The Times-Picayune 08-21-2025

Rookie safety Sanker shows offskill set

The Amira AI tutoring program listens to students read and helpsthem sound out words that stumpthem. Thestate board of education passed aresolution Wednesday calling on the LouisianaDepartment of Education to lead an ‘ongoing AI researchagenda’ so that students can compete in a‘rapidly evolving AI landscape.’

Louisianapolicymakers endorse AI in schools

Tech leaders cheermove, but some educators areconcerned

BY PATRICK WALL |Staff writer

Louisiana’seducation policymakerswantschoolstoembrace the use of artificial intelligence, drawing cheers from sometech-industry titans but raising alarmsamong education experts whosay the hype around AI is notyet backedby strong evidence.

The stateboard of education passed aresolution Wednesday calling on the Louisiana Department of Education to lead an “ongoing AI research agenda” so thatstudentscan compete in a“rapidlyevolving AI landscape.” It cites thetechnology’s growing importance to the global economy as well as President Donald Trump’sexecutive orderinApril saying teachers and studentsshould learn to use it.

While some students in afourth gradeEnglish languageartsclass use an AI tutoringprogram, others work independently or meet with their teacher

Louisiana schools alreadyare experimenting with AI programs, including one that helps students learn to read, and the state EducationDepartmentissued guidance for schools last year on how to adopt the technology safely. The resolution pushes the department to ramp up those efforts. Several tech leaders wrote letters in supportofthe resolution, includingMattMullenweg,co-founder of the online publishing tool WordPress, and Sal Khan, CEO of Khan Academy,a nonprofit that produces

widely used educational videos and an AI-powered tutoring program. Khan wrote that the resolution would help position Louisiana “as a national leader in both education and workforce development.”

Ronnie Morris, the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education president whointroduced theAI plan, saidschools mustmove quickly

ä See AI, page 4A

LouisianaNationalGuard troops arrive in D.C.

Federalgovernment will foot thebill

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN |Staff writer

The 135 Louisiana National Guard troops sent to join President Donald Trump’scrackdown on crime and homelessness in Washington, D.C., arrived Wednesday to help local law enforcement —and they willstaythere “as long as the President needs them,” Gov. Jeff Landry said Wednesday Thetroops join afederal intervention that began about 10 days ago, when Trump issued an executive or-

der declaring a“crime emergency” in D.C. He usedthattoinitiate a takeoverofthe city’sMetropolitan PoliceDepartment, andhealso deployed 800 D.C. National Guardtroopstothe nation’s capital. Federal agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are also on the ground there. In recent days, six Republican-led states, including Louisiana, Mississippi,

Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia and South Carolina, promised to send over 1,000 more National Guard troopsto participateinTrump’sefforts. The federal government will foot the bill forLouisiana’sdeployment and there will be no cost to the state, said Lt. Col. Noel Collins, aLouisiana National Guard spokesperson, in astatement TheLouisiana NationalGuard will be there “in support of the (District of ColumbiaNationalGuard)and assisting local law enforcement,” Collinsadded. Out-of-statetroops will performduties such as protecting landmarks and

See TROOPS, page 4A

Powerplan forMetadata center gets greenlight

Regulators approveconstruction of threeelectricity plants in La.

BY JOSIE ABUGOV |Staff writer

State regulators on Wednesday approved acontroversial plan to power tech giant Meta’s largest artificial intelligence data center yet, to be built in ruralnortheast Louisiana, clearingthe way forconstruction of three gas-fired electricity plants. The Public Service Commission voted 4-1 in favor of the plan proposed by Entergy at ameeting in the city of Plaquemine following hours of public debate. The power plan is key forMeta’s$10 billion facility to moveforward. The project will be built on former agricultural land the size of around 70 football fields. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has spoken of further expandingittoa size that would rivalthe footprint of Manhattan as the company dives headlong into the high-stakes race to dominate the emerging AI industry Wednesday’sapproval was largely expected as Louisiana officials, including Gov JeffLandry,havewelcomed the project as an economic development game-changer in along-struggling region of the state. But the project in Richland Parish has also drawnsharp criticism over its huge energy needs.

Muchofthe debate hasinvolvedwhether average electricity ratepayers and businesses statewide will endupshouldering at leastsome of thecosts associated with the power plan Entergy has set out for the

See META, page 5A

Lawmakerspreparing for ruling that wouldaffectmaps

BY ALYSE PFEIL |Staff writer

AU.S. Supreme Court ruling later this year in a highly anticipated redistrictingcase couldchange therulesfor howLouisiana draws itsvoting maps for Congress —and if it does, legislative leaders are readying forapotential special session.

House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, on Tuesday sent atext message to House members telling them to keep their schedules flexible between Oct. 23 and Nov. 13.

“He wants us to be prepared,” said state Rep. Beau Beaullieu, a New Iberia Republicanwho chairs thecommittee thatwould oversee aredistricting effort. “Hestarted letting membersknowtoday,just to put it on your radar,just in case.”

“I don’tthink anything is adefinite at this point,” he said Tuesday Beaullieu noted that oral arguments before the Supreme Court arescheduledfor Oct. 15, andit’s not possible to know how the high court will rule or what type of actionlawmakers wouldhavetotake as aresult. At the sametime, there’sonly anarrow window foraspecial session between that October date and when lawmakers start to becomeunavailable with the holidays.

See SESSION, page 5A

Trump calls on Federal Reserve official to resign

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook to resign after a member of his administration accused Cook of committing mortgage fraud.

Ten Commandments law partially blocked

BY MILLA SURJADI

The Dallas Morning News (TNS)

DALLAS A federal judge ruled Wednesday to temporarily block a new Texas law requiring school districts to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

the line from exposure to coercion.” Classroom displays of the Ten Commandments “are likely to send an exclusionary and spiritually burdensome message” to the plaintiff families’ children that they are “the other,” he wrote.

The law is set to take effect Sept. 1

Bill Pulte, director of the agency that oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, urged the Justice Department to investigate Cook, who was appointed to the Fed’s governing board by former president Joe Biden in 2022. She was reappointed the following year to a term that lasts until 2038. Pulte, in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, alleged that Cook claimed two homes as her principal residences in 2021 to fraudulently obtain better mortgage lending terms. On June 18 of that year she purchased a home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and then two weeks later bought a condo in Atlanta, Georgia, the letter said. Before joining the Fed, Cook taught at Michigan State University

Pulte also charged that Cook has listed her condo in Atlanta, Georgia, for rent. Mortgages for homes used as principal residences typically carry lower interest rates than properties that are purchased to rent, the letter said.

Pulte suggested that Cook’s alleged actions could constitute a fireable offense. Fed officials are protected by law from being removed by a president, except “for cause,” which is generally seen as some kind of malfeasance or dereliction of duty

Pirro relaxes D.C. stance on rifles, shotguns

WASHINGTON Federal prosecutors in the nation’s capital will no longer bring felony charges against people for possessing rifles or shotguns in the District of Columbia, according to a new policy adopted by the leader of the nation’s largest U.S. Attorney’s Office.

That office will continue to pursue charges when someone is accused of using a shotgun or rifle in a violent crime or has a criminal record that makes it illegal to have a firearm. Local authorities in Washington can prosecute people for illegally possessing unregistered rifles and shotguns.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement that the change is based on guidance from the Justice Department and the Office of Solicitor General and conforms with two Supreme Court decisions on gun rights. The new policy also covers large-capacity magazines, but it does not apply to handguns.

Zoo’s tortoise hatchlings come out of their shells

PHILADELPHIA Sixteen criti-

cally endangered western Santa Cruz tortoises born to some very old parents got a slow walk and the red carpet treatment Wednesday at a Philadelphia Zoo event to show off the highly prized hatchlings. Animal care specialists who have watched over the 16 since they were eggs held the animals on a pathway by the zoo’s tortoise habitat. The hatchlings are said to be eating well and growing. The pampered turtles were born in a series of hatches this year to Mommy and Abrazzo, a couple that is estimated to both be about 100 years old. Mommy arrived at the zoo in 1932, but had not produced offspring until Abrazzo was brought in nearly five years ago from Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina. The 16 are her first progeny

The judge agreed with a group of multifaith and nonreligious families that the law will interfere with their children’s religious education and send a harmful message.

In a statement, Attorney General Ken Paxton said he will “absolutely be appealing this flawed decision.”

“The Ten Commandments are a cornerstone of our moral and legal heritage, and their presence in classrooms serves as a reminder of the values that guide responsible citizenship,” he said. “Texas will always defend our right to uphold the foundational principles that have built this nation.”

U.S District Judge Fred Biery, in his ruling, found the law “officially favors Christian dominations over others” and “crosses

“The displays are likely to pressure the child-Plaintiffs into religious observance, meditation on, veneration, and adoption of the State’s favored religious scripture, and into suppressing expression of their own religious or nonreligious backgrounds and beliefs while at school,” Biery wrote.

The 11 school districts named in the suit, including Plano ISD, Austin ISD and Houston ISD, are temporarily prohibited from displaying the Ten Commandments, according to the ruling. Dallas ISD is not named in this lawsuit.

“As a rabbi and public school parent, I welcome this ruling,” said Mara Nathan, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “Children’s religious beliefs should be instilled by parents and faith communities, not politicians and public schools.”

The 16 families that are part of the federal lawsuit are Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist, Hindu or nonreligious. They argued the bill “forcibly” subjects students to state-sponsored scriptural principles such as “I AM the LORD thy God” and “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

The families say the law is a violation of the First Amendment’s establishment and free exercise clauses, which protect the separation of church and state and religious freedom, respectively, according to court rulings.

Republican state lawmakers have said young people need God and suggested only good could come from exposure to a document that encourages students to respect their parents and not kill, steal or cheat. They have also said Christianity is an important part of the nation’s founding and history, noting that references to God are on U.S. currency as well as in the national and

Erin picking up steam as it edges along East Coast

BY ALLEN G. BREED and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press

RODANTHE, N.C. Hurricane Erin began strengthening again Wednesday as it creeped closer to the mid-Atlantic coast

Forecasters expect the storm to peak going into Thursday and say it could reintensify into a major hurricane.

While Erin is unlikely to make landfall along the East Coast before turning farther out to sea, its outer edge was packing tropical-force winds approaching North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

Water began pouring onto the main route connecting the barrier islands and around a handful of stilted homes precariously perched above the beach. By Wednesday evening, officials had closed Highway 12 on Hatteras Island as surge increased and waves were growing higher while Ocracoke Island’s connection to its ferry terminal was cut off.

Authorities expect the largest swells during high tide will cut off villages and vacation homes on the Outer Banks and whip up life-threatening rip currents from Florida to New England.

New York City closed its beaches to swimming on Wednesday and Thursday Some beaches in New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware also will be off-limits.

Surfers flocked to the oceanfront in Virginia Beach, where Erin was supplying robust waves for the East Coast Surf-

ing Championships and the kind of swells that many locals hadn’t seen in awhile.

“We’re notorious for not having waves,” said Henry Thompson, who competed in the open long board event. “Usually we get a surf competition and it gets canceled due to no waves or they just run it in really bad waves.”

The championships will pause Thursday when Erin blows directly off the Virginia coast. But Thompson said he’s expecting more hurricanes and good surfing in the coming months. “Surfers, we’re dreaming of hurricanes all year,” he said.

Despite beach closures elsewhere, some swimmers were continuing to ignore the warnings. Rescuers saved more than a dozen people caught in rip currents Tuesday at Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina — a day after more than 80 people were rescued.

A combination of fierce winds and huge waves could cause coastal flooding in many beachfront communities, North Carolina officials warned on Wednesday Dozens of beach homes already worn down from chronic beach erosion and protective dunes could be at risk, said David Hallac, superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

Erin has become an unusually large and deceptively worrisome storm, with its tropical storm winds spreading across 500 miles — roughly the distance from New York City to Pittsburgh.

Trump to expand push against ‘woke’ museum exhibits beyond Smithsonian

BY DAVE GOLDINER New york Daily News (TNS)

President Donald Trump reportedly plans to expand his push to whitewash “woke” museum exhibits on slavery and American history beyond the Smithsonian.

After Trump tweeted that the Smithsonian is too focused on “how bad slavery was,” the White House said it would eventually seek to use its power over funding to force other museums to toe the line on Trump’s views about history

Trump will hold the Smithsonian “accountable” and “then go from there,” an unnamed official told NBC News.

Trump this week renewed the attack on the Smithsonian that he unleashed this month when he ordered a sweeping review of its exhibits, policies and staffing.

He suggested the revered cultural institution, which is an independent organization but receives significant funding from the federal government, is too fo-

cused on the evils of slavery

“The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our country is, how bad slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “Nothing about success, nothing about brightness, nothing about the future.”

The White House ordered up a wideranging review of the Smithsonian museums and exhibitions ahead of the country’s 250th birthday

In a letter sent Tuesday to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch III, the White House laid out in detail the steps it expects the organization to take as part of the announced review The examination will look at all public-facing content, such as social media, exhibition text and educational materials, to “assess tone, historical framing, and alignment with American ideals,” according to the letter

Texas pledges. The families who filed the lawsuit are represented by the civil liberties organizations Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the national ACLU, the ACLU of Texas and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

A Dallas activist group and faith leaders filed a similar lawsuit in June seeking to block Dallas ISD and Lancaster ISD from displaying the Ten Commandments.

If left in place, Texas public schools must conspicuously display a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments that is at least 16 inches by 20 inches. The law specifies the exact wording that must be used and requires the text size and typeface be readable for a person with average vision from anywhere in the classroom.

A federal court in Louisiana last year blocked that state’s Ten Commandments law for violating the establishment and free exercise clauses, a ruling that was affirmed on appeal last month.

Gabbard slashing intelligence workforce

BY AAMER MADHANI, ERIC TUCKER and ALI SWENSON Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Office of the Director of National Intelligence will dramatically reduce its workforce and cut its budget by more than $700 million annually, the Trump administration announced Wednesday Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in a statement, “Over the last 20 years, ODNI has become bloated and inefficient and the intelligence community is rife with abuse of power, unauthorized leaks of classified intelligence, and politicized weaponization of intelligence.”

She said the intelligence community “must make serious changes to fulfill its responsibility to the American people and the U.S. Constitution by focusing on our core mission: find the truth and provide objective, unbiased, timely intelligence to the President and policymakers.”

The reorganization is part of a broader administration effort to rethink its evaluation of foreign threats

to American elections, a topic that has become politically loaded given President Donald Trump’s longrunning resistance to the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered on his behalf in the 2016 election.

Notably, Gabbard said she would be refocusing the priorities of the Foreign Malign Influence Center, which her office says on its website is “focused on mitigating threats to democracy and U.S. national interests from foreign malign influence.” It wasn’t clear from Gabbard’s release or fact sheet exactly what the changes would entail, but Gabbard noted its “hyper-focus” on work tied to elections and said the center was “used by the previous administration to justify the suppression of free speech and to censor political opposition.” The Biden administration created the Foreign Malign Influence Center in 2022, responding to what the U.S. intelligence community had assessed as attempts by Russia and other adversaries to interfere with American elections.

Texas House puts redistricting plan in motion

BY JIM VERTUNO and NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas

The Texas House on Wednesday approved redrawn congressional maps that would give Republicans a bigger edge in 2026, muscling through a partisan gerrymander that launched weeks of protests by Democrats and a widening national battle over redistricting.

The approval came at the urging of President Donald Trump, who pushed for the extraordinary mid-decade revision of congressional maps to give his party a better chance at holding onto the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections. The maps need to be approved by the GOPcontrolled state Senate and signed by Republican Gov Greg Abbott before they become official.

But the Texas House vote had presented the best chance for Democrats to derail the redraw Democratic legislators delayed the vote by two weeks by fleeing Texas earlier this month in protest, and they were assigned round-theclock police monitoring upon their return to ensure they attended Wednesday’s session.

The approval of the Texas maps on an 88-52 party-line vote is likely to prompt California’s Democratic-controlled state Legislature this week to approve of a new House map creating five new Democratic-leaning districts. But the California map would require voter approval in November Democrats have also vowed to challenge the new Texas map in court and complained that Republicans made the political power move before passing legislation responding to deadly floods that swept the state last month.

Texas Republicans openly said they were acting in their party’s interest. State Rep. Todd Hunter, who wrote the legislation formally creating the new map, noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed politicians to redraw districts for nakedly partisan purposes.

“The underlying goal of

this plan is straight forward: improve Republican political performance,” Hunter, a Republican, said on the floor

Democrats said the disagreement was about more than partisanship.

“In a democracy, people choose their representatives,” State Rep. Chris Turner said. “This bill flips that on its head and lets politicians in Washington, D.C., choose their voters.”

State Rep John Bucy blamed the president. “This is Donald Trump’s map,” Bucy said. “It clearly and deliberately manufactures five more Republican seats in Congress because Trump himself knows that the voters are rejecting his agenda.”

The Republican power play has already triggered a national tit-for-tat battle as Democratic state lawmakers prepared to gather in California on Thursday to revise that state’s map to create five new Democratic seats.

The incumbent president’s party usually loses seats in the midterm election, and the GOP currently controls the House of Representatives by a mere three votes.

Trump is going beyond Texas in his push to remake the map. He’s pushed Republican leaders in conservative

states like Indiana and Missouri to also try to create new Republican seats. Ohio Republicans were already revising their map before Texas moved. Democrats, meanwhile, are mulling reopening Maryland’s and New York’s maps as well. However, New York can’t draw new maps until 2028, and even then, only with voter approval.

Democrats noted that, in every decade since the 1970s, courts have found that Texas’ Legislature violated the Voting Rights Act in redistricting, and that civil rights groups had an active lawsuit making similar allegations against the 2021 map that Republicans drew up. Republicans contend the new map creates more new majority-minority seats than the previous one. Democrats and some civil rights groups have countered that the GOP does that through mainly a numbers game that leads to halving the number of the state’s House seats that will be represented by a Black representative. The GOP used a parliamentary maneuver to take a second and final vote on the map so it wouldn’t have to reconvene for one more vote after Senate approval.

Obama applauds California redistricting plan as ‘responsible’

BY MEG KINNARD Associated Press

Former President Barack Obama has waded into states’ efforts at rare middecade redistricting efforts, saying he agrees with California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s response to alter his state’s congressional maps, in the way of Texas redistricting efforts promoted by President Donald Trump aimed at shoring up Republicans’ position in next year’s elections.

“I believe that Gov Newsom’s approach is a responsible approach. He said this is going to be responsible. We’re not going to try to completely maximize it,” Obama said at a Tuesday fundraiser on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, according to excerpts obtained by The Associated Press. “We’re only going to do it if and when Texas and/ or other Republican states begin to pull these maneuvers. Otherwise, this doesn’t go into effect.” While noting that “political gerrymandering” is not his “preference,” Obama said that, if Democrats “don’t respond effectively, then this White House and Republi-

can-controlled state governments all across the country, they will not stop, because they do not appear to believe in this idea of an inclusive, expansive democracy.”

According to organizers, the event raised $2 million for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and its affiliates, one of which has filed and supported litigation in several states over GOP-drawn districts. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Eric Holder, who served as Obama’s attorney general and heads up the group, also appeared. Spurred on by the Texas situation, Democratic governors including Newsom have pondered ways to pos-

DeSantis targets Florida’s map, seeks changes to aid Republicans

BY ANTHONY MAN South Florida Sun-Sentinel (TNS)

Gov Ron DeSantis launched a multipronged attack on the state’s congressional districts on Wednesday, offering justifications for a mid-decade redistricting that is all but guaranteed to send more Republicans to Congress from Florida.

DeSantis also made clear he wants to concentrate on South Florida — the region that is home to most of the remaining Democrats in the Florida congressional delegation The governor repeatedly cited the Broward-Palm Beach County district represented by U.S Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick as the one that he believes is unfairly drawn, and should be changed He acknowledged that any changes to Cherfilus-McCormick’s district would involve changes to neighboring congressional districts — likely including one represented by another Broward-Palm Beach County Democrat, U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz. Sean Foreman, a political scientist at Barry University, said the implications of DeSantis’ statements are clear “He is setting the state for the upcoming mid-decade redistricting, which is coming to Florida. He’s laying out the conditions so Republicans can justify the need to do this in Florida,” Foreman said.

“They’re going to do it either way, with the justification or not. We’re watching what is happening in Texas, California and elsewhere It was just a matter of time before Florida would join the fray because we have a Republican majority Legislature,” Foreman said. “This is consistent with what we’ve seen in recent years.”

DeSantis’ criticisms of the state’s congressional districts are notable, among other reasons, because he was largely responsible for the districts three years ago. He vetoed the first congressional district map and ordered Republicans in the Legislature to approve one that his office developed. The Legislature complied.

Under that map, the Florida delegation has 20 Republicans and eight Democrats.

The governor came to Palm Beach State College on Wednesday to discuss the issue, including his claim that Florida was shortchanged after the 2000 Census and should have gotten one more congressional district.

DeSantis brought with him, and called to the lectern to speak, Attorney General James Uthmeier

“It’s clear that there’s been for a long time now a deep state effort to manipulate the Census and shift electoral power to blue states to sanctuary states,” Uthmeier said. He offered no evidence to back up his statements.

CDC cutting 600 employees, union says

BY MIKE STOBBE Associated Press

NEW YORK At least 600 employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are receiving permanent termination notices in the wake of a recent court decision that protected some CDC employees from layoffs but not others The notices went out this week and many people have not yet received them, according to the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 2,000 duespaying members at CDC. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday did not offer

details on the layoffs and referred an AP reporter to a March statement that said restructuring and downsizing were intended to make health agencies more responsive and efficient.

AFGE officials said they are aware of at least 600 CDC employees being cut. But “due to a staggering lack of transparency from HHS,” the union hasn’t received formal notices of who is being laid off,” the federation said Wednesday The permanent cuts include about 100 people who worked in violence prevention Some employees noted those cuts come less than two weeks after a man fired at least 180 bullets into the

CDC’s campus and killed a police officer

On April 1, HHS officials sent layoff notices to thousands of employees at the CDC and other federal health agencies, part of a sweeping overhaul designed to vastly shrink the agencies responsible for protecting and promoting Americans’ health. Many have been on administrative leave since then — paid but not allowed to work — as lawsuits played out. Affected projects included work to prevent rape, child abuse and teen dating violence. The laid-off staff included people who have helped other countries to track violence against children.

sibly strengthen their party’s position by way of redrawing U.S House district lines, five years out from the Census count that typically leads into such procedures. In California — where voters in 2010 gave the power to draw congressional maps to an independent commission Democrats have unveiled a proposal that could give that state’s dominant political party an additional five U.S. House seats in a bid to win the fight to control of Congress next year If approved by voters in November, the blueprint could

nearly erase Republican House members in the state, with Democrats intending to win the party 48 of its 52 U.S. House seats, up from 43.

A hearing over that measure devolved into a shouting match Tuesday as a Republican lawmaker clashed with Democrats, and a committee voted along party lines to advance the new congressional map. California Democrats do not need any Republican votes to move ahead, and legislators are expected to approve a proposed congressional map and declare a Nov 4 special

election by Thursday to get required voter approval. Newsom and Democratic leaders say they’ll ask voters to approve their new maps only for the next few elections, returning mapdrawing power to the commission following the 2030 census — and only if a Republican state moves forward with new maps. “And we’re going to do it in a temporary basis because we’re keeping our eye on where we want to be long term,” Obama said, referencing Newsom’s take on the California plan.

to keep up as the technology transforms many industries and everyday life.

“This thing’smoving so fast,” he told the board. “Louisiana needs to decide: Arewegoing to be on the plane or the bus?”

‘Shockinglack’ of studies

But the board’spush to go all-in on AI is already raising concerns, both practical and philosophical.

Morris introduced an initial version of the resolution Tuesday that called for AI to be integrated into schools’ curriculum, the state to vet available AI tools, and teachers to be trained on the technology.But after Education Department officials and someboard members said parts of the plan would be difficult or impossible to implement, Morris produced a scaled-back version that the board adopted Wednesday It simply states the department will research AI and explore thecreation of a vetted clearinghouse of AI tools.

Still, some education experts expressed more fundamental qualms about what they call arush to put AI in front of students. They saythe technology poses student-data privacy risks, it sometimes provides incorrect information and can be used for cheating, and there is scant evidence that it boosts student learning.

“There’sashocking lack of rigorous studies that show anything positive coming out of this,” said Benjamin Riley,the founder and CEO of Cognitive Resonance,a

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crowd control, according to Joint Task ForceDistrict of Columbia, the military unit overseeing the D.C. Guard They will be staying at hotels and military base housing.

It is unclear whether the Louisiana National Guard will be makingarrests. Typically,federalized guard members may supplement law enforcement, but the Posse Comitatus Act bars them from engagingdirectly in law enforcement activities.

However,the Louisiana National Guard was deployed to D.C. under Title 32

think tank that advocates forthe responsible useofAI. “Just because atechnology exists doesn’tmean that it’s ausefulpedagogical tool.”

AdvancingAI

Morris, aformer ExxonMobilengineer, said he consulted educators and industry expertswhen drafting hisAIresolution It also draws from Trump’s executive order,“Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth,” which said studentsmust learn to use AI and teachers must be trained to adopt it in their classrooms.

status,accordingtoCollins. Under suchstatus, guards are not fully federalized and remain in controlof thestate governor but may complete requests from the federal government, Collins said. Title 32 deployments are notsubjecttothe PosseComitatus Actand maytake part in law enforcement activities, she said.

“Under Title 32, National Guard soldiers often perform what are called domestic operations or Defense SupportofCivil Authorities (DSCA) missions —examples includedisasterresponse, securityassistance, trafficand crowd control, or supporting local law enforcement,” Collins added. Collins said the Louisiana

Morris said that AI, which uses large data sets to train computers to do advanced tasksand solvecomplex problems, hasthe potential to ease the load on teachers by helping with tasks like lessonplanning. AI-powered programscan also provide personalizedsupport to students, he added.

“With these tools, basically every student hasa tutorin their laptop,”hetold the board on Tuesday BlakeBertuccelli-Booth, aNew Orleans-based tech worker and AI proponent, said he was blownaway when Morrisshowedhim

troops willbearmed with Army-issued 9mmM17 pistols.

D.C. officials were originally told the Guard members would not be armed, but were warned that could change in the coming days, The Associated Pressreported.

Continuing controversy

In justifying hisD.C. crackdown, Trumphas painted an imageofalawless city where crime is out of control.

“TheWhiteHouse is in charge. The Military and our Great Police will liberate this City,scrapeaway the filth, andmakeitsafe, clean, habitable and beautiful once more,”Trump wrote on social media.

adraft of the resolution. He said it would push state education leaders to partner with the tech industry,which could bring more resources into Louisiana schools.

It will “instantly bring new investmentinto the state andexcite alot of theleading industry professionals in away that we would have never done before,” he said.

Statealready usingAI Louisiana already has beenexploringhow schools can harness the power of AI while mitigating risks.

Last year,the state Education Departmentestablished

But critics have pointed outthatcrime in D.C. last year hit a30-year low,according to theU.S.DepartmentofJustice.

Meryl Chertoff, aprofessor at Georgetown Law in D.C. whoheadsthe Georgetown Project on State and Local Government,said the city’shighest crime rates aretraditionally in Wards 7and 8, but thatNational Guard members have not been stationed there. On Tuesday evening,aD.C. official gave asimilar assessmentofthe situation.

Soldiers “are being sent to stand around the monuments, and around the monumentsisnot where the crimeisoccurringinD.C.,” Chertoff said.

“It doesn’tmake sense if

an AI task force featuring educators and technology experts,and it released AI guidance for schools. The guidebookstatesthe technology can be apowerful tool to support student learning, but it also raises “data security andprivacy concerns” and can be used for plagiarism. Thestate also pilotedan AI-poweredreading program called Amira Learning, which can give students real-time feedbackasthey read aloud. The program has been rolled out in 37 school districts acrossthe state,just over half the total, and 57,000 students were using it by the

your goal is actually to reducethe incidents of violent crime,” she said. “Itonly makessense if your goal is to have good visuals.”

Meanwhile, Landry has supportedthe president’s efforts.

“Wecannot allow our cities to be overcomebyviolence andlawlessness. Iamproud to support this missionto return safety and sanity to Washington DC andcitiesall across our country,including right here in Louisiana,” he said in astatement on the social media platform X.

Some criticizedthe governor for sending troops out of state during hurricane season

“In themiddle of hurricane season, he is sending the national guard to play

A) THECITYPLANNING COMMISSION WILL HEAR PROPONENTS ANDOPPO‐NENTSTOTHE ABOVE PROPOSED SUBDIVI‐SIONS. ALLINTERESTED PARTIESARE ENCOUR‐AGEDTOATTENDAND ALLRELEVANTCOM‐MENTSCONCERNINGTHE PROPOSED CHANGESARE ENCOURAGED.THE CPC HASESTABLISHED PUB‐LICHEARING RULES WITHIN ITSADMINISTRA‐TIVE RULES, POLICIES & PROCEDURES,WHICH AREAVAILABLE ON THE CPCWEBSITE: WWW NOLA.GOV/CPC.YOU MAY ALSO SUBMIT WRITTEN COMMENTS TO THEEX‐ECUTIVEDIRECTORIN ADVANCEBYMAIL(1300 PERDIDOSTREET,7TH FLOOR,NEW ORLEANS, LA 70112) OR EMAIL CPCINFO@NOLA.GOV.ALL WRITTENCOMMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY CLOSEOFBUSINESSON THEMONDAY, EIGHT DAYS PRIORTOTHE HEARINGDATE. August 7, 14 and21, 2025 Robert Rivers ExecutiveDirector NOCP 8541 152552-aug7-14-21-3t $102.24

Persons wishingtocom‐mentonthe CAPERre‐portmustrespond by phone or in writingatthe address listed belowno later than 4:30 PM,Fri‐day,September 19th, 2025. It is anticipated thatthisreportwillbe submitted to theU.S.De‐partmentofHousing and Urban Development (HUD) no laterthanMon‐day,September 29th, 2025. JeffersonParish Community Development Department 1221 Elmwood Park Blvd Suite 605 Jefferson, LA 70123 Office Phone 504-736-6262 HonorableCynthia Lee Sheng Parish President StephanieBrumfield Department of Community Development ACCESSIBILITYNOTICE In accordance with provi‐sions of theAmerican withDisabilitiesAct AmendmentsAct of 2008 asamended,Jefferson Parishshall notdiscrimi‐nateagainst individuals withdisabilitiesonthe basis of disabilityinits services, programsorac‐tivities. If yourequire auxiliary aidsordevices,orother reasonableaccommoda‐tionunder theADA AmendmentsAct,please submityourrequest to the ADACoordinatorat least forty-eight(48) hours in advanceoras soon as practical. Asev‐enty-two(72) hour ad‐vancednoticeisrequired torequest Certified ASL interpreters. ADACoordinator/Dept.of CitizensAffairs 1221 Elmwood Park Blvd Suite 403 Jefferson, LA 70123 (504) 736-6094 barry.sprague@ jeffparish.gov LouisianaRelay Services TTYServices: Dial 711 or 800-846-5277 https://hamiltonrelay. com/louisiana/index. html 154283-aug21-1t $67.16

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end of last school year,state officials said.

An independent study found that Louisiana students in grades K-5 who regularly used the reading program saw modest but statistically significant improvements in their reading scores, said Adam DiBenedetto, the state Education Department’sdirector of innovation. However,onlyafraction of students used the program frequently enough to make such gains, he added.

Moving forward, the state will focus on “getting the implementationand usage of these tools right so that we do see higher effect sizes,” DiBenedetto said.

Riley,who heads the AI think tank, said other studies have found relatively low usage of online learning programs, which he attributed to students preferring human instructors“chatbots. He also argued that while AI-powered “tutors” can correct studenterrors,theyare less able than human tutors to diagnose and fix students’ misunderstanding.

“The waythey engage with youisshallowand superficial,” he said.

FaithBoninger, an assistant research professor at the UniversityofColorado Boulder,co-authored areport last year callingfor apause in schools’use of AI.The report stated that the growing pushfor schoolstoembrace unproven and unregulated AI technology could turn teachers and students into “involuntary test subjects in agiant experiment in automated instruction.”

“There’salot of marketing of AI now,”she addedinan interview,“but schools would do well not to rush to adopt it.”

politicswith Trump. Shameful,” Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis, aDemocrat, wrote Mondayina post on X. Landry pushed back during anews conference Wednesday.

“I am not in any way worried that the amount of Guardsmen we sent to D.C. impact our ability to respond to ahurricane. Anybody who believes that doesn’tknow howtocount,” he said. The Louisiana National Guard hasover 11,000 members, said Collins, its spokesperson. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Email Meghan Friedmann at meghan.friedmann@ theadvocate.com.

p tion

PUBLIC

August 27, 2025 at 10:00 AM CST Datesare subjectto changesvia an adden‐dumpostedbythe Bu‐reau of Purchasing on theCity’ssupplierportal. Pre-SubmittalConfer‐ence:RFQ 4510 -Sophie L. Gumbel HouseDevel‐oper/Operator Meeting-Join MicrosoftTeams If this solicitation is fed‐erally funded,prospec‐tive bidder/respondent must payparticularat‐tentiontoall applicable laws andregulations of theFederal government andthe Stateof Louisiana. TheBureauofPurchas‐ingusescommodity codestonotifysuppliers of therelease of asourc‐ingevent andsubse‐quentmodificationsvia addendum.Notethatyou wouldreceive thosenoti‐ficationsifyou selected thefollowing commodity code(s) before there‐leaseofthe sourcing event: COMMODITYCODE(s): 951-26; 971-35; 914 TheCityofNew Orleans strongly encourages mi‐nority-owned and women-owned busi‐nesses, socially andeco‐nomicallydisadvantaged businessesand small businessestorespond to this solicitation,orto participateinsubcon‐tracting opportunities pursuanttothissolicita‐i

Some visitors to the California park face potentialprosecution forparticipating

BY MATTHEW BROWN and HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press

AYosemite National Park ranger was fired after hanging apride flag from El Capitan while some park visitors could face prosecution under protest restrictions that have been tightened under President Donald Trump.

Shannon “SJ” Joslin, aranger and biologist who studies bats,said they hung a66-foot-wide transgender pride flag on the famousclimbing wall that looms over the California park’smain thoroughfare for about two hours onMay 20 before takingitdownvoluntarily.

Atermination letter they received last week accused Joslin of “failing to demonstrate acceptable conduct” in their capacity as abiologist and cited the May incident. “I was really hurting because there were alot of policies coming from the current administration that target trans people, and

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facility.Entergy says there are safeguards in place and argues that the new plants will ultimately benefit everyone.

Those divisions were on display at Wednesday’s fast-tracked vote, which occurred acouple months before initially planned.

“I’m not for this project 1%,10% or 100%,” said Commissioner Foster Campbell, who represents the district where the data center will be built. “I’m for this project 1,000%.”

Commissioner Davante Lewis cast the only vote againstthe plan. He said the agreement left fundamental questions on the table that were “too bitter …toswallow.”

Proponents spoke at length of the high ratesof poverty in the region and the need for high-paying jobs in north Louisiana. Work currently underway on the facilityisalready leading to “exponentialgrowth” for small businesses in the area, said Rob Cleveland, head of the economic development authority in northeastLouisiana.

“Wechose Louisiana as the home for our largest data center yet for avarietyof reasons, including excellent access to infrastructure, a strong workforce and areliablegrid,” said Ashley Settle, aspokesperson for Meta. But over adozen people

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“Wewant to let the process play outwiththe Supreme Court,” he said. “There’sa lot we don’tknow,and so Ithink this is just our way of being put on notice that we might have to take some action.” DeVillier on Tuesday confirmed he wants state lawmakers to be prepared to go into aspecial sessionshould that be needed pending the outcomeofthe Supreme Court redistricting case, but he declined to comment further Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter,who chairs the Senate committee that handles redistricting, said that if “Gov.Landry calls us backinfor aspecial session, Iamwilling to go back in to draw anew map.” Landry,throughaspokesperson, declined to comment on whether he plans to call a special session for congressional redistricting this fall. Senate President Cameron Henry,R-Metairie, didnot respond to arequest for comment Tuesday SupremeCourt case looms Louisiana’scongressional map is at the center of aU.S. Supreme Court case that many legal observers believe could substantiallychange

I’m nonbinary,” Joslin, 35, told The Associated Press, adding that hanging theflag wastheir wayof saying, “We’re allsafe in national parks.”

Joslin said theirfiring sends the opposite message: “If you’re afederal worker andyou have any kind of identity that doesn’tagree with this current administration, then youmust be silent, or you will be eliminated.”

Park officialsonTuesday said they were working with theU.S. JusticeDepartment to pursue visitors and workers who violated restrictions on demonstrations at the park that had more than4million visitors last year.

The agencies “are pursuing administrative actionagainst several Yosemite National Park employees and possible criminal charges against several park visitors who are alleged to have violated federal laws andregulationsrelated to demonstrations,”National Park Service spokespersonRachel Pawlitz said Joslin said agroup of seven climbers including two other park rangers hung the flag. The other rangersare on administrative leave pending an investigation, Joslin said Flags have longbeen flown from

from across the state urged regulatorstodelay the vote, raising concernsoverrising gasprices, unclear job commitments by the tech company,water demands of the facility and environmental risks.

“Metahas providednoassurance that these supposed jobs are going to go to Louisiana residents,” said Miriam Abuzied, aLake Charles resident. “With afinancial andenvironmentalimpact this big, please,pleasepush this vote.”

‘Enormousrisks’

Meta’sdata center will need roughly three times theamount of electricity that thecity of New Orleans usesina year,and increase Entergy’selectric needs in the statebyaround30%.

With the commission’sapproval, the utility can now begin constructing the three newplants and othertransmission infrastructure

Twoofthe electricity plants will be located near the data center in Richland Parish and athird in St. Charles Parish

Both environmentaladvocacy groupsand oil, gas and petrochemical companies disputed Entergy’srequest to build over $5 billion in newinfrastructure,arguing that the plan risksincreased bills for all types of ratepayers.

“The imposition of the risk to ratepayers, and the increase in Entergy returns,comes upfront, while the potentialbenefitstothe ratepayers may material-

theVoting Rights Act, a1965 federal lawthat sought to end discrimination againstBlack voters.

In thatcase, Louisiana v. Callais, the Supreme Court is considering conflicting rulings from twofederal district courts over how Louisiana drew its voting maps. In 2022, the Legislature approved acongressional map thathad five majority-White, Republican districts andone majority-Black, Democratic district. But agroup of Black voters sued,sayingthe state’s population had shifted such that the Voting RightsAct required asecond majorityBlackdistrict —and afederal judge agreed. Last year,at Gov.Jeff Landry’surging and to comply withthe federaljudge’s decision, lawmakers redrew the map to add asecondBlack district. The new map eliminatedthen-U.S. Rep.Garret Graves’ Baton Rouge-area seat in exchange for aseat thatlinkedBlack communitiesfrom thestate capital to the Shreveportarea. Cleo Fields, aBlack Democrat who at the time was astate senator, won election to that seat. The new map with two majority-Blackdistricts prompted alawsuitfrom aseparate group ofvoterswho identify as “non-African American.” They have argued the state used race as theprimary

El Capitan without consequences, said Joanna Citron Day, aformer federalattorney who is now with the advocacy group PublicEmployees For Environmental Responsibility.She said the group is representing Joslin, but thereisno pending legal case.

On May 21, aday after the flag display,acting Superintendent Ray McPaddensigneda rule prohibiting people from hanging banners,

flags or signs larger than 15 square feet in park areas designatedas “wilderness” or “potential wilderness.” That covers 94% of the park, according to Yosemite’swebsite.

Park officials said thenew restriction wasneeded to preserve Yosemite’swilderness and protect climbers.

“Wetake the protection of the park’sresources and the experience of our visitors very seriously,

Work

and increase Entergy’selectric needsinLouisiana by around 30%.

izeoverthe course of many years but are based on speculative assumptions and thus far from certain at this time,” theLouisiana Energy Users Group (LEUG) wrote in aletteronMondaytothe regulators.

LEUG is composed of around 30 companies in the state, including Exxon, Shell and Dow,which collectively spend over $5.5 billion in the state each year on electricity and other services.

The Alliancefor Affordable Energy,aconsumer and environmental nonprofit, urged theregulators to delay thedecision until October,when the commissionershad originally planned to cast their votes. TheAlliance hadwarnedofgridreliability andenvironmental risks of the new fossilfuelpowered gasplants, which would produce pollution and climate-warming emissions.

“The commission has approveda deal that transfersenormous risks of two powerfulcorporationsto

factor for redistricting in violation of the U.S. Constitution.Adifferentfederal courtagreed withthose voters,leavingthe state in legal limbo.

Alargerredistricting battle

While Louisiana awaits theCallais ruling, some otherstates areina partisan tug-of-war over unusual “midcycle” redistricting. Redistricting traditionally happens once every 10 years, using resultsofthe census. Butmultiple states are moving to redistrict halfwaythrough that cycle as control of the U.S. House of Representatives hangs in thebalance.

At Republican President Donald Trump’surging, RepublicansinTexas called a special session to redraw thatstate’s congressional maps, but their initialattemptfailed after Democraticlawmakersleft the state.

This week,daysinto asecondspecial session in Texas, one Democrat refused to leavethe chamber because Republicans ordered around-the-clock escorts for theminorityparty in an effort to prevent them from leavingthe state againto delay theredrawing of congressional districts.

Some blue states, most notably California, have re-

residentsofLouisiana,” Logan Burke, who leads the Alliance, said after thevote. “I genuinely hope that the provisions that purport to protect other customers are successful. Butfuture deals likethismusthavemore firm protections.”

Entergy has stressed that the tech company will cover allrevenue for the new plants throughoutthe 15year contract between them.

Phillip May,Entergy Louisiana president and CEO, said in astatementafter thevote that “these investments will helppower oneofthe most advanced data centers in the worldand will also reinforce ourgrid, create economic opportunity and support a moresustainable energy future across Louisiana.”

“Importantly,Meta is paying its share of the costs for the infrastructure needed to support its operations, ensuring that other customers are protected fromthose expenses,” said May Butofparticular concern

spondedbygearing up for their own redistricting sessions. The California Legislaturethis week is expected to approve aproposed congressional map and declare

andwill nottolerate violationsof laws andregulationsthat impact those resources and experiences,” Pawlitz said.

It followed awidely publicized instance in February of demonstrators hanging an upside down American flag on El Capitan to protestthe firingofNationalPark Service employeesbythe Trump administration.

Among the climbers whohelped hang the transgender flag was Pattie Gonia, an environmentalist and drag queen who usesthe performance art to raise awareness of conservation issues. For the past five years, Gonia has helped throw aPride event in Yosemite forpark employees.

Shesaidtheyhungthe transgender flag on the iconic granite monolith to expressthatbeing transgender is natural.

This year,Trump signed an executive order changing the federal definitionofsex to exclude the concept of gender identity. He also banned trans womenfrom competing in women’ssports, removed trans people from the military and limited access to gender-affirming care.

Gonia calledthe firingunjust. Joslin said they hung theflag in their freetime,asa private citizen.

to opponentsisthe plants’ life spanofupto40years since Meta’scontract is only for15, potentially leaving otherratepayersonthe hook if the tech company leaves. All customerswill also pay for a$550 milliontransmission line and operational costs related to the plants.

Supporters saythe plants can serve all customers if Meta leaves after its 15-year deal is up, allowing Entergy to retire olderplants. But residents from Thibodaux to Monroe voiced caution.

“What’sthe risk in waiting alittle bit longer?” asked SammClark, aBaton Rouge graduate student who grew up in Monroe. She described the promise of up to 500 permanent jobs by Meta for such amassive facility as “abysmal.”

Asingle‘no’

ForLewis,the only of the fiveregulatorswho voiced skepticism about the plan, the risks associated with the plants were amajor sticking point. Still, he said that theagreement that passed had better protections than Entergy’sinitialrequest.

“One of the challenges that Ijustcould notget over was the proliferation of gas turbinesthatwewere using in the state,” Lewis said following the vote While the Meta plan may only affect bills by adollar, as Entergy argued, fueling the plants as prices rise wasa hazard that Lewis also wanted to see better addressed. Entergy also did not undergo acompetitive

bidprocess forthe plan, as is typical,citing Meta’sfast timeline Lewis further questioned whetherMetawould still receive allthe poweritneeds even if the grid is strained due to high demand. A forced blackoutinthe New Orleans area occurred in May because of spiking electricity demand.

Thevote took place before ajudge who oversaw a recent hearing on the case wasable to releaseher legal recommendations. Entergy andthe four regulators agreed thatthe issueshave alreadybeen thoroughly discussed, saying there was no point in furtherdelaying suchanimportant project. The hearing processinvolving the judge is only intended to be informational. The PSC is not required to wait for the judge’s recommendations or abide by them.

Despite that, Entergy had reached acompromise prior to the vote with some of the partiesinvolvedin the case, including environmental groups Sierra Club and the Southern Renewable Energy Association, as well as hired advisers to thePSC regulators and Walmart.

Meta has agreed to provide 1,500 megawatts of renewable energy to the grid as partofthe deal,though thecommitment is notlegally binding.

Email Josie Abugov at josie.abugov@theadvocate. com.

aNov.4special election to get requiredvoterapproval. Leaders in anumber of other states are also considering redistricting in an effort to influence which party controls Congress. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Email Alyse Pfeil at alyse pfeil@theadvocate.com.

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Lowe’s to buy building materials company

Lowe’s is buying Foundation Building Materials, a distributor of drywall, insulation and other products, for approximately $8.8 billion as the home improvement retailer intensifies its focus on professional builders.

FBM also provides metal framing, ceiling systems, commercial doors and hardware and other products that serve large residential and commercial professionals in both new construction and repair and remodel applications.

It has more than 370 locations in the United States and Canada serving 40,000 professional customers.

The acquisition is part of Lowe’s move to provide more options for professional builders.

The Mooresville, North Carolina-based company recently closed on its $1.3 billion acquisition of Artisan Design Group, a provider of design, distribution and installation services for interior surface finishes, including flooring, cabinets and countertops, to home builders and property managers

Rival Home Depot has been making similar moves. In June the home improvement retailer announced that it was buying specialty building products distributor GMS for $4.3 billion Best Buy’s website to expands its wares

People will soon be able to buy Fanatics sportswear and Martha Stewart cookware, along with all kinds of electronics, on the Best Buy website.

The retailer announced Tuesday morning that it has reentered the third-party marketplace business.

It’s a low-risk, high-reward way for Best Buy to better compete with Amazon and other online outlets. And it more than doubles the retailer’s product offerings.

“We’re looking at the marketplace as a natural extension of the things that we bring to our customers today,” said Jason Bonfig, chief customer, product and fulfillment officer at Best Buy “It’s a more holistic picture of what our customer would expect and how do we make sure (they) can purchase whatever they would like to at Best Buy.” Analysts aren’t confident about the marketplace’s ability to draw in new customers and “move the needle” significantly “Let’s say it’s furniture. If Best Buy hasn’t carried that, then they’re not going to be top of mind for someone who’s looking for that type of product,” said Anthony Chukumba, managing director at Loop Capital Best Buy opened its website to select outside sellers from 2011 to 2016, with about 200 sellers participating. However it ended the program amid low sales and confusion over returns.

LA Fitness sued for gym cancellation policies

NEW YORK The U.S Federal Trade Commission is suing the operators of LA Fitness, over allegations that they make it “exceedingly difficult” for consumers to cancel gym memberships and other related services offered in their clubs nationwide. In a Wednesday complaint, the FTC accused Fitness International and its subsidiary Fitness & Sports Clubs of illegally charging consumers “hundreds of millions of dollars in unwanted recurring fees” as a result of cumbersome cancellation processes. The agency said that tens of thousands of customers have reported difficulties with these policies to date.

“The FTC’s complaint describes a scenario that too many Americans have experienced — a gym membership that seems impossible to cancel,” Christopher Mufarrige, director of the agency’s Bureau of Consumer Protection said in a statement.

Wall Street steadies after AI stars trim losses

BY STAN CHOE AP business writer

NEW YORK U.S. stock indexes ended mixed on Wednesday after Nvidia, Palantir and other superstar stocks pared most of their steep losses from the morning.

The S&P 500 dipped 0.2% after trimming a loss that reached 1.1% earlier in the day and remains near its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 16 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.7%.

The day’s action centered again around stocks caught up in the mania around artificial intelligence technology.

Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of the world’s move into AI, sank as much as 3.9% during the morning and was on track to be the heaviest weight on Wall Street following its 3.5% fall on Tuesday

But it clawed back nearly all of Wednesday’s drop and finished with a dip of just 0.1%. As it pared its loss, so did broad market indexes because Nvidia is Wall Street’s most influential stock by being its most valuable. Palantir Technologies, another AI darling, fell 1.1% to add to its 9.4% loss from the day before, but it had been down as much as 9.8% Wednesday morning.

One possible contributor to the swoon was a study from MIT’s

Nanda Initiative that warned that most corporations are not yet seeing any measurable return from their generative AI investments, according to Ulrike HoffmannBurchardi, global head of equities at UBS Global Wealth Management. But the larger factor may be the simple criticism that prices for such stock simply shot too high, too fast amid the furor around AI and became too expensive. Nvidia, whose profit report scheduled for next week is one of Wall Street’s next major events, had soared 35.5% for the year so far heading into Tuesday Palantir had surged even more, more than doubling. The tech stocks still have sup-

porters, though, who say AI will bring the next generational revolution in business.

Mixed profit reports from big U.S. retailers helped keep the rest of the market in check.

TJX, the company behind the TJ Maxx and Marshalls stores, climbed 2.7% after beating analysts’ forecasts for profit and revenue. The week’s biggest news for Wall Street is likely arriving on Friday, when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will give a highly anticipated speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The hope on Wall Street is that Powell will hint that cuts to interest rates are coming soon.

Target CEO to step down amid company struggles

COO Michael Fiddelke named to succeed Cornell

BY ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP business

writer

NEW YORK Target named an insider as its next chief executive officer Wednesday, a decision that comes as the discount retailer tries to reverse a persistent sales malaise and to revive its reputation as the place to go for affordable but stylish products. Minneapolis-based Target said CEO Brian Cornell, who has led the company for 11 years, would step down on Feb. 1. The board of directors chose Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke, a 20-year Target veteran, to succeed him.

Target, which has about 1,980 U.S. stores, has struggled to find its footing since inflation caused pinched shoppers to curtail their discretionary spending. Customers have complained of messy stores with merchandise that did not reflect the expensivelooking but budget-priced niche that long ago earned the retailer the jokingly posh nickname “Tarzhay.”

Consumer boycotts since late January, when Target joined rival Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back corporate diversity, equity and

inclusion initiatives, have compounded its predicament.

During a call with reporters on Tuesday, Fiddelke acknowledged many of Target’s problems For example, he said he thought the company became too focused on basic home goods during the coronavirus pandemic, when demand for cozy furnishings and kitchen tools exploded.

Fiddelke said he would step in as CEO with three urgent priorities: reclaiming the company’s position as a leader in selecting and displaying merchandise; improving the customer experience by making sure shelves are consistently stocked and stores are clean; and investing in technology

Target has reported flat or declining comparable sales — those from established physical stores and online channels in nine out of the past 11 quarters. On Wednesday, the company said comparable sales dipped 1.9% dip in its latest three-month period, when its net income also dropped 21%.

In March, members of Target’s executive team told investors they planned to regain the chain’s reputation for selling stylish goods at budget prices by expanding Target’s lineup of store label brands and shortening the time it took to get new items from the idea stage into stores.

“In a world where we operate today, our guests are looking for Tarzhay,” Cornell told investors. “Consumers coined that term de-

cades ago to define how we elevate the everything everyday to something special, how we had unexpected fun in the shopping that would be otherwise routine.”

In August 2014, Cornell replaced former CEO Gregg Steinhafel, who stepped down months after Target disclosed a huge data breach in which hackers stole millions of customers’ credit- and debit-card records. The theft badly damaged the chain’s reputation and profits.

Cornell reenergized sales by having his team rev up Target’s store brands. He also spearheaded the company’s mission to transform its stores into hubs for shipping or picking up online orders.

The move helped to reduce costs and speed up deliveries, but the in-person experience for shoppers suffered as Target diverted store workers to fulfilling orders placed online, according to some analysts.

The coronavirus pandemic delivered outsized sales for Target as well as its peers as many people bought items to help them work and entertain themselves at home, but the spending sprees eventually subsided.

As inflation started to spike, Target reported a 52% drop in profits during its 2022 first quarter compared with a year earlier Purchases of big TVs and appliances that Americans loaded up on during the pandemic faded, leaving the retailer with excess inventory that had to be sold off.

Microsoft reviews Israeli military’s use of its tech amid

By The Associated Press

REDMOND, Wash. — Worker-led protests erupted at Microsoft headquarters this week as the tech company promises an “urgent” review of the Israeli military’s use of its technology during the ongoing war in Gaza.

A second day of protests at the Microsoft campus on Wednesday called for the tech giant to immediately cut its business ties with Israel. Microsoft late last week said it was tapping a law firm to investigate allegations reported by British newspaper The Guardian that the

Israeli Defense Forces used Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform to store phone call data obtained through the mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

“Microsoft’s standard terms of service prohibit this type of usage,” the company said in a statement posted Friday, adding that the report raises “precise allegations that merit a full and urgent review.”

The company said it will share the findings after law firm Covington & Burling completes its review The promised review was insufficient for the employee-led No Azure for Apartheid group, which

for months has protested Microsoft’s supplying the Israeli military with technology used for its war against Hamas in Gaza.

In February, The Associated Press revealed previously unreported details about the American tech giant’s close partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, with military use of commercial AI products skyrocketing by nearly 200 times after the deadly Oct 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

The AP reported that the Israeli military uses Azure to transcribe, translate and process intelligence gathered through mass surveillance, which can then be cross-

protests

checked with Israel’s in-house AIenabled targeting systems.

Following The AP’s report, Microsoft acknowledged the military applications but said a review it commissioned found no evidence that its Azure platform and artificial intelligence technologies were used to target or harm people in Gaza. Microsoft did not share a copy of that review or say who conducted it.

Microsoft in May fired an employee who interrupted a speech by CEO Satya Nadella to protest the contracts, and in April, fired two others who interrupted the company’s 50th anniversary celebration.

Parents of girls killed in floods beg for changes

BY KAREN BROOKS HARPER and AARÓN TORRES

The Dallas Morning News (TNS)

AUSTIN, Texas Dallas moth-

er Carrie Hanna spent joyful adolescent years at Camp Mystic, the idyllic spot along the Guadalupe River where she met some of her best friends and learned some of life’s most important lessons. Camp Mystic is also the place she and Doug, her husband, lost their middle daughter, 8-year-old Hadley, who drowned in the flash flooding that killed her and 26 other girls at the camp on July 4. Her older sister, Harper, was rescued. Hadley also is survived by a 6-year-old sister, Hunter

“I promised her she would be safe and OK,” Hanna told lawmakers Wednesday at the Texas Capitol. “I told her it was the safest place she could be. And she would make new friends and learn new things. I lied to her She not only wasn’t safe, she died.”

The Hannas’ testimony at the Senate Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding began a day of devastating stories heavy with cries of heartbreak and anger, as family after family recounted how they felt betrayed by those who promised to protect their little girls at the very camp where many of those same parents

felt safe as children

Scores of people in the Texas Hill Country died in the historic July 4 flash floods along the Guadalupe River Senate Bill 1 by Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, who chairs the chamber’s disaster response committee, is known as the “Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act” and is expected to win full support of the panel and be sent to the full Senate for a vote later this week

“Had the requirements of SB1 been in place on July 4,

I have no doubt that some lives, if not all lives, would have been saved,” Perry said.

The comprehensive legislation addresses campground and youth camp safety reforms, including basic safety requirements such as emergency plans addressing safety of campers in all types of disasters, not just flash floods. Those requirements would be most stringent at youth camps, according to the bill as it was filed including not allowing youth camps with cabins

in flood plains to be licensed by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The bill also would require camps to designate an emergency preparedness coordinator, establish procedures for counting campers and notifying parents and authorities in disasters, install safety systems and conduct safety training, as well as requiring the posting of evacuation procedures and routes in cabins.

The version expected to win approval also includes

the exemption of emergency procedures from public records laws and a requirement that youth camps maintain at least two types of internet connections for redundancy in a disaster

The Texas Senate on Monday approved a slate of proposals addressing the Hill Country floods.

Three flood bills were passed unanimously that aim to improve disaster preparedness, emergency warnings and disaster planning for camps.

The bills include a proposal to use about $300 million from the Rainy Day Fund to pay for flood relief. The proposals would also create a Texas interoperability council, which would help first responders unify emergency radio standards across jurisdictions and provide money for emergency sirens in certain flood-prone areas.

Similar legislation is making its way through the Texas House, which spent Wednesday focused instead on congressional redistricting.

In the past three weeks, lawmakers in a joint committee on disaster response and preparedness heard 26 hours of testimony from more than 80 witnesses. They described horrific moments, devastating aftermath and in some cases the lack of official direction or adequate warning.

“We’ll never unhear the stories, and we will make changes,” said Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, who could barely speak through her tears. “I want you to know you’re being heard, and you’re impacting lives. This tragedy is going to impact future lives.”

Hadley Hanna was staying in a cabin that had been removed from flood plain maps, which meant her parents weren’t fully aware of the risk they were sending their daughter to face, Doug Hanna, Hadley’s father, told the committee.

Hadley was pulled out of a window, her mother said. She hung onto a tree with two other girls until they were all knocked out of it by the raging waters and drowned, Carrie Hanna testified.

“When you send your kid to camp, you expect to pick them up,” Doug Hanna said. “You don’t expect them to be swept away in the middle of the night by rushing floodwaters.”

On Wednesday, many of them relived those hours again — while several addressed lawmakers with their stories publicly for the first time. They displayed photos and videos of smiling girls in white dresses or camp uniforms. They played recordings of their children. At several points, senators on the panel appeared to be hit hard by what they were hearing.

White House officials make public appearances with troops

BY CHRIS MEGERIAN, LINDSAY WHITEHURST and MATT BROWN Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump’s law-enforcement crackdown on Washington expanded Wednesday and top administration officials visited National Guard troops to support a deployment that has left parts of the U.S. capital looking like occupied territory Anger and frustration dotted the city as the vice president lauded an operation that he asserted has “brought some law and order back.”

The tense situation, which began more than a week ago when Trump took control of the local police department, appeared primed for escalating confrontations between residents who say they feel under siege and federal forces carrying out the president’s vision of militarized law enforce-

ment in Democratic cities. Other residents have said they welcome the federal efforts as a way to cut crime and bolster safety

As Trump ratcheted up the pressure, Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared burgers with soldiers at the city’s main railroad hub as demonstrators gathered nearby The appearance, a striking scene that also included White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, illustrated the Republican administration’s intense dedication to an initiative that has polarized the Democratic-led city

“You guys are doing a hell of a job,” Vance told the troops assembled in the Union Station Shake Shack. While protest chants echoed through the restaurant, he rejected polling that shows city residents don’t support the National Guard deployment as a solution to crime.

ally liberal city of Washington has buckled under his more aggressive presidency Thousands of federal employees have been laid off, landmark institutions like the Smithsonian are being overhauled on grounds of doctrine, and local leaders have been increasingly wary of angering the commander in chief.

Now parts of the city are bristling with resentment over Trump’s approach.

Spectators chanted “free D.C.” at a soccer game.

states including Louisiana. An estimated 1,900 are being deployed in total, with most posted in downtown areas.

“It’s very different. It’s very quiet,” said D.C. native LaVerne Smalls, 46. “And I don’t like it. It should be full of life.” Smalls knows D.C. has struggled with crime, but she didn’t used to feel worried walking around. “I feel even more threatened,” she said. “And I think that’s how they want us to feel.”

Someone booed Vance loudly and repeatedly as he left. The vice president grinned and said, “This is the guy who thinks people don’t deserve law and order in their own community.”

Trump has already suggested replicating his ap-

proach to D.C. in other cities. He previously deployed the National Guard and the Marines in Los Angeles in response to immigration protests.

In the seven months since Trump took office for the second time, the tradition-

Residents share sightings of immigration agents to help migrants steer clear In the Columbia Heights neighborhood, crowds jeered federal officers and flipped middle fingers as they drove away.

On some nights, people bang pots and pans outside their front doors in a cacophonous display of defiance.

More troops have been arriving in the city, many from six Republican-led

The actions from law enforcement have occasionally veered beyond safety and crime reduction and into regulating expression. Over the weekend, masked agents took down a profane protest banner in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood — to the apparent delight of the administration, which posted a video of the incident online. “We’re taking America back, baby,” one of the agents said in the video.

BY EMILY GOODIN Miami Herald (TNS)

Immigrants seeking a pathway to citizenship or a legal right to work in the United States will now be screened for “anti-American” behavior, the Trump administration said Tuesday

The announcement raised concerns about the subjective nature of the new policy, which will be a heavy factor in deciding whether a migrant can be given a green card or parole from incarceration.

“Anti-American activity will be an overwhelmingly negative factor in any discretionary analysis,” U.S.

Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a statement

The agency, in an update to its policy manual, also said it would include “social media vetting” in its background checks.

But it doesn’t specify what constitutes anti-Americanism, only saying the officer should check for it

The new policy is part of President Donald Trump’s heavy crackdown on immigration. His administration has taken a multifaceted approach in targeting both undocumented immigrants and legal immigration programs. Experts raised concerns about the subjective nature

USS New Orleans

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON The USS New Orleans caught fire Wednesday off the coast of Okinawa, according to U.S Naval Institute News

Relying on a statement from the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet, the nonprofit’s online news service reported that crews responded to a fire aboard the San Antonioclass amphibious transport ship, which usually carries a crew of 361. No injuries or pollution were reported, the Navy reported. The fire had been contained, and the vessel was stable. The Navy said it would is-

of the rule, its effect on free speech and potential delays on the application process.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a fellow at the American Immigration Council, an immigration advocacy group, called the new rule “McCarthyism.” “The term has no prior precedent in immigration law and its definition is entirely up to the Trump admin,” he wrote on social media.

Citizenship and Immigration Services defended the rule, arguing it’s a “privilege” to live and work in the United States.

“America’s benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and

catches fire in Japan

sue a statement with more information after having a chance to investigate the matter Stars and Stripes, the military news source, reported that Japanese crews helped fight the fire, which began about 5 p.m. local time. The Navy asked vessels to stay a mile from the incident Japanese television news stations showed images of tugboats using water cannons to subdue the fire. NHK broadcast images of the incident off the coast of Naval Base White Beach, Okinawa. The USS New Orleans is part of the U.S. 7th Fleet’s amphibious ready group and can transport about 700 troops. It is working out of a base in Sasebo, Japan, and operates with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. No Marines were aboard at the time of the fire, according to the Military Times, an independent news organization that focuses on the military USS New Orleans’ current mission involves enhancing interoperability and serving as a ready response force, according to the Military Times. The ship was built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems of New Orleans and was christened in November 2004.

Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate. com.

promote anti-American ideologies,” said USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser in a statement. “Immigration benefits — including to live and work in the United States — remain a privilege, not a right.” USCIS has instituted other rules for immigrants trying to build lives in America, even when it comes to things like marriages between a principal asylee or a refugee.

The agency is part of the Department of Homeland Security, which has taken the lead on Trump’s immigration policy with a series of moves, including taking away legal protections for youths and allowing the government to detain children until they can be deported.

The new rule goes into effect immediately and will be applied to current applications.

The new policy instructs officers to exercise their own discretion when determining what makes an anti-American statement or show of support for a terrorist group. Officers are also instructed to look for any “evidence of antisemitic activity.”

All those factors will be weighed for any migrant seeking “application for admission or parole.”

Israel to mobilize 60,000 reservists for Gaza operation

BY MELANIE LIDMAN, SAM METZ and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

JERUSALEM Israel’s military said Wednesday it will call up 60,000 reservists ahead of an expanded military operation in Gaza City

Many residents have chosen to stay despite the danger, fearing nowhere is safe in a territory facing shortages of food, water and other necessities.

Calling up extra military reservists is part a plan Defense Minister Israel Katz approved to begin a new phase of operations in some of Gaza’s most densely populated areas, the military said. The plan, which is expected to receive the chief of staff’s final approval in the coming days, also includes extending the service of 20,000 additional reservists who are already on active duty

In a country of fewer than 10 million people, the call-up of reservists is the largest in months and carries economic and political weight. It comes days after hundreds of thousands of Israelis rallied for a ceasefire, as negotiators scramble to get

Israel and Hamas to agree to end their 22 months of fighting, and as rights groups warn that an expanded assault could deepen the crisis in the Gaza Strip, where most of the roughly 2 million inhabitants have been displaced, and many areas have been reduced to rubble.

An Israeli military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with military regulations, said troops will operate in parts of Gaza City where they haven’t been deployed yet and where Israel believes Hamas is still active. Israeli troops in the the city’s

Zeitoun neighborhood and in Jabaliya, a refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, are already preparing the groundwork for the expanded operation, which could begin within days.

Though the timeline wasn’t clear Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said

Wednesday that Netanyahu “has directed that the timetables be shortened” for launching the offensive.

Gaza City is Hamas’ military and governing stronghold, and one of the last places of refuge in the northern Strip, where hundreds of thousands are sheltering. Israeli troops will be targeting Hamas’ vast underground tunnel network there, the official added.

Although Israel has targeted and killed much of Hamas’ senior leadership, parts of Hamas are actively regrouping and carrying out attacks, including launching rockets towards Israel, the official said.

Netanyahu has said the war’s objectives are to secure the release of remaining hostages and ensure that Hamas and other militants can never again threaten Israel.

The planned offensive, announced earlier this month, comes amid heightened international condemnation of Israel’s restrictions on food and medicine reaching Gaza and fears that many Palestinians will be forced to flee.

“It’s pretty obvious that it will just create another mass

displacement of people who have been displaced repeatedly since this phase of the conflict started,” United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

Associated Press journalists saw small groups heading south from the city this week, but it’s unclear how many others will voluntarily flee. Some said they would wait to see how events unfold, with many insisting that nowhere is safe from airstrikes.

“What we’re seeing in Gaza is nothing short of apocalyptic reality for children, for their families, and for this generation,” Ahmed Alhendawi, regional director of Save the Children, said in an interview “The plight and the struggle of this generation of Gaza is beyond being described in words.”

Hamas-led militants started the war when they attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing roughly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Hamas says it will only free the rest in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.

BY SAM MEDNICK

Associated Press

JERUSALEM U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee sought Wednesday to blame a recent breakdown in Gaza ceasefire talks on the decision by some European leaders to recognize Palestinian statehood.

The decisions were announced by France, Britain and other countries after the Trump administration’s Mideast envoy had already walked away in frustration from the negotiations, which happened behind closed doors. It’s unclear how and when they began to break down.

pursuit of a two-state solution as a way to address the root causes of a conflict that long predates the war in Gaza But the Trump administration has given Israel wide latitude to end the war on its terms.

of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!!” Trump posted this week on his Truth Social site.

The White House fully supported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to end an earlier ceasefire that Trump had helped broker and resume wideranging military operations, during which Israel prevented food, medicine and other goods from entering Gaza for more than two months.

Meanwhile, France, Britain and more than two dozen other Western-aligned nations have expressed mounting outrage at Israel’s actions, demanding that it halt the fighting and do more to facilitate humanitarian aid. The moves to recognize Palestinians statehood — which were largely symbolic — were in part aimed at pressuring Israel to halt its offensive.

most of its political class were opposed to Palestinian statehood even before the war, and they now say it would reward Hamas and allow the militants to eventually carry out more Oct. 7-style attacks.

Talks over a lasting ceasefire have repeatedly stalled since the early months of the war sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack and long before there was any talk of major European states recognizing Palestinian statehood

But Huckabee’s remarks in an interview with The Associated Press point to a sharp divide among Western nations about how to approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the rift has only deepened since President Donald Trump took office.

Many European countries have sought to pressure Israel — the stronger party — and frame the

Trump appears to have adopted Israel’s position that further military pressure — including a planned offensive into some of the most densely populated areas of Gaza — will force Hamas to surrender “We will only see the return

Britain explicitly linked the two, saying it would hold off on recognizing a Palestinian state if Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza, stopped building settlements in the West Bank and committed to a two-state solution.

Israel’s current government and

Huckabee, who is himself a longtime opponent of Palestinian statehood, said the “noise that has been made by European leaders recently is having the counterproductive effect that they probably think that they want.”

“If they believe that unilaterally calling for a two-state, a Palestinian state recognition, immediately brings them closer, the sad truth is it’s taking them further away,” he said.

The AP sought comment from the foreign ministries of France and Britain, which did not immediately respond. Huckabee blames

Cantrell’s first court date set

Arraignment is Sept. 10

BY JOHN SIMERMAN and JAMES FINN Staff writer

Mayor LaToya Cantrell will appear in federal court for the first time in September to answer allegations in the 18-count criminal indictment a grand jury returned last week against her and retired city police officer Jeffrey Vappie. Capping a yearslong federal probe, the indictment handed up Friday accuses Cantrell of con-

Tip leads to inmate’s arrest in Texas

Man was mistakenly released from Orleans jail

BY MARCO CARTOLANO

and MISSY WILKINSON Staff writer

Khalil Bryan, the Orleans Parish jail inmate mistakenly released from the lockup in July, was arrested in a Houston suburb on Wednesday morning after nearly a month on the lam, authorities confirmed.

A Crimestoppers tip led to the arrest, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said.

The tipster pointed authorities to a home in the 14600 block of Keystone Green Drive in Cypress, Texas, where Bryan, 30, tried to escape out of a window He was treated in a Houston-area hospital for minor injuries from a K-9

Council to seek public relations firm ä See ARREST, page 2B

BY LARA NICHOLSON Staff writer

An ongoing dispute between Jefferson Parish officials and the firefighters’ union over pay raises hit a tipping point Wednesday as both sides flung accusations of online harassment and intimidation, which council members say have “gotten too personal” against them and their families The Jefferson Parish Council voted 5-2 Wednesday to seek a public relations firm who could prepare an informational campaign regarding the East Bank Consolidated Fire Department’s pay plan and the results of a recent 369-page pay study conducted by the parish, which affirmed that

spiring with Vappie, her thenbodyguard, to hide a taxpayerfunded affair between the two that flowered on mayoral trips out of state.

A federal judge on Wednesday set Cantrell’s arraignment for 2 p.m. Sept. 10 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Wells Roby, according to court records. Vappie, who was previously charged in the same case, is slated to be rearraigned at the same time. The mayor, whose term expires

in January is expected to plead not guilty and go free on a signature bond pending a resolution of the 11 felony counts she faces, including conspiracy wire fraud and obstruction of justice. Vappie faces 15 counts, and in several they are both named. Vappie, now retired from the New Orleans Police Department, is accused of padding his pay while engaged in a romance with Cantrell that he allegedly lied about to the FBI.

Attorneys for both Cantrell and Vappie have declined to comment.

The mayor also refused to answer questions in person on Tuesday Vappie was previously charged in an indictment that accused him of fraud over his work on the mayor’s security detail and has pleaded not guilty A grand jury added Cantrell to the case Friday in a superseding indictment.

Prosecutors say the couple took 14 trips out of state and stuck tax-

payers with the bill. They point to a trove of 15,000 messages they say include flirtations and strategizing on how to shield their alleged romance. Cantrell filed a false affidavit while lying to a grand jury about the messages she shared with Vappie over WhatsApp and her alleged efforts to conceal them, prosecutors say On Tuesday, Cantrell asked a federal judge to stay a lawsuit filed against her by Anne Breaud, a French Quarter resident who photographed the mayor and Vappie dining within view of Breaud’s home.

CLOWNIN’ AROUND

ABOVE: Dozens of red noses and painted smiles filled the halls this week as members of the Platta Temple’s Imperial Clown Unit paraded from the Ronald McDonald House to the Manning Family Children’s campus in Uptown New Orleans. The clowns brought laughter, games and joy to young patients and their families, turning the hospital lobby into a carnival of color RIGHT: One clown plays his saxophone for the kids.

S&WB power complex suffers another setback

Critical project already two years behind

BY BEN MYERS Staff writer

The Sewerage & Water Board has hit another snag in bringing its long-awaited power complex online, again delaying when it can finally replace old, unreliable power sources with modern electricity Steven Nelson, the S&WB general superintendent, said officials believe the mishap is an easily fixable wiring problem, although they are still investigating. “Our contractors are still

looking into what looks most likely to be a wiring related issue, but it’s something that’s not of grave concern,” Nelson said. The delay — however minor it may be — is the latest in a series of setbacks to impede a critical project already two years behind initial expectations. Nelson said he expects the complex to be running at full capacity by November, which is a month later than the most recent schedule announced last month. After the originally anticipated 2023 time frame came and went amid funding shortfalls and political feuds, the S&WB maintained the power complex would be running in time

for hurricane season this year, which began in June. That time frame began to slip in March, when the S&WB announced a phased ramp up with the power complex running in limited fashion starting in July and full capacity by September A setback in July and the most recent snag have now pushed the limited opening to the end of this month at the earliest. Meanwhile, the S&WB on Wednesday announced another complication with its existing power sources. A decades-old turbine, known as T5, was knocked out of service because of a broken temperature sensor

Navy veteran faces multiple child rape counts

BY MISSY WILKINSON Staff writer

A Navy veteran and retired New Orleans Police Department officer was arrested last week on multiple rape and sexual battery counts after allegedly molesting his former girlfriend’s two daughters, according to court records. Neville Payne, 69, was booked into the Orleans Justice Center on Aug. 14 on two counts of firstdegree rape, two counts of sexual battery and two counts of indecent behavior with juveniles. Payne is accused raping and battering the girls, who are now ages 11 and 15, at his Old Aurora address between Jan 1, 2017, and July 2, 2022, according to an affidavit supporting his arrest. The girls’ aunt reported the alleged crimes to the NOPD on June 9. She and their mother told child-abuse detectives that Payne had molested

See NOPD, page 2B

Ex-Bogalusa worker pleads guilty to malfeasance

He says he covered up home repairs for mayor’s mom

BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer

Bogalusa’s former public works director has pleaded guilty to a malfeasance in office charge and said in court documents that he helped “cover up” improper plumbing repairs the city did at the home of Mayor Tyrin Truong’s mother James Patterson, 64, entered his guilty plea on Aug. 12 in state court in Franklinton, according to his attorney, Roy Burns, of Covington. A state grand jury had indicted Patterson and James Morris, 58, the city’s former assistant public works director, in July Morris’s trial is set for October, according to the Washington Parish Clerk of Court’s office. Morris could not be reached for comment. Patterson, in his plea agreement, alleges that Bogalusa city workers installed a 4-inch sewer pipe under Truong’s mother’s home on April 11, 2023, even though it was not the

ARREST

Continued from page 1B

unit bite suffered during the attempted flight, said Harris County Precinct 5 spokesperson Jeff McShan.

Two other people at the house were arrested on unrelated warrants, Harris County authorities said. Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Fair identified them as Bryan’s female cousin, who was booked on firearms and narcotics charges, and her father, who was arrested on an unspecified warrant, according to reporting by WWL-TV U.S. marshals confirmed they were involved in finding and apprehending Bryan, as were the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force and Harris County Constable Precinct 5. Bryan was booked into Harris County jail shortly after 1 p.m., according to jail records. He will be returned to New Orleans to face his charges, Hutson said. Sheriff’s Office officials did not say whether Bryan would face new counts.

Khalil was released from the Orleans Parish jail on July 25 in what Hutson described as a clerical error, a mistake that reignited criticism of the jail and Sheriff’s Office following the escape of 10 inmates months earlier One escapee, convicted killer Derrick Groves, remains at large more than three months after that jailbreak.

“The people of New Orleans deserve a secure and accountable jail system,” Huston said in a Wednesday statement. “While this erroneous release happened due to human failure, we have held those responsible accountable and we have taken responsibility and put safeguards in place.”

At the time of his accidental release, Bryan was facing counts for a raft of violent and nonviolent crimes and had pending cases in Orleans and Jefferson parishes, according to court records. He was also convicted of armed robbery in 2014.

According to a timeline of events provided by Hutson, Bryan was released at 1:17 a.m., mistaken for an inmate with the same last name who had posted bail. Deputies discovered the error at 11:10 a.m. that day Public safety agencies were notified at 12:45 p.m. and the public was alerted at 3:45 p.m., according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The actual inmate slated to leave the lockup was released before 11 p.m., officials said.

Two deputies were fired and five were suspended following Bryan’s release, and Hutson said there were changes to procedures to prevent other verification failures Hutson, who has resumed her reelection campaign after pausing it following May’s mass jailbreak, said her office will beef up audits and training and require sergeants to sign off on releases.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill on Wednesday said she doesn’t believe those measures go far enough.

“More work needs to be done to prevent this from happening again,” Murrill said.

Email Marco Cartolano at marco.cartolano@ theadvocate.com.

city’s responsibility to do so. He estimated the cost of the repairs was at least $5,000 and said the crew was supervised by Morris. Burns, Patterson’s lawyer, who shared a copy of the plea agreement with a reporter, called it “self-explanatory.” He said the agreement makes clear that Patterson is a witness for the state against Truong, who has served as the city’s mayor since January 2023 and who was arrested on charges stemming from a drug trafficking investigation earlier this year

The northshore District Attorney’s Office has not commented on any connection between Truong and the charges against Patterson and Morris. The indictment against Patterson and Morris does not name Truong, but instead says the home repairs were done on “Elected Official A’s” mother’s home at Elected Official A’s behest. Truong did not respond to requests for comment about Patterson’s guilty plea. Northshore District Attorney Collin Sims, whose office is prosecuting Truong, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday In previous interviews, Truong

NOPD

Continued from page 1B

the girls multiple times when they stayed with him — incidents that included sex touching of the younger girl’s buttocks and touching of his genitals by the older girl.

At Payne’s dangerousness hearing, defense attorney John Fuller framed those allegations as the retaliation of a spurned woman. Payne was married in 1993, according to Civil District Court records, and separated from his wife in September 2013. During their separation, a woman 30 years his junior moved in with him. However about six years after their separation, Payne’s wife moved back into his house on Valentine Court, Fuller said.

DISPUTE

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new firefighters are paid below market rate.

The move comes in anticipation of a possible millage increase that could go before voters in the future, although union officials hope to avoid that.

“The public paid for this report,” council member Arita Bohannan said. “The public has every right to know exactly what’s in it, and they have the right to know in a clear and concise manner.”

Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng said online attacks have made her uncomfortable with having the parish’s public information officers handle an informational campaign, causing the parish to look for outside consultants instead.

“This is so political in nature,” Lee Sheng said “This has gotten so personal in nature. This has gotten so ugly that I would not want my boss to expect me to do that when I go to work.”

She added that the parish needs to implement a social media policy for employees to prevent these instances in the future.

At-large council members Jennifer Van Vrancken and Scott Walker voted against the proposal, saying the move is too soon because salary negotiations are ongoing and the campaign could have been done in-house for free.

It’s not yet clear how the parish will pay for the campaign, although members said they’d rescind the item if an agreement with the union is reached.

Robert Burkett, president of the Jefferson Firefighters’ Association, said the pay study contains skewed methodology, and denied making any threats from the union’s social media page. He added that he worries a parishled public relations campaign will contain misleading information or try to sway public opinion against firefighters.

“Let’s negotiate in the sunshine,” Burkett said. “Let everybody in this parish know exactly what it is that we’re trying to accomplish, why and how it should be done.”

Another firefighter accused one of Bohannan’s staff members of doxxing him — posting his home address online and writing disparaging comments about firefighters on social media. Bohannan told the firefighter to report any possible harassment to local law enforcement, and said she did not condone negative comments

has strongly denied any wrongdoing stemming from his January arrest, claiming the accusations are politically and racially motivated, and vowed to fight the charges against him. Sims did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday 4-inch sewer pipe

Patterson, in the plea, said that Truong’s then-chief of staff, Collie Burnett, called him into his office on April 21, 2023, and told him that Truong wanted them to do something about a work crew that had been photographed repairing Truong’s mother’s plumbing. Images of the city workers making the repairs had circulated on Facebook, Patterson said in the plea agreement.

“I told Burnett I would take care of the problem,” Patterson said in the plea agreement. Burnett, who is no longer with the city declined to comment on Wednesday Patterson said he created a “paper trail” to explain the repairs. He said he backdated a work order that falsely reported that Truong’s mother’s plumbing had been damaged by city workers and also

“(The younger girlfriend) realized Mrs Payne had moved back in and began to curse and say, ‘I know you ain’t let that b back in here after she left you for someone else,’” Fuller said. “Mr Payne stopped giving her money and stopped paying for her Jeep Cherokee. At a subsequent time, she told Mr Payne, ‘I’m going to get your a**.’ “ A short time later, she brought the charges, which Fuller disputed, saying that the children weren’t living with his client at the time of the earliest alleged sexual batteries He also pointed to Payne’s 33 years in the Navy, 22 years at the NOPD, and post-retirement gig as a teacher in Cut Off as evidence of his moral character As an NOPD field training officer Payne trained more than 60 officers, Fuller said. Some have risen to the ranks of captains, sergeants and

wrote an email saying he had authorized the repair

Patterson claims Truong thanked him “several times” for “covering up” his mother’s plumbing repair, according to the plea agreement.

The state will recommend a suspended sentence of five years for Patterson, including three years of active probation, as well as restitution in the amount of $2,732, according to the plea agreement Patterson, in turn, has agreed to “appear before any Grand Jury any trial jury or any judge and to testify truthfully.”

The allegations in the plea agreement come over seven months after Truong, 26, was accused of transactions involving proceeds from drug offenses, unauthorized use of a movable and soliciting for prostitutes. Though he was arrested, Truong has not been formally charged. In the meantime, Truong has been effectively sidelined from power in Bogalusa. The city is now essentially being run by a state-appointed accountant with a troubled relationship with Truong.

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

detectives.

“Throughout the entirety of his service to the country, the city and the school education system, never has any individual suggested that he has been inappropriate toward children,” Fuller said.

Payne is a father of eight, Fuller said. Two are with his ex-wife, who finalized their divorce in 2020, and the rest are with six other women.

“At no point did any of these women allege that my client has been inappropriate toward any child,” Fuller said.

NOPD did not comment on the arrest. Payne was being held without bond until Wednesday’s hearing, in which Orleans Parish Criminal District Court magistrate commissioner Peter Hamilton set his bond at $250,000. If convicted of first-degree rape, he faces life in prison.

against the Fire Department. The East Bank Consolidated Fire Department is mostly funded by a property tax of 23.76 mills, which generates about $50.1 million per year Lee Sheng’s administration and the firefighter’s union have had fundamental disagreements about the department’s pay plan since engaging in salary negotiations. While the starting base pay for east bank firefighters is $10.53 per hour, Lee Sheng contends that that number doesn’t accurately capture what firefighters are taking home after receiving state supplemental pay and overtime. She said that with those benefits factored in, firefighters make a starting pay closer to $17 per hour

She has also repeatedly said that state law requires any changes to the bottom of the pay plan have to be made at the top, making salary adjustments a major financial undertaking for the department

The recent pay study found that firefighters in the highest pay ranges make at or above market rates — 40% of employees make over $100,000, according to Lee Sheng.

The Parish Council also approved a 5% pay increase for all firefighters in 2023 after a previous pay study also found that starting pay was below market rate. Firefighters have crowded council meetings in recent months in response to Lee Sheng’s comments, and have criticized her administration both in person and on social media for delays on the pay study’s completion, which was originally due back in April. They’ve argued that firefighters at all levels deserve to make

Officials expect repairs to be completed within two weeks, as hurricane season intensifies. The S&WB still has enough backup power to run the drainage system, but the backup sources are also error-prone and any additional outages could compromise the pumps.

Turbines an issue

T5 is one of two primary power sources, capable of supplying about half the megawattage needed to run the system at peak demand. The other is a centuryold steam turbine, known as T4, which also supplies about half the needed power

Eventually, the water board plans to retire both turbines as the power complex ramps up and charges the entire system. Other problems could arise if there are further delays to the power complex: Nelson said the Louisiana Department of Health is requiring the S&WB to shut down T4 by the end of December

The state Health Department did not provide additional information about that order by print deadline on Wednesday Nelson said he is confident the power complex will be operating at enough capacity to retire T4 in time.

“Turbine 4 will be less and less of an insurance policy, to the point where it becomes zero here by the end of the year,” Nelson said. When the power complex starts running in its initial, limited capacity, it will provide about the same amount of power as one of the turbines, meaning it will be able to operate about half the system at peak demand Eventually, the S&WB plans to retire both turbines as the power complex ramps up and charges the entire system.

Extensive testing

The roughly $300 million complex — total cost estimates have varied and ranged as high as $350 million — centers on a new Entergy substation that will feed electricity to drainage pumps that require an outdated frequency Three frequency changers to adapt Entergy’s modern power to the ancient drainage pumps are the key to making the complex work. Each frequency changer is designed to supply about half the power needed to run the pumps during the heaviest storms. The third is for backup, in case one of the others goes down.

S&WB officials have recently stressed the importance of extensive testing to make sure the frequency changers are compatible with the pumps.

higher wages for working 50-60 hours per week, and say that the cost of benefits like health insurance take a significant chunk out of each paycheck.

Lee Sheng said she proposed that the parish lobby the state for an exception to the top-to-bottom salary adjustment requirement, but the union turned down that option. The two parties are scheduled to meet again Thursday

The issue of firefighter pay dates back decades. In 2008, the Parish Council hired The Ehrhardt Group to manage a publicrelations campaign regarding firefighter pay and multiple lawsuits the union filed against the parish. That campaign resulted in another lawsuit after the parish accidentally published the Social Security numbers of 190 firefighters online by mistake.

Council member Deano Bonano, who oversaw the Fire Department at the time as Aaron Broussard’s aide, requested both campaigns in 2008 and now He co-authored Wednesday’s resolution with Bohannan and Hans Liljeberg.

“I cannot, for the life of me, understand why anybody would be opposed to educating the public on this pay plan,” Bonano said. “It just boggles my mind that we’d want to hide this from the public.”

Burkett said he believes more money can be freed up in the budget for personnel services, which currently make up 78% of the department’s budget.

But if an agreement can’t be reached, the department could ask the voters to approve a new property tax, this time restricted only for firefighter payroll, said Burkett’s son, Craig Burkett.

Email Lara Nicholson at lnicholson@theadvocate.com.

“We’re going to operate it with caution, understanding it’s a brand-new piece of equipment that needs to be put through its paces,” Nelson said, referring to the first frequency changer Nelson said the hiccup this week came when the first frequency changer blew a fuse as it was connected to a small drainage pump. Once the frequency changer is shown to work with a small pump, it will be tested with larger pumps throughout the system, Nelson said He said those tests, which should take about a week, will verify the frequency changer can be used.

“Real world testing scenarios” will follow, Nelson said, as the frequency changer is deployed during storms alongside existing power equipment. Testing on the other two frequency changers will come once the first is up and running. Nelson said the time it will take to complete all testing on the frequency changers is hard to pin down, since that depends on getting enough rain to run them with various pump combinations.

“What we need is a couple of inches over a couple hours, enough to where we get a lot of water in a canal, but it’s not stacking up on the street,” Nelson said.

Email Ben Myers at bmyers@ theadvocate.com.

Duskin,Gayle

Walker,Debra

Estelle JWilson

Beaumont,Helen Brooks,Mildred Bibbins,Charles Greenwood Birdsall, Ruth Brignac, Loretta Lichtenstein Jr.,Al Brooks,Mildred JacobSchoen Broussard,Craig Rouquette,Cherie Campbell, David Vallon, Marguerite Carbo, Nova Lake Lawn Metairie Divens Jr., Thomas

Birdsall, Ruth Duskin,Gayle Campbell, David Faia,Salvador River Parish Fisse,Sharon Millet-Guidry Franklin Sr., James Geraci,Laurina Broussard,Craig Griffin, Mary St Tammany Joseph Jr., Charles Audubon Jupiter, Gayle

McGhee, Ricky Laiche,Blanca EJ Fielding Lichtenstein Jr.,Al Richardson, Patricia Mancuso, Mark West Bank McGhee, Ricky Richardson, Patricia DavisMortuary Rouquette,Cherie Brignac, Loretta Vallon, Marguerite Griffin, Mary Walker,Debra Mothe EJefferson Carbo, Nova

Garden of Memories Mancuso, Mark Robinson FH Fisse,Sharon Franklin Sr., James

Faia,Salvador NewOrleans Boyd Family

grandchildrenand greatgrandchildren. Helen was utterly devotedtoher husband and family,a woman of greatfaith and strength of character. Her life will be celebrated at afuneral mass on August 25that Christ theKingCatholic Church in Terrytown for 11:00 am, preceded by a 10:00 am visitation. Interment willfollow at Westlawn Memorial Park, Terrytown. In lieu of flowers, please consider adonation to theSt. Vincent DePaul Society. Special gratitudeisoffered to Helen's sitters, Alma, Wanda, and Amy for their greatcare.

Bibbins,Charles

With sadnessweshare the passingofCharles Bib‐bins, on August 15, 2025 Pleasevisit www.rhodesf uneral.comtoviewservice information,signonline guestbook,send flowers and sharecondolences

Birdsall,Ruth Tessier

dren, nieces, and nephews to grow, explore,and be themselves, she managed to instillinall self-confidence, self-reliance, respect for all,and appreciation of theGod givengifts they possessed.Hers was and is an incandescent soul who madeeveryone around her feelwelcome, seen, and loved. Though she willbedearlymissed, thewarmthofher memory willliveoninthe heartsof allwho knew her. Ruthe is preceded in death by her husband, BenjaminJ BirdsallJr.,parents, Charles J. Tessierand Jeanne Burke Tessier,her brother, Charles, J. Tessier, Jr andsister,CarolJeanne Tessier Gibson. She is survivedbyher children, Charles Jensen (Angela), ColetteJensen Schwartz (Ben), and VirginiaJensen Peden (Colin) and stepsons, BenjaminJ BirdsallIII (Terry), Brian Birdsall (Karen), Barry Birdsall (Ladonna), and Bret Birdsall(Leann). She is also survivedbyher grandchildren, Gabriella Jensen, Otis Jensen, Thomas Schwartz, James Schwartz, Alma Peden and Ingrid Peden,step-grandchildren, Chelsey Casteix, Abigail Moroux, BenjaminJ BirdsallIVand Ariana Birdsall, and her brother, Robert Tessier. Agathering in celebration of Ruthe'slifewillbe scheduled at alaterdate forall who knew and loved her.

The family appreciates your thoughtsand prayers during this time.

Brignacdepartedthislife ather residenceonFriday, August15, 2025, at theage of88. Shewas anativeof Edgard, LA anda resident ofHarvey, LA.Loretta re‐tired after 30 yearsasa Hotel HousekeepingIn‐spector.Beloved wife of the late WardellBrignac Sr. Loving mother of Gre‐goryBrignac,Carol B. Thomas, John Brignac, Sr., Wardell Brignac, Jr., Stacey Brignac,DeadrealL.Deggs and Denise Brignac. Daughterofthe late Oc‐taveand Leontine Roussell Lumar.Devoted sister of the late LeonaGibson, Hazel Dorenslet, Vivian Pierre, DorothyGaines, Lu‐cille Gauthieo,Wilbert Raymond,Freddie, and JosephLumar.Loretta is alsosurvivedby17grand‐children, 27 greatgrand‐children, andhostof nieces, nephews, cousins, other relativesand friends. Relatives andfriends of the family, also priest and parishionersofSt. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church andall neighboring churches areinvited to at‐tenda Mass of Christian BurialatSt. Joseph the Worker, 455 Ames Blvd Marrero,LAonFriday, Au‐gust22, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. FatherSidneySpeaks, cele‐brant.Visitationwillbegin at8:00a.m.; Recitation of Rosary8:45a.m.; Tributeto follow. Interment: St.John The BaptistCatholic Church Cemetery-Edgard, LA. Arrangements by Davis MortuaryService,230 Mon‐roe St., Gretna,LA. To view and sign theguestbook pleasegotowww.davismo rtuaryservice.com.Face masks arerecommended

In lieu of flowers, Ruthe's wish wouldbethat youhug someone everydayand tell them youlove them as she did.

Laiche,Blanca Obituaries LA Muhleisen Beaumont,Helen Ann Helen Ann Usner Beaumont passedawayin the company of her family on August 15th. Shewas predeceased by herson, RobertJr. (Cindy)and is survived by her loving husband, Robert Sr., and their remaining children: Phyllis (Fred), Michael (Wendy), Susan (Charlie),Greg Jenifer(Andy), Stephen (Michelle),and Christine, along with avast arrayof

Joseph Jr., Charles DW Rhodes Bibbins,Charles

On July 29, 2025, Ruth Ann TessierBirdsall passed fromthe arms of her family to thoseofthe Lord.Ruthe died peacefully at home surrounded by the love of her family who she cherished.Bornin1949 and raised in NewOrleans, Ruthe enjoyed life to the fullest. Fromher time as a student at theAcademy of Sacred Heart to her days as Mimi, thegrandmother of ten, she savored every moment. Anyone who knew Ruthe would tell you that she litupthe room wherever she went.Her graciousness, kindness, sense of humor, and charisma defined her to all who she met Although awoman of intellect,compassionand sharp wit,Ruthe wouldsay her greatest gift was that of herchildrenand extended family.Whileshe was always thecoolmom or aunt,encouraging her chil-

MildredKnightBrooks, bornDecember2,1927 in Cannonsburg,Mississippi, entered eternalrestonAu‐gust9,2025, at theblessed age of 97. Shewas the cherished daughter of the lateElijah, Sr.and

andthe de‐

votedwifeofthe late Charles Brooks Sr.She was precededindeath by two brothersElijahKnight, Jr and JohnnyKnightand two sisters EstellaJackson and LillieK.Irving. Agraduate ofBrumfieldHighSchool in Natchez,Mississippi,Mil‐dredwentontodedicate her career to BaptistHos‐pital,where shewas re‐spected forher care and service.Above all, Mildred found hergreatestjoy in her family. Shewas the proud mother of sixchil‐dren: Alma Andrews, Cas‐saundra Brooks, andEl‐freda Brooks.The late Charles Jr., (June)Darryl, and Gerald Brooks,(Gmoney)who preceded her indeath.She will forever berememberedasa loving motherand grandmother who made each of herchil‐drenand grandchildren feel deeply cherished. Mil‐dredlived alifeanchored infaith,alwaysvaluing God as theheadofher life Her legacy of love,devo‐tion, andstrengthwillcon‐tinue throughher children grandchildren,great great grandchildren andall who wereblessedtoknowher Her familyand friendstake comfort in knowingthat she hasbeen reunitedwith her lovedoneswho pre‐ceded herand nowrests safely in thearmsofthe Lord. CelebrationofLife serviceshonoringMildred KnightBrookswillbeheld atEstelle J. Wilson Funeral Home, Inc.,2715 Danneel Street,New Orleans, LA 70113 on Saturday August 23, 2025, with aviewing from8:00a.m.to9:00a.m followedbyservice at 9:00 a.m.Rev.IrvingDeanoffici‐ating.Interment:Selstown Cemetery, Stanton, Missis‐sippi.Arrangementsen‐

The biggeststories customizedtoyourinterests –delivered direct to

CraigGerardBroussard lovinglyknown as “Apple Seed”orsimply“Seed,” passedawaypeacefullyin the quietofthe nighton Thursday,August14, 2025, inhis home—a home he cherished andpurchased fromhis belovedgrandpar‐entsin1980. He was65 years old, born in NewOr‐leans,LA, anda lifelong residentofLaPlace,LA.

Craig wasa proudmember ofthe Larayo Ball Park and the Old51Civic Associa‐tion. Aman of many tal‐ents, he wasanincredible cook,a gifted painterand pen-and-inkartist—acre‐ative legacy passeddown fromhis mother—and a skilled carpenterwho men‐tored many young menin the trade. Fordecades,he was abeloved (and,at times,torturously frustrat‐ing)bartender at Bully’s Halfway House, where countless friendsand pa‐trons came notonlyfor a drink butalsofor “Mr. Per‐sonality” famous one-lin‐ers,sharp jabs,quick wit, and endlesssarcasm—al‐waysdelivered with his uniquebrand of loving humor.Craig loved fishing, craftinghomemadewine, bakingthe best pecanpies, creatingbeautiful worksof art,and,above all, spend‐ing time with hisfamily. He loved hischildrendeeply but it washis grandchil‐drenwho trulylit up his life. He is survived by his sons, Travis Paul Broussard and ZacharyGerardBrous‐sard(wife,Nicole).Darlene Latino, “his firstand only marriage,”althoughdi‐vorcedfor over 25 years, Craig andDarlene re‐maineddearfriends.Living justa fewhousesapart and checking on each other daily—especially in the yearsfollowing his stroke. He wasthe proud grandfather of Brilee Lyn Broussard,Brady Paul Broussard,Brennan Joseph Broussard,BrycenLee Broussard,Braxton ThomasBroussard Greyson Gerard Broussard, and LoganReidBroussard Hewas thebeloved sonof MarionPaulBroussard and the late Virgie Vicaro Broussard,and thecher‐ished brotherofMarianne Wolfe (Dean),Michael Broussard (MaryAlice) StevenBroussard (Wanda), David Broussard(Nancy) Brion Broussard(Jenny), Kenneth Broussard (Diane),and Beth Brous‐sardRoussel—affection‐ately knownasCraig’s “crazynurse Beth.” He is alsosurvivedbymorethan three dozenniecesand nephews,aswellashis godmother,RosemaryWof‐fard“Aunt BB,”who has never failedtoshower her godchildand favorite nephewwithgenerosity, love, andperfectly timed cards andgifts over the years.The familywill be forever grateful forthe un‐waveringkindness, com‐passion,and supportof AngelaAnderson, their longtimecaregiver.For morethantwo decades, Angelahas been part of the Broussardfamily—first caringfor Craig’smother until herpassing in 2014, and continuing to care for his father,who just cele‐bratedhis 98thbirthday. In recentyears,Angela’sde‐votiontoCraig brought him comfort, dignity, and plentyoflaughter. Seed’s stories,sarcasm,laughter, and love will echo in the heartsofall who knew him.Hewas trulyone of a kind, with auniqueway of encouraging others that,to anoutsider, mayhave seemed abrasive—but to those whoknewhim best, itwas hisway of saying “Do better.” Theworld isa littlebrighterand certainly funnier forhavinghad him init. Rest in peace, “Sun‐shine”, an additional nick‐namethatone of hisbest friends,Chad“Lout”, so fondlyand appropriately would call him. Relatives and friendsare invitedto attend thevisitationand memorialservice at MilletGuidryFuneralHome, 2806 W.Airline Hwy.,LaPlace,on Saturday, August 23, 2025 Visitationwillbeheldfrom 8:00a.m.to11:00 a.m.,fol‐lowed by amemorialser‐vicetocelebrate Craig’sre‐markablelife. Inurnment willbeheldimmediately after theservice at St Peter Cemetery,1550Hwy 44, Reserve, LA.Toshare memoriesorcondolences, pleasevisit www.milletg uidry.com

Campbell,David Joel DavidJoel Campbell passedawaypeacefully on Friday, August 15, 2025, at the age of 86. He was born on June 30, 1939, was anativeofNew Orleans, LA and aresidentofMetairie, LA for the past 51 years. He is preceded in death by his firstwife, Donna Finnie Campbell in 1992, his parents, Benedict J. Campbell and Elizabeth Lotspeich Campbell, and brothers,BenedictJ Campbell Jr DonaldH Campbell,and Kenneth S. Campbell He is survived by his lovingwifeof33years, CarolBehrensQuinlan Campbell,son,Hoyt M. Quinlan (Mary), granddaughter,Carleigh A. Quinlan, sisters-in-law, Carolyn and Barbara Campbell,nephew, Paul, and nieces, Heather, Tracey, Leslie, and Crystal. David was agraduate of De La Salle High School and attendedUNO. He was aveteran of the U. S. Navy where he servedaboard the USSShangri-La,CVA38, V-4Fuel Division. He was aretiredinsurance agent and past vice president of the Casualty and Surety Association of New Orleans.Heloved the New Orleans Saints and LSU Tigers football teams and will berememberedfor his easygoing personalityand being atrue gentleman. The family wouldlike to give aspecial thanks to TinaFresh with Visiting Angels and Jane with Compassus forthe kindness and care they have given to David.

Avisitation willbeheld on Friday,August 22, 2025, from 10 AM -12PMatLake LawnMetairieFuneral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd. New Orleans, LA. A private interment will follow In lieu of flowers please considerdonations on David's memory to the JeffersonParish SPCA at www.jeffersonspca.org/ donate/ctzx

Nova DeeHatten

Nova DeeHattenCarbo entered into eternalrest onAugust16, 2025. Beloved wifeof thelateMitchell "Bubby" CarboJr. Mother ofGayle C. Guidroz(LeoJr.) and Vickie C. Seymour (late Rick).Grandmother of Tomidee V. Guillot(Geof‐frey),Melissa Guidroz, Lau‐ren V. Seymour(John),Kyle Scivicque (Susan), and Amy Guidroz(Daniel). Great-grandmother of Mor‐gan,Avery,Piper,Neil, Bryson, Lacie, Shelby, Carly,Kara, Gabriel, and Kyson.Daughterofthe late WilliamEarlHattenand PinaHeadHatten. Sister of Bobby G. Hatten(late Betty), andthe late Walter "Bert"Hatten(late Mary Ann) andMyron "Dale" Hatten(late Ethel).Age 89 years,a native of Sikes, LA and lifelong resident of Marrero,LA. Nova Deewas a graduate of MarreroHigh School andspent herca‐reer with theLouisiana De‐partmentofTransporta‐tion. Shehad apassion for sportsand traveling. She was very active in the Jef‐fersonParishGoldenAge Clubs since1990. Shecom‐peted in thedistrictand state Senior Olympic games forover20years earning numerous medals inbowling,shuffleboard, washerpitch,and darts. She wasinductedintothe Greater NewOrleans Se‐niorOlympic Hall of Fame in2017. Shewas an avid bowlersince the50'sand ran severalbowling leagues.She enjoyedline dancing andplaying cards. NovaDee wasalwaysplan‐ningher next adventure whether it be acruise, bus ortrain trip,orjusta seafood boil with family and friends. MiMi will be lovinglyrememberedand deeply missed by all. Spe‐cialheartfelt thanks to the staff of Tranquil Living Marrero fortheir care.Rel‐ativesand friendsofthe familyare invitedtoattend the FuneralService at Mothe FuneralHome, 7040 Lapalco Blvd Marrero, LA onFriday, August 22,2025 at11a.m.Visitationwillbe heldfrom9 a.m. until ser‐vicetime. IntermentRest‐lawnMemorialParkCeme‐tery, Avondale,LA.

Thomas J. DivensJr.,age 62, of NewOrleans, LA passed away peacefully August 9, 2025; born January1,1963, to Lana G. Divens &the lateThomas J. Divens Sr. Survivedbyhis wife, Trever Divens;children,Christopher & ChristianDivens; mother; &brother, Kiel Divens. He was aproud graduateof St.Augustine HighSchool Class of 1980. Funeral August 23, 2025 @11AMSt.Stephen Baptist Church, 1738 LB Landry, 70114. Interment NewHope Cemetery, 1257 Lafayette, Gretna 70053. Professional Arrangementsare entrusted to Murray Henderson Funeral Home,1209 Teche St., NOLA 70114.

Dr.Gayle Williams Duskinwas born on Febru‐ary 20, 1937 in NewOr‐leans,Louisiana to thelate SisterLeola EillisWilliams and thelateHathaway “Curley”Williams. Theonly daughterinher family, she attendedBushKinder‐garten, JamesWeldon Johnson Elementary,and GaudetEpiscopal High School before earningher Bachelor’sDegreeinSec‐ondaryEducation (English) fromDillard University,a MasterofArtsinTeaching fromTulaneUniversity, and a DoctorateinComposition and Rhetoric from Louisiana StateUniversity. A faithfulmemberof FranklinAvenue Baptist Church,Dr. Gayleaccepted Jesus Christ at an early age,and herfaith guided her throughout herlife. She was unitedinmarriageto Richard Duskin forover55 years,and together they raisedthree children.Dr. Gayle’s lifelong passionfor education touchedcount‐lesslives.She taught at several NewOrleans schools, served with the Teacher Center Staff Devel‐opment, andlater retired asprofessor andco-chair ofthe EnglishDepartment atbothDillard University and Southern University at New Orleans. Shewas a proud member of Eastern Star, Zeta PhiBetaSorority, the RedHat Society, and Gay Silhouettes. Knownfor her generous spirit,loveof people, andself-described “wordsmith” nature,Dr. Gayle wasanavidreader, a nurturing presence,and a source of wisdom and kindnesstomany. Shewas calledhomeonWednes‐day,August6,2025, at her residence,surrounded by loved ones.She waspre‐ceded in deathbyher par‐ents, herhusband Richard Duskin, herdaughterLisa Duskin-Rohilliard,her son Richard GregoryDuskin, and herbrother Leon Williams.She leaves to cherish hermemoryher son Mark Duskin;son-inlaw DarrellRohilliard, Sr.; grandchildren Dominique Stewart,Darrell, Jr., Joshua,and Jordan Ro‐hilliard, Mariah andSum‐mer Duskin;great-grand‐daughters Kyndalland Ky‐laniTillman;and ahostof relatives andfriends.Dr. Gayle livedanextraordi‐narylifeoflove, learning and service. Herlegacywill continue to inspireall who knewher.Relatives and friends of thefamilyare in‐vited to attend aFuneral Service at Franklin Avenue Baptist Church,8282 I-10 Service Road,New Orleans, LA70126 on Friday,August 22, 2025 at 10:00am.Visita‐tionwillbegin at 9:00am until 10:00am.Internment: Mount Olivet Cemetery,400 Noman MayerAve,New Or‐leans,LA70122. Arrange‐ments entrustedtoD.W RhodesFuneralHome, 3933 WashingtonAve., NewOr‐leans,LA70125. Please visit www.rhodesfuneral. com to sign theonline guestbook,share memo‐riesand condolenceswith the family.

Salvador Walter Faia (84) passedawayonAu‐gust15, 2025. He wasborn inNew Orleans, LA on April 8,1941 to SarahEngolia Faiaand MichaelA.Faia, Sr. Salwas preceded in death by hisparents,his sister, Sr.AngleaFaia, MSC,brothersJosephA Faia, Sr., AnthonyN.Faia, Sr.,Michael A. Faia,Jr.,and his sisters-in-law,Patricia MeyersFaiaand Betty BayeFaia. Salissurvived byhis belovedbride of 50 years,Kathy Waters Faia, three children,Forrester GregoryFaia(Kimberly), Sarah Faia Carriles (Sonny),Julia Faia Pretus (Jonathan), sixgrandchil‐dren, ElenaAngel Faia,For‐resterWilliam Faia, Gabriella CatherineFaia, JackVincent Faia Carriles, Francesca AnnFaia, and NoahPatrick Carriles. Also, his brotherLouis J. Faia (Barbara),sisterGeraldine Faia, andsister-in-law Judy LandryFaia. Salwas an uncle to many nieces and nephews,and afriendto everyonehemet.A gradu‐ate of Warren Easton High School andveteran of the USNavy, Salsettled in Philadelphiawhere he met and marriedhis bride, Kathy,in1975. Salreturned toNOLAin1978 andthey settled into theirforever homeinKenner. Salwas a memberofSt. Jerome Catholic Church andnu‐merouslocal business as‐sociationsand clubs. Visi‐tationwillbeatSt. Jerome Catholic Church in Kenner onMonday, August 25 2025, at 10 a.m. TheAmeri‐can Legion will provideMil‐itary FuneralHonorsat 11:30 a.m. TheFuneral Masswillbegin at 12 p.m, followedbyinterment at Greenwood Cemetery in New Orleans. Acelebration ofSal’s life will follow from 2 p.m. -4:30p.m.atthe Knights of Columbus Hall 3310 FloridaAve,Kenner. In lieuof flowers, please con‐sider making adonationin Sal's name to Joey’s Hope For Hungry Children,St. JeromeChurch,orAmeri‐can Legion Post 350 Metairie,LA. Arrangements

by L. A. Muhleisen& Son FuneralHome. To share memoriesorcondolences, pleasevisit www muhleisen.com.

Fisse,SharonB

Sharon B. Fisse passed awaypeacefully with her familybyher side on July 25, 2025, at theage of 71 She wasborntothe late Earline D. andMorrisL Bordelon. Sheissurvived byher loving husband LedgerJ.Fisse,Jr.;her chil‐dren, Ledger J. Fisse III (Tammy) andNicholasA Fisse (Rebecca); andher cherished grandchildren: Dominic,Kaelin, Harper Sophie, andSadie.She is alsosurvivedbyher sib‐lings:Beverly B. Bordelon (Wayne),Kenneth Bordelon (Millie),and Donna B. Gor‐don (Marvin),aswellasa hostofnieces, nephews, and cousins. Sharon wasa long-time employee of Chevron anda proudmem‐ber of Chevron’sRetire‐mentClub. In lieu of flow‐ers,contributions maybe madetothe Alzheimer’s Association.A Mass will be heldatSt. Christopherthe Martyr, 309 Manson Ave., Metairie, LA 70001, on Sat‐urday,August23, 2025, at 12:00 noon.Visitationwill begin at 10:00 a.m.

JamesGregoryFranklin, Sr. enteredeternal rest at his home on Thursday,Au‐gust7,2025, at theage of 72. He wasa native of Lower CoastAlgiers anda lifelongresidentofNew Orleans,LA. Jameswas a Retiree of theUnitedStates Air Force. Loving father of James G. Franklin,Jr. Son ofthe late Octave Franklin Sr. andTheresa Noil Franklin.Brother of Lucille

F. Jones (lateWilbert Jones,Sr.), DorisSanchez Alveris (lateWalter Alveris), Emelda Gabriel (Raymond),IrisBlack (Abraham),Theresa FranklinRoss(Mack III), BenjaminFranklin, Sr Ray Anthony Franklin (Lavetta) and thelateOctave Franklin, Jr.Devoted Godfa‐therofLaTashiaFranklinWilliams (Joshua).Mr Franklinisalsosurvivedby a host of nieces,nephews cousins,other relatives, and friends. Relativesand friends of thefamilyare in‐vited to attend theCele‐bration of Life at Robinson FamilyFuneralHome, 9611 LA-23, Belle Chasse,LA 70037 on Thursday,August 21, 2025, at 1100 a.m. The visitationwillbegin at 9:30 a.m.until servicetime. In‐terment with military hon‐ors will be held on Friday August22, 2025 at South‐eastLouisiana Veterans Cemetery, 34888 Grantham College Dr Slidell, LA 70460 at 10 a.m. Funeral planningentrusted to RobinsonFamilyFuneral Home(504) 208-2119. For onlinecondolences,please visit www.robinsonfamilyf uneralhome.com. Face masks arerecommended

82, anative of New Orleans, passed away peacefully August 16, 2025 after aprolonged illness. Shewas the eldest daughterofEugeneand MaxineSandrockKilleen as theirthirdchildofsix. Shegraduatedfrom Annunciation High School whereshe wasselected for Pelican State andreceived the American Legion award.She met the love of herlife, Leon Philip Geraci, as afriendofher brothers. They marriedin June of 1963 and soon welcomed theirdaughters, Mary Elizabeth(Liz), and thefollowing year,Lori

Ann. Laurina was adevoted homemaker, school volunteer, and caregiver for her aged parents. "Ms.Lee" as she was known by her patrons, worked for many years in retail in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans. She worked at D'Avanti Fashions, then B& BPharmacy until it was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. She and Leon then relocatedto Baton Rouge where she was adevoted caregiverto her family. Though relocating from New Orleans was hardest thing, she knew it was the safest option from all the evacuations they had endured living in the city.

Leon and Laurina celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2013 with a trip for the whole familyto the Inn by the Sea Resort in Pass Christian, MS. On the trip, their marriage was blessed by Fr. Cuddy at St. Clare Catholic Church in Waveland, MS Laurina was preceded in death by her parents and her brothers Michael,John, and Eugene Thomas, Jr She is survived by her husband of 62 years, Leon, her loving daughters Liz (Sterling) Core of Baton Rouge, and Lori Ann (Ozgur) Karaosmanogluof Bethesda, MD. She wasa devoted "Granny" to her five grandchildren: Trey and Andy Core, and Leyla, Alex(Cristina) and Sara Karaosmanoglu. She is survived by her loving brother and sister, Patrick Killeen and Mary L. Killeen Also survived by her lifelong friend, Haroleen West. ServicesSaturday, August 23, 2025 at St.Thomas More Catholic Church, with Visitation at 10am and aFuneral Mass at 11am. Private Internment at St.Louis Cemetery #3 in New Orleans at alaterdate

Our family extendsour thanks to Dr.Todd Cooley, and Laurina's caregiver, Shamyra Lee.

Griffin,MaryHayes

Mary HayesGriffinen‐tered eternalrestather residence on Thursday,Au‐gust14, 2025, at theage of 81. Shewas anativeof Woodville, MS anda resi‐dentofAvondale, LA.Mary was aretired housekeeper withHoliday Inn. Shewas a faithfulmemberofSecond St. John Missionary Baptist Church andservedasa Deaconess, Presidentof the Senior Mission Board, and as afaithfulbible study andSundayschool servant.Beloved wife of JohnGriffin. Loving mother ofSylvia(Ronald)Williams, Cynthia Woods, Andrew (Turnisha)Griffin, andthe lateJohnnyGriffin. Daugh‐ter of thelateClarenceand CarrieHayes.Sisterof ClarenceHayes,Pearly Porter, Esther Hayes, and the late Jerry Hayes, M. L. Hayes,Mable Bruce, Geral‐dineJackson,and Kather‐ine,Hayes.Sisterinlaw of the late RevE.L.Porter, alsosurvivedby8 grand‐children, 5great grandchil‐dren, numerous bonus grandchildren,and ahost ofnieces, nephews, cousins,other relatives and friends. Relativesand friends of thefamily, also pastors,officers,and members of Second St JohnMissionaryBaptist Church,and allneighbor‐ing churches;employees of WestJefferson Staff, and CancerCenterare invited toattendthe Celebration ofLifeatSecondSt. John MissionaryBaptist Church 242 Avondale Garden Rd Avondale, LA on Friday,Au‐gust22, 2025, at 10:00a.m PastorDamianBrown,offi‐ciating.Visitationwill begin at 8:30a.m. until ser‐vicetimeatthe church.In‐terment:RestlawnPark Cemetery-Avondale,LA. ArrangementsbyDavis MortuaryService,230 Mon‐roe St., Gretna,LAToview and sign theguestbook pleasegotowww.davismo rtuaryservice.com.Face Masks AreRecommended

CharlesJoseph, Jr.de‐partedthislifeonSatur‐day,July19, 2025, at the age of 70. Charleswas borntothe union of Charles Joseph,Sr. and Anna LeeRichard Joseph Hewas preceded in death byhis father Charles Joseph, Sr., hisyounger brother Richard George Joseph, hislovingsister VadaMarie Joseph Jean‐pierre, hisgrandparents Georgeand EarlineSims Richard andClarenceand CorneliaJoseph. Charles was an intelligent, engag‐ing personalitywho was dearlyloved by hisfamily and friends. He hada big heart andwas very special tothose near anddearto him.Hehad unconditional lovefor themultitude of familyand friendshe leavesbehind. He leaves to cherish hismemories, his beloved mother Anna Lee Richard Joseph,his son Charles Joseph,III, his niecesJeanohn andJia Jeanpierre, hisbrother-inlaw WilfredA.Jeanpierre, and ahostofaunts, un‐cles, cousins, andother relatives andfriends.Rest inpeace Charles. Youare gonebut will neverbefor‐gotten. Forweloved you verymuch, butElohim (God) lovedyou best.Fam‐ily andfriends areinvited toattendthe Celebration ofLifeService on Saturday, August23, 2025, for1:00 p.m.atThe Boyd Family Fu‐neral Home,5001 Chef Menteur Hwy.,New Or‐leans,LA70126. Visitation willbegin at 12:30p.m PastorMichael Raymond ofShilohChristian Fellow‐ship, officiating. Interment willfollowatSt. Louis#3 Cemetery. Guestbook On‐line: www.anewtraditionbe gins.com(504) 282-0600 Donavin D. Boyd andLinear BrooksBoydOwners/Fu‐neral Directors.

With deeplove and profound sadness we announce the peaceful transition to eternal glory of Gayle Marie Jupiter on Monday,August 11, 2025. She was 68. Gayle was born on February 10, 1957 in New Orleans to Clarence Joseph Jupiterand Ramona Felton Jupiter. Shewas the fifth of their twelvechildren. She attended Saint Leo the Great and Saint Joseph's Academy.She then enrolled at Xavier University, taking ahiatus to have her beautiful daughter Kelly Rene. After ashorttime in Washington,DC, she returned to New Orleans, graduating with Honors from Xavier University. Gayle later pursed agraduate degreeinLiterature at UNC. Gayle returnedto NewOrleans. In2004,Gayle moved to Albuquerque until 2023, whenshe moved back to New Orleans to be close to family. Gayleembodied kindness, courage, and authenticity.She embraced her true self and inspired allwhose lives she touched. Gayle is preceded in deathbyher parents, hersister Clare Jupiter (Pat Bryant),brothers Davidand Karl Jupiter (Rhonda), brotherin-law Gavin Belland Anthony Jones. She is survived by her lovingdaughter Kelly, her siblings, Jane Bell,Eric (Rebecca),Daniel,Jill Jupiter-Jones, Ann Mitchell (Hank), Omodare,Steven (Tonya), and Jerome (Lori), ahost of nieces, nephews, cousins, otherrelatives, and friends Amemorialservicewill be held on Friday, August 22, 2025, 4pm to 8pmat The Building, 1427Oretha Castle HaleyBlvd, New Orleans, LA 70113. In lieuof flowers, donations may be made to the Clarence J. Jupiter endowed scholarship,XavierUniversity of Louisiana, 1DrexelDrive, New Orleans, LA 70125. Services entrustedto Baloney Funeral Home, 1905 West AirlineHighway, LaPlace, Louisiana 70068,

(985)224-8460. https://ww w.facebook.com/baloneyf uneralhome.

Guadalupe

Lic. Blanca Guadalupe LaicheCastañeda Luna, age 72, of Kenner,LA, passedawayafter ahardfoughtbattlewith LeukemiaonSunday, Au‐gust17th, 2025. Shewas bornonJanuary 18th, 1953 inMonclova, Coahuila, Mexicotothe late Enrique Castañeda andthe late BlancaLuna de Castañeda. Blanca’shumblebegin‐nings beganinCiudad Acuña,Coahuila Mexico where herlateparents es‐tablished asuccessful newspaper named, “El Eco”which wasthe princi‐pal newspaperofthe aforementionedborder towninMexico. Shewas anactivecontributor to the familybusinessand a key member to itssuccess In 1975, shegraduated with a lawdegreefromthe Uni‐versidadAutónomade Coahuila in Saltillo, Mexico becomingone of the1st fe‐maleattorneyspracticing familylaw in theregionas a Stateattorney. In 1981, she marriedthe late RonaldA.LaicheSr. and becamea naturalizedU.S Citizen shortlythereafter She wasextremely proud ofattainingher U.S. citi‐zenship.She wasalsothe ownerofa successful in‐dustrialpaintingand sand‐blastingbusiness(Blan‐cote, Inc.). Lic. Blanca is survivedbyher son, David Laiche, herdaughter-inlaw,Kylah,her sisters, Jacqueline(Jacky),Julieta, her threebeloved brothers, ReneCastañeda,Lic.Fer‐nando Castañeda, Lic. En‐rique Castañeda, her niecesBlanca, Aida,Ka‐rina, Karolina,Alejandra and hernephews Fer‐nando,Kleberand Rene Lic.Blancawas aworld travelerhavingvisited nu‐merousplacesaround the world.She will be missed byall who knew herasshe touched everyone’s lives withher beautifuldisposi‐tionand herinfectious smile.A celebrationoflife willbeheldatGardenof MemoriesFuneral Home and Cemetery,4900 Airline Dr.,Metairie, LA 70001 on Saturday, August 23rd2025 for 12:00 PM.The visitation willbegin at 10:00 AM

It is with greatsorrow thatweannouncethe passing of Al Lichtenstein, Jr.,age 73, on August 8, 2025. He wasbornonMay 15, 1952, in NewOrleans Heissurvivedbyhis son, Lance MichaelLichten‐stein;his grandchildren; his brother, Gary Lichten‐stein;his sister,Debbie LichtensteinCassisa;and his sister-in-law, Patty Lucia.Hewas preceded in death by hisbeloved par‐ents, Al Lichtenstein,Sr., and MarilynAromy Licht‐enstein,and hisbrother-inlaw,JohnJosephCassisa Wewillmisshim.Alwas alwayslightheartedand fun-loving.Heloved his familyand hismany friends very deeply and was always fiercely loyal toall of them.Growing up withAlwas surely an ad‐venture filled with laughs mischief, anduncondi‐tional love.Hehad agreat

Park Memorial Cemetery andMausoleum (504)362-3091

senseof humor,and we could always count on him tobeabletolighten up a tense moment.Thistrait cameinhandy countless times in ourlives.Heloved givinggifts.His giftswere alwaysthoughtfuland per‐sonal,and he always spent too much on them.Asa teenager,hewas always proud to have earned the nickname“theDude” from his closestfriends.Itstuck withhim allhis life,and it still made himsmile when‐everhewas reminded of it Heloved sports,animals the outdoors, and flower gardens,but thething that heloved most in hislife was hisson,Lance,who al‐waysownedthe biggest piece of hisheart.Hewill bemissed, andhewill never be forgottenby those who lovedhim.May his Soul Rest in Peaceuntil wesee himagain.Rela‐tives andfriends arein‐vited to visitGreenwood FuneralHome, 5200 Canal Blvd.,New Orleans, LA 70124, on Saturday,August 23, 2025, starting at 10:00 a.m.A Memorial Mass will followthe visitation at 1:00 p.m.inthe Chapel.Wealso inviteyou to shareyour thoughts, fond memories and condolencesonlineat www.greenwoodfh.com Your shared memories will helpuscelebrate Al’s life and keep hismemoryalive

On July 20, 2025, Mark E. Mancuso journeyedtohis eternal home where he was reunitedwithhis par‐ents, thelateAnthony S. Mancuso andRoseMarie Mancuso,grandparents, auntsand uncles.He leavesbehindthe love of his life,his son, AnthonyJ Mancuso.Alsosurvivedby his sister,Ann Mancuso Boylan(John).Bornand raisedinGretna, Louisiana, hespent hisadult life liv‐ing in Missouri.After grad‐uatingfromMissouriState University, he used hisde‐greeinbusinesstoworkin administrativeofficeswith hospitals in Missouriand Arkansas. He trulywas at peace at hishomeinBut‐ler,Missouri, where he en‐joyed spending time over‐lookinghis lake.Friends and familyare welcometo share theirspecial memo‐riesofMarkonSaturday, August23, 2025, at 10:00 a.m.witha memorial and MasstobeheldatMothe FuneralHome, 2100 West‐bankExpressway, Harvey, Louisiana.Rosaryrecita‐tionat9:30a.m.; Mass be‐ginsat11:00 a.m. Private interment to follow.Inlieu of flowers, please consider a donation in hismemory toSt. Jude Children's Hos‐pital,Knights of Columbus, orSt. Stanislaus Catholic HighSchool in BaySt. Louis,MS. Thefamilyin‐vites youtoshare thoughts, fond memories and condolencesonlineat www.mothefunerals.com

RickyDuane McGhee, of Slidell, Louisiana, passed awayonAugust16, 2025, at the ageof49. Born on March 3, 1976, in New Iberia,Louisiana,tohis lov‐ing parents, thelateRon‐nie andSallieMcGhee, Ricky wasCajun to hiscore full of fire,heart,and soul. Hisvibrant spirit and lovingnaturelit up every room,and hisloud, unfor‐gettablelaugh couldturn any moment into acele‐bration.Helefta lasting markoneveryonelucky enoughtoknowhim,and his legacy livesoninthe stories we shareand the memoriesweholdclose Ricky is thebeloved hus‐bandofChanonMowen McGhee. They shared 25 beautiful yearstogether 22ofthemashusband and wife, creating alifefullof love, laughter,and trea‐sured memories.His legacyiscarried on through hislovingchildren, ColeRonnieMcGheeand Caitlyn RaeMcGhee, who werethe center of his world.Healsoleavesbe‐hind, to cherishhis mem‐ory,his brother, Randy McGhee(Linda);brotherin-law, Chas Mowen (Nicole); sister-in-law, CherieMowen (fiancé,Dar‐rellAmar);and ahostof extendedfamilymembers and friendsall of whomhe loved greatly. Rickywas a graduateofLouisiana Tech University, where he earnedhis Bachelor's de‐greeand cultivated apas‐sionfor leadership and service.Thispassion led him to asuccessfulcareer asRegionalSales Manager withCHI Overhead Doors, where hischarismaand dedicationwereevident to colleaguesand clients alike.Ricky found no greater joythancoaching his kids andcheeringthem onfromthe sidelines. He was afamiliarfaceat SBBA, where he poured his heart into coaching base‐balland softball—not just for hisown children,but for theirteammates too. Ricky livedfor hiskids, showing up forevery game hepossiblycould,and his pride in them wasasloud and unwavering as his laugh.His love forthe gamewas only matchedby the love he hadfor hisfam‐ily.Ricky wasa true Cajun atheart,and youcould taste it in everypot he stirred.Whether he was grillinginthe backyard or cookingupsomething rich and soulfulinthe kitchen, hefound pure joyinfeed‐ing people andbringing themtogether.His love for the outdoors—especially hunting—wasjustanother way he embraced life with passion andpurpose Ricky’sability to connect withothers, to make each personhemet feel valued and important, wasa rare giftthatmadehim a beloved figure in hiscom‐munity. He will be deeply missedbyall who knew him.Relatives andfriends are invitedtoattenda visi‐tationonSaturday, August 23, 2025, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00p.m.atAudubon Fu‐neral Home in Slidell. Afu‐neralservice will beginin

Richardson,Patricia Skornik'Pat'

Patricia “Pat”Skornik Richardson, abeloved mother, teacher, andmen‐tor to so many,passed awaySunday, August 10, 2025. Patwas born on Feb‐ruary 1, 1950 in Queens, New York to thelateThad‐deusF.Skornik andthe late MaryHodnett Skornik. She isprecededindeath by her soulmateof48years William“Read”Richardson, her grandchildrenMatthew and ChaseCooper, her brother Robert F. Skornik, and herson-in-lawDavid Sweitzer. Sheissurvived byher threegirls Lindsay Sweitzer, Christine Richardson(ChrisGainey) and MeganRichardson Menge (Chris Menge),as wellasher threegrandchil‐dren, Gradyand Lila Cooperand Jackson Sweitzer. Sheisalsosur‐vived by her2 siblings Diane “Terry”Skornik and William“Billy”Skornik.Pat spent theearly yearsof her life in Long Island,New York, before moving to New Orleans, Louisiana duringhighschool. She wentontoattend theUni‐versity of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette, where shemet theloveof her life,Read. Aftergradu‐ating,Pat returned to New Orleans where shebegan her lifelong passionof teaching. Herdedicationto her students wasunparal‐leled;she broughtwarmth, creativity, andcareto every classroomshe en‐tered.One of hermost cherished memories was the opportunitytoteach her youngestdaughter, Megan,inbothpre-k and 1st gradeatUrsulineAcad‐emy in NewOrleans.Even‐tually,the familymoved to Covington,where Patcon‐tinuedher love forteach‐ing at OurLadyofthe Lake and latertoWoodlakeEle‐mentary.Her impact on generations of students willforever be atruetesta‐menttoher heartfor teachingand herunwaver‐ing commitment to nurtur‐ing others.Pat hada life‐longpassion forart.Inher early years, sheenjoyed working with watercolor and penand ink, oftencre‐ating beautifullydetailed invitations forcherished New Orleanseventslike the Sugarplumballand Celebration in theOaks. It was after retirement,how‐ever, that shefound her realpassion andlovefor oil painting,witha particu‐lar love forplein airpaint‐ing.Through herpainting and participationinart shows,she found notonly creativefulfillmentbut alsolasting friendships and countless memorable adventures.Pat wasal‐

OUR VIEWS

Medicaid auditshows whyweneed watchdogs

Let’stake amoment to recognize alittle heraldedpartofstate government, theLouisiana LegislativeAuditor.The office is taskedwith finding the receipts to ensure taxpayermoney is being spent properly by agencies. While many in thepublic policy arenarely on this work, the public, too, should be aware of itsimportance.

Oneofits latest audits looked at the state’s Medicaid program. It found that over the last six years, the Department of Healthhad paid almost $10 million to insurance companiesfor Medicaid beneficiaries who had alreadydied. Legislative Auditor MikeWaguespackispart of Gov.Jeff Landry’sLADOGE effort, which seeks to identify and eliminatewaste in government. The Medicaid programpaysmanaged care companies afixed monthly feeper Medicaid enrollee until the DepartmentofHealthdetermines that the person is nolonger eligible.The audit says that the department missed 1,072 deaths during the six-year period fromFebruary 2019 to March 2025, resultingin$9.6million in monthlyper-member paymentsmade for dead Medicaid enrollees.

The audit found these discrepanciesbylooking through basic information, like obituaries, Louisiana vital records, the Social SecurityAdministration’sDeath Master File, state records andthird-party sources, as well as vitalrecords from other states —information one would expect LDHtohave access to The overpayments spanned theadministrationsofboth Landry and Gov.JohnBel Edwards andare somewhat explainable by the federal government’ssuspensionofMedicaid eligibility confirmations during the COVID pandemic, so the point of the audit is not to cast blame.Itisto determine how LDH can be abetter steward of taxpayer money That’swhy most audits of stateagenciesinclude recommendations forthe future. In this case, LDH Secretary Bruce Greenstein said the department is working to get approvalstouse the Social Security Administration Death Master File, and it will incorporate death data from third-party sources into itsdecisions as well. To help recoup the losses, LDH also plans to withhold $4 millionfrom managed care companies that received the overpayments. That’sawin for Louisiana taxpayers.But it also raisesquestions about how newMedicaid work requirements,passed in the OneBig Beautiful Bill, will be monitored.Weare gladLouisiana seems to be taking stepsto streamlineaid to needy individuals with itsOne Door program. But if the state has had trouble tracking who is dead or alive, it doesn’tinspireconfidencethat verification of which recipientshave completed work requirementswill be smoothoreasy. Thegood news is that we havethe Louisiana Legislative Auditor on the watch. Theauditor works for all of us. Copies of thisand allits reports are available for public viewonline at www.lla.la.gov or for inspection at its Baton Rougeoffice.Ifyou wanttoknowthat the government is spending yourmoney well, there’s no better resource.

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

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

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

TO SEND US A

SCANHERE

YOUR VIEWS

Arecent letter by state Rep.Charles Owen questions whether global marketstruly demandcleaner energy solutions or if Louisianaismerely bending to “climate ideologues.” But that view ignores theeconomic and regulatoryreality facing the industries our statedepends on.

Major trading partners —from Europe to Asia —are implementing carbon border taxes and supply chain emissions disclosures. U.S. companies are adapting to stay competitive. That’snot ideology,it’smarket pressure. If we want to keep refining fuel, making fertilizer or producing steel here in Louisiana, we must show we can do it cleaner

Owen also falsely claims that Germany’srecent long-term LNG deal excludes carbon capture. In reality,both of Venture Global’snew LNG agreements with Germany’sSEFE include carbon capture and storage as acore component. Even our fossil fuel exportsnow require cleaner production to stay competitive in global markets. As for Texas, thefacts speak for themselves. Athird of all EPAClass VI permit applications —those needed

for permanent carbon storage —come from Texas entities. That’snot environmental activists, it’soil and gas companies, manufacturers andenergy developers preparing forthe next chapter of energy growth.

Dozens of Texas business groups, including the Texas Association of Business and Texas Association of Manufacturers,have publicly endorsed thestate’sapplication to oversee carbon storage wells. Communities across Texas are eager forthe jobs and investment this industry brings. That’sthe competitive threat, and opportunity, facing Louisiana. This isn’t about subjugation. It’s about smart economics.

Louisianaalready has something Texas wants—EPA “primacy” to permit Class VI wells. That advantage is drawing CCS investment and jobshere. With smartoversight, we can continue to expand that progress across the state. If Louisiana refuses to adapt, those investments won’tdisappear,they’ll head west

DESIREE LEMOINE campaign manager, IndustryMakes

Guttingenvironmental protectionsmakes no sense

Contrary to all science and reasoning, the Trumpadministration proposes revoking theendangerment rule. The rule that found “carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public healthand welfare.”Itunderpins manyenvironmental protections. We don’tneed to rely only on in vitro studies to understand the truthofthat statement

During the pandemic when people stopped commuting and traveling by air,car and boat, thehole in theozone layer shrank, the air and oceans were cleaner and the environment recovered. That was areal-world demon-

stration of the impact of greenhouse gases. As his administration has been wrong on many fronts, including vaccination policy,human andcivil rights and immigration, this proposed rule change would again makethe world less safe. Perhaps President Donald Trumpand his billionaire cronies plan to go intospace and leave an uninhabitable Earth for the rest of us. That is theonly logical explanation forwhy they believe they can safely revoke theendangerment rule.

DEIDRE CHARLOT NewOrleans

Dialysis patients need help from Congress to fightinsurers

I’m writing not just as anurse, but as awife and caregiver.Myhusband Kenneth was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy at just 20 years old. That disease slowly damaged his kidneys, leading to kidney failure and the need for dialysis, atreatment that does the work of the kidneys by cleaning the blood when the kidneys can no longer do so. For the past decade, we’ve built our life around his treatment. We started with peritoneal dialysis at home, which involvedusing acatheter and fluid exchange to filter his blood overnight while he slept. When that was no longer effective, he transitioned to home hemodialysis, whichfilters his blood through amachine during the day.Thankfully,Ken recently received akidney transplant. Through it all, I’ve been by his side, managing his care, preventing infections and falling more deeply in love. As akidney patient caregiver and advocate, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Marietta vs. DaVita deeply concerns me.Itallows private insurers to design plans that make it harder for new dialysis patients to stay on their insurance. That can disrupt care, cause financial distress, limit provider options, and even jeopardize eligibility for akidney transplant. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, our beloved congressman, alongside U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow,R-Start, can help by cosponsoring the Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act. Dialysis patients fight too hard to manage their condition. They shouldn’thave to fight well-deserved insurance coverage as well.

SHEREE STEPHENS Shreveport

BACK TO SCHOOL

Kids are heading back to school to meet theirteachers,see their friends and getstartedwith an exciting newyearoflearning! So, what’sgoing on in this cartoon? youtellme. Be witty,funny, crazy absurd or snarky —just trytokeep it clean.There’snolimit on the number of entries.

Thewinning punchline will be letteredinto the word balloon and runon Mondayinour print editions and online.Inaddition, the winner will receive asignedprint of the cartoon along with acool winner’sT-shirt! Some honorable mentions will also be listed.

To enter,email entriesto cartooncontest@theadvocate.com. Allentriesmust include your name, homeaddress and phone number Cell numbersare best.The deadline forall entriesismidnight on Thursday. Good luck withthis homework, everyone!— Walt

COMMENTARY

KATRINA YEARS

YURI HERRERA on the newcomers

Themostbeautiful manonthe bus

In NewOrleans,natives andmigrantsholdeachother up duetosharedtrials

Ihave this friendthat, for thefirst couple of years that Iknew him— throughPaul, the Mayor of Piety Street —I didn’task him where his family was from. He was, as they say, born and raised here. But when Ilearned his last name, Irecognizedit, a very common one in LatinAmerica.Itwas one that must havehad an eñe, butinits present form, it was justann;novirgule Iguess that one got lost in the moving process.

There’sacertain prestige in beinga Black man from New Orleans. Even with allthe roughness that it includes, orpreciselybecause it includes the complexity of the city’sculture, itmakes many choose it as their first demonym, no matter where you came from. Butthe storiesunderneath the demonym are still there, weavingthe character of the community. The ever-present past of New Orleansgives adistinct character to the way we interact,from those who have rarely been outofthe city, to those who realize thisisagood place to rest in the epic journey of themigrant Hondurans

Hondurans are everywhere in New Orleans, their food, their handiwork, their intelligence, their cadence. Even other communities from LatinAmerica getcover in their knowledge andnetworksacrossthe city. It would seem that they don’t reclaim thefair space theydeserveafter being here for so long.

Themonumentjoggers pass by

Everything is sort of newinCrescent Park. Until afew years ago, there wasno park but ahorrid border between theriver and the Marigny and Bywater neighborhoods. Then the park opened. It’sbasicallyastrip witha couple of leisure spacesmade from theold wharf and awarehouse,now used to watch theboats, skate or kiss. Along the path, as if going from the Industrial Canal toward theFrench Quarter, youcan see to yourright amonument donated by alocal Hispanic entrepreneur thathonors the Latin American workers who came to rebuild after Katrina. It states that, on front of themonument, in English, and in Spanish on the back. Iwonderifit was on purpose,away of underscoringthat the important part of thejob is happening outside of your field of vision,sothatit doesn’tbother you

The monument featurestwo male workers rebuilding ahouse. On oneside, a female worker has abroom. Not that it’s easy to sweep after ahurricane,orthatis not important, but Ihave met thewomen who came to rebuild thecity. These women can sweep, yes, butthey can also bring down walls with their own hands and then bring them up, they canpaintporches and fix roofs. They came mostly from Hondu-

ras, Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala, andthey are some of the strongest, most ferociously ingenious human beings Ihave met. Talk about firemen running toward thefire when everybody else is running in the opposite direction. They came when the city had been deserted, cleaned it, rebuilt it and saved it. That broom stands for alot more than sweeping.

Thecowardwho took apause

Imet many of the immigrant workers when Iwas invited by Julie Norman to do a workshop with Spanish-speaking women at the Family Justice Center

All of them have gone through differentversions of hell to get here: escaping aterrible situation at home, surviving a terrible voyage, enduring aterrible American welcome. Butthey preserved their hopes,good humor andstamina. Oneday, Iasked them to write about amoment of strength. One said that after the months of reconstruction, she started working at a restaurant where theowner routinely stole thetips from the undocumented workers. She complained, and the owner said, “Do you wantmetocall immigration?” to which shereplied, “Go ahead, but Ibet Ican call thepolice first and tell them you reuse the paper plates you are supposed to throw away.” The guy said nothing but stopped stealing the tips.

Politics

This one transplant-settler bought a houseinthe French Quarter andthen started harassing aperson who had abubble machine close by,and he called the police multiple times to makethem stop. As aresponse, dozens of people cameand threwa bubble party outside his house. Hopefully, he understood. Butit’sfor things like these that some say New Orleanians are apathetic or disinterested in politics, that they would takeanything as long as their right to party is respected. To this,Isay:

1. Parties are not aminor part of acivilized society; they are away of marking time, celebrating life and creating community

2. People do care. New Orleanians just don’tgothrough themotionsofpolitics as dictated by mainstream media. But when they participate, it’spowerful. Iwent to the Black LivesMatter rallies in New Orleans. Before this,Ihave been to manymarches andpolitical meetings of different kinds (including thekind where police charge against people), but never have Ifelt such adetermined, illuminating rage as the one Ifelt in Duncan Plaza, something like saying: Youthink you know me? I’ll show you how it’sdone. Anditwas done. We need moreofthat Paul

It was maybe my second week in New

Orleans when Paul, Anthony Paul, the Mayor of Piety Street, asked me if Ihad seen the whole video of the Super Bowlinwhich theSaints won. Isaid no, so we watched it, him for thenth time. After that baptism,he introduced me to thecity,its lingo, its perils, itsholiness; how important the crawfish boil is and how important it is to share it with neighbors.

During Katrina, Paul’sfamily took refuge in different spots —wifeSonjie and the twinsinthe Superdome, son Rodnell in theConvention Center,while Paul stayed in Piety guarding thehouse, armed with a shotgun, steaks and beer.Across the street, in the house where we would later live, was his friend Dave. They would throw whatever the other needed across the flooded street.Hesurvived all that. He waseven in an aerial shot by CNN, cooking on the sidewalk when the waters had started receding.

Years later,hewas killed by aguest he had welcomed into hishouse. The suspect spent two years behind bars, then, due to some way of thesystem, waslet go. Themostbeautiful manonthe bus

The public buses areprobably the safest place to be in New Orleans. They are clean, drivers are kind and helpful, and in a city where crazy is the norm,onthe buses, crazy takes arecess.

That’swhy this guyonthe No. 8route stood out.Ayoung guy standing by the middle door.There werefree seats, but he obviously didn’twant to get wrinkles on him.Hewas calmly but thoroughly dusting his shirt,his shoulders, his pants, his shoes, again and again. He already was looking good, not elegant,just ready.All the people around were watching him,but he wasn’t aware, so focused was he on what was to come. He got off at the Louis Armstrong Parkstop.You could feel avibe of encouragement coming from the passengers lookingathim go, awave of support so that he could get thejob. That was it, even though nobody said anything.

Theday of thesnowfall

Even if you had seen asnowfall, you have not seen anything like this. Nobody has seen this much snow falling in NewOrleans for morethan acentury.The houses acquired impossible shapes; the city was suddenly soundproofed with white water.It was as miraculous as witnessing asurge of flowers in themiddle of the desert.

Theiconoclast

That’swhy somepeople come to see nothing but their hands holding the moststupid drinks known to man, because they are afraid to grasp this other way of being, this skepticism towardthe “greatness” others accept as afact, because it is not resilience, it is rebelliousness.

and identity.His latest, “Season of the Swamp,”is setin19th-centuryNew Orleans.

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

NewOrleans Forecast

ways readyfor thenext celebration.She cherished Wine Wednesdays on her porch with herdaughters, attendingSundaymassat St. Paul’s with hergrand‐son/godsonJackson,fol‐lowed by brunch with fam‐ily,and sharinglaughter and storieswithher dear friends in theirmonthly book club.BeforeRead’s passing,one of hergreat‐est joys wastheir annual staycationinNew Orleans, where they wouldrevisit favoritespots from her early yearslivinginthe FrenchQuarter.They also loved hostingdinnerpar‐ties, welcomingloved ones totheir home,creatingun‐forgettable evenings filled withlaughter, love and beautifully prepared meals.Toher daughters, Pat wasa loving,devoted mother, always offering unconditional love and support.She empowered themtopursuetheir dreams, always readywith her gentle wisdom and heartfelt encouragement. Toher grandchildrenshe was their“Lolli”,a guiding light,a warm embrace, and the heartoftheir world. Her love forher family knewnobounds, andher presencewillforever echo intheir lives. Allwho were blessedtohavemet Pat knowthatshe always showedeveryonepurelove and kindness. Hersmile could lightupany room and youalwayslefther presencefeeling better thanbeforeyou sawher She wasthe embodiment ofhonesty,patience, and grace.Whereverwegoyou can be sure,inspiritwe shall neverbealone,be‐cause to us shewillalways behome. Mayher legacy liveonthrough herbeauti‐ful art, hertreasured recipes andthe many sto‐riesshe leaves behind.Let usall strive to carry for‐wardthe sunshine she brought into ourlives.May werememberher notas gone, butaslivingonin her hearts of everyone she touched,for nothingloved isevertruly lost.And Pat was deeply,deeply loved. May we find comfortin knowing sheisreunited withher onetruelove, watchingoverusall;hand inhand, from above. Dona‐tions canbemadetothe New OrleansArt Academy https://www.noafa.org/ giving.Friends andrela‐tives areinvited to attend a visitation at St.Peter’s Church, 125 E. 19thAvenue Covington,Louisiana on Thursday, August 21,2025 at 10:00a.m.withMassfol‐

DEATHS continued from lowing at 11:00a.m.Anin‐terment will follow in St JosephAbbey Cemetery E.J.FieldingFuneralHome has been entrustedwith funeralarrangements. Her daughters askthatyou comedressed in your fa‐voritebrightcolorstocele‐brate theirmom’s bright personality.The Richard‐son family invitesyou to share thoughts,fondest memories, andcondo‐lencesonlinevia theE.J FieldingFuneralHome Guest Book at www.ejfield ingfh.com

Cherie MarieRouquette passedawaypeacefully on August17, 2025 after a lengthy battle with cancer She wasbornonFebruary 24,1954 in Mobile,Alabama but haslived in theNew Orleans area since1958 She wasprecededindeath byher loving parents Henry Philip Rouquette, Sr and Estelle MarieHebert. Cherieissurvivedbyher brothersRobertEdward Rouquette,his wife Sharon Rose(neeTurner) andtheir childrenRobertJoseph Rouquette,LouiseElaine Rouquette; HenryPhilip Rouquette Jr.and his daughterAmandaRenée Rouquette;sister Anne Marie Rouquette along withnumerouscousins CherieattendedOur Lady ofThe Holy Rosary gram‐mar school.After graduat‐ing from DominicanHigh School,she received a BachelorofArtsDegreein art educationfromU.S.L.in Lafayette,La. where she was aproud member of Kappa DeltaSorority. She began hercareerasanart teacher at De La Salle High School in New Orleans. After severalyears herlove ofthe Lafayette area drew her back andshe contin‐ued teaching artinthe BreauxBridgearea. Want‐ing to help people in a moredirectway shethen enrolled in andgraduated

with adegreeinOccupa‐tionalTherapy from L.S.U SchollofMedicineinNew Orleans.She specifically wantedtoworkwithpeo‐ple who hadhanddisabili‐ties, andher artback‐ground wasinvaluablein thispursuit.After acom‐panydownsizing, shere‐turnedtoteachingart and enjoyed therestofher ca‐reer at Rummel High School in Metairie until her retirement. Cherie hada deep love of herchurch and wasa very kind sweet,lovingpersonwitha generousnature. Sheloved togardenand grew beauti‐ful flowerswhich the neighbors marveled at.She loved theoutdoors, espe‐cially horsebackridingand was active in many sports ofwhich volleyball washer favorite. Hergreatestplea‐surethoughwas spending timewithfamilyand friends,especiallyaround Mardi Gras.Our family wishestothank Chateau DeNotre Dame Hospicefor their compassion andcare given to oursisterasshe awaited theopenarmsof Our Savior.Inlieuof flow‐ers,donations maybe madeinher name to The AmericanCancerSociety orStLaSalle AuxiliaryDe LaSalle ChristianBrothers, 1522 Carmel Drive Lafayette,LA. 70501-5399

Relatives andfriends are invited to attend afuneral Massfor Cherie at Jacob SchoenFuneral Home lo‐cated at 3827 CanalSt. on SaturdayAugust23, 2025, at11am. Thevisitationwill begin at 9:30am.Interment willimmediatelyfollowthe MassatSt. LouisCemetery #3located at 3421 Es‐planade Ave. NewOrleans La70119. To view andsign the guestbook,pleaselog ontowww.schoenfh.com

Vallon,Marguerite Sambola

Marguerite Sambola Vallon, afaithfulCatholic, passedawaypeacefully

Sunday,August17, 2025 She was98years old. Mar‐guerite wasborninNew Orleans on May10, 1927, and wasthe fifthofsix childrenborntothe late Stanley L. Sambola, Sr.and MargaretGleberSambola She wasprecededindeath byher belovedhusband of 62years,AlbertJosephVal‐lon,Jr. Allwho knew Mar‐guerite andAlbert, knew theywerethe love of each other's life.Together they ran asuccessfulbusiness, Vallon'sMusic Maison Margueritewas devotedto helping others,especially the blind. Sheenjoyed fam‐ily/friendgatherings, sewing, crocheting,playing games,trips with family and friends, watching the TigersplayonSaturday night,and Sunday night dancesatthe JeffersonOr‐leans.Margueriteissur‐vived by herlovingchil‐dren, MarilynVallonHo‐tard, A.J. Vallon,III (Lee RamseyVallon) five grand‐children, Alan Hotard,Car‐oline Hotard Kirkpatrick, Alexandra Vallon Herrin (James),A.J.Vallon, IV (Coral),Sarah Vallon,and seven greatgrandchildren, Rex Hotard,NeilKirk‐patrick,WesleyKirkpatrick, Mackenzie Kirkpatrick, BaylorVallon, Hudson Her‐rin,and Palmer Vallon.She was preceded in deathby her sistersand brothers Leola Carmichael,Stanley Sambola,Jr.,EdnaSkid‐more, Robert Sambola, and J.Raymond Sambola. Mar‐guerite's familywould like tothank allthe women who befriended,cared for, and lovedher in her final years of life,especiallyFe‐licia (who shecalledher angel). We areforever gratefultoGod foryou Serviceswillbeheldat Jacob Schoen andSon Fu‐neral Home,3827 Canal Street,New Orleans, LA 70119 on Friday,August22, 2025. Visitation from 11:00 amto1:00pm. Catholic Masswillbegin at 1:00 pm withinterment followingat Greenwood Cemetery.In lieuof flowers, please do‐natetoSt. Jude Children's Hospitalorthe St.Anthony poor boxinany Catholic Church.And whenyou go tochurch,pleaselight a candleand saya prayer for Marguerite.

DebraP.Walkerwas borninNew Orleans, Louisiana,onOctober 13, 1956, to thelateWallace T. and LillyF.Patterson.She entered eternalreston Thursday,August7,2025, surrounded by herloving family. Debrawas born and raisedinNew Orleans, where shewas baptized at St. FrancisdeSales Catholic Church.She grad‐uated from AlceeFortier SeniorHighSchool in 1976 thenattendedDelgado Community Collegeand St MatthiasSchool of Typing After high school,Debra was united in Holy Matri‐monytoJockWalker, Sr and from this unioncame her twobeloved children, JockWalker, Jr.and Trinice Walker. Debra'sworkethic was unmatched. In her early years, sheworkedat USF&G andYoung's Clean‐ers.She went on to dedi‐cate24years of serviceto CGI,where sheworked from2001 until herpassing in2025. To herfamilyand friends,she wasa loving mother, amazinggrand‐mother, andthe favorite aunt everyone clungto. She wasaffectionately known as "Photo Deb" and "KodakDeb"because she never misseda chance to capture amoment. With her camera in hand anda smile on herface, she madesurememorieswere preserved.Her familywas her joyand peace. Debra was also thelifeofthe party.Whenshe walked in, the celebrationtruly began.Witha Long Island inhandand oneleg kicked out,she wouldjoyouslyex‐claim,"Sanggthatmother father...!". Sheloved her jazzand lovedtodance withfavorites including Boney James, BrianCul‐

ardTurner, HailinWalker, Rah'Yanna Clements, Ra'Myri Sterling,Nolan Lawson, Jr., Noah Lawson, and Jock Walker,III ;one great-grandchild: Gerard Turner, Jr.; sixsisters:Lu‐cille P. Allen(Dwayne), MaryAnn West (Percy), Loretta Baker, Bernadette Gaines, Veronica P. Mitchell, andGilda P. Sanders ;fourbrothers: Wallace T. Patterson,Jr. Wayne E. Patterson (Lisa), JosephGaines, andDou‐glasGaines, Sr.(Addie) ; godchildren ;and ahostof nieces, nephews, greatniecesand nephews, and great-great-niecesand nephews.She is preceded indeath by herparents Wallace T. andLilly F. Pat‐terson; hersiblings, Diane P.Harris, John E. Lemay, and Patricia Thomas;and her nephew,Jamal Baker. Debra's radiantspirit, boundless love forher family, andabilitytolight upany room will forever remaininthe hearts of all who knew her. Shetaught usthe importance of laughter, thevalue of fam‐ily,and thejoy of living life tothe fullest. Though her voice andpresencewillbe deeply missed, herlegacy oflove, joy, andunforget‐table memories will live on inevery storyshared, every song played,and every phototaken.Rest well, Debra- our"Photo Deb," ourdancing queen our foreverlight.Relatives and friendsofthe family are invitedtoattend aFu‐neral ServiceatD.W RhodesFuneral Home,3933 WashingtonAve.New Or‐leans,La70125 on Friday August22, 2025 at 9:30 am Visitationbeginsat9:00 am. Interment: Mount OlivetCemetery. Arrange‐ments by D. W. Rhodes Fu‐neral Home.Pleasevisit www.rhodesfuneral.com to signthe online guestbook. Funeralcan be live streamed@ www facebook.com/D.W.Rho desFuneralHome/live

sevengrandchildren:Ger‐

SPORTS

Most in-state prognosticatorssee LSUinCFP despiteClemson,Alabama missteps

TEMPERED EXPECTATIONS

How will the LSU Tigersdothisseason?

It is oneofthe most compelling questions across not only Louisiana butalso all of college football. Has allofLSU’seffort and expense this offseason been worthit? Will it payoff with aberth in theCollege Football Playoff and achance at theprogram’sfifth national title? (I’m still counting the 1958 title in LSU’scorner,despiteAuburn’snew and ridiculous claim.)

We polled our LSU beat staff and anumber of other prominent voices covering theTigers for their/ ourpredictionsonhow Brian Kelly’s team will fare this season.The predictions, not surprisingly,fell in apretty narrowband between 10-2and 9-3 in theregular season. No one feels like LSUisgoing to repeat 2019, but everyone clearly believes theTigers at least will be in theconversation for aCollege Football Playoff berth.

Drum roll, please

WILSON ALEXANDER• THE ADVOCATE Record: 9-3

LSU should bebetter than itwas last year,but it will play seven teams ranked in thepreseasonAP Top25, starting withthe difficult opener at Clemson.The Tigers will be in CFP contention lateinthe season. It’sjust hard to getto10wins.

CHESSA BOUCHE •WVLA/WGMB Record: 10-2

Throughout camp, I’ve been im-

pressedwith thedefensive line, especially withtransfers Jack Pyburn andBernard Gooden. The Tigers haven’thad “dogs” upfront causing havoc and puttingpressureonthe quarterback.Myreal concern is the offensive line and therunning game.They lost two All-American bookend tackles and returned only onetruestarter from ayear ago. I thinkwith Garrett Nussmeier taking abig step forward in Year 2as astarter,and focusing on being a

moremobile quarterback, will take alot of pressureoff of theO-line.

MICHAEL CAUBLE •WBRZ

Record: 10-2

Ithink theTigers will go 10-2 on theseason, but Idon’thave aton of hope that they win the opener at Clemson. Atough opponent on the road withsome proven line play will be atall ask for atalented LSU team that’sgoing to improve as the ä See LSU, page 5C

Tulane DB packs wallop in smallframe

BY GUERRYSMITH Contributing writer

Jack Tchienchou did not start asingle gamelast season forTulane.

He sure finished plenty of them, though. After ranking fourth on the team with 50 tackleswhile backing up Jalen Geigerat free safety,hehopes to build on that breakthrough performancewithevenbigger numbers as aredshirt sophomore. Geiger graduated, and Tchienchou has no one in front of him

“I’m coming into it with the sameapproach,” he said. “We’ve got pretty good depth in the safety room, but I’m ready to start and be the first one on the field and get the tone set, forsure.”

At 5-foot-10, 181 pounds, Tchienchou is not imposing untilthe ball is snapped. That may be one reason he missedout on preseason American Conference honors that several of his teammates with lesser stats received from variousoutlets.But he packsa tonof punch into his compact frame.

“I love Jack,” said linebacker Sam Howard, aTulane co-captain andteamleader “He’saunique player.You look at himand think he’sundersized, but he’selite. He puts in the work as well. I’m excited for what he’s going to do this year.”

Although he had five tackles in his Tulane debut against Kansas State, Tchienchou really entered public consciousness when he intercepted apass from UL quarterback Ben Wooldridge and returned it 38 yards foratouchdownlate in the first halfinLafayette two weeks later.Itwas one of only six interceptions thrownin291 attempts all yearbyWooldridge, who is attempting to make the New England Patriots roster as arookie freeagent andthrewfor atouchdownagainst Washington in the preseason. Tchienchou read Wooldridge’seyes while the receiver never turned around. He shook off atackle attempt at the 15, skirted the sideline anddoveacrossthe goal line to break atie at 10-10 andgive theGreen Wave the lead forgood.

“For sure that definitely built up my confidence,”hesaidofthe play.“It wassurreal Being able to make aplay like that in agame likethat where momentum was swinging back and forth wasjust awesome. It helped me settle in.”

Tchienchou, from Atlanta, chose Troy out of high school and was redshirted in 2023 before following coach Jon Sumrall and his staff to Tulane. Originally recruited as acornerback, he settled at safety because of his tackling ability that belied his size.

“I alwaystry to be thehammer,not the nail,” he said. “It’slike it will hurt less if you hurt them first. That’show Igoabout it.” Only Howard andfellowstarting linebacker Tyler Grubbs made more tackles than Tchienchou’s 22 in Tulane’s final four games of 2024, including aseason-high-tying eight at Army in the American Conference championship game. He is versatile and fast enough to play cornerback or nickelback, but he proved to be anatural on the back end.

“He’snot the longest guy,but he’sastriker,” Sumrall said. “He’sviolent on contact WhenIwatch guys finish, some gettothe

ä See TULANE, page 5C

Safety Sanker’s playmaking shines forSaints

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

Playing his first game in the Caesars Superdome, NewOrleans Saints rookie safety Jonas Sanker admitted hewanted to end his debut with a bang.

It was the final play of Sunday’spreseason 17-17 tie against the Jacksonville Jaguars, with Jacksonville positioned at theSaints’ 42 looking to gain a few extra yardsfor a game-winning field goal attempt.Sanker was drifting toward the tight endinthe middle of the field when he saw Jaguars quarterback Seth Henigan throw aquick slant to the right side of the offensive formation Sanker bolted in the direction of the play and suddenly the ball was right there in front of him, courtesyofcornerback Rejzohn Wright’s pass breakup.

“For me that was really justbeing in the right place at the right time, Sanker said

gt pa gt ,S

Broncos at Saints NOON SATURDAy,WVUE

When he snatched it out of the aironly conds remained in regulation, and Sanker d one thought: score. Hemade it to the Jaguars’ 24-yard line fore he wasknocked outofbounds.The

ficials determined time expired as he tumedout of bounds, though theTVbroadcast ggestedasecondmight haveremained. egame ended in adraw Probably could have played it alittle safand got out alittle earlier,” Sanker said. That may be true, but it was still amemoble homestadium debut for Sanker,who ntributed morethan aclose miss at a me-winner Jonas had alot of clips in the team meetg today,” coach Kellen Moore said. “A lot it is his play style,his effort, block deruction,meeting theballatthe point of ack. He made someplays in the passing game.

“He was on that (tape) aton, and he’s earned those opportunities. We expect him to keep growing.”

With regular starting safeties Justin Reid andJulian Blackmon both being held out of thegame forprecautionaryreasons, Sanker got achance to play 100% of the defensive snaps —easily the longest look New Orleans has had at Sanker, whom it selected 93rd overallthis spring. Sanker welcomed the opportunity after playing roughly half the defensive snaps in the preseason opener

“Seeing different looks, building camaraderieand just being comfortable,” Sanker said. “Thinking back,I really haven’tplayed alive full gamesince November of last season. So it’sgood to get out there, hit alittle bit, run around, tackle andjust feel everything full speed.”

His playmaking wasn’t limited to hisinterception.

Scheffler dislikes comparison to Woods

Legendary golfer inspired current No. 1 player during 2020 Masters

BY DOUG FERGUSON

AP golf writer

ATLANTA Scottie Scheffler shies away from comparisons to Tiger Woods even as the numbers are starting to make that inevitable.

Scheffler has been No. 1 in the world longer than anyone since Woods. He is the first player since Woods to have five-plus wins in back-to-back years. He comes into the Tour Championship on a streak of 13 tournaments in the top 10.

“It’s very silly to be compared to Tiger Woods,” Scheffler said.

“I think Tiger is a guy that stands alone in the game of golf, and I think he always will. Tiger inspired a whole generation of golfers. You’ve grown up watching that guy do what he did week in, week out, it was pretty amazing to see.”

Scheffler was amazed by the only time he played with him in a tournament, a moment nearly five years ago that shaped the way the 29-year-old from Dallas now dominates his sport. It was the final round of the Masters in November 2020, both of them 11 shots out of the lead with no chance to win. What stands out from that autumn Sunday was Woods making a 10 on the par-3 12th hole and then made birdie on five of his last six holes.

Scheffler remembers the opening hole just as well.

As he looks back to the start of his pro career, Scheffler felt he was guilty of not giving himself enough chances at winning and rarely being in the final group “I always found myself just a little bit on the outside looking in, and that’s one of the things I learned from playing with Tiger,” he said.

“We’re in 20th place or whatever going into Sunday at the Masters. Tiger has won five Masters, he’s got no chance of winning the tournament. Then we showed up on the first hole and I was watching him read his putt, and I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this guy is in it right now.’

“That was something that I just thought about for a long time,”

Scheffler said. “I felt like a change I needed to make was bringing that same intensity to each round

fler speaks before a practice round of the Tour Championship on

fler put together a final-round 67 to win the BMW Championship last

and each shot. And I feel like the reason I’ve had success in these tournaments is just the amount of consistency and the intensity that I bring to each round of golf is not taking shots off, not taking rounds off, not taking tournaments off.

“When I show up at a tournament, I’m here for a purpose and that’s to compete hard, and you compete hard on every shot.”

That’s what golf has witnessed since Scheffler finally broke through at the WM Phoenix Open in 2022, and within two months he was a Masters champion and No. 1 in the world.

It doesn’t mean he wins every week golf is still golf, an impossible game to master

This week is an example of that.

The change to the format in the Tour Championship put emphasis on getting to East Lake, and now the top 30 players start from scratch for 72 holes to see who wins the FedEx Cup

Scheffler has no advantage by starting at 10-under par, nor does he have a points advantage. It’s a welcome change for most players because they signed off on it. Rory McIlroy, the Masters champion, says he didn’t mind the starting strokes because great play should get some reward.

“I didn’t hate the starting strokes. I thought that the player that played the best during the course of the season should have had an advantage coming in here,”

McIlroy said. “But you could also argue if it was starting strokes this week, Scottie with a two-shot lead, it probably isn’t enough considering what he’s done this year.”

Scheffler started with a two-shot lead each of the last three years and it still took him the third try to win the FedEx Cup. He loves the pressure of competing. And besides, not starting with an advantage is sure to get his attention from the start.

He has his caddie, Ted Scott, back on the bag this week as Scott is dealing with a family emergency

Scheffler is quick to point out how his career took off when he brought in Scott to work with all the preparation he put into his job.

This year has been as good as any considering he started late because of hand surgery, and he

added the PGA Championship and British Open to his two previous Masters titles.

But it’s not over yet. Scheffler was reminded of that in 2022 when he lost a six-shot lead in the final round to McIlroy That was the year he won his first Masters, rose to No. 1 in the world and had four victories.

But when he returned home, he was met with condolences for not winning at East Lake.

“It just irked me so bad finishing off the year where guys were like: ‘Hey, great playing, I’m sorry about how it ended.’ It’s like, ‘You know what, man, I won the Masters this year, won a few other tournaments.’ It was a pretty good year.”

The tournament starts Thursday It’s already been a good year for Scheffler

Falcons tackle McGary carted off during practice

Atlanta Falcons starting right tackle Kaleb McGary was carted off the practice field with a possible lower left leg injury on Wednesday, giving the team a new challenge as it prepares for Friday night’s final preseason game at Dallas.

The Falcons said an update on McGary, a 2019 first-round pick who has started 92 of 93 games, would be provided “at the appropriate time” following an MRI. If the Falcons are without McGary, they will have to find a new blocker to protect the blind side of left-handed quarterback Michael Penix, the 2024 first-round pick who is entering his first full season as the starter McGary recently signed a contract extension through the 2027 season.

Bears sign backup QB Bagent to 2-year extension

The Chicago Bears signed backup quarterback Tyson Bagent to a two-year contract extension through the 2027 season on Wednesday Chicago also signed veteran running back Royce Freeman and placed running back Deion Hankins on injured reserve Bagent played in four games and threw two passes last season with Caleb Williams starting every game after being drafted with the No. 1 overall pick.

But he’s made a big impression over two seasons. Undrafted in 2023 following a record-setting career at Division II powerhouse Shepherd University, Bagent played in five games and made four starts while leading Chicago to two wins with Justin Fields injured in 2023.

Jake Paul and Davis announce Nov. 14 fight

YouTuber-turned-cruiserweight boxer Jake Paul and undefeated WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis have agreed to fight on Nov 14 at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena.

Paul’s promotional company, Most Valuable Promotions, and Netflix announced the highly unusual matchup Wednesday Netflix will stream the fight worldwide to its more than 300 million subscribers.

The 30-year-old Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs), a three-division world champion, would be the first star near his ostensible prime to face Paul (12-1, 7 KOs), the online celebrity who has become one of the world’s highest-paid combat sports athletes despite never fighting an elite boxer

Bucks sign former Clippers wing Coffey

BY JENNA FRYER AP auto racing writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. NASCAR in 2026 will race on a new street course in San Diego, return Chicagoland Speedway to the schedule, move the All-Star race to Dover, Delaware, and end its 38-race

Daytona 500 to follow on Feb. 15. The season ends Nov 8 in Florida at Homestead, which hosted the championship-deciding finale for 18 consecutive years before NASCAR shifted it to Phoenix Raceway in 2020. The race at Phoenix was given a different date

Veteran wing Amir Coffey has signed with the Milwaukee Bucks after spending six seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, the Bucks announced Wednesday Coffey 28, had spent his entire NBA career with the Clippers. He averaged career highs last season in scoring (9.7), minutes (24.3) and games played (72). The 6-foot-7 Coffey also had 2.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game last season while shooting 47.1% from the floor and 40.9% from 3-point range. He has made 13 starts each of the last two seasons. Coffey has career averages of 6.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists. He has shot 45.5% overall, 38.4% from 3-point range and 83.7% from the foul line over the course of his career

Astros OF runs into wall, checked for concussion

Houston Astros outfielder Taylor Trammell was being evaluated for a concussion after being carted off during Wednesday’s loss to the Detroit Tigers following a crash into the center field fence in the first inning. The Tigers led 4-0 with no one out when Dillon Dingler hit a line drive to deep center

The ball deflected off Trammell’s glove just before he hit the fence. Dingler ended up with an RBI triple, giving Detroit a five-run lead. Trammell was examined by the Houston training staff and started to walk off the field before going to a knee. A cart was brought out and he was taken into the tunnel behind right field. Astros manager Joe Espada said after the 7-2 loss that Trammell was also dealing with stiffness in his neck and back.

THE VARSITYZONE

FOOTBALL PREVIEW n DISTRICT 10-3A

LATE BLOOMER

From no ride home to all-statestar, Griffinmakes impact at L.B. Landry

BY CHRISTOPHER DABE Staff writer

Kristerphor Griffin never played much football before high school.

He played one year of park ball at age 11 and one year of school ball when he was in eighth grade at Samuel L. Green Charter

Now about to begin his senior season at L.B. Landry,the LSWA all-stateselection is drawing comparisons from coach Nick Foster to two rangysafeties who have gone on to play at thenext level.

One of them is former Edna Karr star Quindell Johnson, an undrafted NFL free agent out of Memphis in 2023 who played nine games as arookie withthe ChicagoBears and now is in training camp with the PittsburghSteelers.

The other is former St. Augustine standout Christian Pritchett, about to beginhis sophomoreseason at Georgia Tech.

Foster,aformer offensivecoordinator at Karr and head coach at St. Aug, said the 6-foot-3 Griffincould benext in line

“Knowing what Iknowwithmyexpertise in 14 years in New Orleans high schoolfootball, there aren’t toomany Kris Griffins,” Foster said Griffin, atwo-time all-district selection, showcased his two-way ability last season with nine interceptions, including four returned for touchdowns,plus 28 receptions for 458 yards andsix touchdowns on offense. His play has begun todraw attention from colleges. Gramblingcoach Mickey Joseph personallyoffered ascholarship during avisit to theschool on the

day ofthe spring game in May Coaches from other programs have also taken notice, commenting that they are “impressed with his run fitting, comingfrom safety,third level, getting down to the first level and filling ahole,” Foster said.

But coaches also said they want to see Griffindefend more passes closer to theline of scrimmage. To help with that, Foster said Landry will play more defenseswithtwo high safeties, which could give Griffin morechances to chargeforward and defend against those shorter throws tothe flats.

Foryears, Griffin wanted to play sports but had limited opportunities. He skippedplaying school sports at Green Charter because that would cause him to miss theafter-school bus from the Uptown school to his home in Algiers, and hehad no other way to get home.

Butbyeighth grade,Green Charter coach Jacque Richardsonhad seen enough from GriffininP.E.classesto know he would be agood football player

At that point, Richardson told Griffin andhis mother that he could drive Griffin to and fromschool every day so that the after-school bus would no longer be aconcern,and she gave him theOK.

Immediately,Griffin madeanimpact on thefootball team by playing safety andreceiver.Healso played quarterbackinthe playoffs and “took us to the semifinals,” Richardson said.

Griffinthen becameastandout on thebasketball and soccer teams. He also played baseball, and after baseball ended on some days, he would score “three or four goals” in soccer,Richardson said.

Thechance to play football gave Grif-

fin

anewfound interest in the sport. He began tellingRichardson about New OrleansSaints players he saw on TV

“You’ve got achance to be one of those players,” Richardson would tell Griffin.

The chance to play sports“means a lot,” Griffin said.

“It’s awarm feeling to have ateam beside you and stuff, like brothers,” he said.

At Landry,Griffin quickly became a starting safetyand earned thesupport of his coaches.

“He’shungry,” Foster said. “He sees this as theopportunitytoget away from New Orleans, play Division Ifootball, where his parents don’thave to come out of their pocket for school. He’son that type of mentality.”

Landry basketball coach Rob Wallace noted Griffin for his tenacity,especially for how he chases rebounds and dives to thefloor for loose balls.

Wallace described Griffin, atwo-year starter who averaged 12 pointswith 10 rebounds and two blocked shotslast season, as “one of our projects” forhow manypeople at the school want him to succeed.

“Everybody loves him,” Wallace said. “We’re hoping everything pans outfor him.He’sgoing to change his family, his life.”

Griffin hopes to someday make life easier for his mother

“I know she goes through alot by herself,” said Griffin, the youngest of three siblings. “I really use sports to help her.”

ContactChristopher Dabe at cdabe@ theadvocate.com

1. Kennedy

LOOKING BACK

Last year: 7-5 overall (reachedquarterfinals),5-0

in district

2. De La Salle

Last year: 6-6 (second round),4-1

3. Livingston Collegiate

Last year: 6-6 (second round),1-4

4. Booker T. Washington

Last year: 5-7 (quarterfinals),2-3

5. Sophie B. Wright

Last year: 3-7 (first round),1-4

6. L.B. Landry

Last year: 2-7 (missedplayoffs), 2-3

FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH

Dylan Butler

OL/DL |Booker T.Washington

The two-year starterand all-district performer on the offensiveline will startfor the first timeondefense “He can be dominant on both sidesofthe ball, coach WayneReeseJr. said.

Pierre Eskinde

RB/DB |Livingston

Theversatile ballcarrierhad astrong finish to the season (743 yards rushing,six touchdowns) and had an impact on defense (three sacks, one TD).“He’s going to be amismatch,”coach Devon Francois said.

KristerphorGriffin

ATH|L.B.Landry

The returning LSWA all-stateathlete selection had nine interceptions and returned four of them for touchdowns, caught six touchdown passes and returnedone kickofffor ascorelast season. Cedric McDonald

OL |DeLaSalle

The all-district tackle is “an unbelievable run blocker,” said coach Graham Jarrott, whose experienced offensiveline includesthird-year starters Gerald Daniels and Shamar Bridges Dominick Ruth

DL |Kennedy

The disruptiveplaymakerwas an LSWA all-state selection with16sacks and 21 tacklesfor loss.

FIVE THINGSTOKNOW

1. Kennedygraduated 21 seniors,including 17 starters (nine on offense), after lastseason. New starters include junior quarterback Dorrien Dunham, abackup lastseason, and running backKenneth Chelsea, astate track qualifier.Linebacker Amari Lewis and defensiveback DevinDuplessisreturnondefense.

2. District runner-up De La Salle returnsits three leading rushers, including Eamon Williams with more than 800 yards from scrimmage.CharlesIrvin and RobertLewis also return.Senior quarterback Noah Rogers playedtight endlast season. Senior defensivebacks DevinBarbarin and Brenden Guidroz lead the defense.

3. Teamswith returning starters at quarterback are Booker T.Washington with senior Cory McCraney, Livingston withjunior Courtney Tennesseeand L.B. Landrywith sophomore Warren Davis. Sophie B. Wright has sophomore JamihMillerasa first-year starter.

4. The district returns several experienced players, including all-district offensivelineman Dorian Smith from L.B. Landry. Sophie B.Wright junior Zamon Delmore is athird-yearstarteratcornerback. Livingston senior Greg Milton plays defensiveback.

5. Among the six teamsinthe district, five reached the playoffs and four wonatleast once in the postseason. Kennedy has reachedthe quarterfinals the past twoseasons.

ChristopherDabe

Managers miffed at sports bettingonLLWS

BY AMANDAVOGT Associated Press

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT,Pa. This week, as usual,sportsbettors can get action on Major League Baseball games from U.S.-based gambling sites. Meanwhile, at least a couple of offshore bookmakers are offering odds on games at the Little League World Series. Team managers, andLittle League itself, are not pleased

“I’m not afan,” said South Carolina’smanager Dave Bogan,noting he goes to Las Vegas twice ayear “It’sjust notappropriate,itfeels dirty,quite honestly.”

In news conferences throughout the Little League WorldSeries, U.S. team managers have voiced their displeasure with gambling on their games —players at the

tournament top out at 12 years old. LittleLeague International also released astatement last week denouncing sports bettingonyouth competition

“Little Leagueisa trustedplace where children are learning the fundamentalsofthe gamesand all the important life lessonsthat come with havingfun, celebrating teamwork,and playing with integrity,” the statement said. “Noone shouldbeexploiting thesuccess and failures of children playing the game they love for theirown personal gain.”

BetOnline and Bovada are among the offshore sites offeringdailyodds on LLWS matchups. They areboth based outside the UnitedStatesand areboth illegal to use in the U.S. and not subject to its laws. BetOnline is located

in Panama and has offered sports betting and gambling since1991. Bovada, aCosta Rica-based company,joined the scene in 2011.

BetOnline’s brand manager Dave Mason said in apost on Xthat BetOnline is making the moneylines itselfand that it “ain’teasy.”He hasposted odds on Xthroughout thetournament.

Jon Solomon, the community impact directorofProjectPlay an initiative of the Aspen Institute’sSportsand Societyprogram, said thereare negative effectson young players whose games are thesubject of betting. Such wagering, he says, is fairly common. In 2018, Project Play surveyed Mobile County,Alabama, and found that “26% of surveyed youth saidtheyhad played in agame where adultsbet money on who

wonorthe finalscore,” according to its State of Play report. The report saidthattackle football, basketball andbaseballwere more likely to be gambled on by adults according to the children surveyed.

“This is just, you know,bets that usually sort of happen, maybe at the field, or in the gym,” Solomon said in aphone interview. “Kids are already facing alot of pressure in youthsports these days. It is a highly commercialized industry with alot of people already making alot of money.” When gambling is involved in the actual performance of thegame, Solomon said he believes the pressure can be even higher.The reportshowed that gambling “was witnessed by both boys (33%) and girls (19%).” In professional and

collegiate sports, Solomon noted instances of athletes getting harassed by gamblers —think any kicker whomissed alast-second field goal.

“Now imagine the stakes for a more impressionable child, right, or teenager?” Solomon said. “It’s so unhealthy andsounneeded and Ithink if anyone is betting on youth sports, they should seriously seek help because you have aserious addiction mostlikely.”

Hawaii LittleLeague manager Gerald Oda is adamant thatgambling on these games takes away from the “beauty” of Little League.

“This is the only tournament where you’re representing your local community,” Oda said.

“It’sthatinnocence, thatpureness that these kids show on the field.”

NFL

Rattler findsgroovewith1st-teamreps

Whena quarterback competition is as close as the NewOrleans Saints’ battle seems, it can be tempting to overanalyze everything. So when Spencer Rattler againbeganthe day with first-team reps, thetemptationkickedin. Wasthis the sign that the coachingstaff is leaning towardRattler winning thejob? If not that, does that mean he’ll at least start Saturday’spreseason finale against the Denver Broncos? What does it mean, if anything?

“Yeah,we’re justrotating,” coach Kellen Moore deadpanned.

Saints camp observations

Hey,itwas wo rth th e question

“Yeah, it was agoodtry,” Moore said Moore unsurprisingly wasn’t about to tip his hand, and again he maintained the Saints haven’tdecided on their starting quarterback —even for Saturday’spreseason game. But after Wednesday’s practice at the Caesars Superdome,the first-year coach told reporters that Rattler and rookie Tyler Shough will play against the Broncos In the meantime,the battle continued —withRattler taking advantage of the first-team reps. He looked sharp as the afternoon practice went on, notably hitting Chris Olave for a25-yard touchdown in atwo-minute drill. Perhapseven more notable, Rattler received the majority of snaps with the starters. Shough rotated in with the first team but only for one series instead of the several that previously had taken place.

“Welove to compete,” Rattler

said. “If you don’tlove to compete, then you shouldn’tbethe QB. So we all lovetocompete.”

Eventhoughthe Saints haven’t nameda starter, Moorehas used this week to simulate preparation forthe regularseason. Moore said theSaints held practice at the Superdome, for instance, to get used to theturf andthe stadium beyond what they’vealready experienced in the preseason. And that’swhy Thursday’spractice will be lighter, representing atypical Friday session before aSunday game. Even the Saints’ workload on Wednesday looked slightly differentthan usual. Mooreincorporated more exotic plays and packages,the kinds that they’d typically introduce to catch an opponent off guard in theregular season. In team drills,Moore hadthe first-team offense go against the second-team defense and the second-teamoffense go against the first-team defense. The early portionsofcamp,bycontrast,primarilyfeatured the1’s vs. the1’s Of the quarterbacks, Rattler displayed themost consistency After aslow start that saw him go 0for 4inseven-on-seven drills, the second-year signal-caller found a groove —including completinghis first 10 passes in 11-on-11 drills In onesituation, Rattler got the Saints into field goal range witha nice pair of completions. Later,to setupthe 25-yard strike to Olave, Rattler methodically moved the Saints down thefieldonaneightplay series. Shough’sperformance resembled hisouting from Sunday’s tie against theJacksonville Jaguars He wasn’tbad by any means, but he lacked thesplashyplays that could have helped createseparation in the team’scompetition. Whenworking with the2’s,the unit allowed several penalties and pressures to disrupt his rhythm Near the end of practice, he led a 10-play drive with just 1:12 on the clock to set up a58-yard field goal from CharlieSmyth.Shough managed to get theSaints into scoring territory,despite afew errant throws and apair of sacks. Here were the numbers from the afternoon (11-on-11 only): Rattler:18-21 (141-206 overall)

Jake Haener: 2-3 (80-118)

Asked whether he viewed the quarterback competition as close as Moore does, Rattler said “that’s not up to me.” He also said that he feels good and wants to keep building on his progress.

“It’sjust good competition with all of us,” Rattler said.

Email Matthew Parasatmatt. paras@theadvocate.com

Garrettavoidsticketquestions, focuseson Browns defense

BY JOE REEDY AP sportswriter

BEREA, Ohio Myles Garrett was expected to become amore vocal leader for the Cleveland Browns after signing afour-year contract extension worth $204.8 million in March. However,Garrett was quiet in his first comments sincepicking up his eighth speeding ticket since being drafted by the Brownsin 2017.

“I’d honestly rather talk about football and this team than anything I’m doing off field other than the back to school event that Idid the other day,” Garrett said on Wednesday Garrett was asked acoupleof other times about being cited for driving aFerrari 100 mphona suburban Cleveland interstate on Aug. 9. It got contentious when the All-Pro defensive end wasasked what kind of leadership it showed to be pulled over for speeding shortly after the Browns came back from aroad game.

“I’ve answered it two different times. I’m going to need you to ask adifferent question so Ican focus on this team and not, you know, this headline you’re trying to get out of these questions you’re asking,” Garrett said.

In 2022,Garrettflipped his Porsche when he veered off arural road near his home following practice.Hesuffereda sprained shoulder,strained biceps, cutsand bruises in the wreck and was cited for failure to control hisvehicle and unsafe speed.Hemissed one game because of the accident. When it comestoon-field matters, Garrett said he has noticed he has more leeway and aplatform to lead during this training camp. That has included conversations with the coaching staff about the flow of the day’spractices and what is beingaccomplished.

SAINTS

Continued from page1C

While Sanker patrolled the deep portionsofthe field formuchof the game, he hadacoupleofopportunities to show offthe physical play style that drew the Saints to him in the firstplace.

There wasthe play early in the third quarter when,facing a third and 8, Jaguars quarterback Nick Mullens saw receiver Austin

Garrettalsonoted the changes have been more self driven instead of coming from coaches or ownership.

“I’ve heard that frommultiple accountswith some players and coaches about the bit of astyle changeI’ve had of this year and beinga bitmoreminutewiththe attention Igiveand thedetails that Ibring, making sure theguys are bringing that same detail to thegame and everybody being on thesame page,” hesaid.

“It’sgoingtogoasfar as Iwant it to go andwe’re only strong as the weakest link. Ifeel like I’ve got to continue to improve and find away toelevate my teammates, not just myself.”

Coach KevinStefanski said Garrett’sleadership is another step in hisgrowthasaplayer

“He’sseen alot in his career

He’sbeenwith abunch of different teammates and learned from those teammates. So Ithink he’s just aplayer that’scontinuing to evolve and certainlyhis leadership’s beenabig part of whowe are around here,” Stefanski said.

“So he’ssomebody that Irely on, his teammates rely on andthat’s something that he embraces.”

Despite Cleveland going3-14

Trammell open underneath with nobody on him. Trammellwas the inside receiver in atrips formation, andJacksonvilletried to clear apath for him by running an inbreaking route with the receiver immediately to hisright. It would have worked, had it not been for Sanker’srecognition.

He read what was happening, cut underneath receiver Joshua Cephus’ digroute and arrived just as Trammellcaughtthe ball. Sanker knocked thereceiver off his feet a yard shyofthe first-down marker,

last season, Garretthad 14 sacks and finished third in AP Defensive Player of theYear voting. He also became the first player since sacksbecameanofficial statistic in 1982 to have four straight seasons withatleast 14. Garrett’smain focus is trying to get the Browns defense back on track. Cleveland hadthe league’s stingiest unit in 2023, allowing only 270.2 yards pergame but was 19th last season at 342.1 ypg.

“I thinkthere were lapses in focus and discipline when we needed to be sharper,”hesaid. “Whether that was in here or on thefield.I think that it kind of leaksout. How youare every dayishow youare when you need to be that person.

Ithink how we’ve tightened up the ship andwe’vesharpenedeverything, Ithink we’ll continue to get better,and we’ll show not only glimpses but thatwewere and are that 2023 team.”

Garrett and the rest of the starters are expected to see acouple of series in Saturday’s preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams. He didn’tplay in the first twogames after taking part in the joint workoutsagainst the Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles.

forcing afourth down.

“(Defensive coordinator Brandon) Staley really emphasized the physicality andjust howthat has to be theidentity, not just of the defense but the wholeteam,” Sanker said. “… Ithink Idid a pretty good jobtoday,just being physical

“Just having that mindset of no onecan blockme, whether it’s a singleblock or double team. Just having that mentality everytime I’m on thefield ultimately leads to youbeing able to physically im-

Shough: 5-11 (114-187)

DenverBroncos wide receiver Devaughn Vele takes partin drills on July 28 at training camp in Centennial, Colo. The Broncos traded Vele to the Saints on Wednesday.

Saints tradewith Broncos, pick up size at receiver

New Orleansoverthe last two-plus years. Now,the pipeline goes the other waywith Vele heading to the Saints.

The New Orleans Saints finally got somesize at wide receiver,but it cost themdraftpicks.

The Saints announced theyacquired wideout Devaughn Vele fromthe Denver Broncos on Wednesday,giving them a6-foot5, 210-pound target to help in the passing game. In exchange, the Saintstradeda 2026 fourth-round pickand a2027 seventh-round selection to the Broncos. New Orleans’ acquisition of Vele marks the team’ssecond trade in recent days. On Sunday,the Saints sentdefensive tackle Khalen Saunders to theJacksonville Jaguars in exchange forcenter Luke Fortner

Thedeals also coincidentally happenedwith their preseason opponents:The Saintsplayedthe Jaguars last Sunday and are set to host theBroncos on Saturday Former Saintscoach Sean Paytonnow coaches in Denver,and theBroncos have brought on many players and coaches from

pose your will.” Later in the game, Sanker showed offhis physicalityand play recognition again. This time, with the Jaguars driving into Saints’ territory with alittle more thansix minutes remaining in the third quarter,Sanker saw ascreen pass develop to the same side of thefield where the Saints were sending acorner blitz.

He shotlike abolttothe play, detonating theplayermeanttobe thelead blocker (receiver Trenton Irwin) and driving him back into

The Broncos moved off of Vele after just one season. But for a seventh-round pick ayear ago, the 27-year-old hada productive rookie season with 41 catches for 475 yards and three touchdowns.

The Saints were notably small in their wide receiver room.Asof late May,they were one of just two teams not to have awideout taller than 6-2.

It wasadeparture from how the Saints have operated whenMichaelThomas,for instance, was the big go-to option for former quarterback Drew Brees. NowVeleprovidesalarge target. The Broncos quarterbacks had a74.5% completion rate when targeting him last season. Eleven of his 12 third-down catches moved thechains. Allthreeofhis touchdowns came in the red zone. Email Matthew Parasatmatt. paras@theadvocate.com

Trammell, who fell to the ground fora1-yard gain. Reid loved seeing that.

“It gets me fired up because I was talking to him allweek about running through people’s faces the whole week,” Reid said. “... On that screen playheran through that guy and put him intohis own man. He had anumber of plays just showing his physicality and tenaciousness.”

Email Luke Johnsonat ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

CFP will limit benefits

of beating weaker foes

BY ERIC OLSON AP college football writer

The College Football Playoff selection committee announced Wednesday it will place more emphasis on strength of schedule this year when determining which teams make the 12-team field.

The committee said in a statement that the schedule strength metric has been adjusted to apply greater weight to games against strong opponents. An additional metric, record strength, has been added to go beyond a team’s schedule strength to assess how a team performed against that schedule.

“This metric rewards teams defeating high-quality opponents while minimizing the penalty for losing to such a team,” the committee said. “Conversely, these changes will provide minimal reward for defeating a lower-quality opponent while imposing a greater penalty for losing to such a team.”

The adjustment to the evaluation process comes after some

in the Southeastern Conference complained about last season’s inclusion of — at the time of selections — an 11-2 SMU of the Atlantic Coast Conference over a 9-3 Alabama or even a 9-3 South Carolina or 9-3 Mississippi.

SMU’s losses were to an unranked BYU and a ranked Clemson in the ACC championship game. Alabama had bad losses against Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, both .500 at the time, but also had wins over a secondranked Georgia, No. 21 Missouri and No. 14 LSU.

Prompted by concerns about how teams that don’t play in conference championship games are judged, the committee reviewed the movement of idle teams from the second-to-last ranking to final ranking. The selection committee reaffirmed that movement in the final week should be evidence-based and did not recommend creating a formal policy prohibiting such movement.

The committee also updated its policy on recusal of selection

TULANE

Continued from page 1C

last 6 inches before contact and you can see them get faster. Jack, those last 6 inches, he takes that air on fast.”

Transferring to Tulane was an easy decision for Tchienchou because he loved playing for Sumrall, calling him a playersfirst coach. Sumrall returned the compliment, noting he almost burned Tchienchou’s redshirt at Troy because of his special-teams prowess.

“it’s been fun to see Jack mature and grow,” Sumrall said. “He has an opportunity to make a huge impact He’s got a little bounce about him. He’s confident. He’s smart. He has positive energy He affects other people in a good way.”

Lagniappe

Quarterback Jake Retzlaff looked sharp again in Wednesday morning’s practice at Yulman Stadium, continuing a good week as he tries to secure the starting job. How competitive is Tulane’s running back competition? Talented redshirt freshman Jamauri McClure, who averaged 6.1 yards on 20 carries a year ago, practiced with the scout team for the second consecutive day while Maurice Turner, Arnold Barnes, Zuberi Mobley and freshman Javin Gordon worked with the regular offense. The last 15 minutes of practice involved conditioning sprints for the entire team under the hot sun. Sumrall said backup offensive lineman Mitch Hodnett, who got hurt early in Saturday’s scrimmage, had a high ankle sprain and would be out anywhere from a week to four weeks.

Buckeyes seek to create a new legacy during ’25

BY JOE REEDY AP sportswriter

COLUMBUS, Ohio Ohio State coach Ryan Day has tried to make one thing clear: This season’s team is the 2025 Buckeyes, not the defending national champions.

“The team we have currently wants to leave their own legacy They’ve made that clear,” Day said. “We’ve said before that we’re not defending national champions because we’re not defending anything. They can’t take the trophy away but we’re looking to add to it and winning a championship with this team.”

The third-ranked Buckeyes go into their Aug. 30 titanic matchup against No. 1 Texas a much different squad than the one that beat Notre Dame to win the program’s eighth national championship. They had 14 players selected in the NFL draft in April, tied for the most in program history and one off the all-time mark held by Georgia in 2023.

Ohio State also lost both coordinators. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly went to the Las Vegas Raiders and Jim Knowles became the highest-paid defensive coordinator in college football with his move to No. 2 Penn State.

grow and build. But there’s no time. I mean, you got to win now,” Day said. “The best players play and that’s the way we look at it. But as you know, we want to make sure we want to have the best players in the country, developing them and retaining them, because that’s how you keep a culture in place.” Smith will continue to generate plenty of attention after having 76 receptions for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns last season. That should give more opportunities for junior Carnell Tate, who had 52 catches last year Purdue transfer Max Klare should also factor into the passing attack as a good underneath option.

Lining them up

Defensive line coach Larry Johnson has had the most daunting task of the preseason with the departure of all four starters, who were drafted in the first five rounds.

The defensive line has plenty of bodies, including defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr and defensive tackle Kayden McDonald. Johnson’s biggest concern has been finding a group that can play cohesively Defensive end Eddrick Houston has been dealing with a leg injury, but could be ready against Texas.

committee members.

A member will be fully recused from the evaluation of a team if he or she receives direct compensation from the school in question or has an immediate family member who is a football player, football staff member or senior administrator at the school. A fully recused member is not allowed to participate in any deliberations or vote concerning that school

A member will be partially recused if he or she has a secondary relationship with the school in question, such as an immediate family member employed by the institution but outside of the football program or senior administration. A partially recused member may remain present and participate in discussions related to the team in question but is not allowed to participate in votes involving the team.

The selection committee will release its five weekly Top 25 rankings on Nov 4. The final rankings and playoff field will be announced Dec. 7.

The Buckeyes’ cupboard though is far from empty Sophomore Jeremiah Smith established himself as one of the top wide receivers in college football last year and safety Caleb Downs is projected as a top five pick in next year’s draft. Sayin takes over at QB Sophomore Julian Sayin will be responsible getting the ball to Smith and the rest of the Buckeyes’ skill players. Day said Sayin has been very accurate passing as well as being quick in his decision making.

Lincoln Kienholz will back up Sayin, but Day said he expects the junior to get playing time throughout the season.

Day would like to continue to develop quarterbacks throughout all four years, but he has realized the game has changed.

“In a perfect world, we would love to recruit high school players, develop them in the program for a few years and then watch them

“We’re not worrying about how many reps they haven’t had, how many games they haven’t played The whole idea is to get them ready to play one game and hope we can carry from there,” Johnson said.

Believe it or not

Ohio State has a national championship and two trips to the College Football Playoff since 2021, but it hasn’t won a Big Ten title the past four seasons.

The last time the Buckeyes went that long without a conference championship was the six years from 1987 through 1992.

The schedule

After the opener against Texas, the most-anticipated games will be Nov 1 against No. 2 Penn State and Nov 29 at 14th-ranked Michigan. Also not to be overlooked is an Oct. 11 trip to No. 12 Illinois. The Buckeyes open Big Ten play on Sept. 27 at Washington.

going 10-2 and a CFP berth.

GLENN GUILBEAU • TIGER RAG Record: 10-2

season goes along and contend for a CFP spot that will keep everyone in Baton Rouge happy for the holidays. Hey, maybe they even host the first December playoff game in Tiger Stadium this year

REED DARCEY • THE ADVOCATE

Record: 9-3

Give Kelly credit: It looks like he’s put together the deepest, most talented roster LSU has had since 2019. Will it pick up nine wins or 10? Or 11? Tough road trips to Clemson and Alabama, plus a sneaky difficult game at Oklahoma, are making it hard to find more than nine.

CORY DIAZ • GANNETT LOUISIANA

Record: 9-3

The offensive line is young and LSU will drop three games most of those likely on the road in crazy environments — because of some missteps upfront. I do think LSU sneaks in the CFP as one of the final at-large teams.

JACQUES DOUCET • WAFB

Record: 10-2

LSU could have a really good team and still lose the first game. If that happens, let’s not panic. I do think this is Kelly’s best roster overall with the least amount of holes. In Nuss we trust. I’m

LSU athletic director Scott Woodward shocks the world the day before the No. 9 Tigers open at No. 4 Clemson by proactively proclaiming LSU national champions of 2025, borrowing a page from Auburn athletic director John Cohen’s Burnt Orange Linings Playbook. LSU makes Woodward look wayward by falling 27-13. But this movie’s not over LSU recovers and wins the rest, except for a 27-24 loss at Alabama, to finish 10-2 and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Kelly showers the media with receipts and says, “See you at the national championship.”

MATT MOSCONA WNXX-FM Record: 11-2

This is by far Kelly’s deepest and most talented team, which includes the best quarterback in the country The defense will finish top 20 for the first time since 2017. Opening at Clemson is a steep hill to climb, and I think the Tigers drop another opener But after that, I think they finish 7-1 in the SEC and beat Texas in the SEC championship game, clinching a berth in the 12-team CFP

KOKI RILEY • THE ADVOCATE Record: 10-3 LSU makes the CFP with a 10-3 record, including a loss to Texas

Ohio State defensive back Caleb Downs plays against Marshall during a game on Sept. 21 in Columbus, Ohio.

in the SEC championship game. Losses against Clemson and Alabama will prevent LSU from earning a strong seed in the field, but big wins over Florida, Texas A&M, South Carolina and Oklahoma push it into the CFP

GLEN WEST • GEAUX247.COM

Record: 10-2

sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/ lsunewsletter

Winover non-vegetable eaters by starting with zucchini zoodles

Powerpersuade LIVING

April Hamilton uses a device to prepare zucchini noodles,orzoodles, for her Zucchini Carbonara. See therecipe on PAGE 2D

BY APRIL HAMILTON| Contributingwriter

Arecent best friend/houseguestobserved me prepping dinner and said, “nozucchini for me, thanks.”

Iwent about my business knowing Ihad awin up my sleeve. Itake pride in converting almost anyone into avegetable devotee, askill Ihoned teaching hundreds of kids to cook in libraries, classrooms and church kitchens. Step one: Letthem have ahand in thepreparation andtheir interest piques. Step two: Incorporate theveggies intoafamiliar favorite and the “I loveit!” odds increase. They often come back for seconds.

First you need aZoodler.Thisisamade-up word for a device that spins vegetables into spaghetti-like strands.I heard about this conceptyears ago and laugheditoff as a fad. How is it possible for asimple countertop appliance to do such afeat?

ä See ZUCCHINI, page 2D

OODLES OF ZOODLE USES

n Toss themraw witha drizzle of oliveoil, lemonjuice and asprinkle of salt and pepper fora quick side salad

n Add halved grape tomatoes, tiny mozzarella balls and ashoweroffreshbasil to theabove, subbing balsamic vinegarfor the lemonjuice, fora nice caprese ‘pasta’

n Subtheminorsupplementaramen bowl

n Add themtochicken noodle soup

n Givethemthe oliveoil, garlic and crushed redpepper treatmentfor aspin on theclassic Spaghetti aglio eolio

n Slurp themlikespaghetti

n Makethis version of carbonara

n Repeat, trying out otherveggies with the spiralizertreatment.

Broilermakes forquick pork kabobs

BY LINDAGASSENHEIMER Tribune News Service (TNS)

For aquick and easybarbecuestyle dinner,Iprepared these flavorful pork kabobs under the broilerinstead of on the grill. They cook in just minutes but still deliver that deliciously charred taste. Asimple saucemade from honey,mustard, and soy sauce adds aperfect balance of sweet and tangyflavors. It’sused both to glaze the pork and as adipping sauce on the side. To round out this easy summer meal, Ipaired the kabobs with cornonthe cob, quickly cookedinthe microwave for ano-fuss finish.

BY LINDAGASSENHEIMER

Readingthe fine print

Dear Heloise: I, too, have an issue reading the small copy on containers at the grocery store, so Iuse my cellphone to enlarge the copy.At5feet, 1 inch tall, Ialso have ahard time seeing the price labels on the top shelves. Over time, these labels tend to curl upward, so Itake a quick photoand just delete it when I’m finished. —Lucia, via email

Mobile gardening

Trust, spaceand sisterly grace

Hints from Heloise

Dear Heloise: Iread the letter about gardening from Lester,where he talked

aboutdiggingholes. Ialso hadmykneereplaced,so now Iuse oneof those big exercise balls while gardening. Not only can you move around easier, youcan getupeasier than you can from astool, which was what Iused before Ialso use it when Ineed to get into cabinets that are low to the ground Youget theaddedbenefitof strengthening yourcore as well. —Janet J.,via email Depositbox warning Dear Heloise: Safety deposit boxes maybedifficult to

access in theevent of someone’sdeath. It may take several monthsormore for access to be granted tothe estate administrator.You may not want toinclude it in the instructions for actionsthat should be done quickly after adeath.

Iwas an executor in one case where the relatives also had access to the box but lived in aforeign country Due to COVID, theycould not have the United States Embassy notarize adocument thatcould grant me access. —RolfTandberg,via email Send ahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

ZUCCHINI

Continued from page1D

Istood my ground and carried on with my normal way of making spaghetti and such and chopping vegetables the old-fashioned way before roasting or sauteing them. For aborn-in-the-kitchen cooking enthusiast, Ihave an uncanny knack for resisting the next ‘viral’ kitchen gadget. Plus, my food truck-sized kitchen has no space for excess. When my daughter came home from college and parked all but her necessities herebefore setting sail forother horizons, Iscanned the contents of her overstuffed kitchen bin for treasure.With equal parts reluctance and curiosity,Iextracted her Veggetti Pro from the bin. After teaching myself how to use the contraption, Ichanged my tune to believer.Inseconds,one zucchini becomes aserving of vegetables posing as pasta, making actual twirlable noodles from ahumble squash. Pure magic. I served aheaping plate to my “no thanks” houseguest and stifled my glee as he praisedthe dish. Isuggested that certainly his wife with enviable kitchen storage has one of these spiralizers. Ilater confirmed this and urged her to give it

SALAD

Continued from page1D

afront-row seat. Whether you are tryingto addmore veggies to your plateorlimit your traditional pastaintake for dietary reasons, Iurgeyou to dust offthe spiralizer in the back ofthe cabinetand employits wizardry daily.Or if youare like me andhave avoided this tool, Ideclare it asoundinvestment.For less than the price of atrip to the drive-thru,you can whittle summer abundance into pure gold.

Zucchini Carbonara

Makes 4servings. You will not miss thepastain this dish. Twirlable green noodlesare cloaked with thetraditional golden sauce of pancetta,egg andlots of Parmesan.Add some crusty breadonthe side 4large-ishzucchini

1tablespoon olive oil

4ounces diced pancetta, raw bacon or guanciale 1egg plus 2egg yolks, whisked together in aglass measuring cup 1cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided use ¼teaspoon each saltand pepper

1. Rinse thezucchiniand trim offthe ends.Position the zucchini one by one into the spiralizer,cutting in half if necessary to fit the length of themachine. Crank out thenoodles intoa pieplate or shallow bakingdish

2. Continue until youhave spiraledall the zucchini. (It will look like way too much

but will quickly cook down into 4servings).

3. Using afork, stir 2 3 cup of the Parmesan intothe egg mixture and add the salt and pepper and mix again.

4. Heat theolive oil in a large skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium-high heat. When theoil shimmers, add the zucchini in batches to cook one thick layer at atime.

5. Stir withtongs to wilt the zucchini to al dente When each batch is done, lift it out withtongs into a waiting colander placedon adeep plate to catch the liquid. Each batch will cook in afew minutes.

6. Cook the pancetta in a large Dutchovenovermedium heat until browned. Add thecooked zucchini and use tongs to combine andheat through.

7. Turn the burner off and slowly pourthe egg-cheese mixture intothe zucchini mixture,turning constantly with tongs to coat thenoodles with the sauce. The heat from the pan will cook theegg intoacreamysauce.

8. Divide among 4bowls, sprinkle each with extra Parmesan andserve with crusty bread if desired. Note in atraditionalpreparation of this dish, some of the starchy pasta water is added back in to make the sauce. Since the zoodles do not absorb any of the sauce, be sure to strain off theliquid after sauteing.

Dear Annie: My fiancé, “Mark,” and Ihave been together for four years and are settoget married next spring. We live together in asmall house we bought last fall. For the mostpart, things are good. Butlately, something’s been bothering me. Mark has aweekly “guys’ night” every Thursday with his two best friends from college. It used to be every other week, but now it’s weekly,and sometimes even more often. I’ve asked if Icould come by to say aquick hello or drop something off, and he always says not to —it’s their “tradition.”

set aside.

2. Meanwhile heat oliveoil in skillet,add chickenand cook 5minutes until golden brown. Removetoaplate. 3. Add celery andtomatoes to theskillet and cook 2 to 3minutes. Add broth and bring it to simmer 4. Return chicken to the skillet.Add drained penne.

Toss well. Add salt andpeppertotaste. Remove from theheat and add the mayonnaise. Mix well.

5. Place one cup of lettuce leaves each on the center of 2dinner plates.Divide the chickensalad in half and place on topofthe lettuce. Sprinkle scallions andbasil on top. NUTRITION INFO PERSERVING: 565 calories (28 percent from fat), 17.5 gfat (2.8 g saturated, 5.2g monounsat-

of your peace of mind. If you haven’talready,you need to tell him how this is affecting you. Keep your tone curious, not accusatory.Try something like, “I felt alittle leftout after Thursday night. Iknow it’syour guys’ time, but I’ve been feeling uneasy and just wanted to talk about it.” That kind of approach invites honesty without putting him on the defensive.

LastThursday,Ifound a receipt in the laundry from awine bar downtown. He told me they were at Jake’s house playing cards. When Iasked about the receipt, he brushed it off and said they stopped there first, which he “forgot” to mention Ihaven’tseen anything else suspicious, but it’s starting tofeel like I’m being excluded on purpose. Am Ioverreacting, or should Itrust my gut? —Future Mrs. or Fool?

Dear Future Mrs. or Fool: These don’tscream red flags —maybe orange but it’s smart totrust your instincts. Mark is allowed time with his friends, but it shouldn’tcome at the cost

This doesn’thave to be about spying or catching him in alie; it’sabout feeling connected. Agood partner won’tdismiss that. And whoknows? Alittle nudge might even open the door to abetter understanding of what guys’ night is all about.

Dear Annie: My sister,“Laura,” recently moved back to townafter her divorce and has been staying with me and my husband “just foramonth” while she looks foranew apartment. That was in April. It’s now August, and she’smade no effort to moveout.

She’ssweet with our kids and helps out here and there, but she also leaves dishes in the sink, uses my clothes without asking and has basically turned our guest room into her full-timespace. Last week, Ioverheard her on the phone telling someone she’s“staying with family

indefinitely.” My husband is starting to lose patience, and honestly, so am I. But every time I try to bring up atimeline forher leaving, she gets teary and says she’s“trying” and just needs more time. Iwant to be supportive —she wentthrough a rough breakup —but I’m starting to feel like she’s taking advantage of our kindness. How do Iset aboundary without sounding cold? I love my sister,but Ialso want my home(and my closet) back. —Overdue Houseguest Dear Overdue: Sounds like your sister is lonely,heartbroken and, yes, taking advantage of your generosity.You can be supportive without letting her steamroll your lifeand your home. If you don’tspeak up, you’ll only grow more resentful —which will be tougher on everybody Have acalm conversation with her.Behonest, not harsh. Trysomething like, “I know this has been atough season foryou, and I’mglad we’ve been able to help. But we need our space back, and I’dlike us to figure out amove-out plan together.” Being clear doesn’tmake you unkind. It makes you agrown-up with afamily and ahome to protect. Send yourquestions forAnnie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.

Cigarettesmokershocksguest

Dear Miss Manners: At adinner party, my companion quietly excused herself after the meal to smoke acigarette. She went outside, over our nonsmoking hostess’sprotestationsthat inside was fine.

As Iescorted my friend outside, Iheard afellow guest,the wife of amutual acquaintance, shriek, “What? She SMOKES?” in atonethat would have been appropriate only if my companion had excused herself to

By The Associated Press

murder people or purchase heroin. Iignored it, but I felt like Ishould have said something. Is this kind of behavior going to becomeconventionally accepted as smoking is increasingly stigmatized? Gentle reader: One may have health concerns forthose close to you who smoke —orfor yourself,ifpeople smoke around you —but there are legitimate ways to express those concerns. The case you describe fits neither

TODAYINHISTORY

Today is Thursday, Aug. 21, the 233rd day of 2025. There are 132 days left in the year

Todayinhistory

On Aug. 21, 1831, Nat Turner launched aviolent slave rebellion in Virginia, resulting in thedeaths of at least 55 White people; scores of Black people were killed in retribution in the aftermath of the rebellion, and Turner was later executed.

Also on this date:

In 1858, thefirst of seven debates took place between Illinois senatorial contenders Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas.

In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci’s“Mona Lisa” was stolen from theLouvre Museum in Paris.(It was recovered two years later in Italy.)

In 1944, theUnited States, Britain,the Soviet Union and China opened talksatDumbarton Oaks in Washington that helped pave theway for establishmentofthe United Nations.

In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed aproclamation officially declaring Hawaii the 50th state.

In 1983, Filipino politician BenignoAquino Jr was assassinated as he exited an aircraft at Manila International Airport.(His widow,Corazon Aquino, would become president of thePhilippines three years later.)

In 1991, ahardline coup against Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev collapsed in the face of a popular uprising led by Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin.

In 1992, an 11-day siege began at the cabin of White separatist Randy Weaver in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, as government agents tried to arrest Weaver forfailing to appear in court on charges of selling twoillegal sawed-off shotguns; on the first day of the siege, Weaver’steenage son, Samuel, and Deputy U.S. Marshal William Degan were killed.

In 1993, in aserious setback forNASA, engineers lost contact with the Mars Observer spacecraftasit wasabout to reach the red planet on a$980 million mission.

In 2000, rescue efforts to reach the sunken Russian nuclear submarine Kursk ended with divers announcing none of the 118 sailors had survived.

In 2010, Iranian and Russian engineers began loading fuel into Iran’sfirst nuclear power plant, which Moscow promised to safeguard to prevent material at the site from being used in any potential weapons production.

In 2015, atrio of Americans, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Spencer Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and college student Anthony Sadler, and aBritish businessman, Chris Norman,tackled and disarmed aMoroccan gunman on ahigh-speed train between Amsterdam and Paris.

In 2017, Americans witnessed their first fullblowncoast-to-coast solar eclipse since World War I, with eclipse-watchers gathering along apath of totality extending 2,600 miles across the continent In 2018, Michael Cohen,

This does not, however, entitle you to borrow your companion’scigarette so that you can return to the dinner table and put it out in the rude guest’sentree. Miss Manners suggests you tell your smoking companion that you are sorry for the rudeness shown her and be grateful that at least the perpetrator was insecure enough to frame it as aloud stage whisperrather than afull-throated lecture to your companion’sface.

Sendquestions to Miss Manners at herwebsite, www.missmanners.com.

President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer,pleaded guilty to campaign-finance violations and other charges; Cohen said Trumpdirected him to arrange the paymentofhush money to porn star StormyDaniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal to fend off damage to his White House bid. (Trumpwas found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to the payments in May 2024.) In 2020, aformer police officer whobecame known as the Golden State Killer Joseph James DeAngelo, told victimsand family members in aSacramento courtroom that he was “truly sorry” before he wassentenced to multiple lifeprison sentences fora decadelong string of rapes and murders. Today’sBirthdays: Rock and Roll Hall of Famer James Burton is 86. Singer Jackie DeShannon is 84. Film director Peter Weir is 81. Football Hall of Famer Willie

LEo(July 23-Aug.22) Give andget.Take the good with thebad and turn it into something unique.Don't pay for the mistakes of others or agree to participate in someone else'sjourney if it might cost you.

VIRGo(Aug. 23-sept. 22) Keep tabs on your finances and use your skills constructivelytoensureyou enhanceyour popularity with those who can help you reach your goal. Stick with and trust those who share your values.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Take the high road. Don't let temptationwin or anyoneput you in avulnerable position. Procrastination is the enemy, and lucidity and action are the path to victory.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Youcan't change others, but you can spare yourself the grief of trying. Channel your energy into somethingconstructive. Concentrate on what will help you achieve your goal.

sAGIttARIus (nov.23-Dec. 21) Take pride in where and howyou live. Make adjustments that suit your lifestyleand help you perform at your best. Look for opportunities thatoffer achance to learn and explore new possibilities.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Don't get angry whenaction is necessary Assess the situation andtakethe steps to achieve optimal results. Direct your energy acutely, set asideyourego and do your best.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Pull everything together. Rise to the occasion,and

you'llbring aboutpositivechangesthat will surprise youand everyoneelse. A partnershiporagreementwill leadto monetary gains.

PIscEs (Feb.20-March 20) An event offering insight into anovel way to use your skills will encourage youto addupgradesthathelpyou stand out. Yourcharm andcontributionswill lead to newconnections.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Participation is essential if you want to receive valid inputonwhattodonext. Conversations with experts will help you verbalize your thoughts and enableyou to support your plans.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Avoid stubbornness and arguments with people who can affect your life.Listen carefully, andyou'll figureout who is lookingout for your best interests andwho is trying to exploit you.

GEMInI(May 21-June 20) Ahomeimprovement,office or designatedworkout space can significantly enhanceyour life. Focus your energyonresearch and expanding your knowledge,skills and interests.

cAncER(June 21-July 22) Thinkbig,but budgetwisely. Keep arecordofwhat youeat,drink andspend. Too much of anything can be detrimental, physically,emotionally andfinancially

Thehoroscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. ©2025 by nEa, inc., dist. By andrewsmcmeel syndication

Sudoku

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

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

By PHILLIPALDER

Pleasepermit me to show you one of my favorite deals. It occurred in 1968 while Iwas in high school,playing in a duplicateatthe Newport Bridge Club in Monmouthshire, England (now Gwent, Wales). Iwas partnering with one of our school bridge team, Tony Disley.

Iopenedone no-trump, showing 12-14 points. (Yes, this was aslight underbid; it wouldhave been reasonable to callthis a 15-point hand.) Since we were not using transferbids,DisleyemployedStayman, then optimistically raised two spades to four spades. (Of course, if he had invited with threespades, Iwould have gone on to game.)

Westledtheclubqueen.HowdidIplan the play?

With threetop losers, at first glance, Ineeded the heart finesse to win. But then Isaw amuchbetter line. Iwon the first trick on the board and calledfor the diamond jack. East rushed in with theace andreturned aclub (not that it mattered).

Iwon on the board, played adiamond to my king, and led the spade queen. Now Westerred by playing her king. Eastgroaned while winning with her ace and led another club, but Iruffed, drew the missing trump, and claimed an overtrick. Dummy’s heart loser went on my diamond queen. Afterward,Ilookedattheotherresults. At every table, North made two spades with only one overtrick. Perhaps all of the Easts led aheart at trick one, but I doubt it.

©2025 by nEa, inc., dist.Byandrews mcmeel syndication

EachWuzzleisa word riddle which creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example:nOOn gOOD =gOOD aFTErnOOn

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four lettersbythe addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,”are not allowed. 3. additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

toDAy’s WoRD WALtZInG: WALT-zing: Ballroom dancing in 3/4 time.

Averagemark22words

Timelimit 40 minutes

Can you find 33 or more words in WALTZING?

yEstERDAy’sWoRD —nEGLEcts

dIrectIons: make a2-to 7-letterword from the letters in each row.add points of each word, using scoring directions at right.Finally 7-letterwords get 50-point bonus. “Blanks”used as any letter have no point value. all the words are in the Official sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5thEdition.

kenken

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

Puzzle Answer

the

TheAdvocate August 14, 2025 andAugust21, 2025 andAugust28,

R.S.38:2212. Bids maybe withdrawnorrevised by thebidderprior to bid opening. Bids mayonly be withdrawnafter bid openingdue to patently obvious, unintentional, andsubstantial mechani‐cal, clerical,ormathe‐maticalerrors, or errors of unintentionalomis‐sion ofasubstantial quantity of work,labor material,orservices made directly in the compilationofthe bid, if clearand convincing sworn, writtenevidence of such errors is fur‐nished to thepublicen‐tity within48 hoursofbid openinginaccordance with La.R.S.38:2214. LOCALADVERTISEMENTS This advertisementwill be publishedinthe fol‐lowing periodicals: PERIODICAL(S): DATE:

ANNUAL MIDPOINT PARADE ROLLS SATURDAy page 6

Inaugural Vintage Fest in the French Quarter page 4

A twisty Sherlock takes the stage page 8

don’t miss don’t miss don’t miss

pontchartrain home show

Find information and displays about things for home renovation, decoration and more from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Pontchartrain Center on Williams Boulevard in Kenner near the lake. The Langenstein’s Food Fest features samples, tastings and coupons plus a chance to win a grocery giveaway Tickets are $8. jaaspro.com.

bourbon & bubbles

Libations of all sorts will be the order of the day at this New Orleans Wine & Food Experience event on the northshore. Savor 40 handcrafted bourbons, 25 sparkling wines and tasty noshes from local restaurants under the canopy of oaks from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at The Greenwood, 75082 La. 25, Covington. Tickets are $100. nowfe.com.

na split celebration

The cool benefit raising funds for the Northshore Food ank will feature original recipes from Hoodoo Ice Cream from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday t the American Legion Post 16, 2031 Ronald Reagan Highway, Covington. Donations of boxed or canned food is encouraged. Tickets are $8 at the door. facebook.com.

uno tournament

It isn’t the University of New Orleans but the popular card game. Multiple rounds with groups of five will play at various tables starting at 6 p.m. Thursday at Urban South Brewery, 1645 Tchoupitoulas St. urbansouth.com.

ABOUT LAGNIAPPE

The Lagniappe section is published each Thursday by The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate. All inquiries about Lagniappe should be directed to the editor.

LAGNIAPPE EDITOR: Annette Sisco, asisco@theadvocate.com

COVER DESIGN: Andrea Daniel

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Victor Andrews, Will Coviello, Doug MacCash, Justin Mitchell, Keith Spera

GET LISTED IN LAGNIAPPE

Submit events to Lagniappe at least two weeks in advance by sending an email to events@theadvocate.com.

ON THE COVER

The Krewe of O.A.K. hosts its Midsummer Mardi Gras parade in the Carrollton neighborhood Sunday. Photo by Sophia Germer. Doug MacCash has the details on Page 6.

food food food

SunChong’s Korean fare with Cajuntwist worththe hype

BY JUSTIN MITCHELL Staff writer

The New Orleans restaurant Iarguablysee the most in my social media feeds is Sun Chong, the Asian fusion restaurant serving classic Korean fare with aCajun twist in the heart of the French Quarter.

The Larry Morrow restaurant is atestament to his grandmother Sun Chong, and you can find her in the kitchenasthe mastermind behind the recipes that make up the menu of smallplatesand family-style entrees.

The vibes inside arean influencer’sdream: Large warehouse style windows allow light to pour in great for takingfood photos and videos. The decor is modern butstill anod to classic New Orleans. The leather barstools were oversized and the tables along the back wall were perfect for our larger group.

The first appetizer we sampled was the gumbo dumplings.

STAFF PHOTOSByJUSTINMITCHELL

The edamame, fromleft,gumbo dumplingand bulgogi are among the offerings at Sun Chong in NewOrleans.

Iwas literally expecting adark roux gumbo stuffedinside of asoupdumpling. But Iwas pleasantlysurprisedatthe presentation. Aseafood broth satbelow the plump dumpling, filled withseasoned pork with classicAsian flavors.

The dumpling waswellseasoned,and the perfectly brown seafood rouxtiedinthe Cajun flavor to the classic Chinese dish.

We also gotthe edamame drenchedinagochujang vinaigrette andtoppedwithsesame seeds. Theperfectly steamed bean pods werepaired with aspicy red sauce foragreat kick

Thetwo standout dishesofour meal werethe Neno friedchickenand sizzling bulgogi plate.

The Korean spiced legs andthigh wereserved piping hot, andeveryonewho tried it just kept saying, “Oh, my God,”after each bite. My friend Seth called me thenextday just to unpack theentree again. Iordered theBulgogi, andthe thin-sliced beef with asweet sauce andfresh green onions was 100/10.

Theservice wasimpeccable, andweleftwithfull bellies andfuzzy hearts

Sun Chong is 100% worththe hype.

Email Justin Mitchell at justin.mitchell@ theadvocate.com.

events events events

PAST FROM THE LASTB

Over 40 vendors kick off Vintage Festival Saturday in the French Quarter

BY WILL COVIELLO Gambit Weekly

Chris Olsen grew up around antiques in upstate New York. His father liked to buy and restore them. But he got into the vintage business after he noticed a spike in interest during the pandemic.

“During COVID, there was a boom in vintage,” Olsen said. “People in their 20s and 30s were sitting home with a lot of cash. First sneakers got too expensive, so people moved on to T-shirts. The famous Grateful Dead Lithuania shirt from when they sponsored the Lithuanian basketball teams in the ’90s — they were going for $600. They became collectibles, like baseball cards or things like that.”

Quarter. And this week, he and his wife, Megan Olsen, kick off the first Louisiana Vintage Festival on Saturday at the House of Blues.

LOUISIANA VINTAGE FEST

The fest will feature more than 40 vendors, plus music highlighted by Joshua Starkman, and other attractions, like photo booths and portrait artists.

WHEN: noon to 6 p.m. Saturday; early admission is 10:30 a.m. to noon. WHERE: House of Blues, 225 Decatur St. TICKETS: Advance, $10 at some local businesses; $20.85 and up via ticketmaster.com.

INFORMATION: louisianavintagefestival. com.

Olsen later opened the shops Swamp Rags and Vice & Graft for curated used goods in the French

The Olsens have lived in the Quarter for most of the last dozen years. Originally, they opened Swamp Rags on St. Louis Street, and it focused on clothes from the ’80s and ’90s. Then they opened Vice & Graft on Royal Street, where they focus on curated vintage clothes, from the ’70s back to the Victorian era. Both shops are operating out of 927 Royal St. until they find a new location for Swamp Rags.

As they’ve delved into the world of vintage, they’ve traveled to vintage shows, which can be quite large in some cities.

“There are huge vintage festivals all over the country,” Olsen said. “There’s one called ThriftCon, and that’s sort of a traveling one There’s one in Massachusetts and a bunch in New York City. They always skip New Orleans. We have sold at festivals before in Houston and Atlanta. Those festivals will pull in 10,000 people, and everyone is traveling to them.”

They decided to create an event in New Orleans but make it more like festivals here.

Instead of a massive convention center type of space, they wanted to hold it in the French Quarter. At House of Blues, they’re filling six rooms, from The Parish and main club room to the outdoor

spaces. Starkman is the headliner, and there’s also music from Becky Lynn Blanca and Allay Earhart, as well as DJs. Burlesque dancer Bella Blue will perform as well.

Most of the vendors are local, but some are coming from Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Pensacola, Florida. Many fill different niches of vintage clothes and collectibles, but there also will be some who rework pieces, like dyeing fabrics or creating new pieces.

Photo opportunities at the fest include set-up backdrops and Polaroids, and a photography vendor will be onsite.

Email Will Coviello at wcoviello@ gambitweekly.com.

events events events

ABOVE: 2024 KingRobustus XXXVIII AndrewQuaidmarches in the KreweofO.A.K.’s Midsummer Mardi Gras parade.

LEFT: Nicole ‘Nikki’ Miner performs with TAPDAT dance krewe in 2024.

STAFFFILE PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER

Theescape great

Saturday’s sweaty Midsummerparadesatirizes recent jailbreakwiththe theme‘To Easy LOL’

tThe Krewe of O.A.K.’s MidsummerMardi Gras parade will help revelers escape the heat on Saturday night in the Carrolltonneighborhood. OK, not really.But the risqué, irreverent processionmay temporarily help them escape the dreariness of the dog days, anyway

Lucha Krewe dances with spectators in 2024.

Escapeisthe whole point of this year’stheme: “ToEasyLOL.”

That was thetaunting, misspelled scribbleleft behind in ajailcellby the10inmates who broke out of the Orleans Justice Center in May.Despite the gravity of the ongoing event, Midsummer Mardi Gras parade organizerspredict that some of the marchers may costume as tongue-in-cheek fugitives.

The parade, which dates back to 1986, began as abar crawl in the Carrollton neighborhood, staged at the halfway point between the lastMardi Gras and the next. Over the years, it has blossomed into a complete Carnival foot parade,with more than 1,000 marchers and morethan adozen dance troupes, marching clubs and bands.

The Midsummer Mardi Grasparade serves as adistraction during the annual hurricane anxiety season. According to parade organizer Rachael Ar-

Theparadinggroup’sname, Krewe of O.A.K., is both areference to thelocation of its headquarters, the Maple Leaf Bar on Oak Street, andalso its underlying ethos, which is “outrageous andkinky.” At 6:30 p.m. Saturday, krewedignitaries (is dignitaries really therightword?) will address parade participants andthe gathering crowd from thebalconyof the Maple Leaf, 8316 Oak St.

rington, the2005 parade took place on theSaturday beforeHurricane Katrina struck on Monday. It is rememberedasa small affair,presided over by that year’sking, the artist known as Frenchy. Arrington said that no special commemoration of the20th anniversary is planned.

At 7p.m., the procession will begin flowingtoward South Carrollton Avenue, where it will rambletothe right. Theparadewill execute aU-turnatFreret Streetand continuealong South Carrollton in the opposite direction,all the way to Spruce Street, where it will U-turnonce again. Theparade will return to Oak Street, where it will turn right, continuing to Joliet Street where astreet party will commence, with entertainmentbyteen pianist River Eckert.

Theparade, which previouslyU-turnedatCohn Street, will be two blocks longerthisyear.

Among the highlights of the39th Midsummer

Mardi Grasparadeare the Muff-a-Lottas, Jamettes, WeatherGirls, Sassyracs,Lucha Krewe andother dance groups, plus contingents fromthe Krewe of Tucksand Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus, and music by the Young Lions drum line,and TamojuntoBraziliandrum line.

Email Doug MacCashatdmaccash@theadvocate. com.

Spectators pose in costume relevant to the 2024 theme.

stages stages stages

A beginning twist at the

ANew Orleans premiere and aworldpremiere are waiting in the wings as fall gets rolling with theatrical stories, from classic Sherlock Holmes to ahomespun musical about football.

The only real mystery would be why you would miss Crescent City Stage’s“Ms. Holmes &Ms. Watson —Apt. 2B” when playwright Kate Hamill takes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’straditional characters and propels them into the present with atwist.

The show opens Aug. 28 at Marquette Theater with a fresh take on Sherlock and Dr.Watson, both in terms of time and gender.Hamill has crafted the show to focus on two women post-COVIDand their efforts to solve amystery,coexist and survive and thrive in anew world afterthe pandemic.

Elizabeth Newcomer,the company’sartistic director, helms the show that puts the female focus on the time-honored sleuthing characters.

Flipping genders is nothing new in the entertainment business, but sometimes the shoe fits, and sometimes it’sapainful misstep. Newcomer said

this time, it slips righton.

“The markofhow well it works is that Idon’t even think about it,” shesaid.

BrittanyChandler as Dr Joan Watson and Lorene ChesleyasSherlock Holmes star in Crescent CityStage’sproduction of ‘Ms. Holmes &Ms. Watson —Apt. 2B,’ opening Aug. 28 at the Marquette Theater on Loyola University’s Uptown campus.

PROVIDEDPHOTOSBy

CRAIG MULCAHy

“I’m not missing the fact that Holmes andWatson are traditionally men —it just makes sense. Both characters holdmasculineand feminine energy, and played by women, they feel fresh withoutlosing anything we love aboutthem. It also opens newdynamics —like amorecharged connection between Holmes and IreneAdler, and questions about thenature of Holmes and Watson’spartnership. The fact that it feels seamless saysalot about Kate’sskill.”

Hamill’stalents as awriter also come intoplaywithcharacter aspects to whichthe audiencecan easily relate.

“Wemight notshare their exact struggles —orsolve murders —but they’re instantlyrecognizable archetypeswelove watching,” the director noted.“They’re characters you’llcare about and have fun spending time with.”

Andwhile Newcomer said shewasn’t necessarily aSherlockianapostle, “I’m abig fan of agood mystery or detective thriller, but Ihaven’t been a devoted followerofthe originalstories. What drew me in here is Kate Hamill’sway of modernizing classics —this script read like aNetflix binge,withthe energy of ‘Only Murders in theBuilding.’

“I knewitwould be refreshing. Ilovestrongroles for women, atight ensemble and thefun of actors playing multiple characters.”

LoreneChesley plays Holmes,BrittanyChandler is Watson,and Sarah Colbert Cutrer andJarrod Smithplay ahost of other personalities.

stages stages stages

“It’switty,fast-pacedand just agreat time —plus, Ican’tresista good riddle,” Newcomer said.

The dark comedy is onstage at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and at 2:30 p.m. Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through Sept. 14 at Loyola University on St. Charles Avenue.

Special nights, including cast talkbacks,ladies night and date night, are planned. Tickets startat$12. Visit crescentcitystage.com.

Oh,whenthe Saints …

Football plays astarring role in fewer plays than baseball, but New Orleans is afootball town, and the “Our City of Saints” staged concert will celebrate the Blackand Gold andthe gridiron at the Jefferson Performing Arts Center.

Written by Aleen LeBouef with music and lyrics by Paul Soniat, the show followsthe Sinclair family through the five decadesofthe Saints’ trek from newbie team to

Using guide,

Saizan-Lancon, follows the central character of Henry Sinclair withamusical score that includes jazz, gospel, brass bandand more. Emmywinner Michael Esneault has done the arrangements.

The show also features the vocal talents of Saints announcer Mark Romig and the “Cajun Cannon” Bobby Hebert

of Saints” is apersonal message to the Crescent City.

“This musical is alove lettertoNew Orleans —and to the fans who never gave up,” LeBoeuf said in anews release.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m.Aug. 29-30 and 2p.m. Aug. 31 at 6400 Airline Drive in Metairie, near the Saints trainfacility.Tickets start at $38. Visitjeffersonpac.com

In production

“SCHOOL OF ROCK: THE MUSICAL”: 7:30 p.m. Fridayand Saturdayand 2:30 p.m. Sunday; 30 by Ninety Theatre,880 Lafayette St.,Mandeville.Singer-without-aband Dewey Finn turns the students of a snootyprivate school fromhonor rollers to hard rock ’n’rollers to competeinthe Battle of the Bands, allwithout their parents or the school administrators finding out. Ticketsstart at $32. 30byninety.com.

“THE WIZARD OF OZ”: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2p.m. Sundays, plus Aug. 30 andSept. 6, through Sept. 7; Slidell Little Theatre,2024 Nellie Drive.Based on the classic book andmovie,the musical has Dorothy andher trio of friends roaming through the magical land in search of the Wicked Witchofthe West, hoping to gettheir hearts’ desiresfromthe allpowerful (?) wizard. Ticketsstart at $25. slidelllittletheatre.org.

Email Victor Andrews at vandrews@ theadvocate.com.

music music music

JASONMINGLEDORFF ALBUMRELEASE

THURSDAY,THE BROADSIDE’S PAVILION

Jason Mingledorffand his saxophone stay busy.He’stoured with St. Paul &th Clint Black, TheNew Mastersoundsand TheO’Jays. Locally,hesuppliedthe sa Funk and won aGrammy with fellow members of the New Orleans Nightcrawl shared stages and/or recordingstudios with Dr.John, Harry ConnickJr.,Galac Ezra and Jon Cleary.

He released his debut solo album, “Start It!,” in 2023. His new album,“The Jo originated with apairofarticlesand masterclass CDshewrote and recorded f phoneJournal, featuring eight original tunes that showcase various New Orlea On Thursday,Mingledorff celebrates thereleaseof“The JournalSessions” a Broadside’sindoor Pavilion. He’ll be backedbya top-notch band that includes g Bert Cotton, keyboardist Mike Lemmler, bassist Ed Wise and drummerDoug G Showtime is 8p.m. Tickets are $15 plusfees in advance, $20 at the door

e Broken x in Papa ers. He’s tic, Bette

urnal Ses or The Sa ns groove t the uitarist arrison.

OTHERNOTEWORTHYSHOWS

THURSDAY

Bassist Brian Quezergue andpianist and composer Courtney Bryant team up at Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro on Frenchmen Street for acollaborationthat will touch on jazz, classical, gospel, R&B and other genres. Showtimes areat7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $30. Geno Delafose &French Rockin’ Boogie are featured for the weekly Zydeco Night at Rock ’N’ Bowl. Ticketsare $15 Pianist KeikoKomaki tickles the ivories for the Maple Leaf Bar’sweekly“Booker Piano Sessions” set at 6p.m. ($10). New Orleans drum legend JohnnyVidacovich hits the stage at 8p.m. ($15 advance, $20 day of show).

FRIDAY

Just in time for the 20th anniversary

KYLE ROUSSELwithQUIANALYNELLand

SATURDAY,SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO

The traditional Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the contemporary Headhunters occupy opposite ends of the jazz spectrum, Kyle Roussel is the keyboardist for both. Straddling thatstylistic divide speaks to his musical fluency.Sodoes “Church of New Orleans,” the ambitiousalbum he released early this year

Nearly three dozen musicians contributed to Roussel’sgrand statementofR&B, funk, jazz, gospel, Mardi Gras Indian music and more. It is a celebration of New Orleans music history thatalso sounds of the moment.

On Saturday at Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro, Roussel will present a “Church of New Orleans”-themed show accompanied by classically trained jazz vocalist QuianaLynell and New Orleansdrum master Herlin Riley.Shows are at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $35.

of Hurricane Katrina, the Free Agents BrassBand celebrates there-releaseofits “Made It Through That Water”album at theBroadside.Originally available only as alimited-run CD, “Made It Through That Water”has been reissued on vinyl.The Free Agentstop Friday’s bill onthe Broadside’soutdoor stage; the show also includes Da Truth Brass Band, the Tidal Wave Brass Band and DJ Chicken. Ticketsstart at $10. Showtime is 8p.m.

Also on Friday at the Broadside, vocalist John Boutte holds court for an all-ages show at thevenue’sindoor Pavilion at 7p.m. Tickets startat$20.

The second-to-last week of the summer-long “Free Fridays”concert series at Tipitina’s features Big Chief Juan Pardo’s Tribal Gold plus Daria &the Hip Drops.Showtime is 9p.m.; admissionisfree.

Blues-based guitarist and actor Chris Thomas King leads his trio at Snug Harbor at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Ticketsare $35.

Few touring acts are in New Orleans this week. Live music highlightsinclude acoupleofalbum releaseshows by local artists.

Email KeithSpera at kspera@theadvocate. com.

Little Freddie King,the 85-year-old blues guitarist and singerwho has lived in New Orleans sincehewas ateenager, plugs in at BJ’s Lounge in theBywater neighborhood starting at 9:30 p.m.

SATURDAY

New Orleans stand-up comedian Matt Owens tapes his “Come With Me” special at the ToulouseTheatre in theFrench Quarter. He’ll do shows at 7p.m. and 9p.m.; ticketsare $20.

The Iceman Special stagesits “Summer Meltdown” at Tipitina’swithopeners RumpelSTEELskin —the band powered by Revivalists pedal steel guitarist Ed Williams —and Electric Ramble.Showtime is 9p.m. Tickets are$20.

The Mixed Nuts get down at Rock ’N’ Bowl withadisco-themed show.Admissionis$20.

Trumpeter ShamarrAllen is joined by SunshineAnderson and DJ Polo for “Ratchet Jazz

Night”atthe Broadside.Tickets are $35.

SUNDAY

New Orleans pianist, composer,and producer Lawrence Sieberth teamsupwith British-born, NewOrleans-based reeds player James Evans at Snug Harbor at 7:30 p.m.and 9:30 p.m.Tickets are $20. Cajun accordionist and singer Bruce Daigrepont hosts his monthly,early-evening fais do-do at Tipitina’sstarting at 5:15 p.m.Tickets are $15.

TheWiseguys play a3 p.m.afternoon show at Rock ’N’Bowl; admission is $10.

WEDNESDAY

Guitarist Bobbi Rae presides over a free 5p.m. show at Snug Harbor.The Uptown Jazz Orchestra,led by trombonist and bass player TJ Norris,takes over the Snug stage forshowsat7:30 p.m.and 9:30 p.m.Tickets are $30.

Bob Odenkirk shines in a struggling ‘Nobody 2’

BY KATIE WALSH Tribune News Service (TNS)

Just about anyone can be an action hero when production company 87North — the team behind the “John Wick” franchise — is behind the camera. They proved that in 2021 when they made comedian and “Better Call Saul” star Bob Odenkirk a surprise badass in the hyper-violent dadsploitation flick “Nobody.”

Odenkirk played Hutch, a suburban dad and corporate stooge with a surprising past, who is unable to keep a lid on his instincts, like a kettle boiling over, when his family is threatened.

In the sequel, “Nobody 2,” Hutch has found his groove, and once again he’s fallen into a routine of quotidian drudgery, delivering brutality day in and day out, in an attempt to pay off his debt — not that the script by Derek Kolstad and Aaron Rabin recaps anything from the first film.

But all you need to know is that Hutch is a dad, his job is violence, and he needs a break.

Desperate to save his marriage and family, Hutch decides to take his wife, Becca (Connie Nielsen), and kids Sammy (Paisley Cadorath) and Brady (Gage Munroe), as well as his wacky former FBI agent dad (Christopher Lloyd), on a summer break trip to one of his beloved childhood haunts: Plummerville Tiki Rush, a ramshackle water park somewhere in the Upper Midwest.

He’s trying to get away from it all, but as his handler The Butcher (Colin Salmon) reminds him, “Wherever you go, there you are.”

And there Hutch goes. Try as he might to take a break from himself, he can’t escape his true nature when a scuffle breaks out at an arcade and a security guard swats Sammy.

The resulting brawl, set to the Offspring’s “Come Out and Play,” is one of the best moments of “Nobody 2” — funny, colorful, innovative Hutch’s greatest strength is his MacGyver-like ability to use every tool and random object around him in service of violence, and he plays Whack-a-Mole with the guard’s head.

Much like that other Kolstad-scripted character, John Wick, Hutch is a reluc-

the impact of a smash, the swing of a punch, and the violence is satisfyingly crunchy as usual.

But the script itself feels dashed off like an afterthought, reverse-engineered around a few key set pieces in the amusement park.

What works about these movies is Odenkirk, his pained expression as he resorts to inflicting pain and destruction, his blackout rage mode when protecting his family

The first antagonist they introduce, a bootlegger named Henry (John Ortiz), who is also an overprotective dad, matches that energy perfectly.

So why, then, do Kolstad and Rabin jettison that villain who fits the rural setting for a slick, glamorous gangster that is Sharon Stone in a three-piece suit?

As a psychopathic mob boss with a French bulldog puppy, Stone is cer-

tainly having fun, but her character, Lendani, feels wildly out of place.

“Nobody 2,” which plays on the juxtaposition of the suburban and the superviolent, works when it’s Hutch facing off with the redneck good ol’ boys on a duck boat, not when he’s going through the motions with an elite villain who feels like she’s “from the world of John Wick.”

It’s like their wires got crossed in the writing, and the Lendani plot feels forced, sludgy and totally unnecessary

However, everyone seems to be having a good time, from Stone to Ortiz to Colin Hanks as a mean sheriff with a bad haircut, and especially RZA as Hutch’s brother Harry, in full ninja nerd mode.

All the elements were there to make “Nobody 2” a great sequel — it just seems like nobody really thought about what makes the original really work.

STARTING: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, John Ortiz, RZA, Sharon Stone, Colin Hanks

DIRECTOR: Timo Tjahjanto

MPA RATING: R (for strong bloody violence and language throughout)

RUNNING TIME: 1:29

HOW TO WATCH: In theaters

tant warrior, desperate to avoid using his skills, but seemingly unable to stop, whether by obligation or training. But where Wick is brooding and operatic, “Nobody” is cheeky and irreverent, because 87North shapes their action franchises to the star, not the other way around.

“Nobody 2” maintains that sense of humor, now with Timo Tjahjanto taking over directing duties from Ilya Naishuller.

But 87North also has a house style now, both aesthetically and thematically, and both “Nobody 2” and Tjahjanto fall prey to that formula.

There are a few great action sequences that utilize Hutch’s inventive thinking and emphasize the incongruity of his skills. The camera will follow