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Councilapprovessweepingraises

BY PATRICKSLOAN-TURNER

Staff writer

City-parish workers in Baton Rouge will soon receive their ﬁrst pay raises in years, after the East BatonRouge Parish MetroCouncil approved widespreadsalary increases Wednesday

BroughtbyMayor-President Sid Edwards and supported by the council’sDemocrats, the $8 million annual plan will give employ-

ees varying pay-scale increases.

Tencouncil members voted to approvethe measure, while Dwight Hudson voted against it.

“I have alot of emotions right now,”Edwards said. “A lot of it is that our council, the 10-1 vote, theydid it together, they did it bipartisan.”

Edwards’ chief operations ofﬁcer,Christel Slaughter,said the Mayor’sOfficeisproposing to freeze 100 positions to support

theraises, along with other restructuring.

She expectsthis to free up $4.6 million which would cover much of thegeneral fund’sportion of associated costs. The raises will amount to an average monthly pay increase of about $241 for employees.

Dozensofcity-parish employees and ahandful of members of

Department of Public Works employee

Byron Davis, standing, and others celebrate the Metro Council’svote on Wednesday.

Sen. RoyceDuplessis, D-New Orleans, from left,and Sen.Gerald Boudreaux, D-Lafayette, speak Tuesdaytocommittee Chair Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter,R-PortAllen, during aSenate and Governmental Affairs Committee meeting

Senate OKscongressional

Cleo Fields’House seat targeted forelimination

BY TYLERBRIDGES Staff writer

Republicans who control theLouisiana Legislature are moving forward with erasing one of the state’stwo Black-majority congressional districts, after aSenate committee approved aplan to do so earlyWednesday morning afteranall-night hearing.

The bill wouldessentially return Louisiana to the congressional map it

had in 2022 that produced ﬁve safe Republican seats and one New Orleansanchored Democratseat,won that year by U.S. Rep. Troy Carter

The Senatevoted 27-10 on partisan lines Wednesday afternoon, with Democrats opposed, to suspend its rules to be able to take up themeasure, SenateBill 121, on Thursday Afterbattling throughout thenight, Democrats plan to continue raising objections to SB121, withSen. Sam

Pre-pandemic learning levels surpassed

BY ELYSE CARMOSINO and PATRICK WALL Staff writers

Louisiana students areoutpacing their peers in most states in reading andmath growth,evenasmuchofthe country strugglestorecover from a“learningrecession,” according to anew report. Louisiana rankedfirst among statesin reading growth and second in mathprogress from 2022 to 2025,accordingtothe latest “Education Scorecard,” which analyzed test scores from nearly40states.The District of Columbia came out ahead when included in therankings Louisiana also wasthe only state to surpass pre-pandemic learning levels in both subjects —adistinction it also achieved on the last scorecard. Still, the progress was uneven, with someschool districts yet to get most students’ scores back to pre-2020 levels.

Jenkins of Shreveport saying, “itisripe forlegal challenges.”

Rep.Edmond Jordan,DBatonRouge, whochairs theLegislative Black Caucus, promised alawsuit calling for the creation of two winnable seats for Democrats.

In the meantime, Jenkins conceded “The (Republican) majority is full speed ahead with this map. Idoubt that any attempt to amend it will succeed We may be stuck withwhat we have.”

BREC announcesfinalistfor superintendent post

BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer

The East Baton Rouge Parish Recreation andPark Commission unanimously voted Wednesday to move forward with hiring Brooks Williams as the park agency’snext superintendent.

The commission picked Williams from three ﬁnalists to begin negotiations with for the position, according to theBaton Rouge parks agency Williams is currently thecity manager and

“We’re pleased but not satisﬁed,” state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said in an interview.“We have to maintain that momentum.”

To getthe results, researchersatHarvard,Stanford andDartmouth analyzed test scores forstudents in grades 3-8in over 5,800 school districts across 38 states. They found that students in moststates made little progress in reading over the past three years, continuing anational slowdowninlearning that began more than adecade ago and wasworsened by thepandemic’sschool disruptions. Students nationally are still about half a grade level behind pre-pandemic reading scores, and doing only slightly better in math.

Williams

CEO for the city of Ferris, Texas. He also has adoctorate in publicadministration. “Williams brings astrong operational mindset and aproven track record of improving organizational effectiveness,”said Mike Polito, chairofthe commission. “Webelieve Williamsisexceptionally well-positioned to lead BREC forwardand continue building astrongfuture for our organizationand the community.”

The national search for anew BREC superintendent follows former superintendent CoreyWilson’sMarch 2025 announcement that he would not seek acontract renewal. Janet Simmonshas servedasinterim superintendent since June 2025.

The agency will have undergone multiple stafﬁng-related shake-ups this year.Along withsuperintendent changes, the parks system laid offanestimated 90 to 100 employees in 2026 as theorganization undergoes

ä See BREC, page 4A

STAFFPHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS Gov. Jeff Landryisjoined Wednesday by Park Elementarystudents during a presentation about the state’sprogress in education.

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

ä See RAISES, page 4A

NTSB urges training to deal with cockpit smoke

Safety experts recommended Wednesday that airlines develop realistic training to prepare their pilots to deal with smoke ﬁlling the cockpit like what happened on a Southwest Airlines plane after a bird strike.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilots who safely landed that plane back in New Orleans told investigators that the situation they encountered was far more challenging than anything they had ever experienced in training.

“If such an event occurred at night or in instrument meteorological conditions, the consequences could be catastrophic,” the NTSB determined.

The Federal Aviation Administration receives reports of smoke in the cockpit almost daily, but the NTSB said the agency still doesn’t require airlines to conduct realistic smoke-incockpit simulations. Instead the training usually just consists of a discussion of what to do in that situation. The FAA didn’t immediately respond Wednesday to the new recommendation

The Southwest pilots at the controls during this incident in December 2023 said they had trouble seeing their instruments and checklists They quickly donned oxygen masks and followed emergency procedures to land. None of the 139 people aboard were hurt.

Gastroenteritis outbreak confines 1,700 to ship

PARIS Over 1,700 passengers and crew on a British cruise ship were ordered to remain on board after an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness, French authorities said Wednesday

The Ambition was midway through a 14-night cruise from Belfast and Liverpool that was due to take in ports in northern Spain and along France’s Atlantic coast. It reached Bordeaux on Tuesday evening, according to the operator, Ambassador Cruise Line.

The prefect of NouvelleAquitaine region and Gironde department, Étienne Guyot, suspended disembarkation from the Ambition and restricted the vessel’s interactions with the port of Bordeaux.

He acted on the recommendation of the regional health agency, the Agence Régionale de Santé Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the joint statement said.

Up to 50 passengers showed symptoms consistent with acute digestive infection after the ship’s captain alerted French authorities on Tuesday evening, the statement said.

Those affected were treated by the ship’s doctor and isolated in their cabins.

Murkowski flips on Iran vote

Senate Republicans again block Democratic legislation to halt war with Iran

sylvania the only Democrat to oppose it, yet the close tally reﬂected growing unease with Trump’s war

Several other Republican senators have signaled they want Congress to weigh in on the direction of the conﬂict.

the war and has circumvented legal requirements to gain approval from Congress to continue the military campaign. It claims that it has “terminated” hostilities with Iran because the U.S has entered a ceaseﬁre.

doesn’t appear that hostilities have ended.”

‘Ocean Dream’ diamond sells for more than $17M

GENEVA A 5.5-carat triangularcut diamond billed as the largest fancy vivid blue-green diamond known to exist sold for more than $17.3 million on Wednesday, Christie’s said, calling it a record price for a stone of its kind.

The “Ocean Dream,” the standout offer at the auction house’s Geneva sale of jewelry, was found in central Africa in the 1990s. The price easily topped the presale estimate to fetch around $9 million to $13 million.

Rahul Kadakia, president of Christie’s Asia Paciﬁc, said that an unspeciﬁed private client was the buyer, and the stone took about 20 minutes to sell an indication that interest was high. The price was more than double that of the roughly $8.5 million that the gem, which was featured among rare colored diamonds at the Smithsonian Splendour of Diamonds Exhibition in 2003, sold for at Christie’s in 2014

BY STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press

WASHINGTON Senate Republicans on Wednesday again blocked Democratic legislation that would halt President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, but the number of GOP senators voting against the war grew Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against the war for the ﬁrst time since it began at the end of February Two other Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, also voted against the war as they had done previously

The war powers legislation ultimately failed to advance 49-50, with Sen John Fetterman of Penn-

“There will be a day and it might be soon, I believe — where this Senate will say to the president, ‘Stop this war,’” Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who has spearheaded his party’s tactic of forcing repeated votes on the war, said before the vote.

Even if it passes the Senate, a war powers resolution would have a slim chance of passing the House and would also certainly be vetoed by Trump. But Democrats say the votes are about building political pressure on the president either to withdraw from the conﬂict or seek congressional authorization to wage the war

The White House, meanwhile, has asserted that it does not need congressional authorization for

That posture has created tension between the Republican-controlled Congress and the White House because presidents under the War Powers Resolution of 1973 are required to obtain authorization from Congress after 60 days of engaging in a conﬂict.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers this week that the U.S. could start attacking Iran again without the White House seeking congressional approval He told Murkowski during a hearing on Tuesday that the Trump administration believes it has “all the authorities necessary.” Murkowski voiced skepticism about that argument. She pointed to the troops and war ships deployed to the region, saying, “It

Senate confirms Trump pick Warsh as Fed chair

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh bringing new leadership to the world’s most powerful central bank at a fraught moment for the global economy

Warsh, 56, a former top Fed ofﬁcial, was conﬁrmed Wednesday in a largely party-line 54-45 vote and will replace Jerome Powell as chair at an unusually dif-

ﬁcult time for the independent agency

Inﬂation has topped the Fed’s 2% target for ﬁve years and is now rising faster because of spiking gas prices. The Fed’s interest rate-setting committee is divided and saw the most dissenting votes in more than three decades last month. And Powell, after years of personal attacks from Trump and an unprecedented Justice Department investigation, plans to remain on the Fed’s board even after his term as chair ends, potentially creating a competing power center

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that it’s critical that a Fed chair “understand not only the macro” but also “appreciate the microeconomy: and that’s the hardworking Americans, their jobs and their livelihoods.”

“Kevin Warsh is just such a person,” Thune said.

Trump has demanded change at Fed

The Fed has faced threats to its independence from Trump, who has repeatedly attacked Powell for not cutting interest rates Trump also sought to ﬁre Fed governor Lisa Cook and launched an investigation into Powell’s Senate testimony about a building renovation

The probe of Powell had threatened to derail Warsh’s nomination as Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina vowed to withhold support until the investigation was terminated. The probe was ultimately dropped in April. Every Republican voted for Warsh on Wednesday, as did Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.

Kevin Hassett, director of the White House’s National Economic Council, said in a Fox News interview on Sunday that he believes the markets are relieved that Warsh “is going to help lower interest rates over time.”

“Obviously, data driven,” said Hassett.

“I’m not putting any pressure on Kevin Warsh.”

In December, Trump said on his social media platform that he wanted a Fed chair who would cut interest rates

when the stock market rose — the opposite of what traditional economics would prescribe — and added, “Anyone that disagrees with me will never be the Fed chairman!”

Trump’s comments have fueled concerns over whether Warsh will set rates based on economic conditions or instead seek to appease Trump, even if doing so could worsen inﬂation. At Warsh’s conﬁrmation hearing last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, derided him as a “sock puppet” for Trump.

“I will be an independent actor if conﬁrmed as chair of the Federal Reserve,” Warsh said.

Critic of the Fed’s leadership in past Warsh has been highly critical of the Fed’s recent track record, particularly the inﬂation spike in 2021-22, the worst in four decades.

He has called for limiting the Fed’s communications, which would be a sharp shift after decades of growing transparency He has argued that some of its communications tools, such as quarterly forecasts of where its key rate may head, have made it harder for ofﬁcials to switch gears.

Senate Democrats have also condemned Warsh for not fully divulging the details of his wealth, which amounts to at least $100 million. His investments include stakes in Polymarket and SpaceX, but he hasn’t revealed the size of those holdings. He promised to sell all such assets within 90 days of being sworn in.

Difficult economic conditions

The Fed is still grappling with how to respond to the 50% spike in gas prices caused by the war in Iran. The increase has boosted inflation, which reached 3.8% in April.

The Fed is tasked by Congress with keeping prices stable, which it seeks to do by raising its short-term rate to make borrowing and spending more expensive, cooling growth and inﬂation.

The Fed typically looks past temporary price increases that stem from supply disruptions such as the war’s cutoff of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, because those prices typically level off or even fall — once supply is restored.

But the Fed also followed that approach after the coronavirus pandemic snarled global supply chains. Inflation turned out to last longer than expected, and Powell and other Fed officials have acknowledged that they waited too long to raise rates. Inflation surged to 9.1% by June 2022.

Republican leadership has continued to back the war with Iran, arguing that the stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz that has blocked most commercial shipping puts more economic pressure on Iran than it does on the U.S.

“Iran’s economy is on life support. Its leadership is eliminated,” said Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Republican in leadership, during a ﬂoor speech Wednesday He also argued that the Democratic effort on the war is all about undermining Trump. Forcing the issue just as he arrived in China for a summit would “pull out the rug from under him,” Barrasso said.

Democrats plan to keep forcing weekly votes on war powers resolutions and are looking ahead to put limitations on Trump during the debate over annual legislation that authorizes and funds the military

Prosecutors to retry S.C. murder case after court ruling

BY JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C — Alex

Murdaugh’s murder convictions and life sentence for the deaths of his wife and son were overturned Wednesday by the South Carolina Supreme Court because the court clerk at his trial suggested he was guilty

Prosecutors say they plan to retry Murdaugh, which likely means there will be another lengthy trial for the case that because of the combination of money, power, Southern accents and treachery has become a true crime sensation with several streaming miniseries, bestselling books and dozens of true crime podcasts.

Murdaugh, 57, will remain in prison. He pleaded guilty to stealing around $12 million from his clients and currently is serving a 40-year federal sentence.

Murdaugh’s lawyers pointed out that trial will look a lot different, as the justices also ruled days

of evidence at the murder trial about how Murdaugh stole from clients shouldn’t be allowed next time. Still, the ruling is a win for Murdaugh, who admits to being a thief, liar, insurance cheat and bad lawyer, but has adamantly denied killing his wife Maggie and younger son Paul since he found their bodies outside their home in 2021. Murdaugh told investigators for months he hadn’t seen his wife and son for about an hour before they were killed. But investigators eventually cracked the passcode on Paul Murdaugh’s phone and found a video with a barking dog and Alex Murdaugh’s voice ﬁve minutes before the young man stopped using his phone. In their unanimous ruling Wednesday the South Carolina Supreme Court said the conduct by Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility” by suggesting to jurors his testimony could not be trusted.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOSE LUIS MAGANA Kevin Warsh testifies during his nomination hearing to be a member and chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 21.

PROVIDED PHOTO

A Christie’s employee displays

‘Ocean Dream,’ the largest fancy vivid blue-green diamond, weighting 5.50 carats.

U.S., China seek to repair damage from tariff war

BY PAUL WISEMAN and CHAN HO-HIM AP business writers

WASHINGTON During a tumultu-

ous 2025, the United States and China proved how much they could hurt each other in a trade war Now Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are meeting in Beijing to repair some of the damage.

A decade of conflict between the world’s two biggest economies has left U.S.-China trade greatly reduced from the boom times of the 2000s and 2010s, forcing companies to regroup. Many American firms have shifted production out of China to countries like Vietnam and India. And Chinese firms have scrambled to find new customers in Europe and Southeast Asia.

But the two countries are finding that they still need each other.

“The idea of somehow China being totally independent of us and us being totally independent of China, I think, is a ﬁction,” said Wilbur Ross, who served as U.S. commerce secretary in Trump’s ﬁrst term.

This week’s summit is primarily about keeping the economic relationship stable, with only modest policy announcements expected.

A trade truce reached last October likely will be extended, while China may announce plans to buy American soybeans, beef and Boeing airplanes. U.S. officials also have teased the creation of a Board of Trade.

Watching closely will be American farmers who were shut out of the Chinese soybean market for most of 2025, as well as U.S. manufacturers who lost access to China’s rare earth minerals they need to make everything from smartphones to ﬁghter jets.

In China, manufacturer Michael Lu is hoping the Xi-Trump summit will herald more positive signs.

Chances of U.S.-China commerce going back to the roaring trade of 15 years ago may be slim, but factory owners in China are expecting for at least some improvements.

“The U.S. used to be a more stable market,” said Lu, founder and CEO of gift box producer Brothersbox in the southern city of Dongguan

Freefall in U.S.-China trade

Before Trump began slapping taxes on Chinese imports in 2018, the average U.S tariff on China

stood at 3.1%. Now, even after coming down from the triple-digit levels they brieﬂy hit last year, they are still at almost 48% according to Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

In 2016, the United States did more business with China than any other country Trade between the two countries — exports plus imports accounted for more than 13% of America’s trade with the rest of the world. By last year, China’s share had been halved to 6.4%. Mexico and Canada had leapfrogged China to become the top two U.S. trading partners. China sold far more to the United States than it bought. The U.S. deﬁcit in the trade of goods and services with China peaked at $377 billion in 2018. Last year, it was down to $168 billion, the lowest since 2004.

Still, China has exported so much to other markets — Southeast Asia and Europe, in particular — that it recorded a record global trade surplus of $1.2 trillion last year Chinese find workarounds

The American government’s statistics probably overstate the drop

in U.S.-China trade. Many Chinese companies have relocated to Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam and Thailand and now send their stuff onto the United States, dodging U.S. tariffs. The Trump administration wants to crack down on these “transshipments.”

As China sent fewer goods to the United States last year, goods imports from Southeast Asia surged up 42% from Vietnam 44% from Thailand, 24% from Indonesia.

“It would be wrong to think that China is no longer relevant for the U.S. market,” said Zongyuan Zoe Liu, senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Chinese goods are still coming into the U.S.”

Velong Enterprises, which was founded in China’s southern Guangdong province in 2002 and makes kitchen gadgets and grilling tools for Walmart and other U.S. retailers, diversified its supply chain in the years since Trump’s ﬁrst term in the White House in order to serve U.S. customers, including by adding production capacity in Cambodia and India.

“Most serious manufacturers did not simply ‘leave China,’” said Ve-

Vatican issues final warning to breakaway traditionalist group

Latin Mass group plans consecration of bishops without papal consent

BY NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press

ROME With Pope Leo XIV’s ﬁrst big crisis looming, the Vatican on Wednesday issued a ﬁnal warning to a breakaway group of traditionalist Catholics that their planned consecration of bishops without papal consent constitutes a schismatic act that incurs automatic excommunication Leo is praying for enlightenment so that the leaders of the Society of St Pius X “may reconsider the extremely grave decision they have made,” said a statement from the Vatican’s doctrine czar, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández.

The statement appeared to be a last-ditch effort to head off the group’s planned July 1 consecrations of four new bishops. If they go ahead, they will amount to the gravest challenge to Leo’s authority to date, as he seeks to heal divisions with traditionalist Catholics that worsened during the Pope Francis pontiﬁcate.

Formed in opposition to Vatican II

The SSPX, as the group is known, was founded in Écône, Switzerland in 1970 in opposition to the modernizing reforms of the 1960s Second Vatican Council, which among other things allowed Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than Latin.

The group, which celebrates the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass, ﬁrst broke with Rome in 1988, after its founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, consecrated four bishops without papal consent. The Vatican promptly excommunicated Lefebvre and the four other bishops, and the group today still has no legal status in the Catholic Church

Yet the group has continued to grow, with schools, seminaries and parishes around the world and branches of priests, nuns and lay Catholics who are attached to the traditional Latin Mass.

The growth poses a real threat to Rome since it amounts to a parallel Catholic church. Today it counts two bishops, 733 priests 264 seminarians, 145 religious brothers, 88 oblates and 250 religious sisters representing 50 nationalities, according to SSPX statistics Dialogue ends and a crisis looms

The current SSPX superior, Rev Davide

Pagliarani, announced earlier this year that new bishops would be consecrated July 1 to tend to the faithful, arguing that the SSPX’s two remaining aging bishops can no longer minister to such a global reality

The Vatican invited Pagliarani for talks, but the same theological and practical problems that have prevented rapprochement for 50 years seemingly left the two sides at an impasse. In recent comments on the SSPX website, Pagliarani reiterated the need for the new bishops. He expressed satisfaction that his announcement had triggered debate about what the SSPX considers to be a crisis afﬂicting the church, including religious pluralism and confusion about the faith.

“Now what is at stake today is not an opinion, nor a sensibility, nor a preferential option, nor a particular nuance in the interpretation of a text, but the faith and morals that a Catholic must know, profess, and practice in order to save his soul and reach paradise,” he said.

Traditionalists watching how Leo responds

The looming consecrations, which would incur automatic excommunications, have created the ﬁrst tangible crisis for Leo, who has sought to pacify relations with Catholic traditionalists that worsened under Francis after the Argentine pope cracked down on the spread of the old Latin Mass.

Francis in 2021 reimposed restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass that Pope Benedict XVI had relaxed in 2007. Francis said he was reversing his predecessor because Benedict’s reform had become a source of division in the church and been exploited by conservative Catholics opposed to Vatican II. But the move riled Francis’ conservative critics and it became one of the most divisive acts of his 12-year papacy, such that Leo began his pontiﬁcate promising to heal divisions.

While the SSPX is out of communion with the Holy See, plenty of Catholic traditionalists who are loyal to Rome and opposed Francis’ crackdown are sympathetic to the SSPX plight and are watching how Leo handles the challenge.

Rorate Caeli, a traditionalist blog that has closely followed the issue, said Francis’ crackdown, known by the Latin name of the document, Traditionis Custodes, actually created the “crisis” that the SSPX today laments. “Traditionalists fully understand the need for respect for authority; but we cannot have both at the same time: a stated will to destroy the traditional Roman Liturgy forever (Traditionis custodes) and a complete prohibition of means to salvage that,” Rorate Caeli wrote Wednesday

long CEO and founder Jacob Rothman. “Instead, they built multicountry supply chains around China.”

Contending with erratic tariffs

The trade war with China has taken a toll on Appu Jacob Varghese, who owns Zion Foodtrucks, a small food truck manufacturer outside Colorado Springs that imports Chinese equipment for its trucks.

“Last year,” Varghese said, “a lot of my hair turned white.” What tormented Varghese was the erratic way Trump imposed his taxes on Chinese imports. They changed unpredictably from week to week — and brieﬂy shot up to a terrifying 145% Zion Foodtrucks relied on Chinese suppliers for the cooking and ﬁre-suppression equipment that goes into its $50,000 to $60,000 food trucks.

Zion’s customers typically signed a ﬁxed-price contract and took delivery of a brand-new food truck six weeks later Trump’s fluctuating tariffs meant the Varghese’s costs were bouncing around wildly — but his contracts kept him from raising prices. He managed to get through the

year but he knew he needed to find suppliers outside China. These days, he gets about half his cooking equipment from Vietnam and Thailand, and the firefighting gear comes from U.S. and Israeli suppliers.

He speaks highly of his Chinese suppliers but doesn’t expect to ever rely so heavily on them again.

Shifting away from China

A lot of U.S. companies are pulling back from China. Apple has moved some of its production of its iPhones to India. Nike has stepped up production in Vietnam.

“Trade tensions can flare up quite quickly and that makes the U.S. ﬁrms hesitant to rely too heavily on Chinese supply,” said Sarah Tan, a Singapore-based economist at Moody’s Analytics whose focus includes China.

InStyler, a hair appliances company outside Los Angeles that once relied entirely on Chinese suppliers, is shifting some production to South Korea and France and is eyeing Italy, Vietnam and Mexico.

Tit-for-tat

The trade skirmishing between Beijing and Washington has extended beyond traditional tariffs and counter tariffs.

The United States has blocked shipments of the most advanced computer chips to China, and the Chinese have blasted back by periodically cutting off supplies of rare earth minerals crucial for electronics.

Last year, the Chinese limited exports of tungsten a super strong metal used in defense, aerospace and medical device production — because it can be used by the military as well as by private industry China controls about 80% of the world’s tungsten.

China also stopped buying U.S. soybeans, delivering a well-aimed blow at Trump’s supporters in rural America. After U.S China talks in October, the Chinese resumed the purchases. But U.S. soybean exports to China nonetheless dropped 75% in 2025.

“We are the No. 1 trading player They are next in line,” said former commerce secretary Ross. “We have to coexist in some way The question is, what will be the rules of the road, and who will beneﬁt the most from those rules.”

Leo XIV

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARK SCHIEFELBEIN

President Donald Trump is greeted with an arrival ceremony Wednesday at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing

Open primarieseyedfor Houseelections

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

Louisiana is on track to temporarily return to ajungle primary system for its U.S. House races after Gov.Jeff Landrysuspended this month’sclosed primaries so the state could redraw its congressional map to favor Republicans in the wake of aSupreme Court ruling that deemedthe current map unconstitutional.

Under House Bill842, which the Legislature passed Wednesday,voters would select their preferred House candidates from alist of Republicans andDemocrats on the November ballot.

The top two vote-getters in each district would head to arunoff in December,regardless of party

That plan was incorporated into HB842 through amendmentsadded by aconference committee, a small group of state representatives and senators who meet in private to hammer outamendments to bills in the ﬁnal stages of the process.

RAISES

Continued from page1A

the public urged the council to vote to approve the item, citing long-standing laborer ratesstarting at around $10 per hour

“Wehire CDL drivers for$11.50 an hour,wehire building inspectors and complaint investigators for $14.75 an hour,” said developmentemployee Robert Joyner.“That’sless than what Walmart is paying people.”

Edwardswore apublic works employee uniform to the meeting —matching many in attendance —but told the council, “This is not theater.”

The mayor then played avideo of adozen or more city-parish employees explaining why they deserve higher pay

“With what’sgoing on at the State Capitol and what’sgoing on federally,” he said, referencing protests over congressional redistricting, “Wehave a moment tonight to heal and to do something bipartisan and do somethingtogether that is special for Baton Rouge.” In the days leading up to Wednesday’svote, some of thecouncil’s conservatives voiced concerns that the raises could add to an already burdened employee pension plan.

As some pointed out again on Wednesday,the city-parish workforce has shrunk overthe pastdecade, meaning fewer employeesare paying into the pension plan. At the same time, the parish’s pensionliability has ballooned. Since 2017, the amount the city-parish pays toward pensions has increased by 36%. In 2026, the mayor budgeted $46.8 million for payments into retiree pensions.

At the meeting, council member Jen Racca pointed out how much the

Typically,bills only go through that stage when thetwo chambers disagreeonthe particularities of legislation, but they can sometimesinclude substantive changes.

The House approved the changes toHB842 in a67-27 vote, while the Senate’svote was 29-7. Thebill dealswith abroad set of changes to Louisiana’s election code.

State Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, who sponsored HB842, said on the House floor that Louisiana needed to temporarily revert to an open primary because thesecretary of state did not have time to hold aclosed primary and arunoff ahead of the general election.

Louisiana’sSenate primaries remain closed and will be decided when voters go to the polls Saturday.The state adopted aclosed primary system for the U.S. House and Senateraces in 2024 at Landry’sbehest Candidates who ran for the House in thesuspended election will have to sign up to run

ELECTION 2026

again. Under HB842, which needs Landry’ssignaturetotake effect, qualifyingdates would run from Aug. 5toAug. 7. HB842 was passed hours after the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committeehelda tense overnight hearing to redrawLouisiana’scongressional map. Alandmarkdecision

In thewake of aSupreme Court ruling that declared Louisiana’s existingmap unconstitutional, Republicans in thestate have moved to create amap that would give theirparty more seats during the upcoming midterms

Louisiana has six House seats. Twoare held by Black Democrats, who picked up aseat in 2024 after Landry and the Legislature responded to civil rights litigation by adding asecond majorityBlack district. The rest of the seats are held by

Republicans. Previously,just one of Louisiana’sHouse seatswas in amajority-Blackdistrict. Aboutone-third of Louisiana’spopulation is Black.

Using theVoting Rights Act, civil rights lawyers argued that, for Black Louisianans to be fairly represented, candidates favored by the Black community should be able to win twoofthe state’s House seats. Butthe new 4-2 map sparked morelitigation —this time by Whitevoters who said it discriminated basedonrace.

That lawsuit, Louisiana v. Callais, went allthe way to theU.S SupremeCourt, which ruled that lawmakers cannottakerace into account when they draw election maps. Their decision upended the Voting RightsAct, whichfor decades hasbeen usedtoensure Black candidatesget aseat at the table.

Otherpolitical battles

The ruling has roiled Louisiana politics, whereBlackDemocrats

“With what’sgoing on at the State Capitol and what’sgoing on federally, we have amoment tonighttohealand to do somethingbipartisan and do something together that is special for Baton Rouge.”

MAyOR-PRESIDENT SID EDWARDS

city’sretirement debt has increased inrecent years. In 2005, the city-parish’s unfunded liability to the pensionwas $173.6 million. That number had risen to $752.2 million in 2025. With theapproval, the city-parish’scoststothe pension systemwillincrease by about $2.2-2.5 million in 2028.

Some council members have voiced that St. George should be paying into pensionliability afterthe city incorporated inApril 2024. After the meetingon Wednesday,when asked, the mayor said he thinks St. George should be re-

sponsible for paying some of thatbill, since the pension system had been in place for decades while St Georgewas part of Baton Rouge.

“Yes, Ido. Imean,this is historical; this goes back to thedawn of time in our city-parish,” Edwardssaid.

“It’ssomething we gotto look at.”

Butotherssee pensions as either something that will be paid for through future salaryincreases or as notrelevant to the raises themselves

“All thestuff we’re talkingabout,it’sirrelevant to araise,” council member Darryl Hurst said. “It’sirrelevant becauseitcan still be worked on at the same time.”

At one point, thecouncil clashed overnarratives surrounding the vote.

already wereupset after Republicans passed legislation to merge the New Orleans civil and criminal clerks’ ofﬁces. Thelaw shut CriminalClerk-elect Calvin Duncan out of ofﬁce; Duncan is a Black lawyerwho overwhelmingly wonthe electioninNovember

The Legislature also is considering abill to eliminate some judgeships in Orleans,which critics say will also reducethe numberof Black elected ofﬁcialsinthe state.

The debate over Louisiana’s congressional maps is partofa national gerrymandering effort in which Republicans and Democrats are trying to tilt as many districts as possible in their favor ahead of theNovember midterms.

Other Republican-led Southern states, such as Tennessee and Florida,alsomoved to eliminate majority-minority districts after theCallais decision. Thoughthey may no longerconsider race, lawmakers are allowed to consider political party andworktoprotect incumbents when they draw voting maps.

present that any council members who do notvote forthe measure “do notsee you.”

Hudson later pushed back on thatnotion, sayinghis understanding was that allcouncil members supported raises but differed on howthe increases should be funded and how large theyshould be

“It’sbeen said that Ido notvalue you. Iwill tell you that’sfalse,” Hudsonsaid. “I will tell youthatI value youenough to do this the right way.”

Slaughtersaidpay rates will still be farbehind the market, but it’sa start.

“It is notthe finalanswer,” Slaughter said. “It is an immediate correction. It’s aretention strategy, and it’sastep toward restoring basic competitiveness forgood employees.”

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

Continued from page1A

restructuring. BREC, in recenthistory, hasdealt with accusations of mismanagement.Critics of theagencypoint to several years of state audits that were submitted late andfound misappropriated funds and weak financial safeguards.

The agency,however, also has consistently received national recognitionfor its parks.

Theother twofinalists were Chris Maitre and Daniel Betts.

During the first week of May,each ﬁnalist spent time in Baton Rouge participating in acomprehensive interview and evaluation process. They metwith leaders, staff and toured East Baton Rouge Parish and BRECfacilities, BREC said in aprevious news release.

Council member Twahna Harristold employees

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Mayor-President Sid Edwards, right, wearing aDepartment of Public Works uniform, walksintothe meeting roomwith agroup of city employees behind him during the Metro Council meeting at City Hall on Wednesday.

With that expectation, the new mapisscrambling plans for who might runin the newly designed districts.

The effort to eliminate a Black-majority districtis also stirringupBlack voters, who have packed town hall meetings in recent days held by Carter and U.S. Rep Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, who is slated to lose his district in the new map.

Black voters turned out in large numbers proportionally during the seven-day early voting period in advance of Saturday’sprimary elections.

“People are angry,” Carter said in an interview.“People are deeply concernedabout their democracy.”

Republican lawmakers in Louisiana are responding to pressure from President DonaldTrump to deliverat least one more Republican seat to buttressthe GOP campaign in the upcoming midterm elections to retain their majority

This move comes in the wake of aU.S. Supreme Court ruling that invalidated Louisiana’scurrent congressional map that has four Republicans and two Democrats, Carter and Fields. Immediately after theSupremeCourt ruling,Gov JeffLandry canceled the House elections for this Saturday’sprimary elections.

The Legislature on Thursday approved House Bill 842 to reschedule the U.S. House primary elections for Nov 3, with aDecember runoff. Qualifying would take place from Aug. 5-7.

Meanwhile, Republican state legislators are advancing plans to draw new maps for those elections.

Passing SB121 Wednesday morning overcame severalhurdles, although the outcome never seemed in doubt. The Senate and Governmental AffairsCommittee tookhours of oftenemotional testimony from dozens of people on Friday

Nelda’sStory

requested tweaks.

“A mapnever makes everybody happy,” he said in an interview

State Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-BatonRouge, whohas expressed adesire to run for the House, said he didn’tlike the new district because it puts him in Carter’sdistrict.

After the Senate passes SB121, the bill would be heard by the House and Governmental Affairs Committee. Itschair,Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia said Wednesday that he doesn’tknowyet when it will hear the bill.

who objected to the Republican plans, as hundreds of other critics congregated in thehallway and nearby committeerooms.

The committeereconvened at7 p.m.Tuesday and didn’tpass thenew congressional map until 4:25 a.m. on Wednesday.

More people testified against theRepublican effort, and the debate got heated at one pointbetween Sen.

“I like to live in the district where Irun,” McMakin said. McMakin said he would try to amend his home into the district when SB121 goes before theHouse and Governmental Affairs Committee. McMakin said that Garret Graves, who lost his Whitemajority seat in the 2024 redistricting that created Fields’ district, would be the instantfront-runnerfor the new 6th District, if he chooses to run.

TheFive-YearLookBackPeriod

•Whatassetsdon’tcountforMedicaid;

Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, andSen.Jay Morris, R-WestMonroe, the sponsor of SB121.

Republicans rejected Senate Bill 407 by Sen. Ed Price, D-Gonzales,thatwould create two winnable districts for Democrats without eitherhaving amajorityof Black voters. In theend,fourRepublicans on thecommittee Sens. Greg Miller of Norco,

NursinghomepovertyisaproblemthatcreepsuponLouisianafamiliesandforces themtodepletetheirlifesavings,withdrawtheirfamilyfundsfromtheirretirement accountsandspendalloftheirmonthlyincomeontheirlong-termcareandnursing homeexpenses without anyassistance fromMedicaid. In ordertoavoidthisfrom happening, youMUSTplanahead at leastfiveyearsprior to entering anursing home.

Neldacametoourofficeaboutsixyearsago.Weaskedherwhathermainconcerns were.Shewasdiagnosedwitharthritis,andshewasconcernedthatashercondition worsened,shewouldberequiredtoresideinanursinghome.Shehadseenthreeof herfamilymemberslosetheirlifesavingstounexpectednursinghomestays.Nelda wanted to protect herhomeand herlifesavings of $450,000. Sheknewshe hadto spenddownall of herassets until shehad less than $2000 in hercheckingaccount andshe knewthatnursing homecosts were about $80,000 ayear.She wanted to leavewhatshehadsavedtoherthreechildrenequally.SowetalkedtoNeldaabout setting up averyspecific, very custom MedicaidTrust.Nelda wouldretaincontrol ofherassets,andifshehadtoenteranursinghome5yearsinthefuture,shewould nothavetodepleteherlifesavingsonnursinghomecosts

•WhattherulesareifyouaremarriedandreceivingMedicaidbenefits; •WhattheassetruleisifyouaremarriedandneedtoqualifyforMedicaid; •EstateRecovery–canMedicaidtakeyourhomeafteryoudie?

•WhenthepenaltyperiodstartsforMedicaid; •Owningexemptassets;and

•Whathappensifyoudon’thavefiveyearstoplan?

WetoldNeldatherewasasenseofurgencytosetupherlegalaffairsinordertostart thefive-yearlookbackperiod.Neldaaskeduswhatwouldhappenifsheenteredthe nursinghomefouryears(insteadoffiveyears)aftersettinguptheTrust.Weassured herthatifshe enteredthe nursinghomeinfour years, shewouldbea privatepay patientuntilshereached itall! thefive-yearmarkwhichisamuchbetterresultthanlosing

•Penaltiesfor transfers– can youtransferassets to qualifyfor Medicaidwithout beingpenalized?

In this fall’selections, the new map would eliminate Fields’ district, which runs from Baton Rouge to Shreveport,picking up Black-majorityprecincts alongthe way. The Legislature and Landry created that district in 2024 when they approved the current map Under the newmap, each district would have slightly more than 776,000 residents.

Nearly half of the voters in Carter’sdistrict would live in New Orleans and a thirdwould be in Jefferson Parish, mostly on the west bank. The districtwould stretch up the Mississippi River into East Baton Rouge and Iberville parishes.

The new map would move East BatonRouge andLivingston parishes out of the 5th Congressional District —which is currently held by U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow— andorient the district more toward Monroe.

Whomight run?

Mike Fesi of Houma and Blake Miguez of New Iberia— consistently outvoted the three Democrats: Sens. Regina BarrowofBaton Rouge,Duplessis and Jenkins.

“It’satough vote for everybody,” Sen.Caleb Kleinpeter,R-Port Allenand the committee chair, said in an interview Wednesday. “We all have relationships in this building. It doesn’tmatter if you’re Black, White, Democrat, Republican.”

Legislators expect the Senate on Thursday to pass the committee-adopted bill virtually intact. Morris on Wednesdaysaid colleagues arebombarding him with

Misti Cordell, aRepublican in Monroe appointed by Landry to chair the state BoardofRegents, was already running for the 5th District seat under the map that the SupremeCourt nulliﬁed.She said on Wednesdaythatthe map approved earlier that morning is even better forher

State Rep. Michael Echols, R-Monroe, also said he likes the new district.

Sen. Stewart Cathey, RMonroe,saidhewould run forthat sameseat. Fields’ 6th Congressional Districtwould now have a White-majority andbecentered in Baton Rouge.

StateSen. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge, said he plans to run forthat seat.

MedicaidandNursingHomePoverty

Graves didn’trespond to a text asking forhis thoughts. Miguez was running to replace Letlow in the 5th Congressional District, although he doesn’tlive in thedistrict He didn’t respond to atext asking whether he still plans to run forthe House.

Republicans didn’tseem to have aclear path forward in the immediate aftermath of the SupremeCourt ruling and Landry’sdecision to cancel the elections because the Legislature would have to makeacontentious decision to eliminate one Blackmajority district by pitting Fields against Carter

But Fields solved that issue last week by announcing he wouldnot runagainst Carter Also weighing in on the overallshape of thecongressional map were U.S. Rep.SteveScalise,whose 1st Congressional District mostly surrounds New Orleans, andHouse Speaker Mike Johnson, whose 4th Congressional District stretchesfromShreveport to Lake Charles.

“You always take incumbency into account when you do redistricting,” Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie anda formerlegislative aide to Scalise, said in an interview In astatement, Scalise said he is conﬁdent thatstate legislators “will producea newmap that providesfair representation andprotects communities of interest.”

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FROM WIRE REPORTS

Tech stocks rebound while most others fall

NEWYORK A rebound for technology stocks led Wall Street to records Wednesday, even though the majority of U.S. stocks fell following another discouraging update on inflation Gains for tech stocks led the way, like Micron Technology’s 4.8% and On Semiconductor’s 11.1%. They had stumbled the day before after momentum suddenly halted for stocks riding excitement around artificial-intelligence technology.

Nvidia, the chip company that was among the ﬁrst faces of the AI boom, rose 2.3% and was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500 because of its immense size.

Earlier in the day Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp said that its proﬁt for the 12 months through March zoomed by nearly ﬁve-fold from the previous year as its AI investments paid off. China’s Alibaba Group said its AI and cloud growth accelerated in the latest quarter and its stock that trades in the United States rose 8.2% even though its overall results fell short of analysts’ expectations. But the majority of stocks outside of the technology industry fell, as pressure builds on Wall Street.

United attendants ratify pay hike, boarding pay

United Airlines ﬂight attendants have approved a new labor contract that will bring their ﬁrst pay increases in six years — along with boarding pay, a long-sought change that compensates crew members for the work they do before the plane leaves the gate.

The five-year agreement, ratified on Tuesday, covers nearly 30,000 ﬂight attendants at United It includes an average 31% pay increase this summer, boarding pay worth an additional 7% to 8% in compensation on average and $741 million in retroactive pay, according to the Association of Flight Attendants

“The contract will immediately change the lives of United Flight Attendants, especially our thousands of new hires who have been hired since the pandemic,” said Ken Diaz, president of the union’s United chapter “Our solidarity delivered the goods.”

The union said the deal also secures expanded job security, restrictions on red-eye ﬂying, pay for lengthy delays over 2 1/2 hours, higher retirement contributions, 10 weeks paid parental leave and the elimination of 24-hour on-call reserve schedules.

“The United Airlines Flight Attendant contract now leads the industry in total value for ﬂight attendants and it should,” said Sara Nelson, president of the AFA, which represents more than 55,000 flight attendants across 20 airlines. Texas county pauses data center construction

A rural Texas county on Tuesday approved a one-year pause on the construction of new data centers in unincorporated areas, citing public safety and public health concerns

The 3-2 vote by county commissioners in Hill County, roughly 55 miles south of Fort Worth, appears to be the ﬁrst by a Texas county Residents and local ofﬁcials had aired concerns about how a proposed 300-acre development by Dallas-based developer Provident Data Centers in north Hillsboro could impact the quality of life in the rural county through noise pollution and consuming large amounts of water and electricity

Representatives of data center developers pleaded with the county to reject the moratorium and said they are bringing money to the county for schools and roads. Hill County Commissioner Jim Holcomb said that many developers called him the night before, as late as 10 p.m., asking him to vote down the moratorium.

Producer price index spikes by 1.4%

Rising cost of living frustrating Americans

BY PAUL WISEMAN AP economics writer

WASHINGTON U.S. wholesale inﬂation came in hot last month. Producer prices rose 6% from a year earlier, the highest point in more than three years, as the Iran war pushes up energy prices and intensifies pressure on companies to pass along their rising costs to consumers. The Labor Department reported

U.S.

Wednesday that its producer price index — which tracks inﬂation before it hits consumers — shot up 1.4% in April, the biggest monthly gain in more than four years. Energy prices climbed 7.8% from March to April and 22.7% from a year earlier Gasoline soared 15.6% from March and diesel, the dominant fuel used in shipping, jumped 12.6%.

Gasoline prices, which have already become painful for many Americans, rose again overnight to a national average of $4.51 per gallon, according to motor club AAA.

Excluding volatile food and en-

ergy costs, so-called core producer prices rose 1% from March and 5.2% from April 2025. All of the numbers released Wednesday caught economists off guard and altered the dynamic at the U.S. Federal Reserve and its ﬁght against inﬂation. Prices are rising at a time when Americans are already frustrated by the high cost of living. Affordability is likely to be a key issue when voters go to the polls Nov 3 to determine whether President Donald Trump’s Republican Party maintains control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

“This report will set off alarm bells at the Fed and add fuel to the political conversation about affordability, wrote Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics. “The results are so far above expectations that this update will set off alarm bells in the ﬁnancial markets, too.

After the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran closed off access to the Strait of Hormuz, through which a ﬁfth of the world’s oil and liqueﬁed natural gas passes. The oil shock shows no sign of letting up.

grocery prices rose in April, but gas jumps weren’t the only reason

Trade policies, extreme weather have weighed on costs

BY DEE-ANN DURBIN Associated Press

Americans paid more for their groceries last month, but high gasoline prices resulting from the Iran war were only one of the reasons why

Prices for food eaten at home rose 2.9% in April compared to the same month a year earlier, according to government ﬁgures released Tuesday That was the highest yearover-year inflation rate for the category since August 2023.

Prices at restaurants, fast-food chains and other places to get prepared meals also increased putting overall food prices up 3.2% in the last year, the Labor Department’s consumer price index showed.

Fuel prices have soared while the Iran war prevents cargo ships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for global oil supplies. Diesel fuel powers ﬁshing boats, tractors and the trucks that ship 83% of U.S. agricultural products. As of Tuesday the average price per gallon was up 61% from a year ago, according to AAA

The meat, produce and dry goods vendors that supply Sparrow Market, a small independent grocer in Ann Arbor Michigan, all added fuel surcharges to their deliveries in recent weeks, owner Raymond Campise said. Wholesale prices for meat, produce and some other products also have gone up, he said.

“For independent markets operating on narrow margins, even small increases can have a major impact,” Campise said.

The full impact of rising energy costs on food likely has not hit retail grocery prices yet in the U.S., according to Purdue University economists Ken Foster and Bernhard Dalheimer Higher costs to produce, process, store and transport food can take three to six months to show up on supermarket shelves, where prices typically fall slowly once increased, they said.

“Most of what we’re seeing now in the food price chain probably predates the conﬂict,” Foster, a professor of agricultural economics, said. “We’re cautiously waiting to see what the June numbers and the May numbers might show as they come out in terms of the extent to which energy shocks in the Strait of Hormuz and shipping blockades and so forth are going to impact food prices.”

The consumer price index measures changes in what people in U.S. cities paid at retail stores for meat, bread, milk, produce and other grocery staples. Over the last 20 years, grocery prices increased an average

of 2.6%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Prices for perishable and refrigerated products tend to increase faster than prices for packaged goods when energy is an issue. Consumers paid 6.5% more for fresh fruit and vegetables in U.S. cities last month than they did in April 2025, and 8.8% more for meat, the Labor Department reported.

But U.S. trade policies and extreme weather also have weighed on U.S. food prices in the last year In July 2025, the Trump administration imposed a 17% duty on fresh tomatoes imported from Mexico; consumer prices rose 40% in the 12 months before April.

Dry weather in the Western U.S. has been one of many factors pushing up beef prices, which in April were 15% higher year-overyear Coffee prices were up 18.5%, partly due to drought and other weather conditions that have hurt global coffee production in recent years.

“Today’s CPI showed that food prices have been rising 3.2 percent in the past year, but the story behind that number is more complicated than just an energy shock,” said Dalheimer, an assistant professor of macroeconomics and trade in Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics.

Prices for some foods remained more or less flat or declined over 12 months. Milk and chicken dipped slightly Butter cost 5.8% less in April than it did a year earlier Egg prices fell 39% as farmers rebuilt flocks that were decimated by an ongoing bird flu outbreak.

Food prices and broader inﬂation are likely to feature prominently in November’s midterm elections. During his 2024 campaign, President Donald Trump often cited the prices of bacon, cereal, crackers and other groceries as reasons why voters should return him to the White House.

Some food producers say they’re struggling now because of higher fuel costs. The Southern Shrimp Alliance, which represents shrimpers in eight states, said some boats haven’t left the dock this spring because they can’t catch enough shrimp to compensate for the cost of diesel.

Fuel typically makes up 30% to 50% of the costs for U.S. shrimpers, but because they supply only 6% of the shrimp that Americans consume, they have limited ability to raise prices or add surcharges for fuel, the organization said.

Higher fuel prices may also be impacting food costs in other ways. Part of April’s 5% annual increase in prices for nonalcoholic beverages may be due to the petroleum derivative that goes into making plastic bottles, Foster said.

“It’s possible some of that’s starting to seep down the supply chain and get into those prices,” he said.

Over the next year or more, Americans could also see higher food prices due to spiking fertilizer costs, since around 30% of the world’s fertilizer travels through the Strait of Hormuz.

BY ETHAN BARON The Mercury News (TNS)

In 2020 San Jose ﬁnancial technologygiantPayPalproudlyannounced it would spend a half a billion dollars to support Black and minority businesses and communities because, in the words of then-CEO Dan Schulman, “Black lives matter.”

On Tuesday, the company agreed to a $30 million settlement with the federal government to resolve claims that the $500 million Economic Opportunity Fund was discriminatory

The U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that the fund “gave a preference to businesses based on race, color, and national origin,” but was not implemented to address “any speciﬁc instances” of discrimination.

“This Department of Justice is delivering on President Trump’s

vow to root out illegal DEI from every corner of corporate America,” said acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche. “American corporations are on notice: you will face our aggressive enforcement if you use race or national origin to discriminate against qualiﬁed Americans.”

The government’s contention that DEI is by nature discriminatory relies on the concept of “reverse discrimination,” in which dominant groups are seen as victims of racism, said University of CaliforniaSanta Cruz lecturer Nolan Higdon, who studies the technology industry and U.S. culture and politics.

Higdon rejects the concept

“To be able to be racist you have to have the power over other people,” Higdon said. “People of color don’t have power over other people in the United States.”

The Justice Department noted the

Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits creditors from discriminating against applicants “on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age” and other protected characteristics.

PayPal in agreeing to the settlement admitted no liability in connection with the fund, the settlement agreement said. The federal government in the agreement said it had not found PayPal’s fund violated any laws, including the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

When PayPal announced the fund in 2020, it said it would put $500 million into supporting businesses owned by Black people and under-represented minorities including through direct investments in Black- and minority-led startups and minority-focused investment funds.

“For far too long, Black people in America have faced deep-seated

injustice and systemic economic inequality,” Schulman said in the announcement. “Black lives matter and we need to drive transformative change. We must take decisive action to close the racial wealth gap that sustains this profound inequity.”

Schulman stepped down as PayPal CEO in 2023 and Enrique Lores is now its chief executive. Under the agreement announced Tuesday, PayPal will create a new program called the Small Business Initiative that will waive $30 million in fees on about $1 billion in financial transactions by U.S. small businesses

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GEORGE WALKER IV

But Louisiana is one of a small number of states bucking the national trend in reading The researchers attribute that largely to the states’ focus on growing students’ foundational learning skills through a phonics-based approach known as “the science of reading.” Louisiana students are performing just over a ﬁfth of a grade level above their 2022 level on state reading tests, putting it ﬁrst among 35 states in reading growth and behind Washington, D.C.

Louisiana was one of just ﬁve states, plus D.C., where students made any meaningful growth in reading scores from 2022 to 2025.

The national picture is brighter in math, with almost every state in the analysis seeing improved math scores during that period.

Again, Louisiana was a leader: Students performed roughly .43 of a grade level above their 2022 levels, landing Louisiana at second place out of 38 states, and third, including D.C., in math growth.

“While much of the country is still recovering from learning loss,” Gov Jeff Landry said during a news conference Wednesday at Park Elementary School in Baton Rouge, “we’re not catching up — we’re leading.”

Annual improvements

Experts and state ofﬁcials point to a few reasons for Louisiana’s strong academic growth.

Starting in 2021, Louisiana adopted several policies modeled after ones that helped Mississippi students make major reading gains.

Teachers were trained in research-based reading instruction that focuses largely on sounding out words, and many schools hired literacy coaches The state also adopted new reading assessments for younger students and launched tutoring programs for struggling readers.

“To be the only state above its pre-pandemic levels in both math and reading shows what’s possible when state leaders stick with evidence-based interventions and give districts the support they need to follow through, said Thomas Kane, a Harvard profes-

sor who helped create the Education Scorecard, in a statement. But some school districts, including St. Charles, Vernon and St Mary parishes, continue to lag behind 2019 levels in reading, according to the report. Others, such as Vernon, St. Martin and St. Landry parishes, lag in math.

Improvement across districts nationally has been U-shaped, researchers said, with more growth seen among the highest-income and lowest-income school systems than in middle-income districts, which received less federal aid during the pandemic than their low-income peers.

Louisiana got about $4 billion in federal aid to help K-12 schools recover from the COVID-19 disruptions. The funds allowed Louisiana to spend nearly $6,000 per child — above the national average of $3,700 — on summer learn-

ing and tutoring.

The report warns chronic absenteeism could jeopardize progress. While most states’ absenteeism numbers improved post-pandemic, Louisiana still struggles to get kids back in the classroom, reporting a 22% absenteeism rate last year — 5 percentage points above 2019.

Brumley said the state has made a concerted effort over the past two years to address the issue, working with districts to standardize attendance data collection and assemble teams to address the causes of absenteeism.

During the pandemic “school became optional in the minds of some people,” he said. “We’re still working to overcome that mindset.”

The Associated Press and staff writer Charles Lussier contributed reporting.

Board of Elementary and Secondary Education President Simone Champagne speaks during a presentation about Louisiana’s Education Scorecard at Park Elementary School.

STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Cade Brumley, state superintendent of education, center, receives applause Wednesday during a presentation at Park Elementary in Baton Rouge.

Judge says Kouri Richins is ‘simply too dangerous to ever be free’

BY HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press

PARK CITY, Utah A Utah

agent with a house-ﬂipping business, was millions in debt and planning a future with another man She had opened numerous life insurance policies on her husband without his knowledge and falsely believed she would inherit his estate worth more than $4 million after he died

watch over them. Richins made the boy paranoid about sitting on his dad’s side of the bed, saying he might die, too, he alleged.

The oldest son, now 13, said he also felt like he had to take care of his siblings and noted that his mother often would lock him inside his room while she drank.

mother who published a children’s book about grief after the death of her husband will serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole for his murder, a judge ruled Wednesday Kouri Richins was convicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing her husband Eric Richins’ cocktail with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City in 2022. A jury also found her guilty of four other felonies, including insurance fraud, forgery and attempted murder for trying to poison her husband weeks earlier on Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich. Judge Richard Mrazik said Richins is “simply too dangerous to ever be free” when handing down the sentence on the day that her husband would have turned 44. Her attorneys said they will appeal the conviction and sentence. Richins has been adamant in maintaining she is innocent, saying Wednesday that the verdict was “an absolute lie.” Richins stood at the podium in a lime green jail uniform as she asked her sons, who were not present in court, “Please just don’t give up on me.” She encouraged them to always “be like your dad.” Prosecutors said Richins, a 35-year-old real estate

Eric Richins’ father, Eugene Richins, had urged Mrazik to impose a life sentence without the possibility of parole to protect his grandsons, who were ages 9, 7 and 5 when their father died.

“This sentence is important so Eric’s three sons never have to live with the fear that the person responsible for taking their father could ever harm them again,” he said The case captivated truecrime enthusiasts when Richins was arrested in 2023 while promoting her children’s book about a boy coping with the death of his father

Sons say they’re afraid Richins’ sons “are not props for some twisted children’s book about grief and loss, and yet that is what they’ve been reduced to by Kouri,” said her sister-in-law

Katie Richins-Benson, who now has the boys in her care.

Social workers read letters from the sons, who all said they would feel unsafe if their mother was ever released from prison. The children said Richins threatened to kill their animals and showed them videos of famished children in war zones when they refused to eat undercooked food

“You took away my dad for no reason other than greed, and you only cared about yourself and your stupid boyfriends,” said the middle son, now 11. He described having to “be a parent” to his younger brother because his mother did not

“I will and have always prioritized your safety,” Richins said in court after hearing her sons’ statements.

Greg Hall, a longtime friend and business associate of Richins, told reporters he was disappointed by the sentence and urged people to “have an open mind” about her Trial cut short by defense

The trial was scheduled for five weeks but ended early when her defense team rested its case without calling any witnesses. Her attorneys said they were confident that prosecutors had not produced enough evidence to convict her of murder

The jury deliberated for just under three hours before ﬁnding her guilty of all counts.

During the trial, prosecutors showed the jury text messages between Richins and her lover in which she fantasized about leaving her husband and gaining millions in a divorce.

Prosecutors also displayed the internet search history from Richins’ phone, which included queries about the lethal dose of fentanyl, luxury prisons and how poisoning is marked on a death certiﬁcate.

The defense argued that Eric Richins was addicted to painkillers. Prosecutors countered by showing police body camera footage from the night of his death in which Kouri Richins tells an ofﬁcer that her husband had no history of illicit drug use.

Museum’s ‘Knight Rider’ car gets speeding ticket

BY DAVE COLLINS Associated Press

It’s a mystery on the streets of New York City What trafﬁc law violator with unpaid ﬁnes is driving a black Pontiac Trans Am that looks like the car with the talking computer from the 1980s TV series “Knight Rider,” and even has the same license plate?

Ofﬁcials at an Illinois museum are among the people who would like to know The Volo Museum near Chicago, which has a replica of the show’s Trans Am that hasn’t moved from its exhibit in years, recently received a $50 trafﬁc ticket from the Big Apple, alleging its car was doing 36 mph in a 25 mph zone in Brooklyn on April 22.

The ticket came complete with traffic camera photos showing a black Trans Am with the California license plate KNIGHT, the same plate as the car on the show and the novelty one on the museum’s unregistered car The license plate is also connected to ﬁve other unpaid trafﬁc violations in New York City since late 2024, city records show

How the city linked the plate to the museum was not immediately clear City ofﬁcials did not immediately respond to email and phone messages Wednesday

“The fact that we’re legally tied to a movie prop is interesting,” said Jim Wojdyla, the museum’s marketing director “We’re known for having our Hollywood cars from TV and movies, but I have no idea how we

got registered from a ticket in New York to the plates in California to the Volo Museum in Illinois. We’re still trying to ﬁgure it out.” The museum has requested a hearing challenging the ticket.

“It’s really amusing,” Wojdyla said. “We want to ﬁnd out who this Knight Rider guy is because, birds of a feather We just want to know is this from a museum, is this just a guy that built this car as a hobby? And it looks pretty damn accurate. We’d like to meet those guys.”

“Knight Rider” starring David Hasselhoff as a crime ﬁghter aired on NBC from 1982 to 1986 and featured KITT, the black Trans Am with a snarky talking computer. (KITT stands for Knight Industries Two Thousand). Around 20 KITTs were built for the show but only ﬁve of the originals remain, Road & Track magazine has reported. There are also numerous replicas around, including the museum’s The Facebook group Knight Rider KITT Car Club for people who own replicas has nearly 19,000 members. According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, a person with the last name Knight renewed their registration for the state plate KNIGHT in March.

The Volo Museum is having fun with the ticket trouble on social media. It recently changed its header on its Facebook page to “Home of the Knight Rider KITT that famously got a speeding ticket in New York City without ever leaving its exhibit in Illinois!”

Richins

PHOTO PROVIDED By JIM WOJDyLA

A replica of the black Pontiac Trans Am from the 1980s TV series ‘Knight Rider’ is on display at the Volo Museum in Volo, Ill.

Man sues sheriff over detention

Suspect was held for over a year

BY QUINN COFFMAN

Staff writer

A man is suing Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard and a deputy, claiming that he was arrested and kept in the parish jail for over a year without a proper reason. Troy Tate, 50, was arrested in July 2024 on multiple drug charges and held for over a year in parish jail before those charges were ultimately dropped In the lawsuit, Tate and his law-

yer, Garrett DeReus, claim that the afﬁdavit for his arrest was “devoid of facts connecting Mr Tate to any criminal activity.” Keaston Evitt, the arresting sheriff’s deputy, is also named in the suit.

DeReus said his client’s 13-month stint in jail was maintained by the 21st Judicial District Attorney’s Ofﬁce only as part of the prosecu-

tion’s strategy in a different case. DeRuse said Tate’s dismissal was delayed, occurring only after a codefendant had been convicted.

In a lawsuit filed last month, DeReus seeks damages from the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce for Tate’s time spent in jail.

“Every day behind bars is a day that cannot be returned,” DeReus

said. “Mr Tate alleges that his civil rights were violated and he seeks damages to remedy this violation.” On July 17, 2024, the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce Narcotics Division was

ANOLE ON A STROLL

& Charles store moving to larger location

STAFF PHOTO

MICHAEL JOHNSON

Attorney general threatens N.O. leaders

Murrill’s letter latest salvo in court clerk battle

BY JAMES FINN Staff writer

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill on Wednesday warned Mayor Helena Moreno and other top New Orleans elected officials that she would seek their removal from office if they do not “officially retract” support for electing a new court clerk, a dramatic escalation in a raging dispute over that role.

In a letter to Moreno, District Attorney Jason Williams and five City Council members, Murrill said the officials were at risk of violating several state laws after a council vote this week to trigger an election for the newly merged clerk’s office and appoint an interim clerk.

Murrill’s warning drew a sharp response from Moreno, who said she wouldn’t be “intimidated” from pursuing the legal fight over who should oversee the parish clerk’s office. Murrill accused the officials of “usurping” the authority of Chelsey Napoleon, who Murrill argues is the city’s lawful clerk. Under legislation enacted by Louisiana’s Republican-controlled Legislature this month, Napoleon, who won reelection last year as Orleans Parish clerk of civil court, took over the duties of the criminal clerk’s office, which had been a separate elected office. Moreno, Williams and a majority of the council contend that the law created a new position that must be filled by the voters. Multiple lawsuits challenging the law are pending.

Calvin Johnson, the former criminal district court judge who was appointed as interim clerk by the council’s Monday vote, also received a copy of Murrill’s letter. She warned that Johnson could face “imprisonment” even as she said he “appears to be an innocent bystander” to the dispute.

“To avoid further litigation and the statutory consequences,” Murrill wrote, “you should officially

retract your support for this usurpation of (Civil Clerk) Chelsey Richard Napoleon’s office and take no further action supporting or recognizing the fictional new ofﬁce or Judge Johnson’s appointment to it.”

Murrill said Gov Jeff Landry would appoint replacements if the local ofﬁcials are removed.

The threats from the Republican attorney general to some of New Orleans’ most prominent Democratic local leaders sharply intensiﬁed the legal and political battle over two relatively parochial city positions, which began after the Legislature enacted its sweeping changes to the clerks’ ofﬁces earlier this month.

It also added to the general sense of confusion about who was currently running an office that, in addition to overseeing court records, is charged with holding elections in the parish The U.S. Senate primary as well as a host of other state and local elections are set to take place Saturday Moreno responded to Murrill’s letter in a video posted Wednesday on social media, suggesting that Murrill could be violating a state law concerning threats to elected leaders.

lent and divisive periods in Louisiana history, when rival governments, disputed ofﬁceholders, and political violence threatened the stability of civil authority itself,” Williams said. “For such language and authority to now be directed at elected ofﬁcials in New Orleans who are carrying out their legal and constitutional responsibilities is deeply concerning.”

Swirling debate

The debate that escalated on Wednesday was touched off earlier this month after the Legislature passed its law eliminating New Orleans’ clerk of criminal court.

The law, known as Act 15, turned the criminal clerk’s duties over to the separate civil clerk’s ofﬁce. Supporters cast the legislation as a needed reform to the only parish in Louisiana with distinct court systems for criminal and civil matters.

Duncan has retained two highpowered attorneys, Pratik Shah and Margaret Rusconi from the Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld ﬁrm, to argue a challenge to the new state law

In the meantime, the dispute has raised questions about who is managing the clerk’s duties. Whether Napoleon was present Wednesday in Civil District Court was unclear

A visit by a reporter to her ofﬁce in the downtown courthouse offered no clarity

“I don’t have that information to give you,” repeated a woman who identified herself only as Napoleon’s assistant.

One judge said court staff were unaware who was running the clerk’s ofﬁce Wednesday

“It’s a real distraction in our work,” the judge said of the uncertainty “A distraction in legal matters only hurts you, your litigants and citizens.”

a special election for the position before the courts have weighed in.

Moreno and Williams called for the new election last week arguing that transferring one clerk’s duties to another created a new position that must be ﬁlled by voters. Murrill, Landry and Napoleon pushed back, arguing that the Legislature had merely mashed the ofﬁces together without creating a new position.

The City Council members who received Murrill’s letter are Council President JP Morrell, Council Vice President Matthew Willard, District A council member Aimee McCarron, District C council member Freddie King and District E council member Jason Hughes Council members Lesli Harris and Eugene Green, who voted against calling the election, did not receive copies.

“It is surprising that the attorney general put all of this in a letter, considering there is also a criminal law that prohibits intimidating or threatening a public ofﬁcial in an effort to try to inﬂuence their decision or change their position,” Moreno said. “Bottom line: I’m not going to be threatened, I’m not going to be intimidated, and I won’t back down.”

The letter contained “a variety of ethical and professional conduct issues,” Moreno said. She urged Murrill to let litigation over the new law run its course rather than resorting to “threats.”

In a prepared statement, Williams, the district attorney, called Murrill’s letter “deeply disappointing, profoundly troubling and legally incorrect.”

“The statute now being invoked is a relic of the Reconstruction era, born out of one of the most turbu-

But New Orleans leaders have criticized the move as an unnecessary incursion by the state. Many say the legislation appears to be retaliation against Calvin Duncan, a formerly incarcerated prison counsel who was released after a judge ruled him innocent of a 1981 murder Duncan won the criminal clerkship last fall with 68% of the vote despite opposition from Murrill and other conservatives.

Only after Duncan’s victory did the Legislature move to eliminate the job he had won. Gov Jeff Landry signed the law on April 30, four days before Duncan was set to take ofﬁce.

A tangle of litigation is unfolding in multiple courts as Murrill wages her battle with New Orleans ofﬁcials.

Napoleon ﬁled a lawsuit on Tuesday in Baton Rouge challenging Johnson’s interim appointment and the City Council resolution calling for a special election. On Wednesday, Judge Tarvald Smith of the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge denied her request for a temporary restraining order and set a hearing for Monday

After ﬁling a separate challenge in federal court, records show

McNeese presidential search narrows

State senator, higher ed leader to be considered

BY MEGAN WYATT Staff writer

State Sen. Mike Reese, a Republican from Leesville, and Dee Dee Anderson, vice chancellor for student life at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, have been named ﬁnalists for the next president of McNeese State University

One other semiﬁnalist — Wayne Brumfield of Buffalo State University — was not chosen by a search committee to advance to interviews with the full UL system board of supervisors next week

The three semiﬁnalists pitched their ideas during campus interviews Tuesday and Wednesday with faculty, staff, students, alumni, community leaders and committee members.

The decision on the finalists came Wednesday afternoon after the search committee interviewed each semiﬁnalist, then met in executive session.

Voting members of the committee include six members of the UL system board of supervisors, along with McNeese Faculty Senate Vice President Joanna Thompson Nonvoting committee members include UL system President Rick Gallot and 15 southwest Louisiana leaders.

There was no public comment or committee discussion before the unanimous vote to advance Reese and Anderson, but UL system board Chair Mark Romero thanked the committee for its work.

TIGER

Continued from page 1B

Geri Broussard, Napoleon’s attorney, insisted that Napoleon remained in charge of the clerk’s ofﬁce even after the council resolutions and after Johnson prepared a declaration naming her to handle the ofﬁce on Monday

That doesn’t mean that Napoleon is conceding the council’s authority Broussard said.

“Judge Johnson has been cooperative,” Broussard said. “I recognize it as being a compromise of two individuals hellbent on maintaining the smooth operation of this ofﬁce until it can be decided by a court of law.”

‘Everybody’s overreacting’

Dane Ciolino, an ethics expert, attorney and law professor at Loyola University, said Murrill’s letter to the local ofﬁcials entered “uncharted territory.”

“It seems like everybody’s overreacting here,” Ciolino said. “You don’t see a lot of instances where those statutes have ever been used. The simple answer for this is for everyone to wait until the Louisiana Supreme Court resolves the issue.”

While Ciolino said there was “no need” for Murrill to “threaten” local ofﬁcials, he questioned whether the City Council needed to call

“We will not be intimidated, and these council members will always stand for what’s right,” King said in a video response Wednesday, appearing with the four other members who received the letter

Asked why Murrill has taken such a keen interest in the mechanics of New Orleans’ clerk of court, her spokesperson, Lester Duhe, said Wednesday that as the state’s chief legal ofﬁcer, she is “ensuring (local ofﬁcials) follow the law.”

Murrill had asked the city ofﬁcials to allow the Supreme Court to weigh in before calling the special election, Duhe said.

“She is very serious about this, obviously,” he said.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Louisiana secretary of state confirmed that the office received a petition to recall Murrill from office Such an effort faces a high bar: More than 20% of Louisiana’s statewide electorate — about 500,000 voters — would have to sign it before Nov 9 for the recall to head to voters, the secretary of state’s spokesperson said. Staff writers Matt Bruce and John Simerman contributed to this report.

Email James Finn at jﬁnn@ theadvocate.com.

Bail denied for ex-N.C. officer

“I know that you did quite a deep dive in investigating each candidate’s worthiness from the standpoint of originally kicking off this committee to selecting ﬁnalists for review,” Romero said. “The work today hopefully will reﬂect a path leading to a great president that will really, really bring McNeese to the next level.”

The presidential search comes after Wade Rousse, who was selected in 2024 as McNeese’s president, changed jobs late last year to become LSU’s president.

During campus interviews this week, Anderson touted her higher education leadership experience and desire to lead a smaller university like McNeese, which has roughly 6,500 students.

Anderson currently manages 700 employees at a large research university, but she emphasized her experience working at smaller universities including Louisiana Tech, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the University of Southern Mississippi.

A Pineville native, Anderson attended Louisiana Tech and holds a doctorate in educational leadership. She said during interviews this week that she considers Louisiana her home and is ready to return.

If selected, she would be the ﬁrst woman to lead McNeese.

“I feel like this has been leading up to a presidential role,” Anderson told alumni and community members Tuesday “I’ve had lots of strong experiences,

through social media that she was being illegally kept as a pet in Louisiana — it’s believed she was owned by Kentrell Gaulden, the Baton Rouge rapper who goes by NBA YoungBoy Gaulden can be seen in a Facebook post from that time, talking to a little white tiger cub lying on a sofa in a house. The cub was cared for at ﬁrst by the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans, then arrangements were made for her to go to the California animal sanctuary The baby tiger suffered from

both in the classroom and managing the institution and in working with outside constituents — those two halves of the whole that I’ve talked about a lot in my answers.”

Reese, a less-traditional candidate who holds a bachelor’s degree in ﬁnance and has no higher education work experience, spoke about how McNeese is uniquely positioned to meet the workforce demands for the industries in southwest Louisiana.

A Vernon Parish native, Reese is a graduate of the University of Louisiana at Monroe. He has been a managing partner and CEO at Reese Companies since 2001.

He has represented portions of Beauregard, Calcasieu, Rapides and Vernon parishes in the state Senate since 2019 and has served on several boards and committees.

If selected, Reese would follow in the role of his predecessor, Rousse, who had a less traditional academic background before becoming a university president.

“McNeese is in this really unique opportunity to explore a nontraditional leader because they’ve already developed these great institutional leaders,” Reese said in a Tuesday interview “You’ve got all that expertise covered, and what we’ve got to do is enhance our external affairs.”

The full UL system board is scheduled to interview the ﬁnalists and vote to approve McNeese’s next president during a public meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Baton Rouge.

parasites, had no fur on her face and was malnourished when authorities rescued her, the sanctuary employee tells Galante in the recent video. But that’s all behind Nola now Galante, whose Animal Planet show “Extinct or Alive” follows him traveling the globe searching for animals he believes to be wrongly classiﬁed as extinct, speaks to the camera with a bit of perhaps tongue-in-cheek advice.

“Don’t be a rapper, and if you are a rapper don’t get a tiger,” he said.

He planned mass shooting at a festival, police say

BY MARCO CARTOLANO and MISSY WILKINSON Staff writers

A former North Carolina law enforcement officer accused of threatening to commit a mass shooting at a New Orleans festival will be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing, an Orleans Parish magistrate judge ruled Wednesday Christopher Gillum, 45, was booked into the Orleans Justice Center on a felony count of terrorizing after being extradited from Florida on Tuesday On Wednesday afternoon, the former Orange County Sheriff’s Office officer of the month sat shackled in an orange jumpsuit, his hands steepled at his knees.

Assistant Attorney General Daniel Smart asked magistrate commissioner Robert Blackburn to hold Gillum without bail under Article 313, or “Gwen’s Law,” until a dangerousness hearing.

Defense attorney Dylan Utley agreed, and Blackburn set the hearing for Wednesday May 20.

BLOTTER

Continued from page 1B

wound. He died at the scene. Blakes has an extensive arrest history of domestic abuse battery burglary theft, drug possession and various weapons charges.

One hospitalized after house fire

A person was transported to the hospital late Tuesday night after a house ﬁre in North Baton Rouge, the Baton Rouge Fire Department said. Firefighters responding to 4350 Paige St. at about 11:30 p.m. and found ﬁre coming from the back of the house and one resident safely outside, the department said. As crews searched the home, they found a resident in a bed-

“I’m working with Mr Gillum to hopefully secure his release in a way that would make everybody feel safe,” Utley said after Gillum’s ﬁrst appearance.

Gillum was detained at a Destin hotel on April 22, wanted in Orleans Parish for allegedly planning to travel to a festival in New Orleans to commit a mass shooting before dying by suicide by police, ofﬁcials said.

His family members had alerted law enforcement to his alleged threats to harm “Black people,” prompting police in Burlington, North Carolina, to issue an intelligence bulletin asking for help locating Gillum.

Ahead of his arrest, officials said a vehicle registered to Gillum was spotted by a license plate reader in Okaloosa County multiple times on April 21.

The festival Gillum intended to open fire on was not named, but his arrest came ahead of the first weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Gillum previously worked for the Chapel Hill Police Department as an officer and for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina as a detention officer If convicted of terrorizing, he faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.

room “alert and aware,” who was transported to the hospital by EMS. Another resident was not at the home when the fire happened.

Firefighters contained the damage to a rear room in the house, where it originated, and to the attic. The Red Cross was contacted to assist the three displaced residents. Investigators are working to determine the cause.

Murrill

Anderson Reese

Bellingham, Bruce FirstBaptist Church of Zacharyat 5pm Dunn Sr., Donald Mt.BethelMissionary Baptist Church,13530 Scenic Highway, at 7 p.m Landry, Roland

St.John theEvangelistCatholic Church in Plaquemineat11a.m

Murphy,Frank

Brandon G. Thompson Funeral Home, 12012 Hwy. 190 W.,Hammond LAat 2pm Newman, Chevies

Mike Anderson's, 1031 W. LeeDrive at 5:30 p.m Obituaries Anderson, Virgie Mae

Funerals Today and stamp collecting. Mostofall,she enjoyed spending time with her family. She is survived by her daughter, Dawn Landry (Tommy);son,Randall Domingue (Arleen); sister, Brenda Sedotal; brother, Edwin Sedotal, Jr.; three grandchildren, ArielleMartin, LukeLandryand Megan Pitre;fourgreatgrandchildren, Silasand Sophia Martin and Claire and Kate Landry along with ahost of nieces and nephews. Shewas preceded indeath by her husband, Alphonse"AJ" Domingue;her parents, Edwin and LorettaSedotal; brother,Ronald Sedotal; and grandson, Zachary Domingue. The pallbearers willbeEdwin Sedotal, Jr., Tommy Sedotal, JéanPitre Luke Landry, David Landry and Daril Landry. Avisitation willbeheldonFriday, May15, 2026from 8:00 am at Ourso FuneralHome until the Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00amatSt. Joseph the Worker CatholicChurchinPierre Part. Interment willfollow inthe church mausoleum. FatherAlDavidson willofficiate.

Virgie Mae Andersondeparted this lifeonSunday April 26, 2026. Survivors, EdwardAnderson, Jr.;Betty Anderson; Freddie Anderson, Sr Visitation will be held at Hall Davis and Son of Port Allen 1160 Louisiana Avenue: Port Allen, LA on May 15, 2026 at 4pm to 6pm. Visitation will be held at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church 2778 Billups Lane Brusly, LA on May 16, 2026 at 10amtoNoon.

Bauman, Elaine Fay

Elaine Fay Bauman was born on November 16, 1941 in Cottonport, LA., and passed away on April 30, 2026 at the age of 84 years old. Her favorite thing to do was to spend time with her familyand cook for everyone who came into her home. She loved taking care of everyone. She is survived by her daughters, Cindy Richard (Milton) and Stephanie Revell (Jeff); her sons, John Bauman Jr. (Allison) and Jeremy Bauman (Melissa); three grandsons, Adam Richard, JJ Revell and Everett Bauman; 5granddaughters, Brittney Revell, Lindsey Magri, Megan Murphy, McKenzie Bauman, and Ellie Bauman; and 6greatgrandchildren, Kynsley Wellman, Braxton Richard, Mason Richard, Kannyn Magri, Nolan Magri, and Lindy Revell. She was preceded in death by her husband John H. Bauman; her parents, Oledas and Maude Marcotte; her sister, Nettie Marcotte; and her brothers,Allen and Louis Marcotte. Visitation will be held at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Baton Rouge, LA., on June 2, 2026 from 9a.m. -10a.m. followedbya Mass. Burial will be held at Louisiana National Cemetery, 303 West Mount Pleasant Rd, Zachary, LA., promptly at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please donate to: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN

Randolphwas aresident of Addis and anativeof Plaquemine. He passed away early Saturday morning May 9, 2026 at his residence surrounded by family.Hewas 87. He retired fromGeorgia Gulf as amillwright with union102 and previouslywas awell known mechanic. He loved sharing his musical talents as adrummer with several local bands and later as a DJ. Visitationwilltake place on Saturday, May 16, 2026 at St. John theEvangelist CatholicChurch from9:00 until Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00am. Interment willfollow at Grace Memorial Park. He is survived by his Wife of 67 years Virginia Mancuso Richard; daughter: Jeannie R. Prejean (Gordon); Sons: Randolph "Randy" J. Richard,III & Michael "Mike" A. Richard (Jenny); Sisters: Margaret "Tuddy" Boudreaux (Bobby), Diane Fourroux (Paul), SylviaGilchrist (Lee)and BonnieGrant (Curtis); Grandchildren: Chad Richard (Cayla), Randolph "Randol" J. Richard IV (Jennifer), Emily Doughty (Jude) and Corey Richard (Brooklyn); Great grandchildren: Madelyn,Briggs, Ryder, Caroline, Bailee and OwenRichard &J.P Doughty; former daughter in law: DebbieAndries (Greg).

Hospital, New Orleans, LA on May5,2026 surrounded by his lovedones. Visitation willbefrom5:00 pm to 7:00 pm on Thursday, May 14, 2026 and the funeral service willbegan at 7:00 pm at Mt. BethelMissionaryBaptistChurch, 13530 Scenic Hwy,Baton Rouge, LA 70807. Interment will be held Friday, May15, 2026at 9:00 am at F.T. Missionary BaptistChurch, 4712 Highway 10, Jackson, LA 70748.

Lathers, Emma Emma "Nana" Lathers enteredinto eternal rest in Baker, Louisiana on May5, 2026.She was a72-year old native of St.Francisville, Louisiana.Viewing atMagnoliaFullGospel Church on Friday, May15, 2026at9:00 am followed by her CelebrationofLifeService at 10:00amconducted Pastor Milton Coats; interment at Pilgrim Rest Cemetery. Survivors include herdevoted daughters, Shaundra Kirk(Troy), Corinth,Texas and LakeysiaCaldwell(James),Baton Rouge, Louisiana;sisters, Georgia McQuirter(Harrison), Lizzie Young, and Mary Washington;and three grandchildren. Arrangements entrusted to Miller &Daughter Mortuary

Randolph is preceded in death by his parents: Randolph Richard, Sr. and Goldie Guillot Richard LeBlanc; Siblings: Paul K. "TeeTee"Richard,JohnC Richard, Ruthie R. Green, BridgetR.Foster Pallbearers willChad, Randol and Corey Richard, JudeDoughty, GordonPrejeanand ByronMancuso In lieu flowers memorial donations can be madeto St.John theEvangelist CatholicChurch.

Richard, Randolph J. 'Snookie'

Voters will weigh in on ﬁve proposedconstitutional amendments in Saturday’s election. The Times-Picayune and Advocatenewspapers make these recommendations.

Amendment 1: Job creation outside the state civil service system. No State employees fall into two categories: classified workers whose employmentisoverseen by the Civil Service Commission andwho have certain jobprotections, and unclassified employees who serve at will. Amendment 1would allowthe Louisiana Legislature to shift jobs from classified to unclassified without commission approval.

The idea behind the proposal is to make government agencies more nimble; amongother things, putting more jobs into theunclassiﬁed categorywould make it easier to hire and ﬁre workers.

We support the goal of making government work better for citizens, but we are concerned that the amendment could lead to large-scale disruptions of the workforce and reintroduce thesortofpolitical inﬂuence thatcivil service was designed to prevent

Amendment 2: New public school districtin the city of St. George. Yes.

The ﬁght overapotential school districtfor the St. George region of East Baton Rouge Parishhas raged formorethana decade; in fact, it is what led to the incorporation in 2024 of the new city Amendment 2asks voters statewide to allow thenew district to raise local revenue andto draw down money through thestate ﬁnancing formula for public schools, key stepstoward making the break from theEast BatonRouge Parish school system.

We have expressed concernsoverhow anew schooldistrictwould impact other students in the parish. But we alsonotethatSt. George schoolsystemsupportershave gonethrough the process laid out before them

Amendment 3: Dissolveeducation trust funds and raise teacher pay. Yes.

Louisiana’s educatorswould get amodest but permanent raise, rather than theone-time stipends lawmakers have been doling outin recent years, if voters approve thisamendment. Money for an additional annual $2,250 forteachersand $1,125 for support staff would befreed up by dissolving three education trustfunds and paying down retirement debt.

Interest and investmentreturns fromthese funds are currently used forvariousneeds, including higher education andearly childhood education. If the amendmentpasses, legislators indicate they’ll ﬁnd other resources to keep fundingthese priorities, andwehopetheydo.

Amendment 4: Local optiononbusiness inventory property tax. Yes.

This amendment wouldallow local parishes, at their own discretion, to reduce or eliminate the tax now assessed on business inventories. Louisiana’sinventory tax isananachronistic and costly administrativeburden thatputsLouisiana jurisdictions at acompetitive disadvantage to the 41 states that impose nosuch levy. Because the tax applies not to proﬁts but toinstock inventories, some businesses with small proﬁtmargins are forced to pay taxesashighas their net earnings. That’sanobvious deterrent to small business and ajob killer

Because afew heavilyindustrializedparishes rely on the inventory tax for alargepartof theirgovernment funding, this amendmentdoes not eliminatethe tax automatically butinstead givesparishes achoice.

Amendment 5: Raise mandatoryretirement age for judges. Yes. Amendment 5would raise themandatory retirement age for judges in Louisiana from70to 75.Thiswould allow judges to runfor terms as long as 10 years if they havenot reached their 75th birthday We think this is areasonable proposalgiven that people are generally livinglongerthanthey once did and that many retired judgesstill work on an ad hoc basis.

On April 23, LSU’S legendary baseball coach and beloved friend of so manywas given ahuge honor in Miami Beach, his hometown, with thenaming of the baseball ﬁeld in Flamingo Parkasthe Stanley “Skip” Bertman Field.Myhusband Richard and I ﬂew together with Skip, his three daughters, Jan, Jodi and Lori, and close friends, Janice and Billy Guitreau, to Miami Beach to witness this glorious occasion.

The ceremony drew about 250 people. Sittingbehind Skip, Icould observe theenormous and emotional greetings, hugs and kisses from so manyofhis old friends —from grade school, high school, college and former players. Icried just watching the love pouring out from his friends and seeing Skip withagrin from ear to ear as he chatted with each one of them. The mayor andother dignitaries presided over the ceremony,declared April 23 as Skip Bertman Day and presented him withahuge metal plaque,

The City ParkGolf Course is once again under attack from the people who are supposedtopromoteand protect it

The people of Baton Rouge are aware that this place of calm and soothing green space is atreasure and apriceless piece of history Does anyone remember theParamount Theater? It was torn down despitemany cries to preserve it. Once gone, it has been mourned by count-

Thank you to Bishop Michael Duca for his eloquent and timely letter of hope.

Many of us citizens, Catholics or otherwise, are despondent and alarmed over the words and actions of President Donald Trumpand his administration. So manypositive things about our country and world have been destroyed.

including paragraphs of his accomplishments. What aday!

The following day,aprivate lunch was held at Joe’sStoneCrabs that we all attended with him and about 50 of his special Miami friends. After lunch, each guest was given the honor of standing up andtelling a quick story about Skip andexpressing their lasting love and admiration for him.

After hearing all their remarks, it was obvious that our Skipper had madeanimpact in some way with all of them.

Ihave heard manyofhis players from Baton Rouge, whom he coached here at LSU, say that Coach Bertman taught them as much about lifeashe did about baseball.

Jan, Jodi, Lori, Janice, Billy,Richard and Iwill never forget those two remarkable days for ourbeloved Skip. Always, Geaux Skip!

SUSAN LIPSEY Baton Rouge

less city leaders and businesspeople. Alas,you can’tput thegenie back in thebottle. Apiece of Baton Rouge history is gone forever

Now the City Park golf course faces thesame fate. Altering it even alittle will destroy its charm.Don’t divvy up thegolf course to add attractions. What we havealready is perfection.

MARTHA UPTON Baton Rouge

So manyinnocent people have been harmed. We are in astate of conﬂagration. It is very difﬁcult to envision arepair to normalcy Iwill ponder his words and hold them in my heart for encouragement. God bless him and the United States of America.

ROSE MARY WILLIAMS Baton Rouge

Have we had enough yet? In one week: eight children killed in Shreveport, one teen killed and five wounded in Baton Rouge, and one massshooting suspect intercepted before he could murder people at Jazz Fest. How’s everyone enjoying their freedom? Louisiana is one of the nation’smost gun-friendly states. As of 2024, we allow concealed carry without apermit, allowing anyone to carry firearmsvirtually anywhere. When there are no rules and no checks on firearms, you get dead teenagers at the mall. Youget dead children at school. Youget anation of people so convinced of the necessity of unchecked gun rights that they will watch the carnage flow again and again and never put twoand twotogether Mental health is often blamed as the culprit, rather than lax gun laws, but it’snot either-or.Two things can be true. And besides, cries forbetter mental health services are ahollow argument unless one is ready to vote for universal healthcare.

Our health insurers have sold us out, the gun lobby has sold us out and our lawmakers have sold us out. Until we the people decide we’ve had enough, the senseless killings will continue unchecked. MOLLYCLEAVER NewOrleans

Avery large group of Louisiana voters whohave been abandoned by both dysfunctional political parties and are now listed as “NoParty” are being forced by the Republican Party to choose aparty in order to vote in the upcoming congressional primary election. Ithink it would be agreat idea if we all chose the Democratic Party, whether intending to vote that way in November or not. It would send amessage to the Republican Party leaders, not that Ithink they care, and it would confuse them and the political pundits trying to predict the general election. At least we could have alittle fun while submitting to our mandate. BO BIENVENU Prairieville

La.man on amission forUkraine

Even as Ukraine is reportedly turning the tide against Russia’s aggression, its defensive war rarely garners much news coverageanymore. Nonetheless, NewOrleanian Arnie Fielkow is ona mission to rouse more grassroots American support for Ukraine’s cause It’sarighteous mission.

Fielkow,whose past public roleshave included being aSaints executive, city council member,and CEO ofthe Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, is embarking on asix-month assignmentleading Communities for Ukraine, aproject ofthe New York-based Razomfor Ukraine.

Razom, which means “together” in Ukrainian, is rated by both Forbes and Fortune magazines among the top 10 nonproﬁt organizations in Ukraine, and arguably is the most prominent U.S.-based proUkrainian outﬁt. It saysithas delivered $205million in aid to that Eastern European nation since the 2013-14Maidan movement that threw out apuppetgovernment controlled by Moscow

The timing of Fielkow’snew undertaking is fortuitous, as will shortly be explained, but ﬁrst, IaskedFielkowhow he gotinvolved.

“In 2007, when my wife and Iadopted twobeautiful Ukrainian daughters, itbegan my 20-year love affair with the country,” Fielkow said. His family traveled there several times before the war,and Fielkow himself has made four separate trips there(or to itsborder) since Russia’sbrutal invasiononFeb. 24, 2022

On his ﬁrst visit, just weeks after the invasion, he visited atrainstation in Slovakia about 5miles from the Ukrainian border,where he met agroup of about 30 orphan children andtheir one adult leader ﬂeeing the highly volatile war.

“They were freezing,”Fielkowsaid of conditions which, in that month, saw regulartemperature dropsatnight to about32degrees. “And Ithought that, but for the grace of God, these kids could have been my daughters.” Fielkow handed them about 50 warm knit caps from the Black and Gold Sports Shop in Metairie, featuring Saints colors and logos, and, he said, “you would have thought Iwas giving them gold, as they were so excited to receive anything.”

Not that this was the point —the warmth was the goal —but he said he

thinks he inadvertently created acadre of Saints fans in EasternEurope.

More poignant still was when, on the same trip,sponsored by the Jewish Federation of North America, he was on thePolish-Ukrainian border when aUkrainianman too oldfor military service appeared, carrying littleelse except asmallish box that he obviously treasured.

Proddedtosay what was in thebox, the man explained that during World WarII, hisparents had hidden numerousJews, protecting them from the Nazis. Years later, theYad VashemWorld HolocaustMuseum in Israel had added hisparentstoits famous Righteous Among the Nations list of some 28,000 people who “took great risks to save Jews duringthe Holocaust. In thebox that the man dared not leave behind in Ukraine —this was when mostofthe world still thought the Russians were going to completely overrunhis country —was the medal given to his parentsfromYad Vashem.

Fielkow: “The man said that‘80 years ago, myparents helpedyour Jewish community escape the Nazis and Iwant youtoknowthat today your community is helping my family escape awar.’ The entireroomwas crying.”

Anyway, Fielkow has continued to be involved with Razom’sefforts,and nowhewill shepherdthis six-month program. In it, Fielkow will lead athreepersonteamonthree trips to key U.S. states to build more grassroots engage-

ment on behalf of Ukraine through meetings withinterested citizens, business leaders, journalistsand local ofﬁcials. This Sunday,the team starts visiting threecities in Florida, beginning withMiami, which has asubstantial number of Ukrainian refugees.Another trip will visit New Orleans,Baton Rouge and Shreveport.Another will go to New York, Pittsburgh and one other city in Pennsylvania to be determined. All this occursagainst the backdrop of multiple reportsinAmerican media —not prominent enough, but still reports —thatUkraine may now have the upperhandasRussia’s manpower and economy arewaning. This is exactly what was predicted lastSeptember by former Tulane provost and leading Russian-affairs expert Fred Starr,who told me thenthat “Russia is deﬁnitely and unquestionably losing this war.” Ukraine’sremarkable courage, along withits astonishing advances in drone technology and advancement, may indeed be putting dictator Vladimir Putin on his heels All of which makes Fielkow’sawareness-raising job even more important. National lawmakersneed to hear that Americans still want their country to materially support Ukraine, in order to end the war on favorable termsand ensurethatPutinischastened beyond repair

Email Quin Hillyer at quin.hillyer@ theadvocate.com

Living in aDemocraticfantasy world

Anew poll suggests that asizable number of Democrats —more than 40% in some cases—believethe attempts on President Donald Trump’s life were fake.

The poll, which surveyed 1,000 Americans over the age of 18, was conducted by NewsGuard andYouGov.Itaskedpeople to respond to three statements:

“The assassination attempt againstDonaldTrump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April 2026 was staged.”

ocratic respondents.

ﬁndings wasthat theassassination attempt that seemed mostundeniably real —the Butler incident —was the eventthe largest number of Democrats characterized as fake. On that day, Trumpwas shot and was visibly bleeding, while one man was killed andtwo others were seriously wounded, all of it captured on video andstill pictures by several press photographers. And now many people, mostofthem Democrats, cannot accept that it happened

“The assassination attempt against Donald Trump at aTrump presidential campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July2024 was staged.

“The assassination attempt against Donald Trump at Trump International Golf Club in September 2024 was staged.”

Thepollstersfound that 34%of Democrats said the Correspondents Dinner attempt was staged; 42% of Democrats said the Butler shooting was staged; and 26% said the Trump golf club incident was staged.

By way of contrast, 13% of Republicans said the Correspondents Dinner attempt was staged; 7% of Republicans said the Butler shooting was staged; and 7% said the Trump golf club incident was staged.

The Republican numbers are bad enough, reﬂecting an information system and troubled culture in whichfewer and fewer people believewhat they read and watch. But the Democratic numbers are off the scale, reﬂecting something far beyond that —a political atmosphere in which some people will believe anything abouttheirhated opponent,that he is afascist,adictator and aman who would stageelaborate phony assassination attemptsfor political gain. One striking aspect of thepoll’s

TheNewsGuard analysis notes that,“Minutes after Secret Service escorted ableeding Trump off thestage, social media lit up with claims that the shooting was staged, arguing, forexample, that Trumpfaked the shooting witha‘blood pill’ and that photojournalistsatthe scene had been tipped off. Nearly two years later, that narrative continues to gain traction, with claims by some social media users that an actual Russian plot to stage an assassination in Hungary that never came to fruition is proof that the Pennsylvaniarally shooting was also staged.”

Thepoll questions gave respondents theoption of saying they were “not sure” whether each of the assassination attempts was staged or not. When you combine thenumberofpeople who said that aparticular event was deﬁnitely staged with those who said they were not sure whether it was staged, youget amajority of Americanswho question thereality of the Trumpassassination attempts Forthe Butler shooting, acombined 53% said it wasstaged or they were not sure; for the Correspondents Dinner, 56% percentsaid it was staged or they were not sure; and for thePalm Beach golfcourse incident, 52% said it was staged or they were not sure. Again, these ﬁgureswere dominated by Dem-

These are huge numbers of people who believe theassassination attempts are massive lies or might be lies. The numbers are so striking that NewsGuard included an editorial note: “After we received these resultsfrom YouGov,wewere so surprised by the survey findings that we asked YouGov to go back and recheck the data. They did so and confirmed their findings.”

For Democrats,the resultsare reminiscent of earlier polls that measured credulity about the most sensational allegations in the Trump-Russia controversy of the president’s ﬁrst term. In late 2018, the Economist and YouGov asked respondents about this statementconcerning the 2016 election: “Russia tampered with vote tallies in order to get Donald Trumpelected president.” Wasittrue or false?

First of all, the statement was clearly false; there has never been any evidence that Russia tampered with vote tallies in the2016 U.S. presidential election.

But31% of Democrats told pollsters thestatementwas “deﬁnitely” true, and another 36% of Democrats said it was “probably” true. That was atotal of 67% of Democrats —two-thirds of theparty —who believed Russia deﬁnitely or probably tampered with 2016 votetallies.

Of course, at that time, experiencingfantasies about Trumpand Russia was an everyday experience for many Democrats and their allies in the press. Indeed, watching some news coverage from thetime, who wouldn’tbelieve thewildest stories about Trump? Now, thephenomenon has been updated with new material —the assassination attempts —but thewillingness to believe anything is the same.

Email Byron York at byork@washingtonexaminer.com.

“My favorite thing about our current politics” is not aphrase Iuse alot. In fact, it’saphrase Idon’tuse at all. Covering politics today is a grim dance between the vicious and the idiotic, between repulsion and despair.Itisthe journalistic equivalent of bonking your temples with a ball-peen hammer.Repeatedly Except forthe lone ray of sunshine that cut through the poisonous fogofthe culture war,the one wan hope that escaped from whatever bargain-basement Pandora’sbox launched us into this demented era.

Ispeak, of course, of the Marco Rubio meme.

For those whoare not wasting too much time on social media, Ican ﬁnally say you are missing out. Rubio memes are the mostdelightful thing to hit modern politics in decades. The entire family can enjoy them, from your MAGA uncle to your #NeverTrumpniece, from your “resistance lib” cousin to your “abundance bro” brother

The gag is simple. Remember when Rubio kept adding new jobs to his portfolio? First, President Donald Trumpplucked him from the Senate to becomeSecretary of State. Next thing we knew,Rubio took on roles as interim national security adviser and acting archivist of the United States. Well, somemerry memester figured out it would be funny to makepictures of Rubio finding out he had yet another job. Like “president of Venezuela,” which seemstobeanearly example of this meme, posted soon after the U.S. military operation in the South American nation in January Soon, the memes werejoyously multiplying. There was Rubio finding out he wasthe new manager of Manchester United. Or the new shah of Iran. And then there’smyfavorite, the artificial intelligence-generated video of Rubio discovering he’sthe new chief executive of Anthropic.

People whoshare the memes may have wildly differing viewsonthe underlying events at which they gently poke fun. But whether you view the Venezuela raid as atriumph or awar crime, you can still get agood chuckle out of Rubio costumed up forathird-rate marching band.

Somereaders will be tempted to respond that we shouldn’tmake jokes out of terrible things. But this is exactly the attitude that is making American politics impossible.

Human beings have always told jokes about terrible things because laughter makes those things slightly less terrible to live through. We makelight of our failures and misfortunes, crack wise at funerals and in war zones, jeer at dictatorships and plagues. Because often the alternative is helpless sobbing. Naturally,itmatters what kind of jokewetell. There are hilarious classic jokes about the stupidity of antisemitism and decidedly unfunny memes where the punch line is “the Jews.” But that’swhat makes the Rubio meme so heartwarming. They’re something we can all laugh about, even when there’snothing to celebrate. Ilived in Manhattan when the newsbroke that President Bill Clinton had been carrying on with White House intern Monica Lewinsky This was ahighly polarizing event, to put it mildly,and my family divided along predictable lines. My Republican relatives thought it wasanoutrage that should end his presidency, while the Democrats believed it wasaprivate matter being scandalously exploited by rapacious Republicans. In overwhelmingly Democratic Manhattan, the latter sentiment prevailed. NewYorkers were staunchly behind Clinton and outraged at Republican overreach.

That didn’tmean they couldn’thave funwith it. Everyone —the traders at the bank where Iworked, the real estate ladies at my mother’s office, the guy at the bodega —had aClinton joke they wanted to tell you. The late-night hosts had a field day Today’ssuccessors to Jay Leno and David Letterman trafficless in lighthearted, nonpartisan fluffand moreinself-serious jabs designed to elicit what comedian Seth Meyers has dubbed clapter: an ecstatically enraged audience applauding remarks that tickle their political funny bone, but aren’tactually,well, funny I’mnot suggesting that Rubio memes can cure us of that disease. Like mostmemes, they have too short ashelf lifetopromise any lasting treatment. Already,they are rarer and less funny than they used to be, and soon the internet will turn to something else. But the spirit that animates them doesn’thave to die. As long as Americans push past partisan differences and laugh together,then there’sstill achance we can find moreenduring points of agreement. MeganMcArdle is on X, @asymmetricinfo

ega McArdle M n

Byron York

Quin Hillyer

FILEPHOTO By DANIELERATH

Arnie and Susan Fielkow

Well, if youenjoyedthe weather yesterday, you’re gonna love it again today. Expect amostlysunny, warm, humid and dryday Temperatures thisafternoon are just about where theyshould be rising into the mid-80s. Our windsare very light and out of the north at almost 5mph,bringing dryair into Southeast Louisiana, but probably too light to have asignificant impact on dewpoints. Rain chances todayare at zero and Idon’tanticipate that changing at least untilSunday

N.O. area gets high marksfor watergrades

ButPlaquemines Parish,Bogalusa considered failing

BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer

Louisiana’sannual grades for drinking water systems have been released, showing progress in much of the New Orleans area and pristine scores for areas of St. Tammany,but parts of Plaquemines Parish and the city of Bogalusa were handed failing marks.

The water system grades issued by the state Department of Health, which cover 2025, are intended to evaluate asystem’slong-term sustainability to provide safewater.A low grade doesnot pose an immediate health risk.

The grades are calculated based on seven differentcategories, including federal and state water quality compliance, customer satisfactionand ﬁnancial sustainability of the system. That means asystemwithanAorB grade could still have federal violations, such as New Orleans’ Carrollton plant, and afailing system might be docked because it is under the leadership of a ﬁscaladministrator,such as in Bogalusa.

“It’sanatmosphere createdfor transparency to have citizens know more about their water,” said Steven Joubert, an engineering services chief at the Health Department.

DETENTION

Continued from page1B

Johnson wasselling large quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine. After successfullyordering an ounce of each drug from Johnson, the informant notiﬁed LPSO, who secured asearch warrant for Johnson’sresidence on Blount Lane in Walker When the place was searched, Johnson and three others, including Tate, were arrested at the residence. Tate was booked on acounteach of possession withintent to dis-

In New Orleans, the Carrollton plant,operated by the Sewerage & Water Board, earned aB,its highest grade since theLegislature mandated the monitoring in 2021. It received aCfor 2024 and aDfor 2023.

Water systemsinAlgiers,as well as Jefferson,St. Bernard and St.Charles parishes,receivedA or Bletter grades. Butthere were some failing systems in the region, such as two of the four districts in PlaqueminesParish, as well as in Bogalusa.

Despite some weak spots, the systems in southeast Louisiana fared better than other parts of the state, Joubert noted. Of themore than 900 water systems monitored statewide, less than 100 received DorFgrades in this year’sreport. Around three-quartersofthese systems wereinnorthern Louisiana, hesaid “It’smeant to capture theyear in review,” Joubert said. “As far as sampling measures that we do, if therewas anytypeofalarming understanding that comes from that, thenthatwould be given to the public in an immediate fashion within 24 hours’notice.”

ImprovementinNew Orleans

New Orleans’ Carrollton system lost 18 out of apossible 100 points, due to an outstanding federal order and ﬁnancial rate study,aswell as unresolved issues in the operations and maintenance category.

Ceara Labat, chief of communications forthe city’sSewerage& WaterBoard, also noted that both

tribute Schedule Inarcotics, possession with intent to distribute Schedule II narcotics and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Another arrestee at theresidence, Christopher Jones, told deputies that he had received a large amount of fentanyl, LSD and psilocybin mushrooms from Johnson, with some of the drugs being hidden in ashed in the back.

Thearresting deputy,Evitt, writes in the afﬁdavit that he “believesbothJones andTate had access tothe narcotics in theshed.”

In his lawsuit, DeReus cites this as the onlymention of possible wrongdoingbyTate in the afﬁdavit.

the Carrollton andAlgiersplants lost points in the customer satisfaction category.

“For all large utilities, it is unrealistic to have less than 10 validated complaints,and therefore we do not submitacustomercomplaint log,” Labat said.

The system did not lose any points over federal water quality standards for contamination or violating theU.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s lead and copper rule. However,federal agencies note that no level of lead in water is safe andthe majority of households thatparticipated in SWB’swater testingprogram found lead in their water

The Algiers plant’s grade also improved, receiving an Acompared to the previous year’sB.Labat said bothsystemsgot extrapointsfor implementing waterstorage plans. At theCarrollton plant, repairing leaking valves and aleaking water main also contributedtothe higher grade.

Failingsystems

Thewater grades in Plaquemines Parish were an outlier to the larger trends in the area. The Belle Chasse and PortSulphur systems both received failing grades, though Port Sulphur scored somewhat lower

Ofﬁcials from Plaquemines Parish did not respond to requests for comment.

Joubert said that many of the issues in Belle Chasse are related to its water towers, with the system losing 20 points for signiﬁcant in-

DeReus argues that there’sno mention of any evidence that Tate was aresident at thehouse, that he had any drugs on his person, that he was seen entering the shed or that theinformant mentioned him as being related to the drug trafﬁcking operation at all.

DeReus said that deputies violated Tate’sFourth Amendment rights by arrestinghim without probable cause.

District Attorney Scott Perrilloux said he maintains that there was sufﬁcient basis for Tate to be charged based on evidence found at the residence. “The claims asserted by Mr Tate against Deputy Evittand

frastructure deﬁciencies. It also lostpoints in the operations and maintenancecategoriesand for being noncompliant with afederal administrative order.Though Belle Chasse’sgrade dropped from aDlastyear,the system did not lose points over anycontamination violations.

Port Sulphur,however,lost pointsfor federal contamination violations and state-level chlorine violations, as wellasunresolved infrastructure deficiencies.The system did not violate federal lead and copper rules, theHealth Departmentfound. The failing grade wasactually aslight uptick forthe system

“Lastyear they had a41, and this year they have a46,” Joubert said.

“So it’samodest improvement, but it’sstill an Fgrade.”

Bogalusa, meanwhile, saw a steep drop from aB to an F, losing points formultiple infrastructure deficiencies as well as lacking an operator.The Washington Parish cityalso sawalower score due to financialsustainability issues,as thecity has been placed under the control of a fiscal administrator

Don Jones, the acting director of Public Works forBogalusa, said thecityexpectstohaveawater operator by the end of next month andthathehas addressed allofthe infrastructure issues since he returned to the position in June.

“We’ve got agood water system,” Jones said. “Wetake pride in our water.”

In nearbySt. Tammany Parish, there was also afailing system

Sheriff Ard are without merit,” Ard saidina statement Tuesday. “Wehave responded to the lawsuit with appropriatemotions, seeking dismissal of the claims. Giventhat this involves active litigation, we cannot provide further comment at this time.”

Delayeddismissingcharges

DeReus claimsthat Tate was arrested withoutprobable cause and kept in jail to assist in Johnson’s drug trial.

in theOzone Pines subdivision, which hasreceivedanF for the past three years. David Cougle, a member of the Parish Council, said he believes everyone in the subdivisionisonwellwater or community wells, “someofwhichare very poorly maintained.” The subdivision lacks an owner and operator,said Chris Tissue, the director of the parish’sutility department. The parish government is consolidating the Ozone Pines subdivision into alargerparish water sector system,whichwill require installing substantial new infrastructure forhomes currently connected to the failingsystem. That project is estimated to be completed this fall, Tissue said.

TastyTammanywater?

Despitethe onefailing system, water quality reports for St. Tammany showed amostly pristine picture,withmultiple systems receiving perfect or near-perfect scores.The Health Department gave Covington’swater supply a grade of 100, and Mandeville’ssystemreceiveda 105 through bonus points.

JakeGroby,the superintendent of Mandeville’s Water andSewer Department, said the Southern Hills Aquifer that supplies water to the parish —and many other parishes in the state —plunges deep underground, offering a fresh supply.The city also adds ammonia and chlorine to make the “best tasting water,” atitle the city earned last year when it won a statewide blind taste test.

DeReus notes Tate’scharges were dismissed only after Johnsonwas convicted. He wassentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guiltyofpossession of fentanyl. He claimsthe charges were not dropped until Johnson’sconviction was secured,due to theprosecutor’sconcern that adismissed Tate could serve as ahelpful scapegoat forJohnson’sdefense attorneys. DeReus said his client’s months in jail were useful forthe prosecution’sstrategy whentrying Johnson.

“TroyTate lost 13 monthsofhis life when he wasarrested based on adocument thatonly mentioned his nametwo times,” DeReus said. “Myclient allegesthathis Fourth Amendment rightswere violated, and Ilook forward to pursuing his claims.”

Teamswillfaceoff in league’s firstregular-season contestinFrance

BY JEFF DUNCAN Staff writer

The Pittsburgh Steelers arethe Saints’opponent for their Week 7game in Paris, the NFL announced Wednesday

The game, which will be the ﬁrst NFL contest in France, will be played Oct. 25 at Stade de France. Kickoff is setfor 8:30 a.m. It will be the Saints’ fourth regular-season contest overseas following prior appearances (2008, 2017 and 2022) in London.

“It is aprivilegefor the New Orleans Saints to take partinthe NFL’s ﬁrst regular

season game in France,” Saintsowner Gayle Benson said in astatement. “Louisiana’s relationshipwithFrance is centuries deep, andthis game representsanother meaningfulstep in strengthening those cultural and economic ties.”

Thesix-time Super Bowl champion Steelerswere abit of asurprise after media reportsinFebruaryindicatedthe Cleveland Browns would serve as the Saints’ opponent for thegame, which was part of theleague’s nine-game International Series. The NFLis expected to announcethe full schedule for the2026 regular season Thursday

At the time, Bensondenied the initial reports that the Browns would play in Paris, saying theopponent had not yet been determined by NFLofﬁcials

ä See SAINTS, page 5C

Flag-bearers march during the 2024 Summer Olympics closing ceremony on Aug. 11, 2024, at the Stadede FranceinSaintDenis, France. The Saints will play the Steelers on Oct. 25 in the NFL’s first game in France.

ON THE Saints settoplaySteelersinParis

STRUGGLES MO

Ugochukwu lookstobe asteal for Wade,LSU

BY TOYLOYBROWN III

Staff writer

Divine Ugochukwulookslikeadecent high-major backup point guard at first glance. The LSU commitment averaged 5.1 points, 1.5 assists and 0.7 turnovers in 16.1 minutes per game as asophomore at MichiganState. The 6-foot-3Ugochukwu was the No.227 transfer on On3’sindustry rankings —acomposite that uses multiple recruiting services. Positionally,he’stouted as the No. 45 point guard on 247Sports and the No. 17 combo guard on On3. Why did coach Will Wade prioritize adding alead ball handler with little buzz to his roster?

Ugochukwu has allthe makings of being a steal in the portal.

Downhill finishing

LSU coach JayJohnson, right,makes amound visit for apitching

April18atAlex BoxStadium.LSU

Inside theproblems plaguing Johnson, LSU’spitchingstaff this season

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

Jay Johnson pausedfor along time before answering the question.

“What’sbeen the most frustrating partofthe pitching this season?”

His response could’ve goneinseveraldifferent directions. He could’ve talked about LSU’sinability to ﬁll up the strike zone. He could’ve discussedhow the Tigers were far and away the worst team in the SoutheasternConferencewhen it came to throwing wild pitches. He could’ve mentioned how injuries marred astarting rotation that already had to replace Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson, both of whom are destined to be major leaguers.

But after mulling over those options, LSU’scoach ﬁnally landed on an answer that wasnone of the above.

“Wehad acoupleguys coming out of thebullpen not ready

when they came out of the whole thing,” Johnson said on Saturday, after theTigersgaveup13runs in their second of threelossestoGeorgia.“Youcan’tgive this team extra chances.When we bring aguy in out of the pen, it’s to get that guy out.That’sthe ﬁrst guy out;wedon’thave time forthem to get thethird guy out.” Johnsonisright. It’staken too long forLSU relievers to extinguish ﬁres once they enter the game.

Butthatspecificissue doesn’t fullyexplainthe Tigers’ weekend 14.32 ERA as apitching staff, or the 66 walks they issued in 76 innings against Georgia, Texas A&M and Mississippi State. And it isn’tthe only reason whyLSU heads into its finalseriesinSEC playagainst Florida on Thursday (6:30 p.m., SEC Network+) on theprecipice of missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 15 years.

LSU ﬁnds itself in this position —with only 29 wins and on

Ugochukwuislikely LSU’smost athletic guardsince Eric Gaines,althoughhe’snot as freaky vertically The Tigers’ new guard has awesome downhill speed that will translate to the Southeastern Conference. He blew by defenders with ease, especially whenthey were latetoclose outatthe 3-point line Ugochukwu’sburst generated easy layups in the half-court andintransition. Hisfast ﬁrst stepalso created openings for interior passes to teammates after drawing defenders to him

His precociousness as adownhill threat was seen in his scoring efﬁciency at the rim

AP FILEPHOTO By

Former Michigan State guard Divine Ugochukwu drives the ball to the basket during agame on Dec.16inEast Lansing,Mich. ä See LSU, page 4C

Steven Milam LSU Baseball, Infielder

LSU to face Auburn again in quarterfinals

BY CHARLES SALZER

Contributing writer

If the Division I quarterfinal women’s tennis match between 10th-seeded LSU and No. 2 Auburn is anything like the one staged by the teams in the championship of last month’s SEC tournament, fans can expect another thrilling encounter Auburn won the SEC title by a score of 4-3, an outcome that came down to a third-set tiebreaker in the ﬁnal singles match that was on the courts. Eva Ionescu won that tiebreaker 7-2 over LSU’s Kinaa Graham in the No. 6 match, but it didn’t diminish an impressive showing for LSU at the SEC tournament.

LSU (22-9) and Auburn (35-3), two of the eight teams that advanced to quarterfinal play at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia, will play at 9 a.m. Friday If the Tigers win, they advance to a semiﬁnal match on Saturday The national championship match will be played Sunday

“The position we’re in right now might be the equivalent of the baseball team making it to Omaha,” LSU coach Taylor Fogleman said. “I think it’s a wonderful accomplishment, more so for us because of what the program has done over the course of its history, and our players aren’t taking it for granted.”

LSU comes into the quarterﬁnal having won seven of its past eight matches. Five of the wins

were against ranked opponents, including an SEC semiﬁnal win over Georgia, which was ranked No. 1 at the time.

The win over the Bulldogs set up a second meeting with Auburn, which had defeated LSU 4-2 on March 7 in Baton Rouge. For the SEC tournament meeting, LSU’s lineup had been tweaked, and the changes led to improved results.

“I think there’s a little bit of an evolution of our team, and learning about ourselves and our players,” Fogleman said of his lineup.

“The ﬁrst time we played Auburn, we were working through some things, especially with doubles that I feel like we’ve ironed out. We’ve shifted one or two things in singles so it’s just an evolution of the season.”

For the last half of the season, LSU’s doubles lineup has featured Cadence Brace and Kayla Cross at No 1, and Kayla Cross

and Ella McDonald at No. 2.

In singles, the lineup has also been consistent with Brace playing No. 1, followed by Cross at No. 2, McDonald at No. 3, Addison Lanton playing No. 4 and Carolina Kuhl at No. 5. LSU has slotted either Graham or Alexia Marginean at No. 6 during its late-season surge. The lineup changes had LSU within a tiebreaker of winning the SEC tournament, and feeling like it can play with anyone in the country

“If you look up and down the line, the last eight teams that are here, including us, have all had a really good year,” Fogleman said. “There aren’t any easy matches at this stage, but over the course of the season, maybe the last four weeks really, we’ve proven to ourselves that we’re bringing what we’re capable of We certainly have the ability to beat anyone.”

LSU transfer target Graves talks NBA future

BY TOYLOY BROWN III Staff writer

LSU transfer target Allen Graves spoke publicly about his college recruitment for the ﬁrst time since entering the portal on April 10. The former Santa Clara forward told ESPN’s Jeff Borzello that the only two schools he’s discussed transferring to are LSU and Duke. Graves also said that Kentucky has reached out to his agents, but Duke and LSU are his top two choices, Borzello reported The 6-foot-9, 225-pound Graves announced his intentions to enter the 2026 NBA Draft on April 7 and is currently participating in the draft combine. While he has until May 27 to withdraw and return to college basketball, Graves told Borzello that he would prefer to remain in the NBA draft if he’s a ﬁrst-round pick.

45-year-old Venus Williams to play in French Open

PARIS Venus Williams will play in the women’s doubles at the French Open this month together with Hailey Baptiste, who is 21 years her junior

The American pair were among the entrants conﬁrmed on Wednesday by organizers for the clay-court tournament at RolandGarros, which begins on May 24 in western Paris.

The 45-year-old Williams will not play in the women’s singles. Williams was a wild-card entry at the Australian Open, where she lost in the ﬁrst round and became the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open singles main draw

A seven-time major winner in singles, Williams previously held the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles.

Indy 500 officials expect 2nd straight race-day sellout

INDIANAPOLIS The world’s largest single-day sporting event will be run in front of another full house, and central Indiana residents will be able to watch the telecast of the Indianapolis 500 live.

Race organizers announced Wednesday that reserved seating for this year’s race would be sold out by the end of the day and that the local blackout would be lifted.

Official attendance figures for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” are not announced, but there are an estimated 275,000 grandstand seats around the 2.5-mile oval and the total crowd, which includes general admission tickets on the infield, reaches an estimated 350,000.

Patriots aware of reported charges against Hutchins

BOSTON — Patriots seventh-round pick Quintayvious Hutchins was arraigned Wednesday morning on domestic assault and battery charges on a family or household member in Newton District Court, the Middlesex District Attorney’s ofﬁce stated. Hutchins, 23, pleaded not guilty and was released on personal recognizance, the DA’s ofﬁce said. The defendant was ordered to stay away and have no contact with the alleged victim.

The Patriots released a statement to reporters about the matter.

“We are aware of the report involving Quintayvious Hutchins,” the statement read. “We take these matters very seriously and are in the process of gathering additional information. We will not have further comment at this time.”

Islanders’ Schaefer unanimous choice for Calder Trophy

as a freshman at Miami He made 64.4% of his 73 rim attempts and was assisted on only 6.4% of those shots. To put that in perspective, LSU’s former point guard Dedan Thomas was assisted on 8.1% of his rim scores.

Ugochukwu’s eye-catching explosiveness wasn’t highlighted at Michigan State due to a small role with a star backcourt mate.

He played with second-team AP All-American point guard Jeremy Fears, who led the country in assists per game (9.4). In the ﬁrst nine games, Ugochukwu came off the bench and played at least 12 minutes four times. He played with Fears in the starting lineup for the next 12 contests, and his sophomore campaign ended after he broke a bone in his foot during a Feb. 4 loss at Minnesota.

Overall offense

Michigan State muted Ugo-

Ponchatoula’s Allen Graves drives in against Natchitoches Central’s Ja’Dell Demery

nonselect basketball championship on March 9 in Lake Charles.

back with the program as the head coach and assistant head coach, respectively

Graves is the younger brother of former LSU guard Marshall Graves, who played for coach Johnny Jones during the 2016-17 season and for Will Wade from 2017-20. Both Wade and Jones are

On ESPN’s latest mock draft, Graves is projected to be the No. 22 pick by the Philadelphia 76ers. Graves is rated the No. 4 player in the transfer portal by 247Sports, No. 6 by The Athletic, and No 16 by On3 The Ponchatoula native was one of the best freshmen and most all-around mid-major players in the country last season As a redshirt freshman, he averaged 11.8 points, 6.5 rebounds 1.8 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.9 blocks per game He also shot 51.2% from the ﬁeld, 41.3% from 3 and 75% from the free-throw line. Graves helped lead Santa Clara to a 26-9 record and the Broncos’ first NCAA Tournament berth since the 1995-96 season He was named the 2023-24 Gatorade Louisiana Boys Basketball Player of the Year as a senior at Ponchatoula High School. That season, he led his team to a 30-4 record and a second-straight NonSelect Division I state championship. He averaged 20.9 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.6 blocks and 1.6 steals.

chukwu’s driving talent because they relied on Fears. While the Sugar Land, Texas, native’s leash to slash was shorter, he was still viable thanks to major growth in his 3-point shot.

After shooting 17.6% on 1.2 attempts from beyond the arc in 2024-25, he made 44.2% on 2.0 3-point attempts last season. While the improvement was great, expectations should probably be tempered because it was only a 43-shot sample size in 22 games. Ugochukwu also made only 10 of 18 free throws, which is poor but too few to draw signiﬁcant conclusions from.

LSU fans should be bullish on his playmaking ability While not an all-world passer, he didn’t play loose with the ball. His 2.3 assiststo-turnover ratio is impressive and he’s unselﬁsh. Ugochukwu is a ﬁne ball handler and sound at passing to rollers in the pick-and-roll.

One clear weakness is his lack of off-the-dribble shooting. He didn’t look to shoot pull-up 3s and didn’t display intermediate scoring counters.

“This journey has been nothing but a blessing, and I give all the glory to God for every opportunity and every challenge that has shaped me,” Graves said in a statement announcing his intent to enter the draft.

“I’m beyond thankful for my family that has supported me every step of the way I’m grateful to Bronco Na-

Ideal on-ball defender

What seals Ugochukwu’s case as an underrated player is how respectable he was on defense. He was a pest as an on-ball defender

Coach Will Wade likely loves that his new guard has the size, with a 6-8 wingspan, according to multiple reports, and the overall athleticism to pressure teams. Ugochukwu has nimble feet and the intensity to ﬁght around through screens. He has good lateral quickness and the speed to recover if an offensive player gets a step on him.

As a freshman, Ugochukwu used his long arms to average a steal per game. Last season, he ﬂashed good gap defense, digging his hands on a driver’s dribble. The aggression and physicality Ugochkwu plays ﬁt with what Wade has had in the past in pesky guard defenders. One area that can be cleaned up is his attentiveness to cutters.

Final verdict

Ugochkwu combines tantalizing offensive ability without the down-

tion for believing in me. This path is not one that I have walked alone. With that faith and foundation, I’ll be declaring for the 2026 NBA Draft.”

LSU currently has four players on its roster for next season: Kentucky transfer forward Mo Dioubate, Brazilian pro center Marcio Santos, Michigan State transfer guard Divine Ugochukwu and Kansas State transfer guard Abdi Bashir

side of being a defensive liability

His advanced stats and game tape over two seasons indicate he can be a genuine starter in the SEC. While some doubt may creep in because of his limited raw production after last season ended prematurely, the 6-foot-3 guard is still worth betting on. Expecting him to be great right away is probably too ambitious. His development will likely be a process, especially as Ugochukwu adjusts to a larger responsibility He also needs to add more scoring counters — like a ﬂoater — for the times when he’s cut off from the paint.

If Ugochukwu doesn’t start as the lead guard because Wade signs a more proven international player, he can help contribute to winning He can space the court, attack the paint with ferocity and throw neat dump-off passes if he draws a crowd.

A guard with his dimensions who can do all those things and defend is a building block to a winning team at worst. At best, Ugochkwu could be poised for a breakout year if handed the keys to the offense.

NEW YORK Matthew Schaefer of the New York Islanders is the unanimous winner of the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year The league surprised him with the award Wednesday

Schaefer, the No. 1 pick in the draft, was the Calder front-runner from just about the time he made his debut on opening night at Pittsburgh. He scored 23 goals to tie Brian Leetch’s record for the most by a rookie defenseman and ﬁnished with 59 points.

The 18-year-old became the face of the Islanders franchise and helped them make a playoff push before falling short in the final couple of weeks of the regular season. He received all 198 ﬁrst-place Calder votes.

Rangers’ Eovaldi feels good despite scratched start

ARLINGTON, Texas Texas Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi threw a bullpen session Wednesday and said he felt good two days after being scratched from his scheduled start because of left side tightness. Eovaldi ﬁrst felt what he described as minor tightness while playing catch Sunday He still felt it when he woke up the next day, and met with team trainers before he was supposed to pitch in the opener of a series against Arizona.

“We just did some of the testing that they have for it. I felt it on a few things and we just didn’t feel the need to push it,” Eovaldi said Wednesday “I’ve experienced something like that before, and just try to play it smart.”

The Rangers did have right ﬁelder Brandon Nimmo in the lineup for the series finale against the Diamondbacks.

FILE PHOTO By RICK HICKMAN

during the Division I

Two-way star seeks redemption in Sulphur

St. Angelo leads Brusly state title hopes

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

Brusly High School’s Aubrey

St. Angelo wants his team to be remembered.

Last year, the Panthers played in the Division II nonselect baseball state title and lost in three games to North DeSoto.

“We had a great season, and nobody really remembers that,” St. Angelo said “Everybody’s going to remember the team that wins it.”

The senior will get a second chance to help his team etch its name into the history books when the top-seeded Panthers (35-6) face No. 3 Lutcher for a chance to win their ﬁrst state title since 1977.

Game 1 of the best-of-three series is 2 p.m. Thursday at McMurry Park in Sulphur

Expect the Panthers to be ready

“Especially after losing (in the ﬁnal last season), that clicked another key or ﬁre in us to not only make it back but win it,” St Angelo said.

A two-way player, St Angelo has ﬁve home runs and 40 RBIs to go with a .415 batting average. On the mound, the 6-foot-1 St. Angelo has a 7-1 record with a paltry 0.82 ERA in 68 innings. Force in all phases

St. Angelo suffered an elbow injury in his second start last season, which limited him to being mostly a hitter That lesser role hindered him, he said.

“I felt like I had to do so much just because I wasn’t playing the ﬁeld or pitching,” he said. “It got to my head, and then I started struggling.”

Brusly coach Jason Lemoine remembered times he struggled as a player trying to juggle multiple roles For St. Angelo, it’s when he’s at his best With no injuries this season, St. Angelo earned District 6-4A MVP honors.

“You don’t get players like that to come through a public school program all the time,” Lemoine said.

St. Angelo said his presence on the mound has given the Panthers more conﬁdence this season

“Coming back on the mound, healthy,” St. Angelo said, “I felt

like I really helped us and gave

us a lot more motivation to know that whenever I’m on the mound, (there’s a) good chance of winning.”

Senior growth

Lemoine first saw St. Angelo pitch when he was a sophomore.

“He pitched with a lot of passion and a lot of ﬁre, and I like that,” Lemoine said. “As a 10th grader, he pitched like he was a senior.”

The focus for his ﬁnal years of prep baseball was to channel that ﬁre in a positive way St. Angelo said he is most proud of his efforts to stay even-keeled.

“I feel like the hardest part is the mental side,” St. Angelo said.

“That’s what I feel like I’ve gotten best at.”

St Angelo’s mental fortitude and top-ﬂight talent is something Lemoine deems generational.

“At any moment in the game at the plate, he can change the game,” Lemoine said. “You don’t see players that come through like that every single year You might have to wait until he has kids to come through.”

Sharing his knowledge

Lemoine’s goal for St. Angelo this year has been to help Brusly’s younger players. When they see his process, they can emulate it.

Though St. Angelo will be playing at Nicholls State next season, his presence will be felt in the coming years

He boasts a 7-2 playoff record and has hit .400 over his fouryear career

“All those stats are going to speak for themselves,” Lemoine said. “When people come here next year, number 18 isn’t going to be out there, and they’re going to miss that.”

The group hopes leave a lasting legacy on the Brusly community

“I always tell them, you will never be forgotten,” Lemoine said. “You and your teammates will always be bonded together as that 2026 team that won a state championship.”

The goal is set, but Lemoine doesn’t want the magnitude of the series to become a burden.

But with St. Angelo on the mound and in the lineup, there’s no doubt in his mind his team will have a good chance to earn redemption.

“When the ball is in his hand,”

Lemoine said, “you feel like you’re going to win the game.”

series on May 16 in Sulphur

Catholic ace thriving again after torn ACL

Lawrence leads Catholic High’s bid to 3-peat

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

On Nov 3, Catholic ace Lucas Lawrence went through the motions during a typical practice. He hit a grounder to shortstop and sprinted to ﬁrst before stretching out and landing on the bag. His knee hyperextended and he heard a dreaded pop.

After talking to doctors and getting an MRI scan, the worst was confirmed Lawrence tore his ACL.

“That was hard news to hear your senior year,” he said. “I didn’t really sit in it for too long because I tore it, and I knew the best thing I could do would keep a positive mindset.”

Coach Brad Bass said he thought the Ole Miss signee’s senior season was done months before the team’s first game. Lawrence wasn’t accepting that.

“I thought that was it for his senior (season) and really went feeling bad for him,” Bass said. “He didn’t. The ﬁrst thing he told me was, ‘I’ll be back.’

“

After surgery on Nov. 12, he began his recovery process. While most ACL recovery timelines are about nine months, Lawrence returned to the mound after just five months on April 1. In four appearances, he’s posted a 1.65 ERA and a 3-0 record. Against John Curtis on May 7, Lawrence hurled the first no-hitter of his career to win Game 1 of a Division I select semifinals series that the Bears would sweep.

“If I had to put one word on it, it would be incredible,” Bass said of the 6-foot-6 left-hander “But nothing surprises me with Lucas Lawrence.”

The second-seeded Bears will play No. 1 Brother Martin in the Division I select championship series slated to start at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at McMurry Park in Sulphur

Maurepas’ offense stalls in

Wolves shut out by Crusaders in title game

BY RODRICK ANDERSON

Contributing writer

SULPHUR After piling up runs in their past three playoff games, topseeded Maurepas’ offense faltered against Rylan Davis and Claiborne Christian as they lost 8-0 in the Class C state championship game on Wednesday at McMurry Park.

Maurepas averaged nine hits and 12 runs in its previous three playoff games, but Davis held the Wolves to one hit, and they hit into a pair of double plays. Davis, who was named the game’s most outstanding player, struck out nine batters and walked three

“He was just pounding the zone,” Maurepas coach Boog Dugas said.

“He is a great pitcher

“He went in and out. We helped him on some high pitches. He did his job. I would love to have him on

my team. There is nothing negative to say about him. He did what his team needed him to do.”

The Wolves (25-10) also struggled with errors (ﬁve), including two in the top of the seventh inning as Claiborne (18-13) scored three runs to pull away.

“I don’t know if the moment was too big or we weren’t locked in because we usually make those plays and we didn’t today,” Maurepas’ Louis Dugas said. “Look, credit to Clairborne.

“They are a great baseball team. They hit the ball well. The final score is not indicative of who we are.”

Despite the loss, Dugas said it was a great season for the team after reaching the ﬁnal for the second time in program history The only other time was in 1991 when they beat Stanley 8-6 for the Class C state championship. The Wolves will have to replace ﬁve seniors Kade Penalbar Alex Aime, Jonah Miller, Zephy Clem-

state

The recovery process Lawrence began rehabilitation on the second day after surgery

He went to physical therapy three times a week. He couldn’t put weight on his leg for the ﬁrst two weeks after he received stitches in his meniscus.

“I wasn’t able to do really anything, walking-wise,” he said.

“I’d do exercises every day, four times a day, and then I’d go to (physical therapy) three times a week.”

He kept the same routine after he got off crutches and continued to progress, unlocking new levels of mobility with his healing ACL.

His main motivation? His teammates, who have become brothers to him, and the chance to win a third straight state title.

Lawrence credited his teammates, coaches, parents and newfound friends along the way

“My physical therapist (Joey Davis), I wouldn’t even call him that now because he’s like a buddy to me now,” he said.

He said his faith was the guiding light in his recovery

“At the end of the day, I knew God had a plan for me,” he said.

“I just fully kept my trust in Him, and really relied on prayer.”

Returning to the mound

On April 1, Lawrence took the mound in the ﬁfth inning of Catholic’s game against University High at Alex Box Stadium. He was met with a standing ovation.

“That got me pretty emotional,” Lawrence said. “I never expected to be back on the mound.”

Bass knew the Bears were getting back one of the best players in the state with Lawrence, but he was unsure of the best way to handle his return.

“My thought was, ‘We’re going to try to ease him back into it,’ “ Bass said. “His thought was, ‘Give me the ball.’ “

That’s what Bass did, and Lawrence has never looked better

Lawrence made his ﬁrst start on April 9 against Zachary and tossed four no-hit innings.

In the Division I select semiﬁnal opener against John Curtis, Lawrence reached new heights.

“It started out just like every other outing,” Lawrence said. “Dominant from the beginning

ﬁnal loss

and got myself out of some jams.”

As he entered the seventh, Lawrence realized he was three outs from a no-hitter With two outs to go, pitching coach Jake Clouatre came to the mound and told him he had three more pitches or it was the last batter he’d face. He looked to his teammates.

“I was just like, ‘Look, guys, I know what I have,” he said. “ ‘Just go make a play.’ “ He completed the no-hitter with a strikeout and a ﬂy-out.

“It’s very rewarding, knowing all the work I put in paid off and I came back better than I was before surgery,” Lawrence said. “It’s just one of the greatest feelings.”

Lawrence’s commitment to the rehabilitation process helped him become mentally stronger Stronger than ever

“It’s helped me realize that nothing in life is going to be harder than that, mentally,” Lawrence said. “I’ve had to watch our team lose and know I can’t help.” When the season started, Lawrence help develop the younger pitchers and even helped call pitches during games. Lawrence became a student of the game. He studied hitters’ swings and how they reacted to pitches.

“You’re looking at the best version of Lucas Lawrence that ever walked the planet right now,” Bass said.

Though it could’ve been easy for Lawrence to sit out the season and prepare for his career at Ole Miss, Bass knows that’s not who Lawrence is.

“Every reason in the world to be selfish,” Bass said. “He’s a hot commodity right now and has the opportunity to go play in the SEC All he wanted to do was win for his teammates, and that’s what makes him so special.”

The Bears will now face Brother Martin for a shot at a third-straight state title.

“It would mean the world to me,” Lawrence said, “knowing I’m going out on a high note after everything I’ve gone through, and everything this team’s going through.”

to Claiborne Christian

ents, Gibson Hopp.

“It is pretty much uncharted territory for the program,” Dugas said. “Unfortunately we are losing ﬁve seniors. It will be a bit of a rebuild-

ing year next year, but we are excited about the guys coming back.

“I wish they were coming back. They have been together since probably pre-k or kindergarten.

They played baseball their whole lives. They are the heart and soul of this team, leaders of this team, and leaders of the school. They are just good people. They do it the right way They work hard They care. There is nothing negative to say about any of them.” Down 1-0 in the bottom of the

Claiborne’s

FILE PHOTO By KIRK MECHE

Catholic High pitcher Lucas Lawrence throws against Brother Martin during last season’s Division I select championship series at McMurry Park in Sulphur on May 16.

FILE PHOTO By KIRK MECHE

Brusly’s Aubrey St. Angelo pitches against North DeSoto during the Division II nonselect cchampionship

PHOTO By RODRICK ANDERSON

Maurepas catcher Noah Dugas tags Claiborne Christian’s Parker Bearden

in the third inning of their Class C state championship game on Wednesday in Sulphur

Anunobynot ready, butKnickscan wait

BY BRIAN MAHONEY

AP basketball writer

GREENBURGH, N.Y.

OG Anunoby

could only participate in some parts of practice when the New York Knicks returned towork Wednesday Luckily for them, they still have time to wait.

With at least afew more days before the Knicks would start the Eastern Conference finals, they can be patientwith Anunoby’srecovery from ahamstring injury that forced him to miss the last two games of their second-round sweep of Philadelphia.

Coach Mike Brown said the starting forward did some things, though not when the Knicks went full speed. He said Anunoby looked ﬁne with what he did, though it certainly sounds like there’sagap between what that was and the intensity of an NBA postseason game.

Brownadded that he isn’tsure when Anunoby can do more —and theKnicks don’teven know how soon that would need to be. Game 1against Detroit or Cleveland could be Sunday,though the series wouldn’tbegin untilnextweekif those teams, who were tied 2-2 entering Game 5onWednesday,go thedistance.

“They told me what he coulddo today.They have not told me what he could do tomorrow,so I don’t know what he’ll be able todofor

Game 1,”Brown said.

Anunoby isone of the Knicks’ mostimportantplayers,a topdefender whose offensivegame has hitits peak duringthisplayoff run. The Knicks were abletowin twogames without him against a tired Philadelphia team that never recoveredafterneeding seven games to beat Boston in the ﬁrst round, butitwould be difficult to beat the top-seeded Pistons or Cavaliers without him.

Brown isn’tthinkingthat far ahead. The Knicks plan to take Thursday off and practice again Friday,and he said only then will he ask for his next Anunoby update

“Atleastfor me,I’m taking it one game at atime,” Brown said.

“I don’t want to knowfrom medical or anybody elseanything beyond that, because when Idothat stuff Iget my hopes up andIdon’t like doing that at all.”

The Knicks have plenty of reasonfor hopeaftera dominant run through the firsttwo rounds. They have wonseven straight games since falling behind2-1 against Atlanta in the first round and outscored theHawks and76ers by a combined 194 points, the largest margin ever through ateam’s first 10 postseason games.

They finished off the Hawks on April 30 and wereback on the court against the76ers on May 4. They couldbeidle more than twice as longthistime.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOBySETH WENIG

Newyork Knicks forward OG Anunobydrives past Philadelphia 76ers guard JustinEdwards during Game1 of theirsecond-round playoff series on May4inNew york.

“The first series we hadwhat, four days’ break Ithink it was? That was good enough,” forward

Josh Hartsaid.“This rightnow, Ithink at least aweek if not nine days,that’s along time. So obvi-

Young, Thomas seethe PGA Championship in differentways

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

NEWTOWNSQUARE, Pa.— For amajor that has long sought an identity apart from the otherthree,one element of the PGA Championship stands out. It’sone reason two-time champion Justin Thomas and Cameron Young, among the favorites this year,hold it in high regard. The opening tee shot Thursday at Aroniminkwillbestruckby Braden Shattuck, the PGA director of instruction at Rolling Green Golf Club, just 10 miles (16 kilometers) down the road. He is among 20 club professionals in the 156-man ﬁeld. All of them will be back to their day jobs next week, giving lessons and ordering

merchandise, not on to the next PGA Tour stop that paysclose to $2 million to thewinner Young’sfatherwas one of those professionals.

DaveYoung,recently retired as thegolfdirector at SleepyHollow in New York, was never amongthe clubproswho qualiﬁed for the PGA Championship. Butheworked them as arules ofﬁcial,and was part of therules committee at the Masters.

He played one PGA Tour event, the 1998 Buick Classic in New York.

“The PGA Championship,for our family,isa great week,” Young, nowthe No. 3player in the world, said Wednesday. “My dad was a PGA of Americaprofessional forever,kind of embraced the whole package of that. Unfortunately,

he neverqualified forit, buthe was avery good player andhad a number of chances to throughout his career Mike Thomas also recently retired fromHarmony Landing in Louisville, Kentucky. Justin Thomas recalls being in the clubhouse at Valhalla at age7—his dadwas aPGA ofﬁcer then —when Tiger Woods wonthe 2000 PGA Championship.Hewas in the gallery at Valhalla forthe 2008 Ryder Cup, high-fiving Phil Mickelson when the Americans won. Best of all waswinning the PGA Championship in QuailHollow in 2017 andSouthern Hills in 2022. Thatembrace withhis father —his grandfather also was alongtime pro—was special

LSUgolfteamadvances to NCAA Championships

LSUcoachGarrettRunionsaid.

Staff report

Tigers move on to regional forrecord sixthstraightyear NCAA Waco Regional Ridgewood Country Club,

The Tigers played asolid final round Wednesday in the NCAA Waco Regional at Ridgewood Country Club to advance to the NCAA Championships, extending LSU’s school-record streak to a sixth straight year LSU finished fourth with atotal of 1-over par841,one of the five teams advancing from theWaco regional. The Tigers posted a final round of 2-over par 282 to remain in aqualifying position throughout the round. Also advancing wereSMU, Texas A&M, Baylor and Tennessee. The Volunteers won aplayoff against Tulsa for the final qualifyingspot.

“Tohaveaconsistent program like that, to extend ourrecord streak, I’m very proud of that,”

“Tobearound atthe end for so manyyears ina row showsthe consistency we have and thehigh level that the team performed over the last few years.” Francesca Fiorellini ledthe way for LSU,rolling in alongbirdie putt on the 18th hole Wednesday to shoot a70and ﬁnish in atie for third at 5-under 205 on rounds of 67-68-70. The Tigers’ punched their ticket thanks in large part to asecond round 8-under272, the lowest roundeverfor LSU in NCAA regional play

“I think it almost won thequalifying spot for us,” Runion said. “Today,weknew nerves and tension wouldbehigh. It wasn’tpretty,but they just kept ﬁghting. I’m just realproudofthe competitive toughness.Theyhad themental toughness to handle the pressure.”

Senior Taylor Rileyshot a1-under69Wednesdaytotie for 20th with freshman Riley Knaub at 2-over 212. Vanessa Borovilos of Texas A&M

took individual medalisthonorsat 10-under 200. Kirstin Angosta of TCU, who advanced as an individual medalist, was second at 204. Thirtyteams from atotal of six regionalsadvance to the NCAA Championships, startingMay 22 at the Omni La Costa Resort &Spa in Carlsbad, California.

ously it’sgood for recovery, but mentally I’m watching the games, I’mjustlike just waiting, just waiting to get back out there.” Brownhas some experience. His Cleveland Cavaliers swept the first two series in 2009, then were off more than aweek before the opener of an East finals series they lost to Orlando. He replaced an ailing Steve Kerr for most of the 2017 postseason as the Golden State Warriors swept theirfirst three series,leaving them a10-day gap between the end of the West finals and the start of the NBA Finals.

“I’ve been part of sweeps,I’ve been part of gettingswept and been part of long layoffs and short turnarounds, so you worry aboutdifferentstuff at different times,” Brown said. “Like, quick turnaround you’relike: ‘Oh my God, we can’tprepare. Oh my god, guys aretired.’ Andlong layoffs, you’relike, ‘Oh my gosh, we got toomuch time, we’re not going to stay sharp.’”

He saidthe key during long layoffs is to manufacturewaysto keep players’ minds sharpand the Knicks believe it willwork.

“I think we have our plan,” AllStar Jalen Brunson said. “Obviously utilizerest, but then when we’re in thegym we’re doing everything that we need to do to stay in rhythm, stay having the edge that we need to have, focusing on the things that we need to focus on and continuing to prepare.”

LSU

Continuedfrom page1C WHO: Florida (34-18, 15-12 SEC) at LSU (29-24, 9-18) WHEN: 6:30 p.m.

the outside of the NCAA tourney picture with only aweek leftinthe regularseason —mostlybecause of its struggles on the mound.

TheTigersposted a9.95 ERA in three of their past four weeks of SEC play,nine contests against Texas A&M,Mississippi State and Georgia. They held multi-run leads in fourofthose games but lost them all, and allowed at least 10 runs in six of those crucial matchups.

The Aggies and both Bulldog programs have three of the better offenses in the SEC, if not the country. They also faced LSU in ideal offensive circumstances, hitting in smaller ballparks and warmer weather.Injuries to two starters junior right-hander Cooper Moore and sophomoreright-hander Casan Evans —also left the Tigers’ rotation severelyundermanned, especially against Mississippi State.

But after having one of the best starting rotationsand pitching staffs in thecountry last year,and bringing back pitching coach Nate Yeskie and several contributors from last season —Evans, senior right-hander Zac Cowan, sophomore left-handerCooper Williams, sophomore right-hander Mavrick Rizy,etc.—LSU went fromsecond in theSEC in ERA to last.

“I think if youasked (Yeskie), he would wish we were in abetter spot as Idowith this pitching staff andwe’llmakesome adjustments in totality of everything,” Johnson said. “But that’snodifferentthan offensively in the middle of the year.Weneeded to get out of some of the stuffI like to do and do what we needed to do for this group of players, which we have. And Ijust thinkthat’spart of coaching.

“If you try to run the same play on 3rd and2 and you get a2-yard loss, I wouldthinkmostoffensivecoordinatorswouldn’trunitaseventhconsecutive time. Everything that you don’t do as wellasyou want, you look at it, andyou make adjustments.”

Many of theflaws with LSU’s pitching staff this season arethe same issues they hadin2025. The Tigers led the SEC in wild pitches, and they issued the third-most walks aseason ago. ButLSU was abletomitigate thosemistakesby holding opponents to a.219 batting average andaccumulating a league-leading 760 strikeouts.

The difference this season has been the Tigers’ inability to contain those ﬂaws. They’ve thrown 15 morewild pitches this year than theydid in all of 2025. Despitehavingplayed 15 fewergames,they’re also seven walks away from matching last year’stotal.

The talent/ceiling of LSU’s pitching staff was still there this season.

The Tigers lead the conference in strikeoutsand sit in the middle of thepack in home runs and opponents’ batting average.

The problem, instead, has been their ﬂoor

“Our job is to try to have the roster built,have the blueprint or platform to help navigate the challenges that you have,” Johnson said. “Like we had plenty of challenges last year,(against) Mississippi State and Alabama were down 6-1 (with) Kade Anderson last year,who was the No. 3pick

in the draft.

“But we hadenough complementary pieces to be able to navigate around that, agood enough offense to come back when you’re down ﬁve,(and) good enough when you’re behind relievers to keep (the score) close enough.And then when we tookthe lead, we couldgo to Zac or Casan to win. So Ilook at it as, can we maybe support our flaws (better)? And we have not supported them as wellthis year.”

None of these systemic issues will be fixed overnight, even as Johnson tries to set up his pitching stafffor his success aweek before the SEC Tournament.

With an at-large bid to the NCAA tourney no longer apossibility,the Tigers will need to win ﬁve games in six days in Hoover,Alabama, to make an NCAA regional, starting next Tuesday.Johnson, with that in mind, didnot list astarting pitcher for Thursday’sgame against Florida, likely meaning that either right-handed sophomore William Schmidt or Evans will be savedto somedegree forthe Tigers’ ﬁrst gameinAlabama.

“Focus on this(weekend), with an eye on (Hoover),” Johnson said. “That is the best way,Iwould say that.”

Unless LSU pulls off the improbable andwins theSEC Tournament,Johnson will have plenty of timethis offseason to determine whathis pitching staff will look like next year

LSU’sincoming freshmanclass, according to Perfect Game,includes 12 pitchers, six lefties and sixrighties. The transfer portal opensonJune 1, and the Tigers have 17 pitchers who are eligible to return next season.

Johnsonwill have to make alot of tough decisions between the end of this year and this fall to determine whatthe pitching staff will look likeheading into hissixth season in Baton Rouge.The outcome of his choices just can’tbeasfrustrating as it wasin2026.

“Wehave talented pitchers, but taking that talentand makingit usableskill takes experience,” Johnson said. “Ittakes coaching, it takes(astrong) mindset, it takes pitch development,ittakes allof those things, and then you get better as you go with time. And so we just got to keep working on that.

“I feel good about some of the adjustments that we’re going to make with someofit. Iwant to wait to move forward with that untilwe get closer to next fall.”

PROVIDED PHOTO

LSU women’sgolf players and coaches pose after advancing from the NCAA Waco regional on Wednesdayin Waco, Texas.

WORLDWIDE TOUR

49ers go to Mexico City after Melbourne opener in NFL’s 9-game international slate

BY DAVE CAMPBELL

The San Francisco 49ers will bookend the NFL‘s largest-ever international slate, playing the 2026 season opener in Melbourne against the NFC West rival Los Angeles Rams and facing the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11 in Mexico City

Covering eight stadiums, seven cities and four continents, this year will feature nine games outside of the U.S. for the most the league has ever staged. Sixteen teams, half of the NFL, will play internationally in 2026.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has declared the goal of 16 games annually outside of the U.S After this season, the league will have played 71 games in 12 international cities. Melbourne, Paris and Rio de Janeiro are ﬁrst-time hosts in 2026.

The league had months ago announced the Melbourne matchup as its first game in Australia, in addition to several of the participating teams for the nine-game slate, which was fully unveiled

Wednesday The complete 17-game schedules for all 32 teams will be released Thursday

Netﬂix also announced, as part of a new deal with the NFL, a Thanksgiving Eve broadcast as part of an expanding package of regular-season games. The Green Bay Packers will play at the Los Angeles Rams on Wednesday, Nov 25. The 49ers have long been one of

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C

Instead, the opponent is Pittsburgh, which went 10-7 and won the AFC North division last season. The Saints have a 9-8 advantage in the all-time series, including wins in four of the past six meetings.

The Steelers have won six Super Bowl titles, tied with New England for the most ever, but they have a new look this season. Out is Mike Tomlin, head coach of the past 19 seasons.

They are now coached by Mike McCarthy, who served as the Saints’ offensive coordinator from 2000 to 2004. Pittsburgh’s general manager is New Orleans native Omar Khan, a former Archbishop Rummel High School and Tulane graduate.

“It will be tough,” Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said.

“The Steelers have a long history of success and traditionally always are a very physical team We are looking forward to the matchup. Their general manager (Omar Khan) and their head coach, Mike McCarthy have both worked for the Saints. I have a lot of respect for them and the jobs that they do and they are going to be a difﬁcult opponent and hopefully we will put on a great game, and it will result in a Saints victory.”

The game is technically one of nine home games on the Saints’ 2026 schedule. As a result, the Saints will have the customary benefits: first choice of uniforms, locker rooms, and final pregame introductions.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced the Saints’ participation in the game at his state-of-the-league news conference before Super Bowl LX in San Francisco, California. The league ofﬁcially announced the Steelers as the opponent on Wednesday when it unveiled the full 2026 International Games schedule, which will see a record-breaking nine games played across four

the NFL’s most prominent brands, and they’ll be the road team for the Thursday night opener on Sept. 10 against the Rams on Netflix. That game will kick off on Friday morning at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is 17 hours ahead of California time.

San Francisco will be the home team at Estadio Banorte in Mexico City, where they have marketing rights as part of the league’s global markets program along with the Rams and eight other teams. The Rams also have rights in Australia.

The 49ers will then play the showcase Sunday night game on NBC on Nov 22 against the Vikings, who last year played the NFL’s ﬁrst international multicity road trip with a game in Dublin in Week 4 followed by a game in London in Week 5 The Vikings were the road team in both of those games last year too.

San Francisco last played in Mexico City in 2022. The league has also committed to playing there in 2027 and 2028.

Broadening footprint in Brazil

The Dallas Cowboys will be the home team in Rio de Janeiro at Maracana Stadium against the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 27, a late afternoon Week 3 game that CBS will broadcast. Neither team has marketing rights in Brazil, where the league has staged games in Sao Paulo in each of the last two years. The NFL has committed at least

three games in ﬁve years to Rio. More football for breakfast

All six games in Europe will kick off at 8:30 a.m., an exclusive broadcast window before the traditional afternoon start times that cover the majority of the schedule each week.

There are three games in London, the league’s most common international site with 45 regular-season games since 2007. The Jacksonville Jaguars for the ﬁrst time are moving consecutive home games abroad as a renovation begins on their home stadium. They’re one of 10 teams with rights in Britain.

The Jaguars will play the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 5 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 11 and then face the AFC South rival Houston Texans in Week 6 at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 18. The Washington Commanders will be the home team at Tottenham on Oct. 4 when they face the Indianapolis Colts.

The New Orleans Saints will be the home team for the ﬁrst game in Paris in Week 7, facing the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 25 at Stade de France. The Detroit Lions will be the home team for the league’s third game in Munich, facing the New England Patriots on Nov. 15 in Week 10 at the home of German soccer club Bayern Munich. The Lions are one of 11 teams with rights in Germany

As previously announced by the NFL, the Atlanta Falcons will be the home team in Madrid in Week 9 against the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 8 at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. This will be the second game in Madrid, where neither team has marketing rights.

for a

before an NFL news conference

continents seven countries and eight stadiums next season. Melbourne (Australia), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), London (U.K.), Paris (France), Madrid (Spain), Munich (Germany) and Mexico City (Mexico) will all host international games in 2026 as part of the league’s long-term commitment to global expansion

“The 2026 NFL season will feature our most expansive and ambitious international slate yet, with regular-season games spanning Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, London, Paris, Madrid, Munich and Mexico City,” said Peter O’Reilly, NFL executive vice president of club business, major events and international. “This year’s recordbreaking schedule will see a host of world-class NFL franchises and star athletes play in some of the most iconic sporting venues in the world, underlying the league’s global growth vision and bringing our fans internationally closer to the game than ever before.”

The NFL has targeted Paris as a priority international market in recent years as league officials expand the international series to new cities around the globe. The

Netﬂix announces new NFL package

Streaming giant expands football inventory through ’29

BY JOE REEDY Associated Press

Netflix has expanded its inventory of NFL games and will have a season-long presence with the league under a new deal announced Wednesday The streaming service will have five regular-season games as well as the NFL Honors through 2029. It had been carrying two games on Christmas Day since 2024. The announcement was made during its upfront presentation to advertisers. Netflix will air a Week 1 game, one on Thanksgiving Eve, two on Christmas Day and a noon contest on the Saturday of the

on March

80,698-seat Stade de France is the national stadium of France and the largest sporting facility in the country It served as the host site for various events at the 2024 Summer Games, including the opening and closing ceremonies.

Saints and New Orleans tourism ofﬁcials are collaborating to turn the game into a Washington Mardi Gras-style event, with multiple parties and marketing programs leading up to the game.

“We are excited to be selected to play in the first regular season game to be held in France,” Benson said in February “This moment is special not only because of the strong cultural connection between Louisiana and France, but also because we will compete before a growing Saints fan base in Paris.” Team officials said season-ticket holders will receive a 10% price reduction on tickets and parking to reflect the cost of the lost home game. Fully paid season-ticket holders will receive a credit and refund. Season ticket holders will also be allowed priority presale access to a lottery for tickets for the Paris game.

Florida AG subpoenas NFL over Rooney Rule

BY ROB MAADDI AP pro football writer

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has issued a subpoena to the NFL as his ofﬁce investigates whether the league has committed potential civil rights violations related to the Rooney Rule and the league’s other employment practices, policies and programs.

Uthmeier, who threatened possible enforcement actions against the league in March if it didn’t suspend the 23-year-old rule, sent the subpoena along with a letter to NFL executive vice president and attorney Ted Ullyot on Wednesday

The subpoena commands the league to appear at the attorney general’s office in Tallahassee, Florida, on June 12. It asks the league to produce extensive documents, including “all diversity reports, coaching census data, or demographic surveys that reﬂect the race and sex of coaching staffs from 2017 to the present.”

“All in all, the Rooney Rule and the NFL’s related ‘inclusive hiring’ policies — and the NFL’s representations about these policies — continue to raise signiﬁcant concerns under Florida law,” Uthmeier wrote in the letter

The Rooney Rule requires teams to interview at least two external minority candidates

Uthmeier

for head coach, general manager and coordinator positions. At least one minority candidate must be interviewed for the quarterbacks coach position. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, speaking at the league meetings in March, acknowledged the changing political landscape for diversity initiatives in the U.S., but added that he didn’t believe there should be any legal issues with the league’s policy

The NFL didn’t comment Wednesday

But in a letter to Uthmeier on May 1, the league said: “The NFL’s pursuit of top-tier talent led to the adoption of the Rooney Rule in 2003. Importantly, the Rooney Rule does not impose any hiring quotas or mandates, and it does not license clubs to consider race or sex in making hiring decisions. Hiring decisions for NFL teams are made by the individual clubs — not the League — and those decisions are based on merit. The Rooney Rule neither requires nor permits any team to make a hiring decision based on race, sex, or any other protected characteristic. To do so would be an express violation of League policy.”

Foreign ticket-holders from WC qualifying countries won’t pay bonds to enter U.S

BY SEUNG MIN KIM and MATTHEW LEE Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Trump administration is suspending a requirement that foreign visitors from countries that have qualified for the World Cup and have bought tickets for the soccer tournament pay as much as $15,000 in bonds to enter the United States, the State Department said Wednesday The department imposed the bond requirement last year for countries that it said had high rates of people overstaying their visas and other security issues as part of the Republican administration’s broader crackdown on immigration. Travelers to the United States from 50 countries are required to pay the new bond, and five of those countries have qualified for the World Cup — Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia. Citizens from those five countries who have purchased tickets from FIFA are now exempt from the visa bond requirement. World Cup team players, coaches and some staff had already been exempt from the bond requirement as part of the administration’s orders to prioritize the processing

of visas for the tournament.

“The United States is excited to organize the biggest and best FIFA World Cup in history,” Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said. “We are waiving visa bonds for qualified fans who bought World Cup tickets” and opted in to the FIFA Pass system that allows expedited visa appointments as of April 15.

In its own statement, FIFA said the announcement shows “our ongoing collaboration with the U.S. government and the White House task force for the FIFA World Cup to deliver a successful, record-breaking and unforgettable global event” and thanked the administration for the partnership. The waiver is a rare loosening of immigration requirements under the administration and will ease travel burdens for at least some visitors to the U.S. for the World Cup, which begins June 11 and is co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. The administration has taken dramatic steps to restrict immigration in ways critics say are incongruous with the unifying message a global sporting event such as the World Cup is supposed to project.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By THOMAS PADILLA

Gayle Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints, and Brett Gosper, head of Europe & Asia-Paciﬁc for the NFL, pose

photo

in Paris.

AP pro football writer

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By EDUARDO VERDUGO

Fireworks go off at halftime during an international friendly soccer match between Mexico and Portugal on March 28 at the Estadio Banorte in Mexico City. The San Francisco 49ers will play in Mexico City in Week 11.

Toss tangy dressing with salad forlight, tastymeal

BY LINDAGASSENHEMER

Tribune News Service (TNS)

Crunchy,fresh vegetables paired with tender cubes of chicken create adinner salad that’s easy toprepare and full of ﬂavor

The chickenistossed in atangy dressing that lightly coats every ingredient, bringing abright and savorytaste to each bite

The crisp lettuce, colorful vegetables and juicy pieces of chicken provide avariety of textures thatmake the salad feel hearty enough fora complete meal. Fresh mint leaves add arefreshing burst of flavor and aroma. To finish, ahandful of golden, crunchy croutons are sprinkled on top, adding a finishing touch.

Spring Chicken Salad Yields 2servings. Recipe is by Linda Gassenheimer

5tablespoons reduced-fat saladdressing

1tablespoon honey

¾poundchicken breast, cut into1-inch pieces

1bag washed, ready-to-eat salad,about 6cups 1cup cherry tomatoes

1cup

2tablespoons mint leaves

2cups bought croutons

1. Mix salad dressing andhoney together in abowl. Add 1tablespoon of the mixture to alarge skillet andset the remaining dressing aside.

2. Heat the skillet and add the chicken. Sautechickenonall sides for 5minutes. Ameat thermometer should read 160 F.

3. Add 3cups of salad each to two dinner plates. Spread chicken,scallions, tomatoes, red bell pepper and feta cheese, mint and croutons evenly over the salad.

4. Drizzle remaining dressing over salad.

NUTRITION INFO PER SERVING: 550 calories(29 percent from fat), 17.6 gfat (7.6 gsaturated,4.7 gmonounsaturated), 162mgcholesterol, 51.1 g protein, 47.0 gcarbohydrates, 7.8 g ﬁber,667 mg sodium.

BYGRETCHEN McKAY

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)

Guinness Chocolate Cake 2D

One of the best parts of getting on aplane in the U.S. and departing for acountryfar,far away is the instant change of scenery There’ssomething about escapingthe rigors of everyday life for anew (and hopefully) exciting adventure that’s deeply rewarding for one’smental health. Doneright,you come back home feeling recharged Another

ä See CAKE, page 2D

Mymom taught English, typing and shorthand at Straight Business School at Claiborne and Esplanade avenues —aplace with roots stretchingback to 1868, when it evolved from Straight University. During those long New Orleans summers, she’dbring me along to her classroom, where I’d sit in theback with books and puzzles, trying to keep myself occupied. But eventually,something caught my attention morethan anypuzzle could: laughter My mom was laughing. Her students were laughing. They were having thetimeoftheir liveslearning shorthand and

Pasta Fagioli al Forno Serves 6-8.

typing, subjects that could easily feel like drudgery

“Why do you all have so much funinclass?” I ﬁnally asked her Her answer changed how Iwould eventually approach my own teaching. “I don’t want to get bored with what I’m teaching,” she explained, “so Imake it pleasant and fun for myself. AndImake it fun

12 ouncespenne pasta 1can whole plum tomatoes 1pound bulk Italian sausage 1onion, chopped 1carrot, chopped 1celeryrib,chopped 4garliccloves, minced 2tablespoonstomato paste

1teaspoon dried oregano ½teaspoon kosher salt

½teaspoon dried basil ¼teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes ¼teaspoon pepper 1can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained ½cup gratedParmesan cheese, divided ½cup mincedfresh parsley, divided 2cups shreddedfontina or provolone cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente and drain.

2. Drain tomatoes, reserving juices; coarsely chop tomatoes.

3. In a6-quart stockpot, cook and crumble sausage with onion, carrot, celery and garlic over medium-high heat until no longer pink, 6-8 minutes and drain.

4. Stir in tomato paste, seasonings, chopped tomatoes and reserved juices; bring to aboil.

5. Reduce heat; simmer,uncovered, 10 minutes. 6. Stir in beans and ¼cup each Parmesan cheese and parsley.Stir in pasta.

7. Transfertoagreased 13-inchby9-inch aking dish; sprinkle with fontina cheese and emaining Parmesan cheese.

8. Bake, covered, 20 minutes.

.Uncover andbakeuntil cheeseismelted, 10-15minutes.Sprinkle with remaining parsley

Kevin Belton

PHOTO By MONICA BELTON

Pasta Fagioli al Forno

TNS PHOTO By LINDAGASSENHEIMER

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas Casserole

2. In alarge bowl,place the honey,limejuice, chili powder and minced garlic or garlic powder.Whisktogether thoroughly to combine.

3. Place the cooked and shredded chicken in the bowl, stir to combine and cover with plasticwrap. Allowtomarinate30minutes or upto1 hour,inthe refrigerator

4. Cook the tortillasand set aside.

5. In amediumbowl, combine theenchiladasauce and the heavy cream.Spread about ½cup of themixture

in thebottom of acast-iron skillet,a10- to 12-inch size.

6. Place atortilla down. Addalarge spoonful of the chicken mixture all over the tortilla. Sprinkle with beans anda little sauce. Cover with cheese, then repeat with remaining layers.

7. On the last layer, endwith atortilla,sauce and cheese.

8. Bakethe enchiladas for 30-35 minutes, untilthe cheese is melted and bubbly and starting tobrown on top.

LESSONS

Continued from page1D

formystudents because they learn and retain more in afun atmosphere. When you take the pressureoff with humor,they stop thinking, ‘This is work, this is a chore,’ and they actually absorb it.”

Years later,when Istarted teaching cooking classes, those words echoed in my mind. Some people are nervous about cooking. Some ﬁnd it intimidating. But if I could make it fun, the way my mother made typing fun, they would learn more and retain it better

Over the years, countless students have told me, “You make that look so easy.” That’sall Mom. That’sher legacy of teaching with joy instead of pressure. Ironically,Inever actually learned to type. Every summer,Mom woulddraw akeyboard on posterboard, circles with letters and numbers, just like the real thing and tape it in my bedroom window above the desk where my typewriter sat “Look at the board, not your ﬁngers,” she’d instruct. Then she’d call up from downstairs: “Are you practicing your typing?”

I’d yell “Yes, ma’am!” and

bang afew keysloudly so she could hear.Tothisday,I can play piano, butIpeck at akeyboard

What Ireally loved about those days atthe Business School werethe vending machines. Everyonceina blue moon, Icould pick out my own snack, those little Lance crackers or Tom’s products.They probably weren’tthat good, objectively speaking, but to a kid? Pure delicacy,because Iwas with my mom, having asnack, having fun

That spirit of nourishment, bothliteral and emotional, stayed withmeinto my own parenthood.During the summer,myson, Kevin had two-a-day practices. I’d start something in theoven, drophim off at morning practice, comehome to ﬁnish cooking while he showered and got aride with ateammate. He’d arrive home with 10 to 12 teammatesintow

The rules were simple: pick up Gatorade or water on theway.Throwpractice clothes in thewashing machine. Eat. Then lay down. They didn’t have to sleep, but they had to getoff their feet, watch TV,read and drink that gallon of ﬂuid before afternoon practice.

I’d make big potsof spaghetti and meatballs, pans of meatloaf with

CAKE

By The Associated Press

Today is Thursday, May 14, the134th day of 2026. There are 231 days left in the year

Todayinhistory: On May 14, 1804, the Lewis andClark expedition,organizedtoexplore theLouisiana Territory as well as the PaciﬁcNorthwest, began its journey near present-day Hartford, Illinois.

Also on this date:

In 1607, Jamestown, the ﬁrst permanent English settlementinNorth America, was established by membersofthe Virginia Company

In 1796, English physician Edward Jenner successfully inoculated 8-year-old James Phipps against smallpox by using cowpox matter.(Smallpox would be declared the ﬁrst fully eradicated human disease in 1980.)

In 1948, theindepen-

TODAYINHISTORY

dent state of Israel was proclaimed in TelAviv by David Ben-Gurion, who becameits ﬁrst primeminister

In 1955, representatives from eightCommunist bloc countries, including theSovietUnion, signedthe Warsaw Pact in Poland.(The pact wasdissolved in 1991.)

In 1961, Freedom Rider civil rights activists were attacked by violent mobs in Anniston and Birmingham,Alabama.

In 1973, NASA launched Skylab, the ﬁrst American space station, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

In 1988, an inebriated driver of apickup traveled the wrong way on a Kentucky interstate and slammed into achurch group bus, killing 24 children and three others returning homefrom an Ohio amusement park. The ﬁery collision wasone of America’sdeadliest drunken driving crashes on record.

Trycleaninghintfor

In 2022, an 18-year-old White supremacist wearing body armor opened ﬁre in asupermarket in apredominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, killing 10 people before being taken into custody.(The gunman, Payton Gendron, was sentenced to lifeinprison without parole in February 2023.)

Today’sBirthdays: Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Pérez is 84. Filmmaker George Lucas is 82. Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis is 75. Musician David Byrne is 74. Actor TimRoth is 65. Actor Cate Blanchett is 57. Filmmaker SoﬁaCoppola is 55. Former NFLrunning back Frank Goreis43. Actor Amber Tamblyn is 43. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is 42. Former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski is 37. Actor Miranda Cosgrove is 33. Soccer player Rúben Dias is 29. Olympic gold medalist hockey player Jack Hughes is 25.

to 350 F.

Continued from page1D

with, and allow you to experienceand understand the local culture in avery hands-on/mouth open way

On arecent trip to the east coast of Ireland, that meant two things: the fresh, local seafood —think salmon, mussels, oysters and DublinBay prawn —and

2. Grease an 8- or 9-inch springform pan withbutter and line the bottom with a round of parchmentpaper

3. Place stoutand butterin alargesaucepan.Cook over medium-high heat untilthe butter has melted.

4. Add cocoapowder and sugars and whisk together Take offthe heat and allow it to cometoroom temperature.

5. In another bowl, beat together sourcream, eggs and vanilla extract untilvery, verywell combined. Add to thebutter-stout mixture and whisk together

6. In another bowlwhisk together ﬂour,baking soda and salt. Addtostout-butter mixture and whisktogether until it just comes together

thedark,iconic dry stout that is available by thepint (and,thankfullly,half pint!) in every pub on theisland. Onedish Iknew I’d have to try to re-create back homewas thedense, velvety Guinnesschocolate caketopped with creamy white frostingmyhusband andIenjoyed at Caffe Nero in Belfast while admiring its grand, copper-domed city hall. Cakeisagreat pick-me-

oven-baked potatoes, food that gave them protein and carbs, and fuel for young athletes. While they rested, I’d fold their laundry They’d grab their clean clothes and head off to afternoon practice.

Oneday,their coach approached me. “I’ve heard you have acouple kids coming over,” he said. When Iconﬁrmed it, he started naming names, all myregulars. “How do you know?” I asked.

“Because they have more energy than anybody else.” It was worthevery penny of my food budget.They were good kids. It helped them. They enjoyed it.And just like my mothertaught me,when you remove the pressure and add nourishment, whether it’slaughter in aclassroom or meatloaf around atable, people thrive That’sthe recipe Ilearned from Mom.

Kevin Belton is resident chef of WWL-TV and has taught classes in Louisiana cooking for 30 years. The most recent of his four cookbooks, “KevinBelton’sCookin’ Louisiana: Flavors from the Parishes of the Pelican State,” was published in 2021. EmailChef at chefkevinbelton@gmail. com.

9. Serve with salsa, olives, sour cream or whatever ﬂavors you like. Guinness Chocolate Cake

7. Pour intothe prepared panand give the pana few shortdrops ontothe countertop to shakeout the air pockets in the batter.Bake at 350 Ffor 50-60 minutes

8. Allow to cool on awire rack. Runaknife around the edge to separate the cake from the panand popthe ring off the springform

9. While cake is cooling, prepareicing.Using afood processor or by hand, mix confectioners’ sugarto break up lumps.

10. Add cream cheese and blend until smooth.Add heavy cream and mixuntil smoothand spreadable.

11. Spread athick layer of icingoverthe top of the cake only (to resemble apint of Guinness!) and serve.

up any timeofday,soI didn’tfeel bad enjoying the stout cake for breakfast before along (and damp) day of sightseeing. The fact it’s aseasonal treat traditionally served around Christmas and St. Patrick’sDay —get it while you can! —added to its appeal. Curiously,Guinness doesn’thave arecipe for stout cake on itswebsite, so Ihad to search the web and my memoryfor guidance.

Dear Heloise: Cinco de Mayo is one of my favoriteexcuses to feed acrowd chips, salsa, tacos, the works! The aftermath? Less exciting. Greasy platters and salsa-covered dishes took the better part of an hour to clean after guests left. Now every serving trayand basket gets lined with parchment paper before the food goes out When the party’sover, just lift the paper and toss it out; the trayunderneath doesn’tneed anything —no soaking, no scrubbing, and no dried salsa waiting for you the next morning! The parchment handles grease and moisture without sticking or tearing, which makes it more reliable thanpaper towels or foil for this kind of use. Cut it to ﬁt, or just fold

theedges up slightly around thesides. It’s such asmall thing, but it genuinely changes how the night ends. You get to enjoy the last hour of the party instead of dreading about what’swaiting for you in the kitchen. —Leslie A., in Bayside,New York Brownclump in vinegar

Dear Heloise: Brownclumps keep forming at the bottom of our apple cider vinegar after we transfer it from agallon jug to asmaller bottle. What causes this, and how do we prevent it?

—MichaelKey,via email Michael, there’sno need to worry; the brown clumps are harmless. They’re called the “mother of vinegar,” and they’re a natural mixofgood bac-

teria and cellulose that is found in raw,unfiltered apple cider vinegar.Transferring vinegar exposes it to air and movement, and this exposure can cause anew mother to form in the smaller bottle —often within aweek or two. Some peoplevalue the motherfor itsprobioticbenefits andkeep it in.Ifyou don’tlike the texture, strain thevinegarthrough a finemeshstraineroracoffee filter before pouring it into the smallerbottle. Keepingthe vinegarinthe fridge after transferring it will also slow theprocess. Filtered apple cidervinegarhas fewer clumps but doesn’t contain themother.Nomatter what settles at thebottom, your vinegarissafe andreadyto use.

—Heloise Email heloise@heloise.com.

Hints from Heloise

PHOTO

MONICA BELTON

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Say no to responsibilities that don't belong to you. Your time is best allocated to something that makes a difference to you, your attitude and your personal, physical and financial well-being.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Own whatever situation you find yourself in, and implement positive change. Volunteer for a position of leadership where you can make a difference to those you reach out to.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Stand your ground, but don't invite unwarranted trouble. Overreacting will be to your detriment, especially when dealing with professional associates or those you count on for assistance.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Gather information that helps you find your happy place. A lifestyle change that helps you spend less and experience more will change your mindset and give you something to look forward to.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) You'll retain information. Set yourself up to learn, research and integrate with teachers and those who can assist you in padding your brain, attributes and physical skills with new possibilities and capabilities.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Be careful what you agree to or promise. Situations will escalate quickly if you aren't precise regarding your wants and desires. Pay attention to detail, and question anything that appears problematic.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Whetheryouare eager to learn or engage in technology

that can make your life or skills useful moving forward, the improvements will pay off by keeping you competitive.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Stand up and be counted. Take an energetic approach to life, love and your happiness, but stay within your budget. You don't have to impress anyone by paying their way.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) One step forward and three steps back. Take a moment, reorganize your thoughts and map out a plan that's doable. Be aware of those eager to stand in your way or take advantage of your time.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Don't dawdle when you have so much to achieve. Consider how you earn your living or manage your money and what you can do to up your game. A change at home will encourage you to lower your overhead.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Protect yourself from unsavory situations that can result in debt or liability. Taking on too much or overpaying for something will set you back. Study your options when time and money are at stake.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Your speed, positive attitude and what goal you accomplish will make others pause in wonder. Put your talents to work for you, and the sky's the limit. Don't fear being different.

FAMILY CIrCUS

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placingpuzzle basedona9x9 grid with several givennumbers Theobject is to place thenumbers 1to9inthe emptysquaressothat each row, each column andeach3x3 boxcontainsthe same number only once. Thedifficultylevelofthe Sudoku increasesfromMonday to Sunday

Yesterday’sPuzzle Answer

nea CroSSwordS La TimeS CroSSword

BLondie

BaBY BLueS Hi and LoiS

BY PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, “Repetition does nottransform alie intoa truth.”

Butonedoeshopethatrepetitiontransformsatruth that is sometimes overlooked into atruth that is remembered. As an example, how do the defenders defeat four heartsinthisdeal after West leads the spade ace?

The bidding is instructive. OverWest’s textbook takeoutdouble, North’s redoubleindicates at least10high-card points and fewer thanfour-card heart support (Note that in the United States, atwodiamond response is typically treated as natural and nonforcing, showing along suit in aweak hand. With agood hand thatisn’t suitable for aforcing one-level response, responder muststart with redouble.) After this redouble, the simplest rule is thateitherthe opening pair buys thecontract or the intervening side plays in something doubled for penalty. Under West’sspadeace, East drops his three, thelowest card denying both the spade queen andadoubleton. West continues with thespade queen. Now East should playhis eight, starting ahigh-low withhisremainingdoubleton.ThenWest cashes the spade king. But what should hedoattrickfour?Westhas14high-card points and dummy has 13. Thatleaves 13 for East and South. Thedeclarer must have the diamond ace, club ace and club king.Itishighlyunlikelythatthedefenderscan gain aminor-suittrick.And if so the fourthdefensive trickwill have to come from trumps. West should lead his last spade. This promotes East’s heart jack to the setting trick.

NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

wuzzles

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

Previousanswers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Wordsmust be of four or moreletters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats”or“dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additionalwordsmade by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicitwords are not allowed.

toDAY’sWoRD VERtIGo: VER-tih-go:Dizziness.

Average mark 21 words

Time limit 35 minutes

Canyou find 30 or morewords in VERTIGO?

YEstERDAY’sWoRD —LInGERs