BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL
Thecosttohouse LafayetteParish inmates outside the local jail surgedlastyear as state inmates remained in the Lafayette Parish
Correctional Center longerthan expected, limitingavailable beds and forcing parish detainees to be sentelsewhere. Lafayette Consolidated Government spent$442,133 last year to house parish inmates in other jails
—a13,479% increase over 2024 spending levels, according to LCG documents obtained by The AcadianaAdvocate. By earlythis month, the parish had already spent about $130,000 on outside housing, putting it on pace to meet or exceed last year’stotal. As of Feb. 5, 58 parish inmates were housed in other parish jails. At the peak in 2018, as many as 192 inmates were housed outside the Lafayette jail. UnderLouisiana law, jails may transfer inmates forsafety reasons, andthe sheriff must notify the court of theintenttotransfer at least 72 hours in advance. The Lafayette Parish Sheriff’sOffice said it is trying to prevent theonset of unsafe conditions. The parish ownsthe jailand pays to houseparish inmates,while the Sheriff’s Office operates the facility.When parish inmates are sent to other jails, LCGbearsthe cost.
BY JA’KORIMADISON
Staff writer
For most of her life, Ginger Cawley held onto asingle photographand the memory of ahug from foster parents shenever forgot.
Now,after searching for them for more than 20 years, a reunion she once thought was impossible came simply from her stepping out on faith when she posted in aFacebook group called Looking forLost Family.
What felt like alongshot turned into something moreafter members of the Lafayettearea community begansharing the post. Someone recognized thenames, and Cawley’sfoster parents, Paula and RonnieBoffner,were foundwithin 24 hours of the search.
“It was like my heart was tryingtocatch up with my brain,” she said. “I was excited, but I also wanted to be gentle. Ididn’t know where they were in life or how they’d feel.”
The reunion was emotional for everyone involved, given the brief butformative rolethe Boffners played in Cawley’s childhoodduringa turbulent time in her life. It alsounderscoresbroader challenges within thefostercaresystem, where privacy rules,limited records access and the lack of aformal pathway can make it difficult or impossible —for former foster children and fosterparents to reconnect years later
Cawley,a Lafayettenative, entered foster care around age 5, sometime between 1989 and 1991, because of instabilityat home.
After an earlier placement where things were unpleasant, she was placed with the Boffners. She said the months she
ä See FOSTER, page 5A
Fake aliasesused to woovictims into sending money
BY JAMES FINN Staff writer
Thescheme startedon Facebook and Instagram with elderly widows, romantic entreaties—and lies.
Posing as an oilrig worker or adecorated militaryofficer,the manwould gain the women’strust over social media,then ask to move their
amorous chats to email or encryptedmessaging apps like WhatsApp. There,his true motivations would become clear He pressed one 77-yearoldMandevillewoman who believedhewas afour-star military generalfor money to fix aschool he said was damaged in astorm. She sent him $124,757 over about ayear.Another woman in Hawaii wired $250,000 to someone she thought wasan Air Forceofficer stationedin Syria named “Michael Minihan.” Yetanotherbelieved
turalissuesthatanengineer recently warned could lead to it
EU: U.S. must honor deal after tariff ruling
BRUSSELS The European Union’s executive arm requested “full clarity” from the United States and asked its trade partner to fulfill its commitments after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down some of President Donald Trump’s most sweeping tariffs.
Trump has lashed out at the court decision and said Saturday that he wants a global tariff of 15%, up from the 10% he announced a day earlier
The European Commission said the current situation is not conducive to delivering “fair balanced, and mutually beneficial” trans-Atlantic trade and investment, as agreed to by both sides and spelled out in the EUU.S. Joint Statement of August 2025.
American and EU officials sealed a trade deal last year that imposes a 15% import tax on 70% of European goods exported to the United States. The European Commission handles trade for the 27 EU member countries.
A top EU lawmaker said on Sunday he will propose to the European Parliament negotiating team to put the ratifying process of the deal on pause.
“Pure tariff chaos on the part of the U.S. administration,” Bernd Lange, the chair of Parliament’s international trade committee, wrote on social media. “No one can make sense of it anymore — only open questions and growing uncertainty for the EU and other U.S. trading partners.”
The value of EU-U.S. trade in goods and services amounted to $2 trillion in 2024, or an average of about $5.4 billion a day according to EU statistics agency Eurostat.
Huckabee’s words taken out of context, U.S. says TELAVIV,Israel An uproar continued Sunday after the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said Israel has a right to much of the Middle East, as more Arab and Muslim countries objected and the U.S. said his comments were taken out of context.
Huckabee spoke in an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that aired Friday Carlson said that according to the Bible, the descendants of Abraham would receive land that today would include much of the Middle East, including parts of modern-day Jordan Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. He quoted from Genesis Chapter 15 and asked Huckabee if Israel had a right to that land.
Huckabee responded: “It would be fine if they took it all.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy said Sunday that Huckabee’s comments were taken out of context and that there is no change to U.S. policies on Israel.
In the interview, Huckabee added: “They’re not asking to go back and take all of that, but they are asking to at least take the land that they now occupy, they now live in, they now own legitimately, and it is a safe haven for them.” He added that Israel isn’t trying to take over Jordan, Lebanon Syria, or Iraq but is trying to protect its own people.
A joint statement Sunday by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Syria, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, the Palestinian Authority and several Arab governing bodies called Huckabee’s remarks
“dangerous and inflammatory” and ones that endanger the region’s stability
NASA to return rocket to hangar for repairs
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Grounded until at least April, NASA’s giant moon rocket is headed back to the hangar this week for more repairs before astronauts climb aboard.
The space agency said Sunday it’s targeting Tuesday for the slow, 4-mile trek across Kennedy Space Center, weather permitting. NASA had barely finished a repeat fueling test Thursday, to ensure dangerous hydrogen fuel leaks were plugged when another problem cropped up
This time, the rocket’s helium system malfunctioned, further delaying astronauts’ first trip to the moon in more than half a century
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By VAHID SALEMI
Pedestrians walk Sunday past a billboard depicting a U.S. aircraft carrier with damaged fighter jets on its deck and a sign in Farsi and English reading ‘If you sow the wind, you’ll reap the whirlwind’ at Enqelab-e-Eslami Square in Tehran, Iran.
BY JON GAMBRELL Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States and Iran will hold their next round of nuclear talks Thursday in Geneva, a facilitator said Sunday as the Islamic Republic faces both the threat of a U.S. military strike and new protests at home.
Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, confirmed the talks. Oman previously hosted the indirect talks on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and facilitated the latest round in Geneva last week.
There was no immediate comment from the Trump administration, which has built up the largest U.S. military presence in the Middle East in decades as it pushes its longtime adversary for concessions on its nuclear program and more.
Shortly before Oman’s announcement, Iran’s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, told CBS in an interview that he expected to meet U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in Geneva on Thursday, and said a “good chance” remained for a diplomatic solution on the nuclear issue.
Washington awaits a proposed deal that Araghchi has said would be ready to share within days, and the foreign minster told CBS that Iran was still working on the draft proposal. The nuclear issue, he added, is the only matter being discussed — even though both the United States and Israel also want to address Iran’s missile program and its support for armed proxies in the Middle East.
President Donald Trump warned on Friday that limited strikes against Iran are possible, and both Iran and the U.S. have signaled they are prepared for war if the talks on Tehran’s nuclear program fail.
Minutes after Oman’s confirmation of the talks, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on social media that negotiations had involved “the exchange of practical proposals and yielded encouraging signals,” but added that Tehran has “made all necessary preparations for any potential scenario.”
The U.S. has said Iran cannot have nuclear weapons or the capacity to build them and that it cannot enrich uranium. Araghchi, however, told CBS that Iran has the right to enrich uranium
On Friday, he said his U.S. counterparts had not asked for zero enrichment as part of the latest round of talks, which is not what U.S. officials have said publicly He also said talks focused on how to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program, including enrichment, “will remain peaceful forever.” He said that in return Iran will implement confidence-building measures in exchange for relief on economic sanctions.
Tehran has long insisted that any negotiations should only focus on its nuclear program, and has refused to discuss wider U.S. and Israeli demands that it scale back its missile program and sever ties to armed groups.
Although Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, the U.S. and others suspect it is aimed at eventually developing weapons. Iran says it hasn’t been enriching uranium since U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June.
At that time, Trump said the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites, but the exact damage is unknown because Tehran has barred international inspectors.
BY ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE, JULIE WALKER and ADAM GELLER Associated Press
NEW YORK — Snow and rain began falling Sunday across parts of the East Coast, the first jabs of an intense winter storm expected to wallop the region through the day and overnight, with blizzard alerts and weather warnings buzzing in communities from Maryland to Massachusetts.
The National Weather Service said 1 to 2 feet of snow was possible in many areas, along with heavy winds and potential flooding in certain spots.
Blizzard warnings have been issued by the weather service in New York City and Long Island, Boston and coastal communities in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island and Massachusetts State of emergency declarations were issued in New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and parts of New York as officials mobilized readiness efforts.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a major nor’easter and major blizzard of this magnitude across the Northeast,” said Cody Snell, a meteorologist at the service’s Weather Prediction Center
This is definitely a major winter storm and a major impact for this part of the country,” he said.
The weather service had said the storm would start out as rainfall in some areas before turning into snow as temperatures drop. Some of the heaviest snow is expected to fall overnight Sunday with as much as 2 inches of snow per hour accumulating at times in some areas, before tapering off by Monday afternoon.
The weather service warned that the storm’s strong wind gusts could cause whiteout conditions, potentially downing power lines and causing outages. The service warned of a “Potentially Historic/Destructive Storm” southeast of the BostonProvidence corridor writing on X that it was “very concerned” about heavy snow
BY JAMIE STENGLE and ALI SWENSON The Associated Press
DALLAS The Transportation Security Administration said Sunday that its Global Entry program would be suspended as long as the partial government shutdown remains in effect.
The announcement comes after the Department of Homeland Security said Saturday night that it planned to shut down both Global Entry and the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck program as well, but DHS canceled the PreCheck closure.
“ As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case-by-case basis and adjust operations accordingly,” the agency said.
The turmoil at security and customs lanes is tied to a partial government shutdown that began Feb. 14 after Democrats and the White House were unable to reach a deal on legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security Democrats have been demanding changes to immigration operations that are core to President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign.
The security disruptions come at a time when a major winter storm will hit the East Coast from Sunday into Monday Nine out of 10 flights going out of John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Boston Logan Airport have been canceled for Monday
Global Entry is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection program that allows preapproved low-risk travelers to use expedited kiosks when entering the United States from abroad. There’s no specific government data that shows how much time passengers save at airports or other ports of entry from Global Entry
the streets on Jan. 26 in New york. The region is
and winds causing power outages.
In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned of wet, heavy snow incoming potentially 2 feet and said city officials are instituting a “travel ban” that would close roads to all nonessential traffic from 9 p.m Sunday until noon Monday.
“These are blizzard conditions New York City has not faced a storm of this scale in the last decade,” he said at a news conference Sunday “We are asking New Yorkers to avoid all nonessential travel. Please, for your safety, stay home, stay inside and stay off the road.”
Mamdani also canceled in-person and virtual classes for city schools on Monday, calling it the “first old-school snow day since 2019.”
New Jersey officials on Sunday put in place an order lowering speed limits to 35 mph on state and interstate highways and will be in place until further notice, advising people to avoid driving.
More than 3,500 flights were canceled across the U.S. as of Sunday afternoon according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. Airports in the path of the storm were also seeing widespread cancellations on Monday, with almost all departures out of New York City and Boston already called off.
but travel industry experts estimate that Global Entry cuts the amount of time passengers getting through customs from an average of 30 to 90 minutes to 5 to 10 minutes in Global Entry lines.
Those who purchase Global Entry also receive TSA PreCheck. In 2024, the Department of Homeland Security said more than 20 million Americans had TSA PreCheck, and millions of those Americans have overlapping Global Entry memberships.
Airport lines seemed largely unaffected Sunday, with security check line wait times listed as under 15 minutes for most international airports, according to TSA’s mobile app. Blair Perkins, 39, of Dallas, had seen the news about the shutdown of Global Entry before she left Cancun to return home Sunday morning to Dallas. She said after she and her friends arrived at DallasFort Worth International Airport that the regular line was long but moved fairly fast.
“We went around about four or five different corners to get to the end of the U.S. line,” she said. With Global Entry, it usually takes less than five minutes to get through customs, she said. Sunday, it took about 30 minutes. Perkins said the shutdown was frustrating. “It feels like Washington is using travelers as a pawn to try to, I guess, persuade the other side to do what they want,” she said. Homeland Security previously said it was taking “emergency measures to preserve limited funds.” Among the steps listed were “ending Transportation Security Administration (TSA) PreCheck lanes and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Global Entry service, to refocus Department personnel on the majority of travelers.”
“We are glad that DHS has decided to keep PreCheck operational and avoid a crisis of its own making,” said Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S Travel Association
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Continued from page 1A
she was falling in love with an oil rig worker in the North Sea who asked for money to pay tax bills.
The man was not a decorated soldier, nor was his name
“Michael Minihan,” nor did he work on a remote, freezing oil rig. He was a 45-yearold Marietta, Georgia, resident originally from Nigeria named Kenneth Akpieyi. He used concocted backstories to ingratiate himself with lonely women, convinced them to send huge sums of cash, laundered the money through multiple businesses sent portions of it overseas and spent what remained on himself, according to hundreds of pages of records filed in U.S. Eastern District Court in New Orleans.
In all, more than two dozen women testified to sending him more than $9 million. That may be an undercount, prosecutors say A federal jury in New Orleans found Akpieyi guilty of fraud last year, and on Jan. 29, U.S. District Judge Jane Milazzo sentenced him to 25 years in prison. A coconspirator Emuobosan Emmanuella Hall, pleaded guilty to helping Akpieyi launder some of the money and was sentenced to eight years. Both must also pay restitution to their victims. The sentences, which are hefty by the standards of federal sentencing codes, reflect the scheme’s breadth and the damage it inflicted upon dozens of lonely, financially vulnerable victims, prosecutors and federal court watchers say Evoking a modern-day soap opera, the sprawling plot touched hundreds of bank accounts, at least five states and 32 victims before culminating last month in a Louisiana courtroom.
Efforts to untangle the scheme, which mirrors a similar romance-related plot in which another man was sentenced to federal prison in December in New Orleans, required at least five law enforcement agencies in two states over several years.
Officials and experts say the case reflects a growing threat to vulnerable people online.
“The victims have all suffered some financial impairment at a later point in their lives, when it is more difficult to earn money and repair the damage,” prosecutor Matthew Payne of the New Orleans-based U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana said in a court filing. “For some, their financial injury is even more serious. They cannot retire, they have to reenter the workforce, and they need to sell property.”
Akpieyi has appealed his conviction. In a 93-minute testimony during his trial, he said repeatedly that money had flowed to him from legitimate sales by a car dealership he owned, according to a trial transcript. He denied knowing any of the victims
“I have never contacted any of the women that I saw here,” he said. His attorneys did not respond to inquiries about the case.
Sprawling scheme
Akpieyi caught investigators’ attention in June 2023 when he walked into a Chase Bank branch in Marietta and tried to withdraw $6,000 in cash and a $30,000 money order He handed a teller a fake ID card with his real photo and an alias, “Phillip Anderson” — the name under which his account was registered. The teller noticed the fake ID and called the police.
Akpieyi later testified he had devised the alias after moving to the U.S. from Nigeria a decade ago because he thought it would be easier to do business in the U.S. with an English-sounding name. He repeatedly admitted under cross-examination to using the false identity to set up bank accounts, including one tied to his car dealership, KGA Autobrokers.
“I was thinking an English name would be more preferable for me to do business for people to associate with me,” he said.
Akpieyi’s arrest led investigators to the trail of widowed, mostly older women he had sought out online Each described being wooed
by a man who presented fabulist, but not totally unbelievable, backstories
Some of them fell for characters with slight similarities to each other.
Akpieyi told more than one woman he was in the military, for instance, and others that he was in the oil industry To a victim in Costa Mesa, California, he was “Tom Nguyen,” an oil engineer who wanted her to go in on a $2.5 million deal he said was pending in Spain. She sent him money she thought would be an investment in the nonexistent deal.
One victim said she sent money to a “Dr Mark Kelly” at a trio of companies with official-sounding names: “Moreland Motorsports LLC,” “Fox Consulting, Inc.” and “JBM Exports LLC.”
Another woman recounted sending Akpieyi $1 million, and yet another sent $750,000.
“I kind of lost track,” testified another victim who lost nearly $500,000.
Prosecutors acknowledge the $9 million in projected losses may be an undercount. Victims described mailing him cash and buying money orders gift cards and bitcoin — all methods of transferring money that do not readily generate receipts
“This conspiracy was an expansive one,” U.S.
Attorney David I Courcelle wrote in a sentencing memo, “both in membership and in its methodology, making it difficult to trace every stolen dollar.”
After Akpieyi received the payments, his co-conspirator, Hall, helped launder the money along with her daughter, she acknowledged in a plea agreement. Hall and Akpieyi met in Nigeria before moving to the U.S., he testified. They sometimes worked through a company called Le Beau Monde LLC, depositing money into bank accounts connected to the business.
Investigators ultimately subpoenaed more than 200 bank accounts in the case, including those belonging to victims. The money flowed to at least 30 accounts connected to Akpieyi, including the KGA Autobrokers account registered to “Phillip Anderson.”
The money was then transferred to accounts with other banks, including in China and the United Arab Emirates, prosecutors said.
‘Errors in judgment’ Hall in her guilty plea acknowledged laundering just over $850,000. Her attorney, Sean Toomey, in a statement last week said the restitution portion of her sentence is resolved pending an appeal. He declined to comment further Prosecutors dropped charges against Hall’s daughter after she agreed to enter a diversion program, records show. Her mother admitted to involving her in the arrangement without explaining its full scope, records show Hall’s business, Le Beau Monde, functioned as a legitimate enterprise before she became involved in Akpieyi’s scheme, Toomey argued in a court filing.
Though Hall made “serious errors in judgment,” Toomey said she pocketed just $45,000 from the scheme.
“Ms. Hall is not a sophisticated fraudster,” he said in the filing. “She did not contact victims. She did not recruit accomplices beyond her daughter, with whom she lived. Ms. Hall was simply a bridge, a lowlevel middleman who followed the instructions of Akpieyi.”
On the witness stand last summer, Akpieyi appeared to claim that some of the victim transactions were payments for cars sold by his auto dealership.
“Whoever I’m doing business is who I’m doing business with, but not this lady at all,” he said of one person who’d written him checks. “I’ve never spoken to this lady at all.”
Email James Finn at jfinn@theadvocate.com.
Last year’s total costs to house inmates outside the parish remain well below spending under former Lafayette Parish MayorPresident Joel Robideaux, which reached nearly $1 million in 2018, then shrunk to roughly $700,000 the following year However, it marks a sharp departure from the minimal costs recorded in recent years. Those costs dropped by 98% when former Lafayette Parish Mayor-President Josh Guillory took office. Under Guillory and during the first year of Mayor-President Monique Boulet’s administration, the parish spent a combined $47,364 on outside housing.
The Sheriff’s Office said outside housing costs were kept unusually low from 2020 to 2024.
“What we basically had was a gentlemen’s agreement, I think I’d like to call it, with the Guillory administration,” said John Mowell, the public affairs director at the Sheriff’s Office. “They (LCG) were spending to the tune of a couple million dollars a year, I think, at the height of sending pretrial detainees out of the parish. In an agreement with (the Guillory administration), they kind of indicated that they were going to move hard towards building a modern jail. And they asked us, in the meantime, if we could work with them to help keep that number under control. So we did. We were able to keep a lid on it for as long as possible, but ultimately, time ran out, right? And we had to get back to taking care of our business.”
In 2022, Guillory proposed a public-private partnership to replace the parish jail, which was built in 1982 and designed to house about 300 inmates Currently, the jail has a maximum capacity of 674 inmates, though available beds can fluctuate depending on the mix of violent inmates, women or underage detainees. Last year, some months averaged as many as 186 beds available, dropping as low as 78.
The Lafayette Parish Council has given preliminary approval of the new jail plans, with an anticipated completion date of this summer
The plan initially carried an estimated cost of $100 million. Johnson Controls submitted a proposal to finance and construct a 1,000-bed facility but Guillory never presented a detailed plan to the Parish Council. By the time Boulet took office, projected construction costs had risen to between $150 million and $200 million, according to LCG Chief Administrative Officer Rachel Godeaux.
With no clear funding mechanism in place, Boulet halted the project and has since been at odds with the Sheriff’s Office over how to pay for a new jail.
“I think the intent is to support the jail when it’s appropriate I know the priority of the sheriff right now is his administrative building,” Godeaux said.
In 2023, LCG secured $17.5 million in state funding intended to help partially pay for a new jail. Two years later, however, the Legislature redirected those capital outlay funds to the Sheriff’s Office for construction of a new administration building on Willow Street, a project expected to cost about $64 million.
State inmates rising
As of early February, 58% of people housed at the Lafayette Parish Correctional
Last spring, Garber revived a dormant lawsuit first filed during the Robideaux administration, accusing LCG of withholding $1.7 million in requested jail funding for the 2019-20 budget and tens of millions in reimbursements.
Center are unsentenced parish inmates, said Maj. Kenny Benoit, the sheriff’s corrections commander
Around 78 inmates at the jail were classified as state inmates. More than half are either awaiting sentencing calculations or are eligible for transfer to state facilities, Benoit said. The remaining state inmates include a small number of jail workers, those ordered by judges to remain at the correctional center or those with less than one month left in their sentences. In an ideal system, inmates convicted in parish court would be transferred to state-run prisons. Instead, overcrowding across Louisiana’s corrections system has caused state inmates to remain in local jails longer including in Lafayette.
The average monthly share of state inmates at the Lafayette jail roughly tripled from January to December 2025, according to Sheriff’s Office data. In February, state inmates made up about 13% of the jail’s population, compared with about 5% at the start of last year
Statewide, the inmate population has grown by about 2,000 people, reaching roughly 30,100, according to the Louisiana Illuminator Gov Jeff Landry’s tough-on-crime agenda and recent legislative changes are expected to keep inmates incarcerated longer
Landry has proposed an $82 million increase in corrections spending, including $17.5 million to expand capacity at the Louisiana State
Penitentiary at Angola.
“We are not asking the state for anybody,” Mowell said.
“The only thing we’re asking the state to do is take the DOC (state) inmates that we have or find a space in another parish for them to go to.”
Funding inmates
The Sheriff’s Office receives $29.39 per day from the state to house and feed state inmates. LCG pays roughly the same amount per day to whichever sheriff houses Lafayette Parish inmates, Mowell said.
While the Sheriff’s Office receives revenue for housing state inmates, Mowell said that funding does not fully cover the estimated $87 per day it costs to house each inmate.
“It’s the best bang for your buck, not mine,” Boulet said at a Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee meeting in December
LCG pays the Sheriff’s Office $3.50 per day per parish inmate — the minimum required under state law Mowell said the figure should be closer to $16 after adjusting for inflation.
Disagreements over jail funding escalated in fall 2024 when an email exchange between Lafayette Parish Sheriff Mark Garber’s office, Boulet and city officials surfaced publicly
LCG at the time responded by accusing the Sheriff’s Office of “double dipping” by expensing costs for state inmates and those no longer housed in the jail. The parish also accused Garber of sending parish inmates elsewhere to free up beds for state inmates, which it said unjustly enriched the Sheriff’s Office at parish expense. The Sheriff’s Office has denied the allegations.
“We’ve heard before there are jails that are willing (to take) up to hundreds of (state) inmates, but then we hear that there’s no room,“ Godeaux said. “Our understanding based on conversation and with other jails, yes, there could be room.”
Similar disputes have played out elsewhere in Louisiana. In St. Landry Parish, parish officials accused and later sued their sheriff over claims that state inmates were being retained to generate per diem revenue while the parish absorbed the cost of housing its inmates elsewhere.
Mowell said that dynamic is less pronounced in larger parish jails like Lafayette’s.
“The dynamic shifts; our most valued resource is the number of beds that we have in our jail, right? It’s our capacity to hold pretrial detainees. That’s a premium for us,” he said.
What happens next is unclear Since reviving the lawsuit, Garber and LCG have asked the court for partial summary judgments on who bears what responsibilities and the associated costs Both have filed requests opposing one another, according to court documents.
In January, all 15th Judicial District Court judges recused themselves from the case. In early February, retired First Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jewel E. Welch Jr was assigned to the case.
Officials: Man enteredsecured perimeter; Trump wasn’t there
BY MICHELLEL.PRICE and ALLEN G. BREED Associated Press
WASHINGTON An armed man drove into the secure perimeterofMar-a-Lago, President DonaldTrump’s resort in Palm Beach, Florida,before beingshotand killed early Sunday morning, according to aspokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service. Trump was not there butwas at the White House in Washington.
The man, who was in his early 20s and from North Carolina, had agas can and ashotgun, according to Anthony Guglielmi, the spokesman. He said abox for the weapon was discovered in the man’svehicle after the incident, which took place about 1:30 a.m.
Investigators identified the man killed as 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin, according to aperson familiar with the matter.The person was not authorizedtopubliclydiscuss details of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity Trump has faced threats to his life before, including two assassination attemptsduring the 2024 campaign.
The man entered the north gateofthe property as another vehiclewas exiting and was confronted by two SecretService agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw
“He was ordered to drop those twopieces of equipment that he had with him. At which time he put down
the gas can, raisedthe shotgun to ashooting position,” Bradshaw said at abrief newsconference. The two agents and the deputy “fired theirweapons to neutralize the threat.”
The Moore County Sheriff’s Department in North Carolina said arelativeof Martin’sreported him missingearlySunday morning Investigators believe he picked up the shotgun on his way south Investigators are working to compile apsychological profile, and amotive is still underinvestigation.Asked whether the man wasknown to lawenforcement, Bradshaw said “not right now.”
The FBIasked residents who live near Mar-a-Lago to check any security cameras they may have for footage that could help investigators. In apostonX,FBI Director Kash Patelsaidthe bureau would be “dedicating all necessary resources” to the investigation.
Althoughthe president oftenspends weekends at his resort,he andfirstladyMelania Trump were at the White House when the breach at Mar-a-Lago occurred.
On Sunday afternoon,vehiclesblocked the entrance to aproperty listed inpublic records as an address for Martin at the end of aprivate road in Cameron, North Carolina
Braeden Fields, Martin’s cousin,reacted with disbelief. HedescribedMartin as quiet, afraid of guns and from afamily ofavid Trump supporters.
“He’sagood kid,” Fields, 19, said.Hesaidtheygrew up together.“Iwouldn’tbelieve he would do something likethis. It’s mind-blowing,” Fields said.
He said Martin worked at alocal golfcourse andwould send money from each pay-
JaliscoNew Generation head slaininoperation to capturehim
BY FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ Associated Press
MEXICO CITY The Mexican army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” on Sunday,decapitating what had become Mexico’s most powerful carteland giving the government its biggest prize yet to show the Trump administrationits efforts.
Oseguera Cervantes was wounded in an operationto capture him Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco, about atwo-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara and he died while being flown to Mexico City,the Defense Department said in astatement. The state is the base of the cartel known for trafficking huge quantities of fentanyl and other drugs to the United States.
During the operation, troops came under fire and killed four people at the location. Three more people,including Oseguera Cervantes, were wounded and later died, the statement said. Two others were arrested and armored vehicles, rocket launchers and other arms were seized. Three members of thearmed forces were wounded and receiving medical treatment.
The killing of the powerful drug lord set off several hours of roadblocks with burning vehicles in Jalisco and other states. Such tactics arecommonly used by the cartels to block military operations. Jalisco canceled school in the state for Monday Videos circulating on social media showed plumes of smoke billowingoverthe
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByMARTALAVANDIER
APalm Beach County sheriff vehicle blocks trafficSunday near Mar-a-LagoinPalmBeach, Fla. An armed mandrove into the secure perimeter of President Donald Trump’sresort before beingshot and killed Sunday,according to the U.S. Secret Service.
check to charity “He wouldn’tevenhurt an ant.Hedoesn’teven know how to useagun,” Fields said.
He said his cousin didn’t discuss politics.
“Weare big Trump supporters, allofus. Everybody,” Fields said, but his cousin was “real quiet, never really talked about anything.”
Sunday’sincursion at Mar-a-Lagotook place afew milesfrom Trump’sWest Palm Beach clubwhere a man triedtoassassinate him whileheplayedgolf during the 2024 campaign.
ASecret Serviceagent spotted that man,Ryan Routh, aiming arifle through the shrubberybefore Trump came into view.Officials said Routh aimed his rifle at
theagent,who opened fire and caused Routh to drop his weapon.
Routh wasfound guilty last year and sentenced this month to life in prison.
Trump also survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. That gunman fired eight shots before being killed by aSecret Service counter sniper.One rally at-
touristcity of Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco,and people sprintingthrough theairport of thestate’scapital in panic. On Sundayafternoon,Air Canadaannounced it was suspending flightstoPuerto Vallarta“duetoanongoing security situation” and advised customers not to go to their airport. In Guadalajara, the state capital, burning vehicles blocked roads. Mexico’s second-largestcity is scheduled to host matches during this summer’s soccerWorld Cup.
The U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens in Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Michoacan,Guerrero and Nuevo Leonstates to remain in safe places due to the ongoing security operations.Canada’s embassy in Mexico warned its citizens in Puerto Vallarta to shelterinplaceand generally to keep alow profile in Jalisco. Jalisco Gov.Pablo Lemus told residents to stay at home and suspended public transportation.
The U.S. State Department had offered areward of up to $15 million for informationleadingtothe arrest of El Mencho. TheJalisco New Generation Cartel, known as CJNG, isone of themost powerful and fastest growing criminalorganizationsin Mexico and was born in2009. In February, theTrump administration designated the cartelasaforeign terrorist organization
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, like her predecessor,has criticized the “kingpin” strategyofpreviousadministrationsthat took outcartelleaders only to trigger explosions of violence as cartels fractured. While she has remained popular in Mexico,securityisa persistent concern and since President Donald Trump took office ayear ago, she has been under tremendous pressure to show results against drug trafficking.
PUBLIC NOTICE
Advertisementfor Requestfor Proposal Noticeisherebygiven thata sealed Requestfor Proposal(RFP) will be re‐ceivedbythe Lafayette ParishSchool System PurchasingDepartment located at 202 Rue Iberville, Lafayette,LA 70508. Delivery to anyde‐partmentother
y for goodsand services. Tothatend,all contrac‐torsand suppliersare encouragedtoutilize mi‐noritybusinessenter‐prisesinthe purchase of sub-contracting of mate‐rials,supplies, andser‐vices in which minority ownedbusinessesare available Theownerreservesthe right to reject anybids for just cause.
PUBLISHDATES: February 9, 2026 February 17, 2026 February 23, 2026 176832-feb9-17-23-3t $76.20
NOTICE NOTICE TO BIDDERS Notice is hereby given thatsealedbidswillbe receivedeitherelectroni‐cally at https://lafayet tecsdgovla.tylerportico com/va/vendor-access/ registration or in theof‐fice of thePurchasingDi‐visionatthe Lafayette ConsolidatedGovern‐mentBuilding, locatedat 705 West University Av‐enue,Lafayette Louisiana,until 3:00 pm Central Time on the11th day of March, 2026 for the following: TEN2025 OR NEWER DUMPTRAILERS andwill, shortlythere‐after,beopenedand readaloud in theOffice ofPurchasinglocated at 705 West University Av‐enue,Lafayette,LA. Bids receivedafter theabove specified time foropen‐ing shallnot be consid‐eredand shallbere‐turnedunopenedtothe sender. Biddersare en‐couragedtoattendthe bid openingvirtually by using thefollowing link https://us02web.zoom us/j/81471182509? pwd=N2CtKrSCrdJuksf CPgJ7a3vC91UuaS.1 MeetingID: 814 7118 2509 Passcode: 337959 In accordance with Louisiana RS 38:2212 vendors maysubmit their bidelectronicallyat thewebsite listed above.
tendee waskilled by the gunman.
WhiteHouse presssecretary Karoline Leavitt said in apost on Xthat “theUnited States Secret Serviceacted quickly and decisively to neutralizea crazy person, armedwithagun andagas canister,who intruded President Trump’shome.” Leavitt used her post to blameDemocraticlawmakers in Congress for the partial government shutdown affecting the Homeland Security Department, which began Feb. 14 after Democrats demanded changes to the president’sdeportation campaign.
The Secret Service is amongthe agencies where the vast majority of employees are continuing their work but missing apaycheck.
“Federal law enforcement are working 24/7 to keep our country safe andprotect all Americans,” Leavitt said. “It’sshameful and reckless that Democrats have chosen to shut down their Department.”
The White House referred allquestions to theSecret Service andFBI. Both Trump andhis wife posted statements on social media after the incident, but they were unrelated to the shooting.
ownedbyLouisiana resi‐dents.The bidbondshall beissuedbya company licensedtodobusiness inLouisiana andcounter‐signedbya person who isunder contract with re‐sidinginthisstate.The certified check, cashier’s check,orbid bond shall begiven as aguarantee thatthe bidder shallexe‐cutethe contract,should itbeawarded to him, in conformitywiththe con‐tract documentswithin ten (10) days No bidder maywithdraw his bidfor at leastfortyfive (45) days afterthe timescheduled forthe opening of bids.Eachbid shall be submittedonly onthe bidformprovided withthe specifications.
Bids will be evaluatedby the Purchaserbased on the lowest responsible and responsive bidsub‐mittedwhich is also in compliancewiththe bid documents.The Lafayette Consolidated Governmentreservesthe right to reject anyand all bidsfor just causeinac‐cordancewithLAR.S 38§2214.B
Electronic copies ofboththe frontand backofthe checkorbid bondshall be included withthe electronic bid. Bidderswishing to sub‐mit theirbid electroni‐cally must firstberegis‐tered online with Lafayette Consolidated Governmentasa poten‐tialsupplieratthe web‐sitelistedabove.Bidders submittingbidselectron‐icallyshall includeall documents in one(1) combinedPDF file with bookmark(s)and arere‐quiredtoprovide one(1) hardcopywithinforty-
wishing to submit their bid electronically must registeronlinewith Lafayette Consolidated Government, in orderto establish an account Vendorssubmittingbids electronicallyare re‐quiredtoprovide the samedocuments as bid‐derssubmittingthrough the
TheLafayette Consoli‐dated Government stronglyencouragesthe participation of DBEs (DisadvantagedBusiness Enterprise) in allcon‐tractsorprocurements let by theLafayette Con‐solidated Government for goodsand services and laborand material Tothatend,all contrac‐torsand suppliersare encouragedtoutilize DBEsbusinessenter‐prisesinthe purchase or sub-contracting of mate‐rials,supplies, services and laborand material in which disadvantaged businessare available. Assistanceinidentifying saidbusinessesmay be obtainedbycalling 2918410.
PURCHASING DIVISION Lafayette Consolidated Government PUBLISHDATES:2/23/26 3/1/26 DPR# 1003671 177939-feb23-mar1-2t $98.26
PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE TO BIDDERS
Notice is hereby given thatsealedbidswillbe receivedeitherelectroni‐cally at https://lafayet tecsdgovla.tylerportico com/va/vendor-access/ registration or in theof‐fice of thePurchasingDi‐visionatthe Lafayette ConsolidatedGovern‐mentBuilding, locatedat 705 West University Av‐enue,Lafayette Louisiana,until 3:00 p.m. CentralTimeonthe 10th dayofMarch,2026 for the following: 167118.5.2980 SHOP FABRICATED TANKS andwill, shortlythere‐after,beopenedand readaloud in theCouncil Briefing Room locatedat 705 West University Av‐enue,Lafayette,LA. Bids receivedafter theabove specified time foropen‐ing shallnot be consid‐eredand shallbere‐turnedunopenedtothe sender. Bidders areen‐couragedtocallintothe bid openings viaZoom using thefollowing link: https://us02web.zoom us/j/85235727817? pwd=tKk5wsiLZ3BaMBL Jlx4Es8nykPoxX1.1 ScopeofWork: The scope of Work shallcon‐sistofall engineering, design, fabrication, test‐ing,packaging anddeliv‐ery of aShopFabricated Tanks andits acces‐soriesand including manufacturer's fieldser‐vicesatthe JobSite. All
King Architects, Ritter Consulting Engineers and Miller &Associates Development designed and built it. An attorney for King Architects disputed the structuralissues
McMillin said the building remains safe for the 20 city employees who work thereand for those who frequent the clubhouse, which has golf cart storage on the ground level and arestaurant, The Max, on the second level. The clubhouse sustained about $400,000indamage during Hurricane Laura in 2020 while under construction, which someofficials suggested during recent meetings may have contributed to the current problems
“We’re going to get it fixed. That’s thestory,” McMillin said.“We caught it, and we’re going to get it fixed.”
But late last month, an engineer hired by the city warned the second level of the building could“fall or cave in” without immediate action according to an audio recording of aJan. 29 meeting. The engineer said temporary walls could alleviate immediate concerns, butalong-term fix would require afull structural evaluation.
Attorney Dale Clary,who is representing King Architects, said structural integrity issues at this stage are “only theoretical,” butthe architect, contractor and engineer are cooperating with the city to evaluate allegations.
“At this point, King Architects
Continued from page1A
spent with the Boffners and their young son, Ian, werean important part of her childhood, where she truly felt safeand stable. She remembers spending holidays with their extended family,joining camp and always feeling included.
“They made me feel like I belonged,” she said. “I never forgot that.”
Paula Boffner said Cawley wasthe first child she and her husband fostered.
“She was very loving, so it was agreat first experience for fostering achild,” Boffner said. “Wejust wanted her to feel loved, safe.”
The couple had always hoped to grow their family after the birth of their son, Ian. Although having another biological child was possible, Boffner said she felt called to help achild whoneeded a home. They initially contacted adoption agencies but were advised to begin as foster parents, to allow familiesto gain experience and support while caring for children who may have experienced trauma or instability.Foster trainingprepared them for temporary care and the emotional realityofwhatlovinga child meant, even if it ended in saying goodbye.
Asystemmadetoprotect
“For us, it was easier navigating foster care because they gave us resources and guidance,” Boffner said.
On the other hand, Cawleysaid her experience trying to revisit that chapterof her life as ayoung teen into adulthood felt far more complicated. After aboutsix to eight
disagrees there areany structural issues,” Clarysaidinanemailed statement. “There arenone of the typical indications of building stress, e.g., sheet rock cracks, molding separated, doors sticking, etc.”
AttorneyTom Gayle, whorepresents Miller &Associates, issued a brief statement via email.
“Much likeDale (Clary), we are at the infancy of this discussion and are looking for more information before we canweigh in on the situation,” Gayle said.
Attempts to reach arepresentative at Ritter Consulting were unsuccessful
City officialsare considering several options regardingthe concerns around theclubhouse. Amongthem: declaring astate of emergency at theclubhouse, building temporary walls to address loadissuesand even tearing down andrebuilding the facility,according to city records The Advocatereviewed through apublic records request that include emails, audio recordings, meeting notes, meeting transcripts, engineering plans and service agreements
McMillinsaid thecitylearned of potential structural issues about six months ago whileinstallingsound barriers in the restaurant.
“There was some unevenness,” McMillin said. “Wecould just see some deflection —movement,some slight movement in the building.”
Themayor declined to elaborate on the specifics.
“The city of Westlake has learned of potential structural issues at The Max locatedatThe National Golf Club of Louisiana,” said the city’sat-
months with theBoffners, Cawleywas returned home where she said the stability did notlast. She described herteenage years as difficult, and she left home at 15. As an adult, she repeatedly tried to find thefoster family she remembered so lovingly, but shedid notknow their last name and gaining access to recordswas difficult.
She saidthe process of requesting court or foster carerecordsonly gotmore difficult after she moved out of state.Cawleysaid there were noresources for guidance oreven to tell her where to start.
“I think alot of people stop searchingbecause it’s so complicated,” shesaid.
“There’snot just asimple wayto findthatinformation
Boffner said she was surprised to learnhow hardit hadbeenfor Cawley to find her
“You’d think she could calland say,‘Iwas infoster care, who weremyfoster parents?’ ”Boffner said.
“Wewere willing to love her and take careofher,so why wouldn’twewanttohear from her now?”
HeatherMeylian, executive director of Foster the Love Louisiana, said stories like Cawley’sare more common than peoplerealize.
She said the difficulty oftenisn’tabout strict privacy laws or reunification laws overall, but about theabsence of aclear,organized pathway for reconnection.
“There’snodedicated registry or communityorganization whose sole role is helping former fosteryouth reconnect with former foster families,” Meylian said.
She added that alot of it comes downtowhatinformation aperson already has, whichmay include aname
torney, Rusty Stutes, in astatement. “The cityhas commissioned athorough investigationofthe potential issues with outside experts. Once their report is received and/or more reliable information is obtained, the city will update theinformation to the public.”
Red flagsemerge
The redflags started to emerge last year Engineer ByronRacca,ofMeyer &Associates, wrote in aSept. 4letter to McMillin that apreliminary structuralassessment identified signs of structural problemsinmultiple locations. Racca recommended that thecityhirea structural engineer to look moreclosely at the building andtoreviewarchitectural plans and other construction documents. He also advisedthe city to implementastructuralmonitoring plan to ensure public safety.
The mayor signed an agreement abouta week laterwith BasinEngineering to investigate issues with “walls settling, unevenfloors,columns buckling and doors sticking.” BasinEngineering’sDaniel Bobeck Jr.estimated theservices would cost $15,000, plus $4,600 for each site visit.
By the start of this year,during aJan. 13 meeting between city officials and engineers, Westlake Clerk AndreaMahfouz suggested declaringa stateofemergency forthe clubhouse to bypass usual bidrequirements and theirlonger timelines.
Then Racca, along with Bobeck and Kirk Henry of Basin Engineering, advised city officials to find
photoorasmall detail.
“Without that,itcan feel like searching in the dark,” shesaid.
Meylian said while there have been improvements in child welfarepractices over the past twodecades, especially in encouraging ongoing connections, those systems weren’t always designed with long-termreunions in mind.
“We’ve comealongway in understandinghow important lifelong connections are for kids,” shesaid. “But for adults who were in care years ago, there just aren’t many formal pathways to help them reconnect later in life.”
Bringing everyone together
Whenthe daycame that Cawley’ custody an emotional Be nerm album time it was kept the at for “I brace ley that Tha having nect say Me priv arei they bar
“It’ being connecting there up she change, cor there’ turn
an attorney during aJan. 16 walkthrough of the building. They said the problems would be “expensive to fix” and couldinvolve “a complete tear down andrebuild,” according to notes takenbyWestlakePublic Works Director Damon Hardesty.In the meantime, the engineers recommended building temporary walls to addressload issues at the clubhouse.
At the end of January,McMillinconvened agroup of 15 city officials,engineers, architects and attorneys. He asked them to get problems “fixed in avery positive way,hopefully to nothavelitigation andtomove forward,”according to an audiorecording of the meeting.
“I’m just going to tell you some of the stuffthat they’ve told us is disturbing to me,” he added. It remains unclear who would foot the bill forbothtemporaryand long-termfixes.
“I’ve inheritedabuilding thathas structural problems,” McMillin said in the meeting. “I don’tsee where the city is going to have to put out moneytofixsomething thatshould havebeen built correctly —orbuilt to standard, or engineered to standard.”
Engineers video-conferenced again with Westlake officials Feb. 2and suggested options to temporarily fix the overloading of walls near the facility’ssecond-floor bathrooms andkitchen. They also detailed otherproblems they identified from awalk-through, includingimprovised structuralsupports thatwere not in the original plans or tied to documented change orders, according to atranscript of the meeting.
Earlier this month, more thanthree decades after theysaid goodbye, Cawley was able to reconnect with theBoffners.
“She looked the same. I could see Ginger,” saidBoffner. “Hearing that she still remembered the love in our homemade me feel like Idid something right.”
Meyliansaidreunionslike this can be incrediblyjoyful for former foster children, and that most foster parents would welcome hearing how they made apositive impact.
“For manyformer foster youth,reconnecting is about closure and understanding apiece of their story,” she said. “For foster parents, there can be excitement but
The National GolfClub of Louisianaopenedin2009asthe centerpiece of Westlake’s600-acre, master-plannedcommunitycalled TheVillages of West Trace. Like other city-owned golf courses, Westlake hasstruggledtokeep expenses down andincrease revenues at theproperty.Former MayorBob Hardey pitched the idea of the restaurant, TheMax, as away to help bring in morerevenue.
The facilityhas storage space for about 100 golf carts, abar and grill withseating for180, apro shop and an administrative area. About3,000 of Westlake’s5,000 residentsvisit the golf course each year,City Councilmember Lori Peterson saidata meeting this month.
McMillin said the clubhouse is now fully paid for and is operating in the black,thanks in part to The National’s newmanager,JamiePerkins Perkins saidnoemployees or customers have raised concernstohim aboutthe building.
“It’sjust stuff that we see day in and day out,” he said. “I’ve made walks around with all those guys (engineers),and there’s no imminent danger.”
BasinEngineering issued areport on Feb. 12 with recommendations on how to temporarily shore the clubhouse. There is no cost estimate associated withthe temporary fix, and no formalactionhas been takenby thecitytoenact the plan, according to McMillin.
Afull engineer’sreport is expected later thismonth.
also worry,wondering how that child’slife turned out.”
Cawley,now amother herself, said those early memories shaped how she raises her ownchild. She said she triestoprovide thesame sense of safety and reassurance she felt in the Boffners’ home.
“I know whatitfeels like to have aplace where youfeel safe,” shesaid. “Every kid deserves that.”
She hopes her story encourages otherswho grew up in foster care not to give up searching and wants to spark more conversation about making the process easier
“Evenifa child is only in afoster home for afew months,the love,stability and examples they see there can stay with them forever,” Meylian said. “And the more safe, caring adultsa child can stay connected to over time,the better theirlongterm outcomes tend to be.”
For Cawley,the reunion feels like reclaiming amissing piece of her childhood.
“For me, this is like asecondchance,” she said. “It’s taking back something that was stolen.”
Meylian said Cawley’sstory is apowerful reminder of how even short placements can leave lifelongimpressions.
Email Ja’kori Madison at jakori.madison@ theadvocate.com.
BY COURTNEY PEDERSEN Staff writer
Short-term rental properties, such as ones available on Airbnb and VRBO, will now have restrictions on how close they can be to one another in Lake Charles.
Now, only one short-term rental will be allowed every roughly 0.2 miles of the city but those that already exist will not be affected
Champion pole vaulter releases pop song
BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer
Last fall, Louisiana-born track star Mondo Duplantis set a world record in pole vaulting, for the 14th time The Olympic champion, who lives in and competes for his mother’s country of Sweden, set his latest record at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo with a jump that cleared 6.30 meters, or 20 feet, 8 inches. That feat came on the heels of other accomplishments for Duplantis, like his engagement to Swedish model Desiré Inglander The 26-year-old athlete, acknowledged as the best pole vaulter in the world, is also a skilled golfer — and in his free time, he may have what it takes to become a pop star as well.
On Feb. 20, SVT Play, a Swedish streaming service, released Duplantis’ performance of the song “Feeling Myself” for a live audience As a singer, he has a smooth, laid-back style that mirrors his confidence on the track and Duplantis has more songs where that came from He has released two singles in Sweden, “Bop” and “4L,” with “Bop” rising to No. 31 on the Swedish singles chart.
Duplantis was named “World Athlete of the Year” in November after becoming the first men’s pole vaulter to go undefeated for two years and it’s clear he’s not ready to slow down any time soon.
“This ordinance doesn’t ban short-term rentals,” Lake Charles District D City Council member Matt Young said “It simply prevents overconcentration. One every 1,000 feet still allows opportunity for homeowners to participate, but it ensures that no single street becomes overwhelmed.”
On Wednesday, the City Council unanimously approved an amendment to an ordinance passed in De-
cember that does not allow shortterm rentals within 1,000 feet of each other and to the ordinance regulating the permitted uses of properties.
The original ordinance passed on Dec. 5 states that short-term rentals are permitted “in all zoning districts with the exception of residential and neighborhood districts, which will require the issuance of a Minor Conditional Use Permit.”
It states that the properties are subject to the provisions of needing to be a dwelling unit, not allowing commercial events, having an occupancy of two people per bedroom, plus an additional two people and needing to comply with all applicable sign regulations. Although the ordinance was originally passed about three months ago, Young, whose district includes a majority of the northwest part of
the city said he has had about four residents reach out within different areas of his jurisdiction within that time, saying that they had started to see multiple short-term rentals open on one street or in a smaller neighborhood.
“I support the use of short-term rentals by property owners. I think whenever they are spaced out, they can coexist really well within a neighborhood,” Young said. “But the problem begins whenever
Whiting sings Saturday during
by The Iberia African American
at Shadows-on-the-Teche
and Books
show, an original one-woman musical by the Lafayette artist, is presented in two acts and four scenes. It features a narrator, Timothy Sam, and brings to life the voices and legacies of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan — four legendary women who shaped jazz, blues, pop and swing music.
He faces new trial on murder charge
BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT and CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writers
A man imprisoned at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola for more than three decades, whose murder conviction and sentence were vacated last year as he was remanded for a new trial, has had his bail set at $1 million, meaning he likely will remain incarcerated for the foreseeable future.
Keith Ezidore, a 73-year-old man from St. James Parish, was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in 1993, after he was convicted of second-degree murder in the 1991 stabbing death of Ralph Flowers.
The vast majority of the state’s case rested on testimony from a 15-year-old with a juvenile criminal record, some of which was not presented to Ezidore’s defense attorneys.
The Louisiana 5th Circuit Court of Appeal found that this violated the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1963 Brady v. Maryland decision,
which requires prosecutors to disclose to defense attorneys any evidence that tends to show a defendant is not guilty The Louisiana Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision, vacating Ezidore’s conviction and sentence and remanding it back for a new trial.
Judge Steven Tureau, of the 23rd Judicial District Court, set Ezidore’s bail amount last week.
During hearings regarding his potential release, Ezidore’s attorneys and family members maintained his innocence in the case and said his current age and medical problems ensure he isn’t a danger to the community or a flight risk.
Richard Davis, legal director of Innocence & Justice Louisiana and one of Ezidore’s attorneys, wrote in a statement that Ezidore
“has been wrongfully imprisoned since 1991 for a murder that he did not commit.”
“His medical conditions mean that he cannot even earn money doing barely paid prison labor
He has no way to pay a $1 million bail,” Davis said.
“Continuing to prosecute and in-
carcerate a frail 73-year-old who is presumed innocent in a case in
which the crucial witness against him is on tape saying that he does not know anything about the murder is not reasonable. Despite this, Mr Ezidore’s resolve remains strong. Our office will keep pursuing every avenue to free and exonerate him.”
Before the bail decision, the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office requested the court deny bail altogether or set it at no less than $1 million with ankle monitoring requirements, according to the bail order Lester Duhé, press secretary for Attorney General Liz Murrill, said the office did not have a comment on the decision.
Louisiana law requires judges to weigh nine factors when granting bail. These include the severity of the charge, the weight of the evidence, the defendant’s previous criminal record and their ability to pay In his ruling, Tureau wrote that he took Ezidore’s age and medical conditions into account but stated that the allegation against Ezidore and his criminal history before his conviction weighed heavily against him.
“Although the Court must view the Defendant as though he had
never been convicted, this Court may still consider that the Defendant was indicted by a grand jury for second-degree murder,” the judge wrote.
Tureau’s decision followed two hearings held earlier this year at the St. James Parish Courthouse in Convent, during which Davis alleged Torrey Burnett, the prosecution’s star witness in the original case, had recanted his testimony Burnett implicated Ezidore and his now-deceased co-defendant, Larry Walker in three statements to police during the original case.
According to the 5th Circuit’s decision, Burnett had alleged that Ezidore and Walker went to rob Flowers at his business and that Ezidore grabbed and held Flowers while Walker stabbed him.
While the jury was aware that the state had promised to dismiss a pending burglary charge and give Burnett immunity in the Flowers case, the appellate court found that prosecutors did not disclose several juvenile adjudications and a pending armed robbery charge against Burnett.
“The information withheld by the State in this case was critical information about its primary wit-
ness,” the document stated, adding that the “suppressed evidence undermines the testimony of the prosecution’s star witness.” Burnett was the only witness to identify Ezidore in a case where there was no physical evidence linking him to the murder
In the motion for a bail hearing, Davis alleged that Burnett had recanted his former testimony twice. Burnett appeared at the first hearing held Jan. 12, but the hearing was paused so he could consult an attorney Burnett later invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, according to Tureau’s bail order
At the January hearing, Davis also introduced a recording of a phone call with a man he said was Burnett. In the call, which was provided to The Advocate, the man said he had been threatened to not testify by Capt. Brent Dicharry, commander of investigations at the St. James Parish Sheriff’s Office.
“Brent told me I’d better not get up there and open my mouth, and I’d better not (unintelligible) or I won’t like the repercussions,” the
In itsJan. 26 editorial, thenewspaper’seditorial staff imagined that U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins might have something reasonable to sayabout the necessity of due process and equal protection in immigration enforcement in the wake of the deaths of Minneapolitans Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal immigration authorities. The newspaper cited Higgins’ “background in local law enforcement” as asource of wisdom that he might provide It is time for the media to quit portraying Higgins as some sort of “top cop.” It istrue that Higgins was employed by the Opelousas PoliceDepartment from 2004 to 2007. His SWAT unit was disbanded after he anda colleague were caught on aconvenience store camera, purchasing alcoholic beverages while on duty.Hewas also investigated for using unnecessary force in beatingasuspect who was unarmed, already in handcuffs and later released for no wrongdoing. Higgins resigned beforedisciplinary action could be taken. He called his police chief a“peacock, acolorful, flightless bird.”
From Opelousas, Higgins bouncedtothe Port Barre Police from 2007 to 2010. Very littleis known of his time there, buthis tenure was as brief as it was with Opelousas police. From 2011 to 2016,Higgins was employed with the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office as apublic relations officer There, he rosetoculturalnotice with bounty videos of alleged gang members. Hissuperior,the sheriff, told him to “tone it down” andto“put his big boy pants on” forputting a“target on the back” of fellowofficers. Higgins again resigned just as disciplinary measures were being taken. Let’sbereal. Except for masks, which Higgins believes conceal ouridentity as “children of God,” Higgins is no different from the ICE thugs —not asource of wisdomonlaw enforcement. M. CHRISTIAN GREEN Lafayette
LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR
AREWELCOME.HEREARE
Aresident ducks under partofadowned tree to getinto ahomealong astreet on Feb.1 in LakeProvidence.
With power now fully restored across northLouisiana followingthe historic winter storm,Iwant to pause to say two simple words: thank you. Thank you to our customers for your patience, resilience and extraordinary sense of community.Inthe face of adversity,what shined brightest was how people cared for one another.Wesaw neighbors stepping in to help,families making room for others and communities lifting each other up. That kindness and generosityare theheart of northLouisiana, and we are proud to serve aregion built on those values. Your spirit made aset of difficult circumstances more manageableand reminded us why these communities are so special.
Ialso want to recognize themorethan 4,500 restoration workers who answered the call. These men and women worked around theclock in some of the most hazardous conditionsour system has ever faced. Many were away from their own families while
enduring freezing temperatures, mud, standing water and difficult terrain to rebuild damaged lines and infrastructure.
In my four decades in this industry,this wasthe mostsevere ice event Ihave witnessed on our electrical system. Restoration required persistence and precision. Even after initial repairs, continued environmental impacts created new challenges, and crews returned again and again to ensure every repair was completed thoroughly and correctly.That sustained effort is what allowed us to restore service across theregion.
We are deeply grateful for the trust you place in our company,and we don’ttake that for granted. Storms will come and go, but our commitment to north Louisiana remains constant. It is an honor to standwith you, and we thank you for reminding us what true community looks like.
PHILLIP MAY president and CEO,EntergyLouisiana
While my political leanings are wholly mine, andI would never force, coerce or even ask another to hold them in place of their own educated or otherwise opinion, I wish to pointout themodern hand-wringing and brow-dabbing that Republicans are going through.
When narratives held in recent years such as vaccine efficacy,voting security, environmental technologies, immigration andclimate analysis —are questioned and vilified, is it anywonder that the constituents whohave been weaned on the teat of questionable defiance now so threaten the stability of those very politicians’ futures that said politicians are near to tears hoping that voters suddenly accept the very things denounced for years?
regardless of winning. Carbon capture technologies, once a“leftist” effort, are now embraced by theright and vital forindustries that know via science that it is safe, effective and beneficial.
The natural process of human populations to moveand mix andspread physically is now bound by imagined lines andfalse ideas of race, leaving aonce-proud country farmer squeezed by massive industrial processes and alack of honest workers.
That very climate activity binds mostof these issues together,swinging through extremes that will only grow worse in decades to come, and acontinued denialdoes nothing for abetter understanding of the solutions, if not of climatechange, then of the multiplicity of issues theworld will face in compensation
As aLouisiana native and former director of adepartment of the LSU Health Sciences Center in NewOrleans, Iamdeeply disturbedbythe major self-inflicted injury the political leadership of the state andthe LSU System have inflicteduponthis preeminent health careinstitution.
By unceremoniously dismissing Dr.Steve Nelsonaschancellor aftera little more thanayear in the position, the future suddenly appearsbleak
Dr.Nelsonisa widely respected physician, administrator and researcher,not only in the local regionbut also across the world in his field of expertise
Moreover,hewas successfully undertaking the herculean task of rebuilding trust andrespect in the community following the misdeedsofhis predecessor so very thoroughly documentedbythis newspaper.
By following the tired old failed script of reorganizing andremoving people of integrity,independenceand character with cronies who fail upward, the institution (aswellasthe state) is set back by decades
LSU HSC’sbillion-dollar impact will wither away because of departuresand retirements of worldclassresearchers, educators and clinicians who have lost faith as a result of the political games originating in BatonRouge. Sadly,these missteps have been the case since the HueyLongera.Everyone loses when “leadership” chooses politics over integrity: students, educators, staff, researchers andespecially patients.
As he is widely respected, I’m sure Nelson likely will do just fine in his next position, though he deserveda kinderfate.
More importantly,those families who rely on health care education andtreatment in Louisiana deserve amuchbetterfuture.
JAMES A. HARDY San Diego, California
“America first,” he said
Better than ever before
Just watch us soar
OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name and the writer’scity of residence.The Advocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address and phone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588 Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@theadvocate.com. TO SEND US ALETTER, SCAN HERE
Measles, once carefully controlled, has returned, surely in time for atrue epidemic to emerge that half our population will refuse wholeheartedly to accept any medical intervention for.Elections are denied to the pointthat either blindloyalty shadesthe selection available or the resultsare rejected
Ijust foundout thetickets for the New Orleans Saints game in Paris will be by lottery In thepast, it was done by seniority. Iaman original season ticket holder with the highest seniority and was expecting the ticketstobe offered this way again.
What’sthe point of having seniority if they’regoing to use alottery?
I’vebeen with theSaintsfor almost 60 years nowand have been loyal this entire time. Where is their loyalty to the fans like
Maybe amatter of time will lay low the wheat, and perhaps theseed will find root in abrighter future —but not in the darkness of lies and purposeful mismanagement.
NATHAN MEAUX Crowley
me whohave been here since Day 1?
Loyalty works bothways, andifitmeans nothing to theSaints, then Imay have to rethinkcontinuing to show my loyalty by buying season tickets.
Iamthoroughly disappointed in their decision, and Ihope Gayle Benson is madeaware of how disgusted the season ticket-holders are with this decision.
KEITH ORGERON youngsville
And prices did
Then came the ICE
Chilling the plan
Killing the vision
Causing the tears
The anguish
Forgotten promises
Broken dreams
Nightmares galore
Bringing us more
Heartache and pain
Losing family and friends
Not making amends
But causing morechaos
When will this end
Will they ever bend
To hear our pleas
For harmony and peace
First to last, alas!
MARYLARSON Baton Rouge
Let’shear aword of praise for the ordinary citizens who havecalled for an endtothe too-often reckless invasions of American cities byfederal agents carrying out PresidentDonald Trump’scrusade against undocumented immigrants.
Iammoved by the courageand patriotism of those who have comeout on the streets, sometimes in awesome numbers, to demand investigations into and accountability for recentallegations of misconduct byofficers of the Departmentof Homeland Security in Minneapolis, Chicago and elsewhere. These events were spotlighted earlier this month in hearings in the House Judiciary Committee. Then there’sU.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who, as is often said aboutthe dramatis personae of the executive branch thesedays, plays to “an audienceofone,” namely the president, andher actions and demeanor have descended to sucha low standard that theDepartment of Justice approaches astaffing crisis.
To see why,consider Bondi’srecent House testimony.She cameintothe hearing against abackdrop of recrimination between apresidential administration and the opposition party the depth and rancor of which has not been seen since the Watergate era. Team Trump faced anumberof problems, including theirhandling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, thefailed attempt to indict six Democratic lawmakers and the killing of two protesters by federal officers in Minneapolis last month.
The attorney general, steadfast in her defense of the administration, replied to questions from Democratic members withadramatic escalation of the angry rhetoric, invective and combative name-calling, at points reading scripted “sick burns”from abinder.Attimes,ifyou closed your eyes, it was easy to believeyou were watching “Jerry Springer.”
One illustrative low pointcame when she lashed out at the committee’sranking Democrat, Rep.Jamie RaskinofMaryland.
During adiatribe Bondi launched at another Democrat on thecommittee, Raskin broke in, directing her to respond to the question. “You don’t tell me anything, you washed-up loser lawyer,” shemuttered.“You’re not even alawyer.”
It’swell known that Raskin is indeed alawyer,amagna cum laude Harvard
May we talk about spiritual matters? “In the beginning,” the Bible opens, “God created the heavensand theearth.” Several lines down,God says, let humankind “havedominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air,and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of theearth,and over every creeping thingthat creeps upon the earth.”
We humans were given stewardship of earth, but global warming is remaking the world beneath us. We are the cause, but we stillhave thepowerto stop or at least greatly slow the desecration of what was placed in our care I’ve written at length about theeconomic damage global warming can inflict, knowing that money arguments often get more traction than ethical ones. But the moral urgency of this crisis deserves far more attention than it receives. Howeverwe define conscience, within traditional religion or outside it, protecting theenvironment for future generationsisamoral imperative. In the world of Donald Trump,dollars outrank soul. His Environmental Protection Agencyhas just revoked the 2009 “endangerment finding,” which allows the governmenttoregulate planet-warming pollution. In sum, he has just taken the United States out of the race to preserve theCreation. “The U.S. no longer has emission standards of any meaning,”aformer
Lawgraduate and professor of constitutional law.But that wasn’teven the most absurd thing Bondi said.
She provoked audible laughter early in the hearing when she suggested Democrats on the committee should lookatthe good news of Trump’ssecondterm.
“The Dow is over 50,000 right now, the S&P at almost 7,000, and theNASDAQ smashingrecords, Americans’ 401(k)s and retirement savings are booming,” Bondi said. “That’swhat we should betalking about.”
Maybe,inher view, but thestock market was way off topic for the Judiciary committee, as aDemocratic member pointed out.
It’sashame,but also not asurprise, that Bondi came prepared for afight, which shemade sound at least as personal as it was political. After all, the DOJisfallingdown on anumber of importantissues.
Democrats repeatedly pressed Bondionher department’sfailure to redactnames, addresses and other identifying information relating to Epstein’s victims, and in some cases nude images, fromthe files it released last month.
When Rep.Pramila Jayapal, DWash., asked Bondi to address Epstein’svictims present in the hearing room, theattorney general declared, “I’m not going to get in thegutter for hertheatrics.”
In fairness, she did express regret for “what any victim has been through, especially as aresult of that monster,” Epstein.She added, “I want youtoknow that any accusation of
EPAemissions regulator said. “Nothing. Zero.” At age 79, Trump likely won’tbe aroundtosee the worst of what’scoming. But he can makeplenty of money in the meantime, championing thefossil fuels that heat the atmosphere. Andhe’snot just promoting them; he’ssmotheringtheircompetition.
criminal wrongdoing will be taken seriously and investigated.”
That’swhat agood attorney general is supposed to do. Ionly wish Icould feel more confident that Bondi is up to thetask.
Unfortunately,her to-do list is full of dead-end tasks on behalf of her No. 1fan. Whether it’sgetting revenge on Trump’sold enemies (e.g., indicting former FBI Director James Comey andNew York Attorney General Letitia James)orreviving his old conspiracy theories (e.g., investigating the “stolen” election in Georgia, promising “Russiagate” prosecutions), covering his posterior (the “Epstein files” slow roll) or gettinghis mighty deportation machine running, theDOJ is losing talented attorneys who didn’t sign up to do political wet work.
“The system sucks,”a DOJ grunt attorney told ajudge in Minneapolis, breaking down in thecourtroom earlier this month.“This job sucks.”
Likeother federal judges, the one presiding in this particular case demanded to know why Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials were not complying with court orders, and what the DOJ was doing about it.
“Fixing asystem,abroken system, Idon’thave amagic button to do it,” theattorney pleaded. “I don’thave the power or the voice to do it.”
Away from the sound and fury of the hearing room on Capitol Hill, the problems of our democracy run deeper than we know
Email Clarence Page at clarence47page@gmail.com
“Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.” —George Orwell, “1984”
When the 105-day warended, almost 400,000 Soviet soldiers had been killed or wounded or were missing. The Kremlin reported minor losses. Vladimir Putin, aStalin admirer,should have studied the actual past that Stalin falsified.
Stalin began the Winter War, aka the RussoFinnish War, on Nov.30, 1939, as his then-ally Adolf Hitler had begun World WarIIinEurope three months earlier: by staging afraudulent border incident. Stalin, dictator of anation of 170 million, expected to quickly subdue Finland, anation of 3.5 million.
When Putin invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, his troops weretold to pack dress uniforms. There would be avictory parade afew days later in Kyiv.In“The Winter Warriors,” ajust-published novel by Olivier Norek, Vyacheslav Molotov,Stalin’s close aide, tells aRed Armycolonel that Stalin wants to celebrate his next birthday on the steps of Finland’sParliament, “in precisely 20 days.” ASoviet general had told Stalin 10 days should suffice.
The warended on March 13, 1940. The Soviet Union settled forabout 10% of Finland’sterritory
As the fifth year of Russia’swar to subdue Ukraine approaches, Putin has learned that the past is easier to control than the present. He has a grim future if the United States and Europe press their advantages.
Amuch-diminished Russia occupies just 20% of Ukrainian territory that Kyiv controlled four Februarys ago. Europe, which has not yet even completely weaned itself from Russian energy, is at least accustoming itself to the vocabulary of military seriousness.
In 2024, every Swedish household received a booklet stating: “From the year you turn 16 until the end of the year you turn 70, you are part of Sweden’stotal defense and required to serve in the event of war or the threat of war.”Finland andNorway have longhad military conscription. Other nationsare preparing infrastructures for mobilization.DonaldTrumphas endorsed legislation that would provide crushing economic penalties fornations that buy Russian oil.
Last year,Putin would not —crippled by his Ukraine misadventure, he could not —try to rescue his client regimeinSyria as it was being swept away.Iran’sregime, Putin’smost important ally other than China, is preoccupied with suppressing Iranians. Putin’sonly sympathizer in the European Union, Hungary’sViktor Orban, might now have firmer support among American authoritarians (“national conservatives”) than among Hungarians.
Putin’s“special military operation” in Ukraine (calling it awar can mean imprisonment) has lasted longer than Russia’sinvolvement in World War II. By now,Putin has surely defined success down: anegotiated armistice that provides Ukraine with security “guarantees” even moregossamer than those of the infamous 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances.
In it, Ukraine agreed to give up the almost 2,000 Soviet-era nuclear weapons (and ballistic missiles and strategic bombers) stationed on its soil. Russia gave “assurances” that it would “respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine,” and would “refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine.” Russia seized Crimea in 2014 and invaded Ukraine eight years later
Forstarters, he’ssabotaging theproduction of American electric vehicles, for which U.S. automakers will pay theprice. This is agift to China, which is dominatingworld production of EVs, as the world shifts to electrical vehicles.
Trumphas also frozen or slowed offshore windenergy projects. (He ludicrouslysuggests that turbine noise causes cancer.) He’s also targeted onshore wind, which now produces some of America’scheapestelectricity.A recent Lazard cost-of-energy comparisonfoundthat “utility-scale solar and onshore windremain the most costeffectiveforms of new-build energy generation,” even when unsubsidized.
TheEdison Electric Institute, which lobbies for investor-owned utilities, said scrapping federal rules on powerplant carbon emissions would hurt the sector’sgrowth. And just as the industryisexpanding to meet the ravenous power demands of artificial intelligence.
Trump’sEPA has gone beyond making false claims about the costs of
green energy.Itperversely started zeroing out the public-healthsavings its own analyses credited to banning two pollutants. Fewer cases of asthma, cardiovascular disease and brain-development problemsdon’tjust spare people suffering. They spare thecountryenormous medical costs.
I’m not indicting theoil and gas industry,which has been around long before we knew what carbon dioxide would do. Civilization still relies on someofits products. Butweshouldn’t tolerate efforts to slam thebrakes on themove to clean energy —especially when even major oil companies have madesubstantial investments in renewables that they view as central to their future.
Back at the beginning, in theBook of Genesis, we read that when humanity corrupted the world with sin, God destroyed his Creation by unleashing the great flood. Buthedoes save therighteous Noah and the animals Noah brings onto his Ark. (Thestory also appears in theQuran, which treats Noah as aprophet warning his people.)
When thewaters receded, God said to Noah,“Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish theearth.” Noah becomes afarmer and plants avineyard. Humankind, if it refuses to act as aresponsible steward, may not get a second chance.
Froma Harrop is on X, @FromaHarrop.
Choices by Ukraine’sfriends can deliver condign punishment to Putin forhis Ukrainian blunder
These friends can at last choose to fund Ukraine with the approximately $300 billion in frozen Russian assets. They can intensify interdiction of the shadow fleet of tankers getting Russian oil to foreign buyers. And they can deny Putin aveto over security guarantees forUkraine, including permanent troop deployments there. Otherwise, any agreement will be asizzling fuse.
In Norek’snovel, before Russia attacked, Molotov explained that negotiations with Finland “have never been anything but along fuse.” And if Finland accepts Soviet demands, “We’ll only ask formore until we’ve taken the whole country.” Today’sStalinist in the Kremlin is no sphinx.
Writing in Foreign Affairs (“Russia’sDescent Into Tyranny”), Nina Khrushcheva of the New School reports that in 2023, “1984,” George Orwell’sdystopian novel about aregime resting on masssurveillance and incessant propaganda, was, according to aRussian bookstore chain, its most stolen book.
In the first half of 2025, the moststolen item was the Russian constitution, which guarantees free speech and forbids censorship. Hence, aRussian joke: “Weread Orwell forhis reflection of reality and the constitution as abeautiful utopia.” Negotiate accordingly
Email George Will ageorgewill@washpost.com
Activists track system of hearings,
BY JENNA ROSS Staff writer
The woman, from Honduras, sat in the immigration courtroom alone. No husband, no kids, no lawyer. In the back row Arch Chaney held his breath.
“Your husband, where is he today?” Judge Eric Marsteller asked, noting that he, too, had been scheduled to appear
“He’s working,” the woman said in Spanish via an interpreter
“And your children?”
“They’re in school.”
“Oh boy,” muttered Chaney a former attorney Failure to appear, he knew, could be reason for deportation.
Chaney, 80, had seen similar proceedings end in deportation before. He’d seen snippets of many people’s stories from the back row of New Orleans Immigration Court. On this January morning, as he had twice a week for months, he’d arrived to “bear witness,” as he put it. To take a note, to offer a smile.
Last May, amid the illegal immigration crackdown from President Donald Trump’s administration, volunteers with Jewish Voice for Peace, Unión Migrante and other activist groups in the city began showing up in these courtrooms, on the fifth floor of Canal Place, an escalator ride above Brooks Brothers, an elevator ride above the food court.
Most had no legal background. Most could speak little Spanish. But they did what they could do. They watched.
At first, they expected to observe and film Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests. The news then was filled with images of masked federal agents detaining people at routine immigration hearings in New York City courts and elsewhere. But only a few times have New Orleans volunteers seen or heard rumors of ICE agents in the building (They still check bathrooms and stairwells, though.)
Instead, their eyes are trained inside the Executive Office for Immigration Review courtrooms if and when they’re allowed inside them tracking a complex system of hearings, asylum applications and deporta-
tions. Day in and day out, they have become quiet witnesses to the Trump administration’s remaking of immigration in this country
And the trends they’ve observed in little notebooks are backed up by national data. Families, fearing ICE, not showing up for their longscheduled appointments. Immigrants being sent to countries where they have no connections. The Department of Homeland Security restarting deportation proceedings against people who had previously had their cases closed.
They’ve also witnessed moments not captured by data. A judge trying for 15 minutes to find a remote interpreter of an uncommon language. A Spanish interpreter grabbing coloring sheets and crayons for a pair of antsy kids clad in Bluey sweatshirts. An immigrant, ordered to leave, weeping without making a sound.
“Like with any science experiment, just by observing it you change the results,” said Nora Casserly, who shows up most Wednesdays.
“So being watched, they’re likely better behaved — not always.
“I’ve seen everything from kindness to cruelty.”
‘She’s the fastest’
Casserly’s weekly routine begins at 7:45 a.m. On a recent morning, she stepped out of the Canal Place elevator and into a group of people waiting in a beige brightly lit hallway Many clutched manila folders and dogeared envelopes. One mom, a folder in one hand, used her other to smooth a stray hair in her daughter’s tight pigtails.
Casserly, 70, approached her with a smile: “¿Hablas español?”
The mom hesitated, then gave a small nod.
Casserly handed her a sheet of paper with information about lawyers — “¿Tienes abogado?” — some of them offering free consultations. She worked her way down the line, passing out papers in Spanish and Creole, before she and two of her counterparts joined it themselves.
“Relax your shoulders,” she said, taking a deep breath, “and soften your heart.”
Past security, the court watchers gathered around a printed calendar on a wall. It was their first opportunity to see it; it is not posted online.
“This might be a family,” Casserly said, eyeing the matching last names, the shared lawyer, the sequential numbers.
Then each volunteer headed into a different courtroom
for the morning “master calendar” hearings, which are open to the public One morning in January, Casserly picked Judge Charlotte Marquez’s courtroom, settling into the back row, opening a new page in her notebook.
“Date: 1-7-26. Marquez.” Marquez entered the room in a robe and with a sing-song “Good morning.”
“She’s the fastest,” Casserly said, explaining the judges’ different styles “You need to take a deep breath and come down to her level or up to her speed.”
The volunteers are critical of the system but respectful of the judges, who are grappling with ever-changing case law and hefty caseloads. They sense what the data show: Marquez is less likely to approve asylum requests, at 10.8%. Judge Joseph LaRocca, on the bench for 11 years, granted 22.1%. And Judge Eric Marsteller granted 27.2%.
Since its start, the Trump administration has targeted asylum, arguing that the Biden administration forced immigration courts “to implement a de facto amnesty for hundreds of thousands of aliens,” a Department of Justice spokesperson said by email.
“This Department of Justice is restoring integrity to our immigration system by following the law, timely completing cases, and hiring the most talented legal professionals to join in our mission to protect national security and public safety,” the spokesperson said.
The Trump administration has “used aggressive measures to deny asylum cases in immigration court,” according to Joseph Gunther, an independent researcher and mathematician who has used public data to analyze immigration court arrests, decisions and legal strategies. “Recently a new strategy known as ‘pretermission’ has emerged for ending asylum court cases abruptly,” Gunther wrote in a recent report, showing how judges nationwide have been denying more asylum cases without merits hearings.
In New Orleans, judges generally require due process, several court watchers said. “They’re doing their job, and they’re doing it professionally, for the most part,” Chaney said. “They’re treating people with dignity and respect “It’s the system I have an issue with.”
They are a gray-haired group, for the most part Veterans and retirees and grandparents, concerned about what this country is becoming.
Each took a training, learning how to track statistics: Attorney? Adequate interpretation? “Y,” they write, or “N.” No names, no addresses. “Don’t be creative, because it goes into a database,” said Mary Ellen Burns, who learned the art of “de-identified data” while working as an oncology nurse. Her husband, Jon Christopher Brown, a retired professor, is making use of the Spanish he learned while doing field work in Mexico.
Casserly moved from San Francisco to New Orleans to be closer to her grandkids. After Trump’s first election, she donated and volunteered. After his second, she began marching in the street
“You can just sit there and be in despair, right?” she said. “But doing something makes you feel better I do it because it makes me feel better.”
‘Lagniappe time’
The court watchers attend all the morning “master” hearings. But making it inside an individual hearing means getting the OK from the judge, the attorney and the individual.
The court watch volunteers “seem like good folks, concerned about what’s going on,” said immigration attorney Mauricio Pons, who knows many of them by sight, if not name. Having them inside master calendar hearings is “appropriate, completely reasonable,” he continued.
“But when you go to an individual hearing, that’s when things get very sensitive.”
To make their case for asylum, immigrants are often reliving, under a judge’s intense questioning, their worst moments, he continued. Rape, murder, torture. They’re sharing information that, if it were to become public, could put their lives at risk. “It’s between them, God and the court,” he said.
The court watchers are sensitive to immigration attorneys’ concerns and careful not to write down individuals’ names or full court ID numbers. Some take extensive notes, while others, like Chaney, write little
On his first court-watching shift, the first note Chaney wrote was a legal term: “Nexus?”
After riding the ferry to his West Bank home later that day, he looked it up. To win asylum, he learned, there needs to be a legal nexus between the persecution you experienced in your home country and your race or religion, nationality or social
group. Chaney has a law degree and had been an attorney in Florida decades ago. He’s famous in the group’s Signal chat for offering regular legal know-how
But immigration courts are different than criminal courts. “I’m getting an education,” Chaney said.
The courts are part of the Department of Justice, rather than the judiciary branch. Immigrants show up because the federal government has initiated deportation hearings for entering the country illegally Attorneys are not required or provided.
Working as a prosecutor, back in the day, meant compromising his values, Chaney said, sitting in the Canal Place food court one morning, sporting an “I love due process” T-shirt. He found himself prosecuting people for offenses, mainly drug crimes, that were enforced on minorities in ways he believed were inequitable. He’d grown up watching “The Defenders” on TV and wanted to become a lawyer “out of a naive belief” that he’d be advancing the cause of justice.
That tension led to a “flaming burnout” that left Chaney homeless. (He ended up in New Orleans via the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“They fixed me,” he said.)
Now after surviving addiction, homelessness and prostate cancer, “I’m living on lagniappe time.”
“I’m there to give whatever bodily support I can,” he said. “My wife is a deeply religious person I told her, ‘I feel like this is what God wants me to do.’”
During the Jan. 22 “masters,” Chaney took few notes as Marsteller slowly led a long slate of immigrants some living in the United States for decades, some for just months; some with attorneys, many without — through their rights and responsibilities. A printer whined, the computer beeped, a baby cried from another room.
Then the woman from Honduras took her seat, as four numbers were read. But she appeared alone. At a previous hearing, she explained, the judge said she could appear on behalf of her family
“OK, I may have said that, and I just didn’t write it in my notes,” Marsteller allowed, but warned her: Next time, she and her husband would both need to attend.
Chaney released the bit of air he’d been holding in.
As the woman left the courtroom, her next hearing set for March 2029, Chaney gave her a little wave. She broke into a big smile, waving back.
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON Louisiana’s two Democratic U.S House members — Rep. Troy Carter Sr., of New Orleans, and Rep. Cleo Fields, of Baton Rouge plan to sit stoically in the chamber when President Donald Trump gives his State of the Union address Tuesday, unlike some other members of their party At least two dozen Democratic representatives and senators have announced that they plan to instead attend two “counter events” — or just not show up to the annual briefing to Congress as outlined in the U.S. Constitution.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told the 214-member Democratic delegation to do as they please, but he would sit in “silent defiance” as Trump runs through GOP accomplishments and desires. “It’s my view that you don’t let anyone ever run you off of your block,” Jeffries told reporters. Fields and Carter, Louisiana’s only Democratic members, said they would join Jeffries.
“While I strongly disagree with President Trump and his administration’s policies, my oath to uphold the Constitution requires that I show up, exercise oversight and fulfill my responsibility under our system of checks and balances,” Carter said Friday The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down for a week and could still be come Tuesday Democrats have refused to appropriate funding to DHS until Republicans agree to restrictions on how the agency’s agents enforce immigration laws. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which handles disaster relief, and the Transportation Security Administration, which checks passengers at airports, are both part of Homeland Security and are closed, though much of their personnel are required to work without pay The Democratic base has been demanding elected officials take a stronger stance against Trump and Republican policies that have largely been approved as the GOP holds majorities in Congress and on the U.S. Supreme Court MoveOn, a progressive
advocacy group, and MeidasTouch, a progressive media group, are hosting “counterprogramming” on the National Mall near the Capitol as Trump gives his State of the Union speech. About a dozen Democratic members of Congress have said they will attend.
Other Democrats have said they will go to a “State of the Swamp” event at the National Press Club.
Still others, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y say they plan to just skip the speech.
Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, R-N.Y., announced that Virginia Gov Abigail Spanberger would give the official Democratic response after Trump concludes. U.S Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., will deliver the Democratic response in Spanish.
Because the speech is so high-profile and televised on most networks, disruptions often occur Last year, Democratic Rep. Al Green, a Louisiana native who represents parts of Houston, interrupted Trump by yelling, “You have no mandate to cut Medicaid!” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, had Green removed.
During the 2023 State of the Union, then-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., interrupted President Joe Biden, calling him a “liar.”
The address begins at
8 p.m. and is available on major television stations and streaming platforms.
Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate. com.
Continued from page 1B
you start to see multiple properties populating in the same area, clustering, and it just leads to more parking congestion, parking on the streets, late-night noise, larger parties or gatherings.”
Young said he worked with Lake Charles Planning and Development Director Doug Burguieres to determine the best way to regulate the spacing of the short-term rentals. In fact, he said they discussed limiting it to one per street or one per neighborhood, but ultimately decided that those vary too much in size.
Ultimately, it was decided to use the 1,000 feet method of measurement from any existing permitted short-term rental, measured by property lines.
“I felt like this ordinance struck a balance of allowing property owners to still do what they want with their own properties, but at the same time just kind of limiting the impact that Airbnbs can have within a neighborhood,” Young said.” The homeowner needs to always be the anchor of a neighborhood, taken into consideration.”
The amendment to the ordinance is effective immediately
Continued from page 1B
man stated in the recording.
Dicharry was a juvenile officer in the early 1990s and took statements from Burnett, according to the 5th Circuit decision. Before the second hearing on Feb. 9, he told The Advocate the allegations were “completely false.” Both parties questioned Dicharry for hours during the continued hearing. He stated he was “not involved in the murder case,” and when serving as a juvenile officer he was just looking into a complaint about a child being bullied.
Joseph LeBeau, of the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, asked Dicharry on the stand if he ever threatened Burnett.
“No, sir, and I would be willing to take a lie-detector test,” Dicharry said.
Freshman delivers second walk-off winfor Cajuns
BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer
For the second time in the last three days, UL true freshman shortstop Blaze Rodriguez delivered awalk-offRBI to gethis Ragin’ Cajuns past Maryland.
On Friday,itwas abases-loaded walk.On Sunday,itwas an RBI singletocenterfor a marathon 6-5 win in 15 innings
“I knew it, the dude got on in front of me,I was going to put the ball in play,” Rodriguez said.“Walking up there, Iwas going to get it done.” The win allowed UL to complete the sweep of the Terrapins and get to 5-2 on the season afteran0-2 start.
It was the longest game the Cajuns have played since a17-inning, 5-4 loss to Southeastern on Feb. 24, 2015.
So is Rodriguez already getting tired of his teammates chasing him around the outfield after walk-offs?
“No, sir,I’m having the time of my life,”he said with asmile.
As Rodriguez approached theplate,he was already 4-for-6 at theplate on the day Despite his lack of experience,the Slidell native is supremely confident Nerves aren’tpart of his mindset
“It’sthe team, the coaches,” he said.“I mean, we’ve been togetherfor avery long
Cajuns handle Missouri,later suffer biglosstoHouston
BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer
The great Bethaney Noble uprising for the UL Ragin’ Cajuns continuedSunday in Lake Charles. Just aweek after herfirst outingofthe young season, Noble tossedher third com plete game in four outings ina9-1 run-rul win over Missouri in six innings. Unfortunately for the Cajuns,the Hous ton Cougars ended UL’s weekend of stellar pitching with a10-0 run-rule victory in six innings in the second game Sunday. After splitting the two games, the Cajun improved to 10-6 on theseason. The Cougars improved to 11-3 UL will next play Northern Iowa at 6p.m Tuesday at Lamson Park Noble has now thrown20 innings overthe last eight days and has only givenupone run. In Sunday’swin over Missouri, Noble al lowed one run on five hits, one walk and
ä See CAJUNS, page 2C
U OT t since
SAbeats Canada in o win firsthockeygold 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice,’ Page 3C
LSUrouts Mizzou
BY REED DARCEY Staff writer
Coach Kim Mulkey went big on Thursday to spark the LSUwomen’sbasketball team’scomeback win over Ole Miss,and then shewentsmall on Sunday to secure its lopsided victory over Missouri.
The No. 7Tigers(24-4, 10-4 SEC) won 108-55, even though they playedmostofthe first half without oneof their post players on thefloor.Theydidn’treally need one. LSUprevented Missouri from scoring at therim, dominated the glass and uncorked its transition offense anyway,which allowed it to tiea program record for margin of victory in an SEC game.
“You’re notgoingtobeable to (go small) much,” Mulkeysaid, “but what Iliked was sharing the ball. I like the ability to takeoff, and everybody’sjust running.
That puts alot of pressure on them defensively.” Freshman forward ZaKiyah Johnsonscored 17 points andgrabbed acareer-high14boards—11ofwhich she pulled off the offensive glass —topost her third doubledoubleofthe season. Junior MiLaysia Fulwiley chipped in 22 points, acareer-high 11 rebounds and four assists, three blocks and two steals in her first career double-double. Star senior Flau’jae Johnson tallied 16 points, while sophomore JadaRichard added 10 points, six assists and four rebounds.
Mikaylah Williams, astar junior,sat out the whole secondhalf of LSU’s win over the No. 17 Rebels on Thursday in what Mulkeycalleda “coach’s decision.” On Sunday, shebounced back,tallying12points, 10 rebounds,four assists and four steals.
BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer
othe SeniorBowl, ege exhibition game rthat this year’sNFL .Manyofthe event’s at thelast minute— ms descendonIndiaey’ll finally have the lose look at the big026 draft. eNew Orleans Saints. mestokeep an eyeon combine begins Monthe Saints holdingthe his year TRE DAME •RB layer hasbeen linked mock drafts —and The electric 20-yearwould likely provide a New Orleans’ offense. dazzling. Can he be the combine? It reether he participates in spro day,but he still teams CARNELLTATE•OHIO STATE STATE• WR
Let’slink these threetogether, because if the Saints don’ttake arunning back in Round 1and still want adynamic weapon, oneofTate, TysonorLemon is certainly appealing. But whichone would best fit the Saints, if all three werestill available when New Orleans is on the clock at No. 8? This is aweek to help create that separation, whether that’sthrough on-field testing or the interview process, when each (presumably) will chat with the Saints. Each brings adifferent flavor,too. Lemon thrivesinthe slotand would seemingly complement Saintscoach KellenMoore’s preferencefor deploying three-wide receiver sets. Tate, who NFL.com compared to Chris Olave, can work the middle-of-thefield andvertical routes with steady speed andcrafty route running. Tysonisthe contested-catch, do-it-all type RUEBEN BAIN• MIAMI •EDGERUSHER Everyone knows thatBainisundersized —and it hardly mattered when he wrecked opposing offenses as oneofthe nation’sbest pass rushers. But howsmall is he?Specifically,
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BY SCOTT RABALAIS staff writer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.
Cade Arrambide beltedahomerun for the second straight dayand William Schmidt delivered five shutoutinnings as LSU blanked Central Florida 11-0onSunday in the final game of the Live Like Lou Jax College Baseball Classic
The game ended after seven innings because of the mercy rule.
The No. 2-ranked Tigers ran their record to 8-0, tying LSU’s best start since 2019.Overall the Tigers have won 16 straight dating back to lastyear’sNCAA Baton Rougeregional, including a14-7 win here Friday overIndiana and 9-4 Saturday over Notre Dame. LSU jumped out to a3-0 lead in thethird inning, keyed by RBI singles from Jake Brown and Steven Milam. In the fourth, they scored four more times, with Arrambide launching atwo-run homer to the base of the scoreboard in left intoa stiff westerly wind, scoring Milam afterheled offwith a triple.
It was the second home runin as many days for the LSU catcher,who nowhas three thisseason. The Tigers tacked on four more runs in the top of the seventh, with Derek Curiel driving in apair of runs with adoubleoff
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time sinceAugust, andIthink that knowing Igot them behind me, not abetter feeling in the world.”
The Cajuns are now 5-1 in the series against Maryland, including four walk-off wins.
“We’ve got some tough kidsand Maryland played us hard,” said UL coach Matt Deggs, whose Cajuns next play at 6p.m. Tuesday against Kansas State at Russo Park. “I appreciate them getting down here and playing this. They made us better this weekend.
“You really can’tput aprice tag on getting two of the three wins the way we got them.”
LSU’sstartingpitcher William Schmidtwarms up in the first inning against Milwaukee
BoxStadium.
thehighbrick wall in rightfield at VyStarBallpark
It was more than enough run support forSchmidt (2-0). He threwfive innings of three-hit
the series.
“That was definitely veryimportant,” Rodriguezsaid. “I think our pitching staffdid agreat job of throwingstrikesandlettinguswork behindthemandputtingtrustinus.”
It wasa strange dayfor UL starting pitcher JR Tollett. Twoof the first three batters —Brayden Martin and Ryan Costello —singledand homered foranearly 2-0 Maryland lead.
The junior right-hander then retired 17 of thenext18batters he faced. As good as that sounds, the problem was two of the last three batters he faced —Costello and David Mendez —both hit solo homers to tie the game at 4-4 in thesixth inning.
ball, striking outseven andwalking one. He was named the tournament’sMVP Mavrick Rizy threwtwo innings of scoreless relief to end it.
TheTigers return home to face McNeese State at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Alex BoxStadium. The game will be streamed on SECNetwork+.
NFL WR Rondale Moore found dead in Indiana
NEWALBANY, Ind. Rondale Moore, an NFL receiver who had seasonending training camp knee injuries in each of the last two years after astandout collegecareer at Purdue anda promisingstartwiththe Arizona Cardinals, was found dead Saturday,authorities said. He was 25.
Police said Moore died of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound. Moorewas found dead in the garage of aproperty in his hometown of New Albany,police chief Todd Bailey said. The death remains under investigation. FloydCountyCoroner Matthew Tomlin also confirmed Moore’s death. He saidanautopsy would be conducted on Sunday MooregrewupinNew Albany, just acrossthe Indiana border from Louisville, Kentucky,and wasafirst-team All-American as a freshman at Purdue in 2018.
Phillies LHP Alvarado from WBC CLEARWATER, Fla. Philadelphia Phillies left-hander José Alvarado announced on social media Sunday that insuranceissues will prevent him fromrepresenting Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. Alvarado wrote on his Instagram message thenews “deeply saddens me.” He added “the insurance requiredfor my participation was not approved.This is asituation that is beyond my control and without adoubt it fills me with sadness and is difficult to understand. Ihad thehopeand commitment to once again wear my country’s jerseyfor thethirdconsecutive time. Representing Venezuela has always been one of the greatest honors of my career.”
Cowboys, RB Williams agree to 3-year contract
Perhaps the most impressive thing about the sweep was UL didn’tcommit asingle error in
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struck out five in six innings and 112 pitches. That one run came in thetop of the first inning when Addy Waits tripled and scoredonAbbyHay’s two-out RBI double.
Missouri maintained that slim 1-0 lead until the third. Mia Liscano got UL’s rally going with a one-out single ahead of Kennedy
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The Tigers shot 47% from the fieldand wonthe rebounding battle 72-25, setting an NCAAera program record for boards grabbed in agame. Missouri converted just 24% of its field-goal triesand missed 33 of 44 3-pointers.
“They run an offensethat’shard forour bigs to just move and get out there and defend,” Mulkey said. “We’re fortunatetohave depth on the perimeter andfortunate that we have acouple of perimeterplayers that cangoinside and defend.
“You never thinkyou’re going to win by thatmuch. Younever think you’re going to reboundlike that, but it just unfolded today.”
Because it pulled off the win over Ole Miss on Thursday,LSU began its matchup with Missouri on Sunday in sole possession of
Before that, UL’s offense had given Tollett a4-2 lead to work withafter scoring four in the second with alittle help from the other guys.
Marceaux’stwo-runhome run. In the fourth, Liscano followed Emily Smith’s single and adouble from Madyson Manning with a two-run single.
Liscano finished thegame 3-for3with adouble andthree RBIs.
UL’s offense piled it on with five runs in the sixth inning to end the gameearlier than planned.
Gabbie Stutes got it going with an RBI triple,ahead of Liscano’s run-scoring double.
After an error extended the inning, Smith ended the game with a
fourth place in the SEC. The Tigers can secure that spot, nettingthemselves adouble bye in the SEC Tournament for thefifth year in arow,just by winning two of their last three regular-season games.
Mulkey started senior forward Amiya Joyner nexttoZaKiyah Johnson, Williams,Flau’jae Johnson and Richard for the third contest in arow.After onlythree minutes, though, shesubbed Fulwiley for Joyner,sliding ZaKiyah Johnson down to the5
That group then laid thefoundation of the21-7 run thatLSU used to take control of thegame. Richard drained a3from the right wing.Afew minutes later, Williams connectedonajumper as the shot clock expired, ZaKiyahJohnsonsnaredanoffensive board to convert athree-point play,and Fulwileynailed a3 from theleft wing LSU won the second quarter 31-8. Missouri missed 17 of the 19 shots it took in that frame.
Colt Brown led off with adouble and scored on Blake Rodriguez’s infield single. It looked like that would be all UL would getinthe inning, but Rigoberto Hernandez’stwo-outfly ball to left was misplayed and the Cajuns wereinthe mood to take advantage of it. Drew Markle and Maddox Mandino both delivered RBI singles for the4-2 lead. It later appeared UL might still get the win for Tollett in the sixth when Steven Spalitta singled and scored on Hernandez’sRBI double Butthe Cajuns left two in scoring position withjustone out to spoil a crooked-number opportunity That was significant because reliefTylerPapenbrock hadanother rough outing in the seventh, yielding aMartin sacrifice fly to tie the gameat5-all. Cody Braschthenthrewfive
two-run single for the eight-inning win. In addition to Liscano, Smith finishedthe game 2-for-4 andManning 2-for-3. In thesecond half, UL’s pitchers simply had no answers for Houston leadoff hitter Ariel Redmond, who was 3-for-4 with two doubles, ahomer andthree RBIsonthe day
The Cougarsgot asolo homer from MaddieHartley in the first offstarter Julianne Tipton and thenaRedmond two-run double
shutout innings of relief with two hits,three walks andsix strikeouts with 70 pitches.
“In the back of my mind, Ikind of think he’sa starter,” Deggs said of Brasch. “Wehaven’tused him, so we gotachancetoelongate him. Imean, that’spower stuff against agood hitting team.”
He left the gamewith the bases loaded and one out in the 13th, but Parker Smith escaped with a strikeout andground out.
“Parkercameout there with a lot of guts in atight spot and he letitrip,” Deggs said of Smith.
Likewise, Maryland reliever Logan Hastings incredibly outdid Brasch by tossing 2/3 shutout innings with three hits, no walks and seven strikeouts over 107 pitches.
“Itwas just hisoff-speed;he hada good mix,”Rodriguezsaid of Hastings.“Ithink he wasgood with landing his off-speed.” UL
in the second to chase Tipton. Lexie Delbrey relievedher and thingsonly got marginally better Redmondhomered in thefourth to makeit5-0.
In the sixth, MadoxMitchael added atwo-run triple and Mandy Esman atwo-run double to blow thegame wide open.
Houston split two games with Missouri over theweekend— winning 4-3 and losing 8-2. Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@theadvocate.com.
three field goalsinthe thirdand six in thefourth.
“What does it do?” Mulkey said. “What does it mean?This is the SEC. This league is brutal. This team never gets too high. It never gets toolow.Theyjust keep gettingbetter.”
Joyner,center Kate Koval and freshmanforward Grace Knox combined to play only seven minutes through thefirst three quarters. Knox wasactive forthe game, but she did not see the floor
The Tigershave nowscored at least100 points 13 timesthis season —two shy of tying the NCAA single-season record. LSU will playtwo more games before theSEC Tournament begins March4.Itcan clinch adouble bye in thatbracket if it wins the first one: ahome matchup with Tennesseeset to tipoff at 5p.m. Thursday
Things didn’timprove for the visiting Tigers in thesecond half. Theyscroungedtogether only
The No. 21 Lady Vols won their first six games of league play,but they’vesince droppedseven of their last nine.
The DallasCowboysand running back Javonte Williamshave agreed on a$24 million, three-year contract, following through on the front office’spledge that bringing back their leading rusher was a top priority
The team announced the deal on itswebsite Saturday,more than twoweeksbeforefreeagency opens. ESPN reported the deal includes $16 millioninguaranteed money Williams joinedthe Cowboys on aone-year contract last season after an injury-filled four years on his rookie deal withthe Denver Broncos. He hadhis first 1,000yard season andfinishedwith 1,201 yards rushing, the mostfor aDallas back since two-time rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott had 1,357 in 2019.
Thitikulwins home LPGA tournament for firsttime CHONBURI, Thailand World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul justified her top billing in emphaticfashion after edging Japan’sChizzy Iwaibyone stroketocapture and claimher homeLPGAThailand tournament forthe first time.
Buoyed by raucous homesupport, theThaistar kept hercomposure undersweltering conditions and intense pressure to card aclosing 4-under-par68, finishing on 24-under-par 264. The victory marked her eighth LPGA Tour title and her first triumph on homesoil.
“I would rate it Atriple-plus,” said the 23-year-old. “I know it’s not as big as the majors, but winning in my home country means so much to me —sometimes even morethan amajor.”
South African golferJarvis wins Kenya Open
NAIROBI,Kenya— South African golfer Casey Jarvis wonthe Kenya Open by three shots on Sunday to clinch his first title on the European tour TheNo. 195-rankedJarvisrolled in an eagle putt on his 72nd hole to post 8-under 62 forthe final round and finish on 25-under par for the tournamentatKaren Country Club in Nairobi.
Jarvis also eagledthe short par-4 12thholeSunday,making awinding right-to-left putt over aridge, on theway to shooting 30 in his back nine. Jarvis shared the lead in each of thefirstthree rounds —and each timewith adifferent player —before finally pulling away American Davis Bryant (64) was alone in second place andHennie Du Plessis (65) of South Africa was third.
SWEDEN’S BIG DAY: First, Ebba Andersson, pictured above pulled away from the pack to win the 50-kilometer mass start crosscountry ski race and earn redemption for her crash that cost Sweden a gold medal in the team relay.
“I’ve dreamed about this day for a long time now and it’s almost unbelievable that everything went as planned,” she said.
And then Sweden’s women’s curling team beat Switzerland to give the Scandinavian nation another gold.
DIGGINS CONCLUDES
GLITTERING OLYMPIC CAREER:
Jessie Diggins finished fifth in the 50-kilometer mass start crosscountry ski race. Just a few seconds shy of one more medal.
She’s OK with that.
“I can confidently say I could not possibly have tried harder or gotten more out of my body,” the 34-year-old Diggins, pictured below, said.
It marked the final Olympic event for an athlete who transformed American cross-country skiing and became a symbol of endurance.
LOCHNER’S BOBSLED SWEEP:
In bobsled, Germany’s Johannes Lochner added the four-man gold to his two-man title.
Lochner — who announced his retirement months ago — capped his career with his second gold medal of these Olympics, winning the fourman event over two-time defending Olympic champion Francesco Friedrich by 0.57 seconds
“It’s just such a dream. It’s indescribable,” Lochner said.“A moment for eternity A perfect finish, the most perfect finish ever.”
OLYMPIC CAULDRONS
EXTINGUISHED TO CLOSE WINTER
GAMES: The Milan Cortina Olympics ended Sunday as the twin flames in co-host cities Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo were extinguished as part of a closing ceremony inside the ancient Verona Arena, roughly mid-distance between the far-flung mountain, valley and city venues that made these the most spread-out Winter Games ever In declaring the 2026 Games over, International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry told local organizers that they “delivered a new kind of winter games and you set a new, very high standard for the future.”
A total of 116 medal events have been held in eight Olympic sports across 16 disciplines including the debut of ski mountaineering this year over the course of 17 days of competition.
—The Associated Press
BY STEPHEN WHYNO Associated Press
MILAN — The United States is on top of the hockey world for the first time in nearly a half-century No miracle needed.
Jack Hughes scored less than 2 minutes into overtime and the U.S beat Canada 2-1 in the gold medal final at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday, earning the nation’s third men’s title at the Games and its first since the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980 — 46 years to the day of the upset over the mighty Soviet Union, too.
Unlike that ragtag group of college kids that pulled off one of the biggest shockers in sports history in Lake Placid, the Americans in Milan were a machine that rode goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and a roster full of NHL players through the tournament unbeaten Still, they were underdogs again against the stacked Canadians and came out on top — again.
“This is all about our country right now,” said Hughes, who lost at least one and maybe two of his front teeth taking a high stick during the game. “I love the U.S.A. I love my teammates It’s unbelievable. The USA Hockey brotherhood is so strong.”
Early in the three-on-three
overtime, Zach Werenski took the puck away from Nathan MacKinnon and passed it to Hughes, who was wide open streaking to the net Hughes fired a shot past Jordan Binnington 1:41 in to send players into a wild celebration as the rival Canadians watched from the bench.
Asked his favorite moment during his Olympic debut, captain Auston Matthews quipped, “I think when Jack scored. I’ll definitely remember Jack’s goal.”
There was a note of sadness amid all the joy as Werenski and Matthew Tkachuk carried a Johnny Gaudreau No. 13 jersey around the ice in tribute to the beloved player who was killed along with his brother in 2024.
Gaudreau’s parents, Guy and Jay, his widow, Meredith, and their oldest children were in attendance. It was Johnny Jr.’s second birthday and he was brought on the ice with older sister Noa for the team photo.
“We just wanted to show the Gaudreau family our support,” Brady Tkachuk said of the player known as “Johnny Hockey.” “He was so near and dear to a lot of us, and we miss him dearly We did it for him.”
Hellebuyck was extraordinary, stopping 41 of the 42 shots he faced as Canada tilted the ice toward him over the final two periods. He made the save of the tournament by getting his stick on the puck on a shot from Devon Toews in the third period, then minutes later denied Macklin Celebrini on a breakaway something he also did to Connor McDavid earlier
“He was our best player by a mile,” winger Matt Boldy said. “He’s an absolute stud. He wants to be in those moments. He wants to make the saves. And he did just that, so he was definitely our MVP.”
It was a glorious weekend for Team USA, with the women’s hockey team also defeating Canada in overtime to win gold. For the men, it was only fitting the Americans needed to go through Canada, their northern neighbor that beat them at the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago and has won every international competition over the past 16 years that featured the world’s best players. Not anymore.
She has earned six medals in six events over her Winter Games career
BY EDDIE PELLS Associated Press
LIVIGNO,Italy Eileen Gu snatched a gold ribbon off a gift basket on her way to the mountain Sunday and stuck it in her pocket just in case. Just in case? If her 16-day odyssey at the Milan Cortina Games taught the world anything, it’s that there are no sure things in sports. Especially when the athletes flip 15 feet over rock-hard snowscapes for a living.
But that gold ribbon Gu tied into a bow in her hair after her curtain-closing Olympic performance on the mountain did, in fact match the color medal she won in the women’s ski halfpipe final. And that gold medal also was the third she’s won over two Olympics more than any athlete in her sport. And she is now 6 for 6 — six events, six medals, three of them gold, three silver — over a stillyoung Olympic career that has cascaded well beyond sports,
veering into geopolitics, inclusion and, as the gold ribbon reminded us, fashion.
“I took a big risk in trusting myself,” Gu said of her frenetic quest this year, “and I’m glad that I did.” Gu, born in the United States but competing for her mother’s homeland of China, knows that the modeling career, the fame, the platform she commands and the message she sends wouldn’t be possible if she weren’t the best freeskier in the world She was also the only woman willing to divide her attention between halfpipe, slopestyle and big air over the 2 1/2-week marathon of
Olympic risk-taking. It was a quest that limited her training, rest and sometimes her sanity Never her confidence, though.
“I’m not a gambling woman, but if I were, I took a pretty big bet on myself,” Gu said. “There was a chance everything could go wrong and I could have walked away with nothing, because I was trying to do too much. But in my head, even if everything crashes and burns, I tried I’ll never regret trying.”
The risk of doing too much once again reared its head on the first run of this bluebird day in Livigno — the halfpipe bathed one half
in sun, the other in shade a day after a snowstorm postponed the final. Gu lost balance on the landing of her very first jump of the contest, forcing her to abandon the run toward the top of the pipe. Each of her qualifying rounds at these Olympics involved a fall and a must-make return that she landed every time just to get to the final.
In halfpipe, largely viewed as the premier event in the sport and also the event where Gu has won 15 of her 20 World Cup titles, the odds of Gu not landing any of her three runs in the final seemed slim. In fact, it was none. She ended up with not just the best score of the 32 runs by 11 athletes, but the best two scores of them all. Her second run was a 94 and her last was a 94.75.
“I tried for gold,” said Li Fanghui, who made this the first 1-2 finish for China in this event. “But my first goal was for silver.” Gu won because she flies higher than almost everyone (except for bronze medalist Zoe Atkin), does more rotations than anyone (highlighted by two 900-degree spins in opposite directions) and, in a key separator in a 1.75-point win over Li, tried one more trick than her Chinese teammate (Gu and most skiers did six, Li only tried five).
“She is ‘Wonder Woman,’” New Zealand’s eighth-place finisher Mischa Thomas said.
The Damascus book fair draws crowds, with censorship eased in post-Assad
BY OMAR SANADIKI and BASSEM MROUE Associated Press
DAMASCUS, Syria Abdul-Razzaq
Ahmad Saryoul began publishing books in Syria in 2003 but he used to abstain from participating in the annual International Damascus Book Fair because of tight measures by the country’s security agencies and bans on many books under Bashar Assad’s rule.
In the first post-Assad book fair to be held in Damascus, which wrapped up Feb. 16, Saryoul was surprised when he was issued a permit the day he applied to take part without being asked what his books are about. The wide range of titles available made this year’s fair “unprecedented,” he said.
Another publisher, Salah Sorakji, was proud to offer Kurdish books in the Syrian capital for the first time in decades. During the Assad era, ethnic Kurds suffered from discrimination, including bans on their language.
The first book fair since Assad was unseated in December 2024 witnessed high turnout, with state media reporting that 250,000 peo-
ple attended on the first day, Feb. 6, trekking out to fairgrounds where it was held about 10 miles from the city center The fair’s director, Ahmad Naasan, said about 500 publishing companies from some 35 countries took part.
A debate over religious texts
While the new freedom of ex-
pression was widely welcomed, the introduction of some previously forbidden books by Islamist writers sparked anxiety among religious minorities.
Religious books were among the best selling at previous fairs in the majority Sunni Muslim country
ä See BOOK FAIR, page 6C
SALAH SORAKJI, publisher
See GOLF, page 6C
coffee
BY MATT SEDENSKY AP national writer
NEW YORK — For years, it was a daily McDonald’s trip for a cup of coffee with 10 sugars and five creams. Later, it was Starbucks caramel macchiatos with almond milk and two pumps of syrup. Coffee has been a morning ritual for Chandra Donelson since she was old enough to drink it. But, dismayed by rising prices, the 35-year-old from Washington, D.C., did the unthinkable: She gave it up. “I did that daily for years. I loved it. That was just my routine,” she says. “And now it’s not.” Years of steadily climbing coffee prices have some in this country of coffee lovers upending their habits by nixing café visits, switching to cheaper brews or foregoing it altogether Coffee prices in the U.S. were up 18.3% in January from a year ago, according to the latest Consumer Price Index released on Friday Over five years, the government reported, coffee prices rose 47%. That extraordinary rise has brought some to take extraordinary measures.
“Before, I thought, ‘There’s no way I could make it through my day without coffee,’” says Liz Sweeney, 50, of Boise, Idaho, a former “coffee addict” who has cut her consumption. “Now my car’s not on automatic pilot.” Sweeney used to have three cups of coffee at home each day and stop at a café whenever she left the house. As prices climbed last year, though, she nixed coffee shop visits and cut her intake to a cup a day at home. To make up for the caffeine, she pops open a can of Diet Coke at home or rolls through McDonald’s for one. Dan DeBaun, 34, of Minnetonka, Minnesota, has likewise trimmed back on coffee shop visits, conscious of the increasing expense as he and his wife save up for a house.
“What used to be a $2 coffee, it’s now $5, $6,” says DeBaun, who now buys ground coffee at Trader Joe’s and fills up a travel mug to bring to the office. Data from Toast, a payment platform used by more than 150,000 restaurants, found the median price of a regular hot coffee in the U.S. had climbed to $3.61 in December, with wide variation by location. The median price of cold brews was $5.55. Virtually all coffee consumed in the U.S. is imported. Though tariffs affected some imports of coffee in 2025, they ultimately were removed. Climate issues — drought in Vietnam, heavy rain in Indonesia, and hot, dry weather in Brazil — are blamed for reducing yields of coffee crops and driving up global prices.
See COFFEE, page 6C
Dear Doctors: WhenIwas young, it seemed to be aregular practice that you would get your tonsils removed, thoughIstill have mine Why was that? Is it still the same now? What are the pros and cons of having your tonsils removed as achild?
Dear Reader: Youare correct. From the early 1900s through the 1960s, tonsillectomies were common preventive care. As a front-line organ of the immune system, tonsils are prone to repeated infection. Before antibiotics and when antibiotics were still new,these infections were seen as adanger to health. To avoid repeated throat infections in children, surgery to remove tonsils became the go-to answer.The trend peaked in the late 1950s, with more than 1.4 million tonsil-
lectomies done in asingle year Tonsillectomiesstill take place today, but formoreselective reasons. Partofthe reason for the decline is thatwe now understand the role oftonsils in good health. Tonsils are twooval mounds, perchedoneither side of the throat. They are an important part of theimmune system and lymphatic system.Theyguard theentrancetothe respiratory system,
trapping viruses and bacteria. They also act as afiling system to help guide thebody’sfuture immune responses. They contain immune cells that sample incoming microbes and help build long-term immune memory. This is very important during childhood, when the immune system is on asteep learning curve. As antibiotics became morewidespread and doctors grew morecomfortable using them, medication clearly became less extreme thansurgery Today,people have tonsillectomies for specific reasons, unlike in the past when they were almost achildhood riteofpassage. In somecases,the tonsils can be too large for the throat and can interfere with breathing, particularly at night. This can lead to snoring and to obstructive sleep apnea.
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This year,however,books of the Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyya —who lived in Damascus seven centuries ago and whose teachings are followedbySunni jihadi groups —were sold openly at the fair after being banned for decades
Thecirculation of books spreadinganextreme ideology raised alarms in Syria, where sectarian killings have lefthundredsofAlawites and Druze dead over the past year in sectarian attacks by pro-government Sunni fighters.
Assad, amember of the Alawite religious minority officially espoused asecular ideology.The Assad dynasty launched brutal crackdowns on theMuslim Brotherhood and other Islamistgroups during the family’sfive- decade rule
The only known book to be banned this year —“Have YouHeard the Talk of the Rafida?” —included audio addresses by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, theleader of al-Qaida in Iraq who was killed in aU.S. strike in 2006. Iraq reportedly asked Syrian authorities to remove it because it incites hatred against Shiite Muslims.
Abearded man wearing a military uniform who identified himself by his nom de guerre Abu Obeida,bought acopy of Ibn Taymiyyah’s famous book “Al-Aqida Alwasitiyeh” or “The Fundamental Principles of Islam.”
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Two-thirds of Americans drink coffee daily,according to the National Coffee Association. For many,it is such an indispensable part of their routine, the soaring price has led to nothing more than grumbling. The coffee association saysits surveys show coffee consumption is broadly holding steady despite price hikes. But, squeezed by the cost of everything from rent to beef,othersare shaking up their habit. Sharon Cooksey, 55,of Greensboro, North Carolina, was visitingher local Starbucks most weekday mornings for acaramel latte until scaling back last year.First,
“Before liberation this book was banned in Syria,” Abu Obeida toldThe Associated Press, standing at astand selling religious books. “Anyone who had such abook used to be taken to jail.”
“Now it is available, thanks be to God,”hesaid,adding that in thepast people read “whatthe statewantedthem to.”
Anew era
The book fair was first held in Syriain1985and stopped for several years after thecountry’s civil war began in March 2011.
Hala Bishbishi, the director of the Egypt-basedAlHala publishing house, was surprised by the number of peoplewho showed up, although she added that the Damascus book fair cannot yet be comparedto those held in oil-rich Gulf countries.
“With thecircumstances that Syria passed through, this fair is excellent,” the woman said.Shuttle buses between thefair and central Damascus boosted visitor numbers, she added.
AtefNamous, aSyrian publisher who had been livingabroad for 45 years, said he was participating for the first time because any book canbesoldat thefairnow, even those imported form Western countries.
The exhibition this year comes weeks after intense clashes betweengovernment forces and Kurdish fighters in thenortheast. A ceasefire deal was reached and thegovernment in Damascus has sought to reas-
she switched to brewing Starbucks at home. Then, she discovered Lavazza coffee was about 40% cheaper and switched to it “I can buy abag of coffee for $6?” she said to herself. “It was like Ihad just discovered another world. The multiverse opened up to me in the coffee aisle of Publix.”
She has noticedher homebrewedcosts tick upward, too, but it’snothingcompared toher café habit. A bagofbeansthat lasts weeks costs heraboutthe sameas onelatte.
Cooksey misses thesocial aspect of visiting the café, where baristasgreeted her by name.But she’sbeen surprised to find sheactually prefersthe way herhomemade coffees taste. “I’ll be damned if it didn’t taste so good,” she says.
sure Kurds that they are equal citizens in the new political order
InterimPresident Ahamd al-Sharaa issued adecree last month giving Kurds rightsunseen in decades, including restoring citizenshiptoKurds whohad been strippedofitunder the Assaddynasty, making Kurdish one of Syria’s official languagesaswellasrecognizing the Kurds most importantholiday,the spring celebration of Newroz.
“Weare very happy with this positive step toward Kurds,who for morethan 60 years have been deprived of practicing the Kurdish culture,” said Sorakji, the Kurdish publisher about being allowed to show books in Kurdish for the first time in manyyears.
Selling history,literature and philosophy books at his stand, Sorakji said most of the people buying were Kurds, but there were also Arabs who want to know more abouttheir compatriots.
“Weare allSyriansbut what caused allthe differences was the(Assad) regime,”hesaid.
Anotherowner of apublishing company, Mayada Kayali, saidthatthe most importantthing to offer to theyoungergenerations who “have emerged from war,injustice and oppression is knowledge —knowledge that is accessible to them, without placing restrictions on their ideas or their opinions.”
Mroue reported from Beirut
Growing up, Donelson watched enviously as her mother made adaily coffee jaunt (also to McDonald’s, also 10 sugars and five creams), and she duplicated thehabit. Shewentfrom college to the Air Force to agovernment job as adata and artificial intelligence strategist, but through it all, coffee was there.
She noticed the growing expense of her routine, but kept it up until a government shutdown halted her paychecks last fall and sheneeded to trim herspending. Looking for amorning substitute,she landedona Republic of Teablendwith ahealthy squeezeofhoney “Twentycents acup compared to $7 or $8 acup,”she says. “The mathjustmakes sense.
Sleep apnea is when breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. It can be apotentially dangerous condition. Children who have frequentthroat infections across multiple years may benefit from tonsillectomy. People who experience serious complications, such as infections that lead to abscesses, may also be referred for surgery Providers now evaluate the pros and cons of tonsillectomy on acase-by-case basis. The wide-ranging immune benefits of the organsoften outweigh the difficulties of an occasional infection.Surgery itself carries risks, including pain and bleeding. Complications from anesthesia are also possible, though these are rare.The surgery has an uncomfortable recovery period. De-
pending on insurance, it can also be costly.Children with severe and frequent throat infections may experience stress from illness and miss school days. They can also have other problems from repeated antibiotics use. These may be cases where tonsillectomyisthe best path forward. The bottom line is we no longer view tonsils as useless, nuisance organs. But forsome people in specific circumstances, tonsillectomyisstill asolid and wellsupported treatment.
Send yourquestions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla. edu, or write: Ask theDoctors, c/oUCLA HealthSciences Media Relations, 10880 Wilshire Blvd.,Suite 1450, Los Angeles, CA, 90024.
By The Associated Press
Today is Monday,Feb.23, the 54th day of 2026. There are 311 days left in the year
Todayinhistory: On Feb.23, 1945, during World WarII, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, where they raised two American flags. (Thesecond flagraising was captured in an iconic photograph by Joe Rosenthal of The Associated Press.)
Also on this date: In 1836, thesiege of the Alamo by Mexican troops began in San Antonio. Almostall of the nearly 200 heavily outnumbered Texas defenders, including American frontiersman and politician Davy Crockett, were killed in the13day assault
In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt signed an agreement with Cuba to lease land around Guantanamo Bay to theUnited States. No datewas set for termination of the lease and Naval Station Guantanamo Bay continues at thesite, along with ahighsecuritydetention complex for suspected terrorists.
In 1942, thefirst shelling of the U.S. mainland during World WarIIoccurred as a
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stay cool. Stay humble.”
Owen’sdad,Adam, accompanied himonthe trip to California and had a front-row seat for his son’s triumph. He could hardly believe what he was seeing “It was alittle surreal and unbelievable,” Adam Zaragoza said. “He made thethird chip. He madethe first putt, barely missed the second putt, and then he hit thethirdputt, andIremember texting(my wife) Anna being like, ‘Holy cow, Ithink this might actually happen.’
“Six or sevenplayers were left, andthe scores kept comingin. Iwas sitting there watching it and pac-
Japanesesubmarinefired on an oilrefinery near Santa Barbara, California.
In 1980, American Eric Heiden completed his sweep of the five men’s speed skating events at the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, NewYork, by winning the men’s 10,000-meter race in world record time; Heiden was the first athlete to winfive gold medals in asingle Winter Olympics.
In 2011, in amajor policy reversal, President Barack Obama’sadministration said it would no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, afederal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.
In 2020, a25-year-old Black man, Ahmaud Arbery,was fatally shot while running in acoastal Georgia neighborhood after a White father and son armed themselves and pursued him. (Greg and Travis McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan subsequently drew life sentences for murder convictions and later were convicted of federal hate crimes.)
In 2021, golfer Tiger Woods was seriously injured when he crashed his SUVinto amedian and
ing, going back andforth, and it went final. It was a little surreal.”
Owenwas 2yearsold when he received aplastic set of golf clubs from his grandmother. When the plastic balls that came with the set got lost or chewed up by thedog,Owendidn’t slowdown,instead taking aimatthe pine cones in his backyard.
Histwinsister, Abby,oftenservedashas histarget.
“Wewereall targets at somepoint in time,” his dad said.
Owen graduatedtoareal set of clubs at 3, and played his first hole that sameyear on the nine-hole course at Three IslandCrossing in Glenns Ferry
He joinedthe BanBury Boomers, ayouth golf training program held at Ban-
rolled over several times on asteep downhill road in suburban Los Angeles. In 2023, afederal judge handed singer R. Kelly a 20-year prison sentence forhis convictions that include producing child sexual abuse materials and federal sex trafficking charges., but said he would serve nearly all of the sentence simultaneously with a30-year sentence imposed ayear earlier on racketeering charges. Today’sbirthdays: Football Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoffis83. Actor Patricia Richardson is 75. Singer Howard Jones is 71. Japanese Emperor Naruhito is 66. Actor Kristin Davis is 61. Business executive Michael Dell is 61. TV personality-business executive Daymond John is 57. Actor Niecy Nash is 56. Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland is 55. Country singer Steve Holy is 54. Actor Kelly Macdonald is 50. Rapper Residente, born René Juan Pérez Joglar,is48. Actor Josh Gadis45.
Bury Golf Course, at age 5, and began competing in the U.S. Kids Golf programby the timehewas 7. “I like meeting new friends and going to these really awesome places, like going to Augusta,” Owen said. “It’sjust super fun.” The entire Zaragoza family willbegoing to Georgia in April forOwen’sbig day.The participants compete Sunday and then get to watch the pro golfers’ Masters practice round on Monday TheDrive, Chip andPutt competition will air live on the Golf Channel beginning at 7a.m. April 5. “It’s gonna be really something that Iwill hopefully,definitelyremember,” Owen said. “I really want to do good,because that’d be super awesome.”
PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Follow through, take advantage of opportunities and make the most of your time. Choose to be unique and to allow yourself the privilege of following your heart and enjoying what life has to offer.
ARIES(March 21-April 19) Know when to say no to others instead of trying to pleaseeveryone. Your top priority is your mental, physical and emotional well-being. Excess and indulgent behavior will pose problems.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Monitor situations, weighthe pros and cons, and changeonlywhat'snecessary.Ask questions, rely on experts andgothrough the proper channels to ensure you get precisely what you want.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Keep busy. It's whatyou achievethat will make your dayworthwhile. Steer clear of conversations that can lead to distress or uncertainty. Look out for your interests first and foremost.
CANCER (June 21-July 22) Set your sights on what you want to achieve. Discipline anda well-thought-outplan will help you reach your goal with time to spare. Your expertise will be recognized and respected.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Take care of business. Map out aplan and set goals. Refuse to let outsideinfluences stifle your progress. Put your energy intoselfimprovement and upping your game.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Address issues of concern. Honesty will help you gain insight and make allowances that
encourage better relationships. Ashift in how or where you work will lead to interesting possibilities and connections.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Check out the possibilities,and eliminate whatisn't necessary to reach your destination. The journeythat has the most impact will be the one thatincludes the people you mesh with best.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Have apurpose in mind before you walk out the door. Channelyourenergy wisely to avoid unsavory incidents. Change only what's necessary, and avoid discord with partners and people you count on.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Take pride in what you do, and be quick to stop anyone who interferes with your progress. It's necessary to put yourself first if you want to get ahead.Say no to emotional manipulation.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Questionanything that sounds suspicious. Don't limit whatyou can do.Trusting otherstodo things to your specificationswill lead to disappointment
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Distance yourself from procrastinators and people eager to take advantage of you. Refuse to buy into fads, promotionalads and productsthat soundtoo good to be true
The horoscope, an entertainment feature,isnot based on scientific fact ©2026 by NEA,Inc.,dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication
InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1to9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the samenumber only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.
Saturday’s Puzzle Answer
BY PHILLIP ALDER
Rene Descartes, aFrench philosopher, mathematician and writer whospent most of his life in the Dutch Republic anddied in 1650, said in alecture, “And nowwecometothetwooperationsofour understanding, intuition anddeduction, on which alone we have said we must rely in the acquisition of knowledge.”
At the bridge table, we gain an understanding of adeal primarily by using deduction —although some players also employ intuition. If you wish to test your deductive powers, cover the West andSouth hands. The contract is three no-trump.West leads afourth-highest heart twoand declarer calls for dummy’sfour. Wouldyou put in the10orrise with theking? Why?
This is atrap deal forNorth and South. They have 29 high-card points, but cannot, in theory, make game. However, if anygame is going to get through, it is three no-trump.Often,when dummy has theheartqueenandEasttheking-10over her, it is right for East to play his 10. But notinthis instance. If South is permittedtotake the first trick with his heart jack,hewill then cash four clubs, four diamonds and the spade ace to score up an overtrick. It is right to play the 10 when South has the ace, but is that possible?
No!
If South had started with ace-lowin hearts, he wouldhave calledfor dummy’squeen, hoping the lead wasaway fromthe king. So East should play his king at thefirsttrick,confident it will win, then return the five, his original fourth-highest. The defenders will run thesuit fordown one.
©2026 by NEA, Inc dist.
By AndrewsMcMeel Syndication
EachWuzzle is aword riddle which creates adisguised word, phrase, name,place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON
Previous answers:
word game
InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional
by
a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns,
or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.
toDAY’s WoRD VItIAtEs: VIH-she-ates: Makes ineffective.
Average mark 18 words Time limit 20 minutes
Can you find 22 or more words in VITIATES?
sAtuRDAY’s WoRD —GRuDGInGLY
