The Advocate 03-12-2026

IRAN TARGETS SHIPS, OIL FACILITIES AS ECONOMIC CONCERNS

BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER

Staff writer

After both offices warned last fall that budget constraints were straining their operations, the Baton Rouge Metro Council on Thursday approved additional funding for the district attorney and public

defender

At the request of Mayor-President Sid Edwards’ administration, the council authorized $500,000 for the public defender’s office and $850,000 for District Attorney Hillar Moore’s office on Wednesday Moore, who has spent more than a year pushing for additional

funding, welcomed the increase but said it falls short of what his office needs and that he still plans to sue the city-parish seeking more money “We are extremely grateful to the Mayor City Council and Finance Department for today’s additional funding allocation,” Moore

said in a statement Wednesday evening. “While it represents only a small portion of what is needed to bring our Office’s operational capacity to a fully functional level, it does provide much-needed shortterm relief.”

The supplement for the two offices comes from a fund balance in the city-parish’s general fund, Edwards’ office said.

The district attorney’s adopted

Bills target private pre-K rules

One would ease regulations; another would end them

BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer

Competing bills in the Louisiana Legislature that aim to quell the uproar over a new state law regulating private preschools take starkly different approaches: One proposal would revise the law, while the other would gut it. Passed unanimously by the Legislature last year Act 409 imposes stringent licensure rules on prekindergarten programs at private schools but exempts programs at public and Montessori schools Pro-

ponents say the law strengthens protections for young children in private settings, but critics — including two private schools that unsuccessfully challenged the law in court — call the regulations excessive and unnecessary due to the schools’ existing safety protocols.

Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, who authored the original legislation, responded to the complaints by filing a bill last month that would ease the regulations while also requiring public preschools to be licensed.

But Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, introduced a competing bill this week that fully exempts private and religious preschools from the regulations — effectively voiding the key component of Act 409. Her proposal, Senate Bill 402, will come as a relief

to private schools that warn that complying with the new regulations will be costly and complicated and could trigger tuition hikes and pre-K closures

“I don’t see it being feasible, plausible or practical,” said Russell Marino, head of Hosanna Christian Academy in Baton Rouge, adding that the school might shut down its 120-student pre-K program if the law stands. That “would be devastating to the community we serve.”

The bill caused a stir in the Capitol this week when Mizell introduced it at the start of the new legislative session. Barrow said she hadn’t been consulted about the bill and denounced it as a “step backward” for child safety, and a Senate Education

ä See BILLS, page 7A

Resignation deepens fight over judicial discipline

Letter accuses improper action taken against judges

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

A former state Supreme Court justice resigned in dramatic fashion last week from the Judiciary Commission, accusing the body of failing to hold judges accountable for wrongdoing, days before Gov Jeff Landry urged the Louisiana Legislature to pass legislation to rein in judges.

“Judges need to be aboveboard and accountable as their actions determine the way our citizens view our government.”

CHET TRAyLOR, former La. Supreme Court justice

“I have realized that I serve no purpose as a member,” former Justice Chet Traylor wrote in a letter to Landry explaining why he resigned from the commission, which investigates complaints against judges and can recommend their discipline to the Supreme Court. He called for more transparency around judicial discipline and alleged that complaints against judges often go unaddressed.

“Judges need to be aboveboard and accountable as their actions determine the way our citizens view our government,” he wrote. “I only wish that my serving could have turned the tide.”

Traylor’s scathing remarks stand out in a state where judges often close ranks and rarely speak publicly — and are forbidden from doing so about active cases. His letter paints Louisiana as rife with judges who are “incompetent or so arrogant that they think they are above the law,” and it says there is a lack of “meaningful action” against them.

The former justice’s comments are one of the starkest signs of a push for stronger oversight of the judiciary by lawmakers, Landry and some

BRIEFS

Thompson wins Miss. Democratic primary

BOLTON, Miss. Longtime U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson won the Democratic nomination for Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District on Tuesday, beating back a primary challenge from a young antitrust lawyer with experience working in Washington.

The 78-year-old civil rights leader who chaired the House Jan. 6 Committee has held his seat for more than three decades and serves as a ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee.

He is one of several long-serving representatives who have recently faced opposition from younger members of their party He was opposed by Evan Turnage, a 34-year-old who formerly served as counsel to then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

However, Thompson easily defeated Turnage, much like he has with other primary challengers in the past.

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in a separate primary election.

4 fined, banned from park after vandalism

DETROIT Four people from Illinois accused of vandalizing the cliffs at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior in Michigan were fined and banned from entering the park for a year, the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday

The punishment comes after park rangers on patrol came upon several vessels along the cliffs of the Pictured Rocks lakeshore, where the visitors had been carving large letters into the cliff faces and collecting over 100 pounds of rocks with the intent to take them home, according to the announcement by Timothy VerHey, the U.S attorney for the Western District of Michigan.

The rangers cited the Illinois visitors for defacing and collecting park resources, and in December they were ordered to appear in U.S. District Court in Marquette to answer for the violations. Each was ordered to pay a $500 fine and was banned from Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore for a year One of the four individuals was ordered to pay an additional $250 fine for taking the rocks, according to VerHey’s office.

Head priest accused of stealing baseball cards

PITTSBURGH The head priest and dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Pittsburgh is facing charges after being accused of stealing more than $1,000 in baseball cards from a Walmart.

The Very Rev Aidan Smith was arrested Feb. 27 by police just after leaving the Walmart in Economy Borough, just outside Pittsburgh, with 27 packs of baseball cards concealed under his clothing and in a cardboard box, according to court records. Smith, 42, was charged with receiving stolen property and retail theft.

Police responded to a call from Walmart security, who said Smith was in the store again after having stolen from it in previous days. Police said Walmart security video shows Smith also taking baseball cards each of the four previous days and leaving without paying Old science satellite plunges back to Earth

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. An old NASA science satellite plunged uncontrolled from orbit and reentered over the Pacific on Wednesday

The U.S. Space Force said the Van Allen Probe A came in west of the Galapagos Islands NASA expected some of the 1,323-pound spacecraft to survive entry, with most of it burning up in the atmosphere. The space agency put the risk of bodily harm at 1-in-4,200 Its twin, the Van Allen Probe B, is still orbiting Earth, but no longer functioning.

Launched in 2012, the two spacecraft flew through the Van Allen radiation belts that surround Earth, studying them for seven years before ceasing operation.

Epstein’s accountant testifies

House lawmakers dig into fi

nancial

portfolio

BY STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press

WASHINGTON House lawmakers were digging into Jeffrey Epstein’s sprawling financial portfolio on Wednesday as a committee deposed his former accountant and tried to understand his connections to some of the world’s wealthiest men Richard Kahn, who worked closely with Epstein for years and now serves as an executor of his estate, appeared for the closed-door deposition on Capitol Hill. He told lawmakers that he had not personally seen evidence of Epstein’s sexual abuse, but provided a fuller picture of how Epstein acquired his wealth. The wealthy financier made hundreds of millions of dollars over two decades, during which he

struck up friendships with some of the world’s most powerful men. Kahn “was under the impression that Epstein made his money as a tax advisor and a financial planner,” said Rep James Comer the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee Lawmakers argued that a fuller picture of Epstein’s finances could help the public understand how for years, he was able to get away with trafficking and sexually abusing underage girls.

“Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring would not have been possible without Richard Kahn, who managed Epstein’s money for years, authorized payments, including payments to victims and survivors,” said Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., who added that Kahn told them he was unable to recall details of some of the transactions and communications that he was asked about.

Kahn has said that he was un-

aware of Epstein’s sexual abuse and had not seen any of his victims. Comer, R-Ky., also said that lawmakers confirmed during the deposition that Epstein received significant amounts of money from former retail shopping chain executive Les Wexner, hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin, tech entrepreneur Steven Sinofsky, investor Leon Black and the Rothschilds, a wealthy banking family None of those people have been accused of wrongdoing in their relationships with Epstein, but Democrats on the committee argued that anyone with ties to the wealthy financier should be scrutinized. Wexner was deposed by the committee last month, and Comer has also called on Black, among several others, to appear for transcribed interviews.

Kahn also told lawmakers that Epstein had financial ties to Ehud Barak, who was the prime minister of Israel from 1999 to 2001,

Trump touts lowering drug prices, slams Massie

He’s endorsed challenger of Republican who has vocally opposed him

BY WILL WEISSERT and SAGAR MEGHANI Associated Press

HEBRON, Ky. President Donald Trump on Wednesday touted lowering prescription drug prices in Ohio and campaigned in the Kentucky district of Rep. Thomas Massie, calling his fellow Republican a “nutjob” he said should lose their party’s upcoming primary

It was a full day on the road as Trump attempted to project economic and political strength even as war in Iran has scrambled financial markets and hurt his poll numbers.

Massie is one of the few remaining Republicans who has dared defy Trump in Congress, and the president took the unusual step of holding a rally in Massie’s northern Kentucky district He gleefully told the crowd, “I just can’t stand this guy” and called him “stupid” and a “disaster.”

“We’ve got to get rid of this loser,” said Trump, who has endorsed Massie challenger Ed Gallrein in Kentucky’s primary on May 19.

The event felt like vintage Trump from his reelection bid in 2024 — so much so that he briefly called Gallrein, a farmer businessman and retired Navy SEAL, to the stage There, Gallrein declared, “Tom Massie stands with the ladies of ‘The View.’ Mr President, we stand with you!”

The trip was a test of Trump’s ability to cleanse his party of those who oppose him, but also to try to stay on an economic message increasingly strained by the military action launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran Polls show that Americans were increasingly wary of Trump’s handling of the economy even before the conflict began, and fighting there has derailed Trump’s messaging, as the low gas prices he once bragged about are now surging and stocks that had set record highs have slipped.

Iran looms large in Ohio and Ky. stops

Trump’s swing began with a tour of Thermo Fisher Scientific in suburban Cincinnati. There, he discussed his administration’s efforts to persuade major manufacturers to lower prescription medication prices so that they are closer to what is charged abroad.

“I used some very strong negotiating talent to get every single country to almost immediately approve,” he told reporters. But the president also told reporters

that what was happening in Iran was “an excursion that will keep us out of a war.” He added of Tehran, “for them, it’s a war. For us, it’s turned out to be easier than we thought.”

Later, at the Kentucky rally, Trump suggested the conflict wasn’t about to end, saying, “We don’t want to leave early, do we? We’ve got to finish the job.”

He said that Iran was on the verge of rebuilding its nuclear capabilities, saying that fighting needed to continue so, “We don’t want to go back every two years.”

That contradicts many previous Trump claims and justifications for the U.S. and Israel launching strikes on Iran — not the least of which was Trump saying U.S. strikes last summer had obliterated that country’s nuclear capabilities.

Also Wednesday, Trump did an interview with Cincinnati’s WKRC-TV and said he planned to tap the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, in an effort to bring down gasoline prices.

“Right now, we’ll reduce it a little bit, and that brings the prices down,” Trump said, without providing details.

“We’ll be back on track in a pretty short while,” Trump said. “Prices are coming down very substantially Oil will be coming down.”

Trump laces into Massie

At the rally, the president stressed the importance of Republicans winning the midterms, ticking off his administration’s accomplishments while telling the crowd, “The midterms are going to be very, very important to keep it going.”

But that doesn’t extend to Massie, who Trump called “the worst.”

Massie is an outspoken Trump critic who opposed the White House-backed tax and spending measure and bucked Trump by pushing to have files related to the sex trafficking investigations into Jeffrey Epstein released.

He’s also criticized the U.S. strike on Venezuela that toppled then-President Nicolás Maduro and, most recently, the war in Iran.

Massie told the Cincinnati Enquirer that Trump’s endorsement is “all my opponent has going for him.” adding that Gallrein “has promised to be a rubber stamp when he gets to Washington D.C. and I don’t think people here want a rubber stamp.”

Since November, the president has made stops in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Texas — though his speeches have sometimes been more focused on his own political grievances than on his plans to help lower everyday costs across the country Even on Wednesday, Trump spent long stretches mocking his Democratic predecessor, President Joe Biden.

according to Democratic Rep. Suhas Subramanyam. Barak has not been accused of wrongdoing and has said he regrets his friendship with Epstein.

Comer also said Wednesday that the committee has reviewed over 40,000 documents that it subpoenaed from JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank. Epstein was connected to at least 64 business entities, according to Comer Republican President Donald Trump has strongly denied any wrongdoing in his own ties to Epstein, and Comer said that Kahn had never seen any financial transactions between Epstein and Trump. Comer said that Kahn is the latest witness to testify that they had never seen Trump doing anything wrong with Epstein.

“The investigation’s about getting the truth to the American people, trying to figure out how the government failed, answer questions we all have,” Comer said.

Social Security watchdog opens probe into alleged mishandling of data

BY FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Social Security Administration’s internal watchdog is investigating a whistleblower complaint into what it describes as a former Department of Government Efficiency worker’s potential misuse of data obtained from the Social Security Administration. According to a document the Associated Press obtained Wednesday, the SSA’s inspector general informed the leadership of four congressional committees that it was launching the probe after receiving an anonymous complaint.

The Washington Post on Tuesday reported that a former DOGE software engineer had allegedly told several co-workers that he possessed two tightly restricted databases of U.S. citizens’ information and had at least one data set on a thumb drive that he would share with his new employer

The SSA said the allegations have been refuted by the agency, the former em-

ployee, and the company Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement that the allegations, if true, would represent “one of the largest known data breaches in American history” and called for a “full public accounting.”

The Social Security Administration maintains records on hundreds of millions of people — including health diagnoses, income, banking information, familial relationships and personal biographic data.

The agency has faced lawsuits over alleged mishandling of government data and DOGE’s access to sensitive personal information.

Last August, whistleblower Charles Borges, who worked as the chief data officer at the Social Security Administration filed a disclosure to the special counsel’s office, stating that more than 300 million Americans’ Social Security data was put at risk after DOGE officials uploaded sensitive information to a cloud account not subject to oversight.

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CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Iran targetsships,oil facilities as economic concerns mount

BY JON GAMBRELL, SALLYABOU ALJOUD and LISA MASCARO Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Iran

targeted the world’sbusiest international airport Wednesday and attacked commercial shipsasU.S. andIsraeli strikes rockedTehran and the U.N.’smost powerfulbody demanded ahalt to Iran’sstrikes on its Gulf neighborsthatthreaten the world’s oil supply

The latest attacks marked an escalation in the IslamicRepublic’s campaign aimed at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the United States andIsrael to end the war that started 12 days ago. But there werenosigns that the conflictwas lettingup.

The first week of war withIran cost $11.3 billion, accordingtothe Pentagon, which provided the estimate to Congress in abriefing earlier this week, according to a person familiar with the situation whospoke on conditionofanonymity to discuss the privatemeeting

The military reportedspending $5 billion on munitions alone in the war’sfirst weekend.

Both sides have dug in, hopingto outlast the other as the conflict upends trade routes,chokes supplies of fuel and fertilizer comingout of the Gulf and threatens air traffic through one of the world’smosttraveled regions.

Iran has targetedoil fields and refineries in GulfArab nations and effectively stopped cargo traffic through the narrow Strait ofHormuz, through which afifth of all traded oil passes.

In response, the International Energy Agency agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil, the largest volume of emergencyoil

reserves in its history,ina bidto counter the war’seffectsonenergy markets. U.S. Energy Secretary ChrisWrightsaidthe U.S. will release 172 million barrels of oilnext week from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to combatsteep oil prices

Security Councilresolution

The U.N. Security Council voted Wednesday to approve aresolution demanding ahalttoIran’s“egregious attacks” on its Gulf neighbors.

Amongthe most recent attacks, four peoplewere wounded after two Iranian drones hit near Dubai International Airport in theUnited Arab Emirates, though flights continued,the Dubai Media Office said.OnThursday, Dubaiauthorities said adrone fell on abuilding nearDubai Creek Harbor,a luxury waterfront development.

At Oman’s Port of Salalah, firefighters battleda blaze at fuel storage tanks afterdays of Iranian attacks, according to the Oman

News Agency

“The international community is resoluteinrejecting these Iranian attacksagainst sovereigncountries that arethreatening the stability of the peoples, especially in aregion of strategic importanceto globaleconomy,energy,security and security of global trade,” said Bahrain’sU.N. ambassador,Jamal Alrowaiei.

The 13-0 vote reflects Iran’sisolated positionasithas aggressively responded to Israeliand U.S. strikes. China andRussia, two Iranianallies, abstained fromthe vote. Their U.N. ambassadors called the proposal“extremely unbalanced” in not mentioning the strikes againstTehran that began thewar Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said it might leavethe impression that Iran,“on its own volition andout of malice, conducted an unprovoked attack on Arab states.”Iranian U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani saidthe resolution “deliberately ignores theroot

causes of the current crisis.”

More attacks in Gulf countries were reported Wednesday.Drones were launched toward the cities of Irbil and Sulaymaniyah in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, while in the southern part of the country, an oil vessel flying the Australian flag was struck near KhorAl-Zubair Port, according to two Iraqi navy officials who also spoke on condition of anonymity

The official said 25 members of thecrew were rescued. It was not immediately clear whetherany others were missing.

Explosions rock Jerusalem

On Thursday,sirens wailed and loud explosions wereheard shortly after midnight in Jerusalem and other parts of Israel. The Israeli military saiditwas responding with another “wide-scalewave of strikes” in Tehran.

The fallout acrossthe Middle EastwidenedasIsrael struckwhat it said were targets connected to

Iran-backed Hezbollahmilitants in Lebanon.

Blasts shook Beirut’ssouthern suburbs Wednesday, producing fires and plumes of smoke. Israel’s military said the strikes werein response to Hezbollah firing dozensofrocketsfired simultaneously across northern Israel.

One rocket hit ahouse near the Israelitown of Karmiel, lightly injuring two people,according to Israeli rescue services.

At least 634 people have been killed in Lebanon since the latestfighting began, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Wednesday

The U.N. refugee agency said at least 759,000 people have been internally displaced in Lebanon. Iranianauthorities saymore than 1,300 people have been killed there, and Israel has reported 12 people dead. The U.S. has lost seven soldiers while another eight have suffered severe injuries. U.S. pledgestokeepstraitopen

The UnitedStateshas pledged to keep the strait open and has led intense airstrikes targeting Iran’s navy and the port city of Bandar Abbas. The U.S. military said Tuesday it destroyed 16 Iranian minelayers near the strait.

At least12incidents involving vessels around the strait have been confirmed since fighting began, according to two global trackers, and at least seven mariners have been killed.

Aprojectile hit aThai cargo ship off the coast of Oman in the strait, setting it ablaze. Authorities are searching forthreemissingcrew members from the Mayuree Naree after 20 were rescued by the Omani navy,according to Thailand’sMarine Department.

Outdated intelligence likely ledtoairstrike on school,sources say

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON Outdated intelligence likely led to the United States carryingout adeadly missile strike on an elementaryschool in Iran that killed over 165people, many of them children,in the openinghours of the conflict, according to aU.S. official and asecond person briefed on findings of apreliminary U.S military investigation into the incident.

The bombing of the school andits casualtiesinvolving children has become afocal pointofthe war, andifultimately confirmed to be at the hands of the U.S., would also stand among the highest civilian casualty events caused by the American military operations in the last two decades.

President Donald Trump initially blamed Iran for the attack, later said he wasn’t certain who was to blame, andthensaidhewouldaccept the results of the Pentagon’sinvestigation. The issue took on added urgency on Wednesday after the New York Times first reported that apreliminary investigation found that the U.S. was responsible.

U.S. Central Command relied on target coordinates for the strike using outdated data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency, according to the person familiar with the preliminary finding. Theagency didnot respond to arequest for comment.

The preliminary finding prompted immediate calls for more information from thePentagon. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that “the investigation is still ongoing.”

Both theU.S.official and the person familiar with the matter spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discussthe sensitive matter

Dozens of Democratic senators demanded answers from theTrump administrationonWednesday as a growing body of evidence suggested that the U.S. was likely responsible for astrike at an elementary school in Iranthat killed over 165people,many of them children.

The letter from more than 45 senators pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on whether the U.S. was culpable for the strike and what

previous analysisofthe building had been done. The senators alsoraised concerns about the Pentagon hollowing out acongressionally mandated office set up specifically to reduce civilian casualties.

“Underthis administration, budgetaryand personnel cuts at the Department have robbed military commands of crucial resources to prevent and respond to civilian casualties,”the senatorswrote. Those include cutsatU.S. Central Command, whose forces are leadingthe military campaign againstIran,and the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence,which was signedinto law in 2022 as partofaPentagon ambition to reduce death tolls from strikes

Therevelationcould threaten to erodepublic support in the U.S. effort against Iran at atime when Trump, who as acandidate railed against American involvement in “stupid” overseas wars, faces persistent questionsaboutthe purpose andofthe conflict andwhat would bring it to an end

One former Pentagon officialsaidthe Feb. 28 strike that hitShajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School,whichis locatedneara neighboring base for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, came as anatural resultofchanges made by the Trump administration to reduce staff to mitigate civilian harm and Hegseth’semphasis on lethality over legality.

Evidence mounts

Thereare several indicationsthatthe strike on the school mayhavebeenavoidable.

It happened Saturday morning, the start of the Iranian school week, when the building wasfull of young children. Satellite analysis by the AP shows that the school, as well as other targetsstruckthe same day, had characteristics visible from the airthatcould have identifiedthem as civilian sites beforetheywere struck.

The AP reported last week that satellite images, expert analysis, aU.S. official and public information released by the U.S. military allsuggested it was likely aU.S. strike. Thatevidence grew stronger on Monday,as newfootage emerged showing whatexpertsidentified as aU.S.-made Tomahawk

cruise missile slamming intothe militarycompound as smoke was already rising from the area where the school was located.

Publicly available satellite imagery shows the school building was part of the militarycompound until about 2017, when anew wall was added to separate thetwo. A watchtower on the property was also removed. Around the same time, the imagery shows the walls surrounding the building were painted with murals in vibrant colors, primarily blue and pink, so bright they’re visible from space.

Theschool wasclearlylabeled as such in online maps and has an easily-accessible websitefull of information aboutstudents, teachers and administrators. International law governingwarfare barsstrikes on structures, vehicles and people that arenot military objectives and combatants. Civilianhomes, schools, medicalfacilitiesand cultural sites are generally off limitsfor military strikes

The proximity of aschool to avalid military targetdoes not change its status as acivilian site, said Elise Baker,a seniorstaff lawyer at theAtlantic Council, aWashingtonbased nonprofit think tank.

If theU.S. is foundresponsible,said Sen. TimKaine during abriefingwith journalists on Wednesday: “It’s either we’ve changed our traditional targeting rules or we made amistake.”

SomeRepublicans,too, are sounding alarms.

Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota told reporters thataninvestigationneeds to “get to thebottomofit,” and then “admit if you know whose fault it is.” If the U.S. wasbehind it, Cramersaid, themilitary must “do everything you can to eliminatethose mistakes going forward.” He added: “But you also can’tundo it.” Guardrails gutted

Congress directed thePentagontocreatethe Civilian Protection CenterofExcellence in late 2022 as part of the wide-rangingannual defense authorization bill. The bill saidthe center was to “institutionalizeand advanceknowledge,practices, andtools for preventing, mitigating, andresponding to civilian harm.”

WesBryant began working

there in 2024 as theBranch Chief of Civil Harm Assessments. One of the things the office was discussing was updating the “no strike list,” he

said, aseriesofcivilian targets in other countries that the Pentagonkeeps. When he was working at thePentagon, it was well known that

the list was out of date, he said. But under Hegseth, the office’ssize wasslashedand the work on updating the nostrike lists stopped, he said.

CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Oilshock promptscountries to open strategicreserves

TrumpsaysU.S.will tapstock ‘a little bit’

BY MATT SEDENSKY and WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS Associated Press

NEWYORK Awidening war in Iran

has halted oil tankers, made targets of refineries and spooked investors worried aboutthe cascading impact of spiking energy prices.

In response, the International Energy Agency agreed on Wednesday to release the largest volume of emergencyoil reserves in its history,with the Paris-based organization pledging to make 400 million barrels of oil available from its member nations’stockpiles.

Theannouncement marked ashift in momentumingovernment response to the war upending the flow of oil, with other global leaders previously indicating reluctance to tap into stockpiles.

Since warerupted in theMiddle East on Feb. 28 with the U.S. and Israel’s joint attacks on Iran, theflow of oil tankers through theStrait of Hormuz has all but stopped, cutting off avital passagewaywhere roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil sails through on atypical day

Major producers in the region like Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have also cut production because they are running out of storage space. And Iran,Israel and the U.S. have all struck oil and gas facilities, worsening supply concerns.

That has sent pricessoaring with

dramaticswings almost every day.

On Monday,Brent crude oil surged to as high as nearly$120 abarrel, before fallingto under $90 after President DonaldTrump suggested the war couldbenear an end.

But attackshave continued to escalate since.

Countries around theworld hold vast quantities of oil that they can use in theevent ofa crisis.

Because oil is aglobalcommodity and flooding the market with a sudden stream of new supply has internationalimplications,countries often talk to one another before tapping reserves. That includes coordinating withthe IEA, an organization created in the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis. It has 32 members —including Germany,Austriaand Japan,all of whom

confirmed Wednesday thatthey would be tapping partsoftheir reserves. The U.S., Mexico, Australia and other major countries are also part of the IEA.

IEAmembers currently hold over 1.2 billion barrelsofpublic emergency oilstocks,witha further 600 million barrels of industry stocks held under government obligation. The largest-ever previous collective releaseofemergency stocks by IEAmember countries was 182.7 million barrels following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Each of theIEA member countries promises to have areserve at leastequivalent to what they import in a90-day period. The U.S. exportsmore than it imports, maintainingits ownreserve—

known as theStrategic Petroleum Reserve —despite there being no requirement. But forother countries,tapping their reserves means that they will eventually need to replenish what was removed.

“Because of that, countries tend to keep reserves for alast-resort scenario, should thedisruptionbe prolonged,” said Maksim Sonin, an energyexecutive who works with Stanford University’sHydrogen Initiative.

Timing arelease is tricky

Optingtouse oil reserves is never asimple calculation, particularly when linked to awar with constantly shifting parameters and no clear timeline.

When nations tap into strategic reserves in situations like the war in Iran, the oil is sold into the global marketplace, theoretically increasing supply and thus, lowering prices.

“The key question on drawing down these reserves remains one of, ‘How long will this conflict last?’”saidTom Seng, an energy financeprofessoratTexas ChristianUniversity.“And, moreimportantly, ‘How long will the Strait of Hormuz remainblocked?’”

Oilreserveshavebeentapped when themarket has faced major disruption in the past, including warsinIraq, Libya and, most recently,inUkraine.

Kenneth Medlock, senior director of the Center forEnergy Studies at Rice University,said it’snot amatter of whether the current conflictisserious enough to merit

intervention, but whether the precise momenthas arrived.

“The price is up butitcould get worse,”Medlock said. “Whathappens if this drags on fortwo, three months? Then you run into asituation where you lose your buffer.”

Shiftindiscussions

Before Wednesday,countries were reticent to tap reserves. Over the weekend, Trump downplayed the idea of turning to the U.S. reserve, maintaining that supplies wereample and prices would soon fall. But that’schanged. On Wednesday,the president told WKRC-TV in Cincinnati his administration would tap into the SPR “a little bit” to bring down prices. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright later confirmed the U.S. would release 172 million barrels as part of the IEA’seffort. Representatives from the Group of Seven major industrialized powers met earlier this week and also previously heldoff on using strategic reserves. Still, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure saidMonday the groupwas “ready to take necessary and coordinated steps in order to stabilize markets, such as strategic stockpiling.”

Crude prices ticked up after the withdrawal was confirmed Wednesday,with Brent rising 4.8% to settle at $91.98. That is far higher than the roughly $70 it was sellingfor less than twoweeks ago. Analysts maintain the IEA’s release of 400 million barrels is a short-term bridge, making up for just afew weeks of lost supply

BY AAMER MADHANI Associated Press

WASHINGTON Facing jittery global markets and drooping poll numberssince launching awar with Iran, President DonaldTrump has cycled from calls for “unconditional surrender” to sounding amenable to an end state in which Iran trades one hard-line ayatollah for another Shifting comments from the Republican president and his top aides are adding to the precariousness of the 12-day-old conflict , which is impacting nearly every corner of the Middle East and causing economic tremors around the globe. With neither side budging, the war is now on an unpredictable path and acredible endgame is unclear Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday it was up to Trump “whether it’sthe beginning, the middle or the end” of the war.Trump, duringthe course of onespeech at aHouse Republican gathering Monday, went from calling the war a“short-term excursion” that could end soon to proclaiming “we haven’twon enough.”

theIranian navy and made huge strides in defanging Iran’sability to launchmissiles anddrones at its neighbors. Yetthe critical Strait of Hormuz,through which roughly 20% of theworld’s oil passes on atypicalday, remains essentially closed to business, and Iranian leaders are unbowed

TheRevolutionaryGuard said Iran would not allow “a singleliter of oil” through the vital waterway until the United States stopped its bombing campaign.Ali Larijani, Iran’stop national security official,offered amenacing message on Tuesday after Trumphad threatened to attack Iran “TWENTY TIMESHARDER” if Tehran stopped oil flowing through the strait.

“The sacrificial nation of Iran doesn’tfear your empty threats,”Larijaniwrote on X. “Even those bigger than you couldn’teliminateIran. Be careful not to get eliminated yourself.”

Trump ally Newt Gingrich, aformer Republican House speaker, saidthe administration should have movedon securing thestraitonDay Oneofthe conflict

Iran has not comewith the rallying-around-the-flag effect that hastypically accompaniedthe start of recent U.S. wars.

About half of voters in Quinnipiacand FoxNews polls said theU.S. military action in Iran makes the U.S. “less safe,”while only about 3in10ineach poll said it madethe country safer.A CNN poll found abouthalf of U.S.adults thought the militaryaction would make Iran “moreofathreat” to theU.S., while only about 3 in 10 thought it would lessen thedanger

In thatCNN poll, about 6 in 10 U.S. adults said they trusted Trump “notmuch” or “not at all” to make the right decisions about the U.S. use of force in Iran.

European alliesare treading carefully after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchezfaced thewrathofTrump,who deemed them not sufficiently supportive in backing his war of choice.

matter might find.

The president erroneously claimed that Tehran had access to Tomahawks, a U.S.-manufacturedweapon system that is only available to theU.S. and afew close allies.

Asked by areporter, Leavittdid not directly answerwhy Trump falsely asserted that Iran hasaccess to the U.S.-made missile. Instead, she responded in part that “the president has aright to share his opinions with the American public” while noting “he has said he’ll accept the conclusion of that investigation.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer,D-N.Y told reporters thatTrump’s claim “is beyond asinine.” “Again, he says whatever pops into his head no matter what thetruthis,”Schumer said. “And we allknowhelies, but on something as formidable as this, it’s appalling.”

“Wehave hit them harder than virtuallyany country in history has been hit, and we’re not finished yet,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday The vacillation has fueled criticism from those who say Trump lacks aclear goal. “They didn’thave a plan,” Sen. Mark Kelly,DAriz., toldreporters. “They have no timeline. And because of that, they have no exit strategy.”

Constantly shifting goal

Since ordering the Iran bombardment, Trumphas continuallyshifted his timelines and goals for the war

Over the past few days, Trump has called for the “unconditional surrender” of Iran’sleaders, while suggesting he had already succeeded in achieving his objective of decimatingIran’smilitary.

At the same time, Trump’s team has sought to soothe anxious Americans that the war will not be long and drawn out even as the president has insisted he has not ruled out the option of using U.S. ground troops

The U.S. military saysit has effectively destroyed

“If they can’tkeep it open, this war will in factbean American defeatbefore very long, because theentire world, including the American people, will react to the priceofoil if thestrait stay closedvery long,” Gingrich said in an appearance on Fox Business.

Making case to Americans

Trump has struggled to make hiscase to Americans aboutwhy preemptive action against Iran was necessary and how it squared with his pledge to keep the United States outofthe “forever wars” of the past two decades. Thus far,seven U.S. troops have been killed and about 140 injured inthe retaliatory salvos from Iran. One of several reasons Trumphas offered to justify launching the war was that he hada“feeling” thatIran was getting set to attack the U.S. White House presssecretary KarolineLeavitt slightly amended that position, telling reportersthat the president “had afeeling” that was “based on fact.”

But Pentagon officials have toldcongressional staffers in private briefings that the U.S. does not have intelligence indicating that Iran was planning to preemptively attack the U.S. Recentpollingshows Trump’sdecision to attack

TrumponWednesday lashedout againatSpain, which has said it will not allow the U.S. to use jointly operated bases in southern Spain in any strikes not covered by theU.N. charter

“I think they’ve been very bad—not good at all,” Trumpsaid. “Wemay cutoff trade with Spain.”

Even German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has been broadly supportive of the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran,saidonTuesdaythat“more questions arise with every day of war.”

Claims on school bombing

Trump has chosen to deflect responsibilityfor the bombing of agirl’sschool in southern Iran on the first day of the conflict, killing at least 165 people.

TrumponSaturday blamed theattack on Iran, saying its security forces are“very inaccurate”with munitions.

On Monday, afterthe investigative groupBellingcat posted verifiedvideo thatshowed aU.S. Tomahawk cruise missile hitting aRevolutionary Guard facilitynearthe school,causing the explosion, Trump again insisted it could have been Iran’sfault but saidthat he would accept whatever a U.S. investigation into the

Trump, House GOP disagree on strategy for midterms

President insists voter ID law will ‘guarantee’ victory

BY STEVEN SLOAN Associated Press

DORAL, Fla. — President Donald Trump insisted he had the answer for Republicans anxious about losing their congressional majority this year: build on an already strict national voter identification law to ban mail ballots and restrict transgender rights.

“It’ll guarantee the midterms,” he told Republicans gathered in the ballroom of his golf course just outside Miami on Monday “If you don’t get it, big trouble.”

Less than 24 hours later, House Republican leaders highlighted their priorities. And the voting bill, which Trump has rebranded from the SAVE Act to the SAVE America Act, wasn’t high on the list.

Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan, the House GOP conference chair, spoke of tax cuts for families, energy independence and the so-called Trump accounts for newborns as she described “real results for real people.”

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Jefferson said his colleagues were working with Trump to “make life more affordable for working families.”

Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House majority whip recounted “win after win” as he proclaimed “work-

ing families are keeping more of their hard-earned money in their pockets.”

As House Republicans closed out their annual ideas conference on Wednesday an election year disconnect was emerging

Just a few seats shy of losing their majority, senior Republicans are eager to emphasize the party’s work to lower costs, none of which is easy to accomplish with only a few votes to spare. Trump, meanwhile, is often focused elsewhere.

The war he initiated in Iran has disrupted the party’s message on affordability, with GOP leaders here facing frequent questions about the rising cost of gas, which House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, described as a “temporary blip.” The voting bill Trump is pushing is rooted in his insistence that he won the 2020 presidential election, claims rejected by dozens of courts and his own attorney general at the time.

At times, the president was even dismissive of the traditional pocketbook issues other Republicans preferred to highlight.

“Every time I go out, save America, sir SAVE America Act,” Trump said at the GOP event. “That’s all they talk about. They don’t talk about housing. They don’t talk about anything. That’s what they want to talk about.”

Johnson, who is close to Trump and appeared onstage with him this week, is hardly distancing from Trump’s push for the voting bill.

On Tuesday he denied there was any daylight between his colleagues and the White House. “We’re all on the same page,” Johnson said. “The president and I are exactly in lockstep.”

Challenging path ahead

But the path ahead is rocky In an effort to gain leverage over lawmakers, including some Republicans, Trump said he won’t sign other legislation into law until the voting bill is passed. That raises the prospect of Congress grinding to a halt just as lawmakers are asking voters to send them back

U.N. panel says hate speech by Trump, others has led to human rights violations

BY STEFANIE DAZIO and TERRY TANG Associated Press

GENEVA A U.N.-backed panel of independent experts focusing on racial discrimination says racist hate speech by U.S. President Donald Trump and other American political leaders, along with a crackdown on immigration in the United States, have led to “grave human rights violations.”

The Geneva-based Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued its decision Wednesday

The decision, made under the committee’s early warning protocol, is not legally binding but seeks to hold a country — in this case, the U.S. to its own international commitments.

The committee said it also was “deeply disturbed” by the use of derogatory and dehumanizing language around migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers Committee members attributed a reported rise in racial discrimination to “racist hate speech” targeting those groups but did not point to any specific data. Besides speech, there is also concern about the impact of politicians and other public figures weaponizing stereotypes to incite hate crimes

and discrimination

“Portraying them as criminals or as a burden, by politicians and influential public figures at the highest level, particularly the President,” the committee said in a news release, “may incite racial discrimination and hate crimes.”

Trump, as well as Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, have been in office when the U.N. condemned systemic racism, hate and discrimination. But the panel this time specifically cited Trump’s speech as part of the problem. They did not single out Biden or Obama. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement along with U.S. Customs and Border Protection also were singled out for racially profiling people of color and conducting identity checks that often seemed arbitrary

“This United Nations assessment is just as useless as their broken escalator, and their extreme bias continues to prove why no one takes them seriously,” said White House spokesperson Olivia Wales, who noted Trump’s work reducing crime and securing the U.S. border “No one cares what the biased United Nations’ so-called ‘experts’ think, because Americans are living in a safer, stronger country than ever

before,” she added.

In the report, the committee alleges the U.S. is not living up to its obligations as a party in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which the U.N. adopted in 1965. The report noted incidents involving “discriminatory, dangerous and violent methods” have left eight people dead in the last three months, including two U.S. citizens protesting in Minnesota.

Migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers who are detained also deserve humane and equal treatment free from discrimination under the Convention. But, these groups have been denied basic essential services, including health care, education and social support, the report states.

The committee is calling on the U.S. to review whether its immigration policies abide by international human rights law This should include suspending immigration enforcement operations, including around schools, faith-based institutions and hospitals, repealing “discriminatory measures” related to asylum procedures and putting up safeguards so immigration agencies cannot access personal data in government databases.

to Washington.

Passing legislation that comports with Trump’s demands will also be challenging. The House has already passed a version of the bill so the changes Trump is seeking would require fresh action by the chamber

The dynamic isn’t any easier in the Senate, where Republicans are struggling to pass the measure without Democratic support. And that was before Trump asked for additions, saying Republicans should “go for the gold.”

In the meantime, other high-profile work lies ahead

for Congress, including reopening the Department of Homeland Security and confirming its new leader

Johnson suggested on Tuesday that there were ways for lawmakers to continue their work amid Trump’s threat to not sign legislation The speaker noted that the Constitution allows legislation to become law if it’s sent to the president but isn’t signed within 10 days.

Johnson aims to shift focus

Faced with a tough political calculus, Johnson is trying to shift focus to Democrats, in particular over the

DHS shutdown, which has prompted security lines to swell at some airports over the past few days.

“If you missed a wedding or funeral or are worried about missing your flight for spring break this weekend, you have Democrats to blame,” he said.

Republicans spent much of this week trying to remind voters of what they didn’t like about life before Trump returned to office.

There were frequent mentions of inflation and border crossings under former President Joe Biden.

The question that may animate this year’s election, however, is whether voters are more interested in the shift from Biden to Trump or are more focused on what’s ahead If voters are more future-oriented that could represent an additional hurdle for the GOP

About one-third of Americans mentioned inflation or personal finances as topics they wanted the government to address this year, according to an AP-NORC poll from December Hardly any mentioned concerns about voting laws or election security

Under a blazing Florida sun on Tuesday afternoon, a handful of House Republicans gathered to make the case that they were listening and deserve another term in power

“We’re not sitting back on our laurels,” said Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas “We recognize there is still plenty for us to do and we’re working on that.”

HowJag-A-Thoncan help Southern University programs continue to shapeathletes, leaders andcommunity pride

Each dayatSouthernUniversity, Jaguar student-athletesbalance packed schedules. Practices,workouts, classesand leadership developmentfill theirdaysas theypursuesuccessincompetitionandtheclassroom. Behindthose efforts arecoaches andstaff whoensure Southern’sstudent-athletesgrownotonlyintheirsport butasyoung leaders.

Women’sBowling Head CoachBarry Doylehas builtaprogram that reflectsthatcommitment. The team haswon threeregular-seasontitles, andCoach Doylehas been namedSWACCoach of theYearthree times. That foundation helped this year’s team to be successful despiteits youth.

“I hadayoung team this year –fourfreshmen, one sophomoreand onesenior,”hesaid.

Evenwithlessexperience,theteamearnedthefourth seedintheSWACChampionships,whichbeginMarch 21 in Arlington, Texas.

“WestillhaveachancetowintheSWACTournament andgototheNCAAs,”CoachDoylesaid.“That’sthegoal.”

CoachDoylesaidmaintainingandimprovingSouthern’s bowlingfacilitiesisessential forkeeping theprogram relevant in theSWACand on thenationalstage.On hiswishlist: renovationstothe 12-lanefacility, anew oiling machineand avan that’s suitable fortakingthe team to competitions around thecountry

“There’salwaysaneed,”hesaid.“Theschoolisdoing what they can, but we canalwaysuse some help from thecommunity andthe alumni.”

WhileSoutherncoachesworktobuildwinningteams otherstaffmembersfocusonpreparingstudent-athletes forlifebeyondsports. TambriaBradford, Director of Student-AthleteDevelopmentandAcademics,oversees initiatives to help Jaguarsgrowprofessionallyand personally.One of thoseisUncaged:BuildingBeyond TheBluff,aleadershipprogramthatwelcomeditsfirst cohort last fall

Overthepastseveralmonths,thecohorthaslearned howtobuild theirpersonalbrand andpresent themselvestothepublic.Theyarealsoworkingoncapstone projects that aremeaningfultothem, includingyouth mentorship andaddressingfoodinsecurity

“One of thebiggest things Ihavenoticed is the vision –the waytheysee theopportunity forgrowth, theway they arelooking forward andwanting to leave alegacy,” Bradfordsaid. “Thatconfidence that comes from learningand growing, Ithinkthathelps them to pushnotonlythemselvesandoneanotherinthecohort, buttheir teammates.

Behindthe scenes, Southern staff also help manage complexlogistics.AlexysEllis,ChiefExecutivetoHead Football CoachMarshallFaulk,recently joined the Jaguarsprogramandisquicklyadjustingtohernewrole. AnativeofJackson,Mississippi,Ellishelpscoordinate

dailyoperationsfor roughly125 coachesand players. Over thelastmonth,she’s been familiarizingherself withseveralnewcoachesandtheirroles,whilemaking sure playersstayontop of theirnutrition,workouts, schoolwork,teamactivitiesand recovery Eventhoughthefootballseasonisstillseveralmonths away,Ellis cansense theexcitementsurrounding the Jaguars, especially with CoachFaulk at thehelm. “I’m reallylooking forward to theatmosphereon gamedays.I canfeelitinthe airalready,not just with theteam, butwiththe fans andonsocialmedia,” Ellis said.“They arelovingusand we arelovingthem. That communitysupport playsanimportant role in sustainingSouthern’sathleticprogramsand the opportunities they createfor students.Alumniand fans cancontributedirectlyduringthe Jag-A-Thon on Friday,March 27.Donations willsupport facility improvements,equipmentupgradesandprogramsthat promotetheacademicsuccessandpersonaldevelopment. Thisyear’sJag-A-Thonwillbeacombinedin-person andvirtual eventencompassingphone banking, live streamingandsocialmedia.Alivestreamwillbeavailable from 9a.m.to5 p.m. on JaguarsSportsNetwork com, Facebook andYouTube.Itwillalsobebroadcast live on CumulusRadio: Max94.1, Q106.5, Heaven 95.7 andClassic Hits 103.3.

Jag-A-Thondonationsmaybemadeinthefollowing ways:

•Phone:Call225-771-2436the dayofthe Jag-AThon event

•Online: https://foundation.sus.edu/jag-a-thon/

•Inperson: Leon R. Tarver II Cultural andHeritage Center (9 a.m. to 5p.m.March 27)

•Mail:SouthernUniversityAthletics,P.O.Box9942, BatonRouge,LA, 70813

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Market remains calm as most stocks fall

NEWYORK

The U.S. stock market remained calm Wednesday, even as the price of oil got back to rising. Since the start of the war with Iran, sharp moves for oil prices have triggered swings up and down for financial markets worldwide, sometimes by the hour. Oil prices briefly spiked to their highest levels since 2022 this week because of the possibility that production in the Middle East could be blocked for a long time, which in turn raised worries about a surge of debilitating inflation for the global economy High inflation combined with a stagnating economy would create a worst-case scenario called “stagflation” that the Federal Reserve has no good tools to fix. Stagflation fears are rising not just because of higher oil prices but also because of weakness in hiring by U.S employers.

On Wall Street, the majority of stocks fell Campbell’s sank 7.1% after the soup company reported a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It was hurt by struggles for its snack business, and it cut its forecasts for revenue and profit this fiscal year

Helping to limit Wall Street’s losses was Oracle, which jumped 9.2%. The tech giant reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also raised its forecast for revenue growth next fiscal year

ExxonMobil set to move legal home to Texas

ExxonMobil is poised to move its legal headquarters from New Jersey to Texas in search of a more friendly business environment, the company announced Tuesday morning

The board of directors for the largest U.S.-based oil producing company, which already runs its operations from the Houston suburb of Spring, unanimously recommended to its shareholders that they vote to redomicile the company in Texas.

Shareholders will vote on the change at the company’s annual meeting on May 27. If successful, it will move Exxon’s legal home for the first time since it registered in New Jersey in 1882 as Standard Oil Company — the company later changed its name to Exxon, then merged with Mobil Oil Corp. The proposed move will not affect the company’s business operations or employee locations, the company said.

ExxonMobil has been headquartered in Texas since 1989, and about 30% of its employees currently work in the state.

Stryker: Cyberattack disrupted networks

PORTAGE, Mich. — Stryker, a major U.S. medical equipment company said a cyberattack disrupted its global networks

Wednesday

“We have no indication of ransomware or malware and believe the incident is contained. Our teams are working rapidly to understand the impact of the attack on our systems,” Stryker said in a statement on its website. The logo of Handala, a hacking group linked to Iran, has appeared on company login pages The Wall Street Journal reported.

Stryker’s statement said the cyberattack hit its Microsoft programs. Emails seeking additional information were not immediately answered.

Stryker is based in Portage, Michigan, and makes a variety of medical products, from artificial joints to hospital beds. It had revenue of more than $25 billion in 2025. Alexander Leslie, a senior adviser at Recorded Future, a global threat intelligence company, said what’s notable is the “escalation in target choice and effect.”

Attacking a high-profile U.S health care manufacturer “is exactly the kind of pressure point that creates outsized strategic and political ripple effects ” Leslie told The Associated Press.

Service dog lawsuit settled

Lyft agrees to protect rights of disabled riders nationwide

BY STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press

ST PAUL, Minn. — The ride-sharing company Lyft will ensure the rights of blind and other disabled passengers across the country to travel with their service animals under a settlement announced in Minnesota on Wednesday College student Tori Andres turned to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights after several Lyft drivers refused to let her service dog, Alfred, ride along with her The agency investigated and determined that the company

was violating the state’s Human Rights Act. Both sides then negotiated a settlement that includes changes in driver training, and updates to the Lyft app that will make the agreement apply nationwide, not just in Minnesota.

“This case is a deeply personal thing to me because I travel pretty much everywhere with my guide dog,” Andres said at a news conference, as her black Labrador lay quietly near her feet, with only an occasional lick or yawn. “He is my eyes. He is my freedom, and he is why I am able to live independently.”

The terms require Lyft to train its drivers on the rights of passengers with disabilities, and warn them that they could be “deactivated” and lose their ability to drive for Lyft if they violate the law, state Human Rights Commis-

sioner Rebecca Lucero told reporters. Drivers can’t cancel or refuse a ride because a passenger has a service animal or wheelchair, or because they have low or no vision, she said. The state will monitor Lyft’s compliance for three years, she added, and Andres will get a $63,000 monetary settlement.

“We expect that all riders in Minnesota and in fact, across the United States, will benefit from these changes,” Lucero said.

Changes to the Lyft app include giving riders the option of updating their accessibility settings to notify a driver that they’re traveling with a service animal, and to report if they’re denied service. Some of those features were already in place. Lyft agreed to follow up on every report it gets of driver refusals.

Inflation held steady before attack on Iran sent energy costs soaring

Price spikes will challenge federal inflation-fighters

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO Associated Press Writers

KANSAS CITY Mo. — Inflation remained stubbornly elevated last month as gas prices rose, but it’s a snapshot of consumer prices before a U.S Israeli attack on Iran sent energy costs soaring. Consumer prices rose 2.4% in February compared with a year earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday, matching January’s increase. Excluding the volatile food and energy, core prices climbed 2.5% from a year ago, also matching January’s level, which was the lowest in five years. Both remain above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

Wednesday’s data has been overtaken by a conflict that began when the U.S and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, causing wild gyrations in oil prices as shipping lanes through the Persian Gulf suffered a rare shutdown.

Gas prices have jumped sharply and are expected to fuel higher costs broadly Inflation data for this month will be released in early April.

The price spike will challenge the inflationfighters at the Federal Reserve and could slow consumer spending, which drives twothirds of the nation’s economic growth.

Prices could retreat if the war ends soon, as President Donald Trump has hinted But rising oil prices threaten to worsen inflation for at least a few months with Americans already worn down by nearly five years of sharply higher costs. “Affordability” has become a thorny political issue for congressional Republicans with midterm elections later this year

On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.3% in February from the previous month, up from 0.2% in January Increases at that pace for an extended period would push yearly inflation higher Core prices moved up just 0.2%, down from a 0.3% rise in January

There were some positive signs in Wednesday’s report, with rental inflation falling to just 0.1% on a monthly basis, the smallest increase in five years. New car prices were unchanged in February and used car prices fell 0.4%.

But grocery prices rose more quickly than in January, a trend that has hammered family budgets. They rose 0.4% in February and

were up 2.4% from a year earlier Gas prices increased 0.8% last month, though they’re down 5.6% compared with a year ago. And clothing costs jumped 1.3% just in February, likely due to tariffs.

“Ahead of the energy shock, trends in the consumer price index were relatively tame,” said Laura Rosner-Warburton, senior economist at MacroPolicy Perspectives. But she cautioned that the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, which puts less weight on items that are cooling, such as rents, will likely come in higher when it is reported on Friday

Fuel prices are on track to soar 20% this month, she added, “and that’s huge.” Monthly inflation could rise by as much as 0.9% this month, she estimates, which would be the highest in four years.

Companies bracing for higher energy costs are already wresting with tariffs, inflation, and growing labor costs Many still want to avoid passing costs on to customers, but that depends heavily on the duration of the war

Some analysts warn prices will rocket higher if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. About 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas is shipped through the narrow channel every day On Wednesday a projectile hit a Thai cargo ship off the coast of Oman leading into the Strait of Hormuz, setting it ablaze.

Oil prices could soar to $150 a barrel in the coming weeks if shipments don’t resume, according to Wood Mackenzie, an energy analytics firm.

The national average for regular gasoline in the U.S. jumped to $3.58 a gallon Wednesday, according to AAA, an increase of about 20% just in one month.

Core prices will be much less affected this month but could tick higher over time as more expensive gas pushes up airline fares, shipping, and other transportation costs. Darren Rebelez, the CEO of Casey’s General Stores, told investors Tuesday that he doesn’t expect a significant pullback in customer spending unless gasoline nears $5 per gallon.

Drone maker partly owned by Trump sons hopes to win contracts

Powerus has eye on Pentagon deals

BY BERNARD CONDON Associated Press

NEWYORK Among dozens of companies competing for Pentagon contracts to supply attack drones, one stands out.

Powerus is flush with cash and ballooning in size as it buys up rivals and has one other advantage: It is partly owned by President Donald Trump’s two oldest sons. The Trump family has drawn criticism for expanding its real estate business into foreign countries that are trying to curry favor with the president and for making billions of dollars off cryptocur-

rency ventures benefiting from his policies. Grabbing less attention are new ownership stakes in federal contractors providing everything from rocket parts and rare earth magnets to AI chips and computer hardware.

The latest Trump venture is hoping to win some of the $1.1 billion set aside by the Pentagon to build up a U.S. manufacturing base for armed drones now that the Trump administration put a ban on importing them from China.

Powerus says there is no problem with it bidding for government money that could make the president’s sons richer

“There’s no conflict there. Whatever they’re doing, is what they’re doing,” said co-founder Brett Velicovich, referring to the Trump brothers. “Our focus at the compa-

ny has nothing to do with politics.”

Asked to comment about potential conflicts, the Trump Organization sent a statement from Eric Trump: I am incredibly proud to invest in companies I believe in. Drones are clearly the wave of the future.”

Founded by U.S. Army Special Operations veterans about a year ago, Powerus makes drones mostly for commercial uses, from spreading fertilizer to putting out forest fires. But it is bulking up fast to supply the Defense Department with armed drones like the ones being used by Ukraine and Russia and, more recently, Iran as it rains havoc on Gulf states allied with the U.S. The company bought three rivals in the past six months and plans to buy more. It just raised $60 million from investors to fund the buying spree and hopes to tap additional fi-

nancing by doing a “reverse merger” in which a private company gets a public listing by buying one already on the stock market, usually a business with little or no operations. The pubic company in this case is Aureus Greenway Holdings, a Florida firm partly owned by Eric and Don Jr that holds a few golf courses and is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Of the two oldest brothers, Don Jr., is the one most involved in federal contracting firms through a venture capital fund called 1789 Capital. Don Jr appears well-equipped to help Powerus. He has spoken out about the need for armed drones, appears knowledgeable about the technology and publicly endorsed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

Committee meeting Wednesday where Mizell’s bill was up for debate was abruptly canceled.

Mizell did not respond to phone calls or emailed questions. Baton Rouge Republican Sen. Rick Edmonds, who chairs the Education Committee and helped craft SB402, said he canceled the meeting to allow for changes to the bill, which he said is a routine part of the legislative process.

Roger Williams a Metairie parent who has fought for stricter oversight of private preschools, said he believed Barrow’s bill addressed most of the concerns raised about Act 409. He said he was not included in the development of Mizell’s bill, which he argued leaves private pre-K students with fewer protections.

“With this type of rollback,” he said, “kids will not be safe.”

Act 409 closed a loophole in state law that allowed pre-K programs inside schools to be unlicensed.

to comply with the new staffing and training requirements, background checks and site inspections. Two Christian schools sued in federal court, arguing that the law unconstitutionally targeted religious schools, but a judge dismissed the lawsuit last month.

Barrow’s new proposal, Senate Bill 240, would make some major changes to the law It eliminates the exemption for public and Montessori schools and creates a new type of license specifically for preK programs inside schools. That license would allow school-based pre-K programs to follow the same rules as schools when it comes to health inspections, background checks and training, rather than day care rules.

In a brief interview Tuesday, Barrow said her bill maintained strict safety standards while fixing problems that private schools identified with Act 409. “We heard them,” she said. “We tried to address all of their concerns.”

ing that other types of programs that serve young children also do not need day care licenses. The exempted programs include summer camps that enroll children as young as 3 years old, Bible camps serving children of any age and afterschool or weekend dance, cheerleading or sports programs.

Barrow said she believes the bill would jeopardize the stricter safety and school-accountability measures established by Act 409.

“That is definitely not a direction we need to go in,” she said. “And it’s one that I would personally get up and speak very heavily about.”

While Mizell has not yet spoken publicly about her proposal, it’s already garnering support. A private school advocacy group put out a call to parents to speak in favor of the bill at Wednesday’s committee meeting before it was canceled.

Williams and his wife drew attention to that gap when they testified at a legislative hearing last year that their 3-year-old daughter was assaulted by another child at their private preschool, which did not need a license The school denies the allegations and says it complies with all state laws.

DISCIPLINE

Continued from page 1A

judges. The movement has even spilled over to a race for a Supreme Court seat, with one candidate seizing on Traylor’s comments and promising to bring accountability to the bench.

“As a sitting judge, what I have to say is not going to be popular and may get me in trouble with some of my colleagues, but it has to be said,” 22nd JDC Judge Billy Burris, who is running to represent the northshore on the Supreme Court, said in a video posted to Facebook on Tuesday night. “The Supreme Court is in charge of holding judges accountable, and as your next Supreme Court justice, you can count on me to do exactly that. It is time to bring transparency to this process.”

Burris is running against 1st Circuit Court of Appeal

Judge Blair Downing Edwards for the seat vacated by Justice Will Crain, who is now on the federal bench. Both candidates are Republicans.

In an interview, Edwards also committed to holding judges accountable.

“I do believe that the judiciary commission should be firm. We want to be very firm, and we want consequences for people’s actions,” she said “Certainly judges need to be held to a higher standard.”

Currently, judges can only be sanctioned or removed from the bench by order of the state Supreme Court. The judiciary commission can recommend discipline to the high court, but the justices do not have to follow

FUNDS

Continued from page 1A

In his planned civil lawsuit, Moore has said he will argue that the city-parish is not following state law requiring parishes to meet “reasonable and necessary” funding requests from constitutional offices like his. Moore was unsuccessful in putting a property tax on voters’ ballots last year to fully fund his office.

“The failure of this tax, coupled with the denial of our original $22.6 million budget request for 2026, leaves me with few options other than to pursue judicial relief to compel the city-parish to meet its legal obligation to adequately fund the District Attorney’s Office,” he said.

“We must comply with our constitutional obligations to protect the public.”

Chief Public Defender

Kyla Romanach also welcomed the budget supplement, which was cut by 10% this year Edwards originally proposed a 22% cut for the Public Defender’s Office, but the council amended the 2026 budget to add funds from their own budget.

“This isn’t going to stop us from being underfunded, but this certainly puts us in a much, much better position

Barrow’s legislation established some standards that apply to all preschools, such as minimum staffing levels, and required preK programs at private schools to obtain the same “early learning center” license as freestanding preschools and day cares. Barrow said that she did not include pub-

their suggestions. Judges in Louisiana are not subject to recall elections.

Removal from office is an extraordinarily rare step that the Supreme Court has only taken twice in the last 16 years.

Disciplinary process

While Traylor and lawmakers allege that the system is failing, some former judges have described an honorable commission that became more transparent in recent years.

“Ididn’tfindthecommission did anything wrong the whole timeIwasthere,”saidEdWalters, who served on the panel between 2017 and 2021. “I never met nicer or more wellmeaning people who worked hard to do the right thing for the public and do the right thing for the judge.”

The state Supreme Court announced changes in 2020 to the judicial discipline process, making it more open by allowing cases to become public once the Judiciary Commission files a notice of hearing against a judge

Before then, judicial discipline cases remained cloaked in secrecy unless the Supreme Court weighed in on them. An investigation from The Advocate | The Times-Picayune found that just 2% of cases the commission investigated between 2008 and 2018 reached the threshold to become public.

Still, complaints against judges remain confidential in their early stages, and the Supreme Court has maintained rules that complainants, judges and witnesses are not supposed to discuss them unless the investigation leads to a notice of hear-

to provide the services that are needed to keep the court system functioning and people’s rights protected,” she said “This is a very significant amount.”

Romanach said a bill authored by state Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, could provide some help.

“It would make sure that there is a year-to-year local funding for the public defender here in East Baton Rouge Parish,” Romanach said.

The bill would make it state law for the city-parish to fund the public defender’s office

The district attorney will use the funds for “modest” raises for his staff who have not gotten any for several years.

When Moore went out for his own property tax to fund his office last year — which only garnered 40% of the vote — some began to question whether the parish’s incorporated cities of Baker Central, St. George and Zachary were paying their share to the constitutional offices made up of the district attorney coroner 19th Judicial District Court and parish prison, as well as the public defender.

Those offices are funded by the city-parish general fund, which is almost entirely made

lic and Montessori schools because they already are held to higher standards in certain areas, such as staff-to-student ratios.

The law, which Gov Jeff Landry signed, stirred outrage among the roughly 250 private schools with pre-K programs that had to apply for day care licenses by Jan. 1. School leaders said it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars

ing against a judge.

The Judiciary Commission also maintains ways to privately handle a complaint against a judge, including sending them confidential “reminders, cautions or admonishments” that are never publicly disclosed.

Judges and others who favor the current system have warned that pending legislation could put judges under pressure from the governor and throw off the balance of power between the judiciary and executive branches.

One of the most controversial proposals geared toward judicial accountability comes from state Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, who has long complained about the efficacy of the commission and raised concerns that the state relies too heavily on the judiciary to police itself.

Morris’ Senate Bill 123 would ask voters to approve a constitutional amendment giving the governor the power to remove judges and district attorneys from office, pending a trial and two-thirds vote from the state Senate.

Landry has expressed support for the measure, though he has also said the new oversight power need not necessarily go to him.

“It doesn’t have to be me; they could give it to the Senate or attorney general or whomever, but something has to be done to bring everybody under control,” Landry told reporters on Monday, the opening day of the legislative session.

In 2024, Morris successfully sponsored a constitutional amendment that enabled the governor, Senate president and House speaker to appoint five new Judiciary Commis-

up of a 2% sales tax collected in the city of Baton Rouge and unincorporated areas.

Baker, Central, St. George and Zachary keep the 2% sales tax collected in their area, but none remits any to parishwide constitutional offices like Moore’s.

In 2022, years before incorporating, St George leaders sketched out a first-year budget that included a $6.6 million annual contribution to these offices. The Committee for the Incorporation of St. George wrote in 2018 that the proposed city would fund 19.2% of the total expenses of constitutional and parishwide offices, according to court records.

But since St George became a city in April 2024, none of the budgets it has adopted or amended have included any such funding.

Moore said he has informed the mayor and council about his plans to file a lawsuit, which he began discussing last budget season. At that time, the mayor said he would consider a court filing by Moore a “friendly lawsuit.”

“This action is not something that I look forward to doing, however for the financial stability of our office and the protection of the public, I must consider doing so very soon,” Moore said.

Rather than dial back the new restrictions on private preschools, Mizell’s bill would remove them entirely

It extends the licensing exemption that Act 409 gives public and Montessori schools to private schools, effectively restoring the gap in state law that had allowed school-based pre-K programs to be unlicensed. It goes further, say-

sion members. Previously, panels of judges selected all commission members.

Judges’ conduct

Over the past year and a half, Louisiana has seen several high-profile cases of judges accused of misconduct or incompetence.

Most recently, Attorney General Liz Murrill asked the Judiciary Commission to investigate how Orleans Parish Juvenile Court judges were handling teens in electronic monitoring programs. In one case, Malik Cornelius failed to comply with his monitoring program for months leading up to the killing of Jacob Carter, a tourist in New Orleans. Cornelius was convicted in connection with the killing. Carter’s family also filed a complaint with the Judiciary Commission, asking it

Marino, the Hosanna Christian Academy executive director, said he believes Mizell’s plan is the only real solution because the day care regulations simply won’t work in a school setting. The rules would require separate spaces and staffers within the school solely for pre-K students, which Marino said would be unaffordable and contrary to the school’s model.

“It’s really untenable what they’re asking schools to do,” he said. “It’s a totally different environment and structure.”

to investigate the judge who assigned Cornelius’ ankle monitor That complaint was dismissed.

In his resignation letter, Traylor said another judge, who was implicated in multiple instances of misconduct, got off too lightly with “what amounted to an eight month paid vacation.”

His statement refers to 19th JDC Judge Eboni Johnson Rose, who was subject to a monthslong investigation by the Judiciary Commission. It found that two convictions were thrown out due to mistakes made in her courtroom. She also convicted a man of malfeasance in office, and then acquitted him three weeks later; the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal later reinstated his conviction.

In a split decision, the Supreme Court approved a deal in which Johnson Rose

accepted an unpaid, twomonth suspension, agreeing that she deserved a second chance because she showed contrition. That happened eight months after she was placed on paid leave. Johnson Rose also drew heat for using a racial slur during a sidebar, when she accused East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore’s office of unfairly targeting Black men. State investigators found she “applied impermissible pressure on the state to alter its plea offer.” In December, the Supreme Court did take the unusual step of removing 19th JDC Judge Tiffany FoxworthRoberts from the bench because she lied about her military service while campaigning for office. Officials also accused her of a fraudulent burglary insurance claim for about $40,000.

Tornadoes kill 2 in Indiana and raze buildings in Illinois

BY NAM Y. HUH and KATHY McCORMACK Associated Press

KANKAKEE, Ill. — Major storms whipped up tornadoes that killed at least two people in northwest Indiana and leveled buildings in Kankakee, Illinois, authorities said Wednesday, as another round of rain, hail and strong winds made its way through the region.

Several intense supercell thunderstorms moved across northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana on Tuesday including one responsible for at least four tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service office in Chicago.

The storms shattered windows, tore off roofs and smashed vehicles in Kankakee. Wood planks and other debris littered yards, streets and parking lots. A landscape and garden center was seriously damaged, some parts completely destroyed

Storms also dropped 1 to 2 inches of rain and left piles of hail in the Grand Rapids area in western Michigan, said Alex Manion, a weather service meteorologist in Detroit. Streets flooded, leaving a cars stranded with water up past their doors in some places.

The weather service said crews are determining the strength and number of tornadoes, and that parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio remain under a tornado watch Wednesday

Suspected tornadoes last week killed four people in southwestern Michigan and two in eastern Oklahoma.

Community left in tatters

The storm spawned a tornado that killed an elderly couple in their home in Lake Village, in northwestern Indiana, Newton County Coroner Scott McCord said Their names have not been released.

Crews rescued some who were trapped in their damaged homes, at least 70 util-

ity poles were knocked down and many roads are unpassable, Newton County officials said Wednesday morning. “Please do not come here. Do not try to help right now,”

Sheriff Shannon Cothran said in a video update Tuesday night in front of a destroyed Lake Village home.

Laurie Postma, a spokesperson for the Lake Township Volunteer Fire Department, said the storm injured less than 10 people in Lake Village Cothran said Wednesday that no other significant injuries have been reported but that search and rescue operations continue.

Lake Village is about 60 miles southeast of Chicago and 25 miles west of Kankakee County, Illinois, where at least one tornado struck Tuesday night.

Rode out storm in bathtub

David Ferris, of Lake Village, said he, his wife, and their dogs “rode it out in our downstairs bathtub.” They were unscathed, except for losing power. Ferris, who is a paramedic, helped to rescue and treat injured people.

“We had another house where a guy crawled out,”

Ferris said. “He was having some trouble breathing because he was covered in house insulation.”

Ferris said a Family Dollar store and a gas station were destroyed, and multiple large trees were uprooted.

Jennifer Telford 49, said she hid in her basement in Lake Village, from where she followed news reports of the storm. She didn’t hear the tornado that struck to the south, but said she heard the hail as it pelted her roof.

“The siren in town didn’t go off,” she said. “The sirens outside town did.”

She said power had been restored at the truck stop where she works Wednesday morning but that elsewhere, “everything is closed due to the downed trees and power lines.”

Giant hailstones fall

In Kankakee, the storms produced exceptionally large hail, ranging from 3 to 5 inches in diameter One 6-inch diameter hailstone may have set a new state record, the weather service said.

A tornado touched down near the Kankakee fairgrounds before traveling

northeast into the small suburb of Aroma Park, where it caused extensive damage, the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office said.

Nine people in Kankakee County suffered minor injuries, officials there said at a news conference Wednesday Kevin Birk, a meteorologist in the NWS Chicago office, confirmed at least one tornado touched down in the area Tuesday evening.

Newlywed Cassidy Sinwelski, 23, said she and her husband were aware of the tornado watch in their Kankakee neighborhood and were expecting a run-of-themill storm until her husband spotted dark clouds barreling toward them.

“We went into the bathroom, got a piece of plywood and within minutes, I closed my eyes, the lights flickered, and we just — there was nothing,” Sinwelski said.

Then she heard loud rumbles and the sound of shattering glass.

“I just kept crying out for God, because I didn’t know what else to do,” she said. Garden center destroyed Tholens’ Garden Center on

the south side of Kankakee was hit hard by the tornado, owner Nancy Tholen said Wednesday

“We have multiple buildings, and lots of them are destroyed,” Tholen said.

“This is our 50th year in business, and this was not how we planned to kick off our spring.” Staff had just left for the day when the tornado hit Tuesday afternoon, she said. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

“You know we make our living in the next 12 weeks,” Tholen said. “We’ll figure something out to open, but it’s just it’s crazy But again, everybody’s safe, so we’re thankful for that.” In Aroma Park, just southeast of Kankakee, restau-

rateur and village trustee Kathleen Slavin watched the destruction of the tornado and “baseball-sized hail” from the village hall, where she had been attending a village board meeting.

“It took down trees that are probably over a hundred years old, huge trees came down. It took out main power lines,” Slavin said. Her friend, 69-year-old Ruth Denoyer, swept up glass after the tornado blew out her windows and pummeled her home.

“It took our whole garage down, our pool, we have broken windows in the house, glass everywhere.” Denoyer said. “But we still have a roof, unlike some people out here.”

High-profile rape retrial begins

Prosecutors to again rely on ‘graphic’ video of sexual encounter

BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD

Staff writer

The retrial for a Livingston Par-

ish woman accused of rape kicked off Wednesday with prosecutors and defense attorneys honing in on video evidence of the alleged crime that is connected to the exsheriff’s deputy and convicted child sex abuser Dennis Perkins.

“This happened before the public knew Perkins was a monster,”

Prosecutors for the state told the jury about an 18-minute “graphic, detailed, specific” video that allegedly depicts defendant Curtin, 46, performing oral sex on a victim with Perkins.

lan argued about the video.

Curtin, of Denham Springs, was originally convicted of first-degree rape in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2022.

Bill aims to shield public records

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

Public universities could soon be able to keep job applications for top leadership positions and the names of donors out of the public eye as legislators consider new exemptions to Louisiana’s public records law

One exemption would allow universities to shield all records of anyone applying to an executive job at public universities until finalists for the position are named.

The term “executive” includes but is not limited to presidents, chancellors and athletic coaches.

Sen. Mark Abraham, R-Lake Charles, who is sponsoring the bill, noted that people can request records related to university hiring processes, like chancellor or presidential searches, and find out who is applying.

“As we know, sometimes someone does not want to do that. They want to be kept private so that where they’re serving now they don’t know they’re applying to another university,” Abraham said during a public hearing on the measure Wednesday “I want to keep the confidentiality of executive-level job applicants.”

Steven Procopio, president of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, a government watchdog group that advocates for transparency, said he is concerned about how broad the legislation is.

“I have concerns whenever there’s a reduction in the public’s right to know,” Procopio said.

“I don’t think citizens and the public should have to justify why they get to see government’s workings,” he said.

“I think the case needs to be made on why a public record should be limited.”

Several of Louisiana’s public universities have conducted highprofile searches for top brass in recent months.

LSU late last year selected former McNeese State University President Wade Rousse as president of the LSU system with the backing of Gov Jeff Landry, and it hired James Dalton to be executive vice president of the LSU system and chancellor of LSU

defense attorney Elizabeth Warner argued “(The evidence) will show there was only one bad actor and that was Dennis Perkins.”

Defense attorneys for Melanie Curtin emphasized to jurors that she had no involvement with Perkins’ child sex abuse crimes, for which he was arrested in 2019. The incident at issue in this trial happened in 2014.

“(Curtin was) functional, not sloppy with her movements, calculated,” state attorney Erica McLel-

But in 2023, a court of appeals ruled that Curtin must receive a new trial, saying the court “improperly admitted evidence that unfairly prejudiced the defendant.”

KISS AND TELL

Curtin is now being tried on reduced charges of simple rape, also known as third-degree rape, and video voyeurism.

Curtin could face up to 20 years for the simple rape charge, and one to five years on the video voyeurism charge at hard labor and without benefit if convicted, said Lester Duhé, a spokesperson for the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office. The Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting the case.

With the lipstick stain of his mother’s kiss on his forehead, Oliver Lefebure, 2, runs as his mother, Priscilla, chases behind with his remote controlled car and their dog, Ladybug, in Spanish Town recently

More details released in girl’s accidental shooting

BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer

A Baton Rouge man, who beat his daughter to death in 2022 while disciplining her, pleaded guilty to reduced charges Monday and received

“At this time, no one has been arrested,” the police spokesperson said.

The investigation is ongoing. Angola officer accused of bringing in contraband

A corrections officer at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola was arrested this month, charged with one count of introduction of contraband into the prison, according to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

Maj. Joseph McNeely, who had been employed in corrections for more than 11 years, was arrested

The 10-year-old girl who died after she was shot in the parking lot of a Sonic drive-in on Tuesday was playing outside the family car when an 8-year-old child inside the car picked up a gun and accidentally shot her, a Baton Rouge police spokesperson said. Kimani Thomas was taken to the hospital, where she later died of her injuries. The incident happened shortly after 4 p.m at the restaurant on Government Street, where Kimani’s mother was leaving her work shift, and Kimani’s stepfather was arriving for his shift at the drive-in, police said. Both parents were in the Sonic building when the accidental shooting happened.

Proposed bill targets‘stolenvalor’

Measurewould create lawagainst falselyclaiming

BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer

The Louisiana Legislature is consideringa bill tomakefalsely claimingamilitaryhonor acrime

—amove to align state statutes with federal law

The legislation, authored by state Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter,RPort Allen, would make it illegal to claim to have served in the U.S. militaryortohave received amilitary honor

Theproposed law,SB51, applies specifically to claims involving the Medal of Honor,the Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross, the

AirForce Cross, the Silver Star and thePurple Heart.

Pretending to haveearned oneof these distinctionswould become an offense punishable by a$5,000 fine and up to ayear in prison. The law would apply to someone duplicating such an award, or someone who once held it but has since had it revoked.

Thebill also stipulates that anyone falsely claiming to have served in the military could be punished by up to a$10,000 fine or up to five years in prison.

Kleinpeter said he penned the bill after being encouraged by Charlton Meginley, the secretary

2026 LEGISLATURE

of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs. The twomen testified in committee that Louisiana is one of 15 statesthatdoes not have astolen valorstatute. While the offense exists in federal law,Kleinpeter said Louisiana needs itsown statute because federalauthorities might not have the bandwidthtopursue every case. Afederal stolen valor law was ruledunconstitutionalinU.S.v

Oilterminalspill in Gulf reaches barrierislands in wildlife refuge

Area acritical bird habitat

BY DAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer

Crude that spilled late last month from akey deep-water oil terminal has traveled 18 miles across open Gulf of Mexico waters and affected three islands that are part of acoastal wildlife refuge noted for its recreational fishing andcritical birdhabitat, the Coast Guard confirmed.

State and federal officials also issued awarning Wednesday for mariners to stay away fromcontinued oil containment and cleanup work in the affected wildlife area, theIsleDernieres Barrier Islands Refuge, and in the open water and coastal marshes north of the refuge’sbarrier islands in the southwestern corner of Terrebonne Bay

The affected islands— Trinity, Whiskey andRaccoon islands are south of Cocodrieand form the outer fringe of Terrebonne Bay’ssouthwestern edge before it reaches the open Gulf.

Emergency workers had collected 90% of the spilled oil by Tuesday and laid out more than 12 miles of protective boom along shoreline, coastal marshes and other sensitive areas, according to theCoast Guard.

The refuge’sbarrier island chain is critical for protection from hurricanes and hasbeen the focus of repeated projects to rebuild and protect themover thepast30years,according to the stateDepartment of Wildlife and Fisheries.

The spilled oil also reached the northern end of Lake Pelto, which is anotherpopular recreational fishing area north of thebarrier islands that ends in the marshes officialsnow want mariners to avoid.

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port releasedanestimated 31,500 gallons of oil when acargo transfer hose sprung aleak and appear to have reachedthe Isle Dernieres Barrier Islands Refugedays later LOOP is adeep-waterfacility that takes in crude from deepdraft tankers and sends it by pipeline to its onshore storage site in Galiano. The terminal’soil feeds

half of the nation’srefineries, according tothe LOOP consortium.

Coast Guard officials saidthey couldn’tprovide thespill’sdimensions or area on the water and coast Wednesday,but saidthat “the majority ofthe product remaining is affecting shorelines.”

However, the volume of oil released isalittle more than aquarterofthe size of thelargestspill off the Louisiana coast in the past few years, the Well 59 blowout in Plaquemines Parish’sGarden Island Baylast spring, Coast Guard officials have said.

Coast Guard officials said the response effort through Monday hasinvolved 552 people and more than 60 oil skimmers andother vessels to try to mitigate theenvironmental impact of the spill.

Thecleanup effort, whichalso includes Louisiana OilSpill Coordinator’s Office andtwo Coast Guard cleanup contractors,has collected 675 barrelsofthe 750 barrels estimated to have spilled.

The collected amount is equivalent to 28,350gallons

Last week, Gov.Jeff Landry pointed out that the leak “was stopped in minutes” after it was identified Feb. 26 andthat LOOP and other responders “immediately” went intocleanup mode.

Despitethose efforts, the leaked crude was able to reach the three islands inside the1,900acre coastal refuge milesaway from the LOOP terminal.

The statewildlife department says one of its primary goalsfor the refuge has been “to provide and protect habitat for nesting waterbirds.”

“Raccoon Island is one of the most important waterbirdnesting areas on the coast,” the department’s website states.

Through the years, dozens of birdspecieshavebeen spotted on Raccoon and the other islands, including egrets, herons, teal, ducks, brown pelicans, other kinds of pelicans andterns, according toebird.org.

Therefuge islands, for instance, are home to alarge and important royal ternbreeding colony in coastal Louisiana, a2020 study published in “Marine Ornithology” says.Coastal Louisiana is home to 26% of the globalpopulationofroyal terns.

The study found thecolony of

about 7,000 nesting pairs ranged on average about 18 miles from theislands to forage for food, both off the coast to the south and intothe marshestothe north that are nowinthe northern fringes of thenew oil spill marine advisory.

Researchersbehind the sixyear-old studynoted that their bird foraging data couldbeimportant oneday for “assessing damages associated with major disasters,suchasoil spills and hurricanes, which may impact core foraging areas.”

Awildlife department spokespersonreferredquestions Wednesdayabout thestatusofthe sensitive islands,aswell as the wildlife the public agency manages, to aLOOP spokesperson coordinating public information on theoil spill response.

Wade Tornyos,the LOOP spokesperson, said the number of affected birds remains at 17, a total that was reported lastweek. The state and Coast Guard have noted the spill hasbeen under regularmonitoring by airplanes, helicopters and drones, but neither the Coast Guard, involved state agencies nor LOOP had previously identifiedthe affected islands beforeWednesday Coast Guardofficials addedthat the latest spill recovery figures were adjusted after they were able to gather “more precisedata after extracting oil from oily watermixturesand separating oil from sandduringshoreline cleanup.”

LOOP says it’sthe single largest point of entry for waterborne crude in the nation and, according to the state, handles 13% of thenation’sforeign oil.

With 72 million barrelsofoil storage onshore in aboveground tanks and underground saltdome caverns near Galliano, LOOP feeds refineries along theGulf Coast, including several on the MississippiRiver between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

Formed in 1972, LOOP is ajoint venture of Marathon Pipe Line LLC, ShellOil Company and Valero Terminalingand Distribution Company

David J. Mitchell can be reached at dmitchell@ theadvocate.com.

Bridge in St.James closes afteracidic

BYDAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer

About 250 gallons of corrosive

caustic solution spilled from an 18-wheeler on the east bank approach highway for the Veteran Memorial Bridge middayTuesday,forcing traffic off the route as crews cleaned up the mess in eastern St. James Parish, officials said Wednesday

BEATING

Continued from page1B

Theday of her death, Hawkins contacted first responders about his unresponsive daughter,saying that she had received herinjuries after afall.

Hospital employees told police that the girl’sinjuries, which included heavy bruising on her bottom, upper legs, hips,back and

The acidic solution had just been pickedupfromaplant in Garyville when theliquidspilled onto La 3213 from atote inside the truck’s bedand poured out on the highway around11:30 a.m. Tuesday near Gramercy,aparish emergency officialsaid.

The trucking companycalled in athird-party crew to remove what wasleftin the18-wheeler’sbox trailer and on the highway,Eric Dercohe, St. James’ homelandsecuritydirector,said. No one was injured. Thespill happenedonLa. 3213 betweenLa. 3125 andthe bridge. Deroche said bridge traffichad to be rerouted ontoRiverRoad while thecleanup was underway

forearms, weren’tconsistent with her father’sstory Pathologists alsonoted minor swelling and bruising on her left eye and chest. Summer Hawkinsdiedofher injuriesat the hospital

An autopsyfrom theparish Coroner’sOffice ruled thedeath ahomicide caused by multiple blunt force traumawounds, saying the child was harmed in a“criminally abusive manner.” “Justice has been served for

military honors

Alvarezin2012, with the U.S. SupremeCourt finding that the falsity of the defendant’sclaims to be aveteran did not forfeit his First Amendment right to make those claims. Arevisedversionofthe Stolen Valor Act was passed the following year

David J. Mitchell can be reached at dmitchell@ theadvocate.com.

5-year-old Summer Hawkins.The person responsible for her horrific death, her own father,has now been held accountable and received an 80-year prison sentence for his unspeakable crimes,” Mooresaid Tuesday.“While this convictioncannotundothe terrible lossofa precious life, the sentence ensures he will no longer be adanger to our community.”

Email Quinn Coffmanatquinn. coffman@theadvocate.com.

“I’m very proud of my record. Iknow the 252,000 veteransfrom thestate of Louisiana are very proud of their record,” Meginley said. “My service means something, and theirservice means something. This is just away of protecting theintegrity of one’s military service.”

The bill passed acommittee and is set to be heard by the Senate. Email QuinnCoffman at quinn. coffman@theadvocate.com.

Meginley gave an example from Louisiana of aman falsely claiming to have received aPurple Heart,including by having alicense plate referencing the honor, and who received money through these claims. While notmentioned by name, Meginley also referenced the ouster of former East Baton Rouge Parish Judge Tiffany Foxworth Roberts, whosecampaign claims to have been aveteran of Desert Storm as well as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan contributed to her being taken off the bench late last year

RETRIAL

Continued from page1B

Curtin, aformer real estate agent andaformer employee of theLivingston Parish Sheriff’s Office, was one of the defendants to face charges following aprobe intoformer Sheriff’s Office DeputyDennis Perkins.

Perkins and his ex-wife, Cynthia, aformer parish schoolteacher,wereconvicted of varying degrees of sex crimesinvolvingchildren, ranging from child pornography to inserting bodily fluids onto cupcakes served to junior high students.

Curtin’scase does not involve children. According to state attorneys, thevideo evidence in Curtin’strial was found during aprobe into Dennis Perkins in 2019.

Theprosecution argues that the victim depicted in the video was “sointoxicated, she passed out” andthat Curtin allegedly knew the victim was drinking alcohol prior to the video that day

The defense told the jury to pay closeattention to the video and that Dennis Perkins was“ma-

RECORDS

Continued from page1B

ForLSU’ssearchlast year to replace former President William F. Tate IV,LSU put together asearch committee in June, held itsfirst search committee meetinginAugust andpublicly announced three finalists in late October

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette last month namedRameshKolluru president after the hiring process initially provoked public pushback over transparency concerns. And Southern University is in theprocessoffinding its next president.

The legislation,Senate Bill 289, advanced out of committee Wednesday after it was changed slightly to limit which high-level job searches at universities would not be subject to the public records law.For example, academic deans were removed from thelist.

Abraham said in an interview that the committee’schanges were intendedtolimit theexemption just to searches forpresidents, chancellors and athletic coaches.

ButProcopio noted the bill still explicitly says the term “executive” is not limited to that list of threejobs. “I think thatstillneeds to be fixed,” he said. When asked about the language that says the exemption includes but isn’tlimited to just those three

BLOTTER

Continued from page1B

on March 2bythe West Feliciana Parish Sheriff’sOffice. He was put on leavefromAngola pending an investigation, according to the department.

Police: 32-year-oldman found dead in hiscar

A32-year-oldman wasfound shottodeath in acar earlyTuesday after an alleged argument, Baton Rouge policesaid. Jonathan Archille, 32, was found dead in the 1000 block of North 49th St., according to theBaton Rouge Police Department.

Police sayArchille was shot multipletimes afteranargument between him and another person around 2:40 a.m. Thesuspect then fled on foot.

nipulating and grooming both women” in the footage Jury selection spannedthree days, with both legal parties questioning potential jurors, asking largely about their definitions of consent and how they would react to video footage of graphic sexualnature.

“This case is about sex,” Jeanna Wheat,one of Curtin’s attorneys, told potentialjurors Tuesday.“Youare going to have to talk about sex in an X-rated way.”

Many potential jurors expressedthattheywereuncomfortable with discussing graphic sexual content in the courtroom and might not be able to review evidence because of this.

Additionally,somepotential jurors alreadyknewabout the high-profile case, prolongingjury selection.

Both Curtin’scaseand theprevious Perkins’ cases garnered national and local media attention duetothe nature of the sexcrime chargesand the public nature of the jobs held by those involved.

“This is acase that has been covered alot by themedia talked alot in the community,” Wheat told potential jurors.

jobs, Abraham said, “I might have to change that language too.”

The measure also currently says that, once finalists for an executive job areselected,the applicationrecords of finalists andanyone else who applied for the job would become public.But Abraham said he plans to reviewthat section since the aim of the bill is to ensure that the job security of applicants isn’tplaced in jeopardy by applying.

Aseparate section of the legislationwould allow“anyrecord that identifies or could lead to the identificationofa privatedonor or prospective donor” to auniversity or an affiliated foundation to be exemptfrom public disclosure

The amount of adonation and how money is spent would still be subject to public disclosure laws, however Abraham saiddonors’ names remain confidential when they give to Tiger Athletic Foundation, LSU’sthird-party fundraising arm, for example, but that’snot the casewhen they give directly to LSU.

Another section grantsanexemption for proprietary research, unpublisheddata, grant applications, intellectualproperty and industry partnershipswhendisclosure could lead to acompetitive disadvantage for the university Procopiosaidduring apublic hearing on the bill Wednesday that the proposed exemption for research and private donors “are either current practice or current law.”

Duhe,Patricia St.JosephChurchinPaulinaat11 a.m.

SealeFuneralHome, 20335 Texas St Livingston, LAat 11am

Victoria OurLadyofMercy Catholic Church, 445 Marquette Dr., BatonRouge,LAat 10am.

Klimavicz, Gynne

ResthavenFuneralHome, 11817 Jefferson Highway,Baton Rouge,LAat

2:30pm

Obituaries

Behrnes, Ernest Julian

Ernest Julian Behrnes, 92, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, passed away on February 28, 2026.

Born on May 5, 1933, in Baton Rouge, Ernest lived a life marked by devotion, strength, hard-work and unwavering love for his family. Amaster mason by trade, he dedicated decades of his life to working with brick, block, and stone.Whether building new construction or restoring existing structures, he was widely known among contractors, colleagues, and clients for his skill, precision, and deep knowledge of his craft. The foundations he laid in his work reflected the steady character he carried throughout his life.

Aboveall else, Ernest was afamily man. He worked tirelessly to providefor those he loved. He was strong and dependable. His love forhis family and friends was evident in all he did. He possessed asharp andcurious mind and held alifelong fascination with space and the universe.He often found wonder in the vastness of the night sky. Ernest was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Beulah D. Behrnes; and his sons, Mark TBehrnes Sr. and Todd E. Behrnes. He is survived by his son, Clay ABehrnes; his grandsons, Mark TBehrnes Jr. and Taylor JBehrnes; sisters Shirley Blocker and Glenda Boudreaux. His life will be remembered not only for the buildings he constructed, but for the family he strengthened, the stability he provided, and the love he gave so freely.

Aservice of remembrance and mass will be said in his honor along with his beloved wife of 70 years, BeulahD Behrnes,at St. George Catholic Church, 7808 Saint George Dr. Baton Rouge, LA on Monday March 16th, 2026, 9:3011:30. All are welcome to attend.

Alifelong resident of Zachary, he professedhis faith in Christatanearly ageand faithfullyserved formany years as aDeacon at Union Baptist Church, ministeringtoothersthrough prayer,encouragement, and visiting the sick.

James attended Northwestern High School for Coloreds in Zachary, where he excelledinbasketball and was later inductedinto the Zachary High School HallofFamein 1991.Hecontinuedhis love of playing basketballat SouthernUniversityand earneda Bachelor of SciencedegreeinElectronics Engineering in 1961. Throughout his life, he remaineda loyal Jaguar alumnus, faithfullyattending Southern University football games from his reservedseating. Following graduation, he beganhis engineering career with the Federal AviationAdministration at LaGuardia Airport in NewYork, later returning to Louisiana to work with Ethyl Corporation

He was adedicated memberofthe Masonic brotherhood, joining in 1959.AtAnderson Lodge he served as Worshipful Master and later held leadershiprolesinthe Grand Lodge as Grand Treasurer and Grand Secretary,ultimately attaining the honor of 33rd DegreeMason James was also alongtime memberofthe Zachary Men's Club, where he volunteered in civicand community initiatives. His service earned numerous recognitions,including the Father of the Year Award, the Seventh Annual Columbus DunnAward, and the distinction of Honorary Mayor-Presidentofthe City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge in 1991

James is survived by his children Michael Haney (Angela,deceased),James HaneyJr. (Dinat), Juan Haney (Sharon), Dr.Kim Haney-Brown (Dwayne), Terry HaneySr. (LaTonja), Jason HaneySr. (Geraldine), and Kiston Stewart (Kenny); son-in-lawRaymond Armstrong;sister-inlawSharon Hill Jones;19 grandchildren, 14 greatgrandchildren, and ahost of nieces, nephews, relatives, and friends. He was preceded in deathbyhis belovedwifeOra Lee Haney,daughter Quinesta Armstrong, his parents Leander RooseveltHaney and Anna BelleWashington Haney, and three brothers—VernellHaney, HenryRoosevelt(June) Haney,and GeraldJerome Haney.

Visitationwillbeheld Friday,March13, 2026, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 14, from 9:00-10:00 a.m. at Union BaptistChurch, 5350 Old Slaughter Road, Zachary, LA 70791. Funeral service willbeheld Saturday, March14, 2026,at10:00 a.m. at Union Baptist Church, officiated by Pastor Wongchin L. Viltz. Interment willfollow at Woodlawn Cemetery in Gloster, MS.Arrangements entrusted to Miller and DaughterMortuary.

The life of James Cleveland Haney, Sr. reflected faith, wisdom, service, and love —a legacy thatcontinuesthrough the family and community he cherished. Afuneral service willbeheldfrom10:00AM to 11:00 AM on 2026-03-14 at Union Baptist Church, 5350 OldSlaughter Road.

Avisitation willbeheld from 5:30PMto7:30 PM on 2026-03-13 at Union Baptist Church, 5350Old Slaughter Road.

Kennedy, Shelton Joseph 'Hop'

Shelton "Hop" Joseph Kennedy, belovedhusband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend, passed away peacefully at theage of 90 in thecare of St. Joseph's Carpenter HouseonMarch 8. Alifelong Louisianan, Hopwas known for his deep devotiontofamily, his larger-than-life personality, and hisability to turn everyday moments into lasting memories

He was born on April 8, 1935, in St.Landry, Louisiana. He spent his career working as amechanic and electrician helper.

Hopwas an avid golfer, and adevoted supporter of LSUathletics. In addition, he loveddancing, listening to Cajun music, and taking gamblingtripstoLas Vegas with friends.

Those who knew Hop willremember aman who embraced life fully. He believed in showing up for thepeopleheloved and living life with courage, humor, and generosity.

He is survivedbyhis belovedwife of 69 years, Dolores Kennedy; his daughters, Terri Cutrer, Tammy Mabry,Theresa Martin,and Tracy Cox (Dac); 9grandchildren ChristopherWhite (Dylea), Sasha Trana, Jason Martin (Christin), Rani Glass, Alexandra Shanks (Pat), Codi Ross (Michael), Kayla Pierce (Nathan), Cayne Cox (Victoria), and Elaine Harris(Taylor); 19 greatgrandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews; and alarge extendedfamily of relatives and friendswhose lives were deeplyenriched by knowing him.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Louisand Agnes Thibodeaux Kennedy, brothers Raymond and David Kennedy, sisterIdellKennedyDeville,two infant siblings, sons-in-law Sammie Cutrer, Gary Martin, and grandsonDouglasGlass. Funeral serviceswillbe held at St. John theEvangelist Catholic Church in Prairieville on Friday, March 13. Visitation willbe from10a.m. until Mass of ChristianburialatNoon. Privateburial willbeheld at Green Oaks Memorial Park in Baton Rouge at 3:30 p.m.

Klein, Victoria Pelaez

Victoria PelaezKlein,affectionately known as "Toto", passed away peacefully on February 22, 2026. She wasborn on June 2, 1941, in Manizales,Colombiato Elvia and Jose' AbelPelaez. Her family realized the American Dream when her father moved them from Colombia to Miami in the early 1950s and beganan agricultural and beef cattle operationthatthrivedfor 75 years. Totowas the middle of seven siblings and served as bridge from theolder threesiblings to theyounger threesiblings. She was agraduateof NotreDame Academy and attended theUniversity of Miami.Whileworking in Haney, James Cleveland 'Hacky'

February 1, 1937 -March 4, 2026

ZACHARY, LA —James Cleveland "Hacky" Haney, Sr., aman known for his steady faith and deep devotion to family and community, peacefully entered eternal rest on March 4, 2026, shortly after celebrating his 89th birthday. Affectionately known as "Hacky," he lived arich and purposeful life and was asteady source of wisdom, kindness,and encouragement to those who knew him.

highereducation in Miami, she met her future husband, George, whileonan international trip. This chance encounter would prove to be aforeshadowing of their life together when they married and began traveling theworld During their years together,theyvisited every continent and relishednew adventures. They enjoyed semi-retirement in Palm City, Floridawhere they built their dreamhouse and entertained family foryears. After George'spassing in 1997, Toto took over his property development company and successfully ran it forseveral years. She laterreturned to Miami and settled in abeautiful Mediterranean-style waterfront condominium on Williams Island. Soon after celebrating her 80th birthday, she made thedifficult butnecessary decisiontomovefrom South FloridatoLouisiana to be closer to her younger sister, Carmenza, and Carmenza's family.She moved intoSt. James Place in 2023 and took greatpridein renovating her apartment intoa beautiful openfloor plan that was showcased to visitorsatSt. James Place.Despite thechange, she was happy to be reunited withfriendsfrom BatonRouge and St.Jean Vianney CatholicChurch with whom she had traveled with over theyears.

Toto was aloving and supportivewife,daughter, sister, aunt and great aunt to George, her parents, siblings, nephews, nieces and their children and grandchildren. Her generosity knew no bounds, and she consistently shared her blessings with family and numerous Catholicparishes and causes. Her Catholicfaith was at the center of herlife,and she was grateful to her parents for thegiftofher faith and

for proudly livingGospel valueseachday. She carried theirdevotion to the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary throughout herlife. Toto waspredeceasedbyher husband George,her parents Elviaand Jose'Abelas well as herolderbrother Fernando. She is survived by hersiblings Christina Hooker,Myriam Pelaez, Carmenza Funes(Ronaldo), Ralph Pelaez(Bonnie) andMauricioPelaez; sister -in-law Mary Pelaez, nephewsand nieces Andy Pardo (Christine), Mauricio Pardo (Benita), Diego Jose' Pardo (Alexandra), Henry Hooker,DeborahHooker (David), David Funes (Kristina),JohnPaulFunes (Ann), ChristopherFunes (Kelsey), Veronica Orrego (Carlos), Stephanie Moesching(Cory) andEmilieDarling (Dan)aswell as numerousgreat nephews andnieces, whom she loveddearly

Afuneral Mass willbe held at OurLady of Mercy Catholic Church at 445 Marquette DriveinBaton Rouge on Thursday, March 12, 2026, withvisitation beginningat9 am followed by aMass of Christian Burial at 10 am concluding with interment in OurLady of Mercy's Garden of Peace andMemorial Columbarium. Honorary pallbearers are Ralph Pelaez, MauricioPelaez, Dr.RonaldoFunes,Andy Pardo, MauricioPardo, DiegoJose' Pardo, Henry Hooker,David Funes, John PaulFunes,Christopher Funes, DanielPardo, PatrickFunes,LukeFunes DiegoPardo, Samuel Pardo, Jacob Orrego, McKinley Fowler, Leighton Moeschingand Tobias Moesching. Hernieces and great nieces will serve as gift bearers andhonorary gift bearers at theMass: Deborah Hooker,Veronica Orrego, Stephanie

Moesching,EmilieDarling MoniquePardo, Victoria Funes, Alexandra Funes, Olivia Funes,Kathleen Elvia"Kate"Funes,Camille Funes, Juliette Orrego and Mila Orrego. Thespouses of hernephews &nieces were aspecial partofher life, andtheywill be represented by ChristinePardo, BenitaPardo andKristina Funes as readersatthe Mass. The familywould like to thank Toto'sloving andsupportive team including herpriestsinresidenceatSt. JamesPlace, Fr. Donald Blanchard and Fr. Tony Russo; herloyal friendand guideCarolynn Gaines, herdevoted companion Javetta Queen,her design consultant Joli Bryan; WendyStanford Cori O'Brien andthe team at Stanford Senior Services; Mother Joan Weber, thestaff at St.James Place, St.James Place HighlandCourt Nursing Unit,the St.James Place Caring Companions, Baton Rouge Hospice,Triton Therapy andthe wonderful residents and familiesof St.James Place for their love andsupport.Inlieuof flowers, please considera donation to St.Joseph's Academy -3015 Broussard Street,Baton Rouge,LA 70808; Louisiana Parole Project- PO Box 2029,

OUR VIEWS

Immigration policy hits La. whereit hurts —crawfish industry

The trade and immigration policiesofthe Trump administration have rippled through the nation’seconomyinmyriad ways, and Louisiana has not been immune to their effects. In recent months, we’ve catalogued theways tariffs have affected our ports,our retailers and even our coffee shops.

Our farmers are particularly exposed,with trade wars threatening the ability of ricegrowersand other commodityproducers to export their crops. We alsoknow thatmuchofour agricultural sector relies on labor thatisdoneby workers from other countries. And President Donald Trump’scrackdownonillegalimmigration has had far-reaching effects. So it should not have been asurprise to learn recently that Louisiana is taking ahit where it could be felt particularlyhard —inthe crawfish trap. Louisiana farmers say they don’thave the workers they need duringthe peak of the harvestdue to alack of temporary visasfor laborers.

Agriculture and Forestry CommissionerMike Strain recently told legislators that he’shearingfromfarmers that the issueisthreatening their livelihoods. Migrantworkers whopeel and processcrawfish typically areallowedinto the country on H-2B visas for seasonal,nonagricultural jobs. He’sreachedout to federalofficials who said the quota has alreadybeenreached for H-2Bvisas this year.But crawfish plants that used to getaround 100 visas ayear told him this yearthey haven’tgotten any

Strain has been actively seeking answers, taking our farmers’concernsall the wayupthe chaininWashington. He’s talked to folks at the Department of Homeland Security, whichoversees the agencyinchargeofthe visa program, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.He’s raised the issue with the U.S. Departmentof Agriculture, theDepartment of Labor andeven the White House. The response he’sgottenback isn’tencouraging. Federalofficials saythere’s nothing they can do.

The problem is only getting moreurgent as we areinthe middle of crawfish harvesting season,which runs fromDecember to June. Rice farmers typically also raise crawfish, and rely on that income stream to supplement their income.That revenue is more important nowas there is aglut of rice in thefieldsdue to countriesturning away frombuying U S. cropsamid tradenegotiations.

Strain has called on Louisiana’scongressional delegation to get involved, andweecho his plea It is Congress that has allowed thesetrade and immigration policiestomoveforwardwithout significant input. Members of Congress are supposed to be looking at local interests of the people whosendthem to Washington.

Louisiana’scrawfish industryisn’tjust important to our culture and cuisine. It contributes over $300 million to the state’seconomyannually.Ifthat doesn’tget the attention of ourrepresentatives in D.C.,maybe they’ll begin to feel the pinch whenour crawfish potsrun dry

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE

HERE AREOUR

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

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

OPINION

Ourcountry can’ttake much more of this insanity

How manyinsane actswill it take for Republicans to removethe president? How much lying will it take? How much corruption and criminality? How much greed and grift?How much cruelty? Just how much will it take? Apparently,for Republicans, theanswer is more. After only ayear,thanks to President Donald Trumpand his party, the United States has degenerated from avibrant, progressive republic to a violent,chaotic, backward-looking dictatorship. Nearly two-and-a-half centuries of sporadic progress have been obliterated in one short year.And this we are to celebrate?

The president who strong-armed a Nobel Prize recipient into gifting him her medal has declared war on Venezuela, Minneapolis, the Constitution, education, the press, thelaw,elections, reality, comedy and now Iran. He was

The war against Iran prompts me to revisit thekilling of Lafayette nativeLex Trahan, 19, by Hezbollah in Beirut,Lebanon, on Oct. 23, 1983 including our successful civil lawsuit against Iran for the Trahan family, resulting in a$50 million judgment by aU.S. federal court. Background: Atruck filled with 2,500 pounds of explosives broke through U.S. barricades. The detonation killed 241 servicemen —the deadliest post-World WarIIattack on Americans overseas. As of 2025, over 18,000 claimants (representing thou-

just on television crowing about how much he personally had lowered gas prices. Well, never mind about that now.With theuproarhe’sinstigated in theMiddle East, oil supplies are now disrupted, and you know what that means.

YOUR VIEWS Democrats canhaveasay in Senate election with simple switch

The president who chickened out of militaryservice and derided soldiers as suckers and losers is now talking about giving himself aCongressional Medal of Honor.Well, whynot an Academy Award, aPulitzer Prize and thegrand prize of the Pillsbury BakeOff while he’satit? News flash, Don: The Medal of Honor is forbravery,not stupidity.

It is insane. Unfortunately,the cabinet,which could removehim via the 25th Amendment,isascrazy as he is. MICHAEL RUSSO Baton Rouge

sands of individual judgments) have been deemed eligiblefor compensation from the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund —asignificant majority of these claims stemmingfrom terrorist actions involving Iran. Courts have awarded over $150 billion in judgments, yet only $7 billion has been paid to victims Hopefully,Iranian assets will be seized forthwith and all of the judgments satisfied.

WARREN PERRIN Lafayette

Some conservativesmay find it hard to supportTrump

To thesubscriber that wrote, “Lettersshould cater toviews of customers.”

Ijust learnedaninteresting bit of electioninformation.

By listing your voter registration as “no party affiliation,” aperson can vote in the closed primaries for eitherthe Democrat or Republican candidate of choice.

SinceIamcurrently registered as aDemocrat,this change in voter registrationgivesmethe opportunity to vote for U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy in the upcoming closed primary without becoming aRepublican This processissimple to accomplish andcan be completedoverthe internet. It requiresonly thatyou have your driver’slicense to verify an audit codeand your license number.

Warbringshopefor families hurt by Iran’s regime Epsteinvictims were failed by many

Iagree. I, too, have noticed manyof theopinion lettersare moreliberal. Andyes, you are correct that the majority of readers of our state’smajor news publication are likely conservativeand/or Republican. Butplease takeintoconsideration the unprecedented state of our country at this time. Also, takeinto consideration that thenewspaper has to workwith the letters they receive.

Iimagine it would be difficult to compose an opinion letter that defends manyofthe policies being implement-

ed by our current Republican leaders. Think of thegrossly unqualified appointees who are currently serving at the top levels of our government. Think of theinhumanetreatment of immigrants and everyday Americans that we are witnessing. Think of the tariffs being imposed (most illegally) and the resulting high cost of living we are experiencing. Icould go on and on, but Ican’thelp but think that many conservatives are notsatisfied with the current state of events. And if they are, they may not be proud of writing aletter stating such.

JENNIFER

WARD Baton Rouge

If enough Democrats follow along, perhaps we can prevail in reelecting Cassidy

Although Inever thought that I’d be backing aRepublicancandidate. Ibelieve thatCassidy hasmade many positive contributions to our state andisworth our support for reelection.

He is certainly more ideologically independent thanthe other two Republicancandidates who are running.

MAYLEE SAMUELS Baton Rouge

The Epstein files have raised alot of questions, manyofwhich remain unanswered. The one question not asked is: Where werethe parents of these 14-year-old girls to allow them to be placed in this situation? This is obviously child abuse, and the parents should have been prosecuted. DR. TOOLEY TOWNS Baton Rouge

Luke, Joyce Mellieon

DEATHS continued from ated with herbachelor's in electrical engineering.She workedasanengineering contractor at telephone switchboards andseveral othercompanies.She returned to SouthernUniversity for graduate school. She worked forthe Vice President of Finance at SouthernUniversityin 2003. She received her master's in mathematics in 2005and her Doctorate in MathematicsEducation in 2010. Shebecameaneducator, teaching college algebra and statistics. She returned to Allah surrounded by familyand lovedones. Precededin deathbyher husband, DavidMuhammad, and her father,GussieTrahan.Survived by her daughter, Jalilah Muhammad; her sister,DesireeSpann; and her mother, SylviaTrahan. MayAllah be pleased with her.Services held at 10am, Friday, March 13th in Hall Davisand SonFuneral home, 9348 ScenicHwy., Baton Rouge,LA

Joyce Mellieon Luke departed this lifeonFebruary 26,2026 at the age of 90 surrounded by family. A devoted woman of faith who served the Lord and her church throughout her life; she cherished her family,lovingly caring for generations and creating lasting memories through her nurturing spirit. She leaves 2sons, Julian Luke, III(Kay) of Walker, LA, Dwayne Luke, Sr., 2daughters, Angela Campos(Fernando) andIna Edwards (Charles); 4brothers, James (Eva), Charles, Russell, Harold (Sheryl) Mellieon; agoddaughter, Lisa Gracey; 2 sisters-in-law, Everline Mellieon and Julia Jones (Isiah); 15 grandchildren and 33 grandchildren.She is preceded in death by her husband, Julian Luke, her parents Joseph and Ina Mellieon and other relatives. Viewing Friday, March 13 at 9am until religious services at 11am at Hall Davis &Son Funeral Services in Plaquemine, Dr. Grady Patterson officiating.

PolitzWilhite, Patricia Stogner

PatriciaWilhitepassed away peacefully on Tuesday, February26, 2026, surrounded by herchildrenat theBaton Rouge General Hospital.She was77and a native of Alexandria.Patriciawas adevoted wife and loving and supportive mother to herthree children. Patricia possessed a fanatical devotiontoher animals, especially her exotic parrots, whom she loved as if they were her ownchildren. Patriciaretiredfromthe EastBaton RougeParishSheriff'sOffice in 2001 as theirPurchasingAgent aftera career of over 25 years. Patriciawas survived by her childrenand theirfamilies, ShawnSimmons and husband Mike, and theirchildren, Patrick, Preston, and Chase;ScottPolitz; and Dr Marcus Politzand wife Phyllis,and theirchildren, Samuel and Lainey; and one great-grandchild Gavin. Sheisalsosurvived

by her sister,Jeanne Scallan. Patricia waspreceded in deathbyher husbands, Joseph "Bubba" Politz (d.2009) and Irvin Andreu Wilhite (d.2018); Parents, Thomasand Winsome MaeStogner; Brother,Thomas Stogner;Sister, Murwynne Politz;and niece, LauraMartin. The family wouldliketoextend thanks to theICU "C"staff, Dr.Griereand Dr.Campbell, Hope,Meagan, Abigail, and Kenzie, whoprovided compassionatecare through her final days.A special thanks goes to Dr Koganti, whoseunmatched empathy and compassion were amasterclass in patient care. Per her wishes, aprivatefamily service will be held.

Marilyn Moore Price, belovedwife,mother, grandmother,teacher, and friend, passed away peacefullyathome, surrounded by thelove of her family.She was born May 15, 1948, in Shreveport, Louisiana. Marilyn devoted her life to education and spent many years serving as adedicated teacher before her retirement.She earnedher Master's plus 30 years in education and had alifelong passion for learning and helpingothersgrow. She was afaithful member of Istrouma Baptist Church. Marilyn willberemembered forher warm heart,gentle spirit and deep love forher family and friends, as wellas her unwavering faith and commitment to God. She found joy in painting,photography, traveling,and exercising. Above all, she cherished spending time with thepeople she loved. Marilyn is survived by her loving husband of 25 years, Malcolm B. Price Jr."Mackie"; daughters, Caroline, Emily, MacKenzie, Olivia, and Naomi; sons-in-law, Emile Marchive IIIand TaylorShaw; daughter-in-law, Marie Kerrin; brother,Ray Moore; belovedgrandchildren,Emile,Grace, Sloane,

Marilyn, Brinkley, Caleb and Christian; and greatgrandchildren, Raeleeand Colton. She is preceded in death by her parents, Elsie Steadman Moore and WilliamJerry MooreSr.; and brother, WilliamJerry Moore Jr.Marilyn's legacy of kindness, strength,and love willliveoninthe heartsofall who knew her. She willbedeeplymissed and forever remembered. The family extendstheir sincere gratitude to our many friends, to Patricia Stewart,and to thecaregivers and medicalprofessionals from Southside Gardens and theALS nurseswho supported Marilyn withcompassionduring her illness. Pallbearers: Ray Moore Jr.,Trey Moore, EmileMarchive III, Emile Marchive IV, Taylor Shaw and Christian Shaw. Avisitation willbeheldat9:00 AM, followedbya funeral serviceat11:00 AM on Friday, March 13, 2026, at Resthaven Funeral Home. Burial to follow at Resthaven Gardens of Memory. "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laughatthe days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue" Proverbs31:25-26. Family and friends may signthe online guestbook or leave apersonal notetothe familyatwww.resthavenbaton rouge.com.

survivedbyher sonand daughter-in-law,Jim and TerriStallings; 3grandsons, David O.

(Brandi), DanielJ.Stallings (Melanie), and Dustin M. Stallings(Nicole); 9great grandchildren, Parker Stallings, DaytenDauthier, Daylen Dauthier, Lailah Krumholt, Athena Stallings, Olivia Stallings, Dante Klapper, Damien Martinez, andDawson Stallings; and 1great great grandchild, Paisley Methvien.She is also survived by hersister, MelbaArthurand aniece, VickiStallingsand nephew,JohnDavid Stallings. Shewas preceded in death by herhusband JamesStallingsSr.;her parents, Ceciland Ulala Hedge Brown;infantson, David E. Stallings, and a brother-in-law, Jimmie Arthur. Visitation will be held on Thursday, March 12, 2026, from 5pmuntil 8pm, at OursoFuneral Home, 13533 Airline Hwy, Gonzales, Louisiana. She will be laid to rest at SunsetMemorial Gardens, 5783 Hwy49, West Helena Arkansas, on Saturday, March14, 2026, at 10 am.

White Thomas, Seabell 'Mama'

Seabell WhiteThomas wasbornJuly9,1943, in Summit, Mississippi, to the lateMable HarrisWhite andAaron White. Raised in Centreville, MS as the9th of 13 children, she entered eternallifeonFebruary 21, 2026, in Baton Rouge,LA. Shewas marriedtothe lateArthurThomas,Sr., andwas thedevoted motherofSonyjaThomas and Arthur"Ken" Thomas, Jr SheservedasDirector of theSouth Baton Rouge CommunityService Center, Coordinator of theVeteransProgram, andlater ownerofthe SilverMoon Café, sharingher faith, love,and meals with all whovisited. Herfavorite color was

white. Please join thefamily in honoringher life: Visitation& ServicesSaturday, March14, 9-12, St.Gerard MajellaCatholic Church 5354 PlankRoad, Mass of Christian Burial at 12 noon Livestream: https://www.y outube.com/@phunkymon keys.

JosieNellYoung entered into eternalrest on March 7, 2026. Survivedbyher daughter, KyraYoung;sisterEulaMorgan;brother Aaron Washington andsister-in-law,Suesan Washington.Her life wasfurther enriched by herfamilyof theheart,including Rev. Bryan Bowman, Sr,Patricia Bowman and Remus Bowman, Jr.Visitation-Friday, March13, 2026 at 1pm until religiousservice at 2pm at Hall'sCelebrationCenter officiating,Rev Lenny M Young.Interment-Southern Memorial Gardens. ServicesentrustedtoHall Davis and Son.

Frisky LSUfails to prolongseason

Kentucky pulls away as McMahon’s future in doubt

BY TOYLOYBROWN III Staff writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. The LSU basketball season was on the line Wednesday Aloss to No. 9-seeded Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference Tournament would end the campaign, and No. 16-seeded LSU played spiritedly in aBridgestone Arena that was dominated by Kentucky fans. It wasn’tenough as the Tigers fell 87-82.

Thenextquestion LSU(15-17)

needs to answer is whether Matt McMahonwill remainascoach Thefourth-year coach is 60-70 overall and hasn’t madethe NCAA Tournament. “Thought it wasanentertaining college basketball game,”McMahon said. “Really admire thefight and resiliency of our players. I thought theyprepared the right way allweek and came in here ready to fight, compete at ahigh level.Playedwith great togetherness. Unfortunately,weweren’t able to knock downenough shots thereinthe second half, norget enough stops.” When asked about his future, McMahon said he’sgrateful to be the coach and that he will “certainly respect whatever decisions” the athletic administration makes.

LSU and Kentucky (20-12) played aback-and-forth matchup until the game flipped thankstoa12-1 run thatgave the Wildcatsa77-65 lead with 6:54 remaining. During that run, 6-foot-10Kentuckyforward BrandonGarrison, who had 17 points, made two 3-pointers. Entering the contest, he was 2of14from beyond the arcthis season.

The back-to-back Garrison threes put Kentucky up 71-64 and made it sound like ahome game for the Wildcats. LSU didn’tgive in, as a fastbreak layup by Jalen Reece cut the deficit to 79-74 with 2:53 remaining. Butthe Tigerscouldn’t getenoughstops to overcome the Wildcats.

MaxMackinnonhad 28 points

Room to improve

BYREEDDARCEY Staff writer

The conferencetournaments are over, which means it’stime for the LSU women’s basketball team to pushfor another national championship

The Tigers are certainly capable of returning to the Final Four. They’re expected to get aNo. 2seed whenthe NCAA selection committee unveils the full bracket at 7p.m. Sunday on ESPN, and thatseed

wouldbethe highestone they’veearned since 2008. LSU was aNo. 3seed in each of thefirst four seasons it played under coach Kim Mulkey

Oneofthose runs endedwith the national title. This one could extend that far,too, but only if the Tigers improve in some key areas

Let’s examinewhat Mulkey needsto emphasize to herteambeforeitbegins its NCAA Tournament run inside the Pete MaravichAssembly Center next weekend.

Defense, rebounding

To be clear,LSU excels in both areas. It led theSEC in rebounds per game (46.4) in league play,and it allowed itsconference foes to score only 88.3 points per 100 possessions, according to Her Hoop Stats. That was the third-best rate in the SEC.

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

The first 41/2 innings on Tuesday for Omar Serna weren’tpretty

The LSU freshman catcher struck out in thefirst andgrounded out to shortstop in the third. Behind the plate, he had trouble catching pitches and corralling them in the dirt. And that was before he threwaball into center field on astolenbaseattempt in the fifth.

ä LSU at Vanderbilt, 6P.M. FRIDAy,SECN+

Butall it takes is oneswing to changethe course of an evening, whichisexactly what happened for Serna at Alex Box Stadium. With the Tigers trailing 4-2 to Creighton in the fifth inning, Serna launched a 455-foot grand slam that breathed life into an offensively attack that desperatelyneeded it.LSU won thegame 8-4 to snap askid of four losses in five contests.

“I walked out of there, and Iwas like ‘Let’sgo,’ ”Serna said. “This is exactly what we needed.” Serna isn’ta finished product, but his talent is undeniable.Hehas atremendous arm behind the plate and can hit the ball acountry mile. The latter skill wasonfulldisplayTuesday when he smacked the first home run of his collegiate career He enteredthe at-bat withabatting average below .200. Tuesday also isn’t thefirst time he’s struggled on defense this season. But there wasareason why MLBhad interestindrafting theHouston native out of high school. He wasa top-135 player in ESPN andMLB.com’s draft rankings.

“Obviously,there are somegrowing

Pels hand Ingram,Toronto loss with strong second half

BY LES EAST

Trey Murphy scored 28 points, Dejounte Murray added 27 and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated theToronto Raptors 122-111 on Wednesday night in the Smoothie King Center. Zion Williamson added 19 points andHerbJones scored16 forthe Pelicans (22-45), who surpassed their victory total from last season. Murphy made five 3-pointers and Jones had four New Orleans will visit the Houston Rockets on Friday nightbefore starting afour-game home stand with agame against theDallas Mavericks on Monday night. Former Pelicans All-Star Brandon Ingram, playing his first game against his formerteam since they traded him in February 2025, scored22points for the Raptors (36-29), who were completing aback-to-back after

losing at Houston 113-99 on Tuesday and fellfor the fourthtimein five games. Immanuel Quickleyhad 25 points and RJ Barrett added 16 for Toronto, which will host New Orleans on March 27. Jones had five points, Murray scored four and Murphy added two during an 11-0 run that expanded the Pelicans’ one-point lead to 77-65midway through the third quarter.Ingram’sjumper ended ascoringdrought of nearlyfour minutes for the Raptors, but New Orleans increased the lead to 18 points before holding a93-83 edge at theend of theperiod Toronto scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter, but YvesMissi and Williamson scored four each as the Pelicans took a 103-93 lead with eight minutesremaining. The Raptors crept within six points, but Murray scored on a drive and Missi on atip-in for an-

other 10-point lead.Jakob Poeltl made atip-in forToronto, but Williamson’sdunk punctuated a6-0 runthat gaveNew Orleans a113-99 lead with4:12left.The lead reached 18 in thefinal two minutes. Ingram wascheered when introduced before the gameand received astanding ovation after a tribute videowas playedduring a timeout midway through the first quarter.

Quickley scored 11 of firstquarterpoints as Toronto took the biggest lead of the period, 24-17. Murphy had14points to help the Pelicanssurge to athree-point lead before the Raptorsscored thefinal four pointstograb a30-29 lead at theend of theperiod New Orleans tooka three-point lead in the secondquarter,but Ingramscored sevenstraight points in aspanof53seconds. ThePelicansscored thenextsix points on their way to a60-58 halftime lead

9:30 p.m. Formula 1: practice APPLE TV WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

6:45 p.m. WorldCup: Puerto Rico vs. U.S. TruTV COLLEGE BASEBALL

6p.m. Georgia Tech at ClemsonACCN MEN’S COLLEGEBASKETBALL TOURNEYS

10:30 a.m. Atl. 10: G.Wash. vs. Fordham USA

11 a.m. Big Ten: TBD vs. Ohio State BTN

11 a.m. ACC: TBD vs.Virginia ESPN2

11 a.m. Big East: TBD vs. St. John’s NBCSN

11:30 a.m. Big 12: TBD vs.TexasTech ESPN

11:30 a.m. SEC: Kentucky vs. Missouri SEC

1p.m. Atl. 10: TBD vs. GeorgeMason USA

1:30 p.m. Big Ten: TBD vs.Wisconsin BTN

1:30 p.m. ACC: TBD vs. Miami ESPN2

1:30 p.m. Big East: Creighton vs.Set.Hall NBCSN

2p.m. Mount.West: TBDvs. UtahSt. CBSSN

TPCset to delivermajor excitement

BY DOUG FERGUSON

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. Major or not, The PlayersChampionship rarely lacks for entertainment. Still fresh is Rory McIlroy goingfrom afour-shot deficit to athree-shot lead only to wind up in a playoff that he wonlast year when J.J. Spaun failed to find land on the island green. That kind of drama hasbeen more rule than exception over the years on the ever daunting, neverdullStadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass.

“Exciting”was the one word Adam Scott chose to describe ThePlayers Championship, the premier tournament on the PGA Tour that hasall thetrappingsof amajor except the label.

“I grew up watching this, seeing alot of birdies and alot of dramatic stuff happening,” Scott said. “I think that’sexciting, and Ithink that’swhy people like watching this tournament. You go out there with the dream that you can shoot 10 under somehow and spin balls back off slopes. And it’snot that easy once you’re out there.” Scott won The Players in 2004, andherecalledbeing at thebar of arestaurant with hisgirlfriendafteropening with a65. Some fans were talkingabout the day’saction when one asked who was leading the tournament.

“The guy looked at him and said, ‘Some expletive no-name.’ And it was me,” Scott said.“My wife, or girlfriend at the time, was ready to jump in there and let him have it. So it was good to go on and win and maybe getout of the no-name category.”

The Players has had plenty of surprise winners. Craig Perks won hisonly PGA Tour title at Sawgrass, memorable for his three-hole finish when he chipped in for eagle, made a30foot birdie putt and then chipped in for par The Players has rewarded everything from the power of TigerWoods to theprecision of Fred Funk.

“You see avariety of winners, and you also don’tsee one style of player winning this tournament abunch of times,” said Scottie Scheffler,the only player to winback-to-back at theTPC Sawgrass.

His win in 2024 required arally from five shots behind,holing out with afull wedge for eagle on the fourth hole and a64to post the lowest final round by a winner. This wasafter he nearly withdrew because of aneck injury.There’salways drama.

“The way modern golf is trending, Ithink this place you kind of take some stepsback where the areas to hit into are small,”Scheffler said.“And there’scertain holes whereyou can definitely take advantage of your length if you’re alonger hitter.But there’salso some holes where you’ve got to get the ball in play,and you have to be able to curve the ball both directions.” He then took everyone on a tour —afade off the first tee, adraw for the approach. Next hole, adraw off the teeand a fade forthe longshotintothe par 5. Fade, fade, draw,draw. On he goes.

BROADCASTHIGHLIGHTS

2p.m. Big 12: TBD vs.Arizona ESPN

2p.m. SEC: TBD vs.Tennessee SECN

4p.m. Atl. 10: Rh. Island vs. Duquesne USA

4:30 p.m. Mou.West: TBD vs.G.CanyonCBSSN

5:30 p.m. BigTen:TBD vs.Purdue BTN

6p.m. ACC: TBD vs.DukeESPN

6p.m. Big 12: TBD vs. Houston ESPN2

6p.m. American: TBD vs. Charlotte ESPNU

6p.m. Big East: TBD vs.UConn FS1

6p.m. SEC: TBD vs.Georgia SECN

6:30 p.m. Atlantic10: TBD vs.Davidson USA

8p.m. Big Ten: TBD vs.UCLA BTN

8p.m. Moun.West: TBD vs.S.D.St. CBSSN

8:30 p.m. Atlantic Coast: TBD vs. N. Caro. ESPN

8:30 p.m. Big12: TBD vs. Kansas ESPN2

8:30 p.m. American: TBD vs. N.TexasESPNU

8:30 p.m. TBD vs.Villanova FS1

8:30 p.m. SEC: TBD vs.Texas A&M SECN

10:30 p.m. Moun.West: TBD vs.N.Mex. CBSSN

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

4p.m.Southland championship ESPNU GOLF

Noon

PGATour:Players Champ. Golf

10:30 p.m.LIV Golf: Sentosa FS1 HORSE RACING

2p.m.America’s Dayatthe RacesFS2

MLB SPRING TRAINING

Noon Boston vs.Minnesota MLBN

5p.m.Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh MLBN

8p.m.Kansas City vs.San DiegoMLBN NBA

6p.m.Philadelphia at Detroit PRIME

8:30 p.m.Boston at Oklahoma City PRIME MEN’S SOCCER

6:55 p.m.Tigres UANL at FC CincinnatiFS2

8:55 p.m.Seattle at Vancouver FS2 TENNIS

1p.m.ATP,WTA:Indian Wells Tennis

Historic night

BY TIM REYNOLDS AP basketball writer

MIAMI TheMiami Heatled the Washington Wizards by 25 points with 2:56 left. The gamewas essentially over,the outcome decided. And Bam Adebayogot called foranoffensive foulthat,under normal circumstances, would not have mattered.

These were not normal circumstances.

Adebayoalready had 77 points on Tuesday nightand the Heat wantedmore. So,coach Erik Spoelstra emphatically challenged that offensive foul call. Every Heat player,assistant coach andstaffer jumpedoff thebench, celebrating that decision.The challenge failed —refsgot thecall right— but it was clear what themomentmeant to Miami.

Adebayo wound up scoring 83 points. It was the second-highest total by any player in any game in NBA history,passingKobe Bryant’s 81 and trailingonly Wilt Chamberlain’s100.

“The thingyou loveabout it,and whyeverybody rootsfor Bam, is because he does all the winning things,” Spoelstrasaid. “Hedoesthe things thataren’t recognized.He putshis body out there,he’savailable, heis arugged competitor.”

TheHeat, whowon 150-129, obviously loved it. Not everybody did.

There were immediate detractors who pointed to Adebayo’s absurd, one-of-a-kind stat line— 43 field goal attempts, 22 3-point attempts and, most of all,NBA records of 36 free throws and 43 attempts —asproof of stat-padding. Some even went as far as to question the integrity of the game, though to be fair,many also celebrated Adebayo’snight.

“Look, bruh had 83 points. Bruh shot43foul shots,” former Heat point guard Jason Williams said in avideo posted to social media. “I don’tknow if Ishot 43 foul shots in one season.” (Williams, for the record, attemptedonly41free throws in his final two NBA seasons combined.)

Acrazy finish

Percentages: FG .517,

3-Point Goals: 15-36 417 (Riley 4-7, Sarr 4-7, T.Johnson 3-7,Hardy 3-8, Vukcevic 1-2 Carrington 0-1, Cooper 0-1,Coulibaly 0-1, Champagnie 0-2). Team Rebounds:12. Team Turnovers: 1. BlockedShots:3(Sarr 2, Hardy). Turnovers: 23 (Carrington 7, Cooper 4, Hardy 3, Champagnie2,T.Johnson 2, Vukcevic 2, Coulibaly, Gill, Sarr). Steals: 6(Carrington, Champagnie, Cooper,Coulibaly,Riley,T.Johnson). Technical Fouls:Coulibaly,4:49third. FG FT Reb MIAMI Min M-AM-A O-TA PF PTS Gardner 25:43 2-4 0-0 3-8 24 4 Larsson 24:26 3-74-5 0-2 11 10 Adebayo41:54 20-43 36-43 1-9 33 83 Jakucionis29:45 2-3 1-2 1-5 64 5 Mitchell24:06 5-9 2-2 3-7 51 12 Jaquez Jr. 27:53 2-5 0-02-6 81 5 Smith 22:46 2-4 0-00-3 54 5 Fontecchio

Fontecchio 3-4, Jaquez Jr.1-2, Smith

K.Johnson 1-4, Gardner 0-1, Jakucionis

Larsson 0-3, Mitchell 0-4). Team Rebounds:13. Team Turnovers:1 BlockedShots:5(Adebayo2,Jakucionis, K.Johnson, Larsson) Turnovers: 16 (Adebayo5,Mitchell 3, Smith 3, Gardner 2, Fontecchio, Jakucionis, Larsson). Steals: 16 (Smith4,Gardner 3, Adebayo2, K.Johnson 2, Larsson 2, Fontecchio, Jakucionis, Mitchell) Technical Fouls:None.

Astros All-Star closer Hadertomiss opening day

Houston Astros All-Star closer JoshHader will begin the season on the 15-day injured list, manager Joe Espada told reporters Wednesday

Hader,who dealt with biceps tendinitis while throwing bullpen sessionsinthe offseason, didn’t pitchafterAug. 8lastyear because of ashoulder capsule strain. He hadprogressedtothrowing and playing catch, but the 31-yearold left-hander has not appeared in any spring training games and his buildup will extend past the Astros’ opener against the Los Angeles Angles on March 26.

Hader was 6-2 with 28 saves in 29 chances with a2.05 ERA in 48 appearances last season, his secondsincejoining theAstros as a free agent for a$95 million, fiveyear contract.

Syracuse basketball fires Autryafter three seasons

Adrian Autry hasbeenfiredas head basketball coach at Syracuse after three seasons. The school announced the decisionWednesday, oneday after the Orange lost 86-69 to SMU in thefirst roundofthe ACCTournament.Syracuse lost itsfinalsix games and12ofthe last 15 under Autry to finish 15-17.

Autry was 49-48 over threeseasons after replacing Jim Boeheim and failed to reach theNCAA Tournament.The four-year Syracuse starter underBoeheim andlater his associatehead coach took overfor the retiring Hall of Famer in 2023. Syracuse finished with consecutive losing seasons forthe first time since 1968-69. Autry was 2434 in ACC regular-season play in his three seasons.

Masterswins third gold of WinterParalympics

The medal count is now at 22 for Oksana Masters, the most decorated American winter paralympian. Masters won the para crosscountry 10kminterval startsitting race on Wednesday forher third gold in four events at theMilan Cortina Games. She had wonthe cross-country sprint on Tuesday and the para biathlon sprint on Saturday.Masters just missed out on the podium on Sundaybyfinishing fourth in the para biathlon individual sitting. Wednesday’sfeat allowed her to equalthe three golds she wonat the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games

Mastersnow has eight Winter Paralympic gold medals to go along with her four victories at the Summer Paralympics.

teams at Adebayo in the finalminutes. They fouled Heat players just to keep Adebayo from scoring, though they saved most of their fouls for Adebayo himself. He was fouled 26 times —the most any player has been fouled in at least the past 20 seasons, and 12 times more than he hadever been fouled.

“The fourthquarter justturned into not areal basketball game, Wizards coach Brian Keefe said. Adebayo had31pointsinthe first quarter,12inthe second quarter and 19 in the third. He had 62 points going into the fourth.The Wizards couldn’tstophim, no matter what they tried.

“The wholefirst31/2 quarters. I waslike, all right,they’re just going to let me go,” Adebayo said.“And then, you turn around and you’ve got fourpeopleguarding you.” Everythingthe Heat didinthe fourth quarter was aboutgetting Adebayo points.Bryant’s81-point gamewasn’tdifferent in that regard.

Parallelstoother bignights

On Jan. 22,2006, the Los Angeles Lakers took38shots in the second halfand Bryant took 28 of them. They took 17 shotsinthe fourth that night; Bryanttook 13 of those, including all 13 of the Lakers’ freethrow attemptsinthe final12minutes. It’snot terribly uncommon; when aguy reallyhas it going, his teammates justkeep giving him the ball.

VertigotokeepBowman out of 2nd NASCAR race

Hendrick Motorsports driver

Alex Bowman will miss asecond consecutive NASCARrace because of vertigo and will be replaced by Justin AllgaieratLas Vegas Motor Speedway

“Alex continues to work closely with doctors toward being medically cleared, but he’sstill experiencing some lingering symptoms,” said Jeff Andrews, president and general manager of Hendrick Motorsports. Bowman wastoo illtocontinue during the March 1race at Circuit of the Americas in Texas and was replaced midrace.

Allgaier woninNASCAR’ssecond-tier series at Las Vegas ayear ago while driving for JR Motorsports, an affiliate of Hendrick Motorsports.

Bills quarterbackAllen restructures hiscontract

There were at least four instances of Heat players foulingdown thestretch,with abig lead, to extend the game and get Adebayo the ball back. That’salsowhat the Philadelphia Warriors didinthe final moments against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962 thenight Chamberlain scored 100.

“Wehad three guys collapsing around him to keephim from gettingclose to the basket, but he took us with him withhis tremendous strength,” the Knicks’Darrall Imhoff saidthat night, as quoted by TheEvening News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. “Late in the game, theWarriorsfouledusdeliberately to regain possessionand that guy really tore down the floor to keep his recordassault going.” Sounds familiar. The Wizards threw doubletriple- and sometimes quadruple-

“Weleft himin,” then-Lakers coach Phil Jackson saidthatnight, “until he got to 80.” When Adebayo’sgame went final, not everyone seemed thrilled by the point total.

“A rathermelancholyfootnote in NBA history occurred,” the legendary Lakers public address announcer Lawrence Tanter said to the crowd before agame in Los Angeles,asherevealed that Adebayo hadpassed Bryant. Afew people booed. Adebayo’s83-pointscoring

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allenhas agreed to restructure his contract in amove that frees up approximately $12 million in muchneeded salary-cap space forthe team entering theNFL’s newyear The moveconverts $15.2 million of Allen’ssalary this season into a signing bonus, and it

THE VARSITYZONE

Chargersupset in semifinals

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

LAKE CHARLES Madison Prep took aone-point lead as theclock showed 1:46 left in the fourth.

The Chargersbattledback from aseven-pointdeficit andlooked to stave off an upset, butJaydon FrancisofNorthside hadother plans. He drove to the basket on the ensuing possession and converteda three-point play

Then No. 12 Northside forced three turnovers late to seal a65-61 victory over top-seeded Madison Prep in the Division II select semifinals Wednesday at Burton Coliseum.

Northside shot 45% fromthe field and went 15 of 18 from the charity stripe. The Chargers shot just 38% and went 10 of19from thefree-throw line.

“High-stakes games likethis almost always come downtowho

“This

game is not an indication of theseason.They responded all year long,and forthat,I’m proud of them.”

JEFFERy JONES,Madison Prep coach

does the small things the best,” Chargers coach Jeffery Jones said.“Theydid the smallthings the best tonight.”

After MadisonPreptook a5-0 lead,Treylon Angelle hit apair of threesfor Northside before makingafloater to put the Vikings up 11-5 at the end of the first quarter

TheChargersshotjust2 of 17 (11%) in the quarter

Madison Prep (27-3) senior Kenny Brown pulled up frommidrange and hit ashot to end the run at the start of the secondquarter

His scorehelped the Chargers settleintoa groove and go on an 8-2 run to tie the game.

Freshman TJ Beaulieu drove the baseline and banked in afloat-

er to tie it.

Late in the quarter,Beaulieu nabbed arebound, then raced down the floor andfound junior Elijah Garner.Hefinished the fastbreak with alayup to give Madison Prep a17-15 lead.

Brown knocked down apair of threes late, including one just before the buzzer,toput Madison Prepup23-22 at halftime. The Chargers shot7of11(64%)inthe second quarter

The two sidescontinued to trade the lead in the third. Northside took afour-pointlead late after ripping off a7-2 run, capped off by an Angelle layup. Northside (21-13) led 42-38 after three quarters.

The Vikings’ lead stretched to seven pointsatthe start of the fourth before Madison Prepbegan to chip away.Two tripstothe charity stripe led to two Chargers’ points.

Garnerthen scored on an open layup off afastbreak to make it a three-point game.

Northside wentback up six points, but Madison Prep got it down to threeafter Garnerstole the ball and found junior Elijah Avery foralayup midway through the fourth.

Senior Landon Epps got the Chargers within onepoint with a pair of free throws. After Garner put his side up one with alayup, Northsidescored seven straight to put the gameaway Jones said he was proud of what his team accomplished this season.

“Thisgameisnot an indication of the season,” Jones said. “They responded all year long, and for that, I’m proud of them.”

John Curtis ends Catholic’s strong run

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

LAKE CHARLES— It wasn’tthe finish Catholic hoped for in its state semifinal loss to John Curtis, but there was plenty for Bears coach Derrick Jones to be proud of after the 47-39 loss on Wednesday at Burton Coliseum. To start, Catholic beganthe season 1-5. It took time for the team to gel and find its identity,but once the Bears did, they closed the regular season by winning 15 of 21 games

“Really had some tough times early,” Jones said. “Had to really fight to find our identity andwho we were. These guys stuck together and kept battling and keptfighting for one another.”

Their16-11 record helped the team clinch theNo. 12 seed. After afirst-round playoff win,Catholicwentonthe road thenexttwo rounds andknockedoff No.5 Teurlings Catholic and No. 4St. Thomas More to reach the Division Iselect semifinals.

“It was leadership,” Jones said on thedefining factor during the run. “Wetold them as astaff, this is your team.Any great team is runbythe players. They took ownership of that.”

TheBears then gave top-seeded JohnCurtisall it wantedon Wednesday.

After the two sides traded the lead six times in the first half, John Curtis held a20-19 lead at the break Midway through the third,

Catholic junior Jude Chamberlain picked up atechnical that gave John Curtis two free throws and a seven-point lead. The Patriotstook a31-24 lead into the fourth. Onceagain, Catholic showed its fight. JuniorTylerBrazier drove to thecup at the start of the fourth to cut the deficit to five.

The run reached 9-2 to tie the game at 33-33 after senior Luke Moreau hit a3-pointerfrom the corner

John Curtis answeredwith a floater,but Bears senior Charlie Mosely tied it again after he jumped to steal an errant pass and drove all the way from midcourt for alayup.

“Wenever laid down,” Jones said. “Wegot back in aposition even late in the game, to win.”

The Bears’ comeback would fall short as John Curtis closed on a 12-4 run.

“Proud of these guys andthe way they battled tonight,” Jones said. “Really,all season long.” Mosely echoed his coach’ssentiments

“No one thought we would make it to (Lake Charles),” he said. “We were relentless throughout the whole season, andIcouldn’tbe happier for the rest of my guys.” Jones took solace in the growth his team madeboth as players and people.

“You don’treallyknowthe job you’ve done until 10,20years down theroad,” he said. “There’s no doubt in my mind thatthese young men are going to be successful.”

EIHS turns ‘pain’ into gainsin’26

BYJACKSON REYES Staff writer

The East Iberville basketball team knows whatitfeelslike to fall short.

The Tigers lost to Franklin by four points in last year’sDivision IV nonselect semifinals. East Iberville worked every day just to getanotherchance, and when theopportunityfinally came, the team did not pass it up. No. 3-seeded East Iberville used a14-2run in thefourth quarter to beat No.2Lakeview 59-42 on Tuesday to book the school’sfirsttriptothe statetitle gameinboys basketball.

Tigers coach DonovanMaryland said histeamwouldnot be where it is today without last season’sloss.

“The biggestthingfor us was actually getting here last year,” Maryland said. “Weknow how thatpainofnot actually being able to finish feels.”

While the box score showed a 17-point victory,the win didn’t come without adversity.The Tigers roared out to an 11-4 lead before Lakeview useda10-0 runtogoinfrontearlyinthe second quarter.Asthe Gators’ run continued, East Iberville senior starterAdrickWilsonwent down with an injury just two minutes into the second quarter and didn’treturn.

East Iberville also turned the ball over 15 times in the first half,which ended offensive possessions and allowed Lakeview to take aone-point lead at the break.

As momentumshifted, the Tigers could have folded under pressure. Memories of last year remained, but East Iberville was ready to meet the challenge this time.

“Next man up,”sophomore JordanScharnett said. “We’ve got to finish it off for (Wilson). We didn’twanttolosewithout a fight.”

The team made adjustments offensively andturnedthe ball over just four times in the second half.East Iberville also held Lakeview to just 5-of-19 shooting (26.3%)inthe fourth quarter.

“Thatshows thatthe guys bought into the game plan, Maryland said.“Forustoget to this point, we won’tdoitonthis day.Ithas to be an everyday thing, and today show up.” Scharnett —who finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds andfour assists —credited that mentality with helping the team get it done this year

“Allthe players came in as one,” Scharnett said. “When we playedasone,that’swhenour lead extended.”

The everyday process involved remembering the regret of last year’sloss. Marylandsaid that it was crucial to understand how to battle through tough moments.

“You have to remember the moments that we had last year,” Maryland said, “so we could get past that, to getoverthe hurdle that we had this year.”

All those days of work have led East Iberville into new territory When the team tips off against No.1Ferriday at 4p.m. Friday in LakeCharles, it will be the team’sfirst time playing for a state title.

“Togothrough the things that we’vehad to go throughfor the past three years, it’s truly a blessing,”Marylandsaid. “We constantly remind theguys of the pain of regret.”

He doesn’twant his players to be weighed down by the word “regret,”but rather to understand thatifthey buy intothe process, adifferent six-letter word canreplace it —“trophy.”

Arizona St. parts ways with Hurley after rout

BY JOHN MARSHALL AP sportswriter

TEMPE, Ariz. — Bobby Hurley’s tenure as Arizona State coach is over after 11 up-and-down seasons.

Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini announced Wednesday that Hurley’s contract will not be renewed, just hours after the Sun Devils’ 91-42 loss to No. 7 Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament. Hurley will be placed on paid administrative leave through the remainder of his contract, which ends in June.

“Bobby Hurley has made incredible contributions to the sport of basketball, and that certainly includes many memorable moments during his time as our head coach,” Rossini said in a statement. “While we will not be extending his contract, we are so grateful for the 11 years that Coach, Leslie, Cameron, Sydney, Bobby Jr., and he spent with us at ASU. We wish Coach well moving forward and we are thankful for his leadership while

LSU WOMEN

Continued from page 1C

What’s important to note here, though, is that when the Tigers don’t defend or rebound to their standard, they usually lose.

LSU is at its best when it’s forcing missed shots, grabbing them off of the defensive glass and kick-starting its transition attack The Tigers tend to get stuck on offense when they’re forced to play slower games. Just look at the two SEC Tournament games LSU played this season.

In the quarterfinals, Oklahoma missed 46 shots and turned the ball over 22 times. LSU erupted for 112 points — the second-most points any team ever has scored in the event.

The next day during a semifinal clash with South Carolina, the Tigers scored only 77 points. The Gamecocks rebounded nine of the 21 shots they missed in the second half, taking away most of LSU’s transition opportunities They also turned the ball over just four times.

“There’s just a small margin of error that you can have to beat elite teams,” Mulkey said. “We think we’re an elite team, but we’re not there to win those close games against the South Carolinas, the UConns.” Defense and rebounding are always Mulkey’s top two priorities Those two facets take on added importance when March rolls around and the matchups become do-or-die.

Half-court offense

When the Tigers were forced to play half-court offense in their losses to Texas and South Carolina this season, they struggled to find high-percentage looks

Things were clicking for the Tigers in the first half of Saturday’s matchup, when they were forcing missed shots getting out in transition and attacking the rim. Then the Gamecocks switched to a zone defense, slowing down the game and forcing LSU into some tough shots.

Mulkey says assistant Redus won’t coach in NCAA tourney

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

Coach Kim Mulkey told ESPN

104.5-FM on Wednesday that Gary Redus, the LSU assistant who will be the next head women’s basketball coach at Rutgers, will not accompany the Tigers on their NCAA Tournament run. Redus instead will spend the next few weeks focused on assembling his Scarlet Knights coaching staff and roster for the 2026-27 season, Mulkey said.

“As I told him,” Mulkey said, “ ‘You can’t be married to two wives.’ I said, ‘Get out of here, go to work, get your staff in place, get your kids that are there to

stay.’ He hasn’t even visited Rutgers. He took the job over the phone or whatever “I know his love for our program and our team, he’d want to be on the bench for us, too. But as a mentor I can’t be selfish and ask him to stay with our team because this could be a long threeor four-week process with the playoffs. You need to be working.”

Mulkey also suggested that Redus may add LSU assistant Daphne Mitchell to his Rutgers staff. She’s worked under Mulkey for 11 seasons, and she played college basketball with Redus’ wife, Tiffany, at Georgia Tech from 2006-08.

at ASU.”

Hurley led the Sun Devils to the NCAA Tournament three times, including two straight in 2018-19, but needed to make another March Madness run if his contract was going to be extended

Arizona State fell well short, finishing 12th out of 16 teams in the Big 12 at 7-11 and 17-16 overall after demolition against Iowa State in Kansas City, Missouri the most lopsided game in Big 12 history

Hurley finished 185-167 in 11 seasons at Arizona State, leaving as the second-winningest coach in program history behind Ned Wulk.

“Throughout this journey, my family and I formed lasting friendships and created incredible memories,” Hurley posted on X. “We experienced multiple NCAA Tournament appearances, remarkable wins at Desert Financial Arena and the joy of watching our children become Sun Devil alumni.

“To all the players thank you. It has been my greatest privilege to coach so many outstanding

young men and I will always treasure our time together.”

Arizona State got Hurley’s 11th season off to a solid start, with a runner-up finish at the Maui Invitational and a close loss to No. 8 Gonzaga.

The rest of it was a chore as the Sun Devils struggled with injuries and inconsistencies

The Sun Devils picked up solid home wins against Kansas State and Cincinnati, but were blown out by No. 8 Houston, West Virginia and rival Arizona in a January stretch that left Hurley dejected.

“We failed I’m failing. I can’t get through to the team,” Hurley said after the 75-63 loss to West Virginia on Jan. 21. “I don’t know what else I can say.”

Arizona State pulled off an upset by beating No. 14 Kansas in Hurley’s final home game, but it was trounced by Iowa State four days later The Sun Devils beat Baylor in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament before being bounced from the bracket by Iowa State with a lackluster performance.

LSU’s Mikaylah Williams drives the base line for a score as Missouri’s Abbey Schreacke defends in the second half of LSU’s 108-55 win over Missouri on Feb 22 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center

“I’d have to look at film to see,” Mulkey said “Did we really get away from (attacking the rim)? Or did they take it away from us? They started playing a lot of zone, and that takes away some things in there.

“So give South Carolina credit They didn’t stay in man, and so maybe that changed it a little bit.”

LSU shouldn’t be so reliant on its transition attack. At some point in the tournament, the Tigers will run into a team that can execute its offense even when LSU is playing sharp defense The Tigers will need to counter with some ball movement, dribble penetration and outside shooting in the half court.

Free-throw shooting

It sounds trivial, but free-throw shooting can decide games. In

2023, a couple of key misses at the stripe propelled LSU through a Sweet 16 matchup against Utah. Would the Tigers have beaten South Carolina in February had they not missed nine freebies?

Potentially Flau’jae Johnson went to the line late in the fourth quarter with a chance to give LSU a 74-73 lead, and she missed both of her looks.

The Tigers are shooting an acceptable 74% from the free-throw line this season, but in their last four games, they’ve converted only 67%. For perspective, Tennessee has been the SEC’s worst free-throw shooting team this year, and it’s converting 67% of its free throws. LSU can improve at the line, and it will need to after the Big Dance begins.

LSU MEN

Continued from page 1C on 11-of-17 shooting and four rebounds for LSU. Mike Nwoko had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Reece had 11 points, seven assists, six rebounds and only one turnover Nwoko played one of his best games of the season despite being the only center available for the Tigers because backup big man Robert Miller missed his first game of the season.

“He was suspended for violation of team rules and was not with us on the trip,” McMahon said about Miller Nwoko was a reliable paint force The junior transfer from Mississippi State did well cleaning the glass, and he was the early aggressor on offense for the Tigers. He scored the team’s first two baskets around the basket His second score was an improbable putback where the ball bounced off the top of the backboard and through the net.

LSU took a 12-11 lead after Nwoko made a pair of free throws. He had a team-high 13 points and six rebounds at halftime.

Kentucky wing Kam Williams played for the first time since Jan. 21 when he suffered a foot injury The former Tulane player and Lafayette native drained a transition 3-pointer, his first shot attempt of the game, to cap the Wildcats’ 7-0 run, extending their lead to 23-17 with 10:09 remaining in the first half

While the Tigers held steady in the rebounding battle, they were not shooting at a high percentage from the field early Several of their looks were contested, and some layups rolled off of the rim.

The Tigers didn’t let the game get out of hand, though. Their paint-oriented attack returned after Pablo Tamba drove to the basket for an up-and-under post move on Kentucky 6-foot-11 forward Andrija Jelavi , who jumped on the fake. That was followed by a Nwoko jump hook, cutting the deficit to 25-24 with 7:58 remaining before halftime

“We were trying to be faster than them,” Tamba said. “They did a good job of taking advantage of the mismatch.” Reece commanded the LSU offense. The freshman point guard’s best play was a drive and kick to Mackinnon for a 3-pointer that cut LSU’s deficit to 46-43 at halftime Kentucky kept a one-possession lead as it leaned on the scoring from second-team All-SEC guard Otega Oweh, who had 13

points in the first half.

“Oweh, just such a difficult cover,” McMahon said. “He’s so good there in the mid-range.” Early in the second half, Tamba had six points and four rebounds, including the highlight of the day He was given space near the free-throw line area and took off for a vicious driving dunk with one hand over 7-foot defender Malachi Moreno

The officials reviewed the play as Tamba hit Moreno in the face with his off arm during the dunk Tamba was given a Flagrant 1 foul, which was his third personal foul. After two free throws for Moreno, Kentucky took a 49-47 lead with 18:24 left.

Mackinnon’s aggression as a shot creator increased in the second half. The 6-6 guard scored over shorter defenders in the mid-range and decisively drove for layups after off-ball screens. He scored 18 in the second half.

“Everyone screened for each other,” Mackinnon said of his second-half play “Knocked down some shots (but) I would take a win (over scoring) any day, and I mean that.” Oweh, who finished with 23 points, made clutch baskets after Garrison’s spurt.

“Great credit to Kentucky,” McMahon said. “Game they needed, and they found a way to make the plays to get it done there in the second half. But I thought our players came to play, competed at a high level. They were connected as one. Thought that the spirit was where it needed to be Kentucky was just a better team at the end of day.”

Kentucky advance to play No. 8 Missouri at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at Bridgestone Arena, while LSU waits to see what direction its program is headed.

second quarter on Jan. 3atthe F.G. Clark ActivityCenter

Southern women confident

if theirfreethrowsgodown

BY CHARLESSALZER

Contributing writer

The Southern women’s basketball team has had achance to win almost everySouthwesternAthletic Conference game it has played this season. Now theJaguars need just three in arow startingThursday in the SouthwesternAthletic Conference Tournament.

The Jaguars (16-13, 12-6) are the No. 4seed and will take on No. 5 seed Jackson State (12-18, 10-8) at 10 a.m. All tournament games are being played at the Gateway Center in College Park, Georgia.

“We’vebeenlooking at alot of the things that we’ve done well, and we want to replicate that goingintothe tournament,” Southern coach Carlos Funchess said “It boosts confidence. Ialways tell the young ladies, don’tbeat yourselves, so we’ve been preaching a lotofpositivity,and hopefully that carries over to the tournament.”

Southern came up with all of the positive energyit needed ayear ago, when the Jaguarswon all threeoftheir tournament games, arun topped off by their 64-44 win over Alcorn State in the champion-

ä Southern vs.Jackson State, 10 A.M.THURSDAy,ESPN+

ship game. Thatled to a68-56 First Four win over UC SanDiego, the first NCAA Tournament winfor anySWACprogram.

“Wedohave players with SWAC Tournament experience,” Funchess said. “We’re going to lean on that, lean on our senior class alittle bit, and try to play asolid game on both ends of the court.”

Amongthat group with tournament experienceare senior D’Shantae Edwards, and sophomores Jocelyn Tate andDeMya Porter

Southern’sexperience maynot be afactor if it doesn’tperform better atthe free-throwline Southern is 10th in the league at 59.9% on free throws, but it drops downtolast when factoring only conference games.

Free-throwproblems were front and center last week when the Jaguars lost road gamesatAlabama State and Alabama A&M

Southern led Alabama State6356 with 2:45 left to play,but it was outscored 9-0 the rest of the way

Includedinthatstretch were six missed free throws. Against AlabamaA&M,the tournament’sNo. 1seed,Southernwent6for 21 at thefoul line in a64-61 loss.

“We’re giving up afew too many offensive rebounds,but we’ve played wellenough to win other than the free-throw line,” Funchesssaid. “We’vegot to getour freethrowpercentage up. In all of the games we’ve lost, other than the Alcorn game, free throws were the difference. We’ve run outoftime. It’s do or die now.” Southern playedwhatmay have been its most complete game of theseason on Jan. 29, when it won 67-43 at Jackson State. Southern led 19-6 after one quarter,and eventually held a67-36 lead with three minutes left beforeJackson Statescored thegame’sfinalseven points. “That wasone of ourbetter gamesonbothendsofthe court,” Funchesssaid. “Wewere solid on defense, andonoffense we moved the ball around and took good shots. It will be different this time. (JSU) is going to come outand battle.Wehavetobe ready to go.”

Southern menget anothershotatUAPB

BY CHARLES SALZER Contributing writer

Going into its last road trip of the regular season, the Southernmen’s basketballteam had achance to earn the No. 2seed in this week’s SouthwesternAthletic Conference basketballtournament. Although the Jaguars settled for the No. 3 seed, they feel good aboutthe way they are playing.

The road trip produced apair of close wins —71-64 at Alabama State and 88-85 at AlabamaA&M that rectified atrend from earlier in the season when Southernhad trouble closing out closegames. One of those close games was Jan. 24 when Fazl Oshodi’slastsecond jumper was off themark in a75-74 loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff, but the Jaguars will get achance to avenge that result. Southern(1516, 11-7) will open play in the SWAC Tournament on Thursdaywitha quarterfinal matchup against the Golden Lions (13-18,10-8), who are seeded No. 6. The game will tip at 7:30 p.m. at the GatewayCenter in College Park, Georgia,asuburb of Atlanta. It will streamonESPN+ “I watched the replay (of the first game), and we had achance to win it,” Southern coachKevin Johnson said. “Wehad some guys missing for that game. Right now,we’re totally different from the team that played them last time. It willbeinteresting to see how we match up this time.”

Southern played UAPB without guard Cam Amboree and forward P.J. Dubuol. The game also was played beforeseniortransfer Terrance Dixon became an inside force Amboree and Dubuol are both available this time. Also on the plus side, Michael Jacobs (15 points, 11 assists) andMalek Abdelgowad (16 points, 12 rebounds) will play after each put up adouble-double in the first game. Abdelgowad and Jacobsare Southern’sleading scorers, but Abdelgowad, a6-foot-10forward,

Former Saints tight ends Moreau,Stoll getjobselsewhere

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

Twotight ends who played for the New Orleans Saints last season found newhomes Wednesday

Tight end Foster Moreau agreed to sign with the Houston Texans, according to an NFL Network report. The former LSU standout and New Orleans native playedthree seasons for theSaints.

Earlier Wednesday,Jack Stoll left the Saints after one season to sign aone-year deal with the Cleveland Browns, asource with knowledge of the situation confirmed.

Despite losing two players at theposition, the Saints previously had filled the void by agreeing to sign veteran tight end Noah FantonMonday

Moreau, 28, caught just seven passes for59yards in 11 games last season aftercomingoff a major kneeinjury thathespent mostofthe offseason rehabbing.

Moreau, aJesuit High School graduate, was awell-liked player who carried astrong voice in the

locker room

He andthe Saintsalsoshared abond after team doctors discovered an enlarged lymph node uponhis initialphysical with the team in 2023. Moreau wasthen diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, causing the tight end to puthis career on pauseuntil he wascleared to sign athree-year, $12millioncontractthatMay.He announced his cancer was in remission in July 2023.

Moreau, whospent the first four years of his career with the Raiders, appeared in 43 games with36starts in NewOrleans. He had his best season in 2024, when he caught 32 passes for 413 yards and five touchdowns.

Stoll, 28, joined the team last offseasonafter beingcoached by Kellen Moore in Philadelphia when Moore was the Eagles offensive coordinator.Stoll served mostly as the Saints’ second tight endbehind starter Juwan Johnson. He caught sixcatches for46 yards in 15 games. He played 205 snaps, roughly 19% of the offensive plays.Stollmissed thelast twogames with aknee injury

LSUBASEBALL

Continued from page1C

pains,” LSUcoach Jay Johnson said. “It’sa tough position to play but Ithink his improvement is remarkable fromfall scrimmages until now defensively.”

FILEPHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

STAFF

Southernforward Malek Abdelgowad makesa move to the hoop against Prairie View forwardKeeshawn Mason in the second half on Jan. 5atthe F.G. Clark Activity Center.Abdelgowad had 16 points and 12 rebounds in Southern’s firstgame against UAPB this season.

ä Southern vs.Arkansas-PB, 7:30 P.M.THURSDAy,ESPN+

hasbeen sidelined most of thelast monthwitha leginjury. Johnson said he will be ready to go Thursday.

Otherplayers to watch are forward Damariee Jonesand guard Joe Manning. Jonesrejoined the team in Alabama aftermissingtwo gamesafter the death of hisfather Manning hasbeen recovering from afoot injury,but he is expected to be ready

It all adds up to aroster that is healthy at theright time.

“I feel like we’re trending upward,”Johnson said. “Wewere shorthanded,but we were still about to getthose two games (in

Alabama). That was tremendous. We felt like we cameout of that pretty good.”

Ayear ago, Southern hadtrouble keeping its foot on the gasand was upsetbyGrambling in the quarterfinalsdespite beingthe No. 1 seed.Thisyear’s top seed,Bethune-Cookman, was Wednesday by losing 71-67 to Prairie View Fornow,Southern is focused on UAPB, ateam it is 1-2 against previously in the SWAC Tournament.

“Everybody that’shere still has achance to winit. Everybody,” Johnson said. “I can go back to lateDecember when Ithought Grambling hadthe best team in the league,hands down. They lost to Jackson State (onTuesday). This is really anybody’stournament.

Serna’sbig blast was the highlight, but Tuesday also wasastep forward for theoffense overall. The Tigers had nine hits and walked six times. Grand Canyon transfer Zach Yorke went 2for 4, and junior Jake Brown smacked hisninth home run of the year in theeighthinning, atwo-run shot that stretched LSU’slead to four Tuesdaynight wasalso thereturn of senioroutfielderChris Stanfield, who has been out since the third game of the season with aleft-hand injury.Hereplaced fifth-year senior Tanner Reaves in the fifth inning and finished the game as the left fielder

Stanfield struckout in his only at-bat,but he also caught threefly balls, includingthe final outofthe game. Johnson said LSU will still need to easeStanfieldbackinto the lineup before he reassumes his everyday role.

“There’sanarc to doing this responsibly that I’m trying to manage,” Johnson said. “But man, I love having him back.”

LSU (13-5) needed acombined effort on the bump to finish off Creighton (5-8).

Freshman right-hander Reagan Ricken earned his first career start, but it wasshort-lived. He couldn’tescape the second inning as Johnson turned to fivemore pitchers to record the last 24 outs.

Themost impressive outings were from redshirt sophomore right-hander Deven Sheerin and Oregon left-handedtransfer Santiago Garcia. Sheerin tossed 21/3 scoreless innings after enteringthe game in thefifth. Garcia replaced him with one out in the seventh andended thegameon his own.

“That’sa massive weapon,”

Johnson saidwhen he was asked about Garcia’sperformance. “And I’m really proud of him. He maybe didn’thave the first outing that he wanted to have, but his last three have been really good. That was electric tonight. That’s abig-time, game-changing piece for our bullpen.” Garcia andSheerin combined to strike outeight batters andallowed just two hits in fiveinnings. LSU didn’tgive up another run aftersurrendering two in both the second and third innings. LSU’snext game Friday marks thebeginning of Southeastern Conference play as the Tigers travel to

to take on

and the game will

Welcome help

Italy shortstop Sam Antonacci throws to first after tagging out Mexico shortstop Joey Ortiz during the sixth inning of a World Baseball Classic game on Wednesday in Houston. Italy’s 9-1 win over Mexico allowed the United States to advance out of pool play into the knockout around, despite the Americans dropping an 8-6 decision to Italy on Tuesday night.

1-5, Dioubate 0-1, Oweh 0-3). Team Rebounds: 2. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 3 (Garrison 2, Jelavic) Turnovers: 5 (Aberdeen, Chandler, Dioubate, Garrison, Oweh). Steals: 5 (Garrison 2 Aberdeen, Oweh, Williams). Technical Fouls: Aberdeen, 9:29 second. LSU 43 39 — 82 Kentucky 46 41 87 Women’s college basketball

State scores, schedule

Southland Conference Tournament Quarterfinals

Tuesday UTRGV 76, Northwestern St. 67 Stephen F. Austin 63, Nicholls 60 Semifinals

Wednesday McNeese St. 67, Texas Rio Grande Valley 52 Stephen F. Austin 64, Lamar 59 Championship

Thursday McNeese State vs. Stephen F. Austin, 4 p.m.

SWAC Tournament At College Park, Ga. Second Round

Tuesday

Florida A&M 55, Bethune-Cookman 52 Ark.-Pine Bluff 81, MVSU 74 Quarterfinals

Wednesday Alabama A&M 72, Florida A&M 68

Ark.-Pine Bluff 64, Alcorn State 60

Thursday Southern vs. Jackson St., 10 a.m

Alabama St. vs. Grambling, 4:30 p.m. Conference USA Conference

Tuesday Delaware 66, Kennesaw St. 47 Jacksonville St. 82, UTEP 77 Quarterfinals

Wednesday Louisiana Tech 72, Delaware 43 FIU 76, Jacksonville St. 66

Thursday Sam Houston St.

THURSDAY’S FAIR GROUNDS ENTRIES

Min Woo Lee, 69.976. 10, Hideki Matsuyama, 69.982. Driving distance: 1, Gary Woodland, 327.7. 2 (tie), Michael Brennan and Aldrich Potgieter, 326.1. 4, Rasmus Hojgaard, 322.9. 5, Chris Gotterup, 321.5. 6, Jesper Svensson, 320.4. 7, Jake Knapp, 319.4. 8, Nicolai Hojgaard, 319.3. 9, Min Woo Lee, 317.7. 10, Rory McIlroy, 317.5. Driving accuracy percentage: 1, Joel Dahmen, 74.11%. 2, Lucas Glover, 73.57%. 3, Chan Kim, 72.08%. 4 (tie), Corey Conners and Si Woo Kim, 71.43%. 6, David Lipsky, 69.39%. 7, Andrew Putnam, 69.05%. 8, Russell Henley, 68.65%. 9, 2 tied with 68.25%. Total driving: 1, Min Woo Lee, 36. 2 (tie), Blades Brown and Michael Thorbjornsen, 51. 4, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, 61. 5, Jordan Smith, 66. 6, William Mouw, 67. 7, Collin Morikawa, 73. 8, David Ford, 74. 9, Michael Brennan, 75. 10, Rory McIlroy, 79. SG-putting: 1, Zach Johnson, 1.232. 2, Jacob Bridgeman, 1.221. 3, Kris Ventura, 1.181. 4, Jake Knapp, 1.095. 5, Davis Riley, 1.021. 6, Matthieu Pavon, 1.005. 7, Sam Ryder, .992. 8, Vince Whaley, .977. 9, Seamus Power, .972. 10, Kevin Roy, .883. Birdie average: 1, Scottie Scheffler, 5.6. 2, Rory McIlroy, 5.3. 3, Jacob Bridgeman, 5.17. 4, Pierceson Coody, 5.08. 5 (tie), Ludvig Aberg Ricky Castillo and David Lipsky, 5. 8, 3 tied with 4.9. Eagles (holes per): 1,

Steakand potatoes aproper St.Patrick’s Daystart

BY LINDAGASSENHEIMER

Tribune News Service(TNS)

Beef, potatoes and leeks, lightly coated in arichbeermustard sauce, are the stars of this hearty one-pot meal. It’sperfect for celebrating St. Patrick’sDay or for any night you’re craving acomforting, flavorful dinner.Beer ranges in color from pale gold to deep amber.This recipe calls for adark beer,which adds depth to the sauce. Leeks look like agiant scallion with broad, dark green leaves that are tightly wrapped around each other.The quickest way to clean the leaves is to trim the root end and make4to 5slitsfrom top to bottom.Run the leaves under cold water to reachthe dirt trapped between the leaf layers.

Quick Beer-Sauced Steak and Potatoes

Yields 2servings. Recipe is by Linda Gassenheimer

2teaspoons olive oil

¾pound grass-fed beef tenderloin, cut into 1-inch pieces

¾poundred or yellow potatoes, with skin,cut into 1-inch pieces

2medium leeks, cleaned and sliced (about 2cups) 11 ounces beer

4tablespoons cider vinegar

2tablespoons coarse-grain mustard

2teaspoons cornstarch

1tablespoon water Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2scallions, sliced (about 1⁄3 cup)

1. Heat the oil in anonstick skillet over high heat. Add beef and brown on all sides,about 2 minutes. Remove to aplateand set aside.

2. Place potatoes in amicrowave-safe bowl and microwave on high 3minutes.

3. Add the leeks and potatoes to the skillet. Saute 1minute. Add the beer and vinegar to the skillet and cook 2minutes. Add themustard and stir into the ingredients.

4. Mix cornstarch with the water and stir into the ingredients in the skillet. Return the meat to the skillet and continue to cook 1minute. Ameat thermometer should read 135 Ffor medium rare. Add salt and pepper to taste. Divide between 2dinnerplates and sprinkle the scallions on top.

NUTRITION INFO PER SERVING: 549 calories (26 percent from fat), 16.0 gfat (5.4 gsaturated, 6.6 g monounsaturated),84mgcholesterol, 41.8 gprotein, 50.1 g carbohydrates, 5.5 gfiber, 333 mg sodium.

fromthe LIVING

WORDS WISE

Baked Stuffed Shrimp

Serves 4

1cup breadcrumbs, divided ¼cup parsley,freshly chopped

1teaspoon Creole seasoning 1garlic clove, minced ½cup mayonnaise ½cup butter,divided, melted 1pound crabmeat, claw 20 jumboshrimp, peeled and deveined 1lemon, juiced

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Coat abaking dish with cooking spray

2. Mixhalf of thebreadcrumbs, parsley,Creole seasoning, garlic, mayoand butter in alarge bowl. Addcrabmeat, melted butter;mix stuffing well.

3. Place ashrimponaflat work surface. Slice horizontally through the middle, careful not to cut through to theother side. Open the 2sides and spread them out like an open book. Repeat with remainingshrimp.

4. Stuffeachshrimp with a heaping tablespoon of mixture and place in prepared baking dish. Mix remaining melted butter and lemon then spoon a small amount over each shrimp.

5. Bakeinthe preheated oven until shrimpare opaque and stuffing begins to brown, 15 to 18 minutes.

As Women’s History Month unfolds, Ifind myself reflecting on the hands that guided mine in the kitchen —hands that kneaded dough, stirred pots and moreimportantly,shapedthe chef I’ve become. These weren’t just women who taught me recipes, they were architects of a philosophy that cooking is an act of love, discipline and respect. My earliest culinary education began at home, watching my mom andgrandmamove through thekitchen with a rhythm that seemed almost choreographed. Butitwasn’tjust about what they cooked, it was how they cooked.

the workspace, respect forthe process and respect forthose whowould eat the food.

My grandmataught me something even moreintangible but equally essential: Food prepared without love is just sustenance, but food prepared with care becomes nourishment forthe soul. Iwatched her cook forfamily gatherings, her movements deliberate and tender,asifeach stir of the pot wasaprayer.She never rushed, never cut corners and the result was always the same. For Women’sHistory Month, chef KevinBeltonhonorsthe kitchen matriarchs whoshapedhim

“Clean as you go,”mymom would remind me, wiping down counters between tasks, never letting chaos accumulate. It seemed tedious to my younger self, but Iunderstand now that she was teaching me somethingprofound: respect for

Low-fuss dumpling lasagnagetssteamed

Dumpling Lasagna

BYGRETCHENMcKAY Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)

Serves 10-12

FOR THE BROWNSUGAR

CAKE:

1cup buttermilk

½cup butter

2cups light brown sugar, packed 2largeeggs

1tablespoon vanilla extract

2cups all-purpose flour

1teaspoon baking soda

½teaspoon salt

FOR THE PRALINE

TOPPING:

½cup butter

1cup light brown sugar packed

1cup pecans chopped

½cup heavy cream

¼teaspoon salt

PROVIDEDPHOTO

baking dish and smooth the top. Bake 22 to 32 minutes, until acake tester inserted into thecenter of the pan comes out clean.

6. Removefromthe oven and set on awire rack,then immediately start the praline topping and heat your oven’sbroiler PRALINE TOPPING

1. Combine all the frosting ingredients in a smallsaucepan andset thepan over medium heat. Bring to aslow boil, stirring often.

Goingout with abloom

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a13- by 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray and dust lightly with flour.Set aside.

2. Combine the buttermilk and butter in asmall saucepan set over mediumheat. Heat, stirring often, until the butter is melted. If the mixture starts to boil, turn the heat down.

3. Pour that mixture into

MATRIARCHS

Continued from page1D

People didn’tjust eat her food, they felt embraced by it. Both of these recipes are versions of recipes Mom and Grandma made for us with so much love and care. These lessons became the foundation of everything Idointhe kitchen, but it was the legendary Leah Chase who showedme how to carry those values into aprofessional realm I’ve been going to Dooky Chase’sRestaurant since Iwas atoddler, and Chase was aconstant presence. She was aqueen in her domain, commanding respect while radiating warmth. Iremember once, in my eagerness to experiment, askingher about adding cream to aparticular recipe. Shedidn’tsay aword. She simply gave me that look, stern but loving, the kind only awoman who has mastered her craft can give. That look said everything: Respect the tradition, understand the why before you change the what, and never

alarge mixingbowland let coolfor 5minutes. Add brown sugar,eggs and vanilla extract. Beat withanelectricmixer settomedium speed for several minutes, until well combined.

4. Whisk the flour,baking soda, and salt in asmall bowl and, with mixer set to low, gradually beat into the butter-eggmixture until just combined. Stir afew times to make sure allofthe dry ingredients are incorporated.

5. Scrapeintothe prepared

compromise the integrity of adishfor the sake of trends.

Chase didn’tjust cook Creole food. She preserved culture, fed freedom fighters andcreated aspace where everyone, regardless of race or status, could gather around atable. She taught me that being achef is morethan technical skill. It’sabout beinga custodian of history,abridge between generations andaservant to thecommunity Then there was Yvonne Blount, the fourth-generation owner of Antoine’s, oneofthe oldest family-run restaurants in this country We didn’thaveaformal mentor-mentee relationship in the traditional sense. I never worked for her, but she became afriendand guide as Inavigated this industry. Blountunderstood theweight of legacy Running arestaurantwith such deep roots required notjust business acumen but areverence for what came before. Sheshowed me that longevity in this business isn’tabout chasing every trend;it’sabout stayingtruetoyourvision while adaptingwith grace.

Dumpling Lasagna

Serves4.Recipe is from Gretchen McKay,Post-Gazette

FORGROUNDPORKMIXTURE:

¾pound ground pork

½cup chopped or finely shredded napa or green cabbage

2thinly sliced green onions, plus more forgarnish

1tablespoon Shaoxing wine or mirin

1tablespoon soysauce

1tablespoon sesame oil

1tablespoon oyster sauce

2garlic cloves, finely minced

1-inch knob fresh ginger,grated or minced FOR SOUP:

1packagewonton wrappers

Water or broth, for filling ramekins

Chili oil or chili crisp, for garnish

1. Prepare the dumpling filling. In alarge bowl, combine ground pork,chopped cabbage, green onions, Shaoxing wine or mirin, soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, minced garlic and ginger.Use your hands or afork to mix everything together until well combined

2. In small soup bowl or 6-ounce ramekin, add alayer of ground porkmixture, then adumplingwrapper, pressing down gently with your fingers.

2. Once the topping boils,cook for 3to5 minutes, untilthe mixture just startstothicken.

3. Pour over the cake, then put the cake in the oven 4 inches belowthe broiler. Broil 30 seconds to 1minute, until the frosting starts to bubble andturns light golden brown.Don’t walk away from the oven because this will happen quickly

Her friendship reminded me that women in this industry must support one another,lift each other up and create space for the next generation.

These women didn’tjust teach me how to cook, they taught me how to live. They showed methat aclean kitchen is areflection of a clear mind, that love is the mostimportantingredient, and that our work in thekitchen is never just about feeding bodies —it’s about nourishing souls and preserving thestories that makeuswho we are.

This Women’s History Month, Icelebrate them, not as distant figures of inspiration, but as the foundation upon which Istand.

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.

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE/TNSPHOTO By GRETCHEN McKAy

The porkmixture is portioned into the bottom of a6-ounce ramekin.

Dear Heloise: Ikept an African violet on my desk at work that never bloomed, no matter how much I cared for it. An older gentleman at the company who grew African violetsathome under grow lights offered to take mine home. He nurtured it carefully and, once buds appeared, returned it to me in full bloom. For several years, whenever the blossoms faded, Igavethe violet back to him, and he coaxed it to bloom again. Eventually,heretired. After his retirement, the violet —sitting quietly on my desk—began to bud and bloom on its own for thevery first time. After this final display,itnever bloomed again. Ilike to think that thelast flowering was itstributetothe kind man who cared for it so lovingly —Debbie, via email

spins the plate to bring everything into view.This clever reuse keeps materials out of landfills and makes fridge organization easy —Jerry S.,via email

Hints from Heloise

Kitty-food dust

Dear Heloise: Ihave discovered away to get rid of all the “dust” that comes in my cat’sdry food. Imeasure out the proper amount, put it into asmall sieve, and shake it over the sink. The “dust” is removed, and the food bowl is no longer messy —Janice F.,inYoungstown, Ohio

Built-in protection

mize interruptions, allowing you to enjoy amore peaceful, productive day —Kasey, in Prescott,Arizona Gettingrid of pethair

LASAGNA

Continued from page1D

4. Add 1 3 cup of water or vegetable/chickenstock, then top off with another layerofwonton wrap. Press the dumpling wrapper down gently with fingers so it is submerged in the liquid.

5. Repeat with 3moreramekins/soup bowls. 6. Place ramekinsina large pot and add water halfway up thesides. Cover with a

3. Continue with another layer of filling and thena wonton wrapper,pressing gently as you go. Add 1 more layer of pork filling, untilthe ramekinisnearly full. (Thereshould be three layers of pork.)

Iused ground pork (because its fat makes it juicy) and chopped green cabbage in the filling, but youalso could use groundchicken or shrimp— or make it completely vegetarian with tofu.Or, punch up theflavor with theaddition of mushrooms or carrots. Definitely don’t forget a generous spoonfulofchili crisp or swirl of spicy chili oil before takingthat first awesome bite. Thedeep umami flavor of the condimentswill add arich, textural finish that makes the

lid and boil and steam for 20 minutes,oruntil theporkis fully cooked andthe wonton wrappers are soft and tender when pierced with thetip of aknife or pressedwith your finger.Note: If all the ramekins don’tfitinthe pot at the same time, you will have to cook the lasagnas in batches.

7. Carefully remove ramekins/bowlsfromthe steamer using tongs, place on aplate and finish with adrizzle of chili oil or generous spoonful of chili crisp.Top with sliced green onions, and serve warm straight from the ramekin.

dish irresistible. Wonton wrappers areusually tucked among the vegetables in your grocery’s refrigerated produce aisle. Shaoxing wine is anutty amber-colored cooking wine that adds complexity and depth of flavor to many Chinese dishes (it’sa staple in Chinese cooking). If you can’tfind it,substitutedry cooking sherry or adash of mirin, aJapanese sweet rice wine. The lasagnas reheat well thenext day in themicrowave.

4. Remove from the oven andcool before serving becausepraline toppingis very hot broth, the ramekins are steamed on the stove top until the wonton wrappers are soft and wonderfully tender and the pork is fragrant and cookedthrough. There is acatch: Youhave to have alarge and wide enoughsoup pot to comfortably fit four ramekins,and it has to have alid. Otherwise, you’ll need to do the cooking in batches

Spinand store

Dear Heloise: Here’sa clever recycling idea. A friend of mine repurposes theglass plate and rotating base from old microwaves as alazy Susan for her refrigerator.The rotating tray organizes condiments, sauces and jars. Instead of shuffling bottles,myfriend

Dear Heloise: Many smartphones already have atool to block unwanted calls. To minimize unwanted calls, open your phone’ssettings, tap on the phone settings, scroll to “Silence Unknown Callers,” and toggle it on. When this setting is enabled, calls from numbers that are not in your contacts, recent calls or suggestions will be sent directly to voicemail. You can ask unknowncallers to leave amessage if their call is important, since mostspam callers typically hang up without leaving one.

Activating this simple setting can greatly mini-

DearHeloise: Iamalongtime reader writing in with atip! If youlive with furry family members, youknowthatpet hair clings to upholstery and carpets no matterhow oftenyou vacuum. Before youplug in the vacuum, try this: Run asmall shower squeegee over sofas, chairs andcarpetedstairs. The rubberedge pulls up embeddedpet hair and gathers it into easy-toremove piles—eventhe hair thatyourvacuum misses. Forcarpetedareas, here’s a“twofer.” Wear rubbergardenclogs, and gently dragyourfeet back andforth acrossthe carpet. The rubbersoles createfrictionthatloosens andclumps hair together You’ll pickupmorebefore vacuuming andgive your innerthighs alittle workoutatthe same time. Fewer hairs in your vacuum result in fewer trips to empty the canister. A win allaround! —Barbara Coker,a San Antonio reader for years

Sendahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

Puttingparametersaround public expressionsofgrief

Dear Miss Manners: Astudent at mychild’shigh school died from suicide at the very end of the last school year.The young man was apopular baseball player on theschool’steam, and he was from asocially popular family in my neighborhood. There were multiple tributes to him madebywell-meaning membersofthe community: Green ribbons were tied on trees throughout theneighborhood, along withevery tree in the median of the street that goes from theneighborhood to theschool; a memorial ceremony and balloon release were held at the school’sbaseball field; and the lights on several nearby high-rise office buildings were changed to green one night in his honor.Flags and yard signs were also created. The student council announced that everyone should wear green to school on what would have been his 16th birthday

asuicide victim,and that they remove spontaneous memorials that show up on campus within five days.

addressing this? Wasthe social media platform the wrong place to address it?

Martin MISS MANNERS

Months later,the long public mourning of this child continues. Eventually, Ifelt something needed to be said, and Iposted on acommon social media platform for neighborhoods. I did not mention the young man’s name or even the nameof the school. Iacknowledged that the organizers of all these tributes had the best intentions, but then provided the expert consensus that these kinds of tributes can have very serious unintended consequences for mental health.

Gentle reader: One does not debate grief.Itisnot only unseemly,itisunproductive.

The problem with this is that all the experts on teen suicide recommend schools not organize memorials, moments of silence, plant trees, etc. for

The response to my post was overwhelmingly positive. Ionly got one negative piece of feedback, from awoman Ithink is afriend of the family and one of the organizers of all these tributes. She pressed me to take downmypost, said the social media platform wasnot the appropriate place to discuss this and that Ishould have brought it up in aneighborhood board meeting.

Were these months too short atimetowait before

TODAYINHISTORY

ByThe Associated Press

Today is Thursday, March 12, the71st day of 2026. There are 294 days left in the year

Todayinhistory: On March 12, 1930, Mohandas Gandhi began his 24-day,240-mile “Salt March” to theIndian village of Dandi (then called Navsari) as an act of nonviolent civil disobedience to protest thesalt tax levied by colonial Britain

Also on this date:

In 1912, theGirl Scouts of the USA had its beginnings as JulietteGordon Low of Savannah, Georgia, founded thefirst American troop of the Girl Guides.

In 1928, theSt. Francis Dam north of Los Angeles, California, failed, sending over 12 billion gallons of water into San Francisquito Canyon and killing more than 400 people.

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered thefirst of his “fireside

chats,” aseries of evening radio broadcasts to the American public.

In 1938, Nazi Germany annexed Austria, as German troops crossed the border into the country

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman announced what becameknownasthe “Truman Doctrine” to help Greece and Turkey resist communism during the Cold War.

In 1980, aChicago jury found John Wayne Gacy Jr guilty of the murders of 33 men and boys. (The next day,Gacy wassentenced to death; he was executed in May 1994.)

In 2003, Elizabeth Smart, the 15-year-old girl who vanished from her Utah bedroom nine months earlier,was found alive in a Salt Lake City suburb with two drifters, Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee. (Mitchell is serving a life sentence for kidnapping Smart; Barzee was released from prison in 2018.)

Posting on social media wasamistake, but not for the reasons given by the organizer —and her idea of raising it at aneighborhood board meeting would have been equally bad. None of which invalidates your concern forthe health and safety of other children in the community; you merely need to have the discussion in aforum that is not open to the boy’s parents. They are grieving, and do not want to think that they may inadvertently be party to demonstrations that may lead to other suicides. There is also nothing to be gained by opposing the organizer,whose attention, understandably,isonthe boy’sfamily Miss Manners would have you talk —behind the scenes —toresponsible and disinterested parties at the school, or any other institutions that may be planning further memorials.

Sendquestions to Miss Manners at herwebsite, www.missmanners.com.

In 2009, disgraced financier Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty in New York to the largest Ponzi scheme in history,having defrauded his clients of nearly $65 billion; he would later be sentenced to 150 years behind bars. (Madoffdied in prison in April 2021.)

In 2021, the city of Minneapolis agreed to pay $27 million to settle alawsuit filed by George Floyd’s family over the murder of the Black man by police. Today’sbirthdays: Politician and civil rights activist Andrew Young is 94. Actor Barbara Feldon (“Get Smart”) is 93. Actor-singer Liza Minnelli is 80. Politician Mitt Romney is 79. Singer-songwriter James Taylor is 78. Actor Lesley Manville is 70. Singer Marlon Jackson (The Jackson Five) is

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Sign up for a seminar, event or activity that will offer a different approach or outcome. Don't be shy; start a conversation that embraces truth, logic and communication.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Lay the foundation for your pursuits, but don't reveal your intentions until you have everything in place. Don't share your personal matters with outsiders or business associates.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Listen and learn. The information you gather will far exceed what you gain from doing all the talking A kind gesture will result in rewards and recommendations.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Put goodness back into your life through your actions. Participate in events that address issues that concern you. A function will lead to an unexpected encounter.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Protect yourself against injury or illness. An emotional situation will erupt if you put yourself in a vulnerable position. There is more power in your words than in your actions.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Discipline will help you make your way to brilliance. Don't let someone else's jealousy or ego ruin your plans. Participating in events that motivate you will spark love.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Plant your feet firmly on the ground and do your thing to the best of your ability. Speak up, embrace changes and broaden your

WonderWord

vision, and you can exceed your own expectations.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Getting into the swing of things and mixing business with pleasure will change the dynamics of your relationships with your associates. An unusual concept you devise will take hold.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Put your energy into bringing about positive change. Use your skills and discipline to bring your vision to life. Find an outlet that helps you relax and makes you grateful for your life choices and prospects.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Spend less time exhausting your resources and more time taking better care of your life, your home and your family. Follow your heart and forge ahead.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) How you handle responsibilities and finances will determine how you relate to others. An open dialogue and willingness to compromise will help you push your through your agenda with support from others.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Reshaping your surroundings to meet your demands will make your life easier. Don't let anyone play emotional mind games with you or lead you astray with misinformation.

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

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1to9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

BY PHILLIP ALDER

Fulke Greville, an Englishpoet who diedin1628, said,“Thecriterion of true beauty is that it increases on examination; if false, that it lessens.” At thebridge table,the beauty of a deal can increaseuponcareful analysis. Sometimes, though, thekey play is afalsecard.

What shouldhappen in thisdealafter West leadsthe heart ace against three no-trump?

Before gettingtothe answer, some pairsuseinterestinghonorleadsagainst no-trump. They choose onecard, either the ace or king (I prefer the king), when they have avery strong suit. It asks partner either to unblock an honororto give count.With thatagreement, West would lead his“big” card here, happy if Eastcould throw the queen onto the table. (Assuming the king is “big,” then an ace-lead is from aweaker ace-king holding,askingpartnertosignalattitude. Andaqueen-lead is from either aweak king-queenoragoodqueen-jack.)Ifthat appealstoyou,discuss it carefullywith your partners.

Usingstandard leads andsignals,East shouldplayhis heart threeattrick one, discouraging. Then South must drophis seven. He has to try to persuade West thatEaststartedwithQ-3-2ofheartsand wasdoingthebesthecouldbyplayingthe three.Agreed,itshouldnotwork.West’s ace-lead should not be from aholding weaker thanace-king-jack-fourth. And if that is true, Eastcan affordtoplay his queen from Q-3-2. West shouldshift at trick two, and whichever suithechooses, East will getinwithhis club aceand canleadhis second heart through South’squeen to defeat thecontract by two tricks.

©2026 by NEA, Inc., dist.ByAndrews McMeel Syndication

wuzzles

Each Wuzzle is aword riddle which creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOONGOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

word game

InsTRucTIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

ToDAY’s WoRD HARDTAcK: HARD-tak: Asaltless hard biscuit, bread or cracker

Average mark14words Time limit 25 minutes Can you find23ormore wordsinHARDTACK?

YEsTERDAY’s WoRD— GEnuInELY

we will