The Advocate 03-17-2026 by The Advocate

“Not going to sugarcoat it, we definitely have some institutions that are struggling.”

KIM HUNTER REED, commissioner of higher education

Lawmakers call for cuts to higher ed

BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer

Louisiana higher education leaders asked legislators on Monday to consider giving them more money as many regional universities struggle ﬁnancially — but some lawmakers argued it’s time for those schools to take a hard look at whether budget cuts are necessary instead.

“We have hundreds of programs that we’ve closed,” Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed said during a Senate Finance Committee meeting “But if you say to us, ‘We’re not going to be able to provide additional

dollars, and you have to ﬂourish within your means not just survive within your means’ — then we have to do a couple of things.”

“It will be extremely tight,” she said.

Ofﬁcials with the Board of Regents say the current budget is $869 million short of what it considers full funding for higher education in Louisiana. The board is requesting $119 million in additional state general fund money for ﬁscal year 2026-27.

Reed said enrollment fluctuations, growing athletics department budgets and inﬂation have contributed to strained resources at some institutions, but did not specify which schools are

faring the worst. She called the circumstances a “perfect storm” for many schools.

“Regional institutions are generally seeing enrollment shifts, population declines and challenges of that sort,” Reed said. “Not going to sugarcoat it, we deﬁnitely have some institutions that are struggling.”

If the Legislature does not award the requested higher education funding, Reed said, the Board of Regents will be working with university systems to evaluate which programs can be cut and how they can specialize as institutions.

ä See CUTS, page 4A

Judge halts changes to vaccine program

Ruling says Kennedy likely violated federal procedures

BY MIKE STOBBE Associated Press

A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked federal health ofﬁcials from cutting the number of vaccines recommended for every child, and said U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr likely violated federal procedures in revamping a key vaccine advisory committee.

The decision halted an order by Kennedy announced in January — to end broad recommendations for all children to be vaccinated against ﬂu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis and RSV It also stopped a meeting of a Kennedyappointed vaccine advisory committee, which was set to convene this week in Atlanta.

The judge’s order, however, is not the final word. The blocks are temporary, pending either a trial or a decision for summary judgment. Federal health ofﬁcials indicated they planned to appeal.

“HHS looks forward to this judge’s decision being overturned just like his other attempts to keep the Trump administration from governing,” said Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon.

The order issued Monday is the latest development in a lawsuit ﬁled last July by the American Academy of Pediatrics and some other medical groups. The lawsuit in federal court in Boston originally focused on Kennedy’s decision to stop recommending COVID-19 vaccinations for most children and pregnant women. The lawsuit was updated as Kennedy took more steps that alarmed medical societies, causing the plaintiffs to ask Judge Brian E Murphy to take steps to address those policy changes too.

For example, the plaintiffs amended the lawsuit to stop the scaling back of the nation’s childhood vaccination schedule. They also asked the court to look at

ä See JUDGE, page 4A

BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer

Gonzales Mayor Tim Riley’s salary increased by several thousand dollars last fall without the City Council’s approval or knowledge, which has been a required procedure for many years past

The city uses a standardized classiﬁcation system to guide salary increases among all employees, with step increases also known as merit raises — corresponding to years of service. When Riley began his term in January 2025, his pay was set at step ﬁve of pay range 26, corresponding to around $125,590, but now he’s making $134,035. The operating budget approved by the council Mayor gets pay raise without council OK

Author releases book on Long assassination

McGuire believes his decades of research led to definitive answer

BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer

Jack B McGuire’s goal for his new book, “Killing the Kingﬁsh,” is to be the ﬁnal word on the assassination of Huey P. Long. But is it?

“I believe it will be,” the Mandeville author said at a book release talk and signing Monday at the Louisiana State Archives. “But that won’t stop other people from writing about it. They’re writing things about it on the internet right now.”

Still, McGuire said he believes his six decades of research, which took him down every conspiracy theory path, has led to a book with

the deﬁnitive answer to the cause of Long’s death.

“Dr. Weiss shot him,” the author said. “There is no doubt in my mind.”

McGuire knows his conclusion will rankle some Long assassination enthusiasts who have formed their own theories, but his book is based solely on facts.

Author Robert Mann, a former senior aide to senators Russell Long and John Breaux and LSU communications professor, complimented McGuire on not only chasing down conspiracies but addressing every book that’s been written on the subject.

“I think that was a brilliant approach that you took to thoroughly examine every other scenario and demolish it,” Mann said.

So, why, after almost a century, will this book — which McGuire

Kennedy

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

University of Louisiana at Lafayette students head to class at the start of the fall semester in 2024. Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed says regional institutions in the state are seeing enrollment shifts and population declines.

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN BALLANCE

Jack B. McGuire signs a copy of ‘Killing the Kingfish’ for Patricia Ricci on Monday.

page 5A

Bombs explode in Nigeria, killing scores

MAIDUGURI,Nigeria Bombs ex-

ploded in at least three locations in northeastern Nigeria’sBorno state Monday night, killing and injuringscores of people, the emergency services toldThe Associated Press, citing possible suicide bombings.

Explosions were heardinMaiduguri,the Bornostatecapital where Nigeria’shomegrown jihadi Boko Haram extremists have waged an insurgency for more than adecade.

The blasts occurred at the entranceofthe University of Maiduguri TeachingHospital and two localmarkets, known as Post Ofﬁce and the Monday Market, according to Sirajo Abdullahi, head of operations at Nigeria’s National EmergencyManagement Agency,orNEMA, in Maiduguri.

“There are casualties andthey arestill managing thecausalities at thehospital,” Abdullahi said “Wecan’t give theactual ﬁgure until we count.” No grouphas yetclaimedresponsibility forthe suspected bombings.

The Nigerian military said in a statement earlierithad repelled attacks by suspected Islamic militantsinthe early hours of Mondayonthe outskirts of Maiduguri.

Man exonerated after 19 yearsfor robbery

NEW YORK Aman who spent nearly two decades in prison for aroughly$550 robbery was exonerated and freed Monday, after prosecutors said they now agree he didn’tcommit the crime.

“It cost me 20 years, but they said they correcteditnow.So that’s allthatmatters.SoI’m good with that,” Kenneth Windley,61, said as he left aBrooklyn courthouse, at libertyfor theﬁrst time since 2007.

Ajudge threwout hisconviction and dismissed his case entirely,atthe request of both prosecutors and Windley’slawyers. Prosecutors said new evidence— including confessions from two other men who were convicted of similar robberies —supportedhis long-standing claim of innocence.

“This case is really acautionary tale of how things can seem one way but, withoutcareful analysis, not be what it purports to be,” BrooklynDistrictAttorney Eric Gonzalez,aDemocrat, saidafter shaking Windley’s hand outside court.

“Had we knownwhat theevidence was, this case should have never happened,” he said, adding that he hadapologized privately to Windley KennedyCenter votes to shut down for 2years

WASHINGTON The Kennedy Center’sboard of directors voted on Monday toshutdownoperations for two years following this summer’sJuly 4celebrations. Thewidely expecteddecision comes in the wake of numerous resignations and cancellations during President Donald Trump’ssecond term, although Trump himself has cited the need for repairs as areasonfor the closure.

“We’regoing to ensure it remains the ﬁnest performing arts facility of its kindanywhere in the world,” Trump told reporters at the White House before the board met Monday

The board also voted to install Matt Floca as CEO and executive director,replacing Trump ally Richard Grenell, who oversaw far-reaching changes at the venue that prompted an outcry from many artists and exacerbated the operation’sfinancial challenges.Trump praised Grenell on Monday,saying he had beena longtime friend, and wishedFloca “good luck with everything.”

CORRECTIONS

n An article Sunday about the impact of the Iran war on Louisiana’sports misstated the location of the Port of South Louisiana. It is upriver of the Port of New Orleans n Astory on Sunday,“Academyteaches about drainage,” misstated the ﬁrst name of ahigh school student, Daniyah Smart. The Advocate regrets theerrors.

Warrages on multiple fronts

UAEbriefly closes airspace; Israeli attacks in Lebanongrow

BY BASSEM MROUE, JAMEY KEATEN and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

DUBAI, United ArabEmirates The United Arab Emirates briefly closed and then reopened its airspace Tuesday,temporarily halting ﬂights in acrucial travelhub, as the country’smilitary saiditwas facing incoming attacks from Iran. Thetemporary disruption came as war in the Middle East continued to rage. TheIsraeli military early Tuesday reported asalvoof Iranian missilesassirens sounded south of the Sea of Galilee. No injuries were reported. TheU.S.and Israel hadpummeled militarytargets in Iran’s capital aday earlier, with Israel stepping up bombardments of Iran-backed militants in Lebanon

according to authorities and news reports Monday Explosions also soundedinTehran and outlying areas soon after Israel’smilitary announced it had launchednew strikes on Iran’s capital.

ATehranresident said while driving he witnessed an airstrike turn apolicestation to dust and heavily damage shops and cars.

The man,who spoke on condition of anonymity forfear of retaliation from the government, said it “felt like the end of the world.”

More details werenot immediatelyavailable withinformation coming out of Iran severely limited by internetoutages, round-theclock airstrikes and tight restrictions on journalists.

More than 1,300 people have been killedinIran, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.

claims that Iran waslooking fora negotiated end tothe war

CO IN T MI EAST NFLICT HE DDLE AS

Fears of aglobal energy crisis loomed even as asmall number of ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz, avital waterwaythroughwhich aﬁfth of the world’soil normally travels Iranian strikes on commercial shipsinand around the strait have slowed shipping to atrickle, dramatically increasing oil prices and pressuringWashington to do something to ease the pain for consumers andthe global economy. Brentcrude, the international standard, remained over $100 a barrel. President Donald Trump said he haddemanded thatroughly ahalf-dozen countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. But his appeals brought no immediate commitments.

Speaking of thestrait, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said:“Fromour perspective it is open” —just notfor the United States, Israel and its allies. Araghchi also rejected as “delusional”

Sincethe United States andIsrael attacked Iranmore than two weeksago,Tehran has regularly ﬁred drones and missiles at Israel, American bases in the region and Gulf Arab countries’energy infrastructure

UAEbrieflyclosesairspace

The UAE shut down itsairspace early Tuesday as itsmilitary reporteditwas “responding to missile and drone threats from Iran.” The closure was soon lifted, the state-runWAM news agency quoted the UAE’sGeneral Civil Aviation Authority as saying.

Authorities said “the situation stabilized,”allowing ﬂightstoresume.

The snap announcementshowed thebalancing act Emirati authoritiesface in trying to keep their longhaul carriers Emirates and Etihad ﬂying as Iranianattacks continue to target thecountry.OnMonday, an Iraniandrone attack set afuel tank ablaze at Dubai International Airport, the world’sbusiest for international travel

In Israel, an intercepted Iranian missile attack sprayed shrapnel Monday through Jerusalem’s Old City,hitting the rooftop of the GreekOrthodoxPatriarchate, just

yard) from the Churchofthe Holy Sepulcher,built on what is revered by many Christians as the site of Jesus’ cruciﬁxion, burialand resurrection.

Shrapnel also fell near the WesternWall, theholiest site whereJews canpray, andwithinthe Al Aqsa Mosque compound, the third-holiest site in Islam. Missile strikes on Jerusalem have been rare in thepast.

Israelstrikes

Massive explosionswere heard in Beirut MondayasIsrael launched new attacks on the Lebanese capital, sayingitwas striking infrastructure related to the Iran-linked Hezbollah militia.Hezbollah began ﬁring rockets into northern Israel after U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran began Feb. 28.

The Israeli armyhas issued evacuation orders formanyneighborhoods in Beirut as well as southern Lebanon. Israel’s strikes have displaced more than1millionLebanese —or roughly 20% of thepopulation,— according to the Lebanese government, which says some850 people have been killed. Some Israeli troops have pushed into southern Lebanon, andthere arefearsIsrael is preparing alarge-scaleinvasion.

In southern Lebanon, seven people were killed in Israeli airstrikes,

Israel has carried outsome 7,600 strikesonIran, knocking out85% of its airdefensesand 70% of Iran’smissile launchers, Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said.

In Israel,12peoplehave been killed by Iranian missile ﬁre. At least13U.S.military members have been killed.

Trumpseeks allies’help

The virtual shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz is unnerving the world economy,driving up energy prices, threatening food shortages in poor countries, destabilizing fragile states andcomplicating efforts by central bankstodrive downprices forconsumers.

On Monday,Trump said “numerouscountries” have toldhim “they’re on the way”tohelp police the Strait of Hormuz. But he also suggested somecountries’ reluctance showed alack of reciprocity in defense agreements with the United States.

Europeans have been critical of the U.S. andIsrael forfailing to provide clarity on their objectives in the war.

“The levelofenthusiasm matters to me,” Trumpsaid. He didn’t specifythe countries, but has previously appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain.

Officialssay Cuba suffersislandwideblackout

BY MILEXSY DURÁN and DÁNICA COTO Associated Press

HAVANA Ofﬁcials in Cuba reported an islandwide blackout Mondayinthe country of some 11 million people as its energyand economic crisesdeepen andits power grid continuestocrumble

The Ministry of Energy and Mines on Xnoted a “completedisconnection” of the country’selectrical system andsaid it was investigating, noting there were no failures in the units that were operating when thegrid collapsed.

It was the third major blackout in Cuba over the past four months.

TomásDavid Velázquez Felipe,a 61-year-oldresident of Havana, said the relentless outagesmake him think thatCubans who can shouldjustpackup andleavethe island. “What little we have to eat spoils,”

ASSOCIATED PRESS

People walk outside Mondayduring

Havana.

he said. “Ourpeople are tooold to keep suffering.”

Cuba’s aging grid has drastically eroded in recent years, leading to an increase in daily outages and islandwide blackouts. But the government alsohas blamed its woes on aU.S. energy blockade after President Donald TrumpinJanuarywarnedoftariffs on any country that sells or providesoil to Cuba.The Trump administration is demanding that Cuba re-

lease political prisoners and move toward political and economic liberalizationinreturnfor alifting of sanctions. Trump also has raised the possibility of a“friendly takeover of Cuba.”

On Monday,hesaid he believes he’ll have the “honoroftaking Cuba.”

“I mean, whether Ifree it, take it.Ithink Icould do anything Iwantwith it,” Trumpsaid about Cuba, calling it a“veryweakened nation.”

Last protesterheldinimmigration detentionafter crackdown released

BY JAKE OFFENHARTZ and KENDRIA LAFLEUR Associated Press

ALVARADO,Texas APalestinian woman who was the last person still in immigration detention after the Trump administration’s 2025 crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists was released Monday on $100,000 bailafter ayear in custody

LeqaaKordia, a33-yearold from the West Bank who has lived in New Jersey since 2016, had been held in aU.S. immigration detention center in Texas since last March. Kordia was among roughly100 people arrested outside

Columbia University during protests at the school in 2024.

“I don’tknow what tosay I’m free! I’m free! Finally, after one year,” Kordia, with abeaming smile, told reporters after emerging from the detention center

An immigration judge had ordered her released on bail three times. The government challenged the first two rulings, but Kordia was freed Monday afteritdid not challenge the third. She wasrecentlyhospitalizedfor three days following aseizure after fainting andhitting her head at the privately run detention facility.

“Weare overwhelmed withreliefand gratitude at therelease of our beloved Leqaa Kordia,”said Hamzah Abushaban, Kordia’scousin, in astatement from herlawyers. “This past year hastaken an unimaginable toll on Leqaa and our entirefamily.”

Kordia said she waslooking forward to going home andhugging hermother “so hard.”But she also said she would keep ﬁghting on behalf of people still being held at the detention center

“Thereisa lotofinjusticeinthis place,” she said. “There is alot of people that shouldn’tbehere the ﬁrst place.”

The U.S. Embassy in Cuba wrote on XonMonday that “there is no informationon when power would be restored.”

“Cuba’snational electrical grid is increasingly unstable and prolonged scheduled

andunscheduled poweroutages area daily occurrence across the country,” it wrote. “Take precautionsbyconserving fuel,water,food, and mobile phone charge, and be prepared for signiﬁcant disruption.”

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ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO

Fire and plumes of smokerise Monday after adrone strucka fuel tank near DubaiInternational AirportinUnited Arab Emirates,forcing a temporarysuspensionof flights.

PHOTO By RAMON ESPINOSA

ablackout in

Over half of

airports — including those in New York, Chicago and Atlanta.

BY SETH BORENSTEIN, SARAH BRUMFIELD and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press

WASHINGTON Chaotic weather, from surprising heat in California to the threat of storms rolling into the East Coast, put over half the U.S. population in the path of extreme conditions

Monday

Storms across the nation’s eastern half forced airlines to cancel roughly 4,000 flights nationwide Monday, and many schools closed early in the mid-Atlantic states, where high winds were in the forecast.

Blizzards buried parts of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota while torrential rains flooded homes and washed out roads in Hawaii.

In Washington, the House and Senate postponed votes, and federal agencies told workers to go home early But by late afternoon, the expected rough weather had failed to develop and a tornado watch expired.

Airport delays and cancellations piled up Monday in some of the nation’s largest

The private weather service AccuWeather calculated that more than 200 million people were under threat Monday of some kind of dangerous weather.

Those range from extreme heat and wildﬁre advisories to ﬂood and freeze watches from the National Weather Service

The storm system that dropped snow by the foot in the Midwest barreled toward the East Coast with the potential for high winds and tornadoes, the weather service warned Monday.

“Wind is the primary threat, but within any of these areas of strong wind there could be some embedded tornadoes,” said Evan Bentley, a meteorologist with the weather service

The biggest threat stretched from Maryland to the upper edge of South Carolina

In New York City, four people, including a child, died Monday afternoon after a ﬁre in a three-story apartment building spread during heavy winds.

Blizzard conditions continued in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes on Monday after the storm walloped parts of Wisconsin and

in path of extreme weather

Michigan with several feet of snow

Since Saturday, nearly 3 feet had fallen in the northern Wisconsin town of Mountain.

Another round of snow and gusts on Monday could bring another foot of snow across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

A heat dome over the Southwest will push temperatures well into the triple digits in Arizona most of the week, much earlier than normal.

California is starting to feel like summer too. The

Utah woman found guilty of murdering her husband

Kouri Richins wrote children’s

BY HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press

PARKCITY,Utah A Utah woman who wrote a children’s book about coping with grief after her husband’s death was convicted Monday of aggravated murder in his death by poisoning him with fentanyl.

Prosecutors say Kouri Richins slipped ﬁve times the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid into a cocktail that Eric Richins drank in March 2022 at their home outside the ski town of Park City They say Richins was $4.5 million in debt and falsely believed that when her husband died, she would inherit his estate worth more than $4 million. They also say she was planning a future with another man she was seeing on the side.

Richins stared at the ﬂoor and took deep breaths as the judge read the verdict.

Family members on both sides of the case left the courtroom hugging and crying. She was also convicted of other felony charges, including an attempted murder charge in what authorities alleged was another effort to poison her husband weeks earlier on Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich that made him break out in hives and black out. Jurors also found Richins guilty of fraudulently claiming insurance beneﬁts after his death.

Richins’ defense attorney said Eric Richins was addicted to painkillers and had asked his wife to procure opioids for him Kouri Richins however, told police earlier

in a video that her husband had no history of illicit drug use

“She wanted to leave Eric Richins but did not want to leave his money,” said Summit County prosecutor Brad Bloodworth.

Richins had pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The most serious charge — aggravated murder — carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

What was scheduled to be a ﬁve-week trial was cut short last week when Richins waived her right to testify, and her legal team abruptly rested its case without calling any witnesses. Richins’ attorneys said they were confident that prosecutors did not produce enough evidence over the past three weeks to convict her of murder

“They haven’t done their job, and now they want you to make inferences based on paper-thin evidence,” defense attorney Wendy Lewis urged the jury on Monday. Prosecutors said Richins, a real estate agent focused on ﬂipping houses, was deep in debt and planning a future with another man. She had opened numerous life insurance policies on her husband without his knowledge, with beneﬁts totaling about $2 mil-

lion, prosecutors alleged.

They showed the jury text messages between Richins and Robert Josh Grossman, the man with whom she was allegedly having an affair in which she fantasized about leaving her husband, gaining millions in a divorce and marrying Grossman.

The internet search history from Richins’ phone included “what is a lethal dose.of.fetanayl (sic),” “luxury prisons for the rich America” and “if someone is poisned (sic) what does it go down on the death certiﬁcate as,” a digital forensic analyst testiﬁed.

Bloodworth replayed for the jury a clip of Richins’ 911 call from the night of her husband’s death. That’s “not ‘the sound of a wife becoming a widow,’” he said, quoting the defense’s opening statement. “It’s the sound of a wife becoming a black widow.”

Lewis responded that the prosecution “looks at facts one way and sees a witch, but if you look at those facts another way, you see a widow.”

The defense focused on trying to discredit the prosecution’s star witness, Carmen Lauber, a housekeeper for the family who claimed to have sold Richins fentanyl on multiple occasions.

San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento will see temperatures pushing toward 90 by midweek.

“This is technically still winter,” LA Mayor Karen Bass said Monday “This is not normal for March, obviously, but it is a sign of how climate change is impacting our city.”

While temperatures are expected to reach 100, the threat of wildfires around Los Angeles is relatively low because winds will be light

Phoenix is expected to have five straight days of

triple digit temperatures this week — only once before, in 1988, has the city recorded a 100 F day in March, DePodwin said.

“This is a heat wave that we have not seen before in recorded history in the Southwest,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Dan DePodwin.

Dry and windy conditions were charging the largest wildfire in Nebraska’s history Three ﬁres in the state have consumed more than 1,140 square miles of mostly grassland.

“Mother Nature is throw-

ing a doozy at us,” Gov. Jim Pillen said Monday Unrelenting rains triggered landslides, washed away roads and flooded homes and farmland in Hawaii over the weekend.

All of Hawaii’s islands had spots with more than 15 inches of rain while parts of Maui were overwhelmed with double that amount, the weather service said. While the worst of the storm has passed, more heavy rain is expected later this week. Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said there were no reports of injuries or

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believes will be a deﬁnitive work — be controversial? Mann probably summarized it best by pointing out how past authors have written about the subject based on their admiration or lack thereof for Long.

The former Louisiana governorturned-U.S. senator died on Sept. 10, 1935, in Our Lady of the Lake Hospital two days after he was shot in the executive corridor of the newly constructed Louisiana State Capitol. Baton Rouge physician Carl Weiss was pegged as his assassin.

McGuire said some writers have theorized that Weiss punched Long’s bottom lip, triggering the bodyguards’ rain of bullets, one of which hit Long. Others say Weiss wasn’t carrying a gun at all, and the bodyguards retrieved the gun from the doctor’s car in the parking lot and placed it by his body as a cover-up.

Still others believe Weiss was part of an assassination plot cooked up among an Anti-Long crowd at the DeSoto Hotel, now the La Pavillon Hotel, in New Orleans before Long was assassinated. McGuire donated records from that Anti-Long meeting to the Louisiana State Archives.

McGuire bought the papers from a collector, all ﬁles from Brig. Gen. Louis Francis Guerre’s investigation into the assassination Guerre headed the Louisiana State Police at the time.

The papers are on display in exhibit cases for now and will be available to the public for research purposes. And, yes, some of the papers do discuss possible assassination scenarios.

“There are 665 papers in the Guerre Papers in the State Archives, and I’m donating 339 pages to those ﬁles,” McGuire said. “That conference took place on July 20 and 21. Some people say that Carl Weiss was part of it, but there’s no way that he could have been there. He and his wife, Yvonne, had taken

JUDGE

Continued from page 1A

Kennedy’s actions concerning the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which advises public health ofﬁcials on what vaccines to recommend to doctors and patients.

Kennedy, a leading antivaccine activist before becoming the nation’s top health ofﬁcial, ﬁred the entire 17-member panel last year and replaced it with a group that includes several anti-vaccine voices Murphy, who was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden, said Kennedy’s reconstitution of ACIP likely violated federal law He ordered the appointments — and all decisions made by the reformed committee put on hold. The ACIP was scheduled

CUTS

Continued from page 1A

She said leaders could trim degrees that are offered at multiple schools in the same system, for example.

“That is the kind of exercise that we would have to step through if we’re not able to get there,” Reed said.

Some lawmakers said that kind of change may be necessary

“I think that time is now, I really do,” said Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, D-Lafayette. “I think that’s where we are.”

Some lawmakers pressed Reed about budget crises at Louisiana’s smaller public universities, referencing shaky finances at the University of New Orleans — which led the school to be reintegrated into the LSU system and the University of Louisiana at Monroe Some argued they were caught off guard by the scale of the problems.

“We ﬁnd out our colleges are not just struggling; they’ve been struggling,” said Sen. Glen Womack, RHarrisonburg.

papers,

their 3-year-old son to Opelousas during that time.”

Opelousas was home to Weiss’ inlaws, speciﬁcally his father-in-law, powerful Anti-Long Judge Benjamin Henry Pavy, whose district Long was seeking to gerrymander

Yet another theory places Weiss at the Capitol to confront Long’s action against Pavy

“I do believe that Carl Weiss went to the Capitol that night to confront Huey Long, and I believe all the evidence would indicate that he did shoot Long. Some people say he wasn’t political, but Carl Weiss was political,” McGuire said.

McGuire added that Weiss’ son, Carl Weiss Jr., ﬁled for an IRS de-

to meet this week to discuss COVID-19 vaccine safety, among other issues, but that gathering was postponed, ofﬁcials said.

“ACIP as currently constituted cannot meet,” said Richard Hughes IV, an attorney representing the AAP “How can a committee meet without nearly the entirety of its membership?”

Jason Schwartz, a Yale University vaccine policy expert who has studied the committee, called the halting of an ACIP meeting for legal reasons “unprecedented” in its 62-year existence.

Hughes called the judge’s order “a momentous step toward restoring sciencebased vaccine policy,” and he was echoed by leaders of several doctors’ groups and public health organizations.

When Trump administration ofﬁcials overhauled the childhood vaccine schedule, they said it wouldn’t result

duction of $250,000 after donating his father’s gun to the Louisiana State Archives on the grounds that it was the gun that belonged to his father who used it to shoot Long.

As for the discussions of assassinations at the Anti-Long conference in New Orleans, McGuire said Guerre took no action.

“Nothing was ever carried out, so he didn’t pursue it,” the author said.

“Killing the Kingﬁsh” was published by the University Press of Mississippi. It is available at Cavalier Books in Denham Springs.

Email Robin Miller at romiller@ theadvocate.com.

in families losing access to them or cause insurers to stop covering them. But it left many Americans confused, as doctors’ groups, public health organizations and many states continued to recommend licensed vaccines, said Dr Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Several doctors’ groups said the changes were not based on good evidence, and advised doctors and patients to follow guidance that was previously in place. Health officials in 30 states have rejected at least some of the new recommendations.

The judge’s order should bring clarity, Racine said.

“If anyone has any questions about what’s the appropriate vaccine schedule for their children, the best thing to do is to talk to their pediatricians,” he said.

Schwartz said he expected federal health ofﬁcials to keep

expressing “their deep skepticismregardingtheimportance ofvaccination”andtokeepembracing “unsupported vaccine safety allegations.”

After the ruling, one of Kennedy’s appointees to the committee, Dr Robert Malone, urged the Trump administration to keep pursuing

Reed said quarterly ﬁnancial reports submitted by each institution will help keep the Legislature and the public abreast of the ﬁnancial situations at Louisiana’s colleges and universities.

“When the situation happened with UNO, we had no

Kennedy’s vaccine policy changes.

“A district court order is a delay, not a defeat,” he wrote Monday on Substack.

STAFF FILE

STAFF PHOTOS By JOHN BALLANCE

Never-before-seen

donated by author Jack B. McGuire,

the Kingfish.’

Jack B McGuire, author of ‘Killing the Kingfish,’ donated neverbefore-seen papers to the Louisiana State Archives.

Pope highlights plight of vulnerable adults

BY NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press

ROME PopeLeo XIV indicated growing concern Monday withthe next frontier in combating abuses in the Catholic Church, highlighting the plight of “vulnerable” adults and meeting with an investigative journalist whouncovered allegedabuses in the powerful Opus Dei movement.

Leoheldtwo high-proﬁle, backto-back audiences Monday focused on abuse: One with the Vatican’schild protection board, which advises the church on sexual abuse prevention strategies, and one with Gareth Gore, author of the book “Opus:The Cult of Dark Money,Human Trafficking and Right-Wing Conspiracy Inside the Catholic Church.”

The American popeclearly wanted the Gore audience publicized. It was listed on hisformal agenda andthe Vatican released photos of the encounter

Speaking to the PontiﬁcalCommission for the Protection of Minors, Leoseemedkeenly aware that the#MeToomovementhad unleashed revelations around the world of abuses committedagainst adults in vulnerablesituations within the church.

They can involve seminarians and nuns who are spiritually,psychologically,physically or sexually abused by their superiors, as well as ordinary parishionerswho fall sway to charismatic spiritualleaders who take advantage of them

The Catholic hierarchy has long looked the other way at such abuses involving adults, directing

MAYOR

Continued from page1A

in late August includeda salaryof$130,237 for the mayor.Yet documentsobtained by The Advocate show Riley’ssalary quickly rose beyond that amount in early September,from $125,590to $131,414, and that his level was classiﬁed at step seven.

On Sept. 9, a2%cost-ofliving increase applied to all employees brought Riley’s salary up again, according to city records.

Division Bmember Kirk Boudreaux, who has served on the City Council since 2009, said the levels correspond to years of service and Riley shouldn’thave moved up until January.

“If any step should have been taken, it should be just one step for an anniversary,” Boudreaux said. “He made one year in January.”

While Louisiana law allows the mayor to changemunicipalemployees’ pay, it mandates that the City Council setcompensation for elected ofﬁcials, includingthe mayor.The Louisiana Legislative Auditor’sOffice specifies this requirement in aFAQ it maintains online.

Riley said the salary changes were partially due to merit increases but added that he’d have to speak with the ﬁnancedepartment for the details.

“The way they explained it to me, merit raise, and the 2%, that’swhat brought my income up,” he said. “That’s the way they explained it to me.”

City Clerk Anthony Keller, who took the position in January,said it was his understanding that because the budgeted salary of $130,237 didn’tmatch the city’sstep increase, the mayor’ssalary wasset at the closest step. Keller also said an ordinance passed by the council in 2020 under former Mayor Barney Arceneaux’sadministration set the mayor’ssalaryat$140,816.

However,the budget approved by the councilvia ordinance in 2024 includes a statement thatthe new mayor’sstep “will be basedon yearsofcompleted service with the City at the timeof induction in the office.” That was step five for Riley Former senior accountant Alanda Viger,who said she worked for the city from 2019 until she wasfired in June, said the City Council had to vote for merit increases for the mayor and police chief.

“The only time that the mayor or the chief of police could receive apay raise would be when it was voted on by thecouncil,”she said.

its focus narrowly on thechurch’s horrific legacy ofclergy sexual abuse against children.

The Pontifical Commission is focusing this year on the issue of vulnerability in adults and Leo encouraged its members Monday.

He said it was fundamental for the church to listen to victims.

“Byreading these‘signs of the times,’ you help the church to address safeguarding challenges courageously, and respond with pastoral clarity and structural renewal,” he said.

Leo has already madeclear he is aware of alleged abuses within Opus Dei, the influential movement foundedbythe Spanish

“They didn’tget the normal step increases each year like anormal employee. So, in January, the mayorwouldn’t just automatically get astep increase after he wasthere fora year.That wouldhave to be voted on.”

Division DcouncilmemberTyler Turnerand Police Chief Sherman Jackson said the same about the system.

TheCity Council hasn’t approved anyindividualordinances aboutthe mayoror police chiefsalaries since Riley took ofﬁce. It has done so in the past.

In 2017, the council approved ordinances granting merit raises of $3,000 and 2% cost-of-livingincreases for then-Mayor Arceneaux andJackson. In November 2020, the Gonzales Weekly Citizen reported that the council approved 4% raises for Arceneaux andJackson via ordinances because such raises weren’tincluded in the annual budget

Boudreaux said cost-ofliving increases werefrequently included in the budgetunder previous administrations; when they weren’t, the council had to approve a separate ordinance.

TheAdvocatereached out to all councilmembers for comment on the situation Councilmember EddieWilliams, who has supported Riley’sadministration, said the salary increase rested on thebudget approval in August. Thatdocument included additionsbyCity Council members, which Williams said led to hislone vote against it. He had previouslyvoted for thebudget introduced by Riley’sadministration

“Hissalarywentuptothe $130 or whatever thousand dollars, andthenthe 2% cost-of-living bumped it up,” he said. “Anything wrong is what the council approved, excluding Eddie Williams, becausethey voted 4-1 against me.”

A2%increase above the budgeted$130,237 falls shortofRiley’s currentsal-

priest Josemaría Escrivá in 1928 that was greatly favored by St. John Paul II.

The movement, known as Work of God in Latin, has90,000 members in 70 countries.

Gore, afinancial journalist and editor,published “Opus” in 2024, detailing alleged financial and other abusesinthe organization.Opus Dei sharply rejected the book, issuing a106-page set of “clarifications” to journalists after it was published.

In 2024, Argentine prosecutors concluded there were grounds for launchinga criminal investigation into top South American Opus officials into charges of human

trafﬁcking and labor exploitation against44women whosaid they had been recruited to perform domestic tasks in their homes.

Some of the complainants had toldAPin2021 that they had workedunder “manifestly illegal conditions” that included working without pay for 12 hours-plus without breaksexcept forfood or prayer,noregistration in the Social Security systemand other violations of basic rights.

No one hasbeen formally charged in the case.

Opus Dei in Argentina has denied theaccusations.

“Wecategorically deny the accusations of human trafﬁcking and

laborexploitation,” said the ofﬁce of the Prelature of Opus DeiinArgentina in a2024 statement.

In 2022, Pope Francis imposed changesonOpus Dei thatcurbed itsspecial status in thechurch: It no longer reports directly to the pope but rather the Vatican ofﬁce for clergy,and Francis told Opus to rewrite itsstatutes. Ayear later, he issuedanotherdecree saying the HolySee could writethe statutes itself Leo signaledfrom the start of hispontiﬁcatethatthe Opus question was very muchonhis mind. Six days after his election, on May 14, he metwith the Opus moderator,MonsignorFernando Ocáriz Braña.

Last month, on Feb. 16, Leo met with the Opus prelate, or leader, Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz and his auxiliary,Monsignor Mariano Fazio. Opus said at the time that thestatutes were still awork in progress, and said the ofﬁcials had briefedLeo on its position“regarding certain speciﬁc controversies in Argentina.”

On Monday, Leo met with Gore in an audience facilitated by Pedro Salinas, aformer memberof the abusive Peruviangroup Sodalitium ChristianaeVitae, who knew the pope when he was abishop in Peru.

Then-Cardinal Robert Prevost wasinstrumentalinhelping Francis suppress Sodalitium last year, thanks in great part to the revelations of Salinas and investigative journalistPaolaUgaz, whoexposed the group’sabusive practices in their 2015 book “Half Monks, Half Soldiers.”

ary

When The Advocateasked Riley and Wade Petite, who serves in thedisputedposition as chiefofstaff, howthe mayor receivedthe payincreases, Petite said he didn’t knowhow thestep system worked.

“I have no idea how the steps work and never even tried to ﬁgure it out because it’snot relevanttoour dayto-day stuff,” he said.

Riley said his administration was nottrying to do anything“wrong or illegal.”

“We’re trying to move the city forward, Wade (Petite) and I, and clean stuff up, sir,” he said. “We’re nottrying to do nothing we’renot supposed to do.”

Division Ecouncil member Terri Lambertwrote in astatementthatshe was “disgustedthat the Mayor bypassedthe Council’s authority to protect taxpayer dollars and gave himself multiple raiseswithout Council approval.”

“As theold sayinggoes, pigs get fat, but hogs get slaughtered. Lack of transparencydestroyspublic trust,” she wrote.

SinceRiley’stermbegan, ﬁnancial transparency has been thefocusofconflict between hisadministration and the City Council.

Last summer,the council and city administration faced off during a monthslong budget standoff that focused on howmuch power theGonzales mayor should wield.

Severalcouncil members said an ordinance required the council to approve certain newroles within the city government, suchasPetite’sposition. Rileyargued theordinance violates the Lawrason Act, which states that no “ordinancemay limit the authority grantedtothe mayor by this Paragraph.”

In December,Boudreaux raisedconcerns over alack of monthly budget statements. He saidcouncil members used toreceive monthly budget statements

but have not received any in months,and he asked Riley to start providing them.

In response, Rileyaccused him of “grandstanding”and said he could cometoCity Hall at any time to get information Petite responded to the complaints when asked by The Advocatethis week.

“Council knew we gotleft in sucha hole by the last finance director,and we broughtinJacob Waguespack and Faulk &Winkler

to straighten all this out,” he said, adding that council membersknewthere’d be a delay in ﬁnancial numbers.

“Wehad an auditor in the house until the end of Februarybecause things were so screwed up for the last 20 years,” he claimed, referencing asoon-to-be-released audit. “This wasthe ﬁrst actual audit, detailed audit, the city’shad in probably two decades.”

Boudreaux said he understood there hadbeen

turnover in the finance department, but said the City Council only received financial statements for September on March 9. “In thepast, we usedto see finances every month. It was in our packet. Finances, sales tax figures. The latest oneI have right nowin my possessionisSeptember2025, andwe’re fixing to start anew budget,” he said. “As acouncil, we have no clue wherewe’re at with finance.”

BUSINESS

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Drop in oil prices helps stocks climb higher

NEWYORK A drop in oil prices on Monday helped send the U.S. stock market to its best day since the war in Iran began.

The S&P 500 climbed 1% for its biggest gain in ﬁve weeks

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 387 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.2%

The driver for markets once again was the price of oil A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude fell 5.3% to settle at $93.50, easing some pressure off the economy after topping $102 earlier in the morning. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 2.8% to $100.21 per barrel after earlier getting as high as $106.50

It’s a reprieve, for now at least, after oil prices spiked from roughly $70 before the United States and Israel began their attacks on Iran. In response, Iran has nearly halted trafﬁc through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, where a ﬁfth of the world’s oil typically sails from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. That has oil producers cutting production because their crude has nowhere to go.

Meta to spend up to $27B on Nebius AI

Meta Platforms Inc. will pay as much as $27 billion over the next ﬁve years for access to artiﬁcial intelligence infrastructure from cloud provider Nebius Group NV as it spends aggressively to compete with the industry’s top frontier models.

Nebius, a so-called neocloud that operates data centers and has a strategic partnership with Nvidia Corp., will provide Meta $12 billion of dedicated capacity starting in early 2027, the Dutch company said in a statement Monday Meta also committed to buying as much as $15 billion in additional capacity that the cloud provider is building for third-party customers.

The outlay represents one of the biggest single contracts that Meta has signed, underscoring the Instagram and Facebook owner’s push for more computing capacity to power the development of AI products. Last year, it signed a separate $3 billion deal with Nebius.

Meta and some of its largest tech peers are expected to spend some $650 billion in 2026 to build data centers and purchase other infrastructure in anticipation of an AI services explosion in the coming years Meta has made AI the company’s top priority, and is investing heavily to compete with rivals like OpenAI and Google. It has also inked multi-billion dollar partnership agreements with Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. for AI infrastructure since the start of the year Meta is developing its own chips in-house.

3,800 workers strike at meatpacking plant

GREELEY Colo. — About 3,800 workers for the world’s largest meatpacking company began striking Monday in Colorado, and if they don’t get a new contract soon, already costly beef could become even more expensive for U.S. consumers. As the sun rose, hundreds of strikers picketed outside the Swift Beef Co. plant in Greeley owned by JBS USA and one of the largest slaughterhouses in the nation. Walking back and forth in the morning cold, bundled in blankets, some yelled “huelga!” Spanish for “strike.” Others carried signs saying “please don’t patronize JBS.”

The first walkout at a U.S. beef slaughterhouse in four decades follows accusations from union ofﬁcials that the company retaliated against workers and committed other unfair labor practices. The union also said the company offered less than 2% more a year in wages, which is less than inﬂation in Colorado.

The union says its workers perform some of the most difﬁcult and dangerous jobs in the country and deserve higher wages and better health care.

Storms cancel more U.S. flights

BY RIO YAMAT and MARGERY A BECK Associated Press

Thousands of ﬂights across the U.S. were canceled or delayed Monday as powerful storms swept across the eastern half of the country and a partial government shutdown affecting airport security screeners dragged into a second month.

The disruptions come at an already challenging time for air travel, in part because the shutdown that began Feb. 14 has strained stafﬁng at some security checkpoints At the same time,

airports are crowded with spring break travelers and fans heading to March Madness games, the annual NCAA men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments. Flight delays and cancellations piled up Monday at some of the nation’s largest airports, including those in New York, Chicago and Atlanta. The storm system that dropped snow by the foot in the Midwest was barreling toward the East Coast with dangerously high winds and the potential for “producing strong and long track tornadoes,” the National Weather Service warned Monday

More than 3,900 flights scheduled to ﬂy into, out of or within the U.S. on Monday have been called off, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. Roughly 8,200 other U.S. ﬂights were delayed.

Kelly Price, who was trying to get home to Colorado after a fam-

ily vacation in Orlando, Florida, said her Sunday night ﬂight wasn’t canceled until early Monday

“By that time the only place for us to sleep was the airport ﬂoor So we’re all tired and frustrated,” she said.

The nationwide cancellations included more than 500 in and out of Chicago O’Hare International, 350 at Atlanta’s Hartsﬁeld-Jackson International and over 260 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to FlightAware.

Earlier Monday, citing severe weather, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered ground stops at Hartsfield-Jackson and Charlotte Douglas International Airport, along with ground delays at JFK and Newark Liberty International Airport. The storms are also unfolding just as airport security screeners missed their first full paycheck

over the weekend. The current partial government shutdown affects only the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Transportation Security Administration.

Democrats in Congress have said Homeland Security won’t get funded until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year

It is the third shutdown in less than a year to leave TSA workers temporarily without pay Once the government reopens, employees will have to wait for back pay

Some airports have reported longer security lines because of staffing shortages as more TSA workers take on second jobs, can’t afford gas to get to work or leave the profession altogether

STRETCHING AT THE PUMP

As gas prices go up, changing the way you drive can help with costs

BY ALEXA ST JOHN AND KIKI SIDERIS

Associated Press

DETROIT When gas prices spike, ﬁlling up gets more painful But consumers can do something to stretch their fuel just a little farther: Change the way they drive.

“It’s a hard one to swallow right? You gotta put gas in to go about your day and get to work and pick the kids up from school,” said Michael Crossen, Consumer Reports’ manager of auto testing.

Here are seven tips from experts for drivers looking to use less gas: Drive slower, or use cruise control

Vehicles are designed for maximum efﬁciency around highway speeds, said Sean Tucker, managing editor for compact and full-size vehicles at Kelley Blue Book.

“Stick to 65 mph on the highway,” Tucker said. “Today’s cars are geared to be most efﬁcient at that speed, and you lose quite a bit of fuel efﬁciency the faster you go.”

Some estimates suggest slowing down increases gas mileage as much as 14%.

“If you have a hard time doing that, cruise control is your friend,” Tucker said. This maintains a set vehicle speed, which cuts the need to press on the gas pedal and avoids ﬂuctuations like jerky acceleration or hard braking.

Experts also recommend coasting to stoplights, whether there is a red light ahead or a green light that is likely to change soon.

Limit idling

Use a vehicle’s automatic start-stop ignition experts say This shuts off the engine at stoplights or when idling, and restarts it once the accelerator is pressed.

“If you’re stuck in trafﬁc and you see it bumper to bumper for a while and you have start-stop, don’t turn that off,” said David Bennett, AAA senior automotive manager “Allow the engine to turn on and off as it’s needed.”

That’s especially true for when drivers don’t need to blast air conditioning while waiting for long periods of time.

Reduce car’s drag, drop extra weight

Many drivers have roof racks on top of their vehicles or bike racks on the back. It takes extra fuel to push that structure through the air experts have found it can cost several miles per gallon.

“If you’re not actually using those devices, it’s like dragging a parachute behind your car,” Crossen said. “Any other type of accessories that basically cause drag, you want to lose those.”

If you’re carrying heavy items in your

back seat, trunk or truck bed, and you don’t need them, leave them at home.

Check tire pressure and more Experts say it’s important that tires are properly inﬂated, based on what the vehicle’s manual recommends.

Checking tire pressure every other ﬁll-up is one suggestion.

“Lower-inﬂated tires will increase the resistance on the road, so properly inﬂated, the vehicle is going to drive a little bit smoother and be able to accelerate properly,” Bennett said. Expect an impact on gas mileage by as much as 10%, estimates say Auto shops might also be able to make some simple changes to improve a vehicle’s fuel economy

“If you’re ﬁnding that you are not getting close to what you’re supposed to, then you need to go to the mechanic,” Tucker said. For example, they might replace the air ﬁlter or oxygen sensors that tell the engine how rich to make the fuel mixture.

Consider carpooling and combining trips

Figure out a carpool if you can, and you’re effectively splitting costs with the other participants.

And be more thoughtful in planning and organizing your driving to make fewer trips overall.

“Don’t make unnecessary stops. Don’t drive all the way across town just to save a dollar on eggs,” Crossen said. “Plan your

trips. Don’t drive if you don’t have to.”

What fuel are you buying,

Some cars require more expensive premium gas, and that’s what they should get, experts say But sometimes drivers are ﬁlling up with premium when their vehicle doesn’t need it — and will do just ﬁne on cheaper regular gas, they say

Regardless of your octane choice, you can be mindful of the quality of your gas. Consider whether a local station carries what’s called “Top Tier gas” — gas developed with additives aimed at clearing carbon deposits from your engine During periods of high prices or shortages, it isn’t a requirement, but it’s good for vehicles long-term.

Apps such as GasBuddy are great resources to compare local gas prices or prices along a driver’s route back home.

Experts say to also start thinking about getting gas when you’re around half a tank. That gives you some ﬂexibility to watch for lower prices.

Consider a hybrid

The average age of a vehicle on the road these days is about 12 years, and newer vehicles are more fuel-efﬁcient than older ones.

Not everyone can afford a new vehicle, but when it’s time, shoppers can consider a hybrid if they’re not ready to go fully electric. And if you’re ready to get off gas entirely, EVs — including plenty of used models — are out there.

BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN Associated Press

said it wants to expand its presence in areas like the Sun Belt and other regions that are likely to grow in population. The deal, if approved, would combine the largest and the fourth-largest U.S. self-storage companies by market capitalization. Extra Space Storage and CubeSmart are the next two largest companies. Public Storage, which has been based in Glendale, California, said this year that it is relocating to Frisco,

Public

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By yUKI

High court to hear arguments in immigration case

Feds seek to end protections for migrants from Haiti, Syria

BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Supreme Court will hear arguments over the Trump administration’s push to end legal protections for people ﬂeeing war and natural disaster from countries around the world, including Haiti and Syria

The court declined, though, to immediately lift the protections for hundreds of thousands of people Monday, allowing them to live and work in the U.S. legally amid the administration’s wider crackdown on immigration.

The case will be heard in April, a fast schedule for the nation’s highest court, with a decision expected weeks or months later

The conservative-majority court has sided with the Trump administration on the issue before and allowed the end of temporary legal status for a total of 600,000 people from Venezuela while

lawsuits play out, exposing them to potential deportation. The court did not explain its legal reasoning, as is common on its emergency docket.

The Trump administration ﬁled emergency appeals after lower courts stopped the immediate end of the program for 350,000 people from Haiti and 6,000 people from Syria.

The administration asked the court to lift those decisions, hear arguments and issue a broad ruling that would block courts from intervening when Homeland Security decides to end protections.

The Justice Department argued that the Department of Homeland Security has sole power over the program, which was designed to be temporary

“Lower courts are again attempting to block major executive-branch policy initiatives in ways that inﬂict specific harms to the national interest and foreign relations,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in court documents.

But immigration attorneys argued that both countries are still largely in crisis and people can’t return safely

The Supreme Court will hear arguments over the

protections for people fleeing war and natural disaster from

“Without a functioning government, Haiti is a nation in turmoil. Rape, kidnapping, and murder are rampant, while food, housing, and medical care are scarce,” attorneys wrote, pointing to reports that four Haitian women were recently found dead months after they were deported from the U.S. Lupe Aguirre, director of the International Refugee

Assistance Project, said Syrians are relieved they will stay protected for now, but disappointed the court agreed to hear the case before it has fully worked its way through lower courts. Courts in New York and Washington, D.C., have agreed to delay the end of protections, with one ﬁnding that “hostility to nonwhite immigrants” likely played a role in the deci-

sion to end protections for Haitians. During his presidential campaign, Trump ampliﬁed false rumors that Haitian immigrants were abducting and eating dogs and cats.

Appeals courts left the decisions in place.

A total of about 1.3 million people fleeing armed conflict, natural disasters and political instability in countries around the world have

been granted temporary protected status. Federal authorities have said conditions in the affected countries have improved and denied racial animus played any role.

The protections for Haitians were first granted in 2010 after a catastrophic earthquake and have been extended multiple times amid ongoing gang violence that has displaced more than a million people, according to court documents.

Protections for Syrians were ﬁrst granted protected status in 2012, during a civil war that lasted for more than a decade before the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government in late 2024. Congress created TPS in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters, civil strife or other dangerous conditions. The designation is granted in 18-month increments by the Homeland Security secretary It allows people to legally live and work in the U.S., though it does not provide a path to citizenship. DHS has moved to terminate the program for people from multiple countries since Republican Donald Trump returned to the White House.

Afghanistan says 400 killed in Pakistan strike on hospital

bodies.

BY ABDUL QAHAR AFGHAN, MUNIR AHMED and ELENA BECATOROS

Associated Press

KABUL,Afghanistan Afghani-

Afghanistan’s deputy government spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat, in a post on X, said the airstrike had hit the hospital at about 9 p.m. local time, destroying large sections of the 2,000-bed facility He said the death toll had “so far” reached 400 people, while about 250 people had been reported injured.

Local television stations posted footage on X showing security forces using flashlights as they carried out casualties while firefighters struggled to extinguish flames among the ruins of a building. Fitrat said rescue teams were working to control the fire and recover the

stan accused Pakistan of targeting a hospital for drug users in the Afghan capital late Monday saying the airstrike had killed at least 400 people. It marked a dramatic escalation of a conﬂict that began late last month and has seen repeated cross-border clashes as well as airstrikes inside Afghanistan. International calls for a ceasefire have gone unheeded. Pakistan dismissed the accusation that it had hit a hospital, saying its strikes, which were also conducted in eastern Afghanistan, did not hit any civilian sites.

The strike came hours after Afghan ofﬁcials said the two sides exchanged fire along their common border, killing four people in Afghanistan, as the deadliest ﬁghting between the neighbors in years entered a third week.

Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the strike on X, accusing Pakistan of “targeting hospitals and civilian sites to perpetrate horrors.”

In a post before the death toll rose into the hundreds, he said those killed and injured were patients at the hospital.

“We strongly condemn this crime and consider such an act to be against all accepted principles and a crime

Spain’s king acknowledges ‘much abuse’ in conquest of Americas

BY SUMAN NAISHADHAM Associated Press

MADRID Spain’s monarch said Monday the Spanish conquest of the Americas included “much abuse” and “ethical controversies,” striking a conciliatory tone amid a yearslong row between Spain and Mexico over colonial era abuses committed by the Spanish crown centuries ago.

King Felipe VI made the remarks while speaking with Mexico’s ambassador to Spain, Quirino Ordaz, during a visit to a museum exhibition in Madrid about the role of women in pre-

Columbian Mexico.

About the centuries-old Spanish conquest, Felipe said: “There are things that, when we study them, we come to know them, and well, with our current values, they obviously cannot make us feel proud.”

“But they must be understood in their proper context, not with excessive moral presentism, but with an objective and rigorous analysis,” he said The Bourbon king’s symbolic remarks came after years of a diplomatic spat between Spain and Mexico over the Mexican government’s demands that Spain

apologize for its 1519-1521 conquest of Mexico, which resulted in the death of a large part of the country’s pre-Hispanic population.

Colonial Spain ruled one of the largest empires in history with colonial holdings spanning 5 continents at its peak between the 16th and 18th centuries. That included much of Central and South America.

Mexico City was the seat of Spain’s colonial power in the Americas after the Spanish and their Indigenous allies toppled the Aztecs in 1521. Mexico City was built over the ruins of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.

against humanity,” he posted Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesman, Mosharraf Zaidi, dismissed the allegations as baseless, saying no hospital was targeted in Kabul.

In a post on X before Afghan ofﬁcials gave a death toll, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said the strikes “precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure including technical equipment storage and ammunition storage of Afghan Taliban” and Afghanistan-based Paki-

stani militants in Kabul and Nangarhar saying the facilities were being used against innocent Pakistani civilians.

It said Pakistan’s targeting was “precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inﬂicted.”

The ministry said Mujahid’s claim was “false and misleading” and aimed at stirring sentiment and cover what it described as ”illegitimate support for crossborder terrorism.”

The strike came hours after the U.N. Security Council called on Afghanistan’s Tali-

ban rulers to immediately step up efforts to combat terrorism. Pakistan accuses Kabul of harboring militant groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, which it says carry out attacks inside Pakistan. The Security Council resolution, adopted unanimously didn’t name Pakistan but condemns “in the strongest terms all terrorist activity including terrorist attacks.”

The resolution also extends the U.N. political mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, for three months.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOSE LUIS MAGANA

Trump administration’s push to end legal

countries around the world.

Have us take alook!

Records reveal McGlinchey debts, assets

Firm going through bankruptcy

the Eastern District, where McGlinchey filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in mid-February

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer

Documents filed in the McGlinchey Stafford bankruptcy case shed new light on the New Orleans ﬁrm’s ﬁnancial situation in the wake of its surprise decision early this year to shut down after more than 50 years in business.

The details were disclosed in documents filed Thursday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for

The ﬁrm’s liabilities top $13 million and include more than $2.5 million in bank debt, $6.5 million in ofﬁce leases and more than $1.5 million in wage claims to employees, according to court records. Its $15.5 million in assets, though greater than its liabilities, include more than $9.4 million in accounts receivables, or bills for services that have not yet been paid.

‘The

story of my people’

Museum dedicated to African American history reopens after 2 years

BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT

writer

Staff

In a small building at the former Tezcuco Plantation in Burnside, a museum dedicated to the African American experience in the River Parishes launched 32 years ago. The River Road African American Museum now in Donaldsonville — closed around two years ago to repair roof damage caused by Hurricane Ida. This weekend, the organization’s ﬂagship building ofﬁcially reopened its doors.

Standing before a gathered crowd Saturday Executive Director Darryl Hambrick announced the reopening before his sister and museum founder, Kathe Hambrick, cut the ribbon

“We’re ready to reopen the doors. Are y’all ready?!” he said to cheers and applause.

The celebration kicked off Friday evening and continued Saturday with live music, a performance by the dance group GSmoove Steppas and artist showcases, including a talk by Geismar artist Malaika Favorite.

The museum charts African American history from slavery through the sharecropping and Jim Crow era and beyond. The organization also maintains a church memorial and a historic Rosenwald School, and it will soon begin restoration on a historic gathering spot in town Kathe Hambrick said the museum was born out of her desire to “tell the story of my people.”

“When I started this museum, I wanted to be a part of documenting oral histories and saving the artifacts of what’s left,” she said. “Industry has come into this area. The landscape has changed. The big 200-year-old oak trees, 400-year-old oak trees are no longer there.”

Darryl Hambrick said the day was a way “to celebrate the successes, the hardships, and everything that was endured on those plantations.”

“And to give hope to our community and let them know no matter what you go through, no matter what happens — a storm, COVID, slavery death there’s always hope,” he added. “If we can give that hope to the world, then we’ve done our job.”

Jan Risher is on vacation Her column will return next week.

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy means a debtor is liquidating its remaining assets to satisfy creditors, unlike a Chapter 11 reorganization, where a debtor remains in business while paying off debt.

The case has been assigned to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Grabill. In early January, McGlinchey Stafford surprised the local legal community by announcing that its

equity members, a group of senior attorneys who owned the firm, had voted to dissolve. A variety of factors contributed to the decision, including the recent departure of several highprofile lawyers with the firm, delinquent collections, internal disagreements and steep overhead costs in far-flung offices, according to sources familiar with the

ation and statements made by the ﬁrm’s leaders. Managing member Michael Ferachi and a trustee appointed by

CLEANUP CREW

ABOVE: Crew members wait Monday for trucks to remove a tree that fell across Broussard Street and onto power lines at Fairmount Street

RIGHT: Workers cut the smaller limbs off the

St. Vincent de Paul to open

BY OLIVIA TEES Staff writer

OLIVIA TEES Staff writer

STAFF PHOTOS By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Louisiana singers perform ‘Sinners’ music

Choir members

reunite at Celtic Bayou Festival

BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

Out of a record-breaking 16 nominations at the 98th Academy Awards, the movie “Sinners” walked away with four Oscars, including Best Original Score for music inﬂuenced by the folk sounds of both the Mississippi Delta and ancient Ireland.

Composer Lud wig Göransson accepted the Oscar for his work on the ﬁlm, which also won awards for Best Original Screenplay by Ryan Coogler, Best Cinematography by Autumn Durald Arkapaw and Best Actor for lead performance by Michael B. Jordan. The movie, which was ﬁlmed in Louisiana, utilized dozens of Louisiana artists in crafting a world where an Irish vampire launches an attack against a blues club, near Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1932.

Musician Tony Davoren, a native Irishman and founder of the Celtic Bayou Festival in Lafayette, acted as cultural consultant on the film. Göransson needed a choir of local singers who could perform “Rocky Road to Dublin” and “Wild Mountain Thyme” in an authentic Irish voice, and Davoren pulled together a chorus of musicians from across south Louisiana who nailed the accent, and the tunes.

During the Celtic Bayou Festival on Saturday, sing-

MUSEUM

Continued from page 1B

Singers raise a toast in celebration with spectators after performing traditional Irish folk songs

film ‘Sinners’ during the Celtic Bayou Festival in Lafayette on Saturday. The singers performed

production itself.

ers from that choir came together for a live performance of the Irish and Scottish folk ballads from the film, Rocky Road to Dublin” and “Wild Mountain Thyme.” Davoren said he wanted to honor the musicians from Acadiana, New Orleans and Baton Rouge who agreed to help with the Hollywood production, even though the choir members were not named in the end credits for “Sinners.”

“I reached out to every musician and singer, neighbors, friends, anyone who

Various community members attended the events, including Odessa Johnson, 91, a former history and civics teacher at East Ascension High School.

“I have a button that says, ‘Teach Black History,’ ” she said, pointing to a button on her shirt. “I don’t think we should exclude any history at all because we are a human race. All people belong to that race, and so I think that we should teach history from all backgrounds.”

Johnson, who grew up in Prairieville, discussed the lengths she had to go for an education when she attended Lowery High School before school desegregation.

“There was no Black high school on the east side of the river I had to catch the five o’clock bus in the morning, go to the bus station, stay there until it got light, and then caught a street bus,” she said From there, she and other students were dropped off at the Mississippi River where they caught a ferry and then walked through Donaldsonville to the school.

“I wanted to get an education I did not want to work in a place where I had to cook, wash for other people and what have you,” she said. “So I’m happy; I’m blessed that I was able to help many students.

Thomas Durant, a former museum board president and LSU professor, said he’s seen the organization grow from its 1994 origins across the Mississippi River into a group that maintains multiple historic buildings and online exhibits.

“We expect to be around for as long as this community is here, and we hope that the next generations will continue this legacy and also contribute to its growth and development,” he said. Local ofﬁcials also made appearances, including former state Rep. Roy Quezaire and current Ascension Parish Council member Oliver Joseph Donaldsonville City Council Chair Charles Brown Sr stopped by and thanked the Hambrick siblings for the work they’ve done to build and sustain the museum. “We appreciate them, and we hope our young people will come and really learn about their history so they can literally celebrate where they’re at by just remembering their past,” he said. “There’s so many people who have given their lives so that we can have the life that we have now.”

could hold a tune and had spent enough stupid time around me to hear this stupid accent,” said Davoren.

“Here’s the best part: Every single person who showed up was from Louisiana, baby This was Louisiana pride on full display — musicians, singers, dancers, artists.

“When it came to releasing the movie, none of their names were on the credits. My wife and daughter, who did the dancing scene, weren’t mentioned, and I think that

scene is pretty good. So tonight, we’re gonna address that, and I want them to have their moment on stage.”

Louisiana artist Beth Patterson, who sang in the “Sinners” choir, shared the names of all of the musicians who appeared in the choir on social media:

n Tony Davoren

n Richie Stafford

n Debbie Cornett

n Pete Dawson

n Julia Dawson

n Frank Bladen

n Kevin Muggivan

n Ross Muggivan

n Jim Hogg

n James Linden Hogg

n Aaron Svoboda

n Shannon Kelly

n Jennifer Kelly

n Andy Lee

n Robert Ryan

n Eric M. Martin

n Toby Rodriguez

n Brittany Piatz

n Jacob Landry

n Jesse Reaux

n Beth Patterson.

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

New York City Chase is a secured creditor, meaning it will get paid first once the firm’s assets are liquidated. McGlinchey also has more than $10.5 million in unsecured debt. More than half of that debt, some $6.5 million, is owed for office space in high-rise buildings around the country. The firm’s New York City landlord is owed nearly $803,000. Its Cleveland, Ohio, landlord is owed $690,000. Local property owners are owed even more. Mike Wampold, whose II River Mark Centre was home to McGlinchey’s Baton Rouge office, is owed some $942,000. The Pan American Life Center in New Orleans, where the firm was located for more than 15 years, is owed nearly $700,000. Wampold, through his attorney, declined to comment. Other unsecured creditors include 165 McGlinchey employees, who are owed more than $1.5 million in wage claims, and 195 vendors that did business with the firm. Some of those vendors are large, with six-figure claims for computer software agreements and insurance policies. Other are small. A northshore bakery is owed $60,000 for king cakes. A New Orleans florist is owed nearly $800 for floral arrangements.

McGlinchey, through the bankruptcy trustee, will hope to settle some of those debts by collecting on its accounts receivables. The firm has $7.8 million in outstanding accounts that are fewer than 90 days old and $1.6 million that are older than 90 days. Court records show it also has $4 million in “work in progress,” or legal work it was doing at the time of the bankruptcy filing, though it is unclear how it will be able to collect on any of that money because all of the attorneys that worked for the firm have since gone to work at other firms. Other firm assets include $4 million in inventory and more than $1.5 million in cash.

‘Inundated with calls’ The firm had 17 offices in 11 states and employed 300 people, including 150 attorneys, at the time of the filing. Filings suggested the enormity of work involved with unwinding all the cases and relationships entangled in a firm of that size One court pleading, filed March 9, says almost immediately after Babin was appointed as trustee, he was “inundated with emails and phone calls from former McGlinchey attorneys trying to locate the original Last Wills and Testaments (of their clients) that were stored by the debtor.”

“Further, the Debtor has offices filled with client files in multiple locations and in storage that need to be sorted and multiple computer servers and a vast computer network containing client files,” the filing said. The pleading asked Grabill for approval to keep paying several McGlinchey employees to help administer the process, noting that “the former debtor employees have institutional knowledge that is unique and that will help the Trustee to access information quickly and efficiently.”

On Monday, Grabill approved the request on an interim basis, freeing up some of the ﬁrm’s money to keep the employees on the payroll. A hearing to consider the full application is scheduled for next week.

Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@ theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS River Road African American Museum

A picture of Solomon Northup is displayed during the reopening

PHOTO By PAUL KIEU

featured in the 2025

several songs for the film’s

Ray, Tammy ResthavenFuneral Home,11817 JeffersonHighway,at11a.m

Scivicque Jr., Dennis WoodlawnBaptist Church at noon.

Obituaries Blanchard, Louis

Claville Louis Blanchard, Jr., age 79, of Amite passed away on Saturday,March 14,2026, at North Oaks Medical Center in Hammond, Louisiana. Louis was born in New Orleans to Claville Louis "CL" and Antoinette Zuppardo Blanchard on January 29, 1947 Hewas anative of Gentilly and later made his home in Amite, Louisiana. Between 1983 and 2000 he spent part of each year in Telluride,Colorado andinrecentyears also enjoyed time in Milbridge, Maine. He was a1965 graduateof St. Aloysius and was a member of the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union #60. Louis established Blanchard Mechanical Contractors, Inc. in 1982. Louis is survived by his wife of 59 years, Sharon Howard Blanchard; daughter, Michelle Blanchard Deesand husband Brian, Amite, son, Donald Blanchard and wife Keri, Amite, and daughter, Renée Blanchard Carpenter and husband Frederick, Amite;11 grandchildren, Amy Woodard (Trent), Gonzales, Patrick Dees (Jessica), Amite, Daniel Dees (Brianne), Hammond, Danny Edwards Jr., Hammond, Baylor Blanchard, Telluride, CO, Zachary Edwards (Bailey), Hammond, Kaleb Hebert, Colorado Springs, CO, Carter Blanchard, Jackson, MS, Benjamin Dees, Amite, Anna Blanchard, Suwanee, GA, and Sam Blanchard, Fayetteville, AR; 10 great-grandchildren; sister, Mary Lynn Blanchard Crumb, Kenner; 10 nephews and 1niece. He was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Debbie Wild O'Regan; nieces, Hala Hegab and Bonnie Punch; and nephews, Josh Punch and Matthew Dubreuil.Pallbearerswill be Danny Edwards, Jr Baylor Blanchard, Zachary Edwards, Kaleb Hebert, CarterBlanchard, Benjamin Dees and Sam Blanchard. VisitationatMcK-

neely Funeral Home, Amite from5:00 PM until 8:00 PM onTuesday,March17, 2026. AMassofChristian Burial to celebrate hislife willbeheldat11:00AMon Wednesday, March18, 2026atSt. Helena Catholic Church.Services conductedbyFr. Reuben Dykes. Interment Amite Cemetery, Amite, LA.

Browning,PamelaNettles

Pamela NettlesBrown‐ing, born September4, 1950, in BatonRouge Louisiana, passed away peacefully Friday,March 13, surrounded by family. Shewas 75. Pamwas pre‐cededindeath by herpar‐ents,E.C.“Slim”Nettles andLoisSpillmanNettles, andher brother, Stephen C. Nettles. Sheissurvived by herthree daughtersand theirfamilies:Cristy Browning Heck andhus‐band Wallace; NickiBrown‐ingStewart andhusband Robert;and Dara Browning Vandever andhusband Jimmy. Pamwas aproud grandmothertoOrrin Fontenot Sr.(Gabriel),Tyler Fontenot (Bridget),Chase Christiansen (Laura Catherine),Tripp Heck (Rachel),Ethan Charlson (Camron),and Owen Charl‐son. Shewas also blessed with eightgreat-grandchil‐dren.Pam lovedthe out‐doorsand especially cher‐ishedtime fishingand beingatthe familycamp on GraveyardIsland, a placeshe considered par‐adise. Knownfor her strong will,sharp opinions and fierce love forher fam‐ily, Pamwas deeply protec‐tive of thepeopleshe loved. Afterraising her daughters, Pambuilt an impressive professional career in themedical mal‐practice field, ultimately becoming aco-ownerofa medicalmalpractice insur‐ance company in Florida knownfor itsinnovative underwriting of physicians Hersuccess in business re‐flectedher determination andresilience.After the companywas sold,she re‐tiredand returned home to Louisianatocarefor her mother.Pam livedlifewith strength,independence, anda deep devotion to her family. Shewillberemem‐beredfor hertenacity, her candid spirit,and thelast‐ingimpactshe hadon thosewho knew andloved her. Services will be Tues‐day, March17at Greenoaks FuneralHome. Visitation will be from 8:30 a.m. until serviceat10:30 a.m. Burial at Greenoaks will be immediatelyfollow‐ingservice.Pallbearers will be OrrinFontenot, Tyler Fontenot,Ethan Charlson Owen Charlson,Chase Christiansen andTripp Heck.The familywould like to give thanks to Pam’s caregivers andfriends,Pat Jones, Janice Washington andCharles Floyd.

Hebert,Daniel Louis

Daniel LouisHebert, 88 yearsold,beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend, was called to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on March 14, 2026. He entered this world on March 27, 1937, in Krotz Springs, LA.Daniel honorably served his countryin theUnitedStatesArmy. He was alife-long Catholic who lovedJesus with his wholeheart.Hewas known for his deep devotion to his family and his faith. He had acareer as a police officerfor theCityof Baton Rouge.Healso was amember of St Alphonsus Liguori CatholicChurch, Central Louisiana, where he was very involvedin "The Men'sClub"

Daniel is survived by his loving wife of 65 years, DorothyFontenotHebert; son, Deacon RonaldHebert (Sandra); daughters, Denise Hebert and Shelly Hebert Burns (Henry); 4 grandchildren; 3greatgrandchildren; and ahost of niecesand nephews. Daniel is precededin death by his mother, Gladys ArdoinHebert; father, Daniel Hebert; and son, Mark AllenHebert. Relatives and friends are invitedtojointhe family forthe visitation at Baker Funeral Home,6401 Groom Road,Baker, LA,on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, from5:00 PM until 8:00 PM The visitationwillcontinue at Baker Funeral Home, on Wednesday,March 18, 2026, from9:00 AM until theFuneral Service at 11:00 AM, officiated by Deacon Ronald Hebert. The graveside servicewith military honors and burial willfollowatHillcrest Memorial Gardens, in Baker, Louisiana.

SarahBurton Landry, born September 18, 1948, in BatonRouge,Louisiana, passed away peacefully on Friday, March 13, 2026, surrounded by her loving family. She was precededin death by her belovedhusband, GordonPatrick"Pat" Landry; herparents, Robert Wilson Burton Sr and Elizabeth Babin Burton; and her siblings, John David "JD" Burton, James LeoBurton, Mary Burton Smith,RobertBurton Jr., and Margaret Burton Whit-

tington. Sarah is survived by her children, Tracy Landry Crow (Michael) and James Patrick "Bubba" Landry; hersister, Katherine Burton Higgins; her cherished grandchildren, Brenton Crow, Riker Crow, and James Case Landry; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was adevoted mother, wife, sister, grandmother, aunt,and friend whose love and kindness touched everyone who knew her. Familymeant theworld to her. Adevout Catholicwitha servant's heart,Sarah dedicated twenty-five years of faithful service as secretary at St.Gerard MajellaCatholic Church and as bookkeeper forthe Redemptorist Fathers. She willberemembered by many for her cheerful spirit and willingness to help others. Sarah was also well known for her deliciouscooking—especially her famous mini loaves of pumpkinbread that she lovingly shared with family and friends. She enjoyed spending time with her children and grandchildren, going antiqueshopping, and playing Pokeno with her sister and friends,moments that brought hergreat joyand laughter. Amemorial service celebrating Sarah's exceptional life willbeheld March 18, 2026, at 10:00 AM, withMass at noonat St.Gerard MajellaCatholic Church in Baton Rouge, followedbyburial at GreenoaksFuneral Home and Memorial Park with reception at Greenoaks Life CelebrationReception Center. We inviteall who knew and lovedSarah to join us in honoring her memory. Pallbearerswillbe James "Bubba" Landry, Mike Crow, TippyLandry James Burton, Randy Burton, and Kevin Bodin. Honorarypallbearers are BrentonCrow, Riker Crow, and James Case Landry. Sarah's life was one of faith, love,and service and she will be deeply missed by allwho were blessed to knowher. In lieu of flowers,donations may be madetoSt. Vincent de Paul.Please visitwww.greenoaksfuner alhome.com to leavecondolences to thefamily

Stanley JosephQuave, of Hammond,Louisiana, passed away peacefully on Wednesday,March 11, 2026, at theage of 78 at University Medical Center He tookhis last breath in thearms of his loving wife of 53 years, Betty Gayle McLaughlin Quave; and

daughter, Jaime Charlene Quave. Born in Bogalusa, Louisiana on January 18, 1948, son of the lateJohn Horace Quaveand Anna MaeMcCraneyQuave. Stanley grew up in Covington,Louisiana playing basketball andbilliards. He proudlyansweredthe call to serve hiscountryinthe United States Army during theVietnam War.His braveryincombat earnedhim several medals including thePurpleHeart,the Army Commendation Medal, the NationalDefense Service Medal, theVietnam Campaign Medal, theVietnam Service Medaland the Louisiana Veterans Honor Medalfor hisbravery and dedication.After hisservice in thewar, he returned home wherehemet andmarriedhis loving wife, Gayle. They relocated to Hammond,Louisiana wherehewas employed for 24 years with theUnited States Postal Service Stanley is survived by brothers, Louis Quave (June),James "Bubbie" Quave, andSydneyQuave Galloway; nieces and nephews, Jeff Quave (Melinda), Michael Quave, Todd Quave, ChristiBrugier,TraceyFitzmorris, Shawn Fitzmorris, Todd Gennardo, Samantha Hall andSavannahHall;extendedfamily, Mikhael Deliberto &family, James Lewis& family, AndreiCiolacu(Lidia), Vitalie Guminic (Simona), Sergiu Sirghi (Nidia), SorinGolubas (Irina), Oleg Balaban (Rodica), Constantine Cernean(Natalia) andIon Melestean. In addition to hisparents, Stanleywas preceded in death by his sister,DianneFitzmorris (Abe); brother, John HoraceQuaveJr. (Ramona); mother-in-law, BerthaLee McLaughlin (Elwood);and nephew,ChadGennardo (Jaime). Familyand friends will be received at Harry McKneely &Son Funeral Home, 2000 N. Morrison Blvd,Hammond,Louisiana 70401, on Thursday, March 19th from 3pm -5pm. Afuneralservice withmilitary honorswillbeginat5pm. In lieu of flowers, donationsmay be made in Stanley'smemory to thefollowingfoundations: Dementia SocietyofAmerica, National Kidney Foundation, American Parkinson Disease Foundation,Disabled American Veterans (DAV) or Veterans of Foreign Wars(VFW). The familyexpresses eternalgratitude for thecompassionate care providedbyDr. John Simone andJennifer Roche NP with Northlake Nephrology Institute Covington LA, thephysicians, nurses andsupport staff at Lakeview Regional Medical Center Mandeville,LAand University Medical Center NewOrleans,LA. Arrangements have been entrusted to Harry McKneely & SonFuneral Home andCrematoryofHammond and Ponchatoula.Anon-line guest book is availableat www.harrymckneely.com.

Mary AshySpera of Baton Rouge passedawayon April 12, 2026, at theage of 107. Shewas truly "one of akind",known for her abidinglove of family, attention to detail,and her years of wisdom.She hada deep faithand was amemberofSt. Joseph Cathedral Shewas preceded in death by herhusband, Joseph John Spera; herparents, Edward and Catherine Ashy; twosons, Edward and Charles Spera; and twodaughters-in-law, Holly Speraand BobbieSpera Sheissurvivedbyfive grandchildren: Patrick Speraand wife Eva, Edward Spera, Jr.and wife Linda, all of Texas, Melissa Guilloryand husband John of California, AshleySpera, andNatalieMiller,both of Baton Rouge.She is also survived by seven greatgrandchildren: Patrick, Jr Alex,Brett, Edward III, Annabelle,Harrison, and Charles; as well as hersister, Pearl DileoofNew Orleans. Thefamilywould like to say aspecial thanks to Sharon Johnsonand Edward Taylor for all of their help.Inlieuofflowers,donations may be made to Alzheimer'sServicesofthe Capital Area,3772 North Blvd,Baton Rouge,LA. Visitation willbeonWednesday, March18, 2026, at St Joseph Cathedral,401 Main St,from9:00 am until FuneralMass at 10:00 am. Committal willfollow at Greenoaks Memorial Park Mausoleum. To leavea condolence for theFamily, please visit www.rabenhorst.com

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Landry, Sarah Burton

Quave, Stanley Joseph

The separation of the powers of government branches is afoundational American ideal. So is respect for the willofthe people

That’swhy we are troubled bya newproposal currently pending before theLouisianaLegislature. Senate Bill 123, sponsored by state Sen Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, is aconstitutional amendment that, if approved byvoters, would hand theexecutive branch the ability to suspend or remove elected judgesand district attorneys if two-thirds of senators agree.

Like many bills, this onedeﬁes easy narratives. The impetus for the bill —public frustration over incompetence and lackofaccountability within the state’scriminal justicesystem —isjustiﬁed.

Recently,those issues were thrown into sharp relief by former LouisianaSupremeCourt Justice Chet Traylor,who resignedfromthe Louisiana Judiciary Commission,the body that investigates complaints against judges andrecommends discipline to the SupremeCourt.

“Judgesneed to be aboveboard andaccountable as their actions determine theway our citizensviewour government,” Traylor wrote in aletter to Gov.Jeff Landry announcing his resignation. He also said some judgesare “incompetent or so arrogantthat they thinkthey are above the law.”

Traylor’sfrustration, coming as it does from acourt insider,isnoteworthy. In manycases, conﬁdentiality rules prohibit judges fromcommenting on cases,and thetight judicial fraternity has often closed ranksaround its ownwhen problems arise

But the mechanism that would be created by SB123 is ﬂawed. The billsays judges could be removed for “malfeasance, gross misconduct, or incompetence.” The trick,ofcourse,will be in the deﬁnition of those terms, whichMorris haspromisedtoprovideina companionbill.

We feel leaving that up to the executive branch is abad idea and risksundermining the very principle of the separation of powers. Critics have noted, rightly,that thiscould have the effect of making judges susceptible to the political whims inthe state Capitol,atroubling arrangement for those taskedwithimpartially interpreting the law

We are similarlytroubled bythe suggestion that this power should extend to district attorneys. It is perhaps no surprise that this suggestion comes at atime when Republicans in Baton Rougehavefeudedwith theDemocratic district attorney in New Orleans over what they seeas his excessive leniency Prosecutorial discretion is asacred power entrustedto district attorneys by the voters; to make that subjecttothe leaningsofthe state’s chief executive and lawmakersinBaton Rouge is adangerous precedent.

So while we recognizethe realityofthe problems addressed by Morris’ bill, we cannot get behind it. Increasing transparency and accountabilitywithinthe justicesystemisa worthy aim;makingitsubject to more politicsisnot the waytodo 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

Whether we votereally does matter.From thebeginning of American history,Americans have disagreed on government,always will. Through our votes, we speak our beliefs.

When in ofﬁce, thewinners logically votethe policies they were elected on. Citizens have to wait until thenext election if we want change. The next election is soon.

On May 16, registered voters can cast their votes in closed primaries for theCongressional house and senate. Not registered? Visit theSecretary of State’swebsite for details. Then register.Then votethe primary,the runoff if necessary and the general election. All matter Can’tgoonElection Day? There are manydays of early voting.

In these Congressional races, many are voicing strong support for the president’s policies. Their voting records and statementsprove their loyalty.Ifthe president’s transformation of America, what you are seeing now,iswhat you want,then choose one of these and vote, knowing your candidatewill do what the president wants.

The last timethe federal government was free of debt was during the administration of AndrewJackson. If you have forgotten your American history,that was 1835. The federal debt is currently largerthan thegross annual product of all goods and services in the country Debt serviceisone of the largest items in the federal budget. And we’re

In Louisiana, courts have cleared the way for the TenCommandments to be displayed in public schools. At the sametime, manywho champion these displays publicly celebratewar,retaliation, and the suffering of immigrants and foreign neighbors. AndIcannot help but ask: What message are we sending our children? The TenCommandments are not décor.They are amirror They call us to revere God, honor life, tell thetruthand restrain violence. They call us to humilityand accountability

What if you disapprove of what you are seeing now? What if you have concerns about:

n Theeffect of tariffs on prices and small businesses.

n The aggressive tactics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of HomelandSecurity

n The removal of regulations— consumer and banking (remember 2008?) and environmental.

n The effect of collateral destruction on civilians and infrastructure in countries hit by air strikes.

n The government’spriorities/expenditures using funds raised by taxes and tariffs

n The shift in the balanceinour constitutional government.

n ThelackofcooperationinCongress. Youtoo get to choose and vote for one who may voice someofyour same concerns, one who may inspire conﬁdence and trust.That’sdemocracy.Do your research and listen to what each candidate says and does. Then go to thepolls. Please.

ANN GONZALES Baton Rouge

just paying interest

The principal keeps getting larger becausethe government continues to run adeﬁcit.Cutting taxes is good politics but bad policy.And warisexpensive Very expensive. We need peace, prosperity,and higher taxes. Iwould vote for that.

SANFORD W. WOOD Eunice

Yetwhat does it mean to post “Thou shalt not kill” in aclassroom while cheering death on anewsfeed?

What does it mean to command children to honor God while modeling contempt for those wholook, vote, or live differently? Faith was never meant to be weaponized. It was meanttobeembodied. Jesus did not teach us to celebrate thedefeat of enemies. He taught us to love our neighbors, and even our enemies.

CYNTHIA

YOUNG Baton Rouge

Another Republican making stuff up. I’ll have to challenge Duke Truby, whoclaimsinhis Feb. 26 letter that the great majority (75-80%) of this newspaper’sreaders are conservatives or Republicans. Huh? In fact, print reach in NewOrleans is more than 500,000, while in Baton Rouge/ Lafayette, it’sabout 315,000. Orleans Parish is aDemocratic stronghold so it is unlikely that its two-thirds of total readers tend to agree with Truby But that’snot the point. He wants to see only letters that agree with his party.Hehas plenty sources for that. The newspaper,like all media, is entitled to its editorial opinions. I ﬁnd the letters afair mix, including manythat are Truby-style. That’s ﬁne until they start just making stuff up because they want it to be true. FAYE LIEDER NewOrleans

After 1975, there wasanextensive academic effort by manydifferent American institutions to try and accurately understand what the hell went wrong with America’sinvolvementinthe civil warinVietnam-at the cost of 58,000 lost young American lives. And it looked like those lessons wereactually learned until 2003 when President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney launched the “Take Down Saddam military campaign/war Iguess 1975 to 2003 avoiding repeat mistakes is successful in today’slight-speed world. But now, 2026, after ridiculing the Bush/ Cheney war,President Donald Trumphas ordered an ill-advised operation/war against Iran in the hopes of ending up with anew regimethat doesn’tshout, “Death to America.” The history of the prior twoforeign misadventures did not end wellfor America. Iwouldn’texpect this current one to do so either ALEXCHAPMAN Ville Platte

As Donald Trump’sRepublicans look askance as he launches what looks to some like another long-term warin theMiddle East, and as the anti-Trump Democratshold up HomelandSecurity funding in what looks to some like prioritizing illegal immigrants over U.S. citizens, oneis tempted to ask, what’s going on with America’s political parties?

Something close to self-harm, you might answer.And yet it is apparent that the U.S. parties, theoldest and third-oldest in the world,are not in as much trouble as manyold parties abroad. In Britain, both Conservatives and Labour are trailing theproimmigration restriction Reform Party in polls. In France, Emmanuel Macron’scentrist allies struggle to form amajority in the NationalAssembly.InGermany, theSocial Democrats are in third place, and the Christian Democratsare hardpressed by the upstart Alternativefor Germany.And so it goes.

One hundred yearsago, in thedisillusionment over the enormousdeath toll of World WarI,parties labeled as liberal, favoring free trade, market capitalism and some welfare state, largely disappeared. Britain’sLiberal Party,governing from 1906 to 1922, fell to thirdplace in 1923, behind nationalist Conservatives and socialist Labour.

Weimar Germany saw rioting communists, assassinations of political moderates, Nazi street gangs, and militarist putsches, culminating in Hitler’s takeoverin1933. Anticlerical parties, founded to limit established churches, fell to Mussolini’s march on Rome in 1922 and as Hitler’sPanzer troops marched into Parisin1940.

America’stwo political parties had greater staying power despite upheavals. Economic upheaval and Woodrow Wilson’sdisability drove Democrats down to 34% in the 1920 presidential election, but withtheir white Southern base and growing strengthamong immigrants, they remainedcompetitive Similarly,the Great Depression, which began in 1929, proved disastrous forRepublicans, who fellto37% in 1936. But with their base amongrural and small-town Northern Protestants, they remained competitive, andafter Franklin Roosevelt was nolonger on theballot, they won seven of thenext 11 presidential elections Today,both parties are under stress. In the 1990s,asbaby boom leaders came to the fore, Democratsstarted

In avideo, Chris Kempczinskisitsin what appears to be aworkplace break room—faux marbletable, nondescript blond-wood cabinets, acoustic tiles on the ceiling. In front of him is thatstaple of breakroom lunches: the McDonald’sburger and fries. Like the room, Kempczinski is tidy and ordinary-looking in aVneck sweater and collaredshirt “I love this product,” he says, tapping the box. His voice holds all the enthusiasm of amidlevel ﬁnance executive describing anew expense-reporting system. “It is so good.”

winningmost presidential elections, andRepublicans started winning most seats in theHouse. In their competition, they converged on issues, as Bill Clinton led Democrats to takesome lessons from Ronald Reagan, and Newt Gingrich and George W. Bush led Republicans to learn some lessons in turn.

In retrospect, theturn of the century was akind of golden age for the parties. Since then, they’ve changed. Democrats havemoved left on cultural issues from abortion to transgender rights, while Republicans under Trump have repudiated Reagan-Bush stands on trade, foreign policy and entitlements Neither is in as much trouble as many traditional European parties. But both are treading on perilous ground.

Trump’strademark issues helped himwin over noncollege grads who neversupported earlier post-1990s Republicansand even made inroads, in 2024 at least, among Hispanics and Black people. Buthis insistence on relitigating the 2020 election cost Republicans Senate majorities for four years, and hisinsistence on imposing, on shakylegal bases, inﬂation-stoking tariffs for which there is little popular demand hascost his partycrucial support.

Democrats have problems of their own.Theirpartyhas always been a collection of outgroups, which at its strongest form anational majority but which can become weighted down by the unpopularity of stands insisted on by representatives of what journalists call “thegroups.” So manyoftheir politicianssee nochoice but to takeunpop-

ular and irresponsible stands such as “defund thepolice” and “abolish ICE.”

Many Democratshope to avoid damaging cultural issues by promising economic beneﬁts. Butthe problem there is that the United States already has agenerous welfare state and aprogressive tax system that extracts more from therich and less from the less afﬂuent than Europe does.

AndasPhil Grammand two economistcolleagues have pointed out, government transfer programs provide enough economic beneﬁts that there is little economic difference between the lowest 20% of earners and the middle 20%. The default political strategy is to provide “healthcare” —actually, moregenerous health insurance. But as we’ve seen, most voters don’twant to losetheir present arrangements— they opposed Obamacare when Barack Obama was in ofﬁce and opposed Obamacarerepeal when Republicans were —and they’re skepticalofpromised improvements.

Politicalparties on perilous ground ‘Epicfail’ becomesamarketing

Things may seem bleak today,with one party,inthe words of talk radio host Erick Erickson, hostage “toone man’s ego,” the other “to abunch of bat-crap crazy progressives.” But compared to acentury ago, when European countries were reeling from the slaughter of and disillusionment after what was then called the Great War, our political parties and the electoral democracies they seek tomanage are in perilous but not deadly shape. Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

Lessonsfrom30years of prosecutions

Evenlongarms get tired. When that happens, it might be time to letgo. That’sthe place longtime 21st JudicialDistrictAttorney ScottPerrilloux finds himself: Threedecades serving as the topprosecutor in Livingston, Tangipahoa and St. Helena parishesare enough. Perrilloux, 63, will leave office in January,capping an extraordinary career leading prosecutions in threeparishesthat run from urbantorural, swampy lowlands to pineywoods, rich to poor.Heand those under his charge have prosecuted everything from the most heinous of murders to the most mundane of traffic violations.

He’s seen it all.

Last week, Iwrote about Chad Scott, aformer DEA agentwho is nowinfederal prison. Perhaps unsurprisingly forsomeonewho is incarcerated, Scottviews the justicesystem, speciﬁcally the federal part of it, as “broken.” Perrilloux is notsopessimistic. He remains abelieverinthe system, if abit jaded about what it can do andwhatitcannot. He hasseen plenty of changes,plural. But real change, singular? That’smoreelusive. First, what’sdifferent? The obvious answeristechnology In his threedecades,Perrilloux hasseen emailgofrom a newtool to ubiquitous communication. Cellphones have gone from novelty to necessity.Social media is a keyelement of everyinvestigation. Collecting andanalyzing DNA evidence is now routine. Court recordsystems have been digitizedand consolidated.

Cameras arenow everywhere: on buildings, trafﬁc lights, doorbells and police uniforms. Each of these advances has been, in its own way,good for law enforcement and prosecutors. They’ve created new lines of evidence andinvestigationtechniques that have made catching andbuilding cases against criminals betterand more precise. They’re notcheap,of course,and Perrilloux hashad to demonstrate some ﬁnancialcreativity to payfor them, but overall, they’re good things. But when it comes to making areal difference, that’sa harderquestion.

“I don’tknowthat it’schanged awhole lot,” Perrilloux said of the job’sbiggerchallenges. His second-ﬂoorofﬁce in the Tangipahoa Parish Courthouse overlooks the small city of Amite,where the issuesthat drive crime— addiction, poverty andalack of education— persist.

“In ’97, it wasprobably the same as it wasin ’67, youknow, andprobably the same as it was in ’37,” Perrilloux said.

After some preliminarydescription of his lunch, he proclaims“the moment of truth” and takes asingle,dainty bite Actually,Kempczinski is the chief executive of McDonald’s, andthe video, posted on his LinkedIn account last month, announced the introduction of the Big Arch to America. After test runs in Europe, the Big Arch was ready for the Big Show So, apparently,was Kempczinski, who went viral for his half-hearted taste of the burger.Reviews of his performance were, we might say, somewhat mixed. Many were downright savage. A pithy summation of the reaction,from the comments to the originalpost: “Yo that wasn’tevenabite.” Or, as another commenter put it,“cringe.” There were reaction videos, spoofs and AIgenerated “outtakes” —followed by reviews of the burger and think pieces on the aesthetics of food inﬂuencing. Wendy’sand Burger King got intothe act, posting videos where executives tucked into their own productswith somewhat more noticeable enthusiasm. Epic fail, one might think.But inthe new attention economy,it counts as a

rousing success. America once had three major burger chains, three major television networks anda massculture where those thingsformed acommon currency.Toaﬁrst approximation, everyone ate at McDonald’sat least occasionally —and everyone was familiar with dozens of ad campaigns, often for products they didn’tbuy.Even middle-schoolers and Mormons could identify Joe Camel and make “great taste, less ﬁlling” jokes. Possibly themost famous Budweiser ad of all —atributeto9/11 —ran only once.

Twentieth century advertising wielded tremendous cultural influence, so much so that acottage industry of paranoidthrillers and panicky nonfiction arose on thepremisethat advertisingwas akind of mind control. This was nonsense, of course —mostly Ads introducedustonew productsor features and perhaps influenced which brands we bought.But those authors couldbeforgiven for thinking it was much more than that, given theamount of money spent on ads and the way advertising permeated not just our television shows but therest of our daily lives. That influence was achieved via ceaseless repetition. The ads would air during multiple commercial breaks, night after night,and if successful, spawn late-night jokes, movie moments and parodies. Even when the television was off, people hummed jingles, cracked jokes and turnedlines from commercials into catchphrases. Now late-night shows are on life support,and therest of television has split into millions of individualizedstreams.

Youcan’tjoke about an ad you’ve seen because what’s thechance your audience saw it, too? Americansincreasingly lack acommon frame of reference. How,then, do you get anew product noticed? Youcan pay inﬂuencers or podcasters totout it. Or you can become an inﬂuencer yourself, as Kempczinski did, against all odds.

Sure, we were laughing at him.But every reaction video or parody drove homethe message that McDonald’shas abig new burger on the market, amessage I’d never have heard if Ihadn’t seen so manypeople making fun of the CEO. Iwould have eaten aBig Arch for dinner tonight— for research purposes, of course —ifmycolumn-writing duties hadn’tchained me to my desk. Such viral moments aremarketing gold and at abargain price —however much McDonald’sspent making that video, it probably only amounted to afraction of the cost of producing a traditional ad, much less of blasting it into our consciousness in aprime-time loop. Corporate America’sproblem is that such moments are wildly unpredictable. If you want brand awareness on the cheap, you are dependent on the kindness (or morelikely,unkindness) of strangers.

The problem for therest of us, meanwhile, is the void where our common culture used to be. Sure, it was sad and crass that so much of common culture rested on people trying to sell us things. Undoubtedly,itwould have been much better if we’d all been hummingBeethoven’sFifth instead of “I’d like to buy theworld aCoke.” Butatleast we were all making music together MeganMcArdle is on X, @asymmetricinfo.

None of the technological changes, the extra evidence, the DNA, the cameras or anything else have done much to address those root causes. Nor have tough-on-crime policiesor criminaljusticereform,which, he notes, tend to run in cyclical patterns based on whether people aremoreworked up about crimeorthe high costofgovernment.

That’snot to saythere are no bright spots. The proliferation of drug courts, including in Perrilloux’sdistrict, has helped. But drug problems remain severe amid the failures of a 40-year-old “warondrugs.”

He also points to the social changesdriving improvements to howlaw enforcement polices minorities, including an emphasis on deescalation. He notes, however,thathis district, where allthe judgesrun at-large, has never elected aBlack judge despite asizable Black population.

Perrilloux’sreﬂectionunderscores oneofthe tensions of being an elected districtattorney. On the campaign trail, prosecutors promise to be tough but fair,toworktokeep communitiessafe.

But theyreally have very little powertoaffect these sorts of changes. They don’tpass laws; theydon’t run social programs. Local districtattorneys in Louisiana run on areferralsystem, whichmeans cases come to them afterthey’ve already been handed by law enforcement.

“We’re notnecessarily in aﬁxing business,” Perrilloux said. “A lotofthe time, we’re in ‘just going to clean up the mess’ business.” And there arealways plenty of messes to clean up.

Email Faimon A. Roberts III at froberts@ theadvocate.com.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARK SCHIEFELBEIN

President Donald Trumpspeaks to reporters before he boards Air Force Onelast week at Joint Base Andrews, Md. Faimon Roberts

Perrilloux

ega McArdle M n

Michael Barone

Lace ’emup, folks

Thepizza delivery guy has been generously tipped to “fast break” a large supreme to your frontdoor.Your favorite sports-watchingbeverage (I make no judgments) is properlychilled

ä Jacksonville at LSU, 5P.M. FRIDAy,ESPN

And you’ve ﬁnagled your company’s AI search engine to help you craft awinning bracket. Hopefully after the NCAA tournaments, those skills can help you ﬁnd another job. But what do you care about that now? March Madness is upon us, from the First Four starting Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio, to the Women’sFinalFour in Phoenix and the men’sinIndianapolis

So, forget about work, sleep, and healthy eating. You’ve got49weeksof the year for that. These are the best three weeks of the sports year,and it’s time forMarch Madness from AtoZ:

A is for the women’stournament all-nameteam:Azzi Fudd, UConn (no relation to Elmer); Cearah Parchment, Illinois; Snudda Collins, TexasTech (from Brookhaven, Mississippi,she will playatthe PMAC at 7:30 p.m. Friday

against Villanova); Rusne Augustinaite, Clemson; Fadima Tall, Princeton (she’s 6-foot-1, so you decide). Themen’s team comeslater in ourshow.

B is for ESPN’s JayBilas,who picks Arizona to beat Michigan State for the men’stitle

C is for Charleston,the only NCAA women’s tournament ﬁrst-timer, led by the Barbot twins, Taryn andTaylor.The Cougars are a30-pointunderdog to Duke but they’re in

D is for the schools double-dipping in both tournaments, 29 in all, including TexasTech andVillanova

E is for EliteEight,the only round of the NCAATournament where LSU coach Kim Mulkey doesn’t have awinning record (5-8). Still, that’sTHIRTEEN trips to the regional ﬁnal. By the way,

she’s22-0inNCAAﬁrst-rounders at LSU andBaylor.

F is for Flau’jaeJohnson,LSU’srapping, Euro-stepping, jump-shot draining leader.The seniorguard started her career with an NCAA title. Can she ﬁnish it the same way?

G is for Baton Rouge’s MarkGrant,who blewout his kneeinlate Decemberbut is againﬁtfor hisfourth year as lead director for the entire NCAA Tournament. He can alsoﬁnd TruTV on your cable or satellite lineup in asnap.

H is for the IndianaHoosiers.Fifty years ago they beat Alabama and Marquette in the 1976 NCAA Mideast Regionalatthe Pete Maravich Assembly Center and went on to ﬁnish 32-0, still the last undefeated men’steam

I is for IanEagle,who took over the FinalFour mic in 2024 from Jim NantzFour.We’ll hear Jim’s“Hello, friends” at The Masters,though.

J is for Southern’s JocelynTate.She scored with1.2 seconds left to beat Alabama State for the SWAC title, putting the Jaguars in back-to-back

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

Grambling at LSU, 6:30 P.M.TUESDAy,SECN+

It’salmost time for Lane Kiffin’sfirst spring practice at LSU LSU hits the field again March 24, the first of 15 spring practices over the next month. It’llbethe first time Kiffin leads the team through practice after he left Ole Miss, making this acritical period as the Tigers try to contend for aspot in the CollegeFootball Playoff during his debut season. In these practices, Kiffin and his staff have to mesh with arosterthatthey overhauled in ashort periodoftime, especially on offense. While afew players followed him from Ole Miss, most of the 43 transfers have never played for these coaches. Kiffin will have to get everyone on the same page in ahurry, something he has experience with from histransfer-heavyapproach at OleMiss. Let’slook at the most important questions that Kiffinand his staffwill have to answer once the Tigers get on the practice field again.

When will Leavittbecleared?

When lastweheardfromKifﬁn,he said newLSU quarterback SamLeavitt would throw in certain situations this spring, but he “probably” would not take part in full-team drills. Leavitt is still working his way back from surgery after he suffered afoot injury last season at Arizona State. Even though he won’tbefull-go in the spring, his recovery timeline is one of the most important questions of the offseason.

WhowillstepupatQB?

Kiffinhas work cutout to mold overhauled Tigers

Biggestkeyswhen spring practice starts next week

BY WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer

It’s almosttimefor LaneKiffin’s first spring practice at LSU. LSU hits the field again March 24, the first of 15 spring practices over the next month. It’ll be the first time Kiffin leads the team through practice after he leftOle Miss, making this acritical period as the Tigers try to contend for a spot in the College Football Playoff during his debut season. In these practices,Kiffin and his staff have to mesh with a roster that they overhauledina

short period of time, especially on offense. While afew players followed him from Ole Miss, most of the43transfers have never played for these coaches. Kifﬁn will have to get everyone on the same page in ahurry,something he has experience with from his transfer-heavy approach at Ole Miss.

Let’slook at the most important questionsthatKifﬁn andhis staff will have to answer once the Tigers getonthe practiceﬁeld again

When will Leavittbecleared?

When last we heardfromKifﬁn, he said newLSU quarterback SamLeavitt would throw in certain situations this spring, but he “probably” wouldnot take part in fullteam drills. Leavitt is still working his way back from surgery after he suffered afoot injury last sea-

son at ArizonaState. Even though he won’t be full-go in the spring, hisrecoverytimelineisone of the mostimportantquestions of the offseason

WhowillstepupatQB?

In the meantime, LSU will evaluateSouthern California transfer Husan Longstreet andElon transfer Landen Clark. This serves two purposes: the coaching staff will be able to get asense of their potential, and one of them should leave the spring as theprojected backup quarterback.It’snot an ideal situation for the upcoming season that Leavittislimited, but perhaps it helps LSU planfor thefuture WhichWRwillemerge?

Other than quarterback, no

ä See SPRING, page 3C

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU coach KimMulkeylistens to guardFlau’Jae Johnson in the fourth quarter against South Carolina on Feb. 14 at thePete Maravich Assembly Center.The Tigers open playinthe NCAA Tournament on Friday against Jacksonville

STAFF FILE PHOTOByHILARy SCHEINUK

LSU coach Lane Kiffinwill lead his team into spring practicenext Tuesday for the first of 15 practices.

Casan Evans LSU Baseball, Pitcher

7p.m.

3:45 p.m. Spain vs. U.S. TNT MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

5p.m. NIT: Liberty at GeorgeMason ESPN2

5:40 p.m. NCAA: UMBC vs.HowardTRUTV

6p.m.NIT: Wyoming at WichitaSt. ESPNU

7p.m. NIT: Davidson at Oklahoma StESPN2

8p.m. NIT: Stephen F.Austin at Tulsa ESPNU

8:15 p.m. NCAA: Texas vs. NCStateTRUTV

9p.m. NIT: South Alabama at AuburnESPN2

10 p.m. NIT: UNLV at UC IrvineESPNU

WOMEN’S COLLEGE LACROSSE

3:30 p.m. yale at Syracuse ESPNU COLLEGESOFTBALL

11 a.m.Cent.Arkansas at Arkansas SECN

5p.m. UNC-Wilmington at DukeACCN GOLF

5:30 p.m. Los Angeles vs.Atlanta ESPN

8p.m. Jupiter Links vs. Boston ESPN MLB SPRING TRAINING

noon St. Louisvs.Washington MLBN

3p.m. San Diegovs. Seattle MLBN NBA

7p.m. Cleveland at MilwaukeeNBC

9p.m. PhiladelphiaatDenverNBC NHL

6:30 p.m.Minnesota at ChicagoTNT

9p.m.Tampa BayatSeattle TNT MEN’S SOCCER

12:45 p.m.Bodø/Glimt at Sporting CP CBSSN

2:45 p.m.Wrexham FC at Watford CBSSN

6p.m.Portland at Vermont CBSSN

8p.m.Los Angeles FC at Alajuelense FS1

10 p.m.Monterrey at Cruz Azul FS1

WOMEN’S SOCCER

10:50 a.m.Mexico vs. Jamaica FS2

1:20 p.m.U.S.vs. BermudaFS2

3:50 p.m.Canada vs. Nicaragua FS2 TENNIS

10 a.m. Miami-WTA/ATP TENNIS

Skenes shines in theWBC spotlight

Former LSUpitcher dominated in theU.S. 2-1victory over the DominicanRepublic

BY RONALD BLUM AP baseball writer

MIAMI Paul Skenes pitched with poise through pressure, dispatching aseriesofstars on a night of great stakes in asold-out stadium with millions watching on TV

This was the type of game he never sees with the Pittsburgh Pirates and he may not experience on aregular basis until 2030.

The former LSU star dominatedthe DominicanRepublic’slineup of All-Stars for 41/3 inningsinthe America’s2-1 semiﬁnal victory Sunday night, allowing his only run when Junior Caminero hit ago-ahead home run in the second on a1-2 sweeper at the top of thestrike zone.

“The D.R. is the toughest lineup I’ve ever faced, for sure,” Skenes said.

The NL Cy Young Awardwinner last year in his ﬁrst full seasonatage 23,Skenes mixedsix pitches among 71 offerings that included afastball averaging 97.6 mph. He allowed six hits and ﬁnished the tournament 2-0 with a1.08 ERA and a.226 opponents batting average

“You can make the argument he’sthe best pitcher in the game,” U.S. managerMark DeRosa said. “Specialpresence, special man, wants the moment, wasn’ttoo bigfor him.Controls his emotions, makes pitches.”

Skenes retired his ﬁrst ﬁve batters before Caminero homered, then hit Geraldo Perdomo with a pitch and allowed Ketel Marte’s single in the third, when right fielder Aaron Judgethrew a 95.7 mph strike to third, cutting down Fernandez Tatis Jr.for the

inning’sﬁnalout “A moment like that where I canthrowaguy outand help out

Paul Skenes, who is electric as he is, Iwas excited about that,”

Judge said Skenes strandedthe bases loaded in the fourth when Austin Wells ﬂied out.Hehad been giventhe lead when Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony homeredinthe top half.

“He’svery smart. He likes playing withthe mind of the hitters,” saidJuanSoto, who went 0for 2against Skenes. “Wehave to thinkalot when we face him. That’s why Ithink he’ssospecial.”

Skenes hasa 1.96 ERA in 55 ca-

reer starts,striking out386 while walking 74 in 320 2/3 innings. The 6-foot-6 right-hander has not come closetothe playoffs on Pirates teams that ﬁnished76-86 in 2024 and71-91 last year Pittsburgh enters this season with seven straight losing records and 27 in 30 years that includeda record20ina row from 1993 to 2012. The Pirates haven’t reached the World Series since winning the1979 title Skenesisontrack to be eligible forfreeagencyafterthe 2029 season,havingearned extra major league service time by ﬁnishing among the top two in voting forthe 2024 NL Rookie of theYearaward, whichhewon

Thatprovision was added to the collective bargainingagreement in 2022. If he stays healthy and keeps pitching likethe way he has been,helikely would command arecord contract forapitcher Giventhe Pirates lack the revenue of large-market teams, they could considertrading him for prospects before he reaches freeagency Skenes tends to not look too far ahead. He marveled at the Dominicans’ batting order that includedeight All-Stars combining for27selections. “Before and after,”hesaid, “but can’tget toocaught up on that.”

WBCcrowds‘better than theWorld Series’

BY RONALD BLUM AP baseball writer

MIAMI On anight when AllStars and future Hall of Famers thrilled fans and each other until the ﬁnal out, Aaron Judge proclaimed the World Baseball Classic had grown intothe sport’sbiggest event.

“The WorldSeries Iwas in the crowd here, the crowd we had when we played against Mexico, it’sbigger andbetter than the World Series,”the U.S captain said after a2-1 semifinal win over the Dominican Republic that came down to Sunday night’sfinal pitch. “The passion that these fans have, representing their country,representing some of their favorite players, there’snothing like it.” American tradition emphasizing understatement on ateam led by Judge and Bryce Harper was showcased against Latin flair on aside featuring Juan Soto and Vladimir GuerreroJr. When Junior Caminero homered against Paul Skenes to put the Dominicans aheadinthe second inning, he celebrated with an overhand bat flip. In the sixth tournament of an event that started in 2006, the game featured starting lineups featuring 17 All-Stars totaling 56 selections among the20starters. They had won five MVP awards, one Cy Young, five Rookies of the Year and three batting titles Before acrowd of 36,337 at IoanDepot park, theU.S.overcame the deficit on fourth-inning home runs by Gunnar Henderson off Luis Severinoand Roman Anthony against Gregory Soto.

Anthony,at 21 the youngest American player,had bought aticket for the 2023WBC ﬁnal in Miami and watched from the seatsasJapan beat the U.S. 3-2. “Coming to the WBC here, you dream of representing this country and being herethe next time around,” Anthony said. American relievers allowed twohits over 42/3 scoreless innings, capped by Mason Miller topping100 mph with 13 of 22 pitches. Miller’s last appeared to be low for ball four to Geraldo Perdomobut plateumpireCory Blaser emphatically signaled

strike three.

“Just agame we’ll remember forever,right?” U.S. manager Mark DeRosa said.“We understood thiswas going to be atalked-about game, probably one of the most watched games of all time.” Dynamic defense wascommonplace. With the U.S.trailingbyarun in the third, Judge threw a95.7 mph strike from right field to third base to cut downFernando TatisJr. for the inning’sﬁnal out. Judge then made adivingbackland catchtorob Soto,his former

Alabama’sNo. 2scorer arrested on drug charge

TUSCALOOSA,Ala. Alabamaguard

Aden Holloway was arrested on a felony drug charge Monday, just days before the start of the NCAA Tournament, authorities said. Holloway,21, was arrestedafter agents with theWestAlabama Narcotics Task Force searched aresidence near Alabama’scampus and “recovered more than apound of marijuana, paraphernalia and cash,” Tuscaloosa policespokesperson StephanieTaylor told TheAssociated Press.

“The student has been removed from campus pending further investigation by theUAOffice of Student Conduct,”the school said. Holloway was arrested on afirstdegree charge of marijuana possession, not for personal use, which is a Class Cfelony,and failure to affix a tax stamp.

NBA to vote on adding Las Vegas and Seattle

In asignificant first step, the NBA will hold avote next week to move forward with adding expansionteams in Las Vegasand Seattle, according to ESPN Should 23 of the 30 team governors vote in support of the move, the NBA can focus solely on adding teamsinthose markets and begin the bidding process. There would still be additional steps, but ESPNreports afinal vote could occur later this year whichwould pave the wayfor the new franchises to debut in the 2028-29 season.

The newteams would reportedly be projected to be valued in the $710 billion range.

“I think Seattle and Las Vegas are twoincredible cities,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said.

Michigan player says Kentucky offered $7-9M ANNARBOR,Mich.— YaxelLendeborg hasmademoremoneythan he ever dreamed was possible entering March Madness, allowing him to payhis mother’s bills and buyher anew ride Michigan’s6-foot-9, 240-pound pointforwardwas thetop prospect in the transfer portal last year and Kentucky wasprepared to make him the highest-paid player in college basketball.

“They started the number with $7 to 9(million),” Lendeborgsaid. “They were pretty much going off on the route like we’ll pay him anythingtoget here.”

Instead, he chose to play for Dusty Mayand theWolverines even though theformer UAB star said he would have earned about three times moremoney

Duke men enterNCAA tourneyasNo. 1inAP

Duke is the No. 1seed in the NCAA Tournament and No.1in the ﬁnal AP Top25ofthe regularseason

New York Yankees teammate, in the fourth. Julio Rodríguez denied Judge a home run witha leaping catch at thecenter-ﬁeldwallinthe ﬁfth, 407 feet from theplate.

“I was like, OK,maybe we got a shot here,”Judge recalled. “But hit it to aguy likeJ-Rod, who’s one of thebest if not the best center ﬁelder in the game, he’s going make exciting plays like that in bigmoments.”

Shortstop Bobby Witt ranged to the right field side of the infield to snag Soto’sslowbouncer in the fifth, scrambled to back to touch second base andmade an off-balance throw to firstfor an inning-endingdoubleplay. Oneinning later,Witt threw out MannyMachado at first from the outfield grass. Dominican starterLuisSeverino strandedrunnersatsecond and third in thethird inning when he struckout Judge and Kyle Schwarber,and Skenes escaped abases-loaded jam in the fourth when Austin Wells flied out.

Wells doubled with one out in the seventh and the relatively slow-footed catcher was held at third on Perdomo’ssingle to Crow-Armstrong in center.David Bednar then struck out Tatis Jr.and Ketel Marteonbreaking balls below the strike zone Judge gavea postgame speech to teammates, looking aheadto Tuesday’schampionship against Venezuela or Italy.

“You get chills standing there on the line,hearingthemannounce all the names,” he said. “It was likeanAll-Star team they got over there.”

TheBlue Devils received50 first-place votes from a57-personmediapanel in The Associated Press men’sbasketballpoll releasedMonday, aday after they were named the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. No. 2Arizona received seven first-place votes,with Michigan, Florida andHouston rounding out the top five. The Wolverines, thebettingfavorite to win thenational championship, did not receive afirst-place vote in the poll. The final rankings will be released on April7,aday after thenational championship game.

Diaz returning to MMA in Rousey undercard

LOS ANGELES— Nate Diazwill return to mixed martial artsfor the first time in nearly four years when he fights fellow brawler Mike Perry on the undercard of RondaRousey’s meetingwith Gina Carano. Most Valuable Promotions on Monday announced the latest addition to the Netflix card scheduled for May16atIntuit Domein Inglewood, California. Theboutis scheduled for fiverounds at the 170-pound welterweight limit Diaz,who turns41next month, hasn’tfought in acagesince September 2022, when he choked out Tony Ferguson in his final bout for theUFC. TheCalifornia native is best known for splitting two memorable fights against Conor McGregor adecade agoina rivalry that exponentially boosted both fighters’ star power.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByLyNNE SLADKy

United States pitcher Paul Skenes aimsa pitch during the first inning of aWorld BaseballClassicsemifinal game against theDominican Republic on SundayinMiami.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By LyNNE SLADKy

The United States teamcelebrates after defeating the Dominican Republic at aWorld Baseball Classic semifinal game on Sunday in Miami.

Balanced Pelicans roll past Mavericks

BY LES EAST Contributing writer

The New Orleans Pelicans won their ﬁfth consecutivehome game when they defeated the DallasMavericks 129-111 on Monday night in the Smoothie King Center

The Pelicans (23-46) tied the Mavericks for fourth place in the Southwest Division and 12th place in the Western Conference after winning the seasonseries 3-1. New Orleans is all butmathematically eliminatedfrom play-in tournament contention, but will trytocontinue its recent homecourt successwhenitplays the second game of astretchoffour home games in six days with the front endofa back-to-backset against the Los Angeles Clippers at 7p.m. Wednesday Zion Williamson scored 27 points, Saddiq Bey scored 23, Jeremiah Fears and Trey Murphy had 17 each, Karlo Matkovic had 13 points and 10 rebounds andHerb Jones added 10 points to lead the Pelicans.

Yves Missi started in place of Dejounte Murray (illness) and had10rebounds. Missi tied acareer-high with ﬁveblocked shots and addedﬁve assistsand four points.

Former Pelican Naji Marshall scored 32, No. 1overall draft choice Cooper Flagg scored 21, P.J. WashingtonJr. had18, and

MaxChrisite added 12 to lead the Mavericks,who were completing aback-to-back after 130-120 victory at ClevelandonSunday ThePelicansled by 13 points at halftime and expanded the lead to 81-63 on adunk by Williamson early in thethirdquarter.Khris Middleton made consecutive 3-pointers to get the Mavericks within13before New Orleans pushed thelead to 19 and held a 103-86 cushion at the endofthe third quarter

Dallas trimmed the lead to 12 points twice,but Williamson made abasket, Murphy made afree throw andBey addeda jumperfor a119-102leadwith less than six minutes remaining.

The Mavericks opened a23-13 leadmidwaythroughthe first quarter then went cold.Bey scored all 10 of his ﬁrst-quarter points during a13-0 run that gave thePelicansa three-point lead.

Dwight Powell made afree throw to end the run and Marshall’sfloater endeda nearly four-minute field goal drought for Dallas before Derik Queen’s fadeawaybeatthe buzzer and gave New Orleansa 32-26 lead at theend ofthe ﬁrst quarter

TheMavericks crept within one point earlyinthe second quarter before Fearshad eight pointsand an assistduring an 11-2 run that gave the Pelicans a47-37 lead New Orleansexpanded the lead to 18 pointsontwo occasions and helda67-54 halftime lead.

SPRING

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position underwentmore drastic change. Phillip Wright is the only returning wide receiver,and he recorded one catch as afreshman last season. LSU brought in 12 other receivers, nine of whom aretransfers. Kansas State senior transfer Jayce Brown, Florida junior transferEugeneWilson and Ole Miss sophomore transfer Winston Watkins will likely have signiﬁcantroles becauseoftheir experience and production in a power conference. But others, including Hawaii transfer Jackson Harris and Old Dominion transfer TreBrown, could put themselves in the mix.

RABALAIS

Continued from page1C

women’stourneys forthe ﬁrst time. Southern faces Samford at 6p.m.Thursday in aFirst Four game in Columbia, South Carolina. K is for Kalshi.com,the prediction platform (gambling site) that’soffering —get this —$1billionifsomeone goes 63-0 for aperfect bracket. Your odds, perNCAA.com, are 1in120 billion, but why not take ashot?

L is for the CalBaptistLancers Their 16th-seeded women face UCLA and their 13th-seeded men play Kansas. Let us pray

LSUbatsawaken to beat TexasA&M

Tigers salvagewin in SECseriesvs. Aggies

BY JIM KLEINPETER Contributingwriter

On awindy andcoldMonday night in TigerParka frigid LSU offense ﬁnally warmed up.

The Tigers had eight hits, more than in their previous two games combined, to snag adesperately needed 7-2 victory against Texas A&M to salvage the ﬁnalgameof the series andcollect theirfirst SEC victory

LSU (19-9, 1-5 in SEC play) put the game away with afour-run sixthinning, highlighted by Maci Bergeron’stwo-run single, to back TatumClopton’scomplete game. Clopton allowed one earned run with six strikeouts and ﬁve walks.

“Weneeded it; we reallyneeded it,” LSUcoach Beth Torina said.

“Big performance from Tatum Clopton, big performance from theoffense.

“We’re trending up.Itold them, ‘win one morepitch.’ If we win one more pitch (Sunday),itgoes ourway.They’re continuing to grow and get better.Maybe on

Offensivelinebattles

It’ssafe to saytwo of the spots are locked up with junior left tackle Jordan Seaton and senior center Braelin Moore. Seaton was thetop offensivelineman in the transfer portal when he left Colorado,and Moore returned to LSU instead of entering the NFL draft. One of the guard positions will probably be ﬁlled byAliou Bah, atwo-year starter at Maryland. That leaves two more positions,and LSUcan let the competition play outbetween Ole Miss transfer Devin Harper, Baylor transfer Sean Thompkins, sophomore Weston Davis and others.

Arethe incumbents ready?

It was apriority for LSU to retain running back Harlem Berry

M is for the best men’stournamentnames:Koa Peat, Arizona; Boogie Fland, Florida; Solo Ball, UConn; Thijs De Ridder, Virginia; andBoopie Miller,SMU

N is for NoCinderellas in last year’smen’stournament, as no 13-16 seeds won for the ﬁrst time since 2017. That’sbecause the transfer portal is strip-mining the mid-majors’ talent.

O is for odds that amen’s 12 seed will beata 5. It’shappened57 times since 1985, so watch out Vanderbilt against McNeese. The Cowboys upset Clemson as a12last year

P is for Kansas’ DarrynPeterson, whose dedication has been widely questioned. He says he often suffers from body cramps.

and tightend Trey’Dez Green. Both of them stayed after encouraging 2025 seasons,and now both need to take the next step so they can be heavily featured in the offense. ForBerry,that meansgetting alittle morephysical and understanding blitzpickups. Green needs to make the easycatches and keep working on his blocking. It’salsoanimportant spring for running back Caden Durham after he withdrew fromthe transfer portal.

What aboutnew-lookDL?

LSU had areconstruction project on itshands up front with signiﬁcantdepartures andthe need to hire newinteriordefensive line coachSterling Lucas.Similar to last season,severalcontributors have come from the transfer por-

ESPN’sSeth Greenberg says he doesn’tlike Peterson’sbodylanguage.Playon.

Q is for all the Queens(University) men, who made the tourneyintheir ﬁrst year of Division Ieligibility.Inaway it could also be their last: Queens is merging with fellow North Carolina school Elon.

R is for the Miami(Ohio)RedHawks.They squeaked into the men’sﬁeld after starting 31-0 before losing to UMass in the MAC quarterﬁnals. Miami plays aFirst Four game Wednesday in Dayton,one hour from its campus, against SMU S is for the scoringrecord LSU shoots for Friday: 100 points against Jacksonville would tiethe

theoutside youcan’t seeit. That’s OK,becauseit’snot what the coaches seeand they see. They arelearning and growing all the time.”

LSU is lastinthe SEC in batting average and second to last in runs scored.

The Tigers got their first lead in the serieswhenAlix Franklin hit hersecond home runwith two out in the secondinning. The lead expanded to 3-0 in the fourth when Franklin was safe on afielder’schoice, moved to second on asingle by Kylee Edwards and came around to score on Ci’ellaPickett’sinfield single. Edwards advanced to third and came home when Pickett bluffed asteal and drew catcher Ariel Kowalewski’sthrow to second.

Clopton surrendered an unearned run in the fifth. After aone out single by KennedyPowell, Tori Edwards booted agrounderbyTallen Edwardstoput runners on first and second. Clopton walked Mya Perez, whohad homers in each of the first two games, for the third time.

Asacriﬁce ﬂy to left gotthe run home but Clopton retired Kow-

tal, headlined by Ole Miss edge rusherPrincewill Umanmielen. While thetransfers are going to take alot of snaps, the mostintriguingthing to monitor will be the development of LSU’shighly ranked freshmandefensive linemen. Sophomoredefensive end GabrielReliford is also coming offseason-ending shoulder surgeryand expectedtohave abig role.

CanWhitWeeks regain form?

Starlinebacker Whit Weeks never looked like himself last season coming off an ankle injury that required surgery.Heonly played in eight games, and one of those wasthe brief appearance against Florida before he wasejected for targeting.Hefinishedhis junior year with 31 tackles, 31/2 tackles for

NCAA record for most 100-point games in aseason (15) set by Long Beach State 39 years ago. LSU is a 491/2-point favorite.

T is for TBS,which will televise the FinalFour.So, when you clickonCBS on April 6and see “FBI” instead of “NCAA,” that’s why.

U is for the UConnHuskies.If the menand women both win (couldhappen), it would give the school an even 20 NCAA basketball titles (13 women, seven men).

V is for LutherVandross and his version of “One Shining Moment” played after the NCAA men’sﬁnal. Never gets old.

W is for NC State coach Will Wade,who many Tigers

alewski on an easygrounderto Edwards at ﬁrst. LSU got that run back and more.Kylee Edwardswalked before singles by Pickett and Sierra Daniel. Avery Hodge drew awalktoforce in arun. Relief pitcher Grace Marks walked Jalia Lassitertoforce in another runand then Bergeron brokeit open with atwo-run single to left ﬁeld.

CloptonheldA&M to two hits through six innings but got nicked for arun on abase hit by Micaela Wark. The Aggies loaded the bases afterthat, butClopton struckout KK Dement swinging to endthe game.

Clopton also workedout of abases loaded jam in the ﬁrst inning by getting Dement on a popup.

“Mymain focus was executing thepitches called,” Cloptonsaid. “We’d seen the scout and what their hitters have, executing all the pitchescalled. Idon’t think one stood outover the others. It was ahealthy mix that kept them on their toes.”

LSUgoesonthe road to South Carolina forits next SECseries beginning Friday

loss andone sack.LSU needshim to be at full strength again.Will he be after sitting out ﬁveofthe last seven games?

Is secondaryready?

LSU had to replace two of its best players in cornerback Mansoor Delane andsafety AJ Haulcy,apair of one-year transfers who immediatelyimproved the defense. At cornerback, LSU is counting on the development of former ﬁve-star DJ Pickett and juniorPJWoodland. Will anyone challenge them? At safety,it’s time for former top 100 recruit Dashawn Spears to prove he can start. Boise State senior transfer Ty Beneﬁeld will likelystart somewhere, and Ohio State sophomoretransferFaheem Delane could be afactor

fans fans hope will return to LSU. The Wolfpack plays Texas on Tuesday in Dayton.

X is usually for Xavier,but neither of its teams are in.

So we’ll go with players named Xavier: Xavier Booker of UCLA and Xavier Brown of UCF

Y is for you’reoutofhere.We’re talking about Alabama’s No. 2scorer Aden Holloway,who was arrested Monday for possession of marijuana. Iwonder if they can get Charles Bediako back on the roster?

Z is for the GonzagaZags They’re really the Bulldogs, but hey,what do you want? It’salong column.

Enjoy the madness, everyone. Call me whenthe pizza arrives.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU right fielder Alix Franklin drives the ball for ahome runagainst Texas A&M in the second inning on Monday at TigerPark.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVIDGRUNFELD

NewOrleansPelicans forwardZion Williamson gets past Dallas Mavericks forward Naji Marshall to score in the firsthalf on Monday at the Smoothie King Center

NCAA WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT

Picking Huskies a popular choice

BY TIM REYNOLDS AP basketball writer

For those who will be entering an NCAA women’s college basketball tournament bracket pool this year, let’s begin with the ending: You’re probably going to pick Connecticut to win March Madness. And almost everybody else in the pool will, too.

Do not overthink this. If you’re a fan of South Carolina, UCLA or Texas — obviously, excellent teams — then go ahead and pick one of those schools to win the national championship If it happens, you’ll have a great chance to win the pool because everybody else will have picked UConn.

Here’s the trick to winning a women’s tournament pool: You’ve got to win the ﬁrst weekend. It’s what separates those who get to brag from those who don’t.

By Week 2, the brackets will mostly look the same. It’s rare that a team seeded lower than No. 8 reaches the Sweet 16; only three such teams in the last ﬁve years (Miami in 2023, Creighton and South Dakota in 2022) have gotten there.

To win, ﬁnd those early upsets. There are three No 11 seeds that seem like they could ﬁt the bill.

Let’s start with Fairfield. The Stags, champions of the Metro Atlantic, are 28-4. Sure, drawing Hannah Hidalgo and Notre Dame in Round 1 won’t be easy, but if the Irish are off their game even a tiny bit this one will get interesting. Next, Rhode Island. Also 28-4, the Atlantic 10 champions face Alabama in Round 1. The Rams do not let you score. And now, South Dakota State. It takes on Washington in Round 1. The Jackrabbits — come on, you have to love that name — gave Texas a relatively tough game in December and star forward Brooklyn

Meyer is a problem She’s the best player in the country that you’ve probably never heard of And if you want a live longshot or two (or four), take a look at these teams: Fairleigh Dickinson has won 22 in a row, Idaho 18 in a row, Murray State 15 in a row and Howard 14 in a row

Key tips

n There have been 43 previous NCAA women’s tournaments The champions by seed: 32 were No 1 seeds, eight were No. 2 seeds and three were No. 3 seeds. No. 4 through No. 16 seeds need not apply If you’d like to pick your alma mater (and it’s not a 1, 2 or 3 seed) to win it all, consider your bracket entry fee a charitable donation and don’t bother looking at the ﬁnal results.

n At least one No. 1 seed will get to the ﬁnal.

There have been only three title games without a No. 1 seed: North Carolina (3) vs. Louisiana Tech (4) in 1994, Texas A&M (2) vs. Notre Dame (2) in 2011, and LSU (3) vs. Iowa (2) in 2023. The lowest-seeded teams to make a final: Western Kentucky (1992), Louisiana Tech (1994), Rutgers (2007) and Syracuse (2016) as No 4 seeds, and Louisville (2013) as a No. 5 seed.

We have to talk UConn

Before we get to the picks, take a second to appreciate what UConn has done this season.

A perfect 34-0 so far, six wins away from the 40-win perfect season, a 50-game winning streak going back to last season’s title run.

UConn has gone 70-3 in superstar forward Sarah Strong’s games with the Huskies, including a staggering 48-1 at home or on neutral courts. A potential UConn-Iowa State game

n Strong vs. Audi Crooks — in Round 2 would be appointment television.

Azzi Fudd is deadly from 3-point land when open and not much worse when she isn’t. And KK Arnold remains vastly underrated; she’s only gone 103-9 in her UConn career

First-round winners

Fort Worth 1: UConn, Iowa State, Maryland, North Carolina, Fairﬁeld, Ohio State, Colorado, Vanderbilt.

Sacramento 2: UCLA, Princeton, Gonzaga, Minnesota, Baylor, Duke, Villanova, LSU.

FortWorth3: Texas, Virginia Tech, Kentucky, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Louisville Tennessee, Michigan.

Sacramento 4: South Carolina, Clemson, Michigan State, Oklahoma, South Dakota State, TCU, Georgia, Iowa.

Second-round winners

Fort Worth 1: UConn, Maryland, Ohio State, Vanderbilt. Sacramento 2: UCLA, Minnesota, Baylor, LSU.

FortWorth3: Texas, Kentucky Louisville, Michigan.

Sacramento4: South Carolina, Oklahoma, TCU, Iowa.

Regional finalists

FortWorth1: UConn, Vanderbilt. Sacramento2: UCLA, LSU.

FortWorth3: Texas, Louisville Sacramento3: South Carolina, Iowa.

Final Four

UConn, UCLA, Texas, South Carolina. (Yes, the four No 1 seeds.) UConn beats South Carolina. Texas beats UCLA. And in the end, it’s UConn over Texas for the national title.

Assistant coach Mitchell leaving the Tigers and headed to Rutgers

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

Coach Kim Mulkey will now have to fill two openings on her LSU women’s basketball staff this offseason.

Mulkey said Sunday that assistant coach Daphne Mitchell is leaving the Tigers so she can work at Rutgers under Gary Redus the former LSU assistant who took the Scarlet Knights’ head coaching job last Sunday Neither Mitchell, nor Redus, will accompany LSU for its NCAA Tournament run. Mulkey said she doesn’t expect either of their absences to affect how the Tigers will prepare for their upcoming postseason matchups.

“Daphne and (Redus) are our recruiters, OK?” Mulkey said. “I have one person that does scout reports. And that’s Bob (Starkey). So, Bob will do what he normally does, and on the floor coaching, you’ll just move Seimone (Augustus) to ﬁll in for (Redus) on passing drills and probably move maybe Joe (Schwartz) down here with Bob.” Mitchell worked primarily with

LSU’s post players. She joined Mulkey’s Baylor staff in 2015, then followed her to Baton Rouge in 2021. She played her collegiate basketball at Georgia Tech from 200408 alongside Redus’ wife, Tiffany Mulkey told ESPN 104.5 FM on Tuesday that she expected Mitchell to follow Redus to Rutgers. Redus joined Mulkey’s staff in 2022, then quickly emerged as one of the top recruiters in the country He helped the Tigers land two No. 1 freshman classes ﬁrst in 2023 and again in 2025. Now he’s working at Rutgers under former LSU president William Tate and former LSU athletics administrator Keli Zinn, who’s now the Scarlet Knights’ athletic director Mulkey said Tuesday that she encouraged Redus to leave the Tigers ahead of the NCAA Tournament.

“As I told him,” Mulkey said, “‘You can’t be married to two wives.’ I said, ‘Get out of here, go to work get your staff in place, get your kids that are there to stay.’ He hasn’t even visited Rutgers. He took the job over the phone or whatever.

“I know his love for our program

and our team, he’d want to be on the bench for us too. But as a mentor, I can’t be selﬁsh and ask him to stay with our team because this could be a long three- or four-week process with the playoffs. You need to be working.”

Mulkey last ﬁlled an opening on her staff in 2024, when she hired LSU great Seimone Augustus to ﬁll the job her former longtime assistant Johnny Derrick left behind when he retired.

This season, the Tigers landed a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament — their highest seed since 2008. They were assigned to the Sacramento 2 region of the bracket underneath No 1 seed UCLA but ahead of No. 3 seed Duke and No. 4 seed Minnesota. They’ll host the ﬁrst two rounds of the tournament again starting Friday with a Round of 64 matchup with No 15 seed Jacksonville. If LSU gets past the Dolphins, then it’ll face either No. 7 seed Texas Tech or No. 10 seed Villanova in the second round on Sunday

Email Reed Darcey at reed.darcey@theadvocate.com.

No. 1 seed Texas has smooth road to the Final Four

BY JIM VERTUNO AP sportswriter

AUSTIN, Texas The Texas Longhorns roll into the women’s NCAA Tournament with a No. 1 seed and a friendly road map for a return trip to the Final Four

They aren’t the overall No. 1 seed for March Madness. That’s UConn. But with a standout duo of Madison Booker and Rori Harmon, an emerging impact player in Justice Carlton, and the momentum of a romp through the SEC tournament, the Longhorns can make a solid argument they’re the team to beat as they chase the program’s ﬁrst national title in 40 years.

“They’re good enough,” coach Vic Schaefer said. “We’re a veteran team in the right places. Our youth is mature now This is a team that can do it.”

Texas (31-3) opens play Friday against the winner of Wednesday’s First Four matchup between Missouri State (22-12) and Stephen F. Austin (25-9).

Should the Longhorns win their first two games on their home court, they’ll make just a 3-hour drive north to Fort Worth for the Sweet 16 and a regional final in front of what would likely be a very pro-Texas crowd.

“That’s a pretty big deal to me,” said Harmon, a ﬁfth-year player from the Houston area. “I’m all about my family and traveling and what’s easiest for them.”

After a Final Four ﬁnish last season, the Longhorns are “extremely” hungry to win that elusive national title, Booker said.

“We want to be the last one standing,” she said.

Texas’ lone national championship came in 1986 when the Longhorns were the ﬁrst national title winners to go undefeated. Texas made the Final Four in 2003, then waited 22 years to return, only to get bounced by a thumping loss to SEC rival South Carolina.

The Longhorns were determined to get back there. The league coaches made them preseason favorites for the SEC title. They didn’t get that, but won their ﬁrst league tournament crown. The season started with consecutive wins in consecutive days over UCLA and South Carolina, and closed with that rollicking win over the Gamecocks.

“I’ve seen us peak a lot in the past few games, even in practice,” Har-

mon said. “The challenge is to play even better.”

Carlton delivering standout moments Booker, a pre-season All-American, led Texas with an 18.9-point average this season and was the MVP of the SEC Tournament. She and Harmon, a fifth-year point guard who averages 6.2 assists, are the engine that drives Texas in the locker room and on the court.

But’s it’s been Carlton’s scoring potential that gives them the occasional turbo boost. She scored 10 points in the first quarter of a win over Georgia, 12 in the first quarter of a win over Kentucky, and nine in the first quarter of a win over Oklahoma. In the SEC tournament title game, Carlton knocked South Carolina on their heels with 13 points in the first quarter on 6-of-7 shooting. The Gamecocks never recovered. Texas needs more of that. Carlton has started 23 consecutive games and her production has been up and down. She averages 8.7 points and four rebounds, but hasn’t posted consecutive double-figure scoring games since December After playing just three minutes in Texas’ last four NCAA Tournament games last season, Carlton enters this one with the confidence that she can light up the basket in an instant.

“I do really enjoy that punch-ﬁrst mentality,” Carlton said after the SEC championship game.

Schaefer’s stings, zings and praise The regular season wasn’t as easy as the Longhorns’ record suggests. The toughest moments and criticism often came from their own coach.

Schaefer benched Harmon for most the fourth quarter in regularseason losses at LSU and Vanderbilt. After an 18-point loss in Nashville on Feb. 12, he went on a postgame rant that questioned his team’s heart and called the Longhorns “probably the softest team I’ve had in years.”

Texas hasn’t lost since and Schaefer has softened around the edges a bit. The 65-year-old has been to the Final Four three times, but has yet to win a championship.

“They just keep winning I think we’re playing our best basketball,” Schaefer said. “You know, none of us are perfect and we all have our days, but these kids are special.”

Guard Tate’s game-winner was like ‘practice shot’

BY CHARLES SALZER

Contributing writer

No moment in the Southwestern Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournament was too big for Southern sophomore Jocelyn Tate Tate averaged 11 points and 6.7 rebounds in Southern’s three wins, but it was her effort against No. 1 seed Alabama A&M in the semiﬁnals that stood out the most. With 10 seconds left to play and the score tied 49-49, Tate went to work from the left corner She dribbled past A&M’s 6-foot-5 center Moses Davenport, and then made a 5-foot teardrop shot over 6-4 Jaida Belton for the ﬁnal points of a 51-49

Southern win. There was no hesitation from Tate, who made the ﬁnal shot with 1.2 seconds left to play.

“That was like a practice shot for me,” Tate said. “If you watch my game, you know a lot of my shots are floaters. The winning shot was a floater, so that was like a practice jump shot for me. I went in with the confidence to knock it down.”

Conﬁdence is something the entire team carried throughout the tournament. It helped Southern to a 73-56 win over Alabama State in the championship game, which earned the Jaguars an automatic NCAA Tournament berth for the second consecutive year

ä Samford vs Southern.

6 P.M.THURSDAy, ESPN2

Tate scored 10 points and pulled down eight rebounds in the title game, and was named the tournament’s most valuable player

“(Jocelyn) is not afraid to take the big shot,” coach Carlos Funchess said. “She did exactly what we practice. If their big comes out, don’t settle for the jumper Get by her, and get to the teardrop. I knew it was good when it left her hand.”

Next up, Southern (19-13) will play Samford (16-18) in a First Four game at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia,

South Carolina. The game will air on ESPN2, and the winner will advance as a No. 16 seed to face No. 1 South Carolina on Saturday Southern will need to bring the same intensity it had in the SWAC tournament in order to advance to the weekend. The Jaguars were able to turn the tables on Alabama A&M and Alabama State, teams that had each beaten Southern twice during the regular season. “It’s hard to beat a team three times in a row,” Tate said. “Our main focus was to play together, stay focused and be calm. We knew we weren’t going to lose. We just had to listen to our coaches and do what we needed to do.”

There was no doubting Tate’s focus as she helped Southern win its eight SWAC tournament championship. Including last year, when Southern won the title as the No. 1 seed, this year’s run made Tate twofor-two as a

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By VASHA HUNT

Texas guard Rori Harmon puts up a layup past Alabama guards Jessica Timmons, left, and Ta’Mia Scott on March 1 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT

Here’s hoping for a return to upsets

BY TIM REYNOLDS AP basketball writer

There was a time when the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament was wildly unpredictable.

Hard as it may seem to believe, there was one season where a No. 4 seed, two No. 5 seeds and a No. 9 seed all reached the Final Four And a year later a No. 11 seed got to the national semiﬁnals as well.

Ah, 2023 and 2024 feel so long ago. Last year’s tournament, for those who love upsets, was a complete and utter dud. Excluding the First Four games, teams seeded No. 11 through No. 16 went 3-24. The regional ﬁnals had three No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchups, and the other was No 1 vs. No. 3.

The result? For the first time since 2008, all four No. 1 seeds made the Final Four and Florida went on to capture the national championship.

This likely meant those who spend little time agonizing over their brackets — you know, the types who just pick the higher seeds the whole way through and ﬁll the entire thing out in about a minute and a half probably did well last year

We have sad news to report: They might do well this year too.

The top seeds this season are Florida, Duke, Michigan and Arizona. It would be a sensational Final Four if they all got to the national semiﬁnals. But can history repeat itself and four No. 1 seeds get there for the second straight year?

Time to ﬁnd out.

Key tips

n One of the oddest stat nuggets ever: No team seeded No. 5 has ever won the NBA title, the NCAA men’s title or the NCAA women’s title. In

this field, St. John’s, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin and Texas Tech surely did not want to hear that. (Also, did the tournament committee even watch the Big East ﬁnal between St. John’s and Connecticut?)

— We point this out every year, but as a general reminder: Teams with 10 or more losses coming into the tournament have gone on to win the title only three times (N.C State in 1983, Villanova in 1985 and Kansas in 1988.) That stat alone would knock out about half of this year’s ﬁeld. Watch the travel. It’s not easy to get ready for a ﬁrst-round game

ASSOCIATED

Charles Barkley, left, and Dick Vitale prepare for their broadcast before a game between Kentucky and Indiana in Lexington, Ky., on Dec. 13.

Vitale, Barkley to call ﬁrst games together in NCAA Tournament

BY JOE REEDY AP sportswriter

Dick Vitale previously declined a standing invitation from CBS and TNT Sports to call an NCAA Tournament game. An assist from Charles Barkley is ﬁnally making it happen this year

Vitale and Barkley will call Tuesday night’s second First Four matchup in Dayton, Ohio, between Texas and N.C. State on truTV with Brian Anderson and Jenny Dell. It will be the second game this season that Vitale and Barkley have worked together, after the Indiana-Kentucky game in December

“This is happening because he (Barkley) worked a game on ESPN. Now I’m doing back the favor and giving them a game on their network,” Vitale said. “I had been offered chances in the last few years.

Sean McManus (the retired chairman of CBS Sports) would call and say, ‘You shouldn’t end your career without doing an NCAA game, and we’ll let you do it on CBS.’ I appreciated it so much, but I told him the one thing I wanted on my resume was that I worked my entire career at ESPN. He was surprised but said he respected that.” Vitale served as a studio analyst for ESPN’s NCAA Tournament coverage from 1980 through 1990 CBS took over the entire tournament in 1991 and began its partnership with TNT Sports in 2011. Barkley has been a studio analyst for the NCAA Tournament and Final Four on CBS and TNT Sports since 2011. This is the ﬁrst year he has appeared on ESPN; “Inside the NBA” airs on the network while being produced by TNT Sports.

“One of my goals for 10, 12 years was to call a game with Dick, and they (their bosses) would never let us do it,” Barkley said. “It was awesome to do Indiana and Kentucky, and I think it’s going to be even better this time. I’ve said this before, other than the Olympics, March Madness is the most impressive thing I have been a part of. It’s incredible.”

The longtime friends jelled quickly during the Dec. 13 game at Rupp Arena, which Kentucky won 72-60. The stakes will be higher for this game, though, with the winner facing sixth-seeded BYU in a West Region ﬁrst-round matchup in Portland, Oregon.

Vitale said the Kentucky game with Barkley was one of his ﬁve greatest moments since becoming a television analyst in 1979. He called ESPN’s ﬁrst college basketball game on Dec. 5, 1979.

“The thing is, it’s a lot of quick things that you aren’t prepared for,” Vitale said. “We just react to the situation. That’s what I like: It’s not scripted at all.”

Barkley — who has contributed to Vitale’s Pediatric Cancer Fund

— also appreciates that Vitale has come back to the airwaves after four fights with cancer in three years.

“One of the reasons I want to work with him is because we’re all so lucky because of basketball, and there’s never been a bigger cheerleader of college basketball than him. Basketball has given me everything in my life, so it’s pretty special,” Barkley said. “Sunday was exciting because the bracket was announced, but Tuesday is the official kickoff when the games begin.”

on short notice. Those teams that have long, long trips (St. John’s to San Diego, UCLA to Philadelphia, Villanova to San Diego. etc., trips that all are just a bit shorter than Hawaii’s 2,600-mile ﬂight to Portland for Round 1) might look a little rusty to start.

n Always root for the fun matchup UConn vs UCF in Round 2? For those who followed college football’s short-lived Civil ConFLiCT game (a totally made-up thing by UConn when it decided, for reasons that still puzzle basically everybody that UCF was its football rival), how can you not want to see

this matchup?

n The last preseason No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 to cut down the nets in the men’s tournament was North Carolina in 2009. Purdue was the preseason No. 1 this year, so apologies to the Boilermakers, but history says what it says.

The Miami issues

If you’re Miami, you shouldn’t be happy right now Doesn’t matter which Miami you are, either Miami (the Ohio one) gets a First Four game after going undefeated until its conference tournament. And Miami (the Florida one) is

the “home” team in St. Louis against Missouri.

Of course, Miami was also the “road” team in the College Football Playoff title game in its home stadium against Indiana So it all evens out. Or something.

First-round winners

East: Duke, TCU, St John’s, Kansas, USF Michigan State, UCF UConn.

South: Florida, Clemson, McNeese, Nebraska, North Carolina, Penn (by far, our biggest upset pick), Texas A&M, Houston. West: Arizona, Villanova, Wisconsin, Arkansas, BYU, Gonzaga, Miami, Purdue.

Midwest: Michigan, Saint Louis, Texas Tech, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, Santa Clara, Iowa State.

Second-round winners

East: Duke, St John’s, Michigan State, UConn.

South: Florida, Nebraska, North Carolina, Houston.

West: Arizona, Arkansas, BYU, Purdue.

Midwest: Michigan, Texas Tech, Virginia, Iowa State.

Regional finalists

East: Duke, Michigan State.

South: Florida, Houston. West: Arizona, Purdue. Midwest: Michigan, Virginia.

Final Four

Duke, Florida, Arizona, Michigan. All the top seeds get there, again.

Duke beats Florida. Michigan beats Arizona. They played a classic last month and Duke won it The Blue Devils beat Michigan for the 1992 national title as well. But this time, Go Blue over Blue Devils. Michigan wins it all.

Davis savors March Madness return

BY STEVE MEGARGEE AP sportswriter

Cruz Davis’ only previous taste of March Madness came three years and two transfers ago.

The Hofstra guard can’t wait to get back on college basketball’s biggest stage in more of a starring role.

Davis leads Hofstra into the NCAA Tournament as the Coastal Athletic Association player of the year Hofstra (24-10) is the No. 13 seed in the Midwest Region and faces Alabama (23-9) in a firstround game Friday at Tampa, Florida.

This will mark his first time playing in the NCAA Tournament since getting eight minutes off the bench for Iona against eventual national champion UConn in 2023.

“Don’t take that time for granted,” Davis said. “You don’t understand how hard it is to get back in the tournament. It’s really a grind to be able to get in there. Getting in there is a blessing.”

Davis took a circuitous route to get back there at last. He followed coach Rick Pitino from Iona to St. John’s after that 2023 NCAA Tournament appearance, but he played only four games there due to injury before transferring again. Davis chose Hofstra for the opportunity to learn from coach Speedy Claxton, a former NBA guard.

“He was an NBA player,” Davis said “He could help me achieve my dreams of being there.”

Davis scored 14.4 points per game his first year at Hofstra, but the Pride struggled to a 15-18 record.

Before this season, Claxton and associate coach Mike DePaoli told Davis he could be a conference player of the year and could score 18-20 points per game. The 6-foot-3 guard lived up to those expectations, averaging 20.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists while helping Hofstra earn its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2001.

Last year, Davis spent the postseason watching former Iona teammate Walter Clayton Jr lead Florida to a national title. Davis and the other players from that Iona team still communicate regularly in a group chat.

Now Davis’ former teammates can see him try to make his own impact on March Madness. Davis scored 36 points in a victory at Pitt and 24 in a win at Syracuse this season.

“That gave us a lot of conﬁdence

and showed us we’re a really good team,” Davis said “If we defend, we know we can beat anybody.”

Davis is one of many players from one-bid conferences to keep an eye on this week in the NCAA Tournament. Here’s a look at some others:

Terry Anderson, High Point

Opening game: Thursday vs. Wisconsin at Portland, Oregon.

Notes: After playing eight minutes in an NCAA Tournament ﬁrst-round loss to Purdue last season, Anderson has taken a much greater role this year The 6-6 forward has collected 16 points and 6 rebounds per game. He averaged 18.7 points in three Big South Tournament games, including a 25-point, 12-rebound performance in a semiﬁnal win over UNC Asheville.

Dominique Daniels Jr., Cal Baptist

Opening game: Friday vs. Kansas in San Diego. Notes: Daniels scored Cal Baptist’s last nine points with a trio of 3-pointers in the Lancers’ 6361 Western Athletic Conference championship game victory over Utah Valley The 6-4 guard was named the WAC’s player of the year and the most outstanding player of the league tournament. Daniels averages 23.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists. He has

scored at least 21 points in nine of his last 10 games, including a 41-point outburst in a semiﬁnal win over Utah Tech.

Thomas Dowd, Troy

Opening game: Thursday vs. Nebraska at Oklahoma City

Notes: Dowd is averaging a double-double with 14.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per game He had 25 points and 19 rebounds in a double-overtime victory over San Diego State earlier this season. The 6-8 forward was the most outstanding player in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and had 23 points and 13 rebounds in the championship game. He has 17 double-doubles this season.

Dontae Horne, Prairie View A&M

Opening game: Wednesday vs. Lehigh in First Four at Dayton, Ohio. The winner faces Florida on Friday in Tampa, Florida.

Notes: Horne has scored at least 25 points in 10 of his last 12 games, a stretch that includes a 46-point performance. He is averaging 20.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists. He had 23.3 points per game in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament and was named the event’s most outstanding player This is Horne’s ﬁrst year at Prairie View A&M after he spent one season each at Texas State and Georgia Southern.

PRESS PHOTO By JAMES CRISP

ASSCOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NAM y. HUH

Michigan forward yaxel Lendeborg hangs from the rim after dunking against Wisconsin in the semifinals of the Big 10 Tournament on Saturday in Chicago.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL WyKE Hofstra guard Cruz Davis dribbles downcourt against Houston on Nov. 22, 2024, in Houston.

The doctor is in

LSUAgCenter team canhelpwith diagnosis when your plants getsick

When aplant isn’tdoing well in the garden, it can feel abit like dealing with asickpet or young child. They can’ttell you what is wrong —but that doesn’tstop you from wanting to help them get better

That’swhen plant doctor Raj Singh and his team at the LSU AgCenter Plant Diagnostic Center can come to the rescue.

GARDEN NEWS

“Plants get sick, too,like we get sick,” said Singh, who holds a doctorate in plant medicine.

“At the Plant Diagnostic Center,ifyou send us your sick plants, we can determine the cause of their sickness.”

Lots of things can make plants sick: fungi, bacteria, viruses,nematodes,insects, even stress caused by nutrient deﬁciencies or the weather

Differentiating between pathogens and environmental causes of plant health problems is crucial. They often produce similar symptoms but can require drastically different treatment plans.

LSU AGCENTERPHOTO

By OLIVIA McCLURE

LSU AgCenter plant doctor Raj Singh is in chargeofthe Plant Diagnostic Center

In their lab on the LSU campus in BatonRouge, Singhand his staff examine hundreds of plant samples mailed from across Louisiana every year Anyone who works with plants —commercial growers, homeowners, landscapers,extension personnel —can submit samples.

“Wetriage the samples when theycome in, and based on the symptoms, we conduct diagnostic tests on the roots and on the foliage. It depends on the symptoms that the plants are exhibiting,”Singh said. “We can culture those pathogens and root out the possibilityofif there’s apathogeninvolved in it or not.”

Clients are informed of the diagnosis and given recommendations for managingthe condition.

If you’re interested in sending an ailing plant to Singh’s lab, it’simportant to collect and package the sample properly

“Our diagnosticsdependon how good the sample is,” Singh said. If possible,send an entire plant, not just acutting. This allows Singh and his team to run multiple tests on the roots, leaves and other plant parts helping them accurately diagnose the problem.

Once you’ve dug up your plant, don’tsimply toss it in a bag or box and ship it to the lab. Loose soil can interfere with testing.

“There are so many microorganisms in the soil thatcan contaminate the

LIVING

BY JOYHOLDEN Staff writer

The parishionersofBaton Rouge’s St. Patrick Catholic Churchhave waited along timefor achurch refresh.

This year,all of their efforts are coming to fruition.

Founded in 1974, St.Patrick Parish was established as morepeople moved into southeast Baton Rouge. TheRoman Catholic DioceseofBaton Rouge took territory from St. ThomasMore and St.George Parishes to create aspiritual homefor about 450 families.

By 1975, St. Patrick Church multiplied to over 850 families, and it wasdedicated by BishopJoseph Sullivan in Januaryof1978. Alarge bronze statue of St.Patrick, known as the patron saint and“apostleof Ireland” who brought Christianity to the country in the 5th century, greets visitors as they approach the building. Usually,the church hostsanannual St.Patrick’sDay reception after SundayMass forSaint Patrick with acommunity meal. This year, however,the churchisonly serv-

to renovate St. Patrick’s. The building needed newflooring, a deep clean, wood reﬁnishing and an overallupdate. After40years of wear andtear,the tattered pew fabric and worn carpet wasapparent, according to Sandra Colomb, the director of administration at St. Patrick Church. With the COVID-19 pandemic and construction material shortages, the project was put on the back burner.In2024, Father Michael Miceli revived the project, and the parish began meeting in the Family Center forMass while renovations took place.

ing coffee and green donutsafter 11 a.m. Mass on March 15. Nextweekend, there are plans for afull dedication of therenovated church withareception at 10 a.m. March 21. In 2017, thechurch started plans

Ahardworking community Colomb, who hasworked at St. Patrick’sfor 16 years, says the members arewhatmakethe church special. Someofthe founding members are still active in the congregation, serving as examples of faithfulness and courage, two of St. Patrick’svalues. Melissa Harshbarger,the director of faith formation, echoes Colomb’swords.She grew up in

BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer

The buffet experience is unapologetically hearty,sometimes competitive andoften price-efﬁcient. Baton Rouge hasbuffets galore, two of whichopened at thebeginning of this year.Thislistfeatures

If you know of onethatwe missed, let us know by emailing

STAFF PHOTO By JOyHOLDEN

Abronze statue of St.Patrick stands on the St.Patrick Catholic Church campus.

Don’tlikethe plannedmeal? Pregamewithpizza

DearMissManners: My brother and sister-in-law invited my family of four for adinner of corned beef and cabbage to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.They also invited my mom and dad, along with my aunt, who was visiting them from out of town. My aunt does not like corned beef and cabbage, so my mom said that they would bringpizza for her. Ihad talked to Mom about the pizza, so when my brother calledand invited us, Isaid Iwas excited to get together,and that my kids and Iwould have pizza, too. (My husband likes corned beefand cabbage.)

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

derstand why;she was upset that some of usdidn’twant the corned beef. She is Irish and it was atradition she wanted to share with everyone. In retrospect, Ibelieve we were rude to say we were bringing pizza. We just wanted to enjoy the get-together while bringingsomething thecorned beef-haterswould eat without making more work for my sister-in-law

Should we havejust declined theinvitation, orwas thereabetter way to handlethis?

Afew hours later,mysisterin-lawcanceled the dinner.Iun-

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday March 17, the 76th day of 2026. There are 289 days left in the year.This is St. Patrick’sDay

Todayinhistory:

On March 17, 1992, White South Africans voted 68.7% to 31.3%toend over 40 yearsofapartheidinanational referendum. (Voters of all races were allowed to vote two years later in thegeneral election that resulted inNelson Mandela becomingpresident.)

Alsoonthisdate: In 1762, New York held its ﬁrst St. Patrick’sDay parade. In 1776, the Revolutionary WarSiege of Boston ended as British forces evacuated the city

BUFFETS

Continued from page1D

Seafood House serves dim sum, sushi, seafood, fried foods, vegetables, fruits and more. Dishes include snow fish, clams, fried oysters, Korean barbecue rib-eye and roasted duck. There are also vegetarian options.

Weekday lunch, 11 a.m. to 3p.m., is $14.99 (children ages 3-6, $6.99; 7-10, $8.99)

Dinner,4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, is $17.99 (children ages 3-6, $8.99; children ages 7-10, $10.99). Friday night and weekend, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., is $22.99 (children ages 3-6,$11.99; children ages7-10, $13.99) Buffet of Louisiana

n 9626 Airline Highway.Hours are11a.m. to 9:30 p.m.Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridaysand Saturdays

This 13,000-square-foot buffetjust opened in January and has aMongolian grill,sushi bar,ramenbar and more buffet islands containing foods like fried rice, General Tso’schicken and egg rolls. Weekdaylunch is $13.99 (children ages 3-10, $8.99), weekday dinneris$17.99 (children ages 3-10, $9.99) and weekends are $19.99 (children ages 3-10, $10.99). Children 2and under eat free.

El Magey Mexican Buffet

n 8290 Siegen Lane. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 9p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays,10:30 a.m. to 4p.m.onSundays

Baton Rouge is home to some great Mexican restaurants,but this buffetmay be the only all-you-can-eat Mexican spot in the city

This buffet serves up dishes like tamales, enchiladas, fajitas, quesadillas, chimichangas, taquitos, tacos,

DOCTOR

Continued from page1D

plant, so it’sreally hard for us to ﬁnd the actual cause of the problem,” Singh said Instead, securely wrap theplant’sroots in aplastic bag, then put the whole thing in another plastic bag Before mailing your sample, be sure to ﬁll out a

Gentlereader: How long has Miss Mannersbeen saying that entertainingisnot about thefood, butthe people?Inother words, exactly theargument you tried to

TODAYINHISTORY

In 1959, the nuclearpowered USS Skate became the first submarinetobreak through theice and to surface at theNorth Pole. In 1969, Golda Meir took office as prime minister in Israel, beginninga term that would last through five crucial years in thenation’s history In 2003, edging to the brink of war,U.S. President George W. Bush gave Iraqi President Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leavehis country.Iraq rejected Bush’s ultimatum,saying aU.S.attack to force Saddamfrom power wouldbe“a grave mistake.”

In 2016, SeaWorld Entertainment said it would stop breedingkiller whales and makingthem perform

make. Only this one was about the food. As everybody knew There seems to be no question here of allergies, vegetarianism or other restrictions, just that several people “hate” thetraditional dish of which your sister-inlaw is so proud. Really,hate? Or just don’tparticularly like it, and prefer pizza?

So yes, it was rude to demonstrateyour distasteatthe cost of the hostess’ feelings —and a poor example for your children. That polite hosts now ask if their guestshave food restrictions does not mean that guestscan dictate their mere preferences.

These relatives presumably don’thate the sister-in-law,whose heart was set on abeloved ritual.

crowd-pleasing tricks, bowing to years of public pressure.

Today’sbirthdays: Civil rights activist Myrlie EversWilliams is 93. Singersongwriter John Sebastian (TheLovin’ Spoonful) is 82. Author William Gibson is 78. Actor Patrick Duffy is 77. Actor Kurt Russell is 75. Actor Gary Sinise is 71. NBA executive Danny Ainge is 67. Actor Rob Lowe is 62. Rock musician Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) is 59. Olympic soccer gold medalistMia Hammis54. Singer-TV personalityTamar Braxton is 49. Singer-songwriter Hozier is 36. Actor John Boyega is 34. Olympic swimminggold medalist Katie Ledecky is 29.

soups andﬂan

Weekday lunch is$16.95, dinneronTuesdays through Thursdays is $18.95 and Friday dinner and weekends are$20.95. On Wednesday nights, children eat free.

Ombu Buffet

n 3202 S. Sherwood Forest Blvd.Hours are11a.m. to 3p.m. and 4:30p.m. to 9:30 p.m.Mondays through Fridaysand 11 a.m.to 9:30 p.m.Saturdaysand Sundays

Serving sushi and Cajunstyleseafood,this restaurant just reopened its buffet in February and features fare like pho, ramen,steak, sushi,sashimi and fruit Seafooddishesinclude snow crab legs, oysters, crawﬁsh and mussels. Lunch is $13.99, and dinneris$25.99.

Kiro Seafood Buffet

n 7677 Andrea Drive. Hours are11a.m. to 10 p.m.Sundays throughThursdaysand 11 a.m.to11p.m. Fridaysand Saturdays

This spot just opened in January next to Honey Baked Ham Company in Siegen Marketplace. Thebuffet menu features snow crab legs,sushi, sashimi, stir-fry dishes, lo mein, build-yourown hibachiand desserts

Weekday lunch, 11 a.m. to

submission form. “It’svery importantthat we know thehistory of cultural practices, including use of fertilizers or chemicals sprayed on plants,and any other events that led to the ﬁrst appearance of symptoms on your plants,” Singh said.“Also,weneed to know whatwas happening duringthat timeperiod to ﬁgure out if it is actually aplant pathogen or just an

So here is akinder suggestion than either declining or declaring her offering inedible: Haters could stuff themselves with pizza in the late afternoon, so they wouldn’tbehungry if they ate only apolitely minimal portion of corned beef and cabbage. Those who do appreciate the meal can help them with loud praise that calls attention away from their suffering.

DearMissManners: I’mnot entirely sure if this falls under the domain of etiquette, but Idecided it was best to check.

When determining the anniversary of adating couple, is it moreappropriate to count from theﬁrst date or from when they decided to be an ofﬁcial couple? Or is it amatter of personal preference?

Gentlereader: NorisMiss Manners sure whythis should fall under the domain of etiquette. Surely couples can celebrate any or all milestones in their courtship that they care to. It is only if it would affect other people that it might be aconcern. Therefore, if acouple is marking the anniversary of their ﬁrst kiss, forexample, others might prefer to be spared hearing about it.

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

Trythese tips fornew appliances

DearHeloise: Isympathize with Sarah; thenew appliances are not what we are used to. I’m still missing my old Maytag Neptune washer! The new energy-efficient ones are OK, but Ifound that for deeper water,after finally reading the manual, Ihave to use the “deep fill” settingbyholding it for 3seconds. Then I get adeep wash and rinse water.Iwould never get an electric dryer just for this reason. The last move, Ihad it changed to gas and got agas range. For thedishwasher,I run it at night,open it,pull theracks out abit, and let it air-dry overnight. For thetoilet, check the water pressure as having to flush it twice shouldn’tbenecessary.Ilive in scarce-water country and never have a problem Heloise, you’re thebest reading in the daily paper! —Janice,inTucson,Arizona More on calciumbuildup

4p.m., is $14.99 (children ages 3-6, $7.99; childrenages 7-12, $9.99).

Dinner,4 p.m. to 10 p.m

Mondays throughThursdays, is $19.99 (children ages 3-6, $9.99; childrenages 7-12, $12.99).

Friday night meals, 4p.m. to 10 p.m.and all-day on weekends, are $21.99 (childrenages3-6,$10.99; children ages 7-12, $13.99)

Oriental Pearl

n 4520 S. Sherwood Forest Blvd. Hours are11a.m.to 9p.m.Mondays through Sundays.

Located at the Lake Sherwood Mall Shopping Center, this buffetserves sushi, appetizers, lo mein, friedrice, vegetables and more.

Theflatfee for this buffet is $15.99 for adults.The price for children varies.

Hunan &Ginza

Restaurant

n 4215 S. Sherwood Forest Blvd. Hours are11a.m.to 8:30 p.m. daily

This restaurant and buffet serves Chinese and Japanese cuisine withdishes like chicken wings, sushi, egg rolls, fried shrimp, fried rice, lo mein and apple pie.

Adultseat for $12.99, and the pricefor childrendepends on height

environmental factor that is causing those symptoms.” Routinediagnostic service costs$20. If needed, moretests can be conducted for an additional charge. For moreinformation, including asubmission form and detailed instructions for packing samples, visit www LSUAgCenter.com/PlantDiagnosticCenter.You also can call the PlantDiagnostic Center at (225) 578-4562.

aﬂat surface, preferably waist-high. Pour acan of cola soda over the door and let it sit forawhile. Depending on the severity, you might be able to just hose it off or scour it off slightly There’snoneed forgloves. The phosphoric acid and carbonated water do all the work. —Teresa,viaemail

Exhaustfan to therescue

DearHeloise: Ihave seen several letters in your column regarding how to cut up onions without causing one’seyes to get full of tears. Ihave an exhaust fanover the burners on my electric stove, so Ijust turn this on before cutting up onions on the cold surface of the stove. No more irritated eyes from onions!

—Peggy,inOmaha,Nebraska

Twocosmetichints

DearHeloise: In response to John, in Murrieta, California, concerning calcium deposit buildup on ashower door: I’ve got an easy solution if thedoor can be easily removed. Take thedoor off and take it outside, then lay it on

CHURCH

Continuedfrom page1D

St. Patrick Church, was baptized there and took herﬁrst communion there She has worked full time in her position of children and teen ministry for nearly 10 years.

“My grandparents were founding parishioners, so I got to grow up in this parish,”Harshbarger said. “I alwayswantedtobea church lady.Iloved these ladies so much.Mygrandmother’sfriends werethe ladies Ilooked up to, and nowI’m in aBible study with some of them.”

Several St.Patrick Church parishioners are involved in the community, from Knights of Columbus to theKnitting Ladies to the prison ministry to the St. Vincent de Paulconference to thehomebound ministry

“I gettosee so many people who just serve this community,whether it’s right here in ourchurchor far out,” Harshbarger said.

Although St. Patrick’s does nothaveaschool,the church does offer aparttime preschool program Asacredrenovation

St. Patrick Church has a distinctlook,sothe building committee wanted to maintainthe integrity and feel of thechurchthroughout the renovation. With acontemporary design including concrete columns, exposed brickwalls, timber-framed trussesand wood ceilings, thefocus is the altar Colombbursts with excitement when she walks through thenew church. She pointsout thechanges that have been made: n The wood beamsand ceilinghavebeen cleaned and re-stained.

DearHeloise: I’ve found that applying powdered eye shadow under my brows makes the individual hairs so much easier to see for plucking with tweezers. Also, Inolonger have to use bar soap or my hubby’s shaving cream to shave my legs. Adab of hair conditioner lets the razor glide easily over my legs and leaves my legs feeling so smooth and silky.Giv-

n There are now cream, softgreen, whiteand bronze tones throughout.

n Durable, white ceramic tiles now replace worn carpet.

n Ornamental gold details in the main aisle connect the baptistry to the altar.The details are also featured on theends of the pewsinaCeltic knot with a cross in the middle.

n Apendant lighting system was installed with dimmable LED ﬁxtures.

n Additional glass was addedtothe quiet room to improve sound control.

n Anew limestonebaptismalfontwith iridescent glass tile wasinstalled.

n There’snow alarger and permanent sanctuary

n The new crucifix is a replicaofacruciﬁx originally designedbythe Italian painter Giovanni Cimabue around 1265.

n New paintings wereinstalled for the Stations of the Cross, along with green upholstery forthe pew seats.

n Awall now separates theAdoration Chapelfrom the mainchurch.

BrianFalcon,a GFP Architecture and Design architect, is the project manager forSt. Patrick Church.

ing the razor aquick rinse under the faucet when I’m ﬁnished leaves the razor clean of residue and ready forthe next shave. Additionally,myblades last formuch longer because there’sless friction when it’sbeing used. —LaVonneS., inJoliet,Montana

Adryer sheetno-no

DearHeloise: Iread the hint from Paula on cleaning the dryer lint catcher by using the dryer sheet. How many times do people have to be told that this isn’tagood idea? Even used dryer sheets contain chemicals that will clog the meshlint catcher, which can possibly lead the dryer to overheat and maybe even cause a ﬁre. It’s best to use one’s ﬁngers or possibly an old toothbrush —anything that won’t leave behind a clogging agent. —RichardC., viaemail

Gardeningreminder

DearReaders: Just areminder that spring is creeping up on us! If you are getting ready to start your garden, remember that mulching in the spring will help retain water around plants that get alot of sun. —Heloise Send ahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

He hasbeen involvedfor almost 10 yearsonthe renovation project.

“I love seeing our worship space brought up to a beautiful level that reﬂects the glory of God. There wasatimeperiod in our architectural history where churches were sort of nondescript and anticlimactic, and people wereyearning for something to focus on,” Falcon said.

He added that the architecture of St. Patrick Church wasalready solid becauseofits contemporary design, but it wasimportant forhim to maintain the unique features of the space.

“Wewanted to keep what was best aboutitbecause this group of people has been working incredibly hard to make sure thatthis happens theway they believe,” Falcon said. The dedicationand first Mass is scheduled for 10 a.m. March21. Harshbarger hasorganizedthe day

Founding parishioners will be involvedaswell as Bishop Michael Duca, who will dedicate andbless the church. Former pastors andassociatepastorswill anoint the walls. Following the dedication, areception will continuethe celebration.

Father Miceli has written his thoughts forthe day:

”As we have completed renovating andrenewing this physical building, it is my hope and prayer that there will be agreater renewal andrevivalinthe real heart of the Church, and that of course is each and every one of us. May this renovation inspire in us arenewal of spirit and faith.”

Email Joy Holdenatjoy holden@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By MADDIESCOTT

Kiro Seafood Buffet,7677 Andrea Drive, in Baton Rougehas abuild-your-own hibachi station.

PHOTO PROVIDED

St. Patrick Catholic Church before renovation

Hints from Heloise

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Don't hesitate; if there is something you want, make your move. Don't promise more than you can deliver or let excessive behavior damage your reputation.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Stay focused on what you must do to maintain your lifestyle The more information you have, the easier it will be to make wise choices and sidestep trouble. Use your brain instead of your brawn.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Do your part and make a difference. How you reach out to people will determine how much help you receive in return. Avoid excessive behavior.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Proceed with caution. Letting your emotions take the lead will cost you if you go overboard. You have far more to gain by letting your actions speak for you.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Temptation will get the better of you if you aren't careful. Consider the consequences before you exaggerate, indulge or overspend. The right choice will encourage financial and personal growth.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Secrecy is a must when dealing with financial matters. Protect yourself, your rights and your health and economic well-being from anyone who doesn't fully support you.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) When opportunity knocks, open the door. If you hesitate, you will get left behind. A change

is within reach; all you must do is recognize the signals and respond to it.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct 23) Engage in events that interest you. The information you gather will help build a foundation for something that excites you. Follow your instincts and make things happen.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Homeimprovements will make life easier if you stick to your budget. Speak from the heart and clear up any issues that may stand between you and someone you love and respect.

sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Avoid sharing personal information or secrets that someone can use against you. Listen to what others say, but don't believe everything you hear. Protect your assets.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Shy away from conversations that are too personal. Sharing information that makes you feel uncomfortable will lead to trouble. Focus more on advancing professionally and boosting your bank account.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Protect your reputation. Don't mix business with pleasure. Indulgent behavior and temptation are prevalent and can easily test your willpower if you lack discipline.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

FAMILY CIrCUS

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

toDAy's cLuE: o EQuALs c

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY Mother GooSe And GrIMM

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

By PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

Stonewall Jackson,the Confederate general who died of pneumoniaatonly 39, said, “Alwaysmystify, mislead and surprise the enemyifpossible.” That certainly applies to bridge players, especially when the declarer.(It is usually dangerous for adefender to misleadhis partner.)

In this deal, South is in four hearts. Which cardshould declarer play at trick one after West leads the spade ace and East drops the four?

SouthknowsthatEasthasjustplayeda singleton (unless West made an unusual overcall in afour-cardsuit). But West does not know that.

Suppose South plays his spade seven. Then West will know it is safetocash his spade king, because Eastwould not have dropped the four from 10-4-2. And the same applies if South follows suit with his 10.

Instead, Southmust play his two. Then West will wonder if East started with 10-7-4.

Yes, West might still get it right, thinking that Eastwould have raisedtotwo spades with three trumps and forgetting that the auction suggests East has avery weak hand.

ButWest will be nervous about leadingthespadekingattricktwo,lestSouth ruffitand later get acritical discard on dummy’s spade queen.

If West continues spades, the defenders take twospades,one spade ruff and the club king to defeat the contract. If West doesanything else,the contract makes.Ifdeclareristryingtodisruptthe opponents’ signals, he shouldcopy their methods.Heshouldplaylowtotrytodiscourage acontinuation, or vice versa.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

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

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3

Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit wordsare not allowed toDAy’s WoRD LAnGuoR: LANG-ur: Weakness or weariness of body or mind.

Average mark10words

Timelimit 25 minutes

Can you find 20 or morewords in LANGUOR?

yEstERDAy’s WoRD —AVARIcE

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard fillmore

REQUISITION 11297733

OFFICIAL PUBLIC NOTICE OF THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL OF THE PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE AND THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE

Notice is hereby given to all citizens of the City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge and to all other interested persons, of the introduction at the regular meeting of the Metropolitan Council of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, held on March 11, 2026 of the proposed resolutions/ordinances, the titles of which areset forth hereinafter,and that public hearing will be held thereon by the Metropolitan Council at 4:00 P.M., Wednesday,March 25, 2026, in the Council Chambers (Room 348) on the third floor of the City-Parish Governmental Building in this City,these proposed resolutions/ordinances being entitled as follows:

ORDINANCE

Amending the 2026 current expense budget for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Community Center so as to appropriate $50,000 from the Center’s Fund Balance Designated for Community Centerstoprovide for stripping and waxing the floors of the community center at an estimated cost of $12,000, and remodeling the literacy lab, calming room,and game room at an estimated cost of $38,000. By Councilwoman Harris.

ORDINANCE

Amending Title 11 (TrafficCode), Chapter 6(DrivingonRightSide of Roadway; Overtaking and Passing; Use of Roadway), Section 11:73 (Drag Racing and Racing on Public Roads), so as to prohibit and add to the definition of “Spectator”; to provide for collection of fines; to provide for impound under state law; to provide for penalty of businesses; to add aprovision related to private roads and parking areas; to provide for injunctive relief; and to exempt designated areas. By Councilman Rowdy Gaudet.

RESOLUTION

Authorizing settlement of the matter entitled “Paula Williams v. City of Baton Rouge/Parish of East Baton Rouge and Patrick Wennemann”, Suit no. 718,300 on the docket of the 19th Judicial District Court, in the amount of $300,000.00, plus court costsinthe amount of $333.00, for atotal amount of $300,333.00; and appropriating $300,333.00 for such purpose. *This matter may be discussed in Executive Session. (Attorney of recordisBrady Patin). By Parish Attorney

ORDINANCE

Amend the 2026 Pay Plan for the Classified, Unclassified, Non-Classified, Contract, Fire, and Police Employees of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, adopted by Ordinance #19726, dated 12/09/2025, so as to make the following changes effective March 26, 2026. Add new classification: Program Administrator- Head Start (Classified), job code 2294, pay grade 2270 ($55,097 -$92,876); delete classification: Program Administrator -Head Start (Unclassified), job code 3605, pay grade 2270 ($55,097 -$92,876); and add classification to Classified &Unclassified Appendix I, Item 30: Program Administrator -Head Start (Step 14). By Human Resources Director and Director of Human Development and Services.

ORDINANCE

Amend the 2026 Allotment of Positions for the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, adopted by Ordinance #19727, dated 12/09/2025, so as to change the allotment of Human Development and Services/Head Start/Administration effective March 26, 2026. Human Development and Services/Head Start/Administration, add (1) Program Administrator -Head Start (Classified), job code 2294 and delete (1) Program Administrator -Head Start (Unclassified), job code 3605. By Human Resources Director and Director of Human Development and Services.

RESOLUTION

Authorizing the

Department charged to Account No.1000-5100-20-5140-0000-000000642200 in the amount of $58,452.11 annually,and funding for the Police Department charged to Account No.5010-642200 in the amount of $72,244.74 annually.ByPolice Chief.

RESOLUTION

Authorizing the Mayor-President, on behalfofthe Office of Community Development, to execute an amendment to Contract No.800007223 between the City of Baton Rouge/Parish of East Baton Rouge and Franklin Associates, LLC, to revise the Scope of Work to provide support for all CDBG-DRfunded projects and programs, and to authorizethe execution of all related documents. By CommunityDevelopment Director

RESOLUTION

Authorizing the Mayor-President, on behalfofthe Office of Community Development, to execute an amendment to Contract No.800007384 with Victoria’sVoice to increase the compensation by $7,000.00, resulting in a revised total not-to-exceed amount of $219,000.00, and to authorizethe execution of all related documents. By CommunityDevelopment Director

RESOLUTION

Requesting to amend Metro-Council Resolution59141 to include an amount not to exceed $8,790,734.85, commencing January 1, 2026, and continuing through December 31, 2028, with the optiontorenew for two (2) additional one-year terms, and to authorizethe execution of all documents necessary in connection therewith. By Homeland Securityand Emergency Preparedness Director

RESOLUTION

Authorizing the Mayor-President to enter into acontractual agreement on behalf of the Library BoardofControl with UpLIFTD, the designated State Use Program Work Center which is an agency of Employment Development Services, in the amount of $410,000 for grounds maintenance services for thelibrary system. By Library Director

RESOLUTION

Authorizing the Mayor-President to enter into an agreement with Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. formaintenance and support of ESRI GIS softwareinthe amount not to exceed $133,437.50. By Information Services Director

RESOLUTION

Authorizing the MayorPresident on behalfofthe Division of Human Development &Services Ryan White Program to accept funding from the US Department of Healthand Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, on behalfofthe Division of Human Development andServices for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program which includes Ryan White Ending the HIV epidemic (EHE)funding in an amount of $550,000.00 for the grant period of March 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027, and authorizing the execution of alldocumentsinconnection therewith. By Human Development &Services Director

RESOLUTION

Authorizing settlement of the pre-litigation claim of Brayden Downing for damages resulting from an auto accident caused by aBaton Rouge Police Officer,inthe amount of $18,500.00, which amount shall be paid from the account designated “Insurance –Auto Liability”(1000.4700.10.0550.0000.000.000000.644120).*Thismatter may be discussed in Executive Session. (Attorney of recordisChris Shows, Pierce and Shows).ByParish Attorney

RESOLUTION

Authorizing the Mayor-President to execute aSupplemental Agreement No.1 to the Entity StateAgreement with the StateofLouisiana, Department of Transportation and Development, in connection with State Project No.H.004100 –I-10 (LA 415 to Essen Lane) on Interstate 10 and Interstate-12, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. By Transportation and Drainage Director

RESOLUTION

Authorizing the Mayor-President to execute aContract for Professional Engineering Services Design Study with ArcadisU.S., Inc. forservices associated with MOVEBR Capacity Project SouthFlannery Road (Goodwood Blvd to Florida Blvd),being City-Parish Project No.24-CP-

HC-0034, in an amount not to exceed $1,247,625.59.(Account No. 9217100092-4370.00000-0000000000-653240). By Transportation and Drainage Director RESOLUTION

Rescinding anddirecting the Clerk of Court to cancel the NoticetoAttend recorded on January 12, 2026, at Original21ofBundle 13413 andthe Decision andOrder recorded on February 18, 2026, at Original492 of Bundle 13418 in the matterof“City of Baton Rouge vs. DK Fashion LLC” -Condemnation Proceeding No. 11729 (4472 Clayton St., Lot 13 &14, Square3,North Highlands Addition Subdivision). Reason for rescission: Title andownership issues. By Department of Development RESOLUTION

Authorization to appropriate $1,275,000.00fromthe Airport’scash account Capital Improvements (5810-0000-00-0000-0000-0000-000000100009) $250.000.00 to be placed in 9191 Plank Rd Roof Replacement Improvement Projects(9800000119-582200000-0000000000-652800), $175.000.00 to fund Baggage Screening HVAC Replacement project (9800000120-582200000-0000000000-652800), $650.000.00 to fund RentalCar Garage Renovations(9800000121-582200000-0000000000652800),& $200.000.00 to fund Terminal BoilerReplacement(9800000122582200000-0000000000-652800), (BS #008929).ByAviation Director CONDEMNATION INTRODUCTIONS

Rolanda Gayle HarrellJackson, RooseveltHarrell, Jr.&Mildred Abbott Harrell 6064 Plank Rd., Lots 1, 2&3 Langlois Place Subdivision -Council District 5-Hurst

Lourdes L. Carrasco 9435 Prescott Rd. (Duplex with Addresses 9435 &9437 Prescott Rd. and Unpermitted Fence), Lot 37 Monterrey Park Subdivision -Council District 5-Hurst

Prudent Acquisitions, L.L.C. 4112 ShelleySt.,Lot 1, Sq. C Highland Park Place Subdivision -Council District 5-Hurst

Sheila MarieEarlsCrocram 4354 ShelleySt.,Lot 5, Sq. 2 North Highlands Addition Subdivision -Council District 5-Hurst

Vote Louisiana 1566 NAcadian Thwy W(Duplex

for the purpose of acquiring amineral lease(s) or ageophysical agr eement( s), provided and corrected exclusively by the nominating party.Therefore, any mineral lease(s) or geophysical agr eement (s) awarded by the Louisiana State Mineral and Energy Board(Mineral Board) from the Tract(s) listed below arewithout warranty of any kind,

express, implied or

including, but not limited to,

or the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for aparticular purpose. An error or omission in the nominating party’sTract descriptionmay requirethat aState mineral lease(s) or geophysical agreement(s) be modified, canceled or abrogated due to the existence of conflicting leases, operating agreements, private claimsorother futureobligations or conditions within the Tract(s) described. In such case, however the Mineral Board shall not be obligated to refund any consideration paid by the Lessee prior to such modification, cancellation or abrogation including, but not

Tract(s) available for leasing may be situated in the Louisiana Coastal Zone as defined in Act 361 of the Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature of 1978 (promulgated as LSA-R.S.49:213) and may be subject to the guidelines and regulations promulgated by the Office of Coastal Management of the Department of Conservation and Energy for operations in the Coastal Zone. Further, in accordance with Article XII, Section 10 of the Constitution of Louisiana, and notwithstanding any language herein to the contrary,any mineral rights granted by the Mineral and Energy Boardtothe tract(s) advertised herein are subject to the surface usage for integrated coastal protectionor hurricane and flood protectionprojects promulgated, funded and effected through the State of Louisiana, the Louisiana Coastal Protectionand Restoration Authority, the Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration, and the Department of Conservation and Energy and its divisions,

whether solely or in conjunctionwith other state, local or federal governmental agencies or with private individuals or entities.

Bids may be for the whole or any particularly described portion of the land advertised, but no bids will be accepted that does not equal the Minimum Royalty as set forth in La. R.S. 30:127 or which are not in compliance with the provisions of Sub-part Aof Chapter 2, Title 30 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, other applicable laws or the guidelines established by the Boardthrough the Office of State Resources. The Minimum Royalty is not to be construed as an amount acceptable to the Mineral Board, it being the policy of the Mineral Boardto reject any bid which does not reflect tract potential. The Board considers bonus, royalty percentage, and also compares royalty granted to landowners in the area.

Multiple portion bids on the sametract may be accepted by the Mineral Board, even though they overlap. In the case of overlapping portion bids on the same tract, each of which is otherwise acceptable to the State, the Mineral Boardhas the sole discretion, to determine which one of the multiple bids on the same tract is most advantageous and in the best interest of the State. The Mineral Board may base it decision on factors such as but not limited to the royalty,per acrecash payment, bonus, any additional consideration. The selected bid, (referred to as “Bid A”), will be given priority in having alease issued. The Mineral Board will also indicate the acceptability of other portion bids on the sametract, if any in the order of their acceptance (referred to respectively as “Bid B”, “Bid C”, etc.). Once the plat of “Bid A” ‘s portion has been rendered as accurately as possible, “Bid B” will be contacted and given an option to take alease on the remaining portion of his portion bid acreage not overlapping “Bid A” ‘s bid portion, at “Bid B’ ‘s per acrebid price (both as to bonus and rental); and thereafter each successive bidder whose bid is otherwise acceptable will be given the option to take a lease on whatever portion remains of his portion bid acreage at his respective per acrebid price, less and except any prior portion bid acreage on which the successful bidder has opted to take alease.

The Mineral and Energy Boarddoes not obligate itself to accept any bid, and that acceptance is at the sole discretion of the Mineral Board which reserves the right to reject any and all bids or to grant a lease on any portion of the tract advertised and to withdraw the remainder of the tract.

Add itio nal requirements to be included in all sealed bidssubmitted to the Office of State Resources and additional tract information associated with each tract advertised can be found at the Office of State Resources website titled “Notice of Publication” located at: https://www.denr louisiana.gov / page/not ice -ofpublication-202512. It is the bidders’ responsibility to properly complete the bid package pursuant to the requirements stated in both the public notice and the Notice of Publication.

The rights to ge otherma l resources, free sulphur,potash, lignite, salt and other solid minerals aretobeexcluded fromany oil orgas mineral lease and any bid purporting to include those rights will bedisregarded as to the extent of those rights only

If you require accom mod at io ns due to adisability in order to attend or participate in a meeting, please notify the Office of State Resources at P.O. Box2827, Baton Rouge, LA 708212827 or 225-3424615 at least two (2) working days before the meeting date.

INLAND TRACTS (Tract Nos. 46036 through46038 inclusive, herein cannot specify a lease primaryterm exceeding three (3) years).

TRACT 46036Webster Parish, Louisiana

All of the lands now or formerly constituting the beds and bottoms of all water bodies of every natureand description as to which title is vested in the State of Louisiana, together with all islands arising therein and other lands formed by accretion or by reliction, whereallowed by law,exceptingtax adjudicated lands, and not presently under mineral lease on April 8, 2026, situated in Webster Parish, Louisiana, and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at apoint being the Northeast corner of State Lease No. 22300 having Coordinates of X= 1,730,791.00 and Y =651,211.00; thence North 01 degrees 04 minutes 41 seconds East 5,227.01 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 1,730,889.34 and Y =656,437.08; thence North 89 degree 56 minutes 51 seconds East 4,998.52 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 1,735,887.86 and Y =656,441.66; thence South 00 degrees 56 minutes 02 seconds West 5,340.58 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 1,735,800.82 and Y =651,101.78; thence South 00 degree 56 minutes 02 seconds West 5,335.18 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 1,735,713.86 and Y =645,767.31 also being the Northeast corner of State Lease No. 21962; thence North 88 degree 14 minutes 59 seconds West 5,036.34 feet to apoint being the Northwest corner of said State Lease No. 21962 having Coordinates of X= 1,730,679.86 and Y =645,921.14; thence North 02 degrees 35 minutes 45 seconds East 2,652.58 feet to apoint being the Southeast corner State Lease No. 22294 having Coordinates of X= 1,730,800.00 and Y =648,571.00; thence North 00 degrees 11 minutes 43 seconds West 2,640.02 feet back to the point of beginning, (This lease includes only waterbottoms claimed and owned by the state and specifically excludes any land which the state mayclaim or own and to which the mineralrights arevested in the state), containing approximately 608 acres.

TRACT 46037Acadia Parish, Louisiana All of the lands now or formerly constituting the beds and bottoms of all water bodies of every natureand description as to which title is vested in the State of Louisiana, together with all islands arising therein and other lands formed by accretion or by reliction, whereallowed by law,exceptingtax adjudicated lands, and not presently

under mineral lease on April 8, 2026, situated in Acadia Parish, Louisiana, and moreparticularly described as follows: Beginning at apoint having Coordinates of X= 1,624,130.00 and Y =567,250.00; thence South 5,000.00 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 1,624,130.00 and Y =562,250.00; thence West 3,000.00 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 1,621,130.00 and Y =562,250.00; thence North 5,000.00 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 1,621,130.00 and Y=567,250.00; thence East 3,000.00 feet to the point of beginning, containing approximately 3 acres.

TRACT 46038Acadia Parish, Louisiana All of the lands now or formerlyconstituting the beds and bottoms of all water bodies of every natureand description as to which title is vested in the StateofLouisiana, together with all islands arising therein and other lands formed by accretion or by reliction, whereallowed by law,excepting tax adjudicated lands, and not presently under mineral lease on April8,2026, situated in Acadia Parish, Louisiana, and moreparticularly described as follows: Beginning at apoint having Coordinates of X=1,624,130.00 and Y= 567,250.00; thence East 3,000.00 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 1,627,130.00 and Y =567,250.00; thence South 5,000.00 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 1,627,130.00 and Y =562,250.00; thence West 3,000.00 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 1,624,130.00 and Y =562,250.00; thence North 5,000.00 feet to the point of beginning, containing approximately 3 acres.

STATEAGENCY

TRACTS (Tract Nos. 46039 through 46046 inclusive, herein cannot specify a lease primary term exceeding three (3) years).

TRACT 46039Webster Parish, Louisiana Acertain Tract of land, excluding the beds and bottoms of all navigable waters, belonging to and not presently under mineral lease from Department Of Culture, Recreation &Tourism-Office Of State Parks on April 8, 2026, being morefully described as follows: Beginning at aPoint being the Northeast corner of State Lease No.22300 having Coordinates of X= 1,730,791.00 and Y =651,211.00; thence North 01 degrees 23 minutes 06 seconds East 1,737.51 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 1,730,833.00 and Y =652,948.00; thence North 22 degree 42 minutes 50 seconds East 2,809.93 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 1,731,918.00 and Y =655,540.00; thence East 4,517.00 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 1,736,435.00 and Y =655,540.00; thence South 4,541.00 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 1,736,435.00 and Y =650,999.00; thence South 48 degrees 34 minutes 39 seconds West 7,675.04 feet to apoint being the Northwest corner of State Lease No.21962 having Coordinates of X= 1,730,679.86 and Y =645,921.14; thence North 02 degree 35 minutes 45 seconds East 2,652.58 feet to apoint having Coordinates of X= 1,730,800.00 and Y =648,571.00 also being the Southeast corner of State Lease No.22294; thence North 00 degree 11 minutes 43 seconds West 2,640.02 feet back to the point of

beginning, containing ap pr ox ima tely 303 acres.The description is based on information provided by the State Agency regarding location and ownership of surface and mineral rights.

NOTE: The Lessee shall not enter nor conduct any activity on the property without prior written consent of the Lessor TRACT 46040Caddo Parish, Louisiana Acertain Tract of land, excluding the beds and bottoms of allnavigablewaters, belonging to and not presently under mineral lease from Town Of Greenwood on April 8, 2026, being morefully described as follows: Allofthe certain tractorparcel of land acquired by the Town of Greenwood, situated in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, and being morefully described as follows: Allofthe road beds lying within Section 23, Township 17 North, Range 16 West, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, owned by the Town of Greenwood, co ntaining appr ox ima tely 6.8203 acres.The description is based on information provided by the State Agency regarding location and ownership of surface and mineral rights.

TRACT 46041Caddo Parish, Louisiana

AcertainTract of land, excluding the beds and bottoms of allnavigablewaters, belonging to and not presentlyunder mineral lease from City Of Shreveport on April 8, 2026, being morefully described as follows: Certain tracts located in Sections 28 and 33, Township 17 North, Range 14 West, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, more particularlydescribed as follows:

Tract 1: Those certain road dedications located in Sections 28 &33, Township 17 North, Range 14 West, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, known as Amelia Avenue, Bordeaux Court, Bordeaux Drive, Calais Court, Chateau Drive, Classic Circle, Clint Drive, Frostwood Drive, Joffrion Drive, Jonathan Lane, Legion Circle, Liaison Drive, Lotus Lane, Marseille Drive, Millard Street, MoselleDrive, Oak Street, Price Lane, Silver Pine Boulevard, Silver Pine Lane, StandardOil Road, TrannieLane, Valley View Drive, and all unnamed or unbuilt roads, containing 39.9130 acres,more or less, all located in Caddo Parish Louisiana.

Tract 2: Those certain adjudicated tracts located in Section 33, Township 17 North, Range 14 West, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, being described as atract of land being 80 feet by 113 feet being located in the Southwest Quarter (SW/4) of the Northeast Quarter (NE/4) of Section 33, Township17North, Range 14 West, with aGeo. #171433000-0128 containing .2076 acres; and a tract of land being the East 80 feet of the West 285.81 feet of the South6.2 feet of the Northeast Quarter (NE/4) of Section 33, Township17North, Range 14 West, with aGeo. #171433007-0176 containing .0114 acres; said adjudicated property total acreage being 0.2190 acres,more or less, allwithin Section 33, T17N R14W,all in Caddo Parish, Louisiana.

The total of the above described tracts is 40.132 acres,moreorless. The description is based on information provided by the State Agency regarding location and

ownershipofsurface and mineral rights.

NOTE: Lessee, it’ssuccessors or assigns, may produce oil, gas and other mineralsfrom the leased premises by drilling from a surface location on other lands, but notwithstanding any other provision of this lease, Lessee, it’ssuccessors or assigns, shall not use the surface of the Lessor’sproperty for drilling or any other operations without prior written permission of Lessor which permission may be withheld at Lessor’sdiscretion.

NO TE : Notwith standi ng anything to the contrary herein contained, at the end of the primary term or any extension thereof by operations, if the Commission of Conservation of the State of Louisiana establishes adrilling unit which included apart of the land herein leased, the production of oil,gas and other minerals from such unit shall maintainthis lease in full force and effect onlyastosuch portions of the leased land embraced in saidpooled unit; and this lease shall expire as to that part of the land herein leased not included in such unit; and lessee, its successors and assigns agrees to relinquish by formal instrument any portion of the leased land not included in aunit created by the Commission of Conservation while this lease is in effect.

NOTE: Upon the expiration of the primary term hereof or any extension thereof by operations, this lease shall automat ically terminate and be of no further force or effect except as to all thatpart of the leased premises then included within the geographical boundaries of a producing unit dulyestablished by governmental agency or authority having jurisdiction, from the surface of the earth to adepth of 100 feet below the deepest depth from which any well commenced during the primary term hereof on the leased premises or on lands pooled therewith is completed and from which thereis production in paying quantities, such depth determination to be made on a unit by unit basis. In the absence of units so established, this lease shall terminate except as to 40 acres around each producing oilwell and 160 acres around each producing or shut-in gas well located on the leased premises, in as near the form of asquare as is practicable, from the surface of the earth down to adepth of 100 feet below the deepest depth from which saidwellorwells arecompleted and from which thereis production in paying quantities, such depth determination to be made on awell by well basis.

NOTE: The City of Shreveport will requirea minimum bonus of $3,000.00 per acreand a minimum royalty of not less than twentyfive percent 25%.

TRACT 46042Caddo Parish, Louisiana AcertainTract of land, excluding the beds and bottoms of allnavigablewaters, belonging to and not presentlyunder mineral lease from City Of Shreveport on April 8, 2026, being morefully described as follows: Those certain adjudicated tracts located in Sections 28 and 33, Township17 North, Range 14 West, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, more particularlydescribed as follows:

Those certain adjudicated tracts located in Sections 28, Township 17 North, Range 14 West, Caddo Parish, Louisiana,described as atract of land beginning at the Northwest (NW) corner of Lot 158 of Meadow Subdivision, Unit No. 3, andrun South 59 degrees 02 minutes 05 seconds East 252.64 feet to apoint on the Northwest (NW) right-of-way line of Bordeaux Court, thenceNorth 65 degrees 34 minutes 21 seconds West 29.34 feet,thence North 58 degrees 10 minutes 43 seconds West 223.52 feet to the point of beginning with aGeo.#171428012-0182, containing 0.0121 acres, Lot 42, JenkinsAcres Subdivision Geo. #171428- 0130042, containing .9989 acres, said adjudicated property totalacreagebeing 1.011 gross acres moreorless and 0.5055 net acres within Section 28, T17N, R14W,all in Caddo Parish, Louisiana,and

Those certain adjudicated tracts located in Sections 33, Township 17 North, Range 14 West, Caddo Parish, Louisiana,described as atract of land located in SilverPine Village Subdivision Unit No. 1, being described as the East 85.81 feet of the West 125.81 feet of the South 6.2feet of the North Half (N/2)of the Northeast Quarter (NE/4)ofSection 33, Township 17 North, Range 14 West, with aGeo.#171433007-0178 containing .0124 acres; atract of land located in Silver Pine Village Subdivision,Unit No. 1, being described as the East 345 feet of the West 1,313.29 feet of the South 6.2feet of the North Half (N/2)ofthe Northeast Quarter (NE/4)ofSection 33, Township 17 North, Range 14 West, with aGeo.#171433008-0163 containing .0504 acres; anda tract of land located in SilverPine Village Subdivision,Unit No. 1, being described as the East 636.37 feet of the West 1,949.66 feet of the South 6.2feet of the North Half (N/2)of the Northeast Quarter (NE/4)ofSection 33, Township 17 North, Range 14 West, with aGeo.#171433009-0149 containing .1303 acres, said adjudicated property totalacreagebeing 0.1931 gross acres moreorless and 0.0966 net acres, within Section 33, T17N, R14W,all in Caddo Parish, Louisiana

The totalofthe above described tractsis 1.2041 acres gross acres,moreorless and 0.6020 net acres,moreorless. The description is based on information provided by the State Agency regarding location and ownership of surface andmineral rights.

NOTE: Lessee, it’ssuccessors or assigns, may produce oil, gas and other minerals from the leased premises by drilling from a surface location on other lands,but notwithstanding any other provision of this lease, Lessee, it’ssuccessors or assigns, shall not usethe surface of the Lessor’sproperty for drilling or any other operations without prior written permission of Lessor whichpermission may be withheld at Lessor’sdiscretion.

apart of the land herein leased, the production of oil, gas andotherminerals from such unit shall maintain this lease in full force andeffect only as to such portions of the leased land embraced in said pooled unit; and this lease shall expire as to thatpart of the land herein leased not includedinsuch unit; andlessee, its successors and assigns agrees to relinquish by formal instrument any portion of the leased land not included in aunit created by the Commission of Conservation while this lease is in effect

NOTE: Upon the expiration of the primary term hereof or anyextension thereof by operations, this lease shall au tomatically terminateand be of no furtherforce or effect except as to allthatpart of the leased premises thenincludedwithin the geographical boundaries of a producing unit duly established by governmental agency or authority having jurisdiction, from the surface of the earthtoa depth of 100 feet below the deepest depth from whichany well commenced during the primary term hereof on the leased premisesoronlands pooled therewith is completedand from whichthere is production in paying quantities, such depth determination to be made on a unit by unit basis. In the absence of units so established, this lease shall terminate except as to 40 acres around each producing oil well and160 acres around each producing or shut-in gas well located on the leased premises, in as near the form of asquare as is practicable, from the surface of the earthdown to adepthof100 feet below the deepest depth from which said well or wells arecompleted and from whichthere is production in paying quantities, such depth determination to be made on awell by well basis.

NOTE: The City of Shreveport will requirea minimum bonus of $3,000.00 per acreand a minimum royalty of not less thantwentyfive percent25%.

TRACT 46043Caddo Parish, Louisiana AcertainTract of land,excluding the beds andbottoms of allnavigable waters, belonging to and not presently under mineral lease from Caddo Parish on April 8, 2026, being morefully described as follows: Atract of land being more particularly described by the metesand bounds in thatcertain Cash Sale Deed, dated April 13, 2000, by andbetween DonaldSmith Coleman, husband of Dora A. Coleman, as Vendor,and Parish of Caddo, being atax exempt governing agency,asVendee, filedunderRegistry Number 1699178, recorded in Book 3385, Page 26, under Registry Number 1699178. TaxParcel #161403000017800 AN D #161403052000200 containing 8.000 acres,moreorless. The description is based on information provided by the State Agency regarding location and ownership of surface andmineral rights.

NOTE:

and from whichthere is production in paying quantities, such depth determination to be made on awell by well basis.

NOTE: The Parish of Caddo will require aminimum bonus of $3,000.00 per acreand aminimum royalty of not less than1/4th or 25%.

NOTE: This lease shall exclude free sulphur,potash, lignite,saltand any other hard or solid mineral. Lessee shall not have anyrights to explore, drill for,mine produce or take any action whatsoever in regardtoany such hard or solid mineral deposits.

TRACT 46044Caddo Parish, Louisiana AcertainTract of land,excluding the beds andbottoms of allnavigable waters, belonging to and not presently under mineral lease from City Of Shreveport on April 8, 2026, being morefully described as follows: Certain tractsand dedicated Subdivision Roads andDrainageAreas located in Section 3, Township 16 North, Range 14 West, Caddo Parish, Louisiana more particularly described as follows:

Tract 1- Arnold’s SouthernHills, being moreparticularly described by that

NOTE: Lessee, it’ssuccessors or assigns, may produce oil, gas and other minerals from the leased premises by drilling from a surface location on other lands,but notwithstanding any other provision of this lease, Lessee, it’ssuccessors or assigns, shall not use the surface of the Lessor’sproperty for drilling or any other operations without prior written permission of Lessor, whichpermission may be withheld at Lessor’sdiscretion.

on thepropertylocated at 11830 Greenwell SpringsRoadTorezone from LightCommercial (C1) andHeavy Commer‐cial (C2) to Single Family Residential(A1)and Sin‐gleFamilyResidential (A2.7) on property lo‐catedonthe