The Acadiana Advocate 03-10-2026

2026

LEGISLATURE

SESSIONOPENS

Landry callsout ‘incompetent’judges

Governor toutschanges during 54-minutelegislative speech

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

Oil prices, markets seesaw

BY JON GAMBRELL, JAMEY KEATEN and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

DUBAI,United Arab Emirates Oil prices surged andmarkets slidMondayafter hard-line Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen to succeed hislate father as Iran’ssupremeleader,signaling that Iran was digging in 10 days into the warlaunched by the UnitedStates and Israel. Oil prices later fell, and the U.S. stock market closed higher,amidhope that the warwith Iran may not last that long as world leaders discussed options. U.S. President Donald Trump indicated to a group of lawmakers at his golf club near Miamithat the conflict may end soon.

“Wetook alittle excursion” to the Middle East “to get rid of someevil. And, Ithink you’ll see it’sgoing to be ashort-term excursion,” Trumpsaid.

CO IN T MI EAST

NFLICT HE DDLE AST

Six family members of the slain tourist, Jacob Carter,stood in thevisitor’s gallery overlooking theHouse chamber while state lawmakers rose to their feet and applauded in ashow of respect.

The emotionally charged moment came near the end of a54-minutespeech by Landrythat kicked off the 2026 regu-

Gov.Jeff Landry on Monday lambasted “incompetent” judges and called on lawmakers to hold them accountable as he recounted how atourist inNew Orleans wasmurdered in 2024 by ajuvenile who he said was supposedtobe under court supervision through an electronic anklemonitor because of previous crimes.

lar legislative session. Until that point, thegovernor mostly extolled the changes thatheand Republican legislators have enactedduringthe past twoyears that have swung thestate to the right. In abriefinterview after thespeech, Landrysaid he is supportingone piece of legislationthat wouldreducethe

ä See LANDRY, page 4A

Bill wouldallow forremoval of judges,DAs

Proposal givespower to Landry,Legislature

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

Gov.Jeff Landry,who hasgoneafter thejudiciaryfor decisions he says are too liberal, could get the powertorecommend that Louisiana district attorneys

andjudges be suspended or removed.

SenateBill 123, filed for thelegislative sessionstarting Monday,would give him that power pending thepassage of aconstitutional amendment. That means Louisiana voters wouldhavetoapprove the change at the polls

State Sen. Jay Morris, R-WestMonroe, who authored the legislation, said it was hisideatofile thebill, which he hopes will helphold judgesand prosecutors

accountable for incompetence and misconduct.Hehas notyet spoken with the governor about SB123, he said, though he hopes to win Landry’ssupport. KateKelly,aspokesperson for Landry, declined to comment. Under the bill, thestate Senate would have to affirm the governor’sremoval recommendation by atwo-thirds vote

ä See REMOVAL, page 4A

The war has choked off majorsupplies of oil and gas to world markets, ledforeigners to flee from business hubs and prompted millions to seek shelter as bombs hit sites including military bases, governmentbuildings, oil and water installations, hotels and at least one school.

ä New footage raises likelihood U.S. struck Iranian school. PAGE 2A ä Officials shaped by combat after 9/11 grapple withIranwar. PAGE 3A

Khamenei, asecretive 56-year-old cleric, is only the third supremeleader in the history of the Islamic Republic He has close ties to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, whichhas been firingmissilesand drones at Israeland Gulf Arab states since his father,AyatollahAli Khamenei,who had ruled since 1989, was killed during the war’s opening salvo. The appointmentsuggests Tehran is not close to giving up on what it considers afight for the Islamic theocracy’s survival.

Thousands poured into acentral square in the capital, Tehran, and other

ä See OIL, page 6A

Abandoned hotelthatrecentlycaughtfiretobedemolished

BY ADAM DAIGLE Acadiana business editor

An abandoned 180-room hotel that was recently the site of afatal fire will soon be torn down Lafayette Consolidated Government gained approval in January to demolish theLaQuinta Inn, 2100 N.E. Evangeline Thruway,which has been empty for nearly two years and has become ashelter for unhoused residents, records show The project is expected to go out for bid in the next two weeks be-

fore work can begin, LCG spokesperson JamieBoudreaux said.

Themove from LCG comes after afire engulfed about 10 rooms of thehotel in November,fire officials said at the time. Levi Sahn, a28-year-oldman from North Dakotawho had lived in Lafayette for eight months, died in the fire, Fire Departmentofficials said.

Theowners were ordered to demolishthe building within 30 days after aJan. 20 hearing, an administrativehearing officer ruled. The property, which also has aswim-

ming pool,isdilapidated and dangeroustothe public welfare,the ruling indicated.

LCGcan now proceed on demolition and place alien on the property to recovercosts of thedemo. The propertyisowned by SSRP Investments of DenhamSprings, records show The property wentbefore adevelopment reviewcommittee in January with arequest to subdividethe propertyintotwo.The

1 held after shots fired near Rihanna’s home

LOS ANGELES Los Angeles police took a woman into custody after she fired gunshots outside Rihanna’s gated home, according to authorities and news reports on Monday No one was injured, police said. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the singer was at home when the shooting happened Sunday afternoon.

Police received a call about shots fired about 1:15 p.m in the Beverly Hills area, Officer Charles Miller said Monday A 35-year-old woman was later taken into custody and investigators recovered a weapon, according to a police statement

The suspect has been booked on suspicion of attempted murder and is in jail on $10 million bail. The district attorney had not yet announced charges.

Miller did not say who lived in the home. Multiple local news outlets reported that it belongs to Rihanna. Public records show the property is owned by a trust run by Evan Jehle, who is a member of the advisory board for Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation. Emails seeking comment were left with Rihanna’s publicist and manager KABC-TV showed video of what appeared to be five bullet holes in the front gate of the home. It was not known if the woman under arrest had any connection to Rihanna.

ICE releases teen boys in mariachi band

RAYMONDVILLE, Texas A family whose two teen boys are in a nationally recognized mariachi band in South Texas was reunited Monday afternoon after bipartisan criticism that the Trump administration’s campaign for mass deportation overreached by detaining the family.

Brothers Antonio GámezCuéllar, 18, and Joshua, 14, were detained along with their 12-year-old brother and their parents Feb. 25. The teenage boys were prominent members of the McAllen High School Mariachi Oro band, which has visited the White House, performed at Carnegie Hall and won eight state championships.

The two younger boys and their parents were released Monday from a family detention center in Dilley, Texas, said U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat who visited them, marking his third visit to the center Antonio was released on Monday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from a detention center in Raymondville, Texas.

“They were ecstatic. They were crying They were excited to be reunited with their son and brother, Antonio, who was being held separately in Raymondville,” Castro said at a news conference in San Antonio. “But their mom kept asking, ‘What did we do wrong? We followed all the rules. We went to court, we haven’t done anything wrong.’”

Officials: Teacher killed in prank gone wrong

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — It was a prank that turned deadly, authorities said: A group of teenagers unspooled rolls of toilet paper outside the home of a beloved high school teacher who tripped in the street and was struck by a pickup truck as the pranksters started to drive away

The 40-year-old teacher, Jason Hughes, died after being taken to a hospital late Friday the Hall County Sheriff’s Office said. The 18-year-old driver of the pickup was arrested on a felony charge of vehicular homicide, and four other teens were charged with misdemeanors.

Hughes’ family said he knew and loved the five students involved and urged authorities to drop all charges against them.

“This is a terrible tragedy, and our family is determined to prevent a separate tragedy from occurring, ruining the lives of these students,” Hughes’ family said in a statement on Monday “This would be counter to Jason’s lifelong dedication of investing in the lives of these children.”

Hughes taught math and helped coach golf, football and baseball at North Hall High School in Gainesville, about 55 miles northeast of Atlanta

Authorities: Men who brought bombs to rally inspired by IS

Two accused of throwing improvised explosives at far-right protest in N.y.

BY JAKE OFFENHARTZ, MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press

NEWYORK Two men who brought explosives to a far-right protest outside New York City’s mayoral mansion said they were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group, a court complaint said.

Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, were being held without bail after a court appearance Monday on charges that include attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction. Their lawyers didn’t argue for bail but could do so later

The homemade devices, which did not explode, were hurled Saturday during raucous counterprotests against an anti-Islam demonstration led by Jake Lang, a far-right activist and critic of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat and the first Muslim to hold the office.

“Balat and Kayumi sought to incite fear and mass suffering through this alleged attempted terror attack in the backyard of an elected city official,” James Barnacle, who runs the FBI’s New York office, said at a news conference after the brief court session.

The defendants said nothing in court, but Kayumi smirked and looked over at Balat as the judge read part of the complaint alleging they acted in support of the Islamic State group. Balat stared ahead at the defense table.

According to the complaint, Kayumi blurted out, as he was being arrested Saturday, that “ISIS” was the reason for his conduct. Balat later told authorities that he had pledged allegiance to the extremists, and Kayumi asserted that he was affiliated with the group, the complaint said.

Officers asked Balat whether he was aiming to accomplish something akin to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and wounded hundreds more

“No, even bigger,” Balat replied, according to the complaint.

Emir Balat’s lawyer, Mehdi Essmidi, said outside court that his client is a Philadelphia-area high

JULIUS

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attempted to

an

school senior with “complicated stuff going on” in his personal life.

“There’s a lot to figure out,” the attorney added. Asked whether he believed Balat was a terrorist, the lawyer said: “I believe he’s 18 and he doesn’t have any idea what he’s doing.”

Kayumi’s lawyer Michael Arthus, pointed in court to the extensive publicity surrounding the case and asked that prosecutors avoid saying anything that could prejudice potential jurors.

No one answered the door at a home listed as belonging to one of Kayumi’s relatives in Newtown, Pennsylvania. At a home where neighbors said Balat lives in nearby Langhorne, a young man declined to comment when a reporter knocked on the door

A spokesperson for Neshaminy High School, located in Langhorne, confirmed that Balat is in his senior year there. He has not attended in-person classes since enrolling in the district’s virtual program this past September, according to a note sent to parents Monday by the district’s superintendent.

Essmidi said he didn’t believe the two young men had known each other for long. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said neither defendant had a criminal history Meanwhile, U.S Attorney General Pam Bondi commented on social media that authorities “will not allow ISIS’s poisonous, antiAmerican ideology to threaten this nation.”

a counterprotest

Tisch said there are no indications that the attack was connected to the ongoing war in Iran.

An automated license plate reader captured the defendants entering New York City from New Jersey less than an hour before the noontime attack, according to the complaint. Kayumi’s mother filed a missing person report, saying she last saw him about 10:30 a.m. Saturday The men’s vehicle — registered to one of Balat’s relatives was discovered Sunday, a few blocks from where they were arrested. A search of the car turned up a fuse, a metal can, and a list of chemical ingredients and components that could be used to build explosives, the complaint said.

Lang’s sparsely attended protest Saturday drew a far larger group of counterdemonstrators. Amid the faceoff, Balat tossed a jar-sized device that contained the explosive TATP into the crowd, the complaint said The object also contained a fuse, plus an exterior layer of duct-taped nuts and bolts, the complaint said.

The device extinguished itself steps from police officers. According to the complaint, Balat then ran down the block and collected a second, similar device — which has yet to be tested for explosives — from Kayumi. Balat dropped it near some police officers and tried to run away the complaint said. Police tackled Balat and soon arrested him and Kayumi.

New footage raises likelihood U.S. struck Iranian school

Feb. 28 blast killed at least 165 people

BY JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press

JERUSALEM New footage shows what an expert investigative group says is likely an American Tomahawk missile hitting a compound in southern Iran, meters from the school where a deadly unclaimed blast killed over 165 people at the start of the war raging in the Mideast It comes as mounting evidence points to U.S. culpability for the Feb. 28 strike, which hit a school adjacent to a Revolutionary Guard base in Minab, Iran, in the country’s southern Hormozgan Province. Experts interviewed by The Associated Press, citing satellite image analysis, say the school was probably struck amid a quick succession of bombs dropped on the compound.

A U.S. official familiar with internal deliberations on the matter has told the AP that the strike was likely American. The official spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive matter.

The new footage, first analyzed by the investigative group Bellingcat, was taken the day the school was struck but circulated Sunday by Iran’s semiofficial Mehr news agency. It shows a missile hitting a building, sending a dark plume of smoke into the air

The AP was able to geolocate the video and determine it was taken from a site adjacent to the school, while smoke was already rising from the school vicinity

Satellite imagery of the compound is consistent with visual identifiers found in the video, including a flat-roofed building, power lines and vehicles. Trevor Ball, a Bellingcat researcher,

A man hold a child’s

28 as rescue workers and residents search

identified the munition as a Tomahawk cruise missile — which only the U.S. is known to possess in this war It’s the first evidence of a munition used in the strike.

U.S Central Command has acknowledged using Tomahawk missiles in this war and even released a photo of the USS Spruance, part of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group located within range of the school, firing a Tomahawk missile on Feb. 28.

Bellingcat said the footage “appears to contradict” President Donald Trump’s claim that Iran was responsible for the deadly school blast Neither the U.S. military’s Central Command nor the Israeli military immediately replied to requests for comment Monday from the AP When asked by a reporter Saturday whether the U.S. was responsible for the blast, which killed mostly children, Trump responded, without providing evidence: “No, in my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran.” Trump added that Iran is “very inaccurate” with its munitions. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth quickly chimed in to say the U.S. was investigating.

Real estate brokers convicted of sex trafficking

BY MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

NEWYORK Three brothers, including two of the nation’s most successful luxury real estate brokers, were convicted of sex trafficking charges Monday after a five-week trial over accusations that they used drugs and force to rape scores of women they had dazzled with their wealth and opulent lifestyle. The verdict came after 11 women testified they were sexually assaulted by one or more of the brothers: twins Oren and Alon Alexander 38, and Tal Alexander, 39.

The women described attacks that occurred after they were invited to vacation locales including the Hamptons, a Caribbean cruise and a ski trip in Aspen, Colorado. More than 60 women say they were raped by one or more of the brothers, according to prosecutors.

Defense lawyers suggested the accusers had faulty memories or were hoping to cash in on the brothers’ fortunes. The brothers, their lawyers conceded, were womanizers. But they insisted any sex was consensual.

The jury began deliberating Thursday Oren and Tal Alexander were brokers at real estate powerhouse Douglas Elliman before starting their own firm, Official. Alon Alexander worked at the family’s private security firm.

Besides the criminal case, the trio faced about two dozen lawsuits, including one filed Thursday by Tracy Tutor, a star of “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles” on Bravo. She alleges Oren Alexander drugged and assaulted her in a restaurant bathroom while she was in New York City for a real estate event.

When those lawsuits first began being filed, multiple women came forward claiming they had also been sexually harassed or assaulted, and that the brothers’ misconduct with women had been an open secret in the real estate world for years.

During the trial, many of the women who testified said they believed they’d been drugged after they were handed alcohol by one of the brothers. Some described feeling like they’d lost control of their bodies after less than one drink.

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Officials shaped by combat after 9/11 grapple with Iran war

BY STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press

WASHINGTON As Congress responds to President Donald Trump’s attack on Iran, lawmakers who served on the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan are making their voices heard in a war debate that has taken on intensely personal meaning.

Many admit mixed feelings, taking satisfaction in seeing vengeance taken on the leadership of an Iranian regime that has targeted U.S. service members for decades, yet fearful that another generation of soldiers could soon face the same combat experiences that they did.

“Do I take gratification?

You know there’s the Marine side of me: Yeah, of course,” said Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego, whose company suffered some of the heaviest losses on the U.S. side during the Iraq War. “I know they killed a lot of American soldiers, American Marines. But do I also understand that I have a responsibility not to let my lust for revenge drive my country into another war?

Experiences in the post 9/11 wars are also coloring the decisions of the Trump administration, given that top officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, were once deployed to Iraq.

Gallego, like others on Capitol Hill, leaned heavily on his firsthand experience of fighting in the wars after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as he assessed the Iran conflict.

Lawmakers wore bracelets etched with the names of friends killed in battle, told stories of coming under attack from Iran-backed militant groups and reflected on their own life-changing injuries suffered during combat

While the initial votes on Iran saw Congress divide mostly along party lines, with Republicans backing Trump’s actions and Democrats warning of an extended conflict, veterans in both parties share deep reservations about entering the conflict.

“As somebody who knows a lot of friends that didn’t come home and a lot of Gold Star families that’s why the week before the attack, I was actually one of the ones that was talking about caution and why we needed to avoid at all costs getting into another long, drawn-out Middle Eastern war,” said Republican Rep. Eli Crane, of Arizona, a former Navy SEAL who left college to enlist the week after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Crane said his concerns were partially assuaged by briefings from the Trump administration that indicated to him the president is not planning a drawn-out war He voted against a war powers resolution that would have halted attacks on Iran unless

House Foreign Affairs Committee, led the debate on the House floor against the war powers resolution.

Mast, who served as an Army bomb disposal expert, now uses prosthetic legs after receiving catastrophic injuries from an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. “Me especially, many of my other colleagues, no one wants to see our military go into combat or war,” he said.

Then he added, “But Iran’s terror, which has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans, it has to stop.”

killed during his two Army combat tours in Iraq. Others remembered how frustrated they became with Washington during their service especially as soldiers tried to fight with insufficiently armored vehicles and not enough troops.

Trump got congressional approval.

But Crane said wars are never straightforward. “I’ve been on military operations that did not go to plan many times, and so I understand the nature,” he said, adding that he was calling for the Trump administration to approach the conflict with “humility and caution.”

Gallego and other Democrats worried that it was too late for that approach. They paid tribute to the six U.S. military members who were killed in a drone strike in Kuwait and worried that there could soon be more American casualties. A seventh service member died on Sunday

from wounds suffered during a March 1 attack in Saudi Arabia.

“War is dirty, and mistakes happen,” Gallego said. The longer the conflict drags on, he added, the greater the chance there will be for U.S. military members to be killed. He experienced that firsthand in Iraq when friends would be killed by seemingly random shots from enemy combatants.

Still, many Republicans argued that it was necessary to attack Iran to stop a regime that for decades has helped train and arm militant groups throughout the Middle East. Republican Rep. Brian Mast, who chairs the

Important questions loom for Congress as the conflict with Iran unfolds and spreads to other parts of the Middle East. The price of the operation is already likely running into the billions of dollars, likely forcing the Trump administration to soon seek billions in funding from Congress. The outbreak of war has also scrambled global alliances and the future of U.S. foreign policy

Shadowing it all is the potential of another drawn-out conflict. Lawmakers said they owe it to their fallen comrades to ensure that doesn’t happen.

“To me, it’s to speak out. It’s to say another generation should not go fight in an openended, ill-conceived regime change war in the Middle East,” said Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan, his hand moving to a bracelet etched with the names of friends who were

“I know what it was like to be on the very end of the receiving line of the decisions made in Washington,” said Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, who entered the Army as a private before being promoted to a captain and deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan. Crow said that front-line soldiers often suffered “because people stopped asking tough questions. People stopped being held accountable. Congress stopped voting on it.”

Another veteran, Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, of Illinois, said that was one of the reasons she sought a congressional seat in the first place. As a Blackhawk helicopter pilot with the Illinois National Guard, Duckworth lost her legs when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq.

“I ran for Congress so that when the drums of war started beating once again, I’d be in a position to make sure that our elected officials fully considered the true cost of the war,” she said. “Not just in dollars and cents but in human lives.”

Alexander Butterfield, who disclosed Watergate tapes, dies at 99

BY DOUGLASS K. DANIEL and MICHAEL TACKETT Associated Press

WASHINGTON Alexander Butterfield, the White House aide who inadvertently hastened Richard Nixon’s resignation over the Watergate scandal when he revealed that the president had bugged the Oval Office and Cabinet Room and routinely recorded his conversations, has died. He was 99. His death was confirmed to The Associated Press by his wife, Kim and John Dean, who served as White House counsel to Nixon during

the Watergate scandal and went on to, along with Butterfield, help expose the wrongdoing.

“He had the heavy responsibility of revealing something he was sworn to secrecy on, which is the installation of the Nixon taping system,” Dean said. “He stood up and told the truth.” As a deputy assistant to the president, Butterfield

oversaw the taping system connected to voice-activated listening devices that had been secretly placed in four locations, including Nixon’s office in the Executive Office Building and the presidential retreat at Camp David.

Butterfield later said that, besides himself and the president, he believed that only White House chief of

staff H.R. Haldeman, a Haldeman assistant and a handful of Secret Service agents knew about the taping system.

“Everything was taped as long as the president was in attendance,” Butterfield told Watergate investigators when testifying under oath during a preliminary interview

The tapes would expose Nixon’s role in the coverup that followed the burglary in 1972 at the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate building. To avoid impeachment by the House, Nixon resigned on Aug 9, 1974, less than a month after the Supreme Court had ordered him to surrender the relevant tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor.

Capturingopportunity:CCS canfuel

economic growth and energy supply in Louisiana

Thisstory is brought to you by ExxonMobil

New energytechnologiesare reshaping the world, and Louisiana is already positioned to lead. Decades of safely transporting CO2 (carbon dioxide) have given the state astrong foundation to capitalizeonthe next generation of energy innovation.

Building on almost 40 yearsofexpertise capturing, moving, and storing CO2,ExxonMobil is helping Louisiana turn thatexperience into acompetitiveedge—strengthening the state’s role as aleader in the carbon captureand storage(CCS) industry

What is CCS?

CCS is the processof capturing CO2 createdbyindustrial and manufacturing processesand permanently storing it instead of allowing it to be releasedintothe atmosphere.

CCS involves twopossible storagepathways forthe captured CO2: In enhanced oil recovery (EOR), CO2 is stored via injection deep underground 2,000 feet or more—intoexisting oil reservoirstomakethem moreproductive.

In dedicated storage(Class VI wells) CO2 is stored via injection morethan 5,000 feet (overamile) underground into porous rock formations,whereitremains permanently and securely sequestered.

Both EOR and ClassVIwells result in safe storageof CO2 thatwould otherwisebereleased into the atmosphere. CCS via either pathwaycan create significanteconomic benefits likeproducing morecompetitive productsthatsupportoureconomy,increasing income sources forLouisiana landowners, and attracting billions of dollarsinnew projects from companiesseeking to make and export lower-carbon products

Capturing morevalue with safe and permanentstorage

While the goal of producing lower-carbon products to remain competitiveinchanging global markets mightbenew in Louisiana, capturing CO2 during industrial processes and storing it safely isn’t—and thatgives Louisiana an advantage.

In fact,Louisiana’s geology, CO2 pipeline presence, and extensiveinfrastructurein oil and gas, industrialprocesses, and manufacturing create an ideallandscape forboth dedicatedstorage and EOR.

Each year,oilfield operators inject millions of tons of CO2 into existing oil reservoirstoincreasethe flowofoil andmaximizeefficiency of thosesites CO2 cycles through wells and either remains underground or is processedalong with the produced oil, meaning significantvolumes of CO2 aresafely stored. As CCS infrastructurebuilds out in Louisiana with carbon capturefacilities and dedicatedstorage sites,the expanding network will alsobenefit existing oil fields by increasing the CO2 supply so newEOR projects canbebuilt ultimately increasing the output of those reservoirsand boosting Louisiana’s overall oil production.

Already,Louisiana’sleadership in CCShas helped attractnew projects thatcould create an estimated 17,000 newjobs and $76 billion in capital, according to a2025 executive order from Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry.

Advanced infrastructureand ideal geology

CO2 is used in manydifferentapplications,fromsoft drinksand carbonatedwatertomedical supplies and fogfor special effects.Much of that CO2,whether it’sgoing to oil wells,soda bottlers, or other manufacturers, travels through Louisiana via the nation’smost advanced CO2 pipeline network. Pipelines arethe safest method of CO2 transportation. CO2 pipelines aretypically made of thickersteel thanother pipelines, and theycome with additionalsafetymeasures and constant real-time monitoring In addition to extensiveinjection expe-

rience and pipeline infrastructure, Louisiana alsohas the geological conditions for safe,permanent CO2 storage. Operators typically look fortwo factorswhen identifying potential areas for CO2 storagethousands of feet underground:

•Permeability or pores in the rock formations thatcreate space for CO2 to flow

•Impermeable caprock or ‘seal’ rock layers thatprevent stored CO2 from migrating upward

Louisiana has been identified as an ideal place forstorage basedontheseconditions, but beforeany sites arefinally selected, teams of expert geologists conduct extensiveunderground testing to confirm an area’s suitability.

Awin forLouisiana

CCS supports the energy and manufacturing sector –the backbone of Louisiana’s economythatemploys nearly 150,000 residents acrossthe state –asfacilities seek to competeinglobal markets thatincreasingly demand low-carbon products and energy including biofuels,ammonia,natural gas, and steel.

CCS alsohelps to attract new industrial investments,likenatural gasprocessing, steel mills,and more. Already,Louisiana’s leadership in CCS has helped attract new projects thatcould create an estimated 17,000 newjobsand $76billion in capital, according to a2025executiveorder from Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry

In addition to protecting existing jobs and attracting newinvestment, CCS projects planned acrossthe state areexpected to generate millions of dollarsinlandowner payments and tax revenue for Louisiana parishes,insome casesexponentially increasing parish tax revenues —including in rural parishes who have not previously had opportunities to directly benefit from Louisiana’sindustrial sector ExxonMobil and its customershave begun operating twocommercial CCS projects already,directing captured CO2 from Louisiana industrial sites to EOR fields while dedicatedstorage projects aredeveloped.

CCS combines decades of experience, robust infrastructure, and askilled workforce to support today’sindustry and prepare Louisiana to lead the lower-carbon future.

number of judges in Orleans Parish and another that would allow him to remove judges and district attorneys throughout the statefor up to six months.

“It seemslike the people of this state are getting tired of not having the proper oversightover outof-control judges or DAs that are just not doing their job,” Landry said during the interviewoutside the House chamber.“As crime falls, it’ll only stay down if we take the dangerous people and we put them behind bars. If they keep letting those people out, or they treat the juveniles like some sort of afterthought, guess what’s going to happen? Crime’sgoing to come back again. We don’twant to do that.”

Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams pushed back on Landry’snarrative, noting that crime has dropped sharplyinrecent years in New Orleans.

“New Orleans is now in the midst of ahistoric, multiyeardecline in homicides,” Williams’ office said in astatement.

That does notsatisfyLandry or Sen. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, whois sponsoring the two pieces of anticrimelegislation.

Senate Bill 217 would eliminate two of the 14 Orleans Parish civil court judge positions andhave the judicial council study whether to reduce the number of Orleans Parish criminal court judges.

Morris contends thatOrleans Parish’scourt system should downsize now that New Orleans has asmallerpost-HurricaneKatrina population.

New Orleans MayorHelena Moreno questions the benefitsof SB217.

“As aformer legislator,there are some bills that come about because they arereally aboutefficiencies, and some that come

REMOVAL

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Critics of the proposal argue it is unconstitutional because it would make judges beholden to the governor, infringing on the independence of the judiciary

“I don’tknow what purpose it’sserving other than to say agovernor who doesn’tlike judicial checks has avehicle to avoid those checks,” said Ross Foote,a formerAlexandria district court judge. Foote, who called the bill a “power grab,”said it risked putting judges in difficult positionswhentheir rulings could adverselyaffect the governor

“As aretired judge, Iwould hatetothink that every decision Imade has to be viewed under alens of, ‘Is this going to be offensive to the governor?’ such that they can start proceedings against me,” he said. In Louisiana, judges and district attorneys are elected, not appointed. SB123 would apply to district, municipal, family and juvenile court judges, but not to state appeals court or Supreme

HOTEL

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platting process, however, is notcomplete, Boudreaux said. LCG placedalien on the propertyinMay forover $9,000 fornumerousviolations on the property,records show AKATCreport from late 2024 showed the building had been inhabited by unhoused people duetothe number of unlocked doors, broken windows and large amounts of trash. Lafayette police increasedpatrol of the area and made several arrests of peopletrespassing, the report indicated At ahearing in December 2024, CalvinRivere, of PRK Hotel Group,which lists its address at 2100 N.E. Evangeline Thruway,said his group would secure the property andthen do afull renovation, KATC reported Theissue has been aproblem since thehotel closed, said Brandy Stansbury, who co-owns the A-Abal Transmission &Differential Repairs next door with her husband.

about because they are political,” shesaidinNew Orleans. “And I believe that this one is really more about being political.”

Morris’Senate Bill 123 would allow Landry to remove judges and district attorneys “for malfeasance, gross misconduct, or incompetence, as defined by law, while in office.”Totakeeffect, it would require approval by state legislators by atwo-third vote andbyvoters statewideinanelectionthat would take place in April 2027.

Following Landry’sspeech, Morris said he filed the two bills on his own and is glad to have the governor’ssupport.

“Having judgeswho vigorously enforce the law competently is critical to having asafe Louisiana,” Morris said.

However,Williams’office noted that, since 2022, armed robberies have dropped by 70% and murdersby55%.

“Unfortunately,Sen.Jay Morrisand hisadviser, Laura Cannizzaro,continue to ignore those results while placingNew Orleans in their political crosshairs,” Williams said in his statement.He was referring to Laura Cannizzaro Rodrigue, the founder of the Bayou Mama Bears, an advocacy group, andthe daughterofformer Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro.

Carter’syounger brother Jonathan Isaac Carter was one of the family members Landry invited to watchhis speech.Hecameto Louisiana from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he lives. His brother,who owned abagel shop in Tacoma,

Washington, wasgunned down on Jan. 5, 2024, in the Marigny neighborhood, ashort walkfrom the French Quarter.Hewas visiting New Orleans with his husband.

Malik Cornelius, who was 16 at the time of the crime, pleaded guilty in May2025 to manslaughter in relationtothe deathofJacob Carter and was given a26year sentence Following Landry’sspeech, Jonathan Isaac Carter noted that his familyfiledcomplaints against twoOrleans Parish juvenile court judges, Candice Bates-Anderson and Ranord Darensburg, saying they hadfailed to ensure that Corneliuswas tracked via the electronic monitor In his speech, Landry said Cornelius missed morethan 400 required check-ins and that the monitoringcontract witha privatecompany hadlapsed.

TheJudiciaryCommission of Louisiana dismissed the Carter family’scomplaint.

“Ourfamily hasbeen screaming into the void over the past twoyears about what happened in New Orleans and trying to get someonetopay attention,” Carter said Monday.“To have the leader of the state acknowledge what happened wasa preventable tragedy was verygratifying.”

Bates-Anderson and Darensburgcouldn’tbereached for comment on Monday.

Before turning aspotlight on Jacob Carter,Landry highlighted how he and lawmakers over the pasttwo yearshavepassed legislation to reducecar andproperty insurancerates,reorganizedthe Department of Transportation withthe aimtomorequickly complete road repairs, made moves that have led to jumps in fourth gradereading scores,abolished thecorporate franchise taxesand reduced corporate andindividual income tax rates.

“Today,weare seeing the fruits of ourlabor,asthe upsurge of business interest and investment

in our state reaches historic levels,” he said.

Landry did notnotethat the tax reductionswerecoupled with a salestax increasethatgivesLouisiana the highest average sales taxinthe country In hisspeech, Landrylaidout an agenda thatislessambitious than what he sought to do during his first two yearsasgovernor With alighter agenda, Landry will have more time to ensure the passage of four constitutional amendments on May 16. He has alreadyconveneda meetingof the Louisiana Committee for a Conservative Majority andmajor donors to plotstrategy andraise money to pass allfourofthem. During his speech on Monday, Landry highlighted Amendment 3, whichwould give teachers an annualpay increasebyrestructuring educationtrust funds. Landry sufferedhis biggest defeat as governor ayear agowhen voters smacked down four differentamendmentstothe constitutionthathefavored On Monday,Landry made no mentionofa topicthathas put him in national and international headlines: his appointment by President Donald Trumpasspecial envoytoGreenland, asemiautonomous territory of Denmark. The Wall Street Journal reported two weeks ago that Landry during Mardi Grashosted two Trump supporters from Greenland at the Governor’sMansion. One of the men, abricklayer, toldLandry thatthe UnitedStatesought to send ahospitalship to Greenland, the newspaper reported. Landry thensuggestedthe idea to Trump, who announced theship was on the way It never actually left. The hospital ship is undergoing repairs. Besides, Landry said during an interviewwitha Danish publication, it cannot operate in Arctic waters. Capital bureau reporter Meghan Friedmann and staff writer Matt Bruce contributed to this article.

Courtjudges.

Tensions on therise

Morris’ bill is being considered twoyearsaftera new state law gave Landry tighter control over public defense by granting more oversight of the system to agubernatorial appointee. It also comes amid brewing tensionsbetween the judiciary and other branches of government,which are playing out nationallyand locally

PresidentDonaldTrump has attacked judges whose decisions do not adhere to hispolitical agenda. Landry, too, recentlyslammed two judges as beingtoo liberal afterthey ordered the release of Immigrationand Customs Enforcement detainees with criminal records. Those judges sit on afederal benchand wouldtherefore notbe subjectto SB123

Andinrecent years, Landry and other Louisiana Republicans have gone after OrleansParish District Attorney Jason Williams, who they say is not tough enough on criminals

Some have attacked his useofthe post-conviction relief process to vacate and

About20people are living in the hotel, she said, and rooms that had beenboarded up atone pointwere later areagainbeingoccupied. Calls to the owners and the PRK Hotel Group have gone unreturned, she said. She and other nearbyresidentsare waiting for the propertytobedemolished, shesaid

“My thing is all Ihear about lately is they want to beautifythe northside,” Stansbury said. “Look atthis area. Whywould businesses wanttocome here?

“We’re not saying we’re stuck here, but we’ve been blessed to be here so long. We go through alot of obstacles every day just to stay on this side. We reallydon’t wantto leave, but you’re not giving us too much choices.”

SSRPboughtthe property in 2019 for $1.5 million, land recordsshow,rightafter it boughtaLaQuintaInn in Baton Rouge for $2.5 million, earlier reportsshow Attempts to reach SSRP Investments and PRK Hotel Group were unsuccessful.

EmailAdam Daigle at adaigle@theadvocate com.

reduce sentences, whichWilliams’ office hasdescribedas part of an effort to right past wrongs. At thesametime, many on theleftsay Williams’ policies are tooharsh andhavefailedtoliveupto his progressive campaign promises.

Senate President Cameron Henry,R-Metairie, saidhe believed SB123 would get traction in the Legislature because “some folks believe theremightbesomeDAs that are alittle too lenient.” He declined to nameanyone in particular,while Morrismentioned Williams by name.

In astatement, Williams’ office said such criticismignores data showing that New Orleans’ violent crime rates have gone down during his tenure.

Williams’ administration has both collaborated with law enforcement and taken “responsible steps to address

past wrongful convictions” to increase confidenceand participation in the justice system, the statementsaid.

“District Attorney Williams has consistentlywelcomed scrutiny and has appeared before the Legislature whenever asked because this office hasnothing to hide,” thestatement said “Our work has been transparent, andthe results are measurable:violent crime in New Orleans is downin everymajorcategory,and those reductions have been sustained through strong collaboration with local, state, and federal partners.”

Questionsofcompetence

Besidescontroversy over prosecutorial decisions, Morris’ concerns about the Louisiana Judiciary Commission, which is responsible for investigating judicial misconduct and recommending discipline for

judges, also drove SB123. Morris does notbelieve the commissionhas been doing agood enough job of holding judges accountable, he said.

“A lotofpeople think that there’saseriousproblem with judicialcompetence in this state,” Morris said.

As an example,the senator raised issue with the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court’selectronic monitoring program. It has come under fire due to twohigh-profile cases in which teens allegedly committedviolent crimes while theyweresupposedtobe monitored.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill recently asked the commission to investigate oneofthe Orleans court’sfour judgesoverher “action (or inaction)” regarding the juveniles. And on Thursday,Chet Traylor, aformer Louisiana Supreme Court judge, resigned from thecommission,

accordingtohis resignation letter,inwhich he accuses the panel of failing to act against judicial misconduct.

“Wehavemanygreat judgesinLouisiana who workvery hard to uphold therule of Law.Unfortunately,wealso have too many who are either incompetent or so arrogant that they think they are abovethe law,”Traylor wrote. “Adding to the problem is the lack of transparency where judgesare concerned as well as the lack of any meaningful action when judges have been doing wrong.”

Aspokesperson forthe commission didnot comment on this story SB123 allows judgestobe suspendedorremoved for “malfeasance, gross misconduct, or incompetence.” Morris plans to file acompanion billtodefine those bases for removal, he said.

In accordance with LouisianaRS38:2212 electronic Bids maybe submittedonVendorAc‐cess (https://lafayettecs dgovla.tylerportico.com/ va/vendor-access/ registration). Official Bid Documentsare available on Vendor Access (https://lafayettecsdgov la.tylerportico.com/va/

will be evaluatedby thePurchaser basedon thelowestresponsible andresponsivebid sub‐mitted which is also in compliance with thebid documents. The Lafayette Consolidated Government reserves the righttorejectany andall bids forjustcause in ac‐cordance with LA R.S. 38§2214.B. TheLafayette Consoli‐datedGovernment strongly encourages the participationofDBEs (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise)inall con‐tracts or procurements letbythe Lafayette Con‐solidatedGovernment forgoodsand services andlabor andmaterial. To that end, allcontrac‐tors andsuppliers are encouraged to utilize DBEs business enter‐prises in thepurchaseor sub-contractingofmate‐rials, supplies, services andlabor andmaterialin which disadvantaged business areavailable Assistance in identifying said businessesmay be obtained by calling(337) 291-8410. PURCHASING DIVISION Lafayette Consolidated Government PUBLISHDATES: 3-10-26, 3-15-26 DPR# 992917 179766-mar10-15-2t $97.82

Continued from page1A

locations in ashow of allegiance to thenew supremeleader, wavingflags and shouting phrases like “Death to America” and “Deathto Israel.”

“America and Israel: You’ve failed, and you will drown in the swampyou are stuck in,” said Abbas Ali Saeedipoor,one of the demonstrators.

Iranian authorities have longencouraged public shows of support forthe Islamic Republicwhile violently cracking downondissent. Earlier this year,thousands of people were killed and tensof thousands detained during mass protests against the elderKhamenei.

The U.S. stockmarket careened through amanic Monday,going from asteep early loss to asolid gain as worries turned into hope that the war with Iran may not last that long. Oil priceswhipped from nearly $120 per barrel, thehighest since 2022, back toward $90.

Iran’sattacks in the Strait of Hormuz have all but stopped tankersfrom using the shipping lane through which afifth of the world’s oiliscarried, and Iranian drones and missiles have targeted oil and gasinfrastructure in major producers. Attacks on merchant ships near the strait have killed at least seven mariners,accordingtothe International Maritime Organization.

“There is not an oil shortage,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Prices will drop again soon,” he added, suggesting shipments from Venezuela to the U.S.could help offset the price spike.

Trump had acall Monday with Russian President VladimirPutin to discuss thewar and other issues, according to the Kremlin Putin’sforeign affairs adviser,Yuri Ushakov,described the hourlong conversationas“frank and businesslike.” He saidPutin “voiced afew ideas regarding a quick political and diplomaticsettlement” of theconflict following hisconversations with Gulf leaders andIranianPresidentMasoud Pezeshkian.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio saidthe United States is “well on our way” to achieving its objective, which he said was toeliminate Iran’sballistic missile stockpile andits abilitytoproduce and launch them. The administration has offered shifting rationales

and timelines since the start of the conflict.

The White House said Trump would holdanews conference later Monday on the situation in Iran. Kamal Kharazi,foreign policy advisertothe office of the supreme leader,told CNNonMondaythat Iran is prepared for along war.He said he sees no “room for diplomacy anymore” unless economic pressure prompts other countries to interveneand stop the“aggression of Americans and Israelis against Iran.”

Amid unrelenting Iranian drones andmissilesMonday, sirensblared multiple timesacross Israel. A manwas killed in central Israel in amissile strike, thefirst such deathinIsrael in aweek, and a woman was wounded. Israel said Monday that it was carrying out“awide-scalewave of strikes”onthe Iranian city of Isfahan, as wellasTehranand in southern Iran. TheIsraeli military said it hit dozens of infrastructure sitesacross Iran,including the drone headquarters of the Revolu-

tionary Guard. Since thestart of thewar,Israel haseliminated more than 1,900 Revolutionary Guard soldiers and commanders, an Israeli military spokesperson said at apress briefing without providing evidence. Turkey, meanwhile, said NATO defenses had intercepted aballistic missile that entered thecountry’sairspace forthe second time since thewar started.

The younger Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the war started, was long considered a potential successor —even before thekilling of his86-year-old father

The youngerKhamenei’swife, ZahraHaddad Adel, was killed in thesame strike.

An Iranian stateTVreportsuggested the younger Khamenei may have been woundedinthatstrike, though astate TV analyst later appeared to amendthe report, saying he hadbeen wounded in the 1980s Iran-Iraq war in which he served.

The younger Khamenei is seen as even less compromising than his latefather.Assupremeleader,

he hasthe final say on all major policies,including Tehran’sdisputed nuclear program Though Iran’skey nuclear sites are in tatters after the U.S. bombed themduring the 12-dayIsrael-Iran war in June, it still has highly enriched uranium that’satechnical step away from weapons-grade levels.Khamenei could choose to do what his father never did build anuclear bomb.

Israel has already described Khamenei as apotential target, while Trump has called him “unacceptable” and a“lightweight.” Saudi Arabia lashedout at Iran following the drone attack on its massive Shaybah oilfield, saying Tehran would be the“biggest loser” if it continuestoattack Arab states. In theUAE, home to the futuristic city of Dubai, authorities said two peoplewere woundedby shrapnelfrom theinterception of Iranianmissilesoverthe capital, Abu Dhabi. The Emirati Defense Ministry said 15 ballistic missiles and 18 drones were fired at the

country on Monday Iran also attacked Kuwait, Qatar andBahrain, where it hita residential area, wounding 32 people, including several children, according to authorities. Another attack appeared to have starteda fireat Bahrain’sonly oilrefinery,sending up thick plumes of smoke.

The U.S. State Department early Monday ordered nonessential personnel and families of all staff to leave Saudi Arabia.Several other U.S. diplomatic missions have ordered all but key stafftoleave. The warhas killedatleast1,230 people in Iran, at least 397 in Lebanon and 11 in Israel, according to officials.Israel reported itsfirst soldier deaths on Sunday,saying two were killed in southern Lebanon, where it is fighting Hezbollah. Atotal of seven U.S. service members have been killed. Trumpsaid Monday that family members of the soldiers told him during thetransferoftheir remains over the weekend in

JanRisher

LOUISIANA AT LARGE

Findingluck in afour-leaf clover

For more than 20 years, Ihave known that my friend Jennifer May has an unusual ability. She can find four-leaf clovers. Not eventually or afterhours of searching. She can simply be walking along apath, glance down and say,“Ah, here’safourleaf clover.”

I’ve seen it happen. On the other hand, Ihave spent most of my life not finding them. Iremember sitting on the playground in third grade with friends, scanning patches of clover and hopingtobethe lucky one. None of us found a four-leafclover,but Iput my clover-patch time to gooduse. Though Istoppedlookingfor luck, Ibecame an expert in making clover crowns and necklaces. Every day during recess, Iset up shop to makeadornments for my friends. We walked back into Mrs. Elliott’smath class like playground royalty Until Imet May years later,I thought four-leaf clovers only existed in the technical sense —anomalies like two-headed snakes.

May,however,isproof that four-leafclovers arereal. We met Feb. 19 at Moncus Park in Lafayette for aguided hunt. I blockedoff three hours on my calendarand showeduppreparedfor along afternoon in the sun —blue jeans, tennis shoes and abig hat.

In my mind, this excursion was going to involve sitting on the ground for hours, crawling around on all fours, carefully inspecting thousands of tiny leaves. May has adifferent approach. About 35 seconds after we walked to aclover patch, she said, “Here’sone.”

She bent to pick it and held it for me to see.

“Hold up,” Isaid. “How did you do that?” She began to explain.

“Look at each clover leaf,” she said. “See those little red marks on each leaf —these are red because they are red clover If you look over here, these are white clover,and you’ll seethose leaveshave white marks.”

I’ve looked at clover leaves for the better part of 60 years and never noticed the different colors of flowers and leaf marks. Before she could fully explain how she finds four-leaf clovers, she spotted another one.

“You’ve got to tell me what you’re doing here,” Isaid.

She pointed again to the leaves.

She asked me to pay special attention to the small chevronshapedmarks on each leaf.

“Most clovers have three leaves,” she said. “So, notice the little almost-circle that the combined marks on the three leaves make.” Isaw what she meant. Then she held up one of the four-leafclovers she had found.

“Look at what the little marks make when there are four.It’s not acircle. It’smore like a square,” she said. “So, I’m looking at the patterns themarks make, not at the leaves. Here’s another one.”

Icouldn’tbelieve it. She paused and glanced toward me. “12 o’clock for you.”

Ifroze and stared in the direction she indicated. At first, Isaw what Ihad always seen —ablur of identical green leaves. But then Istarted scanningfor patterns. Not circles. Squares And suddenly,there it was. About 10 minutes into our hunt, with my friend’scoaching, I found my first four-leaf clover

The game was on. She kept finding them right and left, explaining that sometimes the

Cockfighting ring busted

Onearrested, 70 roosters seized near

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

Sixty people were detained, 70 fightingroosters were seized and one manwas arrested Saturday near Opelousas when the St Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office busted up acockfighting tournament John EddieLachapelle, 36, of Opelousas, was booked on counts of cockfighting, possession of Schedule II controlled dangerous

substances and illegal carrying of weapons, all felonies, according to anews release from Sheriff Bobby Guidroz.

The Sheriff’s Office received an anonymous tip that amajor cockfighting event wasbeingheld on thepropertyat854 Raiders Road, northwest of Opelousas, the news release states.

After covertly confirming a large gathering of people transporting fighting roosters was taking place, Guidroz saidhegath-

ered elements fromhis entire investigativedivision, including criminal investigations, narcotics, juvenile detectives and sex offender detectives, to handle the large number of people involved.

Asearch warrant was obtained, he said, to search the grounds, vehicles andhomes.

About 60 people were detained and 70 fighting roosters were seized along with cash, drugs and guns, therelease states. As theproperty owner andal-

Creative crochet

VermilionVoyage to setsailMarch 20

Paddlers can spendthree days exploringbayou

BYJOANNA BROWN Staff writer

At 70 miles long,Bayou Vermilion winds fromLafayette to Abbeville, passing small farmingcommunities, marshland and cows —a lot of cows —onits journey to theVermilion Bay and Gulf. Theriver is part of the landscapeoflifeinsouthwest Acadiana, used to move goods and explored by fishermen and recreational boaters,but littleexperienced bythe thousands of people who live alongside it. Nobody swimsinit, for the mostpart, and few use it in the course of their daily lives— whether paddling downriver to visit aneighbor,

or simply spending aday on its banks.

There are several reasons for this. The Vermilionwas once dubbed the“mostpolluted river in America,” and its waters are still contaminated in sections by agricultural runoff andwaste. There are few public access pointsalong thebanks, and paddling the riverpresents manyunknowns —from the vagaries of weather and wildlife, to limited cell signal as thebayou carries you away from populated areas.

Butthat’s where theadventure comes in, according to longtime paddlerGreg Guidroz. As an experienced guide, he loves helping people explore the waterway and reach anew understanding of one of Acadiana’sdefining natural features.

“At this point, the river is almost like aperson to me.It’sa

Opelousas

leged principal event organizer Lachapelle wasarrestedatthe scene. The other people at the scene were identified, Guidroz said, and possible criminal charges are pending. Theinvestigationisongoing.

Cockfighting is illegal in St Landry Parish and Louisiana. Anyone with additionalinformation should callthe Sheriff’s Office at (337) 948-6516 or Crime Stoppers at (337) 948-8477.

The Spanish Association of New Iberia installs a crochet ceilingover Church Alley Pocket Park in New Iberiaon Friday. The crochet ceilingwill remainuntil after the New Iberia Spanish Festival on April 17-19.

STAFFPHOTO By LEE BALL

Houstonman chargedin earlymorning shooting

CRIME BLOTTER Advocate staff reports

AHouston man wasarrested after ashooting early Sunday morning in Lafayette that left onepersonhospitalized. Demontre Robertson, 35, of Houston, wasbooked on counts of attempted second-degreemurder and illegal use of aweapon, according to jail records. His bail was set at $250,000. Officersresponded about 3:30 a.m. Sunday to the100 block of Staten Street after reports of ashooting in progress, Lafayette police said. Arriving officers found avictimsuffering from multiple gunshotwounds.The victim was taken to ahospital and is listed in stable condition. Responding officers also locatedand detainedapersonwho

remained at the scene. Man arrested, accused of having child porn

An Opelousas man has been arrested on 38 countsofpossession of child sexual abuse materials involving children under the age of 13.

Agents withthe Louisiana Bureau of Investigation in the Attorney General’sOffice arrestedJeremy Paul Richard, 30, on March5,according to anews release from theAttorney General’s Office. Bureau agents startedtheir investigation afterreceiving atip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The investigation involved the bureau’sCyber Crime Unit, Homeland Security andSt. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office.

See BLOTTER, page 4B

OUR VIEWS

Public owed debatesby Senate candidates

The three leading candidates for theRepublican nominationinthisyear’sU.S. Senate race are engaged in theusual, tiresome sniping about who should debate where, if at all

The only right answer is: Yes, there should be at least afew debates, broadly televised, with neutral moderators, involving all candidates who exceed aminimum polling average. Candidates should be expected todebateunderthese terms, not to make debates asubject to political tactics.Their duty is to servethe public,not themselves Alas, thecandidates in the new May 16 GOP primary areplaying games.

Incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy has challenged U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow to debate, withoutmentioning the other major candidate, state Treasurer John Fleming, at all. Cassidyindicated he would not debate unlessLetlow is there, too. Goodfor him for raisingthe prospect of debates, but Cassidy sang adifferent tune in previous campaigns. Whenchallenging embattled incumbent Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu in 2014, he declined allbut onemajor debateinvitation in the runoff against her.Whenrunning forreelection against Democratic Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins and others in an open primary in 2020, Cassidy refused to debate unlessall 14 candidates, including ones noteven actively campaigning, were invited. No respectable outlet would sponsor whatsurely would have been acircus instead of aconstructive public forum, so Cassidy’sstance amounted to a refusal to have areal debate.

Letlow’s response has been to decline participation in analready scheduledApril16debate on Louisiana Public Broadcasting— generally seen as aneutral forum —but instead to suggest adebate on the radio show of outspoken conservative Moon Griffon.AsGriffonhas a longstanding feud with Cassidy,his showcould hardly be considered unbiased.

Fleming, with asignificant base of support but generally seen as running thirdinthe race so far,naturally wants any airtime hecan get. He said he’seagertodebate theothers.

Let’sbeclear: To dodge major debatesisto say public accountability doesn’tmatter.A candidatewho relies entirelyonthe self-controlled environment of campaign advertising andendorsements is failing the test of transparency and ducking the responsibility to answertough questions. Voters deserve to know, in an open setting, what candidates stand forand whether they can take some heat It goes without saying that anycandidate that hasconditions about when or where to debate isn’tserious about presenting hisorher ideasto the public. The default response to an invitationtodebate should be yes. Anything else is asmokescreen, ill-befittingapublic servant

Taking to thestreets is in theAmericantradition

Iappreciate what letter writer JonathanShermanwas going for with his letter regarding opposing voices on Minnesota. He states that the only way to change laws in the country is through Congress and notbystandinguptolaw enforcement in the streets. In theory,that is niceand quaint. In reality,ifinour collective history we relied solely on Congress to change laws in the best interest of this nation, we might still have slavery,women andpeople of color would nothavethe right to vote, and schools would notbe integrated. It is notastretch to say that withoutsit-insand marches, the Civil Rights Movement would nothavebeen able to achievereal change As we remember the life of the Rev.Jesse Jackson, let’sbesure to rememberthatthe very thing that makes America already greatisthe

right thatweall have as members of this democratic experiment to protest and take to the streetsto make our voices heard andstandup forthose whomay notbeable

To many of us, the brightest ray of hope is theunity andstrengthof protests and those willing to stand up fortheir neighbors. So Iask,whatiswrong withusif we areOKwith amasked federal lawenforcementgroup notfollowing the Constitution that is so woven intothe fabric of this great nation? Protests should always be peaceful andnonviolent As of now, two U.S. citizens are dead at thehands of the law enforcementweare taught to respect. What is wrongwithusindeed? Congress is needed to change laws, but so are allofus. Stand up andbe heard

PATRICK MACFETTERS NewOrleans

In my opinion, family courts created to resolve disputes and protect children —have in many cases become systems where court professionals profit by exploiting themost vindictive litigants.

GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence

TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com.

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE

Oneparent who is determined to destroy theother parent can become theenginethat drives an expanding legal process. Accusationsmultiply.Motions are filed. Hearingsare scheduled. As the conflict escalates, the case grows to include evaluators, therapists, parenting coordinators and supervised visitation providers. Each additional professional adds another layer of fees

The longer theconflict continues, themore money flows into the litigation system. Meanwhile, family courtjudges serveasthe finder of fact and exercise broad judicial discretion. Once ajudge acceptsanarrative built through repeated allegations, that narrative becomes the official record of the case. Appellate courts rarelydisturb those factual findings

Contempt laws and abuse determinationscan then be used as pow-

erful leverage. Alleged violations of court orders may carry up to 90 days in jail per count,and abuse findings in civil custodyproceedings can arise without the investigativestandards required in criminal court. Faced with the threat of incarceration, supervision, or permanent restrictions on parental rights, manyparents may feel coerced into stipulations they would never accept under fair conditions. Meanwhile, family assets that should supportchildren are drained into legal fees and courtordered services.This structure enables family court professionals to earn millions of dollars through prolonged litigation thatwould not exist if family court functioned as intended. This is how aloving parent and respected member of the community can be convertedinto an ostracized and marginalized pariah while family court professionals extract untold profits that would never existiffamily courts resolved disputes as they were intended to do.

KATHERINE DIAMOND Baton Rouge

Iapplaud the recent comment of Duke Truby.Itcaptures what Ihave felt fora long time, and Iassumewhat manyof your readers have felt. And candidly,I was shocked that you published it. However,I have an issue with your headline, “Letters should cater to the viewsofcustomers,” and Iassumeitis the headline you assigned to the article and not what Truby titled his comment. It wasaclever covert way to discredit the comment. Idonot think it was the writer’sintent, and it certainly is not my wish, that you “cater to viewsofyour customers.” That verbiage makes it appear that we want you to compromise your journalistic integrity forfinancial reasons. Rather,I think what Truby is asking foristhat you take agood look at your obvious bias and makeaconscious effort to be fair and balanced, not cater It is clear to me that doing that goes against your ideological beliefsand political objectives, but that brings us back to journalistic integrity,which, in my opinion, your paper could use alot moreof.

Idon’tthink your editorial board can be objective, as it is stacked with liberal ideologues, but at least they should try to be quantifiably fair It’s simple: Useaformula, 50% of the political-ish opinions and commentaries you publish should be liberal leaning and 50% should be conservative-leaning. Discerning the difference is not hard to do.

JOE SPITALE Kenner

The government seemstohave unlimited funds: We have money fora ballroom,money to repaint planes, money forunlimited travel forsome White House staffmembers and their girlfriends. We have no money forSNAP, health care, the homeless, etc. How long are we going to let our government continue in this recklessness? We are living in anightmare. Please, will someone wake us up?

JERMAINE

DUPLESSISLEWIS NewOrleans

Cop-turned-convict reflects on thesystemheonceserved

MANCHESTER, Ky.— Sitting on ahard chair in the low cinderblock visiting room at afederal prison campnestled in the foothills of Appalachia, Chad Scott has lost little of the frenetic energy that drove his law enforcement career formorethan twodecades.

Those signs of stature melted away

Colleagues wouldn’treturn his calls. His nickname,“The White Devil,” which had beengiven in jest by aBlack colleague, took on an ominous tone.

With Scott vulnerable, his enemies, both in law enforcement and the criminal underworld, came hard.

mates sometimes walk outthe front door to go to their prison jobs. On Sunday,while Ivisited with Scott, a handful of inmates did just that while aguard sat behind adesk. Afew hours later,they returned.

Theabsurdity of imprisoning parentsfor theirchildren’s crimes

Faimon Roberts

The former DEA special agent, his once blond hair now almost entirely gray,sits forward in his chair.Hesits back. He crosses his arms. He uncrosses them. He runs his palms along the thighs of hisgreen prison uniform.Hefolds and unfoldshis hands. Scott, 57, has now been in federal custodyfor nearly five years after two juriesfound him guilty on ninecorruption counts. That’sfive years tothink back on what got him there andwhat he’slearned since. Five years to study up close the system he once helped consign so many suspectsto.

“It’sbroken,” he says simply.“The whole thing is broken.”

Scott’swords carryasense of irony. He was, after all, one of New Orleans’ most fearedand respected drug cops for more than adecade. He racked up arrests, seizures and convictions. He bagged ashelf of awards.

So he is perhaps ascratched lens through which to examinethe federal criminal justice system. Buteven a scratched lens can sometimes show things clearly.

In 2016, Scott moved from one sideof the system to the other.Scott became atarget of that system, apariah in the agency he had long served.

Afederal investigation lasted nearly twoyears. He was indicted in 2017. More chargeswereadded monthslater.Three gruelingtrials interrupted by the pandemic eventually led to guilty verdicts on nine counts,including perjury and obstruction of justice. He got a13-year sentence.

Scottwas once viewed as abrave soldierinthe drug war.Then he becamea convict. He’sseen the system in away that few have.

His assessment, delivered this weekend in that visiting room, isn’taresult of some liberal epiphany.There’sa healthydose of self-interest at work. Butthat doesn’tmean he’swrong.

Defendants, even those who might be innocent, face long odds in winning against thefederal machine. Most estimates put the federal conviction rate northof90% once plea deals are factored in. Scott used that when he was an officer; hefaced it as an accused.

“Tell me that’sfair,” Scott says. And even when defendants lose, incarceration isn’tlikely to makethings anybetter.Thereare few opportunities for education or skills-training, even in the low-security camps like where Scottis. Contraband is rampant;anything can be bought;everyone has a hustle. The camps, sometimes called “Club Fed,” have such low security that in-

Beforehewas transferred to Manchester,Scott was at the prison camp in Ashland, Kentucky.One of his jobs there was town driver,ferrying inmates to medical appointments or bus stations for release. Sometimes those tripstook him several hours away from thecamp, unsupervised.

“If Ican be trusted todothat,why am Iinhere?” Scott has asked.

Scott’sbeen trying to get that last question in front of one key person: President Donald Trump. Spurred by therash of pardons and commutations since Trumptook office, Scott was at one time optimistic he might get clemency.His petition madearguments he hoped would resonatewithTrump: that Scott too was the victim of aweaponized Justice Department and that he was adecorated law enforcement officer.Heeven named adog he was training in prison as part of an inmate program “Trump.”

Those efforts have yet to bear fruit. He’swatched as drug kingpins, reality stars and scores of others have walked free while he sits —another sign of the system’s caprice.

Andsofor now,hewaits and sees, clearly,the shortcomings in the system and how it grinds down even those, who, like Scott, were once its truest believers.

Email Faimon A. Roberts III at froberts@theadvocate.com.

Theeffects of JesseJackson’s vision

Having covered the Rev.Jesse Jackson for more than ahalf-century,Ihave an insider’sunderstanding ofwhy thousands of people lined up to waitpatiently in Chicago to pay their final respects to the departed civil rights icon. Jackson knew when and how to defy power,but he also knew howtocajole thepowerful to make room at the table for the excluded.

Clarence Page

Of all the memories Ihave gathered in the past 50 years, one stood out on this solemn occasion:BlackExpo,anannual convention put on by Jackson’sOperation Breadbasket for several years in the late 1960s and early 1970sto showcase Blackbusinesses as well as music,arts and other endeavors. Black Exposwereheld in Chicago until 1976, and other cities put them on as well, including New York, Philadelphia, Washingtonand Atlanta. Butthe one that stands out in my mind was in Chicago in 1971.

My fellow young reportersand Iwere amused to see Mayor Richard J. Daley pictured on the front page of theTribunewithhis hand clasped with Jackson’sinaclassic “grip-and-grin” shot. But with adifference. “Look at their hands,” afriend pointed out. Indeed, this was not atraditional handshake.

As the camera flashed, Jackson had hooked his thumb with Daley’sinto what had been popularized by my generation as a“Black Power” handshake Whether Daley noticed, it didn’tseem to matter.Asapracticed politician, he was not about to let agoodhandshake opportunity go to waste. Nor was Jackson. For anyone familiar with the racial tensions of that era, this was something of abreakthrough. For many of us, it was amodestsign, at least, that the cultural gaps in our racially fractious city might be bridged. Maybe we could all get along.

The reverend was trying, anyway Chicago, you’ll recall, was where only five years earlier,the Rev.Martin Luther King Jr.was struck in the head by arock while marching in aSouth Sideneighborhood. After King’sassassination in 1968, the city went through traumatic rioting, with 11 people killed and parts of the West Side laid waste. The so-called Black Power movement wasonthe rise, spurning the nonviolent ethos of King’smovement, and not only the Black Panthers but also the mostly white Weather Underground were active in Chicago. In 1969,Chicago

policekilledtwo Panthers, including the organization’snational deputy chair, Fred Hampton, in ahighly controversial predawnraid

It wasinthis context that Jackson was offeringanew model for political organizing. Instead of Black power,Jackson promoted“green power” to build Black economic and educational investment for everyone’s benefit

To the reliefofmany,the son of South Carolina was not out to be another revolutionary,but rather was offering reassurancethatlocal people, businesses, churches andcommunities could work togetheracrossracial, classand political lines.It might not sound as impressivenow,but when the fires of the 1960s were still vividinthe public mind, it wasreassuring to hear Jackson’srefrain,“Keep hope alive!”

And that’swhat Jackson did. Black Expo was abig testand, for many,a breakthrough for thehopes that Black Americanscould takethe advances of the civil rights era and build on them. The event glorified Blackentrepreneurs in the way usually associated with athletesand soul music stars. The theme of the five-day September event in the International Amphitheatre was “Save the children,” but,asmany noted, it might as well have been “Invest your dollars.” Jackson’s vision of Black economic powerwas perhaps an update of Booker T. Washington’s, or perhaps asofter version of Elijah Muhammad’s, and the BlackExpo was acommercial success. The thirdannual exposition in

1972 was ahuge financial and publicity success. Jackson managed to blend politics withartistic attractions,major corporate exhibitorsand entertainment luminaries such as theJackson 5, Isaac Hayes, and Big Bird and Roosevelt Franklin of “Sesame Street”—and lots of deal-making intended to build Black capitalism. Perhaps it succeeded toowell. A1990 article in the Chicago Tribune described arevived expo in Chicago thatyear,casually mentioning thatemployerslooking to recruit at the eventincludedthe Illinois StatePolice, H&R Block andthe FBI! Yearswould passbefore Jackson would make aserious bid for theU.S presidency.His run in 1984 and his moreserious candidacy in 1988, some have argued, played acrucialrole in setting the table for Barack Obama’s successatclaiming thehighest office in 2008. It’s no wonder Tribune scribe Mike Royko called him theRev.“Jesse Jetstream.” It’shardtoimagine how Jacksonsummoned the energy Now,heisatrest. And it’s fitting to remember how central Jackson was to broadening our understanding of atruly inclusive society,acountry whereBlack achievement and full participation in the prosperityofAmerica were natural and fitting and worthy of fostering. Jackson has become alegend, and he’s made it possible for so many othersto reach the pinnacle of American success. Email Clarence Page at clarence47page@gmail.com.

The recent guilty verdict in the murder-byproxy trial of afather whose son is accused of killing four people in aschool shooting in Georgia sets adevastating and absurd precedent forimprisoning people foressentially being bad parents. Colin Gray,55, was found guilty in acase involving his son Colt Gray’salleged actions before the latter’sguilt has been determined. Doesthis mean we no longer need to say “allegedly” in discussing the son’scriminal proceeding? Colin Gray’sconviction on two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of involuntary manslaughter followsasimilar case in Michigan. There, the parents of Ethan Crumbley,ateen sentenced to lifeinprison for fatally shooting four students at his high school in 2021, were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and each sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison.

Colin Gray’sjury deliberated forless than twohours before finding him guilty of the killings and other charges related to his failure to heed warning signs that his son wasspiraling toward acatastrophic event. The verdict, and aprosecutor’sassertion that Colin Gray had blood on his hands, can be viewed as awarning to gun-owning parents whofail to notice signs that are all too clear retrospectively.The notion that this precedent would be used only in mass shooting cases involving minors and lousy (or good?) parents isn’tlikely to be observed. For now,the role that parenting plays in criminal behavior is worthy of serious scrutiny Parents are never perfect, and even the worst fathers and mothers often bequeath the world exceptional offspring. Ludwig van Beethoven’s alcoholic father reportedly beat him as achild, forcing him to play the piano during the night.

Colin Gray’sgreatest crime wasgiving his son an AR-style rifle forChristmas the year before the 14-year-old allegedly opened fire on Sept. 4, 2024, at Apalachee High School in Winder,Georgia, injuring nine others as well. The convictions could put Gray behind bars forthe rest of his life. His son, now 16, faces dozens of charges, including felony murder.He has pleaded not guilty Let’sbeclear: Colin Gray and his estranged wife, Marcee Gray,were horrible parents. Given what we know about Colt’schildhood, manypeople would conclude that he never had achance. According to family members, neighbors and other sources, his parents were drug and alcohol addicts whowere abusive, neglectful and sometimes absent. The daughter of one neighbor said that Colt, whowas often filthy,was bullied by other children whotossed dry shampoo at him.Despite repeated reports to social services by concerned neighbors and relatives, the child wasneglected even by the authorities designated to protect him.AWashington Post investigation found that during the roughly three years before the shooting, Colt and his family interacted with Georgia child welfare workers, four school systems, three county sheriffs departments and two local police agencies. Yet, the family includes twoother children, who, as farasweknow,haven’tfantasized about hurting themselves or other people, as Colt allegedly did. Absolutely,Colt’sfather idiotically gave the boy alethal weapon without also providing strict oversight. But if we’re going to hold one parent responsible, whynot both? Marcee Gray washardly amonument to good mothering. At one point, she said she was going to kill Colt, according to his grandmother Colt was haunted formonths and becameparanoid. Though Marcee didn’tbuy the gun used in the shooting, she apparently didn’tstop her husband from giving it to him as agift, either After the couple had split up in 2022, she had urged Colin to secure his guns. She told the Post that Colt had becomeobsessed with school shooters formore than ayear before the shooting. Red flags don’tcome any brighter,yet Colin claims he never saw any.When Colt faces his jury,charged as an adult, his defense will surely include his difficult childhood and his father’sconviction. Colin Gray deserves to be held accountable forsomething, perhaps amisdemeanor or amuch lighter penalty.He was not —I repeat, not —the perpetrator of this shooting. Barring asuccessful appeal in his case, parents —good or bad —may someday face punishment forthe crimes of their children. At atimewhen Americans are being urged to have children to counter the declining birth rate, this case isn’thelpful.

Email Kathleen Parker at kathleenparker@ washpost.com.

Attorneys say fingerprinting appointment can take place

BY JAMES FINN Staff writer

Federal officials have agreed under a court settlement to take a woman in Louisiana immigration detention to a fingerprinting appointment necessary to complete her application for permanent U.S. residency, her attorneys said Monday Department of Homeland Security officials will take Marina Cruz Alanis, who is being held in Louisiana’s Richwood Correctional Immigration and Customs

VOYAGE

Continued from page 1B

beautiful thing getting to watch the river and getting to know it on that level,” said Guidroz, who is the main guide for the annual Vermilion Voyage, a threeday paddle and camping trip that starts at Acadiana Park Nature Station in Lafayette and ends at Palmetto Island State Park south of Abbeville.

The voyage will take place this year from March 2022, and registration is $400, which includes the paddle craft and transport costs, meals and beverages, and entertainment.

“Each voyage is very different,” Guidroz said. “It’s definitely a challenge, but there’s just something about being out on the water for three days — you can check out of everything. Anything waiting on the bank is going to have to wait. It’s just a good time to unplug and immerse yourself in the experience.”

RISHER

Enforcement facility to an office in Mississippi where she will complete the appointment her attorneys said was the final step of her green card application.

The mother of a naturalized U.S. citizen, the 11-year U.S. resident had been barred from attending those appointments at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office throughout her eightmonth detention, her attorneys say The settlement marks a concession from President Donald Trump’s administration about the limits of a new policy guiding its sweeping immigration crackdown. The administration last December disallowed immigrants in its custody from attending biometrics screenings. The

Highlights of the journey include spending the first night at Southside Park in Lafayette, which is part of the Bayou Vermilion District. The second day of paddling ends with dinner and primitive camping at Richard Sale Barn in Abbeville, and Guidroz said the third day is his favorite, when they paddle past a rookery in southern Vermilion Parish where thousands of migratory birds nest in the swamps.

The Vermilion Voyage attracts paddlers from all over, including people with experience paddling the Vermilion River’s ancient creator, the Mississippi. Mississippi Delta paddler Billy Howell, who runs Delta Bohemian tours and has been on several Vermilion Voyages, said both rivers scratch a primal urge to reclaim a connection to the wild, unpredictable elements that surround us.

“I love the Vermilion,” Howell said. “It’s a real treasure, and the voyage is such a well-run weekend. The food is fantastic, the music is fantastic, and there’s just

policy said federal officials would not expend resources to help detainees attend those appointments.

The new rule also sought to “deter the filing of frivolous claims and provide operational consistency” within ICE detention facilities, Homeland Security attorneys said in a December memo

A Homeland Security spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana and the Robert and Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center filed a lawsuit on Alanis’ behalf in January, asked a federal judge to vacate the policy and to order ICE to once again collect biometrics for people in its custody

Fingerprinting and taking photos were the only requirements that “stood in the way between her and the processing of her application for lawful permanent residence,” Alanis’ attorneys said in a statement Monday

Both parties moved to dismiss the case after Homeland Security agreed to transport Alanis to her appointment with court records showing a New Orleans federal judge finalized the deal last Friday

“The administration demands immigrants play by the rules, then quietly eliminates the rules that Congress wrote to protect them from deportation,”

Anthony Enriquez, of the Kennedy Human Rights Center, said in a statement.

“Cutting off access to re-

quired biometric appointments isn’t enforcing immigration law,” he added. “It’s running a crooked game to guarantee the outcome the administration wants.”

A news release from the ACLU said Alanis has no criminal background, has lived in the country since 2015 and has a child that is a U.S. citizen. It did not list the country she immigrated from.

Amid the Trump’s administration ongoing immigration crackdown, administration officials have ordered employees at USCIS, which processes residency applications and has not historically contributed to enforcement, to communicate with ICE and other enforcement agents.

Multiple people in the New Orleans region in-

cluding the wife of an American U.S. Marine veteran and the husband of a U.S. citizen, have reported being detained after arriving to regularly scheduled USCIS appointments. The Homeland Security spokesperson did not respond to a question about whether the settlement in her case could have broader implications for the December policy or the ways the agency handles other similar cases.

Louisiana has played a central role in ICE detention operations amid the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown, with has the secondmost ICE detainees of any state except Texas.

Email James Finn at jfinn@theadvocate.com.

March 20-22.

enough fellowship, but you can also paddle by yourself.

“So often, in modernity, we don’t take the time for reflection. Without reflection, whether educationally, vocationally or domestically, it’s hard to get better at what

we do. When I’m on the water, I’m just alone with God and myself and nature, and it’s where my mind gets renewed.”

Participants can register for the Vermilion Voyage at the Lafayette Travel web-

site, which offers extensive information on the route and daily itinerary and a thorough packing list for the trip. The Vermilion Voyage is a Class I paddle trip, which assumes the paddler is familiar with basic

Jan Risher joined Jennifer May,

Lafayette to search for

leaves can fake you out. Within about 15 minutes, she had eight. Then I found one on my own and felt like yelling, “Look, Ma, no hands!” Within 20 minutes, she had found so many that I lost count. A thought crossed my mind — should we be picking all of these? Should we leave some for someone else to find? Then the irony hit. Here we were, carefully and deliberately picking clovers — a plant that most people consider a weed. Yet the moment a clover has four leaves instead of three, we treated it like a treasure. By the time we finished, I had five four-leaf clovers carefully tucked in my hand. May told me that if I put them in water, they would stay green and alive for weeks. She wasn’t joking. In a jar on my desk, four of the five stayed bright and perky until I pressed them last week. Every time I looked at them, I smiled. I learned the scientific names for white and red clover are Trifolium repens and Trifolium pratense. In Latin, “tri” means three and “folium” means leaves. Scientists estimate that about one in 10,000 clovers has four leaves.

BLOTTER

Continued from page 1B

Richard was booked into the St. Landry Parish jail.

Man accused of having child porn

Continued from page 1B LOTTERY SUNDAY, MARCH

A Eunice man has been arrested on accusations of possessing child sexual abuse materials and sexual abuse of an animal.

Jed M Courville, 59, of Eunice, was arrested March 5 by agents with the Louisi-

Irish legend says the four leaves represent hope, faith, love and luck.

Since that afternoon at Moncus Park, I’ve looked for four-leaf clovers — twice on my own and once with another friend. So far I haven’t found another one. But now, I believe and see clovers differently I’m not just looking for leaves anymore. I’m looking for patterns.

Email Jan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate.com.

ana Bureau of Investigation under the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, according to a news release from that agency

Courville was booked on 275 counts of possession of child sex abuse materials of children under the age of 13 and 115 counts of sexual abuse of an animal, the release states All counts are felonies.

Courville was booked into the St. Landry Parish jail.

The investigation began with a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Other agencies that

To find four-leaf clovers, look for a square pattern that the marks make rather than looking for individual clovers.

worked on the investigation include Homeland Security, the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Eunice Police Department.

The investigation is ongoing, officials said

SPORTS

ANEW ERA

Saints’big dayinfreeagencyoutlinesa clearpath

BY MATTHEWPARAS Staff writer

For ateam that never wanted to rebuild, the New Orleans Saints seem to have embraced it

Think back to lastoffseason. The plan to run it back with Derek Carr instantly shifted when the quarterback first suffered amysteriousshoulderinjury and then retired. Everythingsince then has caused the Saints to “recalibrate,” general manager Mickey Loomis acknowledged after this past season.

That recalibration—not to be confused with arebuild, wink wink —unfolded in stages. The rookie quarterback. The pushtoget younger.The growing pains under afirst-year coach, followed by genuine momentum near the end of the season.

“It just changesyour course alittle bit,” Loomis said in January.“That’s the best way to describe it.”

Butthe Saints’ change of course looks to have been thebest thing for them. Andittookanother significant turn Monday when NFLfreeagency

effectivelybegan

Simultaneously,the Saints weremajor players while further pivoting away from their previous era.

They spentbig to beef up the supporting castaround quarterback Tyler Shough, agreeing to terms with former Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne (four years, $52 million), former Buffalo Bills guard DavidEdwards (four years,$61 million) and tightend Noah Fant (two years on adeal yet to be disclosed)

They made the hardbut disciplined choices to saygoodbye to linebacker Demario Davis and cornerback Alontae Taylor.Davis struck atwo-year,$22 million deal with theNew York Jets. Taylor earned awhopping three-year,$60 million contract from the Tennessee Titans. NewOrleans even signed apunter, making former Minnesota Vikings and Tulane Green Wave standout Ryan Wright (fouryears, $14 million) one of thehighest-paid players at his position. Fromthe moment thatShough showed enough promise that he was worth buildingaround lastseason, these were the

Davisleaves void beyond on-field production

Monday marked the end of an era in New Orleans.

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

ä UTRGV at UL, 6P.M.TUESDAy

for the UL baseball team to catch abreather before opening Sun Belt Conference play on Fridayat home against Sou th Al abama. The Ragin’ Cajuns first must play Texas-Rio Grande Valley at 6p.m. Tuesday,then meet McNeese State at 3p.m. Wednesday

“It’sdifficult,” UL coach Matt Deggs said of the five-game week “just because of our pitchinggap. I’ve said it abunch: We’ve got some really talented arms, but we just don’thave aton of them

“So Ihave to make amove or two from time to time that might not seem overly logical. At the same time, I’ve got to try to plan for the week.” The Vaqueros visited Lafayette last season and took it to the Cajunswith three runs in thefirst,

Soon, we should know what MattMcMahon’sfuture as the LSUmen’sbasketball coach will be. If he has one. The Tigers are off to Nashville, Tennessee, for theSEC Tournament, wherethey’ll play Kentucky on Wednesday in thevery first game. No sense in puttingoff the inevitable. Barring awaterinto-wine-type of run to thetournamenttitle, LSU will finish afourth straight season under McMahon without an NCAA Tournament appearance, leaving athletic director Verge Ausberry witha weighty decision to make: Keep McMahon, in hopes of a significant turnaround in Year Five. Or fire him Ausberry already has one major hire under his belt —new football coach Lane Kiffin. That was an easy one, if

ä LSU vs. Kentucky, 11:30 A.M.WEDNESDAy,SECN

Jeff Duncan

Demario Davis’ eight-year career with the New Orleans Saints cameto an end when he agreed to terms on a two-year,$22 millioncontract to join the New York Jets. In New York, Davis will reunite with Aaron Glenn, the Jets head coach who served as aSaints defensive assistant during Davis’ early tenure here. Davis leaves as one of the most respected, productive and decorated players in Saints history Few noticed when the unheralded linebacker from Brandon, Mississippi, signed with the Saints during free agency in 2018. Eight years, two Pro Bowls and an All-Pro honor later,newsofDavis’ departure resonated across New Orleans. When ESPN announced the agreement just past noon Monday, several fans crowded around the TV set at a local gym. One rubbed her eyes in acrying gesture. Their emotional reaction spoke to Davis’ effect on the city Davis led the Saints in tackles in each of his eight seasons, including last year when he recorded acareer-high 143 stops, afigure that ranked 10th in the NFL.

Davis wasn’tjust productive. He was uncommonly durable, arock of reliability in the middle of the defense. He missedjust one game because of an injury in eight years. He was voted ateam captain by his peers and called the defensive signals throughout his tenure. Davis departure, however,was far from asurprise. The veteran linebacker hinted that his days in New Orleans could be numbered during media appearances after the season. And while Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said he wanted Davis back in 2026, it was apparent that it would comeat the team’sasking price, not the other way around.

“New Orleans is home for me,” Davis said at Super Bowl LX last month. “… But the business has to play how the business plays out.”

The Saints prepared for Davis’ eventual departure by selecting Danny Stutsman in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. The former Oklahoma standout showed flashes of potential during his limited playing time last season. He was groomed to become the defensive signal-caller during training

6

UCLA gets votes, ends UConn run

BY DOUG FEINBERG Associated Press

No. 2 UCLA picked up firstplace votes from top-ranked UConn in The Associated Press women’s basketball Top 25 on Monday and Texas jumped South Carolina to move up to No. 3 after winning their head-to-head showdown in the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game.

The Bruins picked up three first-place votes after their 51-point win over then-No. 9 Iowa in the Big Ten title game Sunday UConn had been a unanimous No. 1 from the national media panel for the past eight weeks. The undefeated Huskies received the other 28 first-place votes. UConn and UCLA are expected to be the top two teams when the women’s NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed Sunday night. While the Bruins are done until then, the Huskies faced Villanova for the Big East tournament title Monday night.

LSU moved up to No. 5, swapping spots with Vanderbilt. Despite its loss to UCLA, Iowa moved up to seventh. Duke jumped five places to eighth after winning the Atlantic Coast Conference championship, beating then-No. 12 Louisville in overtime.

Michigan was ninth and Oklahoma was 10th.

In and out

Buoyed by reaching the ACC Tournament semifinals, Notre Dame re-entered the Top 25, coming in at No. 22. Notre Dame replaced Fairfield, which had entered the poll last week and advanced to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game Monday Conference supremacy

The SEC has the most teams in the Top 25 with eight The Big Ten is next with seven. The Big 12 and ACC each have four. The Ivy League and Big East each have one.

UCLA guard Charlisse Leger-Walker,

the

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JESSICA

UConn guard Allie Ziebell goes up for a basket between Creighton guards Norah Gessert, left, and Ava Zediker during their semifinal game in the Big East Tournament on Sunday in Uncasville, Conn.

Games of the week Besides UConn, Princeton is the only other Top 25 team playing this week. The Tigers will

face Brown in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals on Friday night. If they win, they will play ei-

ther Harvard or Columbia on Saturday The Lions handed the Tigers two of their three losses this season.

Saints add compensatory fourth-round draft pick

The NFL released official confirmation of which teams would receive compensatory picks in next month’s NFL draft, and the New Orleans Saints are on the list.

As expected, the Saints will add a fourth-round pick, No. 136 overall, as compensation for losing cornerback Paulson Adebo to the New York Giants in free agency a year ago.

Adebo signed a three-year, $54 million contract with the Giants. Compensatory picks are awarded at the end of Rounds 3-7 based on a formula that measures the value of free agents lost the previous season compared to those brought in.

The NFL awarded 33 compensatory picks in this year’s draft, led by the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers all with the maximum of four picks.

NBA cancels Hawks’ plans to celebrate famed club

The NBA has called off the Atlanta Hawks’ plans for a night celebrating the city’s famed Magic City adult entertainment club, saying it did so because of “concerns” from many across the league. Atlanta announced the plan last month, saying the team would pay tribute to an “iconic cultural institution” with food — including the club’s famous lemon pepper wings — along with music and exclusive merchandise.

Luke Kornet of the San Antonio Spurs spoke out about the idea and urged the parties involved to reconsider And the league evidently heard the same messaging from others.

The tribute game had been scheduled for next Tuesday against Orlando.

MLS bans 2 players for life for gambling on games

Two players were banned for life Monday by Major League Soccer for gambling on soccer, including bets involving their own matches. Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah were both placed on administrative leave in October pending a review of potential violations of league rules.

MLS said the investigation concluded the players “engaged in extensive gambling on soccer, including on their own teams, during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.” The league cited one instance where the players bet on Jones to receive a yellow card in a 2024 match, which he did. Both players were with the Columbus Crew at the time.

MLS was alerted to suspicious betting through its integrity partners.

‘Rock star’ Paralympian wins silver for late brother

BY DAVE SKRETTA Associated Press

Duke was chosen No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for a record 150th time on Monday

The Blue Devils received 56 of 61 first-place votes from a national media panel after wins over rivals NC State and North Carolina, leaving them in the top spot for the third consecutive week. Arizona stayed second and received four first-place votes while Michigan received the other No. 1 ballot after its impressive win over No. 8 Michigan State.

“We’ve put ourselves in a position to do something special and make a run,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said.

The Blue Devils reached No 1 in the AP poll for the first time on Dec. 13, 1965, and they’ve spent more time there than any other men’s basketball program UCLA is second with 134 weeks on top while Kentucky is third (125). Now Scheyer’s crew heads into the ACC Tournament as the No. 1 seed, but potentially without two of their starters. Patrick Ngongba and Caleb Foster both were wearing boots in the second half of Duke’s win over the Tar Heels on Saturday “I’d be shocked if both of them are playing (in the conference tournament),” Scheyer said.

“Our plan is how can we get as healthy as possible and ready as possible for two weeks from now wherever we go (into the NCAA

Tournament)?” Reigning national champion

Florida climbed to fourth in this week’s AP poll, the highest the Gators have been since they were preseason No. 3. Houston moved up to fifth after finishing second to Arizona in the regularseason Big 12 race. UConn dropped from fourth to sixth after the Huskies were upset by Marquette in their regular-season Big East finale. Conference tournaments Arizona, Houston, No. 14 Kansas and Texas Tech are the top four seeds in the Big 12 and earned double-byes into the quarterfinals on Thursday Duke, No. 10 Virginia, Miami and No 19 North Carolina are the top four in the ACC and

likewise begin play Thursday, as will the top four seeds in the Big East: St. John’s, UConn, Villanova and Seton Hall. Michigan, No. 11 Nebraska, Michigan State and No. 9 Illinois are the top four seeds in the Big Ten and will play their quarterfinal games on Friday So will Florida, No. 15 Alabama, No. 17 Arkansas and No. 22 Vanderbilt, the top four seeds in the SEC Tournament. No. 12 Gonzaga played Oregon State in the West Coast semifinals on Monday night, while No. 21 Saint Mary’s played Santa Clara in the other semifinal. The winners will meet for the conference championship Tuesday night. No. 20 Miami (Ohio) is the top seed in the MAC tourney The

RedHawks play UMass in the quarterfinals on Thursday NET rankings

The rankings used by the NCAA to help seed its tournament varied slightly from the AP poll. The NET had Michigan instead of Arizona at No. 2 behind the Blue Devils, while BYU and Iowa — unranked in the media poll rounded out its version of the Top 25. Conference

The

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy Patrick Halgren, the self-proclaimed “rock star” of the Milan Cortina Paralympics, said he could feel the presence of his late twin brother in his silver medal-winning Para alpine ski run on Monday

“He made this happen for real. He is the ski god and he has blessed me with speed today,” Halgren said of his brother Lucas Sven Halgren.

Lucas Sven died in a motorcycle accident in New Zealand in 2016, three years after Patrick nearly died and lost most of his left leg in another motorcycle accident. Patrick has been plastering blue-and-yellow stickers that read “SvendIt” around Cortina d’Ampezzo, a play on “send-it,” which is Patrick’s mantra on life.

FIFA official: World Cup ‘too big’ to be postponed

DALLAS FIFA’s World Cup chief operating officer says the tournament is “too big” to be postponed because of global turmoil caused by the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. Speaking Monday, Heimo Schirgi said FIFA continues to closely monitor the war and its fallout.

“If had a crystal ball I could tell you now what is going to happen, but obviously the situation is developing, Schirgi said. “It’s changing day by day and we are monitoring closely The World Cup is too big and we hope that everyone can participate that has qualified.” The tournament, expanded from 32 nations to 48, is scheduled for 11 U.S. venues plus three in Mexico and two in Canada.

Walker, Willis,

BY SCHUYLER DIXON AP pro football writer

Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker is the new running back for Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City; Miami settled on Malik Willis for a reset at quarterback; and receiver Mike Evans is headed to San Francisco after 12 years in Tampa Bay

People with knowledge of the agreements told The Associated Press on Monday, the opening day of NFL free agency, that Walker was leaving Seattle after winning a championship, and the Dolphins reached a deal with Willis after announcing earlier in the day that they were releasing Tua Tagovailoa The negotiating window opened with a flurry of significant deals, including the Indianapolis Colts keeping

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C

logical next steps for the Saints.

They took them Monday full steam ahead.

“Any offense is going to be steered by the quarterback position,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said last month at the NFL scouting combine.

“Once that narrows its focus, it allows me to be a lot more specific as to what you want to do. That’ll be a full offseason journey.”

Moore now can focus on revamping the running game to help Shough, something that’s badly needed after New Orleans ranked last in yards per carry and ex-

DUNCAN

Continued from page 1C

camp. Stutsman will have big shoes to fill in trying to fill the leadership void created by Davis’ absence Davis was the unquestioned leader of the locker room and one of the organization’s ambassadors in the community. Through this Devoted Dreamers Foun-

RABALAIS

Continued from page 1C

Kelly was ousted in late October But all that spending was for football. How much money, and appetite, would be left for a similar change in men’s basketball?

On the face of it, McMahon should have as much chance of returning as an LSU fan would have of walking from Bridgestone Arena to the Cumberland River down Nashville’s Broadway without hearing country music. He is 60-69 in four years with a lonely one-and-done NIT appearance. Even worse, he’s 17-55 in SEC regular-season play, with a 9-9 mark coming during the NIT season of 202324. That means McMahon’s other three teams are 8-46 combined in SEC play While that’s an abysmal record, it’s also true McMahon has been dealt blows throughout his LSU tenure. When the school fired Will Wade in the wake of the FBI wiretapping scandal the roster completely emptied out, forcing McMahon into a total overhaul. He’s also dealt with key injuries, like this year to point guard Dedan Thomas and forward Jalen Reed. There’s no way to know, but it’s at least plausible that LSU would have at least been an NCAA Tournament contender if both had been healthy But back to the real crux of the McMahon case: money As my late father said, it always comes down to money McMahon’s buyout would run LSU about $8 million, plus the staff. Then to hire a new coach, it likely would have to pay a multimillion buyout to get him out of his current contract Then of

their top free agent in receiver Alex Pierce.

Edge rusher Jaelan Phillips and the Carolina Panthers agreed on a four-year $120 million contract with $80 million guaranteed. Philadelphia was hoping to retain Phillips after sending a third-round pick to Miami for him at the trade deadline last season. Phillips had five sacks combined for the Dolphins and Eagles. The Dallas Cowboys added edge rusher Rashan Gary in a trade with Green Bay for a 2027 fourth-round pick The Packers acquired star Micah Parsons from the Cowboys a week before the season started last year Gary was the 12th overall pick in the draft in 2019, two years before Dallas drafted Parsons in the same spot. Walker and the Chiefs agreed to a three-year deal

plosive run rate last season. The coach acknowledged that improving it would be a priority in Year 2, and the Saints’ two big additions should help.

In Etienne, who returns to his native Louisiana, the Saints landed a productive rusher who has run for more than 1,000 yards in three of his four seasons. In Edwards, the Saints get an accomplished veteran who provides stability at a spot that has been a rotating door recently

The Saints’ other additions also figure to guide Shough. Fant is coming off of a quiet season with the Cincinnati Bengals, but the seven-year veteran gives the Saints a notable red-zone target and the option to deploy two

dation, he devoted countless hours to improving education and leadership for local children. There’s a reason the Saints nominated him three times for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award and took Davis and his wife, Tamela, with them to France last summer to promote the team.

“Rare-air type leadership,” longtime defensive end Cam Jordan posted about Davis on social

are both free agents.

The Dolphins reached an agreement with Willis a few hours after dumping Tagovailoa, who later agreed to a one-year deal with Atlanta, and incurring a record $99 million hit on their salary cap. Miami made another move by agreeing to trade safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to the New York Jets for a seventh-round pick.

The 49ers added a proven pass catcher in Evans, 32, for quarterback Brock Purdy agreeing to a three-year contract with a player who had 1,000 yards receiving in each of his first 11 seasons before injuries limited Evans to eight games in 2025.

worth up to $45 million, with $28.7 million guaranteed The 25-year-old fills perhaps the biggest need as the

pass-catching tight ends alongside Juwan Johnson. Wright should give the defense better field position. Heck, even re-signing defensive tackle John Ridgeway (two years, $6.2 million) doesn’t hurt.

Notably, the Saints were willing to spend to address their biggest needs.

Etienne’s reported annual average value of $13 million would make him the league’s seventh-highest paid runner, and it was the second-largest deal for a running back to start free agency behind only the Chiefs’ three-year, $45 million deal with Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker Edwards, at $15.25 million per year also didn’t come cheap.

The signings also don’t

media on the eve of free agency Sunday It was notable that when Drew Brees retired in 2020, he handed Davis the duties of leading the Saints during their pregame breakdown chant. It was a symbolic position — but an important one. Since Brees assumed the duties from Reggie Bush and Joe Horn in 2007, he and Davis have been the only players to lead the team in the pregame

SEC TOURNAMENT GLANCE

At Bridgestone Arena Nashville, Tenn.

Round Wednesday Kentucky vs. LSU, 11:30 a.m. Auburn vs. Mississippi St., 2 p.m. Texas vs. Ole Miss, 6 p.m. Oklahoma vs. South Carolina, 8:30 p.m. Second Round Thursday, March 12 Missouri vs. Kentucky-LSU-winner, 11:30 a.m. Tennessee vs. Auburn-Mississippi St.-winner,

course these days, like it or not, you need millions more to build a roster Let’s say that’s all about a $20 million to $25 million investment. Does LSU have the means to spend that? A smaller fortune than the expenditures on football, sure, but a fortune nonetheless. And what if McMahon is retained? The crowds for men’s games in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for much of this season have been decidedly uncrowded There have been games when I’ve been tempted to start counting the fans in the PMAC, feeling there would be a decent chance to compile a reasonable estimate by the final horn. The program makes money despite all of the losses because of SEC and NCAA TV contracts, but apathy has led fans to turn their backs on the Tigers by the thousands. You have to believe many of them won’t be back until a coaching change is made. McMahon said recently he understands the expectations of the LSU job and that he shares the “disappointment and frustration” of another fruitless basketball season.

“With that said, I absolutely love LSU. I love our core group that returns next year,” McMahon said,

2:30 p.m. Alabama vs. TBD, 6 p.m. Arkansas vs. TBD, 8:30 p.m. Semifinals Saturday, March 14 TBD vs. TBD, noon TBD vs. TBD, 2:30 p.m. Championship Sunday, March

before adding “I’ll respect whatever decisions they (the LSU administration) make moving forward.”

A decision in a vacuum, or without the recent football spending spree being part of the equation, probably would spell McMahon’s doom. But the decision is a complicated one.

Still, it’s a decision that’s coming. Ausberry told The Advocate in mid-January that he would evaluate the men’s basketball program at season’s end. That end is rapidly approaching.

“We’re all grown-ups here,” Ausberry said back then. “Matt’s a grown-up. He understands how the business works. He understands that LSU basketball has to be successful.”

LSU basketball has been the anthesis of successful under McMahon. He deserves some blame. He’s also somewhat a victim of circumstances.

You can make the argument for Ausberry to cut McMahon loose. It’s also easy to imagine LSU kicking the basketball down the road for at least another season. One way or another, we will know soon.

Email Scott Rabalais at srabalais@theadvocate. com.

Chiefs try to bounce back from a 6-11 season. Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco, their top two running backs,

appear to be an overpay, let alone be crippling toward the team’s future. That disciplined financial approach was even more evident in whom the Saints let walk. Start with Taylor The Titans paid him as an outside cornerback, because they view him as an outside cornerback. The Saints didn’t. New Orleans wasn’t going to pay $20 million per year for Taylor to be its slot cornerback, even though his departure creates a notable hole.

Likewise, $11 million per year for a 37-year-old linebacker likely was too great a cost for the Saints. From an on- and off-field perspective, losing Davis hurts. He became a franchise staple during his eight years in

huddle.

As the defensive captain and respected conscience of the locker room, Davis was the natural successor to Brees. There is no ob-

The Colts keeping Pierce on a $116 million, four-year deal coincided with them sending Michael Pittman to

New Orleans, emerging as one of the league’s best linebackers in that span. He was an instrumental leader for New Orleans, both as a player and as a person.

But changing your franchise’s course, as the Saints have, requires tough decisions. And they’ve gotten noticeably younger, as Davis’ departure creates an opportunity for 22-year-old Danny Stutsman to seize.

Or if the Saints don’t feel the 2025 fourth-rounder is ready for that role, perhaps they bring in a veteran or draft a rookie to compete.

Taylor’s agreement with the Titans allows him to play in the state where he grew up. Davis returning to the Jets for a third stint

Pittsburgh for a late-round draft pick Pittman spent his first six seasons with Indianapolis. Former Giants and LSU player, cornerback Cor’Dale Flott, is headed to the Titans. Cleveland added guard Zion Johnson, a 2022 firstround pick who spent his first four seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers. The Browns are looking at an overhaul in the offense, with several starters in free agency Looking to bounce back from a 5-12 season, Washington spent big money in free agency to sign edge rusher Odafe Oweh, while also bringing back starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Oweh’s contract is worth $100 million over four years, with $68 million guaranteed.

gives him the chance to end his career where it began. They appeared to get what they wanted. For the Saints, the question is how many more goodbyes are left? Cam Jordan and Taysom Hill were among the 17 Saints to hit the market when the league’s negotiating window opened at 11 a.m. Monday Running back Alvin Kamara’s future also is up in the air after a recent contract restructure and Etienne’s signing. The Saints are transitioning from one era to the next. Monday showed the latest cost.

Email Matthew Paras at matt.paras@theadvocate. com

vious choice on the roster to handle the duties in Davis’ absence. The Saints will find someone to step into the role. Hopefully, they allow Davis to select his successor the way Brees did with him. It won’t be Davis’ words, though, that will be difficult to replace. It will be his actions.

Save those shrubs

Boxwood diseases prevalentinLa. must be handled differently

Boxwoods are among the most common evergreen shrubs you’ll find in Louisiana landscapes, and that’s because these plants were once considered foolproof Sadly,inrecent years,many boxwoods have fallen victim to disease problems

GARDEN NEWS

Youmay have heard of boxwood blight (Calonectria pseudonaviculata).While this disease is certainly troublesome for boxwoods, it has yet to be detectedin Louisiana. Sometimes when people here refer to boxwood blight, they actually aretalking about a couple of other diseases that are more prevalent in the state: boxwood dieback (Colletotrichum theobromicola) and Phytophthora crown and root rot (Phytophthora spp.)

Boxwood dieback and Phytophthora can cause nearly identical symptoms: browning and death of foliage and, eventually,entire plants

“In order to distinguish between the two diseases, it’s alwaysgoodtoget this tested because the management for these two diseases is totally different,” said Raj Singh, aplant doctorwho oversees the LSU AgCenter Plant Diagnostic Center Sending asample to the center is the best way to find out whether your plants have boxwood dieback, Phytophthora crown and root rot or another disease. But you can try asimple at-home test, too: Scrape the bark off an affected boxwood stem using aknife or pruners, and if you see black discoloration, odds are that boxwood dieback is present.

Boxwood dieback is afungal disease; Phytophthorais not. Fortunately,Phytophthora can be treated with fungicides, meaning boxwoods surrounding those infected with this disease stand adecent chance of not becoming infected.

“Fungicides do not cure the infection, but they inhibit the pathogen growth and stop it from spreading if done properly,” Singh said. The outlook is much less rosy if you find yourself dealing with boxwood dieback.

There is no cure for boxwood dieback, which spreads easily withpruning. Some home gardeners and

ä See SHRUBS, page 6C

&KILTS KISSES

St.Patrick’s paraders enjoymakingspecial connections

BY JUDY BERGERON Staff writer

ComeSaturday morning, 50-80 men, some Irish, some not, will dontheirtartans,tuxedos andties and head for the Catholic Life Center in Baton Rouge.

THE WEARIN’ OF THE GREEN

Baton Rouge’s annual St.Patrick’s Dayparaderolls at 11 a.m.Saturday. Map, 2D

The center’sparking lot is thegathering spot for the Wearin’ of the Green paraders, and members of Kilts& Kisses have counted themselves amongthat numbersince2009.

The idea for the“almostIrish” marchers, however, was almost 30 years in the making. Nearlythree decades ago,a clusterof LSUengineering students followed their professor,Marty Tittlebaum, down to

BYMADDIE

SCOTT Staff writer

Middendorf’s SeafoodRestaurantis bringing its signature thin-friedcatfish to downtown Baton Rouge.

Middendorf’s owner and chef Horst Pfeifer will bring atwo-week pop-up insidePassé,a French restaurant located inside the Origin Hotel at 101 St. Ferdinand St., according to anews release.

Pop-up daysare 11 a.m. to 7p.m. March 17-20 and March 24-27. The pop-up’slimitedmenu will serve lunch, dinner andcertain dishes, including its signature thin-fried catfish. It’ll be afull kitchen takeover,soPassé will be serving breakfast only 7a.m. to 10:30 a.m.onpop-up days

Middendorf’s was foundedin1934 by atraveling salesman and hiswife, Louis and JosieMiddendorf. After the market crash in 1929, the couple and

Lance LaPlace, center,leads his fellowmembers of Kilts &Kisses along TerraceAvenue during the startofthe 2025 Wearin’ of the Green.

New Orleansfor the Irish Channel Parade.

“Wejusthad ablast,” recalled Lance LaPlace, the then-future president of Kilts &Kisses. “You got 1,500 guys and you’re going around and actually walking up to

their son moved to asmall fishing village in Manchac. There, they opened acafe and received a$500 loan co-signed by former New Orleans Mayor T. Semmes Walmsley.AsJosie Middendorf cooked and crafted all of the recipes, her husband manned the frontand tended the bar The duo ran thespot until adifferent owner took the reins in 1967.

The ownership would change acouple moretimes and found itsway back into the Middendorf family for 40 years, whenJosieand Louis Middendorf’s son, Richard, took over in 1967, eventually handing it to his daughter Susie.

The business was bought in 2007 by thecurrent owners,another husband and wife duo, Horst and Karen Pfeifer, who owned the French Quarter’sBella Luna until Hurricane Katrina. Middendorf’s currently hastwo locations, one in Manchac and anotherin Slidell.

people and handing them beads.” Tittlebaum’sstudents hadsuch agood time they joined the Irish St. Patrick’s DayClub.

ä See KILTS, page 6C

Underappreciated resident assistantwants to quit

Harriette Cole SENSE AND SENSITIVITy

DEAR HARRIETTE: Iamaresident assistant in my last year of college. During my time in myuniversity’sresidentiallife department, Ihaveseen many changes that have negatively impacted their residential staff and made it harder for us to form genuine connectionswith our residents. Our opinionsare often overlooked as inexperienced even though we arethe closest to the resident students.Over the course of ayear,I’ve had several run-ins with my supervisors that have ended in heated exchanges. Since this is my lastyear in col-

lege, Iwould prefer to step away from this position andenjoy the time Ihaveleft; however,many peopleare advising me against that. The benefits that comewith being an R.A. arefinancially helpful, but Idonot think Ideserve to endure workplace mistreatment for any dollar amount. Should Iresigntoprotect my peace of mindorpush throughfor the monetary benefit? —Help the R.A.

DEAR HELP THE R.A.: Irecommend that youstay, primarily so that youcan practice dealing with difficultpeople. In the working world, this happens more than you will want to be true. The best thing you can doislearn how to stand up for yourself, how to remain silent, how to do thebest you caninahostile situation and

so forth. Do your best to keep acool head. Think about the students for whom you are responsible. How can you stand up for them and be heard? Perhaps writing up weekly reportsthat point out concerns and include recommendations for improvement?When dealing withsupervisors, stay calm —even when they aren’t. Stick to your points, and if there is asenior supervisor,reportto that person when you are at an impasse.

DEAR HARRIETTE: Afriend of mine dresses inappropriately in front of my husband. Honestly,Iam not bothered by her clothing; it’s moreofatime-and-place sort of thing.Inthe past,mygirlfriends and Ihave all worn skirtsthat

are abit too short or tops that are moresheer than expected. Ijust thought that, as we got older and moreofour friend group found ourselves in serious relationships, theattirewould mature on its own.

Idon’twant to dictate what anyone wears, but there is a particular friend whostill wears revealing clothing in intimate settings with my husband and other friends’ long-term partners. Imean, she comes over to my house to catch up fordinner and a movie, and she’sinalow-cut, tight top with no bra and aminiskirt. If we were headed to the club, I’d have no grievances, but you don’t show up to aman’shouse that way unless you’re dating him.I realize how old-school Isound, but

it’sbeen bothering me. How can Italk to my girlfriend about this without trying to limit her completely? —What To Wear DEAR WHATTOWEAR: Just be direct. Youcan lace it with humor.“Girl, please stop wearing club clothes to my house!” In private, just ask her to dress moremodestly when she comes to your house. Youcan admit that you are old-school, but you find her provocative attire unsettling in an intimate homesetting. Get ready forbacklash, but it is OK foryou to makerequests in your home.

Send questions to askharriette@ harriettecole.com or c/o AndrewsMcMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

They were members for 10 years, LaPlace said,but then decided they wanted to do something different. Back in Baton Rouge, LaPlacereached out to Wearin’ of the Green founder Pat Shingleton with his “crazy idea.” Shingleton loved it He connected with cofounder Maury Chatellier, who had the idea to name the group “The Baton Rouge Almost Irish.”

“And Isaid, ‘You know, Maury,that’satypical engineering idea,’”LaPlace said. “’You got along deal that nobody’sgonna remember.’ He says, ‘OK, smartaleck, what do you wannacall it?’ And it just popped out, Kilts &Kisses.”

With just eight original members,their marching days began Although the majorityof Kilts &Kisses’ ancestors didn’thail from The Emerald Isle, they do want to look the part and respect that heritage.

“There’satartan (specific plaid pattern) that you can wear if you’re not Irish, and it’scalled the All Irish. It’sa pretty green, and most of us have it. And then you have to wear tails, and you have to wear atux(edo) shirt. And we provide agreen cummerbund and agreenbow tie when you join,” he said. “We try to make it look proper.” LaPlace pointed out that around 20 of the members are full Irish and dress in kilts designedwiththe tartan representing their ancestors’ county in Ireland. Still other members opt for afull tuxedo rather thanthe wrap-around knee-length kilt which resembles askirt Once they’ve paid their $200 dues, members also receive amedallion, with anew design each year,to wear on their chests on parade day.Smaller doubloons designed similar to the medallions are given out along the route. Both the medallions and doubloons are madelocally by Crown Trophy.The kilts are typicallyordered from Sport Kilt in California. Kilts &Kisses march at the head of the Wearin’ of

TODAYINHISTORY

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday,March 10,the 69thday of 2026

There are 296 days left in the year

Todayinhistory: On March 10,1959,thousands of Tibetans rebelled against occupying Chinese forces, surrounding the Dalai Lama’spalace to protect him frompotential harm. Fierce fighting between Tibetans and Chinese forces ensued, causing the Dalai Lama to flee Tibet for India, where he remains in exile today

Also on this date:

In 1496, ChristopherColumbus concluded his secondvisit to the Western Hemisphere as he leftHispaniola forSpain.

Tennessee, to assassinating civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.(Ray later repudiated that plea, maintaining his innocence until his death.)

In 1993, Dr.David Gunn waskilledoutside the Pensacola Women’sMedical Services clinic by antiabortionactivist Michael Griffin; it was the first killing attributed to adoctor’s role in providing abortion care. In 2019, aBoeing 737 Max 8operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed shortly after takeoff fromthe Ethiopiancapital of Addis Ababa, killing all157 people on board.

theGreen Parade,leading the procession through the Hundred Oaks neighborhood, South Eugene Street, Terrace Avenue and on to Perkins Road. Along the route, the sharpdressed men pausetohand ladies thetraditional carnations, roses, beadsordoubloons, along with akiss on the cheek. And yes, at some point,the club doesdoa jig. “I likewhat we do differently from everybodyelse. We actually getone-on-one withthe folks,” LaPlace said. “So when you walk up to anice lady,you give them acarnation.That means alot. Youthrow abead to somebody,don’tget me wrong,there’salot of funin that,but youdon’t getthat connection as well.” That same connection happens whenbendingdown to hand astuffed animal or other toy to asmall child,he

In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln promoted Maj. Gen.Ulysses S. Grant to lieutenant general and the command of the Union army in the Civil War.

added.

“Andthat’swhatI think Ienjoy most about it are thosemoments, those touchingmoments,”LaPlace said. “And we have agreat photographer that, alot of times, he will capture those moments for us.”

As farastheir dance, the men recruited aformer Saintsations(nowSaints Cheer Krewe) member to help choreograph aroutinethatLaPlace described like this:

“It starts off with kind of alittle Irish jig. And it’s kind of fun. Andthen it gets into Hammer time (a catchphrase originated by rapper MC Hammer) and Michael Jackson music. Yougot guys in your 60s, 70s, 20s and 30s all dancing and having a good time.The people love that. I’m getting fired up thinking aboutit. It’sa really fun time.”

The other 364 days of the

year,Kilts &Kisses pursues itscharitable side, hosting golf tournaments and other fundraisingevents to support causes like St. Jude Children’sResearch Hospital. Members also try to fit in social gatherings like bourbon tastings, cigar outings and crawfish boils.

Always up for more fun, Kilts &Kisses traditionally has afinal run-through of its parade-daydanceaweekbefore showtime, theevening opening withapub crawl from Parrain’sSeafood Restaurant to Ivar’sSports Bar &Grill on Perkins Road. The businesses each make aspecial drink for theclub.

TheFridayMassatOur Lady of Mercy Catholic Church is said for Kilts & Kisses, with afew members assisting the celebrant during the service.

Onceatthe Life Center, music and alibation or two getthe meninthe spirit for marching.There’s bow tie adjusting, organizing the throws andloading it all on trailers before parade time. Apriest drops by to offer ablessing. There also will be aspecial toastthis year for another priest, the late FatherNutanSylvesterMinj, who served several Diocese of Baton Rouge parishes and was part of Kilts&Kisses. The toastwill also honor the late Terry Cormier,another member.Both diedduring 2025. Then it’stime to roll.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell’sassistant Thomas Watson, heard Bell say over his experimental telephone: “Mr Watson —comehere —I want to seeyou”fromthe next room of Bell’sBoston laboratory; those were the first words ever conveyed by telephone.

In 1913, abolitionist and Underground Railroad “conductor” Harriet Tubman diedofpneumonia in Auburn, New York.

In 1969, James Earl Ray pleaded guilty in Memphis,

SHRUBS

Continued from page6C

landscapers trim out dead sectionsofboxwoods in hopes of ridding plants of the disease.

But this simply doesn’t work —and can in fact makematters worse.

“Cutting outthe dead section is not going to solve the problem becausethe pathogenissystemic,” Singh said. “So, when youremove that, it’sgoing to go to the next healthy section, and you will end up having that

Today’sbirthdays: Actor ChuckNorris is 86.Singer Dean Torrence(Jan and Dean) is 86. TV personality/business executive Barbara Corcoran (TV: “Shark Tank”) is 77. Actor SharonStoneis68. Actor Jasmine Guy is 64. Music producer Rick Rubinis 63. Football Hall of Famer RodWoodsonis61. Singersongwriter Edie Brickell is 60.Actor PagetBrewster is 57. ActorJon Hamm is 55. Rapper-producer Timbaland is 54. Singer Robin Thicke is 49.Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Shannon Miller is 49. Actor Thomas Middleditch is 44. Country singer-songwriter Carrie Underwood is 43. Actor Olivia Wilde is 42. ActorEmily Osment is 34 Rapper-singerBad Bunny is 32.

section dead. We recommend thatifyou find this disease in early stages, removethe whole plant and discard it.” In addition to spreading by pruning, recent greenhouse research has revealed that root-to-root transmission is possible. This finding makes it all the more imperative to remove plants that are confirmed to be infected,Singh said. Visit www.LSUAgCenter com/PlantDiagnosticCenter for more information on boxwood diseases and howtosubmit samples to the lab fortesting.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Don't start something you cannot finish. Choose your words wisely. Anger will lead to setbacks that can stifle your progress. Choose kindness and love over chaos and aversion.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Refuse to let your emotions interfere with what you need to do. Act with unfiltered truth and compassion. Dedicate your time and effort to educating others and making a difference in your community.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Forward thinking will be necessary, and you will need to make the most out of what you have to ensure the best outcome. A career choice will offer financial benefits and emotional costs.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Stop procrastinating. Communicate, research and implement a plan. The more you do to make a difference, the greater the benefits. A solid plan will give you the confidence needed to make a move.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Protect your reputation. Ask questions, consider your options and avoid letting your emotions lead to arguments you cannot win. Keep your thoughts to yourself and avoid risky situations.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Actions will take precedence. Put your plans in motion, and don't stop until you are satisfied with the results. Personal gratification for your achievements will be worthwhile.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Domestic issues will throw you off course. Don't lose sight of your goal or neglect a situation that can influence how someone feels about you. Keep what's meaningful to you in the forefront.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Keep your personal life to yourself. Mixing business with pleasure will be counterproductive. Romance and personal growth are heading your way.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Listen, and you'll gain insight into how best to maintain the status quo. An energetic approach to physical activity will set you apart from any competition you encounter.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Pay more attention to what's happening at home than what's going on out in the streets. Don't involve yourself in a fight that doesn't concern you.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Fly under the radar if you want to maintain a steady pace. Refuse to let anyone coax you into putting their needs before your own. Emotions and money will not mix well today.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb 19) There is power in energy. Design a plan that lets you give your all to whatever delivers the highest returns. A little love and understanding go a long way.

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

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers1 to 9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

Bridge

BY PHILLIP ALDER

Kevin Barry, an Irish author, said “When you wake up,instead of checking emails on your phone,orcounting your retweets,pickupapenandscratchafew sentences into anotebook.” Orsitatacomputerkeyboardandtype afew articles into aword processor. Over the lastseven columns, Ihave beenstressingcounting,primarilybythe defenders.Hereisonemoreexample,by way of revision because someone once told me that repetition is good in ateaching environment.(Ihope he is right.)

South zooms intofour hearts. West leadsthe spade queen. Howshould the declarer-play and defense go?

Note thatthreeno-trump has no chance. That is usually atough contract tomakewhenyouhavetwoorthreeaces to dislodge. Thedefendershave alot of time to establishand runtheirlong suit. In four hearts, South starts with four losers: one in each suit. He has 10 possibletricks: twospades, four hearts, two diamonds and two clubs. However, he will get those two club tricks onlyif East errs, since declarerhas no dummy entry outside clubs.

South’s best chance is to win trick one with the spade ace and play aclub, hopingtheopponentwiththeacewinsimmediately. West, though, should play his eight, starting ahigh-low with an even number.East shouldthen work out that declarer started withtwo clubs. (With four, South wouldnot be attacking clubs this quickly; he would surely be drawingtrumps.)SoEastshouldduckthefirst club,takethesecond,andreturnaspade to kill the contract. ©2026 by NEA,Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

Each Wuzzle is awordriddlewhich creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters 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 wordsare not allowed toDAY’s WoRD scALLoPs: SKA-lups: Edible mollusks that swimbyopening andclosing valves.

Average mark18words

Timelimit 25 minutes

YEstERDAY’s WoRD —tuMuLtuous

Can you find 22 or morewords in SCALLOPS? tout tumult tutu utmost molt most must mutt lost lotus lust oust slot slum smut soul stout sumo

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Uber’s women-only option goes nationwide

NEW YORK Uber launched a feature Monday to allow both women riders and drivers across the U.S. to be matched with other women for trips, expanding a pilot program aimed at addressing concerns about the safety of its ride-hailing platform.

The new feature is being rolled out nationwide despite an ongoing class action lawsuit against the policy in California, filed by Uber drivers who argue that it discriminates against men. Rival ride-hailing company Lyft is facing a discrimination lawsuit over a similar offering that it introduced nationwide in 2024.

Uber’s feature, announced in a blog post, allows women to request a female driver through an option on the app called “Women Drivers.” Passengers can opt for another ride if the wait for a woman is too long, and they can also reserve a trip with a woman driver in advance. A third option allows female users to set a preference for a woman driver in their app settings, which would increase the chances of being matched with a female driver but doesn’t guarantee it. Uber also allows teen account users to request women drivers.

Uber’s women drivers can set the app’s preferences to request trips with female riders, and they can turn off that preference at anytime.

Uber, based in San Francisco, says about one-fifth of its drivers in the U.S. are women, though the ratio varies by city Hims & Hers Health, Novo Nordisk end suit

Novo Nordisk is dismissing its patent infringement lawsuit against telehealth company Hims & Hers, as the two companies have reached an agreement that will see Novo Nordisk’s branded weight loss medicines sold through the Hims platform. Early last month Hims & Hers said that it was going to launch a cheaper, off-brand version of the weight-loss pill Wegovy, just weeks after drugmaker Novo Nordisk launched its highly anticipated reformulation of the blockbuster medication. At the time, Novo Nordisk vowed to sue Hims, calling the new product “an unapproved, inauthentic, and untested knockoff” of semaglutide, the chemical name for Wegovy

But just two days later, Hims dropped its plan to offer the cheaper, off-brand version of Wegovy That move came a day after the Food and Drug Administration threatened to restrict access to the ingredients needed to copy popular weightloss medications.

The FDA permits specialty pharmacies and other companies to make compounded versions of brand-name drugs when they are in short supply Simon & Schuster names new CEO NEW YORK Simon & Schuster has named a former Amazon. com executive, Greg Greeley, as its new CEO. The publisher announced Monday that Greeley’s appointment is effectively immediately

The 62-year-old Greeley succeeds Jonathan Karp, who announced last year that he was stepping down to head his own imprint at the company Simon Six. Simon & Schuster, which celebrated its centennial in 2024, is home to Stephen King, Colleen Hoover and Bob Woodward and many other bestselling and prize-winning authors. While Karp is a longtime editor and publisher Greeley has a background in business and investment. He spent nearly 20 years at Amazon, where his positions included vice president of Amazon Prime. In 2018, he left to serve as president of Airbnb’s Homes division. More recently, he was president and COO of the biotechnology startup Opentrons and CEO of Thrasio, a consumer goods company

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Anthropic sues Trump administration

AI company seeks to undo ‘supply chain risk’ designation

BY MATT O’BRIEN AP technology writer

Artificial intelligence company

Anthropic is suing to stop the Trump administration from enforcing what it calls an “unlawful campaign of retaliation” over its refusal to allow unrestricted military use of its technology

Anthropic asked federal courts on Monday to reverse the Pentagon’s decision last week to designate the artificial intelligence company a “supply chain risk.”

The company also seeks to undo President Donald Trump’s order

directing federal employees to stop using its AI chatbot Claude. The legal challenge intensifies an unusually public dispute over how AI can be used in warfare and mass surveillance one that has also dragged in Anthropic’s tech industry rivals, particularly ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which made its own deal to work with the Pentagon just hours after the government punished Anthropic for its stance.

Anthropic filed two separate lawsuits Monday, one in California federal court and another in the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., each challenging different aspects of the government’s actions against the San Franciscobased company “These actions are unprecedented and unlawful,” Anthropic’s

lawsuit says. “The Constitution does not allow the government to wield its enormous power to punish a company for its protected speech. No federal statute authorizes the actions taken here. Anthropic turns to the judiciary as a last resort to vindicate its rights and halt the Executive’s unlawful campaign of retaliation.”

The Defense Department declined to comment Monday, citing a policy of not commenting on matters in litigation.

Anthropic said it sought to restrict its technology from being used for two high-level usages: mass surveillance of Americans and fully autonomous weapons. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other officials publicly insisted the company must accept “all lawful” uses of Claude and threatened

punishment if Anthropic did not comply

Designating the company a supply chain risk cuts off Anthropic’s defense work using an authority that was designed to prevent foreign adversaries from harming national security systems. It was the first time the federal government is known to have used the designation against a U.S. company Hegseth said in a March 4 letter to Anthropic that it was “necessary to protect national security,” according to Anthropic’s lawsuit.

President Donald Trump also said he would order federal agencies to stop using Claude, though he gave the Pentagon six months to phase out a product that’s deeply embedded in classified military systems, including those used in the Iran war

U.S. stocks erase early loss amid worries of Iran conflict

BY STAN CHOE AP business writer

NEW YORK

The U.S. stock market careened

through a manic Monday, going from a steep early loss to a solid gain as worries turned into hope that the war with Iran may not last that long. Oil prices whipped from nearly $120 per barrel, their highest since 2022, back toward $90

The S&P 500 dropped as much as 1.5% in the morning before flipping to a gain of 0.8%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average clawed back a plunge of nearly 900 points to rise 239 points, or 0.5%, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.4%.

They’re the latest hour-to-hour swings to pummel financial markets because of the uncertainty about just how high oil prices will go and how long they will stay there because of disruptions to the energy industry in the Middle East.

Markets made their remarkable reversals during the last hour of Wall Street’s trading after President Donald Trump told CBS News that he thinks “the war is very complete, pretty much.”

That calmed worries that had built earlier in the morning, when the price for a barrel of Brent crude the international standard briefly touched $119.50. It hadn’t been that expensive since the summer of 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.

If oil prices stay very high for very long, households’ budgets already stretched by high inflation could break under the pressure.

Companies, meanwhile, would see their own bills jump for fuel and to stock items on their store shelves or in their data warehouses It all raises the possibility of a worst-case scenario for the global economy, “stagflation,” where growth stagnates and inflation remains high.

Concerns have focused in particular on the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway off Iran’s coast that a fifth of the world’s oil sails through on a typical day Iran had earlier threatened to set fire to ships sailing the strait.

If the Strait remains closed for only a few weeks, the price of oil could push to $150 per barrel of higher, according to oil and gas strategists at Macquarie Research.

But oil prices pared their gains through the day initially on talk that seven of the world’s largest economies could coordinate moves to push back on the spikes. They then slid

sharply after CBS News said Trump said of Iran that “if you look, they have nothing left. There’s nothing left in a military sense.”

Trump also added that when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz, he’s “thinking about taking it over,” according to CBS.

A barrel of Brent crude pulled back to settle at $98.96 in the afternoon and then kept falling afterward below $90. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude touched $119.48 during the morning, then pulled back to settle at $94.77 and then sank toward $85.

The U.S. stock market has a history of bouncing back relatively quickly from past military conflicts, as long as oil prices don’t stay too high for too long. Some professional investors continue to suggest that drops in prices for stocks could ultimately offer opportunities to buy them at cheaper levels before they rise again.

“We continue to believe that the current acute shortage of oil will be reversed in the coming months as new supply comes online and oil should drop significantly,” according to Sameer Samana, head of global equities and real assets at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

Even with all the recent swings in the market, the S&P 500 index that sits at the heart

of many 401(k) accounts is still within 3% of its record set in January

All told, the S&P 500 rose 55.97 points to 6,795.99. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 239.25 to 47,740.80, and the Nasdaq composite gained 308.27 to 22,695.95. To be sure, prices could reverse again in the coming days given all the uncertainties about the war That’s what happened through the huge swings that rocked Wall Street last week.

In stock markets abroad, where economies are more dependent on the import of oil and natural gas stocks fell sharply before Trump’s comments were published. South Korea’s Kospi sank 6%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled 5.2% and France’s CAC 40 dropped 1%.

Trump’s comments came after he said late Sunday that high oil prices at the moment were worth the cost.

“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace,” he said in a posting on his social media network. In the bond market, the yield on the 10year Treasury fell to 4.10% from 4.15% late Friday

Justice Dept., Live Nation settle in illegal monopoly case

BY ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and LARRY NEUMEISTER

Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Justice Department said Monday it has tentatively settled its antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation Entertainment, striking a deal to ultimately lower ticket prices for consumers and end an illegal monopoly over live events in America.But some states signaled they won’t join the deal and will continue an ongoing trial. After the Justice Department announced an agreement that ends its participation in the Manhattan federal court trial, Judge Arun Subramanian called it “entirely unacceptable” that nobody told him about it until late Sunday after a

term sheet outlining the deal was signed Thursday A senior Justice Department official spoke effusively of the looming settlement on the condition of anonymity Monday during a phone call with journalists under terms set by the department to release some information about the proposed settlement

Live Nation would pay a $280 million fine and divest itself of at least 13 amphitheaters nationwide while opening its ticketing processes so competitors can share in the sale of tickets, the official said, adding that at least 10 states were expected to join the deal.

The official called it a “win-win for everybody,” bringing immediate relief to consumers and protecting venues from retaliation when

they choose Live Nation’s competitors to handle tickets or promote events.

Live Nation Entertainment said it was pleased with a settlement that will let other promoters decide how best to distribute up to 50% of tickets and cap ticketing service fees at 15%.

“We have never relied on exclusivity to drive our ticketing business, it has simply been the result of having the best products, services and people in the industry,” said Michael Rapino, president and CEO.

Live Nation said the settlement will include an eight-year extension of the company’s consent decree with the Justice Department. It described the $280 million that the Justice Department official labeled

a “fine” as a “settlement fund to address the states’ damages claims.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement that the pact “fails to address the monopoly at the center of this case.”

“My attorney general colleagues and I have a strong case against Live Nation, and we will continue our lawsuit,” James said.

A release containing her statements said other states rejecting the settlement included Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the District of Columbia.