Issuu

‘BUILDING A FOUNDATION’

Landry trumpets impact on Louisiana from massive expansion of Meta AI data center

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL and ALYSE PFEIL Staff writers

Gov Jeff Landry and other Louisiana leaders on Monday cheered the announcement that Facebook parent Meta is more than doubling the size of its mammoth Hyperion data center in Richland Parish, as the scale of the investment and what it could mean for the state came into greater focus.

At a news conference hours after the tech giant released details of its planned expansion, Landry, who has aggressively courted new industrial development in the state, championed it as a moment that “Louisiana has been waiting for.”

“We’re building a foundation for the next generation of American prosperity,” he said during a presentation that included remarks from Meta executives and some Richland Parish leaders who welcomed the expansion.

Meta will now spend $50 billion on

Gov. Jeff Landry discusses the impact on the state’s economy Monday after announcing Meta’s plans to expand its Richland Parish

Hyperion, up from $10 billion just 18 months ago. Its footprint has more than doubled to roughly 5 square miles. And its computing power has doubled, making it one of the fastest,

most sophisticated and power hungry data centers planned to date. The project also will take longer to build and come online, meaning more workers will move into the area and more permanent jobs will eventually be created, even as concerns remain about power, water usage and the return on the state’s investments via tax breaks.

Hyperion will be one of the ﬁrst 5-gigawatt data centers in the U.S., and only a handful of others are in the planning stages or under construction. Oracle and OpenAI are building a more expensive data center in the desert of New Mexico with a $165 billion price tag, but it’s roughly the same size as Hyperion and, for now at least, is a planned 2.5-gigawatt facility Since the project broke ground in January 2025, it has fueled a boom in Richland Parish, a tiny rural community of 20,000 full-time residents. Richland Parish Assessor Lee

ä See META, page 5A

Perkins Rd. overpass project gets underway

Pedestrian path

BY AVERY WHITE Staff writer

Shielded from the Monday morning rain, business owners and city ofﬁcials gathered under the Perkins Road overpass to break ground on the long-awaited $2.9 million pathway designed to make the busy area more pedestrian-friendly The project, under MovEBR, is expected to be completed in six months and aims to connect the Garden District and Perkins Road with a walkable, well-lit path, replacing the dirt-and-gravel track under the overpass currently used by pedestrians The project has been in the works since 2020. Years ago, a handful of shops and restaurants along the corridor, Varsity Sports and BLDG 5 among them, raised money to have the land

TOROPIN and WILL WEISSERT

Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. launched strikes on Iran early Tuesday morning, hours after President Donald Trump said Washington is “reinstating” a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump separately suggested the United States will charge other ships for safe passage, upending hundreds of years of American policy

See STRIKES, page 7A

BR police enlist FBI, more to ﬁnd body of missing teen

Investigators from 2025 N.O. terrorist attack return to state

BY OLIVIA TEES Staff writer

In the early hours of Monday morning in a command room set up at the East Baton Rouge Parish North Landﬁll, nearly 70 personnel gathered around two photos of 15-year-old Ja’Derrius Minnieweather, reminding each other of their common goal. Then they began the grueling search through

roughly 10,000 cubic yards of Baton Rouge’s refuse to find Minnieweather’s body and any clues about his death Minnieweather has been missing since June 4 and is presumed dead, with his body dumped somewhere in the 400-acre landﬁll in Zachary More than two weeks later police arrested Maurice Parms, 51, on a count of ﬁrst-degree murder after he allegedly beat the boy to death and went to great lengths to hide the evidence from the police. While the Baton Rouge Police Department is the lead agency on the case, is has enlisted the help of 12 other law enforcement agen-

cies, including the specialty teams from the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the Louisiana National Guard. Special Agent Jonathan Tapp, of the FBI New Orleans ofﬁce, said that through the FBI Laboratory’s Technical Hazards Response Unit and Evidence Response Team Unit they have identiﬁed a search area of 0.64 acres out of 400. The last time these units were deployed to Louisiana was after the Jan. 1, 2025, terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans that killed 14 people.

Searchers spread out at the East Baton Rouge Parish North Landfill to look for the body of Ja’Derrius Minnieweather

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN BALLANCE

JOHNSON

data center

STAFF PHOTOS By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Dina Powell McCormick, president and vice chair at Meta, talks about Meta’s commitment to Richland Parish and Louisiana on Monday

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Yemen’s

Houthis

strike Saudi airport

CAIRO The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport on Monday in response to airstrikes they blamed on Saudi Arabia that struck Sanaa International Airport earlier in the day No casualties were reported but the attacks marked an escalation not seen since a Saudi-led coalition struck Houthicontrolled areas several years ago. Saudi Arabian ofﬁcials did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the airstrikes in Yemen.

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, in a video statement on Telegram, warned airlines against flying through Saudi airspace, saying these warnings should be taken “seriously until the blockade on Sanaa International Airport is lifted.”

The internationally recognized government in Yemen said earlier that the strikes that hit Sanaa International Airport were meant to prevent an Iranian plane from landing.

The Houthis vowed to retaliate for the strike, which marked the ﬁrst major escalation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia following a period of relative calm.

The U.N. Security Council, in an emergency meeting on the developments Monday afternoon, officials expressed concern about the risk of a wider escalation.

“Yemen and the wider region cannot afford another cycle of escalation,” U.N Assistant Secretary-General for political affairs Khaled Khiari told the 15-member council. “We call on all actors to constructively engage in negotiations under UN auspices.”

Police: Family targeted in Illinois mass shooting

EAST ST LOUIS Ill. Five people were killed in a “targeted mass shooting” against a family in southwestern Illinois, police said.

Two more people were wounded, and two teenagers, ages 15 and 16, were in custody, police said.

The shootings occurred primarily Sunday at three locations in East St. Louis, including a park. East St. Louis, population 17,500, is across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. It had 15 homicides in 2025, down from 34 in 2020, records show “It’s terrible. It’s evil. But it will not keep this city down,” Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly told reporters Sunday referring to the shootings. “The progress we have made will not be lost.”

Troopers stopped a vehicle and arrested two teens, including one who is suspected of having a direct role in the shootings, Kelly said.

A motive remained under investigation, he said. The victims who died were 74 years old, 49, 25, 24 and 21.

Coalition aims to guard Europe against missiles

PARIS Ukraine and nine other countries announced Monday they were forming a coalition to protect Europe from ballistic missiles, utilizing Kyiv’s experience in ﬁghting Russia’s full-scale invasion for over four years

“Our goal is to build a shared ballistic missile defense capability for Europe,” the 10 nations said in a statement in Paris at talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

He was asking two dozen leaders for help in developing measures against Russia’s missile attacks that have pummeled his country and made the rest of Europe wary of Moscow’s wider ambitions on the continent. Zelenskyy and the leaders of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy the Netherlands, Norway Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom said they recognized “the growing threat posed by ballistic missiles,” which are harder to stop than cruise missiles or drones.

The statement gave no time frame for setting up the defense system and said the plan remained open to other countries.

Sister to fill Graham’s Senate seat

Special

election for nominee set next month in

South Carolina

BY MEG KINNARD and JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, has been named as her late brother’s temporary replacement in the U.S. Senate after his unexpected death over the weekend.

South Carolina Gov Henry McMaster announced at a news conference at the Statehouse on Monday that Nordone would serve the remaining months on Graham’s current term, which expires in January She’s expected to be sworn in this week, making her the ﬁrst woman to represent the state in the Senate

“It is such an honor,” Nordone said, as dozens of Graham staffers and campaign advisers stood behind her, some with eyes glassy from welling tears “Lindsey has always been there for me. And now, I will be there for him.”

Graham died on Saturday night at age 71. He never married or had a family of his own, but Nordone was

often by her brother’s side for the political touch points of his career, speaking at events and appearing in some of his campaign ads.

After their parents died at a young age, Graham was left to raise his sister, for whom he later became legal guardian. They were very close, and she was there as he ﬁled reelection paperwork earlier this year, along with her children and grandchildren.

“To Lindsey, I miss you more than I can even put into words,” Nordone said, emotion rising in her voice.

“But I’m going to do this. I got it.”

Lawmaker: Man killed by ICE not target of warrant

BY PATRICK WHITTLE, LEAH WILLINGHAM and JACK BROOK Associated Press

BIDDEFORD, Maine The motorist killed by ICE ofﬁcers in a Maine shooting Monday was not the target of the warrant the ofﬁcers were executing, Sen. Angus King said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him.

It’s the second time in a week that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have used deadly force and at least the ninth since President Donald Trump began his immigration crackdown

Immigrant rights groups identified the man who was killed as a 26-year-old native of Colombia

King, an independent senator from Maine, said Mullin told him the officer opened fire after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon against officers in Biddeford, a coastal city roughly 15 miles southwest of Portland.

“He was in a vehicle — pulled out in the vehicle, and the term the secretary used was ‘weaponized’ the vehicle and was shot by an ICE agent,” King said.

King had initially said Mullin told him the man was the target of a deportation effort. Mullin later called King with new information he had received, a spokesperson for the senator said.

The Maine attorney general’s ofﬁce which is investigating along with

the FBI and other agencies, said initial statements suggest the motorist was trying to flee in the direction of the agent The ofﬁce said the agent who killed him has been placed on leave.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Ofﬁce of Inspector General did not immediately respond to a request for comment Messages seeking comment were left for ICE and the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Daniel Boucher said he looked out his third-ﬂoor window after hearing a “pop, pop, pop” sound and saw a small car “turned 90 degrees to the curb” with an SUV behind it. The driver was wounded and the car started moving down the street until the SUV hit it again, Boucher said.

“His face was bloody His head was bloody,” Boucher said, getting choked up. “I clearly heard the victim say, ‘I tried to stop’ — clearly heard him say that.”

Boucher said he saw an ICE officer bring a medical bag to where the man was lying before an ambulance and ﬁre truck arrived. At one point, Boucher said, the agent who shot the man walked close to him.

“I was emotional and I just let him have it, and he looked at me and said, ‘He tried to run me over,’ or something to that effect,” Boucher said. “I don’t remember his exact words.”

Introducing Nordone, McMaster said the two had spoken in “in the wee hours of Sunday morning” after Graham’s death, and he asked her to serve.

“I had wondered what you would say, and I was humbled by your quickness to see the duty that you had to serve,” McMaster said. He added that President Donald Trump “thought it was a great idea” when he later told him of his pick. Trump announced his support for Nardone to ﬁll the seat earlier Monday Nordone has worked as an optician and at various state agencies, including the

Judge says

South Carolina Commission for the Blind and the Department of Employment and Workforce. She lives in Lexington, is a graduate of the College of Charleston and has a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling.

A special election will be held next month to pick a new Republican nominee in the general election for Graham’s seat. He had been seeking a fifth term this year

The rare open Senate seat has ignited a scramble among South Carolina’s most ambitious conservatives, who have been eager to climb the political ladder

Republicans just finished a sprawling and bruising contest to figure out their nominee for succeeding McMaster, who is wrapping up his second term State Attorney General Alan Wilson won the nomination, overcoming a field that included Lt. Gov Pamela Evette, Rep. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman — all of whom are now eyeing Graham’s seat following his death over the weekend.

According to South Carolina law, a one-week filing period for a special primary election begins on the second Tuesday after the candidate’s death, or July 21. The special primary election would be held on the second Tuesday after that filing period closes, or Aug. 11. Any necessary runoff would follow two weeks after that, or Aug. 25. From that point, the new nominee would have just over two months to campaign for the general election on Nov 3. All of this is problematic according to federal law, which requires military and overseas ballots to go out 45 days before any federal election. For the special election primary, that would have been June 27. Federal Election Commission officials didn’t immediately return a message seeking clarity about the process.

Trump IRS lawsuit was filed for ‘improper purpose’

Lawyer referred for possible discipline

BY ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax returns was ﬁled for an “improper purpose,” a judge said Monday in a scathing decision that referred one of his lawyers for potential disciplinary action and characterized the $10 billion complaint as an exercise in self-dealing.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams accused Trump and his lawyers of having manipulated the court system when he sued a federal agency under his control, bypassing a requirement that parties in a lawsuit must have adverse interests and laying the groundwork for a settlement that granted him immunity from tax audits and created a fund to compensate allies of the president who say they were unjustly persecuted.

The judge stopped short of explicitly voiding the deal shielding Trump from tax scrutiny but said the government cannot claim that the agreement was the result of a legitimate legal process.

“Whether Executive Branch actors can privately agree to give themselves and their former clients blanket immunities and billions of dollars in tax monies for legally undeﬁned grievances was never an issue advanced to this Court,” said Williams, an appointee of President Barack Obama

“The question is whether the Parties could do so by claiming to be adverse and engaging the legitimacy of a court proceeding. The answer is a resounding ‘no.’” Though the practical impacts of the ruling may be limited since the lawsuit was withdrawn months ago and the administration had already abandoned the $1.776 billion “AntiWeaponization Fund” that came out of it the order nonetheless amounts to a

scathing rebuke and tees up a politically uncomfortable line of questioning for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as faces the Senate Judiciary Committee for his conﬁrmation hearing on Wednesday

“The nature of the suit itself and the conduct of the Parties and counsel from its filing make plain that this was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not deﬁned in the law,” Williams wrote in her ruling.

She added: “The President may be the functional “dominus litus” of the Executive Branch, but as a party to a civil suit, he, as well as all the parties and lawyers before a court, are bound by the rules. Ensuring that our courts are used only for the express purpose created by the Constitution is the obligation of every judge and an obligation that this Court must discharge in light of the matter before it.”

The suit against the IRS and Treasury Department in January accused the federal agencies of a failure to prevent a leak of the president’s tax information to news outlets between 2018 and 2020.

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MAINE

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By SEAN RAyFORD

Newly appointed interim U.S. Sen. Darline Graham Nordone, center, with South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, right, speaks Monday after being appointed of to fill the vacancy created by the death of her brother, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham at the statehouse in Columbia, S.C.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ROBERT F BUKATy

Protesters gather Monday at a park near the scene of a shooting involving U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Biddeford, Maine.

‘JurassicPark,’‘ThePiano’actor SamNeill dies at 78

BY MARK KENNEDYand

CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-MCLAY Associated Press

WELLINGTON, New Zealand

Sam Neill, the smoothly elegant and versatile actor whose prolific career moved from art films to blockbusters as he dodged velociraptors in “Jurassic Park” and played HollyHunter’scruel husband in “The Piano,” has died. He was 78. In 2023, Neill disclosed he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblasticT-cell lymphoma, arare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He died on Monday in Sydney, according to astatement posted to the actor’ssocial media page. His death was “sudden and unexpected,” the statement said, adding that he “remained cancer free” when he died. Acause of death wasn’tspecified. “Sam was surrounded by family and passedwith thedignity that has characterizedhis whole life,” his family wrote. Tributes were paid by fellow actors and directors, including StevenSpielberg, who helmed the first“Jurassic Park” movie.

playedHolly

“I adored making allthe ‘Jurassic’movies with him. Alongwith Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will alwayshave our Jurassic familyand Samwillnever be forgottenbyusorhis many millionsoffans around the world,” Spielberg saidina statement.

ActorSharonLawrence wrote on Instagram: “Condolences andappreciation for the immense joy and mastery Sam Neill brought our

industry.”

Neill was one of ahostof actors and directors who achievedinternational fame after an explosion of Australian ﬁlms that began in the late1970s,along withPaul Hogan, Mel Gibson, Geoffrey Rush, RussellCrowe JaneCampion, Peter Weir and Gillian Armstrong. His range was remarkable, playing oppositeHelena Bonham Carter in the Alan Ayckbourn comedy “Sweet Revenge”to

Nation’sfirst offshore LNG plantsurviveslegal challenge

Court: Environmental groups lacked standing

BY DAVID J. MITCHELL

Staff writer

Afederal appellate court has thrown out alegal challenge calling for anew environmentaland public review for what would be the nation’sﬁrst offshore liqueﬁed natural gas exportterminal, to be located off southwest Louisiana.

The ruling from the threejudge panel came about a month after the backers of the Delfin LNG terminal announced they wereproceeding with an initial $5 billion investment to build the ﬁrst anchorage and ﬂoating LNG processing vessel, with plans to beginexport by 2030

The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals didn’tdeal with the meat of the challenge, however,instead finding that the three plaintiffs lacked the standing to bring the petition to court.

The court found none of the plaintiff environmental groups —the Center of Biological Diversity,the Sierra Club and the Habitat RecoveryProject —showedthey had memberswith aconcrete injury from the proposed terminal40miles off the coast of Cameron Parish.

“Petitioners have identified no member who has made that showing —no one who fishes near the port, boats beside it, works around it,orotherwise uses project-affected waters or nearby areas in away the project would impair,” the 13-page opinion from Circuit Judge Don R. Willett stated.

“Their concern for the Gulf may be heartfelt. But concern,withoutinjury, is not standing.” Willett was joined by Circuit Judges Jerry E. Smith and Irma CarrilloRamirez.

Proposed for adecade, the Delfin LNG terminal has sparked concern that the port’sconstruction and subsequent vessel traffic would harm aquatic species, including the endangered Rice’swhale and rare sea turtles, and ﬁsheriesrelied upon by the seafood industry in Cameron Parish.

February explosion

In May 2025, the plaintiffsalleged the terminal’s permitting agencies, the U.S. Department of TransportationMaritime Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard, reversed themselves on an earlier planned delay for more review after the project was revised.The alleged reversal followed

President Donald Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” order on his ﬁrst day in ofﬁce.

To establish standing, the plaintiffs cited members who included arecreational and commercial ﬁsherman who pliesLakeCalcasieu and theGulfasmuch as 30 milesoffshore whohas seen aquatic species decline,scientists who study imperiled Gulf speciesand alandowner livinga fewmiles from theterminal’sonshore pipeline station who enjoys hunting, ﬁshing and birding in the area.

Thevastness of the Gulf’s 600,000 square miles of open water factored heavily in the circuitjudges’ analysis to deny standing, ﬁnding those plaintiffs didn’tshow aspecific enough connectiontothe proposed terminal’slocation nor from its possible environmental impact

Thecourt also rejected broader concerns about continued oil and development on declining Gulf species andclimate change as too generalized.

In February, asectionof the aged natural gas pipeline that Delfin plans to repurposefor the project exploded onshore near Johnson Bayouduring preparatory work,injuring oneperson.

The explosion blew open acrater,released 56 million cubic feet of gas and burned for hours. Delﬁn waslater ordered byseparatefederal pipeline regulators to make corrections.

Theappellate rulingdidn’t note theexplosion in its analysisofpotential harm but did say that theMaritime Administration had concluded last year that the modified terminal would have lessimpactthan the earlier design

The new design would have one fewer LNG vessel and mooring— fromfourto three —withfewer pilings driven in the seabed,would use acoolingsystem that no longerrelied on water out of theGulfand wouldbelocated outsidethe core range of theRice’swhale. About50ofthe northern Gulf whale subspeciesare thought to remain alive.

Delﬁn Midstream and one of its attorneysdidn’t immediately respondtoarequest for commentonruling.

‘It’scommonsense’

Attorneys with the Center for Biological Diversity said the public deservedto know more about oil and gas projects before they are approved.

“Wewere disappointed in the5th Circuit’sdecision because it’scommon sense that harm from oil and gas activities extends far beyond any artificial

chopping off Hunter’s ﬁnger in “The Piano” to poking his own eyes out in the sci-ﬁ horror“Event Horizon.”

He portrayed bothsaintly and sinner: In “Omen III: The Final Conflict,” he played Damien the Antichrist, and he also played Cardinal Thomas Wolseyin“TheTudors.”

Theactor ﬁrst came to the attention of international audiences in Armstrong’s1979 film “MyBrilliant Career,” which alsointroduced Judy Davis. He laterappearedin Phillip Noyce’s“Dead Calm,” aclassy thriller setatsea and co-starring the then-relatively unknown Nicole Kidman. Neill twice co-starred with Meryl Streep,inAustralian director Fred Schepisi’s “Plenty” and—again for Schepisi —in“ACry in the Dark,” aﬁlm aboutthe sensationalized aftermath of a dingo killing ababy in the Australian Outback.

He earned an Emmynomination for his performance in thetitle roleofthe 1998 miniseries “Merlin” and another as narrator of 2017’s “Wild New Zealand.” Neill alsoearned threeGolden Globenods— for“Merlin,”

“One Against the Wind” and “Reilly: Ace of Spies.”

Richard E. Grant, alongtime friend whoco-starred with Neill in 2019’s“Palm Beach,” describedhim in apostonInstagram as “an officer and agentleman in the truest sense.” Grant said Neill had“guided and helped me through avery difﬁcult time in my life.”

Perhaps Neill achieved his highest leveloffame in “JurassicPark,” playing paleontologist Alan Grant, who is summoned to an island off Costa Rica where atheme park has been built to house herds of cloned dinosaurs.

His character was thoughtful and reasonable, ascientist who warned the mastermind of thetheme park before thechaos: “Dinosaurs and man, two species separated by 65 million years of evolution have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together.How can we possibly have the slightest ideawhat to expect?” Grant survived the harrowing events when the creatures get loose, but didn’t return for“TheLostWorld: Jurassic Park II” in 1997. He came back forthe third

episode in 2001 and“Jurassic World: Dominion” in 2022.

“It’sprobably alittlelate to learn these things,” he told the New York Daily News in 2001, “but Iﬁnally feel I’ve worked out how to be an action hero. I’m happierwith Grant this time He’sgnarly and grizzled, but he looks like he knows what he’sdoing.”

Born in 1947 in Northern Ireland, Neill emigrated to NewZealand at the age of 7. He was born Nigel Neill, but told interviewers he started to go by Sam because there were toomanyNigels at his school.

His family settled in Dunedin on the South Island and he was sent to boarding school in Christchurch. After college, he took the lead in “Sleeping Dogs” in 1977, the first feature made in NewZealand in morethan a decade.

Neill’sother ﬁlm roles included playing aSoviet submarine ofﬁcer who memorablydreamsofa home in Montanain“The Hunt for Red October” and an investigator in director John Carpenter’s“In theMouth of Madness.”

Prosecutorsobtainevidencein Minn.protest shooting deaths

By The Associated Press

border youdraw around a project,” saidKristenMonsell,the group’soceanslegal director.“The pollution doesn’tmind these borders, thewhales and sea turtles migratewidely, andpeople whouse the Gulf waters will experience harmfrom this LNG project.”

The project will include vessels anchored to the Gulf seabed that would receivenatural gasthrough pipelines and thensupercool and liquefy it for transfer to docking ships. Those ships would carry LNGto markets in Asiaand Europe.

The owner,Delfin Midstream, hopes to export 13.2 million metric tons of LNG peryear at full build-out. Theﬁrst phase announced in earlyJune would produce 4.4 million metric tons of LNG annually

TheMaritime Administrationgranted the terminalits ﬁrst permit in 2017 during Trump’sfirst term after areview that included an environmentaldocument with more than 1,800 pages, but afterward, the project encountered slowdowns andthenchangedinvestors, ownership and project design.

By 2024, the Maritime Administration underthenPresidentJoe Bidenfound thedecision in 2017 no longersupported themodiﬁed project anddirected Delﬁn Midstream to submit an amended application that would have triggered a newenvironmentalimpact statement. Thecompany neversubmittedthe application.

Trump’sexecutive order followed thenext year,telling the MaritimeAdministration to decide within 30 days whetherthe modiﬁcations were “likely to result in adverse environmental consequences thatsubstantially differ from those associated withthe originally evaluated project,” according to theappellateopinion. The order also directed the MaritimeAdministration to issue thepermit unlessthe changes presented “seriouslydifferentconsequences.” Anew approval followed in March 2025.

David J. Mitchell can be reached at dmitchell@ theadvocate.com.

TheTrump administration has turned over evidencelongsoughtby Minnesota investigators in their ongoing probe into the fatal shootings of ReneeGoodand Alex Pretti during pitched protests againstanimmigration enforcementcrackdown earlier thisyear,state prosecutorsannounced Monday.

Theprogress cameasa U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent

shot and killed amotorist in MaineonMonday,and Houston prosecutorscomplained the administration wasstill withholdingcritical information in their investigation into afatal shooting by an ICE ofﬁcer last week Hennepin County AttorneyMaryMoriartysaid theevidence turned over by federal investigators includedpreviously withheld hard drives containing statements,policebody camera video andother materials in the Minnesota

killings. They also turned over Good’sbadly damaged SUV,she said.

“The wonderful thing nowiswehaveall the evidence,” Moriartysaid. “Any time the government is responsibleinwhatever way of taking thelife of a community member we need to have afull and thorough investigation.” Good,a37-year-oldmother of three, wasshot and killed in hervehicle while leaving an anti-immigrationenforcementprotest in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By RICHARD SHOTWELL Actor Sam Neill, whododged velociraptors in ‘Jurassic Park’ and

Hunter’scruel husband in ‘The Piano,’has died at age 78

Brownhas seen it in property tax collections, which he estimates will be up by 30% overall by years end compared with 2025, rising to $28 million or so from $22 million.

“You always want more taxpayers, not people paying more taxes,” he said in an interview Monday. “This gives us more taxpayers.”

Meanwhile, Richland Parish schools Superintendent Sheldon Jones saidthat since the data center groundbreaking, Richland Parishhas worked closely with Meta

Many teachers in Richland Parish got $50,000 bonuses this year owing to ashortterm increase in tax revenues fueled by the project.

“Meta’spresence has made atangible difference in our classrooms,” he said. “This partnership is directly strengthening the educational experience for Richland Parish.”

Powerconcerns

Still, amid the staggering spending numbers and hopes from many local leaders and residents, there are also concerns. Some residents, advocacy groups and academics have raised questions about the impact of the projects on the environment andutility rates, the quality of life in the rural communities where they are located and whether big data centers can deliver longterm, sustainable economic growth.

“The academic research, peer-reviewed research has not been as optimistic about the beneﬁt of data centers and job creation as elected officials are,” said Gary Wagner,aneconomist at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette.

Speaking with reporters on Monday,Landry acknowledged that massive data center projects fueling the global artificial intelligence race bring challenges related to water usage and electricity rates. But he said

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“Inthat area we need to sift through 8,200 to 11,000 cubic yards of material. Our rotating teams will comb through roughly alittle over 40 yards of material at a time. That’senough material to cover afootballﬁeld,” Tapp said.

Tapp said that once apiece of evidence is found, it will be evaluated by the LSU Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services Lab, where anthropologists will determine if it tests positive for human remains.

The searchteams will comb through all the debris while wearing protective hazmat suits to prevent any contact with used needles, glass and hazardous gasses that live in the landﬁll.

“Painstakingly,little by little,bylittle, by little, by little, so that every piece of evidence, every piece of debris out there is thoroughly examined, so that nothingis gettingforgotten,” Tapp said Baton Rouge Police Chief T.J. Morse said that the search teams will start around 6a.m. each day,but the end time is dependenton heat, amount of rain and the number of people working the search that particular day.Theywon’t stop until they have found Minnieweather’sbody

“Wereallyask for everybody in the community’s prayers for our search teams, everybody out there and of course the familyas we work tirelessly. We’re in there for the long haul,” Morse said.

East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore said without the collaboration between the police, the Mayor’sOfﬁce, the Sheriff’s Ofﬁce and all the FBI members, thesearch wouldn’tbepossible.

“It’sthe ﬁrst time I’ve ever seen this in 50 years, this amountofcollaboration and the number of people (to) bring home one person. It’s

theMeta project will enable Louisiana to strengthenits aginggrid

“It’seasy to sell fear,” Landry said. “We’re giving hope.We’re giving opportunity.”

According to documents ﬁled earlier this yearwith theLouisiana PublicService Commission, Entergy will build seven new natural gas plantstopower the Meta datacenter in addition to three alreadyunder construction

Meta officials said the companyispaying the full cost to build theplantand to payfor what itconsumes.

“What was announced todayfrom aMeta perspective was already run through the PSCand ﬁled forbyEntergy months ago,” Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois said

special,” Moore said At the news conference, Minnieweather’sfamily lined the front row and voiced their support and gratefulness to all the law enforcement working together to bring their boy home Minniweather’s grandmother,Jawanna Brooks, said she couldn’tbemore grateful to everyone involved.

“Weneed closure you know? We’re not asking for much but we don’tsleep at night.We don’tget no rest. Iknow Idon’t.I know hismom don’t. So I’ll just be glad when it’sall over,” Brooks said Thecasesofar

Anearly two-week search for Minnieweather started June4,when he was reported missing from ahome on Bradley Street.

On June 20, Parms was arrested. Based on their investigation, detectives believeMinnieweather was involved in an altercation with Parms and was killed in the struggle, according to awarrantfor Parms’ arrest. It is believed Parms stashed theteen’sbody,threw away evidence and attempted to cover upthe crimescene.

While investigating the teen’sdisappearance, police discovered a16-year-old girl whohad been in an illicit relationship with Parms.He wasarrested on June 10 for counts of indecent behavior with juvenilesand computer-aided solicitation of a minor,but was released on bond ashort time later

During an interview when Parms was arrested the second time, he admitted to policethat he hadmet Minnieweather on June 4ata residence on Bradley Street.

Detectives were able to narrowdownthe location where they believe Minnieweather waspossiblyattacked

Detectives obtained video of atallBlack man dragging agarbagecan to aspot in the3200 block of Conrad Street. They also found video from aminute later of a

during thenews conference

Monday

EntergyLouisiana President and CEO Phillip May said the company is taking an “all-of-the above” approach to meet thedemands of the project. That includesthe 10 power plants, six of which will be on-sitenear Meta’sfacility, he said. Entergy is also putting in 760 megawattsof batteries, increasing output at its existing nuclear plants andbuilding 4,000 megawatts of solar power, he said.

Thoseplans for power generation will “cover the entiretyofthe scale” of the $50 billionproject, create additional power beyond Meta’sneeds and improve the reliability of the grid, May said. Meta also hassaiditwill

man matching Parms’body type riding asmall child’s bike away from Conrad towardCharles Street. Atall male wasalso seen getting off thebike andthrowing it intosome bushes. He is then seen taking offa black mask, gloves and aT-shirt, which he threw into several garbage cans.

Parmsis6feettall, much taller than Minnieweather, who was only 4feet 7inches. Afterwitnesses described observing atall man beating asmallerperson while a child’s bike wasinthe middle of the roadway,detectives were able to locate blood that hadsoaked into theground. Detectives obtained asearch warrant for Parms’ truck, which tested positive for the presence of blood.

Morse said Parms has made no statement or offered any help to authorities locate Minnieweather’s body

He remains in the EastBaton Rouge ParishPrisonand is held without bail. Hisnext court date will be on Oct. 15 for abail review hearing.

Parms faces thepossibility of thedeathpenalty if he is convictedofﬁrst-degree murder

try to hire as manylocals for permanent jobs as possible.Tothat end, it donated $5 million to the local community college systemto help studentswithscholarshipsfor job trainingprograms

While elected officials have largely welcomed the project, residents have often voiced optimismcoupled with worries aboutwhat might be ahead. Shelbie Stephenson, whoruns afood trucknexttothe construction site, saidher business has tripled this year and she welcomes whatever Meta brings.

“But Iknow alot of people who arereally concerned aboutwhatitisdoing to the quality of life here,”she said. “I’mlike, ‘It’schange andit’shere. Youhaveto embrace it.’”

On theradar

For now,there are still questions about whether that short-term prosperity will be sustained through permanent jobs and spinoff industries, according to some economists andconsultants.

Wagner said studies have shown littlelong-term growth in states that have subsidized data centers, though the boom is happening so quicklythere still isn’t along recordthat economists and academicscan look to.

“Evidence is weak at best that economic development incentivesfor data centers help income and job creation,” he said. “It’shard to say,though, because data centers are so new,” Wagner added. “We

just don’thavea lotofdata that looks 10 years out.”

Still, it appears that Meta’s investment has landed Louisiana on the radar of tech companies and real estate developers racingtobuild AI data centers, aconstruction boom expected to exceed $700 billion alone this year across the U.S. Earlier this year,Amazon Webservices announced plans forasignificant, though muchsmallerAI data center,inBossierParish.That’sproof,Bourgeois said at thetime, thatMeta was helping attract other megainvestments to the state.

Michael Gucke, an economist with ConstructConnect, aconsultant to data center builders, said Louisiana’s regulatory environment abundance of land and welldeveloped natural gas infrastructure are factors that makeLouisiana attractive to companies like Meta and Amazon.

Those advantagescome as states on the East Coast like Virginia, which have haddata centers for two decades, are running out of land andencountering greater pushback because of worries about water shortages, utility rate increases andother environmental concerns.

“Louisiana wasn’tinthe game in the past,” Guckesaid. “But this is a forward-looking business and Louisiana is in the gamenow because these companies arelookingto the future.”

Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@ theadvocate.com.

STAFFPHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Gov. Jeff Landryand Meta Presidentand Vice Chair DinaPowell McCormick, center,pose with other dignitaries after

announcement of Meta’splans to expand its data center in Richland Parish.

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Oil prices jump while AI stocks sink

NEW YORK Oil prices jumped Monday following aweekend of attacks in the Middle East,while more losses for computer chip companies and other winnersof the artiﬁcial-intelligenceboom dragged stock markets lower.

The price for abarrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard,climbed 9.6%to$83.30 after the United States and Iran each said the Strait of Hormuz is under its control. Fighting in the region haskept oil tankers from using the strait to deliver crudetocustomersfrom the Persian Gulf, which drivesup fuelpricesworldwide.

Brent’sprice, though, remains well belowits wartime peak of nearly $120 per barrel for its most actively traded contract.

On Wall Street,the S&P500 fell 0.8%, coming off its fourth winning week in thelast five. The Dow Jones Industrial Averagedropped 138points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.6%.

Chip stocks like Micron Technology helped lead the way lower.Micron fell 4.4%, eating into what had been astellar rise of 243.1% for the year so far.

Real profits are behind the rise because the AI rush has created surging demand for computer memory and other computing building blocks. But worries are rising thatstock prices have shot too highand that the demand may not be sustainable if AI doesn’t deliver as much proﬁt and productivity as expected.

Nvidia fell 3.5%. Because it’s the largeststock on Wall Street by value thanks to the euphoria around AI, it was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500. The day’slosses began in Asia, where South Korea’sKospi index dropped 8.9%. That included a15.4%plungefor SK Hynix’sstock in Seoul, the worst since it began trading in 1997 EU chief weighs age limits on social media

BRUSSELS Atop European Union ofﬁcial on Monday called for limits to be placed on children using social media, as a special EU panel looking into the challenge recommended forbidding access for those under 13 until tech companies can prove their platforms are safe Growing awareness of the dangers social media posesfor young, developing brains has shown up in awave of newrestrictionsglobally. Australia, the U.K., Turkey,Indonesia and others have passed bansonkids under 16 or 15 from using platforms likeTikTok, YouTube and Instagram.

Laying out alist of her concerns aboutthe useof social media by kids, European CommissionPresidentUrsula von der Leyen—adoctor by training —said that children under 3should have no exposureto screens at all.

“I believe we need to consider phased and gradual accessfor different age rangesbecause childhood won’twait and once it’sgone, we can never give it back,” von der Leyen told reporters. Volkswagen CEO says it’sworking to cutcosts

BERLIN Volkswagen’s CEO indicated in comments Sunday that he’s trying to avoidclosing plants as he seeks to turn around the automaker’sperformance. The Wolfsburg, Germanybased company faces pressure to cut costs at home and increasinglyintense competition in the lucrativeChinese market,in particular

Last week, Volkswagen said its “fundamental realignment” overthe past three years had reachedits next phase, announcing plans to streamline the model lineup by up to half. It didn’tprovide speciﬁcs, and questions remain over how else it will cut costs. There has been renewed speculation about the future of several plants.

“There are more intelligent solutions than closing plants,”

CEOOliver Blume told the Bild

am Sonntag newspaper

Paramount’stakeoverofWarner Bros.challenged

12 states saymerger would‘extinguish competition’

BY WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS AP business writer

NEWYORK Twelve states challenged Paramount’stakeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday,filing alawsuit that argues the $81 billion mega merger would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood and threaten jobs across the industry.

The ofﬁceofCalifornia’sattorney general, who is leading the case,saidthe statesare asking Warner and Paramount to not

close their merger “until after the judicial process concludes” —and if thecompanies do not agree, the coalition will then ﬁle atemporary restraining order

“The unlawful merger of these two entertainment behemoths would lead to higher prices, lower quality, and less content for ﬁlm and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately,audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the U.S.,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in astatement.

The additional states joining the suit include Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey,New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington.

Skydance-owned Paramount said Monday’s lawsuit “distorts settled antitrustlaw” and maintained itsmerger wouldcreate a“stronger competitor against dominant streaming and technology platformswho have harmed the market fortheatrical exhibition and jobsinthe entertainment industry.”

The company vowed to “vigorously defend” the transaction.

Warner deferred to Paramount for comment.

AParamount-Warnercombo would mean putting HBO Max, cult-favorite titles like “Harry Potter” andevenCNN underthe same roof with CBS, “Top Gun” and the Paramount+ streaming service.

The states’ lawsuit could throw a

wrench in those plans, at least for now

The antitrust case arrives at a pivotal time forthe ParamountWarner transaction —which, after months of what becamea very public bidding warwith Netﬂix, receivedshareholders’ stamp of approval in April and then ablessing from theTrump administration just last month.

The U.S. JusticeDepartment isn’tchallenging the deal —and instead released an unusually lengthy statement in support, maintaining aParamount-Warner combo would “increase competitionacrossthe media andentertainment ecosystem, withbeneﬁts forAmerican consumers and workers.”

MassiveAIbuild-out poses latest U.S. inflationthreat

Consumerspayingmore forlaptops andelectricity

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP economics writer

WASHINGTON— American consumers— and the FederalReserve —are being hit with another high-costheadache.

The gusher of investment in datacenters —likely topping $700 billion this year —to power artiﬁcial intelligence has madememorychips, computer processors and other equipment, as well as electricity,more expensive.Economists expect it will continue to push up inﬂation at least through the end of this year

Whileitwon’tbeaslarge aspike as occurred in 2021-2023, when inﬂation peaked at 9.1%,massive AI spending is likely to keep prices rising morequickly than the Federal Reserve would like.Suchincreases could lead the central bank to lift itskey interestrate later this year to cool spending and bring down inﬂation.

Higher rates from the Fed often boost borrowing costs for auto loans, mortgages, and business loans.

Fedofficialswillclosely watchJune’sinflation report,tobereleased Tuesday,for further signsofAI’simpact on prices. Inflation last month likely cooled as gasolineprices have fallen after aceasefirewas reached betweenthe U.S. and Iran,thoughwhether that trend continues is now unclear as theU.S andIran haveresumed fighting.

Just four large tech companies —Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, andMicrosoft— are expected to invest $720 billion this year,mostlyondata centers, including one in RichlandParish in Louisiana.

Thosedatacenters use alot of semiconductors, and chip supplies have run low. As aresult,economists at JPMorgan Chase estimate that the cost of some computer memorychips will have soared by as much as 400% between 2024 and the end of this year

Americans are alreadyseeing higher prices fora range of consumer electronics, including laptops, smartphones, video game consoles, and computers. Electricity prices are also jumping as datacenters absorb a growing share of new electrical capacity

In ahigh-proﬁle announcementlast month Apple announced it was boostingprices for

Regulators

BY FATIMA HUSSEIN and KEN SWEET Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Trump administration is takingadditional steps to prevent people living in theU.S. illegally from using the nation’s banking system, cracking down on financialinstitutionsthat are lendingmoney to them. On Monday,agroup of financial regulatorswere expected to issue guidance intended to remind banks and other financial institutions of their know-your-customer requirements with respecttocredit risk management, particularly as it relates toborrowers whoare not authorized to work in the U.S. Thenewest warning is one of several measures the Trumpadministration has taken to discourage people in theU.S. illegally from interactingwiththe larger U.S

laptops andiPads by about15% to 25%. A toplineMacBook will nowcost $1,999, up from $1,699. Many analysts expect price hikes will come for iPhones next.

“The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memoryand storage,” Apple said in astatement. “Wehave neverseen a componentprice increase this much, this quickly.”

On thesame day,Microsoft announced that the price of its Xbox video gameconsole will increase $100 by Aug. 1, citing higher prices for memory chips. Sony is also charging more for the PlayStation, while Dell Computer and HP have raised prices fortheir laptops.

A“wave of AI-related cost pressures spillingoverintoconsumer pricesisstill in the early stages of building,” analysts at investmentbank Evercore ISI recently wrote.

The impact on broader measures of inﬂationmay be relatively modest,with many economists forecasting that AI investment will boost core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy,byroughly ahalf-

percentage point by the end of this year

Still, that could be enough to offset declining prices elsewhere, as the impact of President Donald Trump’stariffs continues to fade andasrentalcosts cool. Core inflation according to theFed’s preferredmeasure, was 3.4% in Mayand some economists now expect it maydecline only slightly by the end of the year,remaining wellabove the Fed’s2%target. The boost from AI may provetemporary, but it followsprevious waves of higher prices stemmingfrom tariffs and thegas price spike resultingfromthe Iran war. TheFed typically “looksthrough,”orignores,temporary price increases, rather than boosting rates to fight them, but an ongoing seriesof temporary price shocks could threaten to create more sustained inflation, which has alreadybeen abovethe Fed’s targetfor more than five years.

“Inisolation one or two such shocks is perhaps transitory,something they’rewilling to live with,” said Abiel Reinhart, an economist at J.P.Morgan. “A sustained series of shocks, or awiderrange of shocks, becomes more concerning to them.”

financial system. The measures, over the last nine months, are designed to stronglyencourage banks to remove themascustomerswhile not expressly mandating that the banks do so. Thejoint announcementwas planned from threeofthe nation’s

bank regulators: the Ofﬁce of the Comptrollerofthe Currency,the Federal DepositInsurance Corporation, and theNationalCredit UnionAssociation.The agencies saidthat banks should take into account that people in theU.S.illegally may notbeable to repay

aloan because of deportation. In short, they say,people working in theU.S.illegally pose overallrisk to the financial system. There is limited data on how many people in the U.S. illegally have bank accounts and have loans through the banks. This comes as part of President Donald Trump’sexecutive order signed in Maythatrequires banks and other financial institutionsto take acloser look at the citizenship of their customers. That order started the mostrecent waveof banking regulation changes, ordering bank regulators andgovernment departments to look for signs that people withoutlegal status are opening accounts or obtaining loans or credit cards. Among other things, the guidance advisesfinancial institutions to “identify,measure, monitor,and control these risks through safe and sound underwriting practices that assess aborrower’swillingness and capacity to repay according to the termsofthe credit obligation” according to anews release.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByDAVID ZALUBOWSKI Americans are alreadyseeing higher prices for arangeofconsumer electronics,including laptops, smartphones, videogameconsoles, and computers

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILEPHOTO

Agencies said banks should takeinto account that peopleinthe U.S. illegally maynot be able to repay aloan because of deportation.

Murrill seeks records from N.O. officials

Subpoenas request details about grand jury’s indictment

BY JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer

Lawyers for Attorney General

Liz Murrill asked a judge Monday to issue subpoenas to Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams and special prosecutor Laurie White for records about how a state grand jury came to indict Murrill this month over alleged threats to New Orleans leaders.

The subpoena requests are part of Murrill’s attempt to have the criminal case against her thrown out before she must answer to 16 felony counts of public intimidation and malfeasance in office from a July 2 indictment.

The Louisiana Supreme Court swiftly stayed the case before

PERKINS

Continued from page 1A

surveyed and plans were drawn up for an urban “linear park,” featuring landscaped green spaces, public art, benches and improved parking. Those plans were presented to the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council in 2022 with a $2.2 million price tag.

While the plans were approved in 2023, various permit hurdles pushed the project off until this year.

Overpass business owners said they are happy that progress is being made But some said they are frustrated the project is no longer what was proposed in 2022, now that the plans are to create an improved walkway rather than the proposed park, said Jenni Peters, Varsity Sports owner

“I am excitedly frustrated,” Peters said.

Key pieces of the project feature paved walkways, gates and signs safely surrounding the train tracks running across the pathway, way-finding signs and improved lighting. The project also looks to add more organized parking, with around 40 newly paved metered parking spots.

One of the biggest concerns among overpass business owners is the inclusion of metered parking spots. They said they are concerned the paid parking spots will deter patrons.

Colonel’s Club owner Jordan Piazza compares the idea with the metered parking currently in downtown

Murrill could be booked Last week, the high court named a retired appeals court judge, Robert Chaisson, to oversee it after the 12 judges on the Orleans Parish criminal court recused themselves.

Chaisson had not yet signed the subpoenas as of late Monday

Murrill is accused of acting illegally when she sent letters in May to Mayor Helena Moreno, Williams and five City Council members. The letters suggested their jobs could be at risk if they continued to back a special election for a uniﬁed court clerk for the city

The Legislature had just merged New Orleans’ civil and criminal court clerk offices in a bill that declared the elected civil clerk, Chelsey Richard Napoleon, its

leader The new law cost criminal clerkelect Calvin Duncan his post and set off a political ﬁrestorm pitting state Republican leaders against the city’s Democratic leadership. The council majority argued that the merged clerk’s office was a new one that called for an election. The Louisiana Supreme Court later disagreed.

Williams recused his ofﬁce after the grand jury sought to investigate Murrill, sources have said.

District Judge Leon Roche went on to appoint White, a former criminal court judge who stepped down in 2023, to handle the case.

The subpoenas to Williams and White each seek emails and other communications related to the

case against Murrill, the grand jury and the investigation.

Among the records that Murrill’s attorneys want from Williams are correspondence between the district attorney or his staff and Moreno, City Council President JP Morrell, former U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, state Sen. Gary Carter or members of the news media.

From White, Murrill’s attorneys want any correspondence the special prosecutor has had with Williams, Roche, Moreno or members of the news media. Murrill’s attorneys are seeking records dating to March 1. Williams’ ofﬁce could not be immediately reached for comment Monday about the subpoena requests. White declined to comment.

The subpoenas follow letters Murrill’s attorneys sent last week to Moreno, Williams, White and the

five council members who backed a special election, demanding they retain all messages and phone records related to the grand jury investigation or Murrill’s alleged threats. Those letters suggest a possible civil lawsuit in the offing. In its order staying the case against Murrill, the Louisiana Supreme Court took issue with the indictment and noted possible conflicts in White’s oversight. The court’s unsigned opinion cited “considerable support for the view that the Attorney General is likely to succeed on the merits of a motion to quash this indictment on either a legal basis or due to apparent procedural irregularities.” Murrill’s attorneys had not yet filed that motion Monday Landry has said he will pardon Murrill in the event of a conviction.

“The city is going to spend more money trying to monitor it, police it, than they’re ever going to generate from it,” Piazza said. “(Baton Rouge residents) don’t like to pay to park myself included. I will ﬁnd somewhere not metered and walk before I’ll pay I don’t think this is going to be very well received.” Ofﬁcials from MovEBR and the Luster Group, the construction group in charge of the project, held a meeting after the groundbreaking to address other concerns, like disruptions to business during the six-month construction.

STRIKES

Continued from page 1A

supporting freedom of navigation across the globe.

Iran responded with attacks targeting Bahrain and two tankers associated with the United Arab Emirates traveling through the strait, killing one mariner and wounding eight others The Emirates threatened to retaliate against Iran, potentially drawing the nation home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai back into ﬁghting with Tehran.

The attacks come as Iran and the U.S. both vie for control of the strait through which a ﬁfth of all crude oil and natural gas once passed in peacetime. The price of benchmark Brent crude oil rose 7.8% to $81.92 a barrel still well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the war but threatening to make costs everywhere higher

Trump insists strait will be open

U.S. Central Command announced on social media that the U.S military had begun another round of strikes against Iran

“These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the U.S military said. Moments after the military announced the new strikes, Trump called it “another major attack.”

“We’re hitting them very hard. And it’ll continue, and we’ll see what happens,” he told reporters in the Oval Ofﬁce “We’re knock-

Construction is expected to begin this week, weather permitting.

“We’re not waiting on any material, so we can go ahead and get started and kind of knock this thing out,” said Floyd Luster, founder of the Luster Group. Area business owners said they hope to continue working with MovEBR and the contractors to further develop the plan to ﬁt parts of the original vision, said Misti Broussard, BLDG 5 co-owner

“The reason this part of the city is interesting is because of all the independent businesses around this area that have built it up over the years,” Broussard said. “The concern is that this project effectively could either put us out of business or so drastically reduce what we’re able to offer to the public.” Metro Council members representing the area worked together to secure funding for the milliondollar project, members said at the groundbreaking.

“These are the kind of things that move BR. I am so grateful that it is more than just one council district,” said Metro Council member Carolyn Coleman, who represents part of the overpass area. “This is the epitome of Baton Rouge, having to do to be able to move BR ﬁrst. This has been a long time coming, but we knew change would come.”

ing out all of their offensive capability and we’re controlling the straits. We’re putting the blockade back.”

Trump also provided new details on his administration doing an about-face and suggesting it will charge tolls for ships going through the strait, after previously suggesting that it wouldn’t.

“We’re protecting a very rich portion of the world,” he said.

“We’re spending money And so, what we’ve done is, we are going to be reimbursed for protection.”

It’s a change in U.S. policy that, until now, said the strait should remain open to all without tolls as it was before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Any attempt by the U.S. or Iran to charge fees would violate global norms on freedom of navigation and raise tensions, likely causing further

economic disruption far beyond the region.

Attacks resume across Mideast

The United Arab Emirates’ Defense Ministry said early Tuesday that Iran attacked two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, killing one mariner and wounding eight others. The Emirati Defense Ministry said Iran launched two cruise missiles at the tankers Mombasa and Al Bahiyah.

The attacks set both tankers ablaze, though the ﬁres were extinguished. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed the attack on the tankers, saying the vessels “ignored repeated warnings.”

“They chose to pass through a mineﬁeld and were subsequently targeted and disabled,” the Guard

said.

Bahrain also came under renewed attack early Tuesday morning as Iran retaliated over the latest round of U.S. airstrikes.

Bahrain sounded its missile alert siren, urging the public to seek shelter There was no word on any damage or casualties from the attack.

The Emirati Defense Ministry said the attack on the tankers killed one Indian national and wounded six Indians and two Ukrainians.

“The UAE reserves its full right to respond to this escalation and to take all necessary measures to protect its territory, its citizens and residents,” the Defense Ministry added.

The Emirates used similar language before launching attacks against Iran during the war Fight-

er jets could be heard overheard Tuesday morning in Dubai.

Trump says Iran failed a test

Earlier Monday, Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that the agreement reached last month was “built to test” Iran, adding that “when you’re dealing with sleazebags (agreements) don’t mean much.”

“They didn’t honor the test,” the president said. Iran asserts it has the right to manage trafﬁc through the strait and potentially charge fees in accordance with the interim peace deal. The U.S. has disputed that.

The American military and the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization have tried to establish a route through the strait along the coast of Oman that would be outside of Iranian control. Iran has attacked ships using that route, saying the U.S. is violating the interim peace deal. The U.S. has attacked Iran in response, drawing Iranian attacks on U.S.allied Arab states.

Exchanges of ﬁre in recent days had already cast further doubt on the interim peace deal. Washington had lifted a blockade it imposed in mid-April as part of that deal, which also called for the strait to be fully reopened.

“We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE,” Trump said on social media. “All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait.”

The president said the U.S. would be “reimbursed” by 20% of the value of cargo to help cover “any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security.”

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Baton Rouge officials conduct the ceremonial groundbreaking with local business owners for the Perkins Road overpass project on Monday

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By RAZIEH POUDAT

People swim and spend time along the shore of the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas Iran, on Sunday

JanRisher

LOUISIANA AT LARGE

The prettiest rose andits namesake

Near the entryway of Peggy Martin’sGonzales home hangsa large yearbook-style photo of a teenage girl. Underneath it: “Prettiest Girl: Peggy Dupuy.”

Many know some versionof the Peggy Martin story: After Hurricane Katrina, she returned to what had been her home in Plaquemines Parish and found that one rose had survived.

For most of us, the story stops there —arose that lived when almost nothing else did.

Chief: Mall shooterwas ‘lone’ gunman

More arrests aren’t expected

BY OLIVIA TEES Staff writer

TheBaton Rougepolice chief said law enforcement is not lookingto arrest anyone elseinconnection with the massshooting in April at the Mall of Louisiana that killed one and injured ﬁve others. At the Press Club of Baton Rougemeeting Mondayafternoon, ChiefT.J.Morse conﬁrmed

that Markel Lee, 17, was a“lone shooter ”

“Asofright now,wecannot put agun in anyone else’shand other than theperson that we have already arrested,”hesaid.

“Tothe best of our knowledge, he wasthe lone shooter,and he’s theone that’sgoing to be facing the consequences for thatshooting.”

Lee was arrested April24and booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on counts of ﬁrstdegree murder, attempted ﬁrstdegree murder and illegaluse of aweapon.Heisbeing held

without bail and will have abond review on Aug. 20. At 1:22p.m. April 23, gunfire rang out at the Mall of LouisianainBaton Rouge when an argument between two groups of people in the food courtescalated into violence, police said.

High school senior Martha Odom, 17, of Youngsville, was killedwhilecelebrating senior skip day with her friends.

Detectives wrote in Lee’s arrest warrant that videoshows “two groupsofyoung Black male subjects approach each other” in thefood court.

“As theycrossedpaths, other people in thefood court began running, as though responding to shots being ﬁred,” investigators said.

Police recovered one gun at the scene despite twodifferent groups of people being involved. Originally, they believed there was more than oneshooter,but after investigating the scene and running ballistics tests on the bullets and gun, police concluded that Lee wasthe only shooter

Police said they have since identiﬁedevery individual in the twogroups.

SPLENDOR ON THEWATER

PeggyMartin rose

These days, many are reminded of the story every spring when Peggy Martin roses bloom with wild abandon all over Louisiana. The rose is easy to grow, thornless and pink, and nowsold widely

But the short version of the story leavesout much of what Martin, now 80 and still very much the “prettiestgirl,”told me as we walked through her garden early Friday morning.

Like, for example, her middle name is Rose She and Imet early because she plays bourré at 10 a.m. every Friday around her kitchen table with the same four women.Back in 2005, her 82-year-old parents refused to evacuate theirhome in Phoenix, in Plaquemines Parish —even after she begged, pleaded and went back again for them. They did not survive the storm that her rose did.

Standing by her pool Friday and admiring her garden, Iasked if she swims often.

“No, and I’ll tell youwhy,” she said, looking at the pool. “My parents drowned. Iused to be on aswim team, but Iknow what I’m going to think of if Iput my head below the water.SoI just don’t go in.” Her parents, Rosalie andPivon J. Dupuy,were married 63 years. Pivon stormed Omaha Beach in World WarII.

Martin started collectingold gardenroses in 1974. By the time Katrina happened, she had 137 roses and more than 1,000 other plants covering her home next door to her parents. One rose, planted against afour-bay tractor shed between her house and her parents’, had grown 40 feet across and 30 feet deep.

In her home in Gonzales, just around the corner from her “Prettiest Girl” photo, she showed me her Rose Room. Some of her glass and porcelain rose pieces

ä See RISHER, page 2B

Boozie Badazz contract with lobbyists under scope

BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer

Now,Boosie, whose legal name is Torence Hatch, has entered into arbitration with his former representatives in hopes they will refund him half of the $600,000 he paid as part of thecampaign for clemency

torneyJill Craft, who’srepresenting Hatch in the arbitration, Burkman andWohlstrung the rapper along with promises that his pardonwas making its way through the capital’scorridors of power

penned the contract in the ﬁrst place. That wasatypo, according to Craft,and thetrue date was supposed to be Jan. 31, 2026.

The way his hired lobbyists made it sound, Baton Rouge rapperBoosie Badazz was allbut guaranteed clemency last year througha presidential pardon from President Donald Trump. Butassentencing came for the rapper’sfederal felon in possession of afirearm convictionin January,no ofﬁcial pardon had been signedbythe president

Targeted in the dispute areattorneys Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, of the Washington firm JM Burkman and Associates.

The two previously pleaded guilty to telecommunications fraud in 2022 for operating an Ohio robocall scam discouraging people from voting by mail.

“Itwas alot alongthe linesof ‘It’sinthe president’sofﬁce, it’sa done deal.Don’tworry,you know we gotthis taken care of.’ Those types of things,” Craftsaid. At issue in the contract is a clause underwhich Hatch could request arefund of halfofthe funds he paid the firm, should he notbepardoned by aspeciﬁc deadline.

Oddly,however,the contract’s set deadline was Jan. 31, 2025 afull nine months before Hatch contactedthe attorneys and

“Generally speaking, the law will provide that if folks get adate wrong in acontract or something like that, and it’svery clear from the termsofthe contract that that’swhatthe parties intended, obviously then the contract can be reformed correctly,” Craftsaid.

In acopy of the pardon representationcontractprovided to The Advocate by Craft, both Hatch’sand Burkman’ssignatures are dated Sept. 30, 2025.

In the mostrecent ﬁling, Burkman and Wohl’sattorney Charles Rapper

ä See PARDON, page 2B

According to Baton Rouge at-

Spellordered to stay away from neighbors’ home

BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer

Weeksafter running across Hooper Road in Central to beat his neighbor’s20-year-old son, the Rev. Tony Spell must stay away from their homeunless he’s

checking his mailbox Spell was arrested on acount of second-degree battery on June 23 after allegedly beating the20-year-oldfor havingyelled “f*** you” at him acrossthe same road. Video shows the young man throwing theﬁrstpunch at Spell after the pastor charged toward him,sprinting across the street Spell punchedthe man eight timesbefore tackling him to the ground, thenhit himanother 27

times. The majority of the 35 punches were to thehead and chest, according to thewarrant for Spell’sarrest. The ﬁght is the latest episode in an ongoing feud between the pastor andhis neighbors that began in 2020when Spell sued the family forhaving set up security cameras on theirhome,

which sits directly across the street from hisLife Tabernacle Church.

On Friday,a protective order was issued against Spell on the 20-year-old’sbehalf in Commissioner Kory Tauzin’s courtroom. The order stipulates that Spell is not to contact the victim or his family directlyorelectronically, including through social media.

Pastor arrested afterbeating was caught on video ä See SPELL, page 2B

STAFFPHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

ship positions itself alongside the dock recentlyinBaton Rouge.

STAFF PHOTO By JANRISHER

PeggyMartin, 80, in the Rose Room of her Gonzales home, stands near glass and porcelain pieces she was abletorecover after Hurricane Katrina.

BR friends, colleagues remember LarrySelders

Senator‘neverlost thecommontouch’

BY IYAHNNA CARTER

Contributing writer

Louisiana lost astate senator when Larry Selders died last week at age 44.But forthose whoknew him, worked alongside him and called him afriend, that title only tells afraction of hisstory.

will always remember aman who put hisfamily ﬁrst,nomatter how busy thelegislative sessions became or how challenging public service was.

tered on service. He opened Focused Family Services,asubstance abuse and mental health rehabilitation clinic, and later founded theSelders Development Group, areal estate company Temple said he wasn’tsurprised when Selders gravitated toward politics. Even in his 20s, he showed astrong sense of leadership and a passion for helping people.

personal. Youknew he was concerned about you.”

While manywill remember Selders for his legislative accomplishments, those closest to him point to themore personal qualities that madethose achievements possible.

Overthe past week, memories shared by friends, political allies andothers in the community have painted aportrait of aman whose kindness,humility and humanity left alasting mark on countless lives. They remember a devoted husband and father,atrusted friend, mentor and leaderwho never lost sight of the people he served.

“There are some people who get into these spaces and become the ofﬁce,” said longtime friend and colleague TedJames, who rose through the political ranks in Baton Rouge alongside Selders. “Larry never lost the commontouch of who he really was.”

The community will saygoodbye Tuesday at Selders’ funeral services, which willfollowaviewing from 9a.m. to 11 a.m. at Mount Zion Baptist Church.

Those closest to him say they

He intentionally set aside Thursday evenings as date night with his wife, Dr.Kendra Michael.He cherished time with his sons, Larry and Luke, often sharing his love for them publicly.Friends recalled thatevery year onhis children’s birthdays, he wore the same shirt he had been wearing when they were born

He died while attending his 11-year-old son’sfootball practice at Memorial Stadium.

Selders’roots in BatonRouge ran deep. He met Elliott Temple in kindergartenatLSU’s University Lab School, and the two grew up together, oftenspending afternoons atthe Temple home, located less than amile from campus. Collis Temple Jr., Elliott’sfather, saidSelders becamelike afourth son, abond formed through sports teamsTemple coached and hours spent in the family’srecreation room.

After high school, Selders attendedSouthern Universityand earned abachelor’sdegree in social work. Whileincollege, he worked in grouphomes ownedby Temple.Selders started as ahouse parent in ahome for troubled adolescent boys and later was promoted to manager Followinggraduation, Selders married and built acareer cen-

Seldersran unsuccessfully for theEast Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council, ﬁrst in 2008 and again in 2012, losing by just seven votes the second time.That was thestart of the public career that led ﬁrstto the Louisiana House of Representatives, where he was elected to represent District 67 in November 2019. He then succeeded former state Sen. Cleo Fields in aspecial election in 2025.

Even in public life, Selders never seemed interested in the spotlight, hisfriends and colleagues said.

In an era when politics often rewards the loudestvoice in the room, he was known for being measured, thoughtful and quiet. He listened more than he spoke. Yet, when he spoke, people paid attention,those who knew him said.

“He was abig man, but he moved quietly,” said Gary Clark, aprofessor of political science at Dillard University,who observed Selders throughout his legislative career “Whenhecame into aroom,you knew he wasthere. He had ameticulous presence about himself. When youwere with him, it felt

That ability to connect with people may explain the extraordinary outpouring of support and grief that followed his death. The tributes have not been limited to elected officials or political insiders

They havecome from residents who have never set foot inside the StateCapitol, fromcommunity leaders, from fraternity brothers, longtimefriends andpeople from every political persuasion.

Republicans andDemocrats alike have shared stories of aman who built relationships across divisions and treated everyonewith dignity.

Even whenpolitical pressure mounted, he remained committed to voting according to what he believedwas right forthe people he represented,supporters said.

That commitment was perhaps most clearly reflected in one of thedeﬁningaccomplishments of his legislative career: sponsoring legislation that madeJuneteenth a stateholiday in Louisiana.

Clarkbelieves the achievement wasdeeply connected to Selders’ professional background as asocial worker

“His social work background demonstrated his sensitivity to thecommunity andtoall walks of life,” Clark said.

“He understood what individuals go through, and he recognized that public policy should reflectthat understanding.”

He wasknown for encouraging others, oftentaking chances on people before others were willingtodoso. James recalled how Selders entrusted aﬁrst-time campaign manager with his electoral efforts because he believed in givingpeople theopportunity to grow

The belief in people defined much of his life. People remember how he madethem feel. They remember conversations that never seemed rushed. They remember aman who cared deeply about his family,his community and the people around him. They remembersomeonewho served without egoand ledwith commanding attention.

In the end, that may be Selders’ greatest legacy

“He didn’tcomefrom afamily of politicians,” James said. “He had it in his heart, and he wentout there and got it.”

This story was reported and written by Iyahnna Carter,a journalism student at LSU, with thesupport of thenonproﬁt Louisiana Collegiate News Collaborative, an LSU-led coalitionofeight universities fundedbythe Henry Luce and JohnD.and Catherine T. MacArthurfoundations.

N.O. residentsreact to floods worsened by ‘human error’

BY SOPHIE KASAKOVE Staff writer

Though weekend street floodingacross swaths of New Orleans had receded by Monday,acurrent of frustration with the city’sstruggling water utility continued to run strong.

Residents and political leaders on Monday said the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board should be held accountable for pumping failures that left parts of the city without working drainage during the height of severe storms Saturday One pumping station, which drains the Mid-City and Lakeview neighborhoods,was offline for45 minutes due to “humanerror,”S&WBExecutive Director Randy Hayman said Sunday,while an automated pump at the station serving Hollygrove tripped off, requiring employees to restart it by hand.

The pump failures come as concerns about management of the water utility havecontinued to mount and as the

RISHER

Continued from page1B

City Councilprepares to gain control of the utility Aug. 1, after the Louisiana Legislatureapproved alaw authorizingcouncil oversightof S&WB’s budgets, personnel and internalpolicies.

“Atthe end of the day,the responsibility for making sure that everything isbeing done properly,that people are being properlytrained and that thereisoperational redundancy.Theseare all leadership issues,” council President JP Morrellsaid. “Wehave significant concerns about existing leadership at theS&WB.”

Morrell said thecouncil will begin introducing legislation to reform theutility within the coming weeks.

“I think you’re going to see the S&WB takeninadramatically different direction,” Morrellsaid Council memberAimee McCarron, whose District Aincludesboth pumps that failed this weekend, said in themeantime, the council will press S&WB ofﬁcials on the “human error” at acommitteemeetingJuly 21

survived Katrina and now sit among her prized possessions on rose-colored carpet, arose bedspread anda rose needlepoint chair.

In 2005, nearly three weekspassed before the National Guard andthe Federal Emergency Management Agency cleared the highway enough for Martin to get back to what wasleft of her home.

“It looked like Hiroshima,” shesaid.

“You’ve ever seen pictures of Hiroshima? Black sticks and gray ash. Walking the ruined property toward her parents’ house, Martin passedthe old tractor shed and saw green leaves —the giant rose atop the shed, theone with no name, had survived

“My parents knew Ineeded something to help me survive,” she said.

William C. Welch, alandscape architect and founder of the TexasRose Rustlers, had seen the rose before Katrina when he and his wife went down for seafood off Martin’shusband’s boat. Welch said he had neverseen anything like it. After the storm, he returned for cuttings and pushed Martin to getthe rose into commerce.Years earlier,she had gotten the plant from her hairdresser’sfamily in New Orleans. They thought it might be aSeven Sisters rose.

It was not. Seven Sisters is thorny, needs cold to bloom and has big leaves. As Welch’swife, Diane, was dying of breast cancer in the months after Katrina, Welch called Martin late one night. He neededto tellher something important.

“He said, ‘Something just overcame me. It was like it was whispered to me. Name that rose Peggy Martin,’” Martin said.

She said she knew immediately who had done the whispering

“My mama told him whattoname

“Was this anew person? Wasitthat they weren’tpaying attention? Idon’twant to pick on aspeciﬁc employee if they were doing everything they could,” McCarron said. “But it justbrings to lightthatthere needsto be some kind of supervisor that has experience with these pumps. …Therehas to be somebackup here.”

In his statementSunday, Hayman said that as utility staffers worked to bring two pumps online at the Lakeview station to aidthe one that was already running, “there was an error made with avacuum system, which meant thatwedid not have any pumps online at this stationfor around 45 minutes.”

He said the utilityisadding additionalstaff at the Lakeview station temporarily andisconducting an internal investigation intothe employee error

“Weare reviewing and will enhanceany training protocols accordingly,” Hayman said.

S&WB ofﬁcials did notrespond to arequestfor addi-

that rose,” Martin said.

Therose that carries Martin’sname has sincespreadthrough nurseries across theSouth and beyond.

PeggyMartin has become shorthand in gardening circles for resilience.

In June, it became theofﬁcial state rose of Louisiana, thanks to stateSen. PatrickConnick and state Rep.Jacob Braud.

Martin has never madea dimefrom it.

“It’safoundrose,” she said, “so I cannot claim it.”

What she gets instead arrives in letters from strangers, photographs of blooms climbingfences and porches from people who say they’d never managedtogrowanything before.

“It ﬁlls yourheart,” she said. “People go gaga overthis.”

Istarted packing up my notebook as thebourré ladies began to arrive, each bearing stacksofdollar bills and shallow Tupperware rectangles ﬁlled with cookies and dips. They set up individual sidetables fordrinks and snacks

“Wedon’t stop playing cards,” StephanieFrederic said. “You get your snacks, and you put it right here, and youkeep playing.”

Martin’sfriends know her well, but they still appreciate that their hostess is, after all, “the” Peggy Martin. They told me aboutstunned cashiers who notice her name on her credit card.

As thegame was about to start, I could see thebackyard and the rambling Peggy Martin rose through the window.It had long since ﬁnished its spring show —but even in July’sheat, Ispottedtwo small pink blooms.

In my own backyard, Igrow Peggy Martin roses.Last year,Iwas propagatingeight morewhen we had our houseﬁre.Thosecuttings were lost, but the older plants survived. I’ll propagate more. And whenthey bloom, I’ll think of Rosalie and Pivon Dupuy and their “prettiest girl.”

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

tional details on the cause of thepumpfailures Monday

Mayor Helena Moreno said in asocial media post Saturday thather office would be “looking at what is happening in particular withDPS 7, because it is just continuously having issues,” referringtothe Canal Boulevard station. “Let’s get these issues ﬁxed.”

Theutility’s lack of automated infrastructure among its aging plants has contributedtonumerous mishaps over the years. In 2018, two S&WB supervisors fell asleep on thejob amid a drop in water pressure that led to aprecautionary boil advisoryonthe east bank In 2024, aworker was unable to turn pumps back on after apower issue due to an injury,leading to acitywide boil-water advisory

Lakeview resident Tony Patino said that he was frustratedtohear thatitwas “human error” thatled his manicured lawn to be submerged by nearly afoot of water

“If it’shumanerror,it’s manageable; that means that

PARDON

Continuedfrom page1B

Camp motioned to dismiss the arbitration on the grounds that the lobbyists had signed the contract only after the expiration date —the Jan.31, 2025, date Craft considers atypo had already passed,making thecontract void.

In aMondaystatement to TheAdvocate, Burkman said the provision over the refund was never agreed to by his ﬁrm

“Boosiehas no reason to be unhappy,” Burkmanwrote. “In 30 years of lobbying, Idoubt we have ever done morework andharder work We tried very very hard.” Burkman addedthattheir campaign was made “much tougher” due to Hatch being arrested again in Houston earlierthis year —for allegedly striking anightclub security guard withahookah. Without the pardon, Hatch

SPELL

Continuedfrom page1B

It also restricts Spell from coming closer than 50 yards from his neighbors’ residence, with one exception.

“Mr.Spell maywalk over and check his mailbox; other than checking his mailbox, he is to be 50 yards away from the protected person’sproperty,” ahandwrittennoteonthe order states. In commentsafter his arrest,Spell comparedhis actionswith ashepherd protecting his ﬂock.

they didn’tdosomething,” saidPatino,who moved to New Orleanslast year from California. “Wepay really high taxes here, and our water bills ain’tcheap.” Patino said therising watersﬁlledhim with anxiety about the S&WB’sability to respond to ahurricane.

“Ifthisisgoing to happenonjustastorm, Ihave no conﬁdence in the water board —none, zero,” Patino said.

Kristin Boring said she was hardly surprised to see ﬂoodwaters rising on Banks Street during her shift at Finn McCool’sinMid-City on Saturday,marooning patrons watching the World Cup gameinside the bar for hours and swamping neighbors’ cars —again. Norwas she surprised to learn the cause of the ﬂooding.

“It’sinfuriating and frustrating, but withall of the stuff that we keep learning aboutthe organization that is the Sewerage &Water Board, nothing shocks me anymore,” Boring said.

She added that she wasrel-

wassentenced to three years of supervised release, 300 hoursofcommunity service anda$50,000 ﬁne for the possession of afirearm conviction.

Following hisnew Houston arrest, aCalifornia probation officer filed to revoke the above probation conditions on June 23. Should ajudge agree to revoke Hatch’sprobation, he could face up to twoyears in prison, according to the filing. Burkmanand Wohl provided Hatch and his defense attorney, MeghanBlanco, with updates in early January that the rapper’spardon had been endorsed by several MAGA influencers and GOP politicians, according to reporting by news organization NOTUS. Those who had supposedly signed in support included Erika Kirk, CEO of Turning Point USA and widow of Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk, and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, of Benton.

He also claimed the man had previously threatened to rape and murder his family Spell grabbed national headlinesfor holding churchservices during theCOVIDpandemic, challenging then-Gov John Bel Edwards’ restrictions on large gatherings. The prolonged legal battle over holding church services wentall the waytothe LouisianaSupreme Court— where he wonin2022, and his charges were dismissed. The court ruledthatEdwards’early COVID-19 restrictions on religious gatherings violated the state and U.S. constitutions, finding thateven in theear-

atively glad to hear that the pumpfailure wascaused by employee error rather than an equipment issue.

“Every timethey say it’s equipment …amonth turns into adecade forthem to ﬁx that part,” Boring said. McCarron said council members will also seek an explanation of whyone of two automated pumps at the Pritchard PumpStation, which drains the Hollygrove neighborhood,shut offon Saturday and hadtoberestarted manually “That’swhy thatone took 21/2 hours (to be turned back on),” McCarron said. “They clearly need to build in some redundancy with their employees.”

McCarron said the council should considerrequiring that automated pumping stations haveemployees on site during rain events.

“Somebody hastobeavailable right away,because we have seen timeand time again that there are issues,” McCarron said. “There’sgoing to have to be some additional accountability.”

Representatives for Erica Kirk and Johnson denied granting this support, NOTUS reported Monday.InErica Kirk’scase, arepresentative said she wasn’teven aware of whothe rapper is.

The publication further reported that Burkman and Wohl gave repeated assurances that the pardon was moving through Washington withmomentum, even messaging on New Year’sEve that the pardon wasinTrump’shand and “ready to sign.” Blanco told NOTUS that days later,aWhite House aide saidthat they had not seen a pardonapplication forHatch at all. Blanco hassince ﬁleda pardon application on Hatch’s behalf

In March, after Hatch requested areturn of half of his money,Burkman reportedly sent the rapper atext message saying the ﬁrm could not deliver the funds because it wasnearbankruptcydue to finesfromthe Ohio robocall conviction.

liest days of apublic health emergency, the First Amendmentmust not be relegated to amere “proposition.” He was also arrested the sameyear in connection with allegedly almost hitting aprotester with abus. Those charges werelater dropped.

Selders

July 8, 2026, at St.Elizabeth Hospital. A native of WilkinsonCounty, Missis‐sippi,hegraduated from WilkinsonCountyHigh School.Carlton wasa pro‐fessional truckdriverfor over60years,affection‐ately knownasthe “Night Rider.” Carltonissurvived byhis wife,Essieof61 years;his children,Regina, Sharon, andJason (Paula Ann);his grandchildren, Shanrika(Kenny),James Jr.,Joshua(Micah),and Jarvis, greatgrandchildren; and hissiblings, family, and friends. He is preceded indeath by hisson,Carlton Jr.,mother, Odealand dad, Walter. Visitation will be heldonTuesday,July14, 2026, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.atHallDavis and Son FuneralService.A second visitationwilltakeplace on Wednesday,July15, 2026 from9:00a.m.to10:00 a.m. atTrueLight WorshipCen‐ter,followedbyreligious servicesat10:00 a.m.,ofﬁ‐ciated by Bishop Adrien Claiborne.Funeral arrange‐ments have been entrusted toHallDavis andSon Fu‐neral Service.

Carolyn BourqueJackson, 82, passed away peacefully at her home on July10, 2026. She wasborn on January14, 1944, to Melvin andErleneBourque She was alifelong resident of Watson, Louisiana, and amember of Lighthouse Pentecostal Church.

Carolyn completedbusiness schooland worked for thestate several years beforeher most cherished role of motherand homemaker, although she continued helping in thefamily bookkeeping business formany years.

Carolyn'sfaith in God was evident in theway she livedher life.She loved helping people,and willalways be remembered for her sweetspirit, her kindness, and good cooking She lovedher family with

her wholeheart and alwaysput others' needs and wantsbefore her own. She was an inspiration to those who knew her and was known forher strength and determination, especially as she battled Parkinson'sDisease for26years, as wellasDementia andother healthissues in the lateryears. She is survivedbyher husband of 63 years, Roy JerryJackson; daughter, Donna Jackson; son, John Jackson; four grandchildren,Christina (Elliott) Rodrigue,Dave, Damian, and ShaylaJackson; four great grandchildren, Liam, Sawyer, Isaac, and Kaleb; sister,Linda Tarver, brothers, Melvin (Kathy) and Darryl (Pansy); and numerous other family members who willcherish her memory.

Special thankstoher caregivers, Lisa, Deborah and Betty, who lovingly cared for her in her time of needduring her hardest years. Thanks also to the Audubon Hospice staff for theirhelp and support during this time. Visitation willbeheldon Wednesday, July15th, at SealeFuneral Home,Denham Springs, from9 a.m. until thefuneral service at 12:00 p.m. conductedby

Bro. Mike Craig. Burial will follow at Denham Springs Memorial Cemetery LongbeforeCarolyn knew she would endure a lengthyphysical battle, God inspired hertowrite thesewords in asong: "Whenlifeisoverand yourraceisrun, Will theFather say, 'welcome home, my son,' Battles are over and victory is won, Life's day is ended, eternity'sbegun." Whilewegrieve herabsence,werejoicethather battle is over andshe is in herheavenlyhome.

Jackson, Carolyn

Meta’sinvestment in amassivedatacenter in Richland Parishhas grabbed headlines for months. It seems that each new turnof the growing endeavor has major economic implications for the future of our state. Thisweek, the company more than doubled the size of the project, upping the sizeofits investmentto$50 billionfromthe $10 billion planned just two years ago. As construction proceeds, theHyperion data center has already created an economic boom in acorner of ourstate that needed ashotin the arm. When ﬁnished, the 4-million-squarefoot data center will sit on 3,200 acres. Meta is spending $1 billion to upgraderoads and wastewater systemsinthe area. It is alsopaying for10new power plants Entergy is buildingto power the computing facility While that’sall impressive, today,we’d like to point out an investmentMetaismaking that will be even more transformative. Andthatisin Louisiana’speople.

In June, the company announcedthat Baton Rougewould be oneofthe four sitesinthe nation where it is launchingAmerica’s Workforce Academy.The other cities areColumbus,Indianapolis and Houston. The $115 million initiative is aimed at training people in the skilledtrades thatare directly linked to the datacenterboom —which requires more welders, ﬁbertechnicians,electricians and plumbers. Applications areopennow for the four-toﬁve-week training thatrequires no prior experience and leads to aguaranteedjob with aMETApartner at the end. The participants getastipend while theyare training.

In Baton Rouge, the trainingthisfall will be held at the Associated Builders andContractors Pelican Chapter trainingcenter,which hasreceived thousands of applications.

But that’snot the only investment in education Meta has made in our state. It gave$5millionto theLouisiana Delta Community College, whose main campus is in Monroe, to train residents for data center jobs, and alsodonated $250,000 to theNew Orleans Career Center to provide technical training to high school juniors and seniors. That’stosay nothing of thebonuses teachers in Richland Parish recently got,courtesy of surging sales taxrevenue due to the Meta project Forthe workforceacademy, recentgraduates career changers, veterans and newentrants to the workforce from all partsofthe countryare welcome to apply.Wesee noreason whyevery slot available shouldnot beﬁlledcome fall with Louisiana residents leadingthe way. Make no mistake. Thisisagame-changerfor workforce development in Louisiana.Creating pathways to long-range stable employmentfor more people has long been agoal of the state’s economic development leaders. With Meta’s backing, that goal has never been more within reach. Economic development should exponentially beneﬁt people,not just bottomlines. That’sreal power Louisiana can harness from the data centerboom.

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

Those representing Louisiana in Congress need to carve out exemptionsfromthe Jones Act and Foreign Dredge Act for coastal restoration projectshere in thestate of Louisiana.

With thestate’sdecision to pull the plug on the long-planned Mississippi River diversion projects, the only signiﬁcant alternative for coastal restorationprojects is dredging. However,under theJones Act and Foreign Dredge Act, all dredging in U.S. waters must be done by U.S. ﬁrms.

These firms charge up to 60% more than foreign firms. Netherlands firms, in particular,are much moreefficient and much less costly With Louisianahaving already lost a

As aproudSouthern University

alumnus and Louisiana legislator,I was encouraged to see thecontinued success of Southern University’s STEM summer camp and its commitment to preparing studentsfor theopportunities of tomorrow.Programs that introduce young people to science, technology,engineering and mathematics through hands-on learning areexactly thekind of investments that help build astronger future for our state.

Partnerships among SouthernUniversity,ExxonMobil, educatorsand community leaders demonstrate what is possible when industry and higher education work together to invest in young people. Theresult is astronger pipeline of future engineers, scientists, innovatorsand skilled professionals who will help drive Louisiana’s economy forward.

For Louisiana, initiatives like this

chunk of land equivalent to the size of thestate of Delaware and with no end in sight for continuing loss, we need to makeevery coastal restoration dollar go as far as possible. The choice is asimple one. What is moreimportant, thefuture of the 2.5 million people who live along the Louisiana coast,orthe proﬁts of ahandful of U.S. dredging ﬁrms?

Ithink it’s us folks on thecoast, and Ithink our congressional representatives should show they believe the samebyamending the Jones Act and ForeignDredge Act to exclude land restoration work in Louisiana.

MICHAEL NUSBAUM NewOrleans

As apharmacist with morethan 20 years of clinical experience, and as aNew Orleanian living with high blood pressure myself,I’ve seen both sides of the prescription pad. Ican counsel awoman on her medications all day,but if she can’t afford fresh produce or reach a grocery store, that prescription only does half its job.

Here in Louisiana, where dietrelated chronic disease and food insecurity both run high, that gap costs lives.

That’swhy Isupport “Food is Medicine” policies.

Recently on atrip from Baton Rouge to theGulf Coast,Iwas apassenger and was able to notice thesound barrier walls along Interstate12. Iremember when they were installed, somewith murals embedded in the walls depicting our stateand history

matter

Ourfuturedepends on developing aworkforce equipped to lead in energy,technology,manufacturing and other critical industries. By exposing studentstoSTEM education and real-world applications early,weare helping them develop the skills, conﬁdence and curiosity needed to succeed in high-demand careers.

As aSouthern University alumnus, I know ﬁrsthand the difference educational opportunities can make. Southern has along traditionofopening doorsfor studentsand helping them realizetheir potential. It is encouraging to seethattradition continue through programs that inspireyoung people to dream bigger,work harder and pursue careers that can makealasting impact on our state.

REP.KEN BRASS Louisiana state representative, District98

The barriers are now covered with high grass and smalltrees, and they can’tbeseen. Why isn’tthe greenery being cut so that the designs can be seen? What a wasteifitisnot kept up.

PHYLLIS FERGUSON

Baton Rouge

The American Heart Association deﬁnes Food is Medicine as healthy food prescribed within ahealthcare setting to prevent, manage and treat diet-related chronic disease. Approaches such as produce prescriptions and medically tailored mealshave been showntoimprove outcomes and expand access to nutritious food.

Yes, Louisiana is ready.Arecent NewOrleans study funded by the association’sHealth Care by Food initiative, ﬁttingly named “Makin’ Healthy Groceries,” showed these programsare feasible and promising right here, in our neighborhoods, in our language.

As amember of the Health Care by Food Lived Experience Patient Advisory Board, I’ve seen how lived experience shapes this work. Nowour policymakers must act by funding and implementing these programstoimprove health and reduce disparities statewide.

ALISHA REED

Ibelieve the birthright citizenship decision is the ﬁrst timeinthe history of our country that the Supreme Court has rendered adecision which literally allows millions of people to directly beneﬁt from the commission of acrime.

Women whoare in this country illegally are committing acrimeby their very presence in this country RICHARD DERBES Baton Rouge

Metairie

The fixationsofDonaldTrump

Donald Trump is ﬁxated—even obsessed— with making it harder for Americans to vote in November’s elections. Apresident who accused his rivals of “CHEATING!” in a recent social media post is trying to do exactly that. He is theCheater-inChief. In his most recent attempt at subvertingdemocracy,the president is pressuring Congressional Republicans to pass what he calls the SAVEAmerica Act, aset of stringent new requirements for registering and votingthat could disenfranchiseasmany as 21 million citizens, according to astudy by the Brennan Center for Justice.

“The administration is doingasmuch as possible to inject chaos into theelection cycle,” Wendy Weiser,the center’s vice president for democracy,told the WashingtonPost. “A top priorityfor this administration is to try to interfere in this election.”

Moreover,the president’scampaign is basedonalie: the accusation that noncitizens vote in vast numbers. In fact, every study has shown that the American electoral systemisremarkably sound and that fraud is exceedingly rare.

Trump clearly knows thatwithout his insidious intervention, Republicansare highly likely to lose at least onechamberofCongress this fall.And he knows that the Democrats —after yearsofbeing bullied and bludgeoned —would use their power to make his lasttwo years in ofﬁce as miserableaspossible.

Trump also knowshecannot wina fair ﬁght. He’seven saidthatwithout rigging the system, Republicans “will neverwin anotherelection.”

In 20 of the last 22 midterm contests, thepresident’sparty has lost seatsin Congress, and that trend isrooted in politicalreality.Magneticpresidential candidates like Trump energize marginal voters who stay home in off years. More seriously,all presidents make promises they cannot keep, leadingtoa certain amount of buyer’sremorse. And Trump is aclassic example. He won 49.8% of the popular vote in 2024, but with inﬂation rising and war raging,his approval rating stands at 39 5% inthe Silver Bulletin’saverage of reputable nationalpolls.

That means that roughly 1in10Americans, and1 in 5Trumpvoters, have lostfaith in the president. In thelatest Quinnipiac poll, for example, only 33% approveofhis handling of the economy, and64% disapprove, the worst rating he’s ever received on this critical issue.

Those grimnumbers have enraged thepresident and inﬂamed his tantrums. He hascalled passing theSAVE Act a“national emergency” and urged theSenate to end centuries of tradition andterminate the ﬁlibuster in order to enact themeasure.

Knowingthat won’thappen, he’scrafting alast-ditch strategy that would attach thebill to aspending measure that, underCongressional rules, could evade aﬁlibuster.

TheSenate parliamentarian would probably rule such chicanery out of order, andTrumphas already demanded that Senateleaders ﬁre her.Which they won’t

Not only is the SAVE Act based on afalsehood,italso violates one of the core tenets of traditional conservatives: that thestates, not thecentral government,shouldcontrol crucial functions like voting “When Iwas in ofﬁce,” Trey Grayson, the former Republican secretary of state in Kentucky,told CNN, “the numberone principle of election administration was that the states run electionsand Congress should be minimally involved. On theRepublican side, we really believed that. It was really,really important.”

The congressional measure is only one of many efforts by theCheaterin-Chief to violatethat principle. He pressured statelegislatures to defy convention and redraw congressional boundaries before thenext census, and experts estimate their actions could give Republicans anet gain of about 10 seats.

Trumpalso issued executive orders establishing anational database aimed at purging some voters from therolls and making it harder for others to cast ballotsbymail. Herehe’sbeen less successful.

Several federal courtshave recently rebuffed these orders, with U.S.District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan deﬁantly declaring, “The federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rightsofAmerican citizens in amanner that threatens the sacred right to vote. This Court cannot stand idly by while that happens.” Andjudge Indira Talwani ruled that Trump’sorders “unconstitutionally violate theseparation of powers.”

The Cheater-in-Chief has assaulted thesystem of democracy for his own political and personal beneﬁt.He’swon somebattles and his chaos crusade will continue.

Buthe’slost many other ﬁghts, thanks to courageous lawmakers and judges who have stood up for the“sacred right”he’strying to trample.

Email Steven Roberts at stevecokie@ gmail.com.

Court limpsawayfromits campaign ﬁnance sins

Anyadequate history of human shortsightedness, which would prettymuch encompass all of humanhistory,would mentionAmerica’shalf-centurydalliance with “campaign ﬁnance reform.” The Supreme Court recently issued another decision distancing itself, but not nearly enough, from itsoriginal 1976sin of notinvalidatinglimitson coordinated expendituresbyparties when it invalidatedexpenditure limits on candidates.

Academia has been egregiousin diminishing the First Amendment, but this began in Congress. All campaign ﬁnance laws are written byincumbent legislators, and, unsurprisingly,servetheir interests. Ostensibly responding to Watergate, but primarily codifying itsmembers’ interests, Congress imposedlimits on the quantity, contentand timingofpolitical (campaign) speech, the First Amendment’score concern. Limits on campaign contributionsand spending magnify the importance of incumbents’ many communications advantages. When achallenge to thelaw’sconstitutionality reached the court in 1976, the court disallowed limits on campaign expenditures, all of which fund,directly or indirectly,the dissemination of political speech: advertising, voter mobilization, etc. But the court allowed limits on contributions because they might“appear”problematic.

Limits on parties’ spending— on parties’ speech —survived. This caused contributions to ﬂow to unregulated outside groups (PACs) that oftenhave narrow ideological axes to grind, and away from parties, which specialize in coalition-building. In the 2024 election cycle, PACs raised more than $15.7 billion; parties raised $2.7 billion.Result: more polarization caused by shortsightedness.

This year,the issue before thecourt was, incredibly,whether political parties can spendoncampaign activities in coordination with their own candidates With hairsplittingcomplexity disproportionate to the issue’ssimplicity, the court (6-3) said yes, reversing a2001 decision Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr andJustices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, noted that the court hasheld that there is only one purpose that permits government to restrict campaign financing: preventing quid pro quo corruption (an official act done in response to aspecific campaign contribution)orthe “appearance” thereof. The majority held that modern technology(principally the internet) enables swift disclosure that deters “earmarking” (see below) withoutrestricting a party’sorcontributor’scoordinated political speech. Justice Elena Kagan, joined in dissent by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, madeapoint that illustrates how thecourt continues to miss thepoint about political speech. Shesaid that an individual’shuge contribution to aparty could be directed by theparty,with awink and anod, to the contributor’s preferred candidate. This “earmarking,” Kagan laments, would nullify,bycircumvention, limits on contributionstocandidates.

But these should be nulliﬁed. The court’s long and still-incompletelimp back to conformity with theFirst Amendment will be incompleteuntil earmarkingisconsidered protected unlimited —donors’ speech. The court hasheld that the political debate should be “uninhibited, robust,and wide-open.” Not merelyasopen as Congress considers preferable. The court has hitherto ruledagainst limits on individuals’ spending their ownmoney.(Candidates cannot corrupt themselves.) Now thecourt belatedly

notes: “For nearly 200 years after the ratiﬁcation of the First Amendment, parties could spend freely” to support, and in coordination with, their candidates.

“Reformers” have long fretted about donors having “undue” influence on officeholders, and even, nonsensically, parties having “undue” influence on their candidates. This year,the court rattled on in favor of campaign regulationsthat are “closely drawn,”“narrowly tailored” and not “disproportionate.” Good grief.

Campaign regulations and their rationales about “appearance” breed the sort of cynicism they are supposed to combat.Consider the following:

The largest political spending today that could raise quid pro quo “appearance,” probably is by teachers unions, whose support goesalmost entirely to Democrats. Butdowewant corruption sniffers trying to establish where politics ends and corruption begins? Does arecipient’sopposition to school-choice programscause aunion’scontributions, or do thecontributions ﬂow to therecipient because he or she opposes schoolchoice programs? Supporting aparty or candidate because one supports particular policies is called politics. Quid pro quo corruption has long been illegal. Restricting speech in order to deter such corruption also should be illegal. It is, under the First Amendment (“Congress shall makenolaw …”) properly construed. Actually,any doctrine that permits limits on contributions and spending for political advocacy is inconsistent with theconstitutional proscription of laws abridging freedom of speech. The court could have spared thecountry much trouble if in 1976 it had responded to Congress’sspeech-rationing regime with athree-word opinion: “You’re kidding, right?”

Email George Will at georgewill@ washpost.com.

My sadly departed friend, Frank, was a unicorn. He lived 89 years in the townhe grew up in, avillage on the Connecticut shore. Areporter at his local newspaper forover half acentury,hehad turned down offers to workfor moreglamorous publications, among them Sports Illustrated and The NewYork Times Frank had considered the priesthood in his youth. He stopped going to church and claimed he wasn’tpart of it anymore, but the church’smoral teachings clearly stayed put. Frank approached reporting as akind of ministry,spending much time talking with his “flock.” He showered equal interest in the rich, the poor,the Black, the White, the newcomers and the old-timers. Frank stayed put in his weathered little house. The Rowayton of his youth was amodest place, inhabited by artists, teachers and electricians. At acertain point, the hedge fund crowd decided it was their place. It had abeach on the Long Island Sound and aNew York commuter line. It wasnext door to the very affluent Darien. And it had little cottages that the finance bros could tear downand replace with suburban palaces. They bought the cottages from older residents forced out by rising real estate taxes.

Frank becameakind of spiritual leader to the new super-rich neighbors. He felt zero envy of them. On the contrary,hekeenly observed their discontent amid their plenty and diagnosed the reason. “They are chasing false gods,” he’d often say The phrase relates to the Old Testament story of Moses descending Mount Sinai with the TenCommandments, only to ﬁnd the Israelites partying and worshipping gods of other peoples: Moloch, Baal, plus Aaron’s golden calf. Hence, the phrase “golden calf” meansanidol that people create when they lose faith. Notethat the First Commandment is “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Frank was not necessarily attaching areligious meaning to the line. He interpreted “chasing false gods” as devoting one’slifeto ultimately unimportant things. Someofthe false gods. Fame: It does not makeone safe. Pursuing youth: Everyone whoages eventually loses it. Money: It doesn’tprove superiority or provide security against suffering.

Frank recalls ﬁnding ayoung neighbor in his garage, hanging from arope over his Ferrari. True story

F. Scott Fitzgerald’sGatsby died in pursuit of false gods. He yearned forDaisy,not so much as awoman, but forthe wealth and status she symbolized. Daisy wasGatsby’s golden calf.

Frank’spresence preserved adesired vintage feel. He ﬁt in with Rowayton’scharming, if increasingly fancier,main street. He represented continuity foryoung men who holed up at homemonitoring overnight trading on Asian markets. Frank was one of the town’sremaining oaks.

Basically,Frank just observed. Every morning, he would see young womenjogging behind baby carriages, ponytails bobbing up and down. The older locals joked that the women“were working out like hedge fund wives.” Lose their looks, and they’d be replaced with something younger and slimmer (A lot of that was going on.)

Rowayton is perched on the southwestern border of New England. Many residents, fancying themselves upper class, dressed with Yankee understatement. This was a place where “quiet luxury” hollered. Except forthe cars. Big, expensive German SUVs predominated. Abeaten truck or modest sedan parked in adriveway suggested atradesman was there to ﬁx the airconditioning.

Frank died, his house was sold, and now there’sahulk built high to catch the water views. But the memoryofFrank’slifelessons goes on. Whenever Ichase false gods, and sadly Idosometimes, his voice comes rushing in —and Ireconsider

Froma Harrop on X, @FromaHarrop. Email her at fharrop@gmail.com

Steve Roberts

Froma Harrop

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JULIA DEMAREENIKHINSON

President Donald Trumpwalks to speak at alunch in the White House Rose Garden.

George Will

PATH TO THEMAJORS

Johnsonabletoretaintop recruits from MLBdraft by stressingdevelopment

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

The 2026 MLB Draft wasanundeniable success for Jay Johnson and LSU baseball.

The Tigers were able to retain multiple toprecruitsin their signing class,holding on to 16 of their 22 players during the draft this past weekend. Thatgroup joins astrong eight-man transfer portal classand acore of returning players, headlined by StevenMilam and Cade Arrambide.

In an exclusiveinterview with The Advocate, Johnson shared his thoughts on the classand where LSU’s roster standsafter the draft. Hereare the ﬁve biggest takeaways from that conversation

Powerhouse clashinTexas

NeitherFrancenor Spainhas trailedatthisyear’sWorld Cup, butonlyone canreach the final

BYSTEPHEN HAWKINS

AP sportswriter

ä Spain vs. France.

2P.M.TUESDAy,FOX

ARLINGTON,Texas Kylian Mbappé and Francehaven’t trailed at all at this year’sWorldCup. Neither has Spain with teenage sensation Lamine Yamal and clutch goal-scoring substituteMikelMerino. Only one of those teamscan makeittothe final France and Spain are both playing attheir 17th World Cup, but have metonly once previously on soccer’sbiggest stage. They play Tuesday at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys in the first of two powerhouse semifinal matches.

After entering this tournament as FIFA’stoprankedteam, France has outscored its opponents 142. Mbappé,the 2022 Golden Boot winner,has eight goals to match Lionel Messi for thescoring lead this time, and is one behindthe Argentina captain’scareer record of 21 at the World Cup.

“Weare focused,” France midﬁelderAdrien Rabiot said. “Weare conﬁdent,ofcourse, with the course we have done so far,and we have to be, but always with this humility that has characterizedus sincethe

HowLSU didit

After losing eight signees to thedraft last summer,LSU was determined to keep more of its recruiting classintact this year

The 2026 season wasastruggle, and the smaller freshmanclass meant that the programneeded to replenishits young talent.

The Tigers accomplishedthatthis weekend by getting the likesofDominic Santarelli, MalachiWashington, Cooper Sides, Kolby Stringerand more through the draft andonto campus

“Once aplayersigns with us andplays their way into adecision betweencollege and professionalbaseball, at leastatLSU, we don’tmakeitacollege versus pro thing,”Johnson said. “We just make it apath to being amajor league player thing, and show them howwefeel like we can advance themtoget to that point. Ithink we did agood job of that this year.”

Alongwith countless hours of phone calls and meetings with signees, Johnson addedthatLSU had afew of its current players help convincetop recruits that college baseball was their best path forward.

“Some of our players have also contributed to that and shared

ä See JOHNSON, page 3C

beginning of the competition.”

The27-year-old Mbappé has20goals in his 20 World Cup matches, including one in the 2018 win over Croatia when he joined Pele as theonly teenagersto score in aWorldCup final. And the star striker for Les Bleus had saidheisfine despiteexiting in the77th minuteoftheir 2-0 quarterfinal win over Morocco after scoring agoal. Yamal, whoturned 19 on Monday,has already been part of two semifinal wins with Spain over France. He wasjust days shy of his 17th birthdaywhenhescored in a2-1 win during the 2024 European Championship semifinals, and Spain then won 5-4 in Nations League

Speculation skyhighon LSUbooster meeting

The 2026-27 LSU athletic year was already overﬂowing with storylines.

Can Lane Kifﬁn lead the Tigers back to the College Football Playoff in his ﬁrst season?

How good can men’sbasketball be in the Will Wade 2.0 era?

Can LSU baseball bounce back for another College World Series appearance?

Will Kim Mulkey have aUkranian (Kate Koval) and aRussian (Anna Mineava) on the roster as the Tigers try to return to the Women’sFinal Four?

How many perfect 10s will gymnastics’ Kailin Chio possibly have?

Last week, LSU added one more huge, off-the-field story line to the mix. News broke Thursday that Gov.Jeff Landry and LSU president Wade Rousse plan to host 40 top boosters at the governor’smansion the first week of August to discuss the financial future of the athletic department.

The news immediately sparked acouple of questions:

1. What will this future look like, especially since the letter LSU sent to the 40 made no small boast about “a ﬁrst look at an alternative revenue generating opportunity” that could “quite possibly change the future of college sports in America”?

Wade Rousse, above,and Gov. Jeff Landryplan to host 40 top LSUboosters at the governor’smansion in early August to discuss the financialfuture of the athleticdepartment.

DOUG FERGUSON

golf writer

British Open. 3A.M.THURSDAy,USA

Birkdale to

the British Open forthe third leg of the Grand Slam. It was among the mostastonishing ﬁnishes in amajor championship. Perhaps even more astonishing? He hasonly twoPGA Tour victories since. He has played in the final group at amajor only once. What hasn’tchanged is his optimism that he can get back to his best golf,now matter how far away that looks for aplayer who is No. 51 in the world, who has not been to theTourChampionship the past two years, who has notbeen in theconversation at a major in ﬁve years. “If you give up on reaching your ceiling, then Idon’tsee a point in playing anymore,” Spieth said Monday.“So for me it’s always about I’ll do everything I can to be trying to be at the very best in the world, because Iknow

ä See SPIETH, page 3C

Scott Rabalais

STAFFFILE PHOTOByJOHNBALLANCE

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARTIN MEISSNER

Kylian MbappéofFrance celebrates after his team’s quarterfinal win against Morocco on Thursday in Foxborough, Mass.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS FILEPHOTO Jordan Spieth kisses the trophy after winning the British Open on July23, 2017, at RoyalBirkdale in Southport, England.

STAFF FILEPHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSU coach JayJohnson gives encouragement duringa CollegeWorld Series game against Arkansas on June 14, 2025, at Charles SchwabFieldinOmaha, Neb.The Tigers were able to hold on to 16 of the22players taken in the2026 MLB Draft

Sinner keeps evolving his game

The Wimbledon triumph over Zverev showcased the new variety in his play

BY ANDREW DAMPF AP sportswriter

LONDON A perfectly-placed topspin lob winner that sailed beyond reach of his 6-foot-6 opponent and landed on the outside of the baseline in the second game.

A delicate drop shot which made Alexander Zverev change direction so suddenly that the German player over-extended his right knee at a crucial point of the third set

Sure, there were plenty of the usual whizzing, missile-like baseline winners from Jannik Sinner in his four-set victory over Zverev in the Wimbledon final He also showed off the new variety of his game, though — which came in handy when Zverev unleashed more power than he had used before against the top-ranked player

The variety of shots were what Sinner’s two coaches, Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi, appreciated most from their player in Sunday’s match.

Just like the Big Three and Big Four before them — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray Sinner, Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz (who is out injured) are continually evolv-

ing their games, Cahill noted.

“Alexander is now playing a different style of tennis against Jannik,” Cahill said. “We know Jannik is going to have to improve in certain areas to handle that type of game. Carlos is going to come back really strong, as well — as we all hope You need to keep adding things to his game.

“We saw a lot of the stuff he doesn’t normally like doing, even in the final today: sliced backhands, a couple lobs, couple drop shots. Really stepping up when he needed to in the big moments.”

Deficit to Alcaraz in Slams count Sinner’s second consecutive Wimbledon victory matched the two titles that Alcaraz won before him at the All England Club and raised his overall tally to ﬁve Grand Slams — narrowing the gap to Alcaraz’s seven Alcaraz missed the French Open and Wimbledon this year due to a right wrist injury and it remains unclear if he’ll return in time for the year’s ﬁnal Grand Slam at the U.S Open.

Zverev’s performance in London leapfrogged him ahead of Alcaraz into the No 2 spot when the new rankings were released Monday

Zverev’s run on the grass followed his ﬁrst major title at the French Open last month – after Sinner’s stunning second-round meltdown in Paris.

“Big, big respect to Sascha, because he’s doing something

amazing. His game is growing and growing,” Sinner said, using Zverev’s nickname. “You have always someone who is pushing you to the limit. We hope that Carlos is coming back, as well, because tennis needs him.

“Having Novak still around, having all the young players coming, it’s really, really nice,” added Sinner, who beat the 39-year-old Djokovic in the semifinals. “At the same time, you always need to work hard.”

Sinner’s mom couldn’t watch

Sinner twice had to come back from a set down in a ﬁve-set marathon against Miomir Kecmanovic in the ﬁrst round — when he also had to deal with blood seeping through his shoe due to a toenail issue. He didn’t lose another set until Zverev unleashed a barrage of serves at up to 139 mph (224 kph) and backed those up with huge forehands to the corners.

Sinner knew he had a challenge to face when the ﬁrst-set tiebreaker was decided by an inside-out forehand winner from Zverev

So did Sinner’s mom, Siglinde, who couldn’t bare to watch some of the more tense moments on Centre Court.

“My mom, I see her, she left the stadium a couple of times,” Sinner said on court during his victory speech, glancing over after she had returned in time for the trophy ceremony “It’s not easy.”

Chasing the sun

Amid stiﬂing heat and humidity in Paris in late May, Sinner had his 30-match winning streak ended after coming within one game of a straight-set victory over Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who was ranked No. 56.

Sinner went in for medical exams in Milan after the Paris defeat and acknowledged during Wimbledon that doctors discovered what was bothering him — without revealing the details.

“His medical records are his medical records. We won’t speak about any of that,” Cahill said. “But it’s up to us to make some changes, to do some little things differently.”

Sinner now leaves the court often between sets to refresh himself, change his shirt and get a moment of air-conditioning. During another heat wave the week before Wimbledon began, he used an ice vest to cool down.

“Look, he’s a redhead that lives in the north of Italy that grew up in the snow and the Alps. Hot weather is a little bit different for him than it is for most people,” Cahill said.

“The more time he spends in the heat, the better he’s going to be at it,” Cahill added. “We might even make some changes to the preseason, chasing the sun a little bit more, getting him more acclimatized to playing in these types of conditions.”

Win helps Blaney close NASCAR points lead

BY CHARLES ODUM

sportswriter

HAMPTON, Ga. — His thick moustache wasn’t the only feature that made Ryan Blaney look like Richard Petty in a dominant performance at EchoPark Speedway Blaney drove like NASCAR’s King while ruling the Cup Series race from qualifying through every stage in a weather-delayed victory which left the Team Penske Ford driver in contention for the points championship.

Blaney won every stage after starting on the pole and led 171 laps in his win. The race was delayed 3 hours, 9 minutes by rain and lightning and ended at 1:45 a.m. on Monday The 171 laps led are the most at a drafting-style track since Petty led 184 of 200 laps for his first Daytona 500 win in 1964.

As a result, Blaney is third in the NASCAR points race, only 65 behind leader Denny Hamlin Tyler Reddick is second.

Even Blaney was shocked to learn he is in the thick of the championship race heading into Sunday’s race at North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

“Really?” Blaney asked when told he is only 65 points out of the lead “Wow! Wow!”

It was a race to remember for Blaney and Team Penske Blaney’s dominance began when he won the pole while joined by Team Penske teammate Joey Logano on the front row He then survived the long weather delay to answer every challenge while winning Stage 1, Stage 2 and then surviving a three-wide battle on the ﬁnal lap.

“I couldn’t ask for a better weekend,” Blaney said. “Sat on the pole, won both stages and won the race.

“My car was incredibly fast, leading. I could defend moves without having to throw, like, lowpercentage blocks. I just never really did that.”

Blaney knew he had the speed to recover if he brieﬂy lost the lead.

“Some moves are kind of un-

beatable to defend as the leader,” he said. “I would just let people get to my inside. If they passed me, great, I think I can probably develop a run to get them back.”

Blaney’s crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, made the crucial decision to keep the No. 12 Ford on the track after Blaney brushed the wall with 29 laps remaining. Blaney worried he felt a “terrible” vibration following the contact with the wall but Hassler was able to quickly determine there was no serious damage.

“We were able to get some pictures really quick, see that the damage wasn’t too bad,” Hassler said. “Obviously we saw there was a little bit. We looked at it, there were 30 cars on the lead lap, not a lot of laps left. Our chance to win was to stay out, take a little bit of a risk. Fortunately it worked out for us.”

Blaney fought off challenges from Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell, who ﬁnished second, on the ﬁnal lap. Carson Hocevar and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top four

NCAA women’s tourney to seed top 16 teams

Beginning with next year’s NCAA women’s basketball tournament, the top 16 teams will be placed in the bracket in their true ranking regardless of conference afﬁliation.

In the past, the top four teams in a conference would be placed in different regions to protect them from playing each other until the Final Four For example, the tournament this past season had four SEC teams in the top eight overall seeds. Texas was third, South Carolina fourth, LSU ﬁfth and Vanderbilt seventh LSU was dropped down to seventh and Vanderbilt eighth in the bracketing to avoid having them be in the same regions. Now if that happened going forward, the teams would remain where their seeds should have them.

Struggling A’s dismiss pitching coach Emerson

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Heading into the All-Star break on a brutal nine-game losing streak, the Athletics dismissed pitching coach Scott Emerson on Monday Emerson was a longtime staple of the A’s organization, joining as a minor league pitching coach in 2002 and coaching at several of the club’s afﬁliates for over a decade. He was hired as the A’s bullpen coach in 2014 and served in that role for three seasons before getting elevated to pitching coach in 2017. Many things have gone wrong for the A’s (41-55) in a stretch that has seen them lose 17 of their past 20 games.

As a starting staff, the 5.30 ERA posted by the A’s rotation also ranks 29th in MLB.

Case of Rams’ Jackson assigned for diversion

LOS ANGELES Los Angeles Rams left tackle Alaric Jackson, who was arrested on June 9 on suspicion of felony domestic violence, has the opportunity to avoid criminal charges.

Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office spokesman Ivor Pine confirmed in a statement to The Associated Press on Monday that Jackson’s case has been assigned for a pre-filing diversion available to eligible individuals. The City Attorney Hearing is an alternative to misdemeanor criminal prosecution.

Though charges will not be filed against Jackson at this time, the case remains open and can be re-evaluated if there are more developments.

Schwarber to lead off for NL in All-Star Game

PHILADELPHIA Kyle Schwarber of the host Philadelphia Phillies will lead off for the National League in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game as the replacement for designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, who is skipping the showcase to have a knee procedure ahead of the season’s second half. Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene and two New York Yankees, first baseman Ben Rice and outfielder Cody Bellinger, gained American League starting spots because of injuries. Rice, third in the major leagues with 29 home runs behind Schwarber (32) and the Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez (31), starts at first because Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr is skipping the game to rest a bad back. Guerrero’s initial replacement, the Athletics’ Nick Kurtz, sprained a thumb.

Wallace was penalized for passing below the double yellow lines and ﬁnished 29th instead of second.

Blaney said he didn’t have the best-handling car but enjoyed being able to rely on his superior speed with the race on the line.

“That was kind of a fun dynamic of my car is really fast, handles a little worse than theirs,” Blaney said. “Their car handles better but isn’t quite as quick down the straightaway Fun how all that played out.”

Now Blaney will continue to chase the Toyotas of Hamlin and Reddick for the points lead. Blaney’s strategy is simple: “Just keep doing what we’re doing.”

Asked if he can win the championship, Blaney said “I don’t think it’s out of the question.

“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing. That surprises me we’re that close. I think before San Diego I was like 160 out. It shows you how quick things can kind of ebb and ﬂow Never know when we can get there or not.”

USWNT, reigning champ Spain set to play friendly

PHILADELPHIA The U.S women’s soccer team will return to town in October for a game that will be about as big as a friendly gets. The reigning Olympic champions will face reigning World Cup champion Spain at Subaru Park on Oct. 13, three days after the teams open a two-game set in Washington. It will be the U.S. women’s team’s 16th all-time visit to the region, dating back to 1991, and its 10th game at the Union’s home Its last game at Lincoln Financial Field was soon after the team’s 2019 World Cup title, when it set an attendance record for a standalone friendly that the venue still holds. Various rounds

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By KIN CHEUNG

Jannik Sinner of Italy plays a return to Alexander Zverev of Germany during the men’s singles final at Wimbledon on Sunday in London.

England hopes to double up

Sports fans in Great Britain

dreaming of super Sunday

BY STEVE DOUGLAS Associated Press

SOUTHPORT, England How’s

this for a dreamy scenario for English sports fans on Sunday?

An Englishman becomes “the champion golfer of the year” by winning the British Open at Royal Birkdale. Then, a few hours later, England’s soccer team wins the World Cup.

“It would be mega,” said Matt Wallace, one of 21 English golfers in the ﬁeld for the ﬁnal major of 2026 taking place on the northwest coast of England starting Thursday So, is this joyous sporting double a possibility? Sure. A probability? That would be pushing it. It might be the most wellknown fact in all of sports in these parts that England — where soccer is king — hasn’t won the World Cup since 1966. This year, the men’s team is into the semifinals and will face Lionel Messi and Argentina on Wednesday

Less known is that no Englishman has won the Open Championship in England

SPIETH

Continued from page 1C

that I can be. I have been. It’s nice to have the blueprint.”

The blueprint was nearly a decade ago — the pursuit of the calendar Grand Slam that ended with a bogey on the 17th hole at St. Andrews in 2015, his British Open title two years later, and playing in the final group at Carnoustie in 2018 as he tried to keep possession of the claret jug. He feels he is on the right track and keeps getting a bad hand. The analogy he used earlier this year was having a bad shoe at the blackjack table, staying put because as soon as he walks away, fortunes surely will turn.

He’s still at the table.

“I’m quite frustrated with the results considering I know where my game is at,” Spieth said. “It’s better than it was four or ﬁve years ago when I got back to top 10 in the world. It’s without a doubt better than it was

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ly,” Fitzpatrick said of the Thursday/Friday tee times. “That would be great.” They weren’t so lucky. Each of the ﬁrst eight groups to go out in the ﬁrst round on Thursday will contain an Englishman.

World Cup effect

RABALAIS

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2. How do you feel if you’re No. 41 on the LSU athletic donor list? Has that person been glumly trudging away from the mailbox day after day, ﬁnding only unsolicited timeshare offers and some random coupons in there?

within the SEC for an example, has already done that. It’s asking a lot to believe, but perhaps LSU’s hierarchy has come up with something truly novel.

since Tony Jacklin in 1969.

Soccer fans call it six decades of hurt, and the wait is getting excruciating for the golfers, too. Indeed, since Jacklin, only one Englishman has won the Open, and that was Nick Faldo — three times (1987, ’90 and ’92) and all of them in Scotland Local lad is fan favorite

Tommy Fleetwood might be England’s best bet this year and boy how the locals would celebrate a win As a kid, Fleetwood lived just around the corner from Royal Birkdale, which he’d sneak on when accompanying his father, Peter, on evening dog walks. He’s the poster boy for this championship but is aware he’s sharing the limelight with the country’s more

then. It’s just not quite showing up in results.

“At the same time, it’s a stay-the-course mentality,” he said. “Sometimes you get rewarded right away, like I did back then maybe in a bit of a lucky fashion, and I understand that sometimes it’s delayed. And that’s how it feels like it is right now. So I’m just waiting for that opportunity.”

The return to Royal Birkdale at least allows him to remember how it felt to walk up to the 18th green with victory secure, sitting on the edge of a pot bunker with the claret jug as dozens of photographers captured the image of a 23-year-old often referred to then as “Golden Child.”

What he can’t relive is the finish. He lost the lead on the 13th hole even though his bogey felt like stealing a shot — he took a penalty drop from a dune covered in high grass, hit a blind shot from the driving range and limited the damage with a chip-and-putt for bogey, just like always. Then came the 6-iron he

their experiences,” Johnson said. “It helps when you get a Derek Curiel or a Jake Brown getting drafted as high as they did at LSU. Having ﬁve top-six overall picks in ﬁve years, we’re not selling something we don’t know something about.”

After Curiel was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the No. 5 overall pick on Saturday, he spoke about what he’d tell LSU’s signees regarding their decision to go pro or head to LSU.

“I’d tell them, do what’s best for you and always bet on yourself,” Curiel said. “It could work out two different ways. I mean, Konnor Grifﬁn (a former LSU signee) and I are on two completely different career paths.

“He was ready for the major leagues. He was ready for the minor leagues right out of high school, and it showed. For me, I wasn’t. I needed that development in college (and) it paid off So it’s different for every person.” Thoughts on Washington, Santarelli Washington and Santarelli were the biggest names LSU mustered through the draft. Despite both outﬁelders getting picked in the 18th round, they conﬁrmed on social media after the draft that they will be on campus for the 2027 season. Santarelli hit seven balls over 114 mph with a wood bat at the MLB Draft combine last month. The top recruit from Wisconsin was a top-85 prospect in the draft, according to ESPN.

“Dom’s performance at the MLB combine was pretty well documented,” Johnson said. “And there’s not many people on planet Earth that hit the baseball as hard as he does, and can impact the ball with authority, the way that he does.

“He’s also got really good strike zone discipline He’s a phenomenal human being,

globally recognized soccer players this week.

“For those guys, they deﬁnitely carry a nation on their shoulders a lot more than we do,” the No. 9-ranked Fleetwood said.

“They’ve been doing a great job.”

And yes, the soccer will be intruding on the golf.

On Monday, Matt Fitzpatrick — the highest-ranked English golfer at No 3 — pleaded to be given a later tee time for the ﬁrst round on Thursday The EnglandArgentina game kicks off at 8 p.m. local time on Wednesday night and wouldn’t ﬁnish until close to 11 p.m. if it goes to extra time and penalties.

“If anyone’s listening, it would be nice if all the English lads were late/ear-

nearly holed on the par-3 14th and the 50-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th hole —

“Go get that,” he famously said to caddie Michael Greller — and two more birdies.

“Maybe the best shot and best putt I’ve ever hit don’t exist anymore,” Spieth said with a smile.

The par-3 14th is gone now

The R&A instead wanted the 15th hole to play as No 14, and it built a new par-3 15th that measures 241 yards and has yet to get many positive reviews.

“Undecided,” Rory McIlroy said last week.

“As is always the case in par 3s, you have to wait until a tournament plays to see how the par 3 plays,” Tommy Fleetwood said on Monday Perhaps the biggest change for Spieth are the conditions. It was wet and green and lush in 2017, the wind coming out of the opposite direction. Now it is mostly yellow, brittle and ﬁrm, and much of England is coping with a heat wave.

Players were in shorts for the Monday practice round, which followed a “Last

great character

“It’s what you hope to get. It’s what pro baseball, oftentimes, doesn’t allow you to get from a talent standpoint.”

Washington has a chance to start in center ﬁeld as an athletic power hitter with excellent speed. He also grabbed a spot in the top 85 of ESPN’s draft rankings.

“Just really uncoachable tools,” Johnson said, “Speed, power, solid hitting skills, plays with a ton of conﬁdence. I’m very excited.”

Left-handed pitchers who can step up

LSU heads into next season with a deep stable of left-handed pitchers. The Tigers brought back Cooper Williams, Ethan Plog, Danny Lachenmayer and Jonah Aase, and added Lucas Nawrocki, Bradyn Cupit and Braxton Beaty from the high school ranks.

There’s talent within the group, but one could argue that the Tigers lack a reliable go-to option in tight spots. Johnson acknowledges that reality but he enters this fall conﬁdent that at least one arm will emerge as a top option.

Johnson expects Williams to bounce back from a poor sophomore season after showing promise as a freshman. Lachenmayer and Plog struggled in their ﬁrst year, but Johnson believes both players will be better in 2027, going so far as to label their 2026 seasons an “acclimation year.”

“That kind of pocket of those three guys, I’m expecting a much better contribution out of,” Johnson said. “If I didn’t, we probably would not have brought them back, but I believe that they will be better.”

He also said he thinks highly of the three freshmen LSU got through the draft, and said Aase will be ready to throw again this fall after missing all of last year recovering from Tommy John surgery

“Braxton Beaty pulling out of the draft was a big deal,” Johnson said. “I don’t know where he would have been drafted, but I believe he’s really really good.

“(Adding) Lucas is a big deal. I mean,

The World Cup effect is certainly evident around Royal Birkdale, which is a short drive from the soccer hotbed of Liverpool. Watching players on the practice putting green on Sunday was a young girl wearing an England jersey with “Bellingham” and “10” on the back — a nod to England star Jude Bellingham — and with a tattoo of the England ﬂag on each cheek.

R&A chief executive Mark Darbon has said the final round of the Open could be brought forward to avoid a clash with the World Cup ﬁnal, which begins at 8 p.m. local time. The last round might not ﬁnish until around 6:30 p.m. — and that’s if there’s no need for a playoff.

Just imagine if it’s Fleetwood making that late-evening walk down the 18th ahead of collecting the claret jug and watching England in the soccer ﬁnal.

“It would be outrageous,” said Roger Shutt, a 70-yearold Englishman who was one of the thousands of fans to attend Monday’s practice round.

“If they coincide, it’ll be a holiday for everyone.”

Chance Qualifier” that Joe Dean of England won with a 68 to secure his spot in the ﬁeld.

“It’s going to play quite different than the last time we were here,” Spieth said. “We’ve had an opposite wind, too, the last couple days. Holes that are close to being drivable become mid- to long irons, and just with the wind switch, the difference into and down are so dramatic over here that picking a strategy is going to be key.”

A change of scenery might not be the worse thing for Spieth. He arrived over the weekend and relived some of those shots in the closing stretch, at least on the holes still there. But at this stage in his career it’s more about looking forward.

“I’m always comparing myself a bit to myself at my best, but not to try to be the exact player just more so that I know that I can do it,” Spieth said. “I know my ceiling is where that level was, and so I’m going to strive for it with the type of player that I am now.”

We’ll leave that last one for now Like you, I don’t spend a lot of time pondering the mental outlook of multimillionaires.

The ﬁrst question is of course highly intriguing, as no word has yet spilled as to what that “alternative revenue generating opportunity” could be.

Initial thought naturally gravitates toward the notion that it could be some sort of private equity scheme. Southeastern Conference schools, in general, and LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry, in particular, have not gone chasing after private equity capital like an edge rusher pursuing a quarterback, but they haven’t ruled out the possibility either That said, a straight private equity deal wouldn’t live up to the hype in the letter of “quite possibly changing the future of college sports,” would it?

Private equity is a refuge of last resort for a wealthy athletic program like LSU. Yes, Louisiana the state may be poor, but its ﬂagship athletic department generated more than $220 million in 2024-25. While privae equity brings piles of cash needed by everyone in this NIL era, it’s money that comes not with strings but giant oil tanker-sized mooring lines attached.

Schools see their autonomy instantly eroded by these people who are mostly there seeking a return on their sizable investment, not because they love LSU or Whatever U. What if LSU’s big 40 donors are the ones asked to put up the private equity? That would be a group not only ﬁnancially but emotionally invested in LSU’s athletic success. But the letter said the meeting is “not an ask for money It’s not a fundraiser It’s informational.”

A timeshare pitch does come to mind once again, but maybe the letter is to be taken at its word. LSU could also be looking to detach its athletic program into an LLC, but that’s not new either Kentucky, just searching

there’s plenty of ability there. You can look up the performance in high school. You can look up the metrics from a pro side, and you can piece together what we believe he’s going to be capable of doing.”

Why Nawrocki will play both ways

LSU has added an abundance of players with two-way ability since Johnson took over the program. Paul Skenes, Jake Brown, Gavin Guidry and Casan Evans were all talented athletes who arrived in Baton Rouge as possible contributors on the mound and at the plate.

But Johnson decided to peg all of them to one side of the ball once their careers in Baton Rouge began. In fact, the only Tiger who’s been used as a two-way player under Johnson is Dalton Beck, who played a small role on LSU’s 2025 national championship team.

That trend, however, is set to be broken this fall with Nawrocki, who Johnson says LSU would’ve recruited as an outﬁelder if he were just an outﬁelder or as a pitcher if he were just a pitcher

“He’s going to do both at LSU,” Johnson said.

So what makes Nawrocki different than, say, an eventual Cy Young Award winner in Skenes?

“Paul was a legitimate two-way player too,” Johnson said.

“The only way that changes is if it becomes in the best interest of the player (to play one side of the ball). And the difference there is that you have one year with Paul until he was going to be the ﬁrst pick in the draft.

“With Lucas, we have three years now before (he gets drafted). And just as I thought with Paul, it’s a different body type, but a player that could be drafted on both sides of the ball. And there was serious consideration by teams to draft him on both sides of the ball.”

Remaining signees help create depth LSU’s remaining signees help ﬁll up

Rousse, it’s certainly worth remembering here, is an economist by trade and helped raise millions in new support while president at McNeese State, once was a research specialist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and founded what his LSU bio calls an “alternative investment company.” Another Rousse bio says the company specialized “in a market strategy with an objective of absolute returns.” Absolute returns are what LSU, and athletic departments across the country, could use right now

I’m only speculating on what LSU might do, completely conﬁdent only in the knowledge that something must be done. It is a broken record of a statement by now, but the current trajectory of athletic spending is not sustainable.

LSU has found millions to invest in coaches buyouts and funding for roster building over this past unprecedented year, but it’s hard to imagine deep pockets are bottomless pockets.

Despite the protests of student-athletes like incoming LSU women’s basketball point guard Jada Williams, and the SEC and Big Ten writ large, college athletics does need some sort of outside oversight like the Protect College Sports Act. Schools are clearly unwilling and/ or incapable of policing themselves. If so, the money now earmarked for revenue sharing with athletes would eventually be workable as a budget line items for schools. But they insist on continuing to blow past it. Something like the PCSA must eventually come. Meanwhile, schools are looking for new revenue streams and or cutting back, as in cutting entire sports programs. That, to this writer is completely wrong thinking. Meanwhile, I’m trying to think of what LSU may have up its ﬁnancial sleeve. Word will come eventually How much impact it has remains to be seen. Email Scott Rabalais at srabalais@theadvocate. com.

roster needs at multiple spots that needed insurance.

On the mound, Coleton Brady, Sides and Stringer are a trio of right-handed pitchers who can start midweek games immediately and work their way into bigger roles as the season progresses. All three arms drew interest from MLB clubs as prospects Stringer and Sides were top-110 players in the draft, per MLB.com, and Brady was a top-75 prospect in The Athletic’s rankings.

“I think (because of) the pro demographic of being scared off by high school righthanders,” Johnson said, “Major league teams beneﬁted us in getting both of them (Stringer and Sides) onto campus And I’m thankful for that.

“I think Coleton is incredibly mature, both physically and mentally I think he’ll get the beneﬁt of (being) a three-year college performer.”

On the position player side, Johnson is excited to have added shortstop Parker Loew third baseman Jordan Martinez, third baseman Luke Tucker and ﬁrst baseman Dylan Minnatee as freshmen to a position player group that had already entered the draft with a strong lineup. Johnson also mentioned using Martinez as a two-way player One scout had told The Advocate before the draft that he thought Martinez could be a pitcher in the future.

“Parker is a true, true shortstop. He has elite, elite defensive ability I’m really excited about that,” Johnson said. “Jordan’s got tremendous power He is also an excellent defensive player

“Luke Tucker is another one I’m really excited about (as a) left-handed hitting infielder On the first base side, Dylan Minnatee is a left-handed hitter and a tremendous first baseman.

“Very similar to Tre Morgan in terms of talent (and) ability.”

Email Koki Riley at koki.riley@ theadvocate.com.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GERALD HERBERT Tommy Fleetwood waves after a putt at the U.S. Open on June 19 at Shinnecock Hills golf club in Southampton, N.y Fleetwood is a fan favorite for the upcoming British Open.

WORLDCUP 2026

Whichsemifinalist should yourootfor?

BY STEVE DOUGLAS Associated Press

So, your team of choice has been knocked out of the World Cup. You want to keep watching,but you may need arooting interest to stay invested. The idea of supporting any team butyourown maybeunfathomable to some, but we’re not going to call you afair-weather fan. In fact, we’re here to help, witha handy guide to the semiﬁnalists.

We’ve included the odds of each team winning the ﬁnal, based on various U.S. sportsbooks as of early Sunday,and even thrown in the chants you need to ﬁt right in. Here are your options,in alphabetical order

Argentina

ODDS OF LIFTING THE TROPHY: +360 (bet $10, win $36)

STAR PLAYER: Have you heard of this man called Lionel Messi?

WHATTOKNOW: TheArgentines are looking to become the ﬁrst nation

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play last year

“I believe if France has to fear anyone, it should be us,in my opinion,” Yamal said after Spain’squarterﬁnal victory over Belgium.

“Wewere the ones that knocked them out before.”

The teen has only one goal while putting 10 shots on target after coming into this World Cup still nursing aleft hamstring issue that forced him to miss theﬁnal weeks of the season forSpanish club Barcelona.

France defender Jules Koundé also plays for Barcelona, so he knows Yamal well and didn’t feel disrespected by those comments.

“For me he is asign of conﬁdence. He always doesitwith (Barcelona). He trusts alot in his virtues, in the virtues of the team where he plays,” Koundé said in translated remarks.

“So Isee nothing as an extra motivation forhim andthat’sit, that’sall.”

Spain has outscored opponents 10-1 since astunningscoreless draw against surprising Cape Verde to open groupplay, butLa Roja needed latedecisive goals from Merino after he entered the last two gamesasasecond-half substitute.

All while goaltender Unai Simón set aWorld Cup recordof 650 minutes without allowing a goal until Belgium found the net in the 41st minute of their quarterﬁnal game.

“I think that from the first game until today,the team needed to catch the rhythm, we had been without seeing each other fora long time,” Spain midfielder Alex Baena said, adding thatwith more gamesand practices “the better the team has been.” Merino scoredinthe 88th minute for that 2-1 win over Belgium on Friday.That came after the Arsenalforward’s goal in thefirst minute of second-halfstoppage time for the 1-0 win over Portugalinthe round of 16 at thesame stadium where Spain’ssemifinal match will be played.

Quartetofpastchampions

This is the first World Cup since 1990 thateach of thefinal four teams are former champions. Messi and defending champion Argentina, which beat France for the title in 2022, play England in the other semifinal match Wednesday in Atlanta.

Thechampionship match is Sunday at MetLife Stadiumin

to retain the men’sWorld Cup title since Brazil in 1962. Messi —yes, him —isthe World Cup’sall-time leading scorer with 21 goals and has atournament-topping eight goalsthis year

CHANT OF CHOICE: “Vamos, vamos Argentina”(“Let’s go,Argentina”)

CHOOSE THIS TEAM IF YOULIKE: Safe bets, ﬂavorful steak, supremely talentedNo. 10s. England

ODDS OF LIFTING THE TROPHY: +330 (bet$10, win $33)

STAR PLAYERS: Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham

WHATTOKNOW: It hasn’tbeen spoken about much but England’s men’steam hasn’t wona major tournament since the 1966 World Cup. The English inventedsoccer but have rarely been the best at it.

CHANTOF CHOICE: “It’scoming home”

CHOOSETHIS TEAM IFYOU LIKE: Oasis, lions, ﬁsh and chips, decades of pain.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

Lamine yamal of Spain waves after his team beat Belgium on Friday in Inglewood, Calif.

East Rutherford, New Jersey, across the river from New York City.A third-place game will be played SaturdayinMiami Gardens,Florida.

In their only previousWorld Cupmeeting, France beat Spain 3-1 in aroundof16game at the 2006 tournamentinGermany

Both teams have won the World Cup since then. Spain claimed its only title in 2010, and France won its second World Cupin2018. France, which willbeplaying on itscountry’sBastille Day national holiday,istrying to join five-time champion Braziland four-time winnerGermany as theonlyteamstomake three consecutiveWorld Cupﬁnals.Brazil did it in 1994, 1998 and 2002 winning two titles and losing to host France in the middle of that run. Germany’schampionship in 1990 came after being runner-up in theprevious two World Cups —all playing as West Germany at thetime.

Argentina beat France in apenalty shootout in 2022after playing to a3-3 draw.

Wrapping up in Dallas

AT&T Stadium in North Texas will be hosting its tournamenthigh ninthgame, and in that onemonthrun there have been some soccer superstar moments in the building that hashosteda Super Bowl andNCAAchampionship games for footballand men’s basketball.

Messiscored threegoals in Argentina’stwo group games, the first on June 22 when after missing apenalty kick he broke the World Cupcareer scoringmark with thefirst of his twogoalsin a2-0 win over Austria. He added another goal as alatesubstitute in the group finale June 27 against Jordan Cristiano Ronaldo,the 41-yearold superstar from Portugal, finished hissixth andfinalWorld Cup in the1-0 round of 16 lossto SpainonJuly 6

France

ODDS OF LIFTINGTHE TROPHY: +150 (bet $10, win$15)

STAR PLAYERS: Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise

WHAT TO KNOW: France was the championin2018, therunner-up in 2022 and manypeople’s favorite this year.France’sdeparting coach,DidierDeschamps, is alreadya WorldCup great, having won thetitle as France’scaptain in 1998 and led the team to the trophy 20 yearslater

CHANT OF CHOICE: “Allez les bleus” (“Go Blues”)

CHOOSE THISTEAM IF YOULIKE: Baguettes,big towers, Champagne, fearsome attacks.

Spain

ODDS OF LIFTINGTHE TROPHY: +330 (bet $10, win$33)

STAR PLAYERS: Rodri, Lamine Yamal WHAT TO KNOW: Spain hadn’tconcededa goal in ﬁve games, until thequarterﬁnalagainstBelgium. And in Yamal,the team hasa

wingerwho wasa 16-year-old revelation on its way to winning the European Championship in 2024. It’s Yamal’sbirthdayon Monday,when he’ll be the vet-

eran age of 19.

CHANTOFCHOICE: “Lolololo

CHOOSETHIS TEAM IF YOULIKE: Tapas, shutouts, possession soccer,precociouswingers.

Ex-Spanish leader criticized for comments aboutFrenchteam

BY SUMAN NAISHADHAM Associated Press

MADRID Aformer Spanish prime ministerisfacing criticism for saying that France’sWorld Cup team “does not have any French players,” which French andSpanish leaders have called racist. Mariano Rajoy,a member of Spain’sconservative Popular Party,made the comment in acolumn for Spanish outlet El Debate ahead of Tuesday’sWorld Cup semiﬁnal match between the European neighbors.

“They’ve won every match they’ve played at this World Cup and arecurrently top of theFIFA rankings. They also have an exceptionally strong squad. That said, onething they don’thaveis any Frenchplayers,” Rajoy wrote on July 10.

On Monday,French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrottold French broadcaster BFM TV that “France hasnoskin color.Any contrary claim stems from stupidity,racism or acombination of the two.”

Aday earlier, French Football FederationPresidentPhilippe Diallo wrote on Xthat “Mariano Rajoy’s remarks about the French team carry intolerable whiffs of racism,”addingthat“they also

raisequestions aboutthe deplorable climate that gives rise to suchsentiments. Our players do not need acertiﬁcate of nationality from aformer Spanish prime minister.”

Aspokespersonfrom Rajoy’s PopularParty on Monday said the remarks were sarcastic and made without malice.

“These columns arewritten without ill intent,” spokesperson BorjaSémpersaid. “This expressionisusedwithout ill intent.”

Spain’sruling Socialistgovernment swiftly condemned the remarks by Rajoy,who was prime minister from 2011 to 2018.

On Sunday,Prime MinisterPedroSánchez referencedthe comments without naming his predecessor,writing on X: “There are those who still measure belonging by surname, place of birth, or skin color.Others measure it by our roots in acountry andour will to contribute to it. Playing soccer Caring for our elders. Or opening businesses.France, we’ll seeyou in thesemiﬁnals. May the best one win and may racism lose.”

France will face Spain on Tuesday at the homeofthe NFL’sDallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas. France midﬁelder Warren ZaireEmery was asked about the commentsthe daybeforethe game in a newsconference at the venue and said he hadn’tseen them.

“This French team has players fromdifferent backgrounds and origins,” Zaire-Emery said through atranslator.“So does the country.Weare aunited group, a united team,and that’sall that matters.”

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares also spoke out Monday,saying the Popular Party’sleader,Alberto Núñez Feijóo, needed to disavow the remarks. It’s notthe first time France’s team has faced racism during this year’sWorld Cup.

Earlier this month, France captain and star player KylianMbappé condemned aParaguayan senator over remarks she madefollowing Paraguay’sloss to France in the round of 16.

Celeste Amarilla, asenator from Paraguay’sLiberal Radical Party, posted aseries of comments on Xmockingthe French player’s origins, upbringing, education and appearance after France won on July 4with apenalty by Mbappé.

DeathofSouth AfricanWorld Cup player Adamsbeing investigated

BY GERALD IMRAY Associated Press

CAPE TOWN,South Africa Police said Mondaytheyare investigating the deathofSouth African soccer player Jayden Adams after his body was discovered this weekend at apropertyinCape Town.

The 25-year-old Adams died two weeks after helping South Africa reach the knockout stage of a World Cup for theﬁrst time.

Authorities have notreleased a cause of death.

“CapeTown centralpolice registeredaninquest forinvestigation following the discovery of the body of a25-year-old maleonSaturday,”policesaid in astatement sent to The Associated Press. “Circumstances surrounding this incident are under investigation.” Police said the body was discovered at apropertyinthe neighborhood of Schotsche Kloof at around 11 a.m. Saturday but gave no more details.

Adams’father,JuanitoAdams, told South African TV news station eNCA on Sunday that the family was awaiting theresults of an autopsy and had not yet madeany funeral plans. “As youall know,itwas an un-

timely death. The family is struggling to process it,” Juanito Adams said. “It won’t be easy to carry on. People say it will becomeeasier, but it won’t.You just learn to live with it.” Adams played in all three of South Africa’sgroup games as it produced itsbestperformance at theWorld Cup. He did not feature in the 1-0 loss to Canada in the round of 32 on June 28. South AfricaSportsMinister Gayton McKenzie said Adamshad played in his team’sgroup game against Czech Republic hours after learning that his grandmother had died. McKenzie asked the public and media to “exercise restraintand compassion” andnot speculate on the cause of Adams’ death while authorities conduct an investigation. Moments of silence and tributes forAdams wereheldatthe England vs. Norway and Argentina vs. Switzerland quarterﬁnal

Rajoy

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByTHOMAS PADILLA

French fans in Parisreact after Francedefeated Morocco during their WorldCup quarterfinal match on Friday in Foxborough, Mass.

Liberty’s future a mystery despite Cup title

BY DOUG FEINBERG AP basketball writer

NEW YORK The WNBA season is at its midway point and no team has been more of a mystery than the New York Liberty

The Liberty have proven they can beat the elite teams in the league with victories over Minnesota and Las Vegas. New York became the ﬁrst team to win the Commissioner’s Cup championship twice with a victory over Las Vegas this month.

They’ve also shown inconsistencies with losses to Seattle, Toronto and Portland. New York has lost three straight games.

Injuries have caused problems again for New York as prized free agent acquisition Satou Sabally has been limited to 13 games so far She hasn’t played since June 25 while dealing with another concussion. The Liberty also missed star guard Sabrina Ionescu for the early part of the season ﬁrst with an ankle injury and then a back issue. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton has

been working her way back from a knee injury that kept her out all of last season.

The Liberty sit at 13-11 and are currently in seventh place in the standings. It’s a spot they aren’t accustomed to and one that they didn’t expect to be in.

New York can take some solace that Las Vegas was in a similar position last season, hovering at .500 before winning 16 consecutive games to close out the regular season last year en route to their third WNBA championship. Power poll rankings

The Golden State Valkyries have taken over the top spot in the power poll for the ﬁrst time in the franchise’s two-year history Golden State went 3-0 last week with road wins in Washington, Toronto and Connecticut. Minnesota fell to second. The Lynx were followed by Dallas, Las Vegas and Indiana. New York, Atlanta and Washington were next. Toronto was ninth and Los Angeles 10th. Portland, Chicago, Phoenix, Seattle and Connecticut rounded out the poll.

Change of leadership

Los Angeles has been struggling this season and parted ways with general manager Raegan Pebley on Sunday Pebley was hired as GM in January 2024 without any previous executive experience. The Sparks were 39-66 during her tenure, which included ﬁring coach Curt Miller in September 2024 after

Bills’ Allen is voted the NFL’s top quarterback by AP writers

BY ROB MAADDI AP pro football writer

Josh Allen doesn’t need to win a Super Bowl to be No. 1.

The Buffalo Bills’ franchise player was voted the NFL’s top quarterback by The Associated Press in a preseason survey

The 2024 AP NFL Most Valuable Player beat out Patrick Mahomes, who earned the top spot each of the three previous seasons.

Allen received five first-place votes from a panel of eight AP pro football writers, who ranked the top ﬁve quarterbacks entering the 2026 season. First-place votes were worth 10 points. Second through ﬁfth-place votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1 points.

Allen appeared on all eight ballots and also got one second-place vote, one third and one fourth.

Mahomes finished second just ahead of reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford. Lamar Jackson came in fourth and Joe Burrow was ﬁfth.

1. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

Allen followed up his MVP season with another excellent campaign in 2025, but the Bills had their streak of five straight AFC East titles ended by New England and were knocked out of the playoffs in the divisional round against Denver, costing coach Sean McDermott his job.

Allen threw for 3,668 yards, 25 TDs and had 10 picks for a 102.2 passer rating. He ran for 579 yards and 14 scores, making his fourth Pro Bowl and finishing third in MVP voting.

Allen and the Bills are still seeking their ﬁrst Super Bowl appearance since the 1993 season despite seven straight playoff appearances.

2. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Mahomes ﬁnished his worst season in the NFL on the sideline after suffering a torn ACL in Week 15

The Chiefs were 6-8 with Mahomes and lost all three games without him.

Still, the three-time Super Bowl MVP a unanimous choice for No.

1 in this survey in 2023 and 2024 — commands enough respect to earn two ﬁrst-place votes and ﬁnished second behind Allen. He had 3,587 yards passing for 22 TDs with 11

picks before going down with his first significant injury in the NFL. Mahomes is aiming to be ready for Week 1 as Kansas City tries to rebound from its first losing season under Andy Reid.

3. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

Stafford earned ﬁrst-team All-

Pro honors for the first time in his 17-year career, and beat out Drake Maye for his first NFL MVP award last season.

He got one ﬁrst-place vote, two seconds and appeared on all eight ballots in this year’s preseason survey The Rams went 14-6, including a pair of playoff victories and a loss to Seattle in the conference championship Stafford led the NFL with 4,707 yards passing and 46 TDs He threw eight picks and ﬁnished second to Maye with a 109.2 passer rating.

4. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

Jackson, a three-time All-Pro

and two-time NFL MVP, had his ﬁrst losing season as a starter, going 6-7, and the Baltimore Ravens missed the playoffs.

Jackson threw for 2,549 yards, 21 TDs and seven picks, posting a 103.8 passer rating. Jackson had a career-low 349 yards rushing and two scores. Jackson got two third-place votes and appeared on six ballots.

5. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

Burrow played only eight games last season because of a toe injury, leading the Bengals to a 5-3 record. It was the third time he played 10 or fewer games due to injuries.

Burrow bounced back the following season to win the AP Comeback Player of the Year award the previous two times.

The three-time Pro Bowl QB threw for 1,809 yards, 17 TDs and ﬁve picks with a passer rating of 100.7. Burrow appeared on five ballots with one thirdplace vote.

McGregor outlines plan for surgery, rehab and another ﬁght

Conor McGregor outlined a plan for surgery, rehabilitation and another fight following his knee injury in his shortened UFC 329 fight with Max Holloway “Surgery. Prehab. Return to martial arts practice. Go again. Final ﬁght of the contract. Please God!” McGregor wrote on Instagram on Monday. McGregor’s first fight in five years lasted only 1 minute, 9 seconds because of a knee injury sus-

tained while attempting an opening roundhouse kick on Saturday McGregor’s return to the octagon was highly anticipated but ended in disappointment when he awkwardly landed on his right knee in the opening seconds. McGregor went to the mat two more times in failed attempts to continue before the scheduled ﬁveround match was halted by the referee. On Sunday, McGregor’s manager, John Kavanagh, said his client did not have a previous knee injury

“That opening jump switch kick was drilled daily for months, multiple times in warmup. Never an issue,” Kavanagh wrote on Facebook. “Knee went when he (threw) the very first kick. Doesn’t get any worse than this.” Following the ﬁght, McGregor also said he had no previous injury “I was throwing kicks, planted and jumping, all throughout camp as well as backstage before the fight,” McGregor said on X. “I had no injury / injuries going into the ﬁght.”

two seasons. He was succeeded by Lynne Roberts, who went 21-23 in her ﬁrst season last year

The Sparks currently are 10-11, including consecutive wins over the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky

They are ninth in the WNBA standings and have not made the playoffs since 2020. The franchise won league championships in 2001, 2002 and 2016.

Player of the week

Paige Bueckers of Dallas was the AP player of the week The guard averaged 23.7 points 7.7 assists and 6.3 rebounds to help the Wings win all three of their games last week. Other players receiving votes included Kelsey Mitchell of Indiana and Janelle Salaun of Golden State.

Record breaking week

Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve secured the most regular-season wins in WNBA history with a victory over the Connecticut Sun last week. She broke a tie with Mike Thibault atop the all-time wins list. Reeve had said it was a distraction to her team leading up to the record-breaking win, which took three tries to achieve.

Game of the week

Golden State at Indiana, Wednesday The Valkyries will close out their road trip with a stop in Indiana to face the Fever, who are returning home after a 3-1 west coast swing. Indiana swept a pair of games from Las Vegas on the trip.

Chiefs’ Reid voted the NFL’s top head coach for 4th-straight season

BY ROB MAADDI AP pro football writer

Big Red is No. 1 again. Andy Reid was voted the NFL’s No. 1 coach by The Associated Press in a preseason survey for the fourth straight year

Despite coming off his ﬁrst losing season in Kansas City, Reid remains the standard for coaches.

A panel of eight AP pro football writers ranked the top ﬁve coaches entering the 2026 season. Firstplace votes were worth 10 points. Second through ﬁfth-place votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1 points.

Reid, who has three Super Bowl rings and leads both Kansas City and Philadelphia in all-time wins, received ﬁve ﬁrst-place votes and one second. He was left off two ballots.

Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay got the other three ﬁrstplace votes and ﬁnished second.

Seattle’s Mike Macdonald, who led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl title last season, finished third. San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan placed fourth and Denver’s Sean Payton came in ﬁfth.

Nick Sirianni, John Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh, Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson also received votes.

1. Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs had 12 straight winning seasons, made 11 playoff appearances, won nine consecutive AFC West titles and reached ﬁve Super Bowls in six years before going 6-11 in 2025.

Injuries slowed the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes ended up suffering a season-ending knee injury in Week 15 last season.

Reid won more games than any coach in the history of the Eagles before going to Kansas City and doing the same with the Chiefs, along with winning three Lombardis.

From 1999-2012 in Philadelphia, Reid guided the Eagles to five NFC title games and one Super Bowl. He is fourth on the NFL’s all-time career list with 307 victories.

2. Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams

The Rams fell short against the Seahawks in the NFC title game in January after going 12-5 and winning two playoff games on

the road.

The 40-year-old McVay has led Los Angeles to one Super Bowl title, two NFC championships, four division titles, seven double-digit win seasons and seven playoff appearances in nine years. McVay got four second-place votes along with the three ﬁrsts and was on seven of eight ballots.

3. Mike Macdonald, Seattle Seahawks

Macdonald led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl victory in just his second season, beating New England 29-13 to capture the franchise’s second NFL title.

At age 38, he became the thirdyoungest head coach to win a Lombardi behind McVay (36) and Mike Tomlin (36). The Seahawks went 10-7 in Macdonald’s ﬁrst season in 2024. He previously spent two years as the defensive coordinator in Baltimore. His “Dark Side” defense allowed an NFL-low 292 points (17.2 per game) last season. Macdonald appeared on seven ballots, getting three third-place votes.

4. Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers

Shanahan is the only coach on the top 5 list who hasn’t won a Super Bowl. He guided the injury-depleted 49ers to a 12-5 record last season and a Week 18 matchup against Seattle for the No. 1 seed. San Francisco beat Philadelphia on the road in the playoffs before losing to Seattle in the divisional round.

In nine seasons, Shanahan has led the 49ers to ﬁve playoff appearances and two Super Bowl appearances, including an overtime loss to Kansas City

5. Sean Payton, Denver Broncos Payton led the Broncos to a 14-3 record and the AFC’s No. 1 seed last season in his third year in Denver They fell short against New England in the AFC championship game after quarterback Bo Nix was injured in the divisional round win against Buffalo. Payton, who won a Super Bowl with New Orleans, has taken the Broncos to the playoffs twice in three seasons.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JOHN RAOUX

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen looks for a receiver during a wild-card playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Jan. 11 in Jacksonville, Fla.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JEFF LEWIS Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is seen during a game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Jan. 4 in Las Vegas.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GRAHAM HUGHES

Toronto Tempo’s Julie Allemand defends against New york Liberty’s Pauline Astier during a game in Montreal on Sunday.

MLB pitchers throwing harder than ever

Average fastball velocity is up for sixth straight year to 94.7 mph

BY RONALD BLUM Associated Press

NEW YORK Chad Tracy notices how much baseball has changed in the 13 years since he took his last big league at-bat.

“You watch a Triple-A game, most everybody that’s coming out of the bullpen left-handed or right-handed is throwing 95-plus,” the Boston Red Sox manager said “Back in the day, it was you’d get a lead and you’d get to the lower part of a bullpen and you’d see some guys coming out throwing 88.”

Heading into the All-Star break, velocity is on track to set a record for the sixth straight season

Four-seam fastballs averaged 94.7 mph through Saturday, up from 94.5 mph last year, 93.7 mph in 2021 and 91.9 mph when Major League Baseball first started tracking in 2008. The average was 94.4 mph for the first half of 2025, and this year’s final figure could increase by a tick.

“Definitely expecting anybody you’ve never heard of to throw a 95-plus,” said the New York Mets’ Marcus Semien, a three-time AllStar who made his major league debut in 2013, when four-seamers averaged 92.7 mph. “Before you’d know who the guys were who were throwing 98. Now, you just expect that this new guy is probably throwing 98. So that shows how everybody’s trained.”

Expectations have changed. In

David Auburn’s “Proof,” which won the 2001 Pulitzer Price for Drama, a mathematical research work is described as “streamlined: no wasted moves, like a 95-mile-anhour fastball. It’s just elegant.”

That ﬁgure no longer is notable.

Right-handed pitchers are averaging 95.2 mph in 2026, up from 95.0 mph last year Right-handed relievers are averaging 95.6 mph.

The Triple-A average of 93.6 mph is up from 92.7 mph when tracking started at that level in 2022.

“People are learning the biomechanics of the body a lot better and

it’s easier to ﬁgure out why people are throwing hard,” said Athletics pitcher Hogan Harris, whose fourseam average has increased from 92.6 mph as a rookie in 2023 to 95.0 mph this year “There’s so many young kids throwing hard now and then you see a lot younger people in the big leagues, so my thought is they see a guy that’s throwing 100 when he’s 22 and, boy, he’s not going to throw 100 when it’s 30, so let’s get in there now.”

Six pitchers are at 100 mph in average four-seam velocity led by a pair of relievers, the Athlet-

ics’ Mason Miller (101.3 mph) and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Edgardo Henriquez (100.6 mph).

Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski, a 24-year-old starter, is averaging 100.5 mph, up from 99.3 mph as a rookie last year He has thrown a big-league high of 670 pitches at 100 mph or higher The Brewers skipped his start Sunday because of arm fatigue.

“I think it’s always been there,” Misiorowski said. “Jumping up that next tick was really cool, so I think I’m happy where I’m at and I think is free and easy.”

As velocity increases, so does pitch mix among fastball types.

Four-seamers are 30.4% of pitches this season, down from 31.8% last year and 35.8% in 2019. Sinkers increased from 15.5% last year to 16.6% and cutters from 7.5% to 7.8%. Offspeed pitches rose from 13.6% to 14.3%.

“It is exponentially harder to hit, and I hit .200 in my career, so that should show you how well I would do in the game today The thing that I think gets me when I watch games is it’s not just one fastball anymore,” said New York Mets interim manager Andy Green, whose last big league season with extensive playing time was in 2006. “It’s easy for us that played a couple of decades ago to malign the offensive players for not hitting from a batting average perspective what used to be hit, but there’s so much to contend with, so much information, so much awareness of what hitter handles what fastball shape. The game’s gotten harder, there’s no doubt about it.”

Big league batters are hitting .244, just below last year’s .245 and above the .243 in 2024.

“At the end of the day, us as hitters have to ﬁnd a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on it,” Chicago Cubs third baseman and former LSU star Alex Bregman said. Hard-throwing has become part of youth player development, according to San Diego closer Mason Miller, who leads all pitchers with a 101.3 mph average for his fourseamer

“It’s kind of just been that trajectory,” he said. “But it’s hard to be successful for a long time and healthy for a long time doing it.”

Walker spoils Philly’s Schwarber party at Home Run Derby

BY DAN GELSTON Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA St. Louis outfielder Jordan Walker played spoiler on Monday in Philadelphia and homered on his last five swings to knock off Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber and silence the Philly boo birds in the final round, becoming the first Cardinal to win the Home Run Derby

Schwarber hit 11 homers during his 15-swing turn in the ﬁnal round. Philly fans, who booed everyone but Schwarber and Bryce Harper throughout the night, quietly headed toward the exits when Walker’s winning shot soared over the left ﬁeld wall.

Schwarber advanced out of the ﬁrst round and then beat Boston’s Willson Contreras in a head-tohead matchup in the second round to face off against Walker, who beat Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero. Schwarber, the major league baseball home run leader, had fans roaring on every swing.

Wearing a backward cap just like Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., the 24-year-old Walker chewed gum and seemed nonplussed by the jeers and the massive stage during All-Star Game festivities.

He hit his seventh homer with two swings remaining and his eighth on the next swing to earn bonus swings.

Needing to hit four straight homers to win, the right-handed Walker knocked one off the top of the center ﬁeld fence 401 feet away He reached 10 homers and Philly fans booed with all their might, only for Walker to cap the upset victory

Bryce Harper hit only eight home runs and was the final slugger of the round to try and advance. He provided a late jolt with Phillies fans at Citizens Bank Park going wild trying to will Harper into one more round.

Harper won in 2018 in Washington when he played for the Nationals.

Kansas City’s Jac Caglianone and New York Yankees slugger Ben Rice also failed to advance.

Contreras and Walker each hit 13, and Caminero had 12.

Schwarber failed to launch one of his famed Schwarbombs until his sixth swing, then connected on his seventh, eighth and ninth in a four-homer stretch that harkened back to his four-homer game last season in Atlanta.

He could only watch as Harper failed to join him. Schwarber

then with the Chicago Cubs, made the finals in 2018 at Nationals Park before losing to Harper “Bittersweet,” Schwarber said after the first round Monday. “I wanted both of us to move on.” MLB ditched the timed clock this season and returned to a swing format, with each hitter continuing to swing if he went deep on his final one.

Each player had 20 swings in the ﬁrst round and the top four advanced Hitters were seeded for the second round, where No. 1 faces 4 and 2 meets 3.

Each player takes 15 swings in the second round, with batters homering on their final swings continuing until not homering.

Schwarber and Harper — the ﬁrst pair of teammates to participate in the Derby since 2018 received roaring ovations when famed ring announcer Michael Buffer introduced them ahead of the competition.

As for the other six sluggers in the ﬁeld, all wearing their home jerseys with red, white and blue uniform numbers?

Yeah, they were about booed out of the ballpark, with the loudest jeers saved for Rice. He gamely laughed as he walked out of his Liberty Bell entrance.

Harper — who said earlier Monday this would be his last Derby waved his arms and exhorted the crowd to get louder as he walked to the home plate platform placed at second base. Harper about broke the ring ropes as he shook them like a pro wrestler, and the Philly crowd went bonkers for the star known as The Showman.

The Derby’s public address announcer implored the fans to

SCOREBOARD

15. (18) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 263, 22.

16. (26) William Byron, Chevrolet, 263, 21.

17. (33) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 263, 20.

18. (24) John H. Nemechek, Toyota, 263, 19.

19. (21) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 263, 18.

20. (16) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 263, 17.

21. (5) Daniel Suárez, Chevrolet, 263, 22.

22. (6) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 263, 15.

23. (15) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 263, 14.

24. (19) Ryan Preece, Ford, 263, 13.

25. (17) Josh Berry, Ford, 263, 12.

26. (10) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 263, 11.

27. (36) Noah Gragson, Ford, 263, 10.

28. (25) Connor Zilisch, Chevrolet, 263, 9.

29. (22) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 263, 9.

30. (34) Zane Smith, Ford, 262, 7.

31. (30) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 261, 0.

32. (35) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 259, 6.

(38) Chad Finchum, Ford, 259, 0.

(3) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 258, 11.

(29) Riley Herbst, Toyota, accident, 255, 2.

(20)

cheer during some quiet stretches when homers non-Phillies edition — were hit.

This was the first Home Run Derby and All-Star Game held at Citizens Bank Park since it opened in 2004 and the ﬁrst derby in Philadelphia since Barry Bonds outslugged Mark McGwire in 1996 to win an afternoon event in front of thousands of empty seats at Veterans Stadium.

263, 26

(28) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 263, 27.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JEFF ROBERSON

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski throws during the first inning in the first game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 7 in St. Louis.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATT SLOCUM St. Louis Cardinals slugger Jordan Walker follows through on a swing during the MLB All-Star Home Run Derby on Monday in Philadelphia.

LIVING

Documentary featuring locallibrarian nominated forEmmy

‘I didn’t even know an Emmy wasonthe table’

BY JOYHOLDEN Staff writer

“The Librarians,” adocumentary executive produced by SarahJessica Parker,isnominated for “Exceptional Merit In DocumentaryFilmmaking” at the78th Emmy Awards. The documentary features Amanda Jones, Live Oak Middle School librarian in Livingston Parish, as one of the librarians ﬁghting against censorship in school libraries.

“I didn’teven know an Emmy wason the table,” Jonessaid.

She said the makersand stars of the ﬁlm (schoollibrarians) are still on a group text together. Oneofthe producers, Janique Robillard, texted the news to everyone. Jones said everyone responded with shock and excitement.

“The Librarians” premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 24, 2025, was released in theaters around the United States on Oct.3, 2025, and premiered on PBS Feb. 9. Since then, the ﬁlm has collected 31 accolades from ﬁlm festivals, The New York Times and The Guardian.

The ﬁlm, ajoint effort between Oscar-nominated director/producer Kim A. Snyder and executive producer Sarah Jessica Parker through herPretty Matches Productions banner, explores afour-year period of book bansunfoldinginschoolsacrossthe U.S. and the librarians confronting those restrictions.

“The recognition willbringmore people to the ﬁlm and get more conversations started,” Jones said.“We hope people will go to our resource page on the website, not only to support Freedom to Read but also the mental health of librarians.”

The ExceptionalMerit In

PHOTO PROVIDED By AMANDAJONES

Amanda Jones, LiveOaks Middle School librarian, is featured in the Emmy-nominated documentary‘The Librarians.’

GUIDED BYFAITH

BR artist listened andher journeytookadifferent path

BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer

Ashli Ognelodh Curry doesn’tworry about the direction of her artistic journey

She gave that to God along time ago.

She admitsitwas alittle scary.Maybe morethan alittle, because it tooka strong faithtogive up awell-paying potential banking career topursue a full-time career in art.Along theway, she moved from her native Atlanta to Baton Rouge and met and married her husband, photographer Jacquel Curry The couple moved into ahome in north Baton Rouge, which is equipped with studio space.

“My relationship withGod has played such arole in terms of just how I’ve grown up in my identity,” she said.

“And it’s not specific, as in being fully religious, but just in how Ioperate in a world that’sconstantly trying to humble me or makemefitwithin confinements that Inever even set for myself or never agreed to.”

So, her work takes adifferent path in relation toChristianity

“I tell people all the timethat as a Christian artist, Igot tired of seeing the sameimages of Jesus —Jesus with the peace sign, or Jesus on the cross,” Ognelodh Curry said. “I thought about what

Many people think back on their childhood summers andrecall eveningsspent chasing fireflies across afield, perhaps catching the insects in jars to admire their fascinating blinking patterns upclose. But across the United States, fireflies —known in some parts as lightning bugs —are an increasingly rare sight. While scientists have pointed to several reasons for the decline, habitat loss is widely considered to be aprimary driver “Oftentimes,fireflies only have one generation ayear,and if they lose that habitat,then we lose their population in that area,” said LSU AgCenter entomologistAaron Ashbrook.

Not only are more and more kids missing out on the joy of watching glowingﬁreﬂiesdance across the

night sky, there also are ecologically concerning consequences of ﬁreﬂy population loss

“Thepresenceoffireflies indicates that there is agood and balanced habitatnearby,” Ashbrook said. “When we’re notseeing fireflies, that would indicate there might be some issues that need to be corrected.”

There are numerous ﬁreﬂy species, andsome are pollinators.

So ﬁreﬂies aren’tjust entertaining. They’re much more valuable to the ecosystem than youmay have realized —sowhat can you do to help them out?

Providing habitat is agood first step. Depending on theirspecies, firefliesmay prefer open fields or forested areas. In general, however,firefly larvae are drawn to damp environmentssuch as leaf litter androtten logs.

As long as theyare notcontributingtoproblems withinsect pests, Ashbrook suggestskeeping piles

of leaves and old logs in your yard rather than disposing of them.

“Itprovides habitat forlarvae as well as slugs and snails, which thelarvae prefer to feed upon,” he said. Light pollution, or excessive artificial outdoor lighting, also harms fireflies. They rely on bioluminescence, achemical reaction that generateslight,todefendthemselves and reproduce.

“They use ﬂashing signals to attract mates,” Ashbrook said.“If there’sexcess light, it can interferewiththeir ability to lure in a mate andreproduce.”

To ensure it’sdark enough for fireflies to see oneanother’ssignals,Ashbrook recommendslimiting theuse of outdoor lights. Timers andsensors make it easy to turn lightsononly when they’re needed. Youalso can change bulbs in outdoor light fixtures to amber or orange shades, which are less disruptive to fireflies.

it looks to have arelationship with God and what it looks like to exist in aworld with people whodon’tnecessarily understand that relationship but, at the same time, loving them,appreciating them and showing up forthem.”

This process also has generated some introspection as she incorporates her own experiences into her art.

Ognelodh Curry said she doesn’twant her experiences to only be restricted to traumatic moments.

“As aBlack woman, Ihave joy,” she said. “So, Itry to create workthat touches on that and encourages healing —work that showsmyown steps to healing.”

STAFFPHOTO By ROBIN MILLER

Ashli Ognelodh Curry sits in her home studio amongher paintings. She’salso painted publicmurals throughout the Baton Rougearea.

PROVIDED PHOTOByASHLI OGNELODH CURRy AshliOgnelodhCurry’s painting,‘Renewal’

STAFF PHOTO By ROBIN MILLER

Ashli Ognelodh Curry paints in avariety of styles, including impressionistic and abstract.

ä See EMMY, page 2D

ä See GUIDED, page 2D

Skip overpriced hair treatmentand tryvegetable oil

Dear Heloise: Years ago, when I was growing up on an Iowa farm, my hair would dry out because I was outside so much of thetime. We also had what people called “hard water,” which would dry out each strand of hair

In the morning,I shampooed my hairasalways, making sure that Ilathered andrinsed twice, and I didn’tneed to use aconditioner

Hints from Heloise

Instead of buying an overpriced hot oil treatment, my mother would warm up some vegetable oil and use adisposable cotton pad to rub the oil on my scalp. Then she would comb the oil through my hair and cover it with aplastic showercap;the oil andcap were left on while Islept.

GUIDED

Continued frompage1D

Ognelodh Curry was no stranger to Baton Rouge when shedecided to make the big movefrom Atlanta in 2021. She oftentraveled to Louisiana’scapital city to watch her sister,star forward Ayana Mitchell, play basketball for LSU.

Atlanta may have been home, but she was becoming more comfortable in Baton Rouge.

The city offeredher peace by way of aslower pace.

“I fell in love with Baton Rouge,” Ognelodh Currysaid “And during COVID, Atlanta just felt so aggressive. It waskind of overstimulating and overwhelming, and Iwould come down here andget so much peace.”

Besides, Ognelodh Curry knew her business would easily make the transition. She owned a“sip and paint” business at thetime, where patrons could partake of beverages while painting.When Georgia issued astay-at-home order during COVID, sheshifted business from in-person tovirtual.

“The company did really well, virtually,soitafforded me the opportunity to move to Baton Rouge,” Ognelodh Curry said. “I never intended to stay here, but again, Ifell in love with it.Then Imet my husband here, andwe bought this house.”

The house wasn’toriginally built with an art studio in mind, but its conﬁguration accommodated Ognelodh Curry’sworks, most of which are large. When Ognelodh Curry wasn’tinthe studio, she was painting murals in the city.She also startedthe nonproﬁt Presence Fest in Scotlandville Plaza.

Begins in childhood

Ognelodh Curry says she was alwaysartistically inclined.She began seriously drawing with charcoal pencils in high school,

By The Associated Press

Today is Sunday,July 14, the 195th day of 2026. There are 170 days left in the year

TodayinHistory: On July 14, 1789, in an event symbolizing the start of the French Revolution, citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille prison and released the seven prisoners held there. Also on this date: In 1798, Congress passed the Sedition Act, making it afederal crime topublish false, scandalous or malicious writing about the UnitedStatesgovernment In 1881, outlaw William H. Bonney Jr., alias “Billy the Kid,” was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner in present-day New Mexico. In 1912, American folk singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie was born in Okemah, Oklahoma. In 1933, all German political parties, except the Nazi Party,were outlawed by the government of Nazi Germany In 1945, Italy formally declaredwar on Japan,its former Axis partner during World WarII.

In 1960, 26-year-oldJane Goodall ﬁrst arrived at the Gombe Stream Reserve in present-day Tanzania to begin her study of the wild chimpanzees living there. In 2004, the Senate scuttled aconstitutional amendment banning gaymarriage.

It’sanold-fashioned method, but it worked well on my hair as well as my three sisters’. Maybe this will help someofyourreaders, just as many of your hintshave always helped me. —Gail N., in Iowa No wasted water

Dear Heloise: Ihaveawater containeronthe kitchen counter

All unused water goes into the container —leftover water from drinking glasses orcooking, unusedcoffee makerwater,dog bowl water …everything. I’m amazed by howmuchwaternow goes into

the garden versus down the drain. Iappreciate all of your hints! MikeC in Manitou Springs, Colorado Plasticbag uses Dear Heloise: Ihave to respectfully disagree witharecent hint from Paulabout using plastic grocery bags as trash bag liners. Living in windy Nebraska, loose trash in abin would often become litter when the garbage gets emptied into thegarbage truck or when thegarbage bin blows over during astorm. Idotry to minimize my use of plastic bags and only put full bags of trash in our bin, but we must use full bags to prevent litter Thanks! —E.M., in Nebraska

E.M., Iturn agrocery bag inside out and use them whenItrim the caps from strawberries for asmoothie or whenIpeel avegetable. If Ithrow out items from the refrigerator when cleaning the kitchen, theygoinaplastic bag, and Itie up the handles before tossing it in the trash. Idon’treally have toomany plastic bags around the house because Iuse cloth bags for so many purchases. It causes less clutter in our landﬁlls. —Heloise BoyScout donations

Dear Heloise: Afriend of mine told us that she’scollecting plastic grocery bags forthe local Boy Scout troop. Apparently,these bags are collected in order to

and sheofﬁcially switched to painting at age 18.

“My high school teacher challenged me,” she said.“She said, ‘Have you ever considered painting?’ Isaid,‘No, Idon’tlike it.’

She said,‘Well, that’sbecause you never triedit.’”

OgnelodhCurry not only discovered alovefor painting, she realized that she liked painting big.

She began painting murals at age 24, resultinginseveral in Atlanta, one in Jamaica and one in New York.InBaton Rouge, hermuralscan be found in Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport’s baggage area, theMary J. Lands Basketball Court, BREC’sHighland Community Park, Gus Young Park, Jackson Community Parkin Central and Zachary Community

TODAYINHISTORY

(Forty-eight senators voted to advance the measure— 12 shortofthe 60needed and 50 voted to blockit.)

In 2009,disgraced ﬁnancier BernardMadoffarrived at theButner Federal CorrectionalComplex in North Carolinatobegin servinga150-yearsentencefor hismassivePonzi scheme. (Madoff died in prison in April 2021.)

In 2013, thousands of demonstrators acrossthe U.S.protested aFlorida jury’sdecision oneday earlier to clear George Zimmerman in theshooting death ofTrayvon Martin

In 2015, world powers and Iran struck adeal to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchangefor relief from international sanctions.

In 2016, terror struck Bastille Day celebrations inthe French Riviera city of Nice as alarge truck plowed into afestive crowd, killing 86 people in an attack claimed by Islamic State extremists; thedriverwas shot dead by police.

In 2020, researchers reported that the ﬁrst COVID-19 vaccine tested in the U.S. boosted people’simmune systemsasscientists had hoped; the vaccinewas developedbythe National Institutes of Healthand Moderna Inc

In 2022, theNational Galleries of Scotlandsaid apreviously unknown self-portrait of Vincent VanGogh was discovered behind anotherofthe art-

Park. She’salso painted murals in local schools.

Butall of this happened only after she answered God’scall.

“I was in school for art,but I was also on thefast track in banking,” Ognelodh Curry said. “I was 21 years old, and Iwas doing really well in banking. Butwhen Iwas in church, the Holy Spirit was like, ‘I want you to quit your job and pursue art full-time.’”

‘Incredibly insane’

She admitsthat the thought seemed “incredibly insane” in thebeginning. She was making good money,which enabled her to live on her own while paying for school.

“But God kept bothering me,” she said. “And ﬁnally,Isaid, ‘Fine, I’ll quit.’ Iremember going to

EMMY

ist’spaintings when experts took an X-ray of the canvas ahead of an upcoming exhibition.

Today’sBirthdays: Former football player and actor Rosey Grier is 94. Actor Vincent Pastore(TV’s“The Sopranos”) is 80. Music company executive Tommy Mottola is 78. Movie producer ScottRudin is 68. Singer-songwriter Anjelique Kidjo is 66. Singer-guitaristKyle Gass (Tenacious D) is 66. Actor Jane Lynch is 66. Actor Jackie Earle Haley is 65. Actor Matthew Fox is 60. Rock singer-musician Tanya Donelly is 60. Olympic gold medal snowboarder RossRebagliati is 55. Country singerJamey Johnson is 51. Hip-hop musician Taboo (Black Eyed Peas)is51. Actor/writer/ producer PhoebeWallerBridgeis41. Rock singer Dan Reynolds (Imagine Dragons) is 39. MMA ﬁghter Conor McGregor is 38.

God, telling him Ididn’tknow what this journey would look like. Ididn’teven ask him foranything.Isaid, ‘God, if this is what you’re calling me to do, let my parentsunderstand.’”

Andthey did.

OgnelodhCurry moved in with her parents while establishing her full timeart career.She started her “sip and paint” business, worked as aproject manager for theArt Basel MiamiBeach contemporary art fair,then accepted thesame position at the New Orleans African American Museum after moving to Baton Rouge.

“And ﬁnally last year,when Iwas working at the museum, God spoke again and was like, ‘I want you to solely focus on your practice,’”she said. “And it’sinteresting, because since I’ve been

Continuedfrom page 1D

Documentary Filmmakingaward is reviewed by a jury on the basis of the ﬁlmmaker’s vision, storytelling andcapacity to informand impact.

Theother nominee is National Geographic’s“The Tale Of Silyan,” adocumentary about aMacedonian

makeapark bench. Ihad no idea that this wasathing! FYI,ittakes 3,000 pounds of bags to makeone of these benches. So, check with your local Boy and Girl Scout organizations to see if they participate in something like this! —Joe, in Valparaiso,Indiana Cleaneyeglasses

Dear Heloise: Here’sasimple way to clean your eyeglasses: Take a spot of shaving cream and rub it on each side of the lens. Rinse it off with hot water and dry the glasses with asoft towel. They’re like new! —Larry S.,via email Sendahinttoheloise@heloise com.

AshliOgnelodhCurry’s artchair, ‘A Seat at My Table.’When viewers sit in the chair, theirweight triggers an audiosystem, which offers aprayer.

solely focusing on my practice, I started making the chairs.”

Ognelodh Curry refers to the interactive art chairs she creates to encourage and inspire viewers. She paints spiritually inspiring images of women and families on the surface and invites viewers to take aseat.

The viewer’sweight then triggers an audio system conﬁgured by her husband that produces asoothing voice offering up a prayer of renewal and inspiration. But not just any prayer —a prayer that connects to the person in the seat.

“I’ve been able to produce work that’salittle moreintentional,” Ognelodh Curry said. “This is what God wanted, and honestly, as an artist, I’ve been able to do someamazing things. There was one year,God allowed me to donate $15,000 to achurch.”

Ognelodh Curry has learned not to question God’svoice.

As moreart projects come her way, she moves forward in faith. Email RobinMilleratromiller@ theadvocate.com.

farmerwho nursesa white storkbacktohealthwhile contemplating the end of his farm

The only previous nomineeand winnerfor this award that featured Louisiana was Spike Lee’s“When the Levees Broke: ARequiem in Four Acts,” adocumentary about the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, which won the award in 2007.

“The Librarians” docu-

mentary is one of ﬁve nominations forPBS in 2026. TheExceptionalMerit In Documentary Filmmakingaward is handedout during the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sep. 5 and 6. The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards will be broadcast live on NBC on Sept. 14, and stream live on Peacock at 7p.m. from the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles.

PROVIDED PHOTOSByASHLI OGDNELODH CURRy

OneofAshli Ogdnelodh Curry’s murals is in the baggagearea of the Baton RougeMetro Airport

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Help a cause you believe in, and it will rejuvenate you. The time, patience and love you offer will matter and personify how you can make a difference. Take the feel-good path to hope.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Put your own unique twist into everything you do. Communicate with charisma, and you'll persuade others to join your team Scour the rules to ensure you are doing everything by the book.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Rethink your path forward. Don't get caught up in someone else's dreams. Take the path that leads to your heart's desires. Reach out to those who share your concerns.

LIBRA (sept. 23-Oct. 23) Rethink your strategy. Set boundaries with people who take advantage of you. Be authentic when assessing, pursuing or offering advice, and follow through with actions.

scORPIO (Oct. 24-nov. 22) Haste makes waste. Assessing, planning and budgeting will encourage progress and longterm success. Don't let anyone talk you into something you don't need or want.

sAGITTARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Stick close to home, and don't make promises you cannot deliver or that put you in debt. Look at the possibilities and the reasonable changes you can craft that will make a difference and serve you well.

cAPRIcORn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Point your thoughts and energy in a direction that is self-serving. Refuse to let oth-

ers take advantage of your talents and skills when it's you who needs to come out ahead.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Taking on too much or making unrealistic promises will require time and effort you may not be able to provide. You need to focus on what's happening in your personal life.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Set rules, stick to your plans and use your voice to get your way. Let your powers of persuasion help get you where you want to be without jeopardizing your reputation or letting anyone outmaneuver you.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Don't play games; a direct approach will lead to answers that allow you to move forward with confidence and no regret. Connect with those traveling in a similar direction.

TAuRus (April 20-May 20) Keep your thoughts to yourself until you have figured out what's best to do. Listen to the opinions of experts, but formulate plans that will serve your purpose without overspending.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Turn up the volume, listen, discuss and create a plan that will help you reach your destination of choice. Take better care of your physical well-being and your relationships with those who look up to you.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

FAMILY CIrCUS

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

TODAy's cLuE: s EQuALs I

CeLebrItY CIpher

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. Theobject is to place the numbers 1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of theSudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

nea CroSSwordS La TimeS CroSSword

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

By PHILLIP ALDER

Agatha Christie said, “Itisridiculous to set adetective story in New York City. New York Cityisitselfadetective story.” Littledidsheknowwhatwouldhappen aftershe wasgone. Butworking out the rightplayordefenseisoftenlikeadetectivestory.Therearenumerouscluesthat shouldbeused to find the solution. In this deal, South is in four hearts. Westleadsthediamond10:four,six,ace. Howshould East plan the defense?

South opens with atextbook weak twobid at unfavorable vulnerability: agood six-card suit and 6-10 high-card points. North knows game might have no play, but thevulnerable game bonus is very tempting. East shouldask himself whichhonors areheld by South. He has already producedthe diamondace andthe bidding stronglysuggeststhat he also has the heart king and queen. So he cannot have theclub king. As aconsequence, East can hope fortwo clubtricks,the heart ace and either adiamond trick or aclub ruff.

South immediately takes twoofdummy’s top spades to discard his diamond loser. Then he calls for the heart jack, feigningafinesseforthequeen.ButEast

shouldnot fallfor it.Heshouldgrabthe trick with his ace and shift to hisclub four.Westwinswithhiskingandreturns the club three. East takes that trick and gives hispartner aclubruff. When defending, keep your eye on the target: thenumber of tricks your side needs to defeat the contract. ©2026 by NEA,Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

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

Previous answers:

InsTRucTIOns: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3

Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit wordsare not allowed TODAy’s WORD ILLusORy: ih-LOO-ser-ee: Deceptive.

Average mark14words

Timelimit 25 minutes

Can you find 23 or morewords in ILLUSORY?

yEsTERDAy’s WORD —REAMERs

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard fillmore

turn;thenceS38°47’32”E, adistanceof2.43feet to apoint andturn; thence S53°17’44”W, adistance of 0.63 feet to apoint and turn;thenceS36°42’16”E, adistanceof11.18 feet to apoint andturn; thence N53°17’44”E, adistance of 0.85 feet to apoint and turn;thenceS35°27’49”E,

adistance of 2.25 feet to apoint andturn; thence S52°16’22”W, adistance of 5.71 feet to apoint and turn;thenceS37°00’02”E, adistanceof29.97 feet to apoint andturn; thence S51°02’02”W, adistance of 1.87 feet to apoint and turn;thenceS37°11’13”E, adistanceof12.98 feet to apoint andturn; thence S53°27’52”W, adistance of 7.13 feet to apoint and turn;thence N37°12’22”W, adistance of 12.79 feet to apoint andturn; thence S53°24’38”W, adistance of 19.41 feet to apoint andturn; thence N37°00’28”W, adistance of 30.00 feet to apoint andturn; thence S52°17’09”W, adistance of 3.60 feet to apoint and turn;thence N36°42’16”W, adistance of 34.57feet to apoint andturn; thence N53°08’20”E, adistance of 10.32feet to apoint andturn; thence N55°53’31”E, adistance of 3.15 feet to apoint and turn;thence N33°56’15”W, adistance of 2.76 feet to apoint and turn;thenceN54°15’03”E, adistanceof8.92feet to apoint andturn; thence S35°54’09”E, adistanceof 2.43 feet to apoint and turn;thenceN56°28’54”E, adistanceof3.33feet to apoint andturn; thence N52°09’06”E, adistance of 10.52 feet to apoint thePoint of Beginning ( ) g g (POB) CASE 24-26 4743, 4747, 4751, 4755 and4759 Peer‐less Street and4730 PaigeStreet To rezone from Single Family Resi‐dential(A2)toTwo Fam‐ily(A2.9)onpropertylo‐catedonthe northside of Peerless Street and southofPaige Street east of Moon Street,on property noworformerly knownasLot 9-A, 10-A, 11-A, 12-A, 13-Aand 40-A of theFortune Addition Subdivision, Square 11. Section96, T6S, R1E, GLD, EBRP,LA(CouncilDistrict 5- Hurst) CASE 25-26 228 West Chimes Street To rezone from HeavyCommercial (C2) to CommercialAlco‐holicBeverage(barand lounge) (C-AB-2) on prop‐erty locatedonthe north side of West Chimes Street,westofHighland Road,onpropertynow or formerly knownasa por‐tion of Lot6 of theCam‐panile View Subdivision, Square 1. Section54, T7S, R1W, GLD, EBRP,LA (Council District 10- Cole‐man) LOCATEDINSECTION 54, T7S-R1W, GREENSBURG LAND DISTRICT,EAST BATONROUGE PARISH LOUISIANA. COMMENC‐INGFROMTHE SOUTH‐WEST CORNER OF LOT6 BLOCK1 CAMPANILE VIEW;THENCEPROCEED

NORTH57DEGREES 36 MINUTES36SECONDS EAST FORA DISTANCE OF 13.08 FEET TO APOINT ANDCORNER, SAID POINT ALSO BEINGTHE POINT OF BEGINNING. THENCE PROCEED NORTH 03°39'12" EAST ADIS‐TANCEOF64.86 FEET TO APOINT ANDCORNER; THENCE PROCEED NORTH 85°35'44" WEST ADIS‐TANCEOF9.62FEET TO A POINTAND CORNER; THENCE PROCEED NORTH 04°24'16" EAST ADIS‐TANCEOF52.31 FEET TO APOINT

GLD, LA (Council District 11Adams) PUD-2-04 Ofﬁce Buildings Lot6,TownCenterBusi‐ness Park FinalDevelop‐ment Plan Aproposedof‐ﬁce developmenton property locatedonthe northsideofCommerce Circle,north of Corporate Boulevard, on Tract6 of

application(s):* CUPNUMBER: P20260563 Name:Caturus Energy LLCc/o DuplantisDesign Group, Pc 3960 BURBANK DR.BATON ROUGE, LA 70808 Attn:BradHester Location:Cameron Parish,LA; Lat. 29-4544.46N,Long-93-3639.38W;Cameron,70631 Description:Thisproject includes theproposalto clear, gradeand exca‐vate a20.54 acresareato supportproposedpark‐inglocated in Cameron Parish,Louisiana.The de‐velopmentofthe struc‐tures andsiteofthispro‐ject will requirea totalof 33,139 cy of native mater‐ialtobeexca‐vated/placed on-site, 66,278 to be exca‐vated/hauled offsiteand 33,139 cy of aggregate stone ﬁll is to be hauled in andplacedon-site,no excavation/ﬁll materials or equipmentshall be al‐lowedtoenter existing areasthatcontain juris‐di i l l d

j dictional wetlands/wa‐ters.* CUPNUM‐BER: P20250905 Name: Dommingo, Jennifer 4220 HOPEDALEHWY ST BERNARD, LA 70085 Attn: Jennifer Dommingo Loca‐tion:Saint Bernard Parish,LA; Lat. 29-4937.8N,Long89-40- 18.4W; BayouLaLoutre; Lot# 14; SubNameHopedale; 4220 Hopedale Hwy, St Bernard. Description: Re‐pairstoexistingbulk‐head some yearsback. Previous bulkhead left in place. Approx.89CYof native material wasex‐cavatedand placedonsite.Additionally,approx 10 CY of sand wasplaced on-site. ******** CUP NUMBER:P20260583 Name:Rousse,Ted c/o Picciola &Associates Inc. P.O. BOX687 CUTOFF LA 70345 Attn:Joseph Picciola Location: LafourcheParish, LA;Lat 29- 35-19.97N /Long. -9026-41.04W;Section 99; T17S-R20E;Bayou Lafourche; 10166 High‐way1 Lockport,LA. De‐scription: Proposed re‐movalofanexisting wharf andtimberpiles andinstallationofanew bulkhead.Approximately 275 cubicyards of hauled intopsoil/dirt will

194070 July 14, 1t $34.92