The Acadiana Advocate 05-14-2026

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Senate OKsmap with oneminoritydistrict

BY TYLERBRIDGES Staff writer

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BY JOHN SIMERMAN, ANDREAGALLO and JAMES FINN Staff writers

Almostseven years to the day after the death of Ronald Greene during an arrest by Louisiana State Police, the agency agreed Tuesday to pay$4.8 million to settle awrongful death case, said asource familiar with the negotiations. Policebodycameravideos of Greene’s death promptedfederal investigations, state legislative inquiries and charges against some of the troopers involved. The videos showed agroup of White troopers beating and dragging Greene, who was Black, as he cried out: “I’m scared!” Tuesday’ssettlement stemmed from a federal civil complaint Greene’sfamily initially filed in 2020, the year after his death. The petition waspaused forseveral years as the U.S. Department of Justice weighed bringing federalcriminal charges against troopers and while abevy of other investigationsintohis death unfolded.

Republicans who control the Louisiana Legislature are moving forwardwith erasing one of the state’stwo Blackmajority congressional districts, after aSenatecommitteeapproved aplantodosoearly Wednesday morningafter an all-night hearing.

The bill would essentially return Louisiana to the congressional map ithad in 2022 thatproduced five safe Republican seats and one New Orleans-anchored Democrat seat, wonthat year by U.S. Rep. Troy Carter.

The Senate voted 27-10 on partisan lines Wednesday afternoon, with Democrats opposed, to suspend its rules to be able to take up themeasure, Senate Bill 121, on Thursday After battling throughout the night Democrats plan to continue raising objections to SB121, with Sen. Sam Jenkins of Shreveport saying, “it is ripefor legal

ahead withthis map. Idoubt that anyattempt to amend it will succeed. We may be stuck with what we have.”

With thatexpectation, thenew map is scrambling plans forwho mightrun in the newly designed districts.

Theeffort to eliminateaBlack-majority district is also stirring up Black voters, who have packed town hall meetings in recentdaysheldbyCarter and U.S. Rep.Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, who is slated to losehis district in the new map.

Black voters turnedout in large numbers proportionally during the sevendayearly votingperiodinadvance of Saturday’sprimaryelections.

challenges.”

Rep.Edmond Jordan, D-Baton Rouge, who chairsthe LegislativeBlackCaucus, promised alawsuit calling for the creation of two winnable seats for Democrats.

In the meantime, Jenkins conceded, “The (Republican) majorityisfull speed

“People areangry,” Carter said in an interview. “People are deeply concerned about their democracy.” Republican lawmakersinLouisiana areresponding to pressure from President Donald Trump to deliver at least one more Republican seat tobuttress theGOP campaign in the upcoming midtermelections to retain their majority

BY ELYSE CARMOSINO and PATRICK WALL Staff writers

Louisiana students areoutpacing their peers in most states in reading andmath growth, even as muchofthe country struggles to recover from a“learning recession,” according to anew report. Louisiana ranked first among states in reading growth and second in math progress from2022 to 2025, according to thelatest “Education Scorecard,” which analyzed test scoresfromnearly40states. The DistrictofColumbia came outahead whenincluded in therankings

NTSB urges training to deal with cockpit smoke Safety experts recommended Wednesday that airlines develop realistic training to prepare their pilots to deal with smoke filling the cockpit like what happened on a Southwest Airlines plane after a bird strike.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilots who safely landed that plane back in New Orleans told investigators that the situation they encountered was far more challenging than anything they had ever experienced in training.

“If such an event occurred at night or in instrument meteorological conditions, the consequences could be catastrophic,” the NTSB determined.

The Federal Aviation Administration receives reports of smoke in the cockpit almost daily, but the NTSB said the agency still doesn’t require airlines to conduct realistic smoke-incockpit simulations. Instead the training usually just consists of a discussion of what to do in that situation. The FAA didn’t immediately respond Wednesday to the new recommendation

The Southwest pilots at the controls during this incident in December 2023 said they had trouble seeing their instruments and checklists They quickly donned oxygen masks and followed emergency procedures to land. None of the 139 people aboard were hurt.

Gastroenteritis outbreak confines 1,700 to ship PARIS Over 1,700 passengers and crew on a British cruise ship were ordered to remain on board after an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness, French authorities said Wednesday

The Ambition was midway through a 14-night cruise from Belfast and Liverpool that was due to take in ports in northern Spain and along France’s Atlantic coast. It reached Bordeaux on Tuesday evening, according to the operator, Ambassador Cruise Line.

The prefect of NouvelleAquitaine region and Gironde department, Étienne Guyot, suspended disembarkation from the Ambition and restricted the vessel’s interactions with the port of Bordeaux.

He acted on the recommendation of the regional health agency, the Agence Régionale de Santé Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the joint statement said.

Up to 50 passengers showed symptoms consistent with acute digestive infection after the ship’s captain alerted French authorities on Tuesday evening, the statement said. Those affected were treated by the ship’s doctor and isolated in their cabins.

PROVIDED PHOTO

A Christie’s employee displays ‘Ocean Dream,’ the largest fancy vivid blue-green diamond, weighting 5.50 carats.

‘Ocean Dream’ diamond sells for more than $17M

GENEVA A 5.5-carat triangularcut diamond billed as the largest fancy vivid blue-green diamond known to exist sold for more than $17.3 million on Wednesday, Christie’s said, calling it a record price for a stone of its kind.

The “Ocean Dream,” the standout offer at the auction house’s Geneva sale of jewelry, was found in central Africa in the 1990s. The price easily topped the presale estimate to fetch around $9 million to $13 million.

Rahul Kadakia, president of Christie’s Asia Pacific, said that an unspecified private client was the buyer, and the stone took about 20 minutes to sell an indication that interest was high. The price was more than double that of the roughly $8.5 million that the gem, which was featured among rare colored diamonds at the Smithsonian Splendour of Diamonds Exhibition in 2003, sold for at Christie’s in 2014

Murkowski flips on Iran vote

Senate

Republicans barely block Democratic legislation to halt war with Iran

BY STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press

WASHINGTON Senate Republicans on Wednesday again blocked Democratic legislation that would halt President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, but the number of GOP senators voting against the war grew

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against the war for the first time since it began at the end of February Two other Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, also voted against the war as they had done previously

The war powers legislation ultimately failed to advance 49-50, with Sen John Fetterman of Penn-

sylvania the only Democrat to oppose it, yet the close tally reflected growing unease with Trump’s war

Several other Republican senators have signaled they want Congress to weigh in on the direction of the conflict.

“There will be a day and it might be soon, I believe — where this Senate will say to the president, ‘Stop this war,’” Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who has spearheaded his party’s tactic of forcing repeated votes on the war, said before the vote.

Even if it passes the Senate, a war powers resolution would have a slim chance of passing the House and would also certainly be vetoed by Trump. But Democrats say the votes are about building political pressure on the president either to withdraw from the conflict or seek congressional authorization to wage the war

The White House, meanwhile, has asserted that it does not need congressional authorization for

the war and has circumvented legal requirements to gain approval from Congress to continue the military campaign. It claims that it has “terminated” hostilities with Iran because the U.S has entered a ceasefire.

That posture has created tension between the Republican-controlled Congress and the White House because presidents under the War Powers Resolution of 1973 are required to obtain authorization from Congress after 60 days of engaging in a conflict.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers this week that the U.S. could start attacking Iran again without the White House seeking congressional approval He told Murkowski during a hearing on Tuesday that the Trump administration believes it has “all the authorities necessary.” Murkowski voiced skepticism about that argument. She pointed to the troops and war ships deployed to the region, saying, “It

Senate confirms Trump pick Warsh as Fed chair

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed

President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, bringing new leadership to the world’s most powerful central bank at a fraught moment for the global economy

Warsh, 56, a former top Fed official, was confirmed Wednesday in a largely party-line 54-45 vote and will replace Jerome Powell as chair at an unusually difficult time for the independent agency

Inflation has topped the Fed’s 2% target for five years and is now rising faster because of spiking gas prices. The Fed’s interest rate-setting committee is divided and saw the most dissenting votes in more than three decades last month.

And Powell, after years of personal attacks from Trump and an unprecedented Justice Department investigation, plans to remain on the Fed’s board even after his term as chair ends, potentially creating a competing power center

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that it’s critical that a Fed chair “understand not only the macro” but also “appreciate the microeconomy: and that’s the hardworking Americans, their jobs and their livelihoods.”

“Kevin Warsh is just such a person,” Thune said

Trump has demanded change at Fed

The Fed has faced threats to its independence from Trump, who has repeatedly attacked Powell for not cutting interest rates Trump also sought to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook and launched an investigation into Powell’s Senate testimony about a building renovation.

The probe of Powell had threatened to derail Warsh’s nomination, as Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina vowed to withhold support until the investigation was terminated. The probe was ultimately dropped in April. Every Republican voted for Warsh on Wednesday, as did Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.

Kevin Hassett, director of the White House’s National Economic Council, said in a Fox News interview on Sunday that he believes the markets are relieved that Warsh “is going to help lower interest rates over time.”

“Obviously, data driven,” said Hassett.

“I’m not putting any pressure on Kevin Warsh.”

In December, Trump said on his social media platform that he wanted a Fed chair who would cut interest rates

when the stock market rose — the opposite of what traditional economics would prescribe — and added, “Anyone that disagrees with me will never be the Fed chairman!”

Trump’s comments have fueled concerns over whether Warsh will set rates based on economic conditions or instead seek to appease Trump, even if doing so could worsen inflation. At Warsh’s confirmation hearing last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, derided him as a “sock puppet” for Trump.

“I will be an independent actor if confirmed as chair of the Federal Reserve,” Warsh said.

Critic of the Fed’s leadership in past Warsh has been highly critical of the Fed’s recent track record, particularly the inflation spike in 2021-22, the worst in four decades.

He has called for limiting the Fed’s communications, which would be a sharp shift after decades of growing transparency He has argued that some of its communications tools, such as quarterly forecasts of where its key rate may head, have made it harder for officials to switch gears.

Senate Democrats have also condemned Warsh for not fully divulging the details of his wealth, which amounts to at least $100 million. His investments include stakes in Polymarket and SpaceX, but he hasn’t revealed the size of those holdings He promised to sell all such assets within 90 days of being sworn in.

Difficult economic conditions

The Fed is still grappling with how to respond to the 50% spike in gas prices caused by the war in Iran. The increase has boosted inflation, which reached 3.8% in April.

The Fed is tasked by Congress with keeping prices stable, which it seeks to do by raising its short-term rate to make borrowing and spending more expensive, cooling growth and inflation.

The Fed typically looks past temporary price increases that stem from supply disruptions such as the war’s cutoff of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, because those prices typically level off or even fall — once supply is restored.

But the Fed also followed that approach after the coronavirus pandemic snarled global supply chains. Inflation turned out to last longer than expected, and Powell and other Fed officials have acknowledged that they waited too long to raise rates. Inflation surged to 9.1% by June 2022.

doesn’t appear that hostilities have ended.”

Republican leadership has continued to back the war with Iran, arguing that the stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz that has blocked most commercial shipping puts more economic pressure on Iran than it does on the U.S.

“Iran’s economy is on life support. Its leadership is eliminated,” said Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Republican in leadership, during a floor speech Wednesday He also argued that the Democratic effort on the war is all about undermining Trump. Forcing the issue just as he arrived in China for a summit would “pull out the rug from under him,” Barrasso said.

Democrats plan to keep forcing weekly votes on war powers resolutions and are looking ahead to put limitations on Trump during the debate over annual legislation that authorizes and funds the military

Prosecutors to retry S.C. murder case after court ruling

BY JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C — Alex

Murdaugh’s murder convictions and life sentence for the deaths of his wife and son were overturned Wednesday by the South Carolina Supreme Court because the court clerk at his trial suggested he was guilty Prosecutors say they plan to retry Murdaugh, which likely means there will be another lengthy trial for the case that because of the combination of money, power, Southern accents and treachery has become a true crime sensation with several streaming miniseries, bestselling books and dozens of true crime podcasts.

Murdaugh, 57, will remain in prison. He pleaded guilty to stealing around $12 million from his clients and currently is serving a 40-year federal sentence.

Murdaugh’s lawyers pointed out that trial will look a lot different, as the justices also ruled days

of evidence at the murder trial about how Murdaugh stole from clients shouldn’t be allowed next time. Still, the ruling is a win for Murdaugh, who admits to being a thief, liar, insurance cheat and bad lawyer, but has adamantly denied killing his wife Maggie and younger son Paul since he found their bodies outside their home in 2021. Murdaugh told investigators for months he hadn’t seen his wife and son for about an hour before they were killed. But investigators eventually cracked the passcode on Paul Murdaugh’s phone and found a video with a barking dog and Alex Murdaugh’s voice five minutes before the young man stopped using his phone. In their unanimous ruling Wednesday the South Carolina Supreme Court said the conduct by Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility” by suggesting to jurors his testimony could not be trusted.

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Attorney generalthreatens N.O.

BY JAMES FINN Staff writer

Louisiana Attorney Gen-

eral Liz Murrill on Wednesday warned Mayor Helena Morenoand other top New Orleans elected officials that she would seek their removal from office if they do not “officially retract” support for electing anew court clerk, adramatic escalation in araging dispute over that role. In aletter to Moreno, District Attorney Jason Wi lliams and five City Council members, Murrill said the officials were at riskofviolating several state laws after acouncil vote this week to trigger an election for the newly merged clerk’soffice and appoint an interim clerk.

Murrill’swarning drew a sharp response from Moreno, whosaid she wouldn’t be “intimidated” from pursuing thelegal fightover who should oversee the parishclerk’soffice. Murrill accused the officials of “usurping” the authorityof Chelsey Napoleon, who Murrill argues is thecity’slawful clerk.

Under legislationenacted by Louisiana’sRepublicancontrolled Legislature this month, Napoleon, who won reelection last year as Orleans Parish clerk of civil court, took over the duties of the criminal clerk’soffice, which had been aseparate elected office.

“Toavoid further litigationand the statutory consequences,”Murrill wrote, “you should officially retract your support for this usurpation of (Civil Clerk) Chelsey Richard Napoleon’s office and take no further action supporting or recognizing the fictional new office or Judge Johnson’sappointment to it.”

Murrill said Gov. Jeff Landrywould appoint replacementsifthe local officials are removed

Thethreats fromthe Republican attorney general to some of New Orleans’ most prominent Democratic local leaders sharply intensified thelegal and political battle over two relativelyparochial city positions, which beganafter theLegislature enacted its sweeping changes to theclerks’ officesearlier this month. It also added to the general sense of confusion about who was currently running an office that, in addition to overseeingcourt records, is charged with holding electionsinthe parish. The U.S. Senate primary as wellas ahostofotherstate and local elections are set to take placeSaturday Moreno respondedtoMurrill’sletter in avideo posted Wednesday onsocial media, suggestingthat Murrill could be violating astate law concerning threats to elected leaders.

“It is surprising that the attorneygeneral put allof this in aletter,considering there is also acriminal law that prohibits intimidating or threatening apublic official inaneffort to try

Moreno, Williams and a majority of thecouncil contend that the law created a new position that must be filled by thevoters. Multiple lawsuits challenging the law are pending. Calvin Johnson, the formercriminal districtcourt judge who was appointed as interim clerk by the council’sMonday vote, also receiveda copy of Murrill’sletter. She warned that Johnson couldface “imprisonment” even as she said he “appears to be aninnocent bystander” to thedispute.

to influence theirdecision or change their position,” Moreno said. “Bottomline: I’m notgoing to be threatened,I’m notgoingtobeintimidated, and Iwon’tback down.”

The letter contained “a varietyofethical and professional conduct issues,” Moreno said. She urged Murrill to letlitigation over thenew lawrun itscourse rather than resorting to “threats.”

In aprepared statement, Williams, the district attorney,calledMurrill’s letter“deeply disappointing, profoundly troubling and legally incorrect.”

“The statute nowbeing invoked is arelic of the Reconstruction era, born out of one of the most turbulentand divisiveperiods in Louisiana history, when rivalgovernments, disputed officeholders, andpolitical violence threatened the stability of civil authority itself,” Williams said. “For such language and authority to now be directed at elected officialsinNew Orleans who are carrying out their legal and constitutionalresponsibilities is deeply concerning.”

Swirlingdebate

The debate that escalated on Wednesdaywas touched off earlier this month afterthe Legislature passed its laweliminating New Orleans’ clerk of criminal court. Thelaw,known as Act 15, turned the criminal clerk’sduties over tothe separatecivil clerk’soffice.

Supporters cast thelegislation as aneeded reform to theonlyparish in Louisiana with distinct court systems for criminal and civil matters.

But New Orleans leaders have criticized the move as an unnecessary incursion by thestate.Manysay the legislation appearstobe retaliation against Calvin Duncan, aformerly incarcerated prison counsel who

Vaticanissuesfinal warningto breakawaytraditionalistgroup

LatinMassgroup plans

consecration of bishops withoutpapal consent

BY NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press

ROME With Pope Leo XIV’s first big crisis looming, the Vatican on Wednesdayissued a final warning to abreakaway group of traditionalist Catholicsthat their plannedconsecration of bishopswithout papalconsent constitutes aschismatic act that incurs automatic excommunication. Leo is praying for enlightenment sothat theleaders of the Society of St.Pius X“may reconsider the extremely grave decisionthey have made,”said astatement from the Vatican’s doctrine czar,Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández

The statement appeared to be alast-ditch effort to head off the group’splannedJuly 1consecrations of four newbishops. If they go ahead, they will amount to the gravest challenge to Leo’s authority to date,ashe seeks to healdivisions with traditionalist Catholics that worsenedduringthe Pope Francis pontificate.

Formed in opposition to VaticanII

TheSSPX,asthe group is known, was founded in Écône, Switzerland in 1970 in opposition to the modernizing reformsof the 1960s Second VaticanCouncil, which among other things allowed Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than Latin.

The group, which celebrates thepre-VaticanIILatin Mass, firstbroke with Rome in 1988, after its founder,Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, consecrated four bishops without papalconsent. The Vatican promptly excommunicatedLefebvreand the fourother bishops, and the group today still hasnolegal status in the Catholic Church

Yetthe group has continued togrow,with schools, seminaries and parishes around the world and branches of priests, nuns andlay Catholics who are attached to thetraditional Latin Mass.

The growth poses areal threat to Rome since it amounts to aparallel Catholic church. Today it counts two bishops, 733 priests,264 seminarians, 145 religious brothers,88oblates and 250 religious sisters representing 50 nationalities, accordingtoSSPXstatistics Dialogue ends andacrisis looms

The current SSPX superior,Rev.Davide

Pagliarani, announced earlier this year that new bishops would be consecrated July 1to tendtothe faithful, arguing that the SSPX’s two remaining aging bishops can no longer ministertosuch aglobal reality

The Vatican invited Pagliaranifor talks, but the same theological and practical problemsthathaveprevented rapprochement for 50 years seemingly left the two sides at an impasse. In recent comments on theSSPXwebsite, Pagliaranireiteratedthe need for the new bishops.Heexpressedsatisfaction that his announcement had triggered debateabout what theSSPX considers to be acrisis afflicting the church, including religious pluralismand confusion about the faith.

“Now,whatisatstaketoday is not an opinion,nor asensibility,nor apreferential option,nor aparticular nuance in theinterpretation of atext,but the faithand morals that aCatholic must know, profess, and practice in order to save his soul and reach paradise,” he said.

Traditionalistswatchinghow Leoresponds

The looming consecrations,which would incurautomatic excommunications, have created the first tangible crisis for Leo, who hassoughttopacify relationswith Catholic traditionalists that worsened under Francis afterthe Argentine pope cracked down on the spread of theold Latin Mass.

Francis in 2021 reimposed restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass that Pope Benedict XVI hadrelaxed in 2007. Francis said hewas reversing hispredecessor becauseBenedict’sreform had become a source of division in thechurch and been exploitedbyconservative Catholics opposed to Vatican II. But the move riledFrancis’ conservative critics and it becameone of themost divisive acts of his 12-year papacy, such that Leo began his pontificatepromising to heal divisions. While the SSPX is out of communion with the Holy See, plenty of Catholic traditionalistswho areloyaltoRome andopposed Francis’ crackdown are sympathetictothe SSPXplight and are watching how Leo handlesthe challenge.

Rorate Caeli, atraditionalist blog that has closelyfollowed theissue,saidFrancis’ crackdown, known by theLatin name of the document, Traditionis Custodes, actually created the “crisis” that the SSPX today laments. “Traditionalists fully understand the need for respect forauthority; but we cannot have bothatthe sametime: astated will to destroy the traditional Roman Liturgy forever (Traditionis custodes) and acompleteprohibition of means to salvage that,” Rorate Caeli wrote Wednesday

was released after ajudge ruled him innocent of a1981 murder.Duncan won the criminal clerkship last fall with 68% of the vote despite opposition from Murrill and other conservatives.

Only after Duncan’svictory didthe Legislature movetoeliminate thejob he had won.Gov.Jeff Landry signedthe law on April 30, fourdaysbefore Duncan was set to takeoffice.

Atangle of litigation is unfolding in multiple courts as Murrillwages her battle with New Orleansofficials. Napoleon filed alawsuit on Tuesday in Baton Rouge challenging Johnson’sinterim appointment and the City Council resolution calling for aspecial election. On Wednesday, Judge Tarvald Smith of the19thJudicial District Court in Baton Rouge denied herrequest for atemporary restraining orderand setahearingfor Monday

After filing aseparate challenge in federal court, records show Duncan has retainedtwo high-powered attorneys, Pratik Shah and Margaret Rusconi from the Akin Gump Strauss Hauer &Feld firm,toargue achallenge to the new state law

In the meantime, the disputehas raised questions about who is managing the clerk’sduties.Whether Napoleon was present WednesdayinCivil District Court was unclear.Avisit by a reporter to heroffice in the downtown courthouse offered no clarity

“I don’thave that information to give you,”repeated a woman whoidentified herself only as Napoleon’sassistant

Onejudge saidcourt staff were unawarewho was running the clerk’soffice Wednesday “It’s arealdistraction in our work,” the judge said of theuncertainty. “A distractioninlegal matters only hurtsyou, your litigants and citizens.”

Geri Broussard, Napoleon’s attorney, insisted that Napoleon remained in charge of the clerk’soffice even after the council resolutions and after Johnson preparedadeclaration naming her to handle the office on Monday That doesn’tmean that Napoleon is concedingthe council’sauthority,Broussard said.

“Judge Johnson has been cooperative,” Broussard said. “I recognize it as being acompromiseoftwo individualshellbentonmaintaining the smoothoperation of this office until it canbe decided by acourt of law.”

‘Everybody’soverreacting’

DaneCiolino, an ethics expert, attorney and lawprofessoratLoyola University said Murrill’sletter to the local officialsentered “uncharted territory.”

“Itseems like everybody’s overreacting here,” Ciolino said. “You don’tsee alot of instances wherethose statutes have ever been used.

The simple answer for this is foreveryone to wait untilthe Louisiana Supreme Court resolves the issue.”

While Ciolino said there was“no need” forMurrill to “threaten” local officials, he questioned whether the City Council needed to call a special election forthe position before the courts have weighed in.

Morenoand Williams called forthe new election last week, arguing that transferringone clerk’sduties to another created anew position that must be filled by voters. Murrill, Landry andNapoleon pushed back, arguing that the Legislature had merely mashed the offices together without creating anew position.

The City Council members who received Murrill’s letterare Council President JP Morrell, Council Vice President Matthew Willard, District Acouncil member Aimee McCarron, District

Ccouncil memberFreddie King andDistrictEcouncil member Jason Hughes. Council members Lesli Harris andEugene Green, whovoted against calling the election,did notreceive copies.

“Wewill not be intimidated,and thesecouncilmembers will always stand for what’sright,” Kingsaidina videoresponse Wednesday appearing with the four other members who received the letter

Asked why Murrill has taken such akeen interest in themechanicsofNew Orleans’ clerkofcourt, her spokesperson, Lester Duhe, said Wednesdaythatasthe state’s chieflegal officer,she is “ensuring (local officials) follow the law.” Murrill had asked the city officials to allowthe Supreme Courttoweigh in before calling the special election, Duhe said.

“She is very serious about this, obviously,” he said. On Wednesday,aspokespersonfor the Louisiana secretaryofstate confirmed that the office received apetition to recallMurrill from office. Such an effort faces a high bar: More than 20% of Louisiana’s statewide electorate— about 500,000voters—would have to sign it before Nov. 9for the recall to head to voters, the secretary of state’s spokesperson said. Staff writersMatt Bruce and John Simerman contributed to this report. James Finncovers federal law enforcementand courts forThe TimesPicayune |The Advocate. Contact him at jfinn@ theadvocate.com or on Signal at jamesfinn.82.

CITYOFYOUNGSVILLE WATER SYSTEM Public Water Supply ID: LA1055035 Consumer Confidence Report 2025 CCR The Water We Drink

CITYOFYOUNGSVILLE WATER SYSTEM Public Water Supply ID: LA1055035

We arepleased to present to you the Annual Water Quality Report for the year 2025. This report is designed to inform you about the quality of your water and services we deliver to you every day (Este informe contiene información muy importante sobresu agua potable. Tradúzcalo ohable con alguien que lo entienda bien). Our constant goal is to provide you with asafe and dependable supply of drinking water.Wewant you to understand the efforts we make to continually improve the water treatment process and protect our water resources. We are committed to ensuring the quality of your water

Our water system grade is a“A”. Our water system report cardcan be found at “Water Grade Report –LA1055035”.

Lead and copper inventiory: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rppfpabko43ho8v961x66/ LA1055035CITYOFYOUNGSVILLESYSTEMINVENTORYREWORK. xlsm?rlkey=qbojl61k95nto8wksj3cmgl53&st=qn8ydtlz&dl=0

Our water source(s) arelisted below: Source Name Source Water Type

WELL #3 Ground water

WELL #4 Ground water

WELL #5 -CNR IBERIA ST AND JACQUES ST Ground water

WELL #6 -ONEAST SIDE OFSCHOOLSTGround water

WELL #7- 415 IBERIA ST Ground water

WELL #8 -415 IBERIA ST Ground water

WELL #9 -101 EPARKWOODDRGround water

The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over the surface of land or through the ground, it dissolves naturallyoccurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive material, and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity.Contaminants that may be present in source water include:

Microbial Contaminants -such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.

Inorganic Contaminants -such as salts and metals, which can be naturally-occurring or result from urban stormwater runoff, industrial, or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming. Pesticides and Herbicides -which may come fromavariety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses.

Organic Chemical Contaminants –including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which areby-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems.

Radioactive Contaminants –which can be naturally-occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

ASource Water Assessment Plan (SWAP) is now available fromour office. This plan is an assessment of a delineated area around our listed sources through which contaminants, if present, could migrate and reach our source water.Italso includes an inventory of potential sources of contamination within the delineated area, and a determination of the water supply’ssusceptibility to contamination by the identified potential sources. According to the Source Water Assessment Plan, our water system had asusceptibilityrating of ‘HIGH’. If you would like to review the Source Water Assessment Plan, please feel freetocontact our office. In order to ensurethat tap water is safe to drink, EPAprescribes regulations which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. Food and Drug Administration regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water which must provide the same protection for public health. We want ourvalued customers to be informed about their water utility.Ifyou have any questions about this report, want to attend any scheduled meetings, or simply want to learnmoreabout your drinking water,please contact KENNETH RITTER at 337-856-4181.

Thereisnosafe level of lead in drinking water.Exposuretolead in drinking water can cause serious health effects inall age groups, especially pregnant people, infants (both formula-fed and breastfed), and young children. Some of the health effects to infants and children include decreases in IQ and attention span. Lead exposurecan also result in new or worsened learning and behavior problems. The children of persons who areexposed to lead beforeorduring pregnancy may be at increased risk of these harmful health effects. Adults have increased risks ofheart disease, high blood pressure, kidney or nervous system problems. Contact your health careprovider for moreinformation about your risks.

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals -Office of Public Health routinely monitors for constituents in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws. The tables that follow show the results of our monitoring during the period of January 1st to December 31st, 2025. Drinking water,including bottled water,may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The pre8ence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that water poses ahealth risk.

In the tables below,you will find many terms and abbreviations you might not be familiar with. To help you better understand these terms, we’ve provided the following definitions:

Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter (mg/L) –one part per million corresponds to one minute in two years orasingle penny in $10,000.

Parts per billion (ppb) or Micrograms per liter (ug/L) –one part per billion corresponds to one minute in 2,000 years, or asingle penny in $10,000,000.

Picocuries per liter (pCi/L) –picocuries per liter is ameasureofthe radioactivity in water

Treatment Technique (TT) –anenforceable procedureorlevel of technological performance which public water systems must follow to ensurecontrol of acontaminant.

Action level (AL) –the concentration of acontaminant that, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements that awater system must follow.

Maximum contaminant level (MCL) –the “Maximum Allowed” MCL is the highest level of acontaminant that is allowed in drinking water.MCL’s areset as close to the MCLG’sasfeasible using the best availabletreatment technology

Maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG) –the “Goal” is the level of acontaminant in drinking water below which thereisnoknown or expected risk to human health. MCLG’sallow for amargin of safety.

Maximum residual disinfectant level (MRDL) –The highest level of adisinfectant allowed in drinking water.There is convincing evidence that addition of adisinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants.

Maximum residual disinfectant level goal (MRDLG) –The level of adrinking water disinfectant below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MRDLGs do not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants.

Level 1assessment –Astudy of the water system to identify potential problems and determine (if possible) why total coliform bacteria have been found in our water system.

Level 2Assessment –Avery detailed study of the water system to identify potential problems and determine (if possible) why an E. coli MCL violation has occurred and/or why total coliform bacteria have been found in our water system on multiple occasions.

Our water system tested aminimum of 10 sample(s) per month in accordance with the Total Coliform Rule for microbiological contaminants. With the microbiological samples collected, the water system collects disinfectant residuals to ensurecontrol of microbial growth.

Disinfectant Date HighestRAA Unit Range MRDL MRDLG Typical Source CHLORINE 2025 1.3 ppm 0.5 -2.62 44 Water additive used to control microbes

Inthe tables below,wehave shown the regulated contaminants that weredetected. Chemical Sampling of our drinkingwater may not be required on an annual basis; therefore,information provided in this table refers back to the latest year of chemical sampling results. The State of Louisiana regularly monitors source water per State and Federal Regulations. Treated water samples aremonitored to further evaluate compliance.

Source Water Regulated Contaminants Collection Date Highest Value Range Unit MCL

reduce your family’srisk. Beforedrinking tap water, flush your pipes for several minutes by running your tap, taking a shower,doing laundry or aload of dishes. Youcan also use a filter certified by an American National Standards Institute accredited certifier to reduce lead in drinking water.Ifyou areconcerned about lead in your water and wish to have your water tested, contact CITY OF YOUNGSVILLE WATER SYSTEM and KENNETH RITTER BUS Phone: 337-856-4181. Information on lead in drinking water,testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposureisavailable at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead.

Thereare no additional required health effects notices.

Thereare no additional required health effects violation notices. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thank

to maintaina safe and dependablewater supply we sometimes need to make improvements that will benefitall of our customers.

We at the CITYOFYOUNGSVILLE WATER SYSTEM work around the clock to provide top quality drinking water to every tap. We ask that all our customers help us protect and conserve our water sources, which arethe heart of our community,our way of life, and our children’sfuture. Additional information on the water system can be found at www.ldh.la.gov/watergrade. Please call our office if you have questions.

CITY OF YOUNGSVILLE PURCHASE WS PublicWater SupplyID: LA1055195 Consumer Confidence Report 2025 CCR The Water We Drink CITY OF YOUNGSVILLE PURCHASE WS Public Water Supply ID: LA1055195

We arepleased to present to you the Annual Water Quality Report for the year 2025. This

to

información

Lead and Copper Inventory: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/eho511giurhm3wx85rqy0/ LA1055195PURCHASESYSTEMINVENTORYREWORKV2. xlsm?rlkey=l3zbe0ghm7jwkhi6h1dd5deng&st=zk2wdlxp&dl=0 Our water system grade is a“A”. Our water system report cardcan be found at “https://ldh.la.gov/assets/oph/ Center-EH/drinkingwater/Watergrade/WaterGrade-2025/Lafayette/LA1055195_WaterGrade_2025.pdf” Our water source(s) arelisted below: Source NameSource Water Type PURCHASE FROM LUS LA1055017 Ground water SUPER 1-PURCHASE FROM LUS

sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife

Inorganic Contaminants -such as salts and metals, whichcan be naturally-occurring or result from urban stormwater runoff, industrial, or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming. Pesticides and Herbicides -which may come from avariety of sources such as agriculture,urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses.

Organic Chemical Contaminants –including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, whichare by-products of industrialprocesses and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff and septic systems.

Radioactive Contaminants –which can be naturally-occurringorbethe result of oil and gas production and mining activities.

In order to ensurethat tap water is safe to drink, EPAprescribes regulations which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water

Open primarieseyedfor Houseelections

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

Louisiana is on track to temporarily return to ajungle primary system for its U.S. House racesafter Gov Jeff Landry suspended this month’s closed primaries so the statecould redraw itscongressional mapto favor Republicans in the wake of a SupremeCourt ruling thatdeemed the current map unconstitutional Under House Bill 842, which the Legislature passed Wednesday,voters would select their preferred House candidates from alist of Republicans and Democrats on the November ballot. The top two votegetters in each district wouldhead to arunoff in December,regardless of party That plan was incorporated into HB842 through amendments added by aconference committee, asmall group of state representativesand senators who meet in private to hammer outamendmentstobills in the final stages of the process.

STUDENTS

Continued from page1A

Louisiana alsowas the only state to surpassprepandemiclearning levels in both subjects —adistinction it alsoachieved on the last scorecard. Still, the progress was uneven, with some school districtsyet to get most students’ scores back to pre-2020 levels

“We’re pleased but not satisfied,” state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley saidinaninterview.“We have tomaintain that momentum.”

To get the results, researchers at Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth analyzedtest scores for students in grades 3-8 in over 5,800school districts across 38 states.

They found that students in most states made little progress in reading over the past three years, continuing anational slowdown in learning that began more than adecade ago and was worsened by the pandemic’s school disruptions Students nationallyare still abouthalf agradelevel behind pre-pandemic reading scores, anddoing only slightly better in math.

But Louisiana is one of asmall number of states bucking the nationaltrend in reading. The researchers attribute that largely to the states’ focus on growing students’ foundational learning skills through a

MAP

Continued from page1A

This move comes in the wake of aU.S. Supreme Court ruling that invalidated Louisiana’scurrent congressional map that has four Republicans and two Democrats, Carter and Fields. Immediately after theSupreme Court ruling, Gov Jeff Landry canceled the House elections for this Saturday’sprimary elections.

The Legislature on Thursday approved House Bill 842 to reschedule the U.S. House primary elections for Nov 3, withaDecember runoff. Qualifying would take place from Aug. 5-7. Meanwhile, Republican state legislators are advancing plans to draw new maps for those elections.

Typically,bills only go through that stagewhenthe twochambers disagree on theparticularities of legislation, but they can sometimes include substantive changes.

The House approved the changes to HB842 in a67-27 vote, while the Senate’svotewas 29-7. The bill deals with abroad set of changes to Louisiana’selectioncode.

State Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, whosponsored HB842, said on the House floor thatLouisiana needed to temporarily revert to an open primary because the secretary of statedid not havetimetohold a closed primary and arunoff ahead of the general election.

Louisiana’sSenate primaries remain closed and will be decided when voters gotothe polls Saturday The state adopted aclosed primary system forthe U.S. House and Senate races in 2024 at Landry’sbehest Candidateswho ran for the House in the suspendedelection willhave to sign up to run again. Under HB842, which needs Landry’ssigna-

phonics-based approach known as “the scienceof reading.” Louisiana students are performingjust over a fifth of agrade levelabove their2022level on state readingtests, putting it first among35 statesinreading growth and behind Washington,D.C. Louisiana was one of just five states, plusD.C., where students made any meaningful growth in reading scores from 2022 to 2025.

The nationalpictureis brighterinmath, with almost every state in the analysis seeing improved math scores during thatperiod. Again,Louisiana was a leader: Students performed roughly .43 of agrade level above their 2022 levels, landing Louisiana atsecond place out of 38 states, and third, including D.C.,inmathgrowth

“While much of the country is still recovering from learning loss,” Gov. Jeff Landry saidduring anews conferenceWednesday at Park Elementary School in Baton Rouge, “we’re not catching up —we’re leading.”

Annualimprovements

Experts and state officials

Passing SB121 Wednesday morning overcame severalhurdles, although the outcome never seemed in doubt. The Senate and Governmental AffairsCommittee tookhours of oftenemotional testimony from dozens of people on Friday who objected to the Republican plans, as hundreds of other critics congregated in the hallway and nearby committee rooms. The committeereconvened at 7p.m. Tuesday and didn’tpass the new congressional map until 4:25 a.m.on Wednesday More people testified against theRepublicaneffort, and the debategot heated at one point between Sen Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, and Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, the sponsor of SB121.

ELECTION 2026

ture to take effect, qualifyingdates would run from Aug. 5toAug. 7. HB842 was passed hours after the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee held atense overnight hearing to redraw Louisiana’scongressional map.

Alandmarkdecision

In the wake of aSupreme Court ruling that declared Louisiana’sexisting mapunconstitutional, Republicansinthe state have movedto createamap that would give their party more seatsduring the upcoming midterms.

Louisiana hassix House seats Twoare held by Black Democrats, who picked up aseat in 2024 after Landry and the Legislature responded to civil rights litigation by adding asecond majority-Black district. The rest of the seats are held by Republicans.

Cade Brumley, state superintendent of education, center, receives applause Wednesdayduring apresentation at Park Elementaryin Baton Rouge.

pointtoafew reasons for Louisiana’sstrong academic growth.

Startingin2021,Louisianaadoptedseveral policies modeled after ones that helped Mississippi students make major reading gains. Teachers weretrainedin research-based readinginstruction that focuses largely on sounding outwords, and many schools hired literacy coaches.The state also adopted new reading assessments for younger students and launchedtutoring programs for struggling readers.

“Tobethe only state above its pre-pandemic levels in both math and reading shows what’s possible when state leadersstick with evidence-basedinterventionsand give districts the support they need to follow through, said ThomasKane, aHarvard professor who helpedcreate the Education Scorecard, in astatement.

Butsome school districts, including St. Charles, Vernon and St.Mary parishes, continuetolag behind 2019 levels in reading, according to the report. Others, such as Vernon, St. Martin and St. Landry parishes, lag in

Republicansrejected Senate Bill 407 bySen.EdPrice, D-Gonzales, that wouldcreate two winnabledistricts for Democrats without eitherhaving amajority of Black voters. In the end, four Republicansonthe committee— Sens. Greg Miller of Norco, Mike Fesi of Houma and Blake MiguezofNew Iberia—consistently outvoted the threeDemocrats: Sens. Regina Barrow of Baton Rouge, Duplessis and Jenkins.

“It’satough votefor everybody,”Sen.Caleb Kleinpeter,R-Port Allenand the committee chair,said in an interview Wednesday.“We allhave relationshipsinthis building. It doesn’t matterif you’reBlack, White,Democrat, Republican.”

Legislators expect the Senate onThursdaytopass the committee-adoptedbill virtually intact. Morris on Wednesday said colleagues are bombarding him with requested tweaks. “A map never makes everybody happy,” he said in an interview After the Senatepasses SB121, the bill wouldbe heard by the House and Governmental Affairs Committee. Its chair,Rep. Beau Beaullieu,R-New Iberia said Wednesday that he doesn’tknow yet when it will hear thebill. In this fall’selections, thenew mapwouldeliminate Fields’district, which runs from Baton Rouge to Shreveport,picking up Black-majority precincts along the way.The Legislature andLandry created that

Previously,just oneofLouisiana’s Houseseats was in amajority-Black district. About one-third of Louisiana’spopulation is Black

Using the Voting Rights Act, civil rights lawyers argued that, for Black Louisianans to be fairly represented, candidates favored by the Black community should be able to win twoofthe state’sHouse seats. But the new4-2 map sparked more litigation— this time by Whitevoters who saiditdiscriminated based on race.

That lawsuit, Louisiana v. Callais, went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that lawmakers cannot take race into account when they drawelection maps.Their decision upended theVoting RightsAct, which for decades hasbeen used to ensure Black candidates get aseat at the table.

Otherpolitical battles

The ruling has roiled Louisiana politics,where BlackDemocrats already were upset after Repub-

licanspassedlegislation to merge theNew Orleans civiland criminal clerks’ offices. The law shut CriminalClerk-elect Calvin Duncan out of office; Duncan is aBlack lawyer who overwhelmingly won theelection in November

The Legislature also is considering abill to eliminate some judgeships in Orleans, whichcritics say will also reducethe number of Black elected officialsinthe state. The debate over Louisiana’scongressional maps is part of anational gerrymanderingeffort in which Republicans and Democrats are trying to tilt as many districts as possible in their favor ahead of the November midterms.

OtherRepublican-ledSouthern states,suchasTennesseeand Florida,also moved to eliminate majority-minority districts after the Callais decision. Though theymay no longer consider race, lawmakers areallowedtoconsiderpolitical party and worktoprotect incumbents when they draw voting maps

math

Improvement across districts nationally has been U-shaped, researchers said, withmore growth seen among the highest-income and lowest-income school systems than in middleincome districts, which receivedless federalaid during the pandemic than their low-income peers.

Louisianagot about$4 billion in federal aid tohelp K-12 schools recover from the COVID-19 disruptions. The funds allowed Louisianatospend nearly $6,000 perchild —above the national average of $3,700 on summer learning and tutoring

The report warns that chronicabsenteeism could jeopardize students’ progress. While most states’ absenteeismnumbers improved post-pandemic, Louisianastill struggles to get kids back in the classroom, reportinga 22% absenteeismrate last year —5 percentage points above 2019.

Brumley said the state hasmadeaconcerted effort over the past two years to address the issue, working with districts to standardize attendance data collection and assemble teams to address the causes of absenteeism.

During the pandemic, “school became optional in the minds of some people,” he said. “We’restill working to overcome that mindset.”

TheAssociated Press and staff writer Charles Lussier contributed reporting.

POLICE

Continued from page1A

But otherstate andfederal probes sputtered, and the familyreopenedthe lawsuit in February of last year

Five troopers and aUnion Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy were named as defendants in thefamily’scivil complaint.

State Police agreed to pay $4.8 million to settlethe case, the source said, specifically claims involving troopers John Clary,Dakota DeMoss, Kory York andChris Hollingsworth,who hassincedied.

The settlementissubject to agreement from the joint legislative budget committee.

The settlement also named ChristopherHarpin, aformer Union Parish deputy,making him responsible for $50,000 in thedeal

State Policespokesperson Lt. KateStegall said Tuesday eveningthat the agency “is unable to discussthe terms of thesettlement at this time, as the process hasnot yetbeenfinalized.”

All of the troopers named in thesettlement negotiations had previously been criminallycharged in the case, though some hadtheir charges dropped.

York, aformer master trooper whofaced the most seriouscharges, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery in Greene’sdeath andagreed to testify in a plea deal. He was originally charged withnegligent homi-

cide and malfeasance. York was shown on body camera videodragging Greene’s body by the ankles and holding him prone on the roadside shortlybefore he died. DeMoss was initially chargedwith obstruction in the casefor turning off his body camera audio on thenight of Greene’sdeath, butthe indictmentwas later quashed. Clary was also originally charged withmalfeasance of officeand obstructionofjustice,but the charges werelater dropped. Hollingsworth diedina car crash the same day he was told he would be fired over his roleinGreene’sdeath. Harpin pleaded no contest in 2025 to amisdemeanor simple battery charge related to Greene’sdeath. In January 2025, federal prosecutors told Greene’s family they would not file criminal chargesagainst the troopers.

Aseparate bid by the local district attorney to bring state criminal charges also flailed, withnoneofthe troopersreceiving time behind bars. Findings of athree-year “pattern or practice” probe by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which included adetermination that State Police“engage in astatewide pattern of using excessiveforce,” were also scrapped after President Donald Trump took office and abandoned such investigationsnationwide Staff writerMissy Wilkinson contributed to this report.

majority seat in the 2024 redistricting that created Fields’ district, would be the instantfront-runnerfor the new 6th District, if he chooses to run.

district in 2024 when they approved the current map Under the new map, each district would have slightly more than 776,000 residents. Nearly half of the voters in Carter’sdistrict would live in New Orleans and a third wouldbeinJefferson Parish, mostly on thewest bank. Thedistrictwould stretch up theMississippi River into East Baton Rouge and Iberville parishes

The new map would move East Baton Rougeand Livingston parishes out of the 5thCongressional District —which is currently held by U.S.Rep.Julia Letlow andorientthe district more

towardMonroe. Whomight run?

Misti Cordell, aRepublican in Monroe appointed by Landry to chair the state Board of Regents, was already running forthe 5th District seatunder themap thatthe SupremeCourt nullified.She saidonWednesdaythatthe mapapproved earlier thatmorning is even better for her State Rep. Michael Echols, R-Monroe, also said he likes the new district Sen. Stewart Cathey,RMonroe, saidhewould run for thatsame seat. Fields’ 6th Congressional

District would nowhavea White-majority and be centered in Baton Rouge.

StateSen.RickEdmonds, R-Baton Rouge, said he plans to run for that seat.

State Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-Baton Rouge, who has expressed adesire to run for the House, said he didn’tlike thenew districtbecause it puts him in Carter’sdistrict.

“I like to live in the district where Irun,” McMakin said. McMakin said he would try to amend his homeintothe district when SB121 goes before theHouse andGovernmental Affairs Committee. McMakin saidthat Garret Graves, who lost his White-

Graves didn’trespond to a text asking forhis thoughts. Miguez was running to replace Letlow in the 5th Congressional District, although he doesn’tlive in thedistrict He didn’t respond to atext asking whether he still plans to run forthe House. Republicans didn’tseem to have aclear path forward in the immediate aftermath of the SupremeCourt ruling and Landry’sdecision to cancel the elections because the Legislature would have to makeacontentious decision to eliminate one Blackmajority district by pitting Fields against Carter But Fields solved that issue last week by announcing he would not run against Carter Also weighing in on the overallshape of thecongressional map were U.S. Rep.SteveScalise,whose 1st Congressional District mostly surrounds New Orleans, andHouse Speaker Mike Johnson, whose 4th Congressional District stretchesfromShreveport to Lake Charles. “You always take incumbency into account when you do redistricting,” Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie anda formerlegislative aide to Scalise, said in an interview In astatement, Scalise said he is confident thatstate legislators “will producea newmap that providesfair representation andprotects communities of interest.”

Well, if youenjoyedthe weatheryesterday, you’re gonna love it again today.Expect asunny, warmand humid daywithalight breeze. Temperatures thisafternoon are slightly aboveaverage, rising into the upper 80s. Our windsare light and out of the north at 5 mph, bringing dryair intoSouthwestLouisiana, butthe windsare probably too light to have asignificant impact on our dewpoints. Rain chances todayare at zero and Idon’t anticipate that changing at least until Monday.

Author of children’s book on griefgets life sentence forkilling herhusband

JudgesaysKouri Richinsis‘simply toodangerous to ever be free’

BY HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press

PARK CITY,Utah AUtah mother who published a children’sbook aboutgrief after the death of her husband will serve alifesentence without the possibility of parole for his murder, ajudge ruled Wednesday Kouri Richins wasconvicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing her husband Eric Richins’ cocktail with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City in 2022. Ajury also found her guilty of four other felonies, including insurance fraud, forgery and attempted murder for trying to poison her husband weeks earlier on Valentine’sDay with afentanyl-laced sandwich. Judge Richard Mrazik said Richins is “simplytoo dangerous to everbefree” when handing down the sentence on the day that her husband would have turned 44. Her attorneys said they will appeal the conviction and sentence. Richins has been adamantinmaintaining she is innocent, saying Wednesday that theverdict was “an absolute lie.” Richins stood at the podium in alime green jail uniform as she asked her sons, who were not present in court, “Please just don’t give up on me.” She encouraged them to always “be like your dad.” Prosecutors said Richins, a35-year-oldreal estate

agentwitha house-flipping business, was millions in debt and planning afuture with another man. She had opened numerous life insurance policies on her husband without his knowledge and falsely believed shewould inherit his estate worth more than $4 million after hedied Eric Richins’ father,Eugene Richins, had urged Mrazik to impose alife sentence without the possibility of parole to protect his grandsons,who were ages 9, 7and 5when their father died.

“Thissentence is important soEric’sthree sons never have to live with the fear that the person responsible for taking their father could ever harm them again,” hesaid

The case captivated truecrime enthusiastswhen Richins wasarrested in 2023 while promoting her children’s book about aboy copingwith the deathofhis father

Sons saythey’re afraid Richins’ sons “are not props for sometwistedchildren’s book about griefand loss, andyet that iswhat they’vebeenreduced to by Kouri,”said her sister-in-law Katie Richins-Benson,who now has the boys in her care.

Socialworkers read letters fromthe sons, who allsaid they would feel unsafe if their mother was ever released from prison. The children said Richins threatened to kill their animals and showed them videos of famished children in war zones when they refused to eat undercooked food.

“You took away my dad for no reason other than greed, andyou only cared about yourselfand your stupid boyfriends,” said the middle son, now 11. He described having to “beaparent” to his younger brother because his mother did not

watch over them. Richins made the boy paranoid about sitting on his dad’s side of thebed,saying he might die, too, he alleged.

The oldestson, now 13, said he also felt like he had to takecare of his siblings and noted that his mother often would lock him inside his room while she drank.

“I will and have always prioritized your safety,” Richins said in court after hearing her sons’ statements

Greg Hall,alongtime friend and business associate of Richins, told reporters he was disappointed by thesentence and urged people to “haveanopenmind” about her

Trialcut shortbydefense

Thetrial was scheduled for five weeks but ended earlywhen herdefense team rested its case without callingany witnesses. Her attorneys saidthey were confident thatprosecutorshad notproduced enough evidence to convict her of murder

The jury deliberatedfor just under three hours before finding her guilty of all counts.

During the trial, prosecutors showed the jury text messages between Richins andher lover in which she fantasized about leavingher husbandand gaining millions in adivorce. Prosecutors also displayed the internetsearch history from Richins’ phone, which included queries about the lethal dose of fentanyl, luxury prisons andhow poisoning is marked on adeath certificate.

The defense arguedthat Eric Richins was addicted to painkillers. Prosecutors countered by showingpolice body camera footage from the night of his death in whichKouri Richinstells an officer that her husband hadnohistory of illicit drug use.

BY DAVE COLLINS Associated Press

It’sa mystery on the streets of NewYork City.What trafficlaw violator with unpaid fines is driving ablack Pontiac Trans Am that looks like the car with thetalking computer from the 1980s TV series“Knight Rider,”and even has the same license plate?

Officials at an Illinois museum are among thepeople who would like to know.The Volo MuseumnearChicago,which has areplica of theshow’s Trans Am that hasn’tmoved from its exhibit in years, recently received a$50 trafficticket from the Big Apple, alleging its car was doing 36 mphina25mph zone in Brooklyn on April 22. The ticket came complete with traffic cameraphotosshowing ablack TransAm with the California license plate KNIGHT, the same plateasthe car on the show and the novelty oneonthe museum’s unregistered car.The licenseplate is also connected to five other unpaid trafficviolations in New York Citysincelate 2024, city records show

How thecity linked the plate to the museum was not immediately clear.City officials did notimmediately respond to emailand phone messages Wednesday

“The fact that we’re legally tied to amovie prop is interesting,” said Jim Wojdyla, the museum’smarketing director.“We’re known for having our Hollywood cars from TV and movies, but Ihave no idea howwe

got registered from aticket in NewYork to theplates in California to the Volo Museum in Illinois. We’re still trying to figure it out.” The museum has requested ahearing challenging the ticket.

“It’sreally amusing,”Wojdyla said. “We want to find outwho this Knight Rider guy is because, birds of afeather.Wejust want to know is this from amuseum, is this just aguy that built this car as ahobby? Andit lookspretty damn accurate. We’d like to meet those guys.”

“Knight Rider” starring David Hasselhoff as acrime fighter aired on NBC from 1982 to 1986 and featured KITT, the black Trans Am with asnarky talking computer.(KITT stands for Knight Industries TwoThousand). Around 20 KITTs werebuilt forthe show but only five of the originals remain, Road &Track magazine has reported. There are also numerous replicas around, includingthe museum’s.The Facebook group Knight Rider KITT Car Club for people who own replicas has nearly 19,000 members. According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, aperson with the last

Lafayette school system a top performer

National report ranks district among best in Louisiana

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

The Lafayette Parish school system remains one of Louisiana’s topperforming districts, according to the national 2025 Education Scorecard released Wednesday

The national report highlights Lafayette Parish as a district out-

performing expectations in both achievement and academic growth, particularly in reading and literacy recovery, according to a news release by Tracy Wirtz, the school system’s communications director

The report summarizes academic performance from the 2008-09 school year through the 2024-25 school year based on data from the

Stanford Education Data Archive, which is based on standardized tests in math and reading language administered to all public school students in grades 3-8.

The report found:

n Lafayette students performed better in math achievement than about 64% of districts nationwide and outperformed approximately

61% of districts nationally in math growth.

n In reading, Lafayette outperformed approximately two-thirds of districts nationwide in both achievement and academic growth.

n Lafayette students have surpassed pre-pandemic performance levels in both math and reading, continuing a trend of steady academic improvement.

n Lafayette Parish is a nationally competitive academic system

and one of Louisiana’s strongestperforming public school districts.

The report also shows disparities among students in Lafayette Parish public schools by race and poverty level.

“These results are important because they measure more than a single test score,” Superintendent Francis Touchet said in the release.

“They measure growth over time

Amy Schwarzenbach enjoys her daily walk with her three canine companions Willie, from left,

Girard Park in Lafayette on Wednesday

Authorities in St. Mary Parish have arrested a Mississippi woman in connection with a 2021 death investigation, according to the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office. Stephanie Nicole Albritton, 40, of Mississippi, was arrested Tuesday on a warrant for second-degree murder and obstruction of justice. According to investigators, deputies responded on April 26, 2021, to a residence in Centerville after receiving a report of an unresponsive person. Upon arrival, a deputy made contact with Stephanie Morgan, who stated her husband, Mark Morgan, had used drugs and was unresponsive Acadian Ambulance personnel later pronounced him dead at the scene. Officials said the case remained under investigation for several years before new evidence

Detectives

and

McNeese presidential search narrows

BY MEGAN WYATT Staff writer

State Sen Mike Reese, a Republican from Leesville, and Dee Dee Anderson, vice chancellor for student life at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, have been named finalists for the next president of McNeese State University

One other semifinalist Wayne Brumfield of Buffalo State Uni-

versity — was not chosen by a search committee to advance to interviews with the full UL system board of supervisors next week.

The three semifinalists pitched their ideas during campus interviews Tuesday and Wednesday with faculty staff, students, alumni, community leaders and committee members.

The decision on the finalists came Wednesday afternoon after the search committee in-

terviewed each semifinalist, then met in executive session.

Voting members of the committee include six members of the UL system board of supervisors, along with McNeese Faculty Senate Vice President Joanna Thompson. Nonvoting committee members include UL system President Rick Gallot and 15 southwest Louisiana leaders. There was no public comment or committee discussion before the unanimous vote to advance

Reese and Anderson, but UL system board Chair Mark Romero thanked the committee for its work.

“I know that you did quite a deep dive in investigating each candidate’s worthiness, from the standpoint of originally kicking off this committee to selecting finalists for review,” Romero said. “The work today hopefully will reflect a path leading to a great president that will really really bring McNeese to the next level.” The presidential search comes after Wade Rousse, who was selected in 2024 as McNeese’s

OPINION

Ourpicks for constitutional amendmentson May16ballot

Voters will weigh in on five proposedconstitutional amendments in Saturday’s election. The Times-Picayune and Advocatenewspapers make these recommendations.

Amendment 1: Job creation outside the state civil service system. No State employees fall into two categories: classified workers whose employmentisoverseen by the Civil Service Commission andwho have certain jobprotections, and unclassified employees who serve at will. Amendment 1would allowthe Louisiana Legislature to shift jobs from classified to unclassified without commission approval.

The idea behind the proposal is to make government agencies more nimble; amongother things, putting more jobs into theunclassified categorywould make it easier to hire and fire workers.

We support the goal of making government work better for citizens, but we are concerned that the amendment could lead to large-scale disruptions of the workforce and reintroduce thesortofpolitical influence thatcivil service was designed to prevent

Amendment 2: New public school districtin the city of St. George. Yes.

The fight overapotential school districtfor the St. George region of East Baton Rouge Parishhas raged formorethana decade; in fact, it is what led to the incorporation in 2024 of the new city Amendment 2asks voters statewide to allow thenew district to raise local revenue andto draw down money through thestate financing formula for public schools, key stepstoward making the break from theEast BatonRouge Parish school system.

We have expressed concernsoverhow anew schooldistrictwould impact other students in the parish. But we alsonotethatSt. George schoolsystemsupportershave gonethrough the process laid out before them

Amendment 3: Dissolveeducation trust funds and raise teacher pay. Yes.

Louisiana’s educatorswould get amodest but permanent raise, rather than theone-time stipends lawmakers have been doling outin recent years, if voters approve thisamendment. Money for an additional annual $2,250 forteachersand $1,125 for support staff would befreed up by dissolving three education trustfunds and paying down retirement debt.

Interest and investmentreturns fromthese funds are currently used forvariousneeds, including higher education andearly childhood education. If the amendmentpasses, legislators indicate they’ll find other resources to keep fundingthese priorities, andwehopetheydo.

Amendment 4: Local optiononbusiness inventory property tax. Yes.

This amendment wouldallow local parishes, at their own discretion, to reduce or eliminate the tax now assessed on business inventories. Louisiana’sinventory tax isananachronistic and costly administrativeburden thatputsLouisiana jurisdictions at acompetitive disadvantage to the 41 states that impose nosuch levy. Because the tax applies not to profits but toinstock inventories, some businesses with small profitmargins are forced to pay taxesashighas their net earnings. That’sanobvious deterrent to small business and ajob killer

Because afew heavilyindustrializedparishes rely on the inventory tax for alargepartof theirgovernment funding, this amendmentdoes not eliminatethe tax automatically butinstead givesparishes achoice.

Amendment 5: Raise mandatoryretirement age for judges. Yes.

Amendment 5would raise themandatory retirement age for judges in Louisiana from70to 75.Thiswould allow judges to runfor terms as long as 10 years if they havenot reached their 75th birthday We think this is areasonable proposalgiven that people are generally livinglongerthanthey once did and that many retired judgesstill work on an ad hoc basis.

Thereare ways U.S. can addressits illegaldrugissue

Fivestepstoameliorate ourillegal drug problem: One, focus on demand, not supply Trying to stop the supply of drugs is awaste of money.Drugs like fentanyl are too small toeasily detect.

Two, the states need to get out of thedrug treatment business and do diagnosis and referral and in-home follow-up of persons treated at privatefacilities or by physicians.

Private facilities will give the states the names of clientswho were discharged in order toget future referrals. In-homefollow-up will illuminate thebest drug treatment programsfor different types of people.

Three, women need their own drug treatment centers. Women addictsare subject to physical and sexual abuse. Separate treatment facilities for juveniles and theelderly are also needed.

Four, drug prevention programs are activities that will keep our youthoccupied.

Drug education programs have produced minimal results. We need activities such as “teen nightclubs”

and sports that let everyoneplay Music, artsand hobbies can be helpful. Schools should require everyone to be part of aschool-approved group.

Five, persons who cannot afford a privatedrug treatment facility can be sent to astate-run facility that does not treat drug addiction but keeps them in adrug-free environment. These facilities would provide work to do, meals and aplace to sleep. Exercise equipmentand a varietyofgames would be available. No cellphones or internet access would be allowed. However,family and friends could visit during the evenings and on weekends. Religious services would exist forthose who desire them. The beauty of these facilities is that they will be inexpensive to run as they do not require any professional staff. Plus, these drugfree facilities will serve as acontrol group for thehighly expensive privatetreatment centers.

JAYWIERIMAN Metairie

Fatherhood is missinglinkinhealthcrisis

As afather of twins, one in heaven and one here on earth, this thought weighs on me often.

After losing my daughter,Imade adecision in my son’shospital room: no father should feel unprepared, unseen or unsupported during one of themost critical moments in his life.

In Louisiana, we highlight maternal health, infant mortality,early childhood and family stability,and we should. Butthere is agap in those conversations. We continue to overlook a major factor in improving these outcomes: fathers. Since that loss, I’ve dedicated my time to helping fathers show up for their families from pregnancy through postpartum and beyond. I’ve led workshops, hosted events and served in leadership roles advancing fatherhood engagement. Yet, despite thework, fathers are still treated as an afterthought. That doesn’tmake sense. When fathers are present and supported,

outcomes improve for mothers, children and communities. We see it in maternal health, child development and reduced stress at home, leading to stronger family systems. We also seethe consequences when fathers are left out, especially in communities impacted by incarceration.Rebuilding those family connections is central toour DadReady model andoften thedifference between breaking cycles or repeating them.

If we are serious about strengthening families, we must be just as intentional about preparing and supporting fathers as we are about supporting mothers. Thisisn’tabout choosing one over the other; it’s about recognizing what’smissing. The work is happening. It’s just not being seen, funded or scaled. Fatherhood is familyhood. Will we continue to overlook it or finally invest in it?

ANDRE APPARICIO founder of Dad-A-Port

We don’t have to accept senseless killingsinLa.

Have we had enough yet? In one week: eight children killed in Shreveport, one teen killed and five wounded in Baton Rouge, and one massshooting suspect intercepted before he could murder people at Jazz Fest. How’s everyone enjoying their freedom? Louisiana is one of the nation’smost gun-friendly states. As of 2024, we allow concealed carry without apermit, allowing anyone to carry firearmsvirtually anywhere. When there are no rules and no checks on firearms, you get dead teenagers at the mall. Youget dead children at school. Youget anation of people so convinced of the necessity of unchecked gun rights that they will watch the carnage flow again and again and never put twoand twotogether Mental health is often blamed as the culprit, rather than lax gun laws, but it’snot either-or.Two things can be true. And besides, cries forbetter mental health services are ahollow argument unless one is ready to vote for universal healthcare.

Our health insurers have sold us out, the gun lobby has sold us out and our lawmakers have sold us out. Until we the people decide we’ve had enough, the senseless killings will continue unchecked. MOLLYCLEAVER NewOrleans

Voters forced to choose partycan choose to create confusion

Avery large group of Louisiana voters whohave been abandoned by both dysfunctional political parties and are now listed as “NoParty” are being forced by the Republican Party to choose aparty in order to vote in the upcoming congressional primary election. Ithink it would be agreat idea if we all chose the Democratic Party, whether intending to vote that way in November or not. It would send amessage to the Republican Party leaders, not that Ithink they care, and it would confuse them and the political pundits trying to predict the general election. At least we could have alittle fun while submitting to our mandate. BO BIENVENU Prairieville

La.man on amission forUkraine

Even as Ukraine is reportedly turning the tide against Russia’saggression, itsdefensive war rarely garners much news coverageanymore. Nonetheless, New Orleanian Arnie Fielkow is on a mission to rouse more grassroots American support for Ukraine’scause It’sarighteous mission.

Quin Hillyer

Fielkow,whose past public roleshave included being aSaints executive,city council member,and CEO ofthe Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, is embarking on asix-month assignment leading Communities for Ukraine, aproject ofthe New York-based Razomfor Ukraine. Razom, whichmeans “together” in Ukrainian, is rated by both Forbes andFortune magazines among the top 10 nonprofit organizations in Ukraine,and arguably is the most prominent U.S.-based proUkrainian outfit. It saysithas delivered $205 million in aid to that Eastern European nation since the 2013-14 Maidan movement that threw out apuppetgovernmentcontrolled by Moscow

The timing of Fielkow’snew undertaking is fortuitous, as will shortly be explained, but first, IaskedFielkowhow he got involved.

“In 2007, when my wife and Iadopted two beautiful Ukrainian daughters, itbegan my 20-year love affair with the country,” Fielkow said. His family traveled there several times before the war,and Fielkow himself has made fourseparate trips there (or to itsborder) since Russia’sbrutal invasiononFeb. 24, 2022

On his first visit, just weeks afterthe invasion, he visited atrain stationinSlovakia about 5miles from the Ukrainian border,where he met agroup of about 30 orphan children and their one adult leader fleeing the highly volatile war.

“They were freezing,” Fielkowsaid of conditions which, in that month, saw regular temperature drops atnight to about 32 degrees. “And Ithought that, but for the grace of God, these kids could have been my daughters.” Fielkow handed them about 50 warm knit caps from the Black and Gold Sports Shop in Metairie, featuring Saints colors and logos, and, he said, “you would have thought Iwas giving them gold, as they were so excitedto receive anything.”

Not that this was the point —the warmth was the goal —but he said he

thinks he inadvertently created acadre of Saintsfans in Eastern Europe.

More poignant still was when, on the sametrip,sponsored by the Jewish Federation of North America, he was on thePolish-Ukrainian border when aUkrainianman tooold for military serviceappeared, carrying little else except asmallish box thatheobviously treasured.

Proddedtosay what was in the box, the man explained thatduring World WarII, hisparentshad hidden numerousJews, protecting them from theNazis. Yearslater,the YadVashem World HolocaustMuseum in Israel had added his parents to itsfamous Righteous Among the Nations list of some 28,000 people who “took great risks to save Jews duringthe Holocaust.”

In thebox that the man dared not leave behind in Ukraine —this was when most ofthe world still thought theRussiansweregoing to completely overrunhis country —was the medal giventohis parents from YadVashem.

Fielkow:“The man said that‘80 years ago, myparentshelped your Jewish community escape the Nazis and Iwant youtoknowthat today your community is helping my family escape awar.’ The entireroomwas crying.”

Anyway, Fielkow has continued to be involved withRazom’s efforts,and nowhewill shepherdthis six-month program. In it,Fielkow will lead athreepersonteam on threetrips to key U.S. statestobuild moregrassroots engage-

ment on behalf of Ukraine through meetings with interested citizens,business leaders, journalistsand local officials. This Sunday,the team starts visiting threecities in Florida, beginning withMiami, which has asubstantial number of Ukrainian refugees. Another trip will visit New Orleans,Baton Rouge and Shreveport.Another will go to New York, Pittsburgh and one other cityin Pennsylvania to be determined. All this occursagainst thebackdrop of multiple reportsinAmerican media —not prominent enough, but still reports —thatUkraine may now have the upper hand as Russia’s manpower and economy arewaning. This is exactly what was predicted lastSeptember by former Tulane provost and leading Russian-affairs expert Fred Starr,who told me thenthat “Russia is definitely and unquestionably losing this war.” Ukraine’sremarkable courage, along withits astonishing advances in drone technology and advancement,may indeed be putting dictator Vladimir Putin on his heels All of which makes Fielkow’sawareness-raising jobeven more important. National lawmakersneed to hear that Americans still want their country to materially support Ukraine, in order to end the war on favorable termsand ensurethatPutin is chastened beyond repair

Email Quin Hillyer at quin.hillyer@ theadvocate.com

Living in aDemocraticfantasy world

Anew poll suggests that asizable number of Democrats —more than 40% in some cases—believethe attempts on President Donald Trump’s life were fake.

The poll, which surveyed 1,000 Americans over the age of 18, was conducted by NewsGuard andYouGov.Itaskedpeople to respond to three statements:

“The assassination attempt againstDonaldTrump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April 2026 was staged.”

Thehilarious Rubio meme is making Americalaugh

ocratic respondents.

findings wasthat theassassination attempt that seemed mostundeniably real —the Butler incident —was the eventthe largest number of Democrats characterized as fake. On that day, Trumpwas shot and was visibly bleeding, while one man was killed andtwo others were seriously wounded, all of it captured on video and still pictures by several press photographers. And now many people, mostofthem Democrats, cannot accept that it happened.

“The assassination attempt against Donald Trump at aTrump presidential campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July2024 was staged.

“The assassination attempt against Donald Trump at Trump International Golf Club in September 2024 was staged.”

The pollsters found that 34%of Democrats said the Correspondents Dinner attempt was staged; 42% of Democrats said the Butler shooting was staged; and 26% said the Trump golf club incident was staged.

By way of contrast, 13% of Republicans said the Correspondents Dinner attempt was staged; 7% of Republicans said the Butler shooting was staged; and 7% said the Trump golf club incident was staged.

The Republican numbers are bad enough, reflecting an information system and troubled culture in whichfewer and fewer people believewhat they read and watch. But the Democratic numbers are off the scale, reflecting something far beyond that —a political atmosphere in which some people will believe anything abouttheirhated opponent,that he is afascist,adictator and aman who would stageelaborate phony assassination attemptsfor political gain. One striking aspect of thepoll’s

TheNewsGuard analysis notes that, “Minutes after Secret Service escorted ableeding Trump off thestage, social media lit up with claims that the shooting was staged, arguing, forexample, that Trumpfaked the shooting witha‘blood pill’ and that photojournalistsatthe scene had been tipped off. Nearly two years later, that narrative continues to gain traction, with claims by some social media users that an actual Russian plot to stage an assassination in Hungary that never came to fruition is proof that the Pennsylvaniarally shooting was also staged.”

Thepoll questions gave respondents theoption of saying they were “not sure” whether each of the assassination attempts was staged or not. When you combine thenumberofpeople who said that aparticular event was definitely staged with those who said they were not sure whether it was staged, youget amajority of Americanswho question thereality of the Trumpassassination attempts. Forthe Butler shooting, acombined 53% said it was staged or they werenot sure; for the Correspondents Dinner, 56% percentsaid it was staged or they were not sure; and for thePalm Beach golfcourse incident, 52% said it was staged or they were not sure. Again, these figureswere dominated by Dem-

These are huge numbers of people who believe theassassination attempts are massive lies or might be lies. The numbers are so striking that NewsGuard included an editorial note: “After we received these resultsfrom YouGov,wewere so surprised by the survey findings that we asked YouGov to go back and recheck the data. They did so and confirmed their findings.”

For Democrats,the resultsare reminiscent of earlier polls that measured credulity about the most sensational allegations in the Trump-Russia controversy of the president’s first term. In late 2018, the Economist and YouGov asked respondents about this statementconcerning the2016 election: “Russia tampered with vote tallies in order to get Donald Trumpelected president.” Wasittrue or false?

First of all, the statement was clearly false; there has never been any evidence that Russia tampered with vote tallies in the2016 U.S. presidential election.

But31% of Democrats told pollsters thestatementwas “definitely” true, and another 36% of Democrats said it was “probably” true. That was atotal of 67% of Democrats —two-thirds of theparty —who believed Russia definitely or probably tampered with 2016 votetallies.

Of course, at that time, experiencing fantasies about Trumpand Russia was an everyday experience for many Democrats and their allies in the press. Indeed, watching some news coverage from thetime, who wouldn’tbelieve thewildest stories about Trump? Now, thephenomenon has been updated with new material —the assassination attempts —but thewillingness to believe anything is the same.

Email Byron York at byork@washingtonexaminer.com.

“My favorite thing about our current politics” is not aphrase Iuse alot. In fact, it’saphrase Idon’tuse at all. Covering politics today is a grim dance between the vicious and the idiotic, between repulsion and despair.Itisthe journalistic equivalent of bonking your temples with a ball-peen hammer.Repeatedly Except forthe lone ray of sunshine that cut through the poisonous fogofthe culture war, the one wanhope that escaped from whatever bargain-basement Pandora’sbox launched us into this demented era. Ispeak, of course, of the Marco Rubio meme.

For those whoare not wasting too much time on social media, Ican finally say you are missing out. Rubio memes are the mostdelightful thing to hit modern politics in decades. The entire family can enjoy them, from your MAGA uncle to your #NeverTrumpniece, from your “resistance lib” cousin to your “abundance bro” brother The gag is simple. Remember when Rubio kept adding new jobs to his portfolio? First, President Donald Trumpplucked him from the Senate to becomeSecretary of State. Next thing we knew,Rubio took on roles as interim national security adviser and acting archivist of the United States. Well, somemerry memester figured out it would be funny to makepictures of Rubio finding out he had yet another job. Like “president of Venezuela,” which seemstobeanearly example of this meme, posted soon after the U.S. military operation in the South American nation in January Soon, the memes werejoyously multiplying. There wasRubio finding out he was the new manager of Manchester United. Or the new shah of Iran. And then there’smyfavorite, the artificial intelligence-generated video of Rubio discovering he’sthe new chief executive of Anthropic.

People whoshare the memes may have wildly differing viewsonthe underlying events at which they gently poke fun. But whether you view the Venezuela raid as atriumph or awar crime, you can still get agood chuckle out of Rubio costumed up forathird-rate marching band.

Somereaders will be tempted to respond that we shouldn’tmake jokes out of terrible things. But this is exactly the attitude that is making American politics impossible.

Human beings have always told jokes about terrible things because laughter makes those things slightly less terrible to live through. We makelight of our failures and misfortunes, crack wise at funerals and in warzones, jeer at dictatorships and plagues. Because often the alternative is helpless sobbing.

Naturally,itmatters what kind of jokewetell. There are hilarious classic jokes about the stupidity of antisemitism and decidedly unfunny memes where the punch line is “the Jews.” But that’swhat makes the Rubio meme so heartwarming. They’re something we can all laugh about, even when there’snothing to celebrate. Ilived in Manhattan when the newsbroke that President Bill Clinton had been carrying on with White House intern Monica Lewinsky This wasahighly polarizing event, to put it mildly,and my family divided along predictable lines. My Republican relatives thought it was an outrage that should end his presidency, while the Democrats believed it was aprivate matter being scandalously exploited by rapacious Republicans.

In overwhelmingly Democratic Manhattan, the latter sentiment prevailed. New Yorkers werestaunchly behind Clinton and outraged at Republican overreach.

That didn’tmean they couldn’thave funwith it. Everyone —the traders at the bank where Iworked, the real estate ladies at my mother’s office, the guy at the bodega —had aClinton joke they wanted to tell you. The late-night hosts had a field day Today’ssuccessors to Jay Leno and David Letterman trafficless in lighthearted, nonpartisan fluffand moreinself-serious jabs designed to elicit what comedian Seth Meyers has dubbed clapter: an ecstatically enraged audience applauding remarks that tickle their political funny bone, but aren’tactually,well, funny I’mnot suggesting that Rubio memes can cure us of that disease. Like mostmemes, they have too short ashelf lifetopromise any lasting treatment. Already,they are rarer and less funny than they used to be, and soon the internet will turn to something else. But the spirit that animates them doesn’thave to die. As long as Americans push past partisan differences and laugh together,then there’sstill achance we can find moreenduring points of agreement. MeganMcArdle is on X, @asymmetricinfo

Bail denied forex-NorthCarolinaofficer

He planned mass shooting at afestival, police say

BY MARCOCARTOLANO and MISSY WILKINSON Staff writers

Aformer North Carolina law enforcement officer accused of threatening to commit amass shooting at a New Orleans festival willbe held without bail pending a

dangerousness hearing, an Orleans Parish magistrate judge ruled Wednesday Christopher Gillum, 45, was booked into the Orleans JusticeCenter on a felonycountofterrorizing after being extradited from Floridaon Tuesday On Wednesday afternoon, the former Orange County Sheriff’s Office officer of the month satshackled in an orangejumpsuit, his hands steepled at his knees.

Assistant Attorney General DanielSmartasked magistrate commissioner

Robert Blackburn to hold Gillum withoutbail under Article 313, or “Gwen’s Law,”until adangerousness hearing. Defense attorney Dylan Utley agreed,and Blackburn setthe hearing for Wednesday,May 20.

“I’m working withMr. Gillum to hopefully secure his releaseina way that would makeeverybody feel safe,” Utley saidafter Gillum’s first appearance. Gillum wasdetainedat aDestin hotel on April 22, wanted in Orleans Parish for allegedly planning to

travel to afestival in New Orleans to commit amass shooting beforedying by suicide by police, officials said. His family members had alerted law enforcement to his alleged threats to harm “Black people,” prompting police in Burlington, North Carolina, to issueanintelligence bulletin askingfor help locating Gillum Ahead of his arrest,officialssaida vehicle registered to Gillum was spotted by alicense plate reader in Okaloosa Countymultiple

times on April 21. The festival Gillum intended to open fire on was notnamed,but his arrest came aheadofthe first weekend of the New Orleans Jazz &Heritage Festival.

Gillum previously worked for the Chapel Hill Police Department as an officer andfor the Orange County Sheriff’s OfficeinNorth Carolina as adetention officer.Ifconvicted of terrorizing, he faces up to 15 years in prison anda fine of up to $15,000.

Whitetiger rescuedfromLa. nowatCalif.sanctuary

It’s believed she oncebelongedto NBAyoungBoy

Staff reports

Awhite tiger last seen as aweak and unwell cub after its rescue from a Louisiana homeisnow a healthy,full-grown tiger named Nola,asseen in a recent online post by “Animal Planet” documentarian Forrest Galante.

Nola can be seensitting comfortably in alarge tree, with ameal of raw chicken laid out on nearby branches,inthe large, fenced-in outdoor area of the California exotic animal sanctuary where she now lives and plays. Galante visits her —on

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president, changed jobs late last year to become LSU’s president During campus interviews this week, Anderson touted her higher education leadership experience and desire to lead asmaller university like McNeese, which has roughly 6,500 students. Anderson currently manages 700 employees at a large research university, but she emphasized her experience working at smaller universities, including

the other side of the fence —withone of thetiger’s caretakers at theLions, Tigers &Bears animal sanctuary in Alpine, California. “She’sdoingwell,”the sanctuary employee tells Galante.

LouisianaTech,the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and theUniversityof Southern Mississippi.

APineville native, Anderson attended Louisiana Tech and holds adoctorate in educational leadership. She said during interviews this week that she considers Louisianaher homeand is ready to return. If selected,she wouldbe the first woman tolead McNeese. “I feel likethis hasbeen leadinguptoapresidential role,” Anderson told alumni and community members Tuesday.“I’vehad lots of strong experiences, both in the classroom and man-

Thetiger was rescued by authoritiesinlate2017, after theylearned through social media thatshe was being illegally kept as apet in Louisiana —it’sbelieved she was owned by Kentrell Gaulden, the BatonRouge

aging the institution and in working with outsideconstituents —thosetwo halves of the whole that I’ve talked about alot in my answers.”

Reese, aless-traditional candidate who holds abachelor’sdegree in finance and hasnohighereducation work experience, spoke abouthow McNeese is uniquely positioned to meet theworkforce demands for the industries in southwest Louisiana.

AVernon Parishnative, Reeseisagraduateofthe University of Louisiana at Monroe. He has been a managing partner and CEO at Reese Companies since 2001.

mentCenter

Stephanie Morgan. Following that interview and additional investigative steps, authorities obtained awarrant for her arrest. Albritton was taken into custody Tuesday and transported to the St. MaryParish Law EnforcementCenter for booking. Bail was set at $950,000, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Gary Driskell said the Criminal Investigations Division worked with the Lincoln CountySheriff’s Office and the Brookhaven Police Department during the investigation.

Man faces 492child exploitation charges

ASt. Mary Parish man already arrested on childsexual abuse materialcharges is facing hundreds of addi-

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and the data shows Lafayette Parishstudents continue to make meaningful academic gainswhile competing at avery high level

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tional charges as part ofan ongoinginvestigation bythe St.MaryParish Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Henry Manuel Rabelo, 42, was arrested May 13 on a warrantcharging him with 492 countsofchild sexual abuse materialand six counts of sexual abuse of animals.

Rabelo wasinitially arrested April 13 after detectives executed asearch warrant thatled to his apprehension and booking at the St Mary Parish Law Enforcement Centerontwo counts relatedtochild sexual abuse material.

According to investigators, detectiveslater discovered additionalimagesona device belonging to Rabelo as theinvestigation continued. Authorities obtained a warrant for the new charges,whichwere filed May 12. Officials said Rabelo remainsincarcerated at theSt. Mary Parish Law Enforce-

both statewideand nationally.”

Touchet said theresults reflect theSchool Board’s continued focus on the Core Value of Growth by creating strong classroom instruction, maintaining high expectations, and ensuring students continue moving

at 229 Jared Drive in Broussard, saying, “We’re breaking ground on a 22,500-square-foot production facility.” Godley said that the expansion will double Parish’s brewing capacity and allow it to producearound40,000 barrels of beerannually The construction, which will be completed by Manuel Commercial builders, will also includeanew brewhouse, lab, and warehouse andoffice space. “Westarted in Acadiana more than 16 years ago, have ateam of 30+, and are

The St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office said it continues to workasanaffiliate of the Louisiana Internet Crimes AgainstChildren Task Force.

The agency alsoencouraged parents andguardians to monitor children’s internet activity and report suspiciousbehavior to law enforcement or child protection organizations.

Lafayette woman arrested in stabbing

ALafayette woman has been arrested in connection withastabbing thatleft one personhospitalizedearlier this month.

Police identified thesuspect as TorrayneyshaRobertson, 26, of Lafayette.

According to Lafayette police, thestabbinghappened May4 at 4:56 p.m. in the800 blockofMartinLutherKing Drive.

Investigators saya Lafay-

forwardacademically each year “Wewant families to know that LPSSschoolscontinue to deliver results,” Touchet said.“Our students are growing, achieving, and proving they can compete withsome of the strongest districts in thecountry.”

distributing beer acrossthe South,”according to ParishBrewing Company’s Facebook post. “Weare excited to growright here at home. In this next chapter …more innovation, more high-qualitybeers, more markets, and more of what makes Parish one of the top breweries and astaplein your beer fridge.”

Awhite tiger cub seized by Louisiana Departmentof Wildlife and Fisheries plays withabottle at Lions, Tigers & Bears animal sanctuaryin Alpine, Calif.

SCREENSHOT PROVIDED By LIONS, TIGERS &BEARS

rapperwho goes by NBA YoungBoy Gauldencan be seen in aFacebook post from that time, talking to alittle white tiger cub lyingona sofa in ahouse. The cub was cared for at

He hasrepresented portions of Beauregard, Calcasieu, Rapides and Vernon parishes in thestate Senate since 2019 andhas served on several boards and committees

If selected, Reese would follow in therole of his predecessor,Rousse, who had aless traditional academic background before becoming auniversitypresident “McNeese is in this really unique opportunity to exploreanontraditional leader because they’ve already developedthese great institutional leaders,” Reese said in aTuesday interview.“You’ve got all that expertise covered, and what

ette Parish sheriff’s deputy was flagged down near North UniversityAvenue and Cameron Street after reports of astabbing victim inside a private vehicle.The deputy called for an ambulance, and paramedics treated thevictim at the scenebeforetaking her to alocal hospital. Police determined the stabbing occurred duringaphysical altercation.

The victim was listedin stable condition. Robertson was charged withattemptedseconddegree murder and booked intothe Lafourche Parish Jail. Authoritiessay she will be extradited back to Lafayette Parish.

first by the Audubon Nature InstituteinNew Orleans, then arrangements were made for her to go to the California animal sanctuary

The baby tigersuffered from parasites, had no fur on herfaceand wasmalnourished when authorities rescued her,the sanctuary employeetells Galante in the recent video.

But that’sall behind Nola now Galante, whose Animal Planetshow“Extinct or Alive” follows him traveling the globe searching for animals he believes to be wrongly classified as extinct, speaks to the camera witha bitofperhaps tongue-in-cheek advice. “Don’tbea rapper,and if youare arapper, don’tget atiger,” he says.

we’ve got to do is enhance our external affairs.”

The full UL system board is scheduled to interview the finalists and vote to approve McNeese’snext president during apublic meeting at 10 a.m.Tuesday in Baton Rouge.

LOTTERY

TUESDAY,MAY 12, 2026

PICK 3: 2-8-5

PICK 4: 6-3-3-2

PICK 5: 8-4-8-7-9

MEGA MILLIONS: 17-32-35-40-47

MEGA BALL: 17

Unofficial notification, keep your tickets

SPORTS

Saints set to play Steelers in Paris

Teams will face off in league’s first

BY JEFF DUNCAN Staff writer

The Pittsburgh Steelers are the Saints’ opponent for their Week 7 game in Paris, the NFL announced Wednesday

The game, which will be the first NFL contest in France, will be played Oct. 25 at Stade de France. Kickoff is set for 8:30 a.m. It will be the Saints’ fourth regular-season contest overseas following prior appearances (2008, 2017 and 2022) in London.

“It is a privilege for the New Orleans Saints to take part in the NFL’s first regular

season game in France,” Saints owner Gayle Benson said in a statement. “Louisiana’s relationship with France is centuries deep, and this game represents another meaningful step in strengthening those cultural and economic ties.”

The six-time Super Bowl champion Steelers were a bit of a surprise after media reports in February indicated the Cleveland Browns would serve as the Saints’ opponent for the game, which was part of the league’s nine-game International Series. The NFL is expected to announce the full schedule for the 2026 regular season Thursday

At the time, Benson denied the initial reports that the Browns would play in Paris, saying the opponent had not yet been determined by NFL officials.

STRUGGLES MOUND

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

If you talk to UL freshman catcher Colt Brown, he almost makes playing baseball sound like a walk in the park.

For the Seguin, Texas, native it’s about keeping things as nice and easy as possible.

During his extremely hectic first season of college baseball, Brown noticed what happened when he allowed himself to overcomplicate the game and he didn’t like the result.

“It’s been a blur,” Brown said of his freshman season. Yet somehow he kept things moving forward.

For most true freshmen in his situation, things would have likely spun out of control a long time ago.

The result of keeping it simple is finishing up a special freshman season for the Ragin’ Cajuns, who open a three-game series against first-place Coastal Carolina at 6 p.m. Thursday at Russo Park.

All Brown is doing is leading the club in hitting and RBIs, while handling the pitching staff on an everyday basis as a true freshman.

Inside the problems plaguing Johnson, LSU’s pitching staff this season

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

Jay Johnson paused for a long time before answering the question.

“What’s been the most frustrating part of the pitching this season?”

His response could’ve gone in several different directions. He could’ve talked about LSU’s inability to fill up the strike zone. He could’ve discussed how the Tigers were far and away the worst team in the Southeastern Conference when it came to throwing wild pitches. He could’ve mentioned how injuries marred a starting rotation that already had to replace Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson, both of whom are destined to be major leaguers.

But after mulling over those options, LSU’s coach finally

Ugochukwu

BY TOYLOY BROWN III

landed on an answer that was none of the above.

“We had a couple guys coming out of the bullpen not ready when they came out of the whole thing,” Johnson said on Saturday, after the Tigers gave up 13 runs in their second of three losses to Georgia “You can’t give this team extra chances. When we bring a guy in out of the pen, it’s to get that guy out. That’s the first guy out; we don’t have time for them to get the third guy out.”

Johnson is right. It’s taken too long for LSU relievers to extinguish fires once they enter the game.

But that specific issue doesn’t fully explain the Tigers’ weekend 14.32 ERA as a pitching staff, or the 66 walks they issued in 76 innings against Georgia, Texas A&M and Mississippi State. And it isn’t the only reason why LSU heads into ä See LSU, page 3C

looks to be a steal for Wade, LSU

Two weeks ago, Jonathan Lucroy’s number was retired and he didn’t have to be the primary catcher in his freshman season.

“I came in really raw,” Brown said. “I really couldn’t do it without my teammates and all the help from Jose (Torres), (defensive) coach (Seth) Thibodeaux and coach (Matt) Deggs.

“Everyone has been right there helping me every day This season has been an absolute blast and I’m very grateful for the opportunity.”

Even more impressive is that Brown entered the fall season not knowing if he’d be pitching or catching at UL this season, or how much he’d even see the field.

“I didn’t have any idea what my role was going to be,” Brown said. “I was just going

Ugochukwu’s eye-catching explosiveness wasn’t highlighted at Michigan State due to a small role with a star backcourt mate.

ä See UGOCHUKWU, page 3C

He blew by defenders with ease, especially when they were late to close out at the 3-point line. Ugochukwu’s burst generated easy layups in the half-court and in transition. His fast first step also created openings for interior passes to teammates after drawing defenders to him. His precociousness as a downhill threat was seen in his scoring efficiency at the rim as a freshman at Miami. He made 64.4% of his 73 rim attempts and was assisted on only 6.4% of those shots. To put that in perspective, LSU’s former point guard Dedan Thomas was assisted on 8.1% of his rim scores.

On TV AUTO RACING

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Cajuns aiminghighinSun Belt meet

After finishingsecond at indoor meet, UL wantsmore

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

After the UL men andwomen

both finished second in the Sun Belt Indoor Championshipsin February,track and field coach

Tommy Badon is hoping to take the top spot in one or both this weekendatthe SunBeltOutdoor Championships startingThursday in Mobile, Alabama.

“I think we have to battle,” Badon said. “I think if you’re looking at the preconferencepolls, the top three teams on both sides are interchangeable.” With that said, it appears Texas State’smen are the favorite with amore balanced race expected on the women’sside.

“On the men’sside, Texas State does look like on paper they have amore sizable lead,”Badon said. “On the women’sside, Texas State, ArkansasState and us are pretty close. We’retalking about 10 points and it could go either way. We’re talking about a fight to the finish.”

Texas State, which will leave the Sun Belt forthe Pac-12 after this weekend, won the men’s and women’sindoor titles. TheBobcats men scored1401/2 pointsto

112 for UL andthe womenhad

1261/2 points to UL’s 81. South Alabama’smen were thirdwith102,whileCoastal Carolina’s women were third with 71.

“I do feel like if we step up to the plate, we’regoing to narrow the gap to where it’saheck of a

lot closer than what it might say on paper,” Badonsaid.“It doesn’t mean they will, but my teams have generally done that in the past.”

Onereason Badon is optimistic is his team shines at some of the events not offered in the indoor competition. The4x100 relay,

for instance, will replace the distance medleyrelay

“So you trade the4x100 for the DMRindoors,” he said.“Then you have the discus(an outdoorsonly event), and we have on the reigning conference champion (Kimola Hines).”

UL’s women arealso strong in the distance events behind Isabelle Russell and Ella Segura, whoboth have topthree times in school history. Then there’s Alaysha Veal in thehigh jump and Jasmine Sakaguchi in the pole vault.

“We’ve gottodoour partinthe fieldevents,” Badon said. “Those finalsthat are prior to (therunning events), like themen and women’sjavelin, those are two really big events for us and those are early.Sowe’ll know right away.”

DevonteEdwards and Praiyer Jones both finished in the top three in an April meet in the men’sshot put “Onthe men’sside,wehave quality,” Badon said. “We’re really,really good in alot of events. The problem with the men’s side may be, we might not have enough bullets.”

The men arealso counting on distance runners Joshua Quintana (800) and Matthew Maynard (1,500).

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@theadvocate.com.

LSUtransfertargetGravestalks NBAfuture

BY TOYLOYBROWN III

Staff writer

LSU transfer target Allen Graves spoke publicly abouthis college recruitment for the first time sinceenteringthe portal on April 10. The former Santa Claraforward told ESPN’sJeff Borzello that the only two schools he’sdiscussed transferring to are LSU andDuke. Graves also said that Kentucky has reached out to his agents, but Duke and LSU are his toptwo choices, Borzelloreported.

The 6-foot-9, 225-pound Graves announced his intentions to enter the 2026 NBA Draft on April 7 andiscurrentlyparticipating in thedraft combine. While he has until May 27 to withdrawand return to college basketball, Graves told Borzello that he would prefer to remain in the NBAdraft if he’s a first-round pick.

On ESPN’slatest mock draft, Graves is projected to be theNo. 22 pick by the Philadelphia 76ers. Graves is rated the No. 4player in the transfer portal by 247Sports, No.6byThe Athletic,and No.16 by On3. The Ponchatoula native was one of the best freshmen and most all-around mid-major playersinthe country last season As aredshirtfreshman, he averaged 11.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.8assists, 1.9 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. He also shot 51.2% from the field, 41.3% from 3and

75% from the free-throw line. Graves helped lead Santa Clara to a26-9 record and the Broncos’ first NCAA Tournament berth sincethe 1995-96season.

He was named the 2023-24 Gatorade LouisianaBoysBasketball Player of theYear as asenior at Ponchatoula High School. That season,heled his team to a30-4 record and asecond-straight NonSelect Division Istate championship. He averaged 20.9 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.6 blocks and1.6 steals.

Graves is the younger brother of formerLSU guard Marshall Graves,who played for coach Johnny Jones during the 2016-17 season and for Will Wade from 2017-20. Both Wade and Jones are back withthe program as the head coach and assistant head coach, respectively “Thisjourney has been nothingbut ablessing,and Igive all theglory to God for everyopportunityand every challenge that hasshapedme,” Graves said in a statement announcing his intent to enter thedraft. “I’m beyond thankful formyfamily that has supported meevery step of the way. I’m grateful to Bronco Nation for believing in me. This path is not one that Ihavewalked alone. With that faith andfoundation, I’ll be declaring for the 2026 NBA Draft.”

LSU currently has four players on its roster for next season: Ken-

Ponchatoula’sAllen Graves drives in against Natchitoches Central’s Ja’Dell Demeryduring the DivisionInonselectbasketballchampionship on March 9inLakeCharles.

tucky transfer forwardMoDioubate, Brazilianpro center Marcio Santos, Michigan State transfer

guard Divine Ugochukwu and Kansas State transfer guard Abdi Bashir

LSUgolfteamadvancestoNCAAChampionships

Tigers advancepast regional forrecord sixthstraightyear

Staff report

The Tigers played asolid final round Wednesday in the NCAA Waco Regional at Ridgewood Country Club to advance to the NCAA Championships, extending LSU’s school-record streak to asixth straight year LSU finished fourth with atotal of 1-over par 841, one of the five teams advancing from the Waco regional TheTigers posted a final round of 2-over par282 to remaininaqualifying position throughout the round.

Also advancing were SMU, Texas A&M,Baylor and Tennessee. The Volunteerswon aplayoff against Tulsa for the final qualifyingspot.

“Tohave aconsistent program like that, to extend our record streak, I’m very proud of that,” LSU coach Garrett Runion said. “Tobearound at theend for so many years in a row shows the consistency we have andthe high level that theteam performed over the last few years.”

Francesca Fiorelliniled the way for LSU, rolling in alongbirdie putt on the18th holeWednesday to shoot a70and finishina tie for third at 5-under 205 on rounds of 67-68-70.

TheTigers’ punchedtheir ticket thanks in largepart to asecond round 8-under 272, thelowest round ever for LSU inNCAA regional play

“I think it almost won the qualifyingspot forus,”Runionsaid. “Today,weknew nerves and tension would be high. It wasn’t pretty,but they just kept fighting. I’m just real proud of the competitivetoughness. They hadthe mental toughnessto handle thepressure.”

Senior Taylor Riley shot a1-under 69 Wednesdaytotie for 20thwith freshman Riley Knaub at 2-over 212. Vanessa Borovilos of TexasA&M took individual medalist honors at 10-under200. Kirstin Angostaof TCU, whoadvanced as an individual medalist, was second at 204. Thirty teamsfroma totalofsix regionals advance to the NCAA Championships, starting May 22 at theOmniLaCosta Resort &Spa in Carlsbad, California.

45-year-oldVenus Williams to playinFrench Open

PARIS Venus Williams will play in the women’sdoubles at the French Open this monthtogether with Hailey Baptiste, who is 21 years her junior

The American pair were among the entrants confirmed on Wednesday by organizers for the clay-court tournament at RolandGarros, which begins on May 24 in western Paris.

The 45-year-old Williams will not play in the women’s singles. Williams was awild-cardentry at the Australian Open, where she lost in the first round and became the oldest womantocompete in an Australian Open singles main draw

Aseven-timemajor winner in singles, Williams previously held theNo. 1ranking in both singles and doubles.

Indy 500 officials expect 2nd straight race-day sellout

INDIANAPOLIS— The world’slargestsingle-day sporting event will be run in front of another full house, and central Indiana residents will be able to watch thetelecast of theIndianapolis 500 live Race organizers announced Wednesday that reserved seating for this year’s race would be sold outbythe end of the day and that the local blackout would be lifted Official attendance figuresfor “TheGreatest SpectacleinRacing” are not announced, but there are an estimated 275,000 grandstand seatsaround the 2.5-mile oval and the total crowd, which includes generaladmission tickets on theinfield, reaches an estimated 350,000.

Patriots aware of reported charges againstHutchins

BOSTON Patriots seventh-round pick QuintayviousHutchinswas arraignedWednesdaymorning on domestic assault and battery charges on afamily or household member in Newton District Court,the Middlesex DistrictAttorney’soffice stated. Hutchins, 23, pleaded notguilty andwas released on personal recognizance,the DA’s office said.The defendant was ordered to stay away and have no contact with the alleged victim.

The Patriots released astatement to reportersabout thematter “Weare aware of thereport involving Quintayvious Hutchins,” thestatementread.“We takethese matters very seriously andare in the process of gathering additional information.Wewill nothavefurther commentatthistime.”

Islanders’ Schaefer unanimous choice for CalderTrophy

NEWYORK— Matthew Schaefer of theNew York Islanders is the unanimous winner of the Calder Trophy as the NHL’srookieofthe year

Theleague surprised himwith the award Wednesday

Schaefer,the No. 1pick in the draft, wasthe Calder front-runner from just about the timehe made his debut on openingnight at Pittsburgh. He scored 23 goals to tieBrian Leetch’srecord for the most by arookie defenseman and finished with 59 points.

The 18-year-old becamethe face of the Islandersfranchise and helped them make aplayoff push before falling short in the final couple of weeks of theregularseason. He received all 198 first-place Calder votes.

Rangers’ Eovaldifeelsgood despite scratched start

ARLINGTON, Texas Texas Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi threw a bullpen sessionWednesday and said he felt good two days after being scratched from hisscheduled start because of left side tightness. Eovaldi first felt what he described as minortightness whileplaying catch Sunday.Hestill felt it when he woke up the next day,and met with team trainers before he was supposedtopitch in the opener of aseries against Arizona.

“Wejust did someofthe testing that they have for it. Ifeltitonafew things and we just didn’tfeel theneed to push it,” Eovaldi saidWednesday “I’veexperienced somethinglike that before, and just try to play it smart.” TheRangers didhave right fielder Brandon Nimmo in the lineup for the seriesfinale againstthe Diamondbacks.

to do whateverittook to help the team win.”

Once the veteran catcher Torressufferedaninjury in the fall, that role quickly blossomed to everyday catcher.Hedid getone appearance on the mound, but it wasonly atoken outing. Even in high school, Brown’s routine waspitching one daya week and catching the other Living six hours away from home for the first time, there were many things for Brown to get adjusted to,just as astudent, much less being pressed into such aleadership position on the team right away.

“I hadtogrowupreally fast,” said Brown, who has thrown out 14 base runners. “Withall the stuff going on, Ididn’treally have time to get nervous.And really,with theteamwehave, you can’tget nervous because we’re always doing something

“Everyone haseachother’s backs, so there’snothing to get nervous about.”

After all, Brown said the biggest thing he’slearned in his first collegiateseason is that “it’sstill just baseball.”

Keeping it as simple as possible, “Sure, the pitchers are better and they throw harder,but it’s still just baseball.”

Through his first 16 games, Brown was hitting .347 and turning heads at everyturn. But over his next 16 games, Brown only batted .188 over53 at-bats. That’swhen he really learned how important it is to keepitsimple.

“During that stretch, there was alot going through my mind and that wasthe issue,” Brownsaid. “I think it was against Troy.Iwas just like, ‘I’m just going to go out and hit. I’m not going to think about it,’ and thatweekend it just kind of clicked.

“I had never reallygone through something like that before.”

Again, he got abig assist from ateammate

“One day,Lee (Amedee) asked me to come hit with him,” said Brown, who is currently batting .326 with 13 doubles, five homers

LSU

Continued from page1C

its

final series in SEC play against Florida on Thursday (6:30 p.m., SEC Network+) on theprecipice of missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 15 years. LSU finds itself in this position —with only 29 wins andonthe outside of the NCAA tourney picture with only aweek left in the regular season —mostly because of its struggles on the mound

The Tigers posted a9.95 ERA in threeoftheir past four weeks of SEC play,nine contests against Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Georgia. They held multirun leads in four of thosegames but lost them all, and allowed at least 10 runs in six of those crucialmatchups.

The Aggies and bothBulldog programshave three of the better offenses in the SEC, if not the country.They also faced LSU in ideal offensive circumstances, hitting in smallerballparksand warmer weather.Injuries to two starters —junior right-hander Cooper Moore and sophomore right-hander Casan Evans —also left the Tigers’ rotation severely undermanned, especially against Mississippi State.

But after having one of the best starting rotations and pitching staffs in the country last year,and bringing back pitching coach Nate Yeskie and several contributors from last season—Evans,senior right-hander Zac Cowan, sophomore left-hander Cooper Williams, sophomore right-hander Mavrick Rizy,etc. —LSU went fromsecond in the SEC in ERA to last.

“I think if you asked (Yeskie), he would wish we were in abetter spot as Idowith this pitching staff and we’ll make some adjustments in totality of everything,” Johnson said.“Butthat’snodifferent than offensively in the middle of the year.Weneeded to get out of some of the stuff Ilike to do and do what we needed to do for this group of players, which we have. And Ijust think that’s part of coaching.

“If you try to run the same play on 3rd and 2and you get a2-yard loss, Iwould think most offensive coordinatorswouldn’trun it a seventh consecutive time. Everything that you don’tdoaswellas you want, you look at it, and you make adjustments.”

Many of the flaws with LSU’s pitching staff this season are the same issues they hadin2025. The Tigers led the SEC in wild pitch-

and41RBIs. “Wehit in thecage for about 30 minutes anditjust feltlike something clicked. It’s just great to have people like Lee who will do whatever it takes to helpanyone out.”

In the 18 games sincethen, Brown is batting .448 with four doubles, atriple, four homersand 25 RBIs.

“He’sgot achancetoplay in the big leagues,” Deggs said. “He’s thattalented.”

Of allthe demands on Brown this season, the toughest one may have been handling the pitching staff.

“Knowing what you have to do for each of your pitchersistough,” he said. “In the fall, Ididn’tcatch everyone. Jose andIwould split pitchers. So Ididn’treally know what each pitcher needed.

“I had to adjust to that, but now Ifeel likethe pitcherscan fully trust me.Sometimes Istill have to learn what to say at the right time. That’sjust part of growing, but again, Jose is right there helping methrough it.”

Even the recruiting process was farlesscomplicated for Brown than many

“I didn’treally visit anywhere else,”Brown said.“Icame here my junior summer, and coach Deggs gave me the opportunity andIcommitted in his office.

“I knew the background of the program, and Iknew all good things about Coach Deggs and theassistant coaches.”

And as good as UL’s staff thought Brown was going to be, he’sbeen even better.

“He’saspecial talent for sure,” Deggs said. “It’sbeen fun to watch himgrow.It was obviously raw when he got here and alittle immature, but in agood way

“He’sa tough kidand very, very,very resilient and very durable. He’ll do whatever it takes to win. He’s an intense competitorand that’swhat he expects out of everybodyelse.”

In manyways, Brown’sheavy workload has allowed him to work with Deggs and his staff more than he even thought.

“How muchhe’shelped me has really been amazing,” Brown said of Deggs.“From whatI hear,most headcoaches don’t really do as muchfrom adevelopment aspect, buthe’sbeenrighttherehelpingme each and every step of theway.”

es, and they issuedthe third-most walks aseason ago. But LSUwas able to mitigatethose mistakes by holdingopponentstoa.219 batting averageand accumulating a league-leading 760 strikeouts.

The difference this season has been the Tigers’ inability to contain those flaws. They’ve thrown 15 more wild pitches this year than theydid in allof 2025. Despitehaving played 15 fewer games, they’re also seven walks away from matching last year’stotal.

Thetalent/ceiling of LSU’s pitching staff was still there this season. The Tigerslead the conference in strikeouts and sit in the middleofthe pack in homeruns and opponents’ batting average.

The problem, instead, has been their floor

“Our job is to trytohavethe roster built, have the blueprint or platform to help navigate the challenges that you have,” Johnson said. “Like we had plentyof challenges last year,(against) MississippiState andAlabama were down 6-1 (with) Kade Anderson last year,who was the No. 3pick in the draft

“But we had enough complementary pieces to be able to navigate around that, agood enoughoffense to come back when you’re down five,(and) goodenoughwhenyou’re behind relievers to keep (thescore) close enough.Andthen when we took the lead, we could go to Zac or Casan to win. So Ilook at it as, can we maybesupport our flaws (better)? Andwehave notsupported them as well this year.”

Noneofthese systemic issues will be fixedovernight, even as Johnson tries to set up his pitchingstaff forhis success aweek before the SEC Tournament.

With an at-largebid to the NCAA tourney no longer apossibility,the Tigers will need to win five gamesinsix days in Hoover, Alabama,tomake an NCAAregional, starting nextTuesday. Johnson, with that in mind, did notlist astartingpitcher for Thursday’sgameagainst Florida, likely meaningthateither right-handed sophomore William Schmidt orEvans will be savedto some degree for the Tigers’ first game in Alabama.

“Focus on this (weekend), with an eye on (Hoover),” Johnsonsaid. “That is thebestway,I would say that.”

Unless LSU pullsoff the improbable and wins the SEC Tournament, Johnson will have plenty of time this offseasontodeterminewhathis pitching staffwill look like next year

PROVIDED PHOTOByLSU EUNICE ATHLETICS

LSU Eunice baseball players celebrate the Region 23 tournament championshipwin over DelgadoonTuesday

LSUE earnsdramaticwin over Delgadofor Region 23 crown

TRAVIS WEBB Contributingwriter

LSU Eunice baseball used a tried-and-true formula forpostseason success in theBengals’ 5-3 victory over Delgado in the winner-take-all deciderofthe LCCAC/Region 23 tournament on Tuesday at Segnette Field in Westwego.

The Bengals (44-10) reliedon sterling effortonthe mound by McCray Jacobs and produced the timelyhit in another nail-biter against the Dolphins.

Jacobsdeliveredagain for the Bengals when it matteredmost. Thesouthpawmadehis third appearance of the weekend, making just his second start of the season. The sophomore tossed a career-high72/3 innings against Delgado to improve to 6-0onthe season.

LSU Eunice will host the South Districtchampionship series

UGOCHUKWU

Continuedfrom page1C

He played with second-team AP All-American point guardJeremy Fears, who ledthe country in assists per game (9.4). In the first nine games,Ugochukwu came off thebench andplayedatleast 12 minutes four times. He played with Fears in thestarting lineup forthe next12contests, and his sophomore campaign ended after he broke aboneinhis foot during aFeb. 4loss at Minnesota.

Overalloffense

Michigan State mutedUgochukwu’s driving talent because they relied on Fears.While theSugar Land, Texas, native’sleash to slash was shorter,hewas still viable thanks to major growthinhis 3-point shot.

Aftershooting 17.6% on 1.2 attempts from beyond the arcin 2024-25, he made 44.2% on 2.0 3-point attempts last season. While the improvement was great, expectationsshouldprobably be temperedbecause it was only a43-shot sample size in 22 games.

Ugochukwu also made only 10 of 18 free throws,which is poorbut too few to draw significant conclusions from

SAINTS

Continuedfrom page1C

Instead, the opponent is Pittsburgh, which went 10-7 and won theAFC North division last season

The Saints have a9-8 advantage in the all-time series, including wins in four of the past six meetings.

The Steelers have won six Super Bowl titles,tied with New England for the most ever,but they have a new look this season. OutisMike Tomlin, head coach of the past 19 seasons.

They arenow coached by Mike McCarthy, who served as the Saints’ offensive coordinator from 2000 to 2004. Pittsburgh’sgeneral manager is New Orleans native Omar Khan, aformer Archbishop Rummel High School and Tulane graduate.

“It will be tough,” Saintsgeneral manager Mickey Loomissaid.

“The Steelers have along history of success andtraditionally always areavery physical team. We are looking forwardtothe matchup. Their general manager (Omar Khan)and their head coach,Mike McCarthy,have both worked for the Saints.I havealot of respect for them and the jobs that they do and they are going to be adifficult opponent andhopefully we will put on agreat game,and it will result in aSaints victory.”

The gameistechnically one of

this weekendatBengalStadium against Shelton State. The best-of-three series begins at 7p.m. Thursdayonthe LSUE campus. The two teams will play again at 7p.m. Friday and, if necessary,agame at 2p.m. Saturday Delgado threatened out of the gate, putting two menonwith one out. Jacobs answeredbystriking out back-to-back batters to squash theopportunity.Hewould go on to retire Delgadoinorder in three of the next five innings, using apair of double plays engineered by Jake Smith In his outing, Jacobswould only allow three baserunners to reach scoring position, navigating six total hitsand three free passes while striking outeight batters.

The Bengals’ offense provided aspark in the third inning after Jordan Luna was issued aone-out hit by pitch andAndrew Clapinski singled to right field. Aidan Mouton brought home the first run of

LSU fans should be bullish on his playmaking ability.While not an all-world passer,hedidn’tplay loose with the ball. His 2.3 assiststo-turnover ratio is impressive and he’sunselfish. Ugochukwu is a fine ball handler and sound at passing to rollers in the pick-and-roll.

Oneclearweakness is his lack of off-the-dribble shooting. He didn’t looktoshootpull-up3sanddidn’tdisplay intermediate scoring counters. Idealon-ball defender

What sealsUgochukwu’scase as an underrated player is how respectablehewas on defense. He was apest as an on-ball defender

Coach Will Wade likely loves that hisnew guard hasthe size, with a 6-8 wingspan, according to multiple reports, and the overall athleticism to pressure teams. Ugochukwu hasnimble feet and the intensity to fight around through screens. He hasgood lateral quickness and the speed to recover if an offensive player gets astep on him.

As afreshman,Ugochukwu used his long arms to average asteal per game. Last season, he flashed good gap defense,digging hishands on adriver’sdribble.

The aggression and physicality Ugochkwuplays fitwith what Wade hashad in the past in pesky guarddefenders.One area that

nine home games on the Saints’ 2026 schedule. As aresult, the Saints will have thecustomary benefits: first choice of uniforms, locker rooms, and final pregame introductions.

NFL commissionerRoger Goodell announced the Saints’ participation in the game at his state-of-the-league news conference before Super BowlLXinSan Francisco,California. The league officially announced the Steelers as the opponent on Wednesday when it unveiled thefull2026 International Gamesschedule, whichwill see arecord-breaking nine games played across four continents,seven countriesand eight stadiums next season.

Melbourne (Australia), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), London (U.K.), Paris (France), Madrid (Spain), Munich(Germany) and Mexico City (Mexico) will all host international games in 2026 as part of the league’slong-term commitment to global expansion.

“The 2026 NFL season will feature our most expansive and ambitiousinternational slate yet, with regular-season games spanning Melbourne,Rio de Janeiro, London, Paris, Madrid, Munichand Mexico City,” said Peter O’Reilly, NFL executive vice president of club business,major events and international. “This year’srecordbreaking schedule will see ahost of world-class NFL franchises and star athletes playinsome of themost iconic sporting venues in

the gamewith aline drive down theleft field line,scoring Luna Twobatters later, Marshall Louque uncorkeda no-doubter to left center.His three-run home run gave LSUEa4-0 lead.

Mason Bordelon added avaluable insurancerun an inning later with atowering solo home run to left field, histeam’sbest17thof the season. The Bengals outhit the Dolphins 9-7 for the game, led by two-hit outings by Clapinski and Mouton. LSUE wasnot out of the woods just yet. AfterJacobswas pulled with twoouts in the eighth, Delgado connected on athree-run home run to try to turn the tide. Aidan Mouton would come in to record the third out of the eighth. Delgado hadone last chance in the ninth, working two walks to put the go-ahead runner at the plate. Mouton struck out the batter,securing his second save of the season.

can be cleaned up is his attentiveness to cutters.

Finalverdict

Ugochkwu combinestantalizing offensive ability without the downside of being adefensive liability His advanced stats and gametape over two seasons indicate he can be agenuine starter in the SEC. While some doubt may creep in because of his limited raw production after last season ended prematurely,the 6-foot-3 guard is still worth betting on. Expecting him to be great right away is probably too ambitious. His development will likely be aprocess, especially as Ugochukwu adjusts to alarger responsibility.Healso needs to addmorescoring counters —like a floater —for the times when he’s cut off from the paint. If Ugochukwu doesn’t start as thelead guard because Wade signs amore proven international player,hecan help contribute to winning. He can space the court, attackthe paint with ferocityand throw neat dump-off passes if he drawsacrowd.

Aguard with hisdimensions who can do all those things and defend is abuilding block to awinning team at worst. At best, Ugochkwu could be poised forabreakout year if handed the keys to the offense.

the world, underlying the league’s global growth vision and bringing ourfansinternationally closer to the gamethan ever before.”

The NFLhas targeted Paris as apriority international market in recent years as league officials expand the international series to new cities around the globe. The 80,698-seat Stade de France is the national stadium of France and the largest sporting facility in the country.Itserved as the host site for various events at the 2024 Summer Games,including the opening and closing ceremonies. Saints and NewOrleans tourism officials are collaborating to turn the gameinto aWashington Mardi Gras-styleevent,withmultiple parties and marketing programs leading up to the game.

“Weare excited to be selected to playinthe first regularseason game to be held in France,” Benson saidinFebruary.“This moment is special not only because of the strong cultural connection between Louisiana and France, but also becausewewillcompete before a growing Saints fan base in Paris.” Team officials said season-ticket holders will receive a10% price reduction on tickets and parking to reflect the cost of the lost home game. Fully paid season-ticket holders will receive acredit and refund. Season ticket holders will also be allowedprioritypresaleaccess to alottery fortickets forthe Paris game.

Anunoby not ready, but Knicks can wait

BY BRIAN MAHONEY AP basketball writer

GREENBURGH, N.Y OG Anunoby

could only participate in some parts of practice when the New York Knicks returned to work Wednesday Luckily for them, they still have time to wait.

With at least a few more days before the Knicks would start the Eastern Conference finals, they can be patient with Anunoby’s recovery from a hamstring injury that forced him to miss the last two games of their second-round sweep of Philadelphia.

Coach Mike Brown said the starting forward did some things, though not when the Knicks went full speed. He said Anunoby looked fine with what he did, though it certainly sounds like there’s a gap between what that was and the intensity of an NBA postseason game.

Brown added that he isn’t sure when Anunoby can do more — and the Knicks don’t even know how soon that would need to be. Game 1 against Detroit or Cleveland could be Sunday, though the series wouldn’t begin until next week if those teams, who were tied 2-2 entering Game 5 on Wednesday go the distance.

“They told me what he could do today They have not told me what he could do tomorrow, so I don’t know what he’ll be able to do for Game 1,” Brown said Anunoby is one of the Knicks’ most important players a top defender whose offensive game has hit its peak during this playoff run. The Knicks were able to win two games without him against a tired Philadelphia team that never recovered after needing seven

games to beat Boston in the first round, but it would be difficult to beat the top-seeded Pistons or Cavaliers without him.

Brown isn’t thinking that far ahead. The Knicks plan to take Thursday off and practice again Friday, and he said only then will he ask for his next Anunoby update.

“At least for me, I’m taking it one game at a time,” Brown said.

“I don’t want to know from medical or anybody else anything beyond that, because when I do that stuff I get my hopes up and I don’t like doing that at all.”

The Knicks have plenty of reason for hope after a dominant run through the first two rounds. They

have won seven straight games since falling behind 2-1 against Atlanta in the first round and outscored the Hawks and 76ers by a combined 194 points, the largest margin ever through a team’s first 10 postseason games. They finished off the Hawks on April 30 and were back on the court against the 76ers on May

SCOREBOARD

LSU 6:30 p.m. Tulane at Rice, 6:35 p.m.

Saturday’s games Tulane at Rice, 1:05 p.m. Florida at LSU 2 p.m. Coastal Carolina at UL, 2 p.m. Alabama A&M at Southern, 3 p.m.

Pro basketball

NBA playoff glance SECOND ROUND (Best-of-7; x-if necessary)

Eastern Conference

Detroit 2, Cleveland 2 Tuesday, May 5: Detroit 111, Cleveland 101

Thursday, May 7: Detroit 107, Cleveland 97

Saturday, May 9: Cleveland 116, Detroit 109

Monday, May 11: Cleveland 112, Detroit 103

Wednesday, May 13: Cleve. at Detroit, n Friday, May 15: Detroit at Cleveland, TBA x-Sunday, May 17: Cleveland at Detroit, TBA New York 4, Philadelphia 0 Monday, May 4: New York 137, Phila. 98

Wednesday, May 6: New York 108, Phila. 102 Friday, May 8: New York 108, Philadelphia 94 Sunday, May 10: New York 144, Phila. 114 Western Conference

Oklahoma City 4, L.A. Lakers 0 Tuesday, May 5: OKC 108, L.A. Lakers 90 Thursday, May 7: OKC 125, L.A. Lakers 107 Saturday, May 9: OKC 131, L.A. Lakers 108 Monday, May 11: OKC 115, L.A. Lakers 110 San Antonio 3, Minnesota 2 Monday, May 4: Minn.

May 15:

4. They could be idle more than twice as long this time.

“The first series we had what, four days’ break I think it was? That was good enough,” forward Josh Hart said “This right now, I think at least a week if not nine days, that’s a long time. So obviously it’s good for recovery, but mentally I’m watching the games, I’m just like just waiting, just waiting to get back out there.”

Brown has some experience. His Cleveland Cavaliers swept the first two series in 2009, then were off more than a week before the opener of an East finals series they lost to Orlando He replaced an ailing Steve Kerr for most of the 2017 postseason as the Golden State Warriors swept their first three series, leaving them a 10day gap between the end of the West finals and the start of the NBA Finals.

“I’ve been part of sweeps, I’ve been part of getting swept and been part of long layoffs and short turnarounds, so you worry about different stuff at different times,” Brown said. “Like, quick turnaround you’re like: ‘Oh my God, we can’t prepare. Oh my god, guys are tired.’ And long layoffs, you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, we got too much time, we’re not going to stay sharp.’”

He said the key during long layoffs is to manufacture ways to keep players’ minds sharp and the Knicks believe it will work.

“I think we have our plan,” AllStar Jalen Brunson said. “Obviously utilize rest, but then when we’re in the gym we’re doing everything that we need to do to stay in rhythm, stay having the edge that we need to have, focusing on the things that we need to focus on and continuing to prepare.”

70.24%. 3, Si Woo Kim, 69.92%. 4,

8,

Morikawa,

9,

6,

10, Kensei Hirata, 66.59%. Greens in Regulation Percentage 1, 10 tied with .00%. Total Driving 1, Michael Brennan, 58. 2, Ludvig Aberg, 60. 3, Matt Fitzpatrick, 63. 4, Scottie Scheffler, 66. 5, Jordan Smith, 70. 6, William Mouw, 71. 7, Kurt Kitayama, 72. 8, Cameron Young, 73. 9, Min Woo Lee, 75. 10, Blades Brown, 76. SG-Putting 1, Jacob Bridgeman, .939. 2, Vince Whaley, .915. 3, Jake Knapp, .744. 4, Beau Hossler, .732. 5, Akshay Bhatia, .703. 6, Robert MacIntyre, .685. 7, Matthieu Pavon, .645. 8, Chad Ramey, .643. 9, Brandt Snedeker, .632. 10, Sam Burns, .627. Birdie Average 1, Scottie Scheffler, 5.03. 2, Rory McIlroy, 4.73. 3, Ludvig Aberg, 4.72. 4, Akshay Bhatia 4.67. 5, Jacob Bridgeman, 4.65. 6, Collin Morikawa, 4.63. 7, Cameron Young, 4.58. 8, Robert MacIntyre, 4.53. 9, Matt Fitzpatrick, 4.5. 10, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, 4.47. Eagles (Holes per) 1, Jake Knapp, 43.7. 2, Sahith Theegala, 64.3. 3, Nicolai Hojgaard, 68.7. 4, Keegan Bradley, 76. 5, Tommy Fleetwood, 81. 6, Aldrich Potgieter, 83.3. 7, Max McGreevy, 85.5. 8, Chris Kirk, 87. 9, Max Greyserman, 87.4.

Milwaukee (Harrison 3-1), 12:40 p.m. St. Louis (McGreevy 3-2) at Athletics (Lopez 3-2), 2:05 p.m. Philadelphia (Luzardo 3-3) at Boston (Suarez 2-2), 5:45 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Brown 1-1) at Atlanta (Sale 6-2), 6:15 p.m. San Francisco (Roupp 5-3) at L.A. Dodgers (Sheehan 2-1), 9:10 p.m. Pro golf PGA Tour statistics Through May 11 FedExCup Season Points 1, Cameron Young, 2,504. 2, Scottie Scheffler, 2,431. 3, Matt Fitzpatrick, 2,404. 4, Collin Morikawa, 1,727. 5, Jacob Bridgeman, 1,512. 6, Chris Gotterup, 1,407. 7, Si Woo Kim, 1,380. 8, Akshay Bhatia, 1,342. 9, Ludvig Aberg 1,330. 10, Rory McIlroy, 1,278. Scoring Average 1, Scottie Scheffler, 69.367. 2, Jake Knapp, 69.571. 3, Rory McIlroy, 69.741. 4, Cameron Young, 69.773. 5, Matt Fitzpatrick, 70.069. 6, Nicolai Hojgaard, 70.084. 7, Collin Morikawa, 70.121. 8, Xander Schauffele, 70.249. 9, Chris Gotterup, 70.258. 10, Ludvig Aberg, 70.287. Driving Distance 1, Aldrich Potgieter, 326.9. 2, Gary Woodland, 323.7. 3, Rory McIlroy, 323.3. 4, Michael Brennan, 323.1. 5, Chris Gotterup, 320.6. 6, Rasmus Hojgaard, 320.2. 7 (tie), Nicolai Hojgaard and Jesper Svensson, 320. 9, 2 tied with 319.8. Driving Accuracy Percentage 1, Andrew Putnam, 71.01%. 2, Russell Henley,

Toss tangy dressing with salad forlight, tastymeal

BY LINDAGASSENHEMER

Tribune News Service (TNS)

Crunchy,fresh vegetables paired with tender cubes of chicken create adinner salad that’s easy toprepare and full of flavor

The chickenistossed in atangy dressing that lightly coats every ingredient, bringing abright and savorytaste to each bite

The crisp lettuce, colorful vegetables and juicy pieces of chicken provide avariety of textures thatmake the salad feel hearty enough fora complete meal.

Spring Chicken Salad Yields 2servings. Recipe is by Linda Gassenheimer

5tablespoons reduced-fat saladdressing

1tablespoon honey

¾poundchicken breast, cut into1-inch pieces 1bag washed, ready-to-eat salad,about 6cups 1cup

1cup

2tablespoons

2cups bought croutons

1. Mix salad dressing andhoney together in abowl. Add 1tablespoon of the mixture to alarge skillet andset the remaining dressing aside.

2. Heat the skillet and add the chicken. Sautechickenonall sides for 5minutes. Ameat thermometer should read 160 F.

3. Add 3cups of salad each to two dinner plates. Spread chicken,scallions, tomatoes, red bell pepper and feta cheese, mint and croutons evenly over the salad.

4. Drizzle remaining dressing over salad.

NUTRITION INFO PER SERVING: 550 calories(29 percent from fat), 17.6 gfat (7.6 gsaturated,4.7 gmonounsaturated), 162mgcholesterol, 51.1 g protein, 47.0 gcarbohydrates, 7.8 g fiber,667 mg sodium.

Outof this world

Pasta Fagioli al Forno

Serves 6-8.

MBY GRETCHEN McKAY Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)

One of the best parts of getting on aplane in the U.S. and departing for acountryfar,far away is the instant change of scenery There’ssomething about escapingthe rigors of everyday life for anew (and hopefully) exciting adventure that’s deeply rewarding for one’smental health. Doneright,you come back home feeling recharged Another plus is being able to try foods you might not be familiar Recipe, Guinness Chocolate Cake 6C

ä See CAKE, page 6C

ymom taught English, typing and shorthand at Straight Business School at Claiborne and Esplanade avenues —aplace with roots stretchingback to 1868, when it evolved from Straight University. During those long New Orleans summers, she’dbring me along to her classroom, where I’d sit in theback with books and puzzles, trying to keep myself occupied. But eventually,something caught my attention morethan anypuzzle could: laughter My mom was laughing. Her students were laughing. They were having thetimeoftheir liveslearning shorthand and

12 ouncespenne pasta 1can whole plum tomatoes

½teaspoon dried basil

¼teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

typing, subjects that could easily feel like drudgery

“Why do you all have so much funinclass?” I finally asked her Her answer changed how Iwould eventually approach my own teaching. “I don’t want to get bored with what I’m teaching,” she explained, “so Imake it pleasant and fun for myself. AndImake it fun

1pound bulk Italian sausage 1onion, chopped 1carrot, chopped 1celeryrib,chopped 4garliccloves, minced 2tablespoonstomato paste

1teaspoon dried oregano ½teaspoon kosher salt

¼teaspoon pepper 1can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained ½cup gratedParmesan cheese, divided ½cup mincedfresh parsley, divided 2cups shreddedfontina or provolone cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Cook pasta according to package directions for al dente and drain.

2. Drain tomatoes, reserving juices; coarsely chop tomatoes.

3. In a6-quart stockpot, cook and crumble sausage with onion, carrot, celery and garlic over medium-high heat until no longer pink, 6-8 minutes and drain.

4. Stir in tomato paste, seasonings, chopped tomatoes and reserved juices; bring to aboil.

5. Reduce heat; simmer,uncovered, 10 minutes. 6. Stir in beans and ¼cup each Parmesan cheese and parsley.Stir in pasta.

7. Transfertoagreased 13-inchby9-inch aking dish; sprinkle with fontina cheese and emaining Parmesan cheese.

8. Bake, covered, 20 minutes.

.Uncover andbakeuntil cheeseismelted, 10-15minutes.Sprinkle with remaining parsley

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas Casserole

2. In alarge bowl,place the honey,limejuice, chili powder and minced garlic or garlic powder.Whisktogether thoroughly to combine.

3. Place the cooked and shredded chicken in the bowl, stir to combine and cover with plasticwrap. Allowtomarinate30minutes or upto1 hour,inthe refrigerator

4. Cook the tortillasand set aside.

in thebottom of acast-iron skillet,a10- to 12-inch size.

6. Place atortilla down. Addalarge spoonful of the chicken mixture all over the tortilla. Sprinkle with beans anda little sauce. Cover with cheese, then repeat with remaining layers.

7. On the last layer, endwith atortilla,sauce and cheese.

By The Associated Press

Today is Thursday, May 14, the134th day of 2026. There are 231 days left in the year

Todayinhistory:

On May 14, 1804, the Lewis andClark expedition,organizedtoexplore theLouisiana Territory as well as the PacificNorthwest, began its journey near present-day Hartford, Illinois.

Also on this date:

In 1607, Jamestown, the first permanent English settlementinNorth America, was established by membersofthe Virginia Company

In 1796, English physician Edward Jenner successfully inoculated 8-year-old James Phipps against smallpox by using cowpox matter.(Smallpox would be declared the first fully eradicated human disease in 1980.)

In 1948, theindepen-

TODAYINHISTORY

dent state of Israel was proclaimed in TelAviv by David Ben-Gurion, who becameits first primeminister

In 1955, representatives from eightCommunist bloc countries, including theSovietUnion, signedthe Warsaw Pact in Poland.(The pact wasdissolved in 1991.)

In 1961, Freedom Rider civil rights activists were attacked by violent mobs in Anniston and Birmingham,Alabama.

In 1973, NASA launched Skylab, the first American space station, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

In 1988, an inebriated driver of apickup traveled the wrong way on a Kentucky interstate and slammed into achurch group bus, killing 24 children and three others returning homefrom an Ohio amusement park. The fiery collision wasone of America’sdeadliest drunken driving crashes on record.

In 2022, an 18-year-old White supremacist wearing body armor opened fire in asupermarket in apredominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, killing 10 people before being taken into custody.(The gunman, Payton Gendron, was sentenced to lifeinprison without parole in February 2023.)

Today’sBirthdays: Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Pérez is 84. Filmmaker George Lucas is 82. Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis is 75. Musician David Byrne is 74. Actor TimRoth is 65. Actor Cate Blanchett is 57. Filmmaker SofiaCoppola is 55. Former NFLrunning back Frank Goreis43. Actor Amber Tamblyn is 43. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is 42. Former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski is 37. Actor Miranda Cosgrove is 33. Soccer player Rúben Dias is 29. Olympic gold medalist hockey player Jack Hughes is 25.

Trycleaninghintfor abig

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

LESSONS

Continued from page5C

for my students because they learn and retain more in afun atmosphere. When you take the pressureoff with humor,they stop thinking, ‘This is work, this is a chore,’ and they actually absorb it.”

Years later,when Istarted teaching cooking classes, those words echoed in my mind. Some people are nervous about cooking. Some find it intimidating. But if I could make it fun, the way my mother made typing fun, they would learn more and retain it better

Over the years, countless students have told me, “You make that look so easy.” That’sall Mom. That’sher legacy of teaching with joy instead of pressure. Ironically,Inever actually learned to type. Every summer,Mom woulddraw akeyboard on posterboard, circles with letters and numbers, just like the real thing and tape it in my bedroom window above the desk where my typewriter sat “Look at the board, not your fingers,” she’d instruct. Then she’d call up from downstairs: “Are you practicing your typing?”

I’d yell “Yes, ma’am!” and

5. In amediumbowl, combine theenchiladasauce and the heavy cream.Spread about ½cup of themixture

bang afew keysloudly so she could hear.Tothisday,I can play piano, butIpeck at akeyboard

What Ireally loved about those days atthe Business School werethe vending machines. Everyonceina blue moon, Icould pick out my own snack, those little Lance crackers or Tom’s products.They probably weren’tthat good, objectively speaking, but to a kid? Pure delicacy,because Iwas with my mom, having asnack, having fun

That spirit of nourishment, bothliteral and emotional, stayed withmeinto my own parenthood.During the summer,myson, Kevin, had two-a-day practices. I’d start something in theoven, drophim off at morning practice, comehome to finish cooking while he showered and got aride with ateammate. He’d arrive home with 10 to 12 teammatesintow

The rules were simple: pick up Gatorade or water on theway.Throwpractice clothes in thewashing machine. Eat. Then lay down. They didn’t have to sleep, but they had to getoff their feet, watch TV,read and drink that gallon of fluid before afternoon practice.

I’d make big potsof spaghetti and meatballs, pans of meatloaf with

8. Bakethe enchiladas for 30-35 minutes, untilthe cheese is melted and bubbly and starting tobrown on top.

9. Serve with salsa, olives, sour cream or whatever flavors you like.

oven-baked potatoes, food that gave them protein and carbs, and fuel for young athletes. While they rested, I’d fold their laundry They’d grab their clean clothes and head off to afternoon practice. Oneday,their coach approached me. “I’ve heard you have acouple kids coming over,” he said. When Iconfirmed it, he started naming names, all myregulars. “How do you know?” I asked.

“Because they have more energy than anybody else.” It was worthevery penny of my food budget.They were good kids. It helped them. They enjoyed it.And just like my mothertaught me,when you remove the pressure and add nourishment, whether it’slaughter in aclassroom or meatloaf around atable, people thrive That’sthe recipe Ilearned from Mom.

Kevin Belton is resident chef of WWL-TV and has taught classes in Louisiana cooking for 30 years. The most recent of his four cookbooks, “KevinBelton’sCookin’ Louisiana: Flavors from the Parishes of the Pelican State,” was published in 2021. EmailChef at chefkevinbelton@gmail. com.

Chocolate Cake

2. Grease an 8- or 9-inch springform pan withbutter and line the bottom with a round of parchmentpaper

3. Place stoutand butterin alargesaucepan.Cook over medium-high heat untilthe butter has melted. 4. Add cocoapowder and sugars and whisk together Take offthe heat and allow it to cometoroom temperature.

5. In another bowl, beat together sourcream, eggs and vanilla extract untilvery, verywell combined. Add to thebutter-stout mixture and whisk together

6. In another bowlwhisk together flour,baking soda and salt. Addtostout-butter mixture and whisktogether until it just comes together

CAKE

Continued from page5C

with,and allow

oysters and Dublin Bay prawn —and

thedark,iconic dry stout that is available by thepint (and,thankfullly, halfpint!) in every pub on theisland. Onedish Iknew I’d have to try to re-create back homewas thedense, velvety Guinnesschocolate caketopped with creamy white frostingmyhusband andIenjoyed at Caffe Nero in Belfast while admiring its grand, copper-domed city hall. Cakeisagreat pick-me-

7. Pour intothe prepared panand give the pana few shortdrops ontothe countertop to shakeout the air pockets in the batter.Bake at 350 Ffor 50-60 minutes

8. Allow to cool on awire rack. Runaknife around the edge to separate the cake from the panand popthe ring off the springform

9. While cake is cooling, prepareicing.Using afood processor or by hand, mix confectioners’ sugarto break up lumps.

10. Add cream cheese and blend until smooth.Add heavy cream and mixuntil smoothand spreadable.

11. Spread athick layer of icingoverthe top of the cake only (to resemble apint of Guinness!) and serve.

up any timeofday,soI didn’tfeel bad enjoying the stout cake for breakfast before along (and damp) day of sightseeing. The fact it’s aseasonal treat traditionally served around Christmas and St. Patrick’sDay —get it while you can! —added to its appeal. Curiously,Guinness doesn’thave arecipe for stout cake on itswebsite, so Ihad to search the web and my memoryfor guidance.

Dear Heloise: Cinco de Mayo is one of my favoriteexcuses to feed acrowd chips, salsa, tacos, the works! The aftermath? Less exciting. Greasy platters and salsa-covered dishes took the better part of an hour to clean after guests left. Now every serving trayand basket gets lined with parchment paper before the food goes out When the party’sover, just lift the paper and toss it out; the trayunderneath doesn’tneed anything —no soaking, no scrubbing, and no dried salsa waiting for you the next morning! The parchment handles grease and moisture without sticking or tearing, which makes it more reliable thanpaper towels or foil for this kind of use. Cut it to fit, or just fold

theedges up slightly around thesides. It’s such asmall thing, but it genuinely changes how the night ends. You get to enjoy the last hour of the party instead of dreading about what’swaiting for you in the kitchen. —Leslie A., in Bayside,New York Brownclump in vinegar

Dear Heloise: Brownclumps keep forming at the bottom of our apple cider vinegar after we transfer it from agallon jug to asmaller bottle. What causes this, and how do we prevent it?

—MichaelKey,via email Michael, there’sno need to worry; the brown clumps are harmless. They’re called the “mother of vinegar,” and they’re a natural mixofgood bac-

teria and cellulose that is found in raw,unfiltered apple cider vinegar.Transferring vinegar exposes it to air and movement, and this exposure can cause anew mother to form in the smaller bottle —often within aweek or two. Some peoplevalue the motherfor itsprobioticbenefits andkeep it in.Ifyou don’tlike the texture, strain thevinegarthrough a finemeshstraineroracoffee filter before pouring it into the smallerbottle. Keepingthe vinegarinthe fridge after transferring it will also slow theprocess. Filtered apple cidervinegarhas fewer clumps but doesn’t contain themother.Nomatter what settles at thebottom, your vinegarissafe andreadyto use.

—Heloise Email heloise@heloise.com.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Say no to responsibilities that don't belong to you. Your time is best allocated to something that makes a difference to you, your attitude and your personal, physical and financial well-being.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Own whatever situation you find yourself in, and implement positive change. Volunteer for a position of leadership where you can make a difference to those you reach out to.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Stand your ground, but don't invite unwarranted trouble. Overreacting will be to your detriment, especially when dealing with professional associates or those you count on for assistance.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Gather information that helps you find your happy place. A lifestyle change that helps you spend less and experience more will change your mindset and give you something to look forward to

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) You'll retain information. Set yourself up to learn research and integrate with teachers and those who can assist you in padding your brain, attributes and physical skills with new possibilities and capabilities.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Be careful what you agree to or promise. Situations will escalate quickly if you aren't precise regarding your wants and desires. Pay attention to detail, and question anything that appears problematic.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Whetheryouare eager to learn or engage in technology

that can make your life or skills useful moving forward, the improvements will pay off by keeping you competitive.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Stand up and be counted. Take an energetic approach to life, love and your happiness, but stay within your budget. You don't have to impress anyone by paying their way.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) One step forward and three steps back. Take a moment, reorganize your thoughts and map out a plan that's doable. Be aware of those eager to stand in your way or take advantage of your time.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Don't dawdle when you have so much to achieve. Consider how you earn your living or manage your money and what you can do to up your game. A change at home will encourage you to lower your overhead.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Protect yourself from unsavory situations that can result in debt or liability Taking on too much or overpaying for something will set you back. Study your options when time and money are at stake.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Your speed, positive attitude and what goal you accomplish will make others pause in wonder Put your talents to work for you, and the sky's the limit. Don't fear being different.

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 basedona9x9 grid with several given numbers. Theobject is to place the numbers 1to9inthe empty squaressothat each row, each column andeach3x3 boxcontainsthe same number only once. Thedifficulty level of the Sudoku increases fromMonday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

BY PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

Franklin Delano Rooseveltsaid, “Repetition does not transform alie into a truth.”

Butonedoeshopethatrepetitiontransforms atruththat is sometimes overlooked into atruth thatisremembered. As an example, how do thedefenders defeat four hearts in this deal after West leads the spade ace?

The bidding is instructive.OverWest’s textbook takeout double,North’s redouble indicates at least 10 high-card points and fewer than four-card heart support (Note that in the United States, atwodiamondresponse is typically treated as natural andnonforcing, showing along suit in aweak hand. With agood hand that isn’t suitable fora forcing one-level response, responder must start with redouble.) After this redouble, thesimplest rule is that eitherthe opening pair buys the contract or the interveningside plays in something doubled for penalty.

UnderWest’sspadeace, East drops his three, the lowest card denying both the spade queen and adoubleton. West continues withthe spade queen. NowEast should play hiseight, startingahigh-low withhisremainingdoubleton.ThenWest cashes the spade king. But what should hedoattrickfour?Westhas14high-card pointsand dummy has 13. That leaves 13 for Eastand South. The declarer must

wuzzles

have the diamond ace, club ace and club king.Itishighlyunlikelythatthedefenderscan gain aminor-suit trick.And if so thefourth defensive trick will have to come fromtrumps. West should lead hislast spade. This promotes East’s heart jack to the setting trick.

©2026 by

NEA,Inc., dist. By AndrewsMcMeel Syndication

EachWuzzle is aword riddlewhich creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc.For example:NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words mustbeoffour or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four lettersbythe addition of “s,” suchas“bats”or“dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additionalwords made by adding a“d” or an “s”may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slangwords, or vulgar or sexually explicit wordsare not allowed.

toDAY’sWoRD VERtIGo: VER-tih-go: Dizziness.

Average mark21words

Time limit 35 minutes

Can youfind 30 or more words in VERTIGO?

YEstERDAY’s WoRD —LInGERs

today’s thought “And the Lordsaid, My spirit shall not always strive withman, for that he alsoisflesh: yet his days shall be ahundred and twentyyears.” Genesis 6:3

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Tech stocks rebound while most others fall NEW YORK A rebound for technology stocks led Wall Street to records Wednesday, even though the majority of U.S. stocks fell following another discouraging update on inflation Gains for tech stocks led the way, like Micron Technology’s 4.8% and On Semiconductor’s 11.1%. They had stumbled the day before after momentum suddenly halted for stocks riding excitement around artificial-intelligence technology Nvidia, the chip company that was among the first faces of the AI boom, rose 2.3% and was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500 because of its immense size.

Earlier in the day Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp said that its profit for the 12 months through March zoomed by nearly five-fold from the previous year as its AI investments paid off. China’s Alibaba Group said its AI and cloud growth accelerated in the latest quarter and its stock that trades in the United States rose 8.2% even though its overall results fell short of analysts’ expectations. But the majority of stocks outside of the technology industry fell, as pressure builds on Wall Street.

United attendants ratify pay hike, boarding pay

United Airlines flight attendants have approved a new labor contract that will bring their first pay increases in six years — along with boarding pay, a long-sought change that compensates crew members for the work they do before the plane leaves the gate.

The five-year agreement, ratified on Tuesday, covers nearly 30,000 flight attendants at United It includes an average 31% pay increase this summer, boarding pay worth an additional 7% to 8% in compensation on average and $741 million in retroactive pay, according to the Association of Flight Attendants

“The contract will immediately change the lives of United Flight Attendants, especially our thousands of new hires who have been hired since the pandemic,” said Ken Diaz, president of the union’s United chapter “Our solidarity delivered the goods.”

The union said the deal also secures expanded job security, restrictions on red-eye flying, pay for lengthy delays over 2 1/2 hours, higher retirement contributions, 10 weeks paid parental leave and the elimination of 24-hour on-call reserve schedules.

“The United Airlines Flight Attendant contract now leads the industry in total value for flight attendants and it should,” said Sara Nelson, president of the AFA, which represents more than 55,000 flight attendants across 20 airlines. Texas county pauses data center construction

A rural Texas county on Tuesday approved a one-year pause on the construction of new data centers in unincorporated areas, citing public safety and public health concerns

The 3-2 vote by county commissioners in Hill County, roughly 55 miles south of Fort Worth, appears to be the first by a Texas county Residents and local officials had aired concerns about how a proposed 300-acre development by Dallas-based developer Provident Data Centers in north Hillsboro could impact the quality of life in the rural county through noise pollution and consuming large amounts of water and electricity

Representatives of data center developers pleaded with the county to reject the moratorium and said they are bringing money to the county for schools and roads. Hill County Commissioner Jim Holcomb said that many developers called him the night before, as late as 10 p.m., asking him to vote down the moratorium.

THEADVOCATE.COM/news/business

Producer price index spikes by 1.4%

Rising cost of living frustrating Americans

BY PAUL WISEMAN AP economics writer

WASHINGTON U.S. wholesale inflation came in hot last month. Producer prices rose 6% from a year earlier, the highest point in more than three years, as the Iran war pushes up energy prices and intensifies pressure on companies to pass along their rising costs to consumers. The Labor Department reported

Wednesday that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — shot up 1.4% in April, the biggest monthly gain in more than four years. Energy prices climbed 7.8% from March to April and 22.7% from a year earlier Gasoline soared 15.6% from March and diesel, the dominant fuel used in shipping, jumped 12.6%.

Gasoline prices, which have already become painful for many Americans, rose again overnight to a national average of $4.51 per gallon, according to motor club AAA. Excluding volatile food and en-

ergy costs, so-called core producer prices rose 1% from March and 5.2% from April 2025. All of the numbers released Wednesday caught economists off guard and altered the dynamic at the U.S. Federal Reserve and its fight against inflation. Prices are rising at a time when Americans are already frustrated by the high cost of living. Affordability is likely to be a key issue when voters go to the polls Nov 3 to determine whether President Donald Trump’s Republican Party maintains control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

“This report will set off alarm bells at the Fed and add fuel to the political conversation about affordability, wrote Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics. “The results are so far above expectations that this update will set off alarm bells in the financial markets, too.

After the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran closed off access to the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes. The oil shock shows no sign of letting up.

U.S. grocery prices rose in April, but gas jumps weren’t the only reason

Trade policies, extreme weather have weighed on costs

BY DEE-ANN DURBIN Associated Press

Americans paid more for their groceries last month, but high gasoline prices resulting from the Iran war were only one of the reasons why

Prices for food eaten at home rose 2.9% in April compared to the same month a year earlier, according to government figures released Tuesday That was the highest yearover-year inflation rate for the category since August 2023.

Prices at restaurants, fast-food chains and other places to get prepared meals also increased putting overall food prices up 3.2% in the last year, the Labor Department’s consumer price index showed.

Fuel prices have soared while the Iran war prevents cargo ships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for global oil supplies. Diesel fuel powers fishing boats, tractors and the trucks that ship 83% of U.S. agricultural products. As of Tuesday the average price per gallon was up 61% from a year ago, according to AAA

The meat, produce and dry goods vendors that supply Sparrow Market, a small independent grocer in Ann Arbor Michigan, all added fuel surcharges to their deliveries in recent weeks, owner Raymond Campise said. Wholesale prices for meat, produce and some other products also have gone up, he said.

“For independent markets operating on narrow margins, even small increases can have a major impact,” Campise said.

The full impact of rising energy costs on food likely has not hit retail grocery prices yet in the U.S., according to Purdue University economists Ken Foster and Bernhard Dalheimer Higher costs to produce, process, store and transport food can take three to six months to show up on supermarket shelves, where prices typically fall slowly once increased, they said.

“Most of what we’re seeing now in the food price chain probably predates the conflict,” Foster, a professor of agricultural economics, said. “We’re cautiously waiting to see what the June numbers and the May numbers might show as they come out in terms of the extent to which energy shocks in the Strait of Hormuz and shipping blockades and so forth are going to impact food prices.”

The consumer price index measures changes in what people in U.S. cities paid at retail stores for meat, bread, milk, produce and other grocery staples. Over the last 20 years, grocery prices increased an average

of 2.6%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Prices for perishable and refrigerated products tend to increase faster than prices for packaged goods when energy is an issue. Consumers paid 6.5% more for fresh fruit and vegetables in U.S. cities last month than they did in April 2025, and 8.8% more for meat, the Labor Department reported.

But U.S. trade policies and extreme weather also have weighed on U.S. food prices in the last year In July 2025, the Trump administration imposed a 17% duty on fresh tomatoes imported from Mexico; consumer prices rose 40% in the 12 months before April.

Dry weather in the Western U.S. has been one of many factors pushing up beef prices, which in April were 15% higher year-overyear Coffee prices were up 18.5%, partly due to drought and other weather conditions that have hurt global coffee production in recent years.

“Today’s CPI showed that food prices have been rising 3.2 percent in the past year, but the story behind that number is more complicated than just an energy shock,” said Dalheimer, an assistant professor of macroeconomics and trade in Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics.

Prices for some foods remained more or less flat or declined over 12 months. Milk and chicken dipped slightly Butter cost 5.8% less in April than it did a year earlier Egg prices fell 39% as farmers rebuilt flocks that were decimated by an ongoing bird flu outbreak.

Food prices and broader inflation are likely to feature prominently in November’s midterm elections. During his 2024 campaign, President Donald Trump often cited the prices of bacon, cereal, crackers and other groceries as reasons why voters should return him to the White House.

Some food producers say they’re struggling now because of higher fuel costs. The Southern Shrimp Alliance, which represents shrimpers in eight states, said some boats haven’t left the dock this spring because they can’t catch enough shrimp to compensate for the cost of diesel.

Fuel typically makes up 30% to 50% of the costs for U.S. shrimpers, but because they supply only 6% of the shrimp that Americans consume, they have limited ability to raise prices or add surcharges for fuel, the organization said.

Higher fuel prices may also be impacting food costs in other ways. Part of April’s 5% annual increase in prices for nonalcoholic beverages may be due to the petroleum derivative that goes into making plastic bottles, Foster said.

“It’s possible some of that’s starting to seep down the supply chain and get into those prices,” he said.

Over the next year or more, Americans could also see higher food prices due to spiking fertilizer costs, since around 30% of the world’s fertilizer travels through the Strait of Hormuz.

PayPal agrees to $30 million settlement with feds over DEI fund

BY ETHAN BARON The Mercury News

(TNS)

In 2020 San Jose financial technologygiantPayPalproudlyannounced it would spend a half a billion dollars to support Black and minority businesses and communities because, in the words of then-CEO Dan Schulman, “Black lives matter.”

On Tuesday, the company agreed to a $30 million settlement with the federal government to resolve claims that the $500 million Economic Opportunity Fund was discriminatory

The U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that the fund “gave a preference to businesses based on race, color, and national origin,” but was not implemented to address “any specific instances” of discrimination. “This Department of Justice is delivering on President Trump’s

vow to root out illegal DEI from every corner of corporate America,” said acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche. “American corporations are on notice: you will face our aggressive enforcement if you use race or national origin to discriminate against qualified Americans.”

The government’s contention that DEI is by nature discriminatory relies on the concept of “reverse discrimination,” in which dominant groups are seen as victims of racism, said University of CaliforniaSanta Cruz lecturer Nolan Higdon, who studies the technology industry and U.S. culture and politics. Higdon rejects the concept

“To be able to be racist you have to have the power over other people,” Higdon said. “People of color don’t have power over other people in the United States.”

The Justice Department noted the

Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits creditors from discriminating against applicants “on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age” and other protected characteristics.

PayPal in agreeing to the settlement admitted no liability in connection with the fund, the settlement agreement said. The federal government in the agreement said it had not found PayPal’s fund violated any laws, including the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

When PayPal announced the fund in 2020, it said it would put $500 million into supporting businesses owned by Black people and under-represented minorities including through direct investments in Black- and minority-led startups and minority-focused investment funds.

“For far too long, Black people in America have faced deep-seated

injustice and systemic economic inequality,” Schulman said in the announcement. “Black lives matter and we need to drive transformative change. We must take decisive action to close the racial wealth gap that sustains this profound inequity.”

Schulman stepped down as PayPal CEO in 2023 and Enrique Lores is now its chief executive. Under the agreement announced Tuesday, PayPal will create a new program called the Small Business Initiative that will waive $30 million in fees on about $1 billion in financial transactions by U.S. small businesses engaged in farming, manufacturing technology, or other industries if the business is certified as veteran-owned The agreement specifically mentions that artificial intelligence enterprises are included among eligible technology companies.