The Acadiana Advocate 02-01-2026

TK Hulin, seated, and his brotherB-Lou Hulin answerquestions along with production staff after thescreening of the documentary ‘GoodTimeHard-Loving Cajun Man’ at the Acadiana Center for the Arts on Wednesday.

Parents soundalarm as summer campsturn away kids

Catholic preschoolers lose spotsbecause of newstate law

BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer

With plans to send her two children to camp at their Catholic school in New Orleans, Laurie Martin thought she might escapethe dreaded scrambletosecuresummer childcare. That changed when she got the email. Days before Christmas,the ChristianBrothers School informed families that, due to anew state law,the school would not accept children under 5into their Little Falcons Summer Camp. Now Martin hasnoideawhattodowith her 4-year-old daughter,Colette,whenshe’s outof school this summer but Martin and her husband are still working full time.

“Wecan’ttake off work for three months because the 4-year-old can’tgotocamp,” she said. “There is no other option.” Summercamp sign-up is always anervewracking process for parents whorace to nab spots during the registration period, which typically starts in January.But parental anxiety has spiked this year after several Catholic schools said they will no longer enroll preschool-age

BY JOANNA BROWN Staffwriter

The “Cult of TK” showed outin full force this week for “Good Time Hard-Loving Cajun Man,” afilm about the life and music of TK Hulin

Hundreds of people filled the theater at Acadiana Center for theArts on Jan. 28 for the second screening of the documentary, which debuted at Southern Screen last year.The event was attended by awheelchairbound TK Hulin andhis brother and bandmate, B-Lou Hulin, and many in the audience were longtime friends andfans of Louisianarockers “TK Hulin and the Lonely Knights.” They were the same fansthat the

film referenced as the “Cult ofTK” —the crowd of young adultsthatfollowed the group from dance hall to dance hall in the 1960s and ’70s as they played their brand of swamp pop, country,and rhythm and blues. Scenes from spots like Signorelli’s Club in St.Martinville showed a packed dance floor as TK Hulin and his bandmates kept the party going all night long, traveling through an ecosystem of bars and clubs that is now largely lost in southwest Louisiana.

Theband’slocal fame was thanks to TK Hulin’scharisma, energyand the strict injunction of his mother to only play nearby.Hulin’sbiggest hit, “I’m Not aFool Anymore,” made the

Billboard Top100 in 1963, andthat year’sbreakneck tour with stars like JerryLee Lewisand Roy Orbison madehim lose too much weight. When Hulin’smother saw him again in LakeCharles, she told him he had to getoff theroadand stay near home.

“Mamagot what she wanted,” said TK Hulin at thescreening, engaging with fans who have known his music for more than60years. He said his mother was also mad at himfor ruining anew $25 suit after he hadlet a crowd of girlsinanautograph line tear thebuttonsoff.

Hulin played his last show in 2024,

BY HALEYMILLER Staff writer

The staph bacterium,sometimes called a“superbug,” is one of the mostcommon causes of infection in the hospital, and it can be deadly Butnew research at LSUshows howstaphylococcusaureus might be usedfor good —by harnessing the bacteria to kill cancer cells with minimal harm to healthy tissue.

“Whenwestudy thosemechanisms andweunderstandthem better,wecan reengineer them to do something good for us,” said Dr.Chen Chen, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Cancer drugs in usetodaythat rely on toxins derived frombacteria candamage healthy cells,

Downtown Alive! has launched its spring 2026 merch that highlights the recognizable Evangeline Maid aesthetic.

PROVIDED PHOTO

EvangelineMaidsign will appear on gear

BY JOANNABROWN Staff writer

business since 1926, and the Downtown Alive!concert serieswas launched in 1983, just afew blocks from that bright, freshly baked billboard.

Downtown Alive!, produced by Downtown Lafayette,has launched itsspring 2026 lineup, along with new merch that highlights therecognizable Evangeline Maid aesthetic —the colors, the billboard andthe maid herself. Evangeline Maid is alongtime supporter of Downtown Alive!, according to JoElle Judice, communications and engagement manager

Blast in Iran port city kills 1, wounds 14

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates An explosion tore through an apartment building Saturday in Iran‘s port city of Bandar Abbas, killing a 4-year-old girl as local media footage purportedly showed a security force member being carried out by rescuers

The blast happened a day before a planned naval drill by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes. Already, the U.S. military had warned Iran not to threaten its warships or commercial traffic in the strait on which Bandar Abbas sits.

State television quoted a local fire official as blaming the blast on a gas leak. Media reported at least 14 others suffered injuries in the explosion at the eightstory building, which blew out windows and covered the street below in debris.

A local newspaper Sobh-e Sahel, aired footage of one of its correspondents speaking in front of the building. The footage included a sequence that showed a man in black boots and a green security force uniform being carried out on a stretcher He wore a neck brace and appeared to be in pain, his left hand covering the branch insignia on his uniform.

The local newspaper did not acknowledge the security force member being carried out elsewhere in its reporting. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard itself did not discuss the blast, other than to deny that a Guard navy commander had been hurt in the explosion.

At least 200 killed in Congo mine collapse

GOMA, Congo A landslide earlier this week collapsed several mines at a major coltan mining site in eastern Congo, leaving at least 200 people dead, rebel authorities said Saturday ThecollapsetookplaceWednesday at the Rubaya mines, which are controlled by the M23 rebels, Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, the spokesperson of the rebel-appointed governor of North-Kivu province told The Associated Press. He said the landslide was caused by heavy rains.

“For now there are more than 200 dead, some of whom are still in the mud and have not yet been recovered,” Muyisa said. He added that several others were injured and taken to three health facilities in the town of Rubaya, while ambulances were expected to transfer the wounded Saturday to Goma, the nearest city around 30 miles away The rebel-appointed governor of North Kivu has temporarily halted artisanal mining on the site and ordered the relocation of residents who had built shelters near the mine, Muyisa said.

A former miner at the site told The Associated Press there have been repeated landslides because the tunnels are dug by hand, poorly constructed, and left without maintenance.

‘Lizard in a blizzard’ rescued in Rhode Island

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Wildlife officials say a “lizard in a blizzard” has been rescued after a man discovered the large coldblooded reptile buried in snow in Rhode Island, somehow surviving the frigid temperatures. According to the New England Wildlife Center, the Providence man spotted the tegu lizard from his driveway on Tuesday The reptile was quickly brought it indoors and wrapped in a T-shirt to help conserve heat.

ET Reptiles, a reptile store based in Rhode Island, agreed to pick up the tegu and take it to an animal hospital. There, veterinarians found the tegu to be “extremely weak, underweight, and not moving well.” The tegu’s tongue had also suffered frostbite and muscle weakness due to prolonged exposure to the cold — a circumstance that leads to cell failure in coldblooded animals in low temperatures.

A small portion of the tegu’s tongue was amputated to help with its recovery

“He is now resting comfortably and finally warm, which makes all the difference!” the wildlife center said in a social media post. “We will be rooting for a good outcome and will share updates as we have them.”

Judge won’t halt DHS enforcement surge

BY MARGERY A. BECK and JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge says she won’t halt the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota and the Twin Cities as a lawsuit over it proceeds.

Judge Katherine M. Menendez on Saturday denied a preliminary injunction sought in a lawsuit filed this month by state Attorney General Keith Ellison and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

It argues that the Department of Homeland Security is violating constitutional protections. State and local officials sought a quick order to halt the enforcement action or limit its scope Lawyers with the U.S. Department of Justice have called the lawsuit legally frivolous.”

The ruling on the injunction focused on the argument by Minnesota officials that the federal government is violating the Constitution’s 10th Amendment, which limits the federal government’s powers to infringe on the sovereignty of states. In her ruling, the judge relied heavily on whether that argument was likely to ultimately succeed in court.

The federal government argued that the surge, dubbed Operation Metro Surge, is

necessary in its effort to take criminal immigrants off the streets and because federal efforts have been hindered by state and local “sanctuary laws and policies.”

State and local officials argued that the surge amounts to retaliation after the federal government’s initial attempts to withhold federal funding to try to force immigration cooperation failed. They also maintain that the surge has amounted to an unconstitutional drain on state and local resources, noting that schools and businesses have been shuttered in the wake of what local officials say are aggressive, poorly trained and armed federal officers.

“Because there is evidence supporting both sides’ arguments as to motivation and the relative merits of each side’s competing positions are unclear, the Court is reluctant to find that the likelihood-of-success factor weighs sufficiently in favor of granting a preliminary injunction,” the judge said in the ruling.

The judge also said she was influenced by the government’s victory last week at the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court set aside her decision putting limits on the use of force by immi-

Powerful winter storm starts hitting East Coast

BY TRÂN NGUYEN Associated Press

Blizzardlike conditions stemming from a “bomb cyclone” were starting to bring heavy snow to the Southeast and were ushering in frigid temperatures to much of the East Coast Saturday, as tens of thousands of homes and businesses remained without power after being hit by a different icy storm last week.

About 240 million people were under cold weather advisories and winter storm warnings, a forecaster said. The frigid cold was expected to plunge as far south as Florida. Some areas unaccustomed to snow were bracing for several inches to fall by Sunday

The powerful winter storm system came after another blast of snow and ice last weekend snarled traffic, knocked down trees, and caused more than 100 deaths.

A low temperature of minus 27 degrees was recorded Saturday morning in West Virginia, said Bob Oravec, lead meteorologist for the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.

Parts of the southern Appalachians, the Carolinas and Georgia could see 6 to 10 inches of snow, he said. The Carolinas could see blizzard conditions stemming from the bomb cyclone, a term Oravec used to described an intense, rapidly strengthening storm system off the Southeast coast packing strong winds.

“Anytime you have cold weather advisories or extreme cold warnings, it is

gration officers against peaceful Minnesota protesters.

“If that injunction went too far, then the one at issue here — halting the entire operation certainly would,” Menendez said.

Despite the denial of an injunction, Menendez said the lawsuit makes a strong showing that the surge is having a “profound and even heartbreaking” effect on the people of Minnesota, noting multiple shootings of state residents by federal agents.

“Additionally, there is evidence that ICE and CBP agents have engaged in racial profiling, excessive use of force, and other harmful actions,” she wrote.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi lauded the ruling, calling it “another HUGE” legal win for the Justice Department on the social platform X.

At an unrelated news conference Saturday in Miami, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said her agency is “grateful when a court sees that the right thing has been done,” and said DHS will try to work with local law enforcement and state leadership on its effort.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement that he was disappointed.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

Austin Bradbury uses a chainsaw to remove a tree above a road on Friday in Nashville, Tenn.

dangerous to be outside. Frostbite can occur,” Oravec said. “Especially in areas that have or are experiencing power issues still, prolonged exposure to cold weather is not good for yourself.”

In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina — whose official seal is the sun, palm trees and a seagull 6 inches of snow was expected. The city has no snow-removal equipment, and authorities planned to “use what we can find,” Mayor Mark Kruea said.

Lee Harrison, an insurance agent living in a town outside of Greenville, North Carolina, said snow has blanketed his neighborhood by Saturday afternoon. He planned to take his three daughters sledding in the backyard.

“We’re not gonna drive anywhere,” Harrison said. “It’s thick enough that I would not feel comfortable driving with our family.”

Subfreezing weather was forecast into February, with heavy snow in the Carolinas, Virginia and northeast Georgia over the weekend, including up to a foot in parts of North Carolina. Snow was also said to be possible from Maryland to Maine.

More than 197,000 homes and businesses were without electricity, mostly in Mississippi and Tennessee, according to the outage tracking website poweroutage.us. That included nearly 48,000 in Nashville as of Saturday morning.

Judge orders child, father released from ICE detention

BY GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press

A 5-year-old boy and his father must be released by Tuesday from the Texas center where they’ve been held after being detained by immigration officers in Minnesota, a federal judge ordered Saturday in a ruling that harshly criticized the Trump administration’s approach to enforcement.

Images of Liam Conejo Ramos, wearing a bunny hat and Spiderman backpack, surrounded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers sparked even more outcry about the administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

The boy and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were detained in the Minneapolis suburb of Columbia Heights on Jan. 20. They were taken to a detention facility in Dilley, Texas.

That led to a protest at the Texas family detention center and a visit by two Texas Democratic members of Congress.

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, who sits in San Antonio and was appointed by former Democratic President Bill Clinton, said in his ruling that “the case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.”

Biery had previously ruled that the boy and his father could not be removed from the U.S., at least for now In his order Saturday, Biery said: “apparent also is the government’s ignorance of an American historical document called the Declaration of Independence,” suggesting the Trump administration’s actions echo those that then-author and future President Thomas Jefferson enumerated as grievances against England’s King George.

Among them: “He has sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People” and “He has excited domestic Insurrection among us.”

Biery included in his ruling a photo of Liam and references to two lines in the Bible: “Jesus said, ’Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,” and “Jesus wept.”

He’s not the only federal judge who has been tough on ICE recently A Minnesotabased judge with a conservative pedigree described the agency as a serial violator of court orders related to the crackdown.

Stephen Miller, the White House chief of staff for policy has said there’s a target of 3,000 immigration arrests a day It’s that figure which the judge seemed to refer to as a “quota.”

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Latest Epstein file release features famous names

Trove offers details on earlier investigation

BY ERIC TUCKER, MICHAEL R. SISAK and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press

NEW YORK Newly disclosed government files on Jeffrey Epstein are offering more details about his interactions with the rich and famous after he served time for sex crimes in Florida, and on how much investigators knew about his abuse of underage girls when they decided not to indict him on federal charges nearly two decades ago. The documents released Friday include Epstein’s communications with former White House advisers, an NFL team co-owner and billionaires including Bill Gates and Elon Musk.

President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice said it would be releasing more than 3 million pages of documents along with more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images under a law intended to reveal most of the material it collected during two decades of investigations involving the wealthy financier

The files, posted to the department’s website, included documents involving Epstein’s friendship with Britain’s Andrew MountbattenWindsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, and Epstein’s email correspondence with onetime Trump adviser Steve Bannon, New York Gi-

ants co-owner Steve Tisch and other prominent contacts with people in political, business and philanthropic circles.

Other documents offered a window into various investigations, including ones that led to sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019 and his longtime confidant Ghislaine Maxwell in 2021, and an earlier inquiry that found evidence of Epstein abusing underage girls but never led to federal charges.

Draft indictment

The FBI started investigating Epstein in July 2006 and agents expected him to be indicted in May 2007, according to the newly records released. A prosecutor wrote up a proposed indictment after multiple underage girls told police and the FBI that they had been paid to give Epstein sexualized massages.

The draft indicated prosecutors were preparing to charge not just Epstein but also three people who worked for him as personal assistants.

According to interview notes released Friday, an employee at Epstein’s Florida estate told the FBI in 2007 that Epstein once had him buy flowers and deliver them to a student at Royal Palm Beach High School to commemorate her performance in a school play

The employee, whose name was blacked out, said some of his duties were fanning $100 bills on a table near Epstein’s bed, placing a gun between the mattresses

in his bedroom and cleaning up after Epstein’s frequent massages with young girls, including disposing of used condoms.

Ultimately, the U.S. attorney in Miami at the time, Alexander Acosta, signed off on a deal that let Epstein avoid federal prosecution.

Epstein pleaded guilty instead to a state charge of soliciting prostitution from someone under age 18 and got an 18-month jail sentence. Acosta was Trump’s first labor secretary in his earlier term.

Prince Andrew

The records have thousands of references to Trump, including emails in which Epstein and others shared news articles about him, commented on his policies or politics, or gossiped about him and his family

Mountbatten-Windsor’s name appears at least several hundred times, including in Epstein’s private emails. In a 2010 exchange, Epstein appeared to try and set him up for a date.

“I have a friend who I think you might enjoy having dinner with,” Epstein wrote.

Mountbatten-Windsor replied that he “would be delighted to see her.” The email was signed “A.”

Epstein, whose emails often contain typographical errors, wrote later in the exchange: “She 26, russian, clevere beautiful, trustworthy and yes she has your email.”

Criticism of DOJ

The Justice Department is facing criticism over how it handled the latest disclosure.

One group of Epstein ac-

cusers said in a statement that the new documents made it too easy to identify those he abused but not those who might have been involved in Epstein’s criminal activity

“As survivors, we should never be the ones named, scrutinized, and retraumatized while Epstein’s enablers continue to benefit from secrecy,” it said.

Meanwhile, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, pressed the department to let lawmakers review unredacted versions of the files as soon as Sunday He said in a statement that Congress must assess whether the redactions were lawful or improperly shielded people from scrutiny Department officials have acknowledged that many

Power outages hit Ukraine, Moldova as Kyiv struggles

BY SUSIE BLANN Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine Emergency power cuts swept across several Ukrainian cities as well as neighboring Moldova on Saturday, officials said, amid a commitment from the Kremlin to U.S. President Donald Trump to pause strikes on Kyiv as Ukraine battles one of its bleakest winters in years.

Ukraine’s Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the outages had been caused by a technical malfunction affecting power lines linking Ukraine and Moldova.

The failure “caused a cascading outage in Ukraine’s power grid,” triggering automatic protection systems, he said.

Blackouts were reported in Kyiv, as well as Zhytomyr and Kharkiv regions, in the center and northeast of the country respectively The outage cut water supplies to the Ukrainian capital, officials said, while the city’s subway system was temporarily suspended because of low voltage on the network. Moldova also experienced major power outages, including in the capital Chisinau, officials said.

“Due to the loss of power lines on the territory of Ukraine, the automatic protection system was trig-

gered, which disconnected the electricity supply,” Moldova’s Energy Minister Dorin Junghietu said in a post on Facebook. “I encourage the population to stay calm until electricity is restored.”

The large-scale outage followed weeks of Russian strikes against Ukraine’s already struggling energy grid, which have triggered long stretches of severe power shortages.

Moscow has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat, light and running water over the course of the war, in a strategy that Ukrainian officials describe as “weaponizing winter.”

While Russia has used similar tactics throughout the course of its almost four-year invasion of Ukraine, temper-

atures throughout this winter have fallen further than usual, bringing widespread hardship to civilians.

Forecasters say Ukraine will experience a brutally cold period stretching into next week. Temperatures in some areas will drop to minus 22 degrees, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.

Trump said late Thursday that President Vladimir Putin had agreed to a temporary pause in targeting Kyiv and other Ukrainian towns amid the extreme weather “I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this extraordinary cold,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. Putin has

“agreed to that,” he said, without elaborating on when the request to the Russian leader was made.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a query seeking clarity about

the scope and timing of any limited pause.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed Friday that Trump “made a personal request” to Putin to stop targeting Kyiv until

records in its files are duplicates, and it was clear from the documents that reviewers took different degrees of care or exercised different standards while blacking out names and other identifying information.

There were multiple documents where a name was left exposed in one copy, but redacted in another Epstein’s ties

The released records reinforced that Epstein was, at least before he ran into legal trouble, friendly with Trump and former President Bill Clinton. None of Epstein’s victims who have gone public has accused Trump, a Republican, or Clinton, a Democrat, of wrongdoing. Both men said they had no knowledge Epstein was abusing underage girls. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail in August 2019, a month after being indicted.

In 2021, a federal jury in New York convicted Maxwell, a British socialite, of sex trafficking for helping recruit some of his underage victims. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

U.S. prosecutors never charged anyone else in connection with Epstein’s abuse. One victim, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, sued MountbattenWindsor, saying she had sexual encounters with him starting at age 17. The now-former prince denied having sex with Giuffre but settled her lawsuit for an undisclosed sum. Giuffre died by suicide last year at age 41.

Israeli strikes kill 30 Palestinians, including children

BY WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and SAM METZ Associated Press

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip

Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians including several children on Saturday, one of the highest tolls since the October ceasefire, a day after Israel accused Hamas of new truce violations.

The strikes hit locations throughout Gaza, including an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent camp in Khan Younis, said officials at hospitals that received the bodies. The casualties included two women and six children from two different families. Another airstrike hit a police station in Gaza City, killing at least 14 and wounding others, Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiya said.

The strikes came a day before the Rafah crossing along the border with Egypt is set to open in Gaza’s southernmost city All of the territory’s border crossings — the rest are with Israel — have been closed throughout almost the entire war Palestinians see Rafah as a lifeline

for tens of thousands needing treatment outside the territory, where the majority of medical infrastructure has been destroyed. The crossing’s opening, limited at first, will occur as the U.S.-brokered IsraelHamas ceasefire plan moves into its second phase. Other challenging issues include demilitarizing the strip after nearly two decades of Hamas rule and installing a new government to oversee reconstruction.

Egypt, one of the ceasefire mediators, in a state-

ment condemned the Israeli strikes in the “strongest terms” and warned that they represent “a direct threat to the political course” of the truce. Qatar, another mediator in a statement called Israel’s strikes a “dangerous escalation” and said continuing them poses a “direct threat” to the political process.

Nasser Hospital said the strike on the tent camp in Khan Younis caused a fire, killing seven, including a father his three children and three grandchildren.

Atallah Abu Hadaiyed said he had just finished praying when the explosion struck. “We came running and found my cousins lying here and there, with fire raging. We don’t know if we’re at war or at peace, or what. Where is the truce? Where is the ceasefire they talked about?”he said, as people inspected ruins including a bloodied mattress.

Shifa Hospital said the Gaza City apartment building strike killed three children, their aunt and grandmother “The three girls are gone, may God have mercy on them. They were asleep, we found them in the street,” said a relative, Samir Al-Atbash, adding that the family were civilians with no connection to Hamas. Names were written on body bags lined up at the foot of a wall.

Shifa Hospital said the strike on the police station killed at least 14 including four policewomen, civilians and inmates. The hospital also said a man was killed in a strike on the eastern side of Jabaliya refugee camp.

Hamas called Saturday’s strikes “a renewed flagrant

Militants kill 33 in multiple attacks Pakistan

BY ABDUL SATTAR and MUNIR AHMED Associated Press

QUETTA, Pakistan Pakistan’s military said Saturday that multiple suicide and gun attacks by “terrorists” across the restive southwestern province of Balochistan killed 33 people, including civilians, while security forces responding to the violence killed 92 assailants.

Analysts described it as the deadliest single day for militants in decades.

During the attacks, Baloch insurgents targeted civilians, a high-security prison, police stations and paramilitary installations Eighteen

civilians, 15 security personnel and 92 insurgents were killed, the military said.

Though Baloch separatists and the Pakistani Taliban frequently target security forces in Balochistan and elsewhere in the country, coordinated attacks on this scale are rare. Authorities said at least 133 militants have been killed across Balochistan over the past 48 hours, including 92 on Saturday

The military and Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the attackers had the backing of India

There was no immediate response from New Delhi, which has denied such alle-

gations previously The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, claimed responsibility for the suicide and gun attacks, during which some of the banks were robbed and a police station and dozens of vehicles torched. The BLA released videos showing female fighters taking part in the attacks, apparently part of propaganda efforts to highlight the role of women among the militants.

Shahid Rind, a spokesperson for the Balochistan government, said most of the attacks were foiled. They came a day after the military said security forces this week raided two militant

hideouts in the country’s southwest, killing 41 insurgents in separate gunbattles.

The provincial chief minister, Sarfraz Bugti, wrote on X that security forces were chasing the insurgents. He said at least 700 insurgents were killed by security forces in the past year

Earlier Saturday, authorities said that insurgents destroyed rail tracks, prompting Pakistan Railways to suspend train services from Balochistan to other parts of the country

The attacks began almost simultaneously across the province, provincial Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar said.

“AcadianaDodge”celebrates35years

violation” and urged the United States and other mediating countries to push Israel to stop them.

“All available indicators suggest that we are dealing with a ‘Board of War,’ not a ‘Board of Peace,’” senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said on X, questioning the legitimacy of the Trump administration-proposed international body meant to govern Gaza.

Israel’s military, which has

struck targets on both sides of the ceasefire’s dividing line, said its attacks since October have been responses to violations of the agreement. It said Saturday’s strikes followed what it described as two separate ceasefire violations a day earlier, in which Israeli forces killed three militants who emerged from a tunnel in an Israelicontrolled area of Rafah and four who approached troops near the dividing line.

in business, rootedin family,service andcommunity

Amanda McElfresh, amcelfresh@theadvocate.com

By

This articleisbrought to youbyAcadianaAutomotiveGroup

Beneaththe “Big American Flag”thathas long marked its placeacrossfromLafayette Regional Airport, Acadiana Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ramiscelebrating amilestone that speaks to farmorethanyears in business.OnFebruary1,2026, the family owned&operateddealershipmarks 35 yearsofserving Acadiana, amomentous occasion fora journeydefinedby hard work,integrity anddeeprelationships Acadiana DodgeChryslerJeepRam beganasavisionled by foundersAdrianand Rita Vega.Today,itisamultigenerational legacy ledbyChrista Vega Billeaud andher husbandChip, alongsidetheir sons,Andrewand Alex

“For 35 years, this communityhas trusted ourfamilywith theirbusiness, theirfamiliesand theirjourneys. That trust meanseverythingtous,”Christa Billeaud said.“We are incredibly grateful forevery customer,every handshakeand everyrelationship that hasallowed us to do what we love for more than threedecades:serving others in ourcommunity.”

ChristaBilleaudworkedasanurse forseveral yearsbefore moving into aleadership role at thedealershipwhenher parents passed away.While shewishestheywereheretocelebrate the35thanniversary,she knowsthattheir values continue to be crucialtothe successofAcadianaDodge Chrysler Jeep

Ram. Thoseinclude integrity, transparency,communication andservice

“All of my team knowsthatweare here to help people,and thereisn’t anyroomfor funnybusiness. We’realwaysgoing to be honest with people,” Billeaud said.“Italktothemevery dayand make sure they’reokayand theirfamiliesare okay.It’s importantthatItry to make theirfamiliesapartofmyown.I pridemyselfonhavinganopendoorand beingapproachable. Iwantpeopletoknowtheycan talk to me,ask questionsor just getadviceabout somethingintheir lives.”

Additionally,Billeaudsaidshe hasemphasizedtoher sons theimportanceofcommunity serviceand civicinvolvement, somethingthatwas also crucialtoher parents.

“We’re so fortunatetobeinthisbusiness, andit’sa role that carries alot of responsibilitywithittomakeother people’s livesbetter,”she said.“Forme, that meansmakingprudent decisionsand doingthe rightthing allofthe time.”

Thosevalueshavebeenimportant cornerstones as the dealership,likeothersaroundthe country, hasweathered turbulentyears in theautomotiveindustry.Shortages of crucial chipsand parts, rising vehiclepricesand rapidlyshifting governmental regulationshavereshaped howdealers operate.

“The industry hasbeenawildride, but youjustdoyour best everyday.You focusonhelping people andcontrolling what youcan,” Billeaud said.“When Italktoother people in thecar business,wecan allagree that nobodyknows what is coming next.Wejust come to work everyday with apositive attitude,the most knowledgethatwehaveinthatmomentand adedicationtoserving everypersonwho walksinthe door.”

ThoseattributeshavehelpedAcadianaDodge Chrysler JeepRam notonlyreach year 35,but also maintain abase of loyalcustomerswho have turned to thedealershipfor everything from firstcarstoworktruckstofamilySUVs. Billeaud said that loyaltyhas become especially meaningful as more dealershipsand online services have givenshoppers more buying optionsthanever.

“It’shardtofind loyaltytocertain brands or dealerships anymorebecause thereare just so many choices,” shesaid. “That’swhy I’msogratefulfor thosepeoplewho want to do business with us year afteryear. We return that loyaltyby

making ourselvesavailable to them in real time.Peopleknow we willtakecareofthem, andIthink that goes alongway toward building andmaintainingthatloyalty.”

Lookingahead,Billeaudand theentireteamare excited andoptimisticabout what’s ahead.

Newvehiclesare becomingmoreaffordable, fuel-efficient andattractive, openingthe door to potentialnew customers. As shenavigates yetmoreindustryshifts,she is grateful to do so with hersonsbyher side

“Myparents really wanted theirgrandchildren to carryonthe business,and Iknowtheywould be so proud,”she said.“Both of my sons aresosmart.Theyimprovise. They’readaptable They’renimbleintheir thinking.They’re notafraidtodiscuss things.I cantalkday-to-dayoperational issues with them,and Ican also talk with them aboutlong-term strategy.Tobeable to do that,alongside my husband, is always awow moment.I just sitthere sometimesand think, ‘Thisisawesome.’” Withstrongroots,afamily-drivenmission,andanunwavering connectiontothe community, Acadiana DodgeChryslerJeep Ramlooks aheadwithexcitement, energy,and gratitude. As thedealershipcelebratesthismilestone,one messagerings loud andclear:Thank you, Acadiana!Thank youfor thesupport theloyalty, andthe opportunitytoserve youfor 35 remarkable years— andfor allowing this localfamily-ownedbusinessto continue drivingforward,together.

Trumpmovedquickly to cutfunding deal

BY JOEY CAPPELLETTI and STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump moved quickly this week to negotiate with Democrats to try and avert alengthy government shutdown over Department of Homeland Security funding, asharp departure from lastyear’srecord standoff when he refused to budge for weeks.

Some Republicans are frustrated with the deal, raising the possible of aprolonged shutdown fight when the House returns Monday to vote on the funding package But Trump’ssway over the GOP remains considerable, and he has made his position clear at amoment of mounting political strain.

“The only thing that can slow our country downis another long and damaging government shutdown,” Trump wrote on social media late Thursday

The urgency marked a clear shift from Trump’s posture during the43-day shutdown late last year when he publicly antagonized Democraticleaders and his team mocked them on social media. Thistime, with anger risingover shootings in Minneapolis and the GOP’smidterm messaging on tax cuts drowned outby controversy, Trump acted quickly to make adeal with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, of New York.

“Trump and the Republicans know that this is an issue where they’re on the wrong side of the American people and it really matters,” Schumer told reportersFriday after Senate

passageofthe government fundingdeal.

Minneapoliskillings

Senators returned to work lastweekdealing with the fallout from the fatal shootingofICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers, as well as thekillingofRenee Good in the city weeks earlier Republicans were farfrom unified in their response. A few calledfor thefiring of top administration officials such as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller,the White House chief of staff for policy.Most GOP senators tried to strikeabalance, calling for athorough investigation intoPretti’s killingwhile backing the hard-line immigration approach that is central to Trump’spresidency But many agreed that the shootings threatenedpublic support for Trump’simmi-

gration agenda.

“I’ve never seen apolitical partytake its best issue and turn it into its worst issue in theperiod of time that it has happened in thelast few weeks,” said Sen. John Kennedy,R-Madisonville.“Some thingshave to change.”

Democratsquickly coalesced around their key demands.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., saidthere“was unanimity” around core principles of enforcing acode of conduct for immigration officers and agents, ending “roving patrols” forimmigration enforcement actions and coordinating with local law enforcement on immigration arrests.

It helpedthatTrump himself was looking for ways to de-escalateinMinneapolis.

“The world has seen the videos of those horrible abuses by DHS and rogue operations catching up in-

nocentpeople,and there’sa revulsion about it,” said Sen TimKaine, D-Va.

“The White House is asking for aladder off the ledge,” he added.

Avoiding painfulpolitics

Republicansare also tryingtopromote their accomplishmentsinoffice as they ready for the November electionsand the difficult task of retaining control of bothchambers of Congress.

But the prospect of aprolonged shutdown shifted attention away from their $4.5 trillion tax andspending cuts law,the centerpiece of their agenda. Republicans had hoped the beginning of this year’s tax season on Monday would provide apoliticalboost as votersbegin to see larger tax refunds. Republicans arealso mindful of thepolitical damage from last year’s shutdown, when theytook aslightly

larger portion of the blame from Americans than Democrats, according to polling fromThe Associated PressNORC Center forPublic Affairs Research.

“The shutdown was a big factor,negative forthe Republicans,” Trumptold Republican senators at the White House in November

On apractical level, this funding standoff threatened to destroy months of bipartisan work, including long hours over the holiday break, to craft the 12 spendingbills that fund the government and manypriorities back home.

“Wesaw what happened in the last government shutdown in regards to how it hurt real, hardworking Americans,” said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala.,a member of theSenateAppropriations Committee. “I don’twant that to happen again.”

Two-week battle begins

The agreementreached thisweek, if passed by the House, would avoid aprolongedshutdown andfund nearlyevery federal departmentthrough the end of the budgetyear in September

But it would not resolve one of the mostdifficult issues for Congress and the White House: DHSfunding.

Instead of afull-year deal, fundingfor thedepartment wasextended forjusttwo weeks, giving lawmakers little time to bridge the deep divides over immigration enforcement.

Democratsare pressing forchanges they say are necessary to prevent future abuses, including requiring immigration agents to wear body cameras,carry clear identification, end

roving patrols in cities and coordinate more closely with local law enforcement when making arrests. Many Democrats also want tighter rulesaroundwarrants and accountabilitymechanisms for officers in the field. Those demands have met stiffresistance from Republicans. Some areopposed to negotiating with Democrats at all.

“Republicans controlthe White House,Senateand House. Why are we giving an inch to Democrats?” Sen. TommyTuberville, R-Ala wrote on social media.

Republican senators said they would take the fight to Democrats by introducing their ownbills, including restrictionson“sanctuary cities,” to show their support forTrump’spolicies. That term is generally applied to state andlocal governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

“We’ve letthe issue get away. We’renot leading. We’re trying to avoid losing ratherthanwinning,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., whoheld up the spending bills until Senate Majority Leader JohnThune,R-S.D., agreed to give him avote on his sanctuary cities bill at a later date.

Thune acknowledged the difficulty of the next two weeks, saying there are “somepretty significant views and feelings.”

“We’llstayhopeful,”Thune told reporters about the upcoming DHSfight.“But there are somepretty significant differences of opinion.” Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

Former La.state representative sworninasheadofU.S.Mint

Mandeville’s Hollis achieves lifelong dream

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON— PaulHollis, a former state representative andBESEmemberfrom Mandeville, was sworn into his dream job on Friday by his longtime friend, the speakerofthe U.S. House. Alifelong coin collector by occupationand avocation Hollis said he had wanted to be director of U.S. Mint since achild.

Speaker Mike Johnson, whom Hollis first met in high school, administered the formal oath of officein aceremony at the U.S. Treasury attended by several hundred people.

“The speakerswearing me in with my son by my side, it was aday I’ll never forgetand adream come true,” Hollis said in atext. He now is one the highest ranking Louisiana natives in

PHOTO PROVIDEDBYPAULHOLLIS

Paul Hollis, of Mandeville, left, is being sworninas41st directorofthe U.S. Mint by House SpeakerMikeJohnson, R-Benton, on Friday in the U.S. TreasuryasHollis’ son, center, watches. Hollis is the first Mint directorfrom Louisiana and the firstwho made his living buyingand selling coins.

the Trumpadministration. As head of the Mint, Hollis oversees the nation’sgold reserves andrunsthe facilities in Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco and West Point, New York,thatpress the nickels, dimes, quar-

ters and other coins used as currency.(Paper money is printedbythe Bureau of Engraving &Printing.) Hollis also is charge of designing the coinage. His immediatefocus is producing and distributing aseries

of coinscommemorating the250th anniversaryof the July 4, 1776, signing of the Declaration of Indepen and Slidell. He is the son of the late state Sen.

RCovington.

couldleadtorelease

BY REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press

CARACAS,Venezuela Venezuela’sacting President Delcy Rodríguez on Friday announcedanamnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners, including opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for politicalreasons. The measure had long beensought by the United States-backedopposition. It is the latest concession Rodríguez has made since taking the reins of the country on Jan. 3after the brazen seizure of then-President Nicolás Maduro in aU.S. military attack in Venezuela’scapital, Caracas. Rodríguez told agatheringofjustices, magistrates, ministers,military brass and other government leaders that the rulingparty-controlled NationalAssembly would take up the billwith urgency.

“May this law serve to heal thewoundsleftby the politicalconfrontation fueled by violence and extremism,” she added in the pretapedtelevisedevent “May it serve toredirect justiceinour country,and may it serve to redirect coexistence among Venezuelans.”

Rodríguez also announced theshutdown of Helicoide, aprison in Caracas where torture andother human rights abuses have been repeatedly documented by independent organizations. Thefacility,she said, will be transformed into asports, social and cultural center forpoliceand surrounding neighborhoods. Rodríguezmadeher announcement before some of the officials that former prisonersand humanrights watchdogs have accused of ordering the abuses committedatHelicoide and other detention facilities. Relativesofsomepris-

oners livestreamedRodríguez’sspeech on aphone as they gathered outside Helicoide. Some cried. Many chanted “Freedom! Freedom!”

“God is good. God heard us,” Johana Chirinos, aprisoner’s aunt,saidastears rolled down her face.

Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado in astatementsaid the announced actions werenot taken “voluntarily,but rather in response to pressure from the US government.”

She also noted thatpeople have been detained for their political activities from anywhere between amonth and 23 years.

“The regime’srepressive apparatus is brutal andhas responded to the numerous criminal forces that answer to this regime, and it is all that remains,” Machado said. “Whenrepression disappears andfear is lost, it will be theend of tyranny.” Venezuelaannounces

TheMystic Krewe of ApollodeLafayette presentedits Forty-Ninth Annual MardiGrasBal MasqueonSaturday,January 31,2026inthe Lafayette CajundomeConvention Center.Approximately 2,100spectatorsattended this year’s BalMasque as invitedguestsofthe Captain, Royaltyand the Krewe’s90members.

ANight at theMuseum wasthethemeofBalMasque XLIX.Elaboratecostumes were presentedbyvarious krewemembers. The costumes represented variousworldwide museumsand thecontents containedtherein,allwith thestandardApolloflair. TheNationalAnthem wasperformedliveby Dextaci, theForever Miss GayAmerica 2022,and thepresentationofcolors wasprovidedbyMaster Sergeant AngelleFedeli, Master SeargeantJacob Sigue, Master Sergeant Reagan Wilkersonand StaffSeargeant Aaron Mandeville.The crest of theMystic Kreweof ApollodeLafayette was presentedfor the49thtime. Mr Apollo de Lafayette, Kadarius Black, waspresented,along with Miss National Apollo, Sy’Ria Synclaire, from Apollo de Lafayette, andMr. National Apollo, Mr.Razr, from Apollo de BatonRouge AtthesoundoftheCaptain’swhistle, BalMasqueXLIX,waskickedoffwith atributetoPaisley Park,the home andstudiomuseumofthe legendary Prince.The Captain, DarrellFrugé, and17krewe memberskickedoff the nightwithaproductionnumberto “Let’s Go Crazy”

TheMysticKrewe of Apollo

Reigningroyalty,KingApollode LafayetteXLVIII,Jared Eubanks, andQueen ApollodeLafayette XLVIII,WillThiele, majestic rulers of Inventions from 2025 made their regalentrance. Returningroyalty wore theiroriginal outfits made of rust dupionisilkwithhand beaded copper,brown,orangeand gold original appliqués. Theirbeautiful outfits were accented by theircustom crowns,sceptersand backpieces created fortheir reign.

Next,the Captainand HonorCourt Member, DarrellFrugé,madehis costumeappearance representing the“Museum of NaturalHistory” as theAfrican bush elephant displayedinits Rotunda. Alarge handmade elephant entered thestage with asurpriserevealofthe captain wearingthe head of theelephant as hisbackpiece

Laterduringthe evening, BalMasqueCo-Captain andKreweVicePresident,Ben Boudreaux, represented“TheGrand Egyptian Museum”with abackpiece wearingKingTut’s Burial Mask.One of theBal Masque Lieutenantsand HonorCourt Members, Doug Taylor,represented the“Park West Museum”withlarge scalereplicasofpaintings by PeterMax.Our second Lieutenantand Honor CourtMember, Emmaneul Gumbs, represented the“LindtHomeofChocolate”museumwithits signaturechocolate fountain andlotsofglamour

OtherBal Masque HonorCourt MembersKevin Doerr,alsoour KrewePresident,represented “The WaltersArt Museum”withabackpiece containingalarge scalereplica of theGatchinaPalace Fabergéegg;Jay Frost, representedthe “Museum of TheAmericanRevolution” with variouspieces createdtopay tributetoour history; Chad Terro, representedthe “VoodooMuseum” as Papa Legba; MichaelMcIntosh, representing the“Liberace Museum”; JasonGuilbeau, representing “The Palace of Versailles”, TedViator, representing “The Museum of Archaeologyand Anthropology”; BrentMeche,representingthe “NeonMuseum” from LasVegas;and HL Cabral representedthe “Jon Waters Museum”asDivine.

Oneofour BoardMembers at Large, ChrisTerro, entertainedthe crowdasthe “Country MusicHall ofFame”withlivevocalsof“FriendsinLowPlaces” whilethe Apollodancers line danced throughthe

crowdand encouraged guests to sing along. Our second BoardMemberatLarge,Taylor Dizor, representedthe “MuseumofNatural History” displaying TheHopeDiamond Othermembers on Apollo’scourt represented variousother museums, includingAndrewDiaz as “Dia de LosMuertos Museum”; Seth Aymond as “Graceland”, Mark Melancon as “The Broadway Museum”completewithlivevocalsofa medley of Broadway tunes; AaronDufrene as “Ripley’s BelieveItorNot;Jacob Muffoletto as “The Poison Garden”; ShaneMenkiewiczasthe “Museumof Death”;Sasha Blackas“TheNationalMuseum of Wildlife Art”;RossDoizé andAndre Carr representing the“Insectarium” with costumes respectively displaying beetles andbutterflies; Dailey Thibeaux as “SaveThe Arts”; andCullen Gravouia as the“Museum of Candy”

Thetableau endedwiththe arrivaloftheir majesties, King andQueen Apollo XLIX,Rulers of “A Nightatthe Museum”.

King Apollo XLIX,Grant Mire is theImperial RulerofApollo’s“ANight at theMuseum”.The King wore aregal imported ice-blue satinShakespeareanstyle outfit, coveredinhandbeadedsilver, gold andblush appliquesand furtherembellished with crystaland aurora rhinestoneswithlavenderaccents. Hisbeltedoutfitfeaturedahigh collar andflared waistcoat. Histailoredpants, overcoat andvestall featured arhinestone lattice pattern, accented with threedimensional glass flowers.The King choseabove thekneeriding bootsdecorated to matchhis ensemble QueenApolloXLIX, KarmaDelour, wasthe EmpressofApollo’s“ANight at theMuseum”.The Queen’sdress wasafitted bodice with aflared hemlineand hadaunique, flowing overskirtof layers of imported ice-blue satin, embellishedwith arhinestone latticepattern andaccentedwith threedimensional glassflowers. Herappliques were also hand beaded in tonesofsilver, goldand blushwithlavenderaccents.The Queen’sbodice washeavily encrusted with rhinestone trims.

King andQueen Apollo XLIXworeregalbackpieces representativeofanantique Frenchlattice wall panel design,surroundedby silver,blueandgoldscrolls andfurther highlighted with floraldesigns.The massivecollars were distinguishedbytheir unique design encrusted withauroraborealisrhinestones,backedwithice blue ostrichplumesand flanked by lavender and pale blue pheasant feathers. Theirbeautiful ice blue mantelsrepeatedthe rhinestone latticedesign andtrimmed with agold andsilverscrolledborder. Both King andQueen wore custom crowns of crystal,auroraborealis,and coloredstones. They each carrieduniquesceptersin gold settings designed to pairwiththeircrowns. The costumes andbackpieces were designed by Ted Viator.Karen Guidry was thetalentedseamstress andMikePerioux,alsoan HonorCourt Member of theMysticKreweofApollo de Lafayette, fabricated thebackpieces. Theexcitingnightendedasspecial guests of theCaptain,King, Queen andKrewe were recognized.The partycontinued in theConvention Center as theApolloKrewe and guests danced for hours, ending withallkrewemembersonstagefor a“NewYork, NewYork,”tradition! Directorofthe production was RebeccaLandryand thechoreographer wasJadeLandryGauthreaux, both of Gerami AcademyofFine Arts.MasterofCeremonieswas John “JayCee” Falcon.The Officerand BoardofDirectors of the Krewefor the2025-2026 year are: Captain, DarrellFrugé;President, KevinDoerr;VicePresident,Ben Boudreaux;Secretary,Sherman Bernard; Treasurer, JaredEubanks;Historian ShawnPujol;and BoardMembers at Large, Chris Terroand Taylor Dizor. Selected by theCaptain, theCo-Captainwas BenBoudreaux,and theLieutenantswereDougTaylor andEmmanuelGumbs TheMystic KreweofApollodeLafayette would like to thankits patronsand sponsors,acknowledging Platinum LevelUnderwriters, TheLucky LawFirmand Unique Physique;Premium Krewe Underwriters –TropicalSmoothie, AvitaPharmacy,and ChaseDronet, DDSwithMagnolia Family Dentistry; KreweUnderwriters–TropicalSmoothie(additional sponsorship), Adopted DogBrewing,DeepSouth Productions, Piccione LawFirm, Chas Cummings Photography, Joel Cognevich&EricMealus,SerenityMedAesthetics, andUBreakIFix; Apollo Benefactors–Serenity MedAesthetics(additional sponsorship), Richaud Real Estate;and Friends of Apollo –Legends and Westline EventCenter, Carl J. Rachal (Attorney at Law),AdvancedEnergyand VW Plus Thekrewe wouldalsoliketothank alloftheir guests,Associate Krewes andfriends fortheir continuous support, friendship andloyalty throughout thepast50years.Asalways, your encouragementand MardiGrasenthusiasmwere themotivationfor BalMasqueXLIX, “A Nightat theMuseum” In studio royaltyphotographs arecourtesyof AhheePhotography

To keep up with currenteventsofthe Mystic KreweofApollodeLafayette,pleasevisit our website, www.kreweofapollo.com, andlikeus on Facebookunder TheMystic KreweofApollo de Lafayette.

Stay tunedfor pictures of allcostumesfrom“A Nightatthe Museum”inThe Advocate’s Mardi Gras specialtyinsertonSunday, February 15,2026. Also,savethe date forour next annual BalMasque, tentativelyscheduled forSaturday, January23, 2027 as we celebrateour 50th Anniversary! We hope to seeyou there!

INSIDEWASHINGTONMARDI GRAS

La.’scongressional delegation

WASHINGTON, D.C. Commerce

Stephanie Grace

Secretary Howard Lutnick was this year’sbig draw at the always popular Friday economicdevelopment lunch at Washington Mardi Gras, but anice bit of lagniappe was the annual airing of whatever’sonthe minds of Louisiana’s members of Congress. This year,there seems to be plenty And lots of it traces back indirectly,if not very directly, to the stark politicaldivision that permeates the delegation, the Congress and the country these days.

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy,the embattled incumbentinthe May 16 Republican primary against a field that includes U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow —who recently scored a key endorsementfrom Lutnick’s boss, President Donald Trump used his few moments at themic to remind the gathered business leaders of the bipartisan infrastructure law that he played akey role in passing.

“I wake up every day thinking about how Imake my state and my country abetter place,” he said, pointing to thelaw’s huge federalinvestmentsfor the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection project and for broadband in underserved areas —something he focused on afterabusiness leader at aprior Washington Mardi Gras said he couldn’tsitea distribution center in north Louisiana due to poor internet access. Left unsaid was what just about everyone in the room knew,that everyother Republican member in Louisiana’sdelegation voted againstthis Joe Biden signature accomplishment.

Then came House Speaker Mike Johnson, who chose to tout tax cuts in adifferent law, Trump’sOne Big Beautiful Bill, which passed last Congress last year with only Republican support.

U.S. Rep. Troy Carter was the firstDemocrat to speak, and his comments contrasted with the pro-Trump rhetoric from Lutnick, Gov.Jeff Landry and his own very administration-friendly colleagues. It was also one of the few times the currenttroubles across the country infiltrated the festivities.

“I want to cap off this evening with just areminder of how important it is as we lookaround this room at the diversity,the strength of our individual lived experiencesand the beauty of what America is —that we don’t look the same, we don’ttalkthe same,” Carter said. “Wecome from different places, andwe bring different examples of what life, liberty and justice means to us. The Constitution does not belong to any one party,the rule of law does not belong to any one party.”

Fellow Democratic U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields alluded to adifferent controversy when he used the week’sfrigid weather to frame a recentconversationwithRepublican Clay Higgins about the voting rights case that the U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide, which will determine whether Fields’ newly drawn majority-minoritydistrict will disappear.Asthey were speculating about the outcome, Fields said Higgins joked that it’d be a “cold day in hell” that the court would rule in Fields’ favor The last speech was perhaps the most anticipated, as Letlow’s presidentially-backed Senate candidacy has vastly elevated her statewide profile. But if political junkies were

looking for asign of how she’ll runagainst Cassidyand what she’ll say aboutCassidy’s2021 impeachment votetoconvict Trump for theJan.6attack on theCapitol and his more recent, incredibly awkward reincarnation as a Trumpdevotee, they got nothing.

Instead, Letlow focused on the past —onher unusual path into politicsafter the sudden death of her husband, who had been elected to the seat, and on her time serving on the House AppropriationsCommittee, which shenoted wouldsoon come to an end.

“Thank you for believing in me. Mostimportantly,thank you for praying for me,” she said. “It’s not lost on me Iwas never supposed to be here, and everybody considers D.C. to be sometimes adark place. Iknew if Idid anything, Ijust wanted to come up hereand be alight.”

If you didn’tknow better,you’d think Letlow was packing it in and heading home, not trying to trade up to higher office by unseating a much more senior colleague. Of course, everyoneinthat particularroom did know better Howtimes change Fields is only in the second year of hiscurrent tenure, but he’sbeen to Congressbefore —back in the 1990s, untilthe majority-minority

district he represented then was thrown out by theSupreme Court just as his current districtmay or may not be. So Iwas curious what changes he’d noticed in his decades out of federal office.

As far as theevent goes,not so many, he said.

“The people arethe same. People come heretohave agood time and to connect to Washington from abusinessperspective. All of that is the same,” he said.

The difference, Fields said, is that what’shappening beyond thecozy hospitality suites at the Washington Hilton feels more present,atleast to him.

“Now,you’rethinking about:Do Ihave to run back to Capitol Hill to keep the government from shutting down?” he said. “The climate outside of this Mardi Gras is so different. Everybody here is from Louisiana, and theywant to have agood time, and everybody’saccommodating. But the atmosphere in the nation is different. There’s so much hostility, so much unrest Youdon’tsee it in the halls of the WashingtonHilton because everybody’sheretorelax. But at the end of the day,asa member of Congress, Ican’thelp but feel it.I feel moreburdened this time.”

UNOinthe House

Louisiana’shigher ed com-

munityhas long shown up in big numbersatWashington Mardi Gras; after all, this is asector that reliesongovernment grants and faces many issues involving federal policy.But oneschool that came to Washington with a full agenda this year,the troubled University of New Orleans, has a distinct aim. UNO hassufferedayearslong enrollment decline that ledtoa financial crisis andanow alooming switch from the University of Louisiana SystemtoLouisiana StateUniversity System.

There’sboth excitement and trepidation aboutthe change, and UNO officials came to Washington lesstoparticipate in the usual lobbying andmoretodrum up supportamong folks back home.

Judging by the attendance at its Saturday morning jazz brunch, it was agood call. Indeed, those who got themselves up and out early after the Fridaynight parties saw an impressive show of force.

Describing the school’spotential,Master P, the homegrown music mogul who doubles as the university’spresident of basketball operations, quoted an image Lutnick had offeredupatthe economic development lunchthe day before aboutnot letting great assets sitidle in the garage.

House Majority Leader Steve

Scalise wasthere,talking about hopesthatthe newpartnership can attract students. So was shipbuilderBoysie Bollinger, a past king of WashingtonMardi Gras whose name graces the lakefront university’sschool of navalarchitecture and marine engineering. RicoAlvendia, last year’sking andthe LSU BoardofSupervisors’ transitionteamchair,touted the processofmelding “two world-class brands,” alongside boardchair ScottBallard and severalothermembers. And newLSU SystemPresident Wade Rousse reminisced about his yearsasa part-time master’s student at UNO andthanked UNO President Kathy Johnson, who was symbolically dressed in purple andsilver to represent oneofthe most visible changes, the Privateers’ switch from blue andsilvertoLSU’shighly recognizable purple andgold. Johnson, Rousse noted, hadinherited a mess andhas been forced to overseewrenching cuts.

“There’s gonna be some hard decisions, but there’s gonna be some great celebrations along the way,and we’re gonna win together,” he said.

EmailStephanieGrace at sgrace@theadvocate.com.

POMP & PARTYING

EDUCATION

McMahon aims to shutter Education Dept., ‘fire’ herself

Secretary’s tour is her push for ‘patriotic education’

BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer

U.S. Secretary of Education

Linda McMahon will be happy if she’s the last person ever to hold that title.

A former pro-wrestling executive, McMahon was tapped by President Donald Trump to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, which Republicans have long criticized as inefficient and an encroachment on local control of schools.

“I will be considered a success by the president when I have fired myself from my job,” McMahon said last week during a visit to New Orleans.

Over the past year, she has worked quickly to take apart the Education Department — what she calls its “final mission” — by handing some of its duties to other agencies and shrinking its staff by about half.

The department’s diminished Office for Civil Rights has sharply cut back on investigations, leading to a mounting backlog of complaints by families who say their children face discrimination based on their race, sex or disability Even as McMahon promises to “return education to the states,” she has continued to use the agency’s authority to impose Trump’s vision on public schools. In an effort to eliminate programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion or DEI, the department has canceled grants, temporarily frozen school funding and investigated diversity initiatives at universities, including Tulane.

McMahon is touring the country to promote a staunchly pro-American approach to history and civics education tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary this year

The Times-Picayune | The Advocate spoke with McMahon during her New Orleans tour stop about her push for “patriotic education” and plan to eliminate her own job.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity

What’s the idea behind touring the country? And what brings you to Louisiana for a second time?

I’ve gone to K-12 schools, middle schools, high schools. I’ve been to micro schools and public schools and private schools.

I really want to see what the best practices are.

The Department of Education does not control curriculum in the country, but by the end of this tour, I would like to be able to put together a toolkit of best practices for states to take a look at.

Some states are not being as

innovative and creative as Louisiana is.

President Trump has called for “patriotic education.” How would you define that?

The president’s goal is really to unite the country because it is incredibly diverse at the moment.

He’s really hopeful that this celebration of patriotism, of respect for the flag, of respect of our rights, and a recelebration of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will reinforce to all of our citizens, not just our students that this is the greatest country in the world.

And by the way, there are many institutions of higher learning now that are establishing civics centers on their campuses. They are really going back to the basics of teaching about the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, our Founding Fathers, because we really have kind of lost sight of all that.

When people hear “patriotic education,” some might question whether that also in-

WE’RE ASKING EXPERTS ACROSS THE STATE HOW TO TACKLE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACING LOUISIANA

Q&A WITH LINDA McMAHON

cludes teaching students about the darker chapters of U.S. history, such as slavery and racial segregation. Do you think students should learn that history even if it makes them feel uncomfortable?

I was asked that question recently and I said, “Well, there is really only one history.” Maybe some parts of it you’re prouder of than others, but there’s only one history of the country and it should be told in full.

We should look at where we’ve come from, the changes we’ve made, the progress of where we are today It’s something to be proud of in our country President Trump has criticized institutions like the Smithsonian for focusing too much on “how bad slavery was.” Some people say schools shouldn’t teach students to feel ashamed about America.Are you concerned about that?

No. I say you teach them everything so that they can appreciate how far we’ve come.

Slavery didn’t begin in the United States. It began in other parts of the world. And to try to carve it out and say it didn’t happen here or that we didn’t overcome it and make great strides, I think does a disservice to our country

The president has talked about “radical” civics education and schools “indoctrinating” students. Is that something you’ve seen when visiting schools?

I have not seen that. The Department of Education does not establish curriculum anywhere. We don’t hire teachers. We don’t buy books. That’s done at the state level.

I think state superintendents working with local districts and teachers and parents — that’s the way education really needs to be. Which is why the president absolutely wants to make sure that

the bureaucracy is taken out of education, education’s returned to the states, that there no longer is a Department of Education in Washington.

As you’re visiting schools, lifting up best practices across states, giving that kind of guidance, how does that fit in with getting rid of the Education Department? Would those things be possible without a federal role in education?

Well, there’ll always be a federal role. Congress appropriates money Title I (for schools serving poor students), IDEA money (for special education) will continue to flow through.

And let’s not forget that before 1980, there was no Department of Education, and those funds still flowed to the states.

We can reduce the regulatory environment for the states that are participating with these grants, and we can take off some of the strings so that we can make it operate more efficiently and get more money to students. That really is the goal.

I’ve heard concerns from some parents, and you probably have too, that the Education Department is no longer investigating complaints they submit about special education or other issues related to students’ civil rights.What would you say to those parents?

How did it happen before there was a Department of Education?

We have an Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Justice. We have an Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Education. So it’ll be merged with one of the other agencies when we’ve made that full distribution of the departments. But parents will always have that right.

MajorprojectsacrossLouisiana aremoving from announcementtoreality.Morethan $76 billion in capitalinvestment is creating over 70,000 jobopportunities,with averagesalariesexceeding $90,000 The work spansacrossenergy, manufacturing, infrastructure andlogistics to grow Louisianacommunitiesstatewide

LOUISIANAPOLITICS

Congress grapples with budget falloutfromMinn. killings

WASHINGTON —Softened rhetoric, personnel changes andthe willingness of President Donald Trump to negotiatewith Democrats in hopes of avoidinganother government shutdown have created confusion for many in Congress.

Democratic senators balked at funding the Department of Homeland Security,which includes the money for FEMA, largely because of violence involving frontline officers withICE and the Border Patrol who are tasked withfinding anddeporting immigrants who entered the country illegally Approval of the DHS budget which includescritical funding for FEMA —already wasshaping up as aclose vote. Then thebattle lines hardenedfurther after Alex Pretti, aU.S.-born nurseataveterans hospital,became thesecond American citizen killed in Minneapolis.

Initially,Trump administration leaders painted Pretti as agunwielding domestic terrorist. But numerous videos taken from different angles showed arestrained Pretti shot repeatedly in the back Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “What ICE is doing outside the law is state-sanctioned thuggery.”

Most GOP leaders remained silent. Afew Republicans argued the credibility of the immigration control effort was at stake, including U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina. Their statements indicated fear of potential backlash to what has been one of the GOP’sbest issues against Democratic candidates.

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy,R-Baton Rouge, took to social media quickly after Pretti’skilling: “The

Landrypens NYT op-ed on Greenland

In his role as PresidentDonald Trump’sspecial envoy to Greenland, Gov.Jeff Landry wrote in an op-ed piece for the New York Times on Thursday that the U.S. needs “total,unfettered access”to the giant island territory

Following up on the “framework” that Trump announced last week in Davos, Switzerland, Landry wrote that the U.S. and Denmarkare negotiating an agreement that “would enhance American, NATO and Greenlandic security and reaffirm longstanding trans-Atlantic defense obligations. It would expand America’s operational freedom, support new bases and infrastructure, facilitate deployment of advanced missile-defense systems like the Golden Dome and crowd out hostile Chinese and Russian influence.”

events in Minneapolis are incredibly disturbing. Thecredibility of ICE and DHS are at stake. There must be afulljointfederal and state investigation.”

His post was read more than 3million times.

Thepresidentsent border czar TomHolman to Minneapolis with instructions to mediate among federal, state and local authorities.

Meanwhile, Trump andSchumer then worked out adeal that would allow the other five spendingbills to clear theSenate and

in announcing the framework of adeal.

The opinion article marks Landry’smost prominent role since Trumpnamed him special envoy just before Christmas.

Capitol Buzz STAFF REPORTS

Foreign policy experts have notedLandry has no experience in international diplomacy, much less European affairs, and did not attendakey meeting two weeksago at the White House with Vice President JD Vance, SecretaryofState Marco Rubio and theforeign ministers of Denmark and Greenland

In thepiece, Landry noted that U.S. troopshelped defend Greenland from Nazi Germany during World WarIIand that theU.S. maintained military bases on the island during the Cold War.

“The reality,” Landry wrote, “is that no nation, or group of nations, is capable of securing Greenlandwithoutthe United States.”

Nowhere in the article does Landry repeat Trump’sprevious call for the U.S. to takeover Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.

So far,Greenland and Denmark officials have said they will not turn the country over to theU.S Trump did not push that demand

Landry wrotethatTrump’s efforts to establish agreater presence in Greenland reflect “a reinvigoration of the1823 Monroe Doctrineand areassertion of American leadership where it matters most. Nowhere was this more evident than in Venezuela, where decisive action removed the longtimeleader of arepres-

postpone Homeland Security’s appropriations for two weeks to negotiateguardrails for federal agents enforcing immigration laws.

The two House leaders who would be called upon to win House approval in the coming week of any Senate changes to Homeland Securityfunding largely have stayed silent.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton,still hadn’tcommented by early Friday House MajorityLeader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, had defend-

sive regime.”

Until now,Landry has described his role as special envoy only in general terms.Inthe article, he wrote, “My mission as special envoy for Greenland is straightforward: to advance American national securitywhile opening avenues of economic opportunity, including for states like Louisiana.”

BR Republican in race for Letlow’sHouse seat

StateRep.Dixon McMakin, RBaton Rouge, announced Wednesday morning he is running for U.S. Rep.Julia Letlow’s seat representing Louisiana’s5th Congressional District.

“I’mrunning to deliver real wins for Louisiana —not excuses, not talking points, but results. Wins for families. Wins for workers. Wins for our values,” he said in a statement McMakin said he will “stand shoulder to shoulderwith President Trumptoadvance the America First agenda,”including priorities like border security, economic growth benefiting working families, cutting “reck-

immigrants, Cassidy said: “DHS funds FEMA. Notfunding FEMA just as communities are requesting help after Winter Storm Fern is not smart.”

The mainchallenger forCassidy’sreelection in November is U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow,aRepublican from Baton Rouge whohas Trump’sendorsement.

Letlow’s staffsaid in astatementThursday on Noem that she trusts Trumptodetermine who “he needs” and that she wants to see the Senate endorse the Homeland Security bill as it passed the House.

U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, RLafayette, agreed, writing on X, “I’m an immovable ‘no’ on anything that doesn’tsupport law enforcement frontline hard-edge operations.”

Sen. John Kennedy,R-Madisonville, spoke from the Senate floor Wednesday saying federal agents should follow due process and equal protection standards —that is, law enforcement needs to have “reasonable suspicion” to stop someone and question them without probable cause.

Kennedy said mostconfrontations involved criminals, many times with felons.

ed ICE and the Border Patrol on “Face the Nation” the day after Pretti’sdeath, blaming the Democratic leaders of Minnesota. On theside, Democrats also agitated for theremoval of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, though Trumpcontinued to praise her Cassidy didn’tanswer when asked if Noem should be removed from office. When asked if he supported changes in the way federal law enforcement handle people in their search forundocumented

less spending,” and “crushing woke insanity.”

Letlow last week announced abid to unseat embattled U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy after she won an endorsement from President Donald Trumpdays earlier Afirst-term member of the LouisianaHouse, McMakin is a financial adviser forAltus Wealth Management, licensed insurance agent and owner of aprivate law practice. He also serves as thepublic address announcer for LSU football games. He has abachelor’sdegree and adual degree in business and law,both from LSU.

Alsointhe congressional race are state Sen. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge, and Board of RegentsChair Misti Cordell, each of whom announced their candidacies last week.

Larry Davis, amember of the Livingston Parish Republican ParishExecutive Committee, is also running. So are Sammy Wyatt, an administrator at LSU Health-Shreveport whoended a Senatebid to run forU.S. House instead, andRay Smith, alawyer and combat veteran.

About half of the 5th Congressional District includes Baton Rouge andLivingston Parish, and it also includes the Florida Parishes and parishes along the Mississippi River up to Monroe.

“Those ICEofficials, those cops are scared. They’re scared. They’re dealing with someone whocould be armed, someone whocould be dangerous. So, you got apowder keg,” he said. “When protesters choose to protest violently and harass those ICEofficials and blow whistles in their ears and block their way and spit in their faces and curse them and curse their children, they’re giving off sparks in apowder keg and it’snot going to end well in manycases.”

Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate.com.

Graves passedonLetlow’s congressional spot

Former U.S. Rep. Garret Graves said Wednesday he will not run to replace U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow and represent Louisiana’s5th Congressional District.

Graves

“Weare thankfulfor all of the strong support and encouragementtorun forCongress,” Graves said in astatement.

“This is not the timenor office that makes sense. Iwill not be running forCongress this election,” he said.

“There is astrong demand for people-focused representation and leadership in Louisiana. Iam confident the right opportunity to help fill this void will arise in the future.”

Graves served in Congress from 2015 to 2024, representing Baton Rouge and parishes to the south until Louisiana’scongressional map was redrawn. He decided not to seek reelection after he ended up with adistrict he didn’tthink he could win.

Letlow’s decision to join the Senate race prompted speculation that Graves would seize the opportunity to return to Capitol Hill.

THE GULF COAST

HattiesburgkingcakegetsDongPhuongcomparisons

BY POET WOLFE Staff writer

Stepping into acasino before noon comeswitha particular kind of guilt, like staring into the blue light of aphone screen the moment you wake up. But on a recent Wednesday morning, it was necessary. We had driven the coastal stretch from NewOrleans to downtown Gulfport, Mississippi,where Loblolly Bakery,aHattiesburg institution, was hosting aking cake pop-up at 10:30 a.m.

The bakery’scakes wreaths of pillowy bread topped with buttercream icing —have become aCarnival staple acrossthe Gulf Coast. The long line snaking toward atable stacked with 75 king cake boxes made that clear.Within 25 minutes, only 15 remained.

As one box after another disappearedintothe arms of smiling customers, we were redirected east to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Biloxi, where another delivery of Loblolly’sking cakes was en route.

Neon slot machines, blackjack tables and the clinking of digital coins are not particularly pious ways to begin the morning. But perhapsyou —aNew Orleanian, alover of king cake, or both —understand now why it was necessary, especially for aking cake frequently compared to Dong Phuong Bakery’screation, arguably the most sought-afterconfectionof Mardi Gras

Findingthe cake

At the Hard Rock, we

stepped into an elevator thickwithdecades of cigarettesmoke and rode to the second floor, where gamblers stared at glowing screens, sharp-eyed and unblinking as theyclicked buttons. Vintage photographs of the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin covered nearly every wall. Thefew bare patches were scribbledwithquotes— someearnest, others platitudinous— attributedto the greatsofrock ‘n’ roll.

Almost every corner leaned into Americana, except the giftshop, wherea cart of king cakes was being rolled in.Lessthan5 minutes later, aman leftwith seven of them.

King cakes are not confined to New Orleans. Their reach extends across Louisiana,from thetoe to the heel of the boot, and into other parts of the Gulf Coast,including south Mississippi. Thecity’scultural influence has longtraveled outward, and now even one of its smaller bakeries has become part of that exchange.

“From day one, Iwas told that Dong Phuongwas the standard,” saidAndrew Stayer,the logisticsand shipping manager at Loblolly Bakery

The bakery,hesaid, aims to meet andeven surpass thatbenchmark, borrowing inspirationfrom Dong Phuong’smost admired qualities, including the moisture of the bread. Since Loblolly began sellingkingcakes last year,the approach appears to work. Thebakery now suppliesalistofvendors in Mississippi, along with onein Covington,and sells the king cakes online. This MardiGrasseason Stayersaidits Hattiesburg locationsells 250 king cakes aday and runs out quickly

“Wecan’talways promise that you’re going to get a cake,” he said, “But we can promise we’re going to be making them.”

A finalreview

The only flavor available at thegiftshopwas blueberry cream cheese, the bakery’smost popular filling. The cake was decorated with doubloons, beads and festive sugar,witha plastic baby nestled intothe icing. The buttercream icing is slightly thick, layering the softbrioche bread beneath it.The filling, amix of fresh andcrushed blueberries, appears near theend of the slice, matching theicing’s mild sweetness. Is it like Dong Phuong’s kingcake? Not particularly,but art isn’tmeant to be imitated. Loblolly belongs to anew chapter of king cakes, one shaped by Dong Phuong’sinfluence —with richer doughs andhigh-end ingredients —and departs from the simpler versions many generations once knew

for Downtown Lafayette.

“These are both organizations that embody deeplyrootedculture in our area,” said Judice “Wereally wanted avisual representation of the relationship that we have with them, but it’salso really cool because people have such fond memoriesand ties to both things. Both Downtown Alive! and Evangeline share in thevalues of community pride and showing up year after year and it speaks to an experience that you can only get here.”

Lafayette graphicdesigner Burton Durand, who helped design aLafayette-themed mural in Lafayette’ssister city of Namur, Belgium, last year,created the art for the new poster and products, like ahat withaCajun fiddler sitting on top of the billboard.

Durand said, “Toeveryone here, it’siconic. Growing up,you saw the Evangeline Maid, and you see her today,and it’ssomething that ties me back to my childhood.

“I like to incorporate fun and humor in my designs, so that’s why Ipitched the ‘fiddler on the loaf.’ It’ssomething that made me kind of chuckleand was a cool image, and I’m glad that the clients appreciated that.” Downtown Alive! is aseries of free outdoor community concerts, takingplace in thespring and fall in Parc SansSouci. The music is from 6p.m. to 8p.m., and these local artists are on the upcoming spring lineup:

RESEARCHERS

according to the study.Chen’s work uses aprotein expressed by staph totarget cancers, especially those likely to metastasize. It proposes fusing abacterial toxin with the targeting proteintodeliver a “killing” protein to cancer cells.

The researchers’ approach revealed lower toxicityinnormal cells as aresult of the killing protein,while cancer cells died.

The discovery paves theway for anovel therapeuticcancer treatment —inparticular for late-stage cancersorcancersthat have metastasized,Chen said.

“The more malignant or the more prone to metastasis, with this cancermarker,weactually found our platform therapy will be more effective,” Chen said.

Theproject has received apatent and a$379,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Dr.Chen Chen,

n Friday,Feb. 13: Dustin Dale Gaspard,opened by Certified Blues n Friday,March 6: Sydney& theSams, opened by Mike Larson andThe Ones That Got Away! n Friday,April10: Les Amis de DTA! featuring Roddie Romero, Andre Michot, Rodrigo Munhoz, Drake Leblanc, Jean Torres, David Crochet, andSami Parbhoo, opened by Amelie Cecile.

Email Joanna Brown at joanna.brown@theadvocate. com.

FILM

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agrand retirement send-off at Pat’sAtchafalaya Club in Henderson that turned out acrowd forone last party.The 82-yearold singer suffers from primary lateralsclerosis, arare nerve cell disease,and said that performing the way he likes became too difficult in awheelchair

“The songs don’tsound as good, and Ididn’tlike that,” said Hulin, reflecting on a67-year career When asked at the screening about his favorite song to sing, Hulin sang afew notes of America the Beautiful —part ofhis “American Trilogy” he closed eachshow with through the years, with “God Bless the U.S.A.,” “America the Beautiful” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” His voice may not be as energetic as it used to be,but the graciousness and bonhomie that shines through Hulin’sstage

presence is as vibrant as it ever was. “Age has caught up with us,” said B-Lou Hulin, TK’sbrother and longtime drummer.“It does make me sad because I’m not used to seeinghim likethat.Isat in the back on thedrums,and all Icould see all that time was TK’s dancing butt.”

Louisiana HallofFameguitarist TedBroussard wasatthe screening, reminiscing about his time playing with TK Hulin and theLonely Knights in 1970, andagain in 1983. “It was alot of fun to play with them,” he said.

“The guys in the band were just wonderful people, and Iwas in stitches alot of times on stage. TK, his voice —hecould have laryngitis, but he could still sing. Iwas stunned bythat. Andhewas awonderful showman with the dancingaround. Iwas amazed he could dothat stuff, especially later on in life. He was still doing it.”

Email Joanna Brownat joanna.brown@theadvocate. com.

The next phase of theresearch will study theeffectiveness of the anticancer platform in living organisms using mouse cancer models

“I really want to, using what we’velearned, do something to help the whole community,”Chen said. “Everybody knows someone directly or indirectly who has a cancer.”

Chen,amedical doctor and Ph.D., became interested in discovering more about themechanisms of disease while in medical school, she said. Her laboratory specializesinthe infectionand colonization of staph.

“A lot of people get scared of staphbecause they heard of the superbug,” Chen said. “They heard of hyperantibiotic resistanceand

CAMPS

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children in camp, leaving families to search for other options like full-time babysitters or day cares.

The schools attributedthe change to Act 409, astate law passedlast year that regulates privatepreschools. Butlawmakersand stateeducation departmentofficials said therule schools are citing actually originated more than adecade earlier in a2014 law, which says summer camps are exempt from daycare licensing rules if they only enroll children ages 5 and older

Rather than try to align their campswith the state’sstringent daycare regulations, some schools have opted to stop enrollingchildren underage 5inthe summer programs. Christian Brothers School referred questions to aspokesperson for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, who said thearchdiocese is committedtothe safety and protection of students. Archdiocese officials areworking to find other summer child careoptions for 3- and 4-year-olds and partnering withlawmakersand the Department of Education on possiblesolutions, said the spokesperson, Sarah McDonald. Meanwhile, parentsare sounding thealarm. Martin emailedall 105 lawmakers in Louisiana’s House of Representatives this month in hopestheymight change the camprule during the upcominglegislativesession.Her friend Ashlyn Blanchard, an attorney whosefamily lives in Metairie,

some severe infections. But one thirdofthis population is colonized by staph aureus. The majorityof us have no symptomsatall.”

Despite the fear around bacteria, the organismsare part of the human story andcan be utilizedfor thebenefit of humans, Chen said.

She gavethe example of botulinum neurotoxin, or Botox.

“That’sactually themostpotent

circulated aletter explaining the legal issueand discussedpossible fixes withlawmakers.

“Weshouldbeexpanding child carefor all,”saidBlanchard, who had hoped to send her 4-year-old son to theChristian Brothers summer camp. “Weshouldn’tbefighting to bring back child care that was taken from us.”

‘HopingtoGod’for asolution

In recent weeks, severalNew Orleans-area schools announced thenew summer camp age restrictions,sending parents of preschoolers into afrenzy

The schools pointed to Act 409, or “Charlie’sLaw,” which took effect in August and requires prekindergarten programsatprivate schools to obtainday carelicenses, subjectingthe schools to dozens of additionalregulations. The schools said the lawpreventssummer camps from enrolling pre-K students.

“Unless this lawisamended or repealed, this summer we will not be able toaccept any children who have not turned 5bythe start of camp,” said an email to parents at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School in Metairie. An email from Jesuit High School’s camp counselor cited“the new law of the land in Louisiana (Act 409),” saying any child who hasn’tturned 5 by June will be unenrolled from camp.

But the newlaw did not actually create the summer camp rule,whichhas been on thebookssince 2014, state officials and lawmakers said.

“Nothing changed within the past over 10 years,” said state Rep. StephanieHilferty,R-Metairie,

bacteria protein toxin we’ve ever known,” Chen said. “However,we re-engineered it to useitasanantiwrinkle.”

In addition, bacteria and their hosts have amutual relationship, Chen said.

“Bacteria evolvedwithhuman populations,” Chen said. “I don’t think necessarily their goal is to kill us.”

adding that Act 409 seemstohave alertedsomeprivate schools to the earlier law.“In working through complying with Charlie’sLaw, they discovered the definition of camp” from 2014.

Hilfertysaidshe hasdiscussed potential legislative changes with Catholic school leadersand Sen. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge, who chairs the Senate Education Committee. It could be possible to amendthe licensing law before mostsummer camps start in June, Hilfertyadded, but lawmakers must be certain thatthe changes won’tjeopardize student safety “Wewanttomakesure that children are safe,” shesaid, “and also have aworkablesolutionfor working parents.”

For now,parents who suddenly lost accesstoschool summer campsare frantically searching for other options, including otherprivate campsthathavenot stopped serving preschool children.

But thatcould change if more programsbecome aware of the 2014 licensing law,which applies to summer camps run by any organization —not just private schools.

“If aschool or another entity is planning to offer asummercamp to childrenyoungerthanage 5, it would need to be licensed,” said AshleyTownsend, assistant superintendent forpolicyand governmental affairs at the state Department of Education.

Laurie Martin isn’tsure what she’ll do with Colette this summer.Atthe moment, she’s waiting forthe legislature to convene in Marchand “hopingtoGod”they find asolution.

“That’smyplan,” she said. “I don’trecommendit.”

young, stay young, at

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Group releases report on La. coroners

It reveals involuntary commitment law violates due process rights

BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer

A civil rights advisory committee has found that Louisiana’s involuntary commitment law appears to violate due process rights under the 14th Amendment.

In a report released this week, the Louisiana Advisory Committee for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found that state law allows people without appropriate medical training to involuntarily commit individuals for up to 15 days. It is recommending a change in the law by the state Legislature. It also identified a lack of accountability in the involuntary commitment process, said those committed are unable to void or expunge their records, and alleged that the issuing of involuntary commitment orders “appears to be a rubber stamp in some parishes.” It did not specify the parishes. The committee also recommended that the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights ask the governor and the Legislature to investigate and codify laws to ensure physicians, preferably psychiatrists, are involved in issuing Coroner’s Emergency Certificates (CECs).

Those certificates allow people to be confined for up to 15 days.

Created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is a bipartisan, independent commission that investigates, reports and makes recommendations about civil rights issues to government leaders. The commission has no enforcement powers, and its 56 advisory committees make recommendations and reports to the full commission. Louisiana Advisory Committee Acting Chair Tia Mills said

ä See CORONERS, page 2B

Speaking out

Protesters rally against ICE, Lafayette sheriff

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

About 70 people marched through downtown Lafayette on Saturday to the Sheriff’s Office, protesting the Trump administration’s policies on deportations and demanding Sheriff Mark Garber end agreements to assist U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

One protest leader said plans are in the works to start an official petition to recall Garber for his cooperation with ICE. The Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, in December, signed two agreements with ICE through a program that allows deputies to interrogate and arrest people suspected of entering the coun-

try illegally, which are immigration officer functions. Border Patrol and ICE officers have been detaining immigrants and U.S. citizens in places like Minneapolis and Chicago. Tension between agents and residents trying to protect their immigrant

Finalists for the 2025-2026 Education All-Stars will be honored during the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s men’s basketball game Feb. 7. The winners will be announced during halftime.

Westside teacher builds confidence in pre-K

‘I want them to know that I believe in them’

Amy Word’s pre-K classroom at Westside Elementary is full of hands-on activities experimentation and making learning fun. The class celebrates each other’s successes, includ i ng Word’s when she was surprised during lunch by district staff, school leaders and representatives with Love Our Schools to tell her she was one of three Lafayette Parish School System elementary teachers selected as an Education All-Stars finalist.

“I felt honored. I was shocked,” she said. “I’m always the quiet one working behind the scenes. I was humbled knowing that ev-

eryone was rooting for me, even the parents and my colleagues.”

Word has been an educator for about 15 years, starting as a substitute. She started out teaching fourth and fifth grade students, but always found herself in the kindergarten hallway In her classroom, Word said she strives to create an environment where students can be heard and know that they’re capable of learning

“I want them to know that I believe in them. Everything I do is because I know that they can do it,” she said. “My goal is not to just teach the curriculum, it’s to develop the confidence and the love for learning.” Her favorite moments are when a student’s face lights up when a concept finally clicks.

“Their growth and when they realize their own potential, it drives me every day,” Word said. “Watching

Milton teacher gives her students a boost

‘The kids go home feeling confident’

At the beginning of the school year, Milton Elementary-Middle math teacher Annette Bodin gives her third grade students an eraser with their name on it. They read “The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes” and talked about having a growth mindset. Bodin tells students their “magic eraser” can be used any time they make a mistake and reminds them that mistakes — and erasing them — are proof they’re trying. Building up her students is one of the rea-

sons Bodin says she feels she was selected as one of three Lafayette Parish School System elementary teachers finalists for the Education All-Stars award, overseen by nonprofit Love Our Schools. Bodin, who’s worked at Milton for 18 years of her 23-year educator career, said she was shocked when district staff, school leaders and Love Our Schools representatives surprised her with the news. “I just couldn’t believe it,” she said “Somebody took the time to write those kind words about me. Someone felt that I loved them enough to do that. It was humbling.” Because math is typically “black and white” with one right answer Bodin said she makes sure to point out when students are succeeding. She gives out golden tickets for

neighbors have escalated in places like Minneapolis. U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti were shot and killed in January during confrontations with

BY ASHLEY WHITE Staff writer

Middlebrook teacher helps students succeed

‘We have great days and we celebrate’

Latoya Rideau was teaching a math lesson to her second graders at Cpl. Michael Middlebrook Elementary when she opened the door to a gaggle of people standing outside. District staff, sch ool leaders and representatives with Love Our Schools were cheering for her with pompoms and applause. to surprise her with the news that she is one of three Lafayette Parish School System elementary teachers chosen by Love Our Schools as a finalist for the Education All-Stars Hall of Fame award. Rideau slid to the floor in

shock.

“I was like, ‘This is not happening. Pinch me,’ ” she said. “Once I came to myself, I was like, ‘Thank you, God, for your favor.’ I’ve been working 25 years and there are so many teachers who’ve been in the game longer than me.” Rideau has taught at Middlebrook since 2001 and spent most of her career teaching second grade, which is “her jam” and where she gets all her excitement from, she said. When she walks through the classroom door, her students know everyone is going to try their hardest. She works with families to ensure the adults are working as a team to help students succeed. And they’re going to celebrate their wins together, even the small ones. “My students understand that they’re going to be accountable, and we’re going to keep doing what

CleveDunnturns self in afterindictment

MetroCouncil member indicted on 9charges

BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER Staff writer

East Baton Rouge Metro Council member Cleve Dunn Jr.was arrested in Baton Rouge aftersurrendering himself around 7a.m.Saturday morning.

The Louisiana Attorney General’sOffice confirmed that Dunn returned from

Washington, D.C., turned himself in andhas been booked into the EastBat Rouge Par ishPrison. Dunn was indicted in aB tonRou court Wednesday on nine talcounts, including bribery,theft money laundering and public contract fraud, followinganinvestigationby AG Liz Murrill’soffice.

A$25,000 bond was set for Dunn. He was released ound1 p.m., officials said. As the grand jury read the charges against Dunn the courtroom Wednesday,the council member was traveling to the naon’s capital to attend Washington Mardi Gras He is the fifth personindicted on charges related to publiccontract fraud andalleged misuse of taxpayerfunds at theCapital Area Transit Authority Prosecutors accuseDunn

of using his authority as a council member to funnel a$50,000 CATS contract to Jarian “Jay”Colar, with whom investigators say he hasaclose relationship. Colar has alsobeen indicted. Dunn hasnot responded to multiple requests for comment related to theinvestigation and his indictment.

In awarrant for his arrest, agents allegeDunn accepted “kickbacks” and received approximately $45,000 of fundsintended forwork Colarwas con-

tracted to complete.

FBI and AG investigators found littleevidence that any of the worklaid out in Colar’scontract actually occurred.

Following Wednesday’s indictment, aspokespersonfor the AG’sOffice said theinvestigationintofraud and bribery in Baton Rouge government was ongoing, and it expects more indictments to come.

Murrill’sofficerepeated thesame in astatement following Dunn’sSaturday arrest.

Longtime club celebrates 100years of Blacksociety

Young MenIllinois lookstowardnext generation of debutantes

BY DESIREESTENNETT

Staff writer

In shimmering, gleaming ball gowns and extravagantly sized hats heaped with brightly colored feathers, anew generation of young Black girlsrecentlydebuted in New Orleans society 100 yearsafter theYoung Men Illinois Club held its first ball. Built by athen-new Black upper class that formed after the Civil Warand Reconstruction, the club has been abeacon for New Orleans high society,bringing joy andcelebration throughthe inequality of segregation, pride and cultural resilience through integration, and a sense of tradition and connection over 10 decades.

Now the club is bringing arenewed focusonlegacybuilding forfuture generations as it looks to the next 100 years.

“If you can imagine the difficulties and challenges that Black people had in their lives in 1926, and for them to have orchestrated aball nearly every year for100 years,not justto party and have funbut to introduce young women to society for them to begin to... establish outreach and important opportunities for furthering the race and the community,that’s an outstanding contribution,” said Karen BecnelMoore,who built adecadeslong career in higher education and served as Young Men Illinois queen in 1966.

Becnel Moore was the first Black student to attend St. Mary’s Dominican College, whose campus is now part of Loyola University’s downtown campus. Shewent on to spend half acentury teaching Spanish at Dillard, Southernand Xavier universities. But as ayoung woman, she was named queen at apivotal point.

The ball that honoredher was held at the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium, once the premier venue for the city’supper crust until it was damaged in Hurricane

PROTEST

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immigration officers The killings sparked marches across the U.S. with hundreds of thousands demanding changes or the abolishmentof ICE.

Protester Mary Martien of Lafayette said she was out in the cold Saturdaybecause sheisafraid Good and Pretti won’tbe thelast liveslosttotrigger-happy agents.

“They’re cruel. They’re sadistic. They’re psychopaths,” she said. “It’sup to us to save democracy.”

The cause, Martien said, is agood one: to save democracy,the Bill of Rights, freedom of speech

Katrina. For decades, only Whiteorganizations were allowed to host there,but in 1966,the Young MenIllinois Club was thefirst Black organizationpermitted to integrate the space

“Anytime there was an opportunitytomakeadifference, we took it and we advancedour culture and oursociety and our community in that way,”she said.

“It was important for this particular group to make the initialstep and to be able to integratethatfacility.And it’s still important today because it is asignificant part of all of our histories, not just for membersofthe club ” Black high society

Despiteits name,the Young Men Illinois Club has had ties to New Orleans Carnival since its predecessor, the Illinois Club, started in 1895.

Back then,the “Father of NegroSocietyinNew Orleans” Wiley Knight, who founded the club, named it afterthe Illinois Central Railroad train that traveled between Chicago and New Orleans. He worked as aPullman porter for thetrain,and during layovers, he and the other Black porters would work as butlersinthe homes of wealthy Uptownresidents.

One year,while working as service staff at aball thrown by aWhitesocial club, Knight saw how the young women, mostlyinhigh school or ear-

and afree press, and to stop fascism, President Donald Trump and his cabinet.

One protest leader,Aimee Dominique, said her heart breaks when she thinks about what Goodand Pretti went through at the handsof agents.

“They’re killing Americans in the streets and they’re trying to cover it up,”Dominiquesaid Whilethere have been immigration raidsin south Louisiana, Dominique said the state has been sheltered from large actionsseen in places like Minneapolis.That’s probably because Louisiana is amajority-Republicanstate that voted for Trump, she said, who is targeting cities thatvote for Democrats. “Redprivilege is keeping us fromthe chaos,” Dominique said.

ContactClaire Taylor at ctaylor@theadvocate com

ly college years, were being presented by their families.

“These girls learnedsuch things as etiquette,they learnedhow to set atable theylearned howtowalk into aroom, they learned how to speak socially,” said Lawrence Robinson, ball captain and the longest-standing member of Young MenIllinois. “The Pullman porters noticed that the young White girls werebeing presented, andthen theythought that they could do the samefor the young Black girls in New Orleans.”

Knight wouldeventually launch hisown Uptown dance studio, where he and other club members taught young debutantes. The Illinois Club heldits own annual balluntil the1926 split over who would be named queen.The remaining members changed its nametothe Original IllinoisClub, which also stillexists today

Bothclubs are the subject of anew exhibitatThe PresbytèreinJackson Square, called “Origins of NewOrleansBlack Carnival Society: The Story of the Illinois Clubs.”

WhenRobinson joined YoungMen Illinois in the late 1970s, the group still had three original members. Having held nearly every position in the club over the years, including president, Robinson said he’sbeen proud to be part of the brotherhood. But,at75, he’salso glad to see excitement is not

WORD

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them learn, overcomea challenge and gain that

BODIN

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successes, like when studentsproperly use vocabulary words. Students can getstickers for showing theirwork on amath test, even if they don’tget an A.

“The kids go home feeling confident. Whenever they

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we’re supposed to do,” she said. “Wework hard, we play,wehave greatdays and we celebrate.”

waning as he helps ensure the club will outlast his lifetime.

“Members have called me from thehospitalwhere their daughter was born to say,‘put my daughter on the list for queen,’” he laughed. “There’salistprojecting decades into the future.Now thereare some members puttingtheir granddaughters’ names on the list.”

They are just girlsnow,he said.But thesewill be the young Black women leading thefutureofNew Orleans, following in the footsteps of past queens and debutantes who have gone on to become businessleaders, educators and government officialsat every level.

“They come back and serve their communities well,” Robinson said. “They become leaders in New Orleans circles.”

Legacy of tradition

In the past century, Young Men Illinois has seen New Orleans through many ups and downs, but the aftermath of HurricaneKatrina was among its most significant in recent history

William “Bill” Aaron’stwo olderdaughters had been celebrated at previous Carnival balls, andin2006,his youngest daughter was chosen to be queen. But she never got thechance to be formally crowned with so much of the city’spopulation scattered across the country

Whenthe ball returned in

confidencemotivates me.” Word andthe other finalists for the 2025-26 Education All-Stars will be honored during theUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette’smen’s basketball

do their homework, they can do it on their ownand they feel proud,”she said. “Theystart saying, ‘I love math.Math is fun.’”

Each year,Bodin puts her students’ class pictureson herwall. It’savisual reminder of her “why”: the students.

“Each class story makes me happy,” shesaid. “They become likemy66best

As herstudents leave the second grade and continue through school, Rideau hopestheyremember that even when things are hard, they can succeed.

Rideau andthe otherfinalistsfor the 2025-26 Education All-Starswill be hon-

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in aTuesday news release that the committee was “concerned that involuntary commitments canoccurwithout appropriately qualified medical personnel making the determination that such adeprivation of liberty is warranted.”

“Wehopeour recommendationshelpensure theCoroner’sEmergency Certificate is used appropriately and as atool to help support, and not punish, individuals allegedtobesufferingfrom mental illness,” sheadded. Targetinga loophole

2007, “it was abig year for the cluband the cityaswell,” Aaron said. “A lot of people didn’tthink the city would come back. There wasa feeling thata lotofinstitutionswould not come back.

“It was aboutgoingback to normalcy and for people in New Orleans, anormal routine is Carnival season.”

After Katrina, Orleans Parish Civil Court Judge Omar Masonand hiswife, Carla Bringier-Mason, settled in Houston and had two daughters. Wages were higher there, the cost of living was lower,and they had all the amenities of amajor city.But Houston could never replace the New Orleans culture, Omar Mason said.

“Sitting at my computer in my office on MardiGras Day watching livestreams of the parades, we were missing that cultural connection,” he said. By 2014, he hadjoinedthe Young Men Illinois Club and added his daughters to the list forqueen. He wanted themtogrow up steeped in the Carnival culture.

It wasn’tjust aboutattendingthe parties.Masonsaid he used the debutante balls as motivation. As each debutante is announced,their list of accomplishments near-perfect grades,college acceptances,community involvement—are read to the crowd. Even beforehis daughtersJade and Sydney Mason were in high school, he wasencouraging themto look to theolder girls as role models.

After years of anticipation andmonths of etiquette lessons, waltz practices and shopping for the perfect white ball gown, 17-yearoldSydneyMason is nowa queen.

“It’sexciting being the centennialqueen,” saidthe senior at St. Mary’s Dominican High School. “It shows that Young Men Illinois is bigger than me. There’salegacy here.”

She now getstoexperience what it’sliketohaveparents of youngergirls approach herfamily and rave about her4.0 GPA, membership in several honorsocieties and participation in the city’s teen council.

“It does feel strangebecauseI’ve always been the youngerperson,”Sydney said.

game Feb. 7. The winners will be announced during halftime.

Contact AshleyWhite at ashley.white@ theadvocate.com

friends each year.”

Bodin andthe other finalists forthe 2025-26 Education All-Starswill be honored during theUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette’s men’sbasketball game Feb. 7. The winners will be announced during halftime.

Contact AshleyWhite at ashley.white@ theadovcate.com

ored during the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s men’sbasketball game Feb. 7. The winners will be announced during halftime.

Contact AshleyWhite at ashley.white@ theadvocate.com

Thereportfollowed the committee’s investigation intothe role of coroners in the involuntarycommitment process, during which thegroup held two public hearings andaccepted written testimony about the subject.

An involuntary commitment in Louisiana begins with acertificate issued by aphysician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or psychologist thatallows people to be involuntarily committed for up to 72 hours.

Once someone is committed, acoroner or deputy coroner of the parish can then executea Coroner’s Emergency Certificate within those 72 hoursafter evaluating the person. Louisiana is the only state that allowsamedical examiner or coroner to issuesuch a certificate, according to the report.

Andalthough statelaw requirescoronerstobe licensed physicians,it waives that rule if no licensedphysicians qualify to run for office. Deputy coroners are required to hold at least thesame qualifications as the coroner,the reportadded.

“As such, if thecoroner is not aphysician, there is no requirement that thedeputy coroner be alicensed physician,” it stated. “The coroner may also appoint assistant coroners to performhis duties. Butthere is no statutory requirement thatthe assistant coroners possess any type of medical qualifications or credentials.”

In itsrecommendations, the committee also suggestedthe governorand Legislature provide funding for athird-party examiner to requestand review data on involuntary commitments from all parishes over the pastfive years. Furthermore, it advised the commission to conduct anational study of state lawsconcerning involuntary commitment to develop bestpractices ‘Accountability gap’

Testimony and documentation received by the committee andincluded with the report include a redacted story from someone alleging they wereinvoluntarily committeddue to afalse report against them.

Nick Richard, executive director of NAMI Southeast Louisiana, submitted written testimonyabout the balance between protecting civil rights and providing access to appropriatemental healthcare for those whoneed it. He highlighted an “accountabilitygap” in responsibilityfor investigating potential false statements used to involuntarily commitindividuals

“When no entity has clear responsibilitytoinvestigate potential falsestatements,the deterrent effect of penaltiesbecomes meaningless,” he wrote.“If violations occur,who identifies them? Whoinvestigates? Who prosecutes?”

LOTTERY FRIDAY, JAN. 30, 2026

Goodson, Charles Thomas'Charlie'

Charles "Charlie" Goodson, alifelong restaurateur and respected community leader, passed peacefully on Wednesday January 28, 2026 (Feast Day of Saint Thomas Aquinas) surrounded by family.

Avisitation will be held on Thursday, February 5, 2026 at Martin &Castille's DOWNTOWN location beginning at 3:00 PM (The Hour of Mercy) to 6:00 PM with aRosary recitedat 6:00 PM. Family and friends will be invitedtoshare memories following the rosary.Visitationwill continueonFriday, February6, 2026 in the Cathedral of St John theEvangelist from 1:00 PM with aMemorial Mass beginning at 2:00 PM Rev. Hampton Davis will serve as Celebrant of the Funeral Mass. Inurnment will be held in St. John Cemetery where he will rest in eternal peace with his wife, Delphine Ducrest Goodson. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, Charlie graduated from Montgomery Catholic High School and attended Auburn University, where he wasa member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. After his family relocated to Lafayette, Louisiana, Charlie followed and enrolled at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, where he discovered his passion for the hospitality industry, acalling that would shape his life. Charlie shared 43 years of marriage with his late wife, Delphine Ducrest Goodson. Together, they opened and operated numerous restaurants, build-

Obituaries ing alegacy rooted in service and excellence. With more than 60 years in the restaurant industry, Charlie'scareerbegan at Judge Roy Bean's andcontinuedthrough Café Vermilionvilleand Hub City Diner, culminating in the opening of Charley G's in 1985.In2012,hepartnered with Jody Ferguson and Marc Krampe to form SouthernHospitality Kitchens Restaurant Group, which includes Charley G's, Social SouthernTable& Bar, The TapRoom, Pete's,and Marcello's Adedicated memberof the Louisiana Restaurant Associationfor over 40 years, Charlieserved as ChapterPresident,State President, State Board Director,and Chairman of multiple committees. He also servedonthe National Restaurant Association Board of Directors, the Lafayette Chamberof Commerce Board of Directors, and the Lafayette General Medical Center Board of Directors. His many honors include Acadiana Chapter Restaurateur of the Year (1987, 1988,1994, and1998), LRA Active Member of the Year (1993), Louisiana Restaurateur of the Year (2001), inductioninto the LRA Hall of Fame (2006),

and theCulinary Humanitarian Award from Louisiana Cookin' magazine (2011). Charlie's professional accomplishments were many, buthis truest legacy was thekindness he showed,the humility he lived, and thegenerous spirit withwhich he made everyone around him feel seenand valued.Heoften shared afavoritesaying by John Templeton: "It's nice to be important,but it's moreimportant to be nice," asentiment he embodied fully Charlie is survived by his wife, Janenne C. deClouet. Theirtime togetherwas such agift to both of them and was full of joyand rich withlove, shared adventures, and cherished memories Amongtheir most meaningful experiences was a journey they shared during which PopeLeo XIV blessed their marriage in Rome. Also left to cherish his memory are hisdaughters, Anna Goodson Stringer (Bryan)and Claire Goodson Hill (Andrew); grandchildren, Reed and Emily Stringer,and Emma, Cecile,and CharlotteHill; brother, JoeGoodson (Carleen); brothers-in-law, Paul Ducrest (Nancy)and Gus Heingarten, and many

niecesand nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, Delphine Ducrest Goodson; his parents, JoeGoodson and Rhoda Bess Reddy Goodson;sister,Rhoda Bess Goodson;sisterand brother-in-law, Barbara Goodson Garrettand John Garrett; in-laws, Robert Ducrest and Wilhelmina GuirardDucrest,and sister -in-law, Roberta Heingarten.

The family extends heartfelt gratitude to Hospice of Acadiana, Hospice Nurse Jada, Dr. Gene Brierre, Dr. Bradley Chastant,Dr. JasonBreaux, Dr. Jimmy White, and the staff of M.D. Anderson specifically Dr. BlumMurphy.

In 2025, Charlie and his business partners establishedthe Charley G's LegacyofCulinary Arts Endowment Fund at South Louisiana Community Collegetosupport scholar-

ships and culinary education.Inlieuofflowers, donations may be made in hishonor at charle ygs.com/endo wment-fund

PaulDucrest will serve as urnbearer for the Funeral Mass withBryan Stringer, Andrew Hill,Reed Thomas Stringer, Jimmy Guidry, Mickey Dubois, Darrell Guidry, Stan Goudeau, Dr.Corky Harkins, and BillKeller serving as honorarypallbearers. View theobituaryand guestbook online at www.mourning.com

Martin& Castille Funeral HomeDOWNTOWN, 330 St LandryStreet, Lafayette, Louisiana 70506, 337-2342311

Leona "Lil"Jolivette

Zenon,71. Visitation willbe on Monday, February 2, 2026, from 9:00 am until time of Memorial Service at 11:00 am. Online obituary andguest book may be viewed at www.fountainmemorialf uneralhome.com.Fountain Memorial Funeral Home and Cemetery,1010 Pandora St.337-981-7098 is in charge of arrangements.

OUR VIEWS

Court recognizes role of La. musiciansin global industry

Few things unite Louisianans likeour love of music. We are fortunate to live inanareathat boasts awide range of genres —fromCajun andzydeco,blues and bounce, swamp pop and hip-hop, to the grandaddy of themall —jazz. Forming the backbone of all that music are talented musicians and songwriters who live andwork here, often strugglingtomakea living. But arecent ruling from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals gives these artists abetter chanceofreaping the rewardsoftheir workin an increasingly global entertainmentindustry The ruling, whichcould havefar-reaching implications, clarifiescopyright lawinfavor of songwriters in disputes withmusiccompanies whentheir work is used overseas The lawsuit was broughtbyBaton Rouge songwriter Cyril Vetter,who wrote the 1960s hit, “Double Shot (Of My Baby’sLove)” with colleague Don Smith, who later diedinaplane crash. As is often the case, thesongwriters sold their rights to amusic publisherfor a period of time. But Vetter hadsole rights to the song when he terminated his contract with music publisher Resnick in 2022 In 2023, abroadcaster approached Vetter askingfor permission to use thesonginan episode of aTVshow thatwould be streamed overseas. That’swhen thecontroversy began Publishers have traditionally returned only domesticrightstosongwriters when a contract ends, still asserting rightstothe work outside the United States. ButVetter got a lawyer and challenged that interpretation of copyright law —and won. Early in 2025, U.S DistrictJudge Shelly Dickruledinfavor of Vetter,affirming that he owns therights to the song around the world. On Jan. 12,the Fifth Circuit agreed. The ruling shook the entertainment industry.While for now it only applies to theFifth Circuit, which covers Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, no doubt musicians elsewhereare preparing their own lawsuits.

Some powerful interestsare arraying against them, including industry groupslike the Recording Industry AssociationofAmerica and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. They arguethatthe rulingwill create chaos in an industrywhere copyright certainty is needed before big money is invested in creative projects.

We understand those concerns, butjustas major players are benefiting from technology that allows them to stream content around the world, they should be actively seekingwaysto share that windfall with those whomake that content possible.

We salutepeople like Vetter,now aTVand radio station owner in Baton Rouge,for standing up for the creative community in ourstate and beyond.Weoften lamentthat many of them findithard to afford basics likerent and healthcare. This court case makes clear that many others are making alot of money from their talents.

Louisiana musicians makethe whole world dance. It’s time for the music industry to pay thepiper

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 SENDUS ALETTER, SCANHERE

ArtemisIIlaunchrevives asense of wonder

Next week, for the first timeinmore than ahalf century,the United States could send acrewed mission around the moon.

The giant 322-foot Space Launch System, withits Orion crew capsule, was rolled out to the pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida in January and, if all goes well, the mission, dubbed Artemis II,could take to the skiesasearly as this week.

Of late, muchhas been written about the nation’sdivisions, but the return of American astronauts to lunar space should unite us, even if the path to get there was both atriumph and an embarrassment. It’s the former because such journeys are hard and expensive. They require so muchplanning, equipment and training because in space, the smallest malfunction can be deadly.Leaving low-Earth orbit is asignificant feat. It should not be taken lightly

It’s also the latter,because these rockets and missions are far behind schedule and way over budget.Inmanyways, they embody the frustrating nature of major government projects, akin to major new roads or infrastructure.Those problems alone are almostenough to surface the cynicism and rancor that is attached to seemingly every national endeavor these days.

Almost.

Even withall of that, Iamunapologetically thrilled about this upcoming journey and will watch it withchildlike delight Perhaps that’spartially due to my gen-

eration. Iwas raised on “Star Wars,” “Star Trek,”“BattlestarGalactica” (original iteration, though the early2000s reboot is fantastic) and innumerable other operatic space adventures. Layer on the scores of science fiction stories Iread, and Iamnot just space positive, but space enthusiastic. Alas,for this astronomy-loving kid, space was not thefinalfrontier of my childhood; it wasthe unexplored one. The last manned mission to the moon, Apollo 17, flew in December 1972, afew months beforeI was born.

Growing up in the ’70s and ’80s, Iassumed that our Apollo successes presaged further explorationsinto even deeper space. But it was nottobe. NASA and the United States opted to focuson low-Earth orbit programs, like thespace shuttle and the International Space Station. The former just circled theEarth; the latter can be seen from the ground. Those were not the space programsIwas looking for This upcoming mission won’t replicate all the triumphs of Apollo.None of this Artemiscrewwill take smallstepstothe lunar surface, for instance. That’ssaved for the next mission. But that doesn’t mean there won’tbegiant leaps.

The four crew members will be gone for 10 days, and theywill get further from the Earththan any manned spaceflightin history,approximately 4,000 miles past the far side of the moon Those of us back on this planet in Louisiana can take some special pride in watching Artemisfly, too.

The biggest piece of thegiant rocket, calledthe core stage, wasassembledin NewOrleansatthe Michoud Assembly Facility. The 212-foot-tallrocket, when full, will hold approximately537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen andanother 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen. It will be fitted withRS-25engines, tested at Stennis Space Center just over thestate line in Mississippi.

NASA officialshave saidthere are several potential launchdaysinthe first half of February,withthe earliest being Feb.8 Of course, weather will be afactor.More important, however,will be theseries of tests planned forthisweekend calleda wet dress rehearsal,during whichthe supercoldliquid fuels will be pumpedinto the tankstomakesure everything works as it should. If allgoes well, thelaunch will getthe green light. If they don’t, there are days in March that may workaswell. IknowI’llbewatching. Humans, and especially Americans, have accomplished much in the last 50 years (internet, anyone?) and nowthe machines we carry in ourpockets rivalthe computers used during the Apollo missions. It’s high time we return to space. With luck, these missions will kick-start what, Ihope, is an inexorable march throughoutthe solar system and, oneday,even beyond.

“Wereally are readytogo,” saidReid Wiseman, the astronaut whowill command the Artemis II mission So am I, Reid. So am I. Email Faimon A. Roberts III at froberts@theadvocate.com.

Regularfeaturesspurreaderloyalties

The recent cold blastreminded me of how much our lives are affected by weather At the newspaper,weknow many of you readour weather report each day with interest.It’sone of those back pages of the paper thatmany turn to first each morning. Even though there aremany ways to get the weather report each day —all smartphones have some kind of weather app—weknow many of you rely on our weather report to plan your day or your week. Last year,when we made changes to our weather report,wereceived aflurry of letters. Someliked the old format;others missedinternational cities in the report The changes aimed to makethe report more engaging, and we hope thatreaders have found it useful. But the response to the changes pointed out how manyofyou haveregular routines around reading the newspaper,and the weather is definitely part of thatfor many If any other regular feature draws such

intense feelings, it has to be thecomics

At most newspapers, editors know that any changes to the lineup in the comics will draw morecomment thanalmost anything else in the paper.Several newspaper comics have been running for decades, so readers see the charactersasold friends they’ve grown up with. We’reglad that our features in print are part of your daily habit. We alsoknow that as our readership moves to digital, we have to provide similarregular features that you look forward to waking up to That’swhy on our website, you can find short-form videos that are posted daily to updateyou on the news and weather. I have several websites Icheck as Idrink my morning coffee, and Ialso do the daily Wordle game on The New York Times website. It’ssmall things like these that make amorning routine.

Turning to our letters inbox for the week of Jan. 15-22, the events in Min-

nesota, where two U.S. citizens have been killed by federal agents conducting immigration operations, continued to dominate the news and your letters. We received atotal of 75 letters during the period, and about athird of them dealt with immigration issues or the Minnesota shootings in particular It’sclear that many are following the issue closely.Most of the letters we’ve received disapprove of the aggressiveness of the immigration enforcement, though we have hadsome letters defending the actions of federal agents. Many of you said you want to see an investigation and accountability for what happened. Some felt we are at an inflection point and want to see the tensions ratcheted down. We will see if that happens, but when events like this happen, our letters page is atouchstone and another daily feature that many readers turn to. Arnessa Garrett is Deputy Editor |Opinion Page Editor.Email her at arnessa. garrett@theadvocate.com.

COMMENTARY

Fans arebedeviled as Saints offseasonstarts

attitude.

Now is the winter of Saintsfans’ discont —er, well, not discontent, but discombobulation. And it’sanannual thing.

Quin Hillyer

We’re in the midst of twoweeks of the yearly Super Bowlbuildupand, except for 2010, this is theweek it finally hits the fan that there really,really will be no Saints football again for another six months, that two other teams (often strongly disliked ones) are in the big game while the WhoDats are left out, and that even the NFL draft is still three full months away

The withdrawal symptoms begin First, the fan tries to fillthe void by soaking up every report from thisweek’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. ESPN reports the Saints areinterested inLineman X! The Times-Picayune saysCornerback Y, seen talking to aSaints assistant on the sideline, is apossibleday twodraft choice! Some dude on Twitter says Wide Receiver Zisgarnering “wows” from observers!

And your good friend in NewYork knows an inside source with the Giants whosays the Giants want to out-hustle theSaints for atight end, PDQ. Butotherssay that player has aweight problem from eating toomanyM&Ms. Oh, and the superstar running back that is on everybody’s radar is said to be lazy at learning theplaybook’s basic ABCs. He needs an Rx forabetter

Adiscerning fan knows to put far more credibility in this newspaper’ssports reporters than on the third cousin of a Giants’ executive or on the Twitter dude. (Although, come to thinkofit, Iheard the Twitter dude’sneighbor is really in the know.) Either way,though, we just must know howwell the player from tinyDavidson College can hold his own withthe behemoth from Ohio State.

Granted, not all Saints fans arequite so addicted. Still, even the less-addicted fans, theoneswho wouldn’tknow a“press man” coverage from aCover Two, areprobably talking at lunch or at atavernatleastoncea weekwith another Louisianan about whether theteamismoreinneed of arunning backor, instead, of an offensive guard.

Andwill this finally, finally be theyear when General Manager Mickey Loomis makesabig trade “down” for more draft picks rather than packaging several picks in order to move“up” thedraft board?

The real question is, is this obsession, or even just aheavy predilection, unhealthy?

Whydowecare so much what big men do when crashing into each other on aballfield?They won’t makeour groceries any cheaper.They won’tfill the potholes on our streets. They won’teven makethe roux thicken morequickly for our étouffée.

Well, Isit here looking at the Sir Saint decalonmydesk that needs to replace the one that has peeled off my car window and Ilook at my framed Sports Illustrated

FILEPHOTO BY PATRICK DENNIS

Drew Brees holdsupthe Lombardi trophy after the Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV in 2010.

cover of Drew Brees holdinghis son aloft amid confetti. AndIsay,dadgummit, this is good.This is understandable, it’sfun and, in its own way,itreally is healthy after all.

Not to get too much into psychoanalysis, but we all need mental and emotional

“escapes” of one sort or another.Weneed to getaway, on occasion,from pressures, from real-lifeconcernsand from workadayroutines. Andwhile booksand artistic hobbies and exercise and all sorts of other things probably should fill this need —in ways moredirectly salutary forus, more “constructive,” moreconducive to our own, well, “character growth” —there’s still something none of those others accomplishes quite as well. What our love of the Saints provides is not just escape but communal escape on a grand scale, and not just foranevent (Jazz Fest) or aseason (carnival/Mardi Gras), but year-round. It brings us together like nothing else can. And, in away matched (but not exceeded) only perhaps by Green Bay’sPackers, wholiterally are owned by that small town’spopulace, the Saints have provided an inspirational and even salvific rallying point. Ineed not belabor the Saints’ role in spurring rebirth after Hurricane Katrina. We all know how important it was. We feel it in ourmarrows.

Andwewill forever be grateful, and forever be hopeful.

Meanwhile, I’mstill not entirely sold on Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, but let me go watch somemore video of him in action. Telepathically,Mickey Loomis is sure to need my assessment

Email Quin Hillyer at quin.hillyer@ theadvocate.com

To stop Trump, drop thefascism debate

Since Donald Trump entered theAmerican political fray,his opponents have been debating what kind of threat he poses to democracy,and what to do about it. In the New York Times last week, Michelle Goldberg declaredthat debate over in acolumn headlined“The Resistance Libs Were Right.” The obvious question is: About what? Were they right to label him afascist? That depends on what you mean by the term. As the Justice Department prosecutes Trump’senemies, themilitary stages smash-and-grab raids on foreign countries and masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents storm through U.S. cities, it’shard to denythat the resistance libs werecorrect about some important things: Trump’sauthoritarian instincts, bellicose contempt for norms and fundamental disrespect for America’sdemocratic traditions. Thosecharacterflaws have been given much freer rein in his second term, making the fears of an emerging dictatorship look somewhat more reasonable

ega

McArdle M n

But when ordinary people hear “Trump is afascist,” they aren’t primedfor an academic debate over when right-wing populism shades over into fascism; they hear you saying that Trumpiseither an adherentofthe political ideology known asfascismora dictator whose practices are fascist, even if he eschews the name. Those stronger claims are less convincing. In thefirst case, because Trumpism looks more like apersonalgrift than acoherent ideology,and in thesecond, because for all Trump’sassaults on American institutions, he is not adictator and is running out of time to becomeone It has been almost 10 years since Trumpwon his first election

By that pointintheir careers, Benito Mussolinihad consolidated total power,while Adolf Hitler was deep into World War II and the Holocaust. Trump, by contrast, is pleading with the Supreme Court to lethim remove Federal Reserve governors, which seems unlikely to succeed. Given another decade, could he

build apower base in thejudiciary or military that would enable him to seize adictator’spower? I don’tknow,but Trumpisnearly 80 years old, and he doesn’thave another decade.

That’snot to say Trumpisn’t damaging our politics, our government and our standing in the world.

America looksless like aliberal democracy than it did adecade ago —much less than Iwould have believed possible before 2016. Butitstill has along way to go, apoint Goldberg concedes toward theend of her column, writing that “for now,weare trapped in the spacebetween the liberal democracy most Americans grew up in and the dark, belligerent authoritarian state that our governmentseeks to impose.”

That point matters, because while the resistance libs were right that Trumpisadangerous president,they were wrong about the best way tooppose him.

“The important thing isn’treally thename we give to this political development,” writes Goldberg, “but our abilitytosee what’shappening clearly and make sense of its likely trajectory.” That has

long been the animating belief of manyinthe resistance: American democracy could be preserved if only the chattering classes properly identified the outrages, drew theparallels, plotted the trendlines and then, having seen what was coming, issued the dark prophecies.

If you believe this, you need to reckon with the fact that this was alldone in the years following Trump’sfirst election. No group could have worked harder to constrain and defeat Trumpwith petitionsand protests, white papers and op-eds, cable hits and Twitter memes,hearings and prosecutions. The result of this effort is that …Trumpispresident again and worse than ever.Atthis late date, it’s insane to believe that we’ll get adifferent result by doing it all over again, only louder and clearer

If American democracy is to be saved, it will have to be saved democratically,not by recalibrating the intellectual thermostats of asmall groupofeducated elites, nor even by taking to the streets.

If you think Trumpisherding us towardafascist dictatorship, your most important job is not

analyzing the damage Trumphas done to our system but persuading the American public to vote forsomeone whocan undo that damage. Saying “He’safascist” (or an authoritarian, or acaudillo) will not do the trick. It’smore likely to be counterproductive, as people look up from our scribblings and observe that elections are still happening, courts are still demanding due process and the press is still free to complain about Dear Leader.You can point to Trump’sefforts to co-opt the justice system,muzzle unfriendly media outlets and undermine the integrity of our election system, while trying to convince some Americans that these things are one short step from going Full Franco. But it will be much easier to convince them that he’sjust abad president whoshould be replaced by someone whohas different policies. So establishing whowas mostright about Trump in 2016 matters less than figuring out whohas the best ideas for right now MeganMcArdle is on X, @asymmetricinfo.

Bigsurprises in the2030Censusestimates arecoming

About amonth late, presumably due to last fall’sgovernment shutdown, the Census Bureau has released its estimates of the populations of the 50 states andthe District of Columbia for July 1, 2025. It provides an interesting picture of what the country is, and is becoming, halfway through the decade of the 2020s and one-quarter of the way through (have we really gotten this far?) the 21st century.Italso provides some political dynamite, all the more explosive because of Census Bureau statisticians’ deserved reputation for apolitical rigor and willingness to admit mistakes, as it did on the COVID19-plagued 2020 Census. The headline story is the sharp rise and sharp fall in immigration. The notion that immigration explodedsharply during the Biden administration and contracted sharply during the second Trump administration is not political propaganda. After the expiration of mostCOVID-19 restrictions, immigration rose to 1.8 million in 2021-22, 2.6 million in 2022-23, and 3.2 million

in2023-24. The snapback to 1.9 million in 2024-25 reflects changes in both outgoing andincoming administrations. With theelection looming, the Biden administration in early 2024 discovered that current legislation let it restrict immigration in ways it hadclaimed it didn’t before, and under thesame legislation, theTrumpadministration immediately stopped almost all illegal border crossings. Government policy can make adifference. Taking that into account, the CensusBureau estimates immigration will fall well below 500,000 in 2025-26. That’scomparable to the sharp falloff of immigration duringthe financial and economic crises of 2007-08.

That means the nation’stotal population increase is sharply down, especially in thestates centered on the nation’s four largest metropolitan areas,which either grew just barely(New York and Illinois) or lost population (California). Meanwhile, every state in the Midwest gained population, and five statesgrewabovethe

national rate. Even morestriking, 44% of the nation’spopulation gains in 202025 came in just the two states of Texas and Florida. When you add in North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, SouthCarolina —with thenation’s higher percentage growth in 2024-25 —and Tennessee, you have 70% of the total national popular gain, all in states carried by Donald Trumpin2024. Projecting2020-25 or 2024-25 patterns ahead of the 2030 Census and the reapportionment of U.S. House seatsamongthe states that automatically follows results in a sharp change of political balance. Twodifferent projections have California losing four House seats and Texas gaining four,leaving California with 48, only marginally larger than Texas’s42. Onehas Florida gaining four and New York and Illinois losing two each, while the other has Floridagaining two and New York and Florida losing one each, with the same net partisan effect. There is agreement that five more or less Republican states will gain one seat each (Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Utah, Idaho) and that five moreorless Demo-

cratic states will lose one each —Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin,Minnesota, Oregon. Apply either set of projections to the2024 presidential election totals,and Trumpgains either nine or 11 electoral votes —and wins even if he loses his three closest states, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The blue wall has becomeapurple flowerbed.

That doesn’tmean Democrats will be frozen outofthe White House. Changes in opinion of a magnitude often experienced can render the 2024 numbers obsolete. But onecan see difficulties, even in 2028, if Democrats nominateone of the twoCalifornia politicians, Gavin Newsom or Kamala Harris, whotop their polls. Will the nation be wellserved by policies that have prompted more people to leave than to head to a statewith California’sbeautiful scenery andcomfortable climate?

It’sharder to be sure whether the2030 Census will give Republicans aboost in Congress. The current ructions over mid-decade redistricting makeprediction perilous. An intermediate court has blocked Virginia Democrats from

gerrymandering, and atrial judge has ruled that the Voting Rights Act requires linking aStaten Island-dominated district to Manhattan rather than Brooklyn. But almost certainly any political redistricting would rather be aRepublican adding multiple districts in Texas and Florida than aDemocrat required to eliminate someofhis party’sincumbents in California, New York or Illinois. And heavily Democratic central cities will no longer be entitled to as much representation from masses of illegal immigrants protected from deportation but counted by census takers.

Afinal caveat. Issues aren’tstatic, politicians aren’taround forever (even if TrumpDerangement Syndromesufferers fear that), and voters movearound amid changes in the political landscape. The Trumpera has been full of surprises —who thought he’d winin2024 because of increased Latino support? —and the 2030s, when Trumpwon’tbepresident nor be running forpresident, will have its surprises forustoo.

Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

SPORTS

UL men sweep Georgia schools

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

All season long, UL coach Quannas White has been telling anyone whowould listen to practice patience.

The wisdomofthose words is coming to fruition afteranother qualityconference win Saturdaywith a69-60 victory over Georgia Southern at the Cajundome.

“I thought we played atotal gametoday,” White said. “I thoughtwewerereally good on defense. We werereally connected.”

The Cajuns are 7-16 overall and 5-6 in leagueplay,while the Eagles fall to 14-10 and 6-5. UL has won three of its last four games, with all three wins coming against teamsabove .500 in Sun Belt play

“I’ve talkedabout playerdevelopment, and these guys have been working so hard since June,” White said. “You know,it’sjust amatteroftime.Guys go in slumps, but I never was worried.”

After struggling to shoot with any consistencyearly in theseason, theCajunsshot at least 50% from thefieldand 50% from 3-point land for the second straight game. The were 9of18from 3-point range in both contests.

“That’sgreat,” Whitesaidofthe improved

Super Bowl LX should give theNew Orleans Saints hope.

Ayear ago, theNew EnglandPatriots and Seattle Seahawkswere sitting at home aftermissing theplayoffs for asecond consecutiveseason.A year later,they’ll battle for theLombardi Trophy at Levi’sStadium in Santa Clara, California.

If it can happen for thePatriotsand Seahawks, it can happen forthe Saints. Team officials just need to stack another strong offseason likethe onetheyhad in 2025. Here’swhat the Saints can learnfromthe paths the Patriots and Seahawkstook to reach SuperBowl LX: Fortune favorsbold

The Patriots and Seahawkskick-started their2025 offseasons with bold coachingmoves.

In New England, owner Robert KraftfiredJerod Mayo after just one season as head coach. Mayo was Kraft’shandpicked choicetosucceed Bill Belichick,

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

UL juniorpitcher Sage Hoover didn’thave abunch of fun going through two consecutive injury-plagued seasons.

But the Edgewood, Texas, nativehas found away to move forward withnolingering bitterness.

“As much as it sucked at the time, I’m glad it happened, which is kindofcrazy to say,” said Hoover, whoisexpected to be one of UL’s top softball pitchers this season headinginto Friday’sseason opener against Tulsa.“Ithink it mademeabetterpersonand abetter player.” Hoover is preparingtoreturn to acollegiate softball field forthe first time since 2023

“I think for this team, we need aleader in thecircle,” Hoover said. “I’m excited

so it wasn’taneasy decision. Mayo was apopular player and coach for 14 years in theorganization. Nevertheless, Kraft pulled theplug after Mayo’sdisastrous 4-13 season and replaced him withanother Patriots legend, Mike Vrabel. The rest is history Likewise, Mike MacDonald canned offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb after one season, citing“philosophical differences” in the team’soffensive vision. MacDonald hired former Saints assistant Klint Kubiak to coordinate theoffense, and he paid immediate dividends, boosting theSeahawks’ rushing attack from 28th to 10th in the league and improving the scoring offense from 21st (20.0) to third(28.4) The lesson here: If something isn’tworking, fix it immediately.There’ssomething to be said for patience, buttoo often the Saints have resisted change or been too slow to act.

BY TOYLOYBROWN III Staff writer

Free-throw shooting kept LSU’schances alive Saturday forthe bounce-back win it needed after adeflating homeloss. Without point guard Dedan Thomas, the Tigers beat South Carolina 92-87 at ColonialLife Arena in Columbia,South Carolina.Their first SoutheasternConference road win also snapped athree-game losing streak. “Really thankful to win,”coach Matt McMahonsaidonthe LSUsports radio network. “Proudofour guys.It’sbeenchoppy with someinjury stuff this week and the poor performanceagainst Mississippi State. So was really pleased to see us respond the right way.” LSU (14-8, 2-7SEC)took an 89-85 lead when Max Mackinnon nailed aright-corner 3-pointer with 21 seconds remaining.

“Obviously, they puttwo on the ball,” Mackinnonsaid. “Pablo (Tamba)had a great pass to me, great teammate, he’s(the) ultimate winner. So he passedittome, I knocked downthe shot and that was it.” Mike Nwoko had 21 points on 9-of-13

Big third quarter propels STM

Cougars notch win over rival Northside

BY MIKE COPPAGE

Contributing writer

St. Thomas More turned a slim halftime lead into a bulging advantage by shooting the lights out after intermission in the District 4-4A opener against Northside on Friday

The Cougars, who trailed 9-4 in the first quarter and led by two points at the half, shot 76.1% from the field in the second half to pull away and win 64-46.

“In the third quarter, we really shot it well,” STM coach Danny Broussard said. “I tell people that when we spread (opponents) out like that and get corner 3s, we’re hard to guard.”

Matthew Cook buried a corner 3 for the first bucket of the second half and scored all eight of his points in the third quarter as the Cougars outscored the Vikings 21-4 in the period. STM made 9 of 12 field goals in the third and 7 of 9 in the fourth quarter

“We kind of dominated in the

second half,” Broussard said. “I’m always big about changing defenses. We had to lock up on their shooters. Let’s not give up open 3s close out and make them put it on the floor.”

Jaydon Francis scored seven points in the first quarter for Northside (17-9, 0-1) but was held to one free throw in the second quarter Jayden Jones, who posted 40 points in a recent win over Ville Platte, added five points Traylon Angelle paced the Vikings with 14 points (11 in the first half).

“Coach (Ryan) Welty does a good job of preparing us for what the other team runs,” Broussard said. “We went through their sets and kind of knew what they were going to run. We closed the gaps and switched screens. We could do that because (Northside) isn’t really big. They’re all about the same size. The defense in the third quarter was superior It got us that lead.”

Six-foot-5 junior Ryan Robertson led the Cougars (15-8, 1-0), who have won six of their past seven games, with 19 points. He dunked the ball four consecutive times in the second half.

“Ryan did a great job going to

in the game, came off the bench to combine for 19 points, and the trio didn’t miss a shot.

“We’re really turning the corner,” said Broussard, whose Cougars beat Division III select No 1 Dunham in Baton Rouge in their previous game. “I thought it started when we played (coach) Brad (Boyd) and Lafayette Renaissance. Obviously, the Dunham game was a really good upset for us.”

The Cougars are winning without injured Michael LaCour, a 6-foot-5 junior who broke his leg. Cook broke his nose and is playing with a protective mask. Senior Mack Tasman, who scored eight points on Friday, took LaCour’s place in the starting lineup.

Seniors John Michael Charbonnet and Xarian Babineaux combined for 10 points.

the bucket and got some great lobs,” Broussard said. LG Carbo (nine points), Davis Lerille and Kyle Guillot, who ignited the crowd and his teammates by driving to the goal for a dunk late

“We just have to pride ourselves on defense,” Babineaux said. “I think we play really good team ball and move the ball around a lot. With Michael LaCour out, Mack came in and is doing well in his role. That has been big for us.”

Northside shot 2-for-12 in the third quarter with Khilon Woods (8 points) accounting for both buckets.

New Iberia knocks off high-flying Acadiana

BY NEAL MCCLELLAND

Contributing writer

It’s been a long season for the New Iberia girls basketball team

What started as a promising season with a good mix of seniors and underclassmen quickly devolved into a scramble just to field a team as injuries took their toll.

The Yellow Jackets lost at least 25 combined games from starters and other key players from various injuries and at one point had only five available players to play a couple of games.

On Friday, with a strong Acadiana team coming to town and several players slowly coming back from injury, the Jackets showed what might have been as NISH rallied from six points down in the fourth quarter to beat Acadiana 53-50 in a District 3-5A contest

“I’ll consider it a huge upset,” New Iberia coach Rikola Henry said. “We were beat up, banged up and just coming back to health, and they were one of the top teams in Division I select.

“We played together as a team and played smart basketball and

came away with a win. We hadn’t been on the win column in a while, so it definitely feels good.” Behind 18 points from senior point guard Jarissa Davis, including free throws with less than five seconds left to seal the win, New Iberia rallied from a 46-40 deficit

with about four minutes left in the fourth quarter and closed on a 13-4 run to get the win.

“We knew they were going to be tough, and we told the girls in practice that they were going to have to play their best game and be tough,” Henry said. “They

proved that even with all the injuries we had this year that we can be tough and play tough teams.”

Davis is a big example of the injuries NISH has faced this season.

The senior lost seven games due to a concussion and struggled the first few games back.

But she fought back into playing shape and used her recovery as motivation.

“I didn’t like being out,” Davis said. “I knew that I had to come back and get back on the court.

“Tonight I knew my team needed me and I had to come through.”

And being down late didn’t bother Davis either

“We were down 20 points in one game earlier this year, and we came back to win. So being six points behind didn’t bother us.”

With only a few games left and the Jackets on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs, Henry tells his team not to worry about what it can’t control.

“I just tell them to take it one game at a time,” the NISH coach said. “Just play your game and do what you can do. We’ll worry about the playoffs later.”

Rybakina wins Australian Open over No.1 Sabalenka

MELBOURNE, Australia Elena Rybakina finally won her second Grand Slam title with a victory over top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open on Saturday Rybakina closed with an ace to cap a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over a regular rival who beat her in the final here in 2023.

Three years ago, Rybakina won the first set of the Australian final but lost it in three. This time, after breaking in the first game and taking the first set, she rallied after losing the second set and going down 3-0 in the third. She won five straight games to regain control. It was a second major title for fifth-seeded Rybakina, who won Wimbledon in 2022 and entered that Australian final three years ago as the only major winner in the contest.

Rose imitates Woods to lead by 5 at Torrey Pines

SAN DIEGO Justin Rose delivered a performance Saturday at Torrey Pines that Tiger Woods could appreciate, stretching his lead to as many as eight shots until a few late mistakes led to a 4-under 68 for a five-stroke lead in the Farmers Insurance Open.

Rose, who won at Torrey in 2019, started the third round with a fourshot lead and quickly pulled away with a brilliant stretch of three holes on the front nine of the South course. Rose was at 21-under 195. It was the second-largest 54-hole lead at the tournament behind the eight-shot lead Woods had in 2008. Woods practically owned the public course along the Pacific Bluff with eight professional wins, including the U.S. Open.

Korda shoots 64 to take lead in blustery opener ORLANDO,Fla.— Nelly Korda played her best golf in the worst of the conditions Saturday with an 8-under 64 in the frigid, blustery conditions that eventually led to play being suspended for the day in the season-opening Tournament of Champions.

Korda had the best score of the week at Lake Nona, where the temperatures felt like they were in the 40s with a steady 20 mph wind and gusts nearly twice that strong. Going after her first win since November 2024, Korda was at 13-under 203, six shots ahead of Brooke Henderson among those who finished. Henderson shot 66. Amy Yang was at 10 under with two holes to play, including the par-3 17th, one of the most exposed holes on the golf course.

1B Pasquantino, Royals agree to $11.1M contract

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — First baseman

Vinnie Pasquantino agreed to an $11.1 million, two-year contract with the Royals on Friday, pending a successful physical, that will keep him in Kansas City through the 2027 season.

Pasquantino gets $4.2 million this year and $6.9 million in 2027. He has escalators that could raise his 2027 salary to a maximum of $11.5 million. He was in his second year of salary arbitration eligibility this offseason and remains under club control through 2028.

Pasquantino comes off a season with career highs in several categories including home runs (32) and RBIs (113) after being sidelined by injuries for much of 2023 and 2024.

Preseason NASCAR race delayed due to weather

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. NASCAR has postponed the preseason exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium until Monday night because of ice and snow blanketing the Winston-Salem area. The Clash was supposed to be a two-day event beginning Saturday, with the main event held Sunday evening. NASCAR late last week cut it to a Sunday-only event in anticipation

Continued from page 1C

shooting. “That’s just an example of all the work that we put in, but you’ve got to do more than one thing. You got to take care of the ball. You got to play hard on defense, and you’ve got to be connected.

Just like Thursday’s win over Georgia State, the Cajuns enjoyed a balanced scoring effort with four players reaching double figures.

De’Vion Lavergne led the way with 17 points, two rebounds and two steals in 36 minutes. Dorian Finister’s impressive consistency continued with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, three assists and two steals.

But the two players that pushed UL over the top against Georgia Southern were Jaxon Olvera and Dariyus Woodson Olvera scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half while adding seven rebounds, two assists and two turnovers.

“It’s just basketball, just trusting the basketball guys and just trusting God in general,” Olvera said. “It’s just staying in the gym, staying consistent and just trusting my work.”

His back-to-back baskets gave UL a 50-38 lead with 10:24 left, and his 3-pointer with five minutes left kept the Cajuns comfortable at 60-48.

“Then also out there just trying to make

DUNCAN

Continued from page 1C

Personnel vision

The Patriots and Seahawks arguably had the best player-procurement offseasons of any teams in the league. Both were aggressive and enjoyed extraordinarily high strike rates.

The Seahawks traded Geno Smith and DK Metcalf and signed Sam Darnold, Cooper Kupp and DeMarcus Lawrence in free agency They selected Grey Zabel and Nick Emmanwori in the first two rounds of the draft. All five were impact additions.

The Patriots, meanwhile, spent more money in free agency than any team in football. The headline additions were defensive tackle Milton Williams, wide receiver Stefon Diggs, cornerback Carlton Davis, edge rusher Harold Landry, linebacker Robert Spillane, offensive tackle Morgan Moses and center Garrett Bradbury All are starters.

They shored up the offense in the draft by selecting left tackle Will Campbell, running back TreVeyon Henderson, guard Jared Wilson and receiver Kyle Williams. Credit to Patriots GM Eliot Wolf and Seahawks GM John Schneider They didn’t just acquire talent. They had clear visions for each acquisition. Roster management doesn’t get much better than this Sacred cows don’t exist

In his first offseason, Vrabel released Jabrill Peppers and traded Keion White, Kyle Dugger, Ja’Lynn Polk and Joe Milton. All were starters and/or key draft picks from previous regimes.

The Seahawks did the same after MacDonald took over in 2024. In Year 1, they released starting safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs, and allowed beloved star linebacker Bobby Wagner to leave via free agency Last offseason, they overhauled the offense, cutting Tyler Lockett, a fan favorite, and trading Smith and Metcalf

Some of these moves were related to scheme fits, others were financial decisions. Regardless, the point is neither team worried about optics or outside perception

HOOVER

Continued from page 1C

for that, because that’s what I want to do. That’s who I want to be I know what the standard is here, and we’re going to keep that standard of winning the conference and going to a regional.”

It’s a good thing the 5-foot-7 right-hander’s attitude is so healthy, because she’s taken quite a crooked path to the doorstep of the 2026 season. Hoover pitched at Northwestern State as a true freshman in 2022, earning Southland Conference Freshman of the Year honors with an 11-7 record, 2.56 ERA and 175 strikeouts

“I just wanted to play at a higher level,” Hoover said of her transferring to Texas Tech, where she was 14-3 with two saves, a 3.15 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 100 innings in 2023. “I gained some velocity throughout my freshman year When I went to Texas Tech and played at a higher level, it helped me a lot to get to where I am today My velocity was definitely up, but also my game sense, my maturity level was better.”

Then she suffered an injury and redshirted during the 2024 season. During that offseason, former UL coach Gerry Glasco took the Texas Tech job and the pitching staff plans changed.

New UL coach Alyson Habetz conversely signed Hoover as a transfer

“I wanted to be at a program where I feel valued as a player,” Hoover said. “I loved the field, I loved the coaches, I loved the history and I loved the fans.”

Unfortunately, Hoover had a “freak accident” on the second day of conditioning and suffered a broken rib.

“I’m sure it was related to the surgery somehow,” said Hoover, who cracked another rib later that offseason and missed the entire 2025 season in Lafayette. “That first year being injured was rough, but it taught me a lot. Now I’m 23 and more mature, and I can handle situations a lot better.”

from Habetz and Hoover’s teammates.

“It’s really easy to get discouraged and kind of push yourself aside,” she said. “But they were really supportive and really focused on the team mindset Just the way she (Habetz) talks about things and puts faith into a lot of things, it helps me a lot.”

Another huge boost for Hoover’s hopes of being a regular weekend starter for UL this spring was pitching summer ball in Austin, Texas, during the summer

“It was good for me,” she said. “I was able to develop and get back into a rhythm. At the beginning, I wasn’t doing as well as I wanted to, because I had to relearn how to throw I couldn’t figure out my rise ball until the last two weeks of it.

“But coming here and trying to go through that process in the fall would have been harder I was able to figure it out in the summer I threw 52 innings. I would never have done that here (in fall).”

Hoover also hopes to get a boost from new UL pitching coach Kyle Brady, even though he’s her fifth pitching coach in five years.

“Actually, I think it’s cool to have different perspectives,” Hoover said. “We’re focusing a lot on sequencing my pitches and being able to locate. I’ve been working with him on the mental piece of the game, focusing on the analytical side. I think we’re similar in that way.”

Brady said much of the fall and preseason camp has been a collaboration more than him lecturing his new pitchers.

“Both (Hoover and teammate Lexie Delbrey) have been out the last couple of years and they really get it,” Brady said. “So a lot of that stuff has been conversations rather than me just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks.”

Hoover is focused on getting stronger as the season unfolds.

“I think I can definitely perform at a high level now,” Hoover said. “I think that I have room to grow, of course. I think throughout this spring and throughout the summer, I’ll be able to build mass and speed and velocity I spin the ball really well.

winning plays, not always just focus on trying to score — helping the team other ways when I’m not making shots,” Olvera said.

Olvera’s final bucket was a jumper on the left wing for a 62-54 lead with 2:36 left after Georgia Southern had trimmed UL’s lead to six. For the second straight game, Woodson sank a pair of 3-pointers in the first half. He followed with a third long-range shot to cap a five-point run midway through the second half to respond to the Eagles cutting the Cajuns’ edge to 43-38. Woodson finished with 11 points and four rebounds.

White also was pleased with his team’s defensive effort, which limited Georgia Southern to 33.3% from 3-point land and 38.5% overall.

“Georgia Southern does a good job of playing fast,” White said. “They’ve got some talented guys, and they can score. We wanted to limit them and slow them down a little bit and take away the three.”

Next up for UL is a road trip to James Madison at 6 p.m. Thursday

“I think we’re starting to listen to our coach more,” Woodson said. “He’s telling us all the right things, and now we’re playing how he wants us to play with the effort, the physicality, crashing. I think it’s all come together now.”

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.

when making the calls.

Culture matters

Culture talk has become cliché in the NFL Seemingly every team preaches about the positive vibes of its locker room and the healthy culture within it. But the talk in Seattle and New England is real. Their players universally praise the servant leadership style of MacDonald and Vrabel. The positive culture fostered by both men created buy-in, which in turn gave them the runway to instill the discipline and accountability needed to win. The latter doesn’t happen without the former Vrabel’s players respond positively to his unsparing film review sessions because he’s fair and egalitarian in his criticism.

They also know he cares.

The Seahawks have adopted a “M.O.B Ties” mantra — an acronym for Mission

Over B.S Seattle players praise the inclusive leadership of MacDonald and Schneider Everyone’s role is valued, even the office assistants. The Saints are good here. The positive culture Kellen Moore has fostered helped the team survive its 1-8 start.

Emphasizing special teams

Seattle fielded the best special teams in the NFL this season. Its Week 3 rout of the Saints was fueled by a punt-return touchdown by Tory Horton and a blocked punt that set up another score.

Seahawks kicker Jason Myers led the league in scoring. Punter Michael Dickson was a second-team All-Pro. And return specialist Rashid Shaheed, whom Seattle acquired via a midseason trade with the Saints, returned two kicks for scores.

Improving special teams was one of Vrabel’s top priorities in Year 1. He used draft capital obtained from the Milton trade to select two specialists: kicker Andy Borregales and long snapper Julian Ashby

It’s no coincidence the Patriots and Seahawks were two of three NFL teams to have three kick/punt returns for touchdowns this season. The Saints ranked near the bottom of the league in nearly every special-teams metric. Improving “teams” has to be a top offseason priority for Moore and staff.

Last year also was less frustrating than 2024 because of the emotional support

SEC

Continued from page 1C

shooting for LSU. Mackinnon had 15 points and a season-high eight assists. LSU made 9 of 12 free throws in overtime and 21 of 25 for the game.

Rashad King and Pablo Tamba made two free throws apiece to give the Tigers their first four points of overtime. Neither team could find a basket until South Carolina’s Meechie Johnson made a mid-range jumper to pull his team within 85-84 with 1:34 left. That was the final made shot by South Carolina (11-11, 2-7).

An LSU spokesperson said Thomas was out because of the same lower left leg injury he suffered Jan. 2. That injury forced him to miss the first five games of conference play Without Thomas, the Tigers started King. The 6-foot-6 Northeastern transfer had a season-high 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one turnover

LSU focused on a strong start after scoring only 21 first-half points against Mississippi State on Wednesday. A poor start also occurred in LSU’s first 10-point loss against South Carolina on Jan 6, as the Gamecocks made their first nine shots and led 50-25 at halftime.

South Carolina didn’t replicate its hot shooting Saturday LSU led 10-6 at the 15:23 mark, and its opponent was 3 of 8 from the field. Nwoko had seven of the team’s first 12 points. He used his 6-10, 261-pound frame to clear out space against a smaller frontcourt Mackinnon helped LSU attack the paint effectively, using the threat of his jump shot to get downhill and facilitate. His best play was when he performed a spin move in transition and threw an interior pass to center Robert Miller for a dunk, giving the team an 18-11 lead with 12:46 remaining in the first half.

LSU was in control, and its largest lead was 28-15 with 8:08 left in the first half after a dunk by Marquel Sutton, who had nine points before halftime and finished with 16

“If you don’t have grit, then you won’t make it through. To be a number one and two is more mental than it is physical.”

points and eight rebounds.

“I loved our unselfishness,” McMahon said. “I thought the ball moved 23 assists on 31 baskets is how we need to play moving forward.”

South Carolina responded with a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 28-25 with 4:02 left. LSU entered halftime ahead 36-35 and had eight turnovers to South Carolina’s two. Johnson, who had 21 points and six assists for the Gamecocks, scored seven points in the first four minutes of the second half. His team took a 49-47 on Grant Polk’s tip-in at the 15:08 mark.

South Carolina held on to a narrow lead for the majority of the second half, but King went on a personal 5-0 run late in regulation. He had a steal and transition layup, followed by a 3-pointer, bringing LSU within one point with 5:14 left. A couple of minutes later, King was fouled while creating space for a jumper

The defensive foul against Eli Ellis remained, but the referees gave King a Flagrant 1 foul for a push off. It resulted in both players making two free throws, tying the game at 74-74 with 3:50 remaining in regulation.

South Carolina took a 78-76 lead on Elijah Strong’s hook shot over Nwoko, but Nwoko responded on the other end with a bucket off a Mackinnon pass. LSU had possession with the score tied at 78 with 21 seconds left and 16 seconds on the shot clock. King was double-teamed after a screen and fell down. The officials initially ruled a jump ball, but upon review LSU called a timeout before the whistle. The Tigers inbounded the ball from the right sideline with 1.6 seconds left on the shot clock, but King missed a right-wing 3-pointer to send the game of overtime.

“We got to the free-throw line and converted, and, you know, it certainly wasn’t a thing of beauty on defense, but we got just enough stops to get out of here with the win,” McMahon said.

LSU’s next game is against Georgia at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center

LSU women flip 0-2 SEC start into long win streak

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

It wasn’t long ago that the LSU women’s basketball team was 0-2 in Southeastern Conference play, staring down a pair of games that were arguably even tougher than the first two it lost.

Then the No. 6 Tigers turned things around And they did it rather quickly

Now LSU has the longest active winning streak in the SEC, and it will begin the second half of its conference schedule squarely in the mix to host NCAA Tournament contests for the fifth season in a row A No. 1 seed is still on the table for coach Kim Mulkey’s Tigers, especially because they’ll soon have big opportunities against No. 4 Texas on Thursday and their annual showdown with No. 3 South Carolina on Feb. 14.

Those games headline another unforgiving stretch of matchups

LSU’s home contest against No. 24 Alabama on Sunday (11 a.m., SEC Network) is one of five Top 25 clashes left on the schedule.

The last six games, however, have shown the Tigers are playing well enough to beat all those teams.

Let’s take a look at how they’ve put themselves in such a nice position Improvement on glass

Mulkey questioned LSU’s toughness after its losses to Kentucky and Vanderbilt. She wasn’t happy with how her team was rebounding.

The Tigers (20-2, 6-2 SEC) haven’t lost a battle on the boards since.

Now they’ll enter their game against the Crimson Tide (193, 5-3) with the top average rebounding margin in the SEC (+12.3). Since Jan. 1, LSU ranks second among league teams in defensive boards per game (30) and third in offensive boards per game (15.6). Its opponents have rebounded less than 30% of their misses, according to Her Hoop Stats, which is the third-lowest rate in the SEC That improvement is crucial.

STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU guard MiLaysia Fulwiley grabs the rebound against Florida in the fourth quarter on Monday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center The Tigers lead the SEC in rebounding margin at +12.3 this season.

ä Alabama at LSU 11 A.M.

The Tigers are built to earn extra possessions and score in transition. They can’t do either if they don’t crash the glass on both ends. Also per Her Hoop Stats, only two SEC teams have played at a faster pace than the Tigers since league play began “We have really, really done a better job (rebounding),” Mulkey said. “And it’s coming from everybody It’s not just your four post players. It’s coming from our perimeter players, and we’re the kind of team that has to do that this year.”

More depth, balance

LSU has relied heavily on its stars in recent years. Last season, for example, Aneesah Morrow Flau’jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams were responsible for 63% of the shots it took and 66% of the points it scored against SEC opponents.

Things are different now The Tigers lead Division I teams in bench

points, and seven of their contributors have double-digit scoring averages.

Blowout nonconference wins are inflating those numbers, but if you look at only conference games, then you’ll see that LSU is divvying up the scoring responsibilities more than it ever has since Mulkey’s tenure began in 2021.

Since Jan. 1, the Tigers’ eight leading scorers have been scoring between five and 14 points per game. None of them take more than 12 shots a night.

Transfer post players Amiya Joyner and Kate Koval have played well lately So have freshman forwards Grace Knox and ZaKiyah Johnson. They look like they all can contribute valuable minutes in March.

Richard’s emergence

Few, if any, players in the SEC have improved as much as Jada Richard The sophomore point guard from Opelousas couldn’t get off the bench last season. Now Mulkey rarely takes her off the floor

In league play, Richard is playing more than 30 minutes per game and scoring 12.9 ppg while shooting 46% from the field, 35% from 3-point range and 96% from the free-throw line. She’s scored at least 20 points twice, first on Jan. 18 in a road win over No. 10 Oklahoma and again a week later in a home victory against Florida.

Richard is defending well, too. Star point guards Aaliyah Chavez and Liv McGill are two of the best scorers in the league, but they combined to shoot just 9 of 31 (29%) from the field when their Sooners and Gators played the Tigers.

LSU struggled to find a point guard who can run Mulkey’s system in the last two seasons. Richard, though, looks like a long-term answer at that position. That’s a huge development for both the present and future of the program.

“It wasn’t like she didn’t have those skills last year,” Mulkey said. “It was just adjusting to this level of college.”

David Thibodaux trio overcomes bigger Rebels

BY ERIC NARCISSE Staff writer

What the David Thibodaux basketball team lacks in size, it more than make up for with heart and grit.

That’s exactly what Bulldogs coach Chris Cane envisioned for his team coming into the season.

On Friday the Bulldogs (18-5, 1-0) lived up their motto of “heart over height” in District 4-4A win over Teurlings Catholic 52-48.

“It’s a huge win for our program,” Cane said. “Any time you can start off this district with a tough win against one of the toughest teams in the district, it’s a good win.”

Behind stars Kortlan Williams, JaNathan Dalcour and Bryston Sledge, who combined to score 47 points, David Thibodaux held off the bigger Rebels despite being in foul trouble much of the game.

“David Thibodaux has three really good players,” Teurlings coach Jake Dueitt said. “Those guys were outstanding. They all did a great job of finishing.”

Williams hit six 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 23 points and eight rebounds.

“He’s our utility guy,” Cane said of Williams. “He’s a natural one or two, but sometimes we have to play him at the four or the five. We told him that we need him to play like he is a 7-footer I thought he did a great job of scoring the basketball defending and rebounding.”

Dalcour added 14 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals, while Sledge chipped in 10 points, two assists and a rebound.

“JaNathan means a lot to our team,” Cane said. “We asked him to guard one of their 6-8 guys, and he did a good job. Bryston was also great. We know that we have a three-headed monster and when those three — Kortlan, JaNathan and Bryston are clicking, we’re tough to beat.”

The Rebels (15-5, 0-1) were led by 6-foot-8 senior Jordan Senegal, who finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Teyerance Alfred added 11 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots.

SCOREBOARD

Assemian

Totals2

9-27131887 Percentages:

.406, FT .710. 3-Point

.375 (Ellis

Johnson 2-7, Sharavjamts

Strong 1-2,

STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD KEMP

David Thibodaux guard Kortlan Williams drives to the basket against Teurlings Catholic defender Riley Stout during their game at David Thibodaux on Friday. Williams had a game-high 23 points in David Thibodaux’s win.

“I’m definitely proud of our effort,” Dueitt said. “We played hard. Any time you play on the road, it is not easy to try and sneak one out. David Thibodaux is a really good team. We made a few mistakes that I’m disappointed about, but in the end give them credit. They made more plays than we did.”

In a game that was close most of the way, the turning point came in the third quarter when the Rebels’ 6-8 standout Devon Warren and Williams got tied up and both hit their heads on the floor While Williams was able to get up and remain in the game, Warren was taken to the locker room area and didn’t return to the game.

“That was a huge loss for us,” Dueitt said. “Our offense is based around having (Senegal and Warren). Having one 6-8 guy is great. But having two 6-8 guys is awesome. Losing him was big.” Cane agreed.

“It is very unfortunate that (Warren) had to leave the game,” Cane said. “No matter how good a kid is, or how well a kid is playing, it is still a kid, and you never want to see them leave a game because of injury You never want to see that. It definitely changed the game.”

4-10 3-3 3-3 3 4 13

C-Pope 24:36 4-5 3-4 0-2 2 2 11

Konchar 22:06 4-6 0-0 0-4 2 0 9 Jackson 18:25 2-10 0-0 1-8 5 2 4 Prosper 11:57 1-4 0-0 1-2 0 0 2 Totals24040-9314-1515-45 2619106

Percentages: FG .430, FT .933.

3-Point Goals: 12-41, .293 (Spencer 4-4, Coward 2-5, Williams Jr. 2-7, Jackson Jr. 2-10 Konchar 1-3, Wells 1-4, Caldwell-Pope 0-1, Landale 0-1, Prosper 0-2, Jackson 0-4) Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: 1. Blocked Shots: 3 (Jackson Jr. 2, Prosper).

Turnovers: 19 (Coward 5, Williams Jr. 5 Caldwell-Pope 2, Jackson Jr. 2, Konchar 2, Landale, Prosper, Spencer). Steals: 11 (Jackson Jr. 6, Williams Jr. 2 Caldwell-Pope, Landale, Wells). Technical Fouls: None. FGFTReb N.O. Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS Bey 34:12 9-19 2-2 3-8 2 1 22 Willmsn 33:02 7-10 7-8 3-7 4 3 21 Queen 33:53 8-12 6-7 4-9 7 1 22 Jones 29:58 7-9 1-2 0-4 1 3 16 Murphy 33:16 2-14 4-5 0-1 2 2 8 Alvardo 22:50 4-10 0-0 0-1 2 1 11 Fears 16:56 3-8 0-0 2-4 3 1 6 Matkovic14:26 2-4 0-0 1-4 1 2 5 Missi 14:07 0-0 0-2 1-4 1 1 0 Peavy 7:20 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 3 Totals24043-8820-2614-42 2416114

Percentages: FG .489, FT .769.

3-Point Goals: 8-33, .242 (Alvarado 3-8, Bey 2-7, Peavy 1-2, Jones 1-3, Matkovic 1-3, Fears 0-3, Murphy III 0-7). Team Rebounds: 13. Team Turnovers: 1. Blocked Shots: 6 (Queen 2, Williamson 2 Matkovic, Murphy III). Turnovers: 15 (Queen 5, Fears 3, Bey 2, Jones 2, Williamson 2, Murphy III). Steals: 13 (Bey 3, Jones 3, Fears 2, Matkovic

2, Murphy III 2, Alvarado). Technical Fouls: None. Memphis32291530106 New Orleans28303521—114 A_16,446 (16,867). Pro football

Super Bowl LIX Sunday, Feb. 8 At Santa Clara. New England vs. Seattle, 5:30 p.m. College basketball State men’s schedule Friday’s games

Percentages: FG .385, FT .867. 3-Point Goals: 7-21, .333 (Applewhite

Webb 2-5, Moore

D.Williams 0-2, White 0-2). Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 3 (Webb 2, Burney). Turnovers: 14 (Webb 5, Burney

Moore 2, Applewhite, Dunn). Steals: 5 (Applewhite, Carter, Dunn, Moore, White). Technical Fouls: None. FGFTR

1-2, Knox 1-3, Walker 0-1, Polk 0-2). Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 1 (Sharavjamts). Turnovers: 6 (Johnson 2, Walker 2, Sharavjamts, Strong). Steals: 9 (Strong 3, Knox 2, Walker 2, Johnson, Sharavjamts). Technical Fouls: None LSU364214—92 South Carolina3543987 A_10,738 (18,000). State women’s schedule Friday’s games None scheduled. Saturday’s games Marshall 95, UL 54 UL-Monroe 78, Appalachian State 70 Southern 69, Alcorn 56 Jackson State 61, Grambling 55 Stephen F. Austin 83, Southeastern 55 Louisiana Tech 71, Jacksonville State 51 Northwestern State 78, UNO 67 East Texas A&M 68, Nicholls 57 McNeese 64, Lamar 54 Temple at Tulane, n Sunday’s games Alabama at LSU, 11 a.m. Monday’s games No games scheduled.

Tennis

Australian Open Results Saturday At Melbourne Park Melbourne, Australia Purse: AUD111,500,000 Surface: Hardcourt outdoor Results Saturday from Australian Open at Melbourne Park (seedings in parentheses): Women’s Singles Championship Elena Rybakina (5), Kazakhstan, def. Aryna Sabalenka (1), Belarus, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Men’s Doubles Championship Christian Harrison, United States, and Neal Skupski (6),

and Marc Polmans,

7-6 (4), 6-4. Women’s Doubles Championship

DannyHeitman

Aspider’sweb remindsme that wonder endures

Last December,inthe quiet week between Christmas and January,Iwalked afew blocks to my office and put awaythe holiday decorations for another year.Iknew the place would be empty on that weekend morning, which meant Icould work without much fuss. Taking downChristmas stuff, like unpacking asuitcase or cleaning up after aparty,isbestdone quickly so that life can move on.

My first chore was unplugging the lights on our outdoor tree, apond cypress that our office staff had planted afew years ago. I’ve written about our pond cypress before. They’rea popular species in Louisiana because they stand up well to wind and drought. We had gathered outside and tucked one in the ground after the pandemic as a memorial to the lives claimed by the tragedy Atough littletree seemed like afitting reminder of what resilience can be.

While unlooping astrand of lights from thecypress,Inoticed abig spider web among the branches. The day was warm and gray,and the neighborhood was wreathed in fog. Like asail catching the wind, the web had gathered the dampness of the air,and the spider silk

ä See AT RANDOM, page 4D

Watchout

for Louisiana’s finest during theGrammyAwards

Staff report

It’s called music’sbiggestnight

“The 68th Annual Grammy Awards” will air live at 7p.m. Sunday on CBS, and as is tradition, artists with Louisiana ties populate the nominees list.

Baskin native Lainey Wilson has three nominations, while Addison Rae, formerly of Lafayette,has one— for bestnew artist. She’salso one of the evening’sperformers.

But that’sonly the start.

Other Louisiana-connected nominees include: Jon Batiste, Branford Marsalis,Ledisi,PJ Morton, Lil Wayne, KyleRoussel,Corey Henry&the Treme Funktet, Preservation Brass & Preservation HallJazz Band, Trombone Shorty &the New Breed Brass Band, Samantha Fish, Jesse Dayton,BobbyRush, Kenny Wayne Shepherd,Buddy Guy and Darrel Walls. Various artists contributed to asalute to music legend Clifton Chenier,“ATribute to the King of Zydeco,” which also is nominated.

Trevor Noah hosts the ceremonies from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The show also streams live and on demand on Paramount+.

POLITICAL PAGEANTRY

Here’s howLouisiana’s festival queens representthe stateatWashingtonMardi Gras

BY LAURENCHERAMIE Staff writer

When Louisiana festival queensdescend upon the nation’s capital each year for Washington Mardi Gras, theyfasten their crowns, unfurl their trains, adjust their mantlesand readythemselvesfor ajam-packed schedule.

Over three days, the goal for many of thefestival queens is to advocate for their respective industries withleadersand stakeholderswho gather in thespiritof Mardi Gras.

“We’re not just these girls who wear theseshiny crowns andsmile and look pretty,” said Ponchatoula Strawberry Queen AubreyBrumfield. “It’snot allaboutthe ballgown andthe heels.”

Each year,the number of festivalqueensinD.C.differs.While the event was established in 1944, it wasn’t until 1948 that seven festival queens attended for thefirst time: LouisianaSugar Cane Festival, MaineWhite Potato Festival, International Rice Festival, Louisiana Yambilee Festival, Louisiana Strawberry Festival, Plaquemines

The column that Carl Weiss stood behind while waiting for U.S. Sen. HueyP.Longto pass the governor’soffice —in the background —is punctured by abullet hole resultingfromthe spray of bullets from Long’s bodyguards’ guns on Sept. 8, 1935. STAFF PHOTO BY

ROBINMILLER

Plaquemines Parish OrangeFestival

Queen 2023Catherine Elizabeth Blondiau wears her citrus crown at the Washington Mardi GrasBallat the Washington Hilton in 2024

Parish Orange Festival and City of New Orleans Festival.

This year,24Louisianafestivals will send queens to Washington, along with queens from otherMardi Gras krewes andassociations, according to MaryJane “Cookie” Brit-

tain Richardson, asenior lieutenant with Washington Mardi Gras. In 1990, Richardsonwas the Washington Mardi Gras Queen. Being afestival queen and attending WashingtonMardi Gras canhavea lastingimpact.Dana Topham, of Lafayette, first attended WashingtonMardi Gras as the 1988 Yambilee Festival Queen.

“Itwas thefirsttimeI traveled outofthe state in aplane,and I went solo. My parentscouldn’tafford to come,” Topham said. “We were treated like royalty with full access, including walking in the Oval Office. Ieven climbeda tree in theWhiteHouse frontlawn times have changed since then.”

Topham says the trip opened up the way she saw the world, gave hera more globalperspective and an understanding of government that she just didn’thave before. In 2025, Topham’sdaughter,Olivia Topham,was one of 25 festival queens. Olivia Tophampresented as arepresentative of the Order of the Troubadours from Lafayette. For Brumfield, this year’sWashington Mardi Gras is not her first rodeo.

ä See QUEENS, page 4D

BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer

Tracy Tullier knowsthe question will pop up somewhere in the midst

Attakapasballwowscrowd with aspectacular show

The ladies’ Krewe of Attakapas held its annual ball andpageant on Jan. 24 at the Frem Boustany Convention Center.Despite the frigid temperatures, hundreds of members and guests filled the ballroom for a pageant and party that broughtthe heat. The ladies of this krewe keep their identities secret, but they pulled out all the stops with magnificent sequined costumes designed with anod to Native American tradition. Royalty paraded to livelymusical numbers while guests cheered them on. King Lacassine LVII and Queen Karakondye LVII madetheir grand entrances to adoring crowds as well.This year’sKing Lacassine LVII, Dr.Samuel Moss,isa well-known localdentist whohas been active in the Acadiana community. Moss grew up in Lafayette and graduated from Louisiana State University inBaton Rouge. He went on to obtainhis Doctorate of Dental Surgery from Louisiana State University School of Dentistry inNew Orleans. He was chosen by the Attakapas krewe to reign alongside theirQueen Karakondye LVII. We wish wecouldtellyou her name, but we cannot. Per tradition, the Attakapas queen’sidentity must remain asecret.Itisnosecret, however,how much this krewe likes to have fun. And that they did.Wewere honored to have agreat view of allthe action thanks to our mostgracioushost, JayRuffin.Merci Beau coups, Mr. Ruffin! Congratulations Attakapas on anotherfabulous year

TRAVEL

Relaxand reconnectinGulfport, Miss.

Shortdrive still offers plenty of thingstodo

BY JOYHOLDEN Staff writer

Sometimes, aquiet weekend in Gulfport, Mississippi, is the best solution to reconnect with along-lost friend. Just aclose drive away,astay at a1950s cabin only two blocks from the beach checks off the boxes for acomforting weekend. Gulfport —three hours from Lafayette —isnearby for aserene stay on the coast. For those who want to party and celebrate, Biloxi is just afew interstate exits away, but forthose who want to play games, create vision boards, catch up on movies, drink coffee on a screened-in porch, walk on thebeach and eat good seafood, Gulfport will do the trick. The Knotty Pine, a charming beach cottage on Airbnb, is atwo-bedroom, one-bath home fullof character.The cottage has floor-to-ceiling knotty pine siding, which feels warm andnostalgic. This retreatstyle cottage even includes agame room with afunctioning old-school pinball machine.

Located afew streets from U.S. 90, also known as Beach Boulevard, the Knotty Pine is awalkable distance to the beachfor scenic exercise or beach picnics.

Beach Boulevard is ascenic, 26-mile highway that stretchesalong the Gulf, offering coastal views and beach access. Along Beach Boulevard are stately homes among large oak trees right acrossfrom the beach. When it comes to dining out, one popular local spot is Shaggy’s, located on Beach Boulevard. Shaggy’s offers scenic views and abright, open-air restaurant with afriendly atmosphere. The fish tacos and beachy cocktails come highly recommended in addition to all the other fresh seafood on the menu.

Take along or shortwalk along the Gulfportbeachfront.

lectionofmuseums.

For breakfast, brunch or lunch,Blue Dog Bistro is acharming spot for avariety of diners. Whether the guest is paleo, gluten-free, vegetarian or has asweet tooth, this bistroprides itselfonhaving several options for any customer Their menu is cleverly split into “Good Dog” and “Bad Dog” sections, for either healthy or decadent items

theBad Dog side. Their blueberry ricotta pancakes are recommended as well.

Oneway to pass the time is to stop by CoastRoast, an industrial-style brick coffee shop near downtown for some rich coffee or flavored tea.

Thespinach and mushroom frittatawithspinach, free-range eggs, oyster mushrooms, tomatoes, onions and Parmesan cheese is on the Good Dog side, while the free-range skillet with eggs, Cochon pork, bell pepper,onion, fried potatoes, oyster mushrooms and cheddar cheese is on

After stopping for acaffeine pick-me-up,visitors can go shopping, either at Thriftique, alocal antique market, or GulfportPremier Outlets. For acasual dinner downtown,Tony’sBrick Oven Pizza has an Italian menu with appetizers like antipasto skewers andarancini, sandwiches,salads

Traintastic TrainMuseum, formerly known as Mississippi CoastModel Railroad Museum, has a combinationofmodel train displays in various sizes,

cal artifacts, audio/visual media andreal airplanes. The Mississippi Aquarium, on Beach Boulevard, is an ideal place for families andfansofsea creatures. At ch ol ultiple

TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER

By ChristopherElliott

AirFrancerejects baggageclaim

Christopher Elliott

Air Franceshould have honored your legitimate receipts and paid your claim promptly underthe Montreal Convention. International airlinesare liable forlost baggage up to approximately $2,080per passenger,and your documented losses clearly fell within this limit. The receipt rejectionpolicy you encountered is troublesome.Moderncommerce relies heavily on electronic receipts, and Air France’s blanketrejectionof“online receipts” and“transaction details” essentially renders most contemporary purchasedocumentationinvalid. This appearsdesigned to frustrate legitimate claims rather than verify them

Youhandled this correctly by documenting everything

Ineed your help with abaggage nightmare that’sbeen going on for months. Last year,I flew from Bangalore to ChicagoonAir France One of my two checked bags went missing But here’s where it gets weird —the Air France representative at the airportasked me about a“third bag” that Inever checked. IhaveFlying Blue Silver status, which allows three bags, but Ionly checked two.Mybag drop receipt clearly shows two bags.The missing bag contained three duffel bags —two smaller ones folded inside alarger Jaguar duffel from JCPenney.My Apple AirTag showed the bag never left Bangalore. I filed areportimmediately at O’Hare and followed up religiously. After three weeks, Igot aclaim number,and Isubmitted detailed receipts totaling $2,084 for the lost items. They were all legitimate purchases from Delsey Paris, JCPenney and Nordstrom Rack with complete transaction details. Then came the runaround.Air France rejected all my receipts with the most ridiculous reasons I’ve ever heard.Arepresentative said they don’taccept receipts that are “blurred, transaction details, online receipts, handwritten, credit card receipts, or screenshots.” My receipts weren’tblurred they were crystal clearPDFs and emails fromthe retailers. None were handwritten or credit card receipts. They were legitimate purchase confirmations with store names itemdescriptions,prices, andorder numbers Under the Montreal Convention, Air France owes me upto$2,080 forlost baggage, but they’re playing games with my legitimate claim. Can you help me getthe full compensationI’m owed?— Gerardine D’Sa,Willow Springs, Ill.

immediately and maintaining adetailed paper trail. Youwereactually atextbook example of how to file aclaim. Few passengers can showoriginalreceipts, which foils their claim. Another protip: Always photograph your bags with the tags before checking them and keep those bag drop receiptssafe —they’re your proof of what you actually checked.

Youcan appeal baggage claim denials to Air France executives through our company contacts directory on my consumer advocacy site, elliott.org. These contacts often have moreauthority thanfront-line customer servicerepresentatives (You reached out to twoof the executives,but one sent you aformresponseand the other ignored you. Toobad! They could have avoided having astorywritten about them.)

When my advocacy team contacted Air France on your behalf, theairline initially claimed European privacy restrictions prevented themfromdiscussing your case. However,after we pressed themand you filed a Department of Transportationcomplaint, they reconsideredtheir position. Air France offered to pay

Making memories, mini race cars worthy of the track

BY YVONNE BAHRY CABALLERO Contributing writer

Human Condition

My husband spent hours making Pinewood Derby cars with our sons Brent and Corey when they were Cub Scouts. After watching a movie set within the race car industry, I thought about those days. Each son, in turn, came home with a kit of supplies that would eventually be turned into a race car entered into the local Pinewood Derby competition. The kit contained a block of pine wood plastic wheels, stickers with numbers and metal axles. The cars had to weigh no more than 5 ounces, be 7 inches long and powered by gravity only

It took some time to trim that block of wood into the shape of a miniature race car that met the criteria for the contest. My sons were fascinated watching, then helping their Dad.

QUEENS

Continued from page 1D

In 2023, she was there as Miss Andouille for St. John the Baptist Parish. Only 17 at the time, she was one of the youngest in the group, but she says the experience taught her how to travel independently

She adds that Washington Mardi Gras can bring young festival queens out of their comfort zones, putting them in positions to speak to elected leaders and captains of industry

Brumfield says the festival queens “pour our hearts and souls” into representing and promoting their festivals and organizations. Louisiana Cattle Queen Isabelle Douet, who started her reign in May released a children’s book in October titled, “Bubba and the Cattle Queen’s Louisiana Adventure” about two characters who travel the state and learn about the cattle industry.

Douet is going to Washington Mardi Gras for the first time this year She has gone on six farm tours to meet with cattle producers to learn their concerns to share on her trip to D.C.

Douet said many of the cattle farmers expressed concern with President Donald Trump’s recent push to import beef from Argentina, saying that they would rather “let the industry level itself out” like it always has. She noted that the farmers would rather let supply and demand control the prices, instead of importing foreign beef to make prices cheaper.

One of Douet’s goals is to connect with senators and represen-

Several trips were made to the post office to weigh the car, each time returning home to trim or add a bit more weight until it hit that 5 ounces. This activity was a time of fatherson bonding with my sons gathered around the workbench helping the

tatives and remind people of the importance of supporting local dairy and beef producers instead of shopping at big-box retailers.

“A lot of people think this is a vacation for us, but it’s definitely a job,” Douet said. “We are booked and busy the whole time.”

A festival queen’s schedule during Washington Mardi Gras consists of dinners, meet and greets with congress members, lunches an Arlington Cemetery tour, a captain’s dinner and dance, a grand ball and Louisiana Alive! — one of Brumfield’s favorite events that features Louisiana caterers, tourism groups and favorites like shrimp, boudin and king cake.

“Louisiana Alive is the night that it feels like you’re back home,” she said.

When the women return home after Washington Mardi Gras, they go back to their normal routines — traveling around the state with bejeweled crowns and sashes on the weekends and going to school during the week.

Douet, a senior at LSU, is studying animal science and hopes to attend vet school and become a large farm animal veterinarian.

Brumfield, a junior at Mississippi Valley State University, is studying biology and business and hopes to become an orthodontist.

But for one week out of the year they pack their bags, crowns and sashes to go to Washington, D.C., where they serve as diplomats for Louisiana’s culture and commodities.

Louisiana culture editor Jan Risher contributed to this report.

Email Lauren Cheramie at lauren.cheramie@theadvocate. com.

AT RANDOM

Continued from page 1D

shimmered with droplets of dew Glazed with sunlight, it hung from the tree like a small constellation, and the perfection of it consoled me with the thought that though Christmas was over, joy wasn’t something I had to put away with the baubles of Yuletide.

If my wife had been with me, she probably would have spied the spider web in the pond cypress before I did. She’s an expert web spotter, often pointing them out during breakfast on our patio. When she called one to my attention the other day, all I could see was an empty place within the shrubbery After I moved closer to my wife, the web revealed itself like a spirit parting a veil A fresh angle of light had allowed me to grasp what had, seconds ago, been invisible. I suppose all beauty is like that.

It’s not enough for it to be present; you have to be prepared to see it.

E.B. White, my favorite writer, touched on that truth in “Charlotte’s Web,” his celebrated children’s story in which a spider works words of inspiration into her web as a way to save a pig’s life When Dr Dorian, a local physician, is asked to explain how a spider can weave words, he shrugs, suggesting that any spider’s web is a brilliant mystery

“A young spider knows how to spin a web without any instructions from anybody,” he says.

“Don’t you regard that as a miracle?” I recently mailed a copy of “Charlotte’s Web” to Cora, my goddaughter Danika’s new baby I’d like her to know what I’m trying to remember — that wonder lives in any season, if only we take the time to look.

Email Danny Heitman at danny@dannyheitman.com.

magic happen, the block of wood slowly becoming a mini race car worthy of big time racing notice. It was an experience that nurtured creativity and technical skills they would use in later life.

Fast forward to 1970 and Corey has advanced to Webelos standing

and wants to build a car for the Webelos Derby competition. This time, the car would be big enough for him to get into the driver’s seat and cruise down a hill and specifically outfitted for the contest, which considered the design as well as the speed of the car

My husband was hesitant at first, then became as excited as Corey

The two began to plan a design and make a list of needed materials. It was another time of bonding between them as a design took shape.

Our backyard became a manufacturing site, with wood, tools, adhesives, sandpaper and cans of paint stacked for the job. Again, it took hours cutting wood, assembling, sanding and painting the car, then attaching wheels. This was followed by more hours of adjustment, then practice-driving before the car was “race ready.”

The bright red and pristine white car was a beauty one that Corey was proud to enter into the race. Needless to say, his father was proud, too.

Contestants, parents and siblings gathered on the day of the race, as excited as viewers of a NASCAR event. Drivers were a bit nervous and their parents more so as the cars lined up at the starting line. A final push by volunteers sent them speeding down the ramp to the finish line. Volunteers stood along the route to help keep the cars in their individual lanes. A “master class” effort by all. Corey’s red and white beauty of car won the trophy for best design. All in all, a memorable experience indeed.

— Caballero lives in Baton Rouge.

Advocate readers may submit stories of about 500 words to The Human Condition at features@theadvocate.com or The Advocate, Features, 10705 Rieger Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70809. There is no payment, and stories will be edited. Authors should include their city of residence.

It’s been said that Gov. Richard Leche had the marble panels outside the governor’s office moved and reinstalled down the hall after he took office because he didn’t want to see bullet holes in the walls outside his office. Some historians argue that the marble panels aren’t original to the building and holes in the hallway walls are simply imperfections in the marble. One such hole is seen here on the right.

CURIOUS

Continued from page 1D

governor-turned-U.S. Senator Huey P. Long was shot by young Baton Rouge physician Carl Weiss is probably the top inquiry among children and, yes, adults.

It piqued Guy Luno’s curiosity, but not because he didn’t know where the bullet holes are located.

“The walls where Huey Long was assassinated used to have lots of bullet holes in them, and now there’s only one bullet hole in a column,” the Baton Rouge resident said. “What happened to the marble walls with the bullet holes in them?”

Where are the bullet holes now?

Many Baton Rouge-area adults remember acting on that irresistible urge to stick their fingers in the holes holes, some claim, that may not have been blasted into the marble by the explosion of bullets sprayed by Long’s bodyguards.

However, those holes still exist in the first floor hallway They can be found among official portraits of the state’s governors on the east side further down from where the shooting occurred.

tions in the surface.

But if Leche did, indeed, have the panels moved, there was one bullet hole that couldn’t be relocated from his view It’s found in the column cater-corner from the double doors of the old governor’s office, which now serves as the office for the Speaker of the House.

“Huey’s desk is still in that office,” Tullier said. “And it’s used by the speaker.”

Bullets flew in 1935

The Long shooting took place on the night of Sept. 8, 1935. Though the clock was edging in on 9:30 p.m., the capitol was buzzing with people.

Weiss stood behind the now bullet-dented column and waited for Long, who walked toward the governor’s office from the eastern side of the hallway The doctor stepped into Long’s path, gun in hand.

“We’ve heard that, possibly, some of the panels down the hall actually stood where the shooting happened,” Tullier said. “The story is that the next governor didn’t want to see a wall full of bullet holes when he walked out of his office, so he had them moved and installed down the hall.”

That next governor was Richard W. Leche, elected as Louisiana’s 44th governor in 1936. Holes or not, he didn’t have to worry about looking at the walls for long, trading them for prison walls after a 1939 conviction for misuse of federal funds.

Now, theories are conflicting about the holes in the hallway, with some researchers and historians saying the marble slabs aren’t original to the building, and the holes simply are imperfec-

Weiss got off a shot that hit Long before his own bullet-riddled body fell at the foot of the column. Weiss’ body was punctured by 61 bullet holes, all expelled from Long’s bodyguards’ .45 caliber pistols. Long immediately was hauled to Our Lady of the Lake Sanitorium, which stood directly behind the capitol on the bank of Capitol Lake. He was taken into surgery and died two days later on Sept. 10. That’s the official take on this story, which has generated contention through the years with some historians and investigators claiming that Weiss didn’t shoot Long.

A busted lip?

In the 1946 painting, “The Shooting of Huey Long,” New Orleans artist John McCrady depicts Long with a busted, bloody lower lip. The painting was commissioned by Life Magazine in 1939.

A copy of the painting serves as the centerpiece of a display in the capitol explaining the timeline of Long’s shooting and lends itself to some authors’ and historians’ theory that Weiss split Long’s bottom lip with his balled fist, thereby triggering the bodyguards.

The doctor’s .32 caliber Fabrique Nationale Model 1910 automatic pistol was never visible in the crime scene photos and, some historians say, it was later found in his car Meanwhile, doctors and nurses attending to Long reported that he had a swollen lip. Melinda DeLange, the nurse who assisted doctors in the operating room, recounted in the 2014 documentary “61 Bullets” the story of a doctor asking Long about the swollen lip.

“He said, ‘That’s where he hit me,’ meaning Dr Weiss had hit him,” she said in the documentary

Weiss was at the capitol because he had a personal stake in an issue floating through the Legislature that night.

Long was in the process of gerrymandering Judge Benjamin Henry Pavy’s district in Opelousas. Pavy’s politics were antiLong, and Long didn’t tolerate dissent. Pavy was Weiss’ fatherin-law

Historians have surmised that Weiss stopped by the capitol to try to talk Long out of the gerrymandering. Did Weiss pull a gun or hit Long? Either way, bullets flew, creating strong speculation that Long was hit by his bodyguards’ bullets.

The Louisiana State Police launched its own investigation of the shooting in the 1990s, determining that Weiss fired the gun. The weapon was later donated to Louisiana’s Old State Capitol, where it’s displayed in the capitol’s “Legacy of Huey Long” exhibit.

As for Long, he’s buried in the center of Capitol Park beneath a marble pedestal topped by a bronze statue of himself gazing at the building that stands both as his legacy and his demise at age 42. And the true bullet hole in the column, a testament to his downfall, still fascinates school kids today

Do you have a question about something in Louisiana that’s got you curious? Email your question to curiouslouisiana@ theadvocate.com. Include your name, phone number and the city where you live.

‘PINCHBACK’

Author Nicholas Patler’s biographyexplores thelifeofAmerica’s firstBlack governor

Banks

BY RIEN FERTEL

Contributing writer

“Pinchback: America’sFirst Black

Governor” by Nicholas Patler,University Press of Mississippi, 226 pages.

As late as the 1970s, Louisiana history textbooks excluded P.B.S. Pinchback’sname from the list of state governors. Hardly mere oversight, the life and career of Louisiana’spioneering civil rights politician, who briefly served as the nation’sfirst Black governor,would be plagued by racism, accusations true and false and sordid machinations of American politics.

In “Pinchback,” the first serious biography of the governor in over ahalf-century,independent scholarNicholas Patler presents asharp, nuanced and, at times, surprisingly cinematic account. The future politician’sfledgling years were dramatically Dickensian. Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback wasborn in 1837, somewhere around Macon, Georgia, the fourth child of aNorth Carolina tobacco planter and the once-enslaved woman he had freed from bondage. Pinky,as his family called him, grew up on hisfather’splantation in Holmes County,Mississippi.

Deemed “the poorest county, in America’spoorest state” in a recent Guardian report,Holmes County was then awealthy cotton capital. Pinchback’sfather owned 77 enslaved persons and was able to send Pinchback and his brother Napoleon tothe Gilmore School, an elite Cincinnatiacademythat enrolled many Black sons of White Southern planters. Following his father’sunexpecteddeath in 1848,Pinchback’s mother,fearing that she and her children would be sold into slavery,relocated to Cincinnati. Reduced to penury,a12-year-old Pinchbackhustled to keep his family afloat.

While working as asteward on steamboats plyingthe Mississippi River Valley,Pinchback became the assistant to George

Devol, anotorious cardsharp, and was involved in ashootout that left one man dead.

Pinchback eventually ended up inNew Orleans, shortly after the city’soccupation by federal forces. By July of 1862, he enlisted in the Union’s1st Regiment Infantry,adefactoall-White unit.A monthinto his service, his officers discovered that he was Black.

Like many mixed-race people of the period, Pinchback’sracial indeterminacy heldpotential for passing. His sister Adeline, in a letter from the period, begged himto pass for White as shehad in Cincinnati. Adecade later, interviewed by the New Orleans Times, Pinchback identified as a quadroon, “or about one-fourth colored,” he declared.

“Of which are you theproudest, the African or theAngloSaxon blood in your veins,” the reporter baited.

“I don’tthink the question is alegitimate one,” Pinchback responded, “as Ihavenocontrol over the matter.”

Much later in life, living in Washington, D.C., he would take delight when strangers mistook him for Andrew Carnegie, one of the nation’swealthiest men, for whom he was adeadringer Pinchback helped recruit, organize and train anew,all-Black regiment, the 2nd Louisiana Native Guards, later renamed the Corpsd’Afrique. But despite his effortsonbehalf of the Union Army, his application for captain was denied by Gen. Nathaniel

Fuming, Pinchback turned to activism, helping desegregate the city’sstreetcars after sitting in aWhites-only carriage. (The cars would remainintegrated until 1902, when astate law once again mandated racial separation. That law would remainuntil 1958.). He stumped throughout the South, denouncing racism and organizing civil rightsmeetings.

“You are men! Youare equal!” he toldone crowd. “Protest against this treatment, against these outrages, and make your voices heard!”

The political world beckoned. Nominated as aleading delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1867-1868, he advocated for positions that were then radical, well ahead of their time: universal suffrage, aban on racial discrimination in public spaces and integrated public education.

“Establishseparate schools, he declared, anticipating the Supreme Court’s arguments in Brown v. Board of Education by nearly acentury,“and you by that veryact declare the White children superior of the colored.”

Pinchback continued his fight in theLouisiana Legislature, where he became one of the first Black state senators elected in 1868.

He soon helped pass what Patler deems “the most comprehensive and progressive public school system thestate —ornation —had ever seen.”

Hispolitical career,however,would forever be dogged —but never derailed —bya never-ending chain of corruption charges. The national spoils system ran especially rampant in Republican-run Louisiana, and Pinchback amassed asubstantial fortune.

“Your circumstances have greatly improved since your entrance into political life,” one reporter remarked when visit-

ing his Derbigny Street home.

Pinchback’s response: “I do not claim to possess allthe honesty in theState.”

The Harlem Renaissance poet and novelist Jean Toomer,Pinchback’sgrandson with whom he had aclose andloving relationship, noted thathis grandfather “liked to play the game.Heliked to win.”

Patler agrees to apoint: Pinchback “mayhavebeen just theanti-hero hero that his times —that thepeople of color of his times —needed.”

Pinchback would be linkedto several gunfights andeven to the poisoning deathofhis friend and rival, Lt.Gov.Oscar Dunn, whom he succeededinDecember 1871.

Ayear later,heled acoupd’état to block his once ally,Republican Gov.Henry C. Warmoth, from handing overthe gubernatorial reins to an interparty,anti-Reconstruction faction. Following Warmoth’s impeachment, Pinchback served outthe 36 days of his remaining term, hastily passing 10 acts thatshored up the

short-term survivalofBlack civil rights in Louisiana.

With whispers of avice presidencynominationcirculating, Pinchback would be elected to the United States Senate aday afterleaving the governorship. But his prospective senatorial brothers ranobstruction after obstruction, stalling his confirmationfor threeyears.

Sen. JohnLogan of Illinois summedupthe issue: If Pinchback “hadbeen aWhite manhe would have been in here along time ago.”

Five days following afinal vote denying the elected Louisiana senatora seat,ina speech titled “The Country Has Not Heard the Last of P.B.S. Pinchback,” his friend FrederickDouglass declared,“The hour of his defeat is the hour of his victory.”

With “Pinchback,” Patler has crafteda winning biography RienFertel is the author of four books, including,mostrecently, “Brown Pelican.”

Auduboncrosses pathswithSlavicfolklorein‘PelicanChild’

BY CORYOLDWEILER

The Minnesota Star Tribune (TNS)

“The PelicanChild” by JoyWilliams, Knopf, 157 pages

The singular,disconcerting uneasiness that is so characteristic of Joy Williams’ fiction, yet so hard to pin down, is once again dazzlingly on display in her latest collection, “The Pelican Child.”

The critically beloved author’sfirst book of full-lengthstories since 2015’s“The Visiting Privilege” contains adozen works, all of which were publishedinjournals, magazines and anthologies over thepast 15 years. Trying to distill their subject matter yields plot descriptions that read abit like Mad Libs.

In “The Fellow,” acaretaker at an artist’sretreat converses with aguest’s poetry-reading dog after aflood. Dismayed by thefuture of the Great Barrier Reef, adaycare owner in “My First Car” hires astranger off the street towatch the center’sbabies for aweek while she prays for humanity.And in “After the Haiku Period,” twin 60-something heiresses storm a slaughterhouse to makeastatementabout

their late father’scapitalist greed.

ButWilliams doesn’trely solely on intriguing set pieces to envelop her readers. Adetail from her prose can stop you in your tracks, as when atesty discussion about inheritance in “The Beach House” suddenly gives way to two friends talking about whether TedKaczynskihad adeck of tarot cards in prison.

Or when the protagonist of “Stuff” reacts to his terminal cancer diagnosis by lamenting that “only last year,hehad been on the cover of the telephone directory.” Andsometimes you have to pause simply to ponder theinsightful beauty of what is being observed, as when the narrator of “Flour” remarks that “Dusk is not nearly as considerate as is generally assumed.” Williams isn’tchasing shock value, however,but offering subtleyet pointed assessments of our society.This commentarycan be as casual as the fact that the daycare center is located “on afrontage road between amattress wholesaler and aknife outlet.”Oritcan be explicit, as in “Baba Iaga &the Pelican Child,” which provides amoral to its fairy tale encounter between John James Audubon and Slavic folklore, stating that“the birds and beastsofthe world …shouldbevalued for

their bright and beautiful and mysterious selves and not willfully harmed.”

Death and loss feature prominently in these stories, which include several characters seemingly trapped in ametaphorical or metaphysical purgatory.Willie conjures up visits with his late father in “Nettle,” perhaps hoping to atone forthe role he played in his father’sdeath. Jane Click, whoisconsumed by grief over the death of her twochildren in “Chaunt,” retreats to the Dove, abuilding housing “decent enough individuals caught by the mishaps of time in acircumstance of continual, bearable punishment.” And in “Chicken Hill,” awoman named Ruth tries to suss out amystery from her childhood by conversing with a girl whomight actually be her younger self One of the last things that child tells Ruth is that “Imagination only fails us in the end, when the stories we tell ourselves have to stop.” Three of the stories in “The Pelican Child” date from after the start of the pandemic, aperiod when Williamsalso published the novel “Harrow.”

Though now in her 80s, Williams’ imagination clearly hasn’tfailed, so hopefully her remarkable stories will keep coming.

DINING SCENE

This year’s hottestkingcakeflavoriscollaboration

of king cakesall through Carnival, including satsuma almond, a gluten-free cinnamon rendition and the new Dubaichocolate, with pistachio and shredded phyllo baked into the brioche.

King cake is best enjoyedwith company,the centerpiece of a shared Carnival experience.This year,some of the best king cakes are created in good company too. Collaborations and partnerships between brands, restaurants, community organizations and Carnival krewes have broughtsome remarkable king cakes to the party for 2026, andmore are percolating.

The fruits of collaboration are on full display in the range of king cakes from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts,the high school in Faubourg Marigny which has arobust culinaryarts program For about adecade, NOCCA students have produced king cakes as part of their curriculum. Along the way,king cake had become an increasingly important fundraiser for the school, and proceeds now cover the annual costs for the culinary program.

This year,students workeddirectly with EmerilLagasse,one of the most famous chefs in the world, whose charitablefoundation supports NOCCA,and Frank Brigtsen, of Brigtsen’s Restaurant (723Dante St.), agodfather to many in the local food world and NOCCA’s first chef in residence.

“They really get in here and work with the students,” said Dana Tuohy,chef and founding chair of NOCCA’s culinary program. “It’s not just ‘here’sanidea,gofor it. It’sthese chefs showinghow to get to arecipe that is feasible and executable in the thousands.”

The students’ work went from pricing out ingredients to production schedules and marketing, and here they got an assist from another collaborator,ofsorts.

King Cake Hub (3300 Gravier St.), the multi-vendor marketplace for king cakes and Mardi Gras flair,isthe main retail point for NOCCA’s cakes (alongwith preorder and pick-up on the weekendsatthe school itself).Hub

TODAYINHISTORY

STAFF PHOTO BY BRETTDUKE

Laine Pokorn,Ashton Nielsen and Jackson Whitemore prepare banana creampie king cakes, based on the signature dessertofEmeril’s Restaurant,atthe NewOrleans Centerfor CreativeArtsinNew Orleans. The Iris king cake is aseasonal special from the nonprofit DragonflyCafe in NewOrleans.

proprietorJenniferSamuels has contributed invaluable insight on ideasthatwill hit withher customers, Touhy said.

Goddess returns

The collaborative king cakes have been cycling through as limited-time runs. This gives people a reasontotry new cakes,and gives the students achance to workwith different culinary minds.

The school started Carnival with its banana creampie king cake, based onthe signature dessert of Emeril’sRestaurant(800 Tchoupitoulas St.). Mid-season, production

Today is Sunday,Feb. 1, the32ndday of 2026.There are 333 days left inthe year

Todayinhistory: On Feb. 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke apart as it reentered the Earth’s atmosphere, killingall sevencrew members: commander Rick Husband; pilot William McCool; payload commander Michael Anderson; mission specialists Kalpana Chawla,David Brown andLaurel Clark;and payload specialist Ilan Ramon Also on this date:

In 1865, abolitionist JohnS.Rock became the first Black lawyer admittedto thebar of the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1943, during World WarII, oneof America’smost highly decorated military units, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, made up almostexclusively of Japanese Americans, was activated

In 1960, four Black collegestudents began asit-in protest at aWoolworth’slunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, where they had been refused service.

In 1979, Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was welcomed home by millions in Tehran as he ended nearly 15 years of exile.

In 1991, an arriving USAir jetliner crashed atop acommuter planeonarunway at Los Angeles International Airport, resulting in 35 deaths.

In 1994, Jeff Gillooly, TonyaHarding’s ex-husband, pleaded guilty in Portland, Oregon, to racketeering for his part in the attack on figure skater Nancy Kerriganin exchange for a24-month sentence and a $100,000 fine.

In 2002, Wall Street Journal journalist DanielPearl was killed byIslamist militants in Pakistan after beingkidnapped nine days earlier In 2016, the World HealthOrganization declared aglobalemergency over the explosive spread of the Zikavirus, which was linked to birth defectsinthe Americas. In 2021, the army in Myanmar overthrew the elected government of the Southeast Asian country.(Armed resistance arose afterthe armyusedlethal force to crush nonviolentprotestsagainst itstakeover,and an ensuing civil warleft more than 3.6 million people displaced in the country,according to theU.N.)

Today’sbirthdays: Actor Garrett Morris is 89. Political commentator Fred Barnesis83. Princess Stephanie of Monaco is 61. Actor SherilynFenn is 61.U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Michelle Akers is 60. ComedianactorPauly Shore is 58. ActorMichaelC Hall is 55. Rapper Big Boi (Outkast) is 51. Singer-songwriter Jason Isbellis47. TV personalityLauren Conrad is 40. Mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey is 39.Actor JuliaGarneris32. Singer-actor Harry Styles is 32. Singer Jessica Baio is 24.

shifted to astrawberry tres leches flavor,created with Brigtsen, which finished its run this week. To finish the season, NOCCA has brought back ahighly successful collaborative king cake developed withthe Krewe of Muses lastyear Students went big on the krewe’s Greek motif to create the “The Goddess” king cake, withgoat cheese and fig, candied orange and toasted walnutsunder asheen of silver glitter.The flavor flirts with savory,but lands squarely in the realm of sophisticated sweet treats.

In addition to thesecollaboration cakes,NOCCA produces avariety

Iris in bloom

It was theGoddess that inspired baker April Whitecotton to do morethis year with king cakes at Dragonfly Café (530 Jackson Ave.).This restaurant and coffee shopispart of Raphael Village, avocational programserving “differently abled” adults, called Guild members, who may have Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorder or other conditions. Guild members help make king cakes,and it’sbecomeanother way for them to engage with the community.This year,Whitecottonapproached the Krewe of Iris withthe idea of akrewe-themed king cake, hoping the brand power and outreach of the historic, newly-rejuvenated Carnival club would boost awareness of the café.

This new king cake gleams with the krewe’spurple and silver colorsrenderediniridescent icing. Beneath is abrioche braid, heavy on cinnamon, that is dense, withjustthe right texture and a classic simplicity enrobed in eyecatching veneer.Itshould gladden the hearts of traditional king cake fans.Itcomes with aspecial keepsake, ceramic fève and aseed card, also madebyGuild members, to plantblue irises at home. Anditcomes with support forthe nonprofit’s workbaked in. Youcan find these on afirst come, first servedbasis at Dragonfly Café (open Tuesday through Fridays),through Feb. 13. That means if youwant one for the Iris parade on Feb. 14 you’ll need to plan ahead.

Cake andcocktails

Collaboration also led to another new standout for 2026, the Vieux Carre king cake from the Marigny bakery AyuBakehouse (801 FrenchmenSt.) and the Uptown cocktail destination Cure (4905 Freret St.). Cure co-founder Neal Boden-

heimer workedwith Ayuco-founder Kelly Jacques and her team to zero in on the right cocktail, one with flavors that could translate to the baking world.

“As abar,they’re working with ingredients we don’tnormally use, it opened awhole other world of knowledge and flavor for us,” Jacques said. Through batched cocktail tastings, they arrived at the Vieux Carre, aNew Orleans original that’slike aManhattan cocktail but with some of the entwined influences of the city represented in French cognac, Italian vermouth and American whiskey As aking cake, it starts with brioche with aswirl of brown-butter hazelnut praline that suggests cognac. Aseam of cherry jam carries ascent of vermouth. Awhiff of Bénédictine liqueur brings spice. Like the cocktail, this cake is layered and balanced between bitter herbals, dark fruit-jam and mellow sweetness. Even the lattice pastry on top evokes the etched class of arocks tumbler

Youcan pre-order these through Ayuorthrough Cure, and Cure is serving it by the slice at the bar, where you can pair it with an actual Vieux Carre or another cocktail from aMardi Grasseasonal list.

Back to NOCCA

At NOCCA, the chef collaborations brought adifferent element of education, connecting students with influentialpeople in the culinary arts they’re studying.

“Itfurthers therelationshipswe have withchefs andthe restaurant community,”saidTuohy.“Hopefully,we’re helping create thenext generation of chefs whowill stay in NewOrleans and contribute with theirtalents to that community.” There is more to come. In the way that Carnival planning never really stops, Tuohy is already thinking ahead to next year,and how NOCCA can expand its king cake collaborations.

“It’sbeen such awonderful experience from concept to execution, we need to keep doing it, our students get so muchfrom it,” she said.

Dadmakes daughter’s weddingabout him

Dear Miss Manners: Iamgetting married in atraditional church ceremony.Myfather,who will be giving me away,has refused to wear atuxedo on thegrounds that it is a“monkey suit,” even though all of the other meninthe wedding party will be wearing one. Igave in, because I wanthim to be happy andcomfortable. Now he says he will not wear atie, either.Mymother andIhave tricked him into wearinganice new silk jacket andhaven’tmentioned anythingabout him wearing shoes other than sneakers …yet. I wouldgive in again if Ithought he wasactually going to be in any real pain, but Ican’tsee howwearing atie for an hour is painful.

lack of respect for what is, to me, adeeply important formal ceremony. It feels like he cares more about not wearing formal clothes than he does about his daughter When Imentioned to my mother that I was unhappy about his decision, Iwas told an anecdote that implied that Icared more about clothes and appearances than about my father,who loves me, andthat I should just takewhat Ican get and let the rest go. Am Ireally being that unreasonable?

while you interpret formality as ashow of respect and festivity,hebelieves it symbolizes snobbery.Your version is indeed the standard one, but his is typical of a(mostly male) minority

Miss Manners agrees that one of you should put aside those feelings simply to indulgethe strongly held feelings of the other,however wrong you consider them to be. Someonehas to be the grownup here. One would expect a father to do this forhis daughter,especially forone hour at her wedding. But as yours refuses, you are stuck with rising above the childishness.

him that his act of rebellion might be interpreted as disapproval of the wedding.

Dear Miss Manners: Iremember reading about olden invitation cards that might say,“Teaat5, carriages at 7:30.”

Gentle Reader: Yes, it was apolite wayofsaying, “Don’tthink you’re staying fordinner.”

Dear Miss Manners: Is it in bad taste to throw yourself ababy shower?

Gentle Reader: Yes, whether you are the baby,the embryo or the mother.And that goes forthe mother’smother,and anyone else in the family

The real problem is that he hateswearingformal clothes. Ifeel like his refusal to wear atux ortie demonstrates a

Dear Heloise: Icook for one and have afridge with asmallish freezer.Here’sa few thingsI do:

n Abox of frozen fish filetsfor sandwiches was half-empty,soI wrapped each one in wax paper and put them in azip-close freezer bagwith thebaking instructions, of course.

GentleReader: The person who cares too much about clothes is your father He cares desperately about what he wears, to theextent of upsettinghis beloved daughter on aunique and special occasion.

Likeyou, he considers formal clothes to be symbolic. But

If guests are startled —or, more likely,amused —at your father’sbeing tieless and wearing sneakers, that is his problem.Hemay not care about their reactions, or he may take pride in defying the dress code.

Youmight, however,warn

Sadly,hosting one’sown (or one’srelative’s) shower emphasizes that there are no friends whocare enough to do it.

Sendquestions to Miss Manners at herwebsite, www.missmanners. com or to heremail, dearmissmanners@gmail. com.

n Ipurchased 2-quart containers of soup from church andmade soup from scratch. Iput abowlful of soup in individual freezer bags. Each week, Iwas able to enjoy homemadesoup.

n Ialso bought blueberries on sale and bagged them in small bunches. —Joyce Maurer,via email

Proper dishwashingetiquette

Dear Heloise: As astudent (and latera teacher) in homeeconomics, we learned that when washingdishes, you should start withasink or container of

very hot water and dishwashing detergent.Washthe itemsthat go into the mouth first when the water is hottest and cleanest: forks, spoons,“butter” or “place” knives glasses, and cups. Next, wash preparation items and serving dishes. Save thepots and dirtiest items until theend. Rinse all items completely Alwaysdry witha pristine dedicated towel. And always leave the sharp knives aside on the counter and wash them one by one, never leaving them down in thesoapy water where you can come into contact with dangerous sharp edges. Additionally,Ihave learned that wearing appropriate rubber gloves allows you to use thehottest water.Ialso place acontainer of soapy water on thecounter and place foodencrusted flatware (spoon, forks and knives) inside. This

helps remove food, requiring less work. Keeping adedicated dishwashing brush also helps to removedifficult foods such as eggyolk and avocado. Teaching all family members thecorrect dishwashing technique is aworthwhile task. You never know when the skill will be needed. Proper dishwashing can help alleviate illnesses. Judy Marquez, via email Weddingdress storage

Dear Heloise: Iwould love to store my wedding dress. Ihad it dry-cleaned, and it looks nice. But how do Ikeep it from yellowing? —Joyce, in Tennessee Joyce, after cleaning the dress, wrap it in unbleached muslin or acid-free white tissue paper.Then wrap it in blue tissue paper and store it in a sealed box in acool, dry place. It should last formany years to come. —Heloise Cloudytea

Dear Heloise: My family and I

love iced tea but hate when it looks cloudy.So, my sister-inlaw gave me this hint: Just add asmallamount of boiling water to apitcher of iced tea, then stir,and the cloudy appearance should go away —Linda W.,inBear Swamp, South Carolina

Cleaning reusable bags

Dear Heloise: Reusable shopping bags are helpful; they decrease the need forpaper and plastic. However,they are unsanitary Hundreds of dirty bags pass through acheck stand each day,spreading germs. Let’s clean things up together Christine V.,inSalem, Oregon Christine, how right you are! Check the label —some of these bags may be machinewashable, or you can wipe them with an antibacterial towel. —Heloise Sendahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

by Patch FarmsLLP.First-linesupervise andas‐sign sugarcanefield workers/agricul‐turalequipment operatorstotillsoil, spraycropprotectionchemicals,put outfertilizer, cultivate, prepareground forplanting, plantsugarcane andfal‐lowground crops, and harvestsugar‐cane.Usesknowledge,experienceand skills necessary to direct operations of both whole-stalk andbilletcanehar‐vestersand mechanical planters.Over‐seethe operationand assist in the training of others on proper calibration of chemical sprayers andfertilizerap‐plicationrigs. Observes andreports on themaintenance andoperation of sug‐arcane farming machinery. Assistsin planning sugarcanefarming activities basedonfactors such as weatheror crop maturity.Assists in theinspection of theraw sugarcanecropand fields to determineconditionsand need forsuc‐cessful harvesting.Directpreparation of thefieldsfor theupcomingseason First-line supervises sugarcanefield workers(up to 6workers). Answer di‐rectly to theFarmManager.40hrs/wk. M-F. Schedule maychangedue to farm‐ingconditions. Overtime hourswill vary.Two (2)years’verifiableexperi‐ence as aSugarcane FieldWorkeristhe minimumrequired. No managerial or supervisoryexperiencerequired. No minimumeducation levelisrequired No training is required,and no training is offeredfor the position.There is no requirementthatthe employee must live on theemployer’spremises, and this is notanoptionfor thepermanent role.Pleasesendresumes or contact PatchFarms LLP, Mr.Chris Patout,2417 CanalStreet, Jeanerette,LA70544; Tel: 337-519-3398; Email: patout23@hotmail.com

g installed byothers. Key scopes of work include: Architecturaland struc‐turalsupport steel,ma‐sonryand above-grade concrete,buildings plumbing andpiping, heating, ventilation, and airconditioning(HVAC), buildings’ electrical sys‐tems,lightingsystems anddatasystems and shallinclude alllabor equipment,materials handling, permitting,and testinginaccordance with the Contract Draw‐ings andSpecifications. AllWorkshall be com‐pleted within nine hun‐dred seven(907) calen‐dardaysfromissuance of Notice to Proceed.All Work performedatthe projectsiteshall be com‐pleted between March 01, 2028 andOctober 13, 2028. RefertoArticle 5 Schedule,Completion andStipulatedDamages of theGeneral Conditions forfurther details. In accordance with LouisianaRS38:2212 electronic Bids maybe submittedonVendorAc‐cess (https://lafayettecs dgovla.tylerportico.com/ va/vendor-access/ registration). Official Bid Documentsare available on Vendor Access (https://lafayettecsdgov la.tylerportico.com/va/ vendor-access/ registration). Forques‐tionsrelated to theelec‐tronic biddingprocess, please call Morgan Broussardat337-2918263.Bidders mayre‐questthe electronic bid packagefromMorgan Broussardat mcbrous‐sard@lafayettela.gov Bidderssubmittingbids electronically arealsore‐quired to providea copy of theirbidswithinfortyeight(48)hours

Bidders wishingtosub‐mittheir bidelectroni‐callymust firstberegis‐teredonlinewith Lafayette Consolidated Government as apoten‐tial Contractor at the websitelistedabove Bidderssubmittingbids electronically shallin‐cludeall documentsin one(1) combinedPDF file with bookmark(s)and arerequiredtoprovide one(1) hard copy within forty-eight(48)hours from bidopening throughthe mail. Bidders providingbidsbymail, shallinclude one(1) hard copy with alldocuments in one(1) combined PDF file with bookmark(s) andare required to pro‐vide an electronic copy in one(1) USB flashdrive Only abid bond,certified checkorcashier’s check shallbesubmitted as the bidsecurity. Electronic copies of both thefront andbackofthe checkor bidbondshall be in‐cluded with theelec‐tronic bid. SUBMISSION OF CONFI‐DENTIAL, PROPRIETARY, OR TRADESECRETINFOR‐MATION (SEE LA.R.S.44:3.2(D) As apublicentity, Lafayette Consolidated Government is subjectto theLouisiana Public RecordsLaw,which may requiresubmissions of Bidderstobea public record.PursuanttoLa. R.S. 44:3.2(D),Bidders who submit documents or informationtheybe‐lievetobeproprietary,or tradesecretmustclearly mark each page or piece of informationwhich is in theBidder’sopinion proprietaryortrade se‐cret andmustalsosub‐mitwithsuchinforma‐tion acover sheetthat readsas followsinbold type: DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL PROPRI‐ETARYORTRADE SECRET INFORMATION La.R.S.44:3.2(D) requires Lafayette Consolidated k

be held on February 9, 2026 at 10 a.m. Central Time in theLUS Training Room at theLUS Opera‐tionsCenterlocated at 1314 Walker Rd Lafayette,LA70506. In‐cluded in themandatory pre-bidmeetingwillbe a site tour of

Lafayette Consolidated Govern‐ment NOTE:NOCASH WILL BE ACCEPTEDONLY CHECKS OR MONEY ORDERS MADE PAYABLE TO LAFAYETTE CONSOLI‐DATEDGOVERNMENT. Bid Documentsshall be availableuntil twentyfour hoursbeforethe bid openingdate. Questions relative to thebidding documents, specifica‐tions, biddingprocess (e.g technicalques‐tions, paperworkrequire‐ments, licenses)shall be directed in writingto Morgan Broussardby emailat mcbroussard@ lafayettela.gov Ques‐tionsshall be received no laterthanFebruary27, 2026 at 3PMCentral Time to be addressed. Within one(1) week upon receiptofthe Invitation to Bid, Bidders areen‐couraged to confirm in‐tent to submit abid by replying to the"Invita‐tion to Bid" emailsentby d

theTreasuryFinancial Management Servicelist of approved bonding companieswhich is pub‐lished annually in the FederalRegister, or by a Louisianadomiciled in‐surancecompany with at leastanA-Ratinginthe latest printing of theA.M Best’s KeyRatingGuide to writeindividualbonds up to tenpercent (10%) of policyholders’ surplus as showninthe A.M. Best’s KeyRatingGuide or by an insurancecom‐pany in good standing li‐censedtowrite bid bondswhich is either domiciledinLouisiana or ownedbyLouisiana resi‐dents. Thebid bond shall be issued by acompany licensed to do business in Louisiana. Thecerti‐

thebiddocuments.Inac‐cordance with Public Bid Law, bids arevalid for a period of forty-five (45) calendar days from the time of theopening of bids Bids will be evaluatedby theOwner basedonthe lowest responsibleand responsive bidsubmitted whichisalsoincompli‐ance with thebid docu‐ments. TheLafayette Consolidated Govern‐ment reserves theright to reject anyand allbids for just causeinaccor‐dancewithLAR.S 38§2214.B.

TheLafayette Consoli‐datedGovernment strongly encourages the participationofDBEs (Disadvantaged Business Enterprises) in allcon‐tracts or procurements letbythe Lafayette Con‐solidatedGovernment forgoodsand services andlabor andmaterial. To that end, allbidders andsuppliers areen‐couraged to utilizeDBE businessenterprises in thepurchaseorsub-con‐tracting of materials, supplies, services and laborand material in whichdisadvantaged businessesare available. Assistance in identifying said businessesmay be obtained by calling337291-8410.

am CentralTimeonthe 24th dayofFebruary, 2026 for thefollowing: LUS2026 CompositePole StockMaterial andwill, shortlythere‐after,beopenedand read aloudinthe Office of Purchasing locatedat 705 West University Av‐enue,Lafayette,LA. Bids received after theabove specified time foropen‐ingshall notbeconsid‐ered andshall be re‐turned unopened to the sender.Bidders mayat‐tend thebid openingin person,but arehighly encouraged to virtually join thebid openings via Zoom using thefollowing link:https://us02web zoom.us/j/86718773307? pwd=p1znvlfazvXpt8l 9SbKDODdMrGu7Re.1. In accordance with LouisianaRS38:2212 electronic Bids maybe submittedonVendorAc‐cess (https://lafayettecs dgovla.tylerportico.com/ va/vendor-access/ registration).Official Bid Documentsare available on Vendor Access (https://lafayettecsdgov la.tylerportico.com/va/ vendor-access/ registration). Forques‐tionsrelated to theelec‐tronic biddingprocess, please call Morgan Broussardat337-2918263. Biddersmay re‐questthe electronic bid packagefromMorgan Broussardatmcbrous‐sard@lafayettela.gov Vendorssubmittingbids electronically arere‐quired to providethe same documentsasbid‐ders submitting through themailassoon as avail‐able.Onlya bidbond, certified checkor cashier’scheck shallbe submittedasthe bidse‐curity.Electroniccopies of both thefront and back of thecheck or bid bond shallbeincluded with theelectronicbid Bids must be signedin accordance with LRS Title38:2212(B)5.A Cor‐porate Resolution or Cer‐tificate of Authorityau‐thorizingthe person signingthe bidisre‐quired to be submitted with bid. Failuretosub‐mita CorporateResolu‐tion or Certificate of Au‐thoritywiththe bidshall be causefor rejectionof bid. Copies of thebidding documentsare available at thePurchasingOffice locatedat705 West Uni‐versityAvenue Lafayette,LA70506. Tele‐phonenumber(337) 2918263 (Attn:Morgan Broussard).Bidding doc‐uments shallbeavailable until twenty-four (24) hoursbeforethe bid openingdate. Each bidshall be accom‐panied by acertified check, cashier’scheck or bidbondpayable

State’srestructured childcare taxcredits forcompanies to help families, workers 4E Firm aimstoovercome challenges in skin graft industry with shift to 3D printing 7E

APPRENTICE AI

and

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

When recent Tulane University grad IshaanPomichter was takinga digitaltechnology class taught by famed biographer and writerWalter Isaacson lastyear, the young tech devotee decided to curatea set of artificial intelligence tools Isaacson could usein his own work. The move paid off in more ways than one. Pomichter earned an Ainthe class. He also ended up starting a business withhis professor Last fall, Isaacson and Pomichter officially joined forces to launch Boswell& Co., astartup that publishesbiographies and memoirs for what its founders call “high-impact individuals, families and organizations.” The twististhe company openly embraces theuse of AI to boost the effectiveness of itsresearch and writing. Boswell, named in honor of pioneering 18th-century biographer James Boswell,markets its N.O. author Walter Isaacson embraces tech tool

Dudley DeBosier partners

Deal could open door to consolidationof

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer

“Wehavesomany interviews and articles, AI allows us to find the information we need quicker,and it allows us to connect ideas across thousands of files.”

POMICHTER, co-founder of Boswell &Co.

ä See ISAACSON, page 2E

month with Uplift Investors, aConnecticut-basedprivate equity firm, that’saimed at helpingthe BatonRouge-based firmfundacquisitionsand useits expertise in marketing and case management to expand across theregion. Under the terms of the deal,

Uplift,through asubsidiary,purchased Dudley DeBosier’snonlegalassets —including its casemanagement systems, finance, accountingand human resources departments. Financial terms of thedeal were not disclosed. Dudley DeBosier will retain 100% ownership of itsLouisiana law practiceand is also aminorityinvestorinthe newsubsidiary, Orion Legal. Uplift is Orion’smajority owner and plans to use the newcompany to acquire the nonlegal assetsofother firms around thecountry.Those firms will then pay afee to Oriontoprovide such services back to them. “Welook forward to expanding Orion Legal to enable future partnerfirmstobenefitfromshared services andmodern operating infrastructure,” Doug Rosenstein, Uplift managing partner, said in a prepared statement Chad Dudley,who founded the

firm with Steven DeBosier and James Peltierin2009, said in an interview last week that the idea is to help professional services firms scale “as we support law firms acrossNorth America.” The deal could open the door to consolidation of regional personal injury firms. It also underscores thegrowing reachofprivate equityintoever-newsectorsofthe economy.Inrecentyears, private equity firms have branched out into everythingfromdental offices andmedical practices to dry cleaners, health clubs andeyewear chains,rolling them up into larger companies that provide sharedservices,thereby increasing efficiency

The field of legal services is an emerging area of investment. “It is definitely agrowing trend,”saidDaneCiolino,a law

ISAACSON

Fool’sTake:

Robotic surgery

Many people would love to invest in robotic surgery leader IntuitiveSurgical, but its shares are rather steeply valued now with arecent forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 54. Instead,consider Medtronic (NYSE: MDT), whose Hugorobotic surgery system has been approved in the U.S. for urologic procedures. (The company is also aleader in cardiac devices, spinal products, insulin pumps andmore.) Medtronic’sforward P/E was recently under 17, makingits sharesmore appealingly priced. The Hugo system may boost Medtronic’sgrowth while it tries to streamline by focusing on its most profitableproducts. (It’splanning to spin off its diabetes business this year.)

Medtronic also had more than 170 clinical trialsunderway in fiscalyear 2025, when it plowed $2.7 billion into research and development.

In its second quarter of fiscal 2026 (which ended Oct. 24), Medtronic posted revenueof $9 billion, up 6.6% year over year,with net income rising 8%. Chief Financial Officer Thierry Pieton upped estimates of near-term growth, citing “our outperformance in thefirst half of the year and confidence …in our revenue growth acceleration.”

Medtronic has aproven track record of success, with 48 consecutive annual dividend increases. Its dividend recently yielded aplump 2.8%. Longterm investors maywantto take acloser look. (TheMotley Foolowns sharesofand recommends Intuitive Surgical and recommends Medtronic.)

Fool’sSchool: Finding agood tax pro

Back in 2011, then-National Taxpayer Advocate NinaE Olson noted: “The tax codehas grown so long that it has become challenging even to figure out how long it is. Asearch of the Code conducted using the ‘word count’feature in Microsoft Word turned up 3.8 million words.” The code has not become much simpler since then. Thus, millions now usetaxpreparationsoftwaresuchas TurboTax, TaxAct, TaxSlayer, H&R Block or FreeTaxUSA, among other options.Many others hire tax professionals. You, too,mightwant to consider hir-

EQUITY

Continued from page1E

professor at Loyola University New Orleans. “Privateequity wants to get involved in all sorts of sectors and these law firm deals are modeled after what’s going on in health care and other sectors.”

‘Takingchangebythe hand’

Dudley DeBosier was formed when triallawyers Dudley, DeBosier and Peltier acquired the law practice of E. EricGuirard. At the time,Guirard and his partner,Thomas Pittinger,had been disbarred for rewarding the firm’snonlegal stafffor settling cases as quickly as possible, though they have since been reinstated and have no affiliationwith Dudley DeBosier In the meantime,Dudley DeBosier grew to become one of the state’slargest and most highprofilepersonal injury firms. Accordingtoits website, it has “helped more than 58,000 clients” and recovered more than $1.2 billion for accident victims. While the firm is known locally for its ubiquitous billboards, TV ads and sponsorshipsofthe New Orleans Saints and University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Ragin’ Cajuns, among trial lawyers, it is also known for providing business services to other law firms. Dudley has his own Nashville, Tennessee-based consulting firm, XCelerator,whichadvisespersonal injury firms on howthey canimprove theirefficiency, according to the firm’swebsite. Until recently,Dudley DeBosier also owned aNashville-based advertising agency,CJAdvertising, which provided advertising services to trial lawyers. The firmsold CJ Advertisinglast August. In November,Dudley told Financial Timesthat the firm had hired investment bank KBW

ing aqualified tax professional to handleyourtax returns. Agood tax pro may be able to save you alot of money.Choose carefully,though, and consider hiring an enrolled agent, who can representyou before the IRS if necessary.(Youcan find oneatnaea.org.)

When you’ve identified afew candidates, interview them. (Many will likely offer afree initial consultation.) Ask questionssuch asthese:

n What’syourbackground? What are your strengths and weaknesses? (Look for candid answers.)

n How do youhandle your cases, and what do you expect of yourclients?

n What are your fees and billing policies? (Ask for an estimate.)

n Whoexactly will prepare my taxes —you or someone else?

n What are your continuing education requirements, and howmany hours do you normally take eachyear? (Enrolled agents must get 72 hours every three years. Someone exceedingthe requirements is agood sign.)

n If my return is audited, will yourepresentmebefore the IRS? (They should go instead of you,not with you. Youdon’t want the tax pro to outsource audits.)

n When will you be able to complete thework?

Be sure to choose apro you’re comfortable with.A quick online search will turn up more info on, andquestions to ask, enrolled agents.

Ask the Fool:

DemystifyingOTC, SaaS

What does “OTC”mean? —E.L., Forest Hills, Michigan

Theletters standfor “over the counter.” While thousands of securities tradeonthe New York Stock Exchange or NasdaqStock Market, thousands of others are traded over the counter in theU.S meaning notonamajor stock exchange. Those typically belong to small companies that don’tmeet the listing requirements for amajor exchange, although some big-name international stocks can also belisted in the OTC market. There are three main systems handlingOTC stocks; Pink Sheetsisthe one mostlikely to include shadiercompanies. Learn more at Fool.com/investing/stock-market/exchange/ otc-markets.

What’s a“SaaS” company? —D.K., Fort Myers,Florida The letters standfor “software as aservice.” SaaS

Stifel to lookfor apotential private equity backertohelp fund acquisitions, predicting that more firmswould open themselves to private equity

“You can stick your head in the sand if youwant,but it doesn’t seem prudent,” he said. “What was it WinstonChurchill said? Youcan take change by thehand or it will grab you by the throat.”

Investment strategy

Uplift wasfounded in June by Rosenstein, Will Hausberg and Brad Skaf, all former principals at Gridiron Capital, an East Coast privateequityfirm with nearly $9 billion in assets under management

Thefirm billsitselfasa midmarket private equityfirm focused on acquiring growing companies with earnings of between $10millionand $40 million in legalservices, financial services technical tradesand industrial services.

Dudley DeBosier’sentrepreneurial approachand Dudley’s experience as aconsultant were among thefactorsthat attracted Uplift topartnerwith the firm, according to sources familiar with Uplift’sinvestmentstrategy

Hausberg said in aprepared statement: “Webelieve this partnershiprepresents an important milestone for thebroader legal services ecosystem and offers a compelling opportunity to bring scale to ahighly fragmented market in aresponsible, durable way.”

Experts say the trial attorney space is ripe forsuchinvestmentsbecause it is fragmented, with manyfirmsoperating on older systems that haven’tkept pace with how modern service organizationsrun.That creates an opportunitytobring benefits of scale, technology and professionalized operations.

It also means firms that sell their nonlegal assetstoOrionwill likely have smallerback-office staffs with fewer employees.

companies offer cloud-based software delivery to businesses and individuals, often via subscriptions. So instead of buying and downloading asoftware package, they pay for on-demandaccess to it. This makes updating easy and leaves the SaaS companies with the responsibilityofstoringcustomer dataand keeping it safe. Someexamples of SaaS include tax-preparation software, Zoom video conferencing, Dropbox storage, Docusign, Mailchimp and even Netflix and Spotify.Some years ago, Microsoft shifted itsdominant Office suite (featuring Word, Excel, Outlook and more) to asubscription, and therefore SaaS, model. Investors tendtolike the business model because it meanscustomers must sign up to makeregular subscription payments, which resultsin fairly dependable revenue for a SaaS company.Itcan also mean acostly hassle for customers to switch toanalternate vendor, keeping them loyal. Butcustomersdobenefit by not having to repeatedly buy,install and updatesoftware they use.

My Smartest Investment:

Boosting next gens

One of the smartest financial moves I’ve made is to helpmyson.When he worked during college breaks, his dad and Iwould match themoney he earned and have him deposit it into an individual retirement account. Now that Ihavea grandson, we have helped him the same waybypartially contributing to his Roth IRA. —R.P., via email That’sa great moveindeed! Most of us need to be saving in earnest for our retirements, and starting early is one of the best strategies for that. Ateen or 20-something might have little interest in saving for retirement, but any money they sock away may be able togrow for them for 40 or 50 years. If a$1,000 investment grows for 50 years at 8%, it will become nearly $47,000; if money is added over time, that investment could become ahuge sum.And if the money is growing in a Roth IRA, it can be withdrawn in retirement tax-free. That’sa big plus. Helping your young ones can makeabig difference, as it’s often hard for anyone at any age to save and invest meaningful sums. It’salso asmart way to possibly get thenext generation(s) interested in investing!

Do you have asmart or regrettable investmentmove to share with us? Email it to tmfshare@ fool.com.

Ethics issues andcompetition

By law,nonlawyers are not allowed to own law firms in the U.S., exceptinArizona andthe District of Columbia. Creating aseparate company like Orion, technically known as aManaged Services Organization, is away to remain withinthose regulatory barriers.

Ciolino said that navigating ethical concerns is complicated but can be done.

“The firms that have done these arrangem ent s have structured thedeals in such away thatthe law firm is split offfrom aservice organization,” Ciolino said.

In astatement, Dudleysaid thefirm has worked closely with Uplift “to ensure the structure complies with applicable ethics rules.”

As the newmodel emerges, longtime competitors of Dudley DeBosier saythey’re not concerned.

MorrisBart, whobroke barriers as New Orleans’ first billboardattorney in thelate 1970s and has recovered more than$5billion for his clients over the years, said he has fielded dozens of offers from private equity firms interested in buying parts of his business.

He has waved them off, he said, because theyhaven’toffered enough and don’tresult in better service.

“Private equity guys in New York can’t run Dudley DeBosier as well as Ican run my own firm here in New Orleans,” Bartsaid. EmailStephanieRiegel at stephanie.riegel@theadvocate. com.

Continuedfrom page1E

services to successful clients who can afford six-figure fees to tell their stories. Its first book,about Mississippi native and former Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale, will be completed this year.Asecond biography,about New Orleans manufacturing magnate J.M. Lapeyre, is in the works. Athird tome is undercontract, and Isaacson said thecompanyis generating more leads as it plans to addstaff andpursuepotential publishing partnerships.

The 73-year-old biographer and writer,who has spent his career chronicling risk-taking entrepreneurs, is founding the first startup of his own at atimewhen the publishing industry is grappling with questions about howAIshould and shouldn’tbeused to improve the craft and business of writing, unlocking creativity ratherthan replacing it or stealing it.

Personally,he’sbullish about the newtools —and he’sready to defend his company’sembrace of the tech,even as he braces for inevitable criticism.

“Peoplesay AI will put people outofwork, but it’sthe opposite: It will create jobs for writers and history students who can produce biographies muchmore efficiently,” the author said during arecent interview at his GardenDistrict home.

Across-generationalpartnership

Isaacson,a NewOrleans native, has alofty media résumé thatincludes stints as editor of Time magazine, chairand CEO of CNN, and president andCEO of the Aspen Institute, aprestigious think tank.

In 2011, he wrote abiography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs that became aglobal bestseller,leadingtofive successful follow-ups that showcased his ability to make complex topics enjoyable to read. When the Jobsbook was published, Pomichter was 9years old. Lessthan adecade later,asahigh schooler in the San Francisco Bay Area, he was interning fortech startups. As acollege freshman, he launched his first company Thatsameentrepreneurialdrive led Pomichter,now 22, to partner withIsaacson to launchBoswell, evenasheworks full-timefor another Bay Area tech startup. Joining them is Owen Kirsten, 22, aTulane history and anthropology major who is the company’sgo-to reporter and interviewer Theventure thethree have launched hasvery low overhead —requiring no dedicated office space, inventory or special equipment —and it’s bolsteredbyIsaacson’s reputation andextensive contacts list.

Unlike Isaacson’sown books, which are intended for amass audience, Boswell is producing work-for-hire biographies and memoirs for businessfounders and successful people who want to document theirlegacy

material to the archive and, with guidance from Isaacson, referred to it as he wrote chapter drafts, using AI to assist. Everyone, includingthe client, weighedinaswork progressed.

One chapter looks at Barksdale’s time at Ole Miss during integration.Others examined different stages of his career andthe reasonsfor his $100 million gift to Mississippi schools.

Pomichterdeclined to describe his exact writing process, but he said he’snot simply feeding interviewtranscripts and other material into an AI tool and asking it to write.

“Wehave so many interviews and articles, AI allows us to findthe informationweneed quicker, and it allowsustoconnect ideas across thousands of files,” Pomichter said. The final version of the Barksdale book will be somewhere between 200 and 300 pages. Boswell &Co. will produce physical copies plus an electronicversion. Customersalso receive an archive of allthe research anda “chatbot avatar” that cananswerquestions about the material.

The books won’thave an author’s name on them,but they will have aforeword by Isaacson. And the client will owneverything, includingthe copyright forthe finished product.

Isaacson said he will donate all of his profits to Tulane’sscholarship fund.

‘Finelinetowalk’

Newspapers, including The Times-Picayune |The Advocate, allow reporters and editors to use AI as aresearchtoolbut notto generate content. The rulesinpublishing are less well defined, with supporters arguing the technology boosts efficiency and critics saying it threatens jobs, creates legal and ethical issues, and replaces original voices with generic prose.

Nick Mueller,ahistorian, author and one of the founders of The National WWII Museum, is curious to see how Isaacson, whom he considers “one of the great thought leaders of our time,” will navigate the challenges.

“AI can help writers speed up the process and get something to start with,” Mueller said. “But it’safine line to walk to use the toolsethically and authentically.”

Isaacson, aware of potential criticismsofhis company’sapproach, says there’saright way and wrong way to put the tools into practice.

“AIcan help writers speed up the process and getsomething to startwith. But it’s a fine line to walk to use the tools ethically and authentically.” NICK MUELLER, historian, author and afounder of The National WWIIMuseum

Some may be written exclusively forfamilyand friendswhile others will be distributed morewidely For afee that starts around $200,000, the Boswell team will research, write, edit and publish a 50,000- to 75,000-word book chronicling the life of its subject. Isaacson said demand is strong.

“Everybody deserves to have their story told,” he said.

Book-buildingwithmoderntools

Isaacson said the new company’s creative process isn’tall that differentfrom that of James Boswell himself,who helpedcreate the blueprintfor the modern biography by conducting extensive interviews, buildingarchives and taking exhaustive notes. Instead of quill pens and letterpress printing, however,Isaacson’s crew is using modern toolsmorepowerful than Boswell could have ever imagined.

To start the Barksdale book, Isaacson and team gatheredinformationfrom family archives, business correspondenceand trustworthy publications. Kirsten hasconducted more than adozen interviews to learn about times in Barksdale’slife that weren’twell documented. Pomichter added that

“Ifyou’rejustusing AI without realeditors, writers and reporters, you’ll get slop,” he said. “Whatsets us apartis those people plus acareful gathering of material, so the digital tools don’t hallucinate.”

He said the company aimstomerge technology and the humanities, “create more jobsthanwe destroy,and have anice littlebusiness in NewOrleans, especially for writers and history majors.”

The Boswell team says the tech has its obvious limitations, including the inability to understand historicalcontext or why certain moments or ideas are important. It’salso incapable of making ahuman connection.

“The key to any biography is understanding what motivates somebody and what makes them creative,”Isaacsonsaid. “Machines are notcreative,and they don’t have motives, so they don’tfully understand.”

‘Boswell will do it’

So far, Isaacson has done little to promote Boswell beyond afew mentions on podcasts,but he said marketing efforts will increase. Looking ahead, the partners hope to hire more staffers,dipping into theNew Orleanstalent pool,but for now,they are focused on finishing theirfirst three projects and growing the company For Isaacson, it’saway to meet a longstanding need.

“I have alot of people who contact me andsay they want help writing their memoirs,” he said. “I just put one and one together to say if we have this AI architecture and we have alot of students who are really good at reporting, now Ican say Boswell will do it.”

EmailRich Collins at rich. collins@theadvocate.com.

TALKING BUSINESS

ASK THE EXPERTS

La. business owner forged path from steel to robotics

BY ANTHONY McAULEY Staff writer

When Mindy Núñez

Q&A WITH MINDY NÚÑEZ AIRHART

Airhart talks about robotics, she’s not descr ibing some distant, theoretical future. She’s talking about equipment that will soon be walking the shop floor in St. Bernard Parish.

“This is going to be an actual humanoid robot,” Airhart said. “This will be the first humanoid robot that’s developed for industrial or welding use.”

Airhart is the owner of SSE Steel Fabrication, formerly Southern Services & Equipment Inc. the custom steel fabrication company her parents founded in 1996. Based on a 14-acre site in lower St. Bernard, the company has grown into a roughly $30 million-a-year operation with about 75 employees and a national client base while remaining rooted in south Louisiana.

SSE has been investing in automation for nearly a decade. In 2016 the company purchased its first six-axis robotic beam line, an articulated arm that cuts steel, drills holes and shapes beams to exact specifications. Since then, SSE has steadily added more robotic equipment.

The newest investment, however, represents a leap forward. On Jan. 22, the company announced it is working with Houston-based Persona AI to help develop a humanoid welding robot designed specifically for industrial fabrication. SSE will provide production data to help train the system, and the prototypes will be tested inside the company’s St. Bernard facility Airhart’s own path into the steel business was far from predetermined. A Tulane University graduate who once planned a career in journalism, she joined the company after Hurricane Katrina, when post-storm rebuilding work flooded the region She officially took ownership in 2018, becoming the second generation to lead the firm. In this week’s Talking Business, Airhart discusses how SSE evolved from a

small, family-run operation into a fast-growing fabrication company and what it means to lead — and grow — a business in a traditionally male-dominated field.

The Q&A has been edited for length and clarity How did your parents originally get into the steel business? As far as I can remember going up the family tree, the whole family has been entrepreneurs. My grandfather got into gas stations and auto repair stores, and my parents took over those businesses. In the 1990s, large nationwide companies like AutoZone and Walmart really pushed the mom-andpop auto parts stores out of

business.

My father was asked to build a spreader bar, which is used in stevedoring to spread weight when you’re lifting cargo. He built it, realized it was a profitable way to do business and wanted to explore it further So my parents started the company in 1996 and built it very quickly They had a good relationship with the Army Corps of Engineers, which became especially important after Hurricane Katrina, when we did a lot of post-hurricane recovery work.

How would you describe what SSE Steel Fabrication does today?

Everything we do comes from blueprints or shop drawings we get from a customer For example, we did all of the structural steel for the West Power structure for the Sewerage & Water Board. Almost every piece was different depending on where it was placed in the complex. We’re not manufacturing a thousand widgets. We’re making individual parts — sometimes small, sometimes 40- or 60foot beams and each one has a specific place in the drawings.

How has technology changed the business over the years?

Thirty years ago, a lot more cutting and processing was done by hand. As technology evolved, a lot of that processing became automated. We continually invested our profits into bigger and better machinery that was more automated and more precise, and that allowed us to process material faster

What impact has automation had on jobs at the company?

When we bought our first robotic beam line in 2016, I remember announcing it on Facebook and getting angry

comments saying I was taking people’s jobs. But that’s really when we started growing. The productivity we get from these machines gives us more capacity.

From 2016 to about 2021, we added a second shift and then a third. We’ve had more revenue growth and more employee growth since we started using automated equipment.

How did you personally end up in the steel business?

After the hurricane, my parents’ business just exploded. I was able to use my marketing and communications skills (from a journalism degree at Tulane) to showcase the business in a way that made us look more professional and more capable. Over the years, I really started to love construction and the satisfaction you get from building things. It’s important to me to continue my parents’ legacy

What is it like being a woman owner in a male-dominated industry?

As a woman owner, I have a very different experience than a woman who is employed in the industry I’m the one making decisions, and people defer to what I say That’s not the experience of a woman employee.

We do have women welders and women working in production. Because I’m a woman owner, I understand their perspective. I make sure they feel comfortable, that they have a separate bathroom and that my door is always open if there are problems or conflicts.

How do you see the company growing going forward?

Historically, our business has been based in south Louisiana, but we’re seeing more opportunities nationwide. Steel can be shipped any-

where as long as shipping costs aren’t too high. People talk a lot about data centers right now, but there are lots of other opportunities, too — LNG plants and commercial construction. We’re definitely exploring projects all over the United States.

You’ve spoken publicly about the new Louisiana International Terminal in St. Bernard Parish.Why is that important to you?

I’ve been a proponent of the LIT project since it was announced because I see it as an economic development opportunity for St. Bernard Parish. It’s close to our facility, and it’s going to positively benefit our employees and our neighbors. Is there a third generation interested in the business?

I have an 18-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter My son is very interested in artificial intelligence. My daughter has expressed some interest in the business, but I don’t know how serious it is. I didn’t express interest at that age either If either of them were serious, I’d encourage them to work at other companies first. That’s something I regret not doing I would have benefited from learning how other companies do things before coming back. You often credit your husband as a key part of the company’s success. Why? Justin is the COO, and he deserves just as much credit as I do for where we are today He steps back and lets me take the limelight, but there’s no way I could have done this without my husband.

Email Anthony McAuley tmcauley@theadvocate. com.

161,305 trucktrips avoided

1M+ truckmiles eliminated

~1,700 metric tons of CO2eprevented

AROUND THE REGION

State’s restructured child care tax credits can help workers

BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer

Across all industries, Louisiana businesses can invest in their employees’ child care, thanks to the expansion of a state program.

The Workforce Child Care Tax Credit restructures the state’s existing tax credits to widen the caps on expenses both child care and nonchild care businesses alike can claim for supporting childhood education. The program, formerly titled the School Readiness Tax Credit, provides a partially refundable credit for families, child care providers and businesses for contributions to child care in various forms including child care center construction costs and payments for child care on behalf of a company’s employees.

Legislators have doubled the limit for refundable expenses which include child care center construction or repair related expenses, payments from businesses to child care centers on behalf of employees and payments employers make to reserve spots at child care centers for employees.

The changes became effective this year, and families and businesses must apply by Feb. 28 to claim the credit on next year’s tax returns.

The Louisiana Department of Revenue placed a $1 million overall cap for the credits granted in 2026 and will increase the limit in following years depending on the usage of the programs.

Barry Erwin, chief policy officer for Leaders for a Better Louisiana, a statewide nonprofit that backed the legislation, said child care providers used the program’s provisions for the building or renovation of child care centers in the tax credits’ previous iterations, but employers had not taken advantage of the available credits. With the program’s expansion, he’s hoping more businesses will invest in child care for their staff.

“By enhancing the credit, we’ll be able to get that out to employers in a lot more effective way,” Erwin

said. “Particularly now, I think they are paying a lot more attention than they were maybe almost 20 years ago.”

Workforce development

The tax credit package was originally passed in 2007 to incentivize usage of early childhood education centers and the state’s quality rating system. Only 27% of 4-year-olds in Louisiana accessed public child care in the early 2000s, according to a report by Louisiana Policy Institute for Children, which advocated for the tax credits. In the late 1990s, 61% of children under age 4 were enrolled in child care, according to the report.

Erwin said the pressures of recruiting and retaining a workforce have mounted, causing state leaders to reexamine how to alleviate the pressure Child care has be-

come an increasingly consequential factor, he said.

Child care for a 4-year-old costs an average of $8,153 each year in Louisiana, according to 2025 data from the Economic Policy Institute.

That’s 9.7% of the median family income the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ considers a maximum of 7% of the family income spent on child care as the affordability standard.

The labor force participation rate of individuals age 16 and up is 58.1% in Louisiana, lower than the national rate of 62.5%, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ September data. Erwin said he thinks child care costs are a factor in the lower-than-average labor force participation rate.

“It’s just become more of an acute issue for a lot of families and employers are feeling it,” Erwin said.

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Taking advantage of the credit

The School Readiness Tax Credit program gave a 100% refundable credit for up to $5,000 to businesses who donated to a child care resource and referral agency Sonjia Brown-Joseph, executive director of Clara’s Little Lambs Preschool Academy, said her New Orleans child care center used the tax credits for the past three to four years. Brown-Joseph said the center used the funds to give raises and bonuses to teachers and to pay for quarterly trainings for her staff of 40 to stay on top of best child care practices. The tax credits have not been fully taken advantage of in its previous iterations, she said, but now that the state has expanded the program’s limits, she plans to reach out to local businesses to let them know how they can contribute

to their employee’s child care.

She said the preschool now has a long waitlist and she’s felt an increased demand for the center’s services after the pandemic when parents returned to work People are starting to increasingly value early childhood education and its impact on the workforce, she said.

“For years, we were regarded as babysitters, and now we are understanding about brain development and the first five years of how important that is to a child’s life and their future development,” Brown-Joseph said. “And I think everybody’s kind of getting that message now.”

‘Not a giveaway’

Over the past decade, early childhood education matching funds have developed throughout the state to stir investment in child care.

In Alexandria, the Rapides Early Childhood Network has bestowed early learning scholarships for children in central Louisiana for the past two years, amounting to about $9.5 million in investment, according to Patrick Moore, chair of the Rotary Club of Alexandria’s Early Childhood Education Initiative who has worked to raise funds for child care.

A recent study conducted by LSU Alexandria on about 200 recipient families found that more than half of parents were able to return to work due to the funds, and a majority said they’d be unable to work without it.

“We’ve got to make sure that we’re a great place to raise a family,” Moore said. Moore said the matching program helps entice businesses to contribute by offering funds in return for their investment. Businesses can combine the state’s offerings for child care assistance, like the tax credits and the matching funds, to boost quality child care and help parents reenter the workforce.

“It’s not a giveaway,” he said “People have to stop and think and invest.”

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Researchershavedoubtsastrading partners pledge $5T

Trump’stariffthreats spurredcommitments from overseas investors

BY PAUL WISEMAN AP economics writer

WASHINGTON— PresidentDonald Trump has strong-armed many of America’sbiggest trading partners into pledging trillions of dollars of investment in theUnited States. Butastudy released last week raises doubts about whether the money will actually materializeand questionshow it wouldbe spent if it did.

“How realistic arethese commitments?” write Gregory Auclair and Adnan Mazarei of the PetersonInstitute for International Economics, anonpartisan think tank that supports free trade. “The short answer is that they are clouded with uncertainty.”

They looked at more than $5 trillion in investment commitments made last year by the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the Persian Gulf statesofSaudi Arabia, Qatar,Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

Trump used the threat of punitive tariffs —import taxes —to pry concessions out of those trading partners, including theinvestment pledges. TheWhite Househas published an even higher investmentfigure

—$9.6 trillion —that includes public and private investment commitments from other countries. Trump himself, neverone to undersell his achievements, has put the number far higher —$17 trillion or $18 trillion —though Auclair and Mazarei notethat “the basis for his claim is not clear.”

All the numbers are huge.Total private investment in theUnited

BUSINESS BRIEFS

Tropical Smoothie Café to open in Broussard ATropical Smoothie Café will open in Broussard.

The city approved abuildingpermit for the brand at 1209 Albertson Parkway Suite Ainthe Sweetland Centre shopping center,documents show

It will occupy the space last held by Taco Bell,which moved to1106 E. Main St. Demolition work has begun at the site, co-franchisee B.J. Crist said.

It would be the seventh location in Lafayette Parish.Cristand cofranchisee Gus Rezende got apermitfor aYoungsville locationin December

Tropical Smoothie Cafe has more than 1,600 locations in 44 states.

Home Bank reports slight income drop in Q4

Lafayette-based Home Bancorp Inc., the parent company of Home Bank, generated $11.4million of net income during the fourthquarter,down $946,000 from the third quarter.

Per share earnings were at $1 46 per diluted commonshare,down from the $1.59 in the third quarter, bank officials announced Loans totaled $2.7 billion as of Dec. 31, up $38.1 million from Sept. 30. Total deposits reached $3 billion, down $2.7 million from Sept. 30. Theaverage loan yieldwas 6.44% by Dec. 31, down9 basis points fromthe thirdquarter, bank officials reported. The average yield began to decline in September afterthe Federal Reserve issued ratecuts Industrial and commercial real estate loans were the primary drivers for the loan growth during the fourth quarter,bank officials said, with growth mainly in New Orleans and Acadiana.

Lafayette-based S1 Tech makes acquisition

Lafayette-based tech company

S1 Technology has acquired an information technology services and cybersecurity firm.

The Lafayette group announced adeal Monday to acquireComputer Concepts, which has morethan 25 years in operation and serves businesses in Louisiana andTexas. The combined company will offer expanded expertise, deeper resources and abroader portfolio. The move is also amilestone for S1 Technology to expand its presence across the Gulf South, officials said. S1 Technology has offices inLafayette, BatonRouge andAnchorage, Alaska.

on Jan. 22

States was most recently running at a$5.4 trillion annualpace. In 2024, the last year for which figures are available, totalforeign direct investment in the United States amounted to $151 billion. Direct investment includesmoney sunk into such things as factories and offices butnot financial investments like stocks and bonds.

“The pledged amounts are large,” Auclair and Mazarei write, “but their time horizon varies, and themetrics for measuring and thus verifying the pledgesare generally unclear.” They note, for example, that the European Union’s pledge to invest $600billion in the

United States “carries no legally binding commitment.”

Thereportalso finds thatsome countries would straintomeet their pledges. For the Gulfcountries,“thecommitments arelarge relativetotheir financialresources,” the researchers write.

“Saudi Arabia appears capable of meeting itstargets, withsome difficulty.” The UnitedArab Emirates and Qatar would find it even harder and might have to finance the investments by borrowing. “In all threecases, the commitmentsare nonbinding, and investments from these countries could fall wellbelow headlinenumbers,” they write.

Moreover,“theseagreements have been reached under duress,” Mazarei, aformer deputy directorofthe International Monetary Fund, said in an interview.“It’snot necessarily being done willingly.”

So trading partners could look for ways to escapetheir commitments —especially if the Supreme Court strikesdown the tariffs Trumpusedtonegotiate theonesided agreements. Aruling is expectedasearly as this month.

“Othercountries mayfind away to wiggle out,” Mazarei said.

Still, the Trump administration can turn to alternative tariffs if the justices rule the current tariffs illegal.

BUILDINGPERMITS

Contractors; $240,000.

Issued Jan. 21-27

Commercial alterations MEDICAL: 1214 Coolidge St., description, phase 2for graduate medical education buildout at Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center; applicant, MBSBGroup; contractor, TheLemoine Co.; $1.4 million.

RETAIL: 2428 W. Pinhook Road, description, repairs at Walmart Supercenter; applicant, Henderson Engineers; contractor, ARL Construction; $2.4 million.

RETAIL: 2428 W. Pinhook Road, description, door work at Walmart Supercenter; applicant, Galloway& Co.; contractor, Stuart &Co. General

RESTAURANT: 1209 Albertson Parkway, Suite A, Broussard; description, new Tropical Smoothie Café; applicant, BJ Crist andCRCafes; contractor, Castle Row Construction; $138,000. RETAIL: 101 Nolan Road, Broussard; description, new canopyatShannonHardware; applicant, Shannon Properties; contractor, Southern Constructors; $81,725.

Commercial demolition OTHER: 4617 Johnston St description, no detailslisted forthe former Acadiana Bicycle Co. building; applicant and contractor, Cornerstone

Excavation; $9,000. Newresidential 301 FRANCIS AVE.: CastleRow Construction, $150,750. 102 PERIDOTCIRCLE: Kishbaugh Construction, $580,250. 513 TOWNSEND DRIVE: DSLD $175,625. 104 KNOLL CRESTLANE: DSLD $166,625. 415 JANVIERROAD, SCOTT: Manuel Builders, $254,125. 303 BELLWOOD DRIVE: DR Horton, $311,500. 301 BELLWOOD DRIVE: DR Horton, $311,000.

“President Trumpagreed to lower tariffs on countries we have trade dealswithinexchangefor investmentcommitments and otherconcessions,”White House spokesmanKush Desai said. “The presidentreservesthe right to revisit tariff rates if other countries renegeontheir commitments, and anyone who doubts President Trump’swillingness to put his money where his mouth is should ask NicolásMaduro and Iran for their thoughts.”

U.S. troops overthrew and arrested Venezuelan President Madurolastmonth,and Trumpordered the United States to join Israel in bombing Iran last year Auclair and Mazarei agree that the investment Trump lands could end up creating jobs, spurring economic growth andmaking supply chains more securebybringing production to America.

Trump, they note, is in some ways taking asimilar approach to Biden, using government “industrial policy” to encourage more manufacturing in the United States.

But Bidentappedtaxpayer dollars to finance infrastructure projects and incentives for companies to invest in green technology and semiconductors. Trump is using the tariff threattoget foreign countries —and their companies —topickupthe tab. Andhehas dropped the push to encourage clean energy,focusing instead on promoting fossil fuels.

In theirreport, thePeterson researchers worry about how the investmentdecisions would get made and whether they would reflect sound economics. “This approachmay yield real investments andjobs,”they write,“but it raises familiar industrial policy concerns: opaque projection selection, weak accountability, andthe risk that political criteria crowd out economic efficiency.”

103 HILL CREEK DRIVE: DR Horton, $386,125.

215 GUN RUNNER DRIVE,CARENCRO: ManuelBuilders, $216,625. 700 KILCHRIST ROAD,CARENCRO: GilbertPeter Godeaux, $309,500. 100 SOUNDVIEWWAY,YOUNGSVILLE: Braniff Construction, $578,572.

101 GREENHOUSE ROAD,YOUNGSVILLE: McLainCos $225,000. 115 SUMMIT HEIGHTS DRIVE, YOUNGSVILLE: JayCastille Construction, $490,000.

105 CENTRAL VILLAGE WAY, YOUNGSVILLE: ManuelBuilders, $220,000.

Iget deluged by questions at taxtime, but themost common are about deductions. As in: “Can Ideduct thecost of the suit or dress Ihavetobuy for work, or my commutingcosts,onmytax return?”

Theanswers are generally straightforward. But creative filers often try to push the limits.

One of my favorite stories, told to me by atax professional, is abouta filer who asked whether the service she used to cleanse herhome of “bad spirits” could be deducted as amedical expense No, her ghostbusting was not a write-off.

And what about pets? Can you claim yourcat or dog as adependent?

Icertainly understand the reasoning. My 10-pound Yorkshire terrier mixislike having another child,right down to theexpense of hiringababysitter when my husband andI travel. Andthe vet bills? Oh, my!

Well, the owner of an 8-year-old goldenretriever is trying to test theidea of adoggy dependent in alawsuit filed against the IRS last year in New York. Amanda Reynolds, of New York, wants theagency to recognize her dog, Finnegan MaryReynolds, as adependent—specifically, as a“quasi-citizen entitled to limited civil recognition, includingdependencystatusfor tax purposes.”

In the suit, Reynolds argues that the federal government should recognize Finnegan as a dependentbecause she provides thecaninewith “safe harbor, food, shelter,veterinary care, training,day care, and boarding” —intotal, expenses that run in excess of $5,000 ayear

“While dogs are considered property, there is arational basis to consider them as non-human

companions,” the lawsuit says. “For all intentsand purposes, Finnegan is like adaughter While novel, this case is not frivolous or meritless and warrants serious consideration.”

There are particular rules to claim an individual as adependent,and her argument broadly aligns with the guidelines for claiming achild: They live with you for morethan half theyear, with some exceptions, and receive more than half their financial support from you.

Butthe IRSsays the tests to be aqualifying child specifically say thechild “must be your son, daughter,stepchild, foster child, brother,sister,half brother,half sister,stepbrother,orstepsister or adescendant of any of them.”

In other words, aperson.

“Finnegan is categorically excluded from dependent status due solely to non-human classification,” Reynolds’ suit contends. “The categorical exclusion of dog-related support expenses constitutes awrongful takingof propertyinthe form of lost tax deductions and credits.”

James M. Wicks, themagistrate judge reviewing the case, didn’tdismiss it outright, issuing an order that Reynolds “presents a‘novel but urgent question,’ namely,whether domestic companion animals, including Finnegan, should be recognized as a‘dependent’under theInternal Revenue Code.” Still, thelawsuit, which is in early stages, is “likely to result in dismissal,” Wicks noted. The

passion forapet and treating it like family doesn’tchange its status as property

“The TaxCode simply does not allow for animals to be claimed as tax dependents,” he wrote. That said, certain pet-related expenses may be deductible, such as forservice animals or guard dogs protecting acommercial property or warehouse, he added.

However wacky you might thinkthis case is, it’snoteworthy because it taps into the frustration and bitterness manytaxpayers feel about the inequities in thetax code. The tax code is supposed to be applied fairly,yet we frequently see the wealthy pay less than their fair share.

The rich often enjoy favorable tax treatment not available to middle- andlower-income taxpayers. Hedge funds and wealthy real estate investors use complex business setups to avoid paying billions in taxes.

Another example: Employees can no longerdeduct homeoffice expenses as atax deduction to due to changes in President Donald Trump’s first major tax legislation, which took effect in 2018 and eliminated the deduction of unreimbursed employee business expenses. More broadly,the benefitsofthat measure skewed mainly to the wealthy,asdid the tax legislation enacted last year, theso-called One Big Beautiful Bill.

In ascathing 2020 report, The New York Times said it had received tax documents showing that Trump paid only $750 in income taxes for2016 and 2017, and no personal incometaxes in 10 of theprevious 15 years. It also found that he reportedly wrote off about $70,000 in styling services forhis comb-over as a business expense during his time hosting on “The Apprentice” re-

ality show While Trumpcould argue that his signature look wasanecessary business expense as an entertainer,the claim highlights asignificant gap in the tax experience of the ultra-wealthy.He certainly has the legal resources to defend the deduction if challenged. But mostordinary taxpayers do not. As F. Scott Fitzgerald famously observed in “The Rich Boy”: “Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.” The courts are bound to reject Reynolds’ claim, but the lawsuit is no moreabsurd than atax code that allows abillionaire to pay less in incometax than abarista.

Email Michelle Singletary at michelle.singletary@washpost. com.

MADE IN LOUISIANA

Wound-care business pivots from skin grafts to 3D bioprinting

BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer

For the past 15 years, a Lafayette company has built a national wound-care business out of an often-discarded byproduct of childbirth to help solve a nagging health care challenge affecting millions of people: untreated chronic wounds like bedsores and diabetic ulcers.

Tides Medical collects placentas, transforms them into skin substitutes and distributes them to hospitals, clinics and care facilities to treat chronic and surgical wounds. Over the years, it has used donated amniotic tissue from new moms across Acadiana to manufacture enough wound-care patches to cover four basketball courts.

Annual revenue soared above $100 million as the company earned private and public sector accolades as a rare, vertically integrated Louisiana biotech company But recent Medicare reimbursement changes aimed at preventing fraud have sharply disrupted the industry As its core business of making skin grafts from placentas faces challenges, Tides is now looking to a new technology as an engine for its future growth

Production process

The placenta is the body’s only nonimmunogenic organ — that means there’s no need to match blood types or do the same type of tissuetyping necessary when transplanting organs. And there’s almost no chance the body will reject it.

agreed to donate the placenta. Our team goes into the birth, they bring a sterile basin, we collect the placenta there.”

Tides Medical has hundreds of placentas on hand at any given time They’re stored in a medical-grade freezer at negative-80 degrees, where they can remain for up to a year before being processed using a proprietary method

Two workers at a time carefully wash the tissue, separating its layers in one of the four “clean rooms” at the company’s 12,000-squarefoot Lafayette headquarters.

“Then we use some drying methods to make it into the consistency of tissue paper,” resembling a Listerine breath strip, he said.

About 40 different skin grafts can be produced from a single donated placenta. The whole process takes about two weeks.

After the grafts are sterilized, they are put into final packaging that can be stored for up to five years.

“It’s sort of been our niche, almost,” he said. We try to offer a concierge-level service to the provider.”

Reimbursements busted

Spell

“We get all the placentas that we need locally,” said CEO Joe Spell “We have a team that goes in when the mother has a planned C-section and she’s

Last year, Tides Medical was ranked by Inc. among the fastestgrowing private companies for the third consecutive year, posting revenue growth of 226% for the three-year period from 2021 to 2024. But recent changes to Medicare reimbursement rules aimed at ferreting out fraud and abuse in the wound-care market is forcing the company to pivot, at least temporarily. Between 2019 and 2024, Medicare spending on skin substitutes

rose from $256 million to $10 billion. While some of the growth was the result of more use of the products in in-home case settings, the U.S. Justice Department also attributed the increase to largescale fraud, following several high profile investigations.

A Phoenix couple was sentenced last month to more than a dozen years in federal prison for submitting more than $960 million in fraudulent claims to federal health care programs in a scheme that involved taking millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks from a skin graft distributor

At the peak of the fraud, there were 300 different products on the market, Spell said, and some of Tides’ competitors were selling products for $5,000 per square centimeter The Louisiana company’s grafts, by comparison, went for $400 per square centimeter

Medicare has since capped everyone’s products at $127 per square centimeter — a significant challenge that caused Tides’ revenues to fall off by 40% in 2025.

“Medicare just sort of took a blunt force instrument to the problem, and it’s definitely presenting a lot of challenges,” Spell said. “We’re doing our best to figure out

how to work in our new environment.”

Ahead of the reimbursement change, Tides laid off nearly half of its employees. It now processes only about two placentas a week.

Still, Spell sees a huge unmet need for his products. He estimates only about 600,000 of the 3.8 million people who suffer from chronic wounds are receiving treatment

“We have the capacity to make enough to take care of 10% of the patients out there that have chronic wounds,” he said. “Capacity is not our problem right now, it’s just market demand.”

‘Bio-ink’-ing a deal

While the business of manufacturing amniotic skin substitutes from placentas is going through a rough patch, Tides Medical is looking for growth from an innovative new medical device.

Tides is now the sole U.S distributor of the first federal Food and Drug Administration-approved intraoperative 3D bioprinter, the Aplicor 3D, which can be used to produce wound-care products personalized for individual patients.

Invented by the South Korean biotech company Rokit Health-

Lafayette-based biotechnology company Tides Medical is capable of producing more than 400 square feet of amniotic skin grafts every year But changes to Medicare reimbursement rules aimed at preventing fraud have meant production is down to less than 44 square feet a year

care, the devices have already been deployed in major research hospitals like the Mayo Clinic The Opelousas General Health System wound-care center is set to be the first location in Louisiana with the technology

Patients’ wounds are scanned with a specially calibrated iPad and artificial intelligence software is used to design a personalized skin graft. Then, health care providers harvest fat from the patient’s body usually the abdomen, which is processed into a “bio-ink.”

The whole process takes about an hour, and clinical studies show it is about 87% effective with just a single application, Spell said. Grafts produced from placentas tend to require re-applications.

While the Korean firm has the patent on the device, Tides has filed for intellectual property protections for new bio-ink uses. Spell said the company is following the same business as conventional printing corporations like HP — effectively giving away the printers and pursuing its profit by providing cartridges and support “We think that the beginning of a new bio-revolution is going to be bio-inks,” Spell said.

LOUISIANA

HEALTH

Helpingtolose

NewGLP-1 pillsbring reducedcosts, decrease weight loss surgeriesinLouisiana

BY MARGARET DeLANEY Staffwriter

In December,the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave thegreenlight to apill version of the blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy, the first FDA-approved daily oral GLP-1medication for obesity

The approved pills areGLP-1 drugs that work like widely used injectables to mimic anatural hormone thatcontrols appetite and feelingsoffullness. In 2023, Americans spent over $71 billion on GLP-1 drugs, accordingtoa report from the Journal of theAmerican Heart Association About 1in8 Americans have used injectable GLP-1 drugs, accordingto asurvey from Kaiser Family Founda-

tion. But many morehave trouble affording thecostly shots.

Weight loss surgeries at Baton RougeGeneral MedicalCenterare down27%,according to Dr Drake Ballenger,who specialized in obesity medicine at the hospital’sLouisiana Center for Bariatrics. GLP-1 use continuestosurge, especially among adults 45 to 65.

Ballenger now has patients come in to try GLP-1 drugs before considering surgeries.

$149 per month by someproviders, to treat obesity could expand the booming market for obesitytreatments by broadeningaccessand reducing costs

“Ifwedon’t getthe results, or they don’t tolerate themedications very well, we’ll look at surgery,” Ballenger said.“(Withpills,) we’llbeabletoemploy it for agreater number of people.”

Availability of oralpills,priced at

The NovoNordisk obesity pill contains25milligrams of semaglutide.That’sthe same ingredient in injectables Wegovy andOzempic andin Rybelsus, alower-dose pill approved to treat diabetes in 2019.

In aclinical trial,participantswho took oral Wegovy lost 13.6% of their total body weight on averageoverabout 15 months, comparedwith a2.2% loss if they took a placebo.That’snearly the sameas

Join us on ahealth journey through 2026 with ‘BEYOND THE SCALE: AddressingLouisiana’s obesity epidemic’ Do you wanttostart ahealth journey? We wantto hear fromyou not about weight, but about health,

stress, food and life. Aswemove through 2026, we are inviting readers to come along ahealth journey with us

Ournext project will explore youth obesity.Weposeone question to

ourreaders: What aresome healthy school lunches your kids actually liked? Send us photos. Email youranswers,commentsor questions to Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney@theadvocate.com.

Students work to prevent ACLinjuries with device

Wearable AI prototype beingdeveloped by team at LSU

BY MARGARET DeLANEY Staff writer

Anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, tears areone of the most devastating injuries in sports, often requiring a year for an athlete to return to competitive play.

Young Louisiana athletes face additional risk because of high childhood obesity rates, whichincrease joint stress. Atrio of LSU Shreveport computer science students, including graduate student Augustine Nwafor, two undergraduate students Ricky Wiggins Jr.and Stewart Greathouse,hope to solve, or at leasthelpyoung athletes

The DevDays HealthTechChallenge presenteda unique opportunity forthe team at LSU to present Smartknee: a wearable prototype that provides realtime data on high-risk movements athletesmake.

“The systemoperates on two levels,” said Nwafor. “There arereal-time alerts thatnotify coaches immediately when an athlete performs ahigh-risk movement —like dangerous cutting anglesorpoor landing mechanics.”

The second level uses artificial intelligenceassistancetopredictand interpret patterns in an athlete’smovements

“If an athlete accumulates multiple risky landings in ashort period,” Nwaforsaid. “That’sa redflag forfatiguerelatedinjury susceptibility.”

Theteam entered acompetition, which was organized by Nexus Louisiana in partnershipwithOchsner Health and drew 47 college teams from 11 different universities around the state

The student-researchers found out aboutthe competitionthree weeksbefore theprototype of theirnew inventionwas due

The team receiveda major assist from LSU Health Shreveport’sDr. Giovanni Solitro,the director of the biomechanics educational laboratory whoinvestigates the biomechanics of various joints.

“As abiomechanical engineer and professor of orthopedic surgery,he brought the clinical perspective we needed,” Nwafor said. “Without his domain expertise,wemight have built something technically impressive but clinically irrelevant.”

The team at LSU Shreveport spent two all-nighters developing the software andhardware fortheir ACLdetecting prototype, running at odd anglestotestthe prediction power

“The fact that we were the only team with alive, onstage demo of a hardware devicewhile others showed slidesorprerecordedvideos felt like the ultimate proof thatwebelonged on thatstage,” Nwafor said.

The team plans to continue the research and product developmentunder Dr.Urska Cvek,anLSU Shreveport computer science professorand faculty adviserfor this project. Theirnext phase is to trainAIto

See ACL, page 2X

HEALTH MAKER

South African doctor joins Manning Family Children’s

BY MARGARET DeLANEY Staff writer

Dr Russel Hirsch joined Manning Family Children’s in January as the chief of cardiology and co-director of the hospital’s heart cen-

ter

Hirsch joins the Louisiana hospital after 23 years at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. He will also serve as professor of pediatrics and division head of cardiology in the department of pediatrics at LSU Health New Orleans.

A native of South Africa, Hirsch completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Then, he moved to Washington University in St. Louis Missouri, to complete his pediatric residency, chief residency and pediatric cardiology training, followed by additional training in interventional cardiology at the University of Michigan.

Additionally, Hirsch has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and has given about 75 national or international invited lectures and presentations.

“Dr Hirsch will expand our portfolio of research in the cardiology division,” said Dr Richard DiCarlo, Dean of the LSU Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in a release from LCMC, “and he will play a central role in the education of our learners, training the next generation of pediatric cardiologists.”

How has your career changed

Dr Russel Hirsch joined Manning Family Children’s in January as the chief of cardiology and co-director of the hospital’s heart center

since beginning as a pediatric cardiologist?

I’ve been at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for the last 23 years, where I had the role of the director of the pediatric cardiac catheterization laboratory, as well as the director of the pulmonary pediatric pulmonary hypertension service. Together, with other hospital administrative and leadership roles, I had a very big focus on clinical medicine including research and advancing therapies for children with pulmonary hypertension

I was trained as an interventional pediatric cardiac catheterization. But over the course of my career, I found that I was looking after children with pulmonary hypertension — a very niche type of specialty That became a much bigger clinical interest. As a developer of the pediatric pulmonary hypertension service at my former institution, it became the predominant clinical entity that I was involved with research while still doing cardiac catheterization. That evolved over the

years. If I look at my career, every five years has changed into something else — either morphed and evolved or major changes. It was like if I was practicing law one day and next day, I was an accountant. Medicine is always evolving, and I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve been able to have the supports of really incredible institutions to be able to develop those skills and help the children in my care.

What drew you to Louisiana? To New Orleans?

Frankly Manning Family

Children’s is very committed to moving with the medical industry They recognize where they can get stronger I’m hoping that I will be able to come in — and plan to develop our strengths to fill those niche gaps, to serve the population of New Orleans in the state of Louisiana.

Manning was seeking somebody who was going to be able to mold what is already a really outstanding division of pediatric cardiology, and take it to a point to be able to serve every patient in this urban area, the state and the whole Gulf South.

There are really no pediatric pulmonary hypertension services of any extent in the city and as much as Manning Family Children’s offers all services, this new position allows me to hone some of those pediatric cardiology services and to promote them.

I also want to develop the heart center into a national leader in cardiology care. Why pediatric cardiology? I was born and grew up in South Africa. I was there for at all my schooling before medical school at the University of Cape Town. I very quickly recognized that I was going to be a pediatrician. Not that I don’t like adults, but pediatrics seemed to be much kinder At the time in South Africa, there was an ongoing epidemic of rheumatic heart disease. As soon as I started working with children with heart disease,

I recognized that I could make a difference in pediatric cardiology When I moved to the United States to do my residency and fellowship, I also realized that interventional cardiology in the pediatric domain allows you to make immediate differences in patients’ lives. It was a very easy decision to make for me.

I’ve been very fortunate to be able to make the differences that I’ve been able to make, and hope to continue that. What are some of the biggest changes, or the most impactful, to happen in pediatric cardiology? The techniques, the technology, the equipment have all improved. It’s very exciting time in pediatric cardiology Both interventions and surgeries — advancing techniques — have allowed us to operate on children who previously would have died. Those children are now surviving well into adulthood. I think that’s the biggest advance that occurred during my career The improvement in the pharmaceuticals in the pulmonary hypertension domain has allowed transformational therapies to be introduced in the pediatric sphere as well. Children who had undergone lung transplant would have previously faced a very dire prognosis.

Those children are now doing extraordinarily well with new developments in pharmaceuticals.

Mobility exercises are important part of fitness as we age

BY ALBERT STUMM Associated Press

As they age, it’s not uncommon for many people to let out a muted groan when getting out of bed in the morning But if you “oof” every time you get in a car or “aargh” while bending over to pick up something, it may be time to prioritize exercises that target your mobility

Dr Miho Tanaka, a sports medicine surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said good mobility is increasingly recognized as an important part of overall health. She pointed to research showing that high mobility has long-term effects in reducing rates of cancer, cardiovascular disease, dementia and depression.

“It’s not just about how you look and how your level of fitness is at any given point,” Tanaka said. “For anyone who wants to stay active later in life, there has to be a deliberate process of maintaining that level of activity by doing mobility exercises.”

Mobility and flexibility are often confused, said Jessica Valant, a physical therapist and Pilates instructor near Denver

Flexibility is simply the extent to which a muscle can lengthen, whereas mobility involves using muscle strength to interact with a network of joints, tendons, ligaments and synovial fluid, which is the lubricant inside the joint.

That network around the shoulders, spine, hips, pelvis and knees needs to work well together Otherwise, it

Continued from page 1X

classify specific movement types, like jumps vs. cuts, and recommend targeted corrective drills, with an ultimate goal to translate the research into a commercially viable product.

Email Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney@ theadvocate.com.

becomes difficult to reach things in high cabinets squat down to tie your shoes or lift your grandchildren, let alone participate in outdoor activities or sports.

Mobility e xerci ses strengthen your muscles while increasing your range of motion, which allows you to be more functional with age, Valant said.

“Motion is lotion, which is a saying we use in physical therapy all the time,” she said.

Starting from about 30 years old, muscles and tendons start to lose collagen, Tanaka said. That’s the same

substance that in hair and skin relates to going gray and getting wrinkles.

Without regular exercise, weaker muscles put extra pressure on joints, she said. Even active people lose muscle in areas that are overlooked at the gym, such as the rotator cuff around the shoulder and postural muscles that support the spine and neck.

Tanaka said two early warning signs likely point to the need for mobility training. The first is aching joints and muscle stiffness without first exerting a lot of effort.

Back soreness after a long day of sitting at a desk could signal limited hip or pelvic mobility, she said. Achy knees after being on your feet all day may be a sign of weak quadriceps.

The second sign is more acute pain, such as when you don’t get injured but you still experience swollen or painful joints for several days after participating in a sport like basketball or skiing for the first time a while.

She cautioned against following a recent social media challenge to test mobility by standing up from a seated position on the floor without

using your hands.

“I’ve seen some injuries from that, so I definitely don’t recommend that,” she said. Instead, try sitting in a chair and standing up without putting your hands on the chair arms. Next, try to stand on one foot. If you can do both, that’s a good sign.

Tai Chi and yoga are also both great for mobility training, she said.

“You don’t have to have a gym to do this,” Simon said. He suggested working body-weight exercises into your day That could include setting an hourly timer to get up and walk around the house. When you return to your desk, add chair sits to work the quads, hamstrings, calves and glutes. Assuming your balance is OK, doing pushups against a wall or a countertop helps to mobilize the shoulders.

Once those exercises become easy add exercise bands to build strength.

Valant said that people who are sedentary should simply start walking every day

“It’s the lowest barrier to entry,” she said.

Beyond that, she suggests adding 10 minutes of mobility training to whatever exercise you’re doing. She offers short mobility routines on her YouTube channel targeting the hips, spine and full body

Some basic hip movements include lying on your side and lifting your top leg, lying on your back and squeezing your knees to your chest and sitting up with your feet together, lowering your knees toward the floor For the spine, try the catcow stretch, arching and curving your back with hands and knees on the floor Or sit in a chair with feet on the floor, twisting your shoulders to both sides.

“This isn’t something that changes in five days, but I tell people, give it four weeks,” she said. “You will see results over time.”

Dr Corey Simon, associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Duke University School of Medicine, urged people to prioritize mobility before they experience pain in their joints or difficulty moving around.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

The Louisiana Health section is focused on providing in-depth, personal accounts of health in the state.This section looks at medical innovations, health discoveries, state and national health statistics and reexamining tried and true methods on ways to live well.

Health editions will also profile people who are advancing health for the state of Louisiana. Do you have a health story? We want to hear from you. Email margaret.delaney@ theadvocate.com to submit health questions, stories and more.

Soup season, simplified: Howtobuild anourishing bowl thiswinter

Inot no an fe soup nu se Start easiest br ma th collage now cu nutrit It muscle which as prov am con complete wa broth even Sod sodium, your fat often important if noteatingmuch. promocodeADVOCATEfor10%off

BY THENUMBERS

Spending on glucagon-likepeptide-1 receptor agonists,orGLP-1s, in the United States increasedover500% from $13.7billion in 2018 to $71.7billion in 2023, according to the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Although these medications were initially developed to treat Type 2 diabetes, newerindications now include weight management. Obesity is achronic diseasethat increases risks for metabolic complications and cardiovascular disease, contributing to an economic burden on health care systems andpatients.

GLP-1 fills and spending for 2023 were obtained from SymphonyHealth for adults aged over 18 years old. This database captures 85% of retail and74% of mail order prescription fills, which consists of prescriptions dispensed by the pharmacy and picked

GLP-1

Continued from page1X

injectable Wegovy,with an average weight loss of about15%.

Chris Mertens, 35, apediatric lung doctorinMenomonee Falls, Wisconsin, joined the Novo Nordisk trial in 2022 and lost about 40 pounds using the Wegovy pill. The daily medication worked to decrease his appetite and invasive thoughts of food, he told The Associated PressinDecember “If there were days whereI missed ameal, Ialmost didn’t realizeit,” said Mertens All the GLP-1 drugs, oral or injectable, have similarside effects, including nauseaand diarrhea. The Wegovy pill must be taken with asip of water in the morning on an empty stomach,

Abowlthatchecksalltheboxes:freshveggies, locallumpcrab,creamycoconutandapopoflime. CurriedCarrot+CoconutSoupfrom “TheEatFitCookbook.

up by the patient, accordingtothe report.

Louisiana spent $1.167 billionon weightloss drugs in 2023, the 16thhighest in America.

In 2023, thesestates spentthe most on GLP-1 weight lossdrugs (in millions), in descendingorder:

n Texas with $6 billion;

n California with $4.4 billion; n NewYork with $4 billion; n Florida with $3.2 billion; n North Carolina with $2.4 billion; n Illinois with $2 billion;

n Pennsylvania with $2 billion; n Georgia with $1.9 billion; n NewJersey with $1.7 billion; n Tennessee with $1.6 billion.

In 2023, thesestates spentthe least on GLP-1 weight lossdrugs (in millions), in ascending order: n Wyoming with $66 million;

with a30-minute break before eatingordrinking. That’sbecause NovoNordisk hadto design the pill in away that prevented the drug from being broken downinthe stomachbeforeitcould be absorbed by thebloodstream. Thedrugmaker addedaningredient that protects the medication for about 30 minutes in thegut andmakesiteasierto take effect By contrast, asecond oral weight loss drug, orforglipron from pharmaceutical company EliLilly,has no dosing restrictions. That drug is being considered under theFDA’s new priority voucherprogram aimed at cuttingdrugapproval times. Adecision is expectedin spring 2026.

EmailMargaretDeLaney at margaret.delaney@ theadvocate.com

n Vermont with $82 million;

n Delaware with $94 million;

n Montana with $106 million; n Alaska with $115 million; n South Dakota with $117 million;

n North Dakota with $129 million;

n

In December, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave the green lighttoapill version of the blockbuster weightloss drug Wegovy,the first FDA-approved daily oral GLP-1 medication for obesity.Itworks likewidely used injectables to mimic anatural hormone that controls appetite and feelings of fullness.

At care pers you clear we’r Withsame-dayandnext-dayappointments,gettingthecare youneedhasneverbeeneasierormoreconvenient Visitochsner.org/primarycaretolearnmoreorto scheduleanappointment.

Washington MayorDwight Landreneausmilesduring an interviewrecently in his office in Washington.

Hometown hero

Reluctantmayor came outof retirement to help save town

BY AIDAN McCAHILL Staff writer

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dwight Landreneau was driving his golf cart to his deer stand whenhis phone rang.Onthe line was then-Gov.John Bel Edwards. Landreneau, astout, soft-spoken man with square glasses, was in his late sixties and finally ready to retire after along career that anyrural Louisianan might envy: starting as an LSU AgCenter agent with crawfish farmers before climbing through the ranks to become Gov.Kathleen Blanco’sdirector of state parks, then secretary of Wildlife and Fisheries.

After several attemptsatretirement, he had finally made peace with stepping away for good.

But the governor had one more job for him.

Beforethe call ended, Edwards had appointed Landreneau mayorofhis hometown, Washington, in rural St Landry Parish. Edwards remembers making the call.

“For atown that size, theyhad real fiscal issues and neededa leader who could do the hard things,” Edwards said. “I knew Dwight was agood public servant. Ijustcalledhim to askwhether he would beinterested. He was at a time in his life where hewas able to do it —and I’m thankfulhedid.”

After decades of poor financial management,Washington wasonthe brink of bankruptcy

The town faced $750,000 in debt and state auditors were knocking at the

door

“Dwight,” Landreneau remembers Edwards telling him, “if you don’tdo it, the state will have to takeover the town.”

With roughly 1,100 residents, asmall tax base,and no operating funds, the previous mayor had quit after serving less than ayear Even the town’shistoric cemeteries, with graves dating back before the Civil War, were choked with weeds and enclosed by rusting wrought-iron gates “You couldn’twalk through it,” Landreneau said. “People had to bring weed eatersand bushknives just to visit the graves.”

ForLandreneau, retirementwould have to wait alittle longer Suspended in time

Washington is acluster of historic buildings, bleached chapels and a few trailers less than asquaremile in area. It was foundedin1720 as a French trading post, according to the town’swebsite, whichwould make it the third oldestEuropean settlement in Louisiana. Everyevening at 6p.m., a three-chimesteamboat whistle blares through the town, paying homage to the industry responsible forits existence.

On aThursdaymorning in mid-January, 82-year-old Butch Sebastien was ringing up prescriptions at abustling pharmacy towardthe center of town.

Sebastien grew up on the surrounding farmland where he now raisesracehorses.

Thebest part abouthis community is itstranquilityand thepeople,hesays —small town cliches, no doubt, but ones that appear to ring true for many other residents.

“You get to know everybody,which is good and bad,” he said.

When he took over the place in 1971, there were five pharmacies in the immediate area plus twogrocery stores

in Washington. Now his store is the only placetobuy medicine in town, and he enjoys asteadycustomer base fromsurrounding ruralareas. Soon he’lltransfer ownershiptoa younger pharmacist,Tara Thistlethwaite.

“I’mthe only one standing now,”he said. “It’s just harder to makealiving now withall the insurancestuff.

Sebastien maintains that littleelse has changed much in Washington over theyears. Unlike othercommunities struggling with arural exodus, Washington’spopulation hasremainedthe samesince the1800s. Locals joke that everytimea womangetspregnant, a man leaves town.

Back in the day, shallow-draftsteamboats floated down Bayou Courtableau, loadingand unloading goodsbeforereturning to oceangoing vessels waiting in the Atchafalaya. In 1848, asteamboat captain dug aturning basin in Washington, allowing larger boats to pivot there instead of at Port Barre to thesouth.

For abriefperiod, that turned the town intothe largest steamboat port between New Orleans and St. Louis, Missouri. It was abustling hub of commerce that drewa substantial Jewish merchantcommunity,many buried in thetown’sHebrew RestCemetery

But by the turn of the century,the railroad boom rendered steamboats obsolete. In 1900, shortly after the Southern Pacific Railroad reached Opelousas, the last steamboatleft Washington, andthe town seemed to freeze in time.

For years, though, the town was better known as aHighway 49 speed trap, collecting 84% of its revenue, roughly $1.3 million, from fines and forfeitures in 2013 alone.

Driving through narrow residentialstreets, Landreneau points out Magnolia Ridge, a50-acre plantation and Greek Revival mansion once capturedbyUnion troops.Heparks in front of ared-brickwarehouse that once brimmedwithsteamboat cargo —cotton, sugar,molasses, poultry and cattle. Now arustic fine-dining restaurant, it draws visitors from across Louisiana. Landreneau rarely recognizes anyone when he eats there, but that doesn’t bother him much. Most residentsare working or middle-class and commute to nearby towns, so tourism is considered amajor industry for thesmall town of Washington.

Nearby stands Landreneau’sold high school, closed after integration in the 1970s and later convertedinto the Washington OldSchoolhouse Antique Mall, where he once volunteered as its first manager.Today dozens of vendors fill theclassrooms, while kids in town are split between traveling to Port Barre,Opelousas or Lafayette for school.

About 80% of Washington’sbuildings qualify for the National Register

Onetable, sixchairs

In early January,Ireadabout a couple who vowed to host adinnerparty everyweek throughout 2025. Somehow,theydid it —all 52 of them. The dinners ran the gamut, from fancy to simple. Theyhad allsorts of positive takeawaysfromthe experience. Iadmiredthem.

But Ialso knewthat this wasn’t the year for me to host weekly dinnerparties. Imight love it, but even floating the idea might push my husband over the edge. Forhim, adinnerparty every week sounds less like hospitality andmorelike ahostage situation. Still, the ideastuckwith me —not the frequency,but the intention. It’sa decision to make gathering people around atable part of the structure of ayear, ratherthansomething thathappens only whenconditions are perfect

So Imadeaquietervow.In 2026, Iwanttohost at least one dinnerparty amonth.

Thus far, I’m coming in strong —two in January,with another alreadyonthe calendar for midFebruary.These dinner parties arenothing heroic (beyond the chilesrellenosmyhusband made for the first one, whichpushed his culinary skills to hero status). Theyare notready for an influencer’s flashy andpolished Instagram feed. They are simply people gathered round our big table,passing plateshandtohand. Overtime,I’ve learned afew things aboutmyself as ahost. One is that, for right now,eight people around atable —myformer gold standard —isa bridge toofar.Six is the sweet spot for now. Conversationiseasier,and it’senough without being exhausting.

Anotheristhatthe real pleasure,for me, is in the mix. Ilovebringing together people who haven’tmet but whomI suspect would have plenty to talk aboutifgiven the chance. It is the opposite of networking. It’smorelike matchmaking (and truth be told, Ireally want to be a professional matchmaker in my next life).

Watching aconversation find its footing —and people connect —isone of my favorite parts of the evening. Iworktowardpoliteness giving waytocuriosity around my table

As I’mwriting this, tonight we arehosting aCroatian-themed dinnerparty

I’ve never been to Croatia. It’s on my list, but fornow,itexists mostly as aplace of coastlines I want to explore,a complicated history andfood I’ve only encounteredonthe internet. As it turns out, no one who will be sitting around the table tonight hasbeen to Croatia either —a detail thatfeltlike afeature, nota flaw.

In preparation, Ishared two movies ourguests could watch if theywanted—one light and notso-light aboutthe horrific warof the mid-1990s. Ionly watched the light one. I’m not up forsuperheavy, dark stories right now, andI’ve learnedtotrust that instinct. Gathering doesn’trequire emotional endurance tests. Ialso shareda poem:“Star on High” by TinUjevi ,who was from Croatia andisconsidered oneofthe great lyric poetsof the former Yugoslavia. Translatedpoetry,I’ve discovered, is agentle way to gain insight into anotherculture —imperfect, filtered, but sincere.

Ithought oneline of Ujevi ’s poem was particularly beautiful: He lovesnolesswho does not waste his words. There’splenty to discuss in thatline alone. Never fear,I don’talways assign homework for dinner

ASK THE EXPERTS

Tour guide works to preserve history

Man gives

walking tours on Civil Rights events in Shreveport

BY MOLLY TERRELL Staff Writer

Robert Trudeau, a retired teacher from Caddo Magnet High School, loves Shreveport along with its Civil Rights history. To preserve the history of Shreveport, he now conducts walking tours of the city, including one that showcases the significant landmarks of the Civil Rights era.

While initially from Massachusetts, Trudeau has lived in Shreveport for decades and in Louisiana for even longer He has been interested in learning and teaching about the city’s Civil Rights history since he arrived He has copies of books that aren’t widely circulated, including “The Blacker the Berry: A Black History of Shreveport” by Willie Burton.

Trudeau told the ShreveportBossier City Advocate about the importance of his walking tours in preserving Shreveport’s Civil Rights history

Answers have been edited for length and clarification.

Why did you start history tours?

I was a teacher, and a friend of mine had a family reunion coming in He asked me to talk to them about what I knew about the city and so I did, and that started the whole thing.

Do you host these tours often?

It varies a lot with factors like weather and timing, but also because history is not an easy sell. For most people, it’s dull and boring, and my job is to help people see that it’s full of energy.

What should people expect to hear from your Civil Rights tour?

I provide examples of what it was like, dates and times and names of people involved while we walk around landmarks.

What’s one of the most interesting Civil Rights stories you’ve learned over your time here?

In the 1920s, a woman named Cora Anderson wanted Black men to have a place with nice offices, and she knew those were not available on Texas Street.

She knew she could raise the money to start a Black Business Center, so she went out and sold burial insurance and used the money to build a four-story building that was a center for Black businesses.

How do you track down your information?

A lot of books. There are a number of relatively small books written by Gary Joiner at LSU Shreveport, as well as Eric Brock, who wrote about 12 different books about Shreveport.

Brock knew from childhood that he was going to be a Shreveport champion. He started saving postcards from Shreveport’s history as a child. We lost him be-

Q&A WITH ROBERT TRUDEAU TOUR GUIDE

fore he even reached his 60s but in the meantime, he had written about 12 books about history So some of those I know very, very well because when you go back over a good author’s work, you can learn so much more. Today, it’s a lot easier to research and report history I also use LSU archives, online sources and many personal interviews.

Did you teach local history during your time at Caddo Magnet High School?

Yes, I taught under the umbrella of world geography, and I would find ways to teach about local history, including Norman C. Davis, a Black barber musician and land developer in Shreveport in the mid-1800s.

I realized students needed to get out of those desks, so we did many walking field trips that reflected our lessons, which I think inspired the walking tours.

What do you think Shreveport could do to bring its Civil Rights history back to the forefront?

First of all, a nice, fairly large official sign, so people don’t think

it’s just been put up.

I’d want a sign where the Castle Hotel used to be, too, explaining the significance and how Martin Luther King, Jr first slept there while visiting Shreveport. That location on Sprague Street is now Shreveport Green’s Urban Farm.

Email Molly Terrell at molly terrell@theadvocate.com.

THERE’S GOOD NEWS, TOO

These are stories of global progress, compiled by the media group Fix the News and shared in partnership with The Advocate/The Times-Picayune.

Each story overview is linked to an original report or story with more information.

VACCINE DRIVE

The Democratic Republic of Congo launched a nationwide vaccination to protect about 62 million children and adolescents (6 months to 14 years) against measles and rubella, according to the World Health Organization. The campaign, starting in late November, uses a phased approach across provinces and introduces the combined measles-rubella vaccine into the routine immunization schedule. Supported by partners including the WHO United States Children’s Fund, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the effort aims to close immunity gaps from repeated outbreaks and low coverage, and move toward eliminating both diseases Health workers will deliver vaccines via fixed posts and outreach, with community engagement to encourage vaccination and counter misinformation.

BRITAIN EXPLORATION

Britain has become the largest global economy to end new oil and gas exploration, according to Greenpeace

Continued from page 1Y

OF

The Democratic Republic of Congo launched a nationwide vaccination to protect about 62 million children and adolescents (6 months to 14 years) against measles and rubella, according to the World Health Organization.

UK In its North Sea Future Plan, the government confirmed that no more licenses for new oil and gas will be issued — ending five decades of North Sea expansion. Existing fields will keep producing under stricter climate tests, and this move marks the first step toward a shift to clean, stable renewables

NIGERIA

The World Bank, along with the International Development Association, is supporting Nigeria’s efforts to educate, empower and elevate girls and women through projects that target human capital development and foster inclusive

parties. Sometimes people just show up, and that’s enough. But with our long-running “Year of Countries” monthly dinners with friends, we try to reach beyond the menu. We share a book, a poem, a song, a film, a dance, a television show something that gives us more than talking points about what we’re eating. It’s merely a shared reference point. An invitation to pay attention. What I’ve learned is that hosting doesn’t have to be elaborate to be meaningful. It doesn’t require a theme every time or a perfectly timed menu. It does require intention — the decision to open the door, set the table and make room for conversation to wander where it will. Tonight we’re not even going to have the whole meal complete when our guests arrive. I’m going to ask them to roll up their sleeves and help me make the gnocchi. I believe that conversation flows best when people are doing something with their hands — not to mention learn-

Powering Progress

growth Initiatives like the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment expand girls’ access to safe schools, life skills, digital literacy and scholarships. Over 4 million girls have benefited, with targets to reach 15 million by 2028.The Nigeria for Women Program implements economic independence, while the

ing something new together. (In full disclosure, I’ve never made gnocchi either However, I have watched a video. We’ll figure it out, no doubt.)

Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria group delivers cost-effective nutrition services to pregnant women, adolescents and children under five in 11 states.This multipronged approach is boosting enrollment, livelihoods and opportunities for the girls and women in Nigeria.

TANZANIA

In an effort to strengthen the country’s grassroots health care, Tanzania is aiming to deploy nearly 140,000 community health workers by 2028, as reported by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization.The program, sparked from lessons from a 2025 Marburg outbreak, aims to build a bridge between communities and health facilities.The first cohort completed six months of instruction — gaining tools like digital tablets to record data, blood pressure machines, sugar level testers, thermometers and nutrition assessment tools. This training improves health education, disease surveillance, early detection and data reporting through tablets with the United Community System.

Fix the News is the world’s leading solutions journalism newsletter. The organization finds hidden stories of progress and shares them with readers from 195 countries. Steven Pinker calls Fix the News “the best source for positive news on the internet.”

No, a monthly dinner party won’t change the world. But it might change a year. It creates a rhythm something to look forward to. It’s a reason to keep saying yes to people when it would be easier to retreat into the glow of a screen and call it rest. For now, that’s enough of a goal. One table. Six chairs. At least once a month. I don’t know who will still be sitting at our table by the end of the year I do know that I want to keep setting it.

Email Jan Risher at jan.risher@ theadvocate.com.

With thousands of Shell men and women across thestate,we areworking everyday to reduce emissions, while increasing efficiency in ouroperations

Our tomorrowdepends on what we do today. Together, we arepoweringprogressfor abrighter future. Louisiana is whereweliveand we’reproud to call it home

FAITH & VALUES

Spanish meditation classes offer broader healing

Access to activities like yoga help stressed communities

BY RICHA KARMARKAR Contributing writer

At the New York City yoga studios she frequented in the 2010s, Rosana Rodriguez sometimes found herself the only Latina in the room. “I felt really intimidated,” said the 58-year-old native New Yorker Predominantly White studios and expensive monthly fees gave her and others in her community the impression that wellness spaces “weren’t for them.”

But the practice of yoga itself, Rodriguez said, saved her life. It was a consistent stress-reduction technique after an abusive relationship and losing her job During yoga nidra — or guided meditation in the Savasana posture, often at the end of class Rodriguez caught herself translating what her teacher said into Spanish sparking a “revelation.” “I wanted to bring this level of healing to my community,” she said. Rodriguez soon founded Yogiando NYC, the first Spanish-English bilingual studio in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, which has a majority Hispanic population. Offering weekly $10 yin yoga classes at Yogiando, which is a made-up word to mean “doing yoga,” since 2017, Rodriguez said the space became a hub of solace where Spanish-speakers could share their anxieties about anything from immigration to family to their jobs with one another “One of the things that I have prided myself in creating for this

MAYOR

Continued from page 1Y

of Historic Places, including his grandparents’ 1860s white Victorian home. Landreneau lives in a guesthouse he restored and proudly counts the 746 pickets in the fence he built around it one of several he’s constructed across town. But many other buildings still bear the weight of neglect St. Mark Church, built in 1867 and among the oldest Black Methodist churches in Louisiana, now stands with shattered windows and peeling white paint. Landreneau is working to get it restored though other properties — often tangled in family estates — are harder to reclaim.

On the edge of the woods, a sagging cabin tilts on stilts, with junk inside visible through gaping window frames. It belonged to a hoarder locals called Bozo Jones. He passed away in 2019, but his warning remains carved into a plank out front: “Reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone taking anything from this land.”

“Bozo would collect anything,” Landreneau said. “There are some jewels back there.”

Belt-tightening begins

When Landreneau became mayor in 2020, he quickly realized the uphill battle his predecessor faced Mounting late fees and interest on the town’s debts toward various vendors and agencies had caused the problem to snowball. With residents paying utilities in cash or checks, few records existed of where the money went.

“They hadn’t done audits,” he said. “There was money missing. there was no rhyme or reason for how things were filed. In their defense, they were never trained ”

Even the town hall’s internet was shoddy — usually only one person could get online at a time. Ironically, the pandemic helped. With federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, Landreneau paid to install fiber-optic lines and converted the entire payment system to electronic records.

“No cash helps us with the way we conduct business, but it also helps us track every dollar that comes in and every dollar that comes out,” he said. Within months, he hired a town clerk, Halli Polotzola, and enlisted Anne Jones, a retired banker who volunteered around 50 hours a week.

“With those two, we really started changing the way we did business in Washington,” he said. Their scrupulousness uncovered

community is a safe space,” she said “The closing meditation is that I’m saying to them, ‘You are held and protected.’ I’m teaching them how to be aware, how to listen to their body how to breathe. Many of these women have told me, ‘I do these breathing exercises every day, and they’ve helped me.’ They’ve told me how yoga has changed their life.”

As Yogiando NYC has done, increasing language accessibility in spiritual wellness spaces across the country has opened up meditation and yoga to more diverse American populations. For Spanish-speaking practitioners like Rodriguez, offering these kinds of classes is crucial to the spiritual-wellness movement in being able to respond to growing mental health concerns as antiimmigrant sentiments and federal actions surge in a country where Spanish is the second-most-spoken

language.

Xiomara Arauz, originally from Panama, teaches meditation and yoga in Spanish in Denver through the Art of Living, a global humanitarian organization founded by Indian guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Arauz and a handful of other instructors across the country have also taught online and in-person Spanish instruction of the Sudarshan Kriya, or SKY breathing technique, to hundreds since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our community is definitely experiencing heightened levels of stress, insecurity, uncertainty, anxiety and fear,” Arauz told RNS. “If the class is in Spanish and everybody speaks Spanish, people feel more safe being in that environment, feeling like they’re understood or they’re accepted here. They feel a lot better when they leave through the doors of the yoga studio than when they

bills for things like vehicles that didn’t exist and even a clerk accused of stealing more than $20,000 in traffic ticket payments.

Cutting unnecessary costs followed. The town had been paying for insurance policies they didn’t need, including coverage for terrorist attacks. Trimming those contracts nearly halved premiums from $120,000 to about $65,000, according to Landreneau.

Though never an elected official, it was clear Landreneau knew how to work the system. He negotiated with vendors like Cleco, which the town owed over $100,000, persuading them to waive late fees in exchange for steady payments.

Drawing on his experience in state government, he called on the Louisiana Municipal Association, nearby towns, state representatives and auditors for guidance and favors, finding equipment on the cheap and securing more than $2 million in grants and capital outlay funding.

“I knew who to call if I needed help,” he said. “But we knew we were doing it the right way.”

Grant money also modernized the town’s utility system, swapping manual gas, water and sewer meters for electronic ones.

“If you don’t pay, it’s supposed to be turned off,” he said. “It wasn’t getting turned off. Now instead of it taking us two weeks to read the meters, we can read them in two hours.”

Residents began noticing changes too — perhaps after the town’s museum reopened, or when they saw Landreneau building picket fences around town. They started volunteering, hosting bake and garage sales, and donating to beautification projects.

“People got involved because they saw that things were actually

came in.”

Particularly in meditative practices, Arauz said, it is “a different kind of comfort” to practice in one’s native tongue, as the work “is more internal, more subtle.” And her “warm and friendly” personality is able to “come alive” as an instructor in Spanish.

“There is a nuance that I think makes a difference when you are going into these deeper states of relaxation and your conscious mind is not trying to translate,” she said. “There is no resistance in the mind to be doing something else other than absorbing it. They’re able to relax a lot more, be more there, be more present.”

Diana Winston, a mindfulness teacher and director of UCLA Mindful an education and research center that provides science-backed mindfulness instruction to schools, hospitals and corporate offices — said the center’s Mindful App offers instruction in 19 languages, including a separate Spanish-only feature for California’s large non-English-speaking population. She said the organization is committed to “radical accessibility” to remove language, economic and religious barriers from mindfulness practices.

“It’s a very scary time for a lot of people in this country,” she said.

“I’m very worried about the most vulnerable populations, for people who are in some ways being targeted. And I feel like anything that can help support their mental health and well-being, since that’s what mindfulness really does, that would be a fantastic thing to be able to offer

“And my secret wish,” she added, “the people who could really use mindfulness, who are making these horrible decisions, might

transform themselves, too. What if somebody moved from a place of being stuck in seeing people as other, and hatred and violence, and began to meditate and had more compassion in their heart? That would be incredible.”

Still, barriers exist to getting Spanish speakers to the studios, sometimes based on an idea that yoga and meditation conflict with their Christian faith, practitioners said. Though the last few decades have seen a seismic growth of these Indian practices in secular contexts, often far removed from their Hindu and Buddhist religious roots, some still feel reluctant, said Rodriguez, who refrains from using Sanskrit terms, or the meditative sound “Om,” in her classes.

Marisol Alvarez, a 60-year-old student at Yogiando from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, said she has been told that she shouldn’t be doing yoga, despite the physical, mental and even spiritual benefits she found in the practice.

“They said, ‘The priests don’t want you to practice, it’s not of God,’ ” she told RNS in Spanish. “But I’m healing. God wants me to heal. It’s very big how (yoga) has helped me with my faith, connecting with the universe, with the divine higher power.”

Alvarez has brought her daughter, her mother and people she meets on the street into yoga classes. And the studio’s community of women who have now traveled and shared their dreams with each other — is “filled with so much love,” she said.

“There are times that I’ve arrived at the class feeling like I couldn’t breathe,” she said. “But I breathed.”

improving,” said Thistlethwaite a local pharmacist.

By 2022, Washington’s finances had stabilized, and last June the town became officially debt-free.

“Be patient. Learn how to do without,” Landreneau said when asked what advice he’d give to other struggling small towns. “And when you work on something, do what you say you’re gonna do and people will trust you.”

After a hearty lunch of oxtail at Richard’s Soul Kitchen (the kind that leaves the photographer gnawing the bone clean), Landreneau drives to the Hotel Klaus, a former general store owned by the Klaus family until the 1960s.

If there was such a thing as a mover and shaker in Washington, it would be the hotel’s owner, 42-yearold Stephen Ortego, a Tulane University graduate and former state representative, who now runs a Lafayette-based architecture firm. Ortego is also Landreneau’s nephew

Three years ago, he bought the crumbling building and transformed it into a nine-room boutique hotel. As he gives a tour Ortego adjusts curtains and checks each light bulb The pastel rooms hum with ragtime, swing and Cajun folk music.

“We put the radio on KRVS (Lafayette’s public radio station), so when people come into their rooms, it’s local music,” he said.

There’s a pool out back, and a vintage bar downstairs that glows beneath portraits of St. Landry’s prominent figures. Ortego gears the place toward young couples and wedding parties — where he says receptions can be held across the street at Wolff Hall.

“It’s weird, but it’s exciting. It was falling down,” said Landreneau, who grew up with the Wolffs and

Klauses, both early Jewish families with members now buried in Old Hebrew Cemetery “When we ran out of something, Daddy would go to Mr Wolff. When they ran out, they’d come to us.”

Ortego sees the hotel as a launch point for Washington’s comeback in which the town can both harness and escape its paralysis in history

He talks about adding a kayak vending machine at the nearby boat landing and blue bikes for visitors.

“First, we’ll start with the weddings, but then use that as a way to start building an infrastructure toward more tourism,” he said, pointing toward a sign across the street for a planned two-story building — a mix of shops and apartments backed by a private investor. The local bank is also helping fund other restorations, he said.

“These little things make a big impact,” Ortego said. “Now you have five or six people who are really starting to put money here. You can get it turned around and have a success story a lot faster.”

Down the street at Café Courtableau, owner Peggy Allemond isn’t as optimistic.

“There’s not too much here,” she said, sipping from a bottle of Budweiser after the lunch rush.

Wiry and in her 60s, Allemond has owned the café with her husband since 2018. She cooks most days and he plays harmonica on weekends — unless she doesn’t feel like getting up early, “then I’ll tell him to cook.”

The building, nearly 200 years old, once served as Lastrappe’s meat market and, she believes, still hosts three ghosts.

“They like me. They don’t mess with me, but they have run some of my employees off,” she said.

Her real troubles are more earthly ones.

Despite being one of the only restaurants in town, she’s looking for a buyer after struggling with low foot traffic and rising insurance costs.

“We’re just tired. It’s been a struggle. COVID shut us down and it’s just not the same,” she said. “I just wish we had some support from the town. But I can’t afford to eat out every day either.”

Still, six years after that phone call from Gov Edwards, Landreneau remains hopeful. Edwards says that since Landreneau took the position, the two talk occasionally and the mayor has kept him updated on the town of Washington’s progress.

“It’s self-evident now that he was the right person,” Edwards said. “With no credit to me, Dwight and the people of Washington have done the hard work.”

Edwards says that there are other small communities with legacy costs struggling to provide all the services.

He’s happy for Washington and its mayor

“I believed he could lead that town through the difficult period and out the other side — and he’s done a wonderful job,” Edwards said. “Hopefully the example he’s set can inspire other leaders in Louisiana.” Now 74 and serving his second term after running unopposed in 2024, Landreneau still doesn’t have much time for leisure, but he’s managed to provide retirement benefits for his 14 employees — and finally keep the cemeteries maintained.

Sitting behind his desk beneath a painting of a steamboat, Landreneau’s broad smile beams as he recalls a recent compliment

“He says, ‘Mr Dwight, I went to see daddy’s grave. I brought the weed eater, the broom, the blower, and I got to the grave and it was all done.’ He says ‘I walked back to my truck. I put the tools back in the truck. I got my ice chest, and I went and sat on daddy’s grave and drank a beer with him.’” Louisiana culture editor Jan Risher contributed to this report

SUNDAY, FebrUArY 1, 2026

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

word game

instructions: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” 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 — LAVender: LAH-vinder: A Mediterranean mint with lilac-purple flowers.

Average mark 58 words

Time limit 60 minutes

Can you find 72 or more words in LAVENDER?

ken ken

instructions: 1 -Each rowand each column must contain thenumbers 1through4 (easy) or 1through6 (challenging) without repeating 2 -The numbers within the heavily outlinedboxes, called cages, must combine using thegiven operation (inany order)toproduce the target numbersinthe top-left corners. 3 -Freebies: Fillinthe single-boxcages withthe numberinthe top-left corner

instructions: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 gridwith several given numbers. The object is to placethe numbers 1to 9in theempty squares so that each row,each column and each 3x3 boxcontains the same number only once. The difficultylevel of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

directions: Complete thegridso that numbers 1–132 connect horizontally, vertically or diagonally

goren Bridge

Junior shines

Today’s deal is from a recent competition held in Denmark. East was a rising young Danish star, 16-year-old Nikolaj Hammelev Declarer played low from dummy on the opening diamond lead and Hammelev took his king and returned a diamond to dummy’s ace.

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

super Quiz

Tannah Hirsch welcomes readers’ responses sent in care of this newspaper or to Tribune Content Agency inc., 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, Ny 14207. E-mail responses may be sent to gorenbridge@ aol.com. © 2026 Tribune Content Agency

South, planning to take a heart finesse,ledalowheartfromdummy The opponents were obviouslyina4-3fit,butHammelevknew the suit was splitting 3-3. Hammelev had a diamond trick and a suretrumptricktocome,buthow could they defeat this contract? His partner might have a club trick but that was it. Hammelev got creative. Hammelev played the queen of hearts! South took his ace but was now convinced that West held the other five trumps. South led a spade to the ace, cashed the king and ruffed a spade in hand. Hammelev discarded a diamond on the third spade instead of ruffing with the 10ofhearts,furtheringthedeception. “Knowing” that East had 10 cards in the minors South led a club to the king and a club back to his jack. West took his queen and led a spade, Now Hammelev ruffed with the 10 of hearts and led a club. East ruffed for the setting trick and the contract was down one. Declarer needed a sedative.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Point your emotional energy in a direction that offers self-satisfaction, purpose and lasting effects Make romantic plans that will enhance your life and improve your future.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Discipline will pay off. Address lingering issues that are messing with your mind. Find out what’s necessary to derive more joy from and suffer less angst about your everyday routine.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Let your emotions take you on a magical tour. Remember who you are,

what you can do and what you want to pursue next. Be open to suggestions and help from those who want to be a part of your journey TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Stick close to home and take care of your responsibilities and unfinished business that can result in additional costs if left unattended. Dominate your domain.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Boredom will set in if you haven’t planned enough to fill your day Whether you are working toward something you look forward to, staying busy will satisfy and gratify

CANCER (June 21-July 22) An opportunity is attainable, but finishing what you start depends on your emotional well-being and mood. If you rush, it will cost you physically or financially, but if you stand still, you will miss out. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Let your emotions lead the way Share your intentions with someone close to you. The possibilities are endless if you focus on looking and feeling your best.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) You will gravitate toward change: new scenery rearranging your space or engaging in a pastime that is fresh

and exciting. Positive thoughts and actions equal positive gains.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Socialize, participate and share with friends and family, but be careful not to exceed your entertainment budget. Offering time, effort and support will be rewarding.

SCORPIO (Oct 24-Nov 22) Take time to observe, check out your options and consider what makes you happy Refuse to compromise yourself, your home or your relationships with loved ones.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Doors are opening, and the light is beginning to shine brightly in your

favor You can talk the talk, walk the walk and take pleasure in generating excitement and hope wherever you go. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Tune in to what others do. The signals you receive will guide you forward without conflict. Showing compassion and understanding will break down barriers that can dismantle your relationship.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

1. Supreme Court justice. 2. Space. 3. Attorney generalofthe United States. 4. Vice president of America. 5. U.S.coin. 6. Vice president. 7. Secretary of state. 8. Speaker of the House of Representatives. 9. Best Actress Academy Award.10. Rock &Roll Hall of Fame. 11.Congress. 12. Secretary of the Treasury 13.AnAcademy Award. 14. Daytona500. 15.Birth control clinic.

SCORING: 24 to 30 points —congratulations, doctor; 18 to 23 points—honorsgraduate; 13 to 17 points —you’replenty smart, but no grind; 5to12points —you really shouldhit the booksharder;1point to 4points —enroll in remedial courses immediately; 0points who reads thequestions to you?

Saturday's Cryptoquote: Be willing tobea beginner every single morning. —Meister Eckhart