New Orleansleaderswill seek to relieve pressure on the city’s finances and fend off aproposed overhaul of the criminal justice system in the legislative session that begins Monday,the first under Mayor Helena Moreno’sadministration. Moreno, in anews releaseThurs-
day, identified10legislative priorities for thethree-monthsession and listed ahalf-dozen bills she plans to support, including aplan to secure staterevenue for theMunicipal Auditorium and bring in $10 million for thecity’s911 call center
“This agenda, which was shaped and guidedthrough deep engagement with our legislative leaders, ourdelegation, andwith stakeholders in and across the region, centersonstabilizing our city
facesjudicialoverhaul
budget and building new pathways to deliver on better services for all NewOrleanians,” Moreno said. The city’s judiciary, meanwhile, will contend with attempts by two Republican lawmakerstoeliminate aslew of elected judgeships andconsolidate thecivil,criminaland juvenile
court systems into asingleentity, an ideathathas come under fire locally “There areconsequences when you take actions,” said Civil DistrictCourt Judge Kern Reese, whose seat is on thechopping block and who said the cuts could increase the time it takes for cases to be resolved.“Youdon’t do things in avacuum. And Icaution people not to be shortsighted in theirdecision-making.”
‘Myjob is to energize theoffice’
BY JAMES FINN Staff writer
Just daysafter taking office as southeast Louisiana’stop federallawman, David I. Courcellestepped where his recent predecessors rarelyventured: directly into the public eye
Standing before aknot oftelevision cameras, flanked by AttorneyGeneral Liz Murrill and New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick, Courcelle bluntly outlineda broad new
regional crackdown on drugs, guns and humantrafficking.
“Themission of all of us behind this microphone today is the same: to enforcethe laws of the land,” Courcelle said He hasn’tlet up since. In his first weeks on the job as U.S. attorney for the 13-parish Eastern DistrictofLouisiana, Courcelle has been omnipresent around town,appearing at luncheons and law enforcement gatherings, hosting news conferences and even presiding over a
naturalization ceremony for new Americans. He has sat forinterviews and peppered social media withupdates on his office’scourtroom victories. The approach marksanew chapter forNew Orleanslaw enforcement and asignificant break from arelatively staid vibe the federal prosecutor’s office cultivated over the past half-decade. Underthe helm of apair of career Justice Department attorneys, both of
See COURCELLE, page 10A
Tech giants poised fortax breaks on data centers
Stateofficialssay trade-offisworth it
BYSAM KARLIN Staff writer
When Meta officials came to Louisiana in 2024 to negotiate apotentialdata center project, they told state officials that theywouldneedsignificant tax breaks in order to close
the deal. “It was ‘If you don’thave this, we will not consideryour state,’ ”LouisianaEconomic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois said in an interview Twoyears later,Meta has brokengroundona$27 billion data centercampus innorthLouisiana. Amazon is notfar behind with plansfor a$12 billion data center near Shreveport. And thestate and local governments are poised to give potentially billions in tax breaks to thetech giants, based on projections of Louisiana’sgenerous taxexemptions and the expected expenditures of the companies. The taxbreaks are part of a complex puzzlethat statesare grappling withtoland so-called “hyperscale” data centers, which are massivewarehouses filled with servers that power artificialintelligenceproducts
offered by tech giants including Amazon, Meta and OpenAI. In some states, backlash to datacenters has swelled where residentsand elected officials say they are worried about them raising electric costs, draining taxrevenue andstraining water systems —aswell as job losses their AI outputs may cause. Louisiana’sdatacenters
See DATA, page 3A
Thesession will test thestrength of Moreno’srelationships with state officials as she seeks to rebuild trust in NewOrleans’ leadership. Moreno will need support from Republican lawmakers who have supermajorities in both chambers —aswellasGov.Jeff Landry,who in recent years has
Aprotester, dead in the street.A man, his mouth bound shut. A mother,grasping her son’shand as an unknownforce pulls him into the sky
Khaleghi,60, didn’t decide to make art about Iran, her home until she was 16 years old, when she fledwith hersister to Germany
ä Service members’ bodies return to U.S. PAGE 2A ä Israeli prime minister promises ‘many surprises.’ PAGE 2A
But the images kept coming.
“Mypainting, my drawing, my writing, everything, it allchanged,” Khaleghi said.
It changedagain last weekend, when theUnitedStatesand Israel launched airstrikes against Iran, killing the country’ssupreme leader,AyatollahAli Khamenei,knownfor hisrepressive rule.
Khaleghi writesnow of joy.Ofhope.
Butshe’s unsurewhather artwork will look like in aweek, amonth, ayear Like manyIranian-Americans living in Louisiana, she is optimistic. Like many Iranian-Americans living acrossthe world, she is clear-eyed.
See IRAN, page 5A
PROVIDED PHOTO
Zohreh Khaleghi and her twosons, Paymon, 30, and Ali, 35, sit with family friendDr. HamidMassiha in his New Orleans home.
Nightclub bombing in Peru injures 33
LIMA, Peru A bombing at a nightclub in Peru has injured 33 people, including minors, authorities said Saturday
The explosion happened in the pre-dawn hours at the Dali nightclub in the province of Trujillo along Peru’s northern coast, according to a statement from the local Emergency Operations Center It’s a region that has recently been plagued by violence and crime. It wasn’t immediately clear who was responsible and a motive wasn’t immediately known. At least five of the injured were in serious condition, according to the executive director of the Trujillo Health Network, Gerardo Florián Gómez. Some of the victims suffered amputations and shrapnel wounds and were undergoing surgery, he told reporters. Among the injured are three minors: one 16-year-old and two 17-year-olds, Florián said Fiorella Mantilla, who was at the nightclub when the blast took place, told reporters that she had glass embedded in her legs and recalled that “it sounded as if the sound system had suddenly been turned off.”
The explosion took place less than a month after another blast in the same city that damaged 25 homes but caused no injuries or fatalities.
$2M bail for woman accused of killing girls
CLEVELAND A Cleveland judge set bail at $2 million Friday for a woman accused of killing her two young daughters and burying them in suitcases in shallow graves.
Aliyah Henderson, 28, faces two counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of Mila Chatman and Amor Wilson, whose bodies were recovered after a dog walker alerted police to one of the suitcases on Monday Hend er son said little during the brief court appear ance.
Prosec utor s said they found no criminal record for her and Henderson’s public defender said she has a place to live and had been looking for a job.
Mila’s father, DeShaun Chatman described her as happygo-lucky — a “kid’s kid” who was always smiling. He said he hadn’t seen Mila for five years and had unsuccessfully sought emergency custody He said he felt “useless — I couldn’t save my baby.”
The county Medical Examiner’s Office has said Mila would have been 8 years old, her halfsister Amor 10, and that DNA relationship testing helped identify them Authorities said a third child, apparently healthy, was in the hands of child welfare authorities after being found in a home that investigators searched.
Calif. Rep. Issa to retire after district is redrawn LOS ANGELES Just three months after declaring “I’m not quitting,” California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa announced Friday he is retiring instead of facing a difficult reelection campaign in a redrawn district
“It’s the right time for a new chapter and new challenges,” Issa, who represents a district anchored in San Diego County, said in a statement. “Serving in Congress has been the honor of my life.” Issa, a car alarm magnate considered one of the wealthiest members of Congress, had been a chief antagonist for President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton while he served as chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, from 2011 to early 2015. Issa’s abrupt reversal injects more uncertainty in the race for Southern California’s 48th District, which was drastically reshaped in November after voters approved a new U.S. House map for California to favor Democrats.
Trump joins soldiers’ families
Officials attend dignified transfer of 6 soldiers killed in Kuwait
BY SEUNG MIN KIM and JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON Associated Press
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. — President Donald Trump on Saturday joined grieving families at Dover Air Force Base at the dignified transfer for the six U.S. soldiers killed in the war in the Middle East.
The dignified transfer, a ritual that returns the remains of U.S service members killed in action, is considered one of the most somber duties of any commander in chief. During his first term, Trump said bearing witness to the transfer was “the toughest thing I have to do” as president Trump, speaking at a summit of Latin American leaders in Miami before his trip to Delaware, said the fallen service members were heroes “coming home in a different manner than they thought they’d be coming home.” He said it was “a very sad situation” and he pledged to keep American war deaths “to a minimum.”
Both Trump and Vice President JD Vance were present for the transfer, as were their spouses. A host of top administration officials were in attendance including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who wrote in a social media post Friday of “an unbreakable spirit to honor their memory and the resolve they embodied”; Attorney General Pam Bondi, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence.
Also present for the sol-
PRESS PHOTO By MARK SCHIEFELBEIN
An Army carry team moves a flag-draped transfer case with the remains of U.S Army Reserve soldier Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, of White Bear Lake, Minn., who was killed in a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait after the U.S and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran, past President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump during a casualty return Saturday at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
emn event were governors and senators from Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Florida.
Those killed in action were Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, who was posthumously promoted from specialist.
As is protocol, Trump — wearing a blue suit, red tie and a white USA hat did not speak during the transfer The president saluted as each flag-draped transfer case was carried from the military aircraft to awaiting transfer vehicles, which would take them to a mortuary facility to pre-
pare them for their final resting place. The families were largely silent as they observed the ritual, which lasted about a half-hour
The six members of the Army Reserve, who were killed by a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait, were all from the 103rd Sustainment Command based in Des Moines, Iowa, which provides food, fuel, water and ammunition, transport equipment and supplies. They died just one day after the U.S. and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran.
“These soldiers engaged in the most noble mission: protecting their fellow Americans and keeping our homeland secure,” Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a combat veteran, said earlier this week after the six were identified.
“Our nation owes them an incredible debt of gratitude that can never be re-
paid.”
During the ritual, transfer cases draped with the American flag and holding the remains of the fallen soldiers are carried from the military aircraft that transported them to an awaiting vehicle to take them to the mortuary facility at the base. There, the service members are prepared for their final resting place.
Amor’s husband, Joey Amor, said earlier this week that she had been scheduled to return home to him and their two children within days.
“You don’t go to Kuwait thinking something’s going to happen, and for her to be one of the first — it hurts,” Joey Amor said.
O’Brien had served in the Army Reserve for nearly 15 years, according to his LinkedIn account, and his aunt said in a post on Facebook that O’Brien “was the
sweetest blue-eyed, blonde farm kid you’d ever know He is so missed already.”
Marzan’s sister described him in a Facebook post as a “strong leader” and loving husband, father and brother
“My baby brother, you are loved and I will hold onto all our memories and cherish them always in my heart,” Elizabeth Marzan wrote.
Coady was among the youngest people in his class, trained to troubleshoot military computer systems, but he impressed his instructors, his father, Andrew Coady, told The Associated Press.
“He trained hard, he worked hard, his physical fitness was important to him. He loved being a soldier,” Coady said. “He was also one of the most kindest people you would ever meet, and he would do anything and everything for anyone.”
Khork’s family described him as “the life of the party” who was known for his “infectious spirit” and “generous heart” and who had wanted to serve in the military since childhood.
“That commitment helped shape the course of his life and reflected the deep sense of duty that was always at the core of who he was,” according to a statement from his mother, Donna Burhans, his father, James Khork, and his stepmother, Stacey Khork.
Tietjens, who came from a military family, previously served alongside his father in Kuwait. When he returned home in February 2010, he reunited with his overjoyed wife in a local church’s gym.
Tietjens’ cousin Kaylyn Golike asked for prayers, especially for Tietjens’ 12-year-old son, wife and parents, as they navigate “unimaginable loss.”
Strikes light up Tehran as Israel vows ‘many surprises’
BY JON GAMBRELL, SAM MEDNICK and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates
The Iran war exploded further late Saturday as pillars of flame rose above an oil storage facility in Tehran and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised “many surprises” for the next phase of the week-old conflict.
Israel’s military confirmed that it hit the fuel storage facilities in Tehran. Associated Press video showed the horizon glowing against the night sky above Tehran.
It appeared to be the first time a civil industrial facility has been targeted in the war State media blamed an attack from the U.S. and the Zionist regime” at the facility that supplies the capital and neighboring provinces in the north.
Earlier in the day, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian apologized for attacks on “neighboring countries,” even as its missiles and drones flew toward Gulf Arab states and hard-liners asserted that Tehran’s war strategy wouldn’t budge.
A rift between more pragmatic politicians looking to de-escalate the war and others committed to battling the United States and Israel could complicate any diplomatic efforts. Conflicting statements involved two of the three members of the leadership council overseeing Iran since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the war’s opening airstrikes
Pezeshkian also dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for Tehran to surrender unconditionally, saying: “That’s a dream that they should take to their
grave.”
Trump threatened that Iran would be “hit very hard” and more “areas and groups of people” would become targets, without elaborating. Already, the conflict has rattled global markets and left Iran’s leadership weakened by hundreds of Israeli and American airstrikes.
Iran’s varying statements
Pezeshkian’s message, seemingly filmed in a hurry, underlined the limited powers exercised by the theocracy’s leaders over the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which controls the hundreds of ballistic missiles targeting Israel and other countries. It answered only to Khamenei and appears to be picking its own targets.
Pezeshkian’s statement said Iran’s leadership council had been in touch with the armed forces and “from now on, they should not attack neighboring countries or fire missiles at them, unless we are attacked by those countries. I think we should solve this through diplomacy.”
The U.S. strikes have not come from the Gulf Arab governments under attack, but from U.S. bases and vessels in the region.
But hard-line judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, another member of the three-man leadership council, suggested that war strategy will not change.
“The geography of some countries in the region both overtly and covertly is in the hands of the enemy, and those points are used against our country in acts of aggression. Intense attacks on these targets will continue,” he posted on X.
“As long as the presence of U.S. bases in the region continue, the coun-
tries will not enjoy peace,” Iran’s Parliament speaker and a former Revolutionary Guard general, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said on X. He called defense policies in line with the late supreme leader’s guidance.
Iran’s U.N. mission later suggested, without offering evidence, that strikes on nonmilitary sites “may have resulted from interception by U.S. electronic defense systems.”
Late Saturday, top Iranian security official Ali Larijani asserted in an address carried by state media that “our leaders are united on this issue and have no disagreements with one another.” He also said the leadership council has requested that “arrangements be made” to convene the Assembly of Experts to choose the next supreme leader, but did not say when.
Kurds won’t be involved
Trump said he has ruled out having Kurds join the war, even though Kurdish fighters in the region are willing to assist in efforts to topple the Iranian government.
“The war is complicated enough without getting the Kurds involved,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Days ago, Kurdish officials told the AP that Kurdish-Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq were preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran and that the U.S. had asked Iraqi Kurds to support them.
“Tehran is under severe bombardment” and even people far from military and government targets are living in fear, said a university student in western Tehran, speaking on condition of anonymity be-
cause of security concerns. Israel earlier Saturday said it struck a Tehran airport it said was used to transfer weapons and cash to militant groups.
The U.S. and Israel have targeted Iran’s military ca-
pabilities, leadership and nuclear program The war’s stated goals and timelines have repeatedly shifted as the U.S has at times suggested it seeks to topple Iran’s government or elevate new leadership.
have faced some pushback for their electricity plans, though so far mostelected officials have welcomed them with openarms For the most part, tech companies have only built the centers in states that give them preferential tax treatment, with all but14 states offering tax incentives for data centers.Virginia, the pioneer for the U.S. data center wave, is currently debating whether to pull back on the tax exemption it has offered tech companies for years,which costs Virginia state and local governments $1.9 billionin 2024 alone.
In Louisiana, state and local officials who negotiated data center deals say the trade-off is worth it. Tech companies have madeit clear that they won’tbuild here withoutsignificanttax breaks. So every dollar in taxes and salaries the companies eventually do pay is lagniappe, they argue, even if Louisiana and its local communitieshave to give them preferential treatment.
“At the end of the day, we’renot giving away a tax benefit; we’re creating acompetitive environment for projects that are going to go somewhere,” Bourgeois said. “With them come jobs and derivative benefits. Workers buying stuff at the cafe nearby,hotel taxes, small businesses that are openingand couldn’t open two years ago.”
Still, the bargain means tech companies worth trillions of dollars will getsignificant taxbenefits from Louisiana, one of America’s poorest states. The historically oil-dependent state government has long struggled to pay for services, going through periods of budget cuts and tax hikes to plug holes.
Louisiana’ssales tax exemption alone could abate $3.3 billion to $3.6 billion for the construction of the data centers by three companies that have signed dealswith the state, according to Dimitrios Nikolopoulos, an engineering professor at Virginia Tech University who evaluated Louisiana’sincentive. Nikolopoulos, whose home state is the data center capital of America, studies computing systems and estimated that about 75% of the cost of adata center is spending that falls under Louisiana’sexemption.
The tax break is a100% exemption on stateand local sales taxes for awide range of spendingthat covers most data center costs, including servers, chillers, electric infrastructure and construction costs.
Louisiana is “middle of the pack” in terms of its job andspending requirements for incentives, he said. Unlike some states, Louisiana exempts construction costs but doesn’texempt electricity taxes, which some do But the massive scale of the projects —tens of billionsinspending —combined with Louisiana’s highest-in-the-nation sales
taxof10%, means the tax breaks could be worth huge amounts.
“What makes it notable is the combination of the high combined tax rate —which actually makesthe exemption more valuable per dollar spent than in lower-tax states —and the sheer scale ofthe projects it’sattracted,” Nikolopoulos said The LouisianaDepartment of Revenue declined to offer any preliminary numbers on how much has been exempted so far.The first figures will be reported in the annual tax expenditure budget this spring, though it will be years before the scope of the exemptionisfully known.
Nikolopoulos said such tax breaksare “probably acompetitivenecessity,” considering so manystates offer them. But he noted thatVirginia auditors have found thatits tax break for data centers only created 48 centsinnew staterevenue for every dollar it gave up, which they classifiedasa “moderate” benefit.And thecompaniesare sourcing much of theserverhardwarefrom suppliers inother states, he said.
High salestax aconcern
AfterMetaofficials told Bourgeoisand other state leaders that the company neededa tax incentive to build its massive Richland Parish data center,Gov.Jeff Landry’sadministration quicklycreated one.
Bourgeois, theheadof LED,asked Richard Nelson, then Louisiana’sDepartment of Revenue secretary, to work on getting the tax break into law,Nelsonsaid in an interview
Nelson used an existing bill to create the new tax exemptioninthe 2024 legislativesession. The original version, by Rep. Chris Turner,R-Ruston, sought to rebate taxes paid on fiber optic cables. It passed through theLegislature with large bipartisan majorities.
Nelson,who said he opposes most tax incentives, still thinks this one is worthit.
“It was pretty straightforward,” Nelsonsaid.“They were sittingatthe table tellingusthey wouldn’tcome if we didn’thave this. …Because Louisiana’ssalestax is the highest in the country, it’s basicallya dealbreaker if youdon’thavethattype of exemption.”
The projects herecome as concerns over datacenters have prompted some elected officialsaround thecountry to push back.
Lawmakersinatleast 11 states have filedbills to issue moratoriums on data centers,according to the advocacy group Good Jobs First, which opposes incentivesfor datacenters.
Entergy last week touted what it calls $5billion in benefits to ratepayers because of language in electricity deals with datacenters across several states, includingLouisiana. And President DonaldTrump announced a pledge last week that tech companies are making to shoulder their own electric costs.
Greg LeRoy,head of Good Jobs First, said many data center tax breaks were ini-
tially set up when data centers weremuchsmaller, andstate budgets wouldn’t takethat big of ahit.Now three states —Virginia, Texas and Georgia —have crossed thethreshold of giving at least $1 billion annually in taxbreaks for data centers.
“Datacenters used to be a floor of abuilding,” he said. “No one thought that would be that big of adeal. Now it’s an enormous liability.”
LeRoy saidstates should repeal their tax breaks for tech companies, which are racing to build data centers becausetheyneedthem to power energy-intensive AI products. He also noted that access to cheap energyis akey component of where they build.
Meta spokesperson Stacey Yipsaid in astatement that tax incentives are a“standard part of competitive site selection efforts.”
“Deciding where to locate our datacentersisanincredibly complicated process that involves balancing dozens of differentcriteria,” she said. “A business-oriented environment is important, but it’sonly one part of the kind of broader partnership we need withthe local community to make the project successful.”
She declined to answer further questions.
RogerWehner, vicepresident of economicdevelopment for Amazon WebServices, said in astatement that tax incentivesare an “important part” of deciding where to build datacenters.
“Incentive agreements that Amazon enters into reflect thecommunity’sdesire to attract investment, economic vitality, tax revenue, andjobsand recruit worldclassbusiness partners,” Wehner said. “These agreements are performancebased partnerships —we only receive benefits when we deliver on ourcommitments for job creation and investment.”
‘Looking to exempt’
Bourgeois, of LED, defended thetax break, saying the projects arestill bringing “dramatic” upsides She pointedtopotential increases in the amount of money Louisiana could
collect from its 2% tax on electricity use.Meta and Amazon have bothpromised several hundred jobs, more than what’s required to takefull advantage of the tax breaks. Hut 8, another datacenter developer,has signed apreliminaryagreement to take advantage of the incentive as well, but that deal is still being negotiated,Bourgeois said.
“They’re looking to exempt as much of it as absolutely possible,”said Mike Busada, aShreveport attorney who helpednegotiate the deals with Meta and Amazon. “Theybothwanted numbersthat are alot more favorable. We looked around and said, ‘What is reasonable across the country?’”
Senate President Cameron Henry,a Metairie Republican who has raised concerns about state spending, said lawmakers will monitor how much thestate is giving away through the exemption. He noted that lawmakers spent years refining and ultimately pulling back on —atax break for movie developers. At itsheight, Louisiana’smovie tax credit
covered between 30% and 35% of in-state film production costs, costing the state more than $1 billion over several years.
“I don’tknow how many more(data centers) we’re going to get,” he said. “Every year that goes by,we’ll improve, maybe not be as generous and be more strategic in whatwe’re able to do.”
Thesales tax break is not the only tax benefit the companies are getting.
Officials in northLouisiana have struck deals with both Meta andAmazontogive thecompanies “PILOTs,” or “payments in lieu of taxes.”Those could exempt 60% of local property taxes if thecompanies reach hiring goalsof300 jobs for Meta and 150 jobs for Amazon.
Busada said data center developers have drawn a “line in the sand” when negotiating, asking for full abatements on the servers and other hardware. Metaand Amazon will not pay property taxes on them for their Louisiana projects.
The companiesmust create jobs to get the tax break, andthe amount of benefit
scales up based on the numberofjobscreated,Busada said. Thejobs will have to pay150% of thestate averagesalary. The deal with Amazonrequires it to pay 1% sales tax on construction materials, and the companies would face penalties if they don’thold up their end of the deals.
He also noted that state and local officials negotiated the deals in an attempt to not give away more than needed “The reason we’re giving this is not to be nice and welcoming,” he added. “We’re only giving this to get them here. We don’twanttogive them adollarmore than we have to. That’sanart to try to figure that out.”
PHOTO PROVIDED By META
Construction continues on Meta’snew data center in Richland Parish.
sought to exert more control over New Orleans. Shane Guidry,the governor’sunofficial point person in NewOrleans, said he talks with Moreno “every week about the assistance she needs and relationship building.” He said, so far, he thinks she’sbeen agood steward of the city’sfinances and that Landry and others are “mindful” of what she inherited.
The governor’sspokesperson declined to commenton Landry’s priorities forNew Orleans but said he’ll unveil his agenda in an address on Monday Lawmakers’ proposed judiciary cuts come months after aseries from The Times-Picayune found that murder cases in New Orleans take longer to resolve than almost anywhere else in the country,aproblem locallyattributedtostaffing shortages, funding gaps, neglected DNA tests and inattentive judges.
ButSen.Jay Morris, RMonroe,said New Orleans’ caseload doesn’tjustify the number of judges on its bench. He crafted atrio of bills with the Landry administration to reduce the number of elected positions in the district and appellate courts and combine the clerks of court, among other measures.
“Why should one court be treated differentlythan anywhere else in the state?” added state Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-Baton, who filed asimilar measure in the House The Moreno administration said it was aware of the legislation but hadn’treviewed it.
Finances,oversight
Moreno is supporting House Bill 463, authored by McMakin, which would allow emergency call centers across the statetocollect more money from cellphone users to fund their operations. At the moment, those
monthly fees are capped at $1.25. Thebillwould increase that to $2. That would bring in an extra $10 million for the OrleansParishCommunicationsDistrict, Moreno’s team estimates,and lessen the financial burden on the city,which is spending around$20 million ayear supplementing the 911call center’sbudget
Moreno is also backing legislation to helpresolve the city’slegal disputes with the MunicipalPolice Employees’ RetirementSystem, though the measure she’ssupporting, HouseBill26, authored by state Rep. Aimee Adatto Freeman, D-New Orleans, is expected to be amended significantly
At issue is $38.5 million in finesthe pensionsystem claimsthe city owes for what it argues wasthe “partial dissolution” of the NewOrleans Police Department in 2021 and 2022 when 200 officers left the force. Under Freeman’sbill, thethreshold for partial dissolution would be 100 or moreofficers in afiscal year.Itis50 or morenow Anotherbill the mayor backs would resolvethe court warbetween theOrleans Parish School Board over the fee the citycharges to collect its taxrevenues.
The School Board in February rejected the city’slatest settlement offer.Cityofficials said negotiations are ongoing, but House Bill 795, authored by state Rep. MandieLandry,D-New Orleans, would close loopholes and require aformal intergovernmental agreement. In its current form, the bill would cap thecity’sfee at 5%.
The mayorisalso supporting requests for state dollars to fund improvements to the Municipal Auditorium and Armstrong Park, greeninfrastructureprojectsinthe Lower 9th Ward and anew water treatment plant forthe Sewerage &Water Board. It was unclear as of Friday how much the city is asking for HouseBill 573,supported by Moreno, would let the City Council make reforms to the S&WB without needing approval from thestate
Legislature.
“Itgivesthe council the flexibility to work urgently,” said its sponsor,state Rep. Stephanie Hilferty,R-New Orleans,“instead of having to waituntil thelegislative sessioninthe spring to make changes.”
Otherbills wouldincrease the maximum finesfor illegal demolitions and historic districtviolationsfrom $25,000 to $50,000; create acriminal offense forflammablematerials and open flames under elevated roadways; and allow the citytomoreeasily award contracts to startups developing technology focused on solving infrastructure challengesand issues like coastal land loss and flooding.
Moreno won’t be reupping former Mayor LaToya Cantrell’srequestfor $8.5 million to rehabilitate the former Veterans Affairs hospitalnearCityHall. Her administrationplans to sell the propertyinstead.
Judicial shifts
Under McMakin’sproposal to overhaulthe judiciary, House Bill 911, civil, criminal and juvenile courtsystems would be consolidated into anew 41st JudicialDistrict Court. Twoofthe four Orleans Parish Juvenile Court sections —filled by Desiree Cook-Calvin andRanord Darensburg, the court’s chief judge —would be abolished.
Three district judges— Leon Roche, Kimya Holmes and ad hoc fill-in Franz Zibilich —would also seetheir posts eliminated. And four civil court judgeships would getcut. Thosesectionsare filled by judges Sidney Cates, Reese, and Terri Loveand Yolanda Grinstead,who are serving as temporaryreplacements ahead of aMay 16 election to fill the vacancies left by Paulette Irons and Ethel Julien.
A“consolidatedjudicial expensefund”would be created to operate thenew court, andthe Clerk of the Civil District Court would become courtclerk for the entireparish.
After Hurricane Katrina, state lawmakersapproved asimilar measure to merge
Orleans Parish courts, though its implementation wasdelayed andultimately scrapped.
With his caseload in Civil District Court, Reese estimated he can guide acaseto trialwithin 18 months to two years after it’sfiledina scenario when discovery goes smoothly. Eliminating judgeships could increasethe volume of cases toodrastically for the judgesthat remain on the bench, he said.
“If youreduce the number of judges, you increase that time period to three to five years to get thecasetotrial,”
Reese said. He added that changesto the city’sCriminal District Court were shortsighted “Ifthere’saperception that there’sa crimeproblem in New Orleans, you don’twant to inhibit Criminal Court,” Reese said. Chris Bruno, who once served as the Civil District’s chief judge, described the proposal as a“wrecking ball” approachthat only looks at the fact that Orleans Parish has more judges than other parishes. Instead, each judge’scase volume should be considered.
“It’sthrowing the baby out with the bath water instead of really thinking it through and doingitproperly,” Bruno said. “There’salways this push to get it all out. It just ends up hurting people in the end, and it doesn’tmake anything more efficient.” Morris pointedtoEastBaton Rouge Parish, whichhas fewerjudges than Orleans Parish but handles alarger caseload and has abigger population.
Staff writersJoni Hess, Sophie Kasakove and Ben Myers contributed to this report.
As school districtsacrossthe countryworkto modernizetheir fleets,manyare discoveringthat propanebuses canserve as apractical alternative. More than 1,000 districtsinthe United States are nowusingpropanebuses
“Louisiana hasbeena little slow to reap allthe benefits of propane-poweredbussesbut that is changing,”saysRandyHayden,ExecutiveDirector oftheLouisianaPropaneGasAssociation.
“There’snosmell,nofumes –nothing forthe children to smell,”bus driver Dawn Tiemannof HenricoCountyPublicSchoolsinVirginiatoldPERC
Students anddrivers on propanebuses aren’t theonlyoneswhoexperiencehealthierairquality.
PERC noted that theuse of propanebuses means feweremissionsinneighborhoods,schoolparking lots andbus stops– areaswhere parents, teachers andthegeneralpubliclive,workandtravel.
In addition to environmentalbenefits,proponentssaypropanebusesoffercostsavingstoschool districtswithoutsacrificingdrivingrange,reliability orperformance.AccordingtoPERC,thefuelcosts forpropanebusesisupto50percentlessthandiesel buses.Theyalsoeliminatetheneedforcostlyfilters and fluids needed on newdieselbuses.Plus, new propanebuses cost aboutone-third theprice of newelectricbuses
AJune2025report from MinnesotaClean Citiesfoundthattheaveragefuelcostsavingswere approximately$134per monthper bus, basedon cost andmaintenance differences. In addition,the reportshowedthatpropanebusmaintenancecosts were about32percent lowercomparedtodiesel buses, andthe averagetotal cost of ownershipwas approximately$43,500lessthandieselalternatives overthevehiclelifetime “Iwasexcitedaboutbuyingbusesforlessmoney andrealizingthattheoverallcostofownershipwas
goingtobesignificantly lower,”Amy Rosa,directorofschoolsafetyand transportation at Wa-Nee CommunitySchoolCorporation in Indiana, told PERC.Rosa’sdistrictoperatesamixed fleetthat includes25propanebuses
Around thecountry,drivers have also reported noticeable operationalimprovements when using propanebuses Theseincludequietengines,smooth accelerationandreliableperformanceacrossvarious climates.Thebenefitsincludebetterperformancein stop-and-gotrafficandabetterabilityfordriversto hear what’s happeninginsidethe bus. Proponents areoptimisticthatthiswillleadtolong-termdriver satisfactionand,inturn,strongerstaffretentionand moreconsistentbusoperations. Thepropanebussesaredefinitelyquieter. Infact, oneofthe fewcomplaintswehearfromparents is that they cannolongerwaittohearthe diesel bus chugging down theroadtosendtheir kids outin time,”saysHayden Asschoolsystemsaroundthenationcontinueto evaluatecleanertransportationoptions,propaneis provingtobeaviable,provensolutionthatisalready deliveringmeasurablebenefits “Thefueling infrastructure forpropane is relativelystraightforwardtoinstallandmaintain,with widespread availabilityofpropane suppliersand servicetechnicians,” theMinnesota CleanCities reportnoted.(Propanebuses)effectivelybridgethe gaptowards acleaner transportation futurewhile districtsalsoconsiderthe evolving landscapeof propanevehicletechnology.”
While surveys show that most Iranianshave supported aregime change, a segment of Iran’spopulation still supported Khamenei, mourning the cleric’spassing. But those in the diaspora, many of whom fled after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, largely cheered his death
Over the course of the week sincethe war began, hundreds of Iranians have died, six U.S. soldiers have been killed and more countries have been dragged into the conflict.
‘Where Ishouldbe’
For weeks leading up to the airstrikes,agroup of Iranianborn Louisiana State University students, professors and alumni gathered in Free Speech Alley on campus They stood in silence. Some held Iranian flags. Others cradled photos of those who had died.
They were protesting Iranian security forces imprisoning and killing unarmed protesters. Iranian health officials said as many as 30,000 people could have been killed on Jan. 8and 9alone, national outlets reported.
But after news of Khamenei’skilling, the group returned to the same spot Monday,waving flags and cheering.
As Roza Homafar walked over to join them, her mother called from Iran.
Homafar,aPh.D. student in kinesiology,toldher mom where she was headed, and that there would be two protests happening simultaneously —one criticizing the U.S. and Israel’sattacks on Iran,one celebrating them
“What do you think?” Homafar,30, asked her mother
“Where should Istand?”
“Weneed this regime gone,” her mother told her, “no matter how.”
During an internet blackoutearlier this year, Homafar couldn’tcallher mother friends or family,couldn’t know if they were safe. She sunk into adeep depression
andstruggledtoget outof bed.
“All Iranians, outside and inside, were experiencing ahuge trauma,” Homafar said.When, at last, shecould talkwith her lovedones again, shelearned that afew friends had been shot, but all were alive. Several said the same: “They said, ‘Weare alive, butjust physically,’” shesaid,quietly.“Alive,but just physically.”
Growing up in Iran, Homafar had always struggled with the restrictions for women, includinglaws requiring them to cover their hair and bodies. Uponmoving to the United States for school,she felta kind ofcomfort. “It wasn’tsomething new,like ‘this is so different,’”she said.
The freedom here “was what Iwas always imagining and always fighting for “OK, now I’m exactly where Ishould be.”
The past few months have brought ajumble ofemotions —fear andanger,joy andhope. On topofall that, Homafar feelsjudgment. The judgment of students, of pundits, of “people who don’tknow where Iran isona map.” Given the death toll in January alone, “Of course we are celebrating, .ofcourse we arethankful.”
The situationinIran is complicated,she knows, and even aftergrowing up there, she checks in with family and friends before speaking up. So she asks that people trust the knowledge and experienceofIranians, as well. Her mothercalledagain Wednesday.There was bombing in thebackground. Homafar asked if she was worried
But hermom’sfear was notfor herindividual safety It was that the United States andIsrael would,afterstarting awar,leave without finishing off the regime.
‘Itcould getreallybloody’
Homafar wasamong those on the LSU campus holding signsthanking President DonaldTrump and the U.S. Army.The group chanted “U.S.A!” and “God blessIsrael.” On aboom box, one man blasted theVillagePeople’s
“Y.M.C.A.”
They danced. “It is really probably not understandable for many people, particularly those in the younger generation, why they’re celebrating their country being bombed,” one LSUprofessor said. “But we don’tsee it as awar
“Wesee it as arescue mission.”
Though the Iranian-born professorattended thecelebration, he later asked that his name notbeprinted, fearing reprisalagainst family membersstill living in Iran.
He had beenamong those calling for RezaPahlavi, the exiled son of theshahousted in 1979, to lead thetransition to amore moderate, more secular government. By midweek, reports out of Iran indicated that Khamenei’sson, Mojtaba Khamenei,was the front-runnertosucceed his father,suggesting thathardlinerscould remainincharge.
“The system is not designed to produce moderates,” said ChristopherFettweis, apolitical science professor at Tulane University andauthorofbooks about U.S. foreign policy Khamenei’sregime is “terrible,” Fettweissaid,and half to three-quartersofIranians wereeager to seehim go.
Still, he called the weekend’sattacks by theU.S. and Israel“totally bizarre and ham-fisted and shortsighted.” Best case, the two countrieshave aplan for an alternative leader of Iran setto go, Fettweis said. But he said
students and Baton Rouge residents participate in arally Monday on LSU’s campus to support the United States’attack on Iran.
history writtenina language of hope.”
And while visiting would be nice, Iranians are the ones whowill benefit from a political shift, should it happen, Zohreh said. “Whatever happened right now,it’sfor them.”
their public statements seem to contradictone another,indicating alack of foresight and follow-through.
If citizens fight for anew regime, “it could getreally bloody,” he warned. ‘Languageofhope’
Likeother Iranians who fled,Khaleghi hasnever returnedtoIran, even to visit.
As akid, she’d planned to go to college in Iran and raise afamily there. But she ended up in Germany,forced to learn anew language and makeanew life. She earned a MasterofScience degree at Mannheim University,then aMaster of ArtsatLoyola. At one point,after moving to New Orleans in 1990, her latehusband asked if shewas homesick, andshe found that she wasn’t. NewOrleans,withits European charm,had become her home.
But she dreams of visiting Iran.Her son Paymon, 30, is ahistory buffwho is fascinatedbythe country’spast. Herother son, Ali, 35, talks
regularly on WhatsApp with their 18 first cousins living there. After Khamenei’sdeath, their tone shifted. They sounded lighter,brighter
“It wasatone of hope,” Ali Khaleghi said this week, smiling, sitting acrossfrom hismother.“It’s anew history for the Iranian people. They’re the authors of anew
Later in the week, the poet and artist flew to Washington, D.C.,for agathering of the Iranian Writers’ Association. She wasset to recite apoemand give aspeech in Farsi.Ina draft of that speech, translated to English, she planned to mention the decades of protests, the tens of thousands killed. Thenshe spoke of thefuture. “Thefreedom of Iran will not come from bombs or political deals,” she said. “It willcomefromthe courage of its people who, for decades,havenever stopped fighting fortheir freedom.”
Contact reporter Jenna Ross at jenna.ross@ theadvocate.com.
Formorethan70years,Cornerstone Chemical Company, LLChas been acommunity partnerin JeffersonParish, making in-demandproductsthat supportindustriesranging from auto manufacturingand home construction to waterpurification anddieselemissions abatement. Now, site leaders saya series of maintenanceprojectsand ongoing construction at CornerstoneEnergyPark(CEP) are helping to position thesitefor anew eraofsustainable long-termoperations.
Beginninginearly Marchand lastingthrough earlyApril,CEP site companieswillundergo a“turnaround”– atimeoftemporary equipmentshutdown for plannedinspections,maintenance andupgrades. Turnaroundsare akey componentofmaintaining safe andreliableoperationsastheystrengthensafety systems, enhancereliability andsupport thelongterm continuity of facility operations
During this same time,constructionactivities willcontinueatCEP with ongoingworkonthe $500 millionUBE C1 ChemicalsAmerica project. DuetothisworkatCEP in thecomingweeks JeffersonParishresidents canexpectanincreased amount of activity near CEPand heavier-than-normaltrafficonRiver Road (Highway 18)throughout Marchand earlyApril
TrafficfromCEP on RiverRoadisexpectedto peak each daybetween 5:00 a.m. and6:00a.m., and againfrom4:00p.m.to6:00p.m.Sitecompanies arestaggeringshiftstominimizetrafficimpacts as much as possible on RiverRoadduringthese peak travel hours. In addition,CEP is coordinating with theJeffersonParishSheriff’s Office to mitigate trafficimpacts “Cornerstone Energy Park hasbeenpart of the
JeffersonParishcommunity for decades, andwe take that responsibility seriously. Theconstruction andturnaroundworkhappeningatthe site reflects long-terminvestments in CEP’sfuturetostrengthen infrastructure,support localjobs, andpositionthe Energy Park forsafe, sustainableoperationsfor yearstocome,”saidAinslie Blanke,seniormarketing andcommunicationsadvisor at Cornerstone. “We apologizefor anyinconvenience andappreciatethe community’spatience as we work to performcritical inspection, maintenance, construction activities andimplement operationalupgrades. CEPleaders said both theturnarounds and construction projects aredesignedtoenhance operationalefficiency,strengtheninfrastructure andenable thesitetocontinueinvesting in Jefferson Parish.Sitecompanies continue to work to reduce theirenvironmental footprintwhile prioritizing thehealthand safety of employees andthose in thecommunity “Turnarounds arecriticaltomaintaining the integrityofour equipmentand thereliability of our operations.These scheduledshutdowns allowour teamstoconduct detailed inspections, complete preventative maintenanceactivities, implement upgrades andverifycompliancewithsafetyand environmentalstandards,” said Matt Bordelon,senior managerofhealth, safety,securityand environment andcapital projects at Cornerstone. “Takingthe time to do this work proactivelyisone of themostimportantwaysweprotect ouremployees, ourcommunity andthe environment. To learnmoreabout Cornerstone’scommitment to operationalexcellenceand safety,visit:https:// cornerstonechemco.com/operational-excellence
Authorities search debris after tornadoes kill 6 in 2 states
BY DAVE COLLINS, STEVE KARNOWSKI and MIKE HOUSEHOLDER Associated Press
UNION CITY,Mich Authorities
searched through rubble and debris in southern Michigan on Saturday after suspected tornadoes tore through the region and killed four people, including a 12-year-old boy, during powerful storms also blamed for two deaths in eastern Oklahoma.
First responders from multiple agencies in the Union Lake area near Union City looked for more possible victims and worked to clear roads, authorities said. Photos and videos posted on social media showed flattened homes and downed trees in a lakeside neighborhood.
The National Weather Service said an initial assessment confirmed that an EF3 tornado with winds of at least 150 mph struck the Union Lake area Friday
The weather service also reported seven preliminary
tornado tracks in eastern Oklahoma that same day, according to the state’s emergency operations center.
The threat of severe weather continued Saturday in the nation’s midsection, with tornado watches posted in the afternoon for eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia and western Pennsylvania and New York
Severe thunderstorms that began in northern Indiana appeared to spawn multiple tornadoes in southern Michigan the previous day, said meteorologist Lonnie Fisher of the National Weather Service, which sent teams to the region to evaluate the damage and confirm tornadoes.
“Mostly likely there were three distinct tornadoes, but we won’t know 100% for sure until they finish the survey,” Fisher said, adding that the storms intensified rapidly in southern Michigan after hitting northern Indiana
Three people were killed and 12 were injured in the Union Lake area, according
to the Branch County Sheriff’s Office. It was the second tornado to hit Union City in two years. An EF1 tornado with 95 mph winds touched down briefly in May 2024 and destroyed a machine shed.
Lisa Piper stood on her back deck and took video of a terrifying scene that played out on the other side of frozen Union Lake as a funnel cloud formed and then dropped toward the ground Friday Trees were torn from their roots, and debris flew into the air
“It’s lifting houses!” she said. As the devastation continued, she exclaimed: “Oh my heart is pounding. Oh, I hope they’re OK.”
Dan Taylor raced home to Union City from his cleaning job at a nearby hospital that day to find his brother and two dogs safe But a tree fell on his home of 20 years, and portions of the roof of a house across the street blew into his yard.
“I didn’t know what to say I was lost for words,” he said
U.S. aims to exhume, identify remains of 88 Pearl Harbor dead
BY AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press
HONOLULU The U.S. military plans to exhume the remains of 88 sailors and Marines killed when the USS Arizona was bombed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and who were buried as unknowns in a Honolulu cemetery
It’s part of an effort to use advances in DNA technology to attach names to those the military was unable to identify after the aerial assault 85 years ago
The disinterments from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific are due to begin in November or December, Kelly McKeague, the director of the Defense
POW/MIA Accounting Agency, said Thursday
About eight sets of remains will be removed every two to three weeks, and the DNA will be compared with samples collected from family members of missing troops.
Dozens of ships sank, capsized or were damaged in the Dec. 7, 1941, bombing of the Hawaii naval base, which catapulted the U.S. into World War II. The identification effort follows earlier projects dating back a decade to use DNA for Pearl Harbor unknowns. The agency identified hundreds of crew members from the USS Oklahoma, USS West Virginia and other ships using similar
methods
The Arizona sank just nine minutes after being bombed, and its 1,177 dead account for nearly half the servicemen killed in the attack. Today the battleship still lies where it hit bottom, with more than 900 sailors and Marines are entombed inside. Remains in that underwater grave will stay where they are Only those in the cemetery will be exhumed. Kevin Kline, a real estate agent in northern Virginia, and an organization he founded, Operation 85, has spent the past three years locating families and arranging for them to share their DNA. Only about 15 of the 1,500 people he contacted declined to participate.
Saturday “I’m just thankful that my brother’s all right, my dogs, because it could have turned bad.”
About 50 miles southwest of Union Lake, a 12-year-old boy died and several other people were injured during a possible tornado, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office said. Sheriff Clint Roach said in a Facebook post that Silas Anderson’s parents found him injured and provided first aid, but he later died at
a hospital. Disaster relief workers went door to door in the Union City and Three Rivers areas to offer meals and cleanup supplies. Gov Gretchen Whitmer said she would declare a state of emergency in Branch, Cass and St. Joseph counties. In Beggs, about 30 miles south of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a tornado was blamed for the deaths of two people in a house on Friday, the Okmul-
gee County Sheriff’s Office said. Two others were taken to a hospital. The tornado cut a roughly 4-mile path of damage in Okmulgee County including Beggs, said Jeff Moore, the county’s emergency manager Large trees toppled and power outages werereported. Suspected tornadoes also were reported in northern parts of Tulsa, where a building at the Tulsa Tech Peoria campus was damaged.
This initiative allows experienced LPNs to grow into expanded scopes of practice whilecontinuing to serveour community, which directlysupportsaccesstohigh-qualitycareacrossLouisiana,”said MissyHopson,Ph.D OchsnerHealthSystemVicePresidentandChief LearningandWorkforceDevelopmentOfficer.
Jennifer Fernandez, DelgadoDeanofNursing,saidthatwhile adultlearnersstill make up themajorityofthe studentpopulation, therehasbeenanincreaseinrecenthighschoolgraduatesinterested inenteringhealthcare.Delgadooffers28alliedhealthprogramsand four nursingprograms, allofwhich have been expanded to accept themaximumnumberofstudentspossibleduetorisingdemand.
“Whenwegraduatea class, we’renot just awarding degrees. We’restabilizingtheworkforceandstabilizingfamilies,”Fernandez said.“WeseealotoffamiliescomingtoDelgadotogether–siblings, cousins,evenparentsandchildren.Healthcarerunsonpeople,and wehelptobuildthosepeopleup.”
Fernandeznoted that Delgadohas partnerships with allmajor healthcaresystemswithindrivingdistanceofNewOrleans,making it akey institutiontoconnect qualifiedgraduates with career opportunities, whetherthose areinnursing or other fields,suchas imagingtechnology. Thatsameemployer-drivenresponsivenessisguidingDelgado’s broaderworkforce development efforts,particularlythrough the GreaterNew OrleansInfrastructurePartnership.Thankstothat partnershipandaU.S.DepartmentofLaborStrengtheningCommunities grant,DelgadoisdevelopingLouisiana’sfirstElectricVehicle Technologyprogram. “Weare also enhancingtraininginworkforce developmentand developingtop-of-the-line coursesfor high demand jobs in diesel technology,commercialvehicle operatorand heavyequipment operator,”saidDr. SusanneG.Dietzel,Program Director forthe StrengtheningCommunityCollegesTrainingGrantatDelgado.“The partnershipallowsustomeetwithindustrypartnersandGNOInc regularlytodiscusseconomicdatathatforecaststhetypesoftraining andindustry-basedcredentialsthatstudentswillneedtosucceed. That type of collaborationisamodel that RoyO.Martinrelies on heavilywithCentral LouisianaTechnicalCommunity College
BakersaidCLTCCfrequentlyprovideseducationandtrainingfor newhiresatRoyO.Martin,usuallyinasix-toeight-weekprogram In addition,the entities have workedtogetherwithinthe last two yearstocreateanew industrial maintenanceprogram,inwhich CLTCCstudentsworkpart-timeforRoyO.Martin,givingthemthe chancetogainreal-worldproductionexperiencetosupplementtheir classroomlearning.
“Companiesinourregionneedemployeesnow,butthoseemployees need skillsand readiness,”saidCLTCC Chancellor HeatherPoole Ed.D.“We have come up with ways to keep them in programs here whilegivingthema foot in thedoorwithindustrypartners. That hasbeenawin.”
“We’ve hadsuccess with work-based learning becausealot of companiesthatneed people in those rolesoperate 24 hours aday sevendaysaweek. Students canbeinclass here Mondaysthrough Fridaysandworkontheweekendsorevenings,”Dr.Poolesaid. That givesthemachancetoearnawageandlearnmoreaboutworkingat anindustrypartnercompany.”
Dr.PooleaddedthatCLTCChasdoubledthesizeofitselectrical andHVACprogramsduringthe past 18 monthstomeet employer demand,andplanstoexpandanelectricalprogramtotheAvoyelles campuslaterthisyear.Overall,mostCLTCCprogramsaredesigned for completers to earn an associate’sdegree, andmanyalsoinclude industry-basedcredentialsthatcanbeappliedtomultiplejobs. “WefeelthatthejobneedswillcontinuetogrowinLouisianaas moredatacentersandlargecorporationsestablishapresencehere, Dr.Poole said.“We’reexcited aboutthe opportunitiesthatpresents forCLTCC.Wewanttostrengthenourpartnershipswithourregional energyprovidersandothercompanies,andwe’relookingtogrowour curriculum around automationand programmingtosupport the needsofthe21stcenturyeconomy.”
AsindustriesacrossLouisianaevolve,partnershipsbetweenemployers andLCTCSwillremaincriticalstrategymeetingworkforcedemands By
mate Ev arsal Din Wedding
Radiography students areseenatDelgado Community College. They aretrainingfor in-demandcareers in healthcare
Thomas Mallon
Jewelle Gomez
Finally, atreatment to conquer lowback, neck,leg andarm pain withoutdangerous medicationsorpainful surgery
Pain affectsevery part of your life-walking,sitting,and even sleeping.Nothing’s worse than feeling greatmentally, butphysicallyfeeling held back from lifebecause your nerveorbackpainhurts-and it just won’tgoaway.
Scientificstudies tellusthatspinaldiscs areresponsiblefor most of theaches andpains people suffer from
When thesenatural cushions betweenyourbackbonescalledspinaldiscs-becomeinjured or wear out from strain,poorposture,oraging -theybegin to degenerate andlosetheir abilityto absorb shock.
This canleadtopainful bulgingorherniated discs that pressonnearbynerve roots.
Themostcommontreatment fordischerniations is surgery-but this invasive option comeswithmajorrisks:costs,and recovery time
Patients areusually givenlimited treatment options- whichiswhy we runthese bigadvertisements! We want peopleinthe communityto know thereisanotheroptiontorelieve pain without surgery,injectionsorpainpills
Here’s thegoodnews:
NON-SURGICAL SPINAL DECOMPRESSION is a breakthrough,non-invasivetreatment fordegenerativediscs that areherniated,bulging,orruptured. It is proveneffective foralleviating pain in theback, neck,hip,arms, legs andfeet.
WE AREDR. SCOTT ANDDR. DANA LEBLANC, owners of LeBlancSpine Center.Wehavebeentreatingpatientsinthe BatonRouge andNew Orleans areasfor over 14 yearswithNon-SurgicalSpinal Decompression-and we love what we do! We have 10 state-of-the-art Spinal Decompression machines to keep up with thehighpatient demand at ouroffices,and ourexceptionally high success rate in relievingpainisbuilt on yearsofexperience, understanding,and thepersonalized attentionwe give to each patient.
Ouradvancedtreatment technology is FDAapprovedand targetsthe exactsourceofdiscrelated pain.Itcreates avacuumeffectinsideofthe spinal disc to retractdiscbulgesand herniations. This negative pressuredraws in oxygen,nutrients,and hydrationfromsurrounding tissues-allowing for thebody’snatural healingand repair processatthe cellular level.
FIND OUTIFCOULD THIS TREATMENTBEYOUR BACK PAIN SOLUTION?
Ihad been suffering forabout 8months with pain shooting down my left armand shoulder.I hadpreviouslytried injections in my shoulders, andIwas stillsuffering. IcametoDr. LeBlancand beganSpinal Decompressiontreatments. Iamnow 90%improved! My range of motion has improved 95%and Ihavenomorepain at night. Iam nowabletodoanything Iwant- allwithoutthe pain!WhatI like most aboutmycarehereisthe personal care from thewhole staff andthe Doctor’s. What wouldmycommentsbe if asked to recommend LeBlancSpine Center?I wouldsay,“Whyare younot thereyet?!” GeorgMarcum (RetiredConsultant) Hometown- Port Allen, LA
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Schedule your FREE 17-point “Smashed Disc”Assessment at ourBaton Rouge or Kenner office -it’scompletelyfreefor thenext7days to anyone that is sufferingin ourcommunity andwants answerstowhatiscausing theirpain.
AT LEBLANCSPINE CENTER, we arehonestwith ourpatientsand ourconsistent successratestems from ourcommitmenttoonlytakingonpatientswhomweconfidently believewecan help It’s importanttonotethatnot everyone is acandidate for Spinal Decompression, which is whyweprioritizeathorough individual assessment foreachpatient We take specialized spinal x-rays to identify theexact source of pain andprovide atargetedtreatment plan If you’ve seen ourads before or thoughtabout
flex response
IcametoDr. LeBlancbecause Ihad been suffering with severe sciatica.The pain in my lowbackand legs wasso severe that Ibegan stayinghomerather than attendingsportingorsocialevents. Ibegan Spinal Decompression treatments andsince then,Iam70% improved!Iamfeeling well enoughand energeticafter workingall daytocook, do household chores,attendfunctions, etc. Ihavemoremobilityand Iamnot exhaustedfromthe pain!The staff and Doctorshereare wonderful.Everyoneis so kind andfriendlyand will do whatever is needed to decreasethe pain.What Ilikemostabout my care at LeBlanc SpineCenterisTHE RESULTS! Ihighly recommendLeBlancSpine Center dueto thenon-invasivetreatment andresults! As amatteroffact, Ihaverecommended Dr.LeBlanctopeoplealready
SabrinaRuggiero Customer ServiceRepresenative/ InsuranceAgent Hometown -Plaquemine, LA
During your assessment, we’llcheck outyour:
·Spinalalignment ·Pelvicleveling ·X-rays ·MRI analysis ·Range of motion ·Balance ·Nerve function
Iwas suffering with lowerbackpainfor years, anditwas gettingworse andworse It wassopainful that Icould notfunction. I couldnot getout thebed withoutfalling to the floor. Ihad triedorthopedic doctors, medication, scans, physical therapy- alltonoavail IcametoLeBlancSpine Center,and I startedSpinal Decompressiontreatments in August…and Inow feel 100% improved! Iamnow sleeping better,driving without pain,walking further–all of theseactivitiesI cannow do,and IhaveenergythatIonlyhad when Iwas young. Iamtreated wonderfullybythe staff at LeBlancSpine Center.Theyare so polite andcaring. Dr.Scott andDr. Dana are unbelievablyhelpful.The treatmentisnot painful, andI enjoythe musicwhile Iamthere too! If askedtorecommend LeBlancSpine Center,I wouldsay that Iamconvinced that youwillimprove abig amount,ifnot 100% Decompressiontherapy is theway to go! Ronnie Hebert (Civil
Ihad been suffering with lowerback pain,sciatic pain,and numbness in my feet.I beganSpinal Decompression treatments at LeBlancSpine Center and Iamnow 80%improved! Ican now standand sitfor longer periodswithout anypain, andIamabletowalklonger distances. Iamfeeling so much better Thestaff here treats me excellent. Oneofthe best things aboutmycareat LeBlancSpine Center is that Iamshown care andconcern Iwould recommend LeBlancSpine Center andthe treatment-everyonehere is so nice andithas been so helpful!
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EDUCATION
Navigating conversations with kids
Experts say
validate
limit exposure to information
BY CHEYANNE MUMPHREY Associated Press
The latest conflict in the Middle East is developing quickly and deeply complex, which can make it difficult for children to make sense of events they see unfolding on social media, hear adults anxiously discussing or are experiencing in real life. Experts say exposure to war, even if it is indirect, can affect how kids think, feel and behave Child psychologists and development experts say talking about it may help.
“Sometimes adults think if they don’t talk about something that is difficult, than it doesn’t exist. But we know that’s not the reality in children’s lives,” said Rebecca Smith, the global head of child protection at Save the Children, an international aid and advocacy organization. “Ignoring or avoiding the topic of conflict can lead to children feeling lost, alone and scared. It is essential to have open and honest conversations with children to help them process what is happening.”
Below are suggestions for having conversations with children about war and its impacts.
Create a safe space
Experts recommend starting with what a child might know about what is happening in Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, Israel, Sudan or other parts of the world before attempting to address any feelings of fear, sadness, anger or
anxiety
Some children may not know that fighting has escalated between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran and its proxies on the other Other kids may be more aware than their families realize and suppress their emotions. Children visiting or living in Middle Eastern countries directly impacted will have seen weapons light up the sky and may know people killed or have to leave their homes.
“For some children where missiles are now visible in the skies, this might be an entirely new and terrifying experience,” Smith said “When events like this happen, they disrupt a child and family’s sense of safety What once felt stable and secure may suddenly feel uncertain.”
To help children work through their emotions, the trusted adults in their lives also need to take care of themselves, according to experts. Guidance from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network says adults sharing their own feelings with children can be an opportunity to convey personal beliefs and values about how to treat others. The key is to not assume what children might be thinking or feeling. If children do not want to talk or are not ready, experts suggest adults remain patient and tell children they are there for them.
“It is necessary to respect child’s ability to refuse communication, their ability not to talk or not to tell about something. Because they can have their own feelings, their own states, which they might not want to share,” child psychologist Nataliia Sosnovenko said, speaking in Ukrainian. Sosnovenko works with Voices
of Children, a Ukrainian organization that provides psychological support and documents children’s experiences in the country during the yearslong war with Russia.
Some children might share what they have seen or heard, how they feel or ask questions when given an opportunity Experts say this is when adults should validate their feelings and address what’s happening honestly while taking their ages and maturity levels into account. Let age guide conversation
The American Psychological Association recommends giving kids basic, age-appropriate information about war and conflict, and addressing any upsetting images, headlines or conversations they were exposed to without going into details that might make them unnecessarily anxious. But ultimately, parents know their children best, experts say
Families who have loved ones in the region may need to take the extra time to discuss the safety of their relatives and friends, and the difficulty of uncertainty
Families in the region themselves may need to have a plan in place for what to do if they become separated.
Experts with Save the Children say to keep it simple and to practice the plan calmly
Depending on how young, some children can understand the idea that two countries are fighting. But young children living abroad may not be able to distinguish between what they see on screens and what is happening nearby For children in the U.S., the Iran war can seem much closer than it is if they are frequently seeing
images on TV or social media, meaning they may need additional reassurance they are safe from danger Older children are likely to understand war and its consequences, which means they might be more con-
cerned and have more questions, the American Psychological Association says. Adults may want to consider focusing on what is within their control and giving children some agency such as supporting humanitarian ef-
forts, staying informed and addressing misinformation. UNICEF, the United Nations agency that provides humanitarian aid and longterm support to children worldwide, says it is OK to not have all the answers.
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Simple ChoicSimple es
COURCELLE
whom lacked the clout conferred by a presidential appointment, it was rare in that period for the office to hold news conferences or grant interviews.
Courcelle has upended the old approach almost overnight.
“My job is to energize the office, let the community know what we’re doing, and to encourage us to move at as fast a pace as possible without moving so fast we make mistakes,” he said in an interview at the DOJ’s Poydras Street office.
A calm courtroom negotiator whose friends span the political spectrum, Courcelle might seem an unlikely pick to lead a Justice Department outpost under President Donald Trump. Atop some of the nation’s 93 federal prosecutors’ offices, the president has installed loyalist firebrands, often leaning on them to pursue his goals.
Courcelle has conservative bona fides. A registered Republican, he defended two men accused in the Jan 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. He is a Justice Department outsider, like other Trump DOJ appointees; his federal court experience came as a criminal defense and civil attorney But while he is known as a wily political actor he is not viewed locally as a particularly partisan one.
“He gets along really well with people,” said Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng, a Republican under whom Courcelle worked until last year as a deputy parish attorney From interviews with more than a dozen attorneys and local officials emerged an image of New Orleans’ new top federal prosecutor as a politically savvy legal negotiator who aims to burnish the office’s image by aggressively growing federal criminal caseloads He says he’ll focus especially on violent crime, drug and gun
violations.
Local Democrats and Republicans alike roundly laud his approach
“He is tailor-made for this position,” said Jason Williams, New Orleans’ Democratic district attorney who, like Courcelle, was a defense attorney before becoming a prosecutor “David has an uncommon ability to work effectively with people from every background and every political perspective, and he moves comfortably across all the parishes he now serves.”
The extent to which the backslapping, amicable Courcelle can achieve his goals under Trump’s DOJ which has deprioritized public corruption probes that were long an Eastern District hallmark, issued indictment quotas that demoralized the agency’s rankand-file, and sought criminal charges viewed by critics as politically motivated remains to be seen.
So far, he seems to be netting results. He touts a nearly twofold increase in charges the office secured in January and February compared to those months the previous three years.
“He’s focused on developing a positive relationship with individuals in all 13 parishes of the Eastern District as well as at the state level, whether it’s the sheriffs, the local prosecutors or the state attorney general,” said Harry Rosenberg, the former Eastern District U.S. Attorney under George H.W. Bush
Courcelle’s approach is informed directly by the president. He was at the White House in January when Trump gathered dozens of U.S. attorneys and berated them for being “weak,” according to a Wall Street Journal report.
“I can say he addressed us and he does want us to work hard on the behalf of the United States,” Courcelle said when asked to corroborate the account.
Roots in Japan
His path to the U.S. Attorney’s Office began in Sasebo,
Japan. He was born on a U.S. naval base there in 1968 to a Japanese mother and U.S. Navy radioman father from the 9th Ward and given the middle name “Ichiro.” His parents moved to Jefferson Parish 10 weeks later
Growing up in Harahan and River Ridge, Courcelle attended De La Salle High School and pitched at Delgado under legendary baseball coach Louis “Rags” Scheuermann, then secured an undergraduate degree from the University of New Orleans. Law school at Loyola was followed by a stint as counsel for State Farm. He started his private practice in 1998.
That year he became close to the late Vinny Mosca, the Harahan mayor and legendary defense lawyer known for striking crafty plea deals. Mosca asked Courcelle to work part-time as Harahan city attorney Courcelle accepted, and a mentorship blossomed.
“My education with Vinny was certainly first and foremost the practice of law, but Vinny was also someone who was very astute in politics, and his tentacles were long,” Courcelle recalled. “He introduced me into the political arena.”
Mosca’s lessons are still evident. An avowed foodie, Courcelle can strike up banter with servers at Herbsaint, his eatery of choice near the U.S. Attorney’s Office where he favors the cornmeal fried oysters as easily as he debates Jefferson Parish politics or dissects an indictment.
He is “a Jefferson Parish politician without being a politician,” said Claude Kelly, New Orleans’ chief federal public defender
Working in Harahan, Courcelle gained a dab of prosecutorial experience by pursuing cases that involved fistfights, marijuana possession and the like. The job also imparted lessons about small-town lawyering.
“Every time you went to Winn-Dixie, you saw somebody who’d appeared in court If things didn’t go well, you had a good chance
of them letting you know,” he said. “That didn’t change how we handled the case.”
Colleagues in Jefferson Parish recall his ability to calmly navigate charged disputes.
“He’s able to work on both sides and bring reasonableness to discussions that is rare in politics,” said Lee Sheng, the parish president.
Courcelle maintained his private practice while working the government positions. His firm handled everything from personal injury to high-profile criminal defense.
Making his mark
As the confirmation process for U.S. attorney dragged on, legal observers noted the breadth of Courcelle’s experience and his bevy of relationships as factors that might endear him to U.S. Sens. John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy, who hold the keys for Louisiana federal appointees. Trump nominated him last July, Congress confirmed him in October, and he started the job in late December
He inherited an office transformed by Trump’s DOJ overhaul. One indicator was a surge of felony immigration prosecutions, historically a less-than-coveted assignment among federal prosecutors.
Some Eastern District veterans hope Courcelle will reinstate a focus on pursuing complex matters such as fraud, public corruption and organized crime, said Michael Magner, a veteran white-collar attorney and former federal prosecutor
“Many believe that this focus on high-profile matters should continue to be the mission of the office,” Magner said.
Such prosecutions raised the office’s profile after Hurricane Katrina, when thenU.S. Attorney Jim Letten secured corruption charges against the likes of former Mayor Ray Nagin.
Courcelle spoke with pride about how the office leads similar-sized offices nationwide in securing public corruption indictments. He took
care to uplift the district’s line attorneys, who he noted would all be “very marketable” to private law firms, yet “choose to work for the U.S. Attorney’s office in what is a very noble calling and profession.”
He has fostered a friendship with Kelly the federal public defender whose office represents many of the defendants ushered in by the demand for more indictments. Kelly’s office sent Courcelle a Dong Phuong king cake during Carnival season.
“As a career defense attorney, he gets the position we’re in,” Kelly said. “Communication with him is easy because he knows how we work.”
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno found common ground with him on fighting violent crime after Courcelle told the Democratic mayor he planned to hire a dozen prosecutors to pursue those cases. Courcelle confirmed last week that the office is hiring eight new people, with
plans to add several more. He also met with Attorney General Liz Murrill in what he called a new effort to “streamline” referrals of gun and drug cases to his office when they’re needed.
“Regardless of (political) party, he’s hearing all of us,” Moreno said. Those collegial politics contrast with the culture of Trump’s DOJ. The president has pushed the agency to prosecute political adversaries and dismiss cases against allies. New Orleans is far from the Washington, D.C. and New York-area districts where such demands have surfaced. Courcelle said he does not expect to face that dilemma.
“I don’t believe anyone in the administration would direct me to prosecute somebody unfairly or unjustly,” he said. “We will always follow the facts and the evidence as we make decisions about whether to pursue a criminal action against an individual.”
Trump encourages military action to fight cartels
He says U.S., Latin American countries are banding together
BY AAMER MADHANI, JOSHUA GOODMAN and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press
DORAL, Fla. — President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States and Latin American countries are banding together to combat violent cartels as his administration looks to demonstrate it remains committed to sharpening U.S. foreign policy focus on the Western Hemisphere even while dealing with five-alarm crises around the globe.
Trump encouraged regional leaders gathered at his Miami-area golf club to take military action against drug trafficking cartels and transnational gangs that he says pose an “unacceptable threat” to the hemisphere’s national security
“The only way to defeat these enemies is by unleashing the power of our militaries,” Trump said. “We have to use our military You have to use your military.” Citing the U.S.-led coalition that confronted the Islamic State group in the Middle East, the Republican president said that ”we must now do the same thing to eradicate the cartels at home.”
The gathering, which the White House called the “Shield of the Americas” summit, came two months after Trump ordered an auda-
BY MARY CLARE JALONICK
and LISA MASCARO Associated Press
WASHINGTON Visitors to the U.S. Capitol will now have a visible marker of the siege there on Jan. 6, 2021, and a reminder of the officers who fought and were injured that day Steps from the Capitol’s West Front and where the worst of the fighting occurred, workers quietly have installed a plaque honoring the officers, three years after it was required by law to be erected. The plaque was placed on the Senate side of the hallway because that chamber voted unanimously in January to install it after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, had delayed putting it up
“On behalf of a grateful Congress, this plaque honors the extraordinary individuals who bravely protected and defended this symbol of democracy on January 6, 2021,” the plaque says. “Their heroism will never be forgotten.”
The Washington Post first reported the installation of the plaque, which was witnessed by a reporter about 4 a.m. ET Saturday. It is the first official marker of the violent day in the Capitol.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., led the recent effort to in-
such talks were taking place. Who was there
The leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago joined the Republican president at Trump National Doral Miami, a golf resort where he is also set to host the Group of 20 summit later this year
The idea for a summit of like-minded conservatives from across the hemisphere emerged from the ashes of what was to be the 10th edition of the Summit of the Americas, which was scrapped during the U.S. military buildup off the coast of Venezuela last year
week against organized crime groups in the South American country Ecuadorian and U.S. security forces attacked a refuge belonging to the Colombian illegal armed group Comandos de la Frontera in the Ecuadorian Amazon on Friday, authorities reported. This joint fight against drug traffickers “is only the beginning,” said Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa. Notably missing at the summit were the region’s two dominant powers — Brazil and Mexico — as well as Colombia, long the linchpin of U.S. anti-narcotics strategy in the region.
arming of Panama to withdraw from China’s Belt and Road Initiative and review long-term port contracts held by a Hong Kong-based company amid U.S. threats to retake the Panama Canal. More recently, the U.S. capture of Maduro and Trump’s pledge to “run” Venezuela threatens to disrupt oil shipments to China — the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude before the raid — and bring into Washington’s orbit one of Beijing’s closest allies in the region. Trump is scheduled to travel to Beijing later this month to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
cious U.S. military operation to capture Venezuela’s thenpresident, Nicolás Maduro, and whisk him and his wife to the United States to face drug conspiracy charges.
Looming even larger is Trump’s decision to launch a war on Iran with Israel one week ago, a conflict that has left hundreds dead, convulsed global markets and unsettled the broader Middle East.
Trump’s time with the Latin American leaders was limited: Afterward, he set out for Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, to be on hand for the dignified transfer of the six U.S. troops killed in a drone strike on a command center in Kuwait.
Trump called the American deaths a “very sad situation” and praised the fallen troops as “great heroes.”
With the summit, Trump
stall it as he commemorated the fifth anniversary of the attack on the Senate floor in January and described his memories of hearing people break into the building “We owe them eternal gratitude, and this nation is stronger because of them,” he said of the officers who were overwhelmed by thousands of President Donald Trump’s supporters and eventually pushed them out of the building
The mob of rioters who violently forced their way past police and broke in were echoing Trump’s false claims of a stolen election after the Republican was defeated by Democrat Joe Biden
The crowd stopped the congressional certification of Biden’s victory for several hours, sent lawmakers running and vandalized the building before police regained control. More than 140 officers from the U.S. Capitol Police, the Metropolitan Police Department and other agencies were injured.
The fight to have the plaque installed came as Trump returned to office and the Republican Congress has remained loyal to him. Trump, who has called Jan. 6 a “day of love,” has tried to deflect blame on Democrats and police for instigating the attack
aimed to turn attention to the Western Hemisphere, at least for a moment. He has pledged to reassert U.S. dominance in the region and push back on what he sees as years of Chinese economic encroachment.
Trump also said the U.S. will turn its attention to Cuba after the war with Iran and suggested his administration would cut a deal with Havana, underscoring Washington’s increasingly aggressive stance against the island’s communist leadership. “Great change will soon be coming to Cuba,” he said, adding that “they’re very much at the end of the line.”
Cuban officials have said on several occasions that they were open to dialogue with the U.S. as long as it was based on respect for Cuban sovereignty, but they have never confirmed that
3 years of delays
Congress passed a law in 2022 that set out instructions for the honorific plaque listing the names of officers “who responded to the violence that occurred.” It gave a one-year deadline for installation, but the plaque never went up.
Democrats who were angry about the missing plaque installed replicas of it outside their offices and called on the GOP leadership to erect it or explain why it was missing.
After more than a year of silence — and a lawsuit from two officers who fought at the Capitol that day — Johnson’s office put out a statement on Jan. 5, the night before the fifth anniversary of the attack, that said the statute authorizing the plaque was “not implementable.”
Tillis went to the Senate floor later that week and passed a resolution with no objections from any other senators, to place the plaque on the Senate side.
Officers object
One of the officers who sued, Daniel Hodges of the Metropolitan Police Department, said Saturday that the lawsuit would continue.
Hodges, who was crushed and beaten by rioters while trapped in the central west
Host Dominican Republic, pressured by the White House, had barred Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from attending the regional gathering. But after leftist leaders in Colombia and Mexico threatened to pull out in protest — and with no commitment from Trump to attend — the Dominican Republic’s president, Luis Abinader, decided at the last minute to postpone the event, citing “deep differences” in the region.
The Shield of the Americas moniker was meant to speak to Trump’s vision for an “America First” foreign policy toward the region that leverages U.S military and intelligence assets unseen across the area since the end of the Cold War.
To that end, Ecuador and the United States conducted military operations this
Trump grumbled that Mexico is the “epicenter of cartel violence” with drug kingpins “orchestrating much of the bloodshed and chaos in this hemisphere.”
“The cartels are running Mexico,” Trump said. “We can’t have that. Too close to us. Too close to you.”
The challenge from China
Trump made no mention of his administration’s insistence that countering Chinese influence in the hemisphere is a top priority for his second term.
His national security strategy promotes the “Trump Corollary” to the 19th century Monroe Doctrine, which had sought to ban European incursions in the Americas, by targeting Chinese infrastructure projects, military cooperation and investment in the region’s resource industries.
The first demonstration of the more muscular approach was Trump’s strong-
For many countries, China’s trade-focused diplomacy fills a critical financial void in a region with major development challenges ranging from poverty reduction to infrastructure bottlenecks. In contrast, Trump has been slashing foreign assistance to the region while rewarding countries lined up behind his crackdown on immigration — a policy widely unpopular across the hemisphere.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the leaders for a working lunch after Trump left for the event in Delaware. The lunch gave Kristi Noem, whom Trump fired as homeland security secretary on Thursday, the chance to make her debut in her new role as a special envoy for the “Shield of the Americas.”
“We want our hemisphere to be safer to be more sovereign, and to be more prosperous,” Noem told the leaders.
at the Capitol after 3-year delay
front doors steps away from where the plaque is now displayed, said the overnight installation was a “fine stopgap” but that it was not in full compliance of the law
The original statute said that the plaque should be
placed “on” the west front of the Capitol — not near it — and that the officers names should be listed on the plaque itself. The new installation has a nearby sign with a QR code that leads to a 45-page document listing
the thousands of names of the officers who responded to the Capitol that day “The weight of a judicial ruling would help secure the memorial against future tampering,” Hodges said “Our lawsuit persists.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARK SCHIEFELBEIN
President Donald Trump speaks Saturday at the Shield of the Americas Summit at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla.
LOUISIANAPOLITICS
Stranded Louisianansscrambletoget outofMideast
WASHINGTON —About halfway into their 13-day religious and archaeological tour of Israel, Michael Sprague and the 44 faithful he hosted, mostly from Louisiana, were about to spend afew daysin the Old City of Jerusalem. Then the air raid sirenswentoff Their tourguide hustled thegroup into abomb shelter
Mark Ballard
“Weshifted into atotal different mode for the next three days as 20 times we gotthe messages to get to safety,” said Sprague, of Mandeville and the Louisiana State Chaplain with the Capitol Commission, anonprofit that places chaplains in statecapitols.
“Right in front of my eyes, there’stwo missiles that shot through the air and then theIron Dome took them out. Andyou know,itwas boom, boom, boom,” Sprague recalled.
That was Saturday,Feb.28. By Monday,the State Department told Americans to immediately leave 14 Middle East countries that were targeted for retaliation by Iran “using available commercial transportation.”
Unfortunately,airports were closed, as were some U.S.embassies, leaving an unknown number of stranded Americans frustrated. Many blasted the Trump administration for not havingan evacuation plan in place.
Others contacted family and friendsathome, who called their representatives in Congress.
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office is referring constituents to the State Department.
“We’re helping as needed. Also, staff has been available24/7 to help,” said Griffin Neal,aspokes-
Congressional race wide open, poll finds
SPRAGUE
Kingdom started evacuating their citizens on charter flights. President Donald Trumpposted on Truth Social that the U.S. would do so as well.
By Thursday evening, the first such evacuation landed at Dulles International Airport in the Virginia suburbs of Washington. Somecommercial airlines also began to resumeflights.
Luckily forthe Sprague party, the tour company he contracted arranged the paperwork forall of its tour groups and on Monday headed forEgypt in acaravan of five buses flanked by armed security vehicles.
Avoiding war-torn Gaza, the mostdirect route, the tour group took acircuitous 19-hour bus ride to Cairo.
Some of his party returned to the U.S. via Istanbul, others through Frankfurt. Sprague camehome via London and Newark, arriving at his Mandeville home around 3a.m.Wednesday morning.
Sprague said Sen. Bill Cassidy,R-Baton Rouge, reached out during their evacuation after learning of the tour’ssituation via Facebook posts. His staffthen wasintouch regularly
manfor theBenton Republican.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, said: “I encourageresidents who have questions or have family or friends there to contact my office right away so we can assist in liaising with theState Department.”
Rep. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, and Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Baton Rouge, said they too are helping constituents get home.
Secretary of StateMarco Rubio told reporters at theCapitol that the U.S.has an evacuation plan for citizens, butran into challenges from closed airspaces.He asked themarooned Americans to signupfor theSmart Traveler
600 likely Republican voters in thedistrict.
Enrollment Program,orSTEP, so theState Department could coordinate thelatest information directly withthe travelers.
About 3,000 have signed up so far.The StateDepartment also estimated that about 9,000 have returned.
Nobody knows how many Americansare stranded in the Middle East.The BBC estimates 500,000 to 1million Americans are in theaffected countries, including teachers, engineers, and oil industry workers in addition to tourists.
“I know that we have gotten alot of phone calls from people who have grave concerns, which
prompted my involvement to write the letter and to push on theSecretary of State to do somethingproactively to address these concerns,” said Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans.
Carter wrote Rubio, “Constituents have also informed my office that the State Department’semergency contact line simply repeats online security updates, offering little substantive guidance or theopportunity to speak with knowledgeable personnel who can assist them in real time.” He asked for explicit guidance and chartered evacuation flights. Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy,Spain and the United
“Anything Ineeded, they were available to help,” Sprague said. Cassidy said he has also been explaining to constituents how to get information through the State Department.
“Itisincredible in the midst of chaos and disaster,war,knowing that people stand by each other,” Sprague said. “It’sagreat feeling that people come together in that way, not just forme, but caring forhundreds and thousands of people that are still trying to maketheir way home.”
Email Mark Ballardat mballard@theadvocate.com.
No one has the advantage among Republican voterstobe the next representative for the 5th Congressional District, which includes East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes, as well as the Florida Parishes and the parishes in northeast Louisiana, according to arecentpoll. AFeb. 20-21 survey by pollster Greg Rigamer found that state Sen. Rick Edmonds of Baton Rouge, state Rep Michael Echols of Monroe and state Sen. Blake Miguez of Erath are all virtually tied in single digits.
When undecided voters were pushed to identify who they supported,Edmonds developed asmall lead.
Butmost voters remained unsurewho to choose.
Edmonds, Echols, Miguez and former Board of Regents chair Misti Cordell of Monroe are vying to replace U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow,who is giving up the seat to try to unseat U.S.Sen.Bill Cassidy
“The defining characteristic of the survey is the near-total lack of familiaritywith the candidates, leading to roughly three-quarters of theelectorate remaining undecided on the initial ballot,” Rigamer,who is based in New Orleans,wroteinan analysis of the results. He polled
pointed John Condos, aformer member of theUniversityof LouisianaSystem Board of Supervisors, to theLSU Boardof Supervisors.
REPORTS
Other Republican candidates are Sammy Wyatt, Austin Magee andMichael Mebruer
The Democrats are Jessee Fleenor,Larry Foy,Lindsay Garcia, Dan McKay and Tania Nyman.
Rigamer’spoll showed that President Donald Trumphad a79% favorable rating among Republicansinthe 5th Congressional District, while Gov.Jeff Landry hada66% favorable rating.
Letlow, less well known, had a 48%favorable rating in her district.
Rigamer conducted thesurvey formajor business lobbyist Alton Ashy, whohas dozens of federal andstate clients.
Condostoreplace
Armentor on LSU board
Gov.Jeff Landry this week ap-
“John is aproven leader with the experience and vision to help takeLSU to thenext level,” Landry wrote on X.
Condos replaces Glenn Armentor,who stepped down Tuesday.Landry said Armentor wanted to dedicatehimself full-time to his law practice.
Condos, an alumnus and former associate professor at McNeese StateUniversity,has adoctorate in business administration.
He has been acommissioner of theLouisiana Stadium and Exposition District, which oversees theSuperdome and Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, and is an entrepreneur in the medical-legal industry,according to his biography on the district website. According to Shane Guidry,atop adviser to the governor in New Orleans, Courtney Guastella, who is afundraiser for Landry,U.S. Rep.Julia Letlow and other Republicans,will be replacing Condos on thestadium district.
Condos joining theboard marks Landry’sninth appointment, including three reappointments, to theLSU governing body.The board includes 15 members at-
large and one student representative.
Longtime AFL-CIO lobbyist Reineretires
Louis Reine has been at the Capitol for 69 regular and special legislative sessions over thepast 29 years.
He won’tbeat theCapitol on Monday,when this year’sregular session convenes.
Reine, 70, retired in September as the president of the Louisiana AFL-CIO. He had been the group’spresident since 2006 andhad served in senior roles before that.
“It’s time fornew young folks with enthusiasm and energy to takeover,” Reine said.
MattWood has replaced Reine as the state president.
During his long career,Reine pushed for what he described as “economicsecurity forworkers through afair wage, the opportunityfor their children to get an education, available and affordable health care and the opportunity to retire with secure pensions.”
Reinefought yearly battles with the Louisiana Association of Businessand Industry,the most powerful business lobby in Baton
Rouge.
“The majority of my personal dealings with LABI have been with (lobbyist) Jim Patterson,” Reine said. “He has aconstituency that pushes forcertain things. Ihave aconstituency that pushes forother things. He wasalways truthful and aman of honor.”
While Reine appreciated his oldschool relationship with Patterson, he didn’tappreciate what he saw as the biggest change over 29 years, the increased partisanship.
“It’sbecome moreabout the party than the issues,” Reine said. “It’snot agood change. It focuses on what’sbest forthe party and not what’sbest forthe people.”
Reine also believes that term limits —12years in each chamber —rob the Legislature of institutional knowledge.
“As members begin to learn the issues —that takes time—they becomemore effective,” Reine said. “Then they are termed out, and someone has to start from the beginning.”
Reine worked with five governors.
He used to laugh when Bobby Jindal wasgovernor because Jindal always mispronounced his last name. (It sounds like the pronunciation forthe bird “wren.”) John Bel Edwards never had trouble with Reine’sname because Reine helped secure the union’sendorsement forEdwards early in the 2015 governor’srace.
Reine
Miguez
Echols
Edmonds
PHOTO PROVIDED By MICHAEL
continued
Linda GailCarré Mouton passed away peacefully on the afternoon of February 8, 2026, surrounded by her loving family. She was 85 years old. Born Linda Gail Carré in Beaumont, Texas, Linda spent her early years growing up in Lake Charles, Louisiana,aswell as Egan,before movingto Crowley,Louisiana,during her junior year of high school. She attended Catholic schools throughout her childhood and graduated from St. Michael's CatholicSchool in Crowley. She later went on to attend the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now UL Lafayette),where she met the love of herlife, Paul JulianMouton.They met during her freshman year at acrawfish boil,became engaged on Christmas Eve, and were married at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Crowley,Louisiana,in1960. Together, they raised their family in New Orleans, Dallas, and eventuallyLos Angeles, California Linda worked as a Montessori teacher and later spent many years at Saks Fifth Avenue in Dallas, Texas. She was a brilliant decorator with a true eye for beauty, loved fashion, and was devoted to her faith, attending church every Sunday. In her younger years, she was honored as aRice Festival princess in Crowley, Louisiana,a memory that reflected her grace and charm. She was preceded in death by her parents, Refie Carré and Ellis Carré, and her husband, Paul J. Mouton, adistinguished architect who passed away in 2006. Linda is survived by her children, Stephen Mouton, Timothy Mouton, and Michelle Mouton Shackelford; her grandchildren, Bradley Sage, Cooper Shackelford, Nicholas Mouton, Sabrina Mouton, Adrianna Fernandez, Jessica Fernandez,and Roberta Fernandez;and her great-grandchildren, Jax and Maddox.
She is also survived by her sisters,Suzanne Cox and Pam Greenman, both of Lafayette, Louisiana, and her brother, Michael Carré of Longview, Texas.
Services will be held on Saturday, March 14, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at the CathedralofSaintJohn the Evangelist in Lafayette, Louisiana. She willbelaid to restbeside her beloved husband, Paul J. Mouton, at Calvary Cemetery.
ARosary will be recited at St.John the Cathedral at 9:40 A.M led by her son, Stephen Mouton. All flower arrangements are to be sent to Martin & Castille Funeral Home at 330 St. Landry Street in Lafayette, LA. View the obituary and guestbook online at www.mourning.com. Martin &Castille Funeral HomeDOWNTOWN, 330 St. Landry Street, Lafayette, Louisiana 70506,337-2342311
Schloegel, Gay Rhea Garner
Gay Rhea Garner Schloegel, born the daughter of Glenn Roswell Garner and Rhea Dinghaus Garner on April 20, 1944, in New Orleans, LA, Sunday, March 1, 2026. She was a graduate of Benjamin Franklin High School,H Sophie Newcomb Memorial College where she received aB.A. in English, and later at Loyola University aM.Ed in Reading and aME+ 30 in Guidance and Counseling. Gay taught at Fortier High School and John McDonogh High School and was the Director of Guidance and College Advisor at Archbishop Chapelle High School. She was aLicensed Professional Counselor and aNational Certified Counselor. Additionally, Gay served as the Grand
Worthy Advisor of the StateofLouisiana in the Order of Rainbowfor Girls, 1964, and wasMiss Rainbow of Louisiana. She was maidinthe Spring Fiesta of New Orleans and theEros Carnival Organization.Gay was married to PaulAlbert Schloegel for 56 yearsand they loved to travel throughout the world and plannedmany trips for groups of friends, visiting 95 countries. Sheenjoyed reading, dancing, bridge and needle arts, especially knitting. Also, she always lovedanimals and had many share her life. Per Gay's wishes, no services willbeheld. If youwould like to make adonationin her memory,she would ask that you give to the animalorganization of your choice
Schneider,Shirley Raftery
ShirleyRaftery Schnei‐der,age 96, passed away peacefullyonMarch 1, 2026, in NewOrleans,sur‐rounded by herlovingfam‐ily.BornonSeptember 27, 1929, in NewOrleans Shirley wasthe beloved daughterofCharles R. RafterySr. andEthel LeBlanc Raftery. Shewas precededindeath by her parents andher brother, Charles R.Raftery Jr Shirley wasa proudgradu‐ate of Immaculate Concep‐tionHighSchool andat‐tendedSoulé Business Col‐lege. She went on to coown RafteryHardwarein the Lakeview neighbor‐hood with herlatehus‐band, Paul,dedicating manyyears to servingher community before retiring Throughouther life,Shirley was deeply engagedinthe communities sheloved most. Shewas an avid dancerand adevoted memberofthe LesMari‐onettesCarnivalOrganiza‐tion, where shewas in‐volvedfor decadesand servedasPresident,a role she held with prideand en‐thusiasm. Sheproudly served as Commissionerin-Charge at hervoting precinctintoher late 80s and wasalsoa faithful memberofSt. Dominic Parish, where sheactively participated in theRosar‐ian Groupand theSt. Do‐minic AltarSociety,re‐maining engagedinher faith throughout herlife. Shirley lovedlifeand em‐braceditfully.Above all, she cherishedher family— especially herthree grand‐children andher greatgrandchildren.She was alsojoyfullyanticipating the arrivalofanother great-grandchild, expected soon by Dalton andKatie She is survived by herson PaulJ.Schneider Jr.(Judy); her daughter,Paulette S. D’Aunoy(Donald Sr.);her grandchildren,DonaldG D’AunoyJr. (Jessica), Eliza‐bethD.Rodrigue(Ricky), and Dalton Beau D’Aunoy (Katie);and hergreatgrandchildren,Wesleyand Arden Rodrigue.Relatives and friendsare invitedto attend thevisitationat 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 11,2026, at Green‐wood FuneralHome, 5200 Canal Blvd.New Orleans, LA, followed by aMassat 1:00p.m.Burialwillbeat Greenwood Cemetery Shirley will be remembered for herwarmth, vibrant spirit, leadership,and deep devotiontoher family, faith,and community.Her legacyoflove, service, and joyfulcelebration of life willliveoninall who knew her
Shofstahl, Maxwell Edward Robert 'Bob'
legalcommunities,and a longtimeresidentofthe Greater NewOrleans area, passedawaypeacefully on March 1, 2026, surrounded byhis loving family. He was 84 yearsold.Bornin New Orleansin1942 Robert— affectionately known as Bob, andas Bobby in hisformative and adolescentyears —built a distinguished career span‐ningseveral decadesin banking,mergers andac‐quisitions, andbusiness administration. Afterat‐tending Tulane University ona NewOrleans mayoral academicscholarship,Bob obtained aBachelorofArts degreein1964, graduated cum laudeand wasin‐ductedintothe PhiBeta Kappa honorsociety.He started hiscareer at South Central Bell Telephone Company in 1964, where he heldvarious managerial roles.HethenjoinedPeli‐can Homesteadand Sav‐ingsAssociationinNew Orleans,where he served withhonor anddistinction asa Vice President(19711973),Executive Vice Presi‐dent, ChiefOperating Offi‐cer,and Director (19731978),and ultimately as President,Chief Executive Officerand Chairman of the ExecutiveCommittee ofthe Board(1978-1992) Duringhis tenureasPresi‐dent, ChiefExecutive Offi‐cer,and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Pelican,hedirectedthe growthofthe savingsinsti‐tutionfroma handfulofof‐ficesand $100 millioninas‐setstoover43officesand $2billion in assets.Healso led 13 merger andacquisi‐tiontransitions,and estab‐lishedPelican as the largest savingsand loan organizationinthe Stateof Louisiana.Through his hardwork, integrityand leadership, he helped shape financialstability and community growth in the region,earning the trust andadmirationofhis colleagues, employees, and customers. AfterPeli‐can,Bob served as Presi‐dent, ChiefOperating Offi‐cer,and aDirectorof AmWestSavings Associa‐tioninBryan,Texas.From 1996 until hisretirementin 2010, Bobservedasthe Chief Administrative Offi‐cer at Adams& Reese, where he contributedhis leadershipand operational acumen, andwas instru‐mentalinworking with FirmManagementtocon‐siderably expand thelaw firm’s footprintinand be‐yondthe Gulf Southregion. Hewas also adedicated memberofthe Boardof EurekaHomestead in New Orleans over thelast30 years andservedasChair‐man of theBoard during mostofhis tenure. Bob servedonvarious Boards inLouisiana andTexas dur‐ing hiscareer,including the FederalReserve Bank ofAtlanta (N.O.branch) the National Associationof BusinessEconomists(Na‐tionalPolicyPanelist),the UnitedStatesLeagueof Savings Institutions (Chair‐man -Insurance andPro‐tective Committee),the Federal Home Loan Bank (FirstManagementCon‐signmentProgram Man‐agerfor theNinth District), the LouisianaLeagueof Savings Institutions,the Greater NewOrleans LeagueofSavings and Loan/HomesteadAssocia‐tions (President), theGov‐ernor’s Thrift Industry Ad‐visoryCouncil,the Texas Savings andCommunity Bankers Association, and St. Martin’s Episcopal School (Board of Trustees and BoardofVisitors).He was also along-time mem‐ber of Metairie Country Cluband belonged to sev‐eralNew Orleanscarnival organizations.Beyondhis professionalaccomplish‐ments,Bob wasdeeply de‐voted to hisfamily. He shareda lifelong partner‐shipwithhis belovedwife of61years,LoisBerrigan Shofstahl,who stood by his side throughevery chapter of life.Hewas a proud andlovingfather, a mentor, anda guidinglight for hischildren, Tyson Shofstahl,ElisiaTipton (Jason),and Christian Shofstahl (Vikki), as well asa cherishedgrandfather toBaileyVictoria, Olivia Rose, ErichJoseph, andAn‐drewRobertShofstahl.He was preceded in deathby his parents, Maxwell FredrickShofstahl and Ellen FalkensteinShofstahl Bob livedwithintegrity,re‐silience, aquiet strength and adeep faith that in‐spiredthose around him. Hedeveloped theseattrib‐utesatanearly ageasan acolyte to thealtar at ChristChurch Cathedralin New Orleans. He also learned teamwork and leadershipasthe captain and catcherfor John Mc‐Donogh High School’s baseballteam, andasa catcher on Tulane Univer‐sity’sbaseballteam. Bob led by examplethroughout his life andtreated every‐one with fairness, kind‐ness, respect, anddignity Asa manager, he believed infellowship, andwas deeply invested in helping othersgrowand reach their potential. Atruetes‐tament to hisleadershipis
thecountless numberof formeremployees,coworkers,and colleagues who have expressedtohis familyoverthe yearsthat hewas thebestperson withwhomtheyhaveever worked. Aprivate service willbeheld. In honorof Bob’s legacy,contributions can be made in hismem‐ory to St.Martin’sEpisco‐pal School.The familyex‐tends theirheartfelt thankstothe caregivers at GreenbriarCommunity CareCenterand Notre DameHospice,who pro‐vided comfortand support duringhis finaldays, as wellashis priorattendants fromRight at Home.Bob’s presencewillbedeeply missed, buthis influence and thelovehesharedwill endureinthe hearts of all who knew him. Rest in peace,Bob.You areforever rememberedwithloveand gratitude.Memoriesand condolences maybeex‐pressedatwww.Audubon FuneralHome.com.
day wasto becherished andcelebrated. of asecond line on Tuesdaymorningaround 8:00 am, it was the biggest Mardi Gras parade to ever cross over therainbow. Thecorner of St Charles andNapoleon will have a little extra magic next year at carnival time.Swing by andgrab aSuperiorGrill Pomegranate Mojito, but don't botherifyou don't have ayellowsignthat says, "ThrowMe Something" We will celebrateher life at the home of her daughter, Allison Pierson, on April 11th, 2026, with a happy hour (obviously) from 4-7 pm. For heraddress, please emailalliegra ntpierson@gmail.com. All are welcome Peace out, sweet CC. Youare alegend Acelebration of life will be held from4:00 PM to 7:00 PM on 2026-04-11 at PiersonFamilyHome,3205 Octavia Street.
Stolberg, Charlotte Moore 'CC'
When Charlotte "CC" Moore Stolberg arrivedat ThePearly Gates of Heaven,she screamed,"Ta -Dah!" and"Yoo-Hoo!"
Dorothy"Dottie"
Christine Stansbury, 80, died on Feb.7,2026 in New Orleans, LA,after along battle with heart disease
Dottie was born on March 26, 1945 in Macon, GA, to William C. and Margaret Churchwell.She was one of 10 children. She grew up in Macon and was raised in theBaptist Church. She married Ronald "Ronnie" Edward Stansbury, thelove of her life,onMarch 28, 1963. They were marriedfor 62 years. During theearlyyears of their marriage, they lived in London,England,where Ronnie was stationed by theU.S.Air Force. It was during that time theyoung couple fell in love with all thingsBritish, and they developedinterests that lasted throughout their marriage. She lovedgardening, watching news on theBBC, watching Britishmystery shows and readingthose books. She lovedher tea and scones. During her career she was very successfulininternational sales. She and Ronnietraveled throughout theworld,and Dottie enjoyed telling stories aboutthose rich experiences.During her sales career thecouple lived brieflyinJacksonville, FL, and Frisco, TX. Most of their years were spent in their home in Metairie, LA
Dottie was avery caring woman, and she taught thosevalues to her children.Her honestywas admired. It was once said that if she found alarge sum of moneyonthe street she would probably go doortodoor throughout theneighborhood looking for theowner.
She is survivedbyher husband and theirthree childrenand theirspouses and significant others: VickiDunn (Brad), Susan Barnes (Jim) and Danny Stansbury (Crystal).
Dottie is survived by eight grandchildren: KaitlynDunn (Dakota), Kelsey Ballenger(John), RJ Dunn (Heather), Cheyanne Delo (Matt), StormWallen (RJ), TylerDunn (Krystyn), Grace Sutherland (Sam) and Ocean Stansbury.
She hadfivegreat grandchildren: Bryan, Lilly, Isabelle,Leo and Arden.
She is survivedbytwo brothers: JimChurchwell (Barbara), and Charles Churchwell. Brothers and sisters WC, Donnie Wayne, Peggy, Kenny, Buddy, Ricky and Rusty, died earlier.
Dottie and Ronniecherishedmany friends, among them Ronnieand Cathy Lusco,Anna Galassi, and Madaline and Andy Anderson.
And they cherished their many cats. The cats brought themgreat joy.
Services willbeheldlater this spring when Dottie's asheswillbe spread in the Caribbean Seaoff theislandofSt. Thomasinthe U.S. Virgin Islands,her favoriteplace to visit. Her favoritesongwas "Whata Difference aDay Makes" by Dinah Washington. That titlesays everything aboutDottie's attitudetoward life.Every
Shediedfromcomplicationsofa massivestroke, whichshe sufferedon January4,2026. Charlotte lived afulland beautiful life, andshe offered more to everyoneonthisearth than couldever be reciprocated.She wasa teacher for over 50 years, and she wasespecially proud of herteaching career at The Isidore NewmanSchool in NewOrleans.Room7,The Teddy Bear Class, was a place full of magic where countless childrenlearned to read, love themselves, andbenefitfromthe unconditional love of Charlotte. Herfamily hopessome of you rememberreading100 books and ridinginher van to McDonald's to getReal Coke! She went on to have averyrobust and successful secondcareer in publishingwellinto her70s, travelingtoeverycornerof this country, making amazinglifelongfriends, and teachingthousands of educatorshow to teach children that learningisfun andalifelongjourney
Sheleaves behindher family, to whom she was thecenter of theuniverse Heronly child, Allison Grant Pierson, andson-inlaw,BradleyM.Pierson, held herhands as she went on to Heaven on Wednesday, February 25th, 2026, twodays after her 80th birthday. Shewould tell you that the "jewelsin hercrown" were hertwo granddaughters, Avery CarolinePierson,22, of Nashville, TN, and Margeaux Olivia Pierson, 18, currentlyattending UNCChapelHill. She taughtusthat love is sitting in thefront rowofeverytheater performance by arriving 3hours early, screaming, "Hey, that'sa little handsy"atthe opposingsoccerteam, andactinglikeher 10th time seeingthe Nutcrackerwas her first. Sheloved us with such fierceness. Shealso leaves behind herpreciousElizabeth Finley Boyer, herniece of Chico, CA, whowas her confidante, friend, andjust as much herdaughteras Allison.She lovedevery second of the hour-long chats they wouldhave and treasured theyears they lived near eachother in California. She lovedBrian, Kennedy, andCameron unconditionally and with incredibledevotion.Her treasured friends andfamilyare quiteliterallycountless -she lovedyou all unless she didn't, and then she gossipedendlessly aboutyou Whilewemourn,she celebrates with hersignature sass, bedazzled in jewelry, anew outfitfrom Chicos, herlipstick on,and acocktail or aglass of red wine in hand. Sheisgreeted in heaven by thebest of thebest.Her parents,Bill andModeanMoore, her belovedsiblings, Beverly, Michael, and herLinda Gail,and of course,her ride or diefor life, Mary Kinkaid, and soulmate, James"Jim" Walter Stolberg. Man, didshe miss you all so much. We envy you now. If you heard thesound
William Frederick Truax III,affectionately known as Billy Truax andPoppiTru, passedpeacefullyintothe loving arms of hisCreator on January 7, 2026 surroundedbyhis loving family. He wasa loving father brotherand friend who wasinductedintothe Holy CrossHigh Sports Hall of Fame, the LSUAthletics Hall of Fame and the AllstateSugarBowl'sNew OrleansSportsHall of Fame. Billy played 10 years in theNFL for the Los AngelesRams andthe Dallas Cowboys, winning the1972 SuperBowlVI Championship in New Orleansinfront of hisfamilyand friends. Amemorial service will take place at St.Thomas theApostle Catholic Church,March14, 2026 at 11:00am on hisbeloved Mississippi Gulf Coast. Address is 720 Beach Blvd East, LongBeach Mississippi, 39560 Memorial contributions may be made to theTiger FundatHoly CrossSchool in memory of Billy Truax '60, 5500 Paris Avenue,New Orleans, Louisiana70122. Seefullobituaryat https://www.riemannfamil y.com/obituaries/williamtruax-iii or https://neptunesocie ty.com/obituaries/northrichland-hills-tx/williamtruax-12696837
Truch, Melvin Melvin Truch, age93, passedawaypeacefullyat homeonMarch 3, 2026 Bornand raised in NewOr‐leans,Louisiana,Melvin spent hisliferootedinthe cityheloved,surrounded byfamily, friends, anda community that meantso muchtohim.Melvinwas the belovedhusband of RoseMarie DeSalvoTruch, withwhomheshareda lifetimeofloveand devo‐tion. Together,theyraised two children,PaulTruch (Patricia)and Melrose Truch Dugas(Ray).Melvin was aproud andloving grandfather to Britney, Chad(Olivia), Danielle,and Blake,and wasoverjoyed tobecomea great-grand‐fathertoCamila Rose.He isalsosurvivedbyhis sis‐ter,Janie TruchWright (Clifford -deceased),as wellasmanycousins niecesand nephews, ex‐tendedfamilymembers, and dear friendswho will cherish hismemory. We take comfortinknowing he
Mouton, LindaGail Carré
Truax III, William Frederick
Stansbury, Dorothy Christine
is reunitedinHeavenwith his parents, Joseph and EnizRoche Truch, his brother,Joseph“Joe” Truch,and thegreatgrandchildren who went beforehim,Lyric andCyril Melvinbuilt alongand re‐spected career in telecom‐munications. He wasan activememberofSt. Catherine’s of Sienamen’s clubaswellasSt. Angela Merici’smen’s club.One of the rolesheheldmost proudly washis serviceto his country. Adevoted Ko‐reanWar veteran, he re‐mainedactivefor many years in theKoreanveter‐ans’association of Greater New Orleansand looked forward to participatingin their yearly gatherings and celebrations. Hispatrio‐tismand prideinserving his countryremainedwith him throughout hislife. To those who knew him, Melvinwas simply “good asgold.”Hehad anatural giftfor conversation and never meta stranger Friends andfamilyaffec‐tionately referred to himas the “Mouth of theSouth” because he lovedtotalk, laugh,and sharestories withanyonewho wouldlis‐ten.His kindness, patience and genuineinterestin peoplemadeothersfeel in‐stantly comfortableinhis presence. Melvin also had a speciallovefor hisdogs, who were always acher‐ished part of hislife. Whetherspendingtime withfamily, visiting with friends,orsimplysharing a story anda smile,helived witha generous spirit and a warm heart. He was known as atruly kind and patient soul whotreated everyonehemet with re‐spect,compassion, and friendliness. Aboveall, Melvinwillberemembered for thelovehegavetohis familyand thecountless conversations,laughs, and moments he shared with those around him. His presence, wisdom,and gentlenaturewillbe deeply missed butforever remembered. Funeral ser‐vices will be held on Mon‐day,March 9, 2026, at Greenwood FuneralHome, 5200 CanalBlvd.,New Or‐leans,LA70124. Relatives and friendsare invitedto visit from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.A funeralMass will followat1:00p.m with militaryhonorsincluding tapsand presentation of the flag.Burialwilltake place at thegravesite at 1:45p.m.The familyinvites all whoknewand loved Melvintojointheminhon‐oring andcelebrating alife welllived.Pleasewear green to honorhis Irish heritage. Memories and condolences canbeshared onlineatgreen‐woodfh.com
Weilbaecher, Robert Gagnet
Robert Gagnet
Weilbaecher, M.D., physician, teacher, eternal optimist, lifelong learner, and passionate lover of life, passedawaypeacefullyon February 26, 2026, at the age of 87. He was pre-deceased by his beloved wife of 55 years, Sharon Nelson Weilbaecher. He was adevotedfather to Katherine NelsonWeilbaecher (and Scott Frey), Susan Weilbaecher Raymond (and Jim), Robert Gagnet Weilbaecher Jr., and Ann Nelson Weilbaecher, and proud grandfather to Austin, Julia, Robbie, Ellie,
Erik, Finn,and William. Bob was blessed to find love again in his 80'sand marry Georgie Siebrandt DeBlanc, perpetually holding her handinhis final years, even at his death. He wasequallyblessed to have bonus children through their marriage: Harold DeBlanc III., Georganne (and John) Campbell,and Danny DeBlanc and bonus grandchildren: Ryan, Maci, Matthew, Danielle,and Johnny. Bob was born on September 14, 1938,inNew Orleans to JosephOswald Weilbaecher, M.D.,and Marcelle Gagnet Weilbaecher. He attended Jesuit High School, earned aB.A.fromLoyola University New Orleans and received hisM.D.from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in 1963. He completed his internshipand residency in InternalMedicine at Johns Hopkins UniversitySchool of Medicine,where he met his future wife Sharon Nelson of FortSmith, Arkansas,who was then pursuing amaster'sdegree in medical illustration.The two weredelighted to discover they shared the same birthday, acoincidence they always regarded as fate. Sharonbecame an accomplished medical illustrator and fine artist and inspiredBob's lifelong passion for the visualarts,which they both imparted to theirkidsand grandkids.
Bob served in the U.S. Public Health Serviceand worked in the laboratory of Dr. Victor McKusick at Johns Hopkins studying the hereditary basis of disease,including research among Amishcommunities. After returning to New Orleans in 1967,hejoined the faculty of Tulane Medical School and later becamea Professor of Medicine and medical oncology at LSUSchool of Medicine,wherehetrained generations of medical students and residents. He particularly loved working with patients atCharity Hospitaland HotelDieu.
Bob foundedthe first hospice program in Louisiana and directedthe NewOrleans Tumor Registry. He maintaineda large oncology practice in Metairie and downtown NewOrleansand was deeply devoted to his patients. He made house calls, as his fatherand grandfather had done.He came from afamily of doctors: his grandfather,J.O Sr,his father J.O.Jr, his 2 brothersThomas (Tom) and Donald, his uncle Maurice, his cousinDavid and his children,Kathy and Bob Jr He frequently said medicine was the best professioninthe world and felt it was aprivilege to care for others.
Abrilliant diagnostician and lifelong student of medicine, Bob read constantlyaboutnew therapiesand the mechanisms of disease. Always ahead of his time, he took asabbaticalatMDAnderson CancerCentertostudy the emerging fieldofimmunotherapyand bring those ideas back to hispatients and students in New Orleans Bob livedwith extraordinary energyand curiosity. He traveledtosix continents with family and friends and was apatron of the visualarts,theatre and music, especially opera, jazz, the symphony and the New Orleans International Piano competition. He walked5 to 10 mileseach day,played tennis, skied annuallyfor 50 years, kayaked in the Louisiana swampswith CaseyWillems and friends
and family (through his 70s), walked across England,climbedMount Hood,and in retirement climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.
Atrue polymath, Bob's knowledge spanned across science, philosophy, literature,music, and art.He was an avid reader and member of his book club for 40 years. He attended weeklylunches with both his Jesuitclassmates, and theROMEO group (Retired OldMen Eating Out) and hosted monthlyfamily discussions on subjectsranging fromGilgamesh and MichelangelotoJapanese art, opera, and modern scientific breakthroughs. He also treasured his weekly philosophydiscussions and chess gameswith his brother, TomWeilbaecher. He delightedinencouraging others, particularlyhis childrenand grandchildren,todiscover their talentsand follow their passions.
Bob lovedNew Orleans deeply andpossessed an encyclopedic knowledge of its history and culture.He cherished its music, from PreservationHalljazzto Pete Fountain, Wynton Marsalis, Aaron Neville, and Trombone Shorty. He shared his love of thecity throughlegendary tours that ranged fromLake Pontchartrain to the French Quarter, including a stop at one of his favorite restaurants.
Harold and Georgie DeBlanc were lifelong close friends withBob and SharonWeilbaecher. HaroldDeBlanc was Bob's closestfriend from medical school. AfterSharon and Harold'spassings, Georgie and Bobreconnected,and their 60-year friendship blossomedinto love and marriage. The Weilbaecher and DeBlanc families grew closer togetheraswell. Georgie has close ties to NewOrleans and graduated from Dominican HighSchool and LoyolaUniversity. Boband Georgie liveda fulllife and packed alot intoBob's last years, cherishing their extensive travels, music concerts, plays, museums,social activities, lectures and learning every day.
Bob livedbythe words of Marcus Aurelius: "When you arise in themorning, think of what aprecious privilege it is to be aliveto breathe, to think,toenjoy, to love." From morning until night he embraced life fully and withoutregret,often saying that every daywas thebestday of his life
Aboveall things, Bob always putfamily first. He willberemembered forhis indomitablespirit, his intellectual curiosity, deep love of family and friends, infectious optimism and joie de vivre.
Plans fora Mass at Holy Name of Jesus church in NewOrleans with ajazzfuneral and acelebration of life will be announced at a laterdateinthe newspaper. In lieu of flowers,please donatetoAmici- theNew Orleans Friends of the Metropolitan Opera NationalCouncil,orThe NewOrleans Museumof Art(NOMA), or Loyola University of NewOrleans.
WelshJr., Clifford J.
Clifford John Welsh Jr., 78, left this world peacefully at hishome on February 28, 2026, surrounded by his loving family BornonSeptember 10, 1947, in NewOrleans, Louisiana, Clifford was the son of Clifford Welsh Sr. and Mary BelsomWelsh. He grewupinNew Orleans and graduated fromEast JeffersonHighSchool in 1966. Shortly after, he was drafted intothe United States Army, where he proudly served forthree years. His timeinGermany remained one of themost memorable and meaningful chapters of his service. Following his military duty, Cliffordused theGI BilltoattendNortheast Louisiana Universityin Monroe, Louisiana, where
he earned aBachelor's degree in Accounting. Clifford went on to build along andsuccessful career in theOil &Gas industry, working as apurchasingagentfor companies including Freeport McMoRan, Transocean, andLLOG. Hisworktook himacross theworld to places such as Indonesia, Australia, Nigeria, and SouthAfrica. He truly loved what he didand took great pride in therelationships he built andthe experienceshegained throughouthis career Adevoted husband to Susan Bartlett Welshfor over 44 years, Clifford was thesteady foundation of hisfamily—strong, loyal, andendlesslysupportive He wasa loving father to CaseyWelsh (Ashleigh) and CourtneyWelsh Jorge (Nick), and aproud grandfather to Brodie, Connor, Reilley, Maddox, Henri, and Rosemary, eachofwhom broughthim immense joy. Clifford is survivedby hissister Judy Graves (Frank); his brothers Robert Welshand Kevin Welsh(Tami); andhis many niecesand nephews—Erin, Shannon Colleen, Whitney, Marcie, Tyler, Matthew,Nicholas,
Bryan, Eric, and Timothy—all of whom he caredfor deeply. Clifford willberememberedfor his quiet strength,his unwavering work ethic,his deep love forhis family, andthe kindness he extendedto everyonehemet Rest in peace. Your memory willliveoninour hearts forever. Relativesand friends are invited to Clifford's servicesonThursday, March12, 2026 at Lake LawnMetairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd.inNew Orleans, LA 70124. Visitation begins at 9:00 AM untilhis CelebrationofLife at 11:00 AM.Interment to follow at Lake LawnPark Mausoleum next door. To view andsignthe online guestbook, visit www.lakelawnmetairie.co m. FRI
GUSTE RESIDENTS
WON’T BE DISPLACED
HANO officials to submit plan to rent vacant units
BY SOPHIE KASAKOVE
Staff writer
More than 300 elderly residents of Guste Homes High Rise in Central City will be able to remain in their homes after federal officials reversed course on a controversial plan to shutter the public housing complex.
A scramble to save the 12-story complex kicked off in December when Department of Housing and Urban Development officials told New Orleans’ public housing authority that Guste failed to meet a federal requirement that at least 88% of the apartments be filled About 77% of Guste’s apartments are occupied
HANO officials said in a Friday statement that after talks with local and federal housing officials, HUD had agreed to allow the agency to submit a plan to rehabilitate and rent out 80 vacant units at the building. Last month, the federal agency said it would close the building and give its residents housing vouchers to live elsewhere.
“HANO’s priority has always been protecting the residents of Guste High Rise and ensuring they can remain safely in their homes,” said Marjorianna Willman, executive director of HANO “We appreciate HUD’s collaboration in identifying a solution that avoids displacement while allowing us to move forward with plans to stabilize and improve the building.”
While the property struggles with vacancies and high operating costs, replacing the units with tenant-
Bill would limit St. Tammany’s control over DA’s budget
Conversations are underway about how to tweak the bill, which caught some parish officials by surprise
BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer
In response to this year’s cuts to northshore District Attorney Collin Sims’ budget, St. Tammany Parish legislators have filed a handful of bills in the 2026 legislative session to try to ease the agency’s anticipated financial crunch. But not all of them are receiving support from the St. Tammany Parish Council and Parish President Mike Cooper While bills sponsored by Rep. Peter Egan, RCovington, which could lead to more state funding for the district attorney’s office, are likely to get backing from council members, a bill that Rep. Kim Carver, R-Mandeville, pre-filed at the end of February caught them by surprise. Historically, the Parish Council and parish president have had the final say on St. Tammany’s funding for the 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office. But Carver’s bill, as it currently stands, would shift significant control to the district attorney The bill would make it impossible for the parish to reduce the district attorney’s funding without the DA’s approval, or unless there are uniform cuts across all parish departments, as in the case of some sort of natural disaster that destroys the parish’s tax base.
ä See BILL, page 2B
based vouchers is the wrong approach given the city’s affordable housing shortage, Willman has said.
Willman also thanked Mayor Helena Moreno, the City Council, and Moreno’s Chief of Staff Kevin Ferguson for their work in “making this outcome possible.”
A spokesperson for Moreno did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The agency on Monday will launch a 30-day public comment period for residents and others to weigh in on its plan to revamp and rent out 80 units. Once all comments are in, HANO will send the plan to HUD for approval.
Cynthia Wiggins, president of the Guste Homes Resident Management Corporation, which works with HANO to manage the complex as the
city’s only resident-led public housing management company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
News of the possible closure had set off a panic at the property in recent weeks, with low-income residents worried about the lack of other affordable housing options in the city ”We don’t ever want them to close the building down these people can’t be on the street,” said resident John Ambrose, 69, on Tuesday as the threat of closure still hung over the property “It’s not the greatest place, but it’s the best place for anybody that ain’t got no money.”
HANO works with Wiggins’ group to manage the property in an
Budget cuts shutter alternative to jail, hospital
BY SOPHIE KASAKOVE Staff writer
not respond to a request for comment, but has said that the city needs to trim costs to avoid a projected $222 million budget deficit this year inherited from Mayor LaToya
See SOBERING, page 2B
New Orleans veteran who served in WWII dies at 98
After war, Marion Hess was a ‘happy-go-lucky kind of guy’
BY BOB WARREN Staff writer
kind of guy,” Melissa Hess Daou, his youngest child, said recently “He always wanted to talk about the good things in life. He was a survivor.” Hess, of New Orleans, died Jan. 27 at the age of 98. He was a former U.S. Army soldier whose time in Europe included taking part in the Battle of the Bulge, and while he was immensely proud of his service, there were other parts of his long life that fulfilled
even more.
children say their father’s
marriage was
of
Sr and Jean Catherine Meliet Hess were married in September 1947, in a candlelight ceremony due to power still being out from a hurri-
cane that had passed over the region the day before. Earlier this year, Gov. Jeff Landry recognized the couple’s 78-plus-year union as the second-longest in Louisiana. Hess is survived by his wife, who is now 96, and the couple’s three children, Deanna Hess Harvey Marion Hess Jr and Melissa Hess Daou. After the war, Hess had a long career at Avondale Shipyard and enjoyed spending time with his family and friends. Marion Hess Jr recalls that the family camp in the Rigolets, built in 1971, was a central part of their lives. “He called it ‘The Summer House,’”
STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
Federal officials have decided to keep the Guste High Rise in New Orleans open while housing leaders work to fill its vacant units.
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
John Ambrose, 69, a resident of the Guste High Rise in New Orleans, stands outside of the Central City complex on Wednesday More than 300 elderly residents of Guste in Central City will be able to remain in their homes after federal officials reversed course on a controversial plan to shutter the public housing complex.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By SCOTT
Continued from page 1B
arrangement meant to give residents a say in its operations. Their relationship has grown tense recently, as Wiggins has accused HANO of not working quickly to repair problems at the Guste site over the years. Willman has cited the need for more funding to address deferred main-
tenance, which she said has been a deterrent for would-be tenants. She recently pitched HUD on a plan to use federal dollars and bond funds to repair the building while not displacing its tenants.
Tensions between the two were also on display at a February HANO board meeting, as officials revealed another separate crisis that remains unresolved — a $1.5 million unpaid water bill that has left
doesn’t mean it won’t,” he said. “But as of now, that is a possibility.”
residents of the high rise and nearby townhome developments facing possible shut-offs. Sewerage & Water Board officials notified HANO in January that the utility would “no longer delay water shut offs within the Guste Community due to nonpayment.” But at a board meeting last week, Susannah Kirby, the S&WB chief of customer service, gave the HANO board a month to come up with a payment plan
SOBERING
Continued from page 1B
“We wanted to put something in the statute that would say ‘this is going to be the floor,’” Carver said in a recent interview
The criminal division of Sims’ office went from receiving $6.28 million in 2025 from the parish’s general fund to $4.38 million in 2026 a 30% cut.
Under Carver’s bill, while parish officials have said Sims could face greater than 50% cuts in 2027 compared to 2025, those larger cuts would be unlikely since they would require permission from Sims.
Cooper and the Parish Council don’t want to cut the district attorney’s funding any further, but after six different attempts to get voters to approve criminal justice tax propositions failed in the last decade, the parish’s general fund can no longer adequately cover its statemandated criminal justice expenses.
Cooper and some council members are working with Sims and a host of other parish officials to try to find new revenue for Sims’ office. St. Tammany Parish Council member Joe Impastato said in an interview that he thinks Carver’s bill is a distraction from the ongoing talks about finding ways to fund Sims’ office without once again asking voters for a tax.
Cooper, meanwhile, said he was not consulted on the bill in advance. “At a time when we are collaborating and working to fix the funding shortfall, this particular action would hurt more than help,” he said in a statement Conversations are now underway between council members, Carver and Sims to tweak the bill. Council Chair Cheryl Tanner said she has shared concerns with Carver and Sims
“This council should not lose control of their budgeting authority,” Tanner said.
Carver has committed to not move forward with the bill without further discussion and the Northshore Business Council whose members include a number of business leaders, will likely host a gathering for the parties involved in the coming weeks for discussion purposes Carver said he has told some council members he regretted not including them more ahead of time.
“I’m not trying to put anybody in an unwinnable situation, including my friends on the council. I welcome their input on it,” Carver said Sims said he hoped the parish could find a tax-neutral way to fully fund his office in 2027, but noted it was possible the parish would not.
“I don’t have assurances that this plan has the ability to be executed before a budget is submitted. That
“I’d be negligent to not protect this organization from that possibility,” Sims said.
Litigation
Another part of Carver’s bill could help Sims avoid an adverse ruling in the ongoing lawsuit between his office and the parish over how much the parish is required to fund his office.
Though the litigation with Sims is on pause, St. Tammany Parish Government a few years ago sued Sims’ office and the 22nd JDC judges, asking the court to determine the minimum amount the parish is legally required to fund them. The judges also rely on the parish’s tapped-out general fund.
Ad hoc Judge John E Conery ruled in May 2024 that St. Tammany government was not required to fund various expenses of the judges, including the salaries of positions like law clerks and judges’ administrative assistants, because they were not listed in the state statute. The case is currently on appeal with the state 1st Circuit Court of Appeal.
Sims said Conery’s ruling makes him concerned that he might rule similarly in the case involving his office. Should litigation start up again, the judge could find the parish does not need to pay for various staff and other expenses in Sims’ office.
“That ruling, if implemented, would shut down the judiciary,” Sims said.
Carver’s bill lists various expenses that the parish would be required to fund for the DA, including office supplies, travel and various positions like investigators, secretaries and clerks.
Sims said he pointed Carver to statutes governing the budgets of district attorneys in other judicial districts, such as the judicial district for Jefferson Parish, which listed various positions and other required expenses.
In the meantime, there are two bills from Egan that could change the number or value of each judicial district’s “warrants,” that is, the money each district attorney receives from the state to pay for prosecutors’ salaries.
The Parish Council passed a resolution in November calling on the state to increase the number of warrants for the 22nd JDC, which the resolution said has stayed at 30 since 2008, even as St Tammany’s population has grown since then.
Egan said in an interview Wednesday there was still being work done on his bills to calculate the right number of warrants. Staff writer Bob Warren contributed to this article.
Email Willie Swett at willie.swett@theadvocate. com.
Continued from page 1B
Cantrell’s administration.
The 25-bed facility was visited thousands of times by nonviolent intoxicated people in need of a place to sober up since it opened in 2019. Visitors to the center typically wound up there after being picked up by police, emergency responders, or a “sober patrol” operated by the center, once those responders determined that higherlevel medical care at a hospital wasn’t needed.
The facility was also open to walk-ins. About 90% of the people it served were homeless, said Robert Chandler, an Odyssey House Louisiana program director
The closure of the facility comes as the city has also reduced other homeless services. The city’s Office of Homeless Services saw major cuts this year one of several city departments to see staff slashed under Moreno’s fiscal plan. It is getting just $700,000 this year from the city’s general fund, down from $3.6 million in 2025. Funding the city used to ramp up placements into permanent housing in recent years has dried up.
In an interview at Washington Mardi Gras, nearly two weeks after the center’s closure, Moreno said she was interested in San Francisco’s approach to cracking down on public drug use. Beginning this spring, San Francisco police will give people arrested for public drug use the option to go to a sobering center, instead of to jail.
Under that plan, people are free to leave after they sober up, the public radio station KQED reported, but can be arrested and brought to jail if they leave sooner than that, prompting questions about the site’s legality. Moreno did not mention the New Orleans center’s closure or say if the city had identified funding to reopen such any kind of sobering facility locally, and her team did not return requests for further comment.
In a statement announcing the center’s closure in December, Ed Carlson, director of Odyssey House, said that the organization
VETERAN
Continued from page 1B
he said. “He loved that place.”
‘Losing a piece of history’
Marion Ferdinand Hess Sr was the youngest of 10 children born to George G. and Elizabeth Amelia Ricks Hess in New Orleans. His father died when he was 3, and Marion’s older siblings helped raise him.
before any shut-offs resumed. The board’s next meeting is scheduled for March 31
The board agreed that making the payment was essential, but board members raised concerns about HANO covering the payment instead of Guste’s resident management company, which is responsible for day-to-day bills. Wiggins said that the company had not paid recent bills in full because she believes the complex is being over-
charged. HANO’s board has covered Guste’s water bills once before, said Willman and Asset Management Director Maggie Merrill — in 2024, when the board pulled $361,000 from its reserves to settle an unpaid S&WB bill. The unpaid water bill also drew criticism from Sen. John Kennedy last week, who called on elected officials in New Orleans to hold HANO accountable in a speech on the U.S. Senate
floor
“We’ve got a new mayor in New Orleans. I’m delighted we’ve got some new council people. They’ve got to do their job,” Kennedy said. “And I don’t want to hear, ‘We’re not responsible for HANO.’ The mayor appoints them,” he continued, a reference to HANO’s board members.
Email Sophie Kasakove at sophie.kasakove@ theadvocate.com.
Intake specialist Scott Weiss, center, talks to Louisiana State Troopers during an official opening ceremony of a Sobering Center operated by Odyssey House Louisiana at 732 N. Claiborne Ave. in New Orleans on Nov. 7, 2019. Mayor LaToya Cantrell celebrated the center’s opening as a place where intoxicated people can be taken to sober up as an alternative to putting them in jail or filling up beds in a hospital The center provided intoxicated people a place to eat, hydrate, wash clothes, take a shower and connect with other social services. The 25-bed facility has shuttered its doors as city officials cut costs to claw out of a budget crisis.
was “deeply saddened to see this program forced to close.” The center “generated tremendous value for our city — strengthening public safety, reducing strain on emergency systems, and serving as a lifeline for people struggling with addiction,” Carlson said.
The idea of a sobering center was promoted by criminal justice reform and addiction treatment advocates in the city for years as an alternative to sending people to more expensive jail or hospital beds, and to avoid landing them with a criminal record or a hospital bill.
It is unclear what the impact of the center’s closure has been so far A NOPD spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment or for data on arrests for intoxication before and after the center’s closure.
A spokesperson for University Medical Center New Orleans didn’t respond to a request for hospital admissions of intoxicated people before and after the center’s closure.
But Bill Salmeron, the city’s head of Emergency Medical Services, said that the center was successful in diverting patients away
about having to stand guard some nights at the base in Stuttgart and hearing the Germans taking shots at the guards.
“He said he felt like he was a decoy,” she said. “They were shooting at them.”
Hess Harvey said he also talked about slipping food to hungry Germans.
“It was war Nobody had food,” she said. “He had access to the kitchen, and he said he gave out a lot of food.”
from hospitals who don’t need that level of care.
“At the emergency room you’re taking up a bed from someone who really needs the bed,” said Salmeron.
“There is a place in the community for (a sobering center),” Salmeron said “We just need the funding to support that.”
The center, which on average served around 350 people per month, was also an entry point into other treatment programs like detox and residential facilities operated by Odyssey House.
Since the center reopened in 2022 after being closed during the pandemic, it served more than 2,000 individuals, according to Odyssey House. Of those, 610 were discharged to detox programs and 64 were referred into residential treatment.
In the French Quarter, where neighborhood advocates and residents have long complained about public drinking and drug use neighborhood leaders said this week that the impact of the closure is unclear.
Erin Holmes, executive director of Vieux Carre Property Owners Residents & Associates, said that while she has seen
who served in the U.S. military during World War II, less than 1% are alive today
“We’re losing probably 100 a day,” Hart said, adding that early next decade “we’ll lose the last one.”
significant drug activity in the neighborhood recently, she “couldn’t say that the individuals we see on the streets would go to the sobering center if it was an option.”
But Holmes said that she had heard positive feedback from 8th District officers about the center as a “diversion from overnight lock up” and that “it is definitely a loss that it shut down.”
Glade Bilby a commissioner for the French Quarter Management District, said that the facility never had enough beds to make a major dent in the issue of public alcohol and drug use in the French Quarter.
“I don’t think there were any great results by it being open,” Bilby said. Bilby said his bigger concern are the cuts to the city’s Office of Homeless Services and the lack of available funding generally to get people off the street.
“There’s a lot of budget cutting going on,” Bilby said.
Staff writer Blake Paterson contributed to this report.
Email Sophie Kasakove at sophie.kasakove@ theadvocate.com.
“It broke his heart,” Hess Harvey said. “He had dogs back home, and I think (Lucky) reminded him of home.”
After Hurricane Katrina, Hess Sr would come to own another dog, one that resembled his Lucky from back in Germany Hess Daou said the new dog was also named “Lucki,” just with a different spelling.
“And that dog lived 18 years!” she said with a laugh.
And all the children knew about how cold it was.
Hess Sr enlisted in the Army at age 17 and was in the service for nearly two years, his son said. He was assigned to the Army’s 610 Engineers and spent much of his time in Europe, including the Battle of the Bulge, the bloody campaign in the bitterly cold Ardennes Forest region in late 1944 and early 1945. German and Allied casualties ran well into the thousands.
Hess Jr said he often spoke to his father about his time in World War II, but he said the conversations rarely touched on the fighting. Hess Harvey said their father sometimes talked
“He talked about the guys who froze — and him freezing,” Hess Daou said.
The children said their father suffered frostbite on his toes and fingers from the harsh winter conditions across Europe. “Dad suffered with (the effects of frostbite) his entire life,” Hess Jr said.
Bradley Hart, the senior historian at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans — a place Marion Hess Sr. loved to visit and volunteer — said more history is lost with each death of a war veteran.
Of the 16.4 million people
The U.S Department of Veterans Affairs said just more than 45,000 U.S. World War II veterans were still alive in 2025. The Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs says just more than 300 Louisiana veterans were alive as of 2025. The WWII Museum put that total in Louisiana at closer to 200.
“A lot of history goes to the grave with them,” Hart said. “Ask those questions while you can.”
A reminder of home
One of their dad’s war stories that the Hess family loves involves a dog named “Lucky.” Hess Sr was working in a kitchen somewhere in Germany and adopted a “skinny dog” that he named “Lucky,” his kids say.
“He wanted to take the dog back with the U.S., but of course they wouldn’t let him do that,” Hess Daou said.
A funeral for Hess was held Feb. 7 at Grace Lutheran Church, and interment followed at Metairie Cemetery with military honors.
LabatIII, Peter Lambert, Deanna Martin,Mary Mitchell, Kathleen Mossy,Edith
Mouton, Linda Schloegel, Gay Schneider,Shirley Shofstahl, Maxwell
of the late Dr. Beryl David Ames. Shehad asister, Shirley Caronand abrother,Donald Strauss, who preceded herdeath. Jacqueline had been marriedfor 69 years. Shemet her future husband in high school.Afterthey started dating, they wereinseparable. She graduated from IsadoreNewman School and gotmarried after graduation. Shewas active in her synagogue and sang in the choir.She alsosang forthe residents at Willow Wood Senior Livingand received an award. She loved exercise including tennis, jogging and bike riding Shewas active at Touro Fitness Health Club. Sheis survived by her children Stephen Ames and Ellen Ames Meltzerand her grandchildren: Grace Stieber,RachelFayman, RobertAmes, Samuel Ames, WesMeltzer,Ryan Meltzer, and Chloe Meltzer. Shehad 10 grandchildren: Audrey,Emma,Elijah, Harper,Levon,Jack, Gabriel, Leo, Sadie and Miriam. The family would like to give special thanks to Sage Lake Senior Living and Rabbi Bauman. Aprivate service willbeheld at Chevra Thilim Cemetery To view and signthe online guest book,please visit LakeLawnMetairie.com
withinthe Episcopal Church.
She is survivedbyher brother (Ed Davis); daughters LeslieVaughan (Hal), Jean Bolding (Mark Potts), and CarolBrown (Dan); grandchildrenGus Bahn (Joanna), Catherine Brown, and JacobPotts (Jessica); great-grandchildren Georgia Bahn, Ella Bahn, Liam Potts, and JoePotts; and tennieces and nephews (Gene, Susan, Cynthia, Dorothy, Bill, David,Ernest, Becky, Pat, and Michaela).
Dorothy was intelligent compassionate,and generous toa fault; butmost of all, she was kind. Despite her accomplishments, she was never self-important and somehow, despite all she managed to do,she never seemed too busy. She lovedNew Orleans, books, music, flowers and fine dining. She lovedher friends and family,including allthe dogs. She spent her life helpingpeople. We will allmiss her.
Stansbury, Dorothy Bolding,Dorothy Davis
TruaxIII,William
Truch, Melvin
Weilbaecher,Robert WelshJr.,Clifford EJefferson
Garden of Memories
DeGrushe,Averiland
Dixie
Lambert, Deanna LA Muhleisen
Cain Jr., Elroy
NewOrleans
Charbonnet
LabatIII, Peter Greenwood
KnieperJr.,Philip
Mitchell, Kathleen Schneider,Shirley
Truch, Melvin Lake Lawn Metairie
Ames,Jacqueline
Brown, Ida
Eversmeyer III, Walter Inglés Jr., Luis Kirsch,Ronald Mossy,Edith Schloegel, Gay Stansbury, Dorothy WelshJr.,Clifford St Tammany
Audubon
Henderson, Hazel Shofstahl, Maxwell
Honaker
Frandano, Jessie West Bank
Mothe Boyd, Patsy
Obituaries
Ames, Jacqueline Pearl Strauss
DOROTHYDAVIS BOLDING
Dorothy Boldingpassed awaypeacefully on January12, 2026 in Knoxville, TN. She was 99.
Dorothy Jacqueline Daviswas born in Tifton, GA on Nov.13, 1926toCol WilliamJohn Davisand Jessie Mildred Slack Davis. Shegrewupinrural Georgiawith her two brothers, Edmund Russell andWilliamJohn, Jr.(deceased)
Dorothy moved to New Orleans,LAand obtained a MasterofSocialWork (MSW)from Tulane Universityin1948. In 1988, she becamea Board Certified Diplomatein Clinical Social Work (BCD). Shelater attended the Tulane School of Public Health and earnedthe degree of DoctorofPublic Health (DrPH) at the ageof 63.
Sheworked with children and their familiesat the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court,the Holman VocationalTrainingCenter, theNew Orleans Adolescent Hospital, and the Louisiana State University (LSU) Medical Center Developmental Disabilities Centerfor Children(DDCC). The work of Dorothy and her colleagues at the DDCCprovided newinsight to the developing field of childhood autism and its treatment.
Dorothy'swork with the Tulane Hospital DepartmentofChild Psychiatry beganin1985 and continued untilher retirementin1998.Her responsibilities included childand family therapy, supervision of social work services, parent training, family therapy, and intake forChildInpatient PsychiatricServicesand the Child Outpatient PsychiatricClinic.
In addition to her clinical practice, Dorothy maintained academic appointments at Tulane University School of Social Work, Tulane Medical School and LSU School of Medicine. Shealsoauthored chaptersintextbooksused by medical students, and coauthored articlesinprofessional journals as well Many graduatesofTulane and LSUmedicalprograms owetheir understanding of the important roleofthe family in patient treatment to her.
In addition to her family and career,Dorothy had a veryactive spiritual life Shechose the Episcopal Church, and was baptized and confirmedatSt. Andrew'sMission Church in Fort Valley, GA in 1943. Shejoined acongregation in everycommunity in which she livedand has, at one time or another,held every laypositionthere is
Amemorial service will be held at St. James Episcopal Church in Knoxville 11:00 AM ET on March 14, 2026, followed by inurnment in the columbarium and areception at St.James. The service will be streamed live on the church's web site at https: //www.stjamesknox.org/.
Additional photos and informationcan be found at https://neptunesociety. com/obituaries.
PatsyHoytBoydpassed awaypeacefully on Febru‐ary 28, 2026 at theage of 87 years.Beloved wife of 65 years to thelateWheldon JudeBoyd, Sr.Loving motherofWayne P. Boyd (Sharon), ElizabethB.La‐gasse (Donald),and the lateWheldon J. Boyd,Jr. (Angel).Grandmother of “The7-up” kids,Morgan (Will), Garrett, Marissa (Ashken), Sabrina(Alex), Rachel, Jessica(Robby), and Ethan. Great-grand‐motherofHenley, Avery, and Parker.Sisterofthe lateDonald(Carol), Thomas(Melba),and Doris Bronzo(Joseph). Daughter ofthe late Bertha Mildred WrightHoytand Thomas Jefferson Hoyt,Jr. Also sur‐vived by otherlovingrela‐tives andfriends.She was a native of Algiers, LA and resided in BelleChasse,LA for over 50 years. Thefam‐ily wouldliketoextend their gratitudeand appre‐ciation to thestaff of Wold‐enbergVillage fortheir careand compassion.In lieuof flowers, donations may be made to TheChil‐dren’sTumor Foundation atwww.ctf.org in honorof her granddaughter, Rachel Boyd. Family andfriends are invitedtogatherat Mothe FuneralHome, 2100 WestbankExpressway, Harvey, LA on Saturday March 14, 2026 from 9a.m to11a.m.A FuneralMass willbeCelebratedinthe funeralhomechapel. Inter‐mentOur Lady of Perpet‐ual Help Cemetery in Belle Chasse,LA. Family and friends areinvited to share condolences andmemo‐riesbyvisitingher memor‐ial page at:www.mothefu nerals.com.
cated to theUnited States, butitwouldtake another 12 years for Ida to reach her adoptive father. Amerchant marine, Julius had jumped ship in Savannah, Georgia, with 25 centsinhis pocket. He headed to NewOrleans, wherehestarted Dixie Machine Welding& Metal Works. The success of the business enabledJulius to start alegal campaign to bring his adoptivedaughtertoAmerica —the first alienchildtoimmigrate here unaccompanied Ida's earlyyears had been spent with her mother in Hungary.She would oftenrecallthe terrorof bomb raidsand theintense hunger of thewar years, as wellasher first pair of shoes that "fit" Finally, in 1948, her mother, in an incredibly selfless act,put her on atrain telling her that she was going to spend theweekend with relatives in Vienna. In actuality, it was thebeginning of hertriptoAmerica. The train ride turned intoa smuggling operation into Austria, aransomdemand, and more than twoyears spent in an orphanage. Finally, on October 23, 1950, IdaarrivedinNew Orleans and intothe loving arms of her adoptivefather —a momentous occasionrecorded in aphotographinthe NewOrleans Item. In NewOrleans, she joinedher adoptive sister, GizeldaSzodomkaTrist. Idagraduated from Isadore Newman School and attendedNewcomb CollegeofTulane University. She lovedsummering at Camp Gulf Park On July13, 1956, she married Herbert Daniel Hughes. They had twochildren,Herbert "Danny" Daniel Hughes, II (Maura) and Elizabeth "Beth" Hughes DePass (Keith). At theage of 23, Ida was finally able to reunitewith her mother, Maria, bringing her to live with her young family and children. Maria remained withthemuntil her deathin1965. After a divorce, IdamarriedElder Brown in 2002; he passed away ayear later Ida's first love was always her family.She remained close to her twobiologicalsistersuntil their deaths,regularlyvisiting Hungary with her children and bringing her sisters and theirfamilies to America. She assisted them withfinancial support and showered them with care packages.
Ida's second love was America; she wasbeyond grateful for hergoodfortune in making it here.She wasa volunteeratthe WorldWar II Museum and wasactiveinthe New OrleansHungarian community. She was always ready to help herson with hisdutiesasHonorary ConsulofHungary, includingplanningevents and translatingall correspondence. Shealso developed agreat affection for Mexico, andeventually built anddonated aschool to asmall town there. Ida lovedtoentertain andwas afabulouscook, particularly Hungarian and Louisiana fare. Shewas a talentedpainter, exceptional piano player,and spoke four languages.
Eversmeyer III, Walter Frandano, Jessie Henderson, Hazel Inglés Jr., Luis Kirsch,Ronald KnieperJr.,Philip Burgess, Gail Elizabeth
Most people, however, will remember Ida for her unfailingkindnessand generosity. Shealways wantedtohelp.Her morningphonecallsinvariably included, "Can Idoanythingfor you today?" Whetheritwas cooking, pickingupgroceries spending time with her great-granddaughter, Eloise, babysitting her granddog, or driving her famous "airportshuttle," she wasgame.She enjoyed lunching andshopping with friends, andshe couldalways be expected to bringsandwichesto friends at herpharmacy andsalon.She especially lovedChristmas: Every Christmas morning started
with her homemadeEggs Benedictand Grillades and Grits. Shemaintaineda fierceindependence through herlifetime,drivinguntilthe end. In addition to herson and daughter, Ida is survivedbysix grandchildren: Danyael Hughes Graham (Matthew), William Keith DePass, V(Olivia), Hunter Passman Hughes (Marissa), Nicholas Hughes DePass, LeaMarie Hughes, andJenni Hughes Simpkins(James); and four great-grandchildren: DamonSamuel Graham, Ryan Matthew Graham, JuliannaRoseSimpkins, andEloise Reed DePass. Avisitation will be held fromnoonto2:00 pm on Thursday, March 12, 2026, at Lake LawnMetairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd.New Orleans, LA 70124. The interment will follow within MetairieCemetery
IdaSzodomkaBrown passed away on February 21, 2026, at theage of 88, surrounded by her loving family.She was the youngestof10childrenby almost 20 years, including seven brothers and two sisters,all of whom predeceasedher. Idawas born in Labatlan, Hungary,onApril 29, 1937, to Maria Mihalovics and Ferenc Szodomka. In 1938, dueto politicalcircumstances in Hungary and her father's ill health, it was decided that 1-year-old Idawouldbe adopted by her paternal uncle, Julius Nicholas Szodomka,who had relo-
Gail Elizabeth Ouber Burgess, of Denham Springs, Louisiana, passed
Stolberg,Charlotte
Boyd,Patsy Hoyt
Brown,Ida Szodomka
Jacqueline Pearl Strauss Ames, May 9, 1935- March 6, 2026, age 90, passed away after alengthy illness. She was born in New Orleans to Edith and Alvin Strauss. She was the wife
4B ✦ Sunday, March 8, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune away at 87 yearsyoung on March 2, 2026. She was born in New Orleans on April 5, 1938, to Adam Ouber and LucilleHelmer Ouber. Gail was adevoted mother and grandmother. She was ataxi driver for Deluxe Cab and aprivate chauffeur for 30 years.
Gail is survived by her five children, Rebecca Gamble Lambert, Jana Gamble Landry, Gwendolyn Gamble Barbaro, Wendolyn Gamble Beaumont (spouse, Michael), Timothy Gamble; 12 grandchildren; 11 great grandchildren, and her sister Jan Ellen Ouber Perera. She was preceded in death by her husband, Edward Burgess; her parents, Adam and Lucille Ouber; her brother, Dale Ouber; her grandson Timothy Gamble, Jr; and sons-in-law, Stephen Landry and Gene Barbaro.
Services are on Monday, March 9, 2026 at First United Methodist Church, Denham Springs, 317 Mattie Street, Denham Springs, Louisiana 70726, visitation from 10AM until the funeral service begins at 1PM, followed by herinterment at Maurepas Baptist Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to First United Methodist Church, Denham Springs.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Harry McKneely& Son Funeral Home and Crematory of Hammond and Ponchatoula. An on-line guest book is available at www.harrymckneely.com.
After alife rooted in faith and love, Elroy John Cain, Jr. (Roy), age 80, of Prairieville, Louisiana,entered eternal life on February 28, 2026. Adevoted husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, Roy is survived by four children: Andrew S Cain, StephanieCain Rodrigue (Mike), Michael M. Cain, Benjamin P. Cain (Lisa); eleven grandchildren: Katherine L. Cade, Garrett A. Cade, Jamie N. Cade, Mikey Rodrigue Conner Rodrigue, Cole Rodrigue, Madison M. Cain, Sydney E. Cain, Destin E. Cain, Alyssa M. Cain, Grant M. Cain; two great grandsons: Parker J. Chua and Spencer J. Hinds; anda great granddaughter, Stella J. Hinds. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 50 years, Susan Styron Cain, brother Byron Marshall Cain, and parents Elroy John Cain, Sr. and Mary Melba McGee Fredericks. Roy is also survived by his sisters-in-law, Susyn W. Cain and Judy Styron Pierce, as well as a host of nieces, nephews great nieces and great nephews. Born March 13, 1945in New Orleans, Roy was a graduate of the University of New Orleans and a member of the Metairie parade, Krewe of Caesar. He had along career as a Financial Controller, with his longest tenure—more than 30 years—spent at Lengsfield Brothers, Inc
Known for his sharp wit and infectious sense of humor, Roy found great joy in music, particularlythe timeless sounds of
Motown and the classics of the 1960s. Afaithful memberofthe Catholic Church, Roy sharedhis beautiful voiceasa cantor and choirmember at several parishes:St. Mary Magdalen, Metairie,LA; OurLady of the Lake, Mandeville, LA; St Stephen, Bentonville, AR; andSt. John the Evangelist, Prairieville, LA Additionally, Roygenerously gave his time volunteering at the localfood bank, serving those in need with compassion. Relatives and friends areinvited to attend the Visitationand Catholic Funeral Mass at L.A. Muhleisen &Son Funeral Home, 2607 Williams Boulevard,Kenner on Friday, March 13, 2026. Visitationwillbeheldfrom 10:00 a.m. to noon.A CatholicFuneral Mass officiatedbyReverendLuis F. Rodriguez willfollow at noon. Interment will follow at Greenwood Cemetery, 5190 Canal Boulevard,New Orleans In lieu of flowers, donationsinRoy's memory preferred to theAmerican HeartAssociation. To share memories or condolences, please visit www.muhleisen.com
DeGrushe,Averiland Dixie
Averil Francis"Guy" De‐Grushe,Jr.,age 92, passed away peacefully at his home on January18, 2026. He wasprecededindeath by hisbeloved wife of 70 years, DixieLee Landry De‐Grushe,who passedaway at theage of 89 on May7 2024, in thehomethey shared in RiverRidge Louisiana. Guyand Dixie aresurvivedbytheir five daughters: Dawn DeGrushe (Michael), Danielle De‐Grushe,DanaRosales (Gus), Dara Ledet(Joey), andDeanna Pagart (Sid). They were blessedwith11 grandchildrenand ahost of nieces,nephews, cousins, andgreat-grand‐children.Guy wasbornon April14, 1933 to thelate Averil DeGrushe,Sr. and thelateBernice Richard‐son. He wasthe brotherof thelateDavid DeGrushe andthe late DorothyD Reynolds.Hewas alifelong resident of NewOrleans wherehemet Dixieinthe Mid-Cityneighborhood wheretheybothgrewup. Thetwo marriedin1954. Guyjoinedthe Seafarers' InternationalUnion of NorthAmerica as amer‐chantmarine, andafter his yearsatsea,hebecamea member of theInterna‐tional UnionofOperating Engineers, Local406. He worked as acrane opera‐torfor more than 40 years andwas part of thecon‐structionteamthatbuilt theSuperdome.Anavid outdoorsman,Guy enjoyed huntingand fishing, com‐petitive pigeon racing,and beagle clubs. Hisgreatest joy, however, wastending to hisyard filledwithma‐jestic oaktrees andcolor‐fulazaleas,which he nur‐turedwithcareand pride. Dixiewas born in NewOr‐leansonJanuary 9, 1935 to thelateLoles P. Landry and LindaDugas Landry.She wasthe sister of thelate LolesP.Landry, Jr.(Greta) Shegraduated from McDo‐nough31, andher firstjob waswiththe telephone companyinthe drafting department before begin‐
ning a10-year career at Hi‐bernia National Bank.Al‐though raisingtheir chil‐dren wasa full-timejob, shealwaysfound time for herhobbies,including growingplantsinher greenhouseand journaling In theirlater years, Guy andDixie found comfort andhappiness simply beingtogether andvisiting with family andfriends Thefamilyextends a heartfeltgratitude to our parents' wonderfulcare‐givers fortheir compassion andsupport over thelast fewyears.Guy andDixie were interred together in theChapelofPeace Mau‐soleum in Garden of Mem‐oriesCemeteryina private ceremony held on their weddinganniversary, Janu‐ary30, 2026 -a fitting trib‐utetoa lifetime of devo‐tion,partnership,and love Family andfriends arein‐vitedtovisit www.gardeno fmemoriesmetairie.comto leavea messageofcondo‐lenceorshare afondmem‐ory.
EversmeyerIII, WalterHenry
WalterHenry "Duke Eversmeyer III, age80, passed away on Sunday, March 1, 2026. Anativeof NewOrleans, Louisiana, Duke was born on December 26, 1945. He was aproud graduateofWarren Easton High School in NewOrleans. Duke went on to attend Louisiana StateUniversity for his undergraduate studies before pursuing medicine at theUniversity of MississippiMedical School in Jackson, Mississippi.Following medical school, he completed his internshipin Boston, Massachusetts. During his residency, Duke served hiscountry in theUnited States Navy in Charleston,South Carolina, where he served as a physician aboard theUSS John C. Calhoun. After completing his military service, he returnedto NewOrleans where he finishedhis fellowship at LSU Medical School and Charity Hospital
Duke willberemembered forhis devotion to family,his brilliant and eclectic mind, and hislove of life.Heenjoyed playing golf withhis closest friends, and he was apassionate sports fan, especiallyofthe RedSox, March Madness, and anything relatedtoLSU and Ole Miss athletics. He also cherished hissecond and thirdhomesinOxford, Mississippi,and Gulf Shores, Alabama. After retiring frommedicine,he was honored to serveasa docent at theNational WWIIMuseum in New Orleans.
He is survivedbyhis threebeloved daughters: JenniferDietEversmeyer Bolster (Travis) of Hattiesburg,Mississippi; Kathryn Pamela Eversmeyer Fleming (Marcus) of Houston, Texas;and Melissa Scott Eversmeyer York (Bryant) of NewOrleans, Louisiana. He was also theproud grandfather of Travis, Scott,Evan, and Emma Kate Bolster; Jackson and
Caroline Fleming;and Briggs York. He was preceded in death by his parents, WalterHenry Eversmeyer Jr.and Beatrice Effie Diet Eversmeyer, his brother, Karl "Chuck"Eversmeyer and hiswife of 52 years, PamelaRuthScott Eversmeyer. Funeral serviceswillbe held at Munholland Methodist Church in Metairie,Louisiana, on Thursday, March 12, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.,witha reception at thechurch to follow until1:00p.m. Agraveside servicefor family and closefriendswillbeheld at MetairieCemetery at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers,donations may be madetothe NationalWWII Museumin NewOrleans.
Frandano,JessieMae MilesWilliams
JessieMae (Miles) Williams Frandano passed awaypeacefullyathomein Slidell, LA on February 27 2026, at theage of 83. Lov‐ing wife of Albert J. Fran‐dano, Jessiewas preceded indeath by herprevious husband,FredWilliams, her parentsand herstep‐son.Jessiegrewupatthe Poydras Home forGirls in New Orleans, an experi‐encethathelpedshape her strength, independence and compassionatespirit. She went on to enjoya ca‐reer as a flight attendant withSouthernAirways, where sheembracedher loveoftraveland adven‐ture. AfterFred’spassing Jessiereconnected with the love of herlife, Al whomshe originally metin New Orleansin1960. Jessie and Al were marriedin 2010 andspent 16 blissful years together as partners intravel, adventureand love. Jessiewas an avid bowler, served as presi‐dentofthe SlidellWomen’s Bowling Associationand was aHallofFameMem‐ber of theNorthshore Bowling Association. In ad‐ditiontobowling,Jessie found joyinreading,gar‐deningand traveling. More thananything, familyand friends wouldlikeJessieto berememberedfor her generousheart,kindness and compassion toward everyone, even strangers. Jessie’saltruisticnature knewnoboundsasshe was apassionateadvocate for animal rights as well Throughouther life,Jessie rescued eighteen dogs and gavethemall safe andlov‐ing homes. Herwarmth, compassion, andgiving heart left alasting impres‐siononeveryonewho knewher.She is survived byher devotedhusband Al; five stepchildren;nu‐merousstep-grandchil‐dren; many belovednieces and nephews; four broth‐ers;and twosisters.A graveside servicewillbe heldonMarch 11, 2026, at the SoutheastLouisiana VeteransCemeterylocated at34888 Grantham College Dr.,Slidell,LA70460. In lieu of flowers, memorial dona‐tions maybemadetothe Pearl RiverCountySPCA (1700 PalestineRoad, Picayune,MS39466, https://www.prcspca.org ),
honoring Jessie’slifelong loveand advocacy forani‐mals. Arrangements by Honaker FuneralHome, Inc.,Slidell, LA
Henderson, Hazel Rose Riecke
HazelRoseRieckeHen‐derson, of Slidell, Louisiana,passedaway peacefully on February 28 2026, at theage of 97. Born onAugust8,1928, in thevi‐brant city of NewOrleans, Louisiana,Hazel’s life was a tapestry of love anddedi‐cationwoven throughthe years.The daughter of the lateCarsten andEdith Riecke, Hazelgrewupina household where thevalue offamilyand hard work was instilledfroma young age.She attended St.An‐thony of Paduaand later graduated from St.Mary’s Dominican High School, where shedeveloped a foundationofknowledge and gracethatwould carry her throughlife. Hazel’s entrepreneurial spirit shone brightly whenshe joinedher husband,the lateBuckHenderson,as the proudownerand namesakeofHazel’s PoBoysonCarrolltonAve.in New Orleans. Laterinlife, she embraced theroleofa homemaker,pouring her heart andsoulintocreat‐ing anurturing home for her entire family. Hazel was marriedtoher late husband,Dorthan “Buck” Henderson,for 72 years, and together,theybuilt a lovingfamily. Shewas pre‐ceded in deathbyher cher‐ished daughter,Linda Ri‐choux (the late Donald), and herlegacyiscarried onbyher belovedchildren, Barbara Hendersonand Shirley Jacques(thelate Henry). Hazel’sjoy was multipliedthrough her grandchildren:Heather Ri‐choux LogueKrueger, Bradley Richoux, Benjamin Poché,and Melissa Samuels.She wasalsoa proud great-grandmother toten great-grandchildren and threegreat-greatgrandchildren.Hazel is alsosurvivedbyher sib‐ling, Kieran Schwartz (Don),aswellasa host of extendedfamilymembers and friends, allofwhom she lovedgreatly.Hazel leavesbehinda legacy of cherished memories anda familythatwillcontinueto honor herspirit. Herpres‐encewillbedeeply missed, but theimpactshe made onthe livesshe touched willbefeltfor generations tocome. Hazel’sfamily would like to thankher de‐voted neighbors, Timand TerrieMathison, andher lovingnephew, DannyHen‐derson, andhis wife Nancy,who were therefor Hazel during thelater years of herlifeand treated herwithloveand care. Thefamilywould also liketoexpress theirsin‐cereappreciation to the entireteamatOak Park Village.Their dedication gentlecare, andunwaver‐ing supportmeant more thanwords canexpress Memoriesand condo‐lences maybeexpressed
at www.AudubonFuneralH ome.com
InglésJr., Luis Isidro
Luis Isidro Inglés, Jr died at home surrounded by hiswife andsonson February 28, 2026. The eldest of four sons, he was preceded in death by his parents, Luis Inglés and Norma Rivera, andbrothers, Robert,Steven, and Andrew. Born in La Ceiba, Honduras, on May31, 1942, Luis immigrated to theU.S. at age 12, attending St Stanislaus College('60) andLoyola University ('64). Four days aftergraduating he marriedLinda Russo, the girl he met threeyears earlier at aLoyola sock hop. Over thenext6½ years theyhad four sons: Luis III,David, Neil,and Richard Luis spent 37 years at Pan-American Life,advancing to Senior Vice Presidentand Chief Investment Officer, the positionheheldfrom1992 untilhis 2005 retirement. Luis deeply valuedfamily andwas aloving andfun father,grandfather, and great-grandfather. He will be remembered by extended family, friends, and coworkers for hisgenerosity, reliability, support,and genuineinterestinthem, as amentor, advisor, and friend. Luis is survivedbyhis wife of 61 years and their four sons; by four grandchildren: Luis III's children Alison Killebrew (John Nolan) andNicholas, and David'schildren,Matthew andRebecca;and by great -grandchildren, Sadie Davis Killebrew andJohn Shepard Killebrew.Hewill be greatly missed by all of them Relativesand friends are invited to attendthe Funeral Mass at St CatherineofSiena Catholic Church,105 Bonnabel Boulevard (at Metairie Road)inMetairie, on Friday, March 13, 2026, at 1:00PM. Avisitation willbe held at thechurchbeginning at 10:30AM.The intermentwillfollow the Mass in MetairieCemetery Donationsmay be made in Luis's memory to theSt. Stanislaus Class of 1960 Scholarship or to theLinda andLuisInglésFamily Scholarship at Jesuit High School. To read thefullobituary, andviewand sign the online guest book, please visit LakeLawnMetairie.com
Cain Jr., Elroy John 'Roy'
Kirsch, Ronald Arthur
Ronald Arthur Kirsch passed away on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, at the age of 79. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Ron grew up Uptown and attended DeLaSalleHigh School, where he developed alifelong love of basketball. He later attended LouisianaState University, where he played basketball andremained adevoted LSUfan for the rest of his life. Ron was aloyal anddependable son anda devoted father and grandfather. He was everything LSU, proudly supporting the Tigers and rarelymissing an opportunity to follow his team. He also hada great love for golf, spending many happy hours on the course with friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Maclain and Luella Kirsch; his sister, Geraldine Bostick; and his niece, Deborah Guthrie.He is survived by his daughters, Natalie Kirsch Hooks (Neal) and Tara Kirsch Gervais (Chad); his beloved grandsons, Landon Smith and Grey Gervais; his sister, Carol Montgomery; and many nieces, nephews, and dear friends. The familywould like to extend special gratitude to his niece, Gina Wayne Matthews, whose care and support meant so much duringa time when it was needed most. Ron will be deeply missed by his family, friends, and all who had the privilege of knowing him. Relatives andfriends are invited to attend services at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd. New Orleans, LA on Monday, March 9, 2026. Visitation will be from 10am until the Memorial Mass begins at 12pm. Graveside will be held privately at alaterdate
KnieperJr.,PhilipJacob
Philip JacobKnieper,Jr. (1941 -2026).Philip“Butch” Knieper,a devout Christian and proudfatherand grandfather,ofHarahan LA, graduatedtoheavenly glory on February 28, 2026 surrounded by hisfamily. Hewas born in NewOr‐leans on August 28, 1941 to PhilipJ.Knieper,Sr. andAl‐berta DKnieper andgrew uponMusic Street.Philip was educated at Nicholls HighSchool, studied ChemicalEngineeringat Tulaneobtaining hisBSChE in1963,and he then earned in1965 at Kansas State Universityhis Mastersin ChemicalEngineering. WhilestudyingatKSU and attendingthe localchurch, hemet theloveofhis life, RegenaCollins.Philip was a dedicatedand loving husband to Regena C Knieper.Hewas adevoted and loving father to his2 childrenPhilipJ Knieper, III and PaulaK Walters, who dearlymisshim andthe Godly wisdom he provided Philipwas also acaring and loving grandfatherto5 grandchildren:Cameron J Walters,Alena LKnieper, PhilipJ.Knieper,IV, Hailey J.Knieper,and Nathan A. Walters.Philiptookgreat pride in beinga parent and grandparent.Through trav‐elling in NorthAmerica withhis immediateand later extended families,he sharedhis knowledgeof history anda love of God’s creation. Impartinghis love oflearningthrough men‐toringand tutoring of manyindividuals,hewas overjoyed to watchhis own childrengraduatefrom Louisiana StateUniversity and LouisianaTechUniver‐sity. In time,hesaw 2ofhis grandchildren graduate, and 3moreexpectedto graduatefromthe same universities. Philip “Butch was adevoted Christian who earnestlysoughtand demonstratedthe Lord’s loveona dailybasis.He cherished theteachings of Jesus Christ.Heworshiped atFirst Church of Godof New Orleansfrombirth until 2006, then laterthe re‐namedPower House
Church of GodofMetairie until hispassing.Inthe spiritofdiscipleship, he servedinmultipleroles overthe years: including actinginterim pastor youth minister (along with Regena) for38years,and SundaySchool teacherfor 57years.Asa youthminis‐ter,heguidedsouls to Christ, tutored, andmen‐tored dozens of youthat First Church of GodofNew Orleans.Healsoservedon the boardofthe Louisiana Church of GodState Church Planting andRevi‐talizationcommittee Philip’sfavorite Bible verseswere2 Peter1:1-15 and Psalm29:9-11. Christ was thecenterofhis life and livedaccordingto Christ’steachings.His love and faithwas evidenttoall who methim,and it im‐pactedthe livesofevery‐one around him. HisChristcenteredencouragement tofollowthe Lord was pouredintohis children and grandchildrenand madehim thebeloved man hewas.Philip“Phil”spent 55years of hiscareer working at theFortier Fa‐cilityinWestwegounder the company’snames AmericanCyanamid, Cytec,and Cornerstone Chemical. As aProfes‐sionalEngineer(1972),his variedroles were Process Engineer,Technical Super‐intendent,Process Engi‐neeringand Laboratory Manager,and Lead Process Engineer.After 43 years as an employee, he retired andreturnedasa consultantfor 12 addi‐tionalyears helpingto troubleshoot andoptimize the plantwhile also acting asa lead forevaluating safety systemsand OSHA compliance. Philip wasa memberofthe American InstituteofChemicalEngi‐neersfor over 30 years, ac‐tivelyinvolvedinthe Tu‐laneAIChE chapter, and was electedasa Fellow in 2021. He also publishednu‐meroustechnical papers between 1965 and1973 startingwhile attaininghis MSChE.Heservedonthe NCEES Chemical PE Com‐mitteefor almost 20 years helping with thedevelop‐mentofthe Chemical Pro‐fessional Engineering Exam. Philip is survived by his wife of 57 years, Re‐genaC.Knieper,his 2chil‐drenPhilipJ.Knieper III (Audra),Paula K. Walters (Jimmie); grandchildren Cameron J. Walters(Emily), Alena L. Knieper, Philip J. Knieper,IV, Hailey J. Knieper,and Nathan A. Walters;his brotherLouis H.Knieper (Shirley); his brothers-in-law RogerD Collins (Mary),and Rodney D.Collins (precededin death Julia);manybeloved nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grand-nephews, and greatgrand-nieces. He was preceded in deathby PhilipJ.Knieper,Sr. andAl‐berta D. Knieper. Theser‐vices celebratingthe life of PhilipwillbeatGreenwood FuneralHomeat 5200 Canal Blvd New Orleans, LA. Thewakewillbeheld onMarch 13, 2026 from 5:00 pmto8:00pm, avisitation onMarch 14, 2026 from 9:00 amto11:00 am andfol‐lowed immediatelybya service at 11:00am. Hisin‐terment will follow at St Vincent DePaul #3 Ceme‐teryat1322 Louisa St.in New Orleans.
PeterJosephLabat III was born March28, 1962 to the late PeterJoseph Labat,Jr. andSonia Esta‐van LabatinNew Orleans, Louisiana.Heattended EpiphanySchool andSt. Augustine High School where he graduatedas partof theclass of 1980 Petey,asheisaffection‐ately called by hissiblings EricSr.,and Chanel,was fun-loving andfullofmis‐chief.Peter grew up close tohis cousinsonbothhis motherand father’s sides ofthe family. Phat wasthe nicknamegiven to himby his cousins. He is the proud father of Peter Labat,IVand NicoleLabat and the proudgrandfather ofPeter V (Fif)and Verez. BecomingPaw Pawwas one of theproudestmo‐ments of hislife. Peter workedinEnvironmental Constructionasa Field Service andTesting Engi‐neer andworkedonnu‐merousFlood Protection projectsthroughout South‐eastLouisiana in conjunc‐tionwiththe U.S. Army Corps of Engineersfor manyyears.Healthchal‐lengesforcedhis retire‐mentin2025. Peterloved hisfamily, fishing, camp‐
ing, MardiGrasand foot‐ball, andjustlikehis Dad, heparticularlyloved the New OrleansSaints. On the night theSaintswon the Superbowl,Peter andhis sisterChanelmet outside ofMount Olivet to lettheir Dad know that hisbeloved Saintshad finally wonthe Superbowl.Manyofyou herehavehad thepleasure ofjoining ourfamilyduring Mardi Gras at “the camper onSt. Charlesand JuliaSt. downtown. Left to cherish his memories:his mother, Sonia EstavanLabat,his childrenPeter IV (Vania) and Nicole,two grandsons, Peter Vand Verez, his brother Eric Sr.(Kathryn) his sister Chanel.His niece Ceara,and nephews, Eric Jr. andHarrisonand allhis aunts, uncles,cousins and friends
Deanna LucasLambert passedawaypeacefully on February 16, 2026, at the ageof88inMetairie, Louisiana. Born on Novem‐ber3,1937, in NewOrleans, Louisiana, Deanna's life wasa tapestry of love, dedication,and serviceto hercommunity.Deanna's journeythrough life was shared with herbeloved husband,the late Donald IrvinLambert,towhom shewas marriedfor 62 glo‐riousyears.Together,they raised afamilythatin‐cluded theirchildrenBecky CurryJemison (Mike), Robert J. Curry(Lisa), and DonS.Lambert,all of whom broughtimmense joytoDeanna's life.The family tree flourished under Deanna's nurturing care,extending to five grandchildren—TerriJemi‐sonThornhill (Keith), Sean Jemison(Danielle), Tori Lambert, LoganLambert, andReeseLambert.She took greatdelightintheir achievements andindivid‐ualities.The arrivalofher threegreat-grandchildren, Violet,Remy, andMax Thornhill, broughta new depthofjoy to herlater years, andshe cherished everymomentshe spent with them.Deanna wasa member of theSunrise Community Club andthe localTennisClub. Hercre‐ativepassionswereevi‐dent in herlovefor sewing andcross-stitch.These treasuresare nowcher‐ishedkeepsakesfor her family andfriends,serving as atestament to hertal‐entand patience.Deanna's legacy is oneoflove, laughter,and thesweet simplicityofa life welllived. Herpresencewas a comforting constant in the livesofthose shetouched As we bidfarewellto Deanna LucasLambert,we celebratea life that was rich in experiencesand abundant in love.Her spirit will foreverbewoven into thefabricofthe livesshe touched, andher memory will continue to inspireall whoknewher.Familyand friendsare invitedtoat‐tend thevisitationfrom 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. at Garden of Memories Fu‐neralHome, 4900 Airline Dr., Metairie,La. 70001, on Monday,March 9, 2026.
Sister Mary Martin,O Carm.,a Sister of Mount Carmel, returned to God on March 3, 2026, at Eastridge Nursing Home in Abbeville LA.She was 85 years old and in her 65thyear of religious profession. Sister Mary, born Mary Alice ThereseMartin on March 10, 1940, formerly Sister M. Joachim, is the fourth of five children born to thelate Charles James MartinofReynoldsville, PA, and Marcella Anne Erhart of Erie, Pennsylvania. She entered Carmel in 1958 and professedfirst vows in 1961. Sister Mary attended St. RaphaelElementary and BishopConaty Memorial High School,Los
Angeles, CA.She received aB.S.degree in Elementary Education from Dominican College, NewOrleans; M.Ed.degree from Loyola University, NewOrleans, in Guidance and Counseling, withcertification in Elementary Administration and Supervision; and an M.A.degree in Theology fromSt. Michael's College, Colchester, VT. Sister celebrated her 60thJubilee in 2021.
Sister taught at St. Dominic, where she was principal from1971-1981 St.LouisKingofFrance and St. JamesMajor, New Orleans, and Mount Carmel Junior High, NewIberia. She was principal and teacher at St. Euphrasia, GranadaHills, CA, and RayneCatholic Elementary,Rayne,LA. She wascoordinatorofretired sisters at theMotherhouse in 2002 and beganworking at theLay CarmeliteOffice in Darien, Illinois, in 2003 as Assistant to theDirector of Lay Carmelites and ProvincialCoordinatorto theLay Carmelites Most Pure HeartofMary Province. Afterher retirement in 2017, Sister served as avolunteer and archives clerk in Darien, IL, until her move to Lafayette in 2022.
Sister was preceded in death by her parents, one sister, EileenLane, and threebrothers, JamesC Martin,Terry Martin, and Daniel Martin. She is survivedbyher sister-in-law, PatriciaMartin of Chatsworth, CA, and nephews and nieces.
AMass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at St. Edmond CatholicChurch, 4131 W. Congress Street,Lafayette, LA.Visitation begins at 9:00 a.m. in St.Edmond Catholic Church, with a prayer at 9:45 and Mass at 10:00 a.m. Sister Mary will be interred on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in St.Louis No.3 Cemetery, 3421 Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans, LA
Rev. Fr.HamptonDavis willpreside. View the obituary and guestbookonline at www.mourning.com Martin& Castille Funeral HomeDOWNTOWN, 330 St. Landry Street, Lafayette, Louisiana 70506, 337-2342311
Kathleen Margavio
Mitchellpassedawayon Tuesday,March 3, 2026, at the ageof70. Kathy, as she was knownbyher family and friends, wasa native ofNew Orleansand long‐timeresidentofRiver Ridge,Louisiana.For the past25years,she greatly enjoyed herworkasa real‐tor andfound it rewarding tohelpher clientsnavigate the complexities of thereal estatemarket. Kathywas not only alovingwife, mother, andgrandmother, but also apassionatesup‐porterofall thosewhom she caredabout.She hada strongsense of justice, takingany andall opportu‐nitiestostand up forwhat was right—notsimplyfor the outcomebut forthe sakeofdoing so itself.She passedwitha profound sense of prideand accom‐plishmenthavingwit‐
nessedthe successesof the familyshe hadraised. Surrounded by herloved ones, shedepartedin peace knowingthather memorywould live on and believing with theutmost confidencethatthe fulfill‐mentofher legacy could not be in better hands. Kathy,bornMay 4, 1955 was preceded in deathby her belovedfatherJoseph Charles Margavio and motherAliceScallan Mar‐gavio.She is survived by her loving husbandAn‐thony Paul Mitchell Sr.; daughterShannon Mitchell Kives &husband Byron Patrick Kives; sonAnthony PaulMitchellJr.;and grandchildren Matthew Aaron Kives, TylerAndrew Kives,& Kelly Elizabeth Kives.She is also survived byher sister DeborahMar‐gavio andcousinJudyGas‐pardGentry. Aprivate visi‐tation, mass, andgrave‐sideservice will be held in New OrleansatGreenwood FuneralHomeand Ceme‐tery. We invite youtoshare yourthoughts, fond memo‐ries, andcondolences on‐lineatwww.greenwoodfh com
Edith(Edie) Hoffman Morphy Mossy passed away peacefullyonFriday, February 27, 2026, surroundedbyher family, at theage of 92. She was born in Pensacola, Florida on August 10, 1933. Edie wasa loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmotheraswell as afriend to all herknewher.Infact, Edie nevermet astranger. Shewas preceded in death by herfirst husband, Paul H. Morphy Jr., hersecond husband, RoyJ.Mossy as well as herparents,James M. Hoffman andEdith LambertHoffman, and her 4brothersJames, Charles, Miltonand Robert.Edie is survived by herson PaulH
Morphy III (Megan)and daughters Lisa Morphy andCarla Morphy Adams (Jay) as well as herloving granddaughters Maureen Manzari (Darren), Mallory Wilcox (Taylor),Meredith Morphy,Katie Adams and EmilyAdams andthe highlightofher life, greatgranddaughter Ava Carla Manzari. Edie also leaves behind manynieces and nephewsall of whom she adored. After movingto NewOrleans withher family as ayoung child, Edie graduatedfromMcMain High School andattended Newcomb College, where she met herhusbandPaul Morphy on ablind date. Edie lovedher familymost andspent thebetterpart of herlifelovingly meeting theirneeds. With herfree time,she wasa silent advocate at herchildren's schools andwas a fundraiser for WYES-TV With herkids outofschool, Edie began working with herhusbandPaul in their familybusiness, DeltaTitle Corporation.She andPaul lovedtotravelthroughout theirmarriage,often bringingtheir kids with them wheremanymemories were created for them all Edie wasa former member of theNew Orleans CountryClub, Le Petit Salon and theOrleans Club. The familywould like to thank theincredible staff at Poydras Home whereshe lived forthe past 6years, especially her friends and caretakersat theBegonia House as well as Mark OrlicwithAnvoi Hospice.Relatives and friends of the familyare invited to attenda funeral service at St.Rita Catholic Church in NewOrleans on Thursday, March 12, 2026, at 12noon, with visitation beginningat11am. Aprivateburialwill follow
Lambert, Deanna Lucas
Mossy, Edith Hoffman Morphy
Mitchell,Kathleen Margavio
Owned and Operated by Firemen’s Charitable & BenevolentAssociation
LabatIII, PeterJoseph
Martin, O. Carm., Sister Mary
OUR VIEWS
As lawmakers return to stateCapitol, it’s a good time to go slow
We’ve been keeping a close eye on theLouisiana Legislature over the past couple ofyears. We’ve had to. Gov.Jeff Landry andlawmakers have moved fast to adopt sweepingchanges to everything from taxation to elections, from criminal justice to insurance to education and more.
As the 2026 legislative session begins this week, Landry’sagenda appears lighterand allows legislators to take abroader role.Wethink that’s agood thing. State finances are stable,but challenges loom on the horizon,and theeffects of the many big changes alreadyadopted are still becoming clear,sonow seems likea good time to slow down, take stock andact with prudence
Landry has proposed alargely standstill $46.9 billion budget. Thisyear,unlike many in the recent past, the state is on track to seeabit of asurplus, but that extra money canquickly be used up in addressing the pressing needs we have.
Landry’sbudget seeks an additional $82 million for corrections, after theLegislature walkedback reforms aimed at reducingLouisiana’sprisonpopulation.
There’salso more money proposed forthe juvenile justice system, which badly needsupgrades to its facilities and additionalstaffing. We urge lawmakers,though,topairany additional spending with programs to helpthe young people in thesystem rehabilitateand setthem up for productive adulthoods.
Another areathat could seemore spending is the state’sfortified roof grantlottery.Two yearsago, lawmakers passed asweeping packagethatreduced regulations and restrictions on property insurers, with thehope that more would offer policiesand thecompetitionwould bring exorbitant policyprices down, or at least stabilize them. But many homeowners arestill struggling with high costs, andhelpingmoreof them put on stronger roofs is oneapproach that promises real, widespread relief. We support theexpansion of this popular programtobetter meet thehighdemand.
Asecond program that has generatedstrong interest among Louisianaresidents is theLA GATOR scholarship, which allows public dollars to go to private schools andother education expenses.The program’sgoal of allowingstudents to move from underperformingpublic schools is onewehave supported.While Landry’srequest to double the amount spentonthe voucher programfrom$43.5 million to $88 millionhas been met with some skepticism for budgetary reasons, we hope that lawmakers, as they consider what to do, look at what will help the state’schildren most as well aswhatwe can afford.Likewise, in higher education, we support amove to take adeep diveinto the budgets of Louisiana’shigher education institutions and boards.Yet, we think savings shouldn’tcome at theexpense of improving opportunitiesfor students who rely on these schools and theprofessors and administrators whohavespenttheir lives making them what they are.
After years of much activity andbig changes, the Legislature has aluxury thisyear. There are no fiscalcliffs to avoid or gaping holestofill. It can craft abudget for Louisiana’sfuture
Akey reason we urge ago-slow approach this year is that major policy revisionshavealso been happening in Washington.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made significantcutstoMedicaid andSNAP,the federal food aidprogram, thatare already starting to impact state budgets and will likelyshift more costs in the coming years.
The full impact remains to be seen, but lawmakers would be wise to set Louisiana up to be prepared. That’swhy this year,wethink slow and steady is the way to go.
OPINION
La.water crisis notchesanother city
Stop meifyou’ve heard this before: ALouisiana city’swater infrastructure failed, leaving residents, businesses and public services with low pressure and unflushable toilets
This wasn’tinone of the state’smany struggling rural water systems, like Monterey Tallulah or Killian. It wasn’tinNew Orleans, where Sewerage &Water Boardstruggles are as much apart of the background noise as the sound of the streetcar This was in Shreveport,the state’sthirdlargest city where, last weekend, a 42-inch water main busted. Water pressure throughout thecity was affected. Officials scrambled to bring in bottled water and get an emergency fix in place.
This sort of news has become so commonplace that, outside of the affected area, most people greet it with aho-hum.
For Shreveport’s nearly 200,000 residents, however,itwas more than that Fireofficials warned that hydrants could be affected. Caddo school officials shut schools. Hospitals and dialysis centers went totheir backup plans. The break in thewater main should not have been asurprise. Shreveport’s water system has long been in disrepair.Even arecently passed bond package that will raise $80 million to fix someofit— including the pipe that
momentum by focusing acampaign on repairing pipes, pumps and towers.
That’swhere politics and governing differ. One is about persuasion; the other is moreimportant.
Drinking water systemsaren’tthe focus of political urgency …until they demand it.
That’shappening in Shreveport right now.Challengers to Mayor TomArceneaux have repeatedly raised the water system problemsasakey issue in their campaigns. And during his term Arceneaux did persuade voters to approve abond issue forwater system repairs.
What we spend money on shows what we value. So in avery real sense, abudget is simply alist of priorities. As legislators gather at the Capitol for this year’s legislative session, they’ll find a number of competing interests seeking funding for projects. That’swhy we would like to hear from you as the session moves forward. What do you thinkshould be at the head of the list for state funding? Or conversely,what do you think should be on the chopping block? Send us your thoughts to letters@theadvocate.com, and we’ll publish thebest letters during the session. Ourpolitics team is prepared to bring you gavel-to-gavel coverage of
broke —isstill not nearly enough. Thankfully,the situation improved within just afew days. But it is still a clear signal of asystem that is struggling. If this had happened only in Shreveport,itwould be one thing. But similar scenes have played outall over the stateinsystemslarge and small.
Shreveport alone needs maybe a half-billion dollars worth of repairs to its drinking water system to get it right
It’simportanttonote here that water systemsare separate from sewerage systems, which handle wastewater Those are also in bad shape.
Shreveport is similar to alot of local water systems, which wereneglected for decades as they decayed. Leaders and officials just kicked the water bottle down the road. After all, it’s normally hard to generate political
At the state level, there are someefforts underway: Annual water grades provide apublic window into the financial sustainability of local water systems, and the water sector program helps find funds to makeneeded repairs and upgrades.
But it’snot enough. Last year,Louisiana officials estimated that the state’s water systemswill need roughly $9 billion in repairs and upgrades over the next 20 years. That’smoney the state just doesn’thave.
In astate already dealing with a population problem,none of this is good. We love to say how our great food, music and culture attract people to our state. But without clean water,they won’t be coming to stay
Email Faimon A. Roberts III at froberts@theadvocate.com.
theissues that matter.And though there are manyplaces to get your news nowadays, Iwould venture to say that no one has the breadthand depth of coverage of the Louisiana Legislature as this news organization. Andweknow lawmakers are following our pages as well, so if you want to get your views before peoplewho are making thedecisions, drop us aline. We generally see aspike in letters during alegislative session as bills get debated on the floor.Wetry our best to publish them as that debate is occurring, but please understandthat sometimes, with fast-moving legislation, we may notbeabletopublish all of the letters we receive before avote.
Turning to our letters inbox forthe weekofFeb. 26-March 5, we received 66 letters. The maintopic that you wanted to talk about wasthe Letters page itself,and we received 13 letters about the viewswepublish. Next in interest wasthe warinIran, which prompted eight letters. Lastly,wereceived three letters on immigration, three on Mardi Gras and three on the TenCommandments issues. Afew letters have begun to trickle in on various bills up forconsideration at the Capitol. We expect that trickle to becomearushing river in the coming weeks.
Arnessa Garrett is Deputy Editor | OpinionPage Editor.Emailher at arnessa.garrett@theadvocate.com.
Arnessa Garrett
STAFF PHOTO By JILL PICKETT
Bottled water is distributed as partof the response to water pressure issues withthe Shreveport system due to a water transmissionline break
Faimon Roberts
COMMENTARY
Elderlybeing kept from thenursing homestheyneed
If you have an elderlyparent with health needs requiringnursing home care, but you liveina parish with no nursing home beds available, well tough luck
That, essentially,isthe reality of acruelly wrongheaded state law in Louisiana, which doesn’tjust ban new nursing facilities statewide but evenbans additional beds in current facilities until July 1, 2027. Looked at one way,the law creates asort of protection racket for existing facilities by keeping competitors and innovators away Amazingly, bills introduced in both thestate House and Senate this year would extend that moratorium —that quasi-racket —for five more years, until mid-2032. Such arestraint not justoftrade but of patient services would be unconscionable.
Frankly,it would makesense to go much farther: Removeall restrictionsonthe number or capacity of nursing homes, subject only to stringent health andsafety requirements and to thedemands of the free market. Numerous public policy groupsfrom across thepolitical spectrumadvocate approaches close to that.
Berault’sbill, though, recognizes the political realities at the stateCapitol, so its reach is far narrower and should be seenbythe nursing homelobby more as afriendly amendment to currentlaw than as afrontal assault.
by eliminating excess, underused capacity,the costsofwhich they say are passed on to consumers or to the government entity subsidizing thecare. In extreme circumstances,such as when agovernor could confer health care operator’slicenses willy-nilly to thehighest bidder (think of what Louisiana’sown, late Gov Edwin Edwards was accused of doing), it might make senseto have stringent reviews and limits Such is hardly thecase in Louisiana now,though, or at least in six parishes:Orleans, Jefferson, St.Tammany,Livingston, St. Bernard and Ascension.
single bed available.
“My billkeeps restrictions in place so that we don’thave overbuilding, but in areas where there’sgrowth or need, there is apressure valve so we can add beds where needed,” Berault said.
“Currently,there is no mechanism to add new beds even when they are needed.”
Fortunately,Rep. Stephanie Berault, R-Slidell, has introduced House Bill 654 to move, ever-socarefully,inthe other direction, to provide relief for the six Louisiana parishes with obvious shortages of nursing home beds.
To understand current law, one must understand that its proponentsargue, in effect, that theordinary rules of supply and demand do not apply in the nursinghomeindustry.They say that having more competition would actually raise costs, not reduce them. They arguethat requiringacertificate of need —or, as Louisiana calls its slightly differentarrangement, aFacility Need Review —actually controls costs
“I have been told by multiple local hospitals in St. Tammany parish that we do not have enough capacity to discharge patients from thehospital who need to go to anursing homefacility,” Berault said.
In fact, as she noted, theofficial LouisianaDepartment of Health statistics on the occupancy rate of nursing homes counts only Medicaid patients, not self-paying ones —so, for example, one facility listed as being filled only to 74% capacity actually has not a
Specifically,Berault’sbill would do two things. First, eliminate the moratorium. Period. Second, replace it with asystem,still quite restrictivebut with someleeway based on objective data, fornew homes or beds to be allowed. The bill would compare each parish’snumber of nursing facility beds withthe per capita average of such beds nationwide. If the parish is below that quota by 30-120 beds, then existing facilities would be allowed to expand capacity.Ifthe shortage is more than 120 beds, the state would “accept applications to grant a license to operate anew nursing facility.”
The new facilities would be required to meet exacting standards for space-per-patient and for various health and safety
measures. Right now the state’s actual enforcement of standards at existing facilities is arguably rather lax, which could mean that under Berault’sbill, any new facilities (or expansions of existing ones) may wellbeofhigher quality than what exists now There’smore, but that’sthe gist of it.
To repeat, only the six parishes mentioned above would be likely to qualifysoon fornew beds or facilities.
And the termsofBerault’sbill mean the barriers to entry for new nursing homes in other parishes would remain high, based on the objective numerical formula mentioned above, and with high standards.
It is well knownthat a“silver tsunami” —aninflux of retiring Baby Boomers —isunderway Berault’sbill would allow Louisiana to meet those expanded needs fornursing homes, without upsetting the existing apple cart. The bill is measured and wise. It merits passage.
Email Quin Hillyer at quin hillyer@theadvocate.com
Kennedy’stakedownofNoemablast from hispast
When Louisiana’sjunior senator methodically but brutally grilled now-ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Ithought: That guy reminds me of someone.
to playthe rube, always casting about for more demeaning ways to mock whoever’sinhis crosshairs on agivenday
Iquickly realized who.The U.S. Sen. John Kennedy Iwatched last week reminded me of Louisiana Treasurer John Kennedy,who served in Baton Rougefrom 2000 until hewent to Washington nearly adecade ago. But wait, you might be thinking, aren’tthey the same person?
Well, yes and no. Treasurer Kennedy wasanavid watchdog eager to call out waste and mismanagement, no matter theoffender’spolitical persuasion. Indeed, one frequenttarget wasafellow Republican, Gov Bobby Jindal.
Sen. Kennedy,with very few exceptions, has traded his onceproud independence for predictability,both on his votes (Republican party line) and his on targets(nearly always Democrats) While he occasionally shows his stuff in hearings, he’slargely abandoned incisivequestioning for the sort of easy showmanship that wins clicks but rarely changes minds. And although he’sahighly educated attorney and wasn’tafraid to show it in Baton Rouge, these days he opts
You’ve got to admit theschtick worksfor him. Kennedy’sa popular guestonFox News,and he’s even written abestseller,“How to Test Negativefor Stupid: And WhyWashington Never Will.”
But for many who knew him when,the transformation has been disappointing, if not downright depressing.
Until last week, that is, when the old Kennedy suddenly reappeared in ahearing before theJudiciary Committee featuring the deeplyembattled soon-to-be-ex homeland security chief, part of an administration to which Kennedy hasshown nothingbut the most fawning loyalty
Likethe skilled lawyer he is, Kennedy first lulled Noem into comfort, congratulating her on success in sealing the border
Then,without really changing his solicitoustone, hemoved in for the kill by cornering her on two of Noem’smany,many controversies.
Onethreadinvolved theglitzy ad campaignfeaturing Noem on horseback atMount Rushmore, warning people in this country illegally to leave. The contract, whichcost areported $220 million in taxpayermoney,was awarded on an “emergency” basis, thus bypassing normal
public bid laws. DespiteNoem’s insistence that the contract was let competitively by nonpolitical appointees, Kennedy noted that it had gone to anewly formed company with no footprint, which then hired Noem’sown former ad man who just happened to be married to her spokesperson.
“How do you square (your) concern for waste, which Ishare, with the fact that you have spent $220 million running television advertisements that feature you
prominently?” Kennedy asked.
The senator also zeroed her characterization of two American citizens killed by immigration officers in Minneapolis as domestic terroristsand got her to say that it was her description, not White House adviser Stephen Miller’s, as she’d been quoted as having said.
The whole show wasrefreshing, not just because Kennedy put his skill to good use but because he zeroed in on obvious bad behav-
ior,nomatter whoconducted it. Just like in the old days. Of course, none of it happened in avacuum. While it’spossible Kennedy really had enough and was ready to show it, it’salso perfectly likely that he madeastrategic choice to either help Trumporpush him to fire Noem.
Maybe that’swhy,instead of saying the buck stops with the president, he claimed that the poor guy has been ill-served by an ad campaign that, it so happened, featured Trumpprominently too.
“I mean to me, it puts the president in aterribly awkward spot,” Kennedy said.
“It’sjust hard formetobelieve, knowing the president as Ido, that you said, ‘Mr.President, here’ssome ads I’ve cut, and I’m going to spend $220 million running them,’ that he would have agreed to that.”
What’sclear is that Trumpwas “mad as amurder hornet,” in Kennedy’stelling, and that the questioning helped put an end to a short tenure chock full of abuses and embarrassing failures on multiple fronts. No matter why Kennedy did it, it’sgood to see Noemgo.
As forKennedy 1.0, it wasnice to see him again. Maybe he’ll stick around forawhile.
Email StephanieGrace at sgrace@theadvocate.com.
Theseadvocates arepreparing forCallais decision
It seems every week since the U.S. Supreme Court heard oneof the court’smost consequential cases in the fall that court watchers have expected adecision that most likelywill change howwe vote in Louisiana and theUnited States. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Janai Nelson aren’tholding their breaths. They’re getting ready for whatever comes. Holder chairs the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. Nelson is president and director-counselofthe Legal Defense Fund. Holder argued cases on behalf of the United Statesduring PresidentBarackObama’sadministration, and he’snow fighting to hold onto more democratic, fair districts. Nelson argued theCallais case on behalf of plaintiffs, and those of us who have benefited from the protectionsofthe 1965 Voting Rights Act for 60-plus years
The Louisiana v. Callais case, formerly known as Callais v. Landry,stems from thesuccessful Robinson v. Ardoin case, avoting rights lawsuit that resulted in adecision to mandate that Louisianacreate asecond majorityBlack U.S.congressional district. U.S. Rep.Troy Carter,D-New Orleans, holdsthe Second Congressional District seat in what was theonlymajority-Black district until asecond majority-Black district was created in 2024, leading to U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, winning the Sixth Congressional District seat and returning to Congress in 2025. The nation’shighest court heard theCallais case in March last year.Many were awaitingthe court’s consequential decisionwhen, on June 27, the last day ofthe court’sterm, the court announced that it wanted to rehear the case, puttingitonthe fall calendar The disappointment by propo-
nentsand opponentsofLouisiana having two majority-Black congressional districtswas almost audible.
Back to thehard work of preparing for another Supreme Court appearance thetop case lawyers went. Months of work for astandard, 60-minuteargument, 30 minutes for each side, with questions from thejustices in March. Each side had less time to prepare for 30-minutearguments before thecourt in October.Only in rare circumstances does the court give moretime.
Obviously,this is acritical decision in theeyes of the justices.
The rehearing went well beyond theone-hour limit
It took nearly 2.5hours as justices honed in and explored specific, narrow,constitutional issues involving how race should and should not be used to makeredistrictingdecisions.
The general thinking was that adecision would be madein 2025, no later than the end of the year,sothere was timefor the
LouisianaState Legislature, and legislatures across the country,to have time to create new congressional districts before this fall’s congressional midterm elections. Depending on what the court does, it could eliminate 25% or moreCongressional Black Caucus members whohold majorityBlack seats. December came and went. So did January.And February Still, no decision.
That’snot abad thing.
“Weinitially expected adecision in 2025, given the electoral calendar here in Louisiana,” Nelson toldmeinaninterview after aBaton Rouge church program afew weeks ago. “But what we care most about is that justice is delivered. As long as it takes for thejustices to deliberate to decide theright thing to do in this case, we will take it.”
Nelson looks at the U.S. DepartmentofJustice and sees an uninterested, weak approach to voting rights—and she doesn’tlike it.
“They aretechnically respon-
sible,” she said of the DOJ. “They have abdicated that duty.They have fallen off on the job. They have rejected that responsibility, and, frankly,I believe they are in dereliction of their constitutional duty to enforce the constitution and the federal statutes of this country.”
When Holder headed the DOJ, his team fought terrorism,financial fraud and enforced voting rights. That last part is not happening under President Donald Trump.
No matter when the court rules, Holder wants to see the justices “minimize the damage that they’ll do” so “wedon’tcontinue to engage in what Ihave called the resegregation of America.”
Nowthat so much time has gone by without aCallais decision, Holder said “the timing is relatively unimportant.” What’s important, he said, is “what it is that they say.”
Email Will Sutton at wsutton@ theadvocate.com
Stephanie Grace Quin Hillyer Will Sutton
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE
Sen.John Kennedy, R-La., is surrounded by reporters asking about how Homeland Security SecretaryKristi Noem handled his questions Tuesday at aSenate JudiciaryCommittee hearing last week
can come as a shock,leading peopletoput offoreven go without care.
Simplyput —without dental insurance, there may be an importantgap in your healthcarecoverage
Whenyou’recomparing plans ...
Look forcoveragethat helps pay formajor services. Some plans maylimit thenumber of procedures —orpay forpreventive care only.
Look forcoveragewithnodeductibles. Some plans mayrequire you to pay hundredsout of pocket before benefits are paid.
Shop forcoveragewithnoannual maximumoncash benefits.Some plans have annual maximums of $1,000.
Medicare doesn’tpay for dental care.1
That’s right. As good as Medicare is,itwas never meanttocover everything. That means if youwant protection, youneed to purchase individual insurance.
Early detectioncan prevent small problemsfrom becomingexpensive ones
The best way to preventlarge dental bills is preventive care. TheAmerican Dental Association recommends checkupstwiceayear.
Previous dental work canwearout
Even if you’ve hadqualitydentalworkinthe past, youshouldn’t take your dentalhealth forgranted. In fact, your odds of havinga dentalproblemonly go up as youage.2
Treatment is expensive especially theservicespeople over 50 often need
Consider these national average costsof treatment. $274for acheckup $299 for afilling $1,471 foracrown.3 Unexpected bills likethiscan be areal burden, especially if you’reonafixed income
Loosened strings
BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer
TheNew Orleans Saints haveanopportunity to do something this offseason they’ve avoided recently —spend money.
The Saints’ salary-cap troubles are far less complicated thisyear than what had become the norm. While theystill entered theoffseasonover the cap, the work New Orleans has to do to become cap compliant is relatively light work for cap guru Khai Harley.And if they want to, the Saints can restructure enough contracts to open considerable cap room in free agency.
GeneralmanagerMickeyLoomis and coach Kellen Moore have cautionedthe Saints still need to build their rosterthe rightway,even while quarterback Tyler Shough’srookie-scale contractopensa window for the team.
The end productmay not result in the Saints going on afull-on shopping spree, but there’senough outthere to update the
wardrobe, so to speak.
Let’stakealook at some plausible targetsfor the Saints when free agency opens Monday. Travis Etienne, JacksonvilleJaguars RB
Kenneth Walker is lined up to be the most pursued running back in free agency,but Etienne wouldn’tbeabad consolation prize for those notwillingtodip into Walker’sprice range, projected to be as high as $15 million per year.Etienne has beenhit or miss as apro, but he’stopped 1,000 yards rushing in three of his four seasons. The Saints were mentioned as a possiblesuitor forthe former first-rounder by NBCSportsanalyst Matthew Berry Zion Johnson, LosAngeles Chargers G
Theconsensus is thatthis free-agent guard class is loaded, but the Saints don’t
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By RICK SCUTERI
Pelicans forward Zion Williamsondrivesagainst PhoenixSuns forward Royce O’Neale on FridayinPhoenix.
Pelicans’3-3 trip misses themark
necessarily seeitthatway.Still, Johnson is worth keeping an eyeonbecause of his connectionstoMoore, whocoached Johnson in 2023 when he was theChargers offensive coordinator,and the 26-year-old has improved sincethen.While Johnson hasn’tbeen thesteadiest in pass protection, he was the Chargers’ most dependable lineman last year —especially since he playedall 17 games. Hishealth would appeal to theSaints given the team’s struggles to stayhealthyupfront in recent years. It is unknown whetherNew Orleans is willing to shellout the $17 millionto20millionper year it could take to landhim.
KennethGainwell, Pittsburgh Steelers RB
Here’sanother player witha connection to Moore. Gainwell was anice change-ofpace back for the Eagles whenMoore
BY REED DARCEY Staff writer
and
at abox
Maybe it would give Johnson someanswers. Maybeshe’d findasilver lining or
has
of
The
games to
here before. She’shad to wrestle with that familiar feeling —the one that arrives once she realizes her Tigers still are searching for the only victory that’seludedtheminher career
“I feel like every time we play them,” Johnson said, “we lose the same way And Ijust gotta do better.”
TheLSU women’sbasketballteam went toe-to-toewith SouthCarolinaon Saturday,just like it usually does. But the Tigers fell short once again, this timelosing 83-77 to the Gamecocks in the SEC Tournament semifinals. LSU led at halftime and trailedby only five points with 1:56left in the fourth quarter.Then it gave up alayup to SouthCarolina forward Madina Okot, and MiLaysia Fulwiley tossed an errant pass on the ensuing possession, giving away the No. 4-seeded-Tigers’ last chance to steal what would’ve been a monumental win.
South Carolina has won 19 straight matchups with LSU,including all seven it’splayed since coach KimMulkey’s tenure began. Mulkey said Saturday that the Tigers (27-5) lost in largepart because they didn’tdo“thelittlethings” well enough in the second half “Look at the stat sheet, how similar,” Mulkey said. “Look at the stat sheet. So what are those little things? Maybe that one last tough rebound. Maybe that one last tough defensive presence.”
LSU’sinterminable losing streak to South Carolina now includes three SEC Tournament defeats. The two rivals last met in Bon Secours Wellness Arena twoseasonsago,whenanon-court scuffle marred the end of an otherwise compelling championship game. The Gamecocks won that matchup 79-72 to take homeone of theeight conference
ä See LSU WOMEN, page 2C
BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer
If Friday was amassive step forward, Saturday was aleap backwardfor theLSU baseball lineup.
The Tigers had just one hit through seveninnings.They got underneaththe ball too often to start the gameand struck out far too many times after that. After smacking the ball around the park to thetune of six homeruns and 10 extra-basehitsthe night before, Saturday’scontest at Alex BoxStadium was the oppositeof what LSUcoach Jay Johnsonenvisioned,asLSU trailed 1-0 for mostofthe day
Zion Williamsonalmost stole apass near midcourt that would have given the New Orleans Pelicans achance to force overtime and steal awin Friday night. But he couldn’t gain controlofthe ball, and the Phoenix Suns ended up dribbling out the clock to hand the Pelicansa118116 loss. Those final few seconds pretty much summed up the Pelicans’ six-game trip to the West Coast. Oh, so close.But just notquite there yet. The Pelicans went 3-3 on the road trip. They very wellcould have gone 5-1
The Pels beatthe Utah Jazz (twice) and theSacramento Kings. The Jazz and the Kings, both tanking down the stretch, arethe only two teamsinthe Western Conferencewith worse records than thePels (20-45).So the Pels handled their business by beating teams they are supposed to beat. But the Pels went0-3 against threeteams(L.A,Clippers, L.A. Lakersand Suns) that will either be in the playoffs or play-in
Thedisappearance of theoffense is amystery that Benoit Blancfromthe “KnivesOut filmswould have trouble solving. The Tigers’ inabilitytoget anythinggoing at theplate placed too much pressure on their pitching staff, which kept the deficit at one until redshirt junior right-hander Jaden Noot allowed agrand slam withtwo outsinthe eighth inning. The shot was the finishing blow in LSU’s5-4 losstoSacramento State. “I trust the effortthe guys are putting in. We’reputting in aton as coaches,”a subduedJohnson said after LSU’sthird loss in four games. “I think today’sagood indication of how you never have baseball (totally figured out). It
requires the right kind of prep, focus, intent and, ultimately,execution to be really good, and so we have to see the course with that.” Sophomore Cade Arrambide’s single in the secondinning was LSU’sonly hit until Grand Canyon transfer Zach Yorkesmashed a run-scoring double in theeighth. That inning was when the Tigers scored three runs to cut their fiverundeficit to two. Yorke’sdouble was LSU’slone knock in the inning, as the rally wasaided by two walks, awild pitch and an error Butthe comebackattempt fell
short in the ninth, despite asolo home run
Rod Walker
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By GERALD HERBERT Jacksonville Jaguarsrunning backTravis Etienne carries in the first half of agameagainst theSaintsatthe CaesarsSuperdome on Oct. 19, 2023.
8
Noon ACC: Louisville vs Duke ESPN
1:15 p.m.Big Ten: Iowa vs. UCLA CBS
1:30 p.m.Big East: Creighton vs. UConn NBCSN
2 p.m. SEC: TBD vs. S Carolina ESPN
3 p.m. Summit: SDSU vs. NDSU CBSSN
3 p.m. A-10: Geo. Mason vs. Rh. Island ESPN2
4 p.m Big 12: TCU vs.West Virginia ESPN
4 p.m. Big East: TBD NBCSN
5 p.m. Big South: TBD vs. High Point ESPN2
WOMEN’S COLLEGE GYMNASTICS
3 p.m. 2026 Elevate the Stage ACCN
5 p.m. LSU at Florida SECN COLLEGE SOFTBALL
11 a.m Texas at South Carolina SECN
1 p.m LSU at Tennessee SECN
3 p.m. Missouri at Florida SECN
5 p.m. Georgia Tech at Clemson ACCN MEN’S COLLEGE WRESTLING
3 p.m. Ivy League Tourn. Champs. ESPNEWS
3:30 p.m. Big Ten Tourn. Championships BTN
7 p.m. ACC Tourn. Championships ACCN GOLF
Invitational
a.m PGA: Arnold
WOMEN’S TOP 25 ROUNDUP
Rice leads UCLA past Ohio State
By The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS Kiki Rice scored 17 points to lead five UCLA players in double figures and the Bruins won their school-record 24th consecutive game 72-62 over No. 11 Ohio State on Saturday in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. Conference Player of the Year
Lauren Betts and Angela Dugalic each scored 14 points for the Bruins (30-1), who led the entire way Gianna Kneepkens scored 13 points and Gabriela Jaquez added 10 points.
The Bruins will meet No. 9 Iowa in Sunday’s championship.
Chance Gray led the fifth-seeded Buckeyes (26-7) with 23 points.
NO 1 UCONN 84, GEORGETOWN 39: In Uncasville, Connecticut, Serah Williams had 12 of her 14 points in the first half, Sarah Strong had 11 points and Azzi Fudd had 10 points as No. 1 UConn rolled over Georgetown in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament to extend its winning streak to 48 games.
KK Arnold added 12 points and Kayleigh Heckel had eight points for UConn (32-0), which won its 37th consecutive conference tournament game and 43rd in a row against the Hoyas Laila Jewett had nine points for Georgetown (14-17).
NO 9 IOWA 59, NO. 8 MICHIGAN 42: In Indianapolis, Ava Heiden scored 16 points, Hannah Stuelke and Chazadi Wright each had 13, and No. 9 Iowa pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat No. 8 Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
The Hawkeyes outscored the Wolverines 24-6 in the fourth quarter Stuelke, who also had 10 rebounds, scored seven points in the initial 2:23 of the final quarter to push Iowa ahead 42-38.
The Hawkeyes (26-5) advance to Sunday’s championship game against reigning champion UCLA (30-1).
Michigan (25-6) set a program record for regular-season and conference victories.
NO 10 TCU 74, KANSAS STATE 62: In Kansas City, Missouri, Marta Suarez scored 14 of her 22 points in the third quarter and No. 10 TCU used a 24-16 scoring edge in the period on the way to defeating Kansas State in a semifinal round
LSU WOMEN
Continued from page 1C
tournament titles they’ve picked up in the last 10 years South Carolina hardly ever loses in the SEC Tournament. Greenville had hosted the event seven times before this season, and the Gamecocks cut down the net at the end of six of those tournaments.
Overall, South Carolina is 20-1 in Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Its 17-game winning streak in that building dates back to 2020. That’s what LSU was up against on Saturday, when it kept attacking the rim and chasing missed shots — on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor
The Tigers tried to be the aggressors In the first half, they outscored South Carolina in the paint 24-16, won the rebounding
game of the Big 12 Tournament.
The Horned Frogs, who were the regular-season champions, will look to repeat as tournament champions Sunday against No. 15 West Virginia or Colorado.
Kansas State, which played in its fourth game in four days, was the first No. 12 seed to reach the tournament semifinals.
TCU (29-4) received 18 points from Olivia Miles, while Taylor Bigby and Veronica Sheffey each scored 10.
Kansas State (18-17) was led by Jordan Speiser’s 16 points, Nastja Clasussens added 14, Taryn Sides had 11 and Tess Heal 10.
NO 12 LOUISVILLE 65, NO 16 NORTH
CAROLINA 57: In Duluth, Georgia, Imari Berry scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead No. 12 Louisville past No. 16 North Carolina in a semifinal of the ACC Tournament.
battle 24-15 and played disruptive defense around the rim. But the Gamecocks (31-2) figured out how to score in the second half. Across the third and fourth quarters, they shot 48% from the field and 3 of 9 from 3-point range. LSU couldn’t keep up.
Fulwiley scored 24 points on 10of-21 shooting in her sixth straight game with at least 15 points. Point guard Jada Richard tallied 17 points, five rebounds and four assists, and forward Amiya Joyner scored nine points and grabbed 11 boards. LSU didn’t receive enough offensive production from Johnson and Mikaylah Williams, though. They combined to score 20 points on 6-of-20 shooting South Carolina guard Raven Johnson finished with a careerhigh 22 points, while Ta’Niya Latson chipped in 19. Star sophomore forward Joyce Edwards scored 18
The No. 2 seed Cardinals (276) led by five points heading to the fourth quarter and quickly pushed their lead to 10. Thirdseeded North Carolina cut it to 52-46 midway through the quarter before Berry scored Louisville’s next six points, leading to a 58-48 advantage with two minutes left.
North Carolina whittled the deficit to five points with 21 seconds remaining, but Louisville closed it out at the free-throw line.
North Carolina (26-7), which had won 13 of 14 games coming in, got 17 points from Elina Aarnisalo, 13 from Nyla Brooks, 11 from Lanie Grant and 10 from Indya Nivar NO 13 DUKE 65, NOTRE DAME 63: In Duluth, Georgia, fifth-seeded Notre Dame had three shots in the final 11 seconds with the game on the line, but top-seeded Duke hung on and came out on top in the semi-
points, corralled 11 boards and assisted three shots. “I just thought we just held on until we could get to halftime, talk about things,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. “I felt good. I felt our players were right there. When we came out in the third quarter, we made a run, took the lead. Then it was back and forth. But I thought our kids were really resilient.”
Fulwiley drove most of LSU’s success in the first half. The Tigers entered the halftime break with a 17-0 edge in bench points, with the star junior guard accounting for all but two of them. They weren’t hitting 3-pointers, but they were forcing misses, scoring in transition and crashing the offensive glass. LSU controlled both the paint and the boards across the first and second quarters — two key reasons why it led 40-36 at halftime.
LSU softball can’t hold early lead vs. Tennessee
The No. 1 Tennessee softball team remained undefeated on Saturday after an 11-6 victory against No. 17 LSU in Knoxville, Tennessee.
LSU (17-6, 0-2 SEC) jumped ahead 4-0 in the top of the first inning, with catcher Maci Bergeron providing the big shot on a threerun homer
After scoring a run in the second inning, the Volunteers (22-0, 2-0) took control with six runs in the bottom of the third inning. LSU starting pitcher Tatum Clopton was responsible for the first two runs, and reliever Cece Cellura absorbed the rest.
Jalia Lassiter was the only LSU player with multiple hits, and she also scored two runs for the Tigers. The two teams will conclude the weekend series at 1 p.m. Sunday
Berger keeps Bay Hill lead as third round suspended
ORLANDO, Fla. — Daniel Berger stopped making as many birdies even after a rain delay took some of the bite out of Bay Hill on Saturday He still had a two-shot lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational when darkness kept the third round from finishing.
Berger was to return Sunday morning to face a 35-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th. After watching Akshay Bhatia get up-anddown from a bunker for birdie to close within two, Berger handed the putter to his caddie and decided to wait 13 hours before his next putt.
Rory McIlroy withdrew about 30 minutes before his tee time after he felt muscle spasms in his back. It was his first time withdrawing from a tournament in 13 years, though it was not likely to keep him from The Players Championship.
Ravens pick up DE Crosby for two first-round picks
Five-time Pro Bowl edge rusher
Maxx Crosby is heading to the Baltimore Ravens, two people with knowledge of the trade told The Associated Press late Friday night. The Las Vegas Raiders will receive two first-round picks from the Ravens, including the No. 14 overall pick in next month’s NFL draft, one of the people said.
The 28-year-old Crosby had 10 sacks and a career-high 28 tackles for loss last season, and he has reached double-digit sacks four times in his seven seasons.
Baltimore is in a win-now mode with three-time All-Pro quarterback Lamar Jackson. Crosby is a significant boost for a defense that finished tied for 28th in the league in sacks with only 30 last season.
finals of the ACC tournament.
The Irish overcame a flat start, taking their first lead of the game with just over six minutes remaining in the third quarter
Hannah Hidalgo led the Irish with 24 points and eight rebounds.
Taina Mair had a team-high 16 points and added eight rebounds for Duke. Toby Fournier added 14 points and eight rebounds.
NO 23 PRINCETON 78, YALE 55: In Princeton, New Jersey, Fadima Tall scored 22 points, Madison St. Rose added 17 and No. 23 Princeton captured the Ivy League regular-season title with a victory over Yale.
Leading by 10 points heading to the fourth quarter, Princeton (243, 12-2 Ivy League) blew the game open in the final 10 minutes.
Ciniya Moore led Yale (7-20, 3-11) with 19 points, and Marisa Chapman scored 16.
Then the third quarter rolled around, and South Carolina started pulling rebounds off of the offensive glass. The Gamecocks grabbed six of those boards in that quarter, then turned them into 10 second-chance points They also hit three 3-pointers.
LSU battled back. At the 5:02 mark of the fourth quarter, a 3-pointer from Richard cut South Carolina’s lead to 69-66.
The Tigers just couldn’t get the defensive stops they needed to regain the lead and end the losing streak. “Just get that one rebound,” Mulkey said. “The beginning of the third quarter, just, like, what are we doing? Missing shots, jacking up shots. What are we doing?”
LSU next will begin its NCAA Tournament run. The Tigers are expected to be given their first No. 2 seed since 2008 when the full bracket is set on March 15.
American Masters earns 20th Paralympic medal
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO Italy Oksana Masters, the most decorated American winter paralympian, surprised even herself by adding a 20th Paralympic medal to her overall tally at Milan Cortina on Saturday After overcoming a series of adversities that hindered her preparations in the leadup to the Games, Masters came through with victory in the women’s sprint sitting discipline in para biathlon, finishing ahead of fellow American Kendall Gretsch.
“Oh my gosh, my emotions are just pure shock. I did not expect this. All I was hoping was just to have a good time in the shooting range,” she said.
It was her sixth Winter Paralympic gold medal to go along with her four victories at the Summer Paralympics.
Lee in position for first LPGA win in eight years
HAINAN ISLAND, China Mi Hyang
Lee made only five pars Saturday in a wild and windy round at the Blue Bay LPGA that ended with a 1-under 71, good enough to seize control with a three-shot lead as the South Korean goes after her first LPGA win in more than eight years. Lee put together seven birdies at Jian Lake Blue Bay, offset by enough mistakes — six bogeys — to keep her from an even larger lead. She was at 12-under 204,
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MICHAEL CONROy
UCLA guard Kiki Rice shoots over Ohio State guard Jaloni Cambridge in the semifinals of the Big Ten Conference tournament on Saturday in Indianapolis.
OUTDOORS
Hogapalooza
Apack of feral hogs runs through a field at the LSU AgCenter in Clinton on June 6, 2023. Nowthat thebulk of thehunting season is over, Louisiana’sHunters for the Hungry knows hunters can extend their efforts to help remove theburgeoning feralhog population by donatinghogstothe H4H’seffort to feed the hungry of our state withthe Hogapaloozaprogram Processors across the state will process the hogs and turnthe meatovertosoup kitchens and othercivic groups. H4Halso announcedthe Dubach Deer Factory &Smokehouseisawarding cash prizes to hunters donating feralhogstothe program For details and alist of processors, email executivedirector Julie Grunewald at Julie@h4hla.org.
Jam-packed agenda
LDWF sets May1red snapperseasonamidbusymeeting
BY JOE MACALUSO
Contributing writer
Red snapper,black bears, green-hued largemouth bass, black-bellied whistling ducks along with the white and black varieties of sac-alait made for interesting and colorful news and discussion during Wednesday’sWildlife and Fisheries Commission meeting in Baton Rouge For offshore fishermen, the recreational red snapper season will open May 1 —the same as lastyear The biggest change, outlined by Wildlife and Fisheries’ marine biologist Jason Adriance,isareduction in 2026 allocationofred snapper to this sector,which includes the catch made by state-permitted charterboat operations.
Adriance told the sevenman commission that 2025’s 200-day recreational red snapper season mapped out the staff recommendation for 2026’sseven-day-a-week, four-fish-per-day limit. The snapper must measurea minimum length of 16 inches. Federally permitted charterboats crews must wait until June 1toopen their season.
Adriance said the private recreational season haul was 947,103pounds in 2025, acatch that was 105.8% of our state’s2025 allocation,a take that mandatesa reduction of the 2026 allocation to 882,439pounds.The LA Creel system estimateofthe
NOTEBOOK
federally permitted charters was 147,830 pounds
Betternews from Adriancewas theaverage weights andlengthsofred snapper were up over the same 2025 measurements, andeven better was his statement that “there is a pretty stable age structure andthere is goodrecruitment of young snapper.”
Therecreationalseason will be closed when state fisheriesmanagers,using LA Creel, determine the 2026 allotment has been reached
Black bears Moregood news from the Wildlife and Fisheries biologist John Hanks
TheDec. 5-20 black bear seasonwill expand to all seven Louisiana bear areas, up from thethree areas hunted in 2025.
Hanks said permits in each of the seven areas will be determined by population studies of thebears in each area.
Hunters took 16 bears 10 males and six females with an average weight of 341 poundsfrom the 26 tags issued for 2025’sDecember season.
Hanks outlined other changes, notably to move all of Franklin Parish intoBear Area 4, and the chance for nonresident landowners to get atag. Public comment on this
proposed season will be accepted until 4p.m. April 28.
Amendments
March’s meeting is the finalone foramendments to thenext hunting seasons which were proposedin January
Twomonths ago, duck huntersfound out about a new special October season offered to take black-bellied whistling ducks, aspecies that hasfound ahomeand prospered in south Louisiana. The rub in past years was these ducks wandered alloverthe marshes during thespecial September teal season, but were prohibited from being taken at that time.
RubNo. 2was these ducks wouldmigrate outofthe state shortly after the 60-day “big” duck season opened in November
After working for years with theU.S. Fish andWildlife Service to get aspecial season on whistling ducks, the USFWS came back to limit shooting hours from sunrise to sunset after the federal managers voiced concerns about identifying this species from other migratory waterfowl in lowlight periods.
Asecondamendment came after appeals from recreational fishermen aboutfor-hire fishing operations on the Dewey Wills Wildlife Management Area. The objectionsrevolved aboutmultiple-trip days and the use of Live Scope to
target sac-a-lait.The discussion prompted an approved amendment to bancharterboat operatorsfrom keeping fish on all WMAs as part of the overall 2026-2027 hunting regulations and WMA/ federal refuge proposals.
Apublic hearingisscheduled in April on all amendments to the hunting regs package.
More land
Three wildlife managementareas needed thecommission’sattention
The Salvador WMA in south Louisiana increased by 628.4 acres of freshwater marsh for atotal 37,075 acres, including adding four miles of shoreline along LakeSalvador
The JohnFranks WMA in Caddo Parish added 232 acres to have atotal of 3,896 acres, and51.98 acres of cutover land was addedto Sandy Hollow WMA in Tangipahoa Parish to bring its total to 4,706 acres.
Larto-Saline
Thecommission also passeda notice to change thedaily creel limit on saca-lait to 25 (with a10-inch minimum length) andreduce theallowed daily take of black bass to sevenwith a14-inch minimum “keeper size in theLarto-Saline complex.
Public comment on these changeswill be accepted until May27and can be emailed to ShelbyRichard: srichard@wlf.la.gov
MONDAY RED STICKFLY FISHERS
PROGRAM: 7p.m., BluebonnetRegional Library,9200 BluebonnetBlvd., Baton Rouge.Open to thepublic. Email Brian Roberts: roberts. brian84@gmail.com. Website: rsff.org
WEDNESDAY
BUGS &BEERS: 6:30 p.m Skeeta Hawk Brewing, 455 N. Dorgenois St., New Orleans. Casual fly tying. Open to public. Email A.J. Rosenbohm: ajrosenbohm@ gmail.com. Website: www neworleansflyfishers.com
THURSDAY
JUNIOR SOUTHWEST
BASSMASTERS MEETING: 7p.m., Seminar Room, Bass Pro Shops, Denham Springs Boys &girls age-group bass tournamentsfor ages 7-10, 11-14 &15-18 anglers. Call Jim Breaux(225) 772-3026.
HUNTINGSEASONS
GEESE/CONSERVATION
ORDER: Through March 15, East&West zones. Limited to takeofblue,snowand Ross’ geese only.Nodaily nor possession limits. Huntersallowedtouse electronic calls and shotguns capable of holding morethan three shells
ING: 6p.m., Pack and Paddle, 601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette. Call (337) 232-5854. Website: www.lafayettekayakfishing. com
MARCH18—FLIES&FLIGHTS: 7-9 p.m,Rally Cap Brewing, 11212 Pennywood Avenue, Baton Rouge.Casual fly tying. Open to public. Email Chris Williams:thefatfingeredflytyer@gmail.com
MARCH19—ACADIANA FLY
RODDERS PROGRAM: 6p.m., Pack and Paddle, 601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette. Open
to public. Email DarinLee: at cbrsandcdc@gmail.com. Website: acadianaflyrodders.org
MARCH20-22—LOUISIANA SPORTSMAN SHOW: St John theBaptist CommunityCenter &Thomas Daley Memorial Park, 2900 U.S. 51, LaPlace. Interacivefishing seminars,vendors,fishing pond.Admission fee
MARCH22–45TH KIWANIS OF POINTE COUPEEOPEN BASS TOURNAMENT: 3p.m. weigh-in, MorrisonParkway public launch, NewRoads. Pick-your-partner/$150 entry fee. Benefits FalseRiver projects. Call Kenneth St. Romain (225) 718-1319.
FISHING/SHRIMPING SHRIMP: Fall inshoreseason closed in Zones2&3& portions of Zone 1except Breton/Chandeleursounds.
BY JENNA FRYER AP auto racing writer
AVONDALE,Ariz. The flipside to Tyler Reddicktaking Michael Jordan to victory lane in NASCAR’sfirst three races this season is teammate Bubba Wallacefeelsa bit left outofthe euphoria surrounding 23XI Racing. Reddick set aNASCAR record in winningthe first three races of theseason, the Daytona 500, at Atlanta and last weekend on the road course in Austin, Texas, with Jordan in attendance, and Jordan will be at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday when Reddick goes for four in arow
The success has 23XI Racing buzzing and Reddick and Wallace are 1-2 in the Cup Series standings. Wallace canfind solace in howhe’s running —hehad chances to win at Daytona and Atlanta
horseshoeJimmieJohnson had for seven Cup championships.
“You know, Tyler’sbeen driving his (butt) off, simple as that, Icouldn’tbemore proud of himand the way he’s turned aroundfrom his (winless) season from last year,” Wallace said. “It’s been pretty cool to witness that. Iwish it was our team.”
ä StraightTalk Wireless 500. 2:30 P.M., FS1
—but is still disappointed the winshavegone solely to Reddick
The differencebetween theToyotateammates, Wallace joked,isthat Reddick inherited the mythicallucky
Reddick can empathize with Wallace andnotedhe hada tinge of jealousy last season when Wallace won the Brickyard 400 as Reddick was slumping.
“I’ve experienced it other places that I’ve racedand feel like Icontended to win,didn’t winand teammatesdid,soI understandwhereheprobably would be withthat part of it,” Reddick said. “I think he’s doing agood job of remaining positiveand it’sa good start to the year for him.
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MEN’S TOP 25 ROUNDUP
Gators on a roll
No. 5 Florida beats Kentucky to finish regular season with 11-game win streak
By The Associated Press
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Thomas Haugh had 20 points and nine rebounds as No. 5 Florida beat Kentucky 84-77 on Saturday to end the regular season with an 11-game winning streak.
Boogie Fland added 16 points and six assists for the Gators (25-6, 16-2 Southeastern Conference), the No. 1 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament at Nashville, Tennessee. The reigning national champions completed a regular-season sweep of the Wildcats (19-12, 10-8) Alex Condon scored 14 points for Florida. Rueben Chinyelu had 13 points and eight rebounds, and Xaivian Lee finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Otega Oweh led Kentucky with 28 points, 17 in the first half. Oweh was honored before the game along with follow senior Denzel Aberdeen and walk-ons Zack Tow and Walker Horn. No. 1 DUKE 76, No. 17 NORTH CAROLINA 61: In Durham, North Carolina, Cameron Boozer had 26 points, 15 rebounds and five assists to help Duke beat North Carolina in a rivalry rematch Maliq Brown added 15 points as Duke led by a single possession early after halftime before taking over with 16 unanswered points in what ballooned to a 24-2 surge. The Blue Devils (29-2, 17-1) completed a second straight one-loss run through ACC regular-season play, this one coming a month after losing at North Carolina on Seth Trimble’s last-second 3-pointer Duke has won eight straight, including a neutral-court victory over then-No 1 Michigan and a romp against No. 13 Virginia.
MARQUETTE 68, No. 4 UCONN 62: In Milwaukee, Nigel James scored 19 points and UConn coach Dan Hurley was ejected in the final second as Marquette hung on to prevent the Huskies from claiming a share of the Big East regular-season title.
UConn (27-4, 17-3) trailed 64-62 when the Huskies’ Silas Demary drove to the basket while being defended by Ben Gold. Demary’s shot hit the glass and the rim before the ball bounced off a couple of players and hit the floor No 6 IOWA STATE 86, ARIZONA STATE 65: In Ames, Iowa, Joshua Jefferson, Tamin Lipsey and Milan Momcilovic had 16 points apiece, and Iowa State scored 24 straight points to break open a win over Arizona State on Saturday
The Sun Devils led 45-41 when the game turned early in the second half. Momcilovic and Jefferson hit consecutive 3s to start the decisive run. Jefferson riled the Hilton Coliseum crowd when he blocked Anthony Johnson’s layup attempt and sped down the court to take Nate Heise’s long pass for a dunk. No. 7 HOUSTON 82, OKLAHOMA STATE 75: In Stillwater, Oklahoma, reserve Chase McCarty scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and Houston rallied Kingston Flemings added 13 points, five rebounds and nine assists for Houston (265 overall, 14-4 Big 12 Conference), which clinched the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 Tournament and a spot in the quarterfinals on Thursday in Kansas City. No. 14 KANSAS 104 KANSAS STATE 85: In Lawrence, Kansas, freshman star Darryn Peterson scored 27 points in his likely Allen Fieldhouse finale, Tre White and Melvin Council had memorable senior send-offs of their own, and Kansas routed Kansas State Peterson, the potential No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA draft, was an efficient 10 of 15 from the field for the Jayhawks (22-9, 12-6 Big 12), who clinched a double-bye in next week’s conference tournament by winning on senior day for the 43rd consecutive year
WISCONSIN 97, No. 15 PURDUE 93: In West Lafayette, Indiana, John Blackwell made five 3-pointers and scored 25 points, Nick Boyd added 23
tournament. The Pels had a lackluster performance against the Clippers, but they had chances against the Lakers and Suns.
The Pelicans had the Lakers on the ropes Tuesday night but couldn’t deliver the knockout. They led 94-86 with 7:20 remaining before getting outscored 24-7 the rest of the way
On Friday night, it was just the opposite. They trailed by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter, then climbed out of the hole before falling short. There were some missed opportunities. De-
and Wisconsin set a schoolrecord with 18 3-pointers.
No. 13 VIRGINIA 76, VIRGINIA
TECH 72: In Charlottesville, Virginia, Ugo Onyenso and Malik Thomas each had 16 points, Sam Lewis scored 15 and Virginia held off Virginia Tech. No. 20 ARKANSAS 88, MISSOURI
84,OT: In Columbia, Missouri, Arkansas beat Missouri in overtime to make John Calipari the fifth Division I men’s basketball coach to win 900 games.
Meleek Thomas scored 28 and Trevon Brazile had 19 points and nine rebounds for Arkansas (23-8, 13-5 Southeastern Conference).
LOUISVILLE 92, No. 22 MIAMI
89: In Coral Gables, Florida, Ryan Conwell scored 18 of his 24 points in the first half, Adrian Wooley hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 18.4 seconds remaining and Louisville wasted a 12-point lead before hanging on.
No. 24 VANDERBILT 86, No. 23
TENNESSEE 82: In Knoxville, Tennessee, Tyler Tanner scored 25 points to lead the Commodores past the Vols.
The Commodores (24-7, 11-7 SEC) led by double digits most of the game.
GEORGE MASON 86, No. 25
SAINTS LOUIS 57: In Fairfax, Virginia, Jahari Long had 21 points and nine assists, and George Mason routed Saint Louis in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Late Friday
No. 19 MIAMI (OHIO) 110, OHIO
108: In Athens, Ohio, the RedHawks finished the regular season as the only unbeaten team in Division I men’s basketball, with Eian Elmer scoring a career-high 32 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in a gritty overtime victory over Ohio.
Peter Suder scored five of his 13 points in overtime for Miami (31-0, 18-0 MidAmerican), which became the first team to complete an unblemished regular season since Gonzaga in 2021. Despite its magical season, Miami might need to win the conference tournament next week to guarantee a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
jounte Murray, so instrumental in the comeback, missed a layup in the final minute. And Williamson missed a free throw with 8.6 seconds left that could have trimmed the deficit to one.
“I thought it was a good fight,” Pelicans interim head coach James Borrego said. “We could’ve given in. We kept battling down 12 and 13, and kept clawing in there and found a way to make it a one-possession game. Overall, a good road trip. Could’ve been better We probably had two wins there that we let slip from our fingertips. Good battle. It’s a new group that’s playing together and we’re going to find our way and figure it out.” The line between winning and
A rarity: Tulane’s Daniels to finish where he started
Senior to be honored before Memphis game
BY GUERRY SMITH Contributing writer
Starts have been few and far between for Tulane center Percy Daniels, but he has done something rare in the transfer-portal era of college basketball — finish where he started. When he participates in senior day ceremonies before Tulane (17-13, 8-9) hosts Memphis (12-18, 7-10) in its regular-season finale on Sunday (1 p.m., ESPN+), he will be one of two players in the 13-team American Conference who stayed with the same team for all four years.
The other is Rice center Andrew Akuchie, and the story is the same almost everywhere. Only 22 players in the five power conferences will celebrate senior day after spending their entire career at one place, including one in the SEC.
“I love Percy, and he is a unicorn,” coach Ron Hunter said. “Who knows if I will ever have the opportunity to see another four-year guy? It just doesn’t happen much anymore. From where he started to where he is now, I am just so proud of him.” It was not always a smooth ride. Daniels, a 6-foot-10 Baton Rouge native who was rated the No. 3 big-man prospect in Louisiana by 247Sports when he came out of Madison Prep, finally has a defined role this season as a defensive stopper off the bench. He ranks fifth in the American in blocked shots (1.6 per game) despite playing only 16 minutes per game.
Despite starting only three times in his career, he said he never seriously considered leaving.
“It’s big time to me that
Tulane
an intimidator on the interior Tulane lacks with no one else in the rotation taller than 6-8.
I’ve been here all four years,” he said. “Then again, the portal isn’t what people try to make it seem. Maybe for the top 5% of players, it’s probably nice, but for a lot of guys it doesn’t work out.”
Daniels is happier than ever He became a father to Percy Keith Daniels Jr in December during the first couple of minutes of Christmas and has loved every second of it.
“Fatherhood has been great,” he said. “That is the light of my day, on my way home knowing I’m going to see my baby waiting on me as soon as I open the door No matter what time it is, no matter how long he’s been asleep, as soon as he hears me talking, he’s getting up.”
He said fatherhood has rechanneled his focus rather than being a distraction, contributing to his production as he watches film at home on his iPad with Percy Jr on his lap. He has blocked at least one shot in 11 consecutive games, providing
“It’s great this year having something to go out there and rely on,” he said. “My teammates are always telling me when Perc is down there, I know I’m good.” His presence is worth more than his numbers indicate Aside from the blocked shots, he is averaging only 2.2 points and 2.3 rebounds while playing through an early January knee injury that has not totally healed. His season high is eight points. Still, his comfort on and off the court has increased significantly Hard to read in the past, he has opened up since become a father “I’ve seen a difference in regards to even his conversation,” Hunter said. “We always would joke it was difficult just to get him to smile sometimes, but he smiles all the time now I saw him the other day holding his child, and everything I thought in my head just completely went away just to see him like that.”
women end poor regular season with loss
BY DARRELL WILLIAMS Contributing writer
A difficult, disappointing Tulane women’s regular season came to its inevitable end Saturday afternoon at Devlin Fieldhouse
As was the case in many of the Green Wave’s games this season, this one ended in a loss despite chances for victory South Florida, in third place in the American Conference, held the Green Wave without a point the final three minutes in a 58-49 win.
The loss was the second consecutive and third in four games for Tulane (11-19, 6-12), which was outscored 9-0 down the stretch. The dismal showing saw the Green Wave shoot 28.1% (16 of 57) while getting outrebounded 51-35, including 19-9 in offensive glass.
After the game, secondyear coach Ashley Langford, a Tulane Hall of Fam-
losing in the NBA is a thin one. This trip showed that.
It also showed how competitive the Pels can be when healthy For the first time this season, the Pelicans played with a fully healthy roster for two games on this road trip. The results were losses to the Lakers and Suns.
But overall, Borrego liked what he saw from his team.
“It was a positive (trip) in that we were in every game,” Borrego said. “We built momentum. We were competitive throughout every single game. I love our spirit, our fight, the identity on both sides of the ball. We’ve got guys in and out of the lineup, so it’s a little funky right now.” Murray, who returned two
er as a player, met with her team at length then held a meeting with her staff. She did not address the media.
It was another one that got away as South Florida, playing without its best player — guard Edyn Battle — struggled just as much as did Tulane. Battle missed the game with a thumb injury
The victory by the Bulls (20-11, 13-5) can be attributed almost wholly to their second-half bludgeoning of the Wave on the boards by — 32-15, including 15-3 in offensive rebounds.
“I had some words for them at halftime,” said South Florida first-year coach Michele Woods-Baxter after the Bulls won for the 14th consecutive time at Tulane and the 26th time in 27 meetings overall. “First, I told them we could not play any worse. Secondly, I told them what the rebounding was like, and that we missed shots around the basket.”
One of the players Woods-
weeks ago after missing more than a year with a torn Achilles, sat out two games on the trip because he isn’t yet playing in both games of a back-to-back situation. His presence was felt Friday though, as he finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists. He also was credited with two steals.
“He turned that game with his defensive tenacity,” Borrego said.
“That’s what makes him special. He can get out there on the ball and hawk the ball and make big plays. It’s great to see him making progress and getting more comfortable with our group.”
All five starters scored in double figures Friday The night before, the Pelicans got major
Baxter lit into was 6-foot-2 center L’or Mputu. Mputu had a game-high 14 rebounds, with seven offensive, to go with 10 points. Power forward Carla Brito had 12 rebounds — four offensive — and 10 points. Guard Katie Davidson led with 21 points. Tulane was led by freshman guard Mecailin Marshall with 21 points. Next up for Tulane, which finished 10th in the conference, is a the American Conference tournament. The Wave will meet No. 3 seed Temple in the first round at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Birmingham, Alabama. Tulane also has battled injuries, most notably to sophomore starting point guard Kendall Sneed, who has been out with a knee injury since the team’s Feb. 17 win at Memphis. Freshman Shiloh Kimpson has started in Sneed’s absence. Against South Florida, she logged 37:29.
minutes from nine players in the win over the Kings. They’ll need similar performances as they take on these last 17 games. The next one is Sunday when the Pels host the Washington Wizards at the Smoothie King Center The Pelicans have won their last five games against the Wizards. Based on how the Pels played on the road trip against struggling teams, that streak should extend to six straight on Sunday
But they will finish the week with a home game against the Toronto Raptors and then a road trip to Houston to play the Rockets. Those are the type of games the Pels need to start finding a way to win.
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
Tulane center Percy Daniels, left, and Samford forward Dylan Faulkner battle for the ball during a game on Nov. 3 at Devlin Fieldhouse.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JAMES CRISP
Thomas Haugh of Florida pulls in a rebound in front of Kentucky’s Malachi Moreno during the first half of Saturday’s game in Lexington, Ky. The Gators won 84-77.
Triple-OTlosssends LSUtoSEC cellar
BY TOYLOYBROWN III Staff writer
LSU basketballhas performed worse at home than on the road for most of the season. But in the regular-season finale, LSU put forth one of its most inspiring performances in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center,but it wasn’t enough as TexasA&M prevailed 94-91 in triple overtime on Saturday.Accordingto theSEC Network broadcast, it was the first triple-overtimeSEC game since 2017 LSU now sits alone in last place in the SEC standings. In the third overtime, LSU had just two free throwsfor its only points after 3:17 elapsed. Robert Miller made alayup for theteam’s first field goal of the periodtotrail 90-89.
Jalen Reece, with fiveseconds on the shot clock, drove from the left corner to the paint and drained afloater to givethe Tigers a91-90 lead with 42 seconds remaining. But Rashaun Ageeof Texas A&M did an exaggerated pump fake from the top of the key and drove for an and-one layup. After the free throw,his team led 93-91 with 24 seconds remaining After Reece missed ashot in the lane, the Aggies added afree throw to go up 94-91. MaxMackinnon dribbled up the court and foundanopen pull-up 3-pointer for LSU, but his shot was well short as the Aggies delivered LSU athird straight defeat.
Mike Nwoko had 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Tigers. Mackinnon had 20 points, andReece chippedin17points and five assists.
The Aggies applied their fullcourt defense throughout. Texas A&M entered the game forcing 13.5 turnovers per game, which were the mostinthe Southeastern Conference.
Once the Tigers understood the frenetic nature of their opponent, they adapted and scored. LSU had astretch where it made 7of8 field
missed shot allowedthe Aggies to win 94-91.
goals.Marquel Sutton was the early beneficiary,scoring adriving layup and thena left-corner 3-pointer
Mackinnon was alsoaggressive as ascorer,going to the basket for sixquick pointsoncutsand drives. LSU led 19-7 with 12:37 left in the first half. The biggestdefensive standout was Miller.The 6-10 sophomore protected the rim when drivers approached the paint, racking up three blocks in his first five minutes. He also showed good scoring touch at the hoop, scoring six
pointsbyhalftime.
Texas A&M was 3of24from the field with8:52 left in the first half, and LSU led26-11. The Aggies turned to Rylan Griffen’s shooting to catch up as the senior guard hada team-high 13 points at halftime. The Tigers led 38-33 at the half. LSU held a56-50 lead after eight minutes in the second half.
Agee, the Aggies’ leading scorer,showed his ruggedness around the rim in his post-ups, whichhelped contribute to four fouls on LSUcenter Mike Nwoko
with11:43 left in thegame. Agee finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
TexasA&M took its first lead since 3-2at61-60 with 7:25 remaining, and the game was back and forth from there on out.
TheTigers had possession down 70-68 with under aminuteremaining. Mackinnonhad back-to-back spin moves to finisha left-handed layup to tie the game. LSU got adefensive stop and, with 7.1 seconds remaining, called atimeout to draw up apotential game-winning play in regulation. Mackinnonset up aright-corner 3-pointer for Sutton, who missed.
TheTigers took their first lead in the extra five minutesaftera catch-and-shoot 3from Mackinnon to take a77-76 lead with 1:23 left in the first overtime. Texas A&Mreplied with a3 from Agee to go up 79-77 with 1:05 left.
Afterasteal from Sutton,Reece madea game-tying floater with 6.7 seconds remaining. Griffin airballed amid-rangejumperwhile falling down to forcea second overtime.
In the second overtime, Mackinnon tiedthe game at 81-81 on the free-throw line. On the other end, Miller deflected apass forasteal, whichsparked afastbreak layup for Mackinnon. LSU took an 83-81 lead with 1:03 left.
Marcus Hill made his first field goal of thegame forthe Aggies, which was an and-one layup. After making thefree throw,hegave his teaman84-83leadwith50seconds remaining. TexasA&M got thestop and then made1of2free throws to take an 85-83 lead with 21 seconds left. Mackinnonwas fouled away from the ball while theteam was in the double bonus and tiedthe contest at 85-85 with 12 seconds remaining. With achance to tie, Hill had theball ripped out of his hands by Reece.
The Tigers’ next game is in the first round of the SEC Tournament on Wednesday
Chio alreadystaking claimamong LSUgym greats
BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer
Therewas atimelastseason when it seemed unlikelyLSU wouldproduce another gymnast as great as Haleigh Bryant.
In five seasons, Bryant won 105 events, including two NCAA individual titles. In 2024, she helped lead LSU to its firstteam national championship. Her 18 career perfect 10s are twice as manyasany other LSU gymnast ever Then Kailin Chio came along. To say the LSU sophomore is arising star wouldbeanunderstatement. She is on pace to be the greatest gymnast LSU has ever had.
Chio has 50 individual wins in 24 career meets, including the 2025 NCAA vault title, to rank 12th on LSU’s career wins list.She already has seven perfect 10s, which is seventh on the program’s career list. Going into Sunday’smeetatNo. 4Florida (5 p.m., SEC Network), Chio is ranked No. 1nationally in theall-around, on vault andonbalance beam. It’sinthe latter event where she has excelled the most, with four perfect10s, including three straight, to make her the first LSU gymnast since 1995with
three straight 10.0marks in the same event.
What makes Chio so good, and how greatcan shebe? We put that question to fourlegitimate all-time LSU gymnastics greats: JenniferWood,Susan Jackson, RheaganCourvilleBrantonand Ashleigh Gnat
Gnat competedfor LSUfrom 2014-17, winning 62 titles —includingthe 2017 NCAAfloor championshipand nine perfect 10s. Gnat returned as an LSU assistant coach for five seasons from 2021-25, when she was involved in recruiting Chio, then a five-star prospect,from her hometown of Henderson, Nevada.
“Weall knew thecompetitor she was,” Gnat said from her new home in Tampa, Florida, where sheworks as arepresentative for GK Eliteleotards. “She’d already shown that as aLevel 10 (gymnast) and an elite athlete before that.”
Branton, who won 95 events at LSU from 2012-15 —including the 2013 and2014 NCAA vault titles, andfive SEC individualtitles —is still highlyinvolved with the program. She designs the leotardsfor GK Elite that the Tigers wear in every competition. As aresult, Branton hasgone
to her fair share of practices and meets, figuring out up close what makes Chio such aspecial performer.Branton said it’s her consistency andabilitytotake her gamefrom thepractice gym to the meet floor that makeher special. “Everythinglooks so easy,” Branton said. “Effortless. She has her own style for everything. But mainly,she’ssoconsistent. That’s what makes her so great. Youcan rely on her, so there’sacalmness with everyone around her.”
Jackson, an LSUgymnast from 2007-10, won 74 titles and is LSU’s only three-timeNCAA individual champion. She was the first Tiger to win the NCAA all-around back in 2010, and she also won the 2008 NCAA vault title and the 2010 NCAA beam trophy,all accomplishments that landedher in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.
Jackson has marveled at what she calls Chio’s“pure precision.”
“Everything shedoes hasthis effortless, almost robotic quality,” Jackson said. “But Iassure you, nothingshe does is easy.It comes from years of discipline and intentional training and an unbelievable work ethic. What makes her stand out is her mental
toughness.”
LastSunday in the Podium Classic at the Raising Cane’sRiver Center,Chio achieved something notdonebyanLSU gymnastin 31 years. She recorded her third straight perfect 10 on beam, the first Tiger to have threestraight 10.0 scores on one event since Wood in 1995onvault.
A10-time All-American and member of the 1992 Canadian Olympic team, Wood excelled on vault,recording all nine of her 10.0 scores in thatevent. Today the Calgary,Alberta, native lives just outside of Columbus, Ohio. She marveled that one of her marks from three decades ago still stood, but she acknowledged thatChio has the entire LSU record book under assault.
“Some people are just good at being on in themoment,”Wood said. “You can’tteach that. She has that special ‘it’ factor you can just see. It’spreparation, too.
When you’re so confident andit looks like it’ssoeasy for her that’sthe goal
“She’sanamazing athlete. She seems likeshe just loves it There’smorepressure on these girls withthe TV and the fans and theinternet. Ididn’thave that. She appears to take it in stride.”
just amust forustoscore.” SacramentoState (4-10) separatedfromthe Tigers in the top of theeighthbytaking advantage of an uncharacteristicallypoor outing from redshirt sophomore right-hander Deven Sheerin.
Sheerin —who enteredSaturday having not allowed ahit or a run in fiveappearances —walked twobatters and surrendered a single thatset up thebases-loaded jamwithtwo outs.Then, in a two-strike count, Noot allowed a fastball over the plate thatsecond baseman Cameron Sewell sent into the right-field bleachers. “He’d been good up until today,”Johnsonsaidwhenasked about Sheerin. “I’m proud of him forthat.”
Saturday wasnot Kansas righthanded transfer Cooper Moore’s best start. The junior couldn’t escape thefifthinningand,uncharacteristically,walkedthree batters andhit twoothers.Moore had morewalks on Saturday than he had in his first threestarts combined.
But he surrendered only one run, allowing arun-scoring double with twoouts and two strikes in the second inning. Still, his inefficiency forced Johnson to turn to junior-college transfer Ethan Plog to finish the fifth.
“I don’tthink he had his best stuff or outing,” Johnson said of Moore, “but Ithought he competedlike he does,and that’s whyI’m very comfortablewinning or losing with him.” Plog wasexcellent in relief. With LSU(12-4)trailingbya run, he tossed 22/3 scoreless innings to drophis ERA on the season to 1.50. He walked just onebatterand hadtwo strikeouts while consistently generating weak contact. He exitedfor Sheerin with one out in the eighth inning.
“Just getting ahead in the zone, finishing guys offquickly,” Plog said, “has been beneficial for me the most.” LSU finishes off its three-game series with Sacramento State on Sunday.First pitch from Alex Box Stadium is set for 6p.m., andthe game willbeavailable to stream on SEC Network+.The matchup wasoriginally set to begin at 1p.m. but was moved back because of Sunday’sweather forecast.
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
LSU guard Max Mackinnon takes the final shot of the third overtime periodagainst TexasA&M withthe Tigers down by three on Saturdayat thePete MaravichAssembly Center.The
Player-led huddle sparks Karr rally in quarterfinals
BY CHRISTOPHER DABE Staff writer
The only voices in the huddle were those of the Edna Karr basketball players.
Trailing by nine points in the state quarterfinals, Karr coach Taurus Howard stood by silently during a timeout as players repeated the plan.
They talked about taking care of the basketball, getting back on defense and perhaps most importantly, not letting Captain Shreve sharpshooter Jacob Richardson get open looks after he hit a pair of early 3-pointers Karr’s fortunes changed after that. Improved play at both ends keyed a 55-49 quarterfinal victory Friday that advanced the No. 11-seeded Cougars to the LHSAA Division I select state tournament next week in Lake Charles.
“I didn’t have to say nothing,” Howard said about the playerled huddle. “They talked about it, ‘Look, we got to play defense Stop turning the ball over.’ So, when you hear stuff like that, you know they understand. That’s what it’s all about.”
Senior guard Kaleb Williams came off the bench for 12 points, making him the only double-figure scorer for the Cougars. Senior Delvin Jordan finished with nine points and six rebounds. Junior Jamion Davis added eight points and hit two 3-pointers. The win kept alive Karr’s turnaround season after winning only seven games and missing the playoffs last year
The Cougars (28-9) won largely without all-district selection Kahlil Fisher, on the bench with a large bandage across his forehead.
Fisher left the game after he and Shreve’s Richardson bumped heads while chasing a loose ball with 5:32 left in the second quar-
ter
Richardson, who scored 22 points in No. 14 Shreve’s upset of No 3 St Augustine earlier in the week, returned to start the second half while Fisher watched from the bench.
While being guarded closely after halftime, Richardson’s only points came on a pair of fourthquarter free throws. He finished with 10 points.
“That was our game plan, to not let him see the goal,” Jordan said.
With the score tied 30-all in the third quarter Karr went ahead for good on Kenvon Riley’s putback Jordan followed with a driving layup before the third quarter ended.
Marquis Lambert’s jumper started the fourth and Williams followed with an and-one that made the score 39-30 — Karr’s largest lead at the time.
After the lead grew to 13 points on a basket by Kingston Harris, Shreve (20-12) trimmed the margin back to single figures but never less than seven until the final seconds.
After the finish, Karr players took turns cutting off pieces of the net at one end of the court.
Howard was the last to climb a ladder He clipped off the final piece of the net, pulled it over his head and placed it around his neck
“These kids have been working hard since the end of last season,”
Howard said. “We started (the season) off good. We reached a hard road in the middle, but we bounced back. They understood what our goal was, which was to get in the playoffs and make a run.”
In the semifinals for the first time since 2022, Karr will face No 2 Alexandria at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Burton Coliseum.
Contact Christopher Dabe at cdabe@theadvocate.com
PREP REPORT
DYNASTY RESTORED
Curtis wins 8th girls hoops title in 10 years
BY SPENCER URQUHART Staff writer
The John Curtis girls basketball team was looking to win its eighth state championship in the past decade. After getting redemption in the semifinals against Huntington, No. 1-seeded Curtis was facing No. 3-seeded St. Joseph’s for the Division I select state title. Curtis led from start to finish in a dominant 82-38 win on Saturday at the University Center in Hammond.
Curtis was led by several players who played on prior state title-winning teams, including seniors Ke’Sonja Nelson and Bailey Timmons. The pair was among four Curtis players that scored double-digit points in Saturday’s state title game win.
“I’m so happy for the girls,” Curtis coach Alendra Brown said.
38 Division II nonselect: No. 4 Wossman 50 No. 2 LaGrange 39 Division I select: John Curtis vs. No. 3 St. Joseph’s, n Boys basketball Friday’s quarterfinals
Division I select No. 1 John Curtis 67, No. 9 Huntington 54 No. 11 Edna Karr 55, No. 14 Captain Shreve 49 Division II select No. 3 Washington-Marion 68, No. 6 Kennedy 52 No. 1 Madison Prep 62, No. 8 Hannan 51 Division III select No. 4 De La Salle 47, No. 5 Lafayette Renaissance 46 No. 3 Country Day 74, No. 6 St. Louis Catholic 53
Division IV select No. 2 St. Martin’s 53, No. 7 Delhi Charter 40 Division I nonselect No. 1 Zachary 61, No. 9 Northshore 58
Manning
BY SPENCER URQUHART Staff writer
John Curtis senior Autrail Manning made sure his season didn’t end on his home court in the quarterfinals.
No. 1-seeded Curtis found itself
trailing No. 8-seeded Huntington by 13 points at halftime in Friday’s Division I select boys basketball quarterfinal matchup, but Manning’s 21 second-half points led to a 67-54 Patriots win to advance to the state semifinals for a second straight year Manning led Curtis with 31 points, which included three 3-pointers. He pulled down five rebounds and got to the free-throw line six times, making 8 of 8 free throws in the second half.
“At halftime, coach (Biko Paris) got on our butts,” Manning said. “I had to get on my team, too. I’m a senior I couldn’t go home with a loss. At first it wasn’t going for me, but I didn’t back down and just kept everything going. I had
“We wanted to use this opportunity in the (state) final to showcase our skills, and it was important that the girls came out strong and showed what they were of capable of while playing with poise and under control. I wanted them to just enjoy the moment and leave it all on the court.”
Nelson was named Most Outstanding Player against St. Joseph’s, scoring 20 points and recording five steals. Timmons, a UL signee, finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.
“After all the hard work I put in throughout the years and coming (back) from injuries and different stuff, (the Most Outstanding Player award) means a lot,” Nelson said. “I finally got to showcase what I really could do. I’m glad that I’m going out with a big accomplishment.”
Curtis scored the first points of the game on a 3-point play by sophomore Raven Bolds and led
by double-digits at the end of the first quarter. The Patriots extended their lead to 25 points at halftime.
Curtis applied intense defensive pressure throughout the game with 32 points off turnovers. Sophomore Jayla Albert was a force on defense with a team-high eight steals and scored 11 points.
“I’m just happy the girls played good defense and kept their hands up,” Brown said “They’re always disciplined, working together and moving their feet, talking with each other so I’m very proud that the defense was there tonight. Jayla (Albert) is the ultimate all-around player.”
Sophomore Janiyah Williams led Curtis in scoring with 24 points, 15 of which came in the first half. Bolds finished with nine points along with eight rebounds.
“I was just getting to my shots,”
game’s final quarter He also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and blocked three shots.
“Jonnie (Walker) is a warrior,” Curtis coach Biko Paris said. “He willed us to the win down the stretch with Autrail (Manning), they made some huge plays for us. We knew we could get could hot.” Curtis outscored Huntington by 28 points in the second half.
Eighth-grader Tory Walker scored 10 points as one of three Curtis players to score in double figures, and junior Jewellz Tapp had eight points. Senior Midnight Martin didn’t score but excelled on defense with six rebounds and two steals Curtis had several players see key minutes off the bench as has been the case throughout the season.
“(Our depth) helps, especially against a team like (Huntington) that only plays six guys,” Paris said. “I’ve got fresh guys out there, and they’ve got guys that are gasping for air It goes a long way.”
Williams said “I was just working hard and trying to score and do the best for my team so we could get the win today.”
St. Joseph’s (23-6) played in its first girls basketball state championship game in program history Freshman Evelyn Osborne scored a team-high 14 points. “Before the ball left my players’ hands, (Curtis) knew what was going on,” St. Joseph’s coach Tim Waller said. “That was very impressive for a high school basketball team. We weren’t surprised by any of it; we just didn’t expect it to be that fast.” Curtis (25-1) returned to the Division I select state title game this year after missing the finals last season. While Nelson and Timmons will graduate, Curtis is set to return Albert, Williams and Bolds next year as juniors as it looks to continue its girls basketball dynasty
Antonio Dixon led Huntington in scoring with 18 points, but Curtis held him scoreless in the final period. JD McDonald scored 11 points and had a team-high six assists for the Raiders. Next up for Curtis (27-2) is No. 12-seeded Catholic-Baton Rouge in the semifinals at Burton Coliseum in Lake Charles. Catholic defeated No. 4-seeded St. Thomas More 5451 in the quarterfinals.
Curtis won by four points against Catholic in a quarterfinal matchup last season. The Patriots are looking for redemption in the semifinals after losing by two points last year on a buzzer-beater
“(Getting back to state) means everything,” Paris said. “That’s all (the team) talks about is getting back. I told them, ‘bottle up that feeling (from last year), remember it. You don’t want to feel it again.’ The work ethic has been unmatched ever since.”
Email Spencer Urquhart at surquhart@theadvocate.com.
STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE
John Curtis’ Autrail Manning, shown against Brother Martin on Jan. 26, scored 31 points in a quarterfinal matchup with Huntington on Friday.
John Curtis players celebrate during the LHSAA girls Division I select championship basketball game on Saturday in Hammond.
STAFF PHOTOS By BRETT DUKE
The John Curtis girls basketball team celebrates its win over St. Joseph’s Academy in the LHSAA Division I select championship game on Saturday in Hammond.
Topics to consider as NFLfreeagencylooms
BY ROBMAADDI
TheSuperBowlchampion Seattle Seahawks found their starting quarterback in free agency last year,landing Sam Darnold.
TheNew England Patriots went from worst to first in the AFCEast after signing several key veterans who helped them reach the Super Bowl.
Winning free agency doesn’talways translate into success on the field. Plenty of moves have backfired over the years. Kirk Cousins ($100 million guaranteed) and Christian Wilkins ($82.75 million guaranteed) are among several big contracts that didn’twork out recently But the Seahawks and Patriots proved smart spending canmake all of the difference. NFL teams can startreshaping their rosters when agents begin negotiating with club executives at 11 a.m. Monday when the legal tamperingperiod opens. Players can’tofficially sign new deals until the start of the league’snew year at 3p.m. Wednesday Here are some topicsentering NFL free agency.
Topquarterbacks
Cousins and Kyler Murray won’t officially be free until they’rereleased by their teams next week, but they’ll be two of the mostaccomplishedQBs on themarket.
Four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers hasn’tdeclared his intentions to play another season. If hewants to play,he’ll generate interest after helping the Steelers win the AFC North. If the Dolphins cut TuaTagovailoa, he’d be an interesting option, especially for the veteran’s minimum.
Malik Willis could endupwith alucrative deal from ateamthat considers him apossible long-term option.
Russell Wilson will be seeking his fourth team in four years. The
Colts placed atransition tagon
Daniel Jones so he’s not as “free” to go elsewherebecause Indianapolis can match any offer he gets.
Best edge rushers
Pressuring quarterbacks is a priority for everydefense, and thatstarts with talented edge rushers
Trey Hendrickson, a2024 AllPro, had171/2 sacksinback-toback seasons before injuries limited himtoseven games last season.He’llhaveplenty of suitors.
Jaelan Phillips, Odafe Oweh and K’Lavon Chaisson are amongthe toprushers. Three-timeAll-Pro KhalilMack just turned 35 but he can still get after QBs
Checking with WRs
Tampa Bay WR Mike Evans, a six-timePro Bowl pick, is explor-
ing free agency for thefirst time, and there’sa real possibilityhe could play his 13thseason for a newteam. He’s looking for achampionship contenderwith an established quarterback and would be an ideal fit for several teams, including the49ers,Patriots and Chargers.
D.J. Moore is headingtoBuffalo in atrade. Other teams would have to trade apremium to get A.J. Brown from the Eagles.
Alec Pierce ledthe league in yards perreception over the lasttwo seasons with the Colts, and he’sonlyturning 26 in May so he’sgoing to be hotly pursued.
Five-time All-ProTyreekHillis comingoff aserious kneeinjury DeeboSamuel,Jauan Jennings, ChristianKirk andWan’dale Robinsonare amongthe top available receivers.
SAINTS
Continued from page1C
served as the Philadelphia playcallerin2024, and the 26-year-old wentontoshine with the Steelers lastyear.Named team MVP for Pittsburgh, Gainwell is an effective playmaker in thepassing game,ashehas almost as many career receiving yards (1,207) as rushing (1,722).
Asante Samuel Jr., Pittsburgh Steelers CB
After undergoing spine surgery in April, Samuel waslinked to the Saintsall of last season until he signed with Pittsburgh in November.Heisfamiliar with defensive coordinatorBrandon Staley,having begun his career with theChargers. Samuel would make sense as acheaper replacement for Alontae Taylor should the Saints cornerback depart in free agency
ChrisPaul, Washington Commanders G
If the Saintswanttostayaway from high-priced guards, such as Johnsonand David Edwards of Buffalo, Paul could be an intriguing upside play. Aformer seventh-round pick in 2022, Paul has developed nicely and unseated rookie Brandon Coleman in Washington last year for astarting spot. The 27-year-old is big, strong and ranked eighth among allguardsinpass-block win rate in 2025.
Quay Walker, GreenBay PackersLB
If the Saints want to get more athletic at linebacker,Walker could be an expensive option worth the swing. Walker can cover the middleofthe field, somethingthe Saintslinebackers have struggled to do over the last few seasons. There are differing opinions on the 25-year-old’simpact, as ESPNrankedhim as the 10th-best available freeagent, while The Athletic put him at No. 57. He’dbea nice fallback option if DemarioDavis leaves andthe Saintswanta more veteran option than2025 fourth-rounder Danny Stutsman.
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, MiamiDolphinsWR
Released on Feb. 16, Westbrook-Ikhineiseligible to signat anytime. He’scoming off adown season with Miami, but at 6-foot2, he’sasteady run blocker and could contribute in special teams. The Saints make this kind of signing every year,and WestbrookIkhine would make sense as a low-cost flier
Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles TE
The Saints are bracing for their tight end room to look dramatically different next season.With Jack Stoll and Foster Moreau free agents, andwith Taysom Hill’spossible retirement, Juwan Johnson and Moliki Matavao are settobethe main holdovers. Goedert would add aveteran to the mix,one who can contribute to the passing attack and hold up as a blocker. He also overlapped with Moore in 2024.
Ryan Wright, MinnesotaVikings P
Punter might be one of the Saints’biggestneeds. New Orleansmight prefertotakeashot on another undrafted free agent, but if it turns to aveteran, Wright is coming off aseason in which 38.5% of his punts landedinside the 20. At the very least, incumbent Kai Kroeger needs competition.
Sean Tucker, Tampa BayBuccaneersRB
Signing the playerwho historically hastormented you might notalways be thesoundest strategy. ButagainstNew Orleans, Tucker haslooked like a legitimatesuperstar,and it could be worth seeing whether that translates to the black and gold. More than athird —34.2% —of his career rushing yards have come against the Saints, including his 136-yard outing in Tampa Bay’s51-27 rout in 2024. Tucker has been buried on Tampa Bay’s depth chart, so maybe he’s adiamond in the rough.
EmailMatthew Paras at matt. paras@theadvocate.com
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By RICK SCUTERI
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murraythrows apass during the first half of agameagainst the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 5inGlendale, Ariz
‘You can’t get fresher’
‘Catch andcook’ gets newmeaning at seafoodestablishment with itsown indoor catfish pond
Seafood joints are busier than ever on Fridays duringLent in New Orleans, and Williby’s Catfish is no exception.
She’samazingly imaginative and knows howtohandle people.But she also manages to be extremely efficient.” WALTER ISAACSON,onCheryl Landrieu
Ian McNulty WHAT’S COOKING
Customers line up outsidebefore the Gentilly takeout shop opens for the day next to Dillard University,and most leave with multiplecartonsstacked high. Crisp, batterclung fried finsjut out of some of those cartons, an indication of the wholefried catfish inside “I’m here four days aweek now,” said Rocc Johnson, the first customer through the door one Friday.“You can’tget fresher.”
Look around the bare-bones joint, and the reason for freshness is immediately clear
Williby’shas its own indoor catfish pond, acinderblock tank roughly the size of aplunge pooljust
See WILLIBY’S, page 5D
orders
BY KEITHSPERA Staff writer
heryl Landrieu has been an attorney,the clerk of court for the U.S. 5thCircuitCourt of Appeals, amother of five and the firstlady of New Orleans. She’s nowwell on herway to beingthe QuintDavis of books. Davis built theNew OrleansJazz &Heritage Festival into one of the city’smarquee events. Landrieu is doing the same for the New Orleans Book Festival, which she founded and co-chairs.
“I wouldn’tgosofar as to say that,” she said of the Davis comparison, “but Ihave gone to Quint afew times and said, ‘You’ve got to tell me how you did it.This thing’s growing so fast,Idon’tknow that I can keep up.’
“I didn’tstart as an eventproducer,soIdoneedalittle guidance sometimes. ButI’d love to be considered theQuint Davis of anything.”
The 2026 New OrleansBook Festival, the fifth overall, takes over the Tulane Universitycampus for four days starting Thursday.Comingoff its biggest year attendancewise in 2025, the festival has added an
HOLLYWOOD SOUTH
When the 29th New Orleans French Film Festival begins to roll at the Prytania Theater Uptown this month, expect an eclectic array of narrative, documentary and animatedfeatures, not to mention six short films that will touch even one of your emotions.
Leslie Cardé
French films are known for exploring complex characters and delving deep into themes of love,existentialism and social commentary
This year’sroster explores those themes in spades,while providing ataste of what’shappening in other parts of the world
“The French Film Festival has always been international at its core,” said DoddLoomis,executive director of the New Orleans Film Society,which hosts the long-running festival. “While it celebrates films from France, it also embraces films from Frenchspeaking countries aroundthe world (ofwhichthere aremore than two dozen globally) reflecting the true breadth and diversity of the Francophone experience.”
Whether it’s productions from France, Canada,Switzerland, Africa or Belgium, the dialogue will be in French(there’seven Creole French) withEnglish subtitles. But fear not, if you don’t speak French, these films are so dynamic that you will soon forget you’re reading.
This year,there willbe19 films from six countries shown over six days between March 19-24.
The opening night film,“Colors of Time,” takes us to 1895 Paris, whenthe City of Light is on the brink of industrial and cultural revolution.
Four strangers, related to the same woman who has passed, gather in Normandy to oversee thetown’sdesire to acquire her abandoned property.Director Cedric Klapisch creates on atimetraveling journey for lovers of the arts everywhere.
This year,there aretwo classic Jean Cocteau films, “Beauty and the Beast” the fairytalemasterpiece from 1950, and “Orpheus” which recreates the mythological tale of Orpheus, Eurydice and a
mysterious princess. Andonanother flashback note, for anyone who has read Albert Camus, the film “The Stranger” is adapted from his1942 novella, in which directorFrancois Ozon captures afatal confrontation on the beach and agripping murder trial in ablack-and-white film that feels timeless. TheFrench have away of interjecting comedy intoextremely serious topics, andinthe film “Peak Everything,” that dichotomy (as directedbyAnne Emond) is on full display.AsAdam struggles with depression and suicidal notions, lamentingthe consequenc-
es of global warming, he meets Tina, who’sbeen on the other end of his phone conversations at the factory where he bought agalaxy solar panel tobrighten his mood It’sa wild romp with Quebec actor Patrick Hivon and American actress Piper Perabo (“Covert Affairs” and “Yellowstone”) as they explore together what it means to live in the moment and stop worrying about misbegotten pastsor what might be around the corner Whatever Cecile thought about life in Amelie Bonnin’sfeature “Leave OneDay,” those notions are about to be upended. For a culinary star who’sjust off the
‘Built on Zydeco’ is adocumentary feature shot in Opelousas that explores the artists, legacyand cultural impactofLouisiana’s musicallegacy.
TV show “Top Chef”and about to open her own restaurant in Paris, everything changes when her father has aheart attack, she finds out she’spregnant, andwhile in thetown where she grew up, runs into her oldteenage crush. Ilaughed, Icried, and Ifound myself humming along when Cecile and her mother break into song. There’ssomething foreveryone in this dramedy —even a singing and dancing duet on ice!
In my attempt to screen one of theanimated features, Ihad no idea exactly what Iwas about to encounter Director Michel Hazanavicius tells thestory of ababy thrown from atrainbyher father as it rolls down thetracks toward
the death camps at Auschwitz in Poland, during World WarII.
“The Most Precious of Cargos” is an exquisite tale told with handdrawnanimation that makes the story that much morehaunting. It’s an inspiring story of those whoput others first, even in the face of incredible danger.With a moving score by two-time Oscarwinning composer Alexandre Desplat, this film leaves an indelible impression.
What’snot to like about ashort film entitled “Two People Exchanging Saliva?” It’s director Alexandre Singh’sabsurdist tragicomedy about adystopian society where kisses mean death, and currency is measured in slaps. Behind all the craziness are two womenwith asecret connection that propels them into adangerous romance, within asociety that polices intimacy while advocating forviolent exchanges. It’s chilling surrealism at its finest.
For documentary lovers, there’s “Dahomey,” the little-knownstory of the looting and plundering of thousands of artifacts from the West African kingdom of Dahomey at the hands of French colonists in the 19th century.The collection was displayed in Paris, but only afraction of the treasures wasever returned.
Senegalese director Mati Diop chats with art historians and embattled university students. You’ll even hear from one of the witty repatriated statues himself
There are stories about mysterious accidents and pushy journalists (“The Piano Accident”), the dark secrets of composer Frederic Chopin (“Chopin, Chopin!”) astory about the regional sounds that define Louisiana (“Built on Zydeco”) and apowerful film about dealing with impending death (“Nino”).
There’sall of that (including manymore films) along with parties, panels and events. For a full schedule, tickets and more details, go to neworleansfilmsociety.org. Tickets can be bought individually or with an all-access pass. Select filmsare also available to stream virtually,from March 19-29.
Contact Leslie Cardé at lesliecardejournalist@gmail.com
Dominique Black, left, and Juliette Armanet bond over shared memories in theFrench Film Festival’s‘Leave OneDay.’
Actors PiperPerabo and Patrick Hivon share afree momentina complex storyof finding happiness in ‘Peak
Nell Nolan SOCIETY
Contact: nnolan@theadvocate.com
■ ABurgundian Jaunt
“Let Us Raise Our Glasses to the Wine-Dark Sea,” recalled the Greek poet Homerand marqueed the masked revels of the Atlanteans. The thematic trek was to Beaune, the town in France’sBurgundy region renowned for wine, by the mythological Poseidon, which is also the name of the krewe’s king. The identity of the Atlanteans member who portrayed him was announced at the gala pre-ball dinner in the Waldorf Astoria Ballroom of The Roosevelt to hearty applause. In the spirit of the Burgundian theme, La Paulée was part of the parlance. Apost-harvest celebration, it has now expanded to bringyour-own wine sharing. Andthat’swhatmany Miltonians, Atlanteans members, did forthe dinner that started with Salad Lyonnaise,and moved on to hanger steak frites andprofiteroles. Then it was on to the Orpheum. Reigning in full Carnival glory wasMiss Caroline Grace LeBourgeois,daughter of Mr.and Mrs. Charles Claiborne LeBourgeois Jr ,and called Nina Last year,the royal honor befell Miss Flora Elizabeth French, daughter of Mr.and Mrs.JohnFenner French,and in 1976, MaryNeilson Watters wore the crown. She was hailed at theball as the50year queen. Maids to her majesty Nina, whose aunt, as Eleanor Terhune Ballard, ruled in 1986, were Misses Sarah Crusel Henry,daughter of Dr.and Mrs. Edmund RuffinHenry –Mrs. Henry,as MiriamCrusel Wogan held the Atlanteans scepter in 1991; Susan Anne Le Clercq, daughter of Mr.and Mrs.Frederic Theodore Le Clercq; BrookeColeman Reiss,daughter of Mr.and Mrs. James Joseph Reiss III —some of her lineage dates back to queens Catherine Reiss and Lady Catherine Reiss (in 1961 and 1997);and Kelsey Grace French,daughter of Mr William Darwin French and Ms. KaraVan de Carr, and stepdaughter of the latter’sspouse, Mr Daryl Byrd. Kelsey is acousin of the 2025 monarch.
Abrace of old-line Carnival krewes, the Atlanteans and theKnightsofMomus, which date to 1891 and 1872, held theirglittering balls in theOrpheum Theater(respectivelyona Tuesday and aThursday), tapped toes to the musicofthe Jimmy Maxwell Orchestra ledby RobertMaxwell, spotlighted debutantequeens, andconcluded with aQueen’sSupper.Merriment madeits mark
The pages were Masters Paul SandersSaulsbury and Scott McDonald Milling,whose parents are Mr.and Mrs.Albert“Chip” Orrell SaulsburyIV and Mr.and Mrs.MichaelD.Milling
In keeping with “A BurgundyJourney,”the krewe favor was atastevin, awine tasting cupand symbol of Burgundian wine making.Poseidon added another favorite, agilded cafard
■ Nocturnal Momus
The god of Laughter and Ridicule, Momus, theson of Night, was busy with his knightsathis annual masked ball, the 154th one. They had to find acourt and a queen, who would accompany the ball’s monarch,called Momus, on the throne. Whereas theCarnival organization was founded in 1872, there was no queen until 1881, when Elise McStea was selected by his majesty to reign. Not long after that, the Momus queen was decided on the ballroom floor.Ayear ago, asurprised and thrilled Miss Sarah Butler Sumrall, daughter of Dr.and Mrs.William David Sumrall III, was chosen. The same honor embraced Mrs. Alice Blakemore Parkerson, who appeared during the2026 bal masqué as the 50th anniversary queen
The pins were seen on numerousladies, whoseranks included queen mother Helen LeBourgeois, in ablue ball gown that paid chromatic tributetothe aqueousnature of Atlanteans, and Mmes. Richard BullardMontgomeryIV, Charles Claiborne LeBourgeois,William Walter Prentiss, Randall Logan Walker,Edward Louis Levert, RobertJames Whann Jr Lawrence Noel Johnson Jr., LynesR.Sloss, GeorgePerry Eastman IV,Michael Livaudais LeBourgeois, Paxton Legier White,Edmund England Redd,Vaughan O. Fitzpatrick, Benjamin Arnold Dupuy, JamesJoseph Reiss III,William F. Grace III and John Donelson Werner All were in admiration of queen Nina, who caught every eyeinagownby Katie Johnson of Royal Design House. Cut with an A-line skirt andatrain of shimmering silver lame,the regal gown featured astrapless neckline of scalloped, hand-beaded lace. Custom appliques in swirling patterns of twisted bugle beads, pearls, Austrian crystals and glitteringseedbeads embellishedthe bodice. Afauxdrop waist, abeaded scalloped hem anda train were further features Cappingthe Carnival effervescence wasthe Queen’sSupper in the above Waldorf Astoria Ballroom, where the food wasplentiful and the lights dimmed. Her majesty’spresence addedluminosity,asdid lots of blinky accessories. Guests relished food stations, alongwith the passed grilled cheese sandwiches and beignets. Sweetness hadasay and aplay,thanks to the tables full of such goodies as cookiesand macaroons,and the song “Sweet Caroline,” as rendered by theshow band BRW, whichgot everybody dancing. Their “I’ll Be Around” resonated royally with regardstoqueen Nina, whose joy and gratitude fused withfun as shecharmed thesupper’s crowd.
The recent ball in theOrpheum opened with spotlights on theMomus stage set,where thegroup’smotto, “Dum Vivimus Vivamus, “While We Live, Let Us Live,” caught every eye. The selective eye turned to the debutantes,all clad in white gowns, who sat on asecond row of thetheater.As proceedings unfolded, thegeneral chairman of the ball committee headed to thecallout section with ascroll bearing thenew queen’s name. It was Eliza Brandon Favrot, daughter of Mr.and Mrs.TimothyBrandon Favrot. Beamingindelightful surprise, and outfitted in asilk satin ball gown withbeaded appliques, she was promenaded about the whitecanvased floor by theball’scaptain andthen whisked away todon the accoutrements of royalty
Additional scrolls were given to Misses Cameron Sinclair Andrews, Patricia RandleAucoin, Lyden Henriette Bland,Ashley ConnerEllis, Sarah Crusel Henry, Caroline LeBon Henry, Caroline Grace LeBourgeois,Annabel Katherine McCarthy, Lucile McGlinchey Monsted, BrookeColeman Reiss, Elizabeth Kathleen Robert and Lucie Ellann Williamson.Half of them wore crowns for other organizations during the Mardi Gras season. At asignificant point during the ball, theMaxwell musicians played “Camelot.” No doubt, the king, Momus, was smiling Amongthose noted were queen mother Catherine Favrot, whose banded-collar gown featured the colors of sky blue and azure, and Mmes.W. David Sumrall III, Dabney M. Ewin Jr., Richard B. MontgomeryIII, Moylan FeildGomila, Graham A.Wogan, MichaelK.Fitzpatrick, Lawrence F. Smart, ChristopherEwin, Peter Commette, Kenneth Conner,MichaelB.Whealdon, Gerard A. Plauche, Peter M. McEnery,Peter H. Dupuy,Kevin C. O’Byron and Oscar M. Gwin III. And, Misses LaurenCatherine Favrot and ElinorMitchell IvesDupuy,one of the dozen or so former Momus queens present. She reigned in 2005.
The 2026 ball favor was based on the Queen of the Night, whose fragrant white flowers bloom only at night and fade at dawn. Yetanother artistic creation was the handsomeball program by Patricia Hardin that depicted afully armored knight astride awhite steed and traveling at night towardafairy-tale castle. This imagery furthered the theme, “Momus Owns theNight.” Almostbystaff “magic,” and done with alacrity,the ballroom wastransformed to accommodate thesupper.The buffet offerings, all tasty,were set up in the Orpheum’s foyer.For dancing, theHitList band revved up the revelry described by the appreciative queen as the best surprise she had ever had and“afun-filled night from start to finish.”
PHOTOSByJEFF STROUT
NinaLeBourgeois
StoreyCharbonnet, Brooke Reiss, Paxton White
KelseyFrench, SusanLe Clercq
John Wogan, Sarah Henry
Paul Saulsbury, Scott Milling
Miriam Henry, Kara Vande Carr, CourtneyLeClercq
Helen LeBourgeois,Erica Reiss
Marynel Watters
PHOTOSByJEFFSTROUT
Eliza Favrot and Momus
Lyden Bland, Lieutenant
Lucie Williamson, Eliza Favrot, Ashley Ellis
Nina LeBourgeois, Lieutenant, Cameron Andrews
Lucy Monsted, Sarah Henry, Gerard Plauche, Elizabeth Robert
Tricia Aucoin,BrookeReiss, Annabel McCarthy, Caroline Henry
Sarah Sumrall
Catherine Favrot, Meg Sumrall, Ann Ewin
Brooke Duncan III, Alice Parkerson
BY MARGARET DELANEY Staff writer
The Houston FatStock Show was established in 1932 to promoteagriculture and celebrate western heritage. Now called The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, or the Houston Rodeo for short, it continues its mission with afocus on Texas youth and education. Since 1932, over $600 million has been dedicated to Texas youth and education.
While therodeo every day is a big part of theevent, there’smuch more to the Houston Rodeothan just the “rodeo.”
With big-name performers, agricultural exhibits, freeshows, carnival rides and more, NRG Park (home of the rodeo) is fullofthings to do.
For aweekend awayatthe Houston Rodeo,arriving on Thursday evening is best. Settle into ahotel just south of downtown Houston —Medical Center Area hotels, an Airbnb in Rice Village or aspot in the Astrodome area —for agood spot to stay
On Friday,take awalkthrough Herman Park after breakfast at Sunday Pressinthe park. Spend the day exploring the cityat the Houston Museum of FineArts, Houston’sNatural Science Museum, the Houston Zoo and Rice University —all of whichare walkable from the hotel orbythe above-ground metro.
Have an early dinner at Tiny Boxwoods in River Oaks, a15-minute drive from the area, but it’s worth it. Patio diningis king in Houston.
TRAVEL
The wine garden, which features 13 top winners and450 additional wines for sale,isa favorite spot among visitors with live music each day
Thewine garden is outside the northeast corner of the stadium —right between the stadium and NRGCenter.Itwraps around the Astrodome, and there are acouple of stages, private tents available forrent and tables.
Pro-tip: Go early and get agroup together to save atable so people can get up to forfood or more wine. There areporta-pottieson opposite ends of the garden, which are well-maintained.
There’salso art to view from the high school student rodeocompetition and various other art competitions, like quilting.
ABOVE:The Houston Rodeo is not just about the bigstars. It’sstill asporting event and home to many community and statewide competitions.
FARLEFT, RileyGreen kicked off the wide rangeofentertainers at the Houston Rodeo on March 1. LEFT, Everything is bigger in Texas —even the Houston Rodeo.
Make sure to geta snack and somelunch at one of the manycarnival vendors outside the stadium before heading into NRGbefore themaineventsbegin on schedule: n Monday through Friday,the stadiumopensat6 p.m.,rodeos start at 6:45 p.m., and the concert takes thestageatapproximately 9:15 p.m n Saturday andSunday,the stadium opens at 2p.m., rodeos start at 2:45 p.m., andthe entertainer takes thestageatapproximately 5:15 p.m
Now,it’srodeo day.The rodeo is not just about the big stars although KellyClarkson, Riley Green and yes, in previous years, Hannah Montana, drewthe Texas crowds. At the heart, it’sa sporting event home to many community andstatewidecompetitions. After aquickbreakfasteither at the hoteloranearby coffee shop, take the metro rail red linethat runs from downtown andthrough Midtown, whichgoesdirectlyto thestadium.
By ChristopherElliott
In the evenings, there can be a long wait to get on themetrorail. It gets quite crowded, but it is full
of rodeo goers and not theusual downtown crowd. Onceonthe train,visitorscan gettoMidtown in about17minutesand reach downtown in about 25 minutes. It’s really not that muchlonger than driving, andwithall thetraffic, it may even be faster The rodeo gates open at 8a.m.
Take awalk through the agriculture areas to visit withstudents andvolunteers and see animals, from longhorns to horses to sheep. Tastethe award-winning wines from the RodeoUncorkedInternational Wine Competition, with winners from Texas and national competitors.
Although the daily schedules are different, all of the rodeo sports are entertaining to watch, including bull riding, barrel racing, calf scrambling, mutton busting anda whole program of rodeo sports. Afterthe concert, theHideout is open until midnight, as well as manyadult-only,21+ booths in the carnivalareawithmore live music and dancing. The day after concert day,and a full day of rodeo fun, might drag you down abit, but Mo Brunch and Brews is the answerfor agood pick-me-up before thedrive back home.
Email Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney@theadvocate. com.
Ibooked aCondor Airlines flightfrom Portland to Frankfurtthrough Orbitz formy family. Orbitz’swebsite explicitly listed the fare as Economy Classic, which included one free 70-pound checked bag forboth legs.The confirmation itineraryconfirmed this. But Condor’semail showed something different: Our return flight wasbooked as Economy Zero —with nochecked bags included.Worse, the outbound flight’s baggageallowance was listedat50pounds,not the 70 pounds Orbitz stated Icontacted Orbitz repeatedly via chat. After days of delays,itdirected me to Con-
dor,which confirmed nothing had changed post-booking.The faultlay with Orbitz’s inaccuratelisting Orbitz blamed TravelFusion, its booking platform,and stonewalledmewith cookiecutter replies to “contact the airline.”When Ithreatened to report it for fraud, Orbitz doubled downondeflection.
Ipaid$540 forthreereturn-flight bags I waspromised forfree. Orbitz must honor its advertised fare and reimburse me. Can you help? —Patrick Bruce,Troutdale, Oregon
Orbitz should have stood by its advertised fare —noexcuses When an onlinetravel agency displays specificamenities like baggage allowances, it’slegally obligated to honor them under
theDepartment of Transportation regulations, which prohibit “deceptive or misleading” fare descriptions. Orbitz’sown itinerary listed Economy Classic with a free checked bag. Orbitz, and its parent company Expedia, can’t pass thebuck to Condor or TravelFusion.
Youhandled this by thebook. Youchecked airline policies before booking, preserved your correspondence, and escalated calmly.Ihave two recommendations. First,when you makeabooking, always take screenshots in case theconfirmation doesn’tmatch up with the booking screen. Also, as asidenote, there’sno
such thing as a“free” bag. Whether it’sincluded in your fare or it’s abenefit of your credit card, you are paying forit. Youcould have also escalated this to Orbitz’sexecutive contacts.Ilist them on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org. My advocacy team contacted Expedia Group on your behalf.A spokesperson admitted,“The baggage information provided by the airline may have been unclear.” Expedia says it’sworking with Condor to “clarify” the baggage details.
Orbitzsays your flight did not include achecked bag, but agreed to reimburse your $540 as acour-
tesy Online agencies like Orbitz profit by aggregating airfares. But when they misrepresent those airfares, they should own the fallout.
As I’ve noted before, cases like yours rarely end well. When airlines and online agencies fingerpoint, you often pay the price. But not this time.
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy,anonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at elliottadvocacy org.
PROVIDED PHOTOS
past the register.Its clear surface roils with circulating waterand the splashing of hundreds of live catfish
These are butchered and cleaned in plainview
Some customers take the fish home to cook themselves. Most leave the cooking to Williby’s.
The result is an extraordinary plate of fried catfish. The flaky white meat tastes clean and slightly sweet The coating, ahouse-made blend of cornmeal and corn flour hit with Tony Chachere’sCreole Seasoning, is crunchy and just abit nutty.
Williby’sserves plump, twisting fillets or whole catfish, which has aricher flavor imparted by the bones. The meat peels away easily
The fins, dusted in fry batter,are crisp and salty as chips. It’slike the dark meat of catfish.
Aplatter from Williby’s alsocomes withunvarnished evidencethat what you’re getting is, indeed, local catfish —not always aguarantee in amarket teeming with swai and other imported frozen fish.
“Everyone talks about how their seafood is fresh and you usually have to trust them; well, here you just have to take alook,” said ownerAlvin Williby Jr Father andson team
Williby’sCatfish feels like it’sbeen around forever,but it’sjust afew yearsold.
Williby grew up not far from his shop, in the Paris Oaks neighborhood of Gentilly.Hehas early memories of his father,Alvin Williby Sr., cooking at fish fry fundraisers for his schools, first St. Raymond elementary school then Redeem-
er-Seton high school. They always sold out, he recalled. It made an impression. Shortly after graduatingfrom college, theyounger Williby got ajob as an X-ray tech, which hestill works on night shifts. At the same time, he bought aspread of inexpensive land in Tylertown, Mississippi, a rural area near McComb, about 80 miles north of New Orleans. There he developedacatfish farm, which has grown to six small, half-acre ponds. He started selling whole live catfish back in New Orleans,beginning in his driveway.Itwas apop-up seafood marketofsorts. By 2019, he teamed up withhis father, aretired city bus driver,toexpand witharetail shop. They addedakitchen in 2021 and startedcooking.
“I’m acountry boy,grew up in Donaldsonville,” the elder Williby said. “Back around there, when they drained the rice fields, you just went out andgathered crawfish. Everyone knew how to make crawfish bisque, andeveryonehad their way with frying fish. Ijust learned what Idofrom watching other people.”
Farm to fryer
At mostrestaurants, fish arrives alreadyprocessed.Williby’shas a
different approach. Each week, either father or son makes asupply run back to the farm. They come back in adually Ford pick-up withaspecialized water tank mounted on aflatbed trailer They bring pond water along, too. Treated city water won’tdo for thecatfish, so thepond at the shop is essentially an extension of theponds back at the farm, tended by filters and oxidation equipmentand regularly monitored by Williby Jr.with testkitsfor water quality Athick water pipe is con-
nected tothe trailer tank, leading through an opening in the shop wall to the pool inside. Apump keeps water circulating between them. Williby Jr.checks the water temperature, letting it even out. Then he opens achamber on thetrailer tank, and ageyser of pond water gushes out, thick with greenish-blue catfish. It looks like asalmon run in reverse.
Howitgetsmade
For thefate of afarm-raised catfish, life goes swimmingly before ending swiftly As thelunch hours get rolling,
one of the Willibys will periodically dip alarge net into the pond to draw out ahalfdozen wiggling fish. These are swiftly dispatched under the wet thwack of aclub, then they’re hung from ahook and skinned with afew adroit motions. They’re ready forthe kitchen minutes after their last gasps. For customers unaccustomed to seeing how the proverbial sausage is made, it could be an illuminating process. Most, though, seem nonplussed, tapping away on phones as the club continues its steady beat across the room It’s not quite a“catch your own” situation. Letting customers net their own fish would simply take too long, like kids picking goldfish at apet store. Still, somecustomers buying to cook at homedoinspect the size first, hollering their assent across the pond water as aWilliby holds up live product.
Williby’sway with catfish also has brought somespecialized requests to its door
One customer wants fish with the head and skin intact to prepare atraditional Senegalese fish soup from his homecountry Crabbers buy heads fortheir traps. Somepeople request the spines, still webbed with meat and fried hard so that all the bones are crunchy to the bite.
Crawfish bisque,morning ‘lies’
Beyond catfish, the short menu has fried shrimpand oyster plates, with the samecrunchy coating. Fried pork ribs are the one meat option, and there are homey sides, like green peas and potato salad.
On Fridays during Lent, the restaurant makes abig batch of the elder Williby’scrawfish bisque, buttery-rich and dark and bobbing with stuffed crawfish heads. Williby’sismore takeout shop and market than restaurant. There are no tables. People take their plates home, back to the office or to nearby Bayou St. John or City Park forseafood picnics. Acounter is scattered with various bottles of hot sauce to spice up the plates. The counter is also lined with coffee makers, though Williby’sdoesn’thave coffee on the menu. These are to service the shop’searly morning role as a hangout forthe senior Williby and his friends.
“It’sjust abunch of retired guys telling lies,” he said with alaugh.
SashaBonét,‘TheWaterbearers: AMemoirofMothers and Daughters’
Houston native Sasha Bonét’s Louisiana rootsrun deep, buther life was worlds removed from the cotton plantationthat raised her grandmother,Betty Jean, and the Texas bayous that shaped Bonét’smother, Connie. Each generation improved their finances, but the complex legacy of Black American motherhood and its origins in slavery persisted. When she had her owndaughter, Bonét brought her to New York to start anew familytradition. She also set out on an ancestral journeytounderstand both the love and pain Black mothers passedonto their children. Bonét will be apartoftwo discussions: n “The Waterbearers: AMemoir of Mothers &Daughters” with Sasha Bonét and moderated by Stevona Elem-Rogers from noon to 12:45 p.m. on March 13 in the Burgundy Room on the Berger FamilyLawn.
n “Power,Memory&the Stories
We Tell: Black Women Leading through Generations” withKeisha N. Blain and Sasha Bonét,moderated by Kim Boyle from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. on March14atDiboll Gallery,Malkin Sacks Commons.
Jedidiah Jenkins, ‘Mother, Nature:A 5,000-MileJourney to Discover If aMotherand Son CanSurvive TheirDifferences’
In “Mother,Nature: A5,000-Mile Journey to Discover If aMother and SonCan Survive Their Differences,”Jedidiah Jenkins takes on aliteral and emotional journey by traveling across continents while reckoning with faith, identity and his relationship with his mother. He will participate in one session at the festival:
n “Mother,Nature: AJourney of Distance, Belief &Becoming” withJedidiahJenkins and moderated by Nicole Richie from 1p.m. to 1:45 p.m. on March 13 in the Burgundy Room on Berger Family Lawn.
MollyJong-Fast,‘HowtoLose Your Mother’
Molly Jong-Fast is the onlychild of the writerErica Jong, whose book
A memorableevent
BY JOYHOLDEN |Staff writer
The literary extravaganza that is the New Orleans Book Festival, also knownas“Mardi Gras forthe Mind,” is scheduled for March 12-15 at Tulane University.The event is expanding from three days to four,withafamily day on Sunday.More than 250 authors, creators, business leaders and political figures will be participating in over 100 sessionsonTulane’scampus. Personal stories arealways abig draw,and this year,avariety of authors will be there to share theirlives
Here are sixmemoir authors to look out for at the NewOrleansBook Festival.
Spizer” and moderated by Gayle Wald from 2p.m.to2:45 p.m. on March 13 in theROTCBuilding. SusanOrlean, ‘Joyride’ Susan Orlean hasbeen astaff writer at The NewYorkersince 1992. She is the NewYork Times bestsellingauthor of seven books, including “The Library Book,” “Rin TinTin,” “Saturday Night” and “The Orchid Thief,” which wasmadeintothe AcademyAward–winning film “Adaptation.” She liveswith herfamily andher animals in Los Angeles. Orlean’s memoirbegan as aguide forwriters but became aseries of stories about her books and her life. She will be participating in two sessions, but just one about her memoir:
n “InstantClassics: New Memoirs from Molly Jong-Fast and Susan Orlean,” moderated by Thomas Beller from 1p.m. to 1:45 p.m on March 14 in Kendall Cram Lecture Hall.
Viet ThanhNguyen, ‘A Man of TwoFaces:AMemoir, A History, AMemorial’
“Fear of Flying” contributed to second-wave feminism. Jong-Fast’srelationship with her mother was complex, and when she wasdiagnosedwith dementia, JongFast confronted their relationship.
“How to Lose Your Mother” tells astory of loss alongside astory of aunique childhood. She willparticipate in fivesessions, butonlyone about hermemoir:
n “Instant Classics: New Memoirs from Molly Jong-Fastand Susan Or-
lean,”moderated by Thomas Beller from 1p.m. to 1:45 p.m. on March14 in the Kendall Cram Lecture Hall StephenRea,‘Ozzy &Me: Life Lessons, Wild Stories, andUnexpectedEpiphanies from FortyYears of Friendship with thePrinceofDarkness’ Originally from Northern Ireland, Reahas lived in New Orleans since2004. He has written amemoir,“Finn McCool’sFootball Club,” aboutthe community he found in a pub soccer team in New Orleans When he was 15, he met Ozzy Os-
borne and started alifelong friendship. “Ozzy and Me”shares behindthe-scenes stories, life lessons and insightsintoOsbourne’spersonality, exploringhow musichelped Rea escape “The Troubles” and chronicling their adventures, including touring together He will be participating in one session at thefestival:
n “From theBeatles to Ozzyto JohnPrine: Music Legends with TomPiazza, Stephen Rea and Bruce
Viet Thanh Nguyen’snovel “The Sympathizer” won thePulitzer Prize for Fiction and numerous other awards. Hismost recent publication is “A Man of TwoFaces: A Memoir,A History, AMemorial,” which integrates his memoir with being arefugee, colonizationand ideas about Vietnam and America. Hisother books are the sequel to “The Sympathizer, The Committed; a short story collection, “The Refugees;” and“Nothing EverDies: Vietnamand the Memory of War.” He is participatingintwo sessions at the festival: n “Lives Lived, Stories Told with JohnT.Edge,NicholasLemann and Viet Thanh Nguyen,” and also moderated by Anna Adams from 2p.m.to2:45p.m.onMarch 14 in the ROTC Building.
n “Who We Are: Stories That Shape aNation withStacey Abrams, Eddie S. Glaude Jr.and Viet ThanhNguyen,” moderated by Charles M. Blow from 4to5 p.m.on March14inMcAlisterAuditorium. Authorswillbeavailable for book signings,and thebookswill be available forpurchase at the Book Tent.
RetiredLSU scholaroffersnew bioofThomas Jefferson
Andrew Burstein recently retired as aprofessor of history at LSU, where he earned distinction as an author of numerous works about early America. Amonghis credits are awell-received biography of writer Washington Irving and alife of Andrew Jackson. Now,just in time for the country’s 250th birthday, Burstein’s“Being Thomas Jefferson” promises “an intimate history” of the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Many books have been written about The Sage of Monticello, and readers might reasonably wonder if we need another one. In his study,Burstein attempts to plumb the inner life of aFounding Father and American president whose public exploits are already well known. “What was it like to be Thomas
Jefferson?” Burstein asks in his openingsentence.
Copiously researched and spanning more than 400 pages, “Being Thomas Jefferson” offers plenty of clues.
Jefferson lives most vividly in national conversations today because heeloquently championed liberty buthad an enslaved work force at his Virginia plantation, includingSally Hemings, who bore himsix children.
“Within Jefferson resides an eerie duality that today’sAmerica still struggles to resolve,” Burstein tells readers. “As an embodiment ofthe American Enlightenment,hestated peerless proposi-
tionsfor humanity while living by adifferent set of rules at home.” Burstein unpacks akey insight into Jefferson’sthought while exploring his connection with the Marquis de Condorcet,aFrench reformer Jefferson befriended during his stint in Paris.Con-
dorcet,Burstein writes, was “a forceful antislavery thinker and protofeminist.” Jefferson was impressed by Condorcet’sintellect, though he didn’tultimately reject thepractice of slavery once he returned to Virginia.
“The point is that he came closer than mostthink to imagining adifferent path, and adifferent outcome,” Burstein writes of Jefferson.
The slavery question is just one of many contradictions in Jefferson’slife that Burstein attempts to puzzle out.
He was asuccessful politician who was deeply private —aselfstyled man of the people who often found people exhausting. As Burstein puts it, “Jefferson was essentially an introvert, abookish individual whose ‘alone time’ was precious to him.Heinternalized a great deal of what sat on his bookshelves, andordered his private world accordingly.”
As an inveterate reader,Jefferson was also, of course, the
American Revolution’smost celebrated writer
“He wrote constantly,lyrically affectingly,” Burstein notes. At atimewhen television, cinema and the internet had yet to arrive, Jefferson’sgifted pen perfectly aligned with his times.
“Theirs was an age of typography,” Burstein writes of those wholived in Jefferson’sworld. “The penned or printed word directed both reason and imagination.”
Jefferson’simagination conceived acountry large enough to accommodate the Louisiana Purchase, and Burstein’schronicle of the role that NewOrleans played in driving that epic real estate deal is intriguing.
It’s astriking reminder that Jefferson’slegacy endures —all the morereason to read what might be Burstein’scrowning achievement.
Email Danny Heitman at danny@ dannyheitman.com
Bonét
Jenkins
Jong-Fast
Rea Nguyen Orlean
America’sForeignPolicy” discussion at 1p.m. FridayinTulane’sFogelman Arenasuddenly seems especially timely given the fresh conflict in theMiddle East —internet pioneerSir Tim Berners-Lee,The Atlantic editorJeffrey Goldberg, Maryland Gov.Wes Mooreand popculture personality Nicole Richie
As with Jazz Fest,attendees must make tough choices about what to see and what to miss.
“Wewanttohavesomethingfor everybody,” Landrieu said. “We want people to find their niche and also be surprised. We try to build somethingthat’s unique. I think we’ve achieved it.”
Alifelong reader goingback to “Harriet theSpy”asa child,
Landrieu considersSue Monk Kidd’shistorical fiction novel “The InventionofWings” to be “the mostbeautifully written book I’ve ever read.”
Ironically enough, running a book festival meansshe only has time to skimthe featured authors’ latest works. Shehasn’t read anything cover to cover in awhile.
She’s “looking forward to doing thatafter the festival is over.”
Apolitical life
Eventhough fellowLoyola University Law School graduate MitchLandrieu was the son of aformer New Orleans mayor,Cheryl Landrieu did not realizeshe was signing up to be apolitician’swife when shemarried him.
“He actually wooed me with his singing voice,” she said. “Mitch’stalents are very musi-
cally inclined. He got me that waybeforeIrealized Iwas going to lead apolitical life.But it’sbeen ajoy.”
As MitchLandrieu progressed from state representative to lieutenantgovernortomayor,she sustainedher ownlegal career in the appellate court system, culminating with her appointmentasthe 5th District’sclerk of court —while also raising five now-grown children.
“Obviously,I’m happy Ihad them, but any parent can understand having five kids right now is very challenging,”she said.
“Itwas abusytime, butI enjoyed it very much. Ilook back and think, ‘Howinthe world did that happen?’ It wasablur.”
During herhusband’sadministration, she founded GirlUpNOLA to advocate for young girls. Coinciding with NewOrleans’ tricentennial, shespear-
headed the renovation of Gallier Hall, the historic seat of city government on St. Charles Avenue.She raised$3million in private funds to payfor the renovation and published a book about it.
The project involvedrestoringand repairinghistoricmayoral portraits and other paintings and antique furniture that had been stored and forgotten in aGallier Hall basement.
“Itwas like atreasure chest,” she said. “There were some very valuable things that we were able to restoreand put back into the building.”
Photographs from Mitch Landrieu’smayoral inaugurationin2010 and LaToya Cantrell’sinauguration eight years later indicate Cheryl Landrieuwas just as joyous
ä See LANDRIEU, page 8D
Continued from page 1D
STAFFFILE PHOTOByCHRIS GRANGER
Cheryl Landrieu waschair of theGallier Hall
Were frogsfromRayne rocketed to space?
BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer
Frogs? In space?
Cue afroggy theme songby John Williams while the “Frogs in Space” prologue slowly scrolls from the bottom of the screen into the infinite galaxy.Thisis where the Frogs must find away to destroy the Death Starbefore it obliteratesthe universe, right?
Wrong. Unfortunately,frogs don’treally factor into heroics at all when it comes to outerspace, that is, unless commendationsare awarded for inner ear studies, which was the National Aeronautical Space Administration’s main interest when it launched two bullfrogs from Rayneintothe earth’sorbit in 1970.
This basically answersMark Jeffers’ questionabout Rayne’s space frogs.
“I rememberhearing astory about Louisiana giving NASAtwo frogs from Rayne when Iwas akid,” the Baton Rouge reader said. “Is this true? And if it is, what was the purpose?”
Frog capitaland ears
Yes, it’strue, and Louisiana used it as an opportunity to promote the city of Rayne as the Frog Capital of the World while helping NASA investigate the effects of microgravity on balance, specifically targeting the causes of spacemotion sickness, which had significantly affected Apolloastronauts. As reported by NASA at the time, afrog’sinner ear structure is similar to that of humans. The frog’ssmaller size provided a simplified but accurate model for the study
“Since 1965, NASA has flown more than 80 different organisms as biological payloads to space,” said NASA Chief Historian Brian C. Odom. “These space biology
Continued from page7D
when her husband left of-
fice as she was when he took office.
“That’sprobably true,” she said, laughing.“Iwas very happy that Mitch was elected mayor and very excited. It was agreat experience. But after eight years, that was enough.”
Starting with John Grisham
When Mitch Landrieu was lieutenant governor,Cheryl Landrieu attended theLouisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge. When he became mayor,she resolved to create abook festivalinNew Orleans.
In 2010, she and civil rights pioneer RubyBridges organized the New Orleans Children’sBook Festival at the Milton H. Latter Memorial Library,the St. Charles Avenue library Cheryl Landrieu patronized in her youth. The one-day eventeventually moved to CityPark.
When her husband’s second termasmayorexpired in early2018, Cheryl Landrieu thought her time as abook festival producer was finished. Then Walter Isaacson called.
ANew Orleans native, Isaacson’s résuméspans leadership roles at Time, CNN and the Aspen Institute.He’salso the prolific author of bestselling biographies of Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin and Leonardo da Vinci.
After moving back to New Orleans, Isaacson accepted aprofessorship at Tulane. In 2019, he pitched Cheryl Landrieu on the idea of launching abook festivalon campus. “He thought we could do
studies have explored fundamental questions related to fields such as cell and molecular biology,developmental biology andneuroscience, just to name afew.”
The1970 mission, Odom said, was called the Orbiting Frog Otolith, or the OTO experiment. Otolithsare small, oval, calcareousbodies in theinner ear of vertebrates involved in sensing gravity and movement. Humans have two otoliths inside each ear Frogs have three.
“One of the goals of NASA’s Office of Advanced Research and Technologyatthat time was to studyvestibular organ function in space andonthe Earth,” Odom said. “The OFO-A mission was designed to collect neurophysiological data on theresponse of the otolith,apart of theinner ear that is associated with equilibrium control, to prolonged periods of weightlessness.”
Acasefor Louisianafrogs
AccordingtoaSept. 27, 1970, article in The Advocate, the city of Raynemadea“strong bid to have its famous bullfrogs or ‘wahwah-rons,’asthey arecalled in thebest Acadian circles, included in the ‘OFO’ spacecraft projects to be launched by NASA from Wallops Island, Va.”
Rayne earned its moniker of “Frog Capital of theWorld” when entrepreneurLouis Baer teamed up with brothers Lionel, Desire and Pete Babineauxin1933 to establish the Louisiana Frog Co. The business operated outofRayne and became theworld’slargest shipper of edible frogs.
However,Rayne’sroad to frog fame began in the 1880s with chef andbarkeep Donat Pucheu, who harvested and sold local bullfrogs to New Orleans restaurants.
NASA engineersattach the Orbiting Frog Otolith spacecraft to launchtwo bullfrogsfrom Rayneinto space in November 1970.
Then came French immigrant Jacques Weil, who, along with his brothers Edmond and Gontran, founded theJacques Weil Co. in 1899, which expanded Rayne’s frog industry globally,shipping frog legs to restaurantsinNew York and Paris.
This marked thebeginning of Rayne’sreign as Frog Capital of theWorld. The Louisiana Frog Co. was Rayne’sglobal supplier of frogs when NASA initiated its OFO program
The finest frogs
“Effort to have only the finest frogs from Rayne included in the pending NASA program have been aided by Rep.Edwin Edwards,”The Advocate’sSept. 27, 1970, article continued.
Yes, this was the same Edwin Edwards who would later serve four termsasLouisiana’sgovernor.Hewas representing Louisiana’s7th Congressional District at
something that was more quintessentiallyNew Orleans” than the Children’s Book Festival,she said. “And he brought the gravitas of his abilityasawriter and as a connectorof people.”
Some authors canbesocially awkward. NotIsaacson
“He is intense, and he’s ahardworker,”Cheryl Landrieu said. “I’ve appreciated that about him very much. The festival has really benefited from his attitude.” And his extensive contacts. Immediatelyafter she agreed to produce abook festival at Tulane, Isaacson put her onagrouptext with literary starJohnGrisham, who volunteered to be the first speaker at the inaugural New Orleans Book Festival. Areassured Cheryl Landrieu thought,“Well, this is going be OK.” Isaacson views Cheryl Landrieu as abrilliant and fun partner.She’samazingly imaginative and knowshow to handle people. But she alsomanagestobeextremely efficient.”
Chesneyconnection
Followinga two-year pan-
demic delay,the first New Orleans Book Festival took place at Tulane in 2022. In addition to Grisham chatting with Jenna Hager Bush,the schedule featured Don Lemon, Doug Brinkley,David Brooks,MarcMorial, James Carville,MaryMatalan, Malcolm Gladwell, Michael Lewis, CleoWade, SarahM Broom and RoyBlount Jr., among many others.
The secondbook festival opened with Isaacson, the
the time, which included Rayne.
“Edwards, knowing the superior qualityofRayne frogs, contacted theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration as soon as he learned of theexperimental launch to see if there was apossibilitythat the twomale bullfrogs to be used on theOFO might be supplied by Rayne,” the article stated.
The frogs were to be monitored in their weightless environment while orbiting the earth forat least five days.
On Oct. 6, 1970, The Advocate reported that 20 bullfrogs were to be jetted to NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
“Briefceremonies were staged at Louisiana Frog Co. Friday afternoon as a‘send-off’for the bullfrogs,” the article stated. “Participating were Congressman (Edwin) Edwards; Mayor W.J. (Bill) Cossen; Mayor Pro TemRalph Stutes; Miss Sue Guidry,who is Rayne’s
event’s co-chair,interviewing Bill Gates.
“Walter’sconnections have helped us very much, but New Orleans is (also) adraw,” Cheryl Landrieu said. “There are many book festivals around thecountry, but …when you cometo this book festival, you don’t feel like you could be in anyplace USA.You know you’re in New Orleans,and Ithink theauthors love that.”
Someparticipants are easiertorecruit than others.
Tulane President Michael A. Fitts, whocoinedthe book fest motto “Mardi Gras for the mind,” will moderate two discussions at thefestival later this week.
So will MitchLandrieu. His sessions include achat with Davis at 11:30 a.m. Friday in Tulane’sDixon Hall.
Otherbookings required more effort —and more security.Rushdie has been under threat for decades and lost an eye during a2022 attack in New York.
“We’ve been very,very carefultomakesure that authors and attendees feel safe at the festival,”Cheryl Landrieu said.
Frog Queen and (David ‘Pete’) Babineaux (of Louisiana Frog Co.), who personally caught the frogs and who will be responsible for placing them on the plane for Salisbury,Md., where they will be metbyNASA personnel and taken to Wallops Station.”
Pierre andTee-Nom
Once at the NASA station, two frogs werechosen: Pierre and Tee-Nom, whowere launched into space on the 292-pound craft on Nov.9,1970. Both weresealed in water-filled capsules containing artificial lungs and heaters to keep them stable. Their limb nerves had been cut to prevent them from dislodging electrodes, while also lowering their metabolic rates so they could survive without food foruptoamonth. Pierre and Tee-Nom died from heart failure on Nov.15, their sixth day in orbit. But they didn’t die in vain.
“The Rayne residents who staged adiligent effort to have the space agency use their frogs may take comfort in knowing all experiments were completed before death came,” The Advocate reported on Nov. 16, 1970. “The National Aeronautics and Space Administration declared the mission fully successful before death came.”
As forthe other 18 frogs who madethe trip from Rayne to Wallops Island, Virginia, nothing is mentioned of their fate. But Pierre and Tee-Nom will forever be immortalized as Louisiana’s “Frogs in Space.”
Do you haveaquestionabout something in Louisiana that’s got you curious? Email your question to curiouslouisiana@ theadvocate.com. Include your name, phonenumber andthe city where you live.
Rushdie will speak inside Fogelman Arena, Tulane’sbasketballfacility,at 10 a.m. Friday. Country star Chesney,who is promoting his new memoir“Heart Life Music,” will talk—but not perform —atFogelman at 2:30 p.m.Saturday
“Walter had aconnection with Kenny through another interview he did, andthey apparently hit it off,”she said. “Walter invited him, like he always does, to come to NewOrleans.”
Missingthe law
As the New Orleans Book Festival grows, so does the cost of producing it. But she is determined to keep it free via sponsorships, sales and other revenue sources.
“I wantthis to be agiftfor our community,” she said. “I wantittobeasaccessible as possible.”
The growth of the New Orleans Book Festival tells her that,inanage of scrolling, screens and social media, the printedwordstill matters.
“When we started doing this,people said, ‘Oh, people don’tread anymore.’ I
am positive that’s nottrue, because we have people clamoring to meet authors and know about their books. They also wanttotalktoother readers. That is great for community building.”
Seven years ago, Cheryl Landrieu stepped away from her legal career to run theNew OrleansBookFestival fulltime, year-round. She misses practicing law “very much. Ilove the law.I think about it all the time. I loved helping people figure out situations.
“But I’m OK doing what I’mdoing now.”
Email KeithSpera at kspera@theadvocate.com.
PROVIDED PHOTOByNASA
STAFF FILEPHOTO By ELIOT KAMENITZ
Cheryl Landrieu pulls off thecovering to the new2016 Rex
PROVIDED By PHUNNy PHORTy PHELLOWS
Queen’sTea of Phunny PhortyPhellowsgatherspastroyals
The annual Queens’Tea of the PhunnyPhorty Phellows was recently held at the High Volt Coffee Shop. Seated fromleft areMarlane Drake, PeggyScott Laborde (captain), Denyce Moss (2026), host Nicole Meredith (2025) and Angela Larson. Second roware Patricia Morris, CarylCurtis, Corinne Fox, Constance Bourgeois, Jolie Bonck Hobbs, Hazel Schlueter, EileenCurtis, Julie Holman, Maria Beard,Anne HebertWinston, Karen Martin and Sue McCormick. Back roware Sue Weishar Dude, Denise Berthiaume, Barbara Lafleur,Patty Poirier,Dee Hurtt, Sharyl Hackett and BethGalante
In need
Spring Fiesta returnswith
Spring Fiesta, atradition in the city since1938, will feature apromenadeand community presentation plus acotillion gala on March 15, starting in the French Quarter
The reigning monarchs and the royal court will get things started at 1:15 p.m. at Jackson Squarewiththe presentation andLaGrandePromenade. The events are put on by thenonprofit New Orleans Spring Fiesta Association.
Le ReineLXXVI is Cécile RoseValentine Borne Curran, daughter of Drs. William Joseph and Tracy Borne Curran. Her father,who is also theclub historian, is LeRoi IV.Her mother is the first vice president of the association
the
Her mother,Dr. TracyBorne Curran, is shown at right.
Dear Annie: Fiveyears ago, Ilost my father to heart problems. Three months ago, Ilost my mother after aterrible fall.Iam66, and Iwas her caregiver.Itook early retirement at 62 so I could be there for her,and I do not regret it. But now that she is gone, Ifeel like the role I built my life around disappeared overnight, and I am not sure what Iam supposed to be doing with all this quiet. People have been kind, and Iknow they mean well, but Ikeep getting caught off guard when someone casually asks, “How’syour mom doing?” or “What happened?” Iwill be standing in the grocery store aisle, trying to act normal, and suddenly Iamswallowinga lump in my throat and forcing asmile. Idonot wantto make other people uncomfortable, but Ialso do not want to pretend Iamfine when Iamnot. Ilive alone. Iamthe only family member left. The one steady comforthas been my dog. Every week or so, Itake him withme to the cemetery.Isit there, let the tears come, and hug him like he is the only one who understands. Sometimes Ieven tell him, out loud, that none of this is his fault,because he seems sad, too, and Iswear he is grieving in his ownway Where Ilive, there are no grief classes or support groups that Ican find. Iam trying to figure out what is normaland what is asignI need more help. Should Ibe looking for abook that can guide me through this, or is it time to talk to atherapist or psychiatrist? And if pets grieve, too, is there anything Ishould be doing differently for him, besides holding him close? —Missing Them Both Dear Missing Them Both: I’mso sorry.You didn’t justlose your parents; you lost the role that gave your days structure and meaning. After years of caregiving, the quiet can feel like ashock to the system. That’snot weakness. That’slove with nowhere obvious to go. When people ask, “How’s your mom?” they’re usually trying to connect, not pry, but it still stings. Youdon’t owe anyone aplay-by-play Keep asimple sentence ready: “She passed afew months ago. I’m taking it day by day.” Or,“It’sstill fresh, and I’d rather not get into details.” Then shift the conversation. That’snot being cold. That’shaving boundaries. The cemetery visits with your dog are actually a healthy kind of ritual. If it’s where you can let the tears come, let them come. And yes, pets can grieve, and they also pick up on our grief. The best support for your dog is steady routine, movement and affection. Keep the walks, keep the hugs, and keep talking to him. You’re doing more right than you think. As for whether to read a book or see apsychiatrist, I’d start with atherapist
or grief counselor,even if it’sonlinesince your area doesn’toffer groups. Apsychiatrist is most useful if you’resliding into deep depression, panicorsleeplessness that won’tease. Either way,gettinghelp isn’t “too much.” It’ssensible. Youspent years taking care of someoneelse. Now it’syourturn to be cared for,too.
Dear Annie: My husband and Iare hosting apartyatalocal bar.Weare coveringthe cost of thespaceand the bartender,but guests will be buying their own drinks Thebartender suggested we putout a small sign or jar that sayssomethinglike “TipsAppreciated.” Part of me agrees,becauseI know howhard service workers hustle. Theother partofme worries it will look tackyor like we are pressuringour guests
My husband thinksIam overthinking it andsays, “People know tippingis normalatabar,” but Ido not want anyone to feel awkward or judged if they
are on atight budget or forget cash. Ialso do not want to insult thebartender by asking them not to put anythingout. Is it rude or tacky to have avisible tip jar or sign at ahosted event like this, or is it simply expected these days? What is thepolite way to handle tipping the bartender so everyone feels comfortable? —Trying Not to Be Tacky
Dear Trying: Your husband is mostly right.Inabar where guestsare buying their own drinks, atip jar is standard, not rude. Most people expect to tip their bartender and will look for aplace to do it.Ifthe sign feels pushy to you, ask the bartender to keep thejar out but skip the “Tips Appreciated” note. Guests who want to tip will, quietly and naturally.Ifyou are still worried, you can also add agratuitytoyour final bill so you know the bartender is taken care of.
Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@ creators.com.
Other members of the court include honor maid Camille Rosalie Evangeline Borne Curran, the queen’ssister; maid Shelby Robert, daughter of Mr and Mrs. Chad S. Robert; maid Anabel Victoria Almendares, daughter of Ms. Stephanie Almendares; and maid Eileen Elizabeth Fontenot, daughter of Mrs. Mealie Prejean Fontenot. Demoiselle is Annalaura Marie Hinojosa, daughter of Mr.and Mrs. Daniel Jinojosa; and Parker Kathleen Katrell, daughter of Mr.David Katrell and Ms. Christina Manisvalco. Promenadegirls include Emmeline Evergreen Hinojosa, daughter of Mr and Mrs. Daniel Hinojosa; Elizabeth Anderson, daughter of Dr.and Mrs. Garland Anderson; and Chloe Madison Pendleton, daughter of Mr.and Mrs. Christian Dean Pendleton Jewel bearer is Amara Mason-Folse, daughter of Mr.and Mrs. Henri MasonFolse. Le Garde Royale is Wil-
liam John Sejour Borne Curran, son of the king; gallants are Thompson Daniel Becnel, son of Mr.and Mrs. DevonBecnel, and Andrew Cranmer Nice, son of Ms. Jewelynn Niceand the late Mr.Charles Nice; and flag bearer is James Beauregard Kessler,son of Mr and Mrs. Jeffrey Darren Kessler
The afternoon begins at Jackson Square and then returns to 826 St. Ann St., the Spring Fiesta House. Following the presentation, the court will roll through the Vieux Carré in the traditional Carriage Parade en route to the cotillion, “A Night in Olde New Orleans.” Tickets forthe gala begin at $160 at the Omni Royal Orleans, 621 St. Louis St. Visit springfiestanola.com
PROVIDED PHOTOS
Royaltyfor
Spring Fiesta on March15includes Le Reine LXXVI Cécile RoseValentine Borne Curran, center, and her father,LeRoi IV Dr.WilliamJoseph Curran.
Spring Fiesta Queen 2023 Catherine Zimmermann and her brother,gallant Joseph Zimmermann, ride in one of the carriagesloaded with fresh flowers forthe parade through the French Quarter
Today is Sunday,March 8, the67thday of 2026.There are 298 days left inthe year.Daylight saving time returns at 2a.m. local time.
Todayinhistory: On March 8, 1965, the United Stateslanded itsfirstcombat troops in South Vietnam as 3,500 Marines arrived to defendthe U.S. air base at Da Nang.
Also on this date:
In 1817, aconstitution was adoptedformally creating the New York Stock &Exchange Board, forerunner of the New York Stock Exchange.The constitution laid outrules for transactions and brokers initially gathered twicedaily in arented room on Wall Street to trade 30 stocks and bonds.
In 1917, protests against food rationing broke out in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg), triggering eight days of rioting that resulted in the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II and theend of the Russian monarchy
In 1948, the Supreme Court, in McCollum v. Board of Education, struck down religious education classes during school hours in Champaign, Illinois, publicschools, sayingthe program violated separation of church andstate
In 1971, in the first of three fights between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier,Frazierdefeated Ali by unanimous decision in what was billed as “The Fight of the Century”atMadison Square Garden in New York
In 1983, in aspeech to the National Association of Evangelicals convention in Orlando Florida, President Ronald Reagan referredto theSovietUnion as an “evil empire.”
In 1988, 17 soldiers were killed when two Army helicopters from Fort Campbell,Kentucky,collidedduring anight trainingmission.
In 2008,President George W. Bushvetoed a bill that would have banned theCIA fromusing simulated drowning, or waterboarding, and other coercive interrogation methodstogain information fromsuspected terrorists.
In 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 with 239 people on board, vanished during aflight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, settingoff amassive andultimatelyunsuccessful search. The aircraft’sdisappearance remains one of airtravel’smajor unsolved mysteries.
In 2023, the U.S. Justice Departmentfound that police in Louisville, Kentucky,had engagedinapattern of violating constitutional rightsand discriminationagainst theBlack community following an investigationprompted by the fatalpolice shootingofanAfrican American woman, BreonnaTaylor Today’sbirthdays: Author JohnMcPhee is 95. Songwriter Carole Bayer Sager is 82. Actormusician MickyDolenz(The Monkees)is81. BaseballHallofFamer Jim Rice is 73. Singer Gary Numan is 68. TV journalist LesterHolt is 67.Actor Aidan Quinn is 67. Actor Camryn Manheim is 65. Actor Freddie Prinze Jr.is50. Songwriter-producer Benny Blanco is38. Actor Montana Jordan is 23. Actor KitConnoris 22. Actor Samara Lee is 18.
Rule-following guestendsupfeeling rude
Dear Miss Manners: After asking my dinner guestsnot to bring any dishes, some still do. My question is what do Idowhen
Person Ashows up withadish, andPerson B— lovely,lovely
Person B, who was polite and kind enough to take me at my word sees the exchange.
Person Binvariably getsembarrassed and asks if they should have brought something. Iusually say,“Oh,no! This is not apotluck.
Person Ajust had adish she really wanted to share.”
so we wouldn’tstand out much.
correct to take you at your wordistogo about your evening.
But inside, Iamscreaming, “No, Person B, you have manners —unlike this completely overbearing person!”
The problem is that Bisnever comfortable with my answer,even if Italk to them later and explain what happened. It’savery awkward situation.
I’m not worried about getting through to Person A; they’re alost cause. But how do Imake things right for B, who is absolutely adream dinner guest?
Gentle Reader: Short of dropping Person A’sdish on Person A’sfoot, theway to demonstrate to Person Bthat they were
When you speak to Person Balone, add that you are most grateful for thecourtesy of being listened to. Miss Manners is sure that that, coupled with your evident passion on the subject, will leave Person Binnodoubt as to how you truly feel. Dear Miss Manners: We wereinformed of afriend’sdaughter’s wedding plans recently,and were surprised when the formal invitation stated “black tie optional.”
The black tie notation wasadouble whammy for us, as we are agay male couple. We have no intention of purchasing or renting tuxedos for this event, so theissue is whether to attend it at all.
My partner says that he would be comfortable wearing ablack suit, and that thehosts and the bridal couple would also be fine with that, as black tie is merely optional. He also notes that what passes for “black tie” these days looks very much like an ordinary black suit with afew shiny bits and ablack necktie,
Imaintain that “optional” means“requested,” and that the real instruction is, “Black tie is expected so that you can contribute to the atmosphere we are attempting to create. If you attend less formally attired, we will be disappointed and perhaps miffed, but you won’tbe barred at the door.”
Iaminclined to decline the invitation forfear of irking the hosts, whotend to be rather formal anyway,and so as not to disrespect the bridal couple, whoclearly want the guests to help them create an effect on their special day
Am Iinterpreting things correctly,or should Iaccept “optional” at face value?
Gentle Reader: Your partner is right about what passes forblack tie these days. And while you each perfectly define acompeting meaning of “black tie optional” in current use, Miss Manners does not know the happy couple, and therefore cannot say which applies. She would take “optional” seriously
Sendquestions to Miss Manners at dearmissmanners@gmail.com.
Open fruitcupswithout spills or frustration
Cleaning hard-to-reachplaces
Dear Heloise: In response to thequestion about how to open fruit cups without spilling: Beforeopening it,tilt the cup back away from you so that the juice is away from one side. When opening it, tilt it back toward you while continuing to peel off the top. Works like acharm! —Terri M., in Youngstown, Ohio
Extendingthe life of shoes
Dear Heloise: Ilove shoes, and Ilike to buy good-quality shoes that will last.I don’tsplurge for designer shoes, but Ido have away to make my shoes last for a long time in pristine condition: Idon’tdrive in them or walk in them at my big parking lot at work. Instead, Icarry theshoes or bootsthat I’ve planned to wear for the day in abag. I also have shoes that are just for walking and driving. When Iget to work, then Iput on the shoes that Ibrought to go withmyoutfit for theday Ihave very good luck at extending the life of my shoes, and it’snot ahassle at all. Ialso employ acobbler when necessary! —Linda L., in San Antonio
Dear Heloise: Ihave found asolution to thepesky job of cleaning under appliances. Itake ayardstick and wrap the end with acleaning pad; then Irun it under thestoveand fridge, getting most or all of the dirt hiding there. —Judy B.,in Vancouver,Washington Judy,Idothe samething. It’salmost impossible to clean under somepieces of furniture or appliances. If arepairman comes in and needs to movethe item,itcan get alittle embarrassing if he finds athick layer of dirt, pet hair,and maybe abug or alost earring. Ayardstick with adust cloth on the end works well. —Heloise Pollyanna letters
Dear Heloise: Iknow Christmas is over, but Iwish people would stop sending annual Christmas letters. Yes, somefolkslike them, but Idon’t know why.Every boring detail (from every new appliance they bought to a 3-year old losing his first tooth) thrills theauthors,but what makes them think that people find their lives so interesting?
Igot such aletter from my sister-inlaw this year.She forgot to mention her pregnant 16-year-old whodropped out of
school. There wasnomention of her youngest kid climbing atree in asnowstorm and getting stuck there.
They had to call the fire department to get him down. Sadly,their dog ran away from home, but there was no mention of him either Please think before you send aPollyanna letter.Just pick up the phone and call whomever you wish to update instead. Gloria W.,inPonca City,Oklahoma
Peskyportals
Dear Heloise: Ihave adifficult time keeping track of my different doctors’ patient portals whenI want to contact them via email or check an appointment or atest result. How do you and your readers know where to go? —K.B., in UniversalCity, Texas K.B., Idon’tseem to have this problem, but maybe one of my readers would like to send ahint on how they retrieve their information.
One idea might be to call the doctors’ offices and ask them to send you avirtual tutorial on how to use the portal for their respective office or hospital. —Heloise
Sendahinttoheloise@heloise.com.
Judith Martin MISS MANNERS
Hints from Heloise
THE NEXT BATCH
BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer
New OrleansEntrepreneur Week, the annual celebrationof startup businesses, turns 16 this year And, like many teenagers, the event is trying out anew identity. NOEW debuted in 2010, when business leadersin post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans were looking forwaystocreateand keep jobs in the city.Inthe years that followed, its non-
profit producer experimentedwith different formats, teamed up with variouspartners and piggybacked on other events to boostawarenessand attendance.
IDEAS INNOVATION & IDEA
Now, forthe first time Loyola University New Orleans has taken over productionofthe event, shifting thefocus away from high-growth ventures and toward supporting budding entrepreneurs of all types and increasing the school’s role as agathering place for the region’s business community
Highlights of the five-day event include aconversation between NewOrleans Mayor Helena Moreno and national political podcasterTim Miller; akeynote address from former Tesla and Lyft executive Jon McNeill; and a talk fromNicolaCorzine,ofthe Nas-
daqEntrepreneurialCenter, whichrecently released areport praising New Orleans’ startup growth.
In all, morethan70speakers have been curated to support the next batch of “tech founders in hoodies” alongwithentrepreneurs of alltypes that reflect the diversity and reality of the south Louisiana economy,according to Lisa LaCour,part of the NOEW programming team
“Entrepreneurship in NewOrleans has always looked different, whether it’smusicians building hospitality
ä See NOEW, page 2E
force system that we need to address.” As in thepast, the state’sbusiness lobby is
Moreno Miller
Covingtonfirm renews Navy contract for$291M
BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer
ACovington-based offshore transport service company was awarded acontract to continue work on Navy-owned vessels.
Hornbeck Offshore Services will operate and maintain four Navy-ownedships in a$291million contract that extends aprevious contract with the military to work on the vessels. Hornbeck began work on the vessels in Kings Bay, Georgia, and Bangor,Washington, earlier this month.
The ships are owned by the Navy’sMilitary Sealift Command the Department of Defense’ssea transportation provider comprised of 125 civilian-crewed vessels that assistthe Navy by transporting supplies, conducting surveillance and data missions and maintaining combat cargo near ships for quick deployment.
The contractcovers four Navy vessels: USNS BlackPowder, USNS Westwind, USNSEagleview and USNS Arrowhead, whichare Transportation AuxiliaryGeneral Submarine Escort ships, allpart of the Military Sealift Command’s Submarine and SpecialWarfare Support. The four ships help move
NOEW
Continued from page1E
empires, restaurant owners becoming tech founders, or community organizers turning social impact into sustainable business models,” said LaCour,founder of the marketingfirm The Vault Collective. “Wehaven’tcelebrated that as loudly as we should.”
‘Don’t have to play ringleader’ NOEW gets underway Monday at various satellite locations around the city and continues throughoutthe week, moving to Loyola’s campus for atwo-day summit on Thursday and Friday
Several panels will examine business models based on music, artand community. Another will spotlight Louisiana’splans for tech innovation. There will be fundraising advice, alook at multigenerational family businessesand a talk about historically Black colleges or universities as enginesof Black innovation. A“crazy ideas” challenge will offer up to $5,000 in scholarships and other prizes.
New wellness programming includes a“networking walk” aroundAudubon Park, breathing exercises and ademonstration of a10-minute meditation. Event organizers say the moments of mindfulness are designed to improve clarity,decision-making and composure —all critical to running a successful business.
“Our school’smissionand the goal of the event is to bringas much of the community together as possible,” said Sam McCabe, director of Loyola’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Community Development, which is responsible for NOEW programming. “Whether you’restarting an icecream shop or anew tech venture, this community wantstobuild youup.” Organizers say the holistic approachreflects Loyola’sJesuit values —and NOEW’schanging role in the evolving New Orleans startup scene Sixteen years ago,The Idea Village, the nonprofit business accelerator that startedNOEW, was one of the few institutionsintown serving that community,sothe event was away to create momentum. Now,the scene has grownand spreadout.
Tulane University andOchsner Health have both launched innovation-focused entities to support new ventures. The Nieux on St. CharlesAvenue hostsa steady stream of innovation-themed events. Economic development groups like Greater New Orleans Inc. andLouisianaEconomic Development have made innovation key priorities. Newventurecapital firms, like Boot64, Corridor Ventures and 1834 Ventures, have cropped up to search for promising young companies. Andatleast one new private equity fund is planning bigger bets on more mature enterprises. As aresultofthat growth, organizers say,NOEW’smission is less about kickstarting ascene as itis getting everyone together and on the same page for afew dayseach year
“Originally,they had to manifest something out of nothing,” said Matt Wolfe, chiefmarketing officer at GNO Inc., the nonprofit economic development organization that provides NOEWwithfinancial and programming support. “Now we have legitimate startups, capital on the table and successful
military equipment and personnel on submarines andspecial operations.
They’re apart of theMilitary Sealift Command’sSpecialMissionprogram, agroup of 20 vesselsthat performmissile tracking, oceanographicand hydrographic surveys, acoustic surveys, underwater surveillance, submarine
support andspecial warfaresupport.Theyserve various military and government players, including the Environmental Protection Agency,the Air Force and the U.S. Fleet Forces Command. Jennings-based Leevac Industries built thefourvessels in 2008 and 2009 for Hornbeck, which chartered them to the Navy.Con-
gress required themilitary branch to acquirethe vesselsinorder to keep using them,and Hornbeck sold thefourships to the Navy for $152 million in 2015.
The Navy awarded Hornbeck a10-year operations and maintenancecontract with theacquisitionthatexpired lastyear.The company waspreviously awarded
LEGISLATURE
Continuedfrom page1E
civil lawsuits and lower insurance payoutstouninsured motorists injured in accidents.
They’ll also be playing defense on theissue of carbon sequestration,a key element of the “all-ofthe-above-energy” policy promoted by Gov.Jeff Landry and his predecessor,former Gov.JohnBel Edwards.
Attendees ofthe 2025New Orleans EntrepreneurWeek network on thecampus of Loyola University NewOrleans. Loyola is shifting the event’sfocus this year toward supporting budding entrepreneurs of all typesand increasingthe school’srole as agathering place for the region’s business community Patterson
company‘exits,’ so they don’thave to playringleaderinthe sameway anymore.
For Bobby Savoie, dean of Loyola’sJoseph A. Butt,S.J.College of Businessand founder of several successful software companies NOEW alsoisa chance to connect promising students with potential employers while bringing energy to the business program he’sled for the last two years.
Savoie said last year’sevent, which attracted roughly 3,000 people citywideand 1,200 to Loyola, was well-received by students, faculty and participants.
“Mixingentrepreneurs, investors andspeakers with thecampus really gelled,” he said.“We saw that this could work.”
‘Like rock stars’
Theseeds of NOEW date back to 2006, when TheIdeaVillage partneredwith Tulane to connect MBA studentswith entrepreneurs looking forhelpafter Katrina. Over the next couple of years, out-of-town students from Stanford University andother schools jumped into the fray,along with employees of corporations like Googleand Salesforce.
In 2009, organizers brought all the teamstogether for aone-week challenge at Tulane’sbusiness school.In2010, they changed the event’snametoNOEW and added apitch competition for outside entrepreneurs.
That year,WestCoast investor Jim Coulter,who hastiestoNew Orleans, joined as afinancial backer andprogramming partner. For several years after,hewas instrumentalto NOEW’sgrowth.
By 2012, the annual gathering was attracting hundreds of attendees to raucous “fan vote” pitch competitions that had Mardi Gras parade energy
“The peopleonstage were like rock stars or Saints players,” said TimWilliamson, co-founder and former CEO of The Idea Village. “Entrepreneurship had become part of ourculture.” NOEW continued to grow throughoutthe 2010s withhelp from partner organizations. After apandemic break, organizers experimented with different formats, addingalive musicfestival one year,and launching the “NOEWinYourNeighborhood” series of eventsacross the metro area.
But the biggestchangecame with thehandoff of production to Loyola, which co-produced theevent lastyear with The Idea Village and took it over completely this year
The Idea Village CEO Jon Atkinsonsaidthe move helps his organization focus on the needs of venture-funded, high-growth startups anditallows NOEW to return to its roots andbe the“place whereNew Orleans comes togethertoenvision the future.”
Fillingagap on themap
The change has freed up The IdeaVillage to producea related event, the 3rd Coast Venture Summit. Theinvitationonly gathering scheduled for thesame week is designed to connect promising Gulf South companieswithdeep-pocketed national investors.
Andrew Albert, programs director at The Idea Village, said the goal of the 3-year-old summit is to leveragethe region’s expertise in industrieslike maritime, energy and manufacturing while getting investors accustomed to coming to New Orleans to look foropportunities,filling in the gap on the map between Houston and Atlanta.
“Wewanttoserve anyone who’s‘Gulf South curious,’”he said. “JPMorgan Chase alone is investing $4 trillion in the region, and that’s asignal that investors seevalue in what we create here.”
The summitwill take place Tuesday andWednesday at the Common HouseNew Orleans, then movetoLoyola’scampus foraninvestorbreakfast that will tie the two events together
Savoie said theone-two punch will show thepotential of the city’sbusiness community
“Wehave agreat ecosystem that’sbeen built here,” he said. “Ifyou give these companies permissiontosucceed andgive themsupport, they’re going to kick ass.”
“There have been aton of bills filed that are anti-carbon capture and sequestration,” saidJim Patterson,executive vice president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.“There is alot of fear,alot of thatisill-informed. We need to make sure companies know that they can comehere and operate.”
Consolidatingmoney, authority
The session comes more than two years intoLandry’sterm.During thattime, his pro-business administration has simplified the state’s tax code to make it more friendly to companies, rolled back regulations opposed by big industry,created new incentives to attract data centers andother manufacturers, and reorganized the state’seconomic development agency
Thegovernorand Louisiana EconomicDevelopment officials say those changes have paid offin billions of dollars in new projects planned or under construction, including Meta and Amazon artificial intelligence data centersinnorth Louisiana, aHyundai steel mill in Ascension Parish and new liquified naturalgas facilitiesalong the Gulf Coast.
Thosebig-ticketindustrial projects have created additional demand for newconstruction workers, who were alreadyinshort supply.The health care, hospitality andmanufacturing sectorsalsoare stretchedthin, according to data from theGreater Baton Rouge Industry Alliance, which projects that Louisiana will need about 70,000 more skilledtradespeople over the next five years.
Amongthe measures business groups are pushing is abill by Rep. John Wyble,R-Franklinton, that would consolidate power and millions of federal workforce training dollars under Louisiana Works, the former Louisiana Workforce Commission, whichwas restructured during the 2025 legislative session.
Thosefederal dollars, whichtotaled$115 million thisyear,currently flowto15different regional councils charged with devising and overseeing workforce training in their respectivegeographicareas Wyble’sbillwould effectivelyfunnel themoney andcontrol to the state,which advocates saywould allow for greater coordination, oversight and efficiency
“A lotoftimes, the funding is just notascoordinatedasitcould be,” Pattersonsaid. “All these regional boards are operating in their own
a$48 millioncontract in February2025 to operate andmaintain the four vessels that expired last month.
Hornbeck operates afleet of offshore supply vessels to support the oil and gas industry,the U.S military and offshore construction, mainly in the Gulf. They’re headquartered in Covington and have offices in Houston,Braziland Mexico.
The continuation of the contract builds on Louisiana’sroleinthe Navy,being hometothe Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Baseand Naval Support Activity base, both in NewOrleans. The state is also home to other defense contractorsincludingThoma-Sea Marine Constructors, amarineconstruction company based in Houma, and Swiftships, ashipbuilding and engineering company with three offices in south Louisiana. Hornbeck was founded in 1997 andoperatesa fleet of nearly75 offshore supply vessels and multipurpose support vessels that operate primarily the Gulf of Mexico, the East Coast and West Coast, Brazil and the Caribbean.
little theater,and there’s no ability to make sure we have all been rowing in the same direction.”
Arelatedbill by Rep. Stephanie Berault, R-Slidell, would create the funding mechanism for the new workforce training initiative, establishing the Bayou Growth Opportunity Fund, whichalso would be administered by Louisiana Works.
“It’sgreatweare on themap as aplace where folks can comeand situate their business,” Patterson said.“Butwehaveanumberof folks whoare not in the workforce because they lack the skill set. That is something we aretrying to address.”
Trying again
As in the past, business lobbyistswill be pushing bills that would lower the duration and cost of workers’ compensationclaims, whichare among the costliest in the U.S. even thoughthe state has someofthe lowest incident rates of workplace injuries in the nation. That’saccording to statisticsfrom the national Workers Compensation Research Institute, anonprofit research organization.
Abill by Rep. Gabe Firment, RPollock, wouldimpose new rules on workers’ compensation claims.Another measure by Rep. Raymond Crews, R-Shreveport, would abolish the Workers Compensation Advisory Council, as part of abroader restructuring of the system.
Business groups will also try again to tackle tort reform, an area where they have had only limited success because of the state’spowerful trial bar.This session, abill by Sen. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, would make it harder to get money for mental anguish or emotional distress absent physical injury,requiring theplaintiff to prove “outrageous conduct” by adefendant. In auto insurance, abill by Rep. Dennis Bamburg, another Monroe Republican, would extend the law,which denies recovery for the first $100,000 of bodily injury or property damage for an uninsured motorist, to those whose insurance coverage has lapsed for more than 30 days.
Playingdefense
Newonthe agenda forthis session are aseries of bills that would ensure carbon capture and sequestration is allowed to go forward. Environmental groups and residents of areas near proposed injection wells areincreasingly opposedto the projects, which have already received federal permits and represent billions in new investment for the state.
Several bills would ban or restrict new carbon wells. LABI and groups that lobby forthe petrochemical industry are supporting measures that prevent such limits.
“The Legislatureneeds to say there is no reason for these projects not to go forward,” Patterson said. “There arejobsand opportunities and everyone needs to calm down and relax.”
EmailStephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@theadvocate. com.
PROVIDED PHOTO
TALKING BUSINESS
ASK THE EXPERTS
CEO launched nonprofit to meet training demands
BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer
In 2018, educator Claire
Jecklin
led a team that launched the New Orleans Career Center with a mission to create pathways into “midskilled” careers in health care, construction and other sectors that don’t always require the traditional higher education route.
The nonprofit moved from one location to another for five years while contractors completed a $27 million renovation of the former McDonogh 35 High School building in Treme. Now, the career center operates out of the building, which reopened in 2023 offering training to Orleans Parish high school students and adults in the building trades, health care, hospitality and engineering, among other tracks.
The center’s enrollment has grown from 100 to 800 students, fueled in large part by the move into its 143,000-square-foot facility
Jecklin, who spent a decade at New Orleans Charter Science & Mathematics High School before launching the career center, explains why demand for workers in the building trades, health care and other industries is strong and how her 50-person team navigates a complicated web of funding sources to keep the center growing.
This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity
NOCC offers training in several fields.Where are you seeing the most demand?
Health care continues to be big, but the building trades make up the biggest area of enrollment growth, grant and investment growth, and demand from employer partners. Our new facility is what has allowed that to happen. We teach carpentry, electrical, HVAC and welding. We’re about to add plumbing. We train just over 200 people every day, and right now, the largest specific enrollment area is electrical, which I think is great because it’s also the area where we’re seeing the largest growth in the state, whether it’s for big projects like the Meta center or others.
city that needs a lot of repairs and historic renovation work, but we also have new projects on the horizon like the Shell headquarters in the River District.
We’re also training for Ochsner Health and Providence Housing. We have created customized training for Sheraton. We also had program participants last year who were hired after doing facilities maintenance internships at the LSU Health Sciences Center
And what’s the focus in health care?
The No. 1 high-demand job in the U.S. is a nurse.
medical sonographer, lab tech.
There’s need for those allied health jobs that require a two-year degree and licensing board.
We provide a pipeline to the licensed practical nursing programs
We tee people up to make that choice and know why they’re making it and know what the jobs are.
What other training do you offer?
We train about 50 high school students in culinary arts but you can only really train 20 at a time safely We don’t train adults in this field because there are other strong providers in the community
The building is beautiful How did it get funded? It was paid for through a combination of the last of the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) recovery dollars from Hurricane Katrina, Community Development Block Grants and tax credits related to our function in job training.
Unlike many projects, where one person puts the stake in the ground that makes everything possible, in this case, it was many folks.
The career center came to be at a time when the Recovery School District and Orleans Parish School Board were merging into one, and both entities had to agree on the plan. The Louisiana Department of Education approved the project.
The most significant investor is the city We received $2 million in American Rescue Plan funding that was approved by the City Council, and the state provided capital outlay dollars.
The facility is owned by Orleans Parish School Board, but we are the operators and we have a contract to provide the services. Every openenrollment public high school has students here this year Who comes to NOCC?
Why is there demand now for building trades in particular?
One reason is the silver tsunami of baby boomers reaching retirement age. Statewide infrastructure projects also create demand. Power generation and transmission projects, whether traditional or sustainable and green variations, are all actually construction jobs, as is a potential road to connect new port facilities to the highway system and water management infrastructure.
So much of the investment in Louisiana requires skills in the building trades to fill those jobs, and the city of New Orleans is always going to have different needs. We are an old
Health care is an example of where you have both a retiring workforce and that retiring workforce needs care, so the pre-nursing pipeline is huge. To respond to that, we do certified nursing assistant training. We also do some patient-care tech training. We also do medical assistant training, and licensed practical nursing training in partnership with Delgado and Ochsner
We don’t do two-year and fouryear degree paths, but we are providing exposure and education around what those jobs are and other high-demand jobs: X-ray tech,
Beyond Boundaries.
Thehealthcareindustryhas asingle constant:change.
As thefastest-growing sector of theAmerican economy, thehealthcareindustryisalwaysinastate of change in response to macroeconomic forces, thepublic’sdemand forhigh-quality andaccessible healthcare,and fiscal constraints. We help ourclients successfullynavigateachallenging andconstantly evolving business andregulatory landscape as they create andrespond to newdeliverymodelstomeet thesenew challenges.
We also have an introduction to all of the types of engineering, which is in demand and usually requires a college path afterward.
How did NOCC come to be?
I loved my job as principal at Sci High (a New Orleans charter school), which has spaces for makers, trades and health care. It was wonderful for the 400 students that we serve, but I wanted it for everybody, so we created a nonprofit.
I never would have gotten there on my own, but I credit founding board member Dana Peterson, who runs New Schools for New Orleans, for her guidance.
The largest number of seats are available for students who enroll through their New Orleans public high school. We also offer a bridge year, which is a fifth year of public education, and adult training. If you receive SNAP benefits, you can access the training. We also train for employers through private agreements.
What are challenges?
There’s a shrinking student population, and education funding is tricky
I’ve never met anyone who thought that the career center was a bad idea. Everyone wants people to have jobs and wants communities to be prosperous and people to have connections. It’s just a question of what resources
Email
Although pandemic-eraflexibilities have largely expired, telemedicine anddigitalhealthremain integral to thecountry’s healthcare delivery. Regulatory uncertainty, fundingcuts, and fragmentedstate laws create compliance pressure,while artificialintelligence(AI) integrationaccelerates diagnosticsand workflowoptimizationbut raises apprehension around bias,liability,and cybersecurity. However, global initiativesreinforce digital health’s importanceworldwideand venture capitalremainsstrong forclinicallyvalidated solutions,signaling resilience despiteeconomic volatility.Ultimately, success hingesonrobust complianceframeworksand balanced regulation to sustain access,efficiency,and qualityinanevolvingtelemedicine and digitalhealthcarelandscape
Ourfirm is proudtohelpleadthe wayforwardfor Louisiana healthcare providersand supportcompanies as they undergo digitaltransformationand adapttoa dynamicand intricatelegal andregulatoryenvironment.
PROVIDED PHOTO By FACEBOOK
The mission of the New Orleans Career Center located in the former McDonogh 35 High School building in Treme after a $27 million renovation, is to create pathways into ‘midskilled’ careers in health care, construction and other sectors that don’t always require the traditional higher education route.
Nadiadela Houssaye
AllisonBell
NATION & WORLD
FROM DABBLERS TO DAY TRADERS
Individual investors’ impact on Wall Street growing
BY ALEX VEIGA AP business writer
LOS ANGELES For years, individual investors were dismissed by some on Wall Street as “dumb money.”
That typically referred to those prone to trading on hype, or chasing trends rather than company or industry fundamentals, or responding late to big market moves.
That’s no longer the case. An analysis of where individual investors put their money last year shows they outperformed two of the most popular, professionally managed index funds, SPY and QQQ, whose goal is to mirror the performance of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, respectively
These investors, also known as retail investors, accounted for $5.4 trillion in trading activity in 2025 across stocks and exchangetraded funds, according to Vanda, an independent data and research firm. That’s a nearly 47% increase from the previous year and the most going back to at least 2014.
“I personally want to dispel the myth of retail being dumb money, because it’s not dumb money anymore,” Joe Mazzola, head trading and derivatives strategist at Charles Schwab, said in November at an investor education event in Anaheim, California, that drew around 800 of the financial services company’s clients.
or attending investing seminars like Schwab’s.
“I learned a lot more about options strategies and charting and everything from there,” he said in an interview in November “Now I’m independent. I just look for my own trades. I have my own strategy I hunt on my own.”
Sabia, a high school registrar, said he trades in cryptocurrencies and other assets but that his “bread and butter” is options trading.
That involves trading contracts to buy or sell a stock at a specific price before a specified date. This can be less costly upfront than buying stocks, but can also be riskier, because options expire and a small move in a stock’s price can translate into a big swing in the value of options contracts.
Many Americans have long invested in the stock market, although largely hands-off through managed funds in retirement plans, such as a 401(k). But over the last decade, the advent of mobile trading apps, zerocommission trading, stock market-focused communities on social media and online tools for education and research has helped usher in a new era of do-it-yourself trading in stocks, crypto and other investments. The COVID-19 lockdowns were an inflection point. A new crop of investors, many young newcomers using investing apps like Robinhood, helped drive the “meme stock” frenzy that catapulted the price of GameStop, AMC Entertainment and other stocks. Meme stocks aside, years of mostly uninterrupted,
strong stock market gains provided an attractive backdrop for more people to take up investing. The benchmark S&P 500 has posted an annual loss only three times going back to 2015.
By early last year, the number of people moving money from checking accounts to investment accounts reached its highest levels since 2021, according to a report by JPMorgan Chase. Some may have been younger Americans who couldn’t afford to buy a house and instead put the money in stocks, the report suggests.
All told, money coming into the market from indi-
vidual investors jumped about 50% from 2023 to early 2025, according to the report.
“I would say they are considerably more important as a force in markets right now,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers. “Markets used to be really dominated by institutional investors, but if you put enough ants together they can move a very big log.”
Frank Sabia, of Encino, California, started dabbling in investing in 2018. Over the years, he’s leveled up his market and trading knowledge by joining private investor chat groups online
Last April, Sabia opened a Roth IRA account and bought into the market as stocks tanked after President Donald Trump announced a sweeping set of tariffs that were more severe than investors expected. The announcement sent the S&P 500 into a two-day tailspin of more than 10%, the type of plunge not seen since the 2020 COVID crash.
“I just bought the dip,” Sabia said. He wasn’t alone. Retail investors seized on the market skid, buying more than $5 billion in stocks over the two days, according to Vanda.
Many retail investors have gone beyond stocks or ETFs and into other investment vehicles. Options trading, which can expose them to higher risk, accounted for about $650 billion of retail investors’ trading last year and has been mostly rising steadily going back to at least 2019, according to Vanda.
It’s not uncommon for retail investors to strike a balance between higher-risk moves and making trades to build out a long-term investment portfolio.
Andy Hu, a financial analyst in Los Angeles who attended the Schwab event in November, said he had 50% of his investment portfolio in the SPDR S&P
“In April, it was retail (investors) that bought the dip,” Mazzola said. “They were the ones that were willing to step in front They saw the opportunity.” Retail investors also had one of their biggest buythe-dip days of the year on Oct. 10, when the market dropped 2.7% after Trump threatened a “massive increase on tariffs” on China
Forthe firsttime, Louisianais deploying statedollarstoprepare industrial sitesfor development throughadisciplined investment framework—not grants or giveaways.
LouisianaFastSites targetssites with real market demandbut aremissing critical infrastructure: water, sewer, utilities,railorroadaccess. As sites aresold or leased,the Staterecoversits investment andredeploys thosefunds into future site and infrastructureprojects, creating aself-sustaining revolving fund
Louisianahas already seen thebenefitsof proactiveinvestmentinreadiness.State-supported infrastructureand site preparation have helped enable majorprojects, including more than 5,000 jobs associatedwithHyundaiSteel andover $875 millionincontracts awardedtoLouisianabasedbusinessesthrough Meta’s investment
This month, 19 sites across 16 Louisianaparishes move forwardinthe program’sfirst competitive round.Morethan $330 million in competitive requests were submittedstatewide,withpublic andprivate landownersproposing partnerships that return statecapital,quickly fueling thenext wave of development.
This isn’teconomicdevelopment as usual. It’s adisciplined capitalstrategydesignedtokeep reinvestinginLouisiana’sgrowth.
Staff report
SouthLouisiana businesses and nonprofit groups recently announced the following promotions, new hires and resignations.
BatonRouge
Baton Rouge General has hired Dr.Nathan Quin,a boardce rti fi ed intern al medicine physician, to work at its Prairieville location.
Quin, who has 15 years of experience as ahospital medicine physician, joins three other doctors at Baton Rouge General Physicians-Ascension
Emergent Method has hired Brian von Schulz as creative manager,where he will lead creative strategy and exec ution andspearhead the consulting firm’sinternal creative processes.
VonSchulz previously held creative roles at Horne andthe University of Denver
Fool’sTake:
Guaranty Corp. promoted Gordy Rush to vice president of business de ve lopment for Guaranty Communications Rushpreviously oversaw Baton Rouge radio stations 104.5 ESPN, Eagle 98.1 and 100.7 The Tiger as Guaranty Media’svice president and general manager
Guarantee Restoration Serviceshas hired Emilia Henry as its Louisiana business development manager. Henry,acertified fundraising executive,previously served as seniorvicepresident ofinvestordevelopment for the Baton Rouge Area Chamber andhas also held leadership roles at theLSU Foundation andLSU College of Science.
Hancock Whitney announced the hiring of three new bankers to itsBaton Rouge office
Joanie Montelaro,who led Regions Bank’sbusiness and community banking group for southLouisiana, becomes
Communicating adividend
Verizon Communications
asenior vice president andmiddle market banker; Patrick Danna,who has more than 18 yearsof commercial banking experience, becomes avice president andmiddle ma rke t banker;and Katie Gibbons,a BatonRouge native withnearly 25 years of experience aiding high-net worthclients, becomes avice president and private banker
Louisiana Blue hasappointed Tina Bourgeois as its newchief digitaland operations officer
Bourgeois, whohas been with thecompany formore than 25 years, hadpreviously worked as senior vice president and chief information officer for thehealth insurer
LSUhired Michele Montero as its newsystem chiefprocurementofficer.Montero, who has more than20years of ex-
perience in the field, was previously thedesignated chief procurement officer for LSU A&M.
Neel Schaffer,aJackson, Mississippi-basedengineeringand constructionmanagementfirm,announcedthe promotion of six senior vice presidents and the appointment of 10 newvicepresidents, including several in Louisiana.
They include DishiliCurre as seniorvice president and engineer manager; Matt Stevenson as vice president and director of safety andhealth;and Leah Selcer as vice president and project manager in the Baton Rouge office. Warren Huggins becomes vicepresident and project manager at the New Orleans office.
Ochsner Healthannounced thehiring of several new healthcare providers in Baton Rouge. Alexis Ambeau,aclinical neuropsychologist who last year completed afellowship at Ochsner Health; Sherry Coleman,anurse practitioner who specializesinmental health care; Dr.Madeleine Dehner,who practicesfamilymedicine withaninterest in wom-
en’shealth, sports medicine and preventative care; and Maci Petite,a nurse practitioner who practices women’shealth medicine, all nowworkatOchsner Health Center-O’Neal. Amy David,anurse practitioner whospecializes in ear,nose and throat medicine,now works at Ochsner Health Center-Prairieville and Ochsner Cancer CenterBaton Rouge; Dr.Victoria Page, aboard-certified ear,nose and throat physician, works at OchsnerCancer CenterBaton Rouge;and Dr.Anna ClaireSaucier,anOB/GYN who has contributed to published research on gynecologic surgery,pregnancyoutcomes and women’smental health, now works at Ochsner Medical Center-Baton Rouge.
Acadiana
The Blanco Public Policy Center at theUniversity of Louisiana
specializing in taxpolicy andlabor market forecasts and analysis. Vincent, a former Navy flight officer previously worked as thechiefeconomist forthe Louisiana Legislative Fiscal Office, the Louisiana WorkforceCommission and the Louisiana Department of Revenue.
Do you have personnel changes to shareorother ideas for our business coverage? Dropusaline at biztips@theadvocate.com
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Rooted in PlaqueminesParish: ALifeinLouisiana’s Menhaden Industry
AlongLouisiana’s coast, themenhaden industry hasquietly poweredlocal economies for generations–providing industrial jobs,rebuilding communitiesafter disasters, andallowingfamiliestostayrooted in ruralcoastal parishes.The small, silvery fishharvested in theGulfare processedinto high-proteinfish meal andnutrient-rich oil used in aquaculture, petfood, agriculture, andother essentialproducts. In Plaquemines Parish,thatworksupportsfamilies, schools, andsmall businesses ForTravisHarvey, it hassupported an entire life
“Thiswillbemy29thfishingseason,” Harvey says.“Istarted when Iwas 20 years old. This is allI’veeverdone, andall Iever wanted to do.” Harvey is PlantManager at Daybrook FisheriesinEmpire, LA, theprocessingpartner to Westbank Fishing. Buthis storyislessabout job titles andmoreabout roots.
Growing Up SevenMiles Away
Harvey wasbornand raised in Home Place, just seven milesfromthe plant.
“I’venever reallyleft,”hesays. “After Katrinaweevacuated fora fewmonths, but we came back andrebuilt.I’vealwayswanted to stay righthere.”
In arural parish wheremanyyoung people feel pressure to move away to findopportunity Harvey considersthatagift.
“Tobeabletostayinthe ruralarea yougrew
up in andmakeagoodlivingisa blessing,” he says.“Most people have to leaveand maybe come back oneday.I neverhad to.”
Outsideofwork, Harvey embraces the outdoors. He is an avid rabbit hunter and competitivebeagleenthusiast.
“Mygrandfather startedmeonrabbit hunting,”hesays. “Now it’s my biggesthobby outsideofwork. I’mrunningdogsyear-round.
Theconnectionbetween work andhomelife runs deep.The menhaden meal produced at theplant is akey ingredient in many premium dogfoods
“All my dogfeedhas menhaden fishmealin it,” Harvey says.“That tellsyou thequality.”
LearningtheBusinessfromtheGroundUp
Harvey didnot startinmanagement. His first job wasrunning thecookers, thefirst stageofprocessingafter fishare offloaded from theboats
“After thefish come in,theygointovats andintothe cookers,”heexplains. “That’s whereI started.
From there, he worked throughoil separation,refining, andother partsofthe operation.Hewas promoted to shiftsupervisorjust months before Hurricane Katrinahit in 2005
“The plantwas devastated,” he recalls. “But by thefollowing April, we were processing again. When yourebuild from that,every other problem feelssmaller.”
That experience shaped howheleads today.
Each morninghearrives around 6:30 a.m.,
reviewsthe night’sproduction, checks safety reports, andwalks theplant floor to make sure everythingisoperating as it should
When theplant is runningatfullcapacity, he finds satisfaction in therhythmofitall
In lowerPlaquemines Parish,commercial fishingisnot an abstract concept. It is personal “WhenIwas growingup, theoilfield was king,”Harveysays. “Those jobsare mostly gone now. This plantisone of thebiggest employers on this endofthe parish.”
He estimatesthatmostofhis workforce liveslocally,withmanysecond- and third-generation employees
“I’vegot guys whosefathers andgrandfathersworkedhere,”hesays. “Thiscommunity revolvesaroundthisindustry.Our employees live here.Their kids go to school here.They shop at thelocal stores.EverythingI have –my home,raising my kids,takingcareofmy family –comes from this plant. It supports thewhole area.”
He even methis wife at theplant.She worked in thelab “Soyes,” he says with asmile.“Everything aboutmylifetiesbacktothisplace.”
Investing in theNextGeneration
Harvey hopesmoreyoung people in PlaqueminesParishconsidercareers in theindustry
“Not everykid wantstosit behinda desk,” he says.“Some want to work with theirhands be mechanics, electricians,operators.There’s nothingwrong with that.”
He wouldliketosee stronger partnerships with localschools to introducestudents to industrial career pathsthatallow them to stay closetohome.
“Let’s findthose young, hungry kids and give them good jobswithbenefits,” he says “That’show youkeepacommunity strong.” When askedwhatworking in themenhaden industry hastaughthim,Harveyanswers withouthesitation.
“Hardwork. Values.Family,”hesays. “You spend long hourstogether.The people here become family.”
Nearly threedecadesin, Harvey stillwalks thesameplant floor each morning, just miles from wherehegrewup. Theindustrythat gave himhis start hassurvivedhurricanes, downturns, andshiftingpolitical tides– and continuestoprovide good industrial jobs wherefew alternatives remain.For Travis Harvey,the menhaden industry isn’t just a business.It’swhatallowsfamilieslikehis to stay,work, andbuild theirlives in PlaqueminesParish.
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SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Abry Brothers keeping it on the level for 7 generations
BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer
For more than 180 years, one family has been lifting, leveling and relocating buildings around the New Orleans area.
Abry Brothers completes about 150 projects every year, almost entirely in the Greater New Orleans area.
They range from $1,500 repairs completed in a single day to six-figure commercial shoring jobs that can take months or more
In a place where the ground keeps sinking and the water keeps rising, there’s a steady demand for companies with expertise at raising houses, repairing foundations and shoring up collapsing structures, which has helped keep Abry Brothers in business for generations.
“It’s kind of like the undertaker and the corner bar,” said President and CEO Greg Abry, whose great-greatgreat-great-grandfather founded the company he now runs with his sons Patrick and Thomas. “There’s always a need for us.”
At any given time, Abry Brothers has 25 to 30 workers spread across six or seven active work sites, with another eight employees in its offices.
In addition to those sites, it’ll have up to 20 other projects in progress — generally awaiting other contractors to finish work or secure permits.
Having worked on such notable structures as Warren Easton Charter High School on Canal Street, Central Grocery on Decatur Street and the Dew Drop Inn on Lasalle Street, Abry Brothers is no stranger to historic preservation, even when its worksites don’t have landmark protections.
“The vast majority of what we work on, I would consider
historic,” said Patrick Abry “Because they’ve been here long enough for the foundation to fail.”
Changing gears
Abry Brothers dates back to 1832, when John Abry brought along his house-moving expertise when he immigrated to New Orleans from Frankfurt, Germany
In the nearly two centuries since, the Bayou St. Johnbased business has evolved alongside the city whose foundations it’s helped form.
In New Orleans’ early days, the materials it took to build houses were expensive, but labor was cheap, so physically moving houses was easier and more common than one might think, Greg Abry said. That situation reversed in the post-World War II years, when materials were cheap and labor got a lot more expensive. And as relocating houses became more challenging, hindered by modern innova-
tions like fiber-optic wires and protections for oak trees, Abry Brothers pivoted toward repairing foundations, leveling houses and shoring up collapsing structures.
Today, about 80% of its job sites are private homes, though commercial and residential projects comprise roughly equal parts of Abry Brothers’ more than $5 million in annual revenue.
Lego bricks
Over the decades, the company’s methods have evolved alongside changing building techniques.
In older areas of the city developed before the flood protection system, like the French Quarter and Garden District, houses were originally raised off the ground. Shoring in such cases involves leveling the structure on top of the vertical supports, called piers, and replacing rotted horizontal supports, which are called sills.
Homes in neighborhoods
built out in the mid-20th century, such as Metairie and Lakeview were built on concrete slabs, which couldn’t be lifted using the same jacks.
“When you try to lift the slab house, all your jack and stuff goes in the ground and the house doesn’t come up,” Greg Abry said. “You’ve got to develop something that’s big enough that can pick up the load to actually cause the the house to lift and level. And that’s what my father did.”
Instead of using a traditional pile driver to hammer beams into the ground, Abry Brothers uses hydraulic jacks, relying on the weight of the building to push down the piling.
The company uses precast concrete pile sections, which are stacked one on top of the other and pushed into the ground until they reach a layer of soil stable enough to support sometimes as far as 80 feet underground.
“It’s like Lego bricks,” Thomas Abry said. “You put
a Lego brick on the dirt, you put a jack on top, you push it down until the top is still poking up, and you put another Lego brick on, you push that down.”
Disruptions and pressures
While the New Orleans terrain provides an endless supply of potential customers for Abry Brothers’ services, market pressures are making it increasingly difficult to do business.
Homeowners insurance excludes foundation repairs and leveling — unless they result from a covered event like a car crash or fallen tree — meaning that most Abry Brothers tabs are not picked up by insurers. At the same time, the company’s own insurance has skyrocketed rising by at least 300% over the past five years.
“That’s our biggest hurdle, crazily enough,” Thomas Abry said
Disruptions to federal flood mitigation grants associated with President Donald Trump’s efforts to shift disaster response away from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to state governments and multiple government shutdowns — have led to more complications.
As of early March, Abry Brothers had at least 20 contracts worth about $2.5 million tied up due to uncertainty involving FEMA grants. That has led the Abrys to postpone or hesitate taking on new projects, cutting into the pipeline for the grant-supported work that usually provides up to 25% of its company’s business.
Changes to the way flood insurance rates are calculated — the Risk Rating 2.0 system have also thrown a wrench into the company’s business. Under the old flood map system, taking part in a grant
program to raise up a New Orleans house could make financial sense for homeowners because they could reasonably expect to recoup that investment through savings on flood insurance premiums.
“But when I’m working with these programs and elevating people’s houses, sometimes the (flood) insurance that they get is more expensive after the home is elevated than before it’s elevated,” Thomas Abry said. “How does this even make sense? There’s no rhyme or reason.”
Looking to the future
In recent years, private equity firms have approached the Abry Brothers on a regular basis about selling the company The Abrys say it would take an astronomical bid to convince them to part ways with their company after nearly 200 years.
“The way we run this business today, somebody would come in and say, ‘Man, y’all are crazy Y’all get out of here, I’m going to set this thing up to maximize what we do and efficiency,’” Greg Abry said. “That’s not that important to us.” Instead, he intends to pass the business to his sons as the family has done for generations.
Long-term, the biggest threat to the company’s survival, Abry said, is not drought, storms, or subsidence. Rather, it’s a declining population and economic stagnation.
“If New Orleans does well, we do well, because people fix their houses up,” he said. “But if the city of New Orleans continues to lose population, it creates a vacuum.”
Email Jonah Meadows at Jonah.Meadows@ theadvocate.com.
STAFF PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER ABOVE:
Abry, center along with sons Patrick, left, and Thomas, leads Abry Brothers Inc., which was founded by the family in 1832.
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Governor’s agenda forsession lookslighter this year
BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
Gov.Jeff Landry rode herd on fellow Republicans in the state Legislature during two regular sessions and four specialsessions in 2024 and 2025
The results, to name afew: Harsher prison terms. Lower income taxrates but higher sales taxes. Weaker antipollution regulations for chemical plantsasa means to boost investment. Tighter controls on lawsuits filed by people claiminginjuries in auto accidents. Acopy of the TenCommandments in each classroom
In the three-month regular session that begins Monday,however, allevidenceindicates that Landry has limited ambitionsfor the legislature this year.
INSIDE
ä Likely top issues of this legislativesession, Page 4
ä Our opinions team breaks down what theyexpect to see, Page 5
ä Forcomplete gavel-to-gavel coverageand more, follow us at the advocate.com |nola.com
One sign:Landry has said little abouthis agenda andonly recently sat down with the legislative leadership to outlinehis plans.
Another sign: Landry has not followed thetraditional practice of governors, Democratsand Republicans alike, of building support for his agendabymeetingwith civic leaders andreporters duringthe preceding weeks in each of the state’smedia markets.
Landry’soffice declinedtocomment, saying the governor would lay out his agenda during his speech on the first day the legislature meets.
“It will be amild session,”said Bernie Pinsonat, aveteran pollsterand political consultant. “It will be alot of ho-hum stuff, like fixing local problems. They have stuff they don’twant to do —like carbon capture They’ll kill those bills. The governor feels like he’sdone enough on insurance. Idon’t expect any big policy fights.”
One reason, Republican legislators said, is that they have done so much toshift Louisiana to the right after eight yearsofbeing stymied by aDemocratic governor,John BelEdwards
“We’vedonesomany things in thelast24 months,” saidHouse Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice. “It’sgood to take astepback
ä See SESSION, page 3R
STAFF PHOTOByJAVIER GALLEGOS
Gov. Jeff Landry
STAFF
PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON
Continued from page 1R
and see which policies are working.”
Another reason why Landry has a lighter agenda, lawmakers and political analysts added, is that the governor wants to stay out of political fights that would further sap his popularity.
He is already facing criticism for being very vocal late last year about who ought to coach LSU football and run the university’s athletic department, and more recently for serving as President Donald Trump’s special envoy in his efforts to seize Greenland. Some lawmakers say constituents are asking whether the governor is focused on their needs.
Expect the unexpected
To be sure, an unexpected issue could always flare up, particularly on race.
Last year far-right conservatives pushed an antiDEI bill through the House that Black Democrats called “offensive, “divisive” and “racially charged.”
The Senate Republican leadership, acting at the behest of their Democratic colleagues, killed the bill by not giving it a hearing.
Lawmakers are also awaiting a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on whether the current six congressional districts are legal.
Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, noted that several legislators have filed redistricting bills in case the high court invalidates the current map before the legislative session ends on June 1.
The issue could be “contentious,” Henry said.
Republican legislators have said they would want to draw a new map to flip a Democratic congressional seat to Republicans.
Last year, the hottest topic was the push by business interests and insurance companies to make changes, over the objections of Democrats and trial lawyers, that sought to reduce lawsuits and payouts to people injured in car accidents. Landry predicted the various bills approved by lawmakers would reduce insurance rates by as much as 10%.
DeVillier and Henry predicted only minor modifications this year to give them time to determine how last year’s changes will affect people.
DeVillier said he expected that lawmakers would double the funding available for the popular fortified roof program to $30 million.
One sign of the lower temperature on insurance issues: Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple said he and Landry recently met to discuss the measures passed during the past two years and the impact on premiums.
Just before last year’s session, Temple complained that he hadn’t been able to get Landry to talk with him for 11 months. Legislators said they welcome the lighter agenda this year, describing themselves as worn out by the governor’s forceful style and from the constant need to be in Baton Rouge. They note privately that serving as a legislator is supposed to be a part-time job, and the pay hasn’t been raised since 1980
Local issues
One issue that will generate plenty of fire is the push by local residents against injecting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases deep underground in a process known as carbon capture sequestration. Residents near many sites of proposed carbon capture wells are increasingly concerned that the activity will pollute water and rural lands. “There’s a lot of pressure from the public, more so than last year,” said Rep
cal year 2029-30.
Meanwhile, Landry, DeVillier and Henry have all expressed interest in a special session late this year to further reduce the state income tax rate.
Moller questions if this is possible, especially since a half-cent sales tax increase approved by legislators in 2024 is scheduled to expire in 2030.
‘Affordability’ agenda
Because Republicans hold a two-thirds majority in both the House and the Senate, Democrats have limited influence.
ing House Bill 5, which would allow parish governments or the voters in that parish to block the authorization of permits for carbon capture there.
Brett Geymann R-Lake Charles. “Each time a project potentially locates in an area, that area gets activated There’s also pressure from the other side not to do anything It will be very interesting to see how things play out in the committee.”
Geymann chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, which will hear the anti-carbon capture bills.
State Rep Mike Johnson, R-Pineville, who is the speaker pro tempore, is expected to take the lead in giving voice to those local concerns, which are especially prevalent in such parishes as Beauregard, Livingston, Allen and Rapides.
House Bill 7 by Johnson would prohibit companies from using eminent domain laws to take private property for carbon capture projects.
“Our constitution says you can only expropriate private property for a public necessity, such as schools, highways, drainage, electricity lines,” Johnson said. “Carbon capture is solely for a private profit.”
Under his bill, Johnson added, “You have to negotiate if someone is willing to sell it. It’s not anti-industry.”
Johnson is also sponsor-
“If the population of a parish doesn’t want the carbon capture industry, it’s not good for the parish or the industry to operate there,” Johnson said.
Will Green, president and chief executive officer of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, said his organization, which has long wielded power in Baton Rouge, will oppose the efforts of Johnson and others to stop carbon capture projects
“If we fumble that ball, Texas will pick it up,” Green said. “Mississippi will pick it up. Florida will pick it up.”
Budget questions
Henry seems to have settled the biggest educational issue by saying senators won’t support Landry’s request to double the cost of LA GATOR, the program that allows children to attend private schools with taxpayers’ money It’s too expensive, Henry said. He said his focus will be on keeping spending down, given the budget challenges ahead. Lawmakers will be approving the budget for fiscal year 2026-27, which begins on July 1.
Jan Moller, director of Invest in Louisiana, a progressive-leaning budget advocacy group noted that state budget officials are forecasting a $329 million shortfall in fiscal year 202728, a $614 million shortfall in fiscal year 2028-29 and a $977 million shortfall in fis-
Rep. Kyle Green of Marrero, who heads the Democratic House Caucus, said their top priorities will be an “affordability” agenda that aims to raise the $ 7.25-per-hour minimum wage and reduce the pay equity gap faced by women. Republicans have shown little appetite for these measures. Louisiana Progress is
pushing to make small but significant changes for cash-strapped people, including lower fines for those who let their car insurance lapse, tighter controls on businesses that impose hidden fees on purchases and easier ways for people to cancel online subscriptions.
“The costs for almost every aspect of daily life — food, health care, consumer goods, housing, insurance — are going up, and wages are largely failing to keep pace,” said Peter Brown, the executive director of Louisiana Progress.
STAFF FILE PHOTOS By HILARy SCHEINUK
Speaker of the House Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, left, and Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, speak in the Louisiana House of Representatives on the opening day of the 2024 legislative special session in Baton Rouge.
Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, which will hear the anticarbon capture bills.
Will Green
Kyle Green Jr
HOTTOPICS
When theLouisiana LegislatureconvenesonMonday,itwillconsider hundreds of billscoveringall sortsofissuesthataffectthe state.
Basedoninterviewswithlegislative leadersand areviewofpre-filedlegislation,these issues arelikelytosee themostattention —and potentiallythe most intensedebates
COMPILED BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT,ALYSE PFEIL, MEGHAN FRIEDMANN and DAVIDMITCHELL| Staff writers
or their local elected officials
CARBON CAPTURE
After the legislature last year putsomenew limits on carbon capture and sequestration, some lawmakers want to tryagain this year to limit the controversial technologyand give local governments or voters the righttorejectit.
Industryopposed similar bills last year over fears that patchwork regulations would hinder the burgeoning technologyand endanger billions of dollars in capital investmenttothe state.
But Rep. MikeJohnson, R-Pineville,and Sen Bill Wheat Jr R-Ponchatoula, are back with new attempts at bringing the questiontothe people
SCHOOL VOUCHER FUNDING
Gov. Jeff Landryisasking the legislature to almost double funding forLAGATOR, the state program that gives parents taxpayermoney to payfor private school tuition or homeschooling.Landry’sbudget request would grow the program from $43.5 million this year to atotal of $88 million.That could payfor another4,000 to 5,000 students to participate; just under 5,600 received themoneythis school year
Last year,the state Senate rejected Landry’sbid to boost funding for LA GATOR, his signature education program. And Senate President Cameron Henry, whohas said he is concerned about the program’scost growing unsustainably,has again voiced skepticism this year
Henry
The governor and other supporters sayLAGATOR gives parents more control overtheir students education andhelps getkids out of failing schools.The program had nearly 40,000 applicants for the current year But skeptics worrythe program will givemoneytoparents whoweregoing to send their children to private schools anyway.And others point out that, in the state’sprevious voucher program, participating students had lowertest scores than public school students.
HOMELESSNESS
Gov. Jeff Landryisbacking abill aimed at reducing homelessness across the state. Under the proposal, unauthorized camping on public property —sleeping in public spaces —would be acrime.The legislation would also set up ways to assist people whoare homeless with addiction treatment, mental health treatment,and finding shelter,among others.
Other bills are seekingtobar pipeline companies’ ability to expropriate landfor new carbondioxide deliverypipelines.And some legislators want to block carbon capture in Lakes Maurepasand Pontchartrainand threestate wildlife management areas near them
Carboncapture and sequestration is the process of permanentlyinjectingclimate change-inducing gases underground. Industry supporterssay the technologyissafe, with five decades of analogous use in oildrilling,and providesa keytocontinuing Louisiana’sfossil
REDISTRICTING?
Loomingoverthe session is the U.S. Supreme Courtcase Louisiana v. Callais. Louisianahas asked the U.S. Supreme Courtto overturnpartofthe Voting Rights Act that allows race tobeusedasafactor in drawing voting districtstoremedyhistorical discrimination in the votingprocess.
Anytimebetween nowand July,the Supreme
BUDGET QUESTIONS
As akey partofthe legislativesession, lawmakers will need to balance various state needstodrawupLouisiana’sbudget for the next fiscalyear,which beginsJuly1
With the state prison population on the rise after thestate passed aslewof‘tough-on-crime’ laws in 2024,legislators will face pressure to increase the corrections budget. Corrections officials have asked for another $82 millionnext year to accommodate risingcosts Meanwhile,the state is expected to have to payanother $42 milliontoadminister SNAP , thefederal food stamp program,due to a provisionofPresidentDonaldTrump’sOne
BigBeautifulBill Act.And in May, just before thesessionends, Louisianans will head to the polls to vote on whether to make ateacher payraise permanent. If theyvote against it, the Legislaturemay have to find anotherway to comeupwith the funds, or teachers couldlose thetemporarystipends theyhavereceived over the past several years.
ButSenatePresident Cameron Henrythinks one of the biggest budget issues this year will be in higher education: the state will have what to do aboutuniversities that are perennially in the red, he said.
fuel-based industries while mitigating climate change.
Onceseen as arelatively low-key environmental issue that drewbroad legislative supportina state traditionally friendly to oil and gas, the technologyhas riledconservative rural Louisiana as billions of dollarsinstorage andpipelineprojects have begun to roll out in Louisiana’sheartland.
Last fall, Gov. Jeff Landrydeclared a moratorium on newproject applications as the state considers more than 30 already in the queueand has fast-tracked six of them.
Courtcouldissue adecisioninthat case Should an opinion come down during the legislative session, there’sachance it will prompt the Legislature to redrawLouisiana’s congressional map —a process that would almost certainly be deeply contentious and take center stage.
In anticipation of apossible ruling,some state lawmakers have already filed bills that wouldallowthem to redrawLouisiana’ssix
PHARMACY BENEFITMANAGERS, DRUG COSTS ANDMORE
Rising prescription drug costs and the convolutedprescription drug supplychainare likely to again spark debate this year
Gov. Jeff Landryand some of hisalliesinthe Legislature have lambastedpharmacy benefit managers, companies that act as “middlemen that negotiate drug prices.
Landryhas accused the pharmacy benefit managers of artificially drivingupprescription
UNIVERSITYFUNDING AND PROGRAMS
Somelegislators want to takea hardlook at the structure and funding of Louisiana’suniversity systems, as several state schools face declining enrollment and structural budget deficits.
Some lawmakers argue the state’ssmaller institutions that are losing students and money needtoscrutinize their operational costsand the kinds of programs theyoffer —particularly before askingthe state formore money.
Theyalsowant to takeaclose look at the Board of Regents, which sets statewide goals and policies for higher education.
Rep. John Wyble, R-Franklinton, has sponsored abill that wouldprohibit university boards fromspending state moneyondegrees that the federalgovernment considers “lowearning outcome programs.
Leaders of some higher education institutions have arguedtheyare underfunded, making it difficult forthemtocompete.The scrutinyfollows themerger of the University of NewOrleans into the LSU System after years of budget woes.And it comesasthe flagshipLSU campus, where enrollment is booming,restructures in pursuit of atop-50 rankingfor university research.
congressional districts this year
Anew voting mapcould impact thenumber of Republicans Louisiana sends to Congress. Currently there are four Republican U.S. House members; that number could increase to either five or even six underadifferentmap and would come at the expense of one or twoseats now held by twoBlack Democrats. That mathwould also factor into which party controls Congress.
drug costs to pad profits and of pushing smaller local pharmacists out of themarketbygiving better business termstomajor drug retailers,like CVS.
This year,one of Landry’slegislativeallies, state Rep. MikeEchols, R-Monroe,a fierce critic of pharmacy benefitmanagers and staunch ally of independent pharmacists, said he plans to back legislation that would prohibit benefitmanagers from owning their ownretail pharmaciesand do away withacap on punitivedamages for managersthat manipulatethe market
WORKFORCE TRAINING
Gov. Jeff Landryand Louisiana’sworkforce agency want to put the state’sworkforce training program —and federal funding forthose efforts—underone state board, ratherthan the current setupof15different regional boards. Louisiana Works SecretarySusie Schowen has said that, currently,federalworkforce training dollars getfunneledtothe various boards, causing Louisiana’semployers to navigate the policies of 15 different programs.The goal is to make workforce training servicesconsistent across the state and to have more flexibilityinallocating the federal workforce training money. The effort comesafter the U.S. DepartmentofLabor underPresident Donald Trumpencouraged states to seek waiversoffederal laws that block “innovation” in worker training programs
COMMENTARY
BEHIND THE HEADLINES LEGISLATIVE SESSION
What to expect when theLegislature gavels in
As Louisiana lawmakers prepare to head back to the state Capitol March 9, columnists Stephanie Grace, Will Sutton,QuinHillyer and Faimon Roberts sat down to talk about this year’sregular legislativesession andwhat are likely to be some of the biggest agenda items,aswell asthe obstacles to getting thingsdone.
Grace: Let’sstart by talking about some issues we’reall watchinginthe coming legislative session.
Roberts: I’m particularly interested in the fight over carbon capture, which pits some very Republican legislators in rural areas against the state’sindustrial establishment and pro-business legislators. This year,we have anumber of bills that have beenfiled, probably the biggest one comingfrom SpeakerPro TemMike Johnson, aRepublican from Pineville, who hasfiled abill trying to give local governments control over whether carbon capture wellsorpipelines are permitted within their parishes. This is similar toa bill from last year that did not make it outofcommittee, but that bill came from arank-and-file legislator from VernonParish,Chuck Owen. So here comethese bills again. They may not have great prospects in theLegislature, but the debate over carbon capture is simply not going away
Grace: On the other side, these projects areimportant to the state’seconomic development efforts to attract some of these big businesses that we’vebeen getting. Roberts:Yes, industrial processes specifically.Acouple of years ago, when thefederal government gave Louisianaexpedited permitting authority over carbon capture, stategovernmentwas elated.But with the insurgency against carboncapture coming as it does from very Republican districts, there has been just areal pushback in some of these rural parishes where the carbon would be sequestered
Grace: In an unusual alliance with environmentalists…
Roberts: Imean, the environmentalists must be just pinching themselves with delight to see theirRepublican neighbors now pushing back over things like property rights and potential foraccidents, and what happens if the carbon seepsupward into water supplies or pollutes land and stufflikethat.
Hillyer: I’m watchingwhether Gov.Jeff Landry,who has been known to really play hardball on other issues,isgoingtoplay hardball on his requestfor $88 millionfor theLAGATOR scholarship program, when state Senate President Cameron Henry is dead set againstgiving anymore than $43.5 million.
It boggles my mind thatyou have a program that is similar to ones that have worked in other states, where it is generally seen as conservativepolicy,and you have aputatively conservativestate Senate president who has 40,000 families wanting in and he is only willing to let 7,000 of them get the scholarships. To me, Henry’s opposition makes no sense. It also makes no sense to me that Landry would request the money to doublethe numberofscholarships without actually fightingfor it
Grace: We know mostofthe peoplewho are nowgettingthese scholarships came from the old voucher program that was discontinued. So it’s morekeeping kids in these private schools, as opposed to allowingnew kids to join
Hillyer: The bad thingabout opposing it is he’s opposing the ability of lessaffluent children to start taking advantage of some of theoptions that current recipientsare getting. And remember,thisisnot just a regular voucher program.You can use this to getall sortsoftutoring help, to get computers, to get lots of different things, so this could benefit people who are not in privateschools right now who want to explore different options.
reach the legislative session,but the faculty is up in arms about the letting go of [LSU HealthSciences Center Chancellor] Steve Nelson, whowas very popular and had alot of accomplishments. Ithink that might be the tip of theiceberg, because between thegovernor intervening in the LSU football coach thingand being heavyhanded withregard to UNO, this is just somethingtowatch
Grace: Andthe LSUpresident search.
Roberts: This has been politically toxic, but we do need to reconsider ourhigher education system.What’sapproaching forcolleges and universities, and they’re all aware of this, is the upcoming demographiccliff. The fact is, there are just going to be fewer high school seniors for theforeseeable future. That meanseach college is in greater competition for each applicant. And it’s true, thestate just can’tkeep funding them to thesame level if they’re not serving the public like they once did.
expanding that program
Moneymatters
Grace: Let’stalk about the other big thing the Louisiana Legislature has to do every year,which is pass abudget. It seemslike there’salot of money now,but there are someconcerns going forward. One is coming out of the federal government, cuts in Medicaid that will trickle downtothe states.
Another is, frankly,tax cuts; we have gone to aflat 3% incometax and there is a desire to bring that lower.Inorder to make that work, the Legislature passed another temporary sales tax, but that will expire in acouple years. And there are new demands formoney to incarcerate the extra people whoare locked up because of the criminal justice legislation that waspassed two years ago, things like that. So what do you think we’re looking at with the budget?
Roberts:Henry’sobjection seemstobe basedontwo points. One, that once you expandit, it just keeps expanding. And the second is that he said he had not talked to other legislators for whom this is an importantissue. AndI’m wondering about the dynamic between the governor andthe Legislature here.Can thegovernor make this an important enoughissue for enough legislators that they’ll back himonit?
Grace: One thingthat’s really interesting about watching Henry is that it’sclear he has got his finger on the pulse of his members. We’ve seen that when he has opposed things Landry has wanted before
Sutton: The conservative advocacy groups have been pushing really,really hard for this. It seems they have had an audience of one: Landry
Hillyer: Iwould think the parents of 33,000 children who otherwise qualify,who are deniedthe opportunity, would speak up. I certainly think that they should speak up. Colleges,universitiesfacescrutiny
Sutton: Ifind it interesting that it seems like there’sinterest on behalf of some legislators to take alook at arevamp of highereducation, and in particular looking at theUniversity of New Orleans’ troubles and saying “This can’thappen again,” and telling other universities that are statefunded —not at the levels that they think they should be —that something’sgot to change. This is abig warning flag, Ithink, for theinstitutions and their leaders, and also for the various boards of higher education that we have, because they’re part of systems. Do we needall of those leaders, all of the board members and large staffs, if we’re nothaving enoughcash on hand, and we’re not seeingthe results? AndIwould think that would be an easy case to makewith voters.
Hillyer: I’m curious to see if there is abacklash against some of the fiefdom-building that thegovernor and his agents have been doing with thesystem.Right now,there’s clearly abacklash among theLSU medical faculty.Idon’tknow if that backlashwill
Grace: You’re right,this has come up over theyears, but not to where change happens. It’s because it goes through the Legislature, and these institutions are in members’ districts, and it’s often the biggest thinginadistrict, thebiggest employer.So legislators really fight to protect the college or university in their district. Another issue Iamalways looking at is propertyinsurance. We’ve had somereally big legislation in recent years. We saw alot of reformsthat Insurance Commissioner TimTemple wanted that were kind of free market,with theidea being that if you reduce someregulations and burdens on insurers, more of them will come.
Butnot alot of people really are seeing much relief. So this year,aswe’re waiting to see if some of these “reforms” start working, what people seem really focused on is the one change that has had an effect so far,which is helping people get fortified roofs on their homes. It can have areal effect on the cost of their insurance, and also on homeowners’ ability to stay in their homes after adisaster
People are really bought in. Even Temple, who was maybe alittle bit skeptical of helping people fund it,isnow on board. So thequestion is, is theLegislature going to look at putting moremoney into the grant program that helps people get fortified roofs? Because they’re still very expensive.
It seems that lawmakers understand that this is athing they can do that might actually get thephones in their offices to stop ringing from constituents whoare upset about their insurance.
So Ithink probably there will be an effort to get moremoney into the state lottery program to serve moreofthe people who have applied.
Roberts: AndifIcould borrow Quin’sargument on the LA GATOR scholarships, Ithink theevidence of the need is the demand. We had astoryinour paper that said there have been 34,000 applications since thestate went to alottery system in 2024, and there have been about7,000 grantsawarded, and the upfront costs are too high for even someofthe people who get thegrants. So Ithink there is an imperative there to go back and take alook at
Hillyer: We have, Ithink, very legitimate needs, which are LA GATOR and fortified roofs. Youtake those as recurring expenses, even if you only go up alittle on each of them, and that takes away asignificant part of the surplus from the last two years. Right now,other than forjustice and imprisonment, Ithink the governor’sbudget is fairly flat, and Iwould expect this Legislature to be cautious.
Grace: They are aconservative Legislature; they would like to lower taxes more. And so, when universities are looking at funding, forexample, Ithink lawmakers are looking at it through that lens, of being able to pay forwhat you have, not have programsthat are not sustainable.
Hillyer: Let me just say that if they actually want to cut taxes, it would be close to abominable to cut incometaxes more without cutting the sales tax. Right now, Louisiana has the single highest average sales tax, combined state and local, in the country When you have the highest tax rate, whether it’sproperty,incomeorsales, you are losing competitive advantage. And in the case of sales taxes, you are burning the poor morethan the rich.
Grace: Iagree with that. They actually raised the sales tax last year in order to pay forthe lower incometax. What they often do with sales taxes is they makethem temporary.Sowewill be having another conversation about this ahead of 2030, when the rate is now set to drop somewhat. Sutton: And congressional redistricting is also out there. There have already been bills filed to change districts in the state. Icertainly have been of the thought that nothing significant would be happening in timefor midterms, but apparently,some folks think that there may be an opening whenever the U.S. SupremeCourt weighs in on the Callais case, which is achallenge to Louisiana’scurrent map featuring two Black majority districts, and apparently they might be prepared to makesome moves.
Grace: If we’re talking about that toward the end of the session, people will have already voted.
Sutton: So would people get their votes back?
Grace: Idon’tsee how they can makea change at that point, but apparently there are people whothink so. There are some ills ready to movejust in case, so we will see.
Stephanie Grace Will Sutton Quin Hillyer Faimon Roberts
STAFFFILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
Gov. Jeff Landryaddresses theLouisiana Legislature last year on opening dayoflegislativesession at theState Capitol in Baton Rouge.
Johnson
Henry
Temple
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THE NEW ORLEANSBOOKFESTIVAL will bring the world’s leading authors to TULANE UNIVERSITY’S uptowncampus for amulti-day celebration!This FREE festival will provide an opportunity for authors and readers to interact with each otherinone of the mostvibrant and culturally diverse cities in theworld. Be sure to Book it to Tulane MARCH 12 thru15! Visit bookfest.tulane.edu forthe completelineup and schedule of events!
FAMILY DAY at the NewOrleans Book Festival at Tulane University is afamily-centered, free event thatisone of the festival’smost joyful traditions.This vibrantcelebration of children’sliteratureinvites young readers andtheir families to enjoyauthor readings, book signings, costumed characters, hands-on crafts, livelyperformances andinteractivestorytelling This year FAMILY DAY hasits owndedicated day! Join our honoraryco-chairs Saints' headcoach, KELLENMOORE & HIS WIFE JULIE on SUNDAY,MARCH 15, andenjoyan expanded lineup witha larger footprint —featuring local and national voices alongsidecommunity organizations offering hands-on activities —and everychild can choosea free Scholastic book. Don’tmissthisexciting opportunityto explorethe powerofliteracy andstorytelling
GARY ALIPIO | MELINA ALIPIO | SHANNON ATWATER | MONISHABAJAJ | BLAKE BERTUCCELLI-BOOTH | JESSE BYRD | CONNIE COLLINS MORGAN | KAYE COURINGTON | ADAM DENNIS | MARTIDUMAS | BRITTGONDOLFI | MAEVE GRAFFAGNINI | JEN HAYES LEE | MONIQUE LORDEN | HOLLY MACKENNA, MD | ALICIAMCKENZIE | MALCOLM MITCHELL | MARGARETORR | SALLY-ANN ROBERTS | LAWRENCE ROBERTS | MISAKOROCKS | WENDY RODRIGUE MAGNUS | XAVIER RUSH | RALEIGHSTEWART | MICHAEL STRECKER | CLEOWADE | ZACHARYWARTER | JAMY WHELESS
MARDI GRAS MIND
HOME BASES
New La. program shifts pregnancy appointments from the waiting room to the living room
BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer
Over the course of a typical pregnancy, a woman is supposed to see her care team roughly 14 times. But for some moms, checkups requiring time off from work, transportation to appointments and help with child care can get pushed to the bottom of the priority list
As a result, blood pressure trends might go unnoticed. A screening test for diabetes might get put off. Issues that could be treated early on snowball into conditions that can influence the health of a newborn and mother
In Louisiana, that pattern is not uncommon. One in four women in the state don’t receive any care in the first trimester. Roughly 1 in 13 babies are born to a mother who is seen for the first time when she arrives at the hospital in labor
A New Orleans health company is trying to intervene much earlier by moving prenatal care from a doctor’s office to their living rooms.
Nest Health, an in-home primary care service founded by former Health Secretary Dr Rebekah Gee in 2021, launched Nest Origin this month, which will deliver in-home and virtual prenatal care by certified nurse midwives in the New Orleans metro area for Medicaid patients. The goal is to help women get to their recommended prenatal visits by eliminating some of the barriers that derail care.
“Pregnancy is a stress test for women’s health, not the starting line,” said Gee. “If we want healthy babies, we have to support healthy women long before pregnancy and long after birth.”
A ‘maternity desert’
Louisiana is a difficult place to find maternal care to begin with.
Twenty-three of the state’s 64 parishes are considered “maternity deserts,” meaning there is no hospital or birth center offering obstetric care and no obstetric clinicians. Louisiana ranks among the highest states in maternal mortality, and state reviews have found that most pregnancy-connected deaths are
Ochsner uses new therapy to treat melanoma
Ochsner MD Anderson Cancer Center at The Gayle and Tom Benson Cancer Center in New Orleans is the first institution in Louisiana to provide an adult patient with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes therapy, or TIL, for advanced melanoma.
Advanced melanoma is classified as stage III or IV metastatic melanoma and is a form of skin cancer that has spread from where it originated in the body. TIL is a form of immunotherapy that uses a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer
FranU celebrates new president in March
Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University will inaugurate Dr David Bellar as its fifth president March 23.
The university will host a weeklong celebration, “Inauguration Week,” with prayer services, community events and formal ceremonies. Bellar joins FranU after a nationwide search with 40 candidates. He started July 14, 2025.
New Orleans to host summit for lung cancer
The third annual African American Lung Cancer Patient & Caregiver Summit in New Orleans is set for April 23-25 at the Marriott Warehouse Arts District. The weekend-long event will focus on “survivorship, emerging treatments, clinical trials, environmental and clean-air justice, public policy, AI in care, mental wellness, financial navigation, caregiver support and patient advocacy.”
The event is free for lung cancer patients and caregivers and includes meals, hotel accommodations and travel and learning materials.
Tulane’s Chad Roy elected to microbiology fellowship
The American Academy of Microbiology has elected Dr Chad Roy, along with 62 peers, to the Fellowship Class of 2026.
preventable. According to a 2025 Louisiana legislative auditor report, one-quarter of pregnant women in Louisiana did not receive prenatal care in the first trimester in 2023. Among Medicaid beneficiaries, three quarters did not have timely access to prenatal care, meaning care did not begin in the first trimester or follow recommended schedules. More than 6 out of 10 Louisiana births are through Medicaid.
For many Medicaid patients, keeping up with appointments can be difficult. Transportation barriers were often mentioned, according to the audit.
“Mom often doesn’t put herself first,” said Yanti Turang, senior director of clinical operations at Nest. “And how the system is structured, it’s really hard to get to all of those visits.”
ä See HOME, page 3X
STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
A new program in Louisiana would allow for almost all prenatal visits to take place in the home.
HEALTH MAKER
Tulane graduate talks medical technology
New blood test can detect colorectal cancer
BY MARGARET DeLANEY Staff writer
Originally from Northern California, Dr Sam Asgarian came to love New Orleans while volunteering for cleanup post-Hurricane Katrina.
His goal was always to become a primary care provider wanting to practice medicine at a community level Asgarian was in the first medical school class at Tulane University after Katrina in 2007. Asgarian spent some time in Boston for his residency before recognizing his passion was for preventive care and early detection of diseases and risk factors. That shifted his medical career from clinical practice to new technologies.
But his love for New Orleans never left him.
“We’re in Nashville now. It’s as close as we could get to New Orleans,” Asgarian said. He is now the vice president of clinical development for screening for Guardant Health, a biotechnology company based in Palo Alto, California, working to get new health products “in the hands of providers across the country,” he said.
A colorectal screening blood test, Shield, developed by Guardant received approval in July 2024 from the Food and Drug Administration as a primary screening tool for colon cancer for adults 45 and older
The approval was based on findings from a study in 2016 that involved nearly 8,000 people, in which the test detected colorectal cancers in more than 83% of participants found to have colorectal cancer in colonoscopy exams
However, its sensitivity for detecting precancerous growths in the
colon was much lower than colonoscopy exams — only about 13%.
What are the early beginnings of a new blood test for colorectal cancer?
Over 10 years ago, Guardant Health was founded to try to help oncologists treat cancer better after someone had been diagnosed. They came up with the Shield blood test.
The idea was centered around using signals in the blood to learn more about a tumor across different types of cancers, then giving physicians results that give them the best idea on how to treat that cancer
Those tests (on tumors) have been in the market for a long time. Oncologists use them. They’re very helpful. They save so many patients’ lives.
About six years ago, the idea was, “Well, if we know so much about tumors and these tests are working, can we use this same technology to find cancer before it’s been diagnosed?”
The idea was to start with a cancer, like colorectal cancer, that really needs a blood-based test. It currently doesn’t have one — and that the technology could work and it could help save lives.
Colorectal cancer is one of the cancers where, if found early it has a 91% chance of survival for the patient. If you find it late, though, it’s a 13% chance of survival.
We enrolled over 20,000 individuals in a large study — a lot of them came from Louisiana. A lot of different clinics and sites from Louisiana enrolled these patients.
The test worked. It found cancer before it was diagnosed. The blood test worked as well as other colorectal cancer screening tests — colonoscopies and stool-based tests.
Do you expect the SHIELD blood test to replace the colonoscopies or stool-based tests?
We’ve seen colorectal cancer screening be important because of those survival changes between stage one and stage four
The goal has always been get 80% of Americans who are eligi-
NOTES
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Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology, an honorific leadership group and scientific think tank within the American Society for Microbiology, are elected annually through a highly selective, peer-review process, based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology
The Academy received 145 nominations this year and elected 63 to the 2026 Fellowship Class.
Urologist joins Ochsner LSU Health team
Ochsner LSU Health – Regional Urology in Shreveport announced the addition of Dr Christopher Stage, a board-certified urologist with over 20 years of experience, in February Stage specializes in advanced, minimally invasive treatments for con-
ble screen for colorectal cancer
We, as a society, always hit like a ceiling, around 60% people don’t go. There are tens of millions of people that are due for screening that haven’t been screened. Even in Louisiana, the Department of Health notes that 40% of people in the state that are eligible for being screened have never been screened, meaning they haven’t gotten the colonoscopy They haven’t gotten the stool-based test
Our initial goal out of the gate, is to convince these people that previously had put this off to get tested. Maybe they put it off because it’s inconvenient. Maybe they put it off because of the anxiety that comes from a colonoscopy or some of these other tests that are not as convenient. Maybe we can get them screened, and maybe we bump the overall screening rates. In the future, we can give people more options and see which one they choose. And really, as long as people are getting screened, that’s the best possible outcome for us as a society Where is this blood test currently avail-
able?
We were very fortunate that right out of the gate, Medicare allowed for reimbursement.
After FDA approval, companies like ours need to work on insurance companies to get new technologies to be covered. As of right now, all Americans 65 and older have access to the test.
We started to see those elderly individuals, those seniors, start to lean in using the test.
The Guardant Shield blood test is now covered by Medicare, Veterans Administration Community Care Network, TRICARE for active-duty military, and the list is growing.
Louisiana Medicaid does not yet cover the test.
We do see colorectal cancer starting to become more of a younger disease. We want those potential patients to have access to our test as well.
The trickle effect is currently happening. We hope, this year, to get more employer plans and commercial insurers to start to cover this test as well.
What’s next for Guardant and its technologies?
We looked at other areas where people are not getting screened and a blood test could really be convenient for them. Lung cancer is one of those. Colorectal cancer today is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in the country it’s actually number one for adults under 50. However, the number one leading cause of cancer death in the country is lung cancer, even though we’ve been working really hard to get people to stop smoking and be healthier
We’ve already enrolled over 10,000 people in a new study looking at a blood test for lung cancer
Again, Louisiana has been great, and we’ve used sites in that area. We hope to have something for the FDA to review soon for lung cancer
Then it really opens the world up beyond cancer for this test. Can we help primary care doctors find liver disease? Lung disease? Kidney disease? All before it turns into cancer
Email Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney@theadvocate. com.
Family navigates life with twins’ autism
Push comes to make some conditions their own diagnosis
BY LAURA UNGAR Associated Press
AYER, Mass. — Connor Murphy walked in circles around his dad, then flopped down on the kitchen floor, got up and walked in circles again.
His dad turned the 9-year-old’s repetitive behavior into a chance to connect. “Want me to pick you up?” Matthew Murphy asked, lifting, tickling and spinning with his son.
ditions like kidney stones, prostate issues and urinary incontinence. EMTs reunite with cardiac arrest survivor
In January Dale Kruse experienced a sudden cardiac arrest while at home with his wife. She quickly called 911. Dispatchers alerted Acadian Ambulance and the Natalbany Volunteer Fire Department, a town north of Hammond in Tangipahoa Parish. First responder EMTs found Kruse unresponsive, without a pulse, and not breathing. They began chest compressions and applied an AED. Acadian Ambulance EMT Jeffrey Bailey paramedic Jessica Crouse and paramedic Kiyah Heffker then arrived and began advanced life support measures. Kruse regained a heartbeat and began breathing on his own in less than 20 minutes. He was taken to the hospital for ongoing care and has since returned home. Everyone involved in Kruse’s care reunited with him in February
Health Notes is an occasional listing of health happenings around Louisiana. Have something you’d like to share? Contact us at margaret. delaney@theadvocate.com.
Such spontaneous moments are common in the Murphy household, which revolves around the needs of Connor and his twin brother Ronan, who both have profound autism.
“They’re going to need 24/7 care for the rest of their lives,” their father said. “Life will be a challenge for them, and we have to prepare them as best we can.”
Autism rates have been rising for decades, and two of the main reasons for the increase have, in a strange twist, taken some of the focus off helping people with round-the-clock needs. The diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, adopted in 2013, is now very broad, including many people with low support needs. Also, better awareness of the condition has helped many more children get diagnosed than in the past, and most of those cases are relatively mild.
At the same time President Donald Trump’s administration is promoting unproven and debunked claims about what causes autism, which experts say muddles efforts to understand the condition and fuels misinformation that threatens public health, even as officials funnel more money into research. There’s now a growing push to separate profound autism — in which people need constant care for life, have a certain level of intellectual disability and are nonspeaking or minimally verbal into its own diagnosis. The hope is that it would help ensure that people like Connor and Ronan get the support and services they need and that research includes them.
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
The Louisiana Health section is focused on providing in-depth, personal accounts of health in the state This section looks at medical innovations, health discoveries, state and national health statistics and reexamining tried and true methods on ways to live well.
In the United States, an estimated 1 in 31 children have autism spectrum disorder Researchers estimate around a quarter have “profound autism,” a term introduced in 2021 by a group of experts, the Lancet Commission, to describe people most disabled by the developmental condition. But some in the autism community worry that creating a separate diagnosis would reduce attention on the broader spectrum and the individual needs of everyone on it.
Andy Shih, chief science officer for Autism Speaks, said no matter where people fall on the debate, “there’s absolutely no doubt that we need to elevate awareness about the needs of this group.”
Health editions will also profile people who are advancing health for the state of Louisiana.
Do you have a health story? We want to hear from you.
Email margaret.delaney@theadvocate.com to submit health questions, stories and more.
Asgarian
PROVIDED PHOTO
A colorectal screening blood test, Shield, developed by Guardant Health received Food and Drug Administration approval for adults 45 and older in the summer of 2024.
PHOTO PROVIDED By ACADIAN AMBULANCE
Acadian Ambulance EMT Jeffrey Bailey, paramedic Jessica Crouse, paramedic Kiyah Heffker and more emergency service members reunite with Dale Kruse, who suffered cardiac arrest in January.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By SHELBy LUM Ronan Murphy hugs his mother Andrea, while looking at the snow falling outside their home in Ayer Mass.
untilfragrant.Add vinegarandcook untilthickened. Reduce heat to low. Add tomatoes, sugar and peppers, using aspoon to roughly break apart the tomatoes. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally. After 1to1½hours, when the Matbucha is thick, dry and deeplyconcentrated in flavor, remove from heatand stir in the remaining 3tablespoonsextra virgin oliveoil. Cool completely beforeblending into Muhammara.
LOUISIANAHAS HIGHESTINCIDENCE OF PROSTATE CANCER IN NATION
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men, with an estimated 333,830 new cases and 36,320 deaths projected for 2026for the disease, according to the American Cancer Society
In the U.S.,there are approximately 116new prostate cancer cases per 100,000 people annually.Louisiana has the highest prostatecancer incidence rate in the countryat 147.2 cases per 100,000 —arate that has been steadily rising since 2014, accordingtodata from the National Cancer Institute.
Theseparishes had the highest rates, in cases per 100,000, of prostate cancer from2018 to 2022, in descending order:
n West Feliciana Parish with 218.6 cases per 100,000;
n Iberville Parish with 182.3;
n Bienville Parish with 179.7;
n West BatonRougeParish with 179.4;
n Vermillion Parish with 176.5;
n Iberia Parish with 173.8;
n East Baton RougeParish with 173.6;
Continued from page1X
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n East Carroll Parish with 172.9;
n East Feliciana Parish with 166.3;
n Tangipahoa Parish with 166.2;
n St. Martin Parish with 166;
n Jackson Parish with 165.3;
n and Lincoln Parish with 165.1
These parishes had the lowest rates, in cases per 100,000, of prostate cancer from 2018 to 2022, in ascendingorder:
n CameronParishwith 101 cases per100,000;
n Evangeline Parishwith 102.7;
n Union Parish with 106.9;
n Winn Parish with 108.2;
n Vernon Parish with 109.4;
n Grant Parish with 109.7;
n Franklin and La Salle parishes with 111;
n St. Bernard Parish with 113 9;
n Tensas Parish with 115.2;
n Terrebonne Parish with 117.5;
n Washington Parish with 121.1;
n Livingston Parish with 122.8;
n Sabine Parish with 122.9;
n Bossier Parish with 123.7;
n and La Fourche Parish with 124.8
Data represents an annual average forall stagesofprostate cancer.
Under Nest Origin, most routine prenatalcare up to 34 weeks happens at the patient’shome. Between six and 10 weeks of pregnancy,acertified nursemidwife conducts an initial assessment lasting about 45 minutes. Patients receive ablood pressure cuff, scale and ahandheld device to monitor fetal hearttones. Lab work, gestational diabetes
screening, sexually transmitted infection testingand genetic screeningcan be performed in the home. Theprogram partners with LSU Health for anatomy ultrasounds at 20 weeksand for obstetric consultations if higher-risk conditions develop. Around 34 weeks, care transitions to ahospital-based team for delivery planning. After delivery, mother and baby getanother visit within afew days. Theprogram includes postpartum visitsfrom amidwifefor the first sixweeks. The program is just getting started, with the first appointment
scheduledfor early March. The group expects about100 patients in the first year, andiscurrently only working withAmeriHealth Caritas as the Medicaid managed care partner,with hopes to expand to Aetna. In-homevisitinggains steam There is evidencesuchprogramscould be impactful in New Orleans.Another in-home visiting program, Family Connects, has conducted1,600 visits after birth to families in Orleans Parish. In surveys, the program is universally praised by participants, said
Dr.Jennifer Avegno, director of the New OrleansHealth Department.
“Theyfeelsupportedand like the resources they’re getting are supervaluable,” said Avegno “Many of themstayintouch with their nurses even after the formal time of the visit is done.”
Thecost for Medicaid patients who used the program went down about28% compared to thosenot enrolled, asavings of about $1,500 per patient, said Avegno.
Email Emily Woodruff at ewoodruff@theadvocate.com. HOME
Thereisalso legislative support for house calls. Lawmakers voted to require mandatory commercial
insurance coverage forthe visits starting in January 2027, and Avegno saidtheyare close to getting Medicaid coverage statewide. Nest will be tracking outcomes over thelongterminpartnership with auniversity.Early goals are lowering the high number of C-sections and babies whoneed NICUcare.
“We’re hoping that whenmom does go to deliver at oneofthe hospitals thatshe’s just in ahealthier state,” said Turang.
LafayetteScience Museum’s partnership with UL keepsenergyalive
BY JOYHOLDEN Staff writer
On aFebruary morning in Lafayette, middle schoolers from Math, Science and Arts Academy West in Plaqueminewandered pastfossils of mastodons and saber-toothed tigers at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Science Museum. Agroup of seventh grade girls chattedbesidethe massive remains of animals that once walked through theAcadianamarshes.
Theexhibit,“Prehistoric Louisiana: AJourney through IceAge Acadiana,” was designed by UL paleontologystudents and features mastodon bones, jaguar fossils, asaber-toothed tiger and an American lion skull.
JenniferHargrave, the current director of the museum anda paleontology professor at UL, proudly shows off her students’ work,which explains facts about thediscoveries.
“I’ve involved the different student groups so they get their volunteer hours, gettodooutreach,talktothe community,share their research and their passions,”Hargrave said.“That’s been agreat thing to do, because everybody thinksdifferently.”
As achild,Hargrave wanted to be a paleontologist. She has since been on digs on all seven continents. Although she lived in Natchitochesand graduated from UL, she said she didn’texpect to end up digging in themud in south Louisiana, butshe’s glad to help provide opportunities to herstudents —experiences that she didn’thave when she was in college.
Kevin Krantz, the current facilities manager at the museum and former director,says the museum getsfield trips from surrounding area schools frequently—one dayMSA West and the next Sacred Heart.
Krantz has worked withthe museum in some capacity for18years,and he has seen it grow from an empty space that hostedtravelingexhibitstothis full-scale, 10,000-square-foot science museum.
From city to university leadership
In 2020, Krantz’sstaff waslaid off when theLafayette Consolidated Governmentunder former mayor Josh Guillory closed themuseum during theCOVID-19 pandemic. Due to the large cost of running the museum, the city was considering not reopening it
That’swhen UL stepped in.
“Wehad to beginagain andkindof start over,” Krantz said, “and that’s where the partnership with theuniversity came in.Wealreadyhad acooperative endeavor agreement with the School of Sciences, in particular the
Geoscience department.”
That relationship allowed UL’s geosciences departmenttoassumeoperational control of the museum.
In 2021, the agreement between the two entities started,and by 2022, the transition was complete. The Lafayette Consolidated Government owns thebuilding while the university runs the museum. Both parties agreed to a five-year contract
Hargrave becameinvolved in the museum in 2016 through theSchool of Geosciences at UL. The partnership withthe city thatstarted in 2013 resulted in an exhibit space, apaleontology lab and arepository space (where fossils are kept).
“The School of Geoscience was changing the exhibits every twoto three years, bringing in different dinosaurs or different giantmammals from theCenozoic. That really drew a lotofattention to themuseum,”Hargrave said. “Everybody likes to go see dinosaurs.”
Hargrave moved into aleadership role when the university/city museum partnership began on alarger scale.
Aplace of learning anddiscovery
“The Prehistoric Louisiana:AJourney through IceAge Acadiana” exhibit focuses on Louisiana fossils, and thediscovery and lab work is ongoing. The exhibit focuses on Louisiana fossils, with ongoingdiscoveries andlab work continuing on-site.
Volunteersand UL students are there daily in the laboratory,studying fossils,cleaningbones and preparing specimens for display MaryLandry, aretiredvolunteer whohas helped at themuseum since 2017, is known as the“Tooth Fairy” in the lab because of her meticulous cleaning of ancient animal teeth Landrypicks and cleans atooth until it shines. On this particularWednesday,she was working hard on ajaguar tooth that was found in aChurch Point
LONG STORy SHORT an Rishe
Ising in the shower As in loud.
And proud.
My morning routine is to hit play on my “liked songs” playlist —an ever-evolving list that runs the gamut. Iwent through and counted them —231 songs.
They range from the first songs Iloved (think Elton John, James Taylor,Dan Fogelberg) to oddballs that Ihappened upon in strange ways. Like “Vuma,” asong Idiscovered last summer as Iwas preparing music before alittle dinner party Ihosted for some students visiting LSU from Africa. My mother made homemade chicken and dumplings, my ultimate comfort food, for dinner.I wantedour guests to have some comfort too. So, Icreated aplaylist of contemporary and traditional songs from their countries —in doing so, Idiscovered “Vuma,” whichI’ve kept in rotation since. Idon’tknow every word, but Iunderstand it anyway
And every timeI hear that song, Ithink of those young women from Africa. When Ipress play,the list shuffles. Irecognize the song by its opening notes —and the version of myself it holds.
The music moves like astrange road map.
There’sSimon and Garfunkel, who my older cousins introduced me to when Iwas 11.
There’sCarole King. When Iwas 12, my friend Keith Long wonher “Tapestry” album on WJDX in Jackson. His family already had the album,sohecalled and asked if Iwanted it for $5. Idid.
Ayear later,Iwon aGlen Campbell Live at Carnegie Hall on WQST
There’sDonna Summer and Olivia Newton-John —Iloved them both in the eighth grade when I stayed home from school for two weeks with the chickenpox.
There’s“Les Mis,” who Isaw with Mary EllenHoran in Los Angeles. Iwalked out of the theater different than Iwalked in.
There’sJimmy Buffett, who makes me think of Michelle Weaver Jones and the summer of 1991. VanMorrison reminds me of my old friend, John Gabel.
There’sthe Gypsy Kings, who Michelle Foster used to play at her dinner parties in D.C.
My husband introduced me to The Nylons in his red Mustang convertible on our first date.
There’sClay Parker and Jodi James’ “Nothing at All” from right here in Baton Rouge. When Iheard them sing that song at The Red DragonListening Room, Iknew it would be with me fora long time.
There’sMon LaFerte, who I heard in arestaurant in Mexico City.Awaitress wrote down the name for me
Each song on that playlist carries aperson —oraplace or a season.
Ican’tseparate the music from who handedittome, or who Iwas whenIfirst heard it and knew immediately —that Iloved it.
“Someone Saved My Life Tonight” by Elton John wasthe first record that was mine.Mymom bought it for me because Ihad been brave when Dr.Lee gave me ashot. Afterward, Mom took me to Dan’sRexall Drugs to pick out arecord.
Iremember the sales clerk, a cool teenager,did her best to get me to buy an album of his music but the album didn’thave the song Iwanted. So, instead, Iwent home with the 45 of “Someone Saved My Life Tonight.”
STAFF PHOTOSByLESLIE WESTBROOK
Madeline Hedges, left, and Jax Millien, seventh-graders at Mathematics,Science, and Arts Academy West Academy in Plaquemine,stand in ahurricane wind simulator recently at the Lafayette Science Museum.
Museum Director JenniferHargrave
Skeleton displays are seen in the Prehistoric Louisiana exhibit.
ASK THE EXPERTS
Meet the nun at the helm of Hotel Hope
Place an emergency shelter for women and children in New Orleans
BY BLAKE PATERSON Staff writer
From the street, Hotel Hope looks like any other mid-century modern motel, with its clean lines and vibrant neon sign. But through its front gate lies an oasis for unhoused families.
Since opening in the former motel on Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard in 2018, Hotel Hope in New Orleans has served as a safe haven for hundreds of mothers and children in need of emergency shelter The nonprofit provides food, clothing and case management services, with the goal of getting families back on their feet and into permanent housing.
With the rising cost of rent and shortage of affordable housing, that mission has grown more difficult in recent years, Sister Mary Lou Specha, Hotel Hope’s executive director, said in a recent interview It costs around $1 million per year to run Hotel Hope, and while the organization receives some state and federal funding, it relies on generosity of volunteers and donors to keep its doors open.
To that end, on April 9, the organization will host its fourth annual Hope Fest fundraiser at the Audubon Clubhouse by Dickie Brennan & Co. with a silent auction, live music and food. Information on tickets and sponsorships are available online at hotelhope.org/hopefest/.
Sister Specha tells us more about Hotel Hope and how volunteers can get involved to support its mission.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity
Tell us more about Hotel Hope.
We’re a shelter for unhoused women and their children It’s a place where moms can come, mitigate the crisis they’re in, and then we assist them into getting into permanent housing. We provide food, clothing, shelter, transportation and have social workers that can connect them with mental health, behavior health or drug treatment resources.
What we’re doing is really providing a kind of a short stop stay to re-
MUSEUM
Continued from page 1y
bayou.
“All of this is just for fun,” Landry says as she gently brushes the tooth, “but the opportunity to be able to do it is the whole thing.” Hargrave says that the prehistoric Louisiana exhibit is her favorite in the museum because it features fossils found in Church Point, Jefferson Island and Avery Island. Although Louisiana doesn’t have dinosaur fossils, the state was home to giant mastodons, jaguars, American lions, saber-toothed tigers and other massive creatures that once prowled the marshes. While many paleontologists perform their digs in dry, arid places, Hargrave and
ally get some assistance provided, so that they’re able to then become self-sufficient.
What is the dynamic of some of the families Hotel Hope serves?
A lot of our moms were children during Katrina. The majority of what we see are people with some undiagnosed trauma or post-traumatic stress that are suffering with not a lot of resources.
Most of the time, you’re not going to see a mom with children underneath the bridge. They’re usually in places where they’re hiding. A lot are in their cars.
How has this work changed in recent years?
Since Hurricane Ida, rents have increased astronomically It’s hard to raise a family on the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour That’s $30,000 a year, and most of your income is going to rent.
We provide rent assistance for three to six months, and then they’re on their own When we first opened in 2018, we were able to put people into a house in 34 days. Now, that takes around 75 days because the availability of housing is limited.
How can the public support Hotel Hope’s mission?
We have information on our website at hotelhope.org/getinvolved/ on how the public can get involved. Volunteers can sign up to cook a hot meal for dinner or sit at our front desk to buzz people into the courtyard. They can also donate online.
Tell us about your path to New Orleans
I was born and raised in Chicago and entered the Sisters of the Presentation from Dubuque, Iowa, in 1986. I worked at a university for about 10 years.
One of my student leaders said we needed to go to New Orleans to help after Katrina. So in December of 2005, I brought 20 students down, and we worked with Catholic Charities to rebuild houses. It inspired me, when I was changing ministries, to look here. I came down in 2008. I was the executive director of Café Reconcile.
One of the things that was really
her students find fossils buried in the mud When bodies of water shift or are drained, fossils long buried in mud are revealed
At UL Hargrave teaches a “Museum Techniques” course, and the final project results in students creating an exhibit. “I am a scientist, and I’m going to present the facts, which doesn’t always make for a good exhibit,” Hargrave said. “But having students in there, they think differently than I do It’s a really great collaboration.”
Moving forward
The contract between the university and city government is in its last year What happens next has yet to be decided.
Krantz says being under the umbrella of the university provides more advertis-
Q&A WITH SISTER MARy LOU SPECHA HOTEL HOPE’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
lacking were shelters for families, especially moms with children. In 2009, a faith-based coalition got together and came up with the idea of Hotel Hope.
After leaving Reconcile, I got involved and became the board chair And in 2013, I said, “If we’re really going to do this, someone has to drive the bus.” They asked me to become executive director, and my religious community agreed, so I took the role.
I’m not the founder, but I really work to try to get the founding spirit enacted.
How has your faith informed your work?
My grandma was really poor but when I was growing up, people would come to her door when they were hungry and she would give them food or she would help them with clothes. That laid the foundation of faith in action.
I had a profound conversion when I was in my 20s, in the sense that
ing exposure for the museum through billboards, word of mouth, promotional materials and involvement from schools.
“There are resources that we have available to us that really benefit us in the way of exhibits,” he said. “We benefit by virtue of the teamwork from within the university, not just being under the university umbrella.”
As the contract’s future is decided, Hargrave says the mission remains the same: putting science in front of the next generation.
On that February morning, the seventh graders from Plaquemine lingered beside the mastodon bones, pointing and whispering about creatures that once roamed Louisiana.
“Since this is a math, science and arts academy I
I understood God’s unconditional love for me. If you understand that, you can’t keep that for yourself. You have to give back and share that love.
thought it would be great to bring them to the science museum,” said Megan Edwards, the Jr Beta Club sponsor at MSA West.
The students were visiting Lafayette for the statewide Jr Beta Convention.
After working with middle schoolers, Edwards has enough experience to know better than to set her expectations too high.
“I didn’t expect that they would like it,” she said, “but they really did They talked about how much they enjoyed it after the trip. A few of the eighth graders even want to return with their science teacher.”
For many of them, it was the closest they’d ever come to Ice Age history and perhaps the first time they imagined uncovering something themselves.
RISHER
We don’t do a lot of proselytizing, but showing somebody love and compassion gives them the opportunity to take that into their life and pay it forward
Continued from page 1y
I didn’t fully understand the lyrics. I just knew the song made me feel something big and important. I took it home and played it over and over I’m still not tired of that song. Friends call many of my favorites “sad songs.” I don’t. They let me feel sadness without getting stuck there. Music gives shape to what I can’t always name. So, when I press play each morning and step into the shower, I’m not just listening to music. I’m hearing my cousins in their living room. Keith Long on the phone offer-
ing me “Tapestry” for $5. A radio DJ announcing my name on WQST My husband in a red Mustang telling me to “listen to the words of this next song.” I see a waitress in Mexico City scribbling down a title. My mother handing me a 45 at Dan’s Rexall. I didn’t discover most of these songs alone. Someone somewhere handed them to me. Maybe that’s what the playlist really is — 231 reminders that we don’t become ourselves by ourselves. The music still moves forward, even when it reaches back. And so do I.
Email Jan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate. com.
Sister Mary Lou Specha stands by one of her murals at Hotel Hope.
STAFF PHOTOS By ENAN CHEDIAK
Flags fly outside of Hotel Hope in New Orleans.
BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer
Around Baton Rouge, a number of mailbox-sized free libraries can be found in neighborhoods and around businesses, but in recent months, some of those boxes are now being assembled to fill empty stomachs. Instead of free books, the Whole Heart Pantry provides residents with free recipes and ingredients to make healthy, hearty meals like chicken pot pie or Creole white bean soup. Whole Heart Health founder Whitney Andrus, who is a nutrition coach and personal trainer hopes that the free pantries will allow her to address food insecurity while also teaching food education.
“It’s to combine the education with access, because education without access is a barrier,” she said. Andrus, of Denham Springs, launched Whole Heart Health in 2025 after working in local classrooms to teach students about ageappropriate nutrition. Over the past year, the nonprofit has grown to provide nutrition education, community events and access to meals to build healthy habits in children and families.
The “Manna Meals” are what make Andrus’ mission unique. Each bag contains a full meal with protein, fiber, vegetables and a recipe card a $10 donation fills two bags or stocks 15 items.
“I felt like I can’t go talking about how to eat healthy when most people can’t even access food, or they don’t have access to
fresh vegetables, fresh meats,” Andrus said
The meal bags were a solution
Every week the recipes change, but Andrus says the chicken pot pie recipe is one of the most popular offerings. The pantries also contain single food items like applesauce, cereal and canned goods
“Who wants to eat a can of flavorless mixed vegetables? So how do we take that food that may be donated, or people don’t know what to do with, and create
something kind of magical with it?” she said.
The mission behind the Whole Heart Health’s meals is to create a culture of access with education — not one without the other Whole Heart Health recently built customized pantries in Central, Gonzales and the town of Livingston, but it also stocks a pantry in Denham Springs and at the Red Shoes community fridge in Baton Rouge.
But the number of Whole Heart Pantries is increas-
ing across the city as the outdoor grab-and-go pantries have become more popular
There’s currently a wait list with over 15 people requesting pantries in Point Coupee, St. Helena and Lincoln parishes. Andrus is also in the midst of planning “around the world” fundraising dinners with menus that pull food inspiration from different countries Andrus hopes these dinners will help to expand Whole Heart Health’s mission and encourage people
to experience meals they may not normally cook or order themselves.
Launching Whole Heart Health and its pantries is a culmination of Andrus’ different professional and personal experiences.
Prior to starting the nonprofit, Andrus founded Half Belly Health, which provides coaching and nutrition help for those who have undergone weightloss surgery — or for anyone looking to cultivate a healthy relationship with food.
But her experience hasn’t always involved food and nutrition. Andrus graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in interior design. She also has sold advertisements for a phone book, worked with marketing for small businesses, worked in fitness centers and for a meal prep company “I feel like every point on my journey has prepared me for this,” Andrus said. Along with applying professional experiences to creating Whole Hearth Health, Andrus herself has gone on a health journey with changes in weight, surgery and having to fix her relationship with food. For as long as she can remember, Andrus has seen how diet culture can be toxic among all ages The World Health Organization reported that, in 2021, 16 million people experienced eating disorders, including almost 3.4 million children and adolescents And a 2022 study from Current Opinion in Psychiatry found that between 5.5% and 17.9% of
women and 0.6% to 2.4% of young men will have been diagnosed with a clinically-significant eating disorder by early adulthood. Andrus wants to flip that narrative and do her part to create a safe space
or information they have.” Find more information on how to support Whole Heart Health at www.wholeheart. health/partners.
Email Claire Grunewald at claire.grunewald@ theadvocate.com.
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS Whitney Andrus, founder of Whole Heart Health, shows off a ‘Manna Meal’ that’s stored in the Kaizen Coworking food pantry. The bags contain full meal kits with simple, budget-conscious recipes that are available for free at the different pantries with locations in East Baton Rouge, Livingston and Ascension.
Child care models energizing Main Street
BY ANNE VILEN Contributing writer
When LeyAn n GehlenWampler, of Medicine Lodge, Kansas, gave birth to her son last year, she faced a common dilemma in rural communities: She needed to work to pay her living expenses, but the cost of child care — if she could find it would be more than she could earn in most jobs. The ideal solution, she thought, would be to take care of baby Kaysyn herself and get paid to take care of other children too, but the child care center where she once worked had closed. She thought about applying for a state license as a family child care home, but, “My house is too small, and there’s no way we could afford the startup costs on our own,” she said.
Then, opportunity knocked
Recruited by Julie Warner, an early childhood consultant for the city who had once been a family child care provider herself, Gehlen-Wampler opened her Shining Stars family child care home in Medicine Lodge Daycare, a model that could reshape child care in rural communities.
The Medicine Lodge Daycare flex-plex is a cluster of small, fully equipped child care businesses in a mainstreet building. Crucially, although Medicine Lodge Daycare occupies a commercial space in the heart of downtown, the building was renovated into five separate rooms with separate entrances and outside playgrounds ideal for five independent family child care providers, each caring for a small group of mixed-age infants and toddlers.
“That’s where the innovation is,” said City Administrator Brian Withrow The space, owned by a nonprofit, complies with state regulations for child care centers, but is occupied by licensed family child care providers who don’t need to meet the more rigorous standards for child care center administrators.
Through a mix of local, state and federal grants, the town also paid for furniture, curriculum materials, licensing support and even the first year of liability in-
surance. “It’s the only way I could have opened,” Gehlen-Wampler said. “Here I also have a supportive community of other providers to turn to. This opportunity has truly been life-changing for my family.”
It’s also been life-changing for the town’s businesses and families said City Council member Matt Forsyth. “What it means for downtown is huge It keeps Main Street alive in a small town where most main streets are dying I’m a business owner myself.
I’ve had trouble finding spots for my own kids, and this is going to allow everybody to have a spot for their children and know that they’re well taken care of in this great facility.”
Housing model for child care
The “plex” concept seems simple: Build or convert small homes — typically one- or two-bedroom units — and lease them at belowmarket rates to licensed family child care providers. In reality, implementing the concept is more complicated. States have different regulations for and even definitions of family child care; many explicitly or implicitly require that family child care providers live in the residence where they care for children.
Kansas is one of just seven states (the others are Alaska, Missouri, Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada and Wisconsin) that allow family child care providers to operate in nonresidential settings such as schools, businesses, or hospitals, according to Opportunities Exchange, a nonprofit
working to transform early education programs so that they can be sustainable and also high quality This allowance paved the way for the state to allow the Medicine Lodge businesses to operate under family child care licenses with fewer restrictions than those regulating larger child care centers.
A center has to have a director who doesn’t care for kids, multiple teachers, commercial insurance and expensive building upgrades like sprinkler systems, according to Julie Lyon, a consultant who helped shepherd the development of a child care triplex in nearby Greensburg, Kansas.
“It’s cost-prohibitive for a small town,” Lyon said.
By contrast, Greensburg’s three single-family units cost $417,028 in total to build. The city of Greensburg and its partners used American Rescue Plan Act dollars, grants from regional foundations and the child care coalition, and local development funds to cover construction, sidewalks, playgrounds, furnishings and materials.
An added bonus: If the community someday needs more housing instead of child care, each unit could be converted to a rental home, increasing the town’s affordable housing stock.
Work-life balance
For Kasha Unruh, a mother of three and longtime caregiver, the flex-plex model was the only viable path to opening a licensed family child care home.
Her mortgage agreement pre-
vents running a business in her own home. But in October, with support from Lyon and the city, she opened her family child care program in the Greensburg triplex. She now cares for seven children — including two of her own — and because the program isn’t in her actual home, enjoys a work-life balance that is rare for home-based child care providers.
After a city rent subsidy, Unruh pays just $300 a month for the space. She covers her own insurance, utilities and licensing fees, while the nonprofit owner handles building maintenance and ensures the facility meets licensing requirements. The lower overhead lets her keep child care affordable: less than $150 per week per child — far below the U.S. average.
Shared community, solutions
One of the biggest advantages of placing multiple providers together is the built-in community
In both Medicine Lodge and Greensburg, providers can collaborate on vacation schedules, hire a shared substitute teacher for the day and use the same research-based, multiage curriculum designed by a retired local educator
The towns also offer backend administrative support — something typically available only in larger commercial centers. Consultants help providers write business plans, file taxes and develop sustainable operating strategies.
Lyon manages a provider substitute pool that serves the whole county and has become a recruitment tool to bolster the child care supply Two of the three substitutes she hired later opened their own home-based child care businesses.
To encourage long-term stability, the local economic development commission also created a $5,000 retention bonus for providers who keep their businesses open beyond the first year. Ninety percent of recipients spent the money on critical business needs like insurance, transportation and building repairs, according to Lyon.
Micro-centers
While the flex-plex model is
FAITH & VALUES
working well in Kansas, another small-scale child care model allows greater flexibility and possibility, said Louise Stoney the co-founder of Opportunities Exchange. “If you want child care supply in rural areas, we have to think differently, and we have to think small, and we have to make small possible,” she said.
Micro-centers, like flex-plexes, are operated by family child care providers caring for small groups of up to 30 children in mixed-age classrooms. But, they operate in commercial spaces, often spaces that are provided freeof-charge by an employer, city, or housing development. The model is based on Chambliss Center for Children in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which operates 24-hour care serving infants through 12-yearolds in microcenters located in local schools.
“The most essential thing for sustainability for a child care program is full enrollment every day every seat,” according to Stoney To achieve that in small towns, it needs to be regulated the way family child care programs are — allowing for mixed ages of children and not requiring a supervising teacher with an advanced degree. Stoney has worked with policy makers in places like North Dakota and Indiana to “rightsize” their licensing, zoning regulations, even building and fire codes to allow family child care providers to expand into microcenters that operate outside their own homes and closer to where people work.
In Indiana, the Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning streamlined its licensing categories to support a Micro-Facility Pilot program that launched in early 2025. Six existing child care centers applied to open smaller satellites in rural or small town libraries, schools and shopping centers.
The new regulations are tailored to smaller settings; they allow children to bring their own lunches and snacks, support mixed-age groups and draw on the resources of the larger micro-facility hub for staffing and administrative support.
Quarries that built ancient Rome to be used again
Distinctive travertine to be used for churches, temples and mosques
BY NICOLE WINFIELD and FRANCESCA PRIMAVILLA Associated Press
TIVOLI, Italy Long ago, when Romans wanted to build a new temple, they would head to the nearby quarries of Tivoli, chisel out blocks of porous rock called lapis tiburtinus — now known as travertine — and float the cargo downstream on rafts to craftsmen in town
That’s how they made the Colosseum 2,000 years ago. That’s how they made St Peter’s Basilica and Bernini’s great colonnade hundreds of years later Today, the same quarries that built Rome with their distinctive pock-marked travertine are still being dug out to build a new generation of churches, temples and mosques around the world — as well as banks, museums, government buildings and private homes. While other countries have versions of the sedimentary limestone, Roman travertine is unique because it is quarried underground in the sulfuric springs and basins around Tivoli. Made up mostly of calcium carbonate minerals, Roman travertine was formed hundreds of thousands of years ago by deposits of calcium, sulfur and other minerals, and shows the region’s history of volcanic eruptions, forests and fossils in its striated layers
It is prized by architects for a number of reasons: It’s strong, plentiful and can withstand any number of climactic and environmental assaults. Depending on how and where it’s cut, it has a variety of looks: rough or sleek, from a warm white with irregular black holes to sandy beige with gray, brown or even greenish
veins.
A new temple in travertine
For four generations, the Mariotti Carlo SpA stonecutting firm has been carving travertine to order, fulfilling some of the world’s most distinctive architectural commissions: the Getty Center in Los Angeles, the Bank of China headquarters in Beijing, the Great Mosque in Algiers, Algeria, to name a few
On a recent workday, pieces of a temple being rebuilt by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints widely known as the Mormon church, are lying neatly on the floor of Mariotti’s Tivoli warehouse — hunks of travertine carved from the nearby quarries and cut in made-to-measure puzzle pieces that will be assembled
on-site in New York City
After providing the travertine for the Latter-day Saint temple in Rome, Mariotti was chosen by the church’s architects to restore the temple on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The temple sits across Broadway from Lincoln Center and the Julliard School, both built with Mariotti-cut travertine decades ago when the rock first reached the U.S. market.
“Travertine is a classic stone known all over the world. It’s a bit like carrying the light of Rome everywhere, because the way travertine reflects light is very special,” said Fabrizio Mariotti, head of the family business.
A quarry that Bernini loved All around the Tivoli quarries, the air is heavy with the stench
of sulfur and the constant pounding, clinking and cracking of giant jackhammers blasting ancient rock into pieces. At the Degemar quarries, drilled down to 30 yards under sea level, bright blue ponds of sulfur springs pool the travertine residue as flat-bed trucks haul stone slabs weighing 33 tons up to street level.
It was here that Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the great Baroque sculptor and architect, sourced the brilliant white travertine for the 284 columns and 88 pillars of the colonnade embracing St. Peter’s Square, as well as his other Catholic and Roman marvels.
Bernini spent so much time here selecting his rock that he had a home overlooking the quarry which still stands today
The quarry’s current head, Vincenzo De Gennaro, reminds visitors that Bernini’s tower still features the coop for the homing pigeons that would transport the orders to the quarry from Rome for the measurements of rocks that were needed.
Nowadays, the quarry is filling orders much farther afield: the new airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the new headquarters of China’s governing party in Shenzhen, among others.
“It is special, a special stone because it is a living stone, a stone that is born in a cocktail of mineral waters,” De Gennaro said as he dodged earth movers and walked among the sulfur pools.
A 2,000-year guarantee
Lest anyone question travertine’s durability, they need only look to Rome, he said.
“There is the concrete experience of a civilization dating back thousands of years that stands in the light of day and has been shining undisturbed for 2,000 years,” he said. “That is the guarantee.”
Marco Ferrero, professor of civil engineering at Rome’s La Sapienza University, said part of travertine’s appeal is that it harks back to ancient Rome “and therefore also to the magic of the classical world.”
He said it embodies Rome’s spirit in many ways: Travertine is solid, resistant and noble but not showy like its cousin marble, which doesn’t fare as well over time when exposed to the elements.
“We can make this comparison: Marble speaks to us in beautiful Italian, in literary Italian, while travertine speaks to us in Roman dialect,” he said. “It is truly the stone of the Romans. And like Roman cuisine, which is made up of simple dishes, often using discarded ingredients, travertine is a genuine and traditional stone.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GREGORIO BORGIA
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, a 17th-century Baroque architect, selected travertine for the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square from Degemar Quarry near Tivoli, Italy
PROVIDED PHOTO
Medicine Lodge Daycare uses an innovative model that houses several child care providers in one ‘plex.’
SUNDAY, MArch 8, 2026
CURTIS / by Ray Billingsley
SLYLOCK FOX / by Bob Weber Jr
GET FUZZY / by Darby Conley
HAGAR THE HORRIBLE / by Chris Browne
MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM / by Mike Peters
ZIGGY / by Tom Wilson
ZITS / by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman
SALLY FORTH / by Francesco Marciuliano & Jim Keefe
PEARLS BEFORE SWINE /byStephan Pastis
directions: Make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row Add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value All the words are in the Official SCRABBLE® Players Dictionary, 5th Edition.
word game
instructions: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed. Attention!
ken ken
instructions: 1 -Each rowand each column must contain thenumbers 1through4 (easy) or 1through6 (challenging) without repeating 2 -The numbers within the heavily outlinedboxes, called cages, must combine using thegiven operation (inany order)toproduce the target numbersinthe top-left corners. 3 -Freebies: Fillinthe single-boxcages withthe numberinthe top-left corner
instructions: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 gridwith several given numbers. The object is to placethe numbers 1to 9in theempty squares so that each row,each column and each 3x3 boxcontains the same number only once. The difficultylevel of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday
directions: Complete thegridso that numbers 1–132 connect horizontally, vertically or diagonally
Sudoku
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
wuzzLes
English treachery
Today’s deal is from a match between a team from England and a team from Turkey It is not clear to bid game on the NorthSouth cards, but aggressive game bidding is an important aspect of team play. The Turkish North-South did well to stay out of three no-trump, which should fail on the lead of either red suit. Five clubs has excellent chances. Declarer wins the opening heart lead, crosses to the ace of clubs, and leads a spade to the king and ace. The defense cashes one heart trick and shifts to diamonds. Declarer takes his ace and draws trump. The queen of spades and another spade will see the jack appear and declarer can claim his contract.
super Quiz
Take this Super Quiz to a Ph.D. Score 1 point for each correct answer on the Freshman
The most
of the Hawaiian Islands.
Answer________
2. This, the world’s second-largest island, is sometimes also referred to as Papua.
Answer________
3. This large island is located off the east coast of Southern Africa.
At the table, declarer tried to play the contract just that way When he led a spade to his king, however, English expert Justin Hackett ducked his ace! South led a spade to dummy’s 10 and East’s jack. East cashed a high heart and shifted to a diamond. Declarer won, drew trumps ending in dummy and led the queen of spades. He “knew” that East held the ace of spades, so he discarded a diamond when East played low To declarer’s horror, Hackett won with the ace and led a diamond for down two. Great play!
PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Socialize, communicate and express your feelings and intentions. Sharing with potential contributors will help turn your aspirations into something tangible.
ARIES (March 21-April 19) Update documents, tidy up your finances and take care of your private affairs. Getting together with old friends will ease the burden of doing your part to make a difference.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Share your feelings with someone special A change of routine or rearranging your schedule to spend more time
with someone you love will be like a lifestyle upgrade. GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Take care of matters personally. If you rely on someone else to do things for you, you will be disappointed. It’s up to you to bring about positive change.
CANCER (June 21-July 22) Relay facts; if you imply something that isn’t exact, you will face negative feedback. Don’t take unnecessary risks with your health or physical well-being LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Put your emotions aside and your best ver-
sion of yourself on display Let your charm and generosity shine through, offering positive suggestions and insight. VIRGO (Aug 23-Sept. 22) You’re sitting in a good position. Communication is key to getting what you want. Partnerships look promising, and a change of scenery will offer a unique perspective regarding the possibilities.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) You’ll excel if you put in the time and effort. You have plenty to gain if you research, budget and pursue what makes you feel and look your
best. A commitment seems inviting.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Spend time at home, relax and enjoy the company of loved ones. Expressing your feelings will help you find out where you stand and who’s likely to help you reach your goal.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Be careful what you say and to whom. Personal and physical improvements will encourage better health, a fresh start or a new look.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Look for opportunities in your field of expertise, and something inter-
esting will surface. Don’t expect everyone close to you to be on board with the changes you want to make.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Preparation is the key to making the right choice and following the path that offers the best return. A lifestyle change that raises your income may not be worth the emotional stress attached.
The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact.
1. Oahu. 2. New Guinea.3.Madagascar. 4. Great Britain. 5. SouthIsland. 6. Manhattan Island. 7. Newfoundland. 8. Hispaniola.9.Ireland 10. Java. 11. Borneo. 12.Ellesmere Island 13. Sumatra. 14.Honshu. 15. Iceland
SCORING: 24 to 30 points —congratulations, doctor; 18 to 23 points—honorsgraduate; 13 to 17 points —you’replenty smart, but no grind; 5to12points —you really shouldhit the booksharder;1point to 4points —enroll in remedial courses immediately; 0points who reads thequestions to you?
Saturday's Cryptoquote: Youlook ridiculousif you dance;You look ridiculous if youdon't dance. So you might as well dance. —Gertrude Stein
word GAme Answer
Crossword Answers
jeFF mACnelly’sshoe/ by Gary Brookins &Susie MacNelly
FoXtrot/ by BillAmend dustin /bySteve Kelley&JeffParker
