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Dunn pleads not guilty to kickback charges

Grand jury indicted Metro Council member in January

BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER and QUINN COFFMAN Staff writers

East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council member Cleve Dunn Jr pleaded not guilty in a Baton Rouge courtroom Wednesday to charges that he took a kickback for helping steer a $50,000 public transportation contract to a local businessman.

A special grand jury indicted Dunn in January as part of an investigation by Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill’s ofﬁce into alleged corruption inside East Baton Rouge city-parish government. Prosecutors say Dunn 49 helped steer the Capital Area Transit System contract to Jay Colar, who was also indicted earlier this year Colar then paid more than 90% of the contract to Dunn as a kickback, prosecutors claim.

In addition to Colar and Dunn, the grand jury which has been reviewing evidence since late 2025 indicted former bus system ofﬁcial Pearlina Thomas and contractors Terral “TJ” Jackson and his wife, Erica Jackson. They both have pleaded not guilty After taking ofﬁce on the council in 2021, Dunn participated in several transactions that appropriated city-parish funds to CATS, authorities say, and he was aware that his oversight as a council member made it illegal for him to receive money from the transit agency

Many of the charges ﬁled by the

Relief for Siegen?

St George has received $19.2 million in federal funds to improve

to Airline Highway. The project calls for upgrading signal systems,

lighting and more.

St. George

gets $19.2M in

federal funds to improve safety, function

BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer

The city of St. George secured about $19 million in federal funding to improve safety and functionality along Siegen Lane between Interstate 10 and Airline Highway

At a Wednesday news conference, St. George officials announced that it had been awarded $19.2 million for project SAFE (safety, access and ﬂow enhancements) Siegen.

The project will improve an approximately 1.35-mile segment of Siegen Lane from Interstate 10 to Airline Highway by upgrading signal systems pedestrian crossings, bus stops, lighting and more.

“Siegen Lane is one of the busiest commercial corridors in our region,” said St. George Mayor Dustin Yates. “The project is focused on improving safety access and trafﬁc

George

ﬂow.” This grant is a part of more than $50 million in federal grants to improve roads and highways Louisiana secured, according to state leadership.

Yates traveled to Washington, D.C., earlier this year to advocate for the project and its funding.

ä See SIEGEN, page 7A

Hut 8 hosts open house, job fair

West Feliciana data center reps reassure residents over concerns

BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer

A data center developer constructing a $10 billion artificial intelligence facility in West Feliciana Parish stepped into the public eye for the ﬁrst time Tuesday evening. Miami-based Hut 8 hosted a job

fair and community open house to hire employees and answer questions about its 600,000-square-foot AI data center in St. Francisville. Representatives from Hut 8, Entergy and the parish told the story of how the project came to be and what it will mean for residents.

“Any time that we’re dealing with citizens’ tax dollars, it should be an open and transparent process,” Parish President Kenny Havard said at the open house, held at the West Feliciana High School auditorium “You should be able to know exactly where your money is being spent, how we spent, how we negotiated the deals, how we got to

where we are.”

Havard has lauded the parish’s partnership with the data center developer inking deals to obtain up to $90 million annually for the parish. The parish recently received an upfront payment of $10 million, which it must later pay back to Hut 8 to fund road improvements. More than 100 people attended the open house and posed questions about the facility’s lighting, water usage and power needs. Many wanted reassurance that the project wouldn’t disturb West Feliciana’s rural nature and daily life.

Cassidy blasts RFK Jr. policies

comes during confirmation hearing for CDC nominee

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen.

Bill Cassidy used a confirmation hearing Wednesday to indirectly blast the anti-vaccination policies of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which he said have resulted in a series of infectious disease outbreaks and caused the deaths of untold numbers of children.

“We need a CDC director that will actually stand up to crazy, stupid things being said that undermine faith in immunization,” Cassidy, RBaton Rouge, said to Erica Schwartz, 54, Trump’s third nominee to be director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at her Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions confirmation hearing.

Cassidy chairs the committee.

Back when he was courting President Donald Trump’s backing for his reelection, Cassidy, a physician who studied vaccine efficacy, was responsible for the Senate confirming Kennedy, perhaps the most well-known vaccine skeptic, to run the federal agency in charge of the nation’s vaccination policy Trump, instead, endorsed U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Baton Rouge. The Make America Healthy Again organization, which is closely aligned with Kennedy, raised money for Letlow Cassidy lost out in a closed party primary He will leave the Senate in January when either Letlow or Jamie

page 7A

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS Ray Neck, of Turner Industries, left, talks to residents during the job fair hosted by Hut 8 at West Feliciana High School on Tuesday

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council member Cleve Dunn Jr., left, enters the 19th Judicial District Courthouse on Wednesday.

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

St.

Mayor Dustin yates, center, speaks with council members next to a rendering of the Siegen Lane redevelopment project following a news conference on Wednesday

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN BALLANCE

Siegen Lane from Interstate 10

pedestrian crossings, bus stops,

Mint produces $1 coin with Trump’s face on it

WASHINGTON The U.S. Mint has begun producing a new $1 coin bearing President Donald Trump’s face to help celebrate America’s 250th birthday, the Treasury Department said Wednesday

The ﬁnal design for the commemorative coin, being released in the fall, was approved earlier this year by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were appointed by Trump. But the finished product unveiled Wednesday differs from that version in a few aspects, including that it is not made of gold but rather has a gold ﬁnish. The coin is intended “to honor the enduring legacy of liberty and a lasting symbol of patriotism,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X. “Featuring President Trump, it celebrates the strength of American values, and the promise of a nation dedicated to preserving freedom for all.”

The president on Wednesday told Fox Business Network that the move to put his face on a coin is “very unusual, but I was honored by it,” adding that “it’s very cute they gave me a coin.” Federal law prohibits the depiction of a living president on U.S. currency, though the treasury secretary has the authority to authorize the minting and issuance of coins in some circumstances The front of the coin features an image of Trump in a suit and tie and with a stern look on his face.

Rescuers search for 3 after boat sinks in Calif. SAN FRANCISCO U.S. Coast Guard crews combed a massive area for three people missing nearly a day after a boat carrying 20 family members and friends as part of a memorial service capsized in the cold, choppy waters of San Francisco Bay near Alcatraz Island, authorities said Wednesday

U.S. Coast Guard Captain Jared S Toczko said rescuers have cumulatively scoured 950 square nautical miles and would continue searching until sundown Wednesday Toczko would not dismiss the possibility that those missing could still be alive, though he also said some could have been trapped inside the three-deck, 49-foot cabin cruiser

“We do know individuals were in the main deck and potentially below deck,” he said.

One person was pulled from the water but later died, and 16 others were rescued Tuesday afternoon after the boat took on water listed heavily to one side and then rolled over before sinking, Toczko said.

The passengers on board were all close friends and family members, he said. A dog also died. Crews have identiﬁed the location the boat sank but have yet to determine how deep it sank, Toczko said.

Trump fires U.S. attorney in Seattle within an hour

At 7:40 a.m. Wednesday, federal judges in the Western District of Washington swore in former King County Superior Court judge and federal prosecutor Roger Rogoff as their pick for U.S. attorney Fifty-four minutes later, President Donald Trump ﬁred him. Rogoff, who recently resigned as director of the state office of independent investigations, formed to investigate police killings, is now the rope in a tugof-war with the Trump administration The district’s 17 sitting federal judges began looking for a replacement for Neil Floyd in January after the president failed to formally nominate him, instead appointing Floyd as interim and later as a “ﬁrst assistant” in order to sidestep the nomination process. Floyd, a controversial and tough-minded immigration judge, was appointed by President Donald Trump last October, but his name was never advanced to the U.S. Senate. Floyd’s appointment was opposed by the state’s senior senator, Patty Murray, and immigration advocates Rogoff’s team of lawyers is expected to sue the administration and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Doubt cast on lawyer’s testimony

Former top attorney at Goldman Sachs had ties to Jeffrey Epstein

BY JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press

WASHINGTON Lawmakers said Kathryn Ruemmler the former top lawyer at Goldman Sachs and White House counsel to President Barack Obama, was not being truthful Wednesday about her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, rejecting her testimony that Epstein had merely “used” her Ruemmler in her opening remarks told members of the House Oversight Committee that “it was a mistake to deal with” Epstein, but she insisted she never witnessed criminal activity She said Epstein “used me and other respectable people to legitimize his standing.” Democrats emerged from the ﬁrst several hours of questioning saying Ruemmler was not being forthcoming about her ties to

Epstein. “It is difﬁcult to see how she’s being completely truthful in there with the answers she’s given the committee,” Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the committee, told reporters. Ruemmler is the latest prominent figure called before the House Oversight Committee as lawmakers investigate the network of powerful people connected with Epstein. The bipartisan inquiry has already included testimony from more than a dozen high-proﬁle witnesses as lawmakers examine how Epstein’s wealth and influence may have helped shield him from scrutiny Ruemmler served as White House counsel under Obama from 2011 to 2014. She served as Goldman Sachs’ general counsel for six years before announcing in February that she would step down amid backlash over her correspondence

with Epstein. Lawmakers have focused on Ruemmler’s close relationship with Epstein in the ﬁnal years of his life, pointing to affectionate communications between the two.

“For her to deny that there was any type of real relationship there, I just don’t buy it,” Garcia said. “And so, again, the fact she is not under oath is very problematic.”

While Ruemmler has tried to downplay their relationship in more recent statements, thousands of documents released by the Justice Department showed that Ruemmler and Epstein had an extensive relationship. The ﬁles included personal emails, social plans and gifts that extended beyond formal legal work Documents showed she had called Epstein “Uncle Jeffrey” in emails and said she adored him. Ruemmler said in her opening remarks that she ﬁrst met Epstein in 2014 regarding potentially working with him and Bill Gates “to set up a large donor-advised fund.” Soon after, according to Ruemmler, she

learned about Epstein’s 2008 conviction on sex crimes, when he became a registered sex offender She said Epstein expressed remorse about it, and that he did not know the women were underaged. She said she “relied on the resolution reached by federal and state prosecutors and validated by a judge as being a proportionate and ﬁnal resolution of his criminal conduct.”

House Oversight Chair James Comer told reporters Wednesday that the “most concerning” part of Ruemmler’s communications with Epstein is how she “tried to rehabilitate his image after he was convicted of solicitation of a minor.”

During a lengthy podcast interview with Joe Rogan released Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance said the administration “absolutely” mishandled the communications surrounding the Epstein ﬁles and its contents. Vance pointed largely to Bondi, who infamously stated that an alleged “client list” of Epstein’s was “sitting on my desk right now.”

Trump: ICE should keep making traffic stops

BY REBECCA SANTANA and PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump wants Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to keep pulling over vehicles, signaling his opposition Wednesday to plans announced just a day earlier to suspend most trafﬁc stops following another string of fatal shootings.

It’s not clear whether ICE will quickly reverse course and resume most stops, which have been a key tool in Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Ending those stops, Trump wrote, would be “playing right into the criminal’s hands.”

“We CANNOT give up one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!” Trump wrote Wednesday on his social media site.

Hours after Trump made his views known, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin issued his own statement saying people illegally in the country would be “arrested and deported wherever they are.” But Mullin didn’t directly say whether ICE ofﬁcers will be allowed to carry out trafﬁc stops.

ICE’s enforcement tactics are coming under renewed criticism after three people died during encounters with federal ofﬁcers within a week. In Florida, a 28-year-old man was killed Tuesday after he was hit by a tractor trailer while running from immigration and other federal ofﬁcers, authorities said.

Before that, two motorists were shot and killed by ICE ofﬁcers — one in Texas last week and another in Maine on Monday

After the Maine killing, Trump administration officials told ICE officers to suspend most vehicle stops, people familiar with the decision said Tuesday

Since the immigration crackdown began, federal officers confronting drivers have opened ﬁre several times, saying the drivers’ vehicles had posed a danger Policing experts have long said that shooting into moving cars presents a danger of its own and should almost always be avoided.

There have been at least 10 deaths involving encounters with immigration agents since Trump

launched his deportation campaign. At least four of them involved people in vehicles, a trend so troubling that Republican U.S Sen. Susan Collins of Maine urged Department of Homeland Security leaders “to cease all nonurgent vehicle stops.”

Two shootings in a week, she said Wednesday, “raise very serious questions” and warrant a halt in that approach for the time being.

ICE has been under pressure to beef up arrest and deportation numbers. It says people being sought are increasingly staying in their homes, and it often blames immigration advocates who advise immigrants to stay in homes unless ICE produces a warrant signed by an independent judge.

Mexico asks U.S. AGs to investigate migrant deaths

BY FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ Associated Press

MEXICO CITY — Mexico formally requested that U.S. state attorneys general criminally investigate cases of migrants who have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody or during raids, the Mexican government said Tuesday

The request follows the death of Mexican immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Houston. Since the beginning of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, 17 Mexican migrants have died during immigration enforcement, 14 in ICE custody and three in agency operations.

Mexico’s Foreign Ministry had previously said it would make the request, which was formalized on Tuesday, according to the ministry It said a similar request will be also sent to the U.S. Department of Justice. The United States is not legally obliged to act on the requests.

Also, the Mexican government said it has started sending letters to U.S. detention centers where Mexican migrants have died, demanding they “immedi-

ately cease the actions or omissions that resulted in these deaths, such as preventing access to prompt and expedited medical care, as well as the application of policies incompatible with medical and penitentiary standards.”

The letters are a ﬁrst step toward “the eventual ﬁling of civil lawsuits” against the companies that operate the detention centers to stop human rights violations, according to the ministry

Last week, Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco said his country would go directly to U.S. authorities to request criminal investigations in cases of Mexicans killed in ICE custody or enforcement operations.

Salgado Araujo, 52, who had no criminal record and had lived in the U.S for 35 years, was shot last Tuesday while driving his construction crew to a job site in Houston. His death sparked demands for an independent investigation from Democrats and Salgado Araujo’s family

The Department of Homeland Security said Salgado Araujo had rammed an ICE vehicle, and that a federal agent ﬁred a weapon in self-defense.

ICE officers say that means they’re forced to ﬁnd other ways to make arrests.

Hundreds gathered Tuesday to remember Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, the 25-year-old Colombian national who was shot in his car Monday Karolina Rojas, his part-

ner and the mother of their young daughter, shared a photo on Instagram of the three hugging and smiling.

“I love you, my darling, my life. I love you I have no words for this pain. You were my everything. Please watch over me. Help me find the strength to carry on Stay with me always. Don’t leave me alone. I’m begging you, my love,” she wrote. Durán Guerrero illegally entered the U.S. on Sept 1, 2023, through the southern border, DHS said Wednesday Advocacy groups said that when he was killed, he was authorized to work in the U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said the Homeland Security secretary told him on Monday that ICE officers were in Biddeford to serve an arrest warrant but that it wasn’t for the person who was shot. When ICE tried to stop a vehicle driven by someone who came from a home under surveillance, the “vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon,” the department said. The department didn’t answer questions about the agent who shot him.

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Friends and relatives hold a vigil Tuesday for Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Colombian national who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Maine, at his family home in Bucaramanga, Colombia

Republicans unveil $95B budget resolution

House plan focused on Iran war, aiding farmers, stricter voter registration rules

BY KEVIN FREKING and LISA MASCARO Associated Press

WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Wednesday unveiled a $95 billion legislative plan focused on boosting defense, aiding farmers and enacting stricter voter registration rules, a sequel to the massive tax and spending cut bill that President Donald Trump signed into law last year

The 47-page outline, called a budget resolution, is a long-shot undertaking designed to supplement Pentagon funding for the Iran war and address Trump’s top priority of changing voter registration requirements. A more ambitious effort was narrowed to address concerns of conservatives about adding to the deﬁcit. The resolution does not seek any offsets to pay for the new spending House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, pushed ahead after meeting with Trump at the White House this week in what will be the Republicans’ calling card to voters this fall heading into the midterm elections.

“Safeguarding American elections and strengthening our national defense are the most basic responsibilities of Congress,”

Johnson said in a statement. Johnson welcomed the chance to again use a legislative process that will allow Republicans to overpower Democratic objections and eventually approve legislation on a party-line majority vote, saying the Democrats won’t be able to block the GOP priorities “any longer.”

those registering to vote to provide proof of citizenship and is a top Trump priority

Democrats, however, have argued against the sharply partisan path, particularly for matters of war funding

The Budget Committee is expected to consider the outline Thursday, ahead of ﬂoor action in the House next week.

Billions of dollars for Iran war

The bulk of the $95 billion would go for the U.S.-led war against Iran, reﬂecting the White House’s request for supplemental spending to rebuild stockpiles and fund classiﬁed programs, among other expenses related to Operation Epic

Fury

The resolution calls for the House Armed Services Committee to craft legislation that will not increase deﬁcits through 2036 by more than $60 billion; the Select Committee on Intelligence, $13 billion; the Agriculture Committee, $12 billion; and the House Administration Committee, $10 billion.

The latter funding would be focused on enacting aspects of an election law overhaul that requires

Overall, the plan is on par with a request the White House submitted to Congress last month, as the Iran war drags past four months. But it falls far short of the $350 billion increase the White House proposed in its budget request this year to beef up the Defense Department

Approving extra war funding will be difﬁcult, even among Republicans supporting the Iran effort, as the nation confronts staggering annual deficits reaching nearly $2 trillion this year

Trump pushes for voting law

Both the House and the Senate would have to pass the same budget resolution to launch the crafting of the party-line bill, which is politically difﬁcult in the Congress where Republicans hold only narrow majority control.

Along with the war funds, the package Republicans are pursuing would include $10 billion for the GOP’s effort to impose strict citizenship requirements in line with provisions of the SAVE America Act, which has been a top Trump priority

Trump has insisted that Republicans approve the elections overhaul bill, which has passed the House but does not have the votes to overcome the 60-vote threshold in the Senate. So Republicans are looking to get parts of it through the arduous reconciliation process that allows both chambers to pass a bill with a simple majority

Intelligence director nominee asked

about 2020 election

BY MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump’s pick to head the nation’s intelligence agencies struggled to win Democratic support in a contentious conﬁrmation hearing

Wednesday where he clashed repeatedly with them over the 2020 election

Democrats asked Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, over and over again whether former President Joe Biden won the election and defeated Trump. Echoing many of Trump’s nominees, Clayton said many times that the election was “certiﬁed” for Biden, declining to say outright that the Democrat won.

“I’m not going to get into this with you,” Clayton told Georgia Sen Jon Ossoff, the last of several Democrats on the committee to grill Clayton on the 2020 election. Clayton appeared frustrated and ﬂustered as Ossoff repeated the question several times. “I’ve answered it,” he said.

Virginia Sen Mark Warner, who had praised Clayton’s nomination when Trump picked him for the role last month, expressed exasperation with him at the end of the hearing.

Democrats say they are concerned that Trump will try to direct intelligence agencies to inﬂuence U.S. elections as the president has repeated his false claims that the 2020 contest was stolen.

“I’ve known Mr. Clayton for some time, I worked with him closely when he was at the SEC,” said Warner, the top Democrat on the intelligence panel. “But I am bitterly disappointed.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said after the hearing that he thought Clayton’s performance was “abysmal,” and

that “makes it much less likely that he will get Democratic votes.”

While Clayton has broad support among Republicans, the acrimony with Democrats could be a blow to GOP leaders who had hoped to gain their consent for a quick vote to replace temporary intelligence director Bill Pulte, a former housing official with no known intelligence experience and who used his previous administration perch to target perceived adversaries of the president.

Senators in both parties have criticized Pulte, and Republicans had hoped to conﬁrm Clayton immediately after he was nominated in June so Pulte did not take over when Gabbard left office. But Trump delayed Clayton’s nomination before the Senate left for a two-week recess, allowing Pulte to take the job temporarily

Senate Intelligence Committee

Chairman Tom Cotton R-Ark. said the committee will vote on Clayton’s nomination next week.

Cotton, who expressed frustration last month when the hearing was delayed, said in his opening statement Wednesday that Clayton has a reputation for operating with “morality decency and integrity” in his previous positions and that he hopes his nomination will win bipartisan support Gabbard’s election activities

Democrats also pressed Clayton on former National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard’s visit to a Georgia election ofﬁce earlier this year during an FBI search related to the 2020 election. Trump administration ofﬁcials have given varying explanations for Gabbard’s involvement in the search, which appeared to be outside of her intelligence role.

Clayton declined to say whether Gabbard’s visit was appropriate or how he would handle the same situation At one point he said he wasn’t aware of Gabbard’s visit before this week, then later appeared to backtrack, saying “it wasn’t something on my mind” before he started to prepare for the hearing.

Warner said it “strains credibility” that Clayton wasn’t aware of Gabbard’s election activities.

Democrats also asked Clayton about Trump’s announcement that he will deliver a primetime address on Thursday with a focus on elections, after the president suggested he could revisit longdebunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat. Clayton said he had has no involvement with that speech.

Clayton oversees vast portfolio

Clayton is currently the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, one of the most prestigious of the Justice Department’s prosecution ofﬁces. His cases have ranged from terrorism and espionage cases to security fraud and public corruption.

Democrats pressed Clayton on subpoenas of four New York Times journalists after they reported on security concerns involving the new, Qatari-gifted Air Force One. The Committee to Protect Journalists has called the subpoenas “an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations and have a chilling effect on the work of journalists across the country.”

Clayton said he was not able to discuss the details of the subpoenas and declined to elaborate on whether he spoke to the White House before they were issued. He said he is “conﬁdent in procedures we have in place to protect freedom of press.”

Under Clayton, the office also facilitated the unsealing of thousands of pages of court records from the prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell — documents that were made public as part of the Justice Department’s release of records related to the late sex offender and his longtime conﬁdant.

Clayton has also overseen the prosecution of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, on drug trafﬁcking charges.

It’s unclear how the budget package would impose or fund voting law changes and if any alterations could be made before the midterm elections, with many state elections processes already underway Overall, passage of the package would be a lengthy process, with much of the action taking place after lawmakers return from their August recess and during the heart of election season. House Republicans hope to kick off the effort before they leave town at the end of this month.

Democrats mount opposition

The additional aid for farmers dealing with higher gas and fertilizer prices and retaliatory tariffs has become an election year priority for many lawmakers with large rural constituencies.

But even the addition of that type of farm aid is not likely to be an incentive for Democrats to lend support for what is essentially a Republican-only bill. Democrats are expected to overwhelmingly oppose whatever final product emerges and force votes on scores of difﬁcult amendments.

Rep. Brendan Boyle, the lead Democratic lawmaker on the House Budget Committee, said the GOP’s budget plan would lead to tens of billions of dollars in additional debt to fund what he called the most unpopular war in American history

BY KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and MATTHEW PERRONE Associated Press

WASHINGTON Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that he is rolling out a new screening program for “testosterone deﬁciency” among troops, calling it necessary to allow them to operate at their “absolute best.” The screenings will be conducted annually as part of service members’ required medical screenings for those 30 and older, he said. Troops under 30 can volunteer to be tested. In a video on social media, Hegseth said receiving testosterone replacement therapy

When asked what conditions Hegseth was looking to address with the new policy, the Pentagon referred to Hegseth’s remarks in the video that mentioned keeping troops “strong, resilient and capable” and that the rigors of the modern battleﬁeld demand “maximum psychological and mental readiness.” Over the past several years, special operations troops — and speciﬁcally Navy SEALs have come under scrutiny for their use of testosterone and similar substances to enhance performance.

Trump’s big tax breaks bill last year and the Homeland Security funding bill this year both passed largely along party lines. Arrington said several factors contributed to the decision not to offset some of the new spending Republicans will seek. First, the Trump administration’s call for more defense spending was winnowed to just meeting replenishment needs during a time of war Second, he was concerned that some of the savings generated in last year’s party-line bill could be relitigated and stripped out if the Senate Finance Committee had been instructed to ﬁnd offsets. Republicans could have tried to work with Democrats to pass more defense spending through the regular appropriations process or through an emergency supplemental spending bill, but that would require bipartisan support to get through the Senate And Democrats likely would have sought commensurate spending increases for non-defense priorities.

“There’s no doubt that Democrats would exact a big price,” Arrington said. “… We avoided that, so I would say in this moment, with this scenario, that’s a win.”

“I’m going to fight like hell to make sure taxpayer dollars are being used to lower costs and make life better for American families, not to bankroll Trump’s giveaways to billionaires and endless wars overseas,” Boyle said. Johnson applauded Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, and others on the panel for moving swiftly to advance the resolution and unlock what would be Republicans’ third reconciliation bill this Congress.

Blanche confronts questioning of fund

BY ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press

WASHINGTON Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche confronted skeptical questioning at a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday about the creation of a fund to compensate President Donald Trump’s allies and a tax immunity deal for the president as he aimed to lock down the Republican support needed to advance his nomination.

Blanche insisted that the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” which was scrapped after fierce bipartisan backlash, was “not moving forward.” But lawmakers, including Republican Sen. John Cornyn, conveyed concerns that the Trump administration has yet to commit in writing that the fund is dead and could therefore conceivably be resurrected.

“Just to be clear, the president of the United States, who’s a plaintiff in this lawsuit, has not agreed in writing to delete the ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ and there’s no guarantee that he won’t raise it in the future?” Cornyn asked. Blanche replied that Trump has no power over the fund, which was to have been administered by the Justice Department but never launched.

Blanche requires the backing of all Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and the Texas senator has not committed his support.

The hearing arrived at a tumultuous time for the Justice Department, with mass ﬁrings and resignations hollowing out the workforce and Democrats and other critics raising alarms that Blanche is still functioning as the president’s personal lawyer He has led the department on an interim basis since April, functioning as the public face of the maligned and later-withdrawn

fund and accelerating investigations into perceived Trump adversaries.

Even as he said the fund had been shelved, he made clear that immunity from tax audits afforded to Trump this year remained in place. Those actions, plus the flawed release of files from the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation, received fresh scrutiny Wednesday

“You’re in charge of a Department of Justice I don’t recognize, prosecuting the president’s political enemies, firing rank and file prosecutors and FBI agents,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., told Blanche. “These are some actions that in your previous confirmation hearing before us, you said you would not take.”

Blanche insisted he has presided over a course correction following Justice Department investigations into Trump during the Biden administration.

“In recent years, we watched the Justice Department turned against many of you and a former president, and it damaged the public’s faith in justice,” Blanche argued. “We are ﬁxing that.” Blanche was also pressed on the department’s staggered release of the Epstein ﬁles, a process beset by problems, including redaction errors that left exposed nude photos showing the faces of potential victims.

Blanche acknowledged that “mistakes were made” in the release process but nonetheless defended the work.

A former federal prosecutor and key member of Trump’s defense team as the Republican battled four indictments, Blanche arrived at the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general. At one point, under friendly questioning from Republican Sen. John Kennedy about whether he and Trump are friends, Blanche responded: “I’m his lawyer,” before quickly correcting himself to say he “was his lawyer.”

make it easier for doctors to prescribe testosterone. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration proposed easing prescribing limits on testosterone gels, pills, patches and injections. The current FDA label speciﬁes that the medications are only for men with hypogonadism, a medical condition that causes drastically low testosterone. But many inﬂuencers and proponents of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement tout testosterone as a way to look younger, build muscle and stay mentally sharp — although those uses aren’t accepted by most medical experts. Hegseth announces

would be voluntary In the video, Hegseth simply refers to troops, though it appears he is talking about only testing men in uniform for hormone irregularities. The move comes as other Trump administration ofﬁcials have begun to advocate for men to have easier access to testosterone replacement therapies, but the messaging from Hegseth and others blends known science on the hormone with broader and less substantiated, claims.

Hegseth said his new initiative is “not about artiﬁcial enhancement.” The Pentagon did not respond to

questions about what research or academic studies underpinned the move. It also didn’t say if female troops would be able to be evaluated for estrogen-based therapy as they entered perimenopause. Testosterone levels in men decline naturally with age and have long been linked to issues like erectile dysfunction, low libido, mood changes and weight gain. But experts have debated for years how to diagnose those problems and whether they should be treated by replacing the hormone.

Hegseth’s announcement comes as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other Trump administration officials are moving to

Clayton

Blanche

Johnson

Hegseth

The event followed ajob fair at the school’sCareer and Technical Education Center where Hut 8representatives and contractors met prospective candidates for project roles. More than 500 people attended. The job fair was the ﬁrst time Hut 8hosted an event of its kind, said HaileyMiller,senior director of public affairs for Hut 8. Miller said the companyintends to hostmorecommunityopen houseeventsinWest Feliciana and work with residents to preserve their way of life as thedata center comes into fruition. Afew residents at the meeting who live near the site said they have heard construction noises from outside their homes, and Miller said the companywill worktoquell noises for the nearby residents,who live about 21/2 miles away

“If there’sways to assurefolks besides just coming up here and telling you to trust me, whether that’sthe form of publiccommitments by ourleadershipthat you’re able to seeand be able to hold us accountable. Ithink that’s something we’d be happy to do, because ‘trust me’ is not going to get you anywhere or give you any better sleep at night,” she said. If the project fails, Millerassured residents that Hut 8would be responsible for anyconsequences.

“Weare building and then also owning and operating,” she said.

“Tomake it kind of easytoimagine, you could think of us almost as avery large landlord to alot of computers, which are the tenants inside.”

DUNN

Continued from page1A

Attorney General’sOfficestem from an FBI probe that dates back to 2022. Sources with direct knowledge of themattersay evidence produced from the federal investigation was handedover to the attorney generalin2025.

In addition to the transit system investigation,federal investigators have subpoenaed Baton

Ryan Gallagher,a project superintendent, said construction workers have started the foundation of thedatacenter and will begin work on the roof this week. Workers are also constructing awater pipe that connects to the parish waterfrom anew water well on Audubon Lane,hesaid.

Sincenoise is aprominent concern for those living near data centers, Gallaghersaidthe company is conductinga noise study to measure how loud the center will be so theteam can ﬁndways to quell the noise. The studyshould conclude

Rouge City Hall since 2023 for documents and records related to formerMayorSharon WestonBroome’sSafe, Hopeful, Healthy BR initiative andthe $6 million federalhousingprojectknown as “Housingfor Heroes.”

Asubpoena related to the housingdeal produced text messages between Dunn and the project’s developer,Bradly Brown, that include referencestomoney exchanged between them.

in the next few weeks.

Excessive light issues should be mitigated, too, he said, since lighting at thecenterwillface downward towardrocks and grass on the ground to minimize reﬂection.

Hut8 is paying $16 millionfor water infrastructure improvements to support theproject, including awater well, 8miles of water maininfrastructure and ﬁrehydrants. Thecompany will donatethe systemtothe parish once it is constructed. The data center will require at

Dunn has denied wrongdoing. saying he gave Brown abridge loan.Brown also has denied wrongdoing.

Brown was charged in Decemberwith state bank fraud, money laundering, theft and other counts related to the“Housing for Heroes” deal. He pleaded not guilty. Dunn has not been charged in that matter In another case stemming from the investigations, Courtney Scott, atop aide to Broome, faces charges Scott is accused of receiving kickbacks of roughly $200,000 from contractorVeronicaMathis from public dollarsthatflowed

least 2million gallons of water for its initial charge to ﬂush organic matter from the piping. The center also requires water for cooling, using aclosed-loop system designed to consume less water,and fordaily functions such as running sinks and toilets.

Laura Beauchamp, vice president of business operations and strategyfor Entergy Louisiana, said the company has enough powerfor thedatacenterand residents andensures that data companies fund any power improvements needed to serve them

“If there’swaystoassure folksbesidesjust coming up here and telling you to trust me,whetherthat’sthe form of public commitments by our leadership that you’re able to see and be able to hold us accountable. Ithink that’s something we’dbehappytodo, because ‘trust me’isnot going to getyou anywhereorgive you anybettersleep at night.”

Shesaid Entergy is conducting upgrades at existing plants and building 12 new plants across the state.

“I knowthe concernsof‘do we have enough power?’ I’m going to say it here tonight and say absolutely,” Beauchamp said.

Diane Pownall, 64, attended the meeting after going to the job fair with herson, who is interested in computers. She said she is excitedfor thedatacenter to be completed.

“Itlooks like they put alot of thoughtintotheir design and thought about the peopleofSt. Francisville,” said Pownall, who has lived in the area formore than 20 years.

GaryHill, 64, attended the meeting because he livesacouple of milesfrom the data center site. Hill said the data center will be a “boost” forthe parish.

He posed questions regarding water use and expressed concerns that the center would lead to overdevelopment of the area.

“Wedon’twant to becomeBaton Rouge,” Hill said.

from the city-parish through the Safe, Hopeful, Healthy initiative.

During Scott’s appearance in court, aprosecutorfor Murrill’s ofﬁce told the judge the investigation in that case involves around 6 terabytes of electronicdiscovery materials.

Broome was subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury in April, though she has yet to appear.She has denied anywrongdoing.

Six currentMetro Council members were subpoenaed and have testiﬁed in the past few months. Those ofﬁcials are Rowdy Gaudet,

Darryl Hurst, Anthony Kenney, Brandon Noel, Denise Amoroso and Jen Racca. All have said they arenot implicated in theprobe andprovided expert testimony to the grand jury On May 20, the grand jury heard testimony from twoofficials whose workinvolvedfacilitating contracts related to revitalization andaddressing blight in council districts.

Email Patrick Sloan-Turner at patrick.sloan-turner@ theadvocate.com.

STAFFPHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Attendee Kalyn Bentley, left, shakes hands withLinette Gerlach, of SouthernIndustrial, during the jobfair hosted by Hut 8atWest Feliciana High School on Tuesday

HAILEy MILLER, senior directorofpublic affairs for Hut 8

LDEN DEEDS

TheGoldenDeeds awardisthe most prestigious awardinthe GreaterBaton Rougearea. Since itsinception in 1942,ithas been awardedtoonlyone outstanding recipienteachyearfor philanthropic servicetothe community. Theactions andservice of therecipientshavemadethe communityabetterplace to live andwork.

The Golden DeedsAward nominationsinclude thenine-parish BatonRouge Metropolitan Statistical Area whichcovers East BatonRouge,WestBaton Rouge, Iberville, Ascension, Livingston,St. Helena,EastFeliciana,WestFeliciana andPointeCoupee.

Explainwhy your nomineeshouldreceive theGoldenDeeds Award. Tell us in your ownwords aboutthe most notablethingsthey’ve done in service tothe communityalong with committees andcivic andcharitablegroup afﬁliations Tellushow they made adifference. Give speciﬁcexamples of what they’vedone. Maximumof750 words.

Nominations must meet speciﬁc requirements to be considered.

SAVE THEDATE: GOLDEN DEEDSAWARD

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10

CROWNE PLAZAEXECUTIVE CENTER 4728 CONSTITUTION AVE• BATONROUGE Tickets$50 each •Group tables available To purchase tickets, contact RichardFlicker at ﬂicker@premier.netor225-931-1626

Mike Rolfsen, M.D

.Ralph Bender

CharlesLamar III

Mail nomination letters to TheAdvocate attn:Ellen Ducote P.O. Box588 BatonRouge,LA70821 or email educote@theadvocate.com

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

U.S. stocks rise within 0.5% of their record

NEW YORK

U.S. stocks ticked higherWednesdayfollowing strong proﬁtreports from BlackRockand other bigcompanies.The tentative gains cameasoil prices swung to theirhighest levels in amonth because of the war with Iran

BlackRock helped lead the market with arise of 6.6% after the company behind some of the most popular investmentfunds reported stronger proﬁtand revenuefor the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Bank of New York Mellon rose 5.1% after adding to the spateofstrong earnings reportsfrom many of the biggest U.S. banks aday earlier Cintas climbed 4.4% after the provider of ofﬁce uniforms, restroom supplies andother products likewise delivered abetter proﬁt for the latest quarter than analysts forecast.

They helped offset adrop for ElevanceHealth, which fell 8.5% even though it reported stronger profit and revenue than analysts expected.

The broad U.S. stockmarket gotalift from another report showing inﬂation slowed last month.Itsaid inflation at the wholesale level slowed to 5.5% from 6% in May,and it was much better than the accelerationthat economists expected.

The day before, aseparate reportsaid inﬂation that U.S. consumers are feeling was also not as bad as economists expected last month.

Five Below plans to have 2,000 stores soon

Five Below has been opening hundredsofnew stores in recent years, and thismonth, the retailer is set to add its 2,000th location.

The new store is expectedto openinLaGrange, Georgia, on Friday,the company announced earlier this month.

The company’sexpansion puts itsstore count on par with Home Depot and Target.Asof the beginning of 2026, Home Depot operated 2,359 stores in theU.S., Canada, andMexico, andTargethad 1,995U.S stores.

Company leaders said in a recent annual report that they see opportunity to grow Five Below’sstore count to 3,500 eventually.

Five Below launched its ﬁrst store in 2002 ,and most items the business sells cost between $1 and $5. Its offering of toys, gadgets, games, and other items includes slinky toys, crayons, sandcastle buckets, basketballs, and wireless gaming headsets.

Amazon satellite internet to launch in South Africa

CAPETOWN,SouthAfrica Amazon saidWednesday that the technology company willlaunch its new satellite internet service AmazonLeo in South Africa in 2027, seeminglypushing ahead of Elon Musk’srival Starlink to win business in Africa’smost advancedeconomy Amazon,which wasfounded by Jeff Bezos, saidthat it wouldpartner withSouth Africaninternet provider Herotel to launch anew service in the countryof62million people. Amazon said that it was its ﬁrst satellite internet agreementon the African continent. No ﬁnancial details were initiallydisclosed. Amazon’sannouncement follows Musk’s bittercriticism of thegovernment in hiscountry of birth. The world’srichest man hassaid that SouthAfrican regulations have prevented him from launching Starlink therebecausehe’sWhite,and has accused the government of racism. He was referring to South Africa’saffirmative action policies, which require foreign companies operating in the communications sector to give aminority share of their local entities to Black or other non-White owners in order to acquire alicense.

26 Meta employeessue company

Groupalleges AI-driven layoff pickshit thoseon medical, parental leave

BY BARBARA ORTUTAY and ALEXANDRA OLSON AP business writers

Agroup of 26 Meta employees has sued the company,claiming it usedartiﬁcial intelligence systemstoselect people forlay-

offs, disproportionately targetingthose on medical,parental or family leave. They areamongthe 8,000 employees, or about 10% of its workforce, Metasaid it would layoff in May. Thelawsuit ﬁled lateMonday in federal court in Oakland, California, claimsthe company usedinternal AI systems,keystroke andactivitymonitoring data, AI token-usage dashboards and algorithmically assisted performance rankings,

amongothermethods, to determine who would be laid off. Many of these scores and ratings“by design,cannotbeaccumulated by an employee whois on protected medical or family leave, or whose output is reduced by adisability,” the lawsuit says. Meta, according to thelawsuit, didnot accountfor protected leave when taking employees’ scoresintoaccount and“didnot pause the system for the individualized, leave- and accommoda-

tion-neutral review that the law requires.”

As aresult, people on protected medical or family leave were disproportionately selected for layoffs,the lawsuit says. Each of the 26 anonymous employees in the lawsuittookprotected leave, or requested or receiveda reasonableaccommodation for disability. Though they have been notiﬁed of their layoffs, all26remainemployed by Meta, with separations set to begin July 22.

Rise in high-techvehiclesincreasing right-to-repair, tool access concerns

Mechanicssay they’relosing business as maker-specific software grows

BY SUMMER BALLENTINE

The Detroit News (TNS)

High-tech features are making vehicles moreexpensive and difﬁcult to repair,putting pressure onalready strained car ownersand posing an existential crisis for momand-pop mechanics,analysts andconsumer advocates say At issue is theshift from mostly mechanicalvehicles to “big four-wheel rolling computers,”asone autoindustry analyst said. Localmechanics saythey’re facing roadblocks accessing the toolsand informationneeded to work on modern vehicles,potentially givingdealershipsa monopoly on maintenance andrepairs of new models

“Not even just mechanics; thecustomers are frustrated with that,” said Mohsen Harb, manager at Detroit’s Cass Auto repair shop. “Because instead of them being able to go to theirmechanic and getting it fixed for a much cheaper price, they’regonna have to go to thedealership and pay three times that to get afixjust because thedealership or the company itselfisnot allowing these mechanicstoget theright tools to be able to fix it.”

Concern about who can repair increasingly tech-heavy vehicles —whether that be dealerships, neighborhood mechanics or vehicle owners —isgetting attention from theWhite House and Congress, although socalledright-to-repair legislation in the U.S. House is moving slowly President Donald Trumptold reporters thathespoke with leadersofFord Motor Co. and General Motors Co. in June about “a move ontostop people from fixing their cars. Ithought we’d do somethingabout that.” Days later,the presidentissued amemo directing theEnvironmentalProtection Agency to “considerdeprioritizingcivil tampering enforcement actions against anyone who, in good faith, attempts to fix his or her own vehicle to its original configuration.” The memo is primarily directed at making it easier to tweak vehicleemissions systems.

Decades ago, independent mechanics or handy DIY-ers could ﬁx most auto issues with “a good setofCraftsmantools,”iSeeCars.com analyst Karl Brauer said.Now, many repairs require automaker-specific software availablethrough subscriptions that can cost thousands of dollars ayear

Forexample, Tesla charges $3,188 foran annual subscription, according to the mechanicsand aftermarket partstrade group Auto Care Association. Ford Motor Co. charges $2,500 ayear foraccess, and General Motors Co. charges $1,200 ayear

“As cars have becomebasically big fourwheel rolling computers, all the things that go with computers, like regular updates to the software, are commonplace now,” Brau-

United Airlines

Mohsen Harb,manager at Cass Auto, looksoveravehicle in the shop

DetroitonJuly6as he discusses howindependent mechanics are frustrated and losing business as vehicles becomemore tech-heavy and expensive to repair.

er said. “Many of them can’tbedone over the air,and if you’re not adealer service center, but an independent (mechanic),your access to those updates is dependent on things like those subscriptions.”

Both dealerships and independent mechanics have to pay for software subscriptions, according to theNational Automobile Dealers Association, which in astatement saidnon-dealer mechanics“already have the information they need to service vehicles.”

Consumer advocates and analysts told The Detroit News that if roadblocks to tools and software lead to dealerships gaininganexclusive hold on modern vehicle repairs, independent shopscould shutter andput car owners at themercy of dealer prices.

Automakers gain controloverrepairs

The higher use of software throughout vehiclesisgiving automakers more control over who can ﬁx vehicles, Brauer said.

“There’snoway for an independent dealer to say,‘Well, I’lljust getmyown software engineers; we’ll come up with our own way,’ he said. “It’s impossible. So that’swhere the nature of the car’sdesign, and thus the nature of the repair process is so differentand so much easier to control at amanufacturer anda dealer levelversusjust hardware (and) hard tools and material tools that you would have used to ﬁx cars 50-60 years ago.

“The manufacturers would love to have more control over who repairs the carand havebasically more of amonopoly on that and make it so that it’simpossible to get the cars repaired outside of the dealers,”Brauer continued. “The dealers would love that, obviously.That’swhere dealer proﬁt comes from.” Ford didnot respond to aDetroit News request for commentonthe issue, and both

GM and Stellantis NV referred questions to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a nationalautomaker trade group. The group pointed to an agreement automakers signed in 2014 promising equal access to information andtoolsfor repairs between dealers and independent mechanics.

Yes, your repair bill is probably higher

The costofvehicle maintenance hasbeen rising steadily fordecades.Factors include moreexpensive vehicle parts, moredemanding safety requirements from federalregulators, ashortageofqualiﬁedvehicle techs andsteep competitionbetween automakers to offer morehigh-tech features.

Vehicle maintenance andrepairprices spiked starting in 2022 after COVID-19 caused widespread disruptions throughout the auto industry and acrippling microchip shortage.

Costs rose 36% between May2022 and May 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This year alone, maintenancecosts increased 6%.Priceincreases for aftermarket auto parts are driven by tariffs, more advanced tech andexpensive rare earths and metals needed to make parts, Chung said.

“Those costs arebeing passedontothe consumer,”Chung said. “So if the manufacturer has to pay morefor the part, and then they have to sell to the shop at an increased price, you then sellittothe consumer,you or I, at an increased price.”

Harb said customers at Cass Auto sometimes pay morefor arepair than avehicle is currently worth to avoid new car payments. Mechanicsatthe shop on Fridayreplaced the engine on a2013Hyundai Accentsedan worth about$4,000. The engine cost $5,000, Harb said.

attempting to attractﬂyers with emptymiddleseat Airlinetooffer perk on select flights

By The Associated Press NEW YORK United Airlines is tryingtoattractﬂyerswithanother luxurious perk: an empty middle seat. The Chicago-basedcarrier announcedplans this week to roll out anew row of its “Economy Plus” seats with no neighbor in the middlespot— andinstead use the space for ashared table (and more elbow room)between the aisle and window travelers. The offeringisonly settobe available in onerow on United’s

newAirbus A321XLR aircraft, withpricing and sales expected to be disclosed later this year.But United suggesteditcould expand the no-middle-seat option to other planes down theroad.

The movearrives amid abroader push from airlines advertising moreand morespecial tiersand separate add-ons to theirflights —particularly when it comes to courting passengers who are willing to pay morefor comfort.

United is following the footsteps of ahandful of European airlines already offering empty middle seats to business classpassengers. Andother carriers have also allowed travelers for years to pay extraorbuy additional tickets to keep seatsnear them empty

United said Tuesday that it expects to be “the only U.S. airline” to have these kind of rows. The middle seat has long been bemoaned by travelers— both those in the aisle and window seats that have to share an armrest or morewithwhoever is occupying the middle seat, and for those passengers stuck wedged in a middle seat between two others.

The latest no-middle-seat option also arrives just months after the airline announced the “United Relax Rows,”which, starting early next year,will allowpassengers in economy class to turn arow of three seats on some wider Boeing planes into acouch they can sleep or lounge on after takeoff. Acrosscarriers,passengers on thesame ﬂight can still have

strikingly different travelexperiences.And while there’s demand forroomier seats and other perks, some budget-conscious travelers mayfeel awidening gap between the back and front of the plane or frustrationovernew fees for services that were once freeand added tiers to juggle when comparing fares. Ahandful of big-name airlines, likeDelta, have embraced strategiestoprovide “the best” —not thecheapest —offerings. Meanwhile,United executives have pushed back on the idea that the industry has become solely focused on chasing big spenders, maintaining that premium investments are part of abroader strategy to improve every traveler’sexperience

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE PHOTO By DANIELMEARS

SIEGEN

Continued from page 1A

The money is speciﬁcally from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant program, which provides funding for surface transportation infrastructure projects with signiﬁcant local or regional impact

The project also includes about a $4.8 million local funding match from the St. George’s capital improvement budget The current estimated total cost of the project is about $24 million.

The project is focused on improving safety and function, meaning it will not eliminate trafﬁc, according to the city Improvements planned, like landscaped raised medians and median U-turn treatments, are believed to hopefully help improve the function of the area.

Yates said the public will know an actual timeline for the project once the city formally accepts the

POLICIES

Continued from page 1A

the Democratic candidate from Tensas Parish in the November congressional elections, will be sworn in.

‘What is actually right and true’ Cassidy said he backed Kennedy because of promises to not signiﬁcantly alter the federal government’s long-held guidance for immunizations and to confer regularly with the committee — promises that Kennedy didn’t keep. Cassidy has since raised ever-harsher criticisms about the Department of Health and Human Services.

“I feel like we’ve got thousands of kids hospitalized because people have promoted that immunization is bad, and now kids have died because of it is evil to do that,” Cassidy said at Wednesday’s hearing. “Will you have the ability to say no to junk science and to say yes to that which has been ﬁrmly established and to stick up for what is actually right and true as opposed to that which is superstition and prejudice?”

award

Future construction for the project will most likely create temporary traffic impacts on Siegen Lane. City leaders said they would speak with businesses in the area as the project progresses.

“We’ll coordinate with all our businesses on Siegen Lane,” Yates said about future construction impacting the area. “There’s always some minor inconveniences but (the inconveniences) will be far outweighed by the ﬁnished project.”

State Rep Paul Sawyer, R-Baton Rouge, emphasized how big an issue trafﬁc is in the capital region and that federal grants of this size for infrastructure are not common.

The project’s area saw 1,803 crashes from 2021 to 2025, according to the grant application.

“This is a very big deal,” Sawyer said at the news conference. “This is the largest grant of its kind in East Baton Rouge Parish.”

Email Claire Grunewald at claire.grunewald@theadvocate. com.

forced out in August 2025 after only a month in ofﬁce for refusing to endorse Kennedy’s picks for the panel of vaccine advisers, which included prominent anti-vaxxers.

The CDC has since been run by interim directors. About a quarter of the agency’s staff was laid off or resigned since Trump began his second term in January 2025.

Trump nominated Schwartz in April. A doctor, lawyer and retired rear admiral who oversaw the U.S. Coast Guard’s 41 clinics and 150 sick bays, Schwartz was deputy surgeon general during Trump’s ﬁrst term.

result, we see thousands getting measles. We see, unfortunately, deaths from measles, a vaccinepreventable disease, just lying at the feet of folks casting misinformation on these issues.”

Johns Hopkins University counts 2,250 cases of measles conﬁrmed so far this year in the U.S., where the extremely contagious virus had largely been eliminated through vaccinations. There were 2,289 cases last year And the CDC is tracking thousands of people afﬂicted across dozens of states with cyclosporiasis and related cryptosporidiosis.

“You have my assurances that I will do that. I will never betray the science, ever,” Schwartz replied. “I will make sure that the CDC is focused on scientiﬁc rigor.”

She added that the CDC would focus on “radical transparency,” which is most important in restoring public trust.

Turmoil at the CDC

But Schwartz supported many of Kennedy’s policies. When asked if she would take down a page on the CDC website that suggests linkage between autism and vaccinations, Schwartz demurred, saying she hadn’t seen it.

Cassidy didn’t mention Kennedy or Trump by name but drilled down on actions taken at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, particularly at the CDC, a subsidiary agency that has the most direct oversight of how many vaccines are required at what ages.

Overall, however Cassidy also said Schwartz was qualiﬁed to run the CDC. The HELP committee will decide soon whether to recommend Schwartz’s nomination to the full Senate. She likely will be conﬁrmed.

Cassidy referenced Susan Monarez, who was nominated by Trump and confirmed by the Senate as CDC director She was

“Parents should not have to guess whether information on the CDC’s website reflects the best available science rather than the preferences of political appointees. This is what has led to children being hospitalized and dying from diseases preventable with the vaccine,” Cassidy said. “As a

Also considered in the conﬁrmation hearing was Sean Kaufman, who was nominated as the Health and Human Services assistant secretary for strategic preparedness and response. Cassidy quizzed Kaufman on statements he had made when the department canceled funding for mRNA vaccine development.

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Davis,

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

Erica Schwartz testifies during a Senate committee confirmation hearing to be the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday.

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

St. George Mayor Dustin yates speaks during a news conference Wednesday about the Siegen Lane redevelopment project.

U.S. steps up strikes on Iran

Ship accused of trying to break U.S. blockade targeted

BY JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

DUBAI,UnitedArab Emirates The United States intensified its strikes targeting Iran early Thursday, hitting targets further north as American forces also fired into a ship it accused of trying to break its naval blockade on the Islamic Republic. Iran retaliated with missile and drone fire targeting Bahrain and Kuwait before dawn Days of back-and-forth strikes by the U.S. and Iran across the Middle East — and renewed threats to the Strait of Hormuz — have shredded the interim deal to end the Iran war and could tip the region back into allout war Already, Iranian officials say U.S. strikes have killed more than 35 people and wounded more than 300 others. Strikes also reached into areas around Iran’s capital, Tehran, for the first time of this latest round of violence.

When the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran effectively closed the strait to shipping trafﬁc — a move that sent the price of oil, fertilizer and many other goods soaring far beyond the region and gave Iran major leverage in negotiations.

Trading threats as attacks intensify

Those rising prices pose a particular challenge to U.S. President Donald Trump and his Republican Party which hopes to retain control of Congress in elections in November But Washington has struggled to successfully reopen the waterway, leading to Trump reimposing the naval blockade

Wednesday

Iran’s parliament speaker and lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said Iran was prepared for a fuller military confrontation if the U.S. does not live up to the terms of the interim deal, and Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened to halt all energy exports from the Middle East over the blockade.

“The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one,” the Guard said.

Trump again insisted Iran was ready to strike a peace deal, but he did not elaborate.

“They don’t like what we’re doing, and they do want to settle. We’ll ﬁnd out whether or not we settle with them, or we just ﬁnish it off,” he said Wednesday at the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania.

U.S. targets defense, missile sites

The U.S strikes early Thursday hit around Tehran, state media reported. It also reported American attacks targeted Semnan province, home to Iran’s ballistic missile production and space program. On Wednesday, the U.S. resumed striking Iran during daylight — further showing the increasing tempo of the attacks. Its attack on Greater Tunb Island, a strategic point in the Strait of Hormuz — targeted Iranian defense and missile sites, Central Command said.

Meanwhile, the U.S military said it opened fire on the Curacao-flagged oil tanker Belma sailing toward Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf. After the ship “ignored multiple warnings,” a U.S. aircraft disabled the merchant vessel by firing a missile into the ship’s smokestack.

Another American strike Wednesday targeted a barracks for Iran’s 388th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, which operates tanks and armored vehicles, in Sistan and Baluchistan province, Iranian state television reported. The report said Americans fired at least 13 missiles in the attack and the

seven dead included conscripts and career soldiers. A number of troops were wounded.

Strait remains at heart of fighting

The latest round of ﬁghting is focused on the Strait of Hormuz. How to reopen the strait has bedeviled the U.S. since Iran choked it off in the early days of the war

During the interim deal, some ships began moving through the passage using a route near Oman overseen by the U.S. military that is outside Tehran’s control.

In recent days, Iran attacked ships using that route — and back-and-forth attacks ensued. The U.S. has threatened to reopen the strait by force — but experts say that would require a much bigger armada if not tens of thousands of ground troops. Imposing the blockade is another way to put pressure on Iran.

But in the meantime, oil prices are rising. The price for Brent crude oil, the international standard, traded above $85 a barrel on Thursday more than 15% higher than the price before the war, but still well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the conﬂict.

Associated Press writers Michelle Price, Konstantin Toropin, Will Weissert, Collin Binkley and Fatima Hussein in Washington, Christopher Weber in Los Angeles, and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

BY LISA MASCARO AP congressional correspondent

WASHINGTON More than half the House Democrats voted Wednesday to strip $3.3 billion in U.S. aid from Israel, the most substantial signal yet that once rocksolid bipartisan support for the country is disintegrating in the aftermath of its war in Gaza that has killed thousands of Palestinians.

The vote tally, 104-314, was not enough to attach the amendment to a broader national security spending bill, but stands as a stark accounting of the shifting attitudes that are dividing the Democratic Party and the nation over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war strategy now approaching its third year

The House’s Democratic leadership split over the issue in what was largely seen as a test vote ahead of the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. More than 100 Democrats voted for the amendment to strip the foreign military aid money, and almost as many voted against. Most Republicans voted to preserve the Israel aid.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who announced he opposed the measure that would zero out the aid, nevertheless said “that for the good of Israel and the Palestinian people, American policy in the Middle East must change.”

Jeffries said in a letter to colleagues, ahead of a private caucus meeting this week where the Israel issue dominated the debate, that he believes “there are more decisive ways to achieve the urgent change necessary when it comes to the far-right Netanyahu government.”

The deepening divide over

Israel threatens to upend the Democratic Party as it faces an energized left ﬂank that is promoting self-proclaimed democratic socialists in a handful of marquee House races, particularly last month in New York. While more traditional Democrats have stood with U.S. support for Israel, a growing number have distanced themselves from Netanyahu’s strategy as the war has dragged on in a prolonged response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. The Democratic Whip, Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, announced she would support the measure to withhold the funds. Republicans have seized on the divide to portray Democrats as being overtaken by their more radical farleft elements, even as House Speaker Mike Johnson, RBenton, faces divisions within his own ranks as President Donald Trump’s most ardent America First Republicans lean toward less foreign military spending.

According to an AP-NORC poll this month, about onethird of U.S. adults — including roughly half of Democrats — believe Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians during the war in Gaza, an accusation that’s been leveled by some human rights organizations and vehemently denied by Israel and the U.S. government. The amendment to strip Israel’s foreign aid was offered by Rep. Thomas Massie, the libertarian-leaning Kentucky Republican who lost his own bid for reelection after Trump backed his challenger During the floor debate, Massie said the $3.3 billion could be better spent at home on U.S. roads, bridges and veterans’ needs.

Ascension School Board OKs stipend

Governor’s order delays permanent raise for educators

BY ANNAKATE FREELAND Staff writer

The Ascension Parish School Board approved one-time stipends Tuesday night to comply with an executive order from Gov Jeff Landry, halting the district’s planned $1,500 permanent pay raises for teachers and support staff.

Landry’s order requires school districts to provide a $2,000 onetime stipend for teachers and a $1,000 stipend for support staff for the 2026-27 school year, a stipend that the state has paid for the past three years. The ordered stipend replaces a proposed across-the-board $1,500

permanent salary increase that district leaders had hoped to implement this year Ascension Parish planned to vote on the permanent raises at its June 23 meeting but postponed the decision pending the outcome of a legal challenge to Landry’s stipend plan. District officials said Tuesday they are legally required to com-

ply with the governor’s executive order to provide stipends before moving forward with their own raise proposal. Because of the state mandate, ofﬁcials said they are not able to afford the planned raises.

“Given that it is an executive order from the governor, we are legally mandated that obligation first, then the raise that we had proposed will come after that,”

Chief Administrative Director

Darby Lambert said. Lambert cautioned that complying with the executive order could affect the district’s general fund balance.

“Because of this executive order, there is a chance in November or December of us coming back saying, ‘We may have gone into the fund balance,’” he said.

The board said it still plans to

Workers with Precision Tree Service cut limbs out of a

Board issues plan for deficiencies

BY ANNAKATE FREELAND Staff

During

Among the changes is a requirement to use formal coop-

erative endeavor agreements to document public benefits received from community contributions, eliminate retroactive employee bonuses, establish formal compensation policies, assign speciﬁc staff to handle public records requests, and revise purchasing procedures to comply with Louisiana’s public bid law Anthony said the district is also requesting formal documentation related to the investigation into vacation leave pay-

ments of roughly $70,000 made to former CEO Vince Cataldo, one of the audit’s most signiﬁcant ﬁndings The audit also questioned nearly $150,000 in contributions to community organizations and found the district paid $65,850.

“As your CEO, I take full responsibility to ensure those practices stop immediately We’re not here to defend or excuse the past, but we are here to structurally realign this entire institution,” Anthony said.

Lawsuit alleged parcel would have been downzoned

BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer

A judge has ruled that St. George for the time being — cannot rezone a piece of land at the Pecue Lane interchange at Interstate 10 following a lawsuit ﬁled by the landowner A 19th Judicial District Court judge signed a temporary restraining order Monday that prevents St. George from adopting or enforcing a proposed ordinance that would rezone a nearly 60-acre parcel, which is a part of the Kleinpeter family’s land, that is at the center of a lawsuit from LRK LLC. LRK LLC is seeking legal action against St. George concerning the city’s proposal to rezone the parcel. The suit was filed June 8 and claims the proposed change is restrictive and unenforceable.

The judge’s move came right before Tuesday’s City Council meeting. The meeting’s agenda had included the rezoning ordinance under public hearing and ﬁnal action. Instead, the council on Tuesday approved indeﬁnitely deferring the item due to pending litigation. A spokesperson for St. George said Wednesday that the city’s position

ä See REZONING, page 2B ä See STIPEND, page 2B

state veterinarian dies at 79 Lea served in post for 17 years

BY ELLYN COUVILLION Staff writer

Dr Maxwell “Mack” Lea, who served as the state veterinarian with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry for nearly 20 years, died Monday at the age of 79. Lea was a native of Baton Rouge who studied undergraduate sciences at LSU for two years before transferring to Oklahoma State University where he earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. Back in Louisiana, he worked in private practice in large-animal care in Zachary for 20 years, treating the livestock of area and out-of-parish farmers.

Lea

“He did a lot of ﬁeld work,” said Philip Lea, one of Mack’s three sons.

ä See LEA, page 2B

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN BALLANCE

Alexandria man charged in killing of U.S. marshal

BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer

An Alexandria man has been federally charged in the fatal shooting of a U.S. deputy marshal during the service of an arrest warrant Monday in Alexandria.

Clarence A. Frazier Jr , 48, of Alexandria, was charged by criminal complaint with the murder of Deputy U.S. Marshal Drew Hanson, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison or the death penalty Hanson was shot while serving an arrest warrant alongside the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office for Frazier on Monday after Frazier failed to appear in court on a charge of sexual battery of a per-

son with inﬁrmities, according to a news release.

“Our men and women put their lives on the line every day to apprehend the country’s most dangerous criminals,” said Gadyaces Serralta, director of the U.S. Marshals Service. “When a Deputy U.S. Marshal is killed in the line of duty serving an arrest warrant on a violent fugitive, this agency and, indeed the entire country mourn that loss. While we are all profoundly heartbroken by Drew Hanson’s tragic death, we are at the same time grateful for his unselﬁsh devotion to protecting his community and those he loved.”

Law enforcement located Frazier at his residence around the intersection of Rutland and Moor and obtained a search warrant before

entering the home, according to the Justice Department. The ofﬁcers allegedly had clear law enforcement markings to execute the warrant, announced their presence, and forced entry into the residence.

Officers found Frazier in his bedroom, where, according to the Justice Department, he barricaded himself and shot at ofﬁcers, striking Hanson.

Frazier then engaged in a further standoff with ofﬁcers until he was taken into custody Hanson later died from his injuries. Frazier also suffered injuries and was taken to a local hospital, according to KALB.

“U.S. Marshals risk their lives every day — securing our courts,

Baton Rouge man out on bail in rape case arrested in alleged stalking

A Baton Rouge man who was previously arrested and was out on bail in connection with a rape charge has been arrested for allegedly stalking a separate victim.

CRIME BLOTTER staff reports

Sean St. Cyr, 19, was stalking the victim for several months at her residence, according to Baton Rouge police They ﬁrst met about three months ago at a high school party She told St. Cyr that she no longer wanted to speak with him, but he continued to ask why and appear at her residence at various times of the day and night, police said.

Arrest documents state that the victim told police that she was aware that St. Cyr had allegedly

been drugging women and taking advantage of them.

St. Cyr was previously arrested in April 2026 after driving a separate victim, a 16-year-old he met on Snapchat, from her house in Ethel to his apartment in downtown Baton Rouge and allegedly raping her in March

When the victim returned to her residence in Ethel, she appeared to be under the inﬂuence of an unknown substance, according to the arrest warrant.

She was transported to the hospital, where a sexual assault nurse examiner conﬁrmed she had injuries consistent with sexual assault and tested positive for an STI, police said.

St. Cyr had been released from jail on a $100,000 bail in April. He is now being held at the East Baton

Rouge Parish Prison.

BR Fire Department members headed to Texas Baton Rouge Fire Department members left Wednesday morning to help with search-and-rescue efforts in the Texas Hill Country

According to a news release, six members of the BRFD and the West Feliciana Fire District 1 left Baton Rouge at around 7 a.m. for Bryan, Texas, where they will then be assigned to areas affected by ﬂooding in the Hill Country

The region has experienced extensive ﬂooding after heavy rain moved through the area. The team will help local and state agencies with search-and-rescue efforts alongside other emergency response needs.

Alleged terrorist in Lafayette pleads not guilty

Gaza native was arrested in connection with attack on Israel

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

A Middle Eastern man arrested in Lafayette, who federal prosecutors allege participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israeli civilians that left hundreds dead has pleaded not guilty to all charges contained in a superseding indictment.

A two-count indictment was issued in October of 2025 against Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi, a Gaza native who resided and worked brieﬂy in Lafayette until his arrest last year Prosecutors allege he aided a terrorist group and lied on his visa application, entering the United States via Dallas in September 2024, nearly a year after the attack on Israel that killed more than 1,200 people, including 49 American citizens.

Officials with the U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana in Lafayette, ﬁled a superseding indictment against Al-Muhtadi in June that modifies an existing charge and adds two others to the original two-count indictment.

An original count against AlMuhtadi accused the Gaza native of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death. The superseding indictment removes “resulting in death” from

Continued from page 1B

remains the same following the temporary order Mayor Dustin Yates previously said in a statement June 9 that the city disagrees with the lawsuit’s claims.

“We won’t litigate it in the press or comment on speciﬁc zoning allegations outside the legal process,” Yates said at the time.

In the lawsuit, LRK is claiming the proposed rezoning change would be an instance of downzoning, which can restrict size and density of development, and is asking a judge to declare any restrictive zoning for the tract as “unconstitutional and unenforceable.”

The land has held the heavy commercial zoning classiﬁcation, designated by the East Baton Rouge Metro Council, for over three decades, according to the lawsuit On April 28, St. George approved

the charge.

A second count of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization was added with Wednesday’s superseding indictment.

Count 3 of the new indictment retains a visa fraud charge contained in the original indictment.

A fourth count, which is new, accuses Al-Muhtadi of making a false statement within the jurisdiction of the United States.

He pleaded not guilty to all four counts on July 9.

Al-Muhtadi, when entering the United States, allegedly told a representative of the Department of State that he did not have specialized skills or training in things like firearms and explosives when he did have such skills and training due to his longtime afﬁliation with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and its paramilitary wing, the National Resistance Brigades which has ties to Hamas, according to the indictment.

Al-Muhtadi also allegedly told the State Department representative that he had never been involved in any paramilitary-style group, had never engaged in terrorist activities, had never intended to provide ﬁnancial or other support to terrorists and had not committed, ordered, incited or assisted in killings or other acts of violence.

The superseding indictment alleges he did all of the above and participated in the Oct 7, 2023, attack and massacre in Israel.

The visa fraud charge stems from lies Al-Muhtadi allegedly told when

a complete overhaul of its zoning structure, which originally had been outlined by the city-parish government St George officials took the 45 zoning districts the area previously had and consolidated them into 16. Th e zon ing changes are aimed at creating a clear, simplified system by focusing on residential, mixed use and business zoning districts, city officials said in approving the overhaul. Zoning regulates how land can be used in a speciﬁc area and determines factors such as what can be built on the property and the size of buildings. In the move, the C-2 zoning classiﬁcation was removed and converted under one of the mixed use

protecting our communities, and working shoulder-to-shoulder with local law enforcement to bring dangerous fugitives to justice. Deputy U.S. Marshal Drew Hanson embodied that courage and dedication,” said acting Attorney General Todd Blanche “Tragically, the defendant’s alleged actions claimed the life of a dedicated law enforcement ofﬁcer who was simply doing his duty The alleged perpetrator is now in custody and will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law Our thoughts and prayers are with Deputy Marshal Hanson’s family and the entire law enforcement community mourning his loss.”

The FBI is investigating the case with assistance from RPSO. The

Louisiana State Police is also investigating potential violations of state law

“The FBI offers our deepest condolences to the family of Deputy U.S. Marshal Hanson, who was killed in the line of duty while doing his job pursuing a subject wanted for violent crime,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “We will commit our full force of resources to conduct a thorough investigation with our partners at the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce and the Department of Justice to ensure the individual responsible for this horriﬁc act is brought to justice. The FBI sends our prayers to Deputy Hanson’s family, friends, and our partners at the U.S. Marshals Service.”

Elton slashes salaries amid financial turmoil

BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer

The town of Elton is slashing salaries for its mayor and police chief amid ﬁnancial turmoil that stems back several years.

According to Elton Mayor Michael Pierrotti, his salary following the new adjustments is just shy of $12 an hour, or an annual salary of about $23,000, cut from $38,400. The police chief’s salary was cut to $11 an hour, or about $21,000 per year

The sharp decrease in wages comes as the Jefferson Davis Parish town has been embroiled in the fallout from years of ﬁnancial mismanagement dating to before Pierrotti took ofﬁce in May 2024 following a recall of the previous mayor, Keisa Lemoine. Pierrotti, who prior to taking office served as an alderman, claimed to have uncovered multiple major financial issues not previously known to the public, including $92,000 in health insurance premiums being paid to former employees and their dependents

following their termination. Additionally, the town owes around $215,000 in overdue federal payroll taxes.

KPLC reported in January 2024 that the town likely owed over $1 million in police pensions through the Municipal Police Employees Retirement System. Under Louisiana state law, every local police force is required to enroll each of its ofﬁcers in the program. For several years following the passage of the rule, Elton failed to do so, which led to a lawsuit being ﬁled against the town by MPERS.

Since taking ofﬁce, Pierrotti has made settling the town’s ﬁnancial debts a priority, with the town reaching an amicable agreement with MPERS last week regarding its outstanding debt. The details of the agreement have not yet been released Elton’s financial troubles stem from a change in state law that no longer requires the Coushatta Tribe of Indians to commit a certain amount of casino/gambling revenue to the town

applying for a visa namely that he had no involvement with paramilitary groups and had no specialized skill or training in ﬁrearms or explosives, the new indictment alleges.

Al-Muhtadi entered the country on Sept. 12, 2024, through the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. Documents show he has been living in Lafayette since at least May, working in a local restaurant after relocating from Tulsa, Oklahoma. According to a probable-cause affidavit, Al-Muhtadi has been a member of the National Resistance Brigades, the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, since at least 2019. Federal investigators alleged he is a senior member of the group and was tasked with training younger militants.

Israel provided the U.S. government with information that AlMuhtadi participated in the attacks and fled Gaza, according to the affidavit. His social media and email accounts show extensive evidence against him, federal investigators allege, including photos of AlMuhtadi wearing the red headband of the NRB and allegedly providing firearms training and a photo of him with 15 young, armed men that he described as his group.

Al-Muhtadi, in May 2021, sent a message to another social media user describing an NRB attack on an Israeli military outpost near the Gaza border, according to the affidavit. He allegedly wrote, “I swear by God, we burned them! This battle is different for us. God

zoning classiﬁcations.

St. George reassigned the area to a Mixed-Use Community 3 (MX-3) designation, but the council has not voted on the change yet. LRK argues it was given a more restrictive classification compared to its previous C-2 classiﬁcation.

MX-3 is described as a variety of midscale nonresidential and multiunit residential uses to serve the community MX-4 is described as a variety of large-scale nonresidential and multiunit residential uses to serve the region, per the city’s zoning ordinance.

The temporary order is in place at least until a July 28 hearing on LRK’s request for a preliminary injunction.

STIPEND

Continued from page 1B

provide an additional $1,500 onetime stipend to all employees by Christmas, similar to the bonus distributed last November Last year’s stipend was $1,500 for teachers and $750 for support employees.{/span}

About 50 teachers from across the parish attended Tuesday’s meeting, many wearing blue to show support for permanent raises rather than one-time payments.

During public comment, East Ascension teacher Valerie Comeaux said she has remained in the same condominium she purchased more than 20 years ago because her salary has not kept pace with rising costs.

“Every year that I stay in Ascension and continue doing what I truly love, my family falls another year behind financially,” she said. “My oldest daughter could graduate from high school

LEA

Continued from page 1B

The private practice, named The Animal Center, had facilities for housing cattle, horses and other livestock during their care, but sometimes it was more convenient for his father to go to the farms, Lea said. During his years of private practice, Mack Lea served as president of the Louisiana Veterinary Medical Association at one time and “was known and respected” because of his longtime involvement in large-animal practice, his son said.

Mack Lea had retired from private practice in 1990 when the Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry, the late Bob Odom, appointed him as veterinarian for the state.

“It was an opportunity for him to be involved statewide in animal health initiatives and policies,” Philip Lea said.

During Mack Lea’s 17 years as state veterinarian, Louisiana was ofﬁcially designated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as “Brucellosis Class Free,” meaning an end to the highly contagious bacterial disease in its domestic

having never lived in a house that sits on the ground, and that makes me feel like a failure.”

Comeaux told the board that while teachers have received raises over the years, their purchasing power has declined. She noted that according to the Louisiana Department of Education, the average teacher salary in Ascension Parish during the 2005-06 school year was $41,896. Adjusted for inﬂation, that would equal about $71,900 today well above the district’s current starting teacher salary of about $52,000. Many of the board members acknowledged teachers’ comments and said they will continue to look for ways to give raises, but that it wasn’t feasible this year

“We’re going to continue to look for ways to pay people more. And that’s all we can promise to you,” board President Jared Bercegeay said.

“For us to just throw a raise across 3,500 people would not be responsible for us as board members. We just can’t do that.”

cattle.

It was a longtime effort, started by the department in decades past, Philip Lea said, but was ﬁnally achieved by vaccination initiatives, quarantines and isolation for animals who were ill, as well as regular testing, documentation and tracking.

“He was very analytical and enjoyed working with animals, for sure,” Lea said, “but I think what he enjoyed most was the people he worked with. His closest friends were the cattlemen he kept in touch with, even after he retired.” Services for Mack Lea will be held on Tuesday at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Zachary, with visitation from 9 to 11 a.m., followed by a funeral Mass.

Darensbourg,

Ratcliff, Eddie Pine Grove BaptistChurchatnoon. Terrell, James LibertyBaptistChurch in Liberty, MS at 11am Obituaries

Laws, Harry L. Harry L. Laws, anative of NewRoads, La. and resident of Bueche, La. He passed away on Monday, July 13, 2026 at 7:10 pm at Pointe Coupee General Hospital. He was 74 years old and was aWest Baton Rouge 4-H agent and was also aretired County Agent. He was acattleman and an avid hunter and fisherman. He enjoyed spending time with family and spending his summers at Grand Isle. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Debra C. Laws; brothers, Parkerson Laws and Crane Laws; sisters, Helen C. Elliot and Nancy Rea Laws; nephews, Parkerson E. Laws, Cody Tyler Laws, Joseph Bueche Vaughn Bueche, James Laws, John K. Laws, III and Willie Hess; nieces, Helen Elliot, Sandy Part and Sara Aguillard, Lisa Robillard and Trisha Adams. He was preceded in death by his parents, John K. Laws, Sr andHelen Davis; step father, Eugene Davis; step sister, Bobbie Hess; step brother,Carter Davis; mother in law and fatherin law, Evelyn and Joseph Chustz; brother-in-law, Mark Chustz. Avisitation will be held at Niland's Funeral Home in New Roads on Friday, July 17, 2026 from 8:30 am until 10:30 am. AMass will follow in St.Paul's Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in New Roads at 11 am. Interment will follow in False River Memorial Park. Pallbearers will be Cody Laws, Parkerson E. Laws, Chad Lasseigne, Craig Sarradet, Vaughn Bueche and Francis Beatty. In lieu of flowers, donation may be made to the West Baton Rouge 4HFoundation 210 Turner Rd. Port Allen, La. 70767. Special thanks to the Pointe Coupee General Hospital Staff,Staff of Pointe Coupee Hospice and his wonderful sitters for the great care and compassion given to Harry

Maebell

Funeral services for Maebell Nelson will be held at Little Zion Baptist Church, 1955 74th Avenue Baton Rouge,LA70807.

Apublic viewing will take place on Friday, July 17, 2026, from 5:00 p.m.to 7:00 p.m.

Diane Robins Chube will forever be rememberedas alovingwife, devoted mother, cherishedgrandmother, and faithful friend. Aproud native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana,she peacefully departed this earthly life on Tuesday, July 7, 2026,inthe comfortof her home at the ageof68. On May31, 1975,Diane united in Holy Matrimony with the love of her life, Donald Ray Chube,Sr. Their marriagewas blessedwith two children, Zanovia Chube Curtis and Donald Ray Chube, Jr., who remained amongher greatest sourcesofpride and joy. Diane accepted Jesus Christ as herLord and Savior at an early ageand was baptized by the late PastorJ.R.Williams atElm Grove BaptistChurch. Her faithremainedanimportant partofher lifeand guided the love she freely sharedwith others. She received her education through the East Baton Rouge ParishSchool System and graduated from Capitol High School as a memberofthe Class of 1976.Throughout her career,Diane faithfully served as an employeeof the East Baton Rouge Parish School System Transportation Department and AlliedWaste Services. Diane was also honored to serve as the Mother of Omega TauPi Sorority, Incorporated. More than any title she ever held,she builta lifecentered on family,friendship compassion,and unwavering love. Herkindness, warmspirit, and genuine heartearned the admiration and respect of everyone blessed to know her. Left to cherishher precious memories are herdevoted husband, DonaldR Chube, Sr.;her twoloving children,Zanovia Chube Curtis (Terry,Sr.)and DonaldRay Chube, Jr.; three beloved grandchildren, Terry Curtis, Jr., Terralyn Charmaine Curtis, and TrinityLi'ane Curtis; one sister,Teresa Robins Smart; two brothers,Dale Robins (Rosalind) and ClydeRobins (Veronica); hergodson, Dejuan Pounds;along with ahost of nieces, nephews, extended family members, and treasuredfriends.Diane was precededindeath by herfather,Hezekiah Robins, Jr.; hermother, Lucinda Robins Holloman; and her sister,Hazel Robins Winbush.Visitation July 17, 2026 10:00AM until Religious Service 12:00 noon at Antioch Baptist Church 5247 Ford St.Baton Rouge, La, LA 7081Interment following funeral service at Southern Memorial Gardens. ServiceEntrusted to A. Hamilton Platinum Funeral Service225-9529111

Emogene Dillon Shuttleworth,age 95 was called home by her Lord and SaviorJesus Christ,onJuly 12th, 2026. Emogene was born September 16th, 1930 to John David Dillon and EthelMae Dillon in Tylertown, MS. She wasraisedona dairyfarm that didnot have electricity or running water until1940 and was accustomed to hard work.She graduated Tylertown High School, attended Southwest Mississippi JuniorCollege, and graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University. Emogene moved to Baton Rouge and started to work at Baton Rouge General Hospitalasa dietitian. She met and eventuallymarried Ernest Shuttleworth. They were marriedfor 32 years and had one son, Darryl.After an extended maternityleave, she started working for Our Lady of the Lake Hospitaland eventuallybecame Director of Food Services. After 26 years of dedicated service she retired. She then enjoyed travelling, volunteering fornursing homes, cooking and caring for her family.Emogene madea professionoffaith in 1945 and was baptized.Eventually she moved her letter to Zoar Baptist Church and became amember in 1988. She lovedbasketball as aplayerand fan. In her youthshe earneda basketball scholarshiptoSouthwest Mississippi Junior College.Emogene was a dedicatedand loving wife, mother, grandmother and greatgrandmother. She was preceded in deathby her husband Ernest Shuttleworth,father John David Dillon, mother EthelMae Dillon, brotherDoyleDillon, brotherBen Dillon, brotherTom Dillon, sisterDoris Mainord, sisterMildredConerly, and sister Genevieve Colona. She is survived by her son Darryl Shuttleworth, granddaughter KelliConerly and her husband Rayford, granddaughter AmberShuttleworth great-granddaughter Emma Conerlyand great -granddaughter LizConerly

Connie Stigallpassed away on July11, 2026, after abrief illness. She was 88 at thetime of her death and alifelong resident of Baton Rouge. Connie was preceded in deathbyher husband of 65 years, Dr. Tommy T. Stigalland her parents Ceciland Yvonne Bankston. She is survived by her twochildren Lisa Edmundsand Stuart Stigall and theirspouses John and Lisa. Her grandchildren Hannah and Gregory Edmunds and MatthewStigall alsosurvive her, as does Connie's brother Dr. CecilNoelBankston and hisspouse Helen and their children, Erica Hamer and ArlenBankston.Connie graduated from Baton Rouge High School and attendedBaylor University where she graduated cum laude with aBachelor of Arts degree.During her freshmanyear at Baylor she met Tommy, her future husband.Overthe course of herworklifeConnie heldmany roles, some of these were teaching elementary school, serving as an executivedirector of The Louisiana Psychological Associationand office manager of herhusband Tommy's psychological practice. Conniewas also involvedinmany clubsand volunteer endeavors, some of these includeYWCO, Tara Garden Club, and leader of aGirlScout troop. Conniewas alifelong member of area Baptist churches, most recently as amember of BroadmoorBaptist.Family was important to Connie. She grew up with alarge extendedfamily and often spokeofall thememorable times she shared with her many cousins at theirfamilyfarm. She lovedspending time with her children and grandchildrenand traveled with them when she could. The visitation and funeral will be heldat Greenoaks Funeral Home at 9595 FloridaBlvd.,Baton Rouge, La. 70815, on Friday July 17, 2026. Visitation will beginatnoonfollowed by thefuneral at 2:00p.m.A graveside servicewillimmediatelyfollow at Greenoaks Memorial Park

tioned to life eternalonJuly 4, 2026, withher devoted son,Timothy, by herside. Shewas aretiree of Baton Rouge General MidCity with 30 years of service Sheissurvived by herson; Timothy(Emma) Taylor; hersiblings, Lillie Williams andSamuel Martin, Sr.; andfourgrandchildren, AnthonyPaul, Timothy Lamar,Emilee Nicole,and Relia"Tootie"Taylor.Visitationwill be held on Friday, July 17, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. untilfuneral service at 11:00 a.m. at Elm Grove Baptist Church,1069 North 38th Street, Baton Rouge Louisiana, with Rev. Errol K. Domingue officiating Servicesare entrusted to Hall Davis andSon Funeral Services.

Terrell, James Burnett'Jack'

JamesBurnett (Jack) Terrell,a residentofLiberty, Ms. wascalled home by hisLordand SavioronJuly 13, 2026. Jackwas born September9,1932, theson of Johnny Bertram and Lottie Jane RobertsTerrell.A graduate of Liberty High School in 1951, he enlisted in theU.S, Airforcefrom1951 -1953. In 1957, he began hiscareer with theBaton Rouge Police Department as apatrol officer, juvenile detective, andautotheft.Heretiredasa Lieutenant in 1983 and moved backto hishometown. Retirement wasfinefor awhile until Tommy Leecalledhim for apositionwith theGloster police departmentfrom 1988 untilretiringagain in 1997. Hisnext move wasto theAmite County Sheriff's departmentasthe court bailiff from 2000 until 2012. Jackwas aproud Southern Baptist, attendingLiberty Baptist Church.Normally he wasthe first onethere on Sunday morningstudyinghis Sunday School lesson. Jackwas amember of theFraternal OrderofPolice,Louisiana Peace Officers Association,American Legion Post 76, Mississippi ForestryAssociation,and theNRA

death by hisparents, his sister Nell McNeil,and a step great grandson Noah Daigle Visitation willbeThursday July 16, 2026 at Liberty Baptist Church in Liberty MS.from9:00 A.M. until time of funeral servicesat 11:00 A.M.Thursday, at the church,officiatedbyRev Brock Burchand Rev. David Fortenberry. Gravesideservice willfollow in Liberty Cemetery with final prayer by KellyButler. Pallbearers are Michael Posey, JamesTerrell,GrahamHudson, KellyButler, Craig Daigle,Micah Daigle, JustinBrister, and David Dixon Honorary Pallbearers will be Sheriff Tim Wroten, Deputy Tommy Lee, Carl Terrell,Todd Quebedeaux, Roger Dale Sterling, and Gene Anders.

Bernice Marie Whitley, a residentofZachary, Louisiana departed this life on Monday, July 6, 2026 at LaneRegionalMedical Center in Zachary, Louisiana. Servicesare scheduled as follows: Visitation/ Wake -Thursday, July 16, 2026, 5:00PM -8:00PM at WilsonWooddale Funeral Home, 1553 Wooddale Boulevard, Baton Rouge Louisiana 70806. Funeral Mass -Friday, July 17, 2026, 11:00AM at St John TheBaptist Catholic Church,4826 Main Street, Zachary, Louisiana. Funeral Arrangements by WilsonWooddale FuneralHome.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Betty Laird Terrell; daughter Jackie Bourg (Pat); son Roger Dale; step son Marshall Brister (Sheila); step daughter Darlene Butler (Kelly); grandchildren Michael Posey (Tracey), Dr Sarah Hudson (Graham), JamesBertram Terrell (Lacey), Dixie Daigle (Craig), Justin Brister (Tiffany); great grandchildren EmilyRushing(Dane), Gracie and Garner Posey, Jacob DaleTerrell,Hunter Pigeon,Shelby Begue, Sidneyand MichaDaigle, Kaleigh andHannahBrister; great-great grandchildren Ameliaand Teddy Rushing,Porter andIvy Kate. Jackisprecededin

in Print?

Shuttleworth, Emogene Dillon

Stigall, Constance Bankston 'Connie'

Rosalind

RobinsChube, Diane

Whitley, Bernice Marie

Nelson,

Taylor,Relia

Sister Relia"Rena" Taylor, age91, anativeof Velverda, LA and resident of Baton Rouge, LA transi-

After apost-pandemicspike, it seems that crime trends in someLouisiana citiesare movinginthe right direction. That’s thanks in large part to the coordinated effortsoflaw enforcement and local leaders.

For far too long, Louisianacities have been among the list of those with some of the highest murder rates in the country.Weknowthat much work remains to be done. This year, Louisiana made headlines for some shockingviolent crimes, including adomestic violence killing spree inShreveport that left eightchildrendead in April and ashooting at theMall of Louisiana days later that resulted in the death of aLafayette teen.

But it appears that despite thesehorriﬁcepisodes, violent crime statistics may befalling in some places—most notably in New Orleans, where crime is down to levels not seen in decades.According tothe FBI’sUniformCrime Report, the state’slargest city recorded38 murders in theﬁrst half of the year, on pace to end the year with around thesame number of murders it saw in 1969.

Comparing the firsthalfof2026 to thesame span in 2023,murders in New Orleans aredown 68%, non-fatal shootings are down 70%, armed robberies aredown 62% and carjackings are down 63% in decades. That’s remarkable if you recall that in 2022, the cityranked first in the nationfor homicides. It’stime tochange the narrative around crime in NewOrleans that has toooften been used todepress tourismand economicactivity In Baton Rouge, the numbers weren’tasdramatic, but the good news is that they weren’t worse. The number of homicides in thestate’s second-largest city held steadythrough thefirst six months of the year —with42homicides reported by the Baton Rouge Police Department since January,the same number as at themidpoint of 2025. The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office reported 11 homicides, also thesame as lastyear.

Still, it’s worth noting that overall crime dropped7%inBaton Rougecitylimits in the ﬁrst half of this year compared to lastyear,with robberydown 25% and burglary down7%. In Shreveport, the number of homicidesincreased to 21 during this period,compared to 18 during thesame timeframein2025. Without the April mass shooting, however,thatnumber would have dropped to 13. Shreveportalso saw a19% increase in armed robberies. The number of nonfatal shootings, though,fell to 88 from 101 during the same time ayear prior Louisiana residents alwayssay public safety should be one of the top priorities. We know that for our state to live up to itspotential, we must ﬁrst address our crime problem. Only thencan we fully turn our attention to becomingthe state we want to be.

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

Baton Rouge lost acornerstone of this community.Coach Roger Cador wasn’tjust aSouthern University legend; he was adear friend, and for anyone who didn’thave the chance to know him personally,his passing deserves to be understood as more than a sportsheadline. Yes, Cador built one of the most respected baseball programsinthe countryatSouthern, over more than three decades on the Bluff. He remains Southern’swinningest coach, with one of the best overall records in Division Ihistory,including 14 SWAC titles and two national championships. However,those numbers only tell part of the story.What stays withme, in knowing him over manyyears, wasn’tthe trophies. It was how he showed up for people. He believed Southern baseball belonged not to him but to theuniversityand state, and he lived that belief in how he coached and led. Coach built men,not just ballplayers. He gave this city,and generations of

I’m far from theonly New Orleans resident whose entire life was changed by Hurricane Katrina. This and every other hurricane season brings back haunting memories of the packed interstate on the way to Mississippi, all our neighbors evacuating with us; of the power outages that stretched across state lines;ofgoing from playing volleyball on aSaturday to being forced to moveaway from everything I’d ever known.

Iﬂew to Washington, D.C., recently to share my survivor’sstoryatthe Museum of Unnatural Disasters, a pop-up exhibit on the National Mall. Iwanted to impress upon museum visitors and my members of Congress that we need climate action. We need afully funded NOAA and

young people who came through his program,something to be proud of year after year Cador cared about the whole show not just his own program.Hehelped bring HBCU baseball onto the national stage and spent years working to grow baseball in inner-city communities, giving young people whomight never have picked up thegame achance to play Those contributions earned him a place in theSWACHall of Fame, the LouisianaSports Hall of Fame and the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Those honors only tell part of his legendary story.The rest of it lives in the lives he shaped. Coach, thank you for everything you gave to theyoung men you coached and the lives you touched, to Southern University and to our entire Baton Rouge community Youwill be missed.

HILLAR MOORE Baton Rouge

National Weather Servicethat can predict and prepare us forthe next hurricane. We need NWStoprovide up-to-the-minute forecasts. And we need FEMA to help us pick up the pieces and begin to recover after the storm As climate change fuels stronger hurricanes and other extreme weather,this administration is choosing to attack these lifesaving agencies and roll back climateprotections. Iwent to D.C. to push for climate action.Itisn’t aquick or easy ﬁx. Butstormslike Katrina, Helene, Milton and Debby are only going to get worse if we don’tdo somethingabout it.

JESSICA BARNES NewOrleans

Why would teachersoppose thecutting of funds to school districts to increasetheir pay?

At the end of this pastschool year,the Louisiana State Department of Educationrejoiced over the increased scores of our children in reading and math. We,those of us who had been and are in education, realized why when we

learned that student populations had dropped but funds to school districts had not. These “extra” funds provided moreteachers, teacheraides and the like, which lowered the student numbers in teachers’ classrooms and provided students the extra attention they needed. Those not in education would not

Democratic Socialism is neither new nor “progressive.”

In his brilliant autobiography, Chronicles of Wasted Time (William Morrow &Company,1973) Malcolm Muggeridge –reformed socialist, media personality,satirist, Moscow correspondent for the Manchester Guardian and former editor of Punch –described his “socialist upbringing” in England at the beginning of the 20th Century:

“They [i.e., his parents and their socialist friends] were not in any real sense revolutionaries; rather, they planned to take over the existing social and economic system and run it more equitably… Instead of railways, coalmines and industry generally being privately owned and enriching the few,they would be publicly owned and enrich us all… Isaw arosy future before us if only my father and his henchmen would take over the country.”

Sound familiar?

Muggeridge continues: “Actually,I lived to see them –though not in their own persons –take over,but the rosy future continues to be elusive… It has all just been sleepwalking to the end of the night.”

Socialism was an attractive, if mostly untested, ideology in 1900. But not today.Why do some see “a rosy future” in socialism, given 125 years of demonstrated failure with it?

Muggeridge maintained that “People, after all, believe lies, not because they are plausibly presented, but because they want to believe them. So, their credulity is unshaken.”

Anyone who wants to believe the lies presented by Democratic Socialists today should read Muggeridge’s autobiography.Perhaps the credulity of modern socialists would be shaken by this powerful ﬁrst-hand testimony of the failure of socialism.

Lafayette

realize the great help this provided students. Ihave no statistics to prove this, but maybe we will see how muchthese funds helped once these “extra” funds are removed. Please honor us educators by listening to whatwehave to say

MERLE T. HARRIS NewOrleans

CARYHEATH

Louisianans may be nonchalant upon hearing againjust how special the state’smost historiccityis, but we shouldn’t take it for granted. We should embrace news that an outﬁt called the World Monuments Fund has named the entire city of New Orleans among the10 most “irreplaceable” sites in all theland. And we should cherish our heritage, both of the city and of the whole state in which the city’s culture is moored.

New Orleans is not “so special,” he should welcome the national recognition of the city as atributetothe whole state.

In conjunction with the Semiquincentennial celebration, the WMF recently announced “Irreplaceable America,” its list of the “10 historicplaces across the United States whosepreservation is essential to the richness and complexity of American history.”

The other nine places arediscrete structures or parcels of land: agarden in Philadelphia, ahospital in NewYork, the Wright Brothers’ workshopsand airplane testing ﬁelds in Dayton.Only New Orleans is included as an entire city because, as describedbythe Preservation Resource Centerinits nomination, “its heritagedoes not sitneatly inside oneboundary.

The WMF cited New Orleans’ “cultural heritage expressed through architecture, music, foodways, and neighborhood life …[which create] a cohesive urban landscape.” Because “the city faces escalatingthreats from ﬂooding, aging infrastructure, highinsurancepremiums,and population displacement,” it merits particular,urgent national attention.

Even if we ﬁnd allthis uber-familiar, we shouldn’tshrug it off. When theoutside world says we’re special in agood way but also endangered,it behooves us to redouble efforts to save that specialness.

And, despite Gov.Jeff Landry’s multiple shots at New Orleans in recent weeks, culminating in him sayingthat

Please allow two separate quotes from thelate Covington-based novelist Walker Percy.Askedwhat inspired so many writers in the Crescent City,Percy said it was “its strange admixture of Deep South-ness and foreignness.”

The Deep Southness comes mostly from thelands north of Interstate 10, which provide acultural backdropof rootednessinalarger region defined by mores of hardiness, courteousnessand sense of place. The foreignnesscomes from trade, from African and Caribbean cultures andfrom theFrench-Acadian-meetsswamp heritage that is the uncopiable, irrepressible culture of Cajunland. New Orleans may be where all that comes together,but without the context of the rest of the state, New Orleans just isn’t New Orleans. On the other hand, and contra Landry,without all the astonishingly special thingsabout New Orleans, Louisiana isn’t “irreplaceable.” No national groupsuch as the WMF is going to pay homage (for example) to the piney woods of Tangipahoa or therice fields of Jefferson Davis Parish,nomatter howlovely or fertile they may be. Then again, there’salso something notreadily definable about what gives NewOrleans its special charm and value.

Thecity’scharacter is all around us, yetelusive

Hence, theother Walker Percy quote.Decades ago, Iinterviewed local detective-ﬁction novelist Chris Wiltz aboutthe New Orleans settings for her books.She said she had told Percy she wanted to capture theatmosphere of New Orleansthe way Raymond Chandlercaptured the “feel” of Los Ange-

les. Percy answered that she should keep trying until her writing could capture “the smell of acamelback-double house on Magazine Street.” Now that is aparticularity.Without using thewords “camelback double,” theWMF surely was referring to those structures when itstop-10 recognition speciﬁcally lauded New Orleans’ “vernacular building types adapted to climate, density,and community use over centuries.”

The WMF’sassertion that New Orleans is “irreplaceable” isn’tunprecedented. After Hurricane Katrina, various people used that very word to describe aspectsofthe Crescent City:

The archivist of theUnited States worried about “the irreplaceable records” of “our collective memory;”former U.S. Rep.Bob Livingston described the port’s commerce as “irreplaceable;” theTimes-Picayune insisted we must rescue “irreplaceable ingredientson our city’shistory;” and an art exhibit at the Contemporary Arts Center was entitled “The Irreplaceable Cannot Be Replaced.”

What also cannot be replaced —or equaled —isour joie de vivre. My Alabama-born wife repeatedly insists that New Orleanians are thewarmest, friendliest people she has ever met, and aCalifornia-raised, longtime New York-inhabiting friend said thesame after almost every one of the 28 Jazz Fests he attended.

The job,then, is for all of us to ensure that there be no need to replace anythingatall, which meanswemust not lose any of our wondrous civic character and cultural touchstones in the ﬁrst place.

Now,while we’re at it, ask ourselves if jambalaya also tastes particularly memorable in acamelback double on Magazine…. Email QuinHillyer at quin.hillyer@ theadvocate.com

SPARTANBURG, S.C. Elon Musk’sidea to send data centers into space might prompt smirks in some quarters but probably not in Spartanburg, where amega data center slipped into town, catching residents by surprise and spawning a revolt.

Across the country,the explosion of data centers —driven by asurge in artiﬁcial intelligence demand —has created controversy because of environmental concerns, utility issuesand alack of transparency mixedwith misunderstandings among residents, corporate investors and local leaders. There are about 3,000 data centers in the UnitedStates, with roughly 1,500 more under development.

The Spartanburg data center, which is underconstruction and slated to begin operations in the third quarter of this year,arrived with hardly anyone’snotice until trees along South Pine Street were moweddown and heavy equipment started rolling in. The lack of awareness was no accident. Local ofﬁcials who luredthe project to Spartanburg County publicly referredtoitas “Project MOC-1” and characterized it as a“highperformance computing center.”

This subterfuge is aclassic example of good ol’ boy dodging that has comeback to bite local officials where they sit. MOC-1 was the work of NorthMark Strategies, aNew York investment firm that is developing the data center through its subsidiary,Valara Holdings. Thanks to the Spartanburg County Council’scomplicity in protecting the project until it wasfinalized, it tooka while for people to figure things out.

The February 2025 agreement between NorthMark and the county included a40-yearfee-inlieu-of-tax agreement that lowered the property assessment ratio for Valara Holdings to 4percent. The deal also included other taxcredits. Even when NorthMark announced the $2.8 billion center in apress release on April 22, 2025, it continued to use misleading language,saying it was redeveloping the now-defunct Kohler manufacturing plant into a“high-performance computing center.” For all anyone knew,this could have meant anything from ashared workspace complex with hundreds of computer stations to, well, agiant data center with all its attendant problems.

The Platner fiasco has unleashed something of abrawl in the Democratic Party over how the sexting candidate with aNazi tattoo came to be their rival to Susan Collins, now in her fifth term as aRepublican senator from Maine. Bernie Sanders thought his socialists could pass off blue-collar impersonator Graham Platner —a product of the elite Hotchkiss prep school —asa hard-working “oysterman.” Sanders had been waving off concerns about the guy.Then suddenly he calledonPlatner to leave the campaign. Twoproblems with Bernie’sdirective: One, Sanders is why Democrats got saddled with Platner to begin with. Two, the new revelations come on top of previous revelations about his piggish behavior Sanders evidently thought he could ignore all this until more startling charges came to light. The dam holding back Democratic demands to replacePlatner finally gave way.If Sanders didn’tjump in and pretend to have problems with the candidate he pushed onto the party,he wouldn’tbe in astrong position to choose his own left-fringe replacement withacolorful story The road to socialist victories, Sanders knows,runs through infiltrating the Democratic Party,ofwhich he’s not amember.His objective is not to help Democrats take over Congress but for his socialists to take over the Democratic Party Sanders, the “Independent “senator from Vermont, is not aMainer.He’s not much of aVermonter, either.He’s aNew Yorker,spending large amounts of time back home in hardcore Democratic districts trying—and succeeding —toget his followers toknock off liberal Democrat incumbentsin primaries. One of his winning primary offers called former President Joe Biden “a rapist.” Thing is, the Democratic Socialists of America are heavily represented by college-educated voters who don’t have to worry about losing their

healthcoverage. They don’tlike the rentstheyhave to pay to live in the neighborhoods they’re busygentrifying. Theythink socialists can fix that. NowlistentoaPlatner defender back in Maine. Joanie Monteith told AP,“I’m heartbroken for him and his wife.” Rest assuredthat Platner’s wife, AmyGertner,iswell practiced in the art of handling humiliation, with the world knowing her husband sentraunchy textstoassorted women before the couplereached theirsecond anniversary If finding plausible Democrats to represent the party requires aDemocratic rumble, let’shave it.Sofar,few prominent Democrats have spoken forcefully about the far-left’s boutique nominees. The exception is Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman. He let loose, calling Platner a“predator”and “Bona fide dirtbag,” and referringtohim as “P-Hustle,” his old Reddit handle. Pennsylvania Gov.Josh Shapiro, more gentle in his rebuke, joins Fetterman as aDemocrat who won office in astate that’sbeen turning Republican. Democratsshouldn’tneed alot of

magic to get one of their own elected in Blue New England, and in ayear favoring theirparty Sanders, age 84, might consider retirement. Butanother leftiststringpuller at the other end of the age spectrum, 27-year-old campaign adviser Morris Katz, should also look for another line of work. Katz won some fame as themind behind New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’sadorable internet storytelling campaign. Looking to repeat his act in Maine, Katz pushed theutterlyunqualiﬁed Platner over the primary win line, despitePlatner’s “imperfections” being widely known.Katz then made the dumb mistakeofpersonally threatening awoman who left the Platner campaign, demanding sherefute the things sheknew about his abuseof women. Democrats need to replace the internet-savvy fringe operatives with internet-savvy mainstream operatives of their own. Above all, they need to takethe car keys away from Bernie Sanders.

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

The real kicker: the small number of jobs it will create. When fully operational, the largely automated center will provide “atleast 27”jobs, according to the governor’sofﬁce, though this number seems to vary The secretive nature of the negotiations, though not illegal, has fueled growing anger among residents, who say they feel misled by their elected ofﬁcials.

Twomeetings have been held recently to deal with public outcry.OnJune 24, NorthMark hosted avirtual town hall. The following day,the state Department of Environmental Services convened ameeting at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium to accommodate hundreds of outraged residents eager to discuss aproposed power plant expansion, from an approximately 50-megawatt facility to one that’sroughly 450 megawatts, to support the data center.

If approved, the facility would emit hundreds of tons of pollutants into the air annually through 35 exhaust stacks ranging in height from 31 to 80 feet. This includes more than nine tons of carcinogenic formaldehyde and158 tons of fine particulate matter,which is linkedto asthma, birth defects and lung cancerrisk. The request for an increase in power also seemed to take residents by surprise, even though acounty official confirmed thatNorthMark made clear in its original “projectprofile that it would scale up to 450 megawatts. “Maybe the message didn’tget out properly,” Mike Dobeck, vicepresident of real estate development for NorthMark, told the Greenville News. Maybe? Emily Wyche of the Southern Environmental Law Center,which is fighting the permit request, was blunt in herremarks at the public hearing: “The lack of transparency is stunning.” Accordingly,the state has extended the public comment period for the permit until July 31. Meanwhile, Spartanburg County has joinedseveral other counties in passing temporary moratoriums on new plans for data centers.

Spartanburg County ofﬁcials clearly wanted to keep their discussions under wraps while NorthMark considered locations in other areas. And, charitably,aninvestment of this scale would be hard for any community to resist. But politicians seem never to learn thatthey work for the people and not for corporations or private-equity ﬁrms looking for adealatthe expense of residents and the environment especially not in exchange for the quality of life that makes South Carolina adesirable placeto call home. All things considered, space seems a proper place for data centers —and maybe for afew politicians, if Mr.Musk can make room on his rocket.

Kathleen Parker is on X, @kathleenparker

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JACQUELyN MARTIN

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks about topics including politics and artificial intelligence June 8atthe National Press Club in Washington.

Quin Hillyer

Froma Harrop

Kathleen Parker

Flooding forces evacuations in partsofsouth Texas

40 people have been rescued from high waters, officialssay

BY JESSE BEDAYN and JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press

UVALDE, Texas Widening evacuation warningsand high-water rescues in Texas mounted Wednesday under relentlesslyheavy storms that turned roads into rivers, washed away vehicles and spunupatornado across a busy interstate in San Antonio. Texas Game Wardens have participated in rescues of more than 40 people so far in the flooding, mostly in the Uvalde County area, according to aTexas Parks and Wildlife Department spokesperson. Forecasters warnedthat already dangerous conditions were likely to worsen in some hard-hit communities.

The deluge dumped nearly a foot of rain in some counties and put people in dozens of counties under ﬂood watches, including parts of the Texas Hill Country where last summer’sdevastating floods killed more than 100 people. Some of the flood watches were expected to remainin effect through Friday evening. The National Weather Service said atornado touched down in the northwestern part of San Antonio near Interstate 10. Videos posted on social media showed what appeared to be asmall twister Apartment buildings and other propertieswere damaged, localofﬁcials said.

There have been no reports of deaths or injuries from the tornado or the ﬂooding. As much as 10 to 20 inches of rain was possible in some

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By DARREN ABATE Members of the Boerne Fire Department rescue awoman from floodwaters in Boerne, Texas, on Wednesday.

places before the storms move out, the weather servicesaid.

As of Wednesday evening, just over 6million Texas residentsin57countieswere under aNationalWeather Service flood watch that was scheduled to continue through early Thursday night. Watches for 34 of those counties were scheduled to expire Friday evening.

The highest rainfall totals so far —upto16inches have been in Uvalde County, where ofﬁcialstallied25rescues as of 9 a.m. Wednesday, and saidmorepeopleneeded helpasriver levelsrose. Highways and roads were closed across the region becauseofhigh water.

Thecounty normally gets about23inchesofraina year,according to theUvalde County Extension Ofﬁce

TheUvalde Police Department said on Facebook at 1p.m. that adam in the northernpart of the county was still intact, but the Leona River was still expected to rise another 15 feet. Police warned peoplealong the river to gettohigher ground.

StateRep. Don McLaughlinsaidthat despite a“little lull,” the rainfall wasn’tdone andwaterwayscould become more dangerous. “The rivers and the creeks are going to be coming up, and they’re goingtobecoming

up again with avengeance,” McLaughlin said.

Frances McNamara and her 10-year-old son,Everett, watched the bloated LeonaRiver in Uvalde sweep southward Wednesday as she considered possible evacuationroutes.She pointed to a solid line of dirt,branches and twigs about 8feet above the river where the water reached the day before.

“We’ve seen the water rise, but not to this extent,” she said, describing how it rushedthrough aditch next to her home withenough force to sound like ariver on Tuesday

This week’ssevere weather brought back memories of last year’sdeadly ﬂooding in Texas Hill Country

“Itscared me,” saidMcNamara, hereyes wet with tears as she recalled the 2025 ﬂoods. “Cause Ihavea son, and to know what those parentswent through.” Her sonreached up and patted her back.

Uvalde policeordered mandatory evacuations for some parts, with firstresponders notifying people affected directly, the departmentsaid on Facebook Otherswereasked to stay vigilant in case more evacuations areneeded.

Somefolks walked out of their homesonto the street to seethe water growing closer every hour,their faces worried. People living along the riverscrambled to pack cars and head out, though many didnot yetknowwhere they should go. Oneman threw two kayaks intohis truck bed, just in case.

Bailey Luckman, 26, was getting readytoevacuate with her dog Wednesday afternoon. The ﬂoodwatersare close to her house, she said, and authorities recommended thatshe leave.

“I’m very worried about my things,”Luckman said.

SPORTS

Make it a decade for RB Kamara

Star running back to play 10th season with Saints after restructuring contract

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

The New Orleans Saints and Alvin Kamara have found common ground, and the team’s all-time leading rusher isn’t going anywhere.

The two sides agreed on a restructured contract that will keep Kamara in the black and gold for a 10th season, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed on Wednesday The news was first reported by former Saints offensive lineman Terron Armstead on his podcast The agreement comes after months-long

Faulk says no ‘pressure’ during ﬁrst season

New Southern coach makes SWAC media day debut

BY TOYLOY BROWN III

Staff writer

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Marshall Faulk em-

braced the role of a newbie.

The ﬁrst-year Southern coach acknowledged the “rookie vibes” he felt as one of the new faces at the Southwestern Athletic Conference football media day Wednesday inside the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel ballroom Despite his newness, Faulk was poised. He moved from station to station and expressed conﬁdence in the foundation he and his staff are laying at Southern. The Pro Football Hall of Fame running back said his team isn’t where it wants to be yet, but there’s plenty of time to get there.

Faulk understands fans’ hunger for a bounce-back season after a 2-10 debacle in 2025, but he said he’s not sweating the situation.

“Unfortunately, I don’t feel pressure,” Faulk said. “If pressure was something I had to worry about, I would not have taken this job. I feel that I need to make sure these players are in shape, that they take the ﬁeld prepared and that when they leave this institution, they’re prepared for life. That’s the pressure right there.”

The comfort in the rebuilding process was evident among the players who accompanied Faulk to media day: redshirt junior wide receiver Cam Jefferson and redshirt junior safety Herman Brister

Here are three Southern takeaways from SWAC media day

Culture of accountability

One trait players have become familiar with is Faulk’s directness.

“You go up to his ofﬁce, you can sit down,

ä See SOUTHERN, page 6C

speculation about Kamara’s future. Saints coach Kellen Moore and general manager Mickey Loomis remained coy about whether the team planned for Kamara to return in 2026, even though he was under contract for one more year “I just talked to him,” Armstead said on his podcast. “He’s pissed off at the last couple years and how the narrative has started to change that he can’t do this, that he can’t do that. He hates that.”

The Saints used an unconventional contract restructure in March to lower Kamara’s cap hit for next season to $10.5 million, but they wanted to address his contract — either by a pay cut or by moving on even further

The Saints added veteran back Travis Etienne on a four-year, $52 million contract in

Saints running back Alvin Kamara warms up before a game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 1. Kamara and the Saints agreed on a restructured contract that will keep the star running back with the team for a 10th season.

TIGERS’ HONOR

LSU to enshrine All-American QB Jones’ number at Tiger Stadium

BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

Another LSU great is getting his place of honor in Tiger Stadium. The school announced Wednesday that it is retiring the No. 7 jersey of former All-American quarterback Bert Jones and will put his name and number in lights on the stadium’s facade. A ceremony to honor Jones will take place Nov 14 during LSU’s regular-season home ﬁnale against Texas.

According to LSU, Jones’ honor was by a unanimous vote of the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame committee.

“I had no idea that there was anything in the works,” Jones said in a statement from LSU “I have been the ben-

BY JAMES ROBSON AP soccer writer

ATLANTA No

“Hand of God” this time Argentina didn’t need it. Instead it was the hallowed feet of Lionel Messi and the unbreakable spirit of a team that repeatedly has fought back at this year’s World Cup that is now one

eﬁciary of a lot of good things and received a lot of accolades and a lot of awards, but this is at the top of the list.

“To (have my name and number) hung up in Tiger Stadium, where my father played, my brother played and cousins played, is special. And what’s even equally as special is that I will be up there with my LSU roommate Tommy Casanova.” Jones becomes the ﬁfth player to have his name and number enshrined in Tiger Stadium, along with 1959 Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon (No. 20), 1962 Heisman runner-up Jerry Stovall (No 21), All-American running back Charles Alexander (No. 4) and Casanova (No. 37), LSU’s only three-time All-American.

STAFF FILE PHOTO

By DAVID GRUNFELD

PROVIDED PHOTO By SOUTHERN ATHLETICS

Southern coach Marshall Faulk is interviewed on stage during SWAC media day on Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala. ä See KAMARA, page 5C

page 5C

Verlander pumps up American League

Tigers pitcher reflects on career in final

All-Star Game

BY DAN GELSTON AP sportswriter

PHILADELPHIA Justin Verlander

used his fingers in this trip to Philadelphia simply to tip his cap toward applauding All-Star Game fans. He once playfully flipped off Phillies fans when his Houston Astros were in Philadelphia for the 2022 World Series. There was only mutual respect in this game.

The 43-year-old Verlander was one of the few All-Stars on Tuesday night to receive a warm ovation in Philadelphia from a crowd that reveled in jeering just about any player who was not in a Phillies uniform.

Verlander is set to retire at the end of the season to cap a career that includes three Cy Young Awards.

Up ﬁrst, one more Midsummer Classic.

“In his 10th and final All-Star Game, please welcome to Philadelphia, Justin Verlander,” the public address announcer noted. Verlander didn’t totally sit out the American League’s 4-0 win over the National League on Tuesday night.

Toronto manager John Schneider asked Verlander to address the team and share thoughts on the importance of the All-Star honor out of respect for the pitcher’s career

“You never know when you’re going to be in this position,” Schneider said as he relayed Verlander’s message. “You have to appreciate the people along the way He’s made lifelong friends from being in this game for so long.”

Verlander had more gas left in the pregame speech tank. He talked starter Dylan Cease out of throwing a changeup as the ﬁrst pitch of the game and go with a heater against Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber

Cease threw a 96.9-mph fourseam strike to Schwarber and struck out the side in the ﬁrst inning, “He could be a politician,” Cease said of Verlander

game on March 30 in Phoenix.

Kevin McGonigle, Verlander’s 21-year-old Tigers teammate and suburban Philadelphia native, soaked in the moment when Verlander took the ﬂoor

“He kept telling the guys that you don’t take anything for granted and if you keep working hard, you will ﬁnd yourself back in this room multiple time,” McGonigle said “Be a good teammate and building relationships and getting to learn as much as you can from other guys.”

Verlander, who did not discuss the speech, enjoyed the chance to participate in some ﬁnal festivities and walked the All-Star red carpet in the afternoon with his wife, model Kate Upton, and their two young children.

The lone bummer for Verlander is that the Detroit Tigers All-Star was unable to pitch in the game as he recovers from a hamstring injury Verlander, the oldest player in Major League Baseball, signed a $13 million, one-year contract to rejoin the Tigers in February

He has made only one start in an injury-ravaged season and was named to the All-Star team as a Legend Pick by Commissioner Rob Manfred Phillies slugger Bryce Harper earned the honor

in the National League.

“I’m happy with the body of work,” Verlander said ahead of the game. “I hope I can add to it somehow, someway in the second half When I look back, I know I gave it everything.”

Verlander went 183-115 from 2005 to 2017 with the Tigers. He won the American League Rookie of the Year award in 2006 and both the AL MVP and Cy Young Award in 2011. He helped Detroit reach the World Series in 2006 and 2012, along with four straight division titles from 2011 to 2014.

Verlander was the 2017 ALCS MVP in Houston and helped the Astros win the World Series that year, and was a key player for them when they won another title in 2022. He won his second and third Cy Young Awards in 2019 and 2022.

Verlander, who also had brief stints with the New York Mets and San Francisco, played coy when asked about which team cap he would choose for his sure-thing induction into the Hall of Fame.

“At least, I was able to narrow it down to two,” Verlander said with a laugh. “I’m not there yet.”

Verlander relaxed against a clubhouse wall next to his locker

as he reﬂected over a career that stamped him as perhaps the best of his era.

Verlander has a career record of 266-159 with a 3.33 ERA in 556 starts across 21 major league seasons with the Tigers, Astros, Mets and San Francisco Giants. He has 3,554 strikeouts while tossing 26 complete games, including nine shutouts.

Not bad for a kid from Virginia who was sent to a baseball academy by his family to help him gain arm strength. His parents knew so little about how to guide a kid that ﬂashed big league potential that his father, Richard, bought a most unique kind of instructional guide.

“My dad bought a ‘How to Pitch for Dummies’ book,” Verlander said to laughter “I’m not joking. He’s like, OK, step one, you step back with your left foot. Step two, you turn this way We were doing that in my front yard because he learned I could throw a rock pretty far.”

Turned out, with a little help along the way, Verlander learned to throw a baseball pretty hard.

Verlander just hopes in his last season, he hasn’t thrown his last one.

American League earns ﬁrst All-Star shutout since 2013

BY RONALD BLUM AP baseball writer

PHILADELPHIA Dylan Cease started a parade of pitchers that shut down a slew of baseball’s best batters in a display of the pitching dominance that rules the sport.

“I thought before the game about starting with a changeup and I thought it would be funny,” he said He didn’t. And the hitters were not laughing.

Cease struck out the side in the ﬁrst inning, combining with 10 relievers on a three-hitter that led the American League over the National League 4-0 in Tuesday night’s AllStar Game.

Cease fanned Kyle Schwarber, Juan Soto and CJ Abrams around a walk in the ﬁrst inning, when he got six misses among 15 swings. He became just the seventh pitcher to strike out three in an All-Star opening inning after Carl Hubbell (1934), Warren Spahn (1949), Jim Palmer (1977), Dave Stieb (1983), Pedro Martinez (1999) and Brad Penny (2006) — four of them Hall of Famers.

After speaking with Justin Verlander, the senior AL All-Star, Cease gave up the idea of starting with a changeup and instead threw Schwarber a 96.9 mph four-seamer “Verlander talked me out of it,” Cease said. “So we started with the heater and then I was glad we did.” Pitchers struck out 27, a record for a nine-inning All-Star Game, 15 of them by AL hurlers.

“That’s the game now Guys’ stuff is unbelievable,” said AL manager John Schneider, also Cease’s skipper in Toronto. “I think the bullpen guys kind of fed off of it. They were all excited coming off the mound.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease throws during the MLB All-Star Game between the American League and National League on Tuesday in Philadelphia.

It speaks volumes to how good the pitching is, for sure.”All-Star MVP

Cody Bellinger hit a two-run single and Ben Rice followed with an RBI single in the ﬁrst against Cristopher Sánchez of the host Philadelphia Phillies.

Miguel Vargas of the Chicago White Sox added an eighth-inning home run off the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski, who was pitching on his 26th birthday, for the game’s only extra-base hit

The AL won for the 18th time in 23 games and holds a 49-45-2 advantage overall.

“The pitching was just dominant today,” Bellinger said.

Singles by Soto in the fourth, Pete Crow-Armstrong in the eighth and Otto Lopez in the ninth were the only hits by the NL, which failed to advance a runner past ﬁrst. Parker Messick, Michael Wacha, Joe Ryan, Nick Martinez, Cade

Smith, Drew Rasmussen Jacob Latz, Louis Varland, Aroldis Chapman and Bryan Baker ﬁnished the 10th All-Star shutout and ﬁrst since the AL’s 2-0 win in 2013 at New York’s Citi Field. Some starting star power was missing, with Jacob Misoriowski, Paul Skenes and Shohei Ohtani all unavailable. Just six pitches reached 100 mph, the fewest in an All-Star Game since 2021. Bellinger and Rice both singled on up sinkers from Sánchez, who struggled through a 34-pitch inning that included three hits and two walks.

“It just took me a little time to soak it all in and enjoy it,” Sánchez said through a translator

Documenting the day

Managers and starters entered through replica Liberty Bells in front of each dugout, walked to

A’s call up ex-LSU 3B White for MLB debut

Former LSU third baseman Tommy White is headed to the big leagues.

The 2023 national champion has been called up by the A’s and is expected to make his MLB debut on Friday, according to ESPN. White played two seasons with the Tigers after transferring from NC State. He led the team in home runs and RBIs during the 2023 national championship run before being drafted 40th by the A’s in the 2024 MLB Draft.

He blasted 48 home runs in two seasons with LSU. He drove in 175 runs and had 33 combined doubles and triples for the Tigers.

White was hitting .303 with 10 home runs and 64 RBIs this year in Double-A and Triple-A combined before the promotion.

Pelicans’ Summer League winning streak snapped

The New Orleans Pelicans had their modest two-game Summer League win streak snapped Wednesday with an 82-77 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Las Vegas. New Orleans (2-2) was led in scoring by Markquis Nowell with 20 points in 24 minutes Chris Bell added 12 points, and Christian Shumate chipped in eight points and nine rebounds for the Pelicans, who led 33-31 at halftime. Malik Dia and Melvin Council each added nine points for the Pelicans. Free agent signee Solomon Washington, a former Carver High star, had ﬁve points, seven rebounds and four assists. Pelicans second-round draft pick Jaron Pierre did not play Cleveland (2-2) was led by Malaki Branham with 23 points.

Brewers bolster rotation in deal with the Astros

MILWAUKEE The Milwaukee Brewers acquired right-handed pitcher Lance McCullers Jr and left-hander Colton Gordon from the Houston Astros on Wednesday in exchange for outﬁeld prospect Jadyn Fielder Brewers general manager Matt Arnold announced the swap that included cash from Houston. Milwaukee cleared space on the 40man roster by sending left-handed pitcher Rob Zastryzny to the 60-day injured list.

Milwaukee went into the All-Star break with a ﬁve-game lead in the NL Central. They trailed the defending NL champion Los Angeles Dodgers by 1½ games in the league standings.

The Brewers own a 3.48 team ERA that ranks second in the majors — behind only the New York Yankees.

Wimbledon women’s final earns record viewership

home plate and used a feathered

quill to sign an oversized lineup card, as if they were Founding Fathers afﬁxing names to the Declaration of Independence MLB donated the card to the Hall of Fame.

Dirt around the plate was surrounded by 13 stars, one for each of the Colonies.

After the fourth inning, a video was played of kids bicycling to a sandlot game with a narration by Oscar-winning actor J.K. Simmons. As footage was played of Ray Charles singing “America the Beautiful” at Game 2 of the 2001 World Series, the kids biked onto the ﬁeld and started interacting with the AllStars as ﬁreworks went off above the ballpark.

“We were all one of those kids,” NL manager Dave Roberts of the Dodgers said. “Some of these kids might never get a chance to be on a major league ﬁeld. So for them to have that opportunity to be have a conversation with an All-Star is something that they might never get that chance again, right? Bellinger thought back to his youth.

“We’re all little kids at heart playing this game even though it’s a challenging game,” he said. “We’re all still those little kids with big dreams.”

Early exit Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero was hit on the outside of his left hand by a 97.6 mph sinker from St Louis closer Riley O’Brien in the third inning and immediately left the game. The 23-year-old, fourth in the major leagues with 28 home runs, stayed down for a few moments before he popped up and ran straight into the clubhouse X-rays were negative.

LONDON Helped by some midmatch drama, the Wimbledon ﬁnal between Linda Noskova and Karolina Muchova over the weekend was ESPN’s most-watched women’s championship match at the grass-court Grand Slam.

The all-Czech final, during which Noskova wasted five match points and a 5-2 lead in the second set before eventually winning 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 on Saturday, averaged 1.9 million viewers. That was an increase of 48% compared to last year’s women’s final: Iga Swiatek’s 6-0, 6-0 rout of Amanda Anisimova in 57 minutes. Overall, it ranked as ESPN’s second most-viewed Wimbledon, with an 18% year-over-year increase, averaging 853,000 viewers per day, the network said.

Yzerman steps down as GM of Detroit Red Wings

Steve Yzerman abruptly stepped down as general manager of the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday a stunning midsummer change by a franchise great leaving the job after seven seasons and zero playoff appearances. Yzerman’s transition to an advisory role to owner and CEO Chris Ilitch comes several weeks after captain and No. 1 center Dylan Larkin’s trade request came to light. The Red Wings’ decade-long playoff drought is the longest in the storied history of the organization and the longest active drought in the NHL.

The team said its search for a new head of hockey operations has begun and that Yzerman will continue to be in charge on a day-to-day basis until his successor is determined.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By DARRyL WEBB

Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander works against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning of a

MATT ROURKE

Expanded playoffs make trades hard to predict

BY RONALD BLUM AP baseball writer

PHILADELPHIA — Expanded playoffs make it harder to predict whether Tarik Skubal and other choice acquisitions will be dealt before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

Twenty-three of the 30 teams are within four games of a playoff position heading into the season’s second half, which opens Thursday with the back-in-contention Philadelphia Phillies hosting the woeful New York Mets.

“You’ve got a lot of really good teams that were on the bubble that have gotten in and kind of made it,” Phillies ﬁrst baseman Bryce Harper said. “Anybody that has an opportunity to get in, anything can happen and that’s what makes our sport great.”

Skubal, a two-time Cy Young Award winner who can become a free agent after the World Series, is the most prominent possible trade bait. The 29-year-old lefthander is 2-3 with a 3.62 ERA in six starts for the Detroit Tigers

since surgery on May 6 to remove a loose body from his pitching elbow

He returned to a big league mound on June 13 after Dr Neal ElAttrache operated with a NanoNeedle scope 2.0, a miniaturized, ﬂexible version of the traditional arthroscope.

Detroit was 22-38 at the start of June — at 16 games under matching the 1914 Braves (12-28) as the most under .500 of a team that rebounded to reach the postseason, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Tigers are 22-14 since and trail by 3½ games for the last AL wild card, needing to overcome six teams. Their performance in 16 games before the deadline will help determine whether they are buyers or sellers.

Minnesota’s Joe Ryan and the Mets’ Freddy Peralta also could become available. The Mets also could deal left-handed relievers Brooks Raley and A.J. Minter to contenders, and San Francisco may try to jettison second baseman Luis Arraez.

Baseball’s only division leads of more than three games are held by the Los Angeles Dodgers (11½) and Milwaukee (ﬁve).

“There are some middling teams that are potentially going to ﬁnish stronger and some teams that are front-running right now that might fall back to the pack,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s what the fans wanted. It keeps everyone involved through September as many teams as possible.”

Just seven teams of the 30 teams are more than four games out of a wild-card berth: the Athletics (6½), Cincinnati (eight), Kansas City and the Los Angeles Angels (10 each), the Giants (10½), the Mets (12) and Colorado (13½). “I think having more teams involved and more fan bases feeling like there’s something to play for later in the season is always good,” said Toronto pitcher Dylan Cease, the All-Star Game winner Phillies rebound

Philadelphia fell to 9-19 when Rob Thomson was ﬁred on April

England was on the defensive against Argentina in semiﬁnals

BY R.J RICO and JIM VERTUNO Associated Press

ATLANTA England desperately wanted to protect its lead as time was winding down in its World Cup semiﬁnal against Argentina Coach Thomas Tuchel made lineup and strategy changes to build a wall in front of the goal.

Argentina and Lionel Messi simply kicked it down.

England led 1-0 late in the second half before Messi assisted on goals by Enzo Fernández in the 85th minute and Lautaro Martínez in the second minute of stoppage time to give Argentina a wild 2-1 victory Wednesday and a spot in the World Cup final against Spain Tuchel’s tactical choices in one of the biggest matchups in one of soccer’s biggest rivalries will likely be scrutinized and criticized for years. England missed its chance to return to the World Cup final for the first time since 1966.

“They won every header They kept crossing and crossing. So we went to a back ﬁve to close the gaps inside and be stronger in the air,” Tuchel said.

“Straight after our goal, with no substitutions, we just conceded way too many crosses and way too many chances. So we tried to help,” Tuchel said. “But of course the responsibility is on the coach. And if it doesn’t go well, it’s easy to say that it was wrong.”

Tuchel’s chess moves couldn’t contain Messi, the maestro of Argentina’s attacks. In the 38 minutes between England’s goal and Argentina’s winner, Argentina held a whopping 88% of the possession, according to Opta. It was only the second time this century that a team scored first in a World Cup semifinal and failed to reach the final, according to Opta. The other blown lead was also by England, in 2018 against Croatia. England took the lead on Anthony Gordon’s goal in the 55th minute. But Argentina quickly switched the momentum with furious pressure on England’s defense.

ARGENTINA

Continued from page 1C

Diego Maradona’s infamous handball goal in the 1986 World Cup quarterﬁnals and the penalty shootout loss in 1998 when David Beckham was sent off for kicking Diego Simeone.

The difference is there can be no sense of injustice this time, even if England had victory in its sights after Anthony Gordon scored the opening goal in the 55th minute

The team was hanging on as the game wore on. England goalkeeper Jordon Pickford made vital saves while Mac Allister sent a header off the post as wave after wave of Argentina attacks came. Messi largely had been kept quiet. But when he’s on the ﬁeld, anything seems possible He fed the ball to Fernandez to sweep in the equalizer from outside the box in the 85th minute. And two minutes into stoppage time, Messi sent in a cross for Martinez to head in the winner It almost felt inevitable, especially given the amount of times Argentina simply has refused to

To protect the lead, England drew closer and closer to its own goal, hoping to build the sort of impenetrable wall it had when it held on to beat Mexico in the round of 16 despite being down to 10 players.

Tuchel swapped defender Reece James for Dan Burn, and midﬁelder Declan Rice for defender Nico O’Reilly in the 82nd minute.

“It’s disappointing to give up the space that we did in those ﬁnal 20 minutes,” England captain Harry Kane said. “It allowed not just (Messi), but the other players to grow into the game and feel more conﬁdent and ping balls into dangerous areas. In the end, it was too much for us to stop.”

Fernandez struck barely three minutes after the England substitutions, scoring on a precise rightfooted strike from just outside the penalty area Messi set up the play with a pass to his teammate, and England defenders failed to close him down before he ripped the shot that curled past diving goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

The defending champion kept coming and England’s wall kept crumbling. Argentina hit the crossbar and missed another header across the mouth of the

“We’re

going to try to win,

we’re going to leave everything out there. We are unique, truly, and it’s not arrogance, it’s from the heart.”

LIONEL SCALONI, Argentina coach

give in at this year’s World Cup From Cape Verde to Egypt, Messi and his teammates always seem to find a way England, in contrast, came up short in the World Cup semifinals for the third time after losses to Germany in 1990 and Croatia in 2018. And it’s another occasion in recent years when the England players have squandered a winning position in the later stages of a major tournament. They led 1-0 against Croatia in the semifinals eight years ago and lost 2-1. They were up 1-0 against Italy in the European Championship final in 2021 and lost on penalties. On Wednesday England coach Thomas Tuchel’s substitutions

28 and replaced by Don Mattingly

The Phillies are 44-24 since and trail NL East-leading Atlanta (5540) by two games. Harper thinks a key to the turnaround was when Zack Wheeler rejoined the rotation on April 25 after surgery last August for thoracic outlet syndrome Wheeler is 10-1 with a 2.13 ERA.

“Once we got Wheels back, I think everybody kind of took a deep breath,” Harper said. “That helped a lot of our other starting pitching kind of just fall into place.”

Red Sox hottest team

Boston fired Alex Cora after a 1017 start and the Red Sox are 36-31 under Chad Tracy, ending the first half with their first 9-0 road trip since 1977.

Despite a 46-48 record, the Red Sox trail by just a half-game for the last wild card in an AL that has just ﬁve teams with winning records.

“We’ve done a much better job overall with our approach,” Tracy

NYC’s

said. “We’re taking more pitches. We’re seeing more pitches against starters. We are getting starters deep in counts earlier in games.

We’re scoring runs in the ﬁrst ﬁve innings of the game and letting our starting rotation pitch with a lead.” If the Red Sox struggle in the next few weeks, closer Aroldis Chapman and starter Sonny Gray could get dealt.

First-round byes at stake

Three of the four teams that had ﬁrst-round byes last year advanced to League Championship Series: Milwaukee, Seattle and Toronto. Among the teams emerging from the Wild Card Series, only the Dodgers won their Division Series.

Having the bye allows teams to reset their rotations and assure opening the Division Series with their best starters.

Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler thought back to New York losing the AL East title and the bye to Toronto on a tiebreaker last year

“Every game matters,” he said.

Rikers Island jail hosts World Cup watch party for inmates

BY PHILIP MARCELO

Associated Press

NEW YORK New York City’s ofﬁ-

cial World Cup guide lists no less than 100 free places to take in soccer’s biggest tournament on big screens. One place that isn’t listed?

The city’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex, better known for its overcrowding and violence than for hosting social events.

More than 100 inmates were rewarded with a special viewing of the World Cup semifinal match Wednesday between England and Argentina because of their model behavior behind bars.

sic correctional practices remain unreliable, and unconstitutional conditions persist,” the report said.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has vowed to honor a 2019 city law mandating the closure of Rikers, paid a short visit to Wednesday’s watch party With his white shirt sleeves rolled up, the Democrat took a seat at a table and immediately started chatting about the tournament.

One of the inmates said he expected Argentina to prevail over England and go on to face Spain, which had defeated France the day earlier

goal before Martínez sealed it with a close-range header when England defenders lost him on a cross from Messi.

“They got tired,” Martínez said. “They pressed for 60 minutes and then just ran out of steam. They got their goal and then sat back That gave us more composure to move the ball around and stretch the pitch.”

England’s defense had earned plaudits after previous matches, especially for how it hunkered down during the second half of a 3-2 win over Mexico in the round of 16, as El Tri peppered their opponent’s back line with cross after cross. But that came as England was down a player due to a 54th-minute red card on Jarell Quansah.

Burn, the 6-foot-7 (2-meter) defender who shined during that stand in Mexico City, said Wednesday’s approach did not work out “Off the ball, we defended probably a little bit too deep,” Burn said. “With the quality of chances that Argentina were creating, I felt like it was a matter of time. To be 10 to 15 minutes away from the World Cup ﬁnal — we really probably should have seen that through.”

The inmates, dressed in tan uniforms, took seats at tables facing a large projection screen set up in a gymnasium. The jail has hosted about 90 such watch parties since the tournament kicked off last month, with about 4,500 of the roughly 6,600 inmates incarcerated on the 400-acre island participating, correction ofﬁcials said.

“Programs like this equal safety in our jail,” said Stanley Richards, the city’s correction commissioner and a former Rikers inmate. “What we say to them is that your humanity is seen, heard and valued.”

The scene Wednesday was in sharp contrast to complaints about Rikers Island that have been so bad in recent years that a federal judge appointed an outside manager to help improve the facility.

On Tuesday, that federal overseer, former Vermont Department of Corrections head Nicholas Deml, submitted a plan for reforms that underscored the continued dysfunction at the facility, which opened in 1935.

The report described one instance when inspectors arrived at a housing unit to find it filled with smoke from fires set by prisoners, blaring alarms and people pounding on their cell doors. In another incident, prisoners streamed through an unsecured door and brawled after a guard abandoned his post.

“Violence remains pervasive, ba-

“You never know,” said Mamdani, a professed Morocco fan. At another table, an inmate told the mayor he was going home later in the day “That’s amazing,” Mamdani said, patting his back.

The jailhouse crowd erupted in a mix of groans and cheers as England struck ﬁrst with a goal early in the second half.

Ralph Veal was among the minority of England fans who raised his arms in celebration as Argentina supporters grimaced and looked away dejectedly The 53-year-old Mount Vernon resident, who has been incarcerated since November, said he’s rooting for England because it’s his 20-year-old son’s favorite team.

“I’m sitting at the table with Argentina fans, but it’s all right,” Veal said shortly before the England goal. “The energy is real positive in here.”

Victor Caldas was among the legion of Argentina fans who jumped out of their seats hugging and clapping and banging the tables as the team took a decisive 2-1 lead in stoppage time, and then went on to win a spot against Spain in the ﬁnal at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday Caldas said he appreciated being able to watch the game uninterrupted among fellow soccer fans and not having to compete with other inmates for use of the television in his housing unit.

seemed to be more intent on holding on rather than killing the game off with another goal.

“We played a good game for the majority of it. When we went 1-0 up, we seemed to just try to hold on, which at this level is not enough,” Kane said. “We talk about knocking on the door We’re close, we just need to ﬁnd that missing piece in the ﬁnal stage of the tournament.” In contrast, Argentina is one step away from history Messi, now 39 and likely playing at his last World Cup, is one win away from further strengthening his case as the greatest soccer player of all time.

“We’re going to try to win, we’re going to leave everything out there,”

AP PHOTO By REBECCA BLACKWEL

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JACOB KUPFERMAN

Argentina’s Enzo Fernandez reacts after his country’s win in the World Cup over England in Atlanta on Wednesday.

BRITISH OPEN

Dream in the making

Fleetwood embraces support as hometown hero

BY STEVE DOUGLAS AP sportswriter

SOUTHPORT, England

As a kid growing up in Southport, Tommy Fleetwood regarded Royal Birkdale as virtually off limits except for those rare occasions he sneaked on to hit some shots while accompanying his father on evening dog walks.

“Hallowed turf,” is how a young, wide-eyed Fleetwood viewed the course in this golf-crazed corner of northwest England that, every few years, would welcome the world’s best players for the British Open. His dream of making it there himself one day and lifting the claret jug — a scenario which, who knows, might just happen on the 18th green at Birkdale on Sunday evening began a 10-minute drive down the road in more humble environs.

Southport Municipal, a club that proudly labels itself as England’s oldest municipal links course, staged a junior program on Monday nights and it was there where Fleetwood’s golfing journey launched around the age of 6. And it’s why Will Burke, a 40-year-old from Birmingham, Alabama, pitched up there on Wednesday with his father Randy They paid $25 each to play 18 holes under a gorgeous blue sky

“We’re here for the golf this week,” Will said, “and we met with some locals who were really complimentary about the place and said it’s right down the street from where we’re staying.

“When you hear the story about Tommy Fleetwood’s origins and how he got started in the Southport area, that’s the cherry on top.”

Nothing inside this muni’s modest club shop, or indeed anywhere at the course, points to Fleetwood being its most famous son. Strangely there’s not a mention of him anywhere.

Look further afield around these parts, though, and it’s clear this popular golfer with distinctive flowing locks and a forever-friendly manner is a hometown hero.

‘Really positive fuel’

There’s a mural of Fleetwood — pumping his ﬁsts and wearing his blue Team Europe Ryder Cup uniform — on the wall of Southport & Birkdale Sports Club

There’s the Tommy Fleetwood Academy at nearby Formby Hall golf club, where he first became a member and won his only club championship as a kid.

Youngsters from the academy have lined up for autographs from Fleetwood next to the practice putting green this week

There’s been no bigger buzz during the practice days than when the 35-year-old Fleetwood has been on the course.

“It’s very rare to have an opportunity to play a tournament, let alone the Open, in the town where you grew up in front of fans that were all there to support you,” Fleetwood said.

Firm, fast and dry

Players map out strategy for final major of season

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

Qualifer Plunkett ﬁnds golf again in Army after layoff

West Point alum in British Open

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

SOUTHPORT,England — Royal

Birkdale is not anywhere

Marcus Plunkett expected to be. Not when he turned down golf scholarships to attend West Point. Not when he was rising to the rank of captain in the U.S. Army Not even when he touched a golf club again for the ﬁrst time in nearly four years.

Yet there he was Wednesday on the range, pounding drives with his athletic 6-foot-5 frame on the final day of practice before his debut in the British Open.

A few spots to his left was Jordan Spieth, a three-time major champion and the last Open champion at Birkdale.

Down a ways to his right was two-time U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau with a stationary camera behind him. It was a lot to take in.

A career as an Army ofﬁcer was on his mind until he fell back in love with golf. “It was either time to reup or go a different way,” Plunkett said. “I was enjoying golf so much that I decided I wanted to give it a go.”

And so he went. Plunkett qualiﬁed for a Korn Ferry Tour event each of the next two years after getting out of the Army in 2021, and at the end of 2024, he did well enough in Q-school to earn a Korn Ferry Tour card that guaranteed him eight tournaments. He didn’t come close to keeping his card, and then tried his hand in Asia. The next step might be European tour Q-school.

It’s a big world in golf, and Plunkett realized it can also be a small world.

Plunkett played a practice round Tuesday with Sahith Theegala, who has played on a Presidents Cup team and reached as high as No. 11 in the world ranking.

“To see people emotionally invested in you I think it’s very special. It deﬁnitely doesn’t go unnoticed by me.”

SOUTHPORT, England How far the golf ball goes has been debated for the past 20 years and distance is likely to be a big concern this week at Royal Birkdale for the British Open, with one twist.

ä British Open.

3A.M.-2 P.M. THURSDAy USA

It’s not how far shots are going in the air. It’s what happens when they get on the ground. And with links golf, that’s not always easy to control, especially this week.

“You can’t judge every single bounce perfectly,” Justin Rose said. “But you have to accept the nature of a links golf course. There’s going to be some good bounces, bad bounces Just keep playing with a bit of freedom and creativity especially this week You’re going to get a few funny bounces here or there. That’s all part of it.”

The 154th British Open begins Thursday with a mixture of excitement and curiosity

For those who love links golf, there’s no greater colors than brown and yellow that indicate crispy conditions in which the fairways can run faster than some of the greens. Rarely has the forecast been ﬁlled with warm sunshine with a cloudless sky, which will be a challenge for the R&A to keep the turf from getting too fast

Rory McIlroy came to Royal Birkdale a few weeks ago and saw what seemed to be a different course. It was greener The rough was more lush. It’s no longer like that. Yes, it’s harder to control shots running along the fairway But the rough, while still having some thick patches in which players are up to their knees in grass, is more burned and wispy.

“I think it’s a double-edged

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

Jon Rahm of Spain plays out of the rough on the 10th fairway during a practice round for the British Open at Royal Birkdale on Wednesday in Southport, England.

Scottie Scheffler +750

The redesigned ﬁfth plays 321 yards and enough shrubs have been removed that it’s no longer a blind shot from the tee.

What players see now is a pond — an unusual hazard for links golf, but it’s always been there — and a row of pot bunkers leading to the green.

The wind is out of a different direction than usual, making the 393-yard 16th hole play downwind and running fast. Most players were hitting no more than 5-iron off the tee to avoid the bunkers. The other option is a driver than can get close to the green.

It’s like that all over, and it could lead to brilliance and blunders.

“It’s awesome,” Plunkett said. “As cool as it gets.” Plunkett, a 32-year-old from Atlantic Beach, Florida, was among the 20 players who made it through 36-hole qualifying in the U.K a few weeks ago, holding steady on the last four holes at Dundonald Links to grab the ﬁnal spot. He has been all over the world, and not just his Army stops in South Korea and Afghanistan. He made it through Asian Tour Q-school last year and already this year has gone from the Philippines to Malaysia to Singapore and Morocco. He is 20th on the Order of Merit.

Plunkett getting a card anywhere the Korn Ferry Tour in 2025, the Asian Tour in 2026 — came about when he least expected. All it took was one impromptu round of golf, and the COVID-19 pandemic certainly played a part.

They were making small talk when Theegala realized one his high school teammates in California, Dean Sakata, also went to West Point and played with Plunkett.

“I didn’t realize that until I asked him on the second hole,” Theegala said. “Dean was a super nice guy

“Everyone loved him. And they were pretty close at West Point, so that shows me a lot about Marcus’ character.” It was a good day for Plunkett, who could see how a player of Theegala’s pedigree approached a practice round at a major And there was no small appreciation from Theegala.

Military veterans in golf are not new Billy Hurley a Naval Academy graduate, spent a decade on the PGA Tour and won once. Kyle Westmoreland became the first Air Force Academy graduate to make the cut in the U.S. Open in 2021. He currently is on the Korn Ferry Tour Plunkett would love to be next in line.

Rory McIlroy +950

Tommy Fleetwood +1500

Matt Fitzpatrick +1500

Jon Rahm +2000

Xander Schauffele +2500

Robert MacIntyre +2700

Viktor Hovland +3000

Chris Gotterup +3300

Tyrrell Hatton +3300

Ludvig Åberg +3300

Justin Rose +3300

sword,” McIlroy said. “I think all this dry weather and sun and a little bit of wind is obviously great for the course in one way but when I was here a couple weeks ago, the rough was a lot more penal than it’s going to be this week. It’s deﬁnitely burnt out a lot.

“The big thing, especially off the tee here, is the fairway bunkers and avoiding those. You might see some guys being more aggressive off the tee, taking driver, trying to take the fairway bunkers out of play OK, it might be in the rough, but it’s not that penal, so you get a wedge in your hand and you can ﬁgure it out from there.” Every hole seems to have options.

“From what I’ve learned in the past, if you start pulling out drivers in an Open Championship, you can do a good job,” Jon Rahm said “You can maybe get away with it one round. Over four rounds, you’re going to start ﬁnding spots you don’t want to be in, and you’re going to pay the price.”

Scottie Scheffler is the reigning champion, trying to become the ﬁrst repeat winner of golf’s oldest championship since Padraig Harrington won at Carnoustie and Royal Birkdale in 2007 and 2008.

The world’s No. 1 player has played only five times in the British Open, but he probably spoke for many when he said, “This is the first forecast I remember seeing when it had no rain in it for the week.”

It’s a different Royal Birkdale from when Jordan Spieth won in 2017, particularly the new look on the ﬁfth and the par-3 seventh, and a brand-new par 3 at the 15th (the old par-3 14th was removed). Schefﬂer offered a not-so-subtle jab at the chances, even though he hadn’t seen the course before.

“The one thing I found interesting is it’s so obvious as to which holes had been redone,” he said. “They look like they’re not even on the same golf course.”

Plunkett finished his college career at Army by helping the Black Knights to the Patriot Conference title with brother Matt a freshman on the team That would have seemed to be the end of his golf. He was a logistics ofﬁcer during his ﬁve-year Army stint, specializing primarily in convoy maneuvers, either moving personnel or cargo. His golf clubs stayed home.

But one day after he returned to Fort Carson in Colorado, he decided to play golf with his dad.

“I shot 69 and thought I was the best golfer in the world,” Plunkett said.

“And I played the next day and probably shot 95. But I stuck with it. My last few months in the Army, COVID was a thing and the DOD (Department of Defense) took it seriously We had a lot of limited personnel ofﬁce hours. I had a lot more free time on my hands and played a lot of golf.”

“He’s been all over,” Theegala said. “It just awesome that he was serving our country and making such a big sacriﬁce for everyone and is still able to do what he loves. It shows a lot that you have one life to live, and now he’s out here grinding.

“Hopefully, this will be a good week.” It will be a long day, for sure Plunkett is in the penultimate group, meaning his first tee shot in his first major will be about 4:10 p.m. local time. But he’s at the British Open, a victory in itself at his stage of his second career Also in the field is Austen Truslow, another American on the Asian Tour Asked what he wanted out of the week, Plunkett kept it simple: “Probably giving my mom and dad a hug when I walk off 18 every day.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JON SUPER

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays out of the light rough on the 10th fairway during a practice round for the British Open at Royal Birkdale on Wednesday in Southport, England

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By DAVID GOLDMAN Marcus Plunkett plays a shot on the 11th tee during a practice round for the British Open on Tuesday in Southport, England.

Fleetwood

Recruiting stock is up for these BR-area players

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

Baton Rouge is home to some of the best football talent in the country

The area has produced several top college and NFL athletes who started their football careers at high schools around the Baton Rouge area. The following list highlights eight players who have boosted their recruiting stock as they continue the area’s touted pipeline for talent.

Tylek Lewis, Zachary, Sr. Lewis put up big numbers at running back last year with 1,129 all-purpose yards and 21 touchdowns in 13 games for Zachary. The 6-foot, 210-pound three-star recruit earned offers in the spring from Power Four schools such as Kansas State, TCU, Syracuse and Northwestern. Lewis recently announced his commitment to Syracuse on June 30.

Jayden Vessell, Catholic, Sr. Vessell has been a key member of the Bears defense the past two seasons. The 6-2, 230-pound defensive end was named to the all-district ﬁrst team for a second straight year

This offseason, Vessell earned offers from Oklahoma State, Navy, UL, Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion, Air Force, Army, UNLV and Arkansas State, among others.

Malachi Royal, Central, Fr. Royal is entering his freshman season, but the defensive back already has garnered attention from several SEC schools. The 6-1 Royal, who also plays receiver, has earned offers from Ole Miss, Missouri, LSU, Vanderbilt and Miami.

Nolan Daniel,West Feliciana, Sr. Daniel offers next-level size at the interior offensive line position The 6-4, 294-pound senior

KAMARA

Continued from page 1C

free agency

Speaking to reporters in June, when he made a surprise appearance at the Saints’ voluntary offseason workouts, Kamara said he was excited to play with Etienne and had “no beef” with the Saints He indicated he wasn’t bothered by the team’s approach to his status

“I’ve been through a lot in my life, man,” Kamara said then “I learned not to take things personal. Man, I’m blessed. Like it is what it is. We’re in a business that’s unique to a lot of spaces in the world. Nothing catches me offguard, man.” The terms of Kamara’s new contract are not yet available, but the agreement marks the latest compromise between the Saints and an iconic player to keep him around Last month, the Saints and Cam Jordan agreed on a one-year contract after the defensive end tested free agency so that Jordan could return for a 16th season. In the years before that, the Saints negotiated pay cuts with veterans such as Jordan Tyrann Mathieu and Demario Davis The Saints’ negotiations with Kamara, at least publicly, never got contentious, but the saga did draw plenty of interest over the last few months. The Saints received some

Success of recent Hurricanes quarterbacks attracted Mensah

BY STEVE REED AP sportswriter

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

— The Miami Hurricanes are back on the national scene in college football in large part because of the acquisition of two high-proﬁle transfer quarterbacks the past two years.

They’re counting on a third, Darian Mensah from Duke, to keep them in the conversation.

The junior redshirt quarterback said Wednesday he made the move to Miami largely because of the success Cam Ward and Carson Beck experienced after joining the Hurricanes through the transfer portal. Ward became the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and Beck took Miami to the College Football Playoff championship game last season and was selected in Round 3.

Mensah said after watching Ward and Beck perform, he believes Miami gives him a chance to win a national title while simultaneously best utilizing his skill set to improve his NFL draft stock.

school had attempted to block his departure.

Mensah brings a proven track record to Miami.

just an elite person.”

rose up the ranks to become a three-star recruit, according to 247Sports.

He earned two offers at the FCS level before earning his ﬁrst FBS offer from South Alabama on June 12, where he is now committed

DeCaleb Green, Donaldsonville, Sr.

The edge rusher posted 21.5 sacks and 27 tackles for loss last season. After earning his first offer from South Alabama last year, he gained more attention this spring and summer Green earned offers from Wake Forest, Texas State and Cincinnati. Green decommitted from South Alabama and committed to Cincinnati on June 14

Bra’Jon Melancon, North Iberville, Sr. Melancon is one of the topranked players in the nation at the athlete position at No. 24, according to 247Sports. The 6-foot, 170-pound senior plays both cornerback and wide receiver

This offseason, he earned offers from Houston, Central Florida, Memphis, Tulane, Arkansas, Texas Tech and Kansas State. On June 13, he announced his commitment to Kansas State.

Jarius Jones, Plaquemine, Sr.

Jones was recognized as one of the top players in the state after being ranked as a three-star recruit on 247Sports on July 4. The 6-3, 205-pound edge rusher also earned his ﬁrst FBS offer on June 19 from South Alabama, where he committed on June 21.

Micah Levy, East Ascension, Sr.

Levy is a name to watch in 2026.

The safety ended his season with five interceptions and earned LSWA Class 5A All-State honorable mention honors. He ﬁnished his junior year with no offers, but he has since earned offers from McNeese and Millsaps College.

The 6-1, 215-pounder’s stock could continue to rise with a strong senior season.

“Seeing what the last two quarterbacks did at Miami was a huge factor,” Mensah said at the ACC kickoff event. “Seeing the freedom that (offensive coordinator Shannon) Dawson lets the quarterback play with within his offense was also something that was attractive to me.”

Mensah’s arrival in Miami followed a tension-ﬁlled offseason legal fight between Duke and its elite QB, who had signed a two-year contract in 2025 that included name, image and likeness money after he transferred from Tulane. The end result was a settlement that allowed Mensah to move on from Duke after the

LSU

Continued from page 1C

The retirement of Jones’ No. 7 jersey does not mean future LSU players will be unable to wear that number, an important distinction as wearing No. 7 and No. 18 have become annual honors for Tiger football players. Additionally, six other All-Americans wore No. 7 at LSU, more than any other number, including Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu and Leonard Fournette. LSU’s only retired number remains No. 20, which was last worn by Cannon. Nicknamed the “Ruston Rifle” because of his hometown and powerful right arm, Jones played at LSU from 1970-72 in an era when athletes could play only three varsity seasons. Sharing time at quarterback with senior Buddy Lee, Jones helped lead the Tigers to the 1970 Southeastern Conference championship, LSU’s only conference title between 1961 and 1988. LSU went 26-6-1 during Jones’ career, as he left Baton Rouge as the school’s all-time leader in passing yards (3,255), touchdown passes (28), attempts (418) and completions (220).

In 1972, Jones became the program’s ﬁrst All-America quarter-

He threw for 2,723 yards and 22 touchdowns for Tulane in 2024, then led the Atlantic Coast Conference last season with 3,973 yards passing and 34 touchdowns. The Blue Devils won a ﬁve-way tiebreaker to reach the ACC championship and beat No. 20 Virginia in Charlotte for their ﬁrst outright title since 1962.

With Beck out of college eligibility, Miami coach Mario Cristobal felt his team desperately needed an experienced QB to go with a talented returning core.

“We were in the market for a quarterback,” Cristobal said.

“We felt the team was really set in so many areas. When Darian hit the portal, we felt this is a guy we would love to pursue. His levels of leadership, care factor time invested in his craft, football IQ, just natural human IQ,

Mensah said the transition to Miami has been “seamless” and that his new teammates have been welcoming even while talk swirls around his reported $10 million NIL deal.

“I feel like I’m at home here in Miami and you couldn’t ask for more,” he said.

Mensah said he remains friends with his former Duke teammates but that “business is business.”

There likely will be plenty of emotions on both sides when the Hurricanes host Duke on Nov 14 Mensah said he briefly considered joining the NFL draft but decided he needed to show more to scouts.

“I feel like I lost my team some games last year with just having the ball loose,” Mensah said.

“And so I think that was a big thing for me and then just taking what the defense gives me and just being better with that, and not pressing.”

back and ﬁnished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting. His signature moment that season came when he led the Tigers on an 80-yard drive capped by a last-second touchdown pass to Brad Davis to beat Ole Miss 17-16, one of the most memorable plays in LSU history Jones was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1973 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Colts, where he went on to be the 1976 NFL MVP Jones retired in 1982 after nine seasons with the Colts and one with the Los Angeles Rams, the second half of his career marked by shoulder and neck injuries. Jones ﬁnished his pro career with 18,190 yards passing and 124 touchdowns. In 2016, Jones was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.

year,

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playing for the Saints next season. Kamara’s impromptu visit did not spur a resolution Instead, the Saints concluded OTAs and mandatory minicamp with the deal still unresolved. A month later, the Saints

missing the ﬁnal six games with a knee injury As a team, the Saints struggled in the run game last season ranking 28th in rushing.

The pronounced struggles are why the Saints not only pursued Etienne but also signed guard David Edwards. Now that the Saints know Kamara will be on the roster, the New Orleans coaching staff can further envision ways the ﬁvetime Pro Bowler can complement Etienne, who’s still expected to be the lead back.

Kamara has said he has no problem sharing carries.

“We’ve done it here before,” Kamara said last month. “You saw it here with Mark (Ingram) and I. Latavius (Murray) and I. Just having two talented backs, it beneﬁts each back. You gotta try to prepare for both, and it puts (defenses) in a dilemma right there.”

Email Matthew Paras at matt. paras@theadvocate.com

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO LSU quarterback Bert Jones spikes the ball after scoring

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Saints running back Alvin Kamara runs for a touchdown as Arizona Cardinals safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson defends during the ﬁrst half on Sept 7 at the Caesars Superdome. Kamara will return to the Saints for a 10th season.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By AARON BEARD Miami quarterback Darian Mensah interacts with reporters during ACC media days on Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Central quarterback Jacori Platti, left, readies to throw under pressure from Catholic High defensive lineman Jayden Vessell on Oct. 17 at Wildcat Stadium in Central.

SCOREBOARD

— O’Brien (Caminero) ABS Challenge Harper (Strike-Conﬁrmed);

(Strike-Conﬁrmed). Umpires — Home, Alan Porter; First, Chris Conroy; Second, Chad Whitson; Third, Ryan Additon; Right, Edwin Moscoso; Left, Adam

Nevers

Stage Results: 1. Søren Wærenskjold, Norway, Uno-X Mobility, 03:10:06. 2. Olav Kooij, Netherlands, Decathlon CMA CGM Team, same time

3. Jasper Philipsen, Belgium, Alpecin-Premier Tech, same time.

4. Milan Fretin, Belgium, Coﬁdis, same time

5. Henri Artz, Netherlands, Lotto Intermarché, same time.

6. Biniam Girmay, Eritrea, NSN Cycling Team, same time.

7. Anthony Turgis, France, TotalEnergies, same time.

8. Clément Russo, France, Groupama-FDJ United, same time

9. Fernando Gaviria, Colombia, Caja RuralSeguros RGA, same time

10. Pascal Ackermann, Germany, Team Jayco AlUla, same time. Overall standings

1. Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia, UAE Team Emirates XRG, 39:25:08. 2. Jonas Vingegaard Hansen, Denmark, Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 39:28:44. 3. Remco Evenepoel, Belgium, Red Bull — Bora — Hansgrohe, 39:29:14. 4. Juan Ayuso, Spain, Lidl-Trek, 39:29:30. 5. Paul Seixas, France, Decathlon CMA CGM Team, 39:29:43. 6. Florian Lipowitz, Germany, Red Bull — Bora — Hansgrohe, 39:29:52. 7. Isaac del Toro, Mexico, UAE Team Emirates XRG, 39:30:16. 8. Mattias Skjelmose, Denmark, Lidl-Trek, 39:30:53. 9. Lenny Martinez, France, Bahrain Victorious, 39:31:42. 10. Tom Pidcock, Great Britain, PinarelloQ36.5 Pro Cycling Team, 39:36:57. Tennis

ATP-Croatia Open Umag

At ITC Stella Maris; Umag, Croatia Surface: Red clay Men’s singles Round of 16 Daniel Merida, Spain, def. Tomas Martin Etcheverry (3), Argentina, 7-5, 6-4. Damir Dzumhur, Bosnia-Herzegovina, def. Juan Carlos Prado Angelo, Bolivia, 7-6 (2), 6-1. Matteo Arnaldi (4), Italy, def. Federico Agustin Gomez, Argentina, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (2), Spain, def. Marco Trungelliti, Argentina, 6-4, 7-5. Roman Andres Burruchaga, Argentina, def. Flavio Cobolli (1), Italy, 6-2, 6-4. Camilo Ugo Carabelli (7), Argentina, def. Pablo Carreno Busta, Spain, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5. Titouan Droguet, France, def. Luca Van Assche, France, 6-1, 1-6, 7-5. Alex Molcan, Slovakia, def. Dino Prizmic, Croatia, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-0, ret. WTA-Iasi Open At Iasi, Romania Surface: Red clay Women’s singles Round of 16 Yulia Putintseva (9), Kazakhstan, def. Alina Charaeva, Russia, 6-3, 6-3. Tamara Zidansek, Slovenia, def. Anna Bondar (7), Hungary, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 7-5. Clara Burel, France, def. Elsa Jacquemot (8), France, 6-1, 6-1. Petra Marcinko (2), Croatia, def. Elina Avanesyan, Russia, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5). ATP-Swiss Open At Roy Emerson Arena; Gstaad, Switzerland Surface: Red clay Men’s singles Round of 16 Raphael Collignon (7), Belgium, def. Lorenzo Sonego, Italy, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5). Arthur Rinderknech (4), France, def. Clement Tabur, France, 6-7 (9), 7-6 (5), 7-5. Valentin Vacherot (3), Monaco, def. Yannick Hanfmann, Germany, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. ATP-Nordea Open At Bastad Tennis Stadium; Bastad, Sweden Surface: Red clay Men’s singles Round of 16 Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, Paraguay, def. Botic Van de Zandschulp (6), Netherlands, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4). Nuno Borges (5), Portugal, def. Grigor

Wednesday

have a conversation with him,” Jefferson said. “He’s gonna be as real as it gets. He’s gonna tell you what you need to work on.”

When players aren’t living up to their potential, Faulk tells them that without sugarcoating the message. One of those candid conversations was with running back Trey Holly Faulk has pushed the SWAC’s fourth-leading rusher to no longer be a “me guy” and instead set an example for his teammates.

“I’m just authentic with them,” Faulk said. “That’s how I was coached, that’s how I like it. At the end of the day, when you tell them the truth, you don’t have to go back on anything.”

Players have gravitated toward that honesty and are using it with each other

“We got to hold each other accountable,” Brister said. “I think that’s what we kind of lacked last year, accountability So coach Faulk came in, and that was one of his biggest things: accountability and discipline.”

Chip on shoulder

Reminiscing on the 2025 season isn’t a regular activity at Southern.

After being voted the No. 1 team in the SWAC West a year ago after a conference championship game appearance, the Jaguars finished tied for the worst record in the league.

The sting fuels Brister

“It’s deﬁnitely a chip on my shoulder I refuse to do what happened again last year,” Brister said. “You can expect a different attitude out of me, and along with a lot of the other guys who were on the team last year Even the newer guys are like, ‘I don’t want to be part of a 2-10 team.’ We know what’s at stake, and we know we’ve got to come out with a chip on our shoulder regardless.”

Faulk said he has no issue with players drawing from that disappointment.

“That’s good. That matters to me. That means there’s some pride in there,” he said. “You go 2-10, you end on a high note by winning the Bayou Classic, but most of the season was for naught

“When your returning players take pride in the product they put on the ﬁeld and say, ‘Man, we don’t like how we represented ourselves,’ then you know you have the right players.”

Starting QB questions

While Faulk believes in naming a starting quarterback before preseason

camp, Southern doesn’t have one to announce yet.

“I hate going into a fall camp with a quarterback competition,” he said.

The plan is to name a starter hopefully after the ﬁrst week of August camp. The team has seven quarterbacks on the roster

“We have some guys in the developmental phase. Some of those quarterbacks play other positions as well,” he said.

“So having that athlete position, having a guy with the ability to play quarterback, it helps us. If we get into a game and we’re not moving the ball the way we want to, we’ll be diverse enough to have options. That’s what you want. You’ve got to have options in this game.”

The quarterback room includes two returners in senior Ashton Strother and redshirt freshman Dillon Compton, who did not appear in a game last season. The high school signees are Vashaun Coulon (St. Augustine), Mario Litmer (Highlands High School in Kentucky) and Eddie Mamudi (Blake High School in Florida). The transfers are sophomore Wyatt McCauley from Long Beach (California) City

and junior Christian Johnson from

PROVIDED PHOTO By SOUTHERN UNIVERSITy ATHLETICS

Southern football coach Marshall Faulk center is interviewed by Tiffany Green, left, and Jay Walker at SWAC media day on

in Brimingham, Ala.

BY LINDAGASSENHEIMER

Service (TNS)

Tribune News

On arecent trip to St. Louis, Istopped at the legendary Pappy’sSmokehouse and fell in love with their smoky,tender barbecue ribs.

When Ireturned home, Iwas craving that same rich ﬂavor but didn’thave

HELPFUL

water

Vegetable oil spray

1. In asmall bowl, mix ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika and brownsugar together to form asmooth sauce. Set aside.

2. Season both sides of the baby back rack with dry rub. Cut betweeneach bone to separate the rack into individual ribs. Place them in amicrowave-safe dish in one layer.Add the water and cover the dish with aplate or plastic wrap. Microwave on high 3minutes. Ameat thermometer should read 145 Fwhen inserted into the meatiest part near the bones.

3. Heat stove top grillorskilletover highheat. Spray grill panorskillet with vegetable oil spray.Place the ribs on aheated grill for 3minutes. Turn them over and grill another minute. Theyshouldhave anice crust

4. Divide between twodinner plates and spoon some sauceon top. Serve extra sauce on the side

NUTRITION INFO PER SERVING: 393 calories (33 percent from fat), 14.5 gfat (5.1 gsaturated, 6.2 g monounsaturated),94mgcholesterol, 31.3 gprotein, 39.0 g carbohydrates, 1.1 gﬁber,613 mg sodium.

Doctored

Deli Potato Salad

Yields 2servings. Recipe is by Linda Gassenheimer

1cup bought red potato salad

3tablespoons sweet pickle relish

1. Mix potato salad and relish together

2. Divide in half and serve with the ribs.

NUTRITION INFO PER SERVING: 250 calories (63 percent from

17.4 gfat (2.7 gsaturated, 3.3 g monounsaturated),13mgcholesterol, 1.4 gprotein, 21.9 g carbohydrates, 1.6 gﬁber, 463 mg sodium.

APRIL HAMILTON Contributingwriter

The challenge was to cook at leasttwo recipes from the10th anniversary edition of “Cooking Up aStorm: Recipes Lost and Found from The TimesPicayune of New Orleans,” the celebrated collection of quintessential Louisiana recipes published after Hurricane Katrina. When Isaw thelistof56recipes to choosefrom, my instant reaction was,“Can I make them all?” In amorepractical manner, Iselected four, extra captivated by aspeciﬁc title: ThePontchartrain Hotel’sMile High Pie. Unfamiliar withthis dish, Ipicked it notknowingifitwas asweet or savory recipe. Muchtomydelight, it is an adored concoctionoffour ice creams layered in apastry shell, crowned withburnishedmeringue andconsidered oneofNew Orleans’ most populardesserts. It elicits nostalgia from those who have experienced it in the famed hotel’s elegantCaribbean Room. Grown women have shared their affection for long-ago family

trips to New Orleans, dressedin their Sundaybest, with astop at the Pontchartrain Hotel for this memorabletreat. Their glee prompted me to ask my friendEllenGrayfor herpie memories. Ellen, ablogger andpie expert, hada residency at ThePontchartrain Hotel in 1982 when she servedasYul Brynner’s personalassistantduring athreemonth performance series of “The Kingand I” in the city Here’sher response: Mile High Pie stands tall on my listofindelible New Orleans food memories. Served on an oversized

dinner plate, the signaturedessert reﬂected the Pontchartrain’sCaribbean Room elegance. Agravitational wonder,itwas composed of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and peppermint ice cream beneath atorched meringue crown; apool of darkchocolate sauce tamed the sweetness. The addition of peppermint ice cream ended this dessertonajazzy note, refreshing but not overly minty Non-negotiables: 1. Make room in your freezer for the pie before you begin.

BYVIVIAN HOWARD Voracious

If theSouth had amascot,

The recipe for The PontchartrainHotel’sMile High Piecan be

STAFF PHOTOSByJOHN BALLANCE

April Hamilton servesupa slice of Pontchartrain Hotels Mile HighPie

Outdoorparties should remain outdoors

Dear Miss Manners: Is it rudeto host an outdoor event at ourhome and limit the indoor access to restroom use only?

My husband is one of seven siblings, who are all married with multiplechildren; some of those children are grown and married with children, as well. Needless to say,our combinedimmediate familyisvery large We come from different ethnicand cultural backgrounds, and even 10 years in, we still differ on what we feel is appropriate or reasonable to ask of relatives. Hosting such alarge family is one issue on which we still can’tmeet in the middle.

By The Associated Press

TodayinHistory:

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

Idonot come from alarge immediatefamily,but do have a large extendedfamily,and the protocol for gatherings is still the same:With the exception of formal, blacktie events, onenever arrives to afamily member’s homeempty-handed, and if the event is being held outdoors, all guests remain outsidewith the host My in-laws (not all of them, but always the matriarch and patriarch) usuallyarrive with nothing more than an appetite. And no matter where thehost has made accommodations for guests to gather, they alwaysmaketheir way in-

TODAYINHISTORY

stock sale.

Today is Thursday,July 16,the 197th day of 2026. There are 168 days left in the year

On July 16, 1945, the United Statesdetonated its ﬁrst experimental atomic bomb in thedesert of Alamogordo, New Mexico; the same day,the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis left Mare Island Naval ShipyardinCalifornia on asecretmission to deliver atomic bomb components to Tinian Island in the Marianas.

Also on this date:

In 1790, asite along thePotomac River was designated the permanent seat of theUnited States government; the area became Washington, D.C.

In 1951, the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger was ﬁrst publishedbyLittle, Brown and Co.

In 1957, Marine Corps Maj. John Glenn set atranscontinental speed recordbyﬂying a Vought F8U Crusader jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8.4 seconds.

In 1964, as he accepted the Republican presidential nomination in San Francisco, Barry M. Goldwater declared that “extremisminthe defense of liberty is no vice” and that “moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”

In 1969, Apollo 11 launched from Cape Kennedy in Florida on the ﬁrst manned mission to the surface of the moon.

In 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr., hiswife, Carolyn, and hersister, Lauren Bessette, died when their single-engine plane, piloted by Kennedy,plunged into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

In 2004, Martha Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison and five months of home confinement by afederal judge in NewYork forlying abouta

In 2008, Florida resident Casey Anthony, whose 2-yearold daughter,Caylee, had been missing amonth,was arrested on charges of child neglect, making false ofﬁcial statements and obstructing acriminal investigation.(Casey Anthonywas later acquitted at trial of killing Caylee, whose skeletal remains were foundinDecember 2008; Casey wasconvicted of lying to police.)

In 2015, ajury in Centennial, Colorado, convicted James Holmes of 165 counts of murder, attempted murder and other charges in the2012 Aurora movie theater rampagethat left 12 peopledead

In 2017, 10 people died at apopular swimming hole in Arizona’sTonto National Forest after arainstorm unleashed a ﬂash ﬂood.

In 2018, after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki,President Donald Trumpopenlyquestioned the ﬁnding of hisown intelligence agencies that Russia had meddled in the 2016 U.S. election to hisbeneﬁt. (Trump saidaday later that he misspoke.)

Today’sBirthdays: International TennisHall of Famer Margaret Court is 84. Violinist Pinchas Zukerman is78. Actor-singer Ruben Blades is 78. Rock composer-musician Stewart Copeland is 74. Playwright Tony Kushner is 70. Dancer Michael Flatley is 68. Former actor and teen model PhoebeCates is 63. Actor Daryl“Chill” Mitchell is 61. Actor-comedian Will Ferrell is 59. FootballHall of Famer Barry Sanders is 58. Actor Corey Feldman is 55. Actor Jayma Mays is 47. Retired soccer star Carli Lloyd is44. Actor AnnaLynne McCord is 39. Actor-singer James Maslow (Big Time Rush) is 36. Actor Mark Indelicatois 32. Pop singer-musician Luke Hemmings (5 Seconds to Summer) is 30.

Summer Vegetable Scallion Pancakes

Serves 4. Recipe is from “Deep RunRoots”byVivian Howard. 1cup okra, caps and tips removed, midsections minced ½cup fresh corn, cut off the cob ¼cup squash or zucchini, grated on a boxgrater or in afood processor 3tablespoons minced scallion 1teaspoon salt, divided 2tablespoons cornmeal 2tablespoons all-purpose flour

2tablespoons buttermilk 1egg

¼teaspoon hot sauce

¼to 1 3 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat ovento200 F.

2. In amedium bowl, stir together the minced okra, corn, squash, scallion and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Let that sit for about 5minutes. The saltwillleach out the moisture in thesquash. That moisture will activate the slime in the okra and bring the veggies together in kind of agooey-looking mass. 3. Stir in the cornmeal andﬂour to incorporate.Whisk together the buttermilk, egg and hot sauce,

side thehouse to watch TV and spill/splatter indoors.

To me, it feels so disrespectful and discourteous. Ihave accepted feeling this way for manyyears, but this year,weare hosting a very carefully planned evening backyardgraduation partyfor our middle child. She is my child through marriage, so this event will include our combined immediate family and also my husband’sextended family

For theﬁrst time ever,Ihave asked all attending guests, no matter their status, to respectfully refrain from entering the home for anything other than restroom use. My husband did not feel that was appropriate.

Have Ireally lost touch?

Gentle reader: Although she is going to help you get your wish, Miss Manners warns you that what you asked for and whatyou actually want arenot in perfect alignment.

To change your in-laws’ longstanding behavior requires both their and your husband’scooperation —something you have not been able to obtaininadecade of trying.

But thisevent is differentfrom other informal family gathers: Graduations are unique. (No, scratch that: Children nowapparently graduate from everything except summer camp,and someone is no doubtworkingonthat. Butfor these purposes, we will pretend.)

Convince your husband that forthis one unique and more formal event, it would be unkind if everyone did not participate as afamily.Hewill then have to help you convince his side of the family

The quid pro quo is that you will stop ﬁghting about less formal family events —which, remember,you werelosing anyway

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

Keepingthe absorbency of clothes

Dear Heloise: Here’sa hint about maintaining clothes’ absorbency Perhaps Ihad previously learned this from you, but it’s worth repeating as long as we’re on thesubject.Softeners decrease clothes’ absorbency,sodry them without any softener —John S.,inNewburyPark, California Ticket snafu

thename on your ticket is the exact same as it is on your driver’s license. —JeanG., via email Wrist-lickin’

and stir it into the dry,slimy mass. Mixthis up afew times and letitsit at least 3minutes and up to 1hour before you get ready to cook thefritters.

4. In a10- to 12-inchskillet or cast-iron pan, add the oilovermedium heat.Ifyou want larger fritters, spoon about2 tablespoons of the batter into the preheated oil and pressdown on each dollop to ﬂatten it slightly.The fritters should be about ¼ inch thick. If you’d like smaller fritters, start with 1tablespoon of batter

5. Carefullycontinue dropping dollops of batter into the hot oil, making surethe frittersdon’t touch. Cook thefritters over medium heat on each side till they arechestnut-colored in some spots and golden in others. Transferthe fritters to apaper-towellined plate to drain and season them while hotwiththe remaining salt. Keep them warm in your oven while youfry the next batch. 6. Servewarm.

Dear Heloise: Ijust read about someone who was stressed out while traveling. We traveled in April without aproblem when leaving; coming back home was theissue. On my husband’sticket, it just had his ﬁrst and last name, but his driver’slicense includes his middle name. Make sure that

DearHeloise: To open plastic bags at the grocery store, I lick the inside of my wrist (much cleaner than my ﬁngers) and touch this spot to dampen the ﬁngers on my other hand. —Joanne M., in Rancho Mission Viejo, California

Hearingdifficulty

Dear Heloise: Despite hearing aids, Istill have difﬁculty understanding what astore clerk, awaiter,or my friend at lunch has said. When Idon’thearthem,I’ll say,“Excuse me?”Atthis point, not only does

the clerk or waiter repeat what wassaid, but my friend does as well. As aresult of this babel, I only hear garbled words. If Iask again forthe clerk or waiter to repeat what they said, the samething happens again —only louder.Not only do Inot hear the message any better,I’m embarrassed by all the shouting voices around me. Unless aperson whohas ahearing difﬁculty looks directly at you to repeat something, don’trepeat it. In an effort to help, thechorusoften isn’twanted, usually isn’thelpful, andisalways embarrassing for theperson who’s hard of hearing. —H.S in OrangeCounty,California

Email heloise@heloise.com.

Pontchartrain Hotel’sMileHigh Pie Makes 8to12(or 16) servings. Therecipe is from “Cooking Up aStorm: Recipes Lost and Found from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans.”

FOR THE CRUST: 1½ cups all-purpose flour ½teaspoon salt ½cup shortening,cold 4to5tablespoons coldwater FOR THE FILLING (SEE NOTE BELOW):

softened FOR THE MERINGUE: 8largeegg whites ½teaspoon vanilla extract ¼teaspoon creamoftartar

½cup sugar FOR THE CHOCOLATE SAUCE:

1(1-ounce) square German sweet chocolate

2(1-ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate ½cup sugar ½cup heavy cream

MILE HIGH

Continuedfrom page1D

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F.

2. Sift together the ﬂour andsalt. Cut in theshorteningwith apastrycutter until the pieces are the size of small peas.

3. Sprinkle in 1tablespoon of the cold water over the ﬂour mixture and gently toss with afork.Repeat,adding water until all the ﬂour is slightly moistened.

4. Form into aballand roll into a 1⁄8-inchthickness on alightly ﬂoured work surface.Fit loosely into a9-inch pie pan. Prick the crust with aforkto prevent bubbling.

5. Bakefor 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before ﬁlling.

6. Layer the vanilla ice cream on the bottom of thecooled pie shell, and in layers add the remaining ﬂavors.

7. Place the pie in the freezer while you makethe meringue.

8. In alarge mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the egg whitesand cream of tartar until soft peaks form.

9. Gradually add the sugar,beating untilthe eggwhites arestill andglossy and sugar is dissolved.

2.Blind bake the crust and cool completely before assembling.

3. Iprefer aSwiss meringue for thecrown; it doesn’trequire much time, helps stabilize themixture and eliminates the quandary of consuming raw egg whites.

4. Depending on time, Ihave prepared thepie in various ways: I’ve assembled and frozen everything except for the meringue, opting to complete it just prior to serving. I’ve assembled thedessert completewith Swiss meringue, held

it in the freezer for up to twodays (covered in plastic wraponce it ﬁrms up) and then torched it. When therehave been leftovers (rarely), I’ve covered and placed them in the freezer,re-torching themeringue beforeserving, just as arefresh.

10. Spread themeringue over the ice cream,sealing it to the edges of the pastry

11. Broila few inches from the broiler element forabout 1minute to brownthe meringue.

12. Freezethe pie severalhours or overnight.

13. In the top of adouble boiler (or a bowl set over asaucepan of simmeringwater), melt the chocolate withthe sugar and ¼ cup of the cream, stirring until wellblended and thick.

14. Add as much of the remaining cream as necessary to achieve apourable consistency

15. Cut pie intowedgesand serve with chocolate sauce.

NOTE: Isoftened each pint of ice cream for30minutes and pressed the contents of the pint, one at atime, into the crust. Ithen froze the pie for 30 minutes before adding the next layer.This technique makes it easierto spread the icecream andmakes for moredistinct layers.

5. In the heat of summer,cool heads (and hands) prevail. This is adessert deserving of achilly environment;dothe slicingand plating in acool kitchen.Ifthingsare heating up, return thepie to the freezer (that’swhy freezer real estate should be establishedinthe very beginning) andlet the pie ﬁrm up before slicing. It’s alsoaﬁne ideato clean off your knife between slices. Athin, long blade works best.

With apologies to Ellen, Idid negotiate with the meringue, making the formula as described in the recipe and also, since my daughters were visiting, scooped in some of their favorite ice cream ﬂavors instead of the ones listed (Guinness and coffee in place of strawberry and peppermint). When peppermint ice cream is making its rounds in the grocery,Iwill whip up a Mile High Pie precisely as prescribed. My non-negotiable advice is for you to makethis dessert foryour next special occasion, layering in your favorite ice creams and serving without hesitation with chilled forks.

PROVIDED PHOTO By REX MILLER/VORACIOUS

STAFFPHOTO By JOHN BALLANCE

Apeek inside The Pontchartrain Hotel’sMile High Pie

Hints from Heloise

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Speakup, and formulate your plan. Do the legwork and proceed to the finish line. Complete whatever you've left undone so you can put your timeand effort into something new and exciting you want to pursue.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Set boundaries and abudget if temptation comes your way. Youcan bypass regret and have fun if you maintainlevelheadedness. Implement restraint and abide by the rules.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept.22) Helping others may make you feelgood, but be carefulnot to let anyone take advantage of your generosity.Offer conversation, suggestions and kindness, but don't pay forsomeone else'smistakes.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Join forces with those who share your agenda and canalso contribute suggestions that encourage greater success. Be open to change, learning and investing in a lifestyle that suits your needs.

scoRPIo(oct.24-nov. 22) Verify information before passing it along. Someone will offer an inflated assessment of asituation that can cost you or cause regret. Be precise and be bold.

sAGITTARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Take a critical look at your surroundings andconsider what youcan do to add to your comfort and how you can utilize your space to make your life more efficient.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec.22-Jan. 19) Stop worryingabout what to do next, and head in thedirectionthat offers personal growth, self-improvement or invest-

ment opportunities. Don't rely on others to give you the lowdown.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Payattention to your personal finances and investments. How you handle your cash will determine the lifestyle you can afford and sustain. Job opportunities show potential.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Networking, socializing and mixing business with pleasure will pay off if you are agood listener, but when it comes to sharing personal information, keep your secrets to yourself.

ARIEs(March 21-April 19) Weigh the pros and cons and do what must be done to reach your destination of choice. It's up to you to control the outcome using aunique strategy that keeps anyone trying to outmaneuver you at adisadvantage.

TAuRus (April20-May 20) Look inward, and do what puts yourmindatease. You can't control what others do or say, but you can control how you react and protect yourself from any fallout that comes your way.

GEMInI (May21-June 20) Time is on your side, and exploring possibilities will give you asense of what you can afford as wellaswhat youdoand don'tneed in your life. It's out with the old and in with the new.

CelebrityCipher cryptograms are created from quotationsbyfamous people,pastand present.Each letterinthe cipher stands for another.

ToDAy'scLuE:u EQuALs o

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 boxcontains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of theSudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER

Have you ever made awild overbid on adeal because it felt like theright thing to do at the time? Of courseyou have; we allhave. But then you probably found yourself in ahopeless contract, went down and apologized to your partner.Sometimes,though, you might have beenabletocallontheassistanceofyour opponents.

In today’s deal,South is in four spades. West leadsthe club jack. That wins the first trickand South ruffs the second club. Howshould declarer continue?

When Northrebid one no-trump to showabalanced12-14points,Southmight have settledfor atwo-spade signoff, but one can understand agame-invitational three-spade rebid. Here, North would probably have passed because he does not have averysuitable hand fora spade contract

Four spades appears to be one level too high. South seems destined to lose two spades, one heart and one club. But he has aMachiavellianchance. He should crosstothe dummy in ared suit and call forthe spade jack.

Many Easts, lookingatthe queen and 10, would not be able to resist the temptation to cover withthe queen. Then, though, afterSouth wins with his ace, there will be astunned silence when West is forced to play his king. Declarer drives outthe spade 10 and claims his contract.

wuzzles

Each Wuzzle is awordriddle which creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. Forexample: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

word game

InsTRucTIons: 1. Words must be of fourormoreletters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,”are not allowed. 3. Additional wordsmade by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns,slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

ToDAy’sWoRD VEsTuRE: VESS-chur: Something that covers agarment.

Average mark 18 words

Time limit 30 minutes

Can you find 26 or more words in VESTURE?