The Acadiana Advocate 07-16-2025

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Lafayette library boardOKs settlement

Advocatesalleged free speech violations

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

Afederal free speech lawsuit filed in 2023 over events at Lafayette Public Library board meetings awaits only formal signatures to be settled.

Thelibrary boardvoted Mondaytoaccept asettlement agreement that drops the lawsuit against two board members, including former board President Robert Judge, and Lafayette Consolidated Government. Details of thesettlementwill not be released until thedocuments are signed,according to Lynette Mejia, aco-founder of Lafayette Citizens Against Censorship and one of the people whofiled the lawsuit. What is knownisthatthe settlementwill include some changes in how speakers at public meetings are treated. Mejia and Melanie Brevis, co-founder of Lafayette Citizens Against Censorship, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Lafayette challenging policies adopted by Judge and the board that the women allege stifle free speech.

BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer

Plans to power Meta’s$10 billion

AI data center in northeast Louisiana reached akey stage on Tuesday with the opening of ahearing aimed at weighing Entergy’sproposaltobuild three new electricity plants in connection withthe facility

The hearing before an administrative judge in Baton Rouge beganaday after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg weighed in on what wouldbe thecompany’slargest data center yet, talking of plans to scale it up evenfurtherin the future, potentially giving it afootprint rivaling the size of Manhattan.

The project has been lauded by state officials as amajor economic development win for an impoverished area of Louisiana. Consumer and environmentalgroups have however raised deep concernsover the facility’smassive energy needs and whether some of the costs of powering it would eventually fall to average ratepayers.

While this week’s hearing mayresult in recommendations from Judge MelanieVerzwyvelt, thestate’sPublic Service Commissioncan eventually vote asitchooses, and it is widely expected to approve the plans. Entergybroke ground on asubstation last month that didnot require regulatory approval.

Environmental nonprofits and acoalition of petrochemical companies questioned Entergy’sproposalto build thegas-powered plantsTuesday.The unlikely coalition argues that theutilityand tech giant will reap the benefits, while residentsand largeindustrial customers could take on risks.

the newdata centerload, while it reaps the return-on-equity benefits to be gained from theunprecedented billions of new infrastructure spending,” theLouisianaEnergy Users Group, acoalition of companies including Exxon Mobil andDow Chemical, wrote in their brief before thehearing.

“Entergy shouldnot be allowed to use its monopoly structure to unreasonably impose financial risks on its existing captive ratepayers to serve

Louisiana Energy Users Group has been at odds with Entergy in thepast overits members’ attempts to buytheir ownpower without going through the utility.Consumer advocacy andenvironmental groups are meanwhile raising concerns over the plannedfossilfuel-powered plants and whether thenew demand will further strain thegrid.

Cassidysaysmeasles outbreak peaked

Authoritiesurge people to get vaccinated

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON

“The freedom to address our leaders in public comment is oneofthe foundational principlesofthe United States Constitution,” the women said in anewsrelease. “Without it, we lose the opportunity forour leaders to respond to the will of the people. The Lafayette Public Library Board of Control sought to censor those voices,but ourvictory today sends the powerful message that our government is beholden to the

—The nation’s measles crisis has peaked and is fast resolving because of efforts by state andfederal authorities to get people vaccinated against theoften-deadlydisease that had once been considered eradicated, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy said Tuesday “You can say that there are far more cases than we’ve had in the last six months than we’ve had in quite some time,” Cassidy,RBaton Rouge, told local reporters Tuesday.“But if you look at the overall incidence, it appears to be dying down.” Cassidy attributes thedecline nationwide to vaccination efforts by Health and HumanServices

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., andinLouisianatosimilar efforts by stateSurgeon General Ralph L. Abraham Jr Aphysician for30years, Cassidy noted that people who catch measles and survive are immunized from catching the disease

again. But he hopesthat thedecline was mostly attributable to morepeople getting vaccinated.

“Measles kills, and I’m pleased to saythat RFK Jr.and Ralph AbrahaminLouisiana are assuring people that the vaccines

BY CHRISTOPHERRUGABER and JOSHBOAK AP writers

WASHINGTON Inflation rose last month to its highest level since February as President Donald Trump’ssweeping tariffs pushed up thecostofeverything from groceries and clothes to furniture and appliances. Consumer prices rose 2.7% in June from ayear earlier, the LaborDepartmentsaidTuesday up from an annual increase of 2.4% in May.Ona monthly basis, pricesclimbed0.3% from May to June, after rising just 0.1%

the previous month. Worsening inflation posesa political challenge forTrump, whoasa candidate promised to immediatelylower costs, but instead has engaged in awhipsaw frenzy of tariffs that have jolted businesses andconsumers. Trumpinsists that the U.S. effectively has no inflation as he has attempted to pressure Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell into cutting short-term interest rates. Yetthe new inflation numbers makeitmore likely that the central bank will leave rates where they are. Powell has said that he wants to gauge the economic impact of Trump’stariffs before reducing borrowing costs. Excluding volatile food and

Rate rose last monthtoits highest levelsince February ä See INFLATION, page 7A

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JOHN MCDONNELL

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, left, greets SecretaryofHealth and HumanServices RobertF.KennedyJr. before ahearing in May.

See MEASLES, page 6A

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Holly RidgeonThursday.

Vandals who cut down beloved tree sentenced

LONDON Vandals who cut down England’s beloved Sycamore Gap tree were sentenced Tuesday to more than four years in prison for damaging the country’s natural heritage and for the outrage and distress they caused.

Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers set out with a chainsaw on a dark and stormy night in 2023 to carry out what a prosecutor called a “moronic mission” and toppled the majestic sycamore onto Hadrian’s Wall. Graham, 39, and Carruthers, 32, were each convicted of two counts of criminal damage — one for destroying the tree, the other for damaging the ancient wall that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Justice Christina Lambert sentenced the pair in Newcastle Crown Court to four years and three months in prison because there was a high degree of premeditation and planning to destroy the tree and because the act had angered and saddened so many people. Lambert concluded the two had largely done it for the “sheer bravado.”

Unreleased Beyoncé music stolen from car

A choreographer and a dancer traveling with Beyoncé for her concerts in Atlanta left their rental car in a parking garage for an hour while grabbing a bite, then returned to find a broken window and both of their suitcases stolen. They lost more than just clothing sunglasses and headphones. According to an Atlanta police report, the thief also made off with thumb drives containing the singer’s “unreleased music.” Police say they have identified a suspect, but they hadn’t announced any arrests as of Tuesday

The theft was reported July 8, which was two days before Beyoncé kicked off four nights of concerts at Atlanta’s MercedesBenz Stadium as part of tour of the U.S. and Europe in support of her Grammy-winning album, “Cowboy Carter.”

Roman-era mosaic panel returns to Pompeii

POMPEII, Italy

A mosaic panel on travertine slabs, depicting an erotic theme from the Roman era, was returned to the archaeological park of Pompeii on Tuesday, after being stolen by a Nazi German captain during World War II. The artwork was repatriated from Germany through diplomatic channels arranged by the Italian Consulate in Stuttgart, Germany, after having been returned from the heirs of the last owner, a deceased German citizen.

The owner had received the mosaic as a gift from a Wehrmacht captain, assigned to the military supply chain in Italy during the war The mosaic dating between mid- to last century B.C. and the first century — is considered a work of “extraordinary cultural interest,” experts said.

Fla. residents rescue 4 from crashed plane

Residents in a Miami suburb used an ax, fire extinguisher and garden hose to rescue four people from a small plane that crashed into a tree in yet another mishap near a busy South Florida airport.

“It was nothing short of heroic,” Angelo Castillo, the mayor of Pembroke Pines in Broward County, said Tuesday But Castillo is frustrated. He said there have been more than 30 crashes in the past five years on or around North Perry Airport, which serves small planes, though the airport disputes that figure. A local street is named for 4-year-old Taylor Bishop, one of three people who died when a plane crashed into an SUV in 2021. “We need better assurances that these planes are not going to keep falling out of the sky,” Castillo said. “The airport was a dairy farm before World War II. Now it’s the busiest general aviation airport in Florida. But within a 5-mile radius, there are approximately half a million people.”

U.N. says malnutrition in Gaza has doubled

Health officials: Israeli strikes kill over 90

BY WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip Malnutrition rates among children in the Gaza Strip have doubled since Israel imposed sharp restrictions on the entry of food in March, the U.N. said Tuesday. New Israeli strikes killed more than 90 Palestinians, including dozens of women and children, according to health officials.

Hunger has been rising among Gaza’s more than 2 million Palestinians since Israel broke a ceasefire in March to resume the war and banned all food and other supplies from entering Gaza, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas to release hostages It slightly eased the blockade in late May, allowing in a trickle of aid.

UNRWA, the main U.N. agency caring for Palestinians in Gaza, said it had screened nearly 16,000 children underage 5 at its clinics in June and found 10.2% of them were acutely malnourished. By comparison, in March, 5.5% of the nearly 15,000 children it screened were malnourished.

One strike in the northern Shati refugee camp killed a 68-year-old

Hamas member of the Palestinian legislature, as well as a man and a woman and their six children who were sheltering in the same building, according to officials from the heavily damaged Shifa Hospital, where the casualties were taken.

One of the deadliest strikes hit a house in Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa district on Monday evening and killed 19 members of the family living inside, according to Shifa Hospital. The dead included eight women and six children. A strike on a tent housing displaced people in the same district killed a man and a woman and their two children There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strikes.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said in a daily report Tuesday afternoon that the bodies of 93 people killed by Israeli strikes had been brought to hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours, along with 278 wounded. It did not specify the total number of women and children among the dead.

The Hamas politician killed in a strike early Tuesday, Mohammed Faraj al-Ghoul, was a member of the bloc of representatives from

the group that won seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council in the last national elections, held in 2006.

The Israeli military says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in densely populated areas. But daily, it hits homes and shelters where people are living without warning or explanation of the target.

UNICEF, which screens children separately from UNRWA, has also reported a marked increase in malnutrition cases. It said this week its clinics had documented 5,870 cases of malnutrition among children in June, the fourth straight month of increases and more than double the around 2,000 cases it documented in February Experts have warned of famine since Israel tightened its long-running blockade in March.

Israel has allowed an average of 69 trucks a day carrying supplies, including food, since it eased the blockade in May, according to the latest figures from COGAT, the Israeli military agency in charge of coordinating aid.

2 killed in New Jersey after floodwaters carry away vehicle

BY SUSAN HAIGH and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press

NEW YORK Two people in New Jer-

sey were killed after their vehicle was swept up in floodwaters during a storm that moved across the U.S. Northeast overnight, authorities said Tuesday

Gov Phil Murphy, a Democrat, noted the deaths occurred in the northern New Jersey city of Plainfield, where there were two storm-related deaths July 3. A third person was killed in North Plainfield during that previous storm.

“We’re not unique, but we’re in one of these sort of high humidity, high temperature, high storm intensity patterns right now,” Murphy told reporters after touring storm damage in Berkeley Heights. “Everybody needs to stay alert.”

The names of the two latest victims were not immediately released Tuesday Local officials said the vehicle they were riding in was swept into a brook during the height of the storm.

“Emergency personnel responded quickly, but tragically, both individuals were pronounced dead at the scene,” according to a statement the city posted online.

The heavy rains also caused flash floods in New York and south-central Pennsylvania on Monday night into early Tuesday, prompting road closures and snarling some service on the New York City subway

It was the second-highest one-hour rainfall ever recorded in Central Park at more than 2 inches, surpassed only by the remnants of Hurricane Ida in 2021, according to local officials.

Viral videos posted online showed water flooding down into one Manhattan subway station, submerging the plat-

form while passengers inside a train watched on.

Janno Lieber, chair and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority told ABC 7 in New York the city’s sewer system got overwhelmed by the rain and backed up into the subway tunnels and to the stations. In several cases, he said, the backup “popped a manhole,” creating the dramatic “geyser” seen in some videos.

“What happened last night is something that is, you know, a reality in our system,” he told the TV station, noting the backup happens when more than 13/4 inches of rain falls in an hour “We’ve been working with the city of New York to try to get them to increase the capacity of the system at these key locations.”

City officials said their venerable sewer system worked as well as it could, but it simply was not built to handle that much rain.

“Imagine putting a 2-liter bottle of water into a 1-liter bottle. Some of it’s going to spill,” Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala said at a virtual news briefing Tuesday

Netanyahu’s governing coalition is fracturing

Ultra-Orthodox party plans to leave

BY TIA GOLDENBERG

Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government suffered a serious blow on Tuesday when an ultraOrthodox party announced it was bolting the coalition. While this doesn’t immediately threaten Netanyahu’s rule, it could set in motion his government’s demise, although that could still be months away It also could complicate efforts to halt the war in Gaza.

United Torah Judaism’s two factions said they were leaving the government because of disagreements over a proposed law that would end broad exemptions for religious students from enlistment into the military Military service is compulsory for most Jewish Israelis, and the issue of exemptions has long divided the country Those rifts have only widened since the start of the war in Gaza as demand for military manpower has grown and hundreds of soldiers have been killed.

The threat to the government “looks more serious than ever,” said Shuki Friedman, vice president of the Jewish People Policy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.

Netanyahu is on trial for alleged corruption, and critics say he wants to hang on to power so that he can use his office as a bully pulpit to rally supporters and lash out against prosecutors and judges. That makes him all the more vulnerable to the whims of his coalition allies.

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest serving leader, has long relied on the ultra-Orthodox parties to prop up his governments. Without UTJ, his coalition holds just 61 out of parliament’s 120 seats.

That means Netanyahu will be more susceptible to pressure from other elements within his government, especially far-right parties who strongly oppose ending the war in Gaza.

The political shakeup isn’t likely to completely derail ceasefire talks, but it could complicate how flexible Netanyahu can be in his concessions to Hamas.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JEHAD ALSHRAFI

Hossam Azzam holds the body of his child, Amir, who was killed in an Israeli military airstrike on Gaza, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By SETH WENIG

A family walks Tuesday by flood-damaged cars in North Plainfield, N.J

Trump downplays Ukraine weapons deal

BY DARLENE SUPERVILLE, AAMER MADHANI and STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Tuesday downplayed the possibility of sending Ukraine longrange weapons as Kyiv awaits an injection of U.S. weaponry that it hopes will help it beat back an intensifying Russian air offensive.

Trump offered a more cautious tone on what to expect after he threatened Russia a day earlier with steep tariffs if President Vladimir Putin doesn’t act within 50 days to end the three-year conflict. He also on Monday announced plans to bolster Kyiv’s stockpile by selling American weapons to NATO allies who would in turn send

arms to Ukraine.

Providing Ukraine with more long-range weaponry would give Kyiv the chance to strike further into Russian territory, a move that some in Ukraine and the U.S. have said could help push Putin toward negotiations to end the fighting.

Asked if he intended to supply Ukraine with weapons that could reach deeper into Russian territory Trump replied, “We’re not looking to do that.” He made the remarks to reporters before departing the White House for an energy investment event in Pittsburgh

While Trump’s threats of weapons, sanctions and tariffs mark the most substantive pressure he’s placed on Putin since returning to office nearly six months ago,

some lawmakers said they remain concerned that the administration, with the 50day deadline, is giving Putin time to grab even more Ukrainian territory

Sens. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, and Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, said waiting 50 days before imposing sanctions on Russia would give Putin more time to gain an advantage in the war

“The 50-day delay worries me that Putin would try to use the 50 days to win the war, or to be better positioned to negotiate a peace agreement after having murdered and potentially collected more ground,” said Tillis, who recently announced he won’t run for reelection.

Waltz pledges to make U.N. ‘great again’ at Senate hearing

BY FARNOUSH AMIRI and MATT BROWN Associated Press

WASHINGTON Mike Waltz

painted an image for lawmakers Tuesday of what the United Nations would look like as the U.S. its largest donor — reviews its support, opting to go “back to basics” under a Trump administration push to “make the U N. great again.”

During his Senate confirmation hearing to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Waltz echoed the priorities of his bosses — President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio of pursuing major reforms to the 80-yearold world body It was the first time sena-

his plans to bring “America First” to the U.N.

“We should have one place in the world where everyone can talk — where China, Russia, Europe and the developing world can come together and resolve conflicts,” Waltz told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the U.N. “But after 80 years, it’s drifted from its core mission of peacemaking.”

tors could grill Waltz since he was ousted as Trump’s national security adviser in May after he mistakenly added a journalist to a private Signal chat used to discuss sensitive military plans. He denied Tuesday that he was removed from the post, while laying out

The U.N. is pursuing its own reforms while the Republican administration has spent the last six months reshaping American diplomacy and working aggressively to shrink the size of the federal government, including recent mass dismissals at the State Department.

BY ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Va. — Attorney

General Pam Bondi suggested Tuesday that she has no plans to step down as she dodged questions about Jeffrey Epstein and her clash with a top FBI official, seeking to press ahead with a businessas-usual approach in the face of right-wing outrage that has plunged the Justice Department into turmoil.

Pressed by reporters during an announcement touting drug seizures, Bondi sidestepped questions about the fallout of the Trump administration’s decision not to release more records related to

the wealthy financier’s sex trafficking investigation that has angered high profile members of President Donald Trump’s base. With some calling for her resignation, Bondi made clear she intends to remain attorney general.

“I’m going to be here for as long as the president wants me here,” Bondi said.

“And I believe he’s made that crystal clear.”

The announcement at the Drug Enforcement Administration headquarters of recent methamphetamine and fentanyl seizures represents an effort by Bondi to turn the page on the Epstein controversy and show that the Justice Department is forging ahead after days of mounting criticism from figures in the MAGA movement furious over the administration’s failure to deliver long-sought government secrets about Epstein.

But her refusal to address the turmoil may only further frustrate conservative influencers who have been calling for transparency and accountability over the wealthy financier’s case.

“This today is about fentanyl overdoses throughout our country and people who have lost loved ones to fentanyl,” Bondi said in response to a question from a reporter about the Epstein files. “That’s the message that we’re here to send today I’m not going to talk about Epstein.”

Trump has been seeking to tamp down criticism of his attorney general and defended her again earlier Tuesday, saying she handled the matter “very well.” Trump said it’s up to her whether to release any more records adding that “whatever she thinks is credible, she should release.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

Former White House national security adviser Michael Waltz testifies Tuesday during a Senate hearing

Bondi

Assisted-living home has history of late reports

9 residents killed in fire

BY KIMBERLEE KRUESI, HOLLY RAMER and MICHELLE R. SMITH Associated Press

FALL RIVER, Mass. — A Mas-

sachusetts assisted-living center where nine residents died in a fire was cited for failing to immediately report more than two dozen health and safety incidents, according to regulators’ most recent review of the facility

Five men and four women were killed and at least 30 others were injured Sunday night at Gabriel House in Fall River, about 50 miles south of Boston. Some of the 70 residents were rescued by ladder after screaming for help from the windows of the three-story building. Investigators have not determined the cause of the blaze, which was the state’s deadliest fire in more than four decades. The 100-unit facility, which opened in 1999 in a former motel built decades earlier, was last inspected by the state on Oct. 31, 2023,

SENNE

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By STEVEN

An investigator takes measurements Monday near an entrance to the Gabriel House assisted living facility following a fire that started late Sunday in Fall River, Mass.

according to a report from the state Executive Office of Elder Affairs.

The report cited the facility for seven deficiencies, four of which were repeat problems After the facility responded with a corrective action plan, it was recertified through November 2025.

Most of the issues involved missing documentation For example, seven resident files that were reviewed were missing documents to indicate that their service plans were reassessed with-

in 30 days of moving in, as required. The plans outline the services each resident receives, including whether they need help with medication and meals. The review also found problems with the reporting of safety incidents. Facilities are supposed to submit reports of incidents that could have a significant negative effect on residents’ health, safety or welfare within 24 hours, but the review found 26 reports that were sent later than that between May 5, 2022, and Oct. 31, 2023.

Fire threatens Grand Canyon cabins

BY ROSS D FRANKLIN,

SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK,

Ariz. — Crews fighting a wildfire that destroyed the nearly century-old Grand Canyon Lodge were focused Tuesday on stopping the flames from consuming nearby cabins, a water pumping station mule stables and other structures, fire officials said.

Hundreds of firefighters are dealing with a pair of wildfires along the park’s less-visited North Rim that together have burned through more than 90 square miles. That’s more than twice the size of the entire Walt Disney World complex in Florida Each blaze grew overnight into Tuesday, but fire officials expressed optimism that they had slowed the spread of the White Sage

Fire, the larger of the two. Tourists standing along the park’s popular South Rim on Tuesday watched plumes of smoke rise above the sweeping vista, filling the canyon with a thick haze and pooling in its depths.

“By the afternoon, it was completely socked in,” Christi Anderson said of the smoke that had filled the canyon the day before “You couldn’t see anything, none of that It was crazy.”

‘Severance’ leads Emmy nominees with 27 as Apple TV+ dominates

BY ANDREW DALTON Associated Press

LOS ANGELES “Severance” separated itself from the field with 27 Emmy nominations Tuesday, while “The Studio” led comedy nominees with a record-tying 23 in a dominant year for Apple TV+.

No other dramas came close to the dystopian workplace series “Severance,” which achieved a convergence of acclaim and audience buzz for its second season that brought an expected Emmy bounty “It’s been the best kind of morning,” Apple TV+ head of programming Matt Cherniss told The Associated Press.

Lead acting nominations came for “Severance” stars Adam Scott and Britt Lower for what amounted to dual

roles as their characters’ “innie” work selves and “outie” home selves. Tramell Tillman got a supporting nod for playing their tone-shifting, pineapple-wielding supervisor Patricia Arquette was nominated for supporting actress for playing an ousted outcast from the sinister family business at the center of the show And Ben Stiller got a nomination for directing the Season 2 finale.

Apple’s Hollywood satire “The Studio” was expected to make a significant showing for its first season, but it romped over more established shows like “Hacks,” which got 14, and “The Bear,” which got 13.

And “The Studio” tied a record set by “The Bear” last year when it also got 23 nominations, the most ever for a comedy. Seth Rogen, who co-creat-

ed “The Studio” with longtime collaborator Evan Goldberg, personally got three nominations for acting, writing and directing. Rogen told the AP that “my ego is in shock” and called the raft of nominations “very validating in a way that I’m not used to being validated.” His show’s A-list roster of guest stars brought in a bounty, with nominations for Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Bryan Cranston, Anthony Mackie, Dave Franco and Zoë Kravitz. The men made for five of the six nominees in the guest actor in a comedy category “The Penguin,” HBO’s dark drama from the “Batman” universe, was also surprisingly dominant in the limited series category with 24 nominations, including nods for leads Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti.

Entergy maintains that other ratepayers will not be on the hook for most of Meta’s energy needs, as the tech company is paying for substantial amounts of the generation, and stresses the data center is a win for economic development.

The utility says that Meta is paying for the full annual revenue of the natural gasfired plants for 15 years and that the tech company “will contribute a large percentage of the costs that would otherwise be borne by all of (Entergy’s) customers.”

But the life of one such plant can exceed 30 years, which is a sticking point for the opposing groups.

‘Growth potential’

Zuckerberg, who posted his comments on Threads, said the company intended to scale up the facility to a five-gigawatt data center over several years, the size of which would rival Manhattan and consume the amount of power of New Orleans six times over in a given year Ashley Settle, a spokesperson for Meta, confirmed that the project, named “Hyperion,” refers to the Louisiana data center

The already-historic plan for the Richland Parish facility could consume less than half of the figure Zuckerberg boasted. In February Stacey Yip, another Meta spokesperson, confirmed that the Louisiana site would have around 2 gigawatts of server capacity but need additional energy for cooling and office space.

“I know (Meta has) been investigating the ability to buy more land and to build more power,” Louisiana Eco-

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people it represents.”

The lawsuit accrued about $100,000 in fees that taxpayers would have had to pay if the women prevailed. A federal judge in March rejected Judge’s request to drop the lawsuit. Federal Judge Robert Summerhays noted that the lawsuit established that Judge’s actions violated the First Amendment and his conduct was “objectively unreasonable in light of clearly established law.”

The five board members in attendance Monday all voted to adopt “non-monetary portions” of the settlement, according to board Vice President Allan Moore. Judge and board member Ella Arsement were absent.

The final straw that led to the lawsuit occurred in January 2023 when Judge had two armed off-duty Lafayette Parish sheriff’s deputies hired as security escort Brevis from the speaker’s podium, alleging she violated board policy by making comments directed at board members.

Brevis criticized Judge, calling some of his and the

“I know (Meta has) been

to build more power Since the beginning, there was an ongoing conversation about the potential for growth there, and that is one thing that was so attractive about that state site — the growth potential.”

SUSAN BOURGEOIS Louisiana Economic Development secretary

nomic Development Secre-

tary Susan Bourgeois said. “Since the beginning, there was an ongoing conversation about the potential for growth there, and that is one thing that was so attractive about that state site the growth potential.

The advocacy groups want Meta’s contract with Entergy extended to 25 years to more closely align with the duration of a gas plant. The utility, however, says that even if Meta leaves after the 15-year contract, the plants will be needed as others are retired. Entergy rejects extending the contract, Laura Beauchamp, vice president of business strategy and operations at the utility, reiterated during the hearing

The tech company is not paying for fuel costs of the gas plants or a new $550 million transmission line, according to public filings. Meta announced in December its plan to build the industrial site on agricultural land the size of around 70 football fields. The project is expected to support 300 to 500 permanent jobs and 5,000 construction workers at peak Beauchamp said Tuesday that she did not know if

board’s actions “hateful and prejudicial.” She said thenboard member Stephanie Armbruster, in protesting Drag Queen Story Time in 2018, was “grooming her children and others by her message that there is something pathologically wrong with certain gender and sexual identities even as she claims to love everyone.”

Board members and other speakers have alleged, without being removed or silenced by Judge, that librarians and those who support keeping books about LGBTQ+ topics in libraries are grooming children

In February of 2022, Judge had an LGBTQ+ activist arrested during a board meeting for speaking a word out of turn after he and others had been warned not to do so. The activist, Matthew Humphrey, was an organizer of Drag Queen Story Time in 2018 in which men dressed as women were to read stories to children. Judge and Armbruster, who were not yet on the board, publicly protested the event.

District Attorney Don Landry waited a year to prosecute the disturbing the peace misdemeanor charge against Humphrey 15th Judicial District Court Judge

the new hires would be locally based. The confidential agreement the utility reached with the tech company “is about the production of service of electricity, it is not tied to the number of jobs,” she said.

‘Not an ideal outcome’

Some of the parties involved in the electricity proposal — including the staff of the Public Service Commission and the Sierra Club — came to an agreement last week, shortening the length of the hearing from two weeks to two days. The role of the commission staff is to help fill informational gaps to help the elected commissioners reach their decision.

Joshua Smith, a staff attorney at the Sierra Club, said that his group’s settlement last week was “not an ideal outcome,” but that he’s cautiously optimistic over Meta’s agreement to procure additional solar to offset some of the data center’s gas-related pollution.

“This was a difficult one because we’ve had two Louisiana commissioners vocally support the project,” Smith said “The governor has been supportive So once commission staff decided to settle as well, it in my view became extremely unlikely that you have an outcome that defeated any one or all of the gas generators.”

Meta had agreed to build to 1500 megawatts of solar power in Louisiana, according to public filings, though this provision is not legally binding The tech company is now committing to an additional 500 megawatts, Smith said.

Staff writer Stephanie Riegel contributed reporting.

Email Josie Abugov at Josie.Abugov@ theadvocate.com.

Royale Colbert dismissed the charge and apologized to Humphrey Judge also posted on the front entrance to the main library in downtown Lafayette where the board meets and on the second-floor meeting room door verbiage from a Louisiana law defining the crime of disturbing the peace.

Liberty Grace Gibb of Lafayette, describing herself Monday as a friend of Armbruster read a letter from the former board member Armbruster alleged Brevis violated board policy and that some speakers created environments hostile to board members and library staff.

Since the library speaker’s policy is almost identical to that of the city and parish councils, Armbruster asked in her letter if or when those public bodies will revise their speaker policies based on changes that appear to be required by the lawsuit settlement.

The settlement agreement was on the board’s May meeting agenda. But Judge convinced the board not to enter into executive session to consider the agreement.

Email Claire Taylor at ctaylor@theadvocate.com.

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are safe, that they should get vaccinated,” said Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that oversees Kennedy’s health department.

Cassidy was responding to a call by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for Kennedy to acknowledge that the number of measles cases has grown so large under his watch as to present a national health care emergency

In February, a measles outbreak in West Texas among people who refused to get vaccinated left two children dead. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported July 8 a total of 1,288 confirmed measles cases in 39 jurisdictions, including two in Louisiana.

That’s the largest number

of cases at one time in more than three decades.

Schumer blamed Kennedy, who has a history of vaccine skepticism, for failing to respond to the rapid resurgence of the disease.

Kennedy fired all 17 members of the committee that advises the CDC on vaccination policies, began laying off thousands of department employees, canceled research grants and forced agency vaccine scientists into leaving their jobs.

“This isn’t just failure, it’s malpractice: Measles is one of the most contagious viruses known to science — and one of the most preventable,” Schumer wrote Kennedy in a July 11 letter

Declaring a nationwide public health emergency would free up funding and leverage federal, state and local personnel and other resources into combating the spread of the highly contagious disease that had been officially declared eradicated 33 years ago,

Schumer continued. Kennedy said Monday during a news conference he did not consider the measles outbreaks to be a national emergency He said that compared with the outbreaks worldwide, the U.S. is faring well. Yemen reports 15,683 measles cases, Pakistan 12,732, India 10,299, and Canada 3,053 measles cases as of July 9, according to the World Health Organization.

Kennedy said his health department has controlled the outbreaks effectively noting that most of the American cases have occurred in people who don’t want to be vaccinated.

“There are some populations that do not want to vaccinate. We’re making sure there are protocols for treating people who actually get measles,” Kennedy said.

Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate. com.

energy, core inflation increased 2.9% in June from a year earlier, up from 2.8% in May On a monthly basis, it picked up 0.2% from May to June. Economists closely watch core prices because they typically provide a better sense of where inflation is headed.

The uptick in inflation was driven by a range of higher prices. The cost of gasoline rose 1% just from May to June, while grocery prices increased 0.3%. Appliance prices jumped for the third straight month. Toys, clothes, audio equipment, shoes and sporting goods all got more expensive, and are all heavily imported.

“You are starting to see scattered bits of the tariff inflation regime filter in,” said Eric Winograd, chief economist at asset management firm AllianceBernstein, who added that the cost of long-lasting goods rose last month, compared with a year ago, for the first time in about three years Winograd also noted that housing costs, a big inflation driver since the pandemic, have continued to cool, holding down broader inflation The cost of rent rose 3.8% in June compared with a year ago, the smallest yearly increase since late 2021.

“Were it not for the tariff uncertainty, the Fed would already be cutting rates,” Winograd said “The question is whether there is more to come, and the Fed clearly thinks there is,” along with most economists.

Some items got cheaper last

month, including new and used cars, hotel rooms, and airfares. Travel prices have generally declined in recent months as fewer international tourists visit the U.S.

A broader political battle over Trump’s tariffs is emerging, a fight that will ultimately be determined by how the U.S public feels about their cost of living and whether the president is making good on his 2024 promise to help the middle class.

The White House pushed back on claims that the report showed

a negative impact from tariffs, since the cost of new cars fell despite the 25% tariffs on autos and 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum. The administration also noted that despite the June bump in apparel prices, clothing prices are still cheaper than three months ago.

“Consumer Prices LOW,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Bring down the Fed Rate, NOW!!!” For Democratic lawmakers, the inflation report confirmed their warnings over the past several months that Trump’s tariffs could

reignite inflation. They said Tuesday that it will only become more painful given the size of the tariff rates in the letters that Trump posted over the past week.

“For those saying we have not seen the impact of Trump’s tariff wars, look at today’s data. Americans continue to struggle with the costs of groceries and rent and now prices of food and appliances are rising,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Many businesses built up a stockpile of goods this spring and were able to delay price hikes, while others likely waited to see if the duties would become permanent.

More businesses now appear to be throwing in the towel and passing on costs to consumers, including Walmart, the world’s largest retailer which has said it raised prices in June Automaker Mitsubishi said last month that it was lifting prices by an average of 2.1% in response to the duties, and Nike has said it would implement “surgical” price hikes.

Powell said last month that companies up and down the supply chain would seek to avoid paying tariffs, but that ultimately some combination of businesses and consumers would bear the cost.

“There’s the manufacturer the exporter, the importer, the retailer, and the consumer, and each one of those is going to be trying not to be the one to pay for the tariff,” the Fed chair said. “But together they will all pay for it together — or maybe one party will pay it all But that process is very hard to predict, and we haven’t been through a situation like this.” Trump has imposed sweeping duties of 10% on all imports plus

30% on goods from China. Last week the president threatened to hit the European Union with a new 30% tariff starting Aug. 1. He has also threatened to slap 50% duties on Brazil, which would push up the cost of orange juice and coffee. Orange prices leapt 3.5% just from May to June, and are 3.4% higher than a year ago, the government said Tuesday Overall, grocery prices rose 0.3% last month and are up 2.4% from a year earlier While that is a much smaller increase than after the pandemic, when inflation surged, it is slightly bigger than the pre-pandemic pace. The Trump administration has also placed a 17% duty on Mexican tomatoes. Families have cut spending on food as prices rise. Cassidy Grom, 29, her husband, and his mother are eating out less and try to stretch grocery store rotisserie chickens as far as possible, using them in salads and the bones for soup.

“It feels like a miracle if I’m able to leave the grocery store without spending $100,” the Edison, New Jersey, resident said. “We’re trying to save for a house, we’re trying to save for a family, so prices are really on our mind.”

Accelerated inflation could provide a respite for Powell, who has come under withering fire from the White House over interest rates.

The Fed chair has said that the duties could both push up prices and slow the economy, a tricky combination for the central bank since higher costs would typically lead the Fed to hike rates while a weaker economy often spurs it to

Heavyrainfall, potential floods ahead

Weatherservice tracking area of lowpressure

BY ASHLEY WHITE and CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writers

Regardless of whether atropical depression forms in the Gulf this week, Lafayette andsouth Louisiana can expect heavy rainfall and potential floods, according to the National Weather Service.

P&Gto hire 100 at plant

BY ADAM DAIGLE Acadiana business editor

Proctor &Gamble will hold ajob

fair later this month as part ofan effort to add 100 positions at its expanding manufacturingplant near Pineville, company officials announced.

Established in 1969, the plant produces laundry products such as Tide and Gain and was one ofthe first to start producing Tide Pods in 2012. P&G, which employs about 700 people in Pineville, is looking to fill the jobs immediately with more on the horizon, aspokesperson said. As part of the P&G Alexandria WOW Community Event, jobseekers can meet the local plant team and learn ways they canplay arole supporting some of theworld’s

Moncus Park pass available through library

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

Free parkingpassestoMoncus Park are the latest freebiesavailable through the Lafayette Public Library system. Through anew partnership, residents may check out from public libraries free parking passes to Moncus Park, 2913 Johnston St., which features walking trails, a splash pad area, adog park and more. Admission to MoncusPark is free but parking is not. Librarypatrons interested in the free parking passes to Moncus Park may call any branch to check on availability.Ifavailable, patrons may pick up afreeparking pass using their Lafayette Public Library card.

An area of low pressure forecast to move west across Floridaand enter theGulf is expected to become more organized andgradually develop throughout the week, bringing heavy rainfrom WednesdaytoSaturday,the weather agency in LakeCharles said in an advisory briefing. As of Tuesday afternoon, there

was a40% chance it would develop into atropical depression in the next 48 hours, which “will bring aboutwidespread heavyrainfall to Louisiana communities,”according to the weather agency The “reasonable worst-case scenario” is forflooding across lower Acadiana, wherethere’spotential for 10-15 inches of rainfall over a

72-hour period, Donald Jones, meteorologist with the weather agency in Lake Charles said in asocial media update Tuesday afternoon.

The weather agency issued aflashflood watch from 7a.m. Thursdayto7 p.m. Saturdayfor Lafayette, Iberia, Vermilion, Acadia, Evangeline, St. Landry,St. Martin and St. Mary parishes.

Even if the storm system strengthens as it crossesthe Floridapeninsula and enters the Gulf,

forecasters don’texpect it to develop into ahurricane.

Wind gusts of 40-50 mph may be possible,Jones said, but widespread power outages are not expected. With rain bands extending several hundred miles out and the storm moving at about 10 mphand possibly stalling, flooding will be the biggest threat. Ahead of the potential flooding,

BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

There’sanew restaurant,patisserie and full-service bar on New Iberia’sMain Street.

Lizzie’s, anew conceptfrom Caribbean IceCo. bakerElizabeth Shensky Hansen, opened last week with pastries in the morning and dinner at night —withthe promise of much more to come

Lizzie’smorning service features coffee and afull complement of croissants,cakes, brownies and other treats from Hansen,a pastrychef who has trained in Florence, Italy,withstints working at Soho House in New York and in a Cape Cod restaurant. She is especiallywell-known for her almond croissants, apastry that is difficult to find at other Acadiana-area bakeries. Shemet herhusband,chefErik Hansen,inMassachusetts. After

movingback to Louisiana to work at the family restaurant, Caribbean Ice Co., the couple quickly became known for their talents in thekitchen. Erik Hansen’sspaghetti and meatballs in particulargained afollowing across the region.

Lizzie’sdinnermenuwill feature entrees such as short rib ragu, steak frites, Parisian gnocchi and salads,soups,sandwiches and burgers.

Elizabeth Hansen’sparents, Skip and Pam Shensky,opened Caribbean Ice Co. in New Iberia in 2001 to provide sno-balls and other cooling summertreats,and drive-thru meals like burgersand barbecue. The Hansens have been planning theirdream to open their own boulangerie/patisserieinHansen’s hometown for several years— andnow,that dream is live and open forbusiness at Lizzie’s.

Lizzie’sofNew Iberia is open Wednesday through Saturday with pastries and coffeefrom 8a.m. to 1:30 p.m. anddinnerfrom5 p.m. to 9p.m. They plan to add lunch serviceata latertime, but have savory pastry options available for abrunch or lunchouting. Lizzie’sislocatedat 105 E. MainSt.

FILE PHOTO By LEE BALL

Pastrychef Elizabeth Shensky Hansen shows off some of her creations at Caribbean Ice CompanyinNew Iberia in October 2023. Hanen attended bakeryschool in Florence, Italy,and worked at SoHo House in Newyork City

PROVIDED PHOTO

The interior of Lizzie’s, anewly opened restaurant, patisserieand bar in New Iberia located at 105 E. MainSt.

OUR VIEWS

CPRA’s newleader haslong to-dolist

We were happy to see Gov.Jeff Landry appoint anew director for the state’sCoastal Protection and Restoration Authority lastweek

Michael Hare comes to the state’s frontline coastal agency fromthe privatesector.Hereplaces Glenn Ledet, who last month was tapped by Landry to take overthe Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

Hare’squalifications for the job areextensive. He has an MBA from LSU anda master’s degree in foreign policy from American University,and he has spent most of his career working in coastal and environmental policy andconsulting Hare takes over an agency tasked with perhaps Louisiana’s most urgent and vexing challenge. Over the past century,the statehas lost roughly 2,000 square miles of land, equivalent to thestate of Delaware.Stormsare increasingly intense, and the state’sland is sinking even as sea levels rise.

At the same time, he must find away to accomplishthe goalslaidout in Louisiana’s50-year,$50 billion Coastal Master Plan, the blueprint through which thestate works to combatthe effects of coastal land loss. The chief issue there will be the way forward on the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, an ambitious and expensive first-ofits-kind project that would divert waterfromthe Mississippi River into theBaratariaBasin

The$3billion project, which took yearstoplan and get permitted, has ballooned in costcomparedtooriginal estimates andhas been opposed from the start by local fishers andoystermenin Plaquemines Parish, where it is located. Theproject, which broke ground in 2023, is on indefinite pause while officialsfigure out whatcomes next

Beyond that, there are dozens of projects under CPRA’s purview,ranging from marsh buildingto creating jetties and dredging

In addition, the agencyfaces an uncertainfinancial future, withmoney fromthe fines and settlementsrelated to the2010 BP oil spill setto expire in 2031. That revenue forms abig share of CPRA’s 2026 budget, and officialshave yet to identify away to replace it whenitexpires

But it’snot all bad news. The One Big Beautiful Bill, passed earlier this month andsignedinto law by President Donald Trump, upped the state’s share of money collected from oil and gas drilling offthe state’s coast. The state could nowreceive an extra $50 million per year for thenext decade in funds dedicated to coastal protectionand restoration.

Landry hailed Hare’s “years of experiencein coastalrestoration.” His appointment also won positive comments from the CoalitiontoRestore Coastal Louisiana,anenvironmental group, which praised his “reputation for busting through red tape and working withcommunities to get things done.”

That’shigh praise, and we certainly hope Hare is abletoliveuptohis promise.He’sgot abig and important job. We wishhim well in it.

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE

WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

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

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

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE

OPINION

My minor in college was anthropology.And in those classes, Ilearned thatwhat we now refer to as LGBTQ+ people have always existed. Andwithout them, the human race would not exist, because they are necessary Many cultures, such as most of the American Indian tribes, have always accepted and valued their LBGTQ+ members, because they help the tribe survive Iwas glad to learn about this and decided that Iwould accept any of my own children, no matterwhat. And scientists have recently discovered that manyotherspecies also have similar and needed varieties of sexualdiversity,such as lions, dolphins, albatross, etc., for the same purpose.

One of my students at the first high school Itaught at came to my classroom one Friday after school and

tearfully told me that he was gay,but didn’twant to be.Hesaid his parents had spent lots of money,sending him to twodifferent religious conversion camps, but it wasn’tworking and he didn’tknow what else to do. Isuggested that he see our school counselor when he cameback to school on Monday,sohecould talk this out with someone who should be able to help him.Unfortunately,he never returned to school. He died by suicide

The current hateful rhetoric about LGBTQ+ by our country’sadministration, including wanting to deny gender-affirming care for minors, is horrible.

With all the wars going on, and the rapidly worsening affects of climate change, we need our LGBTQ+ fellowhumans to survive.

DARLENE

WILLISSCALF Harahan

Family leaveinsurance should getsupport in Congress

Icommend Rep.Julia Letlow for her supportofpaid family leave in aguestcolumn published June 20 and hope shewill move beyond the extension of employer tax credits for leaves and endorse anational paid family and medical leave insurance program.

Mostemployers do not usetax creditsfor paid leave because they have to pay upfront for the leave and then receive atax credit for only aportion of leave costs. Since only some employersuse tax credits, most workers lack accesstopaid leave.

In contrast, paid family and medical leave insurance programs have been adopted in 12 states (including Colorado, Maryland and Delaware),

and these cover all or almost all workers. Several of these have been in operation for over 20 yearsand have been shown to significantly promote thehealth and financial well-being of families and therecruitment, commitment and retentionofworkers for employers. Anational, comprehensive Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act hasbeen introduced in Congressand would provide 12 weeks of paid leave fornew parentsand people with personal and family health issues.

Ihope Letlow and ourother membersofCongress will back this soneeded paid leave insurance forall.

PHYLLIS RAABE NewOrleans

The big beautiful bill? Is this what “beauty” has come to in theUSA? Attacksonfunding forhealth care andMedicaidseverelyand adversely impacting ourstate andour country’s poor.Anincrease in thenational debt limit while taxes forthe rich getreduced.Cutbacks fornational parks, places where averagecitizens can go to inexpensively enjoy thevast beauty of ourcountry.And more. How can we (through ourelected officials) support this?And by the way, these items are alllifted from an articleinthis newspaper. Each one wasattributed to aRepublican legislator’sconcerns about the bill before it passed. Red or blue, it’sjust terrible. ANDREWDUHON Lafayette

The kidnapping of Donna Kashanian from her Lakeview homewhile gardening and the subsequent detention of this poor woman was just the latest in cruel and inhuman Immigration and CustomsEnforcement activities going on in our state. We need all of our leaders and citizens to stand up and say enough. If there are folks here illegally whohave committed serious crimes, then of course they should be arrested and deported.

Thisisinresponse to Jeannette Hueschen’sletter “Angola inmates don’tdeserve special treatment.” It never surprises me anymore that people don’tunderstandhow prison works. The ignorance that punishment for acrime meansyou should be treated as lessthan human, this indicates to me that such people don’twant inmates rehabilitated. They want humans to suffer.They want inhumane treatment. Why bother letting inmates wear clothes when outside in the fields? Why bother paying them enough to buysunscreen and stamps to write letters home in thesamemonth? Why bother feeding them at all when they can sleep outside in rain or shine to graze like beasts? It isn’t“special” treatment. It’s how any proper humanbeing treats another.That is,unlessapersonendorsesbrutalityrather than acts of redemption.

NATHAN MEAUX Crowley

Masked and without any identification, these agents took this poor womanfrom her homefor no discernable reason. She has been in the states legally fornearly 50 years and has committed no crime. Icannot believe anyone voted forthis type of shameless behavior,and to inflict suffering on someone like this is wholly immoral.

Every person in our state, no matter whom you voted for, should condemnthis cruelty.Weshould also demand the end to these detentions performed by masked individuals with no identification as this is dangerous to everyone involved and smacks of the Gestapo or the Stasi. Comeon, Louisiana, we are better than this!

THOMAS SHEPLEY NewOrleans

Firstthing we do,let’s fire allthe statisticians

There’smore than one way to cook the books. Youcan doctor ordeletedata after it’sbeen collected.Alternatively you can ensure the numbers are never collected in the first place. Lately,the Trumpadministration has been into leaning into that second scheme, by purging and defunding statistics agencies.

visers know this.

Butifthose concerns had deterred administration officials from fudging the numbers before, their hesitation now appears to be waning. Market analysts and economists are now openly worrying about the integrity of other once rocksolid federal economic data.

For months, President Donald Trump has waged war on objective, reliable federal statistics. By “statistics,” Imean the bits of information, large and small, that Americans might take for granted but need to make sense of the world. These figures help families decide where to live, physicians how to treat their patients, and businesses what to sell or whether to hire. But increasingly,the administration has delayed, redacted or canceled statisticalreleases when results proved inconvenient.

For example, the Agriculture Department produces aquarterly report estimating trends in international trade in farm-related goods.The most recent forecast projectedan increase in the U.S. trade deficit in farm goods later this year,related to Trump’stariffs and anti-American sentiments abroad. This would, of course, contradict Trump’s trade rhetoric, so the report was delayed and ultimately released without the detailed explanatory analysis it usually contains.

This seemingly low-profile change might represent aturning point of sorts. Until recently,the administration had largely left economic data untouched After all, unlike data on substance abuse or children’sliteracy,real-time economic numbers can move markets. Traders might freak out if they suspect the data is unreliable, and Trump’seconomic ad-

To be clear,administration officials do not appear to be overtly massaging numbers to reach their preferred conclusions —or“beating the data until it confesses,” as the saying goes. More often, officials aredepriving agencies of resources necessary to crunch the numbers in the first place.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis, which publishes major macroeconomic statistics such as gross domestic product, has lost about 20% of itsemployees since the beginning of the year,according to asource familiar withthe internal numbers.

Citing “resource constraints” and “ongoing modernization and streamlining of news release packages,” the agency has announceditwill stop publishing certain data,including detailed numbers on foreign direct investment in the United States as well as U.S. investment abroad.

Theseseemlike important things to trackgiven Trump’sdubious claims about how he’smade America amore desirable place for foreigners to invest their money.Ofcourse, it’seasier for the president to make such fact-free declarations if no objective dataisavailable to refute him.

Otheragencies are suffering similar brain drains. The Census Bureau, for instance,lostmore than 1,000 employees as of April, theacting director said.

Staff shortages have likewise been so severe at the Bureau of Labor Statisticsthat it hashad to cutback on some of its most important,market-moving data collection. Lastmonth, the agency

announced it had stopped collecting all consumer price data in Lincoln, Nebraska; Provo, Utah; and Buffalo. This followed an earlier announcement about halting the publication of hundreds of producer price series nationwide. (I have asked Labor Department press officials for staffing levels at least adozen times over the past month. Each time, I’ve been punted to someoneelse or told the department needs moretime to answer the question. Apparently,disappearing data applies to the government’sown payroll records, too.)

Meanwhile, Trump has asked Congress to more permanently slash spending at the BLS, which also publishes marquee reports on unemployment and jobs. Elsewhere across the government, he announced plans to scale back the survey used to measure use of food stamps and other government benefits—and has already fired everyone in the office thatcalculates the poverty guidelines, which are used todetermine eligibility for those same benefit programs. Perhaps most worryingly,Trumpis (again) eyeing the decennial census. This is the country’soldest statistical measure, which happens to be constitutionally mandated. But Trump, aided by GOP allies such as Sen. Bill Hagerty(Tennessee) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia),isnow trying to exclude all noncitizens from the official count

This would violatethe 14th Amendment, which requires counting “the whole number of persons.”Itwould, however,relieve the MAGA movement of the inconvenience of enumerating people it doesn’tthink should be counted in the first place. Because hey, if you don’tcount something,perhaps it ceases to exist.

Email CatherineRampell at crampell@washpost.com. She is on X, @crampell.

Disturbing glimpses of Democratic anger

Whena reporter asked Attorney GeneralPam Bondi aboutthe Jeffrey Epsteininvestigation, President Donald Trump could notcontainhimself amomentlonger “Are youstill talkingabout Jeffrey Epstein?” he said, pushingback against the question.“This guy’s been talkedabout foryears. Are peoplestill talking aboutthis guy?This creep?That is unbelievable.” It wasaday after theJustice Departmentconcludedthe convicted sex offenderdiedbyanunassisted suicide —not by foul play, as countless rumormongersand conspiracy theorists hadalleged.

Sorry,conspiracy junkies. The DOJuncovered none of therumored “client list” of powerful friends fromboth partieswho in theworldofparanoidpoliticswere widely speculated to have reasonstosilenceEpstein.

Epsteinwas accused of trafficking andsexually abusing dozensofunderagegirls. He pleaded guilty to procuring achild forprostitution andsoliciting in aFlorida state court in 2008 as part of a deal to avoidfederal charges.

He later wascharged withsex trafficking in New York federal court but diedinjailwhile awaiting trial

Yetthis case, like anyother “heater,” as prosecutors often callanattention-grabbing caselike this one, is notabout to slip farout of therumormills andconspiracy theorists across party lines. Whether they existornot, “theEpsteinfiles” became astory in themselves, unfettered by anything as mundane as alack of evidence, andeasily available to be weaponized by variousfactions. The files foundtheir wayintothe news more recentlyasTrump’s feud withhis formerally Elon Muskheated up. The billionaireentrepreneur claimed that theTrump administration hadwithheld the “files” because the president was named in them

Well, who wasn’t named in the“files,” if you believe the rumors? Idon’tbelieve them,but in theage of social media,the never-ending cascade of information andmisinformation at leastoffers someentertainment valueifyou don’ttakeittoo seriously.

We know many Democratswere stunned when Donald Trump won a second term as president.Weknow many are still angry aboutit. Butwe’re just now learning how angry some of them are. It’snot just grandstandingDemocratic lawmakers like Rep.Jasmine Crockett of Texas. Axios reports that “at town halls in their districts and in one-on-onemeetings with constituents and activists,” Crockett’s more moderate Democratic House colleagues are “facinga growing thrum of demandsto break the rules, fight dirty— andnot be afraid to get hurt.”

“Our own base is tellingusthatwhat we’re doing is not good enough,”said one Democratic lawmaker (out of nine) quoted in theAxios article. “Someof them have suggested …whatwereally need to do is be willing to get shot (in protests at U.S. Immigration andCustoms Enforcement facilities) …that there needs to be blood to grab theattention of the pressand thepublic.”

Another lawmaker toldAxios that constituents say “civility isn’tworking” and to get ready for “violence to fight to protect our democracy.”

Obviously,these areDemocratswho have moved beyond the defeat-themat-the-ballot-box stage of politics, and even beyond the protest-by-civil-disobedience stage.They’re ready to turn apolitical fight into aphysical fight. Violence is already goingon. In Alvarado, Texas, amilitantgroup broadly allied withDemocratic views launched what officials call a“coordinated attack” on the ICE PrairielandDetention Center on the Fourth of July.According to court documents, it started about 10:30 p.m., when agroup of 10 to 12 antifa radicals, dressed in all black, began shooting fireworkstoward the building. Some began to vandalize parkedcars. When unarmed ICEworkerscalled 911, an AlvaradoPolice Department officer arrived.

“Immediately after the APDofficer got out of his vehicle, an assailantin the woods opened fire, shootingthe APD officer in the neck area,” says the court document. Policelater foundtwo AR-15-style rifles and spentcasingsin

Sister RoseAnn Castilleja,center,holdsa rosaryand sign as she marches July 1 withotherimmigration advocates in SanAntonio, Texas

thenearbywoods. When the radicals ran away,police roundedthemup. Some were still in the woods, andsomewereescaping down anearby road. The officer who was hit in the necksurvived; 10 suspectswere charged with attempted murder

This is the radical, violent tip of the protests againstthe Trump administration’s enforcement of immigration law

Other examples of recent radicalization include far-left “FreePalestine” extremist Elias Rodriguez, who is accused of murdering twoIsraeli Embassy staff membersoutside the JewishNationalMuseum in WashingtononMay 21.Thenthere is Luigi Mangione, the accusedkillerofUnited Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City on Dec.4.Despitethe brutality of hiscrime, Mangione found himself celebrated insomeparts of the left his crimeminimized or excused —for what some apparently consider abold action against an oppressive health care system.

Beyond that, of course, there have alreadybeen riots in Los Angeles and other protests —some with the participation of Democratic lawmakers or Democratic support groups, like labor unions —that involved varying degreesofdisorderliness. Finally,therehas been an alarming plunge in the numberofDemocrats who say they are proud to be an American.Back in 2015, when Barack Obama was president, 80% of Democrats said

they were extremely or very proud to be an American,according to Gallup. Today,with Donald Trumpinthe White House, thenumber is less than half of that, 36%.

Enten also observed that the Democratic numbers are entirely different from Republican numbers. In 2015, with Obama, 90% of Republicans said they were extremely or very proud to be an American.Today,with Trump, thenumber is 92% —virtually unchanged. Take it all together,and thesituation is this: Some Democrats are calling on their elected representatives to engage in violence against the policies of President Trump. At thesame time, groups that might be characterized as militant allies of the progressive Democratic movementare resorting to violence in an effort to obstruct the president’s enforcement of federal immigration law.Some radicals have committed politically motivated murder,for which they received support in some far-left circles. Anditisall happening in the context of one of the two major political parties experiencing asharp drop in the most basic measure of civic devotion: pride in being an American It’sa troubling picture, and nothing on the immediate horizon suggests it will improve any time soon.

Byron York is on X, @Bryon York. Email himatbyronyork@yorkcomm. com.

Yetit’sironic that thereporter’squestion about Epsteinprovoked thepresident of theUnited States intoanon-camera hissy fit.I also detect a measureofcosmicjustice. After all, it wasTrump who made acampaign promise to open the“Epsteinfiles” in what he impliedwouldbeaday of comeuppance forhis political enemies

In theannals of American politics, youwould strain to find afigurewho made moreeffective use of innuendo than Trump, who first became adarling of right-wing conspiratorialists around 2010 by promoting liesabout Barack Obama’sbirth in the United States.

Unsurprisingly, therising conspiracy media elite lovedDonaldTrump, and he lovedthemright back Trump depended on theirloyalty whenhepromoted theBig Lieofthe stolen election in 2020, which in turn ledtoaninsurrection at theU.S Capitol and thegravest threat to constitutionalrule in theUnited States sincethe Civil War.

More recently, another leading light of conspiracy,Laura Loomer,gained notoriety forher weirdly intimate influenceoverTrump before he took officeinhis secondterm, prompting him to fire alist of aideswhom she found objectionable.

Oddly enough, now Loomer finds herself at the center of the“Epsteinfiles” brouhaha, feuding with Bondi, whom she derisivelycalls “Blondi,”overthe attorney general’s supposed lack of diligenceinthe Epsteincase.

Historian Richard Hofstadter wasapioneer observer of what he called“TheParanoidStyle in American Politics,” which he describedina 1964 Harper’sMagazine analysisofthe use of loose facts andpseudo-facts to build an alternative realityfor political ends

He wasinspired partlybyconservative Republican ArizonaSen. Barry Goldwater’spresidential campaign that year.Helost thecampaign against President LyndonB.Johnson, who leda landslide in anation still shaken by President JohnF.Kennedy’sassassination, but history showsthatloss ledtothe conservative ascendancy andRepublican recovery thatcontinues today

The DOJmemo says no oneelseinvolvedinthe Epsteincase will be charged. Epstein’sassociate Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a20-year sentence forchild sex trafficking andrelated offenses. Is this asignificantturn in thepolitical firmament,orisitmerelyanindication that Trump’s tactical useofconspiracy theories is having unintendedconsequences? It’s hard to say Idon’t expect much in theway of reliable further revelations, but news is abusiness that triesto prepare forthe unexpected —withhealthyskepticism.More likely, we might find outwho arethe grifters, theshills and thesuckers in this con game. As an old-school journo, Istill relyonthe advice of theold ChicagoCityNews Bureau slogan: If your mothersaysshe lovesyou,check it out— especially if it arrives in atweet.

Email Clarence Page at clarence47page@ gmail.com.

TO

Catherine Rampell

Byron York

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ERICGAy

Clarence Page

BY JONI HESS Staff writer

Crews will begin in August

to restore ahistoricCentral Business District building that partially collapsed last year, city officials said this week, marking astep forward foramajor downtown thoroughfare that hasseen aspate of reopening challenges.

Part of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanitiesbuilding at O’Keefe Avenueand Lafayette Street collapsed in December, shuttingdown roadways and creating headaches for businesses.

At aCity Council committee meetingTuesday,administration officials said they plan to reopen O’Keefe Avenue, which has been closed since the collapse, and complete structural repairs by January Endowment President Miranda Restovic said in a statement that the organization has been working “tirelessly” to stabilize its headquarters.

“Unfortunately,a project of this magnitude is not a quick or easy process, and we acknowledgethe hardshipthis has presentedfor our neighbors.Our priority remains the safety of the surrounding community while we work to ensure the building’sstructural integrityfor its next 150 years,” Restovic said. After the collapse, Endowment officials tapped ateam of engineering and construction firms to shore up the building temporarily and identify structural defi-

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most popular brands.

The event is from 10 a.m. to 3p.m. July 26 at theRandolph Riverfront Center,707

Second St., and willalso have local food trucks and activities and games for children, including adinosaur experi-

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Each parking pass contains abarcode. After enjoying their day at the park, visitors can simply scantheir parkingticket andtheir parking pass at the parking lot kiosk. The pass will allow them to leave the lot without paying aparking fee. Each pass is good for one visit and each pass has an expiration date Moncus Park is the latest local venue to partner with the library to provide patrons free access to their facilities.

Library patrons may also check out free family admission passes to several area museums, including the Acadiana Center for

ciencies, according to documentation published on the agency’s website.

Officials expect the building’sstructural repairs also will be completed in January,whileexterior facade work will likely continue intothe newyear.It’sunclear when the building itself will reopen. New Orleansconstruction firmWoodwardDesign +Build will handlethe first phaseofrepairs “There’sstill several monthsofreconstruction that need to takeplace,” New Orleans Office of EconomicDevelopmentDirector Jeffrey Schwartz told councilmembers. “Butas of right now,the planisfor January, whichweknow would make thisa full year of impact to thesurrounding community.”

The building’spartial collapse prompted arange of traffic controlmeasures because of safety concerns Earlier this year,officials limited traffic on O’Keefe to onelane, but closed itafterheavytruck traffic created “unacceptable” ground vibrationsnear thesite, accordingtoatimelineof events since thecollapse. The block laterreopened to pedestrians, but remained partially obscured by safety barriers. O’Keefe has twoway trafficinsteadofoneway from Julia Street to Lafayette Street, and it is then closed to Poydras Street. That impact has been aburdenonnearby businesses such as Maypop, an upscale restaurantthat shut down in April after months of street obstructions relat-

ence, amagician and face painting. Grammy Awardnominatedzydecoartist Sean Ardoin will perform at 1:30 p.m Last fall, the company announced itwas investing $96.7million into the plant to install newadvanced production lines and increaseproductioncapacity.The move added 15 jobs with an averageannualsalary of $70,000

theArts, Alexandre Mouton House/LafayetteMuseum, Children’sMuseum of Acadiana, Hilliard Art Museum, Lafayette Science Museum and the Vermilionville LivingHistory Museum and FolklifePark Learn about the Moncus Park parking passes by visiting lafayettepubliclibrary org/services/museumpasses

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ed to the collapse.

Maypop co-owner Michael Gulotta told The Times-Picayune earlier this year that thestreet closures were the “nail in the coffin forthe restaurant.”

The Louisiana Endowment for theHumanities building is one of several high-profile building collapses in recent years that hasraised calls for aresponsefrom city leaders. The City Council agreed in January to hire an engineer to advise it on how to best shore up aging buildings.

But because no firms responded to thecity’sbid for aconsult,the cityreissued itsrequest last month,District Bcouncil member Lesli Harris said.

Schwartz said that while the city anticipates aJanuary reopening, that timeline is subject to change.The riverside sidewalk and parking lane will remainclosedas restorationtothe building’s exterior continues over the following months.

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sandbaglocations are popping up across Acadiana. Rainfall chances Most of the area is likely to see at least 4inchesof rain, with some areas seeing up to 15 inches,according to the weather agency Most of south Louisiana has at least a40% chance of seeing more than 2inches of rainfall from Wednesday to Sunday.Acadia, St. Landry, and northwest Vermilion parishes have up to a50% chance of seeing more than 2inches. Lafayette, Iberia and southSt. Martin parishes have up to a70% chance of seeing at least2 inches

The likeliestrainfall totals from Morgan City westtoLafayette and Vermilion parish is 4-6 inches of rainfall, with the Opelousas area possibly receiving 6-8 inches, Jonessaid. He cautioned thatsome locationscould seemore, especially if the storm system stalls once it makes landfall.

What’s thetiming?

Tropical downpours are expected to move intothe area late Wednesday, Jones said, with the Morgan City and New Iberia areas probably the first to experience the rain. By Thursday,rainfall will spread farther inland, accordingtothe weather agency.Most of Acadiana hasa slight chance of experiencing excessiverainfall, andthere is a15% to 39% chance of flash flooding in the area, including Lafayette

On Friday,Jones said, mostofthe area from MorganCity to Lafayette andpossibly as far west as Lake Charles has a40% to 69% chance of experiencing flooding.

The greatestrisk of excessive rainfall and potential for flash flooding is Saturday,hesaid, as the storm moves inland and breaks apart, dumping rain on saturated ground and waterways thatare filled.

“Previous days of heavy/ training rainfall will compoundand greatly increase the risk of flash flooding,” the weather agency in Lake Charles said in an advisory

TO BIDDERS

Notice is hereby given thatsealedbidswillbe receivedeitherelectroni‐cally at https://lafayet tecsdgovla.tylerportico com/va/vendor-access/ registration or in theof‐fice of thePurchasingDi‐visionatthe Lafayette ConsolidatedGovern‐mentBuilding, locatedat 705 West University Av‐enue,Lafayette Louisiana,until 10:00 am Central Time on the5th day of August 2025 for the following: ALUMINUM SIGN BLAKS andwill, shortlythere‐after,beopenedand readaloud in theOffice ofPurchasinglocated at 705 West University Av‐enue,Lafayette,LA. Bids receivedafter theabove specified time foropen‐ing shallnot be consid‐eredand shallbere‐turnedunopenedtothe sender. Biddersare en‐couragedtocallintothe bid openings at thefol‐lowingphone number 337-291-5100.

In accordance with Louisiana RS 38:2212 vendors maysubmit their bidelectronicallyat the websitelistedabove Biddingsdocuments are available to view only at the websiteabove.Ven‐dorsmay requestthe bid package electronically fromHeather Kestlerat hkestler@lafayettela.gov Vendors wishingtosub‐mit theirbid electroni‐cally must register online withLafayette Consoli‐dated Government,in order to establishanac‐count Vendorssubmitting bids l i ll

Bids will be evaluatedby the Purchaserbased on the lowest responsible and responsive bidsub‐mittedwhich is also in compliancewiththe bid documents.The Lafayette Consolidated Governmentreservesthe right to reject anyand all bidsfor just causeinac‐cordancewithLAR.S 38§2214.B. TheLafayette Consoli‐dated Government stronglyencouragesthe participation of DBEs (DisadvantagedBusiness Enterprise) in allcon‐tractsorprocurements let by theLafayette Con‐solidated Government for goodsand services and laborand material Tothatend,all

“These risk areas may be expanded or adjusted in the coming days.”

Expected temperatures

Temperatures are expected to remain high while the system moves through the area. Here are expected temperatures

PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE TO BIDDERS Sealed bids will be ac‐cepteduntil 10:00 a.m. Thursday,July31, 2025 atthe Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office at 316W.Main Street,Lafayette Louisiana forthe follow‐ing: #2026-01 Mechanical PlantBoilerReplacement For informationonthis bid,contact theFinance Office at theLafayette ParishSheriff’s Office. Documents arealso available at theSheriff’s Office Websiteatwww lafayettesheriff.comand www.centralauctionh ouse.com.Bidsreceived after theabove date and timewillbereturnedun‐opened. Bids will be eval‐uated by andpurchased based on quality, cost and adaptabilityofsaid items.Bidders must complywithall condi‐tions submittedinbid specifications.The Sher‐iff reserves theright to rejectany andall bids deemed unsuitable in the bestpublicinterest. Mark T. Garber,Sheriff Parish of Lafayette 150047-JUL16-18-2T $20.58

DOGS Poodles, Maltipoo &YorkiePuppies Males$1000 Call

Hype Manning

Is allthe attentiononthe Texasquarterback justified?

ATLANTA— There is atellingphotographfrom themedia day shortly before the 2024 Allstate Sugar Bowl CFP semifinal between Texas and Washington Quinn Ewers, then the Longhorns’ starting quarterback, is peering over his shoulder from his podium, befitting one of the high-profile players on his team. He’slooking toward the huge knot of reporters and cameramen engulfing thenfreshman quarterback Arch Manning, a media glut dwarfing his own. Fast forward ayear anda halfto another media day Tuesday at Southeastern Conference media days, where Manning got his own podium. If any one player of the 48 attending this

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

When it came time for the rubber to meet the road, the Saints showed Juwan Johnson they wanted him back for theseason andbeyond.

New Orleans signed Johnson, an unrestricted freeagent, to a three-year, $30 milliondeal. The contract made Johnson the NFL’s 12th highest-paid tight end by averageannual value, and now the expectation is that the new coachingstaff is going to get him to play like it. The flashes have been therefor Johnson, but the consistency has not. While he established career highs in receptions (50) andyards receiving (548) last season, he continued his career trend of being a feast-or-famine pass catcher

With Kellen Moore now calling plays, the hope is that Johnson can be amore consistentlydependable option in the passing attack —especially when consideringthe recent injury history in the wide receiver corps. And the Saintsare going to need Johnson early,as two other key components in this group are coming off major injuries suffered latelastseason.

Scott Rabalais

year’sSEC event had to be labeled the star,it’sManning. He drew amedia entourage rivaling those of former SEC quarterback greats suchasTim Tebow of Florida or Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M.

“We’ve got anew quarterback, Arch Manning, if you didn’tknow,” Texas coach Steve “Sarcasm” Sarkisian said.

The difference is those players had proven themselves on the field before they generated all that attention, bothhaving won Heisman trophies. Manning is theconsensus preseason favorite to win this year’sHeisman, just ahead of LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier,and has been anointed one of the biggest stars in college football. It’snot just speculation. It’s his name as well. That 24-karat quarterbacking name. It’s basically the samename as his grandfather,Archie Manning, beloved star of the New Orleans Saints and Ole Miss Rebels. The same last name as his uncles, Peyton and Eli

Money shapes QB scenarios in theSEC

BY WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer

Best case

With Mooreworking the levers of the offense, the Saints create opportunitiesfor Johnson to affect the game. This new style of offense may benefit Johnson morethanothers. He has been used as avertical receiving threat throughout

hiscareer, averagingatleast 8.3 air yards per targetinall but one of his five NFL seasons. He averaged exactly that number last season,slotting him slightly behind receiverssuch as Ja’Marr Chase (8.9) andDavante Adams (8.6), and ahead of players such as Amon-Ra St.Brown (8.0) and CeeDee Lamb (8.0). Now consider Moore’shistory: None of his Eagles tight ends averaged better than 6.9 airyards per target last year,while tight end Dalton Schultz toppedout at 7.3inhis final threeseasons with Moore calling plays in Dallas. But allofthose players were efficient andhad opportunities

Goedert and Grant Calcaterra, caught better

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

ATLANTA— Josh Heupel tried to get out in front of questions about Tennessee’s quarterback situationduring his opening remarks Tuesday at SEC media days.

“Wewill have acompetition at the quarterback position,” Heupel said. That wasn’tsupposedtobethe case, at least not three months ago.

Tennesseewentthrough almost the entirety of spring practice with incumbent starter Nico Iamaleava, but he enteredthe transferportal amid areported breakdown in financial negotiations after seeking a$4million NIL deal. Tennesseebalked, andIamaleava transferred to UCLA. The schoolsessentially swappedquarterbacks. Tennessee signed Joey Aguilar, asenior whohad transferred from Appalachian State to UCLA in the winter portal window.Hereportedly gota$1.2 million deal from Tennessee.

It wasthe most modern of college football stories, and not the only one in the SEC. Former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck declared forthe NFLdraftafter hurting his elbowinthe SEC championship, only to withdraw and transfer to Miami forareported $4 million.

Georgia junior cornerback DaylenEverette said Beck’sdecision was“alittle” surprising. Georgia moved on to redshirt junior Gunner Stockton, whorelieved Beck in the SEC championship and started the Sugar Bowlloss to Notre Dame “Hispath was different, andIknow he’ll do agreat job at Miami,” Stockton said of Beck. “I wasgrateful to learn somethings fromhim, andgladfor the friendship we have.”

Eventhough some of them will be firstyear starters, like Stockton, 11 SEC teams are projected to start quarterbacks who werealreadyonthe roster lastseason. Four —Auburn, Oklahoma, Missouri and

No case is more drastic than theone at Tennessee ä See TENNESSEE, page 3C

Bryant joinsLSU gymnastics staff

Haleigh Bryant recently wrapped up perhaps the greatest career in

gymnastics history. Now she’sjoining coach Jay Clark’scoaching staff.

Theprogram announced Tuesday that Bryant —the all-around force who led LSU to its first gymnastics national title in 2024 —is stepping into the assistant job left behind by Ashleigh “Bugs” Gnat, anotherprogram great whoannounced Monday that shewas leaving the team after five seasons as acoach.

“Haleigh is without adoubt the right person for this position,” Clark said in astatement. “We have all been witness to theabsolute highest level of character and integrity that is Haleigh Bryant, and sherepresents everythingLSU gymnastics.” Bryant,a native of Cornelius, NorthCarolina,ownstwo individual NCAA titles (all-around andvault), five individualSoutheastern Conference titles and the highest all-around score in LSU history (39.925). She also posted 18 perfect 10s across her fiveyear career —the Tigers’ top all-

JOHNSON

MICHAEL

STAFF

LSUgymnast Haleigh Bryant won twoindividual NCAAtitles and five SEC titles during her career

time mark and the ninth-most in NCAA history

Only two LSU gymnasts have morecareer event wins than Bryant (105), who is the program’sall-time leader in career all-around wins (33).

Bryant also has completed both the season and career gym slams (atleastone perfect 10 in every event).

“Itistruly an honortobe named an assistant coach at LSU, aprogram that meanssomuch to me,” Bryant said. “I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to begin this next chapter of my lifein aplace that hasshapedmeinso many ways,alongside the best coaching staff. Competing for LSU was adream, and now Iget to continue thatdream and help

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MAURACAREy

Texas quarterback Arch Manningmeets fan ConnorPetrozlello, 13, at SECmedia days on TuesdayinAtlanta. Manning is the preseason Heisman Trophyfavorite, even though he started just twogames last season.

7p.m.

2:30p.m. Sacramento vs.Cleveland ESPN2

4p.m. Phoenixvs. Minnesota NBATV

4:30 p.m. Milwaukee vs. ChicagoESPN2

6:30 p.m. Orlando vs.Brooklyn NBATV

7p.m. Dallas vs.PhiladelphiaESPN

8:30 p.m. NewOrleans vs. Okla.City NBATV

9p.m. Washington vs.Utah ESPN MEN’S SOCCER

9p.m. MLS: Colorado at Seattle FS1 WOMEN’S SOCCER

2p.m. Norwayvs. ItalyFox

3:55 p.m.Bolivia vs.Brazil FS1

6:55 p.m.Venezuela vs. Colombia FS1 SOFTBALL

7p.m.Blaze vs.Talons ESPN2 TENNIS

7p.m.Los Cabos-ATP Tennis WNBA

6:30 p.m.Indiana at Newyork CBSSN

LSU’s2026rostertakingshape

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

The bulk of LSU’soffseason movement has come to aclose.

After 20 rounds of the 2025 MLB Draft, LSU had nine players drafted and eight high school signees selected. That amount of churn from the 2025 roster results in a 2026 team that is stillunder construction.

Here’saprojected look at the LSU roster in the aftermath of the draft.

Catcher

Starting: CadeArrambide (So.)

Reserves: Omar Serna(Fr.),Eddie Yamin (R-Jr.)

Gone or likely gone: Jaden Fauske (signee), LandonHodge (signee), Blaise Priester (transfer),Luis Hernandez (graduate)

Outlook: With Hernandez out of eligibility,the starting job is Arrambide’stolose.

Serna dropping out of thedraft gives LSU ayoungplayer it can develop in reserve after Fauskeand Hodge passed up Baton Rouge in favor of professional baseball.

After redshirting last season, the Tigers will need Yamin to help them in 2026.

Firstbase

Starting: SethDardar (6th-year Sr.)

Reserves: ZachYorke (Sr.), John Pearson(So.), Mason Braun (Fr.), Yamin, Brayden Simpson (Sr.)

Gone or likelygone: Jared Jones (draft), Ryan Costello (transfer), Ethan Frey (draft)

Outlook: Dardar is atransferfrom Kansas State who hit 13 homeruns, including one off Kade Anderson, last year.Healsocould be the starting second or third baseman.

Second base

Starting: Brayden Simpson (Sr.)

Reserves: Dardar,TannerReaves (5th-year Sr.), Jack Ruckert (Fr.), Ethan Clauss (Fr.)

Gone or likely gone: Daniel Dickinson (draft), David Hogg (transfer), Mikey Ryan (transfer),BradyEbel (signee)

Outlook: Simpson hit22homers last season at High Point and is one of LSU’sbiggest impacttransfers to this point. He spent 46 gamesat third base last year but has plenty of experience at second andfirst. Reaves announced on Monday that he’sreturning to Baton Rouge for asecond season.He’ll likely spend more time at second —his more natural position —next year since LSU has more optionsat third base.

Shortstop

Starting: Steven Milam (Jr.)

Reserves: Ruckert, Clauss Gone or likely gone: Ebel, Quentin Young (signee), Hogg, Ryan Outlook: Ebeland Young were strong candidates to succeedMilam if they had come to school, but their talent proved to be too alluringfor MLB. Ruckert andClauss were neverserious candidates to

depart LSU for thedraft. Ruckertwas teammates withWilliam Schmidt at Catholic High, and Clausswas the No. 2playerinNevada,per Perfect Game.

Thirdbase

Starting: TrentCaraway (Jr.)

Reserves: Dardar,Reaves, Simpson,JohnPearson,Ruckert, Clauss Gone or likely gone: Michael Braswell (graduate), Ebel, Young, Hogg, Ryan Outlook: Caraway was the No. 145 prospect in this year’sdraft but didn’tget picked, opening thedoor for the Oregon State third baseman to transfer to LSU.

Left field

Starting: Derek Curiel (So.)

Reserves: JakeBrown (Jr.), Daniel Harden (Jr.), WilliamPatrick (Fr.), Mason Braun (Fr.) Gone or likely gone: Josh Pearson (graduate), AshtonLarson(transfer),Mic Paul (transfer), Dalton Beck (graduate), Frey,Young, Fauske,Dean Moss (signee)

Outlook: Curiel is alock to start with Patrick, Harden and Braun servingasreserveoutfielders.

Patrickwas the No. 90 playerin the draft, according to TheAthletic. Hardenisa junior-college transferwho shined last season at McLennanCommunity College. Braun is aleft-handed hitter and was the No. 231 playerinESPN’s draftrankings.

Theoutfield depth was astrength of the roster last season, but the unit took alot of hits this offseason. Young, Fauske and Moss not joining the incoming freshman class also eliminated ahandful of talentedreinforcements

Center field

Starting: Chris Stanfield (Sr.)

Reserves: Curiel, Brown,Harden, Patrick

Gone or likely gone: Paul, Fauske, Moss

Outlook: Stanfield announced Tuesday he’sreturning to LSUafter he wasn’tpicked in thedraft. LSU could have movedBrown or Curiel to center if he hadleft, but Stanfield’sreturn means the starting outfield next season is set

Right field

Starting: Brown Reserves: Harden, Patrick Gone or likely gone: JoshPearson, Larson, Paul, Beck, Frey,Young, Fauske,Moss

Outlook: Brown found himself in a platoon withJoshPearsonlastseason. That won’tbethe case forhis draft year in 2026.

Designated hitter

Starting: Yorke

Reserves: Dardar,John Pearson, Harden, Reaves

Gone or likely gone: Frey, Josh Pearson, Larson

Outlook: Yorkehit 13 home runs and had morewalks than strikeoutsacrossthree seasons at Grand Canyon. He adds much-needed power tothe lineup after the losses of Jones and Frey to the draft As aright-handed bat,JohnPearson couldcomplement thelefthanded Yorke

Right-handed pitchers

In place: CasanEvans (So.), Zac Cowan (Sr.), Jaden Noot (R-Jr.), William Schmidt (So.), Mavrick Rizy (So.),Deven Sheerin (R-So.), ConnorBenge (Sr.), Grant Fontenot (5th-year Sr.), Gavin Guidry (R-Jr.), Dax Dathe (7th-year Sr.), Reagan Ricken (Fr.), Marcos Paz (Fr.), Zion Theophilus (Fr.)

Gone or likely gone: Anthony Eyan-

son (draft), Jacob Mayers (draft), Chase Shores (draft), Chandler Dorsey (transfer), KadeWoods (transfer), DylanThompson (transfer),MiguelSime(signee), RiverHamilton (signee)

Outlook: Evans andCowan arefavoritestomakethe rotation.Evans in particular figures to be alock to start.

Noot, Benge, Fontenot and Guidry wereeligible to be drafted but none of them came off the board.Noot hasa shotofentering the rotationfull-time,and Guidry will at least be acritical piece in the bullpen.

Sheerin returns fromaninjury andhas been pitching in theCape Cod BaseballLeague this summer.Schmidt andRizy will look to increasetheir roles in 2026. Between the two,Schmidt has abetter chance of cracking the rotation. Dathe, one of the top pitchers in DivisionIIlastyear,isthe lone right-handedtransferthus far. His strikeoutrate suggests he can make an impact despite the gargantuan leap in competition. Ricken, Paz andTheophilus round out an intriguing freshman class. Ricken pulled his name out of the draft despite being atop-150 draft prospect. Paz likely would’ve been picked on Day 1ifhehadn’t undergone Tommy John surgery lastJuly.Theophilus cracked ESPN’sdraft rankings at No. 241. Onedrafted signee worthmonitoring is Hamilton.The prospect from Oregon wasn’tselected by the Detroit Tigers until the 11th round.

Left-handedpitchers

In place: Cooper Williams (So.), Danny Lachenmayer (So.), Ryler Smart (R-Fr.), Santiago Garcia (Jr.), Jonah Aase (Fr.),DJPrimeaux (R-Jr.) Gone or likely gone: Kade Anderson (draft), ConnerWare (draft), Briggs McKenzie (signee) Outlook: LSU went to workinthe portal by adding Lachenmayer from North Dakota State,Smart from Tennesseeand Garcia from Oregon. ReplacingAnderson is nexttoimpossible, but the trio should add depth and versatility to astaff that wasindesperate need of moreleft-handedarms. Williams hasachancetocrack the rotation after an impressive endtohis freshmanyear. Primeaux wasn’tdrafted and projects to return for afourth season after his role expanded in 2025. Ware was drafted by the New York Mets but was picked late enough —in the15th round —where there is a chance he doesn’tsign.

Aase is the lone incoming freshman after theAtlanta Braves picked McKenzie in the fourth round. But Aase, who is from Washington, told The Advocate he won’tpitch in the fall or preseason as he recovers from apartial UCL tear

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

MLBlockout looms; salary-cap battle likely

BY RONALD BLUM AP baseball writer

ATLANTA— Loomingoverbaseball is alikely lockoutinDecember 2026, apossible management push for asalary cap and perhaps lost regular-season gamesfor thefirst time since 1995.

“No one’stalking about it, but we all know that they’re going to lock us out for it, and then we’re going to miss time,” New York MetsAll-Star first basemanPete Alonso said Monday at the All-Star Game. “We’re definitely going to fight to not have asalary cap and the league’sobviously not going to like that.” Baseball commissioner Rob Manfredand some ownershave citedpayroll disparityasa problem, while at thesame timeMLB is working to address arevenue decline from regional sports networks.

Unlike the NFL, NBA and NHL, baseball has never had asalary cap because its players staunchly oppose one. Despite higherlevels of luxury

taxthat started in 2022, the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgersand New York Mets have pushed payrolls to recordlevels.

The last small-market MLBclub to win aWorld Series wasthe Kansas City Royals in 2015

After signing outfielder Juan Soto to arecord $765 million contract, NewYork openedthis season with anindustry-high $326 million payroll, nearly five timesMiami’s $69 million, according to Major League Baseball’sfigures.

Usingluxurytax payrolls, based on average annualvalues thataccountfor future commitmentsand include benefits, the Dodgers were first at $400 millionand on track to owe arecordluxury tax of about $151 million —shattering the previous tax recordof$103 million set by LosAngeleslastyear

“When Italk to the players, I don’ttry to convince them that a salary cap system would be agood thing,” Manfred told the Baseball Writers’ AssociationofAmerica on Tuesday. “I identify aproblem in the media business andexplain to them that ownersneedtochange

to addressthat problem.” Baseball’scollective bargaining agreement expiresDec. 1, 2026, andmanagementlockoutshave become the norm, which shiftsthe start of astoppage to the offseason.During the lastnegotiations, the sidesreached afive-year deal on March10after a99-day lockout, salvaging a162-game2022 season.

“A cap is about franchise values and profits,” union head Tony Clark said Tuesday.“Asalary cap historically haslimitedcontract guarantees associated with it,literallypits one player against another and is often what we share with players as the definitive non-competitive system. It doesn’trewardexcellence. It undermines it from an organizational standpoint. That’s why this is not about competitive balance. It’snot about afair versus not. This is institutionalized collusion.” The union’sopposition to acap haspaved theway for recordbreakingsalaries for starplayers. Soto’sdeal is believedtobe therichestinpro sportshistory eclipsing Shohei Ohtani’s$700 mil-

Clark, Ionescu,Gray headline 3-point contest

Caitlin Clark will be in a3-point contest forthe first timeinher pro career as the Indiana Fever guard will compete Fridaynight in the WNBA All-Star competition. She’ll be joined by contest record holderSabrina Ionescu,who last enteredthe contest in 2023 and hit25ofher 27 shotsinthe final round, scoring 37 points. It was the most shots made in a3-point contest in eitherthe WNBA or NBA. Shesaidshe’llbetryingtobreak her own mark.

Allisha Gray,who madeher own history last season, winning the 3-point and Skills Challenge, will try and defend her title in both competitions. She beat Jonquel Jones 22-21 to win the 3-point shootout. Gray beat Sophie Cunningham by 2seconds to win the skills competition.

Jets make Gardner top-paid cornerback with extension

TheNew York Jets aremaking Sauce Gardner the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. The Jets and Gardner agreed on afour-year,$120.4 millionextension through the 2030 season, according to aperson familiar with thesituation on conditionofanonymity Tuesday

Thecontract paying the twotime All-Pro an average of $30.1 millionayear comes aday after the Jetsagreed to alucrative extension with topwide receiver Garrett Wilson. That deal with Wilson is worth $130 million, as the organization locked up two foundationalplayers forthe longterm future.

Gardner,who turns 25 before Week 1, was the No. 4pickinthe 2022 draftout of Cincinnati.

OL Smith, Chiefs agree to four-year contract

The Kansas City Chiefsbeat the deadlinetosign franchise-tagged guard Trey Smith to amultiyear contract, agreeing to termsTuesday on a$94 million deal, aperson with knowledge of the move told The Associated Press. The four-year contract includes $70 millionguaranteed, said the person, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract had not been announced.

Smith, 26, nowhas the highest average salary of any player at his position in the NFL at $23.5 million annually.Smith entered the league in 2021 as asixth-round draftpick out of Tennessee. Smith has started 67 regular-season and 13 playoff games, helping Kansas City winthe Super Bowltwice.

Woad to join pro ranks after strong Evian finish

Top-rankedamateur Lottie Woad announced Tuesday she will turn professional, twodays after nearly winning amajor title.

The 21-year-old Englishwoman followed her victory by six shots at the Women’sIrish Open on the Ladies European Tour on July 6 by finishing in third place —just onestroke offthe pace —atthe Evian Championship on Sunday Hergood finish at the Evian secured enough points to seal LPGA Tour membership through itsEliteAmateurPathway.It means she is ditching hercollege career at Florida State University with one year left.

lion deal with the Dodgers signed ayear earlier.Bycomparison, the biggest guaranteed contract in the NFL is $250 millionfor Buffalo Bills quarterbackJosh Allen. Manfredcites that 10% of playersearn72% of salaries.

“I neveruse the word‘salary’ within one of ‘cap.’ What Idosay to them is in addressing this competitive issue that’sreal we should think about whether this system is the perfect system from aplayers’ perspective,” he said.

Amanagement salary cap proposalcould containa salary floor anda guaranteed percentage of revenue to players. Baseball playershave endured nine workstoppages, includinga 71/2-month strike in 1994-95 that fought offa capproposal.

Agent Scott Boras likens acap plan to attracting kids to a“gingerbread house.”

“We’ve heard it for 20 years. It’s almost like the childhood fable,” he said. “This very traditional, same approach is not somethingthat would lead the younger players to the gingerbread house.”

Woad is set to make her first startasa proatthe Women’s Scottish Open next week.

Raleigh’sHome Run Derby win boostsratings by 5%

CalRaleigh helpeddrive abig boost to ratings for Monday night’s Home RunDerby, ESPNsaid Tuesday.Viewership for Raleigh’s HomeRun Derbyvictory was up 5% from2024, according to Nielsen ratings.

Raleigh’swin over fellow finalist Junior Caminero of Tampa Bay drew an average of 5,729,000 viewers, up from 5,451,000 viewersin 2024 when Dodgers slugger Teoscar HernándeztoppedBobby Witt Jr.inthe finals.

Raleigh, 28, leadsthe majors with 38 homersand 82 RBIsand was the American League’sstarting catcher in Tuesday night’sAll-Star Game. Raleigh becamethe second Mariners player to take the title, following three-timewinner Ken Griffey Jr who wasonthe field, snapping photos.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU baseball coach JayJohnson raises the national championship trophyduring the Tigers’ celebration on June 25 at Alex Box Stadium

Manning, who between them won four Super Bowl titles (Archie and Peyton are also enshrined here in the College Football HallofFame, site of media days).

Frankly,ifhis name was Arch Rabalais or something likethat, one wonders whether he’d bethe Heisman front-runner Manning, to his endearing credit, seems to get that

“I don’twant to sound mean,but Ireally don’tcare about what other peoplethink,” the former Newman High School star said. “I’m grateful y’all think that, but I’ve only played in like two games.

“I’ve got alot to prove.”

How muchhehas to prove depends on whom you ask.

SEC Network star Paul Finebaum, one of the biggest voices in college football, said Manning is theSEC’s best quarterback talent since Tebow. Another ESPN analyst, Jordan Rodgers —himself aquarterback who grew up in the same house as apretty great quarterback named Aaron Rodgers —isn’tbuyingthe Manning hype.

“You all have been drinking Paul Finebaum’s Kool-Aid for way too long,” Rodgers said here Monday on ESPN’s“Get Up” morning show.“I have him as the fifth —let me repeat that —fifth-best quarterback in the SEC. The hype train is out of control.” Incendiary takes are part of Rodgers’schtick. But ESPN collegefootball writer Heather Dinich,hardly ahot-take specialist, rated Manning fourth in the SEC behind Nussmeier, DJ Lagway of Florida and LaNorris Sellers of South Carolina.

Former Florida coach Steve Spurrier,himself the 1966 Heismanwinning quarterback for theGators, never met someone he didn’tliketo skewer.And he recently jabbed a

Continued from page1C

our athletes grow in and outside of the gym.”

Gnat said she’splanning amove to Tampa, Florida, where her longtime boyfriend Jarrett DeHart —a former LSU and Tulane baseball player —works as adirector of hitting inside

pretty sharp pinintothe Manning hype balloon when speaking on a Gainesville, Florida, radio show

“Most people are picking Texas to win the SEC,” Spurrier said.

“They’ve got Arch Manning already winningthe Heisman, too. My question is, if hewas this good, how come they let QuinnEwers play all the time last year? And he was aseventh-round(NFL draft) pick.”

Manning didn’task for all of theattention and adulation. Andhe’scorrect, he hasalot to prove.

Buthewas being modest Tuesday; he’splayed in alot more than two games. Afterattempting just five passes in the 2023 season, he was 61 of 90 in 2024 for 939 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions in 10 games. Thebulk of his statscame in wins over Texas-San Antonio, ULMonroeand Mississippi Stateafter Ewers went out against UTSA with an abdominal strain, including starts against ULM andState. Manning also had a67-yard touchdown run against UTSA, the longest by aTexas quarterback since Vince Young

the New York Yankees organization There, Gnat said,she’ll work asales job for GK Elite, theleotard company that outfits LSU gymnasts. Another Tiger great, RheaganCourville, is LSU’srepresentative for GK. Bryant committed to LSU when she was in eighth grade. She contributedto anational championship victoryasasenior,thende-

scored on an 80-yard run in 2005.

Those three opponents were three of the easier touches on the Longhorns’ schedule last season.

The challenges for Manning and theLonghorns are much bigger and much more immediate, as they start theseason Aug. 30 at reigning national champion Ohio State. Texas’ last game was against the Buckeyes, who beat them 28-14 in aCFP semifinal in theCotton Bowl. Manning’s only stat in that game was alone quarterback keeper for 8yards.

Ewers is gone now to theMiami Dolphins, and there’snolooking over Manning’sshoulder.Heisthe man, thecenterpiece of all of Texas’ CFP and SEC aspirations.

“He’sa great guy,” Sarkisian said. “He’sa great teammate. He’s got an unbelievable work ethic. And Ithink, if he stays true to himself, that’s going to help him navigatethese watersasthey present themselves.”

The Manning hype train is leaving thestation.Aregular season filled with over-the-top expectations is the next stop.

cided to takeher extra year of COVIDeligibility and return for afifthseason —the 2025 campaign thatended in the NCAA semifinals.

Now Bryant is the third assistant on Clark’sstaff. She’ll work alongside Garrett Griffethand Courtney McCool Griffeth —the husband-wife duounder contractwith LSUthrough the2026 season. They’ll soon begin their fifth year

as coaches for the Tigers. “She is notonly oneofthe mostdecorated gymnasts in collegiate gymnastics history,” Clark said,“but she knows our culture and our philosophy.Now,she returns with afresh perspective and apassion to lead the next generation, andIcould not be more excited about her future here with us.”

ScottRabalais contributed tothis report.

TENNESSEE

Continued from page1C

Kentucky —signed quarterbacksfrom the transfer portal in December

Only one had to findsomeone in the spring.

Iamaleava transferred ayear afterTennessee reached the inaugural 12team CollegeFootballPlayoff. Instead of buildingon his first season as astarter, the Volunteers now have to choose amongAguilar,redshirtfreshman Jake Merklinger and freshman George MacIntyre.

“It’snever about who’snot in your building,” Heupel said, “but aboutwho is in your building.”

Seniordefensive lineman

Bryson Eason and junior linebacker Arion Carter wereasked,given theCFP tripand Iamaleava’stransfer,whether the offseason has felt weird.

“Having aguy like that leave with such character andsuchpoise was ahard thing to do,but nobody’s biggerthanthe program,” Carter said. “Wewish him the best where he is at.And Ihopehehas agreat career and goes on to do great things.”

“I would sayit’sjust kind of random,you know what I’msaying?” Eason said. “To lose your mainguy after the season we had. You’ve just got to adjust to everything in life that comes your way. This is one of those situationswhere us, as ateam andasaprogram,have to adjust.”

Without Iamaleava, Tennesseehas to find anew

starting quarterback. Heupel danced around questions aboutthe topic,carefulnot to say anything definitive.

“Through the course of training camp, we don’thave aset timeline on when we want to announce somebody as our starter,” Heupel said. “Once somebody earnsthat opportunity,then they’ll be named that guy.” Aguilaristhe mostexperienced option.Hethrew formore than 3,000 yards in both of his seasonsasa starter at Appalachian State with56touchdowns passes. But he was turnover-prone, throwing 24 interceptions. After Aguilar arrived in May,coaches taught him the offensive scheme. They installed plays again this summer,trying to bring Aguilar up to speed before the start of the season. “Is it an accelerated process? Absolutely,”Heupel said. “I think anytimeyou have aguy that’splayed a lotoffootball andsat in college meeting rooms offensively,he’sbeen able to be a part of different things, he’s able to draw on those experiences,correlate it to something that maybe he’s done before, and kind of expedite the growth process as well.” If Aguilar doesn’twork out, Tennessee could go with one of its younger options. Merklinger and MacIntyre are both four-star recruits. “We’ve found away to win with alot of differentquarterbacks throughout my career on the offensive side of the ball,” Heupel said,“and we’re going to finda way to win with the guy that earns astarting spotaswego through training camp here in August.”

ASSOCIATEDPRESS FILEPHOTO By MICHAEL WOODS Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava drops back to pass

STAFF PHOTO By BRETTDUKE

Fromleft,brothers Peyton, Cooper and Eli Manning watch as Cooper’sson, Texasquarterback Arch Manning,competes in adrill during the FridayNight Lights event at the Manning PassingAcademy on June 28 in Thibodaux.

Burundi, 6-2, 6-1. Dalma Galfi, Hungary, def. Aleksandra Krunic, Serbia, 6-4, 6-1. Kaja Juvan, Slovenia, def. Maria Timofeeva, Russia, 7-6 (4), 6-1. Leyre Romero Gormaz, Spain, def. Nicole Fossa Huergo, Italy, 6-1, 6-1. Anna Bondar (7), Hungary, def. Noma Noha Akugue, Germany, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3). Sinja Kraus, Austria, def. Berfu Cengiz, Turkiye, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C

than 80% of their targets Goedert racked up 52.4% of his yards after the catch, while Calcaterra was at 45.6%. Johnson, whose best trait is his athleticism, accounted for 41.6% of his yards after the catch.

What if Moore can find opportunities to increase that by giving Johnson more chances to get the ball in his hands early? Johnson moves fluidly with the ball, and he has shown explosive ability in the open field. This is something the Saints can tap into to get the most out of him without simply relying on Johnson to be a vertical threat. The Saints also hope for speedy recoveries for Foster Moreau and Taysom Hill, though with Hill in particular, that’s probably asking a lot. He’s still just eight months removed from

SCOREBOARD

Lois Boisson (5), France, def. Julia Grabher, Austria, 6-1, 6-3. Astra Sharma, Australia, def. Ariana Geerlings Martinez, Spain, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-2. Tamara Korpatsch, Germany, def. Raluca Georgiana Serban, Cyprus, 6-4, 6-3. Caroline Werner, Germany, def. Valentina Steiner, Germany, 7-6 (4), 6-2. Women’s Doubles Round of 16

Tessa Johanna Brockmann and Sonja Zhenikhova, Germany, def. Michaela Bayerlova Czechia, and Tara Wuerth, Croatia, 7-6 (4), 6-3. Zheng Saisai, China, and Moyuka Uchijima (3), Japan def. Nicole Fossa Huergo, Italy, and Magali Kempen, Belgium, 3-6, 6-3, 10-5

Nadiia Kichenok, Ukraine, and Makoto Ninomiya (1), Japan, def. Noma Noha Akugue and Nastasja Schunk, Germany, 6-3, 6-2.

Major League Baseball

2025 Home Run Derby Results

First Round (top four advance to semifinals)

HitterTotal Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay 21

O’Neill Cruz, Pittsburgh 21 Byron Buxton, Minnesota 20 Cal Raleigh, Seattle 17 Brent Rooker, Athletics 17 James Wood, Washington 16 Matt Olson, Atlanta 15 Jazz Chisolm Jr., New York Yankees 3

Semifinal

HitterTotal

Junior Caminero def. Byron Buxton 8-7

Cal Raleigh def O’Neill Cruz vs. 19-13

Final Hitter Total Cal Raleigh def. Junior Caminero 18-15

Cycling Tuesday, July 15

10th Stage

A 103-mile

ride from Ennezat to Le Mont-Dore

Puy de Sancy

1. Simon Yates, Great Britain, Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 4:20:05. 2. Thymen Arensman, Netherlands, INEOS Grenadiers, 4:20:14. 3. Ben Healy Ireland, EF Education-EasyPost, 4:20:36. 4. Ben O’Connor, Australia, Team JaycoAlUla, 4:20:54. 5. Michael Storer, Australia, Tudor Pro Cycling Team, 4:21:28. 6. Joe Blackmore, Great Britain, Israel-Premier Tech 4:24:02. 7. Anders Halland Johannessen, Norway Uno-X Mobility 4:24:43. 8. Lenny Martinez, France, Bahrain Victorious, 4:24:56. 9. Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, same time. 10. Jonas Vingegaard, Denmark, Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, same time. Also 12. Matteo Jorgenson, United States, Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 4:24:59 23. Sepp Kuss, United States, Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 4:26:03. 29. Quinn Simmons, United States, Lidl-Trek, 4:27:46. 73. William Barta, United States, Movistar Team, 4:37:22. 86. Neilson Powless, United States, EF Education-EasyPost, 4:46:03 Overall Standings 1. Ben Healy Ireland, EF Education-EasyPost, 37:41:49. 2. Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, 37:42:18. 3. Remco Evenepoel, Belgium, Soudal QuickStep, 37:43:18. 4. Jonas Vingegaard, Denmark, Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 37:43:35. 5. Matteo Jorgenson, United States, Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, same time. 6. Kevin Vauquelin, France, Arkea-B&B Hotels, 37:44:15.

a major knee injury, and even if he were to complete a comeback to return near the middle of the season, New Orleans likely would have to ease him back into the fold.

The Saints also hope some combination of Jack Stoll and Moliki Matavao can hold down the traditional in-line tight end role to give the team some additional size and grit at the point of attack until Moreau and Hill return.

Worst case

Johnson is the player he always has been good in spurts, but always leaving you wondering if there’s more there — and the Saints don’t have the proper depth to be functional at the position

The tight ends are probably going to be important in this offense — because they have been in Moore’s history and because of the current state of the roster Given the size limitations of

7. Oscar Onley, Great Britain, Picnic PostNL, 37:45:13. 8. Florian Lipowitz, Germany, Red Bull — BORA — hansgrohe, 37:45:23

9. Primoz Roglic, Slovenia, Red Bull — BORA — hansgrohe, 37:45:30

10. Tobias Johannessen, Norway, Uno-X Mobility, 37:46:52. Team Standings

1. Team Visma ‘ Lease a Bike, 113:06:32

2. UAE Team Emirates XRG, 113:23:17 3. Decathalon AG2R La Mondiale Team, 113:34:44. 4. Groupama-FDJ, 113:35:39 5. Arkea-B&B Hotels, 113:36:13 6. Red Bull — Bora — Hansgrohe, 113:40:22

7. Ineos Grenadiers, 113:43:10 8. EF Education — EasyPost, 113:46:08 9. Movistar Team, 113:53:42 10. Total Energies, 113:58:14 Soccer MLS Glance

the wide receivers and the likelihood the team is going to have to lean on the run game while a young quarterback is getting up to speed in the NFL, the tight ends likely will serve a critical dual purpose.

If Johnson is unable to take a step forward, it’s going to put more stress on the receivers to shoulder the burden in the passing game. If the group as a whole cannot play at least a neutral role in the run-blocking game, it could put whatever young quarterback wins the job in more precarious down-anddistance scenarios.

Considering the contract the Saints signed Johnson to this offseason, which includes $21.25 in guarantees, a failure to get more consistent play out of him in his age 29 season would be a big organizational miscalculation.

A prediction

Kellen Moore finds a way to unlock Juwan Johnson.

— Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa; Guido Migliozzi, Italy; K.J. Choi, South Korea.

1:57 a.m.-6:58 a.m. — Cameron Smith, Australia; Marco Penge, England; a-Justin Hastings, Cayman Islands.

2:08 a.m.-7:09 a.m. — Jason Day, Australia; Taylor Pendrith, Canada; Jacob Skov Olesen, Denmark.

2:19 a.m.-7:20 a.m. — Phil Mickelson, United States; Daniel Von Tonder, South Africa; Ryan Peake, Australia.

2:30 a.m.-7:31 a.m. — Max Greyserman United States; Byeong Hun An, South Korea; Niklas Norgaard, Denmark.

2:41 a.m.-7:42 a.m. — Jordan Smith, England; Haotong Li, China; Dustin Johnson, United States.

2:52 a.m.-7:53 a.m. — Darren Clarke, Northern Ireland; Davis Riley, United States; Lucas Herbert, Australia.

3:03 a.m.-8:04 a.m. — Kevin Yu, Taiwan; Julien Guerrier, France; Mikiya Akutsu, Japan

3:14 a.m.-8:15 a.m. — Thomas Detry, Belgium; Chris Gotterup, United States; Lee Westwood, England.

3:25 a.m.-8:26 a.m. — Patrick Cantlay, United States; Cameron Young, United States; Mackenzie Hughes, Canada

3:36 a.m.-8:37 a.m. — Thorbjorn Olesen, Denmark; Matthew Jordan, England; a-Filip Jakubcik, Czech Republic.

3:47 a.m.-8:48 a.m. — Henrik Stenson, Sweden; Stephan Jaeger, Germany; Sebastian Soderberg, Sweden.

4:03 a.m.-9:04 a.m. — Kristoffer Reitan, Norway; Martin Couvra, France; Adrien Saddier, France.

4:14 a.m.-9:15 a.m. — Takumi Kanaya, Japan; Justin Walters, South Africa; a-Bryan Newman, South Africa.

4:25 a.m.-9:26 a.m. — Hideki Matsuyama, Japan; Ryan Fox, New Zealand; Matt Fitzpatrick, England.

4:36 a.m.-9:37 a.m. — Sepp Straka, Austria; Ben Griffin, United States; Akshay Bhatia, United States.

4:47 a.m.-9:48 a.m. — Sam Burns, United States; Aldrich Potgieter, South Africa; Brooks Koepka, United States.

4:58 a.m.-9:59 a.m. — Xander Schauffele, United States; J.J. Spaun, United States; Jon Rahm, Spain.

5:09 a.m.-10:10 a.m. — Shane Lowry, Ireland; Collin Morikawa, United States; Scottie Scheffler, United States.

5:20 a.m.-10:21 a.m. — Corey Conners, Canada; Wyndham Clark, United States; Tom Hoge, United States.

5:31 a.m.-10:32 a.m. — Denny McCarthy, United States; Nico Echavarria, Colombia; Patrick Reed, United States.

5:42 a.m.-10:43 a.m. — Matti Schmid, Germany; Ryggs Johnston, United States; a-Richard Teder, Estonia.

5:53 a.m.-10:54 a.m. — Dylan Naidoo, South Africa; Darren Fichardt, South Africa; John Axelsen, Denmark.

6:04 a.m.-11:05 a.m. — Justin Suh, United States; Oliver Lindell, Finland; Jesper Sandborg, Sweden.

6:15 a.m.-11:16 a.m. — Sadom Kaewkanjana, Thailand; Riki Kawamoto, Japan; Sampson Zheng, China.

6:26 a.m.-11:27 a.m. — Stewart Cink, United States; Matteo Manassero, Italy; Marc Leishman, Australia.

6:47 a.m.-1:35 a.m. — Francesco Molinari, Italy; Jesper Svensson, Sweden; a-Connor Graham, Scotland.

6:58 a.m.-1:46 a.m. — Zach Johnson, United States; Daniel Hillier, New Zealand; Dan Brown, England. 7:09 a.m.-1:57 a.m. — Adam Scott,

Kelly Osbourne gets engaged at dad’s last show

BY KARU F DANIELS

New york Daily News (TNS)

Kelly Osbourne and her baby’s father, Sid Wilson, got engaged backstage at her dad Ozzy Osbourne’s final Black Sabbath concert over the weekend The Slipknot DJ popped the question to the singer and TV personality at Birmingham, England’s Villa Park on Saturday in a moment shared on social media by his betrothed.

“Kelly, you know I love you more than anything in the world,” he said before her potty-mouthed father interjected: “F*** off, you’re not marrying my daughter.” Wilson went on to extol Kelly’s virtues as he made his marital intentions known.

“Nothing would make me happier than to spend the rest of my life with you,” the 48-year-old said. “So, in front of your family and all of our friends, Kelly will you marry me?”

Kelly, 40, appeared shocked by the proposal. She nodded yes before embracing Wilson as everyone cheered them on. Her mother, Sharon Osbourne, and brother Jack were also present.

The couple, who share 2-yearold son Sidney, went public with their romance on Valentine’s Day 2022.

“After 23 years of friendship I can’t believe where we have ended up,” Kelly captioned an Instagram snapshot of the pair kissing. “You are my best friend, my soulmate and I am so deeply in love with you Sidney George Wilson.” Her father who has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, announced in 2023 that he is retiring from live performances after more than 50 years.

Ozzy, 76, original Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, drummer Bill Ward and guitarist Tony Iommi reunited for the first time in two decades at the “Back to the Beginning” concert, which was livestreamed in the U.K.

LIVING

SWEET DREAMS

Bonne Vie Macarons reopens in downtown Lafayette — with a book store

BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

For the past nine months, Bonne Vie has been a roving macaron shop and book club, appearing at pop-ups and hosting book club meetings at local restaurants.

Since moving out of their Verot School Road location at the end of last year, anticipation has been building for the reopening of Bonne Vie Macarons, now with a new book store attached — Book Club & Co., a book shop specializing in romance The grand opening was Saturday at 105 St. Landry St., at the site of the former Rusted Rooster restaurant.

Bonne Vie revealed a new macaron flavor at Saturday’s event, the Banana Split macaron with a banana-flavored shell and a cherry and chocolate center, topped with icing and sprinkles The shop was stocked with romance books and merch, and deep lines formed for macarons; and coffee and flower arrangements from Lafayette businesses Nube 9 Coffee and Pretty & Pink Events.

One eager customer, Gina Boque, said that she drove in from Houma to attend Bonne Vie’s grand opening event.

“I came with my sister back when they did a Harry Potter event, and we loved it,” she said. “I had been to a couple of pop-ups, and when I found out they were reopening to-

for romance lovers

day I was like ‘OK, we’re gonna get up at 7 a.m., we’re gonna get in the car, and we’re going.’

“You can’t get a good macaron anywhere else in my personal opinion, and the things that they do here are really cool. We were excited to come.”

Bonne Vie’s new location sits at the convergence of downtown Lafayette the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the Saint Streets neighborhood.

“This particular side of town is really fascinating, because everyone is shopping local The lo-

cal restaurant vibe downtown is incredible,” said owner Heather Degeyter “Everyone here has been really supportive, especially all the businesses in the area, as far as following on social media and commenting. I never would have known that would happen.”

Longtime fans know that Bonne Vie Macarons has always been a dessert shop with a bookish nature, with a well-stocked take-and-read shelf at the former location, and popular book clubs for cookbooks,

The 10-hour show, hosted by Jason Momoa, also featured performances from Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Steven Tyler and Jack Black, among others. During his set, the British rocker sang hits such as “Crazy Train” and “Mama I’m Coming Home” while sitting in a black, throne-like chair with a bat on top ä See BONNE VIE, page 6C

at

sh and corn is delicious.

LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

FILE PHOTO By ALLEN J SCHABEN

Kelly Osbourne and Sid Wilson, of Slipknot, arrive on the red carpet for the 2024 Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK

Owner Heather Degeyter poses inside Bonne Vie Macarons and Book Club & Co. on Friday in Lafayette.

Various macarons are on display at Bonne Vie Macarons and Book Club & Co.

BONNE VIE

Continued from page5C

romance and mysteries. Degeyter wasanEnglish literature professor before turning to full-time baking and entrepreneurshipwith the opening of her first brickand-mortar in 2019.

Much of Bonne Vie’spopularity has been centered around the book club community that formed around the shop. Degeyter said that the clubs will now meet regularly at the new location, she hopes that shoppersenjoy the curated selection of romance novels for sale in the new “and Book Club & Co.”section of the shop.

“Right now we’re featuring cowboy romance, which is my favorite,” she said.

“Wealso have sports on this side, which is afascinating

BEST

Continued from page5C

regardless of season.

—Jan Risher,Louisiana culture editor

The French n MJ’s Cafe, 5162 Government St., Baton Rouge

For the uninitiated, MJ’s can be alittle hard to find. Tucked behind Mid City Daiquiri, you might miss it if you don’tknow what you’re looking for,but once inside, you’ll find avibey cafe with lots of plant based/vegan options. Igot the French —anapple, goat cheese, pepper jellyand greens sandwich on toasted sourdough. Youcan sub in vegan cheese, but Ididn’t Thesandwich is light and well constructed. The whole thing goes together really well, and I’d have it again It’sperfect for those who want anon-savory lunch option.

—Serena Puang, features writer Vietnamese coffee n Teatery Tea&Tapioca, 3546 Ambassador Caffery Parkway #101, Lafayette Lafayette has been embracing all things Asian recently.Cajun-Asian fusion, which has long been popular,seems to be proliferating.Ahuge new Asian

subgenre. The girls in the romance book club arebig hockey fans.”

Whetheryou’re looking fora little treat,orthe latesttaleofloveonthe pickleball court, Bonne Vie Macarons and Book Club & Co. has what you’re looking

for.The shop is open Tuesdaythrough Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5p.m. on weekdays,and 4p.m. on Saturdays.

Email Joanna Brown at joanna.brown@ theadvocate.com.

FrenchatMJ’sCafe

PHOTO By KRISTIN ASKELSON Vietnamese coffee withsea salt foam at TeateryTea & Tapioca in Lafayette

Market opened six months agoonAmbassadorCaffery Drive. Noodles anddumplings, along with Korean gimbap and corndogs, continue to pop up. Iamhere for thetrend.Mylatest find is the Teatery,which serves

up milk tea, Vietnamese coffee and desserts.

Vietnamese coffee might not be for everyone. It is very strong —using medium-dark roasted robusta beans, slow brewed for maximum flavor (and caffeine). It is usually sweetened with condensed milk and served over ice.

On my first visit to the Teatery,Iopted for aVietnamese coffee withsea salt foam. It was thick,sweet, slightly oil withahint of smoke. The saltiness of the cold foam is the perfect balance to sweetness and makes thewhole thingultra creamy Ididn’ttry any desserts on my inaugural visit, and, frankly,the coffee was sweet enough. ButIwill be back. AndIsee amacaron in my future.

—Kristin Askelson, managing editor,Lafayette

Dear Heloise: The greens and stem of cauliflowers arenot only edible, somepeople think thatthey taste better thanthe rest of it.IfIwas going to throwanything out,itwould be the parts thateveryone else eats. Youcan cook it like any green beans, perhaps with added bouillon, or toss it into astew.But if thestem is quite thick, you’ll want to shave it intocoins or use aparing knife to turn this high-fiber “wasteproduct” into agood stew or ragu ingredient. The same thinggoes with broccoli. My wife eatsthe florets, which Igladly save

By The Associated Press

forher when slicing or paring the stemsinto coins or shavings. While it may not have the flavor of beans or asparagus, neither does celery,and we slice it into stewsall the time! Don’twaste it. If you don’tcare forit, someone else in the family might preferit—orjust makeupa recipe! —Roger K., via email

Readingthe fine print

DearHeloise: In arecent column, Judy A. said that shredded paper is not acceptable for recycling. I checked my trash collection app, and it says the same …until Iscrolled

TODAYINHISTORY

Today is Wednesday,July 16, the 197th day of 2025. There are 168 days left in theyear

Todayinhistory:

On July 16, 1945, the United States exploded its first experimental atomic bombinthe desert of Alamogordo, New Mexico; thesame day,the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis left Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California on asecret mission to deliver atomic bomb components to Tinian Island in the Marianas.

Also on this date:

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

In 1969, Apollo 11 launched from Cape Kennedy in Floridaonthe first manned mission to thesurface of themoon.

In 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr.; his wife, Carolyn; and her sister,Lauren Bessette, died when their sin-

gle-engine plane, piloted by Kennedy,plunged into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha’sVineyard, Massachusetts.

In 2004, Martha Stewart wassentenced to five months in prison and five months of homeconfinementbyafederal judge in NewYork forlying about a stock sale.

In 2008, Florida resident Casey Anthony,whose 2-year-old daughter,Caylee, had been missing a month, was arrested on charges of child neglect, making false official statements and obstructing a criminal investigation. (Casey Anthony was later acquitted at trial of murdering Caylee, whose skeletal remains werefound in December 2008; Casey wasconvicted of lying to police.)

In 2015, ajury in Centennial, Colorado, convicted James Holmes of 165 counts of murder,attempted murder and other charges in the 2012 Aurora movie theater rampage that left12people dead.

down further where it states that if it’sput in a sealed paper bag, it can go in the recycling bin. Ilove this feature on the app and use it frequently —MaryW., Bellevue, Nebraska Blackorblue?

Dear Heloise: Iwould love if manufacturers would put the color “navy” or “black” on clothing tags. Ioften get dressed and realize that what Ithought was black was actually navy,and vice versa. —Susan H., via email Susan, this can be aproblem for shoes, too! One black shoe and

In 2018, after meeting with Russian President

in Helsinki, President Donald Trump openly questioned the finding of his own intelligence agencies that Russia had meddled in the 2016 U.S. election to his benefit. (Trumpsaid aday later that he misspoke.)

Today’sbirthdays: International Tennis Hall of Famer Margaret Court is 83. Violinist Pinchas Zukerman is 77. Actor-singer Ruben Blades is 77. Rock composer-musician Stewart Copeland is 73. Playwright Tony Kushner is 69. Dancer Michael Flatley is 67. Former actor and teen model Phoebe Cates is 62. Actor Daryl “Chill” Mitchell is 60. Actor-comedian Will Ferrell is 58. Football Hall of Famer Barry Sanders is 57. Actor Corey Feldman is 54. Actor Jayma Mays is 46. Retired soccer star Carli Lloyd is 43. Actor AnnaLynne

Vladimir Putin

STAFF PHOTO By SERENA PUANG

in Baton Rouge

Book Club &Co., attached to Bonne VieMacarons, specializes in romanceliterature.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Avoidaggressive situations. Put your energy where it can do some good and encourage you to get ahead. Consider ways to reduce your overhead, increase revenue or generate a profit from items you no longer use.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Curiosity will lead to education and positive change. Focus your energy on something that leads to a happy outcome. Refuse to waste time on trivial matters or those trying to pick a fight with you.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Stay close to what and who matters and maintain a good rapport with colleagues. Meeting someone who can offer insight will give you the confidence you need to forge ahead.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) A short trip will change how you think or do things. Attending a function that offers knowledge or guidance on decluttering and making your life run efficiently will give you hope for a brighter future.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Someone will crush your optimism if you are too accommodating or share personal information. Take advantage of what's available Refuse to let hostile encounters disrupt your day.

sAGIttARIus (nov 23-Dec 21) Keep moving, thinking and implementing positive change. Set boundaries to offset anyone taking up too much of your time. Protect your rights, space and ability to satisfy your needs first.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Set goals and stick to your schedule. Meeting the demands you set for yourself will build

your confidence. Keep your budget in mind and quickly shut down anyone suggesting you spend more than your budget allows.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Refuse to fade into the background when you have so much to say and offer. Show your worth andchallengeanyonewhotriestobelittle or outshine you.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) A break will recharge your energy to ensure you can finish the week with vim and vigor A change of atmosphere, coupled with some pampering, will soothe your soul and help you better utilize your skills.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Take a midweek breather;itwillhelpyouseeanytroubles you face through a different lens. Too much of anything can weigh you down. A lifestyle change may be in order. Put your health and finances first.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Gauge situations as they unfold. Keep things in perspective and avoid overreacting. Focus your energy where it matters and work diligently to resolve outstanding issues. Take control.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Mingle, gather information and pay attention to the changes initiated by people in power. Make a focused effort to block or protect yourself from any fallout that can hurt you physically.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2025 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

FAMILY CIrCUS

CeLebrItY CIpher For better or For WorSe

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM SherMAn’S LAGoon

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. Theobject is to place the numbers 1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of theSudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

nea CroSSwordS La TimeS CroSSword

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

By PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

Otto von Bismarck said, “People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war, or before an election.” Bridge players do not so much lie after a deal as not realize that they failed to take as many tricks as possible.

This layout was in yesterday’s column.

Then South, hunting for 10 tricks in four spades, ruffed the second heart and immediately played on diamonds to take six spades, two diamonds and two clubs. (If diamonds had not been 3-3, declarer would have tried the club finesse.)

Now let’s turn to the defenders’ hunt for four tricks. How can they succeed after West leads the heart king?

South’ssequence,atakeoutdoubleover

East’s weak two followed by a jump to four spades, showed a very strong hand with at least a six-card suit. North hoped that no one would double!

East should realize from the bidding and the dummy that South has only one heart. Maybe West has a trump winner, but if not, the defenders must take three minor-suit tricks. These might come automatically, but perhaps South has a strong club holding that needs to be led through. (There cannot be a need for an immediate diamond shift.)

East should overtake West’s heart king with his ace and switch to the club nine (the high card denying an honor in the suit).

Average

Time

South can win, cash the spade and diamond aces, and play a second diamond, but East overtakes West’s jack with his queen and leads another club. Here, this leaves declarer with no chance, having to lose four tricks.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

today’s thought “And said to them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves.” Matthew 21:13

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard

U.K. Treasury chief aims to slash red tape

LONDON U.K Treasury

chief Rachel Reeves said Tuesday that she’ll cut red tape for banks and finance

firms so that “informed risktaking” can help kick-start Britain’s sluggish economy

The government is trying to regain the economic initiative after rocky weeks of costly U-turns and figures showing the U.K. economy contracted for two months running.

Arguing that regulation often “acts as a boot on the neck of businesses,” Reeves announced plans to pare back some of the rules introduced after the 2008 global financial crisis, which was triggered by risky lending That includes reforms to “ringfencing” rules enacted to separate banks’ retail and investment banking activities, and a review of the amount of capital banks must hold. She said that it was the widest set of reforms of financial services in more than a decade.

“We are fundamentally reforming the regulatory system, freeing up firms to take risks and to drive growth,” Reeves said on a visit to Leeds in northern England U.S. rare earth producer gets boost

MP Materials which runs the only American rare earths mine, announced a new $500 million agreement with tech giant Apple on Tuesday to produce more of the powerful magnets used in iPhones as well as other high-tech products like electric vehicles.

This news comes on the heels of last week’s announcement that the U.S. Defense Department agreed to invest $400 million in shares of the Las Vegasbased company That will make the government the largest shareholder in MP Materials and help increase magnet production.

Despite the name, the 17 rare earth elements aren’t actually rare, but it’s hard to find them in a high enough concentration to make a mine worth the investment. They are important ingredients in everything from smartphones and submarines to EVs and fighter jets, and it’s those military applications that have made rare earths a key concern in ongoing U.S. trade talks.

Nvidia nudges Nasdaq ahead of stock slump

NEW YORK Most U.S. stocks slumped on Tuesday after the latest update on inflation hurt Wall Street’s hopes for lower interest rates.

The S&P 500 fell 0.4%, though it’s still near its alltime high set last week, as 90% of the stocks within the index fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 436 points, or 1%.

Tech stocks were an outlier, though, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2% to set another record thanks to Nvidia, the market’s most influential stock. Stocks of big U.S. banks, meanwhile, were mixed following their latest profit reports.

JPMorgan Chase slipped 0.7% despite reporting a stronger profit than analysts expected, as CEO Jamie Dimon warned of risks to the economy because of tariffs and other concerns.

Citigroup rose 3.7% following its better-than-expected profit report. But Wells Fargo fell 5.5% following its own, as it trimmed its forecast for an important way that it makes money All told, the S&P 500 fell 24.80 points to 6,243.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 436.36 to 44,023.29, and the Nasdaq composite rose 37.47 to 20,677.80.

Federal workers detail cuts, inaction

A security officer works inside the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau headquarters in Washington. The bureau has been mostly inoperable for nearly six months. CFPB employees say they essentially spend the workday sitting on their hands, forbidden from doing any work by directive from the White House.

Consumer financial watchdog defanged under Trump

BY KEN SWEET AP banking reporter

NEW YORK The lights are on at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau across the street from the White House, and employees still get paid. But in practice, the bureau has been mostly inoperable for nearly six months CFPB employees say they essentially spend the workday sitting on their hands, forbidden from doing any work by directive from the White House.

The bureau is supposed to be helping oversee the nation’s banks and financial services companies and taking enforcement action in case of wrongdoing. During its 15-year existence, the CFPB has returned roughly $21 billion to consumers who were cheated by financial services companies. Instead, its main function now seems to be undoing the rulemaking and law enforcement work that was done under previous administrations, including in President Donald Trump’s first term.

One current employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the directive forbids staffers from speaking publicly about their jobs, said outsiders would be amazed at how little work is being done. Employees are reluctant even to talk to one another, out of fear that a conversation between two employees would be considered a violation of the directive.

Another employee described the drastic shift in mission, from trying to protect consumers to doing nothing, as “quite demoralizing.”

To gain an understanding of what is happening inside the CFPB, The Associated Press spoke with 10 current and former employees, as well as bankers and policymakers who used to interact with the bureau nearly every day but now say their emails and voicemails go into a black hole. The agency’s press office doesn’t respond to emails.

The CFPB took a lighter ap-

proach to its mission in Trump’s first term but continued to pursue enforcement actions. Under President Joe Biden, the agency took an expansive view of its authority, targeting profitable practices by banks such as overdraft and credit card late fees, as well as investigating companies over credit reporting and medical debt.

The bureau also turned a spotlight on Big Tech companies that have made inroads into financial services For example, the CFPB ordered Apple to pay $89 million in fines and penalties for problems related to the Apple Card.

Banks and the financial services industry felt the Biden CFPB acted too aggressively, particularly with a proposal to cut overdraft fees to $5 from the industry average of $27 to $35. The bureau estimated the move would save consumers roughly $5 billion a year The proposal was overturned by Congress in April with Trump’s backing.

Once Trump 2.0 began, the bureau became a main target of the Department of Government Efficiency, then run by Elon Musk, who posted on X that the CFPB should “RIP” shortly after DOGE employees became embedded at the agency Through the bureau’s acting chief, Russell Vought, the White House issued a directive that CFPB employees should “not perform any work tasks.”

The administration then tried to lay off roughly 90% of the bureau’s staff, or roughly 1,500 employees. Courts have blocked those layoffs, but there is a feeling inside the bureau that the court rulings are only a temporary reprieve.

Companies that committed wrongdoing, or had open investigations, have lobbied the bureau and the White House for their punishments to be rescinded. Last month, the CFPB rescinded an agreement under which Navy Federal Credit Union agreed to pay $80 million to settle claims that it illegally

charged overdraft fees to its members, who include Navy servicemen and women, and veterans. In mid-May, the agency scrapped an order for the auto financing arm of Toyota to pay customers a total of $48 million for illegally bundling products onto car buyers’ auto loans.

“Companies are lining up to get out of repaying harmed customers,” said Eric Halperin, former enforcement director at the bureau who resigned earlier this year

The Associated Press sent a list of questions to the White House regarding President Trump’s vision for the CFPB. The White House did not respond.

While the lack of new initiatives and the scuttling of old ones frustrate employees the most, they also note that even everyday tasks have largely fallen to the wayside.

A report from the office of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the senior Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, found that the bureau is uploading roughly 2,200 complaints a day to its complaint database, compared with the roughly 10,500 complaints it was doing in the months before Trump took office again Warren came up with the idea for the bureau when she was a law professor at Harvard University

The bureau did take an enforcement action on Friday The pawnshop chain FirstCash Inc. agreed to pay $9 million to settle claims that it charged excessive interest rates on loans to armed service members, in violation of the Military Lending Act. FirstCash operates more than 1,000 stores.

The bureau is going to be even further diminished in the coming months. The new budget law signed by Trump earlier this month cuts the CFPB’s funding by roughly half, meaning the bureau will be forced into mass layoffs. Senate Democrats are looking for ways to restore that funding.

Trump promotes energy, tech in Pa.

Tens of billions in investments touted

BY SEUNG MIN KIM and MARC LEVY Associated Press

PITTSBURGH President Donald

Trump and Republican Sen David McCormick, of Pennsylvania, touted tens of billions of dollars of recent energy and technology investments

Tuesday as the president boasted of a “true golden age for America” in energy policy and artificial intelligence.

Trump traveled to Pittsburgh at a summit helmed by McCormick that included dozens of top executives from companies aiming to make the city and the state a hot spot for advancements in robotics, artificial intelligence and energy McCormick announced more than $90 billion of investments in the state — spurring tens of thousands of jobs although some of the projects had already been in progress ahead of the summit.

“I think we have a true golden age for America And we’ve been showing it, and it truly is the hottest country anywhere in the world,” Trump said at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, held at Carnegie Mellon University “I’m honored to be in Pennsylvania, and I’m honored to be in Pittsburgh And you’re going to see some real action here. So get ready.”

Trump has repeatedly pledged U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market, and Pennsylvania — a swing state critical to his wins in 2016 and 2024 — is at the forefront of that agenda, in large part due to its coal and gas industry that the Republican administration has taken steps to bolster

Both the president and his senior administration officials on Tuesday framed the investments as part of a race against China for the most advanced deployment of artificial intelligence, with Trump saying “we are way ahead of China, I have to say.”

“China and other countries are racing to catch up to America on AI, and we’re not going to let them do it,” Trump said. He added that the U.S. will be “fighting them in a very friendly fashion.”

Some of the investments on a list released by McCormick’s office were not necessarily brand-new, while others were. Some involve massive data center projects, while others involve building power plants, expanding natural gas pipelines, upgrading power plants or improving electricity transmission networks.

Pittsburgh is home to Carnegie Mellon University, a prestigious engineering school, plus a growing industry of small robotics firms and a so-called “AI Avenue” that’s home to offices for Google and other AI firms. It also sits in the middle of the prolific Marcellus Shale natural gas reservoir

“What’s going on is a rewiring of the economy, of the world over the next 15 years, and that takes trillions and trillions and tens of trillions of dollars and it starts with power,” said Bruce Flatt, CEO of Brookfield, during a panel discussion.

Associated Press writer Melissa Goldin in Washington contributed to this report.

Nvidia to resume its sales of AI chips to China

BY ELAINE KURTENBACH and WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS AP business writers

BANGKOK Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang says the technology giant has won approval from the Trump administration to sell its advanced H20 computer chips used to develop artificial intelligence to China. The news came in a company blog post late Monday, which stated that the U.S. government had “assured” Nvidia that licenses would be granted — and that the company “hopes to start deliveries soon.” Shares of the California-based chipmaker were up over 4% by midday Tuesday Huang also spoke about the coup

Huang

on China’s state-run CGTN television network, in remarks shown on X. “Today, I’m announcing that the U.S. government has approved for us filing licenses to start shipping H20s,” Huang told reporters in Beijing. He added that half of the world’s AI researchers are in China. “It’s so innovative and dynamic here in China that it’s really important that American companies are able to compete and serve the market here,” he said. Huang recently met with Presi-

dent Donald Trump and other U.S. policymakers — and is in Beijing this week to attend a supply chain conference and speak with Chinese officials. The broadcast showed Huang meeting with Ren Hongbin, the head of the China Council for Promotion of International Trade, host of the China International Supply Chain Expo, which Huang was attending Nvidia is an exhibitor Nvidia has profited enormously from the rapid adoption of AI, becoming the first company to have its market value surpass $4 trillion last week. However, the trade rivalry between the U.S. and China has been weighing heavily on the industry

The H20 graphics processing unit is an advanced AI chip — a type of device used to build and update a range of AI systems. But it’s less powerful than Nvidia’s top semiconductors today That’s because the H20 chip was developed to specifically comply with U.S restrictions for exports of AI chips to China. Nvidia’s most advanced chips, which carry more computing power, are off-limits to the Chinese market. Washington has been tightening controls on exports of advanced technology to China for years, citing concerns that know-how meant for civilian use could be deployed for military purposes.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JACQUELyN MARTIN

Sudoku

Sudoku is anumberplacing puzzlebased on a9x9 grid with severalgiven numbers.The object is to place thenumbers 1to9inthe empty squaressothateach row, column and3x3 box contains thesame numberonlyonce.

Multi-Sudoku

Each puzzleconsists of twoormoreSudokugrids overlapping each otherinvariousconfigurations.The gridsmay be ClassicSudoku ora mix of differentSudoku variants. Theobject is to solveall gridsaccording to theirvariant rules. Note that overlapping areas comply with therules of more than one grid

TheCryptoquipisa substitutioncipherinwhich one letter stands foranother. If you thinkthatX equals O, it will equalO throughout the puzzle. Singleletters,shortwords andwords usinganapostrophe give you cluestolocatingvowels. Solutionisbytrial anderror.

XC SA PO BY XW UB YN B

NP VS ZB NW IX PP AZ BJ XS AZ

LJ XB XZ YQ AI CY S’ ZL DD W

UW XQ YB DO YN ZN

ZX J- WN VD .

Today’sCryptoquipClue: CequalsW

FJ SK OQDO MQ FJ WQ

QF AJ UUJ LLG SY FG LI JW QL

JI PQ MQ AU JI DUK

YJ IR QUGS YL .G PJ MM

IR QF OJ UI KA MD DOQUL .

Today’sCryptoquipClue: Oequals P

Z QM ZJ AC CF XV PQ A

PA FC KC OV RZ AL RZ

RC RW ZR KZ AA NN OW RO X

SFU UOUL MX GO SO ZR K

WC MJ- GM OL U.

Today’sCryptoquipClue: ZequalsT

AT QD OA JE SJ MZ TB

TS SM XZ DR NP MQ TO D

PJ GO NDB BJ ZU MZ TZ

MC DZ UX TG GR SX TE SM A

BT ZO :C XT JX JD QT GM Z.

Today’sCryptoquipClue: Mequals O

NC TR SN PC WW SR AQ EP

UC WL ZK XOKC UB CT XV E

PX XY QW OV ZC VE XUX TQ RS

BE SK SX BL BE SU B:

NC K- EV WS WS EA XK Y.

Today’sCryptoquipClue: Vequals U

YK SX HO QH GZ AG YY GUE J

KY HS EJ ZEI YF NI BY HO

OE UGN, KY IB BE YH QH’ Y

BJ EA GA FN

KS -X ES YI F- GA FH .

Today’sCryptoquipClue: Yequals S

CROSSWORD

THOMAS JOSEPH

ACROSS

1Sullen

5Insolenttalk

9Urgeforward

Solitary sort

ScheduleC,e.g

DOWN

1Probe persistently

2LastGreek letters

3Ondeck

4Old auto

5Courseactivity

6Incalculable

7Wheel maker

8Bowlinground

10 Sister of Janetand Michael

11 Sumptuousness 16 Marketinglingo 18 Tent city

21 “Dead —” (DickFrancis book)

23 Leaststrict 24 Cochise’speople

25 Bill of “Big Love”

Kidman of film

Said

Secret supply

Ocean motion

Garbo, forone

Point&Solve

In this crosswordpuzzlevariety,the cluesappearinthe diagramitself. Simply enter theanswers in the directions indicated by thearrows.

CROSSWORD

THOMAS JOSEPH

ACROSS

1Sharpen

51973 losertoKing

10 Take on

11 “Wild,man!”

12 Related

13 Like some bagels

14 Round starters

16 Cheap criticisms

20 Luminous rings

23 “Myword!”

24 Toucheson

25 Steak choice

27 Grazing spot

28 Sheetsand such

29 Seasonalsafeguards

32 Wanted posterfeatures

36 Washington city

39 Metsong

40 SingerFrankie

41 Preparefor atrip

42 Alma 43 Fraternalgroup DOWN 1“Ididn’thearyou” 2Walkinthe woods

3Buffalo’s lake

4Sawbuck

5Tirades

6Limerickpeople

7Stickygunk

8Coltcreation

9Messy digs

11 Picksup, as abill

15 Worksthe soil

17 Eyeball

18 Newdriver, usually

19 Hardens

20 Sports period

21 Cain’s victim

22 Hawaiian do

25 Is theright size

26 Slim andtrim

28 Boston airport

30 Beam

31 Comic’s forte

33 Vaccine type

34 Watchsound

35 “The OddCouple” director Gene

36 Orange tuber

37 Gardnerofmovies

38 Krazy

Cryptoquote

AX YD LB AA XR is LO NG FE LL OW

Oneletterstandsfor another. In this sample,Ais used forthree L’s, X forthe twoO’s,etc.Singleletters,apostrophes, andlengthand formationofwords areall hints. Thecodeletters aredifferent for each puzzle.

IT TB KC BJ UQ TO UU Q

KI UI EV IV MC VK IN EK G

ET CI KE LI KV BJ KI TO VI V

CB ZO MC .— JE LB UI BJ

YM UU

HN BW ST JV XV CW HE J

RH ZT HM BW SO VB “B WS

EV MM WZ YV HM Z, ”Z TJ M

AB VU UI JV MO YV HM Z,

VM GZ TV Z CW HE JR HU U

AJ OHUJ ME JG .

—C HM EJ MZ CV MF WF T

Sudoku

Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzlebased on a9x9 grid with severalgiven numbers.The object is to place thenumbers 1to 9inthe emptysquaressothateachrow,columnand 3x3 box contains thesamenumberonlyonce

LN HJ FN EL NH ’B TK TV VS FK

NW QE IT FV IT DO FQ WT X

DNX VC NB TV IO FV IT

DOJ T. —Z NZ IN RT

Find thelistedwords in thediagram.Theyrun in alldirections -forward,backward,up, downand diagonally.Everypuzzlehas one unlistedclue.

Challenger

Fill each square with anumber, 1-9. Horizontal squares shouldadd to thetotalsonthe right,vertical squaresshould addtothe totals on thebottomand diagonalsquaresshould addtothe totalinthe upperand lowerright.

CLUE LIST

Youcan cage aswallow can’t you, but you can’t swallowa cage, canyou? Fall leaves (clueanswer) leaves fall. King, areyou gladyou areking? Pleaseme bystanding by me please.

CLUE LIST

Balances

Boxes

Buddies

Chessking Coats

Credit score

Facts

Hats List

Luggage Oil

Rumors

Temper Time

Weather

Each Wuzzles is awordriddlewhich createsa disguisedword, phrase, name,place, saying, etc.

ForExample,NOON GOOD= GOOD AFTERNOON

Unscramble thesetwelveletterstrings to form each into an ordinary word (ex. HAGNECbecomesCHANGE). Preparetouse only ONE word fromany marked ( ♥ )letterstringaseach unscrambles into more than one word (ex. ♥ RATHEbecomesHATER or EARTHorHEART). Fiteach string’swordeither acrossordown to knot alltwelvestrings together

Find thelistedwords in thediagram.Theyrun in alldirections -forward,backward,up, downand diagonally.Everypuzzlehas one unlistedclue.

CLUE LIST

Braille

Cheetah

Dalmatian

Dice

Dithering

Dominoes

Dotmatrix

Freckles

Ladybug Leopards

Measles

Microdot

Morsecode

Polkadots

Stipple

CROSSWORD

CLUE LIST

Billingsley

Bosley

Byrd

Culp

Curtis Fisher

Graves

Haig

Hopper

Linkletter

MacArthur

Meredith Nielsen

Olsen

Parker

Jacksonhit

5Christopher of “Back to theFuture” 6Morepert 7“Put— on it!” 8Janet Jacksonhit 9Likejust-slept-in beds

Fruitbasketitems

Sushichoice

Owned

Yard surrounders

Sudoku

Sudoku is anumberplacing puzzlebased on a9x9 grid with severalgiven numbers.The object is to place thenumbers 1to9inthe empty squaressothateach row, column and3x3 box contains thesame numberonlyonce.

Multi-Sudoku

Each puzzleconsists of twoormoreSudokugrids overlapping each otherinvariousconfigurations.The gridsmay be ClassicSudoku ora mix of differentSudoku variants. Theobject is to solveall gridsaccording to theirvariant rules. Note that overlapping areas comply with therules of more than one grid

CROSSWORD THOMAS JOSEPH

ACROSS

1Milesoff

5Left, at sea 10 Jottings

12 Surgerytool 13 Reagan nickname

WriterJong

Yale student 16 Pendulum path 18 Warningcolor

Placid 21 Fork feature 22 Good student’s place

Tribesymbol 25 Student loan assessment 29 Speech copy

Cowfeatures

Swisspeak

USNrank

Conk out

SingerPatsy

Make baskets

Islamic scriptures

Au naturel

Cleaned,ina way

DOWN

1Peruvianpeaks

2Committeda court offense

3Duds

4DVR buttonletters

5WriterWaugh

6Holenumber

7God of thedead

8Late

9Commerce

11 Irish river

17 Gathersone’s strength

20 Bother

21 Used astopwatch

23 Disappointment

25 Laid-back

26 Runout

27 SongwriterNeil

28 Hotdishholder

29 Bulletin board items

31 Future flowers

33 Mint product

36 Catchsomez’s

38 Ring setting

Word Sleuth

Find thelistedwords in thediagram.Theyrun in alldirections -forward,backward,up, downand diagonally.Every puzzlehas one unlistedclue.

Challenger

Fill each square with anumber, 1-9. Horizontal squares shouldadd to thetotalsonthe right,vertical squaresshould addtothe totals on thebottomand diagonalsquaresshould addtothe totalinthe upperand lowerright.

CLUE LIST

Al Unser

Arnold

B. Unser

DePalma

Fittipaldi

Foyt

Franchitti

Johncock

Jones

Mears

Meyer

Rutherford

Shaw

Vukovich

Ward

CLUE LIST

Aisha

Assange

Bill Clinton

Boehner

Edison

Franzen

Hanks

O’Donnell

Obama

Paul

Robert Gates

Rubio

SteveJobs

Taliban

Whitman

Point&Solve

In this crosswordpuzzlevariety,the cluesappearinthe diagramitself. Simply enter theanswers in the directions indicated by thearrows.

CROSSWORD

THOMAS JOSEPH

ACROSS

1Practicefor afight

5Chow

9Country division

10 Become readyfor picking

12 Stellarhunter

13 SanAntonio landmark

14 Reducetoonlythe best

16 Status

17 Fencingsword

18 Successively

21 Blusher’shue

22 Cutlery

23 Cracksjokes

24 Twosome

26 —Vegas

29 Serenade

30 Richardof“Chicago”

31 SeventhGreek letter

32 Aislealternative

34 Unrefined

37 Scoundrel

38 Privateteacher

39 Make better

40 Flyhigh

41 Bookish sort

DOWN

1Rankindicator

2Grimacing, perhaps

3Bepenitent

4Nevadacity

5Monk’stitle

6Squeak stopper

7Not transparent

8Makes objections

9Planter

11 Lunchhour

15 PainterHomer

19 Evening, in ads

20 DVRsconnect to them

22 Retained

23 Moonshine holder

24 VitaminCsource

25 Running by itself

26 Account book

27 In thearea

28 Putinstitches

29 Splintergroup

30 Treasureguardian

33 Turkey neighbor

35 1949 filmnoirclassic

36 Goof up

Each Wuzzles is awordriddlewhich createsa disguisedword, phrase, name,place, saying, etc.

ForExample,NOON GOOD= GOOD AFTERNOON

Unscramble thesetwelveletterstrings to form each into an ordinary word (ex. HAGNECbecomesCHANGE). Preparetouse only ONE word fromany marked ( ♥ )letterstringaseach unscrambles into more than one word (ex. ♥ RATHEbecomesHATER or EARTHorHEART). Fiteach string’swordeither acrossordown to knot alltwelvestrings together

CROSSWORD

Sudoku 1

Sudoku2

Multi-Sudoku 1

Multi-Sudoku 1

PremierCrossword

IWOULDTHINK THATALMOSTANY ILLUSTRIOUS BRITISH GUY WHO’SBEENKNIGHTED HAS ASIR-NAME.

FAMED FICTIONALATTORNEY WHOMADE HIS DWELLING ON AN OPEN GRASSY TRACTOFLAND: PRAIRIEMASON.

MANY PEOPLE MAKE EMBARRASSING MISTAKESAT CELEBRATORY GATHERINGS.I CALL THEM PARTY BLOOPERS.

CABLECHANNELWITHMANY PROGRAMS ABOUT HOOKING UPAUTOMOBILESTEREO SYSTEMS: CAR -TUNENETWORK.

THAT MOLLUSK WHOWOULDLIKETOGET ELECTED TO OFFICE IS RUNNING ASPIRITED CLAM-PAIGN.

5

Scramblers 1Scramblers2

Scramblers 3

JosephCrossword

SINCETHE AMBASSADOR IS ENORMOUSLY UPSET TODAY, ISUPPOSE HE’S PROBABLY IN-CONSUL-ABLE

EFFORT ONLYFULLY RELEASESITS REWARD AFTER APERSONREFUSES TO QUIT. —NAPOLEONHILL

2 IF YOU HEAR AVOICE WITHIN YOU SAY“YOUCANNOT PAINT,”THENBYALL MEANS PAINT, AND THAT VOICE WILL BE SILENCED. —VINCENT VANGOGH

3 YOU KNOW YOU’RE GETTING OLDWHENTHE CANDLES COST MORE THAN THECAKE.— BOBHOPE

Wuzzles 1 Wuzzles 2

JosephCrossword

Sudoku 1 Multi-Sudoku 1

Multi-Sudoku 1 Sudoku2 Page 12

PremierCrossword Page 13