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U.S AIRSTRIKES CONTINUE IN IRAN
Service member killed in Iraq during controlled detonation Renewed exchanges risk wider conflict in the Middle East
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Ousted leader starts new private ‘microschool’ The Impact School to compete against Impact Charter
BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer
MEHR nEWS AGEnCy PHoTo By MAHdI nEGAHBAn
An overturned car sits on a section of a destroyed bridge after a strike in Hormozgan province, southern Iran, on Saturday. The U.S. has launched more airstrikes at Iran in response to the killing of service members. BY JON GAMBRELL, SAM METZ and BEN FINLEY
Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States began a new round of airstrikes early Monday targeting Iran after announcing the death of another American service member, and Iran fired missiles toward Jordan that risked widening the conflict into neighboring Israel. Step by step, the U.S. and Iran have inched closer to all-out war as last month’s interim deal meant to permanently end the fighting has crumbled and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled. Both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied on by millions of people. The U.S. military said the service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone.
Earlier, the military said its strikes in a statement. As the strikes began, a ship caught targeted Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard to retaliate for Friday’s fire early Monday in the Strait of Horkilling of troops in Jordan. One ser- muz near the coastline of Oman, the vice member was missing after that British military said. It was unclear attack, and the military’s new state- what sparked the blaze off Oman, ment said “unidentified remains” which has been a route the U.S. miliwere found Sunday and were tary has encouraged ships to ONFLICT travel to avoid Iran’s control. being examined. Since the CO war began, 17 U.S. service In THE Tehran has retaliated by T members have been killed. MIIDDLE hitting U.S.-allied countries The renewed exchanges throughout the Middle East. EAST AST of fire, now in their second Bahrain, Jordan and Kuweek, have seen the U.S. tarwait again activated air deget bridges and electrical facilities in fenses for incoming Iranian drones Iran. and missiles. Israel warned that misThe U.S. military’s Central Com- siles launched toward neighboring mand announced a new round of Jordan could cause fire to spill over strikes early Monday, now into their into Israeli territory for the first time in weeks. ninth straight night. Footage released Sunday by the “The strikes will continue degrading Iranian military capabilities used U.S. military appeared to show to attack commercial vessels and ci- strikes carried out by fighter jets vilian mariners transiting the Strait ä See IRAN, page 5A of Hormuz,” Central Command said
Once a ‘ghost town,’ Pascagoula sees transformation going on,” said Joe Cloyd, who Amtrak line, developed the brew pub project, Chandeleur Depot. “The financial investment called vibes in Pascagoula are good.” bringing in business It is a striking contrast to
BY MARTHA SANCHEZ Staff writer
PASCAGOULA,Miss. — The changes transforming this coastal Mississippi city are easy to spot. Where a lot sat vacant, a boutique hotel is now welcoming visitors. In a building that once housed an old bank, young professionals are moving into modern apartments with a rooftop bar. Where a train depot long languished in disrepair, an elegant new brew pub just opened. “There’s a lot of neat things
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the downtown Pascagoula of 10 years ago, which residents and developers called a “ghost town.” Most storefronts were vacant. The streets emptied by evening as thousands of employees at Ingalls Shipbuilding and a nearby refinery drove home to Alabama or elsewhere in Mississippi. But years of targeted efforts are now turning downtown Pascagoula into a hub of trendy businesses designed to lure newcomers and visitors — including from Louisiana — whose
The ouster of the management of Impact Charter School in Baker in February 2025 prompted a bevy of civil lawsuits. The ugly legal fight entered criminal court last week when a federal grand jury indicted the founder of the school and family members on charges of theft and money laundering. It is a fight that has entered yet another arena: the marketplace. Indicted founder Chakesha Scott is launching a new “microschool” this fall to compete directly with the school from which she was fired. She is operating it at 4815 Lavey Lane in Baker on a campus the Impact Charter School vacated in April 2025 under threat of evic- Scott tion. One of the counts in Scott’s federal criminal indictment is connected to more than $2 million in rent payments to a school-affiliated group called Friends of Impact Charter, which owns the campus. In an 18-month period, the school paid Friends $846,048 more than what that group was paying on its mortgage. Like her old school, her new educational venture is a K-8 school, and it has a very similar name: The Impact School. Unlike the old school, it is private, tuition-based and Christian, offering full-time, part-time and virtual options. “(We’re) founded on a simple belief: every child is created with God-given purpose, and deserves a school designed to help them discover it,” reads the school’s new webpage.
ä See SCHOOL, page 4A
Schools search for savings to offset funding cut Scrapping raises, pausing construction, leaving jobs unfilled all on table
BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer
SUn HERALd FILE PHoTo By HAnnAH RUHoFF
A new Amtrak sign is placed at the old Pascagoula, Miss., train station in 2025. Amtrak trains began running ä See PASCAGOULA, page 5A between new orleans and Mobile, Ala., in August.
As Louisiana school systems plan for the coming school year, some are expecting to cancel raises and hold off on hiring to make up for a state funding cut. School districts are slated to receive state payments by July 25 that will be smaller than what they previously budgeted for. The reduction is due to a decision by Gov. Jeff Landry and state lawmakers to pay for teacher stipends by sending less money to schools rather than pulling from the state budget, as they had in the past. Some school district leaders had held out hope for a reprieve. But those hopes fizzled last month after lawmakers voted in favor of the $168 million funding reduction, and education advocates dropped a lawsuit challenging the cut. Now that school systems know their state
Classified .....................6C deaths .........................7A nation-World................2A Comics-Puzzles .....3C-5C Living............................1C opinion ........................8A Commentary ................9A Metro ...........................6A Sports ..........................1B
ä See FUNDING, page 5A
102nd yEAR, no. 20