BY JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer
After the Louisiana Supreme Court stepped in last week to stay Attorney General Liz Murrill’s felony indictment, both thespecial prosecutor on the case and attorneys for Murrill have defended
Renewedattacks threaten negotiations
BY JON GAMBRELL, FATIMAHUSSEIN and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates TheU.S. military launched newstrikes against Iran early Wednesday,hours after three merchant ships were struck in the Strait of Hormuz, in thelatest exchange of fire to threaten the interim deal to end the fighting between the two countries.
The strikes were expectedto hit a variety of military sites and port facilities, U.S. officialssaid
The renewed attacks were sure to add to thedifficulty of the negotiations aimed at fully reopening the strait, rolling back Tehran’sdisputed nuclear program and reaching apermanent end to thewar launched Feb. 28.
In astatement posted to social media, U.S.Central Command said American forces launched the strikes “to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercialshipping crewed by innocent civiliansinan international waterway.”
One U.S. officialsaid the military is targeting Iranian air defense systems, coastal surveillance systems, groundto-air missiles as well as launch sites for anti-ship cruise missiles and drones. Iranian portfacilitiesare also being targeted, the officialadded. The second official saidthe strikes would likely last for hours.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing militaryoperation.
Iranian statemedia reported the sound of explosions in Qeshm and Bandar Abbas.
Asimilar spate of Iranian attacks on shipping and U.S. retaliation occurred late last month, while the new strikes were notable for happening while President Donald Trump was
ä See STRIKES, page 5A
themselves over claims of conflicts
Laurie White, the former Orleans criminalcourt judge appointed as special prosecutor in the probe of Murrill’salleged threats against cityofficials, faced complaintsfrom Murrill’steam thatthe AttorneyGeneral’sOffice representsher in an ongoing
sexual harassment lawsuit. White said Monday that she has dropped theprivatelaw firm that the Attorney General’sOffice hired on her behalf.
Though ajudge dismissed the claims against White lastyear, those state-hiredlawyers represented herasrecently as last
month, asking ajudge to toss the case for lack of an appeal, according to court records.
The Supreme Court said Friday that the Attorney General’sOffice representationofWhite posed an ethicalconflict in Murrill’scase that “should have been obvious.” Judge Leon Roche appointed White to the case. Meanwhile, Laura Cannizzaro Rodrigue, aformer Orleans Parish prosecutor whoishelpingdefend
Amy Roddie plays with her grandchildren,BentleyRichardson and Madelyn Wilkinson, while camping at their summer vacation spot at SunCityRVPark in Elberta, Ala., on June 26.Roddie has taken an RV to the beach each summer for twodecades, but rising costs led her to choose acampground farther from the beachthis year
youngsville, Broussard dedicate over $35M to road projects
BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer
‘It’snot as affordable as it was 10 yearsago’
BY MARTHA SANCHEZ Staff writer
On theGulfCoastbeaches where they have long vacationed, many visitors from Louisiana andaround theSouth areencountering achallenge this summer
Almost everything, it seems —fuel, food, lodging —isgetting moreexpensive. And that’sforcing vacationers to get creative as they seek affordable escapes.
Travel agents say some visitors are vacationing in bigger groups to split the cost of accommodations, or trading Florida’s beaches for cheaper stays at casinosand hotels on the Mississippi Coast. Visitors
spending. Thecity expects to add $11.3 million in new utility assetsduring thefiscal year, up from $3.2 million in 2025-26. Projects that comprise the bulk of thefunds include continued improvements beingmadetowater wells located off Garber Road and Albertsons Parkway
“This funding will assist us to update ourcurrent watersystem and build additional water infrastructure needed to manage growing demand in our city,” Broussard Mayor Ray Bourque said of the projects in April. Additionally,the city will also be spending money on widening La. 89 near its intersection with Ambassador Caffery Parkway
Police: ICE officer fatally shoots man in Houston
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a man in Houston after he attempted to evade arrest in his vehicle during an operation Tuesday, the agency said.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that the man ignored commands to stop and attempted to ram an agent who fired his weapon in self-defense. The man’s car struck an ICE vehicle, according to the department, which oversees ICE.
The statement identified the man as a Mexican national, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, and said he was living in the country without legal permission. It said federal agents were conducting a targeted enforcement operation against Araujo and that he died at a hospital.
The FBI’s Houston field office is investigating a potential assault on a federal law enforcement officer, said spokesperson Connor Hagan. In addition, representatives of the office’s evidence response team responded to the shooting at the request of DHS to process the scene, he said.
SPLC pleads not guilty in federal fraud case
MONTGOMERY,Ala.— The Southern Poverty Law Center best known for monitoring hate groups, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal charges that it defrauded donors by not disclosing that some of the money would be used to pay informants in extremist organizations.
Attorney Abbe Lowell entered the not guilty plea on behalf of the organization to a superseding indictment that adds details about the charges first announced in April.
The Justice Department has accused the SPLC of funding extremist groups while publicly claiming it was working to dismantle them.
The SPLC has denied wrongdoing and said the informant program provided critical intelligence about the work of the groups information it regularly provided to law enforcement agencies.
The SPLC has accused the Justice Department of carrying out a vindictive prosecution as part of a retribution campaign against President Donald Trump’s perceived political enemies
The superseding indictment alleges that $4.1 million in donations were used to pay informants inside extremist groups. Prosecutors said some of the money was used for recruiting new members and purchasing Ku Klux Klan robes and materials for cross-burning ceremonies
Tornadoes, storms in China kill at least 11
BEIJING Tornadoes and storms hit central China, killing at least 11 people and injuring hundreds, state media reported on Tuesday, while areas in the south suffered record-breaking rain Thunderstorms battered parts of Hubei province’s eastern region on Monday night, affecting 14,600 people, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. More than 330 people were injured, and one person remained missing, the agency said, adding that over 20 houses collapsed and 4,800 others were damaged
A rare EF2 tornado swept through the city of Huanggang, where a logistics company and a warehouse were hit hard and multiple trucks were lifted and displaced by winds as much as 98 feet, Xinhua reported
A video posted by Shanghai Daily on X appeared to show people on the ground floor of a building screaming as high winds blew open the glass doors, shattering one Tornadoes are usually recorded in southern and coastal provinces such as Guangdong and Jiangsu, according to China Weather News, which is run by the China Meteorological Administration. They are rare in Hubei and multiple factors, including the remnants of Tropical Storm Maysak, contributed to those that swept the region on Monday night, meteorological expert Wang Xiaoling told the Hubei Daily newspaper
Building was being converted to apartments
BY PHILIP MARCELO and ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press
NEW YORK A Manhattan highrise remained unstable Tuesday after officials found that columns buckled and floors sagged while it was being converted to luxury apartments, forcing evacuations in and around the Midtown construction site.
The former headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is in a busy corridor just down the street from New York City icons like the Chrysler Building and Grand Central train station. Drones and city officials were busy checking out the building.
“This is a minute-by-minute assessment,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani told reporters near the scene.
Fire Chief John Esposito said the way the steel-framed build-
ing is constructed, “it would not be a total collapse, it would be more of a localized collapse.”
Firefighters had rushed to the area at around 8 a.m. after reports of falling bricks
However, the city’s building commissioner, Ahmed Tigani, said officials hadn’t found evidence that anything came off the building.
Later Tuesday, Leila Bozorg, one of Mamdani’s deputy mayors, told reporters that emergency workers were assessing the building “floor by floor” in order to “finalize a plan for how they’re going to reinforce the structure,” adding “it is encouraging.”
Still, nearby buildings and streets remained evacuated, including a school and the Israeli consulate just across the street. With more than 1,600 units, the developers say the project is the largest office-to-residential conversion in the city’s history Gensler, the architectural firm leading the project, says on its website that it is transforming a pair of 1970s-era office buildings by adding more than a dozen stories and redesigning an adjoining tower Buildings department records show the project has been fined by the city for several safety violations, including glass and metal falling off the
building, along with an incident where a worker fell off a ladder Spokespersons for Gensler and MetroLoft, the project developer didn’t return messages seeking comment. But in a statement to The New York Times, MetroLoft stressed that the building itself is not at risk of collapse and that no debris fell from the building.
Fire officials said two columns appear to have buckled and there were multiple cracks and sagging floors between the 21st and 26th floors. From the street below, a badly bent column could be seen through a large glass window The fire department also posted images of the column.
First responders and city officials were working closely with the project engineer to develop plans to shore up the impacted flooring, Mamdani said. If it’s deemed to be secure, engineers will enter and begin making repairs.
The building commissioner said workers will need to add emergency beams and columns to stabilize the compromised ones.
“Our top priority right now,” the mayor said Tuesday morning, “is the safety of those who live in this area and the safety of those who work in this area.”
Far right Le Pen says she’ll run for French presidency
She’s currently under court-ordered monitor
BY SYLVIE CORBET, JOHN LEICESTER and SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press
PARIS — Far-right leader Marine Le Pen says she’ll run for the French presidency next year despite being sentenced Tuesday to wear a court-ordered electronic monitor for embezzlement.
The decision by the 57-year-old veteran of three presidential races sets up a fourth campaign like no other: potentially seeking votes while subject to monitoring and with a judge possibly deciding how, and for how long, the punishment is applied
Le Pen said she will appeal the ruling to France’s highest court and that the process will suspend the sentence that she be electronically monitored for a year
the Court of Cassation will vindicate her
“My hands are clean,” she said.
The highest court previously said it would be able to rule before the presidential election, with the first round in April and a knockout round in May
“I want to pursue all the legal avenues available to me so that I can defend my innocence,” she said.
A similar situation arose in former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s corruption case. An appeals court sentenced him in 2023 to serve part of his sentence under electronic monitoring. Sarkozy appealed to the Court of Cassation, which suspended Sarkozy’s sentence pending its review before ultimately upholding the conviction. He wore an electronic ankle monitor last year
“I will therefore campaign without an electronic bracelet,” she said in a television interview Tuesday night. “Tonight, I am a candidate for the presidential election.”
The appeals court ruling earlier Tuesday cleared the way for Le Pen by shortening a ban handed down by a court last year that kept her from seeking public office for five years.
But it also said she must wear an electronic monitor, a constraint Le Pen previously said would make campaigning impossible.
But after huddling for hours with other leading figures of her National Rally party, Le Pen made clear Tuesday night that she believes she won’t be subjected to monitoring at all, and that her appeal to
The appeals court ruled that Le Pen oversaw years of misuse by her National Rally party of European Parliament funds by paying staff with money intended for European Union parliamentary assistants. She denied criminal wrongdoing but said during the trial that the party had made a “mistake.”
The ruling upheld guilty verdicts for all 11 accused, including Le Pen and other party members. The party itself also was declared guilty The court ruled that it embezzled $3.2 million over more than 11 years.
“The facts are serious,” said the chief judge, Michèle Agi. But the court scaled back punishments handed down by a lower court last year
From five years handed down in March 2025, Le Pen’s ban on seeking office was cut to 45 months, with two-thirds of it suspended. Le Pen has already served 15 months of the ban, meaning that the potential obstacle is now removed.
Phoenix boy pulled from backyard pool, police say
BY JACQUES BILLEAUD Associated Press
PHOENIX A toddler discovered in a backyard pool in a Phoenix suburb in February was declared dead before being found breathing hours later in a room that serves as the hospital morgue, according to recently released police records.
Two Gilbert police officers saw possible signs of life multiple times, but the child was still taken to the hospital’s “cold room” after being treated by staff, according to the documents.
“Please do your thing and let me do my thing,” Dr Aryan Toosi told an officer at one point, according to the report. “I went to medical school for a reason.”
First responders were dispatched to the home at about 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 8 in response to a reported drowning. They performed life-saving measures on the child before taking him to a hospital where the boy was pronounced dead about an hour later
About five hours later, police were notified that the child was indeed breathing, and he was flown to another hospital. The boy ultimately survived and has been released.
Gilbert police are recommending negligence charges against the parents. Investigators said there was a strong odor of marijuana at the home and open doors that could have allowed unsupervised access to the pool The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said it was reviewing the case and declined further comment Monday. In 911 calls, two relatives frantically reported that the child had been pulled from the pool as people at the scene could be heard shrieking. One caller reported the toddler was unconscious. No one answered at the home where the near-drowning occurred.
Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, where the 18-month-old was taken, said in a statement that the hospital conducted “a thorough review of all aspects of the care provided to learn what happened and to make meaningful changes to strengthen our care.”
The hospital called it “a heartbreaking situation” and declined to release further details.
Scott Holden, an attorney for Toosi, said that he wouldn’t make a full statement on behalf of the doctor “other than to assure you that there is much more to this case, both factually and medically, than has been reported thus far.”
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BY HANNAH SCHOENBAUM and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press
PROVO, Utah
The man charged with killing Charlie Kirk strolled Utah Valley University in shorts and a T-shirt, bought a meal at Chick-fil-A and made contact with people from Kirk’s organization, before returning in different clothes to shoot the conservative activist from a rooftop, an investigator testified Tuesday Former State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull described Tyler Robinson’s alleged movements before and after Kirk was killed as prosecutors played previously unseen campus surveillance videos in state court. The defendant first arrived on campus about four hours before the shooting and returned several times including when he allegedly went onto the roof to shoot Kirk and again the night after Kirk was killed, Hull said.
Prosecutors say they intend to seek the death penalty in the case. They are trying to convince Judge Tony Graf that they have enough evidence to bring Robinson to trial on an aggravated murder charge.
Robinson has not yet entered a plea. 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 In a video shown Tuesday, Robinson climbs over a railing onto a rooftop, crouches down and runs to a site overlooking where Kirk was speaking, Hull testified After the shooting, Robinson runs back across the roof, drops to the ground and flees on foot, Hull said. Investigators found the suspected murder weapon a bolt-action rifle with one spent round — wrapped in a towel in some nearby woods. DNA on the towel matched to two people One was Tyler Robinson’s roommate and the other was very likely Robinson, Jennifer Faumuina with the State Bureau of Investigation testified.
This week’s preliminary hearing marks the most significant presentation of evidence to date in the case. Authorities allege Robinson, 23, shot Kirk on Sept. 10 while the 31-year-old activist and ally of President Donald Trump was speaking to a crowd of thousands Defense attorney Kathryn Nester questioned Hull’s handling of the crime scene on the day of the shooting. She also asked about a bullet that was found on campus at a different location than the alleged shooting site. Hull said that bullet was traced back to a law enforcement officer who had “cleared” his weapon, ejecting an unused bullet. He also said a handgun in a backpack was found at the scene. Robinson’s attorneys also raised questions about the DNA evidence, using testimony from an FBI analyst to demonstrate that finding a person’s DNA on an item doesn’t necessarily mean that person touched the item Prosecutors contend the shooting endangered others at Kirk’s campus event — an aggravating circumstance that could make the crime punishable by death under Utah law Robinson also faces possible sentence enhancements based on the prosecution’s claim that he targeted Kirk because of his political views. During one of several appearances on campus by Robinson on Sept. 10 Hull said the defendant went to the amphitheater where Kirk was later shot and contacted representatives of Turning Point USA, a group co-founded by Kirk.
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
Gov Jeff Landry on Tuesday laid out five recommendations on how the United States should approach its relationship with Greenland.
Landry’s list focused on deeper economic, military and cultural ties and it didn’t mention the U.S. taking over the island territory in the Arctic, as President Donald Trump has previously said “A stronger American presence would make both Greenland and the United States stronger,” Landry wrote in a social media post announcing his ideas.
But on the same day, Trump reiterated his desire for control of the autonomous territory of Denmark during a NATO summit meeting the same day, again stirring international controversy
“That should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” the president said Landry’s recommendations
Landry, whom Trump named as his special envoy to Greenland in December, listed five priorities he said he was recommending to the president.
The priorities are:
n Set up direct shipping routes between the U.S. and Greenland.
n Expand the “diplomatic presence” of the United States in Greenland
n Strengthen the U.S. military presence in Greenland, and approve Denmark’s application to participate in the Department of Defense’s State Partnership Pro-
eling to Greenland in May to meet with ordinary citizens, he believes that they “feel abandoned by Denmark.”
While Landry has spoken positively of his trip, many international news outlets painted a less optimistic picture.
DR, a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company, showed video of Greenlanders rejecting MAGA hats Landry proffered.
The New York Times reported that Landry’s Greenlandic guide heard “Traitor!” shouted at him by some residents.
On Tuesday, Greenland’s foreign minister Múte B. Egede, wrote in a Facebook post that Trump’s comments show a continued “desire to control our country.”
Trump said U.S. control of Greenland was necessary “from the standpoint of national security.”
Other Landry comments
Before and ever since Trump on Dec. 21 announced in a social media post that he named Landry the U.S. special envoy, European leaders have bristled at Trump’s approach to Greenland, and the scope and details about Landry’s role in those efforts has been unclear
The governor does not appear to be directly involved in official diplomatic negotiations. He has said he is focused on building relationships with Greenland citizens rather than government leaders.
gram, which connects the National Guard in various states with military forces in partner countries.
n Create a joint investment fund between the U.S. and Greenland.
n Expand “diplomacy exchanges” between the U.S. and Greenland.
Spokespeople for Landry directed questions about his recommendations — and whether the governor supported a takeover of Greenland — to the U.S Department of State, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Louisiana governor’s plan comes as Trump is in Turkey for a summit with leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Greenland is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, and Denmark is a NATO ally The NATO alliance was founded on the principle that its 32 members will defend each others’ territory and not threaten to seize it.
Continuing controversy
Landry also said that, after trav-
“We must stand together at home and continue the close cooperation with our allies and partners,” Egede wrote. “At the same time, we must insist on finding solutions through dialogue and respect. Our future is decided by us in Greenland.”
According to the news outlet Reuters, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at the NATO summit she expects allies to respect that Greenland is not for sale.
“It is a well-known position of the United States that it wants to own and take over Greenland. I hope that it is equally well-known everywhere that this is not going to happen,” Frederiksen said, according to Reuters
Trump’s continued calls for U.S. control of Greenland have been an ongoing source of tension between the American president and European leaders. They escalated sharply in January after the U.S. military forces entered Venezuela and captured its then-sitting Nicolás Maduro.
A day after Maduro’s ouster,
Last week, during an interview on “The Alex Marlow Show,” Landry said Trump recently told him, ‘‘We need to get Greenland.’”
Landry said Greenland is “unbelievably important” for the U.S. from the standpoint of natural resources like oil and gas and rareearth minerals.
“We’re gonna get it,” Landry said. That could be accomplished, he said, by increasing U.S military presence in Greenland and “repopulating our bases” there and opening up shipping and airline routes between the two locations.
On June 21, when Greenlanders celebrated National Day the Arctic island’s biggest summer festival and a celebration of Greenlandic culture, Landry marked the occasion with a social media post.
“As America inches closer to her 250th Independence Day, we join in the celebration of liberty and opportunity,” Landry wrote that day “Perhaps America’s 251st birthday can be celebrated with the addition of it’s 51st state!”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
There’sanew leader -and anew foodie -in St.Charles Parish.You mighthavenoticed Alex Markos turningoff RiverRoadintoShell Norco’s main gate,enjoyinglunch at alocal restaurant or touringthe Norconeighborhoodashegets afeelfor life andworkinLouisiana.Along the way, he’s been asking an importantquestion: wheretofind thebestgumbo in theparish. So far, hismosttrusted guides have beenShell Norco employees andnearbyneighbors That focusonlisteningand building connectionsreflects Markos’approachtoleadership, both professionally andpersonally. “You don’t succeedalone,” he says.“Thepeopleclosest to the work understand it best, andtheyare essential to gettingitright.”
It’s amindset he brings to hisnew role as Vice PresidentofShell Norco, akey site in Shell’sU.S operations.The only Shellrefinery in thecountry integrated with chemicalsmanufacturing,Norco playsa centralroleinthe company’soperations andthe Gulf Coasteconomy
“I washonored andexcited to take on this role,” Markos says.“ShellNorco hasalonghistory and areputationfor greatpeopleand astrongculture Iwas excitedfor theopportunity to becomepart of that story, whilerecognizingthe responsibility that comeswithit. My first priority is gettingto know thepeople, understandingthe site,and learningwhatmakes Norcosuccessful.”
Markos joined Shellin2006asa mechanical engineer at theScotfordmanufacturing site in
Alberta, Canada,a role that shaped thefoundation of hiscareer. Earlyon, he learnedthe importance of preparation, attentiontodetail, andanunwavering commitment to safety -and that expertisecan be foundinevery corner of a site.“Some of themostvaluablethingsI learned came from operators, technicians, andfrontline workers,”hesays. “Peoplewho know theplant inside andout.” Over thepasttwo decades, Markos hasworked in severalcountries in rolesspanningoperations, commercial work,and strategy.“Those experiences taught me thereisrarelyonlyone waytolookatachallenge.Theyalsohelped me understand howdecisions at amanufacturing site connecttocustomers, markets, employees, andcommunities,” he says,emphasizingthe valueoflistening. Hisleadershiproles at ShellPolymersMonaca in Pennsylvania andthe Sarnia Manufacturing Centre in Canada prepared himfor balancing large-scaleoperationswithculture,trust,and visibleleadership. At Norco, he stepsintoa workplacewidelyrecognizedwithin Shellfor itsstrongculture,something he quicklynoticed “There’s arealsense of pridehere,”hesays. “Peoplecareabout thesite, abouteachother,and aboutdoing things theright way.”Thatculture, builtovergenerations,isone of thesite’sgreatest strengths. Many employees have spenttheir entire careersatNorco,and forsomefamilies, connectionstothe site span generations. Preservingand strengtheningthatsense of ownership is akey priority At thecoreofhis leadership philosophyisthis
principle: safety comesfirst. “Nothingismore importantthanmakingsureevery person who comestoworkgoeshomesafely,”hesays.
Hisfocus also includes environmentalperformance, reliability, anddevelopingthe people whokeepthe site running. He sees operational excellence andlong-term strategy as inseparable. “You have to delivertoday whilepreparing for tomorrow,”hesays.Thatfutureincludesnavigating an evolving energy landscapewhile maintaining competitivenessand relevance. Markos believes Norcoiswellpositionedtodoboth.
Markos is also focused on strengthening connectionswiththe surroundingcommunity “Norco’s impact on St.Charles Parish extends acrossgenerations,supportinglocal jobs, businesses,schools,and abroad networkofpartners, he says.“It’s importantthatwecontinuetoearn that trust everyday.“Ilookforward to meeting peopleandbecomingpartofthecommunity.Every communityhas itsown history andpriorities, andit’simportant to listen first andlearn what makesSt. CharlesParishspecial.”
Having recently relocatedtoLouisiana with hiswife, Lauren,their twochildren, ages 14 and 12,arescuedog,and ahorse,the move represents both aprofessionalmilestone andapersonal adventure. “We’re excitedtomakeLouisiana ourhome,”hesays. “We’re lookingforward to experiencing theculture, theGulfCoast,local festivals, andeverythingelsethe region hasto offer.And yes, I’mdefinitely afoodie- so being somewhereknown forgreat food is anicebonus If Ihad to pick onefavoritetoday,itwould probably be gumbo.
are looking at places farther from the beach to cut costs. And even some affluent travelers who normally retreat to higher-end destinations along Florida’s Scenic Highway 30A say they are choosing less expensive destinations this summer, including nearby Miramar Beach, Florida, or Alabama’s Gulf Shores
A similar story is unfolding around the country as rising prices force travelers to scale back vacation plans to fit tighter budgets. Transportation costs have risen by about 35% over the past year, and hotel prices are up by 5%, according to the U.S. Travel Association.
Some families are taking shorter trips or skipping summer getaways altogether as costs for travel, dining and event tickets soar.
On the Gulf Coast, the changing travel habits are also a sign of how rising populations and strong demand from tourists have transformed once-quiet beach towns.
“It’s not as affordable as it was 10 years ago — nothing is,” said Beth Gendler, president and CEO of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism. Still, the tourism agency’s data shows more than 7 million visitors arrived in Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Fort Morgan last year and spent a record amount of more than $920 million on lodging
“There’s great value in it,” Gendler said. “Everyone needs a vacation.”
Demand and prices
For decades, the Alabama and Florida coastlines have attracted middle- and working-class Southerners with promises of mostly affordable vacations in spots like Gulf Shores, Destin and Panama City Beach.
Then the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic led to recordbreaking tourism surges in beach destinations along the Gulf Coast, where many businesses reopened quickly and visitors could enjoy open-air spaces.
The average daily rate for shortterm rentals in coastal Alabama has increased by 9% compared with two years ago, according to Gendler, even though the region’s hotel rates have remained relatively flat over that period.
The population across the southeast United States — where Gulf
Coast tourism agencies have historically marketed their destinations is also growing, which means advertisements for Mississippi, Alabama and Florida beaches are reaching more prospective visitors than ever
And average gas prices amid the Iran war soared almost $1 higher than last year in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, according to AAA, even as the country’s average price per gallon recently dropped below $4 for the first time in months.
To cope with higher costs, some Louisiana families are now renting older properties away from the beachfront or booking properties with kitchenettes to avoid dining out, according to Allyson Breaux, a travel agent based in St. Landry Parish.
“They decide either less is more, or more is worth paying for,” she said.
Amy Roddie, from Meridian, Mississippi, has taken an RV to the beach with her family each summer for two decades. She used to stay at campgrounds closer to Gulf Shores, just a mile or two from the waterfront. But after several campgrounds were redone and prices rose to about $1,600 a month, she began looking farther north.
This year, she is staying with her grandchildren at Sun City RV Park where the monthly rate is still about $1,000.
“I don’t know how people afford it,” said Roddie from the RV park
several miles north of Orange Beach.
“It’s still cheaper to literally do three months here than a week in some condos,” Roddie added. “It’s crazy.”
Affordable vacations possible?
Tracking the average cost of hotels and vacation rental properties along the Gulf Coast is difficult. Many accommodations operate like airlines, with dynamic pricing that can change several times a day
But travel agents say some beachfront condos can cost more than $3,000 a week, compared with less than $2,000 a week about a decade ago.
In some cases, cruises or allinclusive resorts overseas can be similarly priced to some weeklong condo rentals in the Alabama cities of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, said Stacy Rodriguez, a travel agent who works with clients in the New Orleans area.
“It’s hard to find a hundred and something dollar hotel anywhere along the coast now,” Rodriguez said. “Just a few years ago, it was definitely doable.”
The rising costs are also adding challenges for travel agents, according to LaKesha Cage, an agent who works with families across Louisiana. One client’s family wanted to visit Florida earlier this summer but began considering a cheaper vacation in Dallas to visit the nearby Six Flags amusement park.
“I really haven’t been able to find
Vacationers relax on Biloxi Beach in Biloxi, Miss., on June 26. According to the U.S Travel Association, transportation costs have risen by about 35% over the past year while hotel prices are up by 5%, leading some families to take shorter trips.
STAFF PHOTO By ENAN CHEDIAK
them anything” in Florida, Cage said. “Everything is super high.”
Vacation rental property owners are also facing rising expenses, including insurance premiums. And younger owners buying into the market are paying far more for properties than the owners who bought in decades before them, which often means they must charge higher rents to cover their costs.
In Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, tourism leaders say they are trying to promote the benefits of traveling in the offseason to spread demand and are also advertising free attractions to visitors who often return each year Around the region, tourism officials say visitors can save money by booking directly with rental companies to avoid added fees and by visiting during August or the fall when rates drop.
“People can still find affordable Destin vacations,” said Tracy Louthain, director of marketing at Newman-Dailey Resort Properties, which manages more than 300 rentals between Destin and Scenic Highway 30A. “You just have to be a savvy traveler.”
Still — even at cheaper campgrounds and RV parks surging demand has raised some prices near the beach. Sabe Nicholson, who runs Sun City RV Park, said many families who stay with him are retreating from costs at the shoreline. “This,” he said, “is an alternative.”
Continued from page 1A
That widening project is being conducted in conjunction with the city of Youngsville, which last year made considerable progress in the redesign of the section in the city’s boundaries, particularly the intersection with Fortune Road, which opened a new traffic circle earlier this year
Youngsville also claimed a hefty sum in state capital outlay money, with $12.1 million allotted for the 202627 fiscal year in its consolidated budget, $5.6 million of which came from state and federal grants. State and federal contributions will help cover two primary ongoing construction projects in the city, including the aforementioned widening of La. 89 and the reconstruction of Larriviere Road. The La. 89 widening project is now entering Phase 2 following the construction of the Fortune Road roundabout, with a goal of the road eventually becoming four lanes all the way to the roundabout at La. 92.
Youngsville Mayor Ken Ritter officially announced the beginning of the phase on July 1.
“Roads are one of the most important investments Youngsville can make,” Ritter said in a Facebook post. “These investments are the result of planning, persistence, and strong partnerships.”
A roundabout at Larriviere Road and Young Street is scheduled to begin construction this year, with both Broussard and Youngsville contributing to the project as the intersection falls partially within both cities boundaries.
Youngsville will pay 75% of the cost for the project, with Broussard pitching in the remaining 25%, reflecting the percentage of the proposed roundabout that falls within each city’s borders.
Murrill, said in astatement that the attorney general has asked to remove her firm, Rodrigue &Arcuri, from civil cases it handles for the office.
White has claimed it’sRodriguewho has the conflict, as state lawbarsprosecutors from criminaldefense work.
Rodrigue did not concede any ethical lapses,however. The statement noted that last year,the Louisiana Supreme Courtdeclared an exceptionfor lawfirms hiredbythe attorney general to handle civil work —namely,petitions from prisoners.
Rodrigue &Arcuri’scivil caseload with the attorney generalisbeing reassigned “to avoid any confusion,” the statement said.
Those moves came in anticipation of abitterlegal faceoff over the 16-count indictment that an Orleans Parish grand jury handed up last weekagainst Murrill, under White’sguidance.
The charges exploded political tensions that have roiled for months between state Republican leaders and local elected Democratsover control of the New Orleans courtsystem
The indictment alleges that Murrillcommitted felonies when she penned warning letters in May to Mayor Helena Moreno, District Attorney Jason Williams and five City Council members,threatening their jobs for backing an election and appointing an interim leader for anewly unified Court Clerk’sOffice in the city Murrill claimed the local officials were helping “usurp” the authority of Chelsea Richard Napoleon, theelectedcivil clerkchosen by the Legislature to lead the combined office
The new law denied former life prisoner Calvin Duncan thecriminalclerk’s seat he’d won handily at the polls.
Murrill argues she was just doing her job as the state’stop lawyer by cautioning the city leaders.
The indictment charges her with eight counts each of intimidationand malfeasance in office.
The Supreme Court upheldthe law, rejectingthe council’scall for avote.
“This indictment appears to turn the law on its head and flows from what appear to be extraordinary proceduraldefects and improprieties,” the Supreme Court majority found.
The court set no timetable as it stayed the indictment and invited Murrill to file amotiontoquash it. Kyle Schonekas, another attorneyfor Murrill, declined to comment Monday
Host of ethicalpitfalls
The court majoritysuggested that the case against Murrell could fall on aprocedural failure.
It found that “by all public accounts” the criminal court had “violatedexpress provisions of state law requiring that grand jury
returns occur in the public eye, ‘in open court.’” Roche, whoordered reporters out of his courtroomfor the indictment, quickly responded with an unsolicited opinion that challenged thecourt’s view of Article 383, the law governinggrandjury returns Roche claimsthatopen court “does not mean open to the public. Rather,it means while the judge is present onthe bench.” How the Supreme Court decidesthatissue could dictatethe fate of thecase against Murrill, as the grand jury that charged her has sincedisbanded.
In the meantime, legal analysts and court watchers have been left to parse a rulingwith little precedent. Legal scholars couldn’trecall theLouisianaSupreme Court stepping in so early to cast shadeonacharging document or questionhow it came to be.
The courtfocused ashare of its criticism on White, thespecial prosecutor, who left the criminal court bench in 2023.
White said that Roche called to offer her an appointment as aspecial prosecutor without indicating the subject matter She later agreed totake the case, returning to thecourt where she served for more than 15 years.
Before becoming ajudge, White worked as acivil rights attorney on highstakes prisoner cases. For years, she represented Duncan as he sat in prison for murder
“The likely conflictsof interest precluding her involvementinthismatter, if accurately stated, should have been obvious,” theSupreme Court wrote.
Themajorityalso found that Murrill“is likely to succeed on themerits ofa motiontoquash this indictment oneither alegal basis or due to apparent procedural irregularities.”
White once managed professional boxers. As a judge, she often sparred with Rodrigue’sfather,Leon Cannizzaro, the former twoterm district attorney who recently retiredasMurrill’s criminaldivisionchief.
The courthouseshe left haschanged. Alongside local prosecutors, Murrill’s staff nowhandles hundreds offelony cases at the courthouse, from arrests made by Troop Nola, the dedicated LouisianaState Police unit set up by Gov Jeff Landry
“I’m not the story,” White said. “The attorney general is the headline.”
‘CalvinDuncan’sghost’
Whatever thestakes for Murrill, White insistedin an interview Monday that she’snot conflicted. She said shehasn’t represented Duncan since 1998, and if there’sa conflictoverthe lawyers who handled her civil case, she said it was Murrill’sconcern.
White said she called Murrill’soffice last week, after The Times-Picayune | The Advocatefirst reported aboutthe secret grand jury investigation, to alert them of apossible conflict on the horizon. Murrill’sattorneys
arguedthatthe callitself was illegal, with White revealing secret grand jury information.
White argues that it was Murrill who violated grand jury secrecy
One prominent legal ethics specialist questioned thecourt’s jaundicedview of White’sinvolvement
“I don’tbelieve theconflict is as obvious as some membersofthe Supreme Court might think it is,” said Loyola University law professor Dane Ciolino.
He said he isn’tsosure that Murrill’sofficehavingfurnished lawyers to defend Whiteinher civil case was enough to exclude herfrom the prosecution. White’searlier work as a lawyer for Duncan also may not disqualify her “Calvin Duncan’sghost still hangs over this,” Ciolino said, “but Idon’tknow if thatspecter is enough to be aconflict of interest.”
The question is whether Whitehas a“personal interest thatimpairs the fair and impartial administration of justice,”Ciolino said, citing the state law thatgoverns recusals by district attorneys. “That’sa bit of an indeterminatestandard.”
Views of the justices differed even among those whoagreed to stay of the indictment against Murrill.
Supreme Court Justice Jay McCallum viewed the episode as tawdry and punishable. He wrote that Murrill’sallegations, “if they prove to be even partially accurate,” would require “additionalproceedings” before thestate bodies that investigate judges and lawyers for misconduct
Justice Piper Griffin of New Orleans also agreed on thestay,but only because it “allows this Court to ultimately resolve this rapidly escalating quagmire.”
In dissent, Chief Justice John Weimer and Justice JohnMichael Guidry argued against preferential treatment for Murrill.
Whether Roche or any of the 12 criminal court judges will playa role in the case is doubtful. The criminal case against Murrill was allotted to Judge Angel Harris, and an arraignment is setfor Wednesday
Butsources said amajority of thecourt’sjudgesmet behindclosed doorsTuesdaymorning andagreed to recuse. Should all of the judges step aside, the Louisiana Supreme Court would appoint an outside judge.
in Turkey fora summitof theNATOmilitary alliance.
Hours after thethree tankers were struckbyprojectiles,the United States revokeda license that had authorized thesale of Iranian oilaspart of theinterimdeal to endthe fighting between theU.S. and Iran.
The new assaults in the fuel-shipping waterway were the most in asingle day since late April, according to the U.N. International Maritime Organization. The fresh attacks threatened to choke off the flow of traffic in the strait just as countries hoped to restorenormal shipping practices and ease theglobal economic strain of the war
AU.S.official said thelicensewas revokedbecause Iran’sactions in the strait were unacceptable and needed to be met with consequences. The official spoke with TheAssociatedPress
on the condition of anonymity to share insight into the reasoning behind the move.
The IranianForeign Ministry condemned the U.S. move to revoke the license, saying in astatementthatit violates the interim deal and that “the U.S.government bears responsibility for the consequences of this breach of commitment.”
Iran’sdeputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, also saidinapost on Xthat the newattacksbythe U.S. are aviolation of that agreement.
Onetanker was traveling offthe coastofOman when it washit andcaught fire, the UnitedKingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.Iranian statetelevision said the liquefiednaturalgas tankercame under attack after ignoring warnings but did notdirectlyclaim the assault
The other two ships sustainedsome damage, but no one was injured, and both continued on their way, the U.K. maritimeagency said. Tehran,whichhas repeat-
edly declaredthat onlyits approved route through the strait is safe, is suspected of attackingother shipsthat have used another route close to the Omani shore. Location details provided by the U.K. agency showed that allthree attacksoccurredoff the coastofOman or theneighboring United Arab Emirates, making it likely that theships were using the route near Oman. In peacetime, afifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through thechannel. The license issued by the U.S. authorized the production, delivery and sale of Iranianoil through Aug. 21. U.S. Vice President JD Vancesaid at the time that lengthy talks with senior Iranian officials in Switzerland created a“good foundation fora successful finaldeal”toend thewar Meanwhile, talks between Iran andthe U.S. appeared to be on hold until after the burial of Iran’sSupreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,who waskilled at the beginning of the war
BY MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press
WASHINGTON The Sen-
ate’s top two Republicans have spoken individually to Kentucky Sen Mitch McConnell, according to aides, as the former GOP leader remains in the hospital more than three weeks after being admitted for undisclosed health issues.
Aides to McConnell have declined to release any information about his condition, fueling speculation about his prognosis and whether he will be healthy enough to be at the Capitol when the Senate returns to Washington next week after a twoweek recess. McConnell, 84, is retiring at the end of his term in January
said Barrasso spokeswoman Kate Noyes.
Another McConnell ally Republican strategist Scott Jennings, posted on X that he had also talked to McConnell for 20 minutes on Tuesday, and that “he’s still recovering in the hospital.”
Jennings said they spoke about politics, foreign policy “and even a little bit of Senate history.”
McConnell was admitted to the hospital on June 14, according to a statement from his office that only said he was “receiving excellent care.”
A statement a week later said that he would not be voting that week And on Thursday, a new statement said that he ”appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital.”
A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he had spoken with McConnell by phone on Monday and that the two had a “lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security.” As leader, Thune is generally kept up to date on illnesses and absences in his conference as he has to navigate vote counts and his narrow 53-47 majority
Wyoming Sen John Barrasso, the No 2 Senate Republican, had a 20-minute conversation with McConnell on Tuesday, according to a spokeswoman The two discussed Senate races ahead of the midterm elections, the Supreme Court and other topics, the statement said.
“Senator McConnell was fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate,”
“The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session,” the statement said.
A spokesman for McConnell released the same statement again on Tuesday, with no new updates.
The senator’s unspecified health issues come after several hospitalizations in recent years.
While he was still Republican leader McConnell was hospitalized with a concussion in March 2023 and missed several weeks of work after falling in a Washington hotel.
He twice froze up during news conferences after he returned, staring vacantly ahead before colleagues and staff including Barrasso, who is a doctor came to his assistance.
A year later he fell and sprained his wrist while walking out of a GOP luncheon.
BY KIMBERLEE KRUESI, PATRICK WHITTLE and JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday became the latest and most notable lawmaker to pull support for Maine Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Graham Platner following an allegation of sexual assault, adding to a chorus of calls for him to step aside as party leaders scramble to determine the next steps.
Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, has long backed Platner in the high-stakes race against Republican Sen Susan Collins, but he said in a statement that he spoke with the candidate and “in light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.”
Platner, who denies the allegation, has not heeded the calls to resign. Instead, he posted a video on Monday saying he was considering the next steps for his cam-
state’s Democratic Party choose a similarly shakeup-the-system candidate to replace him.
paign while canceling town hall events.
Platner posted the video after reports that a woman who previously dated the first-time candidate said he drunkenly forced her to have sex after she told him to stop.
The allegation is the latest in a string of controversies Platner has faced and so far weathered since the oyster farmer and Marine veteran entered the race. But the seriousness of the assault claim has put the Maine contest — and Democrats’ ability to win control of the
Senate — at risk, with even some of his strongest supporters questioning whether Platner should continue his campaign.
If Platner steps down, a possible succession battle would inflame a Democratic divide as the party seeks unity ahead of the November midterms.
Platner became a populist hero among the party’s left flank, pulling far ahead of an establishment-backed candidate, Gov Janet Mills, in the primary Now, if he quits the contest, progressive groups are demanding that the
“To the Democratic establishment: This is not your opening,” said Joseph Geevarghese, who leads an organization founded by Sanders, Our Revolution. After withdrawing its endorsement of Platner, the group said Tuesday that it was “rallying behind” another progressive contender Joanie Monteith, a passionate supporter from the southern Maine town of York who organized a trivia night about Platner in March, said through tears Tuesday that she was devastated by the news. She was waiting for another public statement from Platner before making a decision about whether she could keep supporting him.
“I’m numb, and I’m waiting for what Graham has to say,” she said. “I’m trying not to be a part of this public trial. And I’m heartbroken. And I’m heartbroken for him and his wife.” She added that she believes the allegations are serious.
“I’m not going to blame a victim. Because if this is true I feel very bad for the woman,” she said.
BY KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press
ATLANTA The U.S. Department of Justice cannot have the names and personal contact information for every person who worked during the 2020 election in Georgia’s Fulton County, a federal judge ruled Tuesday
The Justice Department in April served a grand jury subpoena seeking the names and personal contact
information of county employees and volunteer poll workers. President Donald Trump has long claimed without evidence that widespread voter fraud in Georgia’s most populous county, a Democratic stronghold, cost him victory in the state in 2020.
Fulton County asked a judge to quash the subpoena, arguing it was meant to “target, harass and punish the President’s perceived political opponents” and that it was “grossly over broad and untethered to any reasonable need.”
“Given the low need for the subpoenaed information and the highly burdensome nature of the disclosure of the same, the Subpoena is unreasonable and must be quashed,” U.S District Judge William Ray wrote in his ruling, calling the scope of the request “staggering.”
Emails seeking comment were sent to both the Justice Department and Fulton County
While grand juries often work with federal prosecutors to investigate alleged crimes, “that does not give the DOJ the right to use the
Grand Jury to do whatever the DOJ wants,” wrote Ray, who was nominated to the bench by Trump. Even if the records sought by the Justice Department could help find people who worked for the county during the 2020 election who support the theory that the election was unfair the information couldn’t be used to charge anyone, Ray wrote.
“That is because the statute of limitations for any possible crime arising from the 2020 Election has long expired,” he wrote
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Elijah Duplechain to serve as grandmarshal
BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer
The word “Neva”has become afamiliar phrase for thousands of people who follow Elijah Duplechain.
The Opelousas eighth grader,who has Down syndrome, has gained attention forhis playful, drawn-out catchphrase “Neva,” often deliveredwithaCajun twang and agrin that has helped make Elijah asocial media favorite. Now,that same message behind Elijah’s personality will be the focusofOpelousas’ first Disability Pride event: “Neva Let Your Disabilities Define You.”
The free event will be from 9a.m. to 2p.m.Saturday insidethe Yambilee Building in Opelousas. Organized by Jamie Elizabeth Cormier,the event will celebrate those with disabilities, highlight their accomplishments and create an inclusive space where families can come together For the event’sfirst year,Elijah will serve as grand marshal.
The OpelousasJuniorHighstudent has become known for his viral videos on social media and made historyasthe first Opelousas Police DepartmentJunior Police Academy graduate with special needs. Recently,Duplechain was honored with the Founder’sAward at the2026 Southern TeaAwards
ä See DISABILITY, page 4B
PROVIDED PHOTO
Elijah Duplechain, left, will serve as the grand marshal of aDisabilityPride event, organized by Jamie Cormier
BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer
Lafayette’sMartin Luther King Recreational Center pool is expectedto open to thepublic this weekend, leaving thecity with only two of its four public pools open this year
TheGirardPark pool, which opened last year for the first time since it closed in 2019, will remainclosed this year to evaluate andrecommendrepairs andmaintenance, aLafayette Consolidated Government spokesperson said.
TheOJMoutonpool is anticipatedto reopen at somepoint but is undergoing major repairs.
The MLK and Robicheaux Center pools will be open from noon to 5p.m. Friday through Sunday.The poolswill remain openuntil theweekendofAug
7.
TheGirardPark pool reopened last year for the first time sinceitwas shuttered in 2019. Sitting vacantfor so many yearsmeant it required several repairs to get it back into shape, officials have said.
It eventually opened in late June 2025 after pumps were replaced. Various improvements at the time included new ladders, painting, repairing
cracks and adding lifeguard chairs.
“Wewant to thank the community for theirpatience in this process,” an LCG spokespersonsaid at the 2025 opening.
“Girard Park pool has notbeen open since summer of 2019, so we recog-
nize it’slong-awaited, especially given this Louisiana heat.”
Lafayette Parish studentshavebeen out of school since mid- to late May andare expected to return in mid-August, giving children only four weekends to swim in the city’spublic pools.
Rayneman served as ammo carrier, French-speaking liaison
BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer
CRIME BLOTTER Advocate staff reports
ALafayette man wasarrested Monday after leading police on ahigh-speed chase that reached more than 140mph and crossed multiplejurisdictions in Jefferson Davis Parish, accordingto theJenningsPolice Department. Jamari Mallery,22, was booked with aggravated flight from an officer, reckless operation of avehicle and driving without alicense. His bail has not been set. AJenningspolice officer conductingtraffic enforcement spotted asilver Infiniti sedan travelingwest on Interstate 10 near the Jenningsexit about noon, police said. The car was allegedly weaving through traffic at morethan 100 mph.
ä See BLOTTER, page 4B
Prigeon Joseph Fontenot Sr aRayne nativeand World WarIIveteran,has diedat age100.
Fontenot died Friday at OchsnerAcadia General Hospital in Crowley,accordingto his family
Just weeks before his death, Fontenot traveledtoNormandy,France, wherehe joined fellowWorldWar II veterans to commemorate the 82nd anniversary of D-Day andhonor the men and women who fought during thehistoric June6,1944, invasion
The Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office shared atribute following his death, remembering Fontenot as aveteran whoselife represented courage and sacrifice.
“Mr.Prigeon Fontenot, aremarkable 100-year-old veteran,” theSheriff’s Office said. “Just weeks ago, we had theprofound honor of escorting him to Lafayette Regional Airport as he prepared to return to Normandy,France, for the 82nd anniversary of D-Day —a powerful reminderof hiscourage and sacrifice.” Fontenotwas drafted intothe U.S. Army
at age 18 and served from July 1944 until April 28, 1946, during the final years of World WarII. He wasassignedtothe 52nd Armored Infantry Battalionofthe 9thArmored Division,knownasthe “Phantom Division,”
according to his obituary.Fontenotlanded in France in January 1945 and served as an ammunition carrier, moving with aninemancrew aboard ahalf-track as Allied forces advanced through Belgium and into Germany. But Fontenot’sservice was also significant because of the language he brought with him from Louisiana. Anative Cajun French speaker,Fontenot becameone of the Louisiana soldiers known as “Frenchies,”who aremen with the ability to speak French, making them valuable interpreters and liaisons during the Allied campaign through Europe. In apreviousinterview with TheAdvocate, Fontenot said his wartimeexperience brought arenewed sense of pride in his Cajun heritage and identity Fontenot remainedactive in theveteran community as amember of American Legion Post 77, VFW Post 9822 and St. Joseph Elderberry’s.The Lafayette-areaVFW Post 9822 remembered Fontenot as abeloved member and asource of inspiration.
“Mr.Prigeon was still an active memberofour post andalways apositivelight wherever he went,” thepostsharedon Facebook. “It was always apleasure to sit and talk with him and share in his stories. A true treasure whowill be missed.” Funeralservices forFontenotwereheld Tuesday with aMass of Christian Burial at Gossen Funeral HomeChapel in Rayne.
Monday night, in aconverted NFLstadium in Seattle, the United States’ dreams of World Cup glory came to an abrupt end in alosstoBelgium’snationalsoccer team
In aperformancethat was stumbling, tentative andprone to massive mistakes, theU.S. gave up four goals while scoringonlyone Millions of fans, in the stadiumand watching aroundthe country, were disappointed
So were we. But we refuse toallow that letdown, albeit significant, dampen ourenthusiasm for what has been afantastic and joyouscelebration of the world’smost popularsport For nearly amonth now,internationalteams and fans have roamed our country,aswell as those of co-hosts Canada and Mexico, occasionallypacking themselves into stands to watch theirteams play,but also discovering asideof America rarely seen outsideour borders. And for the most part, their reactionshave been delightful. There was the Japanesetouristwowed by the baskets of free chips and salsa at aTex-Mexrestaurant. Or the Swedish visitor whotasted ranch dressingand pronouncedher life changed.
And who can forget Freddy,the German soccer fan who chronicled on Xhis American odyssey,which started with him driving along the East Coast before turningwestward for Houston to catch his home nation’sfirst game Along the way,hefell in lovewithTaco Bell and enjoyed alate-night mealatWaffleHouse. By the time he got to Louisiana, theSaintsreached out to him for atour of thefacility, andhealso visited Tiger Stadium. It wasn’tlimited to foreigners discovering our fast food, either.Lawrence, Kansaswas the host for the Algerian team. When theyarrived, the Desert Foxes, as theyare known, were welcomed enthusiastically.Locals turned up to watch practices, stores carried Algerian decorations and festooned trees withgreenand white lights in support of the North Africans. In each of these cases, foreign visitors saw aside of America that runs far beneath the headlines and media reportsmost see. Their reactions in turn serve as agood reminderfor us thatnomatter how bitter our partisandivides, no matter how significantour issues, muchof what has made us distinct persists.
Andthen there have been thegames. Pretournament worries aboutthe high ticketprices and Americans’ general indifference to the sport have beenallayed by packedarenas full of passionate and joyous fans. Now,asthe tournament has only eight of the original 48 teams left, thosegames will be more intense on the field andmorestressful in the stands.
Though the U.S. team is out, we will still be watching. As fans of Louisianateams, we know that theparty doesn’tstopwitha loss. And when it’sover,and the international teams andfans have left, we hope the joy, hospitality andwonder will remain.
LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE AREOUR
GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence
TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com.
TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE
Iamwriting in response to Claire Taylor’sarticle, “Saying goodbye to Comeaux High,” in theAcadiana AdvocateonJune 21. Taylor stated that one of the reasons the Lafayette School Boardvoted to close the school and move the Career Center there is because “there is supposedly along waiting list of students who want to take classes” at the Career Center.Supposedly?
To me, she is insinuating that the school district administrators arely-
ing. This is terribly biased reporting, and Iamvery disappointed to see her disparage theschool board members thesuperintendent,and the district administrators.
Taylor could easily have confirmed thewaiting list with apublic records request for said list;the students’ identities could have been redacted from thedocument. Ifind this accusation very offensive. Shameonyou. RAMONA A. BERNARD retired LPSS employee
It has been said by manythat the Founding Fathershad an imaginary demagogue like President Donald Trumpinmind when they drafted the Constitution and Bill of Rightswith their checks and balances.
The current U.S. Supreme Court doesn’thave to use their imagination or hypotheticals to see what ademagogue can do to destroy theConstitu-
tion.It’sright in front of them, alive and kicking. Andthese noble Republican men and one woman continue to come up with half-baked, self-serving judicial ideas to achieve their personal and political opinions about how they want America to look.
ALEXCHAPMAN Ville Platte
The U.S. Supreme Court decision on the VotingRightsAct has resulted in one less Black majority congressional district in Louisiana. My understanding of the court’sdecision is that congressional districts may not be drawn based on race, but may be drawn based on politics. Gerrymandering is legal based on politics but not on race.
Ican’targue on constitutional or statutory law,but Idoknow theConstitution of 1789 does not mention the words race, Black,White or political party. There were no political parties in 1789. To makeanew Republican district, one was created with Republican voters. In Louisiana, most Republican voters are White, and most Democratic voters areBlack. So theLegislature found White voters. Not for aracebased district —that’s illegal now
but for aRepublican district. So, when Republicans get White people for amajority district, that’s legal, but if Democrats get Black people for aDemocratic district, that’sillegal. Sure seems like the samething to me. Alaw,beitaSupremeCourt ruling or state law,doesn’tmake it right
We have had manyimmoral laws in thepast, but they were the law Black people were unabletovote, eat at arestaurant, stay at ahotel, get a library card, buy ahouse in certain neighborhoods —all that waslaw,but it was immoral. The Supreme Court decision sure seemswrong to me, as it is marginalizing some of our own citizens who have been marginalized forsolong. We are better than this, or Ithought we were.
ROBERT TAYLOR Fairhope, Alabama
If Iran gains nuclearweapons, future generations couldliveina differentworld
Iran is run by atheocracy.Theyare religious zealots. So why is it important to make sure they never have nuclear weapons?
In August 1945, the atomic bomb thatwas droppedonHiroshima killed an estimated70,000people immediately. Another70,000 diedbeforethe endofthe year.IfIranhas anuclear weapon, theycan and will, at aminimum, controlthe Strait of Hormuz, disrupting oilproduction worldwide, andatworst use the bomb against anothercountry In June 2022, the average price of gasinthe U.S. rose to $5.02 agallon. Why? Because Russia hadinvaded Ukraine. Now imagine the chaos should arogue nationdecide to fire an intercontinentalballistic missile with anuclear warhead at Israel, Saudi Arabia,London, Paris, etc. (yes, they have proventheyhaveweaponswith thatrange). The stock marketwould do atailspin, andthe price of gas would be the last thing the world would be concernedabout.
Why would theydothat, youask? Ask the thousands of Iranian citizens reportedly killedfor demonstrating earlierthis year.Ask why Iran is financing proxiessuchasHamas and Hezbollah, which are terrorist organizations thathavehad amajor role in the deaths of 1,000Americans. Reportedly,their goal wastobuild a drone andmissile force that no country could stopwithout afull-scalewar andmanycasualties.
Finally,our government has weakened Iran militarily without destroying powerplants, bridges, etc. Reportedly,this is so as not to punish the Iranian citizens, andthat is acivilized approach
Previous administrations have declared thatIranshould never have a nuclear bomb, yetefforts to negotiate an agreementhaveproven futile. If current efforts fall short, our childrenand grandchildren might live in an entirely different world.
JOHN PATRICK MORRISSR. Metairie
It must be said: The Semiquincentennial had all the makings of adud.
Likeall the 50-anniversary predecessors, this big anniversary celebration occurred amid controversy,questions about the character of American life, critiques about the nature of our democratic values and disputes about the meaning of our history.All that occurred in 1826, 1876, 1926 and 1976.
But at least there was ambient joy in those commemorations. There was reason to celebrate the survival for 50 years of the first large democracy, the technological and industrialrevolutions present 100 years later,the blooming ofAmerican prosperity and promise after 150 years of relative national isolation, and the emergence of a newly optimistic country during the Bicentennial.
David Shribman
Now the survival of democratic values is uncertain, the technological revolution that has culminated in AI is creating deep uneasiness along with great promise, the national booster hopefulness of the pre-Depression 1920s has no current analogue, and the funk of the 2020s is no match for the relative uplift of the post-Watergate, postVietnam mid 1970s.
Perhaps the sour taste this celebration prompted —or, just as troubling, the feeling of emptiness that seems pervasive in the many commemorations —comes from this moment in the American passage.
Indeed, the British newspaperThe Guardian wrote, “If that’sthe way America celebrates its birthday,you would not want to be present at its funeral.”
Only about 4in10Americans said they felt “proud” about the country’s 250th anniversary,according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey Three-quarters believe the signersof the Declaration would be disappointed with how the country has turned out, according to Gallup. This commemoration isn’tentirely without virtue.
The Atlantic published the score of Julia Ward Howe’s“Battlefield of the Republic” on its cover this month, accompanying it with an essayonits eternal, always evolving, meaning.
The New York Times published a piece examining the changing perceptions of the American Revolution, becoming part of the story as it told the story
Even Donald Trump’sjeremiad against references in federal historical sites to the struggles of women and minorities had asalutary effect; his attacks prompted an animated discussion about what exactly was
involved in the telling of history, and whether successes in crumbling ancientbarriers should be as much an emblem of national pride as the achievements that for centuries have been celebrated, whether in textbooks, Disney re-creations or popular folklore: in short, did Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass deserveasmuch attention as, say,William McKinley,whomthe president has singled out for special commendation?
But this celebration lacked buoyancy,which is the physical property that allows an object to rise from a submergedstate —and there’slittle question that the American spirit is under water today.Consider this: 80% of those voters who told the New York Times/Siena University Poll this spring that they were dissatisfied with the state of the country saidthat they wanted thecountry’seconomic and political system overhauled or even razed.
During the Bicentennial,which is within the living memory of nearly threeout offive of Americans today, the countryactuallywas celebrating.
RichardNixon’sresignation two yearsearlierpromptedthe promiscuous employment of the phrase “the systemworked,” and The Boston Globe plastered an imageofthe Constitutionacross thetop of its front page
Both are inconceivable today.A popularbook aboutWatergate, which Jimmy Breslin publishedin1976, was
titled “How the Good Guys Finally Won.” Today, people think the good guys are confinedtothose in their own party It was, perhaps, more than the early-19th century era that bore that phrase,anera of good feeling. Much of it was due to the unelected president GeraldFord,ridiculedand often reviled while in the White House, punishedatthe polls for his Nixon pardon, nowasubject of reverence in therevisionism that hasoccurred since.
“Americans in 1876 were living in atime of dynamic economicand technological growth that hadalready wrought dizzying change within asinglelifetime,” Fergus M. Bordewich wrote in Centennial, hischronicle, publishedrecently, of thecelebration of 100 years of American independence. Thesame can be said of our own era. In remarks opening that Philadelphiaspectacle, PresidentUlysses S. Grant spoke of the country’sachievement in “rivalingolder andmore advanced nations in law,medicine, and theology; in science, literature, philosophy andthe fine art,” adding, “While proud of what we have done, we regret that we have notdone more.” When it comes to the Semiquincentennial, we already regret that we have notdonemore.
Email David Shribman at dshribman@ post-gazette.com.
In anationofpeople whoviewpets as family members—and spent $158 billion last year on their best friends —itwas inevitable that pet custody would become thenext chapter in family law.Welove our pets as much as we loveour people —ifnot more. The death of apet has shattered my heart more than any other loss Take Asheville, abeautiful, shaggy,black-and-white mutt. In 1993, Irescued her and her sister,Brevard, from aNorth Carolina highway halfway between the two cities that gave them their names.They were 4-month-old starving sacks of bones with engorgedticks dangling from their eyelids, lips and everywhere else. For the rest of her life, Ashe would sit before me like the sphinx and stare into myeyes for hours that would have extendedto days if not for the necessityofmoving one’slegs. When she died at age 20, predeceasing Brevard (aka Beezie) by two years, Iwas so bereft Icouldn’tbreathe. Someone said to me, “I know you miss Ashe so muchbecause youloved her so much.” And Ireplied, “No, Imiss her so much because she loved me so much.” In the years after,I’ve managed the grief of burying abest buddy,a mother and my brother,but my heart still aches mostfor Ashe and the Beez. (AndOllie theblind poodle, amongothers.)
“And everybody praised the Duke/Who this great fight did win.”/ “But what good came of it at last?”/ Quoth little Peterkin./ “Why that Icannot tell,” said he,/ “But ’twas afamous victory.” —Robert Southey,“The Battle of Blenheim” (1798)
Deferring gratification can be virtuous, but now is the time for an autopsy of Donald Trump’spresidency.The nation has experienced more than a few failing presidencies, but this flailing presidency is as uniquely unsightly as it is terminal. Trump’splummet will intensify whatiscausing it, his self-absorption and self-indulgence. Recently,hehas waged war carelessly pursued afixation incontinently, and named abuilding contemptibly He unleashed America’smilitary competence, in conjunction with Israel’s, for adefensible purpose: preventing agenocidal and theologically demented regime from completing the Holocaust (it has called Israel “a one-bombcountry”) and punishing God’sforemost enemy, America. But this worthy U.S. goal became acasualty of presidential frivolousness.
Trump launched this war eight months after declaring that last summer’sU.S. and Israeli bombing “obliterated” Iran’snuclearweapon program. The general who led the Defense Department’sintelligence agency was fired after its report concluded otherwise.
In February,Trump implicitly affirmed the report’sconclusion by ordering anotherobliteration. But when, in May,the price of gasoline reached anational average of $4.47 agallon(the price 70 years ago, adjusted for inflation, was about $3.70), he wobbled. Trumpeting Iran’sassurance, whichithas reiterated for decades, that it would not acquire nuclear weapons, Trump accepted a“memorandum of understanding” under which Iran will be bribed (with reconstruction money from undeterminedsources)to accept U.S. capitulation. Here are reasons why Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Massachusetts, calls this “the most humiliating national security episode since the British burned the White House”: Restrictions on Iranian exports will be loosened and at least $100 billion in frozen assets will be “fully available” to Iran. The MOU would codify that, contrary to international law,the Strait of Hormuz is “an Iranian river” (Auchincloss). Excluded from negotiations areIran’s ballistic missile developments, its funding of Hezbollah and other terrorist proxies, and the regime’sslaughter of protesters by the thousands.
PewResearch Center says 51% of Americans value pets as much as they do family members. About 95 million households“owned” apet last year, with 53% of all homes having adog and 39% acat. This is hardlysurprising. Askyourself: Whoisalways ecstatic to see youwhen you reenter aroom from which you totally vanished just three minutes earlier?
Parker
Thequestion of who getsthe family pet during adivorce has become so common and vexing that legislatures have begun doling out custody guidelines. Theunderlying premise is that since pets are members of the family,their well-beingshould be considered in awarding custody. Obviously,dogs and cats can’tchoose which parent they prefer,nor would they wantto, assuming neither human is abusive. Like children, dogs (and maybecats) adore both parents and are never more content than when everyoneistogether,and no one is mad. My husband and Ishould know.Weare the parentsoffive dogs, three cats (who thinkthey’redogs),and four birds who live like royalty and hateus.
But do we really need courts to settle our personal pet policies? People think nothingofsharing custody of their children.Why not thesame for pets?
Fordivorcing couples and their pets, arbitration should be afirst step dur-
ing family disunity.Asreported by the Economist, thepet can become leverage for negotiating better terms in other areas. Youcan have thedog, but Iget the tractor OK! In Delaware, a judge gave an expensive goldendoodle to thehighest bidder,which sounds a lot like apropertytransaction. Some proponentsofofficial custody arrangements have argued for pet support to thecustodial parent.ANew York divorcée withcustody of the couple’s two dogs receives $1,000 per month in financial support.(Let’ssee, that would be $2,500 tomejust for the pups.)
Admittedly,pet custody isn’tthe stickiest wicket of the day,but granting human (not just humane) considerations to pets signals apotentially problematic trend. American birth rates are at arecord low —just 1.6 babies per woman, well below the 2.1 replacement rate. Already, there are more households with pets than with children, and 48% of Gen Zers seenodifference between their pets and children. It’seasy to imagine pets replacing babies in thefuture family unit of choice. Of course, the expensive little secret in our household is that we spend moreonour petsthan we do on ourselves. On thebright side, if you’re our pets, we can’tafford adivorce!
KathleenParker is on X, @kathleenparker
If Trump believes that Israel, which was excluded from negotiation of the MOU, andwhich exists to “never again” depend on others for its security,will allow limits on its measures against Hezbollah, his credulousness is unlimited. Trump, who said he would make Americans “tired of winning,” must, by law, submit afinal Iran agreement for congressional review. To him, however,the law is acobweb; to his many congressional poodles, it is an invitationtoevasion. Perhaps, though, they have reached the limits of their canine loyalty Afigment of Trump’simagination, the theft of the 2020 election, has produced acongressional train wreck. He is willing to sacrifice national security in order to get avoting-security lawthat is intended to prevent arepeat of what did not happen in 2020.
The neutering of Trump might continue with the Senate not confirming Todd Blanche as attorney general. National Review,conservatism’s flagship publication, says, “Blanche hasbeen everything President Trump wants in an attorney general, and that’sthe problem.” As acting attorney general, he has been “an instrument of Trump’sunworthy and abusive campaign to investigate and prosecute his political opponents.” Trump’shunger for flattery,even self-flattery, recently caused him to further miniaturize himself: He tried to appropriate an honorbestowed on an assassinated president. Although Trump’s life has been along plea of “Look at me!,” he is oblivious to how he looked whenheslappedhis name on (for 176 days; acourt intervened) the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
“What’sinaname?” asked Shakespeare’s Juliet. “That whichwecall arose/ By any other word would smell as sweet.” Well.
The Kennedy Center’snamereminds Americans that honors are bestowed on those whom the nation believes are especially worth remembering. By elevating an honoredfew,this egalitarian nation reminds itself that excellence is both real and rare. By slathering the building with the stench of self-praise, Trump proclaimed that honor is amere bauble, aprerogative of power So, “What’sinaname?” Sometimes alot,sometimes —for 176 recent days —nothing.
Email George Will at georgewill@washpost. com.
Landry blasts case,saysbail toolow
BY OLIVIA TEES Staff writer
Awoman was arrested after police said she crashed her car on Interstate 110, exited thevehicle, began shooting at cars and hit one person.
Leila Habib, 63, of New Orleans, was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on counts of attemptedsecond-degree murder, aggravated criminal damage to property, simple damage to property and illegal use of aweapon Baton Rouge police said
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His social media platforms have more than 100,000 followers on TikTok and more than 300,000 followerson Facebook, where viewers regularly share how his videos brighten their day
“I just loved his story when Ifirst met him and got to know him. Me, Elijah, and his mom have been close ever since,” Cormier said The original idea was to create something special for Elijah’sbirthday in May. However,after consideration, Cormier said theidea expanded into something that could celebrate the entire community “July is Disability Pride Month,” Cormier said. “Let’s celebrate everyone since it’s also pride month.”
Cormier,who hasadisability herself, was born two months premature and faced several medicalchallenges throughout her life, including scoliosis anda connective tissue disorder. She said her parents played an important role in helping her understand that her disability did not define what she could accomplish.
“I just want the public, not just the disabled, to realizethat theyare capable,” Cormier said. “Their dis-
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When the officer attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver refused to pull over and accelerated to more than 140 mph, police said. During the pursuit, the driver allegedly used the interstate’sright shoulder to pass other vehicles.
The chase continued through multiple jurisdictions with assistance from several law enforcement agencies. Police said the driver maintained speeds exceeding 130mph on several roadways,including La.26 through the Jennings business district.
The pursuit ended on La. 102 near Richard Road, north of Jennings, whereMallery was taken into custody
Investigators said Mallery told themhefledbecause he believed officers would not try to stop him after he passed them at such ahigh rate of speed. The investigation is ongoing.
11 accused of trying to meet children
Eleven people have been arrested in amultiagency undercover operation in Lafayette targeting people accused of seeking children online for sexual purposes, the Louisiana Attorney General’sOffice announced.
The Louisiana Bureau of Investigation conducted the operation over the past several weeks. Authorities said all 11 suspects attempted to meet in person with someone they believed was a child. Theoperation initiallyresulted in eight arrests June 17-18, including three Lafayette men. Three additional suspects have since been arrested.
Those arrested are: n Andrew Belk, 30, of La-
the shooting happened Sunday afternoon on 647 North Interstate 110, near HardingBoulevard, when Habib crashed ablackNissan Altima on the shoulder and blocked onelaneoftraffic. Thecar wasreportedlycarjacked inNew Orleans prior tothe crash, police said. According to Habib’s arrest warrant,she exited thecar and ran inbetween lanes of traffic using a Smith &Wesson handgun to prevent cars from driving past Habib blocked agray Silveradopickup from passingand shot her guninthe air once, police said. As the driver of the truck attempted to get away,hehit Habib, who fell on the front of thecar.Habib then shot
abilitiesshouldn’t define whothey are.”
Elizabeth Duplechain, Elijah’smother,said when he was born, she always wanted others to seebeyond his diagnosis and understand thejoy he brings to those aroundhim.
“I remember atime when children with disabilities were often kept away from public spaces,” Duplechain said. “So Ihope this event encourages families to allow their children to experience theworld aroundthem.”
Theevent is also designed to recognizea different person with disabilities each year,with organizers hoping Elijah’srecognitionwill become thefirst of many Thecelebration will begin with aminiparade featuring participants walking into the YambileeBuilding. Food will be available through a concession-stylesetup, and no onlynonalcoholic beverages will beserved Throughout the day,attendees can participateina variety ofactivities, includinggames, artsand crafts, face painting, temporary tattoos, balloon twisting, photo opportunities, door prizes andapetting zoo.
“I just want to thank everyone for supporting this event andloving Elijahon the scale thattheydo,” Jamiesaid. “I can’t wait for peopletocome out.”
fayette
n Raul Xochihua, 29,ofLafayette
n John Shepard, 39, of Lafayette
n David Monroe, 38, of Denham Springs
n DewayneOrdone, 42, of Larose
n Hobie Matherne, 32, of Larose
n Kenneth Harris, 55, of West Monroe
n Xavier Copeland,22, of Hammond
n Evan Graves,33, of Baton Rouge
n Zaikeese Lloyd, 26, of Zwolle
n Reid Hebert, 34, of Erath
All11face charges of indecent behavior with juveniles and computer-aided solicitation of aminor.Copeland faces two counts of each charge.
Belkisaformer band director at Belle Place Middle School and Belle Place Elementary School in New Iberia. He had recently been hired as band director at WetumpkaHigh School in Alabama.
“Thisoperation shows what can be accomplished when our law enforcement partners work together,” Attorney General Liz Murrill said. “Protecting our children remains one of my top priorities,and we willcontinue bringing child predatorstojustice across Louisiana.”
The operationinvolved the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, HomelandSecurity Investigations,Louisiana State Police and severallocal law enforcement agencies, includingthe Lafayette, Livingston, Calcasieu and St.Martin parish sheriff’s offices and Youngsville PoliceDepartment.
The Ouachita and Lafourche parish sheriff’s offices and Southeastern Louisiana University Police Department assisted with apprehendingsuspects.
thewindshield of the truck, grazing the driver’shead, according to the arrest warrant
The driver crashed into the rear of Habib’scar and stopped in the center lane, police said.
Habib then attacked another victim’sSilverado pickup truck after he told her he would call the police. PolicesaidHabib started banging on the passenger door of the truckbefore jumpingintothe bedofthe truckand shooting her gun in the air
Police said the driver headed to anearbychurch to get to asafe place while Habib continuedshooting hergun anddamaged his rearview mirror
Police arrested Habib at
thechurch at 11:10 p.m.and confiscated the gun.
Landry weighs in In astatementonsocial media, Gov.Jeff Landry blasted the bail set for Habib as too low Commissioner Kina Kimble gave her abail of $180,000, according to prison officials, $100,000 for attempted second-degree murder and $80,000 for other counts.
Landrycontrasted that with the $400,000 bail set last week for Attorney General Liz Murrill over an indictment in New Orleans charging herwith intimidating public officials.The stateSupremeCourt halted that indictment.
“If anyone wants to know
why Louisianans have lost faith in the justice system, start there,” Landrywrote on X. “And these are the same people whoaccuseus of being the problem.”
Landry identifiedthe woman as an “organizer” of an effort to gather petitions for arecall campaign against him and other public officials.
Leaders of the recall campaign, “Louisiana Deserves Better,” could notimmediately be reached forcomment on whether or how Habib wasinvolved in their organization.But in aJuly 2Facebook post, Marion Gbaiwon, the campaign’s founder,describedHabib as a“volunteer”withthe group whohad left the organization.
BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer
Wrapping up atense murder trial that saw at least onefamilymember removed fromthe courtroom, aBaton Rouge jury on Thursdayfoundthat Terrell Walker actedin self-defense when he fatally shot an older cousin outsidea family gathering in 2024.
The 23-year-old Walker was on trial for second-degree murder in thedeath of 39-year-old Norris Robinson Jr.Healso faced a charge of attempted second-degreemurderinthe nonfatal shooting of Robinson’sthen-17-year-old daughter,aswellasa count of illegal use of afirearm Afteranuneasy final day of the trial and around three hours of deliberation, jurors foundWalkernot guiltyonall three charges.
The casesplit theextend-
ed family onto both sides of thecourtroom’saisle, with Judge Fred Crifasi even being required to kick one man out of the courtroom afterhemouthed “murdered” at thedefendant, Crifasi said.
Among the most intriguing elementsofthe case was the lack of footage from amulticamera securitysystem on the exterior of the residence, with Robinson’sfather testifying that thesystemhad broken theday beforethe fatal shooting.
Not only were jurors then required to rely on eyewitness testimony from Robinson’sfather and two daughters, but the defense also claimed the footage was likely erased to avoid showing Robinson acting as the aggressor In acase where thepositioning of thesuspect,victims and bystanders in the seconds before the shoot-
ingwere vital,and which often required witnesses to sketch on crime scenephotos where each person had been standing, the defense argued this footage would have been invaluable.
“Wecould’ve seen exactly how that started, and the othercameras could have showed us howitproceeded,” said James Manassah, whoheaded Walker’sdefense, “but lo and behold, according to (Robinson’s father), it’snot working the day before.”
MONDAY,JULY6,2026
PICK 3: 8-7-1
PICK 4: 5-9-3-6
PICK 5: 0-3-3-5-6
POWERBALL: 17-44-6366-67 (4) Unofficial notification, keep your tickets
Notice is hereby given thatthe Administratrix of the Succession of Harold JosephCarver, Docket 20260283, 15thJDC,has petitionedfor authority toconveythe following described property be‐longing to said succes‐sion: property situated in Secs. 53, 58, &59, T8S, R4E,St. Landry Parish and beingLot C, approx 2.98acres,per record surveyofGeorgeEaglin Partition,and undivided interestinproposed50’ roadper same survey Any heir,creditor, or in‐terestownerwho op‐poses theconveyance mustfurnish hisopposi‐tionwithin10daysofthe dateofthispublication 193415 July 8, 1t $104.54
g g CouncilmanRoy moved toapprovethe minutes ofthe June 4, 2026, meet‐ing as written. Seconded byCouncilman Domingue, themotion was approved by major‐ity Councilman Montoucet moved to approvethe minutes of thespecial June 23, 2026, meetingas written.Secondedby CouncilmanGoodwin, the motion wasapproved bymajority. Councilman Domingue moved to accept theMay 2026 financialstatement SecondedbyCouncilman Roy,the motion carried bymajority. Mr.MarkSavoy of Groom’s Engineeringand Mr. Dustin Guidry of Fen‐stermaker &Associates gavea briefupdate on ongoing projects Councilman Goodwin motionedtoadopt Ordi‐nance 2026-6, An Ordi‐nance amending theCity ofScott Land UseMap Mrs.BonnieAnderson, Planningand Zoning Fa‐cilitator,explained that thisischangingthe zon‐ing forColt, Inc. to indus‐trial zone.Secondedby
Phase 2toNCMC, LLCin the amount of $3,787,000 SecondedbyCouncilman Domingue, motion car‐riedbymajority. Councilman Moreau led the discussion regarding the 2026 Millagerate. The council presentedtwo items fordiscussion, keep thecurrent
pay planfor theemployees of the City of ScottFireDe‐partment. No questions orcomments. Seconded byCouncilman Domingue, motion car‐riedbymajority. Councilman Roymo‐tionedtoadopt Ordi‐nance 2026-8, An Ordi‐
Notice
Noticeisherebygiven, pursuant to Article IV,Section 21(D)(1)ofthe
“Weshouldn’tallow “W ldn’ Congress to be the ress ones to decide who makes those rules.” es
BY MIKE COPPAGE Contributing writer
TheAmerican Legionstate baseball tournament hasreturned to thearea with aseven-team field that is heavy on local teams.
New LSU pointguard takespartin national debate, even when it’s ‘scary’
BY REED DARCEY Staff writer
First, sheopened the Instagramapp and propped up her phone.JadaWilliams was swiveling side-to-side in agaming chair, acouple of racks of colorful hoodies over her rightshoulderand aring light over her left.
That’swhen Williams gave the floor to her co-host for this live stream: U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy,D-Connecticut. He introduced himself to her 570,000 followers or however many of them were watching —before outlining thefederal legislation theywantedtospend about20minutes discussing.
Then Williams chimed in.
“Before we start anything ”she told Murphy,“Iwant to introduce myself to your side as well.”
Williams said she was an LSU women’s basketball player.She started hercareer at Arizona, she said, then transferred to Iowa State.
“And now I’m here,” shesaid.
Here is Baton Rouge.Williams has lived
ä See WILLIAMS, page 3C
Area district champions the Lafayette Drillers and Crowley Millers both will be in action on Saturday in games held at Crowley’sMiller Field. The remainder of the tourney,whichwill concludeon July 15, will be played at Fabacher Field in Youngsville. The Drillers (7-6) will face OpelousasbasedSt. Landry Bank at 4p.m.Saturday in arematch of agamelast month won by Lafayette 4-1. Ace Dupuis of Southside High scattered nine hits while throwingacomplete gamewithsix strikeouts in the regular-seasonmeeting.
“Wehavetowin thatfirst one,” said Drillers coach Matt Standiford, who hasn’tdecided which pitcher will get thestart outofAcadiana Renaissance’s Beau Cormier,Dupuis, andLafayette Christian’sBraylon LeMaire and Cohen Landry Cormier, aleft-hander,helpedAcadianaRenaissance winnearly30games and reach the DivisionIIselect semifinals. Other Eagles include Jackson Kretzer and Vance Laborde.
“Kretzer is athird baseman who has done really well down the stretch,” said Standiford, who inserted the infielder in the two-hole behind leadoff manAshton Celestine in arecent lineup.
Astandout two-way player at LCA, Celestine didn’tpitch his freshman year of college but could be calleduponatthe state tourney,where it’sall hands on deck.
“He’sbeenthrowingsomebullpens,” Standiford said of Celestine, who could pair up with current LCA player Wyatt Whitney in arelief role. Whitney,a6-foot-4 flamethrower,was the closer for the Knights this past season.
Another Knight, CamRoberts, was the region’shitter of the year after he batted .368 with two doubles, two triples and 10 RBIs. LCA slugger Kaleb Simon leads the Drillers with a.615 average in six games with three doubles and atriple.
“Cam and his brother(Carter) are two of the hardest-working kids on the team,” Standiford said.
Kyzer White (.343), Carter Roberts (.333),Kretzer(.308) and Braxton Boudreaux (.303) are top performers at the plate for Lafayette.
Cormier is 3-1 on the mound with a 1.71 ERA, while Landry (2-1, 1.27 ERA), theyoungestplayeronthe team,has come up big aftergrabbing the final roster spot.
“When he got the 17th spot on the roster,Itold (Landry) that he would have to prove himself,” Standiford said.
“He’sdone agreat job and thrownsome
See LEGION, page 3C
BY RONALD BLUM AP sportswriter
SEATTLE For all the growthin American soccerover the past quarter-century,the U.S. men’s nationalteam remainsstagnant.
Christian Pulisic,Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie fared no better at the World Cup in 2022 and 2026 than TimHoward, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore did in 2010 and 2014.
“Wewant to be able to go and compete with some of the best in the world, and we just still have that next step to come,” Pulisic said after Monday night’serrorfilled 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16. For all the billions of dollars investedwith the goalofboosting the national team intothe world’s elite, the Americans remain soccer plebeians. After reachingthe semifinals
of the first World Cup in 1930, the U.S. didn’tevenqualifybetween 1950-90. Since then, the Americans were eliminated in the round of 16 in 1994, 2010, 2014, 2022 and this year; failed to advance pasttheir group stage in 1990, 1998 and 2006; and flopped in qualifying for 2018.
“It’snot like you areinarocket and you improve andyou grow.It’s not linear,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. The U.S. won threegames in a WorldCup for the first time, beating Paraguay,Australia and Bosnia-Herzegovina while losing to Turkey andBelgium. TheAmericans benefited ashost, aseeded team that didn’tface atop-10 nation before the Red Devils.
By the nextWorld Cup in Spain, Portugal and Morocco (with three games in South America), Pulisic, McKennie and Adams will be 31.
Folarin Balogunled the U.S. team with three goals, looking like
atop striker,and gained worldwide notoriety when his red-card suspension for awkwardly landing on an opponent’sankle was lifted after aphone call from U.S. President Donald Trump. Aformer Arsenal youth player,the 25-yearold striker is entering the fourth season of afive-year contract with French club Monaco andcould be set for amove to abigger club. Malik Tillman becamethe first player since France’sBernard Genghini in 1982 to have two free kickgoalsina World Cup. The 24-year-old midfielder is entering the secondseason of afive-year contract with German club Bayer Leverkusen. He had adifficult 2025-26, getting dropped from the starting lineup between late March and the season’sfinal match Pochettinosaidhewillspeak withthe U.S. Soccer Federation
6
Star, Auger-Aliassime battle for more than five hours to set up semifinal vs. Sinner
BY ANDREW DAMPF and KEN MAGUIRE Associated Press
LONDON Novak Djokovic was pushed to play more than five hours by Felix Auger-Aliassime before the seven-time Wimbledon champion prevailed 7-6 (10), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4) on Tuesday to set up a semifinal against reigning champion Jannik Sinner
When a forehand from AugerAliassime sailed wide after a long rally to give Djokovic a 9-4 lead in the final-set tiebreaker both players leaned on their rackets in exhaustion Djokovic, while he was leaning over, still found energy to encourage the crowd to cheer louder waving his racket for more noise.
Then, on his first match point, a big forehand from Djokovic led to another error from his 25-yearold Canadian opponent to end it after 5 hours, 15 minutes — and just before the All England Club’s 11 p.m. curfew took effect
To celebrate, Djokovic raised his arms high and wide and took in the applause as he walked to the net to shake hands with Auger-Aliassime. Then Djokovic performed a little elbows-toknees dance. He often mentions that his daughter tries to teach him moves.
“These,” Djokovic said, “are the kind of moments that I still play tennis for.”
Djokovic continues to break records as he chases a 25th Grand Slam title. He’s reached a recordsetting eighth consecutive Wimbledon final four — moving him one ahead of Roger Federer for most consecutive men’s singles semifinal appearances at the grass-court tournament.
Sinner spent less than half the amount of time on court as Djokovic did when he beat JanLennard Struff 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 much earlier in the day on No. 1 Court.
Sinner beat Djokovic in straight sets in last year’s Wimbledon semifinals, and Djokovic outlasted the Italian over five sets in the last four of this year’s Australian Open.
“I wish it was finals, so I don’t need to worry about how
the body will feel tomorrow,” Djokovic said. “I was telling the kids to go to sleep after the fourth (set) but they didn’t want to listen. I’m glad they stayed because it was honestly one of the best matches I was part of on this court in my career.”
Medical timeout
In the first set, Djokovic dealt with what appeared to be a lowerleg issue He grimaced during the ninth game, which he held to love for a 5-4 lead. Then he was treated by a trainer on the ensu-
ing changeover and took a medical timeout. The trainer tested the stability of his left ankle and calf before massaging Djokovic’s calf muscle.
Djokovic had earlier leaned over to stretch his leg by pulling back the tip of his sneaker He also stretched while standing at the back wall.
There was more stretching the rest of the way too especially late in the fifth set.
“It was really anybody’s game in the super tiebreak in the fifth,” Djokovic said.
Gauff rallies
Down a set after untimely double-faults, Coco Gauff rallied past Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the semifinals for the first time.
With the victory, the 22-yearold Gauff became the youngest player to reach the semifinals at all four Grand Slams since Maria Sharapova, who completed the feat at the 2007 French Open, the women’s professional tennis tour said.
Gauff will face 10th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic for a spot in Saturday’s final. Muchova, the 2023 French Open runner-up, eliminated Naomi Osaka 7-6 (4), 6-4 on No. 1 Court.
In Gauff’s six previous appearances at the All England Club, she had never gotten past the fourth round. But perhaps experience at the grass-court major is starting to pay off.
“I think after seven years playing this tournament it’s finally the first time I can walk on Centre Court and I didn’t feel nervous,” Gauff said.
In the completion of a fourthround match, second-seeded Alexander Zverez beat Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (6) to set up a quarterfinal Wednesday against sixthseeded Taylor Fritz.
Kneeland killed himself after police chase in November
BY JIM VERTUNO Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas Former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, who died by suicide in November after a high-speed chase with police, had early stage chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain abnormality linked to repeated head trauma, his family announced Tuesday The Boston University CTE Center, which investigates the long-term consequences of repetitive brain trauma in athletes and others, analyzed Kneeland’s brain tissue after his death. Researchers determined Kneeland, who was 24, was in stage one of four of CTE. CTE is a degenerative brain disease that has been found in athletes in contact sports, combat veterans and others who experience repetitive blows to the head It has been known to cause violent mood swings, impulsive behavior and depression It can be diagnosed only after death.
“While this diagnosis does not change the tragedy of his pass-
ing, it provides important context about some of the struggles he may have been facing. We share this information to help people understand what NFL and other high-contact-sport athletes might be struggling with,” Kneeland’s family, including his girlfriend, Catalina Mancera, said in a statement issued through the Concussion and CTE Foundation. “Raising awareness is important to us. We continue to remember
Marshawn with compassion for the person he was, rather than defining him by the final moments of his life. One Love,” the family said. The abnormality has also been linked to deaths in the NFL, as well as in hockey and soccer Kneeland shot himself after evading authorities in his vehicle and fleeing a car crash on foot. The chase happened after police said Kneeland didn’t stop
Four-star safety Anding picks LSU over Ole Miss Lane Kiffin and LSU scored a win over Ole Miss — on the recruiting trail.
Jayden Anding, a four-star safety in the 2027 class, picked the Tigers over the Rebels on Tuesday
The Ruston native is the younger brother of LSU defensive back Aidan Anding, a four-star cornerback in the 2025 class.
Anding is ranked as the No.311 prospect in the 2027 class by the 247Sports Composite. He’s the third defensive back in the Tigers’ haul.
The 6-foot 170-pound defensive back has held an LSU scholarship offer since August, but Ole Miss put itself in the mix with an offer in January Anding visited the Rebels a month ago but, ultimately, he decided to stay in state and join his brother at LSU.
Former Pelicans center Looney signs with Lakers
Kevon Looney, who spent last season with the New Orleans Pelicans, is headed back to the West Coast.
The veteran center has agreed to a one-year, $3.9 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to an ESPN report.
Looney played the first 10 seasons of his NBA career with the Golden State Warriors. He won three NBA titles with the Warriors before signing with New Orleans on a two-year deal in June 2025. The Pelicans declined the $8 million team option on his deal in June.
Looney played in just 21 games with the Pelicans, starting in eight of them. He averaged 2.8 points and 5.6 rebounds.
Belgium’s Onana out for remainder of World Cup
RENTON, Wash. — Belgium midfielder Amadou Onana, who injured his right knee in the 19th minute of Monday’s 4-1 win against the United States in the round of 16, will miss the remainder of the World Cup.
In a statement released by the Belgian soccer federation, team doctor Brahim Hacene confirmed Onana ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee.
“This is devastating news,” Hacene said, “both for him personally and for the team.”
The 24-year-old Onana appeared in four games at the World Cup for Belgium and made his second start of the tournament against the Americans Onana also played in two games at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar
Knicks star Brunson has surgery on his left wrist NEW YORK Jalen Brunson has undergone surgery on his left wrist and is expected to be back on the court when the New York Knicks begin defense of their NBA title, a person with knowledge of the details said Tuesday
for Texas Department of Public
Safety troopers over a traffic violation. Authorities lost sight of the vehicle before locating it crashed minutes later
As authorities were looking for Kneeland after he fled the crash site on foot, a dispatcher told officers that people who knew him had received a group text from Kneeland “saying goodbye,” indicating he might be suicidal.
Dr Chris Nowinski, CEO of the Concussion & CTE Foundation, noted Kneeland’s diagnosis comes even amid a modern era of concussion protocols in professional and college athletics and better safety equipment.
Kneeland started playing tackle football when he was 7 years old. He played at Western Michigan University before he was selected by the Cowboys in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
“We have no reason to believe the current generation is at a lower risk of CTE than previous generations Concussion protocols do not prevent CTE, because CTE is caused by repeated head impacts, not just concussions,” Nowinski said. “If we want to reduce CTE risk, we must implement CTE prevention protocols and aggressively reduce the number and strength of head impacts at every level of the game.”
The NBA Finals MVP is expected to resume basketball activities later this summer, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Brunson, who is left-handed, didn’t let the wrist injury slow him down on the Knicks’ run to their first championship since 1973. He scored 45 points when the Knicks won the title in Game 5 in San Antonio, after finishing with 36 when they made a record-setting comeback from a 29-point deficit in Game 4 The point guard averaged 32.6 points in the finals.
Pirates star rookie SS Griffin out 8-10 weeks
PITTSBURGH The Pittsburgh Pirates will have to try to stay in postseason contention without rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin. The club placed the 20-year-old rising star on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday due to an issue with a knuckle on the ring finger on his left hand. Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Griffin is expected to miss 8-10 weeks.
Griffin, who made his major league debut in April before signing a lengthy extension, injured the finger in a victory over Washington on Sunday Tomczyk said the injury was to the sagittal band, which stabilizes the ring finger Griffin will keep the hand in a splint for about
weeks before resuming baseball activities.
BY TOYLOYBROWN III Staff writer
One of LSU’smostanticipated matchups for the 2026-27 seasonhas adate.
Coach Will Wade’steam will face powerhouseHouston on Dec. 13 at the Toyota Center,the home arenaof the Houston Rockets, according to the gamecontract. The last time LSU faced Houston wasonDec. 12, 2019. The Cougars won 8276, andthe programsare tied 5-5 in the all-time series. Houston is expected to field acompetitive team, as it has for the last several seasons under 12-year coach Kelvin Sampson. His program has won at least 30 games each season since 2021-22.
The Cougars are coming off aSweet 16 appearance and, the year before, anational championship game
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big-time innings.”
appearance. They have reached at least the Sweet 16 in six straightseasons. An additional layer of intrigue is thatone of Houston’spremier transfer portaladditions is former LSU point guard Dedan Thomas. The 6-foot-1 lefty was the Tigers’ best player last season as ajunior, averaging15.3 points,6.5 assistsand 1.6 turnovers per game before having season-ending foot surgery in February Thomas, whostarted his career at UNLV, injured his left foot on Jan. 2, the day beforethe Southeastern Conference opener Houstonisn’t the only elite team LSU has agreed toplay in the nonconference slate The Tigers will faceGonzagaon Nov.14inSpokane, Washington, according to thegame contract. It will be thefirst meeting betweenthe programs ever Gonzaga hasbeen apre-
The winner of Lafayette and St. Landry Bank, which is led by Troy University catcher commitment Myles Collins (OpelousasCatholic), will face perennialpowerhouse Gauthier Amedee, which got abye afterthe Carencro Aces opted out of the tourney
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here for only afew weeks, and she’sdevoted that time to apair of new challenges she’staken up ahead of her fourth year as acollege basketball player Runningpoint forcoach KimMulkey’sTigers. And doing what she can to prevent Congressfrom passing the Protect College Sports Act.
Williams is one of onlya few college athletes who have spoken publicly about the new bipartisan legislation, which waswritten and introduced in late May to establish a“national framework” of rules in college sports. She told Murphy that “we need structure” but that “we shouldn’tallow Congress to be the ones to decide who makes those rules.” Collective bargaining is Williams’preferred path forward. Shedoesn’t want athletes to “havetotakethe passenger seat,” she told Murphy,because iftheir voices are excluded from the process and anew set of rules is written into federal law withouttheir input, then they’ll lose “a lot of our power” and “everybody will be taking pay cuts.”
It’sathorny topic. Most decision-makers would rather see Congress restore the NCAA’s authority to enforce its own rules. Collective bargaining faces basic practical issues, too,though Yahoo Sports reported around the time the Protect College Sports Act was introduced that some leaders in the SEC, Big Tenand elsewhere were warming up to the possibility that collegiate athletes could
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after arest period to discuss whether it wants him to stay beyond the expiration of his contract this summer and whether he wants to commit to afour-year cycle.
“Wehad positive conversations with Mauricio before the WorldCup about the future. We agreedwewould continue those conversations followingachanceto rest and reflectpostWorld Cup,” the U.S. Soccer Federation said in astatement Tuesday.“We have agreat deal of respect and gratitude for Mauricio, his staff and everyone part of the program. We have shared excitement about our potential and alsosharedclarity about the amountofwork at alllevels still required to achieve our ambition.”
The Argentine took over from Gregg Berhalter in late 2024after afirst-round elimination at the Copa
season AP Top25team every year since the 2009-10 season andhas finished
aseason outside the final poll only four timesinthat span.
LSU also has agreed to participate in the Palm Springs Classic, amultiteam eventatAcrisure Arena in PalmSprings, California, according to the game contract. The tournamentruns from Nov. 21-26 and LSUwill face twoof thethree otherteamsin thefield: SMU, Arizona StateorSouthernCalifornia.LSU’sfirst opponent andgame times were not listed. SMU wasthe only team in the group to make the NCAA Tournament last season,losing 89-79 to Miami (Ohio)inthe First Four. Arizona State finished 17-16 last season and enters its first year under coach Randy Bennett, who left Saint Mary’safter leading the Gaelstofive straight NCAA Tournament berths. One of his associate head coaches is David Patrick, a former LSU assistant under
Matt McMahon(2024-26) and Johnny Jones (2012-16). The Sun Devils also have former LSU forward MarcusVaughns. The 6-8Australian enrolled early at LSU in December and redshirted afternot appearinginany games. USC went 18-14 last season and is expected to improvewiththree top-30recruits, including Christian Collins,the No.9 player in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports. LSU hasalsoagreed to nine other nonconference games against mid-major teams, all at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center The Tigers also will face UNO (Nov. 3),Texas Southern (Nov.6), Louisiana Tech (Nov.9), UL-Monroe (Nov 17),Queens University(Nov 20), Hofstra (Dec. 5), High Point (Dec. 18), UL (Dec. 22) and Washington State (Dec. 28).
unionizeone day. What is clear isthatWilliams is eager to speak up, and that willingness should serve her well in the new role she’ll fillatLSU once the2026-27 season tips off in November
The Tigers cycled through fivestartingpoint guards in fiveyears before theysigned Williams. It’satough gig, one that two incumbent starters have walkedaway from before they exhausted their eligibility under Mulkey at LSU Williams seems suitedfor it.
“A lot of college athletes don’tknowwhat’sgoing on,” Williams toldThe Advocate in arecentinterview,“and it’shard to learn because who’sgonnatell you that? We don’tsit down as ateam and talk about those things, so it’skind of on us to educateourselves. “I think that’sjustwhy I’m passionate. Because we should be able to be in the driver’sseat of the things that we go through in our day-to-day life.”
An earlystart
Whenshe was in high school, Williams was one of theearliest beneficiaries of the NIL era.She was a high-profile recruit witha large social media following, so itdidn’ttake long for thebrands to start lining up.Spalding. Move insoles. SLAM magazine.
Williams movedfrom Missouri to California ahead of her junior year in part so she could work with those companies. Had she stayed in herhomestate, whereprepathletes weren’t allowed tostrike NIL deals, she wouldn’thave picked up some of the experience that
America. His first year included failures to win the CONCACAF Gold Cup and Nations League.
“Wewere in amess,” he said. “I’ve seen this team show that we can play football. We can play soccer.We can compete. That we need keepimproving —a lot of young players with alot potential and future.”
Goalkeeper has gonefrom the United States’ biggest strength from 1990 through 2014 to ahuge weakness in the past decadeand appears to be at its weakest since the 1980s.
Longgone arethe days when Tony Meola, Kasey Keller,BradFriedel,Tim Howard andBrad Guzan inspired confidence. Zack Steffen and Matt Turner both failed to establish themselves withbig European teams.MattFreese, whosupplanted Turner as the first-choice starter last year, gifted agoal in the loss to Belgium that will be replayed onblooper reels Gabriel Slonina, Chris
Based out of Gonzales, Gauthier Amedee (10-3-2) defeated Lafayette8-1 in the regular season behind a complete game, 11-strikeout performance from pitcher Tucker Suire,who led Dutchtown High to aDivi-
informsher stances today She’s been navigating this new world for five years now
“She’sareally grounded kid,”saidTerri Bamford, Williams’high school coach at La Jolla Country Day School in San Diego. “Really smart kid, and Ithink she really understands the landscape, especially havingreceivedNIL dealsso young.”
WhenWilliams was playing for Bamford,she was committed to UCLA. She later dropped that pledge andenrolledatArizona instead, kick-starting what shedescribed to Murphy as “the worst two years of my life.”
So Williams jumped into thetransfer portal in 2025 and landed closer to home at Iowa State. The move paid off. Not only did she play alongside All-American forward Audi Crooks but shealsofigured out how to improve important parts of her game.
In her lone season with the Cyclones,Williams scored 15.3 points per game andposted thenation’s third-highest assist average(7.7) —two reasons why shebecame one of the top transfers of the 2026 cycle when shedecided in April to switch teams for asecond time. Eight of her Iowa Stateteammates joined her in theportal.
Jill McIntyre,Williams’ mother, said LSU was one of aboutfive schools on her daughter’sinitial “short list” of destinations. The problem, though, was that JadaRichard was already the LSU starting point guard, and Mulkey had said in an interview withWAFBTV that her program was
Brady,PatrickSchulteand Roman Celentano, who head the nextgeneration, have thenext cycle to establish themselves as possible No 1s.
Centraldefense also is a concern. Crystal Palace’s Chris Richards is the only American playing at atop club and his World Cup partner, TimReam, at 38 became theoldest U.S. player at any World Cup.
With theexpansion of the field to 48 nations, including six from North and Central America and the Caribbean,WorldCup qualifying is notlikelytobechallengingfor CONCACAF’spowers: Mexico,the U.S. and Canada.
All three wereeliminated in theround of 16 after Curaçao, Haiti and Panama were eliminated with last-place finishes in their groups. Unless theU.S. shows vast improvement,itwill not be seeded for the 2030 World Cup and likely will face aworld power in thefirst round.
sion Inonselect runner-up finish.
The favorite, according to Standiford, is thetwo-time reigning state champion BossierPhillies (13-2), whodefeated Lafayette 6-1 in June. Bossier,which has
losing only one player to thetransferportal:freshman Divine Bourrage. That’s when things changed for LSU.
Mulkey told The Advocatethatshe wasinachildren’s hospital in Temple, Texas,helping her 7-year-old grandson, Kannon, get ready for surgery to remove his appendix when Richard called to tell hershe haddecided to put hername into the portal. The LSUcoaches,Mulkey said, were “certainlycaught off guard” by Richard’s move, but they had to act quickly
“I then immediately turned around,” Mulkey said, “and thoughtofwho was in the portal thatcould come in here andhelpusimmediately,and it was JadaWilliams.”
Mulkey called Williams and told her she wanted to invite her to LSU’scampus for avisit andadd hertothe roster. Thetwo hada prior relationship —Mulkeyrecruited Williams when she was coaching at Baylor,and sheusedtorun into herat the Big 12 Tournament in her hometownofKansas City Missouri.
Williams still madesure she did herhomework. She saidshe reached out to DiJonai Carrington and DiDi Richards— two former Baylor players under Mulkeywho are like “big sisters” to her— as well as Mikaylah Williams and even some ex-LSU players whohaveleft theTigersvia the portal during Mulkey’s tenure.She wanted to “pick their brains,” she said,and talk to them “about the fit” and“how(Mulkey) coaches.”
“Things like that,” Williams said. “And theytold me the truth. We had some
been fieldingatop-tierteam forseveral decades,won the past two Mid-South Regionals to reach the American Legion World Series. Teurlings Catholic infielder JacksonBreauxisanother playertowatch forthe
really good conversations.”
Richardannounced she was transferring on April 9. Williams landedinBaton Rouge48hours later,then committed to the Tigers the next day, giving them apolished, experienced veteran at apositionofneed.LSU spent only threedaysinthe market for apoint guard.
“It wasn’tlike it was a hard sell,” Mulkey said, “because she already knew aboutme. Sheknewabout LSU’ssuccess, my success at Baylor.And the rest is history “She’s just ayoung lady that’spersonable. Everybody’sgonna love her.She’s got alot of energy. She’sgoing to share the basketball. She takes as muchpride in herassists as shedoesscoring, and she’sgoing to be one thatthe fans really,really enjoy.”
‘The scarything’ These days, Williams is devoting most of her time to summerworkouts and Zoom meetings. She’spart of theUnited College Athletes Association (UCAA) —a nonprofitplayers’ advocacy group that aims to “build representation structures” for college athletes.
The first step, Williams said, is learning. About the currentstateofcollegiate sports. Aboutthe NCAA’s years-long pushfor federal legislation. About the practicalities, and complications, of agoverning model based on collective bargaining.
UCAA leadershelpthem grasp the issues first so they can untangle them later to the public.
“Weagree on the issues that are going on within us,” Williams said, “and then we go and we do the scary thing
Drillers, whohave played every tourney team except forJesuit-based RetifOil in New Orleans, where last year’sevent was held. The Drillers split apair of games with theCrowley Millers.
ofspeaking out and letting other people know our opinions.”
Williams and her fellow UCAA members want to make it clear:Theydon’t want Congress to set the rules. They’d rather unionize.
Williams shared that sentimentwith Murphy afew weeks after Maryland guard Oluchi Okananwa,former UCLAguard Charlisse Leger-Walker and ex-Michigan forward Brooke Quarles Daniels did thesameinan online panel with U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Massachusetts. Still, as of Wednesday,a collective bargaining model looms as only aremote possibility.The Protect College Sports Act must first fail, and if leaders then decide to explore the possibility of classifying athletes as employees who can unionize,then they’d still face opposition fromkey figures, significant legal hurdles and acomplex web of competing interests. U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington —one of the Senate bill’sauthors —said in aJune 18 hearing that the model “isn’tgoing to happen anytimesoon.”
That belief won’tstop Williams, asavvy veteran who likes to do her homework and say what she thinks —even if she steps into some thorny subjects along the way. “It’snot an easy thing to do,”Williamssaid. “It’sdefinitely very scary. But we kind of feel like it’sour duty withthe platforms thatwe have. God gave us apurpose, and we’regonna use it for those reasons, and I’mvery, very grateful that Igot the opportunity “It’snot every day you’re on live with asenator.”
BY JAMES ROBSON Associated Press
ATLANTA It was another World Cup epic from an Argentina team that simply doesn’t know when it’s beaten.
Trailing 2-0 against Egypt with 11 minutes of regulation time to play on Tuesday the reigning champions rallied for an improbable 3-2 victory and a spot in the quarterfinals.
“We have a phenomenal group, a group that never gives up no matter the difficulties and adversity
We’re always together,” said Enzo Fernandez, who scored the winning goal in stoppage time.
Argentina will play Switzerland in the next round on Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri.
For much of Tuesday’s game, it looked like it would be a painful exit for the 39-year-old Lionel Messi in what might be the last of his six World Cups. Egypt led after goals in each half from Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico and could have been ahead 3-0 if not for a video review that ruled out another score.
Argentina looked down and out, its bid to be the first team to win back-to-back World Cup titles since Brazil in 1958 and 1962 all but dead.
Cue a monumental comeback
“The heart of Argentinians is always something that pushes, that we keep going no matter what, that we give everything until the end.
And honestly, with the score 2-0, we looked a bit beaten,” Argentina striker Julian Alvarez said. “There was little time left, but we always manage to get something more by
fighting until the end.”
Cristian Romero started the rally by scoring with a header in the 79th minute. Messi, who was in tears after the final whistle, scored his eighth goal of the tournament and record-extending 21st goal at the World Cup in the 83rd to level the score at 2-2 and Fernandez completed the comeback in injury time.
“Four years have passed since Qatar, and we’ve come to enjoy another World Cup — and we want to win it again. That’s what we’re aiming for,” Fernandez said. Argentina is no stranger to he-
roic matches at the World Cup.
There was the 3-2 win over West Germany in the 1986 final Then the 3-3 draw and eventual shootout victory against France to reclaim the title four years ago.
Cape Verde pushed Argentina to the brink in the last round before eventually winning 3-2 in extra time.
Tuesday’s match was even more dramatic, with Messi having a first-half penalty kick saved and another effort hit the post.
“I’m so emotional,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “What a group of players, brother.”
Egypt took a surprising lead in the 15th minute when Ibrahim got ahead of Lisandro Martinez to meet Marwan Attia’s cross and head the ball into the bottom corner Argentina was quickly given the chance to level the match when Haissem Hassan tripped Nicolas Tagliafico in the box moments later Referee François Letexier pointed to the penalty spot and Messi stepped up with an expectant crowd waiting for him to score.
Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir had other ideas, diving to his
left to block the shot for Messi’s second penalty miss of the tournament after also failing from the spot against Austria in the group stage.
Despite being the all-time leading scorer at World Cups, Messi has now missed four of eight penalty kicks at the tournament.
After Messi hit the post later in the half, Shobeir pulled off another great save to stop Julian Alvarez from close range.
Egypt thought it had doubled its lead in the second half when Mostafa Zico finished off a sweeping attack. But the wild celebrations were cut short when a foul earlier in the move was confirmed on video review and the goal was disallowed.
That second goal for Egypt did come in the 67th from a similar break, and this time Zico’s effort counted. It just wasn’t enough.
“We looked better compared to the reigning champions. We were better in everything but the result,” Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said.
Hassan said he would not watch any further games at this year’s World Cup, believing his team should have had a penalty before Argentina broke away for the winning goal.
“I’m not convinced with this outcome. I’m not convinced with the way things unfolded during this match,” he said. “I do not want to try to put it nicely here with beautiful wording, selected wording, and saying hard luck and so on and so forth.
“We have been treated unfairly today,” Hassan said. “We have suffered injustice.”
Vargas converts penalty kick for Swiss after scoreless draw
BY ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press
VANCOUVER, British Colombia Ru-
ben Vargas converted his penalty and Switzerland advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals with a 4-3 shootout win over Colombia after a scoreless draw on Tuesday Switzerland will next face reigning champion Argentina on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Argentina defeated Egypt 3-2 earlier in the day Switzerland had not reached
the quarterfinals of a World Cup since hosting the tournament in 1954. And the Swiss were shorthanded Tuesday without young midfielder Johan Manzambi who was injured in training on Monday Vargas, who has scored two goals in the World Cup, also left Monday’s training early but was available off the bench and came on in stoppage time at the end of regulation.
Colombia defender Davinson Sanchez’s penalty attempt hit the crossbar, and Switzerland goalkeeper Grego Kobel saved an attempt by Cucho Hernandez, giving the Swiss the edge in the shootout.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino was among those at BC Place,
where the sellout crowd was overwhelmingly clad in yellow in support of Colombia.
Colombia failed to qualify for the last World Cup in 2022. The team made the quarterfinals at the 2014 tournament in Brazil, defeating Uruguay in the round of 16 before losing to the host country 2-1.
The Swiss reached the round of 16 at the past three World Cups but failed to advance with a smaller field of 32 teams.
The match was tightly contested by two teams with contrasting styles, the Swiss with a more organized approach and Colombia more attack oriented.
Switzerland had a slight edge in possession but both teams had two shots on goal.
£30,060,000 Surface: Grass Men’s Singles Quarterfinals Jannik Sinner (1), Italy, def. Jan-Lennard Struff, Germany, 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3. Novak Djokovic (7), Serbia, def. Felix AugerAliassime (3), Canada, 7-6 (10), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4). Women’s Singles Quarterfinals Coco Gauff (7), United States, def. Jessica Pegula (4), United States, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Karolina Muchova (10), Czechia, def. Naomi Osaka (14), Japan, 7-6 (4), 6-4. Men’s Doubles Quarterfinals Thanasi Kokkinakis, Australia, and Aleksandar Kovacevic, United States, def. Nikola Mektic, Croatia, and Austin Krajicek (14), United States, 7-6 (4), 6-3. Harri Heliovaara, Finland, and Henry Patten (1), Britain, def. Guido Andreozzi, Argentina, and Manuel Guinard (8), France, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6). Women’s Doubles Third Round Taylor Townsend, United States, and Katerina Siniakova (1), Czechia, def. Asia Muhammad, United States, and Fanny Stollar (16), Hungary, 6-3, 6-3. Gabriela Dabrowski, Canada, and Luisa Stefani (2), Brazil, def. Storm Hunter, Australia, and Caty McNally (14), United States, 6-1, 6-4. Katarzyna Piter, Poland, and Anna Siskova, Czechia, def. Rebecca Sramkova, Slovakia, and Linda Noskova, Czechia, 7-5, 6-4. Mixed Doubles Semifinals Storm Hunter and Marc Polmans, Australia, def. Mate Pavic, Croatia, and Fanny Stollar, Hungary, 7-6 (5),
Restaurant offers variety of styles
BY JENN HARRIS
Los Angeles Times (TNS)
LOS ANGELES Have you ever had a meal change the course of your entire life? For Pizza
Cafe L.A. owner Diego Garcia, it was a slice of Margherita pizza extraneously covered in pepperoni. He was in New York for one of his entertainment production jobs and thinking about getting into stand-up comedy Wanting to make the most of his time in the city, he grabbed a seat at the counter at Juliana’s Pizza in Brooklyn. He watched mesmerized as the cooks stretched and topped pies, then slid them in and out of the coal-burning brick oven.
“I didn’t know that bread, sauce, cheese, pepperoni and basil could be the best thing I’ve ever had,” says Garcia. “I came back to L.A. and was like, that’s what I want to do. I want to make pizza.” At the time, Garcia was also dabbling in fashion, making hats and clothes, and about to learn how to become a shoe cobbler Instead, he bought a small wood-burning oven off Amazon and a red counter-top mixer, then started making pizza. He was on a quest to re-create the oversized Neopolitan-style pies from Juliana’s with a leopardspotted crust
“I was also inspired by Nancy Silverton’s ‘Chef’s Table’ episode,” he says. “It took her a year to make a pizza. I knew it would take me a little longer.” It ended up taking Garcia two years filled with YouTube videos, dozens of recipes and lots of trial and error He hosted a few successful pop-ups right before the pandemic, then put all of his money and a big chunk of his parent’s 401(k) — into a small space he found on Craigslist, at the Fletcher Square shopping
ä See PIZZA, page 6C
New spot for Indian groceries bringing community together with fresh chai, butter chicken and more in Lafayette
BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer
The term “desi” refers to the whole of the Indian subcontinent, and the peoples, cultures, products and foods that originate there.
Fresh spices, hot curries and samosas, halal meats, Indian yogurts, stacks of naan — it’s all available at Desi Mart at 2441 W. Congress St., Lafayette, where the shop specializes in a wide range of groceries and personal items from the nations of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
“They’ve welcomed us so nicely here in Lafayette, and the last two weeks have been super busy.”
SAJID DADWANI, Desi Mart owner
“The most popular item we have is fresh goat meat,” said owner Sajid Dadwani, who also operates Desi Marts in Beaumont, Texas, and Lake Charles. “We have a lot of different pulses (legumes), spice, produce — things you don’t normally find in big stores or chains. It’s to bring the community together.” Desi Mart’s hot lunches are a good way to experience the quality of their groceries and spices. In addition to popular dishes like biryani and chicken tikka masala, the shop’s butter chicken is silky and bursting with both heat and creamy comfort — and the daal ended up being one of the boldest spoonful of lentils I’d ever tried I also experienced Desi Mart’s goat curry, with delicious chunks of tender meat cooked down in a dark and rich stew that lovers of Cajun and Creole food will adore. Dadwani, who is based in Beaumont, said that opening Desi Mart was a dream
that started with his grandfather “When I was small, my grandfather used to be in the same field,” he said. “Here, I see the difference when people don’t have a community hub where they can shop the brands from when they were a child. It’s missing. So it was my family’s legacy to bring this community together and serve the people.”
He said the majority of his customers are locals who are from India and neighboring countries, and before expanding into Louisiana, they had to drive into Texas to find goods from home. Now that Desi Mart has opened in Lafayette, Dadwani is thinking about future stores in Alexandria, Shreveport or Baton Rouge.
“People used to come from Lake
THE BEST THINGS WE ATE THIS WEEK Staff report
Peruvian ceviche stuffed avocado, bombon coffee n Bistrology, 3905 Ambassador Caffery
Harriette Cole SENSE AND SENSITIVITy
Dear Harriette: Ihave always liked to experiment with sewing my own garments. In my culture, it is common for people to make their own clothes or at least beable to repair what they buy.Astime goes on, skillslikesewing have become more uncommon, especially here in the United States. However,developing these skills at such ayoung age helped shape my relationship withclothes. I have been able to hone this craft over time, turning somethingI
didasahobbyintoaskill. Ifind myself eager to learn moreabout business and potentially open my own retail store. Iknow it’s abig dream;however,Ithink it wouldbesomething Iwould be interested in as acareer.What aresome questions you think I should ask myself before moving forward with entrepreneurship?
—Sewerpreneur
Dear Sewerpreneur: Being able to sewisaclear asset and askill that can be turned into abusiness. Thinkbig. What would you like to do with your skill? The choices vary widely.You can work in a productionspace for adesigner making clothes or finishing pieces. Youcan specialize in al-
terations and work for abridal designer or adry cleaner or tailor.Orwhat about being afashion designer yourself?
Getting training is agood idea, either from avocational or adesign school. Look for businesses that you admire, and find out if you can get an internship there to learn what they do.
Dear Harriette: Iamsomeone who tries to be as independent as I can be. Idonot like to rely on others since you never know what can happen in arelationship. It is honestly not anyone else’sresponsibilitytotake care of you. Oddly enough, mypartner enjoys thetraditional masculinerole of being aprovider,and this is one
of the reasons we argue often —I do not alwaysleave space for him to show his love. This takes alot of adjusting and feeling safe around yourpartner.I am not sure why he feels that this is the only way he can show up forme, though Itry to meet him where he’sat. Iknow Ican come off a bit strong, so I’mtrying not to change him, but Iwant him to recognize amoreholistic view of himself. How do Iwork on being morecomfortable with relying on people? —LeanonSomeone
Dear Lean On Someone: Being a good partner andeven simply agood friend requires being a good listener andlearning what makes the otherperson tick. You
By The Associated Press
Today is Tuesday,July
8, the 189th day of 2025
Thereare 176 days left in the year
TodayinHistory: On July 8, 2018, divers rescuedfour of the 12 boys who had been trapped in aflooded cave in northern Thailand withtheir soccer coach for more than two weeks. (The remaining eight boys and their coach were rescued over the next twodays.)
Also on this date:
In 1776, Col. John Nixon gave the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence, outside the State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia.
In 1853, an expedition led by U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Edo Bay,Japan, on amission to seekdiplomatic and trade relations withthe Japanese In 1889, the first issue of The Wall Street Journal was published.
In 1947, aNew Mexico newspaper,the Roswell Daily Record, quoted officials at Roswell Army Air Field as saying they had recovered a“flying saucer” that crashed onto aranch; officials then said it was actually aweather balloon.
In 1950,President Harry S. Trumannamed Gen. Douglas MacArthur commander-in-chief of United Nationsforces in Korea. (Truman would fireMacArthur for insubordination nine months later.)
In 1972, theNixon administration announceda deal to sell $750 million in grain to theSoviet Union.(However,the Sovietswere also engaged in secretlybuying subsidized American grain, resulting in what critics dubbed “The Great Grain Robbery.”)
In 1994, Kim Il Sung, North Korea’scommunist leader since 1948, died at age82.
In 2000, Venus Williams beat LindsayDavenport for her first Grand Slam title, becoming the first Black female champion at Wimbledonsince Althea Gibson in 1958.
In 2011, the135th and finalspaceshuttle mission began when spaceshuttle Atlantis launched from KennedySpaceCenter
In 2021, PresidentJoe Biden said the U.S.military operation in Afghanistan would end on Aug.31; in a speech in the WhiteHouse East Room, Biden madean impassioned argument for exitingthe nearly20-year war without sacrificing
and Iknow it’ll be good. ThisMid City spot is one of my go-tos when I’mgrabbing dinner with afriend. It hasafun drink selection, cool atmosphere and undeniably greatfood.
Forthe entree,I ordered thedan dan noodles,adish bursting with severalflavors. There’ssmokiness from the pork belly,spice from the Szechuan sauceand citrusfrom the little lime wedge. There’s also chiligarlic shrimp, fried garlicbits, grilled yu choy and scallions. I’m glad Idiscoveredthis dish, because Ithink it’s my new favorite at Chow Yum. It also holdswellin the fridge if youhaveleftovers.
MaddieScott, features reporter
Cheeseburger and breadpudding
n Lillie’s Kitchen, 5068 Airline Highway,Baton Rouge
This was some of the best bread pud-
ding I’ve had. My first visit to Lillie’s Kitchen was unexpected after Ifirst tried visiting arestaurant down the
arelearning whatmakes you happy.Whatabout him? If gesturesofprotection and care are important to him, can you find a way to make space for some of that? Take abreathand observe the moment. Howcan you best showupinthis relationship? Sometimesitmay be by simply being present andwatching how things unfold. This way,you will learnwhatyou like about your partner’sattentiveness and what doesn’twork.
Sendquestions to askharriette@ harriettecole.com or c/o AndrewsMcMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.
Continued from page5C
Charles to Beaumont, saying, ‘please come, we need this over there.’ And Houston is abig populated area, there aresomany stores that people have everything they need —but here, people don’thave the thingstheyneed. They’ve welcomed us so nicely here in Lafayette,and the last two weeks have been super busy,” he said. It didn’ttake long for Desi Mart to start bustling along withthe rhythms of the community.Onany given dayofthe week, the aisles of the small store are full of carts, while steaming to-go plates emerge from thekitchen.There’s also a warm thermos of chai available for customers to serve
themselves when they enter,making thestore feel even morelike the communityhub that Dadwani hoped it would be.
“Wedidn’t expect this response from the community,but we are morethan happy,” he said. “I have neverseen acommunity like this before.Before we opened,theywerebringing food forusfrom the stores, like,‘Hey,man,welcome to the town. Let me bring something foryou.’ So that’sreally nice.”
DesiMart is open from Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m.to9 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m.to8 p.m. They are located at 2441 W. Congress St., in theformer Bismillah Groceriesand Kitchen store.
Email Joanna Brown at joanna.brown@ theadvocate.com.
moreAmerica lives, but acknowledged that there would be no “mission accomplished” momentto celebrate.
In 2022, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abewas assassinated on astreet in western Japan by agunman who opened fire on him from behind as he delivered acampaign speech.
Today’sBirthdays: Actor Jeffrey Tambor is 82. Drummer Jaimoe Johanson (The Allman Brothers Band) is 82. Actor Kim Darby is 79. Children’smusician Raffi is 78. Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck is 77. Actor Anjelica Huston is 75. Writer Anna Quindlen is 74. Author and politician Marianne Williamson is 74. ProFootball Hall of Famer Jack Lambert is 74. Actor Kevin Bacon is 68. Singer Joan Osborne is 64. Actor Lee Tergesen (TV:“Oz”) is 61. Actor Billy Crudup is 58. Actor Michael Weatherly (TV:“NCIS”) is 58. Musician Beck is 56. Actor Kathleen Robertson is 53. Christian rock musician Stephen Mason (Jars of Clay) is 51. Actor Milo Ventimiglia is 49. Actor Lance Gross (TV:“Tyler Perry’s House of Payne”) is 45.
Actor Sophia Bush is 44.
Actor Maya Hawke is 28.
Actor Jaden Smith is 28.
street, only to see it was closed impromptu. Theoriginalplan foiled,but the outcome turned sweet.
Iarrived at lunchtime, so Iordered a baconcheeseburger combo with fries and aDrPepper.The bacon had agreat bite to it, the cheese was perfectly melted,and the patty was savory.Ithit the spot, but the breadpudding was the star of the show
The texture was alittle less chunky than most bread puddings I’ve had. It had more of astuffing feel. The sticky,sugary taste was just delightful.
Ibelievethere were golden raisins in it, which I’m not usually afan of, but Ienjoyed them that day.Atestament to how goodthisdishwas.
Maddie Scott, features reporter
Continuedfrom page5C
center in Silver Lake. He opened Pizza Cafe L.A. on Valentine’sDay 2021.
Instead of specializing in asingle style of pizza, Garciaoffers seven, spanning regions across the United States and Italy
“I thought to myself, pizza is pizza,”hesays. “I researchedone style pizza,I can research more.”
The crust on theMargheritaiscovered in big, charred bubbles, with a tangthat’spresent, but fleeting.
The saucepainted over thesurface is thick likepuree, witha vibrant,all encompassing, fresh tomato flavor. Milky, creamy blobs of mozzarella are melted over the top with plentyof tornbasil.
During his second year in business, Garcia turned his attentiontoDetroit-style pizza.
He developed afocaccia recipe, then bought asingle square pizza panonAmazon.
“I only had one pan, and that first day Iwas offering it,I got an order for twoDetroit-style pizzas,”hesays. “I was like, what am Igoing to do?”
He bought more pans, and
“That’swhy Icalled it PizzaCafe. Cafe means variety restaurant. It’s like avariety pizza shop.”
DIEGOGARCIA, Pizza Cafe L.A.owner
installeda secondovenin the kitchen.
The Detroit pizza features the style’ssignature crown of crispy cheese around the edges, and ablanketof brickcheese. There’s the initial crunch, then your teethsinkintoa wonderfully soft and squishy focaccia.
Next, he set his sights on New York pizza, tweaking the amounts of olive oil and sugarinthe dough to createacrust that’scrisp, but supple and foldable.
And when it comes to the toppings, let your imaginationrun wild. There’ssausage, Canadian bacon, both cup and sliced pepperoni, peppers, olives, onions and pineapple. I’mpartial to the pepperoni cups (even on the New York) and the way the tiny pools of grease gush into your mouth with each bite of pizza.
While Garcia runs a steady takeout business, there are ahandful of tables inside,withchili flakesin shakers androlls of paper towel for napkins. On one
wall, Garciahas someof his hats on display,beautifully constructed in beaver felt. Outside, there’sareedfencing-linedpatiowith afew tablesand acouch that may or may not be real leather At present, Garcia is making Neopolitan, New York, Detroit, New Haven, Chicagotavern, Chicagodeep dish and Sicilian pizzas. And he’salready working on more.
“That’swhy Icalledit Pizza Cafe,” says Garcia. “Cafe means variety restaurant. It’slike avariety pizza shop.”
Deputy Food editor Betty Hallock recently remarked that Los Angelesis“the pizza capital of theworld.” With places like Pizza Cafe L.A., anda city thatboasts nearly every style of pizza imaginable, Ithinks she’s on to something. Ican hear allofthe New Yorkers screaming. Have aslice at Quarter Sheets, Apollonia’s,PizzeriaSei, Pizzeria Mozza, DeSano Pizza, Dtown Pizzeria, Pizzana, Fiorelli Pizza, Little Coyote, Pizzeria Bianco, Wallflour Pizza, Cosetta, Bub and Grandma’sPizza, Ozzy’sApizza, Redwood Pie, Ronan,LaSorted’s,Pijja Palace, Old Gold Tomato Piesand Friends &Family Pizza Co. (to name afew), then we can talk.
CANCER (June 21-July 22) Consider your options and what the pros and cons are. Let your emotions filter through consequences and what's worth it to you and what isn't. Stretch your imagination.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Pay attention; retaining what you hear will be essential if you want to get ahead. Use your Leo charm to captivate your audience and to gather pertinent information regarding different lifestyles.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Sit back, wait for the right moment and prepare to take a stance that positions you for success. Take care of financial, medical and legal matters with confidence.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Put everything in its place, and avoid criticism. Reach out to someone who needs help or a cause that concerns you, and do your part to make a difference. Someone you meet will touch your heart.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Engage in conversations, and invest more time in learning and personal growth. Consider how you can use your knowledge and reputation to teach others to make better decisions.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) You'll be pulled in different directions by the people you have the most contact with. Surround yourself with those you trust and those who aren't trying to separate you from your cash.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) You may think you have everything in place, but continue to refine and define what you
want and how you plan to make it happen. Trying to do the impossible will set you back.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) A vigilant approach to your work responsibilities will help you excel. Don't trust anyone to do something for you that lives up to your standards. Focus on your responsibilities.
PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Choose to have fun. Distance yourself from those who put pressure on you or take advantage of you. Focus on conversations that give you hope for a brighter future. Don't limit what's possible.
ARIES (March 21-April 19) Keep your thoughts to yourself. Refuse to let your emotions take over and your words lead to trouble. Bide your time and work on self-preservation and improvement.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Take care of small details and invest more time and effort in exploring and expanding your interests Activities that encourage you to use your physical and mental attributes will help you meet people.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Bringing about change will be simple if you use your strengths to consolidate your thoughts and charm your way into the hearts of those who can help you achieve your objective.
The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By
Andrews McMeel Syndication
Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.
TODAy'S CLUE: F EQUALS D
InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers1 to 9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.
Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer
BY PHILLIP ALDER
RobertFritz,whodevelopedStructural Dynamics, said, “If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want.” I have mentioned before that it pays to pause and consider your options, not just play on autopilot. This deal is another good example. South is in four spades. How should the defense proceed after West leads the heart ace?
When you have 5-4-2-2 distribution and the right count for one no-trump, open in your five-card suit when it is a major. If the five-card suit is a minor, open one notrump with strong doubletons or when your rebid might be uncomfortable if youstartwithoneofyourlongsuit.Here, if North opens one diamond and South responds one heart, North has an easy one-spade rebid. So North should open one diamond.
After South actually bid one spade, North had just enough to raise to four spades. But if North had settled for three spades, South would probably have raised to game, although he might have rebid three no-trump, the game contract that is unbeatable.
After taking the first trick, West will continue with the heart king. But what does he do next? Therearetwoanswerstothatquestion:
BY ZOE KOLENOVSKY
The Dallas Morning News (TNS)
Customers have less than a month to file aclaim forashare of Amazon’shistoric $2.5 billion settlement.
The Seattle-based online retailer settled last year with the Federal Trade Commission over claims that it tricked customers intosigning up for its Prime membership and made it difficult to unenroll from the plan. The result was $1 billion that Amazon must pay in civil penalties —the largest such fine in the agency’shistory —on
top of another $1.5 billion to be doled out to eligible customers. Most eligible customers should have received an automaticrefund fromAmazon in November or December 2025. Butaffected customers who haven’treceived theirs can stillfile aclaim. Here’s what you need to know Customers must meet three requirementstobeeligible forapayment fromthe settlement fund.
The first is simple: Youmust be an Amazon Prime customer in the UnitedStates. But you musthave also either signed up for the Prime subscription through a“chal-
lenged enrollment flow” or tried and failed to cancel your membership between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025. The “challenged enrollment flow” refers to sign-up pathways thatthe government determined deceptive or confusing —places like the shipping selection page or single-page checkout
Youalso must have used at most 10 Amazon Prime Benefits in any 12-month period during which you were enrolled. Those include the free shipping and faster delivery ratesthe program is famous for as well as other Amazon products
offered to Prime subscribers for free such as PrimeVideo,Prime Music and Kindle Books.
Youare not eligible to file aclaim if youalready receivedanautomatic refund from Amazon. Customers can submit claims until July 27 by visiting the settlementwebsite to file aclaim online.
Youwillbeaskedtoeither submit your claim ID and PIN number that youreceived with asettlement notice via email or mail, or to instead enter the personal information associated with your Amazon account, including an email address or phone number
BY DAMIAN J. TROISE AP business writer
NEW YORK Wall Street banks have high hopes for SpaceX but at the moment sharesofElon Musk’s rocket market appear to be earthbound.
Many of the investment firms that underwrote SpaceX’sinitial public offeringissued their first researchnotes about the company Tuesday,and almost all recommended that investors buythe stock and forecast it to trade above $200 in the next 12 to 18 months.
But aftertopping $200 in its first week of trading, the stock is tradingaround $150 per share, where it opened on June 12, its IPO day.Investors may be looking cautiously at the same factors that have Wall Street so enthusiastic about the stock Analysts are focused on SpaceX’spotential to lead the market for space transportation and infrastructure. The company’s reusable rockets allow it to transport people and cargo into Earth’sorbit and it is aiming for deeper explorationofthe solarsystem Most of the company’s revenue currently comes fromits Starlink satellites, and AI innovations are expected to advance that technology “SpaceX’sambitions, and potential impact on humanity,are bigger than any company’swe’veever seen,” said an analyst from J.P. Morganinaresearch report. The bank expects the stock price to reach $225 by the endof2027. It cited the company’scompeti-
research notes about the companyTuesday, and almost all recommended that investors buythe stock and forecast it to trade above $200 in the next 12 to 18 months.
tive advantage in space transportation,withabout 670 orbital launches and anearly 99% success rate with itsFalcon rockets Most payloads launched into orbit since 2023 were through SpaceX. The companyhas dominatedthe reusable space rocket market with its Falcon 9, but its gigantic Starship rocket is thekey to launchingbiggerpieces of cargo, including data centers.
Investmentbank Raymond James is by far the most optimistic. Its analysts expect the stock to eventually reach $800 per share and consider SpaceX akey industrial company for the 21st century “Just as railroads,electric grids, andthe Internet reshaped prior economic eras, we believe SpaceX is
building the foundational platform for the next generation of industrial capacity,” the analysts wrote in a research report SpaceX founderElon Muskdecided to take the company public because it needs money to fund its ambitions, including putting more satellites and eventually datacenters into space. It’smoreambitiousgoals includeestablishing acolonyonMars.
For now,Starship is still in the test phase and no technology exists to put data centers in space or send people to Mars. Wall Street analysts acknowledge that adelay or failure to establish asteady schedule of launches for Starship is arisk thatcould torpedo their forecasts.
SpaceX ended its first day on Wall Street in June witha
marketvalue of more than $2 trillion andisstill sitting around that level. That madeMusk the world’sfirst trillionaire,thoughhis net worth hassince fallenback below$1trillion, according to Forbes.
Afew banksonWall Street are morecautious about the company’sprospects. Equity research firm MoffettNathanson said it sees thepotential, but has giventhe companya more “neutral”rating andsees the stockeventually sitting at $131per share.The concernsare over manyofthe unknowns related to regulatoryissues, technology anddemand.
“Itis, in short, abet on any and all things made possible by avirtual lock on rocket manufacturing and launch,” MoffettNathanson said in areport.
AI stocks drag markets lower worldwide
NEW YORK The roller-coaster ride for AI stocks snapped backdown on Tuesday and dragged Wall Street lower.
The S&P 500 fell 0.4% even though the majorityofstocks within the index rose. The drops for stocks in the artificial intelligence industry dragged the Nasdaq compositedown 1.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Averagedropped 130 points, or 0.2%, from its record. Theweaknessbegan in Asia, where SamsungElectronics tumbled 6.9% in Seoul. Thetechgiant gave apreliminary lookatits performance forthe second quarter, and the numbers were strong. Samsung Electronics said it expects to report its operating profitsurged roughly 1,800%from ayear earlier. Analysts called the numbers sur-
prisinglygood, buttheystill weren’t enough for investors after Samsung Electronics’ stock had comeintothe day having more than doubledin the year so far On Wall Street, AI stocks have been under similar pressure in recent weeks on worries that their prices shot too high and that AI may not produce enough productivity and profits to make all the investments in chipsand data centers worthit.
Drops of 6.5% for Advanced Micro Devices, 9.7% for Intel and 4.7% for Micron Technology were the heaviest weights on the market. Outside of tech, Vertex Pharmaceuticals slipped 1.4% after saying it agreedtobuy CrineticsPharmaceuticals for $85per shareincash. Crinetics, which developstherapeutics for endocrinediseases, soared 98.7% Brent crude, the international
standard, rose 3% to settle at $74.16 per barrel.
Higher oil prices put upward pressure on inflation, and Treasury yields climbed in the bond market. Theyield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.54% from 4.48% late Mondayand from just 3.97% beforethe war with Iran began.
High yieldsworldwide have been rattling investors sincethe war sent oilprices bursting above$100 per barrel in March. The worryisthat high inflationmay force the Federal Reserve and other central banks to hike interest rates. Higher rates can keep alid on inflation,but they also slow the economy and hurt prices for all kindsofinvestments.
Louis Vuitton win stirs debate over copyrights HONG KONG Adebate over ownership of traditionalChinese sym-
Amazonexpectstosend payments for approved claimsbySeptember 2026. Amazon has 30 days to review each claim.
Refunds will be sent via check, PayPal or Venmo.
Customers can receive up to $51 formembershipfees paid during the settlement timeline. The refund represents membership fees up to that amount,minus any refunds or credits alreadyissued, according to the settlement website. Customerscan contactAmazon at admin@subscriptionmembershipsettlement.comwithquestions about the settlement.
Want to findajob that’s AI-proof?
Newresearchsaysemployees maybe saferatcompanies embracingtech
BY NILESH CHRISTOPHER Los Angeles Times (TNS)
While AI is often cited as oneofthe reasonsfor mass layoffs, particularly in the tech sector,for fast-growing companiesitalso seems to be creating new jobs in many companies, according to a study published Tuesday from financial services company Rampand employment database Revelio Labs.
“Our early result is that it looks like firms are starting to look formoreentry-level hires, likely people who are more AI native,” said Ara Kharazian, the lead economist at Ramp, afinancial services companythatfound arise in early-career hiring by companiesinthe period they started spending heavily on AI
The study tracked AI spending and the workforce records of nearly 22,000 U.S. companiesbetween January 2021 andFebruary 2026.
It found that firmsthat spent moreonAIended up increasing theirworkforce headcount by an average of 10% over the twoyears after rolling outthe technology. Companies that made thelargest AI investmentexpanded entry-level job hiringby12%
“If you are ajob seeker, or you are graduating from college,and you’re choosing between two differentfirms that are otherwise similar,I would choose the one that’susing AI,” Kharazian said. “Our paper shows that thatfirm is going to grow faster.”
The early and intense AI adopters spent more than $100 per month peremployee on AI andhad theiremployees using advanced AI, such as coding subscriptions, as opposed to simple ChatGPT subscriptions.
The low-intensity,casual AI adopters didn’tsee any hiring gains andreduced headcount.
The Ramp study showed apositive effect on employment from AI because it focused on firms adopting AI, many of themfast-growing,
bols hascroppedupafter acourt ordered alocal tea chain to pay French luxury brand Louis Vuitton $1.5 millionover trademark infringement claims. Chinese state media and online commentators arequestioning if thefour-petalflower design in the fashion house’s 130-year-old signature monogram is derived from patterns dating back to ancient China. Some are accusing thecompanyof “monopolizing” traditionalChinese patterns. Acourt in the eastern city of Suzhourecently ruledthatthe logo of Molly Tea, whose signature drinks arebased on jasmine andother floral-based teas,infringed on Louis Vuitton’strademark monogram. It ordered the tea company to pay $1.5 million to the French company,according to local media reports that carriedcopiesordetails of what they said was the ruling.
venture-backed companies hiring AI-native junior employees.
It reached adifferentconclusion than aNovember 2025 Stanford University study, which examined payroll data acrossthe entire labormarket andfound that employment amongyoung software developers had declined by nearly 20% from itslate-2022 peak. Thetwo findingscan both be true, Kharazian said, because theStanford study wasbroader and didn’t focusjustonthe firms that useAI.
“While there may be overall weak hiring foryoung people, what we found is that hiring is actually strong at thefirms that useAI, andthe firms that useAIintensely,”hesaid. In anotherrecentstudy on the impactofAIonjobs, the California AI-unemployment tracker examined the state acrossindustries, education levels and region and highlighted someworrying trends. It seemed to disprove the understanding that AI has been hurting mostly younger employees andthose in entryleveljobs. It found that unemployment insuranceclaims among college-educated workers in high-AI-exposedjobs, such as customer service and software development, increased after ChatGPT’s release in 2022 and remained elevated through May2026.
Many companies havesaid AI wasone of the main reasonsfor layoffs. Meta, Oracle, Microsoftand other big tech companies have laid off tens of thousands of employees, while simultaneously investing billions in AI data centers. Ramp’sfindings that heavy AI adoption can lead to increased hiring suggests that some of the companies announcing large layoffs may be guilty of blaming regular cost cuttingonAI, apractice dubbed“AI washing.”
“When you hear CEOs talk about layoffs and they attribute it to AI,I would be skeptical,” Kharazian said.
Microsoft replaces OpenAI, Anthropic in some apps MicrosoftCorp.,lookingtoreduceAIcosts, is starting to replace OpenAI andAnthropic with its own modelsinsoftware products like Excel andOutlook Tens of thousands of AI prompts in the widely usedspreadsheet and email applications are now being completed each week withMicrosoft’sinternally built MAI models, according to apersonfamiliar with the work. Previously,Excel andOutlook reliedmoreheavily on models from OpenAI and Anthropic, said the person, who was grantedanonymity to discuss an internalmatter.
The scaleofMAI model usage in Microsoft’sworkplace products hasn’tbeen previously reported. A Microsoftspokesperson declined to comment.
Sudoku is anumberplacing puzzlebased on a9x9 grid with severalgiven numbers.The object is to place thenumbers 1to9inthe empty squaressothateach row, column and3x3 box contains thesame numberonlyonce.
Each puzzleconsists of twoormoreSudokugrids overlapping each otherinvariousconfigurations.The gridsmay be ClassicSudoku ora mix of differentSudoku variants. Theobject is to solveall gridsaccording to theirvariant rules. Note that overlapping areas comply with therules of more than one grid
TheCryptoquipisa substitution cipherin whichone letterstandsfor another. If you thinkthatX equals O, it will equalO throughout the puzzle. Singleletters,shortwords andwords usinganapostrophe give you cluestolocatingvowels. Solutionisbytrial anderror.
QZ HC CD ZN TN IB YN UQ N
RN IQ MN IZ SJ QE JE UB SP
BF DH AE PD ZN AD AJ N
YU DH IR TQ YJ AF NE BP PN R
MD DE UN NC NUZ .
Today’sCryptoquip Clue:M equals Z
KN TY QH YA HG TH TB WW
FY GP PH BL FQ YA HF TY
IC BI IC HP H’ TS HP YW HN I,
K’ LT BF CH ’T BN GAL -
PB SY P.
Today’sCryptoquipClue: T equals S
LV YL HGM UT AY UI GC XA YH
GY LG BZ XW BG AG XJ XH P
GC LB GI GU ZP BG YL
BG JX GM W. XL ’W LV G
LY AT LV GL TM H.
Today’sCryptoquipClue:L equals T
SM NG QY AL MG PT SN GB PQ QS LH PQ WY MH OS OL QN OQP I.
Today’sCryptoquipClue: Gequals T
HP GZ HP PK RK LC KW K UM YG KJ MU PK EW JK GM CK WO RC ML EA MH TY KP
ZC KD AZ EW U: TO PP -E -J HD E YJ OD KW UOM A. GW OQ WG LB GJ SA NL TK KQ WA PM IJ PQ A, GJ LN BW GG SN J
Today’sCryptoquipClue: Hequals O
QG PM MK MMZ DF DDNM V
SX PK IP OG PX VD PS NK J EK BN SK JS KXF LV PJ ,N QF LJ OV KZ NI QK VK
EK XZ -B F- XF LM O.
Today’s Cryptoquip Clue:M equals N
THOMAS JOSEPH
1Fragment
6Relaxingresorts
10 Embassy worker 11 Used up
Stockunit 13 Be asponge 14 Gofer’sassignment 15 Last number
ActorWallach
Commonverb
Wasinfront
Making merry
Stagger
Romancensor
Razing
PC key
Word of accord
Road sealer
Like ashortplay
Kismet
Pebbles’mom
Kayak’scousin
Spot in theocean
Hunter in thestars
Newdriver, usually
Pulses
1Annoy
2Asthmasufferer’s device
3Difficulttopin down 4Bottle plug
5Storm center
6Reach across 7Bikepart
8Trigtopic
9Spiritedhorse
11 Academic area
15 Work wk.’send
17 Urbanprowler
20 Slippery one 21 Lass
24 Fairyqueen
25 Barhopping 27 Horsehealer
28 Saladmakeup
29 Namely 30 Ouzo flavor
31 Southern lass
35 Prayer end
36 Flight cost
38 Corn core
In this crosswordpuzzlevariety,the cluesappearinthe diagramitself. Simply enter theanswers in the directions indicated by thearrows.
THOMAS JOSEPH
ACROSS
1Mazechoices
6Rockersetting
11 “The WasteLand” poet
12 Moscow setting
13 Circus performer
14 Tagline?
15 Paperworker
17 Quirk
19 Lobstertrap
20 Pointer
23 Devotee
25 OldItalian coin
26 Charlie Chaplin film
28 Entreated
29 Passionate
30 Brayingbeast
31 Foofaraw
32 Last letter
33 Cave
35 Mexican money
38 Goes under
41 Baja buddy
42 Preparetopropose
43 Ungrammatical type of sentence
44 Like some questions
DOWN
1Favorite
2Copying
3Video editingaids
4Worked thegarden
5American bass
6Winegrape
7Stench
8Sewer rodent
9Letter before psi
10 Very popular
16 TransporttoOz
17 Lightning setting
18 Popstars
20 Globalstrips
21 Tony winnerWorth
22 Artclass staple
24 Roulette bet
25 Top
27 Russian Revolution leader
31 Fierycrime
33 Kind of boot or dancer
34 Fork feature
35 Golf goal
36 Outback bird
37 Sermon subject
39 WriterKesey
40 mo
Oneletterstandsfor another. In this sample,Ais used forthree L’s, X forthe twoO’s,etc.Singleletters,apostrophes, andlengthand formationofwords areall hints. Thecodeletters aredifferent for each puzzle. AX YD LB AA XR is LO NG FE LL OW
FD SK LY UF OX VD VN
Y, IT VX SF DV RF BS L UNNP RX NX LD YN EP LY
UN ZE NDDF IP SA SU SL V.
PN TF DP ’L KN TZ
ZK GA BL FB UO VZ SG UM
VG LO ZS BL GL UE OE UK C VE JB IE UE JZ PK B, PW O
JB WL BA WK OI ZU Z KG AB LF BU OT EG UM UE OI GU M. —M BE JM B PB JU ZJ TL IZ H
HS IH PJ EI XH QJ QA SU IB I
PH BX QH PB IQ TI UJ AQ
WU JL WF FV FA QJ IS AS KJ H
YE WJ WS HJ EI BE WQ JH
QW V. —Z BV WS JE
XUK AF F
Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzlebased on a9x9 grid with severalgiven numbers.The object is to place thenumbers 1to 9inthe emptysquaressothateachrow,columnand 3x3 box contains thesamenumberonlyonce
Find thelistedwords in thediagram.Theyrun in alldirections -forward,backward,up, downand diagonally.Everypuzzlehas one unlistedclue.
Fill each square with anumber, 1-9. Horizontal squares shouldadd to thetotalsonthe right,vertical squaresshould addtothe totals on thebottomand diagonalsquaresshould addtothe totalinthe upperand lowerright.
Balancebeam
Ball
Clubs
Floor
High bar
Hoop
Parallelbars
Ribbon
Rope
Still rings
TeamGym
Trampoline
Tumbling
Uneven bars
Vault
Adriatic
Apache
Biwa
Brook
Brown
Bull
Cutthroat
Flathead
Gila
Lake
Marble
Ohrid
Rainbow
Sea
Sevan
Each Wuzzles is awordriddlewhich createsa disguisedword, phrase, name,place, saying, etc.
ForExample,NOON GOOD= GOOD AFTERNOON
Unscramble thesetwelveletterstrings to form each into an ordinary word (ex. HAGNECbecomesCHANGE). Preparetouse only ONE word fromany marked ( ♥ )letterstringaseach unscrambles into more than one word (ex. ♥ RATHEbecomesHATER or EARTHorHEART). Fiteach string’swordeither acrossordown to knot alltwelvestrings together
Find thelistedwords in thediagram.Theyrun in alldirections -forward,backward,up, downand diagonally.Everypuzzlehas one unlistedclue.
Acetone
CLUE LIST CLUE LIST
BigJoe
Emmanuel
Great Abel
Great Bede
Great George
Great John
Great Paul
Great Tom
Hosanna
Little John
LutineBell
Major Matthew Peter Victoria
Flying monsterof myth
7Historictime
at times
8Itinvolveswritten bids 9Cutlery
Protectionfromharm
Prom date’s gift
Sudoku is anumberplacing puzzlebased on a9x9 grid with severalgiven numbers.The object is to place thenumbers 1to9inthe empty squaressothateach row, column and3x3 box contains thesame numberonlyonce.
Each puzzleconsists of twoormoreSudokugrids overlapping each otherinvariousconfigurations.The gridsmay be ClassicSudoku ora mix of differentSudoku variants. Theobject is to solveall gridsaccording to theirvariant rules. Note that overlapping areas comply with therules of more than one grid
1Chair wheel
7Successful songs 11 Refer 12 Skip 13 Came down
PainterCassatt 15 Jordan’s capital 16 Permitted
Lowdigits 18 Live 19 Previously owned
OutlawKelly
Onlineshows
TennisstarShriver
Script unit
Annie, forone
Ailurophobe’s fear
Recoils
Tycoon
Garr of “Tootsie”
Yachtspot
Aphrodite’s love
Luckycharm
Misplaced
1Garnetunit
2Crockett’slaststand 3Snail trail 4Deliorder 5Perfect place 6Dangersignal 7Abodes 8John Lennonsong 9Diatribes 10 Didsalon work
16 Enticed
18 Amber, originally 20 MiserlyMarner
22 Medalrecipient
23 Dominions
24 Propriety
25 Mail-related
28 Bank job
30 Like tumblers
31 Readytoplay 32 Grayish
34 Jerry Herman musical 36 Impair
Find thelistedwords in thediagram.Theyrun in alldirections -forward,backward,up, downand diagonally.Every puzzlehas one unlistedclue.
Fill each square with anumber, 1-9. Horizontal squares shouldadd to thetotalsonthe right,vertical squaresshould addtothe totals on thebottomand diagonalsquaresshould addtothe totalinthe upperand lowerright.
Amalgam
Assistant Care
Cavity
Crown Decay
Enamel
Hygienist
Implant
Plate
Practice
School
Surgeon
Surgery
Tools
Beale
Buckley
Dover
Eglin
Eielson
Hill
Little Rock
Luke
Maxwell
Robins
Scott
Shaw
Tinker
Travis
Whiteman
In this crosswordpuzzlevariety,the cluesappearinthe diagramitself. Simply enter theanswers in the directions indicated by thearrows.
THOMAS JOSEPH
ACROSS
1Mouse chasers
5Girdermetal
10 Fairytalemonster
11 “Catch-22” author
13 Slimmingplan
14 Prison resident
15 Went by
17 Nervous habit
18 Responds to abusy signal
19 Call —day
20 Finish
21 Corn cores
22 Rough hut
25 “Water Lilies” painter
26 Mandolin’s cousin
27 Lawn material
28 Little rascal
29 Paperfasteners
33 Buck’s mate
34 Long-suffering
35 Pencil part
37 Simplicity
38 Modern
39 Rock’s Motley—
40 Title documents
41 Lookedover
DOWN
1Programmingpro
2Likeagymnast
3Tirefeature
4Bit of stagescenery
5Gladiator’sneed 6Watches over 7Shade tree
8Great joy
9Beatlesclassic
12 Geta newactor for
16 Went under
21 Featureofold breeches
22 Fast pitch
23 Indulged
24 Tranquil
25 Ring around acastle
27 Begins
29 Forgofrugality
30 TV’s Dennis
31 Followasa result
32 Spiritedhorse
36 Look upon
Each Wuzzles is awordriddlewhich createsa disguisedword, phrase, name,place, saying, etc.
ForExample,NOON GOOD= GOOD AFTERNOON
Unscramble thesetwelveletterstrings to form each into an ordinary word (ex. HAGNECbecomesCHANGE). Preparetouse only ONE word fromany marked ( ♥ )letterstringaseach unscrambles into more than one word (ex. ♥ RATHEbecomesHATER or EARTHorHEART). Fiteach string’swordeither acrossordown to knot alltwelvestrings together
Each Wuzzles is awordriddlewhich creates adisguisedword, phrase, name,place, saying,etc. ForExample,NOON GOOD =GOOD
1Fratparty costumes 2Busymonths for accountants
3Ogle
4Memorable period
5Hornet’skin
6Little devil
7League newbie
8Beethovensymphony
9“In the Night Kitchen” writer
2
Sudoku 1
Sudoku2
Multi-Sudoku 1
Multi-Sudoku 1
3
PremierCrossword
ISUPPOSE MENAGERIEDENIZENSWHICH CRAWL ABOUT CLOSETOTHE GROUND MIGHT BE CALLED ZOO CREEPERS.
TOPROTECTHIMSELF FROM ANY HARM, THESCOTTISH INSTRUMENTALISTCARRIED AROUND PIPERSPRAY
IF SOMEONE USES ALLYOUR READY MONEYSOTHAT THERE’SZEROLEFT, I’D SAYHE’SA FUND-RAZOR.
OLDCOLLEGEWHERE STUDENTSLEARNED THERIGHT WAYTOFUELCHEVY CARS:FILL-A-NOVAUNIVERSITY.
THAT NEWLOCAL MEXICANEATERYISRECEIVING EXTREMELYGREAT REVIEWS. IT’S THETACOTHE TOWN
WHEN NANNY POPPINS CREATED HERSPECIAL MAGICALCAROUSEL, IWOULDSAY IT WASA MARY-GO-ROUND.
Scramblers 1Scramblers2
Scramblers 3
JosephCrossword
1 AWISEMAN FIGHTSTOWIN,BUT HE IS TWICE AFOOLWHO HAS NO PLANFOR POSSIBLE DEFEAT. —LOUIS L’AMOUR
2
ALIFESPENTMAKING MISTAKESISNOT ONLYMORE HONORABLE, BUT MORE USEFULTHANA LIFE SPENT DOING NOTHING. —GEORGE BERNARDSHAW
3 ONE OF THE MOST SINCERE FORMS OF RESPECT IS ACTUALLYLISTENING TO WHATANOTHERHAS TO SAY. —BRYANTH.MCGILL
Wuzzles 1
Wuzzles 2
JosephCrossword
Sudoku 1 Multi-Sudoku 1 Multi-Sudoku 1 Sudoku2 Page 12
PremierCrossword Page 13
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