The Times-Picayune 08-26-2025

TRUMP REMOVINGFEDERAL RESERVEGOVERNOR LISA

Residentscan return, butpollution remains

Amid cleanupafter Tangipahoa Parish plant explosion, authoritiessay danger haspassed

BY DAVIDJ.MITCHELL, WILLIE SWETT and MARCO CARTOLANO Staff writers

Three days after alubricantsplant in Roseland blew up andturnedinto aragingfire, forcing nearly 1,000 people to flee,local officialseased a 1-mile evacuation zone as firefighters broughtthe blaze nearly completely under control.

Crews alsoworkedMonday to keep oily residue from Smitty’s Supply Inc. from flowingdown the Tangipahoa River and into Lake Pontchartrain, with around 5,900 feet of boom deployedintotal. Soot still covered areas of the townand the air smelled of oil and grease.

Gov.Jeff Landry traveled to nearby Amite to meet withlocal officials in the aftermath ofthe fire, which covered around 20 acres. There have been no injuries or deaths from the incident, and the StateFire Marshal alongwiththe Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will investigate thecause, which remained unclear

“From what Ihavebeen told,from what Ican see, there really is noimminentdanger to anylifeorprop-

BY KEITH SPERA Staff

erty,other than we have to clean up abig mess,”Landry saidata news conference on Monday afternoon in Amite.

Asked about health concerns from peoplewho swim and fish in theTangipahoa River, Landry said, “What we’ve seen so fardoesnot indicate there is anydangerorimmediate

form from Georges MediaGroup, publisher of

BY BEN MYERS Staff writer

and

NOLA debuts today, eringnews, weather,sports,

danger to wildlife or human health.”

While oily substances and soot still covered much of thesurrounding area, life slowly began returning to normalinthe smallruraltown in Tangipahoa Parish. Some residents who evacuated started returning

ä See POLLUTION, page 4A

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

The top three mayoral candidates in the October primaryelectionsparred in aMondaynight forum at Lakefront Airport, each promising to restore basic services, infrastructure andpublic trust in city government. State Sen. RoyceDuplessis, CityCouncil Vice PresidentHelenaMorenoand DistrictECity Council memberOliver Thomas mostly kept things civil withcrisp 1-minute answers to questions from former WDSU-TV anchor Norman Robinson. But things became abit more confrontational when, in adeviation fromthe formats typically used at similar candidate forums, Robinson gave thecandidatesa chance to aska questionofone of their opponents. Duplessis and Thomas, who trailMorenoinrecentpolling, took the opportunity to grill Moreno aboutthe fraught relationship between the council and Mayor LaToya Cantrell. Duplessis, who has positioned himself as aCity Hall outsider, asked Moreno, atwo-term council member,what responsibility she bears for“alevel of chaos and dysfunction that Idon’tthink we’ve ever seen in

MatthewAllen,executivedirector of Northshore Riverwatch, collects oil from theTangipahoa River in Independence on Monday. ä See SINGLETON, page 4A

daily ClueDat andmore across video, print and email. Singleton’sforecasts will appear on theNola.com homepage’snew vertical videocarousel,as well as the Wake Up NOLA morning email and The Times-Picayune’sredesigned Weather page. “I’m thrilled to join Georges Media andhelplaunchWakeUpNOLAso people get atrustworthy,right-now forecast, on their phone,intheir inbox, and in the paper,whenitmatters most,” Singleton saidinanews release. “Myjob is to make it simple: what to know before you open the door.”

TylerGray,the secretary of theLouisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources, is stepping downonSept. 2, state officials announced Monday DeputySecretaryDustin Davidson will take over as secretary.Stephen Swiber, thestate’s chief resilience officer,will move from the Governor’sOffice to fill the deputy secretary position, the agency said in amemo to employees.

Gray

“Dustin has been invaluable in his service as deputy to the department, always ready to step in

Checkout our newly redesigned Weather page. PAGE 6B

Damon Singleton

STAFF PHOTOSByDAVID GRUNFELD

Aboom helps stop oil and residue from aFridayexplosion at Smitty’s Supply from floating down theTangipahoa River on Monday.

Envoy: Officials working hard to end Ukraine war

KYIV, Ukraine President Donald Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg said in Kyiv on Monday that officials are “working very, very hard” on efforts to end the three-year war between Russia and Ukraine, as a lack of progress fuels doubts about whether a peace settlement could be on the horizon.

Officials are “hoping to get to a position where, in the near term, we have, with a lack of a better term, security guarantees” that address Ukraine’s fears of another invasion by Russia in the future, Kellogg said.

“That’s a work in progress,” Kellogg said of the potential security guarantees after attending Ukraine’s annual National Prayer Breakfast along with politicians, business leaders and diplomats.

A week ago, Trump said he had set in motion arrangements for direct peace talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy But Russian officials have signaled that such a summit won’t happen any time soon.

Trump said Friday he expects to decide on next steps in two weeks if direct talks aren’t scheduled

Lil Nas X pleads not guilty to attacking police

LOS ANGELES Lil Nas X was charged Monday with four felonies after police say he charged at them when they confronted him for walking naked down a Los Angeles street last week, prosecutors announced.

The musician, whose legal name is Montero Lamar Hill, pleaded not guilty in a court appearance to three counts of battery with injury on a police officer and one count of resisting an executive officer the District Attorney’s Office said.

The charges were far more serious than initial reports that he was being investigated for a misdemeanor, and, with convictions, the counts could collectively bring a sentence of more than 10 years in prison for the singer and rapper whose “Old Town Road” was one of the biggest hit singles in history

Police said officers found the 26-year-old walking naked on Ventura Boulevard, a major thoroughfare in the Studio City neighborhood, shortly before 6 a.m. Friday They say he charged at the officers when confronted and was arrested. Police, suspecting a possible overdose, took him to a hospital where he spent several hours before being taken to jail, where he has remained since. He was being held on $75,000 bail, conditional on attending drug treatment. It’s not immediately clear whether he had posted it and been released yet. A message to his attorney, Christy O’Connor was not immediately answered.

Some FEMA staff decry Trump’s cuts in letter

More than 180 current and former employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency published a letter Monday warning that debilitating cuts to the agency charged with handling federal disaster response risks a catastrophe like the one seen after Hurricane Katrina.

“Our shared commitment to our country, our oaths of office, and our mission of helping people before, during, and after disasters compel us to warn Congress and the American people of the cascading effects of decisions made by the current administration,” the letter states.

The statement in it is noteworthy not only for its content but for its overall existence; a fierce approach toward critics by the Trump administration has caused many in the federal government to hesitate before locking heads with the White House.

The letter coincides with the 20th anniversary week of Hurricane Katrina, when more than 1,800 people died and profound failures in the federal response prompted Congress to pass the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006.

The letter warns that poor management and eroded capacity at FEMA could undo progress made to improve the agency through that law

Trump fires Fed Governor Lisa Cook

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook late Monday an unprecedented move that constitutes a sharp escalation in his battle to exert greater control over what has been long considered an institution independent from day-to-day politics.

Trump said in a letter posted on his Truth Social platform that he is removing Cook because of allegations that she committed mortgage fraud. Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to the agency that regulates mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, made the accusations last week.

higher on second homes or those purchased to rent

Pulte alleged that Cook had claimed two primary residences — in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Atlanta — in 2021 to get better mortgage terms. Mortgage rates are often

The firing is likely to touch off an extensive legal battle that will probably go to the Supreme Court and could disrupt financial markets potentially pushing interest rates higher The independence of the Fed is considered critical to its ability to fight inflation because it enables it to take unpopular steps like raising interest rates. If bond investors start to lose faith that the Fed will be able to control inflation, they will demand higher rates to own bonds, pushing up borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans and business loans.

Legal scholars noted that the allegations are likely a pretext for the president to open up another seat on the seven-member board so he can appoint a loyalist to push for his long-stated goal of lower interest rates.

Fed governors vote on the central bank’s interest rate decisions

and on issues of financial regulation. While they are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, they are not like cabinet secretaries, who serve at the pleasure of the president. They serve 14-year terms that are staggered in an effort to insulate the Fed from political influence.

No president has sought to fire a Fed governor before. In recent decades presidents of both parties have largely respected Fed independence, though Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson put heavy pressure on the Fed during their presidencies mostly behind closed doors. Still, that behind-thescenes pressure to keep interest rates low the same goal sought by Trump, has widely been blamed for touching off rampant inflation in the late 1960s and ’70s.

The announcement came days after Cook said she wouldn’t leave despite Trump previously calling for her to resign. Senate Democrats had expressed support for Cook.

“The Federal Reserve has tre-

mendous responsibility for setting interest rates and regulating reserve member banks. The American people must have the full confidence in the honesty of the members entrusted with setting policy and overseeing the Federal Reserve,” Trump wrote in a letter addressed to Cook, a copy of which he posted online. “In light of your deceitful and potentially criminal conduct in a financial matter they cannot and I do not have such confidence in your integrity.”

Trump argued that firing Cook was constitutional, even if doing so will raise questions about control of the Fed as an independent entity

The firing is likely to touch off a legal battle and Cook could be allowed to remain in her seat while the case plays out. Cook would have to fight the legal battle herself, as the injured party, rather than the Fed.

It is the latest effort by the administration to take control over one of the few remaining independent agencies in Washington.

Israel strikes Gaza hospital two times

At least 20 killed, including journalists and rescuers

BY WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and SAM METZ Associated Press

DEIRAL-BALAH,Gaza Strip Israel struck one of the main hospitals in the Gaza Strip on Monday and then hit the facility again as journalists and rescue workers rushed to the scene, killing at least 20 people and wounding scores more, local health workers said.

It was among the deadliest of several Israeli strikes that have hit both hospitals and journalists over the course of the 22-month war sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, and the assault came as Israel plans to widen its offensive to heavily populated areas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the strike on Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis was a “tragic mishap” and that the military was investigating.

Israeli media reported that troops fired two artillery shells, targeting what they suspected was a Hamas surveillance camera on the roof. The Reuters news agency said one of its reporters, who was operating a live television shot, was killed in the first strike, citing hospital officials

It was not clear if he was

Riyad Dagga, surrounded by relatives and friends, prays over the

freelance journalist Mariam Dagga, 33, during her

killed in a Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan younis, Gaza Strip.

the target Reporters from different outlets had regularly set up live shots at that location.

The first strike hit an upper floor housing operating rooms and doctors’ residences, killing at least two people, according to Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the records department at the Gaza Health Ministry

The second strike hit an external stairwell as rescuers and journalists raced to the scene of the first, killing another 18. Around 80 people were wounded, including many in the hospital’s courtyard, al-Waheidi said.

Among those killed was 33-year-old Mariam Dagga, a visual journalist who had worked for The Associated Press. Dagga regularly reported for multiple outlets

from the hospital, including a recent story for the AP on doctors struggling to save children from starvation.

The strike killed three other journalists who worked for Al Jazeera, Reuters and Middle East Eye, a U.K.-based media outlet, most on a contractor or freelance basis.

Video shot from across the street by pan-Arab channel Al Ghad showed people climbing the external stairwell just after the first strike, past walls with chunks shorn off — followed by the boom of the second strike, a huge plume of smoke and a heap of wreckage.

Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, an Israeli military spokesperson, said the army does not target civilians and

Trump moves to ban flag burning despite court ruling allowing it

BY DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order requiring the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute people for burning the American flag, an activity that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled is legitimate political expression protected by the U.S. Constitution. The order the Republican president signed in the Oval Office acknowledged the court’s 5-4 ruling in a case from Texas in 1989, but said there is still room to prosecute flag burning if it “is likely to incite imminent lawless action” or amounts to “fighting words.”

“You burn a flag, you get one year in jail. You don’t get 10 years, you don’t get one month,” Trump said. “You get one year in jail,

and it goes on your record, and you will see flag burning stopping immediately.”

The order also called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue litigation to challenge the 1989 ruling, an attempt by Trump to get the issue back in front of the Supreme Court. Today’s Supreme Court is much more conservative than the makeup of the court in 1989 and includes three judges Trump appointed in his first term Civil liberties advocates and constitutional scholars questioned both the legality and the merit of Trump’s action. A lawyer working for a free speech group said Trump does not have the power to rewrite the First Amendment “While people can be prosecuted for burning anything in a place they aren’t allowed to set fires, the government can’t prosecute protected expressive

activity — even if many Americans, including the president, find it ‘uniquely offensive and provocative,’” added Bob Corn-Revere, chief counsel of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

In the 1989 case, the justices ruled 5-4 that the First Amendment protects flag burning as legitimate political expression. The late Justice Antonin Scalia, the conservative icon whom Trump has repeatedly praised, was in the majority

On Monday, Trump described the 1989 court behind the ruling as a “very sad court.”

Trump said burning the U.S. flag “incites riots at levels we’ve never seen before,” with some people “going crazy” over the act of setting it afire and others expressing anger at people for burning it. He did not offer examples.

had launched an internal investigation into the strikes. He accused Hamas of hiding among civilians but did not say whether Israel believed any militants were present during the strikes on the hospital.

Netanyahu’s statement

said: “Israel deeply regrets the tragic mishap that occurred today at the Nasser

Hospital in Gaza. Israel values the work of journalists, medical staff and all civilians.”

The U.N. secretary-general, along with Britain, France and others, condemned the attack. When asked about the strike, President Donald Trump initially said he was not aware of it before offering: “I’m not happy about it. I don’t want to see it.” Trump later said he thought there might be a “conclusive ending” in Gaza in the coming weeks, without elaborating. It was not clear if he was referring to Israel’s coming offensive or to long-running ceasefire talks. Israel has attacked hospitals multiple times throughout the war, asserting that Hamas embeds itself in and around the facilities, though Israeli officials rarely provide evidence. Hamas security personnel have been seen inside such facilities during the war, and parts of those sites have been off limits to the public. The hospitals that remain open have been overwhelmed by the dead, wounded and now by increasing numbers of malnourished as parts of Gaza are experiencing famine.

PHOTO PROVIDED By FAMILy OF MARIAM DAGGA

body of his daughter,

funeral Monday after she was

Abrego Garcia faces new deportation efforts

ICE detains him in Baltimore

BY BRIAN WITTE, TRAVIS LOLLER, MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and BEN FINLEY Associated Press

BALTIMORE Kilmar Abrego

Garcia, whose case has become a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s aggressive effort to remove noncitizens from the U.S., was detained by immigration authorities in Baltimore on Monday to face renewed efforts to deport him after a brief period of freedom.

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys quickly filed a lawsuit to fight his deportation until a court has heard his claim for protection, stating that the U.S. could place him in a country where “his safety cannot be assured.”

The lawsuit triggered a blanket court order that automatically pauses deportation efforts for two days The order applies to immigrants in Maryland who are challenging their detention.

Within hours of Abrego Garcia’s detention, his lawyers spoke with Department of Justice attorneys and a federal judge in Maryland, who warned Abrego Garcia

cannot be removed from the U.S “at this juncture” because he must be allowed to exercise his constitutional right to contest deportation.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said overlapping court orders temporarily prohibit the government from removing Abrego Garcia, and that she would extend her own temporary restraining order barring his deportation.

Drew Ensign, a Justice Department attorney, told the judge that Abrego Garcia’s “removal is not imminent” and that the process often takes time.

Abrego Garcia, a 30-yearold Maryland construction worker and Salvadoran national, spoke at a rally before he turned himself in.

“This administration has hit us hard, but I want to tell you guys something: God is with us, and God will never leave us,” Abrego Garcia said, speaking through a translator “God will bring justice to all the injustice we are suffering.”

Roughly 200 people gathered, prayed and crowded around Abrego Garcia while he walked into the offices for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Baltimore, where he was detained. When his lawyer and wife walked out without him,

the crowd yelled “Shame! Department of Homeland

Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X that Abrego Garcia was being processed for deportation

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office that Abrego Garcia “will no longer terrorize our country.”

Abrego Garcia lived in Maryland for years with his American wife and children, and worked in construction He was wrongfully deported in March to a notorious pris-

on in his native El Salvador because the Trump administration believed he was a member of the MS-13 gang, an allegation that Abrego Garcia denies. His removal violated an immigration judge’s 2019 ruling that shielded him from deportation to his native country because he had “well-founded fear” of threats by a gang there.

Abrego Garcia’s wife sued to bring him back. Facing a U.S. Supreme Court order, the Trump administration returned him in June. He

was subsequently charged in Tennessee with human smuggling. He has pleaded not guilty and asked a judge to dismiss the case on ground of vindictive prosecution.

The allegations stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee for speeding. Abrego Garcia was driving with nine passengers in the car, and officers discussed among themselves their suspicions of smuggling. He was allowed to continue driving with a warning.

The Trump administration has said it wants to deport

Abrego Garcia before his trial, alleging he is a danger to the community and an MS13 gang member A federal judge in Tennessee determined that Abrego Garcia was not a flight risk or a danger He was released from jail Friday afternoon and returned to his family in Maryland.

Video released by advocates of the reunion showed a room decorated with streamers, flowers and signs. He embraced loved ones and thanked them “for everything.”

Federal officials argue Abrego Garcia can be deported because he came to the U.S. illegally and that the immigration judge’s 2019 ruling deemed him eligible for expulsion, just not to his native El Salvador Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, Abrego Garcia’s lead immigration attorney, told reporters Monday that Abrego Garcia is being held in a detention facility in Virginia.

Trump administration officials have said Abrego Garcia could be sent to the East African nation of Uganda, which recently agreed to take deportees from the U.S., provided they do not have criminal records and are not unaccompanied minors.

Schools reopen in D.C. with parents on edge over armed

BY MARK SHERMAN, ASHRAF KHALIL and SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press

WASHINGTON Public schools

reopened Monday in the na-

tion’s tense capital with parents on edge over the presence in their midst of thousands of National Guard troops — some now armed — and large scatterings of federal law enforcement officers carrying out President Donald Trump’s orders to make the District of Columbia a safer place.

Even as Trump started talking about other cities and again touted a drop in crime that he attributed to his extraordinary effort to take over policing in Washington, D.C., the district’s mayor was lamenting the effect of Trump’s actions on children.

“Parents are anxious. We’ve heard from a lot of them,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a news conference, noting that some might keep their children out of school because of immigration concerns.

“Any attempt to target children is heartless, is mean, is uncalled for and it only hurts us,” she said. “I would just call for everybody to leave our kids alone.”

As schools opened across the capital city, parental social media groups and listservs were buzzing with reports and rumors of checkpoints and arrests.

The week began with some patrolling National Guard units now carrying firearms. The change stemmed from a directive issued late last week by his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Armed National Guard troops from Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee were seen around the city Monday But not every patrol appears to be carrying weapons. An Associated Press photographer said the roughly 30

Monday of his 6 a.m. walk along a Lake Michigan path filled with runners and walkers.

“I don’t know who in Washington thinks that Chicago is some sort of hellhole, but you may need to look inward,” he said, mocking Trump’s term describing Washington. Others raised questions about where patrols might go and what role they might play By square mileage Chicago is more than three times the size of Washington, and neighborhoods with

historically high crime are spread far apart.

Former Chicago Police

Superintendent Garry McCarthy, who also worked for the New York Police Department, wondered what the National Guard would do in terms of fighting street violence. He said if there was clear communication, they could help with certain tasks, like perimeter patrol in high-crime neighborhoods, but only as part of a wider plan and in partnership with police.

National Guard troops

patrols

were used in Chicago to help with the Democratic National Convention last summer and during the 2012 NATO Summit. Overall, violent crime in Chicago dropped significantly in the first half of 2025, representing the steepest decline in over a decade, according to police data. Shootings and homicides were down more than 30% in the first half of the year compared with the same time last year, and total violent crime dropped by over 22%.

troops he saw on the National Mall on Monday morning were unarmed.

Armed Guard members in Washington will be operating under long-standing rules for the use of military force inside the U.S., the military task force overseeing all the troops deployed to D.C. said Monday Those rules, broadly, say that while troops can use force, they should do so only “in response to an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm” and “only as a last resort.”

The task force has directed questions on why the change was necessary to Hegseth’s office. Those officials have declined to answer those questions. Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday Hegseth said that it was common sense to arm them because it meant they were “capable of defending themselves and others.”

Among their duties is picking up trash, the task force said, though it’s unclear how much time they will spend doing that.

Bowser reiterated her opposition to the National Guard’s presence “I don’t believe that troops should be policing American cities,” she said.

Trump is considering expanding the deployments to other Democratic-led cities, including Baltimore, Chicago and New York, saying the situations in those cities require federal action. In Washington, his administration says more than 1,000 people have been arrested since Aug. 7 including 86 on Sunday

“We took hundreds of guns away from young kids, who were throwing them around like it was candy We apprehended scores of illegal aliens We seized dozens of illegal firearms There have been zero murders,” Trump said Monday

The possibility of the military patrolling streets of Chicago, the nation’s thirdlargest city, prompted immediate backlash, confusion and a trail of sarcastic social media posts.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a first-term Democrat, has called it unconstitutional and threatened legal action. Illinois Gov JB Pritzker deemed it a distraction and unnecessary as crime rates in Chicago are down, as they are nationwide.

Pritzker, often mentioned as a presidential contender, posted an Instagram video

Long-elusive Mexican drug lord ‘El Mayo’ pleads guilty in U.S.

BY MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press

NEW YORK Former Mexican cartel kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada pleaded guilty Monday to U.S. drug trafficking charges, saying he was sorry for helping flood the U.S. with cocaine, heroin and other illicit substances and for fueling deadly violence in Mexico.

“I recognize the great harm illegal drugs have done to the people of the United States, of Mexico, and elsewhere,” he said through a Spanishlanguage interpreter “I take

responsibility for my role in all of it and I apologize to everyone who has suffered or been affected by my actions.” Under Zambada’s leadership and that of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Sinaloa cartel evolved from a regional player into the largest drug trafficking organization in the world, prosecutors say “Culpable,” Zambada said, using the Spanish word for “guilty,” as he entered his plea in a Brooklyn courtroom, about 2,200 mile from Mexico’s Sinaloa state. He acknowledged the ex-

tent of the Sinaloa operation, including underlings who built relationships with cocaine producers in Colombia, oversaw importing cocaine to Mexico by boat and plane and smuggling the drug across the U.S.-Mexico border He acknowledged that people working for him paid bribes to Mexican police and military commanders “so they could operate freely.”

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi heralded Zambada’s guilty plea as a “landmark victory” and said he “will die in a U.S federal prison, where he belongs.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By STEPHANIE SCARBROUGH

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, center and his brother Cesar Abrego Garcia, left, arrive Monday at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Baltimore.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By

CENETA District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, center, attends a celebration of the first day of school at Oyster-Adams Bilingual School on Monday in Washington.

home andthe RoselandMontessori School planned to reopen Tuesday

Theevacuation, initially extendingtoamile radius, was reduced to amore compact area closest to the plant on Monday,though sections of major highways through thetown remained closed, includingU.S. 51.

The blaze was 98% contained on Monday,but myriad environmental concerns persisted. The contents of the soot werebeing tested by environmental regulators, but results were not yet available.

Cars in town, as well as the shoulders of U.S. 51 headed north to Smitty’s, still had black soot on them. ADollar General store had soot covering the bottom half of its sign.

While the full evacuation zone was still in place Sunday night, about 75 people stayed overnight in two hotels, officials said. Only seven homes in Roselandcould no longer be accessed on Monday

Afew miles south of Smitty’s, a man returned to his house tofind theglasses andplates he had on sale in his yard filled with an oily black water.Onthe other side of Roseland, afew miles east of Smitty’s, Jaden Armstrong was pressure-washing soot-covered slides and swings at the playground outside Mt. Canaan Baptist Church.

“Everybody’scleaningup,”Armstrong said.

RoselandMontessoriSchool was evacuated Friday,but federal authorities have now confirmed air quality in and around it is clear,parish officials said. Crews alsohave cleaned sidewalks, walkways and driveways, as well as inside campus buildings, school officials added. Outdoor areas, including playgrounds, have been sanitized. Airconditioning and heating systems have been checked and serviced to ensure indoor air quality and bottled water will be available for students and staff, school officials said.

“Every safety precaution has been taken to ensure that students areinasafe learning environment,” school officials said in a Facebook post.

The following streets remained closed Monday:

n La. 10 from U.S. 51 to East Russell Town Road

n U.S. 51 from La. 1048toNorth Street

n La. 1048 from U.S. 51 to Mt. Gillion Church Road.

Alternate routes for commercial vehicles included:

n La. 10 west to La. 1058north

n La. 10 east to U.S. 51 Southat Purina Mill.

‘Never seen anything like this’

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency andother officials were grappling with thespill of unknown chemicals andhydrocarbons into ditches, ponds and the Tangipahoa River

SINGLETON

Continued from page1A

ANew Orleans native and1980 graduate of St. AugustineHigh School, Singletonreceived his meteorology degree from the University of St. Thomas in Houston. Simultaneously, he was commissioned as aU.S. Navy officervia the Navy ROTC programatRice University.Hespent22years in the Navy,earning amaster’sdegree from the United States Naval

The fire at Smitty’sSupply wascontained by Monday.

Officials announced an emergency closure of the river on Sunday evening. Atotal of 100,000 gallons of material had been recovered so far,anEPA official said. State Department of Environmental Quality photos also showed alarge private pond next to the river with oily contamination. Smitty’shas theabilitytostore 8.7 million gallonsofflammable liquids and chemicals, including motoroil,lubricantsand lighter fluid,state regulatorypaperssay Officials have not said what was at the plantatthe time of thefire. Attempts to reach company officials have been unsuccessful.

At aprivatelyrun daycamp at Serenity Sands beach off the Tangipahoa River on Monday Matthew Allen, director of the

WarCollegeinRhode Island along the way.He retired with therank of commander in 2006. Even as he served in the Navy he aspiredtoa careerasameteorologist in his hometown. He joined New Orleans NBC affiliate WDSU’s“FirstWarning Weather” team in 2006. During 18 years at the station, he became afamiliar presence on air from morning to middayand in the community He and his wife, pediatric oncologist Dr.Tami Singleton, raised two daughters and ason. He starred as Brickinthe Anthony Bean Com-

environmental group Northshore River Watch,took asample of water in ajar

“I’ve never seen anything like this on one of our local rivers,” he said. Speaking of theplant, he said: “It looks like they need abetteremergencyplanwith respect to theriver.”

He pointed tothe thick layer of oil on the water’s surface over 10 milesdownriver from the plant.

AboveAllen,crews stood on the La.40bridge over the riversuckingoil offthe top. Orangeboom material was in place just southof thebridge to stop the flow of oil.

Allennoted theplant had aleak in 2022 that required boom in the river then.

“Wejust want to see it cleanedup as best we canand learn howtonot

munity Theater’s2014 production of “Cat On aHot TinRoof.” Within WDSU’sweather team, Damon Singleton was second to only to the legendary Margaret Orrinseniority.He, alongwith many viewers, hadhoped he would succeed heraschiefmeteorologist after she retired in March 2024. After learning he would not become chief meteorologist, Singleton opted to retire as well. For his finalWDSUbroadcast on Aug. 23, 2024, he wasjoined on setbymembers of hisfamily alongwithOrr and former WDSU reporter Heath

let it happen again,” he said.

Neighbor’s lawsuits

The U.S. Occupational Safety andHealth Administrationhas opened an investigation into the explosionatthe complexthatemploys about 450 people. It has six months to complete its inspection, OSHA spokesperson Juan Rodriguez said.

Smitty’s hasrun afoul of OSHA over thepastdecadewith two injuriesand one fatality since 2017, amassing more than $58,000 in fines.

The plant hasbeenthe focusof regular scrutiny from regulators, including over spills of various chemicals that have madeitoffsite andinto the river, state andfederal papers say

The 112-acre Brickyard Farms tree farm next door has often been on the receiving end of the plant’s spills, DEQ andlegal papers show

Owners of thefarmsince1990, the Chollette family,ofBaton Rouge,have suedSmitty’sthree times over alleged spills since 2015.One member of thefamily, Neal Chollette Jr., said Monday that the latestspill hascontaminated his property again, including one of his ponds.

Chollette said he metwith EPA officials Sunday to discuss waysto block offthe flow of runoff from Smitty’s and prevent it from continuing to flowintothe nearby Tangipahoa River

The suits cite DEQ documenta-

Allen,who retired in 2022. Sincethen,Singleton hasworked for New Orleans-based Haptech Defense Systems, whichdevelops and markets weapons simulators and other training technology for military and law enforcement.

Singleton’sforecasts andthe rest of the Wake Up NOLA’s team contentwill be available at Nola. com and on the Nola.com app, via the free Wake Up NOLA morning emailnewsletter (sign up at nola.com/wakeup), in print on The Times-Picayune’sweather page and on socialmedia, includingthe

tion that have included admissions from Smitty’s, including forthe mostrecent lawsuitfiledinJuly. That suit cited agency papers in which thecompany toldDEQ a sizeable spill waspreventable, legalpapersshow. Beau Brock, the Chollettes’ lawyer,saidinan interview,“our clients have had enough.”

Drainage routes fromSmitty’s to the Tangipahoa runs through the Chollettes’ property and its pond. The river also passes through the property

“Weare anticipating that there may be morecontamination based on past events,” Brock said Saturday Citing DEQrecords and Smitty’s ownself-reporting, the Chollettes accused the plant in itslatest suit of spilling of 950gallons of hydraulicfluidinJuly2024 aftera line burst.

The onsitecontainment system couldn’tkeep the fluid at bayand heavy rains worsened the release by overwhelming oil separating equipment, allowingittoreach the Chollettes’ property and pond.

About amonth later,ascleanup and testing was finishing, yellow dye also escaped from theplant and wound up in the Chollettes’ pond again, giving it “an eerie fluorescent green color,” the suit claims.

The company admitted both spills to DEQ, but said the dye was nontoxicand off-sitecleanup was limited.

Wake Up NOLAFacebook,Instagram and TikTok pages. “Wake Up NOLA is built for howour city actually starts the day,onphones, in inboxes and on the go,” said Kevin Hall, president and publisher of Georges Media Group. “Itblends service journalismand personalityinto adaily ritual. We’re proud to welcomeDamon and to partner with LCMC Health as our presenting sponsor.”

Email KeithSpera at kspera@ theadvocate.com.

PHOTO PROVIDED By LOUISIANA STATEPOLICE

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Stocks slip on Wall Street after Friday rally

Stocks on Wall Street closed broadly lower Monday, giving back some of the big gains the market notched last week on hopes for interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 fell 0.4% and remains near its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.8% lower after setting a record high on Friday The Nasdaq composite closed 0.2% lower

The selling was widespread, with health care stocks among the biggest drags on the market. Pfizer fell 2.9% and Eli Lilly and Co. slid 2.3%

Gains for several big technology stocks helped temper the market’s losses. Alphabet, Google’s parent company rose 1.2%. Technology heavyweight Nvidia rose 1%.

Treasury yields rose in the bond market following their big drop on Friday amid expectations that the Fed will cut its benchmark interest rate in September Southwest to charge plus-size travelers

Southwest Airlines will soon require travelers who can’t fit within the armrests of their seat to pay for an extra one in advance, part of a string of recent changes the carrier is making.

The new rule goes into effect Jan 27, the same day Southwest starts assigning seats

Currently, plus-size passengers can either pay for an extra seat in advance with the option of getting that money back later or they can request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the carrier’s new policy, a refund is still possible but no longer guaranteed.

In a statement Monday, Southwest said it is updating some of its policies as it prepares for assigned seating next year

“To ensure space, we are communicating to Customers who have previously used the extra seat policy that they should purchase it at booking ” the statement said.

It marks the latest change at Southwest, which had long been known for letting its passengers pick their own seats after boarding the plane, and for letting their bags fly for free, which ended in May Those perks were key to differentiating the budget carrier from its rivals.

Southwest says it will still refund a second ticket under its new policy for extra seating if there is at least one open seat on the flight when it departs, and if both of the passenger’s tickets were purchased in the same booking class. The passenger also needs to request the refund within 90 days of the flight.

Google settles YouTube children’s privacy suit

Google has agreed to pay $30 million to settle a long-running lawsuit by parents and their children claiming its YouTube video app collected data from millions of U.S. kids under 13 so it could target them with ads. The Mountain View digital advertising and search giant “manipulated children using their personal information into extending their time on YouTube, which in turn increased the number of targeted advertisements shown to them, and increased the revenue earned by Google,” according to the lawsuit filed in San Jose U.S. District Court.

Google admitted no wrongdoing under the settlement However, in a court filing last year, it argued that the case failed to claim specific losses or allege the YouTube data collection went beyond “routine commercial behavior into highly offensive conduct.” The company, whose annual profits reported to regulators ranged from $12.7 billion in 2013 to $40.3 billion in 2020 during the period covered by the lawsuit, did not respond to questions about the lawsuit and how it currently treats data from YouTube children’s videos.

BUSINESS

NOLA.COM/BIZ

BY WENDY LEE Los Angeles Times (TNS)

Elon Musk on Monday ramped up his legal feud with OpenAI as his companies filed a new lawsuit against OpenAI and Apple, accusing both of anticompetitive behavior in the artificial intelligence industry

Apple and OpenAI announced a partnership last year that would allow Apple customers to connect

with OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT on iPhones. Musk’s social media firm X and artificial intelligence company X.AI LLC say that the deal has hindered their ability to compete and has locked up markets to maintain what they describe as Apple and OpenAI’s monopolies

“Plaintiffs bring this suit to stop Defendants from perpetrating their anticompetitive scheme and to recover billions in damages,” according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Texas on Monday Musk’s companies, Bastrop, Texasbased X and San Francisco-based xAI, are seeking a permanent injunction against Apple and OpenAI.

The lawsuit adds to a long-running fight between Musk and Ope-

nAI’s Chief Executive Sam Altman. Musk was an early investor in OpenAI but later left its board and started a rival AI business xAI. Musk has an ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman accusing them of fraud and breach of contract over OpenAI’s efforts to change its corporate structure.

“This latest filing is consistent with Mr Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment,” OpenAI said in a statement.

Musk companies’ lawsuit claims

ChatGPT has at least an 80% market share in the generative AI chatbot market, whereas xAI’s chatbot Grok has just a few percentage points in market share.

“As a result of Apple and OpenAI’s exclusive arrangement, ChatGPT is the only AI chatbot that ben-

efits from billions of user prompts originating from hundreds of millions of iPhones,” according to xAI’s lawsuit. “This makes it hard for competitors of ChatGPT’s generative AI chatbot and super apps powered by generative AI chatbots to scale and innovate.” xAI has asked to integrate Grok directly with Apple’s software ecosystem, iOS, but hasn’t been allowed to do so, Musk’s companies said in their lawsuit While users can access other AI chatbots on iPhones by using a web browser or downloading an AI chatbot’s app, “those options do not provide the same level of functionality, usability integration, or access to user prompts as ChatGPT’s first-party integration with Apple,” the lawsuit says.

Democrats want Trump to resume major R.I. offshore wind project

Construction halted, citing national security concerns

BY JENNIFER MCDERMOTT Associated Press

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — A nearly complete wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut faces an uncertain future after the Trump administration abruptly halted construction and the states’ Democratic governors, lawmakers and union workers called Monday for the president to reverse course.

The administration said last week that the federal government needs to review the Revolution Wind project and address national security concerns. It did not specify what those concerns are. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management declined to comment further

The developer, Danish energy company Orsted, is evaluating the financial impact of stopping construction and considering legal proceedings. And in addition to hampering the state’s climate goals, losing out on all that renewable power could drive up electricity prices throughout the region, Democratic officials say

“It’s an attack on our jobs,” Rhode Island Gov Dan McKee said. “It’s an attack on our energy It’s an attack on our families and their ability to pay the bills.” McKee and the state’s entire congressional delegation gathered at a beach area in North Kingstown, near the project’s logistics and operations hub

Patrick Crowley, president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, drew applause when he directed a message at President Donald Trump: “We’re going to fight you every step of the way no matter how long it takes.”

Meanwhile, Connecticut Gov Ned Lamont and the state’s U.S. senators spoke at State Pier in New London, where components for the wind farm are kept before being taken out to sea.

The project is 80% complete, with all the underwater foundations and 45 out of 65 turbines already installed.

North America’s Building Trades Unions said Trump “just fired 1,000 of our members” who were working on the project

Several people previously scheduled to go back to work on the wind farm this week were in the audience in North Kingstown. Xiomara Lux said she doesn’t know if she

has a job now Antonio Gianfrancesco is worried about paying his bills and helping his family Lucialino Gomes said this job is the best he’s had.

Tony Vaz, a rope access technician, asked the politicians to fight for the wind farm because “we need to get out there and keep working.”

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island disputed the administration’s rationale for stopping the work.

The Defense Department was involved in reviewing the project, as with all offshore wind development, to avoid conflicts with military operations and training.

“It’s not about national security It’s about the president’s insecurity,” said Reed, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Trump has made sweeping strides to prioritize fossil fuels and hinder renewable energy projects. Those include reviewing wind and solar energy permits, canceling plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind development and stopping work on another offshore wind project for New York, although construction was later allowed to resume.

Large, ocean-based wind farms are the linchpin of government plans to shift to renewable energy, particularly in East Coast states with large populations and limited land for wind turbines or solar arrays. Revolution Wind is expected to be Rhode Island and Connecticut’s first large offshore wind farm, capable of powering more than 350,000 homes. Power would be provided at a rate of 9.8 cents per kilowatt hour, locked in for 20 years. That’s cheaper than the average cost of electricity in New England.

The project site is more than 15 miles south of the Rhode Island coast, 32 miles southeast of the Connecticut coast and 12 miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard. Rhode Island is already home to the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm.

The Trump administration previously stopped work on Empire Wind, the New York offshore wind project. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said it appeared former President Joe Biden’s administration had “rushed through” the approvals, although the developer Equinor spent seven years obtaining permits. Construction was allowed to resume in May after two of the state’s Democratic leaders, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and Gov Kathy Hochul, intervened.

Dr Pepper to break from Keurig, buys Peet’s for $18 billion

CEO says separate business will help focus on growth

BY DEE-ANN DURBIN AP business writer

Less than a decade after their merger Keurig and Dr Pepper plan to become separate companies again.

Keurig Dr Pepper said Monday it is buying the owner of Peet’s Coffee for $18 billion. Then it will break itself in two, with one company selling coffee and the other selling cold beverages like Snapple, Dr Pepper, 7UP and energy drinks. The agreement unwinds the 2018

merger of Keurig and Dr Pepper

Shares of Keurig Dr Pepper fell 11.5% in afternoon trading Monday

Investors were concerned about the company’s plan to finance the acquisition with a mix of cash and debt. S&P Global placed Keurig Dr Pepper on a credit watch with negative implications Monday, saying it was concerned about the increase in debt and the complexity of the two-step transaction.

Keurig Dr Pepper CEO Timothy Cofer said the separate coffee and beverage businesses would be more nimble and better able to focus on growth opportunities in their own markets.

“Following the separation, each stand-alone entity will lead its industry with a sharp strategic focus and with operating models that are

finely calibrated to their unique categories and markets,” Cofer said Monday during a conference call with investors. The combination with Peet’s parent JDE Peet’s, which is based in Amsterdam, significantly expands Keurig’s presence beyond North America, where it’s known for its single-serve coffee machines. JDE Peet’s owns the brands L’OR, Jacobs, Douwe Egberts, Kenco, Pilao, OldTown, Super and Moccona. Cofer said the combined coffee business will generate $16 billion in annual net sales. The combined buying power will help Keurig and Peet’s compete with other large coffee players like Nestle and Starbucks, especially as rising demand and poor weather conditions push coffee prices near record highs.

Cofer said the coffee company

will also be able to focus on meeting demand, especially in developing markets. Around 40% of the company’s sales will come from North America, 40% from Europe and 20% from emerging markets.

“We like, and I like, the coffee category Why? It’s huge. It’s ubiquitous,” Cofer said. “Obviously, we’ve up to this point focused on North America. But the global data shows coffee is consistently growing on a volume basis above population.”

The merger could also help the company cushion the impact of U.S. tariffs. President Donald Trump imposed a 50% tariff this summer on most imports from Brazil — the world’s leading coffee producer — for an investigation of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally

Trump, South Korean leader meet at White House

President’s warning turns to warm welcome after flattery

BY SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump took to social media before meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday to threaten not to do business with Seoul because of a “purge or revolution” that he claimed was taking place in the country

But any prospect of a hostile Oval Office meeting evaporated after Lee heaped praise onto the U.S. president — lauding the decor, beseeching Trump to continue to help with Korean peace efforts and even suggesting a Trump Tower in North Korea.

“We’ve known each other and gotten along very well,” Trump said After running down the agenda for the summit, Trump added: “It’s a great honor to be with you and congratulations on your election. That was a big one, and we’re with you 100%.”

The cordial display showed how world leaders are taking notes from previous meetings between Trump and heads of state, who’ve largely chosen the route of praise and adulation rather than confrontation as they seek favorable trade terms and continued military aid from Washington. It was one of the first big foreign policy tests for Lee, who took over a country in a state of political turmoil since its former leader, Yoon Suk Yeol, was ousted from office after imposing martial law Lee, elected in June began by

city.”

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the city.” Moreno defended the council and claimed credit for Gordon Plaza relocations and stopping controversial Cantrell initiatives such as moving City Hall to Congo Square and a “smart cities” contract initially awarded to a bidder who had an unfair advantage. She also pointed to the City Council’s successful lawsuit against Cantrell for her handling of the Wisner Trust, prompting Thomas to retort that the council has been on the losing end of other legal battles against the mayor Thomas asked how Moreno would set aside differences and “get in the room with people you disagree with” for the public benefit. Moreno said she will seek compromise, but added she would “always fight on behalf of the people of this

ENERGY

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and move us forward,” Gray said in a statement. “He will be an outstanding leader, and Stephen will bring the intellectual curiosity and professionalism needed to continue refining the work we’ve built together for Louisiana.”

Gov Jeff Landry appointed Gray to head up DENR in January 2024, as part of the governor’s new administration. Over multiple legislative sessions, Gray successfully pushed for legislation reorganizing the agency

Having ushered in such changes, Gray said it was time for him to let new leadership take over.

“I am deeply grateful to Gov Landry for the trust he placed in me to lead this department through a historic reorganization,” he said “Together, we built a strong foundation and set a clear direction for the future.”

Now, it will be up to Davidson to shepherd the agency following its overhaul.

In a statement, Davidson thanked Gray for his leadership.

“Having worked with him closely in the efforts to reorganize this agency and modernize its approach to industry regulation and resource management, I feel confident that the team we have put together will be able to deliver on our shared vision driven by the core

praising one of Trump’s pet projects: presidential interior design.

“I heard that you recently redecorated the Oval Office, and I would like to say that it looks very bright and beautiful,” Lee said through an interpreter. “It has the dignity of America, and it symbolizes the new future and prosperity of America.”

He noted that the Dow Jones index has reached record highs (although Lee made sure to add the caveat that “it went down a bit”) and asked Trump who has been on a mission to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, to reunify the two Koreas and even perhaps see the construction of a Trump Tower in North Korea accompanied by a round of golf Lee also agreed with Trump’s assertion that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would not have continued to enhance his nuclear capabilities the last few years had Trump remained in office.

Noting a “renaissance” that is

Hosted by several lakefront neighborhood associations, the Rotary Club of New Orleans and New Orleans East Rotary, and paid for by real estate developer and sanitation hauler Sidney Torres IV, of IV Waste, the forum is the first to be televised, as it will air on WYES television on Wednesday, again on Sunday and again on Sept. 2.

Torres,asupporterofMoreno, said he underwrote the event’s costs to “(empower) our community with the informationitneedstomakethe best choice for our future.”

Candidates were invited based on independent poll results and campaign fundraising.

When it was Moreno’s turn to throw a question at one of her opponents, she said that Thomas and Duplessis appear to have teamed up against her in the race, and asked Thomas, what made him more qualified than

principles of transparency, balance and practical solutions,” Davidson said At Gray’s behest, lawmakers last year passed a bill to create the Natural Resources Trust Authority, which is tasked with regulating financial security for Louisiana’s oil and gas wells.

Most well operators are required to obtain such security which could be a promise from a bank or financial institution, to ensure there is money to plug their wells if they go out of business.

The rule is meant to keep wells from becoming orphaned. But in recent years, state audits have found that wells often lack adequate financial security, and that the state failed to properly oversee the Louisiana Oilfield Restoration Association, once a major financial security provider

The Natural Resources Trust Authority aims to improve the financial security system and ameliorate the state’s orphan well problem. Currently, Louisiana has over 4,900 orphan wells, which can threaten the environment and public safety

Also last year, lawmakers eliminated the firewall between DENR and the Office of Conservation Though the conservation office had been part of the larger department, it operated independently and answered to the commissioner of conservation instead of the energy secretary

Eliminating the firewall helped DENR operate more

taking place, Lee said “I believe you are the only leader who has made such accomplishments.”

The tone was a far cry from Trump’s confrontational social media post earlier Monday He later elaborated that he was referring to raids on churches and on a U.S. military base by the new South Korean government, which they “probably shouldn’t have done.”

“I heard bad things,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday morning. “I don’t know if it’s true or not I’ll be finding out.”

Trump did not identify specific raids. But earlier this month, South Korean police conducted a raid on a church led by a conservative activist pastor who authorities allege is connected to a pro-Yoon protest in January that turned violent, according to Yonhap news agency

A special prosecutor’s team that is investigating corruption allegations against Yoon’s wife, former first lady Kim Keon Hee, also raid-

Duplessis to hold the job. Thomas replied that institutional knowledge is one of his strengths, as is his ability to work with Duplessis in Baton Rouge.

Most of the other questions posed focused on the nuts and bolts of City Hall, including fixing streetlights and drainage, improving communication between departments and public safety Duplessis said he would streamline the city’s Department of Safety and Permits and audit the city’s budget for waste, pledging to close a deficit of at least $70 million. Moreno said she would staff up the city’s Office of Economic Development and the Department of Public Works. Thomas, meanwhile, promised to bring back twice-a-week trash pickup and force departments to follow performance plans.

Moreno and Thomas pinned chronic street and traffic light outages on copper theft. Moreno said

efficiently, Davidson said.

The Legislature took that change a step further this year when it passed Act 458, sponsored by state Sen. Bob Hensgens, R-Abbeville. The 227-page law, effective Oct. 1, restructures DENR and eliminates the Office of Conservation.

The law establishes two new offices — one for permitting and compliance, and another for enforcement — that will take up the functions of the Office of Conservation, said DENR spokesperson Patrick Courreges.

That change will allow all permitting and all enforcement employees to work together, regardless of whether they had been part of the conservation office, Courreges said. Currently there are permitting and enforcement employees both inside and outside of that office. Act 458 also renames DENR, which will soon become the Department of Conservation and Energy And it creates the Natural Resources Commission, which will be made up of seven representatives of key state agencies, among them DENR, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and Louisiana Economic Development.

The commission will coordinate water management planning and statewide flood protection, the law states.

Email Meghan Friedmann at meghan.friedmann@ theadvocate.com.

ed the facilities of the Unification Church after allegations that one of its officials gave Kim luxury goods.

Meanwhile, Osan Air Base, which is jointly operated by the United States and South Korea, was also the target of a raid last month by investigators looking into how Yoon’s activation of martial law transpired, according to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper South Korean officials have insisted the raid was in the areas controlled by Seoul.

Asked about his assertions by a reporter in front of Lee, Trump declined to confront the South Korean president and instead said the two will discuss it later “It didn’t sound to me like South Korea,” Trump said.

Lee explained that the special prosecutor was tapped by the country’s National Assembly to investigate the actions of Yoon, who Lee said staged a “self-coup.”

At that point, Trump interjected, “Is his name Deranged Jack Smith, by any chance?” He was referring to the special prosecutor who led two criminal cases against Trump before the Republican president was reelected to a second term.

Yoon, who was elected to a fiveyear term in 2022, was considered more ideologically aligned with Trump and had even taken up golfing again after the U.S. president was reelected last November to try to forge a bond with him. Lee led the South Korean parliament’s efforts to overturn Yoon’s martial law decree while impeaching him. The nation’s Constitutional Court formally dismissed Yoon in April.

The first in-person meeting between Trump and Lee could further flesh out details of a July trade

she would seek solar and aluminum alternatives.

Thomas said he would force salvage yards to identify people looking to sell copper Duplessis said he would create a dashboard to track outages.

Each of the candidates also pledged to halt population decline, an existential threat that has loomed over the election.

deal between the two countries that has Seoul investing hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S. The agreement set tariffs on South Korean goods at 15% after Trump threatened rates as high as 25%.

Seoul has one of the largest trade surpluses among Washington’s NATO and Indo-Pacific allies, and countries where the U.S. holds a trade deficit has drawn particular ire from Trump, who wants to eliminate such trade imbalances.

Trump also said Monday that he’d like to scrap the U.S. lease with South Korea that covers Osan Air Base and instead get ownership of the land.

Ahead of his visit to Washington, Lee traveled to Tokyo for his first bilateral visit as president in a hugely symbolic trip for the two nations that hold longstanding historical wounds. The summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was interpreted by analysts as a way to show unity and potential leverage as Japan and South Korea face new challenges from the Trump administration.

Elected in June, Lee was a former child laborer with an arm deformity who rose his way through South Korea’s political ranks to lead the liberal Democratic Party and win the presidency after multiple attempts.

Lee faced an assassination attempt in January 2024, when he was stabbed in the neck by a man saying he wanted Lee’s autograph and later told investigators that he intended to kill the politician.

Lee arrived in the U.S. on Sunday and will leave Tuesday He headlined a dinner Sunday evening with roughly 200 local Korean Americans in downtown Washington on Sunday night.

Moreno said the issue is the cornerstone of her campaign.

“I want it to actually be my legacy that I stopped people from leaving the city of New Orleans, that I turned it around, that ultimately people started to come back,” Moreno said.

Duplessis said New Orleans has a narrative “that incentivizes people to leave.”

“We have to have a vision that’s bigger than just different services. It has to be that we are New Orleans, we are an international city,” Duplessis said.

Thomas said New Orleans needs to become “a city that works.”

“People are not going to want to leave a city that works,” he said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON

President Donald Trump, right, meets with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.

Every morning.Everything you need to start the day

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JanRisher

LOUISIANA AT LARGE

Saving bees onehive at atime

Kevin Langley is aman on a mission —tosave bees, one hive at atime. Truth be told, he’sonmultiple missions, but Ijoined him in helping to rescue and move alarge beehive from atree limb.

If you’re curious, bee colonies rarely settle on exposed tree limbs. Langley suspects back in March,the bees got caught in the rain or something else and, for whatever reasons, latched on to the tree in acul-de-sac in the sprawling Jefferson PlaceCondominiums in the Bocage area of Baton Rouge.

When Iarrived, Langley had extensive scaffolding set up to reachthe limb about 25 feet off the ground.

Langley grew up in Baton Rouge but spent years traveling the world trying to make it abetter place, working with people in other countries to create safer environments. He alsohas owned acommercial construction company.

One day,about 20 years ago, he was in Geneva and got aphone callfrom his wife in Baton Rouge saying there was abeehive near their backdoor.Langley and his wife were parents to preschoolage triplets

“The kids were runningaround and it’skind of dangerous —or at least she thought it was,” he said. “I said, ‘Look, Ican’tdomuch when I’m overseas. Can you find someone to take careofit?’” Apest control company came outand killed the bees. When Langley got home ,the chemicals the company used to kill the bees were above the backdoor of his home, wherehis kids were playing.

“My joke is that Iwas out trying to save the world, but Icouldn’t even doitinmyown backyard,” he said. “Now Ihad achemical spill Ihad to deal with because those chemicals last for eight to 10 years and my kids are on the back porch playing. So Ikind of made avow myself that anybody that needed help rescue bees, I would help.”

That moment changed him. Since then, Langley has been a walking, talkingsave-the-beesand-our-food-system evangelist —passionate to explain the importance of bees to the Louisiana ecosystem

“Like the Californiaalmond pollination, there’stens of thousands of acres of almonds and each individual almond has to be pollinated by an individual bee,” he said. “So with no bees, no almonds.” No apples. No blueberries. No cherries. No cucumbers. No pumpkins. No squash. No avocados.Nocashews. Plusmany other plants. Within minutes, Iwas ready to join Langley on his mission. Ialready knew that bees matter,but this man is inspiring. Not only is Langley an urban beekeeper.Healso rescues and relocates bees and educates people about the importance of bees. These days, he has13bee yards in the Baton Rouge area.He’salso the president of the Capital Area Beekeepers Association. We chatted for about 10 minutes before he gave me abeekeeping jacket and masktoput on, as he put one on, too. He explained that he planned to cut the limb, which was tied to arope. He asked me to standonthe ground beneath the hive and hold the ropesothat when he cut the limb, it wouldn’t fall to the ground. He uses his background in construction to have the right equipment and gear to save thebees. Atop his platform perch, Langleyhad placed abrood box, which

ä See RISHER, page 2B

LaRoccaleavesfor statejob

St.Tammany Library directorsuccessfully ledtax renewal campaign

BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer

St. TammanyLibrary Director

Kelly LaRocca, who successfully campaigned to renew the library’s funding source in Marchwhile navigating ayearslong controversyaroundthe library’s collection, plans to leave her position for ajob at thestate library system at the endofSeptember

“I’m lookingforwardtobeing aprivatecitizen again,” LaRocca said in aphone interview on Thursday.“Idon’tthink I’ll be having as much involvement in politics —atall.”

LaRocca will be an associate state librarian, which she said will provide a“new waytolook at libraries for me —from astate perspective.”

In thepastthree years, as the St. TammanyLibrary system has

been enshroudedincontroversy over minors’ access to items in thecollection with sexual and LGBTQ+ themes, LaRocca has tread anarrow path with her approach.

Now,she said, she is readytoenter “a different phase of life,” one that is outofthe spotlight. “My family is looking forward to that, too,” she said.

LaRocca started as areference librarian in St. Tammany in April 2005, just afew months before Hurricane Katrina hit.

“It was areally,really interesting experience to be working at a public library withastormofthat magnitude.” She saidshe learned that she had to “just keep on going.”

LaRocca later was abranch manager in Covington and Slidell, thelibrary’sassistant director and its interimdirector,beforeeventually becoming director in February 2019.

Her job took on an increasingly public roleinrecent years. Since June 2022, when some of theparish’slibrary branchesput up Pride Monthdisplays,the library systemhas been ensnarled in controversy over books with sexual

and LGBTQ+ themes, echoing a national trend.

In response, LaRocca oversaw the implementation of atieredcard systemthat allowed parents to choose what library materials their kids had access to. St. Tammany’stieredcardsystem became amodel forthe state, LaRocca has said.

Thecontroversy over the libraryreached afervor in May 2024, when theSt. Tammany ParishCouncil replaced five of the six board members they had appointed, prompting afederal lawsuit that was dismissed by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year.The only board member they did not replace, Ann Shaw resigned this summer

Because of the churn on the board, LaRocca said shehas spent asignificant amount of time onboarding new members and bringing them up to speed on the library’sbranches and finances.

At thesame time, this year LaRocca also successfully led the library’sproperty tax renewal campaign, helping to ensure the librarycan remain funded with adedicated property tax for 15

moreyears. Thehiring processfor thenew director will largely depend on thelibrary board,LaRocca said. “I don’texpect it to be aquickprocess,” said Library Board President Chuck Branton, alawyer and former library director whowas appointed to the library board in February

Branton said he was not sure how the controversy around the library’scollectionwill playa role in the hiring process, but he said factors could include an opinion expected from Attorney General Liz Murrill on what “access” in libraries means, as well as a5th Circuit decision allowing books to be removed from aTexas library

“You ask questions about that person’sphilosophy andbelief system in awholehost of areas,” he said of the hiring process. LaRocca’sfinal day will be sometime toward theend of September, shesaid. It is not clear whowill serve as interim director before anew director is selected, but LaRocca said, “I think we want to ensure there is asmooth transition.”

AWET AWAKENING

the day’srising hot summer sun

‘It’sa hell of ajob’

Naginreflects on Katrina,Black leadership at church speech

BYJONI HESS Staff writer

Former New OrleansMayor Ray Nagin on Sunday suggested that his andMayor LaToya Cantrell’sfederal indictments are part of a concerted efforttodiminish the legacy of the city’spolitical leaders of color In ararepublic speech at Household of Faith Church in New Orleans East, Nagin, who servedtwo terms beginning in 2002,also reflected on HurricaneKatrina on the eveofits 20th anniversary,

ripped into what he saidwas biased media coverage by thisnewspaperand other outlets, and offered advice to state Sen. Royce Duplessis, acandidatetoreplace Cantrell who was present forthe talk.

Ajuryin2014 found Nagin guiltyon20counts of conspiracy,wire fraud, money laundering, bribery andtax violations, makinghim the first mayortobeconvicted on corruption charges. He washandeda 10-year sentence but served alittle more than half afterhewas released in 2020 during the pandemic.

Cantrell, meanwhile, was indicted thismonth on multiple counts of wire fraud, obstruction of justice and ly-

See NAGIN, page 2B

Boysie Bollinger served on tworecoverygroups

BYTYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

Boysie Bollingerwas the CEOand chairofBollingerShipyard anda prominent Republican fundraiser who knew President George W. Bush when Hurricane Katrina hitonAug. 29, 2005. Thecompany had 14 shipyards and 3,000 employees. Bollinger and New Orleans attorney Kim Boyle were the only two people whoservedonboththe Louisiana Recovery Authority (created by Gov. Kathleen Blanco) and the BringNew Orleans Back Commission (created by New OrleansMayor Ray Nagin).

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Where were you whenyou first gotword about the hurricane? Iwas in Grand Islewith my grandson, who was probably6 years old.Fridaynight, we had put outcrab traps and stuff he likes to do.BySaturday morning, Iput the TV on.Itchanged drastically —itbecame much bigger andmore targeted to ourarea. Ihave afriend with anicehunting ranch in Natchez. He told me all hisguests left, “Why don’tyou come up here?” (Wife) Joy and Iwere there with agenerator anda good TV.Ilearned how to text. I hadnever texted before. Iwas there until Thursday.Whenthe power came on in Lockport, Iwenttomyhouse, and Ireestablished my office. Howdid you enduponboth theLouisiana RecoveryAuthority and the BringNew Orleans Back Commission?

STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

As theFrench Quarter wakes, Bill Huls works quietly on RoyalStreet, washing the sidewalkand watering hisplants ahead of

Ex-Northlake official accused of stealing $25K

St. Tammany Parish grand jury indicted Lewis on Aug. 20

BY BOB WARREN Staff writer

A former administrator at Northlake Christian School near Covington has been accused of stealing money from the school.

A St. Tammany Parish grand jury indicted Madeleine Lewis on Aug. 20 on one count of theft

Pregnant teen critical after shooting

BY BOB WARREN Staff writer

A Tickfaw man is accused of shooting a teenager who was seven months pregnant during a road rage attack, according to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office.

The 17-year-old victim remains hospitalized in critical condition with a gunshot wound to her head. The baby was delivered in an emergency C-section and is doing well, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Barry West, 54, was booked into the Tangipahoa Parish jail on Sunday on four counts of attempted second-degree murder, one count of illegal use of a weapon and obstruction of justice, authorities said

The Sheriff’s Office stated in a news release that the 17-year-old victim was inside a Ford Expedition on Hoover Road in the Ponchatoula area with two other people about 9 a.m. Sunday West was driving a Dodge pickup behind them on Hoover

The Sheriff’s Office said the two vehicles were tailgating and brakechecking each other, and that West fired one gunshot into the Expedition, hitting the victim who was in the front passenger seat.

The driver of the Expedition called 911 and drove the victim to an area hospital.

The Sheriff’s Office said West believed the occupants of the vehicle in front had shot at him first. But there was no evidence of a gunshot coming from the Expedition and there was no weapon found in the vehicle, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

West also called 911 and pulled over to await a deputy’s arrival, Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Ashley Rodrigue said.

“This is a senseless tragedy on Sunday morning with no logical reason for this family to be experiencing this heartbreak right now,” Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Gerald Sticker said in the news release. “The public has to be patient and considerate when driving, at all times, and if there is a concern for your safety, call 911 and report the concern.”

over $25,000, stemming from “a series of a monetary thefts” from the school, the northshore District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

Lewis, who handled marketing and admissions for the school, was let go last year, according to the school. Mandy Fraher, a Northlake spokesperson, said parents of students at the school were sent a statement from the school’s Board of Directors about the indictment “While this has been a challenging and deeply unfortunate season

KATRINA

Continued from page 1B

Gov Blanco called me and asked me to come to a meeting in Baton Rouge to talk about what we were going to do. I couldn’t make the meeting I believe that became the origins of the LRA Then Nagin called me while I was in Washington and asked me to be part of the Bring New Orleans Back Commission that he was forming for the city What happened in the interim, there was a big fear between Blanco and Nagin that any money would come down would have to go through the state, and New Orleans wouldn’t get its money Nagin wanted me and (Joe) Canizaro as a conduit to the White House. We had the ear of people in Washington. Was it a similar experience to serve on both boards?

It was totally different experiences. We would go to LRA meetings, and it was almost like a legislative hearing. When you came to BNOB — it was a line outside the door (of residents) wanting to speak. It was people who would say, “You know, we have to bring back the homeless.” I said, “Lady, everybody here is homeless. We need to bring back some workers because if we’re going to rebuild this city the magnitude is tremendous.”

Were you able to discuss Hurricane Katrina with President Bush?

Yes. He was here about seven times in a relatively short period of time. We would have dinner with him every time he came, mostly the Bring New Orleans Back Commission. New Orleans was the more permanent problem It was the visible place. In October, we were trying to get employees back. I said, “We don’t have any schools. I can’t bring a family that’s evacuated to Houston back to work.” I made a deal with (Coast Guard official) Thad Allen. They had 20,000 FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) trailers. The government was responsible for putting in electrical, plumbing, sewer That takes a long time. I told him: “You give me 200 trailers. I will do all the infrastructure.” And he did. I built living quarters in all of my shipyards by putting in sewer, playgrounds, all that stuff. I told the president, “FEMA won’t let the guy into my FEMA trailer because FEMA is paying for a hotel room where he and his wife and his kids are, but there’s no school here, so I can’t bring the wife and kids back. The president told one of his staffers, “Solve it,” and it was.

RISHER

Continued from page 1B

he planned to lower the hive into and seal it up. The 60-year-old Langley scampered up the scaffolding where he had already placed the smoker to calm the bees and a small chain saw After he sent some smoke into the hive, he used the saw to cut some of the hive off so that it would fit in the box. As are most August afternoons in Baton Rouge, it was hot. He was managing high

above, but he worked quickly Once the limb was cut, the bees began buzzing more, but with Langley’s guidance, I slowly lowered the limb/hive into the box. With the rope tied to the box, I used every bit of strength I had to lower it down into his truck trailer as he climbed down then guided it into place. I was sweating by then, but thanks to Langley, the bees were safe and I had a new appreciation for their quiet power The hive has since been delivered to a Houma Indian community in Houma who Langley planned to teach beekeeping and how to harvest honey

for our school community, we appreciate the diligence of the District Attorney’s office in addressing the matter of unauthorized spending at Northlake Christian School,” the school said in the statement. “We are committed to seeking biblical solutions, pursuing genuine reconciliation, and acting in the best interest of our students and school. We respect the role and authority of the District Attorney’s Office and will continue to cooperate fully with its investigation.”

The District Attorney’s Office

would not provide details but said investigators had received “meaningful cooperation from the school’s Board of Directors.” Garrison Jordan, an attorney representing Lewis, said Monday afternoon that they had no comment. In the notice to parents, Northlake also announced the departure of Head of School Glenn Martin and Associate Head of School Ben Warner The notice said Sean Englert and Nick Chetta had been appointed interim coheads of school until a permanent

Do you remember a moment when you realized you were facing a much bigger task to rebuild than you had realized? I was watching the news. They were interviewing Donald Trump. At that point, my experience with Trump was not favorable. He said, as braggadocio as he is, that they needed to build something like 20,000 residences on the coast He said, “I’ve been a developer all my life. If I have to build 2,000 in a year, that would be monumental.”

I thought to myself, “Jesus Christ. If Trump says he can only build 2,000 in a year, this is going to be a long haul.” I thought we could put everything back together in a year or two. That statement really stuck with me.

You knew Ray Nagin before Katrina, right? Ray and I had a relationship because we owned the hockey team together I thought he was a pretty good mayor his first term By his third year, with Katrina, he totally flipped. That’s when he said, “New Orleans is going to be a Chocolate City.” He won reelection, but he was not the same person as he was before Katrina.

What do you think of the criticism of how

long it took people to get resettled under the Road Home program?

I went to see (Bush) six or eight months after Katrina. When I walked into the Oval Office, he said, “If Edwin Edwards had been governor, he would have stolen a lot of money, but a lot of stuff would have gotten done.” Road Home was one where you could have said there’s a faster way, and you’ll make mistakes. Let’s don’t try to be perfect. Let’s try to get the thing moving again. Because that was a slow process. We tried to get it right. Getting it right was too slow In hindsight, I would have done that different.

Are you satisfied that New Orleans is as strong as it needs to be today? What we didn’t envision was the failure of the levees. Then you can’t pump. Now, even if a storm overtops a levee, it’s very localized, and we have an amazing pumping system here. As long as the pumps can work, I’m pretty satisfied. The levee system will protect New Orleans from having that kind of catastrophic flooding again. You might have water come over the levee, but it won’t breach the levee.

selection is made

Although the departures of Martin and Warner come at the same time that Lewis’ indictment became public, Fraher said they are not part the allegations of misuse of funds and are not suspected or accused of any criminal wrongdoing.

“We wish to thank Glenn and Ben for their years of service,” the statement said “Glenn successfully led our school through a season of immense change and growth for which we are grateful.”

NAGIN

Continued from page 1B

ing to a grand jury in an effort to hide a romantic relationship with her former New Orleans Police Department bodyguard, Jeffrey Vappie. Vappie has also been indicted on many of the same charges in an indictment that spans 18 counts.

Telling the congregation to “pay attention” to what he said were attempts by the media, the state and others to usurp power from the city’s Black political leaders, Nagin called the timing of Cantrell’s indictment “curious.”

Cantrell’s indictment was announced “while the mayor is still in office, three months before the election. Are they trying to say certain people shouldn’t be leading you? I’ve seen this before. I went through it,” he added. Nagin was indicted in 2013, after he left office. Cantrell is the only sitting mayor to be indicted while in office.

“I don’t know if they did anything right or wrong. But I never knew a love affair was a federal crime,” he added, referencing Cantrell and Vappie.

A former Cox Cable executive, Nagin handily won the 2002 mayor’s race against former city Police Chief Richard Pennington and was elected to a second term a year after Hurricane Katrina after he edged out more votes than then-Lt. Gov Mitch Landrieu. He moved to Frisco, Texas, after his term ended, and has lived there and in Dallas, according to city records.

Nagin told the crowd his own case, in which a jury found him guilty of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes and free granite slabs from a family countertop business in exchange for funneling city work to the contractors that paid him, was “manufactured.”

(He has long maintained his innocence.)

As he has before, he referenced the “chaos” that engulfed the city after the levees broke and rattled off a list of his administration’s accomplishments in its leadup and aftermath Showing emotion at times, he also recalled a sense of abandonment by state and federal agencies after water inundated 80% of the city and left an estimated 100,000 people stranded, most without access to running water, shelter or air-conditioning amid the stifling heat.

At one point, he pulled out a “Da Mayor in Your Pocket” toy that became popular locally after his comments on the government’s response efforts.

“I’m going to share with you a bit of what I said,” he told the crowd before pressing the toy’s button.

“Excuse my French everybody in America, but I am pissed,” Nagin’s voice replayed to the crowd.

As his speech neared a close, he gave a nod to Duplessis, who he referred to as his “brother.” He said the state senator would be heavily scrutinized if elected as mayor “You need to stay prayed up. Because it’s a hell of a job,” he said. “Especially if you have an independent voice.”

Email Joni Hess at joni.hess@ theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTOS By JAN RISHER

Jan Risher and Kevin Langley stand beneath a large Baton Rouge beehive.

Kevin Langley, of Baton Rouge, climbs to the top of scaffolding to rescue a large beehive from a tree.

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN McCUSKER

Alden McDonald, above and Boysie Bollinger visit at The National WWII Museum on Saturday of the Louisiana Recovery Authority and Bring New Orleans Back Commission. Both groups were involved in helping restore post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans.

LewisJr.,Victor

Millen, Lila

Plotkin, Steven

EJefferson

Leitz-Eagan

Kiral, Elsie

Millen, Lila

NewOrleans

Charbonnet

Lake Lawn Metairie

Plotkin, Steven

River Parish

Hobson BrownFH

Laiche,Pamela

West Bank Mothe

Haik,Allen

Obituaries

AllenAnthony Haik,age 88, passedawayonAugust 22, 2025. He wasthe belovedhusband of Julia “Peggy”KanapauxHaik; sonofthe late Michel and Laurence Haik;brother of thelateLawrenceand ShirleyHaikand Flora Myers; father of John Rus‐selHaik(Glynis), Michelle Haik,and JamesAllenHaik (Shannon); andgrandfa‐

ther to Nicholas,Colin,and AllysonBurgess, Ryan Reagan,Keegan, andLogan Haik andCaleb andAyden Haik.A native of Edgard, Louisianaand resident of Algiers, Louisiana, Allenis survived by many special nieces andnephews.He honorablyservedinthe Marine Corpsfrom1956 to 1959, andretired from Avondale Shipyard in 2004. Relativesand friendsare invitedtoattend Allen’s Memorial Serviceat11am on Tuesday, August 26 2025 at MotheFuneral Home in Harvey,Louisiana; visitation will beginat 9am.

Kiral, ElsieAnne Bourdet

ElsieAnne Bour‐detKiral,a native of NewOrleans and longtime resident of Hammond, Louisiana, passed away on Friday,August22, 2025. Shewas preceded in deathbyher husband of 60 years, Joseph Kiral, Jr.; her parents, AnthonyGeorge Bourdetand ElsieAnne GalliotBourdet;her sister Carlys E. Bourdet; herfa‐ther-in-law, Joseph Kiral, Sr.; hermother-in-law,Vir‐giniaKiral;and hersisterin-law,Wilma KiralMueller Elsieissurvivedbyher children:Richard Kiral (Tammy)ofHammond, Louisiana, Michelle Kiralof Prairieville, Louisiana; and MichaelKiral of Hammond Louisiana; hergrandchil‐dren,Caitlyn Kiraland JamieKiral of Hammond; hersiblings, NancyBour‐detofHammond,Louisiana andCatherine Bourdetof Metairie,Louisiana;broth‐ers-in-law,Ron Muellerof Winona,Minnesota,Ray‐mond Kiral(Nancy) of Montgomery, Illinois,and Lyle Kiral(Marylin) of Lewiston,Minnesota and many cousinsand friends. Elsiegraduated from Acad‐emyofthe Holy Angels in NewOrleans andattended Southeastern Louisiana CollegeinHammond,

Louisiana. Shealwayshad asmile on herfaceand the word most commonlyused to describe herwas “sweet”. Sheenjoyed work‐inginher beautiful garden andloved herCatholic faith,her Cajunheritage, herpets, Little Houseon thePrairie,old westerns andsitcoms,reading,word find puzzles, andher Louisianaseafood.Visita‐tion will be held on Thurs‐day, August 28,2025, from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM at Leitz-EaganFuneral Home 4747 Veterans Memorial Boulevard, Metairie, Louisiana70006. AFuneral Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM.Elsie willbelaid to rest with herhusband in Garden of Memories Ceme‐tery,4900 AirlineDrive, Metairie,LA70001. Fond memories andexpressions of sympathy maybe shared at www.LeitzEa ganFuneralHome.com.

PamelaIrene Laiche, 67 passed away on August 20, 2025. daughter of thelate JerryFaye Carter, and ElizabethAnn Vanderheyden. Mother of Angela(WilliamSr) Bourgeois, grandmotherof Hannah (Justin)Vickers, CameronBourgeois, and thelateShelby Lynn Bourgeois. Great grandmother of Paisley Irene and Justin Vickers Jr., sisterofPaula Ann Parks: and JosephAndrew Carter. Visitation willbeheld Wednesday. August 27, 2025 at Celebration Church. 3400 US 51, Laplace LA 70068. from 9:00a.m.11:00 a.m. with aservice to follow. Interment St. John Memorial Cemetery Laplace,LA., Pamelawillbedeeply missed and foreverremembered by her family and friends

Professional service entrusted to thecaring staff of Hobson Brown Funeral Home 134 Daisy St. Garyville, LA 70051 985-535-2516

LewisJr.,VictorJ

Victor J. Lewis, Jr de‐parted from hisearthly life to hisheavenlyhomeon Tuesday, August 19, 2025. A lifelong resident of New Orleans, Victor grew up in theLafitte HousingDevel‐opment,located in the sixthwardofthe city.He leaves to cherishhis mem‐ory, twochildren, LyricD Lewisand PharaohJ.Lewis (Natalie); threegrand‐daughters, Stevie Jade Zaia andBria; siblings, Paulette Porche (Wendell, Sr.),Cordelia Lamb (Lon‐nal, Sr.),and Frederick Washington;nephews WendellPorche, Jr (Nicole),SohnPorcheand LonnalLamb, Jr;nieces, LaVona Porche,Alicia Porche,JadeLamband a host of greatnieces, nephews, otherrelatives andfriends.A privatecele‐brationhonoringthe life of thelateVictorJohnLewis, Jr will be held in the Chapel of Charbonnet LabatGlapionFuneral Home,1615 St.Philip Street,New Orleans, LA 70116 on Thursday,August 28,2025at1 pm.Black and goldSaintsattire is en‐couraged.Pleasesignon‐line guestbook at www.cha rbonnetfuneralhome.com. Charbonnet LabatGlapion Directors(504)581 4411.

nola.com

Lila Skorecki Millen,a belovedwife, mother grandmother, great-grand‐mother,sister, andaunt, passedawayonAugust24, 2025 at theage of 87. Born in Łódź,Polandtothe late Mark andRuthSkorecki, Lila survived theHolocaust andbuilt alifedefinedby resilience,love, anddevo‐tion to herfamily. Sheis survived by herhusband, Norman Millen,her daugh‐terJennifer(Alan)Fertel, her sister,Anne (the late Stan)Levy, andher brother, Adam (Jodie)Sko‐recki. Lila wasprecededin deathbyher daughter Na‐talie(survived by Joel) Brown. Shealsoleavesbe‐hind hergrandchildren: Rachel (Oded),Simone (Dan), Ruth (Ami), Sarah (Oren),Mark(Rena), and Rebecca (Avi)and her great-grandchildren: Ne‐tanel, Gavriel, Nechama, Eliyahu, Natalie, and Ephraim. Relativesand friendsareinvited to a gravesideservicesat Chevra Thilim Memorial Park Cemetery,5000 IbervilleStreet on Tuesday, August 26that1:00pm. Contributionsinher honor canbemadetothe charity of your choice

Tuesday,August26,2025 ✦ 3B Monday, August 25, 2025 surrounded by hisloving family. Beloved husband of LynnGertler Plotkinfor 60 years. Father of Louis "Lee" Plotkin(Jill), Dr. Scott R. Plotkin(Candace) of Brookline, MA and RachelM.Plotkin Jaffe (Mark) andseven grandchildren, SydneyR.Plotkin Brosler (Jason), GeorgiaG Plotkin, Samara J. Plotkin, LeoD.Jaffe, Eli S. Jaffe, Serena L. Plotkinand Jacob L. Plotkinand onegreat grandchild,Ari E. Brosler He is also survived by his sister,Elinor"Hedy" P. Sussman (Gerald)and brotherR.Ronald Plotkin (Caren). Funeral servicesfor Judge Plotkinwill be held at theLake LawnMetairie Funeral Home Chapel, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd., New OrleansonThursday, August 28, 2025 at 12:00 Noon, withvisitation beginningat10:00 AM.Rabbi David Gerber of Congregation Gatesof Prayer will officiate Intermentwill follow in Gates of Prayer Joseph Street Cemetery in New Orleans. Kindlyomit flowers. Memorials are suggested to Dr.ScottPlotkin's Fund for support of NeuroOncology and Neurofibromatosis (NF) at Mass General Cancer Center. Checks may be made to Massachusetts General Hospital, MGH Development Office,125 Nashua St., Suite540, Boston, MA 02114 or online at https://giving.massgene ral.org/donate/andunder thetribute section insert Judge Plotkin'sname. Memorials may also be made to the charityofyour choice Condolencesmay be expressed online at www. Lakelawnmetairie.com. Information, please call (504) 486-6331.

Plotkin, StevenR

Civil District Judge and4th Circuit Appellate Judge age 89, passedawayon

Haik,Allen Anthony

Laiche, Pamela Irene

The search for anew LSU president began in earnest last week with the naming of aconsultanttovet candidatesfor the top job at the state’sflagship university. Thesearch committee says it hopes to have adecision by December.While we are happy to see asense of urgency in filling this vacancy,wewould also hopethe committee and all the LSU community take the time to understand fully what the university needs at this juncture.

LSU is coming off aparticularly successful period in its history with aboom in research that saw anearly 70% jump in grantssecured by the university.Itislogging record growth in enrollment at all its campuses around the state. And on its main campus in Baton Rouge, it has launched into abuilding spree withanew library,new dorms, anew arena and morein the works. Its athletic programs have added to the school’sluster with national championships and stars in the new world of NIL. Yetthere are challenges on the horizon. The unpredictability surrounding federal funding to higher education led the universityinMarch to implement atemporary hiring freeze, which ended July 1. Recent controversies surrounding outspoken professorshave prompted concerns from faculty about whether academic freedom is being curtailed. Rising student debt is fueling increasing competition from universities in nearby states to lure Louisiana’stop students. And finally,the troubled University of NewOrleans is now set torejoin the LSU system and will need focused attention to get backonits feet. It should be obvious then that LSU will need astrong and independentleader tohandle all that’sontap. And we hope that the search process will truly be anationwide one, looking for aperson who has the qualities tosucceed and the connections to bring other top academics to LSU.

SSA Consulting, afirm with tiestoLSU, has beenchosen to lead the search and some rumored front-runners who hail from Louisiana have potential. Yet, we would urge the committee to cast awide net. It’snoexaggeration to say as goes LSU so goes the state. So this job, while undeniably aplum one, shouldbe about more than politics and cronyism. We want to see full transparency in the search andall stakeholders having avoice. We were not encouraged that the committee announced some of the search would take place outside of public view There is acrisis of confidence among many in higher educationasuniversities face attacks from many fronts. The next LSU president needs to be able to stand up for the university whether perils come from near and far.LSU is on an upward trajectory.This decision will determine whether that continues. Forever LSU.

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE

WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

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

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

Recently,Ihad the opportunity to visit three of the nine immigrant detention facilities in Louisiana. Twoofthe three wererepurposed Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities.Those kidnapped by ICE are imprisoned there awaiting deportation.They are known as “processing centers.” The third was at the decommissioned England Air Force Base, which is known as a“staging center.” It is the transport hub for outgoing deportation flights. The two sites that are detention prisons (Basile and PinePrairie) are repurposed facilities previously operated by theBureau of Prisons They are bound by chain-link fence topped by razor wire. The interiors are partitioned into dorms for sleeping and divided by locked gates that segment pathways into small areas. There is an open area, also surrounded by achain-link fence, within the building boundaries that offers some shelter and exercise equipment. The average stay is nine days. The facilities have medical staff, libraries and acafeteria. The on-

In his letter dated July 24, Adrian Bruneau, chair of the Orleans Parish Republican Executive Committee, indulges the same false narrative that currently plagues theRepublican Party.Republicans consistently show their contempt for everyday Americanswhile enriching thewealthy.It’snowonder that their base is becoming disenchanted.

The recent Republican “Big Ugly Bill” has cut taxes for the wealthy and raised them for everyone else. Americansofall political beliefs will lose health care benefits beginning this fall, when income-based subsidies on privatehealthinsurance lapse. Starting in 2026 —after themidterm elections —working Americanswill lose additional access to healthcare and food assistance. Children will go hungry,hospitals will close and all to help billionaires. In contrast, Democrats believe in lifting up everyone who needs ahand, not depriving them of the

sitemedical staff is augmented by expertswho visit as needed. The libraries (that will take book donations) are minimally stocked with reading material. They do house-bound legal references. The detainees have access to computers in the library,schedule permitting, which gives them access to LEXUS/ NEXUS, alegal app, translated into their native language. Iwas told that thedetainees receive 2,200 calories of food daily,prepared on-site from both frozen and fresh products with menus designed by dietitians. Food is American-centric with no attempt to serve native meals.Medically determined dietary restrictionsare honored.

The facility at theretired England AFB in Alexandria is a“ship ‘em out” facility where the stay is mandated tobefive days or less. Sometimes from atransport bus to the plane. There are medical facilities andfood service provided. Detainees are housed in dorms where segregation is done by risk assessment.

EARL PRATZ Metairie

very assistance they need.Every day,Democrats fight for quality public education, not closing public schools. Democratsfightfor access to healthcare and food forfamilies in need. Democrats believe in equality for all regardless of background or sexual identity,asour Founders intended when they said that we are all “endowed with certain unalienable rights.” Democrats believe that tellingthe truthabout ourpast —including the parts we’re not proud of —and helping those in need are the essence of American greatness. By their actions every day,Republicans show that they care about the privileged, rather than all Americans. Democrats believe that everyone deserves an equal chance, including those in need of additional support. It is Democrats who believe in the promise of “liberty and justice for all.”

LESLIE BOUIE chair,Orleans

Parish Democratic ExecutiveCommittee

The Louisiana Senate race is shaping up to be an exciting one —achoice, not between aRepublican or aDemocrat, but between President Donald Trump’s lapdogs. The Democratic Party,ona state level, is irrelevant. The leading candidates, incumbent Bill Cassidy,John Fleming, Blake Miguez and Eric Skrmetta, can’treally tell you what they stand forsince they are compliant to all of Trump’swhims. As an example, recently the candidates reliably lauded Trump’s decision to shoot the messenger when a jobs report offended. All it takes to be a Trumplapdog is moral flexibility.Look how Cassidy has allowed the destruction of Health and Human Services with little awhimper Back in the day,Republican candidates were pro-business, ensured astrong national defense, professed to be deficit hawks (although not really in practice). Today,with fewexceptions, party members are no longer Republicans but instead do and say whatever they can to curry the favor of the president. Their constituency consists of one person, the president. We need areal Republican, whowill represent Louisianans, to run forthe Senate. That would be amazing. DAVE WHIDDON NewOrleans

Itotally agree with the opinion expressed by Kenneth Perret about the unfeasibility of the locations foranew bridge forBaton Rouge. Alocation by the Interstate 10 and Interstate 12 crossing is much morelogical. The experts have probably never been caught in the daily gridlock experienced by Baton Rouge drivers and interstate trucking. The locations they selected are totally absurd. It would save money and exasperation to cancel those sites and start over foramore useful location. It is totally possible to cancel such aproject as seen with the mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project which has been made void. This suggestion will probably fall on deaf ears.

ANDREASMITH Baton Rouge

COMMENTARY

ArtbyChandra McCormick and KeithCalhoun

As we began2005, New Orleanshad zero idea what it was capable of. Before Hurricane Katrina, resilience was not aword we predicted would come to embody our mindset andcommunity outlook.

The physical flood, thedeath toll, the uprooted lives felt like aknockout punch. But instead, thebeaten-up“hasbeen” boxer got upand found somethingwithin that it didn’tknow it had.

We completely reformedour schools in away and at aspeedthat has never been done before. We arenot where we want tobe, but wehave progressed faster than any reasonable person could have dreamt.And that progress continues. Look at therecentstatistics. Let’s push again!

It seems like every citizen came together and worked on something. Some reformed the leveeboardsand worked on coastal erosion.Somethrewout the multi-assessor system andreduced that to one. Aformer mayor was convicted and went to jail. We decidedto build anew airport andthenwedid it. We startedcultivatingentrepreneurs in abig way with theIdea Village and lotsofother organizations. The list goes on and on.

And if they couldn’tfind away to participate, some folksjoined “the Meauxrons.” They cutthe grass when there werenocity employees. Our food scenebecame wildly vibrant. Not all the restaurantsmade it, as COVID hasbeen another sucker punch for restaurantseverywhere The diversityand talentexploded, though. There are so many great spots, it’shard to go wrong.WeopenedNOCHI, aculinary &hospitalityschool. The one thing Iwould most like to say as aNew Orleanian is thatwe would not have made it withoutthe energy,effort and generosityofsomany citizens of this country whopersonally came and helped,orsentmoney to the schools,orrebuilt housing.Many cities took in ourresidents (including me) at the toughest time.Houston was extraordinary,asweresomanyother towns.Itwas thebest of our country and Iwill never forget it! We have backtracked insomeareas, but that resilience anddriveare still

there. We thinkdifferently now The Katrina comeback tapped into aspark of idealism.Itkindled avision of what we are capable of. It made us madabout what we were capable of and hadn’tdone —ways in which we failed to get out of our own way

In theearly 1990s, when some pals Karyn Kearney,Tara Carter Hernandez and I—joined aslew of others to start the “Proud to Call It Home” campaign, we stumbled upon something. We found thereason so manyofus were often negative about our town (which was whythe campaign was started) was that we actually love our city more than mostpeople love where they live.

For us, thecity is like afamily member.They may make you mad at times but you would do anything for them. That anger and love are what came out after Katrina. Butthis time with action, awillingness on the part of alot of people to ask: What can Ido? Recovery was hard enough, but we found the will to jump in and make something happen.

Maybe Iamanunrepentant idealist.

This town has so manythings going for it that other cities would love to have.

Let’scapitalize on those.

Why don’tweadd value to theabundance of food resources we have here andship them all over the world? Why don’twetake the improved education system and set agoal to become thetop in the country? Why don’twe transform our music scene intoamajor business machine that benefitsall those talented musicians and the whole city?Why not?

In my business, we have asaying: Hot food hot,cold food cold, bathrooms clean —then Iwill talk to you about your fancy new dish or service system. We call it the Fanatical Commitment to the Consistent Execution of the Fundamentals

So how about we fix thepotholes and set achievable goals to knock ‘em out, knowing it will be unending? Why don’t we have acommunity dashboard of streetlights out, power outages, efforts to minimize areas of repeated floods, and on, and on? Why not? Why not us? Iremember returning to New Or-

leans so manytimes in the weeks between Katrina and Rita and being met by young militarypersonnel asking where we were going and what we were doing. People weren’tallowed to return, but as business people, you hadtocheck on your business and start trying to figure out how to reopen, how to get all your people back.

My brother Alex Brennan-Martin, theco-proprietor of Brennan’sofHouston,asked what we wanted to do to help. When Isaid “help our people return,” he said, “You mean ouremployees?” My cousin Lally Brennan and I said, “No, every displaced employee in thehospitality industry trying to get home.”

Alex got thefund going through the Houston Foundation, and we directed all requests from people all over the country in our industry wanting to help to thefund. We raised over $1 million and gave it out in $2,000 increments to anyone in our industry trying to get back to New Orleans.

As we watched in horror the constant news on national TV about ourdrowning city,wethought we needed to send asign of how hurt we were to all our friends and neighbors and residents. So we decided to get abanner printed in Houston for our next trip into the city.Borrowing from the old Louis Armstrong standard that quickly became apost-K anthem, it simply said: “WeKnow What It Means...” We parked acar under theawning and stood on it to hang our banner, lettingeveryone know in afew words that though we were all spread to the winds, we were with them. That we knew what they were feeling. And that our city is special. We hoped somehow that they would take from that an understanding that we wouldn’tgive up, and that we hoped they wouldn’teither My dreams for my city are big, and while Ihear,see and feel the negativity right now too, Ifeel alittle something bubbling up. Alittle bit of that postKatrina righteous energy and willingness to pitch in. Instead of thepath of least resistance, let’stakethe road less traveled. Why not?Why not us?

Throughout August and September,weare featuring reflections on the 20th anniversary of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, two storms that changed Louisiana forever

Chandra McCormick and KeithCalhoun are artistsborn and raisedinNew Orleans’ Lower9th Ward.Amarried couple,theyhavebeen documenting the culture of Louisiana and its people for about 40 years.

Ti Adelaide Martin is coproprietor of Commander’s Palace in NewOrleans.

ARTIST-PHOTOGRAPHER KEITH CALHOUN

Lower9th Ward artist-photographer Keith Calhoun captured this shot of the late AnthonyLacey,betterknown as ‘TubaFats,’when he wasplaying withthe Chosen FewBrass Band as the band leader in 1984. The imagewas lost to the Hurricane Katrina floodwaters and waterlogged. It wasrestored in 2010.

Expect amostly sunnyand hot daywith afternoon temperatures rising to the mid-90s with light northeastwinds that willhelpkeep heat index valuesfrom rising too high, possibly up to 104 degrees.The UV index willriseinto the “veryhigh” range, so if you’re working outdoors especially, be suretoprotect yourself from the sun. Rain chances todaywillbeat10 to 20% and probablywon’t rise too significantly until Friday.

SPORTS

ASMALL TRIM

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

The New Orleans Saints beganthe process of meeting the53-man roster limit Monday,cutting 14 players from their 91-man roster

Running back CamAkers wasthe most notable name on the list, aformer secondround pick who was lookingtorevitalize his career in New Orleans.The Saints also waived undrafted rookie punter James Burnip, clearing the way for Kai Kroeger to secure thejob. New Orleans currently has77players on itsroster.Itlikely won’thave to waive or release 24 more to getto53—neither Taysom Hill nor Foster Moreau have practiced yet, and both may open the season on the Physically Unable toPerform

ä See SAINTS, page 5C

When LSU and Clemson square off Saturday night in the first regular-season meeting between these twoold south college football powers, there will be moreat stake than national rankings and early positioning for the College Football Playoff. Something much moreimportant.

Whose Death Valley is themore …DeathValley-er

BY ROBMAADDI AP pro footballwriter

SaquonBarkley, SuperBowl MVP Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles are built for arepeat championship. Can they do it?

That’sone of the top storylines entering the 2025 NFL season. Barkley is coming offa record-setting season; Hurts proved doubters wrong; andcoachNickSirianniearnedredemption when the Eagles dominated Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, preventingathree-peattosecurethe franchise’ssecond Super Bowl title. But winning thedivisionwill be the first challenge. No team has repeated in the NFC East since the 2001-04 Eagles. Jayden Daniels led Washington on an amazing turnaround as arookie, taking the Commanders to the NFC title game. They’ve addedplaymakerDeeboSamuel, left tackle Laremy Tunsiland resolved widereceiverTerry McLaurin’s contract dispute.

Dak Prescottisback healthy for Dallas, which is led by first-year coach Brian Schottenheimer.But the Cowboys have plenty of drama with star edge rusherMicah Parsons andowner Jerry Jones locked in astalemate over his contract situation.

Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dartisthe future for the NewYork Giants, although

KOKI RILEY

“I want to have this conversation with you after the game that we competed the

way,that

and we played with great confidence, Kelly said. “That’s thepostgame remarks that we want.”

LSU spent $18 million on its roster over the offseason.The money helpedput together one of the best transfer portalclassesin the nation, adding to aroster that wasalready bringing back fifthyear seniorquarterback Garrett Nussmeier,redshirt junior linebackerHaroldPerkins and junior linebackerWhit Weeks. “Weweren’tready to bring in guys from the outside until our ownprogram was in areally good space,” Kelly said. “And so it took

Both schools call their stadiums DeathValley.Both saytheirs is the definite article. And both getalittle worked up about the other’s counterfeit (to them) claims LSU coach Brian Kelly fired thefirst salvo this year, tweaking Clemson’snoseinJuly at the Baton Rouge RotaryClub meeting in, it mustbenoted, the south stadium club lounge at his school’sDeathValley

“You want great habits when they’re needed, when you’reonthe road, and you’replaying in Death Valley Junior,not THE DeathValley,” Kelly said. Clemson’sout-of-joint nose took notice.

“Theycan have theiropinion,” Clemson defensive end TJ Parker said at ACC media day afew days later.“We’regoing to handle all thatonAug. 30.”

Clemson’sclaim has longevity.It’sbeen calling its stadium, officially known as Memorial Stadium, Death Valley since 1948. However,Tiger Stadium is 18 years older,having hosted itsfirst game in 1924 while Clemson’s stadium opened in 1942. LSU also can claimits Death Valley is bigger.Tiger Stadium seats 102,321 while Memorial Stadium seats81,500 (the Savan-

nahBananas drew81,000 for agame there in April, in case you’re interested). Youwould think the matter would have been settled five yearsago,whenLSU beat Clemsoninthe CFP championship game in the CaesarsSuperdome, 42-25. ThatgaveLSU four wire serviceera (since1936) national championships to Clemson’s three. Just within the last hour, however,Auburn hasclaimed a nationaltitle fromeach school

ä See NFL, page 5C H

Keys upset in Open first round

Australian Open champion doomed by 89 unforced errors

BY HOWARD FENDRICH Associated Press

NEW YORK — Pretty much from the get-go at the U.S. Open on Monday Madison Keys could tell she wasn’t hitting the ball well or feeling very much at all like the self-confident player who claimed her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January After 89 unforced errors, including 14 double-faults, the No. 6-seeded Keys was gone from Flushing Meadows in the first round with a 6-7 (10), 7-6 (3), 7-5 loss to 82nd-ranked Renata Zarazua of Mexico.

“For the first time in a while my nerves really got the better of me, and it kind of became a little bit paralyzing,” said Keys, the runner-up in New York to good friend Sloane Stephens in 2017 and a semifinalist in 2018 and 2023. “I felt like I was just slow. I wasn’t seeing things the way that I wanted to, which I feel like resulted in a lot of bad decisions and lazy footwork.”

Her first U.S. Open with the status of major champion — thanks to defeating No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final at Melbourne Park — was over just as it began.

“You always kind of feel firstround jitters and, as the day is getting closer, feeling a little bit more and more nervous,” said Keys, who played with her left thigh heavily taped. “But I feel like, for whatever reason, today I just couldn’t separate myself from feeling like winning matters just way too much.”

She made so many mistakes off the spin-laden shots coming her way that Zarazua needed to produce just eight winners to earn the biggest victory of her career Zarazua lost in the first or second round of all eight of her previous Slam appearances Yet somehow, it was Zarazua who managed to deal with any nervousness better, even though she was competing in cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time and had only had a chance to hit there once a couple of days prior

The 5-foot-3 Zarazua came into

the day with a 0-6 record against opponents ranked in the top 10.

“I’m a little bit small in height, so coming in here, it was like: ‘Oh, my God. This is huge,’ ” Zarazua said about the largest stadium in tennis, which holds nearly 24,000 spectators.When the match ended with Keys missing a forehand, Zarazua smiled as wide as possible, held her racket atop her head, then placed a hand over her face.

This one certainly was memorable, in part because it did not come easily and lasted 3 hours, 10 minutes.

Zarazua trailed by a set — after frittering away five chances to take the opener — and 3-0 in the second.

Quite a daunting deficit. But she never went away

“Kudos to her for making me play a lot of balls today,” Keys said. “I mean, she’s a tricky player.”

While Keys was one of 25 American players in the women’s singles draw, the 27-year-old Zarazua is Mexico’s lone entrant in the bracket. She moved to San Antonio as a teen, and is now based in Florida.

“In Mexico, yeah, it’s probably not the most famous sport,” Zarazua said about tennis, which she picked up after starting out in gymnastics and diving.

“I got into tennis,” she explained, “just because my brother was playing, and he was like, ‘I think this is a bit safer sport.’”

What else happened at the US Open on Monday?“In Mexico, yeah, it’s probably not the most famous sport,” Zarazua said about tennis, which she picked up after starting out in gymnastics and diving.

“I got into tennis,” she explained, “just because my brother was playing, and he was like, ‘I think this is a bit safer sport.’”

What else happened at the US Open on Monday?

Brazilian teenager João Fonseca, who turned 19 on Thursday, won his U.S. Open debut, defeating Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-3 in front of a raucous crowd of his countrymen. Another precocious player, 18-year-old Canadian Vicky Mboko, who was seeded 22nd, was eliminated by two-time major champion Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 6-2.

Two-time Wimbledon champion

Petra Kvitova, who is 35, played her last match before retirement, losing to Diane Parry 6-1, 6-0, and 2022 U.S. Open semifinalist Caroline Garcia, 31, also exited the final tournament of her career, eliminated 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 by Kamilla Rakhimova. Frances Tiafoe, a two-time semifinalist in New York, beat Yoshihito Nishioka in straight sets.

Williams falls in 3 sets

Even at age 45, even after two years away from Grand Slam tennis, Venus Williams displayed some big serves and powerful groundstrokes at the U.S Open on Monday night in front of a supportive crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, before losing 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 to Karolina Muchova.

Williams was the oldest singles player at the hard-court tournament since Renee Richards was 47 in 1981.

“She’s such a legend of our sport,” 2023 French Open runnerup Muchova said about seventime Grand Slam singles champion Williams, adding that it was an honor “to share a court with her.”

Players divided on chaos at U.S. Open

BY HOWARD FENDRICH Associated Press

NEW YORK There are some tennis players, such as Frances Tiafoe or Madison Keys or Ben Shelton, who can’t wait for the U.S. Open to come around each year, with its boisterous crowds, its bold-faced names in the stands, its music at changeovers, its buzz. To them, the louder, the better Start the show and bring the noise.

“I operate well in chaos,” said Tiafoe, twice a semifinalist at Flushing Meadows.

Sometimes, it all can get out of control, as happened during a match that ended early Monday

There was a delay of more than five minutes while spectators booed and shouted — egged on by 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev, who was angered by chair umpire Greg Allensworth’s ruling after a photographer interrupted play by going on court, of all things. “They didn’t want to stop,” Medvedev said about the fans “So, whatever.”

Chaos is always there

Not everyone is able to shrug off that sort of mayhem at a Grand Slam tournament famous — some would say infamous for the over-served fans, airplanes roaring overhead, the Manhattan-Queens commute and the odors of everything from marijuana to food being grilled.

“It’s something you really can’t train the brain to kind of deal with,” 1991-92 champion Monica Seles said. “You just adjust to it.” There also are those, such as

2024 champion Aryna Sabalenka or 2014 champion Marin Cilic or Petra Kvitova, who didn’t start out with an affinity for the anar-

chy “Really confusing,” was Sabalenka’s initial impression — but grew to be OK with it.

Love it or hate it

And there are even some whose opinion shifted the other way, from embracing to despising.

“In my 20s, I loved coming here There was so much to do.

But the older I get, the less I enjoy being here. It’s a little bit chaotic. There’s always a lot of noise. A lot of smells everywhere I’ve visited most of the places in New York; I don’t need to go to Central Park for the 1,003rd time,” said Adrian Mannarino, 37, a Frenchman who began his 15th U.S. Open on Sunday by upsetting 29th-seeded Tallon Griekspoor “It used to be fun,” Mannarino said about the tournament, “but sometimes I’m like, ‘Gosh, I wish

McLaurin, Commanders agree to $96M extension

The Washington Commanders and top wide receiver Terry McLaurin have agreed on a threeyear contract extension worth $96 million, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Monday McLaurin initially did not show up to training camp and then landed on the physically unable to perform list once he reported. After asking for a trade when negotiations were at a standstill, he recently had been activated in the hopes of being available for the season opener on Sept. 7 against the NFC East rival New York Giants. Co-owner Magic Johnson said he was thrilled the Commanders re-signed McLaurin to a deal that reportedly includes a $30 million signing bonus

Raiders top wide receiver Meyers requests a trade

HENDERSON, Nev Wide receiver Jakobi Meyers has requested a trade from the Las Vegas Raiders after failing to reach an agreement on a contract extension, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Monday

Meyers, who had his first 1,000yard season in 2024, has one year left on a three-year, $33 million contract. He caught 87 passes last season for 1,027 yards and four touchdowns Meyers was the only NFL receiver with at least 85 targets and no dropped passes, according to Pro Football Focus.

The Raiders, however, made receiver a priority in this year’s draft, selecting TCU’s Jack Bech in the second round and Tennessee’s Dont’e Thornton in the fourth.

Texans’ Mixon to miss at least 4 games with injury

HOUSTON — Running back Joe Mixon will miss at least the first four games of the regular season after the Houston Texans announced Monday that they’ll place him on the reserve/non-football injury list this week.

Mixon has been on the active/ non-football injury list since the start of camp after he sustained a foot injury this offseason while away from the team.

The team said Monday that they would move the veteran to the reserve/non-football injury list Tuesday afternoon when rosters must be cut down to 53 players. Earlier Monday, coach DeMeco Ryans refused to give an update on Mixon’s status.

Angels manager recovering from quadruple bypass

ARLINGTON, Texas Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington said Monday he is recovering from quadruple bypass heart surgery

I could concentrate a little bit more.’”

Not like Wimbledon

The hushes that envelope Wimbledon’s Centre Court or the French Open’s Court PhilippeChatrier — which hold nearly 10,000 fewer spectators than 23,859-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium

— are harder to come by in New York.

“Wimbledon, for example — it’s proper, it’s elegant, it’s elevated. People are definitely more quiet and respectful, I guess you could say,” said Emma Navarro, an American who reached the semifinals at Flushing Meadows last year “U.S. Open, it feels a bit more casual. Casually rowdy, I guess I would call it.”

There is a constant hum at Ashe and other arenas.

That’s just fine with Shelton, whose first of two major semifinals came at the 2023 U.S. Open.

“I guess I find peace in the chaos,” he said, “because I feel more uncomfortable at the quiet tournaments.”

For the retired Agnieszka Radwanksa, the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2012, nothing ever came as easily at the U.S. Open, where she went 0-5 in fourthround matches.

“Everything takes so much energy from you and just sucks it up. Everything is loud. All the smells around, like the hamburgers. Everything is really noisy The traffic,” Radwanska said. “I respect the players that don’t see the difference and don’t feel that and can play like nothing is happening.”

It’s the first time he has publicly addressed the health issues that have sidelined him since late June. Washington, 73, made the announcement while visiting the Angels for the first time since the operation eight weeks ago in California, calling it a day he had been looking forward to while recovering at his home in New Orleans. He is not returning to manage this season, but hopes to have that opportunity next year He said he should be fully recovered by December Washington said he has quit smoking, changed his eating habits and is sleeping better

Texas teen runner turns pro, signs with Nike Cooper Lutkenhaus, the 16-yearold record-breaking sensation in the 800 meters, became one of the youngest U.S. runners to turn pro by signing with Nike on Monday The junior at Northwest High School in Justin, Texas, reached the decision after long talks with his family The idea wasn’t really even on the radar until earlier this month at nationals when he ran in 1 minute, 42.27 seconds to finish second. It was an under-18 world record and the fourth-fastest of any age by an American. It also earned him a spot for world championships next month in Tokyo. Another route young athletes are going these days is through name, image and likeness. But

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By SETH WENIG

Renata Zarazua smiles in relief after defeating Madison Keys during the first round of the U.S Open on Monday in New york.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ADAM HUNGER

Daniil Medvedev raises his arms during a match against Benjamin Bonzi in the first round of the U.S. Open on Sunday in New york.

THE VARSITY ZONE

FOOTBALL PREVIEW n DISTRICT 8-5A

Buzzworthy moment

Destrehan QB who went viral for pass gets scouts’ attention

BY CHRISTOPHER DABE Staff writer

Jackson Fields has made the throw hundreds of times.

With speedy wideout Jabari Mack running a deep crossing route, the Destrehan quarterback rolled toward the right sideline and lofted a perfect throw for Mack to catch the football while in stride on the way to the end zone.

“That’s just me and Jabari playing football,” said Fields, a strong-armed passer who noted how the play against Edna Karr in the spring game in May was nothing out of the ordinary for the two of them. But what made this play stand out was how much of a buzz it created when WGNO reporter Jon Sokoloff posted a video of the throw that was shared by Rivals and suddenly had millions of views on social media.

The posting by Rivals noted only Mack as the receiver, causing many curious social media commenters to ask about the quarterback.

“My phone was blowing up,” Fields said. “People were following me (on social media), asking, ‘Who’s that?’

More than three months have passed since that throw, and the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Fields has since committed to the University of Incarnate Word, an FCS school in San Antonio that once had recent No. 1 overall NFL draft selection Cam Ward as its quarterback

The viral throw also helped Fields draw attention from some major college football powers, leading him to get invitations to camps at LSU, Ohio State and Oklahoma, he said. At those camps, Fields, 18, threw passes alongside some of the top-ranked recruits in the country

“I feel like I was as good as anyone there,” said Fields who added that those are places where he “could see myself in the future.”

But for now, Incarnate Word is his desired home, where Fields will arrive as a midyear enrollee in January after he plays a final season at Destrehan

Last season, a knee injury in the opener caused Fields to miss four games, and he played the remainder of the season with a bulky brace on his leg Now with no brace, “I feel so much more elusive,” Fields said. “I feel like there’s kind of a burden taken off.” Fields, who threw for 1,659 yards with 18 touchdowns and two interceptions as Destrehan reached the state semifinals last season, has several skills that make him a top-flight quarterback Destrehan offensive coordinator Clint Harrison has coached for 20 years and said Fields “makes the throws you don’t (often) see, whether that’s throwing over somebody or under somebody.” Fields has enough arm strength, touch and accuracy to complete a throw from the hash marks on one side of the field to the numbers on the far side — an uncommon ability, Harrison said.

Fields played flag football at age 8 with his dad, J.R. Fields, as his coach. But when Fields proved to be too physical for the flag game, he played tackle football for the first time as a 9-year-old with the St. John Warriors travel team out of Larose. The Fields family lived in Uptown New

Orleans at the time, and Jackson attended Newman, where he played one season of football as a sixth grader Fields attended the K-12 school at the same time as Texas quarterback Arch Manning, and former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees would come by Newman to pick up his children back when they also attended the school.

There were times when Fields returned home from school and said, “Dad, I played catch with Drew Brees today,” J.R. Fields said.

For seventh and eighth grade, Fields attended John Curtis and quickly became the starting quarterback for the middle school team, an experience the family said it enjoyed immensely. But before ninth grade, the family moved to St. Charles Parish and enrolled Jackson at Destrehan.

At Destrehan, coach Marcus Scott saw Fields throw for the first time during an early practice, and he remembered thinking, “We’re about to have something now.” Fields quickly went from the bottom of the depth chart to the primary backup for then-senior Jai Eugene, who guided the Wildcats to the state title that season. Fields has been the starting quarterback for the past two seasons, and during that time, he had the good fortune of playing with some skilled receivers. Daniel Blood is now at Missouri, and Phillip Wright is at LSU. Mack, who caught the pass that went viral, is an LSU commitment Despite strong performances in games, many around Fields felt he was under-re-

cruited as a college prospect. Then came the viral video post from Rivals that made no mention of the passer

“The funny thing is it went viral because they didn’t tag him,” J.R. Fields said. “I thought it was amazing that the country took it upon themselves to say, ‘Hey, look at this kid.’ ”

Fields and Mack did “what they were coached to do,” Harrison said, when Fields motioned with his left hand for Mack to go deeper downfield before Fields unleashed a near-perfect throw

“They stepped up and scrambled,” Harrison said. “A drill we work on every day.”

Away from football, Fields buys and sells vintage themed T-shirts and sports apparel from the early 2000s, a hobby inspired by his mother, Candice Gwinn, the owner and designer of the Trashy Diva vintage-inspired clothing line with shops on Magazine Street and in the French Quarter A large-print T-shirt with the image of Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino across the front is a favorite of his. The side hustle gives Fields a break from thinking about football, which isn’t often far from his mind.

Fields has one season of high school football remaining. His hope is to secure a state championship.

“To be elite,” Fields said about his goals for the season. His next destination will be another place where he can make some attentiongrabbing throws of the football.

Contact Christopher Dabe at cdabe@ theadvocate.com

Burns hopes for Ryder Cup berth

BY ROY LANG III

Championship on Sunday lifted Shreveport native and former LSU golfer Sam Burns to the best FedEx Cup finish of his career Will it mean a date with the U.S. Ryder Cup team next month? Burns closed with a final-round 67 at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta and wound up seventh at 13 under His previous best FedEx Cup finish was ninth (2023) Tommy Fleetwood’s much-ballyhooed PGA Tour win drought came to an end as he topped Patrick Cantlay and Russell Henley by three strokes. Fleetwood finished at 18 under for the week. The Tour Championship did not feature a stroke handicap to start like it had the past several years. The order of the tournament’s finish was how the FedEx Cup money was distributed. Fleetwood cashed in for $10 million while Burns earned a little more than $1.12 million. Burns made more than $6 million this season, which he has now done for four straight years. He’s made

at least $5 million for five straight years. Now he will wait for American Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley’s decision on the six wild-card selections for the matches against Europe at Bethpage in September Bradley will unveil his picks Wednesday

“It’s huge. (Ryder Cup) was definitely my No. 1 goal coming into this year,” Burns said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t put myself in a position to be an automatic qualifier I tried to focus on coming into the playoffs and trying to play some solid golf, and hopefully it’s enough.” It will be a win-win for Burns as he awaits the decision.

Sam Burns lines up a putt on the 14th hole during the second round of the U.S Open on June 13 in Oakmont, Pa.

AP PHOTO By GENE J. PUSKAR

“It’s going to be a long 24 hours or 48 hours, whatever it is, but it’ll be nice to go home,” he said. “I’m

definitely looking forward to being home and spending some time with (wife) Caroline and (son) Bear, and just relaxing and resting. It’s been a long three weeks, and I’m really looking forward to that.”

Burns said he trusts Bradley “100 percent” with the Ryder Cup selections.

“Whatever decision he makes is going to be one that he thinks is best for the team,” Burns said “Ultimately, I’m Team USA. If I’m on the team, awesome I would love nothing more. If I’m not, I’ll be rooting for them.”

LOOKING BACK

1. Destrehan

Last year: 10-4 overall (reached semifinals), 5-1 in district

2. Hahnville

Last year: 8-3 (second round), 5-1

3. Terrebonne

Last year: 8-3 (first round), 5-1

4. H.L. Bourgeois

Last year: 5-6 (first round), 2-4

5. Central Lafourche

Last year: 3-6 (missed playoffs), 2-4

6. Thibodaux

Last year: 4-6 (first round), 1-5

7. East St. John

Last year: 2-7 (missed playoffs), 1-5

FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH

Alvin Celestin

RB | Terrebonne

The returning all-district athlete selection will be the featured ballcarrier on a team that returns all-district linemen Taden Bingham and O’Ryan Mosley.

Frederic Downing

DL/OL | Hahnville

A returning starter on defense, the 6-foot-4, 290-pound Southeastern Louisiana commitment also will play right guard on offense.

Jackson Fields

QB | Destrehan

The Incarnate Word commitment was the New Orleans-area passing yards leader as a sophomore and threw 18 touchdowns against two interceptions despite missing four games to injury last season.

Jabari Mack

ATH | Destrehan

The LSU commitment will play primarily at receiver but is versatile enough to handle Wildcat QB duties and contribute when he is needed on defense.

Landon Teague

QB | Hahnville

A better understanding of defensive coverages should help the second-year starter flourish after his 17 touchdown passes last season, when he threw for nearly 2,000 yards with only one interception.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

1. Destrehan junior Malachi Dabney (1,688 yards rushing, 23 TDs from scrimmage) returns after a breakout sophomore season last year On defense, DB Damien Richard also returns.

2. Hahnville returns all-district performers in DL Raymond Williams, LB Koa Romero and K Myles Borey. WR Bennett Naquin also returns.The resurgent Tigers tied for the district title one year after they slumped to a three-win season in 2023.

3. East St. John could be primed for a turnaround with the return of all-district defensive lineman Jayden Johnson and QB Damon Scott. Other returnees include RBs Dallas Brown and Jorell Martin, and WR Deontae Fleming

4. Hahnville will have an expanded playbook on offense under second-year coach Greg Boyne, whose team will run many of the same plays Destrehan ran when he was the offensive coordinator there.

5. Destrehan lost a district game for the first time since 2019 when Terrebonne won 30-21.The rematch is Week 5 at Destrehan.

Christopher Dabe

Zurich Classic sets record

BY JEFF DUNCAN Staff writer

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans set another milestone for charitable giving at this year’s tournament. The annual PGA Tour event produced a record $3.6 million in proceeds to be donated to local and regional children’s charities, Zurich officials announced Monday Boosted by the return of superstar Rory McIlroy and playing partner Shane Lowry, the 2025 Zurich Classic set records for attendance and sales at the April 24-27 tournament.

Proceeds from those record numbers will be directed to nonprofit children’s service organizations in the New Orleans-Baton Rouge region by the Fore!Kids Foundation, which operates the event for the PGA Tour The foundation donated $3.3 million to nonprofits last year and has donated more than $54 million since its inception.

“Our record-breaking charitable contribution this year brings the total we have generated for charities in Baton Rouge and New Orleans over the last 10 years to

$24.6 million,” said Steve Worthy, the tournament director and CEO of Fore!Kids Foundation. “Helping kids through golf is our mission and our passion.” Louisiana Hospitality Foundation; Manning Family Children’s; First Tee of New Orleans; First Tee of Baton Rouge; St. Michael Special School; Educare New Orleans; Heart Gift Louisiana; Boys and Girls Clubs; and Baton Rouge General arethe main beneficiaries of this year’s grants. Fortyfive other charitable organizations in the metro New Orleans area will also receive donations

“We are successful as a nonprofit because of the more than 200 volunteer members, our staff, our hundreds of tournament volunteers and our many non-profit partners who share the passion for raising much needed funds for children’s charities in our region,” said Mark Romig, chairman of the Fore!Kids Foundation Board.

“Their commitment continues to inspire our efforts and models the way for effective and sustainable philanthropy.”

The 2026 Zurich Classic will be played April 23-26 at the TPC of Louisiana in Avondale.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Destrehan quarterback Jackson Fields prepares to throw the ball against Edna Karr during a spring game in Destrehan on May 14 Fields made a pass to wideout Jabari Mack in the game that went viral.

LSU

Continued from page1C

1ALL EYES ON 18

It’s hard to believe that Garrett Nussmeier will be the Tigers first starting quarterbackto wear No. 18 since Matt Mauck in 2003. Mauck started theNo. 18 tradition as amarkofleadership, andKelly said it “sends agreat message” to have the quarterback wearing that number again. Great teams typically have greatleadersat quarterback. Nussmeier hasexhibited leadership since he started the ReliaquestBowlinplace of Jayden Daniels twoseasonsago and seemsan excellent choice.

DOESMOREMEAN LESS?

2

Kelly said LSUwas likely to playa rotationofseven or eight offensive linemen against Clemson. Depthis good for mostposition groups, but this sounds like the Tigers aregoing backward here. LSU seemed set on astarting five for mostof preseasoncamp,but lately thecompetition hasreignited at left guard withDJChester,Paul Mubengaand Coen Echols,and at righttackle with WestonDavis and Carius Curne.It’snot what youwant againstClemson’sformidable defensivefront

3

‘THE RIGHT GUYS’ Thefocus on LSU’stop-ranked transfer portal class has been on the amount of talent the Tigers brought in (considerable) and howmuch it cost (a lot).

Kelly made the compelling argument Monday that the mettle of the players LSU acquired is also important. Players such as center Braelin Moore,who started against Clemson in 2024 at Virginia Tech. “It’snot just about talent acquisition,”Kelly said.“Ilikethe make up. (I want to say) that we playedthe right game and playedwith composure.”

Michigan namesUnderwood itsstartingQB

BY LARRYLAGE AP sportswriter

ANN ARBOR, Mich.

BryceUnderwood wasexpected to take the first snap for No. 14 Michigan this season after being the nation’s top-ranked recruit last year and flipping his commitment from LSU.

When Sherrone Moore officially named Underwood the team’s startingquarterback on Monday, thesecond-year coachinsistedthe job was not handed to thefreshman.

“He’searned the opportunity,” Moore said. “It wasnot given to him.”

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Underwood said he plans to “shock the world” this season.

“I feel like nobody’sseen afreshman like me,” he said in an interview with the Big TenNetwork.

Michigan opens Saturday night against New Mexico, andUnderwood said his goal is to close the season with the school’ssecond national title in three years.

“Do whatever it takes to get my team to where they want to be, which is anational championship,” he told BTN. “Of course, beating Ohio State is one of those (goals) as well.”

Underwood was originally committed to play for LSU, but the two-time state champion from Belleville High School chose to sign with aschool 15 milesfrom home. Jay Underwood told The Wall Street Journal that his son is expected to make more than $15 million over the next three seasons. He flipped following asales pitch that included aFaceTime chat with former Michigan quar-

terbackand seven-time Super Bowl winner TomBrady,along with OraclefounderLarry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people, getting involved withthe recruitment Underwood participated in practices with lastyear’steam before it beat Alabamainabowl game,enrolledinclasses in January and benefited from 14 practices anda spring game at Michigan Stadium.

He prepared for collegefootball by adding15 poundsofmuscle.

“It’smadememore explosive,”

Underwood told tworeporters earlierthis summer. “I feel way more faster.”

Mooresaid Underwood earned thenod halfway through training camp,particularly when he made eyebrow-raising throws in a scrimmage at theBig House

“You can put him in adverse situations and he responds, and he doesn’tmakethe same mistake twice,” Moore said.

Underwood’scompetition for the startingjob includedJadyn Davis, who will be Underwood’sbackup. The depth chartatQBalsoin-

cludes transfers Mikey Keene andJakeGarciaalong withDavis Warren,who started nine games last season during an inspirational comeback fromcancer and is recovering from knee surgery Michiganhas had just three quarterbacks start as true freshman: Rick Leachin1975, Chad Henne in 2004 and Tate Forcier in 2009.

Underwood won’t have to look over his shoulder whenhemakes mistakes “We’re going to be patient with him and let him play,” Moore said.

RABALAIS

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as well as the 1973 Triple Crown from Secretariat, so Isuppose it’s fun and fortunate that the debate goes on. Both Death Valleys have interesting twists to their stories When Clemson’sstadium was being planned, its departing coach, Jess Neely,considered it a mistake “Don’tever let them talk you into building abig stadium,” Neely said in 1939 as he wasleaving Clemson for Rice (yes, Rice). “Put about 10,000 seats behind the YMCA. That’sall you’ll ever need.” Clemson officials didn’tlisten, constructing what was at first a 20,000-seat facility in avalleyon the west side of the campus. The structure was staked out by two football players, A.N. Cameron and Hugh Webb. Cameron, ac-

cordingtoClemson, becamea civil engineer and later moved to Louisiana Clemson’sfirstvictim in 1942 wasPresbyterian College by a 32-13score.Itwas Presbyterian coach Lonnie McMillian who was credited withnaming Memorial Stadium “Death Valley” because his team lost so many gamesthere.Clemson even has arock fromDeath Valley,California, named Howard’sRock for longtime coachFrank Howard, installedabove the east end zone Clemsonplayers touch it as they rundown the hill (known as The Hill) and ontothe field before each game. Thereisn’tadefinite date to when TigerStadium started being called Death Valley,but it’sgenerally accepted thenickname first took hold after LSU’s1958 national championshipteambeat Clemson7-0 in the 1959 Sugar Bowl. As the legend goes,LSU fans felt that since their Tigers had beaten Clemson’sTigers,they’d earned

the right to startcalling Tiger Stadium Death Valley What is probably apoint in Clemson’sfavor is that Tiger Stadium once had asimilar nickname: Deaf Valley.There was a servicestation known as Deaf Valley Shell that satfor yearsjust north of the campus on the corner of Highland Road and EastState Street, where the original Raising Cane’snow is located.

LSU fans wrotetolateAdvocate columnistSmiley Anders confirming the Deaf Valley moniker

“WhenIwas in LSU Law School in ’56-’58, we definitely referred to the stadium as Deaf Valley,” Ray Cox of New Roadswrote in 1999.

“That isn’thard evidence, but everyone’sears would be ringing for acouple of hours after the game.”

“It will alwaysbeDeaf Valleytome,” JimWelsh of St. Francisville wrote in 2003, “and to many of thereal,old-time Tigers.” Local journalist andTiger

us afew years. And Ifelt like this year we were in aplace where we could invite people into our locker room, transfers, if you will.” With the veteran additions from the portal, Kelly hopes that LSU displays agreater sense of maturityand composure fromthe start.

He wants to see his team play with poise. Insteadofcelebrating every pass breakup or touchdown, he’d rather see histeam hand theballtothe refereeand get ready to make another play “Now,I’m notagainst any of that (celebration) stuff. Idon’twant to sound like the old guy here that doesn’tlike excitement,” Kelly said. “What Isee when aguy does that, whenhehands the ball to the official, he truly believeshe’s coming back in the end zone.” Taking down Clemsonwon’t be easy.Coach Dabo Swinney’steam enters Saturday with athird-year starting quarterback,two potential first-round picks on the defensive line and multiple starters returning at linebacker,wide receiver, cornerback andonthe offensive line.

It’s amonumentalchallenge, but Kelly believeshis team is ready for it.

“Any goal that youput out there, it’snot worthwhile unless it’sachallenge,” he said. “And so this will be agreat challenge that our kids are excited about.”

Injury update

Kelly anticipates the Tigers will have “everybody available to us” for Saturday’s game, despitemultiplestarterssitting outpractice last Saturday KellysaidMondaythatLSU has had“acouple of bumps andbruises” this preseason, but nothing seriousenough to threaten anyone’s status for this weekend’sgame. During Saturday’spractice in TigerStadium, Oklahoma transferwide receiverNic Anderson and Virginia Tech transfer center Braelin Moore did not play Nussmeier andWeeks werealso limited participants.

Nussmeierdid not throw Saturdaybecause of load management Leading up to this week, LSU has monitored his throws in practice and kept him on a“pitch count.” “Wewant to take our quarterback’s load off,” Kelly said. “We were done with installation, so this was more throwing. We wanted to wait andget intoClemson andgame week. He’ll be outthere on Tuesday practicing in full.” Weeks’ practiceworkload has been limited since returning fromoffseason ankle surgery and abrokenfibula,two injuries the star linebacker suffered in the Texas Bowl. Sophomore defensive tackle DominickMcKinley and freshman offensive linemanCarius Curne also did notpractice. McKinleyhas earned some firstteam reps this preseason, and Curne is in acompetition with redshirt freshman Weston Davisfor the startingspot at right tackle.

Moore will start at center against Clemson. Anderson is a key part of LSU’sdeep rotation at wide receiver Virginia Tech transfercornerback Mansoor Delane and South Florida transfer defensive tackle Bernard Gooden were also limited participants at practice. Delaneisinlinetostart at cornerback while Gooden is expected to do the same on the defensive line. Both veteranshave hadstrong preseasons.

WhyNussmeier earned 18

LSU is bringing the No.18jersey back to its roots.

Rag publisher JimEngster saidthe DeathValleynickname really didn’ttakeoff until Bob Brodhead (who quarterbacked Duke in Tiger Stadium against LSUin1958) becamethe LSU athletic director in 1982.

“Brodhead,despite his faults,”Engster toldThe Advocate in 2023, “was asavvy marketer.”

Both schools likelywill always claimtheirstadium is the real DeathValleyand nothing will change that. However,theyare playing ahomeand-home series, with Clemson opening the 2026 season at LSU on Sept.5

LSU currently leads the series between theschools 3-1. If Clemsoncan somehow even the series by winning the next two years, thenthey can talk about who has the real Death Valley For more LSU sportsupdates, sign up forour newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

The Tigers announced Sunday that Nussmeierwill wear the number this season, becoming the first quarterback to be awarded the jersey since Matt Mauck in 2003.

On Monday,Kelly explained thesignificanceofthe decision, noting thatMauck was also the first player to begin the tradition.

“Matt Mauckand whatherepresented in 2003, coming out and leading (LSU) to achampionship,” Kelly said, “bringing it back to aquarterback, Ithink, sends agreat message about the history andtraditionof18.”

LSU’sNo. 18 jersey is handed to the player—orplayers who best represent the program as astrong teammateand leader.Running back Josh Williams andlinebacker Greg Penn were awarded the jersey last season. Defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo wore the numberin2023.

TheyearMauck wore the number,heled LSU to its first national title since 1958 and completed 64.8% of his passes for2,825 yardsand 28 touchdowns.

PHOTO By BLAZE WATSON, CLEMSON ATHLETICS Clemson’sMemorial Stadium is also known as Death Valley.

AP FILE PHOTO By PAUL SANCyA

Michigan quarterback BryceUnderwood throws during aspring game in Ann Arbor,Mich., on April 19.

Payton,Broncos honorFatsDomino

Team made trip to musician’s grave

BY JEFF DUNCAN, LUKE JOHNSON AND MATTHEW PARAS Staff writers

Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton didn’tcelebrate his team’s preseason win against the New Orleans Saints on Saturday Instead, he took the time after the 28-19 victory against his former team to celebrate one of New Orleans’ favorite sons.

On the way to the airport after leaving the Superdome, Payton took the Broncos’ entire six-bus, 180-person travel party to Mount Olivet Cemetery in Gentilly to recognize Fats Domino and pay respects to the music legend, who died in 2017atage 89 Broncos playersand coaches visited Domino’stomb on the first floor of the mausoleum and displayed afloral arrangement, highlighted with flowers in the team’s orange and navy bluecolors.

The visit wasthe offshoot of a Broncos’ game-weektradition. To set the tonefor the week ahead, the Broncos play music representative of the city of the Broncos’ upcoming opponent. Payton playedtwo of Domino’sbiggest hits, “Ain’tThat aShame” and “Blueberry Hill,” and asked his players andcoaches how many of them had heard ofthe legendary pianist, who was born and raised in the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood of New Orleans. Only ahandful of people in the room raised theirhand, spurring Payton to schedule the visit forthe Broncos’ trip to New Orleans.

“It hit me, but it also upsetme, relative to this iconwho wasborn in this city,” Paytonsaid to the playersand coachesatthe cemetery in avideo of the visitposted on his social media account. “We should know who Fats Dominois.” The visitoriginally was scheduled to occur on the day before thegame, but it was delayed until Saturday afternoon afterthe team’scharter

NFL

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Russell Wilson is the present. The team has to win enough games to save general manager JoeSchoen and coach Brian Daboll’sjobs.

NFCNorth

The high-octane Detroit Lions arechasing their firstSuper Bowl appearance after their 15-win season ended with athudinthe playoffs. They’vegot star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson back to help a defense that was the team’sweakness. The Minnesota Vikings aretrusting J.J. McCarthy to lead the team after Sam Darnold helped them win 14 games last season Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers have the pieces on offense to challenge the Lions in the NFC North. Their defense has to step up. Bears rookie coach Ben Johnson looks to guide Chicago to awinning season.Ifhecan get the most out of Caleb Williams as he did withJared Goff in Detroit, the Bears will beon their way

NFCSouth

Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers seek not only their fifth straight NFC South title but a deeper run in the playoffs

The Atlanta Falcons are Michael Penix’steam with Kirk Cousins serving as ahighly paidbackup quarterback. Running backBijan Robinson is ready to shoulder the offensive load whilePenix settles in The Carolina Panthersare aiming to build off late-season success behind energetic coach Dave Canales, whomadeprogress developing Bryce Young. New coach Kellen Mooreisrebuilding the New Orleans Saints. The decision of who will start at quarterback between SpencerRattler and Tyler Shough is lingering.

NFCWest

Matthew Stafford’sbackissues are concerning for the reigning NFC West champion LosAngeles Rams,who nearly knocked off the Eagles on asnow-soakedfieldin the playoffs.

Darnold replaces GenoSmith in Seattle, and the Seahawks hope to improve offa 10-winseason. The defense creating more turnovers

flight to New Orleans on Friday afternoon arrived later than expected.

Dominoisone of several notable New Orleanians buriedatMount Olivet,among them pianist Henry Roeland “Professor Longhair” Byrd,saxophonist HerbertHardesty,hip hopartist Soulja Slim and baseball player Walter Wright Payton is in histhirdyear as the head coachof the Broncos. He coached theSaints from 2006-21, leading the club to its only Super Bowl championship in 2009.

Tackle hurt

LandonYoung left the field on an injury cart Saturday against theBroncos, anditmay be awhile before he’sable to return forthe NewOrleans Saints Withoutoffering any specifics, coach Kellen Moore said Young “may takealittle bitoftime” to recover from his injury.Mooredid not rule out the possibility of injured reserve for Young Young likely was going to be the swingtacklethis season, serving as the primary backup at both left and right tackle. The other player the Saints have tried in that role, Dillon Radunz,iscurrently the starting left guard while Trevor Penning

—only 18 lastseason —would be abig help.

Arizonaloaded up on defense in the offseason,adding SuperBowl hero Josh Sweat, Dalvin Tomlinson and 18-year veteran Calais Campbell to bolsterthe front seven. BrockPurdy got paid in San Francisco, Christian McCaffrey is healthy,and the 49ers are expecting to rebound after alosing season. But the defense lostkey players, though RobertSaleh is back as defensivecoordinator

AFCEast

The road through theAFC East goes through Buffalo, which has won the division fivestraight years sinceTom Brady left NewEngland. AnythingshortofaSuper Bowlwon’tbeconsideredasuccessfor NFL MVPJoshAllen and theBills.They’ve been eliminated by the Chiefs fourtimes in thepast five seasons. The Miami Dolphins haven’t won aplayoff game since the 2000 season, the longest drought in the NFL. Coach Mike McDaniel and TuaTagovailoa have afourth andmaybe final chance together —tosnapthatstreak.

Aaron Glennisthe new man in charge for the New York Jets,who haven’tmade the playoffs since the 2010 season. The Jets have some talented players, including Justin Fields, whogetsanother chance to prove he’s aNo. 1quarterback.

Mike Vrabel is back in New England asacoach this time. He’s looking to restorewinning to a once-proudfranchise. At least the Patriots seem to have their QB in Drake Maye.

AFCNorth

John Harbaugh, Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens arestill trying to get to the SuperBowl afterfallingshort again.Theyhave the most balanced roster in atough AFC North but it all comes down to January Aaron Rodgers has teamed withMike Tomlin to try to get the Pittsburgh Steelers back to winning in the playoffs. DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay are among the new faces joining Rodgers in Pittsburgh Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengalsneed abetter September to get achance to play in January Theoffense is stacked but thedefense needs to improve. Solving

BY JOE REEDYAND ROBMAADDI AP sportswriters

All-Pro edge rusher Trey Hendrickson andthe Cincinnati Bengals have agreed on anew oneyear contract, ending his hold-in, three people with knowledge of the deal told The Associated PressonMonday Hendrickson will receive a$14 million raise for this season,increasing his salary to $30 million. He is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent after theseason. “I’ma firm believer that hard work works. WhatI’vedoneinthe last four years, five years, eight yearsinthe NFL is done. Ican’tdo anymore at this time to rush the passer on Sundays. The hayisin thebarn,” Hendrickson said last month after reporting to training camp and ending his holdout.

recovers from aright toe injury.

TheSaints alreadylostveteran backups Will Clapp (foot) and Nick Saldiveri (knee) to season-ending injuries during training camp.

“It’sone of those goofy things that happens,” Mooresaid. “You’ve got to navigatedifferent challenges —and certainly on the offensive line we’ve lost anumber of guys there —the severityofthat can be alittlebit challenging. We’ll see how this thing goes over thenext 48 hours as we build theroster.”

No QB news

Stop if you’ve heardthis one before: The Saints aren’tready to nametheir starting quarterback.

Moorereiterated Monday the team has not decided on its Week 1 starter ahead of theSept. 7season opener against the ArizonaCardinals, telling reporters the clubhas instead been focused on roster cuts Mooreagain said it won’ttake much longer. TheSaints arescheduled to practice Wednesday and Thursday

“We’ll talk through that stuff and then we’ll get there,” Moore said.“Obviously we’re pretty close. (The)time is coming up. We’re getting ready for Arizona. And so it’ll happensoon.”

acontract dispute with star edge rusher Trey Hendrickson on Mondaywas agood start. The quarterbackcarousel continues in Cleveland withveteran Joe Flacco returning to theBrowns. Shedeur Sanders is gettingplenty of attention, though fellow rookie Dillon Gabrieloutplayed himin thepreseason. The one man the Brownscan count on is gamewrecking edge rusher Myles Garrett.

AFCSouth

C.J. Stroud has arevamped offensive line trying to protect him in Houston.A talented defense led by Will Andersonand All-Pro Derek Stingley should help keep the Texans on top of the AFC South. DanielJones—not Anthony Richardson —gets thefirst chance to lead Indianapolis at the quarterback. The Colts areplaying this season for late owner Jim Irsay If new coach Liam Coen can improve Trevor Lawrence’sgame the wayhedid with Mayfield in Tampa Bay, the Jacksonville Jaguars could be back on track.Theyhave possiblythe most excitingplayer in theleague in two-wayrookie Travis Hunter. The TennesseeTitans arehoping No.1overall pickCameron Ward is the answer at QB. His development is the team’stop priority this season.

AFCWest

TheChiefs have owned theAFC West since 2016. They’vereached theconference championshipin each of their seven seasons with Mahomes. AfourthSuper Bowl titlefor Andy Reid, Mahomes and Travis Kelce is thegoal. Howdo they respondafter alopsided loss to the Eagles?

Jim Harbaugh led theLos Angeles Chargerstothe playoffs in his first season. Getting past the Chiefs is the challenge.Losingleft tackle Rashawn Slater for theseason was abig setback.

Bo Nixhelped turn theDenver Broncos into aplayoff team in his rookieseason. With AP Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II leading the secondary,Sean Payton’ssquadalso takes aim at the Chiefs.

Pete Carrollisbackonthe sideline in Las Vegas, looking to turn afour-winteam into acontender.

Hendricksonmissedthe first seven days andfive practices of camp, accumulating $350,000 in fines. He also receiveda totalof $104,768 in finesfor notattending the three days of theBengals’ mandatory minicampinJune,accordingtothe NFL’scollective bargaining agreement withthe NFLPA.

Hendrickson led the league with 171/2 sacks last season, becoming the fourth player since sacks becameanofficial statistic in 1982 to have two straight years with at least 171/2.His 57 sacks since joining the Bengals in 2021 are third most in the NFL over thepast four seasons. Hendrickson is avaluable piece to adefense looking to improve with Al Golden in his first season as coordinator. The Bengals(9-8 last season) finished 25thinthe league in total defense (348.3 yards allowed per game) and lost four games last season in whichthey scored at least30points.

“In theshort time I’vebeen in these meetings, it’sbeen encouraging,”Hendrickson said about Golden.“Ithink he’savery wise coach. He’sbeen here before. Nothing but respect for him and moving forward we’ll see what transpires.”

Bengals director of player per-

SAINTS

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list. Offensive tackle Landon Young is also acandidate to open theseason on injured reserve. Several timesinthe preseason, coachKellenMoore said every one of his running backs had a legitimate case for the 53-man active roster,which meantdifficult choices loomed.

The Saintsmadeone of those during thefirst wave of roster cuts Monday morning, releasing Akers.

“Difficult one, because he’s a really good running back in this league,” Moore said. Akers joinedthe team after a successful tryout this summer, buthestruggled to separate himself from apack that included Kendre Miller, Clyde EdwardsHelaire, Velus Jones and rookie Devin Neal.

The Clinton, Mississippi, native carried the ball eight times for 16 yards in three preseason games, adding fourcatches for 15 yards.

Miller has seemed to secure a spot as Alvin Kamara’s primary backup. He ledthe Saints with 51 yards rushing this preseason, manyofwhich were hard-fought yards.

“Kendre did aphenomenal job this entireoffseason,” Moore said. “... We’ve got anumber of other guys that we feel like can provide some roles, so we’ll finalize the rest of this running back group, but we feel like we’re going to have areally competitive group there.”

Burnip signed with the Saints after the draft, offering some competitionfor Matthew Hayball. New Orleans cut ties with Hayballearlier this month shortly after bringing Kroeger into the mix. In three preseason games, Burnip punted fivetimes for188 yards with a37.6 net average. Kroeger had six punts for 276 yardswith a42.3yardnet average. Here is the full list of players the Saints waived or released Monday: Akers wanted to revive his career in NewOrleans, joining the team after atryout this summer Theformersecond-round pick neverfound his footing in training camp.

Burnip was an undrafted free agent out of Alabama, but he did not win the Saints’ punting battle.

sonnel Duke Tobin said during the scouting combine in Februarythathesaw aroad where Ja’Marr Chase, TeeHiggins and Hendrickson would all be under contract. Cincinnati was able to accomplish that. At least for this season. In March, Chase’s$161 million contract made him the highestpaid non-quarterback in the NFL at the time, and Higgins’ $115 million deal madehim oneofthe league’s top10highest-paid receivers.

“Wehavealot of really good football players, fantastic football players. And we’re fortunate to be in aposition where we can fit them all in. We’ve managed ourcap well,” Tobinsaid. “We wantahigh payroll and low dead money, so thepeoplethatare in Cincinnati playing foruscan get all the money

“Wewant to re-sign these guys, reward them for theirabilitylevel and add to the football team. It’s atall task, but we think we’re up to it.”

Hendricksonisgoing into his ninth season.Hewas drafted in the third round by New Orleans in 2017 before signing with the Bengals in 2021. With Hendrickson undercontract, Dallas pass rusher Micah Parsons remains the last highprofile player who is in acontract dispute. Parsons remains aholdin while both sides try to reach an extension.

“Kendredid aphenomenal jobthis entire offseason. We’ve gota number of other guysthat we feellikecan provide someroles, so we’ll finalizethe rest of this running back group, but we feel like we’re going to have areally competitivegroup there.”

KELLENMOORE,Saintscoach

TE SethGreen joined the Saints after participating in the UFL. He caught twopasses for11yardsin the preseason.

DE Jeremiah Martin joined the team late in training camp. Both of his preseason tackles came on special teams, and he also recorded aquarterback pressure and a batted ball.

TE Michael Jacobson has been with the Saints for parts of the last twoyears on the practice squad. He caught three passes for 21 yards in the preseason.

WR MoochieDixon was buried on the depth chartafter joining the team as an undrafted free agent out of SMU

OL Kyle Hergel hadbeen with the Saintssincelast season. After primarily playing guard as a rookie, he spent considerable time at center this training camp.

DE Jasheen Davis showed flashes as apass rusher in camp, but a late,unspecifiedinjury slowed his progress.

TJosiah Ezirim wasconsidered a rawprospect when draftedin the seventh round in 2024. He has now been cut twoyears in arow

TJonathan Mendoza played college football with quarterback TylerShough at Louisville.That wasn’tenough to earn hima spot on the roster

LB Tyreem Powell had atoughpath to the roster with linebacker arguably the deepest position. He got lost in the shuffle as an undrafted free agent outofRutgers.

DE OmariThomas,at6-foot-4 and 325 pounds, has good size, but there wastoo much competition along the interior defensive line.

GMikePanasiuk was alate addition in camp after aslew of injuries to the offensive line.

WR Roderick Daniels was added to the roster after injuries at wide receiver.Now,he’sbeen let go. Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By BRETTDUKE

DenverBroncos coach Sean Payton greets NewOrleans Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson before apreseason game in NewOrleans on Saturday

AP PHOTO By JEFFDEAN Cincinnati Bengalsdefensiveend Trey Hendrickson will geta$14 million raise thisseason after ending hishold-in.

SCOREBOARD

Monday At USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center New York Purse: $31,620,000 Surface: Hardcourt outdoor Results Monday from US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (seedings in parentheses): Men’s Singles First Round Martin Damm Jr, United States, def. Darwin Blanch, United States, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Cameron Norrie, Britain, def. Sebastian Korda, United States, 7-5, 6-4, ret. Lloyd Harris, South Africa, def. Sebastian Baez, Argentina, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. Coleman Wong, Hong Kong, China, def. Aleksandar Kovacevic, United States, 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (4). Adam Walton, Australia, def. Ugo Humbert (22), France, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-1. Zizou Bergs, Belgium, def. Chun Hsin Tseng, Taiwan, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Joao Fonseca, Brazil, def. Miomir Kecmanovic, Serbia, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-3. Raphael Collignon, Belgium, def. Daniel Elahi Galan, Colombia, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Jack Draper (5), Britain, def. Federico Agustin Gomez, Argentina, 6-4, 7-5, 6-7 (7), 6-2. Francisco Comesana, Argentina, def. Alex Michelsen (28), United States, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Mattia Bellucci, Italy, def. Juncheng Shang, China, 7-6 (0), 1-6, 6-3, 3-0, ret. Frances Tiafoe (17), United States, def. Yoshihito Nishioka, Japan, 6-3, 7-6 (6), 6-3. Flavio Cobolli (24), Italy, def. Francesco Passaro, Italy, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Jaume Munar, Spain, def. Jaime Faria, Portugal, 6-0, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. Women’s Singles First Round Diane Parry, France, def. Petra Kvitova, Czechia, 6-1, 6-0. Barbora Krejcikova, Czechia, def. Victoria Mboko (22), Canada, 6-3, 6-2. Priscilla Hon, Australia, def. Leolia Jeanjean, France, 6-3, 7-5. Yulia Putintseva, Kazakhstan, def. Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Italy, 6-4, 7-6 (4). Liudmila Samsonova (17), Russia, def. Yuan Yue, China, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia, def. Dayana Yastremska (30), Ukraine, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-4. Elise Mertens (19), Belgium, def. Alyssa Ahn, United States, 6-1, 6-0. Taylor Townsend, United States, def. Antonia Ruzic, Croatia, 6-4, 6-4. Elena Rybakina (9), Kazakhstan, def. Julieta Pareja, United States, 6-3, 6-0. Renata Zarazua, Mexico, def. Madison Keys (6), United States, 6-7 (10), 7-6 (3), 7-5. Iva Jovic, United States, def. Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Belarus, 7-6 (6), 6-3. Cristina Bucsa, Spain, def. Claire Liu, United States, 6-2, 6-1. Anna Kalinskaya (29), Russia, def. Clervie Ngounoue, United States, 6-0, 5-7, 6-4. Kamilla Rakhimova, Russia, def. Caroline Garcia, France, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Daria Kasatkina (15), Russia, def. ElenaGabriela Ruse, Romania, 7-5, 6-1. Ann Li, United States, def. Rebecca Sramkova, Slovakia, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Maria Sakkari, Greece, def. Tatjana Maria, Germany, 6-3, 6-2.

Golf

PGA Tour Statistics Through Aug. 24 FedExCup Season Points 1, Tommy Fleetwood, 2,923. 2 (tie), Patrick Cantlay and Russell Henley, 1,661. 4 (tie), Scottie Scheffler, Corey Conners and Cameron Young, 7,456. 7 (tie), Justin Thomas, Sam Burns and Keegan Bradley, 2,477. 10, 2 tied with 1,414. Scoring Average 1, Scottie Scheffler, 68.140. 2, Rory McIlroy

NASCAR’s legal battle with Jordan heats up

BY JENNA FRYER

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The legal fight between NASCAR and two race teams, one owned by Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, heated up Monday ahead of a critical court hearing as both sides filed new motions over antitrust claims.

NASCAR said in its filing that it plans to issue one of the charters held by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports to a team whose name is redacted in the document. It said it would do so ahead of the 2026 season. Front Row and 23XI counterclaimed that selling charters will put them out of business Additionally the teams say they will suffer irreparable harm because not being chartered will give drivers and sponsors the option to leave; Tyler Reddick of 23XI has such a clause in his contract. Both sides are due in court Thursday before U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell as 23XI and Front Row seek an injunction to prevent NASCAR from selling the charters until the case has been settled. It is scheduled to go to trial Dec. 1. A charter is the equivalent of a franchise tag in other sports and having one guarantees an entry a spot in each 40-car field, as well as financial incentives.

NASCAR and its teams went through more than two years of bitter negotiations on charter extensions, with the teams fighting to have them made permanent. When a final offer was presented to the teams last year days before the playoffopening race — the deal was a seven-year extension with an additional seven-year option beyond that. NASCAR got 13 organizations to sign, but 23XI and Front Row did

not and instead filed the federal antitrust suit. The two teams have six entries between them and initially won a temporary injunction to be recognized as chartered as the case heads to trial. That has since been overturned and the teams have appealed, but NASCAR has notified the court it plans to start issuing the six charters to others and wants back the money that 23XI and Front Row were paid when they were recognized as chartered earlier this season.

The playoffs begin Sunday at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina. Among the 16 championship contenders are 23XI Racing drivers Reddick and Bubba Wallace, as well as team co-owner Denny Hamlin, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing In Monday’s filing, the teams say they have “smoking-gun documents” that show NASCAR wants to force competitors to sign “one-sided” charter deals

The teams also allege NASCAR acted illegally in trying to exclude competition

The teams also accused NASCAR of “bullying and retaliatory behavior and

said “teams were forced to accept below competitive market prices, and have the same standing as college athletes or UFC athletes who also were forced to accept below market prices.”

Because the six charters held between 23XI and Front Row have been returned, NASCAR is arguing the teams never really had them, never signed charter agreements and that it has enough interest in them to begin reissuing them. NASCAR also says it cannot be forced to do business with parties it does not want to do business with.

The teams say selling the charters will put them out of business and contend NASCAR has so far done little to disprove the antitrust allegations.

“Much of NASCAR’s opposition is filled with personal attacks on plaintiffs, the racing teams, Curtis Polk and anyone else who has dared to challenge NASCAR’s monopoly,” the teams said. “None of these attacks have anything to do with the merits of plaintiff’s antitrust claims against NASCAR or plaintiff’s pressing need for a preliminary injunction.”

68.083. 3, Tommy Fleetwood, 69.357. 4, Russell Henley, 69.716. 5, Harry Hall, 69.764. 6, Ben Griffin, 69.827. 7, J.J. Spaun, 69.880. 8, Robert MacIntyre, 69.900. 9,

Bob Jenkins, owner of Front Row Motorsports,

co-owner

Michael Jordan, of 23XI Racing, pose before a NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 6 in Talladega, Ala.

Passengers push back on seats without windows

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK A pair of federal lawsuits filed in San Francisco and New York last week accuse Delta Air Lines and United Airlines of misleading passengers by charging premium fees for window seats next to blank walls.

A New York law firm brought the cases as proposed class actions on behalf of any passengers who say they wouldn’t have selected or paid more for their reserved places if they had known the seats did not include a window

“We have received a flood of interest from passengers who feel they have been harmed by this practice and who wish to join the lawsuits,” the Greenbaum Olbrantz firm said in a statement. “It makes sense that people are upset. The majority of Americans fly on one of these airlines at some point and a large proportion of them want or need a window and they pay good money for the privilege.”

Both Delta and United declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

POOLSIDE WELCOME

Clothing-optional pool opens in the Bywater with a mission to affirm the LGBTQ community

BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer

The first wedding at the Railyard almost didn’t happen.

The lawsuits allege that United and Delta long have been aware of consumer complaints posted on social media about the windowless seats yet continued charging extra for window seats without windows

The Delta lawsuit includes screenshots of some of those complaints

“Your seat map should not consider this premium, nor should it call it a window seat There is actually LESS leg room and no perks,” one Delta customer said in a post on Reddit The proposed class actions are seeking millions of dollars in damages from each carrier

After a year filled with zoning delays, social media attacks and shifting short-term rental regulations, the owners of the new, queercentered bed-and-breakfast in the Bywater received final permit approval last October, with just 72 hours to spare ahead of a couple’s long-planned nuptials.

That day, a local drag performer and their partner said their vows at nearby Bar Redux before heading across Poland Avenue to hold their wedding party, the first licensed event at the Railyard.

Less than a year later the clothing-optional pool has a waiting list for membership and a booked-up calendar, ranging from bashes during Southern Decadence to fundraisers for LGBTQ nonprofits, Mardi Gras krewes and neighborhood groups. But the team behind the cozy,

left, and Oslo DiRosaria are the co-owners of Boxcar Gallery, Twelfth House Furniture and the Railyard in New Orleans.

midcentury-themed oasis across the street from the blighted former Naval base says it’s not looking to be the next spot for wild parties. Instead, their goal is a safe, welcom-

ing, queer- and trans-forward spot for rest and relaxation suitable for locals and visitors alike and one that is unlike anything offered anywhere else in New Orleans.

To that end, they have instituted a rigorous application process, checking prospective members’ references, holding comprehensive orientation sessions and encouraging self-enforcement of its rules.

“We’ve got to keep the lights on and the doors open, but we want to do that so that the people we’re focusing on in our community have a place to rest and luxuriate,” said event coordinator Ylva Radziszewski. “Very unapologetically, this is a boutique experience that we want people to have access to who don’t usually have access to spaces like this.”

Dream becomes a nightmare

Owners Oslo DiRosaria and Cyrus Giroir lost their home and art studio to Hurricane Ida in 2021.

Bugs are popular pets in nature-loving Japan

Asahi yamauchi, 4 looks at a beetle and plays at an exhibition devoted to insects in Tokyo on July 31. The lawsuit against Delta Air Lines states that when New York resident Nicholas Meyer arrived at row No. 23 for a flight to California earlier this month, he discovered the seat he bought was next to a blank wall. At no point during the seat selection process did Delta warn him that 23F was a windowless window seat, according to Meyer one of the lead plaintiffs. Alaska Airlines and American Airlines also sell such seats but disclose the information when customers choose their seats, the lawsuits assert.

BY YURI KAGEYAMA

STAFF PHOTO By JONAH MEADOWS

The Railyard is a queer-centric bed-and-breakfast with a clothing-optional private pool in New Orleans’ Bywater neighborhood.

PROVIDED PHOTO FROM CyRUS GIROIR Cyrus Giroir,

AP FILE PHOTO By DAVID ZALUBOWSKI United and Delta Airlines jetliners taxi down a runway for take off at Denver International Airport.

Associated Press

Theengagementringselection ballet

Dear Miss Manners: I’ve seen young men with their mothers picking out aring that the young woman of his choice is supposed to love and wear forever What if they picked something she really didn’tlike?

Iwould like to proposea new tradition: The proposal is made and accepted, but instead of aring, the proposer offers ajewel box that contains adiamond, or astone that the newly minted bride-to-be likes, and an appointment time at ajeweler to select the setting that suits the wearer and the proposer’s budget. The proposer should have already found out what typeof

stone is desired andthe shape of thestone. Theproposer can then choose thestonethat fits the budget andwill please its wearer.Often jewelers allow thestonetobe replaced with alarger one andthe price is discounted by the cost of the original stone.

Gentle reader: Pointtaken. But rather than send those gentlemen around evaluatingstones they know nothingabout, MissManners would liketopropose therevival of an older tradition.

Before aring became aprop in performance art proposals, it was notconsidered necessary to present one at thetime —oratall. The offer of marriagewas thought to

What nottodo with old/newpipes

Dear Heloise: There is no time to put grease or oils down asink with old or new pipes! Youpour off what you can as noted in a previous column, then wipethe pan with gently used paper napkins or towels that have been set aside. Throw the napkins away afterward. The little residue left on the pan is handled by detergent and hot water.You won’t have any more pipe worries this way

these times were only right if you start with room temperature eggs. If you grab some eggs from thefridgeand immediately begincookingthem, your eggs will be undercooked.

be exciting enough. Besides, what was thegentleman supposed to do with an expensive purchase if he were not accepted?

Presuming success,hemight offer her afamily ring, if he were fortunate enough to have one. (Admittedly,that would be hard to decline, but thelady could always say later that it was so precious to her that she would not risk losing it, thereforewearing it only on special occasions.)

Absent afamily ring, however, theaccepted suitor would make a privatevisit to ajeweler beforehand and set aside aselection of rings in his price range. Presuming success,there would then be adelightful excursion when he brought her to makeher choice.

POOL

Continuedfrom page1D

Facing the prospect of exorbitant temporaryrents in thestorm’s aftermath,the couple plunged headlong into along-standing dream of creating anew space serving New Orleans’ LGBTQ community.

Dear Miss Manners: We have an older live-in nanny forour two young children. During the week, shestaysinour basement, where she has abedroom,bathroom and living area,and she goes homeon theweekends. She has expressed to us that she feels uncomfortable when we have guests stay in her quarters over the weekend.

It seems odd to me that the basement should be permanently “hers” even when she is not there. Are we in the wrong?

Gentlereader: By your own description, yes. She is alive-in employee, not atransient guest among other possible guests. Those are her living quarters, regardless of where she spends her time off.

Presumably,she keeps her clothes and other personal possessions there. Leaving them out foryour guests to see must be disconcerting, and packing them away would be anuisance.

Miss Manners suggests you think of this arrangement the wayyou would arental property: Yes, it is still yours, but you do not have the use of it forthe term when you have installed someone there.

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

Twoasides: Do not throw floss in thetoilet. If your pipes are old, the floss gets caught, builds up, and eventuallycauses ablockage. In the trash it goes! The second is to please ask your plumbing expert about pouring boiling water down the sink. Ihave read that eitherwecan do this or should never do this, but no reasons have been given. So, Icontinue to be curious. To do or not to do?

Thanks. —Emilie Webb,via email

Give it agood shake

Iusually soak cold eggs in a bowl of warmtap water to temperthem before boiling. Do notpoke holes in the bluntend of the shell until after tempering. —Don Eskridge, in St. Louis Eggshellsfor slugs

Dear Heloise: The hint about usingbeer to kill garden slugs definitely works but is very messy.There’sa much easier way tocombat slugs. Save eggshells and slightly crush them into small pieces. Sprinklethem under theleaves, and slugs will stay away.Ihave aneighbor whohas asweetgum tree. She putsthe gum balls under theleaves. This works, too.

—Terry B.,inSt. Louis

An applecider bath aday

Dear Heloise: Whenanitem comes out of the washer andis in atight ball, it takes the dryer’s time and energy to warm up the item enough to return it back to its regular shape as part of the drying process. To shorten the overall time for dryingand to save energy,give the item a goodshake before you putitin the dryer.This action will return the item back to its original shape and allow the dryer to work on drying the clothes sooner,thus saving energy as well as time. —Sue Flynn, via email Egg-cookingtimes

Dear Heloise: Several weeks ago, recommendations weremade for cooking times to end up with either soft- or hard-boiled eggs. My experience indicates that

By The Associated Press

Dear Heloise: Is bathing in apple cider vinegar agood idea for skin care?

—Helen B.,inArizona Helen,apple cider vinegar (ACV) has some good skin care applicationsand some that are notasgood.

n Good to treat with ACV:eczema, dandruff anddry skin.

n Not as effective: sunburn andathlete’sfoot

To draw anACV bath:Fill the tubwith warm water and add 2 cupsofraw apple cider vinegar Stir and soak for 20 minutes.

FYI: To getrid of hair product residue, rinse yourhair with 1tablespoon of white vinegar added to 1cup water. Your hair will be clean, fluffyand shiny Heloise

Email heloise@heloise.com.

TODAYINHISTORY

Today is Tuesday,Aug. 26,the 238thday of 2025. There are 127 days left in the year

Todayinhistory:

On Aug. 26, 1944, French Gen Charles de Gaulle braved the threat of German snipersashe led avictory march in Paris, which had just been liberated by the Allies from Nazi occupation. Also on this date: In 1939, the first televised major league baseballgames were broadcast on experimental stationW2XBS: adoubleheader betweenthe Cincinnati Redsand the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. The Reds won the first game, 5-2, and the Dodgers the second, 6-1.

In 1958, Alaskans went to the pollstooverwhelmingly votein favor of statehood.

In 1968, the Democratic National Convention opened in Chicago; the four-day eventthat resultedinthe nomination of Hubert H. Humphrey for president was marked by abloody police crackdown on antiwar protesters in the streets

In 1972, the summer Olympics opened in Munich, West Germany In 1978,Cardinal AlbinoLuciani of Venice was elected pope following the death of Paul VI. The newpontiff, who tookthe name Pope John Paul I, died just over amonth later In 1980, the FBI inadvertently detonated abomb planted at Harvey’sResortHotel in Stateline, Nevada, while attempting

to disarm it. (The hotel had been evacuated and noinjuries were reported but the blast caused significant damage.)

In 1985, 13-year-old AIDS patient Ryan White began “attending” classesatWesternMiddle School in Kokomo, Indiana, via a telephone hook-up athis home, as school officials had barred White from attending classes in person due to hisillness.

In 2009, kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard was discovered aliveinCalifornia after being missing for more than 18 years.

In 2022, an affidavit released by theFBI showed that 14 of the 15 boxes recovered fromformerPresident Donald Trump’s Florida estate contained classified documents, many of them top secret, mixed in with miscellaneous newspapers, magazines andpersonal correspondence.

Today’sBirthdays: Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is 80. R&B singer Valerie Simpson(Ashford &Simpson) is 79. Broadcast journalist Bill Whitaker is 74. Puzzle creator/ editor Will Shortz is 73. Jazz musician Branford Marsalis is 65. Actor-singer Shirley Manson (Garbage) is 59. Actor Melissa McCarthy is 55. Latin pop singer Thalia is 54. Actor Macaulay Culkin is 45. Actor Chris Pine is 45. Comedian/actor/writer JohnMulaney is 43. Country musician Brian Kelley (Florida Georgia Line) is 40. NBA guard James Harden is 36. Actor Dylan O’Brien is 34. Actor Keke Palmeris32.

“It was kind of like: ‘We’re going to have to do something big, and we’re going to have to do somethingquick,’”DiRosaria said. “We were like, ‘Let’sjustmake it happen.’”

They found the building in a stateofduress, its lawn “literally a junkyard” surrounded by afallingdown barbed wire fence.

When DiRosaria and Giroir closed on theirpurchase of the propertyinthe spring of 2023, city zoning permitted themtooperate abed-and-breakfast there. Butbefore they’d gotten alicense for it, they found themselves embroiled in the controversy over shifting cityrules forshort-termrentals like Airbnb, they said.

“Wegot stuck in that upheaval, essentially,” DiRosariasaid. “So ourdream very quickly became a nightmarebecause of that.”

Despite the delays, DiRosaria and Giroir continued construction on the space, adding aswimming pool and finishing theinterior as theylived and worked there for a time.

Astorefront space on its ground floor,previously hometoavintage shop,has been transformedinto aguest suite, while the bookable area upstairs now features three bedrooms withashared common area.

Once DiRosaria and Giroir started to see progressatCityHall, they facedfresh challengesfrom critics in the neighborhood and on social media.

After addressing concerns from theBywater Neighborhood Associationthat furtherdelayed city approval, DiRosaria was even more convinced of theneed forthe space they envisioned.

“The backlash gave us the fuel that we needed to seeitthrough,” DiRosaria said.“Because we started to really realize, ‘Hey,this is actually far more needed and importantthan we ever thought it was.’”

Awelcome feeling

Radziszewski said the challenges faced to getpermission from

BUGS

Continuedfrom page1D

rooted celebration of humankind’s oneness with nature.

“They are so tiny.Ifyou catch and study them, you’re sure to discover something new,” saysMunetoshi Maruyama, professor of bioenvironmental sciences at Kyushu University,whosefascination with bugs began as achild, like manyJapanese.

“Theyare so beautifulinshape and form.”

One thrill that comes from studyinginsects is discovering anew species, simply becausethereare more than 1.2 million known kinds of insects, farmorethanmammals, whichtranslates to alot of undiscovered ones,said Maruyama, who has discovered 250 new insect species himself and shrugs that off as arelatively small number

Japan differsfrommuch of the West in encouraging interaction with bugs from childhood,with lots of bookswritten forchildren, as well as classes and tours.

“In Japan,kids lovebugs. You can even buy anet at aconvenience store,” he said. “It’s fantastic that bugs can serve as adoorway to science.”

Thestagesoflife

Thefact some insects go through metamorphoses,transforming

officialsand acceptancefromthe neighborhood association, whose boardnow contains both its owners and one of its employees, have not gone unnoticed

Membership has swelled to about 300. Most of the time, daily pool attendance is capped at about 80 people, though it will sometimes be increased to 125for abusy weekend or holiday

“During the week, and for the vast majority of ourmembers, they like the fact that it is a noncruising space.It’snot aparty place at all,” Giroir said.

Giroir,aLouisiana native, and DiRosaria, who is fromIndiana, have sought to emulateaEuropean clothing-optional spa culture, encouraging people of all shapes, sizes and genders to be free from sexualization while partially or completely nude.

“When you spend your lifeliving in abody that is politicized, being able to be your absolute authentic self andinyourskin andnot have it be apolitical statement is liberating in alot of ways,” DiRosaria said.

Membership fees range from $60amonth forone person to $100 for apair. There’snokitchen or bar,but visitors canbring their owncoolersorutilizea communityrefrigeratorand pop-ups like Sideshow Pizzaofferfoodonoccasion.

Partofwhat makes the Railyard

Toyoji

abeetle, known as Hercules, at an exhibition devoted to insects in TokyoonJuly 31.

from alarva to abutterfly,for instance, adds to the excitement, allowing kids to observe the stages of alife span, Maruyamasaid. Tracing the movement of bugs can be away to study globalwarming, too, while so-called“social insects,” like bees and ants show intelligence in how they communicate, remember routestofind their wayback to their nests or burrow elaborate underground paths as colonies. Because bugs carry out importantfunctions in the ecosystem, such as pollinating crops and becoming food for birds and other wildlife, human lifeisn’tultimately sustainable if allbugs wereto disappear from earth.

The love affair with bugs was clearatanexhibit in Tokyo, aptly called “The Great Insect Exhibition,” running through the end of

unique, Giroir said, is its adherence to its house rules, which includes azero-tolerance policyfor “anyone caught mis-gendering, gender-questioning, staring, takingpictures, fat-shaming or making sexual advances or passes at guests.” Management promises to boot anyone takingphotos or suspiciously using cellphones. Andthoughtheyhave ejecteda handful of people so far, therules have helpedprevent a“creep vibe,” according to the owners. Earlierthis summer,Giroirand DiRosaria, who also ownBoxcar Gallery and Twelfth House Furniture Co., relocated their residence and furniture studio out of the Railyard, making way for afull-time innkeeper to live on-siteand further potential expansion.

Radziszewski, its event coordinator,said the operators try to prioritize marginalized groups and decenter cisgender and heterosexual experiences, while still embracing all allies as guests.

“Wewant everybody to feel welcome in this space, no matter your identity,”theysaid. “And when you’re here, please know that trans and queer people and people of marginalized identities and people whosebodies arepoliticizedare the ones that we are centering in this space.”

Email JonahMeadowsatJonah. Meadows@theadvocate.com.

this month at the Sky Tree Tower, where crowds of children gathered around treesinside indoor cages so they could observe and touch the various beetles.

Thebiggest beetle on record?

Onekindofrhinocerosbeetle knownasHercules, which originated in the Caribbean but is now also found in Japan,isreputed to be thebiggest beetleonrecord, although it’sjust several inches in length. Its back coat is ashiny khaki color,though such shades change depending on the season.

The other parts, like its horn and delicate but spiky legs, are dark.

“Wewant the kids to feel the emotions and joy of actually touching the insects here. That’s really positive for the workings of achild’s brain,” saidToyoji Suzuki, one of the event’sorganizers, who insistedeveryone, including adults, touch thebottom of the beetles’ hornsand wings to feel howsurprisinglysoftand fluffy they are.

Four-year-old Asahi Yamauchi, who was at the exhibit with his grandmother and getting his photo taken inside aspecial installation thatmadeitlook like he wasinside abeetle,loves bugs as much as he loves dinosaurs and has what he calleda cute beetle as apet at home.

“My friend had one so Iwanted one,” he said.

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

AP PHOTO By yURI KAGEyAMA

Suzukiholds

Hints from Heloise

STAFFPHOTO By JONAH MEADOWS

Bywater bed-and-breakfast the Railyard includes aguest suite on its ground floor

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Consider money management and how you can lower your costs by doing some of the legwork yourself. Indecisiveness or acting in haste will be your downfall. Get the facts and formulate a plan that checks off the necessary boxes.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Emotions will get you in trouble. Overreacting or acting in haste will backfire. Let your creative imagination help you dream and bring about the lifestyle you desire.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Establish what's important to you before you start. Distance yourself from negative people and one-sided partnerships. Treat yourself with respect and expect the same from others.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23-Dec. 21) Declutter your life. Expect someone to criticize you and your lifestyle if you ask for input. Listen, absorb what you hear and work out a plan that fits into your schedule.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Refuse to buy into someone else's dream. You perform best when you commit to your vision. Simplify your life by sticking to the people and pastimes that bring you joy and fulfillment.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Align your budget with your plans and enforce change. How you embrace personal growth will also encourage you to connect with people who can match you every step of the way.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Take a moment to review your schedule, lifestyle and

where you see yourself heading. Finding an outlet for anxiety through social events, physical activities or the arts will help you revise how you spend your downtime.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Consider any limitations you face, and devise a plan that will help you eliminate setbacks Staying one step ahead of everyone else is your calling and your way forward.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Don't waste time or energy on something you cannot change. A change may not be wanted, but letting go and moving on will prove beneficial if you look ahead instead of backward.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) You'll crave change and excitement. A friendly encounter with someone will lead to a work-related opportunity. Do your research and present what you can contribute in a colorful manner.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Proceed with caution. Taking on too much will cost you. Make home improvements, domestic situations and personal partnerships an intricate part of your plans.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Communication is your key to success. Let your imagination wander and your ideas dazzle those you encounter. Embrace the future with a passionate attitude, and something good will happen.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2025 by nEa, inc., dist. By andrews mcmeel syndication

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

TODAy'S CLUE: K EQUALS T

FAMILY CIrCUS

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

peAnUtS

zItS

And erneSt

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

LAGoon

Sudoku

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

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

BY PHILLIP ALDER

Michel de Montaigne, a 16th-century French essayist, said, “My trade and art is to live.”

A bridge player should live with the “trade” acronym in his mind, whether as declarer or a defender. The second letter stands for read the lead. Third hand should use the information being supplied by the opening lead to guide his defense — as in this example deal.

South is in four spades. West leads the heart two. What should East do after declarer calls for dummy’s three?

Note that South’s jump to four spades almost guarantees at least a five-card suit. Since North can raise to two spades with only three-card support when he has a singleton somewhere, if South has only four spades and sufficient strength at least to try for game, he should rebid in no-trump or another suit. If North has four spades, he will commit to that suit.

(Well, if he is exactly 4-3-3-3 with four weak spades, he might pass out three no-trump.)

There seem to be two ways to try to gain four defensive tricks: one heart and three clubs, hoping declarer has king-third of clubs and West ace-third; or three hearts and one black-suit trick. First, though, what was West’s lead?

His lowest heart, and when a defender leads an unbid suit (at any trick), low

Each Wuzzle is a word riddle which creates

from length guarantees at least one honor in that suit. And given the board, what honor must West hold?

Right — the king. So East should play his jack, expecting to win the trick, cash his heart ace, and play a third heart. Later, West’s spade ace will defeat the contract. © 2025 by nEa, inc., dist. By andrews mcmeel syndication

toDAY’s WoRD — sIGnIFIED: SIG-nih-fye’d: Represented.

Average mark 12 words

Time limit 35 minutes

Can you find 25 or more words in SIGNIFIED?

YEstERDAY’s WoRD — coVEtous

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

dIrectIons: make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value. all the words are in the Official sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5th Edition.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

ken ken

InstructIons: 1 Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 thorugh 4 (easy) or 1 through 6 (challenging) without repeating. 2 The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using the given operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners. 3 Freebies: Fill in the single-box cages with the number in the top-left corner. HErE is a

WiShinG Well

Scrabble GramS

Get fuzzy

jump Start

roSe iS roSe animal crackerS

DuStin

Drabble

Wallace the brave

breWSter rockit

luann