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T h u r s d ay, au g u s T 14, 2025
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TRASH ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
President Donald Trump speaks at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday.
Trump warns Putin ahead of summit
PSC decision coming earlier than expected
TALKING
President threatens ‘severe consequences’ if war isn’t stopped BY GEIR MOULSON and SYLVIE CORBET
Associated Press
BERLIN — President Donald Trump warned Wednesday that there will be “very severe consequences” if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not agree to stop the war against Ukraine after the two leaders meet for a summit later this week in Alaska. Trump made the comment in response to a question from a reporter after announcing this year’s Kennedy Center Honors recipients in Washington. He did not say what the consequences might be. The remark came soon after Trump consulted with European leaders, who said the president assured them he would make a priority of trying to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine when he speaks with Putin on Friday in Anchorage. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined several of Kyiv’s main allies in the virtual meeting with the U.S. leader, and Zelenskyy told the group that Putin “is bluffing” ahead of the planned summit about Russia’s ability to occupy all of Ukraine and shake off sanctions. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said afterward that “important decisions” could be made in Alaska, but he stressed that “fundamental European and Ukrainian security interests must be protected.” Merz convened Wednesday’s meeting in an attempt to make sure European and Ukrainian leaders are heard ahead of the summit. He stressed that a ceasefire
ä See SUMMIT, page 6A
Vote set on power for Meta facility
STAFF FILE PHOTOS
French Quarter sanitation dispute has become a proxy battle for New Orleans mayor’s race BY JAMES FINN Staff writer
In New Orleans, sanitation contracts are among the most lucrative deals awarded by city government. Now, a war over one of those deals has spawned a proxy fight in the election to replace Mayor LaToya Cantrell, spurring accusations of political patronage and raising questions about the future of mayoral power in the city. The deal in question — a $73 million, multiyear French Quarter sanitation contract Cantrell inked last summer with local firm Henry Consulting — lies at the heart of a brouhaha that has simmered in New Orleans for months. Cantrell’s foes on the City Council, including one candidate gunning to replace her, joined with a competing contractor and French Quarter business owners in a tooth-and-nail fight to kill the deal. They’ve at turns slammed the resume of Troy Henry, Henry Consulting’s owner; questioned the contract’s negotiating process; and assailed Cantrell for saddling the city with a
yearslong deal near the end of her term — a familiar refrain in New Orleans, where incoming mayors often bemoan predecessors’ late-term decisions. Cantrell has met the assault head-on, suing the council for refusing to sign the contract. She has accused the panel of improperly bucking her authority, escalating a yearslong struggle over the limits of mayoral power — a tussle fueled by Cantrell’s cratering approval rating and a council that grew emboldened during her second term. Alliances between the contractors and two of those candidates have drawn fault lines in the race, too: Henry is a cousin and backer of council member Oliver Thomas, one of the mayoral candidates. Sidney Torres IV, whose firm is cleaning the French Quarter before Henry’s contract kicks in, has sided with City Council Vice President Moreno in the battle to kill Henry’s contract and has donated to Moreno’s own mayoral campaign. The dispute has marked an early source of conflict in the
CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR
Helena Moreno
Oliver Thomas
ä See TRASH, page 7A Royce Duplessis
BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer
A controversial plan to power Meta’s largest artificial intelligence data center anywhere in the world, to be built in rural northeast Louisiana, will head for a vote by state regulators next week, far ahead of initially planned. The fast-tracked approval by the Public Service Commission is drawing concern from advocates who say average ratepayers and other industrial companies are being put at risk of covering electricity costs for the giant facility, equivalent to the size of around 70 football fields. “Whether Entergy and supporters of the it sets a plan say enough precedent safeguards are or not, and in place and that it most there is no reason to further delay a certainly will, project that could the costs will be transformashow up on tional for the people’s bills impoverished reacross the gion. state.” Entergy, which is proposing to LOGAN BURKE, build three gasexecutive director fired plants to of the Alliance power the data for Affordable center, requested Energy that the commission take up the issue two months before the regulators were initially expected to vote. The vote at the Aug. 20 meeting will also occur before a judge who oversaw a recent hearing into the proposal will be able to release her recommendations. “I really want folks across the state to understand that this decision is not just about one of the world’s largest data centers in north Louisiana,” said Logan Burke, the executive director of the Alliance for Affordable Energy consumer advocacy group. “Whether it sets a precedent or not, and it most certainly will, the costs will show up on people’s bills across the state.” A coalition of the largest oil, gas and petrochemical companies operating in Louisiana have similarly argued that the request poses huge risks for them. Around 30 companies are part of the coalition, including Exxon, Shell and Dow, under the banner of the Louisiana
ä See META, page 6A
‘They could be pretty much anywhere’ 7, and Colton, 5, missed flashed on national news screens. Inside the search to theCohen, first day of school, Christmas Investigators had not been able to determine their specific location, find two brothers who and their birthdays. After they did not show up for saying the boys could be as near went missing in a a routine custody drop-off, alerts as still in Louisiana or Texas, or as went out last December across far away as California, Michigan, custody battle Louisiana asking people to be Illinois or Pennsylvania.
on the lookout for the boys. The U.S. Marshals Service joined the search, while the Calcasieu Parish Staff writer Sheriff’s Office also tried to track Chase Desormeaux feared the them down. As Desormeaux continued worst after he stopped hearing searching for his sons, their faces from his two sons.
BY MEGAN WYATT
WEATHER HIGH 94 LOW 79 PAGE 8B
“They could be pretty much anywhere,” said a host of “On Patrol: Live” on the Reelz network, which featured their case in March and told viewers they were with their
PROVIDED PHOTO FROM THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN
Cohen Desormeaux, 7, left, and his brother, Colton, 5, went missing in ä See SEARCH, page 6A 2024 amid a custody battle in Lake Charles.
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13TH yEAR, NO. 2