The Advocate 08-16-2025

N.O. mayor indicted on federal charges

Cantrell accused of conspiracy, fraud and obstruction

BY JAMES FINN Staff writer

A federal grand jury returned a criminal indictment Friday against New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, accusing the mayor of pursuing an illicit affair with her police bodyguard on taxpayers’ dime, then lying to federal officials and deleting evidence to hide the relationship.

The indictment returned at New Orleans’ federal courthouse accuses Cantrell of 11 counts including wire fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice and lying to a federal grand jury all part of the alleged yearslong scheme to hide her relationship with Jeffrey Vappie,

the former New Orleans Police officer assigned to protect her. The two face 18 counts total.

Prosecutors secured the charges against Cantrell through a superseding indictment in their ongoing prosecution of Vappie, who was initially charged last summer with wire fraud and false statement counts in the same alleged scheme. Vappie faces additional charges under the new indictment.

Prosecutors in the new 44-page indictment describe Vappie and Cantrell deleting WhatsApp messages, lying to FBI agents and “intimidating” subordinates as they tried to erase signs of their amorous relationship — including trips to a Napa Valley, California,

winery and Martha’s Vineyard — during periods when both claimed to be on official duty

“This indictment does not allege that a relationship constitutes a crime,” said Michael Simpson, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, at a news conference Friday afternoon “Rather, it reflects the prosecution of two public officials alleged to have engaged in a yearslong, continuing fraud scheme that used public money for personal ends, by exploiting their power and their authority.”

Cantrell’s press staff issued a brief statement late Friday say-

ä See MAYOR, page 4A

Worshippers gather for annual mass at tiny Madonna Chapel

BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer

Outside the 9-by-9-foot chapel across from the levee, congregants sweated and prayed, clad in the most formal churchgoing clothes that can be expected in a Louisiana August.

worshippers

No deal made to end war in Ukraine

Trump rolls out red carpet for Putin in Alaska

BY MICHELLE L. PRICE and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska President Donald Trump failed to secure an agreement from Vladimir Putin on Friday to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, falling short in his most significant move yet to stop the bloodshed, even after rolling out the red carpet for the man who started it.

“There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” the U.S. president said, after Putin claimed they had hammered out an “understanding” on Ukraine and warned Europe not to “torpedo the nascent progress.” Trump said he would call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders to brief them on the talks.

Trump, who for years has balked at American support for Ukraine and expressed admiration for Putin, had pledged confidently to bring about an end to the war on his first day back in the White House. Seven months later, after berating Zelenskyy in the Oval Office and stanching the flow of some U.S. military assistance to Kyiv, Trump could not bring Putin even to pause the fighting, as his forces make gains on the battlefield. Trump had offered Putin both a carrot and a stick, issuing threats of punishing economic sanctions on Russia while also extending a warm welcome at Joint Base

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Rapper sentenced in $1M fraud scheme

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Rapper Sean Kingston was sentenced to 3½ years in prison Friday after being convicted of a $1 million fraud scheme in which he leveraged his fame to dupe sellers into giving him luxury items that he then never paid for Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean Paul Anderson, and his mother, Janice Eleanor Turner, were convicted in March by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud. Turner was sentenced to five years in prison last month.

Before U.S. Judge David Leibowitz handed down Kingston’s sentence, the singer apologized to the judge in the South Florida courtroom and said he had learned from his actions His attorney asked if he could selfsurrender at a later date due to health issues, but the judge ordered him taken into custody immediately Kingston, who was wearing a black suit and white shirt, removed his suit jacket and was handcuffed and led from the courtroom.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Anton described Kingston as someone addicted to his celebrity lifestyle even though he could no longer afford to maintain it.

The federal prosecutor described a yearslong pattern by Kingston of bullying victims for luxury merchandise and then refusing to pay

Defense attorney Zeljka Bozanic countered that the 35-yearold Kingston had the mentality of a teenager the age he was when he vaulted to stardom.

The attorney said Kingston had almost no knowledge of his finances, relying on business managers and his mother.

Man struck, killed after fleeing ICE, official says MONROVIA, Calif. — A man fleeing immigration authorities outside a Home Depot store in Southern California was struck and killed by an SUV when he ran across a nearby freeway, officials said Monrovia police received a call Thursday about the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. A responding officer saw ICE agents approaching the store and conducting enforcement activity there, City Manager Dylan Feik said in a statement.

Monrovia is about 20 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

One man fled on foot and headed toward the nearby freeway, where he was struck by a vehicle, Feik said. He was taken to a hospital, where he died, the statement said.

“We extend our condolences for the individual and his family,” Feik said.

Ethiopian fossil Lucy leaves for Europe

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia The human ancestor fossil known as Lucy left Ethiopia for display in a European museum, Ethiopian national media reported Friday, citing Tourism Minister Selamawit Kassa.

Lucy’s skeleton, which is 40% complete, left Ethiopia on Friday and will be displayed at the Czech National Museum in Prague for approximately two months.

Lucy was recovered in Ethiopia in 1974 from what was an ancient lake near fossilized remains of crocodiles, turtle eggs and crab claws. She was a member of Australopithecus afarensis, an early human species that lived in Africa between about 4 million and 3 million years ago.

This is the second time Lucy has left Ethiopia. The first was in 2013, when she toured the United States.

CORRECTION

The Advocate on Friday incorrectly reported that Nicholas McQuirter faced between 10 years and 30 years for criminal charges to which he pleaded guilty While the judge in the case stated that as the sentencing range, the maximum sentence for one of the charges is five years, and for the other is two years, according to prosecutors The Advocate regrets the error

AG leaves D.C. police chief in charge

Reversal

comes after city sues to block Trump’s takeover

BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST and STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Friday reversed course and agreed to leave the Washington, D.C., police chief in control of the department, while Attorney General Pam Bondi, in a new memo, directed the District’s police to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement “notwithstanding” city law.

Bondi’s new order Friday came after officials in the nation’s capital sued to block President Donald Trump’s takeover of the Washington police. On Thursday night, his administration escalated its intervention into the city’s law enforcement by naming a federal official as the new emergency head of the department.

The attorney general’s new order represents a partial retreat for the Trump administration in the face of intense skepticism from a judge over the legality of Bondi’s earlier directive that sought to put the police force under the full control of the federal government But Bondi also signaled the administration would continue to pressure D.C. lead-

ers to help federal authorities aggressively pursue immigrants in the country illegally, despite city laws on the books that limit cooperation between police and immigration authorities.

The District of Columbia’s police chief said Trump’s earlier move to sideline her would threaten law and order by upending the command structure. “In my nearly three decades in law enforcement, I have never seen a single government action that would cause a greater threat to law and order than this dangerous directive,” Chief Pamela Smith said in a court filing.

The legal battle was the latest evidence of the escalating tensions in a mostly Democratic city that now has its police department

under the control of the Republican president’s administration that exists in its midst. Trump’s takeover is historic, yet it had played out with a slow ramp-up in federal law enforcement officials and National Guard troops to start the week.

As the weekend approached, though, signs across the city — from the streets to the legal system suggested a deepening crisis over who controls the city’s immigration and policing policies, the district’s right to govern itself and daily life for the millions of people who live and work in the metro area.

After a court hearing on the district’s request for a temporary restraining order against sidelining Smith, the Trump admin-

istration and city officials reached the temporary

The two sides sparred in court for hours Friday before U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, who is overseeing the lawsuit She indicated the law likely doesn’t grant the Trump administration power to fully take over city police, but it probably does give the president more power than the city might like.

“The way I read the statute, the president can ask, the mayor must provide, but the president can’t control,” said Reyes who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Joe Biden.

The judge asked the two sides to hammer out a compromise, and promised to issue a court order tempo-

rarily blocking the administration from naming a new chief if they couldn’t agree. An attorney for the Trump administration, Yaakov Roth, said in court that the move to sideline Smith came after an immigration order that still held back some aid to federal authorities He argued that the president has broad authority to determine what kind of help police in Washington must provide.

Washington officials were pushing in court to halt U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s order Thursday to put the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Terry Cole, in charge of Washington police. The police takeover is the latest move by Trump to test the limits of his legal authorities to carry out his agenda, relying on obscure statutes and a supposed state of emergency to bolster his tough-on-crime message and his plans to speed up the mass deportation of people in the United States illegally It also marks one of the most sweeping assertions of federal authority over a local government in modern times. While Washington has grappled with spikes in violence and visible homelessness, the city’s homicide rate ranks below those of several other major U.S. cities, and the capital is not in the throes of the public safety collapse the Trump administration has portrayed.

Death toll rises in India, Pakistan flash floods

Officials say at least 280 killed, scores missing

BY CHANNI ANAND and RIAZ KHAN Associated Press

PESHAWAR, Pakistan Flash floods triggered by torrential rains have killed over 280 people in India and Pakistan and left scores of others missing, officials said Friday as rescuers brought to safety some 1,600 people from two mountainous districts in the neighboring countries.

Flooding began a day earlier in Indian-controlled Kashmir and spread to the north and northwest in neighboring Pakistan, triggered by powerful cloudbursts sudden, intense downpours over small areas. The floods and subsequent landslides injured dozens of people and forced the evacuation and rescue of thousands of others, particularly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Cloudbursts are increasingly common in India’s Himalayan regions and Pakistan’s northern areas, and experts have said cli-

ANAND

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CHANNI

Stranded pilgrims are helped across a water channel using a makeshift bridge on Friday in Chositi village, Kishtwar district, Indian-controlled Kashmir, a day after flash floods.

mate change is a contributing factor Leaders in both countries offered their condolences to the victims’ families and assured them of swift relief.

In Indian-controlled Kashmir, rescuers searched for missing people in the remote Himalayan village of Chositi after flash floods a day earlier left at least 60 people dead and at least 80 missing, officials said.

At least 300 people were rescued Thursday after a powerful cloudburst triggered floods and landslides, but the operation

was halted overnight. Officials said many missing people were believed to have been washed away, and the number of missing could increase.

Harvinder Singh, a resident, joined the rescue efforts immediately after the disaster and helped retrieve 33 bodies from under mud, he said.

At least 50 seriously injured people were treated at hospitals, many of them rescued from a stream filled with mud and debris.

Chositi, in Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, is the last village accessible to motor vehicles on the route

Erin strengthens into hurricane

Heavy rains expected in Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands

BY DÁNICA COTO Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico Erin strengthened into a hurricane on Friday as it approached the northeast Caribbean, prompting forecasters to warn of possible flooding and landslides.

The storm is expected to remain over open waters, although tropical storm watches were issued for Anguilla, Barbuda, St Martin, St. Barts, Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten. Heavy rains were forecast to start late Friday in Antigua and Barbuda, the

U.S. and British Virgin Islands and southern and eastern Puerto Rico. Up to 4 inches are expected with isolated totals of up to 6 inches, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The hurricane center also warned of dangerous swells but said the threat of direct impacts in the Bahamas and along the east coast of the United States “appears to be gradually decreasing.”

The storm was located about 365 miles east of the Northern Leeward Islands. It had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and was moving west-northwest at 17 mph.

Hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry said Erin is forecast to eventually take a sharp turn north-

east that would put it on a path between the U.S. and Bermuda.

“All of our best consensus aids show Erin turning safely east of the United States next week, but it’ll be a much closer call for Bermuda, which could land on the stronger eastern side of Erin,” he said. Erin is the Atlantic season’s first hurricane. It is forecast to become a major Category 3 storm late this weekend and pass some 200 miles north of Puerto Rico.

The U.S. government has deployed more than 200 employees from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies to Puerto Rico as a precaution as forecasters issued a flood watch for the entire U.S territory from late Friday into Monday

of an annual Hindu pilgrimage to a mountainous shrine at an altitude of 9,500 feet.

Officials said the pilgrimage, which began July 25 and was scheduled to end Sept. 5, was suspended.

The devastating floods swept away the main community kitchen for pilgrims, as well as dozens of vehicles and motorbikes. More than 200 pilgrims were in the kitchen at the time of the flood, which also damaged or washed away many of the homes clustered together in the foothills, officials said.

In northern and northwestern Pakistan, flash floods

killed at least 243 people, including 157 people who died in the flood-hit Buner district in northwest Pakistan on Friday Mohammad Suhail told The Associated Press that dozens of people were still missing, and rescue operations were underway He said 78 bodies were recovered by midday Friday and another 79 were pulled from the rubble of collapsed homes and flooded villages later

“The death toll may rise as we are still looking for dozens of missing people,” Suhail said.

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Democratsrelease California Houseredistricting plan

Mapwould add5 Democratic seats, countering Texas Republicans

BY MICHAEL R. BLOOD, TRÂN NGUYEN, NADIA LATHAN and BILLBARROW Associated Press

LOS ANGELES In adisplay of cutthroat yet calculated politics, Democrats unveiled aproposal Friday that could give California’sdominant political party an additional five U.S. House seats in a bid to win the fight to control Congress next year

The plan calls for an unusually timed reshaping of Housedistrict lines to greatly strengthen the Democratic advantage in thestate aheadofmidtermelections, when Republicanswillbe defending the party’sfragile House majority

It amountstoacounterpunch to Texas, where the GOP is trying to add five seats to its House delegation at the urging of President Donald Trump as he tries to avoid losing control of Congressand,with it, prospects for his conservative agenda in the later part of his term. If approved by voters in a November election, the California blueprint could nearly erase Republican House members in the nation’s most populous state. The Democratic plan is intended to win the party 48 of its 52 U.S. House seats, up from 43 currently

The proposal wasreleased

TexasHouse Speaker Dustin Borrow, R-Lubbock, gavels sine die, ending the special session afterfailing to reachaquorum Friday in Austin, Texas.Texas Republicans on Fridaybegan asecond special session to approve newcongressional maps sought by PresidentDonald Trump to bolster hisparty ahead of the2026 midterm.

by thecampaign arm of House Democrats,the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Democrats in thestate Legislature will hold hearingsand plan to vote on the newmaps next week

“This is about more than drawing lines on amap. It’s aboutdrawing alinein thesand to stop Texas and Trump from rigging the election,”state SenateDemocratic leader Mike McGuire said in astatement.

Democraticedge

Whileageneral notion behind drawing districts is to unite what’scalled communities of interest —neighborhoods and cities that share similar concernsor demographic traits —the proposedremapping would create ajigsaw of oddly shaped districtstomaximize

Democratic clout

The 1st Congressional District is currently anchored in thestate’sconservative far northeast corner and is representedbyRepublican Rep. Doug LaMalfa, aTrump supporter. Thedistricthas a nearly18-point GOP registrationedge.

Under theproposal Democrats would end up with a 10-point registration advantage in the district after drastic reshaping to include parts of heavily Democratic Sonoma County near thePacific Coast.

In apostonthe social platform X, LaMalfa called the proposal “absolutely ridiculous.”

In the battleground 41st District east of Los Angeles, represented by long-serving Republican Rep.Ken Calvert, Democraticand Republican registration is cur-

rently split about evenly

Butinthe redrawn district, Democratic registrationwould jump to 46%, with GOP registration fallingto 26%.

OtherRepublicans whose districts would see major changesintendedtofavor Democrats include Reps Kevin Kiley in Northern California,David Valadaoin the CentralValleyfarm belt andDarrell Issa in SanDiego County.Also, embattled Democratic incumbents would see their districts paddedwithadditional leftleaning voters.

Texasstalemate

The release of theplan came thesame daythat TexasRepublicans began asecondspecial session to approve new congressional maps sought by Trump.

TheGOP’sfirst special

session in Texas ended withoutapproving newpolitical maps, thwarted by Democrats who staged anearly two-week walkout that meant notenough lawmakers were present to pass any legislation. Gov. Greg Abbott thenquickly calleda second session that started without the necessary quorum to conduct business.

Newsom promises fight

Democratic California Gov Gavin Newsom saidThursday that his state will hold a Nov. 4special referendum on the redrawn districts.

“Wecan’t stand back and watch this democracy disappear district by district all across the country,” Newsom said.

The an nounc eme nt marked thefirst time any state beyond Texasofficially waded into Trump’sfight, though several governors andlegislative leaders from both parties have threatened such moves.

Rep. Richard Hudson, of NorthCarolina, whoheads the House GOP campaign arm, said Newsom, apotential 2028 presidential candidate,is“shredding California’sConstitution and disenfranchising voters.”

“Californians oppose Newsom’s stunt because they won’tlet aself-serving politicianrig thesystemtofurther his career,” said Hudson, who heads the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Howwillvotersreact?

Abig risk for Democrats is whether voters will be open to setting aside district

boundariescraftedbyanindependent commission for ones shapedfor partisanadvantage.

Somepeoplealreadyhave said they would sue over the effort. Republican former Gov.Arnold Schwarzenegger, alongtime opponent of partisanredistricting, signaledthathewill notside with Democrats even after talking to Newsom. He posted aphoto of himself Friday at the gym wearing aT-shirt that said, “Terminate gerrymandering,” with areference to an obscenity and politicians.

“I’m getting readyfor the gerrymanderingbattle,” Schwarzenegger said. What’s next in Texas?

Absentlawmakers have said they will return to Austinonce CaliforniaDemocrats take more formal steps on their own redistricting plan.

Trump is trying to avoid a repeat of the 2018 midterms, when the GOPyieldedcontrol during his first presidency to aDemocratic majority that stymied his agenda and twice impeached him. The nation’stwo most populous states have been at theforefront of the resulting battle, which has reached into multiple courtroomsand statehouses controlled by both parties.

Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows chided colleagues who left Austin, accusing them of “following Gov. Newsom’slead instead of the will of Texans.” The speaker said, however,that he has “been told” to expect aquorum Monday

Negotiations forplastic pollutiontreatyfailinGeneva

BY JENNIFERMcDERMOTT

Associated Press

GENEVA— Negotiationsto reach amajor treaty to end growing plastic pollution around theworld fellapart on Friday,with delegates in Switzerland adjourning with no immediate plans to resume.

The consequence of the failed talks is devastating,as it leaves no clear path for nations to collectively address the mountains of plastic that arefillinglandfills,clogging oceans and showing up in chunks on beaches and other public places.

“Consensusisdead,” Bjorn Beeler,international coordinator for the International Pollutants Elimination Network, said upon adjournment.

Every year,the world makes more than 400 million tons of new plastic, and that couldgrowbyabout 70%by 2040 without policy changes About 100countries wantto limit production.Many have said it’salso essential to address toxic chemicals used to make plastics.

Thefinaldecision, or lack there of, underscored the influence of theUnited States and other oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia, which opposed any limit on the productionsofplas-

tics, made mostly from fuels like oil and gas. Nations had worked for 11 days at theUnitedNations office in Geneva. But they were deadlocked over whether the treaty should reduce exponential growth of plastic productionand put global, legally binding controls on toxicchemicals used to make plastics.

Environmentalists,waste pickers and Indigenous leadersand many business executives traveledtothe talks to make their voices heard. Indigenous leaders soughta treaty that recognizes their rights and knowledge.

The Youth Plastic ActionNetworkwas theonly organization that spoke at the closing meeting Friday Comments from observers were cutoff at the request of the U.S. and Kuwait after 24 hours of meetings and negotiating.

After the adjournment, some delegates tried to put agood face on the negotiations and expressed hope for future talks. Delegates did agreetheywould meet again at somepoint in the future.

Inger Andersen,executive director of theUnited Nations Environment Programme,saiddespite challenges, despitethe disappointment, “we have to ac-

ceptthatsignificant progress was made.”

This process won’tstop, she said, but it’stoo soon to say how long it will take to get atreaty now

The negotiations were supposed to be the lastround andproduce the first legally binding treatyonplastic pollution, including in the oceans. But justlike at the meeting in SouthKorea last year,the talks ended withno agreement.

Luis Vayas Valdivieso, the chair of the negotiating committee, wrote andpresented twodraftsoftreatytextin Geneva based on the views expressedbythe nations. Therepresentatives from 184 countries did not agree to use either one as the basis for their negotiations.

Valdivieso said Friday morning as the delegates reconvened in the assembly hall that no further action was being proposedatthis stage on the latestdraft

After athree-hour meeting, he banged agavel made of recycled plastic bottle topsfrom aNairobi landfill, one of many symbols of the plastic problem thatwere visible during thetalks European Commissioner JessikaRoswallsaidthe European Union and its member states had higher expec-

tationsfor this meeting and while the draft falls short on their demands, it’s agood basis for another negotiating session.

“The Earth is not ours only

We are stewards forthose who come afterus. Let us fulfill that duty,” she said. Representatives of Norway,Australia, Tuvalu and others nations said theywere

“deeply disappointed” to be leaving Geneva without a treaty.Madagascar’srepresentative said the world is “expecting action, not reports from us.”

ing that her attorney,Eddie Castaing, is “thoroughly reviewing”the indictment. The administration declined to comment further An attorney for Vappie, Shaun Clarke, declined to comment. Vappie pleaded not guilty to last year’s charges, and both he and Cantrell have denied having an affair

The charges unveiled Friday represent arelativelynarrow prong of the yearslong probe into Cantrell’saffairs, in which agents scrutinized varied aspects of her spending and political activities, including an alleged bribery scheme that yielded charges against aprivate electrical inspector last year,inwhich the mayorwas neveraccused. Still, the criminal allegations mark astunning low point for the Democratic mayor, aformer neighborhood organizer whose ascent to the city’stop officeepitomized changes that swept New Orleans politics following Hurricane Katrina. Cantrell becomes the second mayor in New Orleans history andits first sitting mayortofacecriminal charges. Former Mayor Ray Nagin was found guilty at trial on corruption counts in 2014 after leaving office.

“This will be in the opening paragraph of her legacy,” said Silas Lee, aformer Cantrell adviser and pollster whoteaches at Xavier University

The charges pose thorny questions about what comes next for New Orleans’leadership in the waning months of Cantrell’stenureasmayor.Set to leave office due to term limits in January ,she was already embattled by low approval ratings, legal troubles, alack of political allies and aseriesofscandals. Before Friday,political and legal observers had begun to speculate that Cantrell might escape an indictment. The federal investigation ran up against challenges, including changes to PresidentDonald Trump’s Justice Department, obstacles in corralling key witnesses and paltry sums involved in two previous corruption indictments that indirectly involved the mayor Political veteransand legal observers alike view an indictment of Cantrellas unlikely to prompt her to resign. She has rarely bowed to critics, from holding out on reimbursing taxpayers for some travel to her numerous fights with city lawmakers. Amid the federal investigation, Cantrell has argued that her race draws criticism that White politicians escape.Being subjectto federal scrutiny“seems to be kind of prevalent relative to Black leadership,” she said at anews conference in 2023. “I am not exempt from that.” Personal relationship

The scope of the investigation into Cantrellcame into sharperfocus through the

Key players in the federal investigation of MayorLaToyaCantrell

JULY19, 2024 INDICTMENT

INDICTED

JeffreyVappie

Cantrell’sformer bodyguard, Vappie is accused of fabricating NOPD timesheets to collect his police pay while pursuinga romantic relationship with the mayor. He has pled not guilty.

LaToyaCantrell

Cantrell allegedly communicatedwith Vappie about deleting messages detailing the time theyhad spent together.She wasnot charged at the time but has since been indicted. She also denied that she and Vappie were romantically involved.

Michelle Woodfork

The interim NOPDChief, Woodfork upheld an internal affairs investigation into Vappie’s timesheets.Prosecutors allegethatCantrell passed up Woodfork for the permanent job in retaliation

pair ofindictmentsfiledin

New Orleans’ federal court last year

In September,prosecutors indirectly accusedCantrell of accepting bribes froma privateelectrical inspector, RandyFarrell, in exchange for firing ahigh-ranking city official.Farrell pleaded not guilty,and Cantrellhas not beenchargedinthat scheme. The allegations involving Farrell did not appear in the freshcharges against Cantrell andVappie. The mayor was described in the first Vappie indictment last summer,which accused himoffabricating time sheets andlying to FBI agents as hesoughtto conceal the alleged romantic relationship with Cantrell.

In the latest allegations, Simpsonsaid New Orleans taxpayers paid more than $70,000 for Vappie’stravel as he accompanied Cantrell on aseriesoftripsto Napa, Martha’sVineyard, LosAngelesand Atlanta.

Prosecutors accused the pair of deleting some of the 15,000 text and WhatsApp messagestheyexchanged “toavoid detection and continue their relationship.” They also accuse them of lyingtothe public and people around them about their affair

In September 2022, Cantrell and Vappie discussedwhether areporter investigating their relationship was “on tous,” accordingto messages detailed in theindictment. They later discussedonWhatsApp how they needed to be careful” and to appear “straight and together.”

“Let me know where for lunch to makesureI’m out of sight,” Cantrellwroteto Vappieduring theMartha’s Vineyardtrip in September 2022, according to the indictment In March 2022, another member of Cantrell’ssecurity detail, whoisnot named in the indictment, warned Vappie andothersonthe team that anyoneroman-

tically involvedwiththe

mayor should end things, because of theeffect the relationship could have on the entire team.Vappie respondedthatthere wasno relationship.

Cantrell saidthe same in April2022 to an associate who cautioned her that the useofpublic dollarsfor her alleged affair was illegal. Shechallenged theassociate, who is not named, to “prove to me that Iamhaving arelationship.”

Cantrellalso approved thousands of dollarsinalcohol and meal purchases Vappie claimed fromtrips where the pair are accused of spendingpersonaltime together,the indictment alleges.

Falsestatements

For themayor,the most damning section of the indictmentmay be theaccusation that Cantrell lied to a federal grand jury,said Walter Becker, aveteran lawyer and former federal prosecutor.The indictment says Cantrell failed to produce subpoenaed records andlied about their relationship during agrand jury appearance in June 2024.

“That’savery serious thing,” Becker said. “It is pretty cutand dry,especially if you’ve gotten asubpoena to produce certain records andyou didn’tproduce them.”

Theindictment, however, involves smallersumsthan many high-profile public corruptioncases,Becker noted.

Simpson, theacting U.S. attorney,saidthe investigationthat yielded the fresh charges is “decidedly ongoing.” ButMatt Coman, acivil lawyer and former assistant U.S. attorneywho led the prosecution of Nagin, said it would be unusual to charge ahigh-profile public official under another indictment.

“She certainly hasthe potential for being charged in an additional indictment, should additional evidence

Randy Farrell Faces 25 fraudand briberycounts related to unlicensed home inspections and alleged gifts to Cantrell to avoid scrutiny.

LaToyaCantrell

Farrell allegedly gave themayor football game tickets, an iPhone and asteakdinner beforeshe fired acity officialwho’dbecome skeptical of his inspection work. Cantrell has not been charged in relationtothesealleged acts.

Fouad Zeton

Alocal businessmanand political rainmaker, Zeton allegedly delivered tickets purchased by Farrell to Cantrell and her second-in-command. Though under indictment in an unrelated case, he has not been charged in connection to Farrell.

GilbertMontaño

Cantrell’sformer chief administrativeofficer and top deputy. He allegedly accepted tickets to football games fromFarrell, by way of Zeton. Montaño has not been charged.

become viable and usable,” Coman said. “But after she’s been indicted in this I can’trecallanother public official who’sbeen indicted multiple times in the same court.”

Yearslongprobe

New Orleans local officialsmostlyrespondedto Friday’sindictment by emphasizing Cantrell’sright to arobust defense.

“Everyone is presumed innocent underthe law,”said City Council member Joe Giarrusso. “Mayor Cantrell deserves that presumption. This unfortunately will be sensationalizedbecause it involvesthe mayor and will further impede the city’soperations. We should,however,let the facts playout and not rush to judgment ”

The indictments of people in her orbit, and now of Cantrell herself, followed a

LaToyaCantrell

Cantrell allegedly shared a‘personal and intimate’ relationship with Vappiethat they hid from public view, all while Vappiewas being paidtoprotect themayor and while she claimed to be away on city business.

JeffreyVappie

INDICTED

In fresh charges, prosecutors sayVappie and themayor sought to impede federal investigations by shielding text messages, lying to subordinates, colleagues and advisers, and submitting false information to federal prosecutors.

Michelle Woodfork Prosecutors strongly suggest that Cantrell passedoverWoodforkfor theNOPD superintendent position because an internal probe questioned Vappie’s conduct. Woodfork left theNOPD and is running for Orleans Parishsheriff.

Anne Breaud

Prosecutors sayCantrell abused her positiontoget informationabout Breaud, a French Quarter resident whosnapped pictures of themayor and Vappiedining together.Cantrell later sued Breaud for stalking

series of controversies that set her second term off to arocky start: herhandling of HurricaneIda,overseas travel on taxpayers’ dime and alleged relationship with Vappie.

Her administration also confronted challengespartly outside her control, and herallieshaveargued that she faces unfair criticism.

The ongoing economic fallout and massdeath of the COVID-19 pandemic, a spikeinviolent crime that tracked national trends andinfrastructure troubles that have plagued New Orleansfor decadeshaveall harmed constituent morale in the CrescentCity,polling shows.

Cantrell has also faced more personal, private struggles as public criticism mounted during her second term Her husband, longtime

New Orleans lawyer and public defender Jason Cantrell, diedsuddenly in 2023. TheCantrells had publicly struggled with theirfinances, with the federal government securing alien on their house in 2020 over unpaid taxes, and a roofing company doing the samein2023 over alleged nonpayment fora newroof.

In October,Cantrell spoke for the first time in public abouthaving been sexually assaulted as achild and surviving the trauma. Cantrell’scase parallels the prosecution of former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry,who resigned in 2018 after pleading guilty to afelonytheft charge andafter publicly apologizing for having an affair with her bodyguard while on the clock. The bodyguard, Sgt. Robert Forrest, also pleaded guilty to that charge.

world.

“I cameacross it on theinternet one day ahandful of years ago, andithad never left my mind,” said Kim McElhaney,who traveled with her husband from Dry Branch, Georgia, to attend. “The service is once ayear on my birthday.This is my 60th birthday, and Iwantedtobehere.”

The tiny chapel, situatedseveral miles north of Nottoway Plantation,offersMass forthe Feast of the Assumption of Mary.Close to 150 people come to worship, partake in Communion and witness the roadside shrine during peak operation.

Surroundingcommunities know its folklore well. Thechurchwas built for Mary in 1903, in thanksgiving from afather whosechild recovered from aserious illness.

Many residents call it the “Little Church.” Frances Tempanaro, who grew up down theroadfromthe MadonnaChapel andisnow oneof its caretakers, said she always marveled at thepeacefulness andsanctity of the space as a little girl.

She found solace in it during the

UKRAINE

Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, but he appeared to walk away without any concrete result on ending the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year

Instead, he handed Putin long-sought recognition on the international stage, after years of Western efforts to make him apariahover the war and his crackdown on dissent, and forestalled for Putin the threat of additional U.S. sanctions.

In asign that theconversations did not yield Trump’s preferred result, the two leaders ended what was supposed to be ajoint news conference without taking questions from reporters. During asubsequent interview with FoxNews Channel before leaving Alaska, Trump called it a“very warm meeting” but declined to give details about what he and Putin discussed. He said, “It’snot adone dealat all.”

“A lot of points were negotiated,” Trump said, but added, “As far as I’m concerned there’snodeal until there’s adeal. But we did make alot of progress.”

Trump also insisted that the onus going forward might be somehow on Zelenskyy “to get it done” but said there would also be someinvolvement from European nations.

The U.S. president had wanted to show off his dealmaking skills, while Putin wantedtonegotiate adeal that would cement Russia’s gains, block Kyiv’sbid to join the NATO military alliance and eventuallypull Ukraine back into Moscow’s orbit.

“Wehad an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to,” Trump said during their joint appearance. “And there are just avery few

hardship she experienced years later.Receiving treatment for breast cancer in 2020, she prayed at thelittlechurch,askingMary to heal herand to take careofher family

“Whenyou’regoing through chemo, you’renot supposedto go in crowds,” Tempanaro said. “I would visit oftenLittle Church because Icould justgothere by myself.”

Others expresseda similar draw to the church. Ana Mojica, an immigrant from Colombia,

said shecouldn’tbelievewhen shemoved to South Louisiana that one of thesmallestchurches in theworld was so close to her new home. Attendingthe annual Mass is “important formysoul,” she said.

She added an invitation for other Spanish speakers to join the celebration next year:“Estamos aquí invitados cerca aWhiteCastle,” she said. “Cadaaño, la iglesia máspequeña del mundo abresus puertas para la misa.”

The Madonna Chapel also car-

that are left. Some are not that significant.One is probably the most significant, but we have avery good chance of gettingthere.” He continued: “Wedidn’t getthere.”

Excluded from Trump and Putin’sdiscussions, Zelenskyy was left posting avideo address before themeeting in which he expressed his hope fora“strong position from the U.S.” For Putin, just being on U.S. soil for thefirsttime in morethana decade was validation after his ostracization following hisinvasion of Ukraine.

His meeting with Trump may stall the economic sanctionsthat theU.S. president had promised unless Moscow worked harder to bring fighting to aclose. It may now simply lead to more meetings, giving his forces more timetomakeprogress on thebattlefield.

Putin thanked Trump for the “friendly”toneoftheir conversation and saidRussiaand theUnitedStates should “turn the page andgo backtocooperation ”

He praised Trump as someone who“hasaclear idea of what he wantsto achieve and sincerely cares about the prosperity of his country,and at the same time shows understanding that Russia has its own national interests.”

“I expect that today’s

agreementswill become a reference point notonly for solving the Ukrainian problem,but will also mark the beginning of the restoration of businesslike,pragmatic relations between Russia and the U.S.,” Putin said. Despitenot reaching any major breakthrough, Trump endedhis remarks by thanking Putin and saying, “We’ll speaktoyou very soonand probably see you again very soon.”

When Putinsmiledand offered,“next time in Moscow,” Trumpsaid “that’san interesting one” andsaid he mightfacecriticism but “I could see it possibly happening.”

Trump and Putinhad greeted each other with warm handshake,chatting almost like theywere old friends, and grippedhands for an extended period of time on ared carpet rolled outatthe military base. As they chatted,Putin grinned and pointed skyward, where B-2sand F-22s —military aircraft designed to oppose Russia during the Cold War —flewoverhead. The two then shared theU.S. presidential limoknown as “The Beast” forashort ride to theirmeeting site, with Putin offering abroad smile as the vehicle rolled past the cameras.

It was the kind of reception typically reservedfor close U.S.allies and belied

ries emotional significance for the priest leading theMass, the Rev.Jason Palermo.

In the same church 23 years ago, he prayed before entering seminary.

“I basically said, if ever Ido make it to priesthood, I’mgoing to come back and I’m going to offer Mass here and thanksgiving,”Palermo said. “Every year, this is alabor of love for me to come back and to do Mass here, because Ireally feel that my vocation storyisthrough the hands of Mary.”

As congregants fanned themselves underthe shade of awnings and pine trees, Palermo weaved in biblical teachings with moderndilemmas, calling for apeaceful ending to the war between Russia and Ukraine. He spoke of God’sperfect world and howhumans complicated it, while those worldly complications threatened to intrude on the service —semitrucks lumbering along River Road,planes droning overhead, the stifling heat

He also thanked the audience for supporting the chapel, which he praised forits cultural, economicand spiritual significance to Iberville Parish.

“Today we come here, and we knowthistobeasacred place,”

thebloodshed and suffering in thewar Putin started in Ukraine. Althoughnot altogether surprising considering their longtime friendly relationship, such outward friendliness before hours of closed-door meetings likely raised concerns from Zelenskyy andEuropean leaders, who fear that Trump is primarily focusing on furthering U.S.interests andnot pressing hard enough for Ukraine’s.

WhiteHouse presssecretary Karoline Leavittsaid shortly before AirForce One toucheddown thatthe previously planned oneon-one meeting between Trump andPutin would be athree-on-threediscussion including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoySteve Witkoff. Putinwas joinedbyForeign Minister SergeyLavrov andforeign affairsadviser Yuri Usha-

kov

Palermo said. “Somany stories of healings and people who’ve experienced conversion.”

McElhaney was among those whosaid they felt healed by their time in the little church, shesaid. She considered her visit from Georgia closer to apilgrimage than aroad trip.

“I felt like Iwas coming home, almost,” McElhaney said. “My grandmother wasavery devout Catholic, and Iknow she’sup there smiling.”

Close to 10 a.m.,dismantling began. Volunteersstacked up the white chairsand packed up the programs. Palermo wiped sweat from his forehead with acloth. He thought about the theme of the pilgrimage as congregants dispersed.

“Godoften uses pilgrimages, whenwedoalittlebit of sacrifice,” Palermo said. “Today people came; they sacrificed with their sweat; they camewith their time; theymade an effort to find out where this place wasand to come. Ihope thatthey realize that God’sfavor is with those who do something alittleextra for him.”

By 10:30 a.m., the lawn was mostly empty. Thelittlechurch resumedits quietude, akey in the box by thedoorway leftfor any curious traveler

The change seemedtoindicate that the White House was taking amoreguarded approach than it did during a2018 meeting in Helsinki, where Trumpand Putin met privately with their interpreters and Trumpthen shocked the world by siding withthe Russianleader over U.S. intelligence officials on whether Russia meddled in the 2016 campaign.

Zelenskyy’sexclusion wasalso aheavy blow to the West’spolicyof“nothing aboutUkraine without Ukraine” and invites the possibility that Trumpcould agree to adeal that Ukraine does not want.

Russia and Ukraine remain farapart in their demands for peace. Putin has long resisted any temporary ceasefire,linking it to ahalt in Western arms supplies and afreeze on Ukraine’s

mobilization efforts, which areconditionsrejected by Kyiv and its Western allies. The meeting comes as the warhas caused heavylosses on both sides and drained resources.Ukraine hasheldon farlonger than someinitially expected since the February2022 invasion, but it is straining to holdoff Russia’s much larger army,grappling with bombardments of its cities and fighting for everyinchonthe over 600mile front line. Alaska is separated from Russia at its closest point by just 3miles and the international date line. Joint Base ElmendorfRichardson wascrucial to countering the Soviet Union during theColdWar.Itcontinues to play arole today, as planes from the base still intercept Russian aircraft that regularlyflyintoU.S airspace.

Japanmarks 80th anniversaryofWWIIsurrender

BY MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press

TOKYO— Japan paidtribute Friday to more than3 million war dead as the country marked its surrender that ended World WarII80years ago, as concern grows about the rapidly fading memories of the tragedy of war and the bitter lessons from the era of Japanese militarism.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed “remorse” over the war —the firsttime aJapanese leader has used the word in an Aug. 15 address since former Premier Shinzo Abe shunned it in 2013.

Ishiba called the war amistake, but did not mention Japan’saggression acrossAsia or apologize.

“Wewill neverrepeat the tragedy of the war.Wewill never go the wrong way,” Ishiba said. “Once again, we must deeply keep to our hearts the remorse and lesson from that war.”

He vowed to pass his peace pledge to next generations.

In anationalceremony Friday at Tokyo’sBudokan hall, about 4,500 officialsand bereaved families and their descendants from aroundthe country observed amoment of silence at noon, the time when Emperor Hirohito’s surrender speech began on Aug. 15, 1945.Participants later offered chrysanthemum flowers for the war dead.

Japan’sministersbow Fridayduring amemorial service marking the 80thanniversaryof Japan’sWorld WarIIdefeat at the NipponBudokan hall

Just ablock away at the YasukuniShrine, dozens of Japanese right-wingpoliticians andtheir supporters gathered to pray.

The shrine honors Japan’s 2.5 million war dead,including convicted war criminals. Victims of Japanese aggression, especially China and theKoreas, see visits to the shrine as alack of remorse about Japan’swartimepast.

Ishibastayedaway from Yasukuni and sent areligious ornament as apersonal gesture instead of praying at the controversialshrine.

ButShinjiro Koizumi, the agriculture ministerconsidered as atop candidate to replace the beleaguered prime minister,prayed at

the shrine.Hetold reporters thathemade the no-war pledge to the spirits. “It is important to not forget those who sacrificed their lives for their country,” he said.

Koizumi is the son of popular former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, whooutraged China when he visited Yasukuni as aserving leader in 2001.

Right-wing lawmakers, including former economic securityministers Sanae Takaichi andTakayukiKobayashi, as wellasgoverning LiberalDemocratic Party heavyweight Koichi Hagiuda, alsovisited the shrine Friday

Anonpartisan group of 87 parliamentarians led by Lib-

eral Democrat Ichiro Aisawa also prayed at Yasukuni, pledging “touphold peace” in Japan and in the Indo-Pacific region.

Separately,Sohei Kamiya, head of the populist far-right Sanseito, prayed with17parliamentariansand 70 local assembly membersfromhis party.Hetold reportersthat the prime minister should visit Yasukuni.

China andSouth Korea reminded Japan of its wartime atrocities in their countries and elsewhereinAsia

ChineseForeign Minister Wang Yi criticized attempts in Japanto“whitewash and deny aggression, distort and falsify history and even seek to rehabilitate theaccusa-

tions of war criminals.”

“Only by facing history squarely can we gain respect, only by learning from history can we forge ahead into the future,” he added.

In Seoul, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, ahead of an upcoming trip to Japan fora summit with Ishiba, called for the two U.S. allies to overcome grievances from Japan’s brutal colonial rule.

He said some historical issues remain unresolved, urging Tokyo to face up to “our painful history and strive to maintain trust between our two countries.”

Japaneseemperors have stoppedvisiting the Yasukuni site sincethe enshrinementoftop war criminals there in 1978.

Emperor Naruhito, in his address at the Budokanmemorial Friday,expressed his hope that the ravages of war will neverberepeated while “reflecting on ourpastand bearing in mind the feelings of deep remorse.”

Naruhito reiterated the importance of telling the war’s tragic history to younger generations as “we continue to seek thepeace and happiness of thepeopleinthe future.”

As part of the 80th anniversary,hehas traveled to Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Hiroshima,and is expected to visit Nagasaki with his daughter, Princess Aiko, in September

Hajime Eda, whosefather died on hisway home from

Korea when his ship washit by amine, said he will never forget his fatherand others whonever madeithome. In aspeech representing bereaved families, Eda said it is Japan’sresponsibility to share lessons about the emptiness of the conflict, the difficultyofreconstruction and the preciousness of peace.

Severalteenagerstook part in theceremonyafter learning about their greatgrandfathers who died in the battlefields.

AmiTashiro, a15-year-old high schoolstudent from Hiroshima, said she joined amemorial marking the end of the battle on Iwo Jimalast year after reading aletter her great-grandfather sent from the island.She also hopestojoininthe search for his remains.

As the population of wartime generations rapidly decline, Japan faces serious questions on how it should pass itshistory to the next generation. The country hasfaced revisionist pushbacks sincethe 2010s under Abe,who pushedtocorrect a“self-deprecating view” of Japan’s wartime history and regain national pride.

Since 2013, Japanese prime ministers have stopped apologizing to Asian victims, underthe precedentset by Abe Some lawmakers’ denial of Japan’smilitary role in massive civilian deaths on Okinawa or the Nanking Massacre have stirred controversy

BY SAM MEDNICK Associated Press

TEL AVIV,Israel Israel’sfarright national security minister posted avideo Friday that shows him admonishing an imprisoned Palestinian leader in aface-to-face meeting inside aprison, saying Israel will confrontanyone who acts against the country and “wipe them out.” It remained unclear when the video, which was posted on X, was filmed. National

SecurityMinister Itamar Ben-Gvir is known for staging provocative encounters with Palestinians

The Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, is serving five life sentences after being convicted of involvement in attacks atthe height of the Palestinian uprising, or intifada, in the early 2000s. He was arrestedmore thantwo decades ago and polls consistently show he is the most popular Palestinian leader —somePalestinians

even seehim as theirNelson Mandela. In his video, Ben-Gvir is seen telling Barghouti that he will “notwin.”

“Anyone who messeswith thepeople of Israel, anyone whomurders ourchildren, anyone who murders our women,wewill wipe them out,” Ben-Gvir says. The 13-second video shows Barghouti, appearing older and more gaunt, standing in awhiteT-shirt, his hands at times crossedinfrontofhim.

Afghan womenbarredfromTaliban

takeover anniversarycelebrations

By The Associated Press

ISLAMABAD Afghan women were barred from attending celebrations marking the fourth anniversary of the Taliban’sreturn to power on Friday Some 10,000 men gathered across the capital, Kabul, to watch Defense Ministry helicopters scatter flowersto the crowds below.

Three of the six“flower shower” locations were already off-limits to women becausethey have been prohibited from entering parks and recreational areas since November 2022.

The Taliban seized Afghanistan on Aug. 15,2021, as the U.S. and NATO withdrew their forces at the end

of atwo-decade war Sincethen, they haveimposed their interpretation of Islamic law on daily life, including sweeping restrictions on women and girls, based on edicts from their leaderHibatullahAkhundzada.

Friday’sanniversary program, whichalso comprised speeches from key Cabinet members, was only for men.

An outdoor sportsperformance, initially expected to feature Afghan athletes, did nottakeplace.

Rights groups,foreign governments, andthe U.N. have condemnedthe Taliban for their treatment of women and girls, who remain barred from education beyond sixth grade, many jobs,

and most public spaces.

Members of theUnited Afghan Women’s Movement for Freedom stagedanindoor protest on Friday in northeast Takharprovince against Taliban rule.

“Thisday marked the beginning of ablack dominationthatexcluded women from work,education,and sociallife,”the movement said in astatement.

“We, theprotesting women, remember this day not as amemory,but as an open wound of history,awound thathas not yet healed. The fallofAfghanistanwas not thefall of our will. We stand, even in the darkness.”

There was also an indoor protest in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad

He doesn’tseem to be shackled and uttersafew words as Ben-Gvir speaks but they are inaudible. Images of Barghouti have not been seen in severalyears.

Ben-Gvir’sspokesperson confirmed the visit and the video’sauthenticity,but denied the minister was threatening Barghouti.

The United Nations’ spokesperson called the video “dis-

turbing.”Askedabout it duringanewsconference Friday,Stéphane Dujarric said Barghouti “needs to have his rights fullyrespected, andhis safety needs to be ensured.”

During theintifada,Barghouti, now in his mid-60s, was asenior leader in President Mahmoud Abbas’ secular Fatah movement.ManyPalestinians see him as anatural successor to the aging and

unpopular leader of thePalestinian Authority,which administers parts of the Israelioccupied West Bank. Israel considers him aterrorist and has shown no sign it would release him in any prisoner exchanges. Hamas has demanded his release in return for hostages taken in theOct.7,2023, attack that triggeredthe war in the Gaza Strip.

Heat, thirst drive families in Gaza to drink unsafe water

BY WAFAA SHURAFA and SAM METZ Associated Press

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip Af-

ter waking early to stand in line for an hour under the August heat, Rana Odeh returns to her tent with her jug of murky water She wipes the sweat from her brow and strategizes how much to portion out to her two small children From its color alone, she knows full well it’s likely contaminated. Thirst supersedes the fear of illness.

She fills small bottles for her son and daughter and pours a sip into a teacup for herself. What’s left she adds to a jerrycan for later

“We are forced to give it to our children because we have no alternative,” Odeh, who was driven from her home in Khan Younis, said of the water “It causes diseases for us and our children.”

Such scenes have become the grim routine in Muwasi, a sprawling displacement camp in central Gaza where hundreds of thousands endure scorching summer heat. Sweat-soaked and dust-covered, parents and children chase down water trucks that come every two or three days, filling bottles, canisters and buckets and then hauling them home, sometimes on donkey-drawn carts. Each drop is rationed for drinking, cooking, cleaning or washing. Some reuse what they can and save a couple of cloudy inches in their jerrycans for whatever tomorrow brings — or doesn’t.

When water fails to arrive, Odeh said, she and her son fill bottles from the sea.

Over the 22 months since Israel launched its offensive, Gaza’s water access has been progressively strained. Limits on fuel imports and electricity have hampered the operation of desalination plants while infrastructure bottlenecks and pipeline damage choked delivery to a dribble. Gaza’s aquifers

became polluted by sewage and the wreckage of bombed buildings. Wells are mostly inaccessible or destroyed, aid groups and the local utility say Meanwhile, the water crisis has helped fuel the rampant spread of disease, on top of Gaza’s rising starvation UNRWA — the U.N agency for Palestinian refugees said Thursday that its health centers now see an average 10,300 patients a week with infectious diseases, mostly diarrhea from contaminated water

Efforts to ease the water shortage are in motion, but for many the prospect is still overshadowed by the risk of what may unfold before new supply comes And the thirst is only growing as a heat wave bears down, with humidity and temperatures in Gaza soaring on Friday to 95 degrees.

High heat, sullied water Mahmoud al-Dibs, a father displaced from Gaza City to

Muwasi, dumped water over his head from a flimsy plastic bag — one of the vessels used to carry water in the camps.

“Outside the tents it is hot and inside the tents it is hot, so we are forced to drink this water wherever we go,” he said.

Al-Dibs was among many who told The Associated Press they knowingly drink non-potable water

The few people still possessing rooftop tanks can’t muster enough water to clean them, so what flows from their taps is yellow and unsafe, said Bushra Khalidi, an official with Oxfam, an aid group working in Gaza.

Before the war, the coastal enclave’s more than 2 million residents got their water from a patchwork of sources. Some was piped in by Mekorot, Israel’s national water utility Some came from desalination plants. Some was pulled from high-saline wells, and some imported in bottles.

Every source has been

jeopardized.

Palestinians are relying more heavily on groundwater, which today makes up more than half of Gaza’s supply The well water has historically been brackish, but still serviceable for cleaning, bathing, or farming, according to Palestinian water officials and aid groups.

Now people have to drink it.

The effects of drinking unclean water don’t always appear right away said Mark Zeitoun, director general of the Geneva Water Hub, a policy institute.

“Untreated sewage mixes with drinking water, and you drink that or wash your food with it, then you’re drinking microbes and can get dysentery,” Zeitoun said. “If you’re forced to drink salty, brackish water, it just does your kidneys in, and then you’re on dialysis for decades.”

Deliveries average less than 12.5 cups per person per day — a fraction of the

3.3-gallon minimum humanitarian groups say is needed for drinking, cooking and basic hygiene. In February, acute watery diarrhea accounted for less than 20% of reported illnesses in Gaza.

By July, it had surged to 44%, raising the risk of severe dehydration, according to UNICEF, the U.N. children’s agency

System breakdown

Early in the war, residents said deliveries from Israel’s water company Mekorot were curtailed — a claim that Israel has denied. Airstrikes destroyed some of the transmission pipelines as well as one of Gaza’s three desalination plants.

Bombardment and advancing troops damaged or cut off wells — to the point that today only 137 of Gaza’s 392 wells are accessible, according to UNICEF Water quality from some wells has deteriorated, fouled by sewage, the rubble of shattered buildings and the residue of spent munitions.

Fuel shortages have strained the system, slowing pumps at wells and the trucks that carry water The remaining two desalination plants have operated far below capacity or ground to a halt at times, aid groups and officials say In recent weeks, Israel has taken some steps to reverse the damage It delivers water via two of Mekorot’s three pipelines into Gaza and reconnected one of the desalination plants to Israel’s electricity grid, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel told The Associated Press.

Still, the plants put out far less than before the war, Monther Shoblaq, head of Gaza’s Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, told AP. That has forced him to make impossible choices.

The utility prioritizes getting water to hospitals and to people. But that means sometimes withholding water needed for sewage treat-

ment, which can trigger neighborhood backups and heighten health risks.

Water hasn’t sparked the same global outrage as limits on food entering Gaza. But Shoblaq warned of a direct line between the crisis and potential loss of life.

“It’s obvious that you can survive for some days without food, but not without water,” he said.

Supply’s future

Water access is steadying after Israel’s steps. Aid workers have grown hopeful that the situation won’t get worse and could improve.

Southern Gaza could get more relief from a United Arab Emirates-funded desalination plant just across the border in Egypt. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, said it has allowed equipment into the enclave to build a pipeline from the plant and deliveries could start in a few weeks.

The plant wouldn’t depend on Israel for power, but since Israel holds the crossings, it will control the entry of water into Gaza for the foreseeable future.

But aid groups warn that access to water and other aid could be disrupted again by Israel’s plans to launch a new offensive on some of the last areas outside its military control. Those areas include Gaza City and Muwasi, where much of Gaza’s population is now located.

In Muwasi’s tent camps, people line up for the sporadic arrivals of water trucks.

Hosni Shaheen, whose family was also displaced from Khan Younis, already sees the water he drinks as a last resort.

“It causes stomach cramps for adults and children, without exception,” he said. “You don’t feel safe when your children drink it.” Metz reported from Jerusalem. Alon Berstein contributed reporting from Kerem Shalom, Israel.

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Audit: La. Medicaid paid for dead patients

Payments of nearly $10M were made after their date of death, report says

BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer

In the past six years, the Louisiana Department of Health has paid nearly $10 million to insurance companies for Medicaid beneficiaries who had already died, according to a new state audit.

The progress report, conducted by state Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack and shared with legislators last week, found the Health Department successfully verified

most deaths, but it “could identify additional deceased Medicaid beneficiaries if it included additional thirdparty data sources, such as obituaries, the Social Security Administration’s death master file and other states’ vital records databases,” data analyst Chris Magee said in a podcast about the findings. The missed deaths, which work out to roughly 174 per year, occurred between February 2019

and March 2025 under the administrations of both Republican Gov Jeff Landry and former Democratic Gov John Bel Edwards. The review was conducted, in part to “further the goals of the Governor’s Fiscal Responsibility Program, known as LA DOGE,” the audit said.

The findings are not entirely surprising, considering the COVID-19 pandemic and a federal order that

paused eligibility checks for part of that period, said Kevin Callison, a health economist at Tulane University

“Ideally, it would be zero,” Callison said. “But the reality is that it’s just really difficult for state agencies to collect this data that comes from various different data sources and aggregate that and be able to use that to determine things like eligibility and mortality.”

The report follows up on a similar 2017 review that also found

ONE SIGN DAY

A sign crew installs a new sign for Crumbl in Siegen Place on Friday in between afternoon storms in Baton Rouge. The gourmet cookie delivery and takeout company mixes, bakes and prepares its cookies in an open kitchen where you can watch all the goodness happen.

Man ID’d as shooter in BR murder-suicide

Baton Rouge police have identified the shooter in an apparent murder-suicide Wednesday morning.

Guadalupe Reyes Vasquez, 42, of Baton Rouge, was identified as the responsible party in the fatal shooting of Mirtalarellana Ramirez, 55, police said.

CRIME BLOTTER staff reports

Officers responde d to a shooting before 6 a.m. Wednesday in the 11200 block of Florida Boulevard. Ramirez was transported to the hospital, where she died of her wounds. Witnesses at the scene told police that Ramirez and a “guy friend” had been arguing for two weeks, police said.

That same morning, homicide detectives were notified by East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff’s deputies that a man had been found dead of a gunshot wound in the 16000 block of Hamilton Avenue.

“The male was positively identified as Guadalupe Reyes Vasquez and the person responsible for the fatal shooting of Ramirez,” police said in a news release

ExxonMobil takes step toward Iberville carbon-capture project

Well would test feasibility of sequestration site

BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer

ExxonMobil is seeking to build a Class V injection well in Iberville Parish, the first step toward a carbon-capture and storage project that has garnered support from area industry and pushback from a coalition of residents and environmental groups. The well would be located toward the south end of the parish, near White Castle, and be used for testing to determine the feasibility of carbon sequestration.

“The Class V level will not include injec-

tion of carbon dioxide and will be used only to collect scientific data to determine if we can move forward with this significant investment in Iberville Parish,” said Justin Carr, ExxonMobil carbon capture utilization and storage asset manager

Carbon capture involves removing emissions from the air and transporting them via pipeline for underground storage Climate organizations have criticized the practice for prolonging the use of fossil fuels, according to the international research group Zero Carbon Analytics. In Louisiana communities, residents have expressed concern about contamination

deceased people still enrolled in Medicaid.

The Health Department administers Medicaid for about 1.6 million residents under a managed-care model, paying private insurers a fixed monthly rate per enrollee. That arrangement continues until the department confirms someone is no longer eligible.

The audit found the Health Department made about $9.6 million in per-member per-month payments for 1,072 people after their date of death. None had claims for services

St. Helena school employees to get stipends

One-time amount ranges from $1K-$7K

BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer

The school district with the lowest teacher pay rates in the Baton Rouge region is issuing new employee stipends.

St. Helena Parish School District Superintendent Kelli Joseph made the announcement of stipends for all school employees at the Thursday School Board meeting.

The one-time stipend amounts will be determined by years of service in the school district and will be funded by a previous budget surplus. The amounts will range from $1,000 to $7,000.

“The purpose of the longevity and retention stipend is to recognize and reward the dedication, loyalty and long-term commitment of all St. Helena Parish School District employees,” Joseph said.

St. Helena Parish public schools have the lowest starting teacher pay rate in the greater Baton Rouge region at $43,000, including a new $2,000 state stipend.

Ahead of the upcoming school year, a handful of nearby school districts, such as Ascension and Iberville parishes, have approved permanent raises Other districts, such as West Baton Rouge, approved one-time stipends.

New hires will receive $1,000, making this year’s starting teacher pay rate $44,000. Those who are not new hires but have worked in the district for less than three years, which is the largest demographic of teachers, will receive $1,500. The number increases after that for every additional three years of service.

Five employees who have worked in the district for at least 22 years will receive $7,000.

The stipends come from the 2024 fiscal year budget surplus that was over $590,000. A total of 146 employees will receive stipends, which are more than $320,000 overall, according to the superintendent.

Joseph hopes the stipends encourage teacher retention, which has been a problem in the district and nationwide.

Westside shopping event is Sunday

Goal is to boost sales for small businesses

BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer

over competition.”

“We have amazing people on this side of the river,” said Annie Claire Bass, a small business owner and event organizer “We have amazing businesses and small businesses and mom and pop shops and online businesses that are from this side that can participate in this event. Everybody wins.”

The seventh annual extravaganza will take place in the Addis Community Center from

ä See PROJECT, page 2B ä See EVENT, page 2B

The superintendent made sure to mention that the stipend won’t happen again unless there are more surpluses in the future.

Linda Chaney, School Board president, asked Joseph to write in a stipulation so people don’t come to the school district for the stipend and immediately leave afterward, or “bail out on us,” she said.

She said a stipulation should apply to school employees who leave before three years are up.

“If they leave within that year span, they owe us $500, and that should be withheld from that last check,” she said.

Email Claire Grunewald at claire. grunewald@theadvocate.com.

Censure recommended for Lafayette judge

Judiciary Commission says there were two incidents of alleged misconduct

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

The Louisiana Judiciary Commission is recommending 15th Judicial District Judge Royale Colbert of Lafayette be censured for two incidents of alleged misconduct.

One incident involved Colbert’s interference in the city’s last-minute attempt to stop a rap concert in 2021 at The District, a Johnston Street event center, after a shooting the previous weekend.

The other involved his interaction with a city police officer who stopped the judge in 2023 over an alleged traffic infraction. Colbert’s behavior is described in court records as intimidating and disrespectful to the police officer

Eleven members of the Judiciary Commission who participated in the April hearing in which Colbert testified voted unanimously to recommend the Supreme Court:

n Suspend Colbert for 30 days without pay

n Order Colbert to take anger management classes or treatment.

n Order Colbert to pay $2,635.96 in costs incurred by the Office of Special Counsel and Judiciary Commission on his case.

The Supreme Court is expected to conduct a hearing and make the ultimate decision on the commission’s recommendations.

Colbert did not immediately return a call requesting comment.

The Judiciary Commission, which conducted a hearing on the matter in April, sent its recommendations to the Louisiana Supreme Court on Aug. 6

The case is based on two incidents of misconduct “which demonstrate his tendency to react quickly out of indignation, rather than with the careful consideration expected of judicial officials,” Judge Bruce Hampton, chairman of the Judiciary Commission, and Kelly Blackwell, commission attorney wrote in the Aug 6 findings Colbert, they wrote, also invoked or abused the authority of his judicial office in those incidents.

His behavior described as ethical misconduct, “caused substantial harm to the public’s confidence

in and respect for the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,” they wrote.

Additionally, Colbert’s appearance at the April Judiciary Commission hearing in New Orleans left the commission with concerns about him repeating such behavior in the future, the document states.

Colbert, who became a judge in January 2021, was new to the bench when the Lafayette Police Department after 5 p.m. on Aug. 13, 2021, posted a notice shutting down The District, where a concert was scheduled the next night.

A week earlier several shots were fired outside the venue with an assault weapon, killing one person and injuring another The shooting caused concern among city and police officials.

After receiving a call from attorney Harold Register requesting a temporary restraining order that would allow the concert to take place, Colbert met with Register, then-City-Parish Attorney Greg Logan and others in his courtroom.

Colbert told the commission he viewed it as an informal meeting. The meeting was not recorded and nobody was sworn in, the report states. Colbert, dressed in gym clothes, sat on a desk and used profanity

By the end of the meeting, the

Senate committee looking into delays in health care for veterans

Many dealing with PTSD, long waits

BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy convened a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee field hearing Thursday in Metairie to discuss gaps in mental health care for Louisiana veterans, from long wait times and rural isolation to provider shortages and the stigma that keeps many from seeking help. Mental health challenges are prominent among veterans, with approximately one-third of all VA users having at least one mental health visit in a given year But the situation for Louisiana’s 262,000 veterans is especially dire, witnesses said.

Based on initial data from a survey conducted by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, PTSD rates among Louisiana veterans could be as high as 45% — more than twice the national average. Forty-two percent of veterans who were surveyed live more than an hour from a VA clinic, and many face transportation gaps, rural poverty and food insecurity Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Charlton Meginley who presented the findings, called them “deeply concerning.”

“Veteran mental health is not just a VA issue; it is a national security issue,” Meginley said, pointing out that if veterans aren’t taken care of, it could discourage people from joining the military at all. Cassidy, a physician, convened the panel at Delgado Community College, calling it a chance for veterans to speak directly to decisionmakers and to make sure “that the veteran transitions from serving our country in the battlefield” to “serving our country, their family and themselves here in society.”

‘A fatal gap’

The shortage of providers and long wait times for appointments were repeatedly pointed out by experts and community leaders as roadblocks to care.

“Unless you’re going to commit

PROJECT

Continued from page 1B

of drinking water and the potential for pipeline accidents.

A Class V well, which ExxonMobil is pursuing in Iberville, is a shallow well injected with nonhazardous fluids. If testing shows the site is viable, the company would apply for a Class VI permit for carbon sequestration. Carr emphasized that ExxonMobil’s interest in the site does not necessarily guarantee a project. If the application for the testing well is approved and data finds the site suitable, permitting for a Class VI well would last another two years,

suicide, you’re not going to be seen right away,” said audience member Belinda Hill, national service officer with the Disabled American Veterans.

A veteran seeking help for substance use disorder often faces waits of more than 30 days, said Emily Meyers, CEO of Long Branch Recovery and Wellness.

“It can be a fatal gap,” said Meyers, given the risk of overdose, especially from fentanyl-laced street drugs.

A new VA Office of Inspector General report released Monday showed Louisiana’s veterans hospitals are struggling with staffing, with the deepest gaps being felt in mental health and nursing.

In 2025, VA hospitals across the country said they were struggling to fill 4,434 types of critical jobs, which is 50% more than the 2,959 they reported in 2024, according to the report.

The New Orleans VA had 30 types of occupations in “severe shortage,” which means there are far too few qualified candidates to fill critical jobs, making it hard for the VA to hire and keep enough staff to meet veterans’ needs.

Shreveport had 23 and Pineville had 20, according to the report.

“There’s a shortage,” said Fernando Rivera, director of the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System and interim head of VA’s multistate VISN 16 network. “We can’t get around the fact that in our state, we don’t have an overabundance of mental health providers.”

‘Eyeball-to-eyeball’ care

Veterans in Louisiana are able to get referrals for same-day care

Carr said. That means carbon capture and storage would not be operational until 2028 or 2029, he said.

He compared this stage to an exploratory well drilled by oil and gas companies.

“I understand that people want to tie it to a Class VI, and indeed, just like an exploration well, you hope to drill for oil afterward,” Carr said.

“But there’s a very good chance that you do it and say, ‘This isn’t for us.’”

Residents and environmental groups protested the timing of the public hearing on the issue, which was scheduled at 3 p.m. on a Tues-

day

“We’re here at 3 o’clock in the afternoon when most people are working,” said Darryl MalekWiley, senior organizer with the

judge had mediated an agreement allowing additional safety conditions, such as more police presence, at the club. No petition for a restraining order was filed at the time and no case number was assigned. Colbert filed a restraining order more than a year later after a lawsuit was filed.

Colbert’s testimony before the Judiciary Commission “gave the impression that he felt it was his job to fix perceived injustices about which people may approach him rather than neutrally rule on a filed document after ensuring there has been due process of law,” the report states.

The second incident occurred on May 29, 2023, when Colbert allegedly ran a red light in Lafayette and was pulled over by thenOfficer Dominique Robinson. The interaction was captured on the officer’s dashboard video camera and the body cameras of Robinson and other officers and a supervisor who responded when Robinson requested assistance, the commission’s report states Colbert, driving behind Robinson, believed the officer was playing on his cellphone and sat through one or more green lights Frustrated, Colbert eventually passed the officer and blew his horn.

EVENT

Continued from page 1B

starting at 1 p.m Tickets, available on the West Baton Rouge Small Business Council website, are $5 for general admission if bought in advance and $20 for VIP Vendors Sunday include Lemonade on the Bayou, SoSis boutique, Turquoise Lily Jewelry, The Boot Store of Baton Rouge and many more.

Ashlee Bergeron, who owns a visual branding small business and takes photos for the event, said the extravaganza reminds people of the importance of shopping small and local.

The video, according to the commission report, clearly shows Colbert accelerate and drive the entirety of a block during which the traffic signal he was approaching already was red, then run the red light.

Colbert allegedly cursed during his 17-minute interaction with the officers, the report states, calling Robinson a liar, warned that his reputation would be ruined and refused instructions to stand in front of the police car and to sign the ticket.

The judge told the supervisor he was heading home to wash his truck and had “all the time in the world” for him to review the video. While testifying before the Judiciary Commission, however, Colbert said he was in a hurry to get home because of a medical emergency involving his child.

The inconsistent statements, the commission concluded, led them to wonder whether he was being dishonest or his anger at being pulled over overrode concern for his child.

A witness, the report states, recalled Colbert losing his temper and cursing during a meeting with 10 judges about renovations to the courthouse.

Email Claire Taylor at ctaylor@ theadvocate.com.

sales and foster community, she said.

“It all started with a few business owners on the Westside coming together over the summer and saying, ‘Y’all, we are just dead,’” Bass said.

In addition to live entertainment from dance studios and musicians, food and drink, the event will feature a scholarship giveaway Last year, the Small Business Council awarded $1,000 each to a student from Port Allen High School and Brusly High School.

“How can we boost our sales, but also give back to the community?” Bass said. “We like to say the Westside is the best side. That was the spirit of it all.”

to a virtual mental health provider, but community leaders said many veterans may not want virtual care, and high turnover among providers can abruptly end hard-won therapeutic relationships.

“I have been that lonely veteran, and I have gotten on the app, and I was as lonely when I got off,” said Jackson Smith, a Marine combat veteran and executive director of Bastion Community of Resilience.

Smith held up a photo taken during his service in Afghanistan with a platoon of 78 as he described the injuries and mental health issues following service.

“Over those eight months I watched virtually every one of those Marines experience multiple, in some cases dozens, of brain-injuring events like landmine explosions and fire planes,” Smith said.

Smith advocated for expansion of the Fox Suicide Prevention grant program to fund smaller, local organizations positioned to deliver “eyeball-to-eyeball” support, and called for reinstating the VA’s assisted living traumatic brain injury pilot program, which ended in 2017 without replacement

Louisiana has only seven residential beds for those needing intensive mental health or substance use care. While screening across the VA’s multistate network has sped up admissions to out-of-state facilities, the small number of instate beds makes it challenging for people to get seen quickly Rivera said. A $1.5 billion investment in President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget is expected to expand those beds nationwide.

Email Emily Woodruff at ewoodruff@theadvocate.com.

Sierra Club in New Orleans. “This is not a good time for a permit for most people who don’t have the time to take off.”

He also disputed the assertion that ExxonMobil is pursuing a Class V well without the intent of a full-scale carbon capture and storage project.

“What fantasy are we living in, that Exxon will have spent millions of dollars to do a Class V well, if they weren’t going to come back in the future and put in a Class VI well and associated CO2 pipelines?” Malek-Wiley said. “That environmental impact needs to be addressed.”

Email Haley Miller at haley miller@theadvocate.com.

“You don’t get those smiles when you walk into Walmart,” Bergeron said “You clearly don’t get them over at Amazon. But these small business owners, it just reminds our community that they care. These are the people sponsoring their sports teams. These are the people sponsoring school events.”

The Westside Shopping Extravaganza was first launched in 2019 The idea was born out of the struggle of the “J” summer months, Bass said, when business typically slows down for local retailers. The hope was to boost

BLOTTER

Continued from page 1B

Man arrested in fatal shooting of teen

A 19-year-old man accused of murder turned himself in to Baton Rouge police after seeing his photo on “On Patrol: Live.”

Keithan Lee faces charges of second-degree murder and illegal use of a weapon in connection with the April shooting death of Jonathan Triplett, 18. Lee was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. The shooting happened about

AUDIT

Continued from page 1B

after death, which auditors said corroborated the findings.

Auditors identified the 511 deceased beneficiaries through obituaries, 210 through Louisiana vital records, 168 through the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File, 133 through a combination of state records and third-party sources and 50 from vital records in 13 other states.

The Health Department said it plans to withhold about $4 million from upcoming managed-care payments to recoup a portion of the funds and agreed to incorporate additional data sources, including a more comprehensive SSA death file.

In a response to the findings

Health Department Secretary Bruce Greenstein said the department is “in the process of working with the U.S. Department of Treasury to gain the necessary approvals to receive the Social

The event also spotlights the strengths of small businesses, especially in an era of fast fashion, Bass said.

“Small business is really tough right now,” Bass said. “It’s only gotten harder, in my opinion, with the Amazons and the Sheins of the world that have sort of taken over As a small business owner, we have to continue to pivot and try to find ways that set us apart and offer unique items that they literally cannot find on Amazon.” Email Haley Miller at haley miller@theadvocate.com.

midnight April 26. Triplett was stopped at a traffic light on North 38th Street at Choctaw Drive when he was shot and killed, police said.

“On Patrol: Live” is a reality show that airs on the Reelz network that captures live footage from cameramen during ridealongs with officers from police departments around the country. Since July, the series has featured the Baton Rouge Police Department. The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the department’s Violent Crimes Unit at (225) 389-4869 or Crime Stoppers at (225) 344-7867.

Security Administration Death Master File,” and would use it to check deaths in the future. Relatedly, Louisiana is gearing up to comply with new Medicaid work requirements as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The same data-accuracy hurdles could complicate enforcement. Verifying whether someone is dead or alive is less challenging than identifying whether somebody completed 80 hours of work or public service in the past 30 days, Callison said.

“You think, oh, well, it’s easy to know if somebody’s dead or not, right? That should be pretty straightforward, but even there, it’s not perfect,” Callison said.

THURSDAY, AUG. 14, 2025

3: 7-4-4

CrifasiJr.,Samuel Westminster PresbyterianChurch at 11 a.m.

Eisworth,Caleb IstroumaBaptistChurch,10500 Sam RushingDrive,atnoon.

Freeman Sr., Harvey Beech GroveBaptistChurch,890 LA-68inJackson, at 11 a.m.

Hall, Ledric

CongregationChurch of God, 22215

Highway LA-1 in Plaquemine, at 11 a.m.

Hayes, Kyra

GlobalNetwork Outreach,9466

Greenwell Springs Road,at2 p.m

Hebert,Stephen Holy Family Church in Port Allenat

10:30 a.m.

Jacobs Sr., Earl

Beulah BaptistChurch in Napoleonville at 11 a.m.

Johnson, Frank Miller& Daughter Mortuary in Zacharyat10a.m

Jones, Essie Little Rock BaptistChurch in Slaughter at 11 a.m.

Price, Rashenda

St.Michael’s Catholic Church,6476 LAHighway 44 in Convent,at11a.m

Reneau,Linda Temple BaptistChurch Sanctuary, 1515 S. ServiceRoadWestinRuston, at 11 a.m.

Solar, Connie NewLifeWorship Center,806 HospitalRoadinNew Roads, at noon. Vaughn Scott, Netric NewHomeMinistries, 3000 Tecumseh Street,at11a.m

Vilas, Santiago

ResthavenGardens of Memory and FuneralHome, 11817Jefferson Highway,atnoon.

Warren, Etheldra

Beech Grove Cemetery,890 Highway 68 in Jackson, at 10 a.m. Watson, Kelsey

St.Andrew’s UnitedMethodist Church,17510 MonitorAvenue,at 11:30a.m

Wax, Dorothy Hebron BaptistChurch at 1p.m Wilson, Chiquitta Greater PilgrimRestBaptistChurch, 23030 Talbot DriveinPlaquemine, at11 a.m.

Obituaries

Allchin, Robert F. 'Ranger Bob'

Retired 1st SGT Robert F. "Ranger Bob" Allchin, age 88, passed away on August 13,2025. He was born in Pemberton, NJ but wasa resident of Greenwell Springs, LA. Robert was a US Army Airborne Ranger of 27 years, where he was decorated with many awards and citations to include 3purple hearts. He was also aJROTC instructor for EBR Parish for 25 years. Robert willbe missed by all who know him. Robert is survived by his wife of 54 years PatriciaA Allchin,daughters; Helen R. Patin, husbandDee PatinofPride, LA, Sue Owens of Baton Rouge, LA, and Gayleen DCourtney, husband Jason Courtney of Lakeland, FL, son; Gregg Allchin, wife Candy Allchin of Cumming, GA, 10 grandchildren as well as 11 great grandchildren. Robert is preceded in death by his daughter, Carol A. Rodney. Relatives and friends are invited to the Chapel of Central Funeral Home, 9995 Hooper rd. Baton Rouge, LA 70818, on Sunday August 17, 2025, for avisitation beginning at 3:00PM until 7:00PM. Visitation will continue Monday August 18, 2025 at 11:00AM until the funeral service beginning at 12:00PM.A burialis to follow at LA National Cemetery. The family would like to extend aspecial thanks to his faithful nurses/caregivers; Lisa Crutcher, Brittany Schnebelen, Tami Tucker, and the Hospice Team from Clarity Hospice of BR.

"Let us neverconsider ourselves finishednurses. We must be learning allof our lives."-Florence Nightingale. Rosalyn Sue Cordell passed awayon Friday, August 8, 2025 in Baton Rouge,Louisiana after her battlewith Parkinson's. Shewas bornon November 23, 1944inBauxite,Arkansas toHerbert Williamand Dorothy Dunmire Cordell; she enjoyed sayingthat she was brought by the turkey, but not by the stork! Shegraduated from Little Rock Central High School in 1962 andfrom the UniversityofArkansas in Fayetteville with aBachelor of Science in Business Administrationin1966. Shemarried Dexter Leake Rollins of Dallas and movedtoBaton Rouge, Louisiana in 1969. Rosalyn made agracioushome for their two sons, serving as CubScout den mother, part time substitute teacher,and realtor Her calling to healthcare ultimately led her back to her studies, graduating from Southeastern Louisiana University in 1987 with aBachelor of Science in Nursing. She then embarked on afulfilling career in the SurgicalIntensive CareUnitofOur Lady of the Lake Hospital and at Woman's Hospital. Known affectionatelyas "Hurricane Roz," her strength and caring nature werememorable. Beyond her work in the medical profession, Rosalyn's creativeoutlet was through her cateringcompany "Cakes by Roz," known for her specialty rum cake Rosalyn served in the Junior League of Baton Rouge, on the VestryofSt. Luke's EpiscopalChurch, and as aLay Eucharistic MinisteratSt. James Episcopal Church. Sheloved to entertain at her home, and she traveledwidely. She found immense joyinplaying tennis at BocageRacquetClub and in learning to scuba dive. Rosalyn is survived by her sisters Myrlene Tedford (Robert) and Karen Cordell,both of Benton, Arkansas;her brotherHerbertWilliamCordell(Becca) of Lousiville,Colorado; her son DavidCordell Rollins(Julie) of Baton Rouge; her son Michael DexterRollins of Montreal Canada; her granddaughtersSophieRae Loubiere Rollins and Lillian Steele Rollins of Baton Rouge;her granddaughter LilaRose Rollins of Westwood, Kansas;and many beloved nieces and nephews, Robin TedfordPerry (Roger), Charleen Tedford Francis (Michael),MarkRollinsOlson (Tisha), Will Cordell, and AlexCordell (Linsey). The family wouldlike to extendheartfelt gratitude to CarmenDarensbourg R.N., and Kristy Mays, Yorcha Leatherman, and JeannetteRuffin, the gentlest and most patient caregivers.Theyalsowish to expressdeepgratitude to the residents and staff of the Williamsburg Senior Living Community fortheir supportover the past years.

Visitationwillbeat 10:00amonFriday, August 22, 2025 at St. James Episcopal Church in Baton Rouge, followedbya service and receptionat11:00 am. An additional reception willbeheldat4:00 pm at Williamsburg Senior Living Community.Inlieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Bauxite Historical Association and Museum: 6707 Benton St., Bauxite,AR72011.

Essie Jones entered into her eternal rest on July29, 2025 in Kansas City, MO. Shewas anative of and devotedchurch memberof LittleRock Baptist Church in Slaughter, LA forover 80 years and aresidentofBaton Rouge. Ms. Jones never meta strangerand willbe loved and missedbymultitude of family and friends Shewas preceded in death by her daughters Lela J. Hayes, andLinda J.

Watkins. She leavesto cherish her memory a daughter, BrendaJ.Harris (George) .Four Grandchildren, CedricHayes (Robin), Marceo Hayes (Becky), AmberHamilton (Fred) and CassieHarris. five greatgrandchildren, sixgreatgreatgrandchildren and a host of many otherrelatives and friends.

Mann, Jessica Rachel'Jesse'

Jessica Rachel Mann (47), bornonAugust 29, 1977, passedaway courageously after abattlewith cancer. The beloved wife of Sarah Evans Heineman, she is remembered forthe way she livedher life,not theway she passed.

Jessica lovedlivemusic, theoutdoors -hitting the slopes, hiking and bike trails, eating tasty food, and toasting aglassof wine with friends at the end of agreat day.

Professionally, Jessica was acommitted underwriter in thesuretyindustrywhere she helped build threestart-up commercial suretybusinesses. She enjoyed working closely with colleagues traveling to meetwithher brokers and clients.

Jessica'swas born in Nairobi, Kenya and grew up in places such as Brazil, Mexico, and Zaire. After traveling extensively, she graduated from University of Vermont (UVM) obtaining her MBA from Thunderbird in Arizona. Jessica and Sarah created their forever home in Denver, Colorado.

Jessica leavesbehind her wife Sarah, brothers David Mann and Sean Sloan, motherSandiLucas of BatonRouge,step-kids Charlie and Kate Heineman. She is preceded in death by thefather who raised her, Stephen Lucas, thefather who passed, Jay Mann, and her grandmother Miriam Loren. Jessica didn't believein limitations and her spirit and joie de vivrewillcontinue to inspire allwho knew her.

An endowedinternship fund has been created in her memory at her alma mater of UVM to support studentspursuing careers in publicserviceand with non-profits: https://go.uv m.edu/jessicarachelmann.

Newsham LTC U.S.Army (Ret),Thomas D. 'Tommy'

Tommy Newsham passed to his heavenly reward on the morning of Monday, August 11, 2025, at theBaton RougeRehab Hospital. During his final monthhewas visitedby oldand dear friendsand family at home, and at the hospital. He trulyappreciated thetime he was able to share love and special memories with all he deeply cared for. Nothing was moreimportant then spending timewithhis family whether it was on camping tripsfromScotland to Greece with his wife, his teenagedaughters or just beingathome. He continued traveling with his wife until health issuesmadeittoo difficult. Hispassion was always finding somethingnew to study and to addtotheir many varied collections. Theseranged from Baltimore stoneware to Aladdin lamps, to ChesapeakeBay decoys, to Roman and Greek artifacts and ancient coins, collected during their many assignments and travels. He never stopped reading whatever hiscurrent interest, and especially enjoyed talking with others with similar passions. Tommy always had abookofwordpuzzles alongwitha historical book to complete next to his chair. Being atrue Louisianan, watching New Orleans Saints, LSUfootball and SEC football gamesonTVwere oneof his favorite ways to spend his weekend. Tommy was born to GeorgeD.Newsham and LeviaLiddell Newsham in Baton Rouge, LA,onMarch 29, 1939. He was a1957 graduateofBatonRouge HighSchool and earneda BS degree from LSU. He also held an MA degree from the University

of Southern California and an MBA degree from Boston University. He served eight years in the Reserve and LA Army National Guard and over twenty-sixyears in the Regular Army servingin theEngineer Branch with twodetails to theGeneral Staff. His Army career assignments took him to Germany, Vietnam, Belgium, The Netherlands, Korea, Turkey and several places in theUStoincludeFt. Leavenworth, Ft.Belvoir, NewOrleans and thePentagon. Hislast assignment was as theDeputy Commander to theLowerMississippi Valley Engineer Division at Vicksburg,MS, where he retiredin1991. His decorations includethe Legion of Merit, Bronze Star (2OLC), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Army MSM Cross of Gallantry/Palm, and theKorean Defense Medal.He served with the15thCombatEngineer Battalion, 9th Infantry Division in RVN from 1968-69. His most memorable Army experience was commanding a combat engineer company, of 180 greatsoldiers which madeevery dayinthe RVN amemorable experience. A very special trip forhim was areturn triptoVietnam with fellowAmerican military retires where they were able to meetformer military fromthe South Vietnamese army as well as theirformerenemies from thenorth.After his Army servicecareer he served as theExecutive Director of theRed RiverValleyAssociationinShreveport,LA, and Vice President of GEC, Inc.inBaton Rouge. Upon returning to his hometown of Baton Rouge, he first returnedto his childhoodchurch of St. Aloysius before moving to theparish of Most Blessed Sacrament Church. He was amember of The Society of American Engineers, Army EngineerAssociation, and Associationofthe U.S. Army 9thInfantry Div.Association, 15 Engr. Bn. Association, American Legion, MilitaryOfficers AssociationofAmerica, VFW, Army Historical Association, D-DayMuseum,The St. John LiddellSonsofthe Confederacy and The Sons of the American Revolution. Tommy is survived by his wife of 66 years, his highschoolsweetheart, ShirleyBankston;daughters, Amy Murphy (Pete), Cathleen Newsham, and Jennifer Keeler (Dr. Tim Keeler); grandchildren, l k ( )

BlakeScroggs (Genny) Shelby Keeler Booth (Jason), Andrew Keeler (Theresa), Daisy Korpics, and Ruby Korpics; greatgrandchildren, Sari, Uriah, Micah,and EzraScroggs; andbrother,Edward Newsham. He is preceded in death by his mother, Levia LiddellNewsham; his father,George Dewey Newsham; and hisbrother,Liddell Newsham. Visitation will be at Greenoaks Funeral Home, 9595 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge,LA, on Monday, August 18, 2025, from 12pm untilthe time of funeralservicesat2pm. Burial will immediatelyfollow at Greenoaks Memorial Park.

Watson, Rebecca Lynn 'Becky'

Howlovely are Your dwellingplaces, OLordof hosts! My soul longed and even yearnedfor the courts of theLord; My heartand my flesh sing for joytothe livingGod. Psalm 84. "Thoughshe be butlittle, she is fierce."

Shakespeare RebeccaLynnWatson, born August 16,1967, peacefully passed away August 11, 2025, due to congestive heartfailure. Yearsofpoor health took herfromusway too soon as shewould have celebrated her58th birthday on Saturday, August 16th. Becky wasa proudgraduate of Robert E. LeeHigh School. Shewas amember of Baton Rouge Assembly No. 3, IORG. Becky wasalso amember of the BR SymphonyChorusfor some 20 years untilhealthissues curtailed heractivities. Becky lovedtotravel around theworld, around thecountryand especially trips to Disneyworld with hersister Janie.She would plan for monthsfor the "next time we go" and looked forward to enjoying themagic.Her true talent wasinher hands. Becky created beautiful handwork in many mediums: cross stitch, tatting, lace

making, crochetand knitting.She produced many beautiful canvases and even traveled to Ireland to join ayarn groupand visit thefarms of theyarn vendors. Becky also enjoyed teachingotherstoknitand crochet. Sheespecially enjoyed getting together with theSaturday morning knitting group, Knottersand Knitters. No traveltripwas completewithoutsearchingfor thelocal yarn shop(s) "just to see what they had". Becky is preceded in death by herfather WarrenO.Watson, Jr.; sister, Judith Elaine Watson; stepfather, W. David Hedgepeth; paternal grandparents, WarrenO andJaniePalmer Watson; maternal grandparents, Adolphe C. andBeatrice Bearden Landry; andher belovedYorkie, Amelia. Sheissurvived by her mother, Claudia"Ann Watson Hedgepeth; sister Janie Watson Keller (Durwood); andnieces, nephewsand extended family. Visitation will be at Greenoaks Funeral Home 9595 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge,LA, on Monday, August 18, 2025, from 8:30am untilthe time of funeral servicesat10am. The service will be conducted by Dr.T.C. French, Jr., Pastor Emeritus, andDr. David Goza, Senior Pastor,Jefferson Baptist Church.Burial will immediatelyfollow at Greenoaks Memorial Park. Thefamilywishestothank themanydoctors and nursesand home health professionals whohave caredfor Becky over the years. Special thanks to caregivers: Rosa,Sarah, Myrnaand ALLthe caregiversfrom Home Instead whogave care andsupport to thefamily.

BUSINESS

BRIEFS

Target, Ulta agree to not renew partnership

NEW YORK Target and Ulta

Beauty are parting ways, ending a partnership launched in 2021 that created in-store shops filled with beauty products at hundreds of the discounter’s stores.

According to a joint release issued Thursday, the companies said they have “mutually agreed” not to renew their pact, which concludes in August 2026. Until then, the Ulta Beauty experience at Target will continue in Target stores and on Target.com, the release said.

Ulta is currently in 600 of Target’s roughly 1,980 stores, according to a Target spokesperson.

“For 35 years, Ulta Beauty has revolutionized how people experience beauty bringing together an unmatched assortment from mass to luxury — and our partnership with Target was one of many unique ways we have brought the power of beauty to guests nationwide,” said Amiee Bayer-Thomas, chief retail officer of Ulta Beauty in a statement.

Rick Gomez, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Target, said in a statement he was committed to “offering the beauty experience consumers have come to expect from Target.” The partnership was announced in 2020 and came as the coronavirus pandemic upended shopping habits and more people tried to minimize potential exposure to the virus through one-stop shopping. COVID-19 had dampened sales of lipstick as people wore masks, but the skincare business enjoyed stronger sales.

Air Canada shutdown looms amid dispute

TORONTO A complete shutdown of Air Canada is looming if the union representing the flight attendants of the country’s dominant air carrier and the airline fail to reach an agreement by early Saturday More than 10,000 flight attendants are poised to walk off the job around 1 a.m. on Saturday, followed by a company-imposed lockout. It threatens to impact about 130,000 travelers a day

The Canadian carrier said it expects to call off 500 flights by the end of Friday ahead of the deadline. It already started canceling flights on Thursday in expectation of the massive work stoppage that could impact hundreds of thousands of travelers.

A full grounding could affect 25,000 Canadians a day abroad who may become stranded By midday Friday, Air Canada had called off 87 domestic flights and 176 international flights that were scheduled to depart Friday and Saturday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium On Thursday, when the airline said it was beginning its “phased wind down” of most operations, 18 domestic flights and four international flights were canceled Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents the flight attendants, refused to voluntarily submit to arbitration Zelle sued over claims of $1B in fraud losses

Zelle’s parent company is being sued again over claims it failed to protect customers from fraud on the payment network used by the largest banks in America.

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Early Warning Services LLC on Wednesday in New York State Supreme Court. The lawsuit claims that EWS launched Zelle without critical safety measures, which allowed scammers to steal more than $1 billion between 2017 and 2023. This lawsuit from James, a Democrat, comes five months after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau dismissed a similar case that it had filed in December According to multiple media reports, the CFPB abandoned its lawsuit after the Trump administration took over federal agencies. The CFPB had also sued JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

Market finishes week with a fade

BY STAN CHOE AP business writer

NEW YORK U.S stocks edged back from their record levels on Friday in a quiet finish to another winning week

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% from the all-time high it set the day before, as it closed its fourth winning week in the last five. The Dow Jones Industrial Average flirted with its own record, which was set in December before ending just below the mark with a rise of 34 points, or 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite dipped

0.4%, though it’s still near its record set on Wednesday

The U.S. stock market reached all-time highs this past week as expectations built that the Federal Reserve will deliver a cut to interest rates at its next meeting in September Lower rates can boost investment prices and the economy by making it cheaper for U.S. households and businesses to borrow to buy houses, cars or equipment, but they also risk worsening inflation.

A disappointing report about inflation at the U.S. wholesale level made traders pare back bets for coming

cuts to interest rates on Thursday but they’re still overwhelmingly expecting them. Such anticipation has sent Treasury yields lower in the bond market, though they inched higher Friday following some mixed updates on the economy One said shoppers boosted their spending at U.S. retailers last month, as economists expected, while another said that manufacturing in New York state unexpectedly grew A third said industrial production across the country shrank last month, when economists were looking for modest growth.

Another report suggested sentiment among U.S. consumers is worsening because of worries about inflation, when economists expected to see a slight improvement “Overall, consumers are no longer bracing for the worst-case scenario for the economy feared in April,” when President Donald Trump announced his stunning set of worldwide tariffs, according to Joanne Hsu, director of the University of Michigan’s surveys of consumers. “However consumers continue to expect both inflation and unemployment to deteriorate in the future.”

Retail sales rise 0.5% in July

Shoppers step up purchases ahead of tariffs

BY ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP retail writer

NEWYORK Shoppers spent at a healthy pace in July particularly at the nation’s auto dealerships, even as President Donald Trump’s tariffs start to take a toll on jobs and lead to some price increases.

But the figures also underscore anxiety among Americans: All the uncertainty around the expansive duties appears to be pushing them to step up their purchases of furniture and other items ahead of the expected price increases, analysts said.

Retail sales rose a solid 0.5% last month from the previous month, and June spending was stronger than expected, according to the Commerce Department’s report released Friday June’s retail sales were revised upward to 0.9% from the original 0.6% increase, the agency said. The pace in July matched economists’ estimates.

The increases followed two consecutive months of spending declines in April and May

Excluding auto sales, which have been volatile since Trump imposed tariffs on many foreign-made cares, retail sales rose 0.3% in July

Auto sales rose 1.6%. They appear to have returned roughly to normalized spending af-

ter a surge in March and April as Americans attempted to get ahead of Trump’s 25% duty on imported cars and parts and then a slump after that, according to Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. Economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. The data showed solid spending across various stores. Business at clothing stores and online retailers saw increases. Business at home furnishings and furniture stores had strong sales gains.

However, at electronics stores, sales were down. And business at restaurants, the lone services component within the Census Bureau report and a barometer of discretionary spending, also fell, as shoppers eat at home to save money

A category of sales that excludes volatile sectors such as gas, cars, and restaurants rose last month by 0.5% from the previous month. The figure feeds into the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s consumption estimate and is a sign that consumers are still spending on some discretionary items.

Tuan Nguyen, an economist at RSM US, noted the difficulty of attributing the entire July gain to resilient American shoppers given so much uncertainty surrounding the economy and tariffs. A sizable portion of the gain likely came from rising prices of imported goods under the impact of tariffs, he said.

Nguyen also noted he can’t dismiss the possibility that consumers once again pulled forward their spending ahead of the August

tariff deadline, taking advantage of Amazon Prime Day sales as well as competing sales from the likes of Walmart and Target.

In fact, Nguyen noted the sharp rise in furniture sales, for example, appeared to indicate shoppers were trying to get ahead of the duties.

“There is nothing fundamentally wrong with American households that would suggest a spending recession given that shoppers are in a strong enough financial position to accelerate purchases,” he wrote. “With so much noise in the data, the rest of the year promises to be a wild and bumpy ride.”

Earlier this month, the Labor Department reported that U.S. hiring is slowing sharply as Trump’s trade policies paralyze businesses and raise concerns about the outlook for the world’s largest economy U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported, well short of the 115,000 expected.

Another government report, issued Tuesday, on U.S. inflation showed that inflation was unchanged in July as rising prices for some imported goods were offset by declining gas and grocery prices leaving overall prices modestly higher than a year ago. Consumer prices rose 2.7% in July from a year earlier, the same as the previous month and up from a post-pandemic low of 2.3% in April On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.2% in July, down from 0.3% the previous month, while core prices ticked up 0.3%, a bit faster than the 0.2% in June.

Billionaires join Berkshire in UnitedHealth bet

BY DEVON PENDLETON Bloomberg News (TNS)

Some of the world’s wealthiest people joined Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in backing embattled insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Bad weather andthe politics of climate change

“Climate is what we expect,” said Mark Twain, “weather is what we get.”

Little wonder it’sbecome apoliticalissue

As fierce partisanshiptakeshold of American politics,all issues get sucked into the vortex. Public policies, good and bad, areseenthrough the lens of politics, not the common good. This applies to ahost of issues, including the effects of weather patterns in Louisiana andacrossthe nation.

ArecentGallup poll enlightensusonthe regional nature of theweather issue: AmongSoutherners, hurricanes are, far and away,the top weather concern. Among Midwesterners, it’stornadoes; among Easterners, flooding and storms; among Westerners, conditions that lead to wildfires. For Louisianaand other coastalstates, the weather reality andperceptions of climate change are of great consequence. But how do they relate and shape possible solutions?

Large swathsofLouisianaresidents, based on the2024 LSU/Reilly Center/Manship School survey,say their communitieshave experienced long periodsofunusually hotweather, floods, intensestormsand rising sea levels that erode shorelines.The survey alsofound that bigmajorities of affected residents —66% to 88% —believe climatechange contributed to these problems, alot or alittle.

Anationwide poll forUSA Today finds thatmoreDemocrats than Republicans say extreme weather—heat, cold, severe thunderstorms,droughts, wildfires, flooding, tornadoes and hurricanes —has becomemore frequentand moreintense over the past 10 years. While 84% of Democrats believe extreme weather will become more frequentinthe near future, 38%ofRepublicans agree.

Anationwide Pew Research survey found that 60% of Democrats say they experienced long periods of unusually hot weather in the last year,compared with 37% of Republicans. This pattern holds across multiple forms of extreme weather, including floods, intense storms, droughts, majorwildfires and rising sea levels.

What does this mean?

Says the Pew study: “Partisanship shapesperceptions of extreme weather itself, as well as theconnection to climate change.Republicansare lesslikely to report extreme weather events than Democrats. And while most Republicanswho do report experiencing extreme weather events draw alink to climate change, they are much less likely than Democrats to see astrong connection ”

For example: The Pew poll findsthat 68% of Democrats and 26%ofRepublicans thinkclimatechange has contributed “a lot” to recent severeweather,like floodsand extreme storms. In addition, 72% of Democratsand 43% of Republicans think climate change contributed “a lot”torising sealevels that erode beaches and shorelines.

What about solutions?

The most popular proposals nationwide, according to Pew, are stricter building standardsfor new constructioninhighrisk communities (77% support)and financialassistanceto rebuild after extreme weather events (64%). Only14% of Americans favor requiring people to moveout of high-risk communities and28% favorbuying homes andmovingresidents to lower-risk areas.

By much smaller margins, more Americans thannot favor banning newconstructioninhigh-riskcommunities, and more than not also favor helping “cover therisingcostof homeowners’ insurance.”

Democrats are more likely than Republicanstosupport all of these national proposals. However, big majorities of both partiesfavorstricter building standards (71% of Republicans, 84% of Democrats)and financialassistancetorebuild (60%ofRepublicans,68% of Democrats).

This goes to show that even in adividednation—with partisans from each side fixatedoncrushing the opposition common ground can still befound

Based on the 2025 LSU survey,big majoritiesofLouisiana residents favor avariety of mitigationand reliefefforts. It found that 81% support payinghomeowners to strengthen their roofs to reduce riskofdamagefromstorms; 79% favor financial assistance for people who live in high-riskareas to relocate to safer spots;71% oppose new constructioninhighrisk areas and 66% support financialassistancetoresidents in high-riskareastorebuild their homes inthe same place. Highnumbers like theseusually spill over partisandivides. As the recently deceased TomLehreroncesaid, “Bad weather always looks worse through awindow.”Public issues, too, especially the toughest ones,alwayslook worse through apartisan lens.

Ron Faucheux is anonpartisan political analyst, pollster and writer basedinLouisiana.

DefundingPBS

Once again, U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy have pooped on our heads and are trying to convince us it’sjust meltingice cream. Both voted for therescission package to defund NPR and PBS. Cassidy,tojustify his vote, referenced apiece titled “Animals need gender pronouns, too” as if that was emblematic of PBS/NPR programs. Perhaps one of his aides was tasked with finding one title, sans context,to support Cassidy’sposition. NPR and PBS are available to all of us, subscribers and nonsubscribers, offering everythingfrom intelligent children’s

programstointernational news to entertainment. Both offer a varietyofcontent and opinions; neither offers aslavish devotion to President Donald Trump. Could our Louisiana senators just be acting as minions to achieve Trump’srevenge on all things that do not praise him? Iwant to know how defunding NPR/PBS reduces the deficit. How does the clawback improve thefederal government? How does removing congressionally approved funding improve our lives?

KATHY A. RUSH NewOrleans

OurFoundingFathers were wary of religion in government forareason

After 10 years of fighting over religious differences, primarily in Germany and Switzerland, with tens of thousands of casualties,the Religious Peace of Augsburg was signed in 1555. Notable productsofthis “peace” were that rulers of each state would choose the religion of thestate, and folks who lived there would have to follow thereligion or leave. Religious uniformity,yes. Religious tolerance, no. So went theReformation. Religious wars started again in France in the1570s and culminated in the Thirty Years War, with fighting in France, Belgium, Sweden, Germany and Switzerland, killing some10million people. In 1648, thePeace of Westphalia was signed, and the fighting stopped —areligious stalemate, with agricultural and economic consequences for everyone. The main learning of the leaders was that religion needed to be kept out of politics and government. Many of thepeople who immigrated tothe colonies left their European homes because of religious persecution. The colonies were settled by folks of different

religious beliefs. In Massachusetts,there werePuritans/Calvinists. In Pennsylvania, Quakers/ Anabaptists. In Maryland, Catholics. In Virginia, Anglicans. Some later immigrants experienced religious persecution in the colonies, depending on where they settled

The designers of the U.S. Constitution were men of the Enlightenment, many classically educated, fully aware of the history of Western civilization, especially thepolitical history of Western Europe during the Reformation. The Founders knew religion was important to the citizens of thecolonies, yet also knew that religion was divisive, not unifying. The Constitution was ratified provisionally,adding aguarantee that people wouldn’tbepersecuted for their religious beliefs, thus theFirst Amendment, ratified three years after theConstitution.Init, the Founders wisely allowed citizens to believe as they chose, but did not allow governmenttofavor one religion over another or none at all.

THOMAS HUMBLE Baton Rouge

Iam97years old and in good health. But Irely on my Medicare Advantage plan, and it works forme. Idon’tget sick often, but when Ineed to go see the doctor,I don’tworry about how much Ihave to pay because mostofmybenefits are at a zero copay.I have extra benefits like dental and glasses, which are very affordable because they’re free. Without my Medicare Advantage plan, Imight worry about an unaffordable health plan, and Iprobably would not have the extra benefits. But as fornow,I don’thave to worry about that, and Ilove my plan. Congress, protect Medicare, please! LUCILLE ANDERSON Baton Rouge

On the first day of training camp, new Saints coach Kellen Moore opted to keep the players as farawayfrom the fans as possible. Youwould think he would wanttobuild arapport with his fanbase. Hundreds, if not thousands, of fans weredeprived of seeing up close their favorite players. All of the scrimmageaction took place on the field, faraway from the fans. This was not acceptable. Saints fans deserve better EARL PANSANO Metairie

Kelly explains limitations putonsome players

LB Weeks, QB Nussmeier havelight practices

BY WILSON ALEXANDER

Staff writer

After four straightdaysofpractice, LSU coach Brian Kelly said the team wanted to manage the workloadoftwo key players during alight session Friday morning in the indoor practice facility.

Linebacker Whit Weeks did not practice. Instead, he watched from the side or rode a stationary bike. Weeks suffered an ankleinjury that required surgeryinthe Tigers’ bowl game,and Kelly saidLSU didnot wanthim to practice fivedays in arow until gameweek QuarterbackGarrettNussmeierwaslimited. Nussmeier,whoKellysaidaggravatedapreexisting case of patellar tendinitis Aug. 6, did not throw for most of LSU’s14th practice. He led the starting offense during certain drills “Nuss is much more aboutmanaging his throws,” Kelly said. “He hit anumber of throws where we give him some time to back off alittle bit.”

Weeks and Nussmeier will practice fully during LSU’sscrimmageSaturday nightin Tiger Stadium, Kelly said Wide receiver Chris Hilton and safety Jardin Gilbert were not at practice because they graduated Friday,Kelly said. Hilton likely will be astarterthisseason, andGilbert could have arotational role. LSU did not wear pads Friday ahead of the scrimmage.Kellysaid theteam plans

ä See LSU, page 3C

TheseSouthern returneesare standing outin preseasoncamp

BYTOYLOYBROWN III

Staff writer

The Southern football team’sexcitement is palpable. It’snot because of its favorite role in the Southwestern Athletic Conference West Division or No.4rankinginthe preseason HBCU poll.

It’sbecause coach Terrence Graves and his staff like what they havein their locker room as theyinchcloser to theirseason opener against North Carolina Central at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 23 in Atlanta. There is excitement around established stars flexing their leadership ability and intrigue about talented transfers.

Just as thrilling are theless experienced players who returned to Baton Rouge and are showcasing their improvement at practice. Here are five returningplayers worth watching this season for theJaguars. Kobe Brown• WR

The playmaking talents of Brown have opened eyes. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound sophomore could be abig part of aconfident

ä See SOUTHERN, page 3C

Moore, Eagles made an artout of

IRVINE, Calif. If there were ever atime for the New Orleans Saintstobreak out thetush push, it presented itself in Sunday’spreseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Saints faced fourth and goal fromthe 1. From the same spot last season, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts scored 12 of his 14 rushing touchdowns on the tush push —the NFL’s most controversial playthatinvolves twoblockersshoving the quarterback from behind to help push him across the pile.Saints coach Kellen Moore wasinvolved in it all, servingasthe Eagles offensive coordinator

On Sunday,there was no such push of atush.

Not on fourth down —which ended up as a3-yardloss on acarry by running back KendreMiller —or any of the other short-yardage situationsthe Saints faced throughout thegame.

“Wehaven’t practiced anysneak components or anyofthatstuff,” Moore said. Moore hasbeentight-lipped on whetherthe Saints will attempt to run the tush push thisyear.Atthe NFL owners’ meetings in March, Moore said he wasn’tsure whether New Orleans had the personnel to

Anybody canreplicate it It takespractice. We have asayingthat,‘Ifear not theman who has practiced 10,000 kicks one time.I fear theman that’s practicedone kick 10,000 times.’”

T.J. PAGANETTI,Saints run-game coordinator,onthe tush pushplay

properly execute the play.OnTuesday,when asked againabout hisintentions, Moore offered only a“we’ll see” beforenotingthe Saints “aren’t there yet” on any such decision. But talk to anyone from the Eagles —including the contingent whofollowed Moore from Philadelphia to NewOrleans —and they’ll stress that the tush push is muchmore complicated than it seems. To execute it correctly, there’salevel of precision that teamsmust master,and it takes time tohonethepropertechniques.It’swhy, they argue, the Eagles run the play

ä See SAINTS, page 5C

Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler,right, hands off the ball to running backKendre Miller during the first half of a preseasongameagainst the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday in Inglewood,Calif. AP PHOTO By JAyNEKAMIN-ONCEA

Tampa BayQB

TeddyBridgewater AP PHOTO

BY WILL GRAVES AP sportswriter

PITTSBURGH Teddy Bridgewater always planned to play football this year Just maybe not quite this early In aperfect world, thewell-traveled quarterbackwouldn’tbespendingthis weekend in Pittsburgh getting ready for his preseason debut with Tampa Bay,but in Miami helping Northwestern High prepare to defend the Florida Class 3A title he coached his alma mater to last winter Don’tget Bridgewater wrong. The 32-year-old —whose retirement hasn’t quitestuck more than 18 months after he announced it —iseager to go out andshowhecan still “spin it.” Andhe’s grateful to do it fora team thathas ripped off four straight NFCSouth titles,

ateam that also happens to be not that far from home. Still, Bridgewater would be lying if he said this was his first choice. The plan was to coach until Northwestern’sseason was over,then explore his options in the NFL, justashedid lastyearwhenhemadea cameo with Detroit as Jared Goff’s backup duringthe Lions’ playoff push. Aseemingly innocuoussocial media post changed everything. Bridgewater’sFacebook message was designed to find donors willingtohelp offset team expenses not covered by the school,expenses —from food to rides homefrom practice —that he freely admitted he paid out of his own pocket in 2024. Yethis admission also constituted ä See BRIDGEWATER, page 5C

LIV: Second Round FS1

11 a.m. LIV: Second RoundFox Noon PGA: BMW Championship Golf

2p.m.USGA: U.S.AmateurGolf

2p.m. BMW: Third Round NBC

5p.m. LPGA:

3p.m.

2p.m. Texasvs. Massachusetts ESPN

4p.m. Puerto Rico ESPN

6p.m. Illinois vs.PennsylvaniaESPN2 MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

7p.m. UFC319 Prelims: Undercard ESPN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

1p.m. Pittsburgh at ChicagoCubs FS1

3:10 p.m. Seattle at N.y. Mets MLBN

6p.m. N.y.yankeesatSt. Louis Fox

9p.m. San DiegoatL.A. Dodgers MLBN NFLPRESEASON

Noon Cleveland at PhiladelphiaNFLN

3p.m. San Francisco at LasVegas NFLN

6p.m. N.y.Jets at N.y. Giants NFLN

8:30 p.m. Arizona at Denver NFLN RODEO

7p.m. PBR: Camping WorldCW

MEN’S SOCCER

11:30p.m.Man. City at Wolverhampton NBC

Noon FC BarcelonaatMallorca ESPN2

1p.m.BayernMunich at VfBStuttgartABC

5p.m.HFX WanderersFCatPacificFCFS2

7:30 p.m.MLS: Seattle at MinnesotaFS1

8p.m.PhoenixatTampa BayESPN2

9:55 p.m.Pumas UNAM at Toluca CBSSN

WOMEN’S SOCCER

3p.m.NWSL: Orlando at Kansas City CBS

6:30 p.m.NWSL: Portland at N. Carolina ION

9p.m.NWSL: San DiegoatBay ION TENNIS

10 a.m. Cincinnati-ATP Tennis

5p.m.Cincinnati-ATP/WTATennis WNBA

1p.m.New york at Minnesota CBS

NCAA finesMichiganmillions

Mooresuspended forthree gamesover sign-stealing scandal

BY LARRYLAGE and MAURA CAREY AP sportswriters

ANN ARBOR, Mich.

The NCAA fined Michigan tens of millions of dollars Friday and suspended coach Sherrone Moore for three games for asign-stealing scandal that has loomed over college football’swinningest program for nearly two years.

The NCAA said it had “overwhelming” and concerning evidence of acover-up by Wolverines staffand noted there were “sufficient grounds foramultiyear postseasonban”againsta program now considered arepeat violator

But the governing body stopped short of program-crippling punishments, saying atwo-year postseasonban “wouldunfairly penalize student-athletesfor the actions of coaches and staff” who are no longer there.

“The panel concluded that an elaborate, impermissible scouting scheme was embedded in the Michigan football program over thecourseofthree football seasons, 2021, 2022 and 2023, and this occurred underformer head coachJim Harbaugh’s oversight,” said Norman Bay,chief hearing officer for the Division ICommittee on Infractions.

“What makes this case even more serious, in addition to the clear intent to impermissibly gain asubstantial competitiveadvantage, is the elaborate effort to obstruct the investigation ” Moore, who was already issued aself-imposed two-game suspension by Michigan, will alsobe banned from the firstgame of the 2026-27 season for atotal of three

Marcus Thornton attacks the basket while playing for New Orleans. ASSOCIATED PRESS

games. Moore received atwo-year show-cause order,but he will be allowed to fulfill coaching commitments andotherathletically related activities.

Financial penaltiesare expected to exceed $20 million and include a$50,000 fine, a10% fine on the football program’s budget, a10% fine on Michigan’s2025-26 scholarships and afine equivalentto theanticipated loss of postseason revenue for the 2025 and2026 seasons.

Michigan also facesa25% reductioninofficial visits during the upcoming season anda14-week prohibition on football recruiting communications during theprobation period.

Connor Stalions, aformer low-

McMahon hiresex-LSU

star Thornton to staff

BY TOYLOYBROWN III Staff writer

Aformer LSU standout and NBA player is returning to Baton Rouge as the newest hire to join coach Matt McMahon’s LSU men’sbasketball program.

Marcus Thornton, who was the 2009 Southeastern Conference Playerofthe Year,willjoin the team’ssupport staff forthe 2025-26 season, the program announced Friday

The eight-year NBA player will have an off-court role mentoring players. He also will play arole in helping with player development. He is the second former NBAplayerand LSUstartobe hired this offseason after Ronald Dupree became the team’sfirst generalmanagerinApril. Thornton, 38,was born in Baton Rouge and played two years at Kilgore College before playing his junior and senior seasons at LSU. As ajunior in the 2007-08 season, he averaged 19.6 points pergame. In his final season with the Ti-

gers, the 6-foot-4 guard averaged an SEC-high 21.1ppg. He led themtoanSEC regular-season championshipwith a13-3conference record (27-8 overall). LSUreached thesecond round of both the SECTournament and the NCAA Tournament.

Thornton sits sixth on LSU’s career scoring average leaders (minimum1,000 points scored) at 20.41 ppgand concluded his twoyearcareer 23rd all-time in scoring(1,347 points). His168 career 3-pointers are also 10th all-time at LSU.

He was asecond-round pick in 2009 and played 483 games for seven NBAteamsineight years Thornton started hisNBA career playing for the then-New Orleans Hornets during the 2009-10 season, averaging 14.5 ppg in 73 games. His NBA career scoring average is 11.9 points and hishighest average for aseason was 18.7 ppg in 51 games for the Sacramento Kings in 2011-12. His final season was in 2016-17 withthe Washington Wizards.

level staffer whoconducted the scouting and sign-stealing operation, was issuedaneight-year show-cause order

Former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh faces a10-year showcause order following the conclusion of hispreviousfour-yearorder effective Aug. 7, 2028. Ashow-cause order effectively bans aperson from college athletics for theperiod handed down. Harbaugh and Stalions will be prohibitedfrom engaging in all athletically related activitiesfor several years as aresult of the decision.

Michigan said it would appeal thedecision.

“(R)espectfully,ina number of instances thedecision makes

fundamental errors in interpreting NCAA bylaws; and it includes anumber of conclusions that are directly contrary to the evidence –orlack of evidence –inthe record,”the school said.

TheNCAA does not have rules againststealing signs, but does prohibit schools from sending scouts to the games of future opponents and using electronic equipment to record another team’ssignals.

In anoticesenttothe school last year,the NCAA alleged that Mooreviolated rulesasanassistantunder Harbaugh.

Harbaugh, who left the Wolverines after they won the 2023 national championshipand now coaches the Los Angeles Chargers, servedathree-game suspension in exchange for the Big Ten dropping its investigation into the allegations after the two ended up in court.

Moore also wasaccused of deleting text messages with Stalions before theywere recovered and provided to the NCAA.

TheNCAAinvestigation surfaced earlyinthe 2023 season amid allegations thatMichigan used arobust in-person scouting and sign-stealing operation conducted by Stalions. He wassuspended by theschooland later resigned.

Stalions, whodid not participate in the NCAA investigation, recently said he knew almost every signal opponents used in seven games over two seasons.

Big TenCommissioner Tony Petitti sent aletter to the NCAA Committee on Infractions last month,suggesting that Michigan’s football program should not face more sanctions relatedtothe signstealing saga.

The Wolverines open the season on Aug. 30 at home against New Mexico State and then play at Oklahoma, where Moore was an offensive lineman, on Sept. 6.

MacIntyreposts 64, leadsScheffler by 5

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

Oneday it was the putter,another day it was the irons. No one had alower score than Robert MacIntyre both of those rounds at the BMW Championship, and his reward for his 6-under 64 on Friday was afive-shotlead over Scottie Scheffler going into the weekend.

MacIntyre closed with six straight birdies in theopening round for a62, and he started the second roundwith ashotinto5 feet on the476-yard first hole for anotherbirdie.Hekeptbogeys off his card this time and set a daunting target at 14-under 126.

Schefflerspent thesteamyafternoon trying to keep inrange. He had to settle for six pars at the end for a65and was at 9-under 131, at least booking aspot in the final group.

Ludvig Aberg shot 64 and was another stroke back.

It was the largest 36-hole lead at the BMW Championship sinceJason Day led by five shots in 2015 at Conway Farms. Day went on to win by six.

“It’s only 36 holes gone. There’s alongway to go,” MacIntyre said. “I’m comfortable with whoIam. I’mcomfortable with the team around me, and I’m comfortable on this golf course.Justgoand play golf.

He hasmadeitlookaseasyasit sounds on aCaves Valley course that hasbeenrenovated,lengthened,has newgreens and still hasn’tput up too much resistance

Astros closer Haderdone throwing for three weeks

Houston Astros All-Star closer Josh Hader will be shut down from throwing forapproximately three weeks after the team announced Friday he hasbeen diagnosed with leftshoulder capsule strain. Hader was placed on the injured list on Monday for the first time in his nine-year major league career because of ashoulderstrain. Astros manager Joe Espada said Wednesday that Hader would seek asecond opinion before determining anext course of action.

General manager DanaBrown said Hader’snext three weeks will be filled with strengthening exercisesand rest before he is re-examined.A six-time All-Star,Hader, who is in his second year with the Astros, is 6-2witha2.05 ERA and is tied forthird with 28 saves in 48 appearances this season.

Brewersactivate rookie PMisiorowski from IL Milwaukee Brewers rookie pitcher JacobMisiorowski hasbeenactivatedfromthe injuredlistafter missing about 21/2 weeks with aleft tibia contusion.

The All-Star right-hander started Friday for the NL Central-leading Brewers’seriesopeneratCincinnati as they attempted to earn a 13th straight victory.Herecorded only four outs while giving up five runs on four hitsand threewalks during 54 pitches.

Misiorowski last pitchedonJuly 28 in an 8-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Misiorowski’sknee appeared to buckle in the first inning that night as he fielded adribbler and threw wildly to first base, though he remained in the game and ended up lasting four innings.

Jaguarsrookie Hunter sits, questionable vs. Saints Jacksonville Jaguars two-way star Travis Hunter was held out of the team’slight practice Friday “as aprecaution” because of an upper-body injury When asked whether Hunter wouldplayinthe team’s preseason gameatNew Orleans on Sunday, coach Liam Coen added “we don’t know yet.”

Hunter was on thefieldfor the hourlong session and carried a play-calling sheet while following the actionclosely.Hunterplayed on offense and defense, totaling 18 snaps, in Jacksonville’spreseason opener against Pittsburgh last Saturday.The Heisman Trophy winner also played both ways during a scrimmageThursday and crashed hard to the ground while defending adeep pass.

Muñoz of Colombia shoots 59 at LIVGolf

without much wind.

MacIntyre still putted well, except for the 5-foot birdie he missed on the 18th and another birdie chanceinside 8feet on theeighth hole. He has gained 6.8 shots on thefieldinputting through 36 holes to lead the key puttingstatistic.

But he was rarely out of position even when he missedafairway or green.

“Yesterday the putter was on fire. Today Ifelt like my iron play wasexceptional,”MacIntyre said. “Obviously,coming from links golf back out to throwing dartsisa bit different techniquewise, turf-wise, so it took alittle bit of readjusting, but I’ve got the hang of it.”

Scheffler had his 15th consecutive sub-70 round andpulled within five shots on No.12when he hit a4-iron from 221 yards to 7feet for birdie.But he hadonly two reasonablechances from the 15-foot range the rest of the way

“Bogey-free is always nice,” Schefflersaid. “I would have liked to get to have gotten acouple better looks downthe stretch, but didn’thit as many fairways thelast few holes.”

Hideki Matsuyamahas yetto make bogey over 36 holes, even more remarkable because he has been feeling ill this week. That much wasclear when he cameout of scoring and headed straight forthe car, aJapanese television crew hustling to try to catch up withhim. He shot 64 and was alone in fourth place,still seven shotsbehind

Sebastian Muñoz of Colombia recorded the third sub-60 score on the LIV GolfLeague, making birdie on 13 of his last 14 holes and becoming thefirst playertoshoot 59 with adouble bogey He responded from that early blunderbychipping in forbirdie on the sixth hole, the start of eight straight birdiesfor another record in thefour-year history of LIV Golf. He finishedwith five birdies in arow,hitting agap wedge to 3 feet on his final hole.

On aday of low scoringatThe Club at Chatham Hills,apar 71 that hosted the Mid-American Conference championship last year, Muñoz led by three shots over Dustin Johnson. Alarge group at 64 includedJoaquin Niemann, who was 7under through nine holes.

Heat gains flexibilityby trading HighsmithtoNets Miamitraded forward Haywood Highsmith to the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, amove that gets theHeat underthe taxlinefor this coming season and creates roster flexibility.The Heat arealso sending asecond-round pickin2032 to Brooklyn, which is sending aconditional second-round pick in next year’sdraft to Miami. With Highsmith being moved, Miami nowhas two open roster spots. Highsmith had knee surgery earlierthis month to repair ameniscus issueand theHeattimeline for his return was 8-10 weeks, one that suggested he could be ready for the start of the regular season. The 28-year-old Highsmith averaged 6.5 points and 3.4 rebounds in 74 games last season for Miami. He

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

PRESS FILE PHOTO By DARRyLWEBB

ASSOCIATED

ArizonaSt. wants growth afterBig 12 titledebut

BY STEPHENHAWKINS AP sportswriter

Arizona State wasabig surprise debuting in the Big 12 witha conference championshipand making the College Football Playoff after being picked to finish at the bottom of the 16-team league.

Kenny Dillingham, the 35-yearold coach now in his third season at his alma mater,bluntly told his Sun Devils they really didn’tdo anything special lastyear

“The reality is there’sbeen alot of teams in college football who have done what we’ve done, who have won one year and then come back to reality,” Dillingham said.

“What would be specialwould be to continue to build off ofthat. The real challenge was how do we not become what normalteamsin our situation do, which is fall back to where we’ve always been.”

After aCFP quarterfinal lossin double overtime to now preseason No. 1Texas, the No. 11 SunDevils are the highest-ranked team from theunpredictable Big 12, even after the departure of do-everything running back Cam Skattebo to the NFL.

They return quarterback Sam Leavitt (2,855 yards, 24 TDs passing), the preseason Big 12 offensive player of theyear, andreceiver Jordyn Tyson (75 catches, 1,101 yards, 10 TDs)ishealthy after missing the end of thelast season with acollarbone injury

The last time Arizona State was higher in the preseason Associated Press Top25was No. 8in 1998, what turned into a5-6 season.

The Big 12’sother ranked teams are No. 17 KansasState andleague runner-up No. 22 Iowa State, who open against each other with aconference game in

SOUTHERN

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receiving corps.

“A lot of people didn’tknow about him until he played, and I think he’sgoingtobevery good for us this year,” offensive coordinator Mark Frederick said After Brown received his opportunity to touch the field in Week 6vs. Texas Southern lastseason, the coaching staff felt comfortable playing him the rest of the year.Inseven games, he had 13 catchesfor 100 yards, including three straight contests withthree receptions.

“Smart football player,high football IQ, shifty,verycrafty receiver,” Frederick said. “He runs great routes to getinand out of his breaks, andhe’sjusta playmaker. Youput the ball in his hands and he goes.”

BarryRemo•RB

First-year running backs coach Marcus Bradley has aglut in his position group. With LSU transfer Trey Holly; 6-2, 225-pound powerback Mike Franklin;and four more transfers in thefold, it’seasy for aplayer to getlost in the shuffle.

One of the returners who has excelled in the competitive environment is 5-9, 195-pound sophomore Barry Remo.

“Webrought in some new guys, and he didn’tshy away from the competition in the room,” Brad-

Ireland on Aug.23, along with No. 23 TexasTech

All return quality starting quarterbacks.

Texas Tech transformed its programwith bigmoneythrough the transfer portal andmade the preseason poll for the first time since 2008, six years before three-time Super Bowl champion quarterbackPatrick Mahomes played a game for the Red Raiders.

Baylor redshirt sophomore Bryson Washington (1,028 yards, 12 TDs) is theonly of the Big 12’s eight 1,000-yard rushers back from last season. The Bears, who won their last six regular-season games, also return quarterback Sawyer Robertson (3,335 yards, 27 TDs).

Leading passerShedeur Sanders (4,134 yards, 37 TDs) went in theNFL draft after twoseasons at Colorado, but the next eight topQBs were all coming back, includingIowa State’sRocco Becht, Texas Tech’s Behren Morton and K-State’sAvery Johnson. The only change was Jake Retzlaff unexpectedly leavingBYU this spring aftera since-dismissed civil sexual assault lawsuit

Three seasons after making the national title game,TCU has Josh Hoover (3,949 yards, 27 TDs) aftera9-4 season capped by four consecutivewins.

Futhermore,there aresome old coaches feelingsome heat.

Only Iowa’sKirk Ferentz in his 27th season hasbeen withhis FBSteam longer than Oklahoma State’sMikeGundy and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham. The Big 12’s stalwarts are coming off huge disappointments in their20th seasons.

Utah wasthe presumptive favorite lastyeartobethe team to

ley said. “Those guys help him elevate as well as him helping those guys elevate.”

Remoisadownhill runner whohad 10 carries for27yards and two touchdowns last season

His familiarity with the rushing scheme also helps him

“One thing that’sgreat about him, man, is he locks intothe detailsand he tries nottobea repeat offender in terms of making the samemistake twice,” Bradley said.

Jermaine Minor• TE

The 6-5, 225-pound Minor appears ready to become the No. 2 tight end behind graduate student Dupree Fuller, whomade the preseason All-SWAC second team.

Minorisa redshirt junior who has been with the Jaguars since 2023 afterstartinghis career at Arkansas Tech.

Last year, he had16catches for 211 yardsand atouchdown in 11 games. Frederick said Minor should have an even larger role this season.

“He’slong,he’sathletic and he’s physical,” he said, “sowe’re looking for some great things from himtohelpusinthe rungameand the passing game.

MarkeisBatiste •LB

TheJaguars return their top linebackerinVincent Paige, who had ateam-high 84 tackles last season. Batiste is ready to assert himself next to Paige.

Southern defensivecoordinator Henry Miller said theredshirt

BY KOKI RILEY and REED DARCEY Staff writers

Thebiggest question mark surrounding LSU heading into this preseason was the offensive line.

Afterboasting one of the best pass blocking groups in the sport the past twoseasons,the Tigers came into this year needing to replace four three-year starters.

Although thefront has had an up-and-downpreseason, coach Brian Kelly is confident in the line heading into the season opener against Clemson on Aug. 30.

“I’ve coached for along time, alot of guysinthe NFL, alot of first-round draft picks. Ithink I’ve got apretty good eye for what an offensive line looks like,” Kelly said. “This group is going to be really good.”

Allfourstarters

wholeft wereselected in the NFL draft. The first playerpicked was left tackle Will Campbell,who was the No. 4overall selection.

to second-degree murder.

He is not accused of partaking in the alleged crime, only housing the two suspects. His lawyer, Kris Perrett,has said that Lindsey was not aware the twoindividuals werewantedbylaw enforcement when he allowedthemtostayin his on-campus apartment in July

“Well, this is all about who is in your circle, right?” Kelly said. “I’m notconcerned aboutour university and the security and such. This is about who you give access to in your circle, right?

“I mean,your circle of influence has gotta be based upon people that you trust, people that know you and you know them. And that circle needs to really be evaluated by someplayers and some individuals.”

The two suspects— Shemell Jacobs,17, and Keldrick Jordan,18— were arrested at LSU’sNicholson Gateway apartments on Aug. 4inconnection with the shooting death of 17-year-old Corey Brooks in Alexandria.

makeits Big 12 debut withatitle, but had itsfirst losing season (5-7, 2-7Big 12) since 2013. Two-time Pac-12 champion quarterback Cam Rising had to “medically retire”, but dual-threat QB Devon Dampier followed new offensive coordinator Jason Beck from New Mexico.

Oklahoma State was3-9 and didn’t win aconference game, its first losing season since Gundy’s 4-7 debut in 2005. Andthere is still plentyofuncertaintywith two new coordinators and alot of transfers.

“Thechangesinhow we go about rebuilding, whetherit’sfinancially or rostermanagement, have been challenging but also intriguing,”Gundy said.“It’s different than it’sever been before.

However,there are somefamilar new coaches sticking around this season.

ScottFrost has reunited with UCF and RichRodriguez is back at West Virginia, but they are new coaches to the Big 12 since those schools weren’tyet in the league when they were there.

“Whateverhead coaching spot, it takes yousix to nine months to kind of getalay of theland,”Rodriguez said. “Well, West Virginia took six to nine minutes. But, thenagain, there’salso timesof change.”

The Mountaineers are in their 14th Big12season.They has three consecutive 11-win seasons in the Big East from 2005-07 before Rodriguez went toMichigan.

This is UCF’sthird Big12season. Frost coached UCF’sundefeated season outofthe American Athletic Conference in 2017, when the Knights declared themselves national championsand he left for Nebraska.

sophomore has acontagious disposition that shows up on film.

“He’syoung, energetic, smart,” Miller said.“He’s that Energizer bunny.Heplayedwitha motor, and when you get ayoung guy thatplays with amotor,welove him.”

Batistetotaled eight tacklesin eight games last season, but his mindfor the game portends more production.

“Not only does he play with a motor,he’ssmart,” Miller said. “So all you got to do is give him an opportunity,put him outthere,get arole for him.”

Jayden Rogers •DT

It isn’ta secret thatthe defense is built aroundsenior defensive end Ckelby Givens, the FCSleader in tackles for loss(271/2)last year

The team wants playersonthe defensivelinetotakeadvantage of opportunities when Givens is double-teamed. At 6-2, 375 pounds, Rogerscould be that aftermoving from his offensive line positionlast season. He might even demand some double teams himself.

“He’sinbetter shape,and he’s strong,” Frederick said of the redshirt sophomore. “He’svery physical. He’saload in theinside, and that’ll take some pressure off of Ckelby,and so we’re looking for some moreone-on-one matchups from that D-line spot to free Ckelby in pass-rush situations.”

Email Toyloy Brown III at toyloy.brown@theadvocate.com.

Kelly admits theTigersdon’t havealinemanofCampbell’s caliber,but he believes the unit hasdone agood job of working together.That cohesion, he said, starts with Virginia Tech transfer BraelinMoore at center

“Braelin Moore kind of sets up the restofthe group forsuccess,” Kelly said.“His combination work is outstanding, his recognition of fronts. (For) us to be an elite offensive line, if you have acenter that can kind of set the stage for that, it allowseverything elsetokind of fall into place.”

LSU mostly has stuck with the same starting five on the offensive line this preseason, only occasionally rotating in redshirt sophomore Paul Mubenga andredshirt freshman Coen Echols withthe first team

Alongside Moore, the Tigers haveturned to Northwestern transfer Josh Thompson at right guard, redshirt sophomore DJ Chester at left guard, redshirt sophomore TyreeAdams at left tackle andredshirtfreshman Weston Davis at right tackle.

KellyonLindsey arrest Kelly saidFridaythat the arrest of LSU running back JT Lindsey should serveasareminderfor hisplayers to “keep your circle really close.”

Lindsey,afreshman from Alexandria, is suspended from team activities because he’sfacing one chargeofaccessory after the fact

LSU

Continuedfrom page1C

to replicate aroad environment as muchaspossible Saturday night by turning on the video boards and playing loud music before atop-10 matchup in the season opener at Clemson.

“Wewanttobeabletoduplicate anight game the best we can,” Kelly said. “Things that can distract you, we have to work on that.”

Evaluating backup QB

With Nussmeier watching practice, sophomore quarterback Michael VanBuren took alot of the first-team reps in one-on-one and seven-on-seven drills. Kelly said VanBuren took “virtually allof thereps.”

“We’re pleased withhis progress, no doubt,” Kelly said.

VanBuren has been inconsistent in his first preseason since transferring from Mississippi State, but he threw the ball well Friday

At onepoint,Van Burenthreaded atouchdown to tightend Bauer Sharp through atight windowalong the back lineofthe end zone, though the defenders in the area said he wasout of bounds.

Defensenearlyset?

WithoutWeeks, redshirt freshman Tylen Singleton played linebacker on thefirst-team defense along with redshirt senior West Weeks and redshirt junior Harold Perkins

The rest of the starting defense could be coming into focustwo weeks out from the Clemson game.

On Friday,the rest of the unit consistedofsophomore defensive end Gabriel Reliford,sophomore defensivetackle Dominick McKinley, South Florida transfer defensive tackle Bernard Gooden,Florida transferdefensive end Jack Pyburn,Vir-

According to theaffidavit for Lindsey’sarrest, Jacobs and Jordan were seen entering and exiting theapartment withLindsey. Police also found that Jacobs had Lindsey’sIDwhenhewas taken into custody

Thewarrant forLindsey’s arrest said investigators believe the LSU freshman knew thatJacobs and Jordan were wanted for their alleged role in the shooting.

“They’re making revenue-share money,” Kelly said of his players. “They’re targets, too. People want to ingratiatethemselves with people that are making substantial amounts of money,so you’ve got to be careful.”

Shifting Johnson

LSU sophomore Ju’Juan Johnson is officially arunning back again, and Kelly expects himtohave a role in the offense.

Johnson, aformerLafayette Christiantwo-way star, began practicing with the Tigers last season as adefensive back.

LSU moved him to running back during the year,then decided in the offseason that he’d play quarterback.

Now those plans are on the shelf.

Because Trey Holly transferred to Southern in July and Lindsey wassuspended, theTigers were down to three scholarship tailbacksbeforetheymoved Johnson back to that position.

“He is focusing his time at running back at this point,” Kelly said. “I think he’sgonna be an important part of what we do.”

ginia Tech transfer cornerback Mansoor Delane,junior cornerback

AshtonStamps,NCState transfer safety Tamarcus Cooley andHouston transfer safety AJ Haulcy

Sixth-year senior JacobianGuillory and sophomore AhmadBreaux rotatedinat defensive tackle with the starters.

CB returns

Redshirt sophomore cornerback Ja’Keem Jackson practicedfully Fridayafter he missed practice with an injury earlier this week. Kelly said Jackson suffered ahamstring injury, which he describedas “probably aGrade 1” strain.

“Wewanted to be certain that when we brought him back in, that we didn’thave any reoccurrences,” Kelly said.

Before Jackson had to sit for a few days, Kelly said LSU was rotating six cornerbacks. Stamps and Delaneappear in line to start with sophomore PJ Woodland,fivestar freshman DJ Pickett,Jackson and redshirt freshman MichaelTurner behind them

Clemsonprepunderway

Last year, LSU did not start preparing itsplayers for Southern Cal until the Saturday two weeks before the game.

Thisyear,theprepstartedTuesday —four days earlier than last season.

“We’ll have no excuses about recognition of scheme,” Kelly said. Kelly said when the coaches begin going over fronts and potential plays of the Tigers’ upcoming opponent varies every year,depending on the makeup of the team. He hasstarted as late as the last week of camp with teams that have question marks all over the field.

“This one has been, Ithink, driven by thefact that we have some veteranplayers on both sidesof the ball,” Kelly said. “That allowed us to transition into our opponent a little bit sooner.”

Lynx shows its depth in Collier’s absence

New arrival Carrington is making an immediate impact

BY DAVE CAMPBELL Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS After coming so close to the WNBA championship last year, the Minnesota Lynx has picked right up where it left off. It sure wasn’t satisfied with the status quo, though, as evidenced by its recent acquisition of DiJonai Carrington The Most Improved Player award winner and All-Defensive First Team selection in 2024 has bolstered the league leader’s depth, injected a dose of two-way energy into an already determined club and made a seamless transition after the midseason switch.

“She’s been a great addition,” forward Bridget Carleton said “Playing against her has always been a challenge. She’s just feisty, competitive, always wants to win, plays hard every single possession.” Even with superstar Napheesa Collier sidelined by a sprained right ankle, the Lynx hasn’t missed a

are playing with confidence,” associate head coach Eric Thibault said. “Our group’s attitude is right about it. Nobody feels sorry for ourselves or anything like that. We just go out and battle.” Carrington was acquired from the Dallas Wings on Aug. 3 for backup forward Diamond Miller, injured guard Karlie Samuelson and Minnesota’s 2027 secondround draft pick.

“I’m a winner and this is a winning organization,” Carrington said.

The 5-foot-11 native of San Diego, who played her first four WNBA seasons with the Connecticut Sun, was dealt to Dallas earlier this year She averaged a careerbest 5.1 rebounds in 20 games with the Wings. In three games since the trade, and coincidentally since Collier was injured, Carrington has 40 points, 12 rebounds and six steals. The Lynx takes a five-game winning streak into its game on Saturday against the New York Liberty, whom it has already beaten twice this month in a measure of revenge for an overtime loss in New York last year in the decisive game of the WNBA Finals.

‘It’s a little bit surreal’: Storm to honor Bird with statue

Guard led Seattle to 4 WNBA titles during her career

PERCY ALLEN The Seattle Times (TNS)

SEATTLE Two years ago, the Storm retired Sue Bird’s No. 10 jersey, which hangs in the Climate Pledge Arena rafters, and last year Seattle city officials renamed a Lower Queen Anne street in her honor.

And on Sunday morning, Bird will soar to even loftier heights, becoming the rare sports superstar to garner a trifecta of tributes a larger-than-life-size bronze replica of the Storm star, making her the first WNBA player immortalized with a statue by a franchise.

“Incredible?” Bird said during an interview weeks ago. “It’s a little bit surreal, but also such an honor. It means so much to me to be recognized in this way by the franchise and by the city.”

Bird’s legacy is cemented on the Climate Pledge Arena plaza where she starred for over two decades.

“I like things that are permanent, and I like things that you can’t argue,” said Bird, who played 19 seasons with the Storm during a 21year WNBA career and won four

The Storm commissioned acclaimed artist Julie Rotblatt Amrany who is the co-founder of the renowned Rotblatt Amrany Studio in Highwood, Illinois. She met with Bird in August 2024 about a month after working on the statue.

“She’s really a sweet lady,” Rotblatt Amrany said. “Very engaging, forthright, clear-minded and clear about what she wanted and (a) passionate woman. We were lucky enough to have her come to the studio. I made a model of the piece after I received several photos from the Storm. I made a small clay model that Sue could see before I would get to welding the large piece.

“I took more photos of her and measurements. It was a good session. She’s funny, lighthearted, sweet and direct.”

wearing,” she said. “So, I picked my all-time favorites the (Nike) Huarache 2K. I got to choose the uniform and just chose the last one that I played in.”

And what about her infamous face mask?

“I’m not going to reveal anything,” Rotblatt Amrany said, laughing. “I can’t divulge any secrets at all. I know Sue broke her nose five times, but that’s all I’m saying.” Rotblatt Amrany has created over 75 statues, including works of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Bird joins a shortlist of Seattle sports superstars with statues including former Sonics great Lenny Wilkens and Seattle Mariners greats Ken Griffey Jr and Edgar Martinez, while Ichiro is scheduled to receive a statue next year

titles in Seattle. “That’s what I’ve always said about winning championships.

“You can argue about players and who’s better and who’s your preference, but you can’t argue if you won or if you didn’t. And there’s something about this statue that feels similar, albeit different because it’s just marking a career It’s marking a legacy It’s marking the impact that I had in the city, and then in return how they feel about me. So, there’s a lot of a lot of good in that.” Bird, the No. 1 overall pick out

COMMENTARY

of the University of Connecticut in the 2002 WNBA draft, posted a 333-247 record during the regular season and 34-26 in the playoffs with the Storm. The 5-foot-10 playmaker is widely regarded as the greatest point guard in league history whose 3,234 career assists record may never be broken. She also ranks first all time in games played (580), second in 3-pointers made (1,001), third in steals (724), seventh in field goals made (2,479) and ninth in points (6,803).

Bird will get her first glimpse of the 8-foot, 650-pound statue along with what’s expected to be an ample-sized crowd of Storm supporters during Sunday’s 10 a.m ceremony outside Climate Pledge Arena, which precedes a free fan festival at noon.

The details on the pose remain under wraps until Sunday, but Bird admitted she had to settle on her second choice because her first option would have been difficult to re-create.

“It was really cool because I got to choose which sneakers I’m

“I don’t know that I can right now,” Bird said when asked to put her statue in perspective “These are the types of things I think that you don’t really understand it without time. I think with time, you start to feel the impact of things. In the moment, obviously it feels big. It feels special, but you can’t understand like globally, if you will, how big that impact is until some time goes by “Whether it’s the jersey, the street sign and now the statue, for me, I look at these things, and I’m immediately met with so many memories.”

NFL preseason games are the biggest money grabs in sports

PAUL ZEISE

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS) PITTSBURGH Let’s recap what happened this week regarding the Steelers and see if we can understand why anyone in their right mind would buy a ticket to a preseason football game. The Steelers broke camp, then invited the Buccaneers to come to town a day early for their preseason game so they could have one of these “joint practices.” Tampa Bay obliged, so Thursday they came into town and held a joint practice with the Steelers that had pretty much anyone and everyone healthy participate. That means it was Aaron Rodgers on one side and Baker Mayfield on the other and all of their weapons, as well. It was Jalen Ramsey against Mike Evans and the Steelers offensive line trying to stop Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey It was real football, complete with starters and guys who are actually going to make the team in a controlled scrimmage with a bunch of situational football periods. It was exactly the kind of exhibition fans would want to watch.

On Saturday, the teams will meet at Acrisure Stadium for a preseason game that will more closely resemble a pickup game than

an NFL contest. It will be a night of vanilla offenses run by backups trying to beat vanilla defenses. The practice on Thursday involving the starters and real situations was closed to the public, closed to the media well, media could watch, just not report — not on TV and basically so secretive I am wondering if military strategies were discussed in between plays. The preseason game on Saturday is going to be wide open but, worse, is going to cost people real, actual money to go see. Yes, the practice people would want to see is closed to the public and fans, while the preseason game nobody cares about that features pretty much no varsity players will cost fans $50, $75, $100 or so. Honestly, if there ever were an argument to just get rid of preseason games altogether this is it And if there were ever an argument that preseason games are basically a Ponzi scheme, this is it. I had to laugh when I read Todd Bowles said Mayfield and Evans played so well in the joint practice, there is no need for them to play Saturday night. I mean, why would anyone coming Saturday who paid money for a ticket want to see those two and Rodgers and

Metcalf for that matter anyway, right?

Preseason games are where the guys who are struggling to make a roster get a chance to put some film together And that’s great, but why make fans pay for these tickets? Why charge money for a dress rehearsal for a bunch of guys who won’t even be in the wedding?

Here is what the NFL should do to make this right with the fans — either go to a joint practice/scrimmage model fans can watch or make preseason games free. I know all the arguments about how the poor NFL needs to maximize revenue by charging for preseason games. I get it — the NFL would go broke without extorting its season-ticket holders for an extra game or two, but it is so immoral and unethical I think it hurts the brand. If they really need to make up the lost revenue, either raise season-ticket prices a few bucks or squeeze a few more dollars out of your TV partners. That way, you could make preseason games free to the public, probably increase attendance and grow your brand even more, and nobody would have to feel bad about spending $100 to watch junior-varsity teams battle each other

Bengals assessing options at safety after Stone’s injury

BY CHARLIE GOLDSMITH Associated Press

CINCINNATI After the Cincinnati Bengals secondary struggled in the preseason opener, starting safety Geno Stone learned he has a soft tissue injury that has him out on a “week-toweek” basis.

Those recent developments gave the Bengals a lot to discuss and work on heading into their second preseason game against the Washington Commanders on Monday night.

Coach Zac Taylor said the Philadelphia Eagles’ success against the Bengals last week showed the defensive backs some areas to focus on. Penalties also made a big difference last week, and Taylor wants to see those cleaned up.

“We were just in a lot of one-on-one positions where we were fingertip away a lot of times,” Taylor said.

“Continue to be competitive, continue to be detailed up on scrimmage. I think overall, operationally there were some things on offense, defense and special teams that we’ve got to be better at. That had nothing to do with Philly, and that’s one of our primary focuses right now as a team, not having a joint practice this week.” Without Stone in the short term, Tycen Anderson, Daijahn Anthony and PJ Jules have been battling for firstteam reps on defense. Even though the Bengals didn’t use their safety depth last season, they only added undrafted free agents into that position group. As a result, the back-

ups behind Stone who are now contenders for a firstteam role are getting their first real chance to show what they’re capable of in a starting opportunity Anthony played some backup slot cornerback during the first two weeks last season. But after he committed a key penalty, he lost that role and didn’t play much during the rest of his rookie season. Anderson, a fifth-round pick in 2022, has played one career defensive snap while establishing himself as the team’s top special teamer He has played in 24 total games, and Anderson has 18 total tackles on special teams. Jules was an undrafted free agent last season who spent 2024 on the Bengals’ practice squad.

COMMENTARY

For Dallas, big differences between new, old coaches

CALVIN WATKINS

The Dallas Morning News (TNS)

OXNARD, Calif. — The Dallas Cowboys broke training camp on Thursday How coach Brian Schottenheimer conducted business compared to his predecessor Mike McCarthy was vastly different.

There were more team drills under Schottenheimer, with music playing throughout the practice. Energy, energy and more energy was pushed, from Schottenheimer to the entire coaching staff. Assistant coaches shook players’ hands during stretching exercises, regardless of position group.

The entire team ran over football bags before every practice to set the tone for the high-energy and up-tempo sessions

The famed seven-on-seven, nine-on-seven and one-on-one drills were not seen early in camp. Instead, those drills were moved to the back end. During McCarthy’s tenure, veteran players would get a day off from time to time. Vets worked during Schottenheimer’s first season. Schottenheimer didn’t hire an assistant head coach, a position McCarthy used during his term with the Cowboys. And here’s a big one. McCarthy had to deal with contract holdouts from CeeDee Lamb and Zack Martin. Schottenheimer didn’t have a holdout with Micah Parsons. Instead he asked Parsons to attend the first voluntary offseason workout, which he did. And while Parsons held in during camp as he awaits a contract extension, he followed Schottenheimer’s requirement to wear team-issued gear, meaning a jersey

This isn’t to say McCarthy’s way was ineffective; the man did lead the Cowboys to three 12-win seasons What Schottenheimer is

doing is different because this is how he believes a team should be formed. McCarthy believed building a team for the stretch run was the best way to go about things.

It worked In his career, McCarthy’s teams went 50-23 in December, the most wins in any month as a head coach. With the Cowboys, McCarthy’s group went 14-6 in December, which included a 10-1 mark from 2020 to 2022.

Schottenheimer wants to set the tone quickly and believes a well-conditioned team should be fine for the stretch run during the season.

“One of the biggest things is the energy in practice, and you continue to emphasize (the players) are competing every day,” said tight end coach Lunda Wells, who worked for both coaches. “Whether or not you’re competing to be the starter, whether or not you’re competing to have a roster spot.

“Us as coaches, in my opinion, you got to compete every day I’m trying to outcoach every coach on the field just so I have that mindset so my guys go out there and compete. So my guys can be in the best position to be successful individually and collectively as a team.”

Seven-on-seven drills are a mainstay in football. There are seven-on-seven high school tournaments. They are used to help with the timing aspect of the passing game.

Schottenheimer used to be a believer, but not anymore.

“I’m not a big nine-on-seven guy, I’m not a big seven-on-seven guy,” he said. “This is a team game, man. If we’re running the football, CeeDee Lamb and George (Pickens) and those guys, they have to go and take out safeties, that’s the game. So when you do nine-on-seven, it’s like half your guys aren’t out there. I’m a big team period guy.”

It also leads to more physical practices, which Schottenheimer

wants. McCarthy was big on having physical practices, as well. However, the Cowboys were fined twice by the NFL with McCarthy as head coach for too much contact in offseason drills.

Another interesting change is the lack of deep balls in one-onone drills. Schottenheimer doesn’t mind it, yet it’s almost a waste because receivers and corners have to get back to the line of scrimmage and you have to set up for the next rep, whereas a team drill rep could have been conducted instead.

The Cowboys did attempt deep throws in practices, but the old one-on-one, man-on-man drills were limited early in camp.

“Throwing go balls and then coming back and throwing a post in routes on air, it’s not smart,” Schottenheimer said. “You just worry early on in camp about potential soft tissue things like that.”

Schottenheimer has high standards not only for himself and his players, but the coaches, as well. For the first time in recent memory, the Cowboys don’t have an assistant head coach.

“I want to lean on all my coaches, No. 1,” Schottenheimer said. “I obviously got an inner circle of people that I talk to a lot. I’m not real big on titles. I think titles should be earned and not given, and this is Year 1.

“So, will we have an assistant head coach next year? Maybe, but I do think that sometimes, and we’re all guilty of this, we’ve all done it, sometimes you use titles to get guys out of contracts. You try to. It doesn’t usually work. My belief is if someone is named the assistant head coach, they should have earned that. They should truly be that.”

Things are different with the Cowboys now as they should be with a new coach. It doesn’t mean success is guaranteed with the changes, but it’s refreshing.

BRIDGEWATER

Continued from page 1C

the late 2000s before embarking on a decorated college career at Louisville, followed by a nomadic journey through the NFL.

When Bridgewater, who played for the Saints from 2018-19, announced after the 2023 season that he was stepping away, he thought it would stick. He quickly agreed to become the head coach at Northwestern, eager to start the next chapter of his life.

QBs reunite, reflect at joint team practice

Top 2023 draft picks young, Stroud are longtime friends

BY KRISTIE RIEKEN Associated Press

HOUSTON Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud will be forever linked after the quarterbacks were taken first and second, respectively, in the 2023 NFL Draft.

But long before they became NFL stars, the two California natives became friends when they competed in football and basketball in middle school.

On Thursday, the two reunited when Stroud’s Houston Texans hosted Young’s Carolina Panthers for a joint practice ahead of Saturday’s preseason game. The quarterbacks were all business during drills, with both players making some nice throws during the two-hour workout. Afterward, they took some time to catch up and chat.

“To see where he’s at right now, I’m super proud of him. It means a lot,” Young said. “I’m always rooting for him. That’s my guy When practice is going, I’m rooting for our defense. I’m hoping we make every play That’s all that matters. But before and after, I try not to take it for granted, us being able to live our dreams and be here. It’s special.”

Stroud said the two never specifically talked about their NFL dreams as children but said competing against Young at a young age made him a better player

“When we focus on like the NFL or the NBA, it’s hard to do because (at that age) there’s so many people trying for that,” Stroud said. “But like me and him, I feel like our process was just getting better, getting better, getting better, getting better So, I think that was our mindset, and it’s cool to be in these moments.”

The Panthers were criticized in 2023 for selecting Young, who struggled as a rookie as the team went 2-15. Meanwhile, Stroud led Houston to the postseason after a three-year absence and was named AP Offensive Rookie of the Year

Neither player likes talking about the what-ifs when it comes to that draft, and Young insisted

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C potential violations concerning impermissible benefits. Bridgewater — who did not take a salary as head coach self-reported the payments and was subsequently suspended. The Florida High School Athletic Association’s investigation is ongoing.

“It’s very upsetting,” Bridgewater said after a joint practice between the Buccaneers and Steelers ahead of their preseason game at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday night. “Just knowing that you have good intentions and those good intentions will be turned against you and used against you.”

It’s unclear when a resolution might come For Bridgewater, who still communicates regularly with his at-the-moment former players, it can’t get here fast enough

“I’m hoping to get it resolved because those kids have a special place in my heart,” Bridgewater said. “And I’d love to finish what I started with them.” Bridgewater didn’t even rule out making the four-hour drive from Tampa to Miami on Fridays when the Buccaneers’ schedule allows to attend a Northwestern game as a fan. He’d love the opportunity to return one day as the coach of the school where he became a star in

Yet he also stayed in shape, even taking snaps during the spring game, headset on all the while.

He also remained in contact with Lions coach Dan Campbell and realized that playing could not only let him feed a passion to play that is very much still there but also set another kind of example in the process.

“I always see it as motivation for the kids to know that you can do whatever you put your mind to,” Bridgewater said. “As long as you build those healthy relationships, continue to train, work hard yearround, opportunities are going to come.”

Enter Tampa Bay, which reached out looking for someone experienced to join a quarterback room that includes Baker Mayfield, who is coming off the best season of his career

Bridgewater isn’t with the Buccaneers to be the starter like he was during stints in Minnesota, Carolina and Denver He is more of a resource now

better than anyone else, and why attempts to ban the play unfairly target the franchise.

If the tush push does involve such details, and the Saints have yet to practice those details, then perhaps that reveals more about their plans than anything said in a news conference.

“Anybody can replicate it,” said Saints run-game coordinator T.J. Paganetti, who had been with Philadelphia since 2013 before joining New Orleans this offseason. “It takes practice. We have a saying that, ‘I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks one time. I fear the man that’s practiced one kick 10,000 times.’

“That’s a good Bruce Lee quote, and it has relevance to that play If you’re going to hang your hat on that, then you’ve got to do it over, over and over again.”

The tush push evolved over its time in Philadelphia. Although Philadelphia began running the play consistently in 2022, two years before Moore’s arrival, the origins of the look date back to a year earlier In Week 5 of the 2021 season, tight end Jack Stoll ended up pushing Hurts from behind on a quarterback sneak for a touchdown against the Carolina Panthers. Then, in Week 11 against

the Saints, tight end Dallas Goedert motioned before the snap to line up behind Hurts in an I-formation and shove him for the first down.

From there, the play exploded. Since 2022, according to ESPN, the Eagles have had an 85.2% conversion rate on the tush push and have run it, by far more than any other team. When not run by the Eagles or the Buffalo Bills (second in tush push attempts), the league conversion average falls to 71%.

Stoll, now with the Saints, said there’s a “night and day difference” in terms of how the technique used for the play has changed In a copycat league, not everyone has been able to grasp it.

“It’s not that simple,” Stoll said. “You can take the scheme, but unless you have all the details of certain plays, it doesn’t always work. It is cool to be part of something like that.”

Stoll said that if the Saints do want to run the tush push eventually, the team has the advantage of having Paganetti on staff. Paganetti not only worked closely under Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, but Stoll said Paganetti can help teach the details so that everyone can be in unison. Paganetti and Stoll agreed that if the Saints were to commit to the tush push, investment in the play is critical. Stoll said that when he was in Philadelphia, the Eagles wouldn’t have many plays baked into the game plan for third and

Thursday that he’s happy with how things turned out.

“I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be,” he said. “I’m sure C.J. would say the same thing. God doesn’t make mistakes. Everything happens for a reason. So, I’m super grateful to be a Panther.” As their NFL careers have blossomed, Stroud and Young have remained close. Young was asked to describe the best thing about Stroud as a friend.

“I’ve seen him have ups and downs,” Young said. “I’ve seen him have so much success at this level (and) throughout all that he’s been the exact same person and I know a lot of people on this team and everyone tells me how great of a leader he is, how much he means for this team, offense, the entire team, entire unit, the person he is. So, I think just his ability to be that same person, regardless of what his circumstances are, is one of the things that I admire most.” Stroud also praised Young’s consistency as a friend and lauded him for the improvement he showed last season.

“He’s a heck of a player, one of the best players I’ve ever seen in my life,” Stroud said. “And I just think he needs some help around him, too. But I’m just really proud of that guy, just the same way he said about me, for every up and down, every valley and peak, he’s stayed the same guy stayed loyal and stayed a friend and brother, so very appreciative.”

1 or fourth and 1 because everybody understood that they’d run the tush push — including the other team.

“It breaks teams’ wills, if you do it (correctly),” Paganetti said. The biggest question is whether the Saints have the personnel to execute the tush push successfully The Eagles have one of the largest offensive lines in the league, a key to generating the strength needed in the trenches. Hurts’ exceptional leg strength is also notable, with the quarterback able to squat 600 pounds.

The Saints have size in the trenches: Their starting offensive line combines to weigh 1,583 pounds — only 63 pounds lighter than the Eagles’ projected offensive line. But the Saints have yet to name a starting quarterback, and it’s unclear which of Spencer Rattler or Tyler Shough would be better suited for the play Saints players at least seem curious about the play Stoll said he’s heard teammates express interest, especially given Moore’s history and his track record of helping the Eagles win the Super Bowl.

At a recent practice, the Saints had a play in which the runner was ruled down just short of the goal line Kicker Blake Grupe just happened to be mic’d up for a video that would later be posted on social media.

“Tush push!” Grupe chanted. “Tush push! Tush push!”

A tale of crime

Documentary delves into Jack Strain, Peter Galvan cases

BY JUDY BERGERON Staff writer

When the documentary “Dead People, Crazy People, Drugs and Politicians” premiered recently in Baton Rouge, the production company preceded the main feature with another of its projects, a 26-minute zombie short Director Brett Roblez opened the question and answer session that followed by telling the audience, “If you ask me, the documentary was the real horror film that played.” Shockingly, the Dinosaur Rumblings Entertainment documentary becomes more horrific as its 97 minutes go by Corruption in St. Tammany Parish is well-documented and widespread, so “Dead People “focuses on just two cases, those of former Sheriff Jack Strain and former Coroner Dr Peter Galvan. Presented by Bespoke Marketing, the documentary is based on the eponymously named 2024 book by Terry King and Chris Warner The idea for the production was born from a chance meeting between Roblez and King, who related to the filmmaker the subject of his book in disturbing detail.

“For lack of a better term, it sounded like the most insane thing I’ve ever heard, to the point of unbelievable,” Roblez said. A Google search verified what King had told him.

“And I was like, this is a story people need to hear because I grew up on the northshore, I graduated from Mandeville (High). I was a mile away from all of this, and I somehow didn’t hear about it,” he said, “So I called Terry and asked him if he ever considered making a movie, and he said, ‘I’ve always wanted to, but I didn’t know any movie people.’” Roblez jumped on the opportunity.

“And next thing I know, I’m interviewing district attorneys and coroners and calling wardens of correctional facilities. And it’s all been an unbelievable experience,” he said.

King is also interviewed early on in the film.

“I am a financial consultant who has a hobby of developing alternative housing strategies for corrupt public officials,” King says, only slightly joking. King is a member of Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany Parish, which has assisted with 29 cases involving everything from bribery to human trafficking.

Strain victim speaks

Five-term Sheriff Strain, who held the office from 1996 to 2016, was once one of the parish’s most powerful politicians.

Strain is now himself behind bars, serving four life sentences without possibility of parole. He was convicted in 2021 on four counts of aggravated rape

On the big screen

Southern students win Emmy for Human Jukebox documentary

BY JOY HOLDEN Staff writer

Southern University’s Human Jukebox is known for its members’ legacy and athleticism. Now the marching band’s talent is available to the eyes of American media, thanks to five Southern college students who created a 13-minute documentary, “The Hidden Sport.”

This year, the documentary won an Emmy and the students are now preparing to share the short film with the world via an August YouTube premiere. While there isn’t a set date for the premiere, people can subscribe to “The Hidden Sport” YouTube channel to stay updated.

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences awarded the students who call themselves the “Dream Team” — the CocaCola HBCU Sports Production grant worth $40,000, at the 46th annual Sports Emmy Awards in New York in May. The grant recognizes students enrolled in a historically Black college or university journalism or media production program with a focus on sports broadcasting. Directed by senior Loren Sullivan, of Chino Hills, California, “The Hidden Sport” illuminates the impact that the Human Jukebox has on the university’s football season while representing the importance of marching bands in

HBCU culture. The short film also highlights the athleticism and hard work of the band’s practices and performances

An original idea

Mass communication students

Sydney Cuillier, of Houston; Ashley Lovelace, of Moorestown, New Jersey; and Eric White, of Donaldsonville — all former members of the Office of Student Media started brainstorming in November 2024 about possible ideas to enter the Coca-Cola HBCU Sports

Production grant competition. The prompt was about the past, present and future of athletics at HBCUs.

They asked Sullivan, a four-year member of Human Jukebox Media (the media team for the marching band) and a videographer, to be the director of the film. She accepted the task.

“Loren is an insanely talented, creative mind,” said Lovelace. “She’s phenomenal behind the camera, and her eye is amazing.”

Baton Rouge

BY LAUREN CHERAMIE Staff writer

JUKEBOX

Continued from page1D

When the crew of students got together to conceptualizeideas andsubjects, they had alot of contenders. They thought about football coaching legend Pete Richardson, baseball star Rickie Weeks Jr.orHall of Fame player and former coach Sean Wallace. They also thought about highlighting sports like volleyballorgolf that are not usually associated with historically Black colleges.

Sullivan offered the unconventional idea of profiling the world-famous marching band as acentrifugal force that makesathletics flourish. Then, they had the idea to feature the athleticism of the band.

“We’re focusing on all the hard work that they do,” Lovelace said, “because they practice for eight hours aday —sun up to sundown. As students,wewake up to hearing the Human Jukebox, andwegotobed hearing the Human Jukebox.” White came up with the name, “The Hidden Sport,” because,asaformermarching band member,healways felt bands should deserve to be considered asport because of the labor and planning involved in aperformance season.

‘A laboroflove’

The students combed through 11 five-terabyte hard drives —over four years of Southern University Human Jukebox marching band footage. Sullivanalso shot newfootage of the football team and filmed interviews that Cuillier,Lovelace and White conducted.

To help with production, Verbon Muhammad, asenior computer science major from Monroe, joined the project. As amember of Human Jukebox Media, Muhammad was tech savvy and hadexperience behind the camera.

“‘The Hidden Sport’ was really labor of love,” Lovelacesaid. “This project took us five months. For Loren, it was afour-year journey,because she had been on Human Jukebox Media for her entire four years. When we pressed the send button to turn this project

in,therewere alot of tears. It has grown to become something far beyond what we everthought it wouldor could ever be.”

Sullivan said that theculmination of finishing the documentary was afull-circle experience for her and afinale for her yearsofrecordingthe marchingband.

“It was nice to be ableto accumulate all the footagethat I’ve done andgive backtoorganization that’s given so much to me,” Sullivansaid. “I wouldn’t be in the place that Iamnow if I wasn’tinJukeboxMedia, so it was really nice to be able to makesomething for them, in asense.”

While thestudents were working on the film,two losses added to the gravity of their efforts. Football coach Sean Wallace died in February,and CalebWilson, amember of the Human Jukebox,died in March. Whitesaid that processing their deaths was themost challenging part of the experience

“That was very hard, because it was late in our filming process,” White said. “Nobody was in the mood at that time, which pushed us backalmost a week.”

Thegroup dedicated their win to Wallace andWilson at the SportsEmmys.

Acalltosupport thearts

Allfive students, along with theirmentor Garrett Edgerson, whoisthe media director of Human Jukebox Media, attended theSports Emmy AwardsinNew York. The university and alumni paid for thegroup to travel and stay in New York.

Lovelace and Whitesaid

theexperience was adream come true andsolidified their career ambitions in broadcasting and sports media.This award was the first of suchcaliber thatthe school haswon in its145year history

When acceptingthe grant award, Sullivan announced that thefilmteamwould give $10,000 of the $40,000 back to theHuman Jukebox and Southern’smass communication department. The Coca-ColaCompanywas so movedbythe students’ generosity that theyadded another $5,000 to Southern University

The entire “Hidden Sport” project was self-funded, student-produced and made possible by Edgerson’sproduction equipment and support withfilming.

“Wetook the opportunity to turn ‘TheHidden Sport’ from adedicationtothese entities that we love so much to acall to action to invest back into thearts,”Lovelace said.

SinceMay,the students have participated in multiplescreenings, from Baton Rougetothe EssenceFestival in New Orleans to Los Angeles.Four of the five filmmakers are pursuing graduate degrees this fall, andSullivan is graduating in December

The “Dream Team” has aspirations to work together in the future and continue to shine alight on theiralma mater,Southern University

Subscribe to “The Hidden Sport”YouTube channel for theupcoming premiere.

Email Joy Holden at joy holden@theadvocate.com.

By The Associated Press

Today is Saturday, Aug. 16, the 228th day of 2025. There are 137 days left in the year

Todayinhistory:

On Aug. 16, 1977, Elvis Presley died at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 42; 41 years later,in2018, singer Aretha Franklin, known as the “Queen of Soul,” died in Detroit at the age of 76.

Also on this date:

In 1777, American forces won the Battle of Bennington in what was considered aturning point of the Revolutionary War. In 1812, Detroit fell to Britishand Native American forces in the Warof 1812.

In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln issued Proclamation 86, which prohibited the states of the Union from engaging in commercial trade with states that were in rebellion —i.e., the Confederacy

In 1896, gold was discovered in Canada’sYu-

kon Territory,sparking the “Klondike Fever” that would draw tens of thousands to the region in search of fortune.

In 1948, baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York at age 53.

In 1954, the first issue of “Sports Illustrated” was released.

In 1962, the Beatles fired their original drummer, Pete Best, replacing him with Ringo Starr

In 1978, James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of Dr Martin Luther King Jr., told aCapitol Hill hearing he did not commit the crime, saying he’d been set up by amysterious man called “Raoul.”

In 2014, Missouri Gov Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and imposed acurfew in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, where police and protesters repeatedly clashed in the week since a Black 18-year-old, Michael Brown, wasshot to death by aWhite police officer In 2020, lightning sparked the August Com-

Operateonyourown pizza

Dear Miss Manners: Iwork with awoman with whom Ihave afriendly,professional relationship. We are often in shared-food settings together, such as office lunches or happy hours with appetizers. She adheres to a no-carbdiet, but is quite gracious about encouraging others to order or bring whatever they’d like, saying that she’ll “make it work.” My qualm is that when she needs to modify afood, such as only eating the cheese from apizza, she will execute the modification on the shareddish, rather than taking aslice of pizza and carving it up on her own plate. The crust carcass remains on the serving plate.

her own plate? Gentle reader: “Here, Taylor, whydon’t you takeyour piecefirst.”

Dear MissManners: I own asmall retail gift shop. Ioffer my clientele traditional gift certificates, printed on card stock, that have the recipient’s name, the sender’s name and the gift amount, all handwrittenbymyself.

Forthe past several years, agentleman from theWest Coast has called andpurchased agift certificate for his sister wholives here locally.It’sa considerable amounteach year

She came in once and requested ahandblown glass item that was outofstock. Ihavesince had them restocked, but she hasn’t returned.

Is this strange? Is therea polite way to encourage her to perform pizza surgery on

Ikeep detailed notesof each gift certificatesoldand redeemed. This past year

10 years older than me.”

Continued from page1D

involving young boys, two counts of aggravated incest, one count of molestation of ajuvenile and one countof sexual battery

In addition,just three weeks after his criminal convictions, Strain pled guilty in federal court to taking bribes connected to acorrupt prison work-releaseprogram. He received a 10-year sentence (to run concurrent to his other sentences) and a$10,000 fine.

The abuse continued afterFinnbecameanadult andwas frequentlyinjail on variousoffenses, mostly involving drugs. “I have one of the worst cases of PTSD they’ve ever seen,” Finn continues. “It ain’teasy.I’m tryingtoget to apoint whereI am able to talk aboutthis I’m tired of this, man.”

Amid all this darkness,Finn did express abit of hope to Roblez.

Mark Finn, one of Strain’sabuse victims, agreed to be interviewedfor the film. His accounts were so disturbing that aportion of them weren’tincluded.

“When you have someone like thatwho’sa victim, you don’twant to trigger them for any reason,” Roblez said. “So, Ibasically just sat down and asked him, ‘Who is Jack Strain to you, and whatwould you like to tell us about your experience?’” Finn told his side of the story “I’m just gonna say the sexual stuff with me started when Iwas 6years old,” Finn began. “I know three to five times aweek. Strain was

TAP65

Continued from page1D

dishes on the menu.

“Welove what we built. It was just agood time forus to dedicate alittle bit more

“One thing that he did tell me, which made me happyin away,ishetoldme that beinga part of this and getting the message outthere really helped him in hisrecovery,” the director said. “Thattalking about it, knowing his story is going to be out there, in a way, gives him some sort of process of healing. And if we can contribute to thatinany way,Ithink that’sawin.”

Roblez’sefforts tointerviewStrain, aided by state Sen. FranklinFoil, were unsuccessful.

Thecoroner andcookiejar It didn’ttake author King’s wife, Dr.Laura King, long to start noticing improprieties aftershe began working in the coroner’soffice. Galvan, parish coroner

timetothe household,”Rick Patel said. “Wewish nothing but the best for the new guys. Our journey is just taking a detour and anew direction.”

Email Lauren Cheramie at lauren.cheramie@ theadvocate.com

when the brother called, I didn’tmention to him that his sister hasn’tbeen redeeming the certificates.I thought it gauche. But Idid send apolitenotewith her next gift, telling her that the item she was looking for is now back in stock. Iincluded our storehours, and wrote thatwelook forward to seeing her again.

It’sbeen six monthsand she has not shown up, and she has several gift certificates now.They never expire and will always be honored; that’snot the problem.Ihonestly feel in aquandary about receiving money for productsthat are not being purchased.

The brother presumably doesn’tknow she isn’t redeeming his gift certificates, but Idon’tknow if saying somethingtohim is thepolite thing to do. Should Isay something thenext time he calls, or stay quiet?

from 2000 to 2013, swayed voters to pass an exorbitant taxfor his office. He had a lavishnew office compound built that included apress room larger than that at the WhiteHouse, and ahuge officefor himself featuring an executive washroom and wet bar

“Galvanwas really trying to build amonument to himself, and it waslikethe Taj Mahal,” said Warner Hugging and kissing his female employees was a common practice which Laura King found uncomfortable. Galvan also received yearly payments for unusedannual andsick leave to which he was not entitled. Crawfish boils and parties during office hours were seen as inappropriate, considering grieving families frequentedthe compound to learnthe specifics of aloved one’sdeath.

Meanwhile, Galvan enjoyedexpensive mealsand the purchase of itemsfor his personal use totaling thousands,all on theofficecredit card,recordsobtainedby Terry King would prove. With all this and more ex-

Gentlereader: “I hope that your sister is well. Ihaven’t seen her in theshop in a while, and Iwas concerned. Iwould love her to enjoy thethings that you are kind enough to facilitate her buying.”

This is agentle way to alerthim to thecertificate situation, while legitimately veiling it under themorepolite guise that your concern is really about her health. Miss Manners will add that it also saves both of you theembarrassment if it gets back to her —of rattingher out if her taste in shops has changed. Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners. com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail com; or through postal mailtoMiss Manners, Universal Uclick,1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

posed, Galvan eventually pledguilty to conspiring to stealpublic funds from the coroner’soffice. In 2014, he was sentenced to 24 months in federal custody followed by one year of supervised release, andordered to payrestitution of at least $193,388.

At thetime of filming, Galvan was reportedly residing aboveaplane hangarand unreachable for comment

Happeningnow

King and Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany Parish continuethe fightagainst unscrupulous elected officials.Hehas anew book, “No Limit, Big Game Hunting in St. Tammany Parish,” due out this fall.

“Corruption is atax that we allpay,” author King says. Roblez, meanwhile, moves closer to bringing his documentarytoTV. He and the rest of theteam have an inperson meetingscheduled with Netflix representatives in October For more, visitterrymking. com and dinosaurrumblings entertainment.com.

Trythese tools outinthe kitchen

Dear Heloise: Duetomy wife’s health, after 68 years, Iamnow thecook Ifind that themost helpful toolsfor me are pliers, scissors andscrewdrivers! I usethe screwdriver to open cans with lift tabs. Istick the screwdriverthrough thetab andpush down on thehandle Pliers can be used to pull open the inner tabs under products with lids. Scissors are good to cut open plastic food bags and cut up leafyitemsfor salads. This sure has mademy cooking easy —BillAult, in San Antonio

Smartplanting

Dear Heloise: When Iplant anew perennial garden, Isave the plant tags and tape them to alarge piece of paper to makeachart in the samelayout as the garden. Iwill take aphoto of the garden sometime during the summer when everything is in full bloom and print acopy to go with the chart.

from

The next spring, when plants start coming up, Ican easily tell which ones didn’t makeitthrough the winter and replace them with another plant that has the same height and color characteristics, or with something that Ithink would look better —Sue J.,via email Lost andfound

Dear Heloise: Going to a remote location? Hiking in the mountains or desert? Istrongly recommend taking aPLB (personal locator beacon) with you. These gadgets are used to alert emergency personnel if you should need help. APLB or satellite messenger is alifesaver if you have an accident or are lost. This is especially important if you’re in an area where your cellphone can’tfunction. —Thomas Y., Medford, Oregon

Sendahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

RELIGION BRIEFS

FROM STAFFREPORTS

Freeman Baptist Church anniversary

Freeman Baptist Church, 4628 La. 955 West, Ethel, will host itschurch anniversary service at 2p.m. Sunday.Special guests will be theRev.Melvin White and thePilgrim Missionary Baptist Church family of Natchez, Mississippi. All are welcome to join in this joyful celebration.

Interfaith group holds prayer service

The Interfaith Federation of Greater Baton Rouge invites congregations, organizationalleaders, partners and friends to aprayer service of remembrance, thanksgivingand hope at

noon Thursday,Aug. 28, at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, 185 Eddie Robinson Drive, Baton Rouge. This gatheringhonorsthe compassion and generosity shown by theBaton Rouge community in 2005, when countless individualsand organizationsextended hospitality, housing and mealstothousands in need during Hurricane Katrina. Youth Sunday at Greater Mt. Canaan Greater Mt. Canaan Baptist Church invites alltoits YouthSundayprogram at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 14 at 5820 Evangeline St., Baton Rouge. The guest speaker will be Louisiana Supreme Court Justice John M. Guidry

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) It's up to you to manage situations to maintain your status. Your skills will be better employed if you are the one calling the shots.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Patience will keep you from making an emotional blunder. Keep your thoughts to yourself Pay attention to your finances and how money flows in and out of your hands.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Set the stage for change and do whatever it takes to improve your health and well-being. Don't set yourself up for failure unnecessarily. What you do will matter more than what you say.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Take care of business and move on to something you look forward to doing. Time is precious, and spending it with someone you enjoy will affect how your day unfolds.

sAGITTARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Put pressure on yourself to take care of unfinished business. Live life your way and learn from experience, and you'll find your niche. Change begins with you.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Be aware of what's happening around you. Not everyone will be on your team or look out for your interests. Verify information before sharing it. Protect your reputation at all costs.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Look, see and do what you can to make things happen. Consider what excites you most and head in that direction. Engage in talks and associate with people who are heading in a similar direction.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Spend less time trying to force change and more time establishing what means the most to you. Concentrate on personal appearance, health, diet and positioning yourself for what you want to achieve.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Focus on what's important to you. Balance is the key, along with money management and eliminating unnecessary worry. Learn to trust your instincts and follow your heart.

TAuRus (April 20-May 20) Maintain stability. Avoid persuasive tactics that may lead you to take a leap of faith, potentially resulting in a loss. Pay more attention to how you look and where you live.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Choose kindness when dealing with the ones you love. A positive attitude has the most effective influence on others. Get approval from those you live with, near or rent from before you make domestic changes.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Anger will lead to regret. Gather the facts before pointing a finger at someone. Question your motives and what you expect in return for what you do. Choose homeand self-improvement over trying to change others.

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 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers1 to 9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

By PHILLIP ALDER

Someadvertisementsmakeinteresting claims. For example, have you seen the one for a golf range-finder that promises you will play better if you use it? Why will knowing the exact distance to the pin improve your swing? Yes, it is nice to feel confident that you are using the right club, but you must still execute the shot correctly. At the bridge table, you can count winners and losers, but you must still execute the trick sequence correctly.

In today’s deal, how should South try to make six hearts after West leads the club queen?

North responded with a game-invitational limit raise. South bid what he hoped he could make.

Declarer has a spade loser and an uncertain trump suit. Obviously, after winning trick one with his club ace, the honor from the shorter side first, South should cash his heart ace to find out that situation. If the king drops, everything is easy-peasy. If an opponent discards, the contract is hopeless. Here, though, both opponents follow, but the king does not put in an appearance. How can declarer avoid losing a spade trick as well?

Thereisonlyonechance thedefender with the heart king is short in spades. South should cash his two top diamonds, cash his spade ace, lead to dummy’s spade king, take the club king, and ruff the third club. With the partial elimination complete, declarer leads a trump. Here, West must return a minor-suit card. Declarer ruffs on the board and sluffs his remaining spade. If you are good, you will get lucky — in bridge and golf.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

Puzzle Answer today’s thought “The Lord is near to them that are of a broken heart; and saves such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Psalms 34:18-19