several days aweek and also owned ahandgun,safely secured at home.

Thegovernment, relying on federal law, 18 U.S.C. §922(g) (3), said that because Hemani smokes pot, it is illegal for Hemani even to own agun —even though the potuse and thegun ownership are otherwise wholly unrelated, and even though Hemanihad no prior criminal record and had not even been charged with acriminal offense for the marijuana use itself. The Fifth Circuit disagreed with the government, and now the Supreme Courthas affirmed thatdecision.

I’ve been writing on this precise constitutional issue in numerous columns for 14 years. I am an avid opponent of legalizing marijuana(I’ve neversmoked it, not even once),and Ihaven’t even fired agun in decades,soI have no personal ax to grind here —but theprinciples involved shouldbeofinterest to everyone who cares about constitutional liberty

Thefirst eight amendments

to the Constitution (along with the thirteenth through fifteenth) protect rights that are recognized as essential to civil society and which should be seen as naturally belonging to all humankind, rather thanbeing merely granted by abenevolentgovernment This is no less true forSecond Amendment weaponsrightsthan forFirst Amendment religious or speech rights. In hundreds of cases, theSupreme Court hasexplained that government can restricta fundamentalright only after “strict scrutiny,” which means the restriction must be “narrowlytailored” andbethe “least restrictive means” of achieving a“compelling government interest.”

Second Amendment right If the gunisnot usedina crime, andifsimple marijuana use is at most amisdemeanor,and if the gun isn’thandledorbrandished while under theinfluence, then the government hasnolegitimate authority to make gun ownership illegal.

Suchhas been my argument for years —eversinceIanalyzeda case in whichanAlabama public officialwas convicted forillegal gun ownership because he hada handgun in his bedroom in Mobile while he smoked ajoint on a Florida beach 67 miles away.Yes, that conviction wasabsurd, and so wasHemani’sinthis case.

On Thursday,the court agreed, without asingle dissent

Unless anduntil an actual criminal conviction (or perhaps aformal medical diagnosis, in accordance with some lawor other) carries with it aconcomitant restriction on future firearm ownership, there is absolutely no compelling government interest, narrowlytailored, that can allow the denialofthe fundamental

In the main opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that by the government’sflawed argument (in favorofprosecution), it doesn’t even matter “howmuch [or little]marijuanaHemaniuses or whateffect it hasonhim. It makes no difference either if he keepsa firearm only in his home for self-defense, nevermisuses a

gun while intoxicated,and never poses adangertohimself or others as aresult of his marijuana use. The only thing thegovernment mustshow, it says, is that an individuallike Mr.Hemani regularlyuses anyamount of any controlledsubstance Butthe government’s [argument]fails underevery measure it asksusto consider.”

Acriminal conviction should be imposed forthe crime actually committed.Otherwise, ourliberty writ large is at thewhim of rogue prosecutors or of selective, even politically targeted enforcement by officers on powertrips The protectionsagainstsuchabusive practices are particularly compelling whenanexplicit constitutional right is at issue No matter howmuchIoranyoneelsemight object to marijuana, theSupreme Court, like theFifthCircuit in NewOrleans, gotthis oneright.Wecan’t letour rightsgoupinsmoke.

Email Quin Hillyer at quin hillyer@theadvocate.com

Senate race couldbeheading off-script

As Louisiana’s dreary election forU.S Senate lumbers on, U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow remainsthe favorite. That would be the case with anyone who finished within a handful of points of winning aprimary majorityoutright, instead of having to endure another round of voting

Grace Quin Hillyer

In Letlow’scase, she got 45% in the May GOP primary to 28% for stateTreasurer John Fleming, her opponent in Saturday’s Republican primary runoff. Based on how Louisiana votes in national elections, whoever becomes the Republican nominee is highly likely to beat thewinner of the Democratic runoff and go to Washington. That’show the authors of thescriptshe’s following plotted it out, anyway

Act One: Eliminate the popular open primary and replace it with apartisan primarysystem designed to allow theparty faithful to winnow thefield.Check

Act Two: Find aRepublican to challenge incumbentBillCassidy for his alleged disloyalty to Donald Trump, anduse the new voting system to send thegood doctorinto retirement. Check.

Act Three: Ride Trump’sendorsementall the way to an easy victory anda six-year term in the U.S. Senate.

Check?Maybe not.

The upcoming partyprimary runoff was actually designed to keep acandidatelike Cassidy from grabbing thenomination withoutgetting amajority of primary votes.

But there’sa twist.

With Cassidy already dispatched, Fleming —afounding member of theHouse Freedom Caucus and aonetime official in Trump’sfirst administration —is hanging in there.

He’srun aboisterous grassroots campaignpainting himself as the truer conservativeand Trumper,one that has seizedon the emotional opposition to carbon capture andsequestration and taken advantage of Letlow’ssparser record and her relatively low public profile. He’s skillfully focused attention on Letlow’sother big-name sponsor,Gov.Jeff Landry,who is morecontroversial among thechosen electorate than Trump.

Anditmight be working. One recent poll sponsoredbyaLetlow supporter shows Fleming with aslight edge going into next week.

Also,popular conservative radio talk show host Moon Griffon recently announced that he’sa Flemingvoter.He’snot

against Letlow,hesaid, and would definitely vote for her should she be the GOP candidate. ButFleming, he said, has walked the walk for longer and “won’towe anybody anything.”

Griffon’snod is actually kind of ironic, because back in theprimary,Letlow considered his show asafe anti-Cassidy space and chose it as the only place where she was willing todebate. Cassidy,who’d pushed to meet in aneutral venue, declined, but Fleminghappily showed up.

During the runoff, he’spushed formore debates between the two surviving candidates, but Letlow has refused That’sa classic front-runner strategy, astatusthat Letlow won not through her own efforts to distinguish herself but by her anointment by powerful sponsors. The theory is that the supporters who’s far ahead doesn’twant to legitimize an opponent in voters’ eyes, and can onlylose support by saying thewrong thing in an uncontrolled environment

Butwhen theperson avoiding the debate might not be such astrong front-runner, it can look less like flexing andmore like hiding.

Andyou’ve got to admit that the person

whomade her the front-runner in the first place isn’tdoing her so manyfavors these days. Trump, whohas shownhimself time and again to be driven by grievance, badly wanted to take Cassidy down. Now that that’shappened, he’snot showing aton of interest in choosing between two proven sycophants. So has any of this actually upended the narrative? Maybe, maybe not. We’ll know in aweek.

One feature of inventing anew election system is that nobody can predict whowill show up to vote. Saturday’sGOP runoff, which is only open to registered Republicans and no-party voters, comes at the start of aholiday week, so getting people to the polls will be challenging. And it’ll be extra-challenging to attract voters whose motivation in the first round wastoeither try to save Cassidy or to channel Trump’s anger and eliminate him Which is another wayofsaying that if the May 16 primary wasabout Cassidy and Trump, this round is about Letlow and Fleming. And that creates the chance of asurprise ending.

Email Stephanie Grace at sgrace@ theadvocate.com.

Ronald Greene’s momsayssettlementdoesn’t settle anything

Nearly everyone in Louisiana knows the name Ronald Greene

He’sthe young man that Louisiana State Police said died in asinglecar accident in Union Parishnear Monroe in 2019 Then they were caught in their baldfaced lie when video surfaced showing troopers and aparish deputy beating and tasing Greene as he cried out, “I’m your brother” and “I’m scared.” Mona Hardin, Greene’smother, got acall from adaughtertelling herthat Ronnie had died in acar accident, astory they thought was true until the State Police lie unraveled, unleashing the fire and ire that Hardin continues to exhibit these days. In the last seven years, Greene’s death has made headlines across the nation and the world as blatant law enforcement misconduct was shown on video for everyone to see. Hardin doesn’tlikethat phrase. They’re responsible for “my son’smurder,” shetoldme. The case has seen federal, legislative, parish and state trooper investigations. Nationally prominent civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Lee Merritt are handling the case after three sets of family attorneys. The matter has resulted in asuspicious trooper death, five law enforcement indictments but no jail time for the officers involved, as charges werereduced or dropped and the case withered to little left beyond thestunningly clear evidence thatthe man was murdered.

Committee on the Budget must approve it. The settlement must have approval by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. There aremeetings regularly throughout the year to consider legal settlementsinvolving the state. Louisiana caps damages in wrongful death claimsat$500,000. The Greene family avoided that cap by filing afederal civil rights claim, which isn’tsubject to state limits. That opened the door to a multi-million-dollar jury verdict or settlement. Because adistrict courtruled that the law enforcement officers could not build a casebased on qualified immunity Louisiana attorneys were pushed to go to mediation rather than risk ahigh, multi-milliondollar federal jury verdict. The odds weren’tin their favor that way.

Aftermediation, Hardin was sent astory reported by this newspaper.Things had changed. There was asettlement.

$27 million.

Tayla Greenewas always the only Greene family memberplaintiff. She couldn’tbereached for comment. Hardin is deeply disappointed, but the settlement was Tayla Greene’sdecision to make. Hardin was neveraplaintiff in the case. She wasthe family face, the family activist, the family voice. But it wasn’ther decision.

It’snot just the money.She had hoped the case as it proceeded would expose what was really going on at Troop F.

“That wasour opportunity to uncover everything,” she told me She said as muchtoCrump, Merritt and attorneys from Philadelphia’sMcEldrew Purtell Law Firm

For sevenyears,this case has hauntedGreene’sfamily.Hardin is the mother offive children, grandmother of nine and greatgrandmotherof two. She’sbeen theface of the Greene family, faithfully traveling from her CentralFlorida home to Louisiana to advocate, demonstrate, protest and sit in on everylegislative hearing and every courtroom hearing she could. She’sbeen the glue holding thefamily together Finally,after pushing for justice, the family got a$4.8 million settlement agreement in May —although it’sstill tentative, because the LouisianaLitigation Subcommitteeofthe Joint Legislative

“I didn’tknow anything about it,” she said. “Wewere supposed to go to trial.” Hardin was stunned. After years of fighting forjustice for Ronnie, Tayla Greene, Ronald Greene’s daughter and Hardin’sgranddaughter,had agreed to settle the caseand move on.

It wasn’teven close to the numbers thathad been discussed if theyhad ever decided to settle. They were told $28 million. They weretold $15 million. Crump settledthe George Floyd case for

The Philly law firm proudly announced the settlement on social media: “No resolution can undo the loss of Ronald Greene, but this outcomereflects years of persistence by his family in demanding answers and accountability.” Persistence? Yes. Resolution? No Answers? No. Accountability? Absolutely not. It’snot just the system that failed Hardin.

The state of Louisiana failed Hardin and her family.But she believes others did, too, including those she thought were on her side.

EmailWill Sutton at wsutton@ theadvocate.com.

Will Sutton

Stephanie

Fleming Letlow

STAFF FILEPHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Mona Hardin stands in silence while surrounded by family during anews conference following the indictments of five officers in the death of her sonRonald Greene in 2022 in Baton Rouge.

Southwest Louisiana is underamarginal riskofexcessive rainfall that could lead to some measure of flash flooding. However, rain chancesare only 30-40% today, which is less than yesterday, but scattered showersand storms are possible; otherwise, expect apartly cloudy, hot, humid and breezy day. Temperatures this afternoon will risetothe upper80s to low90s.Winds will be southerly at 15 mph with gusts up to 20 mph,sohumiditywill remain

and temperatures will feel likethe triple digitsthis afternoon.

Arceneaux, George Emilien

Funeral services

will be held on Thursday June 25, 2026 at 1:30 P.M. in La Chapelle de Martin Castille in Lafayette for George Emilien Arceneaux, age 93, who passed away on June 19, 2026 at The Ellington of Rayne. The family requests that visitation be observed in Martin &Castille's DOWNTOWNlocation on Thursday June25, 2026 from 11:30 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. Arosary willbeprayed at 1:00 P.M. in the funeral home. Reverend Gilbert J. Dutel will conduct the funeral services. Inurnment will be held in Calvary Cemetery in Lafayetteatalaterdate Survivors includehis brother, Leon Arceneaux, Jr., nieces and nephews, David Arceneaux (Glenda), Lynette Arceneaux (Tomokazu Nakamura), Michael Alleman (Angela), Rebecca "Becki" Chaisson (Marc), and Emily Wharton (David). He was preceded in death by his parents, Mr. Leon Arceneaux, Sr., and Mrs. Emily DeBlanc Arceneaux; his sisters, Therese Arceneaux, Emily "MeMe" Arceneaux, and histwin sister, Georgette Arceneaux Alleman and her husband, Herbert; his sister-in-law, Marjorie LeBleu Arceneaux, his niece, Janet Arceneaux, and nephew Matthew Alleman. George was anative and longtime resident of Lafayette, Louisiana, born on January 8, 1933. Aproud graduate of Cathedral High School, Class of 1951, he earned aBachelorof Science degree in Geology from Southwestern Louisiana Institute (SLI) in 1955. Following graduation, George answered the call to servehis country in the United States Air Force. As afighter pilot, he flew America's first operational supersonic fighteraircraft andspent much of his military service stationed in the Far East. After com-

pleting his military service and working in the geophysical industry, he returnedtothe University of Southwestern Louisiana, whereheearned asecond Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1962 George began adistinguishedcareer with Crown Zellerbach Corporation and its successorcompanies, serving for 26 years as an engineer at the paper mill in Bogalusa, Louisiana.Through dedication and leadership, he advanced into plant operationsmanagement. During his yearsinBogalusa,he was deeply involved in the communityand hisfaith, servingaspast president of L'Heritage Françaisand The Mill TownPlayers. He was also an active member of the Knights of Columbus, serving three yearsasGrand Knight of FatherPlacide Dobyns Council 1819 at Annunciation Parish. Upon his retirement in 1988,Georgereturnedto his beloved hometown of Lafayette. As adevoted parishionerofSt. Leo the Great CatholicChurch, he generouslygaveofhis time and talents, serving as aParish Trusteeand active leader withinthe parish community. Following the unexpected death of the pastorin1992, Bishop Harry Flynn entrusted George with overseeingparish operations until anew pastor was appointed seven weeks later. He was also aFourth Degree Knight of Columbus whosefaithremained central throughout hislife. George's commitment to service extendedwell beyond his parish. He served as an officer of the Lafayette Sertoma Club, was President of the Lafayette Community ConcertAssociationfor seven years, and servedas President of the Serra Club of Lafayette forthree years. His leadershipwithin SerraInternational includedservice as District Governor, Associate RegionalDirector, and Chairman of theSerra International Communications Committee. In recognition of his dedicationtofostering religious vocationsand servingthe Church, he was honored with the Paul Zimmerman Memorial Award by the Lake Charles SerraClubin2006 His lifelong devotion to his faith and community

was further recognized in 1999 when he received boththe Bishop's Medal and theDevoted Service Award fromthe Diocese of Lafayette Georgewillberemembered as aman of deep faith, unwavering integrity, and selfless service whose leadership,generosity,and commitment to others left alasting impact on his family,church, and community.

The family of Mr. Arceneaux wouldliketo extend their heartfeltgratitude and appreciationto The EllingtonofRayne and Hospice of Acadiana.

Viewthe obituary and guestbookonline at www.mourning.com

Martin& Castille Funeral HomeDOWNTOWN, 330 St Landry Street, Lafayette, Louisiana 70506, 337-2342311

Atkins,Ross Robert Barnett

February 29, 1964 -June 17, 2026 ACelebration of Lifeservice forRossRobert Barnett Atkins will be held onMonday, June 22, from 2pm to 4pmatThe Local, 130 W. Park Ave, Ruston Louisiana.BorninHomer in February1964, Ross was raisedinRuston. After earning hisbachelor'sde‐greefromLSU,his career took himtoWashington, D.C., BatonRouge,Rhode Island,and Floridabefore hereturnedtoRustonin 2023. Much of hisprofes‐sionallifewas dedicated toserving thebestinter‐estsofhis belovedState of Louisiana.Rosswas abig personality anda true peo‐ple person who enjoyed connectingwithfolks from all walksoflife. Ross was ateaseconversingwitha Senator or aCEO as much as he waswitha checkout

clerkora security guard. Rosswas notaverseto spontaneity,drama,or laughter- he livedpassion‐ately.Hewas oftenthe life ofthe party, ensuring that everyonewas entertained. But beneaththe legendary charm andplayful swagger was aman with aheart of gold. He will be deeply missedbyhis children,his siblings, extended family, and hismanydearfriends inLouisiana andbeyond. Rossispredeceased by his parents,A.B.AtkinsJrand Ouida BarnettAtkins. He is survivedbyhis sisters, Angelyn Cannada(Barry) and GinnyHootsell (Ault); brothers, A.B. Atkins IlIand JohnAtkins(Elise);daugh‐ters, Virginia Rand DeWitt (Cali)and HelenChase Atkins; son, CharlesWhite‐house Atkins;grandson, SamuelDeWitt; andmany adoring nieces and nephews.The familyisex‐tremely grateful to the medical staffs of North Louisiana MedicalCenterit Ruston, OurLadyofthe LakeRegionalMedical CenterinBaton Rougeand the loyalfriends of the familyinthe Ruston and Baton Rougeareas.Inlieu of flowers, memorial con‐tributionsmay be made to the LouisianaMethodist Children's Home in Ruston

Baronet, Willie

Funeralservices will be held on Wednesday, June 24, 2026 at 11:00 A.M. in La Chapelle de Martin &Castille in Lafayettefor Willie Baronet, age89, who passed away Wednesday afternoon, June 17, 2026 at his residence in Lafayette. The family requeststhat visitationbeobserved on Wednesday June,24, 2026 from 9:00 A.M. until time of services.A Rosarywillbe recited on Wednesday, June,24, 2026 at 10:30 A.M in Martin &Castille's DOWNTOWN Location. Interment willbeheldin LafayetteMemorialPark Cemetery. Reverend Steven LeBlancwillofficiatethe services

Willie is survived by his wife, Ruth Broussard Baronet; his daughters, LaurieBaronet (Keith), Christine BaronetDaigle, andJenna Baronet Malcolm (Robert); his sons, Marc Baronet (Lauren),NealBaronet (Alishia), Blaine Baronet (Lyndsay),and William Baronet(Tanya); one daughter-in-law, Angela Baronet; andnumerous grandchildrenand greatgrandchildren. He wasprecededin death by his first wife, Dorothy Guidry Baronet; hisparents,OdileDupre' Baronetand Claude J. Baronet; oneson,David Baronet;one sister,Doris Campbell; andone granddaughter, Honor Malcolm. Willie Baronet, a belovedhusband, father, grandfather, friend, veteran,and longtime resident of Lafayette, passedaway surroundedbythe love of familyand friends.Having calledLafayette home since 1943, Willie builta life rooted in faith, friendship, service,and family.

Willie proudly served his countryinthe United States Navy, carryingthe valuesofhonor,dedication,and patriotism throughout hislife. Following hismilitaryservice,hedevoted himself to hisfamilyand community earning therespectand admiration of all whoknew him.

Apassionate sportsenthusiast, Willie had alifelong love forbaseballand rarelymissedanopportunity to follow the game he cherished.Healso enjoyed hunting, findingpeaceand fulfillment in theoutdoors

An avidreader,Willie couldoften be foundwith agoodbook in hand, always eagertolearnsomethingnew or enjoya welltold story. Willie also foundgreat joyinthe kitchen. He loved to cook andbake for family andfriends, sharingnot only deliciousmealsand treats butalso thewarmth andfellowshipthatcame with gathering around the table.His recipes, generosity, andhospitality created cherished memories that will live on for generations. Aboveall else, Willie treasured time spentwith familyand friends. Whethersharingstories, laughter, meals, or simply enjoyingone another's company, he foundhis greatest happiness in the relationshipshecultivated throughout hislife. His

warm personality, generousspirit,and genuine kindness left alastingimpression on everyonefortunateenoughtoknow him.

Willie's legacylives on through the familyand friends he lovedsodearly He will be remembered for hisunwavering devotion to those closest to him, his service to hiscountry, his love of cooking andbaking, andthe joyhebrought to countless lives

Though he will be deeply missed, Willie Baronet'smemory willforever remain in the hearts of those whoknewand lovedhim.

"Welldone,goodand faithfulservant."

Pallbearers will be William Baronet, Marc Baronet, Blaine Baronet, Neal Baronet,Ray Broussard Jr., and John Beck Sr Honorary Pallbearer will be Clifton Derousselle In lieu of flowers donationscan be made in Willie Baronet'sname to the Affiliated Blind Of Louisiana. View theobituaryand guestbook online at www.mourning.com

Martin& Castille Funeral HomeDOWNTOWN, 330 St LandryStreet, Lafayette, Louisiana 70506, 337-2342311

Obituaries

SPORTS

Here to settle ‘real’ DeathValleydebate

NewLSU football reporter arrivesoff Clemsonbeat

Which DeathValley is the real Death Valley?

Pleasedon’ttell me. Let me decide on my own. Even though Ijust started as The Advocate/Times-Picayune’sLSU football reporter, I’m further along in this research project thanyou’d expect.For the past five years, Icovered Clemson —the other Tigers in the other DeathValley —for The Post and Courier (Charleston, SouthCarolina).

BY JIM VERTUNO AP sportswriter

The early results are in: This U.S men’s nationalteam is forreal in this World Cup. With aquick and creative offensive attack producing goalsinfront ofstadium-shaking home crowds, the Americans havealready won their group and booked their place in theknockoutround.A final group stage match against Turkey in Los Angeles awaits before the pressurerampsup again. The questionnow is just how far can the team can go? The optimism and expectations ofa deep run in the tournament are risingquickly The American players seem eager to embrace what might have seemed inconceivable for abig nation with arelatively shallow pedigreeininternational soccer “I don’tthink it’sridiculoustosay that we want to win it,”U.S. defender ChrisRichards said afterFriday’s2-0 win over Australia. “Wewant to lift atrophybythe end of this.” Few would have predictedthis kind of quick success, saidstriker Folarin Balogun, who scored twice in the openeragainst Paraguay

“You know,(if)someonesaid before the tournament, ‘Two games andyou’re through to the knockouts,’ Ithink we all would have took it,” Balogun said. “We’re delighted.”

The first two matches saw theU.S. attack Paraguayand Australia with an energy, skill and creativity on offense rarely seen by the Americans in theWorld Cup

The U.S. has won consecutive World Cup matches for the first time since 1930.And the six goals in the first two matchesare one short of the team recordfor aWorld Cup

The architect is coachMauricio Pochettino, an Argentine who wasbestknownfor his European club stints with Tottenham, Chelsea and Paris Saint-German. He never hadcoached anationalteam untilhewas hired by the U.S. in 2024 withaneye on this year’sWorld Cup.

As aco-host, theU.S.was an automatic

My initial take: The better historical claim belongs to Clemson, which started calling Memorial Stadium “Death Valley” in the 1940s after Presbyterian coach Lonnie McMillan compared playing in the stadium to theoppressive Californiadesert. LSU’smythology is abit murkier be-

cause it’scentered around aBaton Rouge gas station, Deaf Valley Shell, which is perhaps evidence that locals werecalling Tiger Stadium “Deaf Valley” before it evolved into “Death.” Intriguing lore, but the timeline is less clear

The word “real,” however,doesn’t have to be historical. If we mean real as in the tougher place to play?

Real as in the sheer electricity of the environment?

Allow me to objectively start measuring this Sept. 5with Clemson at LSU, which is arare seamless transition from one sports journalism job to the next. Ishould be the mostknowledgeable reporter on aWeek 1

BYJEFF DUNCAN Staff writer

When Archie Manning started the Manning Passing Academy in 1996, he neverdreamed it would growinto thegiant it is today

He modeled thecamp after one run by the Bowden family (Bobby,Tommy and Terry) at Samford University and hoped it would attract players from the Gulf Coast region.

Thefirstcampwas held at Tulane Universityand attracted amodest 185campers,includingfutureTulane andNFL standout Patrick Ramsey and Major Applewhite, now the head coachatSouth Alabama. Thecollege counselor lineup consisted of threeplayers: Bo Meeks of then-Northeast Louisiana,and JakeDelhomme and Brandon Stokleyof then-Southwestern Louisiana. The oldest of Archie’s three sons, Cooper,had just graduated from OleMiss. Peyton

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

One year after aJune filled withuncertainty and disbelief, themood around the UL baseball program these days is significantly more upbeat. After improving from 27 to 41 wins,suddenly the future doesn’tseem as daunting. Instead of trying to survive this scary new transfer portalera, the Cajuns appear to be flourishing in it For starters, the Ragin’ Cajuns didn’t lose such young standouts as Colt Brown, Blaze Rodriguez, Noah Lewis and Donovan

was about to enter his junior year at the University of Tennessee. Andyoungest son Eli wasasophomore at Newman and attended the MPAasacamper

Three decades later,the MPAhas developed into the most prestigious passing campinthe country,asummer tradition that annually attracts campersfromacrossthe nationand lures the top quarterbacksincollege football along withcountless industry VIPs andinsiders to south Louisiana.

Thiswill be aspecial year forthe camp,whichstarts Thursday and concludes June 28. The MPAwill celebrate its30thyear of operation andwillwelcomemorethan1,300 campers, 120 coaches and 40 collegequarterbacks to Nicholls State University forthe four-day aerialbacchanalia ESPN and Omaha Productions will be in towntodocument

LaSalle to theportal, like many feared.

“The first thingisretention, and we’re very excited we were able to keep those guys,” UL coach MattDeggssaid. “Now it’s just amatterofseeing how thedraftgoes.” Theprogram also provedtobeanappealing destination,asthe Cajuns have landed eight transfers so far.

“I thought we hada tremendous atmosphere this year,especially late in the season,” Deggssaidofthe home crowd. “Weplayed really, really good down the stretch,and guys watch other teams play It’s an appealingstyle of play, so there were guys who wanted to be apartner.”

The new group starts with five pitchers: the Marshall trio of Charlie Krebs, Griffin Miller and Blaine Albright, as well as Kendall Dove of Texas-San Antonio and Jackson Evers from Jacksonville State. Threepositionplayersalsowereadded,includingTexasStatedesignatedhitterManny

Jon Blau

STAFF FILE

PHOTOByBRETT DUKE

Former NFL quarterback Peyton Manningtalks to campers during drillsatthe Manning Passing Academy on June 28, 2024, at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux. The camp has been asummer staple since1996.

STAFF FILEPHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU football players runonto the field from the locker room for agameagainst South Carolina on Oct. 11 at TigerStadium.

BLAU, page 3C

10 a.m. NTT IndyCar Series: Warmup FS1 11 a.m.IndyNXT: Grand Prix FS1

1p.m. NTT IndyCar:Xpel GrandPrix FOX

3p.m. NASCAR Cup: Anduril 250 Prime BOWLING

11 a.m. NormDukeOpen, SemifinalCBSSN

1p.m.NormDukeOpen, Semifinal CBSSN

3p.m. NormDukeOpen,Final CBSSN COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

1:30p.m. North Carolina vs. Oklahoma ABC WOMEN’S FOOTBALL

3p.m.Texas vs. San DiegoESPN2 GOLF

8a.m. PGA: U.S. Open USA

10 a.m.LPGA: MeijerLPGA Classic Golf

11 a.m.PGA: U.S. Open NBC

Noon LPGA: MeijerLPGA Classic CBS HORSE RACING

11:30 a.m.America’s Dayatthe Races FS2

Noon America’s Dayatthe Races FS1

1p.m. America’sDay at the Races FS2 MLB

12:40 p.m.Chi.White Sox at Detroit MLBN

2:15 p.m. Minnesota at Arizona NBCSN

6:20 p.m. N.y. Mets at PhiladelphiaNBC MEN’S RUGBY

7p.m. California at ChicagoESPN2

WORLD CUPSOCCER

11 a.m. Spain vs.Saudi Arabia FOX

2p.m.Belgium vs.Iran FS1

5p.m.Uruguayvs. Cape Verde FS1

8p.m.New Zealand vs.Egypt FS1 SOFTBALL

11:30 a.m.Spark at Cascade ESPN

7p.m.Blaze atBandits MLBN TENNIS

11 a.m. WTAEarly Rounds Tennis

4a.m.(Mon.) ATPand WTATennis

5a.m.(Mon.) ATP/WTA Tennis WNBA

3p.m.Golden State at Las VegasCBS

5p.m.Washington at MinnesotaNBATV

7p.m.New york at Los AngelesESPN

Netherlandsrolls past Sweden

Germanyrallies in stoppage time to beatIvory Coast

By The Associated Press

HOUSTON Underintense pressure after an opening-game draw the Netherlandsdelivered adominant performance against Sweden in the World Cup on Saturday to move atop the Group Fstandings

Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo scoredtwo goalsapiece to power Netherlands to the 5-1 win Brobbey’sgoals came in the first half, helping the Netherlands get offtoa great start and roll to the big win after playing Japan to a 2-2 draw Sunday

Thevictory gives Netherlands agroup-leading four points. Sweden has three points, with Japan and Tunisia scheduled toplay later Saturday

“It could be that the way we played builds confidence,”Netherlandscoach Ronald Koeman said. “Now we’ve got aslightly better peace of mind with the four points. Youcan build on what happened now,and that’sreally good.”

Gakpo, who also had an assist, extended the lead to 3-0 just after halftime, scoring in the 47th minute off across from Denzel Dumfries. He matched Brobbey when he scored on aright-footed shot from the left box in the 54th minute.

“Today there was more variation in attacking play,more players in different positions, movement and all those things,” Gakpo said. “Soitwas maybe moredifficult for the defenders to really markus, and we became free in the box. Ithink that was the little thing maybe we missed in the last game.”

Sweden couldn’tbuild on its strong performance in a5-1 walloping of Tunisia in its first match. The loss to the Dutch wasits biggest World Cup defeatsince losing 7-1 to Brazil in 1950.

Sweden coach GrahamPotter said the defeat was lessabout what his team did and more about just how good Netherlands played Saturday.Hethen named alaundry list of all the stars on the Dutch squad before continuing.

“So it’snot that we’re gonnaexpect that everything’sgoing to be easyfor us,” he said. “It’snot that, of course. They’re atop team and they were better than us today.We have to congratulate them, but I

WORLD CUP ROUNDUP

think we’ll learn alot from the game.”

The Dutch gameplan to play out widetoopenupSweden and cross to Brobbey worked perfectly early.He put the Netherlands on top in the fifthminute when Gakpo crossed into themiddle of the box andBrobbey one-timed it with his right footbeforetumbling forward to the grass.

His second goal came whenhe took across from Dumfries while slidingand justgot his right foot on the ball, scoring inside the far post in the 17th minute.

Koeman creditedBrobbey’s success with getting in better shape afterhehad struggled in thepast with therigorsofplaying afullgame.

“He’sfitter,he’ssharper and he’s developing reallywell,” he said. Anthony Elanga’sleft-footed goalcut thelead to 4-1 in the 59th minuteand allowed Sweden to avoid theshutout.

Sweden hadplentyofchances to score before that, but Netherlands’ goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen was brilliant in the first half with four saves. Sweden appeared to have cut

the lead to 2-1 on aheader by Gustaf Lagerbielke in the 44th minute,but he wasruled offside. Lagerbielke is abaron from anoble family in Sweden. Hisfather and grandfather are counts.

But he wasn’tthe only royalty in thestadium Saturday as theNetherlands hadtwo special guests cheering them on with King Willem-Alexander andQueen Máxima watching from aluxury suite.

“The King was very happy,” Koeman said. The crowd of 68,777 was largely made up of fans of the Netherlands, many of whom made their Oranje Fanwalk 21/2 miles from Rice UniversitytoHoustonStadium on Saturday morning.

Sweden finishesgroup play Thursdaynight against Japan at Dallas Stadium,and Netherlands meetsTunisia thatnight in Kansas City GERMANY 2,IVORYCOAST 1: In Toronto,Deniz Undav scored twice afterbeing subbed on in thesecond half as Germanydefeated Ivory Coast and clinched aspot in the knockout phase at the World Cup.

Four minutes into stoppage time, Undav received apass from Felix Nmechainfront of thenet and rifled it past Ivory Coast goalkeeper Yahia Fofanatogive the Germans acomeback win.

Undav’sfirst goal of the match

came after Nadiem Amiri sent in along ball —that striker Kai Havertz let pass him by —onto thebootofUndav,who slammed it intothe back of the net at the 68thminute. Both Amiriand Undav had subbed on eight minutes earlier Four-time championGermany has come back from disappointing group stage exits in 2018 and 2022, while Ivory Coastisstill searching for itsfirst knockout stage appearance and could still qualify. Thelast time Germany got pastthe group stage, it won thetournament in 2014. Ivory Coast captain Franck Kessie opened the scoring in the 30th minuteafter midfielder Yan Diomande sent in across to forward Amad Diallo.His shot was blocked by Germany’sNathaniel Brown, but the ball bounced back to Kessie, who slotteditinthe wide-open leftcorner of the net. Germany had two goals waved off in afrustrating first half. The firstwas in the21stminutewhen Fofana batted theballintohis own net, butGermany midfielder Aleksander Pavlovic madeillegal contact with Fofanaonthe play

The second cameinthe 38th minute on afoul, as Jamal Musialawas called for contact on the build-up to what would’ve been a Havertzgoal

Dream forward Reese sets WNBA rebound mark

ATLANTA— AngelReesebecame the fastest playerinWNBAhistory to reach 1,000 career rebounds in the Atlanta Dream’s113-96 win against the Indiana Fever on Saturday

The former LSU standout achieved the featin79games, 10 games faster than Tina Charles, the previous record holder

The6-foot-4forward reached the milestone with 4:29 remaining in thethird quarter. Shefinished the game with18points andeight rebounds.

“I think people don’trealize rebounding is harder than you think,” Reese said after the game while reflecting on her record. “Defensive rebounds arealittle bit easier than going in and crashing everysingle time to give a secondchanceopportunity on the offensive end.”

Reese tops the WNBA with 11.9 rebounds per gamethis season.

Yanholds lead at windy MeijerLPGA Classic

BELMONT,Mich. Jing Yanshot a 4-under 68 on Saturdaytomaintain aone-shot lead in the wind-swept Meijer LPGA Classic, the final event before the major KPMG Women’s PGAChampionship next week at Hazeltine.

Yanbirdied the par-5 18th to cap hersecond straight bogeyfree round at Blythefield Country Club. Winless on theLPGATour, the30-year-old Americanhad a 14-under 202 total.

Lottie Woad of England was second. She also birdiedthe 18thina 68.

Cassie Porter of Australia was twoshots behind after a69. In Gee Chun had a65toget to 10 under

VanGisbergen wins pole for firstraceatCoronado CORONADO,Calif. Even when he’s less than his best on the twistiest tracks in NASCAR, Shane van Gisbergenstill is betteronone lapthan the rest of the Cup Series drivers.

TheTrackhouseRacing driver qualified first Saturday for the inaugural race on Naval Base Coronado near San Diego, turning a2-minute, 14.788-second lap around the 16-turn, 3.4-mile street course that easily put him ahead of Carson Hocevar

But van Gisbergen, whohas won seven of his 14 Cup starts on street and road courses, was unhappy with the effort despite winning his sixth career pole andsecond this season.

“I lefta lot of time on the table,” said van Gisbergen, whoscraped the wallwith his No.97Chevrolet. Ryan Blaney qualified third, and Zane Smith wasfourth.

RedSox place Kiner-Falefa on IL for forearminjury

BY ERIC OLSON Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb.— Deiten Lachance homered twice off North Carolina ace Jason DeCaro, Oklahoma shut down the TarHeelsafter the first inning and the Sooners won Game 1ofthe College World Series finals 9-3 on Saturdayto move within avictory of the national championship. The Sooners (42-22) usedafourrun fourth inning to pull away for their ninth straight win and Cord Rager and two relievers allowed only two runners to reach second base after the TarHeels (53-12-1) struck for three early runs. Oklahoma won national titles in baseball in 1951 and 1994 and will go for its third on Sunday.North Carolina, looking for its first,will try to force adeciding Game 3on Monday. OU ended DeCaro’suncharacteristic bad day in thefourth inning. The Sooners scored all four runs that inning with two outs starting when Kyle Branch broke a3-all tie with atwo-run single. Branch came home on Jason Walk’sbase hit and Cam-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By REBECCA S. GRATZ

Oklahoma’sDeiten Lachance, right, celebrates withCamden Johnson after hittingatwo-run homerun against NorthCarolina in the first inning of Game1ofthe CollegeWorld Series finals on Saturdayin Omaha, Neb

den Johnson singled off Walker McDuffie to make it 7-3. DeCaro (11-3), who camein witha2.31 ERA, wascharged

with all seven runs after having notallowed more than three in any of his previous starts. Lachance homered for a2-0

lead in thefirst inning and again in the third to tie it at 3. The 6-foot-5, 231-pound Canadian known as “Big Maple” has hit all 18 of his homersinthe past 32 games, including six in the past eight.

Oklahoma hashit 45 of its 93 homeruns in the past 17 games. OU has connected 28 times in 11 NCAATournamentgames, and its10homers in four CWS games are themost by ateam since the event moved to CharlesSchwab Field in 2011.

Rager(7-3),who threw 152/3 shutout innings over hispreviousthree outings, gave up three runs in the first inning before settling in. Gavin Jones took over to start the sixth, andLJMercurius worked the last 12/3 innings. Carolina’sCarter French made the defensive play of the CWS in thethird when Walk sent a drive to deep right.AsFrench went back to make the play, his glove got lodged underthe padding running across the top of thefence. His glove was abit crumpledasthe ball landedin it. He held onto it and displayed it to theumpire.

SEATTLE The Boston Red Sox placed utility infielder IsiahKinerFalefaonthe injured list Saturday with leftforearm inflammation. Kiner-Falefaunderwent an MRI after missing Friday night’sgame against the Mariners. He told reportersbeforethatgamethat the armhas been bothering him formore than twoweeksand felt worse after the flight to Seattle. Kiner-Falefa, 31, is batting .277 with two home runs, 13 RBIs and sevenstolenbases this season, playing everyinfieldposition. He has started 31 games forthe Red Sox, and21ofthose starts have come at second base.

Boston recalled Anthony Seigler from Triple-A Worcester

Nationals OF Young leaves game after crash into wall

ST.PETERSBURG, Fla. Washington Nationals center fielder Jacob Young left Saturday’sgame against the Tampa BayRaysin the eighth inning after crashing into the outfield wall.

Young chased downaflyball off the bat of Victor Mesa Jr., deep intothe alleyinleft-centerfield with the National ahead 3-2.

As he caught the ball, Young hit thewallhardwithhis rightshoulder and head but held on to the ball andquickly getittoleft fielder Daylen Lile to prevent Chandler Simpsonfromadvancing from first base. Young wasdown on the warning track forseveral minuteswhile being attended to by the Washington training staff. He eventually got to his feet and walked off the field to the Nationals’ dugout.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByERIC GAy

Brian Brobbey, left, of theNetherlands scores on Sweden goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt during aWorld Cup match onSaturdayinHouston.

Continued from page 1C

matchup ever Beyond that, there’s plenty more I’m looking forward to in this job. Here’s my short list: Kiffin experience

I just left a newsmaker of a head coach, Dabo Swinney, for another headline-grabber in Lane Kiffin They are lightning rods in different ways.

Kiffin is known for stirring the pot on social media, particularly X. Swinney doesn’t have an account.

Swinney still lives by “Til graduation do we part,” refusing to nudge athletes out the door for a lack of performance. He has only recently started using the transfer portal in a meaningful way, adding 10 this offseason.

Kiffin just brought in four times

that number as part of LSU’s 2026 roster overhaul.

Swinney has been a head coach at Clemson since 2008. In that same time period Kiffin has been fired from two jobs — the Raiders and USC — and enraged Tennessee and Ole Miss fans after voluntarily bouncing elsewhere.

I’m fascinated to see how this next twist in Kiffin’s roller coaster of a career plays out, and it’s weird to think, in an alternate universe, I may have covered him already

Kiffin interviewed for the Clemson job in 2008 after he was fired by Hall of Fame Raiders owner Al Davis, but Clemson’s administration decided to hand Swinney, a 38-year-old receivers coach, the full-time job after a trial run.

Swinney went to six straight playoffs and won two national titles, but he made the CFP just once in my five years covering him. Kiffin just had a squad make the playoffs last season, but he

didn’t get to coach Ole Miss in the postseason.

I’ll be interested to compare their CFP success from this point forward.

Connecting more dots

Before I landed on the Clemson beat, I covered Indiana football for The Herald-Times in Bloomington, Indiana.

This was well before Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers turned into an Alabama-bruising Cinderella.

The last bowl game I covered the Hoosiers in was the 2021 Outback Bowl, which featured national coach of the year Tom Allen versus Kiffin in his first year at Ole Miss. The Rebels won, 26-20, behind 342 yards passing from quarterback Matt Corral.

Strangely enough, Allen became the defensive coordinator at Clemson in 2025. He’ll be the play-caller opposite Kiffin’s offense on Sept. 5 in Tiger Stadium. One of the receivers Allen

MANNING

Continued from page 1C

the landmark occasion.

“Thirty years is hard to imagine,” the elder Manning said. “When we started it, we just thought we’d have a nice little regional camp, a Louisiana-Alabama-Mississippi kinda thing. We never imagined it would turn into what it is today.”

Over the years, the MPA has attracted campers from as many as 46 states and Canada. It has lured the sons of coaches such as Sean Payton, Mike McCarthy and (this year) Zac Taylor, and football luminaries such as Robert Kraft and John Madden.

Along the way, it’s attracted almost every top college quarterback in the nation. The roster of camp alumni includes 17 former Heisman Trophy winners and the past four NFL MVPs — Matthew Stafford (2008), Josh Allen (2016), Lamar Jackson (2017) and Patrick Mahomes (2017).

This year’s camp will again feature a roster of elite college quarterbacks. Among the top names scheduled to attend are seven of Pro Football Focus’ top-11 returnees for the 2026 season: Julian Sayin (No. 1, Ohio State), Arch Manning (No. 3, Texas), Trinidad Chambliss (No. 4, Ole Miss), CJ Carr (No. 5, Notre Dame), Jayden Maiava (No. 6, USC), Noah Fifita (No. 10, Arizona) and Gunner Stockton (No. 11, Georgia) Other top QBs committed include Steve Angeli (Syracuse),

Bear Bachmeier (BYU), CJ Bailey (NC State), Ryan Browne (Purdue), Kevin Jennings (SMU), Kyle Lowe (Southeastern Louisiana), Owen McCown (Texas-San Antonio), Alberto Mendoza (Georgia Tech), Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State), Marcel Reed (Texas A&M), Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (California), Kamario Taylor (Mississippi State), Conner Weigman (Houston) and Demond Williams (Washington).

“I don’t think there’s ever been as many good college quarterbacks as there are this year,” Manning said. “We had more requests than we could honor.”

As usual, there were a few highprofile withdrawals or declines.

Brendan Sorsby recently decided to cancel his plans to attend the camp after he became embroiled in an eligibility controversy at Texas Tech. Sorsby announced this week that he plans to bypass his final year of college and enter the supplemental NFL draft.

Josh Hoover (Indiana), Sam Leavitt (LSU), Darian Mensah (Miami), Dante Moore (Oregon) and LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina) were extended invitations but were unable to attend because of various reasons, ranging from health to scheduling conflicts Leavitt, who attended the MPA last year, was only recently cleared to participate in summer workouts and has been restricted from full-scale, on-field passing work because of his recovery from Lisfranc surgery

The quarterbacks will again work the camp as counselors and compete in the annual Friday

Night Lights skills competition at John L. Guidry Stadium. The starstudded event has become the highlight of the camp.

Additionally, a crew of receivers from Nicholls, South Alabama, Southeastern and Tulane will participate in passing drills Saturday

“We’re constantly trying to upgrade the camp, but in a way, we do a lot of the same things we did in 1996,” Manning said. “(Friday Night Lights) is always a fun competition, and we are working hard to make it a great show.”

Despite undergoing major back surgery three months ago, the elder Manning will once again be overseeing the entire operation. As in past years, he’ll operate out of a golf cart to aid his mobility which has declined in recent years because of neuropathy in his feet.

Thecampagainwillserveasafamily reunion for the Manning clan. A third generation of Mannings the children of Cooper, Eli and Peyton — have become regulars Marshall Manning,aprecociouseighthgrader at the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, will attend as a camper May Manning, Cooper’s daughter, works the camp as a marketer for Excel Sports Management. Charlie Manning, Eli’s only son, is still a few years away from attending, Archie said.

“The camp is always one of my favorite times of the years because I get to see my boys and my grandkids,” Archie said. “In 30 years, none of them has ever missed a single minute or left before the camp is over That means a lot to me.”

will hope to contain is Ole Miss transfer Winston Watkins, who is cousins with legendary Clemson wideout Sammy Watkins.

The Clemson offense will face an ex-Clemson defensive tackle, Stephiylan Green, who transferred to LSU this offseason. He’s coached by LSU interior line coach Kevin Peoples, who was the Indiana D-line coach in 2020.

Those are just a few of the connections that fire in my memory bank. You get far enough into a career and the world really shrinks, especially in a realm such as college football.

Louisiana isn’t Indiana or South Carolina, and the SEC isn’t the Big Ten or ACC, but I can’t wait to see which people or events turn out to be oddly familiar in some way

There’s a live tiger?

I’m feigning surprise, because of course I’ve heard of Mike the Tiger

WORLD CUP

Continued from page 1C

qualifier for the tournament, allowing Pochettino more time to experiment and craft the lineup he wanted. He was blunt earlier this month when he said the U.S. does not have any players that rank among the top 100 in the world.

But the lineup he has put on the field the first two matches has been rock solid and maybe even better than expected. The players credit him with instilling a tougher, more resilient mindset.

Pochettino said after the win over Australia that he could feel the fan support reverberating throughout the stadium in Seattle.

“Today, even if I’m not American, after the game I was emotional,” Pochettino said “It was an amazing and perfect connection between the energy from the stands and the team. This makes us feel very proud.”

Because the U.S already has won its group, Pochettino could experiment with his lineup for the match with Turkey on Thursday And it could provide extra rest for star midfielder Christian Pulisic, who missed the match with Australia because of a calf injury

Pulisic, who plays for AC Milan, is considered the best U.S. player, but his absence also allowed the Americans to show off some depth in the lineup.

With Pulisic out, Pochettino started striker Ricardo Pepi, and Pepi combined with Balogun on the run that created the first goal of the match in the 11th minute.

“We know how vital Christian is to the team and how much he can contribute in the game,” said Alex Freeman, who scored the second goal against Australia.

“For us it was, we have Ricardo Pepi, who came in and had an amazing game. I think that just shows how (good) our roster is.”

Still, the U.S. will want Pulisic’s steady hand and creative playmaking as it gets deeper in the tournament He has scored 33 goals in 87 international appearances, including the game winner against Iran in the 2022 World Cup that sent the U.S. to the round of 16.

The U.S. will enjoy the home support for as far as it can go in the tournament. It can be considerable.

The U.S. is co-host of the tournament with Canada and Mexico.

Circling back to the two Death Valleys, I just spent the past five years enjoying the “most exciting 25 seconds in college football,” Clemson’s pregame run down its famed hill. But I’m a bit awed that Tiger Stadium has an actual tiger habitat close by I’m going to reserve judgment on which is better I hold to my objectivity steadfastly — but I can’t imagine Mike’s enclosure won’t score a point in LSU’s favor That being said, I won’t know until I’ve been there. And that’s probably what I’m looking forward to the most: everything unfamiliar

There are probably a million things I don’t know about Baton Rouge and Louisiana, from the culture to the food to the football traditions. I can’t wait to dive in, and thanks for following along for the ride.

Email Jon Blau at jon.blau@theadvocate.com

“Today, even if I’m not American, after the game I was emotional. It was an amazing and perfect connection between the energy from the stands and the team. This makes us feel very proud.”

MAURICIO POCHETTINO

Since 1930, the host nation has won the World Cup six times, most recently France in 1998.

When Mexico hosted in 1970 and 1986, it reached the quarterfinals both times. In 2002, co-host South Korea reached the semifinals. Host Russia reached the quarterfinals in 2018.

The U.S. finished third in the inaugural World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. Its best finish in the modern era of soccer was the quarterfinals in 2002.

When the U.S. hosted the World Cup in 1994, the underdog Americans played in front of huge crowds and slugged their way through the group stage before being eliminated by Brazil. Back then, just reaching the knockout round was the goal and a huge achievement for a group of players that punched above their weight.

The expectations this time are for much more, and growing with every goal in the back of the net.

“I think people can see what we’re capable of as a team,” Pepi said.

Salas choosing the Cajuns opened some eyes.

“I was really surprised when we saw him in the portal,” Deggs said. “He was my favorite hitter in the leaguethisyear Weputourhatinthe ring,andhehadalotofrespectforus and we had a lot of respect for him I think that was a gigantic get for us.”

With Lee Amedee graduating, there’s an obvious hole at first base, but Salas is also an option at DH or the outfield. Kendrick could be a potential starter at the vacant second base spot, and Carmona fills a needed role as the backup catcher with Jose Torres now out of eligibility. UL pitching coach Taylor Sandefur is ecstatic to get three former Marshall pitchers to rejoin him in Lafayette after he left Marshall for UL last season.

“One of the things that excites me the most about those guys is I already know how to get through to them, what makes them tick,” Sandefur said. “I know how to keep them locked in and dialed in throughout the course of the season. I know when I go out for

a mound visit, I know how to recenter those guys.”

Of the three, Griffin is the most likely to contend for a weekend starter role after being a secondteam All-Sun Belt performer two seasons ago. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound right-hander appears

healthy after taking a medical redshirt last season.

“I’ve seen him throw and he’s back to 90. He looks not 100% back but pretty close,” Sandefur said. “He’s proven he can get people out in this league. He’s always had a chip on his shoulder because he was overlooked

coming out of high school

“You’re going to see him talking to himself on the mound He knows how to use those competitive juices the right way.” Sandefur said he was first attracted to Miller because of “a wipe-out breaking ball” and that he pitched “angry” out of high school. Dove is intriguing to Sandefur, especially if a few adjustments are made.

“His fastball range is really big,” he said. “If you can throw it 95 one time, you can do it more frequently He’s a big guy, 230 pounds, and he takes it very seriously He likes to pitch with some emotion.

“In my opinion, it’s all timing and sequencing related I think once we make a pretty minor adjustment to the lower half and we get the timing, rhythm, pace, sequencing down — I think the velo’s going to jump, and I think the breaking ball’s going to take off as well.”

With Evers, “It’s a big-time arm. His slider’s been up to 87, 88. If we can get his changeup/splitter working, that’s when he can put himself into the conversation of maybe being a starter,” Sandefur said.

The offseason also began with assistant coach and recruiting

coordinator Zach LaFleur leaving to become the new head coach at Teurlings Catholic.

Deggs replaced him with former LSU star hitter Ryan Patterson. Deggs coached Patterson at Texarkana Junior College before he played three seasons with the Tigers, finishing with a 353 average, 66 doubles, 50 homers and 174 RBIs over three seasons from 2003-05.

Since finishing his minor league playing career in 2012, Patterson has worked around baseball as a agent. During the transfer portal era, agents have changed the way recruiting unfolds.

“Patty will bring a vast network of connections with him,” Deggs said. “It’s definitely an out-of-thebox hire, but he’s a guy I have a ton of confidence and comfort with.” In addition to recruiting, Patterson will bring some different approaches to UL hitters. It all adds up to a night and day difference in the program’s mood from this time last year

“Last year was extremely tough for me personally, but if you don’t quit and keep doing things the right way, the game is going to pay you back,” Deggs said. “But yeah, the offseason’s definitely been a blessing so far It’s been super refreshing. It’s been a lot of fun.”

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

UL coach Matt Deggs, shown here smiling on his way to the bus headed to the Starkville Regional last month, is ecstatic with how his program has fared so far in the offseason.

United States soccer coach

AP PHOTO By LINDSEy WASSON United States coach Mauricio Pochettino embraces Folarin Balogun after he was substituted during a World Cup Group D match against Australia on Friday in Seattle.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

From left, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Cooper Manning and Archie Manning watch as quarterbacks compete in passing drills during the Friday Night Lights event at the Manning Passing Academy on June 27 in Thibodaux.

ALL-METRO SOFTBALL

PLAYER OF THEYEAR

LEXI GREENE KAPLAN,JUNIOR • PITCHER

Knowing her team wouldagain be facing atough schedule this past season, Lexi Greene rose to the challenge

The 5-foot-10 junior had already become a household name in the circlefor the Pirates, but she was determined to build on her success. With the hard work she putinduring the offseason, Pirates coach BrittanyLeBouef knew Greene was in for another big year “She’sagame-changer.She gives us a chance to win every single game that we play,” LeBouef said of the UL commitment. The Pirates finished as the Division III nonselect runner-up, and Greene was a standout all season.

In 31 games, Greene (24-7) had a2.84 ERA and a1.39 WHIP.She struck out 215 in 1842/3 innings. She was equally stellarinthe batter’sbox, hitting .521 with six home runs, 14 doubles, three triples, 41 RBIs and 29 stolen bases before being namedthe District 5-3A MVP

“I thinkshe had apretty good year,” LeBouef said.“I thinkshe wouldsay that she could have had abetter year,but Ithink she had a greatyear.Struggled alittle bit at times,but she held herown, gotthrough alot of adversity that shedealt with.

For her efforts, Greenewas named the Acadiana Advocate’sAll-Metro softball player of the year

“I’m very proud of her.She works really hard and she deserves this honor,” LeBouef said. Greene’sresiliency in the circle is one of her best traits

“When things go wrong,she does agreat job of bouncing back,”LeBouef said.“Butwhen she’scontrolling thegame, she’shard to hit. Shegives us achance to win anygameany time she steps in the circle. Not all teams have that. She’s justa competitor.She hates to lose, and when youhavesomeone whohates to lose inside the circle for you, it’sagame-changer.” Eric Narcisse

LEXI GREENE Kaplan,Jr. Pitcher

KALLIE GIBSON NorthVermilion,Sr. Pitcher

MARGARET

OGE St.ThomasMore, Sr Pitcher

MADALINE JOHNSON NotreDame, Sr Pitcher

ZOE HARRINGTON NorthVermilion,Sr. Catcher

KYLIE BOUTTE TeurlingsCatholic, Sr Infielder

VALERIE BROWN NotreDame, Sr Infielder

DOCTOR Southside, Jr Infielder

GREENE Kaplan,So. Infielder

HEBERT Kaplan,Fr. Outfielder

AUBREY CROCHET Iota,Sr. Outfielder

VICTORIA BROOME Loreauville, Sr Outfielder

HONORABLE MENTION

CATE

ROMERO NotreDame, Jr Utility

KENLEY SONNIER NotreDame, So Utility

SAIGE CHERRY Iota,Jr. Utility

BROOKLYN HEBERT NorthsideChristian,8th Utility

EMILY

JEANE

St.ThomasMore, Jr Utility

Pitchers: KennedyLeblanc,Teurlings Catholic; Laci Faul, Beau Chene; Mia Mire,Acadiana Renaissance; Catcher: Charli Sonnier,Iota; Infielders: Bailee Hebert,Teurlings; Rylee Hernandez, Northside Christian; Nikkie Devillier,Cecilia; Kylee Broussard,Acadiana Renaissance; Outfielders: Brylie Davis,Acadiana, Jr.; Kaylee Morgan, Lafayette High; Isabella Prince, St.Thomas More; Utility: CarolineTerro, Lafayette High; Grace Hulin, Catholic-NI; Justice Chambers,David Thibodaux; Kylie Dronet,Acadiana; Adli Landry, Delcambre; Aysia Francis, Opelousas Catholic.

COACHOFTHE YEAR

RYAN HANAGRIFF NORTHSIDECHRISTIAN

Northside Christiancoach Ryan Hanagriffnot onlyhelped leadthe Warriors to an impressive 20-6record and the No. 1seed in theClass Cplayoffs, he and the Warriorsbrought home some hardware as well.

For the first time since winning thestate championshipin2021, Northside Christian

SCOREBOARD

1 Ivory Coast 1, Ecuador0 Saturday Germany2.Ivory Coast 1 Ecuador vs.Curacao, n Thursday Ecuador vs.Germany, 3p.m. Curacao vs.Ivory Coast, 3p.m. GROUP F GP WD LGFGAPts Netherlands 21 10 73 4 Sweden 21 01 66 3 Japan 10 10 22 1 Tunisia 10 01 15 0

June 14 Netherlands 2, Japan 2 Sweden 5, Tunisia1

Saturday Netherlands 5, Sweden 1 Tunisia vs.Japan, 11 p.m. Thursday Tunisia vs.Netherlands, 6p.m. Japan vs.Sweden, 6p.m. GROUP G GP WDLGFGAPts

Belgium1 01 01 11 Egypt 10 10 11 1 Iran 10 10 22 1 New Zealand 10 10 22 1 June 15 Belgium 1, Egypt 1 Iran 2, New Zealand 2 Sunday Belgium vs.Iran, 2p.m. New Zealand vs.Egypt, 8p.m.

Friday

New Zealand vs.Belgium, 10 p.m.

Egypt vs.Iran, 10 p.m.

GROUPH GP WDL GF GA Pts

Uruguay1 01 01 11 Saudi Arabia 10 10 11 1 Spain 10 10 00 1

Cape Verde1 01 00 01

June 15

Spain 0, Cape Verde0 Saudi Arabia 1, Uruguay1

Sunday Spain vs.Saudi Arabia, 11 a.m.

Uruguayvs. Cape Verde, 5p.m.

Friday Uruguayvs. Spain, 7p.m.

CapeVerde vs.Saudi Arabia, 7p.m.

GROUP I GP WD LGFGAPts

France 11 00 31 3 Norway 11 00 41 3

Senegal 10 01 13 0 Iraq 10 01 14 0

June 16 France 3, Senegal 1 Norway 4, Iraq 1

Monday

France vs.Iraq, 4p.m.

Norway vs.Senegal, 7p.m. Friday Norway vs.France, 2p.m. Senegal vs.Iraq, 2p.m.

GROUP J GP WDL GF GA Pts Argentina 11 00 30 3 Austria 11 00 31 3 Jordan1 00 11 30 Algeria 10 01 03 0 June 16 Argentina 3, Algeria 0 Austria

wonthe state title after defeating Claiborne Christianinthe championshipgame. It’s the third state championshipfor theWarriors,who also wonthe title in 2018.

Forhis efforts, Hanagriff wasnamedthe Acadiana Advocate’sAll-Metro coachofthe year EricNarcisse

(Cole 2-1),12:35 p.m. Chicago White Sox(Martin 9-3) at Detroit (TBD), 12:40 p.m. Washington (Alvarez1-0)atTampaBay (Martinez 6-2), 12:40 p.m. Cleveland(Cecconi 3-5) at Houston (Teng 3-6),1:10 p.m. St. Louis (May5-6)atKansas City (Kolek 4-1),1:10 p.m. Toronto (Cease 4-3) at Chicago Cubs (Imanaga 4-6), 1:20 p.m. San Diego (Giolito 2-2) at Texas(TBD), 1:35 p.m. Minnesota (TBD)atArizona (TBD), 2:15 p.m. L.A. Angels(Detmers 3-5) at

LIVING

DannyHeitman AT RANDOM

Smallsummer respites can become a game-changer

When my wife and Iboarded an airlinerfor San Diego last month, we had plenty of company on the flight. The summer travel season was in high gear,and our plane brimmed like abiblicalark.

The boarding line stalled as passengerstried to squeeze luggage into carry-on bins. Travelers inched over each other to shoehorn themselves into the narrow seats. There were sighs all around as everyone sizedupthe prospect of crossing half the country in such tight quarters.

Wedged in place, Ithought of amagazine interview Idid last year with Arthur Brooks, who writes and lectures about the science of happiness. He travels alot, which means manyhours on commercial flights. Brooks has come to see it as an opportunity.Ashe explained,“theairplane is a great laboratory” for asocial scientist. He gets to see human behavior in all its variety In that spirit, my wifeand I focused our attention on the senior airline attendant on our flight, apersonable woman named Pamela. In the midst of the bustle, she remained serene, findinga couple of spare seats to create slightly more room. Pamela smiled calmly as she worked the aisle, even joking with apassengerwho had requested, tongue-incheek, to be moved to first class.

“I’m happy to do that,”she responded with awink, “as long as you’re willing to sit in someone’slap.”

Impressed by Pamela’s easygoing attitude on what was obviouslyastressful day my wife asked her the secret to her good humor “I had the day off yesterday,” she told us. “It helped a lot.” Can asingle day of rest really be agame-changer? Such asmall interlude of respite might seemlike atrifling thing here in summer, when thoughts so often turn to weeklong idyllsonthe beach and the pleasure of extended time off the clock.

But when Ispoke with novelist Ann Patchett afew weeks ago, she touched on this very thing. Patchettis especiallybusy this summer as she promotes “Whistler,” her new novel, but her work as an author and bookstore owner in Nashvillekeeps her active all year.Patchett has built alife filled with people, and she seems deeply grateful for the community it’screated.

Even so, she’sfound that just asingle day alone can be restorative.

“And if Ispend awhole day by myself, in which Inever get in the car,it’slike I’ve spent the day plugged into a generator,” she said. “I have so much energy.Ihave so many greatideas. Ican solve any problem, do anything, if I don’t have to see people.”

My trip to Californiagave me anice weeklong break. I’m back in the thick of things, but it’sgood to know that when I need abreather,evenaday away from the grind might be worth it.

Email Danny Heitman at danny@dannyheitman.com

CONNECTION REALIZED

BY JOANNABROWN Staff writer

When Valcour Records was founded in 2006, the Acadiana music scene felt charged with ayouthful energy Bands like thePine Leaf Boys were introducing anew generation of Lafayette students to traditional Cajunand Creole sounds, paving the way for acts like Boma Bango, Jourdan Thibodeaux et Les Rôdailleurs and T’Monde toemerge onto the scene with high-energy, contemporaryversionsofthe south Louisiana playbook. Today,these groups and others tour the world, drawcrowds at local events like JazzFest, Festival Internationaland Festivals Acadiens et Créoles, and get featured on 60 Minutes. ValcourRecords, foundedinEunicebyJoel Savoy

Phillip LaFargue and Lucius Fontenot, has been at the center of this musical synergyfor thepast 20 years—recording artists, producing albumsand pickingupcouple of Grammys along the way This year,the label secured its second Grammy win with “A Trib-

“Whenwestarted outin2006 during atrue ‘end of an era’ forrecorded music, ourmission wasto empower this unique lightning in a bottlethat was the young Acadiana music scene at the time,” said Savoy. “Looking back at our catalog Eunice musiclabel on

utetothe King of Zydeco,” acompilation album that honored the 100th anniversary of Clifton Chenierand was produced by Joel Savoy,Steve Berlin and John Leopold from Valcour. The label’sfirstwin was in 2013 with “The BandCourtbouillon,”featuring Wayne Toups, Steve Riley and Wilson Savoy

Chef dads describe dreammeals

Royyamaguchi, founder of Roy’s Restaurants, center, sits withhis son, Roy Jr., right, and Denise yamaguchiata restaurant in Venice in 2023.

BYKATIE WORKMAN

hibachi) —whatistheir dream Father’sDay meal? Three of them answer here. (Spoiler: Allagree that being together is more important than the food.)

Barbecuecrosses generations TomColicchio, chef and owner of the New York-based Crafted Hospitality,has three kids,ages

STAFF FILE PHOTOS By BRAD BOWIE

Jourdan Thibodeaux, left, and Cedric Watson performasJourdan Thibodeaux et Les Rôdailleurs to kick off the 38thannual Festival International de Louisiane in 2024.

ChristineBalfa, with Bonsoir Catin, performs during the 2019 Festival Acadiens et Creoles in Girard Park.

AT THE TABLE

Fill your emptynestwiththe aromaofsourdough

Iamanempty nester now.

Both of my children have graduated from high school andspend the school year in cities away from home

This summer,they are farther away still —out of state,working, exploring and collectingthe kind of experiences that only this stage of life can offer

SourdoughEnglish

Muffins

Makes1dozen English muffins. Recipe is adapted from King ArthurFlour

1tablespoon granulated sugar

Olivia Regard

Meanwhile, Iremain at home, watchingthe dog and keeping my daughter’ssourdough starter alive until she returns.

I’m no stranger to sourdough. During the pandemic,I eagerly joined the ritual of tending ajar on thecounter —feeding,discarding baking. After afew years and oneilltimed trip, Ilet mine go. Yethere Iam again, reacquainting myself withthe rhythm of sourdough. There is aquiet kind of magic in flour and waterleft to sit.With regular feedings,itstirs and sighswith bubbles, alive and capable of transforming the simplest ingredients into something layered andcomplex Maintaining it feelslesslike ascience experiment and more likea ritual. With my prior starter,bread was on regular rotation. But thistime, Ifind myself drawn to baking something less expected and exploring ways sourdough can slip into everyday moments rather than anchoranall-day baking project. I’ve been folding this starter into recipes thatfeel both familiar and quietly transformed. Sourdough English muffins, tender with nooks ready to catch butter,deliver the character of long fermentation without the ceremony of aloaf. Andsourdough cookies —perhaps most surprising —are thick and chewy with agentle tang thatdeepens sweetness and adds unexpected complexity In this season of transition, as routines shift and the house grows quieter,sourdough feels lesslike achallenge and more like acompanion— adaptable, forgiving and quietly alive Sometimes, transformation looks like aperfectly risen loaf. And sometimes, it’s an English muffin at breakfast or a warm cookie at the end of theday

TODAYINHISTORY

By The Associated Press

1cup water,warm(110 F-115 F)

1/2 tablespoon active dryyeast

1/2 cup sourdoughstarter,ripe (fed) or discard(ripe will give you amore vigorous rise)

31/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup nonfat drymilk

2tablespoonsunsalted butter,atroom temperature

1/2 tablespoon kosher salt Yellow cornmeal, for coating

1. Combine all theingredients, exceptthe cornmeal, in alarge bowl.

2. Mixand knead —byhand, electric mixerorbread machine —toform asmoothdough thatis soft andelastic, but not particularly sticky. Add additional flour if necessary

3. Placethe dough in alightly greased bowl, cover,and set it asideto rise for about 11/2 hours, or untilit’snoticeably puffy

(Note: For the most pronounced sour flavor, cover the bowl and immediately place it in the refrigerator,without rising first.

SourdoughChocolate Chip Cookies

SourdoughEnglish Muffins

Let the dough chill for 24 hours to develop its flavor.)

4. Gently deflatethe dough and turn it out onto alightly floured worksurface. Cover it and let it sit for afew minutes to allow the gluten to relax.

5. Divide the dough in half. Working with one piece at a

Makes1dozen cookies. Recipe is from Camille Regard, as adapted from Little Spoon Farm 1

+2

all-purpose flour

(cubed and kept

or

Today is Sunday,June 21, the 172ndday of 2026. Thereare 193days leftin the year.Summerbegins today

Todayinhistory:

On June 21, 1788, the United States Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became the required ninthstate to ratify it

Also on this date:

In 1834, Cyrus Hall McCormick received apatent for his mechanical reaper

In 1893, the first Ferris wheelopened to the public as part of the Chicago World’sFair In 1942, an Imperial Japanese submarine fired shells at Fort Stevens on the Oregon coast, but caused little damage.

In 1954, scientists of the American Cancer Society presented astudy to ameeting of theAmerican Medical Association in San Francisco which found that men who regularly smoked cigarettes died, particularly from lung cancer,ata considerably higher rate thannon-smokers.

In 1964, civil rights activists James Chaney,Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were killed in Neshoba County,Mississippi; their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam six weekslater.(Forty-one years later,onthis date in 2005, Edgar Ray Killen, an 80-year-old former Ku Klux Klansman, was found guilty of manslaughterintheir deaths; he wassentenced to 60 years in prison, where he died in January 2018.)

In 1982, ajury in Washington, D.C., found John Hinckley Jr.not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1981 shootings of PresidentRonald Reagan, Press Secretary James Brady,Metropolitan Police Officer Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service Special Agent TimMcCarthy

In 1989, asharply divided Supreme Court ruled, in Texas v. Johnson, that burning the American flagas aform of political protest was protected by the First Amendment.

In 1997, the WNBA made its debut as the New York Liberty defeated the host Los Angeles Sparks 67-57. In 2004, the aircraft SpaceShipOnemade the first privately funded human spaceflight.

In 2010, Faisal Shahzad,a Pakistan-born U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty to charges of plottinga failed car bombing in New York’sTimes Square. (Shahzad was latersentenced to life in prison.)

In 2021, Las Vegas Raiders defensiveend Carl Nassib became the first activeNFL player to come out as gay,saying he felt representation and visibility were important; other NFLplayers came outasgay after their careers were over Today’sbirthdays: Musician Ray Davies (TheKinks) is 82. Actor Meredith Baxter is 79. Actor Michael Gross is 79. Author Ian McEwan is 78. Musician Nils Lofgren is 75. Cartoonist BerkeleyBreathed is 69. Country musician Kathy Mattea is 67.FilmmakerLana Wachowski is 61. Rapper-DJ-producer Pete Rock is 56. Actor Juliette Lewis is 53. ActorChrisPrattis47. Rock singer Brandon Flowers (TheKillers) is 45. Britain’s Prince William is 44. Singer-songwriter LanaDel Rey is 41. Golfer Scottie Scheffler is 30. Singer Rebecca Blackis29. Country singer ElizabethNichols is 24.

PHOTOSByOLIVIA REGARD

time, roll the dough to 1/2-inch thick, and cut into 3-inch rounds. Re-roll and cut any remaining scraps. Repeat with the remaining halfofdough.

6. Place the 12 rounds onto cornmeal-sprinkled baking sheet.Sprinkle with additional cornmeal, cover with plastic

1. Whiskflour,baking soda,baking powder and salt in asmall bowl. Set aside.

2. In aseparatebowl, beat the egg, vanilla extract and sourdough starter until smooth. Set aside.

3. Place the cold, cubed butter,light brown sugarand granulated sugarintothe bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat at alow speed until themixture forms small crumbles.Stirinthe chocolate chips. Scrape down the sidesofthe bowl.

4. Add the dry ingredientsand mixatlow speed until thebatter starts to become acrumbly mixture

5. Pour in the egg mixtureand mix on low speed until thedough comes togetherand starts to pull away from the sidesofthe bowl.

6. Stir the batter,using aspatula, to ensure the ingredientsare fully incorporated

7. Useacookie scoop to portion the dough into 12 balls and place on aparchment-lined baking

wrap and let rise until light and puffy,about 1hour.Ifthe dough has been refrigerated overnight, the rise timewill be about 2 hours.

7. Carefully transfer the rounds (as many at atime that will fit without crowding) rightside-up to alarge electric griddle preheated to 350 Fortoan ungreased frying pan that has been preheated over mediumlow heat.

8. Cook the muffins forabout 5 minutesontheir first side; then lay acake pan, cookie sheet, or similar flat (though not overly heavy) object atop them to help keep them flat. Continue cooking for about 7minutes. Remove the pan, turn over the muffins and finish cooking without the pan on top for atotal of about 10 to 12 minutes(the center of amuffin should register 190 Fonadigital thermometer).

9. Remove the muffins fromthe griddle and cool on arack before splitting in half. (Use afork for maximum nooks and crannies.) Serve toasted or at room temperature.

Storage note: Store leftover sourdough English muffins tightly wrapped at room temperature for four or five days; freeze for longer storage.

tray.Cover dough with plastic wrap so they do not dry out and chill the dough in the refrigerator for aminimum of 2hours up to 24 hours.

8. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Prior to baking, sprinkle each cookie with flaky seasaltand bake the cookies for 15-17 minutesuntil the edges are golden brown and the centerstill appears slightly under-baked.

9. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet for 5minutes. Transfer to acooling rack to cool completely

Note: Store baked cookies at room temperature in an air-tight container foruptoseven days. Store unbaked cookie dough in the fridge, covered tightly foruptoseven days. Freeze unbaked dough by portioning out the dough onto aparchment-lined baking sheet and flash-freezing for15minutes.

Transfer frozen dough balls into afreezersafecontainer and keep them frozen forupto three months.

Thecynical ballad of Clydeand Stan

Dear Miss Manners: Afriend told me he had been contacted by his former college roommate. Clyde and Stan are in their 60s and live in different states. They have remained good friends since college, and see each other sporadically at informal reunions of their large group of common college friends. Stan’sdaughter is getting married and he is inviting all his college friends tothe wedding because he thinksitwould

SourdoughChocolate Chip Cookies

be a“fun” occasion at which they can allreconnect. Clyde politely declined the invitation because he has never met Stan’sdaughter or her intended. Subsequently,Clyde learned he would need to travel, for an unrelated reason, tothe city where thewedding is being held. The timing of the trip is flexible, so Clyde has decided to arrive theday after the wedding. Most of his old college friends who are coming to thewedding will still be in town for a day or two after and plan to socialize. Clyde looks forward to joining them,

Dear Heloise: The best activity for kids before aholiday meal is having them help in preparing it

including Stan. Iasked him if he would be sending awedding present, and he said he does not plan to do so since he is not attending any of the actual wedding festivities. I said that some might think he had timed his arrival in order to enjoy the social amenities of gathering with his friends without payingthe “price of admission” by buying apresent. (Clyde is well-offand a generous friend, so Ireally don’tthink this is the reason.)

He thinksIhave acynical view of human nature. Whatdoes Miss Manners think?

GentleReader: That you are making trouble when no oneelse seemsto care. Even you do not believe your theory that Clyde is trying to get away with something. Youdid not mention your specific role in all this, but if the real motivation is that you wish you could either skip thewedding or the present yourself, Miss Manners would not call you cynical, just envious.

Dietaryissues

Dear Miss Manners: My son married a womanwho had divorced her first husband several years ago. She has chosen to use ahyphenated last name that is acombination of her ex-husband’sname and my son’s. Ifind this inappropriate and very disrespectful to my son. She has no children, so I can’timagine whyshe does this. They live in the samesmalltown as her exhusband, and Ithink her decision must be both hurtful and embarrassing for my son.

Irealize this is not something I should discuss with him,but Iam wondering what your opinion is in this regard.

Gentle Reader: The lady’schoice is unusual, but presumably she has her reasons, such as having established aprofessional reputation under that name.

Miss Manners has to believe —as you should —that your son has already addressed this or has chosen to ignore it. In either case, you will only benefit from not saying anything. Especially if he does at somepoint decide that it is disrespectful and needs to vent to his loving, discreet mommy

Chemicalsinour food

This is how they’ll learn how to prep for a big celebration, which is the only way to learn how to do anything. Of course, the work must be geared to each kid’s level of ability,and some guidance is required. This will also teach them responsibility and give them pride. —LouisR., in Reseda, California Louis,this is asolution that brings varied results. It’ll all depend on whether the host likes to have everythingready for company before they arrive and whether the children are underfoot.Ifit’sa small gathering or just thefamily,then it’s easier to assign them atask, such as setting the table or filling thesalt and pepper shakers.

Well, readers, what do you think about this idea? Have any of you tried this,and if so, how did it work out for your family? —Heloise

Dear Heloise: Regarding the letter titled “Curing Dry Hair” from the woman whose hair was brittle, it could be due to her diet

Years ago, Iwas chronically dehydrated. When anurse told me that I needed to drink more water,I listened. Not only did my sinuses improve and my headaches go away,myhair and nails stopped snapping off like fresh potatochips! When Iadded extra virgin olive oil tomydiet, my hair and nails got even stronger (and longer!). Also, my skin wasn’tasdry as before either All thehair and skin products in the world won’tcompensate foradiet that is lacking in water,vitamins and minerals. —Marcia B.,inBirmingham,Alabama Marcia, this is anice suggestion, but thebest thing for physical problems like dry hair is to seeadoctor and make sure that there’snounderlying cause. As we age, our bodies change, and acheckup can often detect a healthissue that we were unaware we had. —Heloise

Dear Heloise: Irecently discovered that older Corelle dishes contain lead that is harmfultohumans. Somepatterns contain harmfulamounts of lead, mercury and cadmium, as well as additional chemicals. Please do your own research. Itrashed my dishes as I wasn’tcomfortable donating them to a thriftstore forresale. Also, black plastic utensils and black takeout boxes are madefrom recycled electronics and can contain harmful chemicals. Iwas told that somethrift stores won’taccept them. So, again, I trashed them —Jan, in Dayton, Ohio Jan, yes, this is true. Many black plastic itemsthat we use fortakeout orders have cancer-causing agents from flameretardants, which leach into our food. Black plastic can contain unregulated amounts of toxic chemicals, including heavy metals. In addition to this, black plastic usually isn’trecyclable because of the color Heloise Send ahint to heloise@heloise.com

Hints from Heloise

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

TRAVEL

First-timernoodles around on CaddoLake

BY MOLLYTERRELL Staff Writer

If you’ve been craving alake day and are looking for an adventure, grabbingacatfish out of its underwater hole with your handmight be the perfect activity

Idid it, and let me tell you, it was one of the most unique experiences I’ve ever had.

It all started when Isaw asocial media page for anoodling guide service on Caddo Lake in northwest Louisiana. Idecided to find out more.

Noodling is aunique form of fishing that requires you to retrieve a catfish from its hole with only your feet and hands while standing in murky water

Ischeduled anoodling tour with Geaux Noodling. My guide, Vinny Wozniak, offers the tours from May until around the end ofJune when catfish lay their eggs.

Iwas nervous aboutwhat it would be like, but Iwas putatease that day by Wozniak’sfriendliness and thorough explanation

My colleague, Jill, and Istarted in aboat with Wozniak, while their client, Ryan O’Banion, and another guide, Remington Bearden, went in aseparate boat.

Wozniak told us that when the waterreaches acertain temperature, male catfish go into holes and clear out the space for females to make anest. When she lays her eggs,the male fertilizes them and guards them until they hatch. To noodle, you stick your handorfoot intothe holefor the fish to attack and then catch them.

Geaux Noodling catches two types of catfish —the blue catfish and the Opelousas, or flathead,catfish.

Differenttypes of catfish holes

According to Bearden,both types of catfish lay their eggs toward the middle of the hole, butan Opelousas male stays at the back to watch over its eggs, while ablue

TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER

By ChristopherElliott

remainsatthe frontofthe hole

According to Wozniak, blues are more aggressive. There are natural holes that catfish find in trees and in sunken old boatramps, which Wozniak said thecatfish like because they like concrete, which heats up faster. Theyalso have their own boxes, like old tractor tires, cast-iron bathtubs and anything else they can make to imitate these holes and improve chances of finding catfish

Wozniak said there are often two in ahole if thefemalehasn’tlaid eggsyet. Wozniak and Bearden are very

knowledgeableabout wherethe hot spotsare. At our first stop, Iwatched O’Banion go first as he pulled a catfish out. Eventhough he was lessexperienced than Wozniak and Bearden, he had been noodling before, andsohewas ready for the challenge.

He went in barefoot, which Wozniak was not happy about because there are plentyofthings on the lake floor that can pierce the bottom of your foot, like fishing hooks, bottles and more.

Pullingcatfish outofthe hole

Iwas wearing an old pair of run-

ning shoes, and when Wozniak found another catfish in aconcrete hole,itwas time formetotry.He went in first and waited for the catfish to latch onto his foot before tellingmethat it wasmyturn.

Iwent in extremely nervous and afraid the catfish might hurtme, but Wozniak calmed my nerves and clearly explained what to expect. He said that common fears aretheir bite andthe barbs, but that the barbs get duller as catfish age, so bigger catfish, like the ones we were catching, wereless likely to injure. Ialso had gloves to wear andacut-resistant sleeve.

Ilaidonmyside, partiallysubmerged in the shallowwater to have enough leveragetograb the fish.

The first catfish in the hole got away,but there were twointhere, andWozniak guided my hand and the catfish latched on to it.I couldn’tfeel anything through thegloves, buttheir teethseemed similar to sandpaper

Wozniak also told me howtograb thegills so Iwouldn’thurt the fish, and thenwepulled it out of the hole.

Mine wasafemale, flathead catfish, only about10to15pounds, but it was by farthe biggest fish I had seen in person, so Iwas very pleased.

Wozniaksaid that his service has also recently started “tagging” catfishthey catch by attaching a zip tie to the part of their dorsal fin that won’tgrow,sothey don’t hurtthe fish,and if they catch the same one again, they can see how far they’ve moved and grown. They’restarting with agreen zip tie for 2026.

Afterhetagged my catfish, we lether go back intothe hole because Geaux Noodling catches and releases allofthe fish after taking pictures with them.

He said that sometimes when they’rereleased, they don’tswim right away,somoving theirtail back and forth encourages them to move. Therewereseveral otherstops and catfish that day.Jill caught one that was much biggerthanmine, andO’Banion caught onethat weighed about 46 pounds.

By the time we went to afew morespots with no luck, about five hours hadpassed. It didn’treally feel that long. At the last hole, Wonziak pulled out an aggressive female catfish that was more than 30 pounds without gloves. Shedid alittlebit of damage to his hand andforearm. After thecatfish was pulledout, O’Banion and Bearden found another female catfish in the hole about the same size that hadn’t laid eggs yet. That was an interesting catch for us to end our day on because Wozniak said the females sharing the holewere unusual, and there wasn’tamale in the hole. Whydoeshedoit?

It was areally good timeonthe lake, and even waiting to see how the O’Banion, Beardenand Wozniak blocked the catfish holes was an interesting experience and definitely made me understand why they find noodling so enjoyable. WhileWozniak said he loves catching the bigger catfish, he also loves taking inexperienced people who get excited about the smaller ones, too.

“What Irealized is Ireally like seeing otherpeople conquering a fear of doing this type of thing,” Wozniaksaid. “. I’ve gottenso many peoplethatprobably haven’t even held afishing rodintheir life, andI wasabletotalktheminto noodling.”

Wozniak said that he likes seeing clients’ faces when they overcome theirfear anddosomething they never imagined they could do. Icould see myself noodling again or helping someone else catch the fish. But there are definitely limits to how far I’d be willing to stick my hand in.

Both lake days and traditional fishing are fun. But Ifound that combining them to experience the thrill of catching large catfish with your hands is unlike anything else. To book aguidedtourwith Geaux Noodling and Wozniak, you can message the Facebook page or call (318) 560-9945.

Email Molly Terrellatmolly terrell@theadvocate.com.

Princess Cruisescancels couple’s reservation, despitepayment

Ipaid $2,369 for aPanama Canal cruise with Princess Cruises through atravel agent last year.Mywife Norma and Imade a deposit and then paid the final balance one daybefore the due date.

Christopher Elliott

Twodayslater,I checked my account on the Princess app, and the reservation was gone. When our travel agent called Princess, acustomer service representative told herwewere in default for nonpayment and owed approximately $2,000 more.Where was this new $2,000 charge coming from? Nobodyat Princess could tell us. After weeks of calls and emails to various Princess representatives, including their director of customer relations and VP of guest services, the mystery finally unraveled.Apparently,wewere being charged for a“Princess Plus” upgrade that cost $1,440

—a62% priceincreasewenever authorized and didn’teven know about. It turns out my wife tried to upgrade to Princess Plus, an optional add-on package that bundles several onboard amenities into asingle daily price, through the website. Thesystem returned an error message saying the purchase didn’tgothrough and instructed hertoeithercontact the travel agent or payfor the upgrade onboard.We followed the system’sadvice and planned to handle it on the ship.

Yetsomehow,Princess wasnow treating us as if we’dpurchased this upgrade and never paidfor it.They canceled our reservation and kept $1,298 of ourmoney as a cancellation fee.

This feels less likea billingproblem and morelikea system failure that the companyisexploiting. I’m aretired accountant. Iknow how computer systems work.When someone’saccount shows “no balance due,”and their travel agent can’t see apending chargeeither,something is

catastrophically wrong with Princess’sinfrastructure.The companyishiding behind system failures they should have fixed.

We don’teven care about the cruise anymore.We just want our $1,298 back. RobertBattaglia, Oro Valley,Ariz.

Princessshould never have canceled your reservation. Full stop.

When your final payment went through, your account should have been settled. If the systemlater discovered aphantom charge that nobody could document or explain, Princess needed to contact you before taking action. Not after —before.

Instead, Princess reliedonabilling system thatgave conflicting information to different employees.Your travel agent couldn’t seethe charge. The Princess customer servicerepresentative couldn’texplain what you supposedly owed. The company’sown

portal told your wife the upgrade purchase failed. Yetsomehow,all of this addeduptoacancellation and afee.

When acustomer makes apayment by the due date, and the company’sown statement shows “no balance due,” the burden is on the cruiseline to explain any subsequent charges before taking punitive action.

Youdid agreat job of keeping records.A paper trail is essential when you’re dealing with any billing dispute.

Youcan appeal any rejection to the executive contacts at Princess Cruises listed on Elliott.org. A brief, firm email to amanager is the next step.

When my advocacy team and I contacted Princess on your behalf, the company directed us to your travel agent. That’sacommon

deflection in the cruise industry —many cruise lines prefer to have travel agents handle disputes rather than dealing with customers directly.The agency declined to comment, saying the matter was between you and Princess.

Ultimately,Princess agreed. A full three months after your cancellation, the cruise line refunded $1,298 to your credit card. Princess should tell its IT department to fix the billing software. This probably isn’tthe first time the cruise line has canceled areservation because of asystem problem —and it surely won’tbethe last.

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy,anonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him on his site.

PHOTOSByJILLPICKETT

VinnyWozniak, center,and Remington Bearden, left, both of Geaux Noodling Guide Service, help Molly Terrell noodle foracatfish for the first time on Caddo Lake.

VinnyWozniak, of Geaux Noodling,left, and Molly Terrell showoff her first catfish.

70-year-oldhas intimacy concerns

Dear Harriette: Ihave not been on the dating scene for years, but Irecently put myself out there. Iamayoung 70-year-old,and Imet aman who is in his late 50s. We hit it off and like each other alot. We do have aproblem, though. We attemptedto get intimate, and it was uncomfortable and painful. It was awkward, but we stillhad anice time. I’m not sure what to do. I don’twant this to be adealbreaker.I’ve heard that the body changes down there, but Ididn’tknow it changed that much. What can Ido, and what should Isay to him? Idon’t want

to avoid intimacy —Uncomfortable

Harriette Cole

SENSE AND SENSITIVITy

Dear Uncomfortable: Schedule a visit with your gynecologist. You mayhavevaginal atrophy,which is acondition triggered by menopause, caused by diminished estrogen production that leads to dryness, irritation and sometimes painful sex. There are treatments that you can use to help makeitmore comfortable or even possible to have asex life. Get medical help. What you can tell him is that youare tending to it. Meanwhile, you can also try lubrication.Depending upon the state of your body,that maymake it pos-

of over 60 albums of music in Acadiana spanning the lasttwo decades, it feels safe to say that we accomplished that mission.”

Twentyyearsofoperatingas aregional musiclabel in the streaming eraisaunique feat, underscored by Valcour Record’s strong linkstoLouisiana music history

“It’stechnically headquartered out of Joel’s studio,in the old kitchen buildingfrom when it was his grandfather’shouse, where Amédé Ardoin andDennis McGee and all those guys would come and play music.

Joel hasnow converted it into apretty sophisticated, highquality recording studio,” said LaFargue.

Savoy has spent his entire life absorbingthat legacy,asaCajun singer,fiddler and accordionist himself.

“Wewere born outofall of those connections,” he said. “We started realizing thatyoung and old, genre to genre —everyone was so connected and could performinterchangeably.People swapping out, sittingin, it felt like onebig family.You see that on stages and on thedance floor every night of the week in Acadiana.”

The Clifton Chenier album, “A Tribute to the King of Zydeco,” was emblematic of the organic collaborations that Valcour has promoted over the years. The album features international stars like The RollingStones, Charley Crockett, TajMahal and Lucinda Williams seamlessly playing alongside Louisiana acts such as Steve Riley, Anthony Dopsie and CJ Chenier —showcasing the unique popular appeal of Louisiana regional music, evenasitcontinually draws from old traditions.

Said LaFargue, “Wewere born into and grown into this creativecommunity, thatnot only defined who we are, but made it possible andempowered us to bringtogetherthese

sible for you to have intercourse. Or takeyour time enjoying each other without full penetration. Dear Harriette: The past year has been challenging mentally.Iexperienced lows that felt lower than ever,but Iamproud of myself for pushing through it.Ihave struggledwithanxietyinthe past; however,ithas definitely gotten worse recently and has started to feel debilitating. Istarted therapy, which has helped, but Iamstill having panic attacks, and there aredays thatI feel out of control. Ihave triedadditional support, like aromatherapy and walking. Although theyhave helped, Ido not think there is asingle fix. Iam always looking to add tools to my

toolbox. I’ve been looking into somatic therapy,but Ihaven’tbeen able to find asomatic therapist in my network. What recommendations would you make for dealing withanxiety? —Anxious Dear Anxious: Youmay want to see apsychiatrist. Iknow many people whohave had success taking medicine to help balance their systems. That combined with somatic therapy could be awinning combination. Somehavealso had success with consistent physical exercise and creative expression. Join a gym,ayoga class or Pilates. Take regular walks. Consider taking an art, music or dance class. Keep your mindactive.

Surrounding yourself with good company is also very important. Look at the people in your life. Notice how manynaysayers there are. Do your best to weed out the people whostir the pot. Replace them with problem solvers and people whoknow how to love you without judgment. Do your best not to isolate. Find your people and spend timewith them.Stop yourself when you start complaining in your head and to others. Practice active positivity Send questions to askharriette@ harriettecole.com or c/o AndrewsMcMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

unique collaborative moments. That’sthe nature of music anyway, bringingtogether creativesfrom different spaces to createsomething special. The Clifton Chenier album waskind of amega version of that.” “Yeah, Idon’tthink I’mgonna blow anybody’sminds when Ipoint out that Louisiana is amagical place with alot of magicalstuff happeningall the time,” Savoy agreed.“What’s pretty specialisthatpeople from alloverthe worldrecognizethat and want to be apart of it.

“National talent is just drawn to Louisiana music, especially Clifton Chenier, who was so traveled andjustsofamousin thezydeco genre. These people really wanted to be part of this

project to celebrate Clifton and the history of the music.Our job is to preparethe best trackfor them,toprovide them achance to basically step into Clifton’s shoes for asong, and get to be in azydeco band,” he said. Fans of Louisiana French music, from Cajun fiddleactionto zydeco beats, can listen to the best of ValcourRecords’ catalogueatananniversaryshow at the Acadiana Center forthe Arts on Nov.19. Before that, Festivals Acadiens et Créoles will feature anumberofbands linked to Valcour’sanniversary celebration over the weekend of Oct. 9to11inLafayette.

Email Joanna Brownat joanna.brown@theadvocate. com.

MEALS

Continued from page1D

14, 15 and 33.

“The teenagers? They’re not cooking anything,” he says. “But my oldest might —hedabbles in barbecue, so I’d put him to work on smoked short ribs, bone-in,low and slow.I’d be nearby to step in if things went sideways.” Colicchio, alongtime head judge on “Top Chef,” envisionsthe Father’sDay mealenjoyedoutside at hisplace on the North Fork of Long Island, New York, surrounded by family.

Go fishingfor freshcatch

Cesar Zapata,chefand owner of

theVietnamese-Colombianfusion restaurant Phuc YeainMiami, also has hissights on theoutdoors.

“Since (mystepson) Eli loves to fish, we’ll probably spend theday out on the water trying to catch ourown meal,”he says. “BeinginFlorida, hopefully we’ll catch some snapper or grouper,bring it home, clean it together and roast thewhole fish over thegrill.” And nobody should worry about impressing the chef. “Wespend so much of our lives cooking for others that the meals that mean the most areusually the ones that feel effortless andshared,” Zapata says. “I love keeping really freshfish simple, especially whenit’ssomething you

caught that same day.”

He picturesserving it with a Vietnamese-style salsa verde, grilled asparagus and mushrooms, accompanied by good music and cold drinks.

“For me, Father’s Day is less about the ‘perfect’ meal and moreabout slowing down, being present, and creating memories together around food and conversation,” he says.

Afamily-stylemeal

RoyYamaguchi is on the same page. He’sthe founder of Roy’s Restaurants, aHawaii fusion restaurant with locations in various cities, and is one of the pioneers of thecooking style Hawaii Regional Cuisine.

“For Father’sDay,I don’tneed afancy restaurant or an elaborate dinner,” he says. “What Ireally want is to have all of my kids home. My idealmealwould be shabu shabu or chankonabe because they’re the kinds of dishes that bring everyone together.”

Both shabu shabu andchankonabe areJapanese hot-pot-style meals, where everybody eats from acommon pot on the table.

“At the end of theday,Father’s Day isn’treally about the food,” he says. “The meal simply givesusa reason togather.”

Everyone pitchesin

At his ideal meal, Yamaguchi says, nobody just sits and waits to be served —everyone cooks, shares, laughs and contributes.

Andhedoes have onerequest: For someone else to do all the prepwork.

“Anyone who hasmade shabu shabu knows that slicing the vegetables, preparing the sauces, and arranging everything takes time. Having the family take care of that would be thegreatestgift,” he says. Then he would sit back, enjoy aasimple glass of Japanese shochuoverice, enjoythe conversationand watcheveryone have fun around the table. Katie Workman writes regularly aboutfoodfor The Associated Press. She has written two cookbooks focused on family-friendly cooking, “Dinner Solved!” and “The Mom 100 Cookbook.” She blogs at themom100.com. Shecan be reached at katie@themom100.com.

Colicchio

FILEPHOTO By ROBIN MAy

Joel Savoyplays the fiddle with Jessie Lege& the BayouAcres during the 2025 Blackpot Festival and Cookoff at Vermilionville.

STAFFPHOTO By PAUL KIEU

MeganConstantin, of Boma Bango, performs during the 2026 Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette.

tribute album

Belonging, yearning and secrets

New book from ‘dual citizen’ Acadiana author has that and more

BY LAUREN CHERAMIE Staff writer

For author Sheryl Cor-

nett’s first novel, “No Secrets in This House,” she sets her characters in a place familiar to her: Ocracoke Island, part of North Carolina’s coastal Outer Banks region. Though not a native to the island, Cornett says she feels most at home there. She refers to herself as a “dual citizen” of Sunset, Louisiana, and Hillsborough, North Carolina. She lives in Sunset roughly half of the year

“That’s a thing I get a lot: Why did you write about Ocracoke? You’re not from there. You’re an outsider,” she said. “That’s how they are, small towns. I feel that way about Lafayette in some ways — that I’ll always be an outsider here. That’s not a bad thing. People are very gracious.” Cornett, who taught English and Creative Writing at North Carolina State University for several years, started working on “No Secrets in This House” in 2016.

“It was a comfort thing for me to do because I love the island so much, and I’m never gonna get to live there. So I could dwell there in my

BETWEEN THE PAGES WITH SHERyL CORNETT

brain,” Cornett said. The book, a romance and historical fiction novel, spans four wars, three generations and two continents — focusing on women who are nearly a century apart but tied to the same home on Ocracoke

Island. This interview was edited for length and clarity The chapters in“No Secrets in This House”bounce from different characters’points of view,but they are also fairly short chapters — with 57 chapters total.What was your thought

PROVIDED PHOTO

“The Life and Poetry of Frank Stanford,” by James

PROVIDED PHOTO

process in formatting the book that way?

I’ve done a lot of homework, taking apart books that I love. Thinking about modern readership and attention spans — talking to fellow readers and writers the shorter chapters work better with our world that we live in.

You can read one chapter sitting in the doctor’s waiting room or waiting for a friend to meet you for coffee. There’s something to the structure of smaller chapters where audiobooks are concerned. And there is an audiobook in the works. My thinking was reader friendliness.

Would you consider yourself a teacher or author first? Or is there no line in the sand?

I would say they’re dual vocations. They’re symbiotic.

I’ve really learned a lot from teaching and from my students — their insights, their bravery, trying new

things and their writing inspired me. Now I’m focused a little more on the full-time writing part and a little less teaching.

In the book,the weather is almost a character in and of itself.It tends to coincide with the characters’emotions.Was it a conscious decision to do that?

I wasn’t consciously structuring the weather to be part of it, but I have spent a lot of time on this island, and it is a presence like another character

Everything revolves around the weather

Louisiana is a hurricane zone, so anywhere that you live that vulnerable, that close to the sea, I think there is a demanding presence.

You mentioned feeling like an outsider in Ocracoke and Lafayette. There’s mention of the character

Avila being an outsider in the community on Ocracoke Island. Is that a reflection of your feelings?

I feel more at home on Ocracoke Island, even though it’s not my hometown, than anywhere in the world.

And I feel at home here in Sunset. My dad was a diplomat, and I moved around my whole life. It’s like being a military dependent, or a child of military parents. When you move around, you go to the next new place, and you’re always the outsider So how do you make yourself at home, regardless of how you’re perceived by the community?

And how do you,would you say?

On Ocracoke, I feel like I’m almost part of an expat

community I’ve been going for decades as a family vacation spot. It was not about me trying to write a book. That’s where we went and built amazing memories and traditions with our kids. I feel like I’m part of something that’s more than the sum of its natives. In a general sense,when someone is constantly moving or just moving to a new place,how can someone make themselves at home?

It’s definitely through being part of a community, whether that’s through your job, church or volunteering I think it’s giving back when we can and then building true friendships.

With all of the references to letters sent back and forth in the book,I noticed this sense of yearning In pop culture right now male yearning is a big topic of conversation.How do you think yearning has changed? There is definitely yearning. I’ve not even identified that until you said that. Probably because I’ve been yearning for Ocracoke the whole time I was writing it. And I partly wrote it for myself so I could dwell there in my mind.

Culturally speaking, we love to yearn for something bigger than ourselves — and something much more than the sum of our little

Biography captures the rich life of poet Frank Stanford

BY RIEN FERTEL

Contributing writer

“The Life and Poetry of Frank Stanford,” by James McWilliams,The University of Arkansas Press, 686 pages.

The lives of few poets, this side of Arthur Rimbaud that foxy, flop-haired, French proto-modernist and libertine who lived fast, died young and has inspired innumerable vows of devotion ever since have risen to such tragically poetic heights. Few, that is, except for Frank Stanford, the Southern lyricist who broke countless hearts, produced an enormous amount of work, including his 15,434-line masterpiece, “The Battlefield Where the Moon Says I Love You.” Stanford died by suicide in 1979, two months before his 30th birthday The “Huckleberry Rimbaud” he called himself, perhaps portending his fateful fall.

A “swamprat Rimbaud” a poetdevotee called him, no harm intended. Since his death in 1978, Stanford’s legacy has been mythologized, romanticized, yet never quite canonized. But that could change with James McWilliams’s “The Life and Poetry of Frank Stanford,” a masterful biography and recent Pulitzer Prize finalist Francis Gildart Stanford was born in Richton, Mississippi, in 1948, abandoned by his birth parents and quickly taken in by a Delta divorcee (his adoption was the first granted to a single woman in the state). He grew up in Memphis and, after his

mother married a levee engineer, in the all-Black work camps that labored to separate land from water along the Mississippi River Most formative, perhaps, were Stanford’s teenage years in Mountain Home, Arkansas, where he lived what McWilliams calls a “delightfully feral Ozark boyhood” on the area’s bucolic twin lakes.

Brainy and bookish, Stanford read everything everywhere, seemingly all at once, even holing up in the family outhouse to read D.H. Lawrence aloud. He enrolled at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, the site of a burgeoning literary community

In a letter to himself, Stanford boasted that “my feet will fit sweet William Faulkner’s boots like a glove” mixed metaphors never sounded so poetic — and for most of his life, he kept a butcher knife and a horseshoe

stolen from a Rowan Oak shed.

But self-mythologizing and ego flexing came easier than his studies, and soon he dropped out of school.

Stanford wrote and wrote and wrote, publishing his first wave of poems in literary journals. Soon, some of the era’s great poets fell in line with his self-fulfilling vision. On a visit to Arkansas, Allen Ginsberg came away charmed, noting that Stanford’s poems “always seem slightly electric.”

Lawrence Ferlinghetti chimed in: “I do dig many of your poems,” while Alan Dugan deemed him “the Anointed One,” telling Stanford, “I think that you are a genius and a beautiful poet.” He was a moody-eyed, ringlethaired Southern Adonis.

“A beautiful man,” according to his friend, the writer Ellen Gilchrist. “The Singing Knives,” his first

collection, arrived in 1971, followed by publications in many of the prominent magazines of the period. All the while, he continually waged war on the “Battlefield.”

He began his life’s work, one of the longest poems ever written, as a teenager Mixing myth and autobiography — McWilliams calls it “stubbornly antiautobiographical” — “The Battlefield Where the Moon Says I Love You” tells the story of a 12-year-old orphan named Francis Gildart growing up in a South that stubbornly refuses to shake the last vestiges of Jim Crow

Ambitiously or, depending on your taste for surrealist-gothic verse, annoyingly baroque, this epic poem is 386 pages in the painstakingly notated volume, coedited by McWilliams and fellow Stanford scholar A.P Walton, released in March — of unpunctuated, stanza-less text written in a half-dozen or more languages, including Black and White Southern dialects.

It is cryptic and chaotic, infinitely more challenging to read than the Faulkneriest Faulkner

“tonight the gars on the trees are swords in the hands of knights / the stars are like twentyseven dancing russians and the wind / is I am waving goodbye,” it begins.

I’m still making my way through it. Perhaps I should take up McWilliams’ suggestion that it’s “best read aloud and in company.”

Over 500 pages, “The Life and Poetry of Frank Stanford” mostly succeeds at making the poet’s life as interesting as his art. As in

many biographies of this magnitude, McWilliams, a professor of history at Texas State University, tends to swamp readers with the too-muchness of his protagonist’s life (such as, in just one example, the grades Stanford earned in each of his college courses).

The narrative momentum of this biography is ultimately provided by the very thing that led to Stanford’s downfall: his messy, soap-operatic romantic life. He was an artist who loved being adored by other artists, and who in his final days juggled relationships with as many as four women: his second wife, the painter Ginny Crouch, the poet C. D. Wright, the New Orleans photographer-poet Kay DuVernet and the musician Lucinda Williams, who called Stanford “charismatic, enigmatic, swashbuckling, sensitive I was in love with him.”

If Stanford had lived into his 30s, it’s easy to imagine him ending up in the place where he spent many of his final days, New Orleans, in his words, “a wonderful city full of wonderful people” including several close artist-friends like Gilchrist, Ralph Adamo, Bill Lavender, John Biguenet, Deborah Luster and Everette Maddox, the subject of McWilliams’ next book.

It’s comforting to picture him here — writing, raising hell, hopefully slowing down, perhaps even doing public readings from the “Battleground.” Aloud and in the company of others, that would have been the best.

Rien Fertel is the author of four books. He can be reached at rienfertel@gmail.com.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Author James McWilliams

Tina Fey’s ‘The Four Seasons’ renewed for

BY ROSA CARTAGENA

The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)

PHILADELPHIA Clear your TV schedule because the funniest vacation crew is coming back: Tina Fey’s hit romantic comedy series

“The Four Seasons” has been renewed for a third season, Netflix announced last week.

The show, initially an adaptation of a 1981 film directed by Alan Alda, released its second season in May with its ensemble cast including Fey Colman Domingo, Will Forte, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Marco Calvani and Erika Henningsen.

Each season sees the friend group travel together on four trips throughout the course of one year, going as far as Italy and Puerto Rico and as near as upstate New York and the Jersey Shore.

Created by Fey and her fellow “30 Rock” writers

Tracey Wigfield and Lang Fisher, “The Four Seasons” has been credited for its realistic and heartwarming portrayal of middle-aged couples in long-term relationships and friendships.

Fey and Domingo, from Upper Darby and West

a third season

Philly, respectively, direct some episodes as well. Like their onscreen friendship, the actors have gotten closer as they’ve worked together on the show, they said.

“We grew up so geographically close together I was like on the very edge of the last street in Upper Darby, and across the street was Cobbs Creek Park,” said Fey, adding that they’re the same age. “I feel like you can see (our friendship) onscreen, because it’s actually what has happened personally for us as well, as we got to know each other and each other’s families, each other’s hearts,” said Domingo “The Jersey Shore location felt very personal for us, because I feel like we grew up there and it brings up (memories).”

In Season 2, the group is grieving the death of their friend Nick (Steve Carrell) and navigating major life changes, like in the case of Domingo and Calvani’s characters.

Danny and Claude move to Italy after deciding not to have children. In the finale, however, the couple decide

to move to Danny’s hometown of Philadelphia to care for his aging mother.

(Initially Danny tries convincing mom to live with them in Italy, but when she hears there’s no Wawa in the country, she simply replies, “Then there’s no Beverly in Italy.”)

Calvani, in the Netflix announcement, suggested that season three might feature Danny and Claude’s “other, hotter” friend group; Calvani said he hopes to “explore our gay friends” and Domingo added that it would be fun to “take the straights on that vacation.”

One potential new addition to the show is “Doctor Who” actor David Tennant, who made a cameo in the Season 2 finale as a love interest for Kenney-Silver’s character, Anne. Wigfield hinted at the idea of more storylines with his character

“Tina Fey Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield have a magical way of blending heart and sharp humor, making us feel like part of the inner circle,” said Netflix’s vice president of U.S. comedy Tracey Pakosta in the announcement.

Monumental cave art on Paris bridge finally opens

Street artist transforms Pont Neuf into artificial cavern

BY THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press

PARIS For weeks, a black mountain loomed over the Seine where Paris’ oldest bridge should have been. On Monday evening, its doors finally opened. Inside, Paris smells different. The air carries the scent of earth after rain — damp ancient stone, cellar walls, perhaps a trace of smoke. Visitors step from the bright riverfront into a dark passage lined with glowing photographs of caves, as a low electronic pulse seems to breathe through the walls. Beneath it all, the old cobblestones of the Pont Neuf rise and fall underfoot.

The Pont Neuf Cavern, a monumental installation by French street artist JR — also known as the French Banksy is free to enter around the clock through June 28. Made largely from printed fabric and air, it transforms the 17th-century bridge into an artificial cavern rising 59 feet above the Seine.

“It feels like the city has disappeared,” said Léa Martin, a 22-year-old art student from Lyon on Tuesday “You know the river is right outside, but for a moment you’re somewhere ancient.” The smell is central to the illusion.

Olfactory expert Sarah Bouasse created two shifting scents: drawing on geosmin and isoborneol, compounds associated with the aroma released when rain strikes dry earth.

Macy’s Fourth of July show to feature Post Malone, Shaboozey

Celebration will mark America’s 250th birthday

BY MARK KENNEDY Associated Press

NEW YORK Macy’s will celebrate America’s 250th birthday with a Fourth of July fireworks show live on NBC featuring Post Malone, Blake Shelton, Salt-N-Pepa, Noah Kahan, Bebe Rexha and Shaboozey

The 50th edition of the nation’s largest Independence Day celebration in New York City will fire 85,000 shells in 30 colors from six barges, as well as host a new laser show from the Brooklyn Bridge. The fireworks show will be accompanied by a vocal performance by “The Voice” season 29 winner Alexia Jayy TV viewers can watch on NBC or see it simulcast live on Peacock from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and live to tape on

CBS pays licensing fee

Central, Mountain and Pacific times. A Spanish language simulcast will air on Telemundo starting at 7 p.m. “ ‘Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks’ delivers the largest Independence Day celebration in the nation through a show-stopping spectacle that reminds us of the power of connection and shared experience. We’re proud to honor our 50th Fireworks with an expanded show, never-before-seen effects and music’s biggest stars for a truly unforgettable celebration,” Will Coss, Macy’s 4th of July executive producer, said in a statement.

for Stephen Colbert’s parting ‘Peanuts’ joke

BY BRIAN NIEMIETZ New york Daily News (TNS)

NEW YORK Funnyman Stephen Colbert got one last laugh at CBS by using music from “Peanuts” while joking that the publisher who owns those rights is famously litigious.

“Oh no, I hope this doesn’t cost CBS any money,” he joked as his house band played a snippet from the “Peanuts” tune “Linus and Lucy,” by composer Vince Guaraldi, on the May 21 finale of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” The upbeat jazz composition, with its boppy piano riff, is what most people think of as the “Peanuts” theme song.

Lee Mendelson Film Productions, Inc., which controls Guaraldi’s music, said Tuesday that it had entered into “a licensing agreement with CBS for the use of Guaraldi’s ‘Linus and Lucy’ in the final broadcast of Colbert’s program.” A company statement added that proceeds from

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO Stephen Colbert appears during the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles in 2025.

its deal with CBS is being donated to the nonprofit organization World Central Kitchen headed by chef José Andrés.

Colbert’s penultimate show included a $2.5 million donation to that charity, which feeds people in need due to natural disasters or humanitarian crisis. The money was raised through an auction of “Late Show” memorabilia.

“LMFP found the music’s use on ‘The Late Show’ funny and entertaining, and is proud to support World Central Kitchen’s mission,” the company’s chairman said. LMFP has recently taken legal action against companies and government agencies that infringe upon its artists’ rights.

The production company added that it enforces licensing protection to remind anyone who uses its music in a commercial setting that permission to do so is required.

CBS said its decision to end “The Late Show” after 33 years on the air was because the program was reportedly losing $40 million annually

Critics suggest the network’s 2025 acquisition by Paramount Skydance Corporation, which has a friendly relationship with President Donald Trump, was a factor, with the new owner happy to take one of the administration’s harshest critics off its airwaves.

It changes along the crossing: first wet earth and mineral dampness, then something warmer, smokier and faintly animal.

“Usually I cross here without looking up once,” said Michel Dupré, a 67-yearold retiree, blinking as he emerged into daylight. “Today I felt the stones under my feet. And smelled them too. It makes you walk like a child again.”

A sound installation by Thomas Bangalter, formerly of the French electronic duo Daft Punk, accompanies the work, filling the cavern with low rumbles, echoes and pulses. Completed in 1607, the Pont Neuf — despite its name, “New Bridge” — is the oldest bridge still standing in Paris.

JR’s installation asks people to experience the familiar crossing through their noses, ears and feet

It also pays tribute to Christo and Jeanne-Claude, whose 1985 wrapping of the bridge in pale golden fabric drew an estimated 3 million visitors.

Their work covered the Pont Neuf in light JR sends visitors into

darkness.

“You enter into the darkness,” he has said, “and emerge into the light on the other side.”

Visitors can also raise their phones to activate an augmented-reality experience developed with tech company Snap.

Digital bats trail light through the cave, passing bodies leave ghostly traces and a dancer materializes in space.

JR has linked the work to Plato’s allegory of the cave, in which prisoners mistake shadows for reality Today’s cave walls, he argues, are screens and the algorithms that shape what people see. Yet the installation’s strongest effects require no phone.

“It’s completely strange,” said Nadia Benali, 34, smiling beside the artificial cliffs. “Paris needs things that make people stop.”

When the cave closes, its fabric will be reused or recycled.

The mountain will vanish, traffic will return and the Pont Neuf — older than the French Revolution — will emerge into the light once more.

Post Malone Shaboozey

PROVIDED PHOTO

Tina Fey, left, and Colman Domingo star in Season 2 of Netflix’s ‘The Four Seasons.’

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By AURELIEN MORISSARD Visitors walk into the artwork ‘The Pont Neuf Cave’ by French street artist JR on the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris, which is open to the public through June 28.

SALADDAYS

Trent Corbylifts aplastic foam trayoflettuceplants from the water at the AgriAquaculture Center

the nonprofitLouisiana Chamber of Commerce Foundation, donates and sells

entrepreneurshow to build their ownurban farmingbusinesses.

Afacility hidden in Harvey is usingcatfish to grow produce

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

Most of the lettuce grown in the United States comes from California or Arizona, where certain regions have been dubbed the nation’s“salad bowl.”

But for the last 18 months, more than 12 tons of thegreen stuff consumed in southLouisiana —enough for tens of thousands of garden salads —has originated from a source much closer to home:anindoor farm tucked away behind aChevy dealership in Harvey Based in abrick office building and metal warehouse on Leson Court, the $2 million AgriAquacultureCenterof Excellence is an “aquaponic” farming operation that uses nutrient-rich water from fish tanks to grow lettuce floating in water instead of rooted in soil. The

facility,founded and funded by the nonprofit Louisiana Chamber of CommerceFoundation, donates and sells its produce while also teaching entrepreneurs how to build theirown urban farming businesses.

Theproject alreadyhas produced tensofthousandsofdollars’ worthof lettuce, trained afew dozenaspiring farmersand madeafan out of Gov Jeff Landry, who visited the space last year. Its founders have bigger plans,

including a$1.5 millionexpansion, a collaboration with Jefferson Parish schoolsand apotential sales agreement with one of the region’sgrocers. They’re approaching aquaponics which emerged as acommercially viable category of agriculture in the last couple of decades —aseconomic development.

“We’re not just farming fish and produce, we’re also farming farmers,”

ä See PRODUCE, page 2E

BY TIMOTHY BOONE Staff writer

The

of the year in dry dock. There were nearly 1.07 million people who boarded or got off acruise ship at the port in 2025, compared with 1.21 million in 2024. Despite the drop, the New Orleans port set amonthlyrecord in March2025, when nearly 166,000

taurants andother attractionswhile

STAFFPHOTOSByENAN CHEDIAK

Regan Breaux was recognized as Employee of the Year by Acadian Total Security, a division of Acadian Cos Breaux joined Acadian Total Security in 2024 and serves as a sales support coordinator She was recognized for service excellence in managing challenging issues and accommodating client needs with honesty and genuine care.

Acadian Cos honored employees who reached milestone years during its annual meeting and awards ceremony last month.

The companny honored three team members for 45 years of service, two for 40 years, 10 for 35 years and 12 for 30 years.

Among those from Lafayette honored for 30 or more years were:

n Rosco Billeaud, 30 years, warehouse clerk

n Brian Guidry, 30 years, fleet maintenance coordinator

n Angela Hebert, 30 years, dispatcher

n Troy Lambert, 30 years, paramedic

n Chance Louviere 30 years dispatcher

n Sandhya Padumane, 30 years, ETL developer

n Dewey Thevis, 30 years, IT senior manager

n Wade Bias, 35 years, dispatcher

n Mel Guidry, 35 years, dispatcher

n Fran Prejean, 35 years, fleet maintenance assistant

n Glenn Thibodeaux, 35 years, body shop technician

n Troy Guidry, 45 years, retired vice president of joint operations

Craig Stansbury and the staff at the Lafayette Parish Communication District received the 2025 Technology Leadership Award at the recent 2026 Louisiana APCO/NENA Symposium in Bossier City

The award honors agencies that are demonstrating innovation, leadership and a continued commitment to improving communications during emergencies.

The communication district was honored for its use of advanced mapping technology to strengthen

CRUISE

Continued from page 1E

the horizon, Port NOLA is well positioned to deliver even greater value to Louisiana and the Gulf South,” Branch said in a statement. Port officials said a couple of factors led to the slight dip in passenger numbers. Both the Carnival Valor and the Carnival Liberty spent more than a month in scheduled dry dock getting a host of upgrades, including a new water park and a veteran-themed bar and lounge. The two ships account for the majority of passenger traffic at the New Orleans port, with nearly 445,500 people boarding and departing the Carnival Valor each year and more than 283,000 passengers boarding and exiting the Carnival Liberty Also, Royal Caribbean temporarily dropped its New Orleans cruises in November but will return this fall with regular voyages on the Mariner of the Seas, which can hold more than 4,000 passengers. Port officials have said passenger numbers in New Orleans could set another record in 2026, based on current and anticipated ship schedules. About 1.2 million to 1.3 million people are projected to board or depart ships this year Just under 550,000 people boarded and departed ships through May Helping bolster the passenger numbers in New Orleans this year is the arrival of the Norwegian Escape, which can hold more than 5,000 guests, making it the largest ship to ever homeport in the Crescent City, along with Royal Caribbean’s return. In the future, Carnival is looking at deploying a larger ship to the city.

Port officials said New Orleans is unique in that it offers both ocean going and river cruising, allowing for year-round activity More than 37,500 passengers boarded or departed the Mississippi River cruises that stopped at the port last year

A rebound in Baton Rouge?

Cruise activity also dropped in Baton Rouge during 2025, but is on track to rebound. American Cruise Lines said an average of 5,510 passengers stopped in Baton Rouge in 2025 on its 38 dockings, according to figures from Visit Baton Rouge. That’s down from an average of 18,705 passengers on 129 dockings.

A new 20-year deal announced in February will lead to American Cruise Lines making significantly more stops in 2026 in Baton Rouge Under the agreement, American

emergency response and public safety across Lafayette Parish

The project included all Lafayette Parish School System campuses, with charter and private schools across the parish nearing completion.

Stacey Armand, marketing and communications coordinator for Safety Management Systems, was named winner of the 2026 Acadian Spirit Award

The annual award recognizes individuals who exemplify professional excellence, outstanding customer service, dedication to the community and a commitment to core values of SMS, a division of Acadian Cos

Tyson Trahan was named Employee of the Year by Safety Management Systems, a division of Acadian Cos Tr ahan, who joined SMS in 2008, has become a cornerstone of the team due to his dedication and expertise in driving growth and securing pivotal new opportunities for the company

Trahan works as a large client’s senior safety specialist in the field.

Randall Dore, of Kaplan, won the grand prize of $30,000 at SLEMCO’s annual meeting in Lafayette.

Other winners were Marcus Richard, of Church Point, who won the second grand prize of $5,000; and James Matte, of Church Point, who won the third grand prize of $2,500. Matthew and Jennifer Courville, of Basile, won the early bird prize of a $3,000 bill credit. SLEMCO also awarded $40,000 in college scholarships to 20 students attending college or trade school this fall.

Cruise Lines will spend $2 million to improve the City Dock, as well as paying monthly fees to cover the maintenance and upkeep of the facility

The riverboat cruises are on track to make nearly 100 visits to Baton Rouge this year with more than 14,000 passengers. The passengers are estimated to spend at least $1.2 million at local attractions and businesses.

Viking River Cruises had a decrease in 2025, with 8,280 passengers on 23 cruises, compared to nearly 10,500 passengers on 29 cruises. Right now, the cruise line is on track to post similar numbers again, with a projected 24 dockings carrying 8,640 passengers.

Globally, Cruise Lines International Association said 37.2 million people took a cruise in 2025, up from 34.6 million in 2024, a 7.5% jump.

Of that total, 55% of cruise passengers came from the U.S., or 20.6 million passengers. The number of passengers from the U.S. also increased by 7.5% from 2024.

That number of cruise passengers is projected to grow to 38.3 million this year, a 4% increase Cruise Lines International Association is forecasting steady passenger growth for the next few years, with more than 42 million people expected to take a sea voyage in 2029

One of the factors driving the increase in cruise passengers is the growing popularity of cruises among younger passengers. The average cruise passenger in 2025 was just under 47.

Younger cruisers are likely to find voyages of less than 5 nights about as appealing as the traditional six- to nine-night cruise, according to a report from Internova Travel Group, one of the world’s largest travel service companies.

“Shorter cruises are opening the door for a new generation,” Henry Gilroy, executive vice president of strategy for Internova, said in a report earlier this year “These travelers want flexibility and quick getaways.”

AAA said 20.7 million Americans took ocean cruises in 2025, a 8.4% increase from 2024. The forecast for 2026 shows the growth rate will go up by 4.5%, to 21.7 million.

“These numbers reflect the growing demand for ocean cruises among U.S. travelers,” said Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel. Barber noted that cruises offer variety and convenience and since most of the trip is already paid for, passengers don’t need to worry so much about expenses.

Email Timothy Boone at tboone@theadvocate.com.

PRODUCE

Continued from page 1E

said Paul Begue, the facility’s program coordinator “This industry is not going away and we need a workforce.”

Food to fertilizer to food

Begue and his colleagues opened the AgriAquaculture Center in January 2025 and have been applying finishing touches ever since.

The complex now has 47,000 gallons of water flowing through six systems designed to either raise catfish or grow plants. There’s an indoor classroom, a lab where seedlings are grown and a warehouse filled with catfish tanks. Next door, a basketball court-sized greenhouse is filled with nearly 12,000 lettuce plants of different sizes floating in special rafts on water-filled beds.

In the warehouse, workers feed the catfish two or three times a day, causing a frenzy that sends water splashing over their 12,000-gallon tanks’ 6-foot-tall walls Then the fish excrete nutrient-filled waste into the water

“The cafeteria turns into the bathroom, so to speak,” Begue said.

The natural fertilizer that results is processed and added to the kneeheight beds in the greenhouse to supercharge plants’ growth.

Using this process, workers turn inch-tall seedlings into fullgrown heads of lettuce and other greens in about six weeks. Then they pick it, bag it and provide it to food banks, church groups, senior centers, food co-ops and other consumers.

The farm, which operates under the brand name “Harvest to Health,” also is cultivating a small but growing list of paying customers, including vendors who buy the produce and resell it at local farmers’ markets.

Sharing space

There are more than 100 commercial aquaponic farms nationwide, including a 13-acre operation in central Wisconsin that supplies more than 2,000 stores with Atlantic salmon and leafy greens. A facility in New York grows both salmon and cannabis.

But the AgriAquaculture Center might be the only one operated by and sharing space with a nonprofit like the Louisiana Chamber of Commerce Foundation, which was created in 2018 to raise funds for and support regional chambers around the state. That organization’s day-to-day work is generally much drier than what’s going on down the hall, but Kelisha Garrett, the foundation’s vice president and chief operating officer championed the project as a way to create programming for agriculture-focused small businesses. The seeds of the operation were

planted when Garrett and foundation CEO David St. Etienne connected with Begue a consultant who’s worked in controlled-environment agriculture for more than a decade and started sketching out a plan to build an innovation center that provides education, workforce training and small business support.

Federal funding secured with help from U.S. Rep. Troy Carter provided $2 million for the original buildout plus another $1.5 million for an expansion. The project helped address a need that Garrett had identified several years ago during her travels around the state.

“Farmers are nothing more than small businesses that happen to grow a crop, and they were asking us to find more ways to support them,” Garrett said.

Challenges to growth

Dozens of offshore oyster farms and inland crawfish and catfish farms place Louisiana among the nation’s top three aquaculture producers, along with Washington and Mississippi.

But aquaponics, the subset of aquaculture that combines farming fish and plants, is a much newer and more niche endeavor In Louisiana, it’s mostly the domain of a few dozen nonprofits, schools, hobbyists, small businesses and others exploring ways to cultivate fresh and healthy food.

Challenges to the growth of the industry include high startup costs, a slow path to profitability and a reliance on consumers who are willing to pay a premium for locally grown produce.

Begue said the AgriAquaculture Center is designed to overcome those obstacles.

“In the 1990s, the University of the Virgin Islands developed modern commercial aquaponics, and we’ve taken a number of steps to optimize that design and make it easier to expand,” he said.

Begue said providing free courses in aquafarming is an important step, as is building demand for the farm’s products.

“If we don’t have robust support from local buyers, urban agriculture can’t win because we’re competing against commodity pricing of lower-tier products,” he said.

The farm currently sells 10-pound boxes of lettuce for $30

to $35, similar to what Begue said the national suppliers charge. He said the farm’s products, which have been ranked as U.S. Department of Agriculture-grade “fancy” by several ag experts, should sell for more but he said there needs to be more consumer education to create the demand.

Despite the challenges, several of the 32 graduates of the center’s 14-week training session hope to launch or expand their own aquaponic operations. That group includes Michael Richard, a staffer at the nonprofit organization Recirculating Farms.

Richard said he’s been buying lettuce from the AgriAquaculture Center since the start of the year and distributing it to the community. Now he wants to apply what he learned in the workshop to boost the organization’s own aquaponics capabilities.

“This is definitely a viable business,” he said. “America used to be a leader but has fallen behind.”

Expansion and partnership

The AgriAquaculture Center’s creators have plans to grow Garrett said she’s talking to Rouses about selling produce on the grocer’s shelves, and she forged a partnership with Jefferson Parish to install aquaponic systems in 11 schools this year Each system is capable of producing around 350 heads of lettuce and two crops of fish annually Schools will use them in their environmental science program as they try to kickstart agricultural education that waned after Hurricane Katrina, Begue said.

The AgriAquaculture Center also is beginning its $1.5 million expansion into an adjacent property owned by the Jefferson Parish public schools system. Begue said the increased space, which will more than double the farm’s greenhouse footprint, will allow it to increase production and to grow fruiting vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers that will command higher prices. Ultimately, the nonprofit will harvest catfish as well, but, for now, Begue and Garrett said the fish are more valuable for their ability to make fertilizer than as food.

Email Rich Collins at rich. collins@theadvocate.com

Breaux

Trahan

Armand

Dore

STAFF PHOTO By RICH COLLINS

David St. Etienne, from left, Paul Begue, Aubrey Price, Shavonne Garner-Price and Kelisha Garrett pick a head of lettuce at the AgriAquaculture Center of Excellence in Harvey, on June 16. Garner-Price is the executive director of teaching and learning at Jefferson Parish Schools, which is partnering with center in several ways.

STAFF PHOTO

By ENAN CHEDIAK

TALKING BUSINESS

ASK THE EXPERTS

Communications vet says tech has changed the game

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

New Orleans-based communications and marketing agency

Beuerman Miller Fitzgerald is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year

In 1926 when the industry at large was concentrated in New York, the firm debuted as Fitzgerald Advertising to help emerging Southern brands grow Over the decades, it has worked for Tabasco, Pickapeppa, Coca-Cola, Wesson Oil, K&B, Brown’s Velvet Dairy, Zatarain’s and other household names.

In 2002, the agency was acquired by a public relations firm led by Greg Beuerman and Virginia Miller who have developed a client roster that spans hospitality, energy, healthcare, maritime transportation and consumer industries.

These days, BMF is especially known for crisis communications, litigation support, reputation management and strategic public affairs counsel.

In this week’s Talking Business, Beuerman discusses the firm’s most “gut wrenching” job, his proudest accomplishment and how technology is changing the industry

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity

BMF does a lot of things in the communications realm.What’s the focus?

We have several employees who work almost strictly on what I would call the good news PR side: promoting special events, promoting product launches, doing familiarization tours for reporters.

Then there are four of us that are principally involved in litigation and helping companies plan for, train for and respond to crises like oil spills, shipwrecks, plant explosions and train derailments — or even change management when there’s an abrupt exit of a CEO. We’ve done work in this category all over the world, including mari-

time incidents from the Aleutian Islands to the Gulf of Aden and a lot of places in between.

What are some of your notable crisis-related projects?

I think easily the most tragic thing that we’ve ever been involved in was the I-40 bridge collapse in Oklahoma in 2002. We represented a barge company whose vessel struck a bridge pier on the Arkansas River Fourteen people were killed when their automobiles, trucks or trailers went into the river That was the most gutwrenching and most difficult thing

I think that we have ever been involved in.

We also did work related to MV Cougar Ace, the Korean car-carrying ship with nearly 5,000 new Mazda vehicles on it that nearly capsized in the Pacific Ocean near the Aleutian Islands The shipping company was my client, and I spent a month and a half in Anchorage, Alaska, handling media

inquiries. The vessel never flipped, but they had to tow it all the way to Vancouver

Were the vehicles saved?

Yes, and here’s the funny part. It went from media calling me wanting to know whether the ship had flipped yet to people wanting to know where they could go to buy one of those cars at a discount. Mazda ended up scrapping every single one because they didn’t want the liability

What’s the most impactful or challenging crisis you helped manage?

I could do this job for the next 100 years and never have a more rewarding and important experience than helping the medical professionals who were falsely accused of euthanizing patients after Hurricane Katrina. That is a signature for us.

What did you do to help?

The thing that really turned the tables was when we did the unthinkable and we put our client on

“60 Minutes” with Mike Wallace.

People usually run from that show, but we ran to it because we knew what happened and we knew what was in her heart and we were not afraid to let her tell her own story

And the entire issue flipped like a light switch. I think ultimately it helped drive the right outcome with the grand jury

Is your job to try to win the court of public opinion?

It can be. And I don’t want to sound cynical when I say this, but judges and juries or prospective juries or grand juries for that matter are not immune to what’s happening in the marketplace of ideas. They may not seek out information, but sometimes it’s unavoidable.

Can you talk about some of BMF’s pioneering work?

Fitzgerald was the agency of record for Tabasco for more than 60 years, along with Southern Comfort and Zatarain’s. Back in the day, they did all the work for Maison Blanche, including all the promotional work around Mr Bingle.

Fitzgerald actually created icecream-scented ink for print ads for Brown’s Velvet Dairy that ran in The Times-Picayune. It also was easily the first agency in the South to recognize women as a distinct consumer audience. It went out and hired women in the agency to serve as account executives and to help develop product lines and marketing initiatives to appeal to female consumers.

We have an employee, Ron Thompson, who’s been with the agency since 1958. He’s in the office every day and provides an incredible amount of wisdom and context.

How has technology changed your advertising work? Back in the day, ad agencies had

over 100 employees, including buyers for print, radio, outdoor and television There were teams of graphic designers with timeconsuming tasks. Technology not only accelerated the production turnaround time, but it greatly reduced the number of people it takes to run an agency Another big change is consumers are so impulsive right now

They can tune in and tune out in the blink of an eye. On Facebook, they might pass over 45 things and then land on something they like. It’s still incumbent on advertisers to grab and hold people’s attention and it’s incumbent on advertisers to keep their promise to consumers. That is one thing that has not changed.

How is AI and potential misinformation changing things?

It’s changing every day Twenty years ago, none of us thought we’d have to monitor personal networks for misinformation that can skew how the public responds to litigation or an environmental accident. But it happens every single day You work all over the world, but the company is headquartered on Magazine Street in Uptown New Orleans.Are you optimistic or concerned about your hometown? We are incredibly resilient people, and I think that is always a

Iberia manufacturer to add 65 jobs

A manufacturing company based at the Port of Iberia will invest $6.1 million at its plant and add 65 jobs

Gulf Coast Tactical will expand its production of unmanned surface vehicles, patrol craft and other maritime platforms used in security operations, Louisiana Economic Development officials announced on Tuesday

The jobs will pay an average annual salary of $80,000, which is 40% above the average Iberia Parish wage. The company will also retain its 16 current jobs

“Louisiana’s maritime industry has supported generations of skilled manufacturing and defense operations, and companies like Gulf Coast Tactical are helping carry that legacy forward through next-generation technology and innovation,” LED Secretary Susan B. Bourgeois said. “This expansion reinforces Louisiana’s leadership in maritime manufacturing as global demand grows for advanced defense and autonomous vessel capabilities.”

The news is another sign of the strength of Acadiana’s business climate and the growing manufacturing sector, said Troy Wayman, president and CEO of One Acadiana. 8 parishes top U.S. list of underwater homes

Some metro areas of Louisiana

Issued June 10-16

Commercial alterations

SCHOOL: 1301 W. University Ave., description, cooler replacement at Lafayette Elementary School; applicant, Ziler Architects; contractor, Heine Development Co.; $170,000

CHURCH: 107 Petro St., description renovations and improvements to the church hall and parking lot at St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church; applicant, The Sellers Group A Professional Corporation; contractor, Rise Construction; $400,000.

OFFICE: 5750 Johnston St., description, fourth floor buildout for Atlas; applicant and contractor, Trattos Construction; $100,000

OFFICE: 1640 N. Bertrand Drive, de-

have the highest rates of properties listed as seriously underwater data shows.

Of nearly 600 counties surveyed, eight parishes in the state’s metro areas took the top eight spots for the highest percentages of homes that qualify as seriously underwater, according to ATTOM Data Solutions, a national land and property data organization, in its 2026 Housing Impact Report.

Homes are labeled as seriously underwater when a homeowner owes at least 25% more on their mortgage than the house’s current market value.

Ouachita and Calcasieu parishes had the highest rates, each with over 17% followed by Tangipahoa Parish at 15%, Ascension Parish at 14.5, Rapides Parish at 13.2, Jefferson Parish at 13.1, Caddo Parish at 12.5 and East Baton Rouge Parish at 11.9, data shows.

In Lafayette Parish, the rate of underwater homes is 6.6%.

The report ranked each county for its housing risk. Among the 14 parishes on the list, Tangipahoa Parish had the least risk and ranked 16th overall, while Terrebonne was in the bottom 100.

Counties were considered more or less at risk based on the percentage of homes facing possible foreclosure, the portion with seriously underwater mortgages, the percentage of average local wages required to pay for major home ownership expenses on medianpriced single-family homes and

local unemployment rates.

Spencer’s to hold grand opening for second store

Spencer’s will hold a grand opening for its new store in the Ambassador Town Center from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday

The store, which opened recently and is the brand’s second in Lafayette, is in the former Blaze Pizza space at 111 Meadow Farm Road, Suite 100.

The first 100 guests will receive $10 gift cards, along with sweet treats, freebies, giveaways and more.

Founded in 1947 as a mail-order catalog in Pennsylvania, Spencer’s opened its first brick-and-mortar store in 1963 and has since grown to over 680 retail locations.

The Acadiana Mall location will remain open, Developing Lafayette reported.

Lids to open store inside Dick’s Sporting Goods

National headwear retailer Lids will open inside the Lafayette Dick’s Sporting Goods location as part a larger move nationwide.

It’s unknown if the move will lead to Lids closing its Acadiana Mall store or any others.

The two brands announced the partnership Monday as a way to enhance the in-store experience for sports fans. The Lafayette store will be among 46 locations

across the U.S. to move into a Dick’s with more to expected by the end of the summer

Baton Rouge, which has a Lids store in the Mall of Louisiana, also made the list.

The two companies will also collaborate on in-store product training for Dick’s teammates and visual merchandising, company officials said.

One Acadiana to use grant to help training

One Acadiana landed a federal grant that it says will enhance workforce training for the region’s rapidly growing manufacturing sector

The grant from The Manufacturing Institute will allow the agency to launch an Acadiana chapter of the Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education, One Acadiana officials announced.

The FAME Catalyst Grant offers $50,000 in early-stage support for economic development agencies to fund staff time and travel in starting the chapter One Acadiana was one of six agencies across the United States to receive the grant.

FAME is a nationally recognized workforce development program founded by Toyota and managed by The Manufacturing Institute that offers earn-and-learn apprenticeship programs to train the next generation of manufacturing talent.

Manufacturing in the region

have bounced back after about 6,000 jobs were lost during the oil and gas slump of 2015-16 and the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of 2025, total manufacturing jobs were up 27% since mid-2020, federal data shows.

“The need for a highly skilled workforce becomes increasingly critical for long-term success and competitiveness,” One Acadiana President and CEO Troy Wayman said “This effort leverages One Acadiana’s unique role as a connector of industry and education to establish workforce pathways that support lasting economic opportunity.”

Existing local home market bouncing back

The market for existing homes is making a bit of a resurgence in Lafayette Parish with sales approaching pre-pandemic numbers.

Sales through May are at 1,012, while the share of existing homes out of the total homes sold is at 71.8%, both the highest since 2022, when the market exploded due to historically low interest rates. New listings so far this year are at 1,537, also the highest since 2022, according to data from Bill Bacque, of Market Scope Consulting.

Among existing homes, the average sale price of $294,079 is up 6%

scription, none listed; applicant and contractor, Fermin Dugas Painting; $12,000.

New commercial GAS STATION: 2030 Chemin Metairie Blvd., Youngsville: description, Live Oak Food & Fuel location; applicant, Dev Banga; contractor, Bruhati Construction; $5 million

Commercial demolition

OTHER: 124 Heymann Blvd., description, none listed; applicant and contractor, Castle Row Construction; $10,000. OTHER: 3939 W. Congress St., description, none listed for the West Congress Chevron; applicant and contractor, Rame Abusada; $3,000.

New residential

600 EMBER GROVE CROSSING: Preferred Mechanical, $486,875.

101 PEACEFUL HOLLOW LANE: Preferred Mechanical, $455,375.

148 RACCA ROAD, YOUNGSVILLE: Dupree Sons Construction, $131,750.

150 RACCA ROAD, YOUNGSVILLE: Dupree Sons Construction, $131,750.

804 W. WILLOW ST.: Valentine Commercial Construction, $163,375.

6001 LANDRY ROAD, DUSON: Manuel Builders, $354,375.

400 FLORES COURT, LOT 6: Manuel Builders, $282,375.

234 TIMBER MILL ST.: Bailey Home Builders, $328,625.

214 EAGLE HEIGHTS DRIVE, DUSON: DR Horton, $266,875.

Beyond.

Beyond isn’t aplace —it’samindset. Andit’sabelief that haspowered us forover80years.Weare Jones Walker LLP,afirm driven by an entrepreneurialspirit, a deepsense of community, andafierce determination to deliver exceptionalservice andvalue forour clients.

Since1937, our firm hasbeencommitted to working with communityleaders to develop business opportunitiesacrossthe state. We aresteadfast in continuing our dedicationtogobeyondinadvising clientsand supporting initiativesand organizationsthat make Louisiana abetterplace to live andwork.

William H. Hines

Managing Partner bhines@joneswalker.com 504.582.8000

201St. CharlesAvenue NewOrleans,LA70170-5100 joneswalker.com

216 EAGLE HEIGHTS DRIVE, DUSON: DR Horton, $284,625.

217 EAGLE HEIGHTS DRIVE, DUSON: DR Horton, $267,750.

215 EAGLE HEIGHTS DRIVE, DUSON: DR Horton, $248,625.

209 RED PINE DRIVE: DR Horton, $209,375.

207 RED PINE DRIVE: DR Horton, $217,250.

208 RED PINE DRIVE: DR Horton, $193,000.

117 HAMILTON PARC WAY: Manuel Builders, $299,500. 116 LAKE OAK DRIVE: DR Horton, $266,875.

119 LAKE OAK DRIVE: DR Horton, $291,250.

120 LAKE OAK DRIVE: DR Horton,

$312,500.

103 WATERCRESS DRIVE: NJ Pepper Construction, $567,375. 207

$309,000. 106 HEIRLOOM ROW, BROUSSARD: DSLD, $207,094. 104 EDWARD LANE, BROUSSARD: self-contract, $1,075,000.

203 BRIAR WAY, YOUNGSVILLE: Blue Wing Builders, $395,240. 109 BRIAR WAY, YOUNGSVILLE: Blue Wing Builders, $402,930.

LOOKINGBEYOND: JonesWalkeron Louisiana’sEconomy in2026

Drivingregionaleconomicgrowththrough legalknowledge,strategic guidance, and industry-focused relationships.

Ourfirm is confidentinLouisiana’s economic future.Asone of thestate’s largest lawfirms, we counselbusinesses navigating complex transactions andregulatory landscapes across theenergy,healthcare, and technology industries,among others.

Louisiana’s oiland gas industry remainsacornerstoneof growth,whileemergingmarkets fornatural gas, lithium, andbiofuelscreatenew investment opportunities. We strongly believeinleveragingAItosupport thedevelopment andsuccess of Louisiana businesses,withdatacenter construction underscoring itspotential forlarge-scale economicgrowth. As healthcare continuestoadvance, we also seeexponential growth forits digitalsector.

With strong momentum andexpanding opportunities, Louisiana is poised forsignificant economic growth andweare proudtohelpleadthe wayforward

Bill Hines

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SourceLouisianaisthestate’sofficialdirectory connectinglocalbusinessestomajorprojects.It enablescontractorstoidentifyqualifiedLouisiana companiesearlyintheprocess,aligningservices, certificationsandcapabilitieswithprojectneeds. Withmorethan75,000businessesinthesystem,it isfreetojoinanddesignedtopositionbusinesses forrealopportunity.

AROUND THE REGION

Growing La. network is building up female entrepreneurs

BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer

Victoria Armstrong stood before

a room of her best friends

The exquisitely dressed, highheeled women complemented the artwork adorning the walls of Ann Connelly Fine Art in Baton Rouge, where the ladies gathered. But not all of the women were longtime acquaintances of Armstrong, founder of Curate for Women Who Work, a network of businesswomen and their supporters.

They were Curate Besties, angel investors looking to support female founders, who often struggle with access to capital Funds pooled together from the group become prize money for the winner of a pitch competition at the annual Curate Conference. Armstrong recounted her own struggle to find investors to scale the conference, despite its success.

“They kept telling me ‘No, I wasn’t ready We haven’t done enough,’ ” Armstrong said at a Curate Besties event this month.

“Even though every conference was bringing 300-plus women. I was so confused.”

She solved the funding problem after asking friends and family for $1,000 donations, which gave birth to the Curate Besties model.

On average, women launch their businesses with about $75,000 in capital, according to the National Women’s Business Council. That’s less than half of the average funds that men use to start businesses.

It’s a global issue, with a $1.7 trillion total funding gap for micro to medium-sized enterprises around the world, according the World Economic Forum.

Now in its fifth year, the Curate Conference is expanding into New Orleans as a natural next step for the business’s growth, Armstrong said The multiday conference, set for Sept 17-19 at Hyatt Regency New Orleans, brings female professionals together for professional and personal development, a combination that Armstrong says is critical for the workplace.

of Curate Besties,

invest in female entrepreneurs.

Sessions at this year’s conference will include professional development training on artificial intelligence, grant writing, experiential marketing campaigns and personal development classes on social styles, understanding hormone cycles and therapy

“We have learned for many years that you keep your personal stuff at home, but you bring your personal self to work,” Armstrong said “In order to be our best selves at work, we have to be our best selves mentally.”

Baton Rouge roots

Armstrong and her husband run video production company 4thFLR, which produces films sharing stories of businesses and creates visuals for brands and campaigns.

Founding Curate was a result of a calling, she said, dreaming of joining women together to teach and to learn from. She hosted the first conference, then called Curate Women in Marketing, with 114 women ranging from healthcare workers to business owners to college students. The second conference brought

more than double the attendees at the inaugural event. As the Curate network grew, Armstrong recognized a need for more space and decided to host the conference in New Orleans due to the city’s greater capacity for large, multiday events.

The conference has already garnered a national footprint with women attending from across the country and Armstrong hopes to one day have the conference move to new U.S. cities each year

But no matter where the Curate Conference goes, Armstrong is dedicated to keeping it headquartered in Baton Rouge, where she’s lived her whole life. She said the business landscape is “promising,” due to Baton Rouge’s strong culture and her experience building 4thFLR in the city

But Baton Rouge needs to focus on retaining college students by creating opportunities that will make them want to stay, she said.

“I would never move Curate headquarters from Baton Rouge because there’s a lot of need here, but there’s also a lot of resources here,” she said.

‘I just want to see a girl win’

This year’s pitch competition at the annual conference will be the second ever and will focus on tech startups, with a $15,000 prize on the line, up from $10,000 the first year

She named the program Curate Besties, symbolized by a pinky promise, because of how best friends show up and support one another, like how she’s seen female founders support each other Though not all Curate Besties are businesswomen, some are simply women who want to support a female-owned business.

“They want to help fund whatever ideas that these women have that could be beneficial to them, or our children or our jobs, or some of them are just like, ‘I just want to see a girl win. I have no attachment to this other than to see these women flourish,’” Armstrong said.

AnnaBeth Guillory, founder of beauty professional booking service Beauty Findr won first prize at the first 2024 Curate pitch competition.

The company has more than 2,700 clients and more than 200 businesses on the platform, and Guillory has become a Curate Bestie investor herself. Guillory said she wants to give back to others and help beauty professionals, like herself, build their clientele, a challenge she’s seen many young beauty professionals struggle with.

“When you’re an entrepreneur, just to hear someone say ‘I believe in you’ means a lot,” Guillory said. Businesswomen community

“The origin story of the business is that I had help from friends.

It’s so imperative for everyone that’s trying to launch and find their way to have a group of people that circle you and believe in you.”

She launched the Baton Rouge-based business in March 2024 as a way for clients to find and book hairstylists, makeup artists or tanning salons. She had participated in other pitch competitions before but found that Curate offered training for contestants, unlike other contests. Participants worked through their pitch with consultants from business consultancy Success Labs and were able to meet with other founders prior to pitch day

ANN CONNELLy, owner of Ann Connelly Fine Art

Laura Siu Nguyen, founder of annual event Night Market BTR and a Curate Bestie, has been a part of the Curate network for three years after first meeting Armstrong and her husband when they produced a promotional video for the Asian market event. She said she loves to support other women entrepreneurs, especially since most people in venture capital are men. Only 11% of investing partners at venture capital firms are women and only 13% of venture capital funds go toward businesses with a woman on board, according to a 2019 Harvard Kennedy School report.

Curate has introduced her to other women who look like her, she said.

“We just want to see women thrive,” Nguyen said.

Guillory said the $10,000 prize helped her invest in technology and marketing to rebuild the Beauty Findr platform from the ground up The platform is now available on the web and on the App Store and Google Play Clients can now directly book with beauty professionals, in addition to the original model of submitting requests to a group

Ann Connelly, owner of Ann Connelly Fine Art, told the crowd in her gallery that her mother, her husband and a mentor helped her launch the business, which is in a predominantly male industry It took her five years to launch the gallery she said.

“The origin story of the business is that I had help from friends,” Connelly said at the event. “It’s so imperative for everyone that’s trying to launch and find their way to have a group of people that circle you and believe in you.”

Working

NewOrleans TakesLogistics intothe Future

NewOrleans wasfounded over three hundred yearsago as atrade entrepôt Today, theregion is reinventing itself to takelogistics intothe future, in ways bigand small.

At thehighestlevel, thePortofNew Orleans is in theprocess of building the Louisiana International Terminal (LIT), theonly greenfield deepwaterport under development in thecountry. When operational, LIT will allowthe port to receivesignificantly larger vessels than today, 14,000 TEUs or more,inastateof-the-art, cleanfacility

At amoretactical level, thePortisintegrating AI intoits legacyoperations

ThePortand theNew Orleans Public Belt Railroad have partnered with New Orleans-based UTCTransoceanic to deploythe country’sfirstAI-powered rail clearance systemfor oversized cargo. Thetechnology has twocomponents workingintandem:

•A customer-facingapp that allows shipperstoenter cargo dimensions weight, andrailcar specifications andreceivenear-instant routing recommendations

•A live“digital twin” of theNew Orleans Public Belt Railroad that continuously tracks clearancedata, bridge ratings, crossing geometry andinfrastructureconditions in realtime

Together,theycondense aprocess thatused to takeweeksofengineering studiesintosomethingthatcan be resolved almostimmediately.For shippers moving massivepower transformers, windturbinecomponents, refinery vessels, or industrial generators– vital components needed to keep up with the state’shistoric economic growth –thatspeed is critical.

“Today, planninga large industrialshipment can involveweeksofengineering studiesand coordination between multiple railroads beforeacustomereven

Youcan read the full press release here

Youcan read the NOLA.com storyhere

knowswhetherarouteispossible,” said Beth Branch,President &CEO of Port NOLA. “WhatUTC Transoceanic is bringing to NewOrleans helps provideanswers almost immediately.That’samajor advantagefor shippers, manufacturersand project developerswho aremaking multimillion-dollar logisticsdecisions.”

This mattersnow more than ever,asLouisiana is in themiddle of an industrial construction boom,withover$110billion of announcednew projects in justtwo years.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Victoria Armstrong is the founder of Curate for Women Who Work, which forms a network

female angel investors looking to

Michael Hecht President &CEO GNO Inc

NATION &WORLD

“Froma retailer standpoint,the oldmodel was, ‘I bought aproduct, Imarked it up and Isolditto aconsumer.’Now it’sevolved into, ‘Waitaminute, Ican monetizeother aspects of my business.’”

MATT MARSH, managing partner at Deloitte in Minneapolis

Retailersare making billions sellingads,not just products

BY CARSON HARTZOG

The Minnesota Star Tribune (TNS)

For decades, retailers made money the old-fashioned way: buying merchandise and selling it for more than they paid.

Now,some of the industry’sbiggest players are finding alucrative business beyond the products on their shelves.

Retailers increasingly see themselves not just as sellers ofgoods but as media companies, using the data generated by millionsofshoppers to help brands reachconsumers and influence buying decisions.

Those advertising operations known as retail media networks, still account for asmall share of most retailers’ sales. But they have become one of the industry’sfastest-growing businesses and avaluable sourceofprofit in an industry known for thin margins.

“(It’s) highly,highly profitable,” said Matt Marsh, managing partner at Deloitte in Minneapolis.

“From aretailer standpoint, the oldmodel was, ‘I bought aproduct, Imarked it up and Isold it to aconsumer, Marsh said.“Now it’sevolved into, ‘Wait aminute,I can monetize other aspects of my business.’ ” The growth comes as retailers grapple with tariffs, supply chain disruptions and inflation-weary shoppers. Advertisingrevenue can provide acushion when selling another television or apackage of diapers becomes more difficult

“This isn’tthe next wave —the wave has already hit,” said retail consultant Carol Spieckerman. “Services and solutions have become the profitengine that pure

product salescan’t be right now.”

The shift is changing how some retailers describe themselves.

During arecent earnings call, incoming Best Buy CEOJason Bonfig said thecompany is “becoming aretail, media, advertisingand technology company”and has described Best Buy Adsasa“highmargin, high-growth”business.

TheMinnesota-based electronics chain expects advertising collections —the total amount billed for services —toapproach $1 billion

this year aftertopping$900million last year.Best Buynearly doubled its number of advertising partners to 750 in itsmost recent fiscal year Forcomparison, Best Buy generated morethan$41 billionin revenue lastyear,meaningits advertising collections grew to the equivalent of roughly 2% of the company’ssales. Lastyear, the company introduced “store takeover” packages that allowbrands like Nintendo, Metaand ESPN to advertise

throughout stores using displays and checkout screens.

Bonfig said diversifying revenue streamshas become increasingly important.

“Wecompete with some of the largest companies in the world,”

Bonfig said in an Aprilinterview with theMinnesota StarTribune

“There’s aneed forustobemore diverse in the way that we go to market.”

Target’sadvertising business, Roundel, grew revenue by double digitslast year.The company said the unit generates over $2 billion in value, boosting overallsales while offsetting the cost of goods.

TheMinneapolis-basedretailer is also expanding its partnership with OpenAI, testing sponsored messages within ChatGPT that appear alongside some shoppingrelated conversations.

Despite the push by retailers to highlight theiradvertising businesses, experts say they still lag behind larger rivals like Walmart.

Spieckerman said Walmart has emerged as the industryleader, openly touting advertising growth and positioning its media business as akey driver of future growth.

The company generated $6.4 billion in advertising revenue last year

Google and Walmart recently announced apartnership that will allow brands to use Walmart’sshopper data to deliver moretargeted ads on YouTube and track whether those adsresultedinpurchases at the Arkansas-based retailer,giving advertisers aclearer picture of which campaigns are driving sales.

Target and Best Buy,bycontrast, have used the business to help offset pressure on their core retail operations, she said, describing their advertising divisions as moreofa

“defensive margin tool.”

Retailmedia networks, in some ways, evolved from the banner ads retailers once sold on their websites.

Today, companiesuse information gathered through loyaltyprograms, apps andpurchase histories to help brands target shoppers more precisely,Marsh said. Ads can appear on retailers’ websites, inside stores and across other digital platforms.

APampers commercial on You-

Tube that includes alink to buy the product at Target is one example.

The strategy relies heavily on first-party data —information retailerscollect directlyfrom customers. Thatdata,combined with AI, can reveal buying habits, brand preferences and even whenshoppers may be readytoreplace an older product.

“As AI gets smarter and it’sdeployed against these large data sets,there’s goingtobemoreand more personalization,” Marsh said.

The growth of retailmedia networks initially sparkedfearsthat retailers would siphon business from traditional advertising agencies.

Instead,the twoindustries are increasingly learning to coexist, experts say Keri Starr Paison, who leadscommerce media for Deloitte Digital, said agencies focusedprimarily on execution could face pressure as retailers build more capabilities in-house.

Butfirmsthatcombine strategy, creativity,technology and data expertise are likely to continue playing an important role.

“The agencymodel has to evolve,” Paison said. “So Iwould frame this less as athreat to agencies overall and more as ashift toward the next generation of agencies.”

STAFF FILEPHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Toyota RAV4 themostcovetedusedcar in U.S.

BY CHESTER DAWSON Bloomberg News (TNS)

Most cars lose valuethe moment they leave adealer’slot. The RAV4 hybrid gains it.

Used, late-model versions ofthe RAV4 hybrid often list formore than their original sticker prices, even with thousands of mileson their odometers. In some cases, they cost more than anew 2026 model fresh from the Toyotafactory CarMax recently advertised a 2024 RAV4 HybridXSE with 29,000 miles for $46,998, which is higher than the original $38,735sticker price.

The price inversion seemstodefy anatural law of used-car economics. But it illustrates someofthe most powerful forces driving the U.S. auto market this year

The Iran war sent gasprices surging, with the nationalaverage for regular well above $4 pergallon. Some car buyers have responded by snapping up used electric vehicles, which often sellata steep discountfrom their original price. Others who are either unwilling or unable to go fully electric have turned to hybrids,which pair an electric motor with agas-burning engine. Long considered aniche product in theU.S., they’re now highly coveted.

And for the moment at least, there aren’tenough new hybrid RAV4s to go around.

Production hit alull lastyear as Toyota stopped building the fifth generation of the compact SUV and started makingthe sixth.With fewer new RAV4s reachingshowrooms, many would-be buyershave been stuck on waiting lists. Used versions —aslong as they’re from arecent year and in good shape commanda premium,even topping the list price of anew car

The hybrid RAV4 gets upwards of 40 miles per gallon,well above the U.S.new-car average of 27.2 mpg. It’spopular enough that Toyota discontinued allnonhybridversions of the RAV4, starting this model year. And Brandon Wingate of Albany,

Georgia, decideditwas just what his family needed.

He andhis wife were sold on its roominess, Toyota’s reputation for reliability and the hybrid’spromise of savings at thepump.Wingate paid $32,000 in February for a 2024 RAV4 with 44,000 miles on it —acar that listedfor $38,735 when new. He drove about fivehours across thestate to test-drive it after spotting it onlineand was only abletohagglethe dealerdown$500 to compensate fora small window crack

“There’snonegotiating anymore —you basically pay the asking price,” said Wingate, 42, an IT technician. “I’m just gladtohave bought when we did, because prices for thesamevehicle areupanywhere from $6,000 to $8,000 since then.”

Indeed,Carvanalisted a2025 RAV4 Hybrid Limited with 5,606 milesfor $48,590. That’sacool

$6,040 above the manufacturer’s suggested retail pricewhenitwas new.It’salso morethan the$43,300 sticker priceofa 2026 Limited model.

Toyota, which beganoffering Americans ahybrid RAV4 option a decadeago,keptgas-electrics to a relatively low percentage of overall production volumes. That shortage helping to fuel highprices should endasToyota scales up output of thenew all-hybrid RAV4.“We have avery methodical cadence of ramping up to ensure high quality,” said Cooper Ericksen, Toyota’s North American head of product planning and strategy.

For now, however,Toyota hasless than five days’ worth of new RAV4 hybridsinits U.S. showrooms, far below the company’soverall inventory of about 15 days

“We’reselling everyone we have in stock and have quite afew presales,”said RyanRedding, general

manager at JimNorton Toyota in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Customers unwilling to wait often look forused RAV4s, he said, which means they’realso in high demand. “Most of the time, we don’tsell above the original MSRP,” Norton said. Consumer Reports warns that new 2026 RAV4sare selling for about 4% more than their sticker prices. Managing Editor Jeff Bartlett, in arecent blog post, wrotethat prices should edge down as productionrevsup, but “because elevated gas prices may keep interestinthe RAV4 high, don’texpect discounts any timesoon.”

With theaverage transaction price of anew carinthe U.S. now around $50,000, used cars have surged in popularity.Sotoo have hybrids,which notonlycut fuel costs but letdrivers usehighway carpool lanes in at least 12 states. Once limited to ahandful of models like the original Toyota Prius

with ashape oftencomparedtoa cheesewedge —hybrid drivetrains are now available in most every class of passengervehicle,including theFordMaverick pickup, the Kia Carnivalminivan and the Jeep Cherokee SUV

Some of those hybrids command high prices used, although not as consistently as the RAV4. AllusedRAV4hybrids from the 2024 model year onward command prices of at least90% of theirinitial MSRPs, according to CarGurus. Of the sevenhybrids offered in the 2025 model year,four now list for more than their original sticker prices.

“Toyotas areingeneral tough to find, and hybrids are tough to find,” said Kevin Roberts, director of economic and market intelligenceat CarGurus. “If you’re struggling to find anew RAV4 hybrid, you might pay more for any used one you can get your hands on.”

BAyAREA NEWS GROUP/TNS PHOTO By RAyCHAVEZ

MADE IN LOUISIANA

Fire trucks custom built for specific needs around country

BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer

Nearly 350 welders, electricians, painters and other skilled workers

toiled in an unassuming Livingston Parish assembly plant on a recent Tuesday, surrounded by the brightred bodies of fire trucks that will soon be helping to save lives across the U.S.

The 300,000-square-foot facility belongs to Ferrara Fire Apparatus, the Louisiana company that produces custom pump trucks and other vehicles for fire departments It’s big business Each year, Ferrara produces hundreds of custom vehicles, priced from a few hundred thousand dollars to several million.

“We say we build snowflakes,” said Chris McClung, vice president of Terex Fire Group, Ferrara’s parent company “No two are the same.” Different fire departments have different needs. In cities, firefighters need more ladder trucks. In wilderness areas, fire departments need to be able to spray water onto wildfires while on the move. And Ferrara builds for seemingly everyone. On a recent visit, fire departments from more than a dozen states and one Canadian province were represented.

Founded in Louisiana in 1988 by Chris Ferrara, the custom fire truck manufacturer was acquired in 2017 by Wisconsin-based Rev Group, which produced about a third of all the fire apparatus sold in the United States and reported more than $1.8 billion in sales last year

The result is a manufacturer with a big piece of a niche market, all based in the unincorporated town of Holden. And a second fire truck maker US Fire Apparatus founded by Chris Ferrara after he sold to Rev, operates next door

Marrying a fire truck

“We say we build snowflakes. No two (fire trucks) are the same.”

Building fire trucks is time- and labor-intensive. Long before the first component hits the production line, a team of engineers creates a digital model of the finished truck as envisioned by the customer Figuring out how to realize a customer’s vision can be an early challenge.

CHRIS MCCLUNG, vice president of Terex Fire Group

After the deal went through, Rev Group moved the production lines of a former competitor, KME, into the Livingston Parish Ferrara facility Then, earlier this year, the Rev Group completed a merger with Connecticut-based industrial and specialty equipment manufacturer Terex Corp. in a $3.2 billion deal.

“When they’re buying the truck and making the specs for it, sometimes they’ll come in there with unrealistic things that they’re asking for,” contract administrator Amy Willis said. “So they’ll have to call the engineers downstairs and all sit together and really discuss whether it is physically possible or not.”

A fire truck chassis begins with a pair of steel frame rails. It arrives

pre-drilled before they are moved onto the chassis line, where workers add axles and, eventually, the engine and transmission.

Across the floor on a parallel production line, truck cabs take shape. They arrive as raw, unfinished metal boxes before metalworkers cut out custom compartments and windows. They’re then painted (usually red), coated and wired as they travel across about a dozen stations, each worker adding to the complicated array of components.

Meanwhile, in the welding area, workers build the parts for the truck’s body and pump-house frame the components of the truck that sit behind the crew riding in the cab — before the pumping units themselves are assembled on their own line.

Next comes the “marriage,” as a crane lifts the finished cab and lowers it onto the chassis. The married unit then undergoes a test drive and functionality check before the pump and body are added and the vehicles move to the final assembly line.

The collection of more than a dozen water tanks of various capacities — resembling large black Tetris pieces — that sit in an out-

door lot speaks to the bespoke nature of the production process. And one of the final steps of the process demonstrates why each truck needs its own plan.

To test out the pumps, workers hook them up to an underground water tank. But sometimes that is insufficient for high-flow industrial units that can pump more than 3,000 gallons per minute. In that case, Willis said there’s a backup plan.

“We actually throw a hose over into the pond and it sucks up the water from there because it takes so much. It’ll shoot water completely across the entire pond,” she said. “You can actually see the water level of the pond go down.”

Time and money

Over its nearly 40 years in business, Ferrara has delivered more than 6,000 fire trucks, developing a particular expertise in the highflow pumps that come in handy when fighting industrial fires.

“The fires are just so massive, they’re so big, so the more water you got, the more you suppress it,” said sales director Jason Louque.

The company also builds ladder trucks, which involves a somewhat different production process, and it sometimes starts with a truck from Ford, Peterbilt or another major manufacturer and then adds the necessary firefighting equipment.

Fire trucks have always been expensive, and they’ve always taken a long time to build — especially fully customized ones. But in re-

cent years, they’ve taken longer and cost more than ever before. Demand slowed during the Great Recession as local governments cut costs. Private equity roll-ups later consolidated the industry, which led to some complaints from firefighters unions and class-action lawsuits alleging anticompetitive practices. Manufacturers have denied those claims and say the reason for rising prices has everything to do with rising production costs and regulatory requirements.

The COVID-19 pandemic is another factor It disrupted supply chains and sent federal pandemic relief to local governments, cutting supplies and boosting demand at the same time.

“It’s insane,” said Louque, a 32year company veteran “When I first started, you could get a commercial pumper for $90,000. We can’t buy a chassis for that now.”

According to McClung, the most complex trucks can take up to three years to produce, though more common pumpers and tankers take about a year Ahead of its merger with Terex, Rev had a sales backlog of $4.4 billion about two years — for fire and emergency vehicles.

“We’ve been working through that post-COVID,” McClung said. “We’ve made a lot of headway We’ve increased our throughput by almost 50%, by the end of this year post-COVID.”

Email Jonah Meadows at jonah. meadows@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Edgar Barrera, top left, cleans the windshield of a fire truck while another worker cleans the interior of a compartment at Ferrara Fire Apparatus in Livingston Parish.

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LOUISIANA

‘I was just doing my job’

Medical professionals work to help patients as research finds higher colon cancer rates among people of Cajun descent

BY MARGARET DELANEY

Staff writer

Cherie Broome wasn’t in a hurry to get another colonoscopy.

She had one when she was 42, like she was told. At 46, she knew she was due for her routine procedure, but thought she could put it off just a little bit longer Broome’s father had colon cancer when he was in his 50s. And her mother’s brother died of colon cancer at 63. For her family history, colonoscopies

are recommended every five years

Andrea Cothern, Broome’s primary

nurse practitioner went ahead and put Broome on the list for a colonoscopy after one of her wellness appointments.

“I was just doing my job,” Cothern said.

Broome, who lives in Baton Rouge, went to her colonoscopy with a plan to head straight to a Friday-night LSU baseball game after the Tigers were on a winning streak.

When she woke up, her doctor told her she had polyps, or lesions, in two

areas of her colon.

“Did she just say I have cancer?” Broome remembers asking her husband in the recovery room.

By Monday morning, the pathology of the polyps confirmed it She had colon cancer

While Broome’s family lives in Shreveport, she comes from a long line of Cajuns in Opelousas.

Back in 2014, researchers at the Tulane and LSU schools of medicine and public health found a link between colorectal cancer and Louisiana’s Cajun

population.

The White populations in the state, particularly White men in the Louisiana Acadian parishes where French is commonly spoken, have colorectal cancer rates that are among the highest in the United States, according to a research study published in Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology

Dr Jordan Karlitz, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the Tulane University School of Medicine, lead a

Study may help peripartum women with heart condition

Researchers at LSU Health Shreveport conducting trial

BY MOLLY TERRELL Staff writer

A clinical trial enrolling patients in Shreveport could potentially help women struggling with peripartum cardiomyopathy the leading cause of death in pregnant women.

Bromocriptine, a medication being used in a clinical study at LSU Health Shreveport, is used to treat multiple conditions, including Parkinson’s disease.

According to Dr Kalgi Modi, professor of internal medicine and interim division chief of cardiology at LSU Health Shreveport, it may

also help women struggling with peripartum cardiomyopathy, a weakened heart condition that develops after childbirth.

Heart disease is prevalent in pregnant women, which Modi teaches about and invests a lot of research into. Even though the risk of heart disease increases with age, heart disease is the leading cause of death in pregnant women.

The cardiology team at LSU Health Shreveport is enrolling patients in the Randomized Evalu-

ation of Bromocriptine in Myocardial Recovery Therapy trial, a National Institute of Healthsponsored trial that is evaluating whether bromocriptine can improve heart function in women with peripartum cardiomyopathy

According to Modi, this study will enroll 200 women newly diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy within five months postpartum in a randomized placebocontrolled trial of bromocriptine therapy to evaluate its impact.

“The reason we’re doing this clinical trial is to try to understand this condition, which can be fatal,” Modi said.

Modi is a principal investigator on this study, and LSU Health Shreveport is the only site in Louisiana participating, along with over 60 sites in the United States, including Harvard Medical School, Cleveland Clinic, UAB in Birmingham, Alabama, Stanford

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Cherie Broome, left, and Andrea Cothern laugh together while talking outside Cothern’s office at Ochsner Health Center Broome was successfully treated for colon cancer in 2023 after a screening arranged during a wellness visit with Cothern, Broome’s primary nurse practitioner

HEALTH MAKER

Pennington doctor bridges research and patient care

‘We’re still in an obesity epidemic’

BY MARGARET DELANEY Staff writer

Dr Tim Gilbert, a Lake Charles native, knew he wanted to be in healthcare.

What started as bachelor’s in nursing from McNeese State University turned into a career in endocrinology and leading Pennington Biomedical Center’s first independent outpatient clinic.

Pennington, a global research center for metabolic, nutrition and lifestyle in Baton Rouge, opened the endocrinology and diabetes clinic in March 2025. Gilbert lead the charge for the center, “even down to the phone number,” he said.

For the past 18 years Gilbert has run a diabetes program at the Cashadi Indian Reservation in Elton. He runs an outpatient diabetes

program once a month at a clinic in southwest Louisiana, seeing sometimes 30 patients in one day Gilbert graduated medical school in 2006 from LSU Health New Orleans, trained in internal medicine at LSU in Baton Rouge and completed his fellowship in endocrinology at Ochsner in New Orleans. In addition to obesity, Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes patients, Gilbert also treats patients with thyroid, pituitary, adrenal, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and more diseases of the endocrine system. This interview has been edited for length and clarity What sparked your interests in healthcare?

There was an interest in healthcare, but I didn’t have anybody in healthcare in my family My dad was a firefighter, and my mom worked in the dental field as an assistant. When I started, I wasn’t

quite sure what path I was going to take. Nursing, at the time, was in very high demand, and it seemed to offer the most opportunity for diversity if I decided to move on to something different.

When I went to medical school, because of my background in nursing in the ICU, I thought I was going to do pulmonary critical care.

Endocrine is a lot of feedback loops, a lot of biochemistry It either clicks for you or it doesn’t. For me, it just clicked.

What brought you to Pennington Biomedical Research Center?

It was really out of the blue. I was had been working in Lake Charles for 20 years, and was thinking in the back of my head about a change. I really wasn’t looking, and this position didn’t exist before me.

I was dating a girl (who I’m now engaged to) who’s from Baton Rouge. I was driving into the city one Thursday evening and got a call from the then CEO of

Pennington John Kirwan.

Initially the conversations were about me consulting with the center But that quickly led into me moving.

What was the vision for the center’s first clinic?

Pennington has been doing cutting edge, worldrenowned research for almost 40 years. They’re recognized as a global leader in medical research, specializing in metabolic health and endocrine disorders. The vision was expanding the mission of Pennington to go beyond research, but to take it to true patient care and patient treatment.

We started seeing patients in March of 2025 after about four to five months’ leg work of onboarding and getting the staff that we needed.

The goal was to bridge research by some of the top scientists in the world and bench-level research and merge it with a clinic that’s actually treating patients.

We were participating in

pretty much the research of every obesity drug on the market — and many more to come — as well as a lot of other nutritional studies and lifestyle modification studies.

Also, we now have the ability to recognize patients that we see in clinic that may be candidates for studies, and have the ability to move patients into an appropriate study, whether that be for obesity or thyroid disease.

What are some incoming research studies?

We have an upcoming study with Amgen, called a switch study

We’re looking at patients who are currently on a maximal dose or maximum tolerated doses of the weight loss drugs Wegovy and Zepbound, but are not at their goal weight. We had these patients switch to Maritide to see if we can achieve further weight reduction.

All three weight loss drugs have slightly different active ingredients:

Wegovy contains only semaglutide, or GLP-1s, and Zepbound combines GLP-1s and a peptide mimicking a natural hormone in the body that regulates fat storage in the gut. Maritide is a once monthly injectable that combines different peptide formulations of gut hormones that could be effective in weight loss when Wegovy or Zepbound don’t work. We’re also looking at potentially starting a new study for hyperthyroidism, or Graves’ disease. That’s exciting because there’s not been any new treatments made available for hyperactive thyroid or overactive thyroid in the last 30-plus years. At Pennington, we average between probably 65 and 80 clinical trials at any given time — everything from maternal fetal health to pediatrics, to adult physiology and more.

Email Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney@ theadvocate.com.

Mayo Clinic study shows AI can reveal brain tumor risks

Method avoids costly genetic testing

Mayo Clinic News Network (TNS)

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers and collaborators have shown that artificial intelligence can analyze routine pathology slides to help classify meningiomas, the most common primary brain tumor in adults, and predict a patient’s risk of tumor recurrence The study, published in The Lancet Digital Health, demonstrates that deep learning models can extract molecular and prognostic information from standard hematoxylin and eosin, or H&E, slides — the same type of tissue images already used in routine clinical care. These insights are typically obtained through DNA methylation profiling, an advanced genetic test which provides valuable diagnostic and prognostic information but can be costly,

time-consuming and is unavailable in many hospitals.

“This is one of the many studies where we can harness the strength of digital pathology by capturing the last two decades of genomic and molecular knowledge into AI algorithms,” says Gelareh Zadeh, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Neurologic Surgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester and the David C. and Flora C Pratt Distinguished Chief Medical Officer for Mayo Clinic Platform.

Meningiomas can vary widely in behavior Some grow slowly and may never return after treatment, while others are more aggressive and more likely to recur Understanding that risk is critical for patients and care teams deciding whether additional treatment, such as radiation therapy, may be needed after surgery

Molecular testing can help identify which tumors are more likely to recur and which may respond differently to treatment. But these tests require specialized

technology and expertise, limiting access for many patients.

Using tissue samples, pathology images and clinical data from 672 patients, researchers trained AI to uncover information about a tumor’s biology Drawing on multiple de-identified

datasets, including data resources from Mayo Clinic Platform, the models were able to classify meningioma subtypes and predict recurrence risk using standard pathology slides that are already part of routine patient care.

The findings suggest that

AI could one day help clinicians obtain more detailed tumor information without requiring patients to undergo advanced genetic testing

For patients with meningiomas, recurrence risk can influence follow-up care, imaging frequency and whether radiation therapy should

be considered. The study found that AI-based predictions remained useful even after accounting for traditional clinical factors such as tumor grade, the extent to which surgery was able to remove the tumor and patient age. Researchers also found that the AI models could identify patterns of tumor heterogeneity — differences within the same tumor — that may help explain why some tumors behave more aggressively or respond differently to treatment. The researchers note that additional prospective studies are needed before the AI models can be used routinely in clinical care. Still they say the findings lay the groundwork for more accessible, personalized care for patients with meningiomas and potentially for similar AI approaches in other cancers.

“The aim is to make these algorithms readily and simply accessible for use globally, improving patient care across many healthcare settings,” says Dr Zadeh.

Study examines effect of a diet high in soybean oil on gut health

BY KARL HILLE

The Baltimore Sun (TNS)

More than half of the oil consumed in the United States is heavy soybean oil, but studies link the ingredient to changes in gut bacteria, a weakened intestinal lining and issues such as ulcerative colitis.

For one study in Gut Microbes, researchers from the University of California, Riverside, fed mice a diet high in soybean oil for up to 24 weeks. Then they measured disruptions in the animals’ gut microbiome — beneficial bacteria declined, while harmful bacteria increased, including adherent invasive Escherichia coli.

CANCER

Continued from page 1X

study bridging the connection between Acadiana and colon cancer

A leading hypothesis of the team for this high rate of cancer is that it is genetic, although an environmental cause is also possible. If it is genetic in nature, it may be an instance of the “founder effect.” A “founder population” is a distinct new population that has descended from an original, larger population

The Cajuns migrated in the 1700s from France first to Canada, then Louisiana, where they settled in the

This type of E. coli has been linked to inflammatory bowel disease in humans.

“Soybean oil is currently the most highly consumed cooking oil in the U.S. and the second most produced edible oil in the world,” UC Riverside researchers wrote, “and its increased consumption parallels the rise in IBD incidence in humans.”

The researchers focused on linoleic acid, the predominant fatty acid in soybean oil, and found that excessive amounts of it can cause problems in the gut. Linoleic acid is an essential fatty acid, meaning it cannot be produced in the body but is derived from foods. While

state’s Acadian parishes. “Further studies are planned to gather additional data to examine both genetic and environmental factors that may be playing a role in the high colorectal cancer rates in the region,” Karlitz said. “In addition, as the current study is populationbased, more detailed study is needed to determine if the colorectal cancer risk is concentrated in the Cajun population specifically.” In 2021, he revisited his findings and confirmed Acadiana’s disproportionately high colon cancer rates In parishes with the highest Cajun ancestry rates, colon cancer incidence in White populations was 13% higher

people need to consume 1% to 2% of their fat from linoleic acid, the average American diet derives 8% to 10% of its linoleic acid from soybean oil, UC Riverside researcher Poonamjot Deol told SciTechDaily

Harmful E. coli bacteria feed on linoleic acid, while excessive levels cause some beneficial bacteria to die off, they found. The excess linoleic acid also made the intestinal lining more porous, allowing toxins and microbes to leak into the blood, fueling inflammation.

As an unsaturated plant oil, soybean oil is often viewed as healthier than saturated fats from animal products, but Deol and his

than statewide rates, and 23% higher than the national average.

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in Louisiana, which has a rate almost 50% higher than the national average, according to the Louisiana Tumor Registry at the LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health. If caught early, like it was for Broome, it is highly treatable. However, rates of colon cancer are also increasing among young people, prompting a change in the age requirement for colon cancer screenings — from 50 to 45 years old. Broome had her first surgery on June 22, 2023. In-

colleagues said the issue is more complicated.

“Since studies showed that saturated fats can be unhealthy, it was assumed that all unsaturated fats are healthy,” toxicologist Frances Sladek told SciTechDaily “But there are different types of unsaturated fats, some of which are healthful. For example, the unsaturated fat fish oil is well known to have many beneficial health effects. People, therefore, assumed that soybean oil is perfectly safe and healthier to consume than other types of oils, without actually doing a direct comparison as we have done.”

While corn oil contains linoleic acid levels similar

to those in soybean oil, the researchers said olive oil contains much less and has a well-established health profile. Avocado and coconut oil are similarly low in linoleic acid.

A related study in Scientific Reports compared coconut oil, soybean oil and a soybean oil product modified to have lower linoleic acid to assess their effects on mice. Unmodified soybean oil caused more disruption in genes tied to metabolism, immune function, gut barrier health, inflammation and microbiome interactions, they found, supporting the idea that excess linoleic acid may be an important factor

A third experiment, pub-

stead

ing

“They were on the

to

lished in the Journal of Lipid Research, focused on soybean oil and obesity by measuring oxylipins, compounds the body makes when it processes linoleic acid. Mice that did not have soybean oil had lower levels of the related oxylipins, gained less weight and were less likely to develop glucose intolerance or fatty liver disease. Soybean oil’s neutral flavor, low cost and versatility in large-scale food production have made it a more common ingredient than most people realize, but experts advise avoiding processed foods, checking labels and using an air fryer, which uses very little oil for similar results.

and her cancer team was “pretty aggressive” to remove the cancerous lesions surgically After two surgeries, her doctors determined she had clear margins. She was cancer-free.

“If (Cothern) hadn’t made my appointment, if I hadn’t had that first colonoscopy, imagine how many years I would have waited,” Broome said. “The story would have been completely different.” Cothern and Broome still see each other annually for Broome’s wellness visits. But now they also see each other (and text) as friends. Email Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney@ theadvocate.com.

of music, she asked her surgeon to play LSU’s baseball game in the operat-

room.

way

Omaha,” she said. She had stage one colon cancer,

DREAMSTIME/TNS PHOTO Mayo Clinic researchers and collaborators have shown that artificial intelligence can reveal brain tumor risks.

Gilbert

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Andrea Cothern sits in her office at Ochsner Health Center

Eat Fit LiveFit

–Eat FitInspiring Stories –

My father and the person he chose to become

Whilethiscolumnoftencenters onfood,healthandhabits, well-beingreachesbeyond whatweeatorhowwemove.Italso showsupinhowwelive,howwetreat people,howwemakedecisionsandwhat wechoosetovalueovertime.

Withour“InspiringStories”series, wehighlightindividualswhoselives reflectdifferentexpressionsofwellness. Thismonth,inhonorofFather’sDay, I’msharingsomeoneclosertohome –mydad–whoselifehasshapedmy understandingofwhatitmeanstolive withintention,consistencyandcare.

TheStoryThatStartedItAll Backincollege,Iwaswaitingtables whenawomanrecognizedmylastname. SheaskedifIwasFredKimball’sdaughter. WhenIsaidyes,shetoldmeastoryIhad neverheard.

Atthetime,shewasrentingfrom mydad.Hersonwasdealingwith seriousmedicalissues,andthecostof hismedicationwasoverwhelming.She waspreparingtomoveoutbecause shecouldn’taffordtherent.Whenshe explainedthesituation,mydadtoldher hewouldsetherrentat$1foraslong ashersonneededthemedication.He nevermentionedittome.Ionlyknow becauseshetoldme.

Mydadlosthismotherwhenhewas four.Heandhisbrotherswereraised bytheirfather,wholedwithstructure andauthority,butnotmuchinthe wayofemotionalconnection.Mydad startedfiguringthingsoutonhisown earlyinlife,runningalemonadestand beforehewas10andopeninghisfirst

BY THENUMBERS

restaurantasateenager.He builtalifeearly.Butlikealot ofpeople,hehadtolearn laterhowhewantedtoliveit.

ATurningPoint

Hisfirstmarriageended whenhewasstillyoung.My brotherandsister,Kenny andKristie,wenttolive withtheirmom,anditwasa turningpointformydad.He startedgoingtocounseling andpaidattentiontohow hecommunicated,whathe readandwhohesurrounded himselfwith.Hestartedto shapeadifferentversionof himself–notovernight,but deliberately.Andthenhe livedit

Overtime,hefocusedon hisrelationships,including connectingcloselywith KennyandKristie,andhe stayedclosetothepeople whohadbeenpartofhislife alongtheway.Peoplewho workedforhimdecadesago arestillintouchwithhim. Heattendstheirbirthday partiesandstaysconnected

MollyKimball,RD,CSSD,isaregistereddietitian withOchsnerHealthandfounderofOchsnersEatFit nonprofitinitiative.Formorewellnesscontent,tuneinto Molly’spodcast,FUELEDWellness+Nutrition,andfollow @MollykimballRDand@EatFitOchsneronsocialmedia. Emailnutrition@ochsner.orgtoconnectwithMollyor scheduleaconsultwithherteam.

LOUISIANALEADS DECLINE IN U.S. DIVORCERATES

Divorce is down in America, and Louisiana hasthe lowest divorce rate in the country In 2023, over1.8 million Americans divorced.Additionally,a third of Americans who have everbeen married have also experienced divorce.

Louisiana sawits lowest divorce rate in 2022 with 0.7 divorces per 1,000 people. In 2023 that rate increased to 0.9 divorces—still the lowest rate in the country, according todata from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The PewResearch Center reportedthat the refined divorce rate in the U.S. peakedaround 1980, at 22.6 divorces per 1,000married women, before falling slightly to 20.5 in 2008. It has fallen more sharply in the past 15 years, to 14.4 divorces per 1,000 marriedwomen in 2023.

One reason the divorce rate has declinedis whoismost likely to getmarriedthese days, according to the PewResearch Center.Over time, the married population hasshiftedtoward adults with higher levels of education as people with lowerlevels of education have become less likely to marry.Adults with more education are less likely to divorce, and these shifts have driven down the divorce rate

STUDY

Continued from page1X

Medicine and more.

Importance of REBIRTH

According to Modi, she’d lovetohave 10 women in the Shreveport area participate in the study because the condition is more prevalent and results in more deaths in the South, and she feels they shouldhave alarger percentage of women because of that.

Modi said it’sreally important to have participants because this condition was first identified 100 years ago, and

totheirlives.Tohim,they’renotformer employees—they’refamily Athome,somethingshavealways stayedthesame.ForaslongasIcan remember,hisdaystartswithashort devotionalfromTheUpperRoom.It’sa ritualthatreflectsthewayheapproaches everythingelse:routine-oriented structuredandconsistent. Thatsameapproachcarriesinto howhetakescareofhimself.He’salways prioritizedeatingwell,stayingactive andtakingcareofhishealth–something Isawgrowingupandstillseenow. It’sabigpartofwhatshapedmypath intonutrition

Mydadisalsohuman.Hecanbe stubborn.He’lltellyouwhenhe’s frustratedornotfeelinghisbest.He’s thefirsttoadmithedoesn’talwayslove change.Buthedoesn’tholdontothings forlong.Heforgivesquickly.Hecomes backtowhatmatters.

HowItShowsUpToday

Inhis80snow(his86thbirthdayis thisweek),heandmystepmom,Pat, arethoughtfulabouthowtheyspend theirtime.Theirdaysarefullwithchurch, friendsandneighbors,volunteeringand stayingconnectedtothepeopleand communitiesaroundthem.

Forme,they’vebeenamodel–notof perfection,butofhowtochoosehow youwanttolive,overandoveragain. That’swhatI’vecometounderstand aboutmydad.

Hedidn’tjustbecomeacertainkind ofperson.Hedecidedtobecomethat person.Andthenhekeptdeciding–and keepsdeciding–everydaysince

Thenumberofdivorcesper 1,000peoplelivinginthe each U.S. statein2023.

Otherreasons fordecliningdivorcerates include adeclineinmarriages, increased access tocouples therapyand pandemicrelateddelays in both marriageand divorce. In the past decade, Louisiana’sdivorcerate has been halved: n 2.2per 1,000 people in 2013; n 2.3per 1,000 people in 2014; n 2.8per 1,000 people in 2015; n 2divorces per 1,000 people in 2016; n 1.9divorces per 1,000 people in 2017; n 1.7divorces per 1,000 people in 2018; n 2.4divorces per 1,000 people in 2019; n 1.4divorces per 1,000 people in 2020; n 2.2divorces per 1,000 people in 2021; n 0.7divorces per 1,000 people in 2022; n 0.9divorces per 1,000 people in 2023. These states had the highest divorcerates in the U.S. in 2023: n Nevada with 3.8 divorces per 1,000; n Idahoand Wyoming with 3.4 divorces per 1,000; n Oklahomawith 3.3 divorces per 1,000; n Alaska andUtah with 3.1 divorces per 1,000; n Alabama,Arkansas and Florida with 3 divorces per 1,000. These states had the lowest divorceratesin

doctors are still trying to find out what’s causingitand whysome populations,especially Black women, are two to four times more at risk of dying from thecondition.

It’salso important to Modi that potential participants know thatbromocriptineis not an experimental drug and thepatientsare not guinea pigs.

“This medication hasbeen outfor decades,”Modisaid.

“Wejust think this medication might have arolenow in this condition.”

Modi said enrollmentfor the clinical trial has been underway for about two years and ends in August,sothey really want more partici-

pantstofinish strong. These patients who enrollwill have follow-ups for three years. The trial is free to those who areparticipating. According to Modi, participants will even be incentivized with$100 gift cards at each follow-up.

LSUHealthShreveport is alsopartofa larger network for women with peripartum cardiomyopathy,and even those who don’tparticipate in theclinical trial can have access to it.

According to Modi,it’s importantthat thetrial gets its 200 desiredparticipants because with this rare condition, there might notbe another chance in the near

the U.S. in 2023: n Louisiana with 0.9 divorces per 1,000; n Illinois with 1.2 divorces per 1,000; n Kansas with 1.7 divorces per 1,000; n Massachusetts with 1.8 divorces per 1,000; n Iowa with 1.9 divorces per 1,000; n Arizona with 2divorces per 1,000; n Texasand Wisconsinwith 2.1 divorces per 1,000.

future to do another study of this magnitude.

“This is ourchance to understand the diseaseand to bettertreat and find acure

Divorce rates, collectedbythe National Center forHealth Statistics, are based on provisional state counts of divorces. Each divorce,including annulments, is countedinthe state in which the marriagewas legally ended or legally petitioned to end. California, Hawaii, Indiana, Minnesota and NewMexico did not reportdata to the CDC and are not includedinthis dataset.

for these women,” Modi said. To find out how to enroll or get more information, visit peripartumcmnetwork.

pitt.edu.

Email Molly Terrellat molly.terrell@theadvocate. com.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

TheLouisiana Health section is focusedonproviding in-depth, personal accounts of health in the state.This sectionlooks at medical innovations, health discoveries, state andnational health statistics and reexamining tried and true methods on ways to livewell.

Health editions will also profile people whoare advancing health for the state of Louisiana. Do youhavea health story? We want to hear fromyou. Email margaret.delaney@ theadvocate.com to submit health questions, stories and more.

BRO UGH TT OY OU BY

Molly Kimball RD,CSSD

Molly’sfather,FredKimball

Tofindtherigh Visitochsner

Ideally,menshould forannualwellness potentialhea screeningsfor leadtoearlydiagnoses Pers care 3 ? 1 Top

Benignprost prostate.Mo theygrowolder.

Doctorsnow beusedinlie traditionalsurgery.

What the depression in men?

Morethan6millionmenintheUnitedStates experiencedepressioneachyear.Somemen maytrytohidetheirdepressionasmanysee depressedmoodsordepressionasaweakness. Thegoodnewsisthathelpisavailable.

Lovedonescansupportthemenintheirlives bybeingonthelookoutforsignsofdepression. Someofthosesignsinclude: Fightingwithhisspouse

Losinginterestinsexorotherformerly enjoyableactivities

Becomingwithdrawnoruncharacteristically uncommunicative

Establishingasupportsystemoffamilyandfriendstorelyonisoneofthe mostimportantstepsmencantaketohandledepressionanditssymptoms.Herearesomeothersteps:

Seekhelp:Ifyouknowsomethingisn’tright,gettingappropriatetreatmentfordepressionearly onisessentialinpreventingtheconditionfromgettingworse.Startwithaphysicalexamby yourhealthcareprovider.It’simportanttoseekoutaphysician,becausesometimesthesigns ofdepressioncanmirrorsymptomscausedbyothermedicalconditionsormedications.Ifthose possibilitiesareruledout,askyourprovidertoreferyoutoatherapistorpsychiatrist.

Exerciseregularly:Studieshaveshownthatexerciseandlifestylechangescancombatdepression andstressalmostaswellassomemedications.

Evaluateyourlife:Areyouhappyinyourjobandrelationships?Ifnot,whatcanyoudoto improvethem?

Doyourownresearch:Seekinginformationfromreputablesourcescanhelpyoulearnmore aboutdepressionandwhatyoucandoaboutit.Youcandotheresearchinprivate,fromthe comfortofafamiliarsetting

Considertherapy:Talktherapyandcounselingcanprovidetoolstohelpnavigatelife’schallenges. Havingaconfidentialspacetoexpressyourfeelingsandatrainedprofessionaltoguideyoucan significantlyimproveyourmentalhealth.Visitochsner.org/psychiatrytofindadoctororprovider inyourarea.

Fathers, sons and a FULL CIRCLE

BY JANRISHER Staffwriter

Cole Pham spentyears trying to get his family to Vietnam. Nobody moved. Nearing amilestone birthday,hedrew aline.

“I’m 29,” he told his family.“If I don’tgotoVietnam by my 30th, with or without you guys,I’m goingtohate myself. I’m putting this in motion. You guys can come or you guys can stay.”

More than 50 years had passed since the fall of Saigon and the end of awar that scattered millions of Vietnamese refugees across the world.

Cole’sfather,Peter Pham,was 4 years old that night —carried through the dark onto asmall boat as bombs fell near their villageofPhc Tnh. Back then, Cole’sgrandfather,Luc Pham, was 25. His wife, Loan, was 23. With three small children,for months they had lived withbagspacked,half in theboat, half in the house —waiting for the bombstoget tooclose.

When the shellingstarted,they ran. The family’sfishing boat wastoo small for everyone, so they bought passage on another vessel and left in thedark of night —15people in all, Luc’sfamily and their village priest, the Rev.Joseph Mau Nguyen, who stayed with them the entire journey, through waters where pirates boarded the vessel and took everything they had at gunpoint

For six months they floated from Singapore to thePhilippines andbeyond with no safe harbor. Luc held to one non-negotiable condition: he would not allow his family to be separated. That conditionnearlystranded them.

“There were 15 people,” Peter said, translating his mother’s words across akitchen table in Lafayette. “Too much. No one wants to sponsor 15 people.” Decades later,much of that story had never been spoken aloud inside thefamily.Thosekinds of conversationswerenot apartofthe Phams’ way of life. They still aren’t.

“Wecouldn’thave an intimate conversation with our parents because of culture, because of language,” said Peter,now 55. ButCole, who lives in New York City and works in themusic industry, kept pressing to makethe return trip with hisdad andgrandfather,who live in Lafayette. His 30th birthday,Mardi Gras and Tet—the Vietnamese LunarNew Year —converged in thesameweek in February 2026.Hebooked the flights His father came. So did his grandfather

ä See FULLCIRCLE, page 4Y

JanRisher

Thegifts my father gave

One afternoon when Iwas 17, fornooccasion anyone could name, my father walked into Thomas Great M, afancy little store in our hometown, and bought me apair of lavender jeans and alavender T-shirt to match. He was not aman whoshopped. He was not aman tied to other people’soccasions. But there he wasatthe counter,picking out lavender.I’ve often wondered if one of the nice ladies there helped him pick it out or how he knew what size to buy

That was how my father gave —not on anyone else’sschedule, not on cue, but in sudden bursts of generosity that arrived like weather

My dad passed away in September 2022. This Father’sDay, Ifind myself taking inventory of those gifts. The specific, physical things. Iremember many. He came by his complicated relationship with giving honestly His parents divorced, remarried each other and divorced again —inatimewhen people just didn’tdothat. By all accounts, the Christmases of his Mississippi boyhood werelargely lean and uneasy,with twooranges and somenuts in the stockings.

Except once.

One year,heand his brother received fancy cowboy suits —holsters, hats, the works. That gift waslegendary.Hetold the story his whole lifeand had the picture to prove it.

Ithink about that now,looking over the inventory of his physical gifts to me.

My father repeatedly gave the kind of gifthehad received exactly once.

My mother built Christmas with awhole lot of love and thoughtfulness. It wasn’tfancy,but there were meaningful gifts foreach of us under the tree. Iknow he thought we should be grateful for all this togetherness and bounty Maybe part of him resented all the wayshis children’schildhoods did not resemble his own.

He had no map for that kind of dedication to holidays. So he gave the way he could, when the spirit moved him

He gave me apurple bicycle when Iwas 4and abanana-seat bike with awhite basket when I was6.When Iwas in the ninth grade, he gave me awhite football jersey —areal one —with royal blue bands on the sleeves, the number 1onthe front and RISHER across the back. He gave me awhite warm-up suit with red and blue stripes downthe legs in the spring of eighth grade. In 1977, he gave me ayellow skateboard formybirthday

Ayear later,when Iwas 14, he insisted Ienter askateboard

PROVIDED PHOTO Coach GaryRisher advises quarterback Dave Marlerinthe fall of 1975 at

STAFF PHOTOSByLESLIE WESTBROOK

PeterPhuocPham looksthrough afamily photo album at his parents’ Lafayette home withhis father,Luc Pham.

PROVIDED PHOTO Cole Pham snaps aselfiewith Lien Pham,from back left, Peter Phuoc Pham, Luc Joseph Pham, family friend Jason Ladmirault and the family’s youngest brother,Truong Pham,during avisit to Vietnam in February.

FAITH &VALUES

Shreveport’s oldest Blackchurchcelebrates160 years

BY DONECIA PEA Staff writer

Sunday service at Shreve-

port’soldest Black church looks much different than it did in years past, when the congregation would pack the iconic downtown house of worship for prayer,singing, breaking breadand building community

Now,lifelong and new members of Antioch Baptist sign on via Zoom or meet in different spaces around town as they raise money to fix the interior of their church that has servedas their homebase since it was built in 1903.

Antioch, founded the year after the Civil War, is used to adapting.

“We’ve endured slavery,post-slavery,Black codes, redlining,” said The Rev. BruceCarroll Sr., the church’spastor.“We’ve endured the Great Depression …the Civil Rights Movement, Yellow Fever,even COVID. So the Black church in particular,has been able to make it over hurdles because we’ve seen this before. It’snot new to us.”

The perseverance of the congregation speaks to its tenure in Shreveport. Antioch is celebrating yetanother milestone this year

And the congregation marked their anniversary right where the church’s story began 160 years ago —atFirst Baptist Church in Shreveport where Black parishioners left to form Antioch in 1866.

“These 73 (formerly enslaved) free people had the courage to step out on nothing and create something,” Carroll said. “They didn’t have abuilding. They didn’t have aplace to worship. Theyhad courageand faith to say ‘Hey,you know,we want to create our own place of worship.’”

Steepedinhistory

Prior to their emancipation, local Black Baptist congregants were only allowed to attend First Baptist Church and sit in segregated sections with limited participation.

“Blacks who attended were basically town slaves and asmall number of free men of color.All of the Blacks sat in traditionally assigned areas suchas the balcony or the extreme rear of the sanctuary,” late historian Willie Burton Sr wrote in “The Blacker The Berry …ABlack Historyof Shreveport.”

The churchwas originally named FirstColored Bap-

RISHER

Continued from page1y

tist Church led by Rev.John Jones as pastor.In1871, the name waschangedtoAntioch Baptist Church In 1901, nationally renowned Shreveport architect N.S. Allen wastapped to designits currentRomanesque Revival stylebuilding located downtown at 1057 Texas Avenue. Construction was completed in 1903. And with thehelp of eight Antioch members, the church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The 160-year celebration at First Baptistincluded singing, praise,and prayers. Butthere was also apowerfulreflection First Baptist pastor,The Rev.Jeff Raines, apologized for the actions of hispredecessors in his sermon. It touched the heartofAntioch member Anya Jackson

“I really thought thatwas powerful …itwas afull circle moment,” shesaid Legacy of generations

Of course, Jackson,45, wasn’talivewhenAntioch wasfounded 160 years ago, but it’sbeen apart of her family’shistory herentirelife.

“Myparents tell this story,” shesaid with alaugh. “My momwas pregnant with me and then theyjoined Antioch.”

BobbieJackson and her husband, Walter JacksonJr., were invited by their longtime friend Barbara Matthews Burney,daughter of the late Rev.David Matthews, who servedasAntioch’spastor for nearly 30 years. Burney and Walter Jackson were co-workers at Huntington High School, “And she kept inviting us to come to her church,”Bobbie Jackson said. “She told us, ‘If you go, you’re going to joinand you’re not going to want to leave.’”

Morethan fourdecades later,evenafter Burney’s death in 2009, Anya Jackson and herparents still attendevery Sunday.

Walter Jackson Jr.isone of the church’slongtime deacons and Sunday School superintendent,and their mom Bobbie Jackson has heldnumerous rolesthrough theyears, including Sunday school teacher,choir member and more. “I cook,soI’ve been over the kitchen pretty much since Igot there…And guess what? Istillwork in the kitchen,”she saidwitha laugh. Their children, Anya and Dr.WalterJackson III, 41, were baptized at Antioch while their olderdaughter, Sheros Thomas,who lived in

Lookingahead

Antioch is commonly referredtoasthe “Mother Church” in Shreveport because of other BlackBaptist churches that were birthed from it, including Avenue Baptist, Evergreen Baptist, Trinity Baptist and Union Mission Baptist.

But like many churches across thecountry,Antioch has felt the sting of declining attendance recently.And due to much-needed repairs andrenovationsthat have left the church uninhabitable, followed by the onset of the COVID-19pandemic, Antioch’schurch services went predominantly virtual in 2020 with occasional inperson worship held at various local sites.

more connected than ever and still serving the community,Anya Jackson said.

“That’swhat Ireally love aboutPastorCarroll’sspirit and action. He works hard to maintain(Antioch’s)legacy andisalwaysrepresenting our church and congregation while also getting the community involved,” Anya said. Moving church services to Zoom hasallowedAntioch to reestablish connections with itsout-of-town members, such as Anya’sbrother who nowlives in Baltimore, Maryland, but serves as the Sunday school teacher

California at the time,regularlyattendedwhenever she was in town.

While they’ve seen members come and go through the years, for the Jackson family,Antioch will always be home. “It’sjust our love for thechurch and thehistory is really special as well as our relationships with thevarious pastors throughout the years,” Anya Jackson said. Carroll,anative of Holly, La.,who has served as Antioch’s17th pastor since he waselected in 2017, said

families like the Jacksons arepartofAntioch’s lasting legacy “Wehave third and fourth generations that are still a part of Antioch. Ithink that’s what makes it that type of legacy where we’re able to tell the story aboutJesus, his love, his death, burialand resurrection and disciple to others,” he said.“Many people have comethrough Antioch, but because we were the first African American Baptist church in this city,Ithink, holds great weight.”

Services also regularly feature guest speakers including those from other denominations and faiths. But there’sgood news and more change coming.

Because of the church’s historic status, the church was able to secure funding needed to renovate the church facility twoyears ago, “so we’re going through the process of drawing down these funds so thatwecan start work on ourbuilding,” Carroll said.

In spite of all of thechallenges, under Carroll’sleadership, the congregation is

“Prior to the pandemic, whenwewere going to church in-person, Walter wasn’table to participate because he was away from home, but now with us having virtualservice, he’s able to participate and he actually leadsour SundaySchool,” Anya said.

When the house of worship officially opensits doors again, Carroll expects the people filling the pews will look different, too.

“The avenue around this historic building is shifting,” he said. “So even when you talk aboutthe Black church, Antioch will no longer be a church just for Black people because there aren’tjust Black people in the community.Sowehave to talk about being relevant.”

“Hope the kids stay warm.Love, Dad.” Sevenwords. For my father,that was awhole conversation. He kept track of usthe way he knew— warmth from Mississippi, by way of Maine. But the gift Ikeep recalling came at Christmas, of all times,whenIwas 8: a

slalom competitionata nearby park. Iwasn’tcompletely convinced, mainly becauseitmeant getting up so early in the morning, but there was no deterring my father when his mind was set. He drove me to Roosevelt State Park, and the competition turned out to be between about 20 college-aged boys and me. Irode my yellow skateboard down that hill through the conesand beat every one of them. It remains one of the great victoriesofmylife —and my fathermadeithappen Years later,whenI was 23 and living out West away from home for the first time, apackage arrived from L.L. Bean Insidewas ared flannel shirt. My brothers received them too. Thecard read:

10-speed English Racer, far toobig for me. After astring of bicycles Ioutgrew almost as fast as he could buy them, he went the other direction. He picked out abike Icould grow into. Abike for the girl Ihadn’tbecome yet. Irode it anyway thatday, on Christmas morning, toobig and all. Irode it to school and all over our side of town for the next eight years,until my family moved away when I was 16. My dad never said much about it.Hedidn’t have to.For eight years, thatbike carried me everywhereIwanted to go. Looking back, Ithink

my father spent alifetime recreating that Christmas morning from his Mississippi boyhood. The cowboy suit.The wonder of it. The feeling of being seen. He gave bicycles and skateboards and football jerseys and lavender jeans

He gave them unexpectedly and imperfectly But over and over again, he gave what had meant so much to him: the feeling that, at leastfor amoment, somebody thought you deserved something wonderful.

Email Jan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate.com.

The late Rev. Webster C. West, center,poses with members of the Jackson family,AnyaJackson, from left, Walter Jackson Jr., Bobbie Jackson, Sheros Thomas and Walter Jackson III, at Antioch Baptist Church.

Jan Risher and her brother Robin Risher stand behind their parents, Nelda and GaryRisher in Forest, Miss.,in 2020.

PROVIDED

PHOTO By JULIO NAUDIN

INSPIREDDISCUSSIONS

ASKTHE EXPERTS

BR entrepreneur starts podcasttoshare good news

BY JOYHOLDEN Staff writer

Michael Hackett, aBaton Rouge guy through and through, has made his impact on Baton Rouge through business, relationships and consulting chief executive officers. After getting fed up with negativity about Baton Rouge, he decided to do something about it, starting apodcast called “Alligator Shoes” to highlight the good things happening in the capital city.Hehas just recorded his 50th episode after nearly ayear of podcasting.

Former owner of Petz Plaza, Hackett sold the business to private equity in 2018. He planned to take it easy for awhile, but he was diagnosed with Stage 3colon cancer and fought it from 2019 to 2020. He invested in the juice company Main Squeeze and bought a franchise in 2019. In 2021, he started Hackett Consulting, and his wide range of clients include Rebuilding Together Baton Rouge, Our Lady of the Lake RegionalMedical Center,alocal automobiledealership, amortgage lender, aconcierge nursing group and The Baton Rouge Area Chamber His goal is to make Baton Rouge feel like home for those who are moving here from other places. He is married to J.T., who is the executive director of the Companion Animal Alliance, and they have two children, Ford and Estelle. This interview has been edited for length and clarity What makes Baton Rouge unique? It’ssuch awonderful place,and open. People are willingtohelp each other. People who comeonthe podcast say, “It’sabigger city with asmall town feel.” Andthen we have LSU

and Southern, and then Baton Rouge Community College, which is thesecond largest community college in the state.

Idon’tthink we’re acol-

lege town. We’re auniversitycity,and I’d like to start using that language. What is the difference between a college town and auniversity city? We’renot acollege town

Q&A WITH MICHAEL HACKETT

ENTREPRENEUR

like Auburn or Oxford.

We have amazing healthcare. We have incredible petrochemical industries that are leading the way. We have all these gigantic companies with incredible CEOs that are giving back.

Whydid youcreate the “Alligator Shoes” podcast?

We have all this. What bothers me the mostisthat we have all this, and people are still cynical. Idon’t mind people being angry sometimes, but Idon’tlike the cynicism.

Like, Ilook at KeepTiger Town Beautiful and Clean Pelican, twogroups cleaning up Baton Rouge. They were mad,but instead of getting cynical, they got active.

Iwanted to shine alight on people like that.

Where did you come up with the title forthe podcast?

It’s from asong by Gary Clark called “Baton Rouge.”

What have you learnedfrom your guests on the “Alligator Shoes” podcast?

Ihave learned so much from every single one of my guests. We all have so much in common and yet every story is unique and very personal to everyone.

Somecommon themes are:

n Being kicked in the butt when you need it from a mentor

n Rising and learning from tough moments In life

n Never giving up

n Taking what lifegives you and recognizing opportunities

n Being kind

As it relates to Baton Rouge, every single guest is in love with our city —unconditionally and proud to call this place home. They all recognize how special we are as apeople. It’s obvious. We just need to do somework on ourselves and realize that nothing is out of reach or not attainable.

Howdoes being afathershape your desire to highlight the good things in Baton Rouge?

That’sthe easiest question, because Iwant my kids to know that if they go off to college, they can always come home. If they stay at LSU, it is awonderfulplace, and they can makeawonderful lifehere. If they go off, Iwant to help the city build something to where our kids wanttobe here. When Iwas akid, my mom and dad said, “Go away to college, but we want you to come home.” Iwent to Ole Miss, and I came back. Later,I think we fell into athing where it became, “Goawaytocollege and don’t come home.” That was abad step. And now Ihave alot of friends that tell their kids whogoawayto college, “Don’tcome home. When mom and dad retire, we’re coming to join you there.” That’ssuch atalent drain. The challenge in my lifeistochange people’s mentality around that. Email Joy Holdenatjoy holden@theadvocate.com.

STEAM

HarryHurst’s Advanced STEAMLab PreparesStudentsfor Real WorldCareers

At HarryHurst Middle School,students aregaininghands-on experience in engineering, broadcasting,journalism, and technology throughthe school’sAdvanced STEAMLab.Theydesignprojects likecircuitboards and mechanicaldeviceswhilealsoproducing news broadcasts,podcasts,videos,and theschool newspaper

Principal Sean Dwyercredits thelab’ssuccess to communitysupport, includingfunding from Shell. “Whatour students do is amazing,” Dwyersaid. “Shell askedhow it could help,encouraged us to think bigger when we answered, and that support transformed ourSTEAMclassroomintoaninnovative Advanced STEAMLab.” Throughthese uniquelearningopportunities, studentsare discoveringnew passions and preparing forfuturesuccess.Shell’sinvestment is helping open doorsfor thenextgenerationofengineers, creators,and innovators

“I see studentsproblem solvingand accepting taskstheynever thought they could do.Theyare growingasleadersand taking riskslikespeaking in frontofthe entire school or interviewing our principal.”

LINDSAY MAXIE STEAMCoordinator

HarryHurst Middle School

PROVIDED PHOTO

Michael Hackett, right, standswith LSU President Wade Rousse.

LAB ADVA NCED

Blind veteran uses pottery to mentor others

Ukrainian lost his sight in combat, teaches what he learned in rehabilitation

BY HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press

VINNYTSIA, Ukraine — The two burly men stare straight ahead hands intertwined on a pottery wheel, fingers buried in the clay They sense each other’s presence through touch alone

One is a veteran who lost his sight in combat and now teaches other blind veterans. Slowly, a piece resembling a cup takes form

The instructor, Ivan Shostak, 37, said he has made more than 1,000 such pieces but has never seen a single one. The craft came into his life only after he lost his sight during one of Ukraine’s bloodiest and longest battles.

Making plates, cups, mugs, candle holders and other objects helped him find new meaning in a life upended by trauma What began as a rehabilitation exercise has grown into a business and a mentoring practice for veterans and others.

“I have two kids I have to help through life and show by my own example that you have to fight for your life,” Shostak said.

No family

Shostak rejoined the army in the early years of Russia’s full-scale invasion, not joining right away since he wanted to be there for his second son’s birth. He previously fought in eastern Ukraine after the conflict broke out in 2014.

His second tour lasted a few months. While fighting in the battle of Bakhmut in March 2023, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded just above his head. The blast destroyed his eyes Besides blindness, he also had a concussion a traumatic brain injury and displaced vertebrae in the neck.

He said the real ordeal began at home. His wife at the time could not endure it. She left him alone with his new challenges

“There was a family, and after the injury there was no family,” Shostak said. But his parents

FULL CIRCLE

Continued from page 1y

At 76, Luc is frail nearly blind and moves slowly, but he wanted to see family he hasn’t seen in decades — and to visit his father’s grave.

Generations of eldest sons On Lunar New Year, Feb. 17, they gathered at Luc’s father’s grave near the village where the family had lived There, they saw photos of the six generations of eldest sons. For the Vietnamese relatives who had not left, meeting Cole carried a significance that needed no translation.

“My mom is the oldest in her family My dad is the oldest in his family,” Peter said. “Both my grandfathers were the oldest of their families. I’m the oldest of mine. Cole is the next to carry the Pham name to carry on the name and the legacy.”

Two days later, on Cole’s 30th birthday, Peter wrote a short tribute in a blend of English and Vietnamese.

“Cháu ích tôn — the eldest son of the eldest son — entrusted to honor our ancestors and carry our family legacy forward. Six generations of first-born sons in our family from black-and-white photos to today Happy 30th Cole — our cháu ích tôn.” The road to those graves ran through Louisiana. Smurf Village

In October 1975, with Nguyen’s help, the family moved to Louisa, a small community in St. Mary Parish all 15 sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Lafayette. With Nguyen as the priest they lived in buildings on the church’s property, amid the sugar cane fields — a place the children called “Smurf Village.”

“That’s what we were watching, I guess,” Peter said. “The Smurfs lived in a secluded area, and we felt like we lived in a secluded area away from civilization. It was just us, our com-

stayed close, supporting him.

Total darkness

He spent half a year bedridden, dulling the pain with medication. The despair was harder to manage. No pills could ease that.

A fellow soldier home on leave came to his aid, taking him to a local rehabilitation center for people who had lost their sight. Within a month, staff taught him to use a phone and a cane and to handle daily life.

“It turned out you could live even in total darkness,” Shostak said.

One day, he and others from the center were invited to visit a pottery workshop, where he made his first plate. “And after that came the thrill that I could still do something,” he recalled

He began attending classes regularly and later sold his work. He became an instructor after the first “Pottery in the Dark” project, supported by Sweden and the U.N. Development Program, in Vinnytsia in central Ukraine. The program helps veterans who lost their sight, including in the war

Then he launched his business.

Shostak has three others on his team who help him sell his pottery, mostly through his Instagram page. He keeps no strict schedule, working according to his mood in a workshop that his older brother, also a soldier, set up for him in his apartment.

“Clay is that kind of material, and pottery is that kind of work, where if you feel bad, there’s nothing to do here. It won’t come out at all. Everything breaks, comes out crooked,” he said “Only when you feel good, you sit down, you work, and it all turns out great.”

The later stages happen in another workshop, where he gets help with firing and glazing. But he chooses every color himself, guided by his imagination.

Each piece bears the emblem of the air assault forces he served in — a dome, wings and a sword — with the motto “Nobody but us” and his name on the side.

A veteran teaches a veteran Roman Shtohryn, director of the Podillia rehabilitation center in Vinnytsia, said six of the 11 project participants who completed the pottery training already earn an income from it. All but one are

veterans.

“We planned all this so it would turn into a business,” Shtohryn said.

Pottery serves multiple functions, he said. The first is psychological: A person concentrates on something, stops thinking about problems and stays in a kind of flow in the moment. Second, working with clay yields an immediate result.

At the rehabilitation center, Shostak works with fellow veteran Viacheslav Sadovskyi, 47.

“All good? Hands working?” Shostak asked, laughing, before reaching for Sadovskyi’s hands. He guided them toward the wheel.

“There, I can feel it,” said Sadovskyi, who had served in the military since the start of Russia’s invasion. In 2024, a drone exploded near him, damaging the left side of his face and forcing him to undergo five surgeries.

Shostak directed him telling him how to press the clay and from which side, his hands never leaving Sadovskyi’s. “It matters that a veteran teaches a veteran,” the director Shtohryn said. “We’re equals. We understand and support each other.”

munity with the big church surrounded by sugar cane fields.” Luc found work as a welder, earning minimum wage to support a family of five. Layoffs came. “Whatever work came, we did it,” Luc said through Peter’s translation. “Nineteen dollars a week If we didn’t need it, we didn’t buy it. If we did not work, no one would give anything to us.” Sustained by faith Loan woke most mornings at 2:30 a.m. and rode in a van

on wooden benches with a dozen other women to a crab processing plant, where she worked 10- to 12-hour days. She came home with hands raw and cut from crab shells and cooked for her family some days scraping the rice from the bottom of the pot so her children and husband could eat first. Through the years, her Catholic faith sustained her “We believe in God,” Loan said through her son’s translation. “Whatever we do, we pray We pray for what we want. If we want it, we pray

for it.”

In the afternoons, when the children came home after the 45-minute bus ride from Glencoe Elementary in Franklin, Nguyen rang the church bell.

They went straight from the bus into the church.

“We prayed all the time,” Peter said. Eventually he said, he and his younger siblings figured out how to live between Vietnam at home and America at school.

“Somehow through the grace of something — my

mom would say through the grace of God — we picked it up and ran with it,” he said.

From the start of their education, Peter, the oldest of six children, signed his and his siblings’ report cards.

Just before he began high school, his middle brother, Tho, drowned near their home while playing in a canal.

“I remember asking God why He had not taken me instead,” Peter wrote. “I was the oldest.” That next year in high school, he continued to do his best in academics.

But it was football that saved him in many ways.

At 5-foot-7 and 155 pounds playing for Franklin High, he became the shortest and smallest kid on Louisiana’s All-State team.

“It showed me I can do whatever I put my mind to,” he said. “At that time, that was the highest mountain I could climb. I climbed it.”

He graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and became a coach and educator, spending 26 years in schools in Lafayette Parish. He and his wife, Johanna, built REACH, an educational and childcare business that serves nearly 1,000 children each year

Their daughter, Claire, lives in Los Angeles and works in the fashion industry Going home

Luc spent most of the February trip back to Vietnam at his oldest sister’s house in Ho Chi Minh City surrounded by his siblings. He was too tired and too unsteady to travel.

“He was a very tired man going home for what is likely the last time,” Cole said.

Peter and Cole, along with other family and friends who made the trip, went to the beach at Vung Tau, where the family had launched into the dark on April 30, 1975.

Peter stood there and tried to picture that night.

“Visualizing how my parents would have felt that day — that we end up in the darkness, setting sail out there,” Peter said. “It’s the

most courageous thing they could have ever done.”

‘Eating pho in a different place’

Cole said that when he was out and about in Vietnam with his four friends from New York, he was the Vietnamese link.

When he was with his family or on his own, he was the American.

“Vietnam is a place. Being Vietnamese is a feeling,” he said. “If I wasn’t there with my family, it would’ve just felt like I was eating pho in a different place.”

Much in the family still goes unsaid.

Not, Peter said, because the love isn’t there.

Peter is not a man who cries easily, but when considering how his parents’ sacrifice lives in him now, his voice broke.

“They put everything on the line for us to succeed and survive,” he said. “They never told us that every day They just showed us.”

From the five who arrived in 1975 — Luc, Loan and their three children, with nothing but green cards and Social Security numbers — like so many other Vietnamese families in Louisiana, the Phams have grown into something they could not have calculated the night they ran toward the water

All five children graduated from college among them two military veterans, a physicist, a pharmacist, a medical records administrator, a supply chain management director and an educator

Four grandchildren followed. Two are serving in the United States Air Force. Two built careers in Los Angeles and New York.

Peter put it plainly in the note he wrote from Vietnam, on his son’s 30th birthday, in the country he left at 4 and cannot remember:

“This is what happens when parents plant a tree knowing they may never sit in its shade — but believing their children will.” Cháu ích tôn.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS By EVGENIy MALOLETKA

Ivan Shostak, left, a blind Ukrainian war veteran trains his blind comrade Viacheslav Sadovskyi, right, to make a clay plate on a pottery wheel in a workshop at a rehabilitation center in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, on May 21.

Ivan Shostak, left, a blind Ukrainian war veteran, walks down the street with Anastasia Lanina, a UNDP community development officer

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

A wedding photo of Loan Do Pham, top left, taken with her mother-in-law about four years before she left Vietnam with her husband, Luc Joseph Pham, is displayed in a photo album with other photos of the Phams taken over the years in the United States.

SUNDAY, JUNe 21, 2026

CURTIS / by Ray Billingsley

SLYLOCK FOX / by Bob Weber Jr

GET FUZZY / by Darby Conley

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE / by Chris Browne

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM / by Mike Peters

ZIGGY / by Tom Wilson

ZITS / by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

SALLY FORTH / by Francesco Marciuliano & Jim Keefe

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE /byStephan Pastis

directions: Make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row Add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value All the words are in the Official SCRABBLE® Players Dictionary, 5th Edition.

word game

instructions: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

todAY's Word — decrePit: dih-KREPit: Wasted and weakened; impaired by use or wear

Average mark 45 words

Time limit 60 minutes

Can you find 63 or more words in DECREPIT?

ken ken

instructions: 1 -Each rowand each column must contain thenumbers 1through4 (easy) or 1through6 (challenging) without repeating 2 -The numbers within the heavily outlinedboxes, called cages, must combine using thegiven operation (inany order)toproduce the target numbersinthe top-left corners. 3 -Freebies: Fillinthe single-boxcages withthe numberinthe top-left corner

instructions: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 gridwith several given numbers. The object is to placethe numbers 1to 9in theempty squares so that each row,each column and each 3x3 boxcontains the same number only once. The difficultylevel of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

directions: Complete thegridso that numbers 1–132 connect horizontally, vertically or diagonally

Sudoku

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

JeFFrey diTon & KaTie

goren Bridge

Young star

South in today’s deal was Espen Lindqvist, from Norway

Atthetimethisdealwasplayed, he was fresh out of the junior ranks. This deal is from a pairs competition where overtricks are vital. The contract was an easy one. Would there be an overtrick?

Lindqvist won the opening club lead with dummy’s jack, led a diamond to his ace, and led the jack of spades West covered with the queen, dummy won with the ace, and Lindqvist led another spade. East rose with his king to lead the queen and another diamond. Lindqvist ruffed, led a club to the king, and a spade back to his 10.

This was the position:

would simply duck a heart into East. East shed a low club, so Lindqvist cashed the ace of clubs before leading a heart, covering whatever heart West played. East won but had to lead a heart into dummy and Lindqvist made two overtricks. Nicely played!

Lindqvist led the nine of spades and East was stuck for a discard. A heart discard and Lindqvist

Tannah Hirsch welcomes readers’ responses sent in care of this newspaper or to Tribune Content Agency inc., 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, Ny 14207. E-mail responses may be sent to gorenbridge@ aol.com. © 2026 Tribune Content Agency

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Set goals, but be honest with yourself regarding what you can and can’t handle. Don’t hesitate to call in an expert or downsize plans. Pay attention to those you love.

LEO (July 23-Aug 22) Speak and act passionately. Show your concern, and make suggestions. Listen carefully and work as a team player; successwillbeyours.Alittlecharmwill go a long way Learn from experience.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Strive for personal and financial growth. Use yourmemoryandintelligencetooutmaneuver anyone who challenges

you. Consider different applications for your knowledge, experience and physical skills. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Be careful what you share. Someone will be quick to replace what you say with their own interpretation. If you plan to implement change, then oversee every aspect to avoid costly mistakes.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) An open mind will help you understand possibilities. Participating in an event that offers insight and a unique perspective regarding what you can do to help will bring you in contact with someone of interest.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Pay more attention to how you look and feel and to fine print and details surrounding financial obligations, contracts and medical issues. Certain projects will be time-consuming.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) It’s up to you to set high standards and to create opportunities Set your sights on what excites you most, and use your intelligence, connections and energy to outperform anyone who tries to compete with you

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Put your paperwork in order and any unfinished business to rest Lowering stress is a surefire way to improve

health and get back to the best version of yourself.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Participating in conversations and events that bring you in contact with people from different backgrounds will spark your imagination and encourage you to rethink how you want to move forward. ARIES (March 21-April 19) Don’t deny yourself the right to explore, create and find your happy place. Dance to the beat of your own drum while engaging in playful activities that spark your imagination.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Size up your situation and your schedule,

and rearrange your calendar to meet your demands. The plan is to ease stress and tension and to set boundaries with those who eat up your time.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Don’t deny yourself the chance to pick up additional skills to accommodate what you want to pursue. Change begins with you. Take pride in what you do, and reach for the stars.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

1. Canada. 2. Brazil. 3. Ireland.4.Finland. 5. Cuba 6. Spain. 7. Panama. 8. Denmark. 9. Paraguay 10.Bangladesh.11. Netherlands. 12. Madagascar 13. Andorra. 14. Peru. 15. Armenia.

SCORING: 24 to 30 points —congratulations, doctor; 18 to 23 points—honorsgraduate; 13 to 17 points —you’replenty smart, but no grind; 5to12points —you really shouldhit the booksharder;1point to 4points —enroll in remedial courses immediately; 0points who reads thequestions to you?

Saturday's Cryptoquote: Dad is, and always will be,myliving,breathing superhero. —Bindi Irwin

CrosswordAnswers sCrAbble

jeFF mACnelly’sshoe/ by Gary Brookins &Susie MacNelly

FoXtrot/ by BillAmend

/bySteve Kelley&JeffParker