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School founder charged with diverting money

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BR to honor fallen officers 10 years after ambush

BY BLAKE LESCHBER Staff writer

STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Impact Charter School in Baker was founded in 2014.

Husband, daughter also indicted in Baker case

BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer

The founder of Impact Charter School in Baker, her husband and her daughter are facing criminal charges, accused of illegally diverting money to buy a Tesla, install a swimming pool at their house and to take trips around the world.

A federal grand jury in Baton Rouge returned an indictment on seven criminal counts Wednesday.

Each count is a felony, each with a maximum jail time of 10 years.

The charges are a fresh blow to founder Chakesha Scott, who lost control of the elementary school in February 2025 after a damning state audit and subsequent action by state

regulators. She and affiliates of the old school have filed multiple civil lawsuits seeking to turn back the clock and restore them to power at the K-8 school of nearly 400 students.

Throughout this time, federal prosecutors have been looking into the charter school. The current charges were sought by U.S. Attorney Kurt Wall, who took over the Baton Rouge office in October.

The grand jury also indicted Scott’s husband and former principal of the school, Eric Scott, as well as their daughter, Courtney Scott, and local construction contractor Sam Green.

In addition to potential jail time, federal prosecutors are asking the

court to compel the defendants to forfeit any property “derived from proceeds traceable to the offense,” or, failing that, forfeit comparable “substitute property” or pay financial damages.

Chakesha Scott, who founded the school in 2014, referred questions about the indictment to her attorney, Ben Bagert of New Orleans. The Advocate left multiple messages with Bagert seeking comment.

In a statement, Cade Brumley, superintendent of schools for the Louisiana Department of Education, said the indictment “reinforces” the February 2025 decision by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary

ä See CHARGED, page 7A

On July 17, 2016, six Baton Rouge law enforcement officers were shot in an ambush at a convenience store off Airline Highway, an attack that shocked the city.

Three of them — Baton Rouge police Cpl. Montrell Jackson, Officer Matthew Gerald and sheriff’s Deputy Brad Garafola — died that day.

A fourth, sheriff’s Sgt. Nick Tullier, succumbed to his wounds nearly six years later.

On Friday, 10 years after the attack, the officers are being honored in what East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sid Edwards calls a time “to re- Montrell Jackson member the heroes who gave everything in service to our community.”

At 8 a.m., members of the community are invited to walk from the Baton Rouge Police Department headquarters at 9000 Airline Highway to the site of the shooting, Benny’s B-Quik at 9611 Airline. A time Matthew Gerald of reflection and prayer will be held there.

Police Chief T.J. Morse said that time was chosen because the ambush happened about 8:40 a.m.

Also, the Gulf Coast Brotherhood will be riding bicycles from the Slidell Police Memorial to BRPD headquarters. Brad Garafola They are scheduled to arrive at 3 p.m. for a memorial service.

Morse said the events are important, as the families of the fallen officers will be in attendance. They show that those lost in the line of duty will always be remembered, he noted.

“Also, for the law enforcement officers that are there, Nick Tullier this is a chance that they know the public has their back and they can see, ‘Hey, if something like this ever happened to me, I know that I would still be remembered and my family would still be taken care of,’ ” Morse said.

East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said the tragedy of the ambush is still felt.

“Law enforcement, we’ll never forget what happened that day; I know I most certainly won’t,” Gautreaux said. “I think about it all the time when I ride down Airline Highway and see Benny’s.

ä See OFFICERS, page 7A

Trump uses address to push unproven claims about past elections President raising doubts about election security heading into midterms

BY MICHELLE L. PRICE, ERIC TUCKER and COLLIN BINKLEY

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump used a primetime address to the nation Thursday to once again raise doubts about the results of past elections, reviving a subject he’s long used to make unproven claims and deny his loss in

WEATHER HIGH 94 LOW 77 PAGE 8B

the 2020 election.

Trump’s fixation on his loss to Democrat Joe Biden six years ago and the long-debunked theories he’s circulated about it are things he still brings up regularly when discussing other subjects. But elevating the deeply political and conspiratorial topics to a presidential primetime address underscores the lengths to which Trump

has used his second term to both blow past norms and fixate on old grievances.

Trump began Thursday night with a stark warning about what he described as flaws in the voting system and said he was releasing previously classified documents related to the 2020 and 2018 elections.

ä See TRUMP, page 6A

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

President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House on Thursday.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

By SAUL LOEB

102ND yEAR, NO. 17

2A ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

2 plead not guilty in attack plot on UFC fight

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two of the eight men indicted in an alleged drone and sniper plot to attack President Donald Trump’s UFC cage-fighting show on the White House lawn pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal conspiracy charges.

Clothed in jail garb and shackled, Tycen Proper, 19, of Danville, Ohio, and Chandler Scaggs, 21, of Chapmanville, West Virginia, entered the pleas before U.S. District Court Judge Edmund Sargus Jr. in Ohio, where the case has been consolidated. They and the other six defendants are each charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to commit murder on federal government territory and to murder a federal government official.

Sargus scheduled their trial to begin Sept. 14.

It remains unclear from the court record how close the would-be attackers were to being able to carry out the plan they are alleged to have hatched.

Scaggs’ attorney, Eric Brehm, said in a statement that his office is only in the early stages of reviewing the case, “but one issue is already clear: there appears to be a significant disconnect between the severity of the alleged offenses and Mr. Scaggs’ naivety, lack of sophistication, and judgment.” The first charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison; the second could mean prison for life.

Puerto Rico announces water rationing

SAN JUAN,Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico announced water rationing measures on Thursday as a drought grips the U.S. territory, worsening chronic water shortages that have forced the governor to declare a state of emergency.

Thousands of people in the island’s northeast region face 48-hour rationing periods from Friday, said Luis González, executive president of the island’s water and sewer authority.

The rationing program will affect several communities in the cities of Canovanas and Rio Grande as temperatures keep rising.

“There’s just not enough water,” he said, adding that rationing will likely be extended to other areas.

González blamed a lack of rain, although severe water shortages began affecting some of the island’s most populated areas months before the drought began, with officials yet to identify the problem.

Those outages prompted the mayor of San Juan to sue the island’s Water and Sewer Authority in late May, with Gov. Jenniffer González acknowledging that the agency’s infrastructure has lacked investment and maintenance for decades.

Almost 40,000 customers were left without water last month, leading González to activate the National Guard. That outage was not tied to the current drought.

1 killed in crowd surge at Hindu festival in India

NEW DELHI — A sudden crowd surge at a popular Hindu festival in eastern India’s Odisha state on Thursday left at least one person dead and many hospitalized, a news agency reported.

The incident occurred as tens of thousands of people gathered in the coastal town of Puri for the annual Rath Yatra chariot festival, according to the Press Trust of India.

The festival is considered one of the world’s oldest and largest religious processions. The centuries-old festival involves the idols of Hindu deities being taken out of the Jagannath Temple and carried through the streets in colorfully decorated chariots.

Videos from the scene showed injured devotees being carried to hospitals as shoes, bags and other belongings were left strewn across the area in the aftermath of the incident.

Odisha police said in a social media post that rescue teams provided first aid and oxygen to 33 people before transferring them to nearby hospitals.

Last year, three people were killed and more than a dozen hospitalized following a crowd surge during the same festival.

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U.S. expands attacks on Iran Bridges increasingly being targeted

BY JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States expanded its airstrike campaign against Iran early Friday by increasingly hitting bridges, part of President Donald Trump’s threats to start striking infrastructure to pressure Tehran to ease its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. Iran launched new missile attacks against U.S.-allied nations in the Middle East and warned that its attacks would escalate.

In Qatar, authorities warned the public to take shelter as a barrage of Iranian missiles targeted the nation. People heard explosions overhead as air defenses fired to intercept the missiles.

Qatar is a key mediator with Pakistan in trying to reach an end to the Iran war. But talks have broken down over Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran earlier targeted Bahrain and Kuwait over U.S. airstrikes hitting bridges in the Islamic Republic overnight.

The interim ceasefire agreed to last month has collapsed, and the region has endured days of

ISNA PHOTO By RAZIEH POUDAT

Three boys play in the shallow waters of the Strait of Hormuz as a plume of smoke rises from an explosion in the background on Monday off Bandar Abbas, Iran. back-and-forth attacks by the U.S. and Iran as they battle for control of the strait. Iranian officials say U.S. strikes have killed more than 35 people and wounded over 300 others, with new casualties reported in Friday’s strikes.

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 soaring and gave Iran major leverage in negotiations.

Speaking in a primetime address to the American public, Trump insisted the war was going well.

“We are likewise winning big in Iran, and you will see the fruits of that labor very, very shortly,” Trump said.

Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, earlier threatened that Iran could launch widespread attacks on “all the infrastructure in the region” if the U.S. acted on Trump ‘s repeated warnings that America could hit Iranian bridges and power plants.

“Under no circumstances and in no way will we allow America, as a foreign and extraregional country, to

interfere in the Strait of Hormuz,” he added. “This is Iran’s invincible red line.”

The U.S. airstrikes hit bridges overnight into Friday in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, killing at least seven people, Iranian state television reported. The attacks hit Bandar Khamir, a city on Iran’s coast on the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian state media said the U.S. strikes Thursday hit around Tehran and Semnan province, home to Iran’s ballistic missile production and space program.

Trump has returned in recent days to his threats to target Iranian power stations and bridges to try to compel Iran to loosen its hold on the strait, through which about a fifth of all oil and natural gas once passed in peacetime. The U.S. also reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports to halt its shipments of crude oil.

Week-to-week cargo shipments through the strait dropped by almost a quarter at the beginning of the month, according to Maritime data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence. And that was before the recent surge in tit-for-tat attacks.

Given the risks, some oil shippers are transiting the strait with their location devices turned off, but many are just staying put, Lloyd’s said Thursday.

A growing amount of the region’s energy is being shipped through pipelines, but not nearly enough to offset the decline in shipping through the strait.

U.S. forces have redirected three commercial vessels trying to run the blockade, disabled one that did not comply and boarded another “to ensure full compliance,” the U.S. military’s Central Command said in a post on X. Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Beirut, Mae Anderson in New York and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Ukrainians protest ouster of defense minister

BY SAMYA KULLAB and ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shook up his wartime government, drawing thousands into the streets Thursday across Ukraine to protest the ouster of his youthful defense minister — seen as an innovator of the country’s successful drone technology but who clashed with the traditional military establishment.

The personnel overhaul, which included replacing his prime minister, could become a test of Zelenskyy’s political authority as Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion approaches 41/2 years. Zelenskyy has remained in office under martial law because wartime elections are prohibited but has periodically reshuffled his government.

The moves threw Ukraine’s military leadership into an unwelcome crisis at a time when its actions against Russia are starting to bear fruit and

dark T-shirt and jeans, and be blocked.” accused Syrskyi of block“Under this arrangement ing reforms needed because (with Syrskyi as command“the war has changed com- er), I personally do not know pletely” due to new technol- how the war can be won,” he said. ogy like drones.

On social media, Fedorov During his time in office, he secured restrictions on highlighted what he called Russian forces’ access to the his major achievements: reStarlink satellite commu- directing funds earmarked nications system, allowing for salaries into midrange Ukraine to better leverage strike capabilities, fiber-opits midrange strike capabili- tic drones, reconnaissance ties giving Kyiv significant systems and other technoloASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By DANyLO ANTONIUK battlefield advantages. gies. He pointed to expanded Ukranians gather Thursday in Kyiv, Ukraine, to denounce Fedorov said he was will- drone procurement, Patriot President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to dismiss ing to work with Syrskyi, missile defense contracts, “but we encountered a situ- successful ballistic missile Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. ation in which all the initia- tests and sweeping changes as Moscow has unleashed if the sides can’t resolve tives we proposed began to to military procurement. unrelenting aerial attacks. an issue, I will have to reTwo people were killed and solve it,” Zelenskyy said at GET IN TOUCH five others were wounded, a news conference. including a child, when Fedorov, 35, is considCustomer Service: HELP@THEADVOCATE.COM or 225-388-0200 Russian missiles hit the ered to be a vigorous modNews Tips / Stories: NEWSTIPS@THEADVOCATE.COM capital of Kyiv overnight, ernizer whose technologiObituaries: 225-388-0289 • Mon-Fri 9-5; Sat 10-5; Closed Sun Ukraine’s Emergency Ser- cal expertise is credited Advertising Sales: 225-388-0262 • Mon-Fri 8-5 in part with significantly vice said.

Classified Advertising: 225-383-0111 • Mon-Fri 8-5 In making the changes, improving Ukraine’s miliSubscribe: theadvocate.com/subscribe Zelenskyy cited friction tary performance in recent E-Edition: theadvocate.com/eedition between outgoing Defense months against Russia’s Archives: theadvocate.newsbank.com Minister Mykhailo Fe- bigger army. He is leaving dorov and Gen. Oleksandr the government after only TheAdvocate(USPS363-040)ispublisheddailyinBatonRougeandatadditionalmailingoffices.Periodicals postagepaidatBatonRouge,LA.ISSN:1061-3978.CapitalCityPress,proprietor.POSTMASTER:Send Syrskyi, the commander of six months in the post. addresschangestoTheAdvocate,CirculationAccounting,P.O.Box588,BatonRouge,LA70821.Newspaper Fedorov appeared at Ukraine’s armed forces. carriers are independent contractors and not employees of Capital City Press.

“I’m just showing that a news conference in a

U.S. designates 2 new Mexican cartels as terrorist groups

BY MARÍA VERZA Associated Press

MEXICO CITY — The U.S. government has designated two new Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

They are the Juárez Cartel, on the border with Texas, and Los Viagras, a criminal group from the western state of Michoacán. The Federal Register, the U.S. government’s gazette, published the designation on Thursday.

They joined six other Mexican criminal organizations that the U.S. considers terrorist groups, including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Gangs in other Latin American countries, including Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador and El Salvador, also have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by

the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump began to extend the terrorist label to Latin American cartels in February 2025 to allow U.S. authorities to take more aggressive action against them or against anyone who the U.S. sees as aiding the groups.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that both criminal groups either have committed terrorist acts or pose a serious risk of committing acts that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.

The measure represents a further increase in pressure on Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration following the indictment of 10 current and former officials from the state of Sinaloa for al-

leged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, as well as the controversies about U.S. operations in Mexico.

Juarez Cartel is one of Mexico’s oldest drug trafficking organizations, which for decades has controlled a key crossing point in the central part of the Mexico-U.S. border: Ciudad Juárez, across from El Paso, Texas. One of its factions is considered responsible for the 2019 deaths of nine U.S. citizens, six of whom were children.

Los Viagras is a local cartel in the western state of Michoacan, which is already home to two other criminal groups designated as terrorist organizations: Cárteles Unidos and La Nueva Familia Michoacana. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel and partners of Sinaloa Cartel also operate in this state.

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ 3A

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Texas flash floods leave at least 1 dead

BY JESSE BEDAYN and JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press

UVALDE, Texas — Rescuers aboard boats and helicopters saved dozens of stranded drivers and people trapped in homes from catastrophic flash floods in Texas in areas still reeling from devastating floods a year ago.

At least one person was dead, Gov. Greg Abbott said, adding that it appeared many of the summer camps hit hard last year were not in danger. “Our No. 1 focus is saving lives,” he said.

After days of pounding rain, the National Weather Service said a “large and deadly flood wave” barreled down the same river wrecked by flash floods last summer when two dozen children and counselors were killed at Camp Mystic.

Much like last year, the floods came in the middle of the night. But this time some residents in the Texas Hill Country said they received more warnings.

Forecasters urgently warned, “Move to higher ground now!” as rivers rose hour by hour, turning them into fast-moving seas of white water. Some spots of the Guadalupe River rose by more than 30 feet.

The governor said more than 1,300 first responders were deployed, rescuing well over 70 people.

As much as 28 inches of rain fell over the past three days in Uvalde County, which was spared from the worst flooding a year ago, the weather service said Thursday. Other areas saw roughly a foot of rain with more expected going into Friday.

“This is hopefully the last real batch of rain,” said Jason Runyen, a meteorologist with the weather service.

While authorities have not released the name of the per-

eral dozen animals to higher ground in the dark Thursday as the normally dry Lazy Creek overflowed. She had to quickly grab a porcupine despite having no gloves.

She got all of the animals to safety, but flooding destroyed several enclosures at the Buck Wild Animal Rescue and Wildlife Rehab near Ingram in Kerr County.

“We were just starting to get back on our feet again,” Buck said. “To have to go through this again is just devastating.”

Residents at an RV park in Comfort moved their trailers as sirens sounded, said manager Duke Earwood.

Water rose over the hoods ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOEL ANGEL JUAREZ of vehicles parked near the Flooding on Thursday blocks off a street along the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas. river at the Comfort RV Resort. Markers showed the warned 10 people were flooding already matched son who died, Jennie Steward ate relatives. last July’s big flood. said the body of her husband, “Last year there was no trapped on a barn roof.

At a wild animal rescue, “Too familiar for sure, and 65-year-old John Mark Stew- warning of it,” he said. “It ard, of Kerrville, was found just kind of happened over- Katie Buck evacuated sev- too soon,” Earwood said.

Thursday. night and it took everyone by She was visiting her parents surprise. This year, a lot more when a neighbor called over- alerts have gone into place, a night, saying her husband lot more safety measures.”

Residents said they were was missing after water had risen to the door of their mo- caught off guard a year ago bile home, which stood about and didn’t receive any warn8 feet off the ground. ing when floods overtopped The entire home was swept the Guadalupe. Some local off the platform and floated leaders were criticized for down Goat Creek on the Gua- not acting quickly.

The storms and flooding dalupe River, she said.

“It’s really hard that I wasn’t this time threatened multhere with him,” she said. The tiple counties close to the two were married three years Mexico border and in the ago and last spoke by phone Hill Country near San AntoWednesday to celebrate their nio. Roughly six million resianniversary. dents across Texas were unThe unfolding crisis der a flood watch this week, brought back haunting and some were expected to memories of last summer’s remain in effect through Friunimaginable Hill Country day evening. floods that killed more than Several agencies sent 100 people over the July rescue helicopters to the Fourth holiday. flood zone, including Travis “It’s crazy happening two County in the state capital of times in one year,” said Jo- Austin.

“My understanding is peosiah Rodriguez, who awoke to the sound of heavy rain ple were mostly trapped in around 2 a.m. Thursday in trees and on rooftops,” said Kerrville. He navigated Travis County Judge Andy flooded roads to help evacu- Brown, who said one caller

Floodwaters also overran the city of Uvalde overnight, cutting off most outside routes. The Leona River, normally dry most of the year, filled streets with water.

“People really can’t get anywhere,” said Carmen Rodriguez, who nervously watched water engulf her neighborhood as a helicopter roared overhead. “We have a place to go, but all the streets are closed.”

Rodriguez said authorities seemed to be well prepared, ordering mandatory evacuations and notifying people directly.

Texas Game Wardens rescued close to 150 people by the afternoon, according to a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokesperson.

Video released by the agency showed crews hoisting children from a house surrounded with water into a helicopter.

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31, according to the Centers Since May 1, the Centers for Disease Control and Prehospitalized for Disease Control and Pre- vention.

BY MARGARET DELANEY Staff writer

Cases of explosive diarrhea in Louisiana, caused by a parasite found in some foods, have nearly doubled in one week.

Last week, there were 23 cases, including one hospitalization. As of Tuesday, there are 43 cases, including five hospitalizations. In contrast, Louisiana has averaged about 30 cases a year during the same time frame over the past five years. No deaths have been reported.

The parasitic infection, called cyclosporiasis, can cause weeks of watery diarrhea. Louisiana is one of 38 states investigating outbreaks.

Cases have been reported in almost every region of the state, with the highest numbers in East Baton Rouge and Lafayette, a representative from the Louisiana

vention has received reports of 1,645 confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis in the U.S. and is aware of more than 5,100 cases that require further analysis to confirm the illness.

“This is substantially higher than the 249 cases reported nationally by this same time last year,” the CDC report said.

Cyclospora is a microscopic, spherical parasite that commonly causes watery diarrhea “with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements,” according to the CDC. The illness, called cyclosporiasis, is not usually life-threatening and is typically treated with antibiotics.

Cases of cyclosporiasis typically spike in the summer months, with historically active outbreaks in Louisiana between June and August. In the U.S., the cyclosporiasis season is con-

Over the past 20 years, between 1 to 101 cases have been reported annually in Louisiana, with 73 cases reported in 2023.

The following foods have been specifically linked to previous cyclospora outbreaks in the United States and Canada: n Bagged salad mixes and kits (precut lettuce blends with romaine, iceberg, red cabbage, carrots) n Fresh cilantro (coriander leaves) n Fresh basil n Raspberries n Snow peas n Green onions (scallions) People with diarrhea that hasn’t resolved on its own within a few days should see a health provider and discuss the possibility of cyclospora, officials say.

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4A ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Wildfire smoke makes air unhealthy across U.S.

BY TAMMY WEBBER and PHILIP MARCELO

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Heavy, pungent wildfire smoke darkened skies in the U.S. on Thursday from the Great Lakes to parts of the East Coast, reducing visibility and prompting warnings that breathing the air outside could be dangerous.

Officials in many cities urged residents to stay inside or wear masks outside as air quality reached unhealthy to hazardous levels, meaning it’s unhealthy for anyone, regardless of health conditions. The smoke is coming from fires that are burning primarily in Canada but also in northern Minnesota. A lingering high pressure system has trapped the smoke close to the ground, said Steven Freitag, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Detroit, where air quality was among the worst in the world for major cities.

“Sure enough, it arrived in force here and it’s really pretty extreme levels,” said Freitag, who noted that visibility in some areas was reduced to a half mile.

“It’s scary,” Omar Mitchell, 50, said as he looked to the

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By PAUL SANCyA

A pedestrian crosses the street Thursday as the Detroit skyline is obscured during poor air quality due to smoke from Canadian wildfires. sky. He wore a mask while walking to his restaurant in Detroit. “You don’t know necessarily what the side effects may be. That’s days or months later.”

Microscopic particles can lodge deep in the lungs and enter the bloodstream, leading to heart and lung problems and contributing to other long-term health issues.

All of Michigan and much of Minnesota were under a hazardous air quality alert.

In the Chicago area, air quality ranged from very un-

healthy to hazardous.

National Weather Service meteorologist Jake Petr said even if winds from the northwest clear skies as expected later this week, the smoky air could keep returning until the fires are out. That could take months, until it snows in Canada and northern Minnesota, officials have said.

“Anytime we have something that could bring air from that region until the fires are over, it could conceivably dip back into the area,” Petr said.

FDA OKs first-of-its-kind pill to cut cholesterol in high-risk patients

BY MATTHEW PERRONE Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a first-of-its-kind pill that can drastically reduce cholesterol in a way that’s previously only been available with expensive, injectable drugs.

The drug from Merck was OK’d on Thursday for patients with artery-clogging cholesterol that persists even after taking statins, the standard medications for cutting heart attack risk. Merck will market its pill under the brand name Lipfendra.

It’s the first noninjectable medication that works by blocking a liver protein

called PCSK9. That protein limits the body’s ability to clear cholesterol from the blood, and biotech injectables targeting it have been available from Amgen and other drugmakers for more than a decade. But patient access has been stymied for years by high prices, insurance restrictions and limited prescribing by doctors.

Statins block some of the liver’s production of cholesterol and are the cornerstone of treatment. But even at the highest doses, many people need additional help lowering their LDL, or bad, cholesterol enough to meet medical guidelines.

Merck, which has headquarters in Rahway, New

Jersey, won approval based on two studies in high-risk patients who added the company’s pill to their standard treatment, including statins.

In one study of 3,000 patients, those taking Lipfendra saw their levels of LDL cholesterol drop more than 55% after six months. In a second study, patients averaged a reduction of 59% compared with patients who received a dummy pill.

That benefit dropped only slightly over a year, and side effects — including dizziness and diarrhea — were similar between those taking the pill or a placebo, researchers found. One caveat: The pill must be taken on an empty stomach.

Trump’s teleprompter operator accused of making bets on speeches

BY BILL BARROW Associated Press

ATLANTA — President Donald Trump’s teleprompter operator is on unpaid leave after reports that he used his inside knowledge to make bets about the president’s speeches on the online prediction market Kalshi, the White House said Thursday.

The firm’s enforcement chief said Kalshi contacted federal regulators about bets allegedly made about what the president would say in public addresses.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president is aware of the situation, which she de-

scribed as “unfortunate” and “a disgrace.”

“The White House has extremely strict ethical guidelines with respect to issues like this,” Leavitt told reporters, saying the aide is on unpaid leave.

ABC News reported Thursday that Gabriel Perez, who has been operating Trump’s teleprompter since 2016, used his inside knowledge to win more than $100,000 betting on what the president would say in big speeches, including the State of the Union address earlier this year.

Robert Denault, Kalshi’s lawyer and head of enforcement, said on X that the

“Kalshi surveillance team promptly flagged, investigated and referred these trades” to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission that has regulatory authority over such matters.

His statement did not name Perez.

“We have been assisting regulators on this matter and provided all evidence that we collected, as we do with any referral,” Denault added.

ABC based its report on multiple sources who have knowledge of the matter but spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the details.

Bill Ostrowski, 76, wore a mask as he walked through downtown Chicago, where wildfire smoke shrouded skyscrapers. “It stinks. It’s not a good sign when you wake up in the morning and you can smell the air,” said Ostrowski.

In St. Paul, Minnesota, the sky was “glowing yellow,” said Brent Williams, head of the soil, water and climate department at the University of Minnesota. The area “could be looking at weeks to months of continued smoke and flare-ups off and on as the winds blow in different directions,” he said.

A study published this year found that long-term exposure to tiny particles from wildfire smoke contributed to an average of 24,100 deaths a year in the lower 48 states. Long-term exposure can make existing health problems worse and lead to a range of chronic and deadly

issues, including respiratory illness, cardiovascular and neurological diseases, and premature death.

In the New York City area, a thick haze tinged the morning sky orange and yellow and partly obscured Manhattan’s skyline.

City officials opened cooling centers as health officials urged New Yorkers to limit strenuous and prolonged outdoor activities. The city’s schools, parks and other agencies moved activities indoors, rescheduled events and adjusted operations.

State officials distributed tens of thousands of face masks at transit hubs and other major locations.

Gwen Moseley, 65, was among the first patrons at Rosedale Library in Queens to take advantage of the free masks, saying she’s on the road much of the day working as a therapist for children with autism.

“Who wants to be breathing this? It’s not healthy,” Moseley said as she waited to meet a young client. “When I’m out walking, I can feel the scratchiness in my throat.”

Smoke eased a bit but was expected to thicken again by late afternoon or evening, possibly lasting overnight, weather service meteorologist Maureen Hastings said.

She said it might move south for a while on Friday but return at night.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation warned that there was a potential for temporary spikes of “very unhealthy” air quality from Buffalo in the state’s western corner to Rochester

by Lake Ontario, Syracuse in the central region, down to the greater New York City area.

Philadelphia officials urged people to avoid strenuous activity and stay inside or wear N95 or KN95 masks outside.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ 5A

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House GOP’s $95B Iran war package clears first hurdle

BY LISA MASCARO

AP congressional correspondent WASHINGTON — Republicans on the House Budget Committee advanced a $95 billion package Thursday for the Iran war, farm aid and President Donald Trump’s push for strict new voter ID requirements, moving forward on a party-line vote despite trouble in the full House — and the Senate.

Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington framed the proposal as one last push to deliver for voters ahead of the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. It advanced on a vote of 20-14.

“We are rallying to finish what we started when the American people sent us here,” said Arrington, RTexas.

With Iran war funding makes up the bulk of the package, some $60 billion, Arrington acknowledged that people can debate “why we’re there” in the overseas conflict. But he said the money is needed for basic supplies — “just the bombs, bullets and battlefield readiness for our men and women in uniform to finish the fight successfully and return home safely — that’s it.”

The resolution, which sets out instructions for the various congressional committees to draw up proposals,

also calls for $13 billion for Intelligence, $12 billion for Agriculture, and $10 billion for Administration, which handles voting and elections.

The proposal is the third budget reconciliation package Republicans in control of Congress have put forward this session to steamroll Trump’s priorities past Democratic objections using a legislative procedure that allows for simple majority votes for passage.

It’s the same process House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, used to pass Trump’s big tax cuts bill last year and to advance Homeland Security money after Democrats refused to fund the department following the deaths of Americans protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions earlier this year.

Johnson is pushing the effort almost single-handedly, without full backing from his slim House Republican majority or the Senate. He held lengthy meetings with Trump this week at the White House and hosted a private session for Republicans at the president’s Camp David retreat to hash out details.

But the 47-page package remains a long-shot effort — too meager for some, too costly for others — ahead of voting in the full House expected next week.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, center, speaks with an aide Thursday during a markup on the Fiscal year 2027 spending plan, at the Capitol in Washington.

Key Republican Rep. Chip Roy, an influential member of the Freedom Caucus who has expressed reservations about the package, did not vote at the Budget Committee session, as his home state of Texas deals with flooding.

Democrats are ready to vote against the proposal, as they did Thursday during committee action.

Rep. Brendan Boyle, of Pennsylvania, the ranking Democrat on the Budget Committee, said the document, some 6,500 words, never once mentions the

issue that’s top of mind for many Americans: affordability.

“People know this is a failed presidency, and a failed Republican majority,” Boyle said.

Democrats offered more than a dozen amendments to the package during the hourslong Budget Committee session and raised questions about how the new spending will ultimately be paid for — either via budget cuts to other programs or by piling onto the nation’s debt.

Boyle offered an amend-

ment to reverse healthcare cuts from the Republicans’ big tax breaks bill. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., sought to reinstate funding for food stamps under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., suggested funding for immigration enforcement at Department of Homeland Security could be used to offset costs elsewhere.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, DTexas, blamed the high costs of living on the Iran war and said every time Americans

open their refrigerators or go to the gas pump they are “paying for a war that should never have been started.”

Next steps are highly volatile, as the House holds a rare Saturday pro forma session, which is a largely administrative meeting that will allow the resolution to be filed in time for consideration next week.

Johnson can only lose a few detractors on his side of the aisle as he relies on Republicans only, without Democrats, for passage.

But the resolution would also have to be agreed on by the Senate, and Republican senators have largely panned the House effort, waiting to see if Johnson can heave it to passage.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said senators have “a lot of questions” about it — from defense hawks concerned about the military to deficit hawks who want to offset costs.

“It’s a very uneven path,” he said. “We’ll see what the House can execute on,” he said, but “I can’t make any guarantees over here.”

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who is expected to take over the Senate Budget Committee after the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, has been a leading budget hawk concerned about the nation’s rising deficits.

Rule could deny green cards to immigrants using public benefits

BY GISELA SALOMON Associated Press

MIAMI — The Trump administration is reviving a rule that could deny green cards to immigrants who use public benefits that could include food stamps, Medicaid, housing vouchers and others.

The policy, known as “public charge,” appeared on Thursday in the Federal Register. It will be formally published on July 20 and take

effect Sept. 18. Under the policy, applicants for green cards have to show they wouldn’t be burdens to the country or “public charges.”

The policy was first implemented in February 2020 as one of President Donald Trump’s moves to limit legal immigration during his first administration, but it was reversed after Democratic President Joe Biden came to power.

Its return comes when the

Republican administration is implementing a hard-line policy to curb both illegal and legal immigration, and when the cost of healthcare and food is rising.

The federal government “is reaffirming the requirement of self-reliance, protecting public resources and ending policies that encouraged dependency on the backs of hardworking American taxpayers,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration

Services said in a post published on its X account.

“Under President Trump, USCIS is restoring the basic principle that immigrants must be able to support themselves,” the post said.

While the administration’s crackdown on immigration has an increased focus on deportations and immigration enforcement in cities across the country and at borders and entry points, it has also taken actions that target le-

gal immigrants and mixedstatus families, in which the parents are foreign nationals with U.S.-born children.

Federal law already requires those seeking permanent residency or legal status to demonstrate that they will not become a public charge.

The Trump administration’s rule, however, broadens the grounds for disqualification.

The new rule does not describe or specify by name the benefits and programs that

could be considered a public charge. Instead, it says that officers who would implement the policy will make “individualized, fact-specific public charge inadmissible determinations, based on a totality of the alien’s circumstances.”

It says that, “using good judgment and discretion, officers will more accurately assess an alien’s likelihood at any time of becoming a public charge.”

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Senator pushes Blanche to meet with Epstein accusers

BY ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and JOEY CAPPELLETTI

with Blanche “through multiple channels and he never responded.”

“We deserve to be heard directly, not dismissed and ignored,” Bensky said.

Blanche has pushed back on suggestions that the Justice Department has been dismissive of the late financier’s accusers, saying officials have spoken with more than 30 representatives of the women over the course of their sweeping review of the files.

“The Department of Justice will always meet with victims or their representatives, and if those victims or their representatives have evidence that anybody committed a crime — whether it has to do with Jeffrey Epstein or anybody else — we will of course move forward and investigate and prosecute,” Blanche told reporters.

The meeting came hours after Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said it needed to happen before Blanche could earn his vote amid criticism from accusers about the Justice Department’s handling of Epstein’s case and a trove of files related to his sex trafficking investigation.

Without Tillis’ support, Blanche’s nomination won’t make it through the Senate Judiciary Committee,

which questioned Blanche for hours Wednesday about the Epstein files as well as the creation of a fund to compensate President Donald Trump’s allies, a tax immunity deal for the president and a slew of other issues.

Another Republican, Sen. John Cornyn, has also expressed concern over the fund and has said he remains undecided about his vote.

Tillis indicated during Blanche’s confirmation hearing Wednesday that he was leaning toward backing Blanche, who has been leading the department in an acting capacity since April. But after lawmakers heard Bensky’s testimony, Tillis said he expected a meeting between victims and Blanche to occur before he’s “willing to vote out of this committee.”

Tillis later Thursday commended Blanche for holding the meeting, writing in a social media post, “I appreciate his willingness to directly engage and listen to them.”

After missteps by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi that enraged Trump’s base, Blanche as deputy attorney general oversaw a massive review and the release of millions of files related to the investigation into Epstein.

of past stolen elections in order to delegitimize the 2026 midterm elections, in which Trump’s Republican Party is facing headwinds.

“Trump is going to use a primetime address to stoke misleading claims about our elections in order to justify interfering in our midterms. It’s on all of us to follow the facts and not accept his constant stream of misdirections and lies,” Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner said in a statement on X. “Trump is again trying to drum up baseless election conspiracies ahead of the November elections,” New Jersey Democratic Sen. Andy Kim said in a post on X. “Americans are tired of endless war, skyrocketing gas prices, and a president that isn’t looking out for them. Voters will make their voices heard, whether Trump wants them to or not.”

Leavitt didn’t answer a question Questions about midterms Thursday about whether Trump Democrats warned that Trump would accept the results of the was trying to revive false claims midterms, though Vice President

JD Vance told reporters on Capitol Hill a day earlier that “of course we’re gonna support the results of the midterm elections.”

Vance bristled Wednesday when asked if he’d encourage Trump in his Thursday remarks to stay focused on November’s midterm elections rather than relitigate past elections. “‘The unfounded claims,’” Vance said, repeating the reporter’s language. “You’re basically assuming an answer in the very question that you ask.”

“The president is going to talk about a number of things tomorrow night. I’m obviously not going to get ahead of his remarks,” Vance said. “But we can talk about a number of the American people’s problems. We can solve a number of the American people’s problems.”

Before he began speaking about elections, Trump started his speech by ticking through a long list of what he said were his administration’s accomplishments — including cutting drug prices.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche met Thursday with accusers of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein following the demand by a Republican senator whose support is crucial to advancing his nomination to lead the Justice Department.

Blanche met for about an hour with a group of Epstein’s accusers at Justice Department headquarters in Washington. After the meeting, Blanche told reporters that he encouraged the accusers to come to the FBI with any information that could help investigators.

The political firestorm over Epstein has been a persistent headache for the Trump administration, which released millions of investigative documents over the last year in response to right-wing clamoring for answers about the disgraced financier’s crimes and connections to high-profile people.

The Justice Department has repeatedly said it will investigate further if new information surfaces, but the government doesn’t currently have evidence to support

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARIAM ZUHAIB

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche talks with reporters on Thursday after attending a meeting related to survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. additional prosecutions against people tied to Epstein.

“It wasn’t all cordial,” Blanche said of Thursday’s meeting. “Because there’s something that they want that I don’t think I can give them, which is some form of justice. And I want to be able to give justice in the form of prosecutions, and maybe we can do a prosecution at some point,” Blanche said.

But Blanche added, “I don’t know.”

One accuser, Dani Bensky, expressed frustration after the meeting, telling NBC in an interview that it wasn’t substantive or productive.

“My mind has not been changed that he will do what is best for the American people and survivors in this country,” she said.

Earlier Thursday, Bensky told lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee that women harmed by Epstein repeatedly asked to meet

“very shortly” and that “the hard part is done, so it should be easy.”

Continued from page 1A The war, however, has dragged on and strikes between the U.S. and Iran have intensified this week.

Trump also delivered a politi“America is back and doing really well, but we still have a major cally charged primetime speech challenge that must be urgently in December in which he sought addressed, because no country to blame the challenging economic can be great without fair and hon- climate on Democrats. est elections,” he said.

He said all Americans should be Some networks didn’t air it assured their elections are free of At least some TV networks said cheating and interference.

Thursday they would not carry “Unfortunately, the system we the speech live but would air it on have today falls catastrophically their streaming services. ABC, short of that standard,” Trump said. NBC and CNN decided not to air Trump used the remarks to jus- the remarks live but to carry them tify his push to pass a strict voter in full on their streaming services and break into network coverage ID bill in Congress.

Primetime presidential address- as needed.

CBS said it was “airing a special es are typically reserved for major milestones or nationally signifi- report” during the address, but it wasn’t clear if the network would cant events.

Trump last did it in April to speak carry it live.

Trump called out the media outon the Iran war, a month after it started. He said then that the U.S. lets for not carrying it live and acwould accomplish its objectives cused them of being “part of a plot.”

Networks typically but don’t always choose to carry presidential addresses to the nation live.

In 2022, when then-President Joe Biden delivered a primetime address full of warnings about Donald Trump and his adherents’ “extreme ideology,” the networks did not carry it live.

In 2014, the major networks chose to stick with their primetime programming instead of airing an address by then-President Barack Obama on his plans for immigration reform.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday afternoon seemed to be still trying to persuade networks to carry the remarks live, saying, “I think that the mainstream media should air the president’s speech and allow the American people to draw their own conclusions from it.”

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OFFICERS

Continued from page 1A This pays homage to the individuals that lost their lives and to those that were injured and recovered.”

East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore said such events allow the community to come together and be mindful and respectful of everyone.

“Remember that law enforcement and our community can be attacked at any time, and so you always have to be aware of potential problems and issues,” Moore said.

Edwards has directed all U.S. and Louisiana flags at city-parish government facilities to be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset.

“The City-Parish encourages residents, businesses, and organizations throughout East Baton Rouge Parish to join in this tribute by lowering their flags to half-staff and taking a moment to remember the heroes who gave everything in service to our community,” Edwards stated in a news release.

Morse was on the SWAT team the morning of the ambush. He said he was working 12-hour shifts as Baton Rouge was handling protests during the period of unrest after Alton Sterling was fatally shot by a police officer July 5.

The ambush at Benny’s B-Quik lasted a little under 14 minutes.

The gunman — Gavin Long, a 29-year-old former Marine who traveled to Baton Rouge from Kansas City — chose the location because it’s about a mile from BRPD headquarters, so officers would drop by the store for coffee and other items, Moore said.

CHARGED

Continued from page 1A Education “to install new leadership and protect the school’s students and staff.”

“We appreciate federal investigators for pursuing this matter, and trust the judicial system to resolve this issue in accordance with the law,” Brumley said.

For their charges, prosecutors followed closely on some of the findings of the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office in their 173-page audit of Impact Charter.

They include the following: n Green overbilled Impact Charter to construct a temporary building at the 4815 Lavey Lane campus and then used almost $106,000 of those payouts to help complete construction on the Scott’s home in Zachary, including installing a new swimming pool. n Took $458,200 that Impact received from the federally-funded COVIDera Paycheck Protection Program and moved it in June 2020, two months after receipt, to the bank account of a nonprofit associated with the school, Friends of Impact Charter, a group auditors say is controlled by Chakesha Scott. Prosecutors say that diversion of funds was illegal. The Scotts have argued that the nonprofit’s finances are separate from that of the school. n Starting in June 2021, Chakesha Scott and Courtney Scott took cars acquired by the school — a 2017 Acura MDX and a 2021 Land Rover — for their own personal use. Total estimated expense for the least-to-purchase arrangement is pegged at $166,520. n Chakesha Scott, “without authority,” illegally di-

NEWS 24/7 ON

STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID J. MITCHELL

A memorial was set up in front of Baton Rouge police headquarters in the days after the ambush on July 17, 2016.

About 8:35 a.m., Long arrived in the area of Benny’s B-Quik in a white Chevrolet Malibu carrying a semiautomatic rifle, according to a summary of the investigation into the attack. He ambushed Jackson

verted more than $2 million in lease payments to Friends of Impact Charter, the owner of the Lavey Lane campus. Those payments, which covered an 18-month period starting in September 2022, were $846,048 more than what Friends was paying on its mortgage. Scott also allegedly spent $171,659 from the school’s bank account to pay closing costs on that property, even though the school was not party to the real estate sale. n The husband and wife charged $114,094 to school credit cards to pay for what prosecutors say were “personal travel expenses.” Auditors counted 20 trips taken between October 2021 and July 2023. They included a 17-day European trip to Paris, London and Amsterdam, with a stop at Disneyland Paris.

The Scotts have argued that all their trips were legally appropriate travel to professional conferences and the credit card in question was

and Gerald about 8:40 a.m.

At 8:41 a.m., Garafola radioed “shots fired and officer down” from behind the building and, despite being fatally wounded, Gerald transmitted his final radio call,

“shots fired.” Garafola had left his cover after seeing Gerald go down.

Morse arrived at the scene and went to the wounded officers.

“When the call went out, I was one of the first SWAT officers to arrive on the scene and the very first person to get to Montrell and Matthew and Brad, and found them over by the side of the business,” Morse said.

Long then positioned himself between Carolyn Sue Drive and the Hair Crown, located next to the convenience store, and fired 10 rounds at officers arriving on Airline to create a perimeter. At 8:45 a.m., Long fired shots at Tullier and another sergeant, who survived.

Moore said BRPD’s Special Response Team was right down the road from the ambush, so several members quickly showed up in unmarked cars. Long also began to fire at them.

Alongside other officers, Morse helped track down Long, who was shot in the leg about 8:46 a.m. but was still alive and moving toward his gun. The final shots were fired around 8:49 a.m., and Long died at the scene.

“But for this group being right down the street, he (would’ve) gone to other places,” Moore said.

“He’s ready to go; his ammo is filled to go to other places and kill more people.”

Many changes were made after 2016 in how Baton Rouge law enforcement officers perated, Morse and Gautreaux said.

It is now standard for officers to wear vests with rifle plates in them. Rifles are also now a larger part of the weapons officers carry, according to Morse.

Morse said training for officers’ mental health increased after the ambush.

“We’ve increased our training, increased our preparation.

We can’t, unfortunately, train for everything, and officers are still being shot across the country,” Morse said. “We just need the public’s help when things happen and even when we’re not in a time like this in remembrance, I encourage the public to take a moment, say hello, tell them you appreciate them.”

Gautreaux said the gathering of information and its dissemination has improved significantly from 10 years ago, and EBRSO continues to rely on community outreach to better itself and justice.

The community came together in ways not seen in Baton Rouge before, Gautreaux explained. He described seeing strangers hug each other and pay for one another’s lunch at a restaurant.

“After this happened, and I wish it never would have occurred, but the whole complex of the people in the parish changed,” Gautreaux said. “Everybody was coming together from all walks of life, from all economic areas. It not only shocked us, it shocked the community.”

Moore said he knew the officers who were shot and had talked to one of the surviving injured officers the night before. He said emotions were high after the incident due to the proximity to home.

“It was just a really unique, unnerving situation that you can’t ever think of that being created and can’t ever recreate that whole circumstance again,” Moore said.

theirs and not the school’s. n Over more than five years the couple illegally diverted $292,993 from student fees and uniform sales to Friends of Impact Charter.

Six of the criminal counts involve “theft or bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds” and that Impact Charter during this period was receiving at least $10,000 a year in federal funding. The only specific federal program named in the indictment is the Paycheck Protection Program.

The seventh count involves money laundering.

It focuses on $42,371 Chakesha Scott pulled in May 2023 from the account of Friends of Impact Charter School to buy a 2018 Tesla Model S. Prosecutors say the “funds were derived from the unlawful theft of funds from Impact Charter School.”

Email Charles Lussier at clussier@theadvocate. com.

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Controversial building repairs resume Collis Temple Jr., East Feliciana Parish reach settlement

BY AIDAN McCAHILL Staff writer

A controversial renovation project — once tied to creating a mental health facility for inmates — is back underway in East Feliciana Parish, months after the parish government reached a federal court settlement with the prop-

erty’s owner, Collis Temple Jr., allowing him to proceed.

Temple and his company, Harmony Behavioral Health, were the subject of heated discussion and local backlash four years ago over plans to convert a building on Grace Lane, outside Clinton, into a mental health facility. The building was to be used as a “forensic facil-

ity” housing individuals from parish jails deemed unfit to stand trial.

While those plans — and the state partnership they hinged on — have fallen through, Temple and his construction company are now moving forward with commercial renovations on the property. He said beyond repairs, there are no immediate plans for the building,

and ruled out the possibility of converting it into a mental hospital.

“We’re just trying to get the repairs done so it can be in good conTemple dition,” Temple said. “We may sell it. It may be used as an emergency shelter; it may be used as a nursing home.”

The building, located at 9725 Grace Lane, previously operated as a nursing home through the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. It was later converted into a small hospital, then an emergency facility, before Temple’s company purchased the property for $1.6 million in February 2023.

Temple was LSU’s first Black basketball player and is a member

ä See REPAIRS, page 2B

BRIGHT RIDE OF LIFE

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

A bike rider pedals along the levee trail past Skip Bertman Drive in Baton Rouge on July 6.

Fence company sues Gonzales over invoices Dispute continues over missed payments

BY ANNAKATE FREELAND Staff writer

A Baton Rouge fencing company has filed a new lawsuit against the city of Gonzales after a judge denied its previous attempt to compel the city to pay roughly $23,000 in disputed invoices.

Liberty Fence and Supply filed the new suit Monday, seeking $23,600 along with $5,900 in attorney fees.

The new petition seeks payment on an open account after the court ruled in June that Liberty Fence and Supply could not use a writ of mandamus to compel payment because the parties had no written agreement establishing when payment was due.

ä See INVOICES, page 2B

Southern breaks ground on $50M student housing Four-story hall will have 500 beds

BY BRIANNA MEEKS Contributing Writer

Southern University has started construction on a $50 million student housing development that will have 500 beds during the first phase.

The four-story residence hall will be adjacent to the Horace W. Moody Intramural Sports Complex on Helen Barron Drive. University leaders, members of the Southern University Board of Supervisors, alumni and community supporters gathered June 25 for the groundbreaking ceremony.

When completed, the housing development will provide 850 new student beds on Southern’s Baton Rouge campus. Phase I is expected to be completed in fall of 2027.

This project is being funded through partnerships among Southern University, the South-

Bank of Zachary to open St. George branch Former Regions Bank purchased for expansion

BY TIMOTHY BOONE Staff writer

Pierre, the chancellor of Southern University.

University officials said the additional housing is intended to support enrollment growth and reduce the number of

The Bank of Zachary has purchased a former Regions Bank building on Highland Road for $3.4 million and plans to open its first St. George branch there in the fall.

The bank bought the property at 18224 Highland in a deal that was filed Thursday with the East Baton Rouge Clerk of Court’s Office. The seller was Raising Cane’s Restaurants, which paid $2.1 million for the building in June 2022. Raising Cane’s bought the site at the time

ä See HOUSING, page 2B

ä See BANK, page 2B

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

The construction site of the new four-story residence hall at Southern University is seen on Thursday. The $50 million student housing development will have 500 beds during the first phase. ern University System Foundation and the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority.

Enrollment is growing. The school had roughly 7,483 students in 2024 and is expected to reach 8,106 in the coming years, according to John K.

2B ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Injunction granted in New Orleans judges suit Law shrank criminal court from 12 to 9 seats

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

The three New Orleans judges slated for removal last month by state lawmakers may be able to qualify to run for their seats in the upcoming election under a Baton Rouge judge’s order Tuesday. But it remained far from settled if those races will actually happen.

Judge Tarvald Smith, of the 19th Judicial District, enjoined state and local officials from enacting

any provision of Act 748 for New Orleans municipal until after the qualifying offices from the 1974 conperiod ends next month. stitutional convention. The His ruling came after delegates made the CresSmith heard arguments cent City’s courts “subject in a lawsuit filed by newly to change by law” with a elected Orleans Parish simple majority vote, the Criminal Court Judge state argues.

John Fuller, challenging Smith As defendants, Fuller’s the act. Fuller argues that lawsuit listed Gov. Jeff neither chamber of the Landry, Attorney General Legislature reached a reLiz Murrill, Secretary of State Nancy Landry and quired two-thirds vote for Orleans Parish Clerk of passage of the measure to Court Chelsey Richard shrink the criminal court Napoleon. from 12 judges to nine.

The court ruling comes State officials argued two months after Fuller that the measure didn’t Fuller won a special election to need a supermajority for passage, citing a specific exception complete the unexpired term of

REPAIRS

Grace Lane property by summer 2023.

Parish officials and residents, however, strongly opposed housing such patients — considered a danger to themselves or others — in a residential area. Temple had previously attempted to build a similar facility in East Baton Rouge Parish, which also faced stiff opposition.

According to Temple’s lawsuit against the parish, the cooperative endeavor agreement required only minor renovations to the main building for patient housing, totaling about $100,000.

But Jeff Williams, who oversees inspections and permits for East Feliciana, said Temple began work without a permit, which would have required rezoning for use as

The construction site of the new four-story residence hall at Southern University is seen on Thursday. The $50 million student housing development will have 500 beds during the first phase.

Continued from page 1B

BANK

Continued from page 1B for a potential restaurant but decided not to proceed with the location.

Judah Vedros of Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate, who represented Raising Cane’s, said the restaurant chain was looking to lease rather than sell the building. But he said the Bank of Zachary approached it with an offer where it made sense to sell.

Rising land and construction costs have made it “super expensive” to build a bank from the ground up, Vedros said. So taking over a turnkey operation was appealing to the Bank of Zach-

Email Matt Bruce at matt. bruce@theadvocate.com.

liams, O’Quin, District Attorney Sam Dequilla and Sheriff Jeff Travis. The suit alleged the parish deliberately delayed permitting to kill the project, violating the Fifth and 14th Amendments. It also argued the property did not require rezoning and claimed Harmony stood to lose more than $100 million if the permit was denied.

Harmony also filed a separate FILE PHOTO By mandamus action in East FeliciJAMES MINTON ana Parish seeking to compel permit approval, but a judge declined to expedite the process.

In April 2026, the parties reached a settlement. The parish agreed to pay Harmony more than a mental health facility. Although had attempted to move forward $120,000 and to request that the Temple attempted to apply for a with a psychiatric facility under district attorney drop the criminal charges. Temple is now allowed to permit, Williams said he continued their noses. work after the parish issued a stop“It appears they’ve taken a very resume renovations, which began work order. personal stance against me, for no in early July, consistent with the building’s previous use, Williams Temple and two contractors reason,” Temple said at the time. were eventually issued criminal “The state was sending out mixed said.

“I tried to hold him to the stancitations by the Sheriff’s Office. In messages,” said Chrissie O’Quin, the months that followed, residents vice president of the parish Po- dard I hold to everybody,” said packed local government meetings lice Jury, who represents the area. Williams. “He wasn’t able to put to voice concerns about the project “Those of us that were involved in a psych hospital, but he will be and their mistrust of both the state with it stood our ground because able to put in a nursing home.” and Temple.

Temple said that to his knowlwe knew what was right.”

As tensions escalated, the state edge, the state is no longer inproposed an alternative: convert- Lawsuit, aftermath volved in the project.

“It won’t be in the deploring the Grace Lane property into a In June 2023, Harmony Behavnursing home, relocating residents ioral Health filed a federal civil able condition it was in when we from Villa Feliciana, and repurpos- rights lawsuit in the Middle Dis- stopped working on it,” he added. ing that facility as a psychiatric trict of Louisiana against the parhospital. Many residents still op- ish government, naming Police Email Aidan McCahill at aidan. posed the plan, arguing Temple Jury President Louis Kent, Wil- mccahill@theadvocate.com.

HOUSING

students who must live off campus because of limited living space. They said Southern currently has a waiting list for on-campus housing.

“Today represents growth in our future,” Pierre said.

Pierre said university surveys found that most students are living off campus, whether downtown or across town, when they should be living on campus.

He said the university had to demonstrate its financial strength before securing financing for the project.

Phase 1 is designed for freshman and sophomore students.

The dorm will have modern study rooms and collaborative common spaces on each floor. In contrast to the older dorms, the housing will assimilate a modern studentcentered design. These new housing units are aimed at prioritizing academic engagement and communitybuilding.

Phase II will add 350 beds for upperclass and graduate students. The apartmentstyle dorms will include an in-unit washing machine, kitchenettes and an outdoor

cause if you don’t allow the judges to qualify and we come to find out afterward that it was unconstitutionally passed, it’ll be too late for them to qualify for their seats at that point.”

Murrill said she plans to appeal the injunction.

“The law is clear that a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of a state law is not legally proper,” Murrill said in a statement.

“We will file an appeal immediately, which suspends the judgment. As this matter impacts elections and qualifying deadlines, we will seek priority review to get this matter resolved quickly.”

Renovation plans for a building on Grace Lane, outside Clinton, are underway again.

Continued from page 1B of the university’s Board of Supervisors. He serves as the CEO of Harmony Behavioral Health and also owns a construction company that began renovating the property without a permit the same month it was purchased.

Under a cooperative endeavor agreement with the state, Temple’s company would have operated a facility for “civilly committed” patients — individuals ordered into mental health treatment by a court.

Louisiana planned to pay Harmony Behavioral Health $700 per patient per day and up to $4.5 million for renovations to bring the former nursing home up to code for use as a forensic facility.

That agreement stemmed from a federal lawsuit against the Louisiana Department of Health alleging the state’s failure to take custody of individuals found incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity resulted in unconstitutional confinement in parish jails and the denial of adequate mental health care. As part of the settlement, the state agreed to expand capacity for civil commitments.

The plan called for transferring 118 patients from the state-run mental hospital in Jackson to the

former Judge Darryl Derbigny in Section J. The law change takes effect Jan. 1, axing Fuller’s seat along with the seats currently held by Judges Simone Levine and Rhonda Goode-Douglas.

All 12 judges’ terms end at year’s end. The qualifying period runs Aug. 5-7.

There’s no timeline for when Smith might decide the broader constitutional question about the number of votes needed for the law to pass.

“While the final decision wasn’t made on that question, the judge did think that there was enough vigor to maintain the status quo until a final decision can be made,” said Fuller’s attorney, Jerome Matthews. “Be-

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

quad.

The dorms are being built

by Tillage Construction LLC and Milton J. Womack, construction companies that formed Womack-Tillage LLC for the dorm project.

Keith Tillage, a Southern University alumnus and principal in charge of the project, said the objective is to empower as many alumni as possible.

“What you leave behind is the only thing that matters,” said Tillage.

Tillage said Tyrie Jamerson, owner of Near Future, a technology company, will design and install all low-voltage systems. Darius Bonton, owner of Bonton Associates, a civil engineering firm, will design the dorms’ infrastructure.

Southern students said the housing development could improve the campus community and make living easier.

“I think it’ll just help make people more excited to stay on campus,” said Brant Fowl-

ary, he said. Regions shut down the 3,600-square-foot bank branch in February 2022.

Plans are to open a fullservice branch in the building in the fall, said Mark Marionneaux, president and CEO of the Bank of Zachary. Between five and seven people will work in the branch.

This will be the sixth local branch for the Bank of Zachary, joining two locations in Zachary, along with operations in Central, St. Francisville and Watson.

The bank had nearly $356 million in deposits as of June 2025, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

“This is a great, great opportunity for us to expand

for our customers in East Baton Rouge Parish and to reach into Ascension Parish,” Marionneaux said.

er II, a junior who attended nonprofit Louisiana Colthe groundbreaking. legiate News Collaborative, an LSU-led coalition of eight This story was reported and universities funded by the written by Brianna Meeks, a Henry Luce and John student at Southern Univer- D. and Catherine T. MacArthur foundations. sity, with the support of the

INVOICES

Continued from page 1B “The city of Gonzales owes Liberty for unpaid invoices for which they have admitted owing. Liberty is simply trying to get paid,” Liberty Fence’s attorney Kim Landry said.

Liberty Fence originally sued the city in October, alleging Gonzales failed to pay for work completed on five projects earlier in the year, including replacing a damaged pump at the city pool and installing new posts at Woodman Park.

Landry said the city acknowledged owing payment on two of the five invoices and admitted Liberty Fence performed work associated with the remaining three invoices but argued those projects had not been completed.

Gonzales’ attorney, Allen Davis, could not be reached for comment.

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Email Timothy Boone at tboone@theadvocate.com.

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Brazil calls Trump’s 25% tariff unjustifiable

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Trump firm plans to sell special access to posts

NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s media company is planning to charge for special high-speed access to Truth Social posts, including possibly his own affecting national security and financial markets.

The move announced Thursday would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to get news from Truth Social contributors in milliseconds so they could profit off subsequent moves in stocks, bonds and interest rates. Called Truth PSI, it would mimic paid access at other platforms with one key difference: The most popular Truth Social poster is the president himself and, as the biggest shareholder of the public traded parent company, would directly benefit.

“He’s selling expedited, privileged access to information about what he is doing as president,” said Kathleen Clark of Washington University School of Law and an expert in government conflicts of interest rules.

“It’s yet more brazen corruption, an improper exploitation of government power to enrich himself.”

The Trump family company declined to comment. Truth Social’s public parent, Trump Media & Technology, did not immediately respond to emailed questions, including whether the president’s posts will be excluded from the offering.

The release did not say how much customers would be charged.

Slumping AI stocks drag down global markets NEW YORK — Drops for computer chipmakers and other winners of the artificial-intelligence boom dragged down stock markets worldwide on Thursday.

Nearly three out of every four stocks rose within the S&P 500 after more of the country’s biggest companies reported better earnings for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Abbott jumped 10.7% after the healthcare company delivered a fatter profit than expected and raised its forecast for earnings over the full year. J.B. Hunt Transport Services climbed 8% after the freight company likewise topped analysts’ expectations for the latest quarter.

But a 1% move for Nvidia’s stock packs more punch on the S&P 500 than a 1% move for any other company because it’s the largest on Wall Street by value.

And Nvidia fell 2.4%, making it the heaviest weight on the index. Other AI winners also sank, giving back some of their stellar gains.

Micron Technology fell 5.6% to shave its gain for the year so far below 199%. Sandisk fell 12.6% but is nevertheless up 494% for the year so far. Western Digital sank 9.2% but is still up 171% for the year so far.

Average mortgage rate climbs to 6.55% The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed this week to its highest level in nearly a year, driving up borrowing costs for prospective homebuyers.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.55% from 6.49% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.75%.

Higher mortgage rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting homebuyers’ purchasing power at a time when affordability challenges continue to sideline many aspiring homeowners.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation.

They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.

Rates have been mostly rising this year as the war with Iran has driven crude oil prices sharply higher, stoking expectations of hotter inflation.

30-YR T-BONDS 5.09 0.0 0.0%

Government vows to impose reciprocal tariffs

BY MAURICIO SAVARESE and ELÉONORE HUGHES Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By NG HAN GUAN

Shipping containers are seen ready for transport at the Guangzhou Port in the Nansha district in southern China’s Guangdong province in April 2025.

Administration races the clock to rebuild tariff wall President likely to turn to Trade Act of 1974 to impose sanctions

BY PAUL WISEMAN AP economics writer

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury last year swelled with revenue from President Donald Trump’s double-digit taxes on imports from almost every country on earth.

But the money dried up after the Supreme Court struck down the biggest and boldest of Trump’s tariffs in February.

The question now is: Can the president’s trade team make good on its promise to replace the lost revenue?

A deadline is approaching rapidly.

After the Supreme Court setback, the president turned first to Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose 10% tariffs globally. But Section 122 only authorizes tariffs for 150 days. Trump’s expire on July 24. Congress would have to extend those tariffs — something lawmakers are unlikely to do as the Nov. 3 midterm elections approach amid voter discontent over the high cost of living.

But the administration has more durable options: Section 301 of the same 1974 trade law permits the president to impose tariffs and other sanctions against countries found to engage in “unjustifiable,” “unreasonable” or “discriminatory” trade practices. Trump used Section 301 to impose big tariffs on China in his first term and is rolling them out again — as recently as late Wednesday when he announced 25% tariffs on some Brazilian imports, charging the world’s 11thbiggest economy with a host of unfair trade practices.

Trade attorneys and analysts are confident the tariff-happy

Trump administration will manage to beat the clock and swap out Section 122 tariffs with bigger Section 301 tariffs by the July 24 deadline. “They’re going to raise the tariff wall again,” said trade lawyer Ryan Majerus, a partner at King & Spalding and a trade official in Trump’s first administration and in President Joe Biden’s.

Trump last year tested — and exceeded — the limits of his authority to impose import taxes, a power the U.S. Constitution gives Congress. He invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to slap big tariffs on most of the world’s countries.

He justified the levies, which marked a stunning reversal of decades of U.S. policy in favor of lower tariffs and freer trade, by labeling America’s longstanding trade deficits a national emergency.

The Supreme Court didn’t buy it, ruling in February that the president couldn’t use the emergency powers law to impose tariffs at all. The legal defeat meant the administration had to send refunds to importers that had paid the levies.

As a result, tariffs have at least temporarily gone from a windfall to a drain on the Treasury.

Revenue from import taxes peaked at more than $31.4 billion last October. Then, after the Supreme Court ruling, it started dwindling — to $22 billion in both March and April. As refund checks went out faster than revenue from the Section 122 and other tariffs came in, the number turned negative: A small ($42 million) shortfall in May was followed by a whopping $25.6 billion loss in June.

Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have vowed to use other legal authorities to recoup the lost income.

Enter Section 301, which gives the president power to impose — and adjust — tariffs in re-

sponse to other countries’ trade practices. But the administration must first check procedural boxes — collecting comments and holding hearings. There are no limits on Section 301 tariffs.

They expire after four years but can be renewed.

So the president has flexibility in how he uses the Section 301 tariffs. Trump can still change them — after clearing procedural hurdles — but he can’t impose or move them up or down on a whim as he often did with the IEEPA tariffs. Uncertainty over Trump’s tariff policy has vexed businesses, leaving them hesitant to make investments and decisions because they don’t know what the trade rules are going to be.

A switch to rule-bound 301 tariffs would mean “there’s less uncertainty but not no uncertainty,” said Sarah Bianchi, a former U.S. trade official who is now chief strategist of international political affairs at the investment research firm Evercore ISI. The Trump administration has turned to two big Section 301 investigations in its campaign to replace lost tariff revenue. One accuses 60 countries, accounting for 99% of U.S. imports, of failing to do enough to crack down on imports created by forced labor. The other is investigating whether 16 U.S. trading partners — including China, the European Union and Japan — are overproducing goods, driving down worldwide prices and putting American manufacturers at a disadvantage.

The administration has already decided what it wants to do about the forced labor issue. Invoking Section 301 last month, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer proposed tariffs — 10% on 16 countries and 12.5% on 44 — that are the same or slightly higher than the 10% Section 122 levies they would replace. But Greer’s office is still receiving public comments on the proposed tariffs and has not imposed them yet.

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil has described the latest U.S. tariffs on certain Brazilian imports as unjustifiable and politically motivated and threatened on Thursday to impose reciprocal tariffs against U.S. products. The country’s top diplomat criticized U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for the move.

The U.S. said on Wednesday it would impose a new 25% tariff on certain imports from Brazil, citing unfair trade practices by the world’s 10th-biggest economy.

Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira accused Trump administration officials of pressuring the South American nation to give American companies exclusive access to some sectors of its economy. He said Brazil has never left the negotiating table.

The tariffs, first proposed last month, will take effect July 22.

The order exempts some goods that are not produced in the U.S. or that officials worry would disrupt supply chains — including coffee, beef, oranges and orange juice and aircraft components.

Brazil’s government said the decision hits about 3,000 items, but is yet to decide whether and how it could retaliate with a law its Congress passed in 2025 in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

In a statement late Wednesday, the office of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva refuted the U.S. allegations of unfair trade practices. It said 76% of imports from the U.S. entered Brazil duty-free in 2025, and said the average tariff effectively applied to U.S. products was only 3.1%.

It said it has taken steps to impose reciprocal tariffs, along with other trade-related countermeasures, through its own law and through the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement mechanism.

Vieira said Rubio made statements that are “unacceptable, offensive to the Brazilian people and the Brazilian government” after the new tariffs were announced. Rubio said in a post on X that the tariffs were the result of Lula putting “his own ego ahead of making a deal” and not negotiating with the U.S. in good faith.

“Rubio launches a crude and arrogant attack on the Head of State of a friendly nation, who has personally sought to open channels for dialogue on several occasions,” Vieira told a news conference in the capital, Brasilia.

“What Secretary Rubio dismisses as ‘ego’ is, in fact, President Lula’s steadfast resolve to defend Brazil’s sovereignty and the interests of our businesses and workers.”

Outside gas pump, shoppers resilient as retail sales grow just 0.2%

BY ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP retail writer

NEW YORK — Shoppers slowed their spending in June from May, as they spent less to fill their gas tank because of falling gas prices.

But the report, released by the Commerce Department on Thursday, showed consumers’ continued resilience despite ongoing economic uncertainty as they bought cars and took advantage of summer sales events.

Retail sales rose 0.2% in June, after being up a revised 1% in May, according to the report.

Outside of gas stations, retail sales rose a solid 0.7%, according to the report.

The government figures aren’t adjusted for inflation so last month’s decline in gas prices

pulled down gas station sales and thus the overall retail sales figure.

Business at gas stations fell 5.3% last month. Meanwhile, sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers rose 1.9%, helped by aggressive manufacturers’ incentives, according to the report.

Elsewhere, shoppers were selective in their buying, given their worries about the economy and fading benefits of generous government tax benefits, which propelled spending earlier in the spring.

Business at clothing and accessories stores as well as at miscellaneous retailers both posted small declines, And sales at retailers that sell big-ticket items were mixed, with business at furniture and home furnishings merchants flat, while electronics and appliance stores showing a small increase for June.

Among the bright spots: online sales rose 1.9%, fueled by spending surrounding Amazon’s Prime Day event, which was held from June 23 through June 26. Business at sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and book stores was up 1.3%, likely helped by spending around the World Cup tournament.

The data offers only a snapshot of consumer spending and doesn’t include activities like travel and hotel stays. The lone services category — restaurants — registered a slim 0.1% increase.

The so-called control group — which excludes food services, autos, building materials and gas station sales and is used to calculate economic growth — rose a solid 0.5%.

The report comes as U.S. inflation cooled last month as the cost

of gas, clothes, and used cars fell, offering some relief to consumers, while underlying price pressures also slowed more than anticipated.

Gas prices fell to $3.94 per gallon on Thursday, down from $4.04 a month ago, according to motor club AAA. “Falling fuel prices weighed on headline sales data, but a smaller bill at the pump was a source of relief for consumers and provided at least a little more cushion in household spending budgets,” Jim Baird, chief investment officer with Plante Moran Financial Advisors, wrote in a report published Thursday.

But Baird noted the June report suggests consumers are “perhaps taking a more discerning approach to where they’re spending and how they’re prioritizing their choices.”

4B ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

Funerals Today Laws, Harry

St. Paul's Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in New Roads at 11 a.m.

Robins Chube, Diane

Antioch Baptist Church, 5247 Ford St. Baton Rouge, La at 12pm.

Stigall, Constance

Greenoaks Funeral Home, 9595 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, La at 2pm.

Taylor, Relia

Elm Grove Baptist Church, 1069 North 38th Street, at 11 a.m.

Whitley, Bernice

St. John The Baptist Catholic Church, 4826 Main Street in Zachary, at 11 a.m.

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St. John The Baptist Catholic Church, 4826 Main Street in Zachary, at 11 a.m.

Obituaries Caballero, Cecile Ourso 'Cissy'

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the same day, and Lori Ourso Babin, and her grandchildren, Isabel Webre, Anna Webre, Jane Templet, Sam Templet, Mackenzie Caballero, and Cameron Caballero.

She was preceded in death by her parents, E. J. Ourso and Marjory Barbier Ourso; and her siblings, Sidney Ourso, Philip Ourso, and Nancy Ourso.

Pallbearers will be Gary Webre, Marty Templet, Paul Caballero, John Ourso, Chad Ourso, Thomas Ross Babin, Philip Babin, and Sam Templet.

Family and friends are invited to attend visitation and funeral services at St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church, 9150 Highland Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70810, on Saturday, July 18, 2026. Visitation will begin at 9:00 a.m., followed by the Funeral Mass at 12:00 p.m. A private burial will follow.

In lieu of flowers, gather your family around a table, cook a meal together, and carry on a tradition of your own. That was Cissy's greatest gift to all.

Cecile "Cissy" Caballero passed away on July 13, 2026. She was 77 years old.

Born on July 31, 1948, in White Castle, she lived most of her life in Donaldsonville before moving to Baton Rouge.

Cissy was the heart of her family. The one who always made a house feel like a home and a place where everyone was welcome. Her love was shown in many ways: a crowded stove, a full glass, a set table, and a standing invitation to stay for supper. She was a remarkable cook and carried on family traditions that will last a lifetime. Each recipe is a piece of her that will be passed down and remembered every time they are made.

Cissy was a woman of deep faith whose compassion and generosity knew no limits. She was selfless, always ready to show up and help without being asked or expecting anything in return.

Parmelee, Janice Lynn 'JP'

Hidalgo, Betty Dipuma

Betty Dipuma Hidalgo passed away on July 14, 2026. Relatives and friends are invited to St. George Catholic Church, on Saturday, July 18, 2026 for a visitation beginning at 9:00AM until the Funeral Mass beginning at 11:00AM. Burial is to follow at the St. George Catholic Church Mausoleum.

Please visit www.rabenhorst.com for the full life story

Cissy is survived by her husband of 54 years, Dennis Caballero; and her children, Cecile "Celie" Caballero Webre and her husband, Gary; Kaye Caballero Templet and her husband Marty, and Paul John Caballero and his wife, Penny. She is also survived by her sisters, Cindy Ann Ourso, who passed away later

A few weeks ago, my wife decided she wanted to write her own obituary.

She wanted it short and concise and told me, "People don't want to read all that stuff!" By "all that stuff," she meant the details of an amazing life, well lived.

As I promised, here is her version: JP passed peacefully on July 5, 2026, at her home in New Orleans. She was born on January 3, 1948, in Oakland, California, to Milton Harold Parmelee of Berkeley, California, and Georgia Lucille Penny Parmelee of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She was predeceased by both parents.

She is survived by her most beloved husband of more than 33 years, William "Bill" Hammack; her sister, Joan B. Parmelee of Diamondhead, Mississippi; her stepchildren, Will Hammack and his wife, Melissa, and Amanda Hammack; and her step-grandchildren, Cassidy Link and Nicholas Link.

Her career was in finance, publishing, and hospitality.

She also served on many nonprofit boards. In lieu of flowers, please donate to one of her two favorite local charities, Clover or the Youth Empowerment Project.

A celebration of life reception will be held on August 7 from 5:30 to 8p.m. at Calcasieu, 930 Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans.

Now, for the rest of us, here are the details.

JP, as she was called by all who knew and loved her, was a philanthropist, an adventurer, a world traveler, and a highly accomplished businesswoman.

She had a trailblazing career in banking, where she and her best friend of more than 50 years, Mary Catherine Maddox, broke through the glass ceiling of the good-old-boys' network that defined the banking industry in the 1970s. JP was one of the first female vice presidents and commercial loan officers in Baton Rouge.

While shaking up the banking world, she was al-

so mastering scuba diving at a time when few women were reaching the ranks of Master Diver and Rescue Diver. She completed hundreds of dives throughout the Caribbean and on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

She was also an expert snow skier who never met a double black diamond run she didn't love. She was a great dancer and barber, too. But those were only a few of her many talents.

JP and I met later in life, after we had both been married previously. The bond was instant. Our first formal date was in September. I asked her to marry me in October, and we were married in December...33 1/2 years ago.

She left banking to join my publishing business in New Orleans, serving as Chief Financial Officer and helping grow it into a very successful venture.

Innovation was part of her DNA. She helped guide our traditional print operation into this "new" thing called the Internet, quickly pivoting the company into online publishing, internet software development, and local search marketing.

Almost 26 years ago, I was considering a restaurant partnership with Donald Link, the father of my grandchildren, Cassidy and Nico. JP's first comment was, "Restaurants

are terrible businesses.

Bankers avoid them at all costs!"

She immediately added, "But Donald is a special talent. Let's do it!"

That decision began an amazing partnership with the highly successful Link Restaurant Group, now encompassing six wonderful, award-winning restaurants and an extraordinary group of talented team members.

JP used her business

success to do what she always did so well: help others. Over the years, she devoted many hours to nonprofit boards and financially supported causes that made a real difference in the lives of countless people. She was also always quick to lend a helping hand to an individual in need.

Her travels took her across Europe, Africa, South America, the United States, Canada, the

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Caribbean, and Antartica.

She embraced my love of flying and became an efficient radio operator and capable backup whenever the two of us took off on one of our flying adventures. She was also remarkably forgiving whenever I tried to talk her into the "next" airplane.

JP was surrounded by dear friends and made new ones easily. She had a gift for creating special relationships, and those of you reading this know exactly what I mean. She could bridge generations, forming close friendships with people older than she was and with many who were much younger including "the boys," whom she loved as if they were her own.

I am not going to go on, because she is already fussing at me for including all this "detail." But a book could be written about her accomplishments, her character, her passions, her courage, and her strength.

JP, thank you for sharing all of it with us.

Pope, Robin Ford

ROBIN FORD POPE April 12, 1933 - July 15, 2026 "So, I'll cherish the old rugged cross, till my trophies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it someday for a crown! On July 15, 2026, Robin Ford Pope received his crown!!

Born April 12, 1933 to Gladys and Burton Ford Pope, Robin was the fourth of six children. He spent his entire life on "the place" on Pope Road in Zachary, LA, with the exception of the two years he served in the US Army, which he always claimed were the ten longest years of his life!! He met the love of his life, Betty Hadden, when she came home from school one day with his

sister, Patricia.

On September 22, 1956, he and Betty married and started a family.

They were blessed with five children, Robin Lee, Janet Faye, Beverly Ann, Laura Gayle and Burton Ford. Robin worked at Copolymer Rubber and Chemical plant in Baton Rouge for 36 years, retiring as Plant Coordinator. After he retired, he raised cattle and picked up woodworking. Starting out making rough plant stands, he honed his skills, culminating with making beautiful cedar chests for each of his three granddaughters.

But the thing he was most proud of, after his family, was his garden!! Everyone was welcome to vegetables from his garden, and what was left, he would take to the Zachary Food Bank. He was a life-long member of Zachary United Methodist Church, where he fulfilled the pledge to serve with his Presence, Prayers, Gifts, Services and Witness. Robin is survived by his wife, Betty Hadden Pope, and four children, Janet Duplechain (Tim), Beverly Pope, Laura Zettlemoyer (Doug), and Burton Pope (Tamora). He is also survived by his granddaughters, Meghan Ludwig

(John), Rachael Dowden (Doug) and Katie Pope, as well as five great grandchildren, Victoria and Jack Ludwig, and Demi, Jonah and Robyn Dowden. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ford and Gladys Pope, brother Lee Pope, sister Barbara Crocker, and his infant daughter, Robin Lee Pope. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Zachary United Methodist Church.

Share sympathies, memories, and condolences at www.CharletFuneralHome. com

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ 5B Washington, Dorothy

ton Rouge & Kennard Thomas, General Manager.

It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of Mrs. Dorothy Mae Washington who departed this earthly life on the 30th of June, in the year of our Lord 2026, at the distinguished age of 89. A public viewing shall be held in her honor on Saturday, the 18th of July, from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Antioch Baptist Church.

The celebration of life services shall follow at 11:00 AM. Her earthly remains shall be laid to rest at Winnfield Memorial Park. The distinguished & solemn arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Winnfield Funeral Home of Ba-

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OPINION T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M/opinions

New law aims to help make home ownership easier New home construction starts When moms and dads lie down to sleep at night and can’t, it’s pri- fell by 40% over the past two demarily because they are worried cades. Meanwhile, the country’s about the cost of living in Ameripopulation increased by 15%. We have too many people ca. And the largest expense competing for too few most Americans face each homes, and it has driven month is housing. housing prices to the Roughly half of all Amermoon. icans spend more than Some cities responded 30% of their income on Sen. John to this housing crisis bethousing, including the 16% Kennedy ter than others. Raleigh, of individuals whose rent sucks up more than half North Carolina, and AusGUEST COLUMNIST tin, Texas, for example, of their paycheck. When rent claims most of your cut regulations to make it income, it becomes incredeasier for home builders to build. These two cities lead the ibly difficult for a family to save even $1,000 for an emergency ex- nation in new home construction.

Other cities spent more time pense, let alone a down payment regulating than building. In Los on a home. In turn, the average age of a first-time homebuyer has Angeles, for example, homeownincreased from 30 years old in ers waited for months for the city 2010 to 40 years old today. to approve new building permits The cost of housing has spiraled following the devastating Eaton out of control for many reasons, and Palisades fires. By the first but one problem is obvious: We anniversary of the blaze, Caliaren’t building nearly enough fornians had rebuilt fewer than homes. Demand exceeds supply. a dozen of the roughly 13,000

homes that burned to the ground.

While it is painful to watch the incompetence in Los Angeles, Congress does not control local regulations or zoning policies — and that’s a good thing. A housing policy that works well in New Orleans may not work in New York City, and that’s OK. Washington’s one-size-fits-all policies have a long history of making matters worse.

But Congress should not reward cities and local governments that are making life unaffordable for American families.

The federal government has many tools at its disposal to incentivize good policies and punish the bad.

One example is the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grants, or CDBG, program.

This program distributes $3.3 billion in grants to state and local governments to support economic development and community im-

provement plans.

Local leaders have a lot of discretion to choose how to use these grants, and they love this money like the devil loves sin. They’ll do just about anything to keep this money flowing into their communities, and that gave me an idea: We could use the CDBG program to reward cities that build lots of new homes, and we could take some funding away from those that fail to increase new housing starts.

This idea turned into my Build Now Act, and it just became law as part of the larger 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. Here’s how it will work: Cities that fall below the national median rate of home building will lose 10% of their CDBG funding.

The funding we take away from cities that fail to build will then go into a big pot that we will proportionally distribute to the cities that outpace the national median rate of home building. Cities that

face natural disasters or other hardships will receive an exemption, and their CBDG funding won’t change at all.

It’s both a reward to cities that increase their supplies of homes and a penalty for those who enjoy burdensome regulations more than affordable housing. It’s a carrot and a stick — and it could unlock the American dream of homeownership for the families that have struggled to afford a place of their own.

The only way to bring down the cost of a new home is to increase our housing supply.

I don’t care how cities do it, but they better get serious about cutting red tape if they want to keep the federal funding they have grown to love. The days of rewarding bad policies that make life too expensive for American families are over.

John Kennedy represents Louisiana in the U.S. Senate.

Murrill case shows that Fish farms in the Gulf lawfare has no winners would hurt area fishermen

On July 2, a grand jury charged At- changes nothing but the audience.

Every citizen should worry, whatevtorney General Liz Murrill with 16 felonies because of letters she sent er their politics. All over this country, in May to New Orleans officials duron every side, a line we once respecting the Orleans Parish clerk of court ed has been erased: the line between dispute. One day later, the Louisiana “you are wrong” and “you are a crimiSupreme Court halted the case, found nal.” Losing an election used to mean her likely to prevail on a motion going home. Now, too often, to dismiss and cited serious probit means being investigated.

Winning an argument used lems in how the charges were to be enough. Now the opobtained.

I hold no brief for the attorney ponent must be charged. general, and no quarrel with Each side sees its own cases New Orleans. Yet this case is a as accountability and its Lance symptom of a dangerous national opponent’s as attacks, and Beal habit: using criminal charges to the score is kept in charges GUEST fight political battles. Lawfare filed, not cases proven.

COLUMNIST has no winners, and no one who The damage lands on all loves this country should want it of us. Good people stop to become normal. running for office. Those who serve A new law, Act 15, combined the govern scared. Real corruption grows two Orleans Parish clerk of court harder to punish, because the public offices into one, as in every other par- stops trusting any charge. And most gravely, the peaceful transfer of ish. Officials disagreed in good faith: power, the thing that makes America One side believed it created a vacant work, grows shaky when losing might office for the City Council to fill; the mean prosecution. attorney general believed it merged Principles only count when they the old office into the existing one, leaving no vacancy. Her letters stated cost something, so everything said here must hold when the roles flip. her position, quoted the law word for If these charges are dismissed, the word, and said she would file a civil suit if the appointment went forward. right response is not celebration or revenge, but a quiet return to the It was an ordinary “demand letter,” people’s business. And the real test of sent by lawyers by the thousands ev“no one is above the law” is whether ery year. Such letters are sometimes we also believe “no one is beneath its unwelcome, sometimes even wrong. protection,” including those we disThey are not crimes.

On June 1, a full month before the agree with most. indictment, the Supreme Court ruled This month, America turned 250. that Act 15 was constitutional. The The Founders disagreed about more court agreed with the heart of what than we do, yet pledged their lives, her letters said. In the same ruling, their fortunes and their sacred honor it protected the officials on the other to each other while trusting arguside, holding that the genuine confument, not accusation, to settle their differences. We can disagree about sion shielded them from the very laws her letters cited. The civil courts this case and everything else in our politics and still hold three truths in answered the question and shielded common: Argument should never everybody. The fight was over. Then, be a crime, a prosecution never a a month later, criminal charges arrived anyway. They resolved nothing, campaign and a courtroom never a because nothing remained to resolve. weapon.

Standing down is not weakness. It is They could only reopen a wound the the discipline of the confident. Louicourts had already closed.

On this, there can be no argument: siana has already shown the country Every official who holds the public’s how this dispute should have ended: trust, the attorney general included, in a courtroom, on the merits, with answers to the same law as any grace for the losing side. Now, let us citizen. Had she demanded money, show how it ends for good. Let the threatened harm or lied about the law, first side to put down the weapon be her title would not protect her, and the one that proves it never needed it should not. The problem with this it. Let it be us, and let it begin here. indictment is different: What she did There is no better gift Louisiana could is not a crime, not for her and not for give this country in its 250th year. anyone. Take away her title, and these letters are what any Louisiana attorLance C. Beal is a Lafayette ney sends before filing suit. The office attorney.

Louisiana’s fishing grounds are already under pressure from decades of oil and gas development. Now Congress is advancing a bill that could open the door to offshore fish farming in the Gulf.

I’ve been a commercial shrimp fisherman in the Gulf for more than 30 years, where my extended family and our United Houma Nation have fished for centuries. I’ve also worked in the oil and gas industry. I’ve watched corporations put profits above our safety. Pipelines have cut through and weakened protective wetlands that shield us from hurricanes and turned working families into climate Justin migrants. Even as we push for Solet cleanup of abandoned oil and GUEST COLUMNIST gas wells after companies fled, the Gulf is facing a new threat: offshore fish farms.

Right now, Congress is debating the Marine Aquaculture Research for America Act, or MARA Act, a bill seeking to open the door to offshore fish farms in federal waters for the first time. The bill calls this “research.” Our communities, which have been stewarding Gulf waters for generations, don’t need experiments on our fishing grounds. What’s more, our country is not suffering from a “seafood shortage” to begin with. Yet, the Gulf is being targeted as an “aquaculture opportunity area,” so we may be first in line for these fish farms if MARA passes.

MARA’s “research” tagline makes it harder for the general public to understand what’s really happening. The bill would give the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration full authority to hand out permits and government subsidies to commercial operations. That makes it a one-way speedboat to permanent commercial finfish farms, with no clear way to shut it down if the impacts are disastrous, as they’ve been in countries that permit this practice.

Here’s what we need to ask ourselves today: Should public waters support existing ways of life and community-scale seafood systems or subsidize the worst of industrial food production in our waters?

MARA supporters and opponents reflect an all-too-familiar divide: Megacorporations and their shareholders pursue profit on one side, and everyday people who care about our food, planet, communities and local economies on the other.

The main argument used to legitimize MARA — that the U.S. needs seafood security because of our “seafood deficit” — is false. Our commercial fishermen already catch more wild seafood than our country eats every year.

In 2023, for example, the number landed was about 8.4 billion pounds, versus the 6.4 billion pounds eaten. On top of this, a recent study in Nature backs up what many of us on the water already know: The U.S. could meet more of its

STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

A Westbank Fishing boat passes poles used to mark oyster beads as it heads back to Empire loaded with menhaden caught in the Gulf.

own seafood needs with better, more independent processing and local distribution and by eating a wider variety of species.

Claims about industrial aquaculture’s sustainability fall apart when you look at what it actually takes to feed carnivorous fish. In practice, farmed fish are fed a mix that still heavily relies on wild-caught fish, much of it extracted from coastal communities around the world to supply global fish feed markets. A 2024 study found that producing one pound of farmed salmon, for instance, can take two to five pounds of wild fish.

And because offshore fish farms must be industrial-scale to withstand rough seas with powerful storms, these projects will likely depend on government subsidies and taxpayerfunded cleanup when disasters like a mass fish escape occur.

Congress should instead invest in the seafood systems we already have, and the deep heritage they support. Bills like the Domestic Seafood Production Act focus on timely solutions, such as supporting community-based fishermen, oyster farmers and kelp growers to improve local seafood processing and distribution. In addition, the Keep Finfish Free Act would keep offshore fish farms out of our waters, and the Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act would make sure low-quality imports don’t undercut wild-caught seafood from the Gulf.

Ultimately, the vote on MARA will determine who benefits from our waters, who gets left out and who will carry the burden of cleanup for years. Gulf communities have already been footing the bill — financially, culturally and with our health — for ongoing harms from the oil and gas boom. Let’s not repeat that with factory fish farms.

Justin Solet is a commercial fisherman from southeast Louisiana and an Equation Fellow with True Transition, where he advocates for the cleanup of thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells in his state.

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COMMENTARY

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks during a 2022 news conference in Washington, D.C.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

ISSUE OF THE WEEK GRAHAM’S LEGACy The unexpected death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, has led to much speculation about the future of the institution as the midterms approach. In addition to the loss of Graham, Sen. Mitch McConnell, the longtime Republican leader, has been absent from the chamber for more than a month as rumors swirled about the chances for his return. Graham, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, was known as a hawk on Iran and a strong supporter of Ukraine. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster named Graham’s sister Darline Graham Nordone to fill the vacancy before the November elections. But what will happen to the causes Graham championed and will Trump face more obstacles advancing his agenda amid the turmoil? Here are two perspectives:

Illness, death, turmoil Graham was the best kind of political ‘operator’ change face of Senate On Feb. 22, 2022, two days before Vladienskyy obviously had cards in the form of Ukraine’s program to develop a drone force mir Putin sent his tanks rumbling toward Ukraine’s capital, Donald Trump said of the now battering Russia’s infrastructure.

Trump recently did a 180 on Zelenskyy.

Russian leader: “This is genius. ... Here’s a “Look, he’s done an amazing job,” Trump guy who’s very savvy.” said.

Eight days later, Lindsey Graham Graham also remained a steadfast offered a starkly different sentisupporter of Israel when much of ment: “The only way this ends is for MAGA and many Democrats turned somebody in Russia to take this guy against it over the war in Gaza. Graout.”

The Republican senator from ham didn’t always agree with Prime South Carolina had a history of disMinister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Froma policies, but he had a sophisticated missing Trump’s worldview. When Harrop understanding of Israel’s need to Trump first ran in 2015, Graham let defend itself. loose, calling him a “race-baiting, On the domestic front, Graham had joined xenophobic, religious bigot.” a group of Republicans who worked with After Trump won, Graham shocked obDemocrats to pass the 2013 immigration servers by heaping unbridled praise on the reform bill in the Senate. Had Republican game show host now entering the White House Speaker John Boehner put it up for House. He came off as an almost comical fawner. Many thought Graham had no prin- a vote, the bill would have been approved and put teeth in immigration enforcement. ciples or self-respect, that he’d do anything to ensure reelection. Turns out, he had very Boehner let it die because some of his memdifferent motives. He was playing the long bers opposed the part extending amnesty to game. otherwise law-abiding immigrants who had Graham stayed in, it seems, to stem been in the U.S. and working for a long time.

Graham was one of 10 Republicans who MAGA’s weakening views on the importance of strong American global leadership. joined an agreement on gun control. That took guts.

Trump himself had isolationist tendencies, Graham’s lowest moment came when he amplified by ignorance of world affairs. tried to help Trump overturn the results of How did Graham become one of Trump’s the 2020 election. He asked Georgia’s secredearest golf buddies? He employed wit wrapped in Southern charm. He’d say tary of state, in Brad Raffensperger’s recolthings to Trump like “Mr. President, you’re lection, to throw out legally cast mail ballots. not far behind God.” (The mockery it conRepublican Raffensperger refused to do so.

Complex man, Graham was. A few days tained may have flown over Trump’s head.) ago, he dined with Delaware Democrat Sen. Graham was playing the long game of reChris Coons at the NATO conference in Turtaining influence in an administration run by a mercurial and angry personality. key. “While we disagreed fiercely on many Many of us failed to see this. Graham was policy issues,” Coons said in a statement determined to stay in the president’s good of remembrance, “he was complicated and graces to preserve American support for could not be pigeonholed.” Coons went on: Ukraine’s resistance to Putin’s aggression.

“Few have been able to frustrate and anger, And he held that stance even when Trump ig- amuse and engage me in a single conversanorantly said about Ukrainian leader Volody- tion the way Lindsey could.”

Graham is a reminder of patriots who myr Zelenskyy: “I’ve been watching him loved this country before radicals in both negotiate with no cards. He had no cards.” parties turned against it. Can anyone reZelenskyy responded, “We’re not playing cards.” Graham understood the national se- place him? curity threat posed by Putin’s march toward Froma Harrop is on X, @FromaHarrop.

NATO’s borders. And it turns out that Zel-

One of the colder aspects of life in that going on.

Washington politics is that the death of Sen. Mitch McConnell’s decline has an important person often results, bebeen long and public, and at age 84, he is serving — sometimes from a hospital fore much grieving is done, in a frenzy room — the last months of 42 years in of speculation about who will get the the Senate. After rumors that he unfortunate important person’s had died, or that he was brainjob. So it is with South Carolina dead, this week, McConnell Republican Sen. Lindsey Grareleased a statement explaining ham, whose death set off an that he “took a fall which landed immediate “frenzy” of guessing me in the hospital” and also had who would fill his post both in the a “mild case of pneumonia.” short and long term.

Byron Another longtime Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McYork senator, John Cornyn of Texas, Master answered the first part of is also leaving at the end of this the question quickly, appointing term. In his 24 years in the Senate, the late senator’s sister, Darline GraCornyn built a reputation as an effecham Nordone, to serve the remainder of Graham’s term, which lasts until Jan. tive lawmaker and served as party 3, 2027. whip, the second-highest position in the The second answer, on who will be the party. He scored an 85% lifetime rating next full-term senator from South Caro- from CPAC USA; in 2025, he voted with President Donald Trump 100% of the lina, will come after a special primary time. That, apparently, was not enough in August and the general election in for the president, who felt that Cornyn November. had not supported him quickly enough People are still processing Graham’s in the 2024 presidential race. Trump loss. Think back to some of the most endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken momentous issues of the last several Paxton, who then handily defeated decades — the war in Iran, national Cornyn in the GOP primary. security, judicial confirmations, budget Two-term GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy is battles, immigration and political fights also being pushed out by Trump, having going back to the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Graham, who, when he died, was lost a primary to a Trump-backed opchairman of the Senate Budget Commit- ponent.

Republican Thom Tillis is also leavtee but also earlier chaired the Judiciary Committee, was in the middle of them ing, by choice but also under pressure all. He was the face of the Republican from Trump. Other GOP senators are Party in the Senate on many issues, and leaving, too. Retiring are Joni Ernst of for many years, he was close to whoever Iowa, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, was seen as the leader of the party.

Steve Daines of Montana and Alan ArmBut there is a larger story. Graham’s strong of Oklahoma, who has served as death comes at a wrenching moment for the placekeeper for Markwayne Mullin. the Republican Party in the U.S. Senate. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama is at the That is because, beyond Graham, end of his term and is running for gova number of leaders who played key ernor, and Tennessee’s Marsha Blackroles in the events of the last decade burn, who is in the middle of her Senate and beyond — who shaped the Senate term, is also running for governor and as we know it today — are leaving, the will leave the Senate if she wins. result of illness, age and the political There’s a really big change coming, turmoil of the Trump years. Lawmakers no matter who wins in November. normally exit when they retire or lose reelection. This year, there’s more than Byron York is on X, @Bryon York.

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TODAY

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New Orleans 94/78

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The threat for heat illnesses will start increasing today but will be especially high this weekend as temperatures continue to rise.

Expect a mostly sunny, very hot and humid day. There is a very slight chance of an isolated shower or storm this afternoon. Temperatures today will rise to the mid-90s. The humidity will remain high, so heat index values could rise to 106 or higher. The UV index is back at the very high level, and this weekend, we’ll be under a moderate or major heat risk.

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MAJOR MINOR MAJOR MINOR

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MISSISSIPPI STAGE STAGE CHANGE Memphis 34 15.60 -0.03 Vidalia-Natchez 48 35.80 -0.11 Red River Landing 48 38.30 -0.30 Baton Rouge 35 22.40 -0.60 Donaldsonville 27 13.90 -0.70 Reserve 22 10.84 -0.69 New Orleans 17 6.70 -0.30 OHIO Cairo 40 29.25 -1.18 COMITE Near Olive 19 -1.40 -0.04 AMITE Near Darlington 18 -0.88 -0.09 Denham Springs 29 10.91 -0.26 Port Vincent 8 1.24 -0.12 TICKFAW Montpelier 13 2.90 -0.27 Holden 15 1.78 -0.01 ATCHAFALAYA Simmesport 47 19.99 -1.09 Melville 34 15.13 -0.93 Krotz Springs 29 12.73 -0.81 Butte La Rose 20 11.01 -0.47 Bayou Sorrel 12 6.80 -0.20 Morgan City 6 3.89 -0.03

s t t t t t s pc pc

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

data as of 7 a.m. Thursday

Forecasts and graphics, except for Damon’s Outlook, provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2026

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SPORTS

T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M

LSU, SEC schools oppose college sports bill

|

F r i d ay, J u ly 17, 2026

1CN

SAINTS PREVIEW QUARTERBACKS

TAKING

Officials remain vague on reasoning behind opposition

BY JON BLAU Staff writer

A LEAP

After years of lobbying Congress for help, the NCAA has been offered the “Protect College Sports Act” as a means to clean up its mess.

But to the surprise of no one familiar with political horse-trading, the proposed legislation, which provides the NCAA power to enforce rules regarding athlete pay and eligibility, hasn’t satisfied all parties.

Several schools, including LSU, have come out in opposition to the bill in its current form. Some institutions have detailed their objections more than others.

Alabama and Auburn penned a letter on July 6, saying the bill meant to “stabilize” college athletics would do the opposite because its antitrust exemption isn’t strong enough to ward off lawsuits and override a patchwork of state laws.

LSU, on the other hand, joined a handful of SEC schools in publicly opposing the bill Monday but did so without explaining why.

“While we appreciate all of the efforts surrounding the Protect College Sports Act, we believe key issues remain with the

ä See LSU, page 4C STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Saints quarterback Tyler Shough looks to throw the ball during organized team activies on June 3 at the team’s practice facility in Metairie.

Saints QB Shough looking to prove his worth in year 2

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

AP FILE PHOTO By JESSIE ALCHEH

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James dunks against the Phoenix Suns during a game on April 10 in Los Angeles. James is yet to reveal where he will play next season.

LeBron remains undecided on future team

After watching four and a half years of middling quarterback play, it took eight games for the New Orleans Saints faithful to start feeling good about what’s going on under center again.

Technically, Tyler Shough started nine games last season (and appeared in 11 total). But the momentum truly started with start No. 2, when he led the Saints into Carolina and delivered an impressive win against the team that would go on to win the NFC South.

Shough built upon that initial winning performance and wound up finishing second in the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year race despite playing roughly half of the 2025 season. Then New Orleans spent the offseason building up the cast of characters around him, a clear indication it felt Shough was ready to take another step.

The second-year signal caller has said and done all the

That was Shough’s passer rating when targeting receivers in the intermediate area of the field (10-19 yards past the line of scrimmage), according to NFL Pro. Among 33 qualified NFL passers, only Detroit’s Jared Goff had a higher rating. It may sound like a niche stat, but this means much of Shough’s production came when pushing the ball downfield. With an improved crew of pass catchers, the Saints may be able to tap into some more explosive pass plays.

ä See SAINTS, page 4C

How an Italian sculptor created the coveted World Cup trophy

BY NICCOLÒ LUPONE

The Associated Press

MILAN — The Italian sculptor who designed the FIFA World Cup trophy wanted to capture three sporting emotions in a single spiraling form: the athlete’s struggle, the fan’s jubilation and the moment of victory.

On Sunday, either Spain or Argentina will lift the trophy after the 2026 World Cup final.

Here’s what to know about the most coveted prize in soccer.

AP sportswriters

ä See LeBRON, page 2C

Number to know: 118.5

‘The moment an object became an icon’

BY STEPHEN WHYNO and TIM REYNOLDS

NEW YORK — If LeBron James knows where he will play this coming season, he’s still not saying.

The NBA’s career scoring king and current free agent spoke publicly for the first time in weeks Thursday afternoon, indicating that a decision is close — though stopping short of revealing which team he’ll choose to play for this fall, despite at least one cry from someone in a jampacked room shouting for him to “pick a team.”

“I won’t hold you guys up too much longer,” James said.

The four-time NBA champion had a pair of appearances Thursday: He recorded an episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast alongside guest co-host Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers in New York on the opening day of Fanatics Fest, then spoke at the Game Plan Summit presented by CNBC

right things since the end of his rookie season. Now he just needs to prove that optimism is well-placed.

Depth chart (name, height, weight, experience) n Tyler Shough, 6-foot-5, 210 pounds, 2 years n Spencer Rattler, 6-0, 211, 3 n Zach Wilson, 6-2, 214, 6 n Hunter Dekkers, 6-1, 210, 1

The trophy was designed in Milan

AP PHOTOS

Silvio Gazzaniga designed the trophy in his studio in Milan’s Brera neighborhood after FIFA issued an open competition for a new design when Brazil took permanent possession of the original trophy by winning its third World Cup in 1970.

The design, now familiar to generations of World Cup fans, features two figures swirling up toward an orb representing the Earth.

“When he started to design the cup, he was sketching a huge number of drawings and finally started to develop the idea to have the

world and this symbol that it is like a two DNA spirals, that are moving up,” said Giorgio Gazzaniga, the designer’s son who was a teenager at the time.

The elder Gazzaniga, a sculptor and trophy designer who died in 2016, worked for G.D.E. Bertoni Srl and created some of the most prestigious trophies in the world, including the UEFA Cup and European Super-Cup.

1930 trophy was stolen The first World Cup Trophy, introduced for the inaugural tournament in 1930, depicted the Greek goddess Nike, and was known as the Jules Rimet Trophy for the tournament’s founder. FIFA commissioned a replacement after Brazil earned permanent possession of the original after becoming the first nation to win three World Cups.

The Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen twice — first in 1966 while on public display in England, before being recovered by a dog named Pickles beneath a hedge in south London, according to FIFA. It was stolen again from the Brazilian Football Confederation headquarters in 1983 after Brazil had taken permanent

ä See ICON, page 3C

2C ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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More whistles, more points How the WNBA’s new officiating focus is reshaping games

BY DOUG FEINBERG AP basketball writer

NEW YORK — Cheryl Reeve has seen a lot of improvements in officiating this season and it’s helped the WNBA have record offensive numbers so far through the first half of the season.

There’s still areas that need to be worked on, but it will take more than 20 games for everything to be cleaned up.

“We’ve seen great improvements on the very things that were broken,” the Minnesota Lynx coach said. “There was a level of impeding players and trying to cut off a screen. We don’t want the unnecessary physicality.”

The league put together a task force, which Reeve is on, in the offseason to help clean up some of the physicality in the game.

The main point of emphasis was to help players’ freedom of movement. Despite some hiccups early on, it has led to more offense as teams are averaging around 86 points a game — the highest ever.

They are shooting nearly 45% from the field — also the best in league history.

So far this season there have been roughly 4 1/2 more fouls called per game with 75% of them being non-shooting fouls.

“I think it’s fair for our coaches and players to be able to say

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By LM OTERO

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve questions a call during the second half of a game against the Dallas Wings on June 28 in Arlington, Texas. we’re happy and we think positive things are taking place, but still I disagree with the calls that are affecting our team tonight,” Monty McCutchen, who is the head of WNBA officials, told The Associated Press.

“I want coaches to remain advocates for their teams,” McCutchen added. “We have gotten positive feedback that we’re on the right track. we’ll continue to work through specifics when we

fail that task and we’ll continue to check in with the officiating task force to make sure that we’re aligned with the expectations.”

By no means are things perfect. Coaches and players have complained of inconsistencies between officiating crews. What might be called a foul in one half might not be deemed a foul at another point in the game. Obvious fouls are getting missed too.

“It’s never going to be perfect,

but we’re trending in the right direction,” Reeve said. “We’ve put resources into this.”

Reeve recalled a play that she asked to be reviewed during her team’s game against Dallas. The officials looked at the play and upgraded it to a flagrant.

The league is constantly reviewing plays. Alyssa Thomas’ punch to the throat of Caitlin Clark that was upgraded to a Flagrant-2 was one of four that the league reviewed that night and was the only one upgraded.

Common fouls aren’t the only thing on the rise. Both technical fouls and flagrant fouls are up too.

There have been 124 technicals assessed this season (four more were rescinded). Last year there were 171 total. There have been 44 flagrants called this season as compared to 51 all of last year.

“I think they are doing a better job at reviewing hostile acts,” Reeve said. “We didn’t ask for that, but if that’s what it takes to clean it up (it’s worth it).”

Not everyone is a fan of all the reviews. Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said after a loss to Indiana last week that there were too many of them.

“It’s exhausting when they go to the review every time. I mean, these games are getting longer and longer. It’s encouraging more drama,” she said. “So, it’s like somebody gets hit, and it’s like take them to the hospital. And they jump up, and they’re fine. So I actually think it’s not just today.

It’s across the league. There’s so many reviews.”

Giannis looking to follow Messi’s path to titles, success

BY TIM REYNOLDS

AP basketball writer

MIAMI — Giannis Antetokounmpo was watching Lionel Messi play in the World Cup semifinals this week, and a realization struck him.

Messi, to him, is greatness. And Antetokounmpo wants to follow Messi’s path.

Antetokounmpo got his welcome-to-Miami ceremony Thursday at the team’s arena, with a few fans chanting his name as he walked along his new home court for the first time after he got a tour of his new city.

“I need pressure at this time of my career,” Antetokounmpo said.

“I think in order for me to go to the next level, I’ve got to get out of my comfort zone — and I feel like Miami was the place for me to be.”

Messi came to Inter Miami three years ago, adding to his already copious resume by winning a couple of Major League Soccer MVP awards and another championship. Antetokounmpo has now joined him in Miami, hoping his relocation comes with the same level of success.

“That’s the blueprint,” Antetokounmpo said. “LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, they set the blueprint and you just got to follow, right? It’s hard. You have to be disciplined. You have to

LeBRON

Continued from page 1C

and Boardroom later in the afternoon.

At the summit, he told Boardroom co-founder Rich Kleiman in an on-stage conversation that making this decision has a slew of layers — many of which, it seems, are off the court.

“It’s not just about the team,” James said. “There’s so many other factors that I’m factoring in right now on what best fits me as a player, what best fits me as a person and what best fits my happiness, and also my family as well.”

At Fanatics Fest, an 11-year-old in the crowd asked James about

be dedicated to your craft, but it’s there. And if you want to follow, you follow. If you don’t want to follow, then you go home.”

He didn’t go home. He’s in a new home.

Antetokounmpo got his formal Heat introduction a couple of weeks after Miami swung the trade that landed the two-time MVP along with Bobby Portis Jr. from the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware, Kasparas Jaku ionis and draft capital.

For the Heat, it’s another on a long list of superstar acquisitions made since Pat Riley arrived to take over as team president in 1995.

“I think this is just part of who the Heat are in the pursuit of excellence,” Riley said. “But you don’t win championships unless you have greatness on the court and on the bench. ... I’m just so excited for this challenge.”

Antetokounmpo entered the NBA in 2013. His career totals to date: 21,531 points, 8,882 rebounds and 4,484 assists. The point and rebound totals are both fifth best in the NBA over that span, while the assist total is 13th best — and those numbers are just part of the reason why the Heat consider him to still be one of the five best players in the league.

If all that wasn’t enough, has simply been a nightmare for de-

free agency and his next team — “first of all, that was a hell of a question and some of the media people here probably should learn from the young fella,” James said — and the youngster got perhaps the best answer of the session, with James indicating that the 2026-27 season may not necessarily be his last as a player.

“It’s a big decision for not only myself, but for my family as well,” James said. “Just for the last part of my career and where I want to spend the last few years or the last year or the last two years of my NBA career ... I’m going to try to fit into whatever team I’m going into — but also give them all the tools and give them all the knowledge that I’ve been able to grasp over the last 23 years. I know the

fenses. Nobody has drawn more fouls over those 13 seasons than Antetokounmpo, which is absolute music to the ears of Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.

“A little while ago Pat called me into his office and he looked at me,” Spoelstra said. “He said, ‘Do you want to coach Giannis?’ ” Spoelstra’s no-brainer answer: “Yes.” And then he walked out, waiting for Riley, Heat general manager Andy Elisburg and the rest of the front office to get a deal done.

When Antetokounmpo arrived early Thursday morning for his first workout as a member of the Heat, Spoelstra was waiting for him.

“I just want to be coached hard,” Antetokounmpo said. “I’d rather you tell me the ugly truth than a beautiful lie. ... I’m excited to be coached by him.”

Antetokounmpo’s run in Milwaukee ended with him having, by far, the most points in franchise history, more than 7,000 ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s total during his tenure with the Bucks. Antetokounmpo is also Milwaukee’s all-time leader in rebounds and assists, plus he ranks second on the team’s career list in steals.

He had a ton of success there.

He’s looking for more success in Miami, which is one of the reasons why Portis felt like the Heat were

game. I know the ins and outs of the game of basketball.”

James playfully chided Haliburton for asking him about his future — “didn’t we talk about this in the back?” James asked, and Haliburton said he would ”leave it alone.”

Of course, they didn’t leave it alone. James made reference to a slew of teams such as Cleveland, Miami, Philadelphia and Golden State, though didn’t appear to give much in the way of hints. He did sip from a bottle of red wine that he opened and shared with Haliburton, calling it one of his podcast traditions.

And when fans shouted out suggestions for James’ next team — one even asked him to play for the New York Yankees — no clues

the best place for him as well.

“The conversations I have with Giannis have always been about winning. ‘Where can we go to win?

How can we impact winning? How can you get another ’chip? That’s always been the talk,’ ” Portis said during his introductory news conference earlier Thursday. “It hasn’t been about anything else but winning. ... All he cares about is winning.”

By all accounts, the Giannis-inMiami era is off to the right start.

Antetokounmpo was thrilled by the welcome he and his wife got when their plane landed in Miami after watching Messi and Argentina beat England in Atlanta on Wednesday. He says he already loves the Miami weather (“warmer than Milwaukee,” he said) and isn’t a fan of iguanas, which are everywhere in South Florida (“those guys, stay away from me,” he said).

Riley told him the Heat are looking to win and win big. That was all Antetokounmpo needed to really hear. He has one ring. He wants more.

“You’ve got to work,” Antetokounmpo said. “They show you, they show you the way. It’s not hard. Just listen and open your eyes. It’s something that I wanted.

I was able to accomplish it once in my career. Hopefully, it will happen a second time.”

were forthcoming.

“We’ll see,” he said.

In Miami, where the Heat introduced Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis Jr. as their newest forwards on Thursday, team president Pat Riley acknowledged there have been talks about a reunion with James.

But the Heat don’t seem to have any hints either.

“Right now, I think we’re like everybody else,” Riley said. “We’re just waiting to see what he does and then we’ll see what happens.”

Same goes for the NBA: Commissioner Adam Silver spoke at the Game Plan Summit not long after James on Thursday. Silver said he has a bit of an “inkling” on which way James is leaning, but no concrete word.

Liberty-Wings postponed because of travel issues

New York’s game against the Dallas Wings was postponed Thursday after the Liberty had travel delays caused by mechanical issues on their charter flight, the league announced.

On Wednesday evening, New York rookie Pauline Astier posted to Instagram that the team was “still on the tarmac” after 10 hours on the plane.

The game was originally scheduled to be played Thursday night in Dallas, but has been rescheduled for 7 p.m. Monday. The Wings said all tickets purchased for Thursday’s game will be honored for Monday’s matchup.

The Liberty, who have dropped three games in a row, next visit Indiana on Saturday.

NBA, Heat won’t punish Adebayo for altercation

MIAMI — The NBA is moving on from Tyler Herro v. Bam Adebayo, with the league issuing a statement Thursday that there will be no disciplinary action regarding last week’s practice-court kerfuffle between former Heat guard Tyler Herro and Heat captain Bam Adebayo: “After discussing with the players involved and the NBPA, everyone would prefer to move on from this unfortunate circumstance, and no further action will be taken by the league.”

The Heat later confirmed that no team action will be taken.

Herro and Adebayo got into a confrontation over social media posts last Friday on a practice court set up at a Las Vegas resort, one utilized by teams participating in the NBA Summer League and also available to NBA players for workout sessions.

NHL releases expanded 84-game schedule

NEW YORK — The most expansive season in NHL history will begin in September, not October, and limit most teams to four preseason games.

The league’s first 84-game season since 1993-94 opens on Sept. 29, as 32 teams will combine to play a total of 1,344 games. The season runs through April 10, before the playoffs begin the following week.

The increase from an 82-game slate, which had been the standard since the mid-90s, was agreed upon by team owners and players in the last round of talks on a collective bargaining agreement. The intent is to provide more breathing room between the end of the Stanley Cup Final and the draft in late June before free agency commences on July 1.

Burns agrees to $105M, seven-year deal with Reds

Right-hand pitcher Chase Burns has agreed to a $105 million, seven-year contract with the Cincinnati Reds that covers 2027-33, two people familiar with the deal told the Associated Press on Thursday.

The people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced.

Burns has a $785,000 salary while in the major leagues this year and $198,173 in the unlikely event he is sent to the minors.

Burns’ deal would run through the 2033 season and, under the current labor contract, covers three seasons of arbitration eligibility and the first two years after he would have been eligible for free agency. It does not include options or deferrals.

Norris hit with 10-place grid penalty for Belgian GP

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium — Lando Norris’ faltering Formula 1 title defense hit another setback Thursday as McLaren confirmed he will get a 10-place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix.

Norris is paying the price for poor reliability earlier in the season of the electronics that manage his car’s hybrid power systems.

Fitting an upgraded power electronics unit supplied by Mercedes with what McLaren called “a series of reliability fixes” took Norris over his allowance of three for the season and triggered the penalty.

Norris lost two of the units to failures, including a breakdown that left him unable to start the Chinese Grand Prix.

McLaren picked Belgium to use the new unit because it will be relatively easy for Norris to overtake at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ 3C

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WORLD CUP 2026 W C A N A D A

•

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

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M E X I C O

Spain practices outside English media criticize as smoke fills the air Tuchel after letdown

BY STEPHEN WHYNO AND SETH BORENSTEIN

BY JAMES ROBSON AP soccer writer

Associated Press

With the sun obstructed by haze, Spain’s players practiced Thursday ahead of the World Cup final outside in northern New Jersey while air conditions are hazardous because of smoke from Canadian wildfires.

It was not clear how fastpaced a practice Spain held.

Media members are only able to observe the first 15 minutes of what was scheduled to be a hourlong session in East Hanover beginning at 10 a.m. EDT. Argentina remained in the Atlanta area to work out less than 24 hours after rallying to beat England and reach the final for a second consecutive tournament.

Marietta, Georgia, is far enough south to avoid the effects of the fire, which are being windblown to the southeast from northern Ontario, triggering warnings from the U.S. Midwest through the Northeast.

Officials urged people to stay inside or wear masks outside as air quality reached unhealthy to hazardous levels, meaning it’s unhealthy for anyone, regardless of health conditions. Experts expressed concern over holding practice outdoors.

“These are high-level athletes who are moving a lot of air through their lungs during every practice in every game, and really they shouldn’t be practicing outside if the air quality levels are at hazardous sort of ranges for wildfirerelated air pollution,” said Dr. Courtney Howard, an emergency room physician and Global Climate and Health Alliance official. “That’s the time to schedule a practice inside.

You could put an N95 mask on them, but trying to make sure that everybody’s mask is well-fitted, I suspect that’s not the best choice. I

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ASHLEy LANDIS

Spain’s Dani Olmo, right, greets teammate Mikel Merino as Olmo is replaced by Merino during the World Cup semifinal soccer match between France and Spain on Tuesday in Arlington, Texas. would go find an air-conditioned indoor facility that’s a clean-air shelter.”

Messages sent to FIFA and the Spanish Football Association asking whether that was considered or possible were not immediately returned. The smoke is expected to clear the area well before the championship game Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with kickoff scheduled for 3 p.m.

The air quality in East Hanover on Thursday started early in the morning as “unhealthy” but got cleaner, so by midafternoon it was merely “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Now monitoring system. Particle pollution in New Jersey on Thursday was more than seven times higher than the World Health Organization standard. The forecast calls for an improvement to “moderate” for Sunday.

Smoke from wildfires — which are burning more of North America as Earth warms — attacks nearly every system in the body, killing tens of thousands of people a year, numerous medical studies show.

It attacks the body im-

WORLD CUP GLANCE SEMIFINAL Tuesday

France 0, Spain 2

Wednesday

England 1, Argentina 2

3RD PLACE PLAYOFF Saturday

France vs. England, 4 p.m.

FINAL Sunday

Spain vs. Argentina, 2 p.m.

mediately, spiking asthma cases with increased ambulance runs within hours.

Smoke can trigger inflammation in different parts of the body, often attacking a person’s weakest points, which can then cascade into different effects of an immune system trying to fight a nasty irritant, doctors and scientists said.

“It’s not healthy for anyone to be in the smoke, especially if you’re exercising,” Harvard School of Public Health environmental health research scientist Mary Johnson said.

“You’re exchanging more air, so you’re being exposed to even more pollutants, and even healthy individuals at some point will have some type of health effect from the exposure to the smoke.

So, even though these are healthy, young individuals, it’s not a good idea to be exercising in this type of environment.”

U.K. urges FIFA to investigate Argentina over Falklands banner

BY JILL LAWLESS AND GRAHAM DUNBAR

not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are,” a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Thursday. “Self-determination rests with the islanders and our commitment to the Falklands will never waver.”

Starmer supported calls for FIFA to investigate, the spokesperson said, after U.K. Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the players’ behavior was “entirely inappropriate.”

FIFA can prosecute Argentina’s players and soccer federation because its disciplinary code prohibits at stadiums any “message that is not appropriate for a sports event” including those of “a political, ideological, religious or offensive nature.”

The FIFA fines for political messaging range from around $5,000 to $20,000.

FIFA was approached for comment Thursday.

Argentine President Javier Milei described the players’ celebration with the banner as “perfectly valid,” saying the message “reflects a sentiment shared by all Argentines.” But he said he expected FIFA to sanction the team with a fine.

“What the players do is understandable; they get carried away by their emotions, they act on impulse, and that will likely lead to discussions about a fine,” Milei told a local Buenos Aires radio station.

Vice President Victoria Villarruel was more vocal in her support, posting a photo on social media of the players raising the banner with the caption: “The Malvinas are Argentine! They banned us from bringing (signs) into the stadium, forgetting that we carry them in our blood and in our hearts.”

base featuring two rings of green malachite, symbolizContinued from page 1C ing the playing fields.

After the tournament, the original trophy goes possession. It has never been back to FIFA, which keeps recovered and is widely be- it at its Swiss headquarters lieved to have been melted between World Cups. The winning team brings home down. a gold-plated replica.

Winners take home replica FIFA no longer lets threeThe official World Cup tro- timewinnerskeeptheoriginal.

This is the 14th World Cup phy hoisted by the winning captain at the end of the fi- to use Gazzaniga’s design, and nal is 14 inches tall cast in FIFA has decided to keep the 18-carat gold, sitting on a trophy in use at least through

the 2038 tournament, according to Gazzaniga’s website.

The younger Gazzaniga still vividly remembers watching the 1974 World Cup final at home with his family as West Germany faced the Netherlands. It was the first time his father’s trophy was presented at the World Cup. “The real explosion of joy came when the German team raised the cup in Munich and the whole stadium erupted,” he said. “That was the moment an object became an icon.”

Associated Press Writers

LONDON — The British government on Thursday urged FIFA to investigate Argentina’s team after players celebrating their 2-1 win over England in the World Cup semifinals posed with a banner that claimed sovereignty over the contested Falkland Islands.

During post-match celebrations Wednesday in Atlanta, Argentine players held a banner handed over by fans, reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” — “The Malvinas are Argentine.”

Argentina refers to the Falkland Islands as Islas Malvinas. They were invaded in 1982 under orders from Argentina’s then-military dictatorship, triggering a 10week war won by Britain.

“The World Cup might

ICON

ATLANTA — England hired a German coach to end 60 years of hurt but saw its World Cup hopes come crashing down in the most English of ways.

Another defeat in the semifinals. Another defeat from a winning position.

The English media was predictably critical of coach Thomas Tuchel after Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to Argentina.

“Same old story” read one headline. Another declared that “Tuchel just shrank.”

Tuchel, a serial trophy-winning coach with Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, was hired to put a second star on England’s jersey and end the decades-long wait for a first trophy since the World Cup in 1966.

The wait goes on.

Former England captain Gary Lineker raised the question about Tuchel’s future, saying he was “brought in specifically to take us over the line.”

“Is he the right man to take us forward?” Lineker said on his Netflix show ‘The Rest is Football.’ “He just got it so wrong in the big moment.”

Tuchel’s predecessor, Gareth Southgate, was credited with making England fans fall back in love with the men’s national team after years of underachievement. He reached back-toback European Championship finals but ultimately fell short, with his supposed cautious approach said to have cost England in clutch matches.

Southgate’s substitutions were criticized as well as his tactics when England relinquished leads against Croatia in the World Cup semifinals in 2018 and Italy in the final of the Euros three years later.

There was criticism of the English soccer federation’s decision to turn to a German, but Tuchel, a Champions League winner, was supposed to be difference maker in those key moments.

Leading 1-0 going into the 85th minute and in a defensive shell, England saw its hopes shattered on Argentina goals from Enzo Fernandez and substitute Lautaro Martinez.

“It’s a real panic. You can’t go a goal up and then

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ERIK S. LESSER

England coach Thomas Tuchel stands by the bench during the World Cup semifinal match against Argentina on Wednesday in Atlanta. England lost 2-1. surrender the ball and surrender any opportunity of trying to get the second goal,” former England captain Wayne Rooney told the BBC. ”I just think the decisions Thomas Tuchel made, and I think we have to be honest on this, have cost us tonight.”

Lineker said Tuchel’s tactics and substitutions after going 1-0 up “made zero sense to me.”

Tuchel, who signed a twoyear contract extension ahead of the World Cup, stood by his decisions.

“As soon as you lose, you get criticized. It’s just what it is,” Tuchel said. “No one knows what would have happened if I had made different decisions so it makes no sense to engage in that and lose my head.

“I’m responsible for them. I took them, so I take the criticism. That’s just the way it is.”

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said shortly after the loss that it is “heartbreaking to be so close.”

“The players and Thomas gave it everything today and the squad, coaches and staff could not have worked harder during the tournament,” he said in a statement. “I would like to thank them all — and also give my heartfelt thanks to our wonderful fans here in the USA and at home. We felt your support every step of the way and we are all so disappointed not

to go further.”

England will face France in the third-place game on Saturday in Miami.

Defeat to defending champion Argentina continued a pattern for the England men at the World Cup. It has not beaten one of the traditional major nations at soccer’s biggest tournament since the 1-0 win over Argentina in the group stage in 2002. Before that, England beat France in the group stage in 1982.

Knockout eliminations have come at the hands of Argentina and Germany on three occasions each, Brazil, Portugal and France.

There was also the 2018 semifinals defeat to Croatia, a team that has never won a major trophy.

Tuchel, however, does not buy into the narrative that repeated failure is a specifically English problem.

“I love to see these things in a football matter and through football glasses.

So first of all I always think it’s solvable on the football field,” he said. “I don’t believe so much in an English thing or in a curse or whatever or history repeating itself.”

Britain and Ireland are co-hosting Euro 2028.

“I have a contract until the home Euros, and I’m looking forward to that, even if right now it is difficult to look that far ahead,” Tuchel said.

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Swinney says help from Congress only way to discourage tampering

BY STEVE REED Associated Press

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Southern players walk to the locker room during a stoppage for weather during the spring showcase on April 4 at A.W. Mumford Stadium. Southern was voted among the bottom teams in the league’s preseason poll.

Southern voted among bottom of teams in SWAC preseason poll

BY TOYLOY BROWN III

Staff writer

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — As the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel ballroom filled up for the Southwestern Athletic Conference football media day on Wednesday, the conference simultaneously unveiled its 2026 preseason poll.

The voting body of SWAC coaches and sports information directors predicted that Southern will be among the bottom tier of teams.

The Jaguars finished fifth out of six teams in the SWAC West, receiving one first-place vote.

This is a stark contrast from last year when Southern was voted the No. 1 team in the SWAC West before going 2-10 overall.

The positive belief going into the 2025 season, before finishing tied for last in the SWAC, came a season after it appeared in the conference championship game in 2024.

First-year Southern coach Marshall Faulk said the preseason poll doesn’t mean much to him.

The former NFL Network analyst said that he understands the purpose of polls like this.

“I used to be in the business of predictions,” the Pro Football Hall of Fame running back said.

“I did that for a long time. And there were times when I was right and times I was wrong. Do I care about it? No. They have a job to do. The same way we have a job to do. My role is to make sure we do the job that we came to do.”

Standout safety Herman Brister said he doesn’t have any emotion after seeing the poll results because he remembers how last year turned out.

“That’s preseason stuff,” the redshirt junior said. “That doesn’t really mean anything because last year we was number one and

SWAC PRESEASON POLL WEST 1. Prairie View: 130 points (19 firstplace votes) 2. Grambling: 93 points (2) 3.Alcorn State: 90 points (1) 4.Texas Southern: 79 points (1) 5. Southern: 65 points (1) 6.Arkansas-Pine Bluff: 32 points EAST 1.Alabama State: 131 points (16) 2. Jackson State: 122 points (7) 3. Bethune-Cookman: 71 points 4. Florida A&M: 70 points 5.Alabama A&M: 66 points (1) 6. Mississippi Valley State: 29 points we went 2-10, but I can tell you that it won’t last long.”

Wide receiver Cam Jefferson said that his experience at Southern since 2023 has taught him how much things change positively or negatively during a season.

“You’re gonna have ebbs and flows, you’re gonna have highs and lows,” the redshirt junior said. “With coach (Terrence) Graves in 2024, you know we made the SWAC championship, and then last year, unfortunately, we were preseason favorites, but that ended up not happening. And then Coach Faulk came in, you know, we’re on a high again like that. And we’re gonna try to stay on that high.

“It’s just taught me a lot about life. Like life isn’t gonna go your way. Life is gonna have changes, and it’s gonna throw obstacles at you, but it’s how you respond to those obstacles.”

Before Southern was picked first in the SWAC West in the 2025 preseason poll, the team was voted fourth in 2024 and first in 2023 and 2022.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s been six months since Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney publicly called out Ole Miss for engaging in what he called “blatant” tampering to lure away transfer linebacker Luke Ferrelli.

He has heard nothing back despite providing an alleged timeline, evidence and receipts to the NCAA. Swinney said Thursday he doesn’t regret pointing the finger at Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding and general manager Austin Thomas. And he again pushed for change and accountability on Thursday for what he called “rampant” tampering in college football.

“We’re probably gonna need some congressional help for that,” Swinney said during the Atlantic Coast Conference’s preseason football media days. “There has to be some type of order put in place.

The tampering is a problem. So there needs to be consequences or you just say to heck with it, don’t worry about it, and let’s just call it like it is — the wild, wild West.”

Swinney suggested fines, suspensions and even firings should be considered to discourage tam-

LSU

Continued from page 1C legislation,” said a letter co-signed

by LSU president Dr. Wade Rousse and board of supervisors chair Lee Mallett.

The Advocate contacted Rousse’s office on Tuesday. A spokesperson said the bill continues to undergo changes and the university would have no comment beyond what’s written in the letter. Mallett did not reply to an email requesting comment either.

While LSU’s list of “key issues” remains unexplained, the university’s opposition underscores a tension between the NCAA’s power players.

In early June, the SEC and Big Ten released a joint statement saying both support a “sustainable national framework” but that the bill presented by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) left “critical issues unresolved.”

Along with concerns about the strength of the act’s antitrust exemption, the SEC and Big Ten objected to a shift of “ongoing rulemaking” to Congress. There were also concerns about how the bill would change the House settlement’s revenue-sharing framework.

In turn, Cantwell blasted the “Power Two” for consolidating power via conference realignment.

“The politics of these commissioners moving around deck chairs and making millions of dollars

SAINTS

speaking out.

“I agree with Dabo,” Louisville coach Jeff Brohm said. “He should have been upset. To me that type of tampering shouldn’t happen.

It goes back to there needs to be more guardrails. There needs to be a system in place where there’s consequences for doing things you’re not supposed to do, and that’s not in college football right now.”

Brohm said it’s one of the reasons he wants to see the Protect College Sports Act passed in Congress.

The bill that top lawmakers and athletic leaders have described as the best hope to stabilize college sports cleared a key vote in the Senate in June following weeks of input from schools, conferences and athletes.

It is now currently in the House for a vote.

The bill would address many areas, including tampering.

“It may not be perfect for everyone, but I’m all for it,” Brohm said. ”I think it’s important that we do something to try to help the game overall and then make adjustments along the way. Until there’s consequences for cheating and tampering, people will continue to skirt the edges.”

themselves and not thinking about the broad interest to solve these problems has led us to this point,” Cantwell said during a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee in June. “It’s time to listen to some other people.”

Cantwell’s bill prohibits conferences earning $700 million or more from adding new members, essentially halting realignment. That has led to more immediate discussion about expansion before a law is passed.

The bill also amends the Sports Broadcasting Act, allowing colleges to pool their media rights, like the NFL, which would theoretically leverage more money from networks. But the resulting payouts could shrink the revenue gap between the Big Ten, SEC and the rest.

The average SEC school, for example, received just over $72 million in broadcast revenues in 2025, while the ACC average was $47 million this past year.

While the SEC and Big Ten don’t appear anxious to surrender their financial advantage, there are other points of contention.

Auburn and Alabama’s letter argued that a pooling of media rights would advance the interest of private equity, which “stand to profit from a redistribution of media-rights revenue” if they invest in college sports programs.

There is also a worry athletes will ultimately make less money, because there is language in the 47-page bill stating that athletes can’t strike deals with entities closely “associated” with a school, such as a booster-funded

collective or corporate sponsor, if those payments circumvent a school’s yearly revenue-sharing cap.

As of now, schools can share up to $21.3 million with athletes during the 2026-27 school year, but promotional deals with businesses, oftentimes facilitated by the school itself, don’t count toward the limit.

For instance, LSU has worked with its multimedia rights holder, PlayFly, and its apparel sponsor, Nike, to steer millions of dollars to athletes. Nike just announced a roster for its Blue Ribbon Elite Football campaign and LSU’s 11 athletes were the most of any school.

Most of the rumored $40 million invested in LSU’s football roster this season came from third-party deals like these, not direct revenue sharing with the school.

Again, LSU’s leaders haven’t specified which provisions in the bill are most worrisome to them, but it’s not difficult to theorize why they currently stand against it.

Thus, the horse-trading continues.

“We look forward to working with the House, the Senate, and our fellow institutions in the Southeastern Conference to make the needed improvements to the legislation,” LSU’s letter concluded.

“We are hopeful that together, we can support a bill that will truly help ensure college athletics is preserved for our students and all higher education institutions.”

Saints backup quarterback Spencer Rattler throws the ball during organized team activities on May 28 at the team’s indoor practice facility in Metairie.

Continued from page 1C

The lowdown It is hard to overstate how much Shough’s rapid ascent into a potential franchise quarterback has meant for the Saints. Just think back to what the discourse was like this time a year ago.

Last summer, more oxygen was expended on the Saints potentially being in position to draft a quarterback No. 1 overall in the 2026 draft than there was on Shough. That was based on two assumptions: The Saints were going to be the worst team in the NFL, and Shough (the No. 40 pick in the 2025 draft) was not going to be worth building around.

As things currently stand, the Saints are a popular dark horse to go from worst to first in their division. A lot of that is based on the good vibes emanating from Shough’s debut season, both directly and indirectly.

Direct: Shough displayed an advanced skillset in his time as a starter. New Orleans was a different team when he took over, going 5-3 in their final eight games as Shough finished the season.

During that span, Shough ranked second among all qualifying NFL passers in completion percentage (69.7%), seventh in passing yards (2,080) and ninth in passer rating (97.1) and ninth in passing yards.

Three of the Saints’ five wins with Shough as a starter included gamewinning drives in the fourth quarter (and Shough nearly pulled off two others).

pering, which has been a frequent topic of concern in multiple sports.

“There is lots of things that can be put in place,” Swinney said. ”(Tampering) is rampant because there hasn’t been consequences and I don’t know there has been much fear of consequences. So you’ve got to get some order.”

Golding defended Ole Miss in April, explaining there are “two sides to every story” referring to Ferrelli, who abruptly transferred to Ole Miss 20 days after beginning classes and team meetings at Clemson in January.

Ferrelli played last season at Cal before originally transferring to Clemson.

In March, Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey called NCAA language covering tampering rules “archaic,” but stopped short of urging the oversight body to halt tampering investigations.

Sankey said the new landscape in college sports calls for the rules language to be changed.

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips on Wednesday urged coaches and administrators to go public with information if they see potential tampering.

Other ACC coaches have expressed support for Swinney for

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Indirect: New Orleans was a popular destination for big-ticket free agents this offseason. Running back Travis Etienne and guard David Edwards, two of the top available players at their respective positions, chose to sign with the Saints. Noah Fant turned down the Saints last year to play with Joe Burrow in Cincinnati, but wound up signing with the Saints this offseason. Shough’s role in getting the Saints arrow trending upward played a part in that.

The Saints should feel good about Shough. They’ve invested in his supporting cast, and they’ve seen him fully take the reins of the offense this offsea-

son. But these are still the early days, and it is also fair to want to see it over a larger sample size before New Orleans can fully claim it has its franchise quarterback in place.

Potential camp battle Spencer Rattler played well enough in his eight starts last year to generate some buzz as a potential trade chip this offseason. Whether that was a media creation or there were genuinely teams interested in acquiring him is somewhat beyond the point: He is a valuable piece of the puzzle because he is young, inexpensive and, to a degree, proven.

That being said, this likely will be his third consecutive training camp where he will have to compete for his spot on the depth chart. New Orleans signed former No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson this offseason, a move that almost certainly was made with the intent of letting him compete for the No. 2 job.

While Wilson’s struggles have been well-documented, his statistical résumé (on a rate basis) is similar to Rattler’s. The best guess here is that Rattler will have a head start, given his history with the team and his recent starting experience, but Wilson will have the opportunity to unseat him.

Email Jon Blau at jon.blau@ theadvocate.com.

INSIDE RB KAMARA’S NEW DEAL After an offseason of hemming and hawing, the New Orleans Saints and Alvin Kamara reached an agreement on a new contract this week that should allow Kamara to finish his career in New Orleans.

The details of that deal became clear Thursday morning via an NFL Media report: Kamara’s new contract will pay him a base $6 million salary with a chance to earn $8.5 million with incentives. Kamara was set to play on the final year of a 2-year, $24 million extension he signed in 2024.

It puts an end to an offseason of drama surrounding Kamara and the Saints, after the organization repeatedly declined to say whether Kamara was part of their plans for 2026.

The deal ensured one of the most prolific players in franchise history sticks around. Now entering his 10th season in New Orleans, Kamara holds the franchise’s all-time marks in rushing (7,250) and rushing touchdowns (61) as well as total touchdowns (87) and yards from scrimmage (12,198). He is one of nine active players with more than 12,000 career yards from scrimmage.

Kamara is coming off the worst season of his career. Injuries limited him to a career-low 11 games, but he also posted some of his worst per-game and pertouch figures in his career.

The Saints responded by signing the younger and more explosive Travis Etienne this offseason to lead their backfield.

Kamara is expected to serve as the primary option behind Etienne.

— Luke Johnson

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ 5C

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BRITISH OPEN Cigarette smoker Brown lights up with strong round

BY STEVE DOUGLAS AP sportswriter

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By PETER MORRISON

Jackson Suber and his caddie Greyson Porter walk on the 18th green during the British Open on Thursday at Royal Birkdale golf club in Southport, England.

SOUTHPORT, England — Dan Brown is lighting it up again at the British Open.

One of the few smokers in golf, Brown went through “seven or eight” cigarettes during his 4-under 66 that left him tied for second place, one shot off the lead, after the first round at Royal Birkdale on Thursday.

After weeks of sunshine in this northwest corner of England, the fairways here are baked and parched — making them a potential fire hazard from discarded cigarettes.

“I’ve been making sure that they’re out,” the 31-year-old Englishman said reassuringly.

Not that he sounds too proud of a habit that makes him stand out on the circuit, but which he feels is needed to relieve some stress.

“Sorry, Mum,” he said with a cheeky smile.

The burly and bearded Brown is an interesting character, not least because of the 10 tattoos on his body — three of which are of little birds — and his YouTube channel called “BeersForeBogeys” which has around 4,000 subscribers.

Brown first came into widespread consciousness in golf in 2024 when, as the

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JON SUPER

Daniel Brown watches where his shot landed after playing off the first tee on Thursday. Brown shot a 4-under 66. world No. 272, he shot a 6-under 65 for the outright first-round lead in his British Open debut at Royal Troon.

His name — one he shares with the author of “The Da Vinci Code” — was a headline writer’s dream and his dry humor proved popular, too.

Brown was tied for second place heading into the final round at Troon and wound up in a tie for 10th.

That experience taught him he could compete with the best players in the world.

“I feel like I’m a better player now to what I was back then, two years ago,” he said. “So we’ll see.”

Brown arrived at the Open

with no form from his first year on the PGA Tour — he missed the cut in his last four events — but has immediately taken to the Birkdale links.

He made seven birdies, including three straight around the turn, after being 1 over after seven holes.

“Today a few putts dropped, which was nice to see,” Brown said, “because I’ve not seen that for a while. “(Hopefully), I’m in a sort of similar area on the leaderboard come Sunday.”

That might mean continuing to have a smoke during his rounds.

“There might be a big drop off by Sunday if I’m not allowed,” he said.

QUICK STUDY Argentine golfer’s gesture Former Ole Miss star Suber grabs early lead at Royal Birkdale

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

SOUTHPORT, England — Jackson Suber got his first taste of links golf — on his first trip to Europe — when he arrived at Royal ä First- Birkdale. Three round days later, he scores. proved to be a quick study with PAGE 6C a superb par save and a 6-foot eagle late in his round for a 5-under 65 to lead the British Open.

Bryson DeChambeau might be getting the hang of this, too, no matter what three-time British Open champion Nick Faldo said he thinks about his strategy.

An opening round lasting some 15 hours included just about everything during a warm and breezy start.

Five of the leading 12 players were playing the British Open for the first time. Rory McIlroy missed three 4-foot putts in a four-hole span and had six bogeys in his round of 72. Scottie Scheffler opened with four birdies in six holes and didn’t make another the rest of the way for a 68.

Most startling was Suber, a 26-year-old American who has yet to win anywhere since leaving Ole Miss and is playing in only his third major. He made a tough par save on the new par-3 15th with slopes off severely on both sides. He followed with a 6-foot birdie on the 16th and then choked up on a 4-iron from 233 yards and hit it to 6 feet for eagle.

Not bad for his seventh round in any major, and first on a links course as tough as Birkdale.

“Just kind of kept the ball in good spots and didn’t put much pressure on my game to make pars,” Suber said.

He led by one shot over Sungjae Im and Dan Brown of England. The nine players at 67 include four Open debutants — Alex Smalley, Ryan Gerard, M.J. Daffue, Pierceson Coody.

And then there was DeChambeau, who has missed the cut in all three majors this year and has chosen not to speak to the media since Friday at the Masters, except for on LIV Golf.

Turns out he had enough strategy to get in the mix, often ripping driver to take the fearsome bunkers out of

mimics World Cup jubilation

BY STEVE DOUGLAS AP sportswriter

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JON SUPER

Bryson DeChambeau, right, and Scottie Scheffler walk off the 18th green after completing their round. ä British Open.

3 A.M.-2:30 P.M., USA play and doing enough right for a 67 that left him two shots behind.

Strategy became a talking point when Faldo told the Sky Sports Golf Podcast this week, “DeChambeau has zero clue of strategy. He said last year, ‘I’m going to go out and attack the links.’

Well, I’ve never attacked a links. You thread it, don’t you? You feed it down the fairway. ... You don’t think, ‘Oh, I’ll just blast it down there.’ ” DeChambeau hit only four fairways but missed only three greens, though he was rarely in big trouble when he wasn’t in the short grass.

He twice blasted tee shots over the trouble and close to the green at the par-4 second and the par-4 10th, the latter a blind shot. He made birdie on both. And while Jon Rahm was among those who said going long can lead to trouble at some point, the only two shots DeChambeau dropped came from his putting (the par-5 14th) and chipping (the par-4 18th).

He was tied for the early lead until going from wispy rough over the back of the 18th, chipped weakly to 8 feet and missed the putt. He missed three birdie chances from around 10 feet or under, one of them on redesigned, 321-yard fifth hole, when he drove it just over the green.

DeChambeau agreed to take a few questions from the R&A and said, “I feel like I did a really good job today of being incredibly strategic and focused super hard on placing it in the

right places. Besides 18, I placed the ball in some good areas. I just need to hit more fairways. Other than that, I feel like my strategy was nice today.”

Cameron Young, one of the hottest players in the spring but quiet the past two months, also was at 67 along with Robert MacIntyre, Thomas Detry and Francesco Molinari, the 2018 Open champion at Carnoustie, which also featured a baked links course.

Scheffler had few complaints after a 68, even not making a birdie over his last 12 holes, playing the two par 5s in 1 over and making a pair of soft bogeys. He also missed a 5-foot birdie putt.

Whether he could have gotten more out of his round was of little concern.

“If I continue to strike the ball the way I did today and just keep giving myself looks, that’s part of it,” Scheffler said. “Golf is played over 72 holes, and I definitely liked what I saw today.”

Smalley, who took a twoshot lead into the final round at the PGA Championship, was leading until his drive on the 18th was fading with the wind and then the luck of links golf took over. One wild bounce sent it further right and out of bounds. He finished with a double bogey for a 67.

“Got up to where the ball was supposed to be and was told it hit a spectator fence and kicked another 15 yards right out of bounds. All three of us in our group actually hit it over there, and mine just got an unlucky break,” Smalley said. “Poor tee shot, poor break. Sometimes that’s how it goes.”

SOUTHPORT, England — The only Argentine golfer in the British Open field was playfully jeered by some spectators on the first tee Thursday, the morning after his national soccer team’s epic comeback win over England at the World Cup. Mateo Pulcini delivered an amusing response a few hours later.

After holing a 40-foot putt for birdie on the 18th green at Royal Birkdale, the 25-year-old amateur cupped both of his ears in a gesture to spectators that mimicked the celebration his countryman, Enzo Fernandez, produced after scoring Argentina’s 85th-minute equalizing goal on Wednesday.

Argentina went on to win 2-1 in the semifinals.

“I was pretty excited and that came to my mind,” he said, “and I did it.”

Pulcini stressed there were only “a few boos” on the first tee and that it was just a bit of fun.

“People are being great.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By DAVID GOLDMAN

Mateo Pulcini of Argentina plays on the 10th fairway during a practice round for the British Open on Wednesday.

Fans are being spectacular.

They were cheering for me as well,” he said.

Asked what felt better — his putt on the 18th or seeing Fernandez’s goal — Pulcini said: “Enzo’s goal, for sure.”

Pulcini is making his debut at the British Open after qualifying by winning the Latin American Amateur Championship in a playoff in Peru.

He shot 5-over 75 on Thursday.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

Argentina’s Enzo Fernandez gestures to fans after scoring against England in a World Cup semifinal match on Wednesday.

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6C ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

SCOREBOARD

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Odds Major League Baseball American League

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATT SLOCUM

FAVORITE Tampa Bay at TORONTO at HOUSTON at LA ANGELS National League FAVORITE at MILWAUKEE Cincinnati at ARIZONA Interleague FAVORITE LA Dodgers at CLEVELAND at ATLANTA at CHICAGO CUBS San Diego at ATHLETICS at SEATTLE

LINE UNDERDOG -121 at BOSTON -137 White Sox OFF Baltimore OFF Detroit

LINE +101 +113 OFF OFF

LINE UNDERDOG LINE -156 Miami +127 -118 at COLORADO -104 OFF St. Louis OFF LINE UNDERDOG LINE -115 at YANKEES -107 -129 Pittsburgh +105 -217 Texas +175 OFF Minnesota OFF -113 at KANSAS CITY -109 OFF Washington OFF OFF San Francisco OFF

St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker tosses his bat as he wins the All-Star Home Run Derby on Monday in Philadelphia. Walker outdueled Phillies star Kyle Schwarber to win the title.

Major League Baseball

Walker hoping to inspire next wave of Black MLB stars

Tampa Bay New York Boston Baltimore Toronto

W 56 54 46 46 45

L 38 42 48 51 51

Pct .596 .563 .489 .474 .469

GB — 3 10 11½ 12

Cleveland Chicago Minnesota Detroit Kansas City

W 51 50 48 44 38

L 46 45 49 52 59

Pct .526 .526 .495 .458 .392

GB — — 3 6½ 13

Texas Seattle Houston Athletics Los Angeles

W 49 48 47 41 38

L 47 49 51 55 59

Pct .510 .495 .480 .427 .392

GB — 1½ 3 8 11½

Home Run Derby winner remembers being motivated by former Braves player Heyward

American League East Division

Central Division

West Division

Tuesday’s game

All-Star Game: AL 4, NL 0

Wednesday’s games No games scheduled

Thursday’s games No games scheduled

Friday’s games

BY DAN GELSTON AP sportswriter

PHILADELPHIA — Jordan Walker rooted for Chipper Jones as a young Braves fan raised in suburban Atlanta and used to beg his family to take him to baseball games at Turner Field.

Walker’s parents — “Jordan’s Dad” and “Jordan’s Mom,” as known by their customized jerseys this week at the Home Run Derby — often obliged. Derek Walker and his 7 year old son were out in left field seats for an April series in 2010 when Braves slugger and future Gold Glove winner Jason Heyward made his debut.

Oh, for sure the younger Walker still cheered for Jones.

But to see a young Black star such as Heyward command the outfield the way Walker wanted to play, a new favorite player was born.

“As soon as Jason Heyward debuted,” Walker said. “I was like, oh yeah, that’s the guy. That’s who I want to be like.”

The significance of representation in the Black community was never lost on Walker.

So when Walker, a former St. Louis Cardinals first-round pick once on the cusp of bust territory after several demotions over the past few seasons, had his breathtaking, breakthrough moment with a six-swing, six-homer rally past Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber to win the Derby, he hoped his star-making turn would inspire more young Black athletes to follow in his footsteps and choose baseball.

Just as he was inspired by Heyward.

“For Black kids, I want to kind of be a role model for them,” Walker said, “like he was for me.”

With each prodigious blast off his customized Iron Man bat, the 24-year-old Walker silenced the Philly boo birds clamoring for a home team Schwarber victory and shined in his coming-out party beyond the St. Louis bubble and to the entire baseball world.

He flashed the kind of swag that appealed to a younger generation much in the way Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. did in his heyday. Walker wore his Cardinals hat backward, chewed a big wad of bubble gum and reveled afterward in flashing his imitation Liberty Bell bling, the champions’ chain presented by Ryan Howard.

None other than career home run leader Barry Bonds gave Walker his stamp of approval — “you got my trophy, too” — for winning the greatest Derby he’s ever seen.

“That means the world to me,” Walker said.

Walker is among the scores of All-Star talents leading a modest uptick of Black baseball players in the major leagues. When Houston and Philadelphia played the 2022 World Series that featured no U.S-born Black players, Astros manager Dusty Baker noted, “It looks bad. But there is help on the way.”

Modest gains Take a look around the All-Star clubhouses and it was clear — while not at the pace perhaps MLB would like — Walker helped represent a new wave of emerging Black talent.

Three-time AL MVP and Yan-

kees slugger Aaron Judge sat out with an injury, but Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams and outfielder James Wood, Cincinnati Reds ace Chase Burns and Braves catcher Drake Baldwin ushered in the next, young group of future Black stars. The game also featured Minnesota Twins veteran Byron Buxton.

MLB said that 6.8% of players on opening day rosters, injured lists and the restricted list were Black, up from 6.2% at the start of the 2025 season and 6.0% at the beginning of 2024. This year’s 0.6% increase was the most in a season since a 0.7% rise from 2017 to 2018.

Twenty of the 64 Black players had been in MLB-sponsored programs such as the MLB Youth Academy, Breakthrough Series, DREAM Series, Nike RBI and the Hank Aaron Invitational.

MLB said the total included 22 players 25 or younger and eight older than 32. The average age of Black players was 27.8 and the overall average 29.25.

The 23-year-old Burns, 11-1 with a 2.54 ERA with the Reds, was proud to hear Walker champion a Black youth movement at the Derby.

“You don’t see a lot of Black athletes in baseball,” Burns said. “I don’t know why that it is. I think it’s great for guys like me and him to strive to get Black athletes into the game of baseball, whether it’s talking about it or doing stuff in the community. I think it’s great he pointed it out.”

Leading the way The best chance, naturally, for Walker to serve as a role model for the next generation is to make sure he’s not just a one-Derby wonder.

Walker has 22 home runs, leads baseball with 74 RBIs and is a solid 13th with an .886 OPS — Wood is second at .985 — for a Cardinals team in the NL wild-card hunt. The Cardinals are finally getting the production expected out of the right fielder they drafted with their first-round pick in 2020.

Walker, who signed out of high school after he had committed to Duke, skipped Triple-A and made the opening day roster as the youngest player in baseball in 2023 and tied Eddie Murray’s under 21-rookie record with a 13game hitting streak.

He was sent down later that season; was the 2024 opening day right fielder and demoted again with a .155 batting average. Walker suffered a variety of injuries in 2025 and played in just 111 games that suddenly put his future as a key Cardinals’ contributor very much in doubt.

Leaning on the same convictions that made him believe he could overtake the mighty Schwarber in the Derby championship round, Walker said a day after his win he never wavered in his belief that he would blossom into an everyday player and AllStar with the Cardinals.

He tinkered with his swing during an extend rehab assignment last season and the results were on full display in Philadelphia with 12 home runs in the final round.

“When my swing’s fluid and easy, that’s when it’s at it’s best,” Walker said. “That’s really what it is.”

Tampa Bay at Boston, 12:35 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Yankees, 6:05 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Boston, 6:10 p.m.

Texas at Atlanta, 6:15 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Toronto, 6:15 p.m.

Minnesota at Chicago Cubs, 7:05 p.m.

Baltimore at Houston, 7:10 p.m.

San Diego at Kansas City, 7:10 p.m.

Detroit at Los Angeles Angels, 8:38 p.m.

Washington at Athletics, 8:40 p.m.

San Francisco at Seattle, 10:10 p.m.

National League East Division Atlanta Philadelphia Miami Washington New York

W 55 54 52 48 41

L 40 44 45 49 57

Pct .579 .551 .536 .495 .418

GB — 2½ 4 8 15½

Milwaukee Chicago St. Louis Pittsburgh Cincinnati

W 59 54 50 50 43

L 37 42 45 47 52

Pct .615 .563 .526 .515 .453

GB — 5 8½ 9½ 15½

Central Division

West Division Los Angeles Arizona San Diego San Francisco Colorado

Tuesday’s game

W 61 49 48 41 39

L 36 47 48 55 59

Pct .629 .510 .500 .427 .398

GB — 11½ 12½ 19½ 22½

All-Star Game: AL 4, NL 0

J.Naylor, Seattle, 18; Acuña, Chicago, 15; Rocchio, Cleveland, 15; J.Duran, Boston, 14; Mullins, Tampa Bay, 14.

PITCHING — S.Gray, Boston, 11-1; G.Williams, Cleveland, 10-4; Bradley, Minnesota, 9-3; D.Martin, Chicago, 9-4; Schlittler, New York, 9-5; Eovaldi, Texas, 9-7; N.Martinez, Tampa Bay, 8-2; Cantillo, Cleveland, 8-4; Messick, Cleveland, 8-5; Lambert, Houston, 8-5; McClanahan, Tampa Bay, 8-5.

ERA — Schlittler, New York, 2.048; S.Gray, Boston, 2.540; Cease, Toronto, 2.563; N.Martinez, Tampa Bay, 2.649; Messick, Cleveland, 2.732; Ryan, Minnesota, 2.855; Hancock, Seattle, 3.171; Rasmussen, Tampa Bay, 3.262; L.Gilbert, Seattle, 3.316; Montero, Detroit, 3.329.

STRIKEOUTS — Cease, Toronto, 148; Schlittler, New York, 137; G.Williams, Cleveland, 134; Ryan, Minnesota, 128; Detmers, Los Angeles, 123; deGrom, Texas, 122; Eovaldi, Texas, 120; L.Gilbert, Seattle, 119; Bradley, Minnesota, 118; Gausman, Toronto, 116.

National League leaders

BATTING — O.Lopez, Miami, .334; Arraez, San Francisco, .330; Gonzales, Pittsburgh, .308; X.Edwards, Miami, .303; J.Lee, San Francisco, .302; Johnston, Colorado, .301; Marsh, Philadelphia, .301; McCarthy, Colorado, .301; Harris, Atlanta, .296; Rumfield, Colorado, .296.

RUNS — Wood, Washington, 89; Reynolds, Pittsburgh, 68; Turang, Milwaukee, 66; Ohtani, Los Angeles, 65; Olson, Atlanta, 64; Crow-Armstrong, Chicago, 63; Turner, Philadelphia, 62; J.Walker, St. Louis, 62; Albies, Atlanta, 61; O.Lopez, Miami, 61.

RBIs — J.Walker, St. Louis, 74; L.García, Washington, 68; Abrams, Washington, 67; Burleson, St. Louis, 67; Pages, Los Angeles, 66; S.Stewart, Cincinnati, 65; B.Lowe, Pittsburgh, 64; Wood, Washington, 64; O’Hearn, Pittsburgh, 63; Turang, Milwaukee, 60.

HITS — O.Lopez, Miami, 127; Arraez, San Francisco, 119; X.Edwards, Miami, 107; J.Walker, St. Louis, 105; Crow-Armstrong, Chicago, 104; Gonzales, Pittsburgh, 104; F.Freeman, Los Angeles, 103; Tatis, San Diego, 103; Wood, Washington, 103; Marsh, Philadelphia, 102.

DOUBLES — O.Lopez, Miami, 26; Devers, San Francisco, 25; Olson, Atlanta, 24; Burleson, St. Louis, 23; F.Freeman, Los Angeles, 23; Hoerner, Chicago, 23; Johnston, Colorado, 23; Turang, Milwaukee, 23; Wood, Washington, 23; Reynolds, Pittsburgh, 22; S.Stewart, Cincinnati, 22.

TRIPLES — Carroll, Arizona, 10; Arraez, San Francisco, 7; X.Edwards, Miami, 6; O.Lopez, Miami, 6; McCarthy, Colorado, 6; CrowArmstrong, Chicago, 4; Stott, Philadelphia, 4; 16 tied at 3.

HOME RUNS — Schwarber, Philadelphia, 32; Wood, Washington, 28; Goodman, Colorado, 27; Olson, Atlanta, 25; Ohtani, Los Angeles, 22; J.Walker, St. Louis, 22; J.Soto, New York, 21; B.Lowe, Pittsburgh, 21; Crow-Armstrong, Chicago, 21; L.García, Washington, 20; Harper, Philadelphia, 20; Abrams, Washington, 20.

STOLEN BASES — Nuñez, Washington, 34; Crow-Armstrong, Chicago, 24; Tatis, San Diego, 23; Cruz, Pittsburgh, 21; K.Griffin, Pittsburgh, 20; E.Ruiz, Miami, 20; Marsee, Miami, 19; Merrill, San Diego, 19; D.Hamilton, Milwaukee, 18; Mangum, Pittsburgh, 18.

PITCHING — Ashby, Milwaukee, 12-2; Burns, Cincinnati, 11-1; C.Sánchez, Philadelphia, 11-4; Wheeler, Philadelphia, 10-1; F.Griffin, Washington, 10-2; Wrobleski, Los Angeles, 10-2; Misiorowski, Milwaukee, 10-4; S.Alcantara, Miami, 10-5; Pallante, St. Louis, 10-6; Meyer, Miami, 9-1.

ERA — Misiorowski, Milwaukee, 1.622; Sale, Atlanta, 2.204; E.Rodriguez, Arizona, 2.289; Burns, Cincinnati, 2.542; Meyer, Miami, 2.583; C.Sánchez, Philadelphia, 2.615; Wrobleski, Los Angeles, 2.691; F.Griffin, Washington, 2.773; Yamamoto, Los Angeles, 2.846; McGreevy, St. Louis, 3.010.

STRIKEOUTS — Misiorowski, Milwaukee, 167; C.Sánchez, Philadelphia, 144; Luzardo, Philadelphia, 136; Skenes, Pittsburgh, 130; B.Ashcraft, Pittsburgh, 128; McLean, New York, 125; Burns, Cincinnati, 118; Sale, Atlanta, 117; Meyer, Miami, 116; Cavalli, Washington, 110.

Wednesday’s games

Golf

Thursday’s game

British Open

No games scheduled

New York Mets 4, Philadelphia 1

Friday’s games

Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Yankees, 6:05 p.m.

Texas at Atlanta, 6:15 p.m.

Miami at Milwaukee, 6:40 p.m.

Minnesota at Chicago Cubs, 7:05 p.m.

San Diego at Kansas City, 7:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

St. Louis at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.

Washington at Athletics, 8:40 p.m.

San Francisco at Seattle, 10:10 p.m.

N.Y. Mets 4, Philadelphia 1

New York Philadelphia ab r h bi ab r h bi Ewing cf 5 0 1 1 Turner ss 4 1 1 1 Soto lf 1 0 1 0 Schwarber dh 4 0 1 0 Taylor lf 1 0 0 0 Harper 1b 3 0 1 0 Bichette 3b 4 0 0 0 Marsh lf 4 0 0 0 Lindor ss 4 0 0 0 Bohm 3b 4 0 0 0 Benge rf 4 0 1 0 Stott 2b 3 0 0 0 Polanco dh 4 0 0 0 Realmuto c 3 0 1 0 Young 1b 2 1 0 0 Rincones rf 3 0 0 0 Baty 2b 4 1 2 1 Crawford cf 3 0 0 0 Alvarez c 3 2 2 2 Totals 32 4 7 4 Totals 31 1 4 1 New York 001 000 201 — 4 Philadelphia 000 000 010 — 1 E — Lindor (5), Turner (13). DP — New York 0, Philadelphia 3. LOB — New York 7, Philadelphia 4. 2B — Ewing (10), Harper (18), Schwarber (10). HR — Alvarez 2 (11), Baty (5), Turner (11). SB — Benge (16).

IP H R ER BB SO New York 0 0 7 Scott W,3-1 52⁄3 3 0 1 ⁄3 0 0 0 1 1 Raley H,13 Brazobán H,7 1 0 0 0 0 0 Weaver H,13 1 1 1 1 0 0 Williams S,14-17 1 0 0 0 0 1 Philadelphia Nola L,3-7 6 6 3 3 4 6 Bowlan 1 0 0 0 1 0 Johnson 2 1 1 1 1 2 Nola pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

ABS Challenge — Scott (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Young (Strike-Confirmed); Scott (Ball-Confirmed); Rincones (StrikeConfirmed).

Pitch timer violations — Nola (pitcher).

Umpires — Home, Dan Iassogna; First, Adam Beck; Second, Felix Neon; Third, Austin Jones.

T — 2:37. A — 40,109 (42,901).

American League leaders

BATTING — Y.Díaz, Tampa Bay, .322; Alvarez, Houston, .318; Jo.Jung, Texas, .298; Aranda, Tampa Bay, .297; Clement, Toronto, .296; Greene, Detroit, .288; Antonacci, Chicago, .287; Arozarena, Seattle, .286; Witt, Kansas City, .286; Contreras, Boston, .285.

RUNS — Neto, Los Angeles, 67; Alvarez, Houston, 65; Rice, New York, 64; Vargas, Chicago, 64; Caminero, Tampa Bay, 61; Kurtz, Athletics, 61; Alonso, Baltimore, 59; Arozarena, Seattle, 59; McGonigle, Detroit, 58; Trout, Los Angeles, 58.

RBIs — Alvarez, Houston, 70; Rice, New York, 68; Kurtz, Athletics, 66; Alonso, Baltimore, 65; Aranda, Tampa Bay, 64; Okamoto, Toronto, 62; Contreras, Boston, 61; Dingler, Detroit, 60; Bell, Minnesota, 60; Vargas, Chicago, 59; Caminero, Tampa Bay, 59.

HITS — Alvarez, Houston, 111; Y.Díaz, Tampa Bay, 111; Clement, Toronto, 106; Witt, Kansas City, 103; Aranda, Tampa Bay, 101; Jo.Jung, Texas, 100; Caminero, Tampa Bay, 99; Greene, Detroit, 99; McGonigle, Detroit, 99; Rafaela, Boston, 96.

DOUBLES — Clement, Toronto, 23; Jo.Jung, Texas, 23; Rafaela, Boston, 22; Witt, Kansas City, 22; Arozarena, Seattle, 21; Bell, Minnesota, 21; Nimmo, Texas, 21; Soderstrom, Athletics, 21; W.Abreu, Boston, 20; Neto, Los Angeles, 20; Peters, Chicago, 20; Vargas, Chicago, 20.

TRIPLES — C.Simpson, Tampa Bay, 6; Taveras, Baltimore, 5; Nimmo, Texas, 4; W.Abreu, Boston, 3; Bellinger, New York, 3; Clemens, Minnesota, 3; McGonigle, Detroit, 3; Peters, Chicago, 3; Rafaela, Boston, 3; Rice, New York, 3.

HOME RUNS — Alvarez, Houston, 31; Rice, New York, 29; Caminero, Tampa Bay, 28; Buxton, Minnesota, 25; C.Montgomery, Chicago, 23; Okamoto, Toronto, 22; Vargas, Chicago, 21; Langeliers, Athletics, 21; Alonso, Baltimore, 21; Murakami, Chicago, 20; Contreras, Boston, 20; Kurtz, Athletics, 20; C.Walker, Houston, 20.

STOLEN BASES — Witt, Kansas City, 30; Chisholm, New York, 26; Ramírez, Cleveland, 24; Caballero, New York, 22; C.Simpson, Tampa Bay, 22; Arozarena, Seattle, 19;

At Royal Birkdale; Southport, United Kingdom Purse: $17.8 million; Yardage: 7,223; Par: 70

First round

Jackson Suber, USA 34-31—65 -5 Daniel Brown, England 33-33—66 -4 Sungjae Im, South Korea 34-32—66 -4 Pierceson Coody, USA 33-34—67 -3 MJ Daffue, South Africa 32-35—67 -3 Bryson DeChambeau, USA 32-35—67 -3 Thomas Detry, Belgium 32-35—67 -3 Ryan Gerard, USA 30-37—67 -3 Robert MacIntyre, Scotland 33-34—67 -3 Francesco Molinari, Italy 34-33—67 -3 Alex Smalley, USA 31-36—67 -3 Cameron Young, USA 33-34—67 -3 Bud Cauley, USA 32-36—68 -2 Ryo Hisatsune, Japan 34-34—68 -2 Si Woo Kim, South Korea 33-35—68 -2 Joakim Lagergren, Sweden 33-35—68 -2 Collin Morikawa, USA 31-37—68 -2 Victor Perez, France 35-33—68 -2 Scottie Scheffler, USA 31-37—68 -2 Jordan L. Smith, England 34-34—68 -2 Henrik Stenson, Sweden 33-35—68 -2 Sepp Straka, Austria 35-33—68 -2 Nick Taylor, Canada 31-37—68 -2 Keegan Bradley, USA 34-35—69 -1 Laurie Canter, England 32-37—69 -1 Alex Fitzpatrick, England 32-37—69 -1 Tommy Fleetwood, England 33-36—69 -1 Ben Griffin, USA 33-36—69 -1 Tyrrell Hatton, England 32-37—69 -1 Kurt Kitayama, USA 35-34—69 -1 Shane Lowry, Ireland 33-36—69 -1 Shaun Norris, South Africa 33-36—69 -1 Aldrich Potgieter, South Africa 37-32—69 -1 Jon Rahm, Spain 33-36—69 -1 Kristoffer Reitan, Norway 33-36—69 -1 Antoine Rozner, France 34-35—69 -1 Matthew Southgate, England 35-34—69 -1 Matt Wallace, England 34-35—69 -1 Jacob Bridgeman, USA 34-36—70 E Hennie Du Plessis, South Africa 33-37—70 E Chris Gotterup, USA 34-36—70 E Russell Henley, USA 35-35—70 E Lucas Herbert, Australia 36-34—70 E Viktor Hovland, Norway 33-37—70 E Cameron John, Australia 34-36—70 E John Keefer, USA 36-34—70 E Tom Kim, South Korea 33-37—70 E Kazuma Kobori, New Zealand 36-34—70 E Brooks Koepka, USA 34-36—70 E Min Woo Lee, Australia 33-37—70 E Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra, Spain 35-35—70 E Jack McDonald, Scotland 32-38—70 E Marcus Plunkett, USA 35-35—70 E Jayden Trey Schaper, So. Africa 35-35—70 E J.J. Spaun, USA 35-35—70 E Andy Sullivan, England 34-36—70 E Justin Thomas, USA 34-36—70 E Michael Thorbjornsen, USA 34-36—70 E Sami Valimaki, Finland 35-35—70 E Ludvig Aberg, Sweden 36-35—71 +1 Josele Ballester, Spain 37-34—71 +1 Akshay Bhatia, USA 34-37—71 +1 Patrick Cantlay, USA 35-36—71 +1 Corey Conners, Canada 35-36—71 +1 Nicolas Echavarria, Colombia 34-37—71 +1 Rickie Fowler, USA 35-36—71 +1 Lev Grinberg, France 36-35—71 +1 Rasmus Hojgaard, Denmark 35-36—71 +1 Max Homa, USA 35-36—71 +1 Billy Horschel, USA 34-37—71 +1 Jake Knapp, USA 34-37—71 +1 Tom McKibbin, Northern Ireland 35-36—71 +1 Maverick McNealy, USA 33-38—71 +1 Ryutaro Nagano, Japan 33-38—71 +1 Alex Noren, Sweden 35-36—71 +1 John Parry, England 33-38—71 +1 J.T. Poston, USA 35-36—71 +1 Aaron Rai, England 34-37—71 +1 Xander Schauffele, USA 33-38—71 +1 Thomas Sloman, England 35-36—71 +1 Travis Smyth, Australia 35-36—71 +1 Sam Stevens, USA 34-37—71 +1 Sahith Theegala, USA 33-38—71 +1 Bernd Wiesberger, Austria 35-36—71 +1 Angel Ayora Fanegas, Spain 33-39—72 +2 Sam Bairstow, England 36-36—72 +2 Matthew Baldwin, England 35-37—72 +2 Michael Brennan, USA 35-37—72 +2 Joe Dean, England 36-36—72 +2 Matt Fitzpatrick, England 36-36—72 +2 Ryan Fox, New Zealand 35-37—72 +2 Daniel Hillier, New Zealand 33-39—72 +2 Nicolai Hojgaard, Denmark 36-36—72 +2 35-37—72 +2 Michael Hollick, South Africa Kota Kaneko, Japan 37-35—72 +2 Frederic Lacroix, France 36-36—72 +2 Hao-Tong Li, China 36-36—72 +2 Hideki Matsuyama, Japan 35-37—72 +2 Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland 35-37—72 +2 Keith Mitchell, USA 34-38—72 +2 Rasmus N.-Petersen, Denmark 36-36—72 +2 Marco Penge, England 35-37—72 +2

Patrick Reed, USA 36-36—72 +2 Adam Scott, Australia 36-36—72 +2 Caleb Surratt, USA 37-35—72 +2 Jack Buchanan, South Africa 37-36—73 +3 Sam Burns, USA 34-39—73 +3 Wyndham Clark, USA 36-37—73 +3 Darren Clarke, Northern Ireland 36-37—73 +3 Jason Day, Australia 35-38—73 +3 Alejandro De Castro Piera, Spain 35-38—73 +3 Alistair Docherty, USA 37-36—73 +3 David Duval, USA 34-39—73 +3 Harris English, USA 36-37—73 +3 Kazuki Higa, Japan 35-38—73 +3 Mason Howell, USA 34-39—73 +3 Casey Jarvis, South Africa 37-36—73 +3 Naoyuki Kataoka, Japan 36-37—73 +3 Michael Kim, USA 36-37—73 +3 Keita Nakajima, Japan 37-36—73 +3 Andrew Novak, USA 37-36—73 +3 Baard B. Skogen, Norway 36-37—73 +3 Cameron Smith, Australia 36-37—73 +3 Jordan Spieth, USA 36-37—73 +3 Jesper Svensson, Sweden 36-37—73 +3 Peter Uihlein, USA 35-38—73 +3 Tim Wiedemeyer, Germany 36-37—73 +3 Dan Bradbury, England 36-38—74 +4 Stewart Cink, USA 38-36—74 +4 Martin Couvra, France 37-37—74 +4 Brian Harman, USA 35-39—74 +4 David Howard, Ireland 36-38—74 +4 Francesco Laporta, Italy 34-40—74 +4 David Puig, Spain 35-39—74 +4 Tiger Christensen, Germany 36-39—75 +5 Fifa Laopakdee, Thailand 37-38—75 +5 Matthew McCarty, USA 35-40—75 +5 James Nicholas, USA 37-38—75 +5 Mateo Pulcini, Argentina 37-38—75 +5 Justin Rose, England 37-38—75 +5 Scott Vincent, Zimbabwe 35-40—75 +5 Daniel Berger, USA 35-41—76 +6 Eric Cole, USA 36-40—76 +6 Max Greyserman, USA 36-40—76 +6 Joaquin Niemann, Chile 38-38—76 +6 Nevill Ruiter, Netherlands 36-40—76 +6 Ren Yonezawa, Japan 37-39—76 +6 Stuart Grehan, Ireland 38-39—77 +7 Harry Hall, England 37-40—77 +7 Jeongwoo Ham, South Korea 38-39—77 +7 Matthew Jordan, England 41-36—77 +7 Adrien Saddier, France 38-39—77 +7 Jiho Yang, South Korea 40-37—77 +7 Gary Woodland, USA 36-42—78 +8 Austen Truslow, USA 39-40—79 +9 Padraig Harrington, Ireland 40-40—80+10

Soccer World Cup glance Semifinals

Tuesday’s score Spain 2, France 0 Wednesday’s score Argentina 2, England 1

Third-place game

Saturday France vs. England, 4 p.m.

Final

Sunday Spain vs. Argentina, 2 p.m.

Top scorers

Lionel Messi (Argentina): 8 goals (2 assists) Kylian Mbappé (France): 8 goals (3 assists) Erling Haaland (Norway): 7 goals Harry Kane (England): 6 goals Jude Bellingham (England): 6 goals

Most World Cups

5 titles: Brazil 4 titles: Germany, Italy 3 titles: Argentina 2 titles: France, Uruguay 1 title: England, Spain

Pro basketball WNBA glance EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlanta Indiana New York Washington Toronto Chicago Connecticut

W 14 14 13 12 10 8 6

L 10 10 11 11 14 16 18

Pct .583 .583 .542 .522 .417 .333 .250

Minnesota Golden State Las Vegas Dallas Los Angeles Portland Phoenix Seattle

W 19 18 17 16 10 11 8 6

L 6 7 7 8 13 14 17 20

Pct GB .760 — .720 1 .708 1½ .667 2½ .435 8 .440 8 .320 11 .231 13½

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Wednesday’s games

GB — — 1 1½ 4 6 8

Chicago 95, Seattle 90 Minnesota 96, Los Angeles 87 Golden State 88, Indiana 75

Thursday’s games

Portland 75 Washington 56 New York at Dallas, ppd.

Friday’s games

Atlanta at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Los Angeles at Chicago, 6:30 p.m.

Seattle at Indiana, 6:30 p.m.

Connecticut at Phoenix, 9 p.m.

Leaders Scoring

A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Marina Mabrey, Toronto Paige Bueckers, Dallas Kahleah Copper, Phoenix

25.5 22.6 21.0 20.7 20.5

Angel Reese, Atlanta Jessica Shepard, Dallas A’Ja Wilson, Los Vegas Kiki Iriafen, Washington Aneesah Morrow, Connecticut

11.8 11.6 9.8 9.7 9.4

Alyssa Thomas, Phoenix Caitlin Clark, Indiana Chelsea Gray, Las Vegas Jordin Canada, Atlanta Jackie Young, Los Vegas

8.0 7.7 7.4 7.4 6.6

A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Kia Stokes, Golden State Emily Engstler, Portland Kamilla Cardoso, Chicago Nia Coffey, Minneapolis

2.0 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.5

Rebounding

Assists

Blocked shots

Cycling Tour de France Stage 12

A 179.1-mile ride from Circuit Nevers MagnyCours to Chalon-sur-Saône Results 1. Tim Merlier, Belgium, Soudal Quick-Step, 03:38:53.

2. Olav Kooij, Netherlands, Decathlon CMA CGM Team, same time.

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

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

5. Milan Fretin, Belgium, Cofidis, same time.

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

7. Max Kanter, Germany, XDS Astana Team, same time.

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

9. Mads Pedersen, Denmark, Lidl-Trek, same time.

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

Overall standings 1. Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia, UAE Team Emirates XRG, 43:04:01.

2. Jonas Vingegaard Hansen, Denmark, Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 43:07:37.

3. Remco Evenepoel, Belgium, Red Bull — Bora — Hansgrohe, 43:08:07.

4. Juan Ayuso, Spain, Lidl-Trek, 43:08:23.

5. Paul Seixas, France, Decathlon CMA CGM Team, 43:08:36.

6. Florian Lipowitz, Germany, Red Bull — Bora — Hansgrohe, 43:08:45.

7. Isaac Del Toro, Mexico, UAE Team Emirates XRG, 43:09:09.

8. Mattias Skjelmose, Denmark, Lidl-Trek, 43:09:46.

9. Lenny Martinez, France, Bahrain Victorious, 43:10:35.

10. Tom Pidcock, Great Britain, PinarelloQ36.5 Pro Cycling Team, 43:15:50.

Transactions MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

National League NEW YORK METS — Designated SS Zack Short for assignment. Reinstated 2B Marcus Semien from the 10-day IL. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Agreed to terms with RHP Rayner Reyes on a minor league contract.

RERUN FUN

ROCK OUT

The Cary Saurage Community Arts Center Shell Gallery’s exhibit “Tell A Vision” runs through Aug. 14. Curated by Jay Schwarzhoff, it features the work of 21 artists who turned trashed TVs into works of art. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. MondayThursday, 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Friday, and noon-4 p.m. on first Sundays. artsbr.org.

Pink Floyd tribute band Brit Floyd will take the stage at the River Center Theatre for Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. Sunday to celebrate two of rock’s most iconic albums, “The Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wall.” Tickets are $63-$200. theatre.raisingcanesrivercenter.com.

THE FINAL FRONTIER

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND

The Highland Road Park Observatory will host Science Academy 10 a.m.-noon Saturday for ages 8-12. Cadets are brought into the world of astronomy and given a chance to explore gravity, simple machines, stars, spacecraft, meteors, the Earth-Moon system and more. $5. hrpo.lsu.edu/science-academy.

T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M

|

F r i d ay, J u ly 17, 2026

1dN

UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL

Event gears up with curated features Staff report The Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival will present nine feature-length films, two extended short films and 56 short film projects for its sophomore event Aug. 27-30 at the Manship Theatre.

The nonprofit festival whittled down the final lineup from more 400 independent submissions from around the country and the world.

“Louisiana has always played an important role in the legacy of independent cinema,” says BRUFF Creative Director Nathan Hall. “Our festival ensures that the Capital City continues that legacy, remaining a filmfriendly destination for filmmakers and moviegoers alike. If you love movies, you’ll love BRUFF.” In addition to the screenings, BRUFF will host seven panels, ranging in topics from financial knowledge to fundamentals of filmmaking. Attendees have the opportunity to win prizes, engage directly with industry professionals, and discover topics that are specific to their careers.

‘THE ADDAMS FAMILY MUSICAL’ Sullivan Theater’s production of ‘The Addams Family’ musical

WHEN: July 17-19, July 23-26, July 30-Aug. 2. Sunday matinees begin at 2 p.m.All other performances begin at 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Sullivan Theater, 8849 Sullivan Road, Central.

ADMISSION: $28-$39.

TICKETS sullivantheater.com/tickets TICKETS:

PROVIDED PHOTO

By MATTHEW WALKER

Sullivan Theater’s ‘Addams Family’ household are, back row from left, Peter Blanchard as Lurch, Louis Mangiaracina as Gomez Addams, Carole Moore as Morticia Addams and Mallory Taylor as Uncle Fester; front row, Amy Himel Gomez as Grandma Addams, Autumn Dedon as Pugsley Addams and Michelle Willis as Wednesday Addams.

Love is in the air, but not everything is as it seems when Sullivan opens show

PROVIDED PHOTO

Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival attendees take in a film screening at the Manship Theatre in August 2025.

Alongside these panels will be five hands-on workshops where filmmakers can get industrylevel training from local organizations.

BRUFF also will host InDepth Live! as part of their workshop series. Here, attendees can learn from Mike James Gallagher and Mark Mangini about the intricacies of sound design on Hollywood productions like “Dune” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” “The Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival returns as a focal point for crew training for the Louisiana film industry, says BRUFF Financial Director Joe Carleton. “In year two, the festival has already expanded to include more workshops and panels than in its first year. Education is a clear focus for this organization, and we look forward to seeing our filmmakers grow as a result.”

The full festival schedule is available at BatonRougeUnderground.com.

Tickets are on sale now at manshiptheatre.org. Cost is $75 for the full event pass, and $30 for a day pass, with discounts available for students.

ä See FILM FEST, page 2D

Wednesday Addams is in love.

Yes, the same girl who prides herself on terror and torture. She’s in love with a seemingly normal guy but wants to keep it secret.

This is really what ‘The Addams Family Musical’ is more so about than Wednesday’s love life. Secrets. Lots of them.

BY ROBIN MILLER | Staff writer

So many secrets, in fact, that it rattles the quirky core binding the Addams family while also smashing the illusion of happiness maintained

by Lucas Beineke’s family. ä See FAMILY, page 2D

Kanye West, aka Ye, announces Superdome concert

BY KEITH SPERA

public on Friday.

A link to preregister for ticket access is available at yelouisiana.com.

Rapper Ye, previously The New Orleans date known as Kanye West, has is one of only five conannounced that his intermittent stadium tour is certs currently listed on headed for the Caesars Suhis website, two of which West are in Europe. perdome in New Orleans.

He’s scheduled to perform July He is slated to headline the Su30 in Madrid; and Aug. 7 in Alperdome on Friday, Aug. 28.

Tickets go on sale to the general garve, Portugal.

Staff writer

After the New Orleans show on Aug. 28, he’ll play two shows Sept.

3-4 at Chicago’s Soldier Field, if all goes as planned.

West last performed in New Orleans on Dec. 5, 2013, when his “Yeezus Tour” stopped at what is now the Smoothie King Center.

He appeared at the Essence Festival of Culture in the Superdome in 2008 and 2011.

In addition, West staged one of

his “Sunday Service” concerts beneath the giant white crosses on the Bethany Church South lawn in Baton Rouge in 2019. Despite the last-minute announcement for the event, the open-air concert drew thousands. He had released his first gospel album the previous week.

West opened the show with

ä See KANYE, page 3D

2D ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

SHOWS TO WATCH — BATON ROUGE AREA FRIDAY

HONKY TONK PLAYBOYS: T’Quilas, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

HISTORICAL HAPPY HOUR FEATURING JUST A TRACE: West Baton Rouge Museum, Port Allen, 6 p.m.

ACOUSTICRATS: The Brakes Bar, 6 p.m.

CAM PYLE: Galvez Seafood, Prairieville, 6 p.m.

MIKE ESNEAULT: Stab’s Restaurant, 6 p.m.

3 BLIND MICE: Sullivan’s Steakhouse, 6 p.m.

EDDIE SMITH: El Paso, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

JOSHUA MAGEE: BLDG 5, 6 p.m.

STONE SOBER: Court to Table, 6:30 p.m.

DERRICK LEMON: Le Chien Brewing Co., Denham Springs, 6:30 p.m.

JOVIN WEBB: Bin 77, 7 p.m.

WUNDERKIND: Copa Restaurant, Gonzales, 7 p.m.

THE REMNANTS: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 7 p.m.

THE LEE SERIO BAND: Phil Brady’s, 7:30 p.m.

LAUREN LEE: T-Fred’s Tiki Bar, Prairieville, 8 p.m.

BUBBA PLAUCHÉ: Spanky’s, 8 p.m.

LOGAN SOILEAU: The Edge Bar at L’Auberge, 9 p.m.

LA WESTWIND: Churchill’s, 9 p.m.

KENDALL SHAFFER: Crazy Dave’s, Livingston, 9 p.m.

MCFLY: Icehouse Tap Room, 9 p.m.

SYLAS FAUST TRIO: Fred’s on the River, Prairieville, 9 p.m.

JT MCCAFFREY: Double D Daiquiris, Denham Springs, 9 p.m.

BRIAN & THE BANDITS: Coop’s on 621, Gonzales, 9 p.m.

JOEY & THE JUMPER CABLES: Fat Cat Saloon, Prairieville, 9 p.m.

CANE FEVER: The Vineyard, 9 p.m.

DOWNBEAT LOUISIANA: Swamp Chicken Daiquiris, St. Amant, 9 p.m.

SATURDAY

TAYLOR NAUTA: Leola’s Café, 11 a.m.

‘HOOD FEST: Main Library at Goodwood, noon RICKY PATTERSON: Fred’s on the River, Prairieville, 2 p.m.

IAN WEBSTER DUO: Sullivan’s Steakhouse, 5:30 p.m.

RODNEY BOYD: Central City, 5:30 p.m.

ACOUSTICRATS: Electric Depot, 6 p.m.

ARNETT HAYES: Stab’s Restaurant, 6 p.m.

PHOEBE KOONTZ: BLDG 5, 6 p.m.

THE COOL BEANS: T’Quilas, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

STONE SOBER: Victoria’s Mexican, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

DON POURCIAU & KONSPIRACY: El Paso, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

HOT LINKS: Court to Table, 6:30 p.m.

DONNIE CARVAJAL: Le Chien Brewing Co., Denham Springs, 6:30 p.m.

DIZZY: Bin 77, 7 p.m.

MIKE HOGAN: Copa Restaurant, Gonzales, 7 p.m.

RHODES, MAURER & FRIENDS: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 7 p.m.

GRAND COUNTRY JUNCTION: Suma Crossing Theatre, Satsuma, 7 p.m.

ALLISON COLLINS: Patio Lounge, 8 p.m.

LOUISIANA LANDFALL: Fred’s on the River, Prairieville, 8 p.m.

BRIAN & THE BANDITS: Sandy’s Daiquiris, Port Allen, 8 p.m.

CLEVE: Churchill’s, 9 p.m.

JOEL COOPER & SCOTT JORDAN: The Vineyard, 9 p.m.

SAVANT: The Basin Music Hall, 9 p.m.

KENDALL SHAFFER BAND: Fat Cat Saloon, Prairieville, 9 p.m.

TREY MORGAN: Swamp Chicken Daiquiris, St. Amant, 9 p.m.

JAKE ROUNDS: Crazy Dave’s, Livingston, 9 p.m.

THREAT LEVEL MIDNIGHT: Double D

Daiquiris, Denham Springs, 9 p.m.

SUNDAY

KASEY BALL: Copa Restaurant, Gonzales, 10 a.m.

RACHAEL & ERIC: Leola’s Café, 11 a.m.

JOVIN WEBB: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 11 a.m.

JUSTIN BURDETTE TRIO: Superior GrillMidCity, 11 a.m.

RHETT GUILLOT: Locals Central, noon JAZZ BRUNCH: Red Stick Social, noon T-BOY & JUST US: Fred’s on the River, Prairieville, 3 p.m.

CAJUN JAM: West Baton Rouge Museum, Port Allen, 3 p.m.

MIKE HOGAN: Icehouse Tap Room, 4 p.m.

SONGWRITER SUNDAYS: La Divina Italian Cafe, 5 p.m.

OPEN MIC JAM: Fat Cat Saloon, Prairieville, 7 p.m.

BRIT FLOYD: River Center Theatre for Performing Arts, 7:30 p.m.

MONDAY

RHETT ANTHONY: Superior Grill-MidCity, 6 p.m.

BUCK MEEK: Chelsea’s Live, 7 p.m.

TUESDAY

GARRETT REMSON DUO: Superior GrillMidCity, 6 p.m.

EDDIE SMITH: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 6:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

JENNA & DON: Superior Grill-MidCity, 6 p.m.

BRENT ARMSTRONG: Danny’s Dive Bar, 6 p.m.

LSU JAZZ JAM: Classic Vinyls, 6 p.m.

TAYLOR NAUTA: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 6:30 p.m.

KIRK HOLDER: Bin 77, 6:30 p.m.

SONGWRITERS OPEN MIC WITH HEATH RANSONNET: Coop’s on 621, Gonzales, 7 p.m.

ANDY PIZZO TRIO: Hayride Scandal, 7:30 p.m.

OPEN MIC JAM: O’Hara’s Irish Pub, 8 p.m.

THURSDAY

BRIAN RITTENHOUSE: T’Quilas, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

WUNDERKIND: El Paso, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

STEVE JUDICE, RYAN HARRIS & JASON HARRINGTON: La Divina Italian Cafe, 6 p.m.

BRANDON NICHOLSON: Superior GrillMidCity, 6 p.m.

KYBALION: El Paso, 6 p.m.

CAITLYN RENEE: Thai Kitchen, 6 p.m.

MATT HOLT: Luna Cocina, 6 p.m.

DON POURCIAU & KONSPIRACY: Pedros, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

BEN RAGSDALE: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 6:30 p.m.

ENUF: Swamp Chicken Daiquiris, St. Amant, 7 p.m.

KICKS BAND: Gino’s Italian, 8 p.m.

HENRY TURNER JR. & ALL-STARS: Henry Turner Jr.’s Listening Room, 8 p.m.

KENDALL SHAFFER DUO: Fat Cat Saloon, Prairieville, 8 p.m.

HEATH RANSONNET: The Vineyard, 9 p.m.

BLUES JAM: Phil Brady’s, 9 p.m.

OUTLYING FRIDAY

TREY & PAUL: Bayou Sara Brewing, St. Francisville, 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY

AVERY LANDRUM: Bayou Sara Brewing, St. Francisville, 1 p.m.

COVER-6: Big J’s Side Porch, Clinton, 6 p.m.

Compiled by Marchaund Jones.

Want your venue’s music listed?

Email info/photos to showstowatch@ theadvocate.com.

The deadline is noon FRIDAY for the following Friday’s paper.

FAMILY

Continued from page 1D Lucas is Wednesday’s love interest. He’s played by Tyler Brian in Sullivan Theater’s production of “The Addams Family,” opening Friday on its stage at 8849 Sullivan Road, Central.

Broadway debut The musical made its Broadway premiere on April 8, 2010, in the LuntFontanne Theatre, treating audiences to all of the beloved characters from Charles Addams’ daily comic strip, which inspired the 1960s television series, which inspired the 1990s movies.

And through each iteration, the family’s gothic authenticity is a constant.

The family, in this production, is headed by Gomez, the hopeless romantic patriarch played by Louis Mangiaracina, and Morticia, the aloof and unbreakable matriarch played by Carole Moore.

But in the spotlight is the brooding Wednesday, played by Michelle Willis, who not only has fallen in love with a normal guy, she’s sworn her dad to silence about her secret.

He’s not even allowed to tell Morticia, the one person from whom he’s never kept a secret.

“But he has to keep this secret from her,” Mangiaracina said. “And it causes trouble for him later.”

Well familiar with Gomez Mangiaracina knows Gomez well. He played the Addams dad in a high school production.

“It was my first musical,” he said. “And when I learned that Sullivan would be doing ‘The Addams Family,’ I thought, ‘Why not do it again?’”

Why not, indeed? Especially when there’s so much comedy intertwined within Gomez’s romantic disposition. And Mangiaracina believes this added comedy to Gomez’s character

PROVIDED PHOTO

By MATTHEW WALKER

Tyler Brian plays Wednesday Addams’ love interest, Lucas Beineke.

differentiates the musical from both the television and movie versions of the family.

“He’s just so funny in this show,” he said. “That’s just what makes it so different.”

Some of that comedy does arise from his alliance with Wednesday, whose odd love for Lucas seems real. But why? Wednesday is as unbreakable as her mom, a cynic whose unapologetic morbid view of the world is laced in dark comedy.

And Lucas? He’s just an everyday guy living a normal life. Or is he?

“I think Wednesday is very attracted to the fact that Tyler seems like a normal person, but in reality, there’s something lurking underneath the surface that she latches on to,” Brian said. “And because of that, he latches on to Wednesday. So, they suit each other more than people would think when they first look at them.”

The truth is revealed

Meanwhile, Wednesday’s younger brother Pugsly, played by Autumn Dedon, doesn’t like any of it and decides to bring the truth to Email Robin Miller at light — or at least to what- romiller@theadvocate. ever light is available in the com.

N O R T H A M ER I CA’S

FILM FEST

Continued from page 1D

Call for volunteers

Join the ranks of the Underdogs by volunteering to take tickets, set up and tear down, workshop assistance, monitoring panels and more.

All volunteers will receive a badge for the festival. In order to receive a badge, at least two time slots will need to be registered for via the BRUFF Volunteer Application on the fest’s Instagram page and at https://forms. gle/dBEDPzfDuGCfhGLK8.

Library forum In advance of the main event, the Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival will host a satellite event along with the East Baton Rouge Public Library. A filmmaker forum is set for 6 p.m.

Wednesday, July 22, at the Main Library at Goodwood.

A panel of filmmakers from Louisiana will speak about their experience, how they got into the industry, and best tips for new and current filmmakers alike.

The forum will also double as a networking event where artists can get to know each other and find like-minded members of their community.

“Attending community events is pivotal for growing your career and network. BRUFF’s filmmaker forum is one great example of the festival’s robust education impact on the filmmaking community in Baton Rouge,” says BRUFF Events Director Kelly Swift.

“Whether it’s to meet fellow filmmakers, people in the industry, or to simply share ideas about the community, attend the forum to broaden

your reach and connect with like-minded creatives in the industry.”

Sponsors, grants, donations With support from sponsors, the festival will be able to provide three grants to young filmmakers. The Shoestring Grant will award $5,000 cash to a filmmaker to use on a new project. The LBLE Pictures Gear Grant will award a director or cinematographer with one week’s rental of a 1-ton grip and electric package. The Celtic Studios Grant will award a filmmaker with five days of stage space.

A list of sponsors can be found at BatonRougeUnderground.com/#sponsors.

Individuals can donate to support the nonprofit organization on BRUFF website and at https://www.paypal. com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DEP48THG3JFM8.

Addams’ dark quarters — when Lucas and his parents are invited to dinner.

How? Well, it’s not giving away any spoilers to reveal that Pugsly has a truth serum in his possession. But it would be a major spoiler to reveal exactly what happens when he laces everyone’s beverages with it at dinner.

Mingling in the midst of all the action are the Addams’ ancestors, who have ventured out of their graves for the annual family celebration of all Addamses, living or dead.

This is where director Matt Miyagi was able to wield his own magic into the production.

“I had a really fun idea to make the ancestors different in this show,” he said. “Typically, the ancestors, as they’re written in the script, are a bride, a caveman, et cetera. But I decided that the ancestors would be a mix of historical figures, along with Tim Burton characters. So, we have the Corpse Bride from Tim Burton’s movie, Katrina Anne Van Tassel from ‘Sleepy Hollow,’ Jack Skellington from ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas,’ Zelda Fitzgerald and others. I just felt like it was something different, something I hadn’t seen before and I wanted to explore that.”

“The Addams Family” marks Miyagi’s Sullivan Theater directorial debut, though he honed his ghoulish comedy skills by directing a Theatre Baton Rouge production of “The Rocky Horror Show.”

But the Addams crew is much bigger than that of “Rocky.”

“We have 24 in the cast,” Miyagi said. “So, this is a huge show.”

A show with love and secrets that stand ready to be revealed in the mysterious and spooky and all together ooky Addams Family abode.

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ 3D

AROUND BATON ROUGE FRIDAY-SATURDAY

EVENING SKY VIEWING: 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., BREC Highland Road Park Observatory, 13800 Highland Road.

See the majesty of the night sky, for those 6 and up. hrpo. lsu.edu/events.

SATURDAY

RED STICK FARMERS MARKET: 8 a.m. to noon, Fifth and Main streets, downtown. Farmfresh produce and goods, including wine, seafood, plants, flowers, prepared and baked items and more. breada.org.

NPC NATURAL MUSCLE BODY BUILDING COMPETITION: 9 a.m.-8 p.m., Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St. For more information or to sign up as a competitor, visit the Louisiana Muscle site, https://louisianamuscle.com/ natural-muscle.

FAMILY-HOUR STARGAZING: 10 a.m., Irene W. Pennington Planetarium at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 S. River Road. Learn about the stars and constellations in the local nighttime sky, followed by an all-ages show. lasm.org.

HAPPY’S 5000 5K & BEER RUN: 5 p.m.-7 p.m., North Boulevard Town Square. A benefit for Keep Tiger Town Beautiful.

Includes the fast 5K, Beer Mile and festive costume contest.

Also, Southern food along with beverages. $25-$65. https://runsignup.com.

SUNDAY

CAJUN MUSIC JAM SESSION: 3 p.m.-5 p.m., West Baton Rouge Museum, 845 N. Jefferson Ave., Port Allen. With host musician Cajun accordion artist Sheryl Cormier. All Cajun musicians, dancers and fans invited. Free. westbatonrougemuseum.org.

TUESDAY

RED STICK FARMERS MARKET: 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Main Library at Goodwood, 7711 Goodwood Blvd. Farm-fresh produce, goods, cooking demonstrations. breada.org.

BATON ROUGE CHESS CLUB: 6 p.m.-8 p.m., La Divina Italian Cafe, 3535 Perkins Road, Unit 360. A chance to play and learn; all levels welcome. Free.

TUESDAY AND THURSDAY

TWILIGHT TOURS: 6 p.m.7:30 p.m., BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo, 3000 Zoo Circle. Take a tram ride through the zoo in the cool of the evening, enjoy a narrated ride through the zoo, an animal encounter at the Wildlife Safari Theatre and an evening snack. Adults and teens, $16; children ages 2-12, $13; registration required. https://brzoo.org/.

WEDNESDAY

RED STICK FARMERS MARKET: 9 a.m. to noon, ExxonMobil YMCA, 7711 Howell Blvd.

Farm-fresh produce, goods and more. www.facebook. com/redstickfarmersmarket.

THURSDAY

RED STICK FARMERS MARKET: 8 a.m. to noon, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 6400 Perkins Road. Farm-fresh produce, goods and more. facebook.com/redstickfarmersmarket.

OUTDOOR COMMUNITY YOGA: 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., pavilion by the pond, LSU Hilltop Arboretum, 11855 Highland Road. Drop-in; no registration required; bring your own mat.

Free, but donations welcome. lsu.edu/hilltop.

WEEKLY SOCIAL BIKE RIDE: 7:30 p.m., Geaux Ride, 601 Laurel St. Free.

geauxridebikes.com.

KARAOKE, TRIVIA, BINGO AND MORE: 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., Brickyard South Bar + Patio, 174 South Blvd. Presented by BarFly Entertainment. Free to play. acebook.com/brickyardsouth.

ONGOING

ANN CONNELLY FINE ART: 1670 Lobdell Ave. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Free. (225) 927-7676 or annconnelly.com.

ART GUILD OF LOUISIANA: Independence Park Theatre, 7800 Independence Blvd.

“Workshop Show,” through Sept. 9. Life Drawing sessions 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Wednesdays. $15 per session; open studio; no instruction. Classes are held at AGL Park Studio, 2490 Silverest Ave. BATON ROUGE GALLERY CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART: 1515 Dalrymple Drive. Works

by Mitchell Gaudet, Mark Jane Parker and Brandon Surtain, through July 26. Hours: noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. batonrougegallery.org.

CAPITOL PARK MUSEUM: 660 N. Fourth St. “We the People,” a living portrait of 21st-century American identity through nearly 200 paired photographs by Steven G. Smith shown across two giant screens, together measuring about 12 feet high and 36 feet wide, through Jan. 2, 2027.

(225) 342-5428 or louisianastatemuseum.org.

CARY SAURAGE COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER SHELL GALLERY: 233 St. Ferdinand St. “Tell A Vision,” through Aug. 14. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. artsbr.org.

ELIZABETHAN GALLERY: 680 Jefferson Highway. Call (225) 924-6437 or follow the gallery’s Facebook page.

THE GALLERY AT MANSHIP: 100 Lafayette St. “The Monsters We Sometimes Become,” multimedia art exhibition featuring original works of artist Nathaniel A.J. Landry with an original musical score and live performance

by Monoblack, through Aug. 14. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Monday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Tuesday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

KNOCK KNOCK CHILDREN’S MUSEUM: 1900 Dalrymple Drive. Offering interactive exhibits, programs and resources that inspire children to become creative problem solvers and lifelong learners.

Summer hours are 10 a.m.4 p.m. daily, through Aug. 3. https://knockknockmuseum. org.

LOUISIANA ART & SCIENCE MUSEUM: 100 S. River Road.

“Permanent Impressions: Women Defining Our Louisiana Collection,” through Aug. 2; “Spirit of the Swamp: The Photography of Julia Sims,” through Aug. 9; “Then, And Now, And Always: The Artwork of Nick Bustamante,” through July 19; “Crossroads & Connections: A Century of the Railway in Baton Rouge,” through Oct. 1; and “Going Places: Transportation Toys of the Past,” through Aug. 9. (225) 344-5272 or lasm.org.

LSU MUSEUM OF ART: Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St. “ReVision: Women in Photography,” through Aug. 30. “South Arts Southern Prize & State Fellowships for Visual Arts, through Sept. 6. “The Folk Art Gallery,” through June 30, 2027. (225) 389-7200 or lsumoa.org.

LSU TEXTILE & COSTUME MUSEUM: Human Ecology

TODAY IN HISTORY at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California.

In 1945, following Nazi Today is Friday, July 17, the 198th day of 2026. There Germany’s surrender, are 167 days left in the year. President Harry S. Truman, Soviet leader Josef Stalin Today in History: and British Prime Minister On July 17, 1955, DisneyWinston S. Churchill began land opened in Anaheim, California, after its $17 mil- meeting at Potsdam in lion, yearlong construction; the final Allied summit of the park drew a million visi- World War II. In 1981, 114 people were tors in its first 10 weeks. killed when a pair of susAlso on this date: In 1862, during the Civil pended walkways above the War, Congress approved the lobby of the Kansas City Second Confiscation Act, Hyatt Regency Hotel colwhich declared that all enlapsed during a tea dance.

In 1996, TWA Flight 800, slaved people taking refuge a Europe-bound Boeing behind Union lines were to 747, exploded and crashed be set free. off Long Island, New York, In 1902, Willis Carrier shortly after departing produced a set of designs for what would become the John F. Kennedy Internaworld’s first modern airtional Airport, killing all conditioning system.

230 people on board.

In 1936, the Spanish Civil In 2014, all 298 pasWar began as right-wing sengers and crew aboard army generals launched a Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 coup attempt against the were killed when the BoeSecond Spanish Republic. ing 777 was shot down over In 1944, during World War rebel-held eastern Ukraine; II, 320 men, two-thirds of both Ukraine’s government them African Americans, and pro-Russian separatists were killed when a pair of denied responsibility. ammunition ships exploded In 2020, civil rights icon

By The Associated Press

KANYE

Get your family. Y’all hold hands and pray. … Raise our Continued from page 1D sons. Train them in the faith, through temptations. Make sure they’re wide awake. a song from the album, Follow Jesus. Listen and obey.”

“Closed on Sunday.”

Another of the night’s se“You my Chick-Fil-A,” West rapped. “Hold the lections, “Follow God,” feaselfies. Put the ’gram away. tured West’s signature rap-

John Lewis, whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanize opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated career in Congress, died at age 80.

In 2022, a report said nearly 400 law enforcement officials rushed to a mass shooting that left 21 people dead at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, but “egregiously poor decision-making” resulted in a chaotic scene that lasted more than an hour before the gunman was finally confronted and killed.

Today’s birthdays: Former sportscaster Verne Lundquist is 86. Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom is 79. Rock musician Terry “Geezer” Butler is 77. Actor Lucie Arnaz is 75. Actor David Hasselhoff is 74.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel is 72. Film director Wong Kar-wai is 68. Television producer Mark Burnett is 66. Singer Regina Belle is 63. Country music artist Craig Morgan

ping alongside the chorus’ sung lines of “stretch out my hands to you.”

His career in recent years has been overshadowed by a series of controversies and unconventional affiliations.

is 62. Rock musician Lou Barlow is 60. Actor Bitty Schram (TV: “Monk”) is 58. Actor Jason Clarke is 57. Movie director F. Gary Gray is 57. Country singer Luke Bryan is 50. Film director/screenwriter Justine Triet is 48. R&B singer Jeremih is 39. Actor Billie Lourd is 34. NHL center Connor Bedard is 21.

Building, Tower Drive, LSU campus. “Quilts & Fashion,” exploring the enduring dialogue between quilt making and dress, through Jan. 15, 2027. (225) 578-5992 or email textile@lsu.edu.

MAGNOLIA MOUND MUSEUM + HISTORIC SITE: 2161 Nicholson Drive. Guided and selfguided tours. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Monday-Saturday and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. brec.org/ facility/MagnoliaMound.

MANSHIP THEATRE JONES WALKER FOYER: 100 Lafayette St. “Michalopoulos,” through Friday. Free and open during regular Shaw Center building hours unless there is a private event.

OLD GOVERNOR’S MANSION: 502 North Blvd. Open for tours. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Monday-Friday. Free admission. oldgovernorsmansion. com.

OLD STATE CAPITOL: 100 North Blvd. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Tuesday-Saturday, plus Free First Sunday. “Excursions, Expeditions, and Discoveries: A Young Nation Expands & Reimaging America: The Maps of Lewis & Clark,” through Dec.

18. Free. louisianaoldstatecapitol.org.

USS KIDD VETERANS MUSEUM: 305 S. River Road. Displays of a variety of artifacts that celebrate veteran and naval military history. Note: Vessel is in Houma for dry dock repairs. usskidd.com.

WEST BATON ROUGE MUSEUM: 845 N. Jefferson Ave., Port Allen. Travel exhibit “Awkward Family Photos,” through Aug. 9. (225) 336-2422 or westbatonrougemuseum.org.

Compiled by Judy Bergeron. Have an open-to-the-public event you’d like to promote? Email details to red@theadvocate.com.

Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday for the following Friday’s paper.

THEADVOCATE.COM/SUBSCRIBE

Living Waters has affordable rooms and houses for rent.

Please call our office for more information at 225-356-7142

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4D ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

FrAnK And erneSt

roSebUdS

zItS

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zodIAC cANcER (June 21-July 22) A little charm will carry you a long way when dealing with personal situations and people you want to keep by your side. Stick to the truth and offer incentives. Be a good listener.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Explore possibilities, but hold your thoughts while gathering information. Big talkers will be misleading and eager to take advantage of you if you give them the chance. You can be direct, but don't give away your ideas.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Wait and watch.

The changes unfolding around you will have consequences that can hurt your status quo. Pay more attention to what you can control, and invest more time and effort in expanding your interests.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Take a disciplined approach to learning, using your skills and outmaneuvering anyone who challenges you. Opportunities are apparent, but obstacles exist. Choosing the right path will be difficult. scoRPIo (oct. 24-Nov. 22) An open mind will lead to seminars, documentaries and conversations with informative people who spark your imagination and encourage you to go on a learning expedition. sAGITTARIus (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) If you venture off course, you'll encounter emotionally manipulative people. Your best opportunities will come from being selfserving, not counting on others to do things for you. cAPRIcoRN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Take note where your money goes. Don't feel you have to pay for others' entertainment or

mistakes. Let your income reflect your lifestyle. Don't hesitate to have tough talks with anyone you feel is taking advantage of you.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) An opportunity to work in a field that offers security or to surround yourself with people who share your beliefs will encourage you to get out more and enjoy what life has to offer.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Choose your battles wisely. Concentrate on nurturing important relationships. Social events, entertainment and activities you enjoy will put you in a good mood and give you a chance to meet people.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Choose a creative outlet or social event that favors a hobby or pastime you enjoy. Participation will lead to an interesting offer or concept that can change your lifestyle or how you earn your living.

TAuRus (April 20-May 20) Socializing will lead to interesting conversations and an opportunity to hear about a professional opportunity or an introduction to someone of interest. Don't feel obligated to show off.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) You'll face emotional obstacles if you participate in competitive challenges that put your physical well-being in jeopardy. It's OK to cheer from the sidelines.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

For better or For WorSe WonderWord

peAnUtS

SALLY Forth

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

ToDAy's cLuE: K EQuALs s

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ 5D

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CurTiS

Hi and LoiS

Sudoku InstructIons: Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers.

The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

BaBY BLueS

BLondie

THe wiZard oF id

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La TimeS CroSSword

6D ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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B.C.

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER Gary Player said, “A good golfer has the determination to win and the patience to wait for the breaks.”

At the bridge table, the break in one suit can influence how declarer plays.

In this example deal, South is in four spades. West cashes his three top clubs, then shifts to the heart three. How should declarer continue after taking East’s queen with his ace?

North, despite having a balanced hand, raises to two spades with three good trumps because he is very weak in an unbid suit. If his side belongs in three no-trump, probably South should be the declarer. And here, when South jumps to four spades, he ought to have at least a five-card suit so that he can guarantee an eight-card fit.

South has nine top tricks: five spades, one heart and three diamonds. He needs to establish a fourth diamond trick. This will be easy if diamonds are breaking 3-3, but if they are 4-2, declarer will have to ruff a diamond in his hand, draw trumps and be in the dummy to cash the last two diamonds.

The key question is: How are the trumps dividing?

South cashes his spade queen, then plays a spade to dummy’s king. If they split 4-1, declarer will have to draw

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

trumps and hope that the diamonds divide 3-3. Here, though, he next plays a diamond to his ace, returns a diamond to dummy’s queen, ruffs a diamond high in his hand, leads a spade to dummy’s ace (drawing West’s last trump), and cashes the diamond king and six for his contract. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

wuzzles Each Wuzzle is a word riddle which creates a disguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD = GOOD AFTERNOON

PiCKles

Previous answers:

mallard fillmore

word game INsTRucTIoNs: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3.

Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

ToDAy’s WoRD — GLABRous: GLAY-bruss: Smooth.

Bizarro

marmaduKe

Average mark 24 words Time limit 40 minutes Can you find 33 or more words in GLABROUS? yEsTERDAy’s WoRD — VEsTuRE veer verse vert vertu vest ever evert seer sere serve sever

steer suer suet sure terse tree true user reset rest reuse

revet revue ruse rust

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “The Lord bless you, and keep you: The Lord make his face shine on you, and be gracious to you: The Lord lift up his countenance on you, and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 Amen! G.E. Dean

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ 7D

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Baton Rouge Real Estate For Sale AREA 2

NEWLY UPDATED! 6726 PINE ISLAND AVE. $245,000, Approx. P & I $1,480 Forest Heights S/D Off Mickens Rd, 3BR 2BA, w/Cent/H/A Freshly Painted Int./Ext. New Ceramic FLR thru out, & New Kit Countertop Enclosed Screen Patio, Rear Dbl Carport w/Storage Shed & F'd B.Y. Call Charles for Your Showing 225-266-4078 Roy Carter Realty 225-357-6436

classifieds.theadvocate.com | 225-383-0111 Announcements Former yellow cab Drivers requested for Monday - Friday for Shopping and Errands. Will pay for Round Trip destinations & waiting. Larger vehicle preferred.

Call 225-768-7798 458BJ201YK1000400 ARKANSAS BOATS LLC is stored at 6440 Rawlins St, Baton Rouge, LA 70805. If all current charges are not paid and vehicle claimed by the owner by 08/04/2026 a Permit to Sell may be obtained.

194201-July 17 & 20, 2t $151 ANYONE knowing the whereabouts of CHRISTINE WILLIAMS, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS THE HEIR OF TERRY WILLIAMS please contact Courtney M. King, Attorney at Law, (225) 366-8696.

194397-7/16-17-18-3t $146.50 Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Harrison Kaywood, III, and/or his legal heir(s) please contact Ashley D. Tadda, Pujol Irwin, LLC, 12320 Highway 44, Building 4, Suite C, Gonzales, LA 70737, (225) 644-0607.

193730-July 13-17-5t $287.50

ANYONE KNOWING THE WHEREABOUTS OF JOHN E. NELSON, PLEASE CONTACT AMANDA MARIONNEAUX, A. MARIONNEAUX LAW, LLC, AT 23615 RAILROAD AVENUE, PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764 OR AT (225) 385-5189.

194353-July 16-18, 3t $164.50

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

ADVERTISEMENT REQUEST FOR BID Sealed bids will be re‐ ceived by Southern Uni‐ versity, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in the Pur‐ chasing Office, J. S. Clark Administration Building Annex, South Entrance, 1st Floor East, or PO Box 9534 Baton Rouge, LA 70813, until the date indi‐ cated for the following: PRESSURE WASHING A.W MUMFORD STADIUM Southern University and A&M CollegeBaton Rouge Campus BID NUMBER 10357 JULY 28, 2026 @ 10:30 AM As an alternative Use link to submit bid on‐ line: http://www.sus.edu/bid certification Bid shall be uploaded no later than 10:30 AM on July 28, 2026. Late bids will not be accepted.

Bidders are solely re‐ sponsible for ensuring timely delivery of their bids. The Purchasing De‐ partment is not responsi‐ ble for any delays caused by bidders’ chosen means of delivery. Failure to meet bid opening date and time will result in re‐ jection of bid.

A.W. Mumford Stadium is a 28,500-seat multi-pur‐ pose stadium on the Baton Rouge campus of Southern University and A&M College. The sta‐ dium is the home of the Southern Jaguars foot‐ ball team and is occa‐ sionally used by the Southern University Lab‐ oratory Kittens football team. The Roscoe Moore Track located in the sta‐ dium is the home of the men’s and women’s track and field teams.

Bidders shall comply with requirements and qualifications per bid specifications.

Mandatory Pre-Bid Conference & Site Visit: July 20, 2026 @ 9:00 AM Mandatory Pre-Bid Con‐ ference Location: Southern University Baton Rouge Campus Physical Plant Department Benjamin H. Kraft Building 515 James L. Hunt Street Baton Rouge, LA 70813 Pre-bid conference tele‐ phone numbers 225-7714741 & 771-6241 Late arrivals cannot par‐ ticipate in the bid process

Inquiries will be ac‐ cepted until July 22, 2026 by 5:00 p.m. Inquiries shall be submitted to Linda Antoine at lin‐ da_antoine@subr.edu Responses will be posted July 23, 2026, by 5:00 p.m. on LAPAC-Louisiana Pro‐ curement website Bids shall be received no later than 10:30 AM on July 28, 2026 Any person requiring special accommodation should notify Henry Thurman, Interim Direc‐ tor, Southern University Risk Management at 225771-3101 or 225-771-4741 or henry_thurman@subr. edu. of the type(s) of ac‐ commodation required not less than seven (7) days before the bid opening date Bids may be withdrawn by written, telegraphic or fax notice received at the address designated in the Invitation to Bid prior to the time set for bid opening, as recorded by date stamp at the Pur‐ chasing Office. Bids re‐ ceived after closing time will be returned un‐ opened. Evidence of au‐ thority to submit the bid shall be required in ac‐ cordance with R.S. 38:2212(a)(1)(c) and/or R.S. 39:1594(c)(2)(d). The University reserves the right to award all or done and to reject any and all bids and to waive any in‐ formalities incidental thereto.

The Southern University System is a participant in the Louisiana for the Small Entrepreneurships Program (the Hudson Ini‐ tiative) and the Louisiana Initiative for Veterans and Service-Connected Disabled VeteransOwned Business Small Entrepreneurships. Bid‐ ders are encouraged to consider participation. A list of certified vendors and additional informa‐ tion can be obtained from website http:// www.ledsmallbiz.com.

Potential participants may also register at this website.

ALL BID SPECIFICATIONS AND ADDENDA CAN BE OBTAINED BY ACCESSING LAPAC WEBSITE https:// wwwcfprd.doa.louisiana. gov/osp/lapac/pubMain. cfm.

It is highly recommended to register with LAPAC Please contact Mary Jane Spruel, Assistant Di‐ rector @ (225) 771-2800 or maryjane_spruel@ subr.edu for questions i hi d

RETIREMENT COMMUNITY Village Woods Independent Condo Living 2 BRS, 2 BA, available ranging from $142,900 to $209,900 225-718-3025 www.jarreaurealty.com

Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Lloyd Hinton or Bridgette Coronet Guillory Hinton, please contact attorney, Melanie Newkome Jones at (225)344-2200 or melanie@melaniejoneslaw.net.

194147-July 15-17, 3t $142 Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Siddiqui Viqar, please contact David McDavid, Attorney, at 225-2863750.

194242-7/15-16-17-3t $97.00

ANYONE KNOWING THE WHEREABOUTS OF THE HEIRS OF DARRELL G. SPENCER, PLEASE CONTACT AMANDA MARIONNEAUX, A. MARIONNEAUX LAW, LLC, AT 23615 RAILROAD AVENUE, PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764 OR AT (225) 385-5189.

194358-July 16-18, 3t $178

24/7 Public Notices Bids/Proposals

q concerning this adver‐ tisement and bid docu‐ ments,

p risk insurance for the total amount of the pro‐ ject.

Bids will be accepted only from contractors who meet state and fed‐ eral guidelines to oper‐ ate charter bus services under the classification of General Contractors, Maintenance Services, Commercial Cleaning, Ex‐ terior Cleaning.

AN ON SITE MANDATORY PRE-BID CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD Thursday, July 16, 2026 at 2:00pm. Contractors that have requested bidding documents from the Ar‐ chitect via email will be invited to the mandatory pre-bid conference.

p tracts. It shall also be the responsibility of the Gen‐ eral Contractor to assure that all subcontractors comply with this law.

SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY & A&M COLLEGE Linda A. Antoine, Director of Purchasing SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Bids shall be accepted from Contractors who are licensed under LA. R.S. 37:2150-2192 for the classification of Building Construction. Bidder is required to comply with provisions and require‐ ments of LA R.S. 38:2212.

No bid may be with‐ drawn for a period of forty-five (45) days after receipt of bids, except under the provisions of LA. R.S. 38:2215.

PUBLIC NOTICE --Deliver bids to the Office of Williams Architecture, LLC physically at 700 N. 10th St. Suite 350 Third Floor, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802, or elec‐ tronically to marcus@ williams-arch.com, Attn: Marcus J. Williams, Ar‐ chitect, Bid En‐ closed:2026 EBRCOAESC001 by 2:00pm, Friday, August 7, 2026 for the project entitled:

Bid Enclosed: 2026 EBRCOAESC-001 East Baton Rouge Council on Aging: Evangeline Senior Center 5186 Evangeline Street Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70805 Project Number: WA Project No. WA-03-126 Bids will be opened and read aloud with bidders invited to attend immedi‐ ately after the deadline for submission of bids.

Complete Bidding docu‐ ments may be obtained by contacting the Archi‐ tect designated in the In‐ vitation to Bid: Williams Architecture 700 N. 10TH Street, Suite 350 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 Contact Person: Marcus Williams Phone: 225-938-0421 Email: Marcus@williamsarch.com Bidding Documents will be issued as allowed by the provisions of La. R.S.37:2163 B to licensed contractors who hold an active license or his au‐ thorized representative.

Electronic Bidding: Bid‐ ders shall email their bid package to the architect directly. For an electronic bid, La. R. S. 37:2163 A (1) allows a contractor to submit an authentic digi‐ tal signature on the electronic bid proposal accompanied by the con‐ tractor’s license number in order to comply with La. R. S. 37:2163 A (1).

Complete Bidding Docu‐ ments, ( Drawings, Speci‐ fications & Addenda), can be obtained from the architect.

Prospective bidders de‐ siring further informa‐ tion or interpreta¬tions of the Drawings and/or Specifications shall re‐ quest such data elec‐ tronically directly to the architect. Answers to all questions, inquiries and requests for additional information will be is‐ sued in the form of Ad‐ denda to the Drawings and Specifications. Refer to Instructions to Bid‐ ders.

The successful bidder shall be required to fur‐ nish a Performance and Payment Bond written by a company licensed to do business in Louisiana, in amount equal to 100% of the Contract amount.

The Surety Company must be listed currently on the U. S. Department of Treasury Financial Management Service List (Treasury List) as ap‐ proved for an amount equal or greater than the contract amount or must be an insurance com‐ pany domiciled in Louisiana or owned by Louisiana residents. If The Surety Company is qualified other than by listing on the Treasury list, the contract amount may not exceed fifteen percent of policyholders' surplus as shown by The Surety's Company most recent financial state‐ ments filed with the Louisiana Department of Insurance and may not exceed the amount of $500,000.

However, a Louisiana domiciled in‐ surance company with at least an A-rating in the latest printing of the A. M. Best's Key Rating guide shall not be sub‐ ject to the $500,000 limi‐ tation, provided that the contract amount does not exceed ten percent of the policyholders' sur‐ plus filed with the Louisiana Department of Insurance.

The Bond shall be signed by The Surety's Company agent or attorney-in-fact and countersigned by a per‐ son who is under con‐ tract with The Surety’s Company as a licensed agent in this State, and who is residing in this State.

The successful bidder shall provide builder’s i k i f h

The Owner reserves the right to reject any and all bids for just cause. In ac‐ cordance with La. R.S. 38:2214, the provisions and requirements of this Section; and those stated in the bidding documents shall not be waived by any entity.

END OF ADVERTISEMENT TO BID 193711-jul 10-17-24-3t $232.33 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE TO BIDDERS SP# 129 Sealed bids will be re‐ ceived by the Procure‐ ment Section of the Divi‐ sion of Administration, 1201 N. 3rd. St., 2nd.

Floor, Suite 2-160, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at 10:00 A.M. for the follow‐ ing: RFx No. 3000026477, In‐ mate Clothing – DOC-PE, 7/28/26 RFx No. 3000026474, Stor‐ age Tank Installation DOC, 8/4/26 Bid proposal forms, in‐ formation and specifica‐ tions may be obtained by accessing the bid num‐ ber in LaPac at www.doa.

Louisiana.gov/osp or from the procurement section listed above. No bids will be received after the date and hour specified. The right is re‐ served to reject any and all bids and to waive any informalities.

Amy Vincent Director of State Procurement FAX (225) 342-8688 194351 July 17, 1t $12.34 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS The City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge (City-Parish) will receive electronic or paper bids for the con‐ struction of the following project: PUBLIC SAFETY COMPLEX H2 FIRE ALARM REPLACEMENT 9050 AIRLINE HWY., BATON ROUGE, LA 70815 CITY PARISH PROJECT NO. 21-ASC-CP-1664 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Disconnection and re‐ moval of the existing system and design of a new addressable voice evacuation fire alarm system.

Bid Package with Plans and Specifications may be obtained online at www.centralbidding. com.

Electronic Bids may be submitted at Central Bid‐ ding (www.centralbidd ing.com). For questions related to the electronic bidding process, please call Central Bidding at 225-810-4814.

Alternately, paper copies may be obtained through most reprographic ven‐ dors for their printing cost. All Bids shall be made on the Bid Package Forms.

Statutory Forms (Bid Package Part 1-A) shall be submitted to the Pur‐ chasing Division prior to Bid Opening: Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters Attestation of No Past Criminal Convictions Legal Citizen Affidavit Non-Collusion & Non-So‐ licitation Affidavit Bid Forms (Bid Package Part 1) submitted shall be accompanied by a Certified Check or Cashier's Check payable to the Parish of East Baton Rouge, or a satis‐ factory Bid Bond exe‐ cuted by the Bidder and an acceptable surety, in an amount equal to five percent (5%) of the total bid.

Contractors must hold an active license issued by the State of Louisiana Li‐ censing Board for Con‐ tractors in the classifica‐ tion of Electrical, and must show their license number on the face of the bid envelope. All Con‐ tractors bidding on this work shall comply with all provisions of the State Licensing Law for Con‐ tractors, La RS 37:21502163 for all public con‐ h ll l b h

AREA 3 3060 N. Acadian Thrwy 1BR/1BA $500/mth $300Dep Water/Sewer Paid 225-357-6436

AREA 3

3017 Chippewa St. 3BR 1BA Rent $800/mo $300/dep 225-357-6436

APARTMENT AREA 5 1BR $550, 2BR $650 Tigerland. $500 Deposit. 225-475-1737

MOBILE HOME 1, 2 & 3 BR mobile homes, $675 & up 6061 Plank Rd. CALL 225-978-4653

CLASSIFIEDS WORK

ROOMS FOR RENT Furnished Rooms. $125/wk. $500/mo.

225-933-7560

PLACE YOUR PET SERVICES INFORMATION IN THE PET SERVICES DIRECTORY TODAY! • IT IS FAST AND EASY! • CALL 225-383-0111

WANT TO BUY Wanted! Will pay top dollar for Accardo, Miss Prissy, Spider Legs & Bream Master Popping Bugs Call 606-923-2699

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

194352 July 17, 1t $60.36

AREA 3 3, 4 & 5 BR Homes for rent, Starting at $1000/mo Call 225-938-8219

PETS • SUPPLIES • SERVICES • OBITUARIES • LOST & FOUND

WANT TO BUY Old Records 33's, 45's & 78's. All types of music. Call 985-259-1889

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

DATE ADVERTISED JULY 17, 2026

AREA 2 5135 & 5137 Fairfield (Duplex) 1BR/1BA, Rent $500, Dep $300 Updated 225-357-6436

Pets / Pet Services Directory SPORTS

CLASSIFIEDS.THEADVOCATE.COM Public Notices

Merchandise

APARTMENTS 655 North St Subsidized Efficiency Apartments cpabr.org 225-383-5551 TDD/TTY 711 RELAY

Baton Rouge Rental

Bids will be received on‐ line through www.central bidding.com or on solici‐ tation bid forms fur‐ nished by the City of Baton Rouge and Parish East Baton Rouge, in an envelope delivered to the Purchasing Division 8th Floor Room 826 City Hall 222 St Louis St Baton Rouge, LA 70802 until the BID OPENING 2:00 PM Local Time, Tuesday, Au‐ gust 11, 2026 with no ex‐ ceptions. Only those bids shall be received by the City-Parish which is sub‐ mitted by those Contrac‐ tors in whose names the solicitation bid forms and/or specifications were issued. In no event shall paper solicitation forms be issued later than twenty-four (24) hours prior to the hour and date set for receiv‐ ing proposals.

Bid Openings can be in person or via teleconfer‐ ence.

Teleconference Call-in Information Join by phone +1-408-418-9388 United States Toll Access code: 263 373 080 (followed by the # but‐ ton) Alternate numbers to call if number above is not available, which may occur due to network traffic (use the same Ac‐ cess Code, followed by the # button): United States Toll (Boston) +1-617-315-0704 United States Toll (Chicago) +1-312-5358110 United States Toll (Dallas) +1-469-210-7159 United States Toll Denver) +1-720-650-7664 United States Toll (Jacksonville) +1-904-900-2303 United States Toll (Los Angeles) +1-213-306-3065 At Bid Opening in Pur‐ chasing Division Room 826 City Hall, electronic Bids and Bid Bonds will be downloaded, then all electronic and paper Bids will be publicly read aloud. Bidders and/or their authorized repre‐ sentatives are invited.

Bid results can also be viewed at the link: http://city.brla.gov/dept/ purchase/bidresults.asp Bids, amendments to bids, or request for with‐ drawal of quotations, re‐ ceived after time speci‐ fied for bid opening shall not be considered for any cause whatsoever.

The contract shall be awarded to the lowest responsible and respon‐ sive bidder. In accor‐ dance with Louisiana Revised Statute (La RS) 38:2214 B, the City-Parish reserves the right to reject any and all bids exceeding the preconstruction cost estimate, or for just cause. In accordance with La RS 38:2212 B (1), the provisions and re‐ quirements stated in the Bid Package and this ad‐ vertisement shall not be waived by any entity.

Bids shall be firm for a period of 45 days from the date of the Bid Open‐ ing, except as allowed per La RS 38:2214 C. The City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge has established a Socially and Economi‐ cally Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (SEDBE) program in ac‐ cordance with Revised Statute RS 33:2233.4. It is the policy of the Parish to ensure that Eligible Business Enterprises EBE’s, certified in accor‐ dance with the Parish program, have an equal opportunity to receive and participate in parish contracts.

For this project the EBR Parish Purchasing office has directed a review of the scope of work and has established a mini‐ mum EBE goal of 2% of the contract amount. All Bidders shall achieve this goal or demonstrate good faith efforts to achieve the goal. Good faith efforts include meeting this EBE goal or providing documentation demonstrating that the Bidder made sufficient good faith efforts in at‐ tempting to meet this goal. Only EBE firms cer‐ tified under the Parish SEDBE Certification Pro‐ gram at the time of sub‐ mittal of the bid will count toward this EBE goal. To be considered responsive, the apparent low bidder must submit EBE Forms 1, 1A, and 2, and Letters of EBE Certi‐ fication, as appropriate within 10 days after bid opening.

A non-mandatory pre-bid conference will be held at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, August 4th, at 9050 Air‐ line Hwy., Baton Rouge, LA 70815. All parties in‐ terested in this project are invited to attend this conference.

For additional informa‐ tion regarding the con‐ struction documents, please contact Bid re‐ lated: Purchasing Divi‐ sion (225) 389-3259; Gen‐ eral Documents related:

DOGS 4 Female (1 white) 1 Male German Shep‐ herd puppies, S/W 10wks old.

225-205-4311

Tiny Female Maltipoo Adorable female Maltipoo 3 months old. $800.00 225-304-1045 jetueemail@yahoo.com

DOGS CKC YORKIES - (YORKIES w/papers) also BISHON YORKIES vet checked shot worming meet in Gulfport $450 (334) 467-3416

Yorkiies Are you looking for a furbaby yorkies cute playful small $0.00 225-241-5393 Poullardqwen@gmail.col

CATS RAGAMUFFIN & RAGDOLL KITTENS www.CatsByFrancy.com/kittens $1500up! Reg. Shots & Guaranty 337-230-3150

DOGS Puppies for Sale! Adorable! 1/2 Pomeranian 1/2 Chihuahua $350, Full Blooded Chihuahua's $350, Full Blooded Toy Poodle's $600 (228) 669-0077

LIVESTOCK ANIMALS Breeding Boer-Mix Herd For Sale– 7 healthy Boer-mix breeding does. De‐ wormed, pasture-raised, good moth‐ ers. Ages 1-3 years. Selling as complete herd. Near Pointe Coupee Call/Text 337654-7962. $2,500 OBO

MORKIES, SHORKIES, BISHON YORKIES, CKC YORKIES vet checked shot worming meet Gulfport $450 334 467-3416

TEACUP POODLES MALTIPOOS POMS YORKIES Miniature and Toy Goldendoodles UTD. S/W Please Call 504-259-2222

Rosella Parakeet with cage Beautiful female Rosella Parakeet $500.00 225-304-1045 jetueemail@yahoo.com

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Rob Gray, AIA, LEED BD+C, (225) 389-4694 or rgray@brla.gov or Engi‐ neering and Construction Documents related: Lan‐ don Burns, P.E., TLA, LLC, (225) 293-9474 or lan‐ don@tlaeng.com.

194231 July 17, 24, 31, 2026 3t $300.30 PUBLIC NOTICE --Owner: Town of Addis Post Office Box 237 Addis, LA 70710 Date of Issuance: 7/10/2026 Owen and White, Inc. P.O. Box 66396 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70896-6396 The Town of Addis will receive separate sealed Bids for the Harris Ave Drainage Improvements Project, Contract No. 261947-12. The work con‐ sists of Approximately 900 feet of 18” and 60 ft of 24” remove and re‐ place PVC storm drain.

Includes approximately 17 new catch basins, ma‐ terial and labor of con‐ necting pipes. Find exact estimated quantities in the bid tab.

The Town of Addis will receive Bids until 2:00 PM local time, Wednesday August 12, 2026, at Addis Town Hall, 7818 LA Hwy 1, Addis, LA 70710. Bids re‐ ceived after this time will not be accepted. Bids will be opened and pub‐ licly read aloud immedi‐ ately after the specified closing time. The outside of the Bid envelope shall be marked with the pro‐ ject title, name and ad‐ dress of the Bidder and current Contractor’s li‐ cense number. Bids can also be accepted elec‐ tronically at www.Centerl inebidconnect.com.

Bidding Documents may be examined at the fol‐ lowing locations: Town of Addis, Post Office Box 237, Addis, LA 70710; Physical Address: Owen and White, Inc., 8755 Goodwood Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70806 Complete Bidding Docu‐ ments for this project are being distributed in elec‐ tronic form on behalf of the Owner by Centerline BidConnect. They may be obtained without charge and without deposit from the Public Plan Room at www.centerlinebidco nnect.com .

Printed copies are not available from the Owner or De‐ signer but arrangements can be made to obtain them through most re‐ prographic firms. Plan holders are responsible for their own reproduc‐ tion costs. Questions about this procedure shall be directed to: Cen‐ terline - Phone: 504-2915738, Email: bidconnect@ centerline.co Questions other than those directly related to the bid document distrib‐ ution shall be directed to the Designer at: Owen and White, Inc.; Toby Fruge, P.E.; Email: Toby@ owenandwhite.com.

Phone Number: (225) 9265125. Questions shall be submitted in writing and responses posted via Ad‐ dendum on www.centerl inebidconnect.com.

Note: A prime bidder of this job must be regis‐ tered as a Prime Bidder at the issuing office. Cen‐ terline (www.centerlineb idconnect.com), to sub‐ mit a bid on this project.

Those not registered as a Prime Bidder at the issu‐ ing office will not have their bids accepted at the time of bid opening.

Bid security in the amount of five percent (5%) of the Bid must ac‐ company each Bid in ac‐ cordance with the In‐ struction to Bidders.

No Bidder may withdraw his Bid within 45 days after the actual date of the opening thereof.

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

PUBLIC NOTICE --VOUCHER# 26-000805 BIDS TO BE OPENED: 08/05/26 NOTICE TO BIDDERS Electronic or sealed bids will be received by the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, Purchasing Divi‐ sion, City Hall Building, Room 826, 222 Saint Louis Street, 8th Floor, Baton Rouge, La. until 11:00 A.M. August 5, 2026, for the following: A26-0805 Mowing and Lawn Maintenance for EBR City Police Evidence Facility Official bid documents are available at Central (https://www.

Bidding centralauctionhouse. com/rfpc10656-city-ofbaton-rouge.html) or by request from the City of Baton Rouge at shab‐ nins@brla.gov.

Bids shall be submitted electronically via www. centralbidding.com or on the solicitation bid forms furnished by the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge prior to the bidding deadline.

Electronic bids for the solicitation will be down‐ loaded by the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, Pur‐ chasing Division. Begin‐ ning as soon as feasible after the bid closing time all electronic bids will be downloaded and publicly read aloud along with all paper bids received, if any, in Room 806 immedi‐ ately after the 11:00 a.m. bid closing. Bidders or their authorized repre‐ sentatives are invited to be present.

Note: The City-Parish has elected to use LaPAC, the state's online electronic bid posting and notifica‐ tion system, in addition to its standard means of advertising this require‐ ment. This Invitation to Bid is available in elec‐ tronic form at the LaPAC https:// website wwwcfprd.doa.louisiana. gov/osp/lapac/dspBid. cfm?search=departm ent&term=102.

Bids, amendments to bids or request for with‐ drawal of bids received after time specified for bid openings shall not be considered for any cause whatsoever.

Inquiries will be received up until 5 pm CST on July 29, 2026.

Full information may be obtained upon request from the above address or via email shabnins@ brla.gov.

Any vendor who would like to listen to the open‐ ing of this bid can access the following link, at the date and time of this bid opening: NOTE: The only vendor information shared at the bid opening will be the reading of the names of those vendors who submitted bids.

Join by phone +1-408-418-9388 United States Toll Access code: 263 373 080 (followed by the # but‐ ton) Alternate numbers to call if number above is not available, which may occur due to network traffic (use the same Ac‐ cess Code, followed by the # button): United States Toll (Boston) +1-617-315-0704 United States Toll (Chicago) +1-312-5358110 United States Toll (Dallas) +1-469-210-7159 United States Toll (Denver) +1-720-650-7664 United States Toll (Jacksonville) +1-904900-2303 United States Toll (Los Angeles) +1-213-306-3065

OWNER TOWN OF ADDIS

These numbers will pro‐ vide you with live audio access to this bid open‐ ing.

BY: /s/ MR. David H. Toups, Mayor

194236 July 17, 24, 2t $126.84

TO APPEAR IN THE: The Advocate Friday, July 17, 2026 Friday, July 24, 2026 Friday, July 31, 2026 194177 July 17, 24, 31, 2026 3t $149.73

PUBLIC NOTICE --River Parishes Commu‐ nity College is seeking bids for a 2026 53 ft Dry Van Trailer – CDL Training Program (Qty 2). To ob‐ tain bid package, please visit https://wwwcfprd. doa.louisiana.gov/osp/ lapac/dspBid.cfm?sea rch=department& term=4.

The following bids are open: #4005FY27-010 193968-jul 13-27-15t $86.40

Public Notices Conservation

PUBLIC NOTICE --- 1ZWOLLE FIELD 26-251 thru 26-254 LEGAL NOTICE STATE OF LOUISIANA, DE‐ PARTMENT OF CONSER‐ VATION AND ENERGY, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA. In accordance with the laws of the State of Louisiana, and with par‐ ticular reference to the provisions of Title 30 of Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, a public hearing will be held in the Hearing Room, 1st Floor, LaSalle Building, 617 North 3rd Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at 9:00 a.m. on TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2026, upon the application of ADAMAS ENERGY LLC.

Public Notices Conservation

At such hearing the De‐ partment of Conserva‐ tion and Energy will con‐ sider evidence relative to the issuance of Orders pertaining to the follow‐ ing matters relating to the Haynesville Zone, Reservoir A, in the Zwolle Field, Sabine Parish, Louisiana.

1. To authorize Applicant to drill, designate and utilize one cross unit hor‐ izontal well to serve as a unit well for HA RA SUK and as a substitute well for HA RA SUN, three cross unit horizontal wells to serve as alter‐ nate unit wells for HA RA SUK and HA RA SUN, one cross unit horizontal well to serve as a unit well for HA RA SUJ and HA RA SUO, seven cross unit horizontal wells to serve as alternate unit wells for HA RA SUJ and HA RA SUO, and two horizontal wells to serve as alter‐ nate unit wells for HA RA SUO, all at the locations and in the general man‐ ner shown on the plat submitted with the appli‐ cation, or at any other legal locations within such units, and to ap‐ prove exceptions to the spacing provisions of Of‐ fice of Permitting and Compliance Order No. 628-B, effective Novem‐ ber 3, 2009, as to the common boundaries of the units which will be served by the cross unit horizontal wells, pro‐ vided that said cross unit horizontal wells will be perforated no closer than 330’ from any unit boundary, other than the common boundaries be‐ tween the affected units, except as requested in Paragraph 2 below.

2. In addition to the re‐ quest for exceptional lo‐ cation as to the common boundaries between the affected units, the appli‐ cant requests an excep‐ tion to the well spacing provisions in Order No. 628-B to allow the first and last perforation point or take point in the proposed horizontal wells to be located no closer than 100’ from the north and south unit lines and no closer than 200’ to any well on a competitive unit com‐ pleted in, drilling to, or for which a permit has been granted to drill to the Haynesville Zone, Reservoir A. 3. To find that the pro‐ posed horizontal wells are necessary to effi‐ ciently and economically drain a portion of the Haynesville Zone under‐ lying the units on which it is proposed to be drilled which cannot be efficiently and economi‐ cally drained by any ex‐ isting well on such units, will prevent waste, avoid the drilling of unneces‐ sary wells, protect cor‐ relative rights and pro‐ mote the full and effi‐ cient development of the natural resources of this state.

4. To provide that if the horizontal portion of a well is cased and ce‐ mented back above the top of the Haynesville Zone, Reservoir A, the distance to any unit boundary and offset well(s) will be calculated based on the distance to the nearest perforation in the well and not on the penetration point or ter‐ minus of the well in the Hayesville Zone, Reser‐ voir A. 5. To provide that pro‐ duction from the pro‐ posed wells shall be sep‐ arated and metered indi‐ vidually and that this in‐ formation shall be re‐ ported in the manner prescribed by the Office of Permitting and Com‐ pliance.

6. To provide that the unit allowables for the units to be served by the pro‐ posed wells may be pro‐ duced from the unit well, from any alternate unit well, or from any combi‐ nation of such wells serving the unit, at the discretion of the opera‐ tor.

7. To provide that pro‐ duction from a cross unit horizontal well shall be allocated to each unit penetrated by the well in the same proportion as the perforated length of the lateral in each such unit bears to the total length of the perforated lateral as determined by an “as drilled” survey performed after the well has been drilled and completed.

8. Except insofar as set forth above, to confirm and continue in full force and effect the provisions of Order No. 628-B, effec‐ tive November 3, 2009, as amended and supple‐ mented by the 628-B Se‐ ries of Orders, the units created thereby, and of all applicable Statewide Orders.

9. To consider such other matters as may be perti‐ nent.

The Haynesville Zone, Reservoir A was defined in Order No. 628-B, effec‐ tive November 3, 2009.

A plat is available for in‐ spection in the Depart‐ ment of Conservation and Energy in Baton Rouge and Shreveport, Louisiana. http://dnr.louisiana.gov/ conshearings All parties having inter‐ est therein shall take no‐ tice thereof.

BY ORDER OF: DUSTIN H. DAVIDSON, SECRETARY Baton Rouge, 7/14/26;7/17/26 S lck

LA

Public Notices Conservation

IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE, PLEASE CONTACT THE DEPARTMENT OF CON‐ SERVATION AND ENERGY AT P.O. BOX 94275, BATON ROUGE, LA 70804-9275 IN WRITING WITHIN TEN (10) WORKING DAYS OF THE HEARING DATE. 194386 July 17, 1t $91.65

Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE --The Louisiana Office of State Parks is requesting proposals for a PublicPrivate Partnership pro‐ ject to design, construct, and operate a high-qual‐ ity recreational vehicle campground and related amenities. For more in‐ formation go to opportu‐ nitiesinlouisiana.com.

192994-jul 2-aug 15-45t $207.90

Public Notices Sheriff Sales

AND SALE issued out of the honorable court aforesaid, in the above entitled and numbered cause, dated, May 15, 2026 and to me directed, I did seize and will, be‐ ginning at 10:00 o'clock a.m. on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, via an online auction site at www. bid4assets.com/EBRS0sh eriffsales., offer for sale at public auction the fol‐ lowing described mort‐ gaged property belong‐ ing to: THE UNOPENED SUCCESSION OF DEBRA CHEWS DANIEL 2018 TRUM MANUFAC‐ TURED HOME/ 47TRU14763AH18 SR‐ B031044AL MILEAGE-UN‐ KNOWN STORED AT 2833 KING CHARLES DR LOT 87 TERMS OF SALE: Cash to the highest bid‐ der, at Public Auction WITHOUT Appraisement and according to law.

Sid J. Gautreaux, Sheriff East Baton Rouge Parish ADVERTISED DATE July 17, 2026 $160.68 SHERIFF'S SALE

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

PUBLIC NOTICE --PUBLIC NOTICE OPPORTUNITY FOR REQUESTING A PUBLIC HEARING All interested persons are hereby advised that (Divine Medical the Transportation and Ser‐ vices, LLC) has applied to the Louisiana Depart‐ ment of Transportation and Development for project funding under Federal Transit Adminis‐ tration (Section 5310 and/or 5311) for the fol‐ lowing: PROJECT: (Divine Medical Transportation and Ser‐ vices, LLC) is preparing [Replace existing to equipment to continue, transportation services in the Parish. Further de‐ tails relative to the pro‐ ject are available from (Divine Medical Trans‐ portation, 1018 Sherron Avenue, Baker, LA 70714, 225-300-3938 of Shawntell Parker).

Interested persons are advised that they may request that a public hearing be conducted to provide a means for the public to express their views relative to the pro‐ posed project on the probable social, eco‐ nomic, and environmen‐ tal effects involved. In lieu of requesting a pub‐ lic hearing, interested persons may submit their comments in writ‐ ing.

Written requests for a public hearing and/or submittal of comments must be postmarked on or before (August 1, 2026), and should be ad‐ dressed to: (Divine Med‐ ical Transportation and Services, LLC). Should a public hearing be re‐ quired, a public notice will be published stating the date, time, and loca‐ tion of the hearing.

Suit No: (17) 778727 HARLEY-DAVIDSON CREDIT CORP. AS AS‐ SIGNEE OF EAGLEMARK SAVINGS BANK vs LESTER CAVALIER 19th Judicial District Parish of East Baton Rouge State of Louisiana Acting under and by virtue of Writ of SEIZURE AND SALE issued out of the honorable court aforesaid, in the above entitled and numbered cause, dated, June 08, 2026 and to me directed, I did seize and will, be‐ ginning at 10:00 o'clock a.m. on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, via an online auction site at www. bid4assets.com/EBRS0sh eriffsales., offer for sale at public auction the fol‐ lowing described mort‐ gaged property belong‐ ing to: LESTER CAVALIER 2022 HARLEY-DAVIDSON/ FLHXS STREET GLIDE SPE‐ CIAL 1HD1 KRP12N‐ B657765 MILEAGE: 6850 STORED AT SMART TOW‐ ING 3045 ROSENWALD ROAD TERMS OF SALE: Cash to the highest bid‐ der, at Public Auction WITHOUT Appraisement and according to law.

Sid J. Gautreaux, Sheriff East Baton Rouge Parish ADVERTISED DATE July 17, 2026 $160.68

WBR Public Notices

WBR Public Notices Sex Offenders

194173 July 18, Aug. 2 2t $562.24

Public Notices RFQ

PUBLIC NOTICE --REQUEST FOR STATE‐ MENT OF INTEREST AND QUALIFICATIONS The Coastal Protection and Restoration Author‐ ity (CPRA) gives public notice that it is request‐ ing Statements of Inter‐ est and Qualifications from interested, qualified persons or firms (includ‐ ing public agencies and institutions) to provide the means for “Surveying Services for the Coast‐ wide Reference Monitor‐ ing System (CRMS)”.

• RSIQ No. 2503-27-01 is available http://coastal. la.gov/resources/rfpsrsiqs-contracts/ contracts-and-grants/.

They also may be ob‐ tained by emailing CPRA‐ Contracts@la.gov.

• Proposals must be re‐ ceived no later than 3:00 p.m. CST on September 11, 2026 after which time and date they will not be accepted.

193684- JUL 10-14-17-3T $56.02

Public Notices Sheriff Sales

I, ALTAN L RIVERS, have been convicted of 14:81.2 - Molestation of Juvenile. Date Convicted: 03/30/2006.

My Address is: 330 ELM ST PORT ALLEN, LA 70767 Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 8/25/1974 Height: 5'11" Weight: 195 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos: LOUISIANA 194342, JUL 16-17 $250

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SHERIFF'S SALE Suit No: (17) 775783 VANDERBILT MORTGAGE AND FINANCE INC vs THE UNOPENED SUCCESSION OF DEBRA CHEWS DANIEL 19th Judicial District Parish of East Baton Rouge State of Louisiana Acting under and by virtue of Writ of SEIZURE

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8D ■ Friday, July 17, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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