Gov. Jeff Landrybegins tospeak as AttorneyGeneral Liz Murrill gives astatement about the felonychargespressed against her fromanOrleans Parish grand juryduring anewsconference in Baton RougeonWednesday
BY JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer
Less than three weeksafter an Orleans Parish grand jury handed upfelony charges against Attorney General Liz Murrill,special prosecutor LaurieWhite dismissed the indictment Wednesday morning under pressure from thesame elected New Orleans leaderswho were Murrill’spurported victims.
Thedecision to dismissthe 16-count indictment drew approvalfrom Murrill andGov.Jeff Landry,but little sign that it had ended araging political drama. At an afternoon newsconference, Landry and Murrillbacked state and federal investigations intothe originsofthe grand jury probe.
Landry said he supported arequest by U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins for an FBI investigation, on top of aLouisianaState Police probethe governororderedshortly after
Murrill’sJuly 2indictment on countsof public intimidation and malfeasance in office.
Landry went further on Wednesday, calling for Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williamsto“have his law license rippedfromhim” forurging the NewOrleans City Council to backan election for acitywide court clerk and appoint an interim
Thecouncil’s move promptedMurrill in May to warn MayorHelenaMoreno, Williams and five CityCouncil members in letters thatthey were violating the law and risking their elected posts. The grand jurydecided those letters amounted to crimes.
Murrill blamed Williams —“He’s not a victim. He started all of this.” —and cast theirrelationship as deeply damaged by theindictment. Their two offices have collaborated in apartnership that Williams called “a hallmarkofmyadminis-
tration” in his letter to White on Tuesday Murrill said Williamsknew better as she accused city leaders of weaponizing thegrand jury “It’snot over,” she said. “That dismissal of that indictment today was not an effort to simply get us all back together to be friends again. First of all, you can’t be friends with somebody whowants to putyou in jail for 80 years. So, you know, friendship is not really on the table.”
Williams did notimmediatelyrespond to arequest for comment Wednesday
The dismissal came amid mounting repercussions to NewOrleans from Landry andstate political leaders.
Landry vetoed more than $33 million in state funding lawmakers intended to send to New Orleans,and Moreno withdrew arequestfor State BondCommission approval of a$110 million bond sale,
ä See MURRILL, page 7A
utility on causeofJuly11 flooding
BYJONI HESS Staff
New Orleans City Council members on Wednesday threw Sewerage & Water Boardleadersonthe defensive, days after the council’spresident questioned whether the agency needsa top executive and as officials continue to investigate the cause of recent pumpfailures. In atense exchange that hasbecomethe norm in recent months, members of thecouncil’sUtility Committee questionedwhether the
BY LARA NICHOLSON Staff writer
Thanks to aworkaround, Jefferson Parish officials will be able to borrow money to make importantinfrastructure upgrades, ayear after the parish lost its bond rating forfailing to turn in timely audits. The Jefferson Parish Council approved theprivate saleofa$20 millionbondtothe Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, money that will fund upgrades to the parish’saging sewer system. The deal allows the parish to tap into a
New rules to crack down on Mardi Gras misbehavior are being proposed at the New Orleans City Council, with $1,000 criminal fines pitched for violating some of them.
Calling himself the “Mardi Gras Grinch,” council member JP Morrell proposed alaundry list of changes —fromnew start timesand routes to stricter parking rules —at Wednesday’sGovernmental Affairs Committee meeting. On Thursday, those changesgotothe full City Council for approval, ahead of the next Mayor’sMardi Gras Advisory
Council meeting thatevening. The city’sofficial Mardi Gras ordinance already bans portable toilets and tents along parade routes, andchairs morethan four hours before parade times
Butnew rules—recommended by theMayor’s Mardi Gras Advisory subcommittee andthe New Orleans Police Department, in partnership withkrewes —take aim at making Carnival parades safer andswifter,with less congestion.
The proposalsinclude moving start times for five parades and changing starting locations for two parades, with the goal of avoiding police overtime andhaving different routes on the samenight.
“Wehave to make some changes to simplify forpublic safety, as wellasmaking sure we’re not doubling back after 1or2o’clock in the morning with paradesstill being on the street,” saidNOPD’s traffic commander and special
events coordinator Anthony “Buddy” Micheu, whom Morrell called the “other Grinch of Mardi Gras.” “Wedohave an accountability to our citizens to let the streets be reopened sooner ratherthanlater,” Micheu said.
On the Wednesday before Mardi Gras, which is Feb.9,the Krewe of Druids would start at 5 p.m., compared to 6:15 p.m
ä See MARDI GRAS, page 4A
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Hayman
BRIEFS FROM
Adolf Hitler’s birthplace becomes police station
BRAUNAU AM INN, Austria Adolf Hitler’s birthplace in Austria was officially inaugurated as a police station on Wednesday in an effort to destroy the building’s appeal as a site of pilgrimage for people who glorify the Nazi dictator A memorial stone is to remain in place outside the house in Braunau am Inn near the German border with the inscription, “For freedom, democracy and liberty Never again fascism. Millions of dead remind us.” Hitler was born in the building on April 20 1889 His family moved to another residence in Braunau am Inn after only a few months, before settling temporarily in Passau in southern Germany
Fueled by racial fanaticism, Hitler’s Nazi regime killed approximately 6 million Jews and other minorities and groups during the Holocaust. The dictator unleashed World War II in which at least 60 million people died. He committed suicide in April 1945, shortly before the end of the war
Protections for right
whales likely delayed
SCARBOROUGH, Maine New protections for endangered right whales in the North Atlantic would be postponed for nearly a decade under a plan that cleared a key hurdle in Washington last week with the full-throated support of the fishing and lobster industries.
Environmentalists say this could spell the end for the vanishing whales, which can drown after getting tangled up in fishing gear or being struck by boats. There are only about 380 North Atlantic right whales left The federal government has already paused any new right whale rules until 2028, and the House Natural Resources Committee voted on July 15 to extend that moratorium to 2035 A vote by the Republican-controlled Congress could happen as soon as this summer and is almost certain to pass President Donald Trump’s administration has thrown its support behind U.S. Rep Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine, in his efforts to further delay new regulations aimed at protecting right whales. Golden introduced the bill along with Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York.
Much of the pushback against further regulations has come from the lobster and crab industries in New England states like Maine and Massachusetts Those fishing industries say they already follow some of the most comprehensive conservation measures in the world, and have made a case that adding more rules might drive them out of business.
Louvre reopens Apollo Gallery after brazen heist PARIS The Louvre’s Apollo gallery on Wednesday reopened to the public for the first time since $102 million worth of crown jewels were stolen in a dramatic daytime heist.
The public can tour the majestic room and view its gilded ceilings and Greek frescoes en route to the nearby Mona Lisa, but they won’t see any crown jewels or empty display cases. The collections and precious jewels once displayed there have been removed, as the museum said the gallery is returning to its 17th-century original ceremonial purpose.
The stolen jewels remain unrecovered nine months later
The gallery’s former exhibits will be relocated elsewhere in the museum, said Christophe Leribault, the Louvre’s director “It’s also an opportunity to rediscover the splendid architecture and decor of this gallery,” he said.
Leribault was named to lead the Louvre in February after previous director Laurence des Cars resigned after the October crown jewels heist and a string of failures that battered confidence in the leadership of the world’s most-visited museum.
“That sinister day, when iconic pieces were taken, cannot be forgotten, and indeed, I believe, should not be,” said French Culture Minister Catherine Pegard.
Trump pays respects to service members
4 killed in Middle East returned to America
BY MATT ROURKE, JULIA DEMAREENIKHINSON and COLLIN BINKLEY Associated Press
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del President Donald Trump on Wednesday honored the lives of four U.S. service members who were killed in the Middle East and returned to their families at an air force base in Delaware. The president saluted as four transfer cases carrying the service members’ remains were escorted off an airplane during the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base. The ritual is one of the most somber duties of a commander in chief. It was the third that Trump has attended since he launched the war in Iran in February
Speaking at an event in Georgia hours later, Trump described the ritual as “the toughest thing I do.”
“I’ve been there many times before,” he said of Dover “This was, in particular, something very sad.”
Earlier in the day, Trump said his message to families was simple:
“We love you. We love your child,” Trump told reporters.
Trump was accompanied at the
dignified transfer by administration officials including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Also present were Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.
During the ritual, transfer cases draped with the American flag and holding the remains of the fallen soldiers are carried from the military aircraft that transported them to awaiting vehicles to take them to the mortuary facility at the base. There, the service members are prepared for their final resting place.
Two U.S. Army soldiers killed in Iranian missile and drone attacks in Jordan were returned during the dignified transfer The remains of a third service member who is believed to be the soldier missing after the Jordan attacks were also returned, as well as the remains of a soldier killed in Iraq during a detonation of an Iranian drone.
The soldiers killed in Jordan were identified by the Defense Department as Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii; and Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carroll-
ton, Texas. The soldier who disappeared after the Jordan attacks is Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, New York, the Defense Department said. The soldier killed in Iraq was identified as Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, who lived in Spring Lake, North Carolina.
Trump said Feehan’s family accepted an invitation to join him on Air Force One on Wednesday as he traveled to an event in Georgia, where the family lives. Speaking at the event in Marietta, Trump described Feehan as a “flawless” person who was “going all the way — he was going to be a general.”
“We will carry Tyler’s memory in our hearts forever, and I just want to thank you,” he told Feehan’s parents during his remarks. “It’s an honor to have you here today.” Trump previously said the soldiers died while protecting America and other nations from Iran.
“We feel very badly, but you know, those great people, those great patriots were out there fighting so that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters on Sunday
Guard deploys as W.Va. floods inundate homes, businesses
BY JOHN RABY Associated Press
CHARLESTON, W.Va Torrential rains caused flash floods in West Virginia that inundated homes and businesses, washed out bridges and led to numerous water rescues, authorities said. The governor said there were no reports of deaths or missing people as of Wednesday
Gov Patrick Morrisey sent 100 National Guard members to the hardest-hit areas in the northern part of the state, and declared a state of emergency for all 55 counties Tuesday night. An additional 200 National Guard members were deployed Wednesday
“State and local agencies will remain on the ground for as long as it takes to help affected communities,” Morrisey said in a statement.
The state Division of Natural Resources has been involved in 85 rescues, he said, and 19 National Guard and state police helicopters were either out on rescue missions or standing by if needed. Local officials also reported numerous rescues.
Bob Pfister said the power remained on at the hotel where he was staying in Weston, even though the first floor was inundated with coffee-brown water
Most people had planned to stay put until Wednesday morning.
“Right now this option is much better than a shelter and a life boat,” Pfister posted on Facebook. “If the power goes out that may change a whole lot!”
Forecasters said up to 7 inches of rain fell in some places.
The National Weather Service in Charleston warned of life-threatening flooding conditions in some communities Tuesday night telling people to “SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!”
Video and photos on social media showed submerged vehicles in parking lots, including at a Walmart in Weston where muddy water surged far into the store.
Emergency crews reported dozens of rescues of people stuck in submerged vehicles.
However, some rescuers were unable to get to locations where floodwaters had cut off access.
Officials in some communities were still waiting for floodwaters to recede Wednesday before figuring out where the public can drop off donated supplies.
“Right now, that’s our problem,” Mayor Robbie Skinner of Buckhannon said on social media. “Our city is spliced up in such a way by the flood waters that there’s simply not a centralized place for everyone to access at this time.”
The heavy rains were part of wideranging storms which also produced reports of tornadoes — stretching from the Cincinnati area across New Jersey to the New York City suburbs Damage from a possible tornado was reported in the area of St. Marys and Belmont in West Virginia.
Trial date set in U.S. Maduro drug case
BY MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press
NEW YORK Former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife will go on trial on drug trafficking charges next June, a judge said Wednesday as their lawyers continue to object to the U.S. military action that snatched them from power Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein set the June 1 trial date at the request of lawyers on both sides. Under the approved schedule, defense lawyers will begin filing requests in early September to challenge the indictment and the couple will return to the courtroom Nov. 17 for oral arguments on the motions. Maduro, 63, and his wife, Cilia Flores, 69, have been held at a Brooklyn jail since U.S. forces seized them from their Caracas home in a middle-of-the-night raid and brought them to New York in early January Neither spoke during Wednesday’s 15-minute hearing as each sat separately at a defense table, surrounded by their lawyers. Both have pleaded not guilty They face potential life prison sentences if a jury agrees that they were part of a conspiracy to send cocaine into the U.S. As he was led into the courtroom, the bespectacled Maduro greeted the judge’s staff and shook hands with lawyers for him and his wife. Noticeably thinner in a tan jail suit and with his thick mustache he seemed upbeat, smiling and chatting with his lawyer He listened to a Spanish interpretation of the proceeding through headphones and clasped his hands in front of him in a prayerlike gesture. He had a black pen wedged in his right fingers and sporadically jotted notes on a white pad. As deputy U.S. marshals led him out, he waved to someone in the gallery President Donald Trump’s administration has defended the raid to capture Maduro as a “surgical law enforcement operation” in a criminal case first brought six years ago Maduro has called himself a prisoner of war and his capture a kidnapping.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATT ROURKE
President Donald Trump salutes Wednesday as a U.S. Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, of Carrollton, Texas, at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
Berthamakeslandfall in St.Bernard
Statemostly spared as heaviest rainsstayoffshore
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
Tropical Storm Bertha came ashore Wednesday in St. Bernard Parishafter weakening substantially,but Gov. Jeff Landry warned residents in the southeastern part of the state to stay alert as the system and its remnants passed through.
“Wehave taken the storm seriously from the beginning,” Landry said during anews conference at the Governor’sOffice of Homeland Securityand Emergency Preparedness in Baton Rouge.
But“thelatest forecast is extremely encouraging. Iwant to thank everyone out there who prayedreal
R-Benton,leavesthe
of the House
series of measures, including acontinuing
andaspending packagefor
RepublicansinHouse adopt$95Bbudgetplan
Housepushes throughproposal to fund Iran war andother White Housepriorities
BY LISA MASCARO
AP congressional correspondent
WASHINGTON The House adopted aRepublican-only $95 billion budget proposal Wednesday,along-shot effort to fund the Iran war and other White House priorities over objections from Democrats and afew GOP holdouts in a final push before the midterm elections. House Republicans were divided over the plan, with conservatives warybecause there are no offsetting budget cuts. But Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, plunged ahead, viewingthe go-italone process as the best chance to usher President Donald Trump’spriorities through the split Congress, despite skepticism in the Senate.
The vote tally was 216214, with two Republicans and one independent joining Democrats in opposition.
“Just bullets and bombs to finishthe job,” said Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, the chairman of the Budget Committee. Democrats argued the money shouldbespent at home,particularly on efforts to lowercosts forAmericans.
“Republicans plan to spend tens of billions of dollars on Trump’sfailed war in Iran,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar,of California, chairman of the House Democratic caucus, this week. “Think about what we couldspend withthese resources instead.”
Congress is at astandstill over theU.S. war against Iran —unable to stop Trump’smilitary strikes, but nothaving authorizedthe use of American military force— and politically torn over having to providebillions of taxpayer dollars to pay forit. Most Americans disapprove of Trump’sIran strategy,according to arecent AP-NORC poll.
The budgetbattlecomes as Trump attended the dignified transfer of four service members killedinthe MiddleEast, bringing themilitary death toll to 18. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senatorsatafiery hearing this week thatthe Pentagon is running short of cash,despiteamassive $150 billion one-timeallotment in last year’sbig budget bill. Evenasthe House action advanced the resolution, Johnson’sstrategyfaces uncertainty in the Senate.
Thepackage has $60 billion for the Pentagon and $13 billionfor other national security needs, $12 billionfor farmers struggling under Trump’stariffs and $10billionfor voting law changes aligned with the SAVE America Actand proof-of-citizenship requirementsthatare Trump’s top priority
Republicansare relying on the budget reconciliation process, whichenables approval on amajority vote in Congress, bypassing the Senate’sabilityto filibuster the measure to stall or kill it.
some other storms have in the past.”
Berthamade landfall around 2p.m., according to state meteorologist Jay Grymes, who echoed Landry’s adviceduring the news conference.
The storm came ashore with sustained winds of 45 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center,making it the firstdirect hit of Louisiana’s2026 Atlantic hurricane season
“There’sadecent chance that Bertha is going to collapse in the next 48 to 60 hours,” he said. “But don’tcount on that.”
The tropical stormweakened Tuesday night,but coastal parishesinsoutheastLouisiana still braced for rainfall and wind gusts as Berthaapproached. The heaviest rains stayedoffshore.
TheNational Weather Service
issued atropical storm warning for New Orleans. It also issueda coastal flood advisory forSt. Johnthe Baptist, Orleans, St. Tammany,Tangipahoa, Jefferson, Lafourche, Terrebonne andSt. Charlesparishes. Theadvisory wasexpected to expire at 4a.m.Thursday. And the agency warned of the possibilityofscattered power outages, downed tree limbs and limitedproperty damage. Bertha is expected to maintain tropical storm intensity until it reaches the Texas coast on Thursday,the National Hurricane Centersaid.
Staff writer Kasey Bubnash contributed to this story Email Meghan Friedmann at meghan.friedmann@ theadvocate.com.
Trump’sFEMAnominee passes Senate committee
BY MARKBALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON As tropical storm winds andwaters lashedLouisiana’scoaston Wednesday, aSenate committee tooka step to install the first permanent head of the Federal Emergency ManagementAgencysincePresident Donald Trump took office again in January 2025. Cameron Hamilton, who was fired lastyear after temporarily leading FEMA, was approved on an 8-4 vote by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. His nomination now goes to thefull Senatefor aconfirmation vote. The Senate leaves next week for its annual August break.
“Cameron Hamiltonisanexcellent choice by President Trumptoserve as FEMA director and will do agreat job. Ihave supported his selectionsince the president first tapped him earlier this year,” said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the committee chair Tropical StormBertha came ashore about 2p.m. Wednesday near the Biloxi Wildlife ManagementArea in St. Bernard Parish.Louisiana has been hit with 106 weather events causing losses of more than $1 billion each between 1980 to 2024, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. FEMAprovides nationally,onaverage, $12 billion ayeartohelpcommunities collectdebrisand repair homes, businesses and infrastructureafter severe disaster events, such as hurricanes, tornadoes,earthquakes, wildfiresand heavy rains.
Bigturnover
are anxious for the agency to settle down.
Hamilton was let go in May 2025 after telling Congress that he believed the disaster response agency needed to continuetoexist with significant changes at the time,Trump andhis top aides werewidely saying that FEMA should be shut down.
The agency,whichsends funds to state andlocal governments as well as individual survivors of disasters like hurricanes, had four temporary leaders, and pushed out thousands of staffers, causing thousands more to quit —about 20% of itsstafflevelsfrom two years ago.
After Trump’s first Department of Homeland Security Secretary,Kristi Noem, was fired March 24, aspecial presidential task forceresearching FEMA’s future recommendeddetailedchanges in operationsand law. The goal is to makethe agency moreeffective while lowering its costs, as wellasshiftingmoreresponsibilities from the federal governmenttothe states. Many of the suggestions will needtobeapprovedby Congress.
What Hamilton said
“Wemust return to our roots, where disaster response is locally executed, state ledand federally supported. Building state and local capacity is acritical step toward empowering jurisdictions to lead and manage,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton didn’thave experience managing natural disasters before assuming the FEMA job on atemporary basis. He has handled emergencies alongthe U.S. border with Mexico.
urbs between Washington and Richmond. He had been astrategist for adefense contractor
Hamilton cametoprominenceoverhis criticism of FEMA and then-President Joe Biden after Hurricane Helene hit the southeastern U.S. in September 2024. As with manyissues, GOP senators on the committee blamed Biden throughout Hamilton’shearing.
Republican senators focused on reports that FEMA agents during the Biden administration skipped houses with “Trump for President” signs. Democratic panelistscountered with reports showingTrump’s FEMA approved89% of applications foraid from GOP-run states and only 23% from Democratic-run states.
“I don’tbelieve the president would do that, but Iwill tellyou that my oath of office requires that Ifollow and obey the law,” Hamilton replied. His focuswill be on being consistent and transparent on howthe agency apprises requests and calculates how muchtoexpend in federal dollars.
“My goal would be to make that process as clear and objective as possible,” he said. Hamiltonsaid he believes that existing rules and procedures sometimes “incentivizes” state and local officials to request moremoney than is necessary Decisions about how much financial helpa state receives are ultimately made by thepresident, whomust follow thelaw to acertain extent, he said.
Twomonthsinto hurricaneseason,and with an extreme El Niñoimpacting America’sweather patterns, storm-prone communities
Aformer U.S. Navy SEAL, Hamiltonunsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2024 from the districtcomposed of the outer Virginia sub-
“My job will be to represent to him (Trump) all the objective facts; to ensure as we liquidate and expend dollars in accordance with his decisionthatwedosowith reasonableness; and that we’re wise with those dollars,” Hamilton said.
Email Mark Ballardat mballard@theadvocate. com.
Hamilton
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE
Speaker
MikeJohnson,
chamber Tuesday as members debatea
resolution to fund the government
the Iran war,atthe Capitol in Washington.
On the Friday before Mardi Gras, the start time would remain the same, but the order of parades would shift. The Krewe d’Etat would start, followed by the Krewe of Hermes and the Krewe of Morpheus. In 2026, Hermes started, followed by d’Etat and Morpheus. On the Saturday before Mardi Gras, Tucks would start 30 minutes later, at 1 p.m., instead of 12:30 p.m.
On Feb. 5, the Friday before Mardi Gras, Krewe d’Etat would start at Magazine Street and Napoleon Avenue, instead of Jefferson Avenue and Magazine, which would put it starting farther down the traditional St. Charles Avenue route.
The Knights of Sparta, scheduled on Jan. 30, would start at Tchoupitoulas Street and Napoleon, instead of Jefferson and Magazine. That would align it with the Krewe of Pygmalion route that follows, which changed last season to start at Napoleon and Magazine and end at the convention center
Sparta captain Kenneth Beck pushed back on the change at the meeting because it would eliminate many members’ favorite portion of their route, which runs down Magazine until it turns on Napoleon up to St. Charles.
“To simply cut us short doesn’t seem equitable,” he said.
New parking rules
Other changes proposed by the NOPD are aimed at streamlining parking issues around parade formation areas, where hundreds
BOND
Continued from page 1A
state loan program, meaning no bond rating is required.
The parish will use those funds to replace a new lift station in Marrero, to replace pumps at the East Bank Wastewater Treatment Plant and to conduct $13 million in upgrades to West Bank sewer pipes and manholes
The parish will hold a public hearing in September on the bond, after which point the Louisiana Bond Commission can approve the issuance. Once the funds are doled out, the parish will have 22 years to repay the state department at 0.95% interest using revenues from sewer fees.
The sewer system improvements are part of a larger $2.3 billion initiative spearheaded by Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng to upgrade the parish’s water and sewerage systems using annual water bill fee increases over the next two decades.
While the $20 million bond is more akin to a typical loan, it’ll still be the first bond the parish has sold since credit agencies withdrew its bond rating last July after failing to file its audits on time since 2023.
Having no bond rating is like losing a credit score entirely Municipal governments without one find it much more difficult to find investors willing to purchase bonds at reasonable interest rates — if at all
Lee Sheng said the audits were delayed because the parish couldn’t keep up with the paperwork that came with the influx of over half a billion dollars in emergency grants and disaster funds they’ve received in recent years.
She also said the parish didn’t need to sell bonds for the foreseeable future, making the withdrawal less pressing for taxpayers
to $1,000 and would be considered a criminal misdemeanor offense
Second offenses could cost violators $2,000.
“Verbal warnings weren’t doing it,” Morrell said. “People would kind of laugh it off and go back to what they’re doing.”
Unpaid civil fines are more easily ignored than criminal, he said, and a visitor with an unpaid fine could theoretically get pulled over in another state, taken to jail and extradited to New Orleans if a judge issues a bench warrant.
“The only way you’re gonna change behavior is if the message gets out that New Orleans is really cracking down on this,” council member Jason Hughes said.
Float safety
of parade participants gather and cause issues for nearby residents, sometimes blocking in driveways and damaging vehicles Previously, traffic and parking were restricted in those areas for two hours before a parade. It would change to four hours.
Morrell also warned that the City of New Orleans has more tow trucks and drivers than ever before. The areas where parking bans will be enforced for four hours before a parade include:
n Tchoupitoulas Street from Louisiana Avenue to Jefferson Avenue
n Jefferson from Magazine Street to Tchoupitoulas
n Napoleon from Magazine Street to Tchoupitoulas
n Marconi Drive and Orleans Avenue from Florida Boulevard to South Carrollton Avenue (Endymion)
n Holiday Drive from Fiesta
Since then, the parish has been under a massive, multimilliondollar overhaul of its financial systems under the guidance of consultant Deloitte, which Lee Sheng has called the “largest internal project” the parish has ever done.
“We didn’t just want to catch up on the audit and get our bond rating restored,” Lee Sheng said.
“We really wanted to put the parish in a position in the future to be able to handle a large influx of funds again, and just make ourselves overall more efficient for monthly closeouts and prep for yearly audits.”
The parish created a new Office of Central Grants Administration and Office of Comptroller earlier this year to oversee financial reporting and audits, and on Wednesday, the council agreed to rename the Department of Budgeting to the Department of Fiscal Planning and Treasury, now headed by director Madison Martin.
Under the new name, Lee Sheng said the department would broaden its scope to conduct more long-term financial projections and strategy
The parish has also spent recent months transitioning to a modern financial management software for handling tasks like payroll, after its previous system that had been in place since 1995 became outdated.
Lee Sheng said the parish has filed its audits for 2023 and 2024, and expects to file its 2025 audit, which is due this summer, by October The parish is also working with credit agencies and financial advisers to restore the parish’s bond rating by the end of the year
Lara Nicholson writes about Jefferson Parish for The Advocate | Times-Picayune. Email her at lnicholson@ theadvocate.com
Street to MacArthur Boulevard (NOMTOC)
n Napoleon Avenue from South Saratoga Street to South Claiborne Avenue (Iris)
n South Claiborne Avenue from Jackson Avenue to Earhart Boulevard (Zulu)
n Claiborne from Napoleon to Third Street (Rex)
n Claiborne from Napoleon to South Carrollton (Elks/Crescent City).
Krewe of Chad crackdown
“The Krewe of Chad continues to be an issue,” said Julia Zuckerman, Morrell’s legislative director, in the presentation of changes to the committee. “Enforcement is also a continued concern.”
Owners of illicit toilets, ladders, tents and grills and can already be charged a $250 civil fine for a first offense. In 2027, the cost could rise
S&WB
Continued from page 1A
July 11 flooding that swamped parts of the city resulted solely from a staff error as S&WB has said, or whether it was due to poor management, lack of adequate training and a failure to tackle a litany of 311 complaints.
“When you factor in power being tripped, you factor in human error with pumps not coming on, a system that already is operating at a deficiency ceases to really operate at all,” said Council President JP Morrell, who accused the utility of repeatedly giving lackluster answers to its chronic problems instead of finding solutions.
The tough line of questioning came after Morrell and council member Aimee McCarron said at a town-hall-style meeting on Monday that they will explore whether the agency needs an executive director, in comments first reported by Gambit. Randy Hayman has been in that role for a year this month.
Morrell said that the council will ask a third party to help them decide whether to ax the job and that he thought Hayman’s $427,000 salary was “a waste of money.” On Wednesday, McCarron confirmed the council is considering that idea but it hadn’t been broadly discussed, and that any new appointment would have to go through the agency’s board, and then to the council for final approval.
Those comments prompted Hayman, a former Philadelphia Water Department executive, to defend his 26-year track record on Wednesday
“What I have seen is there is a need for an executive director that overlooks the entirety of the organization,” he said in an interview after the meeting.
The idea comes as the council is set to assume more control
New Orleans may join Jefferson Parish in requiring float riders to wear harnesses, not just that every float is equipped with them.
“Currently, the code only requires harnesses for children,” Zuckerman said. “We’re updating this to mandate all float riders have harnesses.”
Riders also would be prohibited from throws weighing more than 3.5 pounds.
“There’s been an explosion of inappropriate and dangerous throws over the past few years,” Zuckerman said. During the 2026 season, multiple controversies surrounded parade throws, and a 4-year-old was injured when a bottle of alcohol was thrown from the top of a float.
Float riders may continue to imbibe responsibly on the route, but they might be prohibited from sharing alcohol of any type with paradegoers. Smoking of any sort, even electronic vaping, would be
over the utility on Aug. 1, under a structure state lawmakers approved at the council’s and Mayor Helena Moreno’s request. Moreno has framed this oversight as the solution to the utility’s problems, which stem in large part from aging infrastructure and lack of funding.
Flooding event
The flooding event came nearly a month after the agency’s new $300 million power complex failed its first major test during Tropical Storm Arthur last month, prompting concerns around the city’s pumping and drainage reliability during the height of hurricane season.
The July 11 thunderstorms dropped over 3.5 inches of rain in the Carrollton, Hollygrove and Uptown areas within an hour and streets across Mid-City Lakeview City Park, Hollygrove and Uptown flooded. Water levels rose 6 feet in 20 minutes at the Canal Boulevard station where officials said an S&WB employee made an error that caused all three pumps at the station to go offline for an hour
The incident is still under investigation, Hayman told council members, and the employee has not been reprimanded.
“With the amount of rain we had, the fact that we had intensities between 6.5-7.5 inches There was going to be some flooding there,” he said. The S&WB’s drainage system is equipped to handle an inch of rain in the first hour and a 0.5 inch of rain every hour after that.
“As far as the drainage, we don’t have enough to do all of the lines. Funding is an issue, and receiving that funding timely is an issue.”
Training for staff
McCarron asked about S&WB’s staff training standards and career pipeline, and whether officials are building a skilled, adequately staffed workforce. S&WB General Superintendent Kaitlin Tymrak
prohibited on floats, with violators subject to removal. Glass bottles would also be forbidden.
“Krewe captains are concerned about rider safety,” Zuckerman said. Riders are climbing up on the floats, standing on uneven surfaces and taking other risks when throwing items. For the safety of the riders, both feet must remain on the float at all times.
Bands march on
In an effort to avoid large gaps between parade units, marching bands may be prohibited from stopping for stationary performances along the route.
That doesn’t mean bands can’t ever stop to play if the floats in front of them are stopped, Morrell said Wednesday, just that they can’t stop if the parade is still moving ahead of them.
“Large gaps in parades present serious public safety concerns,” Zuckerman said. “It is vital that parades maintain momentum, and floats and elements follow closer behind each other.”
Branded throws
Finally, the New Orleans city ordinance has long banned commercialization of throws, although products such as Moon Pies, Chee Wees and, most recently, Hubig’s Pies have sometimes been tossed. The amended ordinance would now codify that “krewes may approve the throwing of certain branded items such as prepackaged snacks and other food products and branded small personal items.”
Email Doug MacCash at dmaccash@theadvocate.com.
said that operators, such as the one responsible for the pump error, often work in challenging conditions, and that after the incident, they were retrained.
At the unmanned Pritchard Station in Hollygrove, Tymrak said the agency’s leaders weren’t aware that a power failure knocked one of two automatic pumps offline until flooding had already taken place.
“There was not an indication of that, so this highlights the need that we need to plan,” said Tymrak, adding that the agency is exploring adding staff and setting up an alert system.
Council members also criticized the agency’s slow pace to clear the city’s thousands of catch basins, which are supposed to drain streets after floods. From January to present, the S&WB has cleaned over 3.4 million pounds of debris from 2,500 catch basins. Over the same time frame last year, it had cleared 4,300 catch basins, according to data.
The council is set to assume more authority over the agency in August under Act 938, legislation that has been viewed as the first step in moving the standalone utility under City Hall. The council could adopt changes like giving the mayor appointing power over the agency’s 11-member board, or requiring council access to S&WB data and information around its infrastructure.
“Right now the information you’re presenting, we just don’t have the power to do anything with it,” said council member Jason Hughes. “And so my time is better spent focusing on what’s going to take place within the next nine days when this council will actually have the power to do something about these things. We’ll be putting our words into action, so stay tuned.”
Email Joni Hess at joni.hess@ theadvocate.com.
BRIEFS
FROM WIRE REPORTS
EU puts some limits on Paramount-WB merger
NEW YORK The European UnionapprovedParamount’s $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discoverythis week, effectivelyclearinganother regulatory hurdle for amegamerger that could vastly reshape the entertainment and media landscape worldwide. But the greenlight comes with certain conditions.
The European Commission —which servesasthe EU’s antitrust enforcer —saidthat evenwithaParamount-Warner combo, enough competitors would exist across markets like film production and streaming in its 27-nation bloc.Still, when it comes to distributing movies to theaters, theCommission warned of high concentration that could lead to “worse rental and distribution terms for cinema operators, ultimately disadvantaging consumers.”
To address this, the Commission said Skydance-owned Paramount agreed to end its European Economic Area stake in United International Pictures —a longstanding venture with another major studio, Universal, that Paramount has usedto distribute films in theaters outside North America. The company must end that partnership within 13 months of closing its Warner acquisition, the Commission said, and not enter any new agreements with Universal for thenext 10 years
Among other terms, current distribution of Warnerfilms must be shifted to the same pipeline Paramount is using in these European countries.
Oil rises another 3% while Wall Street drifts
NEW YORK U.S. stockindexes barely budged on Wednesday after oil prices climbedanother 3% as fightingcontinues in thewar withIran. PhilipMorris International rallied3.3% after the seller of Marlboro cigarettes reported stronger profitand revenue for the latest quarter than expected. Itsshipments of smoke-free products rose 7.5%
AT&T climbed 3.5% after reporting astronger profit than analysts expected. CEO John Stankey also said the telecom is accelerating plans to send roughly $10 billion to its shareholders this year through the buybacks of its stock.
Super Micro Computer soared 19.8% after the seller of AI servers said it expects to report stronger profitmarginsfor the latest quarter than it had earlier forecast.It, though,also said that revenue will likely come in at the lowend of itsforecastedrange of $11 billion to $12.5 billion.
On the losing side of themarket was GE Vernova, which fell 8.7% after reporting aweaker profitfor the latest quarter than analysts expected.
Rising oil prices are threatening areacceleration of inflation
AAA said Wednesday that the average price for agallonof regulargas in the U.S. jumped again overnight to $4.06.That’s still below highs of around $4.56 per gallon in May,but it had been below $3 before the United Statesand Israel attackedIran in late February
Google quarterly report beats expectations
Google parent company Alphabet Inc. posted strongerthan-expected results for its second quarter,asign that it’s massive artificial intelligence spending spree is paying off so far and advertising revenue is coming in strong.
TheMountain View,Californiabased company said Wednesday it earned $112.11 billion, or $9.11 per share, in the April-June period. That’supfrom $28.2 billion or $2.31 per share, in thesame perioda year earlier.Revenue grew 24% to $119.8 billion from $96.43 billion.
OpenAI modelhacks into company
ChatGPTmaker says system brokeout of testing environment
BY MATT O’BRIEN AP technologywriter
ChatGPT makerOpenAI says it is still investigating the “unprecedented cyber incident” that led its artificial intelligence systems to break out of atesting environment andhackintoanother AI company.
OpenAI said Tuesdaytwo of its most capableAImodelswereresponsiblefor thecyberattack targeting AI startup Hugging Face. Theincident is stirring debates over theneed forguardrails and the extent to which AI agents are
capable of acting on their own.
Hugging Face saidlast week that it had detected an intrusion into its data processing systems thatitsuspected was caused by an AI agent acting on its own. But the NewYork-based startup said it wasn’t until this week that it learned OpenAI was responsible, and it worked with the larger company to contain what Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue called “anattack unlike anything we’ve seen before.”
SanFrancisco-based OpenAI said itsAIused stolen credentials anddiscovered apreviously unknown vulnerabilitytoaccess Hugging Face’sservers. It was working with reducedguardrails because it was supposedtobein an isolated testing environment
known as asandbox.
But it went to “extremelengths to achieve arather narrow testing goal,” finding waystoconnect to the internet without human direction and “gainaccesstosecret information that it could use to cheat theevaluation,” thecompany said.
OpenAI said theintrusion was caused by acombination of itsAI models, including itsnewlyreleased GPT-5.6 Soland an “even more capable” model that is still being tested internally
“It went off and did this hack all by itself, as faraswecan tell,”said Colin Shea-Blymyer, acybersecurity research fellow at Georgetown University’sCenter forSecurity and Emerging Technology Shea-Blymyersaid OpenAI’s internal environment for testing
AI capabilities and risks worked a “littlebit like putting astudent in aroom and telling them,‘Do bad things. Your job now is to evaluate howbad of aperson youcan be.’ And thenyou lock the room and youleavefor the weekend and you come back and they’ve left the room.”
But then“the cybersecurity agent that wasbeing tested broke outofits sandbox, hadaccessto the internet andsort of thought to itself, ‘Who would have the answers to the test that I’m working on?’”
The answer was Hugging Face, a repository forAItesting data.
“And so the agent thought, ‘Well, we’ll go to the teacher’shouse,’ so to speak. And from there it devised aplan to break in and steal the answer key,” he said.
Automakerslookatwaystouse EVs as backup powersources
BYALEXA ST.JOHN Associated Press
DETROIT— The multiday winterstorm that slammed Texas in February 2021 and pummeled the state’spower gridhas been on KennethKovar’smindeversince. Though theresidentofNew Braunfels, northeast of San Antonio, didn’t lose power at thetime, he wasn’table to run his septic tank —itisindependent from local systems. He had to fill his toilets with water from his backyard pool.
So when Kovar,64, boughta Ford F-150 last fall, his hope was to be better prepared for any new crisis.
“I was interested in trying to find some sort of power backupsituation,”hesaid.
Now,Kovar has asetup from Ford thatallows drivers of certain F-150 models to plug their vehicledirectly into their electric metertopower partsoftheir home during an outage.
It is thelatest exampleofautomakers broadly adapting their electrification technologies to the home energy business, especially as demand on thegridincreases andsales of electric vehicles slow.Car companies are looking to leveragetheir multibillion-dollar EVinvestmentstotap into a promising market in vehicle, homeand grid technology, bothfor backup power andfor supporting electrical grid resiliency
Ford connects F-150drivers to themeter
Drivers of the F-150 PowerBoost hybrid and F-150Lightning electricpickup trucks cannow plug in a1-foot-long adapter to a 240-voltoutlet onboard. Thatadapter— which Ford made with companyGlobalPower Products—makes the vehicle compatible to plug into alonger, separate cable. That cable connects to atransfer switch installed directly on one’selectric meter
Through the adapter and cable series, homeowners can connect their vehicle essentially right to theirhome’sbreaker box. Thehomeownersimply turnsonand off which breaker switches they want forwhich devicesthey want powered.
“The way we think aboutit, especially for customers whoalready have acompatible vehicle is, you already own thepower source, it’sinyour driveway,” saidAmanda Roraff,Ford’sgridand energyservices business acceleration lead.
being able to feed the grid. Otherautomakersboostingsolutions
Over 630,000 U.S.vehicles already have this functionality, estimates say,and automakers are rapidly expanding their available options withthe goal of full vehicle-togrid support in the long run.
South Korean auto brand Kiaand Wallbox, an EV charging company,have teamed up so thatdrivers of eligible compatible vehicles can have homepower backup during outages or during periods of high demand, to cut their utilityuse.Theycan send powerback to the grid.
Analysts, on average, were expecting revenue of $117.06 billion, accordingtoa poll by FactSet. Google did not disclose an adjusted earnings figure that’s comparable to analysts’ expectations, which was $2.88 pershare
The Lightning might provide power for two to three days, depending on what home devicesare being used, and the PowerBoost Hybrid, up to five days on asingle tank of gas. Conventional, diesel-powered portable generators and full-homestandby setups require expensive installation, costing several thousands of dollars. This solution, which also requires professional installation at the meter,starts around $1,100.
BY MORIAH BALINGIT Associated Press
WASHINGTON— At arally Wednesday,President Donald Trumptouted the $1,000 babies can receive when their parents open Trump Accountsintheir names, seed money that Trump says will help give them “a really fair shot at the American dream.”
“Think of that. The government is finally giving money back to our children,” Trump saidtothe crowd gathered ataGeorgia high school
Some parents who opened accounts earlier this month for their babiessay they’re still waitingfor their money.The accounts went live July 4.
Thetax-advantaged accounts can beopened for any child under the ageof18, and more than 7millionaccountsare already active,
The setup only applies to about 200,000 vehicles so far,and it is also exclusively for outages. Ford also offers itsHomeIntegration System for bidirectionality,sending power both from the vehicle to the home and from the home to thevehicle, while also
Tesla’stechnology is similar —allowing drivers of equipped vehicles to connect to their homeusing additional Tesla hardware. The Cybertruck provides full vehicle-tohomecapability,where other Tesla models can only connect to and power specificdevices or appliances.
Arecent partnership with WeaveGrid allowshomeowners whodrive certain General Motors EVs —and have the automaker’s home system anda propergrid interconnection —toenroll in somegrid reliability utility programs. Once an outage is detected, GM’svehicle-to-home tech has the capability to disconnect one’shomefrom the grid and start supplying power from their GM EV
Trump said Wednesday.Babies born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, get$1,000 in seed money from the U.S. Treasury. Mostofthose familiesreceive their $1,000 in one or two days, the Treasury Department said.
After the Trump Accounts are set up, parents, relatives, friends andemployers can contributeto them. Some billionaires have also pledged philanthropic contributions to the accounts. Themoney is turned over to private firmsthat investitinindex funds,atype of mutual fund that tracks the performance of the stock market.The money can’tbeaccessed until the child turns 18, and only then for specificpurposes, such as going to school, opening abusiness or buying ahome. At the rally Wednesday,Rick Jackson,Georgia’s GOPnominee
for governor,saidhewould push forstate lawmakerstomatch the $1,000 in seed moneyfrom the federal government. Jackson, a wealthybusinessmanand CEO of ahealthcare company,said he believesGeorgia lawmakers will support that,but “ifthey don’t, I will personally donate it myself.”
Boosters of the program say it’s achance to give more Americans astake in the stock market. They hope it will stemthe rising popularityofdemocratic socialists, who seek to raise taxes on corporations andwealthy people to easethe cost of things like food andhealthcare for low-income andmiddle-class Americans.
For babies born since Trump took office last year,$1,000 from theU.S. Treasury is supposed to kickoff the accounts. While some parentsreport receiving the mon-
ey,others said in interviews andon social media they’re still waiting fortheir $1,000.
The Treasury Department said that the lag between opening an account and receiving the seed funding constitutes “standard processing time,like receiving atax refund,” and that theoverwhelming majority of parents are waiting only one to twodays. But the department likestogiveparents aconservative estimate forhow long it might take forthe money to be transferred.
Trump Accounts are similar to baby bonds, championed by Democratic-led cities and states meant to shrink thewealth gapbetween low- andhigh-incomechildren. But unlike most baby bonds, which generally target kids from disadvantaged backgrounds, Trump Accounts are available to families of all incomes.
ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOS By PAUL SANCyA
A1-foot-long adapter is shown connected to a240-volt outlet on board aFord F-150 King Ranch on WednesdayinSouthgate,Mich
The adapter makes the vehicle compatible to pluginto alonger, separate cable that connects to atransfer switch installed directly on one’selectric meter
U.S. military conducting 12th nightofstrikes againstIran
Iranianforeign minister: Hiscountry will adoptan ‘eye foraneye’doctrine
BY JON GAMBRELL and COLLIN BINKLEY Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates The U.S. military announced Wednesday that it was conducting a12th night of strikes against Iran as both sides increasingly targeted civilian infrastructure.
U.S. Central Command said the attacks were designed to “further degradeIran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters,” as the Americans push to regain control over the Strait of Hormuz andrestore the flow of international shipping.
MURRILL
Continued from page1A
citing warnings that Landry andMurrillwould notsupport it.
The blowback prompted alleight of Murrill’spurported victims to sign letters Tuesday urging White to reconsider acasethat the Louisiana Supreme Court hadswiftly stayed.The letters undercut theindictment against Murrill.
“Wewere not intimidated,” the letter from Moreno and the five council members said.
Retired judge Calvin Johnson, the council’schoice for interim clerk, “did not feel victimized by the letterIreceived,” he wrote.
In astatement, White said she dismissed the case based on the letters
“I performed my responsibilities as an appointed prosecutor in accordance with the law,” she wrote. “It is important to understand that the grand jury brought this indictment, and that what followed was in accordance with their judgment. Irespect the grand jury’s service and actions as we all should, and thank them for their service.”
White continued with criticism of aprocess that included the Louisiana Supreme Court’sunusually swift stay, issued before Murrill could be booked or arraigned.
“Extraordinary interference in this situation has been truly unfortunate and we should all hope that it doesn’tset aprecedent,” she wrote.
Murrill, meanwhile, said the more concerning precedent wasthe grand jury’s indictment of asitting attorney general. She warned about others facing similar
President Donald Trump warned earlierWednesdaythat the U.S. would destroy one bridge or power planteach time Iran shoots at a ship in thestrait.
“From this point forward, any time the IslamicRepublic of Iran shootsat aship in the Straitof Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT,” Trumpwrote on social media.
The continued American airstrikes are occurringeven as diplomatic efforts show little public sign of progress and officials on both sides have dug in on the dispute overthe crucialwaterwayfor global energy that remains largely closed.
The unpopular warthreatens further worldwide economic disruption and is sending fuel prices up ahead of midterm U.S. elections this fall.
Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister,said his country would adopt an “eye for an eye”
defense doctrine. “Any aggressionagainst Iran, includingour infrastructure,will compel apowerful and decisive response,” he posted WednesdayonX Iranian state media reported that U.S.missilesstrucklocations lateWednesday near the cities of Ahvaz, Ramshir and Andimeshk in western Iran.
Meanwhile, military officialsin Kuwait said on social media that theirair defenses were“confronting attacks by hostile drones,following the sinful Iranian aggression.”
Iran hasrespondedtoU.S.attacks by targeting energyinfrastructure anddesalination plants that provide drinking water in parched neighboring Gulf countries.
Internationallaw generally prohibits suchattacks unless the infrastructure is being used for military purposes. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres decried such attacksas “unacceptable” on Tuesday
prosecutions as well.
Theappeal from city officials for White to drop the prosecutioncame as an ad hoc judge, RobertChaisson was set to decide on subpoenas that Murrill’slawyers issued last week to White and Williams, seekingemails and other recordsabout the grand jury investigation Murrill argued it was fear of reprisal,not peacemaking, that drove the pressure campaign to dropthe indictment “I think it’sbecause they want to hiderecords,”Murrill said.
She said she was unconvinced by Williams’ insistence that hisoffice “had nothingtodowith it whatsoever.” District Judge Leon RochesignedWilliams’ recusal on June 1and two days later appointed White as a special prosecutor,records show Landry declined tocomment Wednesday on the statusofanearlier probehe called for from State Police overthe grandjuryinvestigation
“How many of you actually believe that agrand jury of citizens in New Orleans spontaneously just decided
thata lettersent by the attorney general to theCity Council was acriminal act? thegovernor asked.
Landry saidearlyonthat he would pardon Murrill if she were to be convicted. In staying the case, amajority of stateSupreme Court justicesviewedthe indictment with suspicion while casting doubt on White’soversight, citing possible conflicts.
It was notimmediately clear whether the FBI, the U.S.DepartmentofJustice or other federal law enforcement agencies hadopened investigations of the circumstances surrounding Murrill’s indictment, despitethe calls from Landry and Higgins.
“The FBIdid receive the congressman’sletter,as we receive complaints and concernsregarding potential wrongdoing every day,” said Lesley Hill, aspokesperson for thebureau’sNew Orleans field office. “Longstanding Department policy and practice, however,prevent us from confirming the existence of or otherwise commenting on any ongoing investigations.”
Staff writer James Finn contributed to this report.
gram or USDA’s TARGET Centerat(202) 720-2600 (voiceand TTY)orcon‐tactUSDAthrough the Federal RelayService at (800) 877-8339. To file aprogram dis‐crimination complaint, a Complainant should completea Form AD3027, USDA Program Dis‐crimination Complaint Formwhich canbeob‐tainedonlineat: https:// www.usda.gov/sites/ default/files/documents/ USDA-OASCR%20PComplaint-Form-05080002-508-11-2817Fax2Mail.pdf,fromany USDAoffice,bycalling (866) 632-9992, or by writ‐ing aletteraddressedto USDA. Thelettermust contain thecom‐plainant’sname, ad‐dress, telephonenumber, and awrittendescription ofthe allegeddiscrimi‐natoryactionin suffi‐cient detail to inform the Assistant Secretaryfor Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature anddateofan alleged civilrightsviola‐tion. Thecompleted AD3027 form or letter must besubmitted to USDA by: 1.mail: U.S. Department of Agri‐culture Office of theAssistant Secretary forCivil Rights 1400 Independence Av‐enue,SW Washington,D.C.202509410; or 2. fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or 3. email: program.intake@usda gov 194640-JUL22-24-3T $129.25
Thecosts aremounting
The closure of thestrait, through which a fifth of the world’straded oil and gas passed during peacetime, hasjoltedthe world economy witheffects far beyond the Middle East. Anew threat by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen to target Saudi shipping in the Red Sea puts another trade chokepoint at risk.
Trump traveled to DoverAir ForceBase on Wednesday for the arrival of the remains of four U.S. service members. Aday earlier, his defense secretary,Pete Hegseth, estimated in afiery Senate hearingthat the U.S. had spent $37.5 billion on the war so far.
Benchmark Brent crude oil rose to morethan $93 abarrel in trading. That’supfrom less than $72 early this month, which is roughly where it was before the war. Gasoline prices are also climbing.
Iran says it has the right to manage trafficand potentially charge fees in the strait, which was open
to alland toll-freebeforethe war. It has attacked ships using aroute through the strait that is overseen by U.S. forces andintended to be outside Tehran’scontrol. Iran’s parliamentspeaker,Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who has lednegotiationswiththe U.S., appeared to brush offTrump’sthreats “Ifour security is not ensured, no infrastructure will be safe, and the security of the strait is in the absence of American forces,” he wrote on social media. “Wehave repeatedly said that the situation of the strait will not return to prewarconditions.”
Attacksshake Iran andJordan Jordan’smilitary said it interceptedfourIranianmissiles over Aqaba,while two others fell in “uninhabited areas.” Plumes of smokecould be seen overhead in videos filmedbypeople in the nearby Israeli city of Eilat. Jordan saiditalsointercepted four Iraniandrones.
U.S. andSaudi Arabia sign newnuclear agreement
Deal couldpave wayfor kingdom to enrich uranium
BY AAMER MADHANI, MICHELLE L. PRICE, MATTHEWDALYand DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press
WASHINGTON The U.S. and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday forged anew agreement that could potentially providethe kingdom withuranium enrichment capability for its civilian nuclear program.
U.S.Energy Secretary Chris Wright andSaudi Minister of Energy Abdulaziz binSalmanformally signed thenuclearcooperation agreement,known as a123 agreement, alongside what the Trump administration described as a“bilateral safeguards agreement.”
The U.S.administration released scant details of the deal, but theframework paves the way for the building of auranium enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia after ajoint U.S.-Saudi study,according to twopeople familiar with thematter who werenot authorized to comment publicly andspoke on the condition of anonymity.
“These agreements reflect our two nations’shared commitmenttostrengtheningU.S.-Saudi commercial relations, delivering prosperity at home andsecurity to our allies abroad,”Wright saidina statement. “Rest assured, these agreements uphold the highest standards
p on or beforetheafore‐saiddateunlesshis claim hasincludedan answer, so designated orbedefaulted NewOrleans,Louisiana this13thday of May, 2026. /S/ CarolL.Michel CLERKOFCOURT Respectfully submitted, PHELPS DUNBARLLP BY:/s/ EvansMartin McLeod EvansMartinMcLeod (Bar#24846) CanalPlace |365 Canal Street,Suite 2000 NewOrleans,Louisiana 70130 Telephone: 504 566 1311 Facsimile: 504 568 9130 Email: marty.mcleod@ phelps.com ATTORNEYSFOR GENESIS MARINE, LLC 195162-jul23-30-aug6713-4t $1,404
of nuclear safety and nonproliferation, whilerelying on the world’sbestnuclear technology and scientists, designedright here in the United States.”
Earlier,Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to head off emerging criticism of the decision under questioning by reporters about the risk that helping theSaudis fulfill their long-standing desire to enrichtheir own uranium could lead to new rounds of nuclear proliferation and competition in a volatile region.
“The U.S. is not going to reachany agreementwith any country in the world that leads to the risk of proliferation,” said Rubio, who wastraveling in the Philippines on Wednesday
The agreement does not include the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Additional Protocol, which would allow for more monitoring, inspections and verification,according to oneof the people familiar with the decision.
Thedeal is expectedto last 30 years and involve
President DonaldTrump speaksTuesday while meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the Oval Office at the White House.
U.S. firms in developing the program.The Energy Department in astatement said it will be submitted for review to Congress, where it could face opposition. The announcement comes during the war against Iran launched by the U.S. and Israel, in part, to wipe out Tehran’sabilitytodevelop anuclear weapon. Iranhas insisted its nuclear enrichmentprogram is peaceful. Ahead of theannouncement,Alexander Bollfrass anuclear expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, called the deal “a revolutionary new approach” to nuclear nonproliferation policy
“The revolutionary aspect of this agreement is that the United States is not asking Saudi Arabia to abide by the highest possible safeguards, internationally monitored safeguards thatare standard andare availabletoday,but instead is willing to at least theoretically transfer highly sensitive technology without the same level of oversight that onewould expect,” Bollfrass said.
DONNA P. CURRAULT NOTICE TO CLAIMANTS OF COMPLAINTFOR EX‐ONERATIONFROMOR LIMITATIONOFLIABILITY NOW INTO COURT, through undersigned counsel,comes Genesis Marine, LLC(hereinafter Limitation Plaintiff”), as ownerand operator of the towing vessel to sub‐mit thefollowing Notice for publication: IN RE GENESISMARINE, LLC,ASOWNER ANDOP‐ERATOROFTHE GENESIS GLORY ANDBARGE GM 8001 PETITIONINGFOR EXONERATION FROM OR LIMITATIONOFLIABILITY CIVILACTIONNO. 26-984 SECTION: T(2) Notice is giventhatthe above namedLimitation Plaintiff has fileda com‐plaint, pursuant to Sec‐tions 4281-4285, and4289 ofthe Title46ofthe UnitedStatesCode, 46 U.S.C.§30501, et seq.,for exoneration from or limi‐tationofliability forall claimsfor anyloss, dam‐age,orinjuryarising out ofanincidentoccurring onoraround April14, 2026, involvingthe tug GENESIS GLORYand barge GM 8001 that con‐tactedthe GI 47-Lplat‐formoffshore, Gulf of America Allpersons having such claimsmust file theirre‐spectiveclaims, as pro‐vided in Rule F, including paragraphs(4) and(5) thereof,ofthe Supple‐mentalRules forCertain Admiralty &Maritime Claimsofthe Federal Rules of CivilProcedure withthe Clerkofthis Court at theUnited StatesCourthouse, 500 Poydras Street,New Or‐leans,Louisiana,and mustserve acopy thereof on attorneysfor LimitationPlaintiff on or beforethe 19thday of October,2026, or be de‐faulted If anyclaimantdesires to contest either theright toexoneration from or the righttolimitationof liability,heshall file and serve on theattorneys for Limitation Plaintiffan answer to thecomplaint b f h f y Succession of Blaise P. Gagliano,has petitioned thisHonorable Courtfor authority to sell allofthe Succession’sright,title and interest in andtothe following describedim‐movable property in ac‐
Oncea week forfour successiveweeksprior tothe date fixedfor filing ofclaimsinthe NewOr‐leans Advocate 194344-jul23-20-aug6-134t $1,343.60 tively with Settoon Tow‐ing,LLC ("Settoon"),has fileda Complaint, pur‐suant to 46 U. S.C. §§ 30501, et seq.,for exoner‐ation from or limitation ofliability forall claims for anyand alllossof life, injury,lossofprop‐erty, destruction, or dam‐age,arising outoforre‐lated to thecasualtyal‐legedly involvingthe M/V CHRISTINE, M/V MARSHALLJ.SETTOON AND M/VCATHY M. SET‐TOONasismorefully de‐scribed in Settoon's Complaint ForExonera‐tionFromorLimitationof Liability ("Complaint"). Allpersons having such claimsmust file theirre‐spectiveclaims, as pro‐vided in Rule Fofthe SupplementalRules for Admiralty or Maritime Claimsofthe Federal Rules of CivilProcedure withthe ClerkofCourt for theEastern District of Louisiana,Carol L. Michel, United States Courthouse, 500 Poydras Street,Room C151, New Orleans,LA70130, and mustserve acopy thereof on counselfor LimitationPetitioner, Jef‐fersonR.Tillery and AustinS.Glascoe of the firm of JonesWalkerLLP 201 St.Charles Ave.,47th Floor,New Orleans, LA 70170 on or before the 21st dayofAugust, 2026 orbedefaulted If anyclaimantdesires tocontest either the right to exonerationfrom orthe righttolimitation ofliability,thatclaimant shall file andserve on counsel forthe Limita‐tionPetitionerananswer tothe Complaintonor beforethe aforesaid date unlessthe claimhas in‐cludedananswer, so designated, or be de‐faulted Personal attendance is not required Date: June 24, 2026 /seal/
ASSOCIATEDPRESS
PHOTO By MARK SCHIEFELBEIN
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Gov. Jeff Landrygetsheated while speaking about the felony charges against AttorneyGeneral Liz Murrill during anews conference in Baton RougeonWednesday.
with meteorologist DamonSingleton
Well, we continue to followBertha as it makesits wayinto the Texas Gulf Coast bringing strong windsplusshowers and storms.Here in southeastLouisiana, expect apartlytomostly cloudy, hot, humid and breezy day.Temperatures thisafternoon will rise into the upper 80s to low 90s.Windsare out of the south, bringing lots of
or “feels like” temperatures will rise to 105 or greater
ASSOCIATED
Forestrangers takeabreak Wednesdaybefore returningtowork on the fire near CondemiosdeArriba, Guadalajara province,Spain.
BARCELONA, Spain Firefighters in central Spainbattledawildfire on Wednesday that has burned over 79,000 acres in oneofthe country’s largest blazes on record. The fire in rural Guadalajara comes less than two weeksafter adeadly blaze devastated asmall expatcommunityin southern Spain. That smallbut extremely virulent fire killed 13 people, including several foreigners, in one of the southernEuropean country’sdeadliest wildfires Spanish PrimeMinister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday visited the fire-ravaged area in Guadalajara, and called for apact between political parties to fight climate change.
“Year afteryear we clearly see how climate change kills and destroys wealth in our communities,” Sánchezsaid in thevillage of Tamajón, locatedless than two hours by car northeast of Madrid.
Some 34 villages have been evacuated in the area but there are noreportedserious injuries or deaths.Over 200 firefighters were supported by land vehicles andaircraft on Wednesday Spainthisyear has already suffered22major forest fires, defined as afire that burnsover 1,235 acres.
The Socialist leader said over 247,000 acres had already been scorched through the first half of the year,matching the total yearly averagefor Spain over thelastdecade.
Spain’s Minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, described theGuadalajara fire as “one of the largest in the recent history of ourcountry” and the largest ever for the region of Castilla La Mancha.
The Guadalajara blaze is the second-largest on recordinSpain’s history after some 91,000acres were burned last year in the northwest of
thecountry,according to data from theecological transition ministry, as cited by EFEnews agency Regional authorities saidfirefighters supported by water-dumping aircraft had so far protected homes in all40villagesinthe burned area, 90% of which belongs to anational park. Firefightershope to have the nearly week-old fire under control by Friday,said Emiliano García-Page, regional president of Castilla La Mancha. Miguel ÁngelMoreno,mayorof thevillage of Zarzuela de Jadraque, said its 100 residentswereevacuated Friday,with 14 taking refuge at aRed Cross shelter. Moreno said that the firefighters should receive as much admiration as thesoccer playerswho won the World Cup on Sunday Thefirefighters“hadtorun from one side of the village to the other putting out fires,” Moreno told Spanish nationaltelevision TVE. “Besides the heroes who won the World Cup, we have other heroes who remain nameless
Author whopopularized bodybuilding dies at 84
BY MARK KENNEDY Associated Press
NEW YORK Charles Gaines, the author whose book and documentary“Pumping Iron” helped bring professional bodybuilding into the mainstream and introduce Arnold Schwarzenegger to theworld, has died. He was 84.
Gaines diedTuesday, according to Greta Gaines, the author’s daughter. She did notreveal a cause.
“You always marched to your own drummer and inspired everyonearoundyou to do thesame,” she wrote in atribute to her father “Follow that bliss, catch that fish andkiss those lips while you can because my father was the live life to thefullest kinda guy.”
Gainescollaborated with George Butlertowrite “Pumping Iron: The Artand Sport of Bodybuilding,”whichled to themaking of thedocumentary “Pumping Iron,” for which Butler and Gaineswrote
the script.
In theintroduction to their1974 book, Gaines wrote that he and Butler considered it “a sort of respectful report from the interior of an interesting, colorful and heretofore ignored region of American life.”
In a2022 edition, he admitted that neither author thought “many people outsideofthe bodybuildingworldwould be interested in” the book.Gains wrote Schwarzeneggeralmost single-handedly “brought bodybuilding out of the shadowsithad languished in since itsearliest days in America and into the limelight.” Schwarzenegger,who won seven Mr.Olympia and five Mr.Universe titles and who was pictured flexing on the cover of “Pumping Iron,” wouldharness theattention into acareer, first in movies— including “The Terminator,” “True Lies,” “Twins”and “Predator” —and thenpolitics, becoming governor of California from 2003 to 2011.
BY REBECCA BOONE and LARRYLAGE Associated Press
Kaylee Hottle, adeaf actor best known for her starring role in two “Godzilla” films, died in acar crash in Maryland early Tuesday morning, theFrederick County Sheriff’s Office said. She was 18. Hottle was one of two passengers in the car when it went offthe road and hit aculvert in Ijamsville before 3a.m. The driver was taken to ahospital with injuries that were notlife-threatening, andthe other passengerdeclinedmedical treatment, according to anews release from the Sheriff’sOffice. Exces-
sive speed is believed to be afactor in the crash, the office said. Hottlewas anativesignerof American Sign Language, and her family membersare also deaf.Her parents, Joshua and Ketsi Hottle, shared emotional video statements on social media sites.
“Kaylee’smom and four siblings are crushed,” her father said in ASL in apost. “Theyare together at home, grieving. Iamonmyway to Maryland to bring Kaylee’s body back home.”
Kaylee Hottle’sheart stopped before she arrived at ahospital, transported by air from the scene of the accident, her father said.
“Very grateful forthe 18 years we had together —and wish we had more,” he said. Joshua Hottle also reached out to the driver,describedbypoliceasa 19-year-old Frederick man
Hottle
PRESS PHOTO By MANU FERNANDEZ
Entergy: Cause of Quarter fire unknown
Underground transformer exploded on July 4
BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer
More than two weeks after an underground transformer explosion knocked out power to nearly 1,000
customers, forced a hotel evacuation and sent thick, acrid smoke billowing up above Bourbon Street, Entergy New Orleans executives said they cannot determine the cause of the July 4 incident.
“Because of the fire significantly damaging the equipment, we’re unable to determine specifically the cause of the issue in that area,”
Dan Calamari Entergy’s vice pres-
ident of reliability operations, told a New Orleans City Council com-
mittee on Wednesday
Calamari said routine inspections of the utility’s transformer vaults — the below-ground concrete bunkers that house its electrical equipment in the French Quarter and Central Business District — turned up no sign of trouble before the late-night incident. Entergy conducts “end-to-end” inspections of all its underground vaults in the area twice a year, Calamari said, performing simula-
tions and other tests to inspect the electrical components inside the vaults.
And after heavy rains, he said, crews visually inspect the vaults to make sure their pumps are functional, since much of the area’s stormwater runoff finds its way into vaults’ grates.
“None of those inspections suggested that we had risk like we saw here,” he said.
No one was injured by the explo-
Campers pretend to yell
microphones
Friday.
READY TO ROCK
Girls Rock New Orleans kicked off the summer with a four-day teen mentor camp followed by a four-day rock camp. This year, 21 young musicians came together to form seven bands, write original songs, design T-shirts and create their own stage looks before a performance showcase at Cafe Istanbul. Through music education, Girls Rock New Orleans encourages creative expression while empowering girls, transgender, and gender nonconforming youth from across the Greater New Orleans area to build confidence, find their voices and make music together
Orleans
N.O. woman pleads not guilty in officer’s death
Indictment charges her with vehicular homicide
BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer
Orleans Parish grand jury returned the indictment July 2
against Erica Smith-Katsanis, 53. She faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of the felony charge. New Orleans police say Ohlmeyer, a 14-year JPSO veteran, was working an off-duty detail leading a funeral procession through the Hollygrove corridor on Jan. 30 when Smith-Katsanis slammed her 2022 Lexus sedan into the rear of his motorcycle shortly before noon in the 9200 block of Airline Highway Ohlmeyer, 41, was traveling westbound in the center lane with the funeral cortege moving in the far left lane. He stopped, and Smith-Katsanis crashed into the rear of his motorcycle, NOPD officials said. Investigators said she never hit the brakes before impact that launched the deputy from his motorcycle. He died at an area hospital. NOPD booked Smith-Katsanis on Feb. 25 on suspicion of vehicular homicide. A magistrate commissioner set her bond at $200,000 and barred her from driving. Smith-Katsanis remained free for her arraignment Wednesday, when her defense attorney, Brian Capitell, filed several pretrial motions, including petitions to suppress evidence. Criminal District Judge Kimya Holmes set an
Aug. 19 hearing date. According to the police affidavit, Smith-Katsanis said she didn’t see anything in front of her prior to the impact and was “unsure of what she had hit.” Detectives said she showed signs of impairment during an interview at the hospital, where she was treated after being struck in the face with air bags. Toxicology results show she tested positive for 11 prescription medications, including amphetamine and clonazepam. Capitelli said in court in February that all of the medications in her system were prescribed.
sion and subsequent fire, which took place shortly before attendees of the Essence Festival of Culture concert began departing the Caesars Superdome and shortly after the end of a riverfront fireworks display
According to a timeline presented to the council, crews were dispatched after Entergy’s operations teams were alerted to the fault at
Testimony points to suspect in shooting
Man returned to scene, posed as bystander, police say
BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer
Minutes after fleeing from the courtyard of a Metairie apartment complex where he’d just shot a 21-year-old woman in the head, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office investigators say Kennedy George stopped and doubled back to the crime scene. As Sharde Cooper’s friends were frantically trying to help her and call authorities, George, 33, allegedly approached, posing as a passerby to ask the group, “What happened?”
“What do you mean what happened? You shot her,” one friend fired back, Sheriff’s Office Homicide Detective Phillip Hedrick Jr testified during a preliminary hearing held in Jefferson Parish Magistrate Court.
“She must have shot herself,” George is accused of telling Cooper’s friends.
George is facing a second-degree murder charge in Cooper’s death. Hedrick’s Tuesday morning testimony garnered hushed gasps and murmurs from Cooper’s family members who attended the hearing.
“You’re a coward,” Sharde Cooper’s mother, Katisha Cooper, called to George, who sat handcuffed and shackled at the defense table with his back to the gallery
Hedrick, the case’s lead detective, told the court that Cooper was shot on the night of June 24 at her apartment complex in the 6200 block of Riverside Drive in Metairie.
The testimony didn’t touch on how Cooper and George knew one another Katisha Cooper has previously said that the two were not friends and, though they knew of each other, George seemed to be obsessed with her daughter, knocking on apartment doors to look for her
About 45 minutes before the shooting, Sharde Cooper and two friends arrived at the apartment complex in a vehicle, according to authorities. The three women were sitting there when George walked over to them, Hedrick said.
Sharde Cooper cracked a joke about George being recently arrested. George walked away Neither Cooper nor her friends thought anything was amiss, Hedrick testified. Cooper and one of the women got out of the car and walked across the street, into the apartment complex. The other woman remained inside the vehicle. As Cooper and her friend were walking back through the courtyard to leave, George allegedly walked up again with a gun in his hand.
Investigators say George shot Cooper in the left temple and then ran off as she collapsed to the ground, dropping her cellphone. George left his gun at the scene when he fled, according to Hedrick.
By the time George doubled back, the second friend from the car had joined the first in trying to help
Annabelle Mura, 11, plays with makeup at the glam station during the summer camp.
Ruby Lindberg, 18, reacts as the T-shirt is revealed after silkscreening during Girls Rock New
summer camp.
STAFF PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER
into
during Girls Rock New Orleans summer camp at KID smART Center for Arts & Education in New Orleans on
Cooper ä See FIRE,
Teen’s causeofdeath of undetermined,autopsy reveals
Exam was commissionedby NolanWells’ family’s legalteam
BY POET WOLFE Staff writer
An independent autopsy commissioned by the legal team representing thefamily of Nolan Wells found that the cause of deathofthe 18-year-old founddead on Horn Island remained undetermined pending further investigation.
High-profile civil rights attorney
Ben Crump released the autopsy findings Wednesday at the NAACP National Convention in Chicago, where he said a12-by-8-inch area of discoloration had been identified on the back of Wells’ head.
The autopsy was performed by Roger Mitchell, aphysicianand forensic pathologist, who conducted the first examination on July 9, Crump said. Mitchell performed asecond examination aday later but identified several limitations in determining adefinitive cause of death, including that the body
was not examined when it was first recovered and that decomposition can obscure bruises or abrasions.
also conducted an autopsyofthe belovedteen andformer high schoolathlete, but has notyet released its report.
asked for this help.”
Crump, however, said Mitchell found no fractures or deep tissue injuries.
The autopsy conducted by the Jackson County Coroner’s Office,which examined thebody soon after it was recovered, could provide additional information, he noted. The office has not yet released its report, and toxicologyresultsremain pending.
Jackson CountySheriff JohnLedbetter previously saidtherewas no reason to believe acrime hadbeen committed,but additional evidence could also suggest otherwise
Wells
“My legal team and I, we stand for truth, no matter who it implicates or who it exonerates,” Crump said. “Westand forjustice, no matterwho it convicts or it acquits. We stand for transparency.”
Theresults of the autopsy represent amajor development in a case continuing to draw national attention afterWells disappeared over theFourth of July weekend during aboat trip to the MississippiCoast barrierisland with friends. His body was found two days after he went missing following amultiagency search. The Jackson CountyCoroner’s Office
The Sheriff’s Office has been working to collect andverify information and tips around the clock.
“Nolan Wells’ family deserves athorough andfactual investigation,” Ledbetter told the Sun Herald. “And that’sexactlywhatthey are going to get.”
Ledbetter and Jackson County District Attorney AngelMyers McIlrath could notbeimmediately reached for comment.
Wells’ parents, Elmore and Christine Wonsley,said during Wednesday’snews conference they hadnot yet heard backfrom local authorities after receiving the independent autopsy results.
“Hearing nothing from them, it’sheartbreaking, and it’sconcerning,”she said, “Which, again, is whyweare here, whywehave
VermilionParishurged to preparefor aerospaceproject amid speculation
More than 200people packed the Erath Community Center on Wednesday to hear state Sen. Bob Hensgensaddress monthsofspeculation about apossible SpaceX or Blue Origin project in Vermilion Parish.
Hensgens, R-Abbeville, emphasized that he has no confirmation that either company plans to purchase land or build afacility in the parishand said he is not involved in any negotiations.
“Weare talking Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos levels of important here,” Hensgenstold the crowd.
“This is way above me, so whenever something getsannounced, I’m not going to be the one who gets to do it.” Despite the uncertainty,Hensgens said local leaders should begin preparing for the possibility of alarge aerospace projectbecause of its potential economic impact.
Speculation began in March after Lafayette developer and real estate broker Jim Keaty publicly outlined why Vermilion Parish could appeal to an aerospace company,citing deep-water access through the Freshwater Bayou Lock, proximity
to the Port of Iberia and the region’s marine fabrication industry
The possibility of an aerospace facility hasgenerated widespreadinterest in Vermilion Parish because neither SpaceX nor Blue Origin has publicly announced plansfor the site, leaving residents to speculate about theproject’s scopeand potential impact.
Rather than discuss negotiations, Hensgens focused on howthe parish could benefitifa project materializes.
“Weneedto start thinking now abouthow to maximize the possibilities and minimize disruptions,”
Hensgens said Hensgenssaid the parish should focus on three priorities if an aerospace manufacturer ultimately chooses VermilionParish: workforce training, developing local suppliers and preparing infrastructure and housing.
“Weneed to make sure thepossible companypartners with and participates in workforce training, so ourpeople can benefitfrom those high-paying jobs,” Hensgens said. “Weneed tomake sure we have astrongsuppliernetwork so that Vermilion-based companies can get contracts, andofcourse we needtoprepare our infrastructure and housing.”
Notably, theLouisiana stategovernment has already approved multiple pieces of legislation aimed at promoting aerospace-relatedindustry in the state,including allow-
ing parishestoexemptcompanies engaged in that type of manufacturingfrom traditional property taxes andsales taxes.
Hensgenspointed to theMeta datacenter in Richland Parish as an example of howlarge industrial investments can generate indirect tax revenue and support higher public spending,even when companies receivecertain tax exemptions.
Hensgens also addressedconcernsabout the potentialimpact on nearby communitiesand theenvironment.
“A major industrial space complex here would be transformational,” Hensgens said. “We’re talking about the possibility of thousands of high-wagejobsinengineering, manufacturing, construction, operationaland technical skills. Theseare careers that can raise family incomes wellabove ourcurrentmean.”
Theproperty that has drawn speculation is owned by ExxonMobil and leased for hunting, alongstanding part of Vermilion Parish’s culture. Hensgens said he believes state leaders would seek to protect the area’snatural resources.
Hensgens said that while he is notdirectly involved in discussions surrounding afacility,hetrusts Gov.Jeff Landry’sjudgment, saying, “Noone Iknowlikes to hunt more than Jeff Landry.He’sone of us. He’s notgoingtosignoff on anything that will hurt ourenvironment.”
TESTIMONY
Continued from page 1B
The case has drawn widespread online speculation after photographs circulatedshowing Wells, who was Black, with agroup of friends who were all White. Highprofile figures havesincestepped in. Crump,who has represented the families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor,isrepresenting Wells’ family.Former NFLfootball player Colin Kaepernick contributed to the independent autopsy,and actor Tyler Perry covered the funeral costs.
At Wells’funeral Mondayin Ocean Springs, the Rev.AlSharptonand Perry together offered a $100,000 reward for anyone who reaches out to Crump’soffice with information that leadstoanarrest. Former NFLfootball player Terrell Owens later contributed an additional $25,000tothe reward fund.
Twoweeks ago, Crump was the first to revealthat Wells’ body would be flown to Washington, D.C., for an independent autopsy, where athird-party medical examiner would look forany physical injuries beyondthose consistent with drowning.
During interviews Friday on
“Good Morning America” and “CBS Mornings,” and later at Wells’ funeral, Crump called fora transparentinvestigation into the teen’sdeath.
The Wonsleys, who sat alongside Crump during the interviews, said their son had visited Horn Island several times thisyear with friends, routinely texting his parents when he returnedhomeand posting aboutthe outings on social media. But this time, they said, there were no texts, calls or posts.
On Wednesday, theparents remembered their sonfor his kindness, hard work ethicand aura that “you wereautomatically drawn to,” Elmore Wonsley said, adding that his death “isgoing to be hard” for their family “He should be at football practice right now,” he said.
Anyone who was on or near Horn Island on Saturday and has informationisasked to call theJacksonCountySheriff’s Department Criminal Investigations Division. The Criminal Investigations Division can be reached at (228) 7693065 during business hours, from 8a.m.to5 p.m.Monday through Friday,orat(228) 769-3063 after hours.
Mannamed SantaClaus chargedwithsolicitingteen
BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer
ANew Orleans manwhose legalnameisSanta Claus will stand trial after he allegedly sent sexual texts to an undercover cop posing as a15-yearold boy and arranged to meet in person, according to authorities.
The Jefferson Parish District Attorney’sOffice charged Claus, 75, with computer-aidedsolicitation of aminor, court records said. He pleaded not guilty Monday in Jefferson Parish Magistrate Court.
Kennerpolice arrested Claus on June 28 at the Kenner lakefront,where investigators say he’d plannedtorendezvous with ateenageboy withwhom he’d been messaging. The teen, however,was actually an undercover Kenner police detective.
Thedetective wasposingasa juvenile online as part of the department’songoingeffort to targetpeoplewho usethe internet to try to exploit or meet up with juveniles for sex, according to KennerPoliceDeputyChief Mark McCormick.
The detective set up aprofile
FIRE
Continued from page1B
10:38 p.m. Streetswereclosed around the intersection of Bourbonand Conti streets due to areport of a fire around 10:55 p.m. At 11:35 p.m., customers in the area hadtheir power shut off for safety andtoprevent further damage to the grid. Powerwas restored shortly before 6a.m. on July 5. Entergy crews worked 24/7 shifts to repair the damage, with new transformersinserted into the vault on July 7, street closures lifted two days later and the new equipment fully energized on July 10.
No information wasavailable from Entergy representatives after the meeting regarding the last time the vault in question was inspected or whether inspection logsare sharedwith itsCity Council regulators. According to Entergy’spresentation to thecouncil, thecompany has “completed athorough review of similar equipment” and would replace it where needed. Company representatives declinedtosay whether that review hadidentified any equipment in need of replacement.
Upgradestocome
as an 18-year-old on the dating app Grindr,and Claus reached outtochat, authorities said. Still posing as the teen, the detective told Claus he was 15. Claus beganchatting with thedetective via cellphone text messages, which became sexualinnature.Claus made statements aboutshoweringtogether and performing sex acts with the “teen,” according to authorities.
When Claus arrivedatthe Kenner meetup,investigators noted that he had thephysical appearance of SantaClaus, including awhite beard, red shirt and red pants.
Kenner detectives confirmed thesuspect legally changedhis nametoSanta Claus several years ago, but did not know exactly when or where he did so. Authorities saidhehas no prior criminal convictions under his current or former name. Claus was being held Tuesday at theJefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna. Bail was set at $60,000.
Email Michelle Hunter at mhunter@theadvocate.com.
temperatures and pressure levels, though only a“handful” have been installedsofar
“This is new technology,” said CEO Deanna Rodriguez. “So this is something that did not exist yearsand yearsago.”
Entergy New Orleans Senior Manager of CustomerService
JessicaWilliams said the company took aboots-on-the-ground approach to communications afterthe incident.
Thecompanyimmediately sent amanager to the scene to meet withpublic safety officialsand gave council members atimeline to usetorespond to questions fromresidents, efforts that won praise from District C councilmemberFreddyKing III.
Williams said Entergy would also followupwith those who lost their power.
“Wedoplantocirculate amessage to customers thatweredirectly impacted by an outage,” Williams said. “And we’ll include an educationalvideoonunderground vaults, transformers andthe equipment that’re inside those vaults.” Cooper.After insisting that Coo-
and hand it to him, Hedrick testified. She did not.
Logistically impossible
Surveillance video captured a man matching George’sdescription running from the apartment complex. Witnessesgaveresponding Sheriff’s Office deputies adescription of the getaway vehicle, a
silver Mercedes with black rims, Hedrick said ASheriff’sOffice first-responder drone dispatched to the area spotted the Mercedesdriving away from the apartment complex. Video from the drone helped deputies stop George’scar about amile away at the intersection of West Esplanade Avenue and Power Boulevard in Metairie.
Georgetold thedeputies who pulledhim over that he assumed he wasbeingstopped because of the girl who killedherself on Riverside Drive, according to Hedrick. In statementstodetectives, George said he drove down Riverside on his
way from the gym but never got out of hisvehicle. Georgelater tolddetectivesthat Cooper had killed herself Hedrick testified that self-harm would have been logistically impossible because Cooper,who was right-handed, was shot in the left temple. Following the hearing,Jefferson Parish Criminal CommissionerDavid Wolffruled therewas probable causetocontinue holding George as charged Wolff set bail at $900,000.
Email Michelle Hunter at mhunter@theadvocate.com.
Entergy has recently begun installing upgraded transformers that allow it to remotely monitor thestatus of the underground vaults.
“Currently, to know that our pumping system is working, we have to actually go to each vault and see that the water is receding,” Calamari said. Thecompanyspent last year working with vendors on aproof of conceptand recentlysettled on one, he said.
Entergy is nowordering equipment with the new monitoring capability,which also provides internal data about oil levels,
STAFF PHOTO By STEPHANIE RIEGEL
The unincorporated Vermilion Parish communityofPecan Island, with apopulation of about 100 people along La. 82, is believedtobea potential location forthe construction of amassiveSpaceX spaceport.
Castrogiovanni,Carrie
Lemon, Kimberla
Morgan,Jean Villarrubia, Forrest
Warnken, Jacqueline
WeberJr.,Sidney
Obituaries
Castrogiovanni, Carrie Ann Arvello
On July 18, 2026, Carrie Ann Arvello
Castrogiovanni,surrounded by her family, was delivered home to reunite with her husband, Dr. Jack C. Castrogiovanni M.D., as well as her parents, Brazil JohnArvelloSr. and Lena Tamborella Arvello. She was the longest surviving of eight brothers and sisters, Paul Arvello Lawrence Arvello, Brazil (Junior) Arvello, Salvadore (Sam) Arvello, Joseph Arvello, Lena Arvello
Letillier, and Mary Arvello
Miller. She was 82. She leaves behind aloving family of four children and four grandchildren. Nicholas Brazil Castrogiovanni, Jeanine Castrogiovanni Burgan (Ryan),Jacquelyn Castrogiovanni Migdal (John), and Giacomo Antonio Castrogiovanni (Jordan), as well as her beautiful grandchildren who doted on her: Marley Grace Migdal, Miles Edward Migdal, Giacomo (Jack) Calcedonio Castrogiovanni, II, & Vittoria Elizabeth Castrogiovanni. Carrie Ann was born on January 31, 1944, in Independence Louisiana, and lived the majority of her youth in Hammond. She began her younger years as amedical stenographer (where she met her husband to be, Dr. Jack) and eventuallyearned her Bachelor of English and then her Masters in English, Summa Cum Laude, at the University of New Orleans. She worked as areal estate agent and taught as asubstitute teacheratthe high school level. She was highly involved in and held leadership positions (board member, president, vice-president historian, treasurer, secretary) in many philanthropic and socialorganizations including the Elenian Club, Aesculapians, the Lake Vista Garden Club, Lake Vista Women's Club, Heart Ambassadors, Cancer Crusaders, Orleans Parish Medical Society Alliance, Volunteers of America Auxiliary, Louisiana State Medical Society Alliance, Goodwill Industries Volunteer Services, Our Lady of Holy Cross College, Children's Hospital Guild St. Michael's, and the Heart Ambassadors She coordinated fundraisers and events benefiting educational funds for nurses and medical assistants, children's playgrounds, the families of deceased physicians, and amyriad of other charitable interests. She was avoracious reader, having read tens of thousands of books over her lifetime. She especially lovedhorror fiction and Southern literature; and enjoyed comedic films above melodrama. She was also socially active in Mardi Gras festivities, particularlyinthe Krewe of Eros(both of her daughters enjoyed being Queen, and her husband King) and the Krewe of Pontchartrain. Carrie endured twentyfive years of Parkinsons disease, and bore it with a brave face. Although she suffered, she did not complain, and instead chose to focus on the bright parts of life. She enjoyed visiting with friends,the company of her adult children, and above all else her grandchildren.
Carrie and the family would like to extend aspecial thankstoMagnolia Caregivers whose exceptional attention and tireless work served to make the most difficult years of her life more enjoyable.
Family and friends are invitedtoattend the evening visitation scheduled for Friday July 24, 2026, from 5:00 pm until 8:00 pm at Jacob Schoen &
Son, 3827 Canal Street, NewOrleans, LA. The funeral masswillbecelebrated at 1:00 PM on SaturdayJuly 25, 2026, at St. Dominic's Church, 775 Harrison Ave, New Orleans, LA 70124. Visitation will be from 11:00 am and continue until mass time. Interment willfollow at All SaintsMausoleum directly afterwards. Arrangements by Jacob Schoen &Son Funeral Home. Condolences may be leftat www.schoenfh.com.
Lemon, Kimberla Natasha
Kimberla N. Lemon of NewOrleans, Louisiana, passed awayonJuly7 2026, at the age of 59, after acourageous five-year battle with breast cancer. Shewas bornonJuly24, 1966,tothe late LTC GilmanLemonand Barbara Donatto Lemon Haydel. Sheissurvivedbyher daughter, MadelineAnna Lemon;her sister, Yolunda LaCroix(Joseph); her brothers, CorwinLemon and KevinLemon(Liz); her niece, Tiffany LaCroix; her nephews, JosephLaCroix Jr.(Denisha)and Marcus LaCroix Sr.(Briche'); her great-niece, Tatum Hingle; and hergreat-nephews, CardellHayes Jr., Marcus LaCroixJr.,and Cayetano HingleIII. Kim graduatedfrom Cabrini High School in New Orleans and Louisiana State University, whereshe earneda Bachelor of ScienceinAccounting. She laterobtainedher Certified Public Accountant's (CPA) license and most recently servedasAssistant Controller at Xavier University of New Orleans. AMassofChristian Burialhonoringthe life and legacy of Kim Lemon will be held at St. MariaGoretti Church, 7300Crowder Blvd., NewOrleans, LA 70127, on Saturday, July 25, 2026,with visitation beginning at 10:00 a.m. and the funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m. Interment willfollow at MountOlivet Cemetery, 2050 Caton St., New Orleans, LA 70122. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Kim Lemon's name to Sister Network,Inc.
Morgan,JeanAnn
Jean Ann Morganlived her life unapologetically andonher own terms. She was astrong, loving, and unforgettablewoman who embraced life as she chose and left alasting impressiononeveryone who had theprivilegeofknowing her.
Jean Ann willbelovingly remembered by her two daughters, Tanya Emanuel and Diane Morgan; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Her love,strength, and unique spirit willcontinue to live on throughher family and thememories they shared together.
Her legacywillliveon through thefamily she loved, thelives she touched,and thememories she created. Jean Ann willbemissedand forever cherished by allwho knew and lovedher.
"If ever Iwrite abook, thenameofitwould be Barefoot Boy from Lacombe,"heoftensaid. He wasthe last of 10 children, born in Lacombeon November20,1925 in his family home, whichwas one of theoldest homes in theLouisiana Territory. He died of natural causes in New Orleans on July 18, 2026, at 100 years oldand eight months. In hisformativeyears he spent his summers on Bayou Lacombe. He often spoke of hisglorious childhood where he spent most of his days in apirogue on the bayou. Afabulousswimmerand marksman, he would bringhomeany fish or bird he'dshot to his mother, Corinne, an incredibleFrench cook. He also loved climbing the moss-draped ancient oak in front of thehouse. There wasa huge branch that extended over thestreet, and he'dsit there, unseen, behind aclump of moss and wait fora funeral to pass. Somewhat of atrickster,
he would droplittle peb-
bles and moss on the casket.Forrest proudlyjoined theMarines at 17 to fight forhis country against fascism in World WarII. He wasdeployed to the Pacific,where hisassignment wastoclimbtrees and hook up radios for communication. Once, he heard abullet race past his ear from "friendly fire."He always said "With thehelp of God and afew marines, MacArthur is back in the Philippines". He never thought that he would make it hometomarry his first and onlysweetheart, Audrey, whodied in his armsathomeaftercomplications from multiple sclerosis. They metwhen he was12and she was11on Sherwood Forest Drivein New Orleans, where they both lived.Hewas her constant companion and caregiver. Upon graduating from Tulane University, Forrest worked at Maison Blanche on Canal Street and quickly becamethe store'syoungest buyer. He finished hisworking years at theToy Center located on Washingtonand JeffersonDavisPkwy, where he wasmanager and part owner. There, he wasloved and known as Mr.V.Afterthe death of hisbeloved Audrey,heaccrued over 5000 hours volunteering formany years at theWorld WarII Museum,meetingthe public and tellingstories of his timeinthe Pacific Theater. When someone wouldask fora picture of him, he would say, "After yougive me ahug." They always would. Forrestispreceded in death by hisfather and mother, Elvin Joseph Edward Villarrubiaand Corinne Castaing Villarrubia; hislovingwife Audrey Levy Villarrubia. He is survived by hischerished daughters Jan Villarrubia, KayCasey (Byron),and Nancy Bernadas (Louis); four lovinggrandchildren Rebecca Bernadas Williams (Dave) JenniferBernadas Nettles (Daniel), Dr.Christopher D. Bernadas (Rachel) and Forrest Merrell (Nicole); great grandchildren Jackson-Emma Nettles, Bennett Nettles, Anna Marie Nettles, Nathan Bernadas, WilliamNettles, ReidBernadas, Jace Merrell and KadenMerrell; Maverick Williams (Katie) and MorganWilliams.The family would also liketo thank allofhis many friends, extended family members and care givers, especially nurse Denise Debbe, whohavebeen so supportive over these past years includinghis "second"family at theWWII Museum especially Beth Kliebert. Services will be heldonSaturday, July 25, 2026 at Lake LawnFuneral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd.,New Orleans, La. Visitationfrom10AMto12
noon followedbyMass at 12 with the internmentto followatthe mausoleum In lieuofflowers,please make adonationtothe WorldWar II Museum.
Warnken, Jacqueline Callegan
Jacqueline "Jackie" Calegan Warnken entered into eternal rest on July 21,2026 at the age of 93. Shewas theloving wife to thelateRaymond G. Warnken. They were married on August 12, 1951. Jackie wasbornuptown NewOrleans.Atage 5, Jackie's familymoved to Marrero,LAwhere she remained alifelongresident of theWestbank. Jackie is preceded in death by herparents: Lydia Morales Calegan and Julian Calegan; sister, Nellie Calegan Aucoin; brothers, Paris Calegan andLesterCalegan. Jackie is also preceded in death by herbeloved niece, Sarah Trosclair; nephews: Joseph Calegan, Jack Calegan, Claude Calegan, andLesterCalegan Jr Jackie is survivedby5 great nephews: Jody Trosclair, Todd Calegan, Troy Calegan,Kevin Trosclair, Ryan Trosclair. Sheisalso survived by many great, great nieces andnephews. Relativesand friends are invited to attendthe funeral service on Friday, July 24, 2026 at 10:30AM at MotheFuneral Home,7040 Lapalco Blvd., in Marrero, LA. Visitationwill begin at 9AM.Immediately followingthe service,Jackie will be laidtorest beside her husband in Westlawn Memorial ParkCemetery in Gretna, LA.
Weber, SidneyJoseph
Rev. SidneyJoseph Weber, Jr.enteredpeacefully into eternal rest at his residence on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, at the age of 85. Devotedfather of Lori WeberTureaud (Monte). Loving grandfather of WayneTureaud, Jr.and Sydney(Terry) Edwards. Rev. Weberisalso survivedbya host of other relativesand friends. Relativesand friends of thefamily, also pastors, officers, and members of St Stephen Missionary Baptist Church andall neighboringchurches are invited to attendthe Celebration of Life at St Stephen Missionary Baptist Church,1738 L. B. LandryAvenue, New Orleans, LA on Friday, July 24, 2026, at 10:00a.m. Pastor Norman Francis, host pastor;Pastor Ernest Weber, Jr officiating Visitation will begin at 8:30a.m. untilservice time at thechurch. Interment: St.James Catholic Church Cemetery,St. James, LA Arrangements by Davis Mortuary Service,230 Monroe St.Gretna, LA To view and sign the guestbook, please go to www.da vismortuaryservice.com.
Villarrubia, Forrest D.
OUR VIEWS
Rekindling LSU-Tulane, otherin-state gamesgood forLa. football
College sports have provided no shortage of worrisome topics in recent months —transfer portal chaos, revenue sharing, escalation and the SEC’sthreat to leave the NCAAaltogether amongthem —but we’d like to take amoment to note one positive recent development:LSU’s scheduling of in-state opponentsfor regularseason home games overthe next several years.
Southern, UL-Monroe and Northwestern State will all make trips toTigerStadium, but the headliner is Tulane.
The Green Wave will be LSU’sopening-week opponent in 2030, the first time since 2009 that the two will play.It’sawelcome return of LSU’slongest running rivalry (LSU’s first game ever was a34-0 loss toTulane in 1893), and among itsmost intense. LSU has arecordof69-22-7 against the Greenies, but in this era of college football, anything is possible. After all, it was Tulane who made the College Football Playoff last year,not LSU. That achievement was the latest signal of Tulane’srenewed commitment to football, something that was missing in the previous decades.
Southern’sreturn will also be awelcome one. The two have only played once, in 2022, when LSU won handily.But the environment,tailgating and camaraderie among Baton Rouge’stwo major universities, not to mention the band performances, were well worth the wait From afootball perspective, the reason for these games is clear.LSU coach Lane Kiffinhas talked about his dislike for playing highly-ranked opponentsinthe first weeks of aseason. He wants less challenging opponents for his nonconference schedule. These moves would appear to fitthat strategy But we like it for adifferent reason.
Louisiana has aproud footballtradition that extends far beyond its flagship university. Though LSU has long reigned supreme on the gridiron, teams from around the stateboast rosters of home-grown talent that represent thebest of Louisiana.
Playing these games not only gives local athletes achance to compete on a field many of them dreamed of playing on as children, but it also gives their supporters achance to root for their team on one of college football’sbiggest stages. From apractical perspective, it also helps the athletic budgets of those schools who compete against LSU. They may anticipate aloss on the field, but they can be certain of asignificant financial windfall for just showing up. Those funds can then be used to support the many Louisiana athletes who don’tgotoLSU.
The Demon, Warhawk, Jag and Green Wave fandoms have traditions as proud and athletes as deservingasthe Tigers do. It will be good to see them compete on the same field.
LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE AREOUR
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TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE
Punish surgeons whobolster ‘slammer’cases with operations
Ihave been reading news of the trials of the“slammers,” who fake car collisions with trucks and then claim injuries and file lawsuits. I notice slammershave undergone surgery for fake injuries. While a couple of lawyers have been named, there has been no identification of thesurgeons who carried out the fraudulent surgeries.
It is well known that aplaintiff in apersonal injury lawsuit who had surgery for “injuries” caused by an accident can obtain, in acourt case, apayout worth up to 10 times more than for the same injury without surgery
The surgeons who rely on plaintiff attorney referrals for mostoftheir practice know that they can receive four to five times morefor aplaintiff case than what they would receive from the same procedure for a medical insurance case.
It is hard for ajuror to believe that someonewould have surgery when
they are not truly injured, and even harder to believe that alicensed medical practitioner would carry out asurgical procedure when there is no true injury
It is therefore important that the surgeons who carry out these fake procedures be identified and reported to the state medical board, where hopefully their licenses would be revoked. Another disincentive would be a rule that asurgeon cannot charge morefor asurgery on an accident plaintiff than for the sameorsimilar surgical procedure on an insurance patient
The payouts for these surgical procedures play asignificant role in Louisiana’scar insurance rates, which are some of the highest in the country.Reducing themedical costs would be one step in trimming these rates
ANDREWKING NewOrleans
Marginalizedcommunity drew theline at trains throughthe neighborhood
Re: “It’stime to share traintraffic,” Letters, July 2. Efforts by OldMetairie residents to relocate trains from the Back Belttothe Middle Beltdid indeed pit White, affluent neighborhood residentsagainstpredominantly Black residentsofHollygrove and Mid-City. However,the effortsto stop this werenot driven by the media but rather by thecoordinated, collective determination and advocacy of neighborhood residentswhosehomes, families and quality of life would be directly affected. Known as “WeWon’tBe Railroaded,” citizens of this community worked diligently to ward off efforts to reposition yet another hazardtoapoorer community of color
The history of theUnited States is rife with environmental injustice that has marginalized people of color and lower socioeconomic conditions.
Landfills,illegal dumping, incinerators, manufacturing facilities, Gordon Plaza, Thompson Hayward
and Cancer Alley arebut afew, and still too many. This disproportionalityisendemic in our society and has been maintainedthrough law and policies at thegovernment level. No one, in good conscience, would call this fair Andyet, letter writer Louis McFaul asks for fairness for his community by relocating ahassle, andahazard, from his wealthy neighborhood to amuch poorer one, where people of color overwhelmingly reside. The solution, he suggests, is simple and fair: “Split the trains 50-50 between the Back Belt and Middle Belt.” Convenience for residentsofOld Metairie would, once again, come at acostfor Hollygrove and Mid-City—ahazard placed in theirbackyard. This would neither be equity norenvironmental justice. Fairness would require an exchange. Which hazardous condition would you be willing to acceptin trade?
KEVIN
J. BROWN NewOrleans
In apaved-overcity, floodingwillhappen no matter when we startthe pumps
Recently,itseemed every newsoutlet led with somevariation on the headline, “SWB worker fails to turn on pumps for 45 minutes and the city floods.” Headlines like this makeeveryone dumber and makeasolution further away Flooding wascaused by 5inches of rain. A45-minute delay in starting two pumpstations exacerbated the problem, but makenomistake —wewere going to be flooding anyway That is because we have allowed people to overpave their lots, and code enforcementhas failed to correct them. We’ve allowed businesses to cover every inch of landinconcrete, neverdeveloped stormwater management flood basins andlearned nothingin20years about urbanstormwater management.We’ve tolerated idiotic headlineslikethiswhen we need to be readingthe UrbanWater Plan.
Youcan read this moronic clickbait and remain avictim of poor managementofthe Sewage &Water Board, or youcan go to livingwithwater.com, learn about the Urban Water Plan and demand accountability from your government, your neighbors and yourself.You can do something that will actually worktostop flooding in your community when it rains hard. Blaming the utility will not fixthis. CLARK THOMPSON NewOrleans
Dems pressured flawed candidatetoquit; what do Republicansdo?
The editorial cartoon on July 12 is a perfect example of the hypocrisy and arrogance of the GOP and its followers.
Depicting Democrats as having no moral compass for initially supporting Maine Senate candidate GrahamPlatner is laughable when the opposition party continues to strongly support various rapists and fraudsters (Donald Trump and Texas Senate candidate KenPaxton, to name two). What did Democrats do when confronted with Platner’sbehaviors? They removed support and pressured him to drop out. What have Republicans done in the face of the adjudicated crimes of their candidates? Nothing.
Where’sthe GOP’smoral compass?
JONATHAN TANKEL NewOrleans
Moreno gives herselfhighmarks for first6 months —and rightlyso
Quin Hillyer
When New Orleans Mayor Helena Morenoearlier this monthreleased a report on her first half-year in office, the fresh air was almost palpable. Granted,it’seasy to give agood report card to oneself. Many afailing student would make the dean’slistif self-assessments were thenorm. In Moreno’scase, though, the numerical specificityinher report (assuming her numbers are accurate) means that her selfreport isn’tjust her own opinion: It can be adjudged objectively Moreover,the very existence of such areport shows a commitment to public accountability,and the precise statistics show a dedication to data-driven governance rather than to mere verbal fluff.
Consider these hard numbers: Moreno took office while facing a $223 million budget gap. Through city-worker furloughs and major reductions in travel and overtime spending, Moreno and the City Council saved some $150 million. That’s wise, tough-minded fiscal management. The report also claims credit for securing$125 millionin additional revenues, some of which came through better management and collections of money the city was owed but had previously left unrecovered. We know these numbers are accurate because this administration submitted an annual audit on schedule for only the second time since 2019. Meanwhile, Moreno seems tobe following through on hercampaign pledges to deliver better results on basic city infrastructure management.
Taking apage from the book of former Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who insisted that strict records be maintained about such things, Moreno reports that the city in six months has repaired 5,139 streetlights, filled 15,115 potholes and improved 1,365 linearfeet of sidewalks.
Those numbers sound impressive. It would help if there were comparisonsavailable —such as how many streetlights and potholes got fixed in prior six-month time frames —but even without acontextual framework, those numbers show areal, assiduous focus on attacking those long-running drawbacks to life in the Crescent City
Then there’sviolent crime. Moreno certainly can’ttake all thecredit, because crimerates (fornumerous reasons) already had been falling for more than two years before she took office. Still, her administration just as certainly deserves some of the
JobCorridors.
applause for the fact that, compared to the same period in 2025, nonfatal shootings are down another 19% and homicides have dropped by 22%.
Thereportcovers significant other topics, too, from economic development to “community investment” to healthand human services.Suffice it to say thatthe specificity on those fronts, too, isadmirable, and the trend linesare good.
Of course, major problems remain with street flooding, with slow road and drainage repairs in the French Quarter andother facets of city life.
Much of theblame tends to flow (evenifthe water doesn’t flow where it is supposed to!) to the Sewerage and WaterBoard, for which the mayor is the presidentbut lacks much actual control.
Right now,it’stoo early to judge Moreno’sperformance there, but with the full support of her and the council, the state Legislature is ensuring thatthe proverbial bucks will land on theirdesks in thefuture.
Act 938 gives theCityCouncil more authorityover the S&WB,including greater say in fees, rates, budgets, hiring and capital planning.
Before rushingin, though, the mayor in June appointed anew advisory group to help provide direction for the greater responsibilities. This kind of careful planning is usually wise.
We should hope, though, that it doesn’t devolve into just more de-
lays:Astudy committee that doesn’t lead quickly to deliberateaction can become just another bureaucratic roadblock. The city’smassive drainage problems obviously are amatter of urgency,sothe advisorycommittee, theCityCouncil and the mayor must move with dispatch. Encouragingly,look for the council to passanordinance implementing thenew state law as early as Aug. 6. Speaking of advisorycouncils, Moreno alsohas appointed atask force to reform theNew Orleans Recreation Department, and my civic-sector sources right now say early signs from it are encouraging. With allofthis,let’sacknowledge a word of caution: Plenty of elected executives start out well, but then lose momentum (or worse). Moreno herselftold me Tuesday that “continuing to repair finances and figuring out a pathtoend volatilitywithsome state leaderswill be major challenges to work through.” Nonetheless: “For the first time in along time, people feel hopeful for our city…. While we’re off to agood start, we have so much more work to do.” From my vantage point, the assessment of the “good start” is right on target. Moreno hasshown energy, resolve, realismand leadership. So far,indeed, so good.
Email QuinHillyer at quin.hillyer@ theadvocate.com
Renewedwar meansGOP worries
In the last week, the war in Iran has seemedlike awar again,after along time in agray area that was neither warnor peace. Now,withboth sides shooting at each other, war is back. And, politically, the threat that the war presents to Republican prospects in the midterm elections is back, too.
What thewave of Neo-Nazis says aboutus
On July 4, the nation’s250th anniversary,amysterious group of young meninkhaki pants, navy blue shirts, logoed baseball caps and white face masks surfaced in the capital, marching out of adowntown Metro subway station and into the news.
By now they look oddly familiar,part of the menagerie of uniformed street brawlers and torch-carriers that emerged in the tumultuous first term of President Donald Trump. And there are unsavory historical echoes as well. Though smaller in number,the neo-Nazis in the capital brought to mind the 1925 parade down Pennsylvania Avenue by thousands of robed Ku Klux Klansmen in avisible show of strength. Indeed, the Patriot Front —the group that marched this month —appears to have similar publicity-seeking aimsasthe Klansmen of yore: to red-white-and-blue-wash their violent bigotry.Unfortunately for them, passersby appearedtobemuch more concerned about the stifling 100-degreeheat dome that settled over the city with particularly ferocity Performers must sometimes suffer for their art. Given the opportunity to perform, alot of people will do precisely that, across awide variety of media as long as they can pull in an audience.
That’svery true of the Patriot Front, an ethnonationalist group whose idea of “patriotic”apparently does not include non-Whites, non-Christians or apparently nonmales. They were foundedbyTexan Thomas Rousseau after the bloody 2017 Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, whentheysplit fromanother racist organization called Vanguard America. I first heard of the group in 2021 when theystaged a protest at Chicago’sCity Hall, which theyapparently planned to coincide with the annual anti-abortion “March for Life” rally in the Loop. (The organizers of the latter were not pleased.)
Iwas suitably disgusted but not shocked, as I’ve observed these kinds of groups before Today’sPatriot Front reminds me of Frank Collin, the neo-Nazi leader who famously wageda legal battle in the late 1970s for the right to marchinSkokie,Illinois, aChicago suburb with aheavily Jewish population. Collin later settled for the right to marchinMarquette Park on Chicago’sSouth Side. Yettoday’syoung fascists have learned from the mistakes of Collin’s“Illinois Nazis,” whose campy cosplay wasmemorably lampooned in the movie “The Blues Brothers.” As NPR reported, Patriot Front scrupulously avoids swastikas andNazisalutes, preferring to wrapthemselves in classically American symbols and to present themselves orderly and public-spirited.
On July 4, they got the publicity bump they were hoping for.AReuters photographer captureda Pulitzer-worthy news photo of aBlack woman, sitting quietly alone on asubway car,surrounded by masked Frontmen, on their best silent behavior
Sights like that cause me to keep reminding myself that, no, this is not the 1960s. We’ve come alongway since those bad old days, to be sure. But as today’spolitics keep reminding us, we still have alongway to go We’re anation that elected aBlack mantoour highest office, but we also elected Donald Trump.
But I’m still curious about whatmotivates the 400 or so young mentoleave their homes andtaketothe streets dressed like demented preppies. Their grievances, Ihave to say,are not very well articulated, judging by the Patriot Front website
Is it to fill avoid of fellowship and meaning in an increasingly online world? Is this the dark side —or, if you prefer,the white side —ofthe social media “manosphere”?
Three U.S. servicemembers were killed in Jordan on Friday,bringing the total American deaths in the war to 17. More than 400 have been wounded. On Monday, U.S. Central Command announced a10th consecutive day of strikes against Iran. Fox News reported that President Donald Trump wasconsidering areturn to “full-scale war operations against Iran.” To say this is worrying some Republicans running for Congress this November wouldbeanunderstatement. “I know of zeroRepublican strategists or campaigns that believe continued hostilities are good for our chances in the midterms,”said one GOP strategist, who asked not to be named. “Zero.”
ranks abovethe war in voter concern, as does immigration. But thewar isstill areal worry,and, to thedegree that voters link it to gasprices, which is one of themost important componentsofthe real top concern —the cost of living —the war alwayshas the potential to dash Republican hopes. Right now,infact, gas prices are risingagain.
If the polls are correct, most U.S. voters oppose thewar.Polling analyst Nate Silver’saverage of polls on thesimple do-you-support-or-doyou-oppose question for the war is 58.3% oppose, versus 33.8% support
TheRealClearPolitics average of approval of Trump’s handling of the war is prettyclose to that, with 60.4% disapproveversus37% approve.
Republicans can hope thisstrategist is overstating things.After all, the war,atleast at this moment,is not the voters’ greatest concern.That remains the cost of living andthe economy overall.Healthcare also
Iasked the Republican strategist what hewas seeing. “Two weeks after the war started, it was atie,” he answered.“Now,itismore than 60% unfavorable.” Obviously,that number includes ahigh level of opposition among Democrats, but it also includes an alarming —for Republicans —level of opposition among independent voters. “Independentsare acting like Democrats on the conflict with Iran,” thestrategist said. The unpredictability of events aroundthe war is keeping many
Republicans on edge. The conflict is now in its fifth month, after Trump repeatedly promised aquick victory Pressed about the length of the war, thepresident has occasionally noted that the U.S. was in Vietnam for 19 years. That’s about the worst possible answer,given the long-running disaster in Vietnam, but in any event, it does not matter today that this or thatwar was longer.The voters will decide whether they think this war has gone on too long. The president has said, perhaps moretimes than can be counted, that an end to the war was coming very soon. He has said theIranians desperately want adeal to end the war.Yet what happened, with the now-dead memorandum of understanding, was along negotiation followed by alopsided agreement that large numbers of Americansthought was not agood deal for theUnited States and which Iran began violating immediately So now thewar is escalating again. If theprevious monthshave been any lesson, it could be abumpy ride. Andfor Republican strategistsand candidates working toward this November’selections? It’sa worrisome picture.
Byron York is on X, @Bryon York. Email him at byork@washingtonexaminer.com.
That’sapopular label for the myriadwebsites, blogs, podcasters and online forums thatpromote a hyped-up version of masculinity,misogyny and antifeminism to an audience that seems endlessly hungry for such content.
It’shard to disentangle the ideologicalstrands of the online hard right, but asimilar discourse hasgrown up around White identity.Athread thatruns through neo-Nazi and other hard-right groups is the fear of other races, whose numbers and place in society seem to them uncomfortably on the rise, at the expense of White men. Consider the so-called GreatReplacement conspiracy theory.This is the notion, endlessly propagated online, that White populations in modern Western countries are being replaced by Brown and Black alien populations, and that this replacement is aproject —commonly attributed to Jews.
This was behind the infamous chant at Unite the Right in Charleston: “Jews will not replace us!” It also supplied the motive of the murderer who killed11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, as well as numerous other attacks.
As anation, we have been slow to understand the hate-inflected extremism that flourishesinanew media landscape with no editorial oversight andnosanction for the harm bad actors maydo. Norisitobvious what to do about it.
YetI’m still old-fashioned enough to believe we do our young men—and women— averyvaluable service by encouraging them to live, learn and work together across racial, religious and genderlines —as Americans. That’strue patriotism to me, front, back and sideways.
Email Clarence Page at clarence47page@gmail.com.
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
MayorHelena Moreno speaks during the launch announcement of the New Orleans East Investment and
Byron York
Clarence Page
Lake Powell water levels near historic lows
BY DORANY PINEDA and JOHN LOCHER Associated Press
PAGE,Ariz. — Matt Barrett has seen Lake Powell drop nearly every year since 2013 or so, when he started making annual treks to the reservoir on the Utah-Arizona border Some very snowy winters helped it rebound quickly, but this year was far from that.
“We need another one of those fast,” he said recently “A few of those fast.”
The severely depleted lake has made it harder for people like him to access the water because all the other boat ramps are dried up,” said Barrett, who planned to spend some days with his wife boating and camping around the lake. “So it’s kind of a big deal when the water is low, especially for loading and unloading.”
The Colorado River’s Lake Powell, the second largest reservoir in the U.S., is shrinking. A record-dry winter and extreme heat — as well as decades of overuse, chronic drought and climate change — are threatening to pummel the lake to near historic lows. Low water levels have forced marinas in this important tourist destination to adapt. Boat ramps have closed or moved, new ones are being added and marinas have been temporarily relocated to deeper waters.
“The Colorado River is in fullblown crisis mode,” said John Berggren, regional policy manager with Western Resource Advocates, an environmental nonprofit. But there’s still enough water on Lake Powell for recreation, marina managers say Historic lows
Lake Powell is currently about 23% full and is about 33 feet from reaching water levels so low that hydropower can’t be produced. The reservoir could break its all-time record low in early September.
Together with U.S.’s largest reservoir Lake Mead downstream, the two bodies of water are the lowest
they’ve been in nearly 70 years.
The last time their combined storage was this small was in May 1957 when Glen Canyon Dam that holds back Powell was being built, according to a recent paper published by a group of academics and retired water officials. Powell began to fill in 1963
“There’s less water in the two reservoirs than there has ever been at any time in the history of Lake Powell even existing,” said Jack Schmidt, the paper’s lead author and director for the Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State University Combined, Mead and Powell hold slightly less than 60% of all water stashed in the basin. “It is a reminder that we are significantly failing in our ability to control and reduce our basin-wide consumptive use.”
The authors warn the reservoirs will continue to deplete until this winter’s snowpack begins melting in the spring. “Every day going forward a record low will likely be set,” they wrote. “This is a significant moment in the evolving Colorado River water supply crisis.”
The Colorado River feeding these reservoirs is relied upon by farmers, industries, wildlife, hydropower and more than 40 million people in seven U.S. states, tribal nations and Mexico. Up to 1 million acrefeet of water is being delivered from Flaming Gorge Reservoir upstream through next April to keep Powell above critical elevations, and the federal government is expected to soon announce its preferred short-term plan for how the states — California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah — should share the river’s dwindling resources.
Current guidelines expire this year, and states haven’t reached a longterm agreement At Lake Powell near Page, Arizona, a bathtub ring of light minerals on the canyon wall shows the reservoir’s high water mark. People ride a golf cart some 20 feet below a dock used during higher water levels.
Reservoirs struggling Lake Powell is among eight west-
ern reservoirs the Bureau of Reclamation has flagged for being at or near-record lows.
Elephant Butte State Park in New Mexico the largest reservoir along the Rio Grande, which is not connected to the Colorado River is at about 2% capacity Critically low water levels forced two boat ramps to close in June, and heavy equipment is now needed daily to clear sediment at the main ramp so boats can launch.
Richard Holcomb, mayor of Elephant Butte said the county is seeing fewer tourists and regular visitors.
“Many of our weekend homeowners have decided to look elsewhere for water opportunities,” he said.
“This hits our gross receipts tax, which is a major source of our revenue” that helps pay for infrastructure improvements.
New Mexico water managers will be under pressure for meeting delivery obligations to Texas under a settlement recently approved by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Researchers have warned unsustainable use of the Rio Grande
— which originates in Colorado and extends into Mexico — threatens water security for millions of people.
Marinas keep adapting
The National Park Service warns visitors that low water levels have created new navigation hazards, from newly exposed shorelines to submerged obstacles to narrower or shifting channels. Its current elevation is so low that it’s not safe for houseboats and small motorized vehicles to launch from most ramps, some of which have had to close. And fewer ramps generally mean longer lines and more congestion. Various projects are being developed or are underway to enable water access as levels dwindle At the Antelope Point Marina, there are plans to spend about $81 million to extend a ramp to allow lake access when water levels are as low as 3,520 feet. Kenneth Runnels, chief administrator with Antelope Point Holdings, said it’ll be built and ready for use next year. “We’ll be able to launch no matter what.”
Elsewhere, a marina on the lake at Bullfrog Bay is being moved to deeper waters and a new boat ramp and marina access will be built at an estimated $73.4 million price tag. And the Wahweap Stateline ramp is being continually extended. “As the water goes down, they continue to pour concrete to make it go deeper and deeper,” said Runnels. The
which is going to get fixed by the improvements in the ramp.”
Pineda reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press reporter Susan Montoya Bryan contributed from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
SPORTS
Golding stands tall, butSept. 19 adifferent beast
TAMPA, Fla. Pete Goldingwon SEC media days on Wednesday
BITTER DIVORCE
Other than astray curse word referring to barnyard manure (since Nick Saban dropped abomb on “College GameDay” I think football coaches believe they have carte blanche to follow suit),the Hammond native and still new Ole Miss coach trumped all theothers here so far in the affable and engaging department. He was even alittle selfdeprecating. When asked what was different about him from when hewas the Ole Miss defensivecoordinator,hesaid:“I’m thinner.”
Unless Lane Kiffin—speakingofthinner,Georgia’sKirby Smart called theHot Yoga King the Adonis of coaches —decides to punch back with some instantly viral remark when he takes the podium here Thursday,itwon’tbeacontest. That would be out of character for the still new LSU coach. Kiffinhas areputation forbeing fairly subdued at these things. Talking season is one thing. The real season is 180 degrees different.And everyone knowswhen and where the most important contest between these twomen andtheir teams will be: Sept. 19 in Oxford Kiffinneeds that win to validatehis move to LSU, to what he has so oftensaid is the better job. Golding needs to win to validatehimself as acoach, his 2-1 post-Kiffinrecord in this past season’sCollege Football Playoffnot withstanding. When asked about allegationsoftampering by Clemson coach DaboSwinney
Tampa,Fla.
BY JON BLAU Staff writer
TAMPA, Fla. As Ole Miss took thestageWednesday for SECmedia days,the Rebels understood theirroleina larger storyline. They are college football’sjilted lover.The program LaneKiffincoached until LSUstole him away Ole Miss coach Pete Golding didn’ttry to pretend there weren’tbitter feelings in Oxford, Mississippi. He acknowledgesthe storyofKiffin, LSU and OleMissalways will be intertwined.
“Are you married?” Golding asked amale reporter in Tampa. “If you do get married, right, and you have an ex that your wife knows about, she doesn’teverage,she’s never dead. That’s kind of where it is right now.”
Kiffinisstill on theOle Miss faithful’scollective consciousness, especially since LSU visits Ole Miss on Sept. 19 in oneofthe mosthighlyanticipated games of theseason
During theathleticdepartment’sRebel Road Trip, Golding has been pulled aside by severalfans, asking: “Tellmewhat you really think about him.”
Golding has been blunt with his reply: He didn’tknow Kiffinall that well before he came to Oxford in 2023. Their tenures didn’toverlap at Alabama, and Golding didn’ttakeajob running the Ole Miss defense because Kiffinwas his best bud.
Buttheyaren’t enemies just because Kiffinleft for another SEC school.
“He did alot formeand Iwas very,very appreciative
SEC, page 4C
Saints hope production carriesoveronedge
BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer
As he remained unsigned formostofthis offseason, Cam Jordan couldn’tquite stop paying attention to the New OrleansSaints
The veteran pass rusher monitoredevery movethe franchise made, especiallythe ones relatedtohis position But over the lastfew months,the Saints never made the splash at edge rusher that Jordan and plenty of others thought was possible. Sure, New Orleans took aflyer by trading for aformer top-10 pick whose career hasn’tlived up to expectations. And yes, they broughtback veteran ChrisRumph and signed aveteran who has startingexperience.But those moves were afar cry from drafting apass rusher in the first round or trading for awell-established veteran Thedecisions paved theway forJordan’s return for a16th season, but were they enough to improve the pass rush?
The Saints are coming off aseasonin which they ranked 10th in sacks. Theyhad apair of edgerushers recordatleast10 sacks for the first time since 2013. New Orleansalso didn’tgenerate pressure as consistently as thosenumbers
would suggest. The Saints ranked just 21st in pressure rate (32.6%), according to Next GenStats.New Orleans’ averagetimeto pressure was 2.83 seconds, the fifth-slowest rate in the league.
The contrast between those ideas —that the Saints were good at bringing down the quarterback but so-soatgettingtohim sets up an interesting storyline to monitor this coming season.
Depthchart (name, height,weight, experience)
n Chase Young, 6-5, 265 pounds, 7
n Carl Granderson, 6-5, 261, 8
n Cam Jordan, 6-4, 287, 16
n Tyree Wilson, 6-5, 263, 4
n Anfernee Jennings, 6-2, 255, 7
n Chris Rumph, 6-2, 244, 6
n FadilDiggs, 6-4, 257, 2
n Michael Heldman, 6-3, 268, R
Numberstoknow: 10 in 12
If the Saints can generate more pressure and still rank top 10 in sacks, they’re going to need some big-time
BY GUERRYSMITH Contributing writer
Scott Rabalais
PROVIDED PHOTOByTODD VANEMST/SEC
Miss coach Pete Golding speaks on
AP FILE PHOTO By THOMAS GRANING
Then-Ole Miss defensivecoordinator Pete
Golding,left, and coach Lane Kiffinchat before agame against UL on Nov. 18, 2023, in Oxford, Miss. Golding and Kiffinare setto face off on Sept. 19.
8 p.m. Edmonton at Saskatchewan
5
Scheffler savoring hospitality at 3M Open
BY DAVE CAMPBELL AP sportswriter
BLAINE, Minn. — Scottie Scheffler left the British Open with some frustration after another near miss in a major championship and traveled straight to Minnesota for his first appearance in the 3M Open.
A week off after the last major of the season would have made sense for the world’s top-ranked player, but Scheffler was focused on keeping his game sharp ahead of the FedEx Cup playoffs — and find some off-the-course respite for him and his supporting cast.
“The people have been tremendous, the fans have been really nice to me so far, and the tournament seems to do a really good job just taking care of everybody,” Scheffler said Wednesday after playing a ninehole pro-am with Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell.
“Clubhouse has been good. Food’s been really good Family’s taken care of. Caddie’s taken care of. Those are the things at a tournament when everybody around me is getting taken care of as well, it’s really easy for us to come and play.”
Hollis Cavner is happy to hear that The tournament’s director and chief executive officer of Pro Links Sports has made player hospitality a priority since the 3M Open was added to the PGA Tour schedule in 2019.
From the catered family dinners on the clubhouse patio each night to the inflatables and magicians for the kids, the event at TPC Twin Cities a half-hour’s drive north of Minneapolis has become well-regarded by players, even if its calendar placement has limited the star power in the fields.
“People seem to be really thankful that we’re here which is surprising for a golf tournament,” Scheffler said. “I was kind of taken aback by how nice people have been.”
Scheffler’s presence has put the tournament on pace for record attendance.
“Every tent and every skybox sold out for the pro-am,” Cavner said. “We’re really getting in position now where we feel like we’ve arrived.”
Though this will be his fifth tournament in six weeks, including two in Britain, Scheffler didn’t want to enter the playoffs after three weeks off. Plus, Cavner who is a longtime friend of Scheffler’s coach Randy Smith and agent Blake Smith, has been relentless in his requests to have Scheffler make his first visit to Minnesota. Caddie Ted Scott also has a positive view of the course from his previous work with Bubba Watson.
“We’ve been talking to him for years, working him and working him and working him,” Cavner said. “Finally, they relented.”
There are several players in contention for the playoffs who could use a strong showing this week to climb above the cut.
Jason Day, Brian Harman, Tom Hoge and 2022 3M Open champion Tony Finau are currently outside the top 70.
Scheffler, who had his third top-four finish in four majors this year at the British Open, has not won a tournament since The American Express in California in January
“One of the things that I’ve always kind of prided myself on is the consistency. That’s something that shows that I’m playing some pretty good golf,” Scheffler said.
Model for fast play
British Open champion Fox clinched first major title with 12-foot birdie putt that took him only 22 seconds to hit
BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer
SOUTHPORT, England — More than a British Open champion Ryan Fox has become the new face of playing quickly in a sport that could use a good example.
Perhaps the best illustration came during the most important moment of his life. He had a 12foot birdie putt to win his first major pressure as great as can be found in golf. The 39-year-old Fox took all of 22 seconds to send it on its way
He chose his words carefully Sunday evening to make sure he didn’t offend.
“I need to make sure this comes across right,” Fox said. “It’s not that difficult to pick a shot and pick a club. I get in there, and it all happens quick. It’s always going to be between one or two clubs into a green, and I just see the shot quickly, pick a shot quickly, and the less time I have to think about it, the less bad stuff can creep in there.”
It was all good Sunday the perfect drive, the perfect 9-iron, the perfect putt.
Fox joins a short list of players renowned for getting on with it during the big money era Joe Ogilvie and Bill Haas, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, Lucas Glover and Matt Jones.
Fox was asked if anyone was quicker than him, and he mentioned Renato Paratore of Italy
“He used to hit while his name was getting announced on the first tee,” Fox said.
He also shared a story involving Scottie Scheffler, who did not make the list. He said they played in a threesome during the Phoenix Open.
“I can’t work out if this was a burn or a compliment,” Fox said.
“We walk off the ninth tee and he goes: ‘Foxy, it doesn’t even feel like you’re in the group. It just feels like we’re playing in a twoball, you hit so fast.’
“It’s just always how I’ve played.
I’m kind of glad I kept that routine down the stretch.”
Begay wins Stewart award
Notah Begay was been chosen to receive the Payne Stewart Award, an honor that dates to 2000 and has become one of the highest awards for a PGA Tour member It honors character, sportsmanship and charity commitments.
Along with his four PGA Tour victories and being the only fullblooded Native American on the tour, Bay founded the NB3 Foundation, which emphasizes health and wellness challenges facing Native American youth and their communities.
“Notah Begay III has always used his platform to make a meaningful and lasting impact, particu-
finish got him into the 3M Open at the TPC Twin Cities. His top 10 also gets him into the British Open next year at St. Andrews.
“I didn’t expect to be in this position competing against the best players in the world,” Jarvis said. “I didn’t see myself coming top 10 in The Open. The last seven months have been a little bit of a blur.”
Making the cut
larly within his Native American communities, and that ongoing work no doubt reflects the values of character, compassion and leadership that define the Payne Stewart Award,” PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said.
Begay will be honored on Aug. 25 in Atlanta during the Tour Championship. The award was created after the death of Payne Stewart in a plane crash in October 1999, the year he won the U.S. Open.
“Payne Stewart represented the very best of our game, not only in how he competed, but in how he lived his life and gave back to others,” Begay said “To be associated with his legacy is truly special. Golf has given me a platform to serve, and I’ve always believed it’s our responsibility to use that platform to uplift others, especially the next generation.”
PGA Tour home stretch
The 3M Open this week in Minnesota starts a three-week stretch to determine the top 70 who reach the lucrative PGA Tour postseason.
Among those on the outside of the top 70 are Keegan Bradley at No. 72, and Brooks Koepka, who returned from LIV Golf but is at No 82 in the standings. One spot behind him is Tony Finau.
PGA champion Aaron Rai, meanwhile, missed the cut at the British Open and is the only major champion to be outside the top 30.
Rai is at No. 33.
Lots of air miles
South African golfers are used to traveling, and Casey Jarvis has quite the itinerary going.
Jarvis who won back-to-back weeks on the European tour in February and March, began his journey at the Italian Open. He went to the BMW International Open in Germany the following week, then to the Scottish Open and the British Open at Birkdale.
And now it’s off to Minnesota.
Jarvis closed with a 66 on Sunday to tie for sixth, and the top-10
Star 3B Ramírez returns to Guardians after surgery
CLEVELAND The Guardians managed without José Ramírez. They’d rather not have to do that again. Ramírez was activated from the injury list on Wednesday after the seven-time All-Star third baseman missed five weeks following left hand surgery Cleveland stayed near the top of the AL Central while he was out, a testament to the young club’s depth and resolve “The last five weeks could have been a lot different, and it wasn’t,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “We kept our heads above water You can use all the cliches you want, but we did not let the last five weeks determine the rest of our season.” Ramírez had been sidelined since getting hurt against Detroit on June 13 and having an operation to remove the hamate bone in his left hand.
Former WNBA stars to compete in All-Star event
The WNBA is going with a shooting stars competition instead of its skills challenge, pairing one former great with a current player in the league on Friday night as part of All-Star weekend.
Seattle will be represented by former star Lauren Jackson and Flau’jae Johnson, a former LSU standout. Washington will have former great Elena Delle Donne partnered with Shakira Austin. Dallas, which started out as a franchise in Detroit, will pair Jessica Shepard with Deanna Nolan. Minnesota will have Rebekkah Brunson playing with Courtney Williams.
Each team will also include a standout high school player from Nike EYBL, bringing together three generations of women’s basketball in one competition.
Cardinals lineman Adams arrested on gun charges
Xander Schauffele extended his streak of 19 consecutive cuts made in the majors, one ahead of Scottie Scheffler They were among 14 players who made the cut in all four majors this year Schauffele hasn’t missed a cut since the 2022 Masters, while Scheffler last missed at the PGA Championship a month later in 2022.
Corey Conners is the only other player to have made all four major cuts in each of the past three years, his last weekend off at a major coming at the 2023 U.S. Open.
The other players to make every cut in a major this year: Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young, Sam Burns, Collin Morikawa, Hideki Matsuyama, Ludvig Aberg, Chris Gotterup, Ben Griffin, Michael Brennan, Justin Thomas and Kurt Kitayama.
The flip side was Harry Hall, the only player to miss the cut in all four majors.
Divots
Along with being a good bloke, Ryan Fox is an engraver’s dream. The seven letters in his name for the base of the claret jug were the fewest since Ted Ray won the British Open in 1912. Adam Scott’s consecutive major streak reached 101 at the British Open, and he’s in the Masters for life, so it will go to No. 102 in April. Scott also is assured of being back at the British Open next year He tied for ninth at Royal Birkdale with a 66 in the final round. Fox (No. 56) is the first player outside the top 50 to win the British Open since Darren Clarke was at No. 111 when he won in 2011 at Royal St. George’s.
Ryan Fox moved to No. 2 in the Presidents Cup standings for the International team and would figure to be a lock for the matches at Medinah in September
Stat of the week
Cameron Young was No. 4 in the world when he won the Cadillac Championship at Doral on May 3. He is the last player to win on the PGA Tour while being ranked in the top 10.
Final word
“It’s going to ruin a lot of guys’ Monday mornings.” — Ryan Fox, on what impact his British Open title would have in his native New Zealand.
TEMPE, Ariz Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Isaiah Adams was arrested in Canada recently on four weapons charges. Adams, 25, was charged with possession of a firearm obtained in a crime, possession of a restricted/prohibited firearm, no license while in possession of a loaded firearm and possessing a prohibited device, according to an online release from the Durham Regional Police Service in Ontario. Adams was one of four people arrested.
The report says that on Friday police concluded an investigation into a man believed to be in possession of a firearm and involved in drug trafficking. Two of the other people arrested were charged with possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute.
Cardinals sign QB Beck to rookie deal before camp
TEMPE, Ariz. — The Arizona Cardinals agreed to a four-year rookie deal with quarterback Carson Beck on Wednesday, one day before the team has its first practice of training camp.
The 24-year-old Beck looks as if he’ll be part of a three-man quarterback competition when training camp begins on Thursday, facing off against veterans Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew Kedon Slovis is also on the roster The Cardinals are led by first-year coach Mike LaFleur Beck was drafted in the third round out of Miami after leading the Hurricanes to a runner-up finish in the College Football Playoff last season. The Cardinals have now signed all of the players in their most recent draft class.
More than 66 million in U.S. watched World Cup final PHILADELPHIA A historic summer for soccer in the United States was capped Sunday with one more record broken, as 66.4 million Americans watched Spain’s title win over Argentina.
The audience showed up despite the game ending in a 1-0 score including extra time. Ferran Torres had the breakthrough in the 106th of what proved to be 140 minutes of game clock, counting all the stoppage time.
Fox reported an audience of 42.5 million for its English-language broadcast, a new high for a soccer audience on a single channel. Telemundo’s audience of 23.9 million also set a record for the biggest viewership of a soccer game in Spanish.
Scheffler
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JON SUPER
Ryan Fox of New Zealand putts on the 18th green during the third day of the British Open on Saturday at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
NBC golf analyst Notah Begay walks on the 14th green during the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 8, 2024, in Orlando, Fla.
left, takesa pass as Oklahoma CityThunder guard Shai GilgeousAlexanderdefendsduring aplayoff game on May9 in LosAngeles.
Taking hissweet time
HowLeBron’slingering decision is holdingupthe Sixers andthe NBA
BY GINA MIZELL
The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)
PHILADELPHIA Thelatest turn in LeBron James’ free agency saga happened late Tuesday,when the Miami Heat published aYouTube livestream link scheduledfor July 27 titled “LeBron James Introductory Press Conference.”
AHeat spokesperson told multiple outlets it wasa mistake by the organization’ssocialmedia team which prepared the livestream in the event James chose to return to Miami. That is believable, considering that, since July 2, The Philadelphia Inquirer hashad versions of breaking news stories ready for whenever James chooses the 76ers or another team. That firework broke up the LeBron-relatednothingness of recent days.
The all-time great did not announcehis new destination during multiple public appearances at Fanatics Fest in New York City late last week, even after some light coaxing by fellow NBA star and podcast guestTyrese Haliburton.
The rumblings that James’ announcement would come early this week —aka, after the World Cup final —were incorrect. And agent Rich Paul saidonhis “Game Over” podcast released Monday that James would not rush his decision.
“It’shis choicetomake,” Paul said of James. “And whenhe makes the choice, he’ll make it.”
So we are now officially more than three weeks into thewaiting game. Much longer than James’ nationally televised —and vilified —2010 decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliersto takehis talents to SouthBeach (July8). Or when he announced his triumphant returntoCleveland in a2014 letter published in Sports Illustrated (July 11). Or when Paul’sagency,Klutch Sports,
SAINTS
Continued from page1C
performances.
Let’s start with Chase Young. When healthy,helooked like the Saints’ best player.Despite missing the first five gameslast year with acalf injury,the formersecond overall pick returnedtoactionand racked up acareer-high 10 sacks in 12 games. Hisoutput put him on pace for a141/2-sack campaign over 17games, and the Saints certainly would take that in 2026. If his production continues that way,hecould be in line for a massive extension, as nextoffseasonisthe finalyear of the threeyear,$51 million deal he signed in March 2025. Elsewhere, Jordan hasnoted he needs eight sacks to reach 140 for his career —atotal he said should all but guarantee his Hall of Fame credentials.Jordan’sresurgent 101/2-sack season in 2025 came as asurprise to everyone butJordan, whomaintained he had plenty left in the tank. This year will be atest of whether the resurgence can last. Jordan’spressure rateof9.4% was his highest since 2020, though it was the lowest of the 15 players to record double-digit sacks.
The other name to mention is Carl Granderson. In what has been atheme throughout hiscareer, Granderson startedoff strong before cooling off considerably last season. He finished with six sacks
COMMENTARY
sent outa 2018 news release that James would signwith the Los Angeles Lakers (July 9).
It is not only holding up theSixers, butmuch of the league.
James is nolonger aperennial MVP contender,but still an AllStar-caliber player at age 41, and essentially has halted the second wave of free agency.Teams that still believe they are in contention to landJames —which also are desirable options for other veterans androle players looking to win —are holding aroster spot for him
When James makes his pick, theteamsthat do not land him will moveontoplayers still in limbo, which includes the likes of DeMar DeRozan and Jonathan Kuminga.
That Paul has said money is not afactor for James —aka, that he will take aminimumcontract eliminates theurgency during the early free-agency flurry,when salary cap space and players are at apremium.
NBA commissioner Adam Silverevenacknowledged lastweek that James’ decisionisdelaying thecreation of the NBA schedule —which typically is released in mid-August —because his longstanding popularitydemands that histeam play in premier televisionmatchups.
August also is when amostly around-the-clock league goes on hiatusuntil Labor Day,when players reconveneattheir team facilities for informal workouts before trainingcamps begin in late September
That period is when staffers from front-facing executives and coaches, to important behind-thescenes figures —plan vacations followingmonthsofnontraditional work schedules that require extensivetravel and consistent
despiteentering Week 3tied for theleague lead with 31/2.Grandersonwent 12 straight gameswithouta sack before recording 11/2 in theteam’sseason finale against the Atlanta Falcons.
Thelowdown
Young, Jordan and Granderson have plentytoplay for in 2026, but the samecan be said about the rest of thegroup
The newcomers, TyreeWilson andAnfernee Jennings, will have to carve out rolesintraining camp in ordertosee the field. Neither playercost alot for the Saints to acquire. New Orleans sent a fifthround pick to Las Vegas for Wilson on Day 3ofthe draft, while Jennings signed aone-year,$1.4 million contract. Both haveupside, and theSaints will see whether they can harness thetalent that led to Wilson being picked seventh overall in 2023, while Jennings has been a reliable run defender throughout his career withthe New England Patriots
Should the Saints have done more to address the position? The answer to that may comeonly with hindsight,but it’scertainly up for debate. The Saints notably passed on Rueben Bain in the draft, with the Miami product falling to No. 15 andthe TampaBay Buccaneers. A run of edge rushers did start in Round2 —withRMasonThomas and Cashius Howell pickedright before the Saints’ selection at No.
42 —but New Orleans still chose to take an interiordefensive line-
targeted in crackdown on disrupting pitchers
BY RONALD BLUM AP baseball writer
NEW YORK New York Yankees
shortstop José Caballero was targeted by Major League Baseball for some “pest” control, sparking yet another squabble.
WearyofCaballero’s routine of waitingtoacknowledge the pitcherjustbeforethe pitchclock reaches eight seconds,MLB told umpires Wednesday hisregimen amounted to deception.
Plate umpire Quinn Wolcott chargedCaballero with apitchclock violation in the sixthinning that ledtoa strikeoutand the ejection of hitting coach James RowsonasNew York lost adoubleheader opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3in10 innings.
“I’veseen other guys do some otherthings andtheydon’t call anything on them,” Caballero said.“They’re just picking on me.”
causeaviolation,” Wolcotttolda pool reporter.“There’snoother hitterthatgets in the box, takes the amount of thetimethat Caballero does while looking down, notmaking eye contact with the pitcher.Obviously it’s caused a lotofproblems in the past. It’s not going to be allowed anymore.” MLB adopted thepitchclock for the 2023 season in an effort to cut game times. It hasbeen 15 seconds with no runnersand 18 seconds with runners since 2024. In cracking down on Caballero, MLB cited aprovision in its Pace of Game Procedures thatstates: “Conduct by batters designedto deceive apitcherintobeginning theirwindup or coming to the setpositioninviolation of these regulations shall be considered circumvention.”
Crewchief Adrian Johnson said the series opener skirmish caused MLB to take action.
nightsand weekends.
New Sixers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey told The Philadelphia Inquirer at Las Vegas summer league earlier this month that he has barely seen his four children since taking this job and that his family still needs to find ahome in the Philly area. Some might scoff at feeling empathy toward the wealthy in high-profile NBAjobs, but these still are people.
“I just need abreak,” said Gansey,whose whirlwind start with theSixers also included the blockbuster trade for All-NBA wing Jaylen Brown. “I thinkweall do, just because (this offseason has) been so much.”
The mostcynical also could say that James is doing all of this for content for Paul’spodcast or for sheer attention after asomewhat awkwardend to his Lakerstenure once the team shockingly acquired Luka Doncic in February 2025 and signed Austin Reaves to afour-year,$185 million maximumcontract.
This saga surely will be a prominent component of aJames documentary that reportedly has been in theworks for years. It is evidence of the power James possesses as acultural icon and stellar player,even entering his league-record 24th season.
YetGansey said he understood thegravityofJames’ choice. This is abasketball legend determining his (likely) final on-court act.
“I have all the respect in the world for him, and he’ssmart as heck,”said Gansey,afellow Ohioan who previously worked his way up theCavaliers’ front office. “He’sgoing to figure it out and talk to his family.…Whatever he decides, Iknow he’sgoing to makethe right decision.” So theSixers —and therest of theNBA —will continue to wait. Andwait. Andwait.
man (Christen Miller)overother edge rushers on the board,such as Derrick Moore(picked44th by Detroit) and Zion Young (45th by Baltimore). TheSaints also explored acquiring Kayvon Thibodeaux from the NewYork Giants, but the teams couldn’tagree on adeal. The Giants reportedly wanted asecondround pick; New Orleans felt that was too high of aprice and instead focused on landing Wilson from theRaiders at alower cost.
Training camp battle to watch Young and Granderson figure to take themajority of snaps, but what’sthe order after that? And how many edge rushers will the Saints keep on the53-man roster? Those are thequestions to monitor in the weeks and months ahead. Jordan’s résumé likely will give him thenod forthe third spot,aslongas he continuestoproduce. TheSaints hope to tapinto Wilson’spotential in away similartowhat worked for Young, whohas enjoyed abounce back since he joined the Saints in 2024. Wilson’sbreakout isn’tguaranteed. After posting only 12 sacks in 50 games,he’llhavetofendoff Jennings, Rumphand the others behind them to earna rotational spot The Saints kept only four edge rushers on their initial 53-man roster ayear ago.
Email Matthew Paras at matt paras@theadvocate.com
Caballero was acquired from Tampa Bay on July 31 and Yankees manager Aaron Boone acknowledgedhis thoughts on the utility manspun 180degreeswith the swap.
“He’sone of those guys Iwould yell at from thedugout,” Boone said Wednesday morning. “He was apestand Ididn’tlike it.Now Ilike himbecause he’sagood player and he’s on our side.But, yeah,we’ve had alaugh about that.”
During aJune14gameatToronto, Caballero twice was deliberate in raising his head until eight seconds remained on the pitchclock, leading to awarning by plate umpire StevenJaschinski.That prompted adelay of more than twominutes while Caballero, Jaschinski, Boone and crew chief John Tumpane discussedthe situation.
Benches and bullpens cleared at the end of the eighth inning during Monday night’sseries opener when Pirates reliever Dennis Santana yelled at Caballero for taking too long to getready in the batter’sbox. ThenonWednesday, Wolcott charged Caballero with a violation in the sixth inning while the batter faced Carmen Mlodzinski with the Yankees trailing2-0. Afteradelay of 21/2 minutes,Cabellero took acalledthird strike that stranded arunner
“He’s not allowedtodoaninordinate amount of time looking down,trying to getthe pitcherto
“It’snot allowed anymore. It was the cause of abench-clearing situation on Monday night. Major League Baseball steppedin, and theywanted it enforced,” crew chief AdrianJohnson said. “We were instructed not to warn him. We were instructed to violate him.”
Boone said MLB didn’tinform the Yankees before the game of the change in stance.
“It’sembarrassing,” he said. Based on previous conversations with MLB, Boone instructed Caballero to “make sure you’re looking up at nine so that youare alert by eight.
“He actually said that they were making newrulestoday and it’s on me because Iwas deceiving or something like that to the pitcher, which doesn’tmake sense,” Caballero said. “I don’tknow,maybe my English is so bad that Idon’t understand, but deceiving kind of means that you’re trying to trick someone and I’mnot trying to trick someone because Idothe same thing over and over.”
MLBissuedamemoin2023 warning batters not to keep afoot out of the batter’s box, which Willson Contreras called “the Willson rule.”
Caballero claims he is being singled out.
“For everyone, it is eight seconds. For me was nine,” he said. “But nowtheyjust don’twant me to do my routine so it’s kind of like trickyfor me because it’sthe way that Iget settled, theway that I try to approach my at-bats.”
BYSPENCERURQUHART
Staff writer
Gretna-based Young Audiences Charter named anew football coach less than two months before thestart of the season when it tapped former LSUfootball player Elliott Porter Porter,a formerstarting center at LSU, replaces Dennis Christopher as coach.Christopher had been the Yaks coach since 2022 after coachingatSophie B. Wright. “It was aschool decision,” Young Audiences athletic director Everett Jones said. “Wewanted to go in anew,different direction andbring something new and exciting to Young Audiences.”
Theschoolannounced the coaching change on Instagram, also revealing that Deion Taylor is the new basketball coach.
“CoachPorter brings 10 years of coaching experience and a commitment to developing stu-
dent-athletes through discipline, teamwork, leadership and academic success,”the Instagram post from Young Audiences read.
Born in Waggaman, Porter was astandout defensive tackle at Shawbefore moving to centerat LSU. He beganhis collegiate career at Kentucky in 2010 before transferring to LSUthe following season. Taylor,who was born in New Orleans and attended St. Augustine,playedcollege basketball at Richmond before starting his coaching career Young Audiences will compete for districtand postseason honors this year after completing theLHSAA’s two-year transition period for new varsity programs. The football team finished 8-0 last season and is moving up to Class 4A.
Email Spencer Urquhart at surquhart@theadvocate.com.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By MARK TERRILL
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James,
SECMEDIA DAYS
IMPOSSIBLE TASK
1
Most schools would beecstatictowin 11 games, play in the SEC championshipgame andreachthe College Football Playoff. Mostschoolsaren’tAlabama.The Crimson Tide has gone asemi-tepid 20-8 under Kalen DeBoer, whowas asked if he will be judgedbywhether he wins anational championship likeNick Saban did. Six times.“I’m not focusedon that,” DeBoer said.That’sOK, Kalen.Everyone else is. Bama plays at LSU on Nov. 7.
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concerning former Clemson turned Ole Miss linebacker Luke Ferrelli, Golding didn’t issue a flat-out denial.Asyou could probably surmise, Ole Miss kept Ferrelli as far away from media days as possible without him needing apassport.
But Golding was honest in acknowledging he may haveto live with the specter of Kiffin for along, long time.
“If you get married, and there’sanexyour wife knows about, she doesn’tage,” Golding said. “She’sneverdead.”
That’sthe plight of being the man who follows the man, which Golding is. He’saman of the people right now in Mississippi, but let him lose to Kiffinand see how that worm turns. It won’tbewhat Kalen DeBoer is enduring as Saban’s replacement at Alabama, but it’sapotentially prickly time.
As has been pounded into the well-manicuredVaughtHemingway Stadium turf, the animosity between Ole Miss folks and Kiffinhas raged like aCanadian wildfire this offseason. Golding, seemingly with some direct intent, tried totake the heat down anotch when asked about his relationship with Kiffin.
“Lane and Iare good,” he said. “I didnot know coach Kiffinprior to taking the Ole Miss job. Iwasn’tatAlabama when coach Kiffinwas. So our relationship really grew in those 31/2 years(at Ole Miss).
“He did alot for me, and I was very,very appreciative of how he treated me and my family.Ilearned alot from him. I have no ill will towards coach Kiffin. He texts me on aregularbasisand thereare certain things we’ll talk about and certain things we don’ttalk about. He’svery competitive,justlike I’m very competitive.
“I can separate the two. Some people can’t.”
Ithink he was talking toyou, Johnny Reb.
Golding then went further, relating aquestion he recently put to agroup of Ole Miss boosters. It went like this:
“In 2021 if you saidyou could look into 2025 and you’re about to be 11-1 and go to the (College Football) playoff, wouldyou take it if your coachwas leaving?” Golding asked the group “Hell yeah, you would.”
It’sasimilar question that could have been put to LSU fans in 1999: Nick Saban is coming.He’sonly staying five years, but he’sgoing to win a nationalchampionship andset you up for another three years after that. But he’sthen going to come back to Alabama and own youand the rest of theSEC for the next decade and ahalf. Deal? Done deal, for sure. Now for the big question about Goldingand the Rebels: What will they do for an encore to OleMiss’ most successful season since the days of Johnny Vaught in the early 1960s?
The argument can be made that the Rebels return the nation’sbest backfield duo in quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy,who both arebeing pushed by Ole MissasHeisman Trophy candidates. But will the Rebels be as explosive without Kiffinand offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr.runningthe show? Ole Miss had four of its five most productive offensive seasons ever under Kiffin. That won’tbeeasy to replicateinthe slightest. Neither will Golding’swin at SEC media days when what really matters comes around Sept. 19.
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FILLING THEVOID
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TexasA&M began this past season 11-0 before ending with a27-17 loss to bitter rival Texas, keepingthe Aggies out of the SEC titlegame and likely costing them aCFP bye.That was followedbyanoffensively inert 10-3 CFP loss at home to Miami.Asked about keeping his team hungry, A&McoachMikeElkosuccinctlysaid: “I showthemour trophy case, and it’sempty.”The Aggies returntoTiger Stadium on Sept. 26
3
LEGEND IN HISOWN MIND
Saban’sdog once came down an elevator at media days to find him.Phillip Fulmergot served with a subpoena. Nowafan/self-styled mediastarhas been ejected. On Tuesday, Gary “Legend”Wilson, afrequent ranter on the “Paul Finebaum Show,” gottossedfrom the Tampa Marriott WaterStreet where mediadaysisbeing held. He wasn’t credentialedbut threatenedtosue theSEC.Saveitfor the next rant, Gary
Sumrallcontrasts his decision with Kiffin’s
NewFlorida coach wasabletolead Tulane in CFP
BY JON BLAU Staff writer
TAMPA, Fla. If Florida asked Jon Sumrall to leave Tulane before that program’sCollege Football Playoff appearance in 2025, he would havehad astrong reply
“I don’tcare what the offer was on the other side,” Sumrall said Wednesday at SEC media days.
“If somebody had said,‘We need youtotake this job and do it on our terms in terms of how you finish thejob at Tulane,’the answer was not ‘No’ —itwas ‘hell no.’ ”
Butdon’ttake Sumrall’sprincipled answer to mean he thinks less ofthe coachwho infamously didn’tfollow the same path —LSU first-year coach Lane Kiffin.
In fact, the two coaches, who were both tied to the Gators’ search,talkedoften during Octoberand Novemberwhen Kiffinweighedleaving Ole Miss after six seasons. Sumrallfelt bad for Kiffin, whom he considers a friend.
“When Italked with him, he was like, ‘You and Iare going through the same thing,’ ”Sumrall said.
“I’m like, ‘No, we’re not. If you leave, you’re leaving an SEC school, you’re goingtoanSEC school. It’salittledifferent. I’m leaving Tulane.’ ” Ole Miss wasn’t going to allow
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of how hetreated me and my family. Ilearned alot fromhim,” said Golding, who took over forKiffin when the latter bounced to LSU before the College Football Playoff.
“I have no ill will towards coach Kiffin. He texts me on aregular basis and there’scertain things that we’ll talk aboutand there’scertain thingsthat we don’ttalk about.”
Golding has posed ahypothetical to Ole Miss fans: If they found out in 2021 that the Rebels would be a playoff-bound, 11-1 footballteam in 2025 buttheirhead coach would leave after the season, would they takethatdeal?
“Hell yeah,” Golding said. “You would. Everybody wonfromit. (Athletic director) Keith(Carter), youmade agreathire, you did a greatjob.Everyplace isn’tfor everybody.That’scoaches, that’s players …and that’s OK.
Kiffintocontinuetocoach when he was bound for aconference rival, and LSU certainly wanted Kiffintoarrive ahead of Dec. 3so he could retain the Tigers’ freshman classonearly signing day Sumrallwantedtodowhatwas “right” in delaying his start at Florida, butwhat he considers wrong isn’tKiffin. It’sthe college football calendar itself.
“Our calendar does not make sense,” Sumrall said. “The NFL, they haveit figuredout.Theyplay games, and then after the Super Bowl,they have playermovement, like free agency,the draft, OTAs, practice, training camp play games again.
“When players move, coaches change jobs, too, around the same time.”
Kiffinhad to figure things out sooner,sending his family to visit both Baton Rouge and Gainesville, Florida, ahead of his decision. He was alsoonthe phone with Sumrall, who endeduptaking the Florida job when Kiffin chose LSU.
“It’scumbersome to say the least,”Sumrall said of the calendar “I did not envy Lane’ssituation at all. Every time he and Iwould talk, Ifeltawful forwhat he wasgoing through andeverybody involved because it wasn’tfair to him.”
Kiffin’searly departurecreated astir in Oxford, Mississippi, where he was cursed by Rebel fans on thetarmac before a flight to Baton Rouge. On anational level, his abrupt exit at Tennessee in 2009 to takethe Southern Caljob was rehashed.
“I’ll be the first onetotellyou:I told(Kiffin) Iwould think he was dumb if he was to leave. Iwanted him to stay. That was aselfish decision because Iloved being theDC where Iwas. Buthedecided it was better forhim andhis family,and that was for him to decide.”
Thatresulted in Golding taking ajob he wasn’t necessarily pining for.The 42-year-old said he was never interested in head coaching positions because he didn’twant to deal withall of the “bull(crap)” involved withbeing “CEO”ofafootball program.Golding just wanted to coach. He then called Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables, aformer Clemson defensive coordinator Venables told him,“Don’t stop doing what got you there.” “Look, man, nobody’sgonna call it likeyou,” Venablessaid, which convinced Golding he could hire staff members to handle some of the duties traditionally assigned to ahead coach and he could keep calling plays.
As lawmakers crafted the Protect College Sports Act to regulatethe landscape, it included what was dubbedthe “LaneKiffinRule” to prevent coaches from leaving early While Kiffinwas panned, Sumrall had his introductory news conference at Florida on Dec. 1 but returned to New Orleans to coachTulaneinits Dec. 20 playoff game against aKiffin-less Ole Miss squad. The Rebels, ledby newcoach Pete Golding, wonthe game41-10.
Sumrall is now taking on his first Power Four job. He posted double-digit wins at Troy in back-toback seasonsbeforehetookover at Tulane in 2024. The Green Wave went from aGasparilla Bowl appearance in Sumrall’s first year to theCFP in Year 2.
Sumrall hasa mighty task at Florida because one of the SEC’s biggest brand names has stagnated sincethe endofUrban Meyer’s tenure.
Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain, DanMullen and BillyNapierproducedfour seasonswithdoubledigit wins in 15 combined years. Napier topped outat8-5 in his third campaign before he was fired midseason with a3-4 mark in 2025.
Sumrall, in his blue-collar way, saidthe Gatorsjust have to keep “stacking days” as theyattempt to move things in the right direction.
“I’m nottrying to temperexpectations. My expectation is to winevery timeweplay,”Sumrall said. “Wehavea freakinglong way to go.”
“Youmanage this, and you do this,because this (crap’s) no funfor me,” Goldingsaid. “You do that, and let me go coach.The combination of thathas worked to this point.”
Golding hasn’tbeen without controversy in his early tenure as ahead coach. He was called out by Dabo Swinney in January for allegedly tampering with alinebacker transfer,Cal’sLuke Ferrelli, who had signed with and was takingclasses at Clemson.
At SEC media days, Golding had abrash reply whenhewas asked about tampering.
“Let’s not act like recruiting in collegefootball forthe last 100 years is the most moral thing that’s ever existed,” Golding said, pointing out that ADs are calling coaches during the season, like Kiffin, to recruit them to other institutions. Golding didn’tspecifically cite OleMiss’ angst over Kiffinallegedly tampering withformer playerstojoinhim at LSU, or Swinney’scomplaints about Ferrelli, but Golding insinuated that most
ON STAGETHURSDAY
LSU
LAST YEAR:7-6 (3-5 SEC)
COACH:Lane Kiffin(1styear)
PLAYERS:LBWhit Weeks,TE Trey’Dez Green, LB TJ Dottery THEBUZZ: Lane Kiffintook an audacious shot at Ole Miss in aVanityFair profile,thendecidedtolie low. On Thursday, though, he’ll step back intothe spotlight,and reporters will lob questions about those infamous commentsand thesky-high expectations he must nowmeet in year 1atLSU.The spectacle won’t be boring.WithKiffin, it neveris.
THEBUZZ: Arkansas fired SamPittman in October and hired one of the coaches whobeat his Razorbacks in September.Now that difficult job belongs to Ryan Silverfield, thesharp 45-year-old whowill have to lead Arkansas through what ESPN said is the nation’stoughest schedule.The Hogs open SEC playvs. Georgia.
MISSISSIPPI STATE
LAST YEAR:5-8 (1-7 SEC)
COACH:Jeff Lebby (3rd year)
PLAYERS:QBKamario Taylor,WR AnthonyEvans, CB KelleyJones THE BUZZ:The Bulldogsare about to begin their third season under Jeff Lebby,and they’re still searching for the second SEC winof his tenure.They’vebeaten onlyArkansas. KamarioTaylor,their quarterback,is a tall,athletic sophomore whorushed for 173 yardsand twotouchdowns last year when he made his first career start in the Egg Bowl
TEXAS
LAST YEAR:10-3 (6-2 SEC)
COACH:Steve Sarkisian (6th year)
PLAYERS:QBArchManning,DEColin Simmons, OL TrevorGoosby
THEBUZZ:Texas is aclear title contender.Just look at itsstarstuddedroster —and theintriguing fact that Arch Manning made significant strides last season as theyearrolledalong The Longhorns addedformer Auburn wide receiverCam Colemanasa transfer,too, which should help their offense (and Manning) develop intoa more consistentforce. ReedDarcey
coaches are breaking the rules.
“When you are on the interstate, andpeople are flying by you, what do youstart doing?” asked Golding, whoheard someone in thegallery say they would “start speeding.”
“Damn right,” Golding responded, “or you’re gonna get hit.” Golding was unapologetically himself in his first media days representingOle Miss. He assumes Kiffinwill do the samewith LSU Kiffinhas been uncharacteristically quietonsocial media in recent weeks, but Golding said he’d “take the over” on Kiffingetting back to his trolling ways this season.The OleMisscoaching staff tried aweek of silence heading into a2024 game vs. Georgia because the Rebels were crushed by the Bulldogs ayear prior Putting down the phone and not tweeting didn’twork for Kiffin.
The Rebels lost 28-10.
“He’lldefinitely be back (onsocial media),” Golding told reporters,“which is probably good forall you guys.”
PROVIDED PHOTO By TODD VANEMST/SEC
Florida coach John Sumrall speaks at SEC media days on Wednesday in Tampa,Fla.
leadership position is more important than anything else, even continuity.”
Those last two words are pushback on the idea Tulanesimply settled for familiarity.Unlike predecessors Willie Fritzand Jon Sumrall, who won big as head coaches before eachaccounted for aleague titleand achampionship-game loss over the past four years, Hall landed at Tulane after getting fired with a14-30 record at Southern Miss.
Successful everywherehehad been as an assistant and Division II head coach beforethat failure, he spent last seasonasSumrall’s pass game coordinator and wide receivers coach as the Wave reached theCollege Football Playoff for the first time. When Sumrall left for Florida, Tulane looked past Hall’sresults with the Golden Eagles to his two banner yearsasFritz’soffensivecoordinatoratTulane(2019-20) andhis respectaround the building
“Wefeel like we have both the right person leading the program, but he’salso broughtsome continuity that willserveuswell once the season gets started,” Harris said. “If you look at what we have been able to accomplish over the past several years, it says really good things aboutour ability to attract andtodevelop really good players.”
Harris believes everything is in place for Hall to win. He labeled the transition of Tulane’sNIL program to in-house as “seamless” thanks to hard work from the athletic department andthe generous support of fans,putting the Wave in acompetitive position with the other top teams in the American to retain and attract players in the NIL era.
“Wefeel good about where things are, but in thisbusiness and the way things are right now,you are really only as good as thelast thingyou didinthe eyes of alot of people,” he said. “You learn afew things after you do something for the first time, so hopefully it will be even more efficientwithour operation. We feellike supporters are going to continue to step up in a significant way.” Tulane added an additional revenue stream with Wednes-
day’sannouncement that it hasentereda five-year jerseypatch agreement withAmerican Safety,which will provide bus transportation forWavesports teams. The baseballand volleyball teamswill wear the logo of Am erican Safety on their uniforms in the Wave’s first foray into that market.
“We’re excitedtohave someonewho wants to partnerwith us in this waythatbenefits us andcan bringadditional notorietytothem as well,” Harris said. “Thiswillbethe beginning of these typesofdeals. We’llbe looking for additionalopportunities.”
Althoughnomajor facility projectsare underway,Tulane willhave anew video board andsound system at Yulman Stadium for its home opener against South Alabama on Sept. 12. Harris said one out of every four complaints the department received from fans dealt with sound in the stadium. He said the next goalisadding premium seatingwith acombination of suitesand loge boxes.
WhileHarrislauded Tulane’s first-place finish among AmericanConference teams in the Learfield Director’s Cupstandings (97th overall), he is looking forimprovement in men’s basketball.
Hit with the drowning of startingcenter Gregg Glenn last July, Tulane slippedtoatie for eighth from fourth in the American Conference under coach Ron Hunter last season. Retained for an eighthseason, Hunter rebuilt his roster with seven transfers andthree freshmen along with two new assistants amonghis three bench coaches.
“It’simportant that we have ayear to reset andrefocusas quickly asyou can,” Harris said. “I know Ron will have it as abig goal for the program to immediately getus in abetter situation to have abetter season. I know he took it to heart thathe didn’thavethe yearwewanted to have, and he’ll be motivated to correct that.”
Philipsenwinsstage 17 of theTourdeFrance
The Associated Press
VOIRON, France JasperPhilipsen capped a fine team performance Wednesday to win stage 17 of the Tour de France, where reigning championTadej Pogacarprotected his overalllead Mathieu vander Poel ledhis Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Philipsen to his first stage victory of this Tour by controllingthe pace andcontaining counterattacks through the last miles.
Philipsen finished just ahead of Mauro Schmid andOlav Kooij
The Belgian rider described a“a roller coaster of emotions” after what hadbeena disappointingTour for him personally
“I preparedvery, very well. Iwas in the shape of my life, Ithink, and the first stages, the first 12 days werejusthorrible. Icouldn’t find myself,couldn’t find thefeeling I was hoping for,” said Philipsen, whothankedhis team colleagues.
“I was like an angry bird at the table. Iwas just disappointed in myself, angry that Icouldn’ttake (a)stage win, that Ididn’t find my feeling. And the team, they had to deal with it, notonlythe riders, the staff. This one is for them to keep on believing.”
Pogacar,who is chasing athird straight Tour title and fifth overall, maintainedhis lead of just over 41/2 minutes over Remco Evenepoel, the winner of the previous two stages.
But it was abad dayfor Pogcar’s UAEEmirates XRG teammate Adam Yates, who struggled and only made it back within the time limit.The British rider slumped over his handlebars, clearly exhausted.
The race ends SundayinParis
The relatively flat 108.5-mile route fromChambery to Voiron was thelast favorable stage for sprintersbeforethe Tour takesto theAlps, and it led to aday of attempted breakawayswithmany riders vying to put themselves in contention Vander Poel was amongthe leadersafter Côte de Saint-Jean d’Arvey,the last significant climb,
andtheywere joined by others before Yates’problemsbeganinthe peloton. Mads Pedersen wasnexttoattack theleaders with 40 miles remaining, and the green jerseyholderinvigorated the group when he joined them.
Moresprinters broke away, swelling the group to 30 riders, beforePedersen, BenHealy, Michal Kwiatkowski, Felix Engelhardt, Ed Planckaert and Jasper Stuyven struck out35miles from the finish.
Stuyven attacked on hisown 16 miles from the line,leaving his five former co-leaders to chase or wait for themain bunch. They were caught. The only questionwas whether the 34-year-old Stuyven had thestamina to claim his first Tour stage win.
TheBelgian riderwas caught with less than 21/2 milesremaining, and Vander Poel did the rest for Philipsen.
Philipsen’sstage win moved him just behind Pedersen in the contest for the green jersey awarded to the
rider with the most points. With four stages remaining, Pedersen of Lidl-Trek had 452 points, followed by Philipsen on 445. Biniam Girmay of Eritrea was next with 361 points.
Cycling’sgoverningbody, the UCI, responded to criticism of unannounced anti-doping controls after Pogacar andhis main rival Jonas Vingegaard were woken in the early hours of Sunday for tests by the Swiss-based International Testing Agency.Vingegaard subsequently crashed during Sunday’sstage andhad to abandon the race.
The UCI said it acknowledged the night-time testing “can disrupt riders’ rest and recovery” and said it remained an exceptional measure.
“While fully aware of how oneroussucha measure is for riders, the UCI nevertheless underscores that these controls serve an overriding interest: the fight against doping,” the body said in astatement.
Revisiting classicN.O.recipes with shrimp remoulade, eggplant Josephineand
BY LIZ WILLIAMS
Contributing writer
oosevelt Hotel Shrimp
Remoulade is like an old friend. Almost nothing says New Orleans likea good shrimp remoulade.
Growing up eating fresh shrimp, cooked perfectly,and so well-seasoned,Iwas shocked the first time someone servedmefrozenboiled shrimp with ketchup. Iwas probably about 12 years old, and Irealized howlucky Iwas to be eating in New Orleans —and nowI would expand that to say Louisiana. Youcan definitely spice up this dish with horseradish or cayenne, but the basic sauce hits all the right notes.You can makeitpersonal with your own additions. I really like adding capers.
The Roosevelt Hotel recipe is one of manyin“CookingUpa Storm: Recipes Lost andFound
from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans,” which was published in 2008 after many requests for recipes lost during Hurricane Katrina. Now,The Times-Picayune and The Advocate food columnists are revisiting those special recipes and their stories.
Eggplant Josephine was requested by LeonaCerny, whorecalled eatingthe dish at theWhite Pillars restaurantonthe Gulf Coast. This entree is rich andlayered with a combination of meat sauceand crabmeat with luscioushollandaise
anisecookies
2largeegg yolks
1cup Creolemustard, homemade or store-bought,orany coarse, grainy brown mustard ¼cup distilledvinegar Juice of 1lemon (about 3tablespoons) Salt Black pepper
2cups vegetable oil
1bunch green onions, minced (white and green parts)
½stalk celery, minced 4pounds small to medium shrimp, boiled, peeled, and deveined 6cups shredded lettuce (about ½ cup per serving)
1tablespoon drained capers, minced (optional)
BY GRETCHEN McKAY Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)
One of the oldest cultivated crops in history,beans have been ahome cook’sbest friend foravery long time. Both inexpensive and pantry stable, they can be madeinto any number of dishes, whether you’re looking to eschew meat for more planet-friendly,plant-based proteins or just want to put a nutritious and inexpensive dish on the table. Easy to find in even the tiniest grocery store, beans are a great source of both soluble and insoluble fiber,inaddition to protein. And because so many varieties comealready cooked in cans —you just need to rinse and drain —they’re acinch to add to your favorite recipe, be it acasserole, soup, dip or salad. And talk about economical: Many varieties cost less than $1 acan, and dried beans are significantly cheaper on a price-per-serving basis. Even pricey heirloom beans, which are grown from seeds that have been handed down through generations and loved for their distinctive colors and tastes, can be considered abargain when you compare them to the several pounds of beef or poultry it takes to feed afamily California-based Rancho Gordo, aforerunner of the current “bean revolution” that celebrates its 25th anniversary this year,is such acult favorite among bean fiends that there’sawaiting list for its sold-out “Bean Club.” We offer an easy recipe to help you workmore beans into your weekly rotation. This
1. In alarge mixing bowl, blendthe eggyolks,mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.Add the oil slowly, beating constantly,asif you were makingmayonnaise.
2. When thesauce hasthickened,add the greenonions and celery.Combine thesauce with theshrimpand chill for 4hours in the refrigerator.Serveona bedofshredded lettuce.
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER Roosevelt Hotel Shrimp Remoulade
Makes 4to6servings.
1largeeggplant
2tablespoons flour 3tablespoons olive oil
4tablespoons butter
½cup Sauternes wine
1pound lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage
1(26-ounce) jar Italian spaghetti sauce with meat
1(8-ounce) packagemozzarella cheese,shredded FOR THE HOLLANDAISE SAUCE:
2large eggyolks
2cups mayonnaise
1½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2tablespoons drymustard Salt White pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Coat ashallow baking pan with nonstick cooking spray Peel the eggplantand slice to ¾to1inch thick. Sprinkle the slices with flour.Heat the oil in alarge skillet and saute the eggplant until lightly browned. Set aside.
2. Melt thebutterina medium saucepan and add the wine. Add thecrabmeat and simmer for 6minutes. Set aside.
STAFF PHOTOSBySOPHIA GERMER
Make thehollandaise sauce:
1. In amedium bowl, heat theegg yolks until frothy Stir in the mayonnaise and then theWorcestershire. Addthe drymustard,salt and pepper to taste.
2. Serve theeggplant with some warm hollandaise on each slice.
3. To assemblethe dish, lay the eggplantslices in the bottom of the prepared pan. In layers, add the crabmeat mixture, meat sauce and shredded cheese. Bakeuntil thecheese is melted,bubbly andbegins to brown,about 20 minutes
Ursuline Academy AniseCookies
Makes 2to3dozencookies.
2teaspoons anise seeds ½cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature ¾cup sugar 2largeeggs
2cups flour ½teaspoon baking powder
¼teaspoon salt FOR THE GLAZE:
1cup powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk
2-3 drops of anise oil (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease 2cookie sheets. Crushthe anise seeds coarsely with amortar and pestleorafood processor,and mix with the butter in alarge bowl. With an electric mixer,gradually blend in the sugar.Beat the eggs into the mixture.
Dear Miss Manners: Ihave been dating awonderful man for acouple of years. He has generously given me several gifts, but Ihave found most of them to be kitschy and Idon’treally want them in my house. I’m trying to minimalizemyhome environment,and I’m gettingrid of things instead of adding more. Ihave displayed someofhis giftsinmyhome to show appreciation, while a few other thingsare sitting in my garage. How can Ipolitely convey to him that Iprefer to personally curatewhat is in my house? Iknow he thinkshe’sbeing thoughtful, but there’stoo much in my homealready Gentle reader: If most of his gifts end up in thegarage, he is going to figure it out —ormaybe not, if this has been going on for two years. Criticizing giftsis unmannerly,and while one is not generally allowed to expect gifts,the rule can be bent in the caseofromantic partners. Suggest that it would be lovely if, for future birthdays, he instead gave you aromantic dinner at your favorite restaurant: Youwould thenhave a memorytotreasureinstead of just another thing.
If that is not precisely what you want, Miss Manners will leave you to substitute both the correct alternative and the cliché to sell it.
graceful way to respond. How can Ipolitely and gracefully let these “maleducados” know that their condescension is unappreciated?
Judith Martin MISS MANNERS
DearMiss Manners: I am a“gringo” who has learned Spanish. I’ve been a fluent speaker for over 30 years. Iuse the language professionally,and work in a field where Ihave the opportunity to speak it on adaily basis. Iamascomfortable reading, speaking and writing in the language as Iam in English. Over the years, Ihave received many genuine compliments from native speakers who are surprised and pleased by my language skills. However,Ioccasionally encounter folks who take amuch more condescending approach. They makecomments on how nice it is that Iwant to “practice” with them, or how “cute” it is that I speak “a little Spanish.” I have had several people speak past me to talk instead to my wife, anative Spanish speaker I find this behavior quite insulting, and Iwould never behave this way toward a non-native English speaker if our roles were reversed. Ihave struggled to find a
Gentle reader: To embarrass them thoroughly requires only an assist from your wife —and the maleducados themselves. Each time they address themselves to her,she should respond, but then draw you back into the conversation. If you are interesting, charming and fluent —all while displaying absolutely no reaction to their condescending comments about your Spanish —they will forget their imagined conviction that you do not speak the language, and instead be drawn into the conversation. If the evening does not end with them apologizing fortheir earlier comments, you will still have enjoyed yourself —and you and your wife can have aprivate laugh at their expense on the way home.
Sendquestions to Miss Manners at herwebsite, www.missmanners. com; to heremail, dearmissmanners@gmail. com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St Kansas City MO 64106.
CLASSICS
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It’sthe kind of dish that’sperfect to celebrate something special like an anniversary,graduation or birthday.Serve it witha saladand crusty bread. The dish will be much better with ahomemade tomato sauce with meat. Or,ifyou have leftover marinara, skip the meat since it’srich enough with crabmeat.
Serves 4. Recipe is adapted from milkstreet.com.
FOR PASTA:
1largeegg plus 1largeegg yolk
1ounce finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese (½ cup)
1ounce finely grated ParmigianoReggiano cheese (½ cup), plus morefor garnish
1tablespoon fresh lemon zest
1teaspoonblack pepper
3tablespoons extravirgin olive oil, divided 2garlic cloves, smashed 1½ pounds zucchini squash (cut into ¼-inch rounds) Kosher salt
1poundrigatoni
1teaspoon red pepper flakes Salt and pepper
FOR BREADCRUMBS:
2tablespoons olive oil
1cup pankoorhomemade breadcrumbs
Zest of 2lemons
2garlic cloves, grated
1. Whisk the egg base:Ina bowl, whisk together whole egg, yolk, cheeses, lemon zest andblack pepper.Set aside.
2. Brown the zucchini: In a12-inchskillet,heat1½ tablespoons olive oil and
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3. Shape the dough into 1-inch ballsand placethem 2inches apart on the cookie
2. Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt. Gradually stir the flour mixture by hand into the butter andsugar mixture. Mixthe doughuntil allthe ingredientsare blended and smooth
Be sure to getfresh mozzarella, not the preshredded bags, which don’t melt well. Youcould slice the fresh mozzarella and place athin piece on each round of eggplant, spoon the crab on top, and cook for 20-30 minutes as suggested. Topeach eggplant slice withthe hollandaise and serve. Andfor dessert,Ursuline Academy AniseCookies will be perfect. These are wonderful St. Joseph’s Day cookies, but why only serve themonce ayear?
3Add half thezucchini in an even layer,sprinkle with saltand cook without stirring until goldenbrown on the bottom (3-4 minutes)
4. Flip andcook until browned; repeat with the remaining zucchini and remainingoil.
5. Remove from heat, and setaside.
6. Boilpasta in4quarts of salted water untilaldente, about 9-10 minutes. Reserve about 1cup ofthe starchy cookingwater,thendrain.
7. While pasta is cooking, prepare breadcrumbs. Heat 2tablespoons oil in medium skillet over medium heat Add breadcrumbs, lemon zest, garlic and abig pinch each of salt and pepper.Stir to mix, thencontinuetostir untilthe garlic is fragrant and the breadcrumbs are evenly browned, 4-5 minutes. Removefromthe pan andset asidetocool.
8. Returnthe pasta to the pot, add ½cup of the reserved pasta water and cooked zuc-
sheets. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightlybrowned. Cool thecookies on racks.
4. Mix the powdered sugar with themilk andstir until combined. Add the oil, if desired. (It willmake the aniseflavorverystrong). Glaze and store in airtight containers.
The recipe was submitted by J.M. of Metairie and taken from “Recipes and Reminiscences of New Orleans”bythe ParentsClub of Ursuline Academy (the Ursuline Cookbook) and used withpermission.
Liz Williamsisfounder of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum in New Orleans.Listen to “Tip of the Tongue,” Liz’spodcast about food, drink and culture, wherever you hear podcasts. EmailLiz at lizwillia@gmail.com.
chini. Cook over mediumhigh heat for about 1minute.
9. Pour in egg-cheesemixture after taking thepasta and zucchini mixture completely off heat —this is acrucial step to avoid scrambled eggs! Stir vigorously for 2-3 minutesuntil the sauce thickens and clings to the noodles. If it’stoo thick, addreserved pasta water 1tablespoon at a time. Add red pepper flakes and toss gently to combine.
10. Before serving, sprinkle on alittle more grated Parmesan and some toasted breadcrumbs. Serve pasta in warmed bowls, withremaining breadcrumbs.
11. lf desired, you can also add alittle cooked, crispy bacon(butthe dish will no longer be vegetarian).
NOTE: Be sure to takethe pasta/zucchini mixtureOFF the heat before adding the egg/cheese mixtureorthe eggs will scramble instead of dissolving into aglossy sauce. You’ll also wanttosave about acup of your starchy pasta water to emulsify and thin the sauce if it seemstoo thick. Iused almost afull cup of reservedwater
reheat the dish for lunch
Reader writes in a‘thankyou’
Dear Heloise: As Ithink aboutthe things that Iappreciate when contemplatingour country’s 250th birthday, I wanted you to know how muchyou mean to us. Heloise, you andyourmom havegiven us aplace to share ideas, support oneanother and find solutionsfor real-life is-
By The Associated Press
Hints from Heloise
sues. You’re abreath of fresh airinstead of awet blanketof despair Thank you forbeing the epitome of American culture. You’re cherished forbringing out the best in us and showing the world love, honesty and respect forall creatures great and small. Thank you
TODAYINHISTORY
Canada was converting to the metric system.)
Today is Thursday, July 23, the 204th day of 2026. There are 161 days left in the year
Today’shighlightinhistory: On July 23, 1967, deadly rioting erupted in Detroit as an early morning police raid on an unlicensed bar resulted in aconfrontation with local residents that led to five days of violence and resulted in 43 deaths.
Also on this date:
In 1903, theFord Motor Company sold its first car, aModel A, for $850.
In 1958, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II named the first four women to peerage in theHouse of Lords.
In 1982, actor VicMorrow and two child actors, 7-year-old Myca Dinh Le and6-year-old Renee Shin-YiChen, were killed when ahelicopter crashed on them during filming of aVietnam Warscene for “Twilight Zone: The Movie.”(Director John Landis and four associates were later acquitted of manslaughter charges.)
In 1983, an Air Canada Boeing767 ran out of fuel while flying from Montreal to Edmonton; thepilots were able to glide thejetliner to asafe emergency landing in Gimli, Manitoba. (Thenear-disaster occurred because thefuel had been erroneously measured in pounds instead of kilogramsatatime when
In 1990, President George H.W.Bush announced his choice of Judge David Souter of NewHampshire to succeed the retiring Justice William J. Brennan on the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1996, at the Atlanta Olympics, Kerri Strug made aheroic final vault despite torn ligaments in her left ankle to help secure the U.S. women’sgymnastics squad’s first-ever Olympic team gold medal.
In 1997, the search for Andrew Cunanan, the suspected killer of designer Gianni Versace and others, ended as police found his body on ahouseboat in MiamiBeach, an apparent suicide.
In 1999, Eileen Collins becamethe first woman to command aU.S. space flight as the shuttle Columbia blasted off to deploy the world’smost powerful X-ray telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory
In 2003, Massachusetts’ attorney general issued a report saying clergy members and others in the Boston Archdiocese had probably sexually abused more than 1,000 people over a period of six decades.
In 2011, singer AmyWinehouse, 27, was found dead in herLondonhome from accidental alcohol poisoning.
In 2012, Penn State’s football program wasall but leveled by penalties for
forbeing you! —With Loveand Respect, Karen B.,inWarren, Ohio Karen, thank you so much foryour kind words and being aloyal reader of both my and mother’scolumns. Ihope to continue to be abreath of fresh air for all of my wonderful readers! —Heloise Sendahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.
its handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal as the NCAA imposed an unprecedented $60 million fine, afour-year ban from postseason play and acut in the number of football scholarships the school could award.
In 2021, Cleveland’sMajor League Baseball team, known as the Indians since 1915, announced that it would get anew name, the Guardians, at the end of the 2021 season; the change cameamid apush for institutions and teamstodrop logos and names that were considered racist.
Today’sbirthdays: Retired SupremeCourt Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is 90. Actor Ronny Cox is 88. Rock singer David Essex is 79. Actor Woody Harrelson is 65. Rock musician Martin Gore (Depeche Mode) is 65. Actor-director Eriq Lasalle is 64. Rock musician Slash is 61. Basketball Hall of Famer Gary Payton is 58. Model-actor Stephanie Seymour is 58. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia is 57. Actor CharismaCarpenter is 56. Singer Alison Krauss is 55. R&B singer Dalvin DeGrate (Jodeci) is 55. Actor-comedian Marlon Wayans is 54. Actor Kathryn Hahn is 53. Actor Stephanie March is 52. R&B singer Michelle Williamsis47. Actor Paul Wesley is 44. Actor Daniel Radcliffe is 37.
I’m afan of both, whichis why Ireadily accepted the six brown eggs my neighbor,Omar,gave me on a recent Sunday Idecided to use some of them to make asummery vegetarianriff on the clas-
sic pasta dish carbonara. This simplerecipebrings together pan-seared zucchini with cooked rigatoni and an easy sauce made witha creamy mix of eggs, grated Parmesan andPecorinoRomano cheeses, lemon zest andgarlic. Itopped it with toasted, homemade breadcrumbstossed with a little fresh lemon zest fora crunchy finish Paired with agreen salad, it makes aneasyand seasonal summer supper. Purists might call foul if you
—carbonara is best eaten fresh because thesauce is extremely heat-sensitive but if you add alittle water before popping it in themicrowave on low power and stir it halfway through, it will still hit thespot If the meat lovers in your household absolutely insist on aporky finish (carbonara is traditionally made with bacon or guanciale),crumble alittle crispy,cooked bacon on topalong withsome extra grated Parmesan
BEANS
Continuedfrom page1D pulling weeds? They’re a welcome gift, provided you love eggs for breakfast or like to bake.
—one of the cheapest and
then add the
beans, tahini, lemon juice and asplash of water to thin the beans out just a touch. 2. Simmer for 5minutes until warm. Gently mash some of the beansinthe pan fortexture, if desired.
3. Season to taste, then spoon over crispy toast.
NOTE: To makehomemade crostini,brush thin slices of bread with olive oil and toast, grill or fry in ahot pan(my favorite method) until crisp and golden.
Ursuline Academy Anisecookies
Eggplant Josephine
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Youare better off reviewing what'shappening around you before you decide to make amove. Not everything or everyone will be as you envision. Askquestions, gather facts and store information for reference.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Take abreather and assess situations before you make a move. Reach out to experts. Use charm, show interestand relyonthe facts and figures offered to make the best decision.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Choose your position and execute your plans. Precision anddetail are necessary if you want to flourish. Waiting for someone elsetodo the work will be alesson in negativity versus positivity.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Emotions will surface, and tempers will mount if you have afinancial, contractual or physical dispute with someone. Refuse to let anyone talk you into taking on more than you can handle.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Tidy up looseends,and address issues that require signatures, updates or payments to avoid penalties. Achange to how you feel about someone or something will surface.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Claim what's yours and keep moving. Refuse to let anyone take advantage of you or compromise your position.Adisciplined attitude will help ward off anyone trying to undermine you.
AQUARIUS (Jan.20-Feb. 19) Apositive lifestyle change will encourage you to
rethink how you want to use your skills to create additional income. Afinancial matterrequires proper handling to generate profit PISCES (Feb. 20-March20) An emotional revelation will prompt an unexpected personal change.Bequick to fill in the blanks and to set yourself up for profits, notlosses. Everymoveyou make will impact how situations unfold.
ARIES (March 21-April 19) Leap forward withfaith, trust your instincts and push open doorsthat can help you advance. Listen carefully,and offer visual responses that are impossible to deny.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Think before you act. Taking on too much or making unrealistic promises will lead to disappointment or potential loss. Put your emotions aside, and offer asound rendition of how you feel based on facts. GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Achange will point you in adirection you feel passionate about. Don't put your well-being in jeopardy. Walk away from disruptive situations. Embrace opportunity. CANCER (June 21-July22) How you functioninsocial or networking settings will be asign of what's possible. Don't holdback. Express your thoughts and desires, and the responses you receive will prompt you to push your way forward.
InstructIons: sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place thenumbers1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box containsthe same number only once. The difficulty level of thesudoku increases from monday to sunday.
Yesterday’sPuzzle Answer
THe wiZard oF id
BLondie
BaBY BLueS
Hi and LoiS
CurTiS
Bridge
BY PHILLIPALDER
Michael Porter, aleading expert on competitive strategy, said, “The essence of strategy is that you must set limits on whatyou’re trying to accomplish.”
At the bridge table, your strategymay dependupontheformofthegame.When you are playing Chicago or in an event scored using international matchpoints, you should concentrate on making or breakingthe contract; overtricks are trivial. But when you are competing in a pair tournament, overtrickscan be valuable. You get one matchpointfor every other pair holdingyourcardsthatyou outscore, whether by 10 or 500 points.
Howdoes that affect strategy? Look at this deal. South is in four spades after thegiven auction, in whichEast made a three-club weak jump overcall and West allowed the unfavorable vulnerability to silence him. First, what should West lead?
At the table,Jerry Masters of Bonita Springs,Florida,ledtheclubking,giving thedefenders the option of who would lead to the second trick. Then he shifted to alow heart.
Whenovertricks areunimportant, South should win with dummy’s ace, draw trumps and driveout the diamond acetoguarantee 10 tricks.Atpairs, though, it is tempting to play lowfrom thedummyattrick two. Maybe the finesse will work.And if it does not, the play costs only when East has asingleton
wuzzles
diamond, shifts to it at trick three and receives adiamond ruff —exactly as happenedatthe table.
Yes,Southerred,becauseifJaneCookson of Bonita Springs (East) had not held theheartking,shewouldhaveovertaken the club king with her ace and ledaheart (or hersingleton) herself.
Each Wuzzleisawordriddle which creates adisguised word, phrase,name,place, saying, etc. Forexample: nOOn gOOD =gOOD aFTErnOOn
Previous answers:
word game
InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or moreletters.2.Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” suchas“bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” maynot be used. 4. proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.
toDAY’s WoRD tRouPE: TROOP: Agroup of theatrical performers
easing egis ness sage sane sang sans seeing seen seine sense siege sign signee sine sing singe snag
iniquity in my heart, the Lord will nothear me:” Psalms 66:18
loCKhorNs Don’t
marmaduKe
Bizarro
hagar the horriBle
Pearls Before swiNe
garfield
B.C.
mallard fillmore
dIrectIons: makea2-to 7-letterword from the letters in each row. add points of each word, using scoring directions at right.Finally 7-letterwords get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value. allthe words are in the Official sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5thEdition.
Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer
Formore information on tournamentsand clubs, email naspa –northamerican sCraBBlE playersassociation: info@scrabbleplayers.org. Visitour website: www.scrabbleplayers.org. For puzzleinquiries contact scrgrams@gmail.com. Hasbro andits logo sCraBBlE associated logo,the design of thedistinctive sCraBBlE
and
ken ken
InstructIons: 1 -Eachrow and each column must containthe numbers 1thorugh4 (easy) or 1through6 (challenging) without repeating. 2 -The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using the given operation (in any order) to producethe target numbers in the top-left corners. 3 -Freebies: Fill in the single-box cages with the numberinthe top-left corner.
WiShinG Well
HErEisa plEasanT liTTlE
thenumber of
left
Scrabble GramS
jump Start
roSe iS roSe
DuStin
lagniappe
GuyFieri revisits area favorite for‘Triple D’ episode page 9
New haunted houseslatedto debutfor Halloween
page 6
Chef takesviewers on tour of food andrestaurants page 10
don’tmiss don’tmiss don’t miss
friday night fights
Are you ready to rumble? Leavethe fisticuffs to the folks on thecardasNew Orleans’ end-of-the-week boxingmatches return. Gates open at 7p.m.with the first bout about 7:30 p.m. The funtakes place outdoors at 1632 OrethaCastleHaley Blvd. in Central City.Inadditiontothe punches, there’sentertainment that ranges from DJs to drag and burlesque.Ticketsstart at $15, with veterans admitted free. Call (504) 5222707 for tickets. bestofneworleans.com/fnf.
christmas in july in algiers
The Algiers Pointneighborhood small-business crawl Saturday will featureseveral of establishments on West Bank of Orleans. From handcrafted items to books, photography to food, the businesses will offer a variety of itemsto celebrate the midpoint to the merry season.For more information on the offerings, visit oldalgiersmainstreet.org.
warehouseand puzzle sale
The East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave. in Metairie, will holdabox sale Saturday from 9a.m. to 2p.m. For $5 each, pick a category that includes CDs, children’s books, cookbooks,romance or fiction. For $10, select DVDs. Most of the puzzles are $2-6. jefferson.lib.la.us.
backpack and supply giveaway bridal expo
Inspire NOLA andZuluCommunity Services Foundation will holdadrivethru distribution at 10 a.m. Saturday at McDonogh35High School,4000 RoneagleWay,New Orleans. This event is free and open to the public. Items will be distributed on a firstcome, first-served basis, with one backpack per child in the car and one computer per vehicle.
For twodays, Lakeside Shopping Center becomes a“chapel of love” for the annual Welliver Productions wedding idea event. Engaged couples, planners, parental units and more can find options on apparel, venue and event rental, florists, bakers and caterers, photography,music, stationers, transportation, financing, vacations and more. The expo is free but a nonperishable food item for Second Harvest is requested. The hours are 10 a.m. to 4p.m. Saturday and noon to 4p.m. Sunday.lakesideshopping.com.
ABOUTLAGNIAPPE
The Lagniappe section is publishedeach ThursdaybyThe Times-Picayune |The NewOrleans Advocate. All inquiriesabout Lagniappe should be directed to theeditor.
CONTRIBUTINGWRITERS: Victor Andrews, Judy Bergeron, Kasey Bubnash, Ian McNulty,Chelsea Shannon, KeithSpera
GETLISTEDINLAGNIAPPE
SubmiteventstoLagniappe at least twoweeks in advance by sending an email to events@ theadvocate.com.
ON THECOVER
The Mortuary Haunted Mansion on Canal Street. PhotobyJohn McCusker
don’tmiss don’tmiss don’t miss
The final weekend of theannual keyboardcontest in which a dozenofthe world’stop emerging pianists viefor $100,000 will wrap with the three top finalists playingat2 p.m. Sundaywith theLouisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, followed by an awards ceremony.The events happen at Roussel Hall at Loyola University. Final rounds are Friday and Saturday.Tickets start at $20. The competition is held in conjunctionwiththe Piano Instituteand Keyboard Festival, both hosted by the Musical Arts Societyof NewOrleans. masno.org.
30th international pianocompetition gay appreciation awards
Ambush Magazine presents its 36th annual awards at 6p.m. Sunday at the Marigny Opera House, 721 St. Ferdinand St. The awards honor members of the LGBTQcommunity for their outstanding service and efforts. Tickets start at $23.18 via Eventbrite. ambushmag. com.
music music music
Keith Spera SOUNDCHECK
RICKIE CASTRILLOCELEBRATION OF LIFE
SUNDAY,SOUTHPORT HALL
It’s arelativelyquiet week forbig concerts,but a good week to hear local acts in theclubs.
Rickie Castrillo was the ultimateNew Orleans music insider,inaddition to being amusician himself. For25years, Castrillo was the emceeand stage manager at Tipitina’s. Prior to that, he filled the same role at Rosy’sJazz Club.But he was muchmorethan the guy who introduced bands at the start of the show. He was aconfidant, co-conspirator, caretaker,storyteller, fixer and friend.
Agraduate of Francis T. Nicholls HighSchool who served in the LouisianaNational Guard, Castrillo picked up guitar as achild. He performed at theold Playboy Clubinthe French Quarterearly in his career.Years later, he anchored thepsychedelic rock band Rickie Castrillo &Dreamland, which featured pedal steel guitarist Dave Easley and legendary percussionist Uganda Roberts. The proper carpetsand candles were essential to setting the correct Dreamlandmood onstage.
But his most lasting impact was as afacilitator and enhancer of shows by other musicians.
Such was hisreputation that, when live albums wererecorded at Tipitina’s,his introduction was often included on the finished album
He typicallywore black and white,oftenwith avest and an array of necklaces. Ajumble of black curls and an equally bushy mustachecompletedhis look. Atrue character who loved to laugh, he could speak at length aboutnumerology andother esoteric topicswith sincerityand enthusiasm
Castrillo bonded with every major NewOrleans musician and countlesstouring musicians who were active fromthe 1970s through the 1990s, including James Booker,Dr. John, the Neville Brothers, the Radiators, Earl King and Snooks Eaglin. He inevitably hadwild stories but also exercised discretion.
Acoustic guitarist andlongtime collegemusic teacher John Rankin, aclose friend, recalled how Castrillo introducedhim to Bonnie Raitt, LennyKravitz, Dr.John, Stephen Stills, Pat Metheny and many others. Though Castrillo knew musicians’secrets, “hewould never say anything gossipy,” Rankin said. “He was agentleman’sgentleman.Hewas allheart, and that’svery,very rare.”
He also took careofyoung,up-and-coming musicians, treating themwith respect and welcoming them into the “Tipitina’sfamily.”
As trombonist Mark McGrain wrote on Facebook, Castrillo was “the gatekeeper who unlocked all those doors for me and so,somanyNew Orleans musicians early in their careers.Thank youfor lettingme in theback door andholding aplace on the stage for me.”
HoneyIslandSwamp Band bassist Sam Price put it this way: “There are people who speakoflove, kindness and brotherhood, andthenthere are afew who embody it,who live it, for real, in their every word and deed,unabashedly and sincerely,for it is literallythe stuff they are made of. Rickie Castrillo, you wereone of the few.”
AfterHurricane Katrina, Castrillo moved to Birmingham, Alabama. Over thenext20 years, he becamepart of that city’s music scene, performing at the GarageCafé, Marty’sBar andothervenues. He was inducted intothe Alabama BluesHallofFame in 2016.
Battling cancer,hereturned to theNew Orleans area in 2025 so his sister Penny Bermingham couldhelp care for him. He died on July 4atage 80.
On Sunday fromnoon to 5p.m., friends, family and fellow musicianswill host acelebration of Castrillo’slifeinthe front room at SouthportHall, 200 Monticello St. in Jefferson (themain Southport Hall music room has aseparate, ticketed show called Reelin’ In The Years: ATribute to Yacht Rock at 1p.m.).Between storiesabout Castrillo, JohnRankin, “Deacon” John Moore, former Sheiks frontman Michael O’Hara andother musicians are expected to perform afew songs. Admission is free.
Rickie Castrillo
music music music
OTHER NOTEWORTHY SHOWS
THURSDAY
New Orleans jazz clarinetist Tim Laughlin, a protégé of the late great Pete Fountain, plays at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. at Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro. He’ll be backed by David Boeddinghaus on piano, Duke Heitger on trumpet and Nahum Zdybel on guitar Tickets are $30.
Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp Band are featured for Zydeco Night at Rock ‘n’ Bowl; tickets are $17.
FRIDAY
The MoonPay X Games championship weekend in New Orleans includes two nights of concerts at the Smoothie King Center to augment the competition in the Caesars Superdome. On Friday, the show at the Smoothie King Center features rappers Metro Boomin’ and J.I.D Tickets are $80.
The Soul Brass Band headlines this week’s installment of the summerlong “Free Fridays” series of no-cover shows at Tipitina’s. The Next Level Band opens the show at 9 p.m.
Cuban-born, New Orleans-based percussionist Alexey Marti powers his AfroGumbo ensemble at Snug Harbor at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m Tickets are $35.
SATURDAY
Lord Huron was founded as a studio project in Los Angeles in 2010 by Ben Schneider He later recruited additional musicians to flesh out the performing version of the band. The Army,The Navy
opens for Lord Huron at The Saenger on Saturday Tickets start at $60.
The X Games New Orleans 2026 Championship Concert series continues at the Smoothie King Center with EDM acts Subtronics plus Bunt. Tickets are $80.
Master New Orleans drummer Herlin Riley anchors his jazz quartet at Snug Harbor at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $45.
Tipitina’s hosts a free celebration of the return of Hubig’s banana-flavored hand pie that features performances by Big Chief Juan Pardo & The Golden Comanches and Dave Jordan & The NIA The first 250 attendees receive a free banana Hubig’s pie. A limited edition commemorative T-shirt will be sold, with proceeds benefiting the Youth Empowerment Project. The show starts at 8 p.m.; admission is free.
The soft “yacht rock” of the 1970s and ’80s comes alive at Rock ‘n’ Bowl courtesy of Yacht-Sea; tickets are $17.
TUESDAY
Sansone, Fohl & Worrel teams up veteran New Orleans harmonica player Johnny Sansone, drummer Doug Fohl and pianist Tom Worrell at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $30.
WEDNESDAY
Acoustic guitarist John Rankin is featured for this week’s installment of the “Summer Music Series” in the front lounge at the New Orleans Jazz & Blues Market. Show time is 7 p.m.;
tickets are $17.
Singer-songwriter Paul Sanchez plays a free, 5 p.m. happy hour set at Snug Harbor At 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Snug Harbor presents the Uptown Jazz Orchestra led by bassist Jason Stewart; tickets are $45.
John Rankin shop @gaetanasnola we wearwhite
Tim Laughlin
BY KASEYBUBNASH Staff writer
There’sahouse in Covington that youcan always count on to be festooned withprofessional-caliber decorations, no matter the holiday
Richard Bentley-Smith still remembers theimpressively detailed Egyptian tomb theme thatdefined itsdécor during Halloween 2024, partlybecausehis twoyoung children spent much of that fall begging to drivepast what they had dubbed “the cool house.”
Bentley-Smithloved seeing the house through his kids’eyes,and thought it would be fun to inspire such childlike wonder on alarger scaleatCoquille Parks and Recreation,where he serves as executive director
Whenhefound out the Clark Griswold in his neighborhood was none other than JeffBorne,the creativebehind New Orleans projectslike The Mortuary Haunted House and City Park’sformer Scout Island Scream Park, Bentley-Smith hoped Borne would agreetodecorate the Covington park complex for Halloween. It turns out Borne was up for awhole lotmorethan that.Now,after two years of planning, Borne is expanding his reign of terror tothe northshore for Halloween 2026.
“Weare very excited to be hosting a haunted house on thenorthshore once again, so the kids from Hammond all the way to Mississippi don’thavetodrive across the lake,” Bentley-Smith said.
Touted as Louisiana’s“newest and most intense nightmare,” The Sawmill Haunt-
NIGHTMA NORTHS NON THE
ed House opens to thepublic in Coquille’s River Mill eventscenter on Oct. 2and will runthrough Nov.1
With monthstogobefore the pumpkins are carved and thetrick-or-treaters hit thestreets, Bentley-Smithsaid many of thenitty gritty details of Coquille’sfestivities arestill being ironed out.But he said“thesky is thelimit”for Borneand his team.
“You couldn’task for abetter group locally,” he said.
ANew Orleans native withalong history in thehaunted attraction business, Borneopened The Mortuary in agutted
Victorian mansion and former funeral home at the endofCanal Street in MidCity in 2007. The haunted house hasbeen terrifying visitors ever since, becoming astaple stopduring the Crescent City’s spooky season
Borne’sresume also includes work on Universal Studios roller coasters, AREA15DistrictinLas Vegas, and bygone local hits like Scream Factory,abeloved northshore haunted house that was forced to closeinHurricane Katrina’s wake.
Borne said he jumpedatthe opportunitytoget back to Covington, where he
The Sawmill’snam its host venue,the Ri of its design andthem fictionalsetting of a h Widow’sLanding, wil the ghost storiesand ville.Borne said visit seeghosts —includin Madisonville’sSilk L ratesand, of course, Unlike The Mortua fixture thathosts eve Sawmill will operate more traditionalhaun Borne’s team hasalre building collapsible s start moving into the Eventually Borne s Sawmill will gain eno thatitcould oneday anotherone of his pa Island Scream Park, een festival in City P fell victim to the COV
“It’sthe prospect o growoverthe next 1 really looking at,” he Like at The Mortua sionand VIP tickets be available online an Ticketswill range fro true fear fanatics can for$150.
Email KaseyBubnas bubnash@theadvoca
STAFFFILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Jeff Borne wasthe creativebehind Scout Island Scream Park, abelovednorthshore haunted house that wasforced to close in Hurricane Katrina’swake.
Ghoul Gabrielle Jeansonne scares visitors at the Mortuary Haunted Mansion.
FILE PHOTO By JOHN McCUSKER
ARE SHORE
arious businesses
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FILE PHOTO By JOHN McCUSKER Achainsaw-wielding ghoul ushers people out the exit at the end of the journeythrough the Mortuary Haunted Mansionin2025.
HOGGING THE SPOTLIGHT
La. duo returns to competition scene on ‘Pitmasters’
BY JUDY BERGERON Staff writer
When Leslie Roark Scott and her son, Jacob Scott, “go the whole hog,” they mean it literally.
The dynamic barbecuing duo are fourth- and fifth-generation pitmasters and Yazoo City, Mississippi, natives who moved south last year and immersed themselves in life in New Orleans’ Marigny neighborhood.
“I like to say the same river (the Mississippi), different swamp,” Roark Scott said Monday on a phone call shared with her son/grilling partner.
Viewers can see the Scotts in action on Food Network’s new competition series “Pitmasters,” not to be confused with the network’s 2009-2015 show “BBQ Pitmasters.”
For the new one, “teams of the world’s most elite pitmasters push live fire cooking to its limits as they compete in a nonstop weeklong battle for BBQ glory Bold flavor, innovation and mastery of the pit is the name of the game,” according to a show synopsis.
It’s not the first rodeo for either Jacob Scott or his mom.
“So this is going to be my third appearance on Food Network,” the recent Chef John Folse Culinary Institute graduate said. “I did ‘Kids BBQ Championship’ back in 2015. I was 12 then, and then a year later when I was 13, I did ‘Chopped Jr.’ And then me and mom did a show called ‘Stove Tots,’ where we worked together.
“So this is kind of us revisiting that. And getting a chance to yet again be a duo on TV,” he said.
For “Stove Tots,” Scott, now 22, was the main cook while his mom was sous chef. She was required to stand back and watch, unless her son used a lifeline to call her in for assistance.
His mother, 53, has competed on “BBQ Pitmasters,” appeared a few times on “Chopped” and one episode of “Beat Bobby Flay.”
PROVIDED PHOTO FROM FOOD NETWORK
Louisiana mother-and-son barbecue team Leslie Roark Scott and Jacob Scott are one of nine teams on the first season of Food Network’s ‘Pitmasters.’
“And I didn’t beat Bobby. I mean, who beats Bobby? It’s impossible,” she said.
Roark Scott squared off against veteran chef and Food Network personality Flay with each’s take on barbecue wings.
The Scotts’ latest barbecue adventure, “Pitmasters,” was a different kind of competition, they agreed.
“We were in the mountains in Utah,
and it was as far from sea level for me and Jacob than it could have possibly been. It was just such a different environment,” Roark Scott explained.
“All I’ll say is everyone was equally equipped, and the show did a really good job at showing that barbecue isn’t just one thing. We had pitmasters from all over the place. Everybody with their own styles and methods. Each team
that you watch, they’re gonna be doing something completely different.”
The Scotts have been part of New Orleans’ Hogs for the Cause charity event since its third year She operated a restaurant for 20 years, still caters, and also appears at events such as upcoming demonstrations for Royal Oak Charcoal at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Her great-grandfather started the family’s barbecue tradition, and handed it down to her grandfather, who would share his special barbecue sauce with the neighbors.
The family eventually started bottling and selling the sauce, called Ubons, which is still available, along with a bloody mary mix.
The mother-son team have wanted to cook on TV side-by-side again for a while.
“Just because it’s something that we do so well,” she said. “But just getting to be on a team with Jacob and watch him work so hard. This was a grueling competition, truly
“I’ve been doing barbecue competitions overnight, starting as a kid where you’re on site at 4 a.m. and you’re done at 7 p.m. — this was even more than that. This was 24 hours a day. This was super intense, and I wouldn’t have done it with anybody else,” she said.
Her son expressed similar sentiments.
“I was catching side-eye from the competitors, not because of who I am and them trying to get a jump on me, but it was because I think I had a lot of people jealous of me because I got to do this with my mama,” he said. “And so we were a team to make everybody jealous.”
The six days of almost 24-hour cooking challenges, with very limited time for showers or rest, ran the gamut as far as weather conditions — warm, sunny days, contrasting with quite cool mountain nights.
“I’d pack my stuff up and do it again right now,” Roark Scott said.
The winner will receive up to $50,000. “Pitmasters” airs at 8 p.m. Mondays on Food Network and will stream the following day on HBO Max.
Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@ theadvocate.com.
Returning to Flavortown
Guy Fieri returns to New Orleans area in a ‘Triple D’ episode airing this week
BY CHELSEA SHANNON Staff writer
The mayor of Flavortown has returned to the New Orleans area to revisit a homegrown seafood spot and the Jefferson Parish family that keeps it running for a new episode of Guy Fieri’s “Triple D Nation.”
Seither’s Seafood in Harahan will be featured on the Food Network with the chef known for flames and flavor at 8 p.m. Friday.
Opened in 2004 at 279 Hickory Ave., the restaurant has become a staple for local, high-quality seafood and inventive creations.
Fieri featured the restaurant in 2019 on his original long-running show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” He highlighted Seither’s eye-popping dishes like the Volcano, an upside-down Asian taco salad, and the Totem Pole, a fried eggplant and crabmeat salad topped with fried soft-shell crab, shrimp and a cream sauce.
Since then, Seither’s has expanded its dining space, became a venue for live music, started selling boiled seafood at Zuppardo’s Family Market in Metairie, and released its own spice blend for sale, in addition to making its classic dishes and continuing to experiment with specials.
Given the success of so many spots visited by Fieri across the U.S., the celebrity chef has focused on revisiting restaurants for the “Triple D Nation” spinoff show
The Seither’s episode filmed last year, after Fieri threw a party for Super Bowl LIX at Mardi Gras World. Fieri also visited three Baton Rouge restaurants that were featured on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” that same year
Owner Jason Seither said he thanked Fieri for coming back, and that Fieri responded, “How could I not come see your crazy a**?”
“He told me to keep on making specials and keep on making these dishes,” Seither said.
He’s not supposed to say what dishes Fieri tried in the upcoming episode before it airs, Seither said, but Fieri “definitely picked the right ones” to showcase.
The Metairie native is also thrilled the episode showcases his family and how they’ve been doing since 2019. At the restaurant, wife Tara serves as general manager and sister Katie works in the kitchen, making many of the restaurant’s sauces. His son, Jack, and daughter, Jess, help around when they can when they’re not at school.
To celebrate, Seither’s Seafood will be closing a little early on Friday as nearly 300 of Seither’s closest friends and family attend a viewing party.
Since the initial episode aired, there has been an influx of people coming to try the featured dishes. He welcomes the exposure and new visitors, whether local or from elsewhere.
“I’m very grateful to be in the ‘Triple D Nation’ family,” Seither said. “I’ve always been a fan of ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.’ ... It’s an honor to me.”
Email Chelsea Shannon at cshannon@theadvocate.com.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
Jason Seither, of Seither’s Seafood in Harahan, holds up a bounty of select crawfish on March 13.
PHOTO PROVIDED By JASON SEITHER Jason and Tara Seither pose with Guy Fieri during a visit to Louisiana.
food food food
Chef leads tours of N.O. food and restaurants
Dook Chase debuts new TV series
BY IAN McNULTY Staff writer
“Food builds big bridges,” the late chef and New Orleans food icon Leah Chase once said. “If you can eat with someone, you can learn from them.”
Now her grandson, Edgar “Dook” Chase IV, has a new cooking series that is building bridges between the diverse and changing influences in local cuisine, and opening a new gateway for people all over to learn the New Orleans food story.
Chase is the host and star of “Dook Chase: A Chef’s Journey,” produced in New Orleans by WYES-TV.
The 26-episode series continues at 10 a.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. Sundays. The series also airs statewide on Louisiana Public Broadcasting, and it will be available for public television stations nationally to pick up.
“Our city gives us a little taste of the world, but also gives visitors a little taste of home,” Chase said. “You don’t get that everywhere. So this is a celebration of New Orleans. We have something special here and I want people to come down and visit and experience it.”
Chase is a chef who leads his family’s historic Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in Treme. He is also an entrepreneur with his own downtown restaurant Chapter IV, and other food ventures, including as a concessionaire at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and Tulane University, running stands in Yulman Stadium and the kitchen for the stadium’s faculty club.
He is also an ambassador, deeply rooted in the city’s food community with a story that draws threads through generations of change and continuity in New Orleans. That’s what his new show brings to life.
“Food is all about bringing people together; we were always taught it’s about making community a priority,” Chase said.
Recipes and how-to instructions are part of the series. So is storytelling Episode by episode, Chase leaves the studio kitchen to visit with other peo-
PROVIDED PHOTO By MARGARET CROSBy
Chefs Edgar ‘Dook’ Chase, of Dooky Chase’s Restaurant, and Meg Bickford, of Commander’s Palace, visit in the Commander’s kitchen for the cooking series ‘Dook Chase: A Chef’s Journey.’
ple who are part of the New Orleans food story
A chef-guided tour
Dooky Chase’s started as a po-boy shop back in the 1940s, so Chase spends time at Parkway Bakery & Tavern with general manager Justin Kennedy talking po-boy history and know-how
One episode starts with the story of Dong Phuong Bakery, and how traditions from Vietnam became entwined with king cake and crawfish pies in New Orleans. Another is about Angelo Brocato’s, a gelato parlor with a family line straight back to Sicily and immigrant tales of generations earlier
Other episodes visit Vaucresson Creole Café, a fifth-generation business in the 7th Ward that started as a butcher (and has long supplied Dooky Chase’s with sausage for its famous gumbo) and now is a bustling neighborhood Creole lunchroom.
Next-generation restaurants includ-
ing Dakar NOLA with its West African flavors, Acamaya with modern Mexican cuisine and Saffron NOLA with its Indian cooking merged with New Orleans influences are all part of the series.
From these visits, Chase returns to the kitchen to demonstrate recipes people can cook at home.
“That’s the ultimate goal of the show, to get people back in the kitchen and cooking and celebrating any recipe they cook,” he said.
A companion cookbook from Pelican Publishing is in the works, yet to be released.
Dooky Chase’s at 85
Chase’s family restaurant first opened in 1941. Leah Chase, daughterin-law of its founders, eventually made it her goal to turn it into the best restaurant available to Black people during segregation.
By the 1950s, with the Civil Rights Movement gaining ground, the restau-
rant became a meeting place for activists and civic leaders, and the Chase family openly defied Jim Crow laws by serving all customers.
Over the decades, Dooky Chase’s would host luminaries and presidents and become a destination for tour groups and banquets. But it has first and foremost always been a gathering place for New Orleans people.
“A Chef’s Journey” is bringing that spirit to a broader audience with a taste of what makes New Orleans cuisine and food culture so vibrant today.
Dooky Chase’s marks its 85th anniversary this year, and one of the special events is a music and wine dinner series called Summer Nights. These are scheduled for July 23 and Aug. 27, with young musicians from the Heritage School of Music All-Stars and their mentors performing. Book tickets on Resy.com.
Email Ian McNulty at imcnulty@ theadvocate.com.
stages stages stages
Tulane’s Summer LyricTheatre bids adieutoseason
Tulane University’smusical theater summer season slips intohistory with one of Stephen Sondheim’smultiple Tony-winning shows: the delicate, delightful farce ”A Little Night Music” opening July 30.
Penned in the early 1970s and based on Ingmar Bergman’s comedic film “Smiles of aSummerNight,” Sondheim’sshow won awards as best musical (besting “Pippin”) and for Glynis Johns, who sang the iconic “Send in the Clowns,” written specifically for her.All the show’snumbers are written in three-quarter time, like aViennese waltz.
Donning his director’shat,Ricky Graham saiddirecting fulfills adream for the local entertainer
“I had the pleasure of seeing the original production in the spring of 1973,” he said. “Sincethen, it’salways been one of my all-time favorites Sondheim or otherwise. I’m thrilled to finally get to direct it with asplendid cast, orchestra, and the outstanding Summer Lyric tech team.
“It’saperfect midsummer musical —asexy,witty,adult fairy tale with that glorious, sweeping score and one of thebest books written fora Broadway musical.
Set in Sweden at the turn of the last century,the show focuses on Johns’ character,actress Desirée Armfeldt, and those who love her,including her current and past paramours. They’ve married jealous women, but all agree to head to Desirée’smother’scountry estate for aweekend.
What could happen? Much, indeed. Misplaced affections, timing and age differences all come into play,with Desirée opining in her signature song that now might be atime for the clowns. The phrase, according to Sondheim, points to atheatrical director’stechnique of diverting attention from an onstage calamitywith something ridiculous. Written over a couple days to fitJohns’ singing style andgive the character asong in the second act, the song encapsulates the emotions.
“By the second act, the audience is ahead of all the characters and think-
Takingroles in Summer Lyric’s‘ALittle NightMusic’ are LukeBoucvalt, AshleySmetherman Lemmler,Leonard Raybon and KatherineArmbrester
ing, ‘You fool,you’rewiththe wrong person,’”notes Graham. “But, much like ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ by the end, the power of love finally gets the right combinations.”
AshleySmetherman Lemmler takes the role of Desirée, with Summer Lyric artistic director C. Leonard Raybon as suitor Fredrick and Austin Adomitis as Carl-Magnus.Alsointhe cast are Katherine Ambrester,Linda Gaille Bartlette, Luke Boucvalt, Leslie Claverie, Sakinah A. Davis, Audrey Gotham, Darren Hayes, Rachel Looney,Joseph Mace, Hadley Magaziner, ElizaMullins, ClaireShackleton, Luke Sirinides, Donnie Staffordand Juan L. Williams.Jose C. Simbulan is the musical director,and Jauné Buisson is choreographer.
Graham credits the slate of veterans
of Uptown shows and stages nearand far as abonus for the show.
“What would be difficult for any production is thestrengthofaSummer Lyricshow —wehave magnificent voices,” he said. “I’venever been involved withamusical that had such glorious singers. The castissmall but mighty.”
The show opens at 7:30 p.m. July 30Aug. 1and 2p.m. Aug. 2atDixon Hall on Tulane’sUptown campus.Tickets start at $32. Visitliberalarts.tulane. edu.
In production
“GILLIGAN’S ISLAND THE MUSICAL:” 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2p.m. Sunday; 19106 Playmakers Road.PlaymakersTheatersstages the hit television sitcom about athree-
“THE ROSE TATTOO:” Opening 7:30 p.m. Thursday(preview) through Saturdays and3p.m.Sundays through Aug. 9; Loyola’s Marquette Theater,6363 St. CharlesAve.Tennessee Williams Theatre Co.’sproduction about aSicilianwidowliving somewhere in Mississippi with her daughter,who deifies herlatehusband, in spite of his alltoo-humanfoibles, sheltering herself andher daughter. She begins to come outwith the arrival of another truck drivernamed Alvaro. Tickets start at $45. twtheatrenola.comtwtheatrenola. com.
