Issuu

U.S. striker

Balogun eligible vs. Belgium 1C

Fading islands thrown alifeline

MatthewWeigel, of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and Todd Baker,ofthe

Protection and Restoration Authority,examine aturtle crawl on the

keypartofarestoration plan for the islands.

“It trulyisa once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.When would we have gotten this kind of money for these islands? It wouldn’thappen It makes it that much more important that it is appropriately used.”

TODD BAKER, project manager,state CoastalProtection and Restoration Authority

Inspection stickers no longer needed

BYALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

Youcan no longer get aticket for not having astate inspection sticker on your windshield after Louisiana put an endto the vehicle safety checks. Butsince that lawpassed, a question has lingered for drivers in the Baton Rouge region:

BY MIKE SMITH Staff writer

They are Louisiana at its most re-

mote, accessible onlybyboat or seaplane.But these islands could be lost forever in thedecades ahead.

Farout on the state’ssoutheastern boundary,what’sleft of the Chandeleur Islands curves into the Gulf like afading parenthesis,heavily eroded but still acting as aspeed bump for storms while providing crucial habitat for wildlife and seagrasses.

That’swhy,despite theirremoteness andaccelerating vanishing act, the state wants to restore as much of themaspossible.Animportant lifeline has now arrived

What do we do about emissions tests that are still required underspeciﬁcfederal rules for the area?

Shops that handleinspections said they —and many of their customers —are in the dark about howtoproceed

“Right now,it’sabig gray area,” said SlaterNall, manager at 360 AutomotiveSolutions, atire andauto repair shop in Baton Rouge

ä See EMISSIONS, page 4A ä See ISLANDS, page 3A

JAVIER GALLEGOS

STAFF FILEPHOTO By

Baton Rouge-area businesses that offer safety inspections said theyhaven’t received anyinformation from the state aboutnew procedures regarding required emissions tests after Louisiana changed the lawregarding inspections.

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

Gov. Jeff Landry scored amajor victory on June 27 when U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow won the Republican nomination forthe Senate, after thegovernoraggressively defendedher and raised big bucks to back her campaign. He needed the win.

Only amonth earlier,voters had decisively rejected all of the constitutional amendments that Landry pushed, for the second time in a year With Letlow’s triumphbehindhim,the governor is expected to begin ramping up hiscampaign to secure reelection next year Landry especially needs to win back Republican voters whomhealienated during the Senate campaign by trashing Letlow’sGOP opponents, Sen. Bill Cassidy and state Treasurer John Fleming.

Landry boasts several strengths: He has announced arecord-setting numberofbigticket corporate investment projects. Crime has dropped on his watch, while education test scores have risen. He got the Legislature to reduce income taxes. He hasdeliveredfor social conservatives by tightening Louisiana’s anti-abortion laws even further andgetting lawmakers to approve putting theTen Commandments in classrooms.

“Wehave put the data on the board thatsays we’re winning, and our policies are working,” Landry said during a30-minute phone interview on Tuesday He had accumulated aformidable amount of cash on hand —$10.7 million—atthe beginning of this year,when he had to file his latest campaign finance report. No major figure is making moves to run against him, at least not yet.

See LANDRY, page 3A

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

Louisiana, which struggles with ahigh infant mortality rate andisone of thelowestrankedstates when it comes to women’shealth,could better tap federalresources to aid pregnant womenbymaking the WIC program more accessible,astate audit hasfound.

The state’sparticipation rate in the WIC program, which providesroutine testing, nutrition counseling and money for healthy foods to low-income pregnant womenand their babies, was ranked the lowest in the nation by the U.S. DepartmentofAgriculture, accordingtoa Junereportfrom the

ä See WIC, page 4A

Brown pelicans roost among mangroveson NorthChandeleur Island.

STAFF PHOTOSByMIKE SMITH

state’sCoastal

Chandeleur Islands. Sea turtle habitat is a

STAFFFILE PHOTO By CHRISGRANGER

U.S. Rep.Julia Letlow,left, gives athumbsup to Gov. Jeff Landryastheychat during Washington Mardi Gras in January.

Delta pilot reports encounter with firework

NEW YORK A Delta Air Lines flight and a highflying firework reportedly came into contact in the sky above Chicago as the city celebrated the Fourth of July holiday

The pilot of Delta ﬂight 1076 notified air traffic controllers just before landing at Chicago Midway International Airport on Saturday night that a firework hit the commercial airliner during its descent. In an audio recording published online by LiveATC.net, the pilot described feeling “a big bang” on the plane.

According to the recording, the incident occurred when the plane was ﬂying at an altitude of 200 to 250 feet. The pilot said the crew hoped the bang “was just a mortar that went off,” referencing the tube that helps launch aerial ﬁreworks.

Both the Federal Aviation Administration and Delta said the plane, which had taken off from Atlanta carrying 52 passengers and six crew members, landed safely just after 8:30 p.m. local time.

The incident didn’t result in any onboard injuries, and Atlanta-based Delta said Sunday that mechanics who inspected the Airbus A319 did not ﬁnd any damage

The FAA said it would investigate the incident.

It’s unclear if ﬁreworks struck other airplanes on Saturday

No bids to be sought to repair reflecting pool

NEW YORK The Trump administration will not seek new bids to repair the Lincoln Memorial Reﬂecting Pool, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Sunday as he faced new questions about the troubled project and the taxpayer money involved.

Like President Donald Trump, Burgum said he was 100% sure that vandals caused the damage to the century-old reflecting pool on the National Mall Trump has charged that a 350-foot gash was cut into the pool’s liner in the midst of recent renovations, while Burgum described it as multiple cuts adding up to that figure. He also said the pool would have to be at least partially drained in the coming week to finish the repairs. The repairs will not be opened up to new contractors, he said.

“We’ll use the same company, because they did a fantastic job,” Burgum told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Thankfully, the vandalism was small. It was bad. I mean, it could cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair, so then it could fall into a felony just like damaging any other government property could. But the job that was done to ﬁx the reﬂecting pool was done extremely well.”

Trump this spring pledged to beautify the reﬂecting pool before the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations on July Fourth. Water was drained and the Republican president directed that the bottom be painted a color he called “American ﬂag blue.” But after the site was restored, the water was plagued by an algae bloom for more than a week, and pieces of the new coating have appeared to be peeling off the bottom.

Lawyer: Doctor held by Israel in critical state

TEL AVIV Israel The lawyer for a prominent Palestinian doctor who was seized by Israeli forces 18 months ago said his client has been abused in captivity and is in critical condition, according to the human rights group representing him.

Hussam Abu Safiya who served as director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, became the face of health workers struggling to treat patients throughout the IsraelHamas war He led the facility through an 85-day siege by the Israeli military, releasing videos in which he pleaded for help before he was arrested in December 2024. He has not been charged.

The Israeli military said Abu Safiya, 53, was being investigated on suspicion of cooperating with or working for Hamas. Staff and international aid groups that worked with him deny the claims.

Khamenei’s other sons attend funeral

Iran’s new supreme leader remains in hiding

BY NASSER KARIMI and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran Iran’s top officials and brothers of the new supreme leader emerged into public view Sunday to attend funeral prayers for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Their appearance projected unity, deﬁance and conﬁdence in their safety as Iran pushes back on U.S. demands in negotiations to permanently end the war

Crowds of hundreds of thousands chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” as they called for revenge over the Feb. 28 attack that killed the 86-yearold supreme leader and other top officials, triggering the war Some hard-liners called for the assassination of President Donald Trump. Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has yet to make an appearance in the funeral ceremonies, which are unfolding over several days. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father At the height of the war, before an April ceasefire, Israel had targeted top leaders, in at least one case likely using their public appearance to fix their position. It has also threatened to kill the younger Khamenei.

The U.S. is meanwhile pressing ahead with negotiations with Iran aimed at fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz, rolling back its disputed nuclear program and reaching a permanent end to the war Talks appear to be on hold until after the burial.

Ziba Naderi, a nurse attending the funeral Sunday, said Iran needed to heed Mojtaba Khamenei’s commands. “I heard the call for revenge, but our leader should say what we need to do,” she said. “And we must listen to him.”

Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani, a 97-year-old Shiite cleric, led the prayers at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla for the late

Trump to meet with leaders of Ukraine, Syria at NATO summit

BY MICHELLE L PRICE Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Wednesday while attending the NATO summit in Turkey, the White House said. Those discussions will come as Kyiv tries to refocus Trump’s attention on the conflict with Moscow and as Trump has publicly mused about Syria’s role in the Middle East.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly conﬁrmed the meetings in a call with reporters while previewing the upcoming summit in Ankara, where Trump also plans to meet with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday. Before returning to the United States on Wednesday, Trump is scheduled to have a news conference, Kelly said. Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy comes as Russia’s war in Ukraine is now

in its ﬁfth year Both Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin held phone calls with Trump on Saturday congratulating him on the July Fourth commemoration of the 250th anniversary of American independence.

Zelenskyy said in a statement on X after his call that he and Trump spoke about the situation on the front lines of the war, where analysts say Russian advances have sputtered. Ukraine, has stepped up its attacks on Moscow and demonstrated its ability to strike deeper into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader said there is “a real prospect of ending this war,” and that conversation would continue at the NATO summit in Ankara.

Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said that in Putin’s call with Trump, the Republican president reaffirmed his “readiness to help achieve a quick cessation of hostilities and search for peaceful solutions to settle the crisis” in Ukraine.

8 hurt in shooting at July 4 cookout near Coney Island beach

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK A shooting at a Fourth of July cookout near New York’s Coney Island beach wounded eight people, including four children, police said.

One of the victims, a 21-year-old woman, was in critical condition while the others were described as being stable and expected to survive, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Sunday

The shooting occurred Saturday night in the

courtyard of an apartment building about a block from the famed Coney Island boardwalk and not far from the site of the Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest held earlier on the holiday

The police commissioner said a suspect wearing a black mask fired into the courtyard where a family had gathered for a cookout. The shooter ﬂed but police did recover a gun, Tisch said.

The children shot are ages 6, 7, 12 and 14, Tisch said.

Khamenei and his family members killed in the strike.

On hand were Khamenei’s other sons, Masoud, Meysam and Mostafa, who had not been seen since the war Revolutionary Guard head Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, who was photographed for the ﬁrst time since the war on Thursday, could be seen in the crowd by Associated Press journalists, flanked by plainclothes security forces and wearing a black baseball cap.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf who has led the negotiations with the U.S. — and Esmail Qaani,

who leads the elite Quds Force of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also attended.

The crowd had grown from the day before Mourners dressed in black carried banners and ﬂags honoring Khamenei.

Posters and grafﬁti at the Grand Mosalla called for the killing of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Why is the biggest bastard in the world still alive?” Mohammad Rasouli, a poet who emceed the event before the prayers, said to the crowd over loudspeakers, referring to Trump. “The world is no longer a good place” for Trump, he added

TENNESSEE

as the crowd cheered.

“I came here to shout and seek revenge,” said Gholamreza Sabooni, a 29-yearold man who works in a grocery “They killed our imam. We should kill their leader, Trump.”

The U.S. president was giving a speech at the same time across the world in Washington, D.C. for the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.

“We’ve had tremendous success,” Trump said about the U.S. military “You look at Venezuela, you look at Iran. We wiped it out, wiped out their military.”

U.S. federal authorities have been tracking Iranian threats against Trump and other administration officials for years. The threats stem from Trump ordering the 2020 killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who had led the Quds Force. Iran repeatedly has denied plotting to kill Trump, though hard-line propaganda footage long has suggested Trump was in Tehran’s crosshairs.

Trump meanwhile promised to destroy Iran’s civilization during the war among other threats. Khamenei’s body will be transported to cities in Iran and neighboring Iraq, with authorities planning to drive his casket and others through the streets of Tehran on Monday Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which will end Thursday as he is buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Khamenei’s place of birth.

Police: Guard members on patrol fatally shoot man during pursuit

BY JACK BROOK Associated Press/ Report for America

Two Tennessee National Guard members assigned by the Trump administration to a crime-fighting patrol in Memphis fatally shot a man Sunday who turned toward the soldiers with a gun during a downtown pursuit, authorities said.

The administration has ordered National Guard deployments in Memphis and ﬁve other Democratrun cities, including New Orleans and Washington, D.C., to confront what President Donald Trump has described as an outof-control crime wave — though violent crime in dozens of cities led by Democrats is down significantly since a pandemic high. The Guard members in Memphis were part of a troop deployment the administration launched in Tennessee’s second-largest city last fall.

Local leaders in these cities have said they do not believe the federal intervention is necessary, and some have challenged the deployments in court.

The soldiers in Memphis were responding with local police to reports of gunshots around 4 a.m. when they began pursuing an armed man ﬂeeing on foot, the city’s police department said.

The guardsmen opened ﬁre after the man turned towards them with his weapon, the department said.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation identiﬁed the man as 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson and said it is investigating the circumstances of the shooting. No law enforcement ofﬁcers were injured the agency added.

Johnson died at the scene after two National Guard medical specialists attempted first aid, Guard spokesperson Lt.

Col Darrin Haas said in a statement. Johnson’s older cousin, Terracle Nelson, 46, told The Associated Press that he was “as good a boy as can be.” Johnson was living in Nashville, working in construction and taking university classes, she said. He had just had his ﬁrst child earlier this year, she added. Nelson was present with other members of Johnson’s family when authorities told them that Johnson had been shot twice in the chest. Law enforcement authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the number of shots ﬁred. The TBI declined to comment on Nelson’s account of the shooting.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALTAF QADRI

A boy holds a picture of Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei holding a machine gun at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque on Sunday during funeral ceremonies for the slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family in Tehran, Iran.

LANDRY

Beating an incumbent is difﬁcult. No governor has losthis reelection bidin35years.

But as the constitutional amendment defeats showed, voters don’t always warmly embracehis pugnacious style. Agroup has launched adifﬁcult-to-achieve recall effort.

Black voters —who turned out in disproportionately lownumbers whenhewas elected governor in 2023 —turned outinrelatively large numbers last month when the constitutional amendments wereon the ballot. That election occurred as Landry and legislative Republicans were turningamajority-Black congressional seat into onewitha majority-White seat that would favor aRepublican candidate.

Meanwhile, Landry angeredsupporters of Cassidy and Fleming during the primary by showing no hesitance to attack the two men.

He kept that up in the interview

“John Fleming tried to use alot of misinformation, disinformation and hype and scare people about an issue,” Landry said,referring to Flemingmakinghis opposition to carbon capture and sequestration acentral part of his Senate campaign.

Asked about President Donald Trump’sreaction to Cassidy’sdefeat, Landry said, “The president has always been consistent in his displeasure with Bill Cassidy.It’s Bill’sfault. Billbegged the president for his endorsement,begged him, begged him, begged him. The president gave him everything Bill asked for.Assoon as he got sworn in,heturned coattail on thepresident.”

Three months after winning reelection in 2020, Cassidyvoted to convict Trump on impeachment charges of inciting hissupporters to assault the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Landry spoke from Washington, D.C., where he was attending festivities marking the country’s250th birthday.Heposted videos of himself being interviewedonFox News and attending the Louisianabooth at Trump’sGreat American State Fair on the mall.

ISLANDS

Politicalpull

During his30monthsasgovernor, Landry has earned areputation for ﬂexing his political muscles against opponents. That may help him keep the ﬁeld clear for his reelectionnext year

“I don’tbelieve his strengthis based on his popularity,” said Bernie Pinsonat, aveteranpollster and political consultant. “His strength forreelection is that he dominates everything and everybody in Louisiana. He’sout therebuilding apolitical power base that effectively reduces theopportunity for anyone to come after him.”

The Republican mentioned most oftenasa possible rival is Garret Graves,who served 10 yearsin the U.S. House from Baton Rouge until Landrygot the Legislature to redraw the state’scongressional boundaries in away that left Graves without awinnable district Graves didn’treturn atext asking himwhether he might challenge Landry

Lt. Gov.Billy Nungesser said he’s not ruling out apossible campaign for governornextyear but said he’s focused on running for reelection.

“I get calls every day asking me to run, but Ilove what Ido,” said Nungesser,whosejob description includespromotingtourism in Louisiana

On theDemocratic side,John Bel Edwardshas told friends that he has little interestinrunning next year.State Sen.Jay Luneau from Alexandria is mentioned as apossible candidate.

“I’ve been approached by lots of folks interestedinmedoing that. The job is what I’d really like,” Luneau said. “I don’tknow if a Democrat can beat aRepublican in astatewide race, but you never know. You’d be foolish not to consider that he has alot of money in his account.”

Roy Fletcher,a veteran political strategist who worked forFleming’sSenate campaign, said that race exposed ﬁssures in the RepublicanParty with Landry

“He has some real accomplishments he can point to.There’sno questionabout that,” Fletcher said. “But he has serious problems that remainwith theelectorate —serious enough that they had to spend

awhole lot of money to defeat John Fleming, who made him an issue in the campaign. He’skind of alienated the base of the party.Hehas to go back and repair that. If he runs againstastrong Democrat, he can’t let that Democrat get30% of the White vote.”

One of those alienated conservativesisMarkT.Guillory,aresident of Pineville in central Louisiana whoisakey member of Save My Louisiana, agroup thatvehemently believes that carbon capture and sequestration threatenstopollute waterwaysand infringe on landowners’ rights.

“Inhis zeal to bring prosperity,he is trampling on our lives,our liberty and our property,”Guillory said. Governor claims bigwins

Landrywasted no time after taking ofﬁce in January 2024 as the ﬁrst Republican governorwitha Republican supermajority in the Legislature.

He got legislatorstoclose primariesfor this year’sSenate, Public ServiceCommission and Boardof Elementary and Secondary Educationraces —achange thatposed abarrier to Cassidy’sreelection, since it meant he couldn’tdraw votes from conservative Democrats.

Landryand legislators reduced corporateand individual income taxrates,eliminated thecorporate franchise tax, made it easier for people on deathrow to be executed, made it more difﬁcult for people injured in accidents to sue for big damages in an efforttobring down insurance rates and eliminated the unpopular vehicle inspection sticker for mostofLouisiana.

Twoweeks ago, Landry announced adeal to settlelong-standing lawsuits by coastal parishes againstExxonMobil that accused the company’sdrilling activities of polluting wetlands and causing the disappearance of coastal marsh.

In the interview,Landry disclosed afew details of the agreement,saying that ExxonMobil would provide closeto$200million to capmany orphan wells in Louisiana.

“Wehave 1,088 orphan wells,” Landry said, referring to the number along the coast. “We’ll be able to knock outachunk of those orphan wells with this deal. Ithink it’s a

good deal for the state of Louisiana. It’s agood deal for ExxonMobil.”

That agreement appears to be tied to more than 100,000 acres of landthatExxonMobilcontrolsnear

Pecan Island in Vermilion Parish thatSpaceX, Elon Musk’sspace exploration and artiﬁcial intelligence company,isbelieved to be eying as alaunch location.Landrysaidhe couldn’tcomment on any potential SpaceX deal.

Thanks to Fleming, carbon capture and sequestration projects developed as aﬂashpoint during the Senaterace. Landry noted that he issued amoratorium on new projects but said he remains committed to the technology

“We’ve been putting things in the ground in Louisiana fordecadesin asafeand reliable manner,” Landry said. “What hashappenediscompletepropaganda that John Fleming triedtolatch onto. And you can see, it was acomplete failure.”

Landry hasannounced major investment projects, including Meta’s $27 billiondata center in Richland Parish, Hyundai’s$5.8 billionsteel plant in Ascension Parish and Venture Global’s$18 billion expansion of its liqueﬁed naturalgas facility in PlaqueminesParish.

“Wehave historic investment in thestate, right?” Landry said. “We might get to $200 billion by the end of the year in private investment.

That’sequated to 124,000 new job opportunities.”

Landry hascited thatjob ﬁgure previously,but Kate Kelly,the governor’spress secretary,later said it was actually 95,000 new job opportunities.

Either way,Landry said, “There’s nobody in Louisiana who is looking for ajob that can’tﬁnd ajob if they have the skill set.”

Yetjobs are not appearing in signiﬁcantnumbers, federal government statistics show

SinceJanuary 2025, Louisiana has createdabout 14,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an increase of 0.6% over thatperiod of time, compared to an increasenationally of 0.7%.

Jim Richardson,aretired LSU economics professor,said the strongest growth has been in construction jobs that will disappear once the investment projects open. These projects are so automated,

Richardson added, the permanent jobs will be fewerthanthe construction jobs at these sites. Louisianahad a4.5% unemployment rate in May,upfrom 4.3% in January 2025.

Signsofdissatisfaction

Landry’sscrappy nature elected him twice as attorney general and once as governor.But it led him to meddle in LSU’scoaching change last year in ways that turned off many college football fans.

Hiswillingness to do Trump’s bidding led him to accept serving as the president’sspecial envoy to Greenland. But he has soft-pedaled that roleinLouisiana,apparently because of thepolitical dangers of being seen as inattentive to his job as governor

Landrydidn’tnotify thepress in advance that he wastraveling to Greenland in May.While he said in the interviewthathekeepsthe public abreast of his activities through socialmedia,hedidn’t tweet once about Greenland while there. Instead, he tweeted about bill signings, the need forateacher pay raise and the ﬁrst dog, Blanc. Black legislators, particularly thoseinNew Orleans, arestill smarting from vetoes that Landry issued following the legislative session that targeted their measures.

“These vetoes were notabout policy.They were about punishment,” said state Sen. Royce Duplessis, DNew Orleans. “Funding for healthcare, early childhood education, housing, homeless youth and other critical community investments was wiped away.The people paying the price are not politicians. They are working families, children, seniors, patients, nonproﬁts andsmall businesses.”

Landry said he based the vetoes on policy,not politics, adding that his predecessor,Edwards, aDemocrat, vetoed $500 million of Republican projects during his eight years in ofﬁce.

Ayear ago, it was fellow Republicans who felt Landry’ssting. Afull 16 of the 17 line-item vetoes that he issuedin2025 targeted spending projects sought by Republican legislators who had supported Insurance Commissioner TimTemple whenheopposed legislation that Landry championed.

Fading in thedistance

The Chandeleur Islands off Louisiana's southeasterncoast havebeen gradually fading Anew $383million planwill

Along-developing planto restore a14-mile island in the chain, North Chandeleur was granted aﬁnal $90.8 million trancheoffunding last month, allowing construction to potentially begin early next year.The $383 million project aims to rebuild beach, dunes and marsh with enough dredgedsedimentto ﬁll the Caesars Superdome nearly three times

It’saunique project for aunique place, part of the country’ssecond-oldest wildlife refuge, astatus that dates to 1904. Apopular ﬁshing spot, it is also an important habitat forendangered Kemp’sridley sea turtles, awide array of migrating birds and the northern Gulf’s most expansive collectionof seagrasses.

The projectwill be largely paid for with fundingrelated to the 2010 BP oil spill,which harmed the islands and related wildlife.

“It truly is aonce-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Todd Baker,project manager with the state’sCoastalProtectionand Restoration Authority,said recently after landing by seaplane and wadingashore on one of his frequent visits there to document wildlife.

“When would we havegotten this kind of money for these islands? It wouldn’t happen. It makes it that much more important that it is appropriately used.”

Findingtinyturtles

Swept by the winds and tides, with the screech of gulls overhead and brown pelicans flapping among mangroves, the islandshold arugged beauty far removed from the Gulf Coast’smanicured beaches and high-rise condos.

While president, Teddy Roosevelt designatedthe Chandeleurs and nearby Breton Islands anational wildlife refuge. He later visited, and one classic picture shows him seated nearthe water,gentle waves breaking before him.

The Chandeleurs play many roles at once, giving them an importance that may be overlookedbyLouisianans who have never been able to hitch aride out there.

Continued from page1A Staffgraphic

More than170 differentbird species have been documented there recently, including migratory piping plovers, red knots, snowy plovers andredhead ducks. They arethe only known breeding ground for aspeciescalled theChandeleur gull.

In 2022, tiny sea turtle hatchlings were spotted on the islands for the ﬁrst time in 75 years. They turned out to be critically endangered Kemp’sridleys, the smallest of thesea turtles.

Between 2022 and 2025, the state observed 202“crawls,” or tracks,for Kemp’s ridleys, loggerheads andgreen sea turtles.

Documenting themwas an importantpartofthe restorationplan. That’swhy Baker and Matthew Weigel, from the state Department of Wildlife andFisheries, have been making repeated trips there.

On the ﬂight over,pilot Michael Chauff of Wildlife and Fisheriescircled theislands while Baker andWeigel searched for turtle tracksin the sand and shells below.

“Oh,there’s one,” said Weigelashescanned thebeach from hiswindow,notingthe coordinates

Afterthe seaplane dropped them in thewater near North Chandeleur Island, theywaded ashoreand sought out the tracks,takingmeasurements andfurther locationdata

They also explained the importanceofthe seagrasses They constitute Louisiana’s only marine seagrass beds, providing habitat for along

list of marine life.

‘Worth theeffort’

But even for those with no interest in wildlife or remote isolation, the Chandeleurs remain vital. The barrier island chain provides alayer of natural storm protection that can slow hurricanes as they move toward southeast Louisiana.

Because of that location, theyhave taken abeating.

Hurricanes Georgesin1998 and Katrina in 2005 battered them. Katrina’sdamage included blasting out acut that now divides Northand South Chandeleur Theislands arealsosubject to the other forces tearingawayatLouisiana’scoastline —sea level rise,erosion andsubsidence. Overall, they have lost around 90% of their land over thepast couple centuries Projections show they could disappear entirely in the years ahead.

Kristi Trail, executive director of the Pontchartrain Conservancy,said that despite thosedifﬁcult circumstances, theproject must be pursued, even if it means repeatedly returning to replenishthe work over time as it erodes

Shenoted it formspart of the “multiple lines of defense” for thecoast, and that thestate cannot relyon“levees and ﬂoodwalls alone.”

“It’sworth theeffort, even if it does involve repeated restoration efforts,”said Trail. “It would be asad day if we were to throwour arms up and sayit’snot worthre-

Source:Coastal Protection andRestoration Authority

storing theChandeleur Islands.”

The plan itself will use around 12 million cubic yards of sediment dredged from anearbyshoal to build some 2,500 acres of habitat. It would be focused on North Chandeleur Island and the smaller New Harbor Island.

Aunique feature of the project involvesbuilding sand reservoirs that can buttress the workand replenish it over time.Constructionis estimated to lastfor up to three years, putting potential completion time around 2030.

But while the need for the project is widely recognized, it also points to alargerproblem.The BP-related money paying for most of it expires at the end of 2031, and while projects underway at that pointwill continue, billions of dollars in new coastal restoration money will no longer be available in the future.

The state hasusedthe BP fundsfor awide rangeof large-scale projects and faces afunding cliff when it expires. There are currentlyno replacements lined up for it.

For Baker and Weigel, the Chandeleur project is a

prime example of howthe BP funds should be used, employing sound science to repair oil spill damage while also bolstering the resiliency of acrucial island chain. “All of these resources that were impacted —we now have the funds to make thoseresources whole,” said Weigel.

EmailMike Smith at msmith@theadvocate. com. His work is supported with agrant from the Walton Family Foundation, administered by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation.

STAFF PHOTO By MIKE SMITH

Todd Baker, of the state Coastal Protectionand Restoration Authority,and MatthewWeigel, of theLouisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, maketheir wayback to aseaplane off North Chandeleur Island.

Trump speech mixes patriotism, partisanship

Washington July 4 festivities were delayed by weather

BY STEVEN SLOAN and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump mixed partisan politics with patriotic appeals on Saturday as he commemorated the 250th anniversary of American independence, a moment he declared “one of the most joyous and glorious milestones of all time.”

Speaking in Washington after storms prompted a roughly two-hour evacuation of the National Mall, Trump honored veterans, including several from World War II and one of the first Black officers to lead a Special Forces team in combat in Vietnam. They appeared before flags that symbolized some of the most significant and challenging moments in American history from the one that was draped over Abraham Lincoln’s casket to the one that flew on the plane piloted by the Wright Brothers.

Yet Trump also leaned into partisan territory unusual for an Independence Day address, which presidents typically use as a moment to unify the country Instead, he stumped again for the SAVE America Act, an elections bill that’s encountering challenges even from Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress. He highlighted his support for the Second Amendment and revived denunciations of communism, which are becoming an increasingly central part of Trump’s message ahead of the November midterms.

on the National Mall in Washington.

President Donald Trump speaks at Salute to America, which resumed late Saturday night after the National Mall was evacuated for two hours due to storms.

EMISSIONS

Continued from page 1A

Slater said that, after seeing news reports and having informal conversations with state employees who get work done at the shop, he doesn’t think the state will roll out a new process for handling emissions tests until December But he’s gotten no formal communication from officials about how to handle it in the meantime. “They didn’t have an answer,” Slater said about reaching out to the state for clarification. “They’re trying to figure out what to do.”

What do state officials say?

Drivers in ﬁve parishes in the Baton Rouge area — Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Livingston and West Baton Rouge — have to get yearly emissions tests to ensure that their vehicles are not putting out too much pollution into the atmosphere and that the region meets federal standards in the Clean Air Act.

The requirement stems from the early 2000s, when the area had too much ground-level ozone, a harmful air pollutant.

The Department of Environmental Quality, which oversees emissions testing, did not respond to questions, such as whether drivers can now get an emissions test without completing the state safety inspection and how drivers should demonstrate compliance with the federal test.

The Office of Motor Vehicles confirmed that emissions testing is still required in the five parishes and costs $8 each year

Confusion at inspection stations

Employees at several Baton Rouge-area businesses that offer safety inspections and emissions tests said they haven’t received any information from the state about new procedures and have been unable to get answers to their questions.

As the safety check is phased out, High Tech Car Care business manager Keith McAllister said “it’s unclear” how the state wants inspection stations to handle emissions testing.

McAllister said that, without new instructions, his Baton Rouge repair shop will continue to offer inspections following the same process they’ve used in years past, completing both the state safety inspection plus the federal emissions test.

“We will always be on top,”

Trump said. “We will never let our country fall. We will always be the best.”

Trump didn’t talk about himself as much as he does during his normal rally speeches. Still,

The speech capped a holiday that Trump has gone to great lengths to shape to his own tastes. He was introduced by two musical performers who often appear at his trademark rallies, including Lee Greenwood, who performed “God Bless the USA.” The event organizers were largely aligned with the White House, supplanting a bipartisan organization that was launched by Congress a decade ago.

he still found time to include a joke about seeking a third presidential term and about World War II’s “greatest generation.”

“They are the greatest generation,” Trump said. “I hate to admit that, but they are.”

Anticipation for the milestone holiday has been building for much of the year serving as an opportunity for Ameri-

cans to reﬂect on their complicated history as onetime colonists of an empire who became a superpower of their own. Organizers of celebrations months in the making had to adjust or cancel activities entirely as much of the East Coast sweltered under heat that approached and in many cases surpassed triple digits.

Trump pardons former Abramoff partner

Clemency also given to 9 convicted of violating vehicle emissions controls

BY MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Friday pardoned 11 people, including a former business partner of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and nine people identiﬁed by the White House as having helped people bypass emissions control systems on vehicles.

The acts of clemency come as Trump has issued a slew of pardons in his second term, particularly for allies, public ﬁgures and those seen as politically aligned.

His use of the presidency’s sweeping ability to unilaterally grant pardons and commute sentences is among the ways the Republican’s return to ofﬁce has featured an expansive use of executive power Trump earlier on Friday announced some of the pardons

on social media, without identifying any of the recipients by name.

“It is my Great Honor to have just signed Pardons for six people who were persecuted by the Biden Administration, and were in, or being sent to, prison, for ‘ﬁxing their car,’ ” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media network.

“I AM SETTING THEM ALL FREE, RIGHT NOW!” he said.

In a list provided Friday evening by the White House, Trump pardoned 11 people, including nine who faced charges related to violations of the Clean Air Act by disabling emissions monitoring systems on vehicles or selling devices that enabled emissions systems to be bypassed.

The pardons come after Trump on Monday signed a memo telling the Environmental Protection Agency that Americans can ﬁx their

own vehicles as they see fit

As he signed the memo, Trump referenced a diesel mechanic he pardoned last year who disabled emissions monitoring systems.

The memo also addressed aftermarket auto parts and would supersede the ability of the California Air Resources Board to evaluate parts that affect vehicle emissions.

The White House, in releasing the list of those pardoned, described Trump having “relieved consumers from these regulatory burdens.”

Beyond the emissions-related pardons, Trump on Friday also issued a pardon for Adam Kidan, a former business partner of Abramoff.

Kidan pleaded guilty in 2005 to fraud and conspiracy related to the purchase of a ﬂeet of gambling boats, and in 2006 he was sentenced to nearly six years in prison.

The case was part of a broader investigation of the early 2000s lobbying scandal involving Abramoff, Capitol Hill, the Interior Department and

members of President George W. Bush’s administration.

After leaving prison in 2009, Kidan began working at a stafﬁng agency, went on to found a staffing business, Chartwell Stafﬁng Solutions, and now serves as president of Empire Workforce Solutions, the White House said.

In March, the newspaper Newsday reported that Kidan was among the hosts of a fundraiser at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for a Long Island Republican congressional candidate.

A message sent to Kidan’s business seeking comment was not immediately returned Friday evening.

Trump on Friday also pardoned ranch owner Jack Harvard, citing an “upstanding record” post-conviction and praising him for allowing the U.S. military and NATO troops to train on his land free of charge.

The White House did not immediately release additional details about Harvard, including his conviction.

“At this point, we’re six months out from the new requirement,” he said. “I don’t see it as a major problem, not having received a communication from the state. I’m sure it will come.” Nall said his shop is taking two approaches while waiting for more direction.

For customers who come in and need an inspection done but don’t ask any questions, Nall said they’ll continue to do the state safety inspection plus the federal emissions test and issue a sticker, just like they’ve done in previous years. But for those who do ask questions, Nall said he advises them based on what shop employees themselves have decided to do: Hold off on testing and getting a new sticker until December when they have guidance on how to handle emissions.

“There’s no reason to do it now unless they want peace of mind,” he said

Under the new law law enforcement ofﬁcers can’t issue citations for not having a sticker, but the requirement to get a safety inspection technically doesn’t ofﬁcially go away until Jan. 1.

“In accordance with the new law, Louisiana state troopers are not issuing citations for violations of the current motor vehicle inspection sticker law, in its entirety, during this transition period, which runs from now until Jan 1,” Sgt Jacob Pucheu, a State Police spokesperson, said in response to questions about enforcement of federal emissions testing requirements

Pucheu noted the legislation prohibits law enforcement from issuing citations for not displaying a sticker or having an inspection certiﬁcate from June 30 to Jan. 1. New Orleans area

Separate from federal emissions testing, the cities of New Orleans, Kenner and Westwego have independent local safety inspection programs that were launched before the statewide requirement and are not affected by the new state law

A spokesperson for Mayor Helena Moreno said again this week that New Orleans is still “evaluating the law and its potential impact on operations within Orleans Parish to determine how the city will proceed.”

The Kenner City Council recently decided to repeal its local inspection program beginning Jan. 1.

Westwego Mayor Robert Billiot Sr in June said his city would keep its program in place to maintain vehicle safety

Continued from page 1A

Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Ofﬁce. Between 2021 and 2024, Louisiana did not use approximately $111 million worth of federal WIC funding, the report says.

“Louisiana is ranked 50th in WIC participation and 52nd when you include Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.,” said Gina Brown, a state audit manager “Given our health outcomes and our poverty rate, that kind of alarmed us.”

“Why are we dead last in this program that’s all federal funds, that’s intended to help women and children?” Brown added.

The $111 million ﬁgure is based on funds that could go to eligible women who are not participating in WIC, and on the value of food beneﬁts that were not redeemed at stores, said Ashley Brecheen, a senior auditor with the state.

The Louisiana Department of Health, which oversees WIC,

agreed with most of the audit’s recommendations and said it has already taken steps to address the concerns raised in the report and make WIC more accessible.

For example, the report found that over half of WIC clinics were not fully complying with a state policy that requires them to perform at least one outreach activity each month. The state Health Department said it would review reports from the clinics monthly, to ensure they complied with that requirement

The agency also set a goal of increasing WIC participation by 25% by the end of the year

Earlier this year, a United Health Foundation report found Louisiana had the worst health outcomes for women and children in the country

Last year, a state audit found pregnancy care had worsened in the state, despite increased attention and funding.

Accessibility challenges

Auditors identiﬁed several barriers that could be hindering WIC participation: online information

about clinics’ hours and phone numbers was not always accurate, and WIC clinic staff did not always answer phone calls.

“According to one mother who responded to the survey, she was unable to receive WIC during her pregnancy because she was unable to get her local clinic to answer or return her calls after she completed her online application,” the report says.

In response, state health ofﬁcials said they would conduct monthly reviews of online information about clinics for accuracy, and that they would conduct a “secret shopper phone program” to randomly screen calls and improve customer service.

The state could further improve accessibility by making sure more WIC clinics were open outside of normal business hours, since working moms may struggle to attend appointments on weekdays, the audit said. About 80% of clinics only offered appointments between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the time of the audit.

A map included in the audit shows that north Louisiana is dispropor-

tionately impacted by that trend:

Only one WIC clinic in the northern half of the state operated outside of normal business hours. It was located near Shreveport. Though there are exceptions, WIC participants must regularly attend in-person appointments to continue receiving beneﬁts.

The Health Department said it was “expanding the number of clinics offering nontraditional hours.”

As of May 31, all parish health units would offer such hours, officials added.

Over half of the state’s roughly 100 WIC clinics were at parish health units, according to the audit.

Food benefits

Another element of WIC highlighted in the audit was its food benefit program, where beneficiaries receive EBT cards they can redeem at participating stores for specific food products.

Each food beneﬁt package is tailored to the individual WIC participant, auditors noted. But in 2025, nearly half of the food items included in the packages

were not redeemed, the report said. Brown, the audit manager, noted the low redemption rate has implications for economic development: It is money that could be going to Louisiana businesses.

Auditors found that some food products, such as yogurt, were being redeemed at particularly low rates. They concluded some moms weren’t purchasing the yogurt because it was only offered in halfquart or full quart sizes, and they thought such a large portion would go to waste.

The report suggested the Louisiana Department of Health offer more ﬂexibility on which products could be purchased, a recommendation with which the agency agreed. Though it is not addressed in the audit, the number of vendors participating in WIC may also be a barrier to food beneﬁt redemption. Brown pointed to an early informational WIC report which found that some parishes only had one vendor

The Legislative Auditor’s Ofﬁce is working on a third report pertaining to WIC food vendors, but it has not yet been released.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARK SCHIEFELBEIN

Fireworks explode Saturday during Salute to America, an Independence Day event honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary,

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON

Unbearable heat suspected in 19 New Jersey deaths

High temperatures give way to

thunderstorms

BY COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press

Several days of scorching temperatures are suspected to have caused at least 19 deaths in New Jersey as a heat dome that had settled above parts of the central and eastern United States gives way to severe storms that have knocked out power to close to 1 million homes and businesses.

New Jersey officials said Saturday that they began seeing what they believe are heat-related deaths as early as Thursday with most occurring in the central and northern parts of the state

“Unfortunately, many of these individuals were found in homes without air conditioning,” state Health Commissioner Dr Raynard Washington told reporters Saturday “A few were outside their residences, some on the street and some even in parked cars.” New Jersey Gov Mikie

Sherrill called the current weather “the hottest stretch we’ve seen in over 14 years.”

“The heat’s hitting all of us, not just seniors not just with underlying health conditions, people of all ages,” Sherrill said.

On Thursday, LaGuardia Airport in New York set a new record high of 104 degrees, topping the previous record of 101 set in 1966, according to Bryan Jackson, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and At-

mospheric Administration’s Weather Prediction Center Trenton, New Jersey, reached 101, which broke the record of 100 set in 1901. Newark’s high Thursday was 105. Atlantic City, New Jersey,

hit 103 on Thursday breaking the city’s record of 100 set in 1966, Jackson said. Atlantic City reached 105 on Friday and 106 on Saturday Heat domes can be dangerous and combine very high temperatures with high moisture, Jackson said.

“In a lot of cases they also had direct sunshine,” he said.

“It was relentless. It was multiple days. It was not as cool overnight as well. The low Friday morning in Atlantic City was 80. The body can’t recover as well You just have that multiple day buildup and too much added stress on the body.”

But even as the heat moved to the east, lowering temperatures a bit, severe storms blew in with heavy winds that toppled utility poles and split trees, causing their boles and branches to fall onto power lines.

About 900,000 utility customers in parts of the central, eastern and southern United States were without electricity early Sunday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.com.

More than 223,000 customers in Michigan and close to 170,000 in Pennsylvania had lost power PPL Electric reported

121,417 without power Sunday morning, including about 47,000 in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, area. Central Hudson in New York state reported that it had more than 430 reported downed wires on Sunday The utility said about 50,000 customers were affected by the storm and that about 650 still were without power Sunday Amanda Vesper was putting her children to bed Friday evening when the first storm rolled through the Detroit area, knocking out her power

“It didn’t seem that awful. It got quite windy,” said Vesper, 40, of Commerce Township. As of late Sunday morning, the electricity still was out.

“We’ve been going back and forth between a hotel and our home because we have dogs there,” she said.

“We really can’t stay there. I have a small child with autism. Our well runs on an electric pump.”

The outage also ruined the family’s July 4 celebration.

“We had planned on having company over at the house, but had to cancel,” Vesper said “I went grocery shopping. I’m hoping my freezer holds.”

Prosecutors to lay out their case in Charlie Kirk killing

BY MATTHEW BROWN and HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY Charlie

Kirk’s widow and parents are expected this week in a Utah court where prosecutors seeking the death penalty will argue that the man charged with killing the conservative activist should stand trial for murder

The ﬁve-day preliminary hearing that starts Monday will be the first time members of Kirk’s family are in the Utah courtroom with defendant Tyler Robinson. The hearing will be livestreamed.

Robinson turned himself in after the shooting Prosecutors allege that he also sent a text message confes-

sion to his partner and left a note saying he had an opportunity to kill one of the nation’s leading conservative voices “and I’m going to take it.” He has not entered a plea in the case, however Robinson, 23, is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 assassination of Kirk, who was addressing a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University His attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence. Months of legal jostling leading up to the hearing centered largely on media access. Beginning Monday, the focus shifts to whether there is enough evidence for a trial and if the death penalty is warranted, said Paul Cassell, a University of

Utah law professor and former federal judge. Cassell said evidence made public to date in court

filings suggests prosecutors have “an overwhelming case.”

“This seems like the pro-

verbial slam dunk at this stage of the case, where the only issue is whether there is a sound basis for moving forward with a trial on the merits,” he said. A death sentence is an option in Utah only when a crime has aggravating circumstances. Prosecutors will argue in Robinson’s case that Kirk’s shooting endangered others in attendance.

The proceeding will resemble a minitrial, with prosecutors planning to offer DNA evidence linking Robinson to the suspected murder weapon, testimony from investigators, autopsy ﬁndings, witness statements and video of Kirk’s killing. They are not required to present all their evidence and can use secondhand in-

formation, or hearsay

After the hearing concludes, state District Judge Tony Graf must determine if the case should proceed. Reporters and the public will be allowed to attend after Graf denied a defense request to restrict access. Kirk’s killing drew backlash from his Republican allies, including President Donald Trump, who ﬁrst announced Robinson’s arrest in a Sept. 12 interview on Fox News and said, “I hope he gets the death penalty.” This week prosecutors need only demonstrate that there are reasonable grounds to believe Robinson killed Kirk. The standard is lower than for a trial, where prosecutors have to prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

3 firefighters killed in Colorado remembered for their bravery

BY JESSICA HILL, WUFEI YU and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press

With wildfires burning across many Western states, wildland firefighters gathered Sunday to pay tribute to three of their own who died after they were trapped by ﬂames a week ago. Emily Barker, Nick Hutcherson and Sydney Watson were remembered for being courageous public servants who left a lasting impact on the communities where they worked.

“They showed up to make order out of chaos day after day with purpose, dedication and heart,” U.S. Wildland Fire Service Chief Brian Fennessy said during

for firefighters who died battling wildfires near the ColoradoUtah border in Grand Junction, Colo.

a memorial service in Grand Junction, Colorado, near where the firefighters died while battling flames on the

Colorado-Utah border

While that ﬁre is now almost entirely contained, nearly 40 large fires are

still going strong across the West Most of the current fires are scattered around Colorado, Utah and New Mexico while there are wildﬁres in eight other states from Alaska to Arizona.

Over the holiday weekend, more evacuations in Colorado were ordered across four counties where the Aspen Acres ﬁre had burned about 136 square miles south of Colorado Springs

The fire had damaged or destroyed more than 200 structures as of Sunday, authorities said. National Guard soldiers were sent in Friday to help with staffing checkpoints on roads near the fire zone.

Months of dry weather and a record lack of snow this past winter in some places along with erratic winds have been fueling the ﬁres.

The three firefighters killed on June 27 in western Colorado were members of a Helitack crew that sometimes drops into remote areas by helicopters.

Barker, Hutcherson and Watson and two others who sustained burn injuries were overcome by flames from fast-moving fires in Mesa County They had deployed emergency protective shelters, which are considered a “last resort” for ﬁreﬁghters when there is no other way out.

Fennessy the Wildland

Fire Service chief, said Sunday that “the weight of this tragedy is felt way beyond our wildland fire community.”

Photos of the firefighters were set up on the stage at the memorial service alongside flowers and flags. They worked jobs that require courage, selflessness, strength and heart, said Sarah Fisher, the U.S. Forest Service’s deputy chief for fire and aviation management.

“The work demands long days, heavy burdens and quiet acts of bravery,” she said. “We will remember them, we will honor their legacy and we will carry their light forward.”

BY WYATTE GRANTHAMPHILIPS Associated Press

NEW YORK A handful of countries in the OPEC+ oilproducing alliance plan to increase their outputs modestly next month, which would bring more oil online after fuel prices have fallen to levels not seen since before the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies — collectively known as OPEC+ announced on Sunday that seven countries would expand oil production by a combined total of 188,000 barrels per day in August It was the ﬁfth consecutive month OPEC+ agreed to raise oil outputs. The participating countries in Sunday’s decision are

Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman.

“The countries will continue to monitor and assess market conditions, and in their continuous efforts to support market stability they reaffirmed the importance of adopting a cautious approach,” the group of oil producers said in a statement.

In the last month, market optimism caused crude oil prices to tumble before and after the U.S. and Iran reached an interim deal to end their ﬁghting. As part of a broader memorandum of understanding, Iran agreed to allow ships to pass unimpeded through the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. agreed to end its blockade of Iran’s ports. More and more commercial

vessels have since transited the strait, which before the war was a conduit for roughly a ﬁfth of the world’s oil. But ship traffic remains below prewar levels, and tensions over the waterway continue.

Iran’s joint military command warned as recently as Thursday that all oil tankers moving through the strait must use its approved routes or face a “forceful response.”

Oil prices have continued to decline while negotiators for Iran and the U.S. try to reach a final peace agreement. Brent crude, the international benchmark, closed at under $72 a barrel on Friday That’s close to what it cost before the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran in late February — and far below

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By SyDNEy SCHAEFER

A person shields themselves from the sun at Pier 57 on Saturday during a heat wave ahead of the International Parade of Sail in New york.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By ROSS D FRANKLIN

well-wisher places flowers at a makeshift memorial set up for Charlie Kirk on Sept. 11 at Turning Point USA headquarters in Phoenix.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By Ty ONEIL A woman salutes on June 29 during a procession

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UL student helping young race car drivers

Camryn Reed has faced obstacles in male-dominated field

BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer

Competing around the world in one of the most male-dominated sports is one thing. Becoming the youngest driver and ﬁrst woman to win the Formula Car National Series is another

At just 20 years old, Lafayette native Camryn Reed has already accompl i shed both.

Mayor: Lake Charles ‘stronger than ever’

Simien delivers first State of the City address

BY COURTNEY PEDERSEN

Staff writer

Mayor Marshall Simien gave Lake Charles’ first State of the City address Thursday night, just over a year after being sworn in as the city’s first elected Black mayor We dnesday marked his first year in office.

“It’s been a wonderful year; there’s been a lot going on,” Simien said. “Our city is really thriving.” Simien discussed employee raises, road and facility improvements and transparency during his address Thursday

“This is the ﬁrst time we’ve done this in the city of Lake Charles,” Simien said “I would do it as long as I’m there, and I hope it becomes a tradition, because I think the citizens of our city deserve this kind of transparency.”

While Simien discussed many topics during his speech, he said everything was centered around family.

Speciﬁcally, he delved into the new sports complex that is coming to downtown and the failed renewal of $13.7 million in property taxes that helps the city operate.

The new sports complex is slated to be built on the former Capital One Tower site. Simien said the city is currently ﬁnalizing its contract with WHLC Architecture, partnered with Sasaki, to design the facility

“I think people going to be very amazed at what’s going to come out of this,” Simien said. “What’s coming with this is a transformational project.”

The facility is set to be a 140,000-square-foot nationally certiﬁed sports and recreation complex that can host tournaments It is being funded with $23 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds.

Simien said in addition to eight basketball courts that also can be used for volleyball and pickleball, the complex will include a skating rink, walking tracks and a fitness center

The idea for skating rink came about after Simien asked children at the city’s summer camp what they would like to see at the site.

“Every last one of them said they wanted to skate,” he said.

In addition to touching on the new sports complex and other improvements coming to the city, Simien brought up the failed renewal of three Lake Charles property taxes that help pay for roads, bridges, playgrounds, ﬁrst responder salaries and more. DuringtheMay16election,around 53% of voters rejected a 2.31-millage renewal for roads bridges and public buildings. In addition, the other two mileages received “no” votes from 52% of voters: a 1.70 millage for playgrounds, recreation

A junior at the Un iv ers it y of Louisiana at Lafayette studying business, Reed has made a name for herself on and off the track. Alongside her father John, she operates Reed Motor-

sports, a family-owned business that provides driver coaching and development programs designed to help introduce aspiring young racers throughout the region to motor sports.

While Reed still competes, she said helping young drivers succeed has become equally rewarding.

“I obviously love driving and I

love competing,” she said. “But watching some of these kids get their ﬁrst win has been far more rewarding than winning myself.”

Despite her passion, Reed said competing as a woman in a maledominated ﬁeld like motor sports has come with its own obstacles.

“Yes, there have been comments made. Yes, I’ve been crashed. Yes, people have taunted me,” Reed

said. “Anything you can think of has been done to me, but I’m a competitor at the end of the day.”

Rather than allowing those moments to discourage her, Reed said they’ve helped shape her conﬁdence and reinforced her belief that she belongs on the track just as much as anyone else.

Her journey into motor sports began unexpectedly at age 9 after trying a friend’s go-kart following a soccer tournament.

CELEBRATE

ABOVE: Kirstin Jarreau, left, dances with her son Liam, 1. RIGHT: Rusty Metoyer performs on stage.

TOP: A costumed bald eagle highﬁves children attending Lafayette Stars and Stripes, a celebration of America’s

STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD BOWIE

ä See STUDENT, page 4B

Simien

Childabuse is thelegacy of anation that has treated people as less than human

Iama licensed clinical social worker and survivor of child abuse who is deeply concerned about the state of child welfare in Louisiana.

As Ilearned about child abuse through my social work education and career,Idiscovered that abuse is not rare. Inow see child maltreatment woven intothe fabricofLouisiana culture, just like crawﬁsh boils, potholes and Mardi Gras.

Those who feel entitled to abuse children have adesire to exert power over another human being. It stems from the belief that children are subhuman property.Just like enslaved people were seen as the property of White people. Just like women were seen as the property of their husbands.

The United States’ culture is a cultureofabuse because we are anation of colonizers who bought and sold people and abused them because we could. Many people today believe they have aright to physical violence against others to exert their control.

The same attitudes that have caused people to attack trans people in bathrooms, to lock away undocumented immigrants in concentration camps,to criminalizehomelessness and disability,tobeat their spouses, to exploit workers for their labor in exchangefor pennies —these arethe same attitudes that caregivers have when they abuse their children.

We will never be rid of this problem until we look at how we have been indoctrinated under a culture of abuse and make real efforts for cultural, systemic change. We needtounderstand that all human beings are worthy of dignity,respect, safety and having their basic needs met. Untilthen, this problemwill persist.

MELANIE MANN Hammond

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR

AREWELCOME.HEREARE

YOUR VIEWS

Fortified roof grantdemands coverage that is unaffordable

With theflick of apen, Gov.Jeff Landry has shown recently that he can change policy.Myplea is for him to correct the unfairness of the requirements for thefortified roof program and protect many like myself whocannot get wind and hail coverage at an affordable price. I, too, would like to have anew roof meeting fortified standards. Iamwilling to pay thedifference from the grant.

We are two retired seniors who have always carried wind and hail coverage.

After Hurricane Ida in 2021, our insurer dropped us. We had no claim for that storm andnohistory of claims other than asmall onefor Katrina. We were model clients for insurers: Pay thepremiums andﬁle no claims. Pure proﬁt for theinsurers. We have been able to secure basic homeowners coverage, but we were toldtogo to Citizens for wind and hail at the cost of $11,000 ayear

Iwant to protect my family and homefrom potential hurricane devastation andhave applied for the fortiﬁed roof program.But, since Idonot have wind and hail coverage, I do not qualify for thegrant

What and where is thelogic here?

Requiring wind and hail coveragetoqualify seems like away to guarantee insurers their premiums and reduce payouts since roofs will be stronger.Those without wind and hail are not contributing to their income bucket

Ibeg Landry and Insurance Commissioner TimTemple to rethink this program forthe tensofthousands who are not abletoget wind and hail coverage due to the ultra-high cost. Beforebeing dropped, Iwas paying $4,000 ayear.Afterward, wind and hail coverage cost $11,000.

After all, this is America!

ALAN WEINSTEIN Kenner

Immigrants whododge hearings must nothavea good case

Thearticle “In New Orleans, ‘mega master’ hearingslatest tool of Trumpadministration’s deportation push” asserts hearings in NewOrleans are asubstitutefor the roundups of afew months ago —false.

The hearings are primarily for those who have made asylum claims at the border or a defensiveasylum claim after they have entered theU.S.

The roundups targeted all illegal immigrants —i.e., those who had no asylum claims, those who committed crimes after enteringthe U.S., those who were found wanted for crimes committed prior to illegal entry andthose with outstanding deportation orders.

for which they have not been arrested: i.e. illegally working in the U.S., stealing Social Securitynumbers, lying on the DOJI9form claiming to be aU.S. citizen, tax fraud/evasion and conspiring with human trafﬁcking/ drug cartels paying them thousands of dollars to assist them in illegal entry

Those who don’tshow up for hearings do so because their claim is false or weak and believe they will lose and be arrested.

Alawyer cited in the article claims illegal immigrants are not being given due process.

Not only are they gettingone or morehearings to plead their case, they are being given apass for the crimes cited previously,which they committed while living in the U.S.

Since it may be awhile before we see gasoline prices come down, how about Congress giving everyone a break forthe summer by temporarily suspending the federal 18.4-cent tax on each and every gallon we buy? The state could kick in its part, too —another 20.93 cents, fora total of 39.33 cents agallon in Louisiana.

While that doesn’tseem like much, consider that somelarge SUVs can hold up to 36 gallons. That driver would save $14 per ﬁllup! Even astandard SUVwith around a20-gallon tank could save almost $8 each time he pulls into agas station, which really adds up if you’re driving to avacation destination. Ifeel sorry forthe guys with the full-size heavy-duty trucks that hold

But it could be worse. We could live in California. Their state tax alone is 70.9 cents per gallon. Illinois came in second with 66.4 cents, based on U.S. Energy Administration ﬁgures.

BARBARA BABIN LACOUR Harahan

needs to demand answersonIran

TO SEND US ALETTER SCAN HERE

OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name and the writer’scity of residence.The Advocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address and phone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@theadvocate.com.

Thehearings are not asham,asthe proillegal immigration lobby asserts. They should tell the public that most of those who received letters requiring attendance at the hearing have committed anumber of crimes

Marc Ehrhardtofthe Grow Louisiana Coalition appeared in aguest columntodecry the ingratitude of the people and parishes of Louisiana for having theaudacitytobring legal action to compel oil companies to be held accountable forthe catastrophic damage they have visited upon our coast He complains of the protracted course of litigation without acknowledging the many delayssought by theoil industry’sattorneys. He suggests that, in deciding where to invest, global energy companies look for a skilled workforce, predictable tax structure andastable legal environment. Obviously,they drill where theoil is. They will drill in Angola, Ecuador,Nigeria or any-

It is Americanswho do not have due process: one law for Americansand another for illegal immigrants.

JOSEPH MOLYNEUX Metairie

where else there are accessible deposits.

Once there, what they actually want is a docile (nonunion) workforce, laxenvironmental protections and compliant politicians.

Ehrhardt worries about themessage this litigation is sending. The message should be theone Ireceived from my mother years ago: “Clean up your mess.”

Let us hope thepurely procedural setback of the recent Supreme Court decision doesn’t discourage effortstoobtain funds needed to clean up themess they have madeofour coast.

W. KEITH HURTT NewOrleans

With the strongest navy and air force in the world, we destroyed Iran’snavy and whatever air force they had.

Then we put an embargo on their oil shipments and ports. Iran then closed the Strait of Hormuz, and we let them Instead of our navy keeping it open, we did nothing. Now, President Donald Trumpisnegotiating with knownterrorists, something the U.S. has never done before. What is going on? He is acting as though we need Iran.

It is timefor Speaker Mike Johnson to act like the speaker of the House, not like the speaker of Trump.

Congress has been dead in the water since Trumpwas elected. It is timefor them to go to work and run the country,not run and go home. CLIFF LEONARD Hammond

STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

shingles on ahome in

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO

Speaker of the House MikeJohnson, R-Benton, takes questions about the war against Iran.

COMMENTARY

AMERICA250

Laurent Dabos’ circa 18031804 portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte as First Consul of France.

PROVIDED PHOTO By ENGLISH HERITAGE, THE WELLINGTON COLLECTION, APSLEy HOUSE

An inconceivableoffer

LouisianaPurchasewas thedealthatbuilt

By NancyLandry

statethey helped create.

ourcountry

ON THECALENDAR

As Louisiana’ssecretary of state, Ihave the privilege of overseeing our elections, business services, the Louisiana State Archives and many of ourstate museums.

Those responsibilities may not seem to have much in common, buteach plays arole in preserving our state’shistory andhelping shape its future.

That responsibility carries even greatermeaning as we celebrate ourcountry’s250th anniversary

tate transaction in history

However,inwhat is now presentday Louisiana, the storywas more complicated. While ownership changed on paper,not every question was immediately answered.

I’ve stood and looked at the documentseveral times since it arrived. Seeing it in person is different from seeing aphotograph in atextbook.

Nancy Landry GUEST COLUMNIST

When most Americans think about the beginning of our country,they think about the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Revolutionary War. Whentheythink about the country’sexpansion west,people often envision covered wagons crossing the plainsorrailroadsbeing built.

But one of the most important moments in American history centered on our state.

Like most people, Iappreciate a good bargain. Maybeitispurchasing ahome at just the right time, ﬁnding aused car at agreat price, or ﬁnding avacantpiece of landbefore anyone realizes itsvalue. No bargain in American history compares to the Louisiana Purchase. It was adeal thatnearly doubled the size of ourcountry and made America aworld power with the stroke of apen.

Vast landscape

President Thomas Jefferson originally sent Robert Livingston and James Monroe to Franceto purchase New Orleans andsecure control of the MississippiRiver.Instead, Napoleon Bonaparte, in need of money to ﬁnance his war against GreatBritain, offered something unimaginable.

He offered the entire Louisiana Territory,stretching from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains.

For $15 million, the United States acquired more than 828,000 square miles, or roughly four cents an acre.

Adjusted for inﬂation, thepurchase today would havecost around $438 million, or just $1 17 an acre. Today,that is less than 1% of Louisiana’sannual budget. Fifteen future states would be created in whole or in part from that land. Historians describe it as the greatest real es-

Parts of thewestern side of what we know as Louisiana became part of adisputed area between the United States and Spanish Texas. Unable to agree on aboundary line, the two nations agreed to aneutral strip of land —a place whereneither government exercises clear authority.It was called “No Man’sLand.”

TheFlorida Parishes were another exception. They were not included in the original purchase and became apart of theUnited States years later

Undefinedborders

As we celebrate America’s250th anniversary,it’sworth rememberingthat parts of theland beneath ourfeet were once places where no oneknew exactly where one nation ended and another began.

The lawless territory attracted settlers, traders and its share of outlaws. Without aclear government,people often had to rely on themselves and their neighbors.

This reminds us that America wasn’t built overnight or by asingle generation.

It was built over time by ordinary peoplewho faced uncertaintyand established communities and local governments

Less than adecade after the Louisiana Purchase, Louisiana entered theUnion much smaller than its original territory.But our culture has remained uniquely our own. Louisiana is agumbo of cultures, traditions and people unlike anywhere else in America.

Living history

Today,Louisianians have aunique chance to see and experience that historyﬁrsthand.

TheNational Archives has entrusted my ofﬁce with oneofthe original Louisiana Purchase documentssigned by Napoleon. It is nowondisplay at the Louisiana Old StateCapitol through July 11.

While these historic documents have returned to Louisianabefore, this is the ﬁrst time in morethan two decades they have revisited the

LookingatNapoleon’ssignature, it’simpossible not to thinkabout the generations of Americanswhose lives were forever changed because of the agreement on those pages. When people talk about our country’sfounding documents, the Louisiana Purchasedeserves to be in that conversation. It changed thecourse of American history,and its effects continue to shape our lives today

Preserving these connections to our past is one of the great responsibilities entrusted to the Secretary of State’sOfﬁce. Through our free museumsand theLouisiana State Archives, we preserve thedocuments andstories that explain who we are as astate.

Oursharedduty

Ialso have the privilege of helping safeguard another foundation of our democracy —our elections.

Preserving our history and administering our elections are deeply connected. While one reminds us of where we have been, theother helps shape where we aregoing.

President Ronald Reagan once said that freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It must be learned and appreciated by each generation.

Freedom isn’t just something we inherit,but something we must continue to practice.

As we celebrate America’s250th anniversary,Ihope you and your family will takeafew hours to visit theOld State Capitol to see the LouisianaPurchaseinperson. By examining the document, you will be reminded of the journey our country has endured and gain arenewed sense of pride in theAmerican story

The LouisianaPurchase is one of the deﬁning documents shaping our nation’shistory.Itisa legacy measured by morethan theland it added to amap. It opened the door for ayoung nation to becomethe world’sgreatest power

It is our responsibility to continue that growth and ensure our freedom for thegenerations to come. Nancy Landry is the 45th secretary of stateofLouisiana.

Thereare several events around Louisiana to celebrate the 250thanniversaryofthe adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Here is alist of somegoing on now. For afull list, go to america250la.org n Louisiana’sOld State Capitol, 100 NorthBlvd., Baton Rouge, is featuring the exhibit,“Bought fora Song: Ayoung Nation Expands,”whose only artifact is the French exchangecopyofthe convention between the Republic of France and theUnited Statesthat finalizedthe Louisiana Purchase. Through July 11. louisianaoldstatecapitol.org.

n The Historic NewOrleans Collection, 520 Royal St NewOrleans, is featuring the exhibit,“American Revolution: The Augmented Exhibition,”where visitors can immerse themselvesin3Dinteractive reconstructions of keymoments in American history.This free, interactiveexperience,which runs throughJan. 17, utilizes360-degree augmented reality to immerse visitorsin20defining moments of the nation’sfounding,fromthe sparks of the Boston TeaParty to the victoryatyorktown.The “American Revolution” wasproducedand designed by Histovery withpromotional supportfrom New Orleans &Companyand Louisiana America 250. The exhibition offersa fresh, technologically driven waytoexplore the American story. For more,goto hnoc.org

n The Louisiana State Museum at the Cabildo, 701 ChartresSt.,New Orleans, is featuring the exhibit,“Gálvez and Louisiana in theAmerican Revolution,”which explores thelife of Spanish Gov. Bernardo de Gálvez and thediversepeople of Louisiana whofought forAmericanindependence. Through May15, 2027. louisianastatemuseum.org

ABOUTTHISSERIES

Throughout the year,the Opinion pages are featuring columns and conversations from historians, scholars, politicians and others about what this 250th anniversary of America means.To read previous pieces, go to the Opinion section of our website.

Report detailsChalmette refinery explosioninMay

Blastshot13tons of ‘catalystmaterial’ into air

BYDAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer

New details have emerged of a May explosion and ﬁre ata Chalmette refinery that shook homes milesaway, witharegulatoryreport divulgingwhere theblaze began and pollutantsreleased in the incident.

The May 8fire ignitedaround 12:51 p.m. in asection of the Chalmette Refining complex where impuritiesare removed from oil constituents to meet air quality standards, accordingtothe report Areactor insidewhat is known as Retreater No. 1lost“containment,” causing liquid hydrocarbons toignite.

“Operations immediately began shutdown procedures andstarted to isolate the reactor and the heater,” company ofﬁcials reported to state regulators.

The ﬁre wasallowed to burn in acontrolled manner,the company said, until apurge with the inertgas nitrogen began about 3:55 p.m. The ﬁre was out 10 minutes later.

More than 13 tons of anickelbased catalyst designed to pull impurities from crude oilwas “expelled” in the blast and fell to the ground, according to areport.The impurities include things naturally found in crude, such as sulfur and avariety of toxic heavymetals, and they can end up latchingonto the catalyst.

The reﬁnery says the ﬁre led to no detectable air emissions that could pose apublic safetyrisk, but one environmental grouphas questioned that assertion because, it contends, air testing didn’t account forlikelydustemissions fromthe

damagedcatalyst.

In addition to the27,027 pounds of this“catalyst material,”ChalmetteReﬁning listed1.7 pounds of nickel arsenide and 26,371 pounds of anaphtha-hydrogenmixture pollutants that were released —about 13.3tonsintotal.

Under the reﬁnery’sair permit, the section of the plant that burned can’t releaseany catalyst or nickel arsenide into the air and only about ahalfton of naphtha annually

The company told Department of Environmental Quality neither the catalyst northe naphthawas “extremely hazardous,” though the nickel arsenide was. Thereﬁnery’sletterdid addresspotential air emissionsofnickel arsenide, telling regulators its dust particles would betoo big to inhale. Theenvironmentalgroup Louisiana Bucket Brigade questioned whether that would occur in anexplosive ﬁre.

Chalmette Refining did test for air emissions commonly associatedwith fires involving petroleum products,includingammonia,hydrogensulfide and volatile organic compounds, and found none in neighborhoods near theplant,includingonthe West Bank.

Butneither statenor company ofﬁcialstookair readings to determine whether particulatesfromthe dischargedcatalyst or other aspect of the ﬁre mayhavebeen sent into the air

Fire still underinvestigation

Thedisclosureofthe expelled catalyst came ina “seven-day letter,”which companiesmustfile with the state DEQaweek after incidents. The lettersprovide aﬁrst estimate of what chemicals were released and an early explanation of what happened, though often the cause remains undetermined, as it is in this case.

The Advocate |Times-Picayune obtained theChalmette Refining

report through arequest.

In the May 15 letter,the company didn’tfully describe what the catalyst was madeofnor what impuritiesitmay have had.

In aone-sentencestatement, Chalmette Reﬁning would not say why it didn’ttest for particulates nor provide moreinformation about the catalyst’smakeup: “ChalmetteRefiningiscontinuing to work with theappropriate agencies on this matter andwillupdate them as required.”

DEQ ofﬁcials couldn’tsay what the catalyst was madeofbut said theﬁre remains under investigation. The refinery did tell DEQthat the catalyst’schemical active component was made of nickel and that the catalyst hadsmalltraces of thechemical byproduct, nickel arsenide.Both nickeland arsenic aremetals with toxic qualities that can triggerrespiratory problems in acuteexposures.

Catalysts often have qualities that remain proprietary for competitive reasons. But reports from PBF Energy,the reﬁnery’sowner andchemical engineering groups indicate such catalysts often are made of nickel andmolybdenum or cobalt and molybdenum.They can have an alumina baseand can be embedded with theimpurities theyremove from crude.

‘Doesn’t make anysense’

ALouisiana Bucket Brigade chemist says the catalyst was likely embedded with heavy metals commonly found in crude oil and there “was no way” thosemetals weren’t sent aloft as tiny bits of dust along with other particlesgenerated by theﬁre

“It doesn’tmake any sense notto measure allthe particulates, especially becauseitissoeasytodo, so theyshould have done that straight away,” said Corinne Gibb, an air

AMay explosion and fire at the PBF Chalmette Refineryonthe Mississippi River in Chalmette shook homes miles away.According to aregulatoryreport, more than 13 tons of anickel-based catalyst were ‘expelled’ in the blast.

monitoring coordinator for the organization.

Dust emissions from catalyst problems aren’twithout precedent at Chalmette Refining. In early February,a different catalyst for adifferent part of the refinery “got into the system,” according to company officials,duringa unit startup and workers reported seeing dustemitting from avent. Company officials told DEQ officialsthe dust emissions weren’tsignificant enough under regulatory standards to warrant further inquiry,according to a report.

The plant has had chronic alleged violations in thepastthathaveled to costly settlements with the state. It is also the focus of arecent federal whistleblowerlawsuit alleging poor maintenanceinparts of the complex, though not where the May 8ﬁre happened,according to state and federalrecords.

In thepasttwo years, thereﬁnery haspaid$100,000 in ﬁnestoDEQ and, in late April, agreed to pay an-

Continued from page 1B

cave, equipped with avault door and an indoor shooting range, provides another type of escape. Thehomeoffers aclimate-controlled three-car garage that complements the other four-car garage on the property

Outdoor amenities include acovered patio with a full kitchen, aﬁreplace and

MAYOR

Continued from page 1B

centers and equipment; and a5.27 millage for salariesof city employees,including those who work for the police, ﬁre and public works departments, The Advocate previously reported.

“Welooked at early voting, and they were all passing in early voting, but unfortunately,wehad anumber of things that happened around the state and around the country,” Simien said. “That failure to renew those property taxes means there’sa$13.7 million shortfall; that’smore than a

screens for entertainment.

Any guest you might have will find they have more than enough space in the property’sresorthouse, which overlooksapond andsaltwater pool. The bottomfloor of theresort houseisalso equippedwith agym and its own outdoor kitchen

Thehomewas listed for sale more than ayear ago, according to Zillow. It was originally listedfor $5.9 million. If the property sells at list

million dollars amonth.” Simien saidfollowing the required six-month coolingoffperiod, thecitywillbe holding an election Dec. 12 to vote again on the three taxes.

However,hesaid the budget for the upcoming fiscal year that will be presented to councilonAug. 15 will reﬂect the shortfall.

“As we puttogether the budgets, you’llsee exactly what’sgoing in, what’scoming out, and what it’sgoingto do to those services,” Simien said.

As he addressedmany different topics, Simien stressed thatthe city isthriving and strengthening. “The stateofour city of

price, it would be thehighest sale price ever reported to MLS of aLafayette Parish home, according to data from Bill Bacque, of Market ScopeConsulting. It would eclipse the$4.5 million River Ranch homethat sold at list pricelast year, he said. The market for luxury homes in Lafayette Parish has been hot in the previous two years and is on arecord pace for 2026. So far this year,27homes have sold for $1 million or

Lake Charlesisstrong, and it continues to get stronger every day,” Simien said. “We have been through alot as a community,but we have come out of this strongerthanever.”

LOTTERY

SATURDAY,JULY4,2026

PICK 3: 0-8-9

higher after only 11 in that price range were sold in theﬁrst halfof2025, data shows.

Curre nt ly ,a n 11,000-square-foot former home of oilﬁeldtycoon Mike Moreno in RiverRanch that was listed for$12.5 million is under contract to be sold, Bacque said. If thedeal closes, it would be thehighest on record.

ARiver Ranch home that sold for $4.5 millionlast year remains the highest ever reported, he said.

STUDENT

Continued from page1B

other $160,000 under settlements to enddozensofallegedviolations forself-reportedemissions exceedances, accidentalleaks,emissions reporting failures and other breakdowns going back to 2017, according to state documents.

The complex had afire in its renewable dieselunit in January 2023 that an independent federalsafety regulator concluded stemmed from atube rupture. In 2024, the refinery has had at least three small fires, according to state reports.

Since 2023, therefineryhas also hada seriesofequipment failures andaccidental releases of toxic or highly flammable chemicals that didn’tlead to fires, including aleak of more than 53 tons of compressed flammable gas over 15 minutesin mid-2023.

The company has also received 10 DEQ violation warning letters since February 2024 from alleged failures to keep up with equipment maintenance that ledtoleaks, elevated emissions or ﬁres.

Coming from afamily withnoracing background, Reed quicklyfellinlove with the speed, competition and adrenaline that came with racing. Within months, she and her family were traveling across the country learning the sport together mainly relying on research and trial and error By age12, Reed was competing in both two-stroke and four-stroke karting, racing against someofthe country’stop young drivers before transitioning into FormulaF1600 competition at age 14.

Hercareer includedopportunities to compete internationally,including representing Team USA. Her achievements include in 2023 becoming the third female drivertowin at DaytonaKartWeek behind Danica Patrick and Julia Landauer,the youngest and ﬁrst female driver to clinch the SCCA HoosierSuper Tour National Championship in her debut F1600 season in 2022, and earning pole position while ﬁnishing seventh at the Tillotson Nations Cup in 2023.

Looking back, Reed said one of the things she appreciatesmostisn’tthe trophies or championships, but the sacriﬁces her family made to help her chase her dream

“Weall would be on the road,thentheywould have work,” Reed said. “I think as an adult Ireally see the sacriﬁces they made.”

Reed remembers traveling to New Orleansfor one of her earliest races after herparents packed up and

hit the road simply because they saw how passionate she had becomeabout the sport. Today, thatsame passion drives Reed Motorsports. One of the newest additions to Reed Motorsports is alocally built Spec MX-5 race car that Reed andher father transformed from anon-running 2006 Mazda Miatatheyfound on Facebook Marketplace.

“We’llpilot the car alittle bit to round out 2026, most likely in the fall time,” Reed said. “Then 2027, that’ll be our full Karts to Cars program,allowing people to rent the car andget in the seat.”

The program is designed to help young drivers transition from kart racing into full-sizerace cars where participants can gain experience behind the wheel without the expense of purchasing their own race-ready vehicle.

As Reed continuesbalancing college, racing and growing her business, she hopesReed Motorsports will becomemore than just arace team but create more opportunitiesfor young driverswho maynot know howtobreak intothe sport or have the resourcestodo it alone.

“The ultimate dream wouldbetohavea successfulmotor sportsbusiness that provides opportunities to young drivers,” Reed said. “I hope people believe Ileft an impact on the sport and provided opportunity.”

LUXURY

PROVIDED PHOTO

The $5 million home on the outskirts of Scott comes with its ownwine cellar

STAFF FILE PHOTOBySOPHIA GERMER

WorldCup

feveris epidemic on overseas trip

The World Cup came to my country this summer

Iheaded overseas.

Not because of the World Cup. It wasn’tsomething for me to cover,and Iwasn’t going to spend athousand American dollars on aticket, so my wife Michell and Ilit outon vacation. We ﬂewfrom here to London for afew days before making the transatlantic crossing back like our immigrant ancestors (admittedlyinmuch more comfort) on the Queen Mary 2.

I’m fairly certain the ﬁrst Rabalais who came acrossfrom France in the 1730s didn’thave abalconycabin and private bathroom.

But every stop along theway for the two weeks of our journey, the World Cup was aconstant companion. Ifound myself immersed in the world’smost immense tournament daily,watching from pubs and planes as the dramaunfolded in acolorfulhigh-deﬁnition spectacle. Imay have had to leave home to truly appreciatethe World Cup in my home country,but it was well worth the trip.

It may be abit lostonsome American sports fans who are consumed by our brand of football, but the World Cup is the biggest sporting spectacle around the globe —tout le monde. Ilearned that lesson well from achanceencounter backin1994, the last time this event visited our shores.

Iwas on assignment, returningarental car at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport when Istarted chatting with the fellow

REDMEANS GO

BY RONALD BLUM and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press

SEATTLE U.S.President DonaldTrump intervened on behalf of American star striker Folarin Balogun, whose suspension was lifted in adecision that allows him to playina WorldCup match against Belgium on Monday.

Balogun, the American leader with three goals, receiveda red cardfor stepping awkwardly on the right ankle of Tarik Muharemovic of Bosnia andHerzegovina in a2-0 round of 32 win on Wednesday.Ared card triggers an automatic onegame suspension.

FIFAannounced Sunday that thesuspensionhad been lifted,triggering praise from Trumpand outrage from Belgium’s team.

Trump calledFIFApresident Gianni Infantino after the game asking FIFAto review the redcard,according to aperson familiar with the call who spoke on condition of anonymity becausethe personwas notauthorizedtospeak publicly about the matter

“Thank you to FIFAfor doingwhatwas right, and reversing agreat injustice!” Trumpsaidinastatement on social media

The Royal Belgian FootballAssociation (RBFA) said it was “astonished,” andBelgium coach Rudi Garciamocked FIFA’s action.

“I didn’tknow that in the ofﬁces of FIFA

the 5th of July was the1st of April in Europe,” Garcia said through atranslator in an April Fools’Day comparison. “The Belgian federation does notdefend itself, it does notprotect the national team,she defends football in general, she defends her integrity, her ethics. Ithink it’sthe ﬁrst time in thehistory of theWorldCup that there is this kind of decision.”

Garcia wouldn’t respondwhenasked abouta possible appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport or whether he thought Trump affected FIFA’saction.

“In ordertosafeguard the legitimate rightsofall participating teams andto protect the fundamental principles of fair

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

There are alot of ways Erik McCoy can sum up his last twoseasons with theNew Orleans Saints, but he opted for brevity with adash of profanity “S*** just happens,” McCoysaid. The Pro Bowl center of the New Orleans Saints is atrue differencemaker when he is on the field. Heis atechnician who is also asupreme athlete. He is the offensiveline’s nerve center and aquarterback’s best friend. And he is the unquestioned leader of the most tight-knit position group in the lockerroom. Unfortunately,he’sspent more time on the sidelines than on the field the last two seasons. He landed on injured reservetwice in 2024 —first for agroin injury,later for an elbow injury —and played in just seven games. He was limited to seven games again last season when he tore his bicepsagainst the ChicagoBears,landing on seasonending IR. That is why McCoy didn’twant to dwell too much on all the other

ways he could describe what the last two seasonswere like.Hecan analyzeitfrom everyangle and try to pinpoint whatwent wrong, or he canacceptthatsometimes stuff just happens

“It’shard as an athlete, but it’sthe name of the game,” McCoy said.

“Last year,the play where Itore my bicep was something I’ve done

amillion times,and Isaw people do it amilliontimesafter that. It just happened to be that impact angle and, you know,itended my season.

“It was tough. But I’m going to keep doing what Ican to mitigate those risks andhopefullyI’llbe lucky.Hopefully all of us will be lucky,but Iwant to be lucky,too.”

This is alessonhe’shad to learn

as apro,and he’sbeen on both sides of it.Herecalled amoment after his ﬁfth season, when he earned his ﬁrst Pro Bowl honor after appearing in all 17 games. At that stage in his career,McCoy had mostly dodged injuriesoutsideofa few soft-tissue issues. He didaninterview forthe team’s in-house magazineahead of the 2024 season when he wastold he was theonlyplayer on the offense who stayed healthy for the entirety of theprevious season.

“Andmyanswer was, ‘It was theluck of the draw,’ ”McCoy said. “I still stick to that. Healthy unhealthy.Yes, there are certain things you can do to prepare, but at theend of the day,it’sfootball, s*** happens,and it’s just theluck of the draw.”

That 2024 season started off with abang. New Orleans scored91 points in its ﬁrst two games as McCoy played an integral role in the team’snew wide zone run scheme Then, in Week 3, McCoy hurt his groin and the team’soffensecratered. New Orleans was betterposi-

tioned to handle McCoy’s seasonending injury last year thanks to its trade for veteran Luke Fortner duringthe preseason, buthis absence was still felt.

“Erik’sone of the top centers in this league, he’sareally talented player. Whenhe’sonthe ﬁeld, we’re abetterfootballteam —always,” coach Kellen Moore said. “... Erik is an important part of this. When he’sout there, we’re abetter offensive line, abetter offense. So we’re excited to keep building.”

Oneofthe playerswho is particularlyexcited to get to work with McCoy is quarterback Tyler Shough, who has yet to take asnap from McCoy in agamesetting because he took over as the starter after McCoy’sinjury last year

“He’sbeen great for me,” Shough said. “Even though we didn’tget to play together we were around each other every single day.Wehad our sons born within 24 hours of each other so we were at the hospital together.Ilove him, he’sbeen great

STAFF PHOTO By DAVIDGRUNFELD Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler takes asnap from center Erik McCoyduring agame against the NewEngland Patriots at the Caesars SuperdomeonOct.12.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOS By JULIO CORTEZ

Referee Raphael Claus shows ared card to United States striker Folarin Balogun, right, during the WorldCup round of 32 match between the United States and Bosnia in Santa Clara, Calif., on Wednesday

Bosnia’sTarik Muharemovic, left, reacts after atacklefrom United States striker Folarin Balogun during the WorldCup round of 32 match between the United States and Bosnia in Santa Clara, Calif., on Wednesday.

Scott Rabalais

STAFF PHOTO By SCOTT RABALAIS ANorwegian soccer fan enjoys himself in apub duringatransatlantic crossing on the Queen Mary2onTuesday.

Djokovic breaks another record

Tennis great sets

men’s mark for match wins at Wimbledon

By The Associated Press

LONDON After all the records No-

vak Djokovic has broken, the latest one left him rather unimpressed — even though he surpassed his great rival Roger Federer

Djokovic set a men’s record for most match wins at Wimbledon after overcoming a surprisingly tough challenge from 132ndranked qualifier Roman Safiullin on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals.

The seven-time Wimbledon champion screamed out his frustrations at times later referring to the outbursts as “meltdowns” — before winning 7-6 (6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 for his 106th match victory at the All England Club. That puts him one ahead of Federer atop the alltime list for men, although he still trails Martina Navratilova’s 120 match wins.

That’s clearly not the record he’s after at Wimbledon though. Not when he’s also trying to match Federer’s eight titles and become the ﬁrst man or woman to win 25 major trophies.

“Not on my priority list,”

Djokovic said “Didn’t even know about it until after the last match win That’s really quite insigniﬁcant to me at the moment.”

The win also put him into the Wimbledon quarterﬁnals for the 17th time — one behind Federer’s record. But the Serb acknowledged that he will have to raise his game in order to go further “Survive to thrive, that’s how I feel,” Djokovic said when asked to sum up his ﬁrst week of the championships. “So hopefully the thriving part is coming.”

A challenging opponent

The 39-year-old Djokovic has never lost a Grand Slam match against a player ranked as low as Saﬁullin, or to a qualiﬁer, but he looked in danger at times on Centre Court.

Djokovic had to save two set points when trailing 5-2 in the ﬁrst set and was warned for apparently yelling out an obscenity in Serbian on Centre Court when he was broken early in the third. He then drew boos from the crowd when he hit the ball away in frustration after losing that set.

In his on-court interview, he apologized for what he called “the outbursts, the meltdowns.”

“I had a few of those today,” he said.

Djokovic, who is renowned for his mastery of baseline tennis, also said he opted to play more at the net than usual after repeatedly being outplayed in long rallies by Saﬁullin.

“I don’t get to feel inferior from the back of court with too many players, to be honest, throughout my career,” Djokovic said. “Today it was one of those days where I didn’t want to stay in the rally for too long So I had to mix things up. And it worked.”

He quickly seized control in the fourth set by jumping out to a 3-0 lead, and then served out the match at love.

Djokovic will next face thirdseeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, who came through a five-setter against No. 22 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

No 1 Sabalenka falls

Naomi Osaka defeated topranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 7-6 (2) to reach the quarterﬁnals at the All England Club for the ﬁrst time.

Sabalenka had beaten Osaka in all three of their previous match-

es this year — including at the same stage of the French Open last month.

“On the clay courts I felt like she was pushing me back a lot. I just tried to do it to her ﬁrst,” Osaka said.

Osaka’s pace and flat groundstrokes overwhelmed Sabalenka.

“Obviously we’re big ball strikers. It’s not like I’m going to start running around the court trying to draw an error from her I can only focus on my strengths,” Osaka said.

“I just tried to serve really well, because it’s grass. I also tried to get the upper hand in the rallies ﬁrst.”

Osaka’s power had an even bigger impact than usual as her balls ﬂew through the air faster on the warmest day of the tournament so far: The temperature during the match reached 82 degrees

“She overpowered me,” Sabalenka said. “I felt like it was incredible level from her.”

Besides Paris, Sabalenka also beat Osaka in Indian Wells, California, and Madrid this year

“That really sucked,” Osaka said.

“So I wanted to turn it (around).”

When it was over, Osaka performed a few ﬁst pumps, let out a brief smile and then placed her

racket over her head and spun around in delight to celebrate her ﬁrst career win on Centre Court.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had so much fun on the court,” Osaka said. “And to do it here, it really means a lot.”

Mental health and maternity It was Osaka’s ﬁrst win over a No. 1 player since beating Ash Barty in Beijing in 2019. That was before Osaka, a former No. 1 herself, took breaks from the tour to manage her mental health in 2021 and for maternity leave that resulted in her missing all of 2023.

Osaka’s daughter turned three on Thursday

After getting routed by Iga Swiatek in the Italian Open round of 16 in May, Osaka said she “shut everyone out” on her team and “literally just got on a plane back home.

“It wasn’t the most professional thing to do,” she said. “I felt really ashamed about what I did. So then after that I just told myself, ‘Hey, I’m nearing 30, I really got to enjoy the time that I have.’ Also, obviously tennis is very, very important to me, but I have a life outside of that. I have to treasure tennis in the way that I can, which is not putting too much importance on it.”

Vonn says Sinner’s skiing background helps his agility

BY ANDREW DAMPF Associated Press

LONDON Clay, grass, hard court or even snow

The surface underfoot doesn’t seem to make any difference for Jannik Sinner

The top-ranked player — who is currently attempting to defend his title at Wimbledon was one of Italy’s top junior skiers before he turned his attention full time to tennis.

Now Sinner excels on every type of court, and his background as a skier might have helped his tennis game. Just like an elite slalom skier perfectly shifting their weight back and forth from one gate to the next, Sinner hardly ever seems off balance as he rushes back and forth across the baseline — despite his tall and lanky 6-foot-3 frame. Fellow tennis player Casper Ruud agreed that the most impressive thing about Sinner is his movement.

“He’s strong also in balance and ﬂexible to get to certain positions,” Ruud said. “He has good hip movement and knows how to slide (into) both corners.”

Skiing standout Lindsey Vonn also pointed to Sinner’s ability to stay in balance.

“He has an amazing kinesthetic sense, which is an important skill in both sports,” Vonn said “He is very aware of his body in space and time, so even though he is tall, he moves ﬂuidly and in sync.” Sinner won a national skiing

championship when he was 8 and placed second in Italian nationals at 12.

In a 2009 giant slalom won by Sinner, Giovanni Franzoni — the breakout downhiller of last season ﬁnished 12th, four seconds behind.

Franzoni is now the Kitzbühel downhill champion and the Olympic silver medalist

“I was really good,” Sinner said after his first Grand Slam title in 2024. “But then I had a couple of so-so seasons when I started competing against older athletes in slalom and giant slalom, and when downhill came into the picture, I weighed too little to compete.

“So I kept on playing tennis,”

Sinner said. “In skiing, if you make a mistake you’re out; it’s a dangerous sport and you need to get up early in the morning and venture outside in frigid temperatures. Tennis is a bit more accessible. In the end, I think I made the right choice.”

Vonn, who shares a common sponsor with Sinner once hit the slopes with the tennis star

“He skis similarly to how he plays tennis; he is ﬂuid, smooth, and makes it look easy,” Vonn said in written comments. “His knees and hips are always parallel, and he is always in balance. I really enjoyed skiing with him and I hope to do it again, but after his tennis career!” Many elite skiers include tennis

Baseball signee changes pledge from LSU to UCLA

LSU signee and middle inﬁelder

CJ Weinstein ﬂipped his commitment from the Tigers to UCLA, he revealed on social media Sunday Weinstein attends Orange Lutheran High in California and is the No. 149 player in MLB.com’s draft rankings. He was one of LSU’s two high school signees who played middle inﬁeld.

One scout who spoke with The Advocate described Weinstein as a second baseman whose best trait is his ability to put the bat on the ball.

“He’s a good ﬁt, but he might have a tough time playing (at LSU) because you know how good the roster is going to be,” the scout said.

With Weinstein’s departure, LSU still has 22 players committed to its 2026 recruiting class. The Tigers had 24 signees after the season ended in May, as they have also lost a commitment from lefthanded pitcher Colton Christman.

Yankees LHP Fried faces hitters in simulated game

NEW YORK New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried inched closer to a possible minor league rehab assignment, throwing 36 pitches in his second two-inning simulated game on Sunday Before the Yankees concluded a three-game series with the Twins, Fried faced third baseman Ryan McMahon and catcher Ali Sánchez. Manager Aaron Boone said Fried’s next simulated game would likely occur Thursday or Friday with an increased pitch count and pitching in a minor league game could be the next step.

The 32-year-old left-hander has been out since May 13. Fried is 4-3 with a 3.21 ERA in 10 starts.

Brewers RHP Woodruff goes back on injured list

PHOENIX Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff has gone back on the injured list with inﬂammation in his throwing shoulder, one day after a drop in velocity led to his early exit from a start against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Brewers recalled left-handed pitcher Drew Rom from TripleA Nashville in a corresponding move Sunday Woodruff, a two-time All-Star, was removed from the Brewers’ 4-3 loss at Arizona on Saturday in the fourth inning after striking out Adrian Del Castillo on a 75.1-mph changeup.

Although Woodruff struck out the only two batters he faced in the fourth, none of the pitches he threw that inning exceeded 87.3 mph.

in their summer training regimen.

Vonn’s fellow Olympic champion

Bode Miller was a state high school champion tennis player in Maine and his family ran a tennis academy in New Hampshire He once attempted to qualify for the U.S. Open.

“I love playing tennis It’s good for my footwork, mental strength and general athleticism,” Vonn said. “I know of quite a few skiers who play tennis as a form of cross training. It’s a way to push myself physically and mentally When you get physically tired, you have to still be mentally strategic and cool under pressure. I love that about tennis.”

Vonn was the top World Cup downhiller last season at age 41 until her horriﬁc crash at the Milan Cortina Olympics in February left her with a severely fractured left leg. Ruud, who is Norwegian, was also a skier as a kid, “but I don’t move as good as him,” he said of Sinner

“I don’t necessarily believe because he did skiing when he was young, that’s why he moves so well,” Ruud said. “I mean, look at (Carlos) Alcaraz: He didn’t ski and he also moves pretty damn well.” Ultimately, Ruud suggested, it’s just healthy for kids to try as many sports as they can.

“No matter what it is, whether it’s skiing, running, golf. Doing things that keep you active is great. I have never seen Jannik ski other than videos. Would be fun to do a skiing competition one day,” Ruud said with a smile.

White Sox 1B Murakami sent on Triple-A rehab stint CLEVELAND White Sox rookie first baseman Munetaka Murakami will begin a rehab assignment Monday at Triple-A Charlotte, the slugger’s final step before rejoining Chicago’s lineup after being out with a right hamstring injury Murakami has been sidelined since suffering a Grade 2 strain on May 29, when he got hurt trying to beat out a double play grounder against Detroit. At the time of his injury, Murakami was tied for the AL lead in homers and was first in runs.

He’s been traveling with the White Sox and following Sunday’s 7-6 win over the Guardians, manager Will Venable said Murakami will leave to play with the Knights. If all goes well, it’s possible he could be back with Chicago before the All-Star break.

Gotterup closes with a 62, wins John Deere Classic SILVIS,Ill.— Chris Gotterup made up a five-shot deficit Sunday by closing with a 9-under 62 to win the John Deere Classic for his fourth PGA Tour title in the past 12 months. Gotterup avoided a playoff when Ben Kohles, trying to win for the first time in his 120th start, hit his approach to the 18th left and into the water and wound up with a double bogey Gotterup next week defends his title in the Scottish Open, where he began his remarkable run to reach the top 10 in the world. He held off Rory McIlroy a year ago in Scotland, and then won the Sony Open and the Phoenix Open this year Gotterup received a sponsor exemption to the John Deere Classic in

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By BRIAN INGANGA

Novak Djokovic returns the ball to Roman Saffiulin in their fourth-round singles match at Wimbledon on Sunday in London.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By BRIAN INGANGA

Jannik Sinner slides on the court during a third-round match against Jenson Brooksby at Wimbledon on Friday in London.

Haaland scores twice as Norway beats Brazil

BY STEPHEN WHYNO Associated Press

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J Erling Haaland headed in the go-ahead goal in the 79th minute and scored again before the end of regulation time, carrying Norway into the World Cup quarterﬁnals for the ﬁrst time with a 2-1 victory over Brazil on Sunday that showcased the towering striker on soccer’s biggest stage.

After being a nonfactor for much of the afternoon and having limited touches, Haaland turned it on when it mattered most, getting the right side of his head on the ball after a perfect setup by Andreas Schjelderup, who entered at halftime. Schjelderup jumped on Haaland’s back to celebrate the 6-foot-5 striker scoring his sixth goal at the World Cup and did so again after assisting on his seventh, tying Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé of France for the most in the tournament.

Haaland extended his streak of scoring to 14 consecutive competitive matches internationally He has 27 in that stretch and 62 in 54 with Norway

At the other end, goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland was stellar He made a crucial stop early diving to his left to deny Bruno Guimarães’ penalty kick in the 14th minute, then got his left hand on a shot by Endrick late when Norway was hanging on to a one-goal lead. The only goal Nyland allowed was to Neymar on a penalty kick late in stoppage time, which changed just the ﬁnal score.

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play in our sport, both at this FIFA World Cup and at future editions of the tournament, the RBFA is investigating all potential options,” the Belgian federation said in a statement.

American players learned of Balogun’s availability when social media posts started popping up during the 10-minute bus ride Sunday from their hotel to training at the University of Washington’s Husky Soccer Stadium.

Balogun’s red card had been one of the World Cup’s most controversial and consequential decisions.

“If you look at the foul, it was just zero intent at all,” U.S. star Christian Pulisic said. “I felt like there was much worse ones that went on this tournament.”

The U.S. Soccer Federation learned of FIFA’s action in a message sent by FIFA in its portal at 9:31 a.m.

“The implementation of the match suspension is suspended for a probationary period of one year,” FIFA announced. “If Folarin Balogun commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity during the probationary period,

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behind me in line. He had been working at the main broadcast center there. Every TV feed from every venue in the country apparently came to Big D and was then beamed out around the world.

“The thing you have to remember,” he said, “is every game (in the World Cup) is someone’s Super Bowl.” Indeed it is, and that makes time irrelevant. It was midnight Monday morning in Oslo (Sunday afternoon our time) when the Norwegians rowed their way past five-time champion Brazil and into the quarterfinals for the first time ever The main stadium in Norway’s capital was packed with as many fans at that hour as if the match had been played there instead of in the New Jersey Meadowlands.

My World Cup journey started in Miami as we made our connection there from New Orleans to London Miami International Airport is no misnomer, and the concourses were ﬁlled with fans wearing jerseys representing Argentina, Scotland, the USofA naturally and even some from little Cape Verde, the small island

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(from) and talk with him.” Beyond their personal relationship, having McCoy back in the fold should help the young quarterback’s on-ﬁeld development.

Nyland, who at 35 is his team’s oldest player was a huge factor in a historic victory that ranks among the most signiﬁcant in the country’s history — at least on the men’s side. Norway’s women’s team won the World Cup in 1995, but the men have only qualiﬁed four times and not since 1998. They had not gone further than the round of 16.

the suspension shall be revoked and the sanction enforced without prejudice to any additional sanction imposed for the new infringement.”

Balogun’s three goals included a go-ahead strike against Bosnia.

He matched Landon Donovan in 2010 for the second-most goals by an American in a World Cup, behind only Bert Patenaude’s four in the initial tournament in 1930.

A 25-year-old who plays for Monaco, Balogun scored 13 Ligue 1 goals last season. He has 12 goals in 30 international appearances.

He was born in Brooklyn to Nigerian parents who were living in London and in 2023 opted to change his national team afﬁliation from England, which he had represented at the under-21 level

“He strikes fear into a lot of defenders,” U.S. defender Chris Richards said.

The host U.S. is seeking to reach the quarterﬁnals for the ﬁrst time since 2002. The Americans lost in the round of 16 to Ghana in 2010, Belgium in 2014 and the Netherlands in 2022. They failed to advance from the group stage in 2006 and didn’t qualify for the 2018 tournament.

The USSF did not make Balogun available for comment Sunday, but

Norway next faces the winner of the Mexico-England round-of-16 game on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Florida.

streak of quarterfinal appearances at the tournament end at eight, losing before that stage for the first time since 1990. It was Brazil’s seventh consecutive loss to European opponents at the World Cup, dating to beating Germany in the 2002 final. The absence of injured midfielder Lucas Paquetá did not help, even though Gabriel Martinelli showed off his speed at times after being coach Carlo Ancelotti’s choice to go into the starting lineup.

Norway got defender Julian Ryerson back from his injury that sidelined him the past two games, and coach Ståle Solbakken was rewarded for making the changes at halftime by Schjelderup setting up each of Haaland’s goals.

Guimarães became the ﬁrst Brazil player not to score on a World Cup penalty kick since Zico in 1986. The decision to have him take it instead of star Vinícius Júnior brought immediate second-guessing and may be questioned and criticized for quite some time. There were plenty of other missed opportunities, including Casemiro missing Neymar on a crossing attempt on what could have been the tying goal.

Balogun posted on social media a picture of himself in front of U.S. fans and overlaid with music of Michael Jackson’s pop single “Bad.”

On Friday, Balogun said he thought a yellow card instead of red “would have been fair.”

FIFA said its decision relied on Article 27 of disciplinary committee rules.

“The judicial body may decide to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure. By suspending the implementation of the sanction, the judicial body subjects the person sanctioned to a probationary period of one to four years,” the rule states.

FIFA in November deferred the ﬁnal two games of a three-match ban for Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo for a red card against Ireland in a World Cup qualiﬁer, allowing him to play at the start of the World Cup.

Argentine defender Nicolás Otamendi and Ecuadoran midﬁelder Moisés Caicedo in April had onegame bans deferred for red cards in qualiﬁers, also allowing them to be available for World Cup openers.

Brazil’s Garrincha was ejected from a 1962 semiﬁnal but allowed to play in the ﬁnal against Chile after political pressure.

nation off the west coast of Africa that did itself so proud in this World Cup. Cape Verde had managed an opening draw with pre-tournament favorite Spain, then had two more with Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, positioning

itself for an unexpected place in the knockout round. I watched on the ﬂight Friday from New York to Houston as Cape Verde took reigning champ Argentina and legendary Lionel Messi to the limit before falling

Brazil goes home having massively underachieved expectations set pretty much at win or bust for the five-time World Cup champions. The global powerhouse had its

Those moves played a role in the upset, though this one was not nearly as massive as the group stage in 1998. Norway showed how much it had evolved as a soccer nation since then, with knocking off Brazil the latest step in that process. Yellow-clad Seleção fans outnumbered those in Norway red, many of whom did the now-famous Viking Row in the stands — with Brazil supporters even cheering it before kickoff. Brazil’s fans were stunned silent when it returned after the game. Also in the sellout crowd of 80,663 were rapper Jay-Z, comedian Chris Rock, actor Woody Harrelson, actress Sofía Vergara and basketball player Jalen Brunson of the NBAchampion New York Knicks, who elicited a healthy roar when he was shown on video screens.

3-2 in extra time in the round of

32. All the passengers not dozing were gripped by their little in-seat screens and clapping for the drama and the brave west Africans after it was over But back to earlier in the trip. Soon after we got to surprisingly sweltering London, I made my way to a pub near my hotel to watch the England-Ghana group match. A pub with air conditioning. England finished in a frustrating scoreless draw but I found a winner in The Prince of Teck pub near the Earl’s Court Underground station, a delightfully cozy and thankfully cool little bar filled with flags, TVs and Oscar Wilde quotes on the walls.

“I can resist everything except temptation,” one Wilde quote read. I resisted the temptation to imbibe in a pint as I was, in essence, working. It’s what would qualify there as a busman’s holiday Soon we were on the QM2 and heading into the Atlantic. The Cunard line made it well known that all the World Cup matches would be available on board. Soccer central on the ship was its Golden Lion pub, packed for every match. I watched England get past Panama 2-0. I watched two nights later as Paraguay eliminated

Germany, soccer royalty on penalty kicks. A young German fan didn’t move an inch from his seat as the winning Paraguayan kick found the net. For all I know, he’s still sitting there, head in hand. Fans from every country were enamored by a jolly Norwegian fan who was making the journey to New York just in time to attend his country’s epic win Sunday over Brazil. Viking horns on his head, beer in hand, he sort of became the ship’s mascot as he gleefully rooted on the U.S. to a round of 32 victory Wednesday over Bosnia-Herzegovina. I only wish I could have seen the smile on his face after Norway got its biggest soccer win ever I’m home now, and will be watching from the couch Monday night as the Americans try to get past Belgium and into the quarterﬁnals for the ﬁrst time since 2002. As I do, I’ll think about what the World Cup, and indeed all of sports, reminds us. That despite our cultural, geographic and language differences, we are all much the same. Proud, passionate and convinced the referees are out of their minds.

As a former soccer referee from my college days, I can relate to that, too.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JEFF CHIU United States player Folarin Balogun walks off the ﬁeld after receiving a red card during the World Cup round of 32 match between the United States and Bosnia in Santa Clara, Calif., on Wednesday.

STAFF PHOTO By SCOTT RABALAIS

The Prince of Teck pub in London’s Earl’s Court neighborhood is seen during the England-Ghana World Cup match on June 23.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By PAMELA SMITH

Norway’s Erling Haaland, bottom, celebrates with Andreas Schjelderup after scoring a second goal during the World Cup round of 16 match against Brazil in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday.

STANDING TALL

Whyisthere astatueof Winston ChurchillinNew Orleans?

BY RACHEL MIPRO

Contributing writer

Visitors to downtown NewOrleans may wonder why abronze Winston Churchill waves from a prominent perch near theMississippi River One reader’s question:“What’s thehistory of the Winston Churchill statueinNew Orleans?” Theanswer seemstobe thanks to one hotelier

The Churchill statue joined the New Orleans scene in November 1977, unveiled in apublic ceremony byChurchill’sdaughter, Lady Mary Soames, andsituated between the Hilton NewOrleans Riverside andthe World Trade Center of New Orleans.

The statuesits outside thehotel in the middle of atrafﬁccircle at the end of Poydras Street, now known as the British Plaza, near one of themain entrances to the aquarium, River Walk andSpanish Plaza.

The connection between the British wartimeprime minister andaCrescent Cityhotel is best understood throughhotel leadership.

AP FILEPHOTOS

Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, left, in aSept. 17, 1954, photo, and LadyMaryChurch Soames on avisit to NewOrleans in

International Rivercenter,the company that built theHilton, donated the plaza and statue to thecity,thanks toco-managing partner James Coleman Jr ,who served as an honorary consul for the Britishgovernment. Coleman championed British culture in thecity throughout his life, ﬁelding ventures such as theWindsor Court Hotel, ahotel

meanttobring Britishstyle to the bayou.

He eventually received the Ofﬁcer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire recognition from Queen Elizabeth II, as well as theCommanderof theMost Excellent Order of the BritishEmpire recognition, both

ä See CURIOUS, page 6C

TheMotown Museum’s $75M expansionaims to honorDetroit’s musicallegacy

BY COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press

DETROIT The Motown Museum in Detroithas been resonating with adifferent signature sound —the rumble of trucks, the buzz of drills and the pounding of metal —asone of themost signiﬁcant sites in American musical history undergoes a$75 million donor-driven face-lift ahead of its 2027 grand reopening. The expansion of the Hitsville USA campus —a housewhere chart-toppers by Stevie Wonder Marvin Gaye andDiana Ross andThe Supremes were written, rehearsed and recorded —aims not just to honor Detroit’smusical legacy,but also to increase the city’sfootprint as an education and tourism destination. The museum should enjoy the same level of promotion as other landmarksinthe United States, former Motown music arranger Paul Riser Sr., comparing the seminal label’spotential to a tourist mecca in New York City “The city can reallybeneﬁt by furthermarketing this whole concepthere,”Risersaid. “We needtosee more pageantry of Motown. Everytime Ithink Motown, Ithink Times Square.” Cities across the U.S. have for years promoted musical heritage as aselling point to attract business conventions, exhibitions and tourists. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fameattracts 500,000 people each year to Cleveland, while Nashville’s music history andattractions tied to country,gospel andother genres bring in about 17 million people annually

U.S.A. in DetroitonJune 11.

BY YURI KAGEYAMA

Associated Press

KAMAKURA, Japan Eiko

Kadono, the author behind Japan’smost famous

—and almost certainly most beloved— literary witch, has alittletrouble going up the stairs these days. At 91,she’s stillwriting every day and hasn’tstopped lovingthe color pink, dressing up or believ-

inginthe magic of books. “Kiki’sDeliveryService,” which wasﬁrst published in 1985 and turned into a1989 animation ﬁlm by Hayao Miyazaki’sStudio Ghibli, is among200 books shehas written.

Kadono

“I nevertire of writing,” shetold The AssociatedPress at her homein thepicturesque seaside town of Kamakura, south of Tokyo

With alittle pink gate, the house is ﬁlledwithbooks, pink chairs andher collection of animal ﬁgures. “I’mprobably achild at heart,” Kadono says with asmall laugh. Wearing hersignature boldly framed glasses, Kadono is dressedina colorful smockthat her daughterdesigns especially for her She explains proudlythatthe sleeves are elasticatthe wrists so

they can be pulled up easily when she writes.

Thesedays, she uses akeyboard,punching thekeysslowly, one at atime. But when she is creating astory, it still all starts with writingbyhand. She also draws pictures.

“I want to writesothatthe reader can visualize what Iamwriting,” she said. “I lovetowrite.”

ä See BOOKS, page 6C

The MotownMuseum says it logs morethan100,000 visitors each year andisexpecting at least 325,000 visitors per year after the expansion opens. “Motownfor many,manydecades has been just amagical source of pride and inspiration,” said Robin Terry,Motown Museum chair and chief executive. “Visitors come to the little housethat’sHitsville USA— what used to be the headquarters of Motown— just to touch the magical space where so manyoftheir musical icons… got their start.” Motown,uniquelyDetroit Motown was founded in 1959 by Berry Gordy in oneofthe three homes on West Grand Boulevard just north of downtown Detroit, that currently house the MotownMuseum Just ayear later,The Marvelettes’ “Please Mr.Postman” reached number one on the Billboard Hot100. Hits like “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” “Baby Love,” “My Girl” and“The Tracks of My Tears” soon sent the Motownsound around the globe.

Gordy moved the label to Los Angeles in 1972 and sold it to MCA Records in 1988. His late ä See MOTOWN, page 6C

AP PHOTO By COREy WILLIAMS Former Motown music arranger Paul Riser Sr.poses outside Hitsville

1977.

PHOTO By KANDACE POWERGRAVES

The Winston Churchill statue on British Plaza by the Hilton NewOrleans Riversidehotel.

Diseases spread by tick bite take time to transmit

Dear Doctors: Igot bitten bya tick in April. That’s earlierthanour tick season here usually starts. I went to urgent care, and thedoctor said that because Iwas sure it had been attached for less than an hour,aLyme infection wasn’t likely.Isthat true? Should Ihave done anything else?

Dear Reader: To say it is unsettling to ﬁnd atick attached to your skin is probably an understatement. To the tick, you represent theblood meal it needs to advance through its next stage of life. But to the mammal that has becomeits host —inthis case, you —the tick represents the risk of aserious bacterial or viral illness. Themost common of these in the United States is Lyme disease.

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prestigious designations that recognize signiﬁcant contributions.

The Churchill statue was designed and cast by British artist Ivor RobertJones, who is well-known for his Churchill statue across from the Houses of Parliament in London.

In 1977, Coleman ofﬁciated the unveiling of New Orleans’ Churchill statue, gathering together agroup of British and New Orleans leaders and businessmen. For the ceremony,Lady Soames, accompanied by her daughter and son-in-law, Mrs. and Mr.RichardHambro, traveled from Great Britain.

It was Soames’ ﬁrst visit to the city,and she was greeted by awhirlwind of parties and receptions in her honor, along with opportunities for sightseeing and ﬁnedining. Among the highlights of her visit, she was reportedly struck by the Superdome “It’sawonderful stadium,” Soames said in achronicled

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sister,Esther Gordy Edwards, founded the museum in 1985. The 40,000-square-foot expansion is being constructed around the original Hitsville USA house and will feature atheater,a recording studio, retail space and acafe, as well as immersiveexhibits and asearchable back catalog of music and interviews.

“The expansion is so iconic and unique for Detroit,” said Riser,who joined Motown at age 17 and won aGrammy in 1973 for best R&B instrumental performance on The Temptations Papa Wasa Rollin’ Stone.”

“I would hope to see the legacies andthe historical content preserved,” Riser said. “It’sOKtohaving buildings…but if we don’t keep the legacies of these

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Still quick with her retorts, laughs and thoughts, Kadono shrugs offhow she’s wearing awig. She doesn’t understand why people might want to hide that. She wears red lipstick and acts abit shy about her wrinkles. Still, her writing hasn’t basicallychanged over the years. Though whenshe looks back on her past writing, she feels it’swordier than her current crisp style. The Kikiseries in the original Japanese spans six books and three spinoffs. The ﬁrst installment was translated into English in 2020 by Delacorte Press. It is now in 25 foreign languages

Kiki andthe NewMagic Now,the second in the series, “Kiki and the New Magic,” is set for releasein August in English, translated by EmilyBalistrieri and illustrated by Yuta Onoda. Kadono, who won the prestigious Hans Christian AndersenAward in 2018, never set out to become awriter She was basically ahouse-

Dr.Elizabeth Ko

Dr.Eve Glazier

ASK THE DOCTORS

For those who are not familiar, Lyme disease is abacterial infectionthat can affect the skin, joints,nervous system and heart. It is transmittedbythe bite of a black-legged tick infected with abacterium known as Borrelia burgdorferi. Anearly symptom of infectioncan be an expanding rash that formsabullseye near the site

accountofher visit in The Times-Picayune.“It’s amazing and beautiful.” The ceremony was packed with notables,among them U.S. Rep. Lindy Boggs, Lt. Gov. James Fitzmorris Jr., Mayor MoonLandrieu and EpiscopalBishop of Louisiana JamesB.Brown. The U.S.Navy’s Eighth Naval DistrictBand and the bagpipe group Pipes and Drums of NewOrleans played. Arecording of Winston Churchill’sspeecheswas broadcast to an audience outsidethe hotel.

The local newspaper chronicled Soames’ cherry red suit, muted printscarf and triple-strandofpearls, in which shespokeofthe two countries’ “passionate love of freedom.”

“She put on her horn-

peoplewho built this masterpiece, keep them in mind, we’ve lost something.”

Marketingmusic history

The Motown Museum is a must-see for international and domesticvisitors, according to JenniferOllinger, senior director of tourism for Visit Detroit. TheMichigan city clawed its wayback frombankruptcy in 2014 and has seen somethingofa revival in recent years.

Motown is part of the pitch to businesses considering Detroit for conventions, conferences andother large gatherings,Ollinger said

“Weare the only place in the world thatcan claim Motown musicasour own,” Ollinger said.

In Cleveland, rock ‘n’ roll is apillar of the Ohio city’s brand, said Emily Lauer, vice president of Public Relations and Communications at Destination Cleveland “Out-of-town visitors and

wife,married to adesigner andraisingadaughter.

She lived in Brazil for two years during her 30s and was asked to write about that experience. That’s when she discovered sheliked writing as afun thing to do, not as ajob. It was certainly notsomething shewas orderedorpushed to do

The character of the sprightly,no-nonsenseKiki was inspired by adrawing her daughter did when she was 12: Acute witch was ﬂying on abroomstick toward the moon. Kadono decided to create acoming-of-agestory about alittle witch who goes on an adventure, traveling with herblack cat Jiji

Therest is history Kiki’sMuseum of Literature, which opened in Tokyo in 2023, now sells Kadono’s smocks, as well as pink mugs and T-shirts decked with the characters shehas created, as well as displays rows upon rows of books,includingother authors.

“The other-worldly fantasy that Kadono creates has overcome theboundaries of language, to becomeappreciated bya wide global audience, includingchildren and

of the bite. However,this does not always happen. Additional symptoms can include headache, fever, fatigue and muscle and joint aches. When caught early,Lyme disease can be successfully treated with antibiotics. If left untreated, it can progress to amultisystem illness. The timingofyour tick bite played arole in your doctor’sactions. Amosquito bite or abee sting delivers biologically active compounds almost instantly.But themechanics of atick bite are a bit morecomplex. This leads to a time lag between attachment and thetransmission of the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. The Food andDrug Administration reportsthat for theLymebacterium to be transmitted, in most cases

This unusual, vivid photo of Sir Winston Churchill wastaken on the Riviera, where he once vacationed. The armatthe right is that of an attendant whoisadjustinga blanket around him

rimmed glasses to read her speech about how proud she was that her father was chosen to be asymbol of thebond between our two countries,” read the TimesPicayune account of events.

“Hail Britannia” played as she pulledoff the statue’s wrappings,and there Churchill has been ever since, facing the Superdome. He is portrayed wearing his naval cap and overcoat, ﬂashing thevictory saluteas he leans on his cane.

Do you have aquestion about something in Louisiana that’sgot you curious? Email your questionto curiouslouisiana@ theadvocate.com. Include your name, phone number and the city where you live.

the Rock &Roll Hall of Fame areveryimportant for Cleveland,”Lauer said. “They are likelytostay overnight and spend moneyonhotel rooms, in our restaurantsand in our stores. Theyget to seeCleveland andthatstrengthens the likelihood to come back.” Nashville’svibrant music scene, encompassing country,gospel and the storied GrandOle Opry,brings in tourist revenue totaling more than$11 billion annually

Deana Ivey,president and chief executive of the Nashville Convention &Visitors Corp., said music has been themain reason tourists visit Nashville for three decades. The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development agrees.

“We’re the second fastest growing state in America and we’ve done that without abeach or casinos,”department commissionerMark Ezell said. “Music is our draw to Tennessee.”

adults, and won international accolades,” reads astatementinpink lettering on the museum wall.

Five-year-old Tsukiko Fukuda, who was visiting the museum with herfamily had amore to-the-point reaction: Thebooksare fun, and pink is herfavorite color, too.

Thepower of books

Kadono hopes there will be acontinuous ﬂux of talented writers of children’s books so that the future generation can grow up to love books Now is acrucial period, she believes, thatmay decide whether that can really happen.

The walks in thewoods and other activities that captured the imagination of childrenofthe past no longer exist, saidKadono. Thereare other digitaland moderndiversions.

Andsothey must read.

“People must think on their own to be able to create. That’s what being human means,” Kadono said with apassion in her voice.

“Booksare theonly thing now that can bring about creation and imagination.”

atick must be attached for36to 48 hours or longer.Because your bitewas just one hour,the urgent care doctor concluded that transmission wasunlikely While the tick you found was large enough to see, this is not always the case. Even nymphs, which can be as small as apoppy seed, can transmitLymedisease. That makes taking precautions when spending timeoutdoors very important —especially when, as you have noted, tick season starts earlier in manyareas. In awooded or brushy area, protect yourself by wearing long pantsand along-sleeved shirt and tucking them in. Wearing light colors makes ticks easier to spot.Use insect repellent with 20% to 30% DEET on clothes and exposed skin. Be sure to read and follow the product instructions. At the end of any outdoor activities, do athorough tick check. Anyone whogets bitten by a tick and develops symptoms should always seek medical care. In your case, with aone-hour bite, the urgent care doctor’sassessmentappears reasonable. The prompt removal of the tick was the mostimportant action. Sendyour questions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla edu, or write: Ask theDoctors, c/oUCLA HealthSciences Media Relations, 10880 Wilshire Blvd.,Suite1450, Los Angeles, CA, 90024.

By The Associated Press

Today is Monday, July 6, the 187th day of 2026. There are 178 days left in the year

TodayinHistory: On July 6, 1957, Althea Gibson became theﬁrst Black tennis player to win aWimbledon singles title as she defeated fellow American Darlene Hard 6-3, 6-2.

Also on this date: In 1777, during the American Revolution, British forces captured Fort Ticonderoga.

In 1885, French scientistLouis Pasteurtested an anti-rabies vaccine on 9-year-old Joseph Meister, who had been bitten by an infected dog; the boy did not develop rabies.

In 1942, Anne Frank, her parentsand sister entered a“secret annex” in an Amsterdam building where they were later joined by four other people; they hid from Nazi occupiers for two years before being discovered and arrested.

In 1945, President Harry S. Truman signed an executive order establishing

the Medal of Freedom.

In 1988, 167 North Sea oil workers werekilled when explosions and ﬁres destroyed adrilling platform.

In 2016, Philando Castile, aBlack elementary school cafeteriaworker,was fatally shot during atrafﬁc stop in asuburb of St.Paul, Minnesota, by St.AnthonyPoliceOfﬁcer Jeronimo Yanez. (Yanez was later acquitted on achargeofsecond-degree manslaughter.)

In 2020, the Trump administration formally notiﬁed the United Nations of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization; President Donald Trump had criticized the WHO’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. (The pullout was later halted by President Joseph Biden’sadministration but wasformally completed in 2026 during Trump’ssecond term.)

In 2024, Sonya Massey aBlack woman who had dialed 911 to report apossible prowler outside her Springﬁeld, Illinois, home, was fatally shot by Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson; Grayson, who testiﬁed at

trial that he feared Massey was about to scald him with apot of steaming hot water that she had removed from the stove, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Today’sbirthdays: The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso,

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Push forward regardless of what others choose to do or say to deter you from followingyour intuition. Investmore time and money in your skills and the things that bring you the most joy.

LEO(July 23-Aug. 22) Listen to podcastsor watch documentaries that offer insight into something you want to pursue. Knowledge is your ticket to positive change andunderstanding what's possible

VIRGO (Aug. 23-sept.22) Pay attention to what's going on around you. Back away from peopleand events that have the potential to become out of control. Use commonsenseand pay attentionto detail.

LIBRA(sept. 23-Oct.23) Await-and-see attitude will not help you get ahead. Think outside the boxtobring about change that encourages you to do your own thing and to live up to your expectations.

scORPIO (Oct. 24-nov. 22) Pickupthepace, askquestions, redefine what'snecessary to reach your objective and exhaust your options. The moreyou put into the processofgetting ahead,the better the outcome.

sAGITTARIus(nov. 23-Dec. 21) Stickclose to home, and aimtomake your space convenient and comfortable. Eliminate clutter,and restructure your routine to ensureyou aren't wasting time on people and projects that arebringing you down more often than contributing to your life

cAPRIcORn(Dec.22-Jan. 19) Say little,and do alot.Focus on what you can accomplish,and avoiddiscussions with people who offerlittle. Set high standards when dealingwith peopleand projects.

AQuARIus(Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Put more thought into how you earnand handle your finances. Investing more in yourself and your surroundings will encourage you to turn something you enjoy doing into aprofitable pastime.

PIscEs (Feb.20-March 20) Sit tight, wait, watch and look inwardtodetermine how to expand your knowledge, interestsand your ability to gainmomentum where it will benefityou most.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Choosingaunique path that encourages you to push yourself harder or in adirection that excites you will helpyou build momentum and outperform anyone trying to compete with you.

TAuRus (April20-May 20) Relax. Distance yourself from troubleorcomplicated situations, and take the road that leads to peace of mind, clarity andwhatand who brings you joy.

GEMInI (May21-June 20) Research will not be wasted time. Themore you learn, the better the outcome. Avoidunnecessary, overpriced physical changes when it's thelittle things you do that will make the most difference.

Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created fromquotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands foranother.

TODAy'scLuE: TEQuALs R

CeLebrItY CIpher

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1to9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the samenumber only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Saturday’s Puzzle Answer

By PHILLIP ALDER

ReneDescartes, aFrench mathematician,philosopherandwriter,said,“(Intuition and deduction are) the two operationsonwhichwehavesaidwemustrely in the acquisitionofknowledge.”

At the bridge table, we make deductionsand sometimes use intuition. Afew deals involve making one deduction and using that to drawa second deduction. Today’s is an example.

Southjumpsintosixspades.Westleads the heartking. How shoulddeclarer plan theplay? After North made agameinvitationallimit raise, South knew that agrandslamwouldbegoodifhispartner held thespadeking, heart king anddiamond queen. Butsince he had no way to find out if North hadthat perfecto, South sensibly took ashotatsix spades.

The contract looks too easy. Draw trumps, run the diamonds and claim an overtrick. But rather than plunge recklessly forward, South should wonder what might go wrong.

The only danger is abad split in each pointed suit. If diamonds are4-0, there will be aloser only if East has allfour. If spadesare 3-0, declarer can avoid aloser byguessingwhichopponentislonginthe suit andfinessing through him.

Southshouldassumehehas adiamond loser. ButifEasthas four diamonds, who is likely to be long in spades? Right West.

So, after taking the first trick with his heart ace, declarer shouldcash hisspade ace. Here, when East discards, South plays aspade to dummy’s jack, cashes the spade king, throws hisheartfive on the clubace andconcedes adiamondtrick when they do break 4-0. ©2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

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

Previous answers:

word game

InsTRucTIOns: 1. Words mustbeoffour or more letters.2.Words that acquire four letters by theaddition of “s,”such as “bats”or“dies,” arenot allowed. 3. Additional wordsmade by adding a“d” or an “s” maynot be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words,orvulgar or sexually explicit words arenot allowed.

TODAy’s WORD GInGIVAL: JIN-jih-vul: Related to the gums.

Average mark 12 words Time limit 25 minutes

Can youfind 18 or more words in GINGIVAL?

sATuRDAy’sWORD —InFERRED