The Acadiana Advocate 07-03-2026

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F r i d ay, J u ly 3, 2026

MURRILL INDICTED Attorney general charged with malfeasance, intimidation

Landry promises pardon ‘as fast as the law allows’

$2.00X

ST. LANDRY PARISH

Board moves to close six schools

Staff to be cut by 30% to close budget gap

BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer

new law to combine the city’s criminal and district clerks of court.

White was tapped to handle the probe after Williams, who was involved in the city leaders’ dispute with Murrill at several turns, recused himself.

A former Orleans Criminal Court judge, White told reporters that the

The St. Landry Parish School Board approved a school consolidation plan Wednesday that will close six schools in the parish, and will result in layoffs for around 30% of district staff.

According to a financial statement given to board members, the plan as implemented is anticipated to save $21 million in the next fiscal year in anticipation of what would otherwise be an $18 million deficit.

The plan, introduced by St. Landry schools Superintendent Milton Batiste III on June 13, was mostly unchanged by the board and was approved in its entirety across a marathon of 17 measures.

Batiste The following changes to school configurations and closures were approved by the board: n Close Grolee Elementary School n Close Northeast Elementary School n Reconfigure Park Vista Elementary School as a pre-K through second grade school n Reconfigure the former site of Opelousas Junior High School as a third through sixth grade school n Close Central Middle School n Reconfigure East Elementary School as a first through third grade school n Reconfigure Glendale Elementary School as a fourth through sixth grade school n Close Krotz Springs Elementary School and reassign its students to various schools in Port Barre n Close Grand Coteau Elementary School and assign its students to either Cankton Elementary School, Leonville Elementary School, Arnaudville Elementary School or Sunset Middle School n Close the Center for Academic Programs n Close Grand Prairie Elementary School Intense debates continued surrounding several agenda items, particularly the closure of Krotz Springs Elementary, which has brought considerable protest from town residents in recent days.

A temporary injunction was issued by the 27th Judicial District Court on Tuesday that prevents the closure of Krotz Springs Elementary until a show cause hearing takes place on July 10. Initially the injunction would have prevented the

ä See MURRILL, page 7A

ä See SCHOOLS, page 5A

Attorney General Liz Murrill answers questions at a news conference on Wednesday.

Special prosecutor Laurie White announces the indictment of Attorney General Liz Murrill outside the Orleans Parish Criminal district Court building on Thursday.

BY JAMES FINN and SAM KARLIN Staff writers

A New Orleans grand jury returned a 16-count felony indictment Thursday against Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, charging her with malfeasance and intimidation, adding criminal allegations to an already-raging legal and political battle between the Republican state official and Democratic local leaders.

The grand jury handed up the indictment at New Orleans’ criminal courthouse after meeting for weeks to weigh bringing criminal charges against Murrill. The attorney general faces eight counts of malfeasance and another eight counts of intimidation.

Former Judge Laurie White, appointed as a special prosecutor in the case, confirmed the charges against Murrill in a news briefing outside the courthouse. Orleans Criminal District Judge Leon Roche issued a

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN BALLANCE

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER warrant for Murrill’s arrest, setting bail at $400,000.

The grand jurors reviewed evidence about whether the state attorney general sought to intimidate local New Orleans public officials, including Mayor Helena Moreno and District Attorney Jason Williams, White confirmed. Murrill told the officials in May that they had imperiled their jobs by pushing back on a

“Louisiana looked at this as a prime opportunity to showcase the Louisiana that people don’t know.”

RACHEL SHIELdS, chief engagement officer for Louisiana Economic development

A showcase for the state

once-in-a-lifetime deal,” Shields Beads, rice and go-cups part of Louisiana’s said. tent at Washington’s Great American State Fair Gov. Jeff Landry visited the

BY MARK BALLARD

ana that people don’t know,” said Rachel Shields, the chief engageStaff writer ment officer for Louisiana EcoWASHINGTON — At the center of the nomic Development, which is in nation’s 250th birthday celebra- charge of the state’s pavilion.

Between handing out tion, the Great American Mardi Gras beads and State Fair on the Nabags of Louisiana rice, tional Mall has endured AMERICA the state is using its spot several rocky days in the festivities to show — including about 10 off all the economic destates not showing up — but that’s going largely velopment opportunities unnoticed at Louisiana’s exhibit. in the state.

“It’s interesting because Louisi“We would hope that every state ana looked at this as a prime op- in the union would take advantage portunity to showcase the Louisi- of that opportunity. It’s kind of a

WEATHER HIGH 92 LOW 76 PAGE 10C

Louisiana exhibition on Tuesday, including filming a segment with Fox News on the grounds.

“Looking forward to a great celebration of American exceptionalism all week long,” he wrote on X, before dropping by.

Described by President Donald Trump as “a giant patriotic festival” at the June 24 opening, crowds have been sparser than at similar events on the National Mall. Visitors who came over the weekend had to hunker down when a violent thunderstorm passed.

STAFF PHOTO By MARK BALLARd

Rachel Shields, the chief engagement officer for Louisiana Economic development, stands in the state’s pavilion at the Great American State ä See SHOWCASE, page 5A Fair on the National Mall last week.

Business ......................6A Commentary ................3B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................4A Living............................5C Opinion ........................2B Comics-Puzzles .....7C-9C Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C

102Nd yEAR, NO. 3

2A ● Friday, July 3, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Olympian indicted over alleged vandalism

WASHINGTON — A former Olympian was indicted Thursday on a felony charge in what President Donald Trump has called vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, where a renovation project he launched has been riddled with problems.

David Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, was indicted on a single count of property destruction in Washington, D.C., court.

District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Hearn ripped up recently installed sealant on the pool in “a deliberate act” that caused more than $1,000 in damage. She accused him of “forcefully and violently” pulling up the bottom liner “with both hands” and acting belligerently toward an employee who told him to stop.

“This is a case with tremendous evidence,” she said, adding that authorities have made about six other misdemeanor arrests.

In a statement, Democracy Defenders Fund co-founder Norm Eisen and Mary Dohrmann, senior counsel at Washington Litigation Group, said that they represented Hearn and that the charges were “outrageous and should be alarming to every American.” Eisen and Dohrmann construed the case as representative of “the misuse of government power against an ordinary citizen based on a concocted narrative.”

Hearn didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment. He previously told The Associated Press that he reached into the pool on June 19 to examine the newly peeled coating. He said he briefly touched a chunk that was still attached to the side of the pool, then let go shortly after a park worker told him to.

Last-minute problem delays satellite rescue CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A rush rescue mission to save a NASA space telescope remains grounded, this time because of a last-minute launch problem.

Northrop Grumman’s rocketlaunching plane took off from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific on Thursday, following weather delays all week. While in flight, the team observed a warning in the stream of data and decided against releasing the Pegasus rocket strapped to the plane’s belly, the company said. It was not immediately clear whether the warning came from the rocket or the plane.

The rocket holds a threearmed robotic spacecraft built

by Katalyst Space Technologies to capture the Swift Observatory, which will come crashing down

by October if no help arrives. No new launch date has been set.

NASA paused Swift’s science operations earlier this year to preserve its orbit as long as possible. It has detected thousands of gamma ray bursts and exploding stars since its launch in 2004, tipping off other telescopes for more detailed observations.

Anxious to continue Swift’s scanning of the universe, the space agency hired Katalyst Space last September for the $30 million salvage operation.

U.N.: Widespread peace deal violations in Congo DAKAR, Senegal — All parties in eastern Congo’s worsening conflict are violating peace terms and committing abuses, U.N. experts said in a report seen by The Associated Press Thursday.

The Congolese army and the M23 rebel group, along with its Rwandan backers, have failed to implement a December peace agreement initiated by the Trump administration that aimed to end the decades-long conflict, the experts said.

They said that the Congolese army continued to cooperate with a Hutu rebel group, known by its acronym FDLR, which includes fighters who participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and escaped to Congo. The government in Kinshasa had promised to cease cooperation as part of the December agreement.

Rwanda has repeatedly sent troops and backed armed groups in eastern Congo, saying it was acting to neutralize Hutu fighters and protect its security. Congo and the U.S. government have accused Rwanda of using the rebels as a pretext to gain access to the region’s mineral wealth.

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Drug proposal could save $1.1B

Administration presents new rule for Medicare patients

BY JOSH BOAK

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is proposing a new rule on Thursday to keep hospitals from charging markups on discounted drugs for Medicare patients and says that could save consumers $1.1 billion next year, according to estimates obtained by The Associated Press.

The rule would apply to hospitals that serve low-income patients under what is known as the 340B program, which lets hospitals buy outpatient prescription drugs at discounted prices. But in many cases, hospitals can bill insurers at rates that exceed those costs, allowing hospitals to keep the difference and resulting in higher costs to patients.

Under the proposed rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would change the for-

mula for what hospitals participating in the program can get reimbursed, in an effort to cut costs for patients.

The Republican administration has sought to show during an election year that it is tackling the challenges of affordability for U.S. families at a time when rising healthcare costs are driving financial strains for households and the government alike. While the administration has taken several steps it says will save money on medical treatment, it is unclear how much savings might ultimately materialize based on the complexity of the country’s healthcare system.

The American Hospital Association said the proposed rule would compound the financial pressures its members face.

“These proposals will undermine the ability of hospitals to maintain essential services and protect af-

fordable access to care for those who depend on the 340B program,” said Ashley Thompson, the group’s senior vice president for public policy analysis and development.

There is the risk that hospital systems could see their revenues decrease, which could have consequences in the communities they serve. The 340B program was initially designed as a way for healthcare providers to stretch scarce federal resources to better serve more patients. But it has long been at the center of a lobbying battle between hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, with each side attempting to enlist lawmakers in maintaining or changing the benefit.

The agency estimates that the average older adult with Medicare Part B coverage who is administered one of these drugs would save $800 a year in co-payments.

That would work out to a total sav-

ings of $1.1 billion for everyone with that coverage.

The savings over 10 years could total about $20 billion, according to a White House official who requested anonymity to discuss the rule before the official announcement. The official said the proposed rule was not previewed for hospital groups before the release.

In a policy draft of the rule, the administration gave a specific example of how the current system works for the prostate cancer drug Lupron Depot. Hospitals under the 340B program can acquire a dose for roughly $700, but they can receive about $4,000 in Medicare reimbursement for administering it and an additional $1,000 from the patient co-payment.

The proposed rule would cut by roughly 40% that amount that hospitals in the discounted drug program could be paid through Medicare programs. If approved, the rule would go into effect at the start of next year.

ICE arrests spike, 10,000 arrested in 5 days in June

BY REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By GHAITH ALSAyEd

Syrian security inspects the site after an explosive device was detonated in a cafe near the main courthouse complex, in damascus, Syria, on Thursday.

Explosive device goes off in cafe in Syria’s capital

lawyers who worked in the neighborhood.

No group immediately Jalal Aljanani, who owns a restaurant claimed responsibility for next door, ran toward the cafe when he the explosion and was horrified by attack that killed at least 9 heard the sight of the bodies on the floor.

BY GHAITH ALSAYED Associated Press

DAMASCUS, Syria — An explosive device was detonated Thursday in a cafe in the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing at least nine people, Syria’s Health Ministry said.

The explosion near the main courthouse complex left 20 others wounded, the ministry said as reported by Syria’s state-run Al-Ikhbariya network.

No group immediately claimed responsibility. Security forces rushed to the cafe and cordoned off the area as they investigate the attack.

The Interior Ministry is set to announce its initial findings soon, said Damascus Gov. Maher Idlibi. Idlibi said the device appeared “primitive” and vowed that the perpetrators will be held to account.

A video circulating on social media showed several wounded people lying on the ground, with police officers nearby.

Ambulances later rushed to the scene treating people on site and taking the more severely wounded to hospitals in the Syrian capital. The cafe was frequented by

“We carried the victims to the cars until the traffic police arrived,” he told The Associated Press, his shirt covered in blood. “Many of them had suffered severe impact injuries, and almost all of them were bleeding.”

Since overthrowing the Assad dynasty and taking power in a lightning insurgency in December 2024, Syria’s new rulers have cracked down on militants from the extremist Islamic State group in an attempt to thwart attacks in and around the capital.

During the uprising-turned war in Syria that began in 2011, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa led the Hayat Tahrir al Sham group, formerly affiliated with al-Qaida, but since coming to power has vowed to protect Syrians of all backgrounds, especially religious and ethnic minorities.

Al-Sharaa has reasserted the government’s full authority across the vast majority of the country, wresting control back from extremist groups or Kurdishled forces. However, he still contends with security concerns as he tries to stabilize the country.

Carney says northern British Columbia tanker ban will stay ing Canada. Getting a pipeline built would Canada pursues pipeline alleviate some separatist sentiment. from Alberta to Pacific Coast British Columbia and some First Na-

BY ROB GILLIES Associated Press

TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that a proposed pipeline to carry Alberta oil to the Pacific Coast would preserve a longstanding ban on oil tankers off northern British Columbia, as his government addresses environmental concerns and seeks to ease separatist tensions in oil-rich Alberta.

Carney’s government has made expanding pipeline capacity to the Pacific a priority as it seeks to diversify Canada’s oil exports beyond the U.S. market while responding to long-standing complaints in Alberta that his predecessor hindered the province’s energy industry and fueled separatist sentiment.

Alberta is holding a public vote in the fall on whether to hold a referendum on leav-

tions are against a pipeline through northern British Columbia.

“The tanker ban will remain in place.

We will be protecting the northern coast of British Columbia,” Carney said.

Carney also said Thursday he will compensate British Columbia for environmental risks if a pipeline is built in the southern part of the province.

A previous memorandum of understanding Ottawa and Alberta included an adjustment of an oil tanker ban off parts of the British Columbia coast, but British Columbia Premier David Eby also said Thursday he secured a commitment to keep the northern tanker ban in place, protecting the province’s pristine northern coast.

Carney has set a goal for Canada to double its non-U.S. exports in the next decade and has said a pipeline can reduce the price discount on current oil sales to U.S. markets.

WASHINGTON — Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 10,000 people over a five-day period at the end of June, marking a major push by the agency tasked with carrying out the Trump administration’s mass deportations agenda.

The arrest numbers, obtained from a person familiar with the information who spoke anonymously to discuss data that has not been publicly released, comes after the agency shifted its approach from high-profile arrest sweeps in major American cities to quieter ways to reach President Donald Trump’s deportation goals.

The figures indicate that while the administration is no longer cracking down on individual cities, the arrests continue and are surging.

The total number of arrests during the five-day period starting Friday and

ending Tuesday translates into roughly 2,000 arrests per day. It was not clear where the arrests had taken place.

The spike in arrests was first reported by The New York Times.

“Since Day One, DHS law enforcement has been delivering on President Trump’s promise to the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists,” said the Department of Homeland Security in a statement. “Our message is clear: if you come to our country illegally, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will deport you.”

The arrests news also comes as the number of people entered into ICE detention facilities climbed in June to roughly 39,000 after hovering around 30,000 per month since February, according to information obtained by The Associated Press.

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Teams in Venezuela cling to Iran warns oil tankers hope after miraculous rescue to use approved routes in Strait of Hormuz

Emergency workers celebrate rescue of security guard

Ships could face a ‘forceful response’

BY JON GAMBRELL and DAVID MCHUGH

BY REGINA GARCIA CANO, MEGAN JANETSKY and FERNANDA PESCE

Associated Press

Associated Press

CATIA LA MAR,Venezuela — The stench of decomposing bodies hung heavy over streets of flattened buildings Thursday as rescue missions to find survivors of Venezuela’s devastating earthquakes increasingly turned to the recovery of corpses.

Desperate for good news, Venezuelan and international emergency workers celebrated the nearmiraculous rescue of a 43-year-old security guard found alive after almost eight days under the rubble.

National broadcasters reran footage all day of the exuberant moment he was pried free from the collapsed mall and lifted onto a stretcher as crowds, including rescuers from 10 countries, embraced one another and cheered.

Trapped in an air pocket beneath the concrete, Hernán Alberto Gil Flores survived on the food and water that rescuers managed to pass him through the crevices.

But elsewhere across the hardest-hit state of La Guaira, where thousands remain missing, an air of hopelessness was setting in. The port city of Catia La Mar teemed with officials carrying body bags and stacking caskets.

The government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez, whose response to the earthquake has been widely criticized as slow and disorganized, has counted at least 2,295 people killed by the earthquake and more than 11,000 injured.

With thousands sleeping in crowded shelters or outside, doctors have voiced concern that the fallout could pave the way for a widening medical crisis of untreated injuries and infectious diseases in a healthcare system already on the brink.

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By MATIAS dELACROIX

Rescue workers sort humanitarian aid for earthquake survivors in La Guaira, Venezuela, on Thursday. forts, Rodríguez sought to defend the government response a day before the extension of her 180-day mandate as acting leader was set to expire. Rodríguez served as deputy to former President Nicolás Maduro until he was ousted by the United States in January. She became interim leader with the backing of the Trump administration.

With little transparency by Venezuelan officials, it was unclear what would happen once the deadline passes on Friday.

Under Venezuela’s constitution, temporary absences are to be filled by the vice president — which was Rodríguez’s former role — for up to 90 days. These interim appointments can be extended by the national assembly for an additional 90 days.

The Venezuelan leader has strong support from lawmakers and the Trump administration. The National Assembly, controlled by Rodríguez’s party, can trigger a snap election if lawmakers declare the post permanently vacant.

U.S. support under fire

Since the U.S. capture of Maduro, the Trump administration has expanded its role in Venezuelan affairs — a seismic shift in relations between the long-adversarial nations.

Uncertainty over leadership The U.S. has thrown support beFaced with complaints that for- hind Rodríguez and largely turned eign crews and civilians have its back on opposition leader and shouldered most of the rescue ef- Nobel Peace Prize winner María

Corina Machado, who this week accused Rodríguez’s government of blocking her return to her country.

Washington has also sought to remake Venezuela’s lucrative energy industry and opened the door for Venezuela’s state oil company to sell fuel to U.S. companies.

John M. Barrett, the U.S. chargé d’affaires to Venezuela, said Wednesday that revenue from Venezuelan oil production, controlled by the U.S. Treasury since Maduro’s seizure, is also being made available for relief efforts.

While the U.S. has committed over $300 million in assistance to the response, the State and Treasury Department teams were working “to make sure that those funds are made available for this specific reconstruction effort, including for shelter, sanitation, health and energy generation,” Barrett said. Venezuela’s oil and gas production was not directly impacted by the earthquakes, he added, and said production continues to increase.

Oversight of where that money flows is crucial, said Laura Cristina Dib, Venezuela program director at the independent human rights organization Washington Office on Latin America.

When asked about growing criticism over the Venezuelan government’s relief efforts, U.S. officials have been vocal in their support for Rodríguez.

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — Iran’s joint military command warned Thursday that all oil tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz must use its approved routes or face a “forceful response,” ratcheting up tensions again over a waterway crucial for international energy supplies.

The strait, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, has emerged as one of the top issues in negotiations seeking a permanent end to the Iran war. The statement from the Khatam al-Anbiya military command, reported by Iranian state television, comes after both U.S. and Iranian diplomats met with mediators Wednesday in Qatar.

Iran is preparing for the funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the war’s first moments in February. On Thursday night, Iranian state media broadcast images of what it said was the casket with Khamenei’s remains arriving at the Imam Khomeini Hussainiya, for the farewell ceremony.

Hundreds were seen in the footage, praying and grieving near the casket covered with a green cloth.

The weeklong official funeral is expected to start on Saturday.

It wasn’t clear what sparked Iran’s warning Thursday about oil tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz. However, the U.S. military’s Central Command had put out a statement about a meeting with officials from Mideast nations in Bahrain that said “leaders underscored their shared commitment to the free flow of commerce through” the strait.

That could have been the phrase that angered Iran.

“Any failure to comply, deviation from the designated route, or disregard for the navigation protocols of the Islamic Republic

of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz will be met with an immediate and forceful response from the armed forces, endangering the security of the violating vessels,” the Iranian statement said.

It also said that interference

by U.S. forces in the strait “will be met with a rapid and decisive reaction.”

Iran and the United States agreed as part of an interim deal to allow ships to pass without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran insisted it must control the routes of the vessels and later charge fees for passage, upending decades of practice in the waterway.

The U.S. and many Gulf Arab states say they won’t agree to Iran charging for passage through the strait. An effort by Oman and a United Nations agency to launch a new route near Oman’s shore sparked attacks across the Mideast last weekend, highlighting the tensions.

Despite the attacks, ship traffic in the strait continued to rebound.

At least 258 ships transited the waterway last week, a period that included Iranian strikes on two commercial vessels, according to marine data and analysis company Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

That’s up from 138 ships the previous week.

Iran’s attacks on June 25 and 27 “seem to have been forgotten,” Richard Meade, editor-in-chief at Lloyd’s, said Thursday during a webinar.

Traffic in the strait has slowed somewhat since the strikes and remains far below levels seen before the war, when about 130 vessels passed through daily.

And with ship operators having to choose between complying with Iran’s demands or braving the route off Oman watched by U.S. forces, “nothing about this situation is stable,” Meade said.

“Routes are being chosen on an hour-by-hour basis ... and they are contingent on shifting political approvals and real-time security assessments,” he said. “This is not the new normal.”

Researchers launch study on Ebola treatments as outbreak worsens to also receive remdesivir, MBP134, both or neither, said WHO research adviser Dr. Vasee Moorthy. Survival will be tracked for 28 days after starting treatment.

It could take months and possibly as many as 1,000 study participants to tell if either drug works, Moorthy cautioned, explaining that scientists could tell more quickly, and with fewer patients, if one or the other turns out to be highly effective.

Currently the study is being offered only in one Ebola treatment center in Congo’s Ituri province. The region has been hit hard by violence, including toward healthcare workers trying to fight a virus spread by contact with sick patients’ bodily fluids. Officials plan to expand to other locations once it is safe to do so.

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Researchers began a highly anticipated study of two possible Ebola treatments on Thursday in hopes of fighting the still-growing outbreak in eastern Congo, as the World Health Organization announced the enrollment of the first participant.

The virus causing this outbreak, called Bundibugyo, is less common than others that cause Ebola disease and there are no specific treatments or vaccines for it. Already more than 1,400 people have been diagnosed and 438 have died, WHO DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday.

Standard supportive care, especially if started early, can help and the WHO says more than 200 people have

recovered. But there’s an urgent need for better options.

The trial “offers real hope that we can deliver concrete results for – and with – the communities at the heart of the outbreak,” Tedros said in a statement.

Researchers will be testing if two drugs could improve survival. One is Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir, a broad-acting antiviral approved to treat COVID-19 but that has shown some hints in lab tests that it may help fight the currently spreading virus. The other is Mapp Biopharmaceutical’s experimental MBP134, antibodies engineered to target Ebola viruses including Bundibugyo.

All patients enrolled in the trial would receive today’s best standard care and be randomly assigned

AP P

EN

AP medical writer

SCAN

BY LAURAN NEERGAARD

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separatists Republicans revive communist attacks Papua claim to have Trump, party issue warnings against democrats ahead of midterms

President donald Trump leaves the stage after speaking at the Burning Hills Amphitheater during the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opening ceremony on Wednesday.

BY STEVEN SLOAN Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans are reviving a line of attack against Democrats heading into the midterm elections: They’re communists.

In just the past week, Trump has issued dark warnings that members of the Democratic Party’s ascendant left are communists who want to “completely destroy the traditional American way of life” and even engage in assassinations. Vice President JD Vance has similarly called out communism as a political shift that is “something we haven’t seen in the U.S.” House Speaker Mike Johnson has decried “radical candidates” who are “self-described, self-identifying Marxists.”

The GOP’s ideological focus conflates democratic socialism, which often centers on securing universal healthcare, higher taxes on the wealthy and stricter corporate regulation, with communism, under which private ownership is largely eliminated. It has been building since Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, won the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor last year.

But it’s kicked into a higher gear recently after democratic socialists won several New York City congressional primaries last week.

The primary victory on Tuesday by another democratic socialist, Melat Kiros, for a Denver congressional seat suggested the trend may extend beyond Manhattan liberalism.

“The Democrats are making this easy for us,” Rep. Richard Hud-

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By MATT ROURKE son, the North Carolina Republican who leads the House GOP’s strategy and fundraising arm, said in an interview. “They’re nominating extreme liberals, leftists who are out of touch even with mainstream Democrats.”

Republicans hold slim majorities The messaging effort comes as Republicans scramble to hold onto threadbare congressional majorities in the November midterms. It risks overlooking public frustration, particularly among younger voters, with unfettered capitalism at a time of growing income inequality and rising costs.

But it also gives Republicans a much-needed opportunity to shift the conversation back to territory that is more comfortable for them after their party has spent much of the year on defense over the fallout from Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran, which contributed to widespread price spikes.

Ralph Reed, the longtime conservative activist who hosted Trump last week at a Faith and Freedom Coalition conference, acknowledged that Republicans are facing steep headwinds this year. But the

recent string of wins by democratic socialists, he said, allows Republicans to present a contrast between “common sense and crazy.”

Democrats uncertain The renewed push could tug at tensions among Democrats who are largely united in their loathing of Trump but are divided over the party’s direction. This year’s primaries are shaping up as a referendum between centrists who are eager to course correct from what they see as progressive overreach earlier in the decade and a left-wing pushing for even more sweeping change.

“A lot of this anger has been boiling under the surface,” said Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, which was founded by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats.

“It’s coming to the fore in this moment in a very powerful way.”

But Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a centrist New Jersey Democrat, called the victories in Colorado and New York “aberrations.”

“We’ve got to fight like hell to keep our party from being hijacked by socialists,” he said.

Schismatic leaders excommunicated

ing SSPX bishops who parVatican warns ticipated in the ceremony. It declared the consecrations a followers of act” and that the traditionalist society “schismatic society itself had created a

BY NICOLE WINFIELD and JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican responded aggressively Thursday to a traditionalist group that consecrated bishops without the pope’s consent, declaring the Society of St. Pius X had formally broken with the Catholic Church. It excommunicated its bishops and priests, and warned its faithful that they too face the harshest sanctions in the church.

By declaring a schism and extending excommunications to potentially thousands of Catholics, the Vatican’s doctrine office went above and beyond the minimum sanctions foreseen by the church’s canon law to respond to the consecrations Wednesday of four new bishops.

The society, known by its acronym SSPX, celebrates the ancient Latin Mass and opposes the modernizing reforms of the Catholic Church, which it considers to be rife with heresies and errors. While a fringe movement on the Catholic right, the SSPX has been a thorn in the Vatican’s side for five decades because it claims to be even more Catholic than the Holy See. During a ritual-filled, fivehour Mass on Wednesday at its seminary in Econe, Switzerland, the SSPX consecrated four new bishops in direct defiance of Leo, who had urged the group to hold off for the sake of church unity. An estimated 15,500 people and their children attended, a sign that the SSPX has plenty of supporters who came from around the world knowing full well they were defying Rome.

The harshness of the response suggested that after trying to negotiate with the SSPX, the Vatican under Pope Leo XIV had had enough.

In a decree, the Vatican excommunicated the four new bishops and the two exist-

schism, or intentional rupture with the church.

It declared SSPX priests — who number about 750 — to be schismatic, and therefore excommunicated, and invalidated the sacraments of confession and marriage that they administer. The Vatican warned the faithful to stop going to SSPX Masses, decreeing that “those who adhere formally” to the society are schismatic and excommunicated.

The Vatican said that applied to people who are members of the SSPX lay branch and those who “regularly attend” SSPX Masses and formally share its doctrinal positions. The sanctions don’t apply to Catholic faithful who attend SSPX Masses “just for liturgical or spiritual reasons” or those who go but accept the pope’s authority and teaching.

The SSPX doesn’t have an exact count but estimates around 400,000-600,000 people attend its Masses, meaning Thursday’s decree could potentially involve the excommunications of thousands of rank-and-file SSPX faithful.

The sanctions, especially those targeting the priests, the faithful and the sacraments they can receive, were particularly harsh and reversed concessions the Vatican had granted the SSPX in recent years as part of its outreach to bring the group back under Rome’s wing.

Marc-André Mabillard, media manager for the society, expressed shock at the severity of the sanctions and called them “unjust.”

“For us, this excommunication extended to the faithful is brutal. It’s not what we expect from a father to whom we refer every day,” he told The Associated Press. “We are told, ‘You claim to have the truth.’ Fine. I’m just saying that we certainly have our flaws, but our main flaw today is having a leader who doesn’t want to communicate with us. And that’s terrible.”

shot a U.S. pilot

“Most of them are bomb throwers, not problem solvers.”

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford easily dispatched a more progressive rival earlier this year in his Democratic bid for governor in a state Trump carried in 2024. As he eyes a general election challenge to Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, he insisted candidates like those who won in New York don’t represent all Democrats.

He said the Democratic Socialists of America “is not the face of our party.”

Rep. Suzan DelBene, a Washington Democrat who chairs the House Democratic campaign committee, said in a statement that Republicans were “resorting to desperate attacks that aren’t actually about the pocketbook issues.”

BY NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia — A Papua separatist group said Thursday it shot dead an American pilot who allegedly transported Indonesian troops into the restive province.

A spokesman for the West Papua Liberation Army, or TPNPB, said its fighters fatally shot Nicholas F. Goselin and set fire to an aircraft operated by PT AMA, an Indonesian airline, in Balinggama village.

The plane was carrying one pilot and seven passengers, Indonesia’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said. After the pilot reported that the aircraft had landed, communications with personnel at the airstrip were subsequently lost, the ministry said in a statement.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy.

A decades-old insurgency in impoverished Papua between Indigenous Papuans and Indonesian security forces has spiked in the past year, with dozens of rebels, security forces and civilians killed.

The rebels have especially targeted foreign pilots.

The Indonesian military denied that the plane was used to carry troops. Those on board were seven indigenous Papuan civilians, including three women. They were unharmed, the military said.

An evacuation team attempted to reach the site on Thursday but turned back because of poor weather, military spokesman Lt. Col. Wirya Artadiguna said. Authorities plan to try again on Friday morning.

Papua police said they were still working to verify the condition of the pilot and the seven passengers.

Rebel spokesman Sebby Sambom said the aircraft violated their ban on civilian flights in areas the separatist group considers its operational zones.

Trump risks overreaching Trump and fellow Republicans risk missing the mark when the public’s embrace of capitalism might not be as strong as it was decades ago.

About half of U.S. adults, 54%, have a positive view of capitalism, according to an August poll from Gallup, a slight decline from 61% in 2010. Democrats have driven some of the shift, but favorable opinions of capitalism have fallen among independents as well.

Only 42% of Democrats viewed capitalism favorably, while 66% had a positive view of socialism.

The poll found that both younger and older Democrats have warmed slightly on socialism since 2010, but Democrats under age 50 are much less likely to view capitalism favorably. Democrats age 50 or older didn’t shift meaningfully.

“Young voters, who I would argue are driving a lot of the electoral energy that we’re seeing, came of age politically in a post-Soviet world,” Geevarghese said. “The attacks don’t land in the same way when Donald Trump was politically of age.”

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Public Notices Bids/Proposals

PUBLIC NOTICE --Advertisement for Re‐ quest for Proposal Notice is hereby given that a sealed Request for Proposal (RFP) will be re‐ ceived by the Lafayette Parish School System Purchasing Department at 202 Rue located Iberville, Lafayette, LA 70508 or electronically via www.centerlinebidco nnect.com until 10:30 a.m. CST on July 14, 2026.

Proposals received after this time will not be con‐ sidered. Delivery to any department other than the Purchasing Depart‐ ment is unacceptable and may result in the proposal not being con‐ sidered.

Sealed proposals shall be clearly marked with the Proposer’s Name and Ad‐ dress, along with the fol‐ lowing: Fuel Management System for School District Bus Fleet RFP# 05-27 Proposal Opening Deadline: July 14, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. CST

LPSS intends to award an initial three-year (3) con‐ tract, with the option to renew for up to two (2) additional one-year peri‐ ods upon mutual agree‐ ment of both parties.

Complete Proposal Docu‐ ments may be obtained without charge and with‐ out deposit from www. centerlinebidconnect. com. All electronic pro‐ posals shall be uploaded by the due date and time stated above. Questions about this procedure should be directed to: 504Centerline-Phone: 291-5738, email bidcon‐ nect@centerline.co. will i

p available beginning June 26, 2026.

The Lafayette Parish School System strongly encourages the partici‐ pation of minority-owned and small business en‐ terprises.

The Lafayette Parish School System reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and to waive any informalities or irregularities in the pro‐ posals received, when such action is deemed to be in the best interest of the School System.

Lafayette Parish School System Kristie Sam, Purchasing and Procurement Coordinator Advertisement Dates: June 26, 2026 July 3, 2026 192515-jun 26-jul 3-2t $48.10

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PUBLIC NOTICE ---

The Lafayette Parish School System (LPSS) is soliciting proposals from qualified firms to provide a comprehensive fuel supply and fuel manage‐ ment solution for the Dis‐ transportation trict’s which includes fleet, school buses and sup‐ port vehicles.

Specifications il bl b i

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

be

LEGAL NOTICE NOTICE OF INTENTION FOR A PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE NO. 5142026 DECLARING IMMOV‐ ABLE SURPLUS PROPERTY AND AUTHORIZING DIS‐ POSITION OF SUCH PROP‐ ERTY WHEREAS, La. R.S. 33:4712 authorizes any political subdivision of the state to sell immov‐ able surplus property at public auction or by other methods provided by law for such sales; and WHEREAS, the governing authority believes the described property below is surplus prop‐ erty, that is not useful or needed for a public pur‐ pose; and WHEREAS, said property is more particularly de‐ scribed as follows: A certain lot or parcel of ground, together with all buildings and improve‐ ments thereon, and all of the rights, ways, privi‐ leges, servitudes, appur‐ tenances and advan‐ tages thereunto belong‐ ing or in anywise apper‐ taining situated in Sec‐ tion 17, Township 11 South, Range 5 East, i h f f

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g Parish of Lafayette, State of Louisiana, in that sub‐ division known as SUG‐ ARLAND ESTATES SUBDI‐ VISION and being more particularly described on the official map of said subdivision dated No‐ 29, 2006, vember recorded in Entry # 2007in the official 6562 records of the Parish of State of Lafayette, Louisiana as Lot Number 87, said subdivision, and said lot having such measurements and di‐ mensions as indicated on said map. Said lot being subject to such servitudes and restric‐ tions as are of record in the office of the Clerk and Recorder for the Parish of Lafayette, State of Louisiana.

Being the same property acquired by the City of Youngsville by Sheriff and Sale/Adjudication recorded in the records the Parish of for Lafayette under entry number 2011-00022231.

LOCATED AT 225 TALL OAKS LANE WHEREAS, an appraisal of the property was con‐ ducted by Associated Appraisers, Ltd. certifica‐ tion #G0861, on May 11, 2026, and the appraisal returned a fair market value of $38,000 for the property; and WHEREAS, the property will be listed for sale in accordance with the pro‐ visions of R.S. 33:4712.12; and WHEREAS, this ordinance was introduced by coun‐ cilmembers Matt Romero and Shannon Bares in lawful session of the governing authority on June 11, 2026.

THE GOVERNING AU‐ THORITY WILL MEET ON THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2026 AT 6:00 PM, IN THE COUN‐ CIL CHAMBERS LOCATED AT 201 IBERIA STREET, YOUNGSVILLE, LA, AT WHICH TIME A PUBLIC HEARING WILL BE HELD. 191718-JUN 19-26-JUL 3-3T $110.89 PUBLIC NOTICES --HEARING EXAMINER AGENDA JULY 10, 2026 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING AUDITORIUM 220 WEST WILLOW STREET, BUILDING B 8:30 A.M. I. Call to Order & Introduction / Morgan Hart

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II. Development Review 1. Hearing Review No. 2025-141-HE Proposed Plat Name: A Portion of Tract 4, George F. Dupuis, Sr. & Dr. Clarence J. Saloom, Vir‐ ginia Hills Subdivision, Lots 4-E & 4-F Plat Location: 200 Blk of Virginia Ave. & 300 Blk of Perkins Dr Jurisdiction: City of Lafayette Proposed Use: Residential Surveyor: Paul Briley 2. Hearing Review No. 2026-52-HE Proposed Plat Name: Patsy Guidry Begnaud Estate, Parcel 1-A & 1-B Plat Location: 2809 LA 93 Jurisdiction: Parish of Lafayette Proposed Use: Residential Surveyor: Paul Briley 3. Hearing Review No. 2026-53-HE Proposed Plat Name: Tammie & Glenn Harrington, Tract 1 Plat Location: 306 McCall Road Jurisdiction: Parish of Lafayette Proposed Use: Residential Surveyor: Devon Richard 4. Hearing Review No. 2026-54-HE Proposed Plat Name: Louis Provost Subdivision, Lot 31-A Plat Location: 100 Block of Charles St Jurisdiction: Parish of Lafayette Proposed Use: Residential Surveyor: Andre Montagnet 5. Hearing Review No. 2026-55-HE Proposed Plat Name: Verna Mae Trahan (2) Plat Location: 1221 Dugas Rd Jurisdiction: Parish of Lafayette Proposed Use: Residential Surveyor: Michael J. Breaux 6. Hearing Review No. 2026-56-HE Proposed Plat Name: CKE, Inc., Tract 1 Plat Location: 5000 Blk N University Ave Jurisdiction: Parish of Lafayette Proposed Use: Commercial Surveyor: Andre Montagnet 7. Hearing Review No. 2026-57-HE Proposed Plat Name: Three Oaks Place Plat Location: 325 W. Farrel Road Jurisdiction: City of Lafayette Proposed Use: id i l

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p Residential Surveyor: Terry Ortego 8. Hearing Review No. 2026-58-HE Proposed Plat Name: Donald Laughlin Lots 11, 12, & 13 Plat Location: 900 Block of Rue Bon Secours Jurisdiction: Parish of Lafayette Proposed Use: Residential Surveyor: Craig Spikes III. Adjourn 193035 July 3, 2026 1t $34.06

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PUBLIC NOTICE --THE FOLLOWING DEVEL‐ OPMENTS ARE PROPOSED FOR REVIEW BY THE LAFAYETTE PARISH PLANNING COMMISSION ON JULY 13, 2026 5:00 P.M. 220 WEST WILLOW STREET BUILDING B CDP AUDITORIUM HEARING EXAMINER RATIFICATIONS Dale Joseph Denais, Lot 2A1-A Donald Landry, Tract 3 Louis Edgar Connolly, Plots 1D-1 & 1D-2 Pat Richard Estates, Lot A-4-2 Ty Latiolais, Lot 1 Oak & Iron LLC, Lots 1, 2, &3 Joseph Ray Alleman, Lots 1, 2, & 3 Angela Broussard Martin, Lot 1 Lewis, Emery Estate Lots 10-A & 10-B Lennis Broussard Estate, Lot 3 Stacey Jerome Albert & Timothy James Albert Tracts 1-B-1 & 1-B-2 Pierre D. Trahan Plot 8-B1 NEW DEVELOPMENTS 1. 2026-37-PC: Cynthia Marie Anderson Brous‐ sard Tract B-4 Plat Location: 200 Blk of Bab Rd, Lafayette Parish Proposed Use: 1 Residen‐ tial Lot Surveyor: Shawn MacMe‐ namin 2. 2026-38-PC: Freddie J Mouton Lot 3-A Plat Location: 300 Blk of Schoeffler Rd, Lafayette Parish Proposed Use: 1 Residen‐ tial Lot Surveyor: Shawn MacMe‐ i

y namin 3. 2026-39-PC: Fox Hollow Plat Location: 1600 Blk of Rd, Lafayette Guilliot Parish Proposed Use: 91 Resi‐ dential Lots Surveyor: Travis Laurent 4.

2026-41-PC: Milton Commons Plat Location: 600 Blk of Rd, Lafayette Picard Parish Proposed Use: 180 Resi‐ dential Lots Surveyor: Terry Ortego 5. 2026-42-PC: Beau Sa‐ vanne Phase 4 Plat Location: 200 & 300 Blk of Sun Vista Ln, Lafayette Parish Proposed Use: 77 Resi‐ dential Lots Surveyor: Adam Meche 6. 2026-43-PC: Seth John Menard & Bridgett Renee Menard Tracts A, B, C & D Plat Location: 300 & 400 Blk Dillon Rd, Lafayette Parish Proposed Use: 4 Residen‐ tial Lots Surveyor: Blake Belaire 1-YEAR EXTENSION RE‐ QUEST Monte Estates, Lots 1-5 (REVISED PLAT) (2024-28PC) VARIANCE REQUEST 111 Saint Blaise Ln (20264-PCV) 109 Saint Blaise Ln (20265-PCV) HEARING EXAMINER AP‐ PEAL Joseph Ray Alleman, Lots 5-D-1, 5-D-2, & 5-D-3 (2026-1-HAPL) PLAT VACATION Louis Provost Subdivision Lots 31 & 32 (2026-5-VAC) OTHER BUSINESS 1. Announcements FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT 291-8000 192993-JUL 3-1T $27.66

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SHOWCASE

have swag. Michigan handed out little boxes of cereal. Tennessee had gourmet crackers. Louisiana handed out pound bags of rice and plastic cups that fill kitchen cabinets across the state, but are rare in Washington and points north.

Continued from page 1A Electrical problems kept the Ferris wheel from operating full time. Ice cream supplies melted.

A main sponsor withdrew when an image of the Confederate flag was displayed at the North Carolina exhibit, which is privately funded.

North Carolina is one of 10 state governments that declined to participate, citing high costs — between $100,000 and $500,000, according to news reports when the states dropped out.

Before the fair opened, about half the musical acts withdrew upon learning the event was part of Freedom 250, a public-private partnership with the Trump administration that sidelined the federal government’s organizers.

The Great American State Fair is about 10 blocks long between the Capitol and the Washington Monument, surrounded by tall fences with tight security screening of visitors.

Don’t think deep-fried Oreos, meat on a stick, and jambalaya that are ubiquitous at the Louisiana state fairs taking place in Baton Rouge and Shreveport.

There is a small pen for a minirodeo, corn dogs and plenty of merch available. In the middle of the event is a Ferris wheel and a mockup of the controversial arch that Trump wants to build between the Lincoln Memorial and the gates of Arlington National Cemetery.

But the centerpiece of the fair is exhibits where states tout their culture and hometown heroes.

Louisiana in 1776

STAFF PHOTO By MARK BALLARd

Guests at Louisiana’s exhibit at the Great American State Fair are greeted by a Mardi Gras parade figure.

Gras tribe, said he presented a lecture at the pavilion Saturday explaining the elaborate costumes that combine African and Native American traditions. He displayed a queen’s suit to illustrate his talk.

Chief Zulu said crowds circulated through the pavilion as he spoke. Many audience members paused to listen to his talk and lingered afterward to ask questions.

Some already had knowledge of the masking culture, but not its complexities, he said.

“A lot of people know it’s part of Mardi Gras,” he said. “But the presentation clarified a lot of things Mardi Gras vibes for them.”

Chief Zulu said he was told 4,000 Visitors entering the Louisiana booth received beads and were people passed through the Louisigreeted by a bust that usually ana pavilion on one day. would be on a Mardi Gras float.

Shields says the exhibit is really Shaka Zulu, Big Chief of the focused on economic development Golden Feather Hunters Mardi opportunities. About 80 companies

SCHOOLS

Continued from page 1A board from taking any action toward closure of the school as well. However, the injunction was modified following a request by the school district.

The injunction was requested by the town of Krotz Springs, and was issued on the grounds that residents in Krotz Springs were not properly informed of the June 13 retreat where the plan was first introduced.

Residents of Krotz Springs in attendance expressed their intention to seek a charter school should the school close, including the town’s mayor, Carroll Snyder.

“We will continue to support our school, and that includes preparing to go down the charter school route, which we have discussed.

If the board isn’t willing to fund it, I would request they release it to us so that we can move forward on our own,” Snyder said.

The board ultimately voted in favor of the measure to close it by a margin of 8-4.

Other school closures around which discussion heavily centered included Grand Prairie Elementary School, which saw several alternatives floated in prior meetings.

During a committee of the whole on June 23, which was

a meeting of the full board without the superintendent present, the board voted to recommend keeping Grand Prairie open for an additional year as Plaisance Elementary School does not have adequate space to house pre-K students.

Council member Tiffany Lyons encouraged the board to reject the recommendation during the Wednesday meeting, saying, “It doesn’t make financial sense to keep the school open just for pre-K.” The vote to keep the school open for an additional year failed with five yes votes, six no votes and an abstention.

The following motion, to close Grand Prairie as per the original plan, passed by a vote of 7-5, with Raymond Cassimere, Bianca Vedell, Renee Aymond, Kyle Boss and Timmakah Hardy opposing it.

Additionally, Boss was unsuccessful in an attempt to secure a similar arrangement for Grand Coteau Elementary School. He proposed keeping the school open for an additional year in order to redraw district lines. Boss argued that due to the overlapping districts for elementary, middle and high schools, closure of Grand Coteau would cause some students to make much longer commutes than necessary.

The consolidated plan also called for a reduction in force of approximately 474 employees, or about 30% of

were represented in the booth, Shields said. “Every corner of the state is represented over these 16 days in their spirits and in their products,” she added.

About 50 volunteers from private businesses, trade associations and state government agencies are manning the booth — only a half a dozen at a time, the space isn’t that large — throughout the event’s run, which ends July 10.

Lanier Thibodeaux, of the North Louisiana Economic Partnership in Shreveport, helped tourists take selfies in front of the presentations. Harrison Crabtree, from the World Trade Center in New Orleans, chatted up visitors while handing out swag.

“Louisiana has a tremendous amount of opportunity right now; a tremendous amount of momentum when we think about infra-

the workforce.

In a financial document that outlined the anticipated savings, some board members raised concerns about the way in which staffing decreases were reflected in cost savings. Aymond pointed out that Eunice High School was expected to lose only four staff members yet was anticipated to reduce salary costs by roughly $1.2 million The Acadiana Advocate was able to verify with St. Landry Parish schools that the total staff reduction for Eunice High was incorrectly stated in the document, but that the reflected cost savings of $1.2 million remains correct.

The sharp decreases across the board places many schools at the maximum allowed student-toteacher ratios depending on grade level, and could pose future issues if student growth becomes a factor.

The board approved a slate of changes to the district’s reduction in force policy, which evaluates employees considered for layoffs based on the district’s criteria for demand, effectiveness and performance. The new changes account for additional scenarios more likely to arrive due to the massive scope of impending layoffs, particularly for situations where multiple teachers in the same administrative grouping have equal measurements under the board’s

structure, when we think about global investments coming into Louisiana. We think about workforce development, education, and our incredible people,” Shields said. “This is our chance to marry that with the Louisiana that most people know: Mardi Gras, culture, food, heritage, all those things, all the things people know and love about Louisiana.”

Mississippi touted Elvis Presley, who was born in Tupelo but lived in Memphis, and Florida claims Jimmy Buffett, who lived in that state as an adult but grew up in Mississippi. Georgia had a Waffle House menu and Tennessee allowed visitors to take their photo with a Grand Ole Opry microphone.

Louisiana displayed a tall photo of Louis Armstrong blowing his trumpet.

All the state-themed booths

established evaluations.

Still, some questions remain unanswered. Aymond pressed Batiste on whether employees for schools receiving students from closing schools would be subject to the same evaluations as employees from closing schools during the process.

Both Batiste and board attorney Courtney Joiner

The fair celebrates America’s birthday 250 years ago. At the time, French-speaking Louisiana was actually a Spanish colony.

France gave Louisiana to Spain as part of the 1762 Treaty of Fontainebleau. The colony was returned to France in 1800, then sold to the United States in 1803.

The original Louisiana Purchase Treaty, signed by Napoleon, is on display at the Old State Capitol in Baton Rouge, in a different 250th Anniversary celebration.

Louisiana was the 18th state admitted to the union and the first one that had been ruled as a colony of a European nation other than Great Britain.

Spain aligned with the American war effort in 1779, but had few engagements — save a successful effort by then Louisiana Gov. Bernardo de Gálvez to oust the British from a fort situated about where the RiverCenter is now located in Baton Rouge.

That July 1779 battle is remembered with statues of Gálvez near the U.S. Department of State and at the entrance of the Spanish Embassy in Washington. His statue also is prominently displayed in his hometown of Málaga, Spain.

“When we think about French culture; when we think about Spanish culture; and everyone else in between, we’re bringing that all together under this banner,” Shields said. “We wanted to show up, showcase our state for the beauty and the wonder and the amazing things that we’re doing.”

Staff writer Doug MacCash contributed to this article.

were uniform in their response, saying, “It depends,” with no specific clarifications given.

The amended reduction policies ultimately give the superintendent discretion over decisions involving employees in the same grouping with identical evaluations. Aymond and Vedell both ultimately vot-

N O R T H A M ER I CA’S

ed against the measure to amend the district’s policies.

The School Board was scheduled to meet for its regular board meeting at 5 p.m. Thursday. Further legal action on the temporary injunction for Krotz Springs Elementary will take place at the July 10 show cause hearing at 9 a.m. at the St. Landry Parish Courthouse.

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BUSINESS T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M/news/business

DOW 52,900.07 594.83 1.14%

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FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Top EU court dismisses Google antitrust appeal

BRUSSELS — Judges at the European Union’s top court dismissed an appeal by Google over a landmark, $4.5 billion antitrust fine imposed for throttling competition and reducing consumer choice through the dominance of its mobile Android operating system.

The case has been tangled up in courts since the European Commission announced the fine in 2018. But the European Court of Justice dismissal on Thursday marks the end of that process.

“The appeal brought by Google and its parent company Alphabet against the judgment of the General Court is dismissed, thereby confirming the penalty imposed for Google Search’s abuse of a dominant position in the context of the Android operating system,” the Luxembourg-based judges wrote in their ruling.

Google previously argued free and open-source Android has resulted in low-cost phones and driven competition with its chief rival, Apple. Android is the most popular mobile operating system, beating even Apple’s iOS. The fine is one of three antitrust penalties totaling more than $8 billion that the European Commission slapped on Google between 2017 and 2019, putting the 27-nation bloc at the forefront of the global push to rein in tech giants.

Since then, the commission has widened its crackdown on digital giants with more antitrust investigations targeting Amazon, Apple and Facebook and sweeping new rules aimed at clamping down on the biggest digital companies.

Average U.S. mortgage rate falls to 6.43% The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate fell this week to its lowest level since mid-May, easing borrowing costs for prospective homebuyers.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate fell to 6.43% from 6.49% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.67%.

The average rate has been mostly hovering around 6.5% going back to mid-May and trending higher overall in the months since the war between the U.S. and Iran began in late February, disrupting the flow of crude oil from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. That’s sent oil prices sharply higher, helping drive up inflation, bond yields and mortgage rates.

Despite the modest decline from last week, the average rate is now at its lowest level since May 14, when it was 6.36%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, often sought by borrowers refinancing a home loan, also declined this week. That average rate fell to 5.79% from 5.84% last week.

A year ago, it was at 5.8%, Freddie Mac said.

U.S. filings for jobless aid fall to 215,000 WASHINGTON — U.S. applications for jobless aid inched down last week as layoffs remain at historically healthy levels.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits in the week ending June 27 fell by 1,000 to 215,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 225,000 new applications forecast by analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet. Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered representative of U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.

The government also released its more comprehensive June jobs report on Thursday, a day earlier than usual due to the July 4 holiday.

That data showed that U.S. employers pulled back on hiring last month, adding only 57,000 jobs.

That’s less than half the previous month’s total and a sign companies remain cautious. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.2% from 4.3% in May, though that decline is mostly due to the fact that many out-of-work people gave up looking for jobs and were no longer counted as unemployed.

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World Cup fans sue StubHub Customers file lawsuit over ticket cancellations

BY MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press

NEW YORK — After weeks of complaints from frustrated fans, StubHub is being sued by customers who say the ticket reseller’s inability to fulfill orders crushed their dreams of going to World Cup. Julia Reeker Moghal and Reuben Renteria, both of California, sued the ticketing giant this week in federal court in New York, alleging that “false and misleading” sales practices left them without the tickets they purchased for group stage matches last month.

The lawsuit, which seeks to become a class action, says Moghal and Renteria are among hundreds or even thousands of World Cup fans who purchased tickets only to find out that they “did not exist, were revoked without any forewarning, or had been erased” be-

cause of what the tournament’s organizer, FIFA, deemed “poor digital infrastructure.”

In addition to monetary damages, Moghal and Renteria are asking that StubHub be barred from selling World Cup tickets and that any profits from those sales be given to affected customers.

StubHub declined to comment on the lawsuit but said in a statement that its “singular goal is to get fans into events.”

If anything goes wrong, “our FanProtect Guarantee provides replacement tickets or a full refund,” the company said. “The World Cup is no different, and the issues fans have experienced are largely driven by problems with the event organizer’s own ticketing infrastructure.”

FIFA encourages fans to buy tickets through its own marketplace, where it adds a 30% surcharge to every resold ticket — 15% each from the buyer and seller.

In a statement, the organization said it “has no visibility over, or control of, secondary market ticket transactions carried out on

third-party platforms” and “rejects any suggestion that the functional issues being experienced by users of third-party platforms” are the result of FIFA’s ticketing infrastructure.

For weeks, fans have been complaining on social media about tickets that never arrived from resellers, orders that were canceled at the last minute and hours they spent trying to sort out problems between FIFA’s ticketing system and outside resale platforms.

According to the lawsuit, Moghal paid $1,905 for three tickets to the June 18 Switzerland-Bosnia and Herzegovina match at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, but never received them and never got a refund, which would violate the company’s guarantee.

As the match approached, Moghal was given conflicting information about the status of her order, first receiving a notice that the tickets were ready, then learning that StubHub had canceled her order, then being misled into thinking her tickets would be delivered after all, the lawsuit said.

After the initial cancellation, Moghal spent hours on the phone with StubHub, which said the order would remain canceled but then reversed course and promised her that they would be delivered an hour before the match, the lawsuit said.

Moghal drove to the stadium and waited in line, but never received her tickets, the lawsuit said. She was then promised a refund but never got one, the lawsuit said.

Had she known “that StubHub was either unable to deliver or not authorized to deliver her World Cup Tickets to her, she never would have purchased them,” the lawsuit said.

Similarly, Renteria paid $2,294 for two tickets to the June 18 Mexico-South Korea match in Guadalajara, Mexico, but never received his tickets, the lawsuit said.

Like Moghal, Renteria received a notice that his tickets were ready, only to find that StubHub canceled the order, the lawsuit said. He was only refunded after “significant complaints to StubHub,” but had to eat the cost of traveling to Mexico, the lawsuit said.

Dow hits record as most stocks rise But slumping AI stocks keep indexes mixed

BY STAN CHOE Associated Press

NEW YORK — Most U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied to another record, but more drops for computer chip companies and other winners of the artificial-intelligence boom kept indexes mixed.

The S&P 500 finished the day virtually unchanged and edged up by less than 0.1%, even though seven out of every 10 stocks within the index rose. The Dow jumped 594 points, or 1.1%, while the Nasdaq composite dropped 0.8% after erasing an early gain.

Stocks broadly got some help from a report showing that U.S. employers added 57,000 jobs to their payrolls last month. That’s growth, which is good for the economy, but it was also short of the 100,000 jobs that economists expected and a slowdown from May’s hiring pace.

The bright side of the weaker-than-expected result is that it could keep pressure off inflation, which has been accelerating worldwide because of jumps in oil prices caused by the war with Iran. And now that oil prices are back below where they were before the war, if inflation slows in upcoming months, the Federal Reserve may feel less need to raise interest rates several times this year.

That would be a relief for investors, who tend to love lower interest rates because they can give the economy a boost by making it less expensive for U.S. households and businesses to borrow money and spend. Lower rates also tend to push upward on prices for stocks and other investments.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury got to 4.50% in the morning, up from 3.97% just before the war. But after the release of the U.S. hiring data, it immediately fell back to 4.46% before drifting to 4.48%.

Traders now see an 82% chance that the Fed and its new chairman, Kevin Warsh, will not raise the federal funds rate at its next meeting later this month. That’s up from the 71% chance seen a day earlier, according to

ASSOCIATEd PRESS FILE PHOTO By RICHARd dREW

Specialist Gennaro Saporito works June 26 on the floor of the New york Stock Exchange. data from CME Group.

“The labor market isn’t overheating,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management. He said the data could allow the Fed to wait through the summer to get more clues about how inflation is behaving before having to decide on hiking rates.

On Wall Street, the company behind LaCroix sparkling waters climbed 7.5% after National Beverage said it will pay a special dividend of $3.25 for each share that investors hold.

Dollar Tree rose 2.4% after the retailer said it approved a program to send up to $2.5 billion to its shareholders by buying back its stock.

Stocks of companies in the crypto industry were also strong after the price of bitcoin rose roughly 2%, a day after dropping near its lowest level since 2024. Robinhood Markets rose 3.8%, and Coinbase Global gained 3.9%.

But more drops for computer chip companies weighed on indexes. They’ve come under pressure because of worries that their stock prices shot too high in the frenzy around AI and that all the spending on chips and data centers may not result in as much profit and productivity growth as hoped.

Memory maker Micron Technology erased an early gain to drop 5.5%, a day after plunging 10.6%. Nvidia fell 1.4%, and Lam Research sank 10.2%. They were some of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500 because they’ve grown so huge in size amid AI mania.

Nvidia has a total value of nearly $4.7 trillion, for example, which means that its stock’s movements have more weight on the S&P 500 than any other.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 0.01 to 7,483.24 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 594.83 to 52,900.07, and the Nasdaq composite sank 207.36 to 25,382.67.

Best Buy banks on next-gen TVs to spur upgrades

BY CARSON HARTZOG

The Minnesota Star Tribune (TNS) How much better does a TV have to work before shoppers are willing to spend upward of $1,500 to replace the one already hanging on their walls?

That’s the question facing Minnesota-based Best Buy as it becomes the exclusive national retailer for a new generation of premium TVs that promises brighter colors, deeper contrast and less glare than today’s models.

After several sluggish years for consumer electronics following the pandemic buying boom, executives and Wall Street analysts believe the TV market may finally be on the verge of a long-awaited replacement cycle.

Best Buy is betting that improved picture quality — combined with millions of aging TVs purchased during COVID-19 — will finally persuade shoppers it’s time to upgrade.

Incoming CEO Jason Bonfig has said Best Buy is “not just a retailer anymore,” but its stores remain central to the company’s strategy and generate most of its revenue.

Expanding into categories such as Lego and trading cards is part of that evolution, but the electronics chain still relies on new phone and TV releases to drive store traffic.

“For us, it’s always been about making sure we serve customers across every price point,” Bonfig said in an interview at the Richfield store. “When new technology comes in, that absolutely helps our business. But at the same point in time, it’s our job with our vendors to tell them what customers want. That’s really when our model works best.”

Best Buy is the national retailer with exclusive rights for one year selling RGB LED televisions from leading manufacturers including Samsung, Sony, LG, TCL and Hisense.

The sets are positioned above con-

ventional LED models and compete with OLED televisions, with prices ranging from about $1,000 to more than $30,000 for a 115-inch screen.

The challenge is convincing shoppers the technology is worth the premium. Bonfig believes seeing the TVs in person will make the difference — a tagline Best Buy has embraced with its “Believing Is Seeing” marketing campaign.

“There is really something very powerful about when people get an opportunity to see it,” he said. “Or some people say, ‘Oh, it’s amazing, but I actually need something in this price range.’ We have that covered as well.”

Unlike traditional LED televisions, which use a white backlight, RGB LED sets use separate red, green and blue LEDs, producing brighter colors, stronger contrast and less glare in sunlit rooms.

Bonfig said innovation also has returned to a more “normal” pace since the pandemic, when compa-

nies were focused on producing “as much product as possible,” a shift he said has helped improve sales trends across categories, including TVs. Best Buy has struck similar deals before. In 2023, it became the exclusive retailer for Roku-made TVs. A few years before that, it partnered with Amazon on a multiyear agreement to sell Toshiba and Insignia TVs. That wasn’t the case when OLED TVs entered the market. In 2013, Best Buy became the first U.S. retailer to sell LG OLED TVs, but it didn’t have the kind of market exclusivity this deal provides.

“It’s not about just asking for an exclusive,” Bonfig said. “The exclusive means that we’re going to represent the products in a way the vendors want. We’re going to show the technology like nobody else can. We’re going to train our employees (and) have the digital resources.”

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Friday, July 3, 2026 ● 7A

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MURRILL

Continued from page 1A grand jury “chose to investigate” Murrill at the end of their six-month term.

“Aren’t we a little tired as New Orleanians having everyone in the state kicking New Orleans?” White said in a news briefing on the courthouse steps. “Why would we want people to be afraid to run for office if they’re going to be intimidated?”

Murrill said in a statement late Thursday that she’s filing an emergency request for the Louisiana Supreme Court to review the indictment, adding that it’s “no surprise the status quo is looking for ways to stop me” over her efforts to fight crime and corruption in New Orleans. If the indictment moves forward, Murrill would likely be required to turn herself in and face an arraignment.

“This unprecedented action and the corrupt indictments spawned from it are retaliatory, meritless, and unconstitutional,” Murrill said. “After confidential information was illegally leaked to members of the press by the grand jury or the improperly appointed, unqualified special prosecutor, there are now indications that the court handcuffed and locked out members of the media — and threatened them with contempt — in clear violation of Louisiana law.”

White was in and out of Roche’s courtroom Thursday before the judge closed it to the public and the grand jury returned the indictment. Reporters were threatened with arrest if they entered the courthouse while the indictment was handed up. At least one reporter was handcuffed by sheriff’s deputies.

Murrill’s attorney, Laura Cannizzaro Rodrigue, called the indictment “embarrassing” and said Roche also prevented her from returning to the courtroom after he issued Murrill’s bail.

“This is a complete misuse of the criminal justice system for various reasons,” Rodrigue said.

White said the court had issues with several reporters “looking into the grand jury room” and that reporters who “failed to obey” orders to leave were handcuffed.

“When there are security issues, security is tantamount in this building and also anonymity for the grand jury,” White said.

Murrill disputed White’s reasoning for closing the courtroom.

“It is beyond ironic that the improperly appointed special prosecutor, who called my office and violated the confidentiality of the grand jury proceedings herself, claims protecting confidentiality justified closing the courtroom,” Murrill said.

“And the grand jury that leaked information like a sinking ship hardly seemed concerned about privacy.”

Judicial Administrator Rob Kazik referred questions about the court security’s handling of the episode to the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, which oversees

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Laura Cannizzaro Rodrigue, Attorney General Liz Murrill’s attorney, speaks outside the Orleans Parish Criminal district Court building on Thursday. security at the courthouse.

Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Keith Lampkin did not respond to a request for comment.

Gov. Jeff Landry, along with other high-profile Republicans, took to social media to express their support for Murrill shortly after news broke Thursday that she’d been indicted. He said he would order State Police to investigate the grand jury’s alleged improprieties.

“I would like to inform the great citizens of Louisiana who care about the rule of law, that our fabulous (Attorney General Liz Murrill) will not have to worry about having her reputation tarnished by this kangaroo grand jury or the Orleans Kangaroo court as I will pardon her as fast as the law allows,” Landry said. “The criminal justice system is a circus at its finest in Orleans and we will not have any of that!”

Asked about the governor’s comments, White said afterward in a news briefing: “Good, let’s get her convicted and then he can pardon her.”

White left the criminal court bench in 2023 amid a court employee’s sexual harassment complaint, which she denied at the time. A federal judge that year dismissed a lawsuit from the employee, and Murrill’s office represented White in a separate lawsuit the employee filed in state court that was also dismissed.

Moreno, meanwhile, said Thursday that her focus remains on building momentum to improve New Orleans.

“Today’s development involving the attorney general is a matter for the courts,” the mayor said.

The criminal charges represent a stunning escalation of the back-and-forth city-versus-state feud that erupted last fall during the city’s municipal election cycle and reached new heights during this spring’s state legislative session in Baton Rouge. Murrill, a hardcharging conservative who has sought criminal indictments of a slate of public of-

ficials across Louisiana, now faces charges of her own in a courthouse where just months ago she secured an indictment of New Orleans’ outgoing sheriff.

Louisiana’s law barring public intimidation and retaliation, revised statute 14:122, says it can be applied in two ways: Breaking the statute can involve “violence, force, extortionate threats, or true threats” against public officials “with the intent to influence his conduct in relation to his position, employment, or duty.”

The law also says it can involve retaliation against public officials when “violence, force, or threat is related to the duties of the elected official,” or when the actions involve “retaliation or retribution for actions taken by the elected official as part of his official duties.”

The law says convictions can carry a fine of up to $1,000 or five years in prison. The malfeasance in office statute, which involves employees intentionally failing to perform their duties, can carry a fine of up to $5,000 or 10 years in prison.

The fight that seemed to yield Thursday’s charges revolves around a power struggle between city and state leaders. The structure of New Orleans’ courts had triggered the latest fissures.

An early inflection point came when Murrill waded into the city’s municipal election last fall, sending cease-and-desist letters to a candidate for the criminal clerk of court position, former life prisoner Calvin Duncan. The attorney general warned Duncan, a prison lawyer freed from behind bars when a judge found him innocent of murder, to stop calling himself “exonerated” on the campaign trail. After mounting a campaign that drew national headlines, Duncan defeated a powerful incumbent in the runoff by securing 68% of the vote.

Williams was also pulled into the election-cycle brawl. In her letter to Duncan’s campaign, Murrill accused Williams of hav-

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ing represented Duncan as a defense attorney years before Williams became a prosecutor and his office negotiated Duncan’s release from prison, and of failing to recuse himself during those negotiations. Williams called the accusation a fabrication.

Months later, Louisiana’s Republican-controlled state Legislature created and passed a law eliminating Duncan’s position.

The law did nothing to combine New Orleans’ separate civil and criminal courts themselves, which are unique among court systems in the state. But supporters called it a needed reform for the only local government with separate clerks’ offices for civil and criminal matters.

White, the special prosecutor in Murrill’s indictment, also once represented Duncan in his criminal case before the Innocence Project, now known as Innocence and Justice Louisiana, took it over.

The legislation, which Landry ushered through the Capitol and signed days before Duncan would have assumed the criminal clerkship, spurred furious pushback from local activists and elected leaders, including Moreno and Williams. The two city officials in early May asked the City Council to trigger a special election, arguing the voters must fill the newly-melded office.

Murrill responded with her May 13 letters to Williams, Moreno and five City Council members who voted to trigger the election, warning them they were at risk of “usurping” the authority of Chelsea Napoleon, the former civil clerk who assumed the duties of the combined clerk job after the new state law took effect. The Louisiana Supreme Court has since issued a ruling upholding that law.

Moreno posted an Instagram video hours after receiving the letter in May warning Murrill that the let-

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ters might violate the antiretaliation law.

“It is surprising that the attorney general put all of this in a letter, considering there is also a criminal law that prohibits intimidating or threatening a public official in an effort to try to influence their decision or change their position,” Moreno said then. “Bottom line: I’m not going to be threatened, I’m not going to be intimidated, and I won’t back down.”

The Times-Picayune | The Advocate broke the story this week that Murrill’s letters had become the focus of a grand jury probe at the criminal courthouse on Tulane Avenue and South Broad Street.

While some legal watchers have questioned the extent of criminal exposure Murrill might face over the letters, the indictment thrusts upon a state Republican from Lafayette the uncomfortable prospect of facing a jury in one of Louisiana’s few Democratic strongholds.

At a Thursday evening news conference on a balcony on the corner of Toulouse and Decatur streets in the French Quarter, former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial called the grand jury indictment an instance of New Orleanians pushing back on an unnecessary state incursion.

He called Murrill and Landry to “lay down their arms” and cease their “attack” on New Orleans.

And he also said the relationship between city and state can be repaired.

“It can always be repaired,” Morial said. “We can work things out. But it takes two to tango.”

Meanwhile, Dane S. Ciolino, an ethics attorney and law professor at Loyola University, said many in New Orleans dislike what some perceive as bullying from statewide officials.

“But at the end of the day, this is a legal issue,” Ciolino said. “A grand jury can always indict the proverbial ham sandwich.”

Staff writer Joni Hess contributed to this report.

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Democrats accuse Trump-linked fundraisers of fraud Consultants allegedly diverted donations for America’s anniversary

President donald Trump arrives on the Freedom 250 train on Wednesday in Medora, N.d., for the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.

BY MICHAEL BIESECKER and JOSH BOAK Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Consultants tied to President Donald Trump may have engaged in financial fraud, tricking donors who wanted to support the nation’s bipartisan 250th anniversary organizer into sending their money instead to a rival group set up by his administration, according to a report released Thursday

by House Democrats.

The report draws in part on interviews by Democratic staffers of the House Committee on Natural Resources. Those interviews suggest that donors seeking to celebrate America fell for a baitand-switch that, if true, could have violated various criminal statutes.

Donors who were intending to contribute funds to America250, a bipartisan committee created by Congress, were instead given the banking and routing numbers for a different but similarly named group, Freedom 250, the Democratic report says.

The key difference was that Freedom 250 was set up under the auspices of Trump’s Republican administration to be “a vehicle for a Christian nationalist, partisan, and

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By JULIA dEMAREE NIKHINSON

Trump-centered vision of American identity,” according to the report.

Freedom 250, which has denied the report’s claims, has focused on staging big splashy events largely held in Washington, such as the UFC cage fight at the White House on Trump’s 80th birthday, the Great American State Fair on the National Mall and the upcoming July 4 celebration featuring a Trump speech and a fireworks extravaganza the president is touting as the “show of a lifetime.”

‘Partisan smear’ Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez dismissed the Democrats’ report as “categorically false” and a “partisan smear from politicians who would rather manufacture division” than celebrate a national milestone.

“Freedom 250 remains fully

committed to uniting Americans at this historic moment and giving all Americans a spectacular birthday they can be proud of — and we won’t be distracted by those rooting for it to fail,” said Alvarez, who previously served as a spokesperson for the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee.

Democrats allege in the report that this fits a broader pattern in which Trump hijacked the nation’s 250th birthday celebration, redirecting tens of millions of dollars in both taxpayer money and private donations to boost “the President’s ego, political ideology and pet projects.”

Much of the spending was directed to companies connected to Trump’s political operation, including the event planners for the Trump rally that immediately preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by a mob of his supporters at the U.S. Capitol.

petitive bidding, accounting and transparency rules that would typically apply to a federally controlled entity receiving tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds and private donations.

Under Trump’s big tax and spending cuts bill approved by Congress last year, $150 million in federal funds was allocated to the Interior Department for events celebrating the 250th anniversary.

America250 was expecting $100 million of that, though it has received only $25 million, according Effort to control America250 to the Democratic report.

Even as a member of a congresThe Democratic report recounts how the Trump administration sional oversight committee, Huffsought to control America250, man said that he has no way to know the nonprofit arm of the U.S. exactly how much taxpayer money Semiquincentennial Commission has been redirected into Freedom established by Congress in 2016 250 by the Trump administration. to plan celebrations for this year’s anniversary of the signing of the Solicited donations Declaration of Independence.

The Democrats alleged Krach, After the Trump administration the Freedom 250 CEO, traveled faced pushback, Freedom 250 was in January to the World Economic created last fall as a limited li- Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to ability corporation that is a wholly personally solicit foreign governowned subsidiary of the National ment officials and business leaders Park Foundation, the fundraising for money to help fund America’s arm of the National Park Service. birthday celebrations. The report Freedom 250’s sole employee says Trump appointees at the State appears to be CEO Keith Krach, Department, including some ama wealthy Trump supporter who bassadors, have also held fundraisserved in the State Department ing events overseas and sent out during the president’s first term. written solicitations seeking forDemocrats said this structure eign donations for Freedom 250. enables Freedom 250 to operate as Krach did not respond to an email a “financial black box,” shielded seeking comment. Alvarez denied from having to comply with com- the group accepts foreign donations.

“The American people are the big losers in this,” said Rep. Jared Huffman, the ranking Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee. “I’m old enough to remember the bicentennial in 1976. No one cared about party labels or political agendas, religious agendas or anything else.

Donald Trump stole that. He took this unifying America250 moment, and he made it all about himself.”

The White House did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Cuba’s healthcare system declines as energy shortages deepen crisis

BY ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ Associated Press

BATABANO, Cuba — After two surgeries and several rounds of radiation therapy over the past four years to treat a tumor, Irisleydis Tristá has spent the past seven months unable to get a CT scan to determine whether the cancer has grown or spread.

The CT scanner at Havana’s Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital, the country’s leading hospital, is broken. Doctors have told her that, because of a lack of resources, they cannot operate on her again in Cuba, she said.

“I feel like my life is in danger,” Tristá, 34, a mother of a 13-year-old from Batabanó, a town 43 miles south of Havana, told The Associated Press. “I don’t know if it has grown. We have no way of knowing,” she said.

Cuba’s once-vaunted system of free universal healthcare has deteriorated sharply. The crisis, say analysts, has been compounded by fuel shortages they attribute to tightened U.S. sanctions on the island’s energy sector, worsening an economy that had already been struggling for years.

The Trump administration is pressuring Cuba’s socialist gov-

ernment to implement major economic reforms and change its way of governance in return for a lifting of sanctions.

Hospitals across the island face shortages of supplies including syringes, gauze, vaccines and anesthetics. They also lack spare parts to repair equipment such as hemodialysis and CT scan machines, leaving patients like Tristá without critical care. Food shortages have also made it difficult for her to follow the diet prescribed by her doctors.

Medical specialists and technicians have left the country in large numbers.

Cuba was already grappling with an economic crisis following the COVID-19 pandemic and the tightening of U.S. sanctions. The situation worsened after U.S. authorities captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in early January, depriving Cuba of one of its staunchest allies. The White House then threatened countries that sold fuel to the island and stepped up pressure on foreign companies and individuals to stop doing business with Havana.

The result was persistent power outages lasting more than 20 hours, gasoline rationing and declines in industrial and food pro-

duction, among other effects.

For Cuba, a country with health indicators comparable to those of developed nations — including low mortality, high life expectancy, broad vaccination coverage and widespread prenatal care — the situation “is shocking,” said Mario Cruz Peñate, the Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization representative in the island.

Cruz Peñate said the fuel shortages have caused “quite large” disruptions to health services, affecting not only the service itself, but the entire process around the continuity of care.

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LAFAYETTE

I-49 connector project moves forward Public comment to open this summer

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR and STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writers PHOTOS By LEE BALL

Natalie and dennis Mouton place a flag on their home on Broadway Street in Erath on Wednesday. The Fourth of July celebrations in Erath also included fais do dos and carnival rides.

FAMILY FUN AND

FIREWORKS

Fourth of July celebrated in Acadiana communities

BY KRISTIN ASKELSON Staff writer

AMERICA

Acadiana communities are celebrating Independence Day with fireworks displays, festivals, live music and family activities throughout the region. Here’s a parish-by-parish guide to public Fourth of July n Fourth of July Fireworks Show, events. Unless otherwise noted, events are scheduled for July 4.

Eunice Recreation Complex, Eunice — 9 p.m.

Acadia Parish n Lebeau Zydeco Festival, Immacn Red, Rice and Blue, Crowley Paulate Conception Church, Lebeau — 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. vilion, Crowley — Noon n Rendezvous Downtown, Depot n Leonville Fireworks Show, LeonSquare, Rayne — 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. ville Boat Launch — 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

n Fireworks on the River, Nall Park, Krotz Springs — 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

St. Martin Parish n Tunes on the Teche, Parc des Ponts de Pont Breaux, Breaux Bridge — 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Vermilion Parish n Through Saturday: Erath Fourth of July celebration, Erath Fairgrounds (corner of Edwards and Broadway) — Hours vary by day. n Kaplan Fireworks, Clement Park, Kaplan — 9 p.m.

Evangeline Parish n Friday: Celebration of Independence, Ville Platte — Gates open at 4:30 p.m.

Lafayette Parish n Friday: Red, White Boom: Independence Day Celebration, Youngsville Amphitheater, Youngsville — 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. n Lafayette Stars and Stripes, Parc International, Lafayette — 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. n Fat Pat’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, Parc International, Lafayette — 5 p.m. n Broussard Independence Day Festival, St. Julien Park, Broussard — 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

ä See PROJECT, page 4B

LSU cuts 25 staff positions

Iberia Parish n Fourth of July with Loreauville Community Project, Loreauville Park — Begins at 4 p.m.

St. Landry Parish

Briggs Berard, from left, Amelia Frederick, Ellen Greig and Briella Berard lead Show, Yambilee Grounds, Opelou- their families through the midway during the Fourth of July celebration in sas — 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Erath. n Red, White & Boom Fireworks

Police: One dead, one hospitalized in Tuesday shooting One of two people wounded in a shooting Tuesday afternoon in Lafayette has died, police said.

John Andrus, 24, of Lafayette, died Thursday from injuries he suffered in the shooting, acCRIME cording to the Police BLOTTER Lafayette Department.

Advocate The second staff victim remains reports hospitalized in stable condition.

The shooting happened about 2:55 p.m. Tuesday in the 600 block of North St. Antoine Street, where officers found two people with gunshot wounds. Both were taken to a hospital.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Lafayette

Police Department or Lafayette Crime Stoppers at (337) 232-8477. Anonymous tips also can be submitted through the department’s app or the P3 Tips mobile app.

from a vehicle that overturned Wednesday near Arnaudville, according to Louisiana State Police.

The victims were identified as Kiemonte Pigott, 32, and Darius Haywood, 30. State Police did not say which man was driving.

The crash occurred shortly after 3 a.m. on La. 686 near A Branch man was killed Moise Mallet Road, southeast Tuesday in a three-vehicle of Arnaudville. crash on Interstate 10 in Acadia According to the preliminary Parish, according to Louisiana investigation, a 2010 Chevrolet State Police.

Impala was traveling west on The victim was identified as La. 686 when it failed to negoDana Ortego, 54. He was pronounced dead at the scene. tiate a curve, left the roadway, The crash occurred shortly struck a ditch and overturned. after 4:30 p.m. on eastbound Both occupants were ejected I-10 near Jennings, just inside from the vehicle. Pigott died at the Acadia Parish line. the scene. Haywood was transAccording to the preliminary ported to a hospital with serious investigation, Ortego was drivinjuries, where he later died.

The crash remains under ining a 2022 GMC Canyon east in Two Breaux Bridge men the left lane behind a Chevrolet died after they were ejected vestigation.

Police: Branch man killed in I-10 crash

Local and state officials signed a document Wednesday that is important in advancing the Interstate 49 Lafayette Connector project.

The draft supplemental environmental impact statement signed Wednesday by Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Glenn Ledet and Lafayette Parish Mayor-President Monique Boulet means the six-lane interstate proposed through Lafayette is ready for the additional public comment required before final approval of the project.

The Lafayette Connector is a proposed partially elevated extension of I-49 from its current terminus at Interstate 10 in Lafayette to Lafayette Regional Airport.

It’s part of a larger effort to extend I-49 to the west bank of New Orleans.

The entire project is estimated to cost billions. Funds have not been secured.

This is the second time the project has gone through this process. A federal record of decision was issued in 2003 but the project never advanced.

When the project was resurrected in 2016, the community pushed back against the original plans, plus too much time had passed, warranting a reevaluation.

A public hearing is expected to be held this summer on the statement. A date has not been announced.

Following the public hearing, DOTD and the Federal Highway Administration will review the comments and respond to them.

The final step will be publication of the record of decision, which clears the project to move forward.

Boulet, meanwhile, is requesting $30 million in federal grant funding to help cover pre-construction costs for a segment of the connector.

Tahoe when traffic slowed because of an object in the roadway. Troopers said the Tahoe braked suddenly, and Ortego attempted to avoid it but struck the SUV’s left rear before moving into the right lane.

For reasons still under investigation, the GMC then entered the path of a commercial motor vehicle. The driver of the commercial vehicle attempted to avoid the pickup but struck its rear, sending the GMC off the roadway and into a tree line.

State Police said Ortego was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.

The crash remains under investigation.

Police: Two men killed after car overturns

Savings will go toward faculty, research

BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer

LSU eliminated 25 staff positions in administrative offices Thursday to put more money toward faculty and research, LSU system President Wade Rousse said in a statement.

“Louisiana deserves transformational change from LSU,” Rousse said. “I committed to streamlining operations and finding efficiencies so the university can focus on, and afford, the faculty needed to become a top 50 research institution.”

The employees affected worked in the communications, student engagement and executive departments, an LSU spokesperson said.

Rousse went on to say the cuts would enable the university to restructure and direct savings toward faculty and research. He has stated LSU will need to hire more faculty to reach its goal of being a “top 50” research university, a distinction based on the National Science Foundation Higher Education Research and Development Survey, which tracks how much each university spends on research.

It’s not the first move LSU has made to get closer to the top 50. Earlier this year, the Board of Supervisors approved a system-level restructuring to bring the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, two health science centers and LSU AgCenter under the umbrella of the

ä See CUTS, page 4B

2B ● Friday, July 3, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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OPINION AMERICA 250

Judiciary’s responsibility to fulfill Declaration’s promise On the Fourth of July, our nation principle both bold and enduring: That when a government bewill commemorate the 250th anniversary of its founding charter: comes destructive of the people’s the Declaration of Independence. rights, the people possess the Adopted on July 4, 1776, authority to alter or abolby the Second Continental ish it. The 56 delegates Congress, the document, who affixed their names to which was then titled “The the document, at least 25 Unanimous Declaration of of whom were attorneys, the Thirteen United States understood their act was of America,” announced to considered high treason, John the world that the 13 colopunishable by torture and Weimer death. Benjamin Franklin nies were free from the GUEST quipped, “We must all rule of Great Britain.

COLUMNIST hang together, or most asThe declaration arose from a period of profound suredly we shall all hang strain between the colonies and separately.” the crown led by a king many At a time when monarchies colonists considered to be tyranruled over nations, the United States put its faith in the citizens nical and prone to putting his to govern themselves. In the years thumb on the scales of justice. that followed independence, the The authors set forth 27 grievideals announced in 1776 were ances against the king of Great Britain, asserting that his actions woven into the fabric of our constitutional structure. In The had undermined representative government and the fair adminis- Federalist No. 78, Alexander Hamtration of justice. ilton metaphorically described the In doing so, they articulated a judiciary as the “least dangerous”

branch of government, possessing neither the sword of the executive nor the purse of the legislature.

The judiciary’s authority, he explained, rests in neither force nor will but in judgment alone. At the same time, Hamilton emphasized that an independent judiciary is absolutely essential to preserving liberty as a check upon the political branches.

Over the course of two and a half centuries, the Declaration has become one of the most widely circulated and influential political documents in human history. Its assertion that “all men are created equal” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” has echoed far beyond our shores, both attracting new citizens and influencing other countries to emulate these principles.

Abraham Lincoln, our nation’s 16th president, regarded the declaration as the moral standard to which the United States must

Before La. joined the U.S., N.O. nuns had questions Today, it’s not easy to imagine New Or“There was no comfortable place for the Ursulines in this changed world,” she leans as anything other than part of the wrote in her book “Masterless Mistresses: United States.

But it wasn’t always so, and an exchange The New Orleans Ursulines and the Deof letters in 1804 between the Ursuline velopment of a New World Society, 1727sisters of New Orleans and American 1834.” They were neither Protestant nor President Thomas Jefferson reminds us of wives and mothers. What was the place of an important reality: New Orleans became unmarried women as property holders? an American city in a distinctive The Ursulines quickly showed way — by governance quickly, but savviness and courage by courtby culture much more slowly. ing good relations with the new This year, we celebrate 250 years American governor, W.C.C. Claiof the political independence of the borne, successfully seeking his United States of America as well support with the American presiChristopher dent. Their letter to Jefferson caras the development of the distinctive American political worldview, Wiseman ries this core assertion: “that the which includes two key principles: treaty of cession, and the sense GUEST a respect for a diversity of religions of justice which marks the charCOLUMNIST in society and a separation between acter of the United States, would the institutions of government and have secured to them [the Ursureligion. lines] the property they now possess …”

These two points were at issue when The nuns’ argument is about morality, Sister Therese de Saint Xavier Farjon not only about property rights, citing their wrote with her sister nuns to President seclusion from the world, shunning of Jefferson. Simply put, the Ursulines were wealth and commitment to “the cause of not confident that their convent would be the orphan, of the helpless child of want.” recognized as their property under newly In their Catholic worldview, the nuns established American rule. speak not about individual rights but rathThe cultural context of the day made er about the common good and care for their concern justified. These French nuns those most vulnerable. By this measure, would have remembered two very differtheir worldview is not yet American.

Jefferson’s reply was reassuring. ent revolutions. The American Revolution “The principles of the constitution and of 1776 was not a sectarian one. Christians in English colonies of all denominations or government of the United States are a sure guarantee to you that it will be preserved none joined in opposition to English rule to you sacred and inviolate, and that your from London. institution will be permitted to govern The Ursulines also had the powerful memory of the French Revolution of 1789, itself according to its own voluntary rules, without interference from the civil authorwhich was a revolution against both the king and the Roman Catholic Church in ity,” he wrote.

France. Convents and other religious comIn the nuns’ Catholic tradition, liberty of conscience allowed religious error to munities were destroyed, disbanded or grow, and separation of church and state confiscated in reaction to the privileged was condemned. Jefferson’s acceptance of position held by the Catholic Church in religious diversity and assurance that the French society. nuns would operate “without interference The same year, the American Constitufrom civil authority” was new to them tion had become law, soon after including indeed. the First Amendment and its famous first This exchange of letters about property words “Congress shall make no law rereveals much about differences in worldspecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” In views. The Ursuline sisters and other American law, no particular church would Catholics in early America had to grow hold a privileged position. comfortable over time that their church For the Ursulines, these memories would could thrive in this democratic republican cause concern about their future under context.

American rule. Their French experience Today, you can see a replica of President of democratic anti-royalism was that it was Jefferson’s letter at the Old Ursuline Conviolently anti-church. vent Museum in the French Quarter, but In addition, frequent recent regime the original document remains part of the changes in New Orleans — in just 40 years Ursuline order’s archives — now located from French to Spanish, back to French, at Boston College, a Catholic institution in then American — caused angst about the a city that was a hotbed of the American legitimacy of property claims. The histoRevolution. rian Emily Clark notes that young America was broadly Protestant and emphasized Christopher Wiseman is the executive women’s place in the home as wives and director of the Catholic Cultural Center mothers. of New Orleans.

continually aspire. He viewed it as a prism through which the Constitution should be understood and applied. He relied on the principles of the Declaration of Independence in his Gettysburg address, calling the United States a nation “conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

Lincoln also wrote about a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people[.]”

To preserve the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence, our founding citizens adopted an intricate system of checks and balances in the Constitution providing each branch with separate powers, checked and balanced by the power of the other branches. The role of the judiciary is to resolve issues which those before the court cannot resolve themselves, not by declaring “winners or losers,” but by applying the rule of law as enacted by the legislative branch,

tempered by the fundamental law of the Constitution. The judiciary must remain above the fray and resolve matters fairly, justly, impartially and independently without partisanship, personality or politics. All stand equal before a court of justice.

As we celebrate this 250th anniversary, we recognize not only a historic document, but the lasting principles it sets forth: liberty under law, equality in dignity and a government accountable to the people. The Declaration of Independence continues to stand as a reminder of the courage and conviction of those who signed it and of their belief that justice must rise above power. As we reflect on its words, we must renew our commitment to the ideals that shaped our nation and that continue to guide it today.

John L. Weimer is the chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

HBCUs help America do unfinished work of freedom This summer, America turns 250 years ried those values into the wider world. old. Across the country, communities are From the suffrage movement to the Civil marking the occasion with celebrations Rights Era, HBCU students and alumni and ceremonies. Flags will fly, speeches have been at the forefront of every major will be given and the nation will pause to campaign to redraw the moral and legal marvel at two and a half centuries of the architecture of American democracy.

American experiment.

They organized sit-ins and freeTwo hundred and fifty years of dom rides. They registered votdemocracy is, by any measure, an ers in counties where doing so extraordinary achievement. A nation required extraordinary courage. that began as a bold experiment in They argued cases before the self-governance has grown into the Supreme Court, wrote the legislaReynold tion, preached the sermons and world’s longest-standing constitutionVerret paid the prices that made the al republic, proving to be a beacon of GUEST Civil Rights Act and the Voting progress and inspiring movements COLUMNIST Rights Act not just possible, but for freedom and liberty across the inevitable. When we speak of the globe. legal victories that transformed While this milestone is cause for this republic, we are speaking, in no small celebration, it is also a moment for honpart, of men and women shaped on HBCU est reckoning — asking ourselves which campuses. chapters of our story we have told in full, This legacy did not end with the passage and which we have too long consigned to of landmark legislation. It endures. the margins.

Today, HBCUs continue to produce a disAmerica’s founding promise — that all men are created equal — was a declaration proportionate share of Black professionals the nation had not yet earned, “the promis- in law, engineering, medicine, education, the sciences and public service. Across sory note” referred to by Dr. Martin Luther King. The work of earning it has been every industry and in every region of the the great, unfinished labor of every gener- country, the fingerprints of an HBCU eduation since. The emancipation of enslaved cation are visible proof of what an equipeople and the century-long struggle of table higher education system can produce their descendants to claim full citizenship — and what this nation is capable of when rights represent perhaps the most proit invests in all of its people.

There is a temptation in moments of nafound achievement in that ongoing project of liberty. And historically Black colleges tional celebration to flatten complexity and and universities (HBCUs) were built pretell the story of America as a straight and unbroken line from promise to fulfillment. cisely at the hinge of that achievement, But the truer and, I would argue, the more making it possible for Black Americans to pursue lives of dignity, purpose and full patriotic story is the one that acknowledgcitizenship. es how much each generation has had to The story of HBCUs is one such chapfight for the ideals the founders declared.

It is the story of a republic perpetually ter. And it belongs not at the footnotes of reforming itself, perpetually reaching toAmerican history, but at its very center.

Born in the aftermath of the Civil War, ward and securing a more perfect union.

HBCUs were created out of necessity. A HBCUs are a part of the American story shattered nation, reconstructing itself, rein its deepest sense. They did not merely fused to open the doors of higher education respond to injustice. They modeled the possibility of a better day. They said, in to Black Americans. And with the assisbrick and mortar and curriculum and comtance of generous and committed friends, Black Americans built their own. Against munity, that Black intellectual life was not immense opposition, HBCUs emerged first a concession to be granted but a truth to be as institutions of learning that soon becelebrated, a gift to the nation — and that the American project of liberty could not came engines of Black self-determination be complete without fulfilling its promise and, in turn, pillars of American democto all. racy itself.

As the nation raises a toast to 250 years, Consider what that moment demanded: we would do well to remember: Our denot only the courage to imagine freedom, but the discipline to build the institutions mocracy endures because every generathat freedom requires. Schools. Librartion has had the courage to demand that its promise extend further — to insist that ies. Laboratories. Lecture halls. HBCUs liberty is not a gift bestowed on some, but provided the educational infrastructure and thought leaders for a people emerging a right belonging to all. HBCUs have carfrom bondage. ried that promise for generations.

The principles of justice, service and This is not a footnote. That is the story of democratic citizenship that were cultiAmerican progress. vated on HBCU campuses did not remain Dr. Reynold Verret is president of Xavier confined to classrooms and yards. They University of Louisiana. took root in students and alumni who car-

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COMMENTARY

The Great American State Fair on the National Mall is seen through an American flag in Washington.

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By JEN GOLBECK

ISSUE OF THE WEEK AMERICA 250 As the nation celebrates its semiquincentennial on July 4, the focus has turned to our founding documents and what they mean today. Has America lived up to the promise in its declaration of Independence? What lessons should we take from history? Here are two perspectives:

Celebrating a milestone The background that made without being chauvinistic the Revolution possible Even with semiquincentennial cel(“Men may be trusted to govern themebrations and anniversary essays in the selves without a master”) and saying, air, and with readers already saturated “This was the most revolutionary idea in with commentaries on American the world at that time. It remains democracy and 250 years of inthe most revolutionary idea in the world today.” dependence, there’s good reason This is a speech that’s celebrato linger, if just for a moment, on what Gerald Ford had to say when tory without in any way being the country, exhausted by the chauvinistic. It is a fundamentally Vietnam War and besieged by Waoptimistic view, but Ford wasn’t David an apology for America. tergate, marked its bicentennial a Shribman issuing He was simply saying the country half-century ago. had unfinished business and must Ford delivered remarks even overcome a history that in many ways perfectly suited to his time, and all wasn’t the history we wished it were. It’s time, including and especially our own. important to remember that this speech What the country wouldn’t give to hear was issued after the country came speeches like these now. What the country wouldn’t give to believe speeches like through Watergate’s severe test of our founding and the nation’s defining values. these in this era.

He then went on to speak of the contriThe president began his July 2, 1976, remarks by reminding his listeners that butions of America’s immigrants, saying July 4 may not really be the beginning of that their “transfusions of traditions American independence. But the Foundand cultures, as well as of blood,” have enriched the country and transformed ers, those sages in powdered wigs and America into “a new kind of people.” In knee breeches, did what editors do to today’s environment, it is worth quoting columns like this one: They read and reread what Thomas Jefferson had drafted, Ford at length: “Foreigners like Lafayette, Von Steuoffered some suggestions, made some adjustments. “They took two more days ben, and Pulaski came to fight in our to debate and to approve this declaration Revolution because they believed in its and announcement to the world of what principles that they felt were universal. they had done and the reasons why,” Ford Immigrants like Andrew Carnegie came explained. as poor boys and created a great steel Standing in the National Archives, the industry, then gave his fortune back to home of America’s cherished founding America for libraries, universities and documents, Ford reminded the country museums. Maria Francesca [Ste. Frances that the Declaration of Independence Xavier] Cabrini came as a missionary was far more than the beloved melodic sister to serve the sick and the poor. opening language, with its “self-evident Samuel Gompers worked in a sweatshop, truths” and ‘unalienable rights” and spent his lunchtime helping other imits high-minded goals to achieve “Life, migrant workers learn to read so they Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” could become citizens. We have gained that have been memorized by American far, far more than we have given to the school pupils for generations. He pointed millions who made America their second to the document’s list of grievances the homeland.” onetime colonists deplored (obstructUsing the metaphor of Jacob’s multicoling justice, establishing an “Arbitrary ored coat to describe the modern United government,” and “cutting off our Trade States, he cited “the rich treasures you with all parts of the world”) and urged brought from whence you came, and let Americans to read what he called the us share your pride in them.” “dull parts.”

Hardly anyone at the time pointed to Two days later, at Monticello, the these speeches as especially eloquent. home of Thomas Jefferson, Ford used a They were delivered by an accidental naturalization ceremony to expand his president whose eloquence was in his thoughts. simple appreciation of the achievement He spoke about independence — not of the Founders. only about independence from Great So think of this time as more than the Britain but also from governmental tyr250th anniversary of American indepenanny. dence. Think of it as the 50th anniversary “Jefferson and his colleagues very of two remarkable speeches. deliberately and very daringly set out to construct a new kind of nation,” Ford Email David Shribman at dshribman@ said, quoting the Declaration’s author post-gazette.com.

As we near the 250th anniversary of the ects, starting in New England and New signing of the Declaration of IndepenYork, was to abolish the colonial legisladence, let me share a couple of reflections tures. William III reinstated the legislaon the background of how this extraortures, leaving them to tussle with royal or proprietorial governors or lieutendinary, unprecedented and daring event succeeded. ant governors. Over the next 75 Two decades ago, I set out to write years, these political arenas were a book about the events known as schools of practical politics and the Glorious Revolution of 1688philosophic principle, whose star 89. I suspected that this revolupupils included Benjamin Franklin, tion — the ouster of the Catholic Michael George Washington, John Adams King James II of England and the Barone and Thomas Jefferson.

Progressive historians portrayed installation of his Protestant son-inthe legislatures as devices for longlaw (and nephew) William III and established rich people to hold on to their daughter Mary I — was helpful, perhaps money. But property was widely held in a necessary precursor of the American the colonies, and with manpower always Revolution. scarce, the older legislative leaders were I was convinced then and am more so always on the lookout for talented young now that the events of the Glorious Revomen. Both Washington and Jefferson were lution and their reverberations over the next three-quarters of a century made pos- given important assignments while still in their 20s. sible the success of the American RevoluThe colonies were founded at different tion.

First, because the ouster of one king with times, were of different heft and the proda clear hereditary claim, the exclusion uct of diverse religious traditions after a of his male heirs, and the installation of century of wars centered on religious difthree foreign successors left a cloud over ferences the title of whoever held the monarchy.

Franklin’s idea that the colonies, for James and his Stuart son and grandsons all their particularities, shared common were Catholics, unsuitable for Protestant interests had consequences in 1774 when England. grievances in a few colonies prompted the William was a Dutchman, stadtholder summoning of a Continental Congress and of the Dutch Republic; his English wife, its continual meetings during the RevoluMary, was subservient and died six years tionary War. into his reign; they were childless and The American Revolution was a chancy succeeded by the very English Queen event, unsure of success at every turn, Anne. After her one surviving child died and, at the same time, of enormous posof smallpox in 1700, Parliament passed the sibility: Franklin and Washington contemAct of Succession barring Catholics (and plated that the American republic could be anyone who married a Catholic) from the the world’s largest and strongest nation. It throne, and when Anne died in 1714, she was the product of extraordinary individuwas succeeded by George I, elector of Ha- als, whose clustering genius at one time and in one place is reminiscent of Perinover, who spoke no English.

George I spoke to his ministers in clean Athens or Renaissance Italy.

French, the lingua franca of continental But background circumstances also courts; his son George II spoke English contributed. Without a lightly governing with a German accent, and both were susking-in-parliament, unwilling to press for absolutist rule; without locally elected pected of caring more for their German legislatures, left largely to their own initialands in Hanover than for England. Only in 1760 did England get a plainly English tives and devices; without the willingness king, the young George III. to perceive common interests despite difThe clouds on the titles of both the Stuart ferences in religious belief and cultural pretenders and the Hanover incumbents folkways that had been so recently the left room for philosophers to concoct theo- stuff of violent disagreement and war — without all these advantages, it is hard to ries of resistance to kings. see how the Revolution whose Declaration At the same time, English monarchs, aware of their arguable illegitimacy, avoid- we celebrate this week, of which we are the fortunate, if often also the querulous ed the fashion for absolutist government heirs, could have been so largely, though pursued and championed by Louis XIV in imperfectly, successful.

France, Charles III in Spain, Joseph II in Happy Fourth!

Austria and Frederick III in Denmark.

James II’s taste for absolutism was apMichael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone. parent before his ouster. One of his proj-

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Voyeurism charges reinstated against N.O. man Appellate court rules time element decision incorrect

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeal reinstated dozens of video voyeurism charges against a man accused of taking nude photos and videos of at least seven different women while they were unconscious.

Authorities allege Jeffrey Darlak, 45, of New Orleans, spent nearly two decades amassing a stockpile of lewd photos that he took of his female acquaintances without their knowledge or consent. Police seized Darlak’s cellphone and computers and found the explicit images and footage of the women that Darlak collected in several cities and states, according to court records.

The activity dated back to 2003, according to charging documents filed against Darlak in 2024.

New Orleans appellate judges last month reversed a lower court’s decision to dismiss 100 counts from Darlak’s cache of felony charges.

Months after prosecutors from

District Attorney Jason Williams’ office formally charged Darlak with 124 video voyeurism counts in May 2024, his attorney convinced a judge that all but 24 of the counts should be quashed because the state came forth with charges too late.

Darryl Derbigny, then a criminal judge in New Orleans’ district court, ruled in September 2024 that the district attorney filed charges against Darlak well past the six-year window in which the state must initiate prosecutions, according to Louisiana law.

In time-barring and dismissing the charges, Derbigny decided the six-year prescriptive period was triggered when each of the alleged offenses occurred.

According to the 124-count indictment filed two years ago, 76 of the charges were tied to offenses that happened separately in 2003, 2010 and 2011. The state later filed an amended indictment that placed those offense dates between 2017 and 2021.

But in a June 22 opinion overturning Derbigny’s decision, the New Orleans-based 4th Circuit ruled those offense dates didn’t matter because the clock for the state to file Darlak’s charges didn’t begin until March 2022, when one of his alleged victims first discov-

ered the pics of herself and other women on his Google Drive.

The woman reported her discovery, prompting a New Orleans Police Department investigation.

A short time later, her friends found illicit Google Drive photos of themselves while Darlak was in a rehab facility, police said.

When detectives searched his phone, computer and external hard drive, they found images that included at least three videos of a woman being raped while unconscious, NOPD sex crimes Detective Brandon McDonald wrote in an affidavit.

“The victims in this case are very pleased with the ruling and look forward to having their day in court,” said Penny Kissinger, deputy chief of the District Attorney’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.

“We expect Darlak to seek review by the Louisiana Supreme Court, which will further delay the prosecution.”

State lawmakers tweaked Louisiana’s video voyeurism statute in 2016 and again in 2023. Those changes to the state law delayed the clock from ticking until victims first discover the images tied to the crime. In Darlak’s case, Derbigny barred the prosecution of any crimes that took place before Aug. 1, 2016, the date the law

change took effect.

4th Circuit Judge Tiffany Chase wrote the appellate court’s opinion. She was joined on the review panel by judges Sandra Jenkins and Monique Morial.

Prosecutors acknowledged that time had expired on two video voyeurism charges that were filed as low-level offenses. Those two counts had four-year prescriptive periods. The state agreed to dismiss both of them.

But the appeals court determined the statute of limitations didn’t run out on the remaining 98 counts before the new law took effect in 2016. Since that window hadn’t closed, judges applied the exception to the charges.

“If the counts were not timebarred prior to the effective date of, Aug. 1, 2016, then its provisions apply and the state has four or six years from the date the victim discovered the crime to institute prosecution,” Chase wrote.

Each of the voyeurism counts may be punishable by up to five years in prison at hard labor.

Not only did Derbigny lop away 100 of Darlak’s charges in 2024, he also slashed the man’s bond to $50,000, down from $450,000, and allowed him to be released on house arrest.

Afterward, Derbigny recused

himself from the case, citing a long friendship he had with the father of one of the alleged victims.

The case was shuffled to District Judge Simone Levine until a hearing last July, when fellow Judge Kimya Holmes took her off the case. She did so after Kenn Barnes, Darlak’s defense attorney at the time, filed a motion for Levine’s recusal, arguing a member of her staff is a former prosecutor who had loose ties to the case while working for the District Attorney’s Office.

District Judge Benedict Willard handled the case afterward as it stalled in anticipation of the appellate court’s decree. He appointed a public defender to represent Darlak on March 26.

In its order last week, the 4th Circuit sent the case back to Criminal District Court for further proceedings. Willard transferred the matter to Judge John Fuller’s section during a subsequent June 25 hearing, according to district court records.

Representatives from Orleans Public Defenders declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. It’s not clear if they plan to appeal the decision.

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

Retired New Orleans judge appointed to ex-sheriff’s case dennis Waldron to preside over public corruption case

BY MATT BRUCE

Staff writer

The Louisiana Supreme Court on Tuesday appointed retired New Orleans criminal Judge Dennis Waldron to preside over the criminal case of ex-Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson.

A special grand jury in April handed up a combined 50 indictments on Hutson and her former chief financial officer, Bianka

Brown. The counts were tied to court filings regarding inmate transfers and failures to shore up security lapses at the Orleans Justice Center leading up to last year’s mass jailbreak, which Hutson controlled at the time.

All 12 judges on the Criminal District Court bench have recused themselves, citing the fact that Hutson most of them could be called to testify against Hutson and Brown. Chief Judge Juana Marine Lombard asked for an ad hoc replacement in a letter to the state Supreme Court on Tuesday.

The high court responded by ap-

pointing Waldron, who served 26 years as a Criminal District Court judge before retiring in 2008.

Hutson, 59, and Brown, 40, have yet to be formally arraigned on their slate of respective charges. No arraignment date was listed on the docket as of Thursday morning.

Hutson has said she will pursue every legal option to prove the allegations against her are false.

“I will aggressively fight to clear my name,” she said following her first appearance in court in April.

Prosecutors from Attorney Gen-

eral Liz Murrill’s office secured the indictments April 29 in the final days of Hutson’s term. The outgoing sheriff was indicted on 30 criminal charges that included counts of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, malfeasance in office and filing or maintaining false records. Brown was hit with 20 similar indictments.

Eleven of the Criminal District Court’s 12 judges were on the bench last July, when Hutson and the judges clashed over inmate transfers to court from the jail.

After Hutson claimed she lacked the money or manpower to resume the practice of bringing the new arrestees to the courthouse for weekend and holiday hearings, the court

Ex-N.O. mayor’s federal trial delayed again 15, 2027.

Claus, found guilty of wire have not come up so far in Cantrell’s defense March In an order signed fraud and lying to the FBI in court proceedings or filings Wednesday, Chief U.S. Dis- an art-insurance scam. related to Cantrell’s case, attorneys’ The postponement of and attorneys for Vappie trict Judge Wendy Vitter of C a n t r e l l ’s t r i a l and Cantrell have declined Louisiana’s Eastern schedule comes weeks af- to comment on them. Still, District cited the trial calter The Times- Cantrell’s Oct. 19 trial date cited as reason “arduous Picayune | The seemed to pose logistical endar” facing Vap-

BY JAMES FINN Staff writer

A federal judge this week delayed LaToya Cantrell’s corruption trial until the spring of 2027, citing defense attorneys’ packed schedule during a summer filled with high-profile trials at the federal courthouse on Poydras Street.

The former New Orleans mayor had been set to face a jury on wire fraud, obstruction and conspiracy counts starting on Oct. 19 — a date that had already been punted repeatedly following her August 2025 indictment. She is charged alongside her New Orleans Police Department bodyguard, Jeffrey Vappie, with spending taxpayer money on romantic liaisons, then lying and destroying evidence to conceal signs of their alleged romance.

Their new trial date is

Advocate reported pie’s attorneys for that the case’s lead the delay. prosecutor, AssisOne of the detant U.S. Attorney fense lawyers, Jordan Ginsberg, Shaun Clarke, also Cantrell was placed on leave represents federal defendant Sean Alfortish, a amid an internal Departformer Kenner magistrate ment of Justice probe into set for an August trial on allegations that he conmurder, wire fraud and wit- cealed a workplace relaness tampering. Alfortish tionship with a subordinate is the alleged leader of a in the local U.S. Attorney’s yearslong scheme by lo- Office.

A longtime public corrupcal lawyers and fixers who staged car wrecks with tion prosecutor, Ginsberg big-rig trucks, snagging had been promoted this millions in bogus insurance spring to lead all of the U.S. payouts.

Attorney’s Office’s criminal Vitter, too, has presided prosecutions. over a packed docket of He was withdrawn from late: She oversaw the mara- the Cantrell prosecution thon March jury trial of two team around the time that personal injury lawyers the internal probe became convicted of wire fraud and public. Ginsberg has since obstruction for their role in been pulled off several the staged-wrecks scheme. more cases on which he had In June, Vitter ran the continued handling case two-week trial of a former work since being named the New Orleans Police De- office’s criminal chief.

Ginsberg’s allegations partment officer, Christian

challenges for the government.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Moses, another prosecutor assigned to the Cantrell matter, has another trial set to begin that day: that of Randy Farrell, an electrician charged under a 2024 indictment with bribing Cantrell in a bid to shirk scrutiny over his firm’s permitting practices. Farrell’s case is overseen by U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey. (Cantrell has not been charged in that scheme.)

“There was no objection to the requested continuance (of Cantrell’s trial) by counsel for the Government,” Vitter wrote in this week’s order.

Cantrell left office in January. Both she and Vappie have pleaded not guilty to their federal charges.

Email James Finn at jfinn@theadvocate.com.

Prairieville man convicted in 2022 shooting Jury returns manslaughter verdict

BY ANNAKATE FREELAND Staff writer

A Prairieville man has been found guilty of manslaughter in the 2022 shooting death of his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend, bringing to a close a case that included a successful appeal over the defendant’s right to claim self-defense.

The Ascension Parish jury returned the verdict June 26 against Jerome Lilly, 41, af-

ter a trial before Judge Cody Martin in the 23rd Judicial District Court. Lilly originally was charged with seconddegree murder in the July 2022 death of 40-year-old Tarrence Williams.

The trial came after the Louisiana 1st Circuit Court of Appeal last fall reversed a 2024 ruling by Martin that would have prevented Lilly from arguing self-defense at trial. The appellate court found that “a criminal defendant has the constitutional right to present a defense” and sent the case back to the district court for trial.

The jury convicted Lilly of the lesser charge of man-

slaughter.

Sentencing is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 14. Lilly faces up to 40 years in state prison if sentenced to the maximum penalty for manslaughter.

According to the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a home on Cherry Creek Drive in Prairieville after receiving a report of a shooting.

When deputies arrived, they encountered Lilly, who had called 911. Investigators said he told deputies he had gotten into an altercation with Williams, his girlfriend’s ex, before shooting him.

Williams was found lying in the entryway of the residence with multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.

During the investigation, detectives determined Lilly and Williams had engaged in a heated phone conversation regarding Williams’ minor children before Williams went to the home to pick them up.

Although investigators found no evidence that the argument became physical, authorities said Lilly fired multiple shots, striking Williams. He was arrested at the scene and booked into the Ascension Parish Jail.

held her in contempt. John Fuller, elected May 16, was the lone judge not on the bench at the time.

Tracey Flemings-Davillier, who was the court’s chief judge last summer, issued Hutson’s contempt order following a July 17 hearing inside her courtroom. Each of her colleagues signed off on the contempt ruling.

In court filings, prosecutors from Murrill’s office indicated 18 of the charges against Hutson and Brown stem from documents the two submitted to the court during last July’s legal showdown.

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

CUTS

advocates for LSU Health Shreveport worried about the medical school losing Continued from page 1B autonomy.

The president and the flagship campus in Baton Board of Supervisors Rouge for the purpose of have said ranking in the counting research dollars top 50 will make LSU altogether. The changes eligible for more grants ruffled feathers outside and increase its academic of Baton Rouge as some prestige.

PROJECT

Continued from page 1B Specifically, Lafayette Consolidated Government is requesting $30 million from the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway Projects Program. The funding would go along with $20 million from DOTD to cover pre-construction costs for the U.S. 90 and E. Kaliste Saloom Interchange Project.

The $626.7 million U.S. Department of Transportation funding program is for transportation infrastructure projects aimed at improving safety, efficiency and reliability by modernizing aging assets and expanding capacity, according to a notice of funding opportunity.

If awarded, the pre-construction will advance final engineering plans, right of way acquisition and utility

relocation for the E. Kaliste Saloom Project to be “shovel-ready,” according to an LCG announcement.

This project will convert the existing intersection into a grade-separated interchange. This includes work on ramps, flyover bridges and roadway improvements along 2.2 miles of Kaliste Saloom Road and 3.5 miles of U.S. 90.

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1CN

New NCAA 5-for-5 rule could alter the look of LSU rosters

BY JON BLAU Staff writer

At first blush, it doesn’t appear that last month’s change in NCAA eligibility rules will affect LSU football all that much.

There are just four true seniors who can now return for a fifth season in 2027 because college athletes have five years to play five. And those four players, defenders Whit Weeks, Princewill Umanmielen and Ty Benefield and wideout Jayce Brown, each find themselves one big season away from NFL draft-worthiness.

Plus, LSU’s seven redshirt seniors, by the letter of the law, aren’t eligible to return for a sixth year.

But there are ways the NCAA’s attempt to simplify its eligibility rules could factor into Lane Kiffin’s build of LSU next offseason and beyond. The pool of players available via high school recruiting, roster retention, and transfer portal acquisitions just changed.

NFL or bust … but not totally If anything, the likes of Weeks, Umanmielen, Benefield, and Brown don’t have to go pro after this season.

But some are more likely than others to consider a fifth year.

Benefield, the 6-foot-3, 208-pound transfer from Boise State, seems like a long shot.

He’s been listed by ESPN experts as a topfive safety in the 2027 draft class.

Umanmielen, the Ole Miss transfer, just

ä See NCAA, page 3C

United States midfielder Malik Tillman takes a corner kick during a World Cup match against Bosnia on Thursday in Santa Clara, Calif. The United States won 2-0 to advance to the Round of 16. AP PHOTO By EAKIN HOWARd

Soft-spoken Tillman delivers loud statement with World Cup goal

BY JOSH DUBOW AP sportswriter

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Malik Tillman is soft-spoken off the field with his interviews often given at a volume just above a whisper.

He spoke loudly with his bloody right foot at one of the biggest moments of the World Cup for the United States.

Still feeling the affects of being stomped on by an opponent’s studs, Tillman scored the first free kick goal in a World Cup for the Americans in 32 years to seal a 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday night that sent the U.S. into the round of 16.

Tillman celebrated the biggest moment of his young career with a smile and a scream as he ran to celebrate with his teammates in front of the large contingent of American fans at Levi’s Stadium.

“I’m a different type of person on the pitch,” he said after the game. “Of course maybe you don’t really see my emotions, but then if you score a goal like this, I think also you guys saw my emotions. It’s a great feeling.”

Tillman showed off his bloody sock — perhaps the most famous in American sports lore since Curt Schilling’s in the 2004 baseball playoffs for the Boston Red Sox — after the game, saying he was still in a bit of pain.

But the discomfort was lessened by pure joy as the U.S. now prepares to play Belgium on Monday night in Seattle with a chance to make it to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002.

Tillman’s goal came with the U.S. protecting a one-goal lead and down a man after Folarin Balogun was sent off with a red card early in the second half. Balogun scored his third goal of the tournament in the first half but Tillman delivered the game-sealer in the highlight of what has already been a productive World Cup for the 24-year-old.

“Obviously he’s been playing so well,” captain Tim Ream said. “I’d argue he’s, other than Balo’s goals, he’s one of our best players. Everywhere on the field, doing the dirty things, making the hard things easy. I think it is just that. He just wanted to feel like he had a place. He’s

ä See WORLD CUP, page 3C

McAllister has big-time college potential Son of legendary Saints RB is a two-sport standout

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL dEMOCKER

Saints linebacker Keith Mitchell looks to tackle Bills quarterback Rob Johnson during a game on Sept. 9, 2001, in Buffalo, N.y.

Mitchell died on Thursday.

Former Saints Pro Bowl LB Mitchell dead at 51

BY CHRISTOPHER DABE

BY JEFF DUNCAN

Curtis McAllister cradled the football in his right arm and asked coach Ben Powell if this was how he was supposed to do it.

It was the first day of spring practice — the first time McAllister stepped on the field with Powell as the head coach at Country Day, and the son of New Orleans Saints legend Deuce McAllister wanted to make sure he was doing it right.

“We basically asked them to make a target with their hands, catch the ball, look it in,” Powell said. “There’s a bunch of little, tiny details to it, and it was like, ‘Hey, coach, OK, hold it like this? Where do I put my hands?’ ” For McAllister, details mattered. That attention to detail carried over to Friday nights in the fall and to two straight basketball championship seasons.

Now a junior, the 6-foot-4 McAllister has emerged as a two-sport standout with potential to play either sport in college.

Which one will he choose? Nobody knows.

Former New Orleans Saints linebacker Keith Mitchell has died, according to a report

by KBTX-TV in Bryan, Texas. He was 51.

Mitchell signed with the Saints in 1997 as an undrafted free agent out of Texas A&M. He went on to become a starter and standout special teams performer.

Mitchell’s best season came in 2000, when he starred for a Saints team that won the NFC West Division title and captured the first playoff win in franchise history. In the Saints’ 31-28 victory against the St. Louis Rams in the NFC Wild Card playoffs, Mitchell had three tackles and a sack of Rams quarterback Kurt Warner.

He played five seasons for the Saints from 1997 to 2001 and finished his tenure with 272 solo tackles, including 20 tackles for loss. In 2000, he returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown in a 21-10 win against the Arizona Cardinals and returned a fumble 90 yards for a touchdown in a 20-10 win against

Staff writer

Staff writer

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETT dUKE

Country day’s Curtis McAllister, center, runs the ball as Newman’s Jack Falgoust, left, defends on Oct. 20 in New Orleans. McAllister has emerged as a two-sport standout ä See MCALLISTER, page 3C with potential to play either sport in college.

ä See SAINTS, page 3C

2C ● Friday, July 3, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Clark to start third straight WNBA All-Star Game

NEW YORK — Caitlin Clark was voted to start her third straight All-Star Game and will be joined by Indiana Fever teammates Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston, the WNBA announced Thursday.

It’s the second time in four years that three players from the same team were chosen to start the game, with Las Vegas doing it in 2023.

Clark and Mitchell will be joined this year in the backcourt by Dallas’ Paige Bueckers and Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles. It’s the fourth consecutive year that a rookie was chosen as an All-Star starter.

Bueckers played last season.

A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Jessica Shepard, Natasha Howard and Gabby Williams were selected for the frontcourt for the game that will be played in Chicago on July 25.

St. John’s forward Freeman to miss next season

Amanda Anisimova of the United States returns the ball to Sofia Kenin of the United States in their second round women’s singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships on Thursday in London.

NEW YORK — St. John’s forward Donnie Freeman will miss next season with an Achilles injury after getting hurt during a workout.

It’s a significant blow to the Red Storm, who landed Freeman in the transfer portal from Syracuse this offseason and were expecting him to be a top player on the 2026-27 team.

The rising junior was injured Monday and had surgery on his right Achilles tendon, the school announced Wednesday night.

“Donnie had a non-contact injury in a workout and will miss the season,” Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino posted on social media.

The 6-foot-9 Freeman averaged 15.3 points and 7.5 rebounds in 37 games over two seasons at Syracuse.

Anisimova avoids upset in tiebreaker

Raptors agree to multiyear contract with coach Rajakovic

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By BRIAN INGANGA

BY KEN MAGUIRE AP sportswriter

LONDON — Amanda Anisimova served three of her 20 aces in the deciding tiebreaker to hold off Sofia Kenin 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (3) and reach the third round at Wimbledon on Thursday as Kate, the Princess of Wales, visited the All England Club.

Anisimova, who was consoled

by Kate a year ago after being routed by Iga Swiatek in the final, trailed 3-1 in the third set before she broke back in the sixth game against her fellow American.

“Some moments were really awful. I’m just so happy through to the next round,” Anisimova said on No. 2 Court.

“I never thought that I’d be saying this — but thank you to my serve today,” she added. “I’m

not an amazing server. Now, I can finally say I can serve pretty good.”

The sixth-seeded Anisimova whacked her racket on her leg at one point in the deciding set.

“I was down 3-1 and I told myself to just keep fighting and this might be your last moments at Wimbledon ... just try and maybe have fun and enjoy it,” said Anisimova, who will next face 26thseeded Madison Keys. “I try to remind myself, just have fun, you are playing at Wimbledon. I do get hard on myself sometimes.”

Swiatek, who beat Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 for the 2025 title on Centre Court, needed just 70 minutes to get past 2021 Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 6-3.

The defending champion gets Filipino rising star Alexandra Eala, who rallied to beat Maya

Joint 3-6, 6-2, 6-0, in the third pants — designed to easily unbutround. On Tuesday, Joint spoiled ton as you pull them off in one tug.

Serena Williams’ singles come“I took it off slowly in the first round. I kind of actually made a back. mess of it,” Fritz said in his press Fritz emulates Tiafoe conference. “It’s actually just a lot A well-dressed Taylor Fritz im- easier to just rip them off. I saw pressed again, beating compatriot a video of Frances (Tiafoe) doing Patrick Kypson 6-2, 6-2, 7-5 to it. I was just trying to copy him today. ” reach the third round.

Later, an equally dapper Tiafoe Fritz’s white blazer and NBAstyle warmup pants for his walk- showed how it’s done — earnon at No. 2 Court drew attention ing applause for quickly pulling but his play wasn’t bad either — he off the bottoms before his match fired 19 aces and avoided getting against Jan Choinksi. pushed into a fourth set.

Naomi Osaka’s fashion stateThe sixth-seeded American, a ments have made her court walksemifinalist last year, emphati- ons must-see viewing at Grand cally pumped his right fist when Slam tournaments — Wimbledon he broke Kypson to convert his included.

Also Thursday, both secondfourth match point.

Fritz also won his opener in seeded Alexander Zverev and straight sets and had worn a simi- fifth-seeded Alex de Minaur relar outfit with tear-away warmup corded straight-set victories.

Cink, Wi share U.S. Senior Open lead after opener

BY JOE REEDY AP sportswriter

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Stewart Cink got off to a great start in a bid to win his third straight senior major.

Cink was the only player to make five birdies on the back nine at Scioto Country Club on Thursday, shooting a 3-under 67 for a share of the first-round lead in the U.S. Senior Open with Charlie Wi. Cink struggled on the front nine, shooting a 2-over 37, but found momentum once he made the turn.

“I’ve been off for a little while, and I started like I’ve been off for a little while. I had to prove it to myself again that I could play decent golf a certain way,” Cink said.

“The back nine was really nice. I actually could have shot quite a bit lower on the back nine. I missed three very reasonably like inside — right around 10 feet or less birdie putts.”

The 53-year-old Cink has four wins in nine PGA Tour Champions starts this year, including the Senior PGA Championship and the Tradition. The last player to win the Senior PGA, Tradition and U.S. Senior Open in the same year was Jack Nicklaus in 1991. Scioto, the Donald Ross course hosting its third U.S. Senior Open, is where Nicklaus learned to play the game.

Simon Griffiths, Freddie Jacobson and George McNeill were tied for third at 68. Defending champion Padraig Harrington was among a group of 10 players at 69.

“Of course it’s tough, we know that, so once you get through that, the golf course itself is playing nicely,” Harrington said.

Cink is also attempting to be-

ASSOCIATEd PRESS FILE PHOTO By FRANK FRANKLIN II

Stewart Cink hits from the first fairway during the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club on May 15 in Newtown Square, Pa. Cink shot a 3-under 67 for a share of the first-round lead in the U.S. Senior Open on Thursday. come the fifth player to win the event after being runner-up the previous year. Fred Funk was the last to do it in 2009.

Cink was part of the seventh afternoon group to tee off from the first hole and played in the tough-

est conditions of the day, when the temperature reached 95 degrees midway through his round and a heat index of 103 according to the National Weather Service.

“The heat is a factor for sure. It affects your focus and your en-

ergy level. Sometimes even the simplest shots just kind of — it’s easy to fall asleep at the wheel when the conditions are like that,” he said.

Cink tied Wi with a birdie on the par-4 18th. Cink’s tee shot found one of the bunkers on the left hand side, but he got a great lie. His second shot landed within 2 feet near the front of the hole, and made for an easy putt.

Wi was at even par through his first 11 holes before his string of birdies on holes three through seven holes. Wi made a double bogey on the par-4 eighth before ending his round with a par.

Wi thought his best shot came on the par-3 fourth, when he hit his tee shot within a couple feet with a 5-iron on the 205-yard hole.

“I hit the ball pretty solid today, made a couple of putts. It was a hot day. I just made sure that I stayed in the ballgame, meaning like mentally, because you could easily lose it out there,” he said.

Wi’s run of bridies ended on the eighth hole when his second shot went left and into the water near the green. He is the 14th player in the 46-year history of the Senior Open to have at least five straight birdies in a round. The last time it happened was in 2022 when Thongchai Jaidee birdied Nos. 5-9 at the Saucon Valley Country Club’s Old Course in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, during the third round.

The 54-year old South Korean player has nine worldwide professional victories — including five on the Korean Tour — but none on the PGA Tour or Champions circuit.

TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors have agreed to a multiyear contract extension with coach Darko Rajakovic, who will soon lead a team featuring Kawhi Leonard.

The Raptors announced the agreement on Thursday, days after making a blockbuster deal to bring Leonard back the franchise he led to the 2019 NBA title.

Rajakovic led Toronto to 46 wins last season, guiding the team to the playoffs for the first time since 2022 before losing in Game 7 of an first-round series against Cleveland. He helped the Raptors bounce back from winning 30 or fewer games the previous two seasons under him.

Rajakovic is 101-105 over three seasons with the Raptors.

Congo coach suprised to share news of father’s death

ATLANTA — The death of the father of Congo coach Sébastien Desabre was revealed at a media conference after his team was eliminated from the World Cup, an announcement in public that appeared to startle the Frenchman.

Desabre had just finished taking questions from the media after Congo’s agonizing 2-1 loss to England in the round of 16 on Wednesday.

The team’s spokesman then closed the session by saying in French “the coach has lost his father. Sincere condolences.”

Kalemo Ngoy said Thursday the passing of Desabre’s father had been known to him before the game.

The 49-year-old Desabre has coached Congo for four years.

Horse racing great Dettori injured in car accident

NEWMARKET, England — Frankie Dettori, one of the most successful jockeys in horse racing history, sustained “several broken ribs and a broken thumb” in a car crash and is undergoing further tests in hospital, his representatives said Thursday.

The 55-year-old Dettori was driving a car that was involved in a collision with another vehicle in Newmarket, a town in eastern England regarded as the country’s home of horse racing, H Talent Management said in a statement.

“Frankie was taken to hospital, where he was found to have sustained several broken ribs and a broken thumb,” the agency said.

The Italian jockey, who famously went through the card with seven winners in seven races at Ascot in September 1996, has amassed more than 3,350 victories in his career.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Friday, July 3, 2026 ● 3C

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MCALLISTER Continued from page 1C

“Maybe they just want me to go play football at Ole Miss or something like that,” McAllister said.

“I may. I may not. I’m not sure.”

Given his father’s career — a first-round pick out of Ole Miss who ended his Saints career as the franchise’s rushing leader — many assume football is the obvious path.

“On the football side of it, he’s an SEC football player, period,” Powell said. “He can play Saturdays in that league — Saturdays in the Big Ten. Now, of course, you never want to project anything past that.”

He also has a future in basketball after participating in last week’s Nike Elite 100 camp in St. Louis, Missouri, an event for the nation’s top prep players.

“He knows that he’s got a chance to do something special in either sport,” Country Day basketball coach Mike McGuire said. “He may grow another inch or two (and choose basketball).

He may get like Deuce — 15 more pounds of muscle. If that happens, he’s going to pick his sport.”

Basketball, like football, is in the bloodlines. McAllister’s mother, Danielle McAllister, was a defensive-minded standout at Flint (Mich.) Northern High School in the 1990s and played on two SWAC championship teams at Alcorn State in the early 2000s.

On the basketball court, McAllister plays more like mom than dad.

“She says that I get all my defense from her,” McAllister said with a smile.

His aggressiveness and physicality are most like what she brought to the floor, she said.

“Always on his toes, shuffling his feet, active hands,” Danielle said. “Playing the passing lanes.

Making sure you have the right angles.”

It was McAllister’s play on defense that put him in the starting lineup late in his freshman season.

“He’s just so disruptive,” McGuire said. “And he’s real long — longer than most people think.”

McAllister ended that season with the LHSAA outstanding player award for his 17 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals in the state finals victory over top-seeded Calvary Baptist.

He keyed another title run last season, scoring on a one-handed put-back dunk that helped carry momentum in a last-second semifinal win against Dunham.

“He’s gotten so many and-1s at the rim,” McGuire said. “And then his dunk — that turned the whole momentum of the game.”

McAllister gets plenty of di-

rection at home with two former athletes as parents. His younger brother, Emory, is a skilled point guard entering seventh grade.

Older brother Kaleb won a high school powerlifting state title in Mississippi and is now a defensive lineman at Tuskegee University.

“There’s a lot of teaching going on,” Danielle said. “I don’t know if he always likes it. Not a lot of letting things go when you’re not doing something right.”

Deuce’s guidance has him focused on the here and now.

“You want to keep your head down and work,” Deuce said.

“If you’re being honest about it, you’re proud and pleased and thankful for the success you have.

At the end of the day, it’s really just understanding and knowing if you’re going to be successful a long time, every day you’re getting one percent better.”

McAllister has been into basketball for as long as he can remember. He first dunked during warmups before a sixth-grade game. His first in-game dunk came in an eighth-grade game at Country Day. “I like the pace and how one player can control the entire game,” McAllister said. “I like shooting the ball, scoring, a lot of that. It’s fun.”

McAllister has always been taller than most kids his age. He played defensive end, linebacker and running back in his first season of tackle football in seventh grade—eventually moving to wide receiver and defensive back, where he could put his high reach and ranginess to good use.

He also has potential in track and field. McAllister tried the triple jump as a freshman and fell three inches short of qualifying for the state meet — without any training.

“The coaches just threw me in the event and said, ‘Go try and jump,’ ” McAllister said, recalling how his “technique was terrible.

I think I was landing on my butt and everything.”

Come August, McAllister’s attention turns fully to football.

With two high school seasons still ahead, there’s still time before any college decision becomes official.

“If Deuce calls anybody (and says), ‘My son wants to play football, give him a scholarship,’ he’s going to get a scholarship,” McGuire said.

Deuce is not looking to speed up the recruiting process.

“Recruiting, it’s good and bad,” Deuce said. “You see so many kids, so young — they have opportunities, and they forget what got them those opportunities. I want him to be a kid as long as he can.”

Whatever he chooses, it will be his decision.

“We’ll see,” McAllister said.

Oyarzabal’s 2 goals send dominant Spain past Austria

BY GREG BEACHAM AP sportswriter

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Mikel Oyarzabal scored two goals and Spain beat Austria 3-0 on Thursday for its first World Cup victory in a knockout match since winning the title in 2010.

Pedro Porro added a goal in the second half for Spain, which put on its most impressive performance of the tournament while dominating possession and demonstrating the offensive creativity across its vaunted lineup.

Spain also has yet to allow a goal at this year’s World Cup. Unai Simón didn’t have to make a save while keeping his fourth consecutive clean sheet, since Austria failed to get a shot on target.

“I’m happy to have helped the team for us to go through another round,” Oyarzabal said. “Now just rest and get ready for the next one. It was a complicated match. We knew that it was going to be difficult against a very physical team, but we had a very good day and played a good match.”

La Roja will next face the winner of Portugal’s match against Croatia in Dallas on Monday in the round of 16.

Lamine Yamal had four of Spain’s 10 shots on goal while getting wild cheers from the pro-Spanish sellout crowd at SoFi Stadium. The 18-year-old Barcelona sensation played his longest stretch of the tournament before coming off in the 85th minute, moments after Austria defender David Alaba deflected Yamal’s hard shot off the goal line.

Spain got its marquee offense from Oyarzabal, the Real Sociedad captain who doubled his goal total at this year’s World Cup by opening the scoring in the 36th minute and clinching the victory in the 89th. Marc Cucurella had assists

BY JON BLAU Staff writer

LSU didn’t have a defensive back commit in its 2027 class.

Until the Tigers got “Greedy.”

On Thursday, Lane Kiffin and Co. reached into the state of Texas to flip four-star Karnell “Greedy” James from a commitment to the Longhorns. The Manvel, Texas, native had pledged to his in-state program in December.

James, a 6-foot-1, 175-pound defensive back, is the 15th commit in the Tigers’ 2027 class, including the third on the defensive side of

Continued from page 1C

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRAd KEMP

SAINTS

NCAA

the Carolina Panthers.

Mitchell is one of just eight linebackers in the Saints franchise history to make the Pro Bowl. He finished his NFL career with one-year tenures with the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars.

At Texas A&M, Mitchell was a member of the famed “Wrecking Crew” defense from 1993-96.

He earned All-Southwest Conference honors in 1995 and was an All-Big 12 selection and College Football News All-America selection in 1996.

A native of Garland, Texas, he ranked fourth in A&M history with 34 career sacks, including 14.5 during his senior season.

The 1996 total is tied for the sixth most in A&M history for single-season sacks.

Mitchell was inducted into the Texas A&M Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

ranked third in the SEC with nine sacks last season, along with 13 tackles for loss. If the edge rusher stacks productive seasons, he’s likely to be a Day 1 or Day 2 pick at what NFL teams regard as a premium position.

But in this era of name, image, and likeness (NIL) and revenuesharing pay, athletes with a Day 3 grade could realistically earn more money playing a fifth year in college than they would manning an NFL practice squad.

This could factor into decisionmaking for not only the quartet of true seniors on LSU’s roster but also fourth-years across the country, which should have ripple effects in the player market Kiffin and Co. will pull from in Year 2.

There may be an uptick in fringe NFL players aiming to play a fifth season elsewhere, either because they want to maximize their earning potential or their current pro-

Continued from page 1C

Continued from page 1C

on both of Oyarzabal’s goals, demonstrating an excellent connection from the left side.

“The great teams step up when it’s needed,” Spain coach Luis De La Fuente said. “We played a great match. We came close to perfection, but we must keep improving. There is always room for improvement, because every upcoming match will be very difficult.”

Goalkeeper Alexander Schlager made six saves in an outstanding performance for Austria, which reached the knockout rounds of its first World Cup since 1998 by squeaking out a late draw with an injury-time goal against Algeria. Coach Ralf Rangnick’s team

hasn’t won a knockout match at the World Cup since 1954.

After an unbeaten group stage that still didn’t quiet the questions about this star-laden team’s championship potential, Spain is firmly back in World Cup contention for the first time since winning it all in South Africa 16 years ago. Spain lost two knockout matches and got eliminated in the group stage over the past three World Cups.

Spain is now unbeaten 35 straight competitive matches since March 2023. La Roja won the 2023 Nations League and the 2024 European Championship in that stretch, but also lost the 2025 Nations League final on penalties to Portugal.

LSU steals 4-star DB James from Texas

WORLD CUP

Country day guard Curtis McAllister, right, steals the ball from Calvary Baptist guard Robert Wright, left, during their LHSAA Boy’s division III Select Championship game on March 14 at Burton Coliseum in Lake Charles.

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By JAE C. HONG

Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal celebrates after scoring his side’s opening goal during a World Cup match against Austria on Friday in Inglewood, Calif.

Spain won 3-0 to advance to the Round of 16.

a quiet kid, but he’s just come on leaps and bounds.”

Tillman is the son of an American serviceman and German mother and grew up in Germany playing on the Bayern Munich youth squad and the German national youth team before making the switch to the U.S. team in 2022.

His big moment came last summer in the Gold Cup when he scored two goals against Trinidad and Tobago and another against Haiti in the group stage. He then

gram decided to allocate scholarship and NIL resources elsewhere.

LSU, which acquired 40-plus transfers this offseason, hasn’t been shy about adding college veterans. And the Tigers could continue to be aggressive if their 2027 recruiting class, which currently has 15 commits, remains on the smaller side.

Whether it’s bringing back a senior or two for a fifth year or collecting transfers from elsewhere, LSU could increase the average age of its roster, hoping to increase its odds of winning in the near term.

Recalibrating the development timeline There’s no change for the 22 redshirt juniors on LSU’s roster because they still have one season to play in 2027, barring some unforeseen lawsuit where redshirted athletes argue they were unjustly sidelined and a court grants them a sixth year.

Without dispute, LSU has 12 true juniors who not only have this year

the ball. LSU already has top-50 national prospects KJ Green and Chris Whitehead in the fold at defensive end.

If James has his way, the Tigers could add another five-star recruit.

He was asked during his 274Sports commitment livestream if he’s recruiting anyone to come with him to Baton Rouge, and James pointed to one of the Longhorns’ current receiver commits.

“Definitely my dog, Easton Royal, for sure,” James said of the fivestar wideout from New Orleans, who is ranked as the No. 6 overall recruit in the 247Sports Compos-

ite. “We’ve always been talking.

James is an intriguing prospect himself with a reported 6-6 wingspan. He has the length and range to play safety, which is where he has predominantly lined up at Manvel High in 2025, but James also has the versatility to play cornerback.

As a high school junior, James posted 53 tackles, two interceptions, and six pass breakups, as well as two punt return touchdowns.

missed a penalty kick in the first half of the quarterfinals against Costa Rica before making one in the penalty shootout that sent the U.S. to the semifinals.

“The Gold Cup was really huge for him,” Ream said. “I think the adversity of the Costa Rica game, the penalty was really big for him. Now you look at him and he looks like he’s just playing such an easy game. It’s incredible to see. He’s had that in him all this time. It was just a matter of him finding the confidence and him believing in himself.”

This past year wasn’t easy for him after he moved from PSV Eindhoven to Bayer Leverkusen in a transfer worth a reported $41

million. He had six goals and one assist in 29 games in the Bundesliga and scoring two more in the Champions League.

His biggest goal came Wednesday night when he became the first American man to score off a free kick in a World Cup since Eric Wynalda in the 1994 opener against Switzerland.

“It was amazing,” coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “I think Malik is an amazing player, full of talent. We knew that he has the talent to do what he did. I’m so happy for him. Tough season for him in Leverkusen but I think now he’s enjoying and we are enjoying and the fans are enjoying his football.”

to play but two more after that.

There are 12 true sophomores who have four seasons remaining, and there are 17 true freshmen who don’t have to worry about the fourgame redshirt rule anymore.

The latter was important to coaches because rosters will be hard-capped at 105 players once walk-ons grandfathered into the House settlement depart. Freshman availability is essential for depth, while sophomores and juniors now have more time to develop.

Sophomore safety Faheem Delane, who played his freshman season at Ohio State, still has four years to chase greatness similar to his brother, Mansoor. Sophomore receiver Winston Watkins, who came from Ole Miss, has four years in Kiffin’s LSU offense.

Junior defensive tackle Dominick McKinley, who just started flashing his five-star potential in 2025, has three seasons left to reach his ceiling.

That’s not to say any of these players, specifically, will stay all five years. But several fifth-

year seniors could decide to stick around in the coming years, sort of like athletes with added eligibility from COVID, which will have a similar downstream effect.

There will be fewer scholarship opportunities for high school athletes if current college players stick around longer. Schools, however, will have more seasoned athletes if coaching staffs identify talent correctly and maximize all five years of development.

For example, Lamar Brown, Deuce Geralds, and Richard Anderson were probably going to be turned loose for LSU’s D-line in 2026 regardless, but there’s no need to wonder if one will be shut down after four games to preserve a redshirt. There are no redshirts.

From week to week, the best players can play — regardless of whether they are on a three-, four-, or five-year development track.

The 5-for-5 rule has certainly changed a coach’s calculus.

Email Jon Blau at jon.blau@ theadvocate.com.

Email Jon Blau at jon.blau@theadvocate.com.

4C ● Friday, July 3, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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LSU set to play in Live Like Lou Las Vegas Classic

BY KOKI RILEY

Staff writer

LSU baseball will face Oregon State, Iowa and Arizona State at the 2027 Live Like Lou College Baseball Classic from March 5-7, tournament officials announced on Thursday.

All three games will be played at Las Vegas Ballpark, the home of the Las Vegas Aviators, the Athletics’ Triple-A minor league affiliate.

The dates and first pitch times for each matchup have not yet been revealed.

After the tournament, LSU will remain in Las Vegas on March 8 to face UNLV at Earl E. Wilson Stadium on the university’s campus.

Last season, LSU played its midseason tournament in Jacksonville, Florida. The Tigers took

Oregon State first baseman Garret Forrester gloves the ball to get LSU batter Tre’ Morgan out at first on June 5, 2023, at Alex Box Stadium.

down Indiana, Kansas State and UCF before returning home, as their three victories capped off an 8-0 start to the season.

LSU has won 10 consecutive nonconference games held at neutralsite tournaments. The last loss the Tigers suffered came in 2023 at the hands of Iowa at the Round Rock Classic in Texas.

LSU’s loss to the Hawkeyes is the last time the two sides have faced each other. The Tigers haven’t played Oregon State since the 2023 Baton Rouge regional, when they took down the Beaves twice on their way to winning a national championship.

LSU last faced Arizona State for a two-game set in 2005. The Tigers won both of those mid-March matchups at Alex Box Stadium, winning 6-5 and 20-3.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Brown set to form All-Star trio with Embiid, Maxey in Philadelphia

BY DAN GELSTON AP sportswriter

PHILADELPHIA — Reeling from an early exit in the NBA playoffs, Jaylen Brown was still a Boston Celtics star when he dissed Joel Embiid and called him a flopper on a livestream.

“Joel Embiid is a great player, one of the best bigs in (expletive) basketball history,” Brown said. “Flops. He know it. This ain’t breaking news.”

Did someone say breaking news?

Brown might have to make amends with Embiid now that they are teammates on the 76ers in the wake of an out-of-nowhere trade that rocked the NBA and again positions Philadelphia as an instant contender for the franchise’s first NBA title since 1983.

You know, because trying to win it all with a hired gun worked so well for the Sixers with Paul George. And James Harden. And Jimmy Butler.

All flops of the postseason kind in Philly.

The Sixers have another star to pair with Embiid — and the true franchise cornerstones in All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey and secondyear standout VJ Edgecombe — after new team president of basketball operations Mike Gansey pulled off a whale of a move in his

ASSOCIATEd PRESS FILE PHOTO By CHARLES KRUPA

Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown drives to the basket against Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, right, during a game on Oct. 22 in Boston. first month on the job.

Brown — the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, a five-time All-Star and the league’s fourth-leading scorer this past season — is getting traded by the Celtics to the Sixers, a person with knowledge of the deal’s terms said Wednesday.

Boston is getting George, along with a slew of draft capital that could become two first-round picks and two second-round picks, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on con-

dition of anonymity because the trade does not yet have the required league approvals.

“I’m still processing how this all went down,” Brown wrote in a statement released Thursday. “I’m excited and disappointed at the same time. I earned my respect from this city. I never asked for shortcuts or special treatment. I simply showed up every day, put my head down, and accepted every challenge.

Without a game played, the Six-

ers are the early winners in this deal.

Gansey somehow shed the two years and $110 million left on the oft-injured and aging George’s deal for a bona fide superstar who was sixth in the NBA MVP voting this past season. The 36-year-old George — who was suspended 25 games for flunking a drug test — played in only 78 total games for the Sixers and has played more than 56 in a season only one time since 2019.

His contract seemed immovable.

Suddenly — as they say in Boston — anything is possible in Philadelphia.

Gansey continued his summer shopping spree on Thursday when the Sixers agreed to terms on a twoyear, $12.3 million deal with guard Anfernee Simons, adding him to a list this week that includes former Knicks center Ariel Hukporti and veteran Cavaliers forward Dean Wade, a person with knowledge of the agreements told the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deals cannot be signed until the league’s offseason moratorium is lifted on Monday.

The Celtics had to move on from Brown after they dangled him as trade bait to Milwaukee in a failed bid to land Giannis Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee.

Following the first round of the NBA draft, Boston president of

basketball operations Brad Stevens declined to say how close the team got to executing a trade for Brown. But he said he still viewed Brown as part of the Celtics’ future. It’s why the team sat down recently with Brown recently, who currently overseas.

“Jaylen Brown is a big part of us.

I don’t want to predict the future. I look at it as this is our team,” Stevens said.

He’s now a big part of the plan in Philadelphia, a franchise that seemed stuck in the mud after it was swept by the eventual NBA champion Knicks in the second round — after rallying from 3-1 down to topple Boston in the first round — and was third among sportsbooks late Wednesday night to win the Eastern Conference.

Gansey said last month that he wasn’t concerned the Sixers were traveling on two timelines — a win-now mode while Embiid and George were nearing the end of their deals versus dealing with the long term of trying to find pieces that can contribute in the future while Maxey is the undisputed leader of the team and Edgecombe is entering his prime.

“They’re our four guys,” Gansey said. “They’re under contract.

We’ve got to do the best to get them to their best selves. I think every night, at 7 o’clock, we’ve got to get them to their best to help us.”

SCOREBOARD Odds MLB Friday

American League FAVORITE LINE at N.Y YANKEES -180 at CLEVELAND -132 at HOUSTON OFF at LA ANGELS OFF at SEATTLE OFF National League FAVORITE LINE St. Louis -124 at WASHINGTON -136 N.Y Mets -116 at COLORADO OFF Milwaukee -162 at LA DODGERS -235 Interleague FAVORITE LINE Baltimore -120 at ATHLETICS -130

UNDERDOG Minnesota Chi. White Sox Tampa Bay Boston Toronto

LINE +152 +112 OFF OFF OFF

UNDERDOG at CHI. CUBS Pittsburgh at ATLANTA San Francisco at ARIZONA San Diego

LINE +106 +110 -102 OFF +136 +194

UNDERDOG at CINCINNATI Miami

LINE +102 +110

Major League Baseball American League East Division Tampa Bay New York Toronto Baltimore Boston Central Division Chicago Cleveland Minnesota Detroit Kansas City West Division Seattle Texas Houston Athletics Los Angeles

W 50 48 41 40 37

L 33 38 46 48 48

Pct .602 .558 .471 .455 .435

GB — 3½ 11 12½ 14

W 45 45 42 38 35

L 40 42 46 49 52

Pct .529 .517 .477 .437 .402

GB — 1 4½ 8 11

W 44 44 43 41 36

L 43 43 46 46 51

Pct .506 .506 .483 .471 .414

GB — — 2 3 8

Wednesday’s games

Baltimore 6, Chicago White Sox 1 Cleveland 9, Texas 4 Detroit 6, N.Y. Yankees 2, 11 innings Washington 10, Boston 2 Toronto 9, N.Y. Mets 3 Tampa Bay 4, Kansas City 0 Minnesota 8, Houston 3 Athletics 7, L.A. Dodgers 1

32 38 39 44 46

.624 .563 .530 .500 .465

— 5 8 10½ 13½

Pro basketball

W 56 43 43 36 35

L 31 42 43 50 53

Pct .644 .506 .500 .419 .398

GB — 12 12½ 19½ 21½

Atlanta New York Indiana Washington Toronto Chicago Connecticut

W 12 12 11 9 9 6 4

L 7 8 8 9 10 13 15

Pct .632 .600 .579 .500 .474 .316 .211

Minnesota Las Vegas Golden State Dallas Los Angeles Portland Phoenix Seattle

W 15 14 13 11 8 8 7 5

L 4 5 7 8 10 12 13 15

Pct GB .789 — .737 1 .650 2½ .579 4 .444 6½ .400 7½ .350 8½ .250 10½

Wednesday’s games

Washington 10, Boston 2 Chicago Cubs 23, San Diego 3 Toronto 9, N.Y. Mets 3 Atlanta 5, St. Louis 1 Philadelphia 10, Pittsburgh 6 Colorado 6, Miami 3 Milwaukee 4, Cincinnati 2 Athletics 7, L.A. Dodgers 1 San Francisco 6, Arizona 4

Thursday’s games

Friday’s games

Friday’s games

World Cup Scores, schedule

Tuesday

Norway 2, Ivory Coast 1 France 3, Sweden 0 Mexico 2, Ecuador 0

Wednesday

National League

England 2, Congo 1 Belgium 3, Senegal 2, OT United States 2. Bosnia-Herzegovina 0

Thursday

Austria 3, Spain 0 Portugal vs. Croatia, n Switzerland vs. Algeria, n

Friday

Australia vs. Egypt, 1 p.m.

Argentina vs. Cape Verde, 5 p.m.

Colombia vs. Ghana, 8:30 p.m.

ROUND OF 16 Saturday

Canada vs. Morocco, noon Paraguay vs. France, 4 p.m.

Sunday

W 50 49 46 45 36

L 34 39 42 43 51

Pct .595 .557 .523 .511 .414

GB — 3 6 7 15½

W

L

Pct

GB

Western Conference

St. Louis (Pallante 9-5) at Chicago Cubs (Peterson 4-6), 3:05 p.m.

Pittsburgh (Keller 6-5) at Washington (Griffin 8-2), 5:45 p.m.

Baltimore (Rogers 5-7) at Cincinnati (Singer 3-7), 6:10 p.m.

N.Y. Mets (Scott 2-0) at Atlanta (Holmes 4-4), 6:15 p.m.

San Francisco (Webb 5-5) at Colorado (Feltner 2-2), 7:10 p.m.

Miami (Phillips 1-3) at Athletics (Perkins 2-3), 8:40 p.m.

Milwaukee (Harrison 8-1) at Arizona (Cabrera 0-1), 8:45 p.m.

San Diego (King 5-7) at L.A. Dodgers (Ohtani 8-2), 9:10 p.m.

Brazil 2, Japan 1 Paraguay 1 (4-3 PK), Germany 1 Morocco 1 (3-2 PK), Netherlands 1

L.A. Angels (Ureña 5-6) at Seattle (Miller 3-2), 8:40 p.m.

Minnesota (Paredes 0-1) at N.Y. Yankees (Cole 2-3), 6:05 p.m.

Baltimore (Rogers 5-7) at Cincinnati (Singer 3-7), 6:10 p.m.

Chicago White Sox (Kay 6-3) at Cleveland (Williams 9-4), 6:10 p.m.

Tampa Bay (Martinez 7-2) at Houston (Arrighetti 7-4), 7:15 p.m.

Boston (Bennett 2-3) at L.A. Angels (Detmers 3-5), 8:38 p.m.

Miami (Phillips 1-3) at Athletics (Perkins 2-3), 8:40 p.m.

Toronto (Cease 4-4) at Seattle (TBD), 9:10 p.m.

Eastern Conference

Wednesday’s games

June 29

Friday’s games

WNBA glance

Pittsburgh 6, Philadelphia 1 Cincinnati 7, Milwaukee 2 Colorado 14, Miami 4 St. Louis at Atlanta, n San Diego at L.A. Dodgers, n

Canada 1, South Africa 0

Thursday’s games

Atlanta Philadelphia Miami Washington New York Central Division

Los Angeles San Diego Arizona San Francisco Colorado

53 49 44 44 40

ROUND OF 32 June 28

Chicago White Sox at Cleveland, n Tampa Bay at Kansas City, n Detroit at Texas, n L.A. Angels at Seattle, n

East Division

Milwaukee Chicago St. Louis Pittsburgh Cincinnati West Division

Brazil vs. Norway, 3 p.m.

Mexico vs. England, 7 p.m.

Monday

United States vs. Belgium, 7 p.m.

Spain vs. TBD, 2 p.m.

July 7

TBD, 11 a.m.

TBD, 3 p.m.

GB — ½ 1 2½ 3 6 8

No games scheduled.

Thursday’s games

Atlanta at Washington, n Dallas at Connecticut, n Seattle at Phoenix, n Minnesota at New York, 6:30 p.m.

Chicago at Las Vegas, 9 p.m.

Pro tennis Wimbledon results Thursday

At All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club London Purse: £30,060,000 Surface: Grass

Men’s singles

Second Round Alex de Minaur (5), Australia, def. Adrian Mannarino, France, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

Taylor Fritz (6), United States, def. Patrick Kypson, United States, 6-2, 6-2, 7-5.

Arthur Fery, Britain, def. Otto Virtanen, Finland, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-3.

Lorenzo Sonego, Italy, def. Gabriel Diallo, Canada, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (6), 6-2.

Zizou Bergs, Belgium, def. Jaime Faria, Portugal, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Zachary Svajda, United States, def. Kamil Majchrzak, Poland, 2-6, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3.

Marcos Giron, United States, def. Quentin Halys, France, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-4.

Alexander Zverev (2), Germany, def. Valentin Royer, France, 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (3).

Jaume Munar, Spain, def. Jacob Fearnley, Britain, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Karen Khachanov (19), Russia, def. Yannick Hanfmann, Germany, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Matteo Berrettini, Italy, def. Arthur Fils (20), France, 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.

Flavio Cobolli (9), Italy, def. James Duckworth, Australia, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1.

Jiri Lehecka (13), Czechia, def. Alex Molcan, Slovakia, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Alexander Bublik (10), Kazakhstan, def. Kyrian Jacquet, France, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

Frances Tiafoe (17), United States, def. Jan Choinski, Britain, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-2.

Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria, def. Jakub Mensik (15), Czechia, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Women’s singles

Second Round Daria Snigur, Ukraine, def. Leolia Jeanjean, France, 6-4, 6-3.

Marie Bouzkova (21), Czechia, def. Tyra Caterina Grant, Italy, 7-5, 6-3.

Emma Navarro (23), United States, def. Oksana Selekhmeteva, Russia, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Liudmila Samsonova, Russia, def. Diana Shnaider (15), Russia, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Ashlyn Krueger, United States, def. Mariam Bolkvadze, Georgia, 6-1, 6-0.

Madison Keys (26), United States, def. Katie

Swan, Britain, 6-1, 6-4.

Iga Swiatek (3), Poland, def. Karolina Pliskova, Czechia, 6-1, 6-3.

Alexandra Eala (29), Philippines, def. Maya Joint, Australia, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.

Marta Kostyuk (12), Ukraine, def. Anna Blinkova, Russia, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3.

Amanda Anisimova (6), United States, def.

Sofia Kenin, United States, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (3).

Maria Sakkari, Greece, def. Kamilla Rakhimova, Russia, 6-3, 0-6, 7-6 (7).

Elise Mertens (25), Belgium, def. Maria Timofeeva, Russia, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Sorana Cirstea (17), Romania, def. Kimberly Birrell, Australia, 6-3, 6-4.

Elena Rybakina (2), Kazakhstan, def. Caty McNally, United States, 6-1, 6-2.

Jasmine Paolini (13), Italy, def. Viktorija Golubic, Switzerland, 7-6 (0), 6-4.

Linda Noskova (9), Czechia, def. Camila Osorio, Colombia, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

Men’s doubles

First Round Albano Olivetti and Theo Arribage (10), France, def. Rafael Matos and Orlando Luz, Brazil, 6-3, 6-2.

Hendrik Jebens, Germany, and Ray Ho, Taiwan, def. Robin Haase, Netherlands, and Constantin Frantzen, Germany, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Marcel Granollers, Spain, and Horacio Zeballos (2), Argentina, def. John Peers, Australia, and Robert Galloway, United States, 7-6 (5), 6-3.

Sander Gille, Belgium, and Sem Verbeek, Netherlands, def. Marcelo Demoliner, Brazil, and N. Sriram Balaji, India, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4.

Petr Nouza, Czechia, and Neil Oberleitner, Austria, def. Evan King, United States, and Andre Goransson, Sweden, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (7), 6-3.

Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela, Mexico, and Ivan Liutarevich, Belarus, def. Matthew Christopher Romios, Australia, and Benjamin Kittay, United States, 6-1, 6-3.

Marco Trungelliti, Argentina, and Ignacio Buse, Peru, def. Anirudh Chandrasekar, India, and Takeru Yuzuki, Japan, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (7).

Jean-Julien Rojer, Netherlands, and Theodore Winegar, United States, def. Michael Venus, New Zealand, and Yuki Bhambri, India, 6-3, 6-4.

Robert Cash and James Tracy (12), United States, def. Nicolas Barrientos, Colombia, and Nuno Borges, Portugal, 6-3, 6-4.

Fabien Reboul and Sadio Doumbia (13), France, def. Vasil Kirkov, United States, and Bart Stevens, Netherlands, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Botic Van de Zandschulp and Tallon Griekspoor, Netherlands, def. David Pel and Sander Arends (15), Netherlands, 6-4, 6-4.

Thiago Agustin Tirante and Roman Andres Burruchaga, Argentina, def. Dino Prizmic, Croatia, and Raphael Collignon, Belgium, walkover.

Guido Andreozzi, Argentina, and Manuel Guinard (8), France, def. Pablo Carreno Busta and Jaume Munar, Spain, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-1.

Women’s doubles

First Round Ulrikke Eikeri, Norway, and Quinn Gleason (15), United States, def. Darija Jurak Schreiber and Antonia Ruzic, Croatia, 6-0, 6-3.

Aleksandra Krunic, Serbia, and Anna Danilina (3), Kazakhstan, def. Yulia Putintseva, Kazakhstan, and Leylah Fernandez, Canada, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.

Lyudmyla Kichenok, Ukraine, and Desirae Krawczyk (11), United States, def. Renata Zarazua, Mexico, and Oleksandra Oliynykova, Ukraine, 6-1, 6-0.

Eudice Chong, Hong Kong, China, and Anastasia Tikhonova, Russia, def. Ann Li, United States, and Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Italy, 6-3, 7-6 (3).

Kristina Mladenovic, France, and Hanyu Guo (10), China, def. Jodie Burrage and Mika Stojsavljevic, Britain, 6-3, 7-5.

Yuliia Starodubtseva, Ukraine, and Peyton Stearns, United States, def. Panna Udvardy,

Hungary, and Isabelle Haverlag, Netherlands, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Shuko Aoyama, Japan, and En-Shuo Liang (13), Taiwan, def. Zeynep Sonmez, Turkiye, and Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, Spain, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.

Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwan, and Wang Xinyu, China, def. Alicia Dudeney and Mingge Xu, Britain, 6-3, 6-4.

Sara Sorribes Tormo, Spain, and Marie Bouzkova, Czechia, def. Anastasia Potapova, Russia, and Lilli Tagger, Austria, 6-2, 6-0.

Ingrid Neel, Estonia, and Giuliana Olmos, Mexico, def. Eri Hozumi, Japan, and FangHsien Wu, Taiwan, 6-3, 6-2.

Alexandra Panova, Russia, and Magali Kempen, Belgium, def. Magda Linette, Poland, and Iva Jovic, United States, 6-7 (0), 6-1, 7-5.

Taylor Townsend, United States, and Katerina Siniakova (1), Czechia, def. Hao-Ching Chan, Taiwan, and Clara Tauson, Denmark, 6-4, 6-0.

Aldila Sutjiadi and Janice Tjen, Indonesia, def. Harriet Dart and Maia Lumsden, Britain, 6-3, 6-4.

Jesika Maleckova and Miriam Skoch, Czechia, def. Olivia Nicholls, Britain, and Tereza Mihalikova (12), Slovakia, 6-2, 7-6 (3).

Vera Zvonareva, Russia, and Laura Siegemund (7), Germany, def. Amelia Rajecki and Madeleine Brooks, Britain, 6-4, 6-2.

Ekaterina Alexandrova, Russia, and Maya Joint, Australia, def. Veronika Erjavec, Slovenia, and Petra Marcinko, Croatia, 6-2, 6-4.

Katarzyna Piter, Poland, and Anna Siskova, Czechia, def. Heather Watson and Katie Boulter, Britain, 6-4, 6-7 (10), 6-3.

Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia, and Sofia Kenin (8), United States, def. Alexandra Eala, Philippines, and Nikola Bartunkova, Czechia, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Pro golf U.S. Senior Open Championship par scores Thursday

At Scioto County Club Columbus, Ohio Purse: $4 million Yardage: 7,170; Par: 70 First Round Stewart Cink Charlie Wi Simon Griffiths Fredrik Jacobson George McNeill Alex Cejka Greg Chalmers Ben Crane Jamie Donaldson Tommy Gainey Richard Green Padraig Harrington Miguel Angel Jimenez Soren Kjeldsen Paul Stankowski Stephen Ames Chris Devlin Darren Fichardt Retief Goosen Justin Hicks Colin Montgomerie Tim Petrovic Ian Poulter Omar Uresti Michael Wright Woody Austin Chad Campbell Michael Campbell Jason Caron Darren Clarke Stephen Dodd Ernie Els Jeff Maggert David Mathis Cameron Percy Vanslow Phillips Henrik Stenson Ken Tanigawa

37-30—67 33-34—67 35-33—68 35-33—68 33-35—68 34-35—69 36-33—69 34-35—69 34-35—69 33-36—69 35-34—69 34-35—69 36-33—69 32-37—69 37-32—69 32-38—70 33-37—70 34-36—70 34-36—70 36-34—70 36-34—70 35-35—70 36-34—70 36-34—70 33-37—70 35-36—71 34-37—71 35-36—71 35-36—71 33-38—71 36-35—71 37-34—71 35-36—71 36-35—71 36-35—71 36-35—71 37-34—71 38-33—71

-3 -3 -2 -2 -2 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 E E E E E E E E E E +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1

LIVING N

T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M

PATRIOTISM, POP AND MORE

Trio to usher in Fourth of July at the Manship

|

F r i d ay, J u ly 3, 2026

5CN

John Schneider will perform at the America 250 on the River concert.

BY JOHN WIRT

Contributing writer The Victory Belles transport audiences to the 1940s, during World War II, when USO shows boosted morale for American soldiers, sailors and Marines serving in the fight against fascism.

Through their songs, choreography, fashion and between-song patter, The National WWII Museum’s Victory Belles — and Victory Swing Orchestra and Victory Band — recreate the war years’ music and patriotic spirit.

“We like to call ourselves the living history portion of the museum,” Victory Belle Andrea Pizza said. “We’re still teaching history, but the fun part of it.”

Inspired by the United Service Organizations, aka USO, the Victory Belles first deployed at the museum’s BB’s Stage Door Canteen in 2009.

The Belles currently headline the canteen’s “Salute to Hope” show, a tribute to that indefatigable entertainer of U.S. military personnel, Bob Hope.

PROVIdEd PHOTO

Victory Belles Shelby donovan, from left, Andrea Pizza and Gabrielle Treas will take the stage at the Manship Theatre in Baton Rouge for a Fourth of July Eve concert.

Friday, Fourth of July Eve, the Victory Belles will join the sixpiece Victory Band at the Manship Theatre in Baton Rouge.

While the museum in New Orleans is the Belles’ home base, demand is such that more than a dozen singers perform as Belles, making 250 appearances a year, at the museum, in the New Orleans area and as far afield as Hawaii and Normandy, France.

“We’re busy,” Pizza said. “During Christmas, sometimes this feels like a full-time job, because there are so many gigs to go around. We’re always up for it.”

Enlistment in the Victory Belles requires vocalists to sing three-part harmony of the kind famously crooned by the Andrews Sisters (“Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree (with Anyone Else but Me)”). Every iteration of the Belles contains a soprano, second soprano and alto.

At the Manship, Pizza is singing alto alongside sopranos Shelby

ä See BELLES, page 6C

THE VICTORY BELLES 7:30 p.m. Friday l Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St., Baton Rouge l $30-$50 l manshiptheatre.org

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRAd KEMP

Rockin’ dopsie Jr. gets the crowd ready for the 4 Generations of the dopsie Family band during Festivals Acadiens et Creoles at Girard Park in 2025. dopsie will bring his Zydeco Twisters to perform 5 p.m. Saturday at the America 250 on the River concert in Baton Rouge.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

AMERICA’S TURNING

Fireworks erupt over the river as people gather near the Sing the River Sculpture on River Road for Fireworks on the Mississippi in 2025.

LEFT: Amanda Shaw will perform during the America 250th on the River concert at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Here are 14 events in the BR area to celebrate the red, white and blue

BY JUDY BERGERON Staff writer

Touches of red, white and blue have been popping up on homes and businesses in Baton Rouge for weeks. Louisiana’s capital city is doing it up big, joining the rest of the country for the America 250 commemoration.

The series of patriotic events marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and celebrates the people, places and events that shaped the nation’s history.

The biggest of the parties is the America 250th on the River concert on Saturday, starting at 2 p.m. in Repentance Park between Louisiana’s Old State Capitol and the Raising

STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Float riders throw beads and candy as the annual Kenilworth Independence day parade rolls through the namesake neighborhood last year.

Cane’s River Center in downtown Baton Rouge.

Patriotic music is the order of the day with performers including: n The U.S. Marine Corps Concert Band, 2:15 p.m., performing patriotic favorites and honoring the nation’s military heritage through a stirring musical tribute. n Amanda Shaw, 3:30 p.m., with Louisiana’s celebrated fiddler, singer and songwriter blending Cajun, rock, country and pop music. n Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. & The Zydeco Twisters, 5 p.m., a high-energy show from the internationally acclaimed ambassadors of Louisiana zydeco music. n John Schneider, 6:30 p.m. The actor/producer/singer who formerly called Louisiana home has had a successful country music career, which includes multiple No. 1 hits.

ä See EVENTS, page 6C

LOVING AMERICA

LSU grad, news anchor part of book

BY JUDY BERGERON

of America’s Greatness.” In the new book by Rachel CamposDuffy, Smith and 29 other TV Sandra Smith, LSU graduate news personalities offer their inand former track and field star, sights on what makes our nation loves America and loves talking great — specifically the country’s about America. people and places.

That made the Fox News anSmith, 45, co-anchors the netchor a natural for “All American work’s “America Reports” weekPatriotism: Celebrating 250 Years days alongside John Roberts. The

Staff writer

duo kicked off the week with live stories from the nation’s capital, broadcasting from the National Mall. Returning to New York, they’ll be covering the parade of 40-plus tall ships on the Hudson River on Friday as part of the America 250 celebration. On

ä See BOOK, page 6C

6C ● Friday, July 3, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

TODAY IN HISTORY

By The Associated Press Today is Friday, July 3, the 184th day of 2026. There are 181 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight in history: On July 3, 1863, the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ended in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops failed to breach Union positions during an assault known as Pickett’s Charge.

Also on this date: In 1775, Gen. George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In 1944, during World War II, Soviet forces recaptured Minsk from the Germans.

In 1950, the first carrier strikes of the Korean War took place as the USS Valley Forge and the HMS Triumph sent fighter planes

EVENTS

Continued from page 5C

against North Korean targets.

In 1971, singer Jim Morrison of The Doors died in Paris at age 27.

In 1979, Dan White, convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting deaths of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison.

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan presided over a gala ceremony in New York Harbor that saw the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty.

In 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

In 2011, Novak Djokovic won his first Wimbledon, beating defending champion Rafael Nadal.

Today’s birthdays: Attorney

Grammy Award-winning musician widely recognized as the “King of ZydeCajun,” has been fusing Cajun music, zydeco and rock for more than four decades.

The evening will culminate at 9 p.m. with the Visit Baton Rouge and WBRZ Fireworks on the Mississippi, lighting up the downtown skyline.

The fireworks also will stream on WBRZ+, WBRZ. com, and WBRZ News 2’s YouTube Channel.

The concert is hosted by the Louisiana America 250 Commission and Office of the Lieutenant Governor in partnership with the Office of the East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President, the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge and Visit Baton Rouge.

Admission is free.

America 250th on the River is only the beginning of the many celebrations in and around Baton Rouge on Independence Day. Note that all events take place on Saturday unless otherwise noted.

A neighborhood tradition The Kenilworth Civic Association again starts off the Independence Day celebration a day early with its annual parade at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

With the theme “Celebrating America’s 250th,” the patriotic procession starts and ends at McKinley Senior High, 7600 Boone Drive, and runs almost 2 miles through the Kenilworth neighborhood.

Mary and Mike Surman are residents of the year, and Jay Dardenne is the parade grand marshal.

For more info, go to kenilworthneighborhood. com/parade.html.

Party with a view Tsunami’s Terrace Bash runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the rooftop of the Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St. Kick back with music by DJ MEOWMIX. A separate bar service will be available on the terrace, also a great place to stick around to watch Fireworks on the Mississippi.

BELLES

Continued from page 5C Donovan and Gabrielle Treas.

“That makes the sound so full, and I love it,” she said of the close harmonies.

Concertgoers can expect pop and swing music, patriotic selections and a salute to the U.S. Army, Navy and Marines. Selections include vintage hits by the Andrews Sisters, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Shore, Rosemary Clooney and more.

Pizza, like most of the Victory Belles, comes from the New Orleans area, specifically Slidell. Before the Belles, she studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York City and appeared in theater productions at LSU while pursuing a degree in mass communication.

Pizza was at LSU when she learned the WWII Museum was holding auditions for

Gloria Allred is 85. Actor Kurtwood Smith is 83.

Country singer Johnny Lee is 80. Humorist Dave Barry is 79. Actor Betty Buckley is 79. Talk show host Montel Williams is 70.

Country singer Aaron Tippin is 68. Rock musician Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Yaz, Erasure) is 66.

Actor Tom Cruise is 64.

Actor Connie Nielsen is 61.

Actor Yeardley Smith is 62. Actor-singer Audra McDonald is 56. Hockey Hall of Famer Teemu Selanne is 56. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is 55. Actor Patrick Wilson is 53. Former mixed martial artist Wanderlei Silva is 50. Actor Olivia Munn is 46. Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel is 39. Rock singersongwriter Elle King is 37.

Actor Mia McKenna-Bruce is 29. Actor Sara Waisglass is 28. Dancer and actor Corinne Joy is 19.

More info at lbatonrouge.

General admission tickets are $31.51 and available at com. eventbrite.com.

Call it an extravaganza n Wayne Toups, 8 p.m., the

SHOWS TO WATCH — ACADIANA AREA

Westside fun

Fourth Fest will return to the Mississippi River levee in Port Allen from 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Activities include face painting, magicians, clowns, space walks for kids, food and drinks, live entertainment and a watch spot for Fireworks on the Mississippi.

Louisiana’s Old State Capitol, 100 North Blvd., will host a day of family fun from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be games, karaoke, crafts and exhibits. Also check out the original Louisiana Purchase document signed

by Napoleon Bonaparte. On loan from the National Ar- Party in the park chives and Records AdminThe City of Walker’s 250th istration, Washington, D.C., Celebration in the Park will the document will return to run from 2 p.m. to dark at Sidney Hutchinson Park, its home on July 11. Free.

13750 Ball Park Road.

Raise a glass The free, family event will Join the Do The Red, White, include: n Vendor market & Brew Pub Crawl at Somen Food trucks where Neighborhood Bar, n Children’s village 214 Third St., from 4:30 p.m. n Live music to 9 p.m. Look for contests n DJ entertainment and prizes. No tickets will be n Hot dog eating contest sold at the door. Order them n Watermelon eating con($24.43) at eventbrite.com. test Strike up the band! n Fireworks finale at dark.

“Bring your lawn chairs Would it really be the Fourth of July without the and spend the day with famBaton Rouge Concert Band? ily and friends,” a Facebook Once again, the longtime com- post states.

Free parking will be availmunity symphonic band will perform in the outside plaza able on the Ball Park Road of the Main Library at Good- lot, Field Five parking lot and Challenger Field parking lot. wood, 7711 Goodwood Blvd.

Handicap parking will be The free 7 p.m. concert, expected to last 21/ 2 hours, at the pond parking lot only.

The Community Gym also celebrates the nation’s parking lot on Corbin Av250th anniversary.

“Bring your chairs, refresh- enue will be designated as ments and patriotic spirit for VIP parking for $25. a night filled with uplifting tunes,” states a news release. Also in Livingston “This free, family-friendly Denham Springs: Fireevent will feature a rousing works, 9 p.m., North Park, selection of American clas- 30372 Eden Church Road.

Livingston: Celebration, sics, marches and tributes that celebrate the enduring 5 p.m.-dark, Johnny Sartwell spirit, history and pride of Memorial Park, 29405 S. Range Road. Kickball tourthe United States.

Can’t make it to the nament, watermelon eating concert? Watch live on- contest, live music by Unitline at facebook.com/ ed We Jam and fireworks. events/1016735014281755.

Maurepas: Boat parade, 9 a.m., from Canal Bank Bet on this Club to Blind River Bar. Satsuma: Grand opening, L’Auberge Baton Rouge will host its annual Fire- 11:30 a.m.-dark, Patriots RV works Extravaganza on Sat- Park, 16912 Spring Ranch urday, offering live music, Road. Concert, fireworks. food, and a fireworks show. Free.

Watson: Parade, 7 p.m.

Lawn viewing is free of Starting from Live Oak Jucharge.

Soulful Baton Rouge sing- nior High along La. 16 to er and former “American Janelle Drive and back to Idol” finalist Jovin Webb LOJH. Features writer will perform. Webb’s second album, “Son of a Sinner,” is Robin Miller contributed to this report. due out Sept. 18.

singers who could perform 1940s music.

“Because my voice has that sound and I love this music,” she said, “I thought, ‘That’s me.’”

Pizza made her WWII Museum debut in the cast of “Let Freedom Swing,” the inaugural revue at BB’s Stage Door Canteen. “Saving Private Ryan” star Tom Hanks, the museum’s most famous supporter, was in the audience.

Pizza’s love for 1940s music dates to watching the 1954 movie musical “White Christmas” on TV with her family when she was 5 years old. Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen star in the film classic, singing songs

by Irving Berlin.

“I wanted to watch ‘White Christmas’ all day, every day,” Pizza said. “I wanted to learn all the songs and the dances. It started there and kept snowballing for me.”

A mother of three, Pizza works as a voice therapist by day. Nights and weekends, she’s a Victory Belle.

“I started this job as a way to help me get through school,” she said. “Now it’s what I do for fun, and all these girls are my best friends. It’s a job, but it’s so fun. I feel blessed that this is still part of my life.”

Erica Jensen, the Bob and Dolores Hope Foundation’s director of entertainment at The National WWII Museum, says Pizza and the other Victory Belles have an important mission.

“The songs they share remind us of the resilience, sacrifice and joy that helped carry a nation through wartime,” Jensen said in a museum statement. “The Victory Belles help ensure that the stories and spirit of the 1940s are never forgotten.”

Email John Wirt at j_wirt@ msn.com.

FRIDAY

LIVE MUSIC: Cane River Pecan Company Pie Bar, New Iberia, 5 p.m.

YOUNGSVILLE INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION: Youngsville Sports Complex, Youngsville, 5 p.m.

FRIDAY NIGHT JAM: La Maison de Begnaud, Scott, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza & Brewery, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Naq’s-n-Duson, Duson, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6 p.m.

SAYLOR BRASSEAUX: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

MARY BROUSSARD: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

RIVER SMOOTH: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.

DUSTIN SONNIER & THE WANTED: Lakeview Park, Eunice, 8 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: The Barrel of Broussard, Broussard, 8 p.m.

JOHNNY MARKS: Toby’s Lounge, Opelousas, 8:30 p.m.

SATURDAY

DON FONTENOT BAND: Fred’s, Mamou, 8 a.m.

GENO DELAFOSE & ROCKIN BOOGIE: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 8 a.m.

CAJUN JAM: Moncus Park, Lafayette, 9 a.m.

LEBEAU ZYDECO FESTIVAL: Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Lebeau, 9 a.m.

SATURDAY MORNING JAM SESSIONS: The Savoy Music Center, Eunice, 9 a.m.

CAJUN JAM: Tante Marie, Breaux Bridge, 11 a.m.

CAJUN FRENCH MUSIC JAM: Vermilionville Living History Museum & Folklife Park, Lafayette, 1 p.m.

DRUM CIRCLE: NUNU Arts and Culture Collective, Arnaudville, 2:30 p.m.

CLAY CORMIER: Cypress Cove Landing, Breaux Bridge, 3 p.m.

BROUSSARD INDEPENDENCE DAY FESTIVAL: St. Julien Park, Broussard, 5 p.m.

BOOK

Continued from page 5C Saturday, Smith and Bill Hammer will co-anchor two more hours of live programming, again covering the parade of ships.

“So it will be a very eventful 250 for all of us,” Smith said by phone last week.

Not surprisingly, the interview drifted to talk about America, its greatness, beauty and how she’s instilling her passion for the nation in her children.

The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Sandra, in your words, what makes America great?

Obviously, freedom is No. 1 for all of us. And on America’s birthday we stop and we think about all those who sacrificed before us so that we could have the freedoms that we have today.

It’s something I talk to my children about so often. …

It’s just so important that we stop and we remember all that has happened to make America what it is today. So I never take my freedoms as an American for granted.

In your passage in the book, you

DUELING PIANOS: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza & Brewery, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6 p.m.

ETHAN HUNT: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.

GOOD DUDES TRIO: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

4-HORSES: La Poussiere Cajun Dancehall, Breaux Bridge, 8 p.m.

ALPHONSE ARDOIN & ZYDECO KINGZ: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

GEE SCOTT AND THE POCKET + COURTLAND MACK: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: The Barrel of Broussard, Broussard, 8 p.m.

THE SWEET POTATO NUTS: Lakeview Park, Eunice, 8 p.m.

WAYNE SINGLETON & THE URBAN KREYOL BAND + GENO DELAFOSE & FRENCH ROCKIN BOOGIE: Feed N Seed, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

MACDADDY & THE BLUE EYED SOUL REVELATION: Toby’s Lounge, Opelousas, 8:30 p.m.

SUNDAY

LIVE MUSIC: Tante Marie, Breaux Bridge, 11 a.m.

THE SUNDAY PEOPLE: Whiskey & Vine, Lafayette, 11 a.m.

JAMBALAYA ACOUSTIC MUSIC JAM: Tom’s Fiddle & Bow, Arnaudville, 12:30 p.m.

JAMIE BERGERON: Cypress Cove Landing, Breaux Bridge, 3 p.m.

STARS & STRIPES — A MUSICAL CELEBRATION: Sugar Cane Festival Building, New Iberia, 3 p.m.

JUSTIN CORNETT: Pat’s Atchafalaya Club, Henderson, 4:30 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

GENO DELAFOSE: Rock ’n’ Bowl de Lafayette, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

MONDAY

PATRICIO LATINO SOLO: Cafe Habana City, Lafayette, 11 a.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

BLUEGRASS JAM: Cité des Arts, Lafayette, 6:30 p.m.

TUESDAY

ACADIANA TALENT PRESENTS — STORYTELLERS A SINGERSONGWRITER OPEN MIC NIGHT HOSTED BY JASON HARRINGTON: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

TERRY HUVAL & FRIENDS: Prejean’s Restaurant, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

KIDS’ CAJUN JAM NIGHT: Jeaux Biffs, Breaux Bridge, 6:15 p.m.

GREENLIGHT SESSIONS OPEN MIC: The Jefferson Street Greenroom, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

DULCIMER JAM: St. Landry Visitor Center, Opelousas, 10 a.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Park Bistro, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

WANTED WEDNESDAY KARAOKE NIGHT: The Barrel of Broussard, Broussard, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: The Tap Room, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.

CAJUN JAM: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

THURSDAY

LADIES NIGHT WITH DJ DONOVAN IN THE MIX: Cowboys Nightclub, Scott, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Naq’s-n-Duson, Duson, 6 p.m.

TROUBADOUR: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.

THE HAS BEANS: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

KARAOKE PARTY — PANDA ENTERTAINMENT: Black Bull, Youngsville, 8 p.m.

Compiled by Marchaund Jones. Want your venue’s music listed? Email info/ photos to showstowatch@ theadvocate.com. The deadline is noon FRIDAY for the following Friday’s paper.

mention Mount Rushmore. Tell us history kind of trips with the family, about your memories of visiting the are you now following through with historic site. that with your kids and do they apSo we didn’t go to Disney- preciate it like you do?

I should probland or Disney World growing ably take them up; we didn’t do more on trips like those kind of vathat, but I certaincations or go to ly do. And wherthe Caribbean ever we go, we islands. My dad learn the history was really big of that location. I about building think Charleston our family trips would be a a good around learning PROVIdEd PHOTO example of that.

American history. Sandra Smith says Some of these And at the time I places you can go she can stand in was kind of like, visit are equally “Can’t we just go the water and flybeautiful, have acto a hotel with a fish all day. cess to top chefs pool?” But lookand culinary deing back, it had a profound lights. But you could also go impact on me as a child. And follow a lot of history. now as an adult, I look back So I always make a point at those memories as ex- to do that. But I also think tremely special. We would what I’m doing at home is go to historical sites and a result of how I grew up learn as much as we could. always learning American It helped develop my deep history, is I do, while the appreciation for this coun- kids are reading on their try and to build my historic own, obviously, and they understanding of our nation. have their novels and their It’s one of those things, fantasy stuff and all this you’ve seen it in pictures so kind of stuff. I do make it a many times, but if you stop, point to always have a book you are wowed by it (Mount going with them on history, Rushmore). It is quite re- American history, world markable to see in person. history, so that we’re readSince you grew up going on these ing that together.

YEARS

M A R AT H O N E V E N T !

America - Made in Virginia: 250 Years Together

Tonight at 7PM

Saturday, July 4 from 7AM – 7PM

Saturday, July 4 at 7PM

KLPB 24

www.lpb.org

r b.o .lp w ww

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m ea

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Friday, July 3, 2026 ● 7C

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FrAnK And erneSt

roSebUdS

zItS

zodIAC CANCER (June 21-July 22) Be careful what you share and with whom; not everyone will be sincere. Let your imagination wander, and you'll discover obscure options that help you navigate your way through any uncertainty you face.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) You may have to juggle a few things to reach your goal, but the time and effort it takes will be worthwhile. Set your sights on what's important to you, and don't deviate from your plans until you satisfy your soul.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Take a moment to observe. Don't let anyone talk you into something you do not want to do. Your best opportunities will be the ones you devise yourself. Take control of your destiny.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) It's time to have some fun, learn through experience and engage in events that push you to make new friends and explore what life has to offer. Practicing clear communication will encourage you to participate.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Take your time.

If you rush into something, you will have regrets. Emotions will be hard to disguise. Take a moment, think matters through and keep your thoughts to yourself while observing how others react.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Participate in events that motivate you to take better care of yourself. Paying attention to how you present yourself to others and what you share will make a difference in how others treat you.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Share your concerns, and know when to walk away

from people and situations that you find sketchy or unreliable. Concentrate on home improvements that will make your life easier and your relationships less tense.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Participate in something exhilarating. A change of pace, scenery or people will be uplifting. Physical activity will touch your soul.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Refuse to let what others choose to do ruin your plans.

Getting out and socializing will help you gain insight into what and who makes your day worthwhile. Emotions will be close to the surface.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Take pride in what you do. Discipline coupled with innovation and enthusiasm will help you make your way forward in whatever manner you apply yourself. Refuse to let criticism stifle your dreams.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Trust your instincts. Follow the rules, and vouch for what's tried and true. Know your limits and strengths, and parlay what you do best into getting what you want and letting go of what's holding you back.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Let your inquiring mind lead you on a research mission.

Satisfy your soul by engaging in what interests you and exploring how you can reach your objective.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

For better or For WorSe WonderWord

peAnUtS

SALLY Forth

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

TODAy'S CLUE: N EQUALS A

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

8C ● Friday, July 3, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

CurTiS

Hi and LoiS

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Sudoku InstructIons: Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers.

The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

BaBY BLueS

BLondie

THe wiZard oF id

nea CroSSwordS

La TimeS CroSSword

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Friday, July 3, 2026 ● 9C

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B.C.

Bridge

BY PHILLIP ALDER Jef Mallett, the “Frazz” cartoonist, said, “Writing well means never having to say, ‘I guess you had to be there.’”

When the defenders play perfectly, declarer is sometimes unable to make his contract. On other deals, though, a defender will fail to find the killing play. Then declarer needs to take full benefit.

In this deal, West cashes three club tricks against four hearts. He then shifts to a diamond. How should South continue?

A four-heart opening bid usually indicates an eight-card suit. However, South decided to tell a small white lie because he was nonvulnerable and the opponents were vulnerable. West wondered if his side could do well, but he had too few points to act at the four-level. North and East had easy passes.

When West had to guess which suit to lead at trick four, he decided that South would be more likely to pre-empt when very short in the other major. Hence his diamond lead. (As you can see, a spade switch would have been lethal.)

Now let’s look at South’s predicament.

He needs to take three pointed-suit tricks to go with his seven trump winners. Should he finesse in spades or in diamonds?

Either is a pure guess. But he can slightly improve his chances. He should win with dummy’s diamond ace, ruff a

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

diamond in his hand, cash the heart ace, play a heart to dummy’s nine and ruff another diamond.

Here, the king comes tumbling down.

So South can draw trumps and claim.

But if the diamond king does not appear, declarer can run his trumps, planning to fall back on the spade finesse. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

wuzzles Each Wuzzle is a word riddle which creates a disguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD = GOOD AFTERNOON

PiCKles

Previous answers:

mallard fillmore

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 — GERMAnE: jer-MANE: Fitting; appropriate.

Bizarro

marmaduKe

Average mark 31 words Time limit 45 minutes Can you find 39 or more words in GERMANE? YEstERDAY’s WoRD — oBLIQuELY obey oblique oily bell belly bile bill blue boil bole boll

boule bull bully buoy libel lieu lily lobe lobule lube quell

quill yell yule

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was [done]; he commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalms 33:8-9 AV) There is no one like the Lord. Stand in awe of Him. G.E. Dean

10C ● Friday, July 3, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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TODAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

A t-storm around in the p.m.

An afternoon t-storm in spots

Some sun with a t-storm; humid

A couple of showers

A few showers in the afternoon

Humid with a few showers

HIGH

LOW

HIGH

92° 76°

LOW

HIGH

92° 75°

LOW

89° 74°

Beaumont 92/76 Port Arthur 91/78

Baton Rouge 94/75

Lake Charles 92/77

New Orleans 93/77 Houma 89/74

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

0s

Hattiesburg 95/74

Alexandria 91/76

Lafayette 92/76

10s

20s

30s

40s

50s

LOW

HIGH

LOW

92° 76°

Lafayette through 5 p.m. Thursday

Jackson 94/74 Many 91/74

HIGH

91° 77°

TEMPERATURE

Longview 93/76

-0s

LOW

Monroe 95/77

Shreveport 94/76

-10s

HIGH

91° 76°

Expect some very hot conditions to end the workweek across Southwest Louisiana. Expect partly cloudy, hot and humid conditions for Friday. Temperatures this afternoon will rise to the mid-90s. Humidity will remain high, so heat index values will rise to the triple digits, almost to 104 or greater. There is a 20 to 30% chance of rain, so isolated showers are possible. Again, the UV index is almost at the extreme level, so wear your hat, your shades and your sunscreen.

60s

70s

80s

90s 100s 110s

High/low Normal high/low Last year’s high/low Record high Record low

TODAY’S TIDES Lake Pontchartrain (Tchefuncte River) Shell Beach South Point, Marsh Island Cypremort Point Grand Isle (Barataria Pass) Mississippi River (Southwest Pass) Wine Island

Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today LAST

JUL 7

City

Shown are areas of precipitation and high temperatures for the day.

91°/72° 91°/75° 94°/80° 100° in 2024 60° in 1924

Austin Boston dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Las Vegas Louisville Miami Nashville

24-hour total Month to date Normal month to date year to date Normal year to date

HIGH

10:20p 4:44p 8:43a 11:19a 11:55a 11:19a 1:03p

6:11 a.m.

8:14 p.m.

10:52 p.m.

9:22 a.m.

NEW

FIRST

JUL 14

Hi

97 97 97 72 87 102 98 92 98

TODAY Lo

75 79 80 52 75 78 78 78 72

FULL

JUL 21

W

pc t pc sh r s t t t

JUL 29

Hi

98 93 98 70 87 104 94 91 95

SAT. Lo

74 71 79 52 74 80 76 79 74

W

pc t pc sh r pc t t t

FT.

LOW

0.00” 0.68” 0.44” 35.09” 31.59”

P U acadiana wake

presented by

Every morning.

Everything you need to start your day

Meteorologist Damon Singleton

TODAY

REAdING 40 MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

FT.

HIGH

0.6 9:33a -0.1 1.5 2:21a -0.2 1.7 10:53p -0.1 1.8 2:22a 0.2 1.2 10:48p 0.0 1.4 9:17p -0.1 1.5 11:50p 0.0

FT.

---------------

---------------

LOW

---------------

FT.

---------------

The solunar period schedule allows planning days so you will be fishing in good territory or hunting in good cover during those times. Major periods begin at the times shown and last for 1.5 to 2 hours. The minor periods are shorter.

MAJOR MINOR MAJOR MINOR

Today Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

City

New Orleans Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Raleigh St. Louis San diego Tampa

2:31a 3:20a 4:08a 4:55a 5:41a 6:27a 7:15a

Hi

93 94 102 107 96 104 95 73 92

8:42a 9:31a 10:19a 11:06a 11:52a 12:15a 1:01a

TODAY Lo

77 76 84 84 74 75 77 64 79

2:53p 9:04p 3:42p 9:53p 4:30p 10:40p 5:16p 11:27p 6:03p ---6:51p 12:39p 7:42p 1:28p

W

t t s pc t s t pc t

GOOd

SOURCE: LOUISIANA dEQ ANd AIRNOW.GOV

Hi

93 93 99 107 91 103 92 72 91

SAT. Lo

77 76 77 86 70 77 74 65 78

Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.

Wake up with me every morning

YESTERDAY GOOd

PRECIPITATION

W

t t t s t s t pc t

MISSISSIPPI Memphis Vidalia-Natchez Red River Landing Baton Rouge donaldsonville Reserve New Orleans OHIO Cairo COMITE Near Olive AMITE Near darlington denham Springs Port Vincent TICKFAW Montpelier Holden ATCHAFALAYA Simmesport Melville Krotz Springs Butte La Rose Bayou Sorrel Morgan City

FLOOD STAGE

34 48 48 35 27 22 17

THU. 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE

19.40 40.00 40.00 26.60 17.40 13.05 8.50

+1.08 +0.27 -2.64 +0.41 +0.25 +0.30 +0.17

40

35.54

-0.19

19

-1.34

+0.01

18 29 8

-0.70 11.92 1.63

+0.05 +0.54 +0.05

13 15

1.74 3.65

+0.04 +1.98

47 34 29 20 12 6

22.90 17.32 14.90 11.84 6.60 3.56

+0.11 +0.07 +0.09 +0.02 -0.10 -0.02

data as of 7 a.m. Thursday

Forecasts and graphics, except for damon’s Outlook, provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2026

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Friday, July 3, 2026 ● 1S

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SAVE $ 02 5 LB

— ONLY —

11

$

USDA PRIME BEEF

LB Boneless Whole New York Strip

1297

$

USDA PRIME BEEF

Boneless New York Strip Steak

97 LB

LB

SAVE $ 11 3 — ONLY —

5

$ 88

LARGE 15 - 20 LB AVERAGE Seeded Watermelon

SAVE $ 02 3 — ONLY —

3

$ 97

48 OZ

Tillamook Ice Cream

4 DAY SALE TH THUR FRI

JULY 2 - 5 ND

SAVE $ 53 1

2

3

1

$ 76 LB LIMIT 3

SAVE up $ 76 to 5

NORTHWEST GROWN

2

$ 47

Red Cherries

LB

SAVE up $ 47 to 5

When You Buy 3

When You Buy 3

— ONLY —

5

— ONLY —

3/$ 7 - 8 OZ PACK

5

— ONLY —

— ONLY —

Pork Spare Ribs

4

SAVE $ 52 2 LB

LB

PREVIOUSLY FROZEN MEDIUM

SAT SUN

8

3/$ 24 PACK HALF LITERS

Kraft Rouses Shredded or Chunk Cheese Spring Water

flip over for more

2S ● Friday, July 3, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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4 DAY SALE TH THUR FRI

JULY 2 - 5 ND

2

SAT SUN

3

4

5

SAVE $ 29 2 When You Buy 2

— ONLY —

7

2/$

12 OZ PACK

Jimmy Dean Bacon

Applewood or Hickory

SAVE $ 00 2 — ONLY —

7

$ 99

2.5 LB BAG FROZEN

Bell & Evans Cut Chicken Wings

SAVE up $ 16 to 8 When You Buy 4

— ONLY —

9

4/$

5 - 9.625 OZ BAG

Lay’s Potato Chips

SAVE $ 00 2

r in ou I L DE tment r depa

— ONLY —

6

$ 99

6 COUNT

Smoked or BBQ Baked Chicken Leg Quarters

SAVE $ 00 1

r in ou RY E K BA artment dep

SAVE up $ 82 to 3

— ONLY —

6 COUNT

4

$ 99

White Almond, Chocolate or Yellow Cupcakes

— ONLY —

28 OZ BAG

Grown in Idaho Potatoes

SAVE up $ 00 to 5

SAVE up $ 98 to 6 When You Buy 2

— ONLY —

8 PACK 20 OZ BOTTLES

Gatorade Sports Drinks

2

$ 97

11

2/$

— ONLY —

12 MEGA ROLLS PACK

Cottonelle Bath Tissue

11 99

$

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Friday, July 3, 2026 ● 3S

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and RED GRILLING

EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR STAR-SPANGLED GRILLING! ???????????????????????????????

8 COUNT PACK

Ball Park Hamburger or Hot Dog Buns

5

2/$

15 OZ CAN NO BEANS

Hormel Chili

38 OZ SQUEEZE BOTTLE

Heinz Ketchup

9

2/$

5

2/$

Bush’s Baked Beans 10 OZ

Lawry’s Marinade

Kerrygold Butter

A-1 Steak Sauce or Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce

4

$ 79

4

$ 69

24 OZ JAR

5 - 6 OZ

1.5 - 14 OZ SELECTED

8 COUNT

Mt. Olive Pickles

Pam Cooking Spray

Rouses Spices

New York Texas Toast or Garlic Knots

2

3

$ 79

2

$ 42

8 OZ SALTED OR UNSALTED

5

5

Sargento Sliced Cheese

27.5 - 28 OZ CAN

12 OZ BOTTLE

2/$

2/$

6.67 - 8 OZ PACK

5

$ 49

$ 99

7

2/$

GRILLING ESSENTIALS

5

2/$

48 COUNT CLEAR

Rouses Cutlery

10 - 50 COUNT

Rouses Storage Bags

5

2/$

SINGLE COUNT SELECTED

Rouses Aluminum Pans

5

4/$

3

$ 99

32 OZ

Rouses Charcoal Lighter

24 - 48 COUNT

70 COUNT

2.94 LB

16 COUNT

Rouses Everyday Plates

Scott on-the-go Pop Up Cloths

Best Choice Wood Smoking Chips

Royal Oak TumbleWeeds Charcoal Starter

7

10

2/$

2/$

3

5

$ 49

$ 99

25 - 40 COUNT

130 SQUARE FEET

20 LB PACK

20 LB BAG

Glad Trash Bags

Rouses Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil

Pit Boss Wood Pellets

Rouses Hardwood Lump Charcoal

10

9

$

$ 49

10

99

$

17

99

$

FUN FOR THE FOURTH

AMERICANA

Plates, Bowls or Tumblers

8 X 12 INCHES

American Stick Flags

3

2/$

5

4/$

ASSORTED

Red, White, Blue Accessories

ASSORTED

Red, White, Blue Glow Sticks or Accessories

4

2/$

3

2/$

STARTING AT

1

$ 79

SINGLE COUNT

Red, White, Blue Melamine Tray

10 - 10.05 OZ BAG PLAIN OR PEANUTS

9

2/$

Sharing Size Red, White & Blue M&M’s

99

WHILE SUPPLIES LAST

SELECTED

Betty Crocker Red, White, Blue Icing or Sprinkles

1.8 LB

Red, White, Blue Sour Patch Kids or Mini Swedish Fish

25

7

%

OFF

$ 99

Prices good at Baton Rouge, Zachary, Gonzales, Prairieville, Lafayette, New Iberia and Youngsville locations July 1st thru July 8th, 2026.

4S ● Friday, July 3, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Buy a Pie, Support American Heroes.

From June 24–July 8, $2 from every 8" apple pie purchased in our bakery benefits Paralyzed Veterans of America.

PRICES GOOD JULY 1st - 8th, 2026

SAVE $ 02 3

Louisiana Local

SAVE $ 61 1

LB

— ONLY —

— ONLY —

4

$ 97

WILD-CAUGHT HEAD-ON

9/12 Count Louisiana Shrimp

PREVIOUSLY FROZEN

Chicken Drumsticks

87

2

Blue Plate Mayonnaise

¢ Sugardale LB 12 OZ PACK

Hot Dogs

99

4

USDA PRIME BEEF

7

Smoked Sausage

Yellow Squash, LB Zucchini or Eggplant

SAVE up $ 28 to 1

When You Buy 2

1

8

$ 99 Country Style $ 88 FAMILY SIZE 2/$

Boneless Whole Beef Brisket

LB

Pork Ribs or Pork Steaks

full slab

8 - 19.5 OZ NABISCO

LB

Chips Ahoy or Oreo Cookies

17.5 - 18 OZ BOTTLE

Kraft BBQ Sauce

FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY

sizzlin’ ribeye steak dinner

fridays $11 99

FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

Full Slab Ribs

23

$

24 PACK 12 OZ CANS

Miller Lite, Coors Light, Bud Light or Yuengling

LIMIT 6

15 99

$

Grilled 10 oz USDA Choice Ribeye Steak and Twice Baked Potato

10

Cellars $ 99 Josh or Kendall 750 ML SELECTED

Jackson Wine

99

1.75 LITER

Tito’s Handmade Vodka

31

$

99

750 ML

Crown Royal

23

$

NEW!

Corazon Blanco Tequila

97

¢

SAVE up $ 00 to 7

SAVE $ 00 1

750 ML

1

$ 49

FRESH

SAVE up $ 94 to 3

VALUE PACK

97

Coke, Pepsi, Diet Coke or Sprite LIMIT 6

¢ Hillshire Farm 2/$

LB

10

$

24 PACK 12 OZ CANS

12 - 14 OZ PACK

SAVE $ 61 2

LB

— ONLY —

$ 88

30 OZ JAR

LB

SAVE $ 00 2

SAVE up $ 02 to 5

19

$

99 Taaka

1.75 LITER

Vodka

13

$

15

99 Svedka $ 8 PACK 355 ML

Vodka Water Variety

12 PACK 12 OZ

Variety

TH C

THC

1.5 LITER SELECTED

Woodbridge Wine

8

$ 99

4 PACK 12 OZ

Crescent 9 THC Seltzer

9

$ 99

15

99 Fresca Hard $

4 PACK 12 OZ

9

$ 99

Urban South Driftee THC Seltzer

99

1.75 LITER

Skyy Vodka

19

$

49

NEW!

13

99 Minute Maid $ 8 PACK 12 OZ

Vodka Lemonade

Available at Customer Service

8 COUNT

Fleur de Leaf THC Gummies

TH C

8

10

99 Buzzballz 3/$

$ 99

200 ML

Cocktails

Available at Customer Service

8 COUNT

Cheech & Chong’s THC Gummies

TH C

8

$ 99

Prices good at Baton Rouge, Zachary, Gonzales, Prairieville, Lafayette, New Iberia and Youngsville locations July 1st thru July 8th, 2026.