The Times-Picayune 08-04-2025

RANKINGTHE SAINTS’DRAFT CLASSPERFORMANCE

Births in La.dropto

lowest pointindecades

Kenyia Boyd reads to Noah Hall recently at the Heavenly Care Child Development Center 3inAlexandria. In 2024, just over52,000babies were borninLouisiana, according to preliminarydata. That’sa 17% drop from 2013, when more than 63,000 births were recorded.

Statehas ashrinkingnumberofwomen of childbearing age, data shows

BY EMILYWOODRUFF Staff writer

For many families in Louisiana, staying close to homewas longthe norm. Maw Maw andPaw Paw might live just down the street,ifnot in the same house. “Where’d you go to high school?” is acommon introductory question.

For years, population growth in Louisiana came more from the people who were born here andstayed than from newcomers.

But the patternsare shifting.

In 2024, just over 52,000 babies were born in Louisiana, accordingto preliminary data. That’sa17% drop from 2013,whenmorethan63,000 births were recorded.It’sthe lowest

number of birthsthe state has seen in decades.The decline began gradually around 2015 but has accelerated in recent years.

While fertility rates are falling across the country,Louisiana’strend is amplifiedbyalossofwomen in their reproductive years.

“There would be two reasons: Some moved outofstateand some aged out of that age bracket,” said Allison Plyer,chief demographer at The Data Center in New Orleans.

From 2013 to 2023, the number of women aged 15 to 44 in Louisiana fell by more than 29,000, a3.1% decline. Nationally,thatgroup grew by nearly 5%.

Louisiana still hasahigherfertilityrate than the national average

at about60births per1,000 women, compared with 54.5 nationally.That means women in their reproductive years are morelikely to have kids here than elsewhere. Butevenhere, the fertilityrate fell by 10.3% over thepast decade. Expertspoint to several reasons why people are having fewer children: economic uncertainty, thehigh costofchild care andhousing, changing attitudestowardparenting, and growing infertility.

Over half of Louisiana adults have post-high school credentialsnow,a record high, according to the state Board of Regents. Butjobsinthe state haven’tkept up.

See BIRTHS, page 4A

‘Doublingdown’ on Quarter’sfuture

yearsafter Ida, JaxBrewery renovations nearly complete

BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer

Nearly four years afterHurricane Ida tore the roof off one of the historic Jax Brewery buildings and tossed it into the middle of Decatur Street, the five-story structure has undergone more than $10 millioninrenovations and is set to welcome athird new tenant, bringing its total occupancy up to 80%. The renovation is breathing new life into the facility, which helped reinventNew Orleans’ downtown riverfront in the mid-1980s and has since weathered the ups and downs

The Jax BreweryMillhouse, the smaller,upriver of the twostructures in NewOrleans’ French Quarter, has been fully renovated since Hurricane Ida. The newest additionisa Museum of Illusions coming ontothe Decatur Street side of the second floor and the expansion of Messina’s Cateringintothe fourth floor.WWOZhas new fifth floor studios and the atrium has been redone.

that havemirrored the local and national economy. Ryan Berger,one of the building’sowners, said the decision to overhaul theproperty represents a“doubling down” on thefuture of theFrench Quarter It comes amidimprovements to the Regional Transit

terminal and Spanish Plaza, the expansion of Caesars hotel and casino,

See BREWERY, page 5A

Medicare Advantage under scrutiny

Criticssay plan exaggerateshealth conditions,overcharges

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON MedicareAdvantage,the privatelyrun insuranceonwhichroughly 500,000 older Louisiana residents rely for health care, is facing calls forchange in Congress.

Though hugely popular, criticssay Medicare Advantageprogramsexaggerate patients’healthconditionstoreceive more money from the federal government. They argue that it is draining the Medicare Trust Fund, which will run out of money in 2033, according to the fund’sreport released two weeks ago.

“Medicare is going insolvent,and our budgetdeficit is expanding. We need to stop overpaying where we can if we’reto preserve Medicare forAmericans whorely on it,” saidU.S.Sen Bill Cassidy,R-Baton Rouge.

Cassidyhas proposed changeshesays would limit the practice called “upcoding.” The Congressional Budget Office estimated that changes to upcoding would save about $124 billion over 10 years.

AARP,the nationwide interest group that advocates forseniors, backsCassidy’spush. “Upcodingleadstobothinflated payments and higher premiums,” said Denise Bottcher,state director of AARP Louisiana in Baton Rouge. “You’re just driving up the costs of health care.”

Gulf ‘dead zone’nearly size of Connecticut this summer

BYMIKE SMITH Staff writer

The Gulf “dead zone” offLouisiana’scoast wasnearly the size of Connecticut this summer, researchers reported Thursday, even as the Trump administration proposescuts to somefederal funding intended to help address the pollution that contributes to it. Despite the gargantuan size of the low-oxygen zone, covering an area across nearly the entire Louisianacoast westofthe Mississippi River,itwas smaller than predicted andslightly belowthe long-termaverage. But it’scurrently more thantwice the size of expectations in aplan to successfully curb it by 2035.

Federal officials said states have made progress on reducing certain types of nutrient pollution flowing down the Mississippi, which leads to what has becomeknown as the“dead zone”eachsummer. Buttheyacknowledged that President Donald Trump’s proposedbudgetfor fiscal year 2026 de-

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

U.N.: 68 African migrants killed in boat capsize

CAIRO A boat capsized Sunday in waters off Yemen’s coast, leaving 68 African migrants dead and 74 others missing, the U.N.’s migration agency said.

The tragedy was the latest in a series of shipwrecks off Yemen that have killed hundreds of African migrants fleeing conflict and poverty in hopes of reaching the wealthy Gulf Arab countries

The vessel, with 154 Ethiopian migrants on board, sank in the Gulf of Aden off the southern Yemeni province of Abyan early Sunday, Abdusattor Esoev, head of the International Organization for Migration in Yemen told The Associated Press.

He said the bodies of 54 migrants washed ashore in the district of Khanfar, and 14 others were found dead and taken to a hospital morgue in Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan on Yemen’s southern coast.

Only 12 migrants survived the shipwreck, and the rest were missing and presumed dead, Esoev said.

In a statement, the Abyan security directorate described a massive search-and-rescue operation given the large number of dead and missing migrants. It said many dead bodies were found scattered across a wide area of the shore Chilean rescuers recover bodies of 5 miners

BOGOTA, Colombia The bodies of all five miners trapped in a collapsed shaft in the world’s biggest underground copper mine for three days have been found and identified, an official said Sunday Aquiles Cubillos, the lead prosecutor in Chile’s O’Higgins region, said the body of Moises Pavez, the last miner to remain missing, was found at 3:30 p.m. by rescue teams. They had drilled through dozens of feet of rock to reach the stranded workers.

“We deeply regret this outcome,” Cubillos said.

The five miners were trapped deep inside Chile’s El Teniente mine on Thursday after a section of the mine collapsed following a 4.2 magnitude earthquake that instantly killed another miner and injured nine other workers

The trapped miners were located by using GPS devices but rescue teams were not able to communicate with them.

Authorities are investigating whether it was a naturally occurring earthquake or mining activity at El Teniente caused the tremor Chilean prosecutors also launched a criminal investigation to determine whether any safety standards were violated. Man falls to his death at London Oasis concert

LONDON Oasis said Sunday that its members are “shocked and saddened” after a man fell to his death during a concert by the band at London’s Wembley Stadium.

The Metropolitan Police force said officers and paramedics responded to reports of an injured person just before 10:30 p.m. Saturday and found a man in his 40s “with injuries consistent with a fall.” He was pronounced dead at the scene.

“We are shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic death of a fan at the show last night,” Oasis said in a statement, offering “sincere condolences to the family and friends of the person involved.”

The Britpop icons’ first tour in 16 years kicked off July 4 in Cardiff, Wales.

2-year-old in suitcase stowed on bus found alive

WELLINGTON, New Zealand A New Zealand woman was arrested on a child neglect charge Sunday after a bus driver found a 2-year-old girl alive in a suitcase that was stowed in the vehicle’s luggage compartment, authorities said.

The bus driver noticed movement inside the bag during a planned stop at the settlement of Kaiwaka, north of Auckland, Detective Inspector Simon Harrison said in a statement. When the driver opened the suitcase they discovered the 2-year-old girl, who was very hot but otherwise appeared physically unharmed, Harrison said.

The child was taken to a hospital. The woman was charged with ill treatment or neglect of a child and was due to appear in court Monday.

House Democrats leave Texas

Members aim to block Republicans’ bid for new congressional maps

BY JOEY CAPPELLETTI and ANDREW DEMILLO Associated Press

Texas Democrats left the state

Sunday in an attempt to prevent the state House from holding a vote Monday on new congressional maps that Republicans hope will net them several additional U.S House seats in the 2026 midterm elections.

The dramatic move could expose Democrats to fines and other penalties with the state’s attorney general having previously threatened to arrest them if they took such an action. Refusing to attend legislative session is a civil violation, however so Democrats legally could not be jailed and it’s unclear who has the power to carry out the warrants.

Democrats have cast the decision to leave the state as a last-ditch effort to stop Republicans who hold full control of the Texas govern-

ment from pushing through a rare middecade redrawing of the congressional map at the direction of President Donald Trump.

“This is not a decision we make lightly but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,” said Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, in a statement.

To conduct official business, at least 100 members of the 150-member Texas House must be present Democrats hold 62 of the seats in the majority-Republican chamber At least 51 Democratic members are leaving the state, said Josh Rush Nisenson, spokesperson for the House Democratic Caucus.

“Apathy is complicity and we will not be complicit in the silencing of hard-working communities who have spent decades fighting for the power that Trump wants to steal,” he said.

The move marks the second time

in four years that Texas Democrats have fled the state to block a vote. In 2021, a 38-day standoff took place when Democrats left for Washington, D.C., in opposition to new voting restrictions.

Republican Gov Greg Abbott called a special session of the Legislature that started last month to take up the redistricting effort, as well as to respond to flooding in Texas Hill Country that killed at least 135 people in July Trump has urged Texas Republicans to redraw the map to help the party net a handful of seats in the midterms next year

“For weeks, we’ve been warning that if Republicans in Texas want a showdown if they want to delay flood relief to cravenly protect Donald Trump from an inevitable midterm meltdown — then we’d give them that showdown,” Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. “That’s exactly what Texas Democrats did today: blowing up Republicans’ sham special session that’s virtually ignored the plight of flood victims in Kerr County.”

Volcano erupts in Russia’s Far East

An image from video on Sunday shows an aerial view of the eruption of the Krasheninnikov volcano of the Eastern volcanic belt, about 125 miles northeast of the regional center of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia

Peninsula dormant for hundreds of years

By The Associated Press

A volcano on Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula erupted overnight into Sunday for what scientists said is the first time in hundreds of years, days after a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake.

The Krasheninnikov volcano sent ash 3.7 miles into the sky according to staff at the Kronotsky Reserve, where the volcano is located. Images released by state media showed dense clouds of ash rising above the volcano.

“The plume is spreading eastward from the volcano toward the Pacific Ocean. There are no populated areas along its path, and no ashfall has been recorded in inhabited localities,” Kamchatka’s emergencies ministry wrote on Telegram during the eruption.

The eruption was accompanied by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake and prompted a tsunami warning for three areas of Kamchatka. The tsunami warning was later lifted by Russia’s Ministry for Emergency Services.

Popular 1980s actor Loni Anderson dies

BY CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press

LOS ANGELES Loni Ander-

son, who played a struggling radio station’s empowered receptionist on the hit TV comedy “WKRP in Cincinnati,” died Sunday, just days before her 80th birthday Anderson died at a Los Angeles hospital following a “prolonged” illness, said her longtime publicist, Cheryl J. Kagan.

“We are heartbroken to announce the passing of our dear wife, mother and grandmother,” Anderson’s family said in a statement.

“WKRP in Cincinnati” aired from 1978 to 1982 and was set in a flagging Ohio radio station trying to reinvent itself with rock music. The cast included Gary Sandy, Tim Reid, Howard Hesseman, Frank Bonner and Jan Smithers,

alongside Anderson as the sexy and smart Jennifer Marlowe.

As the station’s receptionist, the blonde and highheeled Jennifer used her sex appeal to deflect unwanted business calls for her boss, Mr Carlson. Her efficiency often kept the station running in the face of others’ incompetence.

The role earned Anderson two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe nominations. Anderson starred on the big screen alongside Burt Reynolds in the 1983 comedy “Stroker Ace” and the two later married and became tabloid fixtures before their messy breakup in 1994. Their son, Quinton Reynolds, was “the best decision that we ever made in our entire relationship,” she said during the unveiling of a bronze bust at Reyn-

Anderson died Sunday.

olds’ Hollywood grave site in 2021.

Anderson detailed their tumultuous marriage in the 1995 autobiography, “My Life in High Heels,” which she said was about “the growth of a woman, a woman who survives.” She married four times, most recently to Bob Flick in 2008. Anderson is survived by Flick, her daughter Deidra and son-in law Charlie Hoffman, son Quinton Anderson Reynolds, grandchildren McKenzie and Megan Hoffman, stepson Adam Flick and wife Helene, and step-grandchildren Felix and Maximilian.

Speaker Dustin Burrows said the Texas House would meet as planned on Monday afternoon

“If a quorum is not present then, to borrow the recent talking points from some of my Democrat colleagues, all options will be on the table ...,” he posted on X.

Attorney General Ken Paxton on X said the state should “use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law.”

“Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately,” he wrote.

Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday afternoon

Texas Republicans last week unveiled their planned new U.S. House map that would create five new Republican-leaning seats. Republicans hold 25 of the state’s 38 seats. By leaving the state, Democrats are looking to block Republicans from the needed quorum to hold votes on the map set for Monday

Boeing workers plan Monday strike

BY CATHY BUSSEWITZ Associated Press

NEW YORK Boeing workers who build fighter jets were set to go on strike at midnight Monday

About 3,200 workers at Boeing facilities in St. Louis; St. Charles, Missouri; and Mascoutah, Illinois, voted to reject a modified four-year labor agreement with Boeing, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union said Sunday

“IAM District 837 members build the aircraft and defense systems that keep our country safe,” said Sam Cicinelli Midwest territory general vice president for the union, in a statement.

“They deserve nothing less than a contract that keeps their families secure and recognizes their unmatched expertise.”

The vote followed members’ rejection last week of an earlier proposal from the troubled aerospace giant, which had included a 20% wage increase over

four years. At the time, union leaders had recommended approving the offer, calling it a “landmark agreement” and saying the offer would improve medical, pension and overtime benefits. Then there was a coolingoff period of a week, followed by the union members rejecting Boeing’s latest proposal.

“We’re disappointed our employees rejected an offer that featured 40% average wage growth and resolved their primary issue on alternative work schedules,” said Dan Gillian, Boeing Air Dominance vice president and general manager, and senior St. Louis site executive. “We are prepared for a strike and have fully implemented our contingency plan to ensure our non-striking workforce can continue supporting our customers.”

On Tuesday, Boeing had reported that its secondquarter revenue had improved and losses had narrowed.

Blackstudent’s videooffers

newvantage in brutal arrest

BY JEFF MARTIN Associated Press

Avideo that captured the brutal arrest of aBlack college student pulled from his car and beaten by officers in Florida has ledtoaninvestigation and calls for motorists to consider protecting themselves by placing acamera inside their vehicles.

WilliamMcNeilJr. captured his February traffic stop on his cellphone camera, which was mounted above his dashboard. It offered aunique view,providing the only clear footage of the violence by officers, including punches to his head that can’tclearly be seeninofficer body camera footage released by the Jacksonville Sheriff’sOffice.

Because McNeilhad theforesight to record the encounter from inside thevehicle, “wegot to see firsthandand hear firsthand and put it all in context whatdriving while Black is in America,” said civil rights attorney BenCrump, one of several lawyers advising McNeil.

“All the young people should be recording these interactions with law enforcement,” Crump said. “Because what it tells us, just like with George Floyd, if we don’trecord the video, we can see what they put in the police report with George Floyd before they realized the video existed.”

McNeil was pulled over that day because officers said his headlights should have beenondue to bad weather,his lawyers said.His camera shows him asking the officers what he did wrong.Seconds later,anofficer smashes his window,strikeshim as he sat in the driver’sseat and then pulls him from thecar and puncheshim in the head. After being knocked to theground, McNeil was punched six more times in his right thigh, a police report states.

The incident reportsdon’tdescribe the officer punchingMcNeil in the head. The officer,who pulled McNeil overand then struck him, described the force this way in his report: “Physical force wasapplied to the suspect and he was taken to the ground.”

But afterMcNeil posted his videoonline last month and it went viral, the sheriff’s office launched an internal investigation, which is ongoing. Asheriff’s office spokespersondeclined to comment about thecase this week, citing pending litigation,though no lawsuit has beenfiled overthe arrest

McNeil said the ordeal left him traumatized, with abraininjury,a brokentooth and several stitches in hislip.His attorneys accused the sheriff’s office of trying to cover up what reallyhappened.

“On Feb. 19, 2025, Americans saw what Americais,”saidanotherof McNeil’slawyers, Harry Daniels. “Wesaw injustice. Yousaw abuse of police power.But most importantly we saw ayoung man that had atemperament to control himself in theface of brutality.”

Thetraffic stop, he said, was notonly racially motivated but “it wasunlawful, andeverythingthat stemmedfromthatstop was unlawful.”

McNeil is hardly the first Black motorist to record video during atraffic stop that turned violent —Philando Castile’sgirlfriend livestreamed thebloodyaftermath of his death during a2016 traffic stop near Minneapolis. But McNeil’sarrest serves as areminder of how cellphonevideo can show adifferentversion of events than what is described in police reports, hislawyers said.

Christopher Mercado, whoretired as alieutenant from the New York Police Department, agreed with McNeil’slegal team’ssuggestion that driversshouldrecord their police interactions and that a

BY SAFIYAH RIDDLE Associated Press

The former U.S. soldier suspected of killing four people at aMontana bar was still at largeearly Sunday and may be armed after escaping in astolen vehicle containing clothes and camping gear,officials said.

Authorities beli eve

45-year-old Michael Paul Brown killed four peopleon Friday morning at The Owl Bar in Anaconda, Montana, about 75 miles southeast of Missoula in avalley hemmed in by mountains

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen saidat anews conference Sunday that Brown committed the shooting with arifle that law enforcement believes was his personal weapon. The victims ranged in age

from 59 to 74 and were afemale bartenderand three male patrons.

Knudsen warned residents in the town of just over 9,000 people that Brown,who lived next door tothe barwhere he was aregular,could come back to the area.

“This is an unstableindividualwho walked in and murdered four peopleincold bloodfor noreason whatsoever.Sothere absolutely is concern for the public,” Knudsen said.

David Jabarek, 70, said that amass shooting in aplace as small as Anaconda is baffling to many.Hesaid he regularly saw both the shooter and thevictims over thecourse of the 20 years that hehas lived in Anaconda.

“Weonlyhave 9,000 people, so it’slike,what the hell just happened? Everybody

William McNeil Jr., center, looks on during anews conference in July in Chicago.

ASSOCIATED

PHOTO By PAUL BEATy

camera mountedinside adriver’s car could offer aunique pointof view

“Use technology to your advantage,” said Mercado, an adjunct assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.“There’snothing nefarious aboutit. It’sactually asmart thing in my opinion.”

Rod Brunson, chair of the DepartmentofCriminology and Criminal Justiceatthe University of Maryland, saidhethinks it’s agood idea for citizens to film encounters with police —aslong as doing so doesn’t makethe situation worse

“I thinkthat’sa form of protection—it’ssafeguarding them against false claimsofcriminal behavior or interfering with officers, etc.,” Brunson said.

Although thesheriff’s office declinedtospeak to The Associated Press this week,SheriffT.K. Waters hasspokenpublicly about McNeil’sarrest since video of the encounter went viral. He pushed back against someofthe allegations made by McNeil’slawyers, noting that McNeil was toldmore thanahalf-dozen times to exit the vehicle. At anews conference last month, Waters alsohighlighted images of aknife in McNeil’scar.The officer who punchedhim claimed in his police report thatMcNeil reached toward the floor of thecar,where deputies later found the knife. Crump, though,saidMcNeil’s video shows thathe“never reaches for anything,” and asecondofficer wrote in his report that McNeil kept his hands up as theother officer smashed the car window

knows everybody here,” he said. But he said that he isn’tafraid of the prospect of Brown returning “Everybody around here hastwo dozenfirearms in their house, and right now they’re withinhand’sreach,” Jabarek said.

Brown served in the Army as an armor crewman from 2001 to 2005and deployed to Iraq from early 2004 until March 2005, said Lt. Col. Ruth Castro, an Army spokesperson. He was in the Montana National Guard from 2006 to March 2009, Castro said, andleft military service at the rank of sergeant.

Brown’sniece, Clare Boyle, said her uncle has struggled with mental illness for years, and she and other family members repeatedly soughthelp.

Senate headshome with no deal to speedconfirmations

IrateTrump tells Schumerto‘go to hell’

BY MARYCLARE JALONICK and JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press

WASHINGTON TheSenateleftWashington on Saturday night for its monthlong August recess without a deal to advance dozensofPresident DonaldTrump’s nominees,calling it quits after days of contentious bipartisan negotiations and Trump postingonsocial media that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer can “GO TO HELL!” Without adeal in hand

Republicans say they may try to change Senate rules when they return in Septembertospeed up thepace of confirmations. Trump has been pressuring senators to move quickly as Democrats blockedmorenominees than usual this year,denying any fast unanimousconsent votes andforcing roll calls on each one, alengthy process that can take several days per nominee.

and judicial nominees over the last two decades,and as Senate leaders have incrementally changedSenate rules to speed up confirmations andmakethemless bipartisan. In 2013, Democrats changed Senate rulesfor lowercourt judicial nominees to remove the 60-vote thresholdfor confirmations as Republicansblocked President Barack Obama’sjudicialpicks.In2017, Republicans did the samefor Supreme Courtnominees as Democrats tried to block Trump’snomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch

“I think they’redesperately in need of change,” SenateMajority Leader John Thune said of Senate rules Saturday after negotiations with Schumer and Trump broke down. “I thinkthatthe last six months have demonstrated that this process, nominations is broken. AndsoIexpect there will be somegood robust conversations about that.”

Schumer said arules change wouldbea“hugemistake,”especially as Senate Republicanswill need Democratic votes to pass spending bills and other legislation moving forward.

“Donald Trumptried to bully us, go around us, threaten us, call us names, but he gotnothing,”Schumer said.

The latest standoff comes as Democratsand Republicans have gradually escalated their obstruction of theotherparty’sexecutive branch

Trump hasbeenpressuring Senate Republicans forweeks to cancel theAugust recess and grind through dozensofhis nominations as Democrats have slowed the process. But Republicans hoped to make adeal with Democrats instead, and cameclose several times over the last few days as thetwo partiesand theWhiteHouse negotiated over moving alarge tranche of nominees in exchange forreversing some of the Trumpadministration’s spending cuts on foreign aid, amongother issues. The Senate held arare weekend session on SaturdayasRepublicans held votesonnomineeafternominee and the twoparties tried to work out thefinal details of adeal.But it was clear there would be no agreement whenTrump attacked Schumer on social media that night and told Republicanstopack it up andgohome.

“TellSchumer,who is undertremendouspoliticalpressurefrom within his own party,the Radical LeftLunatics,toGOTOHELL!” TrumppostedonTruth Social.“Do not accept the offer,gohomeand explain to your constituents what bad people the Democrats are, and what agreat job the Republicans are doing, and have done, forour Country.”

Thune said afterward that there were “severaldifferent times” when the two sides thought they hada deal,but in theend, “wedidn’t close it out.”

BIRTHS

“You’ve improved the educational opportunity and the levels of education but not the jobs available for the educated groups,” said Anita Raj, a professor at Tulane University’s Newcomb Institute. “So you’ve given people more choices — and the choice that they’re taking is to leave.”

It’s hard to say exactly who is leaving Louisiana or why, Plyer said, but one reason consistently stands out.

“The No 1 reason people move long distances is for job opportunities,” she said “And the state has incredibly weak economic growth.”

Since 2000, jobs in Louisiana have grown by just 2%, compared with a 20% increase nationwide.

“We just don’t have enough jobs to keep people here,” Plyer said.

Population loss

Between 2020 and 2024, about 129,500 more people left Louisiana for other states than moved in. The population loss was recovered, in part, by a net gain of 59,000 international migrants during the same period, according to census data, but still resulted in a loss of more than 70,000 people.

Migration both domestic and international — tends to

MEDICARE

Continued from page 1A

peak in people’s 20s, which is also when people are most likely to have children.

“The flow of births into a place is very sensitive to the number of reproductive-age people,” said Jenna Nobles, a professor of demography at the University of California, Berkeley.

The recent drop in births in Louisiana, she said, reflects not just a shift in fertility patterns, but the exit of thousands of young adults, and the future children they might have had in the state.

The Trump administration has renewed efforts to limit immigration by increasing deportations and tightening rules for entry In Louisiana, which is home to several large immigration detention facilities, such policies could have outsized effects.

Of Louisiana’s 54,927 births in 2023, 6,190 were born to mothers not from the United States — a little more than 1 in 10 babies born in the state.

“Actions that discourage in-migration are going to be much more consequential for the number of births in Louisiana,” Nobles said Infrastructure impacts

In the short term, fewer births put financial pressure on hospitals, one of the biggest employers in the state.

Hospital systems have long relied on labor and delivery and pediatric services as an entry point for lifelong

most do.

Female population ages 15-44

patients, even though the services themselves often don’t make much money

The idea is that someone who is born in a certain hos-

pital system will continue to use that system as they need care from which the hospital can make more money But as births decline, that

long-term strategy becomes harder to justify, said Jillian Torres, a professor of health policy and management at Tulane University Hospitals are spending heavily to maintain delivery units, but the number of patients entering through them is shrinking.

“The only way hospitals could see a neutral or positive effect from falling birth rates would be if they actively consolidate or close labor and delivery services,” Torres said.

For patients, that might look like traveling farther for services of all types as hospitals consolidate certain services or shrink the number of specialists they hire. Conversations about population loss are “absolutely” happening in hospital executive meetings, Torres said, pointing to trends of expansion to other states.

Ochsner Health, for example, has expanded to Mississippi and Alabama.

Ripple effects

The effects of this population shift are already being felt in public schools. Louisiana’s public school enrollment is at its lowest level since 2006, according to state data, and has declined for eight straight years.

In 2021, New Orleans schools enrolled only 84% of their target, leaving 7,200 seats empty Schools get funded per seat, and the lack

of students cost the average school an estimated $830,000 in funding, according to a New Schools for New Orleans report on sustainability Statewide, the population has been shrinking for several years. In 2024, nearly two-thirds of Louisiana parishes lost population, including several among the fastest-shrinking large counties in the country, according to census estimates.

While the most recent estimates show a slight uptick in the state’s total population, that increase is largely due to changes in how international immigration is calculated. In reality, New Orleans and its suburbs have lost population faster than any other large metro area in the country since 2020. But beyond hospitals and schools, a shrinking number of babies and young people — the state’s future workers could strain Louisiana’s labor force and erode its tax base. It’s unclear what the impact will be on everything from the housing market to caregiving for aging adults, said Emilio Parrado, a demographer at the University of Pennsylvania. “We’re entering a phase in human history we haven’t seen before — population decline and population aging,” said Parrado. “We’re already seeing it in schools We don’t really know how this is going to play out.”

But America’s Health Insurance Plans, the Washington-based trade association that represents the health insurance industry, opposes the bill.

“We oppose cuts to Medicare Advantage including the No UPCODE Act, and urge Congress to keep the promise to America’s seniors,” AHIP President Mike Tuffin said in a statement.

Louisiana has more than 932,000 residents who are part of Medicare, 59% of whom are enrolled in one of the 112 Medicare Advantage plans available in the state.

In the largest metropolitan areas, the percentages are higher — 69% in Baton Rouge, 75% in New Orleans; a little less in the smaller cities — 42% in Lafayette and 54% in Shreveport.

President Donald Trump, his backers and many enrollees praise Medicare Advantage, which has 33 million beneficiaries. And Project 2025, the conservative blueprint that has guided much of the administration’s actions, advocates making Medicare Advantage the main option for senior health care. Still, Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are moving to revamp not just the way private insurers calculate payments but the procedures they use, such as pre-authorization of some medical services.

How it works

For 60 years, traditional Medicare has been available to every American on their 65th birthday and some younger people who are disabled. It directly pays medical care providers for the cost of treatments. While more expensive for many, patients can go to any physician, clinic, hospital and hospice they like that accepts Medicare and

Seniors who choose Medicare Advantage generally pay lower premiums and can receive some services not offered in the government program, such as dental and vision coverage. But patients are limited to providers in the insurer’s network.

In Medicare Advantage, private insurers pay providers for services rendered and the government pays the companies per patient, based on that person’s health status. Higher-risk patients net the company more money

The insurers themselves are responsible for diagnosing how sick the patients are.

Critics allege the private insurers are upcoding those diagnoses, including possible, perhaps likely, ailments to show the patient’s condition as more severe and thus require higher payments.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest Medicare Advantage insurer, on allegations of upcoding and for denying too many claims. The company denies the allegations and states that it is cooperating.

Reining in ‘upcoding’

On Capitol Hill, both the House and Senate are looking at changing the upcoding system, which they argue incentivizes Medicare Advantage companies to over-diagnose.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission experts charged with advising the federal government on policy — reported that the Medicare Advantage plans cost taxpayers about 22% more than traditional Medicare in 2024.

Limiting upcoding would save $124 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget

Office, which calculates the financial impacts of legislation. Some experts espouse figures up to $270 billion, maybe more.

That’s a large part of the roughly

$470 billion the federal government paid private Medicare Advantage insurers last year, according to KFF a San Francisco-based nonpartisan organization that researches health policy

Cassidy joined four senators in December asking the Department of Health and Human Services to act against overpayments.

This year, Cassidy teamed with Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, to propose legislation that would change how upcoding operates.

Their No UPCODE Act would use two years of diagnostic data instead of one to develop a patient’s risk assessment. The bill also limits the ability to use old or unrelated medical conditions when determining the cost of care for individual beneficiaries.

Cassidy attempted to attach the bill’s language to the recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but was rebuffed by conservatives who felt Trump’s budget reconciliation measure already was too unwieldy They were also concerned that the addition of upcoding changes would attract ire enough from insurance companies to stall passage.

Cassidy now is negotiating inserting the legislation into a potential health package that some in Congress are trying to hammer out.

Change is not that easy

Opponents of the legislation counter that the proposed changes in patient diagnosis processes are fraught with problems.

For instance, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services would have to establish procedures to provide for identification and verification of diagnoses, “but it does not give any other details, so it is unclear how these processes will be defined moving forward,” wrote Matthew Sprankle, Jason E. Christ and Teresa A. Mason of Epstein Becker & Green,

P.C., a Washington law firm, in an analysis for The National Law Review

A little more sanguine was Mike Hoak, vice president of public policy at Humana, another large Medicare Advantage insurer, on a panel at the AHIP 2025 Conference in Las Vegas that was covered by Fierce Healthcare, a New York City trade publication.

“There is a really bipartisan feeling amongst policymakers: ‘I love the program,’ and — for some of them, at least — ‘I’d like to see it grow, but it is time for some nips and tucks’,” Hoak was quoted as saying. “I think Medicare Advantage is at that inflection point right now.”

Bill Sweeney, AARP senior vice president for government affairs, says Cassidy’s bill would make Medicaid Advantage more fair

“If someone comes in and they’ve got a heart condition, treat the heart condition, get paid fair for what that costs. But don’t diagnose them with additional things that people who have heart conditions would have so that you can make it look like that person is sicker.”

Plans still popular

Medicare Advantage plans remain popular

Better Medicare Alliance, a Washington-based coalition that promotes Medicare Advantage, conducted a poll in June. The survey found 70% of voters thought the proposals would raise costs and reduce benefits. The survey included testimonials from seniors.

“Together, the polling and these real stories make clear: Medicare Advantage is not just the most popular coverage option for seniors — it is indispensable,” the group concluded.

A JD Power study in 2024 found similar customer satisfaction results.

But the results of a February analysis that surveyed 76,557

Medicare Advantage beneficiaries found many did not fully understand their policies.

The study determined that Medicare Advantage enrollees often don’t use the additional services offered and many aren’t aware they exist, according to Mass General Brigham of Boston, the nation’s largest hospital-based research enterprise. For instance, only 54.2% of Medicare Advantage beneficiaries were aware of having Medicare Advantage dental coverage, the analysis concluded.

“Medicare Advantage plans receive more money per beneficiary than traditional Medicare plans, but our findings add to the evidence that this increased cost is not justified,” said author Dr Christopher L. Cai.

Other concerns

Congress is looking at more than upcoding in the health package being negotiated.

Other bills in the health care mélange would address prior authorizations advance reviews to ensure proposed care meets coverage guidelines and is medically necessary — that lead to denial of claims and pharmacy benefit managers that lead to higher prices for drugs.

Each piece of legislation has different constituents.

For instance, the Louisiana Hospital Association and Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham are concerned about delays caused by Medicare Advantage’s prior authorization processes.

“When used appropriately, prior authorization helps patients receive safe, timely, and affordable access to evidence-based care, but when used inappropriately patients face delays that can jeopardize medical outcomes,” Abraham and Paul Salles, head of the Louisiana Hospital Association, wrote in a letter to the Trump administration.

Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate.com.

and the planned redevelopment of the Governor Nicholls Street and Esplanade Avenue wharves, which will create continuous pedestrian access along the downtown riverfront from Woldenberg Park to Crescent Park in Bywater.

“Having nearly 3 miles of continuous usable riverfront space, we think, will transform the French Quarter and downtown riverfront,” Berger said.

Festival marketplace

For much of its 85-year existence, the castle-like Jackson Brewing Company building on Decatur Street was the headquarters of the largest brewery in the south. But as industry changes made it harder for regional breweries to compete, Jax fell on hard times, shuttering its facility and filing for bankruptcy in 1974.

For eight years, the abandoned brewery was an eyesore in the heart of the French Quarter, at a time when city and business leaders were beginning to reimagine ways to open the riverfront for pedestrians and recreational uses. In 1983, a development group led by Darryl Berger and David Burrus purchased the site for $5.5 million with plans to bring it back to life.

In 1984, Jax Brewery opened as a “festival marketplace” of shops, restaurants and attractions, wowing New Orleanians and visitors alike. Two years later, Berger and his partners expanded their concept with the “Millhouse,” a 65,000-square-foot annex on the upriver side of the original brewery

Such shopping centers — like Underground Atlanta, Seattle’s Pike Place Market or Pier 39 in San Francisco were popular in the 1980s as part of urban renewal efforts to revitalize historic districts, often incorporating waterfront locales.

“But what we and our fellow festival marketplace developers discovered very quickly was that, while exciting, multi-story festival marketplaces are a very difficult business model to make sense financially,” Ryan Berger said.

DEAD ZONE

Continued from page 1A

funds two types of federal grants that assist states in addressing and monitoring pollution.

Researchers are watching closely to see if other cuts could be on the way as the Trump administration pursues what it describes as policies to make government more efficient. The president’s budget proposal is not the final word, since Congress can move to add or subtract money throughout the budget process.

Amounts for the two categories of Environmental Protection Agency grants defunded in Trump’s budget proposal — known as sections 106 and 319 have varied over the years. The EPA has granted about $18.5 million yearly in 106 grants, though Congress has also added additional money The 319 grants amounted to $178 million in fiscal year 2022, the last year available on the EPA website.

Brian Frazer director of the EPA’s office of wetlands, oceans and watersheds, noted however that other funds to address hypoxia — the scientific term for lowoxygen areas were still being distributed.

“It does call for no 319 or 106 funds,” Frazer said during a news

In the late 1980s, the original brewhouse building was sold and redeveloped into condos. In the 1990s, the Millhouse annex also changed hands. Shortly before Hurricane Katrina, The Berger Group and its partners reacquired it and have owned it since.

The Millhouse saw a fair amount of tenant turnover through the years before settling into its current uses, with private event venues on the third and fourth floors office tenants on the fifth floor, and a long-struggling food court on the second floor that Berger described as the “epitome of the existential crisis the building had been mired in since its inception.”

Then came the coronavirus pandemic, further upending the commercial real estate market

‘Brand new building’

In 2021, Hurricane Ida’s winds dealt a devastating blow to the development, leaving “zero shell” on the building, according to Berger,

conference to announce the dead zone findings. “That can always change. But as I mentioned earlier, states soon will have been awarded final Gulf hypoxia program grants totaling $4.3 million.”

The area of low oxygen can cause fish, shrimp and other marine life to flee or die. It can also affect fish diets, reproduction and growth.

Beyond the implications on marine life in general, the dead zone also affects Louisiana fisheries, particularly the shrimping industry

‘Most productive fisheries’

The nutrient pollution leads to algae growth When the algae dies and decomposes, it uses up the water’s oxygen.

Measuring the dead zone was pioneered by scientists based at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and LSU, and those institutions still play a lead role in the research.

Cassandra Glaspie, of both LSU and the consortium, which researches coastal and marine systems, on Thursday reported the findings from those organizations’ annual cruise survey from July 2025 to measure the dead zone. This year, it measured 4,402 square miles, or about 90% the size of Connecticut and about seven times the size of Lake Pontchartrain. It remains far above the 2035

damaging all its windows and depositing a portion of its roof at the intersection of Decatur and Toulouse streets. Four years later, a series of multimillion-dollar repairs, improvements and buildouts are nearing their completion.

“We took the plunge and renovated the entire building, put a new roof on it, an entirely new envelope, new hurricane impact glass windows, new HVAC, new terraces that wrap around the building,” he said “It really is, in many ways, a complete brand new building.”

After committing to the work necessary to maintain the structure’s integrity its owners decided they didn’t want to pair its brandnew exterior with dated, 1980s-era interior finishes.

The overhaul and upgrade paved the way for the center to retain its existing tenants and attract new ones.

Among those tenants is Messina’s Catering. It had signed a lease to take over the former Pat O’s on

goal of around 1,900 square miles.

Glaspie noted that the dead zone “makes the seafloor in that region uninhabitable for fish and shellfish. And then this, of course, impacts one of our nation’s most productive fisheries.”

Besides the dead zone west of the river, new research is beginning to understand a similar phenomenon east of the river, causing major concerns for the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Findings on the size of this year’s dead zone in that area are expected to be reported next week.

Much of the nutrients flowing down the Mississippi come from fertilizer and animal waste from farms in the country’s Midwest, though there are other sources as well, including sewage and storm runoff. A task force including the federal government and states along the Mississippi has been seeking to address the issue, and some farms have adopted measures to try to limit nutrient runoff into the river

Those include conservation practices such as two-stage ditches that can function as wetlands that absorb nutrients and encouraging the use of cover crops.

‘Pretty shocking to us’

Gretchen Oelsner, of the U.S. Geological Survey, said preliminary data from May showed nitro-

the River space on the third floor of the Millhouse just days before the hurricane hit. But the ensuing negotiations with the building’s insurers and subsequent repairs put its plans on hold for more than two years.

This year, Messina’s has started hosting events at their new event venue, dubbed The Misi, on the building’s third floor The fourth floor is set to open in late October

“That was always our dream to be downtown on the river,” said Stacey Messina, whose in-laws launched a local catering empire nearly four decades ago from the second floor of their Kenner restaurant. “We couldn’t believe that this opportunity came to us.”

The venue, which opened in late 2024, has been popular among corporate and convention clients, who are drawn to its views of the river and bridge.

“Conventions come in town and they don’t want to be in their hotel,” Messina said. “They’re al-

gen in the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers was 24% below the long-term average, though phosphorus was around 31% above But R. Eugene Turner, another LSU scientist who has closely studied the dead zone, said those figures were a “misdirection.”

He said nitrogen in the Mississippi has declined by 4% at most since a hypoxia action plan was adopted in 2001. The number cited by USGS is anchored in a baseline set in the 1980s, he said.

Turner also argued the size of the dead zone being somewhat less than predicted for this year likely had more to do with the Gulf being particularly warm, and said the modeling used for the predictions may not have sufficiently accounted for it. The measured size did, however, fall within the range of uncertainty for such estimates.

Warmer waters can limit the size of certain types of plankton, which contribute to the dead zone.

Glaspie highlighted the especially warm waters in her presentation, saying that surface temperatures were “extremely high” at up to 97 degrees — around the temperature of the human body

“So we basically had human body temperature water at some of those locations out in the Gulf,” she said. “That was pretty shocking to us.”

Studies have identified a combi-

ways looking to go outside of the hotel for some unique event at a unique venue.”

Another new tenant is community radio station WWOZ-FM, which made the building its permanent home in 2023 after a controversial move from the French Market. It now occupies the building’s fifth floor

Two spaces remain available for lease — a restaurant space on the ground floor and the 7,500-squarefoot former food court on the second floor The building’s owners hope to have new tenants in place by the 2026 French Quarter Festival.

Events, bachelorette parties

The building’s next addition is the Museum of Illusions, a chain of experiential entertainment venues where guests can experience perception-shifting exhibits of mirrors, holograms and visual puzzles.

The company recently secured permits to carry out more than $1.5 million worth of renovations on nearly 10,000 square feet on the building’s second floor where it is slated to open in mid-October

“Generally, we have around 80 different exhibits within the museum,” spokesperson Pien Koopman said.

Some of the illusions are installed at all locations of the museum, which began in Croatia a decade ago and has grown to more than 60 locations. But each one has a few exhibits specific to its town.

The Jax Brewery location will include a “reversed room,” inspired by Preservation Hall, offering gravity-defying photo opportunities and an optical illusion that makes a two-dimensional version of a Bourbon Street facade appear three-dimensional.

Koopman said the museums are popular for corporate events, team-building and bachelorette parties.

“Especially when you do it with colleagues,” she said. “And you maybe you don’t have that much to say — or you just kind of want to do your own thing once you get into the museum, you just become like a kid again.”

Email Jonah Meadows at jonah. meadows@theadvocate.com.

nation of cyclical factors and climate change for the rapidly warming Gulf.

Nancy Rabalais, the LSU professor who began carrying out dead zone measuring cruises in 1985, noted the five-year dead zone average remained 4,440 square miles, which is more than twice the 2035 target.

Describing this year’s size, Rabalais called it “average, but still large.”

Environmental group Healthy Gulf also noted the warm waters and said the 2035 goal seemed virtually impossible to attain.

“It would take $2.7 billion annually to meet the task force goal, utilizing current conservation practices,” Matt Rota, the group’s senior policy director, said in a statement.

“We need to understand that unless we fundamentally change how we address this pollution from farming practices to federal and state policies, there is no way we will meet the 2035 goal. If we don’t reach this goal, our fisherfolk, coastal communities and Gulf ecosystem will continue to suffer.”

Email Mike Smith at msmith@ theadvocate.com. His work is supported with a grant from the Walton Family Foundation, administered by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation.

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RTA to update streetcar system

Plan prompted by disability lawsuit

BY JONI HESS Staff writer

on the St. Charles line.

Plagued by lawsuits, increasing vehicle crashes and a decline in annual streetcar riders last year, the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority has embarked on a study aimed at improving the city’s iconic 185-year-old streetcar system. The Streetcar Modernization Master Plan is expected to cost $1.2 million, based on the proposal by Metairie-based HDR Engineering, which the RTA Board of Commissioners approved in June RTA officials say it will help ensure streetcars are universally accessible to people with disabilities, improve travel times and address safety incidents after 69 crashes last year, a significant rise from 22 the previous year

Council considers Magnolia Water resolution

Parish

BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer

A private water utility company that operates across St. Tammany Parish has recently come under scrutiny over its

Vuori, Rowan and Garage to open in Lakeside

Stores join as mall’s newest retailers

BY COURTNEY LUCIUS Staff writer

Vuori sells high-end activewear like running shorts and joggers for men and women. The brand has a collaboration with Dunne, a former LSU All-American gymnast and social media influencer, and college football standout Arch Manning. Also opening soon in Lakeside Mall are Rowan, a chain of earpiercing studios, and Garage, a

The plan was prompted by a 2023 federal lawsuit over wheelchair access on the St Charles Avenue line where only some stops were universally accessible The suit is similar

to another Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit the city settled over not having wheelchair-accessible sidewalks with curb ramps. The RTA agreed to a consent judgment, ratified this year in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, which involves meeting a list of demands that includes completing an engineering feasibility study for fully ADA-accessible streetcars

But now, the transportation agency is creating a larger master plan for its streetcars that CEO Lona Edwards Hankins said also aims to minimize insurance costs that have mounted from lawsuit settlements over the past decade.

The family of a wheelchair-bound 7-year-old boy filed suit against the RTA after they waited over an hour in July 2023 for an

accessible streetcar They said they were denied access by a driver who couldn’t deploy a wheelchair lift because the stop wasn’t one of the 12 designated ADA-accessible stops on the St. Charles line, which has over 100 stops in

HONORING ARMSTRONG

ABOVE: A spirited brass band parade makes its way to the New Orleans Jazz Museum on Sunday, the final day of the 25th annual Satchmo SummerFest celebrating all things Louis Armstrong. The day began on a spiritual note with a Mass at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Treme followed by the parade. Armstrong’s 124th birthday is Monday.

LEFT: Norman ‘Boogie’ Thomas marches with the Zulu Steppers

Two new officers to lead N.O. Salvation

Couple oversees program that serves the community

BY COURTNEY LUCIUS Staff writer

While many may only associate The Salvation Army with its red buckets and handheld bells at Christmastime, the evangelical Christian organization has served New Orleans since 1866 and now has two new officers. Majors Dwayne and Marion Durham have deep family ties to the organization, which operates thrift stores and provides housing, disaster relief and other services to the area.

“One of the first things people say is there’s a lot of need in New Orleans. It’s a great place, great people, and that’s one of the things we’ve seen,” Dwayne Durham said. The Athens, Georgia, natives recently started their 29th year as Salvation Army officers. Described by the Durhams as a “calling from God,” the role of officer includes juggling the responsibilities of a teacher, social worker, marketing manager, administrator and pastor “I was telling our advisory board last week that I’m just a sponge soaking up everything that I can about New Orleans,” Marion Durham said. “(I’m) just trying to understand the New Orleans of today because my dad will say the

New Orleans of today is not the New Orleans I grew up in.”

The Durhams are “lifelong Salvationists,” and Marion Durham’s family has belonged to the nonprofit for five generations. Her grandparents, Lt. Cols. Harry and Ina Ward, led the Salvation Army of Louisiana and Arkansas for 12 years. During their tenure, they helped build the church that the couple are responsible for today As officers, the Durhams are both ordained ministers able to perform marriage services, lead funeral services and preach. They also oversee the Salvation Army program and staff, fundraise for programs and help wherever needed. The Durhams manage 30 staff members between the church, the administrative

Army

building and the Center of Hope, an overnight emergency shelter that provides physical and mental

Hahnville man accused of vandalizing graves

BY MISSY WILKINSON Staff writer

A Hahnville man was arrested Thursday after authorities say he damaged gravesites at St. Charles Cemetery in Luling on two consecutive days.

John Brignac Jr., 36, was booked into the Nelson Coleman Correctional Center on six counts of desecration of graves and criminal trespass, the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Saturday Deputies responded to a report of a suspicious person at the cemetery on Thursday, where they found multiple graves had been tampered with or vandalized. Detectives determined the same man had also ravaged graves on Wednesday

“This is very upsetting for the families of loved ones buried there. It’s a sacred place,” Sgt. Jenni Barrette said in a statement. “We appreciate our deputies and detectives who quickly arrested this individual.”

LAKESIDE

Continued from page 1B

women’s clothing store similar to Forever 21. Rowan already has a location on Magazine Street in New Orleans, and the new store will be between Kendra Scott and Psycho Bunny Garage will be next to Victoria’s Secret.

Lakeside Shopping Center has already had a busy year, after two other new stores opened and it hosted the Jefferson Parish Bicentennial Ball. Vuori adds to the growing number of athleticwear stores in the mall, joining Alo, Athleta and Lululemon.

California-based athleisure-wear brand Alo opened in the spring, and it’s the brand’s first location on the Gulf Coast. Mango, a Spanish fashion retailer, also opened earlier this year All three new stores are set to open by late fall 2025.

MAGNOLIA

Continued from page 1B

sponsored by council member Arthur Laughlin, says. Central States Water Resources buys failing private water and wastewater systems across the country and rehabilitates them. With its spread across the parish — as of June the company served 62,000 customers in St. Tammany, with 30 water systems and 28 sewer systems — Laughlin’s resolution prompted strong reactions from Par-

SALVATION

Continued from page 1B

health services, housing, food and other support to help people get back on their feet.

“We see the needs, and we see our role in meeting some of those needs We can’t meet all of them; that’s why we have the facility,” Dwayne Durham said.

The Center of Hope is also home to the organization’s Next Chapter program, which focuses on helping homeless and housing-insecure young adults by giving them meals, shelter and help with professional development. Tyrone Rogers, Next Chapter Program manager, said that this is a program about “potential.”

“We give accountability and the kind of helping hand, shall I say, and kind of get them where they’re supposed to be, whether it’s with filling out the college applications, applying for

STREETCAR

Continued from page 1B

lifts, the lawsuit said, and the Le Pass app did not specify which streetcars operating at any given time were ADA-accessible

As part of the lawsuit settlement, the RTA must:

n Make all St. Charles streetcar stops ADA-compliant by Aug 30, 2028;

n Ensure every streetcar has a wheelchair lift;

n Bring three out-of-service streetcars back online by July 31, 2026;

n Complete a feasibility study to make the entire fleet ADAaccessible by July 2026;

n And ensure the Le Pass app provides real-time locations of all streetcars and includes those that are ADA-accessible.

n Failure to meet deadlines could bring a fine of $100 a day and additional court action, including paying for an independent monitor

n In its proposal, HDR Engineering said it has helped modernize streetcar systems in Tampa, Florida; Atlanta; Orange County, California; Kansas City, Missouri; Washington, D.C.; Tucson, Arizona; and Philadelphia

n In addition to improving accessibility, some possibilities for the firm’s modernization sugges-

ish Council members at a meeting in July “It’s putting the council on record saying, ‘We’re aware you don’t deliver quality product,’ ” council member Rick Smith said of the resolution. He said he had received complaints about water quality from constituents served by Magnolia.

Other council members, such as Martha Cazaubon, questioned the scope of the resolution, as well as its legality The council’s attorney, Emily Couvillon, did not seem especially concerned about its legal-

grants and scholarships or getting those workforce programs,” Rogers said Jacqueline Bomilla, a student at Delgado Community College and a participant of the Next Chapter program, said she was nearly homeless when she was accepted, but the program changed her life.

“Once I got into the shelter and I found out about the program, it was like, honestly an answer to a lot of prayers I had because I always wanted to return to school, and they offered this opportunity,” Bomilla said.

The Salvation Army also offers programs for younger kids Their B+ ESL after-school program helps children learn English as a second language. They have an overnight summer camp in New Orleans with scholarship opportunities and a summer camp for disadvantaged youth in Lexington, Mississippi.

Despite its work in communities across the country, The Salvation Army

tions include:

n Providing an in-person payment option other than to the streetcar operator, such as having staff at certain stops;

n Providing real-time arrival estimates at stops and on the app, instead of a printed schedule;

n Decreasing the number of stops on the St. Charles Avenue line;

n And better coordination or priority at city traffic signals.

Service disruptions

At a recent City Council committee meeting, Hankins said the RTA wants to improve access for everyone.

“It’s moms with strollers our elderly who are having challenges getting on the streetcar,” she said.

At the meeting, RTA officials gave updates on its latest ridership numbers and projects. RTA records show last year’s boardings, which are the number of times people boarded a streetcar, fell by about 1.5 million from the previous year, rivaling numbers seen during the pandemic in 2020.

Hankins told council members that the decline was caused by citywide infrastructure projects that disrupted streetcar service.

For example, after five years offline, RTA brought its popular Rampart-Canal Street line back

ity “It is a resolution. It has no force of law,” she noted. Some residents at the Belair subdivision near Slidell, which is served by Magnolia, said they have experienced brown and smelly water They have also complained of more boil advisories, inadequate communication and a tripling in monthly bills since the company took over At a tense meeting in Slidell in December, the company’s CEO, Josiah Cox, said the higher water bills paid for needed infrastructure upgrades, such the $4 million upgrade to

also has been criticized for alleged discrimination against the LGBTQ community, which has a large population in New Orleans. In response to the controversy, Marion Durham said the Salvation Army never discriminates and loves everyone.

The Salvation Army New Orleans Citadel Corps, or church, is at 4530 S. Claiborne Ave., New Orleans. The Center of Hope is at 4500 S. Claiborne Ave.

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to service at the end of 2024, only to pull it months later after construction crews at the Hard Rock demolition site damaged wiring to the streetcar’s traffic signals. It is now closed again as of Aug. 1 because of construction work being conducted by the Sewerage & Water Board at Rampart and Kerlerec streets.

Also, a portion of the St. Charles line shut down for weeks for a ground repaving project, and RTA suspended service along the UPT-Riverfront line in the French Quarter and Central Business District after vandalism to the agency’s riverfront substation required $150,000 in emergency repairs.

Hankins said low rider numbers were also the result of RTA shifting its focus toward improving bus service, which saw 9.7 million boardings in 2024 — a million more than in 2023 and near the pre-pandemic high of over 10 million riders in 2017.

In the past three years, Hankins said RTA also has amassed millions in federal grants for a new downtown transit center to replace its aging bus fleet, and the ongoing systemwide redesign of bus routes and schedules, dubbed New Links.

While New Links drew criticism from riders over a lack of bus signage and lengthy wait times, annual bus ridership rose

the water system in Eden Isles that the company completed in June 2024. The company has said the higher frequency of boil advisories reflects its commitment to issue advisories whenever they are required.

“The systems in St. Tammany are in poor condition and have been for a long time,” said Greg Buisson, a spokesperson for Magnolia. He said the company plans to install a new well for the Meadows water system, which serves the Belair subdivision, and also add a communications

to pre-pandemic numbers last year, RTA records show

Safety challenges

Despite reduced streetcar service last year, there were 69 crashes with vehicles, compared to 22 in 2023, according to federal and local transit data.

One crash went viral on social media last March after two RTA vehicles, a streetcar and a bus, collided on St. Charles Avenue. RTA officials have said that drivers often fail to yield to the notoriously slow streetcars, which average 5.7 mph.

RTA spokesperson Zach Stanfill said the agency is working with the city to implement systemwide improvements such as better signage, clearer roadway markings and public education about safely sharing the road with streetcars. By the end of last year, RTA updated 1,400 existing signs, according to the agency’s annual report, and is now in the process of installing new signage and replacing missing poles.

In a statement, Stanfill said they plan to present final modernization plans to the RTA Board for consideration by fall 2026.

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

person focused on St. Tammany As for Laughlin’s resolution, Buisson said, “The more people that Magnolia brings online, the lower people’s bills go,” predicting that the costs will get spread across more users.

Laughlin said he was surprised by the pushback from some Parish Council members to his resolution.

Laughlin said in July he met with a representative from Magnolia Water as well as Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta, who represents St. Tammany Skrmetta’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Parish Council will consider the resolution at its meeting on Thursday

Email Willie Swett at willie.swett@theadvocate. com.

“I think we need to sound the alarm with this company,” he said. A group of St. Tammany residents along with Laughlin filed documents with the Public Service Commission in June to intervene in Magnolia Water’s recent rate adjustment request.

NewOrleans Area Deaths

Cook Jr., William Harris,Steven Lowe,Rufus Sauter,Carolyn NewOrleans

Charbonnet

Lowe,Rufus Greenwood

Cook Jr., William

Lake Lawn Metairie

Sauter,Carolyn

Obituaries

Cook Jr., William Keith'Bill'

WilliamKeith Cook Jr., Bill, alifelongresidentof St. BernardParish, passed awaypeacefullyonThurs‐day,July31, 2025, at the age of 86. Born on January 18, 1939, in NewOrleans,he was adevoted husband, father, grandfather, brother,and friend.Heis survivedbyhis best girl and loving wife of 51 years, Darlene AncarCook,and their children:Billy Cook, Tanya Cook (Brandon) TraceeDazet (Henri), and his daughter/granddaugh‐ter MelonieMatthews(Jer‐juan).Hewas theproud grandfather of Gabby, Cloie,Robby,Seth, Lilee, Skylar,Jaron,Sophia, Jo‐vanni,Jesse,Sean, and Megan.Healsoleavesbe‐hindhis brother, Donald Giessler (Hazel), along withmanybeloved nieces and nephewswho cher‐ished himdeeply.Bill learned thecraft of car‐pentryfromhis father at the young ageof16. Atrue old-school carpenter, he built beautifulhomes throughoutOld Metairie UptownNew Orleans, St Bernard Parish,and be‐yond. He wasa manwho could buildanything— someone who sawbeauty inwood,transformingraw elementsintosomething lasting andmeaningful. He was aman of remarkable character—honest, kind, hardworking,and thekind ofpersonwho nevermet a stranger. He checkedevery box:bestdad,besthus‐band, best PawPaw,best brother-in-law, best son-inlaw, best father-in-law, and

best uncle.Heenjoyed the simplepleasures of life especially huntingand fishing—buthis greatest joy waswatchinghis grandchildren grow up.His strength, determination, and youthful will to live were unmatched. In his finaldays, he proudly passedthe torchtohis son and sons-in-law, knowing thatthe same strength values, andlovefor family would carryonthrough them. He wasadmired im‐mensely by hisbroth‐ers/sisters-in-law, andwill belovinglyremembered for hisunselfishness,gen‐tle spirit,and thelovehe sofreelygavetoeachof them. He wasprecededin death by hisparents WilliamKeith Cook Sr.and Lucille DrewsCook;his sis‐ters, Henrietta(Etta), Joyce Scramuzza,and Helen Cook;his son, DavidCook Sr.,and grandson,David Cook Jr.Bill’slegacyisone oflove, integrity, crafts‐manship,and quiet strength. Hisimpactwillbe feltfor generations through thehomes he built and thelives he touched. Relatives andfriends are invited to attend services onWednesday,August6, 2025, at Greenwood Funeral Home, 5190 CanalBlvd. New Orleans, LA.Visitation willbegin at 11:00a.m fol‐lowed by a FuneralMassat 1:00p.m.Burialwilltake place immediatelyfollow‐ing theservice.Wealsoin‐vite youtoshare your thoughts, fond memories and condolencesonlineat www.greenwoodfh.com

Your shared memories will helpuscelebrate William’s lifeand keep hismemory alive

Steven Michael Harris,a resident of Mandeville, Louisiana,born on December 2, 1953, passed awayonFriday,August 1, 2025,atthe ageof71. Steven was born in New Orleans,Louisiana.He movedtoBaton Rouge as a child and graduatedfrom CatholicHigh School in 1971.Steve attended Louisiana State University, wherehestudied chemistry and accounting. He began working with personal computers in the 1970's, helping smallcompanieswith theirbookkeeping. Mostofhis career was spent in the insurance industry,where he eventually becameChief Financial Officer. He had alifelong

love of music, playing clarinetinhighschooland later playing piano and guitar. He was aquick learner and amember of Mensa. Stevealso enjoyed bowling andwatching LSUfootball and baseball games. He had apassion forgenealogy research and travel. Steveissurvivedbyhis sisters,Brenda Egerton (Rex),Donna Pounds (Charlie),and Kathleen Sturgeon (Tim); brother RichardHarris; numerous nieces and nephews; and specialfriends, Tricia and Nicholas. He is preceded in death by his parents, John Rushee Harrisand Joan Fischer Harris; brother, John Rushee Harris, II; niece, Kristin Egerton;and special friends, Rose and Justin. Visitation willtake place at Resthaven Funeral Home on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, beginning at 9:30 AM until services at 11:30 AM. Burial to follow at Resthaven Gardens of Memory. In lieu of flowers, donations can be madeto theAmerican Heart Association. Family and friends may signthe online guestbookorleave apersonal notetothe family at www.resthavenbatonroug e.com.

RufusLowe, age77, passedawaypeacefully on Tuesday,July29, 2025 with his daughter by hisside. Hewas born on August 5, 1947 in Franklinton, LA to the late BufusWarrenand WedaLowe. Belovedfather ofAaron Lowe (Tiffany),Dr. AngelaHall(Calvin), Dar‐ren Peters,the late Ronald Petersand BrianLowe. Beloved brotherofJoyce Carriere, DorothyMartin and Felton Lowe,the late Gilda andLionelLowe. Also survivedbya host of grandchildren,greatgrandchildren,other rela‐tives andfriends.Rufus was dedicatedtohis ca‐reer of drivingand running his ownbusinessfor sev‐eraldecades.Hewas an avidfan of football.Inhis spare time,heenjoyed watchingwesternsand spendingtimewithhis familyand friends. A memorialservice honoring the life andlegacyofthe lateRufus Lowe will be heldinthe Chapel of Char‐bonnetLabat GlapionFu‐neral Home,1615 St.Philip Street,New Orleans, LA

70116 on Wednesday, Au‐gust6,2025 at 12 noon.In honoringMr. Lowe's re‐quest,hewillbecremated and therewillbenoview‐ing or visitation.Please signonlineguestbook at www.charbonnetfuneralho me.com. Charbonnet Labat Glapion,Directors (504)581-4411

Sauter, Carolyn Kuepferle

Carolyn Kuepferle

Sauter passed away on July 30, 2025 at 91 years of age. She wasborninNew Orleans, LA on April 26, 1934. She wasa parishioner of Mary Queen of Peace in Mandeville, LA and loved to spend time with her family,children, grandchildren,and greatgrandchildren.She also enjoyedplantingflowers, herbsand fig trees. When not in the garden or visiting with family,she liked to sew and collect postage stamps. She volunteered at her children's grammar school and taught Catholic catechism.Carolynispreceded in death by her husband of 43 years,Edward Richard Sauter, Sr; par-

ents, Elvera Bertha Laumann and Emile Paul Kuepferle,Sr.;sister, Elvera Kuepferle Youngblood (Louis); and grandchild,Jordan Bertucci. Sheissurvived by her daughter, Carolyn SauterBertucci(Mark); sons, EdwardSauter,Jr. (Julia), Michael Sauter (Karen),and GeraldSauter (Charlene);sister, Janet Kuepferle Bordes(Louis, deceased); brother, Emile Kuepferle,Jr. (Paulette); grandchildren, Heather SauterSchubert(Ross), Ryan Bertucci(Olivia), Andrew Sauter(Sarah), Brandon Sauter(Giselle) Adam Sauter(Bushra), MatthewBertucci, Nicholas Bertucci, and

Helaine Sauter; and greatgrandchildren, Max Schubert, IrisBertucci, Audrey Sauter, andCodi Smith. The services will be on Wednesday, August 6, 2025 at Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church, 1501 WCauseway Approach, Mandeville, LA 70471. The visitation will beginat10:30 a.m. until the mass at 12:00 p.m. The interment will followatLake LawnParkMausoleum, 5454 Pontchartrain Blvd. New Orleans, LA 70124. Anyone wishing to donate in lieuofsending flowers can donate to St. Jude Children'sHospital.

Immigration action shatters church community

AbilioDeLeon, Angel DeLeon andAbner Valasquez are names of longtime members of St. Anthony of Padua. Abilio and Abner came here after Katrina to help rebuild ourparish and city

Unfortunately,their names and contributions do notseem as important as alabel: illegals. On June 12, they and their cousin, Ever Valasquez, were arrested and detained by U.S. ICEagents in Lafayette for doing what they have done since arriving here: working. None has acriminal record. Angel has already been deported.

Our church community is devastated. We have seen our family of faith torn apart. We do not discriminate between those born here and those who came for a better life. We are allborninto one faith in Christ.

The Catholic Church recognizes three principles of immigration. First, people have the right to migrate to sustain their lives andthose of their families. This is at the heart of why our parishioners came here

The Church also recognizes that acountry has the right to regulate its borders. However that must be weighted by the third principle, which says a country must regulate itsborders with justice and mercy

Our parishioners are not experiencing mercy at this time. It remains to be seen if they will experience justice.

The current practices of ICE do not reflect the values of scripture, the traditions of the faith or the historical practiceofthis nation.

This grave issue transcends partisan politics. Recently, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise,a faithful Catholic, noted that Congress needs to change immigration laws regarding undocumented immigrants without criminal records.

Iimplore faithleaders and faithful everywhere to contact elected officials. Let themknow that the immigrants arrested in Lafayette and so many others are part of your family: your family in Christ. THE REV. AUGUSTINE DeARMOND Metairie

YOUR VIEWS

Second Harvest Food Bank volunteers prepare meals at 700 Edwards Ave., in NewOrleans on May2,2024.

Goodbye, with gratitude, to Second Harvest supporters

It is with afull heart that Iannounce thatI will take the reins as CEO of the Community Food BankofSouthern Arizona on Aug. 4. Nineteen years ago, when Iwas thinking about howbest Second Harvest could serve southLouisiana in the wake of the devastation left by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Ilooked for inspiration in other places. Tucson was ahead of other food banks; it was deeply rooted in communitypartnerships, running farmers’ markets, anonprofit grocery store, afarm and akitchen program long before other food banks. It feels good to pay forward the debt their vision inspired in Second Harvest’s work,especially at this challenging timefor all food banks.

Second Harvest has been so proud to be anonpartisan organization, supportedby every member of our federal delegation,

theadministration and our state andlocal leaders. When the administration stopped all discretionary funding at USDA, food banks immediately lost half of the USDA food that madeupathird of their total distribution, and farmers left crops to rot in the fields. The incredible program helping local disadvantaged farmers, as well as the nutrition education program, was also ended.

The mostinnovative food banks are thinking through how to best serve in this new reality.Itwill take all our stakeholders —the public sector,the for-profit supporters and theindividuals and foundations whovolunteer and donate to come together,but Ihave absolute trust that we will find solutions, and Ilook forward to engaging in the work again.

While my heart is full, Iwill also be leaving apart of it here. Thank you to this communityIlove, and which has given me so much. Pleasecall on me if Ican ever be of service.

NATALIEJAYROE formerCEO,Second Harvest

Compelling case forschoolchoice

ImagineLouisiana passed alaw forcingyou to see only theclosest doctor —no matterthe quality.Imagine being told that, because you arealow-income family,you can only buygroceries at one governmentapproved store. Wealthier families remain free to shop anywherethey like.

or religious. It puts parents back in charge, where they belong.

Downsize military basesto eliminate waste, invest in other priorities

Anew report waspublished by the global peace group World BEYONDWar,exposing the harm and scale of military bases worldwide. Of 1,247 foreign military bases in the world, the United States operates 877 bases across 95 countries and is rapidly adding more, not a single one of them asked forbythe U.S. public or the local “host” population.

Here in Louisiana, we have four of those 877 military bases, and having worked as amilitary subcontractor,I have seen the waste and misappropriations of congressional funding firsthand. Overall, military bases fuel the industrial warmachine, heighten tensions and provoke war-making. Bases occupy stolen Indigenous lands and cause massive environmental damage. Instead of spending billions on propped-up money pits that serve as launchpads forwars, our tax dollars should be redirected toward our community’sreal needs: housing, health care, green energy and education. In our state especially, these needs are woefully underfunded. We need to downsize and eliminate the glut on military base infrastructure that facilitates disastrous war-making and invest in alivable future instead. Existing military bases should be converted to useful purposes, like affordable housing and green energy facilities, creating jobs while benefiting our local community.Numerous studies have shownthat spending on domestic priorities vs. the same amount spent on the military would create substantially morejobs than these bases produce. This issue does not get enough coverage and has such wide-ranging effects that it warrants further public exposure and discussion. We deserve better as acountry ALEX WEINGARTEN Metairie

OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name and the writer’scity of residence.The Advocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address and phone 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 ALETTER SCAN HERE

Most Louisianans would be outraged and rightfully so. That is exactly how thecurrent public education system operates. In Louisiana today,most families lack access to educational choice. They cannot afford to opt out of thepublic school assigned by government zoning —often not even the closest school, assigned instead through decades-old school boundaries drawn by some bureaucrat. Wealthy families escape thesystem. Poor andmiddle-class families remain trapped. That is not fairness. That is amonopoly Changeiscoming. In 2024, theLouisiana Legislaturepassed agroundbreaking law: LA GATOR. Once fully funded, this program will allow every student in Louisianatoattend the school that is best for them —public, private

Irecently had surgery at alarge hospital in theNew Orleans area. The care Ireceived was excellent, and Iwant to thank the many doctors, nursesand other health care workerswho caredfor me. There is one person Iwant to thank whose name Idonot know.Itisthe person who donated theunit of blood that Ireceived the

We already make choices about our doctors, our groceries and our colleges. Why not theschool where our children spend 35 hours aweek, nine monthsayear during themost crucial phase of their life? Agood school can set achild up for success. Afailing school can set them back foryears. Somecritics argue that school choice is too expensive. Butthe numbers tell adifferent story

Louisianacurrently spends $14,822 per public school student,according to the U.S. Department of Education. Many of the state’stop-performing private schools operate at significantly lower cost:

n LakeCastle: approximately $5,000.

n Our Lady of the Lake (Mandeville): approximately $9,000.

n St.Margaret Mary (Slidell): approximately $8,000.

n St. Paul’sSchool (Covington): approximately $12,000.

DON GALLATY II Mandeville

day after mysurgery.Ihave donated blood myself in thepast and never thought much about it. Butitiswith profound gratitude that Ithank thedonor of my blood and all blood donors. Ithank God each day foryour generosity.

BARBARA HEBERT River Ridge

We cannolongerlook away from what Israel is doing in Gaza

Idonot understand how we as anationcan continue to support the actions of Israelagainst the Palestinian people,killing dozens anddozensand more every day in the shrinking spaces into which they’ve been driven, usually as the crowds gatherinhopes of securing water andfood Often, the reason given is that there areterrorists among them Occasionally,it’smore like “Oops, we’ll look into it.”

No more the noble nation of Israel,its current actions are those of apowerful bully,capable of great devastationwithout compassionorconcernfor the hundreds of innocenthuman beings they’re destroying.

JEAN WALL Baton Rouge

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

It’sscorching hotoutside and this lovable poochishaving ablast coolingdown. but it lookslikethe cool cats in the air conditioning have athing or twotosay about all this.

So, what’sgoing on in this cartoon? youtellme. Be witty,funny, crazy, absurd or snarky —just trytokeepitclean.There’s no limit on the number of entries.

The winning punchline will be lettered into the word balloon and run on Monday,Aug. 11 in our print editions and online.

In addition, the winner will receivea signed print of the cartoon along with acool winner’sT-shirt!

Some honorable mentions will alsobelisted. To enter,email your entries to cartooncontest@theadvocate.com.

DON’T FORGET!All entries must include your name, homeaddress andphone number.Cell numbers are best.

Thedeadline is midnight on Thursday,Aug.7. Have fun with this one, everyone!— Walt

I’mpickin’ up good vibrations/ She’s giving me excitations —The Beach Boys,1966

“WhenweAmericans are done with the English language,” wrote Finley PeterDunne(18671936), “it willlook as if it had been run over by amusical comedy.” Let’ssurvey some recent damage.

The cancellationofthe Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversionfrom Louisiana’s CoastalMasterPlan is adevastating setback for ourcoast, ourcommunities and ourfuture

its “iconic boardwalks.”Hulk Hogan, a professional wrestler,was, astoryon hisdeath said, iconic. Meaning he was somewhat famous and somewhat distinguishable from otherprofessional wrestlers, every one of whom strains to be very unique.

vibe shift”ofaconservative backlash against progressive overreaching.

The fifth-most misused word in what remains of the tattered language is “massive.” It is an adjective applied to anything big, even ifthe thing hasnomass. There cannot beamassive increase in consumer confidence. Similarly,itwould be wrong to say there is massive illiteracy in many uses of “massive.”

The fourth-most shopworn word is “unique. It is applied to any development that has happenedsincethe person misusing “unique” was in high school. As in, “There is unique polarization in America today,” ajudgment that cannot survive evenacursory reading about the1850s. Often themisuse is compounded by tacking “very”ontoit. Saying that something is “very unique” is saying that something merely unique is less so than something “veryunique,” with uniqueness varying bydegrees. The third-most gratingly misapplied word is “only,” but only in thephrase “one of the only.” As in, Mickey Mantle is one of theonly switch-hittersinthe Hall of Fame. One of the only is awordyway of avoiding “few.”

The second-most worn-out word in contemporary discourse is “iconic.” This adjective is, it seems, applicable to anything or anyone well-known in away differentfrom the way anything or anyoneelsehas become well-known.New Jersey urges tourists to come and enjoy

Today’smost promiscuously usedword is “vibe.” It probably is used so often by so many because trying to decipher its meaning is like trying to nail applesaucetosmoke. Having no fixed meaning, “vibe” cannotbeused incorrectly So,it resembles the phrase “social justice,” which includes anoun and amodifierthatdoes not intelligibly modify the noun. From the American EnterpriseInstitute: “Zohran Mamdani Wonthe Vibe War.”Vibes at war? Supporters of the New York mayoral candidate like “the ideaofmood.” City Journal on “Mamdani’s Vibes Campaign”: The candidate “didn’tjust run acampaign; he curated an experience,” blending “culture and politics into alifestyle brand” featuring “aspirational consumption,”whatever that is. Roll Call, which covers Capitol Hill: “Vibe Shift in House.”Somemembers ofCongress were changing their votes TheWall Street Journal: “Luxury BrandsAre Hit by aVibe Shift.” Wealthyshoppers are skimping. Maybe.The Financial Times:“Unapologetic brands lean into the vibe shift.” No more “quiet luxury,” more “maximalism, conspicuous consumption, opulence.” The New York Times: “Can Walmart Drop Its Discount Vibe?” National Review on “The Land Wherethe Vibe Doesn’tShift,” a.k.a. Ireland,whichhas mostly missed “the

ATimes obituary of aphotographer: “Marcia Resnick, Who Captured 1970s New York Vibe, Dies at 74.”A Times columnist asks: “Should YouBeAble to Copyright aVibe?” (“Should stealing someone’svibe be against the law?”) The Wall Street Journal: “‘Vibe Coding’ Arrives for Businesses.” This has something—the story is murky —todowith artificial intelligence. Shakespeare used 28,827 different words without resorting to “vibe.”He could have written that Lear gave off abad vibe while raging on the heath, and that Falstaff’s vibe was fun. But the Barddid as well as he could with the limited resources of the Elizabethan English he had.

Modernitymeans being constantly blindsided by progress. Most Americans sailed through grade school without the benefit of what some pupils can enjoy in third grade these days: classroom discussions about gender fluidity. Now Americanswho want to be journalistically literatemust master the taxonomy of the various vibes. Andpitythe senior citizens who began receiving Social Security payments beforerealizing that all their lives they have been living surrounded by people emitting vibes,and in vibesoaked situations. These seniorshave been radiating theirown vibes. They are like the startled character Jourdain in Moliere’splay “The Bourgeois Gentleman” who exclaimed: “MyGod! I’ve been speaking prose for over forty yearsand didn’teven know it.” Talk about excitations.

Email George Will at georgewill@washpost.com.

As the largest coastal restoration project in U.S. history,the MBSD was designedtorestore up to 27 square miles of vitalwetlands in the Barataria Basin, a regionsuffering fromsomeofthe highest land loss ratesinthe world. Its cancellationjeopardizesthe progress made over the past two decades to protect Louisiana’sworking coastand the communities that depend on it. The commercial, political andculturalcapitals of our state areparticularly vulnerable to the cancellation of this project

During my more than36 yearsrepresenting Louisiana in Congress, one of my proudest moments waswhenPresident George W.H. Bush signed into law legislationIsponsored, the CoastalWetlands Planning, Protection and RestorationAct (CWPPRA), commonly known as “The BreauxAct.”

Championed by politicians on both sidesofthe aisle in ourstate and in D.C., it passedbecause we all agreed scienceinformed policyisnot apartisanissue

The initialstudy that helped identify the conceptfor the MBSD was conducted using CWPPRA funding and allowed the state to begin research and to perform feasibility planning forthe project.Under the BreauxAct,federal dollars have been andcontinue to be provided for the state to address critical coastal issues by supporting projectsapproved in Louisiana’s CoastalMasterPlan.

In fact, the MBSD andthe sciencesupporting it have been studied and modeled for decades

The proposed alternative project, the Myrtle Grove diversion, has not been researched or modeledinover 15 years. It will direct only about25% of the sediment for land building thatthe MBSD would have brought in but will freshen the water of Barataria Baytoalmost the same level. This decrease in salinity is what opponents object to, whichboth plans would do at the same level. The otheralternatives proposed, dredging androck wall barriers, are short-term Band-Aids to the almost century-old destruction of ourwetlands brought about by riverlevees andindustrial abuse. Modelssuggest thatsea levelrise,saltwater intrusionand awarming planetwill submerge the newbarriers and dredge land within adecade.

Meanwhile, the coastal land that exists will erodefurtherwithout river sediment thatwould sustain and expand its current footprint.

The fact thatscientific research is not being consultedinthis cancellationis problematic.Add in the fact that community members and other experts have been left outofthe secret negotiations thatled to this decision and the result is astriking departure from the progress we’ve made both in substance and reputation.

Iurge this administrationtoreverse this cancellationbeforeit’stoo late John Breaux served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1972 until 1987 and the U.S. Senate from 1987 until 2005.

NewOrleans Forecast

SPORTS

ROOKIE RANKINGS

Alookathow Saints 2025 draftclass is faring 10 days into training camp

It will go downasone of the most important draft classes of the Mickey Loomis era. Thenine players Loomisand hisstaff selected in April could go along way in defining thedirection of the franchise. The Saints need to hit on some of these picks. We won’t be able to give atrueevaluation of this class until afew years down the road. But that doesn’tmean we can’t tell you what we have thought about theclass so far.

So here’saranking of thisyear’sdraft picks based on what we have seen after 10 days of training camp on Airline Drive.

1. Kelvin Banks: There’snoother player you would wanttosee at the top spot on this list morethan the tackle from theUniversity of Texas drafted withthe No.9 overall pick. The Saints needed to getthis pick right, and the early returns say they did. Banks’ one-on-one rep against Chris Rumph in the Saints first practice in padsdrew ravereviews on social media. Left tackle is the most importantposition on the line, and Banks has looked the part so far

“It’sbeen ahuge adjustment that Ihad to make, especially having to be technically sound every play,” Banks said. “Obviously

LSU’s O-line looksto be gold standard

Playerscreatetightly knit group, bond over food

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

New faces will define LSU’s offensive line in 2025.

After the departures of four three-year starters to the NFL, the Tigers enter the 2025 season witha newlook up front. But that hasn’tstopped the group from bonding as aunit.

“We’re the bombsquad. So we take each guy in as like they’vebeen here, like we learn about them,” redshirt sophomore Tyree Adams said. “Weknow everything about them.”

So how have they grownthis close so suddenly?

“Wegoeat almost every day,” Adams said. “We’re big guys, we’re fat. We love food.”

With so manynew faces in front of him, fifth-year senior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier has also recognized the importance of his bigger teammates getting closer as aunit.

Twoweeks before the start of preseason camp, Nussmeier took the offensive line, sophomore runningback CadenDurham andredshirtjuniorwidereceiver Aaron Anderson out to lunch at Walk-On’s.

“WewenttoWalk-On’sand spent$800,” Adamssaid. “Weran thebillupand it was amazing.”

Aclose-knit group on the line will be essential for LSU’sunit to pickupwhere it left

ä See LSU, page 4C

Rod Walker

nobody is going to be afinished product, so there’salot Iwantto work on anda lotIfeel like Ican do better at. But just me coming in here and giving100% of my all, Ifeel like that’sanother big step for me. Ifeel like I’vebeen doing pretty good so far,soI’m just making sure Istay focusedonthe little things.”

This time ayear ago, theoffensive linewas abig questionmark. Now it might be astrength. Banks hasalot to do with that.

2. DannyStutsman: The Saints haven’t hit on afourth-round draft pick since drafting defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson in 2019. Stutsman, the linebacker drafted out of Oklahoma, may endthat drought.He’sbeen impressive (including an interception) and may be abig part of the future at aposition where theSaintsneed to start developing talent. Demario Davis won’tplay forever

ä See WALKER, page 3C

Braves beat Reds to complete Speedway ClassicinBristol

Despiteweather delay, fans turn outfor historic game

BYTERESA M. WALKER Associated Press

BRISTOL, Tenn.— Arecordcrowdof91,032 fora regular-seasonMajor League Baseball gamegot to see all thepomp and pageantry with the MLB Speedway Classic before the rain washed out the game itself in the bottom of the first inning.

Fansreturning Sunday only wanted to watch theAtlanta Braves andCincinnati Redsplay ball. They enjoyed enough of star TimMcGraw andPitbull in therain that suspendedthe first MLB regular-season game in the state of Tennessee. “Wegot to see all of that (Saturday), so as long as we seegame today Ithink we’ll be good,” Cindy Lowe of Mount Airy,North Carolina, said before thegame. Craig Marcum agreed. He and his family, with three children, were ready to see baseball even if Marcum is the Reds’ fansur-

roundedbyrelativesrooting forthe Braves They had agood timeseeing McGrawand country singer Jake Owen. Sundaywas dry at Bristol Motor Speedway withovercastskies.The sunactually broke through in the ninth inning on what wound up aperfect day for baseball. The Braves trailed 1-0 when the gameresumed Sunday, andEli White hit two home runs leading Atlanta over the Reds 4-2. Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said it was ashamethe rain ruined abeautiful evening Saturday,though both teamscame through Sunday with agood gameand no complaints. “Kudos to all the fans who cameback,” Snitker said. “I mean after the weather and getting soaked and everything yesterday,it was great. Ithought it was agreat production. Youlook back, it’skind of cool to be a part of this.” Organizers also got to show off the fun planned during the game. Fans passedcar cutouts of the Reds and Braves for arace through the stands. Two

GOLF ROUNDUP

Yamashita wins Women’s British Open

The Associated Press

PORTHCAWL, Wales Miyu Ya-

mashita of Japan captured her first major title Sunday when she withstood a charge by Charley Hull by not making a bogey until the outcome of the Women’s British Open was no longer in doubt She closed with a 2-under 70 for a two-shot victory

Yamashita holed two big par putts on the back nine at Royal Porthcawl, the last one when Hull had closed to within one shot of the lead.

Her final test was the 401-yard 16th, one of the toughest on the course. Yamashita who turned 24 on Saturday, drilled her drive down the middle and found the green, nearly holing a 45-foot putt. That gave her a three-shot lead with two holes to play Her final act was a tap-in for par to finish on 11-under 277, and she raised both arms to celebrate. Yamashita wiped away tears as she headed to the scoring trailer

“To be part of such a moment in history is something very, very special,” Yamashita said through an interpreter at the trophy presentation Hull gave it her best shot. She started the final round three shots behind, made three birdies in a four-hole stretch to get into the mix and then holed a 20-foot birdie on the 14th to get within one shot of the lead.

Behind her on the course, Yamashita hit into a bunker off the tee at the par-5 13th, blasted out and still had a long way for her third, missing the green to the left She chipped weakly to 18 feet and buried the par putt.

She also poured in an 8-foot par putt to stay at 12 under, right after Hull got to 11 under The English star blinked first Hull didn’t get any help from the wind on her tee shot on the 16th which found a pot bunker and left her no chance of reaching the green. Her third shot bounded off the back of the green, and she had to make a 20-footer to escape with bogey Hull runner-up again

Hull bogeyed the 17th, and her chances were done. She closed with a 69 and finished as a runnerup in a major for the fourth time. Minami Katsu was never seriously in the mix, but her closing birdie gave her a 69 to tie for second.

“I felt pretty good about how I fought back over the weekend,” said Hull, who was 11 shots behind after two rounds.

“I don’t feel like I’ve actually

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By KIN CHEUNG

Miyu yamashita of Japan poses with her trophy after winning the Women’s British Open at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club on Sunday in Porthcawl, Wales.

mucked it up by mishitting any shots, which I think everybody can probably agree, you know what I mean? Like I played so solid.”

A Lim Kim, the 2020 U.S Women’s Open champion, hit wedge to 5 feet for birdie on the second hole to tie Yamashita for the lead. But she made a series of blunders, starting with a three-putt on the third hole, and fell back. She had six bogeys in her round of 73 and tied for fourth with Rio Takeda (71)

“I love the challenge because still now a little pain in my heart, but that is good motivation for me,” Kim said.

“So I’m going to keep working on it.”

Japan’s success

Four players from Japan now have won the past nine majors in women’s golf, and this was the second year there were two Japanese major champions.

Yamashita became a first-time winner on the LPGA Tour extending a streak in which there has not been a multiple winner through 20 tournaments to start the year

There also is likely a change in the world ranking Nelly Korda closed with a 75, and projections indicate she will fall to No. 2 behind Jeeno Thitikul. Korda had been No. 1 since March 2024. She tied for 36th and now has gone 14 tournaments without a win dating to last November

This would be the second time

Thitikul is No. 1 in the women’s world ranking. She also was No. 1 for two weeks in the fall of 2022.

Yamashita didn’t have the best birthday, at least inside the ropes, when she struggled off the tee and on the greens in a round of 74 that left her clinging to a one-shot lead. But she stayed on the range with her father until late into the evening, and she found a fix.

PGA

YOUNG WINS FIRST PGA TITLE AT WYNDHAM: In Greensboro, North Carolina, Cameron Young finally got his first PGA Tour victory Sunday after seven runner-up finishes, and he made it look easy He had five straight birdies early to build a nine-shot lead and coasted home to a 2-under 68 to win the Wyndham Championship by six shots. He became the 1,000th player to win a recognized PGA Tour event, dating to Willie Park in the 1860 British Open. It must have felt like it took Young 165 years to win as many chances as he has had since his rookie season in 2022.

“I’ve been waiting for it for a while,” Young said, his voice steady as tears welled in his eyes. “I never thought I’d be that emotional about it But it’s the end of my fourth season.

I’ve had my chances and I wasn’t going to let it get away from me.”

There was no doubting this one.

He followed those five straight birdies with nine straight pars, a pair of meaningless bogeys toward the end only cost him a chance at the tournament scoring record He finished at 22-under 258, tying the record held by J.T Poston (2019) and Henrik Stenson (2017).

“Where do I go? I’ve never done this before,” Young said when he walked off the 18th green. Mac Meissner won the B-flight. He shot 66 to finish alone in second, worth $893,800 and enough to move him to No. 86 in the FedEx Cup. He won’t be advancing to the postseason, but it gives him a huge boost for staying in the top 100 by November to keep his full card.

Auburn junior Jackson Koivun shot 67 and tied for fifth, getting him into the next PGA Tour event in September He has deferred his PGA Tour card from the accelerated PGA Tour University program until next year

The victory could not have come at a better time for Young, the 28-year-old New Yorker whose biggest goal this year was to be in uniform at Bethpage Black for the Ryder Cup.

The victory only moves him to No. 15 in the Ryder Cup standings, but he gets two more FedEx Cup playoff events to make his case and his power is an ideal fit at Bethpage Black, where in 2017 he became the first amateur to win the New York State Open.

“That team is a goal of many of us,” Young said “Obviously, I would love the chance to play I’ve got some more opportunities to earn my way on the team.”

There was plenty of drama at Sedgefield Country Club, but not at the top of the leaderboard.

Young had a five-shot lead and wobbled on the opening hole, making bogey But he poured in an 8-foot birdie putt on the next hole, the start of five straight birdies. Most telling was the third hole, when Nico Echavarria let out a yell and a fist pump when he made a birdie from just inside 30 feet. Young calmly responded with a 25-foot birdie putt and the rout was on.

The Wyndham Championship is the final tournament of the regular season that determined the top 70 in the FedEx Cup who advance to the lucrative postseason that starts next week.

Ultimately, only Chris Kirk moved into the top 70 with his tie for fifth, and Byeong Hun An (missed cut) was the only one to fall out.

U.S. women set medley relay record at worlds

BY STEPHEN WADE AP sportswriter

SINGAPORE The United States, which had a frustrating swim world championships, ended on a high note Sunday with a world record in the women’s 4x100 medley relay in the last event of the eightday championships The Americans swam a time of 3 minutes, 49.34 seconds, breaking their own old mark of 3:49.63 set a year ago in the Paris Olympics. The United States finished with nine gold medals and 29 overall, ahead of Australia with eight gold and 20 overall France and Canada were next in the goldmedal count with four gold medals. The 18-year-old Canadian star Summer McIntosh won all four golds.

The Americans battled a case of “acute gastroenteritis” picked up at a training camp in Thailand

The malady clearly affected the team’s up-and-down performances in Singapore

“This is the best way to end the meet,” Gretchen Walsh said. “And I feel like we have such a good opportunity when you have this stacked group of women closing it out on a relay like this

“We’re going to leave Singapore with a smile on our faces,” she added.

Regan Smith, Kate Douglass and Walsh swam the first three legs with Torri Huske taking the

anchor

The Americans had only five gold medals through six days, but won four in the last two as team health clearly improved.

Finke defends his team

American Bobby Finke, the Paris Olympic champion at 1,500 meters, took a bronze in that event on Sunday But he also had a message for critics back home.

They included former American swimmers Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte in a critical social media post.

Three-time Olympic gold-medalist Rowdy Gaines called for changes at USA Swimming, in an interview with The Associated Press. The governing body has been without a CEO for a year

“I’m proud of the USA team and what we’ve been able to accomplish despite all the people back at home saying whatever they want to say,” Finke said. “But you know, I’m proud of these boys. If someone’s angry, my DMs are open.”

“Do whatever you want,” he added. ”But you know I’m proud of the team and what we’ve been able to do here. It’s a big stepping point for the 2028 LA Olympics.”

Sunday’s closing day featured eight finals and victories for seven different teams.

But there were two clear stars throughout the week.

Leon Marchand of France left the worlds on Sunday with what he came for – two individual gold

medals.

McIntosh came away with four individual golds – one shy of her quest to win five Still, she is only the second woman at a world championships to win four individual golds. Her only blip was finishing third to American Katie Ledecky in the 800 freestyle on Saturday And 12-year-old Chinese Yu Zidi, in an astounding performance, finished fourth in all three of her individual races. She, however, did pick up a bronze medal in a relay, where she swam in the prelims but not in the final. She swam the 200 fly and both IM races.

Sunday’s results

Kliment Kolesnikov of the Neutral Athletes won the men’s 50 backstroke in 23.68 Kolesnikov holds the world record (23.55). Pieter Coetze of South Africa and Pavel Samusenko of the Neutral Athletes tied for silver (24.17).

Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania, the world record holder, claimed the 50 breaststroke (29.55) with silver for Tang Qianting of China (30.03) and bronze to Benedetta Pilato of Italy (30.14). Meg Harris of Australia took the women’s 50 free (24.02). Harris was also the silver medalist in the same event in the Paris Olympics. China claimed the next two places with Wu Qingfeng (24.26) taking silver and bronze for Cheng Yujie (24.28). Ahmed Jaouadi of Tunisia, win-

Lynx acquire guard

Carrington from Wings

WNBA-leading Minnesota acquired DiJonai Carrington in a trade Sunday from the Dallas Wings for Diamond Miller, Karlie Samuelson and the Lynx’s secondround pick in 2027.

Carrington averaged 10.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 20 games for the Wings, who acquired her from Connecticut in February as part of a four-team trade. This is the fifth WNBA season for the 5-foot-11 guard/forward.

Miller, the No. 2 overall pick by the Lynx in the draft two years ago, is averaging 4.1 points a game this season. Since scoring 12.1 points a game as a rookie in 2023, the forward from Maryland has averaged only 3.5 points in 47 games the past two seasons. Minnesota is 24-5 this season. The Wings are 8-21.

Raiders safety Johnson breaks fibula at practice

HENDERSON, Nev Raiders safety Lonnie Johnson broke his right leg in Las Vegas’ scrimmage on Saturday, a person with knowledge of the injury told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on Sunday on condition of anonymity because the specifics of the injury were not announced.

That person said more information was needed to determine how long Johnson, who fractured his fibula, would be sidelined. Johnson has been competing on the second team in practices, but has been with the starters when the Raiders have gone to nickel defenses. This is his seventh season in the NFL. Johnson signed as a free agent after playing last season in Carolina He started once for the Panthers and played in 15 games.

Osaka routs Sevastova 6-1, 6-0 in 49 minutes

MONTREAL Naomi Osaka advanced to the National Bank Open quarterfinals Sunday with the second-fastest victory of her career, routing Anastasija Sevastova 6-1, 6-0 in 49 minutes in windy conditions.

Osaka, the Japanese star who was once No. 1 in the world, had a 42-minute victory in a 2016 event in Brazilin a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Ana Sofia Sánchez.

Osaka reached the final eight of a WTA 1000 or Grand Slam event for the first time in 19 months. On Tuesday, she will face the winner of a match between fifth-seed Amanda Anisimova of the United States and 10th-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.

Sixth-seeded Madison Keys of the United States also advanced, topping 11th-seeded Karolina Muchova of Czechia 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

With starter Jackson out, Dolphins sign OL Ifedi

ner of the 800 free, added the 1,500 title on Sunday (14:34.41) with silver for Sven Schwarz of Germany (14:35.69) and bronze for American Finke (14:36.60). Marchand won the 400 IM but didn’t break his own world record. Marchand won in 4:04.73, just off the world mark he set two years ago in Fukuoka, Japan (4:02.50). Tomoyuki Matsushita of Japan took silver (4:08.32) with bronze for Ilia Borodin of the Neutral Athletes (4:09.16).

Marchand, earlier in the championships, shattered the 200 IM mark in 1:52.69. The old mark was 1:54.00 set 14 years ago by Lochte. McIntosh picked up her fourth gold medal, winning the 400 IM in 4:25.78. It was just off her world record of 4:23.65 set in June.

Jenna Forrester of Australia and Mio Narita of Japan tied for silver (4:33.26).

Although she won gold, McIntosh came up just short earlier in the meet in an attempt to break the 200-meter butterfly mark, perhaps the record she had been most intent on claiming. McIntosh also won gold in the 200 IM and the 400 freestyle. And she took bronze Saturday in the 800 freestyle, which went to Ledecky The Neutral Athletes won the men’s 4x100 medley relay (3:26.93), followed by France (3:27.96) and the United States (3:28.62). It was the second gold of the night for the Neutral Athletes.

MIAMIGARDENS,Fla.— Dolphins starting offensive tackle Austin Jackson will miss several weeks with a leg injury after being stepped on at practice but is expected to return by Miami’s season opener against the Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 7. Coach Mike McDaniel said the injury isn’t related to the knee injury that sidelined Jackson for the final eight games in 2024. Jackson was injured toward the end of practice Friday during an 11on-11 rep. He got up slowly after a play and that ended up being his last rep of the day

With the injury, the Dolphins signed veteran offensive lineman Germain Ifedi on Sunday Ifedi, who was a first-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks in the 2016 NFL draft, has 90 starts with Cleveland, Chicago and Seattle.

Rodman scores winning goal in return from injury

Trinity Rodman scored in stoppage time of her first game since April to give the Washington Spirit a 2-1 victory over the Portland Thorns in the National Women’s Soccer League on Sunday Rodman was on the bench to begin the game before entering to the roar of the crowd at Audi Field in the 76th minute. Rodman had not played since April 12 because of a nagging back issue. Rodman, who won a gold medal with the United States at the Olympics last summer buried her head in her hands and sobbed after the goal, her first for the Spirit since last Sept. 15.

The Spirit (8-4-2) moved into second place in the standings with the victory

Saints getlonglookatQBs in Sunday scrimmage

n Haener:19-of-26(60-85)

Billsmountinglistof injuries growsto15

BY JOHN WAWROW AP sportswriter

PITTSFORD,N.Y Buffalo Bills

coach Sean McDermott put aside his concernsover the team’s growing injury list, which now includes starting receiver Khalil Shakir,bysaying he has no choice but to moveforward in returning to training camp on Sunday McDermott followed the Bills day off by opening his pre-practice news conference listing 15 members of Buffalo’s 91-player roster as either being limited or not practicing. Shakir was amongthe latestadditions and listed weektoweek with ahigh ankle sprain after he washurt during theBills annual Red and Blue scrimmageattheir homestadium on Friday

Also injuredFridaywerereceiverJosh Palmer (groin), one of theteam’sprizedoffseason free agent additions, and linebacker Shaq Thompson (groin).

table forhis return.

“It’sgoing to take some time. He’sweek to week,” McDermott said of the first-round draft pick who was competing for astarting job opposite Christian Benford. “Here’sayoung player that is not only missing just the moving around, but also themental part of theexperienceyou getwith throughthe reps,” he added. “So there’snoway to avoid it, he’sgoingtobebehindwhenhecomes back.”

Linebacker DannyStutsman said defensive coordinator Brandon Staley apparentlytold his defense that they were goingto take “the war path” during Saturday’s defensive meeting. The first ninepractices of training camp were meant to build toward Sunday’screscendo, aroughly two-and-a-half hour scrimmage that featured some live contact and the closest thing to agame atmosphere yet. Every competitive portion of Sunday’spractice was off-script, meaning play callers Kellen Moore andStaley were callingplaysin game-like conditions. And perhaps because of that, we saw our clearest glimpse yet of where the quarterbacks stand in relation to one another: Which is to say they are all still bunched very close together Each of the three quarterbacks vying for the starting jobhad strong moments in Sunday’spractice, and all of them also had some concerning moments. Rookie Tyler Shough has clearlyimproved since the start of camp but is still playing abit slow at times. Second-year quarterback Spencer Rattler continues to play decisively while sometimes trusting his arm toomuch. Jake Haener clearly has an excellent handle of the offense but is the most physically limited of the bunch.

The Saints ran 126 plays from scrimmage during Sunday’speriod, and the overwhelming majority of them were passes. Here is how the numbers broke down (plus aquick note: There maybe some discrepancy betweenthese andother reporters’ numbers, because it is not always clear in practice when aplay is blown dead).

n Rattler: 16-of-26 (66-97 overall) n Shough: 26-of-40(59-94)

Continued from page1C

3.Quincy Riley: Also drafted in the fourth round, the cornerback out of Louisvillehas made some noise in practice.Hehas two interceptions, both against Spencer Rattler.He almost had athird one Sunday,but couldn’t quitekeep his feet in at the back of the end zone.

“He finds the football andattacks the football,” said head coach Kellen Moore.

WhileKool-AidMcKinstry,Alontae Taylor and Isaac Yiadom are getting the first-team reps at corner,Riley gives some much-neededdepth.

4.Tyler Shough: There are 90 players on the training camp roster Nonehave been under the microscope quite like Shough. Ideally, you’d want to see your secondround selection (No. 40 overall pick) higher on this list. Especially when it’sthe highest drafted quarterback by the Saints since Archie Manning in 1971. Many of us (myself included) projected Shough to be the Week 1starter But early on, Rattler holdsthe edge. Shough is stillmakingthe always tough adjustmentfrom collegetothe pros. He hashad some good moments, like his firstdrive in Sunday’spractice. But he’s also had some blunders,

Rattlerhandled most of the firstteam reps Sunday, but for the first time in training camp, the Saints rotatedShough in to take acouple serieswith the starters. Typically the Saints kept the quarterbacks lockedinwith the first-, second- or third-team units throughout the course of apractice.

And while it was not by any means astandout day for Shough, there were some notable positives to take away from Sunday’s practice.

When the rookiehas struggled so far in camp, it haseither been because of pressureinhis face or because he appears to be operating astep slow within therhythm of theoffense. Sunday,heopened practice by completing each of hiseight passes on atouchdown drive (theonlyone of the day by the offense).

Shough kept most of his passes short, most (if not all) traveling lessthan 10 yards pastthe line of scrimmage. But he was operating with good tempoand hitting receivers in stride. His touchdown came on arun-pass option play where he rolled right and tossed an easy completion to tight end Michael Jacobson in the flat.

He wasn’t able to keep that goingthroughout the whole practice. On asimilar typeofplay to histouchdown,Shough made an ill-advised throw back toward the middleof thefieldwhile rolling left and Nephi Sewell intercepted the pass in the endzone. There were also several instances where Shough went for the easycompletion rather than themore aggressive option on ahigh-low read —that maybeacoaching point, but it he has taken noticeably few shots downfield throughout camp. Shough wouldhave hada secondtouchdown pass on his final series, throwing abeautiful touch pass to tightend Seth Green in the endzoneover theunderneath coverage, butGreen dropped the pass.

Rattler’shigh moments have

like his interception to Nephi Sewell. It’sstill way too early to determine how good Shough will be. Butfor now,he’sright there in the middle of thepack of this Saints draft class.

5.Jonas Sanker: The safety position sure has changed since the end of last season. The Saints signed Justin Reid in free agency. Tyrann Mathieu retired. Then the Saints signed JulianBlackmon. Sanker athird-round pick out of Virginia, is known for hisphysical play Safeties don’tget to showcase their hard hitting in training camp, so the preseasonopener against the Chargerscan’tget here soon enough for Sanker.Itmay help him move up in theserankings. But so far,Sanker has shown anose forthe football. His versatilityon special teamsshould help him get plenty of playing time.

6.Vernon Broughton: The Saints heavily investedinbeefing up their defensive line this offseason. They brought some experienced players like Davon Godchaux andJonathan Bullard. They used athirdround draft pickonBroughton, a defensive tackle from theUniversity of Texas. It maybehardfor Broughtontocrack therotation on gameday,but there have been flashes ofhim adding depth.

7. Devin Neal: Outside of thequarterback battle, there is no competitionmoreintriguing than theone

pretty easily been thebest of the Saints’ quarterback trio through thestartofcamp, and there were morenice moments Sunday.He ripped apair of longer completionsnear thesidelines to Rashid Shaheed, bothofwhich set up field goals. His mobility has also been aplus in training camp, though it has sometimes been hard to separatefact from fiction when he takes off as defenders are not allowed to hit him. Would those be positive plays in alive environment?

ButRattler’strust in his ability sometimes getshim into trouble. He madeapair of turnoverworthy throws while trying to fit passes intotight windows Sunday, one of which was intercepted by camp star Kool-AidMcKinstry.

It took awhile for Haener to get on the field with the third team Sunday.When he finally did (on thesixth drive), he opened by completing his first 11 passes, the first five of which cameagainst thefirst-team defense. Haener also trustshis arm, but he has agood feel for when to take his chances. He ripped apass up the seam totight end MolikiMatavao on an RPO play,then dropped adeep pass in thebucket to Kevin Austin later on the drive that should have been caught Haener was also the onlyquarterback to lead ascoring drive during atwo-minute drill —one that was helped by apairofquestionable defensive pass interference calls. He showed nice touch on a sideline throw to Jacobson to convert athird-and-10 but also made a coupleofturnover-worthy throws wherehewas bailed out by areceiver making aplay on the ball. So every quarterback had high and low moments in Sunday’s practice, but the sample size was much larger than what the Saints had seen to this point. The first preseason game is looming, game prep will soon be underway,and it’s possible the Saints will soon trim theQB1 competition down to two players soon.

to seewho will be Alvin Kamara’s backup. It’s acrowded field that includes sixth-round pick Neal. We’ll get abetter gauge once the preseason games start. Dating back to his final season at the University of Kansas, Neal has placed an emphasis on picking up blitzes. It’s askillset thatcould help him climb in these rankings.

8.Moliki Matavao: Theseventh-round pick from UCLA hasn’treally taken advantage of the opportunitiesattight end. FosterMoreau and Taysom Hill are both sitting out of campwith injuries, and Dallin Holker retired. But mostofthe plays by tight ends have been made by Juwan Johnson, Jack Stoll and Michael Jacobson.

9. Fadil Diggs: TheSyracuse defensive end was the Saints’ last pick, also chosen in the seventh round. He just happens to play aloaded position that also has Chase Young, Carl Granderson, Cam Jordan and Rumph.

Moore’sthoughtsonwhat he’s seen so far from this draft class?

“High character,high football IQ,really tough players,” Moore said. “They’ve all played alot of football. That was one of the things we really valued. These guys are all ready to contributein some capacity this year.Sothat will be agreat advantage for us.” How much of an advantage? Time will tell.

The injuries have particularly hit Buffalo’s receivers, with Curtis Samuel (hamstring)and backupKadenPratheralsosidelined. That leaves KeonColeman as the only projected starter still healthy with Buffalo preparing to open the preseason by hosting the New York Giants on Saturday

“What we’ve tried to do is pull back on somethings in hopes of gettingsomenumbers back. And that hasn’thelped,”McDermott added, in referencetocutting back on the number and length of padded practices. “We’re moving forward. It’stime for us to go and we gottoget some work done and movethis team forward.”

The mostserious injury has been to rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston, whoisout indefinitelyafter spraining aligamentinhis right knee last week. Hairston is watching practice on crutches with no definitive time-

Injuries have been an issue for the five-time defending AFC East champions since opening training camp with four playerson injured lists, including tight end Dawson Knox (calf) andright tackle Spencer Brown(back). Of those four,backup center Sedrick VanPran-Granger(calf)remains sidelined with McDermott hoping the player will be available to return in time for Buffalo’s preseason finale at Tampa Bay on Aug. 23. Brown resumedpracticing on Sunday as did starting linebacker Terrel Bernard, who misseda week with ahamstring injury

The rash of injuries hasalso affected Buffalo’sspecial teams unit with kicker Tyler Basssidelined with apelvis issue.

Lions’ Hooker,Allen lookingfor better results in backup QB competition

BY DANA GAURUDER Associated Press

ALLEN PARK,Mich. Hendon Hooker provideda blunt assessment of his first preseasonperformance.

“A zero outof10,” theDetroit Lionsquarterback said. “It wasn’ttomystandards, it wasn’t to the team’s standards of just being productive and controlling thehuddle and making plays.”

Hooker and Kyle Allen, who are competing for the No. 2spot on the depth chart behind starting quarterback Jared Goff, are both lookingfor vast improvement in the offense’sperformance when the Lions play at Atlanta on Friday Detroitcommitted five turnovers and generatedjust197 yards in a34-7loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in the Hall of Fame gameonThursday.Allen, whostartedthe game, was 9of14 for 91 yards but was intercepted twice. Hooker was 3of6 for18 yards andwas picked off once. They’ll switch roles on Friday withHooker playing the first half andAllen taking over after halftime.

Durability hasn’tbeen an issue for Goff since he was acquired from the Los AngelesRams in 2021.Hehasn’tmisseda game thepast three seasons.

If that streak ends this season, theLions will need to have areliable option. They’re looking for either Hooker or Allen to establish themselves as the clear backup.

“I can tell you both of those guys are, it goes without saying, they’re frustrated with the way that went and they both want to improve and get better,” coach Dan Campbell said. “And they will.” Hooker wasselectedinthe third round of the 2023 draft despite aknee injury suffered late in his college career that turned his rookie season essentially into aredshirt year Hooker had 58 touchdown passesand five interceptions in two seasons at Tennessee. The 27-year-old Hendon also spent three seasonswith Virginia Tech. Hooker made three brief appearances last season, going 6of

9for 62 yards. This preseason is pivotal to show he was worthy of his draftstatus.

“Very key.Every play is important,” he said. “So just taking advantage of every play,every throw,every decision and just putting my best foot forward every time.”

Allen, 29, has bounced around theleague sincemaking Carolina’sroster as an undrafted free agent in 2018. TheLions are the sixth organization he’s suitedup forand fifth in thepast five seasons. He appeared in onegame with Pittsburgh last season. Allenhas made 19 starts,including 12 of 13 appearances during the 2019 season with the Panthers when he passed for 3,322yards with 17 touchdowns and16interceptions.Hewas sacked 46 times.

TheLions signed him to a one-year,$1.27 millioncontract witha $100,000 signing bonusin March. The second half against the FalconsgivesAllen another extended opportunity to secure his spot on the depth chart.

“Obviously (looking to)correct the interceptions and the mistakes,playa littlecleaner football,”hesaidafter Sunday morning’spractice. “Just keep executing the offense,getting more comfortable in it and take it play by play.”

Hendon has similar goals on Friday

“We’ve just gottocome outand execute,” he said. “Point back, period. No excuses and leave it at that.”

PARR

Sha’Carri Richardson competes in the first heat of thewomen’s 200-meter semifinal at the U.S. Championships on Sunday in Eugene, Ore.

Richardson misses out on 200 final

The Associated Press

EUGENE, Ore. Sha’CarriRichardson narrowly missed qualifying forthe 200-meter final Sunday at the U.S. track and field championships, concluding what’s beena tumultuous week for the sprinter in the Pacific Northwest

The former LSU standoutwound up fourth in her heat in atime of 22.56 seconds. The top twofinishers in each heatadvance along with the next three fastest times. MadisonWhyte edged her out on time by running 22.55seconds in the same heat.

Aweek ago, Richardsonwas arrested on afourth-degree domesticviolence offense forallegedly assaulting her boyfriend,sprinter Christian Coleman, at the SeattleTacoma International Airport. She was booked into South Correctional Entity in Des Moines,Washington, for more than 18 hours. Days later,Richardson, 25, ran the opening round of the 100 meters at nationals before withdrawing from the event. She has an automatic spot to worlds next month in Tokyo as the defending100-meter champion.

This was Richardson’s first 200 race of the season. She won a bronze medal at the distance during the 2023 world championships in Budapest It was part of astellar showing at worlds that season, as she also won the100 and helped the 4x100 relay to agold. Ayear later,Richardson finished withthe silver medalin the 100 at the ParisGames. Richardson had apositive marijuana test at the 2021U.S. Olympic trials and didn’tcompete at the Tokyo Games.

LSUreceivergetskneetreatment

KellysaysAnderson to return to practice on Wednesday

BY WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer

LSU wide receiver Aaron Anderson had some work done to address inflammation in his left knee, coach Brian Kelly told The Advocate, but it’snot expected to affect hisavailability this season.

Anderson, aredshirtjunior from New Orleans, missed LSU’s past threepractices after participatingonthe first day of preseason camp. He hasbeen wearing asleeve on his left leg. Kelly said Anderson would return to practice Wednesday

“Hereally hasanarthritic knee, generally speaking,” Kelly said.

“You wouldn’tcallitarthritis, but it’sa crankyknee that we needed to calm down. We cut him back. He has gotten some medicinefor it. He feels really good, and there was no need for us to have him be ahabitual guy that has asore knee.”

Kelly spoke Sunday afternoon during LSU football’sannual service dayatthe Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. As he did, Anderson was in front of him dancingand packing boxeswith the rest of LSU’swide receivers.

LSU wide receiver Aaron

South AlabamaonSept.

recently received treatment for inflammationinhis leftknee.

Kelly said the issue stemmed from a“cartilage injury” thatlimited Anderson his freshmanyear at Alabama in 2022. Anderson had MCL andmeniscus issues, which required offseason surgery.After transferring to LSU, Anderson missed time his first spring in 2023 as he recovered.

Twoyears later,Kelly suspected “probably all that volume pissed it off” after Anderson worked out all summer.Anderson had an “infusion,” Kelly said, to address the

inflammation.

Anderson will be evaluatedafter everypractice, and LSU might manage his workload at times.

ButKelly does not expect the issue to affect how much Anderson can play this season. He appeared in all 13 games with nine starts last year

“Wewentback andtook another MRI,” Kelly said. “Wedid abonescan.Wewanted to leave no stone unturned. So,this was really about, let’sgoback and do this

alloveragain andmakesure we haven’tmissed anything. “It’sclean. There’snothing on theboneline.There’snochips. Thecartilagehas been repaired. There’snobone on bone.Sonow, we think we have takencareof him forthe rest of the year.” Andersonhad abreakoutseason last fall with 61 receptions for884 yards and fivetouchdowns. He’s expected to be an important part of LSU’s receiving corps along with senior Chris Hilton, senior ZavionThomas, Oklahoma transfer Nic Anderson and Kentucky transfer Barion Brown.

Kelly hasalsobeen impressed early in camp with Florida State transfer Destyn Hill and redshirt sophomore Kyle Parker,who took Anderson’splace in the slot in the meantime.

Parker,who’s5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, began to emerge last year with three catches for 55 yards and atouchdown before suffering atorn tricep tendon that ended his season after four games.

Kelly described him as, poundfor-pound, the strongest wide receiver on the team.

“Every day,hebrings his best,” Kelly said. “Whetherit’sinassignments, execution, catching the ball —he’sjust been really consistent.”

For more LSUsports updates, signupfor ournewsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

Ex-Tiger Taylor impressesatJetscamp

BY DENNIS WASZAK JR Associated Press

FLORHAM PARK,N.J.— Mason Taylor remembers running around the fields asawide-eyed kid at New York Jets training camp, visiting his famous father and rooting him on at games.

He’sback, 15 years later.And now, it’shis turn.

Therookie tight end, son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Jason Taylor,has been one of thestandout performers through theJets’ first nine camp practices. Taylor,a second-round pick out of LSU, is making plays andimpressing his coaches andteammates.

“Mason, he doesn’ttalk alot. He doeswork alot, though,” quarterback Justin Fields said. “From the moment he got here,he’sbeen working, his head down working. Hedoesn’t make really any mental mistakes, at least from what I’ve seen.He’sagreat route runner,he’ssmooth, has natural hands, so he’s been great so far.”

The 21-year-old Taylor,whose

uncle is Hall of Famer Zach Thomas,receiveda text from his father thenight before camp opened, offering him some sound advice.

“Really just stay where your feet are,” Taylor recalled. “I mean, we always say that in our family —day by day,you know,attack theday,get better every singleday and reallyjust be where your feet are. Don’tlook into the future, don’tlook intothe past and just take advantage of every momentyou get.”

Jason Taylorwould certainly know all about that.

Recognizedasone of theNFL’s greatest pass rushers with 1391/2 sacks, the elder Taylor made a name for himself during 11 outstanding seasons playing for Miamiand then one in Washington before joining Rex Ryan’s Jets in 2010.

New York was one of the league’s best teams that season, reaching the AFC championship game —one winawayfrom theSuper Bowl. TheJets kicker was Nick

Folk,who just re-signed with the team —and nowhas thedistinction of having been teammates withboth Jason and Mason Taylor

“It’s acrazy,crazy world,” MasonTaylor said with abig smile.

“I mean, it’scrazy to think about, and now that he’sonmyteam, it’s ablessing, forsure.”

Taylor is in position to have a major role on the Jets offense as arookie. He was listed Sundayonthe team’sfirst unofficial depth chart as abackup to Jeremy Ruckert, but the 6-foot-5, 251-pound Taylor is expected to seehis fair share of snaps —especially if he continues with his impressive summer

“The receiving skills, listen, that doesn’tsurprise me,I know he candothat,” coach Aaron Glenn said. “His blocking, Iknow he canblock, but Ididn’tthink it was going to be this good. So, I’mexcited to see how he matures when it comes to camp on how we want to do things as far as that is concerned.”

In three seasons at LSU, Taylor

had129 catches for1,308 yards and six TDs, establishing himself as the most productive tight end in school historyand oneofthe best at his position in the country

“I think it’sbeen pretty good,” Taylor said of his progress.

“Things have been flying around in the installs andeverything like that,but Ithink I’ve kind of grasped onto it pretty quickly And with the help of my teammates and coaches, I’ve been getting on the playbook pretty fast.” Taylor hasalsoput extra emphasisonhis blocking,working on his hand placement and pad level as he aims to be an all-around tight end in the NFL.

“I seegrowth anddevelopment out of Mason,” offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand said. “He’s on thepathtobecomingwhatwe expected andhoped he could be And he’sdonea really nice jobthis camp in the pass gameand in the run gameaswell. So, again, daily improvement by him, and we’re excited to see where that continues to go.”

Doncic’s extensionraisesquestions aboutJames’role

BY DYLAN HERNÁNDEZ Los Angeles Times (TNS)

LOS ANGELES Near the conclusion of the news conference to address his contract extension with the Lakers, Luka Doncic detailed the training program that contributed to his striking weight loss.

When he was finished talking about how he lifted weights and refrained from playing basketball for a month, general manager Rob Pelinkamade it apoint to offer some thoughts.

“Luka’sdoneall the work,” Pelinka said, “butit’simportant to have asupport system around you to help you do the great work.” Pelinka went on to praise Doncic’strainer,Anze Macek, and

physiotherapist,Javier Barrio. He remarkedhow Macek and Barrio have “worked seamlessly” with the Lakers staff. He namechecked Doncic’sagent, Bill Duffy,and business manager, Lara Beth Seager These weren’t garden-variety compliments.

This was apledge of allegiance.

Shortly after Doncicwas traded by theDallas Mavericks to theLakers last season,stories emerged about tensions between hisinner circleand formerteam.

Pelinka’swords containedanindirect message: We will support you theway the Mavericks didn’t.

This is your team

Thecommitment wasformalized on Saturday with theLakers signing the 26-year-old Doncic to athree-year,$165 million contract extension

Thenews conference ended

withseven Lakers players and coach JJ Redick emerging from the back to takea picture with Doncic as he held up his jersey. A couple of theplayers, center Deandre Ayton and guard Marcus Smart, were personally recruited to the team by Doncic.

Doncic is nowofficially the center of the Lakers universe,and as inevitable as that seemed from the moment Pelinka acquired him, the dynamicintensifiesa questionthatwas initially raised last season:Whatdoes this mean forLeBron James?James is undercontractfor just onemore seasonand Doncicfor at least three more, and howwill James deal with notbeing the focal point of his franchise?

While the Lakersoncehad visions of Anthony Davis replacing Jamesasthe face of their franchise,the imaginary batonwas

neverpassed

There’s an uneasy feeling aboutthe situation,inlarge part because James hasn’tclearly communicated his thoughts. WhenJamesexercisedhis player option forthe upcoming season, his agentsaidthatbecause James wanted to playfor championships andthe Lakers were“building forthe future,” theircamp wanted “to evaluate what’sbest forLeBron at this stageinhis life andcareer.”

The 40-year-oldJames will have asay in what happens, as his deal includesa no-tradeprovision.

Asked how James viewedthe Lakers’summerand whetherhe thought James would retire with the team, Pelinka replied, “So,all the interactionswe’vehad with LeBronand his camp,(agent Rich Paul) in particular, have been positiveand supportive.So,

very professional,and Rich has been great. The dialogue with him hasbeen open andconstant.

“Interms of LeBron’s career, Ithink theNo. 1thing we have to do there is respect he andhis family’sdecision in terms of how long he’s going to play. If he hada chance to retire as aLaker, that would be great.”

In other words,there wasn’t enough clarity forPelinka to be able to say withany degreeof certainty, yes, he thought James would retire aLaker

Doncic accepted an offer from theLakers to be theirnext headliner. Thatwas an importantdevelopment for them. But forthemtobeable to properly showcasetheir next act, they will have to close theirprevious one, whetherit’sbyhim accepting a supporting roleordeciding to takehis talents elsewhere.

off last season as one of the best pass blocking frontsinthe country Will Campbell wasthe anchor at left tackle, becoming the No. 4 overall pick in the draft. Emery Jones at right tackle and Miles Frazier at right guard were mid-round selections. Left guard Garrett Dellinger was scooped up in the seventh roundand will reunite with Jones on the Baltimore Ravens. “Wehad four guys getdrafted lastyear. That’sreallyhardtodo,”

redshirt junior Bo Bordelon said. “Not alot of people can saythey’ve done that.”

Their replacements have yet to be determined, but LSU has consistently rolled out the samefirstteam starters through theopening

The tackle spots have been occupied by Adams on theleft and redshirt freshman WestonDavis on the right. Adamsstarted at left tackle in the Texas Bowl and Davis impressed in camp on Saturday

But offensive line coach Brad Davis’ goal isn’ttofind thebest fivelinemen. He wants to have 10 linemen whocan step in andplay at any given moment.

things that he wants to put in or correct, and they work.” Bordelon andAdams have seen Davisand Atkinswork hand in hand as the new year has begun.

few daysofpreseason practice.

Redshirt sophomore DJ Chester LSU’slone returning starter,slides from center to left guard. Virginia Tech transfer Braelin Moorefills in at center andNorthwestern transferJoshThompson has been next to himatright guard.

“The guys who have come before us have set avery high standard,” Bordelon said, “and we want toexceed that.”

Despiterolling out the same starting unit through thebeginning of preseason, Kelly insists thatLSU hasn’tsettledonthem being the starters. He mentions Bordelon, redshirt freshman Coen Echols,freshmanCariusCurne and redshirt sophomorePaul Mubenga as contenders to crack thetop group.

“There’scompetitive battlesright nowonthat offensive line,” Kelly said, “so we havetoevaluatethem as agroup at five, and then individually,who makesupthat best five?”

“You never know whocan go down or whocan rise to theoccasion,” Adams said. “So Ifeel like having those10guys whocould just go in andout is great.”

LSU’spersonnelupfront wasn’t the only aspect of the line that changedthis offseason.The Tigers also hired former Florida State offensive line coach and offensive coordinator Alex Atkins as their newtight ends coach and run game coordinator Atkins’ experience devising arun game that in 2023 led Florida State to anundefeatedseasonwascriticalfor an LSU line that struggled to move the ball on the ground ayear ago.

“He’slikeanevilscientist,” Adams said. “He always has his little

“Everseen, likeinDr. Seuss, Thing One and Thing Two? They kind of work as one,” Adams said. “So hey,I have no complaints about it. If it helps us wingames, that’s what we’re going to roll with.”

LSU’soffensive line has two jobs this season: protect the quarterbackand openuprunninglanes for therunning backs. If theTigers canaccomplish both,the losses of Campbell, Jones, Frazier and Dellinger won’t seem as daunting.

“Our job is to protect Nuss and run the damn football,” Bordelon said. “So that’swhatwe’regoing to try to do.”

Email Koki Rileyat Koki.Riley@theadvocate.com.

Prix race on Sundayatthe Hungaroring racetrack in Mogyorod,Hungary.

Norris holdsoff Piastrito winHungarian GrandPrix

By The Associated Press

BUDAPEST,Hungary— Sometimes, a Formula 1win is less about speed than strategy and gritty driving.

LandoNorrisheldoff McLaren

teammateOscar Piastri in atense finish to winthe HungarianGrand PrixonSunday and boost his title chances.

Overtaking in Hungary is tough, but Norrishad to workhardto keep the win as Piastri loomed behind him in the final laps.

Norriscelebrated with adouble fist pump on top of his car after claimingMcLaren’s200th F1 win by less than asecond to cut Piastri’sstandings lead to nine points from 16.

“I’m dead. It wastough,itwas tough,” Norris said. “The final stint, with Oscar catching, Iwas pushing flat out.” It was the fourth one-two finish in arow for McLaren, with Norris winning three of those headto-heads as the momentum swung back toward him ahead of thefourweek midseason break.

Making theright call

Ayear on from acontentious first win for Piastri overNorris in Hungary after awkwardradio messages, this was arace decided on the track.

Norris briefly dropped to fifth on the first lap but made his tires last to stop only once, while Piastri changed tires twice.

Piastri steadily cut into Norris’

SPEEDWAY

Continued from page1C

fans tried to hit balls from the apron over the track and fence, and two others had to put on NASCAR fire suits and race to four-wheelers for arace to the finish line.

The grounds crew even wore uniforms lookinglikeaNASCAR pit crew’sfire suits.

Andsomething that never could’ve happened before at Bristol took part during the seventhinning stretch: Fans sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

When White became the first MLB player to hit ahomerun at the historic racetrack, that allowed Bristol’s“Home Run” car to take a lapincelebration. When one foul ball bounced off the trackpast the outfield wall in right,the manwho failed to throw the ballover the fence to fans was booed.

White’s first homerofthe afternoon gave Atlanta a3-1 lead in the second inning at thehistoric racetrack. The ball hit the safer barrier after clearing the outfield wall and the track itself.

He added his sixth homer of the season on aleadoff shotin the seventh.

Cincinnati went 1for 8with runnersinscoringpositionandleft12on base. Brent Suter (1-2) got theloss. Atlanta came in having clinched the season series, winningfour of the first six games. The teams split the first two in Cincinnatibefore coming to Bristol

This MLB Speedway Classic was firstannounced nearly ayear ago as part of commissioner Rob Manfred’spush to take MLB to places where baseball isn’tplayed every day live. MLB playedagame at the “Field of Dreams” movie site in Iowa in both 2021 and 2022. Alabama and NorthCarolina, too.

MLB didn’ttry to sell every tick-

Byronhas enough fuel to winrace at Iowa Speedway

BY JOHN BOHNENKAMP Associated Press

NEWTON, Iowa William Byron foughtoff fuel worries in the closing laps to win the NASCAR CupSeries race Sunday at Iowa Speedway Byron went thelast144 laps of the 350-laprace without astop en routetohis secondvictoryofthe season —hewon the Daytona 500 in February —and 15th overall. He also took the season points lead fromHendrickMotorsports teammateChase Elliott.

Byron lost gambles on fuel twice this season, at Michigan and Indianapolis, but held on with thehelp of acaution-filled finalstage to win by 1.192 seconds over pole-sitter Chase Briscoe.

“Weneeded one to go our way,” said Byron, who led 141 laps.

BradKeselowski, whocame into the race needing awin to get into the playoffs, was third. Keselowski, who hasn’twon since the May race at Darlington last season, won the first two stages for his first stage sweep since 2019.

There were 12 cautionflags.

The first stagewas caution-free, and the first yellow flag for any on-trackincident didn’tcomeout untilShane VanGisbergen’s spin on Lap169. Fromthat point, the race became acascade of caution flags as the carsbegan to stackupand driversscrambled forposition

Briscoe’sbumps

Briscoe wasinvolved in two late incidents.

Briscoe madecontact with Erik Jonescomingout of Turn 4 on lap243, causing Jones to spin. Nine laps later,Briscoe bumped TylerReddick, who then hit Christopher Bell, causing Reddickand Belltospin.

Wallaceovercomes

leadinthe latterstages of therace but the British driverheld on with oldtires to take the win. Piastri nearly collided with his teammate when he locked up awheel while trying to pass on the second-tolast lap.Still, it was Norris who held on to have the lastword in their title fight

“Good racing. Good strategy. Good call,” was how Norris summed it up on the radio.

Piastri’stwo-stop approach happenedbecause, at the time, he and McLaren were morefocused on getting ahead of Ferrari’sCharles Leclerc, whose paceeventually fell away anyway

“It wasn’tobvious that we just had enough pace to blow past (Leclerc),” Piastri said. “For Lando, there was virtually nothing to lose by trying aone-stop race. For myself, potentially there was.”

GeorgeRussell took third for Mercedes after fighting his way past Leclerc in acontest that earned Leclercatimepenalty fornearly colliding with Russell while defending.

Defending champion Max Verstappen was only ninth after beingoff the pace all week. He stays thirdinthe standings, but drops to 97 pointsoff leaderPiastri in another heavy blow to an already unlikely title defense.

Ferrarifrustration

Leclerc started on pole position with hopesoflandingFerrari its first GrandPrixwin of theyear,

but ended up fourthafter aradio message of what he later admitted was misplaced blame aimed at the team.

“This is so incredibly frustrating. We’ve lost allcompetitiveness,”hetoldthe team over the radio. However, he later told broadcaster Sky Sports that the car actually hada chassis problem he only learned about later

Aday after calling himself “useless” andquestioningwhether Ferrari might need to replace him, Lewis Hamilton ended up 12th, exactly where he started Hiscommentsafter therace seemed set to fuel more speculation about his troubled first season with theItalian team.

“There’sa lot going on in the background that is not great,” Hamilton told SkySports, without explaining further Hamilton never seemed to have the pace to fight for pointsand was at one stage forced off the track by Verstappen as his old rival overtook him.

Aston’sday

Fernando Alonso took Aston Martin’s bestresult of theseason with fifth on aslowtrack that suited hiscar,with GabrielBortoleto asurprise sixth for Sauber and Lance Strollseventh in the other Aston Martin.

Liam Lawson was eighth for Racing Bulls,withVerstappen ninth andKimi Antonelli 10th for Mercedes

Fans gatherfor the SpeedwayClassic game betweenthe Cincinnati Reds and the Atlanta BravesonSunday at Bristol Motor

Bristol, Tenn.

et inside the speedway that drew 156,990 for the Battle of Bristol college football game in 2016 with aracing capacity of 146,000. The attendance was well above the previous paidattendance of 84,587 on Sept. 12, 1954, whenClevelandStadium hosted theNew York Yankees. Simply canceling this game wasn’tanoption.The Redsare in thechase for awild-cardspot,and this is the last time these teams meet this season.Teams hadpolice escorts to makesure they got back to Bristol on Sunday

For fans, thecommute back to Bristol Motor Speedway,billedas “The Last Great Colosseum”with itshistory as ahalf-milebullring of aracetrack, was easierfor some than others. Steven Long ofAtlanta, Georgia, was on aparty bus to his hotel in Knoxville with abunch of distributors. He drove the110 miles back to BristolonSunday by himself even though he had hoped to be driving home. He couldn’tmiss thefirst MLBgame at aracetrack.

“I had to come back,”said Long, who worehis Braves jersey hoping for awin. MLB will be announcing an attendance figurelater Sunday. Officials already knew this event would draw arecord crowd with 85,000 tickets sold as of Monday

Thebig question Sundaywas how many people would return for baseball itself after thebig party that MLB and Bristol threw for fans Saturday.For Lowe and Jason Lawson, thisisa moment they couldn’t missafter buying ticketsinMay

“The history,the nostalgia of Bristol Motor Speedway combined with MajorLeague Baseballall in one Ithink,”Lowe said. Long was being joined by acouple of friends. He saw one benefitofreturning even if others chose not to “We’ll have more space around us, so we won’t be on top of each other,” Long said.

Indeed. Fans had plenty of room to spread out, dance and enjoy the capping event of the MLB Speedway Classic.

RyanBlaney,who won the inaugural Cupraceatthe 0.875mile oval last season, finished fourth, Ryan Preece wasfifth.

Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, CarsonHocevar,Joey Logano and Austin Dillon roundedout the top 10.

Wallace admitted Saturday that after winning last week at Indianapolis to secure aplayoff spot, he would be able to relax over the last four races of the regular season. This race wasn’t relaxing he fell downbyasmuch as two laps before finishing sixth. John Hunter Nemechek made contact with Wallace on Lap242, forcingthe rear-end of Wallace’scar to hit the wall near the start/finish line.Wallace headed to the pits after Jones’ spin to have aright-rear toe link repaired.

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom throws against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday in Seattle.

RangersRHP DeGrom sets historic strikeoutrecord

The Associated Press

SEATTLE Texas Rangers righthander Jacob deGrombecame thefastest pitcherinmajor league history to reach 1,800 career strikeouts by games and innings on Sunday In the second inning against Seattle, deGrom got Mariners shortstop J.P.Crawfordtoswing througha98.7 mphfour-seam fastball forhis fourth Kofthe game. With the strikeout, deGrom became the fastedto1,800career strikeouts in games (240) andinnings pitched (1,493 1/3). The 37-year-old right-hander beat the marks of two left-handers. Hall-of-Famer Randy Johnson needed 243 games to record 1,800 strikeouts. It took the Atlanta Braves’ Chris Sale 1,498 innings

DeGrom, who entered thegame with a10-3 record and 2.55 ERA, worked fiveinnings andfinished with five strikeouts and three walks. He allowed four hits, including three home runs, and five earned runs.

RedSox

BOSTON PITCHER HOUCK TO UNDERGO

TOMMY JOHN SURGERY: Boston Red Sox right-hander Tanner Houck’s attempt to come back this season is over Manager Alex Cora said Saturday that Houck will undergo Tommy John surgery

An All-Star last season, the 29-year-old Houck went on the injured listinmid-May with aright flexor strain after going 0-3 with an 8.04 ERA in nine starts.

“Tanner’sgoing to have Tommy Johnsurgery,” Cora said before theRed Sox beat the HoustonAstros 7-3 at Fenway Park.

“He went to seeDr. Meister thereinTexas and that was the recommendation,” Cora said. “We don’thave adate yet, but he’s going to have it.” Houck had astrong 2024 season, finishing seventh in theAmerican League with a3.12 ERA in 30 starts, butwas onlyabletomake five rehab appearances after going on the IL.

“Tough year for him, tough year for us,” Cora said of the seasonending news. “But he’ll kill the rehab, he’ll do his job, and whenhe comes back, he’s going to be OK.” Houck earned his first All-Star

appearance by going 8-6with a2.54 ERA in the first half. He struggledafter thebreak,going 1-4 with a4.23 ERA.

Brewers

MILWAUKEEROOKIEMISIOROWSKI

PLACED ON IL: MilwaukeeBrewers

rookie Jacob Misiorowski has been placed on the 15-day injured list with aleft tibia contusion. The team made theannouncement Sunday aheadofthe All-Star right-hander’sscheduledstart against theWashingtonNationals. The designation wasretroactive to Thursday,a few days after Misiorowski took aline shottothe shin in the first inning against the Chicago Cubs.

Misiorowski (4-1, 2.70 ERA) struggled to close that inning, including aplaywhere his knee appeared to buckle as he fielded a dribbler and threw wildly to first base,but he settleddown andretired 10 consecutive batters while throwing 40 pitches over the next three innings.

Misiorowski told reporters Sundaythatheanticipates missing abouttwo starts andbeing ready to go after the 15 days.

Right-hander Logan Henderson was recalled from Triple-A Nashville and expected to start in his place in the seriesfinale with the Nationals.

Rockies

ELBOWSTRAIN LANDSCOLORADOCLOSER HALVORSEN ON INJURED LIST: The Colorado Rockies have put closer Seth Halvorsen on the 15-day injured list with aright elbow strain after he had to leave Saturday’s win overPittsburgh.

Interimmanager Warren Schaeffer said at the timethe injury didn’tlook good —after the right-hander left after throwing five pitches in theninth inning. Halvorsen leads the Rockies with 11 saves.

Colorado also recalled righthanderNick Anderson and catcher Braxton Fulford from Triple-A Albuquerque on Sunday,and the RockiesoptionedinfielderMichael Toglia to Albuquerque.

The25-year-old Halvorsen is 1-2 with a4.99 ERA this year.He made hisbig league debut in August of 2024.

LIVING

ON THERISE?

As Beyoncé’sCowboyCartertourdraws to aclose,BlueIvy emergesasa star

BY SARAH JONES-SMITH Associated Press

“Who they came to see?” Beyoncé asks as she performs her 2023 single “My House” during the Cowboy Carter tour.For many,the answer has been BlueIvy Blue IvyCarter, theGrammywinning artist’s13-year-old daughter,ismore present than ever on stage, and fansare impressed by the growth from herfirst performance years ago to now.

Isabella Kerr,15, has admired Beyoncéfor years,but saidshe attended the Cowboy Carter tour specifically to experience Blue Ivy’smoves in person.

“Peopleare saying,‘Oh, she’s amini Beyoncé.’ But, no, Ithink she’sthe first Blue. Everything about her when she’sonstage is electrifying,” said Kerr The Cowboy Carter tour concludes Saturday in Las Vegas. The tour’s30previous showshavehad fans buzzing that Blue Ivy is well on her way to beinga nextgenera-

“Even the difference between the Renaissance Tour and now, you cantell she’s(Blue Ivy) really grown in her confidence. Youcan tellshe has adifferent vibe about her.”

OLIVIA ELLIS,fan and artist

tion powerhouse.

Growingstage presence Blue first graced the stage at 11 yearsold during her mother’s 2023 Renaissance tour, appearing during thelegacy-celebrating anthems “MyPower” and“Black Parade.”

Supporters anticipated her performance at each stop. She performed again during “Beyoncé Bowl,” theNFL Christmas Day Halftime Show that was just nominated for fourEmmy Awards. She danced alongside the icon as she performed songs from the “Cowboy Carter” album for the first time.

SINGLE ANDREADY TO MINGLE?

“Even the difference between theRenaissance Tour andnow, youcan tellshe’s really grown in her confidence,”said fan and artist Olivia Ellis. “You can tell she has a different vibe about her.”

On the Cowboy Carter tour,she canalmost be mistakenfor oneof Beyoncé’sprofessional dancers. Sheisonstage fornearly every songand has asolo recreating her mother’s choreography from her 2006 “Déjà-vu” music video, anod to the undeniable similarities between thetwo.

An inheritedprofessionalism Online videos of Blue display professionalism comparable to her mother’sduring the Cowboy Carter tour.During arainy New Jersey stop, she brought out towels to dry her area of the stage before nailing her “America Has aProblem” choreography In another unexpected moment during aChicago show,her earring

What is the DementiaCare Specialist Program in Louisiana?

The Louisiana Legislature recently appropriated $824,000 targeted to fund the Dementia Care Specialist Program. The program establishes a fundamental structure to provide services and support to those diagnosed with dementia or experiencing memoryconcerns and their caregivers. The funding forthis program within the Governor’sOffice on Elderly Affairs will help create one program manager within the office and the Aging and Disability Resource Centers network, as wellaseight dementia care specialists who will serve as the mainpoints of access forolder adults and caregivers seeking long-term support and services.

Alzheimer’sisapublic health crisis that not only affects those with the disease (95,000+ in Louisiana alone), but also the close to 200,000 unpaid family caregivers in the state. Among the goals of the Dementia Care Specialist Program are: n To help individuals with dementia stay in their homes and remain active in their communities longer;

n To facilitate local efforts to build dementia-friendly communities; and n To strengthen the Aging and Adult Services network and support family caregivers so they can continue to help their loves ones with Alzheimer’sdisease and other dementias.

As of 2025, it is expected to cost the state of Louisiana’s Medicaid program $1.2 billion to provide care forLouisianans living with dementia. With Medicare not covering long-term care, fewindividuals living with dementia have adequate resources to cover the cost of their care, having to spend downtheir incometobe eligible forMedicaid. And with morethan 95,000 Louisianans 65+ living with Alzheimer’s, the Medicaid program will take ahit.

The Dementia Care Specialist program will save state dollars by slowing the entrance into costly supportive services and deterioration into nursing level of care, and also slowing

See

To join the next group of singles,fill outa casting application at casting.kinetic content.com/LoveIsBlind.

Chelsea Appiah, center,from the Netflix show‘Love Is Blind,’raises her arms after throwing aceremonial first pitch alongside fellowcast member and husband KwameAppiah, right, and Zack and Bliss Goytowski, back left, in 2023 in Seattle.

Newdatalinkcannabisuse andheart disease

Dear Doctors: Cannabis is legal where Ilive. I’m not aheavyuser, but Idoenjoy it now and then.I just heard about astudy that ties using cannabis to heart disease. There’snot alot of information about how using cannabis affects yourhealth, and Iwould liketo knowmore about thatstudy. Dear reader: We should begin with thefact that, despite changes to regulations in agrowing number of states, cannabis remains illegal at thefederal level. Commonly known as marijuana, it is classified as aSchedule Isubstanceunder the Controlled Substances Act. Possession or distributionofcannabis is afederal offense.Atthe statelevel, acomplex patchwork of laws allows cannabisuse for

Dr.Elizabeth Ko Dr.Eve Glazier ASK THE DOCTORS

medicalorrecreational use. Limits vary on the types and amounts of cannabis productsallowed, as well as thelegalage for theiruse

It’strue we don’tknow much about thehealth effects of cannabis. Federal druglaws have limited research opportunities for along time. Now,the loosening of restrictionsinthe United States

and other nations is providing moredata from national surveys, epidemiological studies and clinical research. We are in asteep learning curve about the drug’s possible healtheffects.

Lastspring, thejournal Heart published astudy from researchers in France. The focus of the study was how regular cannabis use may affect thecardiovascular system.The researchers looked at health data collected from 24 studies. The data covered 200 million adultsfrom ages 19 to 59. They separated thedata into two groups, regular users of cannabis and nonusers. Analysis found that cannabis users had a29% higher risk of aheart attack and a20% higher risk of astroke.

Putwedding grudge to rest

Dear Miss Manners: Whenmy husband and Igot married over adecade ago, there was no bridal shower or wedding reception. We started to plan a reception, but it was canceled by his aunt and my mother; they did not ask me or my husband. They promised to plan areception for us later, but neverdid. All we wanted was asimple potluck, and we were willing to make most of it because my husband is an excellent cook and Ican bake. It was embarrassing for me, because it made me the only woman in my church, and in my family, to be denied awedding reception and abridal shower.But it hurt my husband more. He feels like my familynever really welcomed him, and it’sabig reasonwhy he doesn’twant anything to do with my mom.

ding fantasy/grudge.

As with all observational studies, this research can only point to apossible link between cannabis use and cardiovascular events. It doesn’tproveorexplain the connection. Butitdoes echo previous research noting the burden cannabis use places on the heart. This includes heart arrhythmia, high blood pressure and increased heart rate. This applies to smokingthe drug and edibles as well. Astudy from researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, published last spring, found that regular users of edibles had reduced vascular function, by morethan 55%, compared with nonusers.

Cardiovascular disease continues to be the leading cause

of death in the U.S. With cannabis use growing (around 15% of adults by current estimates), these newest findings are concerning. Older adults and those with existing heart conditions are at particular risk of adverse outcomes. All of this makes it important to consider the potential risks before using cannabis. At the very least, discuss cannabis use when you see your health care provider

Sendyour questions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla edu, or write: Ask theDoctors, c/oUCLA HealthSciences Media Relations, 10880 Wilshire Blvd.,Suite1450, Los Angeles, CA, 90024.

Enlargesmall phonetext

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

andembarrassmeall over again.Wecould do avow renewal ceremony,but that would also just make the situation worse, Ifear.He’s an atheist andIam without areligion at themoment, and bothofour families are fairly religious. We would have to have amember of theclergy involved to avoid hearing the riot act from our families.

Woulditberude to have anykind of celebration of our wedding this late? Woulditberude to do it withoutinviting either family? Should Itell my momwhy my husband really hates her? How do Ifixthisso my husband feelslike ourwedding has been properly recognized?

Idon’tknow how to fix this. If Itried to hold a “reception” now,myfamily would only show up out of obligation, which would just hurt my husband more

BLUE IVY

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got caught on Beyoncé’s hair.Blue remained calm, removed the jewelry and motioned to the singer that it was safe in her hand as they both seamlessly continued “It’sthe family business,” said Kinitra D. Brooks, an academic and author of “The Lemonade Reader,” a collectionthatexploresthe nuances of Beyoncé’s2016 visual album, “Lemonade.” The‘IvyLeague’

In “Renaissance: AFilm by Beyoncé,” fans were given abehind-the-scenes look at thedecision-making process the first time Blue was allowed to perform. Beyoncé expressedhow nervous she was about her child being in front of thousands of people made her,revealing she initially said no.

“I did not think it was an appropriateplaceforan11-yearoldonastadium stage,” she said in the documentary.“I made adeal with her,and Isaid, ‘If you practice and you show your commitment,

PROGRAM

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the rise of statewide health care costs related to those living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Additionally,the program will support family caregivers so loved ones with dementia can remaininthe least restrictive setting for as long as possible. The Dementia Care SpecialistsProgram will support individuals living with dementia and their caregivers to ensure the highest quality of life possible while living at home. Dementia Care Specialists are acommunity-based resource, ensuring Louisianans living with dementia and their caregivers are connected to vital services

Gentle reader: Oh,dear.Itis unfortunatethatyourrelatives behavedirresponsibly when you got married. And MissManners understands theimportance of ceremonialtraditions. So you will perhapsforgive her for saying that it is high time to let go ofawed-

I’lllet you do one show.’” Blue Ivy fulfilled her end of the deal,and afan base was formed: the “Ivy League.”

Kerr says Blue’saccomplishments inspire her to work harder to achieve her own dreams. “Sheworked to be onstage, and look at her now.IfIwork to what Iwant to be, Ican be killing it like her. At last month’sCowboy Carter Parisstop,members of theBeyhive and Ivy League finally got what they had been asking for —BlueIvy merchandise. Shirts with the teen’sface and the phrase “Déjà Blue” plastered on the front were available for purchase.

At the MetLife Stadium show,Ellis wore acustom corset top she painted, showcasingBlue Ivy and her 8-yearold sister,Rumi Carter, on stage with Beyoncé during “Protector,” atrack from the “Cowboy Carter” album that Rumi is featured on.

“I thought that would just be areally fun moment to highlight on acorset,” she said.“It’s just reallycoolto see her as amom because we’ve allgrown up with Beyoncé, and now it’s like her

and supports. Dementia Care Specialists provide community outreach,raise awareness, provide training, conducteducation for caregivers, and connect families to local resources, like respite, transportation andadult day services, as well as providing essential support in care navigation with local resources. Dementia Care Specialists can help ensure individuals with dementia are able to remain in their home longer,ifthatisthe most appropriate setting Results haveshownthat caregivers whowere more engaged in program activities hadgreaterhospital andrural ambulance cost savings. Caregivers whoreceived support from aDementia Care Specialist were more likely to complete important dementiacare-

You’ve had asuccessful marriage for more than 10 years —oryou wouldn’tbe thinking of renewing your vows! Why aren’tyou celebrating?

Throw yourselves an anniversary party in whatever style you like. If you maintain alighthearted atmosphere, you can get away with adding whatever wedding trimmings you want —awhitedress, a tiered cake and some newly written vows, now that you know moreabout each other

Just, please, no bridal shower As for thefamilies: Invitethem or not,asyou like. This is not awedding, where it would be pointed to omit them. If they have treated your husband badly all these years, you will not want them there anyway Conversely,ifthe canceled reception is your only complaint, including them may finally makepeace among you.

Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com.

show is kind of like afamily affair.”

Mother-daughterduo

Blue Ivy’sconfidence and professionalism are not only atestament to her hardwork, but Beyoncé’smotherhood. Mother-daughterduos around the globe filledstadium seats, excited to watch Beyoncé andher daughter display their strongbondfor the world to see. In many cases, themothers have been Beyoncéfansfor yearsand are excited for their daughters to growupwith Blue Ivy,a highflyer for their generation.

Tanazha Baylis took her now 11-year-old daughter, Aria Brown, to the Renaissance tour,whereshe did not missa beat dancing along to Blue Ivy’s“My Power” choreography Brown was so determined to attend the Cowboy Carter Tour that she started selling populartoys, such as slime andSquishmallows, andsaving her money

“She literallywas like, ‘Mom, Idon’t knowwhat you’re going to do,but Ihave to go to thisconcert,’”said Baylis.“Ijust had to makeit happen after that.”

related tasks including establishing apower of attorney and instituting health care directives. Caregivers who received program services were twice as likely to either delay nursing home placement or decrease their likelihood of placement.

For moreinformation about the program, contact TatianaGonzalez Quiroga, public policy director,Alzheimer’sAssociation, Louisiana Chapter,tgquiroga@ alz.org; (504) 662-9314, ext. 1965.

Dana Territo is an Alzheimer’s advocate and author of “What My Grandchildren Taught Me About Alzheimer’s Disease.” She hosts“The Memory Whisperer.” Emailher at thememorywhisperer@ gmail.com.

Dear Heloise: Someone recently mentioned needing their reading glasses to read the instructionsona paint can. When Iencounter tinyinstructions like those, Itake apicture with my smartphone so that Ican enlarge it and read it easily Kathy, in Texas

Theshowercurtain ghost

Dear Heloise: If you have shower curtains that “chase” you in the shower, Igot aset of small magnets and put them on the bottom of the curtain to weigh it down. Youonly have to use acouple of sets. They need to be spaced agood distance apart,orthey will stick to each other —Bill M., Manvel,Texas Bill, years ago, Iread that the Queen of England had weightssewn into the hem of her clothing tokeep her skirtsdown on windy days. This gave me the idea to sew some fishing weights on the bottom of my shower curtain tokeep it from clinging to me. It worked out well. —Heloise Cockroachcounterattack

Dear Heloise: Ihave seen manytips for getting rid of roaches. Ihad some myself acouple of years ago. After Ihad no luck with commercial bug deterrents, I went online and found the solution: half sugar,half boric acid. Ispread this on my countertops at night

By The Associated Press

Today is Monday

Aug. 4, the 216th day of 2025. There are 149 days left in the year

Todayinhistory

On Aug. 4, 2020, nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitratethat had been improperly stored for years in the port of Beirut, Lebanon, exploded, killing more than 200 people, injuring morethan 7,000 and devastating nearby neighborhoods; it was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded.

Also on this date: In 1790, theU.S. Coast Guard had its beginnings as President George Washington signed ameasure authorizing agroup of revenue cutters toenforce tariff and trade laws and prevent smuggling.

In 1916, theUnited States reached agreement with Denmark to purchase the Danish Virgin Islands for $25 million in gold.

In 1936, Jesse Owens, of the United States, won thesecond of his four gold medals at theBerlin Olympics as he prevailed in the long jump over German LuzLong, who was the first to congratulate him.

In 1944, 15-year-old diarist Anne Frankwas arrested withher sister,parents and four others by the Gestapo after hiding for two years inside abuilding in Amsterdam. (Anne and her sister,Margot, died at theBergen-Belsen concentration camp.)

In 1964, 44 days after their murders, thebod-

Twodays later,there was not abug in sight. Istill keep someincorners and hidden spaces, and I’ve never seen another bug. —Janice,in Tucson,Arizona Janice, this is a good solution to ward off roaches. Another wayisto clean withammonia, which roaches don’t like.You can usethissugar andboricacidtrick in a numberofplaces such as underakitchen sink, behind arefrigerator,orinany place that is damp anddark If you have dishes with traces of food on them but don’thave time to rinse or washthem,stick them in the refrigerator until you do have the timetowash them.Atleast roaches won’t be able to get to them this way Youcan also pull up plugs in any of your sinks and leave about 1inch of water in the sink to keep roaches from entering your homethrough the drain pipes. —Heloise Usinglinttostart fires

Dear Heloise: Iknow this sounds alittle strange, but Isave the lint from my dryer and place it in large freezer bags. Youmay wonder why, but Ihave a good reason. We often use someof the fire logs you see in hardware stores, and sometimes we use wood. The only problem is that it’shard to get afire going

TODAYINHISTORY

ies of missing civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were found buried in an earthen dam in Mississippi.

In 1972, Arthur Bremer wasconvicted and sentenced in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, to 63 years in prison forhis attempt on the lifeofAlabamaGov George C. Wallace (the sentence waslater reduced to 53 years; Bremer was released from prison in 2007).

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed ameasure establishing the DepartmentofEnergy

In 1984, the album “Purple Rain,” by Prince and the Revolution, began its 24weekrun at the top of the Billboard 200 record chart.

In 1987, the Federal Communications Commission voted 4-0 to abolish the Fairness Doctrine, which required radio and television stations to present balanced coverage of controversial issues.

In 1993, afederal judge sentenced Los Angeles police officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell to 2½ years in prison forviolating Rodney King’scivil rights.

In 2009, North Korean leader KimJong Il pardoned American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee forentering the country illegally and ordered their release during asurprise visit by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

In 2017, former pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli, whobecame noto-

in our old fireplace. So, I usually use acrumpled-up piece of paper and acouple fists full of lint to get the fire going. My husband likes to take alittle along when he and our boys go camping. By the timethey go deer hunting this year,I should have about three freezer bags full of lint from my dryer If it’scold and rainy,they shouldn’thave any trouble getting afire going with the lint. —CaseyH., in Missouri Bleach on countertops

Dear Heloise: Ijust bought my first house, which was built in 1949, so I’mdoing someremodeling right now.I’m trying to cut costs where Ican, and one of these costs was anew kitchen counter Well, Ipicked out a lovely shade of softwhite formylaminated kitchen counters. Then Ispilled red wine on them the other evening and decided to use somebleach to remove the slightly pinkish spill stain. Aword to the wise: Don’t ever use bleach on alaminated countertop. Inow have acountertop that is discolored, and the protective top layer has been eaten away.I will need to replace the entire countertop! Ithought you could use bleach on anything white but found out Iwas wrong. —Harold E., in Minneapolis Send ahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

rious foraprice-gouging scandal, was convicted on federal charges that he deceived investors in apair of failed hedge funds. (Shkreli waslater sentenced to seven years in prison; he wasreleased in 2022.)

In 2019, amasked gunman fired on revelers enjoying summer nightlife in apopular entertainmentdistrict of Dayton, Ohio, leaving nine people dead and 27 wounded; police said officers shot and killed the shooter within 30 seconds of the start of his rampage. Today’sbirthdays: Actor-singer Tina Cole is 82. Football Hall of Famer John Riggins is 76. Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is 70. Actor-screenwriter Billy Bob Thornton is 70. Actor Kym Karath (Film: “The Sound of Music”) is 67. Hall of Fametrack star Mary Decker Slaney is 67. Actor Lauren Tom is 64. Former President Barack Obama is 64. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Roger Clemens is 63. Actor Crystal Chappell is 60. Author Dennis Lehane is 60. Actor Daniel Dae Kim is 57. Actor Michael DeLuise is

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Getout, network andofferyour skills, knowledge and assistance to people who have something to offer in return. Inspire others to commit and follow through.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Preparation is everything if you want to avoid criticism and emotional interference. Time spent with someone heading in the same direction as you will bring you closer together.

LIBRA(sept.23-oct. 23) Engage in events that are informative andaddress your concerns. Stop procrastinating and put your energy where it counts. Choose discipline and control over excess and indulgence.

scoRPIo(oct.24-nov. 22) Your best return will come from what you actually do, not from what you talk about doing. Pushy or aggressive actions or wordswill be met with resistance. Choose peace over discord

sAGITTARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Call, visit or help someonewho requires assistance. Yourkind gesture will offer valuable insight into aviable solution. Reach out and get involved.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan.19) Rash decisions willleaveyou in avulnerable position. Protect yourpossessionsand personal informationfrom scammers. Mixed emotions will lead to doubt about someoneclose to you

AQuARIus(Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Make positive changesinyourhome. Make adjustments that will help younavigate your schedule better. Two-way conversa-

tionsare amust if you want to please everyone, including yourself. PIscEs(Feb.20-March 20) Make schedule adjustments to ensure you can attend an event that could open doors for you. Greater involvement will encourage you to incorporatea system that offers more control and fewer interruptions ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Research, organizeand plan beforeinitiating achange thatislikely to encounter resistance. Being resourcefuland taking the time to think before youact will make abig difference.

TAuRus (April 20-May 20) Playtothe audiencethatloves you. Trying to win over peoplewho are oblivioustowhat you bring to the table is awasteoftime. Utilize your skills andtime to make an impact.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Achange will be upliftingand thought-provoking Change is never easy, but it will involve youinsituationsthatcan lead to improvement.Your happiness is your responsibility, so take the first step cAncER (June 21-July 22) Fixing up your space to encourage you to start new projectsorentertainmore is in your best interest. Broaden your horizons, and you'll gain access to personal growth andfulfillment.

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

Sudoku

InstructIons: sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 gridwith several given numbers The object is to place the numbers 1to9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the sudoku increases from monday to sunday.

Saturday’s Puzzle Answer

By PHILLIP ALDER

Thomas Mann, aGerman author who won the 1929 Nobel Prize in literature and lived in theUnited States from 1939 to 1952, said, “Order and simplification arethe first steps toward the mastery of asubject.”

The declarer should step through the order of the tricks in his mind. Today’s South is in five clubs. West leads the heart king. WhenEast signals enthusiastically with his nine, West continues with alow heart. East winswithhis ace and shifts to aspade. How should South continue?

North’s redouble showed 10 or more high-card points. East jumped to two hearts to indicate at least afive-card suit.Hewasnotpromisingastronghand, becausehewas marked with weakness. IfSouthhadopeningvalues,Westenough fora takeout double, and North 10-plus points, how couldEast have much?

Southtook theopportunity to show he had long clubs. Then North bid what he hoped hispartner could make.

ShouldSouthfinesse in spades at trick three?

Well, supposethe finesse wins. What would happen next?

Declarer draws trumps and must take thediamond finesse for his contract. But if thediamond finesse is winning, the spade finesse is an unnecessary risk. South should win the third trick with hisspade ace, cash the club ace, play a diamond to dummy’s jack, return to his hand with atrump, repeat the diamond finesse, discard the spade queen on the diamond ace and claim. ©2025 by nEa, inc dist. By andrewsmcmeel syndication

wuzzles

Each Wuzzle is awordriddle which creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. Forexample: nOOngOOD =gOOD aFTErnOOn

Previous answers:

InsTRucTIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,”

dIrectIons: make a2-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. For more information on tournaments and

Saturday’s Puzzle Answer

info@scrabbleplayers.org.Visit

ken ken

InstructIons: 1 -Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1thorugh 4(easy) or 1through 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.

WiShinG Well

HErE is aplEasanTliTTlEgamE that

thenumber of letters is

left

429 FOCISSTREET $2,850/Mo

Allbidsshall be accom‐panied by bidsecurityin an amount of five per‐cent (5.0%) of thesum of thebasebid andall al‐ternates.The form of this security shallbeas stated in theInstructions to Biddersincludedin theBid Documentsfor this project.

ThesuccessfulBidder shallberequiredtofur‐nish aPerformance and PaymentBondwrittenas describedinthe Instruc‐tionstoBidders included in theBid Documentsfor this project.

APRE-BID CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, August 12, 2025 at NewOrleans Jazz Mu‐seum,Director'sOffice, 400 EsplanadeAvenue NewOrleans,LA70116. Bids shallbeaccepted from Contractorswho arelicensedunder LA R.S. 37:2150-2192 forthe classification of Building Construction.Bidderis required to comply with provisions andrequire‐mentsofLAR.S 38:2212(B)(5). No bidmay be withdrawnfor ape‐riod of forty-five (45) days after receiptof bids,exceptunder the provisions of LA.R.S 38:2214. TheOwner reserves the righttorejectany andall bids forjustcause.Inac‐cordance with La.R.S 38:2212(B)(1), theprovi‐sionsand requirements of this Sectionand those stated in thebidding documentsshall notbe waived by anyentity. When this projectis fi‐nanced either partially or entirely with StateBonds or financed in whole or in part by federalorother fundswhich arenot readilyavailable at the time bids arereceived, theaward of this Con‐tractiscontingentupon thegrantingoflines of credit,orthe sale of bondsbythe Bond Com‐missionor theavailabil‐ityoffederal or other funds. TheState shall

incurnoobligationtothe Contractor untilthe Con‐tractBetween Ownerand Contractor is fully exe‐cuted. Facility Planning and Controlisa participantin theSmall Entrepreneur‐ship (SE) Program (the Hudson Initiative)and theVeteran-Ownedand Service-ConnectedDis‐abledVeteran-Owned (LaVet)Small Entrepre‐neurshipsProgram.Bid‐ders areencouragedto consider participation. Informationisavailable from theOffice of Facility Planning andControl or on itswebsite at https:// www.doa.la.gov/doa/ fpc/ If youhavea disability andwould like to request an accommodationin ordertoparticipate in this meeting, please con‐tact ChristinaCardona at Christina.Cardona@la govor(225) 342-6060 as soon as possiblebut no laterthan48hours be‐fore thescheduled meet‐ing.

STATEOFLOUISIANA DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATION FACILITY PLANNING AND CONTROL ROGERE.HUSSER, JR DIRECTOR 151378-jul28-aug4-11-3t $161.34

28, 2025 DEADLINETORESPOND: August 27, 2025 PRE-BIDCONFERENCE viaTEAMS: August 13, 2025

Datesare subjectto changesvia an adden‐dumpostedbythe Bu‐reau of Purchasing on theCity’ssupplierportal.

If this solicitation is fed‐erally funded,prospec‐tive bidder/respondent must payparticularat‐tentiontoall applicable laws andregulations of theFederal government andthe Stateof Louisiana.

TheBureauofPurchas‐ingusescommodity codestonotifysuppliers of therelease of asourc‐ingevent andsubse‐quentmodificationsvia addendum. Note that you wouldreceive thosenoti‐ficationsifyou selected thefollowing commodity code(s) before there‐leaseofthe sourcing event: COMMODITY CODE(s): 911, 912, 913, 913-27, 914 TheCityofNew Orleans strongly encourages mi‐nority-ownedand women-ownedbusi‐nesses, socially andeco‐nomicallydisadvantaged businesses andsmall businesses to respondto this solicitation,orto participateinsubcon‐tracting opportunities pursuant to this solicita‐tion Formoreinformation aboutthissourcing event, go to www.nola. govand clickon“BRASS SupplierPortal” under “BIDS& CONTRACTS” Once on theSupplierPor‐tal, search “Open Events.” Thankyou foryourinter‐estindoing business with theCityofNew Or‐leans.

Datesare subjectto changesvia an adden‐dumpostedbythe Bu‐reau of Purchasing on theCity’ssupplierportal. If this solicitation is fed‐erally funded,prospec‐tive bidder/respondent must payparticularat‐tentiontoall applicable laws andregulations of theFederal government andthe Stateof Louisiana.

TheBureauofPurchas‐ingusescommodity codestonotifysuppliers of therelease of asourc‐ingevent andsubse‐quentmodificationsvia addendum. Note that you wouldreceive thosenoti‐ficationsifyou selected thefollowing commodity code(s)

“BIDS& CONTRACTS” Once on theSupplierPor‐tal, search “Open Events.” Thankyou foryourinter‐estindoing business with theCityofNew Or‐leans. JamesSimmons,Jr. ChiefProcurement Officer

AdvertisingDates: August 4, 11,and 18 2025 NOCP 8543 152539-aug4-11-18-3t $125.49

The2025 Xfinity US GymnasticsChampionships arecoming to the SmoothieKing Center in NewOrleans August7-10.

From theFrenchOlympic Games to theFrenchQuarter, thegymnasticsOlympic journeycontinues,and theroadtothe LA 2028 OlympicGames officiallybeginsinNew Orleans. This year’s eventwill featuretop eliteathletesfromacrossthe country, includingreturning Olympicmedalists from theParis 2024Men’s OlympicTeam BrodyMalone and Frederick Richard andgoldmedalist HezlyRivera,one of thebreakout starsfromParis.But that’s notall! This is thefirstchancetosee therisingstars whowill be competingfor spotsonTeamUSA at the2028 Olympics in LosAngeles

Men’sDay 1Competition

1:30pm -Junior Men 7:00pm -SeniorMen THURSDAY,AUGUST 7

Women’sDay 1Competition 1:45pm -JuniorWomen 6:45pm -SeniorWomen FRIDAY,AUGUST8

Men’sDay 2Competition

12:00pm -Junior Men 5:30pm -SeniorMen SATURDAY,AUGUST 9

Women’sDay 2Competition 12:45pm -JuniorWomen 6:00pm -SeniorWomen SUNDAY,AUGUST10

THE WORLD’S TOP GYMNASTS

Four Olympicmedalists lead thelistofathletes currentlyqualified andanticipated to compete fornationaltitlesand U.S. National Team roster spotsatthe 2025 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics ChampionshipsinNew Orleans.2024Paris Olympicmedalists includewomen’s team gold medalist HezlyRivera andmen’s team bronze medalists BrodyMalone, Frederick Richard, Asher Hong and StephenNedoroscik,who also wonbronzeonpommelhorse

Setfor August7-10 at theSmoothieKingCenter, thechampionships will includenearly 140athletes in senior women, senior men, junior womenand junior mencompetitions.