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SouthLouisiana bracingfor Bertha

Rain andwindexpectedinBRareafromtropicalstorm

BY ELLYN COUVILLION

Staff writer

Baton Rouge will likely see wind and rain this week as Tropical Storm Bertha approaches Louisiana, ameteorologist with the National Weather Service said Monday The former depression took its place as the second named stormofthe Atlantic season late Monday.Itisexpectedtoheadinlandoversoutheast Louisiana on Wednesday,according to the NationalHurricane Center. It

is forecasttomakelandfall near New Orleansand bring between 2and 5 inches ofrainalong coastal areas of southeast Louisiana, accordingtothe latest projections. This could lead to ﬂash ﬂooding, especially in areas south of Interstate 10. “Some of these chances yousee for thenext couple of days are fromthe far outer bandsofit,” said Jacob Zeringue, meteorologist with the weather service in Slidell. “We’re not expecting it to be heavy rain in Baton Rouge, because the tropical depressionismov-

ing.” As of 7p.m. Monday,the storm was about 110 miles south of Panama City, Florida, slowly drifting west-northwest at 3mph. It was producing maximumsustained winds of 40 mph.

“For Baton Rouge,the main thing is that it’sgoing to be windy on Wednesday” when thestorm is expected to makelandfall in southeast Louisiana, Zeringuesaid. Wind gusts in the Baton Rouge

Remake forthe lakes

BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer

Three years ago, theLSU Lakesaveraged only 2.5 feet deep, with layers of silt accumulatedatthe bottom of the lake ﬂoor

Algae bloomed across the murky water Every summer,fish died en masse from low oxygen levels.

“Theyweren’tattractive,” said Mark Goodson, project manager for themultiagency effort to restore thelakes.“They weren’ta healthy environment or eco-

BY JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Iran attacked atanker in the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday,forcingits crew to abandon the ship even as the United States conducted yet-

system. The key improvement thathad to be madewas making the lakes deeper so that youcould restore thehealth to the lakes.”

Now,the $81 million face-lift on ﬁve of the six lakesnear the LSU campus is almost at an end, with all funded work, including dredging, landscaping and the reconstruction of nearby May Street on track to be done by theend of the year, Goodson said. While the project —a jointendeavor betweenthe state, LSU, the city-parish and BREC —began in summer 2023, it can be traced back to amaster plan spon-

another round of airstrikes targeting the Islamic Republic over control of the key waterway The 10 consecutive nights of U.S. airstrikes haven’tcompelled Tehran to loosen its grip on the strait, through

$81M face-liftinheart of city on tracktobe finished by endofyear

sored by theBaton Rouge Area Foundation in 2016.

That plan called for creating “a robust and scenic natural amenity” in Baton Rouge that would serve as ahabitat for birds and wildlife, increase safety for pedestrians and cyclists and motivate people to go outside and get active.

which aboutaﬁfth of all crude oil and natural gas traded once passed in peacetime.

Even as the U.S. and Iran inch closer to all-out war again, Iran’sinterior minister traveled to Pakistan, akey media-

Community members, particularly those living near thelakes, havebeen vocal about the project and what they see as deviations from the BRAF plan. Theintent of the project —torevive

ä See LAKES, page 5A

tor in the conﬂict, for talks. However,itremains unclear just what newdealcouldbereached to end theﬁghting. The interim deal signed last month that was meant to end the fighting has crumbled. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has

Contractor arrested in corruption probe

He ‘intentionally defrauded’ EBR program, documentssay

BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER Staff writer

Investigators believea citycontractor defrauded multiple Baton Rouge ofﬁcials and falsely claimed he sponsoredanevent featuring a man awaiting trial formurder at the time, according to newly obtained court records.

On Monday,Roderick Shannon, 50, was arrested by the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation on two counts of falsifying public records and one count of theft tied to apayment he received from the now-defunct Safe, Hopeful, Healthy BR initiative.

As first reported by The Advocate in February,Shannon invoiced thecity-parish in 2022 foranevent calledMADD Marvin Gun Safety with the Constable. In March, AttorneyGeneral Liz Murrill’sofﬁceserved subpoenas to City Hall demanding documents related to Shannon.

The event involved Marvin Payne, who wasout of jail on bail facing a murder charge at the time, though it waslater dropped.

Investigators sayShannon’sinvoice claiming he organizedthe event didnot add up, as other information pointed to fundingcoming from Constable Terrica Williams. “Williams conﬁrmed that she had sponsored the gun safety event,” agents wrote in Shannon’sarrest warrant. “Williams confirmed Payne’sinvolvement in the event and saidhewas accompaniedby(Metro Council) member Darryl Hurst.” Shannon’sinvoice for the event is datedJuly 18, 2022, the same date Louisiana Bureau of Investigation agents say he falsiﬁed records and committed theft of $3,041.66.

ä See PROBE, page 5A

largely stalled. And as ﬁghting intensiﬁes, both sides have targeted civilianinfrastructure reliedonby millions of people.

“Iranand groups supportive of Iranmay targetotherU.S

ä See TANKER, page 7A

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN BALLANCE

All funded work on the LSU Lakes, including dredging and landscaping,isontrack to be done by theend of theyear

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Trump to fly old Air Force One for a month

WASHINGTON The White House says President Donald Trump will be returning to an older Air Force One plane for about a month as the new, Qatari-gifted jet undergoes “additional upgrades and enhancements.”

Trump’s use of the new red, white and navy blue aircraft has faced much scrutiny not only because it was gifted by a foreign government, but also because it appears to not be equipped with some of the same missile detection and countermeasure systems as the older jets.

But it came under deeper scrutiny this month when he left the NATO summit in Turkey on the older, baby blue Air Force One and made a previously unscheduled stop at a base in the United Kingdom. Trump then swapped back onto the new Qatari-gifted plane at Royal Air Force Mildenhall.

“The new Air Force One is perfectly safe for the President’s travels, but will receive additional upgrades and enhancements in the fall which will take approximately one month to complete,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday “During that time, the President will ﬂy on the old Air Force One.”

The statement from Leavitt elaborated on a comment from the president as he returned to Washington on Sunday night, when he told reporters that the new plane will be sent to be “maxed out.”

Trial date set for man in Reflecting Pool case

WASHINGTON A judge in the nation’s capital has set a trial date in September for a former Olympic canoe racer charged with deliberately damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the site of a troubled multimilliondollar renovation project championed by President Donald Trump.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman scheduled the Sept. 28 trial date for David Hearn during a hearing on Monday It was Hearn’s second court appearance since a grand jury indicted him on a felony count of property destruction. Hearn, who pleaded not guilty to the charge on July 9, has asked the court to dismiss the case. In a court ﬁling, his attorneys argued the government has failed to properly preserve important physical evidence from the Reﬂecting Pool.

At least three other people have been charged in the same court with misdemeanors for allegedly removing pieces of paint from the Reﬂecting Pool. The felony charge against Hearn which accuses him of causing at least $1,000 in damage to the pool, carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years upon conviction.

Trump ordered the pool’s renovation work ahead of the country’s 250th independence celebrations, but the project has been plagued by problems. Trump initially suggested that pool renovations would cost $1.5 million, but the cost of the project has exceeded $16 million.

Flash floods kill at least 20 in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan Flash ﬂoods in eastern Afghanistan have killed 20 people, injured about 80 more and left more than 100 missing, Afghan authorities said Monday.

The floods struck the eastern province of Nuristan, said Yousaf Hammad, spokesman for the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority, adding that a search and rescue operation was underway to locate the missing.

“Unfortunately, severe ﬂoods today in Parun city and several other areas of Nuristan province have caused heavy loss of life and property among our fellow citizens,” Hammad said, adding that the ﬂoods had caused extensive damage to people’s homes, agricultural land and public facilities.

“We urge all citizens to stay away from flood-prone areas and zones at risk,” he said Afghanistan is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, with snow and heavy rain that trigger ﬂash ﬂoods, often killing dozens, or even hundreds, of people at a time.

Trump imposes 50% tariffs on Canada

President cites disputes over autos, alcohol and cheese

BY JOSH BOAK Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Monday imposed 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, declaring that Canada has unfairly discriminated against American autos, alcohol and dairy products.

The move could unleash a new wave of economic chaos, with risks of higher inﬂation and further fraying of relations between two nations that had been closely woven together before Trump’s return to the White House. The administration ofﬁcial previewing the action said that Canada was one of the only nations other than China that retaliated against Trump’s previous tariffs and must be held accountable.

The ofﬁcial insisted on anonymity on a call with reporters to preview the president’s actions and said that Trump signed three proclamations to launch the tariffs under Section 338 of the 1930 Trade Act. Several Democratic lawmakers last year proposed repealing the section because they said Trump could use it to destabilize the economy

The new 50% tariffs would exclude energy products, potash, ﬁsh and critical minerals, but they would include goods that had previously been protected from import taxes by the United States-MexicoCanada Agreement, or USMCA.

That 2020 trade pact was not renewed by the U.S., triggering a

sides of the border to pursue a negotiated solution that restores market access for U.S. spirits and avoids further harm to the U.S. hospitality sector.”

But the use of a Great Depression-era law to impose the tariffs broadens some of the risks, as those tariffs could be applied to other U.S. trading partners, not just Canada, and inject “massive uncertainty” into the global economy said Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.

“We crossed the Rubicon,” Lincicome said. “The invocation of 338 is the nuclear option for Trump tariffs.”

new set of negotiations that could run until 2036.

The White House said in a fact sheet that the tariffs would go into effect in 30 days, meaning there is time for negotiations as Trump has not always followed through on his announced tax hikes on imports.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement that his government believes in the “beneﬁts of free and fair trade,” having signed “more than 20 new economic and security partnerships.” He said Canada is prepared to negotiate with the Trump administration.

“This trade dispute has raised costs for families, particularly in the U.S.,” Carney said “Canada stands ready to engage intensively to address outstanding issues with the U.S. to the mutual beneﬁt of

FDA still focused on lettuce supplier as source of parasite

Probe continues despite faulty test result

BY MATTHEW PERRONE AP health writer

WASHINGTON Federal health officials said Monday they remain focused on lettuce from Taylor Farms as the source of a multistate outbreak of a diarrheacausing parasite, despite inaccurate test results that the government brieﬂy publicized over the weekend.

Food and Drug Administration officials on Monday said a laboratory test incorrectly identiﬁed a positive result for cyclospora on a sample of lettuce from Taylor Farms. The FDA posted the ﬁnding to its website on Saturday but then said Sunday that the result had been a false positive.

Federal and state authorities have been investigating a rise in cases of the parasite, initially linking the outbreak in five states to lettuce served at Taco Bell locations. On Saturday, Taylor Farms announced it was recalling 25 shredded lettuce and salad mix products sold under eight different brand codes. The products are used by a number of U.S. food chains and suppliers.

“FDA’s traceback investigation and the outbreak data continue to converge on shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms’ locations in central Mexico,” FDA’s acting food chief, Donald Prater, told reporters on Monday

In addition to tracing the supply chain of lettuce, FDA staff have begun testing samples of produce coming across the U.S. border

FDA ofﬁcials on Mon-

day said the false positive result came from a rapid test used to screen for traces of cyclospora.

The sample that initially appeared positive for the parasite came from Taylor Farms but was not part of the company’s lettuce recall. FDA ofﬁcials said they felt compelled to alert the public to the ﬁnding.

But a subsequent quality control check showed the positive ﬁnding was an error FDA officials notiﬁed Taylor Farms of that on Sunday

The company touted the updated test results on social media and claimed “FDA apologized to us.” Agency ofﬁcials said there was no ofﬁcial apology

Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that infects food that has come into contact with human feces, most commonly when produce is irrigated or washed with contaminated water

When ingested, the parasite causes intestinal illness marked by “frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements,” according to the CDC.

In 2026, cyclospora has sickened at least 1,645 people in the U.S. and hospitalized 141, according to the FDA and CDC. The agencies are investigating five separate clusters of illnesses, including the one traced to Taylor Farms.

FDA’s acting commissioner, Kyle Diamantas, said health ofﬁcials have continued to see new cases associated with the latest outbreak, including some as recent as last week.

“Which means it’s imperative for us to take action to ensure that contaminated product is not making its way to the market,” Diamantas explained.

As of Friday, foot traffic was down at a number of dining chains compared with the dayof-the-week averages between Jan. 1 and July 6, according to Placer ai, which tracks people’s movements based on cellphone usage.

our citizens.”

Still, the tariffs could escalate into a wider trade war as Canada seeks to defend its economy Ontario Premier Doug Ford saw a possible showdown ahead.

“If these tariffs proceed, Canada should respond tariff for tariff, dollar for dollar,” Ford posted on social media.

Candace Laing, CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said the Trump administration’s moves were “regrettable” but the two countries need to use the 30-day window before the tariffs start “to make meaningful progress in advancing formal talks.”

Chris Swonger, CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, also called for a deal: “We encourage policymakers on both

The new tariffs carry serious political and economic risks for Trump ahead of the November midterm elections for control of Congress. His “Liberation Day” tariffs last year in April provoked a ﬁnancial market meltdown over concerns about inﬂation and a recession, prompting him to walk back the rates for a period of negotiation.

The Supreme Court ruled this February that Trump had lacked the legal authority to impose the tariffs by declaring an economic emergency, causing the administration to ﬁnd alternative ways to raise import taxes based on a series of legal authorities.

Tariffs are taxes on imports, which companies can then pass along to consumers in the form of higher prices. The president maintains that the costs created by tariffs will cause manufacturing to relocate to the U.S., though there is little evidence of that in the economic data.

FBI: Ex-soldier started fire, fired pellet gun at N.Y. federal building

BY MICHAEL R. SISAK and JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press

NEW YORK A former U.S.

Army soldier set off fireworks lit a fire and fired a pellet gun in front of a New York building housing an immigration court and other government offices Monday morning an FBI official said.

Andrew Arrabaca, who was a mechanic on Patriot missile systems, is in custody and has been interviewed, said James Barnacle, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York ﬁeld ofﬁce. No charges have been announced yet against Arrabaca, and it was not immediately clear if he has a lawyer

“Mr Arrabaca was looking to injure people and harm people,” Barnacle said at a news conference. Arrabaca was tackled by a security ofﬁcer and taken into custody about 8:20 a.m as ﬂames erupted outside an entrance to the building at 26 Federal Plaza, which has become a focal point for demonstrations against the immigration policies of President Donald Trump’s administration.

Barnacle said Arrabaca, 43, “came armed with bad intentions” and had various weapons, including a pellet gun, knives, axes, a hammer and a machete Arrabaca fired five to seven pellets from an airsoft rifle toward the building, he said.

“He is an anti-American, anti-government extremist,” Barnacle said.

He said Arrabaca had a cart with “anti-ICE literature” on it and “yelled derogatory terms” toward Immigration and Customs Enforcement as he was being arrested. New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Arrabaca had a sign afﬁxed to his cart that read “ICE off our streets” and was wearing a military style helmet

“In that post-arrest interview, he did say he was targeting the building and he was OK if he hurt or killed people going in and out of the building, whether they were federal employees or civilians,” Barnacle said. Barnacle said three

ment employees. DHS said a bystander was grazed by the ﬁreworks, and the security ofﬁcer who tackled the per-

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CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO By ADRIAN WyLD

From left, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Donald Trump arrive for the family photograph during the G7 Summit on June 16, 2025, in Kananaskis, Alberta. Trump on Monday imposed 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods.

people had minor injuries: one civilian and two govern-

son sustained minor injuries, the agency said. The New York Fire Department said one person was transported to the hospital, but their injuries

PHOTO PROVIDED By ROBERT SULLIVAN Black smoke and flames rise Monday in front of 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan in New york.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By PATRICK AFTOORA-ORSAGOS

Officials stand at a staging area after an operation to recover multiple people who died Monday while trying to save someone from the

Attempt to save swimmer leaves 5 dead at Ohio river

By The Associated Press

POWELL, Ohio Five people have died on a river in Ohio after several of them went into the water to help another person who was struggling to swim, authorities said Monday. A motorist called 911 after spotting a frightened child who had been with the group and was running on a nearby road, Delaware County Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer said at a news confer-

ence Monday Two children under age 10 have been placed in the care of family services, the sheriff said, including the child who ran for help

The group had gathered Sunday along the Scioto River in the Columbus suburb of Powell when one of them went into the river to go swimming “And that’s when the tragedy started to occur,” Balzer said, as the others who jumped in to help also began struggling.

Rescue crews searching the water on Sunday found two women, who were pronounced dead at a hospital, Balzer said. The bodies of three men were found in the river on Monday said Tracy Whited, a spokesperson for the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department.

The tragedy occurred two days after five members of a family were killed in southern Utah after a flash flood swept through canyons during a hiking trip.

Darline Graham to run

for full term in late brother’s Senate seat

BY MEG KINNARD Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Sen. Darline Graham said Monday she’s running for a full term to replace her late brother Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat. “I’ve made a decision,” Darline Graham told Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity, according to a clip released of an interview set to air later Monday “I’m in.”

The entrance of Darline Graham — sworn in last week to fulﬁll the remaining months of her late brother’s term, which expires in January into the Republican scramble to select a new Senate nominee further complicates an already rushed process following Lindsey Graham’s death earlier this month.

A weeklong filing period opens Tuesday for the special Republican primary, which will be Aug. 11. On Friday, President Donald Trump said that Darline Graham had his “Complete and Total Endorsement” to seek the nomination, adding,

“RUN, DARLINE, RUN!

D. Graham

Last week, Gov Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham to serve the remainder of her brother’s term, which ends in January. In his announcement, McMaster made no reference to Darline Graham as a placeholder or symbolic appointment, although a person familiar with McMaster’s thinking but unauthorized to speak publicly said the governor in selecting Darline Graham, had never contemplated that she would run for the seat herself.

Before the emergence of Darline Graham and their Oval Office meeting after she was sworn in — Trump had previously suggested he could back a potential candidacy from Rep. Russell Fry, who said Monday he would officially enter the special primary

Several other noteworthy politicians, including Rep.

Ralph Norman, have already gotten in, and others like Lt. Gov Pamela Evette have been eyeing a run. Rep. Nancy Mace announced Monday she would not enter the contest.

Darline Graham told Hannity said she had been “praying a lot” about how to navigate her new role.

“It is a tremendous amount of pressure,” she said.

“I know I’m a hard worker I learned that from Lindsey,” Darline Graham said. “I feel like I can do it I feel an inner peace about it. Will it be difﬁcult? Yes.”

Funeral services for Lindsey Graham are scheduled to be held next week in Washington and South Carolina. A preliminary report from the medical examiner said he suffered a tear in his aorta.

The millions in Lindsey Graham’s campaign account aren’t funds that Darline Graham could directly access in a run of her own, according to Bradley A. Smith, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission.

Senators demand ICE answers, body cameras after 2 shootings

BY REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Dozens of Democratic U.S. senators and the independent senator from Maine pushed for more details Monday from Immigration and Customs Enforcement about the agency’s vetting practices for new agents and how officers conduct vehicle pursuits, even as they demanded that body cameras be swiftly rolled out to all ofﬁcers

The demands came in a letter spearheaded by Maine’s Independent Sen. Angus King, signed by 38 Democratic senators and sent to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE. The demands follow two deadly shootings in which ICE ofﬁcers shot and killed immigrants in Houston and Maine. The Associated Press reported last week that David Brouillette, the ICE ofﬁcer in Maine who opened fire and killed a man from Colombia, had a history of violent behavior toward family members that was detailed in family court records. His first ex-wife, Ashley

Brouillette, told AP he was physically violent with her, including once throwing boiling water at her while she was holding their child.

His second ex-wife, Lucinda Brouillette, sent a statement over the weekend alleging “a persistent pattern of abuse, intimidation, manipulation, fear, and control.”

“Throughout our marriage and in the years that followed, I have feared for a long time that his anger, aggression, and escalating behavior would eventually result in severe, life threatening violence, and I often believed I would be the one on the receiving end of it,” she wrote.

Hundreds of pages of family court documents describe their turbulent marriage, and the years after Lucinda Brouillette told the court he had stalked and harassed her and physically and verbally abused his daughter, according to multiple requests for temporary protection orders.

Brouillette tackled his teenage daughter and smashed spaghetti in her hair, and during another outburst, he dragged his daughter around the house as she cried, she

After arrest, Tate brothers fight extradition to U.K.

Pair face rape, sex trafficking counts in Britain

BY DAVID FISCHER Associated Press

MIAMI Social media inﬂu-

encers Andrew and Tristan Tate will ﬁght extradition to the United Kingdom where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafﬁcking, their lawyer said Monday, suggesting their arrest in Miami was politically motivated without explaining why

The Tates appeared in federal court Monday for the first time since their arrest on Saturday and are being held in federal detention. In the coming weeks, a U.S. district judge will consider whether they meet the conditions for extradition. U.S. Magistrate Lauren Louis set another hearing for Monday

The brothers, through their social media empire promoting wealth, male dominance and misogyny, are among the world’s most polarizing internet personalities.

Normally photographed in tailored suits and fitted shirts, they wore tan jail uniforms and handcuffs during the brief hearing. Neither brother said a word.

Their attorney Joseph McBride, insisted they should remain in the U.S.

“We are of course objecting to extradition because Andrew and Tristan are innocent,” McBride said after the hearing. “They’ve never done nothing wrong. They shouldn’t be extradited for crimes they did not commit.”

The brothers were surprised when they were arrested, McBride said, adding that the attempt to have them extradited was politi-

cally motivated. “There’s no question about it,” he told reporters.

He suggested the Tates’ case “had a lot to do with” former British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision to step down, without providing any details, and said it was no coincidence that the brothers were arrested after meeting “friends in Washington, D.C.”

“We went to see our Congress people in D.C. and now we’re getting arrested. This feels political,” McBride said. He didn’t specify who the pair met with or what was discussed.

On Sunday, McBride said he was conﬁdent the extradition request would be denied.

Prosecutors in Britain said the new charges relate to four new victims and were brought after authorities received evidence from Bedfordshire Police in southeastern England. The allegations, spanning 2010 to 2017, include rape assault, trafﬁcking and offenses relating to “indecent images of a child and extreme pornography.”

McBride said none of the latest accusers have been identiﬁed, adding “we’d like to know who’s accused An-

drew and Tristan of what.”

The brothers are already charged with rape, bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain relating to three other alleged victims in the U.K. between 2012 and 2015. Their lawyer said in a statement Saturday that he believed the arrests were “greenlighted by a low-level functionary” at the Justice Department without input from leadership. The Justice Department told The Associated Press that the arrests were approved by leadership of its Criminal Division The new allegations are the latest in a long-running international legal saga involving the Tates that has spanned the U.S., Britain and Romania. The brothers have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

The dual U.S. and British citizens moved to Romania in 2016. They were arrested there in 2022, accused of participating in schemes to lure women for sexual exploitation. They denied those allegations and the Romanian case hasn’t gone forward because of legal and procedural problems. Last year, they were allowed to leave Romania and ﬂew to Florida.

said.

In court filings, David Brouillette said that his second ex-wife had slandered him.

Multiple family members told the AP the government should have never given him a gun, badge and the authority to patrol city streets as the Trump administration ramps up its mass deportation agenda.

The senators’ letter on Monday listed new measures to increase accountability at the agency, including transparency about whether ICE considers records from family court of domestic violence or abuse when vetting new recruits.

“We remain supportive of removing dangerous convicted criminals from our communities, but this goal can and must be achieved without endangering these very communities in the process. By no stretch could either of the victims in Texas and Maine be characterized as ‘the worst of the worst,’ making these tragic deaths even more egregious,” the senators wrote. “The American people deserve clarity and accountability.

Scioto River in Powell, Ohio.

PROVIDED IMAGE By LOTHAR SPEER

In this courtroom sketch, Andrew and Tristan Tate appear Monday with their attorneys before U.S Magistrate Lauren Louis in federal court in Miami.

Andy Burnham becomes U.K.’s prime minister

BY JILL LAWLESS and BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press

LONDON Andy Burnham took ofﬁce Monday as Britain’s new prime minister, promising a 10-year plan to restore political stability and revive the economy while acknowledging that six other U.K. leaders have tried and failed to do so in the past decade.

Speaking outside 10 Downing St. minutes after being formally appointed by King Charles III, Burnham pledged to ease the cost of living for ordinary people, decentralize political power, revitalize industry and end street sleeping by homeless people. He said he would deliver a “circuit breaker” for a system that has taken wrong turns since the 1980s, when public services and utilities were privatized and local government eroded

“We will take power out of here and carry it into every postcode in the land so that they can do more and in doing more, build a new economy where we put life’s essentials back under stronger public control to make them affordable to

Ukraine fires 400 drones toward Moscow

By The Associated Press

Ukraine fired more than 400 drones toward Moscow in its latest major attack on the Russian capital, the city’s mayor said Monday The blitz came hours after Russia bombarded Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with ballistic missiles in a relentless cycle of tit-for-tat strikes that make a settlement to end Moscow’s more than 4-yearold all-out invasion appear a distant possibility Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said he would hold “key talks” Monday as he tries to defuse a domestic political crisis, after last week’s government reshufﬂe exposed a deep split between the military’s old guard and young innovators over how to ﬁght the war Zelenskyy needs to reas-

you again,” he said. Burnham said he was “acutely conscious” of the political revolving door he was walking through “This is a moment for reﬂection and new resolution,” he said. “It requires my generation of politicians to raise our game and rise to the new challenge Britain needs to show the world that we can regain our stability once again, and that is our challenge to make politics work, to make it work better.”

One of Burnham’s biggest tasks on his ﬁrst day was to appoint a Cabinet. The key post of chancellor of the exchequer went to John Healey, the former defense secretary who quit the previous government a few weeks ago over funding plans for his department. His appointment as Treasury chief was a surprise.

Healey replaces Rachel Reeves, the architect of much of the economic agenda of Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer, as well as some of the missteps that ate away at his support Others leaving the Cabinet included David Lammy, who was deputy prime minister. Energy Secretary Ed

London.

Miliband was given the role of foreign secretary

He replaces Yvette Cooper, who was appointed health secretary, a demotion but a hugely important post for the Labour Party’s reelection prospects. Shabana Mahmood remains as home secretary The full Cabinet meets Tuesday Burnham became the seventh U.K. prime minister since 2016 in a now well-

sure Ukrainians that sacriﬁcing 35-year-old Mykhailo Fedorov as defense minister and keeping faith with 60-year-old Soviet-trained Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi as armed forces chief won’t derail the ﬁght against Russia. Days of street protests in favor of Fedorov and against Syrskyi followed Zelenskyy’s move.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said over 400 Ukrainian drones were sent toward the Russian capital from late Sunday until early Monday with most downed far from the city and 85 intercepted near it.

Moscow regional Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said 10 people were wounded by Ukrainian drones, while several residential buildings and civilian infrastructure facilities were damaged.

The attack started a ﬁre at the Yuzhnye Vrata industrial

park, about 18 miles south of Moscow, according to Yevgeniya Khrustaleva, the head of the Domodedovo area of the Moscow region.

The Astra news outlet reported the assault also caused a fire at an oil depot in Podolsk, about 12 miles south of Moscow, but there was no official confirmation of the strike.

Ukrainian forces hit logistics facilities and an oil depot in the Moscow region, Zelenskyy said, adding that Kyiv’s forces hit two vessels belonging to Russia’s so-called shadow ﬂeet transporting sanctioned oil and four dry cargo ships in the Black Sea.

A drone struck a passenger bus in Shebekino in Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, killing ﬁve people and injuring 23 others, according to acting Gov Alexander Shuvayev

Ex-Mexican drug lord denounces violence as he’s sentenced to life

BY MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press

NEW YORK Former Mexi-

can drug kingpin Ismael

“El Mayo” Zambada was sentenced in a U.S. court on Monday to life in prison and called for an end to the brand of brutal violence he used to grow the Sinaloa cartel into what prosecutors said was the world’s largest drug trafﬁcking organization.

“No one wins in a war like this,” the 76-year-old Zambada said through a Spanish-language translator in

Brooklyn federal court. He apologized “for the harm I caused and for the example I set.” He urged future generations to “choose a different path.”

“If there’s one thing I can say that has value today, it’s this: the violence must end,” the Sinaloa cartel co-founder said. “In Mexico and elsewhere affected by this type of crime, too many lives are lost, too many families are destroyed, and too many young people are trapped in a cycle that leads only to prison or death.”

Violence was Zambada’s “tool for more than three decades when it benefited him,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Amir said.

Zambada ordered torture and plotted murders — including his own nephew’s killing — as the cartel ﬂooded the U.S. with tons of cocaine, fentanyl methamphetamine and other drugs, Amir said. More than a million Americans died of overdoses during Zambada’s reign — many from drugs flowing from Mexico or the Sinaloa cartel, the prosecutor added.

Luke Skywalker’s ‘Empire Strikes Back’ lightsaber with severed hand sells for $3.75M

By The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES A lightsaber with Luke Skywalker’s severed hand from “The Empire Strikes Back” has sold for $3.75 million at auction. Heritage Auctions announced the results of its Hollywood & Entertainment Signature Auction on Monday. The lightsaber, used onscreen by Mark Hamill in the climactic Cloud City ﬁght where Darth Vader declares “I am your father” in the 1980 “Star Wars” sequel, included a severed hand effects rig used for when Vader sliced it off. Heritage said the price was the highest ever fetched for a prop used in a “Star Wars” ﬁlm. A Wicked Witch of the West hat worn by actor Margaret Hamilton in 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz” brought in $550,000 at the auction, and the cocoa-colored top hat worn by Gene Wilder as the title character in 1971’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” went for $350,000.

Daenerys Targaryen’s chest with dragon eggs inside from the ﬁrst season of “Game of Thrones” brought in $312,500. Two rugs essential to the convoluted plot of “The Big Lebowski” also sold. The one belonging to Jeff Bridges’ the Dude that “really tied the room together” and is soiled at the beginning of the 1998 ﬁlm went for $350,000. And the nicer one that he takes from his wealthy namesake outdid it with a price of $375,000.

rehearsed handover after replacing Starmer as leader of the center-left governing Labour Party on Friday Starmer announced last month that he would resign. Starmer left ofﬁce just two years after winning a landslide election victory, forced out by his own party after a series of missteps and Uturns.

Britain’s parliamentary democracy allows govern-

ing parties to change leaders, and thus prime ministers, without the need for a general election. The next national poll does not have to be held until 2029, though Burnham can call one sooner if he wants. Burnham was the only candidate in a contest to become the party’s new leader, securing nominations from 379 of the 403 Labour lawmakers in the House of

Commons. He will confront many of the same struggles as his predecessor: a sluggish economy, a cost-of-living crisis, overstretched public services, concerns about migration and foreign affairs that include wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. He will also try to navigate relations with U.S. President Donald Trump, who ﬁrst warmed to, then soured on, Starmer Burnham’s ofﬁce said the prime minister spoke to Trump on Monday afternoon and “underlined his commitment to defense and security.”

The former mayor of Greater Manchester previously pledged to make politics “less toxic,” improve living standards across the country and “bring back the hope we have all been missing.”

Burnham said he will set out a 10-year plan for Britain later this year Before that, he will lay out ﬁrst steps “to give people some breathing space now, some help with the cost of living.”

“And I will set out some of those measures starting tomorrow, including how we pay for them,” he said.

By The Associated Press

DETROIT A state appeals court on Monday set aside convictions for two men involved in a 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov Gretchen Whitmer Pete Musico and Paul Bellar were convicted of providing material support for an act of terrorism They, along with co-defendant Joe Morrison, were accused of having secondary roles in the scheme.

Morrison’s conviction was thrown out in June in a precedent-setting decision. A different panel at the Michigan Court of Appeals said it was obligated to apply that ruling to Musico and Bellar as well. The convictions were overturned on technical grounds. The appeals court said kidnapping is not an underlying violent felony that can support a conviction under Michigan’s terrorism law

Attorney General Dana Nessel called it “linguistic gymnastics” and said she would ask the Michigan Supreme Court to take up the cases. Morrison, Musico and Bellar were not charged with having a direct role in the plot to kidnap Whitmer Bellar had moved out of state weeks before the FBI made arrests in October 2020, and Morrison and Musico said they, too, were no longer in contact with key ﬁgures.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By THOMAS KRyCH Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham speaks to staff and media on Monday at 10 Downing St. in

PHOTO PROVIDED By UKRAINIAN EMERGENCy SERVICE

A residential building burns Monday after a Russian air attack in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine.

the lakes — hasn’t changed in its ﬁnal form, Goodson said. In fact, it’s expanded to include ﬂood control, he said.

“The desired outcomes going back to the 2016 plan and today still are to make the lakes healthier, to make a healthier ecosystem, to make it safer and more accessible for the people who want to enjoy it,” Goodson said. “One of the key beneﬁts that we unlocked, if you will, as we started working on implementation of the plan is that while they we re n’ t initia lly constructed to help with flood mitigation, they did have the ability to do that.”

“The

MARK GOODSON, project manager

The projec t ha s also run into complications in developing an agreement for future maintenance on the lakes. BREC, the city-parish and LSU all have ownership claims along the shorelines where work has been completed, Goodson said

“We’re working with those same entities, BREC, LSU and the city-parish, to create a sustainable solution for doing that, whether it is through a dedicated nonproﬁt that can take over the maintenance of the system long term or just some sort of better coordination between those three entities,” Goodson said. “But it is absolutely on our radar and something we’re trying to ﬁgure out very soon.”

PROBE

Continued from page 1A

In a news release Monday

Murrill’s office said Shannon — who also goes by “Squeak” — did not actually organize the event but took credit for it on his invoice

At the time, Shannon was a contracted worker for Safe, Hopeful, Healthy BR a program under former MayorPresident Sharon Weston Broome. Multiple agencies have served subpoenas related to the initiative in the past two years.

Records show Shannon received regular monthly payments from the city-parish for violence preventionrelated work between 2022 and June 2025 on various contracts. Most of that money was paid for with federal dollars.

Investigators say they tried several times to speak

Lakes progress

The restoration is focused on making the lakes deeper landscaping the shorelines and cutting a channel between City Park and University lakes, which requires building a bridge over it on May Street Goodson explained. So far, he said, dredging is complete for City Park, Lake Erie and College Lake. That process is still

underway for University Lake and Campus Lake, with the former scheduled to be ﬁnished at the end of July and the latter in October

The project also made changes to the existing weir — a type of dam — at Stanford Avenue, allowing the gate to be opened to drain the lakes and create room for stormwater, Goodson said.

Landscaping along the shore-

lines of the lakes is at varying degrees of completion The process involves building up “living shorelines” with native plants to clean stormwater runoff as it enters the lakes, Goodson said.

Some residents expressed concern at recent community meetings that renovated shorelines were already looking unkempt.

“We are well aware that some of those new shoreline areas have be-

come overgrown and are unsightly,” Goodson said. “We’re working on ways to address it. Once the landscaping gets installed, they will look better.”

He said he’s optimistic that May Street will be reopened by the end of the year Workers on the project are currently driving piles into the ground for the planned bridge, he said.

When the street reopens, it will feature 14-foot paths for pedestrians and cyclists — part of the larger goal for increased safety and less conﬂict between vehicles and other modes of transport around the lakes, Goodson said.

“Those intersections will be made safer,” Goodson said. “Ideally, we’ll have new paths all the way around the lakes eventually as more funding becomes available.”

What comes next for the lakes?

Dredging, shoreline improvements and the May Street reconstruction encompass all the work that is currently funded for the project, Goodson said. An additional $20 million awarded to the city-parish from FEMA will be put toward renovating Corporation Canal and Lake Crest.

Looking ahead, he said, the goal is to continue to enhance the pedestrian and bicycling experience around the lakes, creating more paths safe from vehicles.

“There are a lot of conﬂict points around the lakes where it’s just unsafe for those three groups to coexist,” Goodson said. “That’s the priority as we move forward, is to fund more bike and pedestrian improvements off-street.”

For Goodson, the signiﬁcance of the project to the community is never far from mind. There hasn’t been a day in the last six years that he hasn’t been asked a question about the lakes, he joked.

“Arguably, they’re the greatest quality of life asset that we have in Baton Rouge,” he said. “They’re sort of synonymous with Baton Rouge.”

with Shannon regarding his invoice and the gun safety event, but he nor his attorney have opted to be interviewed.

“Based on the evidence discovered in this investigation, agents believe Roderick Shannon intentionally defrauded the Safe, Hopeful, Healthy BR Program,” Louisiana Bureau of Investigation agent Phillip Vitter wrote.

Asked earlier this year about the gun safety event, Hurst said he believed others could beneﬁt from Payne telling his story and the negative experiences he had

The probe continues

Murrill’s investigation has yielded a slew of indictments since October

The health and safety initiative is one of the programs at the center of a corruption investigation into Baton Rouge government under Broome’s administration.

Courtney Scott, a staffer for Broome, signed the invoice for the Mayor-President’s Ofﬁce. Scott was indicted in February, accused of orchestrating a kickback scheme that funneled nearly $200,000 from the nonproﬁt to herself through other contracts.

Broome has denied wrongdoing.

Sitting council member Cleve Dunn Jr was indicted in January on charges including conspiracy, bribery and money laundering related to a Capital Area Transit System contract. Investigators say he and then-CATS administrator Pearlina Thomas, who was also indicted, steered a contract to a close associate of Dunn’s.

Several other contractors have also been indicted on charges related to CATS and the Safe, Hopeful, Healthy initiative.

Veronica Mathis was indicted alongside Scott in February

Christian Mosley-Richardson, left, helps Johnisha West fill sandbags Monday at Morris

FX Jeff Sr Park in Algiers ahead of the expected arrival of a tropical storm across south Louisiana.

STORM

Continued from page 1A

area that day are predicted to be a sustained 10 mph, with gusts of up to 20 to 25 mph possible during the day as well, he said.

“Right now the heaviest rainfall is forecast for along the Louisiana coast and over the Gulf,” Zeringue said.

“The system is still organizing, and we could see chang-

es in the forecast if it goes further north.” Bertha is the second named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season after Tropical Storm Arthur dropped several inches of rain on Louisiana last month, causing major flooding in some parishes. Rain chances this week for Baton Rouge are: n Tuesday: 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1 p.m., dropping to 30% that night.

n Wednesday: 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms, also after 1 p.m., dropping to a 20% chance that night. n Thursday: a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms during the day after 1 p.m.

n Friday: a chance of shower and thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Email Ellyn Couvillion at ecouvillion@theadvocate. com

Terral “TJ” Jackson and Erica Jackson — who are married — are accused of receiving taxpayer dollars to campaign for a CATS millage renewal. City-parish records show the couple’s company BROAD Innovative Market-

ing was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars through contracts via Safe, Hopeful, Healthy and the mayor’s Healthy City Initiative.

Sources familiar with the investigation say current Metro Council member Twahna P. Harris and for-

mer member Chauna Banks have been subpoenaed to testify before the attorney general’s grand jury this Wednesday

Email Patrick SloanTurner at patrick.sloanturner@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN BALLANCE

The LSU Lakes restoration project is focused on making the lakes deeper, landscaping the shorelines and cutting a channel between City Park and University lakes.

BUSINESS

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Wall Street drifts as AI stocks hold steadier

NEWYORK— Wall Street drifted to aquiet ﬁnish Monday after stocks of chipmakers and other winners of the artiﬁcial-intelligence boom trimmed some of their recentlosses.

The S&P 500 dipped 0.2%, coming off its ﬁrst losingweek in thelastthree and just its third sincethe endofMarch.The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 307 points,or0.6%, and theNasdaq composite was basically ﬂatafter slipping by less than 0.1%

Nvidia added 0.2% and held ﬁrmer following its drop onFriday, when it wasthe heaviest weight on theS&P 500. Sandisk climbed2.7% after tumbling 29% last week.

Advanced Micro Devices

rose 1.6% after announcing an expandedpartnership where Microsoft will use its products for AI, including its new Helios product starting in the second halfofthe year

Such stocks have been under pressure forweeks on worries that their prices shot too high in theeuphoria around AI. On one hand, companies are making billions of dollars in revenue as customers pour money into AI chips and data centers. But all that spendingmay ﬁzzle out if AI doesn’tproduce as much proﬁt and productivity as promised.

EU hits AliExpress with a fine over goods

THE HAGUE, Netherlands TheEuropean Commission on Monday finedChinese online marketplaceAliExpress $629 million for failing to adequatelycrack down on the sale of unsafe and counterfeit products on its site

The ﬁne, the biggest ever imposedfor breaches of the27-nationEuropean Union’sDigital Services Act, comes just months after another online retailer Temu,was ﬁned 200 million eurosfor similar breaches.Last year,Brussels issued a$120 millionpenalty for Elon Musk’s social media site X.

“The spread of counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys, dangerous cosmetics and other illegal and harmfulproducts is not an unavoidable cost of shopping online —itisafailure by AliExpresstocomply with itsobligationsunder the Digital Services Act,” Henna Virkkunen, the commission’sexecutive vicepresident for tech sovereignty, security and democracy,saidin astatement

“Scale is not an excuse; risks must be identified and addressedsystematically to ensure consumers can safely shop online. Today,weare holding AliExpress to this standard and request it to take action,” she added. In acomment emailed to The Associated Press, AliExpresssaidthat since the DSA cameinto force the company “hasbeen, and continuestobe, firmly committed to meeting ourobligations and we have invested substantial resources in risk assessment and mitigation, product safety and consumer protection.”

Demand for China’sAI

model over capacity

HONG KONG

The new,powerful Chineseartificialintelligence model Kimi K3, which has caused astir in the U.S. techindustry, has suspended new subscriptions aftera ﬂood in demand overwhelmed capacity within days of the launch. The development highlighted challenges faced by Chinese AI models in serving agrowing user base at home and abroad at atime the U.S.-China tech race is heating up. Chinese open-source, lowercost advanced AI models, includingDeepSeek’s latest V4, have been movingfast in gaining global attention. In early 2025, DeepSeek shook world markets and helped China to be recognized as aserious competitor to theU.S., where Chinese frontier AI models are largely open source, meaningthey are made accessible for people to examine and buildupon.

BY WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS Associated Press

NEWYORK U.S. gas prices jumped back to $4 agallon on average Monday,asWashington’slatest ﬁghting with Iran renews strain on theﬂow of fuel worldwide. According to motor club AAA, the national average for agallon of regular gasoline is now just

above the $4 mark. That’s about 13 cents more expensive than it was aweek ago, andfar higherthan where prices at the pump stood at this time last year,whenAmerican drivers could ﬁll up for about $3.14 agallon on average.

The U.S.and Israel’swar with Iran plunged theworld into aglobal energycrisis, notably as thecost of crude oil —the main ingredient in gasoline —soared due to supply chain andproductiondisruptions across the Middle East.

Energy prices cooled last month

when Washington and Tehran reached an interimagreement aimed at permanently ending their ﬁghting andreviving trafﬁc in thekey StraitofHormuz. But that peace deal has now crumbled —with the U.S. on Monday only intensifying airstrikesagainst Iran, which has respondedbylaunching its own attacks on American allies in theregion. Andoil flowsare largely stalling again. Many eyes are on the White House. Before co-launching the warinlate February,President

Donald Trump once bragged about keeping gas prices low— andexpressed frustration about them not falling as quickly as the cost of crude oil last month. If prices continuetorebound,expensive gas will likely be at the top of voters’ mindsduringthe midtermelections this November California on Monday continued to seethe most expensivegas,with an average of nearly $5.50 agallon —followed by almost $5.42 in Hawaii and $5.01 in Washington state, per AAA.

FreedomFuelstationstiedto NFLcoach,commodities trader

Gaswas touted for $3.47agallonfor

BYBRIAN SLODYSKO, MICHAEL BIESECKER and JOSH BOAK Associated Press

WASHINGTON— President Donald Trumpand hisWhite House have enthusiastically promoted the Freedom Fuel Network, achain of star-spangled convenience stores selling gasat$3.47per gallon in honor of the 47th president.

Untangling exactly who is behind the Philadelphia-area venture has proven difﬁcult. Records indicate thechain,which was launched last month, is run by adisparate collectionofbusinessmenthatincludes an NFL kicking coach,a GOP fundraiser and a New Jersey entrepreneur who this year was ordered,along with hisbrother, to paycivil damagesfor unlawfully takingmorethan 200,000 gallonsoffuel.

How the stations got Trump’sattentionremains amystery,and thefour businessmen declined to —orcould not be reached for comment.

What is clear: Trumploved the idea of cheapergas.The presidentcelebratedthe network’sgas prices just beforethe busy July 4travel periodasconsumers were grappling with higher oil prices sparked by the war with Iran.

“I am pleased to announce that aVERY smartRetailer, located throughout the Northeast, is steppingup,”Trumpwrote aboutthe company on his Truth Social platform on July 1. “America has never been stronger than it is now,and Gas Prices will soon be back to the Record LowPrices Americans enjoyedatthe pump before our very successful ‘excursion’ in Iran.”

The White House followed up with apost on Xa few days laterthat heraldedthe openingofthe ﬁrst Freedom Fuelstationand producedavideo showing patrons waving wads of cash and thankingTrump for reducing the prices outsidea store festooned withAmericanﬂags and agolden eagle logo.

Thatstation,located in Dresher,Pennsylvania, is owned by asubsidiary of Blue Owl Capital, an investment ﬁrm, records show.

Trump hasowned up to $25 million worth of Blue Owlstock,though his most recent ﬁnancialdisclosuresayshehas sold almost all of that stake.

TheWhite House deniedTrump had any personalconnectiontothe venture, butdeclined to say how theproject was developed. It acknowledged having discussions withindividualswho setupthe network of gas stations.

“The Administration is not involved in the company,nor has the Administration given thecompanyany funding. There is no other entity or person subsidizing thelower gasoline costs,”the White House wrote in astatement

Blue Owl owns about athirdofthe FreedomFuel properties, though the company saiditleases the stores to independentcon-

tractors and “is notinvolvedinthe tenant’s operations or business decisions.”

Fourteen stationsinthe 25-location network are controlledbycompanies linked to Shamikh andSyedKazmi,two brothers who have been dogged by astring of civil misconduct accusations, includingfraud, records show Shamikh Kazmi is leasing eightofthose stations from Blue Owl, according to state records andpeople familiarwith the businesses who spoke on condition of anonymity to discussthe matter.The Associated Press was able to link the brothers to six other Freedom Network locationsthrough records thatshow theylisted those stations’addresses as headquarters forother ventures or supplied those locations with fuel.

AWhiteHouse ofﬁcial, who insisted on anonymitytodiscuss the project, said that no oneatthe White House whowas in conversationswithFreedom FuelNetwork hadspeciﬁcally spoken or worked with Syed Kazmi, aclaim that indicatesdiscussions occurred with the other brother,Shamikh.

The Kazmishavemarketed themselves as “top tier” petroleum distributors and gas station operators, with over 75 years of experience andadeep well of corporateafﬁliations, according to an archived version of the website for one of their companies.

Public recordsoffer amore nuanced portrait, showing the Kazmis have been repeatedly sued by companiestheyhad dealings with.

Thebrothershavelegal issues

Legal ﬁlings detail aseries of judgments against the Kazmis, who failed to comply with acourt order and have been accused of obscuring their ﬁnances anddodging service processors as agrowing list of former suppliers and franchisors sought payment.

In February,afederal judge in New Jersey

ordered the Kazmis to pay over $600,000 to afuel supplier that accused the brothers of stealing gas. The supplier alleged in court filingsthat it cut thebrothers offafterthey refused to sign anew contract. But the Kazmis exploited asecurity lapse andgained access to thesupplier’sfuel depot. Over a ten-day period in August2021, tanker trucks absconded with more than 230,000gallons of fuel, according to the supplier’scourt filings. Ajudge ruled in the supplier’sfavor,finding the brothers unlawfully took the gas. The fuel supplier says it has yet to receive payment.

Syed Kazmi was hit with a$380,000 judgment two years ago in asuit brought by 7-Eleven, the convenience chain, whichaccused him of “dishonest, unethical, immoral” conduct while operating afranchise in Lawrenceville, NewJersey,that wasﬂagged for unsanitary conditions that included trash issues and arodent infestation. The company also said “tens of thousands of dollars” of cigarettes ordered from 7-Eleven on credit had gone missing.

Afederal judge held acompanyoperated by Shamikh Kazmiincontemptin2022ina trademark case brought by BP America. Though BP had severed ties with Kazmi’s Diwan Petroltwo years priortothe legal action, the corporation’ssignage hadnot been removed from the gas station despite acourt order to do so. The judge authorized U.S. Marshals to accompany BP workers to remove it.

Aman who answered acalltoanumber listed for the Kazmi brothers said he was not the right person to talktoand instead directed inquiries to the Freedom Fuel Network’swebsite. But that website has no contact information, phonenumberormailing address. Arequest for comment submitted through an online contact form was not answered.

BY WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS Associated Press

NEWYORK— Afederal judge on Monday ordered Paramount and Warner Bros. Discoverytohalt their $81 billionmerger for at least two weeks, allowing states that are challengingthe deal moretime to see theircasethrough in court Twelvestates, led by California, sued to block Paramount’s pending buyout of Warner lastweek —allegingthatsuchacombination would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood and lead to fewer choices forconsumers, particularly moviegoers and cable customers

acrossthe U.S. The states’ top prosecutors called on Warner and Paramount to not close thetransaction until after acourt had time to fully evaluate their claims. Andwhen the companiesrefused, they ﬁled for atemporaryrestraining order —which is what District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguíngranted on Monday.That opens the door to apotential preliminary injunction that the states are also seeking to effectively block thedeal. “Thisisa critical ﬁrst wininour case to ensure this megamerger neverseesthe lightofday,” California AttorneyGeneral Rob Bonta

said in astatement Monday.“History tells the tale of what happens when afew people have great power over markets that are central to Americans’ lives: feweropportunities for more people,worse products and services for all people.”

AWarner-Paramount tie-up would bring together two of the ﬁve last legacy studios in Hollywood as wellasahost of TV networks, titles ﬁlling streaming libraries and news operations. Warner’sHBO Max, fan favorites like “Harry Potter” and even CNN would come under the same roof of Paramountowned CBS, movies like “Top Gun” andthe Paramount+ streaming service.

Paramount, whichwas bought out by Skydance just last year,has vowed to vigorously defend itsacquisition —and touts regulatory greenlights the deal has received elsewhere,including from President Donald Trump’sadministration last month. On Monday,Paramount said the states’antitrust arguments“are without merit” or “any basis in modern marketrealities” —and maintained that its merger with Warnerwill benefit consumers and workers alike. Timing fornext steps also falls in line with the company’sprevious requests.

Pamela Smart seeks a new trial in 1990 killing

Womn convicted of orchestrating husband’s murder

BY KATHY MCCORMACK

and HOLLY RAMER Associated Press

— Lawyers for Pa-

CONCORD, N.H.

mela Smart, who is serving life in prison for orchestrating the murder of her husband by her teenage student in 1990, urged a New Hampshire judge Monday to allow her latest petition for a new trial to move forward.

Smart, 58, was a 22-year-old high school media coordinator when she began an affair with a 15-yearold boy who later fatally shot her husband, Gregory Smart, in Derry

The shooter was freed in 2015 after serving a 25-year sentence.

Though Smart denied knowledge of the plot, she was convicted of being an accomplice to first-degree murder and other crimes and was sentenced to life without parole after a trial that was one of the first in the nation to be broadcast live on television from start to finish.

Smart ﬁled a petition for habeas corpus relief in January seeking to overturn her conviction over what her lawyers claim were several constitutional violations. The state responded with a motion to dismiss the petition, resulting in Monday’s hearing, which Smart attended remotely from the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in New York.

Merrimack County Superior Court Judge James Kennedy took the matter under advisement. He

TANKER

Continued from page 1A

interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world,” the U.S. State Department said in a new warning to Americans.

The escalation has pushed oil prices higher in recent weeks. Benchmark Brent crude traded Tuesday above $88 a barrel and regular gasoline in the U.S climbed to an average of $4 a gallon keeping pressure on Americans’ wallets ahead of midterm elections this fall

Meanwhile, the U.S. military identiﬁed two soldiers who were killed in Jordan in attacks that left a third person missing. Separately, the military conﬁrmed another death in Iraq on Saturday during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone. President Donald Trump took to social media on Monday to warn that “Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!”

Trump was planning to attend a ceremony on Tuesday evening at Dover Air Force Base, where at least one service member’s remains were due to arrive. Strikes come as ships hit The U.S. military’s Central Command said Tuesday it targeted “Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and air defense systems.”

“American forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression toward civilian mariners seeking to freely and openly

planned to rule in 30 to 60 days.

Smart’s lawyers argue that prosecutors misled the jury by providing them with inaccurate transcripts of surreptitiously recorded conversations of Smart that included words that were not audible on the recordings.

Among the words they claim weren’t audible but in the transcript were the word “killed” in the sentence “you had your husband killed,” the word “busted” in the sentence “I’m gonna be busted” and the word “murder” in the sentence “this would have been the perfect murder.”

“Modern science conﬁrms what common sense has always told us: when people are handed a script, they inevitably hear the words they are shown,” Smart’s attorney,

“If the door opens to diplomacy — if the guys that want to do something productive for Iran win and take control of that system, or take control of the negotiations — that’ll be a very positive development. That’s not where we are tonight, unfortunately.”

SECRETARy OF STATE MARCO RUBIO

transit the strait,” it said However, trafﬁc through the strait has slowed to crawl with the latest violence. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said a tanker came under attack early Tuesday in the strait off Oman forcing the crew to abandon the vessel.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed the attack, as well as two other attacks on ships Monday in the waterway

The route around Oman has been the one the U.S military has encouraged ships to travel to avoid Iran’s control.

Tehran also hit U.S.-allied countries throughout the Middle East.

Kuwait said its air defenses ﬁred at an incoming barrage, and Jordan’s armed forces said Monday evening they had shot down three Iranian missiles, adding that there had been no material damage or casualties. Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry condemned Iranian drone strikes targeting the country’s air trafﬁc systems, saying they endanger travel for civilians.

Nearly 100 U.S. injuries

The Pentagon’s chief

Matthew Zernhelt, said in a statement earlier this year “Jurors were not evaluating the recordings independently — they were being directed toward a conclusion, and that direction decided the verdict.”

In court Monday, he described a forensic study that showed providing transcripts alongside mufﬂed audio leads listeners to believe the written text even when inaccurate.

“Adding a transcript of language to the jurors changed their interpretation of what they believed they were hearing, how conﬁdent they were in what they believed they were hearing and how clear it was to them,” he said. “There’s no absolute truth about what’s on the tapes. Nothing decipherable is on the tapes. But when you tell someone what they’re hearing, you set this

spokesman said nearly 100 U.S. service members have been injured since the U.S. restarted strikes on July 7, and 96% of them have returned to duty

“The vast majority of injuries experienced were minor concussions,” Sean Parnell posted Monday on X in response to a New York Times report that the Pentagon has withheld information about troop injuries from Iranian strikes. He denied that the Pentagon was hiding data about injuries. However, the Defense Casualty Analysis System the military’s clearinghouse for reporting deaths and injuries in conﬂict, has not been updated as of Monday night with the latest attacks.

Yemen rebels threaten Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia on Monday. The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, said they would block shipping between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden by targeting the Bab el-Mandeb, a maritime chokepoint like the Strait of Hormuz in response to an attack on Sanaa International Airport last week that they blamed on Saudi Arabia.

With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, Saudi Arabia has been relying on a pipeline to the Red Sea to get millions of barrels of oil out to market. The Houthis earlier demonstrated their ability to disrupt shipping there when they targeted ships for months over the IsraelHamas war in Gaza, with over 100 vessels attacked.

Saudi Arabia’s military said it would keep the waterway open.

“All Houthi threats against transiting vessels will be dealt with swiftly and ﬁrmly,

expectation and they will hear it.”

Smart’s lawyers also argued that the verdict was tainted by the media attention and due to faulty instructions to the jury They argued jurors were told they must ﬁnd that Smart acted with premeditation, and were not told they must consider only evidence presented at trial.

They also argued the trial court gave her a mandatory life sentence without parole for being an accomplice to first-degree murder despite New Hampshire not mandating that sentence for the charge.

Lawyers for the state asked the judge to dismiss the petition, saying nearly all of the claims are barred because they already were raised on appeal and resolved by the New Hampshire Supreme Court, or could have been raised on appeal with the court but were not.

They noted that during Smart’s trial, the defense only expressed concern that the recording transcripts allegedly failed to account for the “doubling” of voices when two people speak at once. The judge instructed jurors that if the tapes differed from what they were reading, they should use what they heard, instead. The state Supreme Court noted that Smart’s lawyers did not make any “particularized showing of inaccuracies in the transcripts relative to the recordings or how she may have been prejudiced” by them.

Assistant Attorney General John Drennan said none of Smart’s claims are supported by facts, and that she appears to be using the habeas corpus process as a substitute for an appeal. He likened the discrepancies with the transcripts to someone viewing text of a tran-

as such threats are a blatant violation of international law and fall under acts of maritime piracy,” said Maj. Gen, Turki Al-Malki, a Saudi military spokesman. Hope for diplomacy Pakistan has intensified diplomatic efforts in recent days to resuscitate the interim deal.

Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni arrived

scribed voicemail and then listening to the actual message.

“Maybe cognitive bias has set in, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t, when listening, say ‘Hey I’m not sure that’s right,’” he said. “I know to review it. I know to be skeptical.”

Smart’s team hasn’t proven other claims, such as ineffective assistance of counsel and having the case argued in New York, rather than in New Hampshire, the lawyers for the state said.

Smart’s legal options are limited She has unsuccessfully sought a sentence reduction hearing several times with an elected state council in New Hampshire that approves contracts and appointees to the courts and state agencies. She appealed one rejection to the state Supreme Court, which dismissed her petition in 2023.

Her latest petition was ﬁled after New Hampshire Gov Kelly Ayotte rejected her request last year to put the matter before the council again. Ayotte said she reviewed the case and decided it was not deserving of a hearing.

In 2024, Smart took full responsibility for her husband’s death. She said in a video she spent years deﬂecting blame “almost as if it was a coping mechanism.”

Smart’s trial was a media circus and one of America’s first highproﬁle cases about a sexual affair between a school employee and a student. The student, William Flynn, testified that Smart told him she needed her husband killed because she feared she would lose everything if they divorced and that she threatened to break up with him if he didn’t kill her husband.

in Islamabad on Monday for two days of talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and others.

On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the U.S. is still open to negotiating with Iran but that “it has to be real.”

“If the door opens to diplomacy — if the guys that want to do something productive for Iran win and take con-

trol of that system, or take control of the negotiations that’ll be a very positive development,” Rubio said “That’s not where we are tonight, unfortunately.” Iranian authorities on Sunday said at least 50 people have been killed and 517 wounded in the latest rounds of U.S. strikes. Since the war began on Feb. 28, 17 U.S. service members have been killed.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

Search formissing teen hits second week

Lawenforcement personnelsifting throughtrash at landfill

BY AVERYWHITE Staff writer

The search for the bodyof amissing teen believedto be in the East Baton Rouge Parish North Landfillhas stretched into its second week as law enforcement personnel sift through thousands of pounds of trash each day

The search, spanning 0.64 acres of the 400-acre landfill, began last weekafter the Baton Rouge Police Department identiﬁedthe zone where15-year-old Ja’Derrius Minnieweather’s body might be with the help of the FBI

Laboratory’sTechnical Hazards Response Unit and EvidenceResponseTeamUnit

Minnieweather went missingJune5 andhas since beenpresumeddead.Police have conﬁrmedthey believe hisbody was left in agarbage binand picked up by a garbage truck to bedumped in the landﬁll.

Sincethe work began last week andpersonnel from various agencies converged on the landfill, donning hazmat suitsand protective gear,57tonsofmaterial have beensearched in over 2,000 hours of work.Personnel searching the landfill mustsiftthroughtonsof unknown trash, including needles, glass anda layer of soil that gets placed on each dumparea daily While theBaton RougePoliceDepartmentisthe lead agency on thecase, it has

JanRisher

LOUISIANA AT LARGE

Stumbling sidewaysin friendships

Rebecca DeLatin represents one of the silver linings of the ﬁrethat destroyed our home last August. When we ended up in arental, we neverdreamed of the impact our new neighbors would have on our lives. The DeLatinshave been the perfect combination offun, smarts,kindnessand humor during this strange temporary time andplace of our lives. They’re the kind of neighbors who make life better.Isuspect that they will be a part of our lives for years to come On Sundayafternoon, withher children spending the week with their grandparents in Acadiana, DeLatin told me she was looking forward to an afternoon of cooking and going to her Cookbook Club that evening. Itold her that I’ve been wanting to be apartof acookbook club, and within minutes, Iwas invited to join Since DeLatin was taking three dishes, Ihad afeeling there would be agracious plenty —and Iwas not wrong. Darian Graivshark and Kos Kovtun hosted the event. The cookbook for the night was Molly Baz’s“Cook This Book.” Adrian Owen Jones recommendedthe book. As avegetarian, she says Baz’sdishes areusually greater than the sum of their parts. “It’ssohard to ﬁnd vegetable dishes that aren’tboring,” she said. If nonboring vegetabledishes are the goal, she hit the jackpot Sunday night. The seven of usenjoyed 12 dishes. It was afeast Baz also has aknack for naming dishes:piri-ish chicken, pimentoish cheese, one-pot chicken with schmaltzy rice, gingerysquash and lentils, smooshed andcrispy

ä See RISHER, page 2B

The search for the bodyofamissing teen believedtobeinthe East Baton RougeParish NorthLandfill hasstretched into its second week.

enlisted the help of 12 other law enforcement agencies, including specialty teams from theFBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the Louisiana National

Guard. Maurice Parms, 51, was arrested on acount of ﬁrstdegree murder June 20 in connectionwith allegedly beatingthe teen to death

during an altercation. He allegedly then dumped Minnieweather in agarbage bin on themorning of June 5where the garbage truck wasscheduled to pick up

LETLEAPING DOGSSLIDE

trash at 6a.m., according to Parms’ arrest warrant. Parms is 6feet tall,much taller than Minnieweather, who was only 4feet 7inches. After witnesses described observing atall man beating asmaller person while a child’sbike was in the middle of the roadway,detectives were able to locate blood that hadsoaked into the ground. Detectives obtained asearch warrantfor Parms’ truck, which tested positive for the presence of blood.

This story was reported andwritten by astudent withthe support of the nonproﬁtLouisiana Collegiate News Collaborative, an LSUledcoalitionofeight universitiesfundedby theHenry Luce and JohnD.and Catherine T. MacArthur foundations.

BY OLIVIA TEES Staff writer

Twomen were convicted in afederal court after they stole three people’sidentities,including one whowas amurder victim,and obtainedfraudulent insurance policies worth over $4 million. Calvin Kemp, 60, of Gonzales, and Chevez Tywan Robillard, 33, of Baton Rouge, wereunanimously convicted after athree-day

trial on charges of conspiracyto commit wire fraud and multiple counts of aggravated identity theft,said U.S. Attorney Kurt Wall.

According to theirindictment, between Julyand December 2022, thetwo men contacted nine life insurance companies to obtainaccidentaldeathpolicies from eight companies. They stolethe identityofthreepeople and used their information to get themoney

The victims were identiﬁed as A, Band Ctoprotect their identities

On July 13, 2022, Kemp and Robillard opened abusiness checking account with Woodforest

Banktouse to pay the premiums on the insurance policies. Kemp told the insurance companiesthat he wasthe CEO of a musiclabel or aghostwriter for rappers and that he was inquiring about accidental deathpolicies on behalf of his clients. In one August phone call with an eFinancial representative, Kempasked the representative if thepolicycovered murder.On theeFinancial website, it said the policy wouldcover homicide and wrongful death. Victim Ahad a$1.9 million policy in their name, victim Bhad a$1million policy in their name and victim Chad a$2.43 million policy in their name.

Robillard wasnamed as the beneﬁciary for all of the insurance policies. Robillard submittedfour claims on insurancepoliciesin the name of someone who was killed in December 2022. The claims weresubmitted before thevictimdied. Neither Robillard nor Kemp have been named as suspects in amurder case. Kemp facesupto26years in federal prison and Robillard faces up to 24 years. Assistant U.S. attorneys M. Patricia Jonesand Paul L. Pugliese ledthe prosecution.The murder victim’sname will not be released because he is avictimin this fraud case, Jones said.

BY ANNAKATE FREELAND Staff writer

Donaldsonville native and legendary saxophonist Plas Johnson died Wednesday,six days before his95th birthday Johnson died in GranadaHills, California. He was best known as the original saxophonist on the “Pink Panther” theme song.

Johnsonand his pianist brother Rayfirst recorded as the JohnsonBrothers in New Orleans in the late 1940s The pair moved to Los Angeles in 1954, and he soon begansessionrecordings as a full-time musician, backing artists such as B.B. King and Johnny Otis Recruited for Capitol Records in the mid-1950s, Johnsonalso playedonrecords by PeggyLee, Nat “King” Cole, Glen Gray, FrankSinatra andthe Beach Boys. Throughout his career,Johnson also performed with jazz and swing bands, joined the studio orchestra for“TheMerv Griffin Show,” recorded for Sheffield Lab and Concord Records, toured with the Gene Harris Superband and appeared at jazz festivals around the world. Hisnameismemorialized in the JazzPlaza alongRailroad Avenue in

downtownDonaldsonville.

STAFFPHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Kaitlyn Birigoes down aslide withher dog,Sassafras, at City Park on July 14. Biri saidthe nearbydog park wasclosed so she decided to takeSassafras to the playground instead. Johnson

PROVIDED PHOTO Molly Baz’s‘Cook This Book’was the inspiration cookbook for the Baton Rouge-based Cookbook Club to host itsSundaymeal.

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN BALLANCE

Hundreds mourn loss of Nolan Wells

BY POET WOLFE Staff writer

Hundreds gathered on a sunny Monday morning in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to give their ﬁnal goodbyes to Nolan Wells, an 18-yearold football star found dead on Horn Island earlier this month.

Residents and loved ones, many dressed in black and blue — the colors of Wells’ high school football team stood outside the entrance of Center Pointe Church. By 9:20 a.m., the line surged with people embracing each other, silently waiting to get inside the service. Near the front door, a portrait of Wells smiling in a black suit was surrounded by white roses and hydrangeas. Two televisions displayed a slideshow portraying moments of his life in photographs, from his birthday to prom and graduation.

Wells

Accompanied by highproﬁle attorney Ben Crump and civil rights activist the Rev Al Sharpton, Wells’ parents Elmore and Christine Wonsley — walked into the visitation room at 11:15 a.m Both wore black and a baby blue pin bearing a photograph of Wells and held each other close. His parents sat in the front with Crump and ﬁlmmaker Spike Lee. Sharpton then took the stage, said a prayer and called for justice.

“Somebody knows something,” Sharpton said of the circumstances surrounding Wells’ death. “Let every stone be rolled back and every veil be torn asunder and let truth pop out of the ground like a ﬂower.”

For weeks, the small Mississippi coast town has mourned

the mainland that evening, ofﬁcials said. His body was found two days later off the island’s coast.

Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said initial interviews suggested Wells chose to stay on the island and that his friends believed he would get a ride with someone else. The friends were cooperating with investigators, according to the sheriff.

the death of Wells, who disappeared while on a Fourth of July trip to Horn Island. Wells, who was Black, had traveled to the island a

popular Fourth of July destination — with a group of friends from high school, all of whom are White He did not return with them to

As of Monday morning, investigators were still awaiting the results of both an independent autopsy and one conducted by the Jackson County Coroner’s Ofﬁce. Authorities have not identiﬁed any evidence of foul play

But the still-unknown circumstances leading to Wells’ disappearance have fueled rampant online speculation

and galvanized leaders in the Black community, including some who have expressed skepticism about the independence and transparency of the investigation. Well-known figures have since stepped in, including Sharpton and filmmaker Tyler Perry, who covered funeral costs. Former NFL football player Colin Kaepernick contributed to the independent autopsy commissioned by Crump, who is representing the Wonsleys. In his eulogy, Sharpton urged those following the case to withhold judgment until more information becomes available. But he also questioned why Wells’ phone and keys were found with his friends, why they had not immediately called police after realizing he

was missing and why local ofﬁcials appeared so quick to dismiss the possibility of foul play

While speaking at the funeral, Sharpton offered a $50,000 reward for information to anyone who reaches out to Crump’s office with information that would lead to an arrest. Perry, who Sharpton said was watching a livestream of the funeral, offered the same reward, doubling the total to $100,000. The crowd began to stand and cheer Elmore and Christine Wonsley joined Sharpton onstage and thanked God for the 18 years spent with their son.

“We will miss everything about him,” Christine Wonsley said tearfully as her husband gently rubbed her arms. “From his quiet nature to his corny jokes. His gentle smile. The way he made everyone around feel comfortable, loved and at ease.” His parents shared memories about Wells — when he picked up a basketball for the ﬁrst time, how he helped other children and how he one day wanted to have daughters of his own named Sophia, Charlotte and Olivia.

“The constant lectures from me about having character, self-respect, self-discipline and perseverance really hit home for (Wells) at an early age,” Elmore Wonsley said. Near the end of the visitation speeches, Crump took the stage and once again called for a fair transparent investigation.

“Until we get answers, until we get the truth, until we get justice, we’re going to stand up, and we’re going to keep ringing the justice bells for Nolan Wells,” he yelled. The crowd rose to its feet and chanted in unison: “Nolan’s life matters.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

N.O. police have cut overtime costs by 45%, report says

New oversight measures in place

BY MISSY WILKINSON Staff writer

Six months after the city’s Ofﬁce of the Inspector General warned that lax overtime management at the New Orleans Police Department created an environment ripe for fraud, the department has cut overtime costs by 45% after imple-

menting new safeguards, the OIG said Thursday In the ﬁrst half of 2025, NOPD’s overtime costs, as reported on the city’s BRASS program, totaled nearly $18 million In the ﬁrst half of 2026, those costs had dropped to $9.6 million — an $8.3 million reduction.

“The OIG applauds the NOPD and City administrators for improving the Department’s timekeeping and overtime practices to ensure that resources dedicated to

RISHER

Continued from page 1B

potatoes with salt-and-vinegar sour cream. Five women started this cookbook club in the spring. They meet every other month, choose a book, cook from it and eat what they made together

I went expecting that DeLatin would be the only person I knew and was delighted that Owen Jones was there, along with Jamee Blink, whom I had also met brieﬂy at one of my husband’s art shows.

Lately I’ve been thinking about how adults make new friends, inspired by watching my 20-something daughters build lives in

new cities. I suspect the best friendships happen sideways. Follow a genuine interest, and you’ll ﬁnd people who share it Maybe that works because it requires the time, energy and honesty to ﬁgure out what each of us is passionate about. Even though I had just met the majority of people there, I felt comfortable enough to share my question of the day for everyone to answer The question was simple. What’s the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you? We went around the table and learned something more about each person there. Sharing a meal sets the table, so to speak, for that kind of magic. One person said the best

public safety are used as efﬁciently and effectively as possible,” IG Ed Michel said in a Thursday statement.

With a staff of around 900 commissioned ofﬁcers several hundred fewer than Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick says the department needs — the NOPD relies on overtime to cover essential public safety operations.

But overtime costs went unbudgeted in 2025 after the previous administration failed to include

an overtime line item for the department in the city’s budget. The NOPD also failed to submit required overtime budget reports to City Hall.

After NOPD overtime costs became a major contributor to the city’s 2025 budget shortfall, the OIG in a January letter pinpointed multiple problematic, recurring payroll practices, which included a lack of oversight by supervisors.

In response, the NOPD has implemented biometric time clocks,

reset timekeeping accounts, conducted spot checks and taken corrective action when ofﬁcers were found out of compliance.

In addition to reducing overtime spending, the NOPD has furloughed 17% of its civilian force — about 53 employees — as part of its effort to address the budget shortfall. Those cost-cutting measures have come amid a continuing drop in violent crime and an increase in proactive policing, including trafﬁc enforcement.

advice she ever got came in the form of a question: “Do you want to be right, or do you want to be effective?”

Another shared a grandfather’s advice: “The right thing is usually the hard thing, not the easy one.”

A parent said hers comes from somewhere in the parenting-advice ether: “They’re not giving you a hard time. They’re having a hard time.” Sometimes people are doing the best they can with whatever they’ve got in that moment.

Another shared the phrase she now lives by: “It’s a privilege to pay life taxes.” Missed ﬂights, rude emails,

a stranger who cuts in line all of it ﬁled under the tax owed for getting to live a full life in the ﬁrst place. I shared the best advice I ever got, which goes back to Reno, Nevada, where I lived in my 20s. One night, in a tiny apartment with an even tinier television that I almost never turned on, I caught the end of a comedian’s bit.

I wish I knew the comedian’s name, but I don’t. He told a story about a man in San Francisco who found a parking ticket on his Jeep Cherokee. The man stood on the sidewalk ranting, raving, yelling and cursing, ﬂailing

his arms with the ticket in hand. A skateboarder was coming down the hill toward him. As the skateboarder rolled past, he said, “Acknowledge, man, and move on,” and kept going. I was 26, and that one sentence rearranged something in me. Why stew in yucky things? I’m going to get over them eventually anyway Why not now? We lost a lot of things in a house ﬁre last year — that story is its own column, for another day What we didn’t lose was any of this: friends made by accident, advice traded over a table crowded with good food and the reminder that most people are doing the best they can with what they’ve got. Acknowledge it Move on Pass the potatoes.

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

Elmore and Christine Wonsley, from left, stand onstage with attorney Ben Crump and the Rev. Al Sharpton during a memorial service Monday for their son at Center Pointe Church in Ocean Springs, Miss.

STAFF PHOTOS By CHRIS GRANGER

Elmore and Christine Wonsley, far left, follow the casket carrying their son, Nolan Wells, during a memorial service honoring his life at Center Pointe Church in Ocean Springs, Miss., on Monday

STAFF PHOTOS By JAN RISHER

Adrian Owen Jones, from left, Janelle O’Dell, Jamee Blink, Darian Graivshark and Kos Kovtun finish preparations and take photos of the Cookbook Club’s meal Sunday in Baton Rouge.

The Cookbook Club dishes included piri-ish chicken; pimento-ish cheese; one-pot chicken with schmaltzy rice, gingery squash and lentils; farro and charred corn salad with salted almonds and queso fresco; peach and tomato salad with sizzled halloumi; smooshed and crispy potatoes with salt-and-vinegar sour cream; and blueberry cornflake crisp with vanilla ice cream.

Acosta,Ruby

St.Peter Catholic Church,1550Hwy 44, Reserveat11:00am

Clayton, Inez

Hall'sCelebration Center,9348 Scenic Highway,Baton Rouge at 11:00am.

Goudeau,Jr.,Frank

Greenoaks FuneralHome, Baton Rouge at 11:00am.

Lea, Maxwell

St.John theBaptistCatholicChurch, Zacharyat11:00am.

Ourso, Cindy Ascension of OurLordCatholic Church,716 MississippiStreet Donaldsonville at Noon

Obituaries

Crigler, Margaret Mullady Voelker

Margaret Mullady Voelker Crigler was born on September11, 1948, in Vicksburg, Mississippi,to Frank Voelker, Jr. and Virginia Wilson Voelker. She died on July 17, 2026 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Mullady was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers David and George, her sister Kitty, and astillborn, unnamed infant. She is survived by her husband Jim, their three children, Kate Besselman (Tommy), Jim Crigler III (Christel), and Ginny Anderson (Casey); Kate and Tommy's son, Thomas Besselman III, and daughter Izzy; Jim and Christel's son James IV and daughter Audrey; andGinny and Casey's sons, Joseph and William Anderson; her brother Frank Voelker III; and her sister MaryVoelker Clauss; and a host of cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Visitation forfriends and family in southern Louisiana willbeheldat Rabenhorst Funeral Home, 825 Government Street,Baton Rouge,onWednesday, July 22, 2026from10a.m. to 12 noon.Afteraprivate family memorial service, visitation fornorthern Louisiana friends andfamilywillbeheldatByerley House, 600 Lake Streetin Lake Providence, Louisiana on Friday,July24, 2026 from 11:30a.m. until1:30 p.m. The fullobituary can be viewedatwww.rabenh orstdowntown.com.

Charles W.

Charles W. "C.W." Cutrer,96, went home to be with his Lordand Savior on July 15, 2026. BornNovember 11, 1929, to Wickliffe Preston Cutrerand Clara Inez Buttenuth Cutrer,C.W was alifelongresidentof Central,Louisiana.A devoted born-againChristian, C.W.'s faithwas the foundationofhis life. Alongsidehis beloved wife, Lora Gertrude LanierCutrer,hefaithfullyserved in music ministry at Baptist churches throughout

Louisiana. C.W. lovedthe outdoors and enjoyed hunting,fishing,riding his four-wheeler, and working in his yard.Hefound peace and happinessinnature. He was precededindeath by hisparents; hiswife Lora; his daughter, Roberta Kaye Cutrer Guy; his brother, OgdenCutrer; and his sister, Joyce Cutrer. He is survived by his daughter, JudyOrletteShumaker (Herman); his son, Charles Cutrer, Jr. (Debbie); hisson -in-law, Gary Guy; his sister, Mattie Bell Cutrer Stubbs; and numerous grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, great-greatgrandchildren, nieces, nephews, extended family, and friends. Funeral services willbeheldThursday, July23, 2026, at Sandy CreekBaptist Church. Visitation willbefrom 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.,followed by thefuneralservice at 1:00 p.m. Interment will follow in SandyCreek Baptist Church Cemetery. Pallbearers are Dustin Cutrer, Yancy Hughes, Chad Murphy, Dave Guidroz,Donald Thompson, Jr., Dalton Thompson, and Daniel Thompson Honorary pallbearers are theremaining grandsons, great-grandsons, and great-great-grandsons.

Glenn Travis Floyd,a man of profound faith, boundless adventure, and deep devotiontohis family,was calledhome to be withhis Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on July17, 2026. At 83 years old, he passed away peacefully, surrounded by thewarmth and love of the family he cherished so deeply.

Glenn's journey began

on November 9, 1942, when he entered this worldin Natchez,Mississippi. He was aparishionerofImmaculateConception CatholicChurch in Denham Springs, LA He possessed apassionatespirit forthe openroad and thegreat outdoors, finding immense joyin camping,golfing and riding his motorcycles. His thirst for adventure was best capturedalongside his best friend,Mark.Together, theduo shared an extraordinary bond and an unyielding wanderlust, logging over 120,000 mileson their bikes, an incredible milestonehighlighted by an unforgettable journey allthe way to thescenic shores of Nova Scotia.

Yet, as much as Glenn lovedthe thrill of thehighway, he lovedhis wife even more. She was his ultimate co-pilot,frequently riding right alongsidehim, sharing thewind in their faces, thebeautiful landscapes, and thecountless memories they builttogetherone mileata time. Glenn leaves behind alegacy of faith, friendship,and an enduring reminder to live life to theabsolute fullest.

Glenn is survivedbyhis loving wife of 63 years, Mary J. "Jean" Boudreaux Floyd; sons, Thomas Floyd (Christy) and John Floyd; daughter, Lisa Floyd Murphy; 16 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; and 2 greatgreat-grandchildren.

Glenn is preceded in death by his father, EmmettS.Floyd;and mother, Edna E. Floyd

Serving as pallbearers will be Michael Floyd, Matthew Floyd,Jesse Floyd,Braxton Floyd, Travis Rioux and Lucas Rioux.Honorary pallbearers, his friend of 70 years, Mark Guidry and agreat grandson, Owen Gradney.

Relatives and friends are invitedtojointhe family forthe visitation at ImmaculateConception CatholicChurch, 865 HatchellLane, Denham Springs, LA,onWednesday, July22, 2026, from 10:00 AM until theMass of ChristianBurial at 12:00 PM,officiated by Fr. Tim

Grimes. The gravesideservice andburialwill follow at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens, in Baker, Louisiana.

Reine, Alice Langlois

Alice Langlois Reine passedawaypeacefully, surrounded by herfamily, on Saturday, July 18, 2026, at the age of 86. Shewas born on September 20, 1939, in Baton Rouge,LA, to Bernice and Joseph Langlois. Alice will be deeply missed andlovingly remembered by herfamily andfriends and by all who hadthe privilegeofknowingher.For 35 years, she faithfully served the Catholic Diocese at St.AnthonyofPadua as church secretary andtrusted assistant to parish leadership. Herunwaveringdedication andcommitment touched countlesslives andhelped strengthen the parish community. In addition to hermanyyearsof service,she wasanactive member of theFood Bank, theAltar Society, andEucharistic Ministry. Her legacyoffaith, service, andkindnesswill continue to inspireall that knew her. Shewill be rememberedwith gratitude, affection andlastinglove. Aliceissurvived by herchildren,Chris Reine (Darlene), DonnaGlasper (James), and Tammy Reine (KerriMcIlvenna); grandchildren, Taylor Reine(Rebecca), GarrettReine (Brianna), Travis Dodson (Dawn), Lance Dodson

HollyPartin (Brandon), and Jeanne Goudeau (Josh); great-grandchildren,Camden, Brayden,Maurcie, Maycie, Mia, Avery,Axton, andEmarie; sister,Patsy Bizette; and ahostofother loving familymembersand friends. Sheisprecededin death by herhusbandof 60+ years, Pat;grandson, PatrickDodson; parents, Joseph andBernice Langlois andIgnausLanglois; sister,Sylvia Darce; brothers-in-law, Alton Reine, Jr andGary Bizette. Visitation will be at Greenoaks Funeral Home, 9595 Florida Blvd Baton Rouge,LA, on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, from 10am untilthe funeral service at 11am. Burial will immediatelyfollow at Greenoaks Memorial Park. Familyand friends are invited to sign theonline guestbook at www.greeno aksfunerals.com

Cutrer,

'C.W.'

Floyd, GlennTravis

Don’tlet NIL machinekill

Many of us have fond memories of playing sports in high school.Whether you were astate champion or not, sports taught important lessons around teamwork, disciplineand overcoming obstacles —lessons thatlast intoadulthood. Now,however,somehigh school athleteswill have to learn how to navigate anew terrain,as aLouisiana law willsoon fully open the world of name,image and likeness—which hasalready upended college athletics —toa youngercohort.

Act 810 by Rep. Rashid Young, D-Homer, passed last session by theLegislature,goes into effectAug. 1. It bars high schools frompreventing student athletes from making money through endorsement deals.

We can see that lawmakers took care to seta few guardrails around these NIL deals,including prohibiting athletes from endorsing alcoholic beverages, drugs, gambling,weapons or adult entertainment. They also stipulated that parents must sign off on the deals for those under 18 and that high schools can bar studentsfromdoing NIL-related workduring school hoursoron school property

The law came after extensivestudy by Louisiana’sNIL Task Force, madeupoflegislators, coaches lawyers, athleticadministrators and the student athletesthemselves.

Another law,Act 895, by state Sen.Patrick Connick, R-Marrero, requires anyonewho wants to be anagent for high school or college athletes to register withthe state. Attorney General Liz Murrill launched aregistry this month that requiresanyone who wants to bean agent to undergo acriminal background check. Thelaw also stipulates that theagent hastogive any athlete represented awrittendisclosure of the details of the NIL or endorsementdealthat includes the services provided, fees charged and anyone else beneﬁting from the deal.

Theseare good steps.Werecognize that allinvolved have taken athoughtful approach to how to protect high schoolers from unscrupulous actors.

And though we wish there were serious discussion of whetherNIL should beallowedto invade sports at this level, perhaps the current legal landscape makes it inevitable.

That’swhy it’simperativeweeducate these young peopleand their parentsaboutthe business they are getting involved in.Weare happy to see some high schoolsalready offering information sessions on NIL. We would hope the Louisiana High School Athletic Association would alsobeactively involved in providing guidance.

Those who say NIL won’t change the game forthese athletes andschools arebeingnaive We have already seen how an NILarmsrace has changed the face of collegeathletics.High schoolathletes have enoughontheir plates,and their youth and inexperience can beexploited by some who see them just as cash cows.

Butthe memories that high school sports can create are priceless. We should ensure that this new generation of student athletes hasa chance to develop alove of the game before anything else. That is what will sustain them through the years.

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE

WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence

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

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE

There are moments when anation looks toward its own reﬂection, moments when celebration becomes a mirror,revealing the soul of apeople. During our country’s250th anniversary festivities, that reﬂection shone witha distinct Louisianaglow

From Boston to Nashville, from Disney’sgrand stages toCBS’sGreat American Block Party,Louisiana’ssons and daughters carried our story to the world. Lainey Wilson stood before the Boston PopsOrchestra, her voice rising like awarm Southern wind through therafters of one of America’smost storied venues. Trombone Shorty,our own pied piper of brass, lifted his trumpet and reminded thenation that joy can be asound, and that sound often begins right here on the banks of the Mississippi.

TimMcGraw,raised in the quiet ﬁelds of Start,Louisiana, brought our small-town grit to anational celebration.Lauren Daigle sang before 400,000

Iwould like to thank The Advocate forthe beautiful and heartwarming story about Baton Rouge Judge Beau Higginbotham’s rescue of an injured kitten from thebarrier wall near the College Drive overpass.

In today’sapathetic and vitriolic climate, it is moreimportantthan ever to be madeaware of acts of loving kindness. Ialso wanted to share that Ihad athree-legged cat who ﬁlled our home

people, her voice aprayer woven from bayou rootsand cathedral reverence. AndJon Batiste, ever the ambassador of New Orleanssoul, lit up CBS with theelectricity only aLouisiana musician can summon. If you drifted from channel to channel, it felt as though every screen carried apiece of Louisiana. Each performance was afamiliar note, areminder of who we are, as Louisiana’sspirit echoed across thenation We should be proud. Proud that ourmusicians continue to shape the soundtrack of this nation.Proud that our culture, born of porch steps, church pews, second lines and Saturday night dance halls, still rises to the biggest stages in the world. Proudthat when America celebrated its 250th birthday,Louisiana’svoice was among the loudest, the brightest and the most unforgettable. GREG BUISSON Metairie

with gratitude and funfor 18 years. Andeven though Boudin only had three legs, she never missed an opportunity to rompwith ourGerman shepherd.

So, congratulations, Judge Higginbotham,and thank you forreminding us to loveunconditionally and say yes when we are offered opportunities to makeour world abetter place.

CATHERINE ALTAZAN Baton Rouge

Reporter’s rantsfailtobring thecitytogetherasfans

Iamwriting concerning the rantings of your new sports writer,Jon Blau

Let me start by saying Iamatransplant to New Orleans, residing herefor 15 years. Idid not attend LSU, but Ohio University

Recently,Ihave read two of his columns that really put fans on the defensive. Do readers really need to read

about Urban Meyer’sopinion on football or fans at LSU?

Blau’s articles read as offensive and hostile. Sportsunitethis fair city and bring us together.Blau’scommentary does not achieve this outcome. Aword to the“wise” is sufﬁcient.

MARYANN KAUCHAK NewOrleans

Governor treats thecitizensofNew Orleansasadversaries

MinnesotaGov.Tim Walz has often said he is thegovernor of all Minnesotansand respectsthose who voted for him and those who didn’t. President Donald Trump, on the other hand, treats any American who disagrees with him or didn’tvote for him as an enemy of the United States. The majority of voters in Orleans

Parishcast their ballots forsomeone other than Gov.Jeff Landry.It is shameful, but not surprising, that Landry is following the lead of the president and treatingthe citizens of New Orleansasadversaries instead of constituents.

MARK WEBER NewOrleans

While the Louisiana Department of Education and media rave about the educational gains in the state, the bottom line is that only slightly morethan athird of the students in the state (36%) perform at or above the basic minimum of the state’sstandards.

And our governor and legislators continue to refuse to assist ﬁnancially to help this dire situation, but instead simply use sleight of hand techniques to shiftthe same amount of money from one funding pot to another Additionally,while they completely avoid dealing with the education deﬁciencies in the state, they push forincreased funding forprogramslike the LA GATOR Program, which is nothing more than aprivate and parochial school welfare program

The emphasis on education reform in this state was ofﬁcially enacted with LEAP legislation in 1986, and after some40years, approximately 64% of our children are still performing below the state’sminimum standards.

It is obvious the state is still failing our children. The reality is that Louisiana is the third-least educated state in the nation, followed only by Mississippi and West Virginia, according to aWalletHub analysis, which compared the 50 states on educational attainment and quality of education.

The report further found that Louisiana ranked 47th out of 50 in percentages of residents with high school diplomas, 49th in percentages of residents with associate degrees or somecollege experience, and 47th in percentage of residents with bachelor’s degrees and 45th in percentage of residents with graduate or professional degrees.

So, when are Gov.Jeff Landry and our legislators going to really deal with this problem,which has serious implications forthe economic growth in our state —something Landry claims is one of his top priorities?

Maybe Landry and his crew ought to add another commandmenttothe list posted in public schools, namely,“Thou shalt adequately address and fund public education in Louisiana.”

JIM ANDERSON

Ponchatoula

ON THE RECORD WITH MARK COOPER COMMENTARY

‘FEMAisnot goingaway’

Ithink it was agood reset,not only for hurricane season, but to say: OK, we’re back (after) all those thingswewere talking about, gettingrid of FEMA.

Bossier City native Mark Cooper led the Governor’sOfﬁce of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparednessunder Gov Bobby Jindal and served aschief of staff for Gov John Bel Edwards. Now aconsultant based in Baton Rouge, Cooper was amember of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)Review Council, which issuedits recommendations in May He sat down recently with columnist Stephanie Grace to discuss the review council’sreport and theagency’sfuture.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity

Grace: What can you tell us about Cameron Hamilton, President Donald Trump’snomineetohead FEMA —who was acting administrator before he was ﬁred last year?

Cooper: Imet him at aNational Emergency Management Associationconference.And Iknew thestory about when they were talking about getting rid of FEMA —that’swhat the president wanted to do —and he spoke at acongressional hearing andhe said, no, Ithink there’s arole for FEMA, and then he got (makes cutting motion).

Ithink with that he gained alot of respect. So when Ifoundout he wasselected, it was kind of asurprise, but it was agood surprise, because here’ssomebody thatobviously understands FEMA.

Aneededreset

Grace: Youattended ameeting with FEMA leadersand the socalled hurricane states in New Orleans in June. How did it go?

Cooper: Ithink it was extremely productive,becausetheysaid: Firstofall, there’s not going to be many changes for this hurricane season. But we did hear what their concerns were, some things that could change. And the other thing is that becauseofthis meeting here in New Orleans, now we’re talking about doing onefor thewildﬁre states.

Grace: That’sthe fear,right? We’ve been through ayear and a half of hearing things that sound very scary in Louisiana, and then they cameout and they said no change, we are ready.Ayear ago, we were hearing from inside FEMA that they weren’tready.So how’d we getherefromthere?

Cooper: How longhas (Homeland Security Secretary) Markwayne Mullin been there?

Ithink alot of it started under hisleadership.They started hiring people back. Cameron is the nominee;he’scertainly given input, and Ithink putting Bob Fenton there (as acting FEMA administrator)isthe moststabilizing thing you could possibly do. He represents blue states; he’s FEMA Region 9,that’s California, Hawaii, Arizona and Nevada. He was on the review council too, and he was handpicked by thepresidenttobeFEMA acting administrator.SoIthink that was just acalming influence, versus some of these other folks they hadput in there. When Iwas at GOHSEP,(theGovernor’sOffice of HomelandSecurity and Emergency Preparedness),hecame in as thefederal coordinating officer during Gustav,sohe’sgot ahistory with Louisiana. And there’sthe fact that the council’sreport was not draconian; it was notgetting rid of FEMA. Imean,I triedvery hard. Iwas worried too. I’ve worked with FEMAsince my time in Los Angeles during thecivil unrest andsoIknewits role. I’m sure there need to bechanges. Isaw some of the frustrations,workingwith Gov.Edwards when he wouldhaveanidea and have to go up through thebureaucratic chain,but the regions have alwaysdone agreat job. When I was told Iwas being considered, Iwas nervous, because if it had beenahatchet job, then Idon’t knowwhatIwould have done. ButIsaw thepeople that were on there, and Iknew that there was no way that this group was

going to even start the process —even though Secretary (Kristi) Noem, in the first meeting, talked about it —ofpossibly getting rid of FEMA. Youhad people from states like Florida and Texas, who, even though they are very self-sustained, they rely on FEMA, just like Louisianadoes. Butthen theother part of it was, theplan was that we would meet in D.C., but early on Isaid, “No, we’ve got to go out.” It’s the first meeting, and Isaid, “You know,wegot the Hurricane Katrina20-year anniversary,which was the first meetinginNew Orleans.” Andthen Istill had contacts in Los Angeles from the wildfires. We needed togothere, and then we needed to go to Puerto Rico; we obviously needed to go to North Carolina. We wanted this to be abipartisan process,so we went to New England and New York.

Grace: Andthen thehorrible ﬂood in Texas happened last summer Cooper: Right.Ithink that changed the trajectory for SecretaryNoem. That was very sobering for her and madeher realize, wow,there needs to be arole for thefederal government. We even went to Fort Worth for one of our meetings, and we did aﬂyover of Camp Mystic. That impacted all of us, because, again, you know, being in Katrina, it’s one thing to read it or see it,but when you live it really has an impact on you. Which is why Ithink people had so much angst about gettingrid of FEMA. …They can’tdothis on their own.

Katrina’slessons

Grace: Idoremember what it was like after Katrina. People who came kept saying “I didn’t know,Ididn’tunderstand.”

So you were in Louisianafor Katrina?

Cooper: Iresponded to Katrina. That’swhat brought me home. I was with the Los Angeles County FireDepartment, and Gov.(Kathleen) Blanco had madeanemergency managementassistance request to Gov.(Arnold) Schwarzenegger,because up to that point California had had themost disasters —wehad the civil unrest,

we had major wildﬁres, we had theNorthridge earthquake. The plan was for us to come in and help Mayor (Ray) Nagin begin gettingessential services started. We came aweek after the levees broke. It didn’tgovery well because of all the politics going on. The Emergency Operations Center really hadn’teven been set up, so we were able to help them get it set up. If you recall, there wasa problem with body recovery,so then we took on that role. Ithink we werehere atotal of six weeks. Iremember the Los Angeles County Sheriff’sDepartmentdoing aﬂyover,and there was still water in alot of places. I had alwaysthought about coming back to Louisiana, but there never was an opportunity.SoI remember going back and talking to my wife, saying, “You know what, I thinkitmay be time.” Then when Bobby Jindal got elected, Isent him my resume. Andhere’sthe other thing. When Iwent back to California, it was like, “Oh, you need to tell us how bad it was.” Let me tell you something. If we would have had thesame magnitude-type of earthquake in California, there would have been the exact same issues. This country wasn’tready for something like that. So Louisiana happened to, luck of the draw, get that catastrophic disaster AndIguess my fear is, Ireally thinkLouisiana is moreprepared than California is right now

Cost concerns

Grace: Let’stalk about the FEMA Review Council’sreport. What do you thinkisthe headline? Cooper: Ithink the mostimportantthing is that FEMA is not going away. And then morethan anything, it’sgetting the funding quicker to the states and getting rid of the bureaucracy

Andsoifthe states are not waiting sometimes years to get their funding, or having projects held up in D.C. because it’ll go to one person andthen that person will leave and then what that person told them is different from the new person coming in. …It’sjust very frustrating.

For individual assistance, the recommendation is to makeitone or two programsand consolidate it, and focus moreoncatastrophic events versus somebody that loses shingles or maybe has some minor damage.

The other thing is ﬂexibility Even with public assistance (to governments), get that money out up front within weeks and then come back ayear later —which would still be quicker than with the old system.And if it’stoo much money,don’ttake it back; let them use it on hazard mitigation to reduce risks.

But also, the thought is that the states would take morecontrol. That’sgoing to require the states to think: Do we have the stafﬁng to do that, or do we need to engage anonproﬁt to take that over?

Grace: Aconcern you hear is whether all of this will add up to feweroverall resources forstates coming from the federal government? Or not necessarily?

Cooper: Youknow,that wastruly not part of the discussion.

There’salot of discussion about cost savings in D.C. and ﬁring folks. Well, during COVIDthe headquarters had, like, tripled in size, but in the regions where the rubber meetsthe road, they had the samenumbers. It created all these levels of bureaucracy, So we’re talking about streamlining it; you may need more people per region, but you’re not going to get the samenumber in D.C. And if there are cost savings, don’tsend that money to another agency,give that back to the states to build their capabilities.

Grace: So the idea of shifting responsibility when it is not something catastrophic to states, that’s real?

Cooper: And the federal governmentwould have moreofa role in aKatrina-type event. Small tornadoes destroy neighborhoods. They’re never going to get federal assistance, they may get SBA loans, but forthose individuals, that’stheir Katrina because their lives are uprooted. So states need to take on that role. Email Stephanie Grace at sgrace@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By ENAN CHEDIAK

Mark Cooper, amember of the FEMA advisorycouncil, speaks to Times-Picayune |The Advocate columnist Stephanie Grace, left to right, at The TimesPicayune’soffice in NewOrleans.

Stephanie Grace

TAKE THELEAD

TAMPA, Fla. The Southeastern Conference is fond of reminding everyone abouthow great it is. How big it is. How great big it is. Even the password to access the internet atthis week’s SEC media days includes an acronym for the league’snow ubiquitous catchphrase: “It just means more.”

More, however,doesnot mean all.

SEC commissioner GregSankey spent part of his opening remarks here Monday morning extolling the achievements of his highly successful conference. Those included winning aconference-record 13 NCAA championships in 2025-26 and averaging 80,000fans per game in football, the most of any sporting league in any sport in the entire world.

Those are numbers any conference would envy,with good reason. Still, those 13 national titlesdonot include one in football. For the thirdstraight year in 2025, the SEC watchedasthe Big Tenlifted the College Football Playoff trophy.OhioState thenMichigan then, of all teams, Indiana— college football’sformer doormat of doormats

Hoosiers scaling the heights or not, the SEC is clearly still acollegesports superpower.Itisnot THE ONLYsuperpower,though, and the SEC needs to remember that.

SEC sabers have been rattling over NCAA governance issues since May at the SEC spring meetings, with people

as prominentasGeorgia president Jere Morehead and Georgia football coachKirby Smart publicly expressing support for the SEC potentially breaking awayfromthe rest of the NCAA.

“If we can’tﬁnd rules that everybody plays by,then we should playonour own,”said Smart, who takes the podium here Tuesday

Asked about theidea of abreakaway SECbeing areal prospect or an attempttoleverage thedirection of NCAA governance as awhole, Sankey said this:

“They’re real,” he said. “People have talkedabout that. They’ve opined about the frustrations that bring themtothe point ofsaying we should look at something signiﬁcantly different. Idonot believe that is aleverage point.I think that’sjust honest communication.

“What Ithink is important is those comments represent ahigh level of frustration withthe circumstance in whichweﬁnd ourselves. We have regulated ourselvesmoreprogressivelythan other colleagues by choice,

acrossour league. We’ve had different academic eligibilityrestrictions in the past. We have had different transfer restrictions in thepast.”

Sankey,now in his 11th year as commissioner, is not arashman. As the leader of one of thetwo most powerful entities in college athletics —the SEC and the Big Ten, which stepped into the vacuum of leadership theNCAA largely has vacated —heiscircumspect in mostrespects Sankey and the SEC do rightfully have frustrations over the escalating costs surrounding college athletics and alaundrylist of other issues. That part is understandable. But it’swrong for the league to talk about taking its ball and just playing ball with its 16 members.

An SEC championship means alot, but what would it mean to win the SEC and not compete in the CFP? Or the NCAA basketballtournaments?Orthe College World Series? Perhaps the SEC is serious, but is it really going to break up the band?

New Kentucky coach Will Stein stood at the podium in the main media room afew hoursafter Sankey and repeated the mantrathe SEC often promotes about itself

“This is wherethe best players and coaches come to play football,” Stein said. “If youwant to competeagainst

Drinkwitz backs

BY JON BLAU Staff writer

TAMPA, Fla. Lane Kiffin wasn’tinthe room Monday when one of the ﬁrst eyebrow-raising comments of SEC media days wasoffered,but Missouri coachEli Drinkwitz credited the LSU coach as the leader of the opposition party Whattheyhaveopposed is the SEC moving to a nine-game conference schedule.

“Coach Kifﬁnhas been somebody who’sbeen, whether publicly or privately,the oneonthe forefront,” Drinkwitz said, “saying, ‘Guys, I don’tthink that this is the right play for us.’ ” But it’sthe play that’s been made. The SEC is moving from eight conference games to nine ahead of the 2026 season, hoping an enhanced strength of schedulewill get moreteams intothe College Football Playoff as it continues to expand. Trouble is the CFP hasn’texpanded since it tripled to 12 teamsfor the 2024 season. While SEC commissionerGregSankey proudly proclaimed Monday thathis league has the “most demanding sets of football schedules in all of college football,”SEC coaches aren’t exactlypleased with how those slates compare with other conferences. Especially since the SEC requires its schools to add aPowerFouropponent in nonconference play while the BigTen doesn’t. And SEC partisans such as Drinkwitzbelieve theirconference is deeper and their stadiums are tougher forroad teams.

“I think yesterdayFIFAworld championship wasinfront of 80,000. That’s25,000 short of someofthese stadiums we play in, Death Valley,Athens,” Drinkwitz said. “Knoxville,that’sa whole different deal And there’snothing you can do to remove 20,000 people from agame. That’satremendous challenge for anybody to walk into.”

There’salso the musical instruments.

“Hey,wegotta play Starkville at night this year,” Drinkwitzadded,“with those cowbells.”

LSU has the good fortune of not playing Mississippi State on the road,but the Tigers will have to travel to Ole Miss for arguably the mostanticipated gameincollege football this upcoming season. They also have to visit Auburn (88,000capacity) and Tennessee (nearly 102,000).

ESPN ranked the strongest schedules in the FBS ahead of the2026 campaign, and all 16 SEC schools ranked in the top 20. LSU was judged to have the 11th-hardest slate.

Kifﬁn hasmademoves to lighten LSU’s opening weeks in future schedules, lining up Northwestern State and UL-Monroe foropeners in 2027 and2028, though the Tigers are still slated to face ACC member

Saints bringinyoungsterstocompete on defensiveline

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

In back-to-backdrafts, the New Orleans Saints have invested in the interior defensive line on Day 2. This year, the Saintsselected Georgia defensive lineman Christen Miller in Round 2; last year, New Orleans took Texas defensive lineman Vernon Broughton in Round 3. Both moves set up apotential changing of the guardfor the Saints, butithasn’t happened just yet. No position on the roster arguably will have amore competitive training camp when practices begin later this month. Miller and Broughtonare vyingfor start-

ingspots, butthe incumbents may have something to sayabout that. The Saints got good production out of BryanBresee, Davon Godchaux and Nathan Shepherd a year ago, and they all have somethingtoprove heading into next season. Godchaux and Shepherd, for instance, are entering contract years. And Bresee, who had his fifth-year option picked up in May, couldbe in storefor amajor payday if he hasa breakout season. The battle forone of the deeper positions on the roster should be ﬁerce.

the Saints played in their base defense when

allthreeinterior defenders shared theﬁeld. According to Next Gen Stats, those 387 reps were the sixth-most in theNFL —representing36.7% of the Saints’defensive plays.

In Year 2under defensive coordinator Brandon Staley,itwill be interestingtomonitorwhether he relies on asimilarly heavy usage. Thereare reasons to believe that it might notstay thesame. For one, the Saints often match their personnel to the look the offense presented, and last year,New Orleans faced many teams that preferred to deployheavier personnel, such as theSan Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks,BuffaloBillsand Los

Drinkwitz

Kiffin

Spain succeeds with tactics, talent

BY TALES AZZONI Associated Press

Spanish soccer has reached a level of its own.

Spain’s World Cup victory on Sunday added to the nation’s long list of recent triumphs across men’s, women’s and youth competitions, highlighting the dominance of a system that has stuck to a tactical identity and the development of collective talent.

The men’s team is also the current European champion, the Olympic gold medalist and has reached the Nations League final twice — winning it once. The women’s squad is the reigning World Cup champion and a twotime Women’s Nations League winner It also reached the ﬁnal of the 2025 European Championship Spain is the ﬁrst nation to hold the men’s and women’s World Cup titles at the same time and is the only country with two men’s World Cup triumphs this century The nation also has won several youth tournaments in recent years with the men’s and women’s teams.

The men’s senior squad has been racking up titles since it was gradually revamped after the demise of a golden generation that won the nation’s ﬁrst World Cup in 2010 with the likes of Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández, Sergio Ramos and Gerard Piqué. Players such as Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsí, Rodri and Ferran Torres — the goal scorer in the 1-0 win over Argentina in Sunday’s ﬁnal now are the ones representing a new generation that has taken La Roja back to the top.

“I’m very emotional looking back,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said. “We’ve talked about it with the players; we have won everything, it’s wonderful. It’s a generation of players that has been an example for Spanish sports, for young Spaniards, for Spain. Together we are stronger.”

Spain hadn’t gone past the last 16 of the men’s World Cup since winning the title in South Africa in 2010. It has been in contention in nearly every competition it has played since De la Fuente’s arrival in 2022, and its 38-match unbeaten streak is the longest in men’s international soccer Collective talent

Despite a talented group of players, it has been Spain’s collective performance that has impressed

the most, and the team hasn’t had to rely on star players. It also has been thriving defensively, with a solid backline and a relentless pursuit to regain possession.

“We played against the best national squads in the world, but we were the best team in the world,”

De la Fuente said. “I’m very proud of this generation of players. They have grown with this idea, they’ve been loyal to this idea, they have given us an example of a group, of a team, of a family I’m very proud of them. It’s been an honor ” Youth-system success

The recent wave of success can be tracked to the surprise hiring of De la Fuente to replace Luis Enrique following the team’s elimination against Morocco in the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar De la Fuente was relatively unknown at the time, but the Spanish soccer federation knew him well.

By hiring him, Spain was actually betting on its youth system as De la Fuente had been coaching Spain’s younger national teams for some time.

He was well versed in the soccer federation’s process of instilling a tactical identity at all levels,

from the bottom up and across men’s and women’s squads, allowing players from youth teams to go through a seamless transition to the main squads. It was the case for players such as Yamal, Cubarsí, Nico Williams, Pedri and Gavi, who are among the youngsters set to keep Spain’s men’s team thriving for some time.

“When you look at everything that we’ve gone through, you realize how this process was important,” De la Fuente said. “Certainly we wouldn’t have been able to do what we did today if we hadn’t gone through this process with these players. And it’s not something that happened during this World Cup it has been happening for several years.”

Tactical identity

Spain’s “tiki-taka” style of valuing ball-possession and focusing on quick passing, which led to the 2010 World Cup title and victories at Euro 2008 and Euro 2012, had come under attack after the national team began to struggle.

Some said the style lacked efﬁciency, and a few coaches made some changes to it over time. But Spain never fully abandoned the idea of controlling ball possession

to dominate games.

Part of De la Fuente’s success stemmed from his ability to get his squad to successfully mix ball possession and efﬁciency And it showed, as Spain led this year’s World Cup in both passing and attempts on goal.

Coaching prowess

De la Fuente’s recent success quickly put him in the group of Spanish coaches who have been leading national teams and helping clubs thrive across the globe.

Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique, Mikel Arteta, Unai Emery, Xabi Alonso and Roberto Martínez are among the successful coaches spreading Spanish tactics everywhere — another sign of the nation’s prominence in global soccer

“We are exactly where we want to be,” De la Fuente said. “We are privileged to represent a wonderful national team with exceptional players. But the real merit we have is to seek good travel companions, people with values and principles who make our lives easier and at the same time are very talented. We’ll enjoy this now, because it’s historic, and then we will start thinking match by match again.”

Biggest World Cup featured stars, drama, tech

BY JAMES ROBSON Associated Press

ATLANTA The World Cup ﬁnal between Spain and reigning champion Argentina marked the end of the biggest tournament in the competition’s history. At the ﬁnal whistle in New Jersey on Sunday, a record 104 games had been played across almost six weeks and three countries.

The supersized tournament delivered thrilling action on the ﬁeld, with upsets, dramatic comebacks, spectacular goals and standout performances by the biggest stars of the game.

It also generated controversy, from political tensions surrounding Iran’s participation to criticism against innovations such as hydration breaks, which were unpopular among many fans.

Here are some key takeaways from the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

More teams, more drama

A newly expanded 48-team format raised concerns about lopsided matches and a lack of jeopardy in the group stage.

Tell that to Cape Verde, Congo and even Curaçao, which all made history and won new fans.

Cape Verde held eventual champion Spain to a draw in its opening game, advanced to the round of 32 and gave Argentina a scare before losing 3-2 in extra time in a World Cup classic. Cape Verde’s goalkeeper Vozinha became a breakout star at 40, gaining millions of followers on social media.

Congo also advanced beyond the group stage and pushed England before eventually losing, while Curaçao was still in with a chance

of making the knockouts going into its ﬁnal group match.

FIFA opened its door to more teams, and they proved they could compete on soccer’s biggest stage. Nonetheless, it was top-ranked nations Argentina, Spain, France and England — all former champions that made it to the ﬁnal four

The big stars delivered

The race for the golden boot became a who’s who of the world’s top players with Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham ﬁring on all cylinders.

Mbappé led the way with 10 goals in the tournament and a record 22 career World Cup goals.

Messi had eight at this World Cup and 21 in total.

Cristiano Ronaldo couldn’t lead Portugal to success in what he said was his last World Cup, while Spain’s teen sensation Lamine Yamal star of the Euros two years ago — had to work his way into the tournament after an injury.

Big tech, big complaints

Video reviews known as VAR were at the center of a number of contentious decisions, ruling out huge goals for Germany, Croatia and Egypt

Egypt coach Hossam Hassan launched a furious tirade after Argentina staged a spectacular comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in the round of 16.

“We have suffered injustice,” he said after Egypt had a goal overturned when the score was still 1-0.

Fitted with sensors, the high-tech ball in use at the tournament cost Croatia a late equalizer against Portugal in the round of 32 when it detected the slightest of touches

from Igor Mantanovic and ruled Josko Gvardiol’s goal offside.

“All these decisions take the joy out of football,” said Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic, who has since stepped down.

Fans endure exorbitant prices

There were concerns going into the tournament that FIFA’s introduction of dynamic pricing would make game tickets unaffordable for average fans. Some critics accused FIFA of a “monumental betrayal.”

Ofﬁcial ticket prices on general sale ranged from $140 to $2,735 for group stage matches and up to $8,680 for the ﬁnal, far beyond the prices at the previous World Cup in Qatar in 2022. After criticism, FIFA said it would offer $60 tickets for every game to the 48 national federations participating.

FIFA’s resale market place allowed sellers to list tickets for massively more than face value, including ones for the final for just under $2.3 million. FIFA didn’t control resale pricing but took a cut from sales.

For all the criticism, fans still turned up in big numbers, even for games that didn’t feature marquee teams or players.

After a shaky start when there were empty seats for the game between South Korea and the Czech Republic in Guadalajara, stadium after stadium reported full houses.

Hydration breaks a turnoff

FIFA’s new hydration breaks midway through each half — a novelty for this World Cup — prompted loud jeers from fans inside the stadium, while former players were also critical.

Twins All-Star OF Buxton returns after hip injury

CLEVELAND Byron Buxton thought he would be back on the field when the Minnesota Twins returned from the All-Star break.

The All-Star outﬁelder is hoping the couple of extra days he took to recover from a right hip strain will beneﬁt him for the rest of the season.

Buxton was activated from the 10-day injured list before Monday night’s game against the Cleveland Guardians. The Twins went 5-4 while he was sidelined.

“Those extra couple days didn’t hurt me to make sure I got everything right before we got here and started this big series. I think we are all in a good spot as far as going forward and everybody understanding what we got going on. So it’s going to be fun,” Buxton said. Buxton is fourth in the AL and sixth in the majors with 25 home runs, including six leading off.

Dodgers acquire RHP Halvorsen from Rockies

DENVER Colorado Rockies general manager Josh Byrnes orchestrated a trade with his former team Monday, sending right-hander Seth Halvorsen to the Los Angeles Dodgers for two minor leaguers. Halvorsen is eligible to come off the 15-day injured list after being placed on it earlier this month with inﬂammation in his right shoulder He is 0-1 with a 4.74 ERA across 21 appearances this season.

As part of the deal, Colorado picked up right-handed pitcher Nick Frasso and outﬁelder Landyn Vidourek from the Dodgers. Byrnes knows the Los Angeles farm system after spending more than a decade in the front ofﬁce with the team.

Orioles place All-Star C Rutschman on 10-day IL

BOSTON The Baltimore Orioles placed All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman on the 10-day injured list with left wrist inﬂammation on Monday before their series opener against the Boston Red Sox. It’s the third time on the IL this season for the 28-year-old He missed time in April with left ankle inﬂammation and was out in June with a concussion.

To take his spot on the roster, the club promoted catcher Chadwick Tromp from Triple-A Norfolk. Rutschman is batting 251 with eight homers and 47 RBIs. Fellow catcher Samuel Basallo, who has 16 homers, was out of the lineup Monday and is day to day with right shoulder discomfort.

“We’re in America, right? So, it’s like it is a timeout,” former Ireland international Roy Keane said on The Overlap podcast.

The breaks were introduced to help players deal with the summer heat, but FIFA stipulated they would occur regardless of the weather, venue or location.

Coaches used them like timeouts to pass on in-game tactical instructions. Broadcasters, meanwhile, used them as an opportunity to take commercial breaks.

It is unclear whether FIFA will implement hydration breaks at future World Cups, but the English Football Association said they were unlikely to be in place for the 2028 European Championship, co-hosted by England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Iran participated despite war

It’s not unusual for politics and sport to intertwine at the World Cup. This time, the biggest political tensions surrounded the national team of Iran.

The war in the Middle East raised doubts about whether the Iranian team would show up at all. It did, but only after moving its base camp from Arizona to Mexico.

Its participation was overshadowed by visa issues, with the U.S. refusing visas to several members of Iran’s delegation. The Iranians also complained about travel restrictions, including having to leave the U.S. immediately after each match.

When Iran was eliminated at the group stage, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin made his feelings clear “I’m just glad they’re done and they’re not coming back,” he said.

Players urge NFL to keep World Cup’s grass fields NEW YORK The World Cup is ﬁnished, but NFL players hope grass ﬁelds are not. After football venues swapped synthetic turf for natural grass for the global soccer tournament, some players urged the NFL to stick with grass.

“Grass looks great at MetLife! Can we keep it that way @NFL?? Would appreciate it thanks,” the San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle wrote on social media as he attended Sunday afternoon’s World Cup ﬁnal in East Rutherford, N.J.

Grass is more expensive to maintain than turf, and the latter offers stadiums more versatility to host events such as concerts. But the NFL Players Association has long advocated for grass, contending it is easier on the players’ bodies. In May, NFLPA executive director JC Tretter said 92% of the approximately 1,700 players they polled preferred grass to turf.

Packers DL Wyatt agrees to 3-year, $57M extension Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt has agreed to terms on a three-year, $57 million contract extension with a $20 million signing bonus, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Monday Wyatt had six tackles for loss and four sacks in 10 games last season. His season ended after he broke his ﬁbula and tore ankle ligaments during a Thanksgiving win at Detroit. Even though he missed much of the season, Wyatt still ranked third on the team in sacks and tied for fourth in tackles for loss.

Wyatt has spent his entire NFL career with the Packers,

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MANU FERNANDEZ Players from Spain’s national soccer team celebrate on Monday at Cibeles Square in Madrid after Spain defeated Argentina in the World Cup final in East Rutherford, N.J., near New york.

Injuries to Reese, Bueckers cloud All-Star weekend

BY DOUG FEINBERG Associated Press

NEW YORK It was a rough week for WNBA All-Stars heading into the game this weekend.

Paige Bueckers and former LSU star Angel Reese both were injured Sunday Bueckers had a rough collision with Nneka Ogwumike in the fourth quarter of Dallas’ game against Los Angeles. The second-year star guard didn’t play Monday night against New York but cleared concussion protocol, the team said.

Reese’s knee buckled as she jump-stopped at the basket in a win over Chicago She fell to the ground. Reese got up quickly, but went down again after a few seconds. She went back to the bench but didn’t return. The Dream is off now through the All-Star break, and Reese was voted a reserve for the team by the league’s coaches. Reese is leading the league with 11.8 rebounds per game and 14 double-doubles. She’s averaging 14.9 points. If either can’t play in the exhibition game in Chicago on Saturday, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert will name a replacement. Kelsey Plum is another player who would potentially need an injury replacement as she’s been out with a lower leg injury that’s sidelined her for nearly a month

Power poll rankings

The Golden State Valkyries remained the No. 1 team in the power poll, increasing their winning streak to nine straight. Minnesota was second with Dallas, Las Vegas and Indiana next.

Atlanta moved up to sixth, switching places with New York. Washington, Chicago and Portland followed the Liberty Toronto was 11th and Los Angeles 12th. Connecticut climbed two places to 13th with Phoenix and Seattle rounding out the poll

Player of the week

Caitlin Clark of Indiana was the AP player of the week. She averaged 25 points, 7.7 assists and 1.7 steals to help the Fever go 2-1 last week. Clark became the ﬁrst person in league history to have a 40plus point game to go along with 10 assists in a win over Seattle. Other

Cenac giving local kids someone to look up to

Celtics rookie, LaPlace native holds youth hoops camp

BY ROD WALKER Staff writer

Chris Cenac could have used this week to unwind.

After all the LaPlace native’s life has been pretty hectic these past few months.

Getting ready for the NBA draft. Then actually attending the draft, where the Boston Celtics selected him in the ﬁrst round with the 27th overall pick. That was followed by all the media obligations. Then he spent the past two weeks in Las Vegas playing for the Celtics’ Summer League teams.

So this week was a perfect opportunity for him to rest, right?

Nah.

Instead, he spent Monday at Xavier University’s Convocation Center conducting his ﬁrst basketball camp for about 100 kids hoping to become the next Cenac.

While most NBA players wait to get a season or two under their belt before hosting a camp, Cenac decided to do one right away

“I just knew the importance of New Orleans where I grew up,” Cenac said. “It’s not that much going on here where people are coming back and giving back So that was the ﬁrst thing on my mind.”

Cenac’s parents, along with trainer James Parlow, emphasized to him the importance of giving back to the place that helped shape him So he delivered right away

tors to force overtime in a Boston win. His time in Vegas included two double-doubles.

team win,” Cenac said “Whatever it takes. Defense. Rebounding.

players receiving votes included her teammate Kelsey Mitchell, Olivia Miles of Minnesota, Allisha Gray of Atlanta and Gabby Williams of Golden State.

Moving on Reese accepted Toronto coach

Sandy Brondello’s apology for an inappropriate comment that got the Tempo coach suspended for a game.

The WNBA suspended Brondello one game for being overheard calling Reese a “protected species” during the Dream’s 11192 victory over the Tempo on Friday

“First, I appreciate Sandy’s apology, but I also appreciate the love and support that I’ve had for the last 48 hours,” Reese said before the Dream played the Chicago Sky on Sunday “It has been very overwhelming with a lot of love and also other things. But I am grateful that the league did take action.”

Brondello’s comment about Reese was picked up by the broadcast after Toronto player Nyara Sabally went down with an injury and was called for a foul following contact with Reese.

Game of the week

Las Vegas at Washington, Wednesday The Aces finish off the ﬁrst part of the season and a two-game road trip with a visit to Washington to face the Mystics.

Cenac, who played two seasons of high school ball at Isidore Newman in Uptown New Orleans, knows how meaningful camps are. He remembers attending one held by former NBA player Greg Monroe, who played high school ball at Helen Cox High School in Harvey “That was the first thing I thought about when I decided to do this camp was the feeling that I had when I was at his camp looking up to him,” Cenac said. “I want all these kids to look up to me and know that coming from New Orleans that your dreams can come true.”

Every kid at his camp Monday had to look up to the 6-foot-11 Cenac. But he wants them to look up to him for more than just his height. He wants them to see that dreams can come true, although he admits this all still seems surreal.

“I worked my whole life for this,” Cenac said. “But I also dreamed my whole life for this. It feels really good. But I have to keep working because I have some other goals that I want to accomplish.”

He’ll get to do so playing for one of the NBA’s most storied franchises. He made a good ﬁrst impression in Vegas in Summer League play He averaged 10.5 points, 8 rebounds, 2.8 blocked shots and an assist in the four games he played. He buried a 3-pointer from the corner in the opener against the Toronto Rap-

“It was great going out there and competing with high-level guys and showing the world what I’m capable of doing,” Cenac said. ”… I was really just trying to prove myself right. Prove to myself that I’m a way better player than what people think from this past draft.”

Playing hard, good minutes. It’s a higher standard there.”

“I want all these kids to look up to me and know that coming from New Orleans that your dreams can come true.”

CHRIS CENAC, Boston Celtics rookie and former Newman standout

Many of the draft projections had Cenac being chosen somewhere toward the middle of the ﬁrst round. Instead, he had to wait a tad bit longer

“The whole time I just tried to stay positive,” he said. “Obviously I wanted to go a lot higher But I landed in a great situation and a great organization, and I’m happy to be there.”

Falling a few spots in the draft has given him even more motivation heading into his rookie season.

“All the teams that passed up on me, I’m looking forward to those games,” he said.

Cenac will be suiting up for his fourth team in four seasons. After his junior season at Newman, he transferred to Link Academy in Branson, Missouri. He then played one season at the University of Houston, helping lead the Cougars to the Sweet 16. Now he heads to a Celtics team that won an NBA title three seasons ago.

“I’m just trying to do whatever I can to get on the ﬂoor and help the

Cenac is looking to raise the standard for aspiring players from the greater New Orleans area as well. He’s one of three local players chosen in this year’s draft. Former Po nc ha to ul a High standout Allen Graves was selected by the Raptors with the No. 19 overall pick. Jaron Pierre, who starred at St. Augustine High, was drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans in the second round. Ex-Carver High star Solomon Washington wasn’t drafted but played on the Pelicans’ Summer League team.

“It’s getting better,” Cenac said about the high school basketball in New Orleans. “There is a lot of great talent that’s going to come out of this city in the future.”

Cenac vows to do his part, which is why he was in the Xavier gym Monday conducting a camp just a few days after the Celtics ﬁnished up Summer League play

“This is something that’s been on my mind before I even got drafted,” Cenac said. “I wanted to do a kids’ camp to give back to the kids Give them somebody they can look up to. We are here now This is not just one year This is something I want to do every single year.”

Email Rod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.

BY STEVE REED Associated Press

NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — It was always in the back of Joey Logano’s mind: the streak. The three-time season champion had won at least one race in each of his previous 14 seasons racing in the NASCAR Cup Series entering this past weekend, the longest such streak among active drivers and just ﬁve behind the late Kyle Busch’s record of 19. He desperately wanted it to continue. But as the weeks passed and the races came and went, Logano and the Team Penske No. 22 Ford team found themselves in search of speed — and their ﬁrst victory of the 2026 season. Twenty races, no wins. Logano said doubt was beginning to creep in, as he found himself outside the cutline in the Chase for the Championship. Only 16 drivers qualify for the playoffs, and he was 17th. As for winning a race? Well “You start to wonder, am I going to have a chance this year to capitalize and (win) one?” Logano said.

Logano led 323 of 450 laps.

“It’s wildly impressive what he did,” Hamlin said.

Logano won every restart and simply pulled away from the pack, sometimes leading by more than ﬁve seconds Hamlin offered a challenge late, but the Cup points leader could never run Logano down.

A tough year

Logano acknowledged it’s been a tough year

“Any time you kind of lack in speed, you start to question a lot of things around you, what the process is, what we’re doing, (even) yourself,” Logano said “All those things come to mind on why there’s not speed.”

Talking strategy

Logano was thrilled when NASCAR announced last year that North Wilkesboro would be added as a points race for ﬁrst time in 30 years. And why not? Nobody runs better here than him. His crew seems to have mastered how to set up the car through plenty of testing at the track, making things easier for him as a driver “I mean, when you have a car that fast, you kind of just make sure you don’t screw it up, right?” Logano said. “Don’t do anything dumb on pit road. Restarts, a little more conservative.”

Where to go from here?

“The job’s not done,” Logano said. “We still want to win the championship. We got some great tracks coming up ahead of us, so there’s definitely a lot of confidence in that. That’s deﬁnitely real, that we feel like we can capitalize on it. We capitalized on it today.” Logano hopes win gets

Logano unstoppable at NWS It turns out all Logano needed to regain his swagger was a trip to what he calls his “best track.” Logano dominated the field Sunday night to extend his streak to 15 straight seasons with a win at North Wilkesboro Speedway where he destroyed the competition in the AllStar race two years ago. It ended a brutal drought of 45 starts without a win. He was so unstoppable at the 0.625-mile track that all secondplace finisher Denny Hamlin could do following the race was dab up Logano and congratulate him for masterfully navigating his way through lapped traffic.

But he has been around the pits long enough to know that stock car racing has its ebbs and ﬂows given the changes to the cars and to the rules. Sometimes it feels like you’re in a rocket ship and can’t lose; other times you’re stuck in the mud and can’t buy a checkered ﬂag.

This year — and for that matter, most of last year — it felt more like quicksand.

But Logano said his team never panicked and focused on ﬁnding a solution to its speed problem.

Now safely inside the playoff cut line, Logano hopes Sunday’s win will serve as a springboard with ﬁve races left before the playoffs.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CHUCK BURTON

Joey Logano poses with the trophy in victory lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday in North Wilkesboro, N.C.

STAFF

PHOTO By ROD WALKER

Chris Cenac, a LaPlace native who played at Newman, signs autographs at his youth basketball camp on Monday at Xavier University Cenac was drafted in the first round by the Boston Celtics in June.

AP PHOTO By ELÍAS VALVERDE

Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers leaves the court after a collision with Los Angeles Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike during a game Sunday in Arlington, Texas.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By SAMMy KOGAN

Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese, right reacts to a foul being called against her during the second half of a game on Friday against the Toronto Tempo in Toronto.

SEC MEDIA DAYS

THREE AND OUT: SCOTT RABALAIS’ TOP THREE TAKEAWAyS FROM DAy 1 OF SEC MEDIA DAyS IN TAMPA, FLORIDA

UK’S TED LASSO

First-year Kentucky coach Will Stein bears an uncanny resemblance to actor Jason Sudeikis of “Ted Lasso”

fame. He also shares the fictional football coach’s surprising confidence he can make a mediocre program a winner Asked why he believes he can win at UK, whose last SEC title came 50 years ago, the former Oregon playcaller said: “Because of me, to be honest. I know what it takes. I’ve seen it at the highest levels.” LSU plays at Kentucky on Oct. 10.

THE BOOK ON ELI

Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz’s name was prominently mentioned for the LSU job before it hired Lane Kiffin. Drinkwitz, the SEC’s second-longest tenured coach behind Georgia’s Kirby Smart, has made Mizzou productive, going 30-10 during the past three seasons. But his Tigers are 0-16 against SEC teams with winning records in his seven seasons overall. Can bringing in former Ole Miss QB Austin Simmons and former Michigan offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey change that? Patience in Columbia grows thin.

LOVE AND FOOTBALL

Sometimes it’s important to remember the real people under the football helmets and shoulder pads. One of those people is Arion Carter The Tennessee linebacker made headlines last month after he shaved off his long hair in support of his girlfriend, Mariah Bryant, who was losing her hair from chemotherapy for Stage 2 breast cancer Carter was happy to report Monday that Bryant is now in complete remission. LSU plays at Tennessee on Nov. 21.

Heupel wants Vols fans to stock up for Kiffin

BY JON BLAU Staff writer

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel hopes his fan base hasn’t “cooled off” in its animosity for former Volunteers head man Lane Kiffin In fact, Heupel hopes Knoxville is well-stocked with a couple of items when Kifﬁn and LSU pay a visit on Nov 21.

“Whether it’s the grocery stores being fully stocked with mustard, or our sports stores making sure that they got reinforcements on the golf balls,” Heupel said Monday at SEC media days, “hopefully Knoxville’s ready for his arrival.

Heupel was alluding to Kifﬁn’s last trip to Neyland Stadium in 2021, which resulted in a golf ball and mustard bottle being tossed at the then-Ole Miss coach.

Kiffin had been gone for 12 years, but Volunteer fans hadn’t forgotten how he bolted from Tennessee after just one 7-6 season because he wanted to lead the Southern Cal program. Kiffin was fired during his fourth season leading the Trojans Heupel was in his first season as the Tennessee coach in 2021, and a 31-26 loss to Ole Miss was one of six he suffered that year The Volunteers improved to 11-2 in 2022, but the Vols fell back to 8-5 last season.

Kiffin kept the golf ball and mustard bottle from that Knoxville visit in his football office at Ole Miss, and he threw out a golf ball instead of a baseball for the first pitch of an Ole Miss-Tennessee baseball game in April 2022

Kifﬁn left Ole Miss for LSU ahead of a 2025 playoff run, which was another SEC bridge burned by the head coach. LSUOle Miss on Sept. 19 is expected to be one of the more heated matchups of this college football season, but Heupel’s comment was a reminder that LSU at Tennessee could be eventful as well.

Kifﬁn is slated to speak at SEC media days on Thursday Stein storming the field A win over LSU would hold some nostalgia for Kentucky coach Will Stein Stein, the former Oregon offensive coordinator, is the son of ex-Kentucky defensive end

RABALAIS

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the best, you come to the SEC. You just do. It’s the closest thing to the NFL. I love it.”

Matt Stein. The 36-year-old grew up going to Wildcat football games, and Will Stein stormed the field with his fellow fans when Kentucky beat LSU in triple overtime, 43-37, in 2007

“To come back to the Bluegrass State, being a fan of Kentucky football, is truly surreal,” Stein said. “These ﬁrst 230 days have been a complete whirlwind.”

There’s another Stein-LSU connection: He hired Joe Sloan the former LSU quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator under Brian Kelly, to help him run the Wildcats offense. Sloan was at quarterback Jayden Daniels‘ side for his Heisman Trophy season in 2022.

“He’s a phenomenal teacher, especially at the quarterback position. I’m talking about mechanics, quarterback reads, protections,”

Stein said. I think he’s one of the best in the country Elite communicator.”

While Stein’s predecessor, Mark Stoops, posted a couple of 10-win seasons during his tenure, the

Despite not even playing for the CFP title the past three seasons, the SEC is still top to bottom exactly what Stein boasted about the conference From one to 16, it’s tougher than the Big Ten. But when the going gets tough, the tough shouldn’t take their ball and go home to Knoxville and Starkville and Gainesville. The SEC needs to work toward solutions to ﬁx the issues plaguing college athletics That is true leadership.

SEC

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SMU in a neutral-site 2029 opener

Tulane is set to open 2030, and LSU’s home-and-home series with Big 12 program Arizona State in 2029 and 2030 has been canceled, according to a report from On3.

The Tigers will complete a homeand-home with Clemson in this year’s opener, which is anything but an easy win. Kifﬁn doesn’t love that LSU has to then play nine SEC games, which he acknowledged

during spring practice.

“I understand there’s always things that go into decisions besides the way I think,” Kifﬁn said.

“I’m sure there were ﬁnancial reasons for it, but I don’t think, now that they’ve kind of seen how (CFP) selections have gone, there’s value in that from that standpoint.

“You’re going to continue to have, in my opinion, this threshold until they go to more teams or a different system — that 10-2 is in, 9-3 is out. So you just got some more losses in your conference and beat yourself up more, which is different than any other conference

Wildcats were thoroughly mediocre in his ﬁnal four campaigns, posting a combined 23-27 record. Stein was asked why he believes Kentucky which plays host to LSU on Oct. 10, could be the next Cinderella story like fellow “basketball school” Indiana.

“Because of me, to be honest,” Stein said “You just got to believe, man. You just got to put the ball down and play There’s really nothing else to be said.” Hardy’s return Ahmad Hardy, the former ULMonroe running back who starred at Missouri last season, has been medically cleared to return from a gunshot wound suffered this offseason, according to coach Eli Drinkwitz Hardy, who rushed for 1,649 yards and 16 touchdowns as a sophomore, was shot in the upper leg while attending an outdoor concert in Mississippi on May 10. Drinkwitz said Hardy’s return-to-play protocol could

take 5-8 weeks.

“At the end of the eight weeks, we still don’t know what his recovery will be from a ‘Is he the same Ahmad Hardy (from) last year?’ My anticipation, what I’ve seen, the way he’s attacked his rehab, he’s going to be a better Ahmad Hardy than before,” Drinkwitz said. Drinkwitz hopes Hardy, an avid horse rider, will refrain from that activity over the next several weeks.

“But hell, John Wayne rode after he had been shot. He turned out all right,” Drinkwitz said. “Ahmad Hardy is trying the same approach.”

Back to Music City

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey announced Monday morning that the 2027 SEC media days will return to Nashville, Tennessee, and take place from July 12-15.

The conference last held its football media days in Nashville in 2023.

Sankey gave tentative support for the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act currently being hammered out in Congress, though expressing the need for a number of signiﬁcant changes. Neither the SEC nor the Big Ten is interested in pooling its media rights with other leagues, currently a major plank in the legislation. Perhaps that can be worked around.

from a toughness standpoint.”

Given the Tigers play the likes of Alabama, Texas and Texas A&M, a 9-3 record is far from improbable for Kiffin in his first year at LSU. Kiffin, who would have been tied for the second-longest-tenured SEC coach at the same school if he hadn’t left Ole Miss, hasn’t been afraid to express this opinion in conference meetings.

Drinkwitz, who is now the second-longest-tenured SEC coach with seven seasons at Missouri, was far from hesitant to rehash the subject at media days Monday Kentucky first-year coach Will

No one is likely to get exactly what they want from the bill, but college athletics has proven incapable of governing itself. Legislation is needed, compromise legislation. Sankey said the SEC doesn’t “have to bat a thousand.”

AUBURN

LAST YEAR: 5-7 (1-7 SEC)

COACH: Alex Golesh (1st year)

PLAYERS: DB Champ Anthony, QB Byrum Brown, K Alex McPherson

THE BUZZ: The Tigers flopped in a make-or-break year for Hugh Freeze, so Auburn started a coaching search and found South Florida coach Alex Golesh. His job?

Revive a proud program that’s seeking its first 10-win season since 2017 and its first Iron Bowl victory since 2019. Auburn fans have higher expectations.

GEORGIA

LAST YEAR: 12-2 (7-1 SEC)

COACH: Kirby Smart (11th year)

PLAYERS: OL Drew Bobo, QB Gunner Stockton, LB Raylen Wilson

THE BUZZ: Much has been made about the fact that the SEC hasn’t put a team in the national title game in three seasons. Georgia is one of the programs that can end that drought.The Bulldogs aren’t just

SOUTH CAROLINA

DB Peyton

Williams

THE BUZZ: Is South Carolina about to make a coaching change? The question usually gets floated after a program has a four-win season under a fifthyear coach. It might be now or never for Beamer’s Gamecocks, who will almost certainly lose both Sellers and star edge rusher Dylan Stewart to the NFL after this season.

VANDERBILT

LAST YEAR: 10-3 (6-2 SEC)

COACH: Clark Lea (5th year)

PLAYERS: RB Sedrick Alexander DL Issa Ouattara,WR Junior Sherrill

THE BUZZ: Vanderbilt enjoyed its best season ever, then it lost Diego Pavia but gained five-star quarterback Jared Curtis. Perhaps Curtis’ surprising move is a sign that 2025 wasn’t an anomaly for Lea’s ascending program, which is expected to hold a preseason quarterback battle before it settles on a successor to Pavia. — Reed Darcey

Not on governance and not on CFP expansion, where the SEC remains the only conference yet to endorse an expansion from 12 to 24 teams. Politics, Otto von Bismarck once said, is “the art of the possible, the attainable the art of the next best.”

Stein, on the other hand, wasn’t going to protest too much.

“There’s still gonna be a kickoff time. We’re gonna put the ball down and we’re gonna play the game. So, I mean, I don’t control any of that. It’s what you sign up for,” Stein said. “‘It’s not changing this year and probably not gonna change in the future. And I’m sure it’s gonna continue to go up.”

In fact, the SEC slate has been reduced in comparison with the COVID-affected 2020 season where conference members played only each other in a 10-game schedule. Drinkwitz found some perspective

College athletics is right there right now In this contentious climate, the SEC should be leading the push for the next best, not threatening to push the button on a nuclear option.

when he was asked whether he had any words for his first-year self back then.

“I would inverse that. I would have the ﬁrst-year head coach tell the seventh-year head coach to quit complaining about nine games,” Drinkwitz said. “It’s manageable, and it’s doable. Don’t get caught up in looking too far ahead. There’s a way to win every game.

“You just got to ﬁnd it. And that’s got to be the mentality and the approach that we take.”

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

PHOTO PROVIDED By SEC

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel speaks at SEC media days on Monday in Tampa Florida.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS FILE PHOTO By KyUSUNGGONG

San Francisco 49ers linebackerFred Warner reactsafter agameagainst the Los Angeles RamsonOct. 2in Inglewood, Calif

Warner stilltopsLBs despitehis broken ankle

BY JOSH DUBOW

Fred Warner managedtoplay onlysix games last season for the San Francisco 49ers before abroken right ankle ended hisseason prematurelyinWeek 6. Warner’splay up until that point andhis all-around dominance over the past several years still was enough to help him earn the honor of being named the top off-ball linebacker in the NFL by The Associated Press.

Apanel of eight AP pro football writers ranked the top five players at off-ball linebacker, basing selections on current statusentering the 2026 season First-place voteswere worth 10 points. Second- throughfifthplace votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1points. Warner got sixfirst-place votes and won the voting with 60 points. Detroit’sJack Campbell gotthe other two first-place votes and finished second with 39 points. Philadelphia’sZack Baun was third, Carolina’sDevin Lloydwas fourth, and Miami’sJordyn Brooksand Baltimore’sRoquan Smith tied forfifth

1. Fred Warner, SanFrancisco 49ers

Warner had been aﬁrst-teamAllPro from 2022-24, as well as 2020, as the leader of the San Francisco defense. Warner is the prototypical linebacker forthe modern game as he excels in both pass coverage and stopping the run Warner is the only playercurrently on an NFLrosterwithatleast 10 career sacks, interceptions and forced

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AngelesRams.

The game situation also dictated whatdefenses Staleydeployed. In 2025, the Saints faced the thirdmost rushing attempts —inlarge part because they trailed inmany of their gamesand that allowed opponents to maintain control on the ground. If the Saints can staymore competitive in contests and force teams into more obvious passing situations, thatwill limit the likelihoodthat all three interior defenderssee the field together

What is set to be acompetitive training camp would be even more intriguing if, effectively, only two spots are up for grabsinstead of three.

Thelowdown

TheSaints’ injectionofyouthon the interior isn’tthe only way that the position has changed over the last few years. Last offseason, New Orleans acquired Godchaux from the New England Patriots. And by switching to a3-4 scheme,the Saints askedtheirlinemen to have different responsibilitiesthan they hadina4-3.

But the changeswerefor the better.Notably,the Saints were much improved at stopping the run in 2025. New Orleans went from allowing141.1rushingyards per game (second-most) in 2024 to 120.6 rushing yardsper game last season. The latter still ranked 19th,but in terms of rushing EPA allowed per play,the Saints had the third-best rate (-0.10). In simpleterms, teamsweren’t very efﬁcient in running the ball against the Saints.

fumbles. In his last three healthy seasons, Warner had 393 tackles, seven interceptions,28passes defended andnine forced fumbles.

2. Jack Campbell, DetroitLions

The Lions surprised some watchers when they used the 18thoverall pick to draft Campbell in 2023 outofIowa.Campbell quickly showed why that was a shrewd decision

He’sbeen akey component of theDetroit defense sincehis rookie year andtook his gametoanew level in 2025 when he was named first-team All-Pro after becoming thefirstplayersinceatleast 2000 to haveatleast 160 tackles and five sacksina season. The Lions rewarded Campbell withan$81 million, four-yearextension earlier this offseason.

3. Zack Baun, Philadelphia Eagles

Baun followed up his breakthrough2024 season, when he helped the Eagles win the Super Bowl, with another strong campaignashefirmlyestablished himself as one of thegame’stop linebackers.

Baunhad struggled to get on the ﬁeldondefense as an edge rusher during his first four seasons in New Orleans, but he hasbeen a star at linebacker on VicFangio’s defense inPhiladelphia. He was an All-Proin2024 andmade hissecond straight ProBowl lastseason after recording 123 tackles, seven passes defended, seven tacklesfor loss and31/2 sacks.

4. DevinLloyd, Carolina Panthers

The2022first-round pick by Jacksonville had abreakthrough season lastyear with the Jaguars thatearned him athree-year,$45 million contract from Carolina in theoffseason.

Lloyd’sﬁve interceptionswere tied for the most by anylinebacker in thelast 12 seasons, and he had a99-yardreturnfor aTDafter picking off apassfromPatrick Mahomes.

5. (tie), Jordyn Brooks, MiamiDolphins

Brooks was ararebright spotin an otherwise disappointing seasonfor the Dolphins as he earned All-Pro honors for theﬁrst time in hiscareer. Theformerﬁrst-round pick by Seattlehas stepped up his game after being signed in free agency by Miamibeforethe 2024 season. He ledthe NFL with 183 tackleslast season, including 99 solotackles

5. Roquan Smith, BaltimoreRavens

Smith hasbeen asteadying force for the Baltimore defense since being acquiredina midseason trade from Chicagoin2022. He has been aPro Bowler in all three full seasons with the Ravens and made ﬁrst-team All-Pro in 2023 and ‘24.

Hissix straight seasonswithat least 130 tackles aretied for the second-longeststreak in the NFLsince at least 2000, trailingonly Bobby Wagner’scurrent 10-year run.

There’salot of depthinthis group, even beyondthe recent draft picks andveteran starters.

TheSaints re-signed John Ridgewaytoatwo-year,$5.7 million contract when free agency opened, andthatwas because the team valueswhatRidgeway can contribute in stopping therun.Former sixthround pick Khristian Boyd also has shown promise,while former Jaguars lineman MylesCole received ﬁrst-teamreps on occasion during OTAs.

Theposition issocrowded that onecan’t help but wonderwhether general manager Mickey Loomis might make anothertrade before cutdown day inAugust. Last year, theSaintstraded veterandefensive tackleKhalen Saundersfor center Luke Fortner —a deal that proved to be very important for the Saints

Potentialcampbattle

Only Bresee—who started every game he appeared in lastyear —can be comfortably penciled in as astarter.But that’saslongashe

BY ROBMAADDI AP pro football writer

Patrick Surtain has built an impressive resumeinjustfive seasons. The Denver Broncos defensive back has madefour Pro Bowls, been first-team All-Pro twice, second team once and wasonly theseventh cornerbacktowin AP NFLDefensive Player of the Year,earning the award after the 2024 season

Surtainnow has been voted the top NFL cornerback for the secondstraight year by The Associated Press in apreseason survey Surtain receivedseven firstplace votes from apanel of eight AP pro football writers who ranked thetop five players at theposition, basing selections on current status entering the 2026 season. First-place votes were worth 10 points. Second- through ﬁfth-place voteswere worth 5, 3, 2and 1points.

Former LSU standout Derek Stingley gotthe otherﬁrst-place voteand ﬁnished second.

1. PatrickSurtain, Denver Broncos

Surtain hasbecome an elite player at apremier position. He allowed 31 receptions and a66.5 passer rating when targeted by opposing quarterbacks in 2025.

Surtain had one interception, mainly because teams don’t throw his direction. He missed three games witha pecstrain but returned in the playoffs to help the Broncos reach theAFC championship game.

2. DerekStingley, HoustonTexans Stingley earnedAll-Pro for the second straight season, and he has developed into one of theleague’sbestcover cornerbacks for astingy Houston defense. He had four interceptions, allowed 34 receptions in coverage and broke up nine passes in coverage last season. Opposing quarterbacks had just a67.4 passer rating against him Stingley wasselected one spot ahead of Sauce Gardner at No.3 overall in the 2022 draft.

3. (tie)Quinyon Mitchell, Philadelphia Eagles Mitchell earnedAll-Pro honors in just hissecond seasoninthe NFL. He gaveup36catches in coverage, broke up seven passes, and

QBs hadjust a58.4 passer ratingagainsthim.Mitchelldoesn’t have an interceptioninthe regular season but he’ssnagged four picks in ﬁve playoff games for the Eagles.

3. (tie)Devon Witherspoon, SeattleSeahawks

Witherspoon made his third Pro Bowl in three seasons, earned second-team All-Pro honors and helped Seattle win the Super Bowl.

He surrendered 46 receptions in coverage, and QBs had a99.8 passer rating against him

5. (tie)Trent McDuffie, LosAngeles Rams

McDuffie hasbeen oneofthe league’sbest slot cornerbacks in his first four seasons in Kansas City,helping the Chiefs win two Super Bowls and play in another one. McDuffie was afirst-team AllPro slot cornerback in 2023 and asecond-team choice in 2024. The Rams acquired him for a packageofdraftpicks, including No. 29 overall in this April’s draft. He allowed 37 receptions in coverage, broke up four and had one pick. He allowed a94.7 passer rating when targeted.

5. (tie)Sauce Gardner, IndianapolisColts

The two-time All-Pro wastraded from the Jets to the Colts in ablockbuster deal for two ﬁrstround picks midway through last season but playedinonly four games for his newteam because of acalf injury

provestobethe three-down player he was in 2025, whichwasn’t the case through his first two seasons. Elsewhere, can Miller and BroughtonunseatGodchaux and Shepherd? Godchauxsaw his playing time dip toward theend of last season,but he remainsa reliable nose tackle. Do theSaints view Miller as physically big enough to fillthatspot? Interestingly, Shepherd was working with the third-string unit when he reportedtomandatory minicamp after missing OTAs. But the 32-yearold had aproductive 2025, playing 63.2% of the team’ssnaps —the mostamongSaints interior defensive linemen. The Saintslike to rotate their defensive linemen throughoutthe game, so there should be opportunities for those who don’tearna starting job. Butasofnow,itseems like the coaching staff will have its hands full in determining that specific order

Email Matthew Parasatmatt. paras@theadvocate.com

STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIAGERMER

Saints defensivelineman Vernon Broughton jogs across the ﬁeld during a minicamppracticeatthe Saints’indoor practice facility on June 16.

AP pro football writer

LSU AGCENTERPHOTO

By OLIVIA McCLURE

Goldsturm, aRudbeckiafulgida cultivar,isa2026 Louisiana Super Plant. It does well in our climate and is attractiveto pollinators —likethis bee

Bright blooms, stayingpower of rudbeckia make it a SuperPlant

When LSU AgCenter horticulturists sit down to choose plants worthy of induction into the Louisiana Super Plant program, their goal is to identify contenders that are tough enoughtohandle our challenging growing conditions and stilllook good doing it. That combination is atall order.But it’s no problem for Rudbeckia fulgida, a2026 Super Plant selection. Also known as black-eyed Susan, this plant blooms from late May until fall. Youcan’t help but smile when you see its sunny,daisy-like ﬂowerswith golden-yellow rays and dark centers.

“Having

aprofessional level division hasbeenalongtime dream for us at Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre, and the time is right to make it happen.”

JONNA COX, Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre co-artistic director

will nowdance as aprofessional artist-in-residence forthe companyinthe 2026-27 season.

Rudbeckia fulgida has smoother leaves thanother rudbeckia species, which tend to have hairy leaves. Many of these species sport larger blooms, but unfortunately they are prone to rotting in our rainy summers. By contrast, Rudbeckia fulgida is native to the southeastern United States and well adapted to Louisiana’sclimate. This species is easy to grow and droughttolerant once established Although rudbeckiaisin full bloom right now,planting during summer canbechallenging unless you are willing to keep it well watered through establishment. If you can wait, plant when temperatures are cooler in the fall or next spring for the best results. Give it full

ä See PLANT, page 2D

As the schoolyear starts,we’re thinkingabout thepeoplewho stand at the front of the room, who open classroom doorswith asmile. Sometimes astranger in August becomes the person a student never forgets. Certain teachers saysomething on arandom October afternoon and studentsrepeat it for decades to come —orateacher mayleadbyexample and give in waysthat changes lives. We invite readers to tell us about thatteacher who made all the difference: write aletter directly to the teacher and send it to us. Or tell the story plain:a name, aclassroom andthe moment that stuck. We’relooking for the lessons that have outlasted the chalkboard(or the dry-erase board,as the case maybe). Send your letter or story,including the name of the teacher, name of school, city and year to jan.risher@ theadvocate.com by 2 p.m.July 28. Photos of theteacherare also welcome. GARDEN NEWS

REACHING HIGHER

BatonRouge Ballet Theatre movestothe next level with newprofessionalprogram

BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer

BatonRouge Ballet

Theatre hasentered anew realm, which co-artistic directors

Rebecca Acosta and Jonna Cox are calling anew level of professionalism For the ﬁrst time, thecompany has put aprogram in place to hire professional artist-inresidence dancers.

“This is big for us,” Acosta said. “The New OrleansBallet Association has asmall residency program, and that’sprobably theclosest placetoBaton Rouge that you’llﬁnd one.”

This marks theﬁrst time professional dancers have been hiredtodance principle roles for theentiretyofthe season.

“We’vealwaysbeen a semiprofessional company in thatwepay our college and older dancers in thecompany a little stipend,” Acosta said. “But we’venever had artiststhat we pay And when Isay ‘small stipend,’ we paythemasmall fee for ashow.But we never paidthem for rehearsal time or any kind of stipend for their shoes or other things.So, with this program, we’re going to pay themfor all of this.” Which meansdancers in this program will be able to focus on their craft.

Threedancers chosen Threedancers, Elliana

STAFFPHOTO By BRAD

Patrick Jefferson, right, will be one of three professional artists-in-residencedancing with the Baton RougeBallet Theatre in the 2026-27 season. Here, Jefferson and dancer Zoey Francis rehearse and warm up before the the 2024 production of the ‘Creole Nutcracker’ at the Heymann Performance Arts Center in Lafayette.

Localchapter of 100Black Menearns national honors

Haymer II, a 16-year-old student at Baton RougeMagnet High School, wonthe first-placeprize of the firstOratoricalContest competition conducted by thenational 100 Black Men of America Inc.

Staff report

Members of 100 Black Men of MetroBaton Rouge chapter were awarded major citations at the nationalorganization’s recent conferenceinNew York City in June. Niles Haymer II, 16-year-old student at BatonRouge Magnet High School, won the ﬁrst-place prize at the ﬁrst oratorical contestcompetition conducted by thenational 100 Black Menof

America, Inc. Local 100 Black Men member Stan C. Savage, thelocal chapter’svice president of finance, received the Jesse Swanigan Award, one of the national organization’shighest honors, recognizing his leadership and dedication to ﬁnancial literacy.Hewas

KEMP

FILE PHOTOByJOHNOUBRE

Leah Coxisshown here as partofBaton RougeBallet Theatre’syouth Ballet 2016 librarytour production of ‘Graduation Ball.’Cox

Chaney

Whithercivility? Best to exercise civicduty

Dear Miss Manners: Since some political ﬁgures have demonstrated and encouraged boorishbehavior, what was once seen as good breeding is now eschewed as unnecessary or unmanly.Isthere stilla place in such aworld for civility?

Many cringeworthy statements are applauded by a(thin) majority of people in the U.S.

treated civilly.Miss Manners is often asked what can be done to make ourleadersbehave in what used to becalled astatesmanlike way It’scalled voting.

removeitfrom thecooking fork before eating.

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

Gentle reader: Well, that’s the problem: voters who thinkthat rudeness and vulgarity are signs of strength, andthat dignity and the willingness to cooperate in order to get things done are signs of weakness. And yet people crave to be

Dear Miss Manners: My boyfriendisgoing to be taking me out to afondue restaurant for ouranniversary What is the etiquette for eatingfondue?

Gentle reader: Mostly to avoid strings of cheese trailing across your chin or onto thetable. It helps to twirl the coated breadoverthe pot of hot cheese to cool it before returning it to your plate. AndMiss Manners advises usingyour dinner fork to

Dear Miss Manners: Ireceived a bridal shower invitation indicating the date and location (an hour’sdrive away) for aday of food, fun and drinks. It also stated to RSVP,which Idid.

Twenty days later,Iwas informed thecost per person was $260 and that full payment was due within 48 hours, as the deposits for transportation, food, etc., had already been paid by thehost.

Iwaited till the 48th hour,then sent acourtesy email indicating Iwould no longer be attending. Istated that it had nothing to do with the cost itself, just theprinciple. Ifelt it was poor etiquette and classless to request RSVPs,

BALLET

from page1D

Chaney,Leah Cox and Patrick Jefferson, have been hired for the 2026-27 season, each with Baton Rougeconnections.

“Elliana just graduated from high school,and she’s going to LSU,” Acosta said.

“She’salovely dancer,and we want to keep her,because for most of ourdancers, once they hit college, they don’tcontinue dancing because it’ssuch atime commitment. Youhave to come to class to stay in ballet shape and keep working on your technique.”

Chaney has dancedleading roles in several Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre productions, including Myrtha in “Giselle,” the soloist in Joan Rodriquez’s“NosOstros” and the Azalea Fairy in “The Nutcracker —ATale from the Bayou.”

Leah Cox, aformer dancer for Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre, returns to the company after earning her bachelor’s degree in ﬁne arts in dance from the University of Louisiana in Lafayette.While at UL, she was strongly featuredinthe college’sproductions, worked with such choreographers as Fabio Liberti and Norbert de la Cruz III and created choreography of her own.

“I began dancingwith Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre as acompany member when I was 13 years old, and to say that Iamlooking forward to joining as aprofessional residentwould be an understatement,” she said. “I am

PLANT

Continued from page1D

sun and decent drainage and this plant willreward you with dense clumps of bright, cheery ﬂowerscome summertime.

You’ll be doing agood thing for wildlife and the environment, too: Rudbeckia’s seeds are nutritious for birds, and the ﬂowers provide nectar for pollinators. Rudbeckia is versatile in the landscape, working

HONORS

Continued from page1D

excited for this opportunity to showthe BatonRouge area what Ihave learnedat ULL asadancer,performer andchoreographer.”

Acompany alumnus

Jefferson also is acompany alumnus.Hereceived additional training at UL and danced in the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s summerprogram.

“I teach at Baton Rouge High School, andPatrickactually started dancingwith me at the school during his senioryear,” Acosta said. “Hewas atrack runner, but he really liked ballet. So, he gave up track andstarted comingto the Dancers’ Workshop in the evenings. He trained with us for several years.”

Jefferson danced professionally withBallet North Texas and Ballet Frontier, bothinthe Dallas area. He hasreturned to Baton Rouge Ballet as aguest artist, most recently in the company’s April production of “Rapunzel.”

“What I’m looking forward to the most is givingback to my community whatI have learned in my time away,” Jeffersonsaid. “I’m excited to share this knowledge with the next generation of dancers and hopefully inspire more of the community to getinvolved with theartsin the Baton Rouge area.”

Coxpointsout that dancers often havetowork extra jobstosupport their artistic careers.

“It’sreally hard tolive as an artist and make money,” she said, noting that Jefferson also works in personal training.

well as aborder plant,in beds and in containers. Its foliage often staysattractive into the winter,lending color to thelandscapewhen many plantsare dormant. As aperennial, rudbeckia can beenjoyed for many years to come. It spreads gradually viaunderground rhizomes, and clumps can be dividedinfall or spring. The AgCenter pickedtwo Rudbeckia fulgida cultivars to share theSuper Plant title: Goldsturm andEarly Bird Gold. Goldsturm,which was

Eventually,the company hopes to addthree more professional dancerstothe roster

“We’d like to add another male,” Acosta said. “Ideally we’d like three male professional dancersand three femaleprofessionals. We’re hoping to attract dancers from other places, but we’re really excited for these three dancers andthatwe’re able to offer this to them.”

From her own experience, Acosta knows thatthese dancerscan inspire the upand-coming dancerswithin thecompany

“WhenI was growing up, we alwayshad older dancers that stuck around,”she said. “They would go off and establish their careers, but they still wanted to dance. Jonna Cox(associate artistic director), Christine Perkins and Iall danced into our 40s, andwewere able to have other careers and be moms and continue dancing —and the youngerdancers looked up to us.”

With this in mind, Acosta believes theprofessional artist-in-residence program will provide the company’s younger dancers withmentors.

“Having aprofessional leveldivisionhas been a longtime dream for us at BatonRouge Ballet Theatre, and the time is right to make it happen,”Jonna Cox said. “That Baton Rouge can provide aplace for professional danceartists to call home is ensuring the future of amazing dance in our city.”

Email RobinMiller at romiller@theadvocate. com.

introduced by German nurseryman Karl Foerster in 1937, can reach 24 to 36 inches tall and 18 to 24 inches wide. Likemost rudbeckias, it is inﬂuenced by day lengthand is triggered to ﬂower when the long days of summer arrive. ButEarly BirdGold, which was found in 2005 at Dupont Nursery in Plaquemine, is day-neutral —soitstarts blooming abit earlier and continues longer than other cultivars. It’s also shorter,topping out at 18 to 24 inches tall.

yet omit anyindication that there would be acost to attend. The “bait and switch” tactic doesn’tsit well with me. I’m also not invited to the destination wedding. What are your thoughts on this?

Gentlereader: Are you surprised not to be invited to the wedding? Did you suppose they would take achance on your scolding them if you didn’tlike the arrangements?

Mind you, Miss Manners agrees with your indignation at this fraudulent maneuver.Ifthe couple is selling the opportunity to honor themselves, they should have alerted theirpotential customersup-front.

The surprise charge gave you theopportunity to pull out. How-

ever,itdid notgive youlicense to be rude to them. All you had to saywas thatyou found you could notattend afterall. They would have hadnodifﬁculty ﬁguring outwhy.Orjust do notpay the bill, in whichcasetheywould doubtless remove youfromthe guest list.

Chastising them,insomething you quaintly call a“courtesy email,” was uncalled for.

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

Whip up afat-freecream soup

Dear Heloise: Youhad a recipe for afat-free cream soup base that was delicious. Since my husband and Ilove preparing soup all year,Iwanted to ask if you’d print this recipe for me and other souplovers. With alittle leftover chicken and mushrooms, Ican make atasty soup. By theway,I’ve read your column for years and love all the hints you’ve shared with your readers. —Linda A., in Ponca City,Oklahoma Linda, of course! For this recipe, you’ll need thefollowing: 2cups nonfat dried milk powder

the oratorical contest and for alternateselection 12-year-old orator Chetwin Carter,astudent at Sher-

wood Middle Magnet School. The awardswere presented at 100 Black Men of America, Inc.’s40th Annual Conference held in New York City,held June 17-24. There are over 100chaptersof100 Black Men of America in the United States and worldwide.

Put all of the ingredients in alarge saucepan with 2 cups of cold water.Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly Once it becomes thick, add your other ingredients such as shredded chicken, mushrooms, celery that is sliced very thin, and whatever else you’d like in your soup! —Heloise Tomato pastefor stews

tastes better about aweek or two later! Thank you forall of your wonderful hints. Inever read the paper without turning to your column ﬁrst! —Betty Jo M., in Fort

1tablespoon dried onion flakes 2tablespoons cornstarch 2tablespoons chicken bouillon powder

½teaspoon basil

½teaspoon thyme ¼teaspoon black pepper

Dear Heloise: Ilove to try new recipes, so when my sister-in-law told me that she makes her beef stew with sometomato paste and water as her base, I thought it sounded tasty So, Itried it, and this is the only way my husband wants stew now.When Imake stewsorchili, I often double the recipe and freeze the leftovers. For some reason, it always

Friend planstripduringparty

Dear Harriette: My best friend booked atrip, and she’s going to be gone on my birthday.Ihave been planning my 30thbirthday for four months; Iput so much timeand effortinto planning it, and she won’tbe attending. We’ve been friends for eight years,and I just assumed that she was going to be there.Iaskedher why she scheduledher vacation during this timeknowing that Ihave my party planned, and she said it was the only timethat worked for her schedule.Iunderstand that people have busy lives and

ByThe Associated Press

Harriette Cole

SENSE AND SENSITIVITy

that vacations often have to be planned around work, family and ﬁnances, but I can’thelp but feel hurt. Part of me feels like if attending my birthday was important to her,she would have found another time to travel. Another part of me wonders whether I’m expecting too muchand whether I’m making this more personal than it really is.

Idon’twant to start an argument or makeher feel guilty fortaking atrip, but I’msad and disappointed she can’tbethere with me to celebrate. Do you think I’moverreacting and having too high of expectations of my friend or is it fair to be this upset? —Not a Good Friend Dear Not aGood Friend: You have every right to feel hurt. Your best friend was well aware of your trip. That said, it’stimetopivot. Go back to your party.Focus on all the details that makeyou happy.You can tell your friend how hurt you are, but moveon. Send questions to askharriette@ harriettecole.com or c/oAndrewsMcMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St.,Kansas City,MO 64106.

Today is Tuesday, July 21, the 202nd day of 2026. There are 163 days left in theyear

Todayinhistory: On July 21, 1925, the so-called “Monkey Trial” ended in Dayton, Tennessee, with John T. Scopes found guilty of violating state law for teaching Darwin’sTheoryofEvolution. (Theconviction was later overturned.)

Also on this date: In 1861, during the Civil War, the ﬁrst Battle of Bull Run was fought at Manassas, Virginia,resulting in aConfederate victory

In 1944, American forces landed on Guam during WorldWar II, capturing it from theJapanese some three weekslater

In 1954, theGeneva Conference concluded with accords dividing Vietnam intonorthern and southern entities.

In 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts NeilArmstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin blasted off from themoon aboard the ascent stageof thelunar module for docking withthe command module.

In 1970, construction of theAswan High Dam in Egypt was completed.

In 1972, the Irish Republican Army carried out 22 bombings in Belfast, Northern Ireland, killing nine people andinjuring 130 in whatbecame known as “BloodyFriday.”

In 2002, golferErnie Els won the British Openin the ﬁrst sudden-death ﬁnish in the 142-year history of the tournament.

In 2008, former BosnianSerbleader RadovanKaradzic, oneofthe world’stop war crimes fugitives, was arrested in aBelgrade suburb by Serbiansecurity forces. (He was sentencedbya U.N. court in 2019 to life imprisonment afterbeing convictedofgenocide, crimesagainst humanity andwar crimes.)

In 2011, the 30-year-old space shuttle program endedasAtlantis landed at Cape Canaveral, Florida,after the 135thshuttle ﬂight.

In 2012, Turkish-American ErdenEruc became the ﬁrst persontocomplete asolo, human-powered circumnavigation of the globe;his journey lasted more thanﬁve years.

Today’sbirthdays: Singer Yusuf Islam (also known as CatStevens) is 78 Cartoonist Garry Trudeau is 78. AuthorMichael Connelly is 70. Comedian Jon Lovitz is 69. Retired soccer playerBrandi Chastain is 58. Rock-soul singerMichael Fitzpatrick (Fitz andthe

StarpitcherCCSabathia is 46. SingerBlake Lewis (“AmericanIdol”) is 45. Latin singerRomeoSantos is 45. ActorBetty Gilpin is 40. ActorJuno Temple is 37. ActorRoryCulkin is 37. ActorJosephZada

In 2023, the “Barbenheimer” buzz reached its peak as the films “Barbie”and “Oppenheimer” opened in theaters; the critical andpublic acclaim for both films ledtothe fourth-largest weekend boxoffice of alltime. In 2024, President Joe Bidendroppedhis bid for reelection following adisastrous campaign debate with Donald Trump that raiseddoubts aboutthe Democratic incumbent’s fitness foroffice. (Trump would go on in the fall to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris, who took Biden’splace in the presidentialrace.)

Hints from Heloise

Continued

PROVIDED PHOTO By BATONROUGE BALLET THEATRE

Elliana Chaney, center,was featured in Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre’sApril 2026 production of ‘Rapunzel.’

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Disillusionment regarding your status quo or skills will lead to overestimating or underestimating situations that require more thought and a mental adjustment to ensure you aren't compromised.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Embrace life wholeheartedly. Look beyond the norm, and you'll find something or someone of interest. A change is overdue, and finding ways to assist others will help you appreciate all that you have.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Take the time to hear what others have to say. What you learn about yourself will help you use your attributes more effectively. A heated discussion will change how you feel about someone.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) You can learn the easy way or the hard way. Don't limit your chances by neglecting what's expected of you. The more you do, the moreyou'llgetback.Stepbackfrompersonal relationships that confuse you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Problems you encounter will result from overreacting due to emotional pressures and concerns. Take a deep breath and use your rationale to decide how to proceed.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Back up your plans with a little cash and plenty of energy to see matters through to the end. The effort you put in will help you gainpointswiththoseinapositiontohelp you get ahead.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) You are in a better position than you realize. Don't let an outsider lead you to believe you

are at a disadvantage. Keep in mind that overdoingandoutperformingarenotthe same thing.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Put pressure on yourself to bring about change. Complaining without acting won't help you resolve emotional issues. Revisit your dreams, put a plan in place and don't be afraid of failure.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Socializing, attending networking events and stepping into the spotlight will put you front and center and invite new friendships and the help necessary to make a difference.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Having an open mind will lead to a fresh start. Pay attention to what others say and do, but take the path that offers peace of mind. Doing for yourself will help eliminate interference and criticism.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Stop putting pressure on yourself. A pick-me-up will help you get back on track. Don't lose sight of your goals or let anyone challenge you.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Refuse to let anger set in when focusing on yourself and your health. Sign up for activities that allow you to blow off steam, and recruit people who make healthy decisions or who can help you put the past behind you.

FAMILY CIrCUS

Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

TODAy'S CLUE: A EQUALS C

CeLebrItY CIpher

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers1 to 9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS Hi and LoiS

Bridge

BY PHILLIP ALDER

AnneFrankwrote,“Wealllivewiththe objectiveofbeinghappy;ourlivesareall different and yet the same.”

Today’sdeal looks similar to yesterday’s,butthecorrectdeclarerplayisdifferent. As in yesterday’scolumn, South is in sixspades and Westleads the heart queen. Howshould declarer continue? When North had just enough to raise two spades to three spades, South bid what he hoped he could make.

If declarer were asked immediately to statealineofplay,hewouldprobablysay that he would take two diamond finesses, gettingtothedummyoncewiththespade queen and once withaheart ruff. Yes,thatisa76percentlineofplay,but loses with this layout. However, there is an even betterstrategy. Do you seeit?

Dummy has few values, but itsthree honor cards canall be used with effect After taking the first trick with his heart ace, Southshould cash his spade ace, club ace and heartking. Then he ruffs histhird heart on the boardand leads the club queen.

If East can cover with the king, South ruffs, plays aspade to dummy’s queen, and discards adiamond on the club jack. Here,though,whenEastplaysalowclub, declarer pitches his diamond 10.

Supposethat West winswithhis king and leads hislast trump. South takes the trick in the dummy and throws his diamond queen on the club jack. He loses onlyone club and winssix spades,two hearts, one diamond, two clubs and the heartruff.

Each Wuzzle is awordriddlewhich creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

word game

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

ToDAY’s WoRD VIRGuLE: VER-gyul: To criticizecuttingly.

Average mark18words

Time limit 25 minutes

Can you find 23 or morewords in VIRGULE?

YEsTERDAY’s WoRD —LIcoRIcE

G.E. Dean

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

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Rust Yea: Mark Bellue, Shashonnie Steward, Nathan Rust,Michael Gaudet,Emily Soulé, and PatrickMartin Motion Carries6-0

E. Next Meeting Dates/Announcements F. Adjournment LaMont Cole Secretary/Treasurer EBRP School Board Shashonnie Steward School BoardPresident 194733-JUL21-1T $105.50

East BatonRouge Parish School Board Committeeofthe Whole -Mar 05 2026 Minutes Thursday,March 5, 2026 at 5:00 PM 1050 SouthFosterDrive BatonRouge,LA70806

A. MeetingOpening 1. Invocation andPledge of Allegiance TheInvocationwas led by School BoardMember DadriusLanus,and the Pledge of Allegiance was ledbySchool Board Member EmilySoulé

2. Call to Orderand Roll Call Vice-President Lewis called themeetingto orderat5:00PM.

MembersPresent:Mark Bellue,Dadrius Lanus, Shashonnie Steward, CliffLewis,NathanRust, MichaelGaudet, Emily Soulé,and PatrickMartin

MembersLate: Carla Powell Lewis Others Present: LaMont Cole,Superintendent; Adam Smith, Deputy Su‐perintendent;Gwynn ShamlinJr.,General Counsel; CatashaEd‐wards, ChiefAcademic Officer; Taylor Gast,Ad‐ministrative Director of Communications; Amy Jones, ChiefTechnology Officer; Andrea O’Konski, ChiefofAccountability andAssessments; Lisa Smothers,Chief Officer-

HumanResources;James Crochet, ChiefBusiness Operations Officer; John McCann,Interim Chief Operations Officer; Kelly Lopez, ChiefFinancial Of‐ficer; LauraWilliams ChiefofSchools; Kwesi Gilbert, ChiefofPlant Op‐erations;StaceyDupre ChiefofSupport and SpecialProjects; and TiffanyJenkins,Chief StudentServicesOfficer

B. InformationOnly 1. Fiscal Transparency Report

C. ReceiveasInformation 1. School Presentation CapitolElementary School Presentation

D. Itemsfor Considera‐tion 1. Professional Services Contract:Empower For Good LLC Approval of aprofes‐sional services contract between theEastBaton RougeParishSchool Boardand Empowerfor Good LLCinthe amount of $82,500 to serveasthe external evaluatorfor ProjectRed Stick,the dis‐trict’sMagnetSchools Assistance Program (MSAP) grant.

Movedby: Shashonnie Steward; Seconded by: DadriusLanus Yea: Mark Bellue,Dadrius Lanus, CarlaPowell Lewis, Shashonnie Stew‐ard, CliffLewis,Nathan Rust,Michael Gaudet EmilySoulé,and Patrick Martin Motion Carries9-0

2. Resolution:2026 Mill‐ages Adoption of aResolution forthe purposeoflevy‐ingmillageseffective on the2026 Assessment Roll as required by law.

Movedby: Shashonnie Steward; Seconded by: PatrickMartin

Yea: Mark Bellue,Dadrius Lanus, CarlaPowell Lewis, Shashonnie Stew‐ard, CliffLewis,Nathan Rust,Michael Gaudet EmilySoulé,and Patrick Martin Motion Carries9-0

3. 2026-2027 District Cal‐endar

Approval of the2026-2027 school year calendar

Movedby: PatrickMar‐tin; Seconded by: Shashonnie Steward

Yea: Mark Bellue,Dadrius Lanus,Carla Powell Lewis, Shashonnie Stew‐ard, CliffLewis,Nathan Rust,Michael Gaudet EmilySoulé,and Patrick Martin Motion Carries9-0

4. School StartTimes Motion to authorizethe Superintendent to adjust school starttimes for district operated schools over thenextthree years.

Movedby: PatrickMar‐tin; Seconded by: MichaelGaudet

Yea: Mark Bellue,Dadrius Lanus,Carla Powell Lewis, Shashonnie Stew‐ard, CliffLewis,Nathan Rust,Michael Gaudet EmilySoulé,and Patrick Martin Motion Carries9-0

5. Policy/PolicyRevisions Approval of thefollowing policies: a) DFK-Sale of Surplus Equipmentand Supplies b) EBBC-Emergency/Cri‐sisManagement c) GBC-Recruitment d) GBN-DismissalofEm‐ployees e) GBRA-EmployeeCon‐duct

Movedby: PatrickMar‐tin; Seconded by: MichaelGaudet Yea: Mark Bellue,Dadrius Lanus,Carla Powell Lewis, Shashonnie Stew‐ard, CliffLewis,Nathan Rust,Michael Gaudet EmilySoulé,and Patrick Martin Motion Carries9-0

6. Naming of theScot‐landvilleMagnetHigh School Facilities Motion authorizingthe naming of thefollowing ScotlandvilleHighSchool facilities: a) Gymtobenamed “HowardDavis Gymna‐sium b) GymFloor to be named“Carlos Sample Court” c) Football Stadiumtobe named“WilliamBreda Stadium”

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING City of Baker,Louisiana

In accordance with the Open Meetings Law at R.S. 42:26, et seq.

The Mayor and Council of the City of Baker,Louisiana, will meet on July 28, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. at the Baker City Hall in the Council Chambers, 3325 Groom Road, Baker,Louisiana 70714 and via www youtube.com/@bakerforward,atwhich time apublic meeting will be held for adoption of the following:

Ordinance 2026-25, an Ordinance directing the levy and collection of an ad valorem tax of ten (10) mills on the dollar of assessed valuation of all property subject to taxation within the geographic boundaries of the City of Baker,State of Louisiana, fora period of ten (10) years, beginning with the year 2027 and ending with the year 2036, for the purpose of providing funds forsalaries for thirdengine personnel and increasing salaries and benefits for all employees of theFireDepartment of the City who are membersofthe Municipal Fireand Police Civil Service System (Mayor) (Introduced 7/14/2026)

Litigation Approval of therecom‐mendationfromGwynn Shamlin, GeneralCoun‐sel, EBRPSB,inthe mat‐terof: Ariyanna Bell, et al.v.EastBaton Rouge Parish School Board, et al Docket No.743967, Section33, 19thJudicial District Courtfor East BatonRouge Parish and relatedmatters

Movedby: PatrickMartin Seconded by:Nathan Rust

Yea: Mark Bellue Shashonnie Steward, Nathan Rust,Michael Gaudet,Emily Soulé, and PatrickMartin

Motion Carries6-0

8. Litigation Approval of therecom‐mendationfromGwynn Shamlin, GeneralCoun‐sel, EBRPSB,inthe mat‐terof: Ryan andKathyrn Hart on behalf of Minor Child,DocketNo. 20245001-DOE-IDEA andre‐latedmatters

Movedby: PatrickMartin Seconded by:Nathan

Ordinances can beviewed in full at City Hall, 3325 Groom Road, Baker,Louisiana70714, Monday through Thursday from 7:00 a.m. –5:30 p.m.

In accordance with the rules of conduct of the Baker City Council meetings, any person desiring to be heardrelative to any of these ordinances and matters for public hearing may contact the Clerk of theBaker City Council, City of Baker,Louisiana, P. O. Box 707, Baker, Louisiana, 70704-0707, in writing, and an opportunity will be offered to speak during this public hearing.

In accordance with the Americans withDisabilities Act,ifyou need special assistance, please contact Ashley Williams at 225-778-0300, describing the assistance that is necessary Angela Canady Wall, LCMC, Clerk of Council City of Baker,Louisiana cc: Mayor and Council Members Department Heads City Attorney Advocate

194685-669561-July 21-1t

$76.23

LOUISIANA HOUSING CORPORATION

The following resolution was offeredbyBoard Member Hattier and seconded by BoardMember Williams: RESOLUTION

Aresolution authorizingand approving the issuance and parameter sale of not exceeding One HundredTwentyFive Million Dollars ($125,000,000) of LouisianaHousing Corporation Single Family MortgageRevenue Bonds in oneor moretax-exempt or taxable series or subseries; approving the form of aSeries Supplemental Indentureinconnection with the aforesaid Bonds; authorizingand directing Bond Counsel to submit an application to the Louisiana StateBondCommission for approval of aseries nottoexceed Seventy-FiveMillion Dollars ($75,000,000) of Single Family Mortgage Revenue Bonds; approving the form anddirectingthe execution of the Bond Purchase Contract for theparameter Bonds; and providing for other matters in connection therewith

WHEREAS,the Louisiana Housing Corporation (the Corporation”) was created as apublic body corporate and politic and an instrumentality of the State of Louisiana (the State”) pursuant to Act 408 of the 2011 Louisiana Legislature(the HousingReorganization Law”) which enacted the Louisiana Housing Corporation Act, contained in Chapter 3-G of Title 40 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended (R.S.40:600.1 through R.S.40:600.24) (the LHC Act”); and WHEREAS,the Corporation now desirestoauthorizethe issuance and sale of not exceeding One HundredTwenty-Five MillionDollars ($125,000,000) of Louisiana Housing Corporation SingleFamily Mortgage Revenue Bonds in one or moretax-exemptortaxable series or sub-series (the Bonds”) to finance first mortgage loans forhomebuyersthroughout the State or to finance qualified home improvement loans and qualified rehabilitation loans under Section 143(k)(4) and Section 43(k)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”); and WHEREAS,the Bonds aretobedelivered pursuant to the terms of one or moreSeries Supplemental Trust Indentures (a Series Supplemental Indenture”) to the Master General IndentureofTrust dated as of March 1, 2025 (the Master Indenture”, together with all Supplemental Indentures, the “Indenture”) by and between the Corporation and Hancock Whitney Bank (the Trustee”); and

WHEREAS,the Corporation didmeet on June 10, 2026, at 10:30 a.m., Louisiana time, for the purpose of receiving and consideringthe proposal of Stifel, Nicolaus &Company,Incorporated, JPMorgan SecuritiesLLC Raymond James &Associates, Inc., as Underwriters (the“Underwriters”) and taking action with respect to the parameter saleofnot exceeding One Hundred Twenty-Five Million Dollars ($125,000,000) of the Bonds pursuant thereto; and WHEREAS,anapplication must be submitted to the Louisiana State Bond Commission (the SBC Application”) byBond Counsel forapproval of the costs ofissuing aseries of Bonds under the Master Indenturenot exceeding Seventy-Five Million Dollars ($75,000,000); and WHEREAS,the Corporation anticipates that aportionofthe costs associated with the financing of the mortgage loans for first-time homebuyers may be paid from other available moneys priortothe issuance of the Bonds; NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by theBoardofDirectors of the LouisianaHousing Corporation, acting as the governingauthority of the Corporation, that: SECTION 1. Not exceeding One Hundred Twenty-Five MillionDollars

d) Football Fieldtobe named“LloydNorwood Field”

Movedby: CarlaPowell Lewis; Seconded by: DadriusLanus Yea: Mark Bellue,Dadrius Lanus,Carla Powell Lewis, Shashonnie Stew‐ard, CliffLewis,Nathan Rust,Michael Gaudet EmilySoulé,and Patrick Martin Motion Carries9-0

7. Naming of theGlen OaksSeniorHighSchool Facilities Motion to deferthe con‐sideration of arequest to name thefollowing Glen Oaks Senior High School facilities: a) Auditorium to be named“ShirleySingleton Auditorium of Perform‐ingArts” b) FieldHouse to be named“NolanGillField House” to thefullBoard withoutrecommenda‐

tion Movedby: Dadrius Lanus;Secondedby: CarlaPowellLewis Yea: Mark Bellue, Dadrius Lanus,Carla Powell Lewis, Shashonnie Stew‐ard, CliffLewis,Nathan Rust,Michael Gaudet EmilySoulé,and Patrick Martin Motion Carries9-0 8. Litigation Approvalofthe recom‐d i f pp mendation fromGwynn Shamlin, GeneralCoun‐sel, EBRPSB,inthe mat‐terof: Johnathon Alexan‐derv.EastBaton

CRESCENTMIDSTREAM,LLC JEFFERSON P20240966

ST.TAMMANY PARISH GOVERNMENTST. TAMMANYP20260429

PORTOFNEW ORLEANSORLEANSP20260451 MVN-2026-00452-ENP

ENTERGYLOUISIANA, LLC ST.CHARLESP20260453

KENOSISOPERATING COMPANYLLC LAFOURCHE P20260547

LOUISIANAGATEWAY PORTPLAQUEMINES P20260551

LOUISIANAGATEWAY

P20260565

($125,000,000) of Bonds in one or moretax-exempt or taxable series or subseries of the Corporation pursuant to the LHC Act, and other constitutional and statutory authority (collectively,the Authorizing Law”) at interest rates not exceeding ten percent (10%) per annum, and for amaturity not exceeding 40 yearsfromtheir deliverydate arehereby authorized and approved. This resolution is the affirmative official action of the Corporation acting by and through its BoardofDirectors towards the issuance of not exceeding OneHundred Twenty-Five Million Dollars ($125,000,000) of Bonds to finance first mortgage loansand downpayment/ closing cost assistance for homebuyersthroughout the State or to finance qualified home improvementloans and qualified rehabilitation loansunder Section 143(k)(4)and Section 43(k)(5)ofthe Codeinaccordancewith the Constitution and statutes of the State andthe United States Treasury Department Regulations, Section 1.150-2.

SECTION 2. The Bonds shall be secured by the Trust Estate as defined in the Indenture, inclusive of mortgage-backed securities (“MBSs”) that securitize mortgage loans for homebuyersthroughout the State and shall be subject to redemption in accordance with theIndenture.

SECTION 3. In order to complete the sale of the Bonds in accordance with theterms of this resolution, either the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and Executive Director,beand they arehereby authorized and directed to execute and deliver,for and on behalf of the Corporation, the Bond Purchase Contract in substantially the form thereof which is now before this Corporation and filed with the Secretary of this BoardofDirectors. The Bonds will be dated, will be in the denominations and will have all the terms set forth in the Indentureand the BondPurchase Contract The delivery of the Bonds is conditioned upon approval by and compliance with any and all approvals and/or certifications required by the Louisiana State Bond Commission andthe Louisiana Attorney General.

SECTION 4.Application be and the same is hereby made to the State BondCommission for approval of the authorization, sale, and delivery of the Bonds in oneormoreseries or subseries by the Corporation.The notto-exceed costs of issuance attached hereto as Exhibit A for theseries of Bonds in aprincipal amount not to exceed Seventy-Five Million Dollars ($75,000,000) is hereby approved; provided, however,that the Corporation agrees to reportthe costs of issuance of each subsequent series to the Louisiana State Bond Commission prior to delivery thereof for approval of the Louisiana State Bond Commission. By virtue of the Corporation’s application for,acceptance and utilization of the benefits of the Louisiana State BondCommission’s approval resolved and set forth herein, the Corporation resolves that it understands and agrees that such approvals areexpressly conditioned upon, and the Corporation further resolves that it understands, agrees and binds itself, its successors andassigns to, full andcontinuing compliance with the “State Bond Commission Policy on Approval of Proposed Swaps, or other forms or Derivative Products Hedges, Etc.”, adopted by the Commission on July20, 2006, as to borrowings andother matters subject to approvals, including subsequent application and approval undersaid Policy of the implementation or use of any swaps or other products or enhancements covered thereby

SECTION 5. The Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and/or Executive Director of the Corporation arehereby authorized, empowered, and directed to take any and all action required in order to implementthe terms and provisions of this resolution and the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and/or Executive Director arehereby further authorized and empowered, in their sole discretion, in order to expedite the deliveryofthe Bonds, upon recommendations of the Corporation’sFinancial Advisor and Underwriters, to makesuch changes in other terms (i.e., privately placed or negotiated) as will permit the timely delivery of the Bonds, all in thebest interests of the Corporation andthe citizens of the State of Louisiana. The aforesaid officers areadditionally authorized to approve any changes in the aforementioned documents provided such changes areinaccordance with theAuthorizingLaw and areapproved by BondCounsel.

SECTION 6.Itisrecognized that areal necessity exists for the employment of bond counsel in connection with the issuance of the Bonds, and accordingly,Butler Snow LLP is hereby employed as Bond Counsel to the Corporation to do and to perform comprehensive, legal, and coordinate professional work with respect thereto. The fee to be paid

Bond Counsel shall be an amount based on theAttorney General’s current Bond Counsel Fee Schedule and other guidelines forcomprehensive, legal and coordinateprofessional work in theissuance of revenue bonds applied to theactual aggregateprincipalamount issued, sold, delivered and paid foratthe timethe Bonds aredelivered, together with reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred and advanced in connectionwith the issuance of theBonds, subject to theAttorney General’s writtenapproval of said employment and fee.

SECTION 7.Hancock WhitneyBank shallbedesignated as Trustee and Paying Agent with respect to theBonds.

SECTION 8.The Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and/or Executive Director of theCorporationare authorized and directed to callfor a public hearing with respect to theBonds that will finance firstmortgage loans forhomebuyersthroughout theState or to finance qualified home improvement loans and qualified rehabilitationloans under Section 143(k)(4) and Section43(k)(5) of theCode and to cause to be published appropriate noticeofsuch public hearing in accordance with theCode in accordance with therequirementsofSection147(f) of theCode.

SECTION 9.This resolutionisthe affirmativeofficial actionofthe Boardacting by and through its Directorstowards theissuance of the Bonds in accordance with theConstitutionand statutes of theState and theUnited States TreasuryDepartment Regulations, Section1.150-2. Upon issuance of theBonds, expenditures from theIssuer’s general fund will be reimbursed from aportionofthe proceeds of theBonds during the reimbursement period as described in United States TreasuryDepartment Regulations, Section1.150-2(d)(2).

SECTION 10. The contentsofthe Official Statement with respect to theBonds, copies of theformofwhich have been placed on file with the Corporation, arehereby approved substantially in such form SECTION 11.The Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and Executive Director of theCorporationshall cause to be executed forand on behalf of theCorporationthe aforementioned Bonds in accordance with the Indentureand shalleffect thedeliverythereof to theUnderwritersin accordance with theBond Purchase Contract.The Secretaryofthe Corporationshall receive from theUnderwritersfor theaccount of the Corporationthe purchase price of theBonds and shall deposit thesame with theTrusteeunder theIndentureinaccordance with theprovisions thereof SECTION 12. This resolutionshall take effect immediately. This resolutionhaving been submittedtoavote; thevotethereon was as follows: YEAS: Tonya P. Mabry,Barndon O. Williams, Candace PapillionHaynes, Sarah E. Collier,Chance Miller, Lance Ned, Willie Rack, Steven J. Hattier

NAYS: None

ABSTAIN: None

ABSENT:Chairman Wendy Gentry,Alfred E. Harrell, III, Richard Winder, Treasurer John Fleming (Renee Fontenot Free, as designee) And theresolutionwas declared adopted on this,the 10thday of June 2026.

/s/Wendy Gentry /s/PatrickVoelker Chairperson Secretary

EXHIBIT ATOTHIS RESOLUTION HAVE NOTBEEN PUBLISHED. SAID EXHIBIT AISAVAILABLE FORPUBLIC INSPECTIONATTHE OFFICES OF THE LOUISIANA HOUSING CORPORATION, 2415 QUAIL DRIVE, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, MONDAYS THROUGH FRIDAYS DURING NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS.

194559-668910-July 21-1t $332.24