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W e d n e s d ay, M a r c h 4, 2026
‘HIS IMPACT WAS INCREDIBLE’ N.O. celebrates life of Norman Francis at funeral Mass
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Israel steps up airstrikes in Tehran Iran widens response across Gulf region
BY JON GAMBRELL and ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press
STAFF PHOTOS By CHRIS GRANGER
The children of Norman Francis stand on the altar at St. Louis Cathedral as they remember their father during his funeral on Tuesday. BY JOHN POPE
Contributing writer The stained-mahogany casket of Norman C. Francis rested in its place of honor in the center aisle of St. Louis Cathedral. Around it sat mayors, judges, a congressman, civic leaders, artists, singers and an extended family that took up the first rows of the historic church’s pews. Then the voice of Taylor White broke through, and “Ave Maria” soared through the cathedral, its somber notes opening a funeral Mass to honor one of New Orleans’ most influential leaders of the past half-century. Hundreds of mourners attended the formal ceremonies on Tuesday morning, where family members and political leaders praised the man who had helped shape Xavier University and the city more broadly over his nine decades of life. “We’re here not to mourn you but
to celebrate your life,” former New Orleans Mayor Marc H. Morial said of Francis, the longtime president of Xavier, who died on Feb. 18 at 94. “He saw the future before anyone else did,” said Morial, one of three speakers who pointed to the generosity and strength that Francis imparted to generations of students and civic leaders. “His impact was incredible. … His legacy goes far and wide. God created a perfect servant in Norman Francis.” Francis, Morial said, influenced important organizations in public and behind closed doors, in meetings with presidents and captains of industry. “When he spoke in these meetings, all eyes were on Norman.” The funeral Mass at the cathedral, presided over by Archbishop James E. Checchio and other concelebrants, came on the second day of ceremonies to honor the life of Francis and
Former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, bottom right, gives hugs to the family of Norman Francis ä See IMPACT, page 4A during Tuesday’s funeral.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel said it launched airstrikes against Iranian missile launchers and a nuclear research site Tuesday, and Iran struck back against Israel and across the Gulf region, targeting U.S. embassies INSIDE and disrupting energy supplies and travel. Four days into a war that ä Straits of Hormuz President Donald Trump vital to global energy suggested would last sev- supply. Page 10A eral weeks or perhaps ä President Trump longer, nearly 800 people have been killed in Iran, says someone from including some Trump within regime could said he had considered as be best choice to lead possible future leaders of Iran. Page 11A the country. ä Anxious travelers Explosions rang out scramble to leave the Tuesday in Tehran and Middle East as war in Lebanon, where Israel said it retaliated against strands thousands. Hezbollah militants. The Page 11A American embassy in Saudi Arabia and the U.S. consulate in the United Arab Emirates came under drone attacks. Iran has fired dozens of ballistic missiles at Israel, though most of the incoming fire has been intercepted. Eleven people in Israel have been killed since the conflict began. In other developments, the Pentagon identified four U.S. Army Reserve soldiers who were killed in a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait. The strike also killed two other service members. The spiraling nature of the war raised questions about when and how it would end. The administration has offered various objectives, including destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, wiping out its navy, preventing it from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensuring it cannot continue to support allied armed groups. While the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
ä See ISRAEL, page 8A
Jefferson Parish leaders’ feud over levee district grows Officials fight over board financial woes BY LARA NICHOLSON Staff writer
The Lafitte Area Independent Levee District, tasked with providing levees and flood protection to the residents of Jean Lafitte, Crown Point and Barataria, doesn’t own any equipment, not even a lawn mower. Even if it did, there wouldn’t be
WEATHER HIGH 80 LOW 66 PAGE 8B
any employees to use it. In the seven months since Kerry Lauricella took over the state agency from father-son political duo of Timothy Kerner Sr. and Timothy Kerner Jr. — who ran the district and led the town for decades until last year — Lauricella has wrestled with severe operating deficits, terminated agreements, layoffs, two lawsuits and millions of dollars in invoices from engineers and the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana that he says he cannot pay.
As Lauricella, a Barataria resident and former Harahan City Council member, now looks to parish and state officials to help dig the levee district out of its hole, Sen. Patrick Connick, R-Marrero, wants to consolidate the district into the larger Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-West, which currently oversees West Bank levees located within the federal flood protection system. The turmoil has become the
ä See LEVEE, page 6A
Business ...................10A Commentary ................7B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................8D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....4D-7D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
The construction of a sheet piling wall continues under the bridge in Jean Lafitte on Friday. STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
13TH yEAR, NO. 204