The Times-Picayune 07-07-2026

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Historic Bohn Ford building sells to nonprofit

2026 LEAP TESTING

Odyssey House of Louisiana’s fundraising arm makes $8M deal

BY GRACE MAYER Staff writer

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

State students in grades 3-8 grew in math, science and social studies, while achievement was flat in English, according to 2026 LEAP results released Monday.

Louisiana student test scores see improvement English achievement remains flat across all grades

BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer

Louisiana students made gains or held steady on most state LEAP tests this year, a sign 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, according to LEAP results released Monday. High schoolers improved or held their ground in every subject except English I, where

the share of students hitting the state target dipped slightly.

The annual tests, which are required by federal law, measure students’ grasp of content the state expects them to learn by the end of each grade. The scores weigh heavily in school ratings, teacher evaluations and high school graduation requirements.

Across all tested grades and subjects, 36% of students met or exceeded state expectations in 2026, the highest rate on record, according to the state Department of Education. The latest scores follow a recent study that found Louisiana students have outpaced their peers in most states in reading and math growth since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools and disrupted learning, causing test scores nationwide to plummet.

ä See LEAP, page 4A

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

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

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

The former Bohn Ford building on South Broad Street — a century-old landmark in Broadmoor that operated as one of the few remaining auto dealerships in the city until the 1990s — has been purchased by the local nonprofit that has leased the building since it was renovated in 2019.

In a deal that was finalized last week, the fundraising arm of Odyssey House of Louisiana purchased the 43,000-square-foot property for $8 million. The deal included a cash payment to the ownership group and the assumption of more than $1.2 million in outstanding debt owed to the state, according to court records filed in Orleans Parish.

The deal will give Odyssey House, which is the largest addiction treatment and recovery provider in Louisiana, sole control over the building and enable the organization to further its mission, Odyssey House CEO Edward Carlson said in an interview Monday.

“It was always a part of our long-term plan to purchase the building,” said Carlson, who doesn’t expect 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 Tonti Street, and its fifth facility in the state.

“Odyssey Health will just keep doing the services we’ve been providing for the community since we opened,” Carlson said. “Our goal is to make sure we have a good, secure place to provide services to the community.”

The building was purchased by the fundraising arm of Odyssey House, called the Homer Foundation, from a partnership that included Odyssey House, the Gulf Coast Housing Partnership and the real estate firm operated by the family that owns Rhodes Funeral Homes, which is located around the corner from the building.

“There was never any intention for

ä See BUILDING, page 4A

2026 Essence Festival Data: Obamacare enrollments shrank dramatically in many states organizers tout successes Affordable Care Act subsidies expired in January

clines following the January expiration of enhanced subsidies.

The data, posted in late June by the Trump administration and first reported on by The Associated Press, reveals how changes in each state’s insured population

BY ALI SWENSON led to around 2.6 million fewer Associated Press Americans having Obamacare NEWYORK — States across the coun- plans in February compared with try saw steep drops in the number the same time last year.

It captures not only how many of people covered by the Affordable Care Act over the past year, people signed up for or were auwith Ohio and Oklahoma each los- tomatically reenrolled in plans ing nearly one-third of enrollees, in 2026, but how many paid their according to new federal data that first monthly premiums to keep provides the first complete 50-state coverage, according to Cynthia breakdown of sharp enrollment de- Cox, a vice president and direc-

WEATHER HIGH 91 LOW 78 PAGE 6B

tor of the health law program at the healthcare research nonprofit KFF, who reviewed the dataset.

She said it accounts for people who were retroactively removed from coverage after a nonpayment grace period ended.

“This is the first time we’ve seen state-level data that shows how much ACA marketplace enrollment truly fell,” Cox said. “It’s in line with our expectations, but it does show a very steep drop in the number of people with ACA coverage.”

Health analysts have kept a

ä See ENROLLMENT, page 4A

Ernest N. Morial Convention Group looks to future the Center and nightly concerts in the Caesars Superdome, ran on time in New Orleans and without any major issues, or-

BY VIOLET BUCARO Staff writer

As thousands of visitors left New Orleans on Monday after the city’s largest summer festival had wrapped, organizers of the Essence Festival of Culture took a victory lap, touting benefits to local businesses as talks continue over the festival’s future.

The three-day celebration of Black music and culture, which included daytime programming at

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

ganizers said — despite the heat, flash flood warnings and a Saturday 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, founder of Sundial Media & Technology Group, Essence Fest’s parent company, at a news conference on Monday.

ä See ESSENCE, page 4A

13TH yEAR, NO. 329

2A ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

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 Kentucky 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.

CORRECTION 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.

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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

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.

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 SecretaryGeneral 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

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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.

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-

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.”

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. 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.”

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The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ 3A

La. ICE site could speed up deportations R. Gray Sexton, 84, enforcer of state ethics rules, dies

BY JACK BROOK

Associated Press/Report for America

The Trump administration plans to open a 528-bed holding facility in Louisiana for migrant families and unaccompanied 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 anywhere to put 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.

A federal 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 a few days at most.

However, several immigration advocates expressed concern that children could be held at the new facility for weeks or months, which happened at other federal immigration holding sites. These advocates are also concerned about oversight, and say the facility represents a

departure from how the government manages those children.

“It’s an expansion of the deportation system in ways we haven’t seen before,” said Leecia Welch, chief legal counsel at the nonprofit Children’s Rights. “There’s just so much that could go wrong with this facility.”

Unaccompanied children who are in the U.S. without parents or close relatives are not taken to facilities overseen by ICE. Instead, the law says they must be swiftly placed in the care of state-licensed shelters and foster care programs.

Those are run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Department of Health and Human Services. However, that agency isn’t involved in the Alexandria facility’s operation, according to a spokesperson at the airfield where it’s being built.

Instead, the facility would be run by a nonprofit arm of LaSalle Corrections, a private prison contractor, according to Ralph Hennessy, executive director of the England Airpark Authority.

He said it could be operational as early as August.

ICE officials signed a contract late last month to build the facility at the former military base near Alexandria International Airport, roughly 175 miles northwest of New Orleans, Hennessy said.

It would operate as a 72hour holding center for migrants awaiting deportation, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.

Compass Connections, a Texas-based nonprofit that runs shelters for unaccompanied immigrant children, had originally been tapped to help operate the facility and laid out plans during a public presentation in February.

But the company’s president, Sonya Thompson, told the AP last week that it was no longer involved. She did not elaborate.

In public board meetings, airpark officials said the facility is a “humanitarian effort” for families that are “self-deporting.” Immigration advocates say families and unaccompanied children sometimes make that decision under pressure or because they don’t understand their options.

“These are people that are volunteering to go back home and they’re going back home as a family unit,” Hennessy told the AP. The facility would sit next to the nation’s largest hub for deportations. More than 4,400 immigration enforcement flights came into and out of the Alexandria International Airport in 2025, according to data from the ICE Flight Monitor, an initiative of Human Rights First. ICE planning documents say families and children at the facility “are in the legal custody of ICE and can only be released at the direction of ICE.” The agency has instructed contractors that families at the facility cannot be referred to as prisoners, detainees or inmates, records show. The agency ordered contractors to not use bars

or cages when transporting families and unaccompanied children. The facility will not be required to engage in headcounts and should allow families to “wear their own clothes,” the agency added.

Louisiana-based LaSalle Corrections runs a range of private prisons and federal immigration detention centers throughout the South, including the “Louisiana Lockup” inside the maximum-security prison in Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

The official contractor for the new ICE holding facility will be the company’s nonprofit arm, the LaSalle Family Foundation. According to its tax records, the nonprofit provides chaplain services and educational programming in correctional facilities.

However, LaSalle Corrections itself will be involved in operating the holding facility and ensuring compliance, the company’s chief financial officer, Tim Kurpiewski, wrote in an email reviewed by the AP. LaSalle spokesperson Scott Sutterfield declined to comment.

The deaths of two detainees have been reported since April at a LaSalle-run ICE facility in the state.

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

N.J. store roof collapses amid rain, heat wave

BY JEFFREY COLLINS

Township police said.

About 370,000 people remained without power across the country, most from the storm damage, according to poweroutage.com.

Associated Press

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

Two people were briefly trapped in debris 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 rounds of storms moved through the area Monday, breaking a heat 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. By Monday, he was urging people to leave basement apartments immediately if they saw water rising in their homes.

Heavy rain 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 the heat dome that settled over much of the Northeast last week.

LaGuardia Airport in New York set a record high Thursday of 104 degrees.

Low temperatures in many places barely made it below 80 degrees, preventing people from cooling off even at night.

The temperature at LaGuardia hovered just below 70 degrees Monday with the rain.

Officials in New Jersey were investigating at least 29 deaths last week that were

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BY TYLER BRIDGES 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 Sexton that enforces ethics rules, died Thursday in Baton Rouge following a brief illness.

He was 84.

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

Before then, though, Sexton did it all for the Board of Ethics for Elected Officials and the Commission on Ethics for Public Employees — as the staff director and general counsel of both. The board policed public officials and campaign finance laws, while the commission regulated the actions of public employees.

The ethics board had a higher profile. The two entities were merged in 1997, and Sexton continued to oversee both.

Sexton issued recommendations to the board on how to rule when public officials asked whether they could do something, such as hire a nephew to work in their office.

He oversaw staffers while they investigated public officials to determine whether they might have violated state ethics rules.

He acted as the prosecu-

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

“Gray was a very smart person. He was a good lawyer. He’d always give a straight answer, even if he disagreed with you,” said Emile “Peppi” Bruneau Jr., a former state legislator from New Orleans who oversaw the House committee that handled ethics laws. “I wish we had more Gray Sextons in the world.”

But over time, Sexton faced complaints that he was wearing too many hats for the board and that representing clients as a private attorney at the same time presented a conflict of interest.

In 2007, the Legislature passed a law that prohibited his position from having outside employment.

“He was the executive 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 administrator under East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sid Edwards now who sponsored 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.

“He went from prosecutor to defense,” Bruneau said.

Sexton’s law firm also handled licensing cases and disputes involving construction law.

Sexton, who was from Pineville, came to Baton Rouge to study at LSU’s law school and never left.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By SETH WENIG

People take cover from the heat under umbrellas as they wait for a parade of tall ships and flyovers in Weehawken, N.J., on Saturday. possibly heat-related. The people were found dead on the street or in homes without air conditioning. They ranged in ages from their 30s to their 80s, New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Raynard Washington said.

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

Other states have not announced possible deaths from the heat.

Severe storms moved from Michigan to the East Coast as the heat wave broke over the weekend.

In Michigan, two children, ages 8 and 12, were found dead Saturday in a garage after they were apparently overcome by exhaust from a generator during a storm-related power outage, Sumpter

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4A ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

ESSENCE

Continued from page 1A “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

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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.

close eye on changes in marketplace enrollment since the expiration of socalled enhanced premium tax credits caused many Americans’ monthly health insurance fees to double or triple, forcing some to forgo coverage 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.

Central voting issue Health insurance costs have been rising across the marketplace and other health insurance programs at a time when voters in

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.

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

Grades 3-8 3-8

Subject English Math

Scoring mastery or above 43% 34%

Change since 2025 No change +1

31% 33% 35% 36%

+2 +2 +1 +2

3-8 Science 3-8 Social Studies 3-8 All Subjects High School All Subjects STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Source: Louisiana Department of Education

Staff graphic

French Settlement fourth graders raise their hands in basic reading skills, 64% of there’s work still left to do.”

October as state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley third graders met or exceeded the benchmark this year What’s working 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 What the scores show surpassed pre-COVID levIn English language arts, els, according to a recent

Continued from page 1A

Violet Bucaro can be reached at violet.bucaro@theadvocate.com.

Students grew in most subjects

Continued from page 1A

ENROLLMENT

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.”

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 STAFF PHOTO By GRACE MAyER Community Development Block Odyssey House of Louisiana has been the sole tenant inside the former Grant, new market and other tax Bohn Ford building since 2019, right after a renovation wrapped on the credits allocations, and loans from historic structure. The nonprofit purchased the building last week. the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority helped cover the cost the building in 2005, with plans to In 2013, they began exploring of the project. Odyssey House and convert it into a mixed-use com- new possibilities for the building, the Rhodes family also contributed plex with restaurants and three eventually connecting with the capital to the project.

Gulf Coast Housing Partnership floors of office space. Hurricane Gulf Coast Housing Partnership, which develops affordable and did not respond to a request for Katrina struck just days later.

LEAP

“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.

“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

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’

— 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,

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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 Carolina, Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Louisiana and Missouri.

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?’ ”

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The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ 5A

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Democrats pulling support for Platner amid allegations Maine Senate candidate accused of sexual assault

BY KIMBERLEE KRUESI and NICHOLAS RICCARDI

Associated Press

A woman who previously dated Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner said he drunkenly forced her to have sex after she told him to stop, according to a Politico report released Monday, leading prominent supporters to pull their endorsements and throwing a must-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 a video released on social media.

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

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks during a primary election night watch party after winning the Democratic nomination June 9 in Blue Hill, Maine.

diate response.

Platner’s campaign did not immediately respond to an email and phone message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

“Any accusation of nonconsensual behavior is categorically false,” Platner said in his video.

Still, the allegation sparked a flight away from a candidate who has long been controversial. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who’d stood by Platner even as the insurgent candidate was hit with prior allegations, said Monday’s was enough. “I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,” Khan-

na said. “These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego also announced he was pulling his endorsement, as did the Democraticleaning political group End Citizens United.

The Democratic leaders of Maine’s legislature called for Platner to withdraw, as did top officials at the state Democratic Party.

“Over the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious, credible allegations against Graham Platner. Today’s statements take those allegations even further,” party chair Charlie Dingman, vice chair Imke Schessler and executive director Devon MurphyAnderson said in a joint statement.

“This Senate race comes at a pivotal moment in the struggle against a government, supported by Senator Collins, that serves the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of ordinary Maine people.

It is essential that we refocus this campaign on that struggle,” the statement continued.

Platner commandingly won Maine’s Democratic primary in April, but state law allows 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 a handful of campaign town

halls planned in Maine.

Platner was a first-time candidate who won the primary with backing of the party’s left wing. While some Democrats came around to support him after his commanding primary win, Platner’s controversial history had already left others openly despairing of their chances of winning the race. A Marine veteran who also worked for a private security contractor, Platner has a chest tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol, had a history of controversial statements on social media and reportedly sexted with other women shortly after getting married.

In 2013, Platner posted on Reddit that people shouldn’t get so drunk “they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to” and that sexual assault victims should “just take some responsibility for themselves.” He’s since apologized for the post and says he no longer holds those beliefs.

Hasan Piker, a leftist commentator and streamer who’s backed Platner, seemed to reverse himself Monday following the Politico report. “If new evidence presents itself, I’m going to change my perspective — it’s that simple,” Piker said during a livestream on Twitch, adding: “This is a clear-cut instance of verifiable sexual assault allegations. It’s completely irredeemable.”

Maine’s Democrats have long sought to oust Republican Sen. Su-

san Collins, who’s held on despite representing a state 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’s 78-year-old governor, Janet Mills, as the Democratic establishment’s best hope.

Platner rode into the political void and pitched himself as a bluecollar oysterman and veteran who could reach disaffected voters who had supported President Donald Trump. But as allegations began mounting against him, some state Democrats had heartburn, embodied by Mills’ refusal to endorse Platner after she dropped out of the primary.

Chatter already began to circulate about other possible replacements, including former state senator and logger Troy Jackson and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.

“I’ve known this has been coming,” said Marie Follayttar, a Democrat and community organizer in Maine, talking the growing whispers inside the state’s small population that had been bracing for yet another revelation surrounding Platner. “I’ve been scared and I’ve been sick waiting.”

The Associated Press generally does not name victims of sexual assault, but in this case Racicot spoke in an interview with Politico.

Hamas dissolves its government in Gaza

BY WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By VAHID SALEMI

The truck carrying the coffins of the slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family makes its way through mourners during the funeral procession toward Azadi Tower in Tehran, Iran, on Monday.

Mourners throng funeral procession for Iran leader

BY NASSER KARIMI and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran — Mourners dressed in black flooded into Iran’s capital Monday for a procession as part of the funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with throngs of people calling for the death of President Donald Trump.

Khamenei’s flag-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 a truck decorated to resemble the ornamental grating that surrounds the shrine of an imam. The massive turnout was encouraged

by Iran’s theocracy as a sign of strength, and it came as the Islamic Republic negotiates with the U.S. over a permanent end to the war.

Helicopter images aired on Iranian state television showed a massive crowd stretching from Tehran’s Azadi, or Freedom, Square for miles down a multilane 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 1 million people.

Authorities offered no immediate crowd count as the truck crept down the street.

People alongside the truck and elsewhere on the route carried placards, signs and banners calling for Trump’s death.

“Today that we are here for the funeral for our leader, it’s a very tough day,” mourner Fatima Hassan said. “We are not here to say goodbye to him. We are here for revenge. And we will take revenge.”

Mourners reached out to touch the truck, and some threw scarves and other

items for attendants to brush against the coffin, a common practice in Iran seen as a blessing. Attendants, some on the ladders of fire trucks, sprayed misted water across the crowds to cool them in the heat.

Authorities appeared concerned about the dangers of having a large crowd alongside the procession, with officials on loudspeakers urging the public to walk slowly, not to push and to stay to the edges of the street.

The coffins were taken through the streets of Tehran on a roughly 12-hour journey to Mehrabad International Airport, and Khamenei’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 shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace. Khamenei was 86.

“This is the last time I am seeing him,” said a weeping Maryam Alizadeh. “Our generation lived with him for decades.”

The U.S. is eager to press ahead with negotiations with Iran aimed at fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz, rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program and reaching a permanent end to the war.

Talks appear to be on hold until after the burial.

The funeral was in part a show of unity as Iran demands a measure of control over the strait, a vital waterway for global energy that it shut down during the war. The U.S. has rejected those demands, and the sides are divided on other key issues, including the nuclear program and the conflict between Israel and the Iranbacked militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The Hamas militant group said Monday it had dissolved its government in Gaza and is preparing to transfer power to a technical committee backed by the United Nations as part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire 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 its commitment to Gaza’s reconstruction after years of war.

It was unclear if the move, announced by a lower-level official, would lead to any meaningful change on the ground.

The Board of Peace, the new entity led by President Donald Trump with the mandate of governing and rebuilding Gaza, said it was aware of the Hamas announcement but would assess the impact based on “actions, not promises.”

The board stressed in a statement on X that the technocratic committee must control all weapons in Gaza, as laid out in the ceasefire agreement.

At a news conference Monday, Ismail al-Thawabta, general director of the Hamas-run Government Media Office, said “only technical and professional staff” would remain in their positions to run the Palestinian enclave’s dayto-day affairs.

“All employees working in service provision are ‘state employees’ and are fully prepared to work under the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza,” al-Thawabta said during a news conference in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem called it “a positive step forward on the path to implement the ceasefire deal.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar dismissed the move, saying it was designed to avoid disarmament. “As long 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, a Gaza-born engineer and former official with the Palestinian Authority. It has a mandate to restore essential services and oversee civilian affairs under the supervision of the U.N. and the Board of Peace.

In a statement on X, Shaath acknowledged the Hamas announcement Monday and said that in

order for the committee to function effectively, there must be “a single governing authority operating under one legal framework” and “a unified security apparatus accountable to that authority.”

Nine months after the ceasefire was signed, negotiations between Israel and Hamas remain largely deadlocked over the implementation of its second phase, including the disarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Hamas has insisted on implementing the first phase before moving to discuss its

weapons.

The Oct. 7, 2023, attack

by Hamas-led militants that sparked the war killed some 1,200 people in Israel and saw 251 others taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed 73,098 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It does not distinguish between civilians and

militants but says women and children make up around half of all fatalities.

Israeli strikes have lessened considerably since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, but they continue almost daily. Israel’s military 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 Younis in the south and two in an apartment in Gaza City, health officials said.

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Microsoft cuts 4,800 jobs, many at Xbox

Sky agrees to buy British broadcaster LONDON — Sky, the U.K.-based TV, internet and mobile phone provider owned by Comcast, has agreed to buy ITV’s media and entertainment arm for up to $2.1 billion after months of talks to create a major competitor to the global streaming giants.

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

The transaction will “create a UK champion with the scale and resources to better compete with global streaming platforms,” ITV Chairman Andrew Cosslett said in a statement.

The combined Sky-ITV entity will become part of NBCUniversal following the completion of its split from Comcast, ITV said.

Pipeline proposed to carry Canada oil TORONTO — Alberta and Ontario proposed a pipeline Monday to carry western Canadian oil east and eventually to Atlantic export terminals as Canada seeks new markets beyond the United States, reviving a project that was abandoned nearly a decade 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 a day with potential for up to 800,000 barrels.

She said the corridor eventually could extend to Canada’s Atlantic coast, opening the door 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’s largest proven oil reserves.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the pipeline would be a sound investment regardless of whether it is publicly or privately financed. A feasibility study is planned.

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AI stocks rebound to lift U.S. market

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft is cutting 4,800 jobs, about 2.1% of its global workforce, including a large number of workers at its Xbox video game business.

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

“Our business today is not healthy,” said a memo from Xbox CEO 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 competes with Sony’s PlayStation and Nintendo’s Switch, is facing a severe “hardware crisis” as costs soar for console components.

Beyond the layoffs announced Monday, Sharma said Xbox expects another 1,600 job cuts 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.

Nearly three years ago, Microsoft closed a $69 billion deal to acquire gaming giant Activision Blizzard, maker of “Call of Duty” and other blockbuster franchises. The company said at the time it wanted to broaden its game development portfolio and offer a Netflix-like streaming subscription service, but the strategy doesn’t appear to have been enough to get ahead of the competition.

“While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected,” Sharma said.

The Xbox cuts are in addition to broader Microsoft layoffs that the software giant’s Chief People Officer Amy Coleman tied to unspecified changes in customer needs.

6-MO T-BILLS 3.95 0.01 0.25%

BY STAN CHOE

AP business writer

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS By MARK SCHIEFELBEIN

President Donald Trump rings the opening bell for the New york Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq in the Oval Office at the White House on Monday.

RINGING THE BELLS

President opens markets, ties time in office to stock market gains

BY JOSH BOAK Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday rang the opening bells for the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq from the golden confines of the Oval Office, a symbolic act that reflects how he has increasingly tied his presidency to the stock market.

With high inflation hurting Trump’s popularity, the Republican president has tried to get more Americans to focus on their 401(k) investments, claiming that his policies should get the credit for any gains, particularly as the November midterm elections draw closer.

“It’s going to go up — I think the market’s going to go through the roof,” said Trump after formally launching the start of trading.

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

Still, the act of ringing the opening bell suggests why the president’s emphasis on the stock market might not help his party much with voters this fall.

The Oval Office event was promoting the launch of Trump Accounts, which were created as a vehicle for children to have investments in stock indexes as part of Republicans’ big 2025 tax and spending cuts bill.

In championing the accounts, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has emphasized that many Americans have no direct exposure to stocks.

This means that millions of people are not benefiting from

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks before President Donald Trump rings the opening bell for the New york Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq. investments that largely accrue to more affluent households or that the benefits they’re receiving are for retirements decades away.

Bessent declared before the bell ringing that “38% of American families do not have any exposure to our great equity markets.”

The S&P 500 stock index posted gains of 17.9% in 2025, but that came after annual returns of 25% in 2024 and 26.3% in 2023, during the presidency of Democrat Joe Biden. The benchmark stock index has risen roughly 10% so far this year.

But just as inflation crushed public support for Biden, Trump has also seen his approval fall prey to a cycle of rising prices. Trump won the 2024 election by promising to bring down costs, but his tariffs and the start of the war in Iran created new inflationary pressures.

The consumer price index has climbed 4.2% over the past 12 months, up from 3% when Trump started his second term

in January 2025.

Trump, however, is betting that the stock investments that are being seeded by the government and by some prominent companies and billionaires will give future generations a deeper stake in the U.S. economy. The accounts already have gotten a boost from 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 separate pledges by billionaires including investor Ray Dalio and SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, who said Monday that she would donate stock in the Elon Muskled company to the accounts.

Trump jokingly acknowledged that children had missed the stock market gains that have occurred so far because of the delay in launching the Trump Accounts.

“We should have acted faster,” Trump said.

NEW YORK — A rebound for artificial intelligence stocks lifted the U.S. market on Monday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7% and pulled back within 1% of its all-time high, even though the majority of stocks within the index fell. The strength for companies in the artificial-intelligence technology 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 worries that their prices shot too high. Doubts are rising about whether all the dollars flowing into AI chips and data centers can possibly create enough gains in productivity and profits to make back all the investments.

Broadcom was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500 and rose 3.7% after announcing long-term agreements to provide silicon products to Apple. It was coming off two straight losses of more than 2% on Wednesday and Thursday at the end of last week, before Friday’s holiday in advance of the Fourth of July.

The global appetite for AI from investors will face an additional test later this week when SK Hynix, the South Korean maker of computer memory, plans to raise $28 billion by selling shares of stock that will trade in the United States on the Nasdaq.

That would make it one of the biggest U.S. offerings ever, behind SpaceX’s IPO from last month, which raised $75 billion.

SK Hynix’s stock in Seoul has already more than tripled so far this year because of the AI boom, but its day-to-day swings have included sharp losses in recent weeks. It fell 14.6% on Thursday alone, for example.

SpaceX, which owns the xAI business, has seen its stock likewise swing following its ballyhooed initial 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 the oil market, prices drifted after OPEC+ announced Sunday that seven of its members plan to expand oil production by a combined total of 188,000 barrels per day in August. It was the fifth straight month that OPEC+ members have agreed to raise output, moves that tend to weigh on oil prices.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.2% to $71.99. That’s close to where it was before the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February and sent prices spiking.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased a bit. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.47% from 4.49% late Thursday.

A report showed that growth last month for U.S. recreation, finance and other services businesses was roughly in line with economists’ expectations. The survey by the Institute for Supply Management said that some businesses said they were seeing lower prices for gasoline and diesel, easing inflationary pressures.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell modestly across much of Europe and Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was an outlier and rose 1.1%.

Georges Media names Chase Heatherly as chief revenue officer Columbus, a marketing agency in Gras Guide, and has expanded South Carolina native announcement.

“Chase’s experience scaling rev- the state. coverage into new markets, such Heatherly joins Georges Media as Shreveport-Bossier and Lake organizations, growing digito lead sales team enue as the locally owned me- Charles. tal businesses, and leading

Staff report

Chase Heatherly, a veteran media executive, has joined the parent company of The Times-Picayune and The Advocate as its chief revenue officer.

The former chief 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 teams across all of the Louisianabased media company’s brands, according to an internal company

through transformation dia company is expanding makes him an outstanding across Louisiana and into fit for where we are headed adjacent markets, includas a company,” said Pubing along the Gulf Coast.

Local news outlets across lisher Kevin Hall. “This is the country are facing big an important step forward new challenges in the acfor Georges Media as we continue to invest in leadcelerating digital era, though some companies ership that supports our Heatherly with strong local brands long-term growth and poand independent ownership are sitions us for continued success.”

A South Carolina native, Heath- managing to weather the changes.

In recent years, Georges Meerly led sales at Evening Post after stints at Gannett, McClatchy dia has acquired local Louisiana and other media organizations, brands with strong followings, including as president of King & including Arthur Hardy’s Mardi

In addition to its growth digitally and its acquisitions, the company has also launched new print offerings, including an expanded business section and coverage focused on health.

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

“I have seen firsthand the leadership and innovation that Georges Media brings to our industry and the commitment its staff has to serving readers and the community at large,” he said. “I am excited to dive in and contribute.”

The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ 7A

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Venezuelans left alone to recover their dead after quakes

BY FERNANDA PESCE and ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press

LA GUAIRA,Venezuela — When the highrise where Noel Márquez lived with his family crashed to the 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 heavy machinery to lift, responded.

Márquez and his father, who also survived, spoke through layers of concrete, hearing Leonel suffer, shout for help and inhale suffocating smoke as he waited for a crane to remove the columns crushing him. But it never came. After several hours, Leonel’s cries 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 recover his families’ tangled remains with little more than his bare hands and a saw. He sliced off limbs to free the corpses of Leo-

we are still requesting a crane.”

Márquez is one of countless Venezuelans who, after days of torment, has been left alone to search, if not for signs of life, then for loved ones’ remains — and for some semblance of closure.

International rescue teams, quietly acknowledging the possibility that no more victims would be found alive after 12 days under the rubble, are preparing to depart.

Local authorities are turning their focus to finding shelter for thousands of displaced people. But the recovery of the dead has become a pressing, and horrifying, duty for Venezuelans still missing their loved ones.

Many say that just as they were ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATIAS DELACROIX left without government help to Forensic technician Joel Mirabal rides through the area struck by the rescue survivors in the immediate earthquakes, collecting bodies recovered from the rubble, June 30 in La aftermath of the quakes, so too are Guaira, Venezuela. they now under-equipped to unearth their dead nearly two weeks later.

The more time passes, the more “It’s unfair. It’s inhumane, everynel and his mother but was forced to abandon his sister, who was eight thing that is happening,” 26-year-old gruesome the recovery process months’ pregnant, grandmother and Márquez said from the overflowing becomes, said William Gomez, a other relatives beneath the ruins — makeshift morgue at La Guaira firefighter in La Guaira. “It has and with their bodies, the hope that port. “We couldn’t get my brother been difficult because the bodies if he couldn’t save them, he could at out because we didn’t get a response are already in an advanced state of least give them proper burials. from the state ... and after 11 days, decomposition, decomposed to such

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 how many people are buried under the rubble, but more than 30,000 reports of missing people have been sent to a website set up by the Venezuelan opposition.

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

“We are the ones helping ourselves: our family. Nobody else helps us except for a few volunteers,” said Yeikhary 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 who could no longer wait for authorities to help them recover their dead discussed pooling their own money to rent a crane — for the price of $11,500, in one case.

Hemingway masterpiece on UNICEF: Over 300 children killed, injured in Sudan war in 6 months Spain’s bull runs turns 100

By The Associated Press

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’s San Fermin festival for anything.

It marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Ernest Hemingway’s book “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 kicked off with a firework blast over a jam-packed plaza. The first of eight bull runs is on Tuesday.

Hemingway’s 1926 novel 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.

Its success established “The Sun Also Rises” as a cornerstone of the American literary canon, right up there with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” It also popularized the term “lost generation” to describe the tight-knit group of early 20thcentury writers expatriated in Paris. Hemingway’s terse style forever changed American literature. In Spanish, its title is translated as “Fiesta.”

Hillmann, who hails from Chicago, was 19 when Hemingway’s vivid depiction of the bull running festival first enthralled him, especially descriptions of average Spaniards risking their lives sprinting through the streets to guide the bulls to the bull ring during the nine-day festival.

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

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By DANIEL OCHOA DE OLZA

Bill Hillmann, of Chicago, center left, falls seconds before a Victoriano del Rio ranch fighting bull gored him on his right leg during the 2014 running of the bulls of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain. reading the book,” Hillmann told The Associated Press in Pamplona as he looked down on the pen where the bulls are held before being set free on the cobblestoned route. “And by the time I was done with that book, I was going to be a writer and I was going to be a bull runner.”

Since that literary encounter, the 44-year-old Hillmann has run with the bulls in Spain hundreds of times, counting both his trips to Pamplona and his participation in dozens more bull runs in other Spanish towns. His infatuation with Hemingway and Pamplona has never waned, even though he nearly died one time that he was gored by a bull horn.

Hillmann’s appreciation led him to earn a doctorate in English, and now it is his turn to teach “The Sun Also Rises” at East-West University in Chicago, and write about bull running.

Hemingway is etched into the landscape of Pamplona.

Hotels and bars have busts of him or signs up that he was once there. Outside the Pamplona bull ring, which also has a statue of the writer, a huge banner hangs in

honor of the novel, including a quote that shows how 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 last visits to Pamplona, he would frequent the Perla Hotel; his suite still has furniture from the 1950s when he stayed there. The room, which overlooks the bull run route, also has two glass bookcases holding dozens of copies of “The Sun Also Rises.”

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

Hemingway’s local legacy, however, is mixed.

Beside a feminist critique of his hyper masculine public persona, Hemingway has drawn criticism from the animal rights movement for his praise of bullfighters.

Hualde says that some Pamplona residents rue his early promotion of the festival due to the ills of overtourism the sleepy provincial city is now experiencing.

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CAIRO — The war in Sudan has killed or wounded more than 300 children in the last six months, mostly from drone strikes, the U.N. children’s agency said Monday.

The Sudanese 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 about potential atrocities as the RSF and the military fight for control of the strategic city of el-Obeid in North Kordofan.

In Geneva on Monday, the

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water stations, putting over 500,000 people at risk. Civilians in some areas have faced almost siegelike conditions for over a year.

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The U.N. called on parties “to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, allow and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access, and take all possible measures to protect children from harm.”

Separately, at least 15 informal miners were killed when a defunct gold mine partly collapsed Monday in the district of Wadi Halfa, close to Sudan’s border with Egypt, authorities said.

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U.N.-backed Human Rights Council approved a measure, brought by five European countries, condemning the escalating violence by the RSF and its allies in and around el-Obeid.

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Cause of fire under investigation Jan Risher LOUISIANA AT LARGE

N.O. home’s writing on the wall is 168 years 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 a lot more to the house than meets the eye from the street.

The home’s exterior is painted the kind of locally inspired terracotta that has been a part of New Orleans since Spanish colonial days.

It’s a fascinating place, with a courtyard I adore, but this is not a house story.

Several years ago, on my first visit, Theis took me upstairs to see four narrow strips of exposed plaster left bare against a wall they had painted teal. The rectangles, floating in a sea of bluegreen, preserved handwriting in French. Beneath each strip was a typed translation: n “Be happy, Eugenie! These are the vows of the one who loves you more than life. Let the one who courts you at the moment make you happy.” n Then a name, 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. You tricked me.

God will pardon you, but others, never.”

The last line appears to be dated “January 25, 1857.”

For years, that was the whole story Theis and Jordan had to go on.

They had built their own private theory: a French teenager, alone in his room, unrequited, working out his heartbreak on the wall because maybe there was no paper to be found. Or maybe permanence was the point?

And that’s where the mystery has remained.

Until recently.

One day last year, Theis came home and noticed a man and an older woman on the other side of the street. They seemed to be looking at her house.

Theis said, “Can I help 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 mentioned the 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 then to New Orleans, where the young man’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 had written on more than 150 years earlier, he cried.

“I’ve been using ancestry.com to do research a lot, and I look at these old photocopies ... but to actually see his handwriting on the wall — unreal,” Raul Mier said.

ä See RISHER, page 2B

French Quarter explosion led to evacuations

BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer

Entergy engineers on Monday were still working to determine the cause of a late-night French Quarter explosion that knocked out power and prompted evacuations to the area on Saturday, with workers focused on repairing and remediating an underground electrical vault damaged in the blast.

The incident, which didn’t cause any injuries, occurred about an hour after the conclu-

sion of the July Fourth fireworks display on the riverfront. Police evacuated a roughly one-block radius around the intersection of Bourbon and Conti streets after the fire resulting from the explosion sent smoke billowing into the area.

In a statement on Monday, Entergy New Orleans spokesperson Beau Tidwell said the fire remained under investigation, with engineers “reviewing our data to determine where and how the event originated.”

“Entergy crews and our environmental remediation contractor are currently cleaning out the burned vault and working to effect repairs,” he added.

The New Orleans Fire Department, which responded to the

blast on Saturday, did not provide any additional information on the incident Monday. City Hall referred questions to Entergy.

Speaking at a news conference early Sunday, Fire Department Chief Roman Nelson said crews used dry chemical extinguishers on the fire because it was electrical in nature, so they needed to wait to use water until power was disconnected.

While power lines and other electrical infrastructure are typically above ground in most of New Orleans, in the French Quarter, much of that infrastructure is buried. That buried equipment can cause problems, particularly when it interacts with other underground infrastructure.

In December 2019, a earlymorning blast on Dauphine Street near Toulouse shot several manhole covers high into the air and set fire to a parked car. An investigation indicated 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, a veteran electrical safety consultant based in Georgia, said there are various triggers that can lead to blasts like the one that occurred Saturday night. Speaking generally, and without any specific knowledge about the July 4 incident, he said that aging equipment,

ä See FIRE, page 2B

SIZZLING SUNSET

STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

Boaters near Madisonville enjoy a recent evening on Lake Pontchartrain as the setting sun closes out another hot summer day, with many heading to the water to escape the season’s rising temperatures.

Magazine restaurant Gris Gris to close after 8 years Chef said he gave business ‘everything’

BY IAN McNULTY Staff writer

In July, the Lower Garden District restaurant Gris Gris is running a special menu with dishes, and prices, drawn from the original menu chef Eric Cook served here when it opened on Magazine Street eight years 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 the restaurant wasn’t doing enough business to continue. Summer, with the tourism slowdown, is when many New Orleans hospitality businesses struggle most, though Cook said the decision came after a long fight to get back to the level of business the restaurant saw before the pandemic shutdowns and disruptions.

Man charged in fatal overdose Fentanyl-laced cocaine was sold to victim

STAFF FILE PHOTO By IAN McNULTy

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

BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer

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

There’s also been some bad luck on its block. In December 2024, an adjacent two-story building collapsed during a fully-booked dinner service, damaging cars and power equipment. Canceled reservations afterward cost the restaurant around $10,000 in lost revenue, the chef said at the time.

As a midrange, upscale casual restaurant, Gris Gris is of an increasingly rare sort in the local dining scene, where new concepts are typically either very casual or high-end. Serving local Creole flavors like gumbo, shrimp and grits, stuffed

An alleged drug dealer already facing trial in Orleans Parish in the overdose death of one of his customers has now been charged with manslaughter in Jefferson Parish, where authorities say a woman died after consuming fentanyl-laced cocaine that he sold her.

The Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office charged Larry Webster, 35, of New Orleans, with the death of 33-year-old Sarah Kozikowski in a superseding bill filed Thursday, according to court records.

Kozikowski died of an accidental drug overdose at her Harvey home on Aug. 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 a search warrant for Kozikowski’s cellphone and identified Webster as the person who sold her the lethal mixture of cocaine, according to court records. They also identified a second suspect, Wendell Jones, 32, as a co-conspirator

ä See GRIS GRIS, page 2B

ä See OVERDOSE, page 2B

2B ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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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 Casanova 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.

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.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By ENAN CHEDIAK

City Press Secretary Jonah Gilmore, above, will replace Isis Casanova as leader of New Orleans’ communications department.

Body found on Horn Island Miss. teen went missing during holiday weekend

BY POET WOLFE Staff writer

Mississippi law enforcement 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.

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.”

RISHER

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

PROVIDED PHOTO

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.

GRIS GRIS 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. 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-

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.

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,

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

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

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.

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 What’s next? like pork belly with waterCook and his partners melon, fried green tomaown the restaurant space. toes with shrimp and oyster The chef said they are still salad. assessing decisions for what to do with it next.

Email Ian McNulty at Separately, Cook and imcnulty@theadvocate. partners also opened Saint com.

distribution of cocaine and mhunter@theadvocate. attempted distribution of com. fentanyl, according to court records.

LOTTERY Jones and Hicks are charged with one count each SUNDAY, JULY 5, 2026 of attempted distribution of PICK 3: 0-9-2 fentanyl and attempted disPICK 4: 4-8-0-8 tribution of cocaine.

PICK 5: 5-5-5-1-1 Their new arraignment dates have not yet been set.

Unofficial notification, Email Michelle Hunter at

keep your tickets.

The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ 3B

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New Orleans Area 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 family and friends who have passed before her.

Yvonne was born in New Orleans, La. on October 5, 1935 and 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 and families: 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 4 grandchildren: Benjamin J. Birdsall, IV (Kayla); Arianna M.A. Birdsall; Chelsey B. Casteix (Hugh Casteix, III "Trip"); Abigail B. Moroux (Dr. Damon M. Moroux, Jr.) and 2 Great 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, Darlene McKnight, Stephen Montelone (Kristian) and Michael Montelone (Victoria) and many other family and friends too numerous to name.

Yvonne was a life long resident of the New Orleans area graduating from Redemptorist High School in 1954. She was married to the late Benjamin J. Birdsall, Jr. from 1958 through 1976, dedicating her life to raising her 4 sons. While raising her sons, Yvonne always made her home and home cooked meals available and welcome to many of her sons friends, earning her the affectionate nickname of "Momma B".

After Hurricane Katrina destroyed her family home on Pratt Dr. in New Orleans, she moved to Metairie where she resided for the remainder of her life. Yvonne will be fondly remembered in the hearts of many.

Visitation and Celebration of Yvonne's life will be held at Saint Angela Merici Catholic Church, located at 835 Melody Dr., Metairie, La. on Friday, July 10, 2026 with visitation from 11:00 to 12:30 p.m., Eulogy / Words of Remembrance from 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., Church service at 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. with repass to follow.

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Carriere, Elizabeth Leigh

Elizabeth "Liz" Leigh Carriere passed away on June 30, 2026, at the age of 48. She was the beloved daughter of Victor and Leigh Carriere 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 a partnership of many years with Remy and Lily's father, Gregory Reed, who held a special place in her heart.

Liz loved and was loved by her extended family of many aunts, uncles, and cousins. She shared a special closeness with her maternal grandmother, Dolly Vardin Drake, and when her grandmother could no longer drive, Liz would often stop by after work to visit and bring flowers or other gifts.

After her graduation from Chapelle High School, Liz attended Delgado Community College where she earned an Associate of Applied Science degree as an Occupational Therapy Assistant, with a 4.0 GPA. In her family life and in her work as a patient caregiver, Liz displayed her compassion, open-heartedness, humor, and easy rapport with people of all ages and abilities.

In recent years, Liz enjoyed traveling with Remy and Lily to the Gulf Coast, Smyrna, Georgia, Disney World, and Damascus, Maryland. She took great pleasure in the holidays and in sharing traditions with Remy and Lily. Her

cake decorating skills were used to great effect for Remy's and Lily's birthday cakes and gingerbread houses at Christmas.

There is a Liz-shaped hole in all of our hearts that can never be filled. We take comfort in knowing that we will one day see her again with Jesus, our Savior.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a visitation at 9:00 AM on Thursday, July 9, 2026 at Greenwood Funeral Home, 5200 Canal Blvd. New Orleans, with a Funeral Mass at 11:00 AM. Interment will follow immediately at Greenwood Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Liz's memory to Second Harvest Food Bank, or a charity of your choice.

Hubbard Sr., Leroy 'Leaky'

Leroy "Leaky" Hubbard Sr. departed this life on Saturday, June 27, 2026.

Services will be held on Wednesday, July 8, 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/Funeral Director.

Information: (504) 9400045.

Walker, Randolph Paul 'Randy'

It is with great sorrow that we announce the loss of our most beloved Randy. Born the second of six children on March 12, 1960, he died on May 29, 2026 at the age of 66.

Randy was an intelligent, loyal, compassionate and affable man who made people smile wherever he frequented. As a child and throughout adulthood, he was a formidable athlete, avid hunter/fisherman, sharpshooter and gifted artist. Throughout his life he continued exercising his favorite hobbies, including his art, which encompassed many different mediums, including taxidermy.

Witty, and well read on world affairs, perhaps his greatest sense of achievement and sense of pride, was that derived from the steadfast pride, commitment, and honor with which he served his country and her citizenry.

In 1989, Randy made a decision to enlist in the US Army, where not only did he flourish, he dominated.

In 1991 he was deployed and served as an MP in the Persian Gulf war operation "Desert Storm," where he led his platoon all across Saudi Arabia. His military commendations while serving his country consist of 10 medals, six ribbons, the Adjuvant General's award for Honor Graduate, as well as the Louisiana War Cross. He also held a record for supervising the greatest number of enlisted soldiers (173) as a noncommissioned officer. He went on to participate in various military opera-

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tions, and was recognized for the seizure of massive amounts of illicit drugs that would undoubtedly have resulted in the harm of countless civilians. After retiring from a distinguished career in the military, Randy was employed

by Water and Power for Valero Refinery in St Charles Parish for over 14 years.

After retirement and afflicted by a multitude of injuries and medical illness, he still enjoyed observing and caring for the various wildlife families that would frequent his backyard.

He loved, played and worked hard, and will be greatly missed by all who were fortunate to have known and loved him. Proceeded in death by his parents, Joe Ellis Walker and Teresa Tencza Walker, a brother Richard Eugene, his paternal grandparents, Joseph, F and Ola Mae Cheleno, maternal grandparents, Mr. Carol (Gertrude) Tencza and maternal grandmother Rose Tencza. Survived by his wife Kim Walker, his siblings, Ronald Joseph, Valerie W Philippi (Mark), Robert Allen (Lisa) and Roger William. Also survived by aunts Rose Tencza and Jo Ann Perrien (Tommy,) many cousins, nieces and nephews.

A special thanks to Ann M. Turner and Danny Medrzycowski for their exceptional contributions, love and support during this time. Funeral arrangements will be held on July 10, 2026 at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery, 34888 Grantham College Dr., Slidell, LA 70460. A celebration of life will be held following services at The Collab Slidell, 113 Gause Blvd. W Slidell, LA 70460

4B ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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OPINION N O L A.C O M/opinions

OUR VIEWS

State failing neediest families with unused WIC funds A recent report by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor found that Louisiana is failing to use funds designated to help low-income pregnant women gain access to healthy foods.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — more commonly known as WIC — is entirely federally funded. It provides routine testing, nutrition counseling and money for healthy foods to eligible women. Louisiana ranks last in the rate of participation among all the states. Add Washington, D.C., and the territory of Puerto Rico to the list, and we’re still dead last.

Between 2021 and 2024, Louisiana did not use approximately $111 million worth of federal WIC funding, the auditor found.

That a state with one of the highest rates of infant mortality isn’t using a program designed to help women deliver healthy babies should shock the conscience of everyone who cares about Louisiana’s mothers and children.

The report lists several reasons for the state’s low participation rate. Many of them are easy to remedy. For example, around 80% of the clinics that screen participants were not open beyond normal business hours. Most women in the program must complete regular clinic visits in order to maintain their benefits. But for working mothers, finding a clinic that could accommodate their schedules proved challenging.

In north Louisiana, for example, only one clinic near Shreveport operated in early morning hours or late into the evening.

For other would-be participants, the problem was that clinic hours and phone numbers posted on their websites were not accurate, and staff did not answer the phone.

The audit also found that many clinics were not doing at least one outreach event per month as required by state policy to let potentially eligible moms know about the program.

We are glad to note that the Louisiana Department of Health, which oversees WIC, agreed with the audit recommendations and has already begun to address these issues. It will conduct reviews of clinic information online and will institute a “secret shopper” program to randomly call clinics to make sure phones are being answered. It has set a goal to improve participation by 25% this year.

Surveys of participants also found that the program where beneficiaries receive EBT cards to redeem at participating stores for specific food products was not meeting their needs.

Some products, like yogurt, were offered only in large quantities so they did not redeem the items for fear they would spoil, participants shared. The Department of Health agreed to have more flexibility in what products were offered. Some parishes only had one vendor that accepted the food benefit program, so the department is looking at expanding that.

All of these measures mean that a lifeline for needy families will now be strengthened. But outreach is key — a lifeline is only useful if it reaches those in need.

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identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’s city of residence.

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

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YOUR VIEWS

Traffic lights at pedestrian and bike crossing are confusing and dangerous

Legislature robs lawyer of victory, and N.O. of its vote A 19-year-old who spent 28 years at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola for a crime he did not commit went on to obtain a law degree and won election last year 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 courts of law.

But he upset our Republican governor and Legislature when he was elected criminal court clerk by the people entitled to vote here. So the Legislature stole Calvin Duncan’s victory by voiding the election and abolishing the criminal clerk’s position before he could take office.

Some people, including the Republican-dominated Legislature and an unsigned majority of state Supreme Court justices, don’t see anything wrong — either legally or morally. But the chief justice and the people of New Orleans believe that in a democracy, our votes should not be swept away.

In the words of Chief Justice John

Weimer: “The action by the Legislature to abolish a public office before the person elected to that office can assume the duties of that office, makes a mockery of the electoral 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 the abolition of an elective office.

But it does forbid the abolition of the results of a lawfully conducted election.

The action of the Legislature should not only be illegal. It is immoral to deprive a one-time “jailhouse lawyer” and a champion for justice of a hardwon victory.

It is also far from clear that elimination of the criminal clerk’s office will save money or help make our city safer.

ROGER STETTER New Orleans

Older International Trade Mart building was linked to Kennedy assassination The original International Trade Mart building has an illustrious history, one linked to a presidential assassination. Its story fills a gap of several years in Richard Campanella’s recent insightful article about the 1926 International Trade Exposition and its legacy.

The building, a five-story modernist structure dating from 1947, stood on the site of the current New Orleans Sheraton hotel. Visitors could wander corridors and 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 the building. After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, District Attorney Jim Garrison indicted the general manager of the International Trade Mart, Clay Shaw, as part of a conspiracy to kill Kennedy.

As I travel on Carrollton Avenue, I pass many controlled intersections with the typical traffic light using red, green and yellow lights to signal the public.

However, when I encounter the traffic control device designed to protect pedestrians and bicyclists, something changes.

The traffic light at the Lafitte Greenway crossing doesn’t use the well-known and 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 a sign that says “stop on red.”

Such a sign is not necessary at traditional traffic lights. They need to add a sign that says, “Stop at blinking Red.” I do not understand why a traditional red, green and yellow signal was not used to protect the more vulnerable.

DAVID EASSON New Orleans

Has New Orleans given up enforcing traffic laws?

ARCHIVE FILE PHOTO

Aerial view of the International Trade Mart Complex tower in 1965.

Construction of the ITM tower (now the Four Seasons Hotel) at the foot of Canal Street in the late 1960s doomed the notorious building, which was demolished in 1979 to make way for the Sheraton.

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

The New Orleans Police Department has a reserve division where officers work for free 32 hours a month in order to be able to work lucrative off-duty details. They should be used exclusively for traffic enforcement instead of “blue light patrols.”

TERRY ST. GERMAIN NOPD Captain (retired) New Orleans

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The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ 5B

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COMMENTARY Spell’s theology, not just actions, runs counter to historic Christianity Whether the Rev. Tony Spell will be convicted of a crime is a question that will be answered by a Louisiana jury.

Whether he holds views traditionally labeled heretical, however, is a verdict rendered more than 1,500 years ago.

Let me explain.

Spell, the fiery — some might say pugilistic — pastor of Life Tabernacle in Central, first came to prominence when he refused to abide by pandemic-era lockdown restrictions meant to slow the spread of the virus. More recently, he was arrested last month Faimon after an incident with his Roberts neighbor, in which Spell repeatedly punched his neighbor even after he had pinned the man to the ground.

The fight, which was caught on camera, landed Spell in the parish jail for a few hours on a count of second-degree battery. His case will work its way through our criminal justice system.

When he’s not fighting, Spell is running his church. Life Tabernacle is part of a movement within Pentecostalism that denies the ancient Christian formulation of God as a trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit as one God in three persons.

The church’s website makes this explicit: “the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not names of separate persons, but titles of positions held by God.” Such a description is “classic modalism,” Lloyd Harsch, a professor of church history at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, told me.

Modalism emphasizes the “oneness” of God. It sees God as one being acting in three different “modes.” And while Pentecostalism is a relatively new movement — it grew out of an early 20th century revival in California — modalism goes back into the church’s early centuries.

It was “a heresy that was dealt with and resoundingly condemned as being outside orthodox Christianity” by the 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 years before the Roman Catholic-Eastern Orthodox split and more than 1,000 years before Martin Luther kicked off the Protestant Reformation.

PHOTO By MICHAEL BACIGALUPI

Life Tabernacle Church’s Tony Spell speaks to the media on June 24 at the church in Central.

Today, the majority of churches, including Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant, are firmly trinitarian.

Spell’s views on the Trinity are a minority even within Pentecostalism.

Let me be clear here: I am not saying that Spell and his congregants should not be free to practice their religion as they see fit; they absolutely should. But I am noting that his beliefs fall outside of historic Christianity, and go against one of its bedrock doctrines.

Of course, one needn’t dive into dusty theological tomes or ancient church history to see the gaps between Spell’s version of Christianity and the one taught by Jesus.

Jesus taught humility, and Spell seems to revel in his own notoriety.

A few days after the fight, Spell told a deputy in a comment recorded on a body camera, “Everybody in the world knows my name.”

He also used a slur for gay people to describe the man he beat, and said he would beat the man or his family again if he felt it necessary, per body camera footage.

Jesus also taught nonviolence. When one of his followers cut off the ear of a soldier who had come to arrest Jesus, Jesus healed the man. He also famously said, “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other

cheek also.”

Spell took a different tack: He charged across the street to confront his neighbor, and even after he was arrested, he boasted about the incident, saying in a news conference that he, as the shepherd, had to protect his flock.

Later, during a church service, he made light of it.

“I fulfilled Scripture because I lay hands on the sick. I don’t know how much recovery they’re going to have, but I laid hands on them,” he said.

Spell’s devotion to Scripture is clear.

And his 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 the letters of the Apostle Paul, who in 1 Corinthians holds aloft the three great Christian virtues: “faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love.”

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

But it seems those virtues, like the Trinity, aren’t important to Spell and his version of Christianity.

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

Soccer fans see our multicultural miracle The welcoming reception that so land migration from eastern and southmany European soccer fans have reern Europe, 1892 to 1914, you heard ceived as they have crossed the nation constantly that America was suddenly becoming — for some, dangerously bein pursuit of World Cup games has struck many as a happy surprise of coming — multicultural. the summer of the 250th anniversary In the decade from 1846 to 1857, of the Declaration of Independence. when immigration as a percentage of “The World Cup is at our shores, the preexisting population was at a and all these people are doing similar peak, the sudden inrush us a great service,” comedian of German and Irish Catholic Bill Maher posted. “They are immigrants inspired similar reminding Americans that this ruminations. The fact that place is kind of awesome.” many newcomers, rather than “They are seeing an America fan out into farms and the fronthey never imagined,” The Wall tier, clustered in high-density Michael neighborhoods in central cities Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan Barone seemed especially threatening. noted with something like awe.

“They expected a dark and But cultural diversity was brooding nation; they discovered a part of the American experience, gosun-filled magnificence. It’s so big, so ing back to colonial days and through spacious, has such wondrous shops, the Revolution and the first tenuous the best food and absolutely wonderyears of independence, which proful people.” duced the Constitution.

“We forget too easily,” British-born America’s revolutionary patriots had American Andrew Sullivan wrote, grown up during a period when recent “the loving, generous, beautiful culhistory was centered on foreign and civil wars centered on differences in ture that is still America at its core.

If it takes a soccer tournament rather religion. England’s Glorious Revoluthan a choreographed 250th annivertion, the ouster of a Catholic king by a Protestant foreigner, was as distant sary celebration to remind us of that, in time from revolutionaries active in so be it. We’re worth celebrating no the 1770s and 1780s as World War II is less.” as distant in time from us today.

Sullivan took special care to hail The English Civil War, which re“the multicultural miracle we have already achieved in this quarter of a sulted in the execution of the king, millennium.” It’s a refreshing contrast was contemporaneous with the demowith the notion, widely prevalent in graphically devastating Thirty Years’ the pre-Trump years of this century, War in Europe and 120 to 130 years in that America had suddenly, for the the past — not much further distant first time, moved from being a stifling- than World War I and the totalitarian fascism and communism of the 20th ly, insensitively monocultural society century that followed. to a multiracial, multicultural one.

Against such a background, the varWhen you go rifling back in American history, you encounter this notion time ied religious origins of the different and again. In the years of peak Ellis Is- colonies must have been disquieting.

The New England colonies had been founded by Calvinist rebels against the Church 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 the convention in September 1787 and ratified by the ninth state and rendered effective in June 1788, provided that, unlike in Britain, “no religious test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

And the First Amendment to the Constitution, approved by the First Congress in September 1789 and ratified by the states 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 the free exercise thereof.” States could keep their established religions — Connecticut did until 1818, Massachusetts until 1833 — or have none at all.

In the nearly 250 years since, Americans have grappled with the difficulties of maintaining their “multicultural miracle” even as the population has increased from 4 million to 349 million.

But that there have been difficulties should not blind us to the founders’ achievement in declaring independence and establishing a frame of government appropriate to an always, and always-changing, multicultural society.

Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

With Cuba, Trump had better beware of what he wishes for After beginning the war, but before his conduct of it turned it into an embarrassment, President Donald Trump said: “On the way back” from Iran “we will be taking over” Cuba “almost immediately.” Now, humiliated and bewildered, he hungers for a success before this autumn’s elections.

Cuba’s 67-year-old regime has survived 13 U.S. presidencies. But a bumptious 14th has big plans.

Loosely speaking.

Communist Cuba, a threadbare museum of Marxism, has always attracted tyranny tourists, leftist pilgrims eager to experience, briefly, applied socialism. The only good its evil ever produced is “Against All Hope,” Armando Valladares’s magnificent 1986 memoir of 22 years as a political prisoner. Beatings were never perfunctory, always ferocious and imaginatively cruel.

He was fed watery soup laced with glass, or dead rats, or half the length of a cow’s intestine, rectum included, filled with waste.

Other than those pilgrims, no one believes the Havana regime has a shred of legitimacy. What should be done?

For decades, Communist Cuba, a mendicant nation prickly about its revolutionary dignity, depended on George subsidies from the Soviet Union, Will then on bartered oil from Venezuela. Now it experiences electricity blackouts, sometimes lasting 22 hours a day. Some airlines have stopped serving Havana because fuel is scarce for return trips. Tourism has evaporated. The Economist says “harvests are virtually non-existent.” The Wall Street Journal’s Mary Anastasia O’Grady reports, “Output from once-vibrant export industries like sugar, tobacco, coffee and fruit can’t even supply the domestic market.”

Like North Korea, another family business, Cuba’s regime, in which Fidel Castro’s brother Raúl, 95, still matters, has one priority: survival.

It understands the threat posed by permitting any freedom in tyranny’s fissures. Hence, it’s fear of free enterprise, socialism’s solvent.

Raúl Castro (with whom President Barack Obama posed for photos during his “engagement” with Cuba) cannot be an interlocutor, given the proper U.S. indictment of him for murder. In 1996, he ordered Cuban military jets to shoot down two U.S. civilian aircraft over international water.

They were helping escapees from the prison island.

Trump’s base includes Cuban Americans, a large majority of whom, according to a Miami Herald poll, favor military intervention and oppose any economic engagement that preserves the regime. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, an adult in Trump’s Cabinet, says Cuba’s economic trajectory “will not change as long as the people who are in charge of it now remain in power.”

Gaesa, an army-run conglomerate, controls 70% of the economy.

Cuba’s economy shrank 11% from 2019 to 2024, and more than 1 million people, about 10 percent of the population, fled the country between 2022 and 2023. The Trump administration insists that prostrate Cuba threatens U.S. “national security.”

Cuba’s army has about one-fifth of its former 200,000 soldiers; its tiny air force is ramshackle.

Cuba reportedly has more than 300 drones, but what use are they? And surely there is sufficient U.S. leverage to pressure Havana into ending Russia’s and China’s use of the island for listening to U.S. military communications. Is there, however, a U.S. obligation toward this unfortunate neighbor?

Thomas Gradgrind, the villain (until he softened his cold utilitarianism) of Charles Dickens’s “Hard Times,” probably believed that “the Good Samaritan was a Bad Economist.” Meaning: Charity skews incentives for self-reliance, etc. Some ethicists, however, wonder whether a Good Samaritan nation with the power to do good has an obligation to do it.

All agree, however, that there is no obligation to do what cannot be done. And what can be done for a nation that by now is all regime and no meaningful citizenry?

In March, a mob sacked a Communist Party headquarters in central Cuba. This spark of insurrection was aberrant and fleeting. Totalitarianism always has one foundational objective, which it has achieved in Cuba. The population is a dust of wary individuals, easily blown about. Their capacity for collaboration — for politics — has atrophied. A smooth democratic transition is a chimera.

In January, Trump said, “Cuba is ready to fall.”

Into what? Has Trump thought through his vow to “take care” of Cuba with a “friendly takeover” during “a little brief stopover”?

Before he skittered away from demanding Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” he jovially said of Cuba: A U.S. aircraft carrier will “stop about 100 yards offshore, and they’ll say ‘Thank you very much. We give up.’”

Such a cutup. Our Metternich from Midtown Manhattan is not intimidated by the aphorism that if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.

Email Will at georgewill@washpost.com.

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with meteorologist Damon Singleton

Regional Summary

It will remain humid with times of clouds and sun. Spotty afternoon thunderstorms will rumble across the Southeast, west to Arkansas and Texas.

TODAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

Humid; an afternoon t-storm

A t-storm around in the p.m.

A t-storm around in the p.m.

A stray afternoon t-storm

An afternoon t-storm or two

A morning t-storm or two

HIGH

LOW

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91° 78°

LOW

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90° 78°

LOW

93° 79°

Beaumont 92/77 Port Arthur 91/79

Baton Rouge 90/75

Lake Charles 91/78

New Orleans 91/78 Houma 89/75

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

0s

Hattiesburg 92/74

Alexandria 88/74

Lafayette 90/76

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88° 78°

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Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today

JUL 7

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Atlanta Austin Boston Charlotte Chicago Dallas Denver Houston Las Vegas

PRECIPITATION

90°/74° 91°/76° 94°/77° 99° in 2019 68° in 1984

TODAY’S TIDES Lake Pontchartrain (Tchefuncte River) Shell Beach South Point, Marsh Island Cypremort Point Grand Isle (Barataria Pass) Mississippi River (Southwest Pass) Wine Island

LAST

Shown are areas of precipitation and high temperatures for the day.

LOW

New Orleans through 5 p.m. Monday

Jackson 91/73 Many 89/73

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90° 79°

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Monroe 91/74

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4:22p 9:52a 9:25a 1:08a 5:39a 5:21a 6:47a

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92 97 67 94 85 97 95 95 109

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0.4 8:30a 0.2 1.0 2:01a 0.4 1.4 12:40a 0.8 1.1 5:03a 1.0 0.8 4:35p 0.3 0.9 3:44p 0.3 1.0 5:37p 0.4

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The solunar period schedule allows planning days so you will be fishing in good territory or hunting in good cover during those times. Major periods begin at the times shown and last for 1.5 to 2 hours. The minor periods are shorter.

MAJOR MINOR MAJOR MINOR

Today 5:33a 11:44a 5:55p ---Wednesday 6:19a 12:07a 6:43p 12:31p Thursday 7:07a 12:53a 7:34p 1:20p Friday 7:58a 1:43a 8:27p 2:12p Saturday 8:52a 2:36a 9:24p 3:08p Sunday 9:51a 3:34a 10:24p 4:08p Monday 10:52a 4:36a 11:25p 5:09p

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MISSISSIPPI Memphis Vidalia-Natchez Red River Landing Baton Rouge Donaldsonville Reserve New Orleans OHIO Cairo COMITE Near Olive AMITE Near Darlington Denham Springs Port Vincent TICKFAW Montpelier Holden ATCHAFALAYA Simmesport Melville Krotz Springs Butte La Rose Bayou Sorrel Morgan City

FLOOD STAGE

34 48 48 35 27 22 17

MON. 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE

16.00 41.30 43.10 26.90 17.70 13.26 8.80

-2.01 +0.42 none +0.20 +0.10 +0.03 +0.14

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26.21

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19

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26.24 17.61 15.33 12.07 7.00 3.46

+3.25 +0.09 +0.35 +0.08 +0.80 -0.16

data as of 7 a.m. Monday

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2026

Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.

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History not on Kiffin’s side

Odds are against LSU to win championship in coach’s debut

BY JON BLAU Staff writer

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By TED S. WARREN

United States goalkeeper Matt Freese, right, reacts after Belgium scores its third goal during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match on Monday in Seattle.

END OF ROAD

Belgium throttles U.S. in round of 16, to face Spain next

BY RONALD BLUM AP sportswriter

SEATTLE — The United States’ hopes for a deep World Cup run at home ended when Charles De Ketelaere scored twice and assisted on another goal, helping Belgium expose the Americans’ defensive liabilities in a 4-1 win Monday night that earned a quarterfinal berth.

While the U.S. was boosted by the presence of star forward Folarin Balogun, whose one-game red-card suspension was controversially lifted by FIFA, American defenders were at fault in a pair of first-half goals and a gaffe by goalkeeper Matt Freese gave the Red Devils a third early in the second half.

Second-half substitute Romelu Lukaku added Belgium’s final goal in the third minute of stoppage time. The Red Devils advanced to meet Spain at Inglewood, California, on Friday.

Malik Tillman tied the score 1-1 midway through the first half with his second free kick goal of the tournament, but the Americans conceded just 61 seconds after the ensuing kickoff. U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino showed his frustration by kicking a rack in front of the bench, sending four water bottles ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MADDy GRASSy flying.

U.S. forward Christian Pulisic could only watch most of the Belgium’s Charles De Ketelaere, right, celebrates after scoring second half from the bench after injuring his right foot when against the United States on Monday in Seattle. he extended for a shot attempt and hit the boot of Belgium captain Youri Tielemans in the 52nd minute.

After spending a few moments lying on the pitch, Pulisic of the World Cup. He returned to the starting lineup for the began favoring the foot and was replaced in the 59th by Se- Americans’ 2-0 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round bastian Berhalter with the U.S. trailing 3-1. ä See WORLD CUP, page 5C Pulisic was slowed by a calf injury during the group stage

No Fears or Queen It’s Year 2 for Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen, who made their rookie debuts in Vegas last summer. After a year when they both were secondteam selections on the All-Rookie team, they won’t be playing in Vegas this time around. First-year Pelicans coach Jamahl Mosley discussed the decision after Monday’s practice.

ä See LSU, page 3C

FIFA, World Cup under fire after Balogun decision

Absences highlight Pels’ Summer League roster The New Orleans Pelicans announced the roster for their Summer League team on Monday.

The players not on the roster proved to be bigger news than the players who were named.

Here are the five most notable things about who will be suiting up for the Pelicans when they tip off Summer League play in Las Vegas starting Thursday.

There was a time when college football coaches such as LSU’s Lane Kiffin didn’t exist in a winnow echo chamber pressurized by 24/7 media cycles.

But this isn’t to say everything was peachy.

“Coaching football is a rotten life,” former Michigan coach Bennie Oosterbaan, one of just three college football coaches to win a national title in his first season, told Time magazine just a few years after his glorious debut in 1948.

“I’m on top now, and there is a lot of backslapping,” Oosterbaan said. “Let me lose the opener or a couple of other games next fall, and then watch how I’m blasted.”

Oosterbaan, considered the “best offensive mind in college football” by his predecessor, soured on scheming. When he left Michigan in 1958, he said Kiffin “the pressure” got to him.

“Not from my bosses or the fans,” Oosterbaan said. “I mean the pressure that builds up inside a head coach whether he wins or loses.”

The coaching profession applies pressure. Kiffin, a renowned offensive mind in today’s era, said he doesn’t fret about outside expectations because none are greater than his own.

But the LSU job is a pressurecooker.

It’s a place where three coaches — Nick Saban, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron — have won national titles this century. It’s a place where Brian Kelly was axed, with $54 million left on his contract, because 34-14 with no playoff appearances wasn’t good enough.

To put it lightly, Kiffin must win.

To put it not so lightly, LSU fans are “nuts,” according to Hall of Fame coach Urban Meyer, who proclaimed ahead of the Fourth of July weekend that Kiffin has to win a national title in 2026 — or at least come close — to stay in the fans’ good graces.

BY GRAHAM DUNBAR AP sportswriter

Rod Walker “They’ve been in here working with these guys,” Mosley said. “A big portion of that is them playing 82 games and being able to be up and play these games against the heavy hitters in the league.”

Count me among those who agree with that decision after seeing Fears play in all 82 games and Queen in 81. They both have room for

STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Pelicans guard Micah Peavy reacts after hitting a 3-pointer against the Detroit Pistons during a game on Jan. 21 at ä See PELICANS, page 3C Smoothie King Center.

GENEVA — With the integrity of FIFA and the World Cup under attack from European soccer leaders, FIFA President Gianni Infantino acknowledged taking a call from President Donald Trump before U.S. forward Folarin Balogun was cleared to play against Belgium later Monday.

Balogun was issued a red card in the U.S. match vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina last week, resulting in a suspension for the Belgium contest. Trump called Infantino after the game with Bosnia to plead his case to overturn the call, and FIFA lifted the suspension Sunday.

That prompted a day of off-field furor at the World Cup. The Belgian soccer federation challenged FIFA’s

ä See BALOGUN, page 5C

2C ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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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-

AP basketball writer

NEW YORK — It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the WNBA with injuries.

Stars A’ja Wilson, Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Plum have all missed time for a variety of ailments.

While Wilson and Clark, who were both selected as All-Star starters last week, should be back soon, Plum will be a bit longer.

Wilson has missed three games with a foot injury she suffered against Chicago.

Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said that the fourtime MVP could have played in Sunday’s loss to Wilson Indiana if it was a playoff game, but she was keeping her out while looking at the bigger picture 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

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

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. 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

Ovechkin is back for another season with NHL’s Capitals

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 ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MICHAEL CONROy with Dallas having Bueckers and Azzi Fudd and the Liberty having Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, right, drives on Atlanta Dream guard Stewart.

Te-Hina Paopao, left, during a game in Indianapolis on June 18.

Roberts has been impressed how the league has grown over the past Napheesa Collier has yet to play Toronto and Portland followed three decades.

“To see the respect it has earned, this year after she had offseason the Dream. Los Angeles, Chicago, surgery on both her ankles. She Seattle and Connecticut rounded the players are just incredible, and I’m just very grateful to see that it has started practicing again for out the poll. is getting the recognition that it’s Minnesota and also should be Player of the week getting right now,” she said. back soon.

Breanna Stewat of New York Power poll rankings was the AP player of the week. Game of the week Minnesota remained atop the She had a huge game in the LiberNew York at Minnesota, Saturpower poll this week barely edg- ty’s win over Minnesota last Fri- day. Two of the top teams in the ing New York. One point sepa- day. Stewart scored 36 points to WNBA will meet again in Minrated the top two teams. Golden go along with seven rebounds and nesota with the Lynx hosting the State was third with Las Vegas two blocks in the victory. Other Liberty. Star Minnesota forward fourth, The Valkyries picked up players receiving votes included Napheesa Collier might be ready some first-place votes. Dallas Paige Bueckers of Dallas, Sha- to play in that game as she’s been was fifth. Indiana, Washington kira Austin of Washington and working back from offseason anand Atlanta were next. Phoenix Gabby Williams of Golden State. kle surgeries.

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

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 Adam Peters has been active in adding talent on that side of the ball.

The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ 3C

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NASCAR uses 3 of its youngest drivers for Rolling Stones video

BY JAY COHEN

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

“I think when you look at all of those drivers, they have great personalities, very rebellious spirits and they kind of have a rock 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 a touring rock band.

Zilisch, 19, Love, 21, and Hocevar, 23, clown around during a photo shoot before jumping on a tour bus driven by Mitchell. The drivers play cards before stopping at a bar. 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 for pictures with fans.

“It was cool. It was fun,” Hocevar said. “Yeah, just nice to kind of let loose, I guess, on a video.”

Hocevar said he likes to see NASCAR try new ways to interact with potential fans.

“Yeah, they have to,” he said.

“I feel like they just got to keep throwing stuff at the dartboard and hopefully something sticks here.”

Zilisch described himself as a huge music fan. He grew up listening to Foo Fighters, Linkin Park and the Red Hot Chili Peppers with his father in the car. He said he has paid more attention to the Stones’ music since he became part of NASCAR’s partnership with the band.

Filming the video, Zilisch said, was a memorable experience.

“They made us dress up like we were in the 90s and wear leather and have all this jewelry on,” he said. “It definitely was a little bit unique and outside of what I would normally be wearing but regardless it was just a cool shoot. We got to go inside this old tour bus and, you know, just kind of feel like I was back in the day even though I’ve never lived in that era of time.”

AP sportswriter

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NAM y. HUH

Chase Briscoe celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday in Joliet, Ill.

Briscoe holds off Bell in return to Chicagoland

BY JAY COHEN AP sportswriter

JOLIET, Ill. — Chase Briscoe was on an offseason bonding trip to the United Kingdom with crew chief James Small when the NASCAR driver discovered chocolate buttons, a popular British treat. He bought some online after he returned to the U.S., but he said it wasn’t the same.

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

Briscoe held off Christopher Bell in NASCAR’s return to Chicagoland Speedway, racing to his first Cup Series win of the season.

And Small delivered the chocolates to Briscoe moments after it was over.

“They were pretty dang good,” Briscoe said.

Briscoe was followed closely by Bell in the final laps on the 1.5-mile oval about 50 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. But Bell was unable to run down his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.

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

“This has been a place that I’ve always loved coming to, back when we used to, and I’ve missed it,” Briscoe said. “It’s always been one of my top-five tracks.”

It was Bell’s fourth runner-up finish this season. He was wearing a splint on his arm as he continues his recovery after breaking his left wrist in a crash at Michigan

LSU

Continued from page 1C

on June 7.

“I think he’s handled that as well as you can handle it,” team owner Joe Gibbs said. “He’s got a burning desire to stay in there and win. I think he had, you know — he had a real good car tonight, too.”

Denny Hamlin, who started on the pole, was third. William Byron, who won two stages while leading a race-high 94 laps, and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five.

“I thought I was in control early on, even though I wasn’t leading,” Hamlin said. “I felt in control and probably got a little lazy on some restarts and things like that. Just taking for granted that I’ll just go 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 a crowded sports market, but the race struggled with attendance.

After racing on a street course in downtown Chicago each of the previous three years, NASCAR decided to go back to Chicagoland — eager to see how the Next Gen cars would do on the rough and bumpy asphalt at the facility. Rain on Friday and Saturday caused some parking issues, but the racing was compelling.

Led by Briscoe, Bell and Hamlin, Toyota accounted for seven of the top 10 cars for the first time in a Cup Series race — continuing a strong season for the manufacturer.

“Yeah, Toyotas are fast,” Bell said.

Driving a “Space Jam”-themed car in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Looney Tunes movie, Bubba Wallace was sixth in his No. 23 Toyota Camry. Wallace is part of the 23XI Racing team that is co-

owned by Michael Jordan, one of the stars of the 1996 movie.

Ryan Blaney was seventh in his seventh consecutive top-10 finish.

Ty Gibbs, Corey Heim and Riley Herbst completed the top 10.

Tyler Reddick’s championship hopes were damaged by an oil leak with about 32 laps left in Stage 2. There was a long caution while Reddick’s 23XI Racing crew worked on his No. 45 Toyota in the garage, replacing the radiator because of a hole.

Reddick, who won the first 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 also had a rough day after qualifying second behind Hamlin. He was in third place when he spun out of Turn 4 on Lap 93. He drove his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet into the wet infield grass and had to be pulled out of the mud.

Larson finished 34th, extending his winless drought to 43 races.

He finished second in each of the previous two Cup races at Chicagoland.

Updating the In-Season Challenge Briscoe, Bell, Hamlin and Blaney were among the winners in the second round of NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge. Byron, Chase Elliott, Todd Gilliland and Alex Bowman also moved on.

The winner of the five-race, bracket-style tournament receives $1 million.

Briscoe eliminated Ty Gibbs, who won the inaugural competition last year. Byron defeated Larson, his teammate with Hendrick Motorsports.

Title contenders typically take time to build. In two 12-team playoffs, the average tenure of coaches in the tourney was 4.8 years. The average was seven years for coaches in the final trio of four-team playoffs, right after NIL started in 2021.

Coaches can build toward the playoff quickly, but national titles in Year 1 are rare, and they have not translated to long-term happiness.

The only coaches other than Oosterbaan to win titles in their first seasons were Miami’s Dennis Erickson and Larry Coker. Erickson, who won it all in 1989 and did it again in 1991, jumped to the NFL and bounced between levels, with fading success, for two decades.

Coker, a champion in 2001, was out of a job within five years.

At LSU, there’s a pace in which football coaches win titles. Saban arrived in 2000 and claimed his in 2003. Miles took charge of the Tigers in 2005 and won it all in 2007.

Orgeron succeeded Miles in 2016 and took home the trophy in 2019.

It usually takes a few years. Even in this era, where rosters can 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 who were either fifth- or sixth-year seniors. LSU’s projected 22 is a bit younger, averaging 3.5 years.

“We’re going to have the teams and rosters back to the way they were playing when (LSU was) great. I don’t know how fast, that might not be today,” Kiffin said in June, “but it’s going to happen.”

The pressure is on.

“He’s gotta be within a swing of it,” said Meyer, who won a national title in his second season at Florida and his third at Ohio State. “That’s one place, I remember when I retired, I said ‘Good, I’m never going there again’ — because (LSU) fans are nuts.”

It’s questionable whether Meyer’s take is fair, but talk of Kiffin’s title timeline was fair game as soon as he jumped from Ole Miss ahead of a playoff run because he considered Baton Rouge more fertile soil to build a contender.

Kiffin has promised the Tigers will win a title during his tenure, though he didn’t offer a specific timeline. But the question is certainly being asked locally and nationally.

How long should it take?

There is a perception that titles can be won more quickly these days because of transfers and athlete pay. Curt Cignetti just led one of the least successful programs in college football history, Indiana, to the mountaintop.

But many of Cignetti’s stars followed him from James Madison, a Cinderella script that can’t be repeated. It wasn’t until the coach’s second year, with a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, that the Hoosiers won it all.

The 2025 CFP included five coaches in their second seasons, including Texas A&M’s Mike Elko, Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, Tulane’s Jon Sumrall and James Madison’s Bob Chesney. The only first-year coach was Pete Golding, who took Email Jon Blau at jon.blau@ over for Kiffin in the postseason. theadvocate.com.

JOLIET,Ill.— The first Rolling Stones album was released 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 how old you are, you know who the Rolling Stones are,” Zilisch said.

Zilisch joined fellow drivers Carson Hocevar and Jesse Love for a music video as part of a collaboration between NASCAR and the Stones ahead of the band’s 25th studio album, “Foreign Tongues,” which comes out on Friday.

A custom NASCAR show car served as a listening lounge for the Stones’ new music during events at Chicago’s Navy Pier and Plaza of the Americas in the run-up to the stock car series returning to Chicagoland Speedway over the weekend.

The partnership also includes a merchandise collection featuring the band’s tongue and 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, and nostalgia around them that they appeal to the younger audiences of today,” Malayter said. “So there really is amazing crossover.”

NASCAR walks a tricky line when it comes to satisfying older racing fans while appealing to its younger supporters and expanding its audience. While its older fans are likely more familiar with the Stones, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, Zilisch, Hocevar and Love are three of its younger drivers.

Garrett Mitchell, a popular You-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NAM y. HUH

Connor Zilisch drives to the track before the start of a NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday in Joliet, Ill.

PELICANS

Continued from page 1C

SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTER

(NBA experience in parentheses) Chris Bell 6-7 Forward (0) Kobe Bufkin 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) Jalon Moore 6-7 Forward (0) Peavy back at it Markquis Nowell 5-7 Guard (1) While the Pelicans’ two firstJosh Oduro 6-9 F/C (1) round draft picks from 2025 Johnny O’Neil 6-10 Forward (0) won’t play, their second-round pick (Micah Peavy) will.

Micah Peavy 6-7 Forward (1) “I’m embracing it big time,” Jaron Pierre 6-5 Guard (0) Peavy said. “I’m going to go out Jordan Riley 6-5 Guard (0) and show what I’ve been working Christian Shumate 6-6 Forward (0) on and what this new coaching Solomon Washington 6-7 Forward (0) staff has been putting in place.” improvement, but what they did as rookies along with the work they have put in during the offseason suggest they are headed in the right direction. Playing against Summer League competition won’t do much to enhance that.

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

“Mainly, (I can show) just how many shots I’ve been putting up,” Peavy said. “My confidence is there.”

New kid on the block Jaron Pierre, the New Orleans native and St. Augustine High School alum, is the 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’s introductory news conference last week, he described playing with his hometown team as surreal.

“It’s not surreal anymore,” he

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

Saturday: vs. Hornets, 3 p.m.

Sunday: vs. Suns, 2 p.m.

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

July 17, 18 or 19: TBA said Monday. “I’m really living it.”

Home again 2 Pierre isn’t the only player from New Orleans on the Summer League roster. Solomon Washington, who played at Carver and was Louisiana’s Mr. Basketball in 2022, is getting his shot to play for the Pelicans. The 6-foot-7 forward played his first three seasons at Texas A&M before finishing up this past season at Maryland.

“I want to show that I belong here and that I can compete with anybody on any given night and probably be the best player on the floor for what I do,” Washington said.

Most intriguing players There are plenty to choose from. The high-flying Christian Shumate, who played at McNeese State, returns to the Summer League team for a second straight year.

There’s also Kobe Bufkin, who was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2023 draft. That was one pick after the Pelicans drafted Jordan Hawkins.

I can’t leave off Markquis Nowell, a 5-foot-7 guard who set an NCAA Tournament record with 19 assists in Kansas State’s overtime win over Michigan State in 2023.

And there’s Dominique Daniels, who played at California Baptist.

Daniels averaged 23.2 points, including a 47-point game against Utah Valley. He made 18 of 21 free throws in that game. He is one of 10 players on the Summer League roster with no NBA experience. He and the other nine are hoping to change that with a strong showing in Vegas.

Email Rod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.

✦ The Times-Picayune 4C ✦ Tuesday Tuesday, July 7, 7 2026 ✦ nola.com n

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WORLD CUP 2026 W C A N A D A

•

U N I T E D S T A T E S

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M E X I C O

TODAY’S GAMES ARGENTINA VS. EGYPT 11 a.m., Fox, Telemundo, Peacock | SWITZERLAND VS. COLOMBIA 3 p.m. Fox, Telemundo, Peacock

Merino kicks Spain past Portugal GLANCE

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 possible because 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 a foul was called. While Portugal’s Bernardo Silva argued, Merino played the ball back in, ran toward the goal and easily beat goalkeeper Diogo Costa after a series of passes capped by Ferran Torres’ nifty ball through the middle.

Ronaldo “He’s one of the best in his position worldwide, and he has given us a fantastic result and a fantastic goal,” de la Fuente said through a translator. “I want to express the importance of substitutes that came in later in the 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 a second consecutive tournament for the first time. Instead, the career on soccer’s biggest stage is over for the all-time leader in international goals (146) and appearances (233).

Merino didn’t enter until the 85th minute, and his heads-up play showed some of the versatility that helped Arsenal win its first Premier League title in more than 20 years this spring.

Scores, schedule ROUND OF 16 July 4

Morocco 3, Canada 0 France 1, Paraguay 0

Sunday

Norway 2, Brazil 1 England 3, Mexico 2

Monday

Spain 1, Portugal 0 Belgium 4, United States 1

Tuesday

Argentina vs. Egypt, 11 a.m.

Switzerland vs. Colombia, 3 p.m.

QUARTERFINALS Thursday

France vs. Morocco, 3 p.m.

Friday

Spain vs. Belgium, 2 p.m.

Saturday

Norway vs. England, 4 p.m.

TBD, 8 p.m.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JULIO CORTEZ

Mikel Merino celebrates scoring a goal for Spain during the World Cup round of 16 match against Portugal on Monday in Arlington, Texas. Spain won 1-0 and advances to the quarterfinals.

The World Cup was in doubt for Merino, who turned 30 during the tournament, after right foot surgery cut short his Arsenal season.

In the biggest moment of the year for Spain, there he was with fresh legs, finishing with his left foot into the left corner of the net.

After emerging from a group hug with his teammates, Merino made a circle around the flag in a corner before letting out a guttural scream while clenching both fists.

That’s how his father, Miguel Merino, celebrated more than three decades ago during his club career in Spain. And his son first emulated it after a late goal to beat host Germany to send Spain to the

semifinals of the European championship two years ago.

This was Mikel Merino’s first World Cup goal, and 11th for the national team.

“What better way to celebrate,” Merino said. “You remember all the good and the bad, and there have been difficult moments for me this year.”

The latest meeting of Iberian Peninsula rivals that first played in a friendly in Madrid 105 years ago was quite the contrast to their most recent World Cup match.

It was eight years ago that Ronaldo had his only World Cup hat trick in a 3-3 draw with Spain in a group stage opener that is consid-

Mexico comes back to earth after exit

ered one of the tournament’s best games.

The 41-year-old superstar scored three times in this tournament, but he didn’t have many chances against Spain’s Unai Simón, who extended his World Cup record to 609 minutes without conceding a goal. Spain became the first team to record six straight shutouts at the World Cup. The best chance was Ronaldo’s nifty backward kick in the 37th minute when Joao Felix’s header deflected off Simón’s left shoulder and popped in the air to Ronaldo.

He flicked the ball with his right foot, but it was soft enough to give Simón time to recover and make a

leaping grab.

“I’ll wake up tomorrow like I woke up today, with a clear conscience,” said Ronaldo, who a day earlier had repeated his previous declaration that his sixth World Cup would be his last. “I gave my best. I won three titles with Portugal. Before Cristiano, Portugal hadn’t won any title. So, I’m happy.

The biggest title that I won with the national team was in 2016 (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 two days shy of a year since Portugal beat Spain in a riveting UEFA Nations League final that went to penalty kicks after a 2-2 draw.

The other World Cup meeting was Spain’s 1-0 victory — also in the round of 16 — when La Roja won the title in South Africa.

“It was a great match. Two superb teams,” de la Fuente said.

“As we had said it, it was like an anticipated final. As it was expected, we had to suffer until the very end.”

TUESDAY LOOKAHEAD

Co-host’s World Cup dreams ended after loss to England in Mexico City

More stars aim to shine in round of 16

BY CARLOS RODRIGUEZ

BY JOHN MARSHALL

MEXICO CITY — For nearly a month, millions of Mexicans allowed themselves to believe this World Cup would be historic.

They dared bigger and brighter dreams as the national team racked up win after win in fortress Azteca.

Then they woke up to a cruel reality on Monday morning: The World Cup was marching on without Mexico. The team lost to England 3-2 in a round of 16 thriller on Sunday night and officially disbanded in the morning.

Supporters reluctantly returned to their daily routines, their team no longer a contender and their country no longer a host in a tournament running for another two weeks across the United States.

“It’s painful because we dreamed and had high hopes, and crashing out like this hurts a lot,” Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said. “It wasn’t meant to be ... we couldn’t seal the deal and give the people another night of joy.”

Mexico staged the opening ceremony and first match on June 11 for a 2-0 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’s first knockout stage success in 40 years.

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

“Breaking through that barrier isn’t as easy as everyone thinks, but we’re on the right track,” midfielder Erik Lira said. “This time was different because we

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

So will Harry Kane after England’s epic 3-2 win over Mexico.

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

The last two round of 16 games are Tuesday, including Switzerland against Colombia in Vancouver, British Columbia. Topping the marquee is a showdown between Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah in Atlanta.

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

Messi added the one thing missing from his resume by leading Argentina to the World Cup title four years ago and has shown he’s still one of the world’s best at age 39.

Messi has scored seven goals in four matches, matching Mbappé and Haaland in a star-studded Golden Boot race. Messi has scored in a record eight straight World Cup matches, dating to the 2022 title run, and keeps adding to his record career total of 20 goals.

Salah, 34, has been the face of Egyptian soccer, a four-time Premier League Golden Boot winner and the league’s all-time leading foreign-born scorer.

The 34-year-old “Egyptian King” has an Egypt-record three World Cup goals and is one behind national team coach Hossam Hassan’s record of 69 international goals.

Perhaps Salah’s biggest accomplishment is pushing Egypt deeper into the World Cup than it’s ever been. The Pharaohs earned their

AP sportswriter

AP sportswriter

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NATACHA PISARENKO

Mexico fans look on after the World Cup round of 16 match between Mexico and England on Sunday in Mexico City. England won 3-2. were playing as one of the best teams out there; we’re leaving with our heads held high.”

But unlike previous heartbreaks — late-game collapses against Germany in 1998 and the Netherlands in 2014, and the penalty shootout disaster against Bulgaria in 1994 — this exit was on home soil with every advantage.

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

Then a red card left England playing a man short for most of the second half.

But Mexico couldn’t capitalize.

“Losing didn’t hurt so much just because it was England; it hurt because this time it really seemed possible to go further,” said Eduardo Juárez, a 63-yearold retiree still wearing his green jersey on Monday. “We had a great team and high hopes but now it’s over.”

On Monday morning, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum used her daily news conference

to offer words of comfort to the country.

“They played very, very well, and the moment Mexico is experiencing is one of great pride, hope and unity,” Sheinbaum said.

“We need to keep our spirits up, acknowledge the effort and move forward.”

With Mexico’s run over, Aguirre’s contract has expired.

According to the federation’s original roadmap, his assistant coach — Barcelona great Rafael Márquez — is slated to take the helm for the 2030 World Cup cycle.

Márquez has a signed agreement in principle but his official appointment must still be ratified by the owners of the 18 Liga MX first division clubs. This review will take place next month after Aguirre submits his final tournament report.

“I had Rafa as a player and now as a colleague; he is more than qualified,” Aguirre noted. “He is a valuable asset, he’ll prove it, and I hope he achieves better results than we did.”

For Mexico’s fans, that transition will become the new anchor for their fractured hopes.

first World Cup victory by beating New Zealand 3-1 in the group stage and earned their first knockout stage win by outlasting Australia in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw.

At a World Cup in which powers such as Germany and Brazil were ousted by underdogs, 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. “I am convinced that if we didn’t resort to our character in the last match we would be out as Cape Verde was giving us a very 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. I promise that we will do everything to live up to the expectations (of fans),” Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said.

“We’re no underdogs. We’re big in every respect. We are a civilization that is 7,000 years old, even more than 7,000 years.”

Colombia vs. Switzerland With stops already in Mexico and the United States, Colombia will become the only team to play in all three host nations when they play Switzerland in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Tuesday.

Colombia opened with a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan in Mexico City, beat Congo 1-0 in Guadalajara, Mexico, and played Portugal to a scoreless draw in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Colombians opened the knockout stage with a 1-0 win over Ghana in Kansas City, Missouri, and now have the chance to clinch their first quarterfinal berth since 2014.

Switzerland beat Algeria 2-0 for its first knockout-round win since 1938 to earn the trip to Vancouver.

The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ 5C

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Stevens says Brown trade about flexibility

BY KYLE HIGHTOWER

AP sportswriter

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By FRANK FRANKLIN II

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.

World Cup run stirs Norway’s national pride 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

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.”

“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

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

6C ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

lll

SCOREBOARD

Astros fall short

Odds Sports Betting Line MLB Tuesday

American League FAVORITE LINE at TAMPA BAY OFF at DETROIT -190 Boston -120 Cleveland -122 at TEXAS -166 National League FAVORITE LINE at ST. LOUIS OFF at PITTSBURGH OFF at CINCINNATI OFF at ST. LOUIS OFF at SAN DIEGO OFF at LA DODGERS -250 Interleague FAVORITE LINE Chicago Cubs -112 at MIAMI OFF Houston -118 at N.Y METS OFF at SAN FRAN OFF

UNDERDOG LINE N.Y Yankees OFF Athletics +160 at WHITE SOX +102 at MINNESOTA +104 LA Angels +140 UNDERDOG Milwaukee Atlanta Philadelphia Milwaukee Arizona Colorado

LINE OFF OFF OFF OFF OFF +205

East Division

National League

W 52 49 42 42 40

L 35 40 48 49 48

Pct GB .598 — .551 4 .467 11½ .462 12 .455 12½

Atlanta Philadelphia Miami Washington New York

W 52 50 49 46 37

L 36 40 42 45 53

Pct .591 .556 .538 .505 .411

Chicago Cleveland Minnesota Detroit Kansas City

W 47 47 44 40 36

L 42 44 47 50 54

Pct GB .528 — .516 1 .484 4 .444 7½ .400 11½

Milwaukee Chicago St. Louis Pittsburgh Cincinnati

W 55 50 47 46 41

L 33 40 40 45 48

Pct GB .625 — .556 6 .540 7½ .505 10½ .461 14½

Seattle Texas Houston Athletics Los Angeles

W 47 45 45 41 36

L 44 45 47 49 55

Pct .516 .500 .489 .456 .396

Los Angeles Arizona San Diego San Francisco Colorado

W 59 44 44 37 37

L 32 45 45 52 54

Pct .648 .494 .494 .416 .407

Central Division

GB — 1½ 2½ 5½ 11

Cincinnati 3, Baltimore 2 Minnesota 6, N.Y. Yankees 1 Chicago White Sox 7, Cleveland 6 Kansas City 5, Philadelphia 2 Houston 2, Tampa Bay 0 Detroit 6, Texas 3 Seattle 4, Toronto 0 Miami 9, Athletics 8 Boston 7, L.A. Angels 5

New York Indiana Atlanta Washington Toronto Chicago Connecticut

L 8 8 9 9 11 14 16

Pct .619 .600 .571 .526 .450 .300 .200

GB — ½ 1 2 3½ 6½ 8½

Minnesota Las Vegas Golden State Dallas Los Angeles Portland Phoenix Seattle

W 15 15 14 13 8 9 8 5

L 5 6 7 8 10 12 13 17

Pct .750 .714 .667 .619 .444 .429 .381 .227

GB — ½ 1½ 2½ 6 6½ 7½ 11

West Division

Sunday’s Games

GB — 14 14 21 22

Monday’s Games

Kansas City 15, Philadelphia 1 N.Y. Yankees 5, Tampa Bay 1 Washington 12, Houston 11 Toronto at San Francisco, n

Tuesday’s Games

W 13 12 12 10 9 6 4

Central Division

GB — 3 4½ 7½ 16

N.Y. Mets 10, Atlanta 9 Cincinnati 3, Baltimore 2 Pittsburgh 11, Washington 5 Chicago Cubs 6, St. Louis 4 Kansas City 5, Philadelphia 2 Colorado 7, San Francisco 6 Milwaukee 3, Arizona 2 Miami 9, Athletics 8 San Diego 5, L.A. Dodgers 2

Monday’s Games

WNBA Glance EASTERN CONFERENCE

East Division

Tampa Bay New York Toronto Baltimore Boston

Sunday’s Games

Pro basketball

Sunday’s Games

American League

West Division

UNDERDOG LINE at BALTIMORE -104 Seattle OFF at WASH +100 Kansas City OFF Toronto OFF

WESTERN CONFERENCE

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Chicago Cubs (Boyd 3-1) at Baltimore (Baz 4-8), 5:35 p.m.

Athletics (Ginn 7-4) at Detroit (Skubal 4-4), 5:40 p.m.

N.Y. Yankees (Warren 7-3) at Tampa Bay (McClanahan 7-5), 5:40 p.m.

Seattle (TBD) at Miami (Meyer 9-1), 5:40 p.m.

Houston (Imai 5-4) at Washington (Alvarez 2-1), 5:45 p.m.

Kansas City (Lugo 3-6) at N.Y. Mets (TBD), 6:10 p.m.

Boston (Tolle 4-6) at Chicago White Sox (Schultz 2-5), 6:40 p.m.

Cleveland (Cantillo 7-3) at Minnesota (Bradley 7-3), 6:40 p.m.

L.A. Angels (Soriano 8-5) at Texas (deGrom 7-5), 7:05 p.m.

Toronto (TBD) at San Francisco (McDonald 3-6), 8:45 p.m.

Kansas City 15, Philadelphia 1 Washington 12, Houston 11 N.Y. Mets at Atlanta, n Milwaukee at St. Louis, n Arizona at San Diego, n Toronto at San Francisco, n Colorado at L.A. Dodgers, n

Tuesday’s Games

Milwaukee (Misiorowski 9-4) at St. Louis (McGreevy 3-7), 1:15 p.m., 1st game Chicago Cubs (Boyd 3-1) at Baltimore, 5:35 p.m.

Atlanta (TBD) at Pittsburgh (Skenes 6-8), 5:40 p.m.

Seattle (TBD) at Miami (Meyer 9-1), 5:40 p.m.

Houston (Imai 5-4) at Washington, 5:45 p.m.

Kansas City (Lugo 3-6) at N.Y. Mets, 6:10 p.m.

Philadelphia (Wheeler 8-1) at Cincinnati (Abbott 5-4), 6:10 p.m.

Milwaukee (TBD) at St. Louis (TBD), 6:45 p.m., 2nd game Arizona (Gallen 3-8) at San Diego, 8:40 p.m.

Toronto at San Francisco, 8:45 p.m.

Colorado at L.A. Dodgers, 9:10 p.m.

Dallas 89, Toronto 76 Indiana 84, Las Vegas 68

Monday’s Games

BOX SCORES

Golden State 62, Washington 49 Connecticut at Minnesota, n Seattle at Los Angeles, n

Tuesday’s Games

Dallas at New York, 7 p.m.

Chicago at Phoenix, 9 p.m.

Kansas City 15, Philadelphia 1

Washington 12, Houston 11

Philadelphia

Houston

Tennis

ab r h bi ab r h bi Turner ss 4 1 3 0 Thomas cf 3 1 2 1 Marchán c 1 0 0 0 Misner ph-cf1 1 0 0 Schwarbr dh3 0 0 0 Witt dh 4 2 2 0 Crawford cf 1 0 0 0 Massey dh 1 1 1 1 Harper 1b 1 0 0 0 Perez 1b 4 1 3 1 Stubbs 1b-p 1 0 1 0 Collins pr-lf 1 0 1 0 Bohm 3b 5 0 1 1 Cglinne 1b 6 1 2 2 Marsh rf-lf 4 0 0 0 Loftin 2b 5 2 3 2 Sosa lf-ss 4 0 0 0 Marte lf-rf 5 1 2 2 Stott 2b 4 0 2 0 Tolbert ss 5 3 5 2 Realmuto c 3 0 1 0 Maile c 4 2 1 3 Rincones rf 1 0 1 0 Rojas 3b 5 0 0 0 Hill cf-1b 4 0 1 0 Totals 36 1 10 1 Totals 44 15 2214 Philadelphia 100 000 000 — 1 Kansas City 611 111 22x — 15 E_Turner (12). DP_Philadelphia 1, Kansas City 1. LOB_Philadelphia 15, Kansas City 11. 2B_Turner (16), Bohm (14), Tolbert (1), Perez (12). HR_Maile (1), Perez (11), Thomas (6), Tolbert (1).

IP H R ER BB SO Philadelphia Sánchez L,10-4 3 1⁄3 12 9 9 1 1 2 Johnson ⁄3 0 0 0 1 1 Banks 1 1 1 1 0 1 Backhus 1 4 1 1 0 1 Trivino 1 1 2 2 2 1 Stubbs 1 4 2 2 1 0 Kansas City Cameron W,5-6 5 6 1 1 5 7 Cruz 1 1 0 0 1 2 Way 1 2 0 0 1 1 Cuas 2 1 0 0 0 3 HBP_Trivino (Perez). WP_Trivino, Cruz.

ABS Challenge_Schwarber (Strike-Confirmed); Cameron (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Way (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Way (Ball-Confirmed).

Ejected_Schwarber.

Umpires_Home, Alan Porter; First, Jim Wolf; Second, Alex MacKay; Third, Roberto Ortiz.

T_3:09. A_13,496 (38,427).

Wimbledon Results Monday

At All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club London Purse: £30,060,000 Surface: Grass Results Monday from the Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (seedings in parentheses):

Men’s Singles

Fourth Round Flavio Cobolli (9), Italy, def. Alex de Minaur (5), Australia, 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Taylor Fritz (6), United States, def. Alexander Bublik (10), Kazakhstan, 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-4.

Arthur Fery, Britain, def. Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria, 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7).

Women’s Singles

Fourth Round Marta Kostyuk (12), Ukraine, def. Ashlyn Krueger, United States, 6-4, 6-4.

Elise Mertens (25), Belgium, def. Marie Bouzkova (21), Czechia, 6-4, 6-4.

Jasmine Paolini (13), Italy, def. Alexandra Eala (29), Philippines, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Linda Noskova (9), Czechia, def. Madison Keys (26), United States, 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Men’s Doubles

Third Round Mate Pavic, Croatia, and Marcelo Arevalo (6), El Salvador, def. Jean-Julien Rojer, Netherlands, and Theodore Winegar, United States, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3.

Thanasi Kokkinakis, Australia, and Aleksandar Kovacevic, United States, def. Christian Harrison, United States, and Neal Skupski (5), Britain, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5).

Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash (3), Britain, def. Petr Nouza, Czechia, and Neil Oberleitner, Austria, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.

Nikola Mektic, Croatia, and Austin Krajicek (14), United States, def. Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori (4), Italy, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4.

Women’s Doubles

Third Round Shuko Aoyama, Japan, and En-Shuo Liang (13), Taiwan, def. Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwan, and Wang Xinyu, China, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

Kristina Mladenovic, France, and Hanyu Guo (10), China, def. Irina Khromacheva, Russia, and Anastasia Detiuc, Czechia, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3.

Demi Schuurs, Netherlands, and Ellen Perez (9), Australia, def. Elena-Gabriela Ruse, Romania, and Marta Kostyuk, Ukraine, walkover.

Xu Yifan and Xinyu Jiang, China, def. Vera Zvonareva, Russia, and Laura Siegemund (7), Germany, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Ingrid Neel, Estonia, and Giuliana Olmos, Mexico, def. Aleksandra Krunic, Serbia, and Anna Danilina (3), Kazakhstan, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

Mixed Doubles

Quarterfinals Storm Hunter and Marc Polmans, Australia, def. Guido Andreozzi, Argentina, and Aldila Sutjiadi, Indonesia, 7-6 (5), 7-5.

Mate Pavic, Croatia, and Fanny Stollar, Hungary, def. Neal Skupski, Britain, and Desirae Krawczyk (6), United States, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5).

Zhang Shuai, China, and Christian Harrison (3), United States, def. Joe Salisbury, Britain, and Leylah Fernandez, Canada, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3.

Marcelo Arevalo, El Salvador, and Jelena Ostapenko (2), Latvia, def. Edouard RogerVasselin, France, and Laura Siegemund, Germany, 6-4, 7-6 (7).

Golf PGA Tour Statistics Through July 5

FedExCup Season Points 1, Scottie Scheffler, 3,511. 2, Matt Fitzpatrick, 3,195. 3, Cameron Young, 2,586. 4, Wyndham Clark, 2,199. 5, Collin Morikawa, 2,176. 6, Chris Gotterup, 2,132. 7, Si Woo Kim, 1,860. 8, Ludvig Aberg, 1,773. 9, Sam Burns, 1,728. 10, Akshay Bhatia, 1,723.

Scoring Average 1, Scottie Scheffler, 68.901. 2, Collin Morikawa, 69.533. 3, Matt Fitzpatrick, 69.621. 4, Jake Knapp, 69.795. 5, Sam Burns, 69.908. 6, Wyndham Clark, 69.938. 7, Tommy Fleetwood, 69.943. 8, Chris Gotterup, 69.945. 9, Cameron Young, 69.971. 10, Ludvig Åberg, 70.014.

Driving Distance 1, Aldrich Potgieter, 329.8. 2, Michael Brennan, 326.1. 3, Gary Woodland, 322.4. 4, Nicolai Højgaard, 322.1. 5, Chris Gotterup, 321.5. 6, Rasmus Højgaard, 321.4. 7, Marco Penge, 320.8. 8, Min Woo Lee, 320.2. 9, Johnny Keefer, 318.4. 10, Jake Knapp, 317.7.

Driving Accuracy Percentage 1, Russell Henley, 73.41%. 2, Aaron Rai, 72.43%. 3, Si Woo Kim, 70.10%. 4, Lucas Glover, 69.65%. 5, Andrew Putnam, 69.53%.

6, Tommy Fleetwood, 69.44%. 7, Collin Morikawa, 69.41%. 8, Matt Fitzpatrick, 68.90%. 9, Corey Conners, 68.78%. 10, Emiliano Grillo, 68.24%.

Greens in Regulation Percentage 1, 10 tied with .00%.

Total Driving 1, Ludvig Åberg, 46. 2, Scottie Scheffler, 51.

3, Kurt Kitayama, 58. 4, Neal Shipley, 59. 5, Michael Brennan, 63. 6, Min Woo Lee, 68. 7, Jordan Smith, 73. 8 (tie), William Mouw and Cameron Young, 76. 10, 2 tied with 77.

SG-Putting 1, Vince Whaley, .825. 2, Jake Knapp, .698.

3, Akshay Bhatia, .681. 4, Jacob Bridgeman, .675. 5, Sam Burns, .662. 6, Harris English, .581. 7, Erik van Rooyen, .574. 8, Eric Cole, .568. 9, Beau Hossler, .567. 10, Alex Noren, .563.

Birdie Average 1, Scottie Scheffler, 4.82. 2 (tie), Si Woo Kim and Collin Morikawa, 4.59. 4, Wyndham Clark, 4.55. 5, Ludvig Åberg, 4.39. 6, Akshay Bhatia, 4.35. 7, Robert MacIntyre, 4.34. 8, Ja-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOHN MCDONNELL

Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the second inning against the Washington Nationals on Monday in Washington. The Nationals won 12-11. cob Bridgeman, 4.33. 9, Keith Mitchell, 4.32.

10, Eric Cole, 4.31.

Eagles (Holes per) 1, Jake Knapp, 48. 2, Nicolai Højgaard, 77.5. 3, Matt Wallace, 81. 4, Sahith Theegala, 83.3. 5, Aldrich Potgieter, 84.6. 6, Tommy Fleetwood, 88.4. 7 (tie), Keegan Bradley, Shane Lowry and Brandt Snedeker, 90. 10, Max Greyserman, 93.6.

Sand Save Percentage 1, 10 tied with .00%.

All-Around Ranking 1, Scottie Scheffler, 160. 2, Ludvig Åberg, 224.

3, Sam Burns, 249. 4, Wyndham Clark, 254. 5, Collin Morikawa, 272. 6, Chris Gotterup, 277.

7, Doug Ghim, 281. 8, Jake Knapp, 323. 9, Si Woo Kim, 325. 10, Tommy Fleetwood, 327.

LPGA Tour Statistics Through July 5

Scoring 1, Nelly Korda, 68.51. 2, Haeran Ryu, 69.71. 3, Hyo Joo Kim, 69.81. 4, Hannah Green, 70.22.

5, Miyu Yamashita, 70.29. 6, Jeeno Thitikul, 70.33. 7, Ina Yoon, 70.36. 8, Ruoning Yin, 70.49.

9, Lydia Ko, 70.51. 10, Sei Young Kim, 70.55.

Driving Distance 1, Julia Lopez Ramirez, 290.89. 2, Riley Smyth, 288.74. 3, Polly Mack, 283.48. 4, Auston Kim, 280.82. 5, Helen Briam, 280.63. 6, Laney Frye, 277.63. 7, Suvichaya Vinijchaitham, 277.59.

8, Ina Yoon, 277.54. 9, Nelly Korda, 277.19. 10, Nanna Koerstz Madsen, 277.16.

Greens in Regulation 1, Haeran Ryu, .80%. 2, Helen Briem, .75%.

3 (tie), Isabello Fierro, Nelly Korda, Jeeno Thitikul and Lottie Woad, .74%. 7 (tie), Hannah Green and Dongeun Lee, .73%. 9, 2 tied with .72%.

Putts per GIR 1 (tie), Hyo Joo Kim and Stephanie Meadow, 1.69. 3, Minjee Lee, 1.72. 4 (tie), Mi Hyang Lee, Chiara Tamburlini and Angel Yin, 1.73.

7 (tie), Nelly Korda, Minjee Lee and Gaby Lopez, 1.74. 10, Brooke Matthews, 1.75.

Birdies 1, Aki Iwai, 197. 2, Lottie Woad, 186. 3, Miyu Yamashita, 185. 4 (tie), Minami Katsu, Jennifer Kupcho and Haeran Ryu, 177. 7, 4 tied with 175.

Eagles 1, Nelly Korda, 9. 2 (tie), Hye-Jin Choi and Brooke M. Henderson, 8. 4 (tie), Ariya Jutanugarn, Minji Kang, Ryann O’Toole and Weiwei Zhang, 7. 8, 9 tied with 6.

Sand Save Percentage 1 (tie), Pornanong Phatlum and Patty Tavatanakit, .62%. 3 (tie), Minjee Lee and Lucy Li, .61%. 5, Ryann O’Toole, .60%. 6 (tie), Peiyun Chien, Youmin Hwang, Minami Katsu and Nelly Korda, .59%. 10, Jing Yan, .58%.

Rounds Under Par 1, Nelly Korda, .86%. 2, Haeran Ryu, .71%.

3, Miyu Yamashita, .57%. 4, Aki Iwai, .54%.

5, Rio Takeda, .62%. 6, Lottie Woad, .60%. 7, Hye-Jin Choi, .59%. 8, Gaby Lopez, .65%. 9, Jeeno Thitikul, .60%. 10, Ruoning Yin, .58%.

11, Jin Hee Im, .53%. 12, Cassie Porter, .60%.

13, Chizzy Iwai, .54%. 14, Ina Yoon, .62%.

Auto racing NASCAR eero 400 Results Late Sunday

At Chicagoland Speedway Joliet, Ill. Lap length: 1.50 miles (Start position in parentheses) 1. (7) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 267 laps, 70 points.

2. (6) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 267, 40.

3. (1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267, 45.

4. (10) William Byron, Chevrolet, 267, 53.

5. (12) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 267, 35.

6. (8) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 267, 40.

7. (14) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 267, 36.

8. (5) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 267, 38.

9. (28) Corey Heim, Toyota, 267, 0.

10. (18) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 267, 31.

11. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 267, 30.

12. (31) Joey Logano, Ford, 267, 25.

13. (23) Austin Cindric, Ford, 267, 33.

14. (26) Daniel Suárez, Chevrolet, 267, 23.

15. (22) Erik Jones, Toyota, 267, 22.

16. (29) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 267, 21.

17. (11) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 266, 20.

18. (19) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 266, 19.

19. (3) Chris Buescher, Ford, 266, 23.

20. (27) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 266, 17.

21. (4) Brad Keselowski, Toyota, 266, 16.

22. (15) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 266, 15.

23. (17) John H. Nemechek, Toyota, 266, 15.

24. (25) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 266, 13.

25. (30) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 266, 12.

26. (24) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 266, 11.

27. (32) Noah Gragson, Ford, 266, 10.

28. (16) Zane Smith, Ford, 266, 9.

29. (38) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 266, 8.

30. (37) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 266, 7.

31. (33) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 266, 6.

32. (20) Ryan Preece, Ford, 266, 5.

33. (34) Josh Berry, Ford, 265, 4.

34. (2) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 265, 12.

35. (36) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 256, 0.

36. (13) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 237, 2.

37. (35) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, accident, 47, 0.

38. (21) Connor Zilisch, Chevrolet, accident, 0, 1.

Race Statistics Average Speed of Race Winner: 126.937 mph.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 9 minutes, 18 seconds.

Margin of Victory: .276 seconds.

Caution Flags: 7 for 43 laps.

Lead Changes: 28 among 13 drivers.

Lap Leaders: D.Hamlin 0-6; K.Larson 7-18; D.Hamlin 19-34; C.Custer 35; D.Hamlin 36-37; K.Larson 38-48; W.Byron 49; A.Cindric 50-53; J.Logano 54; A.Cindric 55-68; W.Byron 69-85; C.Custer 86; W.Byron 87-90; B.Wallace 91124; C.Briscoe 125-128; D.Hamlin 129-132; R.Blaney 133-140; J.Yeley 141; W.Byron 142; C.Briscoe 143; W.Byron 144-169; J.Yeley 170; W.Byron 171-215; C.Bell 216; D.Hamlin 217218; B.Wallace 219; C.Heim 220; T.Gilliland 221; C.Briscoe 222-267 Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): W.Byron, 6 times for 94 laps; C.Briscoe, 3 times for 51 laps; B.Wallace, 2 times for 35 laps; D.Hamlin, 5 times for 30 laps; K.Larson, 2 times for 23 laps; A.Cindric, 2 times for 18 laps; R.Blaney, 1 time for 8 laps; C.Custer, 2 times for 2 laps; J.Yeley, 2 times for 2 laps; C.Bell, 1 time for 1 lap; C.Heim, 1 time for 1 lap; J.Logano, 1 time for 1 lap; T.Gilliland, 1 time for 1 lap.

Wins: T.Reddick, 5; D.Hamlin, 4; C.Elliott, 2; S.Van Gisbergen, 2; R.Blaney, 1; T.Gibbs, 1; C.Briscoe, 1; C.Hocevar, 1; D.Suárez, 1.

Top 16 in Points: 1. D.Hamlin, 764; 2.

T.Reddick, 720; 3. R.Blaney, 651; 4. T.Gibbs, 627; 5. C.Elliott, 584; 6. K.Larson, 583; 7. C.Buescher, 541; 8. C.Briscoe, 538; 9.

C.Hocevar, 524; 10. C.Bell, 512; 11. D.Suárez, 507; 12. W.Byron, 499; 13. B.Wallace, 484; 14.

S.Van Gisbergen, 437; 15. A.Cindric, 434; 16.

E.Jones, 411.

NASCAR Driver Rating Formula A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race.

The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.

Transactions Major League Baseball

American League DETROIT TIGERS — Agreed to terms with OF Raylin Castillo on a minor league contract.

HOUSTON ASTROS — Reinstated SS Braden Shewmake from the 10-day IL. Optioned 2B Raynel Delgado to Sugar Land (PCL).

TAMPA BAY RAYS — Recalled RHP Chris Roycroft from Durham (IL). Optioned RHP Mason Englert to Durham.

National League ATLANTA BRAVES — Placed LHP Martín Pérez on the 15-day IL. Designated RHP Carlos Carrasco for assignment. Recalled RHP JR Ritchie from Gwinnett (IL). Selected the contract of RHP Owen Murphy from Gwinnett (IL).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS — Recalled RHP Cole Henry from Rochester (IL). Optioned RHP Eddy Yean to Rochester.

BASKETBALL

National Basketball Association ATLANTA HAWKS — Acquired G Aaron Wiggins from the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for draft considerations.

BOSTON CELTICS — Re-signed G Ron Harper Jr. to a contract. Re-signed C Neemias Queta to a veteran extension. Acquired F Paul George from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for draft considerations.

BROOKLYN NETS — Signed C Day’Ron Sharpe and F Josh Minott to contracts.

CHARLOTTE HORNETS — Signed F Hannes Steinbach and G Christian Anderson to rookie scale contracts.

DETROIT PISTONS — Signed G Ebuka Okorie to a rookie scale contract. Acquired G Isaiah Joe from the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for draft considerations.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS — Re-signed C Al Horford to a contract.

MIAMI HEAT — Re-signed F Andrew Wiggins to a veteran extension. Acquired Fs Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis from the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Gs Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis, C Kel’el Ware and draft considerations.

MILWAUKEE BUCKS — Signed G Kam Jones to a two-way contract.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS — Signed G Anfernee Simons and F Dean Wade to contracts. Acquired G Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics.

HOCKEY

National Hockey League CALGARY FLAMES — Signed D Simon Nemec to a five-year contract.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS — Signed D Colton White to a two-year contract.

EDMONTON OILERS — Signed F Owen Michaels to a two-year contract.

NEW JERSEY DEVILS — Re-signed F Ben Steeves to a one-year, two-way contract. Resigned G Jakub Málek to a two-year contract.

SOCCER

Major League Soccer REAL SALT LAKE — Acquired $1.1 million in cash from Toronto FC in exchange for M Nelson Palacio.

Kansas City

Washington

ab r h bi ab r h bi Altuve 2b 5 1 1 3 Wood dh 2 3 1 4 Y.Alvarez dh 5 0 1 0 García 1b 5 1 1 1 Paredes 3b 4 1 0 0 Mead 3b 5 2 3 3 Walker 1b 5 0 2 1 Abrams ss 5 2 3 3 Wade lf 3 1 0 0 Crews rf 4 1 0 0 Smith rf 3 2 2 0 Lile lf 4 0 0 0 Diaz c 4 2 2 2 Young cf 4 1 1 0 Shewmake ss4 2 2 1 Millas c 3 0 1 1 Matthews cf4 2 2 3 Nuñez 2b 4 2 3 0 Totals 37 11 12 10 Totals 36 12 1312 Houston 132 001 040 — 11 Washington 105 060 00x — 12 E_Burrows (1), Shewmake (2). DP_ Houston 0, Washington 2. LOB_Houston 2, Washington 4. 2B_Walker (17), Shewmake (4), Mead (12), García (16).

HR_Altuve (9), Diaz (5), Matthews (7), Abrams (19), Mead (15), Wood (24).

SB_Nuñez (33), Abrams (15), Wood (14).

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IP H R ER BB SO Houston 7 2 3 Burrows L,4-9 4 1⁄3 9 10 2 2 0 3 Blubaugh 1 2⁄3 3 Pearson 1 1 0 0 0 1 De Los Santos 1 0 0 0 1 2 Washington Mikolas W,3-7 6 9 7 7 2 3 4 4 1 2 Henry 1 2⁄3 3 0 0 0 1 Beeter S,7-11 1 1⁄3 0 ABS Challenge_Paredes (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Mikolas (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Millas (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Mikolas (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Burrows (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Burrows (Ball-Confirmed); Henry (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Henry (BallConfirmed); Abrams (Strike-Overturned to Ball).

Umpires_Home, Dan Merzel; First, Shane Livensparger; Second, Mark Ripperger; Third, Brock Ballou.

T_2:46. A_11,092 (41,376).

THIS DATE IN BASEBALL July 7

1923 — Lefty O’Doul, pitching for the Boston Red Sox, allowed 13 runs in the sixth inning to the Cleveland Indians, who won 27-3. In 1928, he was to return to the majors as a great hitting outfielder.

1936 — The NL won its first All-Star game 4-3 at Braves Field in Boston.

1937 — Lou Gehrig drove in four runs with a home run and a double to pace the AL to an 8-3 victory over the NL in the All-Star game at Washington’s Griffith Stadium.

In attendance was President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1959 — At Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, the first of two All-Star games played that season went to the NL, 5-4. The NL scored the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the eighth when Hank Aaron singled in a run and scored on a triple by Willie Mays.

1964 — The NL beat the AL 7-4 in the AllStar game on Johnny Callison’s two-out, three-run homer off Dick Radatz in the bottom of the ninth inning at New York’s Shea Stadium. The win pulled the NL even with its rivals (17-17-1) for the first time since the series began.

1998 — Coors Field lived up to its billing as a hitter’s haven as the American League beat the Nationals 13-8 at Coors Field in the highest-scoring All-Star game in major league history. The 21 runs broke the record set in the AL’s 11-9 win in 1954.

2006 — Cleveland Indians designated hitter Travis Hafner became the first player in major league history to hit five grand slams before the All-Star break when he connected in the second inning of a 9-0 win over Baltimore.

2009 — Alan Embree earned the win in Colorado’s 5-4 victory over Washington

without throwing a pitch. He entered with two outs in the eighth and picked off Austin Kearns, who had singled off Joel Peralta. It was the first time a major leaguer had gotten a win without throwing a pitch since B.J Ryan for Baltimore at Detroit on May 1, 2003.

2011 — Dustin Pedroia hit a three-run shot and Boston added three consecutive home runs in the seventh in a 10-4 win over Baltimore. Six different Boston players homered, including the three straight

by David Ortiz, Josh Reddick and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

2011 — A Texas Rangers fan died after falling about 20 feet onto concrete reaching out for a baseball tossed his way by All-Star outfielder Josh Hamilton during a game. Shannon Stone, 39, was at the game with his young son, who watched as his dad tumbled over the outfield railing after catching the ball.

The accident happened in the second inning after Oakland’s Conor Jackson hit a foul ball. Hamilton retrieved the ball and tossed it into the stands as players routinely do.

2016 — Colorado’s Trevor Story tied an NL rookie record for most home runs before the All-Star break, homering twice and boosting his total to 21 as the Rockies beat Philadelphia 11-2.

2018 — Mark Reynolds homered twice and drove in a career-high 10 runs and the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 18-4. Reynolds (5 for 5) tied his career high for hits and equaled the Nationals’ RBI record.

2021 — In what has clearly been the “Year of the No-Hitter , five Rays pitchers combine to pitch one against the Indians in the second game of a doubleheader that goes seven innings.

Join us in a conversation about eating, drinking and cooking in New Orleans.

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LIVING N O L A.C O M

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T u e s d ay, J u ly 7, 2026

1dN

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.

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.

FOREIGN FRONTIER

Local editor’s Western drama sheds new light on immigration

BY LESLIE CARDÉ Contributing writer

AP FILE PHOTO By CALEB JONES

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

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 edi- Joseph tor 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-

PROVIDED PHOTO By SARA PURGATORIO

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

ä See EDITOR, page 2D

ä See SHARK, page 2D

President’s Resolute Desk has echoed through history

BY JACK AURESTO Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Franklin D. Roosevelt toiled over paperwork there during World War II’s darkest days. George W. Bush sat behind it to address the nation on 9/11.

Beneath it, John F. Kennedy Jr. once crawled and peeked out from behind its front panel while his father worked above, an image so etched into American his-

tory that President Joe Biden recreated it with his grandson.

The Resolute Desk is one of the most recognizable pieces of furniture in the White House — and probably in the entire nation. As the president’s desk, it’s been at the center of American history for nearly 150 years.

That famous front panel has its own story. Many accounts claim it was added during FDR’s presidency to conceal his wheelchair and leg braces, but some histori-

ans dispute that.

They argue Roosevelt used the desk in his private study, away from the public eye, and that the panel itself was not installed until after his death.

The desk’s origins extend far beyond the Oval Office. In fact, it’s not American; it’s British.

The desk is crafted of timbers from the HMS Resolute, a British naval vessel that set off

ä See DESK, page 2D

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.

AP FILE PHOTO

2D ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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Bickering over leftover birthday cake This time I was not silent. In my Dear Miss Manners: I know this will sweetest voice, I said, “But you’ll probably sound trivial, but: Who share some with me.” should decide who gets the Then my sister-in-law leftover birthday cake? started talking about how See? I told you it was it wasn’t good manners, trivial. that the cake belonged to I made a birthday cake the birthday boy and that for my nephew. While I even though I made it, it was icing it, I mentioned to Judith wasn’t mine. his mom (my sister-in-law) Martin So, is the cake part of his that we could share the MISS birthday present? Or is the leftovers. She replied that MANNERS hostess or the baker the it was his cake, so he got one who decides how the all of it. I dropped the subject at the time, as it wasn’t worth food should be distributed?

Gentle reader: Apparently you do fighting over. consider this worth fighting over.

That night, we sang “Happy And a most unseemly battle Birthday” and sliced into the cake. it is, on both sides. Miss ManThen my sister-in-law said, “Just think, Jasper: That’s all yours.” ners’ only sympathies are with

SHARK

Continued from page 1D sharks are attracted to frantic splashing and yelled for everyone to be calm. Gribbin, who was closest to the shark, was bitten.

“The shark bit off my hand first, and I raised my arm out of the water, and there was just flesh and bone there,” Gribbin said.

The shark then latched onto her leg. A man punched the shark off her and strangers on the beach rushed to help.

She was flown by helicopter to a nearby hospital.

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

PROVIDED PHOTO FROM THE GRIBBIN FAMILy

This undated photo courtesy of the Gribbin family shows Choosing positivity Lulu Gribbin, who lost her In the hospital, Gribbin made a deliberate decision hand and part of her leg in a to choose joy and to never shark attack off the coast of give up.

Florida in 2024.

She initially struggled knowing, “that I only have two regular limbs, and that my life would be completely different.”

“I would cry, and I would ask my mom, ‘Why is it happening to me?’ And on that day, we put a Bible verse on my bedside table that said, ‘With God, all things are possible.’ And then she told me that what you look like doesn’t define you, it’s who you are on the inside. And so, I think that stuck with me throughout my whole recovery the past two years.

It doesn’t matter what I look 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 regained her ability to walk, returned to sports and got her driver’s license. She has gone back in the water and learned to surf, meeting Bethany Hamilton, a professional surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack.

U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, the Alabama Republican 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 led to the idea of an alert. She contacted Griffin’s parents who had thought about the same possibility.

EDITOR

Continued from page 1D he was all in.

The movie business is a 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 ended when I dropped Brendan Fraser off at the airport in 2005 so I could evacuate for Katrina,” Joseph said. “I remember telling him that it probably wouldn’t be a big deal and that I would pick him up in a few days when production resumed.

“A week later, I was sitting in the dark in my parents’ house in Hammond when the phone rang and 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-

the child, 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 the nephew, as the dessert to be shared with everyone at the table.

So, no — the baker should not make off with what is left.

Years later, your nephew’s wife will wonder why he begs her not to present him with a birthday cake, which would stir memories of his mother and aunt quarreling.

Dear Miss Manners: I am on a very limited income. A stamp is nearly a dollar, and that dollar can buy me a can of generic soup. I get free internet access, so email messages are how I write.

or seal.

In the area where Gribbin was bitten, there are about 20 to 30 bull sharks 1,312 feet offshore at all time, Naylor said. Great white sharks have been spotted more frequently in the chilly waters of New England and Atlantic Canada, according to conservation groups. A smartphone app called Sharktivity also allows shark spotters to report their sightings.

The sightings might unnerve people, but Naylor said it’s important to remember that shark attacks are rare.

“If sharks wanted to eat people, we’d have about 10,000 bites a day. The fact that we have so few is basically testament to the fact that the sharks are doing their level best to avoid people, not to target them,” Naylor said.

Britt said she believes parents and others on the beach will want the information. “I know as a parent, I want every tool in my toolbox to be able to keep my child safe,” Britt said.

“If there had been any type of alert that was given, that there’s no way that Lulu would have been in the water. And so we talked about how a simple change could Praise for alert system have made a huge impact,” Braxton Rocha, who was Britt said. bitten by a large tiger shark off the north shore of the Shark bites remain rare Big Island of Hawaii, said While sharks are common- he liked the idea of an alert ly found in the waters off the system. He thinks it is inforUnited States, shark bites mation that people, particuare rare, said Gavin Naylor, larly tourists to the island, director of the Florida Mu- will want to know.

Rocha was spearfishing in seum of Natural History’s 2015 when he saw the large shark research program.

There are between 60 to shark. “Looked like a bus 80 known unprovoked bites or submarine. She was the worldwide each year, he biggest thing I’d seen in the said. It’s extremely rare ocean at that time,” Rocha that two or more people are said. He started making bit in close proximity. He his way to shore. When he said in a database of known looked back to check where shark bites, called the Inter- the shark was, the animal national Shark Attack File, was right in front of him. He there have only been a few tried to push the shark away, instances of multiple bites in but the animal was too big and powerful. It latched onto a single day.

“If somebody is bitten by a his leg. Rocha punched it in shark, and then an alert goes the nose and the shark let go out, the probability that an- and swam away.

“Everything happened so other person’s going to be bitten by a shark within, let’s fast. It was almost like being say, two or three hours is in- struck by lightning. I was credibly small,” Naylor said. still kind of out of it. I looked When that happens, he down and see giant clouds of said it’s likely because of blood just bursting out of my environmental conditions leg,” he said.

It took nearly 100 staples such as sharks following schools of bait fish closer to repair the gaping wound to the shore. Murky water on his leg. But the expericonditions can also be a fac- ence did not dampen Rocha’s tor because they increase enthusiasm for the ocean the chance that a shark will and wildlife. “I’ve always mistake a person for a fish loved sharks,” Rocha said.

ly to work on several films in New Orleans — among them, Seth Rogen’s “This Is the End” and “Shell Shocked,” a documentary he edited about violence in New Orleans. He has now returned to Louisiana and is living outside of New Orleans.

Joseph seems to love the entire process of editing because he can look at the many takes an actor may do within one scene and, for instance, in “Border Land,” pick a particular take of David Morse’s and 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 from what you see on the scripted page.

“It allows you to create something, and in some ways, it’s like a total rewriting of the film,” Joseph explained. “So, I guess the thing I love about it is that it’s one of the stages of production where you’re hands on with the film. You know, it’s very similar to writing, and I like

to write. So, this process has always stuck out to me. It’s funny because cinematographers and directors and stars are often the face of a film, but the editor probably spends more time working on the film than almost anybody, with the exception of the director. I just love that feeling of creating a film in the edit room by carefully crafting just which shots to put where.”

Three years ago, Joseph directed “Beirut on the Bayou,” a documentary about his family who came from Lebanon to Louisiana in the 1890s, where they became peddlers in the French Quarter and along 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,” a film which is certainly apropos to the times we’re currently living in.

Contact Leslie Cardé at lesliecardejournalist@ gmail.com.

Should I give up a meal to send someone a thank-you note in the mail? Are their delicate sensibilities more important than me eating?

Gentle reader: Congratulations on your attempt to make it seem heartless to express gratitude to others. No doubt you picture Miss Manners harassing the unhoused for not giving dinner parties.

But yes, the delicate sensibilities of people who have been generous to you are important. You should be thanking them as best you can. Are those emails more than perfunctory notes? Are they specific and convincingly grateful?

Miss Manners worries about

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

Dear Miss Manners: Is it proper to have a housewarming party for a man and woman who are building a house together, but aren’t married?

Gentle reader: Only if their building permit is legal.

Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, 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.

TODAY IN HISTORY

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

Today in History: On July 7, 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced he was nominating Arizona Judge Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

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, the first woman to be executed by the federal government.

In 1898, President William McKinley signed the Newlands Resolution, approving the annexation of the Republic of Hawaii.

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

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’s Baths of Caracalla on the eve of the FIFA World Cup final.

In 2005, terrorist bombings in three Underground stations and a double-decker bus killed 52 people and four bombers in the worst attack on London since World War II. In 2010, Los Angeles police arrested and charged Lonnie Franklin Jr. in the city’s “Grim Sleeper” serial killings. (Franklin, who was sentenced to death for the killings of nine women and a teenage girl, died in prison in March 2020 at the age of 67.)

In 2016, Micah Johnson, a Black Army veteran 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 a bomb delivered by a police 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 appointment of a politician who had been accused of sexual misconduct.

Today’s birthdays: Musicianconductor Doc Severinsen is 99. Former Beatle Ringo Starr is 86. World Golf Hall of Famer Tony Jacklin is 82. Actor Joe Spano is 80.

Actor Roz Ryan is 75. Actor Billy Campbell is 67.

Basketball Hall of Famer Ralph Sampson is 66.

Singer-songwriter Vonda Shepard is 63. Actor-comedian Jim Gaffigan is 60.

Actor Amy Carlson is 58.

Actor Jorja Fox is 58. Actor Robin Weigert is 57. Basketball Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie is 54. Actor Kirsten Vangsness (“Criminal Minds”) is 54. Actor Berenice Bejo (Film: “The Artist”) is 50. Actor Hamish Linklater is 50. Olympic figure skating medalist Michelle Kwan is 46. Guitarist Synyster Gates (Avenged Sevenfold) is 45.

DESK

Continued from page 1D 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, it was discovered drifting through Arctic waters by an American whaling vessel.

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

Once decommissioned, Queen Victoria expressed her gratitiude to the United States by ordering the timbers of Resolute to be transformed into several pieces of furniture. One of them was a large desk that she presented to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

The private study of President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the second floor of the White House is shown on May 10, 1933.

The desk spent much of its early White House history out of public view until 1961, when first lady Jacqueline Kennedy moved it into the Oval Office.

Every president since Jimmy Carter has used the Resolute desk in the Oval Office, with the exception of President George H.W. Bush, who instead placed it

in the Treaty Room. The desk has also become the place where recent presidents leave a letter for their successor on Inauguration Day. The Resolute Desk stands not only as a symbol of the American presidency, but also as a reminder of the enduring friendship between the United States and Britain.

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The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ 3D

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FrAnK And erneSt

roSebUdS

zItS

zodIAC 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) Spend more 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

For better or For WorSe WonderWord

peAnUtS

SALLY Forth

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

toDAy's cLuE: n EQuALs H

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

4D ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

CurTiS

Hi and LoiS

lll

Sudoku InstructIons: sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers.

The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the sudoku increases from monday to sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

BaBY BLueS

BLondie

THe wiZard oF id

nea CroSSwordS

La TimeS CroSSword

The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ 5D

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B.C.

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER Margery Allingham, commenting on her crime solver Albert Campion, wrote, “He did not arrive at this conclusion by the decent process of quiet, logical deduction, nor yet by the blinding flash of glorious intuition, but by the shoddy, untidy process halfway between the two by which one usually gets to know things.”

It is, of course, better to draw conclusions from logical deduction. In this deal, South is in four hearts. West leads the spade nine. How should East deduce the correct defense?

North made a game-invitational limit raise, showing four or more hearts, 10-12 support points (here, all high-card points, no short-suit points) and eight losers (here, two in each suit).

East knows that West has led a singleton or high from a doubleton — but which?

East should ask himself, “If my partner has a singleton, how many spades does that give declarer?” Here, the answer is five.

And would South have opened one heart with five spades in his hand? It would have been most unlikely, because with 5-5 in the majors, South would have opened one spade, not one heart.

So East should deduce that his partner has led from a doubleton and should signal encouragement with his spade seven.

South wins, cashes the heart ace, and

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

plays another heart. But West wins with his king, leads his second spade, receives a spade ruff and cashes the diamond ace for down one.

Note finally that declarer does best to call for dummy’s spade king at trick one, making it more likely that East will have a reflex reaction and win with his ace. © 2026 by nEa, inc., dist. By andrews mcmeel syndication

wuzzles Each Wuzzle is a word riddle which creates a disguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: nOOn gOOD = gOOD aFTErnOOn

PiCKles

Previous answers:

mallard fillmore

word game InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

toDAy’s WoRD — sAMEnEss: SAME-ness: Monotony; uniformity.

Bizarro

marmaduKe

Average mark 16 words Time limit 20 minutes Can you find 21 or more words in SAMENESS? yEstERDAy’s WoRD — GInGIVAL gain

vial

lain

gang

vigil

laving

gingiva

vinal

ling

giving

aging

living

nail

ailing

vain

align

vang

anvil

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” Mark 1:35 Since Jesus prayed so shouldn’t we? It is a great way to start our day. G.E. Dean

6D ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

muttS

roSe iS roSe

lll

Scrabble GramS 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

jump Start

For more information on tournaments and clubs, email naspa – north american sCraBBlE players association: info@scrabbleplayers.org. Visit our website: www.scrabbleplayers.org. For puzzle inquiries contact scrgrams@gmail.com.

Get fuzzy

Hasbro and its logo sCraBBlE associated logo, the design of the distinctive sCraBBlE brand game card, and the distinctive letter tile designs are trademarks of Hasbro in the United states and Canada. ©2021 Hasbro. all rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content agency, llC.

ken ken

animal crackerS

DuStin

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.

Wallace the brave

Drabble

WiShinG Well breWSter rockit

luann

HErE is a plEasanT liTTlE gamE that will give you a message every day. it’s a numerical puzzle designed to spell out your fortune. Count the letters in your first name. if the number of letters is 6 or more, subtract 4. if the number is less than 6, add 3. The result is your key number. start at the upper left-hand corner and check each of your key numbers, left to right. Then read the message the checked figures give you.

The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ 7D

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classifieds.nola.com Search & Place Ads Ads Onlines at classifieds.nola.com • Call Monday Us Monday - Friday 8AM - 5PMatat(504) (504)636-7435 636-7435 Search & Place Onlines at classifieds.nola.com - Friday 8AM - 5PM

Announcements Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Ayana M. Boudreaux please contact Attorney Kandice Doley Meyers 504-943-7071.

193312-July 7-9, 3t $110.50 Anyone knowing the whereabouts of JOSEPH HERMO and/or DAWN BOYD, dba DMS INVESTMENTS, LLC please contact Thomas S. Block, Atty., 504-382-1204, Property Rights Involved.

193266-July 7-9, 3t $151 Anyone knowing the whereabouts of one promissory note executed by Johnathan Mobley, in the amount of $22,160.16 dated January 11, 2022, payable to Bearer, please contact Joshua P. Mathews, Attorney at Law, 3501 N. Causeway Blvd. Suite, 300, Metairie, LA 70002, phone: (504) 8379040.

193214-7/7-1t $94.00

LOST PROMISSORY NOTE: Anyone knowing the whereabouts or having possession of one (1) certain Promissory Note originally in favor of Premier Lending LLC, a Limited Liability Company executed by Pedro Molina a/k/a Pedro Francisco Molina and Joel Molina, dated November 15, 2024, in the original loan amount of $467,000.00, please contact Elizabeth Crowell Price by mail at 1602 W. Pinhook Rd., Suite 300B, Lafayette, LA 70508 or by phone at 801-355-2886.

193269-July 7-9, 3t $362.50

Merchandise WANT TO BUY I purchase whole Record (vinyl) and CD collections. I also buy used music instruments and audio equipment. $999.99 504-914-6679

Anyone knowing the whereabouts of one promissory note executed by Mikiyama Cleveland, in the amount of $9,039.10 dated September 30, 2025, payable to Bearer, please contact Joshua P. Mathews, Attorney at Law, 3501 N. Causeway Blvd. Suite, 300, Metairie, LA 70002, phone: (504) 837-9040.

193216-7/7-1t $94.00 Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Wayne Carter, please contact Attorney Keith A. Doley 504-9437071.

193331-7/7-8-9-3t $97.00 Canal St Liquor LLC is applying to the Office of Alcohol & Tobacco Control of the State of Louisiana for a permit to sell beverages of high and low alcohol content at retail in the Parish of Orleans at 2530 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70119.

Canal St Liquor LLC Manager: Sandeep Singh Multani 193327-July 7, 1t $112

Public Notices

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

INVITATION TO BID PURCHASE AND DELIVERY OF TWENTYTWO (22) STEEL PIPE PILES FOR UPGRADES TO THE JULIA STREET WHARF June 23, 2026 Notice is hereby given that the Board of Com‐ missioners of the Port of New Orleans (“Board”) is soliciting bids for the purchase and delivery of twenty-two (22) Steel Pipe Piles for upgrades to the Julia Street Cruise Wharf.

All Invitation to Bid (ITB) documents will be avail‐ able on www.centralbidd ing.com on Monday, June 1, 2026. The ITB docu‐ ments may also be ob‐ tained from the SEBcon‐ nect App, available on both the Apple and Google play platforms.

Bids must be submitted via Central Bidding, no later than 10:00 AM (CST), on Monday, July 13, 2026, to be consid‐ ered. Bidders shall follow the instructions given in the Invitation to Bid (ITB) in order to respond with a valid bid.

All inquiries shall be di‐ rected to the Procure‐ ment Department at pro‐ curement@portnola.com

by Tuesday, July 2, 2026 at 5:00 PM (CST). Ad‐ denda to this ITB will be issued to all Bidders re‐ ceiving this ITB. Ques‐ tions and answers and all forms required will be posted on www.central biding.com.

The Board strongly en‐ courages the acquisition of goods and services from and direct partici‐ pation of eligible busi‐ ness entities (“EBEs”) as defined in the Board's Small Business Opportu‐ nity Program (the “Pro‐ gram”). The Program is a race and gender-neutral program intended to pro‐ vide additional contract‐ ing and procurement op‐ portunities for certified eligible businesses by encouraging contractors who receive state con‐ tracts to use good-faith efforts to utilize such certified entities in the performance of those contracts.

The Board desires to achieve, to the greatest extent possible, commer‐ cially meaningful and useful participation by EBEs. By providing equi‐ table opportunities for EBEs, the Board derives multiple benefits, includ‐ ing contributing to the economic vitality of our communities and ensur‐ ing a broader selection of competitively priced goods and services.

Bidders should present a responsible plan that provides for participation of qualified EBEs. Bidders should clearly state EBE participation goals and their plan for implemen‐ tation of the same in their proposal. Bidders should also include infor‐ mation relative to the participation levels it has managed on other prior projects.

Participation shall be counted toward meeting the contract goals only by business entities cer‐ tified designated in the Program. The direct par‐ ticipation goal can be achieved through direct ownership, joint venture participation, owner/op‐ erator agreements, or sublease agreements for operations. Participation shall include work oppor‐ tunities in planning, de‐ velopment, construction, and operation of the Pro‐ ject.

The Board accepts the following certifications: (1) the SLDBE program run by the City of New Orleans, (2) the state of Louisiana’s Department of Economic Develop‐ ment’s SBE Hudson Ini‐ tiative program, (3) The Louisiana Unified Certifi‐ cation Program, or (4) the Federal Small Busi‐ ness Enterprise Program.

Proposals shall include evidence of a current certification in order to receive points for partici‐ pation.

192307-jun 25-29-jul 7-3t $155.82

10,000 Apt Homes and 75 Locations with Studio, 1, 2 & 3 Bedrooms Pools, Access Gates, Garages (504) 360-9347

Sealed bids will be re‐ ceived until 2:00 P.M. on Tuesday, July 28, 2026 by the Grand Isle Indepen‐ dent Levee District (GIILD), at the Grand Isle Independent Levee Dis‐ trict located at 170 Lud‐ wig Lane, in Grand Isle, Louisiana until 2:00 P.M..

All bids will be publicly open and read aloud upon completion of ad‐ ministrative tasks at the Grand Isle Multiplex Cen‐ ter, 3101 Hwy 1, Grand Isle, LA 70358 after 2:00 P.M. Bid documents are posted on https://www. centralauctionhouse. com/rfpc10519-grandisle-independent-leveedistrict.html. To view these, download, and re‐ ceive bid notices by email, you must register Auction with Central House (CAH).

Ven‐ dors/Contractors have the option to submit their bids electronically or by paper copy. For in‐ formation about the electronic submittal process, contact Ted Fleming with Central Auction House at 1-866570-9620.

Each bid shall be either hand delivered by the bidder or his agent, or such bid shall be sent by United States Postal Ser‐ vice registered or certi‐ fied mail with a return receipt requested, or shall be submitted elec‐ tronically with Central Auction House (CAH).

Bids shall not be ac‐ cepted or taken, includ‐ ing receiving any hand delivered bids, on days which are recognized as holidays by the United States Postal Service.

The mailing address for bids is: Grand Isle Inde‐ pendent Levee District P. O. BOX 757 Grand Isle, LA 70358 No bid received after the scheduled time for open‐ ing will be considered.

Failure of the U.S. Mail to deliver the bids timely shall not be considered due cause for the sched‐ uled time of the bid

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

are:

Project Name: Hurricane Ida, Fifi Island Breakwa‐ ter Rehabilitation Project

• City Hall, Room 4E01, 1300 Perdido Street • Algiers Courthouse, 225 Morgan Street • Lakeview Christian Cen‐ ter, 5885 Fleur De Lis Drive

FEMA Project No: PW 3269 Project Description: The project consists of the rehabilitation of three (3) existing, rock breakwater segments in Grand Isle, LA totaling approxi‐ mately 6,210 linear feet to EL +6.0 ft (NAVD 88).

Bids must be submitted on the Louisiana Uniform Public Works Bid Form furnished with the Bid‐ ding Documents. A single set of Bidding Docu‐ ments shall be issued at the cost of reproduction to contractors who are li‐ censed by the Licensing Board of Contractors.

This Project shall require a Louisiana Contractors license number for one of the following: Heavy Construction Bidding Documents for this Project are on file in the office of GIS Engi‐ neering, LLC located at 197 Elysian Dr., Houma, Louisiana, 70363 and a single copy may be ob‐ tained by each prospec‐ tive bidder at a cost of $100.00 by contacting Ann Hebert or bidques‐ tions@gisy.com for any clarification or informa‐ tion with regard to the specifications.

A non-mandatory Pre-Bid Conference will be held on Tuesday, July 14, 2026 at 2:00 P.M. at the Grand Isle Multiplex Center, lo‐ cated at 3101 Hwy 1 in Grand Isle, Louisiana.

The Grand Isle Indepen‐ dent Levee District re‐ serves the right to reject any and all bids in accor‐ dance with Louisiana State Bid Law. ______________/s/ David Ca‐ mardelle______________ DAVID CAMARDELLE, PRESIDENT GRAND ISLE INDEPEN‐ DENT LEVEE DISTRICT PUBLISH: Tuesday, June 30, 2026 Tuesday, July 7, 2026 Tuesday, July 14, 2026 192727-jun 30-jul 7-14-3t

The Louisiana Office of State Parks is requesting proposals for a PublicPrivate Partnership pro‐ ject to design, construct, and operate a high-qual‐ ity recreational vehicle campground and related amenities. For more in‐ formation go to opportu‐ nitiesinlouisiana.com.

192988-jul 2-aug 15-45t $207.90

Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

HOME DELIVERED

24th Judicial District Court, Parish of Jefferson Docket No. 877-308, In Re: The Tutorship of Kalani Sandoval.

Notice is hereby given that Lucy Sandoval has filed a peti‐ tion for the appointment as tutor of the abovenamed minor. Any per‐ son desiring to oppose the application shall file an opposition as pro‐ vided by law.

193213-jul 7-1t $73.92

LOUISIANA OWNED

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Legal Notices

opening to be extended.

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

SEVEN DAYS

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

PUBLIC NOTICE --Attention Orleans Parish property owners: all per‐ sons liable for taxes on Real Estate (and/or im‐ provements), Personal or Movable Property, and/or Public Service Corpora‐ tions are hereby notified in conformity with law that the actual valua‐ tions listed for assess‐ ment purposes for the year 2027 in the Parish of Orleans have been com‐ pleted and said Assess‐ ment Rolls will be opened for inspection and correction from July 15, 2026, through August 17, 2026, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Individuals wishing to meet with Assessor's Office staff can schedule an appointment by visit‐ ing nolaassessor.com or calling 504-754-8811.

Walk-ins will be seen on a first come, first served basis as staff appoint‐ ment schedules permit.

Our meeting locations

The offices will be closed on Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays. All assess‐ ment information is available on our website at www.nolaassessor. com.

193274-JUL 7-9-3T $79.75 PUBLIC NOTICE --INVITATION TO BID JULIA STREET WHARF CRUISE BOLLARD UPGRADES Notice is hereby given that the Board of Com‐ missioners of the Port of New Orleans (Board) will receive bids electroni‐ cally at Central Bidding, www.centralbidding. com, on or before Mon‐ day, July 20, 2026, until 11:00 A.M., local time, for Work Order No. 1-1203, Julia Street Wharf Cruise Bollard Upgrades.

The work consists of fur‐ nishing all labor, mater‐ ial and equipment for se‐ lective demolition, instal‐ lation of piling, construc‐ tion of pile caps, and in‐ stallation of mooring bol‐ lards as per the drawings and specifications pro‐ vided in the Bidding Doc‐ uments. The site is lo‐ cated at the Julia Street Wharf in New Orleans, Louisiana.

(Estimated Cost: To be provided at bid opening).

All Bids must be in accor‐ dance with the Bidding Documents on file with the Port of New Orleans.

In accordance with LSA R.S. 38:2212 (E)(7), com‐ plete Bidding Documents are available for down‐ load via Central Bidding at www.centralbidding. com. Bidding Documents may also be obtained from the SEBconnect App, available in both the Apple and Google play platforms.

If request for Bidding Documents is made through U.S. mail or other delivery services, bidder must furnish a street mailing address and will be held respon‐ sible for service fees.

A pre-bid conference will be held on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. local time at the site. Bid‐ ders are urged to attend.

Federal regulations re‐ quire that persons seek‐ ing entry to secure areas of United States ports must present a valid Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC) card and must maintain possession of the TWIC at all times in secure port areas.

Persons seeking entry to the below listed facilities of the Port of New Or‐ leans must possess a TWIC in order to attend pre-bid meetings on port property.

Restricted areas include port prop‐ erty between Felicity Street and Henry Clay Avenue, Alabo Street Wharf, Jourdan Road Wharf, the Julia Street and Erato Street Cruise Terminals, and during cargo activities at Poland Avenue Wharf and Gover‐ nor Nicholls Street Wharf. Prospective bid‐ ders must provide their own Harbor Police De‐ partment (HPD) ap‐ proved TWIC escorts for those in their party who do not have a TWIC. Note that only contractors with open Board con‐ tracts are eligible to be on the approved escort list. The Board will not provide nor arrange for escorts. See Section 01 00 00 – General Require‐ ments.

Once an employer is under contract with the Board, TWIC card holders and their Sponsoring Em‐ ployer must submit an application to Harbor Po‐ lice and the TWIC card holder must attend a training session in order to be certified as an Ap‐ proved TWIC Escort for anyone entering the se‐ cured area without a TWIC. Bidding Documents will be issued only to those contractors complying with state licensing laws for contractors, La. R.S. 37:2150, et. seq. On any bid submitted in the amount of $50,000 or

DOGS CKC YORKIES - (YORKIES w/papers) also BISHON YORKIES vet checked shot worming meet in Gulfport $750 (334) 467-3416

Sandy Ward * 504-259-2616.

Re/Max Living * 504-475-1011. Ea ofc indpntly owned & operated.

GENTILLY 2544 ALLEN TOUSSAINT BLVD. NEWLY RENOVATED!!!

1-2 Bdrm Apts * From $800/mo Parking * Sec Gate 504-209-8054 * 504-454-1333

METAIRIE 3201 RICHLAND AVENUE 1/2 Block off Vets * by Paretti Jaguar 1 Bed * Prkg * Pool * Rent $675/mo 504-320-6958 * 504-454-1333

more, the contractor must hold at the time this bid is opened a valid license issued by the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors.

This project is classified as Heavy Construction or Wharves, Docks, Harbor Improvements, a. Objec‐ tion to the required clas‐ sification should be filed in accordance with La. R.S. 37:2165.

A deposit of five percent (5%) of the cost of the contract price of work to be done for the Base Bid plus all additive Alter‐ nate Bid prices, by certi‐ fied check, cashier's check or bid bond is re‐ quired, and the bidder to whom the contract is awarded shall also be re‐ quired to furnish a per‐ formance bond in the total amount of the bid.

The bid bond must be furnished in accordance with the requirements of La. R.S. 38:2218, and the performance bond in ac‐ cordance with the provi‐ sions of La. R.S. 38:2219.

The award of contract, if awarded, will be made within 45 calendar days after bid opening to the lowest qualified bidder whose bid complies with all requirements pre‐ scribed. However, when the contract is to be fi‐ nanced by bonds which are required to be sold after receipt of bids, or when the contract is to be financed in whole or in part by federal, state or other funds not avail‐ able at the time bids are received, or when the contract requires a poll of the Louisiana Legisla‐ ture before contract funds are available, the time will not start until receipt of federal or state concurrence or concur‐ rence of the other fund‐ ing source in accordance with LA. R.S. 38:2215(D).

Award will be within 45 calendar days after the sale of bonds or receipt of concurrence in award from the federal or state agency or other funding source. Funds for this contract:

Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE --Notice of Hearing on Pro‐ posed 2026-2027 Budget for Algiers Charter School Association, 715 Opelousas Ave., New Or‐ leans, LA On July 23, 2026 at 6:00 pm.

For at least ten calendar days before its Public Hearing, the budget will be available for public in‐ spection online via the school’s website or dur‐ ing school hours in its Main Office at the above address.

(Hearing will last approx‐ imately one hour).

193093-jul 7-1t $33.14

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

PUBLIC NOTICE --OFFICIAL NOTICE OF MONTHLY MEETING of the REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION FOR JEF‐

NEWS

24/7

Pets

KENNER

Legal Notices

DOGS Yorkie’s Maltipoo’s, Dorkie’s - Yorkie’s male $600. Female $700. Maltipoo’s male’s $350. Female $400. Dorkie’s male’s $300. Female’s $400. $300+ (601) 543-4232

Renovated 3BR/3BA home w/ private baths, laminate wd flrg, TV's, appls, dishes, W&D, lawn care, & ample parking.

Furnished or Unfurnished.

Super FR QTR Location, One bed/bath, Cent A/H, Modern Appliances, Hardwood Floors.

In unit W/D, Lovely Courtyard, Pleasant Residential Complex. No dogs.

GARY WILLIAMS * 504-251-2047 FQR Realty 504-949-5400

KENNER 510 FARRAR AVENUE - 1/2 Duplex, 3 Bd, 2 Ba, All Electric, Central A/H, Off St Prkg, No Smoking or Pets!

Call: 504-458-9700

CEMETERY PLOTS Mausoleum Crypt located at Mount Olivet Cemetery, Phase VII, Single Unit, Pristine, Peaceful location.

Valued at $7,500, asking $7k, Transfer fees are Buyers responsibility. Call/Text Lisa M. (832) 444-8007.

SECTION A

177 W. 5TH STREET LAPLACE * $1,950/MO

1027 CHARTRES, UNIT F * $1,250/MO

2850 IDAHO AVENUE 1 Block to Vets & Williams All Amenities * Pool * Parking Studio/1 Bed Apt * Starting $650/Mo 504-236-1971 * 504-454-1333

STAY INFORMED

CATS Young Male Cat, Gray Colors, Have too many cats, Looking for another home for him. Please call 504-861-9617 ($50)

DOGS Micro Mini Goldendoodle - puppies males & female.S/W, health guaran‐ tee. $1000 504-228-6701

APARTMENT METAIRIE

CEMETERY PLOTS Lake Lawn Main Mausoleum S. Unit#3, Tier A (ground) 3 Place Abby. 6 Burial Plots $17,000.

504-982-0388

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

NEW ORLEANS EAST 8501 Gervais St, Nice 3Br/2Ba Dbl, $1400/m Txt & Call (504) 710-5952

New Orleans Rental

WANT TO BUY Old Records 33's, 45's & 78's. All types of music. Call 985-259-1889

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

METAIRIE 3513 EDENBORN AVENUE Lrg 2 Bed, 1 Bath * $925 * Off St Prkg Blocks from Lakeside 504-982-4040 * 504-885-8060 504-454-1333

FRENCH QUARTER

CEMETERY PLOTS Westlawn Cemetery Mausoleum, in the Chapel. Corr IV, Tier A, holds 6 interments $17,500. 504-259-0505

EAST ST TAMMANY COVINGTON * 70264 CHARLIE STREET 2-3 Bdrm Apts * 2 Full Baths Rent from $800/mo Off Street Parking * Quiet 985-875-1050

INVITATION TO BIDDERS PUBLIC NOTICE ---

CEMETERY PLOTS Two (2) Double Depth, Double Companion Niche. (Crypts) Located: Lake Lawn/Metairie $6200 ea.

1-757-647-6748

CATS RAGAMUFFIN & RAGDOLL KITTENS www.CatsByFrancy.com/kittens $1500up! Reg. Shots & Guaranty 337-230-3150

PRINT ADVERTISING WORKS Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

FERSON, ORLEANS, PLAQUEMINES, ST. BERNARD, ST. CHARLES, ST. JOHN, ST. TAMMANY and TANGIPAHOA PARISHES and the POLICY COMMITTEE of the RE‐ GIONAL PLANNING COM‐ MISSION FOR JEFFERSON, ORLEANS, PLAQUEMINES, ST. BERNARD, ST. CHARLES, ST. JOHN, ST. TAMMANY, and TANGIPA‐ HOA PARISHES. The regular meetings of the Regional Planning Commission and the Pol‐ icy Committee of the Re‐ gional Planning Commis‐ sion for the month of July 2026 will be held on Tues‐ day, July 14, 2026.

All meetings commence at 12:30 P.M. All meetings will be held at: Regional Transportation Management Center 10 Veterans Boulevard 1st Floor Conference Room New Orleans, LA 70124 For further information call (504) 483-8500.

ADA NOTICE: The RTMC is

Scan to download

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

ADA accessible.

For special accommoda‐ tions for this meeting or for anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or ser‐ vice for effective com‐ munication, or modifica‐ tions to policies or pro‐ cedures to participate in this meeting, should con‐ tact RPC’s public out‐ reach coordinator, at 504-483-8513 or mgivhan@norpc.org as soon as possible, but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled event.

g p g ReNEW Laurel Elemen‐ tary, ReNEW Dolores T. Aaron Elementary, ReNEW Schaumburg Ele‐ mentary, and ReNEW Moton Lakefront Elemen‐ tary. A physical copy of the 2026-2027 budget is available at 10001 Lake Forest Blvd., Suite 710, New Orleans, LA 70127.

186911-may 9-aug 27 $956

193284-JUL 12-1T $47.96

HOME-DELIVERED

EVERY DAY

PUBLIC NOTICE --ReNEW-Reinventing Edu‐ cation will introduce the 2026-27 budget and hold its first public hearing on the 2026-27 budget on May 14, 2026 at 5:30 pm at Edgar P Harney Build‐ ing located at 2503 Wil‐ low St., New Orleans, LA 70113 (LA R.S. 39:1307).

ReNEW-Reinventing Edu‐ cation is the charter school management or‐ ganization operating l l

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__ _ ___ will not be immedi‐ ately available, the 45day period for contract award will not begin at the time of bid opening, and the deadlines under La. R.S. 38:2215 for con‐ tract execution and is‐ suance of notice to pro‐ ceed shall not apply.

X will be immediately available and the 45-day period for contract award will begin at the time of bid opening.

Work in the amount of at least sixty percent (60%) of total amount of con‐ tract as awarded shall be performed by contractor at the construction site or within his own shop, plant, or yard with his own employees.

The Board as an equal opportunity public entity invites and encourages DBE’s and SBE’s to sub‐ mit bids on its projects.

In order to comply with the Constitution of the State of Louisiana, such certification programs must be race and gender neutral.

ONE great state FOUR great apps

All questions, correspon‐ dence, inquiries, and other communications regarding this procure‐ ment shall be directed to Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Or‐ leans, Procurement De‐ partment, 1350 Port of New Orleans Place, New Orleans, LA 70130 or pro‐ curement@portnola.com.

All questions will be an‐ swered via additional in‐ formation or addenda and will be posted on Central Bidding website at: www.centralbidding. com Questions must be sub‐ mitted at least seven (7) days prior to bid open‐ ing.

These individuals are not authorized to and shall not render legal opinions or advice. No information will be given regarding the proper evidence of corporate authority as required in this bid. Each bidder is advised to con‐ sult his own counsel for such information.

Please be advised that these individuals are not the legal representatives of the Board.

191946-jun 24-jul 2-7-3t $302.34

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8D ✦ Tuesday, July 7, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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