The Acadiana Advocate 03-02-2026

ST.MARTIN

Parish may seek to leave juvenile justice district

Exit couldhavemajor consequences for upcoming taxelection

BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer

St. Martin Parish may seek to exit the Acadiana Regional Juvenile Justice District, sources on the district’s board revealed.

Duringa Thursday meeting of the board, former Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff Ricky Edwards said he had received word from St. Martinofficials who are weighing whether the parish will remain in the district

The information comes days after Vermilion Parish voted to requestits removal, becoming the secondparish to do so following Evangeline.

The exit of St. Martin could havemajor consequences for an upcoming tax election, however,and wouldlikelylead to its postponement.

Evangeline and Vermilion’s request to exit came in response to issues both parishes had with aproposed 1-cent sales tax district that residents could vote on in the June 27 election. The sales tax would be in effect for one year,after which it would be reduced to aquarter-cent levy

The tax is essential to funding aproposedjuvenile detention center; the project prompted the creationofthe Acadiana Regional Juvenile Justice District in 2023.

Property being considered for the facility, however, is located in St.Martin, meaning the district leadership would need to find another location before holding an election forafunding mechanism.

Members of the district board made amotion in Thursday’smeeting torequire all remaining parishes, including St. Martin, to send awritten statement committing to remain in thedistrict,

ä See DISTRICT, page 5A

Brown pelicans land on the Terrebonne Houma Navigation Canal Bird Island near Cocodrie on Tuesday. The revitalization of the remote island restores akey nesting area for scores of waterbirds, including Louisiana’sstate bird, the brown pelican.

DUKE

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByVAHID SALEMI

Smoke rises after astrikeinTehran, Iran, on Sunday. The U.S. and Israel are poundingtargets across Iran, dropping massive bombs on thecountry’sballistic missile facilities and wiping out warshipsaspartofanintensifying militarycampaign that accompanied the killingofSupremeLeader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

BY JONGAMBRELL, MELANIE LIDMAN, JOSH BOAK and

ERIC TUCKER

Press

Associated

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates The U.S.and Israel pounded targets across Iran on Sunday,dropping massive bombs on the country’sballistic missile sites andwipingout warships as part of an intensifying military campaign following thekilling of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Blasts rattled windows across thecountry and sent plumes of smokehigh into the sky above Tehran. More than200 people have been killed since thestart

of the strikes that killedKhamenei and other senior leaders, Iranian leaders have said. Iran vowed revenge, firing missilesatIsraeland Gulf Arab states in acounteroffensive that theU.S. militarysaid resultedinthe deathsofthree servicemembers —the first known American casualties from the conflict. Five others wereseriously wounded.

Israeli rescue services said strikes had hit several locations, includingJerusalem and asynagogue in the central town of Beit Shemesh,where nine people were killed and 28 wounded, bringing the overall death tollinthe country to 11.

Eleven people were still missing after the strike, police said. Butthe attacks on Iran showed no signs of relenting as the U.S.and Israel took aim at keymilitary, political and intelligence targets in what appeared to be awideningwar thatcarried the potential for aprolonged conflict that could envelop the Middle East and destabilize it. The strikes represented astartling show of military might for an American president who swept into office on an “America First” platform and pledged to keep outof“forever wars.”

ä FBIprobes possible link of deadly Austin shooting to Iran operation. PAGE 2A

ä At least 22 people killed in Pakistan protests. PAGE 2A

ä Iran strikes spark calls for peace, flashes of anger PAGE 3A

ä Oil prices rise sharply in market trading after strikes. PAGE 3A

ä Some fear warwill slow momentum of Gaza ceasefire. PAGE 3A

BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer

Instead,ithas been revivedafter years of work, and the state bird will be amongthe primary beneficiaries.

After a20-minute boat ride from aCocodriemarinainTerrebonne Parish on acool morning last week, agroup of scientists and engineers surveyed the now-completed restoration project and explained its dual importance. The island maybeunassuming —mostly haybales,rock dikesand sparse vegetation— but its revitalization restores akey nesting area

Bolsonaro supporters rally across Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO

Thousands of supporters of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro demonstrated in cities across the South American nation on Sunday, as organizers hoped to build momentum for a right-wing victory in the upcoming presidential elections.

Protesters draped in yellow and green — the colors of the national flag — took to the streets in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and the capital Brasilia to voice their opposition to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who faces a tough reelection bid in October

“This year will be decisive for all Brazilians,” Flávio Bolsonaro, the ex-president’s son who was chosen by his father to stand against Lula, said on Instagram ahead of the demonstration.

“We’re one step away from succeeding at rescuing our Brazil.”

Flávio has sought to rally the right around his candidacy against Lula, who has said he will run for a fourth, nonconsecutive term.

Bolsonaro is in prison, where he is serving a 27-year sentence for attempting a coup despite his 2022 electoral defeat to Lula Many of Bolsonaro’s supporters believe the embattled far-right leader is the victim of political persecution.

“We believe that 2026 will be the year of the turning point. We have a project led by President Bolsonaro, which was entrusted to Flávio Bolsonaro,” said Douglas Ruas dos Santos, a state lawmaker at the protest in Rio Recent polls show Flávio Bolsonaro and Lula as almost tied in a hypothetical runoff vote.

“The demonstration celebrated the candidacy of Flávio Bolsonaro,” said Pablo Ortellado, a professor of public policy at the University of Sao Paulo, adding that the former president’s son is consolidating himself as the right’s nominee ahead of October’s vote.

Group: Gunmen kill at least 15 in Nigeria

ABUJA,Nigeria At least 15 people have been killed after gunmen attacked three communities in north-central Nigeria, Amnesty International said Sunday

The simultaneous attacks occurred on Saturday in Tashan Maje, Saduro, and Runtuwa villages located in the Borgu area of Niger state, the rights group said in a statement posted on X “The gunmen invaded the villages on dozens of motorcycles shooting in all directions. They also ransacked shops,” Amnesty said.

The “horrific attack” is yet another indication that “people are constantly living on the edge and feeling helpless,” the statement said. It didn’t provide further details about the attackers.

Northern Nigeria is in the grip of a complex security crisis featuring both Islamic militants operating in the northeast and armed criminal gangs kidnapping people for ransom who have wrecked havoc in the northwest and north-central regions.

Africa’s most populous country has been a focus of Washington after U.S. President Donald Trump said that the country wasn’t protecting Christians from an alleged genocide. The Nigerian government rejected the accusation, and analysts say that it simplifies a very complicated situation in which people are often targeted regardless of their faith.

9 wounded in Cincinnati nightclub shooting

CINCINNATI A shooting early Sunday at a crowded Cincinnati nightclub and concert venue wounded nine people, police said. There were no immediate arrests.

The shooting victims were taken to hospitals with nonlife-threatening injuries, Adam Hennie, the city’s interim police chief, said at a news conference. About 500 to 600 people were in the Riverfront Live nightclub when shots rang out at 1 a.m., Hennie said. He declined to provide additional details, citing the integrity of the investigation.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it was helping in the investigation.

Two killed in Austin bar shooting

Official: Gunman wore ‘Property of Allah’ clothing, Iranian flag emblem

BY JACK MYER, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, ERIC TUCKER AND JOHN SEEWER Associated Press

AUSTIN,Texas The gunman who killed two people at a bar in Texas early Sunday in a mass shooting being investigated by the FBI as a potential act of terrorism was wearing a sweatshirt that said “Property of Allah,” and another shirt with an Iranian flag design, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

The shooting, which also left 14 wounded, erupted a day after the United States launched an attack on Iran with Israel that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The gunman was identified as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

He first entered the U.S. in 2000 on a B-2 tourist visa and became a lawful permanent resident six years later after marrying a U.S. citizen, according to DHS. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2013, the de-

partment said. Diagne was originally from Senegal, according to multiple people briefed on the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.

Officers in Austin shot and killed the gunman, who used both a pistol and a rifle to carry out the attack, police said.

The suspect drove past the bar several times before stopping and shooting a pistol out the window of his SUV at people on a patio and in front of the bar, according to Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis.

The gunman then parked the vehicle, got out with a rifle and began shooting at people walking in the area before officers who rushed to the intersection shot him, Davis said. Three of those injured were in critical condition Sunday morning, police said.

Authorities found “indicators” on the gunman and in his vehicle leading the FBI to look into the possibility of

terrorism, said Alex Doran, the acting agent in charge of the FBI’s San Antonio office.

“It’s still too early to make a determination on that,” Doran said Sunday morning.

The White House said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the shooting.

Texas Gov Greg Abbott warned that the state would respond aggressively to anyone trying to “use the current conflict in the Mid-

dle East to threaten Texas.”

“We will not be intimidated, and we will not be terrorized,” he said in a statement.

The shooting happened outside Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden just before 2 a.m. along Sixth Street, a nightlife destination filled with bars and music clubs and only a few miles from the University of Texas.

The school’s president said on social media that some of those impacted included “members of our

“Our prayers are with the victims and all those impacted,” said university President Jim Davis.

The entertainment district has a heavy police presence on weekends, and officers were able to confront the gunman within a minute of the first call for help, Davis said.

AustinMayorKirkWatson praised the fast response by police and rescuers.

“They definitely saved lives,” he said.

At least 22 people killed in Pakistan protests

Demonstrators try to storm U.S. Consulate

BY ADIL JAWAD and MUNIR AHMED Associated Press

KARACHI, Pakistan Violent clashes between protesters and security forces in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi and in the country’s north left at least 22 people dead and more than 120 others injured as demonstrators supportive of the Iranian government attempted to storm a U.S Consulate on Sunday, authorities said. In the north of the country demonstrators attacked U.N. and government offices.

The violence came after the United States and Israel attacked Iran, killing its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Police and officials at a hospital in Karachi said that at least 50

police in the northern GilgitBaltistan region when thousands of protesters angered by U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran attacked the offices of the U.N. Military Observer Group and the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP), local police official Asghar Ali said.

people were also wounded in the clashes and some of them were in critical condition.

President Asif Ali Zardari expressed his “profound sorrow over the martyrdom” of Khamenei and conveyed his condolences to Iran, according to his office. He said: “Pakistan stands with the Iranian nation in this moment of grief and shares in

their loss.”

Summaiya Syed Tariq, a police surgeon at the city’s main government hospital, confirmed six bodies and multiple injured people were brought to the facility However, she said the death toll rose to 10 after four critically wounded people died.

In addition, 12 people were killed and over 80 wounded in clashes with

Afghanistan says it thwarted Pakistani strike on air base

Fighting enters fourth day

BY ABDUL QAHAR AFGHAN and ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan Afghanistan thwarted attempted airstrikes on Bagram Air Base, the former U.S. military base north of Kabul, authorities said Sunday while cross-border fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan stretched into a fourth day

The fighting has been the most severe between the neighbors for years, with Pakistan declaring that it’s in “open war” with Afghanistan. The conflict has alarmed the international community, particularly as the area is one where other militant organizations, including al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, still have a presence and have been trying to resurface.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of harboring militant groups that stage attacks against it and also of allying with its archrival India.

Border clashes in October killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants until a Qatari-mediated ceasefire ended the intense fighting. But several rounds of peace talks in Turkey in November failed to produce a lasting agreement, and the two sides have occasionally traded fire since then.

On Sunday, the police headquarters of Parwan province, where Bagram is located, said in a statement that several Pakistani military jets had entered Afghan airspace “and attempted to bomb Bagram Air Base” at around 5 a.m.

The statement said Afghan forces responded with “anti-aircraft and missile defense systems” and had managed to thwart the attack.

There was no immediate response from Pakistan’s military or government regarding Kabul’s claim of attempted airstrikes on Bagram or the ongoing fighting.

Bagram was the United States’ largest military base in Afghanistan. It was taken over by the Taliban

as they swept across the country and took control in the wake of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country in 2021. Last year, President Donald Trump suggested he wanted to reestablish a U.S. presence at the base.

The current fighting began when Afghanistan launched a broad crossborder attack on Thursday night, saying it was in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes the previous Sunday

Pakistan had said its airstrike had targeted the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-eTaliban Pakistan, or TTP Afghanistan had said only civilians were killed.

The TTP militant group which is separate but closely allied with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, operates inside Pakistan, where it has been blamed for hundreds of deaths in bombings and other attacks over the years. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing a safe haven within Afghanistan for the TTP, an accusation that Afghanistan denies.

A government spokesman, Shabir Mir, said all staff working for those organizations was safe. He said protesters repeatedly clashed with police at various places in the region, damaged the offices of a local charity, and set fire to police offices. However he said authorities had deployed troops and brought the situation under control.

The U.S. Embassy in Pakistan said in a post on X that it was monitoring reports of ongoing demonstrations at the U.S. Consulates General in Karachi and Lahore, as

well as calls for additional protests at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and the consulate general in Peshawar It advised U.S. citizens in Pakistan to monitor local news, stay aware of their surroundings, avoid large crowds and keep their travel registration with the U.S. government up to date. In Karachi, which is the capital of southern Sindh province and Pakistan’s largest city senior police official Irfan Baloch said that protesters briefly attacked the perimeter of the U.S. Consulate, but were later dispersed. He dismissed reports that any part of the consulate building was set on fire. However, he said that protesters torched a nearby police post and smashed windows of the consulate before security forces arrived and regained control.

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Iran strikes spark calls for peace, flashes of anger

BY CLAUDIA CIOBANU and ANGELA CHARLTON Associated Press

PARIS Three close allies of the United States said Sunday they are ready to join forces to defend their interests in the Middle East and stop Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone strikes following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as others around the world raised concerns that the conflict sparked by coordinated U.S.-Israel attacks could spread into a wider war

Britain, France and Germany said they were prepared to work with the United States.

“We will take steps to defend our interests and those of our allies in the region, potentially through enabling necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source,” their statement said “We have agreed to work together with the US and allies in the region on this matter.”

Massive explosions rocked the Iranian capital for a second day as Israel’s military said it was targeting the “heart” of Tehran. Iran pressed on, targeting Israel and U.S. military bases in Gulf states.

Iranian officials hurried to plan a future after the death of Khamenei, who had no designated successor, as some Iranians who had long

suffered from political repression celebrated. On streets around the world, there were protests in outrage or bursts of celebration.

Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the United States in the history of the Catholic Church, said he was “profoundly concerned” about the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and urged both sides to “stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss.”

The statement by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said they are “appalled” by Iran’s “reckless” strikes on their allies, which threaten their service members and citizens in the region.

A drone strike damaged a hangar at a French naval base at the port of Abu Dhabi, France’s defense minister said. British Defense Minister John Healey said Iranian missile and drone strikes came within a few hundred yards of a group of 300 British military personnel in Bahrain.

Healey also said two missiles were fired in the direction of Cyprus, where the U.K. has bases, though a Cyprus government spokesman said on social media those reports were not valid.

Starmer said the U.K. will not join in strikes on Iran but has newly agreed to let

Some fear war will slow momentum of Gaza ceasefire

BY WAFAA SHURAFA, TOQA EZZIDIN and CARA ANNA Associated Press

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip

Some Palestinians say they fear the widening war sparked by U.S. and Israeli attacks against Iran could overshadow the fragile situation in Gaza, just over a week after President Donald Trump rallied billions of dollars in pledges for the territory’s reconstruction and tried to nudge a ceasefire forward.

Residents say they are scared of neglect and deprivation, with Israel in the wake of the weekend strikes closing all crossings into their shattered territory of over 2 million people.

Palestinians told The Associated Press they were rushing to markets, haunted by memories of painful food scarcity last year under months of Israel’s blockade.

Part of Gaza, around Gaza City was found to be in famine.

“When the crossings shut down, everything was suspended from the market,” said Osamda Hanoda from Khan Younis. “The prices go up, and people live in misery.”

The shaky Israel-Hamas ceasefire had led to more humanitarian aid and other supplies entering Gaza, even as the United Nations and aid partners say more of everything from basic medical

supplies to fuel is needed. Now Palestinians are hoarding again, with reports of prices rising sharply for basic goods such as bags of flour

“We are afraid of not finding milk” and diapers for the kids, or food and water, said Hassan Zanoun, who was displaced from Rafah.

COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing civilian affairs in Gaza, did not respond to a request for comment Sunday In its announcement of the closings, it asserted that the food supply inside the territory “is expected to suffice for an extended period.” It added that the rotation of humanitarian workers in and out of Gaza is postponed It was not clear when any crossing might reopen. Israeli authorities focused on Iran, and citizens dashed repeatedly for shelter as sirens wailed.

The war in Gaza began with the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and it’s been marked from the start by restrictions on people and supplies being allowed into the territory — and terrified people, including medical evacuees in need of treatment, getting out.

A month ago, Gaza’s main Rafah border crossing with the outside world — its only crossing not with Israel — reopened, allowing a small and tightly controlled flow of Palestinian traffic in both directions. No cargo was al-

Washington use British bases for attacks on Iran’s missiles and their launch sites.

Top diplomats from the 27 European Union nations held an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss the situation and next steps for the bloc.

“The death of Ali Khamenei is a defining moment in Iran’s history What comes next is uncertain,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. “But there is now an open path to a different Iran, one that its people may have greater freedom to shape.”

Perhaps cautious about upsetting already strained relations with U.S. Presi-

dent Donald Trump, many nations, including several in the Middle East, refrained from commenting directly or pointedly on the joint strikes but condemned Tehran’s retaliation.

The 22-nation Arab League called the Iranian attacks “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of countries that advocate for peace and strive for stability.” That coalition of nations has historically condemned both Israel and Iran for actions it says risk destabilizing the region.

“Return to your senses and deal with your neighbors with reason and responsibil-

lowed through.

Now all crossings are closed again in the middle of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, a time of chosen deprivation, evening feasts and prayer Images have shown Palestinians lined up at long tables in the middle of bombed-out debris.

The strikes on Iran shook that routine.

“All the people rushed to markets, and they all wanted to shop and hide,” said Abeer Awwad, who was displaced from Gaza City, as word of the explosions in Tehran began to spread.

Under the Oct. 10 U.S.-brokered ceasefire, the heaviest fighting has subsided, though regular Israeli fire continues in Gaza. The U.N. World Food Program has noted progress in the enclave but said in its latest food security analysis last week that hunger remains.

“Households reported an average of two meals per day in February 2026, compared to one meal in July,” it said. “Still, one in five households consumed only

one meal daily.”

Refocusing the world’s attention on Gaza is a challenge for aid groups and others as Iran scrambles for new leadership and explosions continue in Tehran, Israel and around the Middle East.

Trump has said bombing in Iran could continue through the week or longer, and warned Tehran of “A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!” if it escalates attacks.

It’s a dramatic turn from Trump’s launch less than two weeks ago of his new Board of Peace, a gathering of world leaders that is aimed at ending the war in Gaza but has ambitions of resolving conflicts elsewhere.

Even with that bump in momentum on Gaza, major challenges remain for the ceasefire. They include disarming Hamas, assembling and deploying an international stabilization force, and getting a newly appointed Palestinian committee meant to govern Gaza into the territory

ity before the circle of isolation and escalation widens,” Anwar Gargash, an adviser to the United Arab Emirates’ president, told the Iranian theocracy The UAE closed its embassy in Iran and announced the withdrawal of its diplomatic mission after Iranian strikes hit the country

The UAE foreign minister met with counterparts from five other Gulf states Sunday for an emergency virtual meeting. The top diplomats said their countries retain “the legal right to respond and the right to self-defense” under international law

Russian leader Vladimir

Putin blasted Khamenei’s killing, which he called “a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law.”

“The blatant killing of the leader of a sovereign state and the incitement of regime change are unacceptable,” China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency “These actions violate international law and the basic norms governing international relations.” Wang said attacking a sovereign state without U.N. Security Council authorization undermines the foundation for peace established after World War II. In Iraq, hundreds wore black and waved flags belonging to Iran-backed Iraqi militias and red flags that symbolize vengeance in the Shiite Muslim faith as they marched across Sadr City to decry the killing of Khamenei.

Anger flashed at protests in Istanbul and among Shiite Muslims in India.

Demonstrations were also held in cities including New York, Berlin, Paris and Vienna by members of the Iranian diaspora and their supporters, celebrating the end of Khamenei’s rule. Some demonstrators waved flags of the Iranian monarchy with Israeli and U.S. flags also on display

Oil prices rise sharply in market trading after strikes

BY CATHY BUSSEWITZ AP business writer

NEW YORK Oil prices rose sharply when market trading began Sunday, as U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and retaliatory strikes against Israel and U.S. military installations around the Gulf sent disruptions through the global energy supply chain.

Traders were betting the supply of oil from Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East would slow or grind to a halt. Attacks throughout the region, including on two vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, have restricted countries’ ability to export oil to the rest of the world. Prolonged attacks would likely result in higher prices for crude oil and gasoline, according to energy experts.

West Texas Intermediate, the light, sweet crude oil produced in the United States, was selling for about $72 a barrel Sunday night, according to data from CME group, up around 8% from its trading price of about $67 on Friday

A barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, was trading at around $79 per barrel Sunday night, up about 8% from its trading price of $72.87 on Friday, according to FactSet.

Roughly 15 million barrels of crude oil per day about 20% of the world’s oil — are shipped through the

Strait of Hormuz, making it the world’s most critical oil chokepoint, according to Rystad Energy Tankers traveling through the strait, which is bordered in the north by Iran, carry oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Iran. Iran had temporarily shut down parts of the strait in mid-February for what it said was a military drill. Further disruptions to that shipping channel could lead to lower supply and higher prices for oil.

Attacks throughout the region, including on two vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, could restrict countries’ ability to export oil to the rest of the world. That would likely result in higher prices for crude oil and gasoline, according to energy experts. Against that backdrop, eight countries that are part of the OPEC+ oil cartel announced they would boost production of crude Sunday The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a meeting planned before the war began, said it would increase production by 206,000 barrels per day in April, which was more than analysts had been expecting. The countries boosting output include Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman.

Stranded travelers scramble to make new connections after attack

BY MARC LEVY Associated Press

Hundreds of thousands of stranded travelers scrambled to make new connections and get through to airlines on jammed phone lines Sunday after the attack on Iran by the United States and Israel shut down much of the Middle East to air travel. Tourists and business travelers crowded hotels and airports, with no word on when many airports would reopen or when flights to and through the Middle East would resume Some governments advised their stranded citizens to shelter in place. Shutdown airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha including Dubai International Airport, one of the busiest in the world — are important hubs for travel between Europe, Africa and the West to Asia All three were directly hit by strikes.

Mohammad Abdul Mannan, in the crowd at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh, said he wasn’t concerned about the war, but that he needs to get his flight to the Middle East to make a living. “We have set out to go for work, and we must go,” he said. “My only concern is how to go abroad and how to earn an income.” Confusion reigned for many travelers as they tried to get answers on online por-

tals or through busy phone lines. In Dubai, stranded travelers could hear fighter jets overhead and an explosion when the Fairmont Palm Hotel was hit by a missile strike. Many were unable to get updated flight information from tour operators or Dubai-based Emirates, which suspended all flights to and from Dubai until at least Monday afternoon.

Louise Herrle and her husband had their flight to Washington canceled on their way back to their Pittsburgh home after a tour of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with no word when they could reschedule.

“We’re in the hotel room, we are not leaving it, so

you’re not going to give it up until we know we have a flight out of here,” Herrle said. “I’m sure everyone else is in the same situation.”

Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, said it is hard to calculate the number of travelers stranded worldwide. However, it estimated that at least 90,000 people alone change flights daily in the airports in Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi on just three airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways.

Airspace or airports in Israel, Qatar Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates were closed, according to flight tracking sites and government agencies there. More than 2,800 flights

were canceled Sunday to and from airports across the Middle East, including those that remained open in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, according figures on flight tracking site FlightAware. International airports in London, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangkok, Istanbul, Sri Lanka and Paris each reported dozens of flights canceled, as well. Cancellations will extend beyond Sunday, at least.

Emirates suspended all flights to and from Dubai until at least Monday afternoon. Air India suspended all flights to and from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Qatar until Tuesday Israeli airline EL AL said it was preparing to fly home Israelis stranded abroad once the airspace reopened and closed ticket sales for flights through March 21 to ensure stranded customers get priority Two airports in the United Arab Emirates reported strikes as the government there condemned what it called a “blatant attack involving Iranian ballistic missiles” on Saturday Officials at Dubai International Airport said four people were injured, while Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi said one person was killed and seven others were injured in a drone strike. Strikes were also reported at Kuwait International Airport. Iran did not publicly claim responsibility

DISTRICT

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which the juvenile justice board said it will needtoreceive by Wednesday

In addition, board members requested an updated breakdown of the revenues each remaining parish would generate under the tax and how the loss

of severalparishes could alterexpectations forthe new facility

“Now that we may only have six or sevenparishes left, thatcould adversely affect the plansfor this facility we’vediscussed,” Edwardssaid. “Weneed to figure out where we stand regarding projectedrevenue.”

The boardlastconducted aparish breakdown on tax

revenue estimates in 2024. Vermilion and Evangeline accountedfor about$14 million of the $81 million thatwas projected to be generated,withSt. Martin projected to raise around $10 million. Assuming the 2024 figuresremainaccurate, theAcadianaRegional Juvenile Justice District would nowbeexpected to raise around$57 million from the proposed sales tax

The juvenile justicedistrictmust file withthe LouisianaSecretary of State’s Office by the end of April in order to place thesales tax on theballotfor theJune election. However, anyballotinitiative would need approval from the Louisiana Bond Commission, whichhas a March 17 deadline for submission. Boardmembers scheduled ameeting for

March 10 to assess each parish’sresponse to the requestfor future commitmentand whethertocontinue with plans to hold the election on that date.

The uncertainty surrounding St.Martin’sfuture in the district elicited someirritation from other parish representatives.

Representatives from Acadia, Allen, Iberia, JeffersonDavis,St. Landry

and St. Mary parishes at the Thursday meeting vouched fortheir government’s commitment to remaining in thedistrictthrough the June election. St. Martin Parish President Pete Delcambre and Sheriff Becket Breaux, who represents the parish on thedistrictboard, could not be reached for comment on plans to seek removal from the district.

ISLAND

Continued from page1A

forscores of waterbirds, including the brown pelican, Louisiana’sstate bird.

Part of theTerrebonneBarrier Islands, it also plays a modest role in safeguarding south Louisianacommunities from storm surge.

“Every little bit helps ” said Renee Bennett, who is overseeing theproject for thestate’sCoastal Protection and Restoration Authority.“Rather it be an island than somebody’shouse.”

The remote island, roughly 5miles from Coco Marina, is fittingly called the Houma Navigation Canal Bird Island, due to its location along the shipping channel and its popularity among colonial waterbirds. The coastal agency drew on lessons learnedduring restoration efforts of larger pelican nesting sites —Queen Bess Island near Grand Isle and Rabbit Island within Calcasieu Lake —for the HNC Bird Island.

Before constructionbegan in 2024,less than athird of the roughly 28-acre island offered suitable nesting habitat. Aprocess of dredging new sediment, elevating land and constructing rock dikes expanded the island to roughly 35 acres better protected from erosion and suitable for nesting birds

The coastal agency used around $40 million for the project, mostly coming from Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill settlement funds specifically allocated for bird restoration projects.

‘Amazing accomplishment’

In 2024,more than 800 brown pelican nestsand over 1,400 shrub-nesting bird nests were documented on the island, accordingto the Louisiana Department of Wildlifeand Fisheries. Beyond the statebird, the smallislandseesabouquet of birds from terns to egrets to herons.

“Tosee it rebuilt and restored to basically 100% of the island being able to be utilized by water birds is an amazing accomplishment for all of us, for the coast of Louisiana,” Bennett said. The project is also garnering praise from state leaders supportiveofsmaller-scale

restoration effortsinvolvingdredging. Sediment usedtorestore the bird island was pumpedfroma borrow area in CatIsland Pass, roughly 10 miles south of the site.

Gov.Jeff Landry called the dualbenefit of strengthening thecoast’sbarrierislands and restoring thebird habitat “a win-win.”CPRA Chair Gordon “Gordy” Dove said the island’srestoration helps “protect our inland marshes, homes and livelihoods.”

As the island’sname suggests, thesite has been dually shaped by natural and man-made forces. It was originally created around 1,500 years ago as sediment from the Mississippi River’sflow formed theLafourche-Terrebonne delta andsurrounding islands. Bird Island is likely thelast remainingpart of alarger marshland area,according

to areport by the engineering firm thatled the project.

By the1980s, theisland was used as adredge disposalsite to maintain the Houma Navigation Canal, whichhad been completed earlier in the 20thcentury as an importantvesselgateway to the GulfofMexico.

But the dredged material was ecologically damaging to theisland.

Bird Island stopped being used as adisposal site in the 1990s.Various efforts to construct rock dikes around theislandand fill in the shrinking land mass took place over theyears,

but the bird colony declined as time passed, another victimofthe land lossafflicting Louisiana’s coast. Before the current restoration project began, the originally 50-acre island had been roughly halved.

‘Their naturalhabitat’

If not for this project, the island would have eroded into open water, Bennett noted. Asubsidiary of ConocoPhillips owns the island andgavethe state land rights forthe restoration project at no cost. The currentrestoration is designed to last 20 years, and CPRA will monitor it for10.

“They don’texpect it to be gone,” said BrandonCarreras, aconstruction engineer with CPRA. “It meansyou’re going to assume some settling.” Land sinking and sea level rise will gradually lower the roughly 4.5-footaverage el-

evation on the island. But in those years to come, the habitat is expected to enliven. Small grass seeds —such as ryegrass, clover and seashore paspalum scattered on the sand hint at the future landscape plannedfor Bird Island. After nesting season ends in September,vegetationconducive to nesting, including blackmangroveand marsh elder,will be planted along the water

On thevisit last week, scores of brown pelicans were already scattered on the island’sshoreline, huddledaround grassesand someofthe new hay bales. “You seeall themangroves that the pelicans are in?” Carreras said. “That’s theirnatural habitat, that’s what they want.”

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

Have us take alook!

Landry wants to change Angola’s district

Governor has criticized immigration detainee rulings

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON Gov Jeff Landry

is seeking to move West Feliciana Parish — where the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola is located into a different federal judicial district after criticiz-

Lafayette firefighter robbed at gunpoint

Community raises funds to help

BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer

After nearly 11 years serving as a firefighter with the Lafayette Fire Department, Clarence Farrier never thought he would experience danger from a victim’s perspective.

On Feb. 18, after finishing a 24-hour shift with the department, Farrier immediately began tending to lawn care clients through his side business While on that job, he was robbed at gunpoint, Farrier said.

The incident happened at a property near Cameron Street and University Avenue, according to Farrier He had just finished pressure washing and trimming the yard when he noticed someone moving quickly around his trailer When he confronted the man attempting to steal his equipment, the man slammed the trunk of his vehicle with Farrier’s tools inside and tried to get into the driver’s seat. Farrier asked for the return of his equipment and the man pulled out a gun and pointed it at him, he said.

“My life flashed before me,” Farrier recalled. “You have kids. You have things to live for You let it go that could be replaced — and I backed out.”

The robber then drove off with three commercial-grade weed eaters, equipment Farrier said he has relied on for years.

The stolen tools were not a small investment, he added Two of the weed eaters were equipped with specialized Darwin grips designed to ease strain and cost about $620 each, while the third was valued at roughly $530 Altogether Farrier estimates the loss exceeded $1,700.

“It’s definitely different because I’ve never had a gun pointed to my face,” he said. “Afterward, I thought maybe there were different ways I could have handled it, but you have to know when to step back for your safety.” Since the robbery, Farrier said he has changed how he approaches his day-to-day work, like taking additional precautions to secure his equipment and keeping his trailer door closed when not in use.

“Lock your stuff up,” he said, offering advice to others in the lawn care industry “People are bold enough to take it during the day.”

Despite the financial and emotional toll, Farrier said the community’s response has helped him stay positive. A GoFundMe created to help replace his equipment has drawn support from neighbors, friends and strangers. He also said community members have helped by monitoring online marketplaces and alerting him to possible sightings of stolen equipment.

“It feels a lot better to know that people stand behind not just that I’m a fireman, but just me as a lawn guy trying to provide for my family,” he said. Looking back, Farrier said the experience has changed his perspective on safety and priorities.

“Money isn’t everything; safety is,” said Farrier. “This was in broad daylight, so always take precautions and stay aware.”

According to Farrier, this is an ongoing investigation with the Lafayette Police Department. As of Thursday, the GoFundMe had raised $1,425 toward its $2,000 goal.

ing “liberal judges” in the Baton Rouge area for letting immigration detainees out of the “Louisiana Lockup” there.

In a letter to Louisiana members of Congress on Thursday, Landry asked to move the parish from the U.S. Middle District of Louisiana to the Western District.

In the letter, he cited an increase in cases, much of it driven by prisoners at Angola

“The Middle District has seen a 35.2% increase in total filings since 2020 and currently has 25% more new filings per judge than the Western District,” Landry wrote. “Moving West Feliciana Parish into the Western District will improve judicial efficiency and better address public safety needs in East Baton Rouge Parish and the State of Louisiana.” Congressional action is necessary to effect the change Landry proposes. But Landry showed another reason for the request Thursday when he blasted a federal judge in the Middle District over an immigration case.

“ALERT! The Liberal Judges of the Middle District of Louisiana are at it again,” Landry wrote Thursday afternoon on X. “Judge Shelly Dick has ordered the release of a convicted RAPIST from the Louisiana Lockup, allowing him to roam free.” Landry continued: “News flash:

KEEP CALM AND THROW ON

Tamás Sulyok, president of

BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer

Opposition to ICEhas thefacts wrong

In aDecember letter about citizens voicing opposition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the author makes statements most of which are false. In U.S. v. Mendenhall (1980) and U.S. v. Sokolow (1989), more than 40 years prior to the Supreme Court ruling in Noem v. Vasquez, both ruled race can be one component of aprofile that police utilize to stop someone with reasonable suspicion. Thus, in Noem v. Vasquez, this Supreme Court did not turn the clock back to the pre-civil rightsera but ruled consistently with theearlier rulings.

Demonizing immigrants, alie? It is ICE that is demonized, being called Nazis, Gestapo, criminals, murders, rapists and traitors. Since Jan. 1, illegal immigrants have killed 12 Americans in trucking accidentsand committed another twohomicides and 10 reported rapes. Anti-ICE rioters shot three people in Dallas and killed one. They alsoshot twoNational Guard members and killed one.

Anti-ICE rioters do not engage in protectedFirst Amendment protests. None had parade permits. There were over 80 incidents of ramming ICE automobiles,attacking ICEpersonnel withrocks, BB guns, fireworks, Molotov cocktails or damaging government property,and 140 prosecuted for resisting arrest AlexPrettihad therighttobring agun while protesting, but he violated the law by not notifying law enforcement when encountered. ICE does not attack any families in America, but it is acrime for illegal immigrants to work in this country

Their deliberate defiance of U.S. laws invariably is what leads to broken communities. Those who work steal SocialSecurity numbers, lie on the I-9 form, conspire with narco-traffickers,paying them thousands of dollars to assist them in human smuggling, all felonies. The narco-traffickers use the $13 billion ayear that the illegal immigrants pay them to commit acts of terrorism,murder, rape and drug trafficking, renderingthe illegal immigrantsinthe U.S. complicit in those crimes.

JOSEPH MOLYNEUX Metairie

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR

AREWELCOME.HEREARE

YOUR VIEWS

Agroupofinmates

Countthe cost of crime, notjustprisons

Thenewspaper’srecent editorial stating that tough criminal laws that put morepeopleinprison cause a“strain” on government financesiscorrect, as far as it goes. But what the editorial didn’tsufficiently analyze was thecost of not locking criminals up. Acriminal who is on the street commits additional crime, and this additional crime costs more money than locking him up, both for thegovernment and private citizens. Why? Because responding to crime isn’t free. Responding to theadditional crime requires additional money.Let’sexamine the additional costs to the government first When the government responds to an additional crime that afreed criminal commits, police officers must be dispatched, perhaps accompanied by investigators, detectives, photographersand theyellow tape guys. And these additional crimes also require more prosecutors, more public defendersand more prison psychologists. Indeed,the total cost of this additional crime is mind-boggling. Andthese costs are

not only borne by thegovernment. Private citizens also pay aprice, bothfinancially and emotionally

When astoreisrobbed, the stolen inventory must be replaced. Andwhen acar window is broken, it must be fixed. When someone is shot,the medical treatmentisn’tfree, and as for thecost to acommunity when someone is murdered, bothinterms of heartbreak and dollars, well, how can you put aprice tag on that? Youcan’t. That “strain,” to use the editorial’slanguage, is too large to measure. It is gigantic beyond all understanding. Just ask amurder victim’s family

If you want to lessen thecost of incarceration, the answer isn’tletting criminals roam free. The answer is building “no frills prisons.” That’s thesmartresponse to our crime problem. Letting criminals go free is not only immoral and dumb, it actually costs more.

MIKEWEINBERGER founder,Home Defense Foundation Metairie

Tulane must be open aboutmonkeyescape

Despite the ethical questions raised about Tulane’sanimal testing following the escape of 21 of their research monkeys last October, there has been surprisingly little sustained public discussion, giving theimpression that it was quietly brushed under therug.

While theescape posed amajor riskto public safety,italso raises questions about Tulane’sanimal testingpractices and ethical responsibility.From itsmission statement to its code of conduct, Tulane consistently emphasizes its commitment to ethics, community responsibilityand global leadership.

Partyloyalty makes citizens hypocrites andkeeps countrystuck

Listening to allthe President Donald Trump voters defend and make excusesfor his shortcomings andlack of moralcharacter, even asking to forgive him because everyone makes mistakes, has me wondering what these people were saying aboutBill Clintonwhenhe was president. Ithink Iheardthemsaying something aboutnot being able to govern without moral character, andforgiveness was considered blasphemy

Back then, it wasthe Clinton voterswho made excuses and said forgiveness should be considered. Now theyare saying Trump is not competent andshould never be forgiven.

This is only oneofthe many ways the two major partiesare exactly alike.Itseems thattobelongto eitherone of these parties, you must be ahypocrite and go along with anything theytell you, no matterwhetheritmakes sense or not. WhenIregisteredtovote, it was afew yearsafter the Watergate fiasco, andIhad watched alittle bit of the hearings. Icould notbelieve some of the idiotic questions and answers, so thatiswhy when the registrar asked, “What party?” I said none of them. Everyone knows the reason this country is in the shape it is now is because the two major parties have been in controlfor many years. The sadthing is, both parties know what it will take to get this country going in the right direction, but as long as theykeep their attitude, neitherside will give the otheranything when theyare in power CLIFF JOHNSON St. Amant

rying hepatitis C, herpes and COVID-19. Tulane later denied these claims. However, it also claimed that it did not own themonkeys and failed toidentify whodid and what research purposes they were being used for.

The conflicting reports created confusion and highlighted the lack of transparency between Tulane and its community.Tulane also showed little urgency in collecting the13 remainingliving monkeys in the overturned truck, stating that they would “collect them thefollowing day.”

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

Monkeys are incredibly complex animals that, like humans, are capable of forming social bonds, feel stress and suffer from isolation and fear.When such intelligent animals are then confined to small cages, exposed to disease and shot and killed withlittle explanation provided to the public, it fundamentally undermines Tulane’score values.

Thetruck driver reported that the monkeys weresaid to be aggressive and car-

If Tulane wishes to align with its mission statement of acting with integrity and connecting itsvalues to local and global needs, it is crucial that it strengthen transport and recovery procedures, publicly disclose animal research protocols and invest in alternative research methods that reduce reliance on primates while prioritizing both animal welfare and community safety

SOFIA WALZ Tulane University student

Closed primaryreallylimitsvoter choice

Gov.Jeff Landry has effectively stolen the ability to participate in statewide elections by approximately two-thirds of the registered voters in this state. The closed primary election system that has been forced upon the voter population has essentially eliminatedall voterswho don’tapprove of the Republican nominee. This manipulation of theprimary is an excellentexample of how gerrymandering operates. If the governor can’tguarantee his endorsed candidate in an open primary,then

let’sjust change the system.The open primaryassures all votersofLouisiana an equal chance to select the most popular candidate. Ihope thatU.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy wins the nomination, but Iwish he would have run as an Independent.Itruly believe there areenough Independents, Republicansand Democrats fedupwith the autocracyofthe Trumpian clan that they would have reelected Cassidy.Goback to the open primary system.

RICHARD STAGNOLI Central

Men, don’t be afraid of tying theknot

Men, anecktie does not makeyou look old or old-fashioned. Wearing anecktie with asuit or blazer and slacks will makeyou look respectable and serious about what you are doing. It is an emblem of respect. TV lawyers and newsannouncers whowearasuit with open collar look half-dressed, and it is difficult to take them seriously.So, tie the knot and look great!

JOE ZEHNER Metairie

On Feb. 12, President Donald Trump sent amessage to Louisianaresidents andbusinesses south of Interstate 10: Go drown!

And there wasn’tapeepofoppositionfrom Gov.Jeff Landry or other state politicians who put loyalty to Trump ahead ofthat to their constituents.

I’m talking about Trump’sannouncement that his administration would ignore the 2009 scientific finding that greenhouse gas emissions are pollutants that causeserioushealth problems. Those facts passed U.S. Supreme Court review and became the legal underpinningfor the nation’s regulatory efforts to reducethe cause of climate change, which threatens to drown most of our coastalzoneoverthe next three decades.

floodwalls are sinking faster than sea levels are rising, and themoney to raise them isn’tthere.

From Yahoo Finance: Louisiana is among the five worst statestoinvest in, mainly becauseofclimate risks.

Those profit seekers based their warnings on thefollowing facts collected by scientific agencies.

Fact: Seas are rising at record rates because emissions from theuse of fossil fuels are causing unprecedented warming of the atmosphere.The oceans absorb 90% of that heatand, because water expands when warmed, their volumes are increasing, meaning they are rising.

Fact: The warmer oceans are causing more large hurricanes and rainfalls, leading to record billions in damages.

southeasterncoastal zone is 2.5 feet, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said our coast could seeasmuch as 2feet of sealevel rise just from warming as soon as 2050, flooding mostareas southofU.S. 90.

Fact: Scientists saythereisnoway to stopsea level rise for centuries, but the world may be able to slowitdown in the second half of this centuryifwebegin to dramatically reducegreenhousegas emissions.

Now,Trumphates sciencebecauseit is based on verified truth. He has long hated climate science because solutions could reduceprofits for the industries thatpour billions intohis campaigns and help enrich his family

This isn’tmore “sky is falling” rhetoricfrom climate extremists. It’s the finding of some cold,hard facts

From Insurance.com: Louisiana home insurance rates soared 58% last year, the highest increase in the nation, due largely to climate impacts. This state’s average annual premium is $5,989, second only to $7,136 in Florida —another state hammered by climate change For the third poorest state in the nation, with amedian household income of $52,000, it’smaking home ownership an impossible dream.

From research based on Army Corps of Engineers findings: New Orleans

Fact: The Gulf of Mexico is rising at one of the planet’sfastestrates.Since 2010,the Gulfhas risen at about triple the rate experienced during the previous 30 yearsand twice theglobal rate over the past 14 years. This is largely because the Gulf Stream starts in the western Caribbean Sea, which contains someofthe world’swarmestwater

Fact: At the same time theGulf is surging, coastal Louisiana’ssedimentstarved delta landscape is sinking in somespots atthe rate of 3feet in a century

Fact: The average elevation of the

Like Landry—another opponent of climatescience and solutions —heprefers to demagogue voters on theissue. They claim climate regulations are just attemptsby“liberal elites”who hate your lifestyles and the jobs that give you ahealthy living.

The truth is the opposite. Climate regulations areathreattothe wealthy class, who aremaking fortunes while our lifestyles and futures suffer. Besides, as your propertyvalues sink, they’ll just move to second homes in the mountains of Colorado or NorthCarolina.And your governor and other Trump loyalists think that’s just fine

Bob Marshall can be reached at bmarshallenviro@gmail.com.

Donald Trump has waged war on the news media his entire career,frequently deriding journalists as “enemies of the people”and “real scum.” In his second term, he has gone far beyond name-calling, suing The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, exerting regulatory pressure on the parent companies of CBS and ABC, defunding NPR and PBS and arresting journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort.

One of the most serious threats to press freedom has been playing out in alow-level federal court in Virginia, and it was already weakening the ability of journalists to hold this power-hungry president accountable for his actions. But abrave federal judge has now thwarted the administration and struck astrong blow for press freedom.

On Jan. 14, federal agents raided the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, seizing two phones, two laptops and otherdevices.The ostensible reason is that Natanson had received and published information from Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones, afederal contractor who was later indicted for mishandling government secrets. Underthe First Amendment, it is not acrime for journalists to disclose classified documents. But legal punishment was not the purpose of the raid. It was to deter and demoralize both reporters and sources who might document the president’s many mistakes and misdeeds.

“This is the first time in U.S. history that the government has searched areporter’shomeina national security media leak investigation, seizing potentially avast amount of confidential data and information,” said Bruce Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. “The move imperils public-interest reporting and will have ramifications far beyond this specific case.”

“The outrageous seizure of our reporter’sconfidential newsgathering materials chills speech, cripples reporting, and inflicts irreparable harm every day the government keeps its hands on these materials,” warned the Post in astatement. This is only the latest example of adeliberate and destructive strategy Trump has long followed: Defy and distort reality.Frighten andfire people who contradict your “alternative facts.” Persecute the press, the institution that provides the primary protection against your fantasies and falsehoods. In arare moment of candor in 2017, Trump told journalist Lesley Stahl why he relentlessly assails the media: “I do it to discredit you all anddemean you all,” he admitted, “so when you write negative stories about me,noone will believe you.”

Another exercise in nonpartisan cooperation ended sadly,as Donald Trumpundoubtedly planned. Every year,the nation’sgovernors meet with the president to discuss common concerns. Trump had initially banned two Democratic members of the National Governors Association from attending governors Jared Polis of Colorado and Wes Moore of Maryland. The association’s chair,Oklahoma Gov Kevin Stitt, aRepublican, objected toTrump’s banishing of two members. The governors’ gathering is one of the few cross-party eventsstill held at the national level.

“He can invite whomever he wants,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt snapped like ahigh school mean girl. And Stitt responded by canceling the meeting. As he explained to Trump, “I said, ‘Sir,Ican’tcancel an event at theWhite House. The only thing Isaid was, ‘Ifit’snot for all 50 governors, then the NGA is not the right facilitatorfor it.”’

Once Trump succeeded in injectinghis unique brand of nastiness into what’snormally afriendly bipartisan affair,hebackpedaled and said, OK, Polis and Moore can attend. Mission accomplished. He had wrung maximum attention from avenue that normally escapes extensive news coverage. But by keeping thegovernor’s confab from collapsing, he still had a full set of politicians to toy with.

Aboutour governors. As thehighest elected stateofficials, they manage, budget and lead in emergencies.They seteducational standards and oversee road projects. In other words, they do things thatmatter to everyday citizens.

Andfacing astatewide electorate, theymust appeal to abroader voter base than representatives cosseted in their gerrymandered districts Because their job revolves around pragmatic problem-solving, governors occupy one of the political offices for which voters will cross their party lines. In addition, their party affiliation doesn’tgreatly change thepower balance inWashington.

Thejob’sabove-the-fray nature helps explainwhy deep-blue Vermont hasaRepublican governor —and conservative Kentucky and Kansas have Democratic ones. On theTennessee governor’sofficial website, Bill Lee offers an extensive biography covering his deep Tennessean roots and accomplishmentsinoffice. Nowhere is there mention of political party.(Lee is a Republican) With congressional Republicans staring down arough ride through themidterms, some political analysts have expressed surprise at polls showingmomentum in governors’ races leaning more toward Republicans than Democrats. Some wrongly hold up these Republican-friendly surveys as evidence that the party isn’tinas much trouble as was widely thought. But the real reason was already outlinedabove. Washington Repub-

licans have largely submitted to Trump’sgrifting schemes and erratic policies —the tariff chaos being most unpopular.That makes them adifferent animal from Republicans in state capitals, in Montpelier,Vermont, or Columbus,Ohio.

Speaking of Ohio, Gov.Mike DeWine did himself proud by denouncing Trump’sdemented claim, echoed by thespinelessJDVance during the 2024 campaign, that Haitian immigrantsinSpringfield areeating cats and dogs. DeWineresponded: “These Haitians came in heretowork because there were jobs. And if you talkto employers, they’vedone avery,very good job andthey workvery, very hard.”

Trump isn’thelping Republican governors seeking reelection by dragging them intohis houseofcrazy mirrors —notwithstanding their survival in therecent past. In 2022, DeWine won again after angering Trump by saying Joe Biden was the elected president. Trump repeatedly attacked Georgia’s governor,Republican Brian Kemp, for defending his state’selection results favoring Biden. And New Hampshire governor,Republican Chris Sununu, prevailed after Trump accused him of disloyalty. Democrats are pumped for themidterms andmight just supply theboost that brings defeat to otherwise popular Republicans —popular precisely becausethey rise above party when doing so seems right Froma Harrop is on X, @FromaHarrop.

The Natanson raid wasalready having anegative impact. Her lawyer,Simon Latcovich, told Magistrate Judge William Porter,who is handling the case, that she had been receiving dozens, even hundreds, of tips every day from disgruntledfederal workers documenting the disastrous impact of Trump’sunbridled budget cuts. “Since the seizure, those sources have dried up,” Latcovichsaid. Those sources are critical to Natansonand any investigative reporter.AsFirst Amendment lawyer David Schulz wrote in The New York Times: “History is full of examples of whistleblowers who were able to inform the public of misconduct, illegality and abuse only through reporters who could guarantee them confidentiality and could publish free of government interference.”

“The Trump administration’sactions in this case have inflicted serious damage to journalism and could have achilling effect on afreepress,” added media critic TomJones in the Poynter Report. “While Natanson might not be atargetofthe investigation, sources might now be hesitant to deal with her —orany reporter covering political issues —out of fear they will be outed.”

This “chilling effect” is particularly insidious because its impact is often invisible.Whatstories are never written? Questions never asked? Sources never interviewed? What nefarious plan is Trump pursuing that we will never knowabout because apotential whistleblower is now too scared to comeforward?

Judge Porter clearly saw the danger. He ruled this weekthat the administration could not go fishing for leads and leakers in Natanson’sdevices.Instead, he would personally identify any evidence directly relevant to the Perez-Lugones caseand hand it over to the government.

“Allowing the government’sfilter teamto search areporter’swork product,” he wrote, “is the equivalent of leaving the government’sfox in charge of the Washington Post’shenhouse.”

This is amajor victory for journalistic freedom and integrity.But as former Post editor Marty Baron warns, “this administration will set no limits on its acts of aggression against an independent press.”

Journalists and judges have to counter thataggression with courage and conviction. Insteadof looking over their shoulders, they have to look straight ahead and tell Trump, and the public,the truth.

Email Steven Roberts at stevecokie@gmail.com

Louisiana officials concerned about ‘One Lake’ plan

Corps of Engineers moving forward with Pearl River dam

BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to move forward with a controversial proposal to dam part of the Pearl River near Jackson, Mississippi, for flood control and economic development, even as Louisiana environmental groups and public officials say potential downstream effects have yet to be studied.

Adam Telle, the assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, issued a memorandum on Jan. 31 directing the Corps to move forward with a “combination” of two different proposals for the project, nicknamed “One Lake,” according to a memorandum posted on the Corps’ website on Friday afternoon. One of those proposals includes

building a weir near Interstate 20 in Mississippi that would form a lake that could serve recreation purposes, though there were few additional details immediately available on Friday about what the combination plan would look like.

The initial announcement came on Thursday from the Jackson-area flood control district, called the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood Control and Drainage District, and not the Corps itself.

Keith Turner a lawyer for the flood control district, said in an interview that local officials are very excited about the Corps’ decision to move forward with the project.

But at a meeting about the project in Slidell in July, residents and officials were largely against the proposal the Corps now appears to be backing. Louisiana officials and residents have raised concerns about the potential for downstream flooding and changes to water flow

The Corps has suggested there would not be any downstream effects from the dam in Jackson,

though an official with the Corps’ Vicksburg district said at the meeting in July that the Corps’ current assessment of the downstream effects was based on a hydraulic analysis that looked at inundation and sedimentation, not a detailed analysis of issues like erosion.

Andrea Walker, a planner for the Washington, D.C.-based Army Civil Works who works under Telle, said in an interview Friday that nothing had changed in terms of the study of the possible downstream effects, but said a future study is possible, subject to funding constraints.

The concerns raised about the downstream effects from building a lake in Slidell are still relevant, argued Andrew Whitehurst, a water program director at the environmental group Healthy Gulf.

“The downstream voices have been pretty much steamrolled,” Whitehurst said in an interview on Friday

“It’s a vague, open-ended way of saying that Jackson, Mississippi, can build a lake on the Pearl Riv-

Man facing multiple firearm, drug charges previously exonerated

BY MISSY WILKINSON Staff writer

A man exonerated in the 2023 Krewe of Bacchus parade shooting was arrested on multiple gun charges on Lundi Gras after New Orleans police alleged he was caught driving “Magnolia” gang members to a potential parade-route fight.

Mansour Mbodj, 24, was arrested on Feb. 16 in the 2200 block of Philip Street, about six blocks off the St. Charles Avenue parade route

“(NOPD) had information that these individuals were going to the parade route to possibly get in a fight with other individuals,” said Deputy Superintendent Ryan Lubrano at a Wednesday morning media briefing.

NOPD detectives were surveilling the Central City home of an alleged Magnolia gang member when, at 3:45 p.m., five people armed with rifles left the Philip Street residence and got into a silver 2017 Ford Escape allegedly driven by Mbodj, according to court

LANDRY

Continued from page 1B

in Louisiana, we protect victims and punish criminals NOT the other way around. Those who are in the Country illegally and commit crimes like this should be locked away until deportation! Shame on you Judge Dick!”

U.S. Rep Julia Letlow, the Baton Rouge Republican whose district includes West Feliciana Parish, reposted Landry’s criticism of Dick, and said she would be sponsoring a bill to move the parish’s jurisdiction.

“I stand with Governor Landry and (President Donald Trump) in supporting conservative judges,” Letlow wrote. Earlier this month, both Landry and Letlow publicly criticized Middle District Judge John deGravelles after Fox News reported that the judge had ordered four Louisiana Lockup detainees to be released from custody

Rep. Cleo Fields, the Baton Rouge Democrat in whose district the federal courthouse is located, said Friday: “I have not seen evidence that the current district boundaries are failing the people they serve. The Middle District was established for good reason, and an established appeals process already exists for litigants who believe a court has erred. I remain committed to protecting the independence and integrity of our federal judiciary.”

The case Landry criticized Landry was referring to a court order Dick signed last week ordering the re-

records. NOPD officers did a traffic stop shortly afterward.

“They were intercepted, and that’s where the weapons were recovered,” Lubrano said Wednesday Police said they confiscated four Glock handguns including one fitted with an extended magazine and a machine-gun conversion device — as well as three ARstyle pistols, 153 tapentadol pills and a garbage bag containing what they believe to be marijuana.

Mbodj was booked into Orleans Justice Center on seven counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, one count each of illegal carrying, possession with intent to distribute tapentadol and marijuana, and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of juveniles, according to court records.

Keenan D. Jackson, 18, one of Mbodj’s passengers, was also booked on unlawful possession of machine guns, contributing to the delinquency of juveniles, possession with intent to distribute tapentadol and marijuana and resisting of-

lease of Roberto La Coss from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention.

“Court finds that Petitioner is substantially likely to succeed on the merits of his claim that he is unconstitutionally detained,” Dick wrote.

La Coss sought release through a motion for habeas corpus filed Feb. 6. He was arrested Sept. 16. She ordered an evidentiary trial for March 3. A 47-year-old laborer from Madison, Mississippi, La Coss was born in Manila, Philippines, and adopted by Americans stationed by the military in the country He entered the country at the age of 21 and acquired permanent residence status six years later according to court records.

As a 26-year-old in March 2005, La Coss pleaded guilty to statutory rape of a girl who was 14 years old or younger, court filings show He served two years in the Rankin County Mississippi, jail, had 18 additional years in prison suspended and was required to serve five years of supervision upon release, according to his guilty plea. His only other crime was a DUI in May 2021, court filings say Chief Judge Dick was nominated by President Barack Obama, as were the two other federal trial judges sitting in the Middle District, which is headquartered in Baton Rouge and covers nine parishes.

Five of the seven federal judges in the Western District, which covers 42 parishes and 47% of the state’s population, were nominated by President

ficers. A 14-year-old and a 16-year-old were also in the car, but their court records are unavailable because they are juveniles.

Mbodj was involved in a Bacchus parade shooting near St. Charles Avenue and Terpsichore Street three years ago that killed one teen and injured three others, including a 4-yearold girl. He was initially charged with second-degree murder, but Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams’ office ultimately determined that Mbodj acted in self-defense after another man, Roderick Tobias, shot and killed Mbodj’s friend.

Mbodj pleaded guilty to an amended charge of illegally carrying a weapon along a parade route in the commission of a crime. In December 2024, he was sentenced to five years at hard labor, with credit for time served, according to court records. He is prohibited from owning a gun.

Mbodj remains held in Orleans Justice Center on a $70,000 bail, according to court records.

Donald Trump; another by President George W. Bush; and the seventh judge by President Joe Biden. There is one vacancy The courts sit in Alexandria, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe and Shreveport.

The three Middle District judges had 474 cases filed in 2025, 72 of which were felony criminal actions. Their dockets showed 569 pending cases on the last day of 2025, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S Courts. Criminal cases take an average of 11.3 months from filing to disposition.

The Middle District received 1,421 legal filings requiring judicial disposition, including supervisory release hearings, in 2025 and had 1,707 such actions pending at the end of the year That’s the 35.2% increase since 2020 noted in the governor’s letter.

The Western District, by comparison, received 2,642 such filings — a 22.5% increase since 2020 and had 3,247 actions pending at the end of the year, the Administrative Office recorded.

The seven Western Middle District judges had 377 cases filed in 2025, 55 of which were felony criminal actions and 464 pending cases on the last day of the year, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Criminal cases take an average of 10.5 months from filing to disposition in the Western District.

Staff writer Meghan Friedmann contributed to this report.

Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate. com.

er,” Whitehurst said of the memorandum.

Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, who was at the town hall meeting in Slidell in July, said the Corps assured her there would be a meeting in Washington Parish about the plan.

“Before they move further, there needs to be a town hall in Washington Parish,” she said.

State Rep. Stephanie Berault, RSlidell, who also spoke at the meeting in Slidell, said in an interview that a study has been requested several times since at least 2018.

“My ask and concern has been and remains that they study and mitigate any impact on those of us who live below because they haven’t even looked at it.”

Louisiana officials including Gov Jeff Landry and U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, have called for a study of the downstream effects.

A spokesperson for Landry declined to comment.

According to previous Corps studies, the proposal to build

a 1,556-acre lake also included clearing and grubbing 954 acres along the river for channel bank improvements and constructing four levees to protect 705 homes and 40 industrial sites in the Jackson area.

Telle’s memo also indicated that the Corps would not be moving forward with another alternative plan, favored by some environmental groups and residents in Louisiana. That plan would not have included building a lake, but would have instead included building a 1.4-mile levee along the Pearl River and providing floodproofing for residents and nonresidential structures.

Kristi Trail, the executive director of the Lake Pontchartrain Conservancy, said that in her experience, a final environmental impact statement is also usually issued at the same time as the selected plan, but Walker said it is not ready yet.

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

VISITOR

Continued from page 1B

its diaspora in other countries, hence the visit.

She believes that the rural settlement has been attracting attention in Hungary because its cultural association has young people introducing and hosting a range of local events.

“New life has been breathed into our Hungarian community,” she said. “We have a treasure here.”

Alex Kropog, who created the Hungarian Settlement Museum and is the last one in the town who can fluently speak Hungarian, reiterated in a written note that the cultural association has had a revival over the past four years. The museum and books written about the settlement have created a new

interest in the community

The New Orleans Hungary honorary consul declined to speak about the visit and deferred questions to the Embassy of Hungary in Washington, D.C., which did not respond to an email request asking about the president’s visit to Louisiana at the time of publication.

The president’s visit comes after the relationship between the U.S. and Hungary recently gained strength, with the countries signing a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement.

Local residents and Hungarian officials have been quietly getting the town ready for the event for weeks.

Parish Council member Joe Erdey said in mid-February that settlement leaders met with Hungarian secret service agents to map out a route for the president and figure

out logistics of a community space to host the event.

“They’re calling the shots,” Erdey said.

The lifelong Hungarian settlement resident remarked on how big of a deal it is to have a president of a country visit the area.

“This is kind of a feather in our cap,” he said

Williams leadsLSU to winover Mississippi State

JuniorsparksTigers’ victory in regular-season finale

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

STARKVILLE,Miss.– The LSUwomen’s basketball team fell into apair of offensiveruts on Sunday in agame againstMississippi State And MikaylahWilliams pulled the No. 6 Tigers out of each one. Thestarjuniorguard from Bossier City scored 26 points, grabbed acareer-high 15 reboundsand assisted four shots againstthe Bulldogs,leading LSUto a72-63 win in its regular-seasonfinale. She played all 40 minutes of thegame, doing so for just the second time in her career.

Mississippi State didn’t quit. Itbuilt one double-digit lead, then erased another Williams, though, made sure the Tigers had an answer for both threats. The pull-up jumper shehit in the mid-range late in the fourth quarter wasall LSUneededtoice the win.

“They came out really aggressive,” Williams said, “playing really fast, playing really hard. Ithink we kind of let it fluster

LSU

career-high15rebounds

in agame against Mississippi State on SundayatHumphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss.

Cajuns softball settlesfor weekendsplit with Aggies

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

Apparently,the No. 15 TexasA&M Aggies didn’ttake too kindly to getting upsetbyUL in their own tournament Friday Therematch on Sunday afternoon didn’t go well for the Cajuns, who suffereda5-1 defeat to the Aggies to close out the weekend tournament in CollegeStation, Texas UL dropped to 14-8 overall after going 3-2over theweekend while the Aggies improved to 15-7 Bethany Noble’spretty ERA got muddied abit, but much of it wasn’tonher.The Aggies put up asteady flow of baserunners, though. In the second, Paislie Allen doubled and scored on aKelsey MathisRBI singleup the middle. Tallen Edwards later delivered atwo-out RBI single for a2-0 lead. In the third, Noble gave up two baserunners with two outs andwas pulled after walking Allen for relieverJulianne Tipton, who was making her first appearance of the week. Mathis greeted her with athree-run home run to give the Aggies acommanding

See CAJUNS, page 3C ä See LSU, page 3C

HITTINGTHE MARK(AGAIN)

BY SCOTTRABALAIS Staff writer

The Kailin Chio show continues. Forthe first time thisseason, Chio did notcompete as an all-arounder,skipping floor while still doing vault, bars and beam in thePodium Challenge at the Raising Cane’sRiver Center on Sunday Still, shecontinuedanother amazingstreak, posting a perfect 10 on beam in her thirdstraight meet It is believed to be the first timesince Jennifer Wood had 10s in 1995 in threestraight meetsonvault thatan LSUgymnast has accomplished that feat

The Tigers’ sophomore now has an NCAA-best six 10.0 scores this season —fourinall on beam,one on vaultand

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

one on floor —and seven forher LSU career

The beam title was also the 50th individual win for Chio in 24 collegiate meets.

No. 2-rankedLSU won thefour-team eventwitha score of 198.200, the Tigers’ second-best score this season. No 3Alabama wassecondat197.650,followedbyNo. 17 North Carolina (195.950) and No.27Arizona (195.000). LSU’s Kylie Coen won the floor title with acareer-high 9.975, while the Tigers’ Amari Drayton won the vault title with a9.95. Alabama’sGabby Gladieux wonthe allaround with a39.575, while the CrimsonTide’s Azaraya Ra-Akbar took the uneven bars title with a9.975. LSU travels to Florida this Sunday for its final road meet of the regular season. First vault is setfor 5p.m. on theSEC Network.

Perhaps this series was due fora tight one after neither of the first twogames produced any tense moments

Fortunatelyfor homestanding UL, closer Cody Braschmade sure he secured atight 4-3 win over UC SanDiego on Sunday at Russo Parktoclaim the series win.

“I thought it wasa greatseries,”ULcoach MattDeggs said. “I appreciate those guys coming all the way over here. They’ve got asolid team.

“They’re going to get better as they go just like us. We’re working in progress, we got to keep working to get better.”

The Cajuns improved to 8-3 with the win, while theTritonshead home at 4-6. UL will next host LSUat6 p.m. on Wednesday

“Wetalked about that before the game, ‘Let’spractice one in aseries today.’ If it’s asuperorregional, whateveritmight be, you’re goingtohavetowin on aSunday, so that was great to see. Andjust find away to land the plane, and that’swhat we did.”

TheTritons scored arun in the eighthon

aNathaniel Widelski sacrifice fly to draw

within arun, but Brasch ended the trouble in the eighth and stranded twobaserunners in the ninth for his second save of the season.

“I’mkind of just doing what (pitching coachTaylorSandefur)coach Sandy’s preaching —throw strikes, execute, and you’ll be good,” Brasch said of late-inning pressure. “So Ijust kind of keep that in the back of my head andaslongasI’m throwing things forstrikes, everything shouldwork out.”

Brasch allowednorunsonone hit,one walkand one strikeout over 12/3 innings and 21 pitches.

“Itwas fastball, slider early, butmycurveball was getting stuck in my hand alittle bit,” Brasch said. The Cajuns’ offense hinted early on that the performance might be astep above that, but then slumped. In the first inning, Donovan LaSalle hit his third double of the weekendand thenscored on Lee Amedee’sRBI single. Amedee was later chased home by Colt Brown’sgroundout fora2-0 lead.

COLLEGE GOLF

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6p.m.Columbus at N.y.Rangers NHLN MEN’S SOCCER

10:50 a.m. St. Maarten vs.Trinidad &TobagoFS2

1:50 p.m.Bermudavs. Costa Rica FS2

3:50 p.m.U.S.Virgin Islands vs.Nicaragua FS2

6:50 p.m.Aruba vs.Canada FS2

UNRIVALED BASKETBALL

6:30 p.m.Playoffs:Phantom vs.Vinyl TNT,TRUTV

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LSUseeking answerstohomecourt woes

Tigers struggle to make shots at home

BY TOYLOYBROWN III Staff writer

The LSU men’sbasketball team hasn’taccomplished consecutive wins in SoutheasternConference play yet this season. The team had agood chance seemingly to change thatwhen it faced Oklahoma at home after its double-overtime win at Ole Miss on Wednesday LSU wasn’tclose to achieving the elusivesecond winina row, falling 83-67 Saturday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.The loss to Oklahoma (15-14,5-11SEC) was another example of how the Tigers haven’tplayed better with homecourt advantage during conference play LSU (15-14,3-13) hasplayed eight games each at home and away against conference opponents. In Baton Rouge, it has lost by double digits five times. That has happenedonly three times on the road. While LSU’shome (1-7) and road records (2-6) aren’tthat different, the Tigers entered thegame against the Sooners with much different shooting numbers depending on thelocation.Inhome games, the Tigers average 7.4 fewer points and shoot 6.1% less from the field, 5.2% less from the 3-point line and 9.1% less from the free-throw line.

LSU guard Rashad King tries to move the ball against Oklahoma guard Xzayvier Brown, center,during their game Saturdayatthe PMAC. The Tigers lost 83-67.

ä LSU at Auburn. 9P.M.TUESDAy, SEC NETWORK

The team’shome shootingsplits nose-divedmore after playing Oklahoma,shooting 35% overall,which wasits second-worst percentage in SEC play,and 26% from the 3-point line. Coach Matt McMahonwas asked whyhis teamhas played worse at home than it has on the road. “I think it’savery fair question,” the fourth-year coachsaid. “When you look at it, Ithink some of our better performances, our higher energy performances have certainly been on theroad. Youlook at the win at Ole Miss. Look at how we played at South Carolina,at Tennessee, at Texas,atArkansas. Idon’t have the answer as towhy that is, but Icertainly understand thequestion, and Isee the same thing you’re seeing there.” LSU has triedtofigure out the best waytochannel thecrispness it plays with in away gamesto

homeperformances. Oneattempt at asolution was using theteam’s routine for road games before playing at thePMAC, McMahon said. The Tigers are not only making fewer shots at home, but they are also more careless with possessions. This is shown in the assist-to-turnover ratio. The team has seven more assists than turnovers in home games, compared to 46 more assists than turnovers in road games. Max Mackinnon, who had a

team-high 17 points against Oklahoma, was asked aboutthe difference in play of his team at home and on the road.

“It’satricky one,” the senior guardsaid. “Obviously, we can’t let that dictate how we play at home or away.…There’snodifference.”

Regardless of why LSU’shome outings have beenmorelopsided, it’s focused on the next game, which is against Auburn at 9p.m Tuesday at Neville Arena in Alabama.

Echavarria wins CognizantClassic as Lowryimplodes

BY TIM REYNOLDS Associated Press

PALM BEACH GARDENS,Fla. Nico Echavarria didn’tmakeabogey all weekend. Shane Lowry was on his way to doing the same, until the very end. And that’swhat decided the Cognizant Classic.

Echavarria —who was three shots back with three holes left —shot a5-under66onSundayto win at PGA National,finishing at 17-under 267 and beating Lowry (69), Austin Smotherman (69) and Taylor Moore (68) by two shots.

“Sometimes youhavetohave good breaks,” Echavarria said. He got them. Lowry didn’t. Lowry —who remains snakebit by PGA National, where he has now finished in the top 11 for five straightyears without avictory —was undonebyconsecutive double bogeys at the par-4 16th and par-3 17th, both resulting fromtee shots that drifted way right and into the water. It was Echavarria’sthird PGA Tour win and first in theUnited States, and this one earned asecond Masters invitation for the 31-year-old from Colombia. The $1.728 million winner’s check was the biggest of hiscareer, about $200,000 more thanwhat he got for winning the Zozo ChampionshipinJapan in 2024. Lowrywas rolling along,chipping in for birdie on the par-4 ninth to start arun where hewent 5under in afive-hole stretch And he had athree-shot lead over Echavarria going to the par416th. That’swhere his nightmare began. Lowry’slong iron offthe tee was to the right and found the water. Aftera penaltydrop, he hit awedge back to the fairway and his fourth shot found a greenside bunker.From an awk-

ABOVE: Nico Echavarria shows his ball on the first green during the final round of the Cognizant Classic on Sunday in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. BELOW: Shane Lowryhits from the third tee on Sunday

ward stance, he blasted to 31/2 feet androlled in the putt for double bogey —trimming his lead to one.

While all that was happening, Echavarriahit his approach on thepar-3 17th to about 10 feet. He made the putt to pull into atie, punching theair as he watched

the ball roll into the hole Lowry then made another double at 17 withaniron shot that was well short and right. He needed amiracle on thepar-5 18th after playing his secondshot into agreenside bunker.Lowry’s shot from nearly 30 yards skidded by,and Echavarria— in the

Iran’splay in U.S. portion of WorldCup in doubt

The president of Iran’s soccer federation says he does not know if the national team can play World Cupmatches in theUnited States following the surprise U.S. and Israeli bombardment of his country

“What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Mehdi Tajtold sports portal Varzesh3 as Iran traded strikes with Israel as part of awidening war prompted by the bombardment.

Iran has been drawninGroup G at the World Cup and is scheduled to play in Los Angeles —where it faces New Zealand andBelgium on June 15 and21—before it plays Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

TheUnitedStatesishosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico from June 11-July 19.

USC, Baker-Mazara part ways after Nebraskaloss

LOSANGELES— Chad Baker-Mazara is no longer amember of Southern California’s basketball program, the team announced Sunday He was the team’ssecond-leading scorer while starting 22 of 26 games forthe Trojans this season, including a14-point effort in an 82-67losstoNo. 12 Nebraska on Saturday.Baker-Mazara played 16 of his 19 minutesinthe first half. He went down hard on the baseline and leftfor good three minutes into the second half No reason or details were provided in USC’sbrief statement issued through ateam spokesperson. Coach Eric Musselman was asked about Baker-Mazara’spotentialinjuryand his future status

“He said he couldn’tgo,” Musselman said, adding thathehad not spoken to atrainer about the player’shealth.

Jarvis wins to gainentry to Masters, British Open STELLENBOSCH, SouthAfrica— Casey Jarvis seized control with three birdies in his opening five holes andclosed witha 3-under67towin theSouth African Open on Sunday, earning the 22-year-old South African aspot in the Masters and the British Open this year Jarviswon forthe second straight week on the European tour,following his victory last weekinthe Kenya Open. Thetiming wasideal.For the first time, the Masters offered an invitation to thewinnerofthe SouthAfrican Open. Golf’s third-oldest national championship also provided three spots to the leading players not already eligible for the British Open in July at Royal Birkdale.

scoringtent, watching thefinish —knewhehad won. Lowrywas second in 2022 when the event was still called the Honda Classic, losing the lead after getting caught in adeluge on the final hole. He tied for fifthatPGA National ayear later had thesolo lead going into the final roundbeforefinishing tied for fourth in 2024, then tied for 11th last year

This was, on paper,his best finish at PGA National. It just didn’t feel that way Doubleheadersfor Homa,Kim Max Homa (tied for 13th) and TomKim (59th) had adoubleheader Sunday.Theywereplayingfor Jupiter LinksinaTGL match Sunday night, just about 5 miles away from PGANational. Homa wasn’tsure if he’d ever hadtwo competitive events in oneday before.

“I doubt Ihave,” he said. “I’m sure when Iwas young Imight have got close, but Ican’tthink of it off thetop of my head.”

Notes

BrooksKoepka and Ben Silverman played all four rounds together this week —and both holed out for birdie from the sand on the par-4 14th Sunday “I’m sure he’s tiredofmenow,” Koepka said. “He’s agood player. I’veknown him for along time.” Koepka closedwith a65tofinish in atie for ninth, by far his best finish sincereturning to the PGA Tour Max McGreevy made an albatross on the par-5 third hole. It was the first at PGA National in the tournament’s20years at thecourse, thetour said. .Defending champion Joe Highsmith finished 67th out of 67 players whomadethe cut. He finished at 6-over 290, 25 shots worse than a year ago.

Kings fire coach, name an interimreplacement EL SEGUNDO,Calif. The Los Angeles Kings haven’tbeen the same team this season following their fourth straight first-round playoff exit, and general manager Ken Holland decidedacoaching shakeup wasthe last chance to snap this team out of its funk.

The Kings fired coach Jim Hiller on Sunday after losing five of their past six games and falling out of playoff position.D.J.Smith was named the interimreplacement forthe rest of the season in the first coaching change by Holland, who kept Hillerbehind the bench when he took over the front office last May

Hiller was in just his second full season in charge of the Kings, who lookedlifeless Thursday in an 8-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

Australian wins event in Singapore by astroke SINGAPORE Australian Hannah Green haswon the HSBC Women’s WorldChampionship forasecond time, holding off afast-finishing American Auston Kim to claima one-stroke victory on Sunday Green, the 2019 Women’sPGA Championship winner,closedwith a69, afteranerratic back-nine with three birdies and three bogeys nearly opened the door for Kim. Greencardeda 14-under fourround totalof274 at the par-72 Sentosa GolfClub and give her anothertitle in Singaporeafter also winning here in 2024. Kimhad the equal-best round of theday with a67onthe back off six birdiesand an eagle,but bogeys at the secondand especially at the par-3 15th ended her charge at 13-under275, andone shotbehind afaltering Green.

LSUdefeats DartmouthasSchmidt dominates

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

For William Schmidt, this was always the hope.

Dominating hitters with strikes and devastating breaking pitches has been the goal for him since the sophomore right-hander arrived on campus. Reaching this level had always been in the cards for Schmidt, eversince he decided to pass up potentially becoming a first-round MLB pick.

Schmidt was perfect through four innings on Sunday against Dartmouth,retiring the first 12 hitters he faced. He dominated the Big Green with four pitches: A fastball that wasupto97mph, a curveball and slider that are arguably his best pitches and achangeup he threw early and often

He finished the day allowing no runs in 71/3 innings withnine strikeouts and zerowalks, leading LSU to a3-0 win over Dartmouth at Alex Box Stadium.

“He’sgoing to be hard to beat when he throws the ball like that,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said Schmidt’s performance on Sunday isn’taone-off. On Feb. 22 against Central Florida, he allowed just three hits in five shutout innings, and he’swalked justone batter over his last two outings. His vastly improved control has allowedhim to go deeper into games. Sunday was the longest outing of his career after the five inningshe threw last week were apersonal high.

“I’ve gotten bigger and stronger, so (I’m) not getting as tired and maybe being able to drive theball down more,” Schmidt said when asked about his improved strikethrowing abilities. “(In the) offseason, that was abig focus: Adding a

LSU

Continued from page1C

us at the beginning, but oncewe slowed down, ran our offense, it didn’tlet them force us to do what they wanted us to do.”

The Tigers could not have improved their postseason seeding outlook against the Bulldogs (1812, 5-11 SEC). They were already locked into afourth-place finish in the SEC and penciled into aNo. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament –behind agroup of teams that won their last matchups of the regular season. At times inside Humphrey Coliseum, it looked like LSU could become the lone No. 1orNo. 2seed to suffer aloss on Sunday Then the Tigers (26-4, 12-4) startedturning successful defen-

CAJUNS

Continued from page1C

5-0 lead.

Mathis finished the game 2-for-3 withahomer andfour RBIs.

Officially,Noble was tagged with four runners on fivehits, one walk andone strikeout in 2.2innings. Tipton finished the final 3.1 innings, giving up one runonfour hits, one walk and one strikeout.

On the flip side, UL’s batting order didn’thave muchsuccess against A&Mace Sydney Lessentine after getting two runs on three hits against her in relief in UL’s 10-8 win over the Aggieson Friday night.

This time, Lessentine tossed a three-hitter with no walks andfour strikeouts over seven innings and 94 pitches to improve to 6-1 on the season UL’s only run came on an RBI double from Kennedy Marceaux in the sixth.

Email Kevin Footeat kfoote@theadvocate.com.

pitch and then just throwing more strikes.”

Schmidt is LSU’s third starter, but hisimportance for the Tigers goes beyond justhis role. This year,hehas thechance to ease pressure offan offense that’shad an up-and-down start to the season He can also providemoredepth to arotation that’sbreaking in anew

sive possessions into productive offensive trips. Across just the first and second quarters, they forced Mississippi State into 11 turnovers andcapitalized by scoring 14 points atthe other end— a large reason why they took a35-22 lead into halftime.

Things flippedassoon as MiLaysia Fulwiley checked into the game atthe 3:00 markofthe first quarter.She and sophomore point guard Jada Richard combined to force five of those turnovers in the first half. Fulwiley tallied with16 points,four assists and two steals, while Richard chipped in 12 points and four steals.

Sophomorecenter Kate Koval corralledseven rebounds and blockedfive blocks in her first start since LSU lost to TexasonFeb.5 Senior forward Amiya Joyner added ninepoints andeight boards.

The Bulldogs hitfive of theirfirst

Friday starter (Casan Evans), who is still easing into therole.

Johnson has had trouble finding athird starter since arriving at LSU, even rotating through numerous optionslastseason, when theTigers’ pitching staff was at its deepest under Johnson.

Theultimatetestfor Schmidt still awaits in two weeks when LSU

10 shots. Then theymissed 16 of their next 20 and finished with just 22 makes on 68 attempts (38%) They also missed 18 of their 22 3-point tries.

“They play hard,” coach Kim Mulkey said.

“MississippiState is trying to get in the NCAA Tournament,” coach Kim Mulkey said. “We’re in. We’re theNo. 4seed in the SEC, and what happens alot is, when you go on the roadthe last game of theseason, don’tlet that team outplay you because they’re trying to get in the tournament, andyou know you’re in.

“Sometimes Ithink that happens Idon’tknow that that happened today.”

When LSU needed abucket in the halfcourt,itput theball in Williams’ hands. She broke the Tigers outoftheir offensive skidlate in thefirst quarter,first by draining arunner through contact and then

UL catcherKennedyMarceaux had the Cajuns’only

roadloss to TexasA&M.

one out, he was replaced by Angelo State right-handed transfer Dax Dathe. ButDathealsohit thefirst batter he saw and got immediately lifted forsophomore right-hander Mavrick Rizy

With two runners on and just one out, Rizy escaped the jam with a pair of strikeouts despite falling behind in thecount on both occasions. Rizy then recorded the first twoouts of the ninth inning before redshirt juniorright-handerJaden Noot closed out the win.

As Schmidt and the pitching staffdominated Dartmouth, LSU’s offense failed to capitalize on the zeroes theypostedonthe scoreboard. Brown blasteda solo home run in the first inning —his fifth of the year —but the Tigers had just three hits forthe rest of the day following his shot into the right field stands.

Johnson declined to discuss why hisoffense is struggling,having scored just 11 runs over its last threecontests, buthewas not happy with theoffense following Sunday’sgame.

“I’m notgoing to getintoitbecause Iwanttoattack it withthe team andnot through you guys as much as Irespect allofyou,” Johnson said. “I’m going to be very clear on that.”

beginsSoutheastern Conference play at Vanderbilt.But maybe Johnsonhas finally found aSunday starter this season with Schmidt. “He said (the outing) wasn’tas sharp,” junior Jake Brownsaid. “I feel like that’sthe best I’ve seen him throw.” Schmidt hit the second batter he sawinthe eighth inning, so with

by sinking ashort jumper from the paint. Those buckets set the foundation of the 32-10 run that the Tigers built across the last 13 minutes of thefirst half Mississippi State made acouple of adjustments. TheBulldogs’ fullcourt press broke LSU’s offensive rhythm, sparking arun they used to climb outofa15-point hole and regain the lead. They led 41-38 at the4:18 markofthe third quarter Then Mulkey decided to throw outher biglineup —the onethat includes both Joyner and Koval and thatgroup helpedLSU string together some defensive stops. Mississippi State missed nine of thelast 12 shots it took in the third quarter, while the Tigers made five of their last eight. Williams either scored or assisted on fiveofthe eight field goals theTigers madeinthe fourth. She shot 10 of 17 fromthe field and2

LSUwillplayits fourth game in four days on Monday in arematch with Northeastern. First pitch from Alex BoxStadium is setfor 6:30 p.m., and the game will be available to stream on SEC Network+

Email Koki Rileyat koki.riley@theadvocate.com.

of 3from 3-point range, while also turning the ball over acareer-high eight times. “(Williams) is aspecial player,” Mississippi State coach Sam Purcell said.“Thekid’s an All-American. What separates her is her high release and her elite handles.” LSU,asateam, committed 20 turnovers —two short of its season high. LSU hasnow won at least 12 league games in all fiveyears of Mulkey’stenure. This season,the Tigers’ first postseason game will be aquarterfinal SEC Tournament matchup that tips offat1:30 p.m. Fridayin Greenville, South Carolina. They’ll face either No.5seed Oklahoma, No. 12 seed Florida or No.13seed Mississippi State.

Email Reed Darcey at reed. darcey@theadvocate.com.

Twothrowing errors by Tritons’ starting pitcher Austin Bowker helpedMaddoxMandino,who reached on aone-out single, to makeit3-0.

It wasn’tanearly sign of abig day at the plate forthe Cajuns, though.

“Weknew we were on his fastball early.Luckily,our pitching’s good enough and our defense is good enough,” Mandino said of UC San Diego starter Austin Bowker.“We just kind of got lackadaisical in the moment Sunday game, you’ve got to come outhere and play like you want to play.Wecan’ttake any innings off like we did after afew innings in the beginning.” After stranding arunner at third with oneout in thefourth, UL didn’tscratch againuntil thesixth whenMandino singled andscored on LaSalle’s fielder’schoice ground ball for a4-2 lead

Mandino finishedthe game 2-for-2 with two runs scored and six putouts defensively “I like where I’matright now,” Mandino said. “I could get better cutting downalittle bit of strikeouts,you know, seeing pitches, getting on base, stealing.” That offense proved to be enough to support UL starting pitcher JR Tollett.

The junior right-hander cruised throughthe first fiveinnings before trouble arose in the sixth. Successive one-out singles fromAnthony Potestio,Gabe Camacho and TrevianMartinez got one run homewith the help of aULthrowing error, before JC Allen’stwo-out RBI single cut it to 3-2 at the time. Tollett ended up surrendering just two runs on five hits, one walkand striking out six in six innings over 73 pitches.

“Very efficient,” Deggs said of Tollett’s outing.“He gotus through six, which is outstanding.”

Email KevinFoote at kfoote@theadvocate.com.

OUT OF THIS WORLD

In ‘Wonder’ the musical, young actors with facial differences find their voices onstage

BY MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press

CAMBRIDGE, Mass When Max Voehl auditioned to play the lead role in the musical “Wonder,” he sensed he was playing a version of himself onstage.

Voehl, who was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate, has endured multiple surgeries like Auggie Pullman 13 to Auggie’s 28.

The 12-year-old from Utah also has been bullied, much like Auggie, who is targeted over his rare genetic condition known as Treacher Collins syndrome, which causes underdeveloped facial bones and tissue.

“Channeling Auggie on stage is actually pretty easy for me because I have felt the emotions he has felt, and I have gone through what he has gone through,” Voehl said after a matinee performance at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University. Voehl, who alternates the role of Auggie with Garrett McNally, who has Treacher Collins syndrome, called the experience “pure joy.”

Popular book becomes musical

Adapted from R.J. Palacio’s 2012 young adult novel, “Wonder” is a story about the power of kindness

BY MICHAEL LIEDTKE

and resilience. It revolves around 10-year-old Auggie, who lives in New York and is attending school for the first time after years of being homeschooled. The book was also adapted into a popular film in 2017 starring Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson as Auggie’s parents.

Much of the story is about Auggie’s year at school, where the science whiz and “Star Wars” fan initially endures stares from fellow students and uncomfortable

questions about his face. He considers dropping out of school at one point but, thanks to a few friends and his family, perseveres and is awarded a medal at graduation for his strength and courage.

The musical also explores Auggie’s journey from the perspectives of those closest to him — his sister Via, who feels overshadowed by her brother and his parents, who

ä See 'WONDER', page 6C

Louvre director resigns in wake of heist

BY THOMAS ADAMSON and JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press

PARIS The Louvre Museum’s director resigned Tuesday after months of pressure following the October theft of the French crown jewels, as the world’s most visited museum faced widening scrutiny over security failures, labor unrest and a suspected ticket fraud scheme.

Laurence des Cars quit after a punishing year for the former royal palace — the high-profile jewels heist from the Apollo Gallery, a mid-February burst pipe near the “Mona Lisa,” water leaks damaging priceless books, staff walkouts and a wildcat strike over overcrowding and understaffing.

The landmark has faced a narrative of an institution spiraling out of control. And that pressure deepened in recent weeks when French authorities revealed a suspected decadelong ticket fraud operation linked to the museum that investigators say may have cost the Louvre $11.8 million.

President Emmanuel Macron accepted des Cars’ resignation as “an act of responsibility” at a moment when the Louvre needs “calm” and new momentum for security upgrades, modernization and other major projects, according to a statement from his office.

Macron wants to give des Cars a new mission during France’s presidency of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, focused on cooperation among major museums, the statement said.

For many in France’s cultural world, the resignation answers months of head-scratching over why no top official had fallen after the heist: a daylight robbery that many in the country saw as the most humiliating breach of French heritage security in living memory It also came as lawmakers and cultural officials widened scrutiny of the museum’s leadership and security practices in the months since the breach. Brazen theft

Thieves took less than eight minutes in October to steal crown jewels valued at $102 million from the Louvre, in a weekend operation that stunned visitors, exposed glaring vulnerabilities and left one of France’s most symbolically charged collections in criminal hands. Several suspects were later arrested, but the stolen pieces remain missing.

Des Cars, one of the most prominent museum directors in Europe, had offered to resign on the day of the robbery, but it was initially refused by the culture minister In remarks after the theft, she described the moment as a “tragic, brutal, violent reality” for the Louvre and said that, as the person in charge, it had felt right to offer her resignation.

Lightning rod

In an interview published on Tuesday by daily newspaper Le Figaro, des Cars said that she had tried

By The Associated Press

Today is Monday, March 2, the 61st day of 2026. There are 304 days left in the year

Today in history:

On March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knicks, a singlegame NBA record that still stands. Philadelphia won by a score of 169-147. Also on this date: In 1807, the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves was signed by President Thomas Jefferson. (The domestic trade of enslaved people was not affected.)

In 1861, the state of Texas, having seceded from the Union, was admitted to the Confederacy In 1877, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, despite Tilden winning the popular vote.

LOUVRE

Continued from page 5C

Staying on, she said, would have meant managing the status quo when the museum still needs deep reform.

“I was there to take the lightning” as museum director, she said. Des Cars also said that the October break-in exposed problems that she had been warning about since taking office, including aging infrastructure, obsolete technical systems and severe congestion.

She had led the Louvre since 2021, taking over one of the museum world’s most prestigious jobs as the institution emerged from the coronavirus pandemic and mass tourism returned.

Multifaceted crisis

In June, a wildcat strike by front-of-house staff and security workers forced the Louvre to halt operations, stranding thousands of visitors outside the glass pyramid and underscoring the depth of anger among employees over overcrowding, understaffing and what unions called untenable working conditions.

Workers said that the pressure of daily visitor flows — particularly around the “Mona Lisa” had become unmanageable and that promised reforms were arriving too slowly There were growing complaints that the infrastructure and staffing of the crumbling medieval structure haven’t kept pace with the crowds

WAYMO

Continued from page 5C

is likely to be London.

Tilden remains the only presidential candidate to get over 50% of the popular vote (50.9%) and not win the presidency In 1943, the three-day Battle of the Bismarck Sea began in the southwest Pacific during World War II; U.S. and Australian warplanes inflicted heavy damage on an Imperial Japanese convoy In 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks’ more famous act of defiance, Claudette Colvin, a Black high school student in Montgomery, Alabama, was arrested after refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white passenger In 1985, the U.S government approved a screening test for AIDS that detected antibodies to the virus, allowing possibly contaminated blood to be excluded from the blood supply In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 8-1, that a grieving father’s pain over mocking protests near his

outside the Louvre museum in Paris.

pouring through its galleries.

The resignation came at an especially punishing moment, less than two weeks after French authorities revealed the separate ticket fraud scheme.

That case widened scrutiny beyond the jewels robbery and toward the museum’s day-to-day controls.

Fraud scheme

Prosecutors say tour guides are suspected of — up to 20 times a day — reusing the same tickets to bring in different visitor groups, at times allegedly with the help of Louvre employees, in a system investigators believe operated for a decade.

In a rare interview just days ago with The Associated Press after the fraud case was made public, the Louvre’s No. 2, general administrator Kim Pham, said that fraud at an institution the size of the Louvre was “statistically inevitable.”

He argued that the museum’s sheer scale — millions of visitors, multiple checkpoints and a sprawling historic complex — makes it uniquely exposed.

To help pay for more robotaxis, Waymo recently raised $16 billion as part of the financial infusion that puts the value of the company at $126 billion. The valuation fueled speculation that Waymo may eventually be spun off from its corporate parent Alphabet, where it began as a secret project within Google in 2009.

Although Waymo is open-

Marine son’s funeral had to yield to First Amendment protections for free speech in a decision favoring the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. In 2020, a tornado outbreak began in Tennessee, killing 24 people and causing massive destruction as at least six twisters tore through the state over two days.

Today’s birthdays: Author John Irving is 84. Actorcomedian Laraine Newman (Saturday Night Live) is 74. Golf Hall of Famer Ian Woosnam is 68. Musician Jon Bon Jovi is 64. Actor Daniel Craig is 58. Rapperactor Method Man is 55. Musician Chris Martin (Coldplay) is 49. Actor Rebel Wilson is 46. Actor Bryce Dallas Howard is 45. Hockey Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist is 44.

Actor Robert Iler is 41. Actor Nathalie Emmanuel is 37. Country musician Luke Combs is 36. Singer-actor Becky G is 29.

But he also acknowledged shortcomings, and said that the museum had tightened validation checks and increased controls.

New Renaissance

The succession of crises has put new political weight on a project Macron has heavily championed: the Louvre’s sweeping overhaul plan, branded the “Louvre New Renaissance.”

Unveiled by Macron in January 2025, the renovation, which could take up to a decades, aims to modernize a museum widely seen as overstretched and physically worn down by mass tourism.

The plan includes a new entrance near the Seine River to ease pressure on I.M. Pei’s pyramid, new underground spaces and a dedicated room for the “Mona Lisa” with timed access — all intended to improve crowd flow and reduce the daily crush that has become a symbol of the Louvre’s success and its dysfunction.

The project is expected to cost roughly $826 million to $944 million, with funding from ticket revenue, state support, donations and Louvre Abu Dhabi-related income.

The scale and cost of that plan now loom over the search for des Cars’ successor Macron has framed the overhaul as a national priority, comparing its ambition to other landmark French restoration efforts and casting it as part of a broader defense of French cultural prestige.

ing up in four more cities, its robotaxis initially will only be made available to a limited number of people with its ride-hailing app in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando before the service will be available to all comers in those markets.

wrestle with how to protect him while helping him grow more independent.

There’s also Jack, who becomes Auggie’s best friend only to betray him to score points with popular kids. He ends up reconciling with Auggie, choosing to do his science project with him rather than the school bully

A softer world

Director Taibi Magar encountered “Wonder” during the height of the pandemic in 2021 when she wasn’t sure theater would return. Magar was offered a proposal to turn “Wonder” into a musical and came to appreciate how the story shows people a way to live that is “a little softer and a little kinder.”

One of the early challenges was finding young actors with facial conditions to portray Auggie. The movie features an actor without any facial condition, who portrayed the boy wearing makeup and prosthetics.

Matthew Joffe, a consultant on the project who is a retired therapist and learning disability specialist, argued the role should go to someone with a facial difference. As someone who has a facial condition known as Moebius syndrome, Joffee feared giving the role to an actor without one risked “alienating” that community

“They were so desperate to get actors that will be able to play the role. They were willing to consider looking for actors and just making them up, and I put my own foot down,” he said. “The community would be completely outraged to know that an actor with a craniofacial condition wasn’t being used.”

First night jitters

In the end, the production found Voehl and McNally for the part of Auggie. Magar described them as “two extraordinary actors.”

McNally, a 16-year-old from California who had never acted before, saw the post on a Facebook group for the role and thought it would be fun to audition. He related to Auggie, he said, because of how people look at him “differently” and sometimes don’t treat him as “normal” person.

When he got on a Zoom call to learn that he was headed to the Northeast to be in major musical, he was thrilled but a little anxious that first night.

“I was nervous because I thought I would mess up or get stage fright, but it generally went pretty smoothly, except for that one time where I hit my shin on one of the tables,” McNally said “Other than that, it was a really good show and I was really proud of myself.”

Moms there for support

Sitting beside the new star was his mother Jules McNally, who never doubted her son’s potential but was surprised that he was “capable of such dedication and commitment” to the part. As the audiences watches her son, whom she described “as his own unique person,” she hopes the play moves people to act.

“I want people to leave the show taking the things that they felt, the empathy that they experienced,” she said. “I want them to go out into their own communities and do what they need to do to make people

feel safe and accepted and welcome.”

Garrett McNally and Voehl also seem to appreciate how the role of Auggie gives them an unexpected platform to change perceptions about those with facial differences.

“I’m making a difference in helping people understand that even though some people may look different or have like a facial difference, we are all in the end the same the on inside,” Voehl said. “It does not matter what we look like because we are all human.” Students cheer for Auggie

At one of the last performances, hundreds of screaming school children filled the theater The show ended a two-month run on Feb. 15. Many, like Dylan Marion, a 14-year-old from Malden, Massachusetts, lined up afterward for autographs — getting seven actors to sign a hard copy of the book. Many had read the book in school and were quick to compare the narrative with what they saw on stage. “I loved it. It was amazing,” said Aili Sparandara, a 10-year-old from a school in Cambridge, whose entire grade read the novel. “It’s nice how he has people out there who can help him. It was a lot of equality I like it. This book is based on someone with differences that can be shown It’s not like everybody in every book has to be perfect.”

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March20) Discuss your intentions and focus on getting things done. Keeping everyone you deal with up to date will help yougainmomentumand avoid interference.

ARIEs(March21-April 19) Keep an eye on domesticexpenditures. Don't go over budget or let anyone talk you into doing or purchasing something you don't need. Focus on personal development, growth and gain.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Impulse is the enemy today, so do your due diligence beforeyou committosomething you don't need or cannot afford.Engage in an activity that encourages you to relax.

GEMInI(May 21-June 20) Take amoment to reevaluate your life, purpose, direction and desire.It'stime to consider what makes you happy and to let go of what isn't working for you anymore.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Disregard what isn't proven, and head in adirection that is clear-cut and doable and offers plentyofroom forgrowth. Stop dreamingand start acting on your behalf.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Change will serve you well. Take the step thatoffers a unique objective regarding your path forward. Momentum is crucial if you want to reach your target first.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept.22) Don't secondguess yourself. Youare sittinginan opportuneposition.Partnerships, finan-

cial gains and thepursuit of knowledge and skills will pay off.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Take amoment to gather your thoughtsand to work out apractical budget and realistic timeline. Spend more time working fromhome, where you'll have fewer distractions.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Apositive attitude will helpyou influence those you hope to entice to see things your way. Youhave plenty to gainpersonally and professionally if you are forwardthinking.

sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Pay attention to detail instead of trying to sway others to think likeyou. It's what you do and howyou present yourselfand your ideas that will draw acrowd.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan.19) Stick to the facts. Embellishing information will hurt your reputation andleave you vulnerable. Speak from theheart, back up your claims and pursue your goals.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb.19) Adomestic change will be refreshing. Don't be afraid to be different or to go up against someonewho opposes you. Trustand believe in yourself, and find the path that offers comfort and joy

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. ©2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

Celebrity Cipher cryptograms arecreated from quotations by famous people, pastand present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another

KEQuALs y

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placingpuzzle 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 boxcontains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

Saturday’s Puzzle Answer

By PHILLIP ALDER

Lord Chesterfield, aBritish politician who led acolorful life and died in 1773, said, “Never seem morelearned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like apocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked.”

At the bridge table, do not count the minutes; instead, count the points, the winners, the losers. The more counting you do, the more successful you will be. In this deal,South charges into six hearts. Howshouldheplayafter West leads the spade king?

South decided that if he needed asidesuitfinesse to work,itprobably would, given West’s opening bid. So he adventurouslyused the Gerber four-club aceasking convention, then settled into six hearts.

Southismissing15high-cardpoints.So it is just possiblethat East has the heart king. AndifEasthas that king, West mustholdtheclubking,anddeclarercan take all13tricks. However, if the heart finesse loses, West will cash acouple of spade tricks.

Suppose, instead, that the club finesse is winning. How many tricks would that provide?

Onespade,six hearts, two diamonds and three clubs —ah, 12. South should win with his spade ace andplay aclubtodummy’s jack. Then he shouldlead the heart queen, temptingEast to cover if he has the king. But when East plays low, declarer wins with his ace, repeatsthe club finesse,and discards his two spade losers, one on the club ace and one on the diamond king. Then he concedes onetrick to West’s heart king. ©2026 by NEA,

Each Wuzzle 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 mustbeoffour

Average