The Times-Picayune 07-07-2026

2026 LEAP TESTING

LEAP results released Monday

Louisianastudent test scores seeimprovement

Englishachievement remains flat across all grades

BY PATRICKWALL Staff writer

Louisianastudentsmadegains or held steady on most state LEAPtests this year, asign that Louisiana has sustained its nation-leading recovery from pandemic learning loss.

Students in grades 3-8 grew in math, science and social studies, while achievement was flat in English,accordingto LEAP results released Monday. High schoolers improved or held their ground in every subject except English I, where

the share of studentshitting thestate target dipped slightly

Theannualtests, whichare required by federal law,measurestudents’ grasp of content the state expects them to learnby theend of each grade. The scores weigh heavily in school ratings, teacher evaluations and high school graduation requirements.

Across all tested grades and subjects, 36%ofstudents metorexceeded state expectations in 2026, thehighest rate on record, accordingtothe state Department of Education. The latest scores follow arecent study that found Louisiana studentshave outpaced their peers in most states in reading and mathgrowth since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools and disrupted learning, causing test scores nationwide to plummet

ä See LEAP, page 4A

Data:Obamacare enrollments

Subjectgrowth

Across all tested grades and subjects, 36% of students met or exceeded state expectations in 2026.

shrank dramatically in many states

Affordable Care Act subsidiesexpired in January

BY ALI SWENSON Associated Press

NEWYORK Statesacrossthe coun-

try saw steepdrops in the number of people covered by the Affordable Care Act over the past year, with Ohio and Oklahoma each losing nearly one-thirdofenrollees, according to new federal data that provides the first complete50-state breakdown of sharp enrollmentde-

clines following the January expiration of enhanced subsidies. Thedata, posted in late June by theTrump administration and first reported on by The Associated Press, revealshow changes in each state’sinsured population led to around 2.6millionfewer Americans havingObamacare plans in February compared with thesame time last year

It captures not only how many people signed up fororwere automatically reenrolled in plans in 2026,but how many paid their first monthly premiumstokeep coverage, according to Cynthia Cox, avice presidentand direc-

Math: 1% increase in scoring masteryor above in grades 3-8.

Science: 2% increase in grades 3-8

Social studies: 2% increase in grades 3-8.

Historic Bohn Ford building sellsto nonprofit

OdysseyHouse of Louisiana’s fundraising armmakes $8Mdeal

BY GRACEMAYER Staff writer

The former Bohn Ford building on South Broad Street —acentury-old landmark in Broadmoor that operated as one of the fewremaining auto dealerships in the city until the 1990s —has been purchasedbythe local nonprofit that has leased the building since it was renovated in 2019. In adeal that was finalized last week, thefundraising armofOdyssey House of Louisiana purchased the 43,000-square-foot property for $8 million. The deal included acash payment to the ownership group andthe assumption of morethan $1.2 million in outstanding debt owed to the state, according to court records filed in Orleans Parish.

The deal will giveOdyssey House, which is the largest addictiontreatment and recovery provider in Louisiana, solecontrol over the buildingand enable the organization to further its mission, Odyssey House CEO Edward Carlson said in an interview Monday

“Itwas alwaysapartofour long-term plantopurchase thebuilding,”said Carlson, who doesn’texpect anything at the building to change under the new ownership structure.

The Bohn building is the second New Orleans location for Odyssey House, whose headquarters are located on North TontiStreet,and its fifth facility in the state.

“Odyssey Healthwilljust keep doing the services we’ve been providing for the community since we opened,” Carlson said. “Our goal is to makesure we have agood, secure place to provide services to the community.”

The building was purchased by the fundraising arm of Odyssey House, called the Homer Foundation, from apartnership that included Odyssey House, theGulfCoast HousingPartnership andthe real estate firm operated by thefamilythatownsRhodesFuneral Homes,whichislocated around thecorner from the building.

“There was never any intention for

See BUILDING, page 4A

2026 EssenceFestival organizers tout successes

tor of the health lawprogramat thehealthcare research nonprofit KFF,who reviewed thedataset. She said it accounts for people whowere retroactively removed from coverage after anonpaymentgrace period ended. “Thisisthe first time we’ve seen state-level data that shows how muchACA marketplace enrollmenttruly fell,” Cox said. “It’sin line with ourexpectations, butit does show avery steep drop in the number of people withACA coverage.”

Health analysts have kept a

ä See ENROLLMENT, page 4A

Grouplooks to future in NewOrleans

BY VIOLETBUCARO Staff writer

As thousands of visitors left New Orleans on Monday after the city’slargest summer festival had wrapped, organizers of the Essence Festival of Culture took avictory lap, touting benefitsto local businesses as talks continue over the festival’sfuture.

Thethree-day celebration of Black musicand culture, which included daytime programming at

the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and nightly concerts in the Caesars Superdome, ran on time andwithout anymajor issues,organizers said —despite the heat, flash flood warnings and aSaturday explosion affecting parts of Bourbon Street. Three New Orleans businesses gained between $10,000 to $25,000 in weekend sales at the Convention Center,said Richelieu Dennis, founderofSundialMedia &Technology Group, EssenceFest’sparentcompany, at anews conference on Monday

See ESSENCE, page 4A

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

State students in grades 3-8 grew in math, science and social studies, while achievementwas flat in English, according to 2026

Trump says he’s building a White House helipad

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said Monday that he’s building a granite helipad on the White House lawn, insisting that the landing area is needed to accommodate new, more powerful presidential choppers.

Confirmation of the project came as construction crews had already begun working on the helipad on the South Lawn, where the president had UFC build a temporary arena for a cage fight celebrating his 80th birthday. He said the project would be privately funded and estimated its cost at up to $6 million.

“It’s got the seal of the White House on it in granite, in carved granite,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s really a beautiful thing.”

McConnell ‘continuing his recovery’ in hospital

WASHINGTON Staff for Ken-

tucky Sen. Mitch McConnell said last week that the senator is “continuing his recovery” in a hospital while the Senate is out of session. But his office has released no details about the former Republican leader’s condition during his weekslong hospitalization or whether he will be at the Capitol when the Senate returns next week.

McConnell was admitted to the hospital on June 14, according to a statement from his office that only said he was “receiving excellent care.” McConnell, 84, was the longest serving Senate leader in history before stepping aside from that role He is serving out his final term, which ends in January

Russia’s missile, drone attacks kill at least 22

KYIV, Ukraine Russia unleashed waves of missiles and drones at Ukraine early Monday, killing at least 22 people in attacks that exposed widening gaps in the country’s air defenses more than four years into Moscow’s full-scale invasion, authorities said.

All of the ballistic missiles launched by Russia struck their targets, underscoring Kyiv’s need for more U.S.-made Patriot interceptor missiles — a point Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will likely reiterate at a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, this week.

Fifteen people were killed in the capital of Kyiv, which was Russia’s main target and 56 were injured, according to administrative head Tymur Tkachenko Another seven people were killed in the wider Kyiv region and 29 were injured, according to Ukraine’s emergency service.

French President Macron visits war-torn Syria

DAMASCUS, Syria French President Emmanuel Macron arrived Monday in Syria, making him the first major western leader to visit the war-torn country since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in 2024.

The French president’s visit comes during a period of relative calm in the Middle East after the monthlong war in Iran and Lebanon. He will travel next to Ankara, Turkey, for the NATO summit, where Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa is also expected to attend and hold a high-profile meeting with President Donald Trump.

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said Macron would visit with a business delegation to discuss regional security as well as business and investment opportunities.

Ex-officer describes ‘sniper pad’

Prosecutors begin laying out case in Kirk assassination trial

BY HANNAH SCHOENBAUM and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press

PROVO, Utah A former campus police officer testified Monday that he found an apparent “sniper pad” on a rooftop near where Charlie Kirk was assassinated, as prosecutors sought to convince a state judge they have enough evidence to put a Utah man on trial for murder Former Utah Valley University Officer Christopher Bagley said he witnessed Kirk’s shooting while the conservative activist was speaking on Sept. 10 to a crowd of thousands. Soon after, Bagley went to a nearby gravel rooftop, where it appeared someone had been lying prone with a clear sightline to Kirk’s location, he said.

“It looks like a sniper pad,” Bagley said, adding, “you’ve got markings of elbows, knees and feet.”

The testimony came as Kirk’s parents, Kathryn and Robert, and widow, Erika, were in the courtroom for the first time since the case began, along with Donald Trump Jr President Donald Trump’s son.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for defendant Tyler

Robinson. The five-day preliminary hearing that began Monday marked the most significant presentation of evidence to date in the case. There were no major revelations on the first day, although prosecutors aired new video that investigators believe showed Robinson getting in and out of his vehicle on Sept. 10 and 11.

Robinson’s parents also were present, sitting a few rows behind the Kirks. The 23-year-old defendant is charged with aggravated murder in the assassination of Kirk, an ally of the president. Robinson turned himself in the day after the shooting. Robinson has not yet entered a

plea, and his attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence. They have, however, sought to get the death penalty taken off the table, so far unsuccessfully Prosecutors showed several videos of Kirk’s shooting as they made their case to state District Judge Tony Graf.

Attorneys from both sides tried to shield their monitors from courtroom spectators, after Graf said the assassination videos couldn’t be publicized because of their graphic nature.

Utah State Bureau of Investigations Agent David Hull described the videos during questioning by prosecutors: They showed the crowd milling around at the event,

Kirk interacting with some of the spectators, the harrowing moment when he was shot and, finally, an anxious scene as Kirk’s security detail picked him up and took him away while administering first aid. The proceeding resembles a minitrial, but prosecutors need only demonstrate that there are reasonable grounds to believe Robinson killed Kirk and should stand trial. The standard is lower than for a trial, where prosecutors must prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Prosecutors, as a result, should have little trouble advancing their case, said Mark Kouris, a former prosecutor and state judge in Salt Lake City

“This standard is extremely low and the chances of them not getting through it are, quite frankly, almost nothing,” said Kouris, now an adjunct professor at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law Bagley, the prosecution’s first witness, said he could see the right side of Charlie Kirk’s body as Kirk spoke on campus. Kirk was answering a question when Bagley heard a gunshot.

“I saw him go to the left I could no longer see the right side of his body,” Bagley said. “Then everybody started getting up and started to run, more of a chaos situation.”

Defense attorney Kathryn Nester asked Bagley about finding an empty pistol holster on the ground after the crowd fled. Bagley acknowledged he never took custody of the holster and didn’t know whether it had been fingerprinted.

NATO chief demands credible plans for defense spending

BY LORNE COOK and SUZAN FRASER Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey — NATO Secretary-

General Mark Rutte on Monday demanded that members put forward

“clear, concrete and credible plans” to reach the organization’s defense spending targets at its annual summit in Ankara.

Rutte spoke in the Turkish capital ahead of the two-day summit starting on Tuesday at a crucial time for the alliance, with the United States scaling down its security role in Europe. Washington has been pressing allies to shoulder more of the spending burden

The 32 nations agreed last year to invest 5% of their gross domestic product on defense 3.5% on their defense budgets and 1.5% on roads, bridges and ports so troops and equipment can move faster in

times of conflict.

Spain endorsed the goal but said it could fulfill NATO’s security requirements without spending so much. Some countries are still struggling to meet the alliance’s old target of 2% of GDP

Asked what would happen to members that don’t have a clear plan, Rutte said: “If one or two of them still have to be convinced, we have ways to do that.” He did not elaborate.

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker suggested last week that the U.S. has something in store for those who do not step up, but declined to say more.

“President (Donald) Trump fully expects that all allies will step up immediately and get on the path to 5% and do it with urgency,” Whitaker said.

On spending among European allies and Canada, Rutte said that “the

evidence we see so far is impressive.” He said NATO estimates that they will invest a combined $258 billion more in defense in 2025 and this year than they have in previous years. But the numbers might not be enough to satisfy the Trump administration. Trump has repeatedly lashed U.S. allies over defense spending, and in the past threatened not to come to the defense of any member not doing enough — challenging NATO’s key reason for existence. Trump also has called for “loyalty” from NATO allies, after some of them declined to allow the use of their military bases in the U.S.Israeli war on Iran. As well as airing grievances about how much the U.S. spends on defense compared with other countries, Trump has sparred with allies over the war, his comments about annexing Green-

Islandwide blackout hits Cuba

Fuel reserve dwindling, aging grid crumbling

BY MILEXSY DURÁN Associated Press

HAVANA An islandwide blackout hit Cuba on Monday as the country’s fuel reserves dwindle and its electric grid continues to crumble.

The blackout in the country of nearly 10 million people was reported by the state-run Electric Union, which said on X that the cause is under investigation. The Ministry of Energy and Mines wrote on X that it has activated protocols to restore electricity

An article Sunday on the Living front about the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University contained incorrect details The Conversations in Color event is with former Chief Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson and Amistad Board Chair Kim Boyle. The collections include the Congress of Radical Equality newsletters, accounts of the American Committee on Africa, and John O’Neal’s records of the Free Southern Theater The Summer Teacher Institute is Aug 7. The Vinyl Record Listening Party is July 16. The Times-Picayune | The Advocate regrets the error

Fuel has been running out across Cuba since January when President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to the island, deepening the island’s ongoing economic and financial crisis. Public transportation has largely been halted, and officials have canceled tens of thousands of surgeries.

Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said microsystems were already operating throughout Cuba a couple of hours after the outage: “Vital services continue to be protected, amidst this complex situation exac-

erbated by the energy blockade we face.”

Meanwhile, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused the U.S. of trying to “incite social unrest by strangling Cuba’s fuel supply.”

“The actions of electrical workers in the midst of a genocidal energy blockade are heroic,” he wrote on X.

Cuba produces only 40% of the fuel it needs, while the 730,000 barrels of oil delivered by a Russian tanker in late March ran out by the end of April.

The government also

has been rationing power with intentional outages that can stretch to more than 24 consecutive hours.

A blackout in mid-May affected the island’s eastern provinces, while a blackout in mid-March struck the entire island.

Like many Cubans, Mario Pedroso, a 33-year-old Havana resident, was resigned about Monday’s total blackout.

“Oil hasn’t come in here for a while, and we have no way to solve the problem,” he said. “We have to resist, as we Cubans say. That’s all.”

land and other tiffs.

The Trump administration is promoting what it calls “NATO 3.0,” a vision in which Europe assumes greater responsibility for its own defense, freeing the U.S. to concentrate on other priorities. The approach was laid out earlier this year by Elbridge Colby, a U.S. undersecretary of defense, during a meeting of NATO defense ministers.

“We need our allies in NATO to step up and assume leadership roles, and I mean that not only in sort of loud cheerleading but also the moral authority and the moral compass of the alliance,” Whitaker said last week.

NATO on Tuesday is due to make announcements showcasing the military equipment being bought with billions of dollars more being spent on defense and security The event has been dubbed the “big reveal.”

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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHTOO By MARIELLE SCOTT

Charlie Kirk’s parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk, arrive at the Fourth District Courthouse for a hearing for Tyler Robinson, who is accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, on Monday in Provo Utah.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By RAMON ESPINOSA

A child walks with a bottle of oil past a solar panel set up on the street to charge batteries during a blackout Monday in Havana.

La.ICE site couldspeed up deportations

BY JACK BROOK Associated Press/Reportfor America

The Trump administration plans to open a528-bed holding facility in Louisiana formigrant families andunaccompanied children next to an airport hub, positioning itself to speed up deportations.

The location in Alexandria would remove logistical headaches caused by wrangling children from foster homes and shelters across the country and not having anywheretoput them during final preparations for flight. Those obstacles were apparent last year when Guatemalan children were awoken at night and given almost no time to get to Harlingen, Texas, where they waited on an airport tarmac for hours.

Afederal judge prevented their deportation, but the chaotic episode illustrated the challenges authorities face because they don’t have anywhere to put families and children near the airport. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is calling the Alexandria facility a“staging area,” not a detention center,and says people would only be there afew days at most.

However,severalimmigration advocates expressed concern that children could be held at the new facility forweeks or months, which happened at other federalimmigration holdingsites.These advocates are also concerned about oversight, and say the facility represents a

departure from how the government manages those children.

“It’sanexpansionofthe deportation system in ways we haven’tseenbefore,” said Leecia Welch,chief legalcounselatthe nonprofit Children’sRights. “There’s just so much that couldgo wrong with this facility.”

Unaccompanied children whoare in theU.S. without parents or close relatives arenot taken to facilities overseen by ICE. Instead, the law saysthey mustbe swiftly placed in the care of state-licensed shelters and foster care programs. Those are runbythe Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Department of Health andHumanServices. However,that agency isn’t involvedinthe Alexandriafacility’s operation, according to aspokesperson at the airfieldwhereit’s being built.

Instead, the facility would be run by anonprofit arm of LaSalle Corrections, aprivateprison contractor,according toRalph Hennessy, executive director of the England Airpark Authority He said it could be operationalas early as August.

ICEofficials signeda contract late last month to build thefacility at the former military basenear Alexandria International Airport,roughly 175miles northwest of New Orleans, Hennessy said. It would operate as a72hour holding center for migrants awaitingdeportation, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.

CompassConnections, a Texas-based nonprofit that runs shelters forunaccompanied immigrant children, hadoriginally been tapped to help operate thefacility and laid outplans during a public presentation in February

But the company’spresident,Sonya Thompson, told theAPlast week that it was no longer involved. She did not elaborate.

In public board meetings, airparkofficials saidthe facility is a“humanitarian effort” for families that are “self-deporting.” Immigrationadvocates say families and unaccompanied childrensometimes makethat decision under pressure or becausetheydon’t understandtheir options.

“Theseare people that are volunteering to go back home and they’re going back home as afamilyunit,” Hennessy toldthe AP

The facility would sit next to the nation’slargest hubfor deportations. More than 4,400 immigration enforcement flights came into andout of theAlexandria International Airport in 2025, according to data from the ICE Flight Monitor,aninitiative of Human Rights First. ICE planning documentssay families and childrenatthe facility “are in thelegal custody of ICE and can only be released at thedirection of ICE.”

Theagencyhas instructed contractorsthatfamiliesat the facility cannot be referred to as prisoners, detainees or inmates, records show.The agency ordered contractors to notuse bars

or cages when transporting families and unaccompanied children. The facility will notberequiredto engage in headcountsand should allow families to “wear their own clothes,” theagency added Louisiana-basedLaSalle Corrections runs arange of private prisons andfederal immigration detention centers throughout the South, including the “LouisianaLockup” inside the maximum-security prison in Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

The official contractor for the new ICE holding facility will be the company’snonprofit arm,the LaSalle Family Foundation. According to its taxrecords, the nonprofit provideschaplain services and educational programming in correctional facilities.

However,LaSalle Corrections itself will be involved in operating the holding facility and ensuring compliance, the company’schief financial officer,Tim Kurpiewski, wroteinanemail reviewed by theAP.

LaSalle spokesperson ScottSutterfielddeclined to comment.

The deaths of twodetainees have been reported since Aprilata LaSalle-run ICE facility in thestate.

Winn Correctional Center was also found in June to have violated standards governing environmental healthand safety, food service, use-of-force, medical care and other subjects,according to the Department of HomelandSecurity’sOffice of Inspector General.

R. Gray Sexton,84, enforcer of state ethics rules, dies

BY TYLERBRIDGES Staff writer

R. Gray Sexton, who spent four decades helping keep Louisiana elected officials on the straight and narrow as the top staffer for the board th at enforcesethics rules, died Thursday in Baton Rouge following abrief illness. He was 84.

Sextonleft the ethics board in 2007 and, after a two-year cooling off period, spent the final stretch of his career as aprivate attorney representing public officials facing ethics complaints.

Before then, though, Sexton did it all for the Board of Ethicsfor Elected Officialsand the Commission on Ethicsfor Public Employees —asthe staff directorand generalcounsel of both. The board policed public officials andcampaign financelaws, while the commission regulated the actions of public employees.

The ethics board had a higher profile. The two entities weremerged in 1997, andSexton continuedto oversee both.

Sextonissuedrecommendations to the board on how to rule when public officials asked whether they could do something, such as hire anephew to work in their office.

tor when the board decided that enough evidence existed to pursue an ethics case againsta public official, with the board serving as the jury

“Gray was avery smart person.Hewas agood lawyer.He’d always give a straightanswer,even if he disagreed withyou,” said Emile “Peppi” Bruneau Jr., aformerstate legislatorfrom New Orleans who oversaw theHouse committee that handled ethics laws. “I wish we had more Gray Sextons in the world. But over time,Sexton faced complaints that he waswearing too manyhats forthe board andthatrepresenting clientsasa private attorney at the same timepresented aconflict of interest.

In 2007, theLegislature passed alaw that prohibited his position from having outside employment.

“Hewas theexecutive director,and he had clients come before the board. We wanted to make sure that that situation wouldn’t present itself anymore,” said William Daniel IV,a top administratorunder East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sid Edwards now whosponsored the 2007 legislation as a state House member Sexton responded to the legislation by resigning to begin representing clients facing issues before the ethics board.

BY JEFFREY COLLINS

Associated Press

Heat wave-breaking rain caused part of the roof of a New Jersey warehouse store to collapse Monday,sending ashopper,acart and tables of baked goods skidding through rushing water

Twopeople were briefly trappedindebris at the BJ’s Wholesale Club in Ocean Township but managed to escape,and no injuries were reported, according to the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office.

Flooding rains were reported in parts of New York City,Philadelphia and New Jersey as roundsofstorms movedthroughthe area Monday,breaking aheat wave that gripped much of the area last week.

On Sunday,New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned about heatstroke and shared locations of pools and cooling centers.ByMonday,hewas urging people to leave basement apartments immediately if they saw water rising in their homes.

Heavyrain stranded cars on flooded highways across northern New Jersey and sloshed water into businesses and at least one hospital.

“Nothing too serious. They have us running from call to call,” said Lakewood Police Capt. Leroy Marshall. The rain and storms broke theheatdomethatsettled over much of the Northeast last week.

LaGuardia Airport in New York set arecord high Thursday of 104 degrees. Lowtemperatures in many placesbarely made it below 80 degrees, preventingpeople from cooling off even at night. The temperature at LaGuardia hovered just below 70 degrees Mondaywith the rain. Officials in New Jersey were investigating at least 29 deaths last week that were

Township police said. About 370,000 people remained without power across thecountry,most from thestorm damage, accordingtopoweroutage.com

He oversaw staffers while they investigated public officials to determine whether they might have violatedstate ethics rules. He acted as the prosecu-

“He went fromprosecutor to defense,” Bruneau said. Sexton’slaw firm also handledlicensing cases and disputes involving construction law Sexton, who was from Pineville, came to Baton Rouge to study at LSU’slaw school and never left.

possibly heat-related. The peoplewere founddead on the street or in homeswithoutair conditioning. They ranged in agesfromtheir 30s to their 80s, New Jersey DepartmentofHealthCommissioner Raynard Washington said.

Autopsies and other investigationswill be needed before the deaths are officially blamed on the heat,Washington said.

Other states have not announced possibledeaths from the heat.

Severe storms moved from Michigantothe East Coastasthe heat wave broke over the weekend. In Michigan, two children, ages 8and 12, were found dead Saturday in agarage after they were apparently overcome by exhaustfroma generator during astorm-related power outage, Sumpter

Sexton

ESSENCE

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“We are the largest creator festival,” Dennis said at the Convention Center “We are having growing pains, not shrinking pains.”

Essence is highlighting its wins as its seven-year contract with New Orleans will expire in September and as its organizers have asked New Orleans and state leaders for up to $12 million in subsidies annually, citing rising operational costs. The festival has been held annually in New Orleans for most of its 31-year tenure. Still up in the air is whether Essence will stay put next year Regarding its partnership with the city “it takes two people to make a decision,” CEO of Sundial Media Kirk McDonald said.

Officials with Mayor Helena Moreno’s administration have

BUILDING

Continued from page 1A

Gulf Coast or the Rhodes family to continue to own the property ” Carlson said. “Our intention was always to develop the building into something used for drug treatment purposes.”

Long local history

The Bohn Ford building was constructed in the 1920s and designed by Emile Weil, a New Orleans architect known for designing the Saenger Theatre At the time, the building, on the edge of Broadmoor and Gert Town, was an emerging area in the growing city with small factories, light industry and new neighborhoods nearby By the 1990s, when the Bohn family shuttered their dealership, demographic patterns had shifted and most auto dealers had moved out to the suburbs. The Rhodes family purchased

LEAP

Continued from page 1A

“I’m proud of our progress,” said state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley “For us to be a state that is looked at across the country for making gains is just so positive.”

Among the state’s largest school systems New Orleans led the pack. Making the state’s list of top-growing districts for the third straight year, NOLA Public Schools saw 31% of tested students hit the state target across all subjects — 1 percentage point higher than Jefferson Parish and East Baton Rouge. Still, the tests students took this spring raise some concerns.

Statewide English scores have stayed the same for the past three years, suggesting that students’ rapid recovery from pandemic learning declines has leveled out. Math scores continue to grow, yet about two-thirds of students still fall short of state expectations. And the score gaps between students of different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds remain about as wide now as they were before the pandemic “While we’re pleased that the net results are positive and trending upward, I think we should be expecting more,” said Erin Bendily, senior vice president at the Pelican Institute for Public Policy, a conservative Louisiana think tank and a former state education official. What the scores show In English language arts,

Continued from page 1A

close eye on changes in marketplace enrollment since the expiration of socalled enhanced premium tax credits caused many Americans’ monthly health

fees to double or triple, forcing some to forgo

entirely The subsidies had been at the center of a bitter fight in Congress last fall, with Democrats and some Republicans calling for their renewal

said they are focused on making sure this year’s festival succeeds before they began discussing the future in earnest Speaking at the news conference, Kevin Ferguson, Moreno’s chief of staff and deputy mayor for communications policy and intergovernmental relationships, did not address Essence’s ask but praised the festival’s continued presence in the city

“We’re pleased with the close of another safe and impactful Essence Fest for our city,” he said.

“This weekend proves that New Orleans is truly built to host and the ideal city for celebrating Black culture and Black excellence.”

Essence organizers cited growth for local businesses as they made room for investment pitches podcast tapings and a film festival. Vendors also sold their wares inside the Convention Center daily The event’s New Voices Power

Pitch competition allowed entrepreneurs to pitch their business ideas to investors and earn funding to scale their ventures. New Orleans-based winners of that competition included local wellness brand Zenistry Labs, which won $25,000; Jrumz EarWear, an audio and headphones brand by Dr Lana Joseph, which won $15,000; and the education program Top Tutors for Us by Angelica Harris, which won $10,000.

Harris said she will use the money to market her 3-year-old business and enhance her Top Tutors Connect learning app to help students raise ACT scores. Her long-term goal is to help close the racial gap in standardized testing for low-income and underrepresented students. Her program matches students to tutors at no cost through Louisiana public schools, including Morris Jeff Community School and others.

Odyssey House of Louisiana has been the sole tenant inside the former Bohn Ford building since 2019, right after a renovation wrapped on the historic structure. The nonprofit purchased the building last week.

the building in 2005, with plans to convert it into a mixed-use complex with restaurants and three floors of office space. Hurricane Katrina struck just days later

In 2013, they began exploring new possibilities for the building, eventually connecting with the Gulf Coast Housing Partnership, which develops affordable and

in October as state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley asks a question about math.

43% of students in grades 3-8 scored at the “mastery” level or above, indicating they are ready to move to the next grade level. The rate was the same in 2025 and 2024 In math, 34% hit that mark, as did 31% in science and 33% in social studies. In math, this year’s mastery or above rate was 1 percentage point higher than last year’s, and in the other subjects it was 2 points higher In high school, most students must pass at least one English, math and biology or civics test pass to graduate. In all subjects combined, 36% achieved mastery or above — 2 percentage points above last year.

Louisiana students’ rebound from COVID-era learning disruptions has been the envy of the nation. It’s the only state where students now are reading above 2019 levels, and one of only two where math scores have surpassed pre-COVID levels, according to a recent

Health insurance costs have been rising across the marketplace and other health insurance programs at a time when voters in the approaching November elections say affordability is among their top concerns. In a report released last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suggested the significant drop in enrollment this year could be attributed to a federal crackdown on fraudulent or “phantom” enrollment. But analysts have said it was more likely related to the Jan. 1 expiration of federal subsidies and other changes, including tightened requirements on which immigrants could access subsidized plans. Mike Rhoads, deputy commissioner of life and health at the Oklahoma Insurance Department, cited a crackdown on fraudulent enrollments as one reason marketplace enrollments dropped.

analysis of state test scores by researchers at Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth.

But while math scores continue to climb, they have plateaued in reading, according to the latest LEAP scores.

Brumley noted that only third graders saw a decline in English mastery this year; the other grades were flat or grew slightly He said that third graders’ scores could reflect the shift from an intense focus in the early grades on learning to sound out words, a phonics-based approach known as the “science of reading,” to an emphasis in the later grades on reading comprehension.

The LEAP English test “doesn’t perfectly align with our focus around teaching kids to read in those early grades,” Brumley said, adding that the test eventually will be updated to incorporate more phonics.

He pointed out that on a different test called DIBELS, which assesses students’

But he said in his state, the biggest factor was money “It’s all about affordability at this point in time,” he said in an interview, adding that he expects the problem to continue with insurers forecast to raise rates again next year

Significant drop-offs

An AP analysis of the data finds that Ohio and Oklahoma each saw a more than 32% decline in ACA enrollment over the past year They lost larger shares of their covered populations than any other state. Following closely behind, and losing more than a fourth of their enrollees, were Arizona, South Caro-

Louisiana and

“I think as a growing company, $10,000 means a lot,” Harris said.

I’ve already gained new partnerships through the pitch.” And Essence’s new podcast program filmed over 50 episodes with 100 New Orleans-based creators in two days, Dennis said. The program gave creators grants and provided tech resources, he said.

The Convention Center reached its capacity each day from Friday through Sunday, Dennis added. And the concerts at the Caesars Superdome also saw big crowds, though official attendance numbers weren’t provided. The nightly concerts also ended at a reasonable hour compared with last year, said Barkue Tubman, chief community officer of Essence, at a Monday news conference at the Convention Center.

Saturday’s show, featuring R&B stars Brandy and Monica, Patti LaBelle and Babyface ran the latest of the three nights with a

mixed-income housing, and Odyssey House. In 2017, the group teamed up and embarked on a nearly $18 million overhaul, which essentially involved rebuilding the entire interior of the fire-ravaged structure, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, while also preserving as much of the original exterior as possible.

Though 4,000 square feet of space was initially reserved for other tenants, Odyssey House has been its sole occupant since it was completed in 2019. Today, the building houses 144 beds for patients, a pharmacy and a federally qualified health center State funding from the Disaster Community Development Block Grant, new market and other tax credits allocations, and loans from the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority helped cover the cost of the project. Odyssey House and the Rhodes family also contributed capital to the project. Gulf Coast Housing Partnership did not respond to a request for

2 a.m. stop, though that was a far cry from last year’s 3:37 a.m end to Lauryn Hill’s set. Festival organizers and city officials are locked in planning talks about future years. Essence leaders have asked for more money to expand festival programming from the city’s downtown core to other parts of New Orleans and potentially to Baton Rouge and surrounding parishes, according to a proposal received in response to a records request. They say costs have grown by 34% over the past six years, from $16.01 million in 2019 to $21.49 million in 2025.

“It’s not a matter of asking for more money,” Dennis said at the news conference Monday “It’s a matter of investing in growth and development of this infrastructure in this community and the value that is placed on it.” Violet Bucaro can be reached at violet.bucaro@theadvocate.com.

comment.

Past and present

Reopening the Bohn building in 2019 was part of a larger plan to revitalize the area on South Broad Street and Washington Avenue. Prior to the Bohn redevelopment, other enterprises moved in across South Broad Street, including Laurel Street Bakery and the Propeller Incubator

In the years since, little else in the area has changed.

For Odyssey House, however, the building has been a boon to the agency, enabling it to serve nearly twice as many patients as it once did in a city that has been hard hit by opioid addiction.

Carlson said the organization’s growth will continue. The health center’s location on Tonti Street is currently working on the last phase of a development project that should add close to 110 beds to that facility, Carlson said. Email Grace Mayer at grace. mayer@theadvocate.com.

Students grew in most subjects

The share of Louisiana students reaching state benchmarks in 2026 increased in most subjects. English was flat.

basic reading skills, 64% of third graders met or exceeded the benchmark this year — 2 percentage points higher than in 2025.

Student groups who have traditionally scored below their peers grew or held steady this year, including Black and Hispanic students, students with disabilities, those still learning English and students from low-income families.

However, the gaps between those groups and other students remain stubbornly large. For example, 22% of Black students and 29% of Hispanic students met state expectations on the grades 3-8 tests this year, compared with 49% of White students a chasm that was similarly wide in 2019.

“The gaps still remain,”

Bendily said “So obviously

there’s work still left to do.”

What’s working

Several state policies have likely contributed to Louisiana students’ academic gains, state officials and experts say Teachers were trained in the science of reading, which is backed by extensive research, and schools began assessing young students’ reading skills Schools also were required to provide tutoring to struggling students, and a revamped rating system rewards schools that help students improve their scores. Other states have adopted similar policies, including phonics-based reading instruction, yet they have not made similar academic gains.

“What we’ve done differently here in Louisiana that we’ve seen drive the results is the mixture of accountability

and support,” said Jenna Chiasson, the Louisiana Department of Education’s deputy superintendent of teaching and learning “I have a numeracy team and a literacy team who is out in schools and school systems pretty much every day providing training, providing support.”

In Vermilion Parish, 55% of students in grades 3-8 met state expectations in reading and 50% did so in math, making it one of the school systems with the highest mastery rates and biggest year-over-year gains. Superintendent Thomas Byler said multiple strategies boosted the scores, including building time into math and English class for struggling students to get extra help and hiring retired teachers to work as tutors.

“It’s really nice when the data support some of the decisions you make,” he said DeSoto Parish, where 54% of students achieved mastery in English and 47% did in math, was another topachieving and top-growing school district. The results owe mainly to the hard work of educators and their desire to keep improving, said Superintendent Clay Corley “We’ve stopped asking what program to try or what strategy to use,” he said “We really just continue to ask ourselves, ‘How do we get a little better every single day?’”

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON French Settlement fourth graders raise their hands

STAFF PHOTO By GRACE MAyER

Democratspulling supportfor Platneramidallegations

MaineSenate candidateaccused of sexual assault

BY KIMBERLEE KRUESI and NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press

Awoman who previously dated Maine Democratic Senate candidateGraham Platner said he drunkenly forced hertohavesex after she told him to stop, according to aPolitico report releasedMonday, leading prominent supporters to pull their endorsements and throwing amust-win race for the party into turmoil.

Platner denied the allegation, but said he would be considering next steps for his campaign

“Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we’re taking the time to reflect on the best path forward,” he said in avideo released on social media.

Jenny Racicot, who lives in Maine, told Politico that Platner entered her home in 2021 while drunk and assaulted her.Racicotsaidshe had been in an on-and-off relationship with Platner,but shecut off contact with him after that night and told him the incident wasn’t consensual. Avoicemail left at a number listed for Racicotseeking comment did not receive an imme-

U.S. Senate

diate response.

Platner’scampaign did not immediately respond to an email and phone message from The AssociatedPress seeking comment.

“Anyaccusationofnonconsensual behavior is categorically false,” Platner said in his video.

Still, the allegation sparked a flight away from acandidate who has long been controversial. Rep. Ro Khanna, aCalifornia Democrat who’d stood by Platnereven as the insurgent candidate was hit with prior allegations, saidMonday’s was enough.“I’ve been veryclear that sexual assault or violence againstwomen is ared line,” Khan-

Mournersthrong funeral procession forIranleader

BY NASSERKARIMI and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran Mourners dressed in black flooded into Iran’scapital Monday for aprocessionaspart of the funeral of thelateSupreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with throngs of people calling for the death of President Donald Trump. Khamenei’sflag-draped coffin, and those of his family members who were killed Feb. 28 in an airstrike at the start of the war launched by Israel and the United States, sat aboard atruck decorated to resemble the ornamental grating that surrounds the shrine of an imam. The massive turnout was encouraged by Iran’stheocracy as asign of strength,and it came as the Islamic Republic negotiates with the U.S. over apermanent end to the war Helicopterimages aired on Iranian state television showed amassive crowd stretching from Tehran’s Azadi, or Freedom, Square for miles down amultilane street of the same name. The crowd appeared to be larger than the one that turned out for the 2020 procession for the late Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, which drew over 1million people. Authorities offered no immediate crowdcountasthe truck crept down the street. People alongsidethe truck and elsewhere on the route carried placards, signs and bannerscalling for Trump’s death.

“Today that we are here for the funeral for our leader,it’s avery tough day,” mourner Fatima Hassan said. “We arenot here to saygoodbye to him. We are here forrevenge. And we will take revenge.” Mourners reached out to touchthe truck, andsome threw scarves and other

na said. “These allegationsare very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop outfrom the race.I am withdrawing my endorsement.”

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallegoalso announced he was pulling hisendorsement, as did theDemocraticleaningpolitical groupEnd Citizens United.

TheDemocratic leaders of Maine’slegislature called for Platner to withdraw,asdid top officials at the state DemocraticParty

“Over the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious,credible allegations against Graham Platner.Today’sstatements takethoseallegations even further,” party chair Charlie Dingman, vice chair Imke Schessler and executive director Devon MurphyAndersonsaid in ajoint statement.

“This Senate race comes at apivotal momentinthe struggleagainst agovernment, supported by SenatorCollins, thatserves theinterests of the wealthyand powerful at the expenseofordinary Maine people. It is essential that we refocusthis campaign on that struggle,” the statement continued.

Platner commandingly won Maine’sDemocratic primary in April, but state lawallows him to be replaced on the ballot if he withdraws by July 13. The replacement candidate must be named by July 27.

As of Monday,Platner had canceled ahandful of campaign town

halls planned in Maine. Platnerwas afirst-time candidate whowon the primary with backingofthe party’sleft wing. While someDemocrats camearound to support him after his commanding primary win, Platner’scontroversial history had already left others openly despairing of their chances of winning the race. AMarine veteran who also worked for aprivate security contractor,Platner has a chest tattoo recognized as aNazi symbol, hadahistory of controversialstatements on social media and reportedly sexted with other women shortly after getting married.

In 2013, Platner posted on Reddit that people shouldn’tget so drunk “theywind up having sexwith someone they don’tmean to” and that sexual assault victimsshould “just takesomeresponsibility for themselves.” He’ssince apologized forthe post and says he no longer holds those beliefs.

HasanPiker, aleftist commentator andstreamerwho’s backed Platner,seemed to reverse himself Monday following thePolitico report. “If new evidence presents itself,I’m going to change my perspective —it’sthat simple,” Piker said duringalivestream on Twitch, adding: “This is aclear-cut instance of verifiable sexualassault allegations. It’s completely irredeemable.”

Maine’sDemocrats have long sought to oustRepublican Sen. Su-

san Collins, who’sheld on despite representing astate that reliably votes for the other party at the presidential level. After Collins’ solid 2020 win,several Maine Democrats passed on the opportunity to challenge her this time and instead looked at other offices. That left the state’s78-year-old governor,Janet Mills, as the Democratic establishment’sbest hope.

Platner rode into the political void and pitched himself as abluecollaroysterman andveteran who could reach disaffected voters who had supported President Donald Trump. Butasallegations began mounting against him, some state Democrats hadheartburn, embodied by Mills’ refusal to endorse Platner after shedroppedout of the primary Chatter alreadybegan to circulate about other possible replacements, including former state senator and logger Troy Jackson and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.

“I’ve known this hasbeen coming,” said Marie Follayttar,aDemocrat and community organizer in Maine,talking thegrowing whispers inside thestate’ssmall populationthathad been bracing foryet another revelation surrounding Platner.“I’ve been scared and I’ve been sick waiting.”

The Associated Press generally does notname victims of sexual assault, but in this case Racicot spoke in an interviewwith Politico.

Hamasdissolves itsgovernmentinGaza

BY WAFAASHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip

The Hamas militant group said Monday it had dissolvedits government in Gazaand is preparing to transfer power toatechnical committee backed by the United Nations as part of aU.S.-brokeredceasefire deal.

Hamas did not say whether it planned to take the crucial step of disarming or handing over security to an international force, but described its decision as evidence of itscommitmenttoGaza’sreconstruction after years of war

It was unclear if the move, announcedbyalower-level official, would lead to anymeaningful change on the ground.

order for the committee to function effectively,there must be “a single governing authorityoperating under onelegal framework”and “a unifiedsecurity apparatus accountable to that authority.”

Nine months after the ceasefire was signed, negotiations between Israel and Hamas remain largely deadlocked over theimplementationofits second phase, including thedisarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza. Hamas has insistedon implementing thefirst phase beforemoving to discussits

weapons.

The Oct. 7, 2023,attack by Hamas-ledmilitants that sparked the warkilled some 1,200 people in Israel and saw 251 others taken hostage. Israel’sretaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed 73,098Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry

The ministry,partofthe Hamas-ledgovernment, is staffed by medical professionalsand maintains detailedrecords viewedas generally reliablebyU.N agencies and independent experts. It does not distinguish between civilians and

militants but says womenand children makeuparound half of all fatalities. Israeli strikes have lessened considerably since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10,but they continue almost daily.Israel’smilitary says it targets Hamas and other militants, often asserting they were planning attacks. The strikes have also killed many civilians.

On Monday, Israeli strikes killed at least five people in Gaza, including three in Khan Younisinthe south and two in an apartment in Gaza City, health officials said.

items for attendants to brush againstthe coffin, acommon practiceinIranseenasa blessing.Attendants,some on the ladders of fire trucks, sprayedmistedwateracross the crowds to cool them in the heat.

Authorities appeared concerned about the dangers of having alargecrowd alongside the procession, with officials onloudspeakers urging the public to walk slowly, notto push and to stayto the edges of thestreet.

The coffinswere taken through the streets of Tehran on aroughly12-hour journey to Mehrabad International Airport, andKhamenei’s casket was flown later Monday to the Shiite seminary city of Qom, according to state television. He will be honored there Tuesday Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which began Saturday and will end Thursday as Khamenei is buried at the Imam Reza shrinein Mashhad, his birthplace. Khamenei was 86

“This is the last time Iam seeinghim,” said aweeping MaryamAlizadeh. “Our generation lived with him for decades.”

TheU.S.iseager to press ahead with negotiations with Iran aimed at fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz, rolling back Tehran’sdisputednuclearprogram andreaching apermanent end to the war. Talks appear to be on hold until after the burial.

Thefuneral wasinpart ashow of unityasIran demands ameasure of control over the strait, avital waterway for global energy that it shut downduring the war.The U.S. has rejected those demands,and the sides are divided on other key issues, including thenuclear program and theconflict between Israel and theIranbacked militantgroup HezbollahinLebanon.

The BoardofPeace, the new entityled by President Donald Trumpwith the mandate of governing and rebuilding Gaza, said it was aware of the Hamas announcementbut would assess theimpact based on “actions, not promises.”

Theboard stressedina statement on Xthat the technocratic committee must control allweapons in Gaza, as laid out in the ceasefire agreement.

At anews conference Monday,Ismailal-Thawabta, generaldirector of theHamas-run Government Media Office, said “only technicaland professional staff” wouldremain in their positions to run the Palestinian enclave’sdayto-day affairs.

“Allemployees working in service provisionare ‘state employees’and are fully preparedtowork under the National Committeefor the Administration of Gaza,” al-Thawabta said during anewsconference in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. Hamas spokespersonHazemQassem called it “a positive step forward on the path to implement the ceasefire deal.”

IsraeliForeign Minister Gideon Saar dismissed the move, saying it was designedtoavoid disarmament. “Aslong as Hamas retains its weapons,any civilian government will of course operate as Hamas dictates,” he wrote on X.

The committee of technocrats, which is based in Cairo, is chaired by Ali Shaath, aGaza-born engineer and former official with thePalestinianAuthority.Ithas a mandate to restore essential services and oversee civilianaffairsunderthe supervision of the U.N. and the Board of Peace.

In astatementonX, Shaathacknowledged the Hamas announcement Mondayand said that in

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO

candidate Graham Platner speaksduring aprimary election night watch party after winning the Democratic nomination June 9inBlue Hill, Maine.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By VAHID SALEMI

The truck carrying the coffins of the slain Iranian Supreme Leader AyatollahAli Khamenei and members of his familymakes its waythroughmournersduring the funeral processiontoward Azadi TowerinTehran, Iran, on Monday.

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Microsoft cuts 4,800 jobs, many at Xbox REDMOND,Wash. Microsoft is cutting 4,800 jobs, about 2.1% of itsglobalworkforce, including alargenumber of workers at its Xbox video game business.

The layoffs included 1,600 Xbox workers, with more to come this year in abroader reorganization designed to “reset”Xbox as it faces heightened competition, the company said Monday

“Our business today is not healthy,” said amemo from XboxCEO Asha Sharma, who took over the gaming division earlier this year.“We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses.”

Sharma said the industry, in which Xbox competeswith Sony’sPlayStation and Nintendo’sSwitch,isfacing asevere “hardware crisis” as costs soar for console components.

Beyond the layoffs announced Monday,Sharma said Xbox expectsanother1,600 jobcuts over the course of the fiscal year that began last week.The company is also spinning off four video game development studios previously acquired by Microsoft.

Nearlythree yearsago, Microsoft closeda$69 billion deal to acquire gaming giant ActivisionBlizzard, maker of “Call of Duty” and other blockbuster franchises. Thecompany said at the time it wanted to broaden its game developmentportfolio and offer aNetflix-like streaming subscription service, but the strategydoesn’tappear to have been enough to get ahead of the competition.

“Whilethose businesses have created meaningfulvalue, they didnot grow at the pace we expected,” Sharma said.

The Xbox cuts are in addition to broader Microsoft layoffs that the softwaregiant’sChief PeopleOfficer AmyColeman tied to unspecified changesin customer needs.

Skyagrees to buy British broadcaster

LONDON Sky,the U.K.-based TV,internet and mobile phone provider owned by Comcast, has agreed to buyITV’smedia and entertainment arm forupto $2.1 billionafter months of talks to create amajor competitor to theglobal streaming giants.

The deal includes the terrestrial TV channels and streaming serviceofITV,Britain’s largest commercial broadcaster.ITV’sproduction arm,ITV Studios,known for shows such as the “I’m ACelebrity” series, will remain an independent company

The transaction will create aUK champion with the scale andresources to better compete with global streamingplatforms,” ITV Chairman Andrew Cosslett said in astatement.

The combined Sky-ITV entity will become part of NBCUniversalfollowing the completion of its split from Comcast, ITV said Pipeline proposed to carry Canada oil TORONTO— Alberta and Ontario proposed apipeline Monday to carrywestern Canadian oil east andeventuallytoAtlantic exportterminalsasCanada seeks new markets beyond the UnitedStates, reviving aproject that was abandoned nearly adecade ago.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the proposed 2,050mile pipeline would run from Hardisty,Alberta, to Sarnia, Ontario, carrying up to 500,000 barrels of oil aday withpotential forupto800,000 barrels. Shesaid the corridor eventually could extend to Canada’s Atlantic coast, opening thedoor to oil exports to Europe.

The United States is by far the largest buyer of Canada’s crude oil, while Alberta holds one of the world’slargestproven oil reserves. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said thepipeline wouldbe a sound investment regardless of whether it is publicly or privately financed. Afeasibility study is planned.

BUSINESS

NOLA.COM/BIZ

RINGING THEBELLS

BY JOSH BOAK Associated Press

WASHINGTON PresidentDonald Trump onMondayrang the openingbells forthe NewYork StockExchange and the Nasdaqfrom the golden confines of theOvalOffice, asymbolic act that reflects how he has increasingly tied his presidency to the stock market.

With high inflation hurting Trump’spopularity,the Republican president has tried to get more Americans to focus on their 401(k) investments, claiming thathis policies should get the credit for any gains,particularly as the November midterm elections drawcloser

“It’s going to go up —I thinkthe market’sgoing to go through theroof,”said Trump afterformallylaunching the start of trading.

Only 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s economic leadership, according to a June survey by TheAssociated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Still, the act of ringing the opening bell suggests why the president’semphasisonthe stock market might not help his partymuch with voters this fall.

The Oval Office eventwas promotingthe launchofTrump Accounts, whichwerecreated as avehiclefor children to have investments in stock indexes aspartofRepublicans’ big 2025 tax and spending cuts bill. In championing theaccounts, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has emphasized that manyAmericans have no direct exposure to stocks. This means that millions of people arenot benefiting from

investmentsthatlargely accrue to more affluent householdsorthatthe benefits they’re receiving are forretirementsdecades away Bessent declaredbefore the bell ringing that “38% of American families do not have any exposuretoour great equity markets.”

The S&P 500 stock index postedgains of 17.9% in 2025, but that came after annual returns of 25% in 2024 and26.3% in 2023, during thepresidency of DemocratJoe Biden. The benchmark stock index has risen roughly10% so far this year But just as inflation crushed public supportfor Biden, Trumphas also seen his approval fall prey to acycle of rising prices. Trumpwon the 2024 election by promising to bring down costs, but his tariffs and thestart of thewar in Iran created new inflationary pressures. Theconsumerprice index hasclimbed4.2% over thepast 12 months, up from 3% when Trump startedhis secondterm

in January 2025.

Trump, however, is betting that thestock investments that are being seeded by the government andbysome prominent companiesand billionaires will give futuregenerations adeeper stake in the U.S. economy.The accounts alreadyhavegotten aboostfrom billionaires beyond the $1,000 from the government. Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Technologies, and his wife, Susan, appeared by Trump on Monday as they have pledged $6.25 billion for the accounts,while there have been separatepledges by billionaires including investor RayDalio andSpaceXPresident GwynneShotwell, who said Mondaythat she would donate stock in the Elon Muskled company to the accounts.

Trump jokingly acknowledgedthatchildren had missedthe stock market gains that have occurred so farbecauseofthe delay in launching the Trump Accounts.

“Weshould have acted faster,” Trumpsaid.

AI stocks rebound to lift U.S. market

BY STAN CHOE AP business writer

NEW YORK Arebound forartificial intelligence stocks lifted the U.S. market on Monday. The S&P500 rose 0.7% andpulled back within 1% of its all-timehigh, even though themajority of stockswithin the indexfell. The strength for companies in the artificial-intelligencetechnology industry sent the Nasdaq composite 1.1% higher,and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 155 points, or 0.3%, to a record.

AI stocks have swung sharply in recent weeks on worriesthattheir prices shot toohigh. Doubtsare rising aboutwhether allthe dollarsflowingintoAIchips and data centers can possibly createenough gains in productivity and profits to make back allthe investments.

Broadcom was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500 androse3.7% after announcing long-term agreements to provide silicon products to Apple. It was coming off twostraight losses of more than2%onWednesday andThursday at the end of last week, before Friday’sholidayinadvance of the Fourth of July

The globalappetite forAIfrominvestors will face an additional test later this week when SK Hynix, theSouth Korean maker of computer memory,plans to raise $28 billionbysellingshares of stock that will trade in the United States on the Nasdaq. That would makeitone of the biggest U.S. offerings ever,behind SpaceX’sIPO from last month, whichraised$75 billion. SK Hynix’sstock in Seoul has already morethan tripled so farthis year because of the AI boom,but its day-to-day swings have included sharp losses in recent weeks. It fell 14.6%onThursday alone, for example.

SpaceX, which owns the xAI business, hasseen its stock likewise swing following its ballyhooedinitial public offering. It erased an early gain to fall 1% in the last day of trading before it’s scheduled to join the Nasdaq 100 index of the largest non-financial stocks on the Nasdaq. That inclusion will force funds like the QQQ exchange-traded fund, which mimic the index, to buy SpaceX themselves. In theoil market,prices drifted after OPEC+ announced Sunday that seven of itsmembersplantoexpand oilproduction by acombined total of 188,000 barrels per day in August. It wasthe fifth straight month that OPEC+ members have agreed to raise output, moves that tend to weigh on oil prices. Theprice of abarrel of Brent crude, theinternational standard, fell 0.2% to $71.99. That’sclose to where it was before the United States andIsraelattacked Iran in late February and sent prices spiking.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased abit.The yieldonthe 10-year Treasury fell to 4.47% from 4.49% late Thursday.

Areport showed that growth last month forU.S.recreation,financeand otherservices businesses was roughly in line with economists’ expectations. The survey by the Institute for Supply Management said thatsome businesses said theywere seeing lowerprices for gasoline anddiesel, easing inflationary pressures. In stock markets abroad, indexes fell modestly acrossmuchofEurope and Asia. Hong Kong’sHangSeng was an outlierand rose 1.1%.

GeorgesMedia namesChase Heatherlyaschief revenueofficer

SouthCarolinanative to lead salesteam

Staff report

ChaseHeatherly,a veteran mediaexecutive,has joined the parent company of TheTimes-Picayune and The Advocate as itschief revenue officer

Theformerchief revenue officer of The Post&Courier parent Evening Post Publishing in South Carolina, Heatherly,34, joined Georges Media at the end of June. He will be responsible for leading the sales teamsacross all of the Louisianabased media company’sbrands, according to an internal company

announcement.

“Chase’sexperiencescalingrevenue organizations, growing digital businesses, andleading through transformation makes him an outstanding fit for whereweare headed as acompany,” said Publisher Kevin Hall. “This is an important stepforward for GeorgesMedia as we continue to invest in leadership thatsupports our long-term growthand positions us for continuedsuccess.”

Columbus, amarketing agency in the state.

ASouth Carolinanative,Heatherly led salesatEvening Post afterstints at Gannett, McClatchy and other media organizations, including as president of King&

Heatherlyjoins Georges Media as the locally owned media company is expanding across Louisiana andinto adjacent markets, includingalong the Gulf Coast. Local news outlets across the country are facing big new challenges in the accelerating digital era, though somecompanies with strong local brands and independent ownership are managing to weather the changes.

In recent years, Georges Media has acquired local Louisiana brands with strong followings, including Arthur Hardy’sMardi

Gras Guide, and has expanded coverage into new markets, such as Shreveport-Bossierand Lake Charles.

In addition to its growth digitally and its acquisitions, the company hasalso launched newprint offerings,including an expandedbusiness section and coverage focused on health.

Heatherly said he’sready to take on the challenge of growing those businesses.

“I have seen firsthand the leadership and innovation that Georges Mediabrings to ourindustry and the commitment its staff hasto serving readers and the community at large,” he said. “I am excited to dive in and contribute.”

Heatherly

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOSByMARKSCHIEFELBEIN

President DonaldTrump ringsthe openingbell for the Newyork Stock Exchangeand the Nasdaq in the Oval Office at the White House on Monday.

TreasurySecretaryScott Bessent speaks before President Donald Trumprings the opening bell for the Newyork Stock Exchangeand the Nasdaq.

Venezuelansleftalone to recovertheir dead afterquakes

BY FERNANDA PESCE and ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press

LA GUAIRA,Venezuela Whenthe highrise where Noel Márquez lived with his familycrashedtothe ground and burst into flames in Venezuela’s twin earthquakes, Márquez,who happened to be at his girlfriend’s apartment, raced home and called out for his mother,grandparents and siblings. Only his 17-year-old brother,his legs pinned under columns that required heavymachinery to lift, responded.

Márquez and his father,who also survived, spoke through layersof concrete, hearing Leonelsuffer, shout for help and inhale suffocating smoke as he waited for acrane to remove the columns crushing him. But it never came. After several hours, Leonel’scries gave way to silence, Márquez said.

But even that, terrible as it was, was not what disturbed him the most. The worst, Márquez said, was trying to recoverhis families’ tangled remains with little more than his bare hands and asaw.Hesliced off limbs to free the corpses of Leo-

nel and his mother but was forced to abandonhis sister, who was eight months’pregnant,grandmother and other relatives beneath the ruins and with their bodies,the hope that if he couldn’tsave them, he could at least give them proper burials.

“It’sunfair.It’sinhumane,everything that is happening,”26-year-old Márquez said from theoverflowing makeshift morgue at La Guaira port. “Wecouldn’tget my brother outbecause we didn’tget aresponse from the state and after 11 days,

Hemingwaymasterpiece on Spain’sbullrunsturns 100

BY JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press

PAMPLONA,Spain Bill Hillmann has been gored three times while running with the bulls in Spain, but he wouldn’t miss this year’sSan Fermin festival for anything.

It marks the 100th anniversaryof the publication of Ernest Hemingway’sbook

“The Sun Also Rises,” which launched the future Nobel Laureate to literary fame and put Pamplona on the map for millions of people around the world.

On Monday,the festival kickedoff with afirework blast over ajam-packed plaza. The first of eight bull runs is on Tuesday Hemingway’s1926novel captivated generations of readers with its sexy Jazz Age tale of American and British bohemians trying to fill some inner void with the distractions of exotic travel, vast quantities of alcohol and the anguishing pursuit of impossible love.

Itssuccess established

“The SunAlsoRises” as a cornerstone of the American literary canon, right up there with F. ScottFitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” It also popularizedthe term“lost generation” to describe the tight-knit group of early 20thcenturywriters expatriated in Paris. Hemingway’sterse style forever changed American literature. In Spanish, its title is translated as “Fiesta.” Hillmann, who hails from Chicago, was 19 when Hemingway’svivid depiction of the bull running festival first enthralled him, especially descriptions of average Spaniards risking their lives sprinting through the streets to guidethe bulls to the bull ring during the nine-day festival.

“I sat there for about six hours, well past midnight,

reading the book,” Hillmann told TheAssociated Press in Pamplona as he looked down on the penwhere thebulls are held beforebeing setfreeon the cobblestoned route.“And by the time Iwas done with that book,I was goingtobea writerand Iwas going to be a bull runner.”

Sincethatliterary encounter,the 44-year-old Hillmann has run with thebulls in Spain hundreds of times, counting both histrips to Pamplona and hisparticipation in dozensmorebull runs in other Spanishtowns. His infatuation with Hemingway and Pamplona has never waned, even though he nearly died one time that he was gored by abull horn.

Hillmann’sappreciation led him to earn adoctoratein English, and now it is his turn to teach “The Sun AlsoRises” at East-WestUniversityin Chicago, and write about bull running.

Hemingway is etchedinto the landscape of Pamplona. Hotels and bars have busts of himorsigns up that he was once there. Outsidethe Pamplona bull ring, which also has astatue of the writer,a huge banner hangs in

honor of the novel, including aquote that showshow the festival left the writer speechless: “At noon of Sunday, the 6th of July,the fiesta exploded. There is no other way to describe it.”

When Hemingway made his lastvisitstoPamplona, he would frequent the Perla Hotel; his suite still has furniture from the1950s when he stayed there. Theroom, whichoverlooksthe bull runroute, alsohas two glass bookcases holdingdozens of copies of “The Sun Also Rises.”

“Hemingway did alot for Pamplona because he made it known around the world,” said Fernando Hualde, who worked for four decades as a receptionist in thehotel

Hemingway’slocal legacy however,ismixed

Beside afeministcritique of his hyper masculine public persona, Hemingway has drawn criticism from theanimal rights movement forhis praise of bullfighters.

Hualde says that some Pamplona residents rue his early promotion of the festivaldue to the ills of overtourism thesleepy provincial city is nowexperiencing

we are still requesting acrane.”

Márquez is oneofcountless Venezuelans who, after days of torment, hasbeenleftalone to search,ifnot for signs of life, then for loved ones’ remains —and for some semblance of closure. International rescue teams, quietly acknowledging thepossibilitythat no more victims would be found alive after 12 days under the rubble,are preparing to depart.

Local authorities areturning their focus to finding shelter for thousands of displaced people.But the recovery of the dead has become apressing, and horrifying, duty forVenezuelans still missing their loved ones.

Many say that just as they were left without government help to rescue survivors in the immediate aftermath of thequakes, so tooare they now under-equippedtounearth their dead nearly two weeks later

The moretime passes,the more gruesome the recovery process becomes, said William Gomez, a firefighter in La Guaira. “Ithas been difficult because the bodies are already in an advanced state of decomposition, decomposed to such

By The Associated Press

CAIRO— The war in Sudan has killed or wounded more than 300 children in the last sixmonths, mostlyfrom drone strikes, theU.N. children’sagency said Monday.

TheSudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been fighting since April 2023. The war is now concentrated in the Kordofan, Darfur and Blue Nile states, with drone warfare causing 60% of casualties, according to UNICEF

The U.N., U.S, U.K. and others have expressed alarm aboutpotential atrocities as the RSFand the military fight for control of the strategic city of el-Obeid in North Kordofan. In Geneva on Monday,the

an extent that many times when we try to remove them, they fall apart.” Authorities announced that the death toll rose on Monday to 3,535, with another 16,740 people injured. Beyond that is an untold toll: those whose bodies have yet to be found. There are no official statistics on howmanypeople areburiedunder the rubble, but more than 30,000 reports of missing people have been sent to awebsite setupbythe Venezuelan opposition.

There are 1.2 milliontons of debris in the most affected parts of La Guaira, according to the United Nations Development Program.

“Weare the ones helpingourselves: our family.Nobody else helps us exceptfor afew volunteers,” saidYeikhary Urbina, who found the bodies of her mother and brother on Saturday suspended under piles of concrete, seemingly locked in an embrace

In several WhatsApp chats on Monday, neighbors whocould no longer wait for authorities to help them recover theirdead discussed pooling theirown money to rent a crane— forthe priceof$11,500, in one case.

U.N.-backedHuman Rights Council approved ameasure, brought by five European countries, condemningthe escalating violence by the RSF and its alliesin and around el-Obeid.

Themeasure, approved without avote, also encourages greater support for countrieshosting refugees from Sudan and condemns “all formsofexternal interference” in the war The conflict has killed at least 59,000 people, displacedsome 13 million and pushed manyparts of Sudan into famine. More than 30 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Drone strikes andshelling have targeted civilian infrastructure including schools, markets, fuel and

water stations, putting over 500,000 people at risk. Civilians in someareas have faced almost siegelike conditions forover ayear

“Childrenare being caught in arelentless cycle of violence, displacement and deprivation,” said SheldonYett, UNICEF representative forSudan.

TheU.N. calledonparties “toprotect civiliansand civilianinfrastructure,allow and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access, and take all possible measures to protect children from harm.”

Separately,atleast 15 informal minerswere killed when adefunct gold mine partly collapsed Monday in thedistrict of Wadi Halfa, closetoSudan’sborderwith Egypt, authorities said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By DANIEL OCHOADEOLZA

Bill Hillmann, of Chicago, center left, falls seconds before a Victoriano del Rio ranch fighting bull gored him on his rightleg during the 2014 running of the bulls of the San Ferminfestival in Pamplona, Spain.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATIAS DELACROIX

Forensictechnician Joel Mirabal rides throughthe area struck by the earthquakes, collecting bodies recovered from the rubble, June 30 in La Guaira, Venezuela.

• That’s Right...No Co-Pay!NoExamFee! No AdjustmentFee! If youhavethiscard, youmay qualifyfor free hearing aids! Call today to verifyyour benefits

JanRisher

LOUISIANA AT LARGE

N.O. home’s writingon

thewall is 168years old

My friends Tammy Theis and Rick Jordan live in the BlanquePaturzo-Sessums House in the New Orleans Bywater.The home dates to 1826. Like many of the older New Orleans homes, there’s alot more to the house than meets the eye from the street.

The home’sexterior is painted the kind of locally inspired terracotta that has been apart of New Orleans since Spanish colonial days.

It’safascinating place, witha courtyard Iadore,but this is not a house story

Several years ago,onmyfirst visit, Theis took me upstairs to see fournarrow strips of exposed plaster left bare against awall they had painted teal. The rectangles,floating in asea of bluegreen, preserved handwriting in French. Beneath each strip was a typed translation:

n “Be happy,Eugenie! These are the vows of the one wholoves you more than life. Let the one who courts you at the moment make you happy.”

n Then aname, written large and stylized: “Ant. Frederick.Jr.” Beneath it: “Eugenie Ram.”

n “I’ll always love you. My last sigh will come out with your name.”

n And finally: “You were an ungrateful person. Youtricked me. Godwill pardon you, but others, never.”

The last line appearsto be dated “January25, 1857.”

For years, that was the whole story Theis and Jordan hadtogo on. They had built their ownprivate theory: aFrenchteenager,alone in his room, unrequited, working out hisheartbreak on the wall because maybe therewas no paper to be found. Or maybe permanence was the point?

And that’swhere the mystery has remained.

Until recently

One day last year,Theis came home andnoticed aman andan older woman on the otherside of the street. They seemed to be looking at her house.

Theis said, “Can Ihelp you?”

The man said his name was Raul Mier,from Fort Collins, Colorado. The woman was his mother,Carmen Mier,who lives in Metairie. He explained that he’d traced his family back to this exact address. Then he mentionedthe name of one of his ancestors:Antonio Frederick.

With that, Theis invited them in and told them there was something they needed to see

“I said, ‘You’re not going to believe this. Come up these stairs,’” Theis said. “His little 95-year-old Cuban mama just ran up those stairs.” Theis had always assumed the handwriting on the wall belonged to someone French. But the family surname was Frederick,and the line traced back through Menorca, Spain, and thentoNew Orleans, where the youngman’s grandfather had worked as a drayman, hauling people by horse and buggy

When Raul Mier,74, looked at the wall his great-great-greatuncle hadwritten on more than 150 years earlier,hecried.

“I’ve been using ancestry.com to do research alot, and Ilook at theseold photocopies .but to actually see his handwriting on the wall —unreal,” Raul Mier said

Causeof fire under investigation

French Quarter explosionled to evacuations

BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer

Entergyengineers on Monday were still working to determine the cause of alate-night French Quarter explosion that knocked out power and prompted evacuations tothe area on Saturday with workersfocusedonrepairing and remediating an underground electrical vault damaged in the blast.

The incident, whichdidn’t cause any injuries, occurred about an hourafter the conclu-

sion of the July Fourth fireworks display on theriverfront. Police evacuated aroughlyone-block radius around the intersection of Bourbon and Conti streets after the fire resulting from the explosion sent smoke billowing into thearea.

In astatement on Monday,Entergy New Orleans spokespersonBeau Tidwell said the fire remainedunderinvestigation, with engineers “reviewingour datatodeterminewhereand how theevent originated.”

“Entergy crews andour environmental remediation contractor are currently cleaning out the burnedvault andworking to effect repairs,” he added.

The New Orleans Fire Department, which responded to the

blast on Saturday,did not provide any additionalinformation on the incident Monday.City Hall referred questions to Entergy Speaking at anews conference early Sunday,Fire Department Chief Roman Nelson saidcrews used dry chemical extinguishers on the fire because it was electrical in nature,sotheyneeded to wait to use water until power was disconnected While powerlinesand other electricalinfrastructure are typically above ground in most of New Orleans, in the French Quarter,much of that infrastructure is buried.Thatburied equipment can cause problems, particularly when it interacts with other underground infrastructure.

In December 2019, aearlymorning blast on Dauphine Street near Toulouse shot several manholecovershighinto the airand setfire to aparked car.Aninvestigationindicated that methane from sewage had collected inside one of Entergy’s transformer vaults and ignited, though officials never determined how it got there.

Danny Raines, aveteran electrical safety consultant based in Georgia,saidthere are various triggers that can lead to blasts like theone that occurred Saturday night. Speaking generally, andwithout anyspecific knowledge about the July 4incident, he said that aging equipment

ä See FIRE, page 2B

SIZZLING SUNSET

Boaters near Madisonville enjoy arecent evening on Lake Pontchartrain as thesetting sun closes out another hot summer day,with many heading to the water to escape theseason’srising temperatures

Magazine restaurant Gris Gris to close after 8years

Chef said he gave business ‘everything’

BY IAN McNULTY Staff writer

In July,the Lower Garden District restaurantGris Grisisrunning aspecial menu with dishes, and prices, drawn from the original menu chef Eric Cook served here when it opened on Magazine Street eightyears ago. This look back has new resonance now Cook announced Monday that Gris Gris will close for good at the end of July Cook said therestaurant wasn’tdoing enough business to continue. Summer, withthe tourism slowdown,iswhen many NewOrleans hospitality businesses struggle most,though Cook said the decision came after along fight to get backtothe level of business therestaurant sawbeforethe pandemic shutdowns and disruptions.

“I gave it everything, but we couldn’t get it back on the level,” Cook said. “But at the end of the day,it’sabusiness andI have partners and you need to be responsible.”

There’salsobeen some bad luck on its block. In December 2024, an adjacent two-story building collapsed during a fully-booked dinner service, damaging cars andpower equipment. Canceled reservations afterwardcostthe restaurant around $10,000 in lost revenue, the chef said at the time. As amidrange, upscalecasualrestaurant,Gris Gris is of an increasinglyrare sort in thelocal dining scene, where new concepts are typically either very casual or high-end. Serving local Creole flavors like gumbo, shrimp and grits, stuffed

Mancharged in fatal overdose

Fentanyl-laced cocaine wassoldtovictim

BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer

An alleged drug dealer already facing trial in OrleansParish in the overdose death of one of his customers has now been charged with manslaughter in Jefferson Parish, where authorities say awoman died after consuming fentanyl-laced cocaine that he sold her The JeffersonParish DistrictAttorney’s Office charged Larry Webster,35, of New Orleans, withthe death of 33-year-old Sarah Kozikowski in asuperseding bill filed Thursday,according to court records. Kozikowski died of an accidental drug overdose at her Harvey homeonAug. 16, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. An autopsy determined her cause of death to be multiple drug toxicity,including cocaine and fentanyl. Sheriff’s Office detectives obtained asearch warrant for Kozikowski’scellphone and identified Webster as the person whosold her the lethal mixture of cocaine, according to court records. They also identified asecond suspect,Wendell Jones, 32, as aco-conspirator

STAFFPHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

STAFF FILE PHOTO By IAN McNULTy

Chef Eric Cook announced Mondaythat Gris Gris, located on Magazine Street, will close for good at the end of July

Moreno names new communication director

Gilmore to replace Casanova, who has new role

BY JONI HESS Staff writer

Mayor Helena Moreno is making shifts to her leadership team as her tenure nears its sixth-month mark, promoting two members of her communications staff.

The city’s communications director, Isis Casanova, will become the New Orleans Health Department’s director of health and emergency outreach Moreno said Friday City Press Secretary

Jonah Gilmore, a former WDSUTV news anchor, will replace Casanova and lead the communications department.

Casanova was a public information officer at the Health Department for four years before she was tapped to lead the city’s communications team in January Casanova will lead the city’s public health engagement efforts and multiagency coordination before, during and after emergencies, while Gilmore will oversee the city’s strategic communications,

media relations, digital communications and public messaging.

“Jonah has earned the trust of our team, our media partners and the people of New Orleans through his professionalism, sound judgment and ability to communicate clearly during both routine operations and challenging moments,” Moreno said in a news release.

“As we continue strengthening the City’s preparedness and community engagement, (Casanova) will play a critical role in connecting residents with the information and resources they need.”

Both appointments follow other leadership changes at City Hall as the administration nears its sixmonth anniversary

Body found on Horn Island

Miss. teen went missing during holiday weekend

BY POET WOLFE Staff writer

Mississippi law enforce-

ment found a body Monday morning on Horn Island, a day after a teen went missing in the area while on a Fourth of July trip with friends, according to Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter

The National Park Service located the body on the island’s north shore near its western tip at 8:45 a.m., Ledbetter said. He added that the Coroner’s Office said the description of the body matched the missing teen and that it was “likely” him.

Officials are waiting to confirm the identity and inform family members before releasing any additional details. DNA results are pending.

RISHER

Continued from page 1B

From there, he has continued his research — nearly three years of digging through census records and city directories.

He has pieced together a story far messier than the romantic sketch we had imagined.

Some Louisiana habits apparently go back a long way — Frederick was 22 in December 1856, and he was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct at Elysian Fields and St. Claude, about a 30-minute walk from his home.

Six weeks later, he wrote his lines about Eugenie Ramel on the wall of his family home on Independence Street. Mier has wondered whether the arrest and the wall are connected.

In a turn we didn’t see coming, Frederick already had a son by then, born months earlier in June to a Dutch immigrant named Wilhelmina Prost, out of wedlock. He didn’t marry Prost until October 1857, nine months after he wrote of being fooled by Eugenie. Meanwhile, Ramal married a notary named John McClelland and had a daughter, Dolorita, in June 1859, about two and a half years after the inscription Frederick died in 1866, at 31, having barely lived past the Civil War. Ramal died in 1872, at 34.

Raul Mier has been generous with what he’s found, though he is short on certainty about what any of it means. He said the research has made him consider how history echoes through families. Frederick’s sister fled New Orleans for Cuba during the Civil War. Nearly a

OVERDOSE

Continued from page 1B

in Webster’s drug deals who helped arrange transactions.

Officials believe that Kozikowski bought the drugs from Webster just days after he sold them to Jones’ roommate, Kairo Delay, 44, who died of a drug

Authorities said 18-yearold Nolan Wells was last seen on Horn Island about 3 p.m. Saturday wearing black shorts and sunglasses.

Wells disappeared during a Fourth of July outing with friends on the popular barrier island off Mississippi’s coast near Ocean Springs, which drew large boating crowds over the holiday weekend

Family members turned to Facebook on Monday afternoon to comment on Wells’ disappearance. His mother Christine Wonsley, thanked friends, family and law enforcement for their support, and said she and loved ones are “absolutely devastated.”

“I’m heartbroken for my sweet son who was always willing to cheer and uplift others,” Wonsley said. “Nolan was a special soul, God took his time creating our son I ask that you please give me and my family time to grieve.”

His grandfather, Christopher Wells, said in a Facebook post that Wells’ mother and father “prayed for a positive outcome, but they also had to prepare themselves for the worst.”

“Now that my grandson has been found, it’s time for answers,” he wrote, “But be mindful they need space and need to grieve There has been enough finger pointing. Let law enforcement do their job.”

Multiple agencies, including the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department, the United States Coast Guard, the United Cajun Navy and the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, assisted in the search.

“On behalf of the United Cajun Navy, we extend our deepest condolences to Nolan’s family, friends, teammates, and everyone whose lives were touched by him,” the group said in a statement

Carmen Mier and her son Raul Mier stand beside the home in the Bywater area in New Orleans where their family lived in the mid1800s.

PROVIDED PHOTO

century later, Mier and his parents fled Cuba for New Orleans in 1961. Despite the writing on the wall and Raul Mier’s research, we don’t know what Ramal did to earn Frederick’s devotion or his eventual fury What we do know is that a young man’s heartbreak outlived him. It survived renovations, storms, chang-

overdose on Aug. 13 at a home on Phillip Street in New Orleans. Delay and another roommate had consumed what they thought was cocaine purchased from Webster on Aug. 12. The other roommate survived and was hospitalized

Delay’s autopsy determined that he, too, died of multiple drug toxicity,

ing owners and generations. When Frederick wrote those words on the wall, he probably never imagined anyone would read them after he was gone — much less a grandnephew four generations later standing in the very room where they were written.

Email Jan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate.com.

including cocaine and fentanyl.

An Orleans Parish grand jury in February charged Webster with manslaughter in Delay’s death as well as five counts of cocaine distribution, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana and illegal use of a weapon. He pleaded not guilty The superseding bill filed

In June, Moreno announced that her pick for deputy mayor of economic development would be transitioning to a new position as a special adviser focused on cultivating international partnerships and long-term economic growth.

Jeff Schwartz, who led the city’s economic development office for six years under former Mayor LaToya Cantrell, was tapped to fill Jenny Mains’ role after a stint leading the Office of Community Development. Schwartz joined a team of five other deputy mayors who serve as the mayor’s most trusted advisers.

Email Joni Hess at joni.hess @theadvocate.com.

FIRE

Continued from page 1B

commonly including faults on older cables, can create stresses that result in a blast.

“Of course it makes a big old fireball with a lot of smoke,” Raines said, noting that sometimes moisture getting into electrical lines can be a factor and that

utilities are typically responsible for clearing their underground vaults.

In its statement, Entergy said crews carry out vault inspections twice annually in an effort to prevent incidents.

The explosion was reported a little after 10:30 p.m and Entergy said power had been restored by 6 a.m. the next morning.

Initially, Entergy representatives said the repairs were delayed after workers were “menaced by an individual threatening to shoot our lineman with a gun.” New Orleans police and Entergy later confirmed that the threat had come in the form of a phone call to the utility’s call center and that there was no reported in-person threat.

Email Jonah Meadows at jonah.meadows@ theadvocate.com.

GRIS GRIS

Continued from page 1B

crab salad and chicken and dumplings, it’s approachable enough for anytime visits but more elevated than a neighborhood joint. It opened in July 2018 at 1800 Magazine St., in the prow-shaped tip of a triangle of historic townhouses and storefronts in the Lower Garden District.

The address, once a boutique, was converted into a restaurant in 2014 to become Square Root, an ambitious, high-end tasting menu concept, pioneering at the time with a format of 12 to 15 courses. It had a

by the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office amended previous charges filed in October against Webster, Jones and a third suspect, Williams Hicks, 25, of Gretna. Webster previously pleaded not guilty to distribution of cocaine and fentanyl. In addition to manslaughter, prosecutors also charged Webster with attempted

chef’s counter downstairs, where diners watched chefs create intricate small plates, and a tavern upstairs serving an a la carte menu. Gris Gris reimagined the same design and layout for a much different restaurant. The open kitchen has more of a feel of a diner, while upstairs, the wraparound balcony gives a perch for outdoor dining with views of downtown. What’s next?

Cook and his partners own the restaurant space. The chef said they are still assessing decisions for what to do with it next.

Separately, Cook and partners also opened Saint John, a Creole restaurant that was initially in the French Quarter on Decatur Street before relocating to its current home, 715 St. Charles Ave., in 2024. Cook sold his share of Saint John to his partners earlier in the year in an effort to “circle wagons” and focus on keeping Gris Gris viable. Saint John restaurant is not affected by the Gris Gris closing plans. At Gris Gris, the 2018 throwback menu has dishes like pork belly with watermelon, fried green tomatoes with shrimp and oyster salad.

distribution of cocaine and attempted distribution of fentanyl, according to court records.

Jones and Hicks are charged with one count each of attempted distribution of fentanyl and attempted distribution of cocaine.

Their new arraignment dates have not yet been set.

Email Ian McNulty at imcnulty@theadvocate. com.

Email Michelle Hunter at mhunter@theadvocate. com.

Casanova

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

The New Orleans Fire Department fights an underground fire after a transformer blew Saturday in the 700 block of Conti Street in the French Quarter in New Orleans.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By IAN McNULTy

Customers dine at Gris Gris on Magazine Street in New Orleans. The restaurant will be closing its doors at the end of July.

STAFF PHOTO By JAN RISHER

Antonio Frederick Jr wrote a stylized version of his name above that of Eugenie Ramal’s on the wall of his home in 1857. The writing has been preserved on the wall of the New Orleans home, which now belongs to Rick Jordan and Tammy Theis.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By ENAN CHEDIAK City Press Secretary Jonah Gilmore, above will replace Isis Casanova as leader of New Orleans’ communications department.

Deaths

Birdsall, Yvonne

Carriere, Elizabeth Hubbard Sr., Leroy Walker,Randolph Obituaries

Birdsall, Yvonne Meloncon

It is with deepest regrets and heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Yvonne Meloncon Birdsall. She has left this earth to spend eternal life with our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ and the familyand friends who have passed before her.

Yvonne was born in New Orleans, La. on October 5, 1935and passed away at East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, La. on June 5, 2026 at 3:30 p.m. She is survived by her four sons and their spouses andfamilies: Benjamin J. Birdsall, III (Terry); Brian G. Birdsall (Karen); Barry A. Birdsall (LaDonna Albert) and Brett E. Birdsall (Fiance', Leann Giardina and family).

Yvonne was blessed with 4grandchildren: BenjaminJ.Birdsall, IV (Kayla); Arianna M.A. Birdsall; Chelsey B. Casteix (HughCasteix, III "Trip"); Abigail B. Moroux (Dr. Damon M. Moroux, Jr.) and 2Great Grandchildren Rhodes H. Moroux and Hugh Casteix, IV. Yvonne is also survived

by her sister,Beverly Monteleone (Edwin Monteleone,Sr. and Edwin Montelone,Jr.,predeceased) and her children, DarleneMcKnight, Stephen Montelone(Kristian) and Michael Montelone (Victoria) and many other family and friends too numerous to name. Yvonne was alifelong resident of the New Orleans area graduating fromRedemptoristHigh Schoolin1954. Shewas married to the late Benjamin J.Birdsall, Jr from1958through 1976, dedicating her life to raisingher 4sons.While raisingher sons,Yvonne alwaysmade her home and home cookedmealsavailableand welcome to many of her sons friends, earningher theaffectionate nickname of "Momma B".

After Hurricane Katrina destroyedher familyhome onPratt Dr. in New Orleans, she moved to Metairie whereshe resided forthe remainderofher life. Yvonne will be fondly rememberedinthe hearts ofmany.

Visitation and Celebration of Yvonne's lifewillbeheld at Saint Angela Merici Catholic Church,located at835 Melody Dr., Metairie,La. on Friday, July 10, 2026with visitation from 11:00to 12:30p.m.,Eulogy /Words of Remembrance from 12:30p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Churchservice at 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. with repass to follow.

Elizabeth"Liz" Leigh Carriere passed away on June 30, 2026, at theage of 48. She was thebeloved daughter of Victor and LeighCarriere and the cherished sibling and best friend of Jennifer, Vic. Jr, and Jane(Philip).Her greatest joy came from her children, Remy and Lily, with whom she shared her love of music, singing, dancing, and animals. She shared apartnership of many years with Remy and Lily'sfather, GregoryReed, who held aspecial place in her heart Lizloved and was loved by her extended family of many aunts, uncles, and cousins. She shared aspecial closeness with her maternal grandmother, Dolly Vardin Drake, and when her grandmother couldno longer drive, Lizwouldoftenstopbyafter work to visitand bring flowers or othergifts

After her graduation fromChapelle High School, LizattendedDelgado Community Collegewhere she earnedanAssociateof Applied Science degree as an Occupational Therapy Assistant,witha 4.0 GPA. In herfamily life and in her workasa patientcaregiver, Lizdisplayedher compassion, open-heartedness, humor, and easyrapport withpeople of allages and abilities. In recent years, Lizenjoyed traveling with Remy and Lily to theGulf Coast Smyrna,Georgia, Disney World, and Damascus, Maryland. She took great pleasureinthe holidays and in sharing traditions with Remy and Lily. Her

cake decorating skills were used to greateffect for Remy's and Lily'sbirthday cakes and gingerbread houses at Christmas. There is aLiz-shaped hole in allofour hearts that can never be filled. We take comfort in knowing that we willone daysee her againwithJesus, our Savior.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend avisitation at 9:00 AM on Thursday,July9,2026 at Greenwood Funeral Home, 5200 CanalBlvd.New Orleans, with aFuneral Mass at 11:00 AM. Interment will follow immediatelyatGreenwood Cemetery In lieu of flowers,please considermaking adonation in Liz'smemory to Second HarvestFoodBank, or acharityofyourchoice.

Hubbard Sr., Leroy

Leroy"Leaky" Hubbard Sr.departed this life on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Serviceswillbeheldon Wednesday,July8,2026, at Corpus Christi-Epiphany Catholic Church. Visitation 8:00 a.m. -10:00 a.m.,with services immediately following. Interment Providence Cemetery. Professional services entrusted to:Littlejohn Funeral Home,2163 Aubry Street,Cal K. Johnson, Manager/FuneralDirector. Information: (504) 9400045.

Walker, Randolph Paul 'Randy'

It is with great sorrow that we announcethe loss of ourmost beloved Randy.Bornthe second of six childrenonMarch12, 1960, he died on May29, 2026 at theage of 66. Randy wasanintelligent, loyal, compassionateand affable man whomade people smilewhereverhe frequented. As achild and throughoutadulthood, he wasa formidable athlete, avidhunter/fisherman, sharpshooter and gifted artist. Throughouthis life he continued exercising hisfavorite hobbies, including his art,whichencompassedmanydifferent mediums, including taxidermy. Witty, andwell read on worldaffairs, perhaps hisgreatest sense of achievement andsense of pride, wasthatderived from thesteadfast pride commitment, andhonor with whichheservedhis countryand hercitizenry. In 1989, Randy made adecision to enlist in theUS Army, wherenot only did he flourish, he dominated. In 1991 he wasdeployed andservedasanMPinthe Persian Gulf waroperation "Desert Storm," wherehe ledhis platoon all across Saudi Arabia. Hismilitary commendationswhile serving his country consist of 10 medals, six ribbons, theAdjuvant General's award for HonorGraduate, as well as theLouisiana War Cross. He also held a record for supervising the greatest number of enlisted soldiers(173) as anoncommissioned officer. He went on to participatein various militaryopera-

tions, and wasrecognized for theseizure of massive amountsofillicit drugs that wouldundoubtedly have resulted in theharm of countlesscivilians. After retiringfroma distinguishedcareerinthe military, Randy wasemployed by Water and Power for Valero Refinery in St Charles Parish forover 14 years. After retirement andafflicted by amultitude of injuries andmedicalillness, he still enjoyed observing andcaringfor thevarious wildlife families that wouldfrequent hisbackyard. He loved, played andworkedhard, andwill be greatly missed by all whowerefortunate to have knownand loved him. Proceededindeath by hisparents, JoeEllis Walker andTeresa Tencza Walker, abrother Richard Eugene, hispaternal grandparents, Joseph,F andOla MaeCheleno, maternal grandparents,Mr. Carol (Gertrude)Tencza andmaternal grandmother Rose Tencza. Survivedby hiswife KimWalker, his siblings, Ronald Joseph, Valerie WPhilippi (Mark), Robert Allen(Lisa) and Roger William. Also survivedbyaunts Rose Tencza andJoAnn Perrien (Tommy,) many cousins, nieces andnephews. A special thanks to AnnM Turner andDanny Medrzycowski for their exceptional contributions, love andsupport during this time.Funeral arrangements will be held on July 10, 2026 at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery,34888 Grantham CollegeDr., Slidell,LA 70460. Acelebration of life will be held followingservicesatThe Collab Slidell, 113 Gause Blvd.W Slidell LA 70460

Carriere,Elizabeth Leigh

'Leaky'

OUR VIEWS

Statefailing neediest families with unused WICfunds

Arecent report by the LouisianaLegislative Auditor found that Louisianaisfailing to use funds designated to help low-incomepregnant women gain access to healthy foods. The Special Supplemental NutritionProgram for Women, Infants, and Children —morecommonly known asWIC —isentirely federally funded.Itprovidesroutine testing, nutrition counseling and money for healthyfoodstoeligible women. Louisiana ranks last in therate of participation among allthe states. Add Washington, D.C., and the territory of Puerto Ricotothe list, andwe’re still dead last Between 2021 and 2024, Louisiana did not use approximately$111 million worthoffederal WIC funding, the auditor found.

That astate with one of thehighestrates of infant mortality isn’tusing aprogram designedto help women deliver healthy babies should shock the conscienceofeveryone who caresabout Louisiana’smothers and children

The report lists several reasons for the state’s low participation rate. Many of them areeasy to remedy.For example, around80% of the clinics that screen participantswerenot open beyond normal business hours. Most women in the program must completeregularclinic visits in order to maintain their benefits. But for working mothers, finding aclinic thatcould accommodate their schedules proved challenging. In north Louisiana, for example, only oneclinic nearShreveport operatedinearly morning hours or lateinto the evening. For other would-be participants,the problem was that clinic hours and phone numbersposted on their websites werenot accurate,and staff did not answer the phone.

The audit also found that manyclinicswere not doing at least one outreach event permonth as required by state policy to let potentially eligible moms know about the program

We are glad to note that theLouisianaDepartment of Health, which oversees WIC, agreed with the audit recommendationsand has already begun to address these issues. It will conduct reviews of clinic informationonline and will institute a“secret shopper” program to randomly call clinics to make sure phones are being answered. It has set agoal to improve participation by 25%thisyear Surveys of participants also found thatthe programwhere beneficiaries receive EBTcards to redeem at participatingstores forspecific food products wasnot meeting theirneeds. Some products, like yogurt, were offeredonly in large quantities so theydid notredeem the itemsfor feartheywould spoil, participants shared. TheDepartment of Healthagreed to have more flexibility in what products were offered. Some parishes only had one vendor that accepted the food benefit program, so thedepartment is looking at expanding that. Allofthese measures mean thata lifeline for needyfamilieswillnow be strengthened. But outreachiskey —a lifeline is only useful if it reaches those in need.

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE

HERE AREOUR

GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence

TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com.

OPINION

A19-year-old who spent 28 years at LouisianaState Penitentiary at Angola for acrimehedid not commit went on to obtain alaw degree and won election lastyear as clerk of criminal court in New Orleans. Unable to obtain his criminal court records while behind bars for years, he understood the importance of record-keeping in courtsoflaw Butheupset our Republican governor and Legislature when he was elected criminal court clerk by thepeople entitled to vote here. So theLegislature stole Calvin Duncan’svictory by voiding theelection and abolishing thecriminal clerk’sposition before he could take office.

Somepeople, including the Republican-dominated Legislature and an unsigned majority of state Supreme Court justices, don’tsee anything wrong —either legally or morally.But thechief justice and the people of New Orleansbelieve that in ademocracy our votes should not be swept away In thewords of Chief Justice John

Weimer: “The action by the Legislature to abolish apublic office before theperson elected to that office can assume theduties of that office, makes amockery of theelectoral process by completely obliterating the constitutional effectiveness of the people’s vote. The unsigned majority of the justices bury this bedrock right of liberty by making the strawman argument that the Constitution does not forbid theabolition of an elective office. Butitdoes forbid the abolition of the resultsofalawfully conducted election

The action of theLegislature should not only be illegal. It is immoral to deprive aone-time“jailhouse lawyer” and achampion for justice of ahardwon victory It is also far from clear that elimination of the criminal clerk’soffice will save money or help makeour city safer

ROGERSTETTER NewOrleans

As Itravel on Carrollton Avenue, I pass manycontrolled intersections with the typical traffic light using red, green and yellow lights to signal the public. However,when Iencounter the traffic control device designed to protect pedestrians and bicyclists, something changes.

The traffic light at the Lafitte Greenway crossing doesn’tuse the well-knownand understood red, green and yellow lights. Instead, it uses an unlit signal that turns red, then blinking red whenever someone wants to cross. It is so confusing that there is asign that says “stop on red.”

Such asign is not necessary at traditional traffic lights. They need to add asign that says, “Stop at blinking Red.”

Idonot understand whyatraditional red, green and yellow signal wasnot used to protect the more vulnerable.

DAVID EASSON NewOrleans

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE

The original International Trade Mart building has an illustrious history, one linked to apresidential assassination. Itsstoryfills agap of several years in Richard Campanella’srecent insightful article about the 1926 International Trade Exposition and its legacy The building, afive-story modernist structure dating from 1947, stood on thesite of thecurrent New Orleans Sheraton hotel. Visitors could wander corridorsand peer through huge glass windows into offices of international trade delegations, such as Austria, filled with crystal chandeliers that they could buy On Aug. 16, 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald was filmed distributing “Hands Off Cuba!” leaflets outside thebuilding. After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy,District Attorney Jim Garrison indicted the general manager of theInternational Trade Mart,Clay Shaw,aspart of aconspiracy to kill Kennedy

Construction of the ITMtower (now theFour Seasons Hotel) at the foot of Canal Street in thelate 1960s doomed thenotorious building,which was demolished in 1979 tomakeway forthe Sheraton.

KEITH MARSHALL NewOrleans

Traffic law violations are approaching Third World levels in New Orleans. It’s rare that ared light isn’t run, and cameras won’thelp because nobody has license plates.

The NewOrleans Police Departmenthas areserve division where officers work forfree 32 hours a month in order to be able to work lucrative off-duty details. They should be used exclusively fortraffic enforcement instead of “blue light patrols.”

TERRYST. GERMAIN NOPD Captain (retired) NewOrleans

ARCHIVEFILE PHOTO Aerial viewofthe International Trade MartComplex towerin1965.

Spell’stheology, notjustactions, runs countertohistoricChristianity

Whether the Rev.Tony Spell will be convicted of acrime is aquestion that will be answered by aLouisiana jury. Whether he holds views traditionally labeled heretical, however,is averdict rendered more than 1,500years ago Let me explain. Spell, the fiery —some mightsay pugilistic —pastor of Life Tabernacle in Central, first came to prominence whenherefused to abide by pandemic-era lockdown restrictions meant to slow the spread of the virus. More recently,he was arrested last month after an incidentwithhis neighbor,inwhich Spell repeatedly punched his neighbor even after he had pinned the man to the ground.

The fight, which was caughtoncamera, landed Spell in the parish jail fora few hours on acount of second-degree battery. His case will work its way through our criminal justice system. When he’snot fighting, Spell is running his church. Life Tabernacle is part of amovement withinPentecostalism that denies the ancient Christian formulation of God as atrinity: Father Son and Holy Spiritas oneGod in three persons The church’swebsite makesthis explicit: “the Father,Son, and Holy Ghost arenot names of separate persons, but titles of positions held by God. Such adescriptionis“classic modalism,” Lloyd Harsch, aprofessor of church history at New OrleansBaptist Theological Seminary,told me. Modalism emphasizes the oneness of God. It sees God as onebeingacting in three different “modes.” And while Pentecostalism is arelatively new movement —itgrew out of an early 20th century revival in California modalism goes back into thechurch’s early centuries. It was “a heresy that was dealt with and resoundingly condemned as being outside orthodox Christianity”bythe 5th century because it denies the Trinity,Harsch told me.

The reason for those decisions was simple: Modalism denies the Trinity, which “was an early foundational doctrine of the church,” Harsch said This issue was settled more than 500 yearsbefore the RomanCatholic-EasternOrthodox splitand more than 1,000 years before Martin Luther kicked off the Protestant Reformation

Today, themajorityofchurches, includingCatholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant, are firmly trinitarian. Spell’sviews on the Trinityare aminority even within Pentecostalism.

Letmebeclear here: Iamnot saying that Spelland his congregantsshould notbefreetopractice their religion as they see fit; they absolutely should. But Iamnoting that his beliefs fall outside of historic Christianity,and go against oneofits bedrock doctrines.

Of course, one needn’tdive into dusty theological tomes or ancient church historytosee the gaps between Spell’s version ofChristianityand theone taught by Jesus.

Jesustaught humility,and Spell seems to revel in his own notoriety. Afew daysafter the fight, Spell told adeputy in acomment recorded on a body camera,“Everybody in theworld knows my name.” He also used aslur for gay people to describe theman he beat, and said he would beat the man or his family again if he feltitnecessary,per body camera footage.

Jesusalso taught nonviolence. When oneofhis followers cut off the ear of asoldier who had come to arrest Jesus, Jesushealed theman. He also famously said, “If anyone slaps you on theright cheek, turn to them the other

cheek also.”

Spell took adifferent tack: He charged across thestreet to confront his neighbor,and even after he was arrested, he boasted about the incident, saying in anews conference that he, as theshepherd, had to protect his flock Later,during achurch service, he madelight of it.

“I fulfilled Scripture because Ilay hands on the sick. Idon’tknow how much recovery they’re going to have, but Ilaid hands on them,” he said.

Spell’sdevotion to Scripture is clear

Andhis church website calls the Bible “the inspired Word of God …Moreover,there is no salvation outside of what is taught in its pages.”

That presumably includes theletters of the Apostle Paul, who in 1Corinthians holds aloft the three great Christian virtues: “faith, hope and love. And thegreatest of these is love.”

AndinGalatians, Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit, which include love, peace, gentleness and self-control, among others. Andagainst those things, Paul notes, “there is no law.”

Butitseems those virtues, like the Trinity,aren’timportanttoSpell and his version of Christianity.

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

Soccer fans seeour multiculturalmiracle

The welcoming reception that so many European soccer fans have received as they have crossed the nation in pursuit of World Cup games has struck many as ahappy surprise of the summer of the 250th anniversary of the DeclarationofIndependence.

“The World Cup is at our shores, and allthese people aredoing us agreat service,” comedian Bill Maher posted. “They are reminding Americans that this place is kind of awesome.”

“They are seeing an America they never imagined,” The Wall Street Journal’sPeggy Noonan noted withsomethinglike awe. “They expected adark and brooding nation; they discovered a sun-filled magnificence. It’s so big, so spacious,has such wondrous shops, the best food and absolutely wonderfulpeople.”

land migration from eastern and southern Europe,1892 to 1914, youheard constantly that America was suddenly becoming —for some, dangerously becoming— multicultural.

With Cuba, Trumphad better beware of what he wishesfor

Afterbeginning the war, but before his conduct of it turneditinto an embarrassment, President Donald Trump said: “On the way back”fromIran “we will be taking over”Cuba “almost immediately.” Now,humiliatedand bewildered, he hungers fora successbeforethis autumn’selections. Cuba’s 67-year-old regime hassurvived13U.S presidencies. But abumptious 14thhas big plans. Looselyspeaking.

Communist Cuba,athreadbare museum of Marxism, hasalways attracted tyranny tourists, leftist pilgrims eager to experience, briefly, appliedsocialism. The only good its evil ever produced is “Against All Hope,” Armando Valladares’smagnificent1986 memoir of 22 yearsas apolitical prisoner. Beatings were neverperfunctory,always ferociousand imaginatively cruel. He wasfed watery soup laced with glass, or dead rats, or half the length of acow’sintestine,rectum included, filledwith waste

Otherthanthose pilgrims, no one believesthe Havana regime hasa shredoflegitimacy.Whatshould be done?

Fordecades,Communist Cuba,a mendicant nationprickly aboutits revolutionary dignity,dependedon subsidiesfromthe SovietUnion, thenonbarteredoil fromVenezuela. Nowitexperiences electricity blackouts, sometimes lasting 22 hours aday.Some airlineshavestoppedserving Havana because fuelisscarce forreturn trips. Tourism hasevaporated. The Economist says “harvests arevirtually non-existent.”The Wall Street Journal’sMary Anastasia O’Grady reports, “Output fromonce-vibrant export industrieslike sugar, tobacco, coffee andfruit can’t even supply the domestic market.” Like North Korea, anotherfamily business, Cuba’s regime,inwhichFidelCastro’s brother Raúl, 95, still matters, hasone priority: survival. It understands the threat posedbypermitting any freedom in tyranny’sfissures. Hence, it’sfear of freeenterprise,socialism’ssolvent.

Raúl Castro (with whomPresident Barack Obama posedfor photosduring his “engagement” with Cuba)cannotbeaninterlocutor, giventhe properU.S.indictment of him formurder. In 1996, he orderedCubanmilitary jets to shoot down two U.S. civilianaircraft over internationalwater Theywerehelping escapees fromthe prisonisland.

“Weforget too easily,” British-born American Andrew Sullivan wrote, “the loving, generous, beautiful culture that is still America at its core. If it takes asoccer tournament rather than achoreographed 250thanniversary celebration to remind us of that so be it. We’re worth celebrating no less.” Sullivan took special care to hail “the multicultural miracle we have already achieved in this quarter of a millennium.” It’sarefreshing contrast with the notion, widely prevalent in the pre-Trump years of this century, that America had suddenly,for the first time, moved from being astiflingly,insensitively monocultural society to amultiracial, multicultural one. Whenyou go rifling back in American history,you encounter this notion time andagain. In the years of peak Ellis Is-

In the decade from 1846 to 1857, when immigration as apercentage of the preexisting population was at a similar peak, thesudden inrush of German and Irish Catholic immigrants inspired similar ruminations. The fact that many newcomers, rather than fanout into farms and the frontier, clustered in high-density neighborhoods in central cities seemed especially threatening. Butcultural diversity was part of the American experience, going back tocolonial days and through the Revolution andthe first tenuous years of independence, which produced the Constitution

America’srevolutionary patriots had grownupduring aperiod when recent history was centered on foreign and civil wars centered on differences in religion. England’sGlorious Revolution, the ouster of aCatholic king by aProtestant foreigner,was as distant in time from revolutionaries active in the 1770s and 1780s as WorldWar II is as distant in time from us today

TheEnglish Civil War, which resulted in the execution of the king, was contemporaneous with the demographically devastating Thirty Years’ WarinEurope and 120 to 130 yearsin the past —not much further distant than World WarI and thetotalitarian fascism and communism of the 20th century that followed. Against such abackground, the variedreligious origins of the different colonies must havebeen disquieting.

The New England colonies had been founded by Calvinist rebels against theChurch of England, and Virginia and the Carolinas by faithful Anglicans.Maryland had been established by Catholics,Pennsylvania by Quaker proprietors, and New York by Dutch Reformed Protestants.

Article VI of the Constitution, approved by theconvention in September 1787 and ratified by theninthstate and rendered effective in June 1788, provided that, unlike in Britain, “no religious test shallever be required as aQualification to anyOffice or public Trustunder theUnited States.”

Andthe First Amendment to the Constitution,approved by theFirst CongressinSeptember 1789 and ratified by thestates in December 1791, even before guaranteeing “the freedom of speech, or of the press,” provided that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting thefree exercise thereof.” States could keep their established religions —Connecticut did until 1818, Massachusetts until 1833 —orhave none at all.

In thenearly 250 years since, Americans have grappled with the difficulties of maintainingtheir “multicultural miracle” even as thepopulation has increased from 4million to 349 million.

Butthat there have been difficulties should not blind us to thefounders’ achievement in declaring independence and establishing aframe of government appropriate to an always, and always-changing, multicultural society

Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

Trump’sbaseincludesCubanAmericans, a large majority of whom, according to aMiami Herald poll, favormilitary interventionand oppose anyeconomicengagement thatpreserves the regime.InteriorSecretaryDougBurgum, an adult in Trump’sCabinet, says Cuba’s economic trajectory“will notchange as long as the people who areincharge of it nowremaininpower.” Gaesa, an army-run conglomerate, controls 70% of the economy Cuba’s economy shrank 11% from2019 to 2024, andmorethan1 million people,about 10 percent of the population, fledthe country between 2022 and2023. The Trump administration insists that prostrate Cuba threatensU.S.“nationalsecurity.” Cuba’s army hasabout one-fifth of its former 200,000 soldiers; its tiny airforce is ramshackle. Cuba reportedly hasmorethan300 drones, but whatuse arethey? And surely there is sufficient U.S. leverage to pressure Havana into ending Russia’s andChina’s use of the island forlistening to U.S. military communications. Is there, however, aU.S obligation toward this unfortunate neighbor?

Thomas Gradgrind, the villain (until he softened his coldutilitarianism) of CharlesDickens’s “Hard Times,” probably believedthat“the Good Samaritan was aBad Economist.”Meaning: Charity skews incentivesfor self-reliance, etc. Some ethicists, however, wonder whethera Good Samaritan nationwith the power to do good hasan obligationtodoit.

All agree, however, thatthere is no obligationto do what cannotbedone. And what can be done for anationthatbynow is allregime andnomeaningful citizenry? In March, amob sacked aCommunist Party headquarters in centralCuba.This spark of insurrectionwas aberrant andfleeting. Totalitarianism always hasone foundationalobjective,whichit hasachievedinCuba.The populationisa dust of wary individuals, easily blown about. Their capacity forcollaboration—for politics—has atrophied. Asmooth democratic transitionisa chimera

In January,Trump said, “Cuba is readytofall.” Into what? HasTrump thought through his vow to “take care” of Cuba with a“friendly takeover” during “a little briefstopover”?

Before he skitteredaway fromdemanding Iran’s“unconditionalsurrender,”hejovially said of Cuba:A U.S. aircraft carrierwill “stopabout 100 yards offshore,and they’ll say‘Thank you very much. We give up.’”

Sucha cutup. Our MetternichfromMidtown Manhattanisnot intimidatedbythe aphorism thatifyou want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.

Email Will at georgewill@washpost.com.

Michael Barone

Faimon Roberts

George Will

PHOTO By MICHAEL BACIGALUPI

Life Tabernacle Church’sTonySpell speaks to the media on June 24 at thechurch in Central.

United States goalkeeper MattFreese, right,reacts after Belgium scores its third goal duringthe

END OF ROAD

History noton Kiffin’s side

Odds areagainst LSU to winchampionship in coach’sdebut

BY JON BLAU Staff writer

There was atime when college football coaches such as LSU’s Lane Kiffin didn’texist in awinnowechochamber pressurized by 24/7media cycles

But this isn’ttosay everything was peachy

“Coaching football is arotten life,” former Michigan coach Bennie Oosterbaan, one of just three college footballcoaches to win a national titleinhis first season, toldTime magazine just afew years after his glorious debut in 1948.

Belgiumthrottles U.S. in roundof16, to face Spainnext

BY RONALDBLUM AP sportswriter

SEATTLE The United States’ hopesfor adeepWorld Cup run at home endedwhenCharlesDeKetelaere scored twiceand assisted on another goal, helpingBelgium expose the Americans’ defensiveliabilities in a4-1 win Monday night that earned aquarterfinal berth.

While the U.S.was boosted bythe presenceofstarforward FolarinBalogun,whose one-game red-card suspensionwas controversially lifted by FIFA, American defenders were at fault in apair of first-half goals and agaffe by goalkeeper Matt Freese gave the Red Devils athirdearly in the second half. Second-half substitute Romelu Lukaku addedBelgium’sfinal goal in the thirdminuteofstoppage time.The Red Devils advanced to meet Spain at Inglewood,California, on Friday Malik Tillman tiedthe score 1-1midway through the first half with his secondfree kick goal of thetournament, but the Americans concededjust61seconds after the ensuing kickoff. U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino showed hisfrustration by kicking arackinfront of thebench,sending four water bottles flying.

U.S. forward Christian Pulisic could only watchmost of the secondhalffrom the bench after injuringhis rightfoot when he extendedfor ashotattempt and hitthe boot of Belgium captain Youri Tielemansinthe 52nd minute After spending afew moments lyingonthe pitch, Pulisic began favoring the foot andwas replaced in the 59th by Sebastian Berhalter withthe U.S. trailing3-1 Pulisic was slowed by acalf injury during the group stage

PRESS

By MADDyGRASSy Belgium’sCharles De Ketelaere, right, celebrates after scoring against the United States on MondayinSeattle.

of the World Cup. He returnedtothe starting lineup forthe Americans’ 2-0 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round

match on MondayinSeattle. ä See WORLD CUP, page 5C

Absences highlightPels’ Summer League roster

The New Orleans Pelicans announcedthe roster for their Summer League team on Monday The players not on the roster proved to be bigger news thanthe players who were named.

Here are the five most notable things about who will be suiting up for the Pelicans when they tipoff Summer League play in Las Vegas starting Thursday No FearsorQueen

It’sYear 2for Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen, who made theirrookie debuts in Vegas lastsummer.After ayear when they both were secondteamselections on the All-Rookie team, they won’tbeplaying in Vegas this time around. First-year Pelicans coach Jamahl Mosley discussed the decision after Monday’spractice.

“I’m on top now,and there is a lotofbackslapping,” Oosterbaan said. “Let me lose theopeneror acouple of othergamesnext fall, andthenwatch howI’m blasted.” Oosterbaan, considered the “best offensive mind in college football” by hispredecessor,soured on scheming. When he left Michigan in 1958, he said “the pressure”got to him.

“Not from my bosses or the fans,”Oosterbaan said. “I mean the pressure thatbuilds up inside ahead coach whether he wins or loses.”

The coaching profession appliespressure.Kiffin, arenowned offensive mind in today’sera, said he doesn’tfret about outside expectations because none are greater thanhis own.

But the LSU job is apressurecooker

It’sa place where three coaches —Nick Saban, LesMiles and Ed Orgeron —have won national titles this century.It’saplace where BrianKelly wasaxed, with $54million left on hiscontract, because 34-14 with no playoff appearanceswasn’tgood enough. To putitlightly,Kiffin must win. To put it not so lightly,LSU fans are“nuts,”according to Hall of Fame coach UrbanMeyer,who proclaimed ahead of the Fourth of July weekendthatKiffin has to win anationaltitle in 2026 —orat leastcome close— to stayinthe fans’ good graces

ä See LSU, page 3C

“They’ve been in here working with these guys,” Mosley said. “A bigportion of that is them playing 82 gamesand beingable to be up and playthese games against theheavy hitters in the league.” Countmeamong those who agree with that decision after seeing Fears playinall 82 games andQueen in 81. They both have room for

ä See PELICANS, page 3C

BY

GRAHAM DUNBAR AP sportswriter

GENEVA With the integrity of FIFAand the World Cup under attack from European soccer leaders, FIFAPresident Gianni Infantino acknowledged taking acallfromPresident Donald Trump before U.S. forward Folarin Balogun wascleared to play against Belgium later Monday Balogun wasissuedared cardinthe U.S. match vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina last week,resulting in a suspension for the Belgium contest. Trump called Infantino after thegame with Bosnia to plead his casetooverturn the call, andFIFAlifted thesuspensionSunday. That prompted aday of off-field furoratthe World Cup. The Belgiansoccer federation challenged FIFA’s

ä See BALOGUN, page 5C

Rod Walker

King Center

Kiffin

ASSOCIATED

PHOTO

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By TED S. WARREN

WorldCup round of 16 soccer

Cobolli victorious over de Minaur

Paolini also gets to Wimbledon quarterfinals

BY ANDREW DAMPF AP sportswriter

LONDON On his first match point, Flavio Cobolli stepped up and unleashed a 135 mph first serve down the T that landed on the line and sent a puff of chalk into the air on No 1 Court at Wimbledon.

Fifth-seeded opponent Alex de Minaur could barely touch the serve and the Australian’s weak return didn’t even go past his own service line.

Cobolli reacted by leaping into the air and pumping his fist. He launched a ball into the crowd before moving forward to shake hands with De Minaur

Then the Italian moved on to the performance he’d been waiting for Cobolli put his racket down and went back out into the center of the court and launched himself into the most iconic celebration in soccer: twirling in mid-air like Cristiano Ronaldo, he then landed on the grass with his feet planted wide and jerked his arms down by his side.

The mostly English crowd knew just what was going on and shouted “Siuuu” along with Cobolli.

“I love his celebration. I love him,” said Cobolli, who was once a promising soccer player himself in Roma’s youth system. “I will cheer for Portugal (against Spain at the World Cup) tonight because of Ronaldo.”

In his previous match, Cobolli performed a surfing celebration borrowed from Brazil striker Matheus Cunha.

Antonelli and Sinner

While four-time champion Italy failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup, the country has no lack of sports stars and a few of them were in the spotlight at the grass-court Grand Slam on Monday Cobolli’s 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory over a fellow top-10 player to reach the quarterfinals was a statement win as he attempts to back up his run to the French Open final.

At the same time over on Centre Court, Jasmine Paolini ended the run of rising Filipino player Alexandra Eala with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory to return to the last eight at a Grand Slam for the first time since back-to-back runs to the Ro-

land Garros and Wimbledon finals

two years ago.

Watching Paolini from the Royal Box was Kimi Antonelli, the 19-year-old Italian driver who leads the Formula One standings for Mercedes.

“I met Kimi afterward,” Paolini said. “I’ve been following him a lot lately I’m becoming an F1 fan. He seems like a real nice kid and very down to earth.”

Coinciding with Italy’s troubles in soccer, Antonelli and defending Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner — who plays Jan-Lennard

Struff on Tuesday for a spot in the semifinals have become the country’s most popular athletes.

Cobolli, too, is rapidly gaining attention after his run to the Paris final, where he pushed Alexander Zverev to five sets

De Minaur led 5-2 in the second set and was up a break twice in the third. But Cobolli wouldn’t be deterred.

“Alex is a stratospheric player

So beating him three sets to none makes me feel like I’m ready,” Cobolli said when asked if he’s ready for another deep run. “This gave me a lot of answers, and I think it provided a lot of answers to my opponents, too.”

World Cup and gelato

After the victory over de Minaur, Cobolli’s grandfather had to go and find a new house for their team in the Wimbledon village since they had only reserved through the first week.

Now they can maintain Flavio’s nightly routine during the fortnight: dinner cooked by his father and coach, Stefano, and shared with his best friend, Watford midfielder Edoardo Bove, before watching a World Cup match and downing a tub of gelato (pear and white chocolate is Cobolli’s flavor for the tournament).

“An Italian family give us all the house here in Wimbledon,” Cobolli said. “So it’s really cool.”

Cobolli’s quarterfinal opponent will be Arthur Fery the 23-year-old British player who grew up just five minutes from the All England Club.

Paolini doesn’t allow distraction

Besides the challenge presented by the 21-year-old Eala, who eliminated defending champion Iga Swiatek in the previous round, the 5-foot-4 Paolini also had to try and not to let the presence of Roger Federer in the

Royal Box distract her

At one point, Antonelli sat right next to Federer, the owner of a men’s record eight Wimbledon singles titles.

“He is my idol,” the 30-year-old Paolini said of Federer in an oncourt interview “I was like during the match, ‘Please stay focused stay focused Don’t think about he’s here.’ I was watching all the finals and all the tournaments he was playing here.”

Paolini’s next opponent will be Marta Kostyuk, the Ukrainian player who reached her first Wimbledon quarterfinal by beating American qualifier Ashlyn Krueger 6-4, 6-4.

It was the hottest day of the tournament so far, as the temperature rose to 90 degrees, prompting players to place bags of ice around their necks on changeovers.

Another women’s quarterfinal will feature Linda Noskova against Elise Mertens.

The strong performance by Italian players follows similar results at the French Open, where three men reached the quarterfinals despite Sinner’s secondround meltdown in a Paris heat wave.

Stars Wilson, Clark nearing a return from injuries

BY DOUG FEINBERG

Wilson

Clark has been working her way toward playing again after she aggravated a back injury Clark has started practicing again and potentially will return during the current road trip that the Fever are on with games in Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas. The star guard missed the first game of the trip against Las Vegas on Sunday Plum is out with a lower left leg injury and is expected to be evaulated in late July right around the All-Star break. Los Angeles has struggled without her Last season’s MVP runner-up

Napheesa Collier has yet to play this year after she had offseason surgery on both her ankles. She has started practicing again for Minnesota and also should be back soon. Power poll rankings Minnesota remained atop the power poll this week barely edging New York. One point separated the top two teams. Golden State was third with Las Vegas fourth, The Valkyries picked up some first-place votes Dallas was fifth Indiana, Washington and Atlanta were next. Phoenix

Toronto and Portland followed the Dream. Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle and Connecticut rounded out the poll.

Player of the week

Breanna Stewat of New York was the AP player of the week She had a huge game in the Liberty’s win over Minnesota last Friday Stewart scored 36 points to go along with seven rebounds and two blocks in the victory Other players receiving votes included Paige Bueckers of Dallas, Shakira Austin of Washington and Gabby Williams of Golden State.

Ovechkin is back for another season with NHL’s Capitals WASHINGTON Alex Ovechkin is returning for a 22nd season with the Washington Capitals. Will this be the final act of his illustrious career?

“I don’t know,” he said. “We’ll see.”

The NHL’s career leader in goals didn’t formally commit to returning in 2026-27 until last week, so it was perhaps no surprise that Ovechkin remained noncommittal on whether this is going to be his swan song in Washington. Ovechkin said his wife suggested he play “one more year or maybe two years, I don’t know” — so if anyone was expecting him to announce a retirement tour for this season, that did not happen. Instead, Ovechkin is focused on showing he can still be effective — he’ll be 41 — and help the team win.

Forward Hachimura agrees to 2-year deal with Clippers Free agent forward Rui Hachimura and the Los Angeles Clippers have agreed on a twoyear contract that would be worth $28 million if a team option is exercised, a person familiar with the talks said on Monday Hachimura will be joining his third team, after splitting his first eight NBA seasons between the Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Lakers. His departure means all five of the players that the Lakers started in Game 1 of last season’s playoff run — Hachimura, LeBron James (still choosing a new team), Deandre Ayton (trade to Washington), Marcus Smart (agreed to sign with Houston) and Luke Kennard (agreed to sign with Phoenix) — will play elsewhere this season.

Kings cut loose veteran DeRozan after two seasons SACRAMENTO, Calif. — DeMar DeRozan is finally free to pursue other opportunities following two seasons with the Sacramento Kings. The Kings are waiving DeRozan in a move that has been expected for weeks, sources told The Sacramento Bee on Monday, making the six-time All-Star an unrestricted free agent. DeRozan, 36, could have a number of potential suitors as he enters his 18th season at No. 16 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 26,711 points. ESPN reported that multiple contenders are expected to have interest in DeRozan, including those that are rebuffed in their pursuit of LeBron James. DeRozan had one year remaining on a three-year $74 million contract

Braves place LHP Perez on IL with arm contusion

Throwback game

Geno Auriemma and Robin Roberts will call the Dallas-New York game Tuesday night on ESPN. The pair called the first WNBA broadcast on the network 30 years earlier

“Yeah, I was nervous the first time I did it, because I didn’t know what I was doing and now that I remember back and having to do it again, knowing what could go wrong, I’m even more nervous,” Auriemma joked on a conference call. “We just tried, just figure out, let’s watch the game and see what happens and talk about what we see.”

There will be a lot of familiarity for Auriemma as three of his former players will be in the game with Dallas having Bueckers and Azzi Fudd and the Liberty having Stewart. Roberts has been impressed how the league has grown over the past three decades.

“To see the respect it has earned, the players are just incredible, and I’m just very grateful to see that it is getting the recognition that it’s getting right now,” she said.

Game of the week

New York at Minnesota, Saturday. Two of the top teams in the WNBA will meet again in Minnesota with the Lynx hosting the Liberty Star Minnesota forward Napheesa Collier might be ready to play in that game as she’s been working back from offseason ankle surgeries.

ATLANTA The Atlanta Braves placed left-hander Martín Pérez on the 15-day injured list on Monday with a left forearm contusion. Pérez was hit by Juan Soto’s line drive in Sunday’s 10-9 loss to the New York Mets and left the game. Afterward, Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said X-rays were negative. Pérez (6-6) allowed six hits and five runs, four earned, in 41/3 innings. He has a 3.54 ERA in 18 games, including 14 starts.

Right-hander Carlos Carrasco was designated for assignment after allowing five runs on five hits in two innings on Sunday The Braves recalled right-hander JR Ritchie from Triple-A Gwinnett and called up right-hander Owen Murphy, who has pitched for Gwinnett this season.

Cornerback Douglas agrees to 1-year deal with Commanders Veteran cornerback Rasul Douglas has agreed to terms with the Washington Commanders on a contract for next season, according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the contract had not yet been signed.

Douglas, who turns 31 on Aug. 29, returns to the NFC East after beginning his NFL career in the division with Philadelphia. A thirdround pick in 2017, he helped the Eagles win the Super Bowl in his rookie year

With Washington coming off a season in which it ranked last in the league on defense, general manager

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MICHAEL CONROy

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, right, drives on Atlanta Dream guard Te-Hina Paopao, left during a game in Indianapolis on June 18.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MAJA SMIEJKOWSKA

Flavio Cobolli of Italy returns the ball to Alex de Minaur of Australia in their fourth-round singles match at Wimbledon in London on Monday.

Briscoeholds offBell in return to Chicagoland

BY JAYCOHEN AP sportswriter

JOLIET,Ill. Chase Briscoe was on an offseason bonding trip to the United Kingdom with crewchief James Small when the NASCAR driver discovered chocolate buttons,a popularBritish treat. He boughtsomeonlineafter he returned to the U.S., but he said it wasn’tthe same.

Late Sunday

Small purchased some on areturn trip to the U.K.,and he promised to share if Briscoe won on the crew chief’s birthday.That made Sunday night’svictorypretty sweet.

Briscoe held off Christopher Bell in NASCAR’sreturntoChicagoland Speedway,racing to his first Cup Series win of the season And Small delivered thechocolates to Briscoe moments after it was over

“They were pretty dang good,” Briscoe said Briscoe was followed closelyby Bell in the final laps on the 1.5-mile oval about50miles southwest of downtown Chicago. But Bell was unable to rundown hisJoe Gibbs Racing teammate.

The 31-year-old Briscoe, an Indiana native, celebrated hissixth career win with aburnout before standing on his car and waving to the sellout crowd.

“This has beenaplace that I’ve always loved coming to, back when we used to, and I’vemissed it,” Briscoe said. “It’salways been oneofmytop-five tracks.”

It was Bell’sfourth runner-up finish this season. He was wearing asplint on his arm as he continues his recovery after breaking his left wrist in acrash at Michigan

LSU

Continued from page1C

“He’sgottabewithin aswingof it,” said Meyer,who won anational title in his second season at Florida and his third at OhioState.“That’s one place, Iremember when Iretired, Isaid ‘Good, I’m never going there again’ —because (LSU) fans are nuts.”

It’squestionable whether Meyer’s take is fair,but talk of Kiffin’stitle timelinewas fair game as soon as he jumped fromOle Miss ahead of aplayoff run because he considered Baton Rouge more fertile soil to build acontender Kiffin has promised the Tigers will win atitle during his tenure, though he didn’toffer aspecific timeline. But the question is certainly being asked locally andnationally

How long should it take?

There is aperception that titles can be won more quickly these daysbecause of transfers and athlete pay.Curt Cignetti just led one of the least successful programs in collegefootballhistory,Indiana,to the mountaintop. But many of Cignetti’sstars followed him from James Madison, a Cinderellascript that can’tbe repeated. It wasn’tuntil the coach’s second year,with aHeisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, that the Hoosiers won it all. The 2025 CFP includedfive coaches in their second seasons including Texas A&M’sMike Elko, Alabama’sKalen DeBoer,Tulane’s JonSumrall andJames Madison’s Bob Chesney.The only first-year coach was Pete Golding, who took over for Kiffin in the postseason

on June 7.

“I think he’shandled that as well as you can handle it,” team owner JoeGibbs said. “He’sgot aburning desire to stay in there and win. I think he had, you know —hehad a real good cartonight,too.”

Denny Hamlin, who started on the pole, was third. William Byron, who wontwo stages while leading arace-high 94 laps,and Alex Bowmanrounded out thetop five.

“I thought Iwas incontrol early on,even though Iwasn’t leading,” Hamlin said. “I felt in control and probablygot alittlelazy on some restarts and things likethat.Just taking for granted that I’lljustgo up there and get it.”

NASCAR ran 19 Cup races in Joliet before pulling out after the 2019 season. It tried to build interest in the event in acrowded sports market, butthe race struggled with attendance After racingonastreet course in downtown Chicagoeach of the previous three years, NASCAR decided to go back to Chicagoland —eager to seehow the Next Gen cars woulddo on therough and bumpy asphalt at thefacility. Rain on Friday and Saturday caused some parking issues, but the racing was compelling Led by Briscoe, Bell andHamlin, Toyota accounted for seven of the top 10 cars for the first time in aCup Series race —continuing astrong season forthe manufacturer “Yeah,Toyotas arefast,”Bell said.

Driving a“Space Jam”-themed carinhonor of the 30th anniversary of the Looney Tunes movie, Bubba Wallacewas sixth in hisNo. 23 Toyota Camry.Wallace is part of the 23XI Racing team that is co-

Title contenders typically take time to build. In two 12-team playoffs, theaverage tenure of coaches in the tourney was 4.8years. The average was seven years forcoaches in the final trio of four-team playoffs, right afterNIL started in 2021. Coaches can buildtoward the playoff quickly,but national titles in Year 1are rare, and they have not translated to long-term happiness. The only coaches other than Oosterbaan to win titles in their firstseasons were Miami’s Dennis Erickson andLarry Coker.Erickson, whowon it allin1989 anddid it again in 1991, jumped to the NFL andbounced between levels,with fading success, fortwo decades Coker,achampionin2001, was out of ajob within fiveyears.

At LSU,there’s apace in which footballcoaches win titles. Saban arrived in 2000 and claimed his in 2003. Miles took chargeofthe Tigers in 2005and won it all in 2007. Orgeron succeeded Miles in 2016 andtook home thetrophyin2019. It usually takes afew years.Even in this era, where rosterscan turn over in the portal, those new pieces have to mesh.Sometimes, they need to mature.

Indiana starters in 2025 averaged 4.3 years in college ball, including 11 players whowere either fifth-or sixth-year seniors. LSU’sprojected 22 is abit younger, averaging 3.5 years.

“We’re going to have theteams androsters backtothe waythey were playingwhen (LSU was) great. Idon’tknow how fast, that might not be today,” Kiffinsaid in June, “butit’sgoing to happen.”

Thepressure is on

Email Jon Blau at jon.blau@ theadvocate.com

NASCAR uses 3ofits youngest driversfor RollingStonesvideo

BY JAYCOHEN AP sportswriter

JOLIET,Ill. The first Rolling Stones album wasreleased in 1964. NASCAR driver Connor Zilisch was born in 2006. Of course, when it comes to Mick Jagger and company,time seems almost irrelevant.

“No matter who you are or where you’re from or howold youare, you knowwho the Rolling Stones are,” Zilisch said.

Zilisch joined fellow drivers CarsonHocevar and Jesse Love for amusicvideo as part of acollaboration between NASCAR and the Stones ahead of theband’s25th studio album, “Foreign Tongues,” which comes out on Friday

Acustom NASCARshowcar served as alistening lounge forthe Stones’ new music during events at Chicago’sNavyPierand Plaza of the Americas in the run-up to thestock car seriesreturning to Chicagoland Speedway over the weekend.

Tube automotive influencer known as “CleetusMcFarland,” also was part of the video.

“I think whenyou look at all of those drivers, they have great personalities, very rebellious spirits andtheykind of have arock and roll nature about them,just kind of at heart,” Malayter said.

Set to “In The Stars,” the first single off“Foreign Tongues,” the music video envisions the drivers as atouring rock band.

Zilisch, 19, Love, 21, and Hocevar,23, clownaround during a photo shoot before jumping on a tour bus driven by Mitchell. The drivers play cards before stopping at abar.Back on the bus, Hocevar, who drives the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports in the Cup Series, writes 77 on the face of a sleeping Zilisch in black marker

The video ends with the drivers at the track in their fire suits, signing autographs and posing forpictures with fans.

ownedbyMichael Jordan,one of the stars of the 1996 movie.

Ryan Blaneywas seventhinhis seventh consecutive top-10 finish Ty Gibbs, Corey Heim and Riley Herbst completed thetop 10. Tyler Reddick’schampionship hopesweredamaged by an oil leak with about32lapsleftin Stage 2. There was along caution while Reddick’s23XI Racing crew worked on his No. 45 Toyotainthe garage, replacing theradiator because of ahole.

Reddick, who won thefirst three races of the season, finished 36th. He trails Hamlin by 44 points at the top of Cup standings after he was down by one going into the weekend.

Kyle Larson alsohad arough dayafterqualifyingsecond behindHamlin.Hewas in third place when he spun out of Turn 4onLap 93. He drove his No. 5Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet into the wetinfield grassand hadtobe pulled out of the mud.

Larsonfinished 34th, extending his winless drought to 43 races. He finished second in each of the previous two Cupraces at Chicagoland.

Updating theIn-Season Challenge

Briscoe, Bell,Hamlin and Blaney wereamongthe winners in the second round of NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge. Byron, ChaseElliott, Todd Gilliland and Alex Bowman also moved on. Thewinnerofthe five-race, bracket-style tournament receives $1 million.

Briscoe eliminatedTyGibbs, whowon theinaugural competition last year.Byron defeated Larson,his teammate with Hendrick Motorsports.

PELICANS

Continuedfrom page1C

improvement, but what they did as rookies along with the work they have put in during theoffseason suggest they are headed in the right direction. Playing against Summer League competition won’tdomuch to enhance that.

Peavybackatit

While thePelicans’ two firstround draft picks from 2025 won’tplay,their second-round pick (Micah Peavy) will.

“I’membracing it big time,” Peavy said. “I’mgoing to go out and showwhat I’ve been working on and what this new coaching staff has been putting in place.”

Peavyplayed in 61 games as a rookie. His best asset is his defense, which is why thePelicans drafted him.But Peavy, who averaged 4.3 points per game last season, knows Vegas is achance to show strides on offense.

“Mainly,(Ican show) just how manyshotsI’ve been putting up,”Peavysaid. “My confidence is there.”

Newkid on theblock

Jaron Pierre, the New Orleans native and St.Augustine High School alum,isthe only player in the Pelicans’ 2026 draft class. He was drafted late in the second round with the 58th overall pick.

All eyes will be on him. At Pierre’sintroductory news conference last week, he described playing withhis hometown team as surreal.

“It’s not surreal anymore,”he

Thepartnership also includes amerchandise collectionfeaturingthe band’s tongueand lips logo, along with two NASCARthemed vinyl editions of “Foreign Tongues.”

Megan Malayter,vice president of licensing and consumer products for NASCAR, said the organization was approached by representatives of the band about working together

“The Rolling Stones,they’re iconic, they’ve been around since 1962, and so they appeal to that generation that was there, but they have just such history,folklore, andnostalgia around them that they appeal to the younger audiences of today,” Malayter said. “So there really is amazing crossover.” NASCAR walks atricky line when it comes to satisfying older racingfans whileappealingtoits youngersupporters andexpanding its audience. While itsolder fans are likely more familiar with the Stones, whowere inducted into theRock andRollHall of Famein 1989, Zilisch, Hocevar and Love are three of its younger drivers. Garrett Mitchell, apopularYou-

“It wascool. It was fun,” Hocevar said. “Yeah, just nice to kind of let loose, Iguess, on avideo.” Hocevar saidhelikestosee NASCAR try new waystointeract with potential fans.

“Yeah, they have to,” he said. “I feel like theyjust gottokeep throwing stuff at the dartboard and hopefully something sticks here.”

Zilisch described himself as a hugemusic fan. He grewuplistening to Foo Fighters, Linkin Park and the Red Hot ChiliPeppers with his father in the car.Hesaid he has paid more attentiontothe Stones musicsince he became part of NASCAR’spartnership with the band.

Filming the video, Zilisch said, wasamemorable experience.

“Theymadeusdress up like we were in the 90s and wearleather and have all this jewelry on,” he said. “It definitely wasalittle bit unique and outside of what Iwould normally be wearing butregardless it wasjust acool shoot. We got to go inside this old tour bus and, you know,just kind of feel like I wasback in theday even though I’ve never lived in that era of time.”

SUMMERLEAGUE ROSTER

(NBA experience in parentheses)

Chris Bell 6-7 Forward (0)

KobeBufkin 6-4 Guard (3)

Melvin Council 6-4 Guard (0)

Dominique Daniels 5-10 Guard(0)

Malik Dia 6-9 F/C(0)

Hunter Dickinson 7-1 Center (1)

Nate Mensah 6-9 Center (1)

JalonMoore 6-7 Forward (0)

Markquis Nowell 5-7 Guard (1)

Josh Oduro6-9 F/C(1)

JohnnyO’Neil 6-10 Forward (0)

Micah Peavy6-7 Forward (1)

Jaron Pierre 6-5 Guard (0)

Jordan Riley6-5 Guard (0)

ChristianShumate 6-6Forward (0)

SolomonWashington 6-7 Forward(0)

SCHEDULE

Thursday: vs.Timberwolves,2:30 p.m.

Saturday: vs.Hornets, 3p.m.

Sunday: vs.Suns, 2p.m.

July 15: vs.Cavaliers, 4:30 p.m.

July 17, 18 or 19: TBA

said Monday.“I’mreally living it.”

Home again2

Pierre isn’tthe only player from New Orleans on the Summer League roster.Solomon Washington, whoplayed at Carver and was Louisiana’sMr. Basketballin2022, is getting his shot to play forthe Pelicans. The 6-foot-7 forward played his first three seasons at Texas A&M before finishing up this past season at Maryland.

“I wanttoshow that Ibelong here and that Ican compete with anybody on any given night and probably be the best player on the floor forwhat Ido,” Washington said.

Most intriguing players

There are plenty to choose from. The high-flying Christian Shumate, whoplayed at McNeese State, returns to the Summer League team forasecond straight year

There’salso KobeBufkin, whowas drafted by the Atlanta Hawks with the No.15overall pick in the 2023 draft. That was one pick after the Pelicans drafted Jordan Hawkins.

Ican’tleave off Markquis Nowell, a5-foot-7 guard whoset an NCAA Tournament record with 19 assists in Kansas State’s overtime winover Michigan State in 2023. Andthere’s DominiqueDaniels, whoplayed at California Baptist. Daniels averaged 23.2 points, including a47-point game against Utah Valley.Hemade18of21 free throwsinthatgame. He is one of 10 players on the Summer League roster with no NBAexperience. He and the other nine are hoping to change that with a strong showing in Vegas.

Email RodWalkeratrwalker@ theadvocate.com.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NAM y. HUH

Chase Briscoe celebrates after winning aNASCAR CupSeries race at Chicagoland SpeedwayonSunday in Joliet, Ill.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByNAM y. HUH

Connor Zilisch drivestothe trackbefore the startofaNASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland SpeedwayonSunday in Joliet, Ill

WORLDCUP 2026

Merino kicksSpain past Portugal

BY SCHUYLER DIXON AP sportswriter

ARLINGTON,Texas

Mikel Merino

was still on the bench in the final minutes of regulation, with Spain coach Luis de la Fuente worried about hanging on to his substitutes as long as possiblebecause of looming extra time.

The Arsenal forward made all that fretting moot.

Merino scored in the first minute of second-half stoppage time, and Spain beat Portugal 1-0 on Monday to end the World Cup career of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Merino had just been knocked down and afoul was called. While Portugal’sBernardo Silva argued, Merino played the ball back in, ran towardthe goal and easily beat goalkeeper Diogo Costa after aseries of passes capped by Ferran Torres’ nifty ball through the middle.

“He’sone of the best in his position worldwide, and he has given us afantastic result and afantastic goal,” de laFuente said through atranslator.“Iwant to express the importance of substitutes that came in later inthe game. Not just today,but the contribution in other games has been enormous.”

Spain advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since winning its only World Cup title in 2010.

Ronaldo was trying to get Portugal to the quarterfinals in asecond consecutive tournament for the first time. Instead, the career on soccer’sbiggest stage is over for the all-time leader ininternational goals (146) and appearances (233). Merino didn’tenter untilthe 85th minute, and his heads-upplay showed some of the versatilitythat helped Arsenal win its first Premier League title in morethan 20 years thisspring.

TheWorld Cup was in doubt for Merino,who turned 30 during the tournament, after right foot surgery cut short his Arsenal season. In the biggestmoment of the year for Spain, there he was with fresh legs, finishing with his left foot into theleft corner of thenet.

Afteremerging from agroup hug with his teammates, Merino made acircle around the flag in acorner before lettingout aguttural scream while clenching both fists.

That’show his father,Miguel Merino, celebrated more than three decadesago during his club career in Spain. And his sonfirst emulated it after alate goal to beat host Germany to send Spain to the

semifinals of the European championship two years ago.

This was MikelMerino’s first World Cup goal, and11thfor the national team.

“Whatbetterway to celebrate,” Merinosaid. “You remember all the good and the bad, and there have been difficultmoments for me this year.”

The latest meeting of Iberian Peninsula rivals that first played in afriendly in Madrid 105years ago was quite thecontrast to their most recent World Cup match

It was eight years ago thatRonaldohad his only World Cuphat trick in a3-3 drawwith Spain in a group stageopenerthat is consid-

Mexico comesbacktoearth afterexit

Co-host’sWorld Cup dreams endedafter loss to England in Mexico City

BY CARLOS RODRIGUEZ AP sportswriter

MEXICO CITY Fornearlya month, millionsofMexicansallowed themselves to believe this World Cup would be historic. They dared bigger and brighter dreams as the national team racked up win afterwin in fortress Azteca. Then they woke up to acruel reality on Monday morning: The WorldCup was marchingon withoutMexico. The team lost to England 3-2 in around of 16 thriller on Sunday night and officiallydisbanded in themorning. Supporters reluctantly returned to their daily routines, their team no longer acontender and their country no longer a host in atournament running for another two weeks across the United States.

“It’spainful because we dreamed and had high hopes, and crashing out like this hurts alot,” Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said. “It wasn’tmeanttobe we couldn’t sealthe deal and give the people another night of joy.” Mexico staged the opening ceremony and first match on June 11 for a2-0 victory over South Africa. South Korea was beaten 1-0, the Czech Republic 3-0 and Ecuador 2-0 in the round of 32 for Mexico’sfirst knockout stage success in 40 years.

But Mexico stumbled in the round of 16 for theeighth time in the past nine World Cups. The sole exception was 2022 in Qatar, where El Trifailed to survive the group stage.

“Breaking through thatbarrier isn’taseasy as everyone thinks, butwe’re on the right track,” midfielder Erik Lira said. “This time was different because we

of 16 match between Mexicoand England on SundayinMexico City.England won3-2

were playingasone of the best teams out there; we’re leaving with our heads heldhigh.”

Butunlike previous heartbreaks —late-game collapses against Germany in 1998 and theNetherlandsin2014, andthe penalty shootoutdisaster against Bulgariain 1994 —thisexit was on homesoil with every advantage.

Mexico was riding awave of four consecutive clean-sheet victories. Estadio Azteca was fiercely partisan. And Mexico City’s altitude was expected to hamperan unacclimatized England squad.

Then ared card left England playing aman short for most of thesecond half.

But Mexicocouldn’t capitalize “Losing didn’thurtsomuch just because it was England; it hurt because this time it really seemed possibletogofurther,” saidEduardo Juárez, a63-yearoldretiree still wearing hisgreen jersey on Monday.“We hada great team and high hopes but now it’sover.” On Monday morning, Mexican PresidentClaudia Sheinbaum usedher daily news conference

to offer wordsofcomforttothe country

“Theyplayedvery, very well, and the moment Mexico is experiencing is one of great pride, hope andunity,” Sheinbaum said “Weneed to keep our spirits up, acknowledge theeffort andmove forward.”

With Mexico’srun over,Aguirre’s contract hasexpired. According to the federation’s original roadmap, his assistant coach —Barcelona great Rafael Márquez—isslated to take the helm for the 2030 World Cup cycle. Márquez has asigned agreement in principle but his official appointment must still be ratified by the owners of the18Liga MX first divisionclubs. This review will take place next month after Aguirre submits his final tournament report. “I had Rafa as aplayer and now as acolleague;heismore than qualified,” Aguirre noted. “He is avaluable asset, he’llprove it, andI hope he achieves better results thanwedid.” For Mexico’sfans, that transition

GLANCE

Scores, schedule ROUND OF 16

ered one of the tournament’sbest games The 41-year-old superstar scored three timesinthis tournament, but he didn’thave many chances againstSpain’sUnai Simón, who extendedhis WorldCup record to 609 minutes without conceding a goal. Spainbecame the first team to record six straight shutouts at theWorld Cup. The best chance was Ronaldo’s niftybackward kick in the 37th minute when Joao Felix’sheader deflected off Simón’sleft shoulder and popped in the air to Ronaldo He flicked the ball with his right foot, but it wassoft enough to give Simón time to recover and makea

leaping grab.

“I’ll wake up tomorrow like I wokeuptoday,with aclear conscience,” saidRonaldo,who aday earlier had repeated his previous declaration that his sixth World Cupwould be his last. “I gave my best. Iwon three titles with Portugal. Before Cristiano, Portugal hadn’twon any title. So, I’mhappy The biggest title thatIwon with the national team wasin2016 (European Championship), which for me had the same dimension as a World Cup, honestly.”

Portugal desperately pushed for an equalizer in the final eight minutes of stoppage time. Silva had a header that went just over the top of the net.

The defensive struggle came just twodaysshy of ayear since Portugal beat Spain in ariveting UEFANations League final that went to penalty kicks after a2-2 draw

The otherWorld Cup meeting was Spain’s1-0 victory —alsoin the round of 16 —when La Roja won the title in South Africa.

“Itwas agreat match. Twosuperb teams,” de la Fuente said “As we had said it, it was like an anticipated final. As it was expected,wehad to sufferuntil the very end.”

TUESDAYLOOKAHEAD

More starsaim to shineinround of 16

BY JOHN MARSHALL AP sportswriter

Kylian Mbappé pushed France through to the World Cup quarterfinals. Erling Haaland and Norway will be there, too.

So will Harry Kane afterEngland’sepic 3-2 win over Mexico.

Thestars are shining in this World Cup and it’sabout to get brighter, even after Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo bowed out for the last time.

Thelasttwo roundof16games are Tuesday,includingSwitzerland against Colombia in Vancouver, British Columbia. Topping the marqueeisashowdown between Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah in Atlanta.

One star will moveonand add to his legacy.The other will head home from the World Cup, maybe for the final time.

Messiadded theone thingmissing from his resume by leading Argentina to the World Cup title four years agoand hasshown he’s still oneofthe world’sbest at age 39.

Messihas scoredseven goalsin four matches, matching Mbappé and Haaland in astar-studded GoldenBoot race. Messi has scored in arecord eight straight World Cup matches, dating to the 2022 titlerun, andkeepsadding to his recordcareer total of 20 goals.

Salah, 34, has been the face of Egyptian soccer,afour-timePremier League Golden Boot winner andthe league’s all-time leading foreign-born scorer The 34-year-old “Egyptian King” has an Egypt-record three World Cup goalsand is one behind national team coach Hossam Hassan’srecord of 69 international goals. Perhaps Salah’sbiggest accomplishment is pushing Egypt deeper into theWorldCup than it’s ever been.The Pharaohs earned their

firstWorld Cup victorybybeating NewZealand3-1 in the group stage and earned theirfirst knockout stage win by outlasting Australia in apenalty shootout after a1-1 draw At aWorld Cup in which powers such as Germanyand Brazilwere oustedbyunderdogs, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said there was danger of underestimating Egypt.

“I think this World Cup has been, is very tricky for everyone. It seems there is no clear favorite,” Scaloni said Monday.“Iamconvinced that if we didn’tresort to our character in the last match we would be out as Cape Verde was giving us avery hard day.” Egypt is confident it can test Argentina as well and produce the tournament’s latest upset —especially because it has Salah.

“My dreams have no limits. My ambitions have no limits. Ipromise that we will do everything to live up to the expectations (of fans),” Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said. “We’re no underdogs. We’re bigin every respect. We area civilization that is 7,000 years old, even more than 7,000 years.”

Colombiavs. Switzerland

With stops alreadyinMexicoand the UnitedStates, Colombiawill become the only team to play in all three host nations when they play Switzerland in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Tuesday Colombia opened witha 3-1win over UzbekistaninMexico City beat Congo 1-0 in Guadalajara, Mexico, andplayedPortugaltoa scoreless draw in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Colombians opened the knockout stage with a1-0 win over Ghana in Kansas City, Missouri,and nowhavethe chance to clinch their first quarterfinal berth since2014. Switzerland beat Algeria 2-0 for itsfirst knockout-round win since 1938 to earn the trip to Vancouver

will become the new anchor for their fractured hopes.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NATACHA PISARENKO

Mexicofans look on after the WorldCup round

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByJULIOCORTEZ

Mikel Merino celebrates scoring agoal for Spain during the WorldCup round of 16 match against Portugal on MondayinArlington, Texas. Spain won1-0 and advances to the quarterfinals.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By FRANK FRANKLIN II

World Cup run stirs Norway’s national pride

Stevens says Brown trade about flexibility

BY KYLE HIGHTOWER AP sportswriter

BOSTON Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens and team owner Bill Chisholm want to make one thing clear: The decision to trade perennial All-Star Jaylen Brown wasn’t arrived at lightly But from their perspective, it was necessary to give the franchise the flexibility it needs to compete with the changing landscape of an NBA in which managing the team’s balance sheet will be more important than retaining multiple homegrown stars with pricey contracts.

That said, Stevens said Monday that he is fully aware of the criticism that surrounds Boston’s front office in the aftermath of its stunning decision last week to trade Brown to division rival Philadelphia for Paul George and multiple draft picks.

With George having only one season and a player option remaining after that, Stevens said the future flexibility and draft compensation is what they value. Additionally Chisholm was adamant that there was no directive from him about keeping the salary cap at a certain level.

Viking Row shows ‘we’re

all together”

BY STEPHEN WHYNO AND STEVE DOUGLAS AP sportswriters

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J Erling Haaland banged the drum to lead Norway fans in the Viking Row that has become a signature part of the World Cup.

After celebrating carrying his nation into the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time by scoring both goals in a 2-1 win over Brazil on Sunday, his thoughts drifted to the scene back home where tens of thousands of Norwegians partied into the night.

And, of course, performing the Viking Row themselves.

“Look at the streets in Norway,” Haaland said. “I’ve never experienced anything like it before. I kind of wish that I was in Oslo now celebrating with all the people.”

Thankfully for his teammates, the Manchester City striker is in the U.S. piling up the goals and making this the best World Cup in the history of the Norway men’s national team.

This improbable run that took another leap forward by knocking off five-time champion Brazil is stirring up pride in fans at stadiums and in the streets where the games are taking place, and across the Scandinavian country of just more than 5.5 million people.

As many as 50,000 people were watching the match against Brazil at Rådhusplassen — the square outside the town hall in Nor-

BALOGUN

Continued from page 1C

ruling not to enforce a ban on Balogun.

The European soccer body UEFA described the decision as an “incomprehensible” breach of soccer’s rule of law Trump acknowledged calling Infantino and took credit for getting FIFA to review the red card.

A chaotic and unprecedented day in modern World Cup history then saw a FIFA appeals judge dismiss Belgium’s legal challenge, fewer than eight hours before kickoff in Seattle with a quarterfinals place at stake.

The Belgian soccer body “is not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision,” FIFA said in a statement. The Belgian federation said it “has informed the United States Soccer Federation that it contests the eligibility of the player, should the player be listed on the referee’s team sheet. This leaves all further actions open.”

The fallout from Balogun’s redcard challenge against a BosniaHerzegovina defender in a 2-0 win for the U.S. in the round of 32 last Wednesday has turned scrutiny on Infantino’s executive control of FIFA and his years-long close ties to Trump.

Infantino insisted in a social media post that FIFA’s disciplinary committee acted with independence and judged cases such as Balogun’s on “applicable regulations and the specific facts.”

wegian capital Oslo, according to the city council. Wearing a Norway soccer scarf around his neck, Crown Prince Haakon even met a throng of fans outside the royal palace and was seen taking part in a mass Viking Row after the game.

Fireworks exploded at Ullevaal Stadium, the home ground of Norway’s national team and where thousands more sat on long tables to view the game.

“The whole nation is rowing together,” coach Ståle Solbakken said. “We are having a great party here and in Oslo and in all the other big and small cities all the way through Norway, and the rowing is in a way a symbol of that and that we’re all together.”

Giant crowds of fans in the red, white and blue colors of the flag turned the rowing into a viral sensation by taking over Times Square and doing it in the stands at a New York Mets baseball game. They will get at least one more chance to see Norway play, against England on Saturday outside Miami with the chance to reach the semifinals.

“We have to keep the feet on the ground,” captain Martin Ødegaard said “We’ve shown that we can beat anyone and that we are really enjoying what we’re doing. We’re having fun, and in football everything is possible so just keep the foot on the floor, keep working hard and we’ll see what happens and just go with the flow.”

Norway is in the World Cup for just the fourth time and the first since 1998 after failing to qualify each of the past six times. Haaland, who turns 26 on July 21, was not even born then and joked that

“During our conversation,” Infantino said of his call with Trump, “I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies.”

A FIFA disciplinary judge’s ruling Sunday left Balogun free to face Belgium in the round of 16 instead of serving a mandatory one-game ban

The Belgian federation earlier said FIFA had not provided key documents for its appeal, and the soccer body of Norway — which faces England in the quarterfinals Saturday — said the lack of legal explanation from FIFA was “reason for concern regarding the integrity of the competition.”

The Swiss Football Association declared that the “credibility of the competition depends on clear rules that are applied consistently.”

Trump on Monday defended calling Infantino saying he merely pointed out a “horrible” decision by a referee to issue Balogun a red card for an illegal tackle.

“All I did was ask for a review I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump told reporters at the White House about lobbying Infantino, a close ally, not to impose a one-game ban. Instead, the ban was deferred for one year of probation and flared into an all-time controversy in the World Cup’s 96-year history just hours ahead of the U.S.-Belgium match in Seattle.

UEFA earlier criticized FIFA for an “incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision” that it said “crossed a red line,” and other stinging criticism came globally

no one can blame him for previous defeats when he wasn’t playing.

“You can blame me for coming here,” said Haaland, whose seven goals at his first World Cup are tied with Argentina’s Lionel Messi and France’s Kylian Mbappé. “It’s unbelievable. I’m proud. I’m proud of my country and I’m proud of everyone.”

It continues a fairytale season for Norwegian soccer, with Bodø/ Glimt — a tiny team that plays in an 8,000-capacity stadium delivering one of the most extraordinary stories for years in the European game by qualifying for the Champions League and beating a string of top teams, including Haaland’s Man City, to reach the knockout stage.

Now the national men’s team is taking center stage in its first major international tournament since 2000. The players are looking to emulate the Norway women’s team, which won the World Cup in 1995 and has long been a top international side.

Haaland said several times after beating Brazil that he could not believe such a victory was possible and that it was beyond his wildest dreams to pull it off. He also hopes Norway’s success transcends this year and makes kids want to represent their country

“I want to actually also cultivate a culture where we are proud to play for the national team and if you play for Norway then you should do it proudly and I think we should cultivate this kind of attitude in young people,” Haaland said. “To all the kids who see and watch now, I want you to do like me, and I want you to play proudly when you grow up.”

from former World Cup stars and coaches at the tournament.

“It’s a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision that will hurt the World Cup,” Norway coach Ståle Solbakken said Sunday after his team beat Brazil to reach the quarterfinals.

UEFA, whose member federations include Belgium, insisted:

“Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not. When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined.”

UEFA has often clashed with Infantino during his decade in FIFA power

“We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision,” said UEFA, where Infantino was its CEO-like general secretary from 2009 until being elected to lead FIFA in February 2016.

Infantino’s predecessor Sepp Blatter, who was forced from office in 2015 in fallout from corruption scandals, posted Monday on social media: “Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned by rules, evidence and independent bodies.”

Balogun was sent off directly for planting his cleated foot on the ankle of Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic during a 2-0 win for the U.S. in the round of 32. That kind of challenge has been a routine red card all season in competitions worldwide, and Balogun could have expected a two-game ban for serious foul play under the FIFA disciplinary code.

“As Jaylen and I sat down in early June and we talked about potential futures in Boston and elsewhere, I told him if we were ever to trade Jaylen that would be a sad day for me personally,” Stevens said. “And certainly the emotions that all of us have felt I do think we are empathetic and understand. This is a really hard thing.”

Hard, but also what Stevens said the front office collectively deemed vital for the ability of the Celtics to compete going forward despite coming off back-to-back 50-plus win regular seasons after their 2024 NBA championship.

“The path looked a little bit more challenging to me,” Stevens said. “I might be wrong. I’m not going to stand up there and be defensive about that. But the path looked a little bit more challenging with 70% of our (salary) cap, and such a high percent of our usage tied into two players.”

Brown enters next season with more than about $185 million remaining on a five-year, $304 million contract he signed with Boston in July 2023. Had he stayed, the team would have to decide whether to give him a two-year extension of around another $140 million.

That, combined with the almost $190 million left on Jayson Tatum’s $314 million deal, was deemed too much for the Celtics to carry and maintain roster flexibility

George will make $54 million this coming season, which combined with Tatum’s $58 million will constitute about 70% of the Celtics’ salary cap in 2026-27.

“This was all about basically trying to win, and really trusting in our process,” Chisholm said. Stevens also defended against a sentiment that the trade return, which includes two first-round picks and two second-round picks, was low

In George, the Celtics get back a six-time All-NBA and nine-time All-Star wing, but a player who has played 50 or more games just three times since 2019 due to various injuries.

“We like Paul Paul’s a really good player,” Stevens said.

“We’re not very far removed from all sitting, in our series against Philadelphia and watching Paul be a guy that could carry you...but also play a complementary role on both ends of the floor at the highest of levels.”

Along with ending Brown’s 10-year tenure in Boston, it also ends the nine-year partnership between Brown and Tatum, who played in seven conference finals and two NBA Finals together Tatum celebrated the duo in an Instagram post in the days after Brown’s trade.

“From first round exits to winning a champ together and respect for you as a player and as a person,” Tatum wrote.

Stevens said Tatum was not consulted about the decision to ultimately trade Brown.

“I know how little I sleep. I don’t think anybody else needs to feel that,” Stevens said.

WORLD CUP

Continued from page 1C

of 32.

Pulisic has 33 goals in 90 international appearances but has not scored in this tournament. Balogun, a 25-year-old striker, was shown a red card during the U.S. victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina, but FIFA lifted his suspension for Monday’s match after U.S. President Donald Trump intervened on Balogun’s behalf.

Balogun did not score on Monday He helped set up Tillman’s goal in the 31st minute when he was fouled by Belgium defender Brandon Mechele roughly 25 yards outside the Red Devils’ goal. Tillman scored on the ensuing free kick. Just before the goal, Balogun waved his arms and pumped up the American fans. The U.S. tried to set up Balogun multiple times. He made use of his speed on several runs but could not get past Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. His best chance came in the 82nd minute, when Courtois got in front of a left-footed attempt. Balogun was replaced by Haji Wright in the 92nd minute. Balogun finished the tournament with three goals, matching Landon Donovan in 2010 for the second-most goals by an American in a World Cup. Bert Patenaude holds the U.S. record with four in the initial tournament in 1930.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ABBIE PARR

United States’ Matt Freese, left, and Antonee Robinson react after Belgium scored its third goal during their World Cup round of 16 match on Monday in Seattle.

Norway’s Erling Haaland leads the team as they participate in a viking boat row after the World Cup round of 16 match between Brazil and Norway on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J

AP PHOTO By CHARLES KRUPA Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown drives to the basket against the Philadelphia 76ers during the first half of Game 2 of a firstround playoff series on April 21 in Boston.

Shark attack stirs start of national alert setup

BY KIM CHANDLER

Associated Press

Lulu Gribbin was 15 when she survived a shark attack off the coast of Florida. She lost her left hand, part of her right leg and almost her life.

What she didn’t know when she entered the water on that day in 2024 was that another woman had been bitten by a shark 90 minutes earlier and just 3 miles down the beach. Had she known about the earlier attack, there is no way she would have been swimming, she said Gribbin’s story has inspired new federal legislation to authorize emergency alerts to mobile phones to warn beachgoers when a shark has bitten someone in the area.

President Donald Trump recently signed “Lulu’s Law,” which requires the Federal Communications Commission to allow the emergency messages. The legislation, which Gribbin advocated for, authorizes the warnings by classifying a shark attack as an event for which an emergency alert can be issued. It is up to states to implement the warnings. Gribbin’s home state of Alabama approved such a warning system last year

JONES

AP FILE PHOTO By CALEB

Sand and hammerhead sharks swim in a holding tank at the University of Hawaii’s Institute of Marine Biology on Oahu’s Coconut Island in 2016.

“It’s really just common-sense legislation. It says that whenever there has been a shark attack in a certain area where you are near, it will send an alert to your phone, exactly like how an Amber Alert system works when a child is abducted,” she said Gribbin said she hopes the alert system will help prevent attacks like hers. “I definitely see this law working in the future and I’m really excited to hopefully save lives,” she said A fight to survive

Gribbin was one of three people bitten by a shark on June 7, 2024, off the Florida Panhandle. She was on a mother-daughter trip to the Florida Panhandle. Gribbin said she and her friend had been diving for sand dollars.

“All of the sudden my best friend yelled, ‘Shark!’ and so we all started swimming for our lives,” Gribbin recalled. She said she remembered that

ä See SHARK, page 2D

BY JACK AURESTO Associated Press

FOREIGN FRONTIER

BY LESLIE CARDÉ

writer

Contributing

Before he worked on hit movies like “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “This Is The End,” Brent Joseph fell in love with film when he was a boy growing up in Terrytown.

But it was at Brother Martin High School in 1990 that the future film editor got his first chance to see movie-making up close, when director Oliver Stone and his crew rolled into New Orleans to shoot “JFK.”

“I was in love with filmmaking at a young age already, and so I actually skipped school a few times when I heard they were filming in the French Quarter,” Joseph recalled. “I kind of sneaked onto the set and got to see what a great production looked like. And then when the movie came out in 1991, it won the Oscar for best film editing. It was such a tour de force. I was hooked.”

Fast-forward more than three decades, and that kid who dreamed of being part of the film world is now editor on “Broken Land,” a new Western drama that just debuted on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV. At a time when immigrants across the world are under fire, the movie goes a long way toward illus-

trating how many things in life are not as they appear and how sometimes friendships are forged in the most unlikely of circumstances.

Directed by J.T Walker, “Broken Land” is the story of an embittered Texas border rancher who has just lost his wife, when a young migrant who is crossing his property, is accidentally shot.

After graduating from Loyola University with a degree in cre-

ative writing, Joseph began working his way up the ladder until he scored big as an assistant editor on David Fincher’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which also shot in New Orleans and won three Academy Awards.

He’s also directed a few films So, when the director came calling about editing “Broken Land,” which was shooting in Texas and starring David Morse (“The Hurt Locker,” “Mayor of Kingstown”),

Local editor’s Western drama sheds new light on immigration

President John F Kennedy sits behind the Resolute Desk in 1961 as he talks with Mongi Slim, right, Tunisian ambassador to the U.S., and G. Mennen Williams, assistant secretary of state for African affairs.

PROVIDED PHOTO By JENNy McCABE/SARAHPURGATORIO

David Morse stars as Carson Tidwell in the western drama ‘Broken Land’ on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV

PROVIDED PHOTO By SARA PURGATORIO

Jaklyn Bejarano stars as Irena, her feature debut, in ‘Broken Land.’

Joseph

Bickeringover leftover birthday cake

Dear Miss Manners: Iknow this will probably sound trivial,but:Who should decide who gets the leftover birthday cake? See? Itold you it was trivial.

Imade abirthday cake for my nephew.WhileI was icing it, Imentioned to his mom (my sister-in-law) that we could share the leftovers. She replied that it was his cake, so he got all of it.Idropped the subject at the time, as it wasn’t worth fighting over. That night, we sang “Happy Birthday”and sliced into the cake. Thenmysister-in-law said, “Just think, Jasper: That’sall yours.”

SHARK

Continued from page1D

sharks are attracted to frantic splashingand yelled for everyone to be calm. Gribbin, who was closest to the shark, was bitten.

“The shark bit off my hand first, and Iraised my armout of thewater,and there was just flesh and bone there,” Gribbin said. The shark then latched onto her leg. Aman punched the shark off her and strangers on the beach rushed to help She was flown by helicopter to anearby hospital.

Doctors were able to save the teen’slife but had to amputate part of her right leg.

Choosing positivity

In the hospital, Gribbin made adeliberate decision to choose joy and to never give up. She initially struggled knowing, “that Ionly have two regular limbs, and that my lifewould be completely different.”

“I would cry,and Iwould ask my mom, ‘Why is it happening to me?’ And on that day,weput aBible verseon my bedside table that said, ‘With God, all things are possible.’ Andthen she told me that what you look like doesn’tdefine you, it’swho you are on the inside. And so, Ithink that stuck with me throughout my whole recovery the past two years. It doesn’tmatter what Ilook like, as long as I’m spreading positivity and inspiring others to stay strong and to never give up,” she said. Gribbin was fitted with prosthetic limbs, quickly regainedher ability to walk, returned to sports andgot her driver’slicense. She has gone back in the water and learned to surf, meeting Bethany Hamilton, aprofessional surferwho lost her arm in ashark attack.

U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, the AlabamaRepublican who sponsored the legislation, said the fact that Griffin was bitten soon after an attack on another woman prompted discussions about what could have been done differently. That ledtothe idea of an alert. She contacted Griffin’sparents who had thoughtabout the same possibility

EDITOR

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he was all in. The movie businessisa rollercoaster, Joseph said During one lull in production, he was working as a driver to actors like RavenSymoné and Randy Quaid

“But all of that endedwhen Idropped Brendan Fraser off at the airport in 2005 so I could evacuatefor Katrina,” Joseph said. “I remember telling him that it probably wouldn’tbeabig deal and that Iwould pick him up in afew days when production resumed.

“A week later,Iwas sitting in the dark in my parents’ house in Hammond when thephonerangand my dad said it was someone named Brendan. The actor was calling to check on me, and continued to do so months after the storm.” Post-Katrina, Joseph moved to Austin but found himself returning frequent-

This timeIwas not silent. In my sweetest voice, Isaid, “But you’ll share some withme.” Then my sister-in-law started talking about how it wasn’tgoodmanners, that the cake belonged to the birthday boy and that even thoughImade it, it wasn’t mine.

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

So, is the cake part of his birthday present?Oristhe hostess or the baker the onewho decides how the food should be distributed? Gentle reader: Apparently you do consider this worthfighting over And amost unseemly battle it is, on both sides. MissManners’ only sympathies are with

PROVIDED PHOTO FROM THE GRIBBIN FAMILy

This undated photocourtesy of the Gribbin family shows Lulu Gribbin, wholost her hand and partofher leg in a shark attackoff the coast of Florida in 2024.

“Ifthere had been any type of alertthat was given that there’snoway thatLulu wouldhave been in the water. Andsowetalked about how asimple change could have made ahugeimpact,” Britt said Sharkbites remainrare

While sharks are commonly found in the waters off the United States, sharkbites are rare, said Gavin Naylor, directorofthe FloridaMuseumofNatural History’s shark research program. There arebetween 60 to 80 known unprovoked bites worldwide each year,he said. It’sextremelyrare that twoormorepeopleare bit in close proximity.He saidinadatabase of known shark bites, called the InternationalShark Attack File, there have only been afew instances of multiple bites in asingle day

“Ifsomebodyisbittenbya shark, and then an alert goes out, the probability that another person’s going to be bittenbya shark within, let’s say,two or three hours is incredibly small,” Naylor said. When that happens, he said it’slikely because of environmental conditions such as sharksfollowing schoolsofbaitfishcloser to theshore.Murkywater conditionscan also be afactor because they increase the chance thatashark will mistake aperson for afish

ly to work on several films in New Orleans— amongthem, Seth Rogen’s“This Is the End” and “Shell Shocked,” a documentaryheedited about violenceinNew Orleans. He hasnow returned to Louisiana and is livingoutsideof New Orleans. Joseph seemstolove the entire process of editing because he canlook at the many takesanactor may do within onescene and, for instance, in “Border Land,” pickaparticular take of David Morse’sand pair it up with another take from his estranged border patrol son played by Bill Heck, and in that way create something totally different or enhanced fromwhat you see on thescripted page. “It allows youto create something, and in some ways, it’slike atotal rewritingofthe film,” Joseph explained. “So, Iguess thething Ilove about it is that it’sone of the stages of production where you’re hands on with the film. Youknow,it’svery similar to writing,and Ilike

thechild, whose birthday was hijacked by two grown-ups haggling over his leftover cake. She is forced to rule that the cake was, in effect, presented to thenephew,asthe dessert to be shared with everyone at the table. So, no —the baker should not makeoff with what is left.

Yearslater,your nephew’swife will wonder why he begs her not to present him withabirthday cake, which would stir memories of his mother and aunt quarreling.

Dear Miss Manners: Iamonavery limited income. Astamp is nearly adollar,and that dollar can buy me acan of generic soup. Iget free internet access, so email messages are how Iwrite.

or seal.

In thearea whereGribbin was bitten, there are about 20 to 30 bull sharks1,312 feet offshore at all time, Naylor said. Great white sharks have been spotted morefrequently in the chilly waters of New England and Atlantic Canada, accordingtoconservationgroups. Asmartphone appcalledSharktivity also allows shark spotters to report their sightings.

The sightings might unnerve people, but Naylor saidit’simportanttoremember that shark attacks are rare

“If sharkswantedtoeat people, we’d have about 10,000 bitesaday.The fact thatwehavesofew is basically testament to the fact that the sharks are doing their level best to avoid people, not to target them,” Naylor said.

Brittsaid she believesparents and others on the beach will want the information. “I know as aparent, Iwant everytoolinmytoolbox to be able to keep my child safe,” Britt said.

Praise foralert system

Braxton Rocha, whowas bitten by alarge tiger shark offthe northshore of the Big Island of Hawaii, said he liked the ideaofanalert system.Hethinks it is information that people,particularly tourists to theisland, will want to know Rochawas spearfishing in 2015 when he saw thelarge shark. “Looked like abus or submarine. Shewas the biggest thing I’d seen in the ocean at that time,” Rocha said. He startedmaking his way to shore. When he looked back to check where the shark was, the animal was right in front of him. He tried to push the shark away, but theanimal wastoo big and powerful. It latched onto his leg. Rocha punched it in thenose and the shark let go and swam away

“Everything happened so fast.Itwas almostlike being struck by lightning. Iwas still kind of out of it.Ilooked down and seegiant clouds of blood just bursting out of my leg,” he said.

It took nearly100 staples to repair the gaping wound on his leg. But the experience did not dampen Rocha’s enthusiasm for the ocean and wildlife. “I’ve always loved sharks,” Rocha said.

to write. So, this processhas always stuckout to me. It’s funny because cinematographers anddirectors and starsare often theface of a film, but the editor probably spends more time working on thefilm than almost anybody,with theexception of the director.Ijustlovethat feeling of creating afilm in the edit room by carefully craftingjust whichshots to put where.”

Three years ago, Joseph directed “Beirut on the Bayou,” adocumentary about his family whocame from Lebanon to Louisiana in the 1890s,where they became peddlers in theFrench Quarter andalong Bayou Lafourche. He is currently working on updating that film so it can be released. In the meantime, he can hang his hat on “Border Land,” afilm which is certainly apropos to thetimes we’re currently living in.

ContactLeslie Cardé at lesliecardejournalist@ gmail.com.

Should Igive up ameal to send someoneathank-you note in the mail? Aretheir delicate sensibilities moreimportant than me eating?

Gentlereader: Congratulations on your attempt to makeitseem heartless to express gratitude to others. No doubt you picture Miss Manners harassing the unhoused for not giving dinner parties. Butyes, the delicate sensibilities of people whohave been generous to you are important. You should be thanking them as best you can. Arethose emails more than perfunctory notes? Are they specific andconvincingly grateful? Miss Manners worries about

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday, July 7, the 188th day of 2026. There are 177 days left in the year

TodayinHistory:

On July 7, 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced he was nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day O’Connor to become thefirst female justice on theU.S. SupremeCourt.

Also on this date:

In 1865, four people were hanged in Washington,D.C., for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln:Lewis Powell, David Herold, George Atzerodt and Mary Surratt, thefirst woman to be executed by thefederal government

In 1898, President William McKinley signed the Newlands Resolution, approving theannexation of theRepublic of Hawaii.

In 1976, theUnited States Military Academy at West Pointincluded female cadets for the first time as 119 women joined the Class of 1980.

DESK

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for the Arctic in the early 1850s in search of Sir John Franklin, who disappeared while seeking the Northwest Passage.During that mission, the Resolute became trapped in ice and was abandoned by its crew Years later,itwas discovered driftingthrough Arcticwaters by an American whaling vessel.

The United States repaired it and returned it to Queen Victoria. The vessel resumedservice for many years before eventually being retired.

Oncedecommissioned, Queen Victoriaexpressed her gratitiude to theUnited States by ordering the timbers of Resolute to be transformed intoseveral pieces of furniture. Oneof themwas alarge desk that she presented to President RutherfordB.Hayes in 1880.

that. The example of how you approached her,towhom you owe nothing but common civility,is not reassuring.

Dear Miss Manners: Is it proper to have ahousewarming party fora man and womanwho are building ahouse together,but aren’tmarried?

Gentle reader: Only if their building permit is legal.

Send questions to Miss Manners at herwebsite,www missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City,MO 64106.

TODAYINHISTORY

In 1990, the first “Three Tenors” concert took place as opera stars Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras performed amid the brick ruins of Rome’sBaths of Caracalla on the eve of the FIFA World Cup final.

In 2005, terrorist bombings in three Underground stations and adouble-decker bus killed 52 people and four bombers in the worst attack on London since World WarII.

In 2010, Los Angeles police arrested and charged Lonnie Franklin Jr.inthe city’s“Grim Sleeper” serial killings. (Franklin, who wassentenced to death for the killings of nine women and ateenage girl, died in prison in March 2020 at the age of 67.)

In 2016, Micah Johnson, aBlack Armyveteran who served in Afghanistan, opened fire on Dallas police, killing five officers in an act of vengeance for the fatal police shootings of Black men;the attack ended with Johnson being killed by abomb delivered by apolice robot.

In 2022, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation after top government officials quit over the latest scandal to engulf him,this one involving his appointmentofa politician who had been accused of sexual misconduct.

Today’sbirthdays: Musicianconductor Doc Severinsen is 99. Former Beatle

The desk spent muchof its early White House history out of public view until 1961, when first lady JacquelineKennedy movedit into the Oval Office.

Every president since Jimmy Carter hasusedthe Resolutedeskinthe Oval Office, with the exception of President George H.W Bush, who instead placed it in the Treaty Room.The desk has also becomethe place whererecent presidents leavealetter fortheir successor on Inauguration Day. The Resolute Desk stands not onlyasasymbolofthe American presidency, but also as areminder of the enduring friendship between the United States andBritain.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Whether you are dealing with money, joint ventures or health issues, knowing what's possible and what isn't before you make decisions will help you dodge letting someone take advantage of you.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Keep discussions going. You have more opportunities than you realize, and engaging in activities that can help you visualize the outcome and turn it into something realistic is encouraged.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) A positive attitude will help you acquire information that's geared toward better health, finances and negotiations. Dissect what you hear, and rework the information to suit your schedule and needs.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Refrain from offering personal information. Someone will use what you say against you. Concentrate more on what you can do to improve your life, prospects and financial situation.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Set a budget, draw the line and be realistic about what you want and what you need. Refuse to let anyone pressure you into something that isn't necessary. Do your research.

sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Spendmore time nurturing meaningful relationships and fixing up your space to offer a convenient and comfortable place to excel. Don't hesitate to do things differently if it enriches your life.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Do a double take if someone surprises or pressures

you to do something that makes you uncomfortable. Being upfront will lead to the least amount of tension.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Changes at home that add to your comfort and convenience will also bring you peace of mind and help you open doors that have been off limits. Don't let love cost you.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Simplify your life and question anything that sounds too good to be true Put more thought into what you enjoy doing and how you can implement what brings you pleasure into your everyday routine.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Look for ways to expand, and explore new outlets for your skills. Staying updated and accepting new means and methods for your talents will keep you in the running when faced with competitive situations.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Get your facts straight, and stick to the bare minimum. Too much of anything will cost you mentally, physically or financially. Take an innovative approach to decluttering.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Explore, live, learn and discover what excites you most. A change of scenery will spark your imagination and encourage you to explore new possibilities, but don't take a chance that can cost you.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by nEa, inc., dist. By andrews mcmeel syndication

FAMILY CIrCUS

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

toDAy's cLuE: n EQuALs H

CeLebrItY CIpher

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

Sudoku

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

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER

MargeryAllingham, commenting on hercrimesolverAlbertCampion,wrote, “He did not arrive at this conclusion by the decent process of quiet, logical deduction,nor yet by theblinding flash of glorious intuition, but by the shoddy, untidy process halfway between the two by which oneusually gets to know things.”

It is, of course, better to draw conclusionsfromlogicaldeduction.Inthisdeal, South is in four hearts. West leads the spade nine. Howshould East deduce the correct defense?

North made agame-invitational limit raise,showingfourormorehearts,10-12 supportpoints(here,allhigh-cardpoints no short-suitpoints) and eight losers (here, two in each suit).

Eastknows that West has ledasingleton or high from adoubleton —but which?

Eastshouldaskhimself,“Ifmypartner has asingleton, how many spades does that give declarer?”Here, theanswer is five. AndwouldSouth have opened one heart with fivespades in his hand? It would have been most unlikely, because with 5-5 in the majors, South wouldhave opened one spade, not one heart. So East should deduce that hispartner has led from adoubleton and shouldsignalencouragementwithhisspadeseven. South wins, cashes the heart ace, and plays another heart. ButWest winswith hisking,leadshissecondspade,receives aspade ruff and cashes the diamond ace for downone. Note finally that declarer does bestto callfordummy’sspadekingattrickone, making it morelikely that East will have areflex reaction and win withhis ace. ©2026 by nEa,inc., dist. By andrews mcmeel syndication

Each Wuzzle is awordriddlewhich creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: nOOn gOOD =gOOD aFTErnOOn

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3 additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit wordsare not allowed toDAy’s WoRD sAMEnEss: SAME-ness: Monotony; uniformity.

Average mark 16 words

Timelimit 20 minutes

yEstERDAy’s WoRD —GInGIVAL

Can you find 21 or morewords in SAMENESS? gain gang gingiva giving nail vain vang vial vigil vinal aging ailing align anvil lain laving ling living

today’s thought “And in the morning, rising up agreat while before day, he went out, and departed into asolitaryplace, and there prayed.” Mark 1:35

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard

dIrectIons: make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value. all the words are in the Official sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5th Edition.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer ken ken

InstructIons: 1 Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 thorugh 4 (easy) or 1 through 6 (challenging) without repeating. 2 The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using the given operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners. 3 Freebies: Fill in the single-box cages with the number in the top-left corner. HErE is a

WiShinG Well

Scrabble GramS

Get fuzzy

jump Start

roSe

DuStin

Drabble Wallace the brave

breWSter rockit

luann

Uniform Public WorksBid Form furnishedwiththe Bid‐ding Documents. Asingle setofBidding Docu‐mentsshall be issued at thecostofreproduction to contractorswho areli‐censed by theLicensing BoardofContractors This Projectshall require aLouisiana Contractors licensenumberfor one of thefollowing: Heavy Construction

or by papercopy. Forin‐formationabout the electronic submittal process, contactTed FlemingwithCentral AuctionHouse at 1-866570-9620. Each bidshall be either hand deliveredbythe bidder or hisagent,or such bidshall be sent by United States Postal Ser‐vice registered or certi‐fied mail with areturn receiptrequested,or shallbesubmitted elec‐tronically with Central AuctionHouse (CAH). Bids shallnot be ac‐ceptedortaken,includ‐ingreceiving anyhand deliveredbids,

BiddingDocuments for this Projectare on file in theoffice of GISEngi‐neering, LLClocated at 197 ElysianDr.,Houma Louisiana, 70363 and a single copy maybeob‐tained by each prospec‐tive bidder at acostof $100.00 by contacting AnnHebertorbidques‐tions@gisy.com forany clarification or informa‐tion with regard to the specifications.

Failureofthe U.S. Mail to deliverthe bids timely shallnot be considered duecausefor thesched‐uled time of thebid

Anon-mandatory Pre-Bid Conference will be held on Tuesday, July 14, 2026 at 2:00 P.M. at theGrand Isle Multiplex Center,lo‐catedat3101 Hwy1 in GrandIsle, Louisiana. TheGrand Isle Indepen‐dent LeveeDistrictre‐serves theright to reject anyand allbidsinaccor‐dancewithLouisiana StateBid Law. /s/ DavidCa‐mardelle DAVIDCAMARDELLE PRESIDENT GRANDISLEINDEPEN‐DENT LEVEEDISTRICT PUBLISH: Tuesday, June 30, 2026 Tuesday, July 7, 2026 Tuesday, July14, 2026 192727-jun30-jul7-14-3t

NOTICE INVITATION TO BID JULIA STREET WHARF CRUISE BOLLARD UPGRADES Notice is hereby given that theBoard of Com‐missioners of thePortof NewOrleans (Board) will receivebidselectroni‐callyatCentral Bidding, www.centralbidding. com, on or before Mon‐day, July 20, 2026,until 11:00 A.M.,local time,for Work OrderNo. 1-1203, JuliaStreet WharfCruise BollardUpgrades. Theworkconsistsoffur‐nishingall labor, mater‐ialand equipmentfor se‐lectivedemolition, instal‐lation of piling,construc‐tion of pile caps,and in‐stallation of mooringbol‐lardsasper thedrawings andspecificationspro‐videdinthe BiddingDoc‐uments.The site is lo‐catedatthe JuliaStreet WharfinNew Orleans, Louisiana. (Estimated Cost:Tobeprovidedat bidopening). AllBidsmustbeinaccor‐dancewiththe Bidding Documentson file with thePortofNew Orleans. In accordance with LSA R.S. 38:2212 (E)(7), com‐pleteBidding Documents areavailable fordown‐load viaCentral Bidding at www.centralbidding. com.Bidding Documents mayalsobeobtained from theSEBconnect App, availableinboththe Appleand Googleplay platforms. If requestfor Bidding Documentsismade throughU.S.mailor otherdeliveryservices, bidder must furnish a street mailingaddress andwillbeheldrespon‐siblefor servicefees Apre-bid conference will be held on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. localtime at thesite. Bid‐ders areurged to attend Federalregulations re‐quirethatpersons seek‐ingentry to secure areas of United States ports must presenta valid Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC) card andmust maintain possession of theTWICatall timesin secure port areas. Personsseekingentry to thebelow listed facilities of thePortofNew Or‐leansmustpossess a TWIC in ordertoattend pre-bidmeetings on port property.Restricted areasinclude port prop‐erty between Felicity Street andHenry Clay Avenue,Alabo Street Wharf, JourdanRoad Wharf, theJulia Street andErato Street Cruise Terminals, andduring cargoactivitiesatPoland Avenue Wharfand

Contractors. This projectisclassified as HeavyConstructionor Wharves, Docks, Harbor Improvements,a Objec‐tion to therequiredclas‐sification should be filed in accordance with La R.S. 37:2165. Adeposit of five

nate Bidprices, by

fied check, cashier's checkorbid bond is re‐quired,and thebidderto whom thecontractis awardedshall also be re‐quired to furnisha per‐formancebondinthe totalamount of thebid Thebid bond must be furnishedinaccordance with therequirementsof La.R.S.38:2218, andthe performancebondinac‐cordance with theprovi‐sionsofLa. R.S. 38:2219. Theaward of contract,if awarded, will be made within 45 calendar days after bidopening to the lowest qualified bidder whosebid complieswith allrequirementspre‐scribed. However, when thecontractistobe fi‐nanced by bondswhich arerequiredtobesold after receiptofbids, or when thecontractisto be financed in wholeor in part by federal, state or otherfundsnot avail‐able at thetimebidsare received,orwhenthe contract requires apoll of theLouisiana Legisla‐ture before contract fundsare available, the time will notstart until receiptoffederalorstate concurrenceorconcur‐renceofthe otherfund‐ingsourceinaccordance with LA.R.S.38:2215(D) Awardwillbewithin45 calendar days after the sale of bondsorreceipt of concurrenceinaward from thefederal or state agency or otherfunding source Fundsfor this contract: will not be immedi‐atelyavailable,the 45dayperiodfor contract awardwillnot beginat thetimeofbid opening, andthe deadlinesunder La.R.S.38:2215 forcon‐tractexecution andis‐suance of notice to pro‐ceed shall not apply. X will be immediately availableand the45-day period forcontract awardwillbegin at the time of bidopening Work in theamount of at least sixtypercent (60%) of totalamount of con‐tractasawarded shallbe performedbycontractor at theconstructionsite or within hisown shop plant, or yard with his ownemployees TheBoard as an equal opportunitypublicentity invitesand encourages DBE’sand SBE’stosub‐mitbidsonits projects In ordertocomplywith theConstitutionofthe StateofLouisiana,such certification programs must be race andgender neutral. Allquestions,correspon‐dence, inquiries, and othercommunications regardingthisprocure‐ment shallbedirectedto BoardofCommissioners of thePortofNew Or‐leans, ProcurementDe‐partment,1350 Port of NewOrleans Place, New Orleans, LA 70130 or pro‐curement@portnola.com. Allquestions will be an‐swered viaadditional in‐formationoraddenda andwillbepostedon CentralBidding website at: www.centralbidding. com Questionsmustbesub‐mitted at leastseven

FERSON,ORLEANS PLAQUEMINES, ST BERNARD, ST.CHARLES ST.JOHN, ST.TAMMANY andTANGIPAHOA PARISHES andthe POLICY COMMITTEE of theRE‐GIONAL PLANNING COM‐MISSIONFOR JEFFERSON, ORLEANS, PLAQUEMINES, ST.BERNARD,ST. CHARLES, ST.JOHN, ST TAMMANY,and TANGIPA‐HOAPARISHES. Theregular meetings of the Regional Planning Commissionand thePol‐icyCommittee of theRe‐gional Planning Commis‐sion forthe monthofJuly 2026 will be held on Tues‐day,